Strong Competition Research Articles

The segmentation of nanoparticles with a novel approach of HRU2-Net†

Nanoparticles have great potential for the application in new energy and aerospace fields. The distribution of nanoparticle sizes is a critical determinant of material properties and serves as a significant parameter in defining the characteristics of zero-dimensional nanomaterials. In this study, we proposed HRU2-Net†, an enhancement of the U2-Net† model, featuring multi-level semantic information fusion. This approach exhibits strong competitiveness and refined segmentation capabilities for nanoparticle segmentation. It achieves a Mean intersection over union (MIoU) of 87.31%, with an accuracy rate exceeding 97.31%, leading to a significant improvement in segmentation effectiveness and precision. The results show that the deep learning-based method significantly enhances the efficacy of nanomaterial research, which holds substantial significance for the advancement of nanomaterial science.

Exploring the Pollinator Community: Diversity and Abundance of Flower-Visiting Insects on Cowpea in Bilone, Obala, Cameroon

Aims: Investigations in cowpea fields allowed the characterization of the community structure of flower-visiting insects. Study Design: Seeds were sown in 15 plots (6x5.5 m each). Place and Duration of Study: Campus of Obala Higher Institute of Agriculture and Management (OHIAM), Bilone agroecological farm (Obala-Cameroon), from May to June 2016 and 2017. Methodology: Insects were identified in-situ or captured and stored in papillotes (Lepidoptera adults) or labelled vials containing 70° ethanol (other insects). Abundances allowed the determination of 11 alpha diversity indices. Beta diversity was tested using Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index and the correlation between species occurrences. Results: A total of 929 specimens belonged to five orders, 10 families, 13 species were recorded. Hymenoptera was the most family-rich and abundant (four families, 94.3% of the collection) followed by Diptera and Lepidoptera (two families each). Neuroptera and Orthoptera (one family each). Apidae was the most species-rich and abundant (three species; 72.9%), then Formicidae (one, 10.1%), Megachilidae (two; 9.8%). Apis mellifera (Apidae) was the most abundant (35.5%), then Xylocopa olivacea (Apidae) (22.3%), Amegilla calens (Apidae) (15.1%), Myrmicaria opaciventris (Formicidae) (10.1%), and Megachile (Chalicodoma) cincta (Megachilidae) (8.2%). The afrotropical useful predator Ascalaphus africanus (Ascalapidae) and the phytophagous pest Pteropera carnapi (Acrididae) were recorded. Exotic myasigenic species Calliphora vicina (Calliphoridae) and Musca domestica (Muscidae) were recorded. Acrididae, Nymphalidae and Pieridae cumulatively represented 3.1% pest species in the collection. Assemblages showed low species richness, high species diversity, and highly even community. Numbers of simply abundant species were close to that co-dominants. A negative correlation was noted between Acraea acerata (Nymphalidae) and Apis mellifera adansonii (Apidae), Ap. mellifera and Calliphora vicina (Calliphoridae), Ap. mellifera and Synagris conuta (Vespidae). Several positive correlations were recorded. Conclusion: In Bilone, results highlighted the importance of flower-visiting insects for the cowpea pollination and crop yield. Species were moderately abundant and assemblages functioned on the base of niche partitioning nomocenosis (log-linear model) of more or less disturbed environments with strong competition between pioneer species for the available resources.

Platanus occidentalis L. fruit-derived carbon materials for electrochemical potassium storage.

In the post-lithium-ion battery era, potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) have been considered as a promising candidate because of their electrochemical and economic characteristics. However, as an emerging electrochemical storage technology, it is urgent to develop capable anode materials that can be produced at low cost and on a large scale to promote its practical application. Biomass-derived carbon materials as anodes of PIBs exhibit strong competitiveness by their merits of low weight, high stability, non-toxicity, and wide availability. In this work, we employed Platanus occidentalis L. fruits as a precursor to prepare a series of biomass-derived carbon materials by simply adjusting carbonization temperature, and we explored their electrochemical potassium storage capability as anode materials. The optimized sample (annealed at 800 °C) delivered good potassium storage capability (193.3 mAh g-1 at 100 mA g-1 after 100 cycles), cycling stability (80.4 mAh g-1 after 300 cycles at 300 mA g-1), and rate performance (51.2 mAh g-1 at 1000 mA g-1). This work demonstrates a feasible way to utilize biomass waste disposal for emerging sustainable energy storage technologies.

