Oxidation behavior and improvement in nonflammability of LPSO-type Mg–Zn–Y–Sr alloy

Mg_(97)Zn_(1)Y_(2)alloys with high ignition temperatures were developed by adding Sr.The addition of Sr resulted in the formation of a uniform and thin Y_(2)O_(3)film.Mg–Zn–Y alloys containing at least 0.25 at.%Sr exhibited ignition temperatures of 1270–1320 K.As a result of EDS measurement,Sr was found to be concentrated in the Y_(2)O_(3)film.In addition,a mixed film of MgO and Sr O formed on the outer layer in the 1.5 at.%Sr-containing Mg_(97)Zn_(1)Y_(2)alloy.These findings suggest that the uniform and thin Y_(2)O_(3)film that maintains high soundness at high temperatures was formed owing to valence control and the formation of a protective outer oxide film.

There is more to the knee joint than just the quadriceps:A systematic review with meta-analysis and evidence gap map of hamstring strength,flexibility,and morphology in individuals with gradual-onset knee disorders

Background:Impairments in hamstring strength,flexibility,and morphology have been associated with altered knee biomechanics,pain,and function.Determining the presence of these impairments in individuals with gradual-onset knee disorders is important and may indicate targets for assessment and rehabilitation.This systematic review aimed to synthesize the literature to determine the presence of impairments in hamstring strength,flexibility,and morphology in individuals with gradual-onset knee disorders.Methods:Five databases(MEDLINE,Embase,CINAHL,SPORTDiscus,and Web of Science)were searched from inception to September 2022.Only studies comparing hamstring outcomes(e.g.,strength,flexibility,and/or morphology)between individuals with gradual-onset knee disorders and their unaffected limbs or pain-free controls were included.Meta-analyses for each knee disorder were performed.Outcome-level certainty was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment,Development,and Evaluation,and evidence gap maps were created.Results:Seventy-nine studies across 4 different gradual-onset knee disorders(i.e.,knee osteoarthritis(OA),patellofemoral pain(PFP),chondromalacia patellae,and patellar tendinopathy)were included.Individuals with knee OA presented with reduced hamstring strength compared to pain-free controls during isometric(standard mean difference(SMD)=-0.76,95%confidence interval(95%CI):-1.32 to-0.21)and concentric contractions(SMD=-0.97,95%CI:-1.49 to-0.45).Individuals with PFP presented with reduced hamstring strength compared to painfree controls during isometric(SMD=-0.48,95%CI:-0.82 to-0.14),concentric(SMD=-1.07,95%CI:-2.08 to-0.06),and eccentric contractions(SMD=-0.59,95%CI:-0.97 to-0.21).No differences were observed in individuals with patellar tendinopathy.Individuals with PFP presented with reduced hamstring flexibility when compared to pain-free controls(SMD=-0.76,95%CI:-1.15 to-0.36).Evidence gap maps identified insufficient evidence for chondromalacia patellae and hamstring morphology across all gradual-onset knee disorders.Conclusion:Our findings suggest that assessing and targeting impairments in hamstring strength and flexibility during rehabilitation may be recommended for individuals with knee OA or PFP.

Suppressive effects of exercise-conditioned serum on cancer cells:A narrative review of the influence of exercise mode,volume,and intensity

Cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide,and the incidence is increasing,highlighting the need for effective strategies to treat this disease.Exercise has emerged as fundamental therapeutic medicine in the management of cancer,associated with a lower risk of recur-rence and increased survival.Several avenues of research demonstrate reduction in growth,proliferation,and increased apoptosis of cancer cells,including breast,prostate,colorectal,and lung cancer,when cultured by serum collected after exercise in vitro(i.e.,the cultivation of cancer cell lines in an experimental setting,which simplifies the biological system and provides mechanistic insight into cell responses).The underlying mechanisms of exercise-induced cancer suppressive effects may be attributed to the alteration in circulating factors,such as skeletal muscle-induced cytokines(i.e.,myokines)and hormones.However,exercise-induced tumor suppressive effects and detailed information about training interventions are not well investigated,constraining more precise application of exercise medicine within clinical oncology.To date,it remains unclear what role different training modes(i.e.,resistance and aerobic training)as well as volume and intensity have on exercise-condi-tioned serum and its effects on cancer cells.Nevertheless,the available evidence is that a single bout of aerobic training at moderate to vigorous intensity has cancer suppressive effects,while for chronic training interventions,exercise volume appears to be an influential candidate driving cancer inhibitory effects regardless of training mode.Insights for future research investigating training modes,volume and intensity are provided to further our understanding of the effects of exercise-conditioned serum on cancer cells.

