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Abstract Aims This systematic review and meta‐analysis aimed to investigate the association between serum uric acid (SUA) levels and the incidence rate and prognosis of heart failure (HF), as well as the impact of uric acid‐lowering treatment on HF patients. Methods and results PubMed and Embase were searched for original articles reporting on the association between SUA and HF incidence, adverse outcomes, and the effect of uric acid‐lowering treatment in HF patients. Data were pooled using random effects or fixed effects models. Univariable meta‐regression analysis assessed the influence of study characteristics on research outcomes. Statistical analyses were conducted using RevMan software and STATA software version 15.0. Eleven studies on HF incidence and 24 studies on adverse outcomes in HF patients were included. Higher SUA levels were associated with an increased risk of HF (RR: 1.81, 95% CI: 1.53–2.16), all‐cause mortality (RR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.25–1.66), cardiac death (RR: 1.56, 95% CI: 1.32–1.84), and HF rehospitalization (RR: 2.07, 95% CI: 1.37–3.13) in HF patients. Uric acid‐lowering treatment was found to increase all‐cause mortality in HF patients (RR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.05–1.25). Conclusions Uric acid is an independent predictor of heart failure occurrence and adverse prognosis. Targeting uric acid lowering as a therapeutic intervention does not improve the prognosis of patients with heart failure. It may not be advisable to use traditional urate‐lowering drugs in young patients with heart failure, and elderly patients should exercise caution when using them.

Background: The plasma concentrations of the four most commonly used first-line anti-tuberculosis (TB) drugs, isoniazid (INH), rifampicin (RMP), ethambutol (EMB), and pyrazinamide (PZA), are often not within the therapeutic range. Insufficient drug exposure could lead to drug resistance and treatment failure, while excessive drug levels may lead to adverse reactions. The purpose of this study was to identify the physiological parameters influencing anti-TB drug concentrations.Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted. The 2-h plasma concentrations of the four drugs were measured by using the high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method.Results: A total of 317 patients were included in the study. The proportions of patients with INH, RMP, EMB, and PZA concentrations within the therapeutic range were 24.3%, 31.5%, 27.8%, and 18.6%, respectively. There were positive associations between the concentrations of INH and PZA and RMP and EMB, but negative associations were observed between the concentrations of INH and RMP, INH and EMB, RMP and PZA, and EMB and PZA. In the multivariate analysis, the influencing factors of the INH concentration were the PZA concentration, total bile acid (TBA), serum potassium, dose, direct bilirubin, prealbumin (PA), and albumin; those of the RMP concentration were PZA and EMB concentrations, weight, α-l-fucosidase (AFU), drinking, and dose; those of the EMB concentration were the RMP and PZA concentrations, creatinine, TBA and indirect bilirubin; and those of the PZA concentration were INH, RMP and EMB concentrations, sex, weight, uric acid and drinking.Conclusion: The complex correlations between the concentrations of the four first-line anti-TB drugs lead to a major challenge in dose adjustment to maintain all drugs within the therapeutic window. Levels of TBA, PA, AFU, and serum potassium should also be considered when adjusting the dose of the four drugs.

This effort is to investigate three different Cu-based oxygen carriers (OCs) with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and coal in chemical-looping combustion (CLC). The combustion process and synergetic analysis of PVC with coal were evaluated. There were four stages in the reaction of OCs with PVC, which HCl released from PVC could react with OCs at about 200–400 °C. CuO and CuO modified by limestone showed better immobilization of chlorine while CuO modified by iron ore and chrysolite inhibited the reaction of HCl with CuO. PVC char combustion temperature started at about 500 °C which were lower than that of coal char. The combustion efficiency of PVC CLC was all above 92%, except using Cu-Fe as OC which was about 88%. The presence of ZD in PVC showed positive effect on every stage. The addition of coal inhibited the reaction of HCl with CuO. The presence of PVC in ZD reduced the temperature of coal char and the addition of ZD in PVC increased the reaction rate. The synergistic effect was obvious between the PVC and coal blends which is beneficial for the complete combustion in solid fuel CLC

