Molecular Characterization of a Novel Budgerigar Fledgling Disease Virus Strain From Budgerigars in China

Budgerigar fledgling disease virus (BFDV) is the causative polyomavirus of budgerigar fledgling disease, an important avian immunosuppressive disease in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). In the current study, we explored the etiological role and molecular characteristics of BFDV. We identified a novel BFDV strain, designated as SC-YB19, belonging to a unique cluster with three other domestic strains (WF-GM01, SD18, and APV-P) and closely related to Polish isolates based on complete sequences. Sequence analysis showed that SC-YB19 had an 18-nucleotide (nt) deletion in the enhancer region, corresponding to the sequence position 164–181 nt, which differed significantly from all other BFDV strains. Based on sequence alignment, three unique nucleotide substitutions were found in VP4 (position 821), VP1 (position 2,383), and T-antigen (position 3,517) of SC-YB19, compared with SD18, WF-GM01, QDJM01, HBYM02, APV7, and BFDV1. Phylogenetic analyses based on complete sequences suggested that SC-YB19, along with the domestic WF-GM01, SD18, and APV-P strains, formed a single branch and were closely related to Polish, Japanese, and American isolates. These results demonstrate that BFDV genotype variations are co-circulating in China, thus providing important insight into BFDV evolution.

Analysis of Opening Angle for Radial Magnetic Field Compensation Windings of Double-layer Ferromagnetic Cylindrical Shells

A double-layer ferromagnetic cylindrical shell causes a magnetic anomaly in its surrounding space under the action of the geomagnetic field. Aiming at the problems of poor compensation uniformity and obvious local magnetization caused by the single-branch winding compensation method, a double-branch winding solution is proposed. By establishing a double-layer ferromagnetic cylindrical shell model, the radial magnetization characteristics of the cylindrical shell under the action of the vertical geomagnetic field was analyzed, and the opening angle of double-branch winding was studied. By optimizing the opening angle of compensation windings in the three proposed configuration schemes with respect to the minimum abnormal magnetic field, the optimal ranges of opening angle for the double-branch compensation windings were determined.

Yushania doupengshanensis (Poaceae, Bambusoideae), a new bamboo species from south Guizhou, China

Yushania doupengshanensis Y.Y. Zhang et N.H. Xia, a new species of the temperate woody bamboo tribe Arundinarieae (Poaceae: Bambusoideae), is described and illustrated from south Guizhou, China. Yushania doupengshanensis is characterised by long-necked rhizomes, usually a single branch at each branching node, densely white puberulous and thin white powdery internodes, tardily deciduous culm sheaths, densely ciliate culm-sheath margins, 6‒12 leaves per ultimate branch, densely puberulous and 8‒9 mm long pseudopetioles. Based on the morphological features, this new species is assigned to section Yushania.

THE HISTORIA AVGVSTA BEFORE MS PAL. LAT. 899: LOST MANUSCRIPTS AND SCRIBAL MEDIATION

This article re-evaluates the role of the manuscript tradition of the Historia Augusta in debates over the original contents and authorship of the text. Evidence for physical disruptions to the text before our oldest surviving manuscripts points to an earlier manuscript distributed across multiple codices. A multi-volume archetype eliminates critical arguments against the author's claims about lives missing before the Life of Hadrian as well as in the lacuna for the years a.d. 244–260. Other multi-volume codices of the eighth and ninth centuries show that loss of an initial volume would have disrupted the textual tradition for the index, titles and authorial attributions. Comparison of our most complete early witness, Pal. lat. 899, to the independent branches of the textual tradition shows discrepancies between these paratextual elements as expected in a disrupted tradition. Ultimately, this article concludes that the current debates on authorship and the original scope of the Historia Augusta rest on paratextual elements from a single branch of the manuscript tradition, raising doubts about the centrality of these controversies to understanding the work.

