Minimization of switching activities of partial products for designing low-power multipliers

This work presents low-power 2's complement multipliers by minimizing the switching activities of partial products using the radix-4 Booth algorithm. Before computation for two input data, the one with a smaller effective dynamic range is processed to generate Booth codes, thereby increasing the probability that the partial products become zero. By employing the dynamic-range determination unit to control input data paths, the multiplier with a column-based adder tree of compressors or counters is designed. To further reduce power consumption, the two multipliers based on row-based and hybrid-based adder trees are realized with operations on effective dynamic ranges of input data. Functional blocks of these two multipliers can preserve their previous input states for noneffective dynamic data ranges and thus, reduce the number of their switching operations. To illustrate the proposed multipliers exhibiting low-power dissipation, the theoretical analyzes of switching activities of partial products are derived. The proposed 16 /spl times/ 16-bit multiplier with the column-based adder tree conserves more than 31.2%, 19.1%, and 33.0% of power consumed by the conventional multiplier, in applications of the ADPCM audio, G.723.1 speech, and wavelet-based image coders, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed multipliers with row-based, hybrid-based adder trees reduce power consumption by over 35.3%, 25.3% and 39.6%, and 33.4%, 24.9% and 36.9%, respectively. When considering product factors of hardware areas, critical delays and power consumption, the proposed multipliers can outperform the conventional multipliers. Consequently, the multipliers proposed herein can be broadly used in various media processing to yield low-power consumption at limited hardware cost or little slowing of speed.     

Targeting lncRNA H19/miR-29b/COL1A1 Axis Impedes Myofibroblast Activities of Precancerous Oral Submucous Fibrosis

Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is known as a potentially malignant disorder, which may result from chemical irritation due to areca nuts (such as arecoline). Emerging evidence suggests that fibrogenesis and carcinogenesis are regulated by the interaction of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs. Among these regulators, profibrotic lncRNA H19 has been found to be overexpressed in several fibrosis diseases. Here, we examined the expression of H19 in OSF specimens and its functional role in fibrotic buccal mucosal fibroblasts (fBMFs). Our results indicate that the aberrantly overexpressed H19 contributed to higher myofibroblast activities, such as collagen gel contractility and migration ability. We also demonstrated that H19 interacted with miR-29b, which suppressed the direct binding of miR-29b to the 3′-untranslated region of type I collagen (COL1A1). We showed that ectopic expression of miR-29b ameliorated various myofibroblast phenotypes and the expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), COL1A1, and fibronectin (FN1) in fBMFs. In OSF tissues, we found that the expression of miR-29b was downregulated and there was a negative correlation between miR-29b and these fibrosis markers. Lastly, we demonstrate that arecoline stimulated the upregulation of H19 through the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β pathway. Altogether, this study suggests that increased TGF-β secretion following areca nut chewing may induce the upregulation of H19, which serves as a natural sponge for miR-29b and impedes its antifibrotic effects.     

Thermally reversible cross-linked polyamides and thermo-responsive gels by means of Diels-Alder reaction

Cross-linked polyamides and polyamide gels were prepared from maleimide-containing polyamides and a tri-functional furan compound and showed thermal reversibility in cross-linking behavior and in gel formation through Diels-Alder (DA) and retro-DA reactions. The rate constant k of the DA cross-linking reaction were 1.25-4.83×10⁻⁵ dm³ mol⁻¹ s⁻¹ in the temperature range of 20-60 °C with an activation energy of 32.1 kJ mol⁻¹. The cross-linking densities, thermal properties, and thermal reversibility of the polyamides/furan polymers were adjustable with the contents of maleimide groups in polyamides.     

密码协议的一种安全模型

将密码协议与密码算法视为一个系统,建立了密码协议系统的一种安全模型.基于假设/保证的组合推理技术提出了新的假设/保证推理规则和假设/保证推理算法,证明了该规则的完备性,实现了密码协议系统的模型检查,并重点解决了系统分解问题、假设函数的设定问题、进程+逻辑的系统特性描述问题等难题.以kerberos密码协议系统为例,利用该安全模型和假设/保证推理技术对密码协议系统进行了安全验证.     

