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The recently emerging multi-mode plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) technology is one of the pathways making contributions to decarbonization, and its energy management requires multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) control. At the present, the existing methods usually decouple the MIMO control into single-output (MISO) control and can only achieve its local optimal performance. To optimize the multi-mode vehicle globally, this paper studies a MIMO control method for energy management of the multi-mode PHEV based on multi-agent deep reinforcement learning (MADRL). By introducing a relevance ratio, a hand-shaking strategy is proposed to enable two learning agents to work collaboratively under the MADRL framework using the deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) algorithm. Unified settings for the DDPG agents are obtained through a sensitivity analysis of the influencing factors to the learning performance. The optimal working mode for the hand-shaking strategy is attained through a parametric study on the relevance ratio. The advantage of the proposed energy management method is demonstrated on a software-in-the-loop testing platform. The result of the study indiates that learning rate of the DDPG agents is the greatest factor in learning performance. Using the unified DDPG settings and a relevance ratio of 0.2, the proposed MADRL method can save up to 4% energy compared to the single-agent method.

Additional file 4. Figure S4. Verification of Gata2 interference efficiency.Gata2-lentivirus infection efficiency was determined by fluorescence microscopy.Interference efficiency of mRNA levels was evaluated by qRT-PCR.Left: Interference efficiency of the protein level was validated by western blotting. Right: Statistical analysis of western blots. Uncropped full-length gel blots can be found in Fig. S5D. All data are presented as means ± SD of three biological replicates. **p < 0.01 compared with the control by one-way ANOVA and the multiple comparisons test.

Additional file 1. Figure S1. Characteristics of the FGSC line in vitro.Identification of mRNA expression of FGSC-related markers by RT-PCR. Uncropped full-length agarose gels can be found in Fig. S5E-G.Top: Cell morphology of FGSCs in bright field. Bottom: Immunofluorescence staining of Mvh in FGSCs

Additional file 1. Figure S1:.Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trialsdiagram illustrating the selection and exclusion of patients

Additional file 2. Figure S2. Histone H2BK5bhb Chip-seq quality control chart. The 300–500 bp fragment had continuous enrichment, which was the main fragment region selected for library construction, high-throughput sequencing, and data analysis, which met the requirements of chromatin fragment preparation

Additional file 3. Figure S3. Mass fraction distribution of the RNA-seq base position. Sequencing data revealed the position of the specific sequencing signal in each replicated group by FastQC.

Additional file 5. Figure S5. Corresponding uncropped full-length gels and blot.Changes of Kbhb in the histone region of FGSCs treated with metformin as determined by western blotting.Western blot validation of histone H2BK5bhb modification.Verification of Gata2 expression by western blotting.Interference efficiency of the protein level was validated by western blotting.,,Identification of mRNA expression of FGSC-related markers by RT-PCR.

Background Parkinson disease is a neurodegenerative disease and is characterized by resting tremor, dementia, and gait disorder. Previous studies have indicated that long noncoding RNA participates in the regulation of the pathogenesis of Parkinson disease. The study aimed to reveal the effects of long noncoding RNA nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1 (NEAT1) on 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridine (MPP+)–induced human neuroblastoma cell injury and the underlying mechanism. Methods The expressions of NEAT1, microRNA (miR)-519a-3p, and transcription factor specific protein 1 (SP1) were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The protein expressions of SP1 and inflammation-related factors were determined by Western blot. Cell viability was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Cell apoptosis was investigated by flow cytometry analysis. The targeting relationship between miR-519a-3p and NEAT1 or SP1 was predicted by starBase online database and verified by a dual-luciferase reporter assay. Results NEAT1 and SP1 expressions were significantly upregulated, whereas miR-519a-3p was downregulated in MPP+-treated neuroblastoma cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner when compared with control groups. NEAT1 knockdown restrained MPP+-induced repression of cell viability and promotion of cell apoptosis and inflammation. Additionally, NEAT1 served as a sponge of miR-519a-3p and regulated MPP+-caused cell injury by interacting with miR-519a-3p. Also, SP1, a target gene of miR-519a-3p, rescued miR-519a-3p–mediated actions under MPP+ treatment. Importantly, NEAT1 stimulated SP1 expression through interaction with miR-519a-3p. Conclusions NEAT1 silencing protected against MPP+-induced neuroblastoma cell injury by regulating the miR-519a-3p/SP1 pathway. This finding provides a novel direction for the development of therapeutic strategies for Parkinson disease.

