Unknown appliances detection for non-intrusive load monitoring based on vision transformer with an additional detection head.

Non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) offers precise insights into equipment-level energy consumption by analyzing current and voltage data from residential smart meters, thus emerging as a potential strategy for demand-side management in power systems. However, a prevalent limitation in current NILM techniques is the presupposition of a known inventory of household appliances, an assumption that often becomes impractical due to the regular introduction of new appliances by consumers. To address this challenge, our approach integrates a vision transformer network with an additional detection head (ViTD), utilizing V-I trajectory images. Initially, the ViT model is trained to classify known appliances. Subsequently, an additional detection head is incorporated to manipulate the embedded features, encouraging the formation of distinct, compact class centers for the known appliance categories. During testing, samples are identified as either known or unknown appliances based on their proximity to these class centers. We utilize two public datasets, PLAID and WHITED, to demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of our proposed method.

Disorder-induced spiky phonon transmission of harmonic lattices.

In this article, we find that impurity in a one-dimensional harmonic chain leads to spikes in the phonon transmission. Using the Langevin equations and Green's function method (LEGF), we find the underlying mechanism of spikes, which comes from the fact that the wave energy can be transferred through uniform subchains laid between impurities without loss. Both the position and magnitude of spikes can be analytically obtained. By employing these results, we provide an analytical approach to transmission in the thermodynamic limit, thereby compensating for the limitation of LEGF that are practically confined to finite system size. Finally, we determine an expression for the localization length based on LEGF, demonstrating the equivalence between mass disorder and spatial disorder in low impurity concentration.

Optimising HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis and testing strategies in men who have sex with men in Australia, Thailand, and China: a modelling study and cost-effectiveness analysis.

BACKGROUND: Men who have sex with men (MSM) in the Asia-Pacific region have a disproportionately high burden of HIV infection compared with the general population. Although pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV is highly effective at preventing new HIV infections, the cost-effectiveness of PrEP for MSM in different countries in the Asia-Pacific region with varying PrEP coverage and HIV testing frequencies remains unstudied. We aimed to analyse the economic and health benefits of long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA) compared with oral PrEP in high-income countries and low-income and middle-income countries within the Asia-Pacific region. METHODS: We developed a decision-analytic Markov model to evaluate the population impact and cost-effectiveness of PrEP scale-up among MSM in Australia, Thailand, and China. We assumed a static cohort of 100 000 MSM aged 18 years or older who were at risk of HIV infection, with a monthly cycle length over a 40-year time period. We evaluated hypothetical scenarios with universal PrEP coverage of 80% among 100 000 suitable MSM in each country. We modelled oral PrEP and CAB-LA for MSM with diverse HIV testing frequency strategies. We adopted the health-care system's perspective with a 3% annual discount rate. We calculated the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), measured as additional cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained, to compare different strategies with the status quo in each country. All costs were reported in 2021 US$. We also performed one-way, two-way, and probabilistic sensitivity analyses to assess the robustness of our findings. FINDINGS: Compared with the status quo in each country, expanding oral PrEP to 80% of suitable MSM would avert 8·1% of new HIV infections in Australia, 14·5% in Thailand, and 26·4% in China in a 40-year period. Expanding oral PrEP use with 6-monthly HIV testing for both PrEP and non-PrEP users was cost-saving for Australia. Similarly, expanding oral PrEP use remained the most cost-effective strategy in both Thailand and China, but optimal testing frequency varied, with annual testing in Thailand (ICER $4707 per QALY gained) and 3-monthly testing in China (ICER $16 926 per QALY gained) for both PrEP and non-PrEP users. We also found that replacing oral PrEP with CAB-LA for MSM could avert more new HIV infections (12·8% in Australia, 27·6% in Thailand, and 32·8% in China), but implementing CAB-LA was not cost-effective due to its high cost. The cost of CAB-LA would need to be reduced by 50-90% and be used as a complementary strategy to oral PrEP to be cost-effective in these countries. INTERPRETATION: Expanding oral PrEP use for MSM, with country-specific testing frequency, is cost-effective in Australia, Thailand, and China. Due to the high cost, CAB-LA is currently not affordable as a single-use strategy but might be offered as an additional option to oral PrEP. FUNDING: Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, National Key Research and Development Program of China, and National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Research on the descaling characteristics of a new electrochemical water treatment device.

