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Zn0.6Mg0.4CrxFe2−xO4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4) nanoparticles were synthesized using a hydrothermal technique. The obtained magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) exhibited a spinel structure, where the lattice constant decreased with the Cr3+ ion content. The doping of Cr3+ ion (x = 0.1) increased the specific saturation magnetization to 46.4 emu/g but decreased to 20.0 emu/g with the further increase in the Cr3+ ion content to x = 0.4. The decrement in Curie temperature was ascribed to the weakened super-exchange interaction between the metal ions located at A-sites and B-sites, which arose from the doping of the Cr3+ ion. The T2-weighted images gradually darkened with the increase in Zn0.6Mg0.4Cr0.1Fe1.9O4 nanoparticles concentration, suggesting that the nanoparticles can enhance the image contrast. Zn0.6Mg0.4CrxFe2−xO4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4) nanoparticles were able to heat the agar phantom to the hyperthermia temperature under the safe alternating magnetic field, which showed their potential in the magnetic induction hyperthermia.

Converting low-grade heat from environment into electricity shows great sustainability for mitigating the energy crisis and adjusting energy configurations. However, thermally rechargeable devices typically suffer from poor conversion efficiency when a semiconductor is employed. Breaking the convention of thermoelectric systems, we propose and demonstrate a new zinc ion thermal charging cell to generate electricity from low-grade heat via the thermo-extraction/insertion and thermodiffusion processes of insertion-type cathode (VO2-PC) and stripping/plating behaviour of Zn anode. Based on this strategy, an impressively high thermopower of ~12.5 mV K−1 and an excellent output power of 1.2 mW can be obtained. In addition, a high heat-to-current conversion efficiency of 0.95% (7.25% of Carnot efficiency) is achieved with a temperature difference of 45 K. This work, which demonstrates extraordinary energy conversion efficiency and adequate energy storage, will pave the way towards the construction of thermoelectric setups with attractive properties for high value-added utilization of low-grade heat., Low-grade heat conversion has recently emerged and displayed great promise in sustainable electronics and energy areas. Here, the authors propose a new zinc ion thermal charging cell with hybrid behaviours for high value-added conversion from heat to electricity.

BackgroundPapillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) is defined as a papillary carcinoma measuring ≤ 10 mm. The current management of PTMC has become more conservative; however, there are high-risk tumor features that can be revealed only postoperatively. For thyroid cancer, BRAF mutations and somatic copy number variation (CNV) are the most common genetic events. Molecular testing may contribute to clinical decision-making by molecular risk stratification, for example predicting lymph node (LN) metastasis. Here, we build a risk stratification model based on molecular profiling of thyroid fine needle aspiration (FNA) washout DNA (wDNA) for the differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules.MethodsFifty-eight patients were recruited, FNA wDNA samples were analyzed using CNV profiling through low-coverage whole genome sequencing (LC-WGS) and BRAF mutation was analyzed using quantitative PCR. FNA pathology was reported as a Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (BSRTC) score. Ultrasound examination produced a Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TIRADS) score.ResultsIn total, 37 (63.8%) patients with a TIRADS score of 4A, 13 (22.4%) patients with a TIRADS score of 4B, and 8 (13.8%) patients with a TIRADS score of 4C were recruited after ultrasound examination. All patients underwent FNA with wDNA profiling. CNVs were identified in 17 (29.3%) patients. CNVs were frequent in patients with a BSRTC score of V or VI, including eight (47.1%) patients with a score of VI and five (29.4%) with a score of V, but not in patients with a score of III, II, or I (0%). BRAF mutation was not significantly correlated with BSRTC score. LN metastasis was found more frequently in CNV-positive (CNV+) than in CNV-negative (CNV–) patients (85.7% vs. 34.6%, odds ratio = 11.33, p = 0.002). In total, three molecular subtypes of thyroid nodules were identified in this study: 1) CNV+, 2) CNV– and BRAF positive (BRAF+), and 3) CNV– and BRAF negative (BRAF–). For the CNV+ subtype, 10 (83.3%) lesions with LN metastasis were found, including four (100%) small lesions (i.e. ≤ 5 mm). For the CNV– and BRAF+ nodules, LN metastases were detected in only seven (60.0%) larger tumors (i.e. > 5 mm). For CNV– and BRAF– tumors, LN metastasis was also frequently found in larger tumors only.ConclusionsIt is feasible to identify high-risk LN metastasis thyroid cancer from FNA washout samples preoperatively using wDNA CNV profiling using LC-WGS.