Balancing limited resources in actin network competition.

In cells, multiple actin networks coexist in a dynamic manner. These networks compete for a common pool of actin monomers and actin-binding proteins. Interestingly, all of these networks manage to coexist despite the strong competition for resources. Moreover, the coexistence of networks with various strengths is key to cell adaptation to external changes. However, a comprehensive view of how these networks coexist in this competitive environment, where resources are limited, is still lacking. To address this question, we used a reconstituted system, in closed microwells, consisting of beads propelled by actin polymerization or micropatterns functionalized with lipids capable of initiating polymerization close to a membrane. This system enabled us to build dynamic actin architectures, competing for a limited pool of proteins, over a period of hours. We demonstrated the importance of protein turnover for the coexistence of actin networks, showing that it ensures resource distribution between weak and strong networks. However, when competition becomes too intense, turnover alone is insufficient, leading to a selection process that favors the strongest networks. Consequently, we emphasize the importance of competition strength, which is defined by the turnover rate, the amount of available protein, and the number of competing structures. More generally, this work illustrates how turnover allows biological populations with various competition strengths to coexist despite resource constraints.

Analisis Studi Kelayakan Bisnis Pada UMKM Di Tinjau Dari Aspek Pasar Dan Pemasaran (Studi Kasus UMKM Jinji Dimsum )

This research analyzes the business feasibility of Jinji Dimsum MSMEs from market and marketing aspects. Dimsum, a popular food originating from China, has attracted the attention of Indonesians, especially young people. The research method used is qualitative with literature study and marketing strategy analysis. The results show that Jinji Dimsum successfully positioned itself as a provider of quality dimsum at affordable prices, and implemented effective marketing strategies through social media and collaboration with influencers. The 4P marketing mix (product, price, promotion, and place) applied increases brand awareness and expands market reach. In conclusion, Jinji Dimsum MSMEs are able to build strong competitiveness and create sustainable growth opportunities in the culinary industry.

The development of a kinetic biotic ligand model to predict acute toxicity of Gadolinium for Daphnia magna.

The metal Gadolinium (Gd) is a member of the lanthanide (Ln) group and is recognized as an emerging pollutant due to its widespread application in modern technology. Its acute toxicity depends on its free ion concentrations (Gd3+), which is directly related to chemical speciation. The Biotic Ligand Model (BLM) is a valuable tool for risk assessment which predicts the metal bioavailability and toxicity to specific organisms. However, studies developing BLM for any Ln species are rare. Consequently, this study aimed to develop a kinetic BLM to predict the acute toxicity of Gd to the freshwater crustacean Daphnia magna. A series of 48-hour toxicity tests were conducted using different major cation concentrations, in order to estimate their affinity constants for the biotic ligand (BL). The model was then validated, first in the presence of dissolved organic matter (DOM), and then with water samples collected from lakes, rivers, and estuaries in France and Germany. The outcome revealed that three major cations (potassium, magnesium, and calcium) act as strong competitors. The model was successfully validated in the presence of organic matter and in the majority of surface freshwater samples (9 out of 13 samples). In this case, the predicted survival had a strong fit with the observed data. However, this was reduced when applying the model to samples of elevated electroconductivity and a pH below 6.8, when survival was consistently overestimated, potentially a multistressor effect. The kinetic BLM predicted 48h measured EC50 ranging from 4 to 30mgL-1 which agreed with the data from the literature. The model could also predict chronic effect of Gd by estimating the no-effect concentration (NEC) under prolonged exposure time ranging from 0.1 to 1mgL-1.

