This article makes use of network analysis to examine the establishment of the War Convicted Benefit Society (Sensō jukei-sha sewa-kai), an influential advocacy group in the popular movement that pushed for amnesty for Japanese war criminals from 1952 to 1958. By graphing the networks created by members of the Society, I demonstrate that early Occupation policies, precisely those that convicted and purged these old elites and resulted in the detention of many of them in Sugamo prison, actually created a new network of conservative power figures by linking the otherwise unconnected old mid-rank military network and the old colonial/political elite network to rally around their common experience of being “prosecuted.”

Non-monetary rewards are frequently used to promote pro-social behaviors, and these behaviors often result in approval from one’s peers. Nevertheless, we know little about how peer-approval, and particularly competition for peer-approval, influences people’s decisions to cooperate. This paper provides experimental evidence suggesting that people in peer-approval competitions value social approval more when it leads to unique and durable rewards. Our evidence suggests that such rewards act as a signaling mechanism, thereby contributing to the value of approval. We show that this signaling mechanism generates cooperation at least as effectively as cash rewards. Our findings point to the potential value of developing new mechanisms that rely on small non-monetary rewards to promote generosity in groups.

Random effects meta-analysis model is an important tool for integrating results from multiple independent studies. However, the standard model is based on the assumption of normal distributions for both random effects and within-study errors, making it susceptible to outlying studies. Although robust modeling using the t distribution is an appealing idea, the existing work, that explores the use of the t distribution only for random effects, involves complicated numerical integration and numerical optimization. In this article, a novel robust meta-analysis model using the t distribution is proposed (tMeta). The novelty is that the marginal distribution of the effect size in tMeta follows the t distribution, enabling that tMeta can simultaneously accommodate and detect outlying studies in a simple and adaptive manner. A simple and fast EM-type algorithm is developed for maximum likelihood estimation. Due to the mathematical tractability of the t distribution, tMeta frees from numerical integration and allows for efficient optimization. Experiments on real data demonstrate that tMeta is compared favorably with related competitors in situations involving mild outliers. Moreover, in the presence of gross outliers, while related competitors may fail, tMeta continues to perform consistently and robustly.

Immunological castration can be an alternative to traditional surgical castration. The active immunization against GnRH or kisspeptin has a castrating effect. To date, the fusion protein vaccine of combination with GnRH and kisspeptin have not been studied. Thus, the present study will develop a GnRH6-kisspeptin vaccine by genetic engineering method and investigate its immunocastration effect in male rats. Twenty 20-day-old male rats were randomly divided into two groups: the control group (n=10) and the immunization group (n=10). The initial immunization took place at week 0 followed by three booster doses administered intervals. The control group received an equivalent dose of white oil adjuvant. Orbital blood samples were collected at various time points following the initial immunization, at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 weeks, respectively. The entire left testis was weighed and its volume measured at week 12. Samples from the right testis were obtained for histological analysis. Serum levels of GnRH and kisspeptin antibodies, as well as testosterone levels were determined using ELISA. The results showed that the serum levels of GnRH and kisspeptin antibody titres of the immunized rats were significantly higher compared to the control group (P<0.05). Additionally, the testosterone concentration was effectively reduced following the intensified immunization. The testes of the immunized group exhibited a reduction in size and a significant decrease in the number of spermatogonia in the testicular tissue compared to the control group (P<0.05). These data indicate that the recombinant GnRH6-kisspeptin protein effectively induced immunological castration in rats.

This study investigates the stability and instability of the language control network in bilinguals using longitudinal resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data. We compared the language control network of Chinese university students majoring in English with those not, using three other functional networks as controls. Results indicate that the English major group exhibits reduced stability and increased instability in the language control network compared with the non-English major group. This suggests that second language (L2) learning experience may induce adaptive neural changes. Moreover, the coexistence of stability and instability in the language control network appears less modular in the English major group, implying a more integrated response to language experience. Notably, these results were not observed in the control networks. Overall, these findings enhance the understanding of bilingual language control and the impact of L2 learning on neural plasticity.