The coal-bearing sequences of the Late Permian in southwest China are enriched in critical elements Sc, V, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Nb, Ta, Zr and Hf. Ascertaining the conditions and basis for the enrichment of critical elements in this area is very important to support the critical metal demands of China. In this study, we analyzed the concentrations of elemental compositions of coal samples collected from the Late Permian Guishan coalfield in the eastern Yunnan, China. The results show that the C4-Upper coal seam of the Feilongma mine and C5 + 10 coal seam of the Shipeng mine are indeed rich in critical elements. The average concentration coefficients (CC) of transition metal elements Sc, V, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn are 3.23 and 2.93, respectively, in the two coal seams. The average CCs of high-field-strength elements Nb, Ta, Zr, and Hf and non-variable valence chalcophile elements Ga and In are 2.21 and 2.53, respectively, in the two coal seams. The C4-Upper coal seam of the Feilongma mine can be divided into two sections based on the different ash contents, and the CCs of the critical elements in the two sections are almost equal. The main minerals in the two coal seams are kaolinite, siderite, quartz, gypsum, rozenite and marcasite. Multiple indicators of provenance show that the enrichment of critical elements in the Guishan coalfield is controlled by clastic terrigenous material. The source area of the Guishan coalfield is Kangdian Oldland in the northwest, and the main clastic materials are related with high-Ti basalts from the Emeishan Large Igneous Province.

Supplement Material, sj-pdf-1-inq-10.1177_00469580221081437 for Integrating Multidisciplinary Individualized Medication Recommendations Into the Traditional Pharmacists’ Consultation Method: A Retrospective Study Using Propensity Score Matching Analysis by Xiucong Fan, Danxia Chen, Siwei Bao, Rong Bai, Fang Fang, Xiaohui Dong, Yuyi Zhang, Xiaogang Zhang, Yabin Ma and Xiaobo Zhai in INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing

Mapping function errors are usually not taken into consideration, when space geodetic data observed by VLBI, GNSS and some other techniques are utilized to estimate troposphere delay, which could, however, probably bring non-ignorable errors to solutions. After analyzing the variation of mapping function errors with elevation angles based on several-year meteorological data, this paper constructed a model of this error and then proposed a two-step estimation method of troposphere delay with consideration of mapping function errors. The experimental results indicate that the method put forward by this paper could reduce the slant path delay residuals efficiently and improve the estimation accuracy of wet tropospheric delay to some extent.

Comparisons of high-accuracy optical atomic clocks \cite{Ludlow2015} are essential for precision tests of fundamental physics \cite{Safronova2018}, relativistic geodesy \cite{McGrew2018, Grotti2018, Delva2019}, and the anticipated redefinition of the SI second \cite{Riehle2018}. The scientific reach of these applications is restricted by the statistical precision of interspecies comparison measurements. The instability of individual clocks is limited by the finite coherence time of the optical local oscillator (OLO), which bounds the maximum atomic interrogation time. In this letter, we experimentally demonstrate differential spectroscopy \cite{Hume2016}, a comparison protocol that enables interrogating beyond the OLO coherence time. By phase-coherently linking a zero-dead-time (ZDT) \cite{Schioppo2017} Yb optical lattice clock with an Al$^+$ single-ion clock via an optical frequency comb and performing synchronised Ramsey spectroscopy, we show an improvement in comparison instability relative to our previous result \cite{network2020frequency} of nearly an order of magnitude. To our knowledge, this result represents the most stable interspecies clock comparison to date.

LRWXG has previously been reported to have a protective effect on chondrocytes, preventing apoptosis induced by oxidative stress. In this study, we were aimed at determining whether LRWXG exerts its anti-apoptotic activity through the MAPK signaling pathways in chondrocytes. Our results show that, at the cellular level, apoptosis of chondrocytes in the groups treated by LRWXG decreases compared with groups treated by inhibitors alone and model group under conditions of oxidative stress in a dose-dependent manner. Mechanistically at the molecular level, LRWXG regulates the MAPK pathway induced by oxidative stress: The levels of phosphorylation of JNK and p38 proteins in the groups treated by LRWXG are lower than model group, while compared with corresponding groups of inhibitors, there are no significant difference; For other related proteins, LRWXG reduces the levels of the apoptosis-related proteins BAX and cleaved caspase-3, and increases the level of anti-apoptotic protein BCL2. In addition, LRWXG can significantly reduce the levels of inflammatory-related factors such as COX2, PEG2, TNFα and IL1β, and inhibits the expression of MMPs, increasing the content of type II collagen. The results of this research strongly suggest that LRWXG exerts its anti-apoptotic activity via regulating the MAPK signaling pathways in vitro.