Due to global change, increasing nutrient input to ecosystems dramatically affects the nitrogen cycle, especially the nitrification process. Nitrifiers including ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOAs), ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOBs), nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOBs), and recently discovered complete ammonia oxidizers (comammoxs) perform nitrification individually or in a community. However, much remains to be learned about their niche differentiation, coexistence, and interactions among those metabolically distinct nitrifiers. Here, we used synthetic microbial ecology approaches to construct synthetic nitrifying communities (SNCs) with different combinations of Nitrospira inopinata as comammox, Nitrososphaera gargensis as AOA, Nitrosomonas communis as AOB, and Nitrospira moscoviensis as NOB. Our results showed that niche differentiation and potential interactions among those metabolically distinct nitrifiers were determined by their kinetic characteristics. The dominant species shifted from N. inopinata to N. communis in the N4 community (with all four types of nitrifiers) as ammonium concentrations increased, which could be well explained by the kinetic difference in ammonia affinity, specific growth rate, and substrate tolerance of nitrifiers in the SNCs. In addition, a conceptual model was developed to infer niche differentiation and possible interactions among the four types of nitrifiers. This study advances our understanding of niche differentiation and provides new strategies to further study their interactions among the four types of nitrifiers.

The Ediacaran–Cambrian period witnessed episodic extinctions, oxygenation of seawaters, Cambrian explosions, and tectonic events. However, compared with the various high-resolution geochemical records of the early–middle Ediacaran and Cambrian, the available geochemical record of the latest Ediacaran (551–542 Ma) is scarce (especially the strontium isotope and elements), which leads to the ambiguous interpretation of the paleoenvironment of the latest Ediacaran. Therefore, we conducted measurements of strontium isotopes and elemental content of a continuous series of carbonate samples from the Dengying Formation of Well PT1, located in the Sichuan Basin, southeastern Tibetan Plateau, in order to constrain the paleoenvironment of the latest Ediacaran. Strict sample screening was used to ensure that the isotopes and elements were not affected by diagenesis. Our analyses show that the environment and geochemical records of the seawater were controlled by tectonic activities, especially the Gondwana assembly. The global strontium isotope correlation indicates that the Sichuan Basin was a restricted basin (high 87Sr/86Sr values, ∼0.7090), which can be attributed to the existence of a submarine high. Under the background of oxic environment, there were two episodes of anoxic expansion. During the initial stage, the stable terrigenous detrital input and oxic environment provided the prerequisite for the emergence of aerobic organisms in the restricted platform. Then, the decreasing sea level and intense tectonic activities improved the terrigenous detrital input with higher 87Sr/86Sr values (∼0.7095), which stimulated the emergence of aerobic organisms, further resulting in the first episode of anoxic environment. Lastly, a global transgressive resulted in a high sea level, and thus, the Sichuan Basin changed to an open platform. The exchange with extensive oceans led to the increased paleoproductivity, which consumed oxygen and nutrients, further resulting in the second episode of anoxic environment. Thus, the restriction degree, eustatic variations, and the terrigenous detrital input affected the biological evolution and redox conditions.

Aim: We aimed to identify new plasma biomarkers for the diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB). Background: Tuberculosis is an ancient infectious disease that remains one of the major global health problems. Until now, effective, convenient, and affordable methods for diagnosis of PTB were still lacking. Objective: This study focused on constructing a label-free LC-MS/MS-based comparative proteomics between six tuberculosis patients and six healthy controls to identify Differentially Expressed Proteins (DEPs) in plasma. Methods: To reduce the influences of high-abundant proteins, albumin and globulin were removed from plasma samples using affinity gels. Then DEPs from the plasma samples were identified using a label-free Quadrupole-Orbitrap LC-MS/MS system. The results were analyzed by the protein database search algorithm SEQUEST-HT to identify mass spectra to peptides. The predictive abilities of combinations of host markers were investigated by General Discriminant Analysis (GDA), with Leave-One-Out Cross- Validation (LOOCV). Results: A total of 572 proteins were identified and 549 proteins were quantified. The threshold for DEPs was set as adjusted p-value < 0.05 and fold change ≥1.5 or ≤0.6667, 32 DEPs were found. ClusterVis, TBtools, and STRING were used to find new potential biomarkers of PTB. Six proteins, LY6D, DSC3, CDSN, FABP5, SERPINB12, and SLURP1, which performed well in the LOOCV method validation, were termed as potential biomarkers. The percentage of cross-validated grouped cases correctly classified and original grouped cases correctly classified is greater than or equal to 91.7%. Conclusion: We successfully identified five candidate biomarkers for immunodiagnosis of PTB in plasma, LY6D, DSC3, CDSN, SERPINB12, and SLURP1. Our work supported this group of proteins as potential biomarkers for PTB, and be worthy of further validation.

To explore the mechanisms of squeak generation in automotive interior, the stick-slip experiments of polypropylene verse leather were conducted under various conditions. The friction properties wer...

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare disease affecting young women, which occurs sporadically or in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). The main manifestations of TSC in the kidney include cysts and angiomyolipoma (AML). Although renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is not a manifestation of TSC, it has a 2–4% incidence in TSC patients. Furthermore, LAM is rare in patients with RCC. Herein, we present a case of a 40-year-old woman with LAM and RCC in the right kidney. We checked for mutations in the TSC1 and TSC2 genes from both blood and kidney lesions and found a heterozygous mutation of c.1717–30G> A in intron 16 of TSC2 gene. In TSC patients, the diagnosis of RCC is challenging because the cancer is rare, and it is often difficult to distinguish it from AML with conventional imaging techniques. Therefore, it is recommended that patients with TSC undergo renal imaging follow-ups annually for kidney masses.

