A Student's t-based density peaks clustering with superpixel segmentation (tDPCSS) method for image color clustering

Image color clustering is a basic technique in image processing and computer vision, which is often applied in image segmentation, color transfer, contrast enhancement, object detection, skin color capture, and so forth. Various clustering algorithms have been employed for image color clustering in recent years. However, most of the algorithms require a large amount of memory or a predetermined number of clusters. In addition, some of the existing algorithms are sensitive to the parameter configurations. In order to tackle the above problems, we propose an image color clustering method named Student's t-based density peaks clustering with superpixel segmentation (tDPCSS), which can automatically obtain clustering results, without requiring a large amount of memory, and is not dependent on the parameters of the algorithm or the number of clusters. In tDPCSS, superpixels are obtained based on automatic and constrained simple non-iterative clustering, to automatically decrease the image data volume. A Student's t kernel function and a cluster center selection method are adopted to eliminate the dependence of the density peak clustering on parameters and the number of clusters, respectively. The experiments undertaken in this study confirmed that the proposed approach outperforms k-means, fuzzy c-means, mean-shift clustering, and density peak clustering with superpixel segmentation in the accuracy of the cluster centers and the validity of the clustering results.     

Iterative equalization combining algorithm in intersymbol interference channel

To realize joint optimization of spatial diversity and equalization combining in the intersymbol interference (ISI) channel, an iterative equalization combining algorithm is proposed. The proposed algorithm uses the coefficients of Turbo equalization to calculate the combination weights without estimating the signal to noise ratio in each diversity branch. The equalized symbols from different diversity branches are combined, and the extrinsic information output from the decoder is fed back to the equalizers, so as to exchange soft information between the equalizers and the decoder. The performance of the proposed algorithm is analyzed using the extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) chart and verified by simulations. Results show that our approach fully exploits time domain information from the multipath channel and spatial domain information from multi receiving antennas, which efficiently improve the performance of the receiver in the severe ISI channel.     

澳门融入粤港澳大湾区世界机场群路向研究

粤港澳大湾区世界城市群与世界机场群相伴而生、联动发展.建设世界级机场群，需要5大机场错位发展和良性互动.澳门国际机场是澳门融入粤港澳大湾区重要一极，但机场发展存在与澳门定位、香港珠海空域空运矛盾、澳门土地和环境现状等相关的问题.因此，澳门国际机场今后发展需在葡语国家航线、珠澳密切合作、公务机产业方面努力实现跨越式发展.然而，澳门国际机场改扩建问题争议不断，本文就原址扩建、填海区新建、飞地黄茅岛新建3种模式进行比较分析，探索符合澳门长远利益之方案.     

Assembly of a DNA Origami Chinese Knot by Only 15% of the Staple Strands

As a giant leap in DNA self-assembly, DNA origami has exhibited an unprecedented ability to construct nanostructures with arbitrary shapes and sizes. In typical DNA origami, hundreds of short DNA staple strands fold a long, single-stranded (ss) DNA scaffold cooperatively into designed nanostructures. However, large numbers of DNA strands are expensive and would hinder applications such as pharmaceutical investigations because of the complicated components. Therefore, one challenge is how to reduce the number of staple strands needed to construct DNA origami. For a DNA origami structure, the scale-free folding pattern of the scaffold strand is determined by staple strands at the branching vertexes. Simple duplex regions help to define the size-related features of the origami geometry. In this study, we hypothesized that a scaffold strand can be correctly folded into a designed topology by using only staple strands involved in branching vertexes. After assembly, any remaining, flexible, single-stranded regions of the scaffold could be converted into rigid duplexes by DNA polymerase to achieve the designed geometric structures. To demonstrate the concept, we used only 18 staple strands (covering 15 % of the scaffold strand) to assemble a porous DNA nanostructure, which was visualized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). This study helps understanding of the role of cooperativity in origami folding, and provides a cost-effective approach for small-scale prototyping DNA origami.     

