This paper introduces a novel ray-tracing methodology for various gradient-index materials, particularly plasmas. The proposed approach utilizes adaptive-step Runge–Kutta integration to compute ray trajectories while incorporating an innovative rasterization step for ray energy deposition. By removing the requirement for rays to terminate at cell interfaces – a limitation inherent in earlier cell-confined approaches – the numerical formulation of ray motion becomes independent of specific domain geometries. This facilitates a unified and concise tracing method compatible with all commonly used curvilinear coordinate systems in laser–plasma simulations, which were previously unsupported or prohibitively complex under cell-confined frameworks. Numerical experiments demonstrate the algorithm’s stability and versatility in capturing diverse ray physics across reduced-dimensional planar, cylindrical and spherical coordinate systems. We anticipate that the rasterization-based approach will pave the way for the development of a generalized ray-tracing toolkit applicable to a broad range of fluid simulations and synthetic optical diagnostics.

This study aimed to investigate the intake of dairy products during pregnancy in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and its impacts on neonatal birth weight and pregnancy outcomes. A total of 386 women with GDM during the second trimester pregnancy participated in this prospective cohort study. We evaluated dairy products intake through the FFQ. Pregnancy outcomes were obtained from the delivery data. Participants were divided into insufficient and sufficient intake of milk and dairy products groups (< 300 g/d and ≥ 300 g/d, respectively). The average intake of dairy products during the second trimester pregnancy in women with GDM was 317·8 ± 179·5 g/d, and the total energy intake was 1635·4 ± 708·7 kcal/d. However, 76·68 % of them did not meet the recommended total energy intake of women with GDM. After adjusting for confounding factors, women with GDM who consumed ≥ 300 g/d of dairy products had an average reduction in birth weight of 93·1 g compared with women who consumed < 300 g/d of dairy products (95 % CI −171·343, −14·927). Women with GDM in sufficient intake group was also associated with lower risk of macrosomia (95 % CI 0·043, 0·695) and caesarean section (95 % CI 0·387, 0·933) and not related to low birth weight infant (95 % CI 0·617, 14·502) and preterm birth (95 % CI 0·186, 1·510) when compared with participants in insufficient intake group. Under the premise of insufficient total energy intake, the intake of dairy products during the second trimester pregnancy in women with GDM might be related to the decrease of neonatal birth weight.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a technique that directly injects a single sperm into the cytoplasm of mature oocytes. Here, we explored the safety of single-sperm cryopreservation applied in ICSI. This retrospective study enrolled 186 couples undergoing ICSI-assisted pregnancy. Subjects were allocated to the fresh sperm (group A)/single-sperm cryopreservation (group B) groups based on sperm type, with their clinical baseline/pathological data documented. We used ICSI-compliant sperm for subsequent in vitro fertilization and followed up on all subjects. The recovery rate/cryosurvival rate/sperm motility of both groups, the pregnancy/outcome of women receiving embryo transfer, and the delivery mode/neonatal-related information of women with successful deliveries were recorded. The clinical pregnancy rate, cumulative clinical pregnancy rate, abortion rate, ectopic pregnancy rate, premature delivery rate, live birth delivery rate, neonatal birth defect rate, and average birth weight were analyzed. The two groups showed no significant differences in age, body mass index, ovulation induction regimen, sex hormone [anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH)/follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)/luteinizing hormone (LH)] levels, or oocyte retrieval cycles. The sperm recovery rate (51.72%-100.00%) and resuscitation rate (62.09% ± 16.67%) in group B were higher; the sperm motility in the two groups demonstrated no significant difference and met the ICSI requirements. Group B exhibited an increased fertilization rate, decreased abortion rate, and increased safety versus group A. Compared with fresh sperm, the application of single-sperm cryopreservation in ICSI sensibly improved the fertilization rate and reduced the abortion rate, showing higher safety.