Comprehensive benefit evaluation of mineral resources development based on dual population constrained multi-objective evolutionary algorithm

With the increasing global demand for mineral resources, the comprehensive benefit evaluation of mineral resources development is playing an increasingly important role in the field of mineral resources development. However, there are few attempts to use multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) to study the comprehensive benefit evaluation problem of mineral resources development. To effectively solve this problem, this study established a multi-objective optimization model for comprehensive benefit evaluation of mineral resources development and proposed a dual-population constrained multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (CMOEA). The algorithm uses two populations to organically combine the efficient convergence of the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) with the advantage of the adaptive geometry estimation based multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (AGE-MOEA) in estimating the shape of the Pareto front, named co-evolution based on non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm and adaptive geometry estimation (C-NSGA-AGE). 3 test suites are used to verify the performance of the proposed algorithm. Experimental results show that compared with competing algorithms, C-NSGA-AGE has strong competitiveness in most test functions. The proposed method is used to solve the model, and five optimal comprehensive benefit evaluation schemes are given for different objectives. Among them, the maximum benefit is obtained when each objective is developed in a balanced way, which reaches 0.837181.

An ultra-fast reaction process for recycling lithium ion batteries via galvanic cell interaction.

The efficient realization of a closed-loop process is an ultimate goal for reusing spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), yet the complicated recycling processes of leaching and purification in an acid atmosphere are totally different compared with the regeneration method of the cathode precursor in alkali solution, inevitably resulting in the redundant consumption of acid/ammonia solutions and increased burden for a green environment. Herein, considering the advantages of selective extraction and similar chemical surroundings for recovery and regeneration, ammonia-leaching has been proposed to achieve short-process closed-loop recycling with effective impurity removal. Particularly, benefiting from the galvanic cell interaction, the sluggish reaction rate and relatively harsh reaction conditions of ammonia-leaching are well addressed. High leaching efficiency can be achieved within 10 min, where nearly 80% valuable metals are extracted in the initial 1 min. Notably, this leaching solution, after purification, can be used to directly synthesize the cathode precursor through the commercial alkali co-precipitation method. This process is superior to the acid leaching system, which requires the use of acid-base solutions back and forth to adjust pH for metal extraction and material regeneration. Compared to the traditional solid-to-liquid reaction with a shrinking core model, the solid-to-solid reaction with galvanic cell interaction substantially addresses the inherent issue of sluggish leaching efficiency, exhibiting much stronger competitiveness in the leaching rate and environment cost. Thus, it provides prospects to achieve large-scale recycling and regeneration of spent LIBs simultaneously in the whole-process alkali-atmosphere.

Large-scale sampling of potential breeding sites in male ruffs.

The traditional narrative of the life cycle of migratory birds is that individuals perform long-distance movements between a breeding and a wintering site, but are largely resident at those sites. Although this pattern may apply to socially monogamous species with biparental care, in polygamous systems, the sex that only provides gametes may benefit from continuing to move and sample several potential breeding sites during a single breeding season. Such behaviour would blur the distinction between migration and breeding. We used satellite telemetry to study movements during the breeding season of males of the ruff Calidris pugnax, a lekking wader with a polygynous mating system and female-only parental care. Ruffs have a unique life-history, with three distinct genetically determined male mating strategies: aggressive 'independents', submissive 'satellites', and female-mimicking 'faeders'. Within the breeding season, ruff males visited up to 23 sites (median: 11) and travelled up to 9029 km (median: 4435 km) covering a considerable part of their known breeding range. All three male morphs displayed breeding site sampling, indicating that they might gain similar benefits from this behaviour. Our findings suggest that large-scale breeding range sampling may be a common feature of migratory species with female-only care and strong male-male competition.