In the present research, the effect of streamwise finlets on the coherent structures of a turbulent boundary layer and their relation with pressure fluctuations and trailing-edge noise is investigated experimentally over a NACA0018 airfoil. A synthetic measurement is performed using time-resolved particle image velocimetry, wall-pressure transducers and a far-field microphone. The finlets induce strong momentum transport within the boundary layer, leading to the formation of a detached shear layer and backward flow separation. A strong velocity deficit is produced close to the wall. The instantaneous flow organisation reveals the formation of hairpin-like vortices on top of the finlets and spanwise rollers in the near-wall separation bubble. The newly generated vortices disrupt the turbulent coherent structures of the untreated case remarkably. An overall lift-up process of the unsteady turbulent structures is produced, bringing the most energetic turbulent structures away from the wall and reducing the near-wall shear stress. The spatial and temporal relation between instantaneous unsteady flow features and wall-pressure fluctuations is analysed quantitatively. A notable reduction of the correlation and coherence intensity in the mid- and high-frequency bands is achieved due to the modification of the turbulent structures. The former frequency ranges agree with that of the pressure fluctuations and far-field noise suppression, revealing the noise-reduction mechanisms.

Conservation management in human-modified landscapes requires information on the sustainability of interactions between people and biodiversity. Wild Chinese alligators Alligator sinensis only persist within the National Chinese Alligator Reserve in south-eastern China, where they live alongside agricultural communities that utilize local terrestrial and wetland habitats. We conducted an interview survey of communities within and around the Reserve to evaluate whether local ecological knowledge can provide a baseline on the species' local status and trends, and to understand the relationships between land-use practices and alligator presence and survival. Respondents within the Reserve were more likely to recognize alligators, report sightings and perceive declines than other respondents. Absolute levels of knowledge and experience of alligators were low, highlighting the species' perilous status, and analysis of correlative patterns between respondents' experiences and associated data on human–environmental interactions provides new conservation-relevant insights. Alligator sightings were more likely to be reported by respondents who did not grow crops, and eggs and nests by those who did not utilize local water sources for irrigation, suggesting that existing environmental pressures associated with agriculture may be unsustainable for alligators. Although respondents who lived outside the Reserve were more likely to use agrochemicals, we found no relationship between pesticide or fertilizer usage and variation in respondent awareness or experience of alligators. Our findings indicate that China's last wild alligators continue to experience negative human pressures, and current land-use practices are probably incompatible with long-term alligator survival.

At the 13th Ministerial Conference, WTO members reaffirmed their commitment to restoring a fully functioning dispute settlement system by 2024. By the end of the year, some progress had been made, but an agreement remains elusive. The re-election of Donald Trump as US President adds further uncertainty to these efforts. Against this background, this article re-examines the proposal for the General Council to appoint Appellate Body members through majority voting. It argues that customary rules of interpretation applicable to the constituent instruments of international organizations justify the legality of a vote in the General Council to support the effective functioning of the WTO. To address WTO members' concerns about the negative impact on consensus-based decision-making and the loss of leverage for reforms, this article suggests a General Council decision to appoint fewer than seven Appellate Body members. While not addressing all challenges facing the dispute settlement system, the proposal would bring more certainty to the early recovery of the system.

The operational reliability of large mechanical equipment is typically influenced by the functional effectiveness of key components. Consequently, prompt repair before their failure is necessary to ensure the dependability of mechanical equipment. The prognostic and health management (PHM) technology could track the system’s health state and timely detect faults. Therefore, the remaining useful life (RUL) prediction as one of the key components of PHM is rather important. Accurate RUL prediction results could be the data support for condition-based equipment maintenance plans. Also, it could increase the dependability and safety of mechanical equipment while reducing the loss of human and financial resources and meet the requirements of sustainable manufacturing in the Industry 4.0 era. However, with the widespread use of deep learning in the field of intelligent manufacturing, there is a lack of review on RUL prediction based on deep learning. In this paper, different deep learning-based RUL prediction methods for mechanical components are summarized and classified, along with their pros and cons. Then, the case study on the C-MAPSS dataset is mainly conducted and different methods are compared. And finally, the difficulties and future directions of the RUL prediction in practical scenarios are discussed.

Aiming at the error estimation problem of a radar detection system when the variation law of system error is unknown, an improved Gaussian mean-shift radar dynamic error registration algorithm (IGMSR) is proposed. The algorithm can effectively adapt to the variation of system error when the variation law of system error is unknown. The IGMSR algorithm uses the mean-shift method to contribute different characteristics to the estimation results of different sample points, and constructs weight coefficients according to the deviation of sample points from the mean and sampling time. The simulation results show that more than 90% of the constant system errors can be eliminated; for the systematic error with slow change, more than 80% of the bias can be eliminated in real time, while a previous method of Zhu and Wang (2018) can only eliminate 60% of the systematic error and require the change law to be known. This method overcomes the influence of random error and abnormal point, and the estimation results are more robust.