This paper mainly introduces the development status of radio frequency / infrared stealth materials, puts forward the application of nanostructured composite materials in stealth field, describes the characteristics and stealth mechanism of nanostructured composite materials, expounds the research status of a nanostructured composite carbon fiber material in radar and infrared stealth technology, and introduces the latest research results and application status of this material prepared by The 33rd Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation in detail.Through data simulation and modeling, the stealth characteristic data of the nanostructured composite carbon fiber material are calculated. The material performance has reached the international advanced level, which can be applied in the future more complex electromagnetic environment, further improving the wartime survival ability of electronic equipment, and looking forward to the application prospect of the new nanostructured composite materials in the field of stealth.

Background: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a degenerative disease, making a unique contribution to chronic pain, edema, and limited mobility of knee joint. This disease is an important factor affecting the quality of life of middle-aged and elderly people. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies have been used clinically to treat KOA; however, the selection strategies of different CAM interventions in clinical practice are still uncertain, and the purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and acceptability of different CAM therapies using systematic review and network meta-analysis. Methods: According to the strategy, the authors will retrieve a total of 7 electronic databases by October 2020, including PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMbase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Biological Medicine, Chongqing VIP, and Wan-fang databases After a series of screening, 2 researchers will use Aggregate Data Drug Information System and Stata software to analyze the data extracted from the randomized controlled trials of CAM therapies for the KOA. Finally, the evidence grade of the results will be evaluated. Results: This study will provide a reliable evidence for the selection of CAM therapies for KOA. Conclusion: The results of this study will provide references for evaluating the influence of different CAM therapies for KOA, and provide decision-making references for clinical research. Ethics and dissemination: This study does not require ethical approval. The results will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication. OSF registration number: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/GJMF4.

Major efforts are made to characterize the presence of microRNA (miRNA) and messenger RNA in blood plasma to discover novel disease-associated biomarkers. MiRNAs in plasma are associated to several types of macromolecular structures, including extracellular vesicles (EV), lipoprotein particles (LPP) and ribonucleoprotein particles (RNP). RNAs in these complexes are recovered at variable efficiency by commonly used EV- and RNA isolation methods, which causes biases and inconsistencies in miRNA quantitation. Besides miRNAs, various other non-coding RNA species are contained in EV and present within the pool of plasma extracellular RNA. Members of the Y-RNA family have been detected in EV from various cell types and are among the most abundant non-coding RNA types in plasma. We previously showed that shuttling of full-length Y-RNA into EV released by immune cells is modulated by microbial stimulation. This indicated that Y-RNAs could contribute to the functional properties of EV in immune cell communication and that EV-associated Y-RNAs could have biomarker potential in immune-related diseases. Here, we investigated which macromolecular structures in plasma contain full length Y-RNA and whether the levels of three Y-RNA subtypes in plasma (Y1, Y3 and Y4) change during systemic inflammation. Our data indicate that the majority of full length Y-RNA in plasma is stably associated to EV. Moreover, we discovered that EV from different blood-related cell types contain cell-type-specific Y-RNA subtype ratios. Using a human model for systemic inflammation, we show that the neutrophil-specific Y4/Y3 ratios and PBMC-specific Y3/Y1 ratios were significantly altered after induction of inflammation. The plasma Y-RNA ratios strongly correlated with the number and type of immune cells during systemic inflammation. Cell-type-specific “Y-RNA signatures” in plasma EV can be determined without prior enrichment for EV, and may be further explored as simple and fast test for diagnosis of inflammatory responses or other immune-related diseases.

Atomic clocks occupy a unique position in measurement science, exhibiting higher accuracy than any other measurement standard and underpinning six out of seven base units in the SI system. By exploiting higher resonance frequencies, optical atomic clocks now achieve greater stability and lower frequency uncertainty than existing primary standards. Here, we report frequency ratios of the $^{27}$Al$^+$, $^{171}$Yb and $^{87}$Sr optical clocks in Boulder, Colorado, measured across an optical network spanned by both fiber and free-space links. These ratios have been evaluated with measurement uncertainties between $6\times10^{-18}$ and $8\times10^{-18}$, making them the most accurate reported measurements of frequency ratios to date. This represents a critical step towards redefinition of the SI second and future applications such as relativistic geodesy and tests of fundamental physics., 51 pages, 12 figures, 6 tables