The Analysis of Factors Influencing New Energy Vehicle Stocks

With the global emphasis on environmental protection and the reduction of non-renewable energy sources, the new energy automobile industry is developing rapidly, and its stock performance has become the focus of investors’ attention. This paper mainly analyses the influencing factors of new energy automobile stocks. By combing the relevant literature and combining the international background of the new energy industry, this paper investigates that the influencing factors of new energy automobile stocks are multiple and compounded, including the macroeconomic environment, the industry development trend, the policy support as well as the enterprise’s factors. Investors should take these factors into account when investing and analyze them in conjunction with actual data to make informed decisions while paying close attention to market dynamics and adjusting their investment strategies on time. In addition, market competition, enterprise market share, and competitiveness will also affect the stock price, this paper takes the top three enterprises in China’s new energy vehicle market share in 2023 as an example, they all have strong competitiveness and profitability, and their stock prices are relatively high. This paper shows that the performance of new energy vehicle stocks is affected by a variety of factors, and these factors may change with the development of the industry.

The Rubber Export Performance to the United States: A Comparison Between Indonesia and Thailand

This research is used to compare the rubber export performance between Indonesia and Thailand to the United States market. The performance’s aspects will be compared with the volume and export value in the period of 2012-2022, the strict competitiveness of the United States market, and the factors that impact the volume and export value of rubber in the United States market. Secondary data from 2013-2022 was collected from any sources. This method of analysis used descriptive quantitative, Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), and multiple linear regression. The result shows that the export performance in Indonesia suffered a drop in volume aspects; however, the export volume from Thailand to the United States experienced an increase. The RCA rubber in Indonesia has an average value of 77.75 (strong competitiveness to the United States market), while the rubber quality in Thailand is about 19.28. The factors of world prices and productivity influence the export value of rubber from Indonesia to the United States; however, inflation, the rate of exchange of the dollar, and the income per capita of the United States do not influence the export value of rubber from Indonesia. The world price factor, the rate of exchange of the United States dollar against the Thai Baht, and the income per capita of Thailand have a positive effect on rubber exports from Thailand to the United States. The policy implication is Indonesian government should pay attention to maintain rubber production sustainability to defense the competitiveness of the export.

Preferentially Stabilizing the Watershed Intermediates by Adsorbate‐adsorbate Interaction to Accelerate CO2 Electroreduction to Ethanol

AbstractReturning CO2 to liquid ethanol powered by clean energy offers considerable economic benefits and contributes to reaching the goal of carbon neutrality, but it remains a formidable challenge to achieve high ethanol selectivity due to the inevitable strong competition among various pathways. Herein, an investigation is presented to accelerate CO2 electroreduction to ethanol via preferentially stabilizing the precarious watershed intermediates (*CHCOH) by creating strong adsorbate‐adsorbate interaction. The highly ordered CuOx nanoplates (HO‐CuOx NPLs) featuring abundant amorphous‐crystalline interface exhibit an exceptional ethanol Faradaic efficiency (FEEtOH) of 63.8% and an ethanol‐to‐ethylene ratio of 6.1 at a large ethanol partial current density (jethanol) of 232.8 mA cm−2. The findings decipher that abundant in‐between nanogaps in the amorphous‐crystalline interface enhance the adsorption of *OH, which can preferentially strengthen C─O bonds while weakening the Cu─C interaction of *CHCOH through adsorbate‐adsorbate interaction, thereby enabling a predilection for CO2 to ethanol conversion. Beyond an efficient ethanol‐oriented CO2RR electrocatalyst, the investigations provide an in‐depth understanding of adsorbate‐adsorbate interaction on key CO2RR steps and precise intermediates regulation, which can be extended to a range of energy conversion technologies.

A maximum statistic for the one-sided location-scale alternative in the two-stage design

AbstractAn increase in location is typically accompanied by an increase in variability. Subsequently, the heteroscedasticity can indicate a treatment effect. Therefore, it may be appropriate to perform a location-scale test. A common statistic for a location-scale test is the sum of a location and scale statistic. As demonstrated by Neuhäuser (Biometri J 43:809–819, 2001), weighting the sum increases the power. Although weights cannot usually be reasonably selected a priori, a weighting is possible in an adaptive design using the information obtained in an interim analysis. Here, we propose an adaptive statistic that increases and stabilizes the power. The power performance in various situations for continuous and discrete distributions is investigated using Monte Carlo simulations, which reveal that the proposed statistic increases and stabilizes the power, thus rendering it a strong competitor to existing location-scale statistics. The new statistic is illustrated using real data.