Review on dynamic analysis of road pavements under moving vehicles and plane strain conditions

This paper reviews works on the dynamic analysis of flexible and rigid pavements under moving vehicles on the basis of continuum-based plane strain models and linear theories.The purpose of this review is to provide in-formation about the existing works on the subject,critically discuss them and make suggestions for further research.The reviewed papers are presented on the basis of the various models for pavement-vehicle systems and the various methods for dynamically analyzing these systems.Flexible pavements are modeled by a homogeneous or layered half-plane with isotropic or anisotropic and linear elastic,viscoelastic or poroelastic material behavior.Rigid pavements are modeled by a beam or plate on a homogeneous or layered half-plane with material properties like the ones for flexible pavements.The vehicles are modeled as concentrated or distributed over a finite area loads moving with constant or time dependent speed.The above pavement-vehicle models are dynamically analyzed by analytical,analytical/numerical or purely numerical methods working in the time or frequency domain.Representative examples are presented to illustrate the models and methods of analysis,demonstrate their merits and assess the effects of the various parameters on pavement response.The paper closes with con-clusions and suggestions for further research in the area.The significance of this research effort has to do with the presentation of the existing literature on the subject in a critical and easy to understand way with the aid of representative examples and the identification of new research areas.

Correlation of Rainfall Anomalies in Rwanda from September to December (SOND) with Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Events

Understanding the relationship between rainfall anomalies and large-scale systems is critical for driving adaptation and mitigation strategies in socioeconomic sectors. This study therefore aims primarily to investigate the correlation between rainfall anomalies in Rwanda during the months of September to December (SOND) with the occurrences of Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. The study is useful for early warning and forecasting of negative effects associated with extreme rainfall anomalies across the country, using Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS), the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) reanalysis sea surface temperature and ERA5 reanalysis datasets, during the period of 1983-2021. Both empirical orthogonal function (EOF), correlation analysis and composite analysis were used to delineate variability, relationship and the related atmospheric circulation between Rwanda seasonal rainfall September to December (SOND) with Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and El-Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The results for Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) for the reconstructed rainfall data set showed three modes. EOF-1, EOF-2 and EOF-3 with their total variance of 63.6%, 16.5% and 4.8%, Indian ocean dipole (IOD) events resulted to a strong positive correlation of rainfall anomalies and Dipole model index (DMI) (r = 0.42, p value = 0.001, DF = 37) significant at 95% confidence level. The composite analysis for the reanalysis dataset was carried out to show the circulation patterns during four different events correlated with September to December seasonal rainfall in Rwanda using T-test at 95% confidence level. Wind anomaly revealed that there was a convergence of south westerly winds and easterly wind over the study area during positive Indian Ocean Diploe (PIOD) and PIOD with El Nino concurrence event years. The finding of this study will contribute to the enhancement of SOND seasonal rainfall forecasting and the reduction of vulnerability during IOD (ENSO) event years.

Erratum to “Expression, Purification and Crystallization of Thermostable Mutant of Cutinase Est1 from <i>Thermobifida alba</i>.” [Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology 9 (2018), 215-223]

The original online version of this article (Kitadokoro, K., Matsui, S., Osokoshi, R., Nakata, K. and Kamitani, S. (2018) Expression, Purification and Crystallization of Thermostable Mutant of Cutinase Est1 from Thermobifida alba. Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology, 9, 215-223. https://doi.org/10.4236/abb.2018.95015) unfortunately contains some mistakes. The author wishes to correct the errors.