In recent years, chemical water treatment equipment has gained significant attention due to its environmental-friendly features, multifunctionality, and broad applicability. Recognizing the limitations of existing chemical treatment equipment, such as challenges in scale removal and the high water content in scale deposits, we propose a novel drum design for both anode and cathode, enabling simultaneous scale suction and dehydration. We constructed a small experimental platform to validate the equipment's performance based on our model. Notably, under the optimal operating parameters, the hardness removal rate for circulating water falls within the range of 19.6-24.46%. Moreover, the scale accumulation rate per unit area and unit time reaches 13.7 g h-1 m-2. Additionally, the energy consumption per unit weight of the scale remains impressively low at 0.16 kWh g-1. Furthermore, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration decreased from an initial 106.0 mg L-1 to a mere 18.8 mg L-1, resulting in a remarkable total removal rate of 82.26%. In conclusion, our innovative electrochemical water treatment equipment demonstrates exceptional performance in scale removal, organic matter degradation, and water resource conservation, offering valuable insights for future research and development in chemical treatment equipment and electrochemical theory.

[Impacts of Human Activities on the Net Primary Productivity of Vegetation in Chengde's Transitional Region from Plateau to Plain in the Context of Climate Change].

Chengde's transitional region from plateau to plain is located in the transition zone of agriculture and livestock and is extremely sensitive to climate change and human activities. This study used the net primary productivity(NPP) of vegetation as an evaluation index to quantify the degree impacts of climate change and human activities on vegetation change in the region. The Thornthwaite Memorial model was used to calculate the potential NPP, and the actual NPP was obtained based on MODIS NPP remote sensing images, using the difference between the actual and potential NPPs to express the amount of change in NPP owing to human activities. We used the slope trend and coefficient of variation method to analyze the trend and stability distribution of the actual NPP, potential NPP, and NPP influenced by human activities, and the correlation between actual NPP and annual precipitation and annual average temperature was analyzed using the correlation coefficient method. Finally, we quantified the impact of climate change and human activities on vegetation change in the region. The results showed that 99.87% of the vegetation in the region was improved and changed steadily, and the proportions of the areas showing positive correlation between actual NPP and annual precipitation and annual average temperature were 99.87% and 91.66%, respectively. The potential NPP showed an increasing trend from northwest to southeast, whereas the trend and stability of the potential NPP both showed an increasing trend from west to east. The area where climate change and human activities played a role in vegetation improvement accounted for 99.71%, and that affected by climate change accounted for 0.14%, with the proportion of human activities leading to vegetation degradation being 0.15%.

Optically Transparent, Ultra-Broadband, and Water-Based Microwave Meta-absorber with ITO Metasurfaces.

A transparent in visible wavelengths and ultrabroadband microwave meta-absorber (MMA) based on indium tin oxide (ITO) metasurfaces and a water layer is proposed. After optimizing a series of structural parameters, the proposed MMA can achieve ultrabroadband absorption with an absorption efficiency of more than 90%, covering the frequency range of 9.44-120.92 GHz and a relative absorption bandwidth of 171%. Furthermore, the absorber has many advantages, such as optical transparency, polarization insensitivity, and wide-angle absorption for transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) polarization waves. Moreover, the proposed MMA with 15 × 15 unit cells was fabricated and tested. The fabricated MMA performs well in microwave absorption, as demonstrated by the well-matched experimental results with numerical simulations. These extraordinary advantages mentioned above show that this type of MMAs can be applied in the fields of electromagnetic (EM) stealth, optical windows, and energy collection in the future.

Reassortment and genomic analysis of a G9P[8]-E2 rotavirus isolated in China.