Soil cyanobacteria in tropical forests is understudied despite its important role in soil biochemical process and plant growth. Under a nitrogen (N) deposition background in tropical forests, it is important to learn how soil cyanobacterial communities respond to N deposition and whether phosphorus (P) mediated this response. A fully two-factor (N and P additions) factorial design with four blocks (replicates), each including a 12 × 12 m plot per treatment (Control, +N, +P, and +NP) were established in a tropical secondary forest in 2009. In July of 2022, soil cyanobacteria at 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm depths in the experimental site were collected and analyzed using a metagenomic method. The impact of N and P additions on soil cyanobacteria remained consistent across the different soil depths, even though there was a significant contrast between the two layers. The effect of N addition on soil cyanobacteria did not significantly interact with P addition. N addition increased soil N availability and decreased soil pH but did not significantly affect the soil cyanobacterial community. In contrast, P addition increased soil P availability and soil pH, but decreased soil N availability and substantially changed the soil cyanobacterial community. P addition significantly decreased the abundance of soil cyanobacteria, especially abundant ones. P addition also increased cyanobacterial species richness and Shannon’s diversity, which might be explained by the decline in dominant species and the emergence of new species as nestedness and indicator species analyses suggest. We concluded that (1) soil cyanobacteria in tropical forests exhibits a greater sensitivity to elevated P availability compared to N; (2) an increase in soil P supply may mitigate the advantage held by dominant species, thus facilitating the growth of other species and leading to alterations in the soil cyanobacterial community. This study improves our understanding on how soil cyanobacterial communities in tropical forest responds to N and P addition.

Background: The inner association of inflammation with voriconazole (VCZ) metabolism has not been fully investigated. We intend to investigate the effects of inflammation on liver function, VCZ trough concentration (C0), C0/dose ratio and the ratio of VCZ to VCZ-N-oxide concentration (C0/CN) in adult and elderly patients.Methods: A single-center retrospective study was conducted among patients who were treated in our hospital between January 2018 and December 2021. For each eligible patient, demographic details, medical history, laboratory parameters, procalcitonin (PCT), C reactive protein (CRP), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were collected from the medical chart. VCZ CN, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-8, and IL-10 concentrations were detected in blood samples.Results: A total of 356 patients were included in our study, with 195 patients in the adult cohort (

Peridynamics (PD) is a novel nonlocal theory of continuum mechanics capable of describing crack formation and propagation without defining any fracture rules in advance. In this study, a multi-grid bond-based dual-horizon peridynamics (DH-PD) model is presented, which includes varying horizon sizes and can avoid spurious wave reflections. This model incorporates the volume correction, surface correction, and a technique of nonuniformity discretization to improve calculation accuracy and efficiency. Two benchmark problems are simulated to verify the reliability of the proposed model with the effect of the volume correction and surface correction on the computational accuracy confirmed. Two numerical examples, the fracture of an L-shaped concrete specimen and the mixed damage of a double-edged notched specimen, are simulated and analyzed. The simulation results are compared against experimental data, the numerical solution of a traditional PD model, and the output from a finite element model. The comparisons verify the calculation accuracy of the corrected DH-PD model and its advantages over some other models like the traditional PD model.

Submarine debris flows and their generated waves are common disasters in Nature that may destroy offshore infrastructure and cause fatalities. As the propagation of submarine debris flows is complex, involving granular material sliding and wave generation, it is difficult to simulate the process using conventional numerical models. In this study, a numerical model based on the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) algorithm is proposed to simulate the propagation of submarine debris flow and predict its generated waves. This model contains the Bingham fluid model for granular material, the Newtonian fluid model for the ambient water, and a multiphase granular flow algorithm. Moreover, a boundary treatment technique is applied to consider the repulsive force from the solid boundary. Underwater rigid block slide and underwater sand flow were simulated as numerical examples to verify the proposed SPH model. The computed wave profiles were compared with the observed results recorded in references. The good agreement between the numerical results and experimental data indicates the stability and accuracy of the proposed SPH model.

To analyze the kinetic characteristics of a debris flow that occurred on 9 April 2000 in Tibet, China, a meshfree numerical method named smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is introduced, and two-dimensional and three-dimensional models are established in this work. Based on the numerical simulation, the motion process of this debris flow is reproduced, and the kinetic characteristics are analyzed combining with the field investigation data. In the kinetic analysis, the flow velocity, runout distance, deposition, and energy features are discussed. Simulation results show that the debris flow mass undergoes an acceleration stage after failure, then the kinetic energy gradually dissipates due to the friction and collision during debris flow propagation. Finally, the debris flow mass blocks the Yigong river and forms a huge dam and an extensive barrier lake. The peak velocity is calculated to be about 100 m/s, and the runout distance is approximately 8000 m. The simulation results basically match the data measured in field, thus verifying the good performance of the presented SPH model. This approach can predict hazardous areas and estimate the hazard intensity of catastrophic debris flow.

