The Impact of Sea Level Rise on Roadway Design and Evacuation Routes in Delaware

As the global temperature continues to increase, the sea level continues to rise at a rapid rate that has never been seen before. This becomes an issue for many facets of life but one of the most impacted is the transportation infrastructure. Many people living in low elevation coastal areas can become trapped by flooding with no way in or out. With Delaware being a coastal state, this would affect a large portion of the population and will have detrimental effects over time if nothing is done to combat sea level rise. The issue with sea level rise in transportation is that once the roads become flooded, they become virtually unusable and detour routes would be needed. If all the roads in a coastal area were to be affected by sea level rise, the options for detours would become limited. This article looks at direct solutions to combat sea level rise and indirect solutions that would specifically help transportation infrastructure and evacuation routes in Delaware. There is not one solution that can fix every problem, so many solutions are laid out to see what is applicable to each affected area. Some solutions include defense structures that would be put close to the coast, raising the elevation of vulnerable roads throughout the state and including pumping stations to drain the water on the surface of the road. With an understanding of all these solutions around the world, the ultimate conclusion came in the form of a six-step plan that Delaware should take in order to best design against sea level rise in these coastal areas.

Routes Choice of Urban Agriculture,Ecotourism and Cultural Innovation Industry Fusion

The fusion of urban agriculture, ecotourism and cultural innovation industry has been a necessary way for industry updating, value increase and income im- provement of farmers in suburbs. The methods available of the fusion are as fol- lows： corporation development and operation, led by government with an integrated plan; corporation management and development under guidance of market with sup- port from government; collective development under guidance of market and policies; individual development and operation with the model of ＂villagers participation de- pending on infrastructure provided by government＂. The four routes enjoy exclusive advantages and characters. Hence, different villages and towns should adopt the most suitable one according to local conditions for further development and management.

Injection of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells by intravenous or intraperitoneal routes is a viable alternative to spinal cord injury treatment in mice

In spite of advances in surgical care and rehabilitation, the consequences of spinal cord injury （SCI） are still challenging. Several experimental therapeutic strategies have been studied in the SCI field, and recent advances have led to the development of therapies that may act on the inhibitory microenvironment. Assorted lineages of stem cells are considered a good treatment for SCI. This study investigated the effect of systemic transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells （MSCs） in a compressive SCI model. Here we present results of the intraperitoneal route, which has not been used previously for MSC administration after compressive SCI. We used adult female C57BL/6 mice that underwent laminectomy at the T9 level, followed by spinal cord compression for 1 minute with a 30-g vascular clip. The animals were divided into five groups： sham （anesthesia and laminectomy but without compression injury induction）, MSC i.p. （intraperitoneal injection of 8×10^5 MSCs in 500 μL of DMEM at 7 days after SCI）, MSC i.v. （intravenous injection of 8 × 10^5 MSCs in 500μL of DMEM at 7 days after SCI）, DMEM i.p. （intraperitoneal injection of 500μL of DMEM at 7 days after SCI）, DMEM i.v. （intravenous injection of 500 μL of DMEM at 7 days after SCI）. The effects of MSCs transplantation in white matter sparing were analyzed by luxol fast blue staining. The number of preserved fibers was counted in semithin sections stained with toluidine blue and the presence of trophic factors was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. In addition, we analyzed the locomotor performance with Basso Mouse Scale and Global Mobility Test. Our results showed white matter preservation and a larger number of preserved fibers in the MSC groups than in the DMEM groups. Furthermore, the MSC groups had higher levels of trophic factors （brain-derived neurotrophic factor, nerve growth factor, neurotrophin-3 and neurotrophin-4） in the spinal cord and improved locomotor performance. Our results indicate that injection of MSCs by either intraperitoneal or intravenous routes results in beneficial outcomes and can be elected as a choice for SCI treatment.

A review of the current state of biofuels production from lignocellulosic biomass using thermochemical conversion routes

The rapid increase in energy demand,the extensive use of fossil fuels and the urgent need to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions have raised concerns in the transportation sector.Alternate renewable and sustainable sources have become the ultimate solution to overcome the expected depletion of fossil fuels.The conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to liquid(BtL)transportation fuels seems to be a promising path and presents advantages over first generation biofuels and fossil fuels.Therefore,development of BtL systems is critical to increase the potential of this resource in a sustainable and economic way.Conversion of lignocellulosic BtL transportation fuels,such as,gasoline,diesel and jet fuel can be accomplished through various thermochemical processes and processing routes.The major steps for the production of BtL fuels involve feedstock selection,physical pretreatment,production of bio-oil,upgrading of bio-oil to transportation fuels and recovery of value-added products.The present work is aiming to give a comprehensive review of the current process technologies following these major steps and the current scenarios of biomass to liquid facilities for the production of biofuels.