Hyperplane-Assisted Multi-objective Particle Swarm Optimization with Twofold Proportional Assignment Strategy

In the simultaneous optimization of multiple objectives, how to balance convergence promotion and diversity preservation in the evolutionary process is a key and challenging problem. In this research, a hyperplane-assisted multi-objective particle swarm optimization with a twofold proportional assignment strategy (tpahaMOPSO) is suggested to ameliorate the optimization performance of MOPSO. First, the external archive is maintained in combination with hyperplane-based convergence evaluation and shift-based density estimation to retain high-quality candidate solutions. Second, a twofold proportional assignment scheme is designed to search the surrounding region of candidate solutions with better potential to emphasize convergence and diversity, respectively. Third, the domination relationship and convergence difference are combined to select a more reasonable individual historical best and reduce the risk of particle aggregation. Finally, the proposed tpahaMOPSO was compared with ten representative and advanced multi-objective optimization algorithms on 22 widely used test functions with different characteristics. The simulation results present that the developed tpahaMOPSO got the best result in 11 benchmark functions for both IGD and HV criteria. Concurrently, the Friedman test was applied for ranking analysis and the proposed algorithm also obtained excellent statistical analysis results. The promising performance and strong competitiveness of the proposed tpahaMOPSO have been verified by different experimental studies.

A Specific Component in the US Banking System: The State of Ohio

Deregulation of the US banking system in the 1980s and 1990s led to profound changes not only in the operating conditions of credit corporations but also in the territorial structure of the industry. A particularly important role was played by the gradual lifting of the historical ban on creating interstate branch networks, which allowed the most successful banking holding companies to expand into other regions and partially displace local businesses. Among the centers from which such commercial expansion took place were Columbus, Cleveland, and other cities in Ohio, which had significant economic foundations and human resources. Ohio's share of national totals, measured by the assets of bank holding companies, rose almost continuously until 2002–2003, but then began to decline under pressure from even stronger competitors. Meanwhile, in the early 2000s, as advancements in telecommunications increasingly enabled the remote distribution of internal corporate administrative functions, Ohio became a strategic hub for holdings from other states – primarily JPMorgan Chase from New York. To this day, Ohio reflects a dual, albeit uneven, success: the state holds a significant position in its own holdings’ assets (sixth or seventh place in the US), while also maintaining a leading role in the strategic presence (at the level of key subordinate banks) of holdings from other parts of the country. For Ohio, an old industrial state that had been struggling since the 1960s with the rise of new competitors with more advanced manufacturing, the growth of the banking sector (in both aspects noted) became a key part of the state's economic restructuring and an important source of job creation.

Belarusian-Lithuanian Relations: How Politics Beats the Economy

The article analyses the dynamics of Belarusian-Lithuanian relations in the post-Soviet period. The historical, cultural and political-economic aspects of the relationship between the two countries are considered. It is noted that Lithuania is the second most active European player in Belarus after Poland. The author emphasises the historical aspect of the relationship between the two countries and demonstrates how different interpretations of the heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania affect the modern relationship between the two states and their peoples. We are talking primarily about the heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Lithuanian myth generates competition between the two countries, but at the same time forms an idea of the common space of their historical destinies, which fuels Westernising and pro-European sentiments among a part of Belarusian society. The author notes that Lithuania’s foreign policy towards Belarus is dominated by an ideological approach. Lithuania tries to play the role of an operator of democratic changes and the Western geopolitical turn of its eastern neighbor. In this niche a strong competition with Poland and the traditional xenophobia of Lithuanian society towards the Slavs limit the possibilities of Lithuanian influence on Belarus. For its part, Minsk was focused on pragmatic cooperation with Lithuania in the economic sphere and put issues of politics and ideology aside. In particular, Belarus had high hopes for cooperation in the field of energy and transit. The discrepancy between these approaches determines the tense and conflict nature of relations between the two countries.