Recent Advances and Challenges Toward Application of Fibers and Textiles in Integrated Photovoltaic Energy Storage Devices

Flexible microelectronic devices have seen an increasing trend toward development of miniaturized,portable,and integrated devices as wearable electronics which have the requirement for being light weight,small in dimension,and suppleness.Traditional three-dimensional(3D)and two-dimensional(2D)electronics gadgets fail to effectively comply with these necessities owing to their stiffness and large weights.Investigations have come up with a new family of one-dimensional(1D)flexible and fiber-based electronic devices(FBEDs)comprising power storage,energy-scavenging,implantable sensing,and flexible displays gadgets.However,development and manufacturing are still a challenge owing to their small radius,flexibility,low weight,weave ability and integration in textile electronics.This paper will provide a detailed review on the importance of substrates in electronic devices,intrinsic property requirements,fabrication classification and applications in energy harvesting,energy storage and other flexible electronic devices.Fiber-and textile-based electronic devices for bulk/scalable fabrications,encapsulation,and testing are reviewed and presented future research ideas to enhance the commercialization of these fiber-based electronics devices.

Exploring overweight and obesity beyond body mass index:A body composition analysis in people with and without patellofemoral pain

Background:We compared body mass index(BMI),body fat,and skeletal muscle mass between(1) a mixed-sex nonathletic cohort of people with patellofemoral pain(PFP) and pain-free people,and(2) a nonathletic cohort of people with PFP and pain-free people subgrouped by sex(i.e.,men and women with PFP vs.pain-free men and women).Methods:This cross-sectional study included 114 people with PFP(71 women,43 men) and 54 pain-free controls(32 women,22 men).All participants attended a single testing session to assess body composition measures,which included BMI,percentage of body fat(%BFBioimpedance),and skeletal muscle mass(both assessed by bioelectrical impedance analysis),and percentage of body fat(%BFskinfoid)(assessed by skinfold caliper analysis).A one-way univariate analysis of covariance(age and physical activity levels as covariates) was used to compare body composition measures between groups(i.e.,PFP vs.pain-free group;women with PFP vs.pain-free women;men with PFP vs.pain-free men).Results:Women with PFP presented significantly higher BMI,%BFBiompedance,and %BFSkinfold,and lower skeletal muscle mass compared to pain-free women(p≤0.04;effect size:-0.47 to 0.85).Men with PFP and men and women combined had no differences in BMI,%BFBioimpedance,%BFSkinfold,and skeletal muscle mass compared to their respective pain-free groups(p> 0.05).Conclusion:Our findings indicate that BMI and body composition measures should be considered as part of the evaluation and management of people with PFP,especially in women,who have demonstrated higher BMI and body fat and lower skeletal muscle mass compared to pain-free controls.Future studies should not assess body composition measures in a mixed-sex population without distinguishing men participants from women participants.

Influence of climate fluctuations on Pinus palustris growth and drought resilience

The longleaf pine(Pinus palustris Mill.)ecosystem is an endangered ecosystem in the southeastern USA,and efforts to restore the species are ongoing.However,in recent decades,the region has experienced drastic fluctuations between wet and dry growing season conditions from year to year,and it is not fully understood how these fluctuations have influenced the growth of P.palustris.To address this topic,we cored P.palustris trees in woodlands of southwest Georgia and used dendrochronology techniques to determine how climate fluctuations have influenced the growth and drought resilience of P.palustris.We also cored slash pine(Pinus elliottii Engelm.)trees in the same woodlands to compare growth between species.While P.palustris growth was less impacted by adverse climate conditions compared to P.elliottii,the strength of correlations between P.palustris growth and temperature,precipitation,and Palmer Drought Severity Index(PDSI)changed over time.In recent decades,climate conditions during the growing season became more influential on P.palustris growth than the previous year's conditions.This is concerning given that drought severity during the growing season has been increasing.Our results also indicate that P.palustris was less resilient to droughts during the 2000s and 2010s than to those of the 1950s.Under this new climate paradigm,our results suggest that P.palustris might be more susceptible to growth reductions and less resistant to droughts than once expected.This work highlights the importance of understanding the impact of novel climate conditions on P.palustris and has implications for restoration efforts,such as using silvicultural treatments that reduce tree vulnerability to drought(e.g.,thinning)and promote other climate-adapted species in mixture with P.palustris.