Major efforts are made to characterize the presence of microRNA (miRNA) and messenger RNA in blood plasma to discover novel disease-associated biomarkers. MiRNAs in plasma are associated to several types of macromolecular structures, including extracellular vesicles (EV), lipoprotein particles (LPP) and ribonucleoprotein particles (RNP). RNAs in these complexes are recovered at variable efficiency by commonly used EV- and RNA isolation methods, which causes biases and inconsistencies in miRNA quantitation. Besides miRNAs, various other non-coding RNA species are contained in EV and present within the pool of plasma extracellular RNA. Members of the Y-RNA family have been detected in EV from various cell types and are among the most abundant non-coding RNA types in plasma. We previously showed that shuttling of full-length Y-RNA into EV released by immune cells is modulated by microbial stimulation. This indicated that Y-RNAs could contribute to the functional properties of EV in immune cell communication and that EV-associated Y-RNAs could have biomarker potential in immune-related diseases. Here, we investigated which macromolecular structures in plasma contain full length Y-RNA and whether the levels of three Y-RNA subtypes in plasma (Y1, Y3 and Y4) change during systemic inflammation. Our data indicate that the majority of full length Y-RNA in plasma is stably associated to EV. Moreover, we discovered that EV from different blood-related cell types contain cell-type-specific Y-RNA subtype ratios. Using a human model for systemic inflammation, we show that the neutrophil-specific Y4/Y3 ratios and PBMC-specific Y3/Y1 ratios were significantly altered after induction of inflammation. The plasma Y-RNA ratios strongly correlated with the number and type of immune cells during systemic inflammation. Cell-type-specific “Y-RNA signatures” in plasma EV can be determined without prior enrichment for EV, and may be further explored as simple and fast test for diagnosis of inflammatory responses or other immune-related diseases.

A thermal atomic ensemble-based laser source with superior frequency stability is proposed that relies on the accumulated contributions from an abundance of nonzero-transverse-velocity atomic ensembles. Compared with the traditional case in which only atoms with near-zero transverse velocities are utilized, the amplitude of the optical Ramsey fringes for a thermal calcium beam can be dramatically enhanced by three orders of magnitude or more, thus, the signal-to-noise ratio can be improved 33-fold. Based on the recent results of atomic interferometry-based laser stabilization, a quantum projection noise-limited frequency instability less than 2E-17/tau^0.5 is feasible. Such an ultrastable laser has promising applications in diverse areas, including metrology and astronomy.

Objective To analyze the risk factors of early acute kidney injury (AKI) after liver transplantation from donation after cardiac death(DCD) donor liver. Methods Clinical data of 184 donors and recipients undergoing liver transplantation from DCD donor liver were retrospectively analyzed. According to the incidence of early AKI, all participants were divided into the AKI and non-AKI groups. The patients in the AKI group were subject to AKI staging. Baseline data, preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative related parameters were statistically compared between two groups. The cumulative survival rate and clinical prognosis of patients in non-AKI group and AKI group with different staging were statistically analyzed by Kaplan-Meier curve analysis. Results Among 184 patients, 68 cases (37.0%) presented with early AKI after liver transplantation including 31 stage 1 AKI, 26 stage 2 AKI and 11 stage 3 AKI, mainly occurring within postoperative 3 d. Univariate analysis revealed that preoperative levels of albumin < 35 g/L, preoperative levels of serum sodium ≤137 mmol/L, operation time>7.5 h, intraoperative hemorrhage volume>3 000 mL, intraoperative red cell infusion volume>15 U and intraoperative urine amount ≤100 mL/h were the risk factors of early AKI after liver transplantation (all P < 0.05). Multi-variate Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that intraoperative red cell infusion > 15 U was an independent risk factor of early AKI after liver transplantation [odds ratio(OR) 1.061, 95% confidence interval(CI) 1.008-1.118, P=0.024]. Result of Kaplan-Meier survival curve suggested that the cumulative survival rate was gradually reduced along with the aggravation of AKI with statistical significance (all P < 0.05). Conclusions The incidence of early AKI following liver transplantation is relatively high. The severity of early AKI is intimately correlated with the short-and long-term prognosis of the recipients. A large quantity of intraoperative red blood cell infusion is an independent risk factor of AKI.

A steep seam similar simulation system was developed based on the geological conditions of a steep coal seam in the Xintie Coal Mine. Basing on similar simulation, together with theoretical analysis and field measurement, an in-depth study was conducted to characterize the fracture and stability of the roof of steep working face and calculate the width of the region backfilled with gangue in the goaf. The results showed that, as mining progressed, the immediate roof of the steep face fell upon the goaf and backfilled its lower part due to gravity. As a result, the roof in the lower part had higher stability than the roof in the upper part of the working face. The deformation and fracture of main roof mainly occurred in the upper part of the working face; the fractured main roof then formed a “voussoir beam” structure in the strata’s dip direction, which was subjected to the slip- and deformation-induced instability. The stability analysis indicated that, when the dip angle increased, the rock masses had greater capacity to withstand slip-induced instability but smaller capacity to withstand deformation-induced instability. Finally, the field measurement of the forces exerted on the hydraulic supports proved the characteristics of the roof’s behaviors during the mining of a steep seam.