Additional file 10: Fig. S10. The illustration of ROI segmentation on H.E slice.

Additional file 3: Fig. S3. The prognostic value of radiomics score in the external validation cohort and the results of unsupervised clustering. A) The Kaplan���Meier analysis showed that higher radiomics score was associated with worse DFS in external validation cohort.

Additional file 1. Supplementary materials.

Additional file 6: Fig. S6. Heatmap and volcano plot of DEGs between high- and low-score groups. A-B) DEGs of miRNA. C-D) DEGs of lncRNA. E) heatmap of DEGs of mRNA. F) function annotation of downregulated DEGs.

Additional file 4: Fig. S1. Phylogenetic tree of PhoA, PhoD, PhoX and PafA. Fig. S2. Comparison of (a) the number of detected PCGs families and (b) run time in searching against arCOG, COG, eggNOG, KEGG and PCyCDB. Fig. S3. Functional composition of PCGs families in seven habitats. Fig. S4. Quantitative analysis of transporters in seven habitats. *:P < 0.05; **:P < 0.01, ***:P < 0.001, ****:P < 0.0001.

Additional file 1: Fig. S1. The workflow of radiomics score calculation and clinical application. Tumor MRI scans were segmented manually. Radiomics features were then extracted and filtered according to ICC. LASSO was applied to the selected features.

Additional file 7: Fig. S7. Immunophenscore of high- and low-score group. No significant difference found between groups. A) Immunophenscore (EC) of high- and low-score group. B) Immunophenscore (CP) of high- and low-score group. C) Immunophenscore (SC) of high- and low-score group.

Additional file 2: Fig. S2. The process of the calculation of radiomics score. A, B) Univariate analysis of all radiomics features. Only features with p 0.75 were selected. C, D) LASSO was applied to select features. A radiomics score was generated by linear combination of selected features. E) A time-dependent ROC was plotted. The best cut value was set according to the Youden index.

Additional file 9: Fig. S9. The computational histopathological features in this study.

Additional file 8: Fig. S8. The radiomics features extracted in this study using ���slicer radiomics���.

Additional file 4: Fig. S4. Calibration plot of validation cohort.

BackgroundGeneration and maturation of human oocyte in vitro could facilitate studies of folliculogenesis and oogenesis. We have previously shown that human aminotic fluid stem cells giving rise to oocyte-like cells (OLCs), However, it was difficult to observe whether these OLCs enter meiotic stage. MethodsHuman induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and embryonic stem cells (hESCs) were cultured by follicle fluid, cytokines and small molecule to induced oocyte-like cells (OLCs) formation through a three-step induction procedure. Surface marker expression and differentiation potential of germ cells were analyzed in vitro by flow cytometry, gene expression, immunocytochemistry, western blotting and RNA Sequencing.ResultsTo induce hiPSCs differentiation into OLCs, cells were firstly cultured in a primordial germ cell medium for 10 days. The cells showed the morphology similar to primordial germ cells (PGCs), highly expressing germ cell markers and primordial follicle development associated genes. The induced PGCs were then cultured in the primordial follicle-like cell medium for 5 days to form the induced follicle-like structures (iFLs), which retained both primordial oocytes-like cells and granulosa-like cells. In the third step, the detached iFLs were harvested and transferred to the OLC-medium for additional 10 days. The cumulus-oocyte-complexes (COC) structures and OLCs in different sizes (50-150 μm diameter) with zona pellucida were observed. The in vitro matured OLCs presented the polar body and arrested at metaphase II (MII) stage. Some OLCs were self-activated and spontaneously developed into multiple-cell structures similar to preimplantation embryos, indicating that OLCs were parthenogenetically activated though in vitro fertilization potential of OLCs are yet proved.ConclusionsIn vitro maturation of OLCs derived from hiPSCs provides a new means to study human germ cell formation and oogenesis.

Radiotherapy has been an important component of cancer treatment. In the malignancy with long survival, radiation-induced cardiovascular toxicity significantly jeopardize patients' outcome. Despite that its pathophysiological mechanism is not clear yet, many studies have confirmed the positive correlation between cardiovascular involvement dose, irradiated volume and radiation-induced cardiotoxicity. Therefore, reducing cardiovascular involvement dose as well as irradiated volume is the key to cardiac sparing techniques in radiotherapy. Cardiac sparing techniques includes: (1) methods that reduce radiation fields and dose; (2) methods that increase the distance between heart and irradiated fields; (3) new techniques such as intensity modulated radiotherapy and proton therapy. Although researches in dosimetry have showed that cardiac sparing techniques could lower cardiovascular involvement dose and irradiated volume, further validation is needed for curative effect.

