Reverse Transcription Recombinase-aided Amplification Assay for H5 Subtype avian Influenza Virus

Background: The H5 subtype avian influenza virus (AIV) has caused huge economic losses to the poultry industry and is a threat to human health. A rapid and simple test is needed to confirm infection in suspected cases during disease outbreaks. Methods: In this study, we developed a reverse transcription recombinase-aided amplification (RT-RAA) assay for the detection of H5 subtype AIV. Assays were performed at a single temperature (39°C), and the results were obtained within 20 min. Results: The assay showed no cross-detection with Newcastle disease virus or infectious bronchitis virus. The analytical sensitivity was 103 RNA copies/μL at a 95% confidence interval according to probit regression analysis, with 100% specificity. Compared with published reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assays, the κ value of the RT-RAA assay in 420 avian clinical samples was 0.983 (p < 0.001). The sensitivity for avian clinical sample detection was 97.26% (95% CI, 89.56–99.52%), and the specificity was 100% (95% CI, 98.64–100%). Conclusions: These results indicated that our RT-RAA assay may be a valuable tool for detecting H5 subtype AIV.

Effect of Multi-Step Austempering Treatment on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of a High Silicon Carbide-Free Bainitic Steel with Bimodal Bainite Distribution

The effect of multi-step austempering treatments on the microstructure and mechanical properties of a novel medium carbon high silicon carbide-free bainitic steel was studied. Five different isothermal treatment processes were selected, including single-step isothermal treatments above martensite start temperature (at 350 °C and 370 °C, respectively), and three kinds of two-step routes (370 °C + 300 °C, 370 °C + 250 °C, and 350 °C + 250 °C). In comparison with single-step austempering treatment adopting a two-step process, a microstructure with a bimodal-size distribution of bainitic ferrite and without martensite was obtained. Bainitic transformation was studied using dilatometry both for single-step and two-step routes and the specimens were completely characterised by electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and standard tensile tests. The mechanical response of the samples subjected to two-step routes was superior to those treated at a single temperature.

Multi-temperature generalized Zhdanov closure for scrape-off layer/edge applications

The derivation of the multi-temperature generalized Zhdanov closure is provided starting from the most general form of the left hand side of the moment averaged kinetic equation with the Sonine-Hermite polynomial ansatz for an arbitrary number of moments. The process of arriving at the reduced higher-order moment equations, with its assumptions and approximations, is explicitly outlined. The generalized multi-species, multi-temperature coefficients from the authors' previous article are used to compute values of higher order moments such as heat flux in terms of the lower order moments. Transport coefficients and the friction and thermal forces for magnetic confinement fusion relevant cases with the generalized coefficients are compared to the scheme with the single-temperature coefficients previously provided by Zhdanov et al. It is found that the 21N-moment multi-temperature coefficients are adequate for most cases relevant to fusion. Furthermore, the 21N-moment scheme is also tested against the trace approximation to determine the range of validity of the trace approximation with respect to fusion relevant plasmas. Possible refinements to the closure scheme are illustrated as well, in order to account for quantities which might be significant in certain schemes such as the drift approximation.

Prediction of the number of heatstroke patients transported by ambulance in Japan’s 47 prefectures: proposal of heat acclimatization consideration

The incidence of heatstroke is affected by various meteorological variables. However, previous studies in Japan have mainly investigated and adopted a single temperature metric or composite index for their analyses. Herein, we conducted a time series study through multivariate analysis of different weather conditions simultaneously, in order to analyze the relative importance of meteorological variables to determine the number of heatstroke patients transported by ambulance in all of Japan’s 47 prefectures. We proposed a method that considers heat acclimatization, which has been found to impact the heatstroke, by manipulating certain meteorological variables. For the heatstroke data, we utilized the secondary data provided by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, Japan. The time period considered was from May 2015 to September 2019. All calculations were performed using R 3.5.1. For the analysis, the machine learning method of random forest (RF) was applied. The results showed that the relative temperature (RelTemp), which represents heat acclimatization, had the highest ranking among all the meteorological variables studied. Then, we developed the exponential model and the RF model to predict the number of heatstroke patients transported by ambulance by adopting the highly ranked meteorological variables including RelTemp as explanatory variables. To confirm the effectiveness of heat acclimatization, we also developed the exponential model and the RF model both without RelTemp (instead, with maximum temperature). According to the results, the R2 values of the exponential and the RF models, including RelTemp, were 0.76 and 0.74, respectively, and those of the exponential and the RF models, excluding RelTemp, were 0.68 and 0.67, respectively. We confirmed the effectiveness of considering heat acclimatization via RelTemp and found that the exponential model with RelTemp provided the higher accuracy. Better predictions by the exponential model with RelTemp would contribute to better preemptive allocation of ambulances and medical staff in medical facilities.