Molecular evidence and phylogenetic delineation of spotted fever group Rickettsia species in Amblyomma ticks from cattle in Gauteng and Limpopo Provinces,South Africa

Objective:To determine the prevalence of tick-borne pathogens with a particular focus on Rickettsia spp.in ticks collected from cattle in Gauteng and Limpopo Provinces,South Africa.Methods:A total of 200 ticks were collected from cattle within the Madala livestock,Pretoria,Gauteng Province and in Mankweng Township,Polokwane,Limpopo Province in 2019.The ticks were morphologically identified and processed individually for a total genomic DNA extraction.Specific primers targetting ompA,ompB,and the 17KDa genes were used for a molecular screening and delineation of Rickettsia from the extracted genetic materials using polymerase chain reaction(PCR)technique.PCR amplicons of positive samples were sequenced bidirectionally using the Sanger sequencing method.Sequences generated were processed and analysed using appropriate bioinformatics software.Results:The ticks were morphologically identified as Amblyomma spp.PCR profiling of the genomic DNA samples revealed the presence of the Rickettsia pathogen in 42(21%)of the ticks collected from both Provinces.Out of the genes profiled,14(7%)were positive for 17KDa,42(21%)for ompA and 32(16%)were positive for ompB genes respectively.The nucleotide blast of the sequenced genomes showed high similarity,as high as 100% with other reference Rickettsia(R.)africae in the GenBank.The phylogenetic analysis of the sequences further validated them as R.africae with their characteristic clustering pattern with related reference sequences.Conclusions:There is an abundance of R.africae in Amblyomma ticks collected from cattle in the study areas.This has serious public health implications as individuals who accidentally get infested with the ticks could acquire R.africae.Hence,adequate precautions in terms of sensitization of farmers about the risk and mass mobilization drive to control the vectors in the areas are highly recommended to safeguard public health.

Overweight and obesity in young adults with patellofemoral pain:Impact on functional capacity and strength

Purpose:This study aimed to(a)investigate the proportion of overweight/obesity in a cohort of young adults with patellofemoral pain(PFP)and(b)explore the association of body mass index(BMI),body fat,and lean mass with functional capacity and hip and knee strength in people with PFP.Methods:We included a mixed-sex sample of young adults(18-35 years old)with PFP(n=100).Measurements for BMI,percentage of body fat,and lean mass(assessed by bioelectrical impedance)were obtained.Functional capacity was assessed by the Anterior Knee Pain Scale,plank test,and single-leg hop test.Strength of the knee extensors,knee flexors,and hip abductors was evaluated isometrically using an isokinetic dynamometer.The proportion of overweight/obesity was calculated based on BMI.The association between BMI,body fat,and lean mass and functional capacity and strength was investigated using partial correlations,followed by hierarchical regression analysis,adjusted for covariates(sex,bilateral pain,and current pain level).Results:A total of 38%of our cohort had their BMI categorized as overweight/obese.Higher BMI was associated with poor functional capacity(ΔR^(2)=0.06-0.12,p<0.001)and with knee flexion strength only(ΔR^(2)=0.04,p=0.030).Higher body fat was associated with poor functional capacity(ΔR^(2)=0.05-0.15,p≤0.015)and reduced strength(ΔR^(2)=0.15-0.23,p<0.001).Lower lean mass was associated with poor functional capacity(ΔR^(2)=0.04-0.13,p≤0.032)and reduced strength(ΔR^(2)=0.29-0.31,p<0.001).Conclusion:BMI,body fat,and lean mass should be considered in the assessment and management of young people with PFP because it may be detrimental to function and strength.

