In this paper, we design and fabricate dual-tunable waveguides in a two-dimensional periodic plate with threaded holes. Dual tunability is realized by using rods held with nuts as well as assembly prestress of the nuts. A straight waveguide, a bent waveguide, and a wave splitter are designed by changing the distribution of rods and nuts in different circuits. The experimental and numerical results show that the frequencies of guided waves can be tuned by the assembly prestress. By increasing the amount of prestress, the frequency range of the passing band can be shifted upward. Confinements, guiding, and splitting of Lamb waves are clearly observed in both experimental measurements and numerical simulations. This work is essential for the practical design of reconfigurable phononic devices.

Real-time gait trajectory planning is challenging for legged robots walking on unknown terrain. In this paper, to realize a more efficient and faster motion control of a quadrupedal robot, we propose an optimized gait planning generator (GPG) based on the decision tree (DT) and random forest (RF) model of the robot leg workspace. First, the framework of this embedded GPG and some of the modules associated with it are illustrated. Aiming at the leg workspace model described by DT and RF used in GPG, this paper introduces in detail how to collect the original data needed for training the model and puts forward an Interpolation Labeling with Dilation and Erosion (ILDE) data processing algorithm. After the DT and RF models are trained, we preliminarily evaluate their performance. We then present how these models can be used to predict the location relation between a spatial point and the leg workspace based on its distributional features. The DT model takes only 0.00011 s to process a sample, while the RF model can give the prediction probability. As a complement, the PID inverse kinematic model used in GPG is also mentioned. Finally, the optimized GPG is tested during a real-time single-leg trajectory planning experiment and an unknown terrain recognition simulation of a virtual quadrupedal robot. According to the test results, the GPG shows a remarkable rapidity for processing large-scale data in the gait trajectory planning tasks, and the results can prove it has an application value for quadruped robot control.

Swelling deformation tests of Kunigel bentonite and its sand mixtures were performed in distilled water and NaCl solution. The salinity of NaCl solution has a significant impact on the swelling properties of bentonite, but not on its surface structure. The surface structure was characterized using the fractal dimension Ds. Based on the fractal dimension, a unique curve of the em–pe relationship (em is the void ratio of montmorillonite and pe is the effective stress) at full saturation was introduced to express the swelling deformation of bentonite–sand mixtures. In mixtures with a large bentonite content, the swelling deformation always followed the em–pe relationship. In mixtures with a small bentonite content, when the effective stress reached a threshold, the void ratio of montmorillonite em deviated from the unique em–pe curve due to the appearance of a sand skeleton. The threshold of vertical pressure for mixtures in different solutions and the maximum swelling strains were estimated using the em–pe relationship. The good agreement between estimates and experimental data suggest that the em–pe relationship might be an alternative method for predicting the swelling deformation of bentonite–sand mixtures in salt solution.

Underground Nuclear Astrophysics in China (JUNA) will take the advantage of the ultra-low background in Jinping underground lab. High current accelerator with an ECR source and detectors were commissioned. JUNA plans to study directly a number of nuclear reactions important to hydrostatic stellar evolution at their relevant stellar energies. At the first period, JUNA aims at the direct measurements of 25Mg(p,γ)26 Al, 19F(p,α) 16 O, 13C(α, n) 16O and 12C(α,γ) 16O near the Gamow window. The current progress of JUNA will be given.

Ecological evidence suggests that niacin (nicotinamide and nicotinic acid) fortification may be involved in the increased prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes, both of which are associated with insulin resistance and epigenetic changes. The purpose of the present study was to investigate nicotinamide-induced metabolic changes and their relationship with possible epigenetic changes. Male rats (5 weeks old) were fed with a basal diet (control group) or diets supplemented with 1 or 4 g/kg of nicotinamide for 8 weeks. Low-dose nicotinamide exposure increased weight gain, but high-dose one did not. The nicotinamide-treated rats had higher hepatic and renal levels of 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine, a marker of DNA damage, and impaired glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity when compared with the control rats. Nicotinamide supplementation increased the plasma levels of nicotinamide, N1-methylnicotinamide and choline and decreased the levels of betaine, which is associated with a decrease in global hepatic DNA methylation and uracil content in DNA. Nicotinamide had gene-specific effects on the methylation of CpG sites within the promoters and the expression of hepatic genes tested that are responsible for methyl transfer reactions (nicotinamide N-methyltransferase and DNA methyltransferase 1), for homocysteine metabolism (betaine–homocysteine S-methyltransferase, methionine synthase and cystathionine β-synthase) and for oxidative defence (catalase and tumour protein p53). It is concluded that nicotinamide-induced oxidative tissue injury, insulin resistance and disturbed methyl metabolism can lead to epigenetic changes. The present study suggests that long-term high nicotinamide intake (e.g. induced by niacin fortification) may be a risk factor for methylation- and insulin resistance-related metabolic abnormalities.

Sixteen children (17 age mates, 17 vocabulary mates) with specific language impairment (SLI) participated in two studies. In the first, they named fantasy objects. All groups coined novel noun–noun compounds on a majority of trials but only the SLI group had difficulty ordering the nouns as dictated by semantic context. In the second study, the children described the meaning of conventional noun–noun compounds. The SLI and AM groups did not differ in parsing the nouns, but the SLI group was poorer at explaining the semantic relationships between them. Compared to vocabulary mates, a larger proportion of the SLI group successfully parsed the compounds but a smaller proportion could explain them. These difficulties may reflect problems in the development of links within the semantic lexicon.

The outcome of Plasmodium yoelii 17XL-infected BALB/c and DBA/2 mice, ranging from death to spontaneous cure, respectively, depends largely on the establishment of effective pro-inflammatory type 1 responses during the early stages of infection and associates with CD4+CD25+Foxp3+regulatory T cells (Tregs). Here, effects of Tregs were analysed on early P. yoelii 17XL infection in BALB/c and DBA/2 mice. In vivo depletion of Tregs significantly reversed the inhibited establishment of effective pro-inflammatory type 1 responses in BALB/c mice, indicating that this cell population contributed to the suppression of T-cell function in malaria. Moreover, the proportion and absolute numbers of IL-10-secreting Tregs in BALB/c mice were significantly higher than that found in DBA/2 mice by intracytoplasmic staining, and IL-10 production was correlated with the Tregs population. In addition, in vivo Tregs depletion decreased the production of IL-10 and the apoptosis of CD4+ T cells. Consistently, IL-10R blockade also had the same effect as that of Tregs depletion in P. yoelii 17XL-infected BALB/c mice. Our data demonstrate that Tregs perhaps have an important role in regulating pro-inflammatory type 1 responses in an IL-10-dependent manner and induce CD4+ T cell apoptosis during the early stage of P. yoelii 17XL infection.