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The negative pressure wave (NPW) signals generated by a pipeline leakage often have a long signal duration. When these signals are utilized to compute the leakage position, the long signal duration will result in a large area being considered as leakage area. The localization resolution is low. A novel high-resolution localization algorithm is developed for pipeline leakage detection using piezoceramic transducers in this paper. The proposed algorithm utilizes multiple temporal convolutions to decrease the localization functional values at the points close to the leakage, in order to reduce the range of the leakage area revealed by the proposed algorithm. As a result, the localization resolution is improved. A measured experiment was conducted to study the proposed algorithm. In the experiment, the proposed algorithm was used to monitor a 55.8 m pressurized pipeline with two controllable valves and two Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) sensors. With the aid of the piezoceramic sensor, the experimental results show that the proposed algorithm results in a resolution which is better than that of the traditional method.

The emergence of human brain organoids (hBOs) has transformed how we study brain development, disease mechanisms, and therapy discovery. These 3D in vitro neural models closely mimic the cellular diversity, spatial structure, and functional connectivity of the human brain, providing a groundbreaking platform that outperforms traditional 2D cultures and animal models in studying neurodevelopment and neurological disorders. To further explore the potential of hBOs technology, we review current literature focusing particularly on its applications for diagnosing and treating major neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other related neurological disorders. Using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells combined with cutting-edge gene-editing technologies, hBOs enable highly precise mechanistic studies and scalable drug screening. Moreover, we further discuss the advantages and current limitations of hBOs. Despite these challenges, hBOs remain a transformative platform for the development of targeted neurotherapeutics. Collectively, this review offers a solid foundation for advancing neuroscience research and fostering innovative treatment strategies for neurological disorders.

Investigating the coevolutions in human food resources, cooking technologies and pottery functions will provide a vital perspective for understanding the driving force of social development in Neolithic China. Here, we preliminarily present a multianalytical study on the plant microfossils of pottery residues, the stable isotopic compositions and radiocarbon dating of animal bones, and the characteristics of pottery vessels (including their types, textures and smoked traces) from the Mijiaya site. The results indicate that the Mijiaya people (ca. 3093‒1961 cal. BC) probably relied on the various food resources consisting of the diversified crops, livestock and some foraging food; Mijiaya people had refined the pottery functions by changing their types, textures and assemblages, and they also used some auxiliary tools for increasing the cooking efficiency and obtaining the complex foodstuff. Integrated with agricultural development and technological innovation during Neolithic China, the foodways at the Mijiaya site also shed light on its inherited social tradition and social organization in the Late Neolithic period.

Although the high-resolution materials can improve the resolution of the conventional time-reversal imaging (TRI) algorithms, they also limit the applications of TRI. In this paper, a new TRI algorithm with high-resolution is presented. Since the proposed algorithm utilizes multiple time reversal operation steps to improve resolution, it can realize high-resolution without invoking any high-resolution materials. The results show the resolution of the proposed algorithm is superior to that of the conventional TRI.

Time reversal (TR), which leads various multipath signals to focus spatiotemporally on arbitrarily complex propagation environments, can resist signal multipath delay and attenuation which is caused by inhomogeneous complex environments. In this paper, the windowed time reversal (WTR) method for distance measurement between the wireless sensor network (WSN) nodes is proposed based on TR. In the WTR, the main lobe of the channel response is captured by a window. WTR not only takes advantage of the spatiotemporal focus features of TR, but also compensates the multipath effect to eliminate various factors from the environment. WTR can recover the favorable symmetry of the main lobe of channel response, thereby accurately measuring the times-of-arrival (TOA) of the electromagnetic wave and distance between WSN nodes. By analyzing the characteristics of the time reversal operator, the theoretical basis of the WTR is given in this paper. An algorithm for node distance measurement with WTR in indoor environments is described and a large number of simulations with various environments are carried out. The errors for the proposed WTR have been analyzed. Simulation results show that ranging errors by WTR are less than 1% no matter how many obstacles are in the indoor environment.

There have been selected 83 samples of terracotta warriors and horses of Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum, 20 samples of clays taken from around Qin’s Mausoleum and 2 samples of Yaozhou porcelain bodies. All these samples have been measured by instrument neutron activation analysis (INAA) and as many as 32 kinds of element contents of each sample are measured. The following conclusion has been reached when fuzzy cluster analysis is conducted to element contents of all these samples: (i) The samples are roughly classified into five categories: namely, samples from pits No. 1 and No. 2; samples from pit No. 3; loam layers; the mixture of loam and loess; and Yaozhou porcelain bodies. (ii) The terracotta warriors and horses in pits No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 are relatively independent from one another. The clays from which they were made are not entirely identical. We have found that samples in pit No. 3 are very closely related and their clay sources are comparatively concentrated. Samples in pits No. 1 and No. 2 are less related and their clay sources are comparatively scattered. (iii) The clays from which the terracotta warriors and horses were made are closely related to the loam layer near Qin’s Mausoleum, particularly to the loam layer of Zaoyuan village and Gaoxing village, but they are not so related to loess layers there, nor to the loam layers of Anhoubao, even less related to Yaozhou porcelain bodies. A rational deduction thus drawn is that the raw material of clays from which the terracotta warriors and horses were made might probably be taken from loam layers around Zaoyuan and Gaoxing, or loam layers near Qin’s Mausoleum whose properties are identical with those of loam layers of Zaoyuan and Gaoxing, rather than loess layers around the above places. Since the raw material of the terracotta warriors and horses was taken from loam near Qin’s Mausoleum, it could be deducted that the kiln sites might be located in around Qin’s Mausoleum.