Based on 30 high-resolution U-Th dating controls, we reconstruct stalagmite δ18O records from 45 to 15 thousand years ago (ka B.P., before AD 1950) from the Shizhu Cave, which is located in southwestern China under the influence of both the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) and the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM). By integrating with the other stalagmite δ18O records in Asia during the middle to late last glacial, our results reveal two main moisture trajectories: one from the Indian Ocean, through the Shizhu Cave towards central China, and the other from the Pacific Ocean to central and northern China. The systematic decrease of the average values of stalagmite δ18O records from oceans to inland China reveals a spatial pattern of water vapour fractionation and moisture trajectory during the middle to late last glacial. In contrast, the variation amplitude, which is defined as the departures apart from the background δ18O records during Heinrich stadials 1 to 4 (HS1–HS4), show an increasing trend from the coastal oceans to mid-latitude inland China, presenting a ‘coastal-inland’ pattern, which can be interpreted by the enhanced East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM) and the weakened EASM. More specifically, the enriched stalagmite δ18O records in the EASM region during HS1 to HS4 are caused by the decreased summer rainfall amount or/and the increased proportion of summer moisture resources from the Pacific Ocean. These new observations deepen our understanding of the complicated stalagmite δ18O records in the EASM region.

To alleviate the growth inhibition, and intestinal damage of Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) induced by low fishmeal diets (LF), an 8-week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the addition of dietary soybean-derived bioactive peptides (SBP) in LF diets on the regulation of growth, digestion and intestinal health. The crabs were fed isonitrogenous and isoenergetic conventional diet and LF diets (10 % fishmeal replaced by soybean meal, LF) supplemented with 0, 1 %, 2 %, 4 % and 6 % SBP, respectively. The results showed that LF diet inhibited growth while inclusion of SBP quadratically remitted the growth inhibition induced by LF. For digestive function, increasing addition level of SBP quadratically improved the α-amylase and trypsin activities. For antioxidant function, LF group significantly increased the malondialdehyde content, while SBP linearly decreased the malondialdehyde level and cubically increased the anti-superoxide anion activity and total antioxidant capacity level. For intestinal health, the peritrophic membrane (PM) almost completely separated from the inner wall of the intestinal lumen, the epithelial cells reduced, the muscularis became thinner and the apoptotic signals increased in LF group; with SBP addition, the intestinal morphology was improved, with the PM adhering to the inner wall of the intestinal lumen, an increase in the number of epithelial cells and an increase in the thickness of the muscularis. Additionally, there was a decrease in apoptotic signals. Dietary SBP also increased the expression of PT and Crustin1 quadratically and decreased the expression of ALF1 linearly, ALF3 and ILF2 quadratically.

Industrial robots are widely used in the painting industry, such as automobile manufacturing and solid wood furniture industry. An important problem is how to improve the efficiency of robot programming, especially in the current furniture industry with multiple products, small batches and increasingly high demand for customization. In this work, we propose an outer loop adaptive control scheme, which allow users to realize the practical application of the zero-moment lead-through teaching method based on dynamic model without opening the inner torque control interface of robots. In order to accurately estimate the influence of joint friction, a friction model is established based on static, Coulomb and viscous friction characteristics, and the Sigmoid function is used to represent the transition between motion states. An identification method is used to quickly identify the dynamic parameters of the robot. The joint position/speed command of the robot’s inner joint servo loop is dynamically generated based on the user-designed adaptive control law. In addition, the zero-moment lead-through teaching scheme based on the dynamic model is applied to a spray-painting robot with closed control system. In order to verify our method, CMA GR630ST is used to conduct experiments. We identified the parameters of the dynamic model and carried out the zero-moment lead-through teaching experiment to track the target trajectory. The results show that the proposed method can realize the application of modern control methods in industrial robot with closed control systems, and achieve a preliminary exploration to improve the application scenarios of spray-painting robots.

Celestial navigation is an important means of maritime navigation; it can automatically achieve inertially referenced positioning and orientation after a long period of development. However, the impact of different accuracy of observations and the influence of nonstationary states, such as ship speed change and steering, are not taken into account in existing algorithms. To solve this problem, this paper proposes an adaptively robust maritime celestial navigation algorithm, in which each observation value is given an equivalent weight according to the robust estimation theory, and the dynamic balance between astronomical observation and prediction values of vessel motion is adjusted by applying the adaptive factor. With this system, compared with the frequently used least square method and extended Kalman filter algorithm, not only are the real-time and high-precision navigation parameters, such as position, course, and speed for the vessel, calculated simultaneously, but also the influence of abnormal observation and vessel motion status change could be well suppressed.

