In this work, a compact active integrated antenna based on a highly compatible antenna-in-package (AiP) solution is proposed. It consists of two sections, namely, a cover plate integrated with an antenna and a package backplane that carries a GaN power amplifier (PA) die. The proposed AiP solution not only provides efficient interconnection between the antenna and the GaN PA die while providing physical shielding, but also provides impedance compensation for the die to improve the matching performance. Besides, a plated through hole array is designed inside the package backplane to significantly improve heat dissipation performance. The proposed AiP solution is compatible with radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) dies with different pin arrangements. Two prototypes are fabricated and measured for validation. The first prototype is the active integrated antenna based on the GaN PA, which shows an impedance bandwidth of 25.7–28.7 GHz, a peak gain of 31 dBi, and a dimension of 8 mm × 8 mm × 1.7 mm. Another prototype is based on a GaN front-end module (FEM) die integrating the PA and low noise amplifier, which demonstrates better EVM and ACPR than the conventional design with separate antenna and FEM.

Two-dimensional simulations incorporating detailed chemistry are conducted for detonation initiation induced by dual hot spots in a hydrogen/oxygen/argon mixture. The objective is to examine the transient behaviour of detonation initiation as facilitated by dual hot spots, and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Effects of hot spot pressure and distance on the detonation initiation process are assessed; and five typical initiation modes are identified. It is found that increasing the hot spot pressure promotes detonation initiation, but the impact of the distance between dual hot spots on detonation initiation is non-monotonic. During the initiation process, the initial hot spot autoignites, and forms the cylindrical shock waves. Then, the triple-shock structure, which is caused by wave collisions and consists of the longitudinal detonation wave, transverse detonation wave and cylindrical shock wave, dominates the detonation initiation behaviour. A simplified theoretical model is proposed to predict the triple-point path, whose curvature quantitatively indicates the diffraction intensity of transient detonation waves. The longitudinal detonation wave significantly diffracts when the curvature of the triple-point path is large, resulting in the failed detonation initiation. Conversely, when the curvature is small, slight diffraction effects fail to prevent the transient detonation wave from developing. The propagation of the transverse detonation wave is affected not only by the diffraction effects but also by the mixture reactivity. When the curvature of the triple-point trajectory is large, a strong cylindrical shock wave is required to compress the mixture, enhancing its reactivity to ensure the transverse detonation wave can propagate without decoupling.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI) is a collection of AI technologies that can generate new information such as texts and images. With its strong capabilities, Generative AI has been actively studied in creative design processes. However, limited studies have explored the roles of humans and Generative AI in conceptual design processes, which leaves a gap for human–AI collaboration investigation. To address this gap, this study attempts to uncover the contributions of different Generative AI technologies in assisting humans in the conceptual design process. Novice designers were recruited to complete two design tasks in the condition of with or without the assistance of Generative AI. The results revealed that Generative AI primarily assists humans in the problem definition and idea generation stages, while the idea selection and evaluation stage remains predominantly human-led. Additionally, with the assistance of Generative AI, the idea selection and evaluation stages were further enhanced. Based on the findings, we discussed the role of Generative AI in human–AI collaboration and the implications for enhancing future conceptual design support with Generative AI’s assistance.

In this study, we developed an adaptive gain-scheduling algorithm for hypersonic flight vehicles operating across wide altitude-Mach number envelopes. First, we employed a gap metric-based nominal point selection algorithm to establish a linear parameter-varying (LPV) model more accurate than the traditional Jacobian linearisation method. Active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) was then applied to cope with disturbances and uncertainties, and control gains were scheduled using the Guardian maps (GM) method to adapt to the wide envelope of velocity and altitude. The simulation results demonstrate that under all operating conditions, the proposed algorithm can automatically iterate to obtain a gain-scheduling strategy that meets the flying qualities requirements. Notably, the proposed algorithm exhibited an integral of the time absolute error approximately half of that of the traditional ADRC and significantly lower than that of the GM-LQR method in the ascent phase, demonstrating its excellent control performance and robustness.