In this article, to reduce the complexity and improve the generalization ability of current gesture recognition systems, we propose a novel SE-CNN attention architecture for sEMG-based hand gesture recognition. The proposed algorithm introduces a temporal squeeze-and-excite block into a simple CNN architecture and then utilizes it to recalibrate the weights of the feature outputs from the convolutional layer. By enhancing important features while suppressing useless ones, the model realizes gesture recognition efficiently. The last procedure of the proposed algorithm is utilizing a simple attention mechanism to enhance the learned representations of sEMG signals to perform multi-channel sEMG-based gesture recognition tasks. To evaluate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed algorithm, we conduct experiments involving multi-gesture datasets Ninapro DB4 and Ninapro DB5 for both inter-session validation and subject-wise cross-validation. After a series of comparisons with the previous models, the proposed algorithm effectively increases the robustness with improved gesture recognition performance and generalization ability.

The solute carrier protein SLC19A1 is crucial for transporting folate nutrients, antifolate chemotherapeutics, and more recently cyclic dinucleotides (CDNs) immune transmitters, influencing various physiological and pathological processes. While the inward-open state of human SLC19A1 (hSLC19A1) has been previously described, key aspects regarding its conformational dynamics, substrate selectivity, and precise mechanisms underlying CDNs transport remain elusive. Using an antibody-facilitated conformation screening strategy, we present cryo-electron microscopy structures of hSLC19A1 in its outward-open state with and without bound substrates, revealing detailed mechanisms of substrate recognition and conformational changes during transport. We identify both general and specific features for folate/antifolate recognition, including an SLC19A1-specific pocket for accommodating γ-carboxylate-modified antifolates. Intriguingly, CDNs bind as monomers within the canonical pocket of outward-open hSLC19A1, contrasting with dimeric binding in inward-open structures. Together with functional assays, these findings provide a framework for developing antifolate drugs and CDN-targeted therapies, advancing our understanding of SLC19A1’s physiological and therapeutic functions. SLC19A1 is crucial for transporting folates, antifolates and cyclic dinucleotides. Here authors determined outward-open structures of hSLC19A1 with and without bound substrates, revealing detailed mechanisms of substrate recognition and conformational changes during transport.

SLC15A4, an endolysosomal solute carrier family transporter, plays a critical role in TLR7/8/9-induced immune responses through assembling a complex with the downstream adaptor TASL in a conformation-dependent manner. Despite its close functional association and promising therapeutic potential in infections, tumors, and autoimmune diseases, the development of conformation-specific antibodies for human SLC15A4 (hSLC15A4) remains challenging. Here, using a systematic screening and validation approach, we identify a pair of conformation-selective antibodies, clones 107 and 235, targeting the endolysosomal lumen surface of hSLC15A4 with opposite conformation-regulatory activities. Specifically, clone 107 selectively binds to hSLC15A4 in a TASL binding-incompetent luminal-open state; whereas clone 235 stabilizes hSLC15A4 in a TASL binding-competent cytoplasmic-open state. Our research identifies antibodies that recognize distinct conformations of hSLC15A4, potentially enabling modulation of the TLR7/8/9 pathway and contributing to the development of targeted therapies and research tools selectively targeting hSLC15A4. SLC15A4 is essential for TLR7/8/9-mediated immune responses through a conformation-dependent interaction with TASL. Here, the authors identify two conformation-selective antibodies that differentially target distinct structural states of human SLC15A4.

Lake storage change serves as a unique indicator of natural climate change on the Tibetan Plateau (TP). However, comprehensive lake storage data, especially for lakes smaller than 10 km 2 , are still lacking in the region. In this dataset, we completed a census of annual relative lake volume (RLV) for 976 lakes, which are larger than 1 km 2 , on the endorheic basin of the Tibetan Plateau (EBTP) during 1989–2019 using Landsat imagery and digital terrain models. Our method first identifies individual lakes, determines their analysis extents and calculates annual lake area from Landsat imagery. It then derives lake area-elevation relationship, estimates lake surface elevation, and calculates RLV. Validation and comparison with several existing datasets indicate our data are more reliable and comprehensive. Our study complements existing lake datasets by providing a complete and long-term lake water volume change data for the region. Measurement(s) Relative lake volume Technology Type(s) Remote sensing image and DEM data Sample Characteristic - Environment endorheic lake Sample Characteristic - Location Tibetan Plateau