Integrasi Nilai-Nilai Pendidikan Islam dalam Konteks Pendidikan Nasional

The integration of Islamic education values within the context of national education is a strategic step to shape a generation with strong character and global competitiveness. Islamic education, grounded in the principles of faith, ethics, and knowledge, aligns with the goals of national education, which emphasize the development of individuals who are devout, morally upright, and virtuous. This article employs a literature review to analyze the role of Islamic education in national education, exploring implementation opportunities, challenges, and strategies to achieve effective integration. The findings reveal that Islamic education values can be implemented through character education, school culture, and learning activities that emphasize moral and spiritual development. However, challenges such as inadequate teacher competencies, limited teaching materials, and resistance to religion-based approaches remain significant barriers. Recommended strategies include teacher training, the development of relevant teaching materials, and collaboration with stakeholders to create an inclusive educational ecosystem. With these approaches, Islamic education not only becomes a part of national education but also acts as a catalyst for fostering a generation that excels both academically and ethically. The article concludes that Islamic education is a vital asset in achieving the goals of national education amidst the challenges of globalization.

Scenic spot path planning and journey customization based on multilayer hybrid hypernetwork optimization.

In the face of increasingly diverse demands from tourists, traditional methods for scenic route planning often struggle to meet these varied needs. To address this challenge and enhance the overall service quality of tourist destinations, as well as to better understand individualized preferences of visitors, this study proposes a novel approach to scenic route planning and itinerary customization based on multi-layered mixed hypernetwork optimization. Firstly, an adaptive multi-route feature extraction method is introduced to capture personalized demands of tourists. Subsequently, a personalized tourist inference method based on a multi-layered mixed network is presented, utilizing the extracted personalized features to infer the true intentions of the tourists. Lastly, we propose a hypernetwork optimized route planning method, incorporating the inference results and personalized features to tailor the optimal touring paths for visitors. The results of our experiments underscore the efficacy of our methodology, attaining an accuracy score of 0.877 and an mAP score of 0.881 and outperforming strong competitors and facilitating the design of optimal paths for tourists.

Outlook for Sustainable Utilization of Agricultural Waste and Biomass Fuel and Materials Production

The reasonable and effective treatment and utilization of agricultural production waste is an effective way to deal with energy depletion and climate change. Agricultural waste, including crop straw, livestock manure, agricultural film, pesticide packaging, the waste if improperly handled, can lead to soil, water and air pollution, like remains in agricultural land contains various chemical elements of crop straw and livestock manure, if improperly handled will cause irreversible of soil erosion and pollution. Through resource utilization, these wastes can be converted into organic fertilizers, bioenergy, feed or other valuable products, thus reducing environmental pollution, improving the efficiency of resource utilization, and promoting the sustainable development of agriculture. This study will discuss the technical progress of the treatment mode of agricultural waste in the current technical field, and find out the shortcomings and challenges of the existing technology. China, India, America, Japan, Thailand and many other countries are stepping up their research on biomass energy. The development and utilization of agricultural biomass have a strong competitiveness in the energy market.

Prediction of Air Quality Index Based on Support Vector Machine and Improved Butterfly Optimization Algorithm

Air pollution is an increasingly serious problem. Air pollution has been become a main cause of environmental degradation and health effects. Accurate prediction of air quality can help improve environmental quality and human living conditions. The traditional methods for predicting the air quality index have the problem of low accuracy and efficiency. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a novel support vector machine prediction model based on improved butterfly optimization algorithm, which is called IBOA-SVM model. In the improved butterfly optimization algorithm, the sigmoid function is used to optimize the update of the parameter c, which increases the search diversity and improves the convergence speed. The performance of the improved butterfly optimization algorithm is verified using eight benchmark functions. Compared with performances of the traditional butterfly optimization algorithm and the particle swarm optimization algorithm, the improved butterfly optimization algorithm has strong competitiveness in accuracy and stability. We establish the IBOA-SVM prediction model for forecasting air quality based on the improved butterfly optimization algorithm. The performance of our proposed model is compared with other predicting models. The experimental results show that our proposed model has higher accuracy and efficiency in predicting the air quality index of four cities in southern China.