In this study, a new form of hybrid pneumatic combustion engine based on compressed air injection boosting is proposed. The hybrid pneumatic combustion engine regenerates the wasted energy during engine brake to improve the engine performance achieving better fuel economy. The mathematic model of the hybrid pneumatic combustion engine including a supercharged engine and the compressed air tank has been established. The steady-state and transient performance of the engine are analysed. Results show that the air injection boosting system can effectively improve the steady-state performance. Under the speed of 1900 r/min and 100% load, the engine torque and power can be increased from 1039 N m, 206.9 kW to 1057 N m, 210 kW by adopting air injection boosting with the injection pressure of 0.5 MPa. Effects of air injection parameters are also studied, showing that better performance can be achieved under higher air tank pressure and larger injection hole diameter. In addition, a transient analysis is completed under the speed of 1100 r/min. The result shows that when air injection boosting is used, the responding time of the engine to an instant load increase can be potentially reduced from 5.5 to 3.5 s under the injection pressure and duration of 0.5 MPa and 3 s. Meanwhile, the tank pressure has limited influence on the transient performance of the engine.

Yun Wu,* Hongru Li,* Xiaoli Yu, Ming Lin, Yusheng Chen Department of Respiratory Medicine, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350001, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yusheng ChenDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350001, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail cysktz@163.comAbstract: Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare disease affecting young women, which occurs sporadically or in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). The main manifestations of TSC in the kidney include cysts and angiomyolipoma (AML). Although renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is not a manifestation of TSC, it has a 2– 4% incidence in TSC patients. Furthermore, LAM is rare in patients with RCC. Herein, we present a case of a 40-year-old woman with LAM and RCC in the right kidney. We checked for mutations in the TSC1 and TSC2 genes from both blood and kidney lesions and found a heterozygous mutation of c.1717– 30G> A in intron 16 of TSC2 gene. In TSC patients, the diagnosis of RCC is challenging because the cancer is rare, and it is often difficult to distinguish it from AML with conventional imaging techniques. Therefore, it is recommended that patients with TSC undergo renal imaging follow-ups annually for kidney masses.Keywords: tuberous sclerosis complex, TSC, lymphangioleiomyomatosis, LAM, renal cell carcinoma, RCC, TSC1, TSC2

The research on battery thermal management systems in a transient and ultimate perspective is important to maintain the battery temperature within a reasonable range and save energy. In the present study, the transient and ultimate behaviors in a battery module consisting of 48 cells cooled by liquid are considered as the main focus. A lumped mass model with cold plate cooling design is developed to simulate battery module cooling performance. The results suggest that there is a cooling cap upper limit for a cold plate cooling system. When the inlet mass flow rate of the cold plate reaches a certain range, the cooling effect will not be improved obviously any more. The optimal Reynolds number for the designed cold plate and module is 475. In addition, there is a cooling hysteresis time for the indirect cooling structure. When the inlet flow rate increases suddenly, the surface temperature of the cells does not immediately decrease. For example, even with the discharge rate is 1C, the delay time is up to 66.37 s. Therefore, when considering precise control strategies of a battery thermal management system, the dynamic empirical correlations proposed by this study can offer some useful guidance.

Objective: The objective of this current research is to investigate the effectiveness of the nursing intervention of combination gelatin sponge and moist wound healing in treating the pressure ulcers (PUs). Methods: This is a randomized controlled trial to be carried out from January 2021 to May 2021. This trial is implemented in accordance with the SPIRIT Checklist for the randomized researches and was granted through the Ethics Committee of 5th Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital (No. 0624876). This study includes 80 PU participants. The patients meet the following criteria will be included. All participants meet the diagnostic criteria recommended via the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel Society: complete skin defect, no bones, tendons and muscles exposure, no subcutaneous tunnel or scale; the patients selected are between 40 and 60 years old. The patients with the following criteria will be excluded: receiving other treatments that may influence the healing, for instance, radiation therapy and corticosteroids; patients with the complications of infection, malignant tumors, as well as peripheral vascular disease; and patients with serious diseases, containing kidney, cardiac, and liver diseases. The patients are randomly divided into 2 groups, the control group and study group, with 40 members in each group. In control group, the patients are given the routine nursing care. And in study group, the patients are given the nursing of gelatin sponge combined with moist wound-healing. After 28 days, the state of the patients healing is observed closely, containing the dressing change frequency, curative effects, and the end-point efficiency. On the basis of the Pressure Ulcer Healing Scale developed by the American pressure sore expert group, the quantitative scoring can be implemented, and therapeutic effects are assessed. Results: The variables of clinical result among the groups are illustrated in the Table. Conclusion: The nursing intervention of gelatin sponge combined with the moist wound- healing may evidently increase the healing efficiency of PU. Trial registration number: researchregistry 6091.

