Short Cycle Research Articles

Exploring the Performance Impact of Neural Network Optimization on Energy Analysis of Biosensor

With the popularization of new energy vehicles, lithium battery systems, as the main components of new energy vehicles, have the characteristics of short life cycles and harmful substances inside. The green treatment of lithium battery systems has become a research hotspot. Disassembly and recycling are essential means of reusing waste in lithium battery systems. Due to the wide variety of lithium battery systems, the lack of unified design standards, and the high flexibility requirements for disassembly, manual disassembly is currently the primary method used. However, this method can cause health hazards to oneself when dismantling some harmful components. The optimization of the dismantling process route for lithium batteries is a crucial step before dismantling, which directly determines the economic benefits of dismantling. However, unlike general electromechanical products, lithium batteries have prominent safety issues during the dismantling process, so the safety requirements for their dismantling process route are relatively high. Given the substantial absence of parametric evaluation and modification in prior research, this work investigates the influence of the most significant factors on the power density of biosensors. A conduction-based framework was employed to ascertain these variables, and the calculations were performed utilizing a neural network. The neural network was developed with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). Based on this, this article considers studying the optimization method of the lithium battery safety disassembly process to maximize safety and economic benefits comprehensively. Based on the essential characteristics of lithium-ion battery systems, an analysis is conducted on the allocation method of difficulty level for human-machine cooperation tasks and the impact indicators of task allocation. Then, a product disassembly hybrid diagram is established, and on this basis, multiple sets of human-machine cooperation disassembly sequences are generated. Finally, a multi-objective optimization model for disassembly cost, difficulty, and time is established. Finally, taking the Tesla Model 1sPBS waste lithium battery as an example, the safety prediction model for dismantling the waste lithium battery and the optimization model for the safety dismantling process route were solved to verify the effectiveness of the above optimization method.

THE IMPACT OF EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS OF PROJECTED CANADIAN REGIONAL CLIMATE MODEL DATA ON FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT

This paper presents findings about the influence of projected data from the Canadian regional climate model on the performance of flexible pavement, building upon the results from previous work where the data was generated and published, in which a general trend of decreasing the design life was observed. Projected temperature is the most important extreme climate impact on flexible roads. Adopting a conservative approach demonstrated that two extreme events of Maximum Mean Annual Air Temperature (MMAAT) and Maximum Summer Average Air Temperature (MSAAT) resulted in significant reduction of 25 years road design life. The observed trend indicates a severity range of 7% to 15% in terms of design service life loss when considering events every year compared to every five years. The findings revealed a reduction in pavement design life by 34%, 50%, 73%, and 90% for historical, short, intermediate, and long-term life cycles in the city of Windsor, respectively.

Evaluating STING Agonist Impact on Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Virus-related Cancers

Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is an etiological agent of multiple malignancies associated with compromised immunity, such as Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) and Primary Effusion Lymphoma (PEL). KSHV infection is lifelong with no available treatment or vaccines and poses a high risk to immunocompromised individuals. The virus is transmitted via the oral and sexual route, and has a biphasic life cycle with a short lytic replication cycle followed by long-term latency, with the expression of few genes making detection difficult. Reactivation from latency results in a cascade of viral gene expression and pathogenesis. Critical to controlling KSHV infection is the cGAS-STING DNA-sensing pathway (STING), known to activate the type I interferon response and induce cancer cell death or growth inhibition. STING exhibits both anti-viral and anti-tumor responses, showing promise as a protein of interest to study for the development of a therapeutic treatment. By examining the in vitro effectiveness of STING agonists in inhibiting KSHV oncogenesis in PEL, the study aimed to provide the foundation for a potential novel therapeutic approach. Six patient-derived PEL cell lines were treated with the STING agonist diaminobenzamidazole (diABZI) in a dose-dependent manner. Four of the PEL cell lines exhibited decreased cell growth, viability, and colony formation, while two PEL cell lines were resistant to treatment, correlating with the presence or absence of STING expression. RNA-sequencing was performed and discovered upregulation of multiple interferon-stimulated genes (ISG) in responsive cell lines. Further investigations will explore STING agonists’ inhibition of PEL oncogenesis in vitro via colony formation and in vivo using a PEL xenograft model with NSG mice. Successful completion of this project will offer insight into potential clinical treatments for targeting KSHV infection and reactivation.