Overview of current detection methods and microRNA potential in Clostridioides difficile infection screening

Clostridioides difficile(formerly called Clostridium difficile,C.difficile)infection(CDI)is listed as an urgent threat on the 2019 antibiotic resistance threats report in the United States by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Early detection and appropriate disease management appear to be essential.Meanwhile,although the majority of cases are hospital-acquired CDI,community-acquired CDI cases are also on the rise,and this vulnerability is not limited to immunocompromised patients.Gastrointestinal treatments and/or gastrointestinal tract surgeries may be required for patients diagnosed with digestive diseases.Such treatments could suppress or interfere with the patient’s immune system and disrupt gut flora homeostasis,creating a suitable microecosystem for C.difficile overgrowth.Currently,stool-based non-invasive screening is the first-line approach to CDI diagnosis,but the accuracy is varied due to different clinical microbiology detection methods;therefore,improving reliability is clearly required.In this review,we briefly summarised the life cycle and toxicity of C.difficile,and we examined existing diagnostic approaches with an emphasis on novel biomarkers such as microRNAs.These biomarkers can be easily detected through noninvasive liquid biopsy and can yield crucial information about ongoing pathological phenomena,particularly in CDI.

Anti-Biofilm, Anti-Quorum Sensing, and Anti-Proliferative Activities of Methanolic and Aqueous Roots Extracts of Carica papaya L. and Cocos nucifera L.

Objective: This study focused on the antibacterial and anti-proliferative activity of extracts from Carica papaya and Cocos nucifera roots. Methodology: The minimum inhibitory concentration and the minimum bactericidal concentration of the extracts on Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus mutans, and Staphylococcus aureus were deduced by the microdilution method. The anti-biofilm activity was determined on all four strains and anti-quorum sensing activity by inhibition of violacein production in Chromobacterium violaceum. Anti-proliferative activity on prostate cultured cancer cells was evaluated by MTT assay. Sterols and triterpenes were also assayed in this study. Results: The methanolic extract of Carica papaya showed the best anti-biofilm effect with a percentage inhibition of 66.10 ± 1.79. The methanolic extract of Cocos nucifera had the strongest inhibition on the production of quorum sensing (61.42 ± 0.28). In addition, the methanolic extract of Cocos nucifera roots showed the best cytotoxic effect on prostate cancer LNCaP cell lines (IC50 = 26.98 ± 2.6 μg/mL) and Carica papaya on the PC-3 lines (IC50 = 127.20 ± 5.99 μg/mL). The extracts were also rich in triterpenes and sterols. Conclusion: This study provides support for the ethnomedical use of Carica papaya and Cocos nucifera roots as an antimicrobial and anticancer.

Prevalence and intensity of soil-transmitted helminth infections among school-age children in the Cagayan Valley, the Philippines

Objective:To identify the prevalence of soil-transmitted helminthiasis(STH)among school-age children in the Cagayan Valley,the Philippines,assess their level of awareness on the disease,and determine predisposing factors of the disease.Methods:A total of 478 GradesⅢ-Ⅴschool-age children in Pamplona and Sanchez-Mira School Districts in the Cagayan Valley answered the questionnaire assessing their knowledge,attitude,and practices on STH,subjected to anthropometric measurements,and provided faecal samples for parasitologic assessment(direct smear,Kato-Katz,and formol-ether concentration techniques).Results:The participants of the study,with 55.86%females,were 8 to 14 years old.Their nutritional status was assessed‘normal’(84.31%),‘severely wasted’(6.49%),‘wasted’(5.23%),‘overweight’(2.72%),and‘obese’(1.26%).The prevalence of infection with at least 1 STH species was 25.99%in Pamplona and 19.40%in SanchezMira.Overall,the prevalence of heavy intensity was 7.11%for Ascaris lumbricoides and 1.67%for Trichuris trichiura.All hookworm infections had light intensities.The majority of the school-age children had a low score in the KAP test.In knowledge of STH,‘stunted growth as a symptom of infection’was associated with a lower risk of Ascaris lumbricoides infection(OR 0.448;95%CI 0.212,0.945;P=0.035)while‘playing with soil as a mode of transmission’was associated with an increased risk of Ascaris lumbricoides infection(OR 2.067;95%CI 1.014,4.212;P=0.046).In attitude towards STH,‘I think I have intestinal worm now’was associated with a higher risk of Ascaris lumbricoides infection(OR 1.681;95%CI 1.061,2.662;P=0.027).Conclusions:The prevalence rate of Ascaris lumbricoides among the school-age children in the Cagayan Valley shows the need to further intensify intervention in the area to meet the threshold set by the World Health Organization.The identified predictors of infection,which concerns the school-age children’s knowledge and attitude toward STH,can be used in augmenting intervention programs in the future.