Under the background of the rapid rise of open-source software and the gradual popularization of various software development tools, a large amount of development activity data has been accumulated on the Internet. In the process of using these data to construct data sets, due to their poor traceability and narrow application scope, the quality of data in development activities is not high and the accuracy of analysis results is not high. The application of the hierarchical feature similarity integration method of data sets can make the multi-version and multi-level development smoother and more orderly. In this paper, a hierarchical feature similarity integration method based on hierarchical deep learning is proposed for data sets. Firstly, the dynamic mesh partitioning method is used to divide the sparse and dense regions in the space, which reduces the scale of data detection and shortens the execution time of detection. Then, through the hierarchical deep learning process, the professional knowledge and the distribution information of data attribute value are fused to realize the detection of discrete data in the database. Experimental results show that this method can accurately complete the detection of discrete data in the database in a relatively short time, and has more application advantages than traditional methods.

The mini-channel cooling plate has been widely used in the Lithium-ion battery thermal management for electric vehicles. The technology development of high efficiency and good temperature uniformity cooling plate can promote the application of electric vehicles by improving the lifespan of the battery. In this study, streamline concept, which is commonly used for the external design of car, aerospace and submarine system to improve the system performance, has been introduced to design and optimise the performance of inner mini channel cooling plate. The flow resistance was proved to be minimised when the streamline shape design was adopted. Moreover, the results have proven the novel designed mini channel cooling plate can keep the heat exchange ability within the acceptable level. The maximum improvement of the heat exchanger efficiency with streamline shape design could be as high as 44.52%. Results indicated the temperature uniformity could also be effectively improved. The streamline shape mini channel cooling plate could be a promising solution for Lithium-ion battery thermal management.

Thermal characteristics such as thermal conductivity, permeability, and sorption kinetics, which determines the overall sorbent performance, play as the critical roles in the sorption refrigeration system. In this paper, composite strontium chloride (SrCl2) developed with a host matrix of Expanded Natural Graphite (ENG) has been comprehensively investigated under different densities and mass ratios of salt. Results indicate that the composite sorbent has overall good heat and mass transfer performance. The highest thermal conductivity is 3.07 W/(m.K), which is 15 times higher than normal granular SrCl2. The permeability of composite sorbent ranges from 9.5 × 10−10 to 9.36 × 10−14 m2. Sorption performance of composite SrCl2 has also been tested, and the results showed that for the sorption amount ranged between 400 and 700 (g/kg SrCl2) ammonia at 40 min in the adsorption process. These quantitative results obtained from this study can be used as crucial parameters to conduct the simulation modelling for the SrCl2-ENG sorption system.

Jurui Luo,1,2,* Kairui Jin,1,2,* Shuizhang Qian,1,2 Xuejun Ma,1,2 Ziqiang Pan,1,2 Weiqiang Yao,1,2 Zhen Zhang,1,2 Xiaomao Guo,1,2 Xiaoli Yu1,2 1Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai 200032, China; 2Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: This study aimed to assess the feasibility of split course radiotherapy (SCRT) and reports long-term outcomes in patients with desmoid tumors (DT).Patients and methods: Between 2001 and 2004, 31 patients with recurrent (n=19) or primary large desmoid fibromatosis (≥10 cm) (n=12) who were treated with SCRT were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were treated with two phases of radiotherapy with a median interval time of 99 days (range: 81–122 days) and a median total dose of 6,399 cGy (range: 5,013–7,039 cGy). The median dose for the first phase was 3,969 cGy/22 Fx (range: 2,999–4,305 cGy), and 2,495 cGy/14 Fx (range: 1,982–3,039 cGy) for the second phase. Progression-free survival (PFS) in response to radiotherapy was evaluated using the Kaplan–Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. The prognostic factors associated with survival were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses.Results: The median age of all patients was 30 years (range, 7–58 years). With a median follow-up of 60.4 months (range, 2–187 months), eight patients experienced disease progression after treatment. The PFS rate at 3 and 5 years for the whole population was 90% and 71.3%, respectively. PFS for patients with split course of 100 days, HR 11.544, 95% CI 1.034–128.878, P=0.047). PFS was notsignificantly influenced by age, gender, surgery, tumor location, RT technology, or RT dose.Radiation-related acute complications occurred in nine (29%) patients after RT, and RT-relatedlong-term complications occurred in three (9.7%) patients.Conclusion: SCRT with an appropriate treatment interval (

In this work, organic Rankine cycle (ORC) integrated with Latent Thermal Energy Storage (LTES) system for engine waste heat recovery has been proposed and investigated to potentially overcome the intermittent and fluctuating operational conditions for vehicle applications. A melting-solidification model has been established to investigate and compare the performance of twelve Phase Change Materials (PCMs) under different heat source conditions. Among the twelve PCMs, LiNO3-KCl-NaNO3 is identified as the optimal PCM for engine exhaust heat recovery. The performance of the ORC system integrating with different volume of LTES using LiNO3-KCl-NaNO3 under dynamic heat source simulating vehicle conditions is studied. Results illustrate the fluctuation of engine exhaust heat can be potentially overcome by using the proposed solution. The condition of 100 L LTES provides 30.4% larger total output work than that of 50 L LTES, while it is merely 1.5% larger than that of 90 L LTES. The performance of three different LTES-ORC scenarios are compared and results show ORC combining with double LTES delivers 17.2% larger total power output than that of single LTES (100 L) under the same operational conditions.

