Automatic visual localization of electric vehicle (EV) charging ports presents significant challenges in uncertain environments, such as varying surface textures, reflections, lighting and observation distance. Existing methods require extensive real-world training data and well-focused images to achieve robust and accurate localization. However, both requirements are difficult to meet under variable and unpredictable conditions. This paper proposes a 2-stage vision-based localization approach. Firstly, the image synthesis technique is used to reduce the cost of real-world data collection. A task-oriented parameterization protocol (TOPP) is proposed to optimize the quality of the synthetic images. Secondly, an autofocus and servoing strategy is proposed. A hybrid detector is employed to enhance sharpness assessment performance, while a visual servoing method based on single exponential smoothing (SES) is developed to enhance stability and efficiency during the search process. Experiments were conducted to evaluate image synthesis efficiency, detection accuracy, and servoing performance. The proposed method achieved 99% detection accuracy on the real-world port images, and guided the robot to the optimal imaging position within 16 s, outperforming comparable approaches. These results highlight its potential for robust automated charging in real-world scenarios.

American silk moth, Antheraea polyphemus Cramer 1775 (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae), native to North America, has potential significance in sericulture for food consumption and silk production. To date, the phylogenetic relationship and divergence time of A. polyphemus with its Asian relatives remain unknown. To end these issues, two mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) of A. polyphemus from the USA and Canada respectively were determined. The mitogenomes of A. polyphemus from the USA and Canada were 15,346 and 15,345 bp in size, respectively, with only two transitions and five indels. The two mitogenomes both encoded typical mitochondrial 37 genes. No tandem repeat elements were identified in the A+T-rich region of A. polyphemus. The mitogenome-based phylogenetic analyses supported the placement of A. polyphemus within the genus Antheraea, and revealed the presence of two clades for eight Antheraea species used: one included A. polyphemus, A. assamensis Helfer, A. formosana Sonan and the other contained A. mylitta Drury, A. frithi Bouvier, A. yamamai Guérin-Méneville, A. proylei Jolly, and A. pernyi Guérin-Méneville. Mitogenome-based divergence time estimation further suggested that the dispersal of A. polyphemus from Asia into North America might have occurred during the Miocene Epoch (18.18 million years ago) across the Berling land bridge. This study reports the mitogenome of A. polyphemus that provides new insights into the phylogenetic relationship among Antheraea species and the origin of A. polyphemus.

Underwater robots conducting inspections require autonomous obstacle avoidance capabilities to ensure safe operations. Training methods based on reinforcement learning (RL) can effectively develop autonomous obstacle avoidance strategies for underwater robots; however, training in real environments carries significant risks and can easily result in robot damage. This paper proposes a Sim-to-Real pipeline for RL-based training of autonomous obstacle avoidance in underwater robots, addressing the challenges associated with training and deploying RL methods for obstacle avoidance in this context. We establish a simulation model and environment for underwater robot training based on the mathematical model of the robot, comprehensively reducing the gap between simulation and reality in terms of system inputs, modeling, and outputs. Experimental results demonstrate that our high-fidelity simulation system effectively facilitates the training of autonomous obstacle avoidance algorithms, achieving a 94% success rate in obstacle avoidance and collision-free operation exceeding 5000 steps in virtual environments. Directly transferring the trained strategy to a real robot successfully performed obstacle avoidance experiments in a pool, validating the effectiveness of our method for autonomous strategy training and sim-to-real transfer in underwater robots.

Wall-resolved large-eddy simulations of flow over an axisymmetric body of revolution (DARPA SUBOFF bare model) at $ \it{Re}_L=1.1\times 10^6$ are performed to investigate wall pressure fluctuations under the combined effects of transverse curvature and varying pressure gradients. Due to the coexistence of convex and concave streamwise curvatures, the flow in the stern region features alternating zones of favourable and adverse pressure gradients (APGs). The simulation validates experimental findings by Balantrapu et al. (2023, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 960, A28), confirming that in APG-dominant axisymmetric boundary layers without streamwise curvatures, the root mean square wall pressure fluctuations ($p_{w,rms}$) decrease downstream alongside the wall shear stress ($\tau _w$), maintaining a constant ratio $p_{w,rms}/\tau _{w}$. This study further finds that when streamwise curvatures and strong streamwise pressure gradient variations present, this relationship breaks down, suggesting that $\tau _w$ is not the dominant contributor to wall pressure fluctuations. Instead, the local maximum Reynolds shear stress $-\rho \langle u_su_n\rangle _{max }$ emerges as a more robust pressure scaling parameter. Normalising the wall pressure spectra by $-\rho \langle u_su_n\rangle _{max }$ yields better collapse across the entire stern region compared to conventional inner or mixed scaling methods. The magnitude and location of $-\rho \langle u_su_n\rangle _{max }$ significantly influence the spectral levels of wall pressure fluctuations across different frequency bands. As the turbulence intensity and $-\rho \langle u_su_n\rangle _{max }$ shift away from the wall, outer-layer structures – with larger spatial and temporal scales – dominate the coherence of wall pressure fluctuations. This mechanism drives sustained attenuation of high-frequency pressure fluctuations and a simultaneous increase in both the streamwise and transverse correlation lengths of wall pressure fluctuations over the stern region.