An improved cross entropy algorithm for steelmaking-continuous casting production scheduling with complicated technological routes

In order to increase productivity and reduce energy consumption of steelmaking-continuous casting(SCC) production process, especially with complicated technological routes, the cross entropy(CE) method was adopted to optimize the SCC production scheduling(SCCPS) problem. Based on the CE method, a matrix encoding scheme was proposed and a backward decoding method was used to generate a reasonable schedule. To describe the distribution of the solution space, a probability distribution model was built and used to generate individuals. In addition, the probability updating mechanism of the probability distribution model was proposed which helps to find the optimal individual gradually. Because of the poor stability and premature convergence of the standard cross entropy(SCE) algorithm, the improved cross entropy(ICE) algorithm was proposed with the following improvements: individual generation mechanism combined with heuristic rules, retention mechanism of the optimal individual, local search mechanism and dynamic parameters of the algorithm. Simulation experiments validate that the CE method is effective in solving the SCCPS problem with complicated technological routes and the ICE algorithm proposed has superior performance to the SCE algorithm and the genetic algorithm(GA).

Comparison between different reconstruction routes in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

AIM:To compare postoperative complications and prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients treated with different routes of reconstruction. METHODS:After obtaining approval from the Medical Ethics Committee of the Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, we retrospectively reviewed data from 306 consecutive patients with histologically diagnosed esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who were treated between 2001 and 2011. All patients underwent radical McKeown-type esophagectomy with at least two-field lymphadenectomy. Regular follow-up was performed in our outpatient department. Postoperative complica-tions and long-term survival were analyzed by treatment modality, baseline patient characteristics, and operative procedure. Data from patients treated via the retrosternal and posterior mediastinal routes were compared. RESULTS:The posterior mediastinal and retrosternal reconstruction routes were employed in 120 and 186 patients, respectively. Pulmonary complications were the most common complications experienced during the postoperative period (46.1% of all patients; 141/306). Compared to the retrosternal route, the posterior mediastinal reconstruction route was associated with a lower incidence of anastomotic stricture (15.8% vs 27.4%, P = 0.018) and less surgical bleeding (242.8 ± 114.2 mL vs 308.2 ± 168.4 mL, P < 0.001). The median survival time was 26.8 mo (range:1.6-116.1 mo). Upon uni/multivariate analysis, a lower preoperative albumin level (P = 0.009) and a more advanced pathological stage (pT; P = 0.006; pN; P < 0.001) were identified as independent factors predicting poor prognosis. The reconstruction route did not influence prognosis (P = 0.477). CONCLUSION:The posterior mediastinal route of reconstruction reduces incidence of postoperative complications but does not affect survival. This route is recommended for resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Perceived infection transmission routes, infection control practices, psychosocial changes, and management of COVID-19 infected healthcare workers in a tertiary acute care hospital in Wuhan: a cross-sectional survey

Background:Many healthcare workers were infected by coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)early in the epidemic posing a big challenge for epidemic control.Hence,this study aims to explore perceived infection routes,influencing factors,psychosocial changes,and management procedures for COVID-19 infected healthcare workers.Methods:This is a cross-sectional,single hospital-based study.We recruited all 105 confirmed COVID-19 healthcare workers in the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University from February 15 to 29,2020.All participants completed a validated questionnaire.Electronic consent was obtained from all participants.Perceived causes of infection,infection prevention,control knowledge and behaviour,psychological changes,symptoms and treatment were measured.Results:Finally,103 professional staff with COVID-19 finished the questionnaire and was included(response rate:98.1%).Of them,87 cases(84.5%)thought they were infected in working environment in hospital,one(1.0%)thought their infection was due to the laboratory environment,and 5(4.9%)thought they were infected in daily life or community environment.Swab of throat collection and physical examination were the procedures perceived as most likely causing their infection by nurses and doctors respectively.Forty-three(41.8%)thought their infection was related to protective equipment,utilization of common equipment(masks and gloves).The top three first symptoms displayed before diagnosis were fever(41.8%),lethargy(33.0%)and muscle aches(30.1%).After diagnosis,88.3%staff experienced psychological stress or emotional changes during their isolation period,only 11.7%had almost no emotional changes.Arbidol(Umifenovir;an anti-influza drug;69.2%)was the drug most commonly used to target infection in mild and moderate symptoms.Conclusion:The main perceived mode of transmission was not maintaining protection when working at a close distance and having intimate contact with infected cases.Positive psychological intervention is necessary.