The paper aims to address the importance and demand for the technological development of waste heat recovery technologies for decarbonisation of heat. Increasing attention has been focusing on the decarbonisation of heat due to the concerns on environmental problems by burning fossil fuels for heating and the demand for highly efficient energy system. Energy-intensive industry sites contain a large amount of wasted heat, which have not been fully recovered and commonly dumped to the environment. The efficiently and effectively reuse the industry wasted heat is in high demand as one of the zero-emission heating solutions. The heat transport solutions including district heat networks and Mobilised Thermal Energy Storage System could be potential solutions to recover and reuse industry waste heat for either on-site or off-site application. The innovative technologies using thermochemical fluid to form a loss-free district heat network and integrating thermal energy storage system with heat to power technology-organic Rankine cycle are expected to be the future mainstream solutions as highly efficient integrated energy systems.

A combined Trilateral Cycle-Organic Rankine Cycle (TLC-ORC) system for waste heat recovery is proposed in this paper in order to obtain a better matching performance between the heat source and working fluid. Working fluid selection including Cyclohexane, Toluene, Benzene and water for the high temperature cycle is analyzed based on thermodynamic model under different evaporating temperature of high temperature cycle and low temperature cycle. Results show that Toluene has the best performance among the studied four high temperature working fluid. The net power output, thermal efficiency and exergy efficiency increases with Tevap,HT or Tevap,LT increasing at any a high temperature working fluid. The maximum net power output 11.3 kW, thermal efficiency 24.2% and exergy efficiency 63.2% are achieved by Toluene at Tevap,HT =530 K and Tevap,LT =373 K at the same time. It is also found that evaporator 1 has the largest exergy destruction while condenser 1 has the smallest one among all the components. Meanwhile, the condenser 2 has the lowest exergy efficiency while condenser 1 has the highest one. These results show us the direction to optimize the system parameters to improve the total efficiency of the whole system.

The paper proposes a novel hybrid refrigeration system to convert industrial waste heat into refrigeration. The proposed system integrates Organic Rankine cycle, vapour compression cycle and liquid desiccant technology. The performance evaluation of the system recovering the waste heat from an industrial STACK has been conducted. The hybrid refrigeration system can potentially be used to convert industrial waste heat into refrigeration in the form of sensible cooling effect from vapour compression cycle and latent cooling effect from liquid desiccant unit. Results indicated under 200 kWth, the system can generate around 50 kW sensible cooling and 132 kW latent cooling effect, when the n-butane is the working fluid under 140 oC evaporating temperature. When the ORC condensation temperature is at 80 oC, the overall system COP ranges from 0.8 to 0.96.

The endophytic Bacillus amyloliquefaciens YTB1407 was previously reported to promote the growth of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas cv. Yanshu 25). Here, we demonstrate in both in vitro and pot trial assays that pre-treatment with YTB1407 suspension could enhance resistance against root rot disease and black rot disease, caused by Fusarium solani Mart. Sacc. f. sp. batatas McClure and Ceratocystis fimbriata Ell. & Halst on sweet potato, respectively. When seedlings were infected with fungal pathogens at 10 days post irrigation, pre-treatment with YTB1407 suspension decreased these pathogens and YTB1407 bacterial biomass in sweet potato roots. The pre-treatment activated the expression of salicylic acid (SA)-responsive PR-1 gene, raised SA content, and reduced hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in the host to resist F. solani, while it enhanced the expression levels of SA-responsive NPR1 and PR1 genes and increased SA content to resist C. fimbriata. The disease resistance control effect initiated by pre-treatment with YTB1407 for root rot pathogen (F. solani) was better than for black rot pathogen (C. fimbriata). The results indicated that Bacillus amyloliquefaciens YTB1407 played a pivotal role in enhancing resistance to two fungi pathogens in sweet potato, through production of some antifungal metabolites to decrease infection in the early stage as well as induction of SA-dependent systemic resistance.