The separator has an electrocatalytic effect for polysulfide transformation, and can confine the polysulfides within the cathode and block the dendritic lithium in the anode., Lithium–sulfur batteries are one of the most promising next-generation batteries due to their high theoretical specific capacity, but are impeded by the low utilization of insulating sulfur, unstable morphology of the lithium metal anode, and transport of soluble polysulfides. Here, by coating a layer of nano titanium dioxide and carbon black onto a commercial polypropylene separator, we demonstrate a new composite separator that can confine the polysulfides on the cathode side, forming a catholyte chamber, and at the same time block the dendritic lithium on the anode side. Lithium–sulfur batteries using this separator show a high initial capacity of 1206 mA h g–1 and a low capacity decay rate of 0.1% per cycle at 0.5C. Analyses reveal the electrocatalytic effect and the excellent dendrite-blocking capability of the ∼7 µm thick coating.

This paper introduces a novel approach that integrates the radiating behaviors of reflectarrays and transmitarrays together. A new type dual-mode phase shifting array is applied for validation, which consists of split-diagonal-cross unit cells and a polarizing grid. The horizontal and vertical polarized incident waves are separated into reflecting and transmitting modes due to the grid. Accordingly, one can easily switch the array between the forward and backward radiating modes individually. This simple solution could be potential as the increasing requirement of high integration in modern communications.

This paper presents the broadband design method for reflectarray (RA) antennas. The differential evolution (DE) algorithm has been applied to balance the spatial phase delay errors in the whole work band. A RA antenna consisted of split ring elements has been proposed to validate the method. Numerical analysis and simulation results suggest this optimization an appropriate method to improve bandwidth for RAs. The 1-dB gain bandwidth exhibits a promotion from 8.9% to 15.6%.

In order to reduce energy loss of steering system, a high energy efficiency electronic control independent variable speed closed circuit steering principle is proposed. All the hydraulic valves of the original steering system are removed, the required flow of the hydraulic steering cylinder is supplied by the fixed displacement pump, independently and directly. The servo motor speed is set proportional to the steering speed of an independent electric controlled steering wheel. Thus the output flow and the output volume of the pump match with steering speed and the steering angular of the wheel loader, respectively. To verify the feasibility and stability of the steering system during the automatic steering process, firstly, a co-simulation model of proposed steering system is built in the SimulationX software. Then, in order to validate the dynamic characteristics of the steering system, the test prototype of it is established. Finally, energy consumption of new steering systems is analyzed. Based on the results, by using the energy-saving closed circle pump controlled flow matching steering system the throttling loss, the relief loss and the median unloading loss of the steering process are eliminated, the energy consumption is reduced by 61%. A wheel loader can save about 83. 6 L of fuel. If this energy-saving steering system is adopted to all wheel loaders in china, the carbon emissions of 3.3 * 104 T will be reduced per year.

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Supplemental document

Body fluids contain many populations of extracellular vesicles (EV) that differ in size, cellular origin, molecular composition, and biological activities. EV in seminal plasma are in majority originating from prostate epithelial cells, and hence are also referred to as prostasomes. Nevertheless, EV are also contributed by other accessory sex glands, as well as by the testis and epididymis. In a previous study, we isolated EV from seminal plasma of vasectomized men, thereby excluding contributions from the testis and epididymis, and identified two distinct EV populations with diameters of 50 and 100 nm, respectively. In the current study, we comprehensively analyzed the protein composition of these two EV populations using quantitative Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In total 1558 proteins were identified. Of these, &asymp, 45% was found only in the isolated 100 nm EV, 1% only in the isolated 50 nm EV, and 54% in both 100 nm and 50 nm EV. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis suggest that both originate from the prostate, but with distinct biogenesis pathways. Finally, nine proteins, including KLK3, KLK2, MSMB, NEFH, PSCA, PABPC1, TGM4, ALOX15B, and ANO7, with known prostate specific expression and alternate expression levels in prostate cancer tissue were identified. These data have potential for the discovery of EV associated prostate cancer biomarkers in blood.

Ferrofluids, formed by magnetic nanoparticles uniformly dispersed in a liquid carrier, respond to an external magnetic field, which enable the fluid’s position by applying a magnetic field. Here, ferrofluids composed of Fe3O4 nanoparticles with oleic acid and oleylamine as the surfactant and photoresist, respectively, were prepared. Under an external magnetic field, the movement and the position of ferrofluids and the injection of the fluids into complex shapes were easily achieved. The ferrofluid surfaces were distorted under the magnetic field, and the surface structue was controlled by the applied field strength. Using a photoresist as the liquid carrier, it was possible to solidify the ferrofluids by UV irradiation. The shape and the position of the solid superparamagnetic nanoparticles/polymer composites were also determined by the external magnetic field.