OBJECTIVE: To isolate a prevalent G9P[8] group A rotavirus (RVA) (N4006) in China and investigate its genomic and evolutionary characteristics, with the goal of facilitating the development of a new rotavirus vaccine. METHODS: The RVA G9P[8] genotype from a diarrhea sample was passaged in MA104 cells. The virus was evaluated by TEM, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and indirect immunofluorescence assay. The complete genome of virus was obtained by RT-PCR and sequencing. The genomic and evolutionary characteristics of the virus were evaluated by nucleic acid sequence analysis with MEGA ver. 5.0.5 and DNASTAR software. The neutralizing epitopes of VP7 and VP4 (VP5* and VP8*) were analyzed using BioEdit ver. 7.0.9.0 and PyMOL ver. 2.5.2. RESULTS: The RVA N4006 (G9P[8] genotype) was adapted in MA104 cells with a high titer (105.5 PFU/mL). Whole-genome sequence analysis showed N4006 to be a reassortant rotavirus of Wa-like G9P[8] RVA and the NSP4 gene of DS-1-like G2P[4] RVA, with the genotype constellation G9-P[8]-I1-R1-C1-M1-A1-N1-T1-E2-H1 (G9P[8]-E2). Phylogenetic analysis indicated that N4006 had a common ancestor with Japanese G9P[8]-E2 rotavirus. Neutralizing epitope analysis showed that VP7, VP5*, and VP8* of N4006 had low homology with vaccine viruses of the same genotype and marked differences with vaccine viruses of other genotypes. CONCLUSION: The RVA G9P[8] genotype with the G9-P[8]-I1-R1-C1-M1-A1-N1-T1-E2-H1 (G9P[8]-E2) constellation predominates in China and may originate from reassortment between Japanese G9P[8] with Japanese DS-1-like G2P[4] rotaviruses. The antigenic variation of N4006 with the vaccine virus necessitates an evaluation of the effect of the rotavirus vaccine on G9P[8]-E2 genotype rotavirus.

A Novel Method Based on Hydrodynamic Cavitation for Improving Nitric Oxide Removal Performance of NaClO2.

In the removal of nitric oxide (NO) by sodium chlorite (NaClO2), the NaClO2 concentration is usually increased, and an alkaline absorbent is added to improve the NO removal efficiency. However, this increases the cost of denitrification. This study is the first to use hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) combined with NaClO2 for wet denitrification. Under optimal experimental conditions, when 3.0 L of NaClO2 with a concentration of 1.00 mmol/L was used to treat NO (concentration: 1000 ppmv and flow rate: 1.0 L/min), 100% of nitrogen oxides (NOx) could be removed in 8.22 min. Furthermore, the NO removal efficiency remained at 100% over the next 6.92 min. Furthermore, the formation of ClO2 by NaClO2 is affected by pH. The initial NOx removal efficiency was 84.8-54.8% for initial pH = 4.00-7.00. The initial NOx removal efficiency increases as the initial pH decreases. When the initial pH was 3.50, the initial NOx removal efficiency reached 100% under the synergistic effect of HC. Therefore, this method enhances the oxidation capacity of NaClO2 through HC, realizes high-efficiency denitrification with low NaClO2 concentration (1.00 mmol/L), and has better practicability for the treatment of NOx from ships.

Associations of Dietary Intakes with Gynecological Cancers: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Gynecological cancers, including cervical cancer, ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer are leading causes of cancer-related death in women worldwide. Diet plays an important role in cancer development, which is widely accepted. However, the associations between dietary intakes and gynecological cancers remain unclear. Methods: A total of 12,437 women aged over 20 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), conducted from 2007−2016, were included in this study. The relationships between 30 dietary factors (4 macronutrients, 15 vitamins, 9 minerals, caffeine and alcohol) and gynecological cancers were assessed. Results: We observed negative correlations of intakes of phosphorus (odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval (CI); 0.998 (0.996, 0.999), p = 0.002) with cervical cancer, and intakes of vitamin B12 (0.812 (0.714, 0.925), p = 0.002), phosphorus (0.997 (0.996, 0.999), p < 0.001) and alcohol (0.971 (0.950, 0.992), p = 0.009) with endometrial cancer. The data showed positive associations of intake of caffeine (1.002 (1.001, 1.003), p = 0.003) with cervical cancer, and intake of copper (2.754 (1.313, 5.778), p = 0.009) with endometrial cancer. In addition, we found potential negative correlations between intake of vitamin B1 (p = 0.025) and cervical cancer; zinc (p = 0.048) and ovarian cancer; and potassium (p = 0.032) and endometrial cancer. Potential positive associations were found between intake of calcium and cervical cancer (p = 0.026) and endometrial cancer (p = 0.034), and between sodium (p = 0.042) and endometrial cancer. Intakes of protein, total sugars, total fat, cholesterol, vitamin A, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, vitamin B2, niacin, vitamin B6, food folate, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, magnesium, iron and selenium showed no relationship with gynecological cancers (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Specific dietary factors were associated with gynecological cancers. More epidemiological studies are needed to validate our results.

Quercetin reduces Streptococcus suis virulence by inhibiting suilysin activity and inflammation.