Bu çalışmanın amacı, içerik ipuçlarını kullanarak ikinci dil (L2)kelime öğrenme konusunda son on yıl içerisinde yapılmış deneysel çalışmalarıincelemektir. Alanyazında yapılmış çalışmalar incelendiğinde, içerik ipuçlarınıkullanarak bilinmeyen kelimeleri tahmin etmenin etkili bir kelime öğrenmeyöntemi olmadığı görülmüştür. Bu yöntemin tek başına kullanılmasının yerinetamamlayıcı bir yaklaşım olarak kullanılması gerektiği söylenebilir. İncelenençalışmalarda yabancı dilde kelime öğrenmenin sadece içerik ipuçlarınadayandırılmasının da etkili bir yöntem olmadığı sonucuna varılmıştır.Öğrencilerin dil yeterliliği ile öğrenme faaliyetlerinin gerçekleşmesi arasındakiilişkinin yüksek olduğu alanyazında ifade edilmiştir. Bununla birlikte yapılanaraştırmalarda okuma etkinliklerinin tesadüfi kelime öğrenmede etkili olduğusöylenebilir. Her geçen gün bu alanda çalışan araştırmacılar da içeriklerikullanarak anlam çıkarmak için uygun kelime tiplerini ve etkili öğrenmeyöntemlerini keşfetmeye çalışmaktadırlar. Ayrıca bu çalışmada dijitalortamlarda yabancı dil kelime öğretiminin pedagojik etkilerine de yerverilmiştir., Thisarticle reviews empirical studies from the past decade in learning secondlanguage (L2) vocabulary from context clues. Previous studies conclude thatguessing unknown words from context clues is not an effective vocabularylearning strategy. Rather, it should be employed as a complementary approach.In alignment with this standpoint, review of the most recent empirical studiesreveals that merely relying on context clues does not lead to the mosteffective L2 vocabulary learning. The learning result highly correlates withthe learners’ language proficiency. However, recent studies did not downplaythe role of incidental vocabulary learning from reading. More researchersexplore the appropriate types of vocabulary for inferring from the contexts andthe corresponding pedagogical strategies. This article concludes withpedagogical implications of teaching L2 vocabulary in digital environment.

This paper reports the design and evaluation of a 1 kWe Organic Rankine cycle using different working fluids for engine coolant and exhaust recovery from a 6.5 kW small ICE. Six working fluids have been selected to evaluate and compare the performance of the ORC system. The net power output, thermal efficiency, rotational speed of the scroll expander and condenser load of the ORC system have been studied. Results indicated R134a and R125a have better overall performance than other candidates when the designed inlet temperature of the expander is higher than 150 °C. The highest net power and thermal efficiency are respectively 1.2 kW and 13% when R125a is used as the working fluid. R600 and R245fa are desirable to be used when the optimal rotational speed of the scroll expander is about 3000 RPM. The proposed ORC engine coolant and exhaust waste heat recovery system has the advantages of simple system layout, low dumped heat load of condenser, high power output.

Dose-response experiments and subsequent data analyses are often carried out according to optimal designs for the purpose of accurately determining a specific effective dose (ED) level. If the interest is the dose-response relationship over a range of ED levels, many existing optimal designs are not accurate. In this dissertation, we propose a new design procedure, called two-stage sequential ED-design, which directly and simultaneously targets several ED levels. We use a small number of trials to provide a tentative estimation of the model parameters. The doses of the subsequent trials are then selected sequentially, based on the latest model information, to maximize the efficiency of the ED estimation over several ED levels. Although the commonly used logistic and probit models are convenient summaries of the dose-response relationship, they can be too restrictive. We introduce and study a more flexible albeit slightly more complex three-parameter logistic dose-response model. We explore the effectiveness of the sequential ED-design and the D-optimal design under this model, and develop an effective model fitting strategy. We develop a two-step iterative algorithm to compute the maximum likelihood estimate of the model parameters. We prove that the algorithm iteration increases the likelihood value, and therefore will lead to at least a local maximum of the likelihood function. We also study the numerical solution to the D-optimal design for the three-parameter logistic model. Interestingly, all our numerical solutions to the D-optimal design are three-point-support distributions. We also discuss the use of the ED-design when experimental subjects become available in groups. We introduce the group sequential ED-design, and demonstrate how to construct this design. The ED-design has a natural extension to more complex model and can satisfy a broad range of the demands that may arise in applications.

Aims and background: The aim of the present study was to analyze the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9) in endometrial cancer and its correlation with clinicopathologic features in Chinese patients, including the survival of patients with endometrial cancer.Methods: Using immunohistochemistry analysis, we analyzed MMP9 protein expression in clinicopathologically characterized 128 endometrial cancer (EC) cases with age ranging from 30 to 85 years (median=51.6 years) and 30 endometrial atypical hyperplasia (EAH) and 30 normal endometrium (NE). Cases with greater than or equal to 6 and less than 6 with the score value of cytoplasmic MMP9 immunostaining were regarded as high expression and low expression, respectively. The relationship between the expression levels of MMP9 and clinical features was analyzed in EC cases.Results: Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that the protein expression of MMP9 detected in EC tissues was higher than that in the EAH tissues and NE tissues (P=0.006). In addition, high levels of MMP9 protein were positively correlated with the status of lymph node metastasis (P=0.044) and the histopathological grade (PConclusion: MMP9 is highly expressed in ECs and correlates with the progression of ECs, but not be helpful in predicting the prognosis of EC patients.