Extracellular vesicles (EV) are membrane encapsulated nanoparticles that can function in intercellular communication, and their presence in biofluids can be indicative for (patho)physiological conditions. Studies aiming to resolve functionalities of EV or to discover EV-associated biomarkers for disease in liquid biopsies are hampered by limitations of current protocols to isolate EV from biofluids or cell culture medium. EV isolation is complicated by the >105-fold numerical excess of other types of particles, including lipoproteins and protein complexes. In addition to persisting contaminants, currently available EV isolation methods may suffer from inefficient EV recovery, bias for EV subtypes, interference with the integrity of EV membranes, and loss of EV functionality. In this study, we established a novel three-step non-selective method to isolate EV from blood or cell culture media with both high yield and purity, resulting in 71% recovery and near to complete elimination of unrelated (lipo)proteins. This EV isolation procedure is independent of ill-defined commercial kits, and apart from an ultracentrifuge, does not require specialised expensive equipment.

11th International Fluid Power Conference, 11. IFK, Aachen, Germany, 19 Mar 2018 - 21 Mar 2018; Aachen : [Mainz], 346-357 (2018)., Published by [Mainz], Aachen

We propose an improved strategy for control of underactuated two-link manipulator named acrobots. Initial conditions of nonlinear systems determine its trajectory even under same control law, so we introduce a firing control law to change initial conditions, which leads a better performance. The motion space is divided into three areas: firing, swing-up and attractive; control laws for each are designed. For swing-up area, a control law based on a weak-control Lyapunov function(WCLF) is employed to increase the energy and control the posture of the actuated link For attractive area, a control law based on poles placement is designed. Stability is guaranteed in the swing-up area by the use of a WCLF based on LaSalle's invariance principle. Finally, an example is used to compare with previous results.

Macroscale friction behaviour originates from microscale asperity interactions. However, it is still not well-understood how the microscale asperity interactions determine the macroscale friction behaviour under different loading conditions. The current study aims to numerically investigate and reveal the friction behaviour and mechanism of sliding and rolling-sliding contacts, in particular, to quantitatively study the microscale asperity interactions and their contributions to overall friction behaviour. The following contributions have been made in this thesis. Firstly, an analytical model for the contact of rough surfaces was derived based on the essentials and the physical understanding of the contact phenomena, as presented in Chapter 4. The contact process of Gaussian random surfaces and fractal surfaces were studied and presented in terms of the real contact area, elastic load, plastic load, and plastic ratio. Secondly, an innovative friction prediction model was derived in Chapter 5, where the macroscale sliding friction was predicted from the combined result of the molecular and mechanical components of each individual asperity. Numerical results provide insight into the effect of surface roughness on the mechanical and molecular components of friction, that is, the mechanical component dominates the friction coefficient when the surface is rough, whilst the friction coefficient is mainly determined by the molecular component when the surface is relatively smooth. Furthermore, an optimal roughness value for minimising the friction coefficient is predicted. Thirdly, a numerical model for the friction prediction of rolling-sliding contact in mixed Elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) was developed in Chapter 6, where the friction of mixed EHL was predicted by the combined result of lubricants fluid, boundary film and solid-to-solid frictions. Numerical results demonstrate that: 1) the friction is dominated by the solid-to-solid ploughing and adhesion friction in boundary lubrication regime, 2) in the mixed EHL regime, the overall friction coefficient shows a significant decreasing trend with the increase in velocity due to the decrease in solid-to-solid friction, and 3) the boundary film friction does not show a significant influence on the overall friction in both boundary and mixed lubrication regimes.

Background Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a common and frequently-occurring disease in clinical practice. There are many interventions to treat it, and percutaneous endoscopic decompression (PED) is one of them, but their relative efficacy and safety remains unclear. Hence, the present study aims to synthesize the available direct and indirect evidence on the PED and other treatments for LSS. Methods The following databases will be searched: Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM). The search dates will be set from the inception to April 2019. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) will be included in this network meta-analysis (NMA) and their risk of bias will be assessed using Cochrane handbook tool by 2 independent authors. The efficacy outcomes including: Back and Leg Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score, MacNab criteria, the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score. The safety outcomes including: incidence of complications (dura tear, incomplete decompression, reoperation, etc.). A network meta-analysis will be performed using R x64 3.5.1 software and pairwise meta-analysis will be conducted using Stata 12.0 software. Grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation (GRADE) will be used to assess evidence quality. Results The results of NMA will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. Conclusion The NMA will provide a comprehensive evidence summary on treatments for patients with LSS. Protocol registration number CRD42019120509.