Calcified cyanobacteria are of considerable research value for reconstructing the ecology of Paleozoic and Mesozoic benthic communities on carbonate platforms due to their ability to produce oxygen and fix nitrogen and CO2. The diversity and abundance of calcified cyanobacteria was initially suggested to have declined in the Middle and Late Ordovician, although more recent work suggests that complex and diverse assemblages persisted throughout the Ordovician. Here, calcified cyanobacteria and associated microfossil flora from the Middle and Late Ordovician of the Ordos Basin, North China Block, are systematically described for the first time based on 1330 thin sections from seven outcrop profiles and four drill cores. In total, there are 18 species belonging to 16 genera, including a new species, Proaulopora ordosia n. sp. Girvanella, Subtifloria, Acuasiphonoria, Xianella, and Oscillatoriaceae gen. indet. are assigned to Osillatoriales of cyanobacteria; Ortonella, Hedstroemia, Cayeuxia, Zonotrichites, Proaulopora, and Phacelophyton are assigned to Nostocales of cyanobacteria; and Garwoodia, Renalcis, Izhella, Rothpletzella, and Wetheredella are assigned to calcified Microproblematica. A literature survey of Ordovician microfloral assemblages shows that cyanobacteria and associated microfossils occur in reef, open platform, lagoon, and tidal facies. Most genera occur on at least two independent blocks, and many have a cosmopolitan distribution in similar sedimentary facies. Our research suggests that calcified cyanobacteria and associated microfossils formed complex ecosystems and played greater ecological roles on carbonate platforms during the late Middle and Late Ordovician than was previously thought.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/1812ccf8-136c-4cff-92ba-faeaf06523ef

Solid solution 0.94Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3–6BaTiO3 (NBT–6BT) is considered to be one kind of lead-free piezoelectric materials with excellent electrical properties due to the existence of morphotropic phase boundary (MPB). However, its relatively lower depolarization temperature is a long-standing bottleneck for the application of NBT-based piezoelectric ceramics. In this work, the influence of thermal quenching on depolarization temperature and electrical properties of rare-earth Ho-doped NBT–6BT lead-free ceramics was investigated. It was shown that the relative high piezoelectric performance, as well as an improvement of depolarization temperature (Td), can be realized by thermal quenching. The results showed that the quenching process induced high concentration of oxygen vacancy, giving rise to the change of octahedra mode and enhanced lattice distortion, which is benefit to the temperature stability of piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties. Furthermore, up-conversion photoluminescence (PL) of Ho-doped NBT–6BT could be effectively tuned by the introduction of oxygen vacancy, suggesting a promising potential in optical–electrical multifunctional devices.

The Wulian complex is located on the northern margin of the Sulu orogenic belt, and was formed by collision between the North China Craton (NCC) to the north and South China Craton (SCC) to the south. It consists of the metasedimentary Wulian Group, gneissic granite and meta-diorite. The U–Pb analyses for the detrital zircons from the Wulian Group exhibit one predominant age population of 2600–2400 Ma with a peak at c. 2.5 Ga and several secondary age populations of > 3000, 3000–2800, 2800–2600, 2200–2000, 1900–1800, 1500–1300 and 1250–950 Ma; some metamorphic zircons have metamorphic ages of c. 2.7, 2.55–2.45, 2.1–2.0 and 1.95–1.80 Ga, which are consistent with magmatic-metamorphic events in the SCC. Additionally, the Wulian Group was intruded by the gneissic granite and meta-diorite at c. 0.76 Ga, attributed to Neoproterozoic syn-rifting bimodal magmatic activity in the SCC and derived from partial melting of Archaean continental crust and depleted mantle, respectively. The Wulian Group therefore has tectonic affinity to the SCC and was mainly sourced from the SCC. The detrital zircons have positive and negative ϵHf(t) values, indicating that their source rocks were derived from reworking of both ancient and juvenile crustal rocks. The major early Precambrian crustal growth took place during c. 3.4–2.5 Ga with a dominant peak at 2.96 Ga and several secondary peaks at 3.27, 2.74 and 2.52 Ga. The two oldest zircons with ages of 3307 and 3347 Ma record the recycling of ancient continental crust (> 3.35 Ga) and crustal growth prior to c. 3.95 Ga in the SCC.