Influenced by human activities, microplastics (MPs) are widely distributed in terrestrial ecosystems. However, their ecotoxicity remains unclear. Therefore, we assessed the ecotoxicity of polyamide microplastics (PA-MPs) by investigating their toxic effects on the model insect, the silkworms Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae). In this study, fifth-instar silkworm larvae were fed mulberry leaves treated with PA-MPs for 120 hours, but no changes in mortality rates were observed. However, the body weight, pupal weight, cocoon weight, egg laying amount, and cocoon shell weight in F0 generation silkworms were significantly reduced. This indicates that PA-MPs have sublethal effects on silkworms. To further investigate the effects of PA-MPs on the offspring of silkworms, we applied the age-stage, two-sex life table analysis. We found that in the PA-MPs treatment group, the duration of the larval and pupal stages of F1 generation silkworms was significantly prolonged, while the lifespan of the adults and total longevity were shortened. Meanwhile, the life history parameters (sxj, exj, lx, fxj, lxmx, and vxj values) and population parameters (R0, λ, r, and T) of F1 generation silkworms in the PA-MPs treatment group were also lower than control. This indicates that PA-MPs have transgenerational effects, affecting the growth, development, and reproduction of F1 generation silkworms. Our research findings demonstrate the sublethal and transgenerational effects of PA-MPs on silkworms, providing evidence for their ecotoxicity.

Intertemporal choices are affected by both discount rate and utility curvature. We investigate how the two aspects of time preference are affected by the size of the total budget using an intertemporal allocation task. At the aggregate level as well as at the individual level, we find magnitude effects both on the discount rate and on intertemporal substitutability (i.e., utility curvature). Individuals are more patient when dealing with larger budgets and also regard larger budgets to be more fungible. The latter effect suggests that the degree of asset integration is increasing in the stake.

Silicified microfossils are reported from nine stratigraphic sections of the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation deposited in shelf margin, slope, and basin environments in Hunan Province of South China. These microfossils include sphaeromorphic and acanthomorphic acritarchs (15 genera and 29 species, including three new acanthomorph species, Bullatosphaera? colliformis n. sp., Eotylotopalla inflata n. sp., and Verrucosphaera? undulata n. sp.), multicellular algae, tubular microfossils, and other problematic forms, representing major fossil groups similar to those from the Doushantuo Formation in more proximal facies (e.g., inner shelf and shelf lagoon). A database of the abundance and occurrences of Doushantuo acanthomorphs is assembled and analyzed using quantitative and data-visualization methods (e.g., rarefaction analysis, non-parametric multidimensional scaling, and network analysis). The results show that, at the genus and species levels, taxonomic richness of Doushantuo acanthomorphs exhibits considerable variation among facies, but this variation is largely due to sampling and taphonomic biases. The results also show that numerous acanthomorph taxa have broad facies distribution, affirming their biostratigraphic value. The analysis confirms that acanthomorphs in the Weng'an biota of shelf margin facies are composed of a mixture of Member II and Member III assemblages of shelf-lagoon facies in the Yangtze Gorges area. The study shows the biostratigraphic potential of acanthomorphs in the establishment of regional biozones using the first appearance datum of widely distributed taxa, highlighting the importance of continuing exploration of under-sampled Doushantuo sections in slope and basinal facies.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/6fc92858-4054-4117-8043-1f06cfe77155

Substantial changes resulting from the interaction of environmental and dietary factors contribute to an increased risk of obesity, while their specific associations with obesity remain unclear. We identified inflammation-related dietary patterns (DP) and explored their associations with obesity among urbanised Tibetan adults under significant environmental and dietary changes. Totally, 1826 subjects from the suburbs of Golmud City were enrolled in an open cohort study, of which 514 were followed up. Height, weight and waist circumference were used to define overweight and obesity. DP were derived using reduced rank regression with forty-one food groups as predictors and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and prognostic nutritional index as inflammatory response variables. Altitude was classified as high or ultra-high. Two DP were extracted. DP-1 was characterised by having high consumptions of sugar-sweetened beverages, savoury snacks, and poultry and a low intake of tsamba. DP-2 had high intakes of poultry, pork, animal offal, and fruits and a low intake of butter tea. Participants in the highest tertiles (T3) of DP had increased risks of overweight and obesity (DP-1: OR = 1·37, 95 % CI 1·07, 1·77; DP-2: OR = 1·48, 95 % CI 1·18, 1·85) than those in the lowest tertiles (T1). Participants in T3 of DP-2 had an increased risk of central obesity (OR = 2·25, 95 % CI 1·49, 3·39) than those in T1. The positive association of DP-1 with overweight and obesity was only significant at high altitudes, while no similar effect was observed for DP-2. Inflammation-related DP were associated with increased risks of overweight and/or obesity.