The Impact of Transport Costs on Business Decision-Making in Rural Areas

Mobility challenges in rural areas can have a negative impact on economic and demographic development. People in these areas often have to move to urban areas to find quality jobs or services, which can lead to a decline in population, and economic activity. In this paper we analyze the factors influencing business decisions in rural areas. Public transport infrastructure based on short energy cycles using solar energy represents a solution to boost business decision management in rural areas.

Caenorhabditis elegans as in vivo model for the screening of natural plants-derived novel anti-aging compounds: a short introduction.

The global aging population highlights the need for effective anti-aging treatments. Natural products show promise, but thorough evaluation requires in vivo models due to the complexity of aging. Ethical concerns are driving a shift from traditional models like rabbits and mice to alternatives such as Caenorhabditis elegans. This microscopic nematode, with its short life cycle, genetic similarities to humans, and cost-effectiveness, is ideal for testing anti-aging compounds. We review studies using C. elegans to assess natural products, suggesting it could serve as a primary model for -evaluating the safety and efficacy of plant-derived anti-aging compounds.

Preformation of Insoluble Solid-Electrolyte Interphase for Highly Reversible Na-Ion Batteries.

A stable solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) is crucial for cycling reversibility of Na-ion batteries by mitigating continuous side reactions. So far, the severe SEI dissolution leads to low Coulombic efficiency (CE) and short cycle life. Meanwhile, the quantified relationship between SEI components and their solubility remains unclear. In this work, we establish the direct correlation between SEI components and SEI solubility, and quantify that the solubility of organic-rich SEI is 3.26 times of inorganic-rich SEI. We further propose a feasible strategy to preform inorganic-rich insoluble SEI and demonstrate a practical hard carbon (HC)||NaMn0.33Fe0.33Ni0.33O2 full cell in a commercial electrolyte of 1 M NaPF6 in propylene carbonate (PC) with 80.0 % capacity retention for 900 cycles, and achieve a record-high average CE of 99.95 % for a practical Na-ion full cell. This study provides an effective strategy of preforming insoluble SEI to suppress its dissolution towards highly reversible Na-ion batteries.

Inventory Management System Using Economic Order Quantity And Reorder Point

The inventory management system for car workshops is still using Excel, which makes it inefficient and inaccurate for complex stock calculations. The solution is to design an inventory application that uses the Economic Order Quantity and Reorder Point methods. The application will provide timely stock replenishment information and optimize order quantities, increasing inventory management efficiency and accuracy. The Software Development Life Cycle used in this study is Rapid Application Development, a process emphasizing short development cycles. User Acceptance Test results show that users received the inventory management system very well, with an average satisfaction level of 98.44% for Admins and 97% for general users, indicating high satisfaction with the system's features and functionality.

Experimental Set‐Up for Measurement of Half‐Cell‐ and Over‐Potentials of Flow Batteries during Operation

The study of flow batteries (FBs) requires the development of tools able to evaluate their performance during operation in a reliable and simple way. In this work, we present an experimental set‐up that allows the on‐line monitoring of the half‐cells state of charge and apparent overpotentials on the positive and negative electrodes during battery operation. These measurements are feasible by using additional flow cells that include a reference electrode on each side. We used the experimental set‐up to study the performance of the vanadium system as well as a previously reported stable organic couple. The studies consisted on short cycling operation at different current densities and polarization curves at different flow rates and states of charge. By confirming previous results obtained for vanadium‐FBs and extending the analysis to further systems, we demonstrated that this approach provides a reliable deeper insight into the battery performance and the processes taking place during operation.