Effect of a Compound Energy Field with Temperature and Ultrasonic Vibration on the Material Properties and Bending Process of TC2 Titanium Alloy

Due to the low formability and forming quality of titanium alloy, the forming process of a compound energy field (CEF) with temperature and ultrasonic vibration was proposed. Tensile tests were carried out to investigate the effect of the CEF on the true stress–strain curve, yield strength, elastic modulus, and other mechanical properties of the TC2 titanium alloy. Bending tests assisted by CEF were also performed to investigate the effect of different parameters of the CEF on bending force, spring-back, bending fillet radius, and microstructure of TC2 titanium. The results demonstrate that compared to the process under a single-temperature field, the CEF can reduce yield strength, elastic modulus, bending force, bending fillet, and the spring-back angle, which shows that the CEF can further increase the high-temperature softening effect of TC2 titanium. Furthermore, this effect becomes more remarkable when ultrasonic vibration energy increases. As a result, the formability of titanium alloy can be improved.

Population Kinetics Modeling of Low-Temperature Argon Plasma

Optical emission spectroscopy has been widely used in low-temperature argon plasma diagnostics. A coronal model is usually used to analyze the measured line ratios for diagnostics with a single temperature and density. However, many plasma processing conditions deviate from single temperature and density, optically thin conditions, or even coronal plasma conditions due to cascades from high-lying states. In this paper, we present a collisional-radiative model to investigate the validity of coronal approximations over a range of plasma conditions of Te = 1–4 eV and Ne = 108–1013 cm−3. The commonly used line ratios are found to change from a coronal limit where they are independent of Ne to a collisional-radiative regime where they are not. The effects of multiple-temperature plasma, radiation trapping, wall neutralization, and quenching on the line ratios are investigated to identify the plasma conditions under which these effects are significant. This study demonstrates the importance of the completeness of atomic datasets in applying a collisional-radiative model to low-temperature plasma diagnostics.

Response of Mechanical Properties of Polyvinyl Chloride Geomembrane to Ambient Temperature in Axial Tension

Aiming at the mechanical response of geomembrane (GEM) in membrane-faced rockfill dam (MFRD) to different ambient temperatures, the mechanical properties in axial tension of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) GEM were studied by experiment and theoretical analysis. First, fifteen groups of axial tensile tests for longitudinal/transverse specimens were conducted at different temperatures in the temperature environment laboratory, the stress–strain curve and Young’s modulus were obtained, and the variation of Young’s modulus with temperature was analyzed by Boltzmann function fitting. Second, the glass transition temperature of PVC GEM was obtained by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and the difference in mechanical properties between longitudinal and transverse specimens of PVC GEM was analyzed by thermomechanical analyzer (TMA) thermodynamic test. The results showed that the lower the temperature, the greater the Young’s modulus, and the smaller the linear interval of stress and strain, while the higher the temperature, the result is opposite. The difference in mechanical properties between the two directions is related to the ambient temperature. The orientation of polymer structure accounts for the difference in mechanical properties by theoretical analysis. The fitting results of Boltzmann function have a certain reference value for numerical simulation. In design of the membrane impervious structure in MFRD, the ambient temperature should be considered fully, and the longitudinal/transverse welding splicing should be avoided as far as possible. The current test specification should test the mechanical performance of GEM at normal operating temperature of reservoir instead of the test and quality evaluation at a single temperature. The temperature should be considered comprehensively in construction to avoid damaging the performance of impervious structure and ensure the service life.

Investigation of water-air flows in nozzles

The undoubted importance of these problems allows us to conclude that the research aimed at creating and using a simple model of the flow of a two-phase medium is relevant and of interest not only from a scientific, but also from a practical point of view. Two approaches to their description can be distinguished: the study of flows of two-phase media taking into account relaxation processes between phases with a microscopic description of the interaction between phases, or the study of flows of two-phase media with a macroscopic description of the medium in the form of a one-speed one-temperature continuum. However, sometimes, when calculating, it is possible to ignore the structural two-phase medium and consider the medium as a one-speed one-temperature continuum. This proposal allows us to calculate the averaged flow parameters of a two-phase medium, which is required for engineering calculations. In this paper, the calculation of the flow of the gas-drop flow in the Laval nozzle is given. The method is described, which is based on integral energy equations for two-phase dispersed currents. In the calculations, the two-phase flow is considered as a single-speed, single-temperature continuum. When modeling in the ANSYS Fluent software package, a package of Euler equations is used to compare with analytical results obtained from integral energy equations.

A Simple Application for Computing Reference Evapotranspiration with Various Levels of Data Availability—ETo Tool

Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) estimations may be used to improve the efficiency of irrigated agriculture. However, its computation can be complex and could require numerous weather data that are not always available for many locations. Different methods are available to estimate ETo when limited data are available, and the assessment of the most accurate one can be difficult and time consuming. There are some standalone softwares available for computing ETo but none of them allow for the comparison of different methods for the same or different datasets simultaneously. This paper aims to present an application for estimating ETo using several methods that require different levels of data availability, namely FAO-56 Penman–Monteith (PM), the Original and the three modified Hargreaves–Samani (HS and MHS1, MHS2 and MHS3), Trajkovic (TR) and the single temperature procedure (MaxTET). Also, it facilitates the comparison of the accuracy estimation of two selected methods. From an example case, for where the application was used to compute ETo for three different locations, results show that the application can easily and successfully estimate ETo using the proposed methods, allowing for statistical comparison of those estimations. HS proves to be the most accurate method for the studied locations; however, the accuracy of all methods tends to be lower for costal locations than for more continental sites. With this application, users can select the best ETo estimation methods for a specific location and use it for irrigation purposes.