In this study, a numerical approach—the discontinuous Meshless Local Petrov-Galerkin-Eshelby Method (MLPGEM)—was adopted to simulate and measure material plasticity in an Al 7075-T651 plate. The plate was modeled in two dimensions by assemblies of small particles that interact with each other through bonding stiffness. The material plasticity of the model loaded to produce different levels of strain is evaluated with the Lamb waves of S0 mode. A tone burst at the center frequency of 200 kHz was used as excitation. Second-order nonlinear wave was extracted from the spectrogram of a signal receiving point. Tensile-driven plastic deformation and cumulative second harmonic generation of S0 mode were observed in the simulation. Simulated measurement of the acoustic nonlinearity increased monotonically with the level of tensile-driven plastic strain captured by MLPGEM, whereas achieving this state by other numerical methods is comparatively more difficult. This result indicates that the second harmonics of S0 mode can be employed to monitor and evaluate the material or structural early-stage damage induced by plasticity.

High-resolution underwater digital elevation models (DEMs) are important for water and soil conservation, hydrological analysis, and river channel dredging. In this work, the underwater topography of the Panjing River in Shanghai, China, was measured by an unmanned surface vessel. Five different interpolation methods were used to generate the underwater DEM and their precision and applicability for different underwater landforms were analyzed through cross-validation. The results showed that there was a positive correlation between the interpolation error and the terrain surface roughness. The five interpolation methods were all appropriate for the survey area, but their accuracy varied with different surface roughness. Based on the analysis results, an integrated approach was proposed to automatically select the appropriate interpolation method according to the different surface roughness in the surveying area. This approach improved the overall interpolation precision. The suggested technique provides a reference for the selection of interpolation methods for underwater DEM data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To analyse the kinetic characteristics of a rapid landslide that occurred on 9 April 2000 in Tibet, China, a meshfree numerical method named Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) is introduced, and two-dimensional and three-dimensional models are established in this work. Based on the numerical simulation, the landslide motion process is reproduced and the kinetic characteristics are analysed combined with the field investigation data. In the kinetic analysis, the landslide velocity, run-out distance, landslide accumulation, and energy features are discussed. Simulation results show that the landslide mass undergoes an acceleration stage after failure, then the kinetic energy dissipates gradually due to the friction and collision during the landslide propagation. Finally, the landslide mass blocks the Yigong river and forms a huge landslide dam and an extensive barrier lake. The peak velocity is calculated to be about 100 m/s, and the run-out distance is approximately 8,500 m. The simulation results basically match the data measured in field, thus verifying the good performance of the presented SPH model. This approach can provide a new way to predict hazardous areas and estimate the hazard intensity of rapid landslides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT imaging is increasingly used for the diagnosis, staging, and efficacy assessment of patients with prostate cancer. Compared with other PSMA tracers, 18F-PSMA-1007 is mainly cleared by the liver and bile and has lower urinary clearance, thus allowing a better assessment of the lesions around the bladder. However, there were some patients who showed an obvious concentration of the 18F-PSMA-1007 in the bladder, which may affect the observation of peripheral lesions, but the mechanism of this change is unknown. The aim of this study was to explore the cause of bladder 18F-PSMA-1007 concentration by assessing the clinical and imaging characteristics of 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT scans. A total of 284 patients were included in this retrospective study, and their clinical characteristics such as age, height, weight, Gleason score, metastases, different treatment methods, the level of liver and kidney function, PSA level, and imaging characteristics such as 18F-PSMA-1007 injected activity, the interval between injection to scan, physiological distribution (parotid gland, kidney, liver, spleen, intestine, obturator internus), pathological distribution (prostate lesions, metastases) were collected, and were compared after subgrouping using bladder urine SUVmax. This study showed that the distribution of bladder 18F-PSMA-1007 was not correlated with the above clinical and imaging characteristics, so further studies are needed to find the explanations, and thus to improve the disease assessment of this type of prostate cancer patients.

In this study, a numerical approach--the discontinuous Meshless Local Petrov-Galerkin-Eshelby Method (MLPGEM)--was adopted to simulate and measure material plasticity in an Al 7075-T651 plate. The plate was modeled in two dimensions by assemblies of small particles that interact with each other through bonding stiffness. The material plasticity of the model loaded to produce different levels of strain is evaluated with the Lamb waves of S0 mode. A tone burst at the center frequency of 200 kHz was used as excitation. Second-order nonlinear wave was extracted from the spectrogram of a signal receiving point. Tensile-driven plastic deformation and cumulative second harmonic generation of S0 mode were observed in the simulation. Simulated measurement of the acoustic nonlinearity increased monotonically with the level of tensile-driven plastic strain captured by MLPGEM, whereas achieving this state by other numerical methods is comparatively more difficult. This result indicates that the second harmonics of S0 mode can be employed to monitor and evaluate the material or structural early-stage damage induced by plasticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]