Comparison of microstructural stability of IN939 superalloy with two different manufacturing routes during long-time aging

Microstructural stability of IN939 superalloy with two different manufacturing routes was investigated during long-term aging at elevated temperatures by light optical microscope（OM） and scanning electron microscope（SEM） equipped with an EDS system.The results show mat the coarsening behavior of γ＇ particles is primarily impacted by the initial heat treatment conditions,and the effect of the prior manufacturing route（casting or hot forming） is found to be insignificant,if any,on the γ＇ particles coarsening kinetics.In the temperature range of 790-827 ℃,IN939 cast/wrought-HT2 alloys have more microstructural stability,while in the temperature range of 827-910 ℃,the initial heat treatment marked as HT1 provides more stable microstructure for the cast or wrought IN939 superalloy.

Effect of processing routes on microstructure and mechanical properties of 2014 Al alloy processed by equal channel angular pressing

Al-Cu alloy was deformed through equal channel angular pressing(ECAP) by routes A,Ba,Bc and C up to 5 passes.ECAP was done using a 90° die for three different conditions,namely 1) as received,2) solutionised at 768 K for 1 h and 3) solutionised at 768 K for 1 h + aged at 468 K for 5 h.The microstructure,microhardness and tensile strength were studied for all the three conditions and four routes.Significant improvement in hardness(HV 184 after five passes) and strength(602 MPa after three passes) was observed in solutionised and aged 2014 Al alloy deformed through route Bc.Microstructure evolution was reasonably equiaxed in route Bc with aspect ratio of 1.6.Solutionised and aged 2014 Al alloy deformed through route Bc was identified to have better microstructure and mechanical property than the other processing routes and conditions.

Dispersal routes of Cercospora zeina causing maize gray leaf spot in China

The gray leaf spot caused by Cercospora zeina has become a serious disease in maize in China.The isolates of C.zeina from Yunnan,Sichuan,Guizhou,Hubei,Chongqing,Gansu,and Shaanxi were collected.From those,127 samples were used for genetic diversity analysis based on inter-simple sequence repeat(ISSR)and 108 samples were used for multi-gene sequence analysis based on five gene fragments.The results indicated that populations of C.zeina were differentiated with a relatively high genetic level and were classified into two major groups and seven subgroups.The intra-population genetic differentiation of C.zeina is the leading cause of population variation in China,and interpopulation genetic similarity is closely related to the colonization time and spread direction.The multi-gene sequence analysis of C.zeina isolates demonstrated that there were nine haplotypes.Genetic diversity and multi-gene sequence revealed that Yunnan population of C.zeina,the earliest colonizing in China,had the highest genetic and haplotype diversity and had experienced an expansion event.With the influence of the southwest monsoon in the Indian Ocean,C.zeina from Yunnan gradually moved to Sichuan,Guizhou,Shaanxi,Gansu,and Chongqing.Meanwhile,C.zeina was transferred directly from the Yunnan into the Hubei Province via seed and then came into Shaanxi,Henan,and Chongqing along with the wind from Hubei.

Autumn migration routes and wintering areas of juvenile Chinese Egrets(Egretta eulophotes)revealed by GPS tracking

Background:The vulnerable Chinese Egret(Egretta eulophotes)is a long-distance migratory waterbird whose migration and wintering information is poorly understood.This study aims to identify the autumn migration routes and wintering areas of juvenile Chinese Egrets and determine the migration movement traits of this species.Methods:Thirty-nine juvenile Chinese Egrets from the Fantuozi Island,an uninhabited offshore island with a large breeding colony of Chinese Egrets in Dalian,China,were tracked using GPS/GSM transmitters.Some feathers from each tracked juvenile were collected for molecular identification of sex in the laboratory.The GPS locations,recorded at 2-h intervals from August 2018 to May 2020,were used for the analyses.Results:Of the 39 tracked juveniles,30 individuals began their migration between September and November,and 13 successfully completed their autumn migration between October and November.The juveniles migrated southward via three migration routes,coastal,oceanic and inland,mainly during the night.The migration duration,migration distance,flight speed,and stopover duration of the 13 juvenile egrets that completed migration averaged 5.08±1.04 days,3928.18±414.27 km,57.27±5.73 km/h,and 23.08±19.28 h,respectively.These juveniles wintered in the coastal wetlands of Southeast Asia including those in the Philippines,Vietnam,and Malaysia,and only one successfully began its spring migration in June 2020.Conclusions:This study newly finds that the oceanic route taken by juvenile Chinese Egrets,suggesting that the juveniles are able to fly over the Pacific Ocean without a stopover.Moreover,our novel data indicate that coastal wetlands along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway are important areas for both autumn migration stopover and the wintering of these juveniles,suggesting that international cooperation is important to conserve the vulnerable Chinese Egret and the wetland habitats on which it depends.