We develop a latent variable selection method for multidimensional item response theory models. The proposed method identifies latent traits probed by items of a multidimensional test. Its basic strategy is to impose an $L_1$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$L_{1}$$\end{document} penalty term to the log-likelihood. The computation is carried out by the expectation–maximization algorithm combined with the coordinate descent algorithm. Simulation studies show that the resulting estimator provides an effective way in correctly identifying the latent structures. The method is applied to a real dataset involving the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire.

In this study, nine isonitrogenous experimental diets containing graded levels of carbohydrates (40 g/kg, 80 g/kg and 120 g/kg) and crude lipids (80 g/kg, 120 g/kg and 160 g/kg) were formulated in a two-factor (3 × 3) orthogonal design. A total of 945 mandarin fish with similar body weights were randomly assigned to twenty-seven tanks, and the experiment diets were fed to triplicate tanks twice daily for 10 weeks. Results showed that different dietary treatments did not significantly affect the survival rate and growth performance of mandarin fish. However, high dietary lipid and carbohydrate levels significantly decreased the protein content of the whole body and muscle of cultured fish. The lipid content of the whole body, liver and muscle all significantly increased with increasing levels of dietary lipid, while only liver lipid level was significantly affected by dietary carbohydrate level. Hepatic glycogen content increased significantly with increasing dietary carbohydrate levels. As to liver antioxidant capacity, malondialdehyde content increased significantly with increasing dietary lipid or carbohydrate content, and catalase activity showed an opposite trend. Superoxide dismutase activity increased significantly with increasing levels of dietary lipid but decreased first and then increased with increasing dietary carbohydrate levels. Additionally, the increase in both dietary lipid and carbohydrate levels resulted in a significant reduction in muscle hardness. Muscle chewiness, gumminess and shear force were only affected by dietary lipid levels and decreased significantly with increasing dietary lipid levels. In conclusion, considering all the results, the appropriate dietary lipids and carbohydrate levels for mandarin fish were 120 g/kg and 80 g/kg, respectively.

High prevalence of long COVID symptoms has emerged as a significant public health concern. This study investigated the associations between three doses of COVID-19 vaccines and the presence of any and ≥3 types of long COVID symptoms among people with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Hong Kong, China. This is a secondary analysis of a cross-sectional online survey among Hong Kong adult residents conducted between June and August 2022. This analysis was based on a sub-sample of 1,542 participants with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection during the fifth wave of COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong (December 2021 to April 2022). Among the participants, 40.9% and 16.1% self-reported having any and ≥3 types of long COVID symptoms, respectively. After adjusting for significant variables related to sociodemographic characteristics, health conditions and lifestyles, and SARS-CoV-2 infection, receiving at least three doses of COVID-19 vaccines was associated with lower odds of reporting any long COVID symptoms comparing to receiving two doses (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.54, 0.87, P = .002). Three doses of inactivated and mRNA vaccines had similar protective effects against long COVID symptoms. It is important to strengthen the coverage of COVID-19 vaccination booster doses, even in the post-pandemic era.

A recent study published in Oryx proposed that the extinct Javan tiger Panthera tigris sondaica may still survive on the Island of Java, Indonesia, based on mitochondrial DNA analysis of a single hair sample collected from a location where a tiger was reportedly encountered. However, upon reanalysing the genetic data presented in that study, we conclude that there is little support for this claim. The sequences of the putative tiger hair and Javan tiger museum specimens generated are not from tiger cytoplasmic mitochondrial DNA but more likely the nuclear pseudogene copies of mitochondrial DNA. In addition, the number of mismatches between the two Javan tiger sequences is unusually high for homologous sequences that are both from tigers, suggesting potential issues with data reliability. The paper provides insufficient details on quality control measures, making it impossible to rule out the possibility that errors were introduced during the analysis. Consequently, it is inappropriate to use the sequences presented in that study to infer the existence of the Javan tiger.