An Effective Strategy on Synthesizing a Stable SiOx-Based Anode for High Density Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Silicon oxides (SiOx) have received extensive attention as a promising anode candidate for next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, their commercial applications have been seriously hindered by low conductivity, large volume expansion, and unstable solid-electrolyte interface (SEI) layer, which result in low initial coulombic efficiency, poor rate performance, and short cycling lifespan. In this work, we demonstrated a simple way to prepare a series of SiOx materials with lithium fluoride (LiF) modified. When the mass ratio of SiOx and LiF equaled 1 : 0.15, the long-term cycling capacity retention could be greatly improved from 30.1 % to 76.5 % after 300 cycles. The result was primarily because of the enhancement of electrons and Li+-ions transport and the stability of the SEI layer due to LiF addition. However, excess LiF addition could hinder the diffusion of Li+-ions. This study presented the great potential of LiF modified on SiOx anode materials for LIBs.

Area-Time-Efficient Secure Comb Scalar Multiplication Architecture Based on Recoding

With the development of mobile communication, digital signatures with low latency, low area, and high security are in increasing demand. Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) is widely used because of its security and lightweight. Elliptic curve scalar multiplication (ECSM) is the basic arithmetic in ECC. Based on this background information, we propose our own research objectives. In this paper, a low-latency and low-area ECSM architecture based on the comb algorithm is proposed. The detailed methodology is as follows. The recoding-k algorithm and randomization-Z algorithm are used to improve security, which can resist sample power analysis (SPA) and differential power analysis (DPA). A low-area multi-functional architecture for comb is proposed, which takes into account different stages of the comb algorithm. Based on this, the data dependency is considered and the comb architecture is optimized to achieve a uniform and efficient execution pattern. The interleaved modular multiplication algorithm and modified binary inverse algorithm are used to achieve short clock cycle delay and high frequency while taking into account the need for a low area. The proposed architecture has been implemented on Xilinx Virtex-7 series FPGA to perform ECSM on 256-bits prime field GF(p). In the hardware architecture with only 7351 slices of resource usage, a single ECSM only takes 0.74 ms, resulting in an area-time product (ATP) of 5.41. The implementation results show that our design can compete with the existing state-of-the-art engineering in terms of performance and has higher security. Our design is suitable for computing scenarios where security and computing speed are required. The implementation of the overall architecture is of great significance and inspiration to the research community.

Bioinformatics-based drug repositioning and prediction of the main active ingredients and potential mechanisms of action for the efficacy of Dan-Lou tablet

Drug repositioning is gaining attention as a method for developing new drugs due to its low cost, short cycle time, and high success rate. One important approach is to explore new uses for already marketed drugs. In this study, we utilized the strategy of drug repositioning, focusing on the Dan-Lou tablet. We predicted the efficacy of Dan-Lou tablet against non-small cell lung cancer based on gene expression similarity and verified it by in vitro experiments. Next, we performed further analysis and validation using network pharmacology, molecular docking and molecular dynamics. Based on the results, it was concluded that Dan-Lou tablet mainly acted through nine compounds, Quercetin, Luteolin, Scoparone, Isorhamnetin, Eugenol, Genistein, Coumestrol, Hederagenin, Succinic Acid, and mainly targeted CCL2, FEN1, TPI1, RMI2 by six pathways. This discovery not only provides a new idea for the development of Dan-Lou tablet but also provides useful predictive information for clinical treatment. The method we adopted has great development prospects as a way to predict the efficacy of new drugs and their main mechanisms of action, and it has a positive impact on the research and development of new drugs using drug repositioning and the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine.

High-capacity, fast-charging and long-life magnesium/black phosphorous composite negative electrode for non-aqueous magnesium battery

Secondary non-aqueous magnesium-based batteries are a promising candidate for post-lithium-ion battery technologies. However, the uneven Mg plating behavior at the negative electrode leads to high overpotential and short cycle life. Here, to circumvent these issues, we report the preparation of a magnesium/black phosphorus (Mg@BP) composite and its use as a negative electrode for non-aqueous magnesium-based batteries. Via in situ and ex situ physicochemical measurements, we demonstrate that Mg ions are initially intercalated in black phosphorus two-dimensional structures, forming chemically stable MgxP intermediates. After the formation of the intermediates, Mg electrodeposition reaction became the predominant. When tested in the asymmetric coin cell configuration, the Mg@BP composite electrode allowed stable stripping/plating performances for 1600 h (800 cycles), a cumulative capacity of 3200 mAh cm−2, and a Coulombic efficiency of 99.98%. Assembly and testing of the Mg@BP | |nano-CuS coin cell enabled a discharge capacity of 398 mAh g−1 and an average cell discharge potential of about 1.15 V at a specific current of 560 mA g−1 with a low decay rate of 0.016% per cycle for 225 cycles at 25 °C.