A passive-biped model with multiple routes to chaos

This paper presents a new passive-biped model consisting of a simplest walking model beneath an upper body, with no kinematic constraint. The upper body is attached to the legs with a linear torsional spring. The model is a passive dynamic walker, so it walks down a slope without energy input. The governing equations of motion are derived and simulated for the parameter analysis purposes. Simulation results reveal some different routes to chaos that have not been observed in previous models.

Review of containership stowage plans for full routes

Containership stowage plans are a pivotal teaches in the system of container transportation.With the increasing containers shipping,planning containership stowage has become more and more complicated.So intelligent stowage planning for containerships is of great significance.An effective stowage plan may improve efficiency of transportation system.First,the progress of containership stowage plan at home and abroad is reviewed,including the latest developments,such as the application of various optimization methods and computer techniques to the problem.Then,the complexities of the problem are discussed and areas where investigations are still needed are pointed out.This will provide a reference for further research on the subject.

Superconducting Single-Layer T-Graphene and Novel Synthesis Routes

Single-layer superconductors are ideal materials for fabricating superconducting nano devices.However,up to date,very few single-layer elemental superconductors have been predicted and especially no one has been successfully synthesized yet.Here,using crystal structure search techniques and ab initio calculations,we predict that a single-layer planar carbon sheet with 4-and 8-membered rings called T-graphene is a new intrinsic elemental superconductor with superconducting critical temperature(Tc)up to around 20.8 K.More importantly,we propose a synthesis route to obtain such a single-layer T-graphene,that is,a T-graphene potassium intercalation compound(C4 K with P4/mmm symmetry)is firstly synthesized at high pressure(>11.5 GPa)and then quenched to ambient condition;and finally,the single-layer T-graphene can be either exfoliated using the electrochemical method from the bulk C4 K,or peeled off from bulk T-graphite C4,where C4 can be obtained from C4 K by evaporating the K atoms.Interestingly,we find that the calculated Tc of C4 K is about 30.4 K at 0 GPa,which sets a new record for layered carbon-based superconductors.The present findings add a new class of carbon-based superconductors.In particular,once the single-layer T-graphene is synthesized,it can pave the way for fabricating superconducting devices together with other 2 D materials using the layer-by-layer growth techniques.

Cyanide Intoxication in Mice Through Different Routes and its Prophylaxis by α-Ketoglutarate

Antagonising effects of α-ketoglutarate (α-KG) could be attributed to complexing of the reactive nucleophile (CN-) to form cyanohydrin in cyanide intoxication. However, an enormous protection obtained could not be delineated on account of possible in situ binding of α-KG given intraperitoneally (i.p.) in mice to cyanide administered through the same route. The present study was designed to see the efficacy of a-KG alone or in combination with sodium nitrite (SN) and/or sodium thiosulfate (STS) in male mice exposed to cyanide administered through subcutaneous (s.c.) or inhalation route. A technique for generation of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is also discussed. On the basis of protection index (PI), defined here as the LD50 of cyanide in protected mice/LD50 of cyanide in unprotected mice and survival time, STS + α-KG regimen was equipotent to the conventional SN + STS regimen. This is further substantiated by effect of α-KG in reducing plasma cyanide levels. The efficacy of α-KG remains undeterred irrespective of the route of cyanide intoxication, while the magnitude of protection varies.

Autumn migration routes of fledgling Chinese Egrets(Egretta eulophotes)in Northeast China and their implications for conservation