This article addresses the localization problem in robotic autonomous luggage trolley collection at airports and provides a systematic evaluation of different methods to solve it. The robotic autonomous luggage trolley collection is a complex system that involves object detection, localization, motion planning and control, manipulation, etc. Among these components, effective localization is essential for the robot to employ subsequent motion planning and end-effector manipulation because it can provide a correct goal position. This article explores four popular and representative localization methods for object localization in luggage trolley collection: radio frequency identification (RFID), Keypoints, ultrawideband (UWB), and Reflectors. A qualitative evaluation framework is constructed to assess performance, encompassing Localization Accuracy, Mobile Power Supplies, Coverage Area, Cost, and Scalability. Furthermore, a series of quantitative experiments concerning Localization Accuracy and Success Rate have been conducted on a real-world robotic autonomous luggage trolley collection system. The performance of various localization methods is further analyzed based on experimental results, indicating that the Keypoints method is optimally suited for indoor environments to facilitate luggage trolley collection. Significantly, these experiment results provide a valuable reference point, extending the application of indoor localization methods across diverse scenarios. A website about this work is available at https://sites.google.com/view/localization-evaluation/.

Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation is effective in improving cardiovascular disease risk factor management, cardiopulmonary function, and quality of life. However, the precise mechanisms underlying exercise-induced cardioprotection remain elusive. Recent studies have shed light on the beneficial functions of noncoding RNAs in either exercise or illness models, but only a limited number of noncoding RNAs have been studied in both contexts. Hence, the present study aimed to elucidate the pathophysiological implications and molecular mechanisms underlying the association among exercise, noncoding RNAs, and cardiovascular diseases. Additionally, the present study analysed the most effective and personalized exercise prescription, serving as a valuable reference for guiding the clinical implementation of cardiac rehabilitation in patients with cardiovascular diseases.

The long-term impact of eating duration on the risk of all-cause mortality remains unclear, with limited exploration of how different levels of energy intake and physical activity might influence this impact. To investigate, 24 484 American adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey spanning 1999–2018 were included. Eating duration was assessed via 24-h dietary recall, and all-cause mortality data were sourced from the National Death Index. The relationship between eating duration and all-cause mortality was analysed using Cox proportional hazards regression models, restricted cubic splines and stratification analysis with complex weighted designs. The median (IQR) of eating duration for participants was 12·5 (11·0, 14·0) h. In this study, 2896 death events were observed, and the median follow-up time (IQR) was 125 (77, 177) months. After multivariable adjustment, compared with Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 had reduced risks of all-cause mortality by 17, 15 and 13 %, respectively. Furthermore, each additional hour of eating duration was correlated with a 2 % decrease in the risk of all-cause mortality. Additionally, a non-linear dose–response relationship was observed between eating duration and the risk of all-cause mortality, showing a U-shaped relationship from 8·9 h to 15·3 h (P for non-linearity < 0·05). Interestingly, the non-linear dose–response relationship was observed exclusively among individuals with high energy intake or a lightly active physical activity level. These findings suggest potential health benefits from adjusting eating duration, though further prospective studies are needed for validation.

The Chengba site is the only city site dated from the late Warring States Period in eastern Sichuan Province, China. New discoveries of artefacts and structures at the site enable exploration of the regional role and management of counties that were established at this time by the central government.

Radiotherapy (RT) plays a key role in the tumour microenvironment (TME), impacting the immune response via cellular and humoral immunity. RT can induce local immunity to modify the TME. It can stimulate dendritic cell maturation and T-cell infiltration. Moreover, B cells, macrophages and other immune cells may also be affected. Tertiary lymphoid structure (TLS) is a unique structure within the TME and a class of aggregates containing T cells, B cells and other immune cells. The maturation of TLS is determined by the presence of mature dendritic cells, the density of TLS is determined by the number of immune cells. TLS maturation and density both affect the antitumour immune response in the TME. This review summarized the recent research on the impact and the role of RT on TLS, including the changes of TLS components and formation conditions and the mechanism of how RT affects TLS and transforms the TME. RT may promote TLS maturation and density to modify the TME regarding enhanced antitumour immunity.