Improved PEG-Based Construction of Analog Fountain Codes.

This paper proposes an improved progressive edge-growth (PEG) construction of analog fountain codes (AFCs). During edge selection, it simultaneously allocates weight coefficients in descending order. Analysis shows that our proposed construction reduces the probability of large weight coefficients involved in harmful short cycles. Simulation results indicate that it has good block error rate (BLER) in short block length regime.

Investigation on deformation and strengthening mechanisms of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy under a hybrid process of cryogenic incremental sheet forming and bake-hardening treatment

Incremental sheet forming process is featured with high flexibility and short manufacturing cycle, which has great potential in customized forming of complex components. However, the formability of high-strength aluminum alloy is still needs to be improved. In this paper, an efficient cryogenic incremental sheet forming (CISF) process combined with bake-hardening (BH) treatment is proposed to achieve excellent formability and strength for Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy. First, the effect of different cryogenic temperatures on the formability of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy is investigated and the mechanism of plasticity enhancement during cryogenic incremental sheet forming was revealed. The fracture forming limit lines constructed from different components show a significant increase in the formability of as-quenched Al-Zn-Mg-Cu at −170°C. Specially, when forming cone component with variable wall angle at −170℃, the ultimate forming height is increased by 70.4 % compared with 25℃. The microstructure shows that dislocation cross-slip is suppressed at cryogenic temperatures, and the large number of subgrain structure and uniformly distributed dislocations reflect the improved deformation uniformity at cryogenic temperatures. Second, the effect of cryogenic incremental sheet forming on the strength of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu is explored. The vertical forming force can be increased by 37.4 % at −170°C compared to 25°C, and the components have higher post-forming strength. Moreover, the strengthening response of the components after the combination of cryogenic incremental sheet forming and bake-hardening treatments is investigated. The cryogenic specimens exhibited a rapid bake-hardening response compared to the room temperature specimens. The yield strength increased by 15.4 % to 387.2 MPa after 40 mins of bake-hardening treatment at 180°C. It has been shown that precipitation strengthening and dislocation strengthening are the main strengthening mechanisms during cryogenic incremental sheet forming and bake-hardening treatments. This study reveals the dual enhancement effect during the cryogenic incremental sheet forming process, and proposes an efficient approach which combines cryogenic incremental sheet forming with bake-hardening treatment to manufacture high-performance components.

Growth-phase-dependent control of rRNA synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is one of the most well-studied model organisms used in the scientific community. Its ease of manipulation, accessible growth conditions, short life cycle, and conserved eukaryotic metabolic pathways make it a useful model organism. Consequently, yeast has been used to investigate a myriad of phenomena, from microbial to human studies. Most of the research performed using this model organism utilizes yeast cell populations when they are growing exponentially, a growth phase aptly termed exponential or log phase. However, log phase encompasses several yeast generations and ranges several hours of yeast growth, meaning that there is a potential for variability during this "homogenous" growth phase. Cells in log phase require robust ribosome biogenesis to support their rapid growth and cell division. Interestingly, during log phase, ribosomal RNA (rRNA) synthesis (which is the first and rate limiting step in ribosome biosynthesis) has been shown to decrease prior to growth rate decline in stationary phase. In this study, we utilized several genomic and biochemical methods to elucidate the relationship between subphases of log phase and rRNA synthesis. Our results indicate that as yeast cells progress through subphases of log growth, both polymerase I transcription and rRNA processing are repressed. Overall, this study establishes a growth-phase-dependent control of rRNA synthesis that unexpectedly begins prior to the switch to stationary phase (i.e., pre-diauxic shift) as a putative mechanism of anticipating nutrient starvation.IMPORTANCESaccharomyces cerevisiae is a ubiquitously used model organism in a wide range of scientific research fields. The conventional practice when performing yeast studies is to investigate its properties during logarithmic growth phase. This growth phase is defined as the period during which the cell population doubles at regular intervals, and nutrients are not limiting. However, this growth phase lasts hours and encompasses several yeast cell generations which consequently introduce heterogeneity to log growth phase depending on their time of harvest. This study reveals significant changes in the transcriptomic landscape even in early stages of exponential growth. The overall significance of this work is the revelation that even the seemingly homogenous log growth phase is far more diverse than was previously believed.