The Chinese Egret(Egretta eulophotes)is a globally threatened bird species living on the coast and islands of Liaoning,northeastern China,mainly in summer.To further protect the breeding population of Chinese Egrets,it is important to understand the current protection status of their distribution sites at pre-migration period and migration routes.Thirty-three individuals were tagged with satellite transmitters at Fantuo Island in Changhai and Xingren Island in Zhuanghe,Liaoning Province,northeastern China,in July of 2016,2017,and 2018,to identify important distribution sites during the pre-migration period,as well as detailed migration routes.The results showed that coastal mudflats in Liaoning and the west coast of North Korea were important feeding and roosting sites for fledgling Chinese Egrets from August to September.The home range sizes in August were significantly larger than in September.The eastern coast from Shandong to Guangdong,as well as Taiwan,China,and Manila Bay and Galileo Islands in the Philippines,were important stopover sites during fall migration.Specifically,we found that the egrets’autumn migration could be divided into four routes,i.e.,sea-crossing migration(SCM),coastal migration(CM),inland migration(IM),and mixed migration(MM).The migration distance,timing,speed,and straightness of the four routes also differed.The SCM routes were the straightest,and had the fastest migration speed and shortest travel time,while the IM routes had the lowest straightness and speed,and the longest duration.Manila Bay and Bohol Island in the Philippines,the west coast of Tanintharyi in Myanmar,and the Zengwun River Estuary in Taiwan,China,were wintering sites.Our findings on the key distribution sites along pre-migration and fall migration routes,including some stopover sites,have important implications for the conservation of and global action plan development for the vulnerable Chinese Egret.

Cruise missile multiple routes planning based on hybrid particle swarm optimization

In order to solve cruise missile route planning problem for low-altitude penetration , a hy- brid particle swarm optimization （ HPSO ） algorithm is proposed. Firstly, K-means clustering algo- rithm is applied to divide the particle swarm into multiple isolated sub-populations, then niche algo- rithm is adopted to make all particles independently search for optimal values in their own sub-popu- lations. Finally simulated annealing （SA） algorithm is introduced to avoid the weakness of PSO algo- rithm, which can easily be trapped into the local optimum in the search process. The optimal value obtained by every sub-population search corresponds to an optimal route, multiple different optimal routes are provided for cruise missile. Simulation results show that the HPSO algorithm has a fast convergence rate, and the planned routes have flat ballisticpaths and short ranges which meet the low-altitude penetration requirements.

Effects of Blending Routes on the Morphology and Properties of PA-6/Nano-CaCO_3/MA-POE Ternary Composites

The effect of blending routes on the morphology and properties of Polyamide-6 (PA-6)/nano-CaCO3/Maleated ethylene-octane copolymer (MA-POE) ternary composite was analyzed using static mechanical test (DMA), TEM (transmission electronic microscope) and SEM (scanning electron microscope). It was found that MA-POE, as an impact modifier, had a profound effect upon the toughness of the PA-6/nano-CaCO3 composite. In particular, by adopting two-stage blending route, the microstructure of the ternary composites turned to core-shell structure, and the impact toughness was improved greatly. At the same time, tensile strength and dynamic storage modulus (E1) were higher than those with one-stage blending route processed ternary composite. The results suggest that blending routes may improve the properties of PA-6/nano-CaCO3/MA-POE ternary composites.

Energy-Aware Service Selection Method Based on Sharing Routes in Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper presents a novel energy-aware algorithm for service composition based on sharing routes in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). The method integrates the resource of the overlapping WSNs to a virtual resource pool in the execution cycles of the workflow. This approach chooses the suitable service instances according to the current execution environment and user requirements with minimum energy consumption. Finally, the performance of sharing routes service composition selection in WSNs has been evaluated.

Using a skillful statistical model to predict September sea ice covering Arctic shipping routes

The rapid decrease in Arctic sea ice cover and thickness not only has a linkage with extreme weather in the midlatitudes but also brings more opportunities for Arctic shipping routes and polar resource exploration,both of which motivate us to further understand causes of sea-ice variations and to obtain more accurate estimates of seaice cover in the future.Here,a novel data-driven method,the causal effect networks algorithm,is applied to identify the direct precursors of September sea-ice extent covering the Northern Sea Route and Transpolar Sea Route at different lead times so that statistical models can be constructed for sea-ice prediction.The whole study area was also divided into two parts:the northern region covered by multiyear ice and the southern region covered by seasonal ice.The forecast models of September sea-ice extent in the whole study area(TSIE)and southern region(SSIE)at lead times of 1–4 months can explain over 65%and 79%of the variances,respectively,but the forecast skill of sea-ice extent in the northern region(NSIE)is limited at a lead time of 1 month.At lead times of 1–4 months,local sea-ice concentration and sea-ice thickness have a larger influence on September TSIE and SSIE than other teleconnection factors.When the lead time is more than 4 months,the surface meridional wind anomaly from northern Europe in the preceding autumn or early winter is dominant for September TSIE variations but is comparable to thermodynamic factors for NSIE and SSIE.We suggest that this study provides a complementary approach for predicting regional sea ice and is helpful in evaluating and improving climate models.