The next-generation radio astronomy instruments are providing a massive increase in sensitivity and coverage, largely through increasing the number of stations in the array and the frequency span sampled. The two primary problems encountered when processing the resultant avalanche of data are the need for abundant storage and the constraints imposed by I/O, as I/O bandwidths drop significantly on cold storage. An example of this is the data deluge expected from the SKA Telescopes of more than 60 PB per day, all to be stored on the buffer filesystem. While compressing the data is an obvious solution, the impacts on the final data products are hard to predict. In this paper, we chose an error-controlled compressor – MGARD – and applied it to simulated SKA-Mid and real pathfinder visibility data, in noise-free and noise-dominated regimes. As the data have an implicit error level in the system temperature, using an error bound in compression provides a natural metric for compression. MGARD ensures the compression incurred errors adhere to the user-prescribed tolerance. To measure the degradation of images reconstructed using the lossy compressed data, we proposed a list of diagnostic measures, exploring the trade-off between these error bounds and the corresponding compression ratios, as well as the impact on science quality derived from the lossy compressed data products through a series of experiments. We studied the global and local impacts on the output images for continuum and spectral line examples. We found relative error bounds of as much as 10%, which provide compression ratios of about 20, have a limited impact on the continuum imaging as the increased noise is less than the image RMS, whereas a 1% error bound (compression ratio of 8) introduces an increase in noise of about an order of magnitude less than the image RMS. For extremely sensitive observations and for very precious data, we would recommend a $0.1\%$ error bound with compression ratios of about 4. These have noise impacts two orders of magnitude less than the image RMS levels. At these levels, the limits are due to instabilities in the deconvolution methods. We compared the results to the alternative compression tool DYSCO, in both the impacts on the images and in the relative flexibility. MGARD provides better compression for similar error bounds and has a host of potentially powerful additional features.

This editorial essay describes what is phenomenon-based research and why it is important to conduct indigenous Chinese management research. Grounded in the Chinese context, the author identifies emerging new organizational phenomena in the digital age that calls for new theoretical explanations and empirical validation. Adopting an evolution of theories perspective, the author outlines the various paths that can move a new theory explaining an indigenous phenomenon toward becoming a universal theory that can transcend time and space.

In this paper, we prove that the hitting probability of the Minkowski sum of fractal percolations can be characterised by capacity. Then we extend this result to Minkowski sums of general random sets in $\mathbb Z^d$, including ranges of random walks and critical branching random walks, whose hitting probabilities are described by Newtonian capacity individually.

The institutional logics perspective provides a powerful theoretical lens that emphasizes how meanings and practices are intertwined in relatively enduring configurations that can profoundly shape organizational behavior across space and time. In this article, we propose the need for a broader research agenda on the dynamics of institutional logics in the Chinese context, particularly in three aspects. We begin by elaborating on the distinct configuration of logics in China, where state logic is more dominant and often directs other logics, thus shaping organizational behavior differently than its Western counterpart. We then argue for the need to examine (1) the change of logics per se, leveraging China’ market transition, which provides a unique opportunity to observe how existing configurations of logics undergo transformational change and regain coherence; (2) the governance of logics, focusing on the influence of social evaluators and command posts; and (3) the diffusion of the China Model, a distinct configuration of logics and orders, to other countries through the Chinese state’s political and economic campaigns.

This manuscript presents a novel three-series-only topology P-insulator-N (PIN) diode single-pole-double-through (SPDT) switch designed to address the challenges of high power handling and low insertion loss in Q-band and V-band communication systems. The manuscript provides a detailed theoretical analysis of series-connected PIN diodes, offering insights into their behavior under both small- and large-signal conditions. Based on GaAs PIN diode technology, the switch operates across a frequency range of 37.7 to 61 GHz, achieving a low insertion loss of 0.707 dB and providing an isolation of 24.6 dB. The proposed SPDT switch demonstrates a high $\text{IP}_{\text{0.1~dB}}$ of 37.6 dBm at 38 GHz. With a compact chip size of $0.905\times 0.885 \text{mm}^2$, including all pads, this work offers excellent power handling capability, making it highly suitable for advanced communication systems in Q-band and V-band applications.