Disease Ionomics: Understanding the Role of Ions in Complex Disease

Ionomics is a novel multidisciplinary field that uses advanced techniques to investigate the composition and distribution of all minerals and trace elements in a living organism and their variations under diverse physiological and pathological conditions. It involves both high-throughput elemental profiling technologies and bioinformatic methods, providing opportunities to study the molecular mechanism underlying the metabolism, homeostasis, and cross-talk of these elements. While much effort has been made in exploring the ionomic traits relating to plant physiology and nutrition, the use of ionomics in the research of serious diseases is still in progress. In recent years, a number of ionomic studies have been carried out for a variety of complex diseases, which offer theoretical and practical insights into the etiology, early diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of them. This review aims to give an overview of recent applications of ionomics in the study of complex diseases and discuss the latest advances and future trends in this area. Overall, disease ionomics may provide substantial information for systematic understanding of the properties of the elements and the dynamic network of elements involved in the onset and development of diseases.     

Distributed De La Garza algorithm for load-balancing routing in wireless sensor networks

Large scale wireless sensor networks raise many challenges in the design of efficient and effective routing algorithm due to their complexity and hardware constraints. However, the scalability challenge may be mitigated from a macroscopic perspective. One example is the distributed De la Garza iteration (DDLGI) algorithm for global routing load-balancing, based on a set of partial differential equations iteratively solved by the De la Garza method. We theoretically analyze the parallelism of DDLGI and illustrate that the region of interest may impact the degree of parallelism and error. Furthermore, though DDLGI always converges, the slow convergence and long-range information exchange problems may lead to excess energy consumption in communication. Thus, we propose various enhanced De la Garza routing (E-DLGR) algorithms to alleviate the energy consumption problem by which nodes may exchange less information and only need to exchange information with closer nodes to complete each iteration. Our theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the proposed E-DLGR algorithms may have less transmission overhead, thus further reducing energy consumption, and converge faster while still maintaining adequate accuracy.

     

Enhance cycling performance of LiMn2O4 cathode by Sr2+ and Cr3+ doping

Spinel LiSr_0·1Cr_0·1Mn_1·8O₄ was synthesised by high temperature solid state method in order to enhance the electrochemical performance. The LiSr_0·1Cr_0·1Mn_1·8O₄ (LSCMO) materials were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical tests. The XRD and SEM studies confirm that LSCMO had spinel crystal structure with a space group of Fd3m, and the particle of LSCMO shows irregular shape. The cyclic voltammetry data illustrated that the heavy current charge–discharge performance of LMO was improved by Sr²⁺ and Cr³⁺ doping. The galvanostatic charge–discharge of LSCMO cathode materials was measured at 1, 5, 10 and 20 C. The results indicated that LSCMO improved the capacity retention.     

Ultrafast Electron–Phonon Coupling at Metal-Dielectric Interface

Energy transfer from photo-excited electrons in a metal thin film to the dielectric substrate is important for understanding the ultrafast heat transfer process across the two materials. Substantial research has been conducted to investigate heat transfer in a metal-dielectric structure. In this work, a two-temperature model in metal was used to analyze the interface electron and dielectric substrate coupling. An improved temperature and wavelength-dependent Drude–Lorentz model was implemented to interpret the signals obtained in optical measurements. Ultrafast pump-and-probe measurements on Au-Si samples were carried out, where the probe photon energy was chosen to be close to the interband transition threshold of gold to minimize the influence of non-equilibrium electrons on the optical response and maximize the thermal modulation to the optical reflectance. Electron-substrate interface thermal conductance at different pump laser fluences was obtained, and was found to increase with the interface temperature.     

Flame characteristics of premixed H2-air mixtures explosion venting in a spherical container through a duct

The explosion venting duct can effectively reduce the hazard degree of a gas explosion and conduct the venting energy to the safe area. To investigate the flame quantitative propagation law of explosion venting with a duct, the effects of hydrogen fraction and explosion venting duct length on jet flame propagation characteristics of premixed H₂-air mixtures were analyzed through experiment and simulation. The experiment results under initial conditions of room temperature and 1 atm show that when hydrogen fraction was high enough, part of the unburned hydrogen was mixed with air again to reach an ignitable concentration, resulting in the secondary combustion was easier produced and the duration of the secondary flame increased. With the increase of venting duct length, the flame front distance and propagation velocity increased. Meanwhile, the spatial distribution of pressure field and temperature field, and the propagation process and mechanism of the flame venting with a duct were analyzed using FLUENT software. The variation of the pressure wave and the pressure reflection oscillation law in the explosion venting duct was captured. Therefore, in the industrial explosion venting design with a duct, the hazard caused by the coupling of venting pressure and venting flame under different fractions should be considered comprehensively.