Defense Molecules of the Invasive Plant Species Ageratum conyzoides

Ageratum conyzoides L. is native to Tropical America, and it has naturalized in many other tropical, subtropical, and temperate countries in South America, Central and Southern Africa, South and East Asia, Eastern Austria, and Europe. The population of the species has increased dramatically as an invasive alien species, and it causes significant problems in agriculture and natural ecosystems. The life history traits of Ageratum conyzoides, such as its short life cycle, early reproductive maturity, prolific seed production, and high adaptive ability to various environmental conditions, may contribute to its naturalization and increasing population. Possible evidence of the molecules involved in the defense of Ageratum conyzoides against its natural enemies, such as herbivore insects and fungal pathogens, and the allelochemicals involved in its competitive ability against neighboring plant species has been accumulated in the literature. The volatiles, essential oils, extracts, residues, and/or rhizosphere soil of Ageratum conyzoides show insecticidal, fungicidal, nematocidal, and allelopathic activity. The pyrrolizidine alkaloids lycopsamine and echinatine, found in the species, are highly toxic and show insecticidal activity. Benzopyran derivatives precocenes I and II show inhibitory activity against insect juvenile hormone biosynthesis and trichothecene mycotoxin biosynthesis. A mixture of volatiles emitted from Ageratum conyzoides, such as β-caryophyllene, β-bisabolene, and β-farnesene, may work as herbivore-induced plant volatiles, which are involved in the indirect defense function against herbivore insects. Flavonoids, such as nobiletin, eupalestin, 5′-methoxynobiletin, 5,6,7,3′,4′,5′-hexamethoxyflavone, and 5,6,8,3,4′,5′-hexamethoxyflavone, show inhibitory activity against the spore germination of pathogenic fungi. The benzoic acid and cinnamic acid derivatives found in the species, such as protocatechuic acid, gallic acid, p-coumaric acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, and ferulic acid, may act as allelopathic agents, causing the germination and growth inhibition of competitive plant species. These molecules produced by Ageratum conyzoides may act as defense molecules against its natural enemies and as allelochemicals against neighboring plant species, and they may contribute to the naturalization of the increasing population of Ageratum conyzoides in new habitats as an invasive plant species. This article presents the first review focusing on the defense function and allelopathy of Ageratum conyzoides.

Material selection and design of intake blades for aircraft engines based on additive manufacturing

Abstract The intake blades of aircraft engines are mainly used to capture and guide external air into the engine and are the foundation of engine operation. Their materials and design are related to the performance level and reliability of the entire engine. The “additive” 3D printing manufacturing method has the advantages of high precision, low cost, less material waste, strong design, and a short research and development cycle. This article proposes the use of GH4169 high-temperature alloy as the 3D printing material for the service requirements of aircraft engine intake blades, constructs a 3D printing model, and designs and realizes the 3D printing of engine intake blades.

Public Response to Federal Electronic Cigarette Regulations Analyzed Using Social Media Data Through Natural Language Processing: Topic Modeling Study.