Using three waves (2011–15) of CHARLS data, we analyze the short-term effects of widowhood on cognitive function among older Chinese. Fixed-effect models show that widowhood has significant adverse effects on cognition for rural elders but not for urban ones. Furthermore, compared to rural men, rural women exhibit greater declines in cognition, especially in fluid cognition. We explore the possible mechanism from the neighborhood perspective. The results show that community sports and entertainment facilities and public services can effectively mitigate the negative impact of widowhood on cognitive function for rural widows. Sports and entertainment facilities can mainly enhance word recall ability, especially delayed word recall. Public services such as elderly health centers focusing on the healthcare function for the elderly can also improve the word recall ability of rural widows. On the other hand, family-based elderly care centers mainly increase the cognition ability of mental intactness.

Cryphodera guangdongensis n. sp. was collected from the soil and roots of Schima superba in Guangdong province, China. The new species is characterised by having a nearly spherical female, with dimensions of length × width = 532.3 (423.8–675.3) × 295.6 (160.0–381.2) μm, stylet length of 35.7 (31.1–42.1) μm, protruding vulval lips, a vulval slit measuring 54.2 (47.4–58.9) μm, an area between the vulva and anus that is flat to concave, and a vulva–anus distance 49.3 (41.1–57.6) μm. The male features two lip annules, a stylet length of 31.7 (27.4–34.8) μm and basal knobs that are slightly projecting anteriorly, while lateral field is areolated with three incisures and spicules length of 27.1 (23.7–31.0) μm. The second stage juvenile is characterised by a body length of 506.1 (441.8–564.4) μm long, two to three lip annules, a stylet length 31.2 (29.7–33.2) μm which is well developed, basal knobs projecting anteriorly, a lateral field that is areolate with three incisures, and a narrow rounded tail measuring 63.2 (54.2–71.3) μm long, with a hyaline region of 35.6 (27.4–56.6) μm long that is longer than the stylet. Based on morphology and morphometrics, the new species is closely related to C. sinensis and C. japonicum within the genus Cryphodera. The phylogenetic trees constructed based on the ITS-rRNA, 28S-rRNA D2–D3 region, and the partial COI gene sequences indicate that the new species clusters with other Cryphodera species but maintains in a separated subgroup. A key to the species of the genus Cryphodera is also provided in this study.

The incorporation of trace metals into land snail shells may record the ambient environmental conditions, yet this potential remains largely unexplored. In this study, we analyzed modern snail shells (Cathaica sp.) collected from 16 sites across the Chinese Loess Plateau to investigate their trace metal compositions. Our results show that both the Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios exhibit minimal intra-shell variability and small inter-shell variability at individual sites. A significant positive correlation is observed between the shell Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios across the plateau, with higher values being recorded in the northwestern sites where less monsoonal rainfall is received. We propose that shell Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios, which record the composition of soil solution, may be controlled by the Rayleigh distillation in response to prior calcite precipitation. Higher rainfall amounts may lead to a lower degree of Rayleigh distillation and thus lower shell Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios. This is supported by the distinct negative correlation between summer precipitation and shell Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios, enabling us to reconstruct summer precipitation amounts using the Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios of Cathaica sp. shells. The potential application of these novel proxies may also be promising for other terrestrial mollusks living in the loess deposits globally.

Since its inception, the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) has become increasingly influential in the field of second language (L2) education. In an effort to define the grammatical structures that English learners acquire at each CEFR level, the English Grammar Profile (EGP) provides a list of over 1,200 structure-level mappings derived from largely manual analysis of learner corpora. Though highly valuable for the design of didactic materials and examinations, the EGP lacks comprehensive quantitative methods to verify the acquisition levels it proposes for the grammatical structures. This paper presents an approach for revisiting the EGP structure-level mappings with empirical statistics. The approach utilizes automatic grammatical construction extraction, a large learner corpus, and statistical testing to empirically determine the level of each structure. The structure-level mappings resulting from our approach show limited agreement with that of the original EGP proposals, suggesting that frequency data alone does not provide enough evidence for the acquisition of the grammatical structures at the levels presented by the EGP.

The interaction of helminth infections with type 2 diabetes (T2D) has been a major area of research in the past few years. This paper, therefore, focuses on the systematic review of the effects of helminthic infections on metabolism and immune regulation related to T2D, with mechanisms through which both direct and indirect effects are mediated. Specifically, the possible therapeutic role of helminths in T2D management, probably mediated through the modulation of host metabolic pathways and immune responses, is of special interest. This paper discusses the current possibilities for translating helminth therapy from basic laboratory research to clinical application, as well as existing and future challenges. Although preliminary studies suggest the potential for helminth therapy for T2D patients, their safety and efficacy still need to be confirmed by larger-scale clinical studies.