The purpose of this paper is to review our experience and study the feasibility and clinical results of one-stage total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for patients with osteoarthritis of the knee with extra-articular deformity.Nine patients with osteoarthritis of the knee associated with extra-articular deformity underwent one-stage TKA from June 2006 to April 2010. There were two men and seven women, with an average age of 51 years (range 34-69 years); four of them had tibial deformities and five had femoral deformities. Eight of the cases resulted from malunion after fracture healing and one from femoral recurvatum. Six of the cases had uniplanar and three had biplanar deformities. The average angles of the femoral deformities were 13.3° in the coronal plane (8-22) and 11.3° in the sagittal plane (6-15); one femur had 10° external rotational deformity. Tibial deformity of 16° in the coronal plane (11-22) was noted, and one had sagittal plane deformity of 21°.All patients were followed for an average of 29 months. The average Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) knee score improved from 18.7 points pre-operatively to 89.8 points at the time of last follow-up; the range of knee motion improved from 46.7° preoperatively to 100.6° postoperatively. The average angle of mechanical axis deviation was restored from 11.8° preoperatively to 1° postoperatively. One of the patients had unsatisfactory clinical results due to delayed union at the osteotomy site. No complications such as infection, deep vein thrombosis, ligament instability, low level or subluxed/dislocated patella or component loosening were observed. One-stage TKA with intra-articular correction of the extra-articular deformity was performed in seven patients, included proper planning, appropriate bone cuts to restore alignment and the necessary soft tissue releases to balance the knee in flexion and extension. Two patients underwent simultaneous extra-articular correctional osteotomy and TKA because the deformity was so large. Five knees that had good collateral ligamentous stability and balance received a posterior stabilised prosthesis; four knees that had ligamentous instability received a constrained condylar knee (CCK) prosthesis.One-stage TKA is a technically difficult but effective treatment for patients with osteoarthritis of the knee and extra-articular deformity. If feasible we recommend TKA with intra-articular bone resection and soft tissue balancing.

Development of organ transplantation is restricted by the discrepancy between the lack of donors and increasing number of patients. The outcome of pediatric donors transplanted into adult recipients especially with donation after circulatory death (DCD) pattern has not been well studied. The aim of this paper is to describe our experience of 3 successful DCD donor child-to-adult liver transplantations lately. Three DCD donors were separately 7, 5, and 8 years old. The ratio between donor graft weight and recipient body weight was 1.42%, 1.00%, and 1.33%, respectively. Ratio between the volume of donor liver and the expected liver volume was 0.65, 0.46, and 0.60. Splenectomy was undertaken for the second recipient according to the portal vein pressure (PVP) which was observed during the operation. Two out of 3 of the recipients suffered with acute kidney injury and got recovered after renal replacement therapy. The first recipient also went through early allograft dysfunction and upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The hospital course of the third recipient was uneventful. After 1 year of follow-up visit, the first and second recipients maintain good quality of life and liver function. The third patient was followed up for 5 months until now and recovered well. DCD child-to-adult liver transplantation should only be used for comparatively matched donor and recipient. PVP should be monitored during the operation. The short-term efficacy is good, but long-term follow-up and clinical study with large sample evaluation are still needed.

In this letter, we introduce the concept and experimentally demonstrate an ultralong Faraday laser as an optical frequency standard in principle. The ultralong Faraday laser is based on the Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter (FADOF) with ultra-narrow bandwidth and the ultralong fiber extended cavity of $800$ m. The ultra-narrow FADOF is based on atomic transition line of isotope $^{87}$Rb, which has an ultra-narrow bandwidth of $26.0$ MHz and a transmission of $23.6\%$ at $780$ nm. Fibers of length $150$ m and $800$ m are used as ultralong fiber extended cavities, which provide optical feedback and give extremely small FSR of $0.667$ MHz and $0.125$ MHz, respectively. The mechanism of the proposed ultralong Faraday laser is to combine FADOF's ultra-narrow bandwidth and ultralong cavity's small free spectral range to limit the lasing frequency within FADOF bandwidth covered by the semiconductor gain. The active lasing frequency of the ultralong Faraday laser is determined by the center frequency of FADOF transmission, which is corresponding to atomic transition $5^{2}S_{1/2},\ F = 2 \ \rightarrow\ 5^{2}P_{3/2},\ F^{\prime} = 2,\ 3$ of isotope $^{87}$Rb. The Allan deviation of the fractional frequency of the ultralong Faraday laser output signal in 0.1 s -- 1 s measuring time is around $1\times10^{-11}$., Corrected the calculation method of the result of Allan deviation of fractional frequency

This paper puts forward the concept of key strata in immediate roof (KSIF) and studied the dynamic effect and control mechanism of KSIF. The results show that KSIR controls the caving of its upper immediate roof strata; the break of KSIR has direct dynamic impact on its lower strata and this impact increases along with the increase of the thickness and hardness of the KSIR and the decrease of the distance to the working seam. The KSIR and main roof can easily form the bilayer structure “Cantilever-Masonry beam.” Support work load is affected by the position, thickness, and hardness of KSIR. The support work load increased on the condition of increase of the thickness and hardness of KSIR and the decrease of the distance to the face.

