Acquisition and Spread of Antimicrobial Resistance: A tet(X) Case Study

Understanding the mechanisms leading to the rise and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is crucially important for the preservation of power of antimicrobials and controlling infectious diseases. Measures to monitor and detect AMR, however, have been significantly delayed and introduced much later after the beginning of industrial production and consumption of antimicrobials. However, monitoring and detection of AMR is largely focused on bacterial pathogens, thus missing multiple key events which take place before the emergence and spread of AMR among the pathogens. In this regard, careful analysis of AMR development towards recently introduced antimicrobials may serve as a valuable example for the better understanding of mechanisms driving AMR evolution. Here, the example of evolution of tet(X), which confers resistance to the next-generation tetracyclines, is summarised and discussed. Initial mechanisms of resistance to these antimicrobials among pathogens were mostly via chromosomal mutations leading to the overexpression of efflux pumps. High-level resistance was achieved only after the acquisition of flavin-dependent monooxygenase-encoding genes from the environmental microbiota. These genes confer resistance to all tetracyclines, including the next-generation tetracyclines, and thus were termed tet(X). ISCR2 and IS26, as well as a variety of conjugative and mobilizable plasmids of different incompatibility groups, played an essential role in the acquisition of tet(X) genes from natural reservoirs and in further dissemination among bacterial commensals and pathogens. This process, which took place within the last decade, demonstrates how rapidly AMR evolution may progress, taking away some drugs of last resort from our arsenal.     

Identifying catalyst layer compositions of proton exchange membrane fuel cells through machine-learning-based approach

Membrane electrode assembly (MEA) is considered a key component of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). However, developing a new MEA to meet desired properties, such as operation under low-humidity conditions without a humidifier, is a time- and cost-consuming process. This study employs a machine-learning-based approach using K-nearest neighbor (KNN) and neural networks (NN) in the MEA development process by identifying a suitable catalyst layer (CL) recipe in MEA. Minimum redundancy maximum relevance and principal component analysis were implemented to specify the most important predictor and reduce the data dimension. The number of predictors was found to play an essential role in the accuracy of the KNN and NN models although the predictors have self-correlations. The KNN model with a K of 7 was found to minimize the model loss with a loss of 11.9%. The NN model constructed by three corresponding hidden layers with nine, eight, and nine nodes can achieve the lowest error of 0.1293 for the Pt catalyst and 0.031 for PVA as a good additive blending in the CL of the MEA. However, even if the error is low, the prediction of PVA seems to be inaccurate, regardless of the model structure. Therefore, the KNN model is more appropriate for CL recipe prediction.     

《安徽省农村供水工程运行管理指南（试行）》解析

“十四五”期间，通过强化供水工程运行管理，巩固维护好已建农村供水工程成果，是水利部门实施乡村振兴的基本任务。2021年4月，《安徽省农村供水工程运行管理指南（试行）》正式印发实施。《指南》是在安徽省农村供水工作重点由工程建设转入运行管理的背景下，指导推进农村供水工程规范化管理的重要文件。通过介绍《指南》编制的有关背景、编制目标和特点，解析《指南》的主要内容和条款，可帮助供水管理人员快速掌握《指南》要点，助力《指南》在安徽省内贯彻和实施。     

南水北调中线总干渠藻类的生态调度

南水北调中线总干渠无在线调蓄水库,对藻类生态调度过程中出现的问题开展生态调度实现策略和实施方式研究。主要实现策略包括:划定自身的调蓄区,隔离生态调度对下游的影响;采用高效的渠池运行方式,减少生态调度时蓄量的反复调整;综合考虑安全、快速、平稳等需求,设定生态调度实施进程和方式。具体实施方式包括:将总干渠划分为流速调控区、调蓄区和正常运行区,分别实施等体积、控制蓄量和闸前常水位方式运行;将生态调度过程划分为充水阶段和泄水阶段,基于流速调控目标值、持续时长和水位降幅约束条件,确定各阶段时长和各分区的闸门群调控方案等。基于2018年3月输水工况,采用明渠一维非恒定流模型,仿真总干渠上游15个渠池的藻类生态调度过程。结果表明,生态调度可在3.5 d内完成,各渠池的平均流速由0.48 m/s增至0.93 m/s,持续时间超过2 h。在整个生态调度过程中,水位变化平稳,水位变幅符合安全阈值要求,下游渠道的正常运行未受生态调度明显影响。     