e-Cigarette (electronic cigarette) use has been a public health issue in the United States. On June 23, 2022, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued marketing denial orders (MDOs) to Juul Labs Inc for all their products currently marketed in the United States. However, one day later, on June 24, 2022, a federal appeals court granted a temporary reprieve to Juul Labs that allowed it to keep its e-cigarettes on the market. As the conversation around Juul continues to evolve, it is crucial to gain insights into the sentiments and opinions expressed by individuals on social media. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive analysis of tweets before and after the ban on Juul, aiming to shed light on public perceptions and sentiments surrounding this contentious topic and to better understand the life cycle of public health-related policy on social media. Natural language processing (NLP) techniques were used, including state-of-the-art BERTopic topic modeling and sentiment analysis. A total of 6023 tweets and 22,288 replies or retweets were collected from Twitter (rebranded as X in 2023) between June 2022 and October 2022. The encoded topics were used in time-trend analysis to depict the boom-and-bust cycle. Content analyses of retweets were also performed to better understand public perceptions and sentiments about this contentious topic. The attention surrounding the FDA's ban on Juul lasted no longer than a week on Twitter. Not only the news (ie, tweets with a YouTube link that directs to the news site) related to the announcement itself, but the surrounding discussions (eg, potential consequences of this ban or block and concerns toward kids or youth health) diminished shortly after June 23, 2022, the date when the ban was officially announced. Although a short rebound was observed on July 4, 2022, which was contributed by the suspension on the following day, discussions dried out in 2 days. Out of the top 50 most retweeted tweets, we observed that, except for neutral (23/45, 51%) sentiment that broadcasted the announcement, posters responded more negatively (19/45, 42%) to the FDA's ban. We observed a short life cycle for this news announcement, with a preponderance of negative sentiment toward the FDA's ban on Juul. Policy makers could use tactics such as issuing ongoing updates and reminders about the ban, highlighting its impact on public health, and actively engaging with influential social media users who can help maintain the conversation.

Construction of VO2@V2C MXene heterostructure toward superior-rate rechargeable aqueous zinc batteries

V2C MXene delivers excellent metallic properties and robust mechanical stability. However, its low capacity, easy volume expansion during charge/discharge and relatively short cycle life limits its further development. It is an effective strategy to build Van der Waals heterostructures that can shield the monolithic materials from defects and integrate the advantages of the monolithic materials. Herein, via a one-step hydrothermal method, a VO2@V2C heterostructure is successfully constructed by the controllable oxidation of V2C, which allows for shorter ion diffusion distances, faster ion transport and enhancement of hydrophilic properties of the material. The VO2@V2C heterostructures have incredible reversibility (440.9 mAh/g at 0.2 A/g), remarkable cycling stability (142.7 mAh/g at 1.0 A/g after 900 cycles) and superior-rate capacity (255.3 mAh/g at 6.0 A/g). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that VO2@V2C possesses excellent adsorption capacity for zinc ions and outstanding electrical conductivity. The heterogeneous interface between the two materials is conducive to the increase of the embedding sites of zinc ions, which promotes the homogeneous distribution and rapid diffusion of zinc ions in the materials, and consequently enhances the capacity and cycling reliability of the electrodes. It provides a new idea for the selection of cathode electrodes for aqueous zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) in present study.

Long-duration aqueous Zn-ion batteries achieved by dual-salt highly-concentrated electrolyte with low water activity

Aqueous Zn-ion batteries have attracted much attention due to their unique high safety and low-cost merits. However, their practical applications are at a slow pace due to their short cycle life, which fundamentally results from the instability of the positive/negative electrode interface in the traditional dilute aqueous electrolytes with high water activity. Developing highly concentrated electrolyte (HCE) has been considered as an effective solution. Unlike previous studies of single salt-based HCE (SS-HCE), herein, a new dual-salt HCE (15 m ZnCl2 + 10 m NH4NH2SO3 DS-HCE) was proposed for the first time. DS-HCE was proven to simultaneously possess higher conductivity than traditional dilute electrolytes and ultralow water activity of SS-HCE by the regulation of dual high-concentration salts on the solvation structure, which renders the Zn||Zn symmetric cell the record-long cycling life of 2200 h compared with those with SS-HCE (30 m ZnCl2, 300 h) and other reported HCEs. Additionally, the Zn||NH4V4O10 full cell with DS-HCE demonstrated impressed rate capability within a wide-range current densities from 0.1 to 10 A g−1. Moreover, at the high current density of 5 A g−1, the full cell shows almost 100% capacity retention after 4000 cycles, which indicates the promising future of the DS-HCE system for long-duration aqueous Zn-ion batteries.