Electrospun membranes have potential applications in the field of waterproof and breathable textile products. However, challenges still exist to improve the breathability, and waterproof and mechanical properties of these microporous membranes. In this paper, a novel hydrophobic microporous nanofiber membrane was prepared via side-by-side electrospinning of fluorosilane-modified silica nanoparticles (F–SiO2) blended with synthesized polyurethane (PU) solution and composited with the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) solution. To prepare F–SiO2, SiO2 nanoparticles were hydrophobically modified by fluorosilane. Composite nanofiber membranes with different blending ratios of PU(F–SiO2)/PAN were fabricated via side-by-side electrospinning by controlling the extruding speed of two spinnerets. Experimental results indicated that regarding F–SiO2 as hydrophobic inorganic particle can improve the hydrophobic properties of PU nanofiber membrane. The prepared PAN/(F–SiO2/PU) nanofiber microporous membranes exhibit relatively excellent waterproof and mechanical properties as that robust tensile strength (19.5 MPa), preferable water vapor permeability [10.3 kg/(m2 d)], favorable water contact angle (137.2°), and superior mechanical properties. It was believed that the reinforced PAN/(F–SiO2/PU) nanofibrous composite membranes have potential applications in chemical protective clothing, army combat uniforms, self-cleaning materials, and other medical products.

Autonomous ships are gaining in importance and are expected to shape the future of the global shipping industry. This evolutionary shift raises serious issues about compliance with the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 (COLREGs). This paper reviews the literature on autonomous ships from the perspective of the obligations of good seamanship imposed by COLREGs. The authors conclude that to facilitate the introduction of autonomous ships, the application barriers presented by COLREGs need to be analysed. With this goal, this paper presents a perspective from navigational practice. Four nautical scientists and two deck officers were invited to give their opinions. The analysis indicates that COLREGs require further elaboration and amendments to eliminate uncertainty of interpretation. In particular, the paper highlights the need to amend the ‘look-out’ rule (COLREGs Rule 5) to permit look-out by ‘computer vision’ alone while, at the same time, preserving the distinction between vessels navigating in restricted visibility and in sight of one another.

In this work, hierarchical mesoporous Zn–Ni–Co–S–rGO/NF microspheres have been prepared by hydrothermal, sulfurization, and subsequent calcination process. The effect of different sulfurization time on the morphology and capacitance of composites was tested. The high electrochemical performance of (Zn–Ni–Co–S–rGO/NF) composite was obtained when the sulfurization time was 3 h (Zn–Ni–Co–S–rGO/NF-3h), where a specific capacitance of 627.7 F/g at 0.25 A/g and excellent rate capability of about 97.8% capacitance retention at 2 A/g after 4000 cycles were achieved. Moreover, an asymmetric supercapacitor fabricated by (Zn–Ni–Co–S–rGO/NF-3h) composite and activated carbon (AC) as the positive and the negative electrodes, respectively, showed a high energy density of 75.96 W h/kg at a power density of 362.49 W/kg with a remarkable cycle stability performance of 91.2% capacitance retention over 5000 cycles. This incredible electrochemical behavior illustrates that the hierarchical mesoporous Zn–Ni–Co–S–rGO/N-3h microsphere electrodes are promising electrode materials for application in high-performance supercapacitors.

Northeastern China is a region of high tick abundance, multiple tick-borne pathogens and likely human infections. The spectrum of diseases caused by tick-borne pathogens has not been objectively evaluated in this region for clinical management and for comparison with other regions globally where tick-transmitted diseases are common. Based on clinical symptoms, PCR, indirect immunofluorescent assay and (or) blood smear, we identified and described tick-borne diseases from patients with recent tick bite seen at Mudanjiang Forestry Central Hospital. From May 2010 to September 2011, 42% (75/180) of patients were diagnosed with a specific tick-borne disease, including Lyme borreliosis, tick-borne encephalitis, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, human babesiosis and spotted fever group rickettsiosis. When we compared clinical and laboratory features to identify factors that might discriminate tick-transmitted infections from those lacking that evidence, we revealed that erythema migrans and neurological manifestations were statistically significantly differently presented between those with and without documented aetiologies (P < 0.001, P = 0.003). Twelve patients (6.7%, 12/180) were co-infected with two tick-borne pathogens. We demonstrated the poor ability of clinicians to identify the specific tick-borne disease. In addition, it is necessary to develop specific laboratory assays for optimal diagnosis of tick-borne diseases.