Telemedicine and Smart Healthcare—The Role of Artificial Intelligence, 5G, Cloud Services, and Other Enabling Technologies

This paper discusses telemedicine and the employment of advanced mobile technologies in smart healthcare delivery. It covers the technological advances in connected smart healthcare, including the roles of artificial intelligence, machine learning, 5G and IoT platforms, and other enabling technologies. It also presents the challenges and potential risks that could arise from delivering connected smart healthcare services. Healthcare delivery is witnessing revolutions engineered by the developments in mobile connectivity and the plethora of platforms, applications, sensors, devices, and equipment that go along with it. Human society is evolving fast in response to these technological developments, which are also pushing the connectivity-providing sector to create and adopt new waves of network technologies. Consequently, new communications technologies have been introduced into the healthcare system and many novel applications have been developed to make it easier for sharing data in various forms and volumes within health-related services. These applications have also made it possible for telemedicine to be effectively adopted. This paper provides an overview of some of the recent developments within the space of mobile connectivity and telemedicine.

Possibilities of Assessing Respiratory Muscle Strength and Trunk Muscle Mass in the Prevention of Sarcopenia in Older People Living in the Community

Objective: The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between respiratory muscle strength and skeletal muscle mass (trunk, upper limbs, and lower limbs) in older people who were certified as requiring nursing or supportive care. Methods: Thirty-five older people (65 years or older) who were certified as requiring nursing care or support were included in the study. The subjects were divided into a non-sarcopenic group (n = 12) and a sarcopenic group (n = 23) according to the sarcopenia diagnostic criteria proposed by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia. Maximum inspiratory pressure, maximum expiratory pressure, skeletal muscle mass (trunk, upper and lower limbs), and hand grip strength were measured. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis were used for statistical processing. Results: In the non-sarcopenic group, both expiratory muscle strength and hand grip strength were correlated with skeletal muscle mass. In the sarcopenia group, expiratory muscle strength was not correlated with skeletal muscle mass, and only hand grip strength was correlated with upper limb muscle mass. Multiple regression analysis revealed that, in the non-sarcopenic group, trunk muscle mass was the primary factor in expiratory muscle strength and upper limb muscle mass was the primary factor in hand grip strength. In the sarcopenia group, upper limb muscle mass was found to be the main factor in hand grip strength. Conclusion: Our results highlight the importance of assessing expiratory muscle strength and trunk muscle mass before sarcopenia develops in older people who require support and nursing care.

Hyperspectral image super resolution using deep internal and self-supervised learning

By automatically learning the priors embedded in images with powerful modelling ca-pabilities,deep learning-based algorithms have recently made considerable progress in reconstructing the high-resolution hyperspectral(HR-HS)image.With previously collected large-amount of external data,these methods are intuitively realised under the full supervision of the ground-truth data.Thus,the database construction in merging the low-resolution(LR)HS(LR-HS)and HR multispectral(MS)or RGB image research paradigm,commonly named as HSI SR,requires collecting corresponding training triplets:HR-MS(RGB),LR-HS and HR-HS image simultaneously,and often faces dif-ficulties in reality.The learned models with the training datasets collected simultaneously under controlled conditions may significantly degrade the HSI super-resolved perfor-mance to the real images captured under diverse environments.To handle the above-mentioned limitations,the authors propose to leverage the deep internal and self-supervised learning to solve the HSI SR problem.The authors advocate that it is possible to train a specific CNN model at test time,called as deep internal learning(DIL),by on-line preparing the training triplet samples from the observed LR-HS/HR-MS(or RGB)images and the down-sampled LR-HS version.However,the number of the training triplets extracted solely from the transformed data of the observation itself is extremely few particularly for the HSI SR tasks with large spatial upscale factors,which would result in limited reconstruction performance.To solve this problem,the authors further exploit deep self-supervised learning(DSL)by considering the observations as the unlabelled training samples.Specifically,the degradation modules inside the network were elaborated to realise the spatial and spectral down-sampling procedures for transforming the generated HR-HS estimation to the high-resolution RGB/LR-HS approximation,and then the reconstruction errors of the observations were formulated for measuring the network modelling performance.By consolidating the DIL and DSL into a unified deep framework,the authors construct a more robust HSI SR method without any prior training and have great potential of flexible adaptation to different settings per obser-vation.To verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach,extensive experiments have been conducted on two benchmark HS datasets,including the CAVE and Harvard datasets,and demonstrate the great performance gain of the proposed method over the state-of-the-art methods.