To investigate the feasibility and outlook of air-powered vehicles including compressed air-powered vehicle and liquid nitrogen-powered vehicle, thermodynamic analysis and experiment data were used to analyze the energy density, performance, safety, running efficiency, fuel circulation economy and consumer acceptance, etc. The results show that compressed air and liquid nitrogen have similar energy density as Ni-H battery; the characteristics of an air-powered engine is suitable for driving a vehicle; the circulation efficiency of liquid nitrogen is 3.6%–14% and that of compressed air is 25%–32.3% in practice, and existing technology can assure its safety. It is concluded that though the performance of an air-powered engine is inferior to that of the traditional inert combustion engine, an airpowered vehicle is fit for future green cars to realize the sustainable development of society and environment.

There has not been a clear answer about the efficacy of intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) for women with early-stage breast cancer. The aim of this meta-analysis was to summarize the available evidence comparing the efficacy and safety of IORT with those of whole-breast external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for women with early-stage breast cancer. MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched up to October 2014. Two authors independently conducted the literature selection and data extraction. Studies that compared IORT with whole-breast EBRT were included in the systematic review. IORT was defined as a single dose of irradiation to the tumor bed during breast-conserving surgery rather than whole-breast irradiation. Qualities of RCTs were evaluated according to the PEDro scale. Qualities of non-RCTs were evaluated according to the Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies (MINORS). The risk ratios (RRs) of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence, overall mortality, breast cancer mortality, non-breast cancer mortality, and distant metastasis were pooled using a random-effects model. Four studies with 5415 patients were included in this meta-analysis, including 2 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 2 non-RCTs. Ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence was significantly higher in patients with IORT compared to those with whole-breast EBRT (RR 2.83, 95% CI 1.23–6.51), but with significant heterogeneity (I2 = 58.5%, P = 0.065). Comparing IORT with whole-breast EBRT, the pooled RRs for overall mortality, breast cancer mortality, non-breast cancer mortality, and distant metastasis were 0.88 (95% CI: 0.66–1.17), 1.20 (95% CI: 0.77–1.86), 0.76 (95% CI: 0.44–1.31), and 0.95 (95% CI: 0.61–1.49), respectively. IORT had a significantly higher risk of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence than whole-breast EBRT. Overall mortality did not differ significantly. IORT should be used in conjunction with the prudent selection of suitable patients. It is imperative to identify women with a low risk of local recurrence.

In order to analyze and research the space variation laws of rainfall of Yuanyang Hani terrace, monthly average rainfall in this area which was actually measured from 2001 to 2010 of the four typical meteorological sites, Kakou, Xiaoshuijing, Xinjie and 073, was spatial interpolated and its space mutation law was analyzed by using inverse distance weighted method, ordinary Kriging method, the most neighboring method, radial basis function method, and analyzed results of different interpolation methods through cross validation, drawn rainfall isoline maps by utilizing surfer software, spatial distribution of all kinds of interpolation and the actual observation data were compared. The results show that among several interpolation methods, results of Kriging interpolation method was close to variation laws of actual measured data mostly, and its interpolation effect was the best. Meanwhile, through the interpolation analysis, it showed that rainfall of Hani terrace took on strong spatial variability.

To calculate the thermal loading of the air-cooled diesel engine, the knowledge of the heat transfer coefficient at the contour of the components on the engine under consideration is necessary. In the present paper, a «Variable Space Integral Method (VSIM)» is proposed by which the distribution of the local heat transfer coefficient α g (h) and ensemble averaged gas temperature Tres(h) along the cylinder liner on the gas side, could be calculated

The antibiotic pyrrolnitrin (PRN) is a tryptophan-derived secondary metabolite that plays an important role in the biocontrol of plant diseases due to its broad-spectrum of antimicrobial activities. The PRN biosynthetic gene cluster remains to be characterised in Serratia plymuthica, though it is highly conserved in PRN-producing bacteria. To better understand PRN biosynthesis and its regulation in Serratia, the prnABCD operon from S. plymuthica G3 was cloned, sequenced and expressed in Escherichia coli DH5?. Furthermore, an engineered strain prnind which is a conditional mutant of G3 prnABCD under the control of the Ptac promoter was constructed. This mutant was able to overproduce PRN with isopropylthiogalactoside (IPTG) induction by overexpressing prnABCD, whilst behaving as a conditional mutant of G3 prnABCD in the absence of IPTG. These results confirmed that prnABCD is responsible for PRN biosynthesis in strain G3. Further experiments involving lux-/dsRed-based promoter fusions, combined with site-directed mutagenesis of the putative ?S extended -10 region in the prnA promoter, and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis extended our previous knowledge about G3, revealing that quorum sensing (QS) regulates PRN biosynthesis through cross talk with RpoS, which may directly activated prnABCD transcription. These findings suggest that PRN in S. plymuthica G3 is produced in a tightly controlled manner, and has diverse functions, such as modulation of cell motility, in addition to antimicrobial activities. Meanwhile, the construction of inducible mutants could be a powerful tool to improve PRN production, beyond its potential use for the investigation of the biological function of PRN.