In harsh offshore environments, large-area sintered nano-copper (Cu) interconnections, which serve as die attachment material or thermal interface material (TIM), are prone to degradation from hydrogen sulfide (H2S) corrosion. This study introduced a film-forming technique based on atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) to improve the corrosion resistance of large-area sintered nanoCu joint. The corrosion protection mechanism against H2S-containing atmospheric corrosion was investigated using both experimental methods and density functional theory (DFT) simulations. The key findings were as follows: (1) The deposition film, primarily composed of a Si-O3 network, effectively protected sintered Cu plate from corrosion by H2S gas, and maintaining the mechanical performance of sintered Cu joint after 384 h of H2S testing. (2) The dissociation products of the APPJ-treated precursor hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO), −OSiCH3 and −OSi(CH3)3, formed stable chemical bonds on the sintered nanoCu surface, resulting in the formation of −OSiCH3(O-CH3)2 fragments. (3) The −OSiCH3(O-CH3)2 fragments were unreactive toward to corrosion agents such as H2S, O2, and H2O, and also serving as a barrier to block their access to the sintered nanoCu surface. This study provided a comprehensive understanding of the corrosion protection mechanism of sintered nanoCu using APPJ-deposited films, offering valuable insights for improving the reliability of power electronics.

Bearing vibration data are often contaminated with noise, which is detrimental to equipment fault diagnosis and predictive maintenance. Denoising bearing vibration data is crucial. Traditional denoising methods have certain limitations. For instance, when employing wavelet denoising, fixed basis functions may fail to perfectly match all signal structures, potentially compromising denoising accuracy. Similarly, when utilizing data-driven tight frame (DDTF) denoising, the learned basis, due to the lack of noise constraints, may incur a risk of overfitting. To optimize denoising performance in both scenarios, this paper proposes a method that combines wavelet transform and DDTF dictionary learning to extract noise based on a doubly sparse dictionary. The specific approach involves mutually cascading the wavelet transform and DDTF. After applying the wavelet transform to the noisy signal, multi-layer wavelet sparse coefficients are obtained. DDTF processing is then applied to each layer of wavelet sparse coefficients. Subsequent inverse transformation achieves noise suppression. This method integrates the structural constraint capability of wavelet decomposition with the learning capability of DDTF, thereby mitigating their respective limitations to some extent. The denoised data are fed into a residual network model, and training results confirm that the proposed method achieves the best classification performance. Experimental results from both data denoising and deep learning classification demonstrate that the proposed method exhibits superior denoising performance. Although the algorithm structure of this method is more complex compared to other approaches, it is meaningful in scenarios where high-precision denoising is required.

Audio magnetotelluric (AMT) is commonly used in mineral resource exploration. However, the weak energy of AMT signals makes them susceptible to being overwhelmed by noise, leading to erroneous geophysical interpretations. In recent years, deep learning has been applied to AMT denoising and has shown better denoising performance compared to traditional methods. However, current deep learning denoising methods overlook the characteristics of AMT signals, resulting in reduced denoising accuracy. To enhance the denoising performance of deep learning by better matching the features of AMT signals, we propose a convolutional block attention module (CBAM)-based method for AMT denoising. This method focuses on the features of AMT signals and improves the process from three aspects: 1) in the establishment of the sample set, we adopt a multicomponent form based on the correlation of noise to enable the neural network to explore the potential connections among the components of AMT during the training process, thus constructing a stronger network mapping relationship; 2) in the construction of the neural network, we have introduced the CBAM structure into the residual blocks of the ResNet to enhance the network's feature learning capability by focusing on the characteristics of noise; and 3) in the design of the denoising procedure, we adopt a process of identification before denoising to protect the noise-free data segments from being compromised during the denoising process. Finally, through synthetic, field data experiments, and comparative tests, we demonstrate that our proposed method achieves higher denoising accuracy than some traditional methods and conventional deep learning methods.

The consequences caused by bridge failures owing to the ship-bridge collision are always severe in terms of loss of life, economy, and environmental consequences to individuals and societies. The previous studies focused on the ship-bridge collision mainly concentrated on passive anti-collision, such as strengthening the bridge structure or setting anti-collision facilities. Compared with the previous research, the contribution of this work is to facilitate the reduction of collision risk of ship-bridge collision from the perspective of active anti-collision. A data-driven approach for ship-bridge collision candidate detection method in inland bridge waterways is proposed in this research. The approach is mainly divided into two steps: 1) The features (channel boundary, pier domain, and ship domain) of bridge waterways are identified using Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) method based on the historical AIS data; 2) Collision candidate detection with Velocity Obstacle (VO) method considering the identified features. This work can provide beneficial support for the ship-bridge active collision avoidance system.

The specificity of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing is largely determined by the sequences of guide RNA (gRNA) and the targeted DNA, yet the sequence-dependent rules underlying off-target effects are not fully understood. To systematically explore the sequence determinants governing CRISPR/Cas9 specificity, here we describe a dual-target system to measure the relative cleavage rate between off- and on-target sequences (off-on ratios) of 1902 gRNAs on 13,314 synthetic target sequences, and reveal a set of sequence rules involving 2 factors in off-targeting: 1) a guide-intrinsic mismatch tolerance (GMT) independent of the mismatch context; 2) an “epistasis-like” combinatorial effect of multiple mismatches, which are associated with the free-energy landscape in R-loop formation and are explainable by a multi-state kinetic model. These sequence rules lead to the development of MOFF, a model-based predictor of Cas9-mediated off-target effects. Moreover, the “epistasis-like” combinatorial effect suggests a strategy of allele-specific genome editing using mismatched guides. With the aid of MOFF prediction, this strategy significantly improves the selectivity and expands the application domain of Cas9-based allele-specific editing, as tested in a high-throughput allele-editing screen on 18 cancer hotspot mutations.

In this research, a hybrid approach for path planning of autonomous ships that generates both global and local paths, respectively, is proposed. The global path is obtained via an improved artificial potential field (APF) method, which makes up for the shortcoming that the typical APF method easily falls into a local minimum. A modified velocity obstacle (VO) method that incorpo-rates the closest point of approach (CPA) model and the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS), based on the typical VO method, can be used to get the local path. The contribution of this research is two-fold: (1) improvement of the typical APF and VO methods, making up for previous shortcomings, and integrated COLREGS rules and good seamanship, making the paths obtained more in line with navigation practice; (2) the research included global and local path planning, considering both the safety and maneuverability of the ship in the process of avoiding collision, and studied the whole process of avoiding collision in a relatively entirely way. A case study was then conducted to test the proposed approach in different situations. The results indicate that the proposed approach can find both global and local paths to avoid the target ship.