A Convolutional Neural Network-Based Model for Multi-Source and Single-Source Partial Discharge Pattern Classification Using Only Single-Source Training Set

Classification of the sources of partial discharges has been a standard procedure to assess the status of insulation in high voltage systems. One of the challenges while classifying these sources is the decision on the distinct properties of each one, often requiring the skills of trained human experts. Machine learning offers a solution to this problem by allowing to train models based on extracted features. The performance of such algorithms heavily depends on the choice of features. This can be overcome by using deep learning where feature extraction is done automatically by the algorithm, and the input to such an algorithm is the raw input data. In this work, an enhanced convolutional neural network is proposed that is capable of classifying single sources as well as multiple sources of partial discharges without introducing multiple sources in the training phase. The training is done by using only single-source phase-resolved partial discharge (PRPD) patterns, while testing is performed on both single and multi-source PRPD patterns. The proposed model is compared with single-branch CNN architecture. The average percentage improvements of the proposed architecture for single-source PDs and multi-source PDs are 99.6% and 96.7% respectively, compared to 96.2% and 77.3% for that of the traditional single-branch CNN architecture.

Patterns of median nerve branching in the cubital fossa: implications for nerve transfers to restore motor function in a paralyzed upper limb

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to describe the anatomy of donor and recipient median nerve motor branches for nerve transfer surgery within the cubital fossa. METHODS Bilateral upper limbs of 10 fresh cadavers were dissected after dyed latex was injected into the axillary artery. RESULTS In the cubital fossa, the first branch was always the proximal branch of the pronator teres (PPT), whereas the last one was the anterior interosseous nerve (AIN) and the distal motor branch of the flexor digitorum superficialis (DFDS) on a consistent basis. The PT muscle was also innervated by a distal branch (DPT), which emerged from the anterior side of the median nerve and provided innervation to its deep head. The palmaris longus (PL) motor branch was always the second branch after the PPT, emerging as a single branch together with the flexor carpi radialis (FCR) or the proximal branch of the flexor digitorum superficialis. The FCR motor branch was prone to variations. It originated proximally with the PL branch (35%) or distally with the AIN (35%), and less frequently from the DPT. In 40% of dissections, the FDS was innervated by a single branch (i.e., the DFDS) originating close to the AIN. In 60% of cases, a proximal branch originated together with the PL or FCR. The AIN emerged from the posterior side of the median nerve and had a diameter of 2.3 mm, twice that of other branches. When dissections were performed between the PT and FCR muscles at the FDS arcade, we observed the AIN lying lateral and the DFDS medial to the median nerve. After crossing the FDS arcade, the AIN divided into: 1) a lateral branch to the flexor pollicis longus (FPL), which bifurcated to reach the anterior and posterior surfaces of the FPL; 2) a medial branch, which bifurcated to reach the flexor digitorum profundus (FDP); and 3) a long middle branch to the pronator quadratus. The average numbers of myelinated fibers within each median nerve branch were as follows (values expressed as the mean ± SD): PPT 646 ± 249; DPT 599 ± 150; PL 259 ± 105; FCR 541 ± 199; proximal FDS 435 ± 158; DFDS 376 ± 150; FPL 480 ± 309; first branch to the FDP 397 ± 12; and second branch to the FDP 369 ± 33. CONCLUSIONS The median nerve's branching pattern in the cubital fossa is predictable. The most important variation involves the FCR motor branch. These anatomical findings aid during nerve transfer surgery to restore function when paralysis results from injury to the radial or median nerves, brachial plexus, or spinal cord.

A Hybrid Branch Prediction Approach for High- Performance Processors

Background: In a parallel processor, the pipeline cannot fetch the conditional instructions with the next clock cycle, leading to a pipeline stall. So, conditional instructions create a problem in the pipeline because the proper path can only be known after the branch execution. To accurately predict branches, a significant predictor is proposed for the prediction of conditional branch instruction. Method: In this paper, a single branch prediction and a correlation branch prediction scheme are applied to the different trace files by using the concept of saturating counters. Further, a hybrid branch prediction scheme is proposed, which uses both global and local branch information, providing more accuracy than the single and correlation branch prediction schemes. Results: Firstly, a single branch prediction and correlation branch prediction technique are applied to the trace files using saturating counters. By comparison, it can be observed that a correlation branch prediction technique provides better results by enhancing the accuracy rate of 2.25% than the simple branch prediction. Further, a hybrid branch prediction scheme is proposed, which uses both global and local branch information, providing more accuracy than the single and correlation branch prediction schemes. The obtained results suggest that the proposed hybrid branch prediction schemes provide an increased accuracy rate of 3.68% and 1.43% than single branch prediction and correlation branch prediction. Conclusion: The proposed hybrid branch prediction scheme gives a lower misprediction rate and higher accuracy rate than the simple branch prediction scheme and correlation branch prediction scheme.