基于平均飞行航迹的CCO减噪效用研究

近年来，通过优化飞行程序降低机场飞机噪声影响成为机场环境保护的重要研究方向。文章首先建立了基于飞机“噪声-功率-距离”数据的噪声计算模型，介绍了平均飞行航迹以及连续爬升运行(Continuous Climb Opera-tion, CCO)离场程序的相关理论，最后以大型国际机场为实例，使用飞机平均飞行航迹进行噪声预测，运用综合噪声模型计算出噪声影响面积并绘制噪声影响等值线图，比较了CCO离场相对常规的标准仪表离场(Standard Instru-ment Departure, SID)的降噪效果。结果表明，CCO离场程序可有效降低机场噪声影响，在高噪声级影响区域的降噪效果更佳。     

Robust optimal operation of continuous catalytic reforming process under feedstock uncertainty

The continuous catalytic regenerative (CCR) reforming process is one of the most significant sources of hydrogen production in the petroleum refining process. However, the fluctuations in feedstock composition and flow rate could significantly affect both product distribution and energy consumption. In this study, a robust deviation criterion based multi-objective optimization approach is proposed to perform the optimal operation of CCR reformer under feedstock uncertainty, with simultaneous maximization of product yields and minimization of energy consumption. Minimax approach is adopted to handle these uncertain objectives, and the Latin hypercube sampling method is then used to calculate these robust deviation criteria. Multi-objective surrogate-based optimization methods are next introduced to effectively solve the robust operational problem with high computational cost. The level diagram method is finally utilized to assist in multi-criteria decision-making. Two robust operational optimization problems with different objectives are solved to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for robust optimal operation of the CCR reforming process under feedstock uncertainty.     

小微数据包高效无线传输技术的发展和趋势

5G-NR和B5G系统都需能高效地支持小微数据包(块)的传输,且在不同的无线传输技术(如宽带或超低时延)之间快速灵活地切换。系统梳理和比较和小微数据包(块)相关的多种无线传输技术,如两步RACH、预配置授权和公共资源竞争等,分析它们对3GPP各个系统和各个RAN协议的影响和复杂度优劣等,并进一步展望其未来发展和应用趋势。     

基于GIS单线图的配网停电单模拟操作应用研究

配电网停电会造成电力系统供配电可靠性以及服务质量下降,研究基于地理信息系统(GIS)单线图的配网停电单模拟操作应用。利用网格长度作为基本单位建立坐标系,以选取起始点与终止点为基础,通过四参数法将GIS坐标映射至图纸网格内,实现配网内设备初步布局,将杆塔、站房和整体均匀分布作为优化目标,设置多目标优化目标函数实现GIS单线图最终优化。选取某电力公司配网作为单模拟操作应用对象,模拟结果表明,单模拟操作配网停电后,该配网各负荷点年故障率、次平均停电时间以及年停电时间均有所减少,可有效提升配网的供配电可靠性。     

Low voltage operating organic light emitting transistors with efficient charge blocking layer

Charge injection/blocking layers play important roles in the performances of organic electronic devices. Their incorporation into organic light emitting transistors has been limitted, due to generally high operating voltages (above 60 V) of these devices. In this work, two hole blocking molecules are integrated into tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq₃) based light emitting transistors under operating voltage as low as 5 V. The effects of hole blocking and electron injection are decoupled through the differences in the energy levels. Significantly improved optical performance is achieved with the molecule of suitable energy level for electron injection. Surprisingly, a decreased performance is observed in the case of another hole blocking molecule evidencing that charge injection overweighs charge blocking in this device architecture.     

电气设备接地装置的运行与维护探讨

随着现代化进程的加快,电气设备接地装置的应用越来越广泛,从安全的角度考虑,其运行和维护受到了全社会的广泛关注,如何介绍应用当中存在的安全隐患成为当前关注的主要内容。本文系统概括的分析了电气设备接地装置的运行和维护情况,为其安全应用提供一定的参考。