棉秆拉拔力影响因素的分析及试验

棉秆拉拔力是设计棉花拔秆机的一个重要指标参数,而棉秆拉拔力的测定将受到其它因素的影响,为了探讨拔秆位移、棉秆直径、土壤含水率、土壤紧实度、起拔角度等因素对棉秆拉拔力的影响,笔者设计了棉秆拉拔力的测定试验方案并进行了棉秆拉拔力的测定试验。试验结果表明:棉秆直径与起拔力呈正相关回归关系,相关系数为0.861。土壤含水率越高,起拔力越小;土壤紧实度越大,起拔力越大。起拔角度对起拔力具有一定的影响,拉拔力与水平呈30°~45°时,起拔力较小。     

TRPV1 Responses in the Cerebellum Lobules VI,VII, VIII Using Electroacupuncture Treatment for Chronic Pain and Depression Comorbidity in a Murine Model

Depression is a prominent complex psychiatric disorder, usually complicated through expression of comorbid conditions, with chronic pain being among the most prevalent. This comorbidity is consistently associated with a poor prognosis and has been shown to negatively impact patient outcomes. With a global rise in this condition presenting itself, the importance of discovering long-term, effective, and affordable treatments is crucial. Electroacupuncture has demonstrated renowned success in its use for the treatment of pain and is a widely recognized therapy in clinical practice for the treatment of various psychosomatic disorders, most notably depression. Our study aimed to investigate the effects and mechanisms of Acid-Saline (AS) inducing states of chronic pain and depression comorbidity in the cerebellum, using the ST36 acupoint as the therapeutic intervention. Furthermore, the role of TRPV1 was relatedly explored through the use of TRPV1^−/− mice (KO). The results indicated significant differences in the four behavioral tests used to characterize pain and depression states in mice. The AS and AS + SHAM group showed significant differences when compared to the Control and AS + EA groups in the von Frey and Hargreaves’s tests, as well as the Open-Field and Forced Swimming tests. This evidence was further substantiated in the protein levels observed in immunoblotting, with significant differences between the AS and AS + SHAM groups when compared to the AS + EA and AS + KO groups being identified. In addition, immunofluorescence visibly served to corroborate the quantitative outcomes. Conclusively these findings suggest that AS-induced chronic pain and depression comorbidity elicits changes in the cerebellum lobules VI, VII, VIII, which are ameliorated through the use of EA at ST36 via its action on TRPV1 and related molecular pathways. The action of TRPV1 is not singular in CPDC, which would suggest other potential targets such as acid-sensing ion channel subtype 3 (ASIC3) or voltage-gated sodium channels (Navs) that could be explored in future studies.     

纳米Cu2O/TiO2 异质结薄膜电极的制备和表征

通过阴极还原在纳米TiO2膜上电沉积Cu2O，获得了p-Cu2O／n-TiO2异质结电极．研究了沉积温度对Cu2O膜厚、纯度和形貌的影响，制备出纯度较高、粒径为40-50nm的Cu2O薄膜．纳米Cu2O膜在200℃烧结后透光性最好，禁带宽度为2．06eV．光电化学测试表明纳米p-Cu2O／n-TiO2异质结电极呈现较强的n-型光电流响应并且能够提高光电转换效率．     

Fabrication of egg-shell-roofed macroporous nickel films by a template-mediated electrodeposition process

Through an electrostatics-induced adsorption effect, nickel ions were found to be preferentially adsorbed onto the surface of colloidal particles at template top during the template-mediated electrodeposition process for preparing macroporous structures. This phenomenon results in the preferential reduction and growth of nickel on colloid surface on the template top, instead of filling into the channels among the colloids. After removing the template, an egg-shell-roofed macroporous nickel, consisting of macroporous film covered with monolayer of hollow spheres, can be created.     

On a dynamic preventive maintenance policy for a system under inspection

The purpose of this article is to propose both state and time-dependent preventive maintenance policy for a multi-state deteriorating system, which is equipped with inspection equipment(s) connected to a computer center. After the system being identified as state x at nd through computation by the computer center after inspection (or measurement) via equipment(s), one maintenance action with the minimum expected total cost since nd till Nd (where N=n+K for a fixed integer 0<K<∞) will be chosen from the set A_x of alternatives also with the help of the computer center. In real case, the expected total costs since nd till Nd will be time-dependent and so is the maintenance action chosen at nd. A numerical example is given to illustrate such a maintenance policy for a Markovian deteriorating system to describe its state dependent aspect only for simplicity reason. Due to the fact that both equipment measurement and computer computation take time, the preventive maintenance policy for a sufficiently small d may be used in fact as the one under continuous inspection.