Streptococcus suis, a globally distributed bacterial pathogen, is an important zoonotic agent for humans and animals that can lead to multiple deaths and cause major economic losses. Suilysin (SLY), secreted by most pathogenic S. suis strains, is a cytotoxic toxin that belongs to the cholesterol-dependent cytolysin family; this toxin plays a key role in a mouse meningitis model, suggesting that effective interference with the biological activity of SLY may be a potential treatment for S. suis infection. In addition, the inflammatory response induced by S. suis is an important manifestation in infections and is associated with multiple fatal diseases. In this study, we found that the natural compound quercetin can directly inhibit the pore-forming activity of SLY without affecting bacterial growth and SLY secretion at the concentrations tested in our assay. In addition, quercetin treatment significantly alleviated cytotoxicity caused by S. suis infection and effectively reduced the release of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1ß, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) stimulated by bacteria. Significantly decreased mortality was observed for the S. suis-infected mice that received quercetin. Our results suggested that quercetin may represent a promising therapeutic candidate for S. suis infection by targeting SLY and the subsequent inflammation. The present study provides a new strategy and leading compound for S. suis infection.

Incorporating water consumption into crop water footprint: A case study of China's South-North Water Diversion Project.

The crop water footprint (WF) indicates the consumption of water for a crop during the planting period, mainly through evapotranspiration. However, as irrigated agriculture accounts for nearly 25% of the global agriculture water usage, evaluation of WF during transportation becomes essential to improve the efficiency of irrigated agriculture. This study aims at building an improved WF model to understand how much WF is produced due to water diversion and how much crop WF increases during the transfer. The proposed model is then used to calculate the WF of four major crops in five provinces along China's South-North Water Transfer Project in two steps. First, the WF of the water transfer project (WFeng) is assessed in a supply chain analysis method. Second, a WF allocation model is built to distribute the project WF for each crop/province. The results show that the evaporation and seepage are the main sources of WFeng. Out of five provinces, two namely Tianjin and Hebei present higher WFblue and WF increase. A positive correlation between water diversion distance and crop WF increase is noted. Among the four crops, cotton presents higher WFblue and WF increase. The crops with higher WFblue tend to be more strongly influenced by the water diversion project, due to high irrigation water dependency. This analysis may expand the WF concept from an evaporation-related term to a term reflecting crop biological processes and water consumption by artificial irrigation projects. Thus, it may serve as an indicator for optimizing future objectives and strategies associated to water resource planning in China and elsewhere.

Urban-Water Harmony model to evaluate the urban water management.

Water resources in many urban areas are under enormous stress due to large-scale urban expansion and population explosion. The decision-makers are often faced with the dilemma of either maintaining high economic growth or protecting water resources and the environment. Simple criteria of water supply and drainage do not reflect the requirement of integrated urban water management. The Urban-Water Harmony (UWH) model is based on the concept of harmony and offers a more integrated approach to urban water management. This model calculates four dimensions, namely urban development, urban water services, water-society coordination, and water environment coordination. And the Analytic Hierarchy Process has been used to determine the indices weights. We applied the UWH model to Beijing, China for an 11-year assessment. Our findings show that, despite the severe stress inherent in rapid development and water shortage, the urban water relationship of Beijing is generally evolving in a positive way. The social-economic factors such as the water recycling technologies contribute a lot to this change. The UWH evaluation can provide a reasonable analysis approach to combine various urban and water indices to produce an integrated and comparable evaluation index. This, in turn, enables more effective water management in decision-making processes.

[Root exudates and soil microbes in three Picea asperata plantations with different stand ages].

This study investigated the dynamics of in situ root exudates and soil microbial composition among three Picea asperata plantations with different stand ages (9, 13 and 31 a) in Miyaluo, west Sichuan, China. The results showed that the secretion rates of root exudation per fine biomass, length, surface area and tip were significantly different among the three plantations with different stand ages. The secretion rate of root exudation was the highest in the 9-year-old plantation stand. The root activity of P. asperata was the weakest in the 13-year-old plantation stand. Besides, soil microbial biomass C (MBC) and N (MBN) between rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils were significantly different among the three plantation stands. MBC and MBN contents of rhizosphere soil gradually increased with stand ages, while those of non-rhizosphere soil were the largest in the 13-year-old plantation stand. The phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) of bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes and their summation in rhizosphere soil presented a trend of high-low-high with stand ages. The opposite pattern was found in the PLFAs of bacteria, fungi, the summation of PLFA, and the ratio of fungi number to bacteria in non-rhizosphere soil. It is suggested that root exudates might have a positive rhizosphere effect on soil microbial biomass C, N and PLFAs of functional groups.