Let $\mathbb{N}$ be the set of all non-negative integers. For any integer r and m, let $r+m\mathbb{N}=\{r+mk: k\in\mathbb{N}\}$. For $S\subseteq \mathbb{N}$ and $n\in \mathbb{N}$, let $R_{S}(n)$ denote the number of solutions of the equation $n=s+s'$ with $s, s'\in S$ and $s \lt s'$. Let $r_{1}, r_{2}, m$ be integers with $0 \lt r_{1} \lt r_{2} \lt m$ and $2\mid r_{1}$. In this paper, we prove that there exist two sets C and D with $C\cup D=\mathbb{N}$ and $C\cap D=(r_{1}+m\mathbb{N})\cup (r_{2}+m\mathbb{N})$ such that $R_{C}(n)=R_{D}(n)$ for all $n\in\mathbb{N}$ if and only if there exists a positive integer l such that $r_{1}=2^{2l+1}-2, r_{2}=2^{2l+1}-1, m=2^{2l+2}-2$.

Western Zhou Dynasty (ca. 1046–771 BC) was established soon after conquering the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600–1046 BC) and brought about the earliest enfeoffment system in Chinese history. Yan was one of the vassal states of the same clan as Zhou. According to historical records, the capital of Yan state was located near Yan mountain, which is now known as the Liulihe site in the Fangshan District, Beijing. This study carries out the high-precision dating of two newly discovered Western Zhou Dynasty noble tombs at the Liulihe site. The man in tomb M1902 participated in the groundbreaking ceremony of Yan’s capital according to inscriptions on the bronze vessel found in this tomb. Samples of different materials, especially different parts of human skeletons from the tombs, were selected to form a sample series in chronological order. Wiggle-matching models were established in OxCal program based on the growth and development time of different teeth and bones of human skeletons. More accurate ages were acquired for the death of the individuals. The results indicate that the most probable distribution range of the death date of the individual in M1902 is about 1045–1010 BC. The radiocarbon dates of M1902 give important chronological information about the founding of Yan state, and they are very close to those of the year in which King Wu of Zhou conquered the Shang Dynasty.

Social anxiety and depression exacerbate in early adolescence. Maladaptive self-referential processing confers risk for both conditions and can be assessed by the Self-Referent Encoding Task (SRET). Our cross-sectional findings indicated that the SRET-elicited anterior late positive potential (LPP) was uniquely associated with social anxiety symptoms, whereas behavioral SRET scores were uniquely associated with depressive symptoms. Expanding this work, this study investigated whether the SRET-generated behavioral and LPP indices differentially predicted changes of social anxiety or depressive symptoms over time. At baseline, 115 community-dwelling youths (66 girls; Mean age/SD = 11.00/1.16 years) completed an SRET with EEG. Youths reported social anxiety and depressive symptoms at baseline and ∼six and ∼ 12 months later, based on which the intercept and slope of symptoms were estimated as a function of time. A larger anterior LPP in the negative SRET condition uniquely predicted a larger slope (faster increase) of social anxiety (but not depressive) symptoms. Greater positive behavioral SRET scores marginally predicted a smaller slope (slower increase) of depressive (but not social anxiety) symptoms. We provided novel evidence concerning the differential, prospective associations between self-referential processing and changes of social anxiety and depressive symptoms in early adolescence.

Cable-guiding mechanisms (CGMs) and the stiffness characteristics directly influence the dynamic features of the cable-driven upper limb rehabilitation robot (PCUR), which will affect PCUR’s performance. This paper introduces a novel CGM design. Given the precision and movement stability considerations of the mechanism, an analytical model is developed. Using this model, we analyze the error of the CGM and derive velocity and acceleration mappings from the moving platform to the cables. Continuity of cable trajectory and tension is rigorously demonstrated. Subsequently, a mathematical model for PCUR stiffness is formulated. Utilizing MATLAB/Simscape Multibody, simulation models for the CGM and stiffness characteristics are constructed. The feasibility of the proposed CGM design is validated through simulation and experimentation, while the influence of stiffness characteristics on PCUR motion stability is comprehensively analyzed.