Stabilisation of estuarine sediments with an alkali-activated cement for deep soil mixing applications

In this work,an alternative alkali-activated cement(AAC)made of ladle slag precursor mixed with sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate has been developed to enhance the bearing capacity of estuarine soils in coastal conditions via deep soil mixing(DSM).The AAC was optimized to use a low reactivity precursor(ladle slag)and to deal with a contaminated high-water content natural sediment cured under water.The material performance was analysed by comparison to a mixture made with Portland cement and cured in the same conditions.Flexural and unconfined compressive strength tests as well as seismic waves measurements after 3-,7-,14-and 28-d curing were performed to obtain a relationship between elastic stiffness and strength with curing time for both mixtures.Remarkably,the AAC mix demonstrated superior strength results,exhibiting almost double flexural and compressive strengths after 28 d compared to the Portland cement mix.The AAC mix also showed a higher rate of stiffness increase than the Portland cement mix,which has a higher initial stiffness at young ages but lower stiffness evolution.Leachate analysis confirmed that the proposed AAC could effectively immobilise any contaminants from soil or precursors.The effect of curing under stress was analysed in triaxial compression tests and found to be insignificant,indicating that laboratory data obtained without stress curing can represent the material's behaviour in a DSM column,which will cure under the weight of the column.

Insights into Nano-and Micro-Structured Scaffolds for Advanced Electrochemical Energy Storage

Adopting a nano-and micro-structuring approach to fully unleashing the genuine potential of electrode active material benefits in-depth understandings and research progress toward higher energy density electrochemical energy stor-age devices at all technology readiness levels.Due to various challenging issues,especially limited stability,nano-and micro-structured(NMS)electrodes undergo fast electrochemical performance degradation.The emerging NMS scaffold design is a pivotal aspect of many electrodes as it endows them with both robustness and electrochemical performance enhancement,even though it only occupies comple-mentary and facilitating components for the main mechanism.However,extensive efforts are urgently needed toward optimizing the stereoscopic geometrical design of NMS scaffolds to minimize the volume ratio and maximize their functionality to fulfill the ever-increasing dependency and desire for energy power source supplies.This review will aim at highlighting these NMS scaffold design strategies,summariz-ing their corresponding strengths and challenges,and thereby outlining the potential solutions to resolve these challenges,design principles,and key perspectives for future research in this field.Therefore,this review will be one of the earliest reviews from this viewpoint.

Enhancing Network Design through Statistical Evaluation of MANET Routing Protocols

This paper contributes a sophisticated statistical method for the assessment of performance in routing protocols salient Mobile Ad Hoc Network(MANET)routing protocols:Destination Sequenced Distance Vector(DSDV),Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector(AODV),Dynamic Source Routing(DSR),and Zone Routing Protocol(ZRP).In this paper,the evaluation will be carried out using complete sets of statistical tests such as Kruskal-Wallis,Mann-Whitney,and Friedman.It articulates a systematic evaluation of how the performance of the previous protocols varies with the number of nodes and the mobility patterns.The study is premised upon the Quality of Service(QoS)metrics of throughput,packet delivery ratio,and end-to-end delay to gain an adequate understanding of the operational efficiency of each protocol under different network scenarios.The findings explained significant differences in the performance of different routing protocols;as a result,decisions for the selection and optimization of routing protocols can be taken effectively according to different network requirements.This paper is a step forward in the general understanding of the routing dynamics of MANETs and contributes significantly to the strategic deployment of robust and efficient network infrastructures.