This paper is to discuss the difficulties of the traditional photonic crystals (PhC) -based superprisms.

As the data collected in rotary kiln is rather nonlinear ,linear transforming such as PCA、ICA and LPP to extract feature is not ideal, while manifold learning performs well in high dimensional nonlinear data transform. A new Hidden Markov Model (HMM) based method combined with Locally Linear Embedding (LLE) to predict the coal feeding trend is put forward. Firstly, LLE-HMM conducts nonlinear feature transforms on the sample data by LLE, then the feature data is quantized into observation symbol and HMM is establish to predict the coal feeding trend finally. Through the simulation of the sample data in rotary kiln production process and compared with PCA-HMM、ICA-HMM、LPP-HMM, the results of LLE-HMM shows that it has higher measurement accuracy, better tracking performance, which can satisfy the prediction of coal feeding requirements.

In order to reduce accidents in nuclear power plant, simulation for operator training and system validation precommission is very important. The application of Foxboro I/A control system in nuclear power plant leads to the development of its virtual simulation software. In this paper, a reasonable structure of its virtual software is established. Real-time server software VCP and human-machine interface VWP form the two parts of the virtual simulation software. The VCP is built by VC6.0++; the VWP page is embedded by ActiveX dynamic OCX and browsed by IE. The Virtual simulation software for Foxboro I/A control system is crucial to security and economy of nuclear power plant in present and in the future.

Each micro power in the micro-grid has its own characteristics, the fans and solar power has unstable power output at different time, it is greatly affected by the environmental factors, while diesel engine has stable power but consumes resources. At present the micro power control is based on the SOC of the storage battery, and it can cause loss of energy while full charge battery meat the fans and solar peak power generation. In order to maximize the use of natural energy, reduce the loss of the resources, and increase economic benefits, it is important to design a control system which based on the future power and load status within a period of time. According to the Zhu-Hai island Fans-Solar-Storage system (FSS), this paper puts forward a structure of the automatic generation control system, use the fuzzy neural control method to get the battery status, while the forecast data of the load and generation, the SOC of the battery as input parameters, then monitored each output signal. The MATLAB simulation results shows that this automatic generation control system can control each micro power, reduce the use frequency of the diesel engine, maximum use of the wind and solar energy.

Polysaccharide is widely found in plants and microorganisms. The research of polysaccharide becomes one of the most active research areas in bioscience. In this study, the anti-oxidation experimental model was established and the elimination of the ultra oxygen anion and DPPH free radical was studied. Our results suggest that korean aconite roof polysaccharide has enormously cleared ability to the ultra oxygen anion and DPPH free radical. Korean aconite roof polysaccharides can be used as a natural anti-oxidation for human cardiovascular disease treatment and preventive health care.

Porcine pancreatic islets fused with pCTLA4-Ig were transplanted into diabetic rats. Xenografts survival was observed, and the underlying immunological rejection mechanisms were investigated.Control porcine islets, empty vector (Adv-GFP)-transfected, and gene-modified porcine islets were transplanted into the renal capsule of diabetic rats. The survival rates of the xenografts were observed. Changes in serum levels of IL-4 and γ-IFN in the recipients were assessed.The survival time of xenografts in the gene-modified porcine islets group was 34.50 ± 4.14 days, which was longer than those in the control group (34.50 ± 4.14 days vs. 7.43 ± 1.72 days and 7.22 ± 1.72 days; P 0.01). Changes in the serum levels of IL-4 and γ-IFN between the groups of rats post-transplantation indicated the differentiation bias of T helper cells.The donor-originated pCTLA-IgG4 fusion protein inhibits the direct pathway of recipient T-cell priming, which might prolong xenograft survival.

We study the evolutions of the nonmagnetic disorder-induced edge states with the disorder strength in the HgTe/CdTe quantum wells. From the supercell band structures and wave-functions, it is clearly shown that the conducting helical edge states, which are responsible for the reported quantized conductance plateau, appear above a critical disorder strength after a gap-closing phase transition. These edge states are then found to decline with the increase of disorder strength in a stepwise pattern due to the finite-width effect, where the opposite edges couple with each other through the localized states in the bulk. This is in sharp contrast with the localization of the edge states themselves if magnetic disorders are doped which breaks the time-reversal symmetry. The size-independent boundary of the topological phase is obtained by scaling analysis, and an Anderson transition to an Anderson insulator at even stronger disorder is identified, in-between of which, a metallic phase is found to separate the two topologically distinct phases., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures