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The utilization of racemic lactic acid (rac-LA) produced viachemocatalytic conversion for polylactic acid (PLA) synthesis remains limited due to the formation of undesired mesomeric lactide (meso-LD), a by-product that arises during the conversion process. This study proposes the use of shape-selective H-Beta zeolite to reduce the formation of meso-LD in lactide (LD) by leveraging its selectivity towards different lactic dimers (L2A) in a one-step catalytic conversion of rac-LA to LD. Experimental results from various LA solutions with different L2A content indicate that the L2A content is critical for maximizing the selectivity of racemic lactide (d/l-LD), thus confirming the shape-selective nature of H-Beta zeolite towards L2A. Additionally, it is found that increasing the reaction temperature and employing structurally reconstructed H-Beta zeolite with more regularized channels as a catalyst can further decrease meso-LD formation, and a LD yield of 60% with a d/l-LD/meso-LD ratio of 2.26 can be achieved under optimal catalyst and reaction conditions. Despite the coexistence of d/l-LD and meso-LD in the final product, this study marks a significant step towards controlling the stereoisomer distribution of LD synthesized from rac-LA derived from chemical conversion.

Influenced by the global economy, politics, energy and other factors, the price of carbon market fluctuates sharply. It is of great practical significance to explore a suitable measurement method of extreme risk of carbon market. Considering that the return series of carbon market has the characteristics of leptokurtosis, fat tail, skewness and multifractal, and there maybe many extreme risk values in the carbon market, this paper introduces the Skewed-tdistribution which can describe the characteristics of leptokurtosis, fat tail and skewness of return series into MSM model which can describe multifractal characteristic of return series to model volatility of carbon market. On the basis, based on the extreme value theory, this paper constructs Skewed-t-MSM-EVT model to measure extreme risk of carbon market. This paper chooses EUA market as the object to study extreme risk of carbon market, and draws the following conclusions: Skewed-t-MSM-EVT model has significantly higher prediction accuracy for carbon market’s VaR than MSM-EVT models under other distributions (including normal distribution, tdistribution, GED distribution); Skewed-t-MSM-EVT model is superior to traditional Skewed-t-FIGARCH-EVT and Skewed-t-GARCH-EVT models in predicting carbon market’s VaR. This research has important practical significance for accurately grasping the risk of carbon market and promoting energy conservation and emission reduction.

Roll bending is a common technique to regulate the strip shape in tandem cold rolling (TCR), but its regulation ability at each stand is poorly understood at present. In this study, based on a 3D multiple stand elasto-plastic finite element (EPFE) model, the effects of work roll bending (WRB) and intermediate roll bending (IRB) on the strip crown, strip flatness and elastic deformation of work roll (WR) were quantitatively studied at each stand in the TCR. Results show that the regulation abilities of WRB and IRB on the strip crown both show a downward tendency from Stand 1 (S1) to Stand 5 (S5), which both depend on the strip plastic rigidity. Moreover, under various WRBs and IRBs, the strip shape is mainly determined by the elastic deflection of WR in the upstream stand, while it is determined combinedly by the elastic deflection and flattening deformation of WR in the downstream stand. Furthermore, the regulation ability of WRB on the strip crown and quadratic flatness is at least 2.5 times larger than that of IRB. The experimental results show that the developed multiple stand EPFE model can well predict the trend of the quadratic and quartic flatness between coils. These findings help understand the influence mechanism of the roll bending on the strip shape and improve the strip shape by optimising the roll bending in the TCR.

The construction and determination of highly active Ti sites comprise one of the most significant challenges in the rational design and synthesis of Ti-containing porous catalysts. The pathway to efficiently build highly catalytically active titanium species remains to be proposed in spite of deliberate post treatments or ambiguous batch composition adjustments. In this study, we developed a bottom–up strategy to construct a TS-1 catalyst with highly active hydrogen-bonded Ti species via subcrystal aggregation crystallization. The microstructure of the hydrogen-bonded Ti species was verified by vacuum FT-IR and 1H MAS SSNMR spectroscopies. Noteworthy features of the hydrogen-bonded Ti species were also revealed, including a pentahedral coordination state and Brønsted acidity, as identified by the UV–Raman, XPS, XAFS, and FT-IR spectra of adsorbed pyridine. Significantly, the hydrogen-bonded Ti species exhibits extraordinary activity in allyl chloride epoxidation (nearly 70% higher than that of traditional Ti species). This study provides a new approach to building highly active Ti sites, which may provide new insights into the design and synthesis of high-performance titanosilicate catalysts.

The uncertainty of cyclists’ movements has a significant impact on predicting the risk of collisions between cyclists and vehicles. The purpose of this study was to provide a method for assessing collision risk using probability, taking into account the uncertainty of cyclists’ movements. A cyclist model was first developed using a first-order Markov model. Then, based on Monte Carlo sampling, the distribution characteristics of the minimum distance and the time-to-collision (TTC) between the vehicle and the cyclist were extracted. By fitting these features, the probability density functions of the collision distance and TTC were estimated to derive the collision probabilities. The effectiveness of the collision probability prediction model was benchmarked against a deterministic crash risk prediction model (autonomous emergency braking [AEB] system) applied to three real-world cases previously reconstructed in an in-depth crash database. The results show that the collision probability prediction model can effectively predict the risk of collisions between cyclists and vehicles with better accuracy than AEB systems using a fixed trigger threshold. This study is a valuable reference for the development of advanced vehicle collision avoidance systems to protect cyclists and other vulnerable road users.

The correlation between vehicle front profiles and multiple head injury forms in accidents remains unclear. Three hundred simulations were conducted by considering five vehicle front-end variables: bumper centre height, Bonnet Length (BL), Bonnet Leading Edge Height (BLEH), Bonnet Angle (BA) and Windscreen Angle (WA). HIC15, angular acceleration, maximum principal strain and cumulative strain damage measure were calculated to evaluate Skull Fracture (SF), Sub-Dural Hematoma (SDH) and Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI). Prediction models were developed and evaluated by using back-propagation neural network algorithms. Results reveal that BLEH exhibits the highest overall significance of 0.41, which was the most sensitive parameter affecting all three injury forms. SF was significantly correlated with BL, with an importance value of 0.12. Changing WA and BA demonstrates significant effects on SDH and DAI, with significance values of 0.29 and 0.33, respectively. The results can give a comprehensive reference for the design and optimisation of vehicle front profiles.

Objective: To examine the effects of peripheral blood eosinophil (EOS) count and its dynamic alterations on the treatment efficacy and prognosis of patients with advanced hepatitis B virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HBV-HCC) receiving camrelizumab combined with lenvatinib (C + L) therapy. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 200 patients with advanced HBV-HCC who were admitted to two centers from January 2018 to August 2023 and treated with C + L. EOS, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were determined before C + L treatment (EOS0, NLR0, and PLR0) and after three cycles of treatment (EOS3, NLR3, and PLR3). The area under the curve was calculated using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. NLR and PLR served as references to analyze the effect of differences in EOS in predicting the survival efficacy of patients with HBV-HCC treated using C + L. The independent risk factors affecting progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed using univariate and multivariate Cox proportional risk models. Results: The ROC curve revealed that the predictive value of EOS3 was better than those of NLR3 and PLR3 for the long-term treatment efficacy of patients with intermediate and advanced HBV-HCC receiving C + L. Statistically significant differences were observed between groups with different levels of EOS0 and EOS3 and the evaluation of treatment efficacy after 3 weeks (P < 0.05). The median PFS of the high-EOS0 group was higher than that of the low-EOS0 group (P = 0.027); median PFS of the high EOS3 group was higher than that of the low EOS3 group (P = 0.018); median OS of the high EOS0 group was higher than that of the low EOS0 group (P = 0.032); median OS of the high EOS3 group was higher than that of the low EOS3 group (P < 0.0001). Multifactorial Cox analysis revealed that EOS3 was an independent predictor of PFS and that EOS0 was an independent predictor of OS (P < 0.05). Conclusion: EOS may be an ideal indicator for predicting the treatment efficacy and prognosis of patients with advanced HBV-HCC receiving C + L.

Aldo-keto reductase family 1 member C3 (AKR1C3) serves as a contributor to numerous kinds of tumors, and its expression is elevated in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the biological function of AKR1C3 in HCC remains unclear. Here we investigated the role of AKR1C3 in liver carcinogenesis using in vitro and in vivo models. We determined that AKR1C3 is frequently increased in HCC tissues with poor prognosis. Genetically manipulated cells with AKR1C3 construction were examined to highlight the pro-tumoral growth of both wild-type AKR1C3 and mutant in vitro and in vivo. We observed promising treatment effects of AKR1C3 shRNA by intratumoral injection in mice. Mechanically, we demonstrated that the transcription factor heterodimer NRF2/MAFG was able to bind directly to AKR1C3 promoter to activate its transcription. Further, AKR1C3 stabilized PARP1 by decreasing its ubiquitination, which resulted in HCC cell proliferation and low sensitivity of Cisplatin. Moreover, we discovered that the tumorigenic role of AKR1C3 was non-catalytic dependent and the NRF2/MAFG-AKR1C3-PARP1 axis might be one of the important proliferation pathways in HCC. In conclusion, blockage of AKR1C3 expression provides potential therapeutic benefits against HCC.

Silicon was recovered from solar cell Si scraps through 42.5 mol% SiO2–42.5 mol% CaO–15 mol% Al2O3slag refining. The motion behaviors of Si3N4and SiC were observed in situand real-time using a high-temperature laser confocal microscope, and the recovery of Si through slag refining was carried out at 1,500°C for 30 min. Results indicated that both SiC and Si3N4inclusions were concentrated in the slag, and this work provides a clear framework for recycling and reusing solar cell Si scraps.

The separation of SiC and Si3N4inclusions from solar cell Si scraps to the slag phase during slag refining is essential to the recovery and production of high-purity Si. This study characterized the SiC and Si3N4inclusions in solar cell Si scraps, which formed large clusters with complex shapes. According to the experimental and theoretical investigations, the inclusions with large diameters were found to be conducive to passing through the Si/slag interface and then being retained in the slag phase. The favorable conditions such as positive overall wettability, high operating temperature, low viscosity slag, and prolonged-time can promote the small inclusion removal from molten Si scraps.

Subphenotypes have been identified in patients with sepsis and ARDS and are associated with different outcomes and responses to therapies.

Simulation played a critical role in our institution's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. With the rapid influx of critically ill patients, resource limitations, and presented safety concerns, simulation became a vital tool that provided solutions to the many challenges we faced. In this article, we describe how simulation training was deployed at our institution throughout the course of the pandemic, which included the period of our medical surge. Simulation helped refine protocols, facilitate practice changes, uncover safety gaps, and train redeployed healthcare workers in unfamiliar roles. We also discuss the obstacles we encountered with implementing simulations during the pandemic, the measures we took to adapt to our limitations, and the simulation strategies and end products that were derived from these adaptations.

High-power-density high-speed electric motors for aircraft hybrid-electric propulsion (HEP) applications require high fundamental output frequency from power inverters. Conventional silicon (Si)-based megawatt (MW)-scale power inverters typically have low switching frequency that is not sufficient to meet the dynamic and harmonic requirements for such applications. An MW-scale medium-voltage three-level active neutral-point-clamped (ANPC) inverter based on a hybrid utilization of silicon carbide (SiC) and Si power devices (i.e., “SiC+Si”) has been developed for high-speed HEP drive applications, which has a rated output frequency of 1.4 kHz at 1-MW active power. To evaluate the power capability and efficiency of this ANPC inverter in the laboratory, power pump-back tests need to be carried out. In this article, control methods for single- and three-phase inverter pump-back tests have been developed to evaluate the performance of such high-frequency propulsion drives. The implementation and experimental results are presented to verify the efficacy of the control methods and the performance of the MW-scale “SiC+Si” ANPC inverters.

Controllable liquid transportation is of great value in various practical applications. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a method of actuating high-speed droplet transport with large manipulation controllability on lubricated surfaces using a corona discharge generated by a simple needle-plate electrode configuration. Linear motion of droplets is realized with a maximum velocity of 30 mm/s. Factors affecting the velocity of these droplets are analyzed systematically, and the mechanism of droplet transport is explained. The lubrication film flow induced by charge deposition is shown to be the dominating factor in the droplet manipulation controllability. The new method presented here opens a new path of high-performance manipulation of liquid droplets by controlling the lubrication liquid film flow with charge deposition.

The stability and comfort of locomotives need to be guaranteed by load adjustment technology. Considering the defects of the traditional two-step adjustment method for locomotive load distribution, including its lack of efficiency and error accumulation, a new technical approach is developed here under entire locomotive conditions, simulating the load adjustment test via the application of shimming under the treads. In the case of high-power locomotives, a complete theoretical model is established based on the classical two-suspension model. According to the difference between shimming on the treads and on primary suspension positions, a transformation matrix is established with which to describe the conversion relationship between the shim quantity on the primary supporting positions and on the treads. Considering that locomotive load regulation is a nonlinear problem characterised by nonlinearity, parametric uncertainty and multiple optimisation objectives, this paper proposes QAGA, an optimisation algorithm for entire locomotive load adjustment based on an adaptive genetic algorithm and a quantum-behaved particle swarm optimisation algorithm, to carry out simulations using data from an HXD1D-type electric locomotive. Analysis of the simulation results proves that the proposed approach can significantly improve the efficiency, accuracy and feasibility of the entire locomotive load adjustment process.

Graphene-based strain sensors have attracted tremendous interest due to their potential application as intelligent wearable sensing devices. However, for graphene-based strain sensors, it is found that the sensing property at the beginning of the tensile cycle is not stable. Concretely, the peak resistance value gradually declines in the first dozens of cycles in every cyclic test. This is a problem that obviously affects the measurement accuracy but is rarely investigated so far. In this paper, this phenomenon is for the first time systematically studied. According to the reliable experimental results, it can be concluded that the decline of resistance is caused by the evolution of wrinkle morphologies in the graphene layer, which is essentially attributed to the temporary slippage of the graphene sheets under external stress. Based on the analyzed mechanism, a targeted improvement solution was proposed and verified. By the combined effects of polydopamine and Ni2+, the slippage among the rGO sheets was suppressed and a strain sensor with excellent sensing stability was obtained as expected. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the modified sensor was six times higher than that of the pristine one due to the change in the crack form, demonstrating it to be an effective method to obtain a graphene-based strain sensor with comprehensively high performance.

The purpose of this study is to explore the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in cancer patients who consume different flavonoids, and the impact of flavonoids on the prognosis of cancer patients with CHD. We extracted dietary flavonoids data on 1454 patients diagnosed with cancer from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between the intake of flavonoids and the risk of CHD. Cox proportional hazard model was used to explore the impact of flavonoids intake on prognosis in 148 patients with cancer and CHD. Malvidin intake increased the risk of CHD by 1% [odds ratio (OR) = 1.01, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.00–1.02, P< 0.05] in cancer patients, while epicatechin and isorhamnetin reduced the risk of CHD by 3% (OR = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.94–1.00, P< 0.05) and 15% (OR = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.72–1.00, P< 0.05), respectively. Adjusted by age, sex, and race, malvidin intake increased the risk of CHD in cancer patients by 1% (OR = 1.01, 95% CI: 1.00–1.02, P< 0.05), isorhamnetin decreased the risk by 15% (OR = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.72–1.00, P< 0.05), and epicatechin showed no effect on the risk of CHD (P> 0.05). No flavonoids had impact on the prognosis of patients with cancer and CHD (P> 0.05). For patients with cancer, consuming malvidin increases the risk of CHD, while isorhamnetin reduces the risk. Consuming flavonoids has no impact on the prognosis of patients with cancer and CHD.

Thermal crown and wear crown of work roll (TWW) are the main interfering factors of loaded roll gap profile in tandem cold rolling (TCR). However, the effect of TWW on the strip shape is not well understood. This paper presents a quantitative study about the effect of TWW on the strip crown and strip flatness based on a novel 3D multi-pass elastic-plastic finite element (EPFE) model that has been validated by industrial trials in the TCR. The results show that the thermal crown introduces the centre wave and quarter wave, while the wear crown brings in the edge wave and edge-centre coupled wave; the thermal crown has a larger influence efficiency on the quadratic strip shape than the wear crown does, while the wear crown exerts a larger influence efficiency on the quartic strip shape than the thermal crown does. In addition, the influence efficiency of TWW on the strip crown decreases nonlinearly with an increase in strip plastic rigidity from Pass 1 (P1) to Pass 5 (P5). This is the first scientific report on the link between the strip plastic rigidity and the effect of TWW on the strip crown, affording the mathematical models for predicting the influence efficiency of TWW based on the strip plastic rigidity at each pass.

The effects of Al and Sc on mechanical properties of FeCoNi multi-element alloys (MEAs) were investigated by compressive tests. The microstructures of FeCoNi MEAs with different contents of Al and Sc were characterized and the strengthening mechanisms were discussed. The results show that FeCoNi MEA with a low content of Al has a face-centered cubic (FCC) structure. The yield strength increases linearly with the increase of Al content, which is largely caused by solid solution hardening. Further addition of Sc can promote the formation of a new phase in (FeCoNi)1−xAlxMEAs. A minor addition of Sc can significantly increase the yield strengths of (FeCoNi)1−xAlxMEAs with a low Al content and improve the compressive plasticity of (FeCoNi)1−xAlxMEAs with a high Al content.

The wear behavior of powder metallurgical Ti-47Al-2Cr-0.2Mo alloy prepared by pre-alloyed powders was investigated using pin-on-disk wear tests in different environments, viz, argon, 4% hydrogen in nitrogen, air and oxygen. The disk material was sinter-hot isostatically pressed, yttria-stabilized zirconia. Lower wear rates were found for the TiAl pins in oxygen-free environments, indicating that oxygen play a key role in the wear rate. In contrast, the presence of molecular hydrogen and moisture have nearly no effect. A combination of X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy indicated that the abrasive particles present mainly consisted of the zirconia. In addition, zirconia particles were embedded in the worn tips of the TiAl pins and mixed into the tribolayers. The high stress and high contact temperature at the wear surface made the zirconia disk undergo a phase transformation during the dry sliding wear, accompanied by grain pullout, surface uplifting and microcracking. The hard tribolayer with embedded zirconia particles provides some protection against further wear of the TiAl pin. The highly localized, repetitive shear stress during the wear tests may bring about amorphous TiAl in the wear debris. The main wear mechanisms were abrasive wear of two-body and three-body, some delamination and plastic deformation.

Traditional anaesthesia training is considered as a time-consuming task since trainees are required to go through an extended period of knowledge learning and practice their skill in the supervision of experienced anaesthetists. In this paper, a Computational Virtual Reality Environment for Anesthesia (CVREA) is proposed, which can significantly improve the training and learning performance of trainee anaesthetists in an efficient way. Virtual reality, big data, data mining and machine learning techniques will be explored and applied in this system. CVREA consists of two main parts: (1) an immersive and interactive VR-based training platform for anaesthetists. It allows trainees to hone their clinical skills in a virtual environment without placing risk to patients. (2) a knowledge learning system which records and collects clinical data with greater richness. Knowledge learning algorithms will be developed to explore these data in order to help data processing and facilitates knowledge discovery in anaesthesiology.

Aldo-keto reductase 1C3 (AKR1C3) is correlated with tumor development and chemotherapy resistance. The catalytic activity of the enzyme has been recognized as one of the important factors in inducing anthracycline (ANT) resistance in cancer cells. Inhibition of AKR1C3 activity may provide a promising approach to restore the chemosensitivity of ANT-resistant cancers. Herein, a series of biaryl-containing AKR1C3 inhibitors has been developed. The best analogue S07-1066selectively blocked AKR1C3-mediated reduction of doxorubicin (DOX) in MCF-7 transfected cell models. Furthermore, co-treatment of S07-1066significantly synergized DOX cytotoxicity and reversed the DOX resistance in MCF-7 cells overexpressing AKR1C3. The potential synergism of S07-1066over DOX cytotoxicity was demonstrated in vitroand in vivo. Our findings indicate that inhibition of AKR1C3 potentially enhances the therapeutic efficacy of ANTs and even suggests that AKR1C3 inhibitors may serve as effective adjuvants to overcome AKR1C3-mediated chemotherapy resistance in cancer treatment.

Background: Currently, there are relatively few studies on the effects of changes in oestrogen and androgen levels on prostatic microvessel density (MVD). This article aimed to study the changes in prostatic MVD in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats after castration under the effect of oestrogen/androgen at different concentrations. Methods: Male SD rats aged 3–4 months were randomly divided into a control group, a castration group, and groups with different concentrations of oestrogen/androgen treatment after castration. Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and oestradiol (E) were administered daily by subcutaneous injection for one month. All the rats were killed by cervical dislocation after one month, and the serum DHT and E concentrations of the rats in each group were measured by ELISA. Prostate tissue specimens were immunohistochemically stained with monoclonal antibodies against CD34 and factor VIII for MVD. Results: Compared with the control group, the MVD decreased significantly in the castration group (P&lt; 0.05). When the exogenous E concentration was constant, in general, the MVD of rats in all the groups increased with increasing exogenous DHT concentration. Compared with the castration group, the MVD increased significantly in the E0.05 + DHT0.015 mg/kg, E0.05 + DHT0.05 mg/kg, E0.05 + DHT0.15 mg/kg, E0.05 + DHT0.5 mg/kg, and E0.05 + DHT1.5 mg/kg groups (P&lt; 0.05). In addition, when the exogenous DHT concentration was constant, the MVD increased with increasing exogenous E concentration in all the groups. Among them, compared with the control and castration groups, the MVD increased significantly in the DHT0.15 + E0.015 mg/kg, DHT0.15 + E0.15 mg/kg, and DHT0.15 + E0.5 mg/kg groups (P&lt; 0.05). Conclusions: Androgens play an important role in the regulation of prostatic MVD in SD rats, and a decrease in DHT concentration can induce a decrease in prostatic MVD. In contrast, prostatic MVD can be increased with increasing DHT concentration. In addition, prostatic MVD can be increased gradually with increasing oestrogen concentration.

A 3D model-based food traceability system is proposed in this paper. It implements an information extraction method for processing video surveillance data. The first step of the proposed method is to build a 3D model of the target area. Based on the 3D models, cameras deployment in the surveillance system could be optimized with view coverage analysis. Then, we map the 2D views in video cameras into the coordinate system under the generated 3D models. Next, the deep learning based object identification method is selected to locate the interesting targets and their 3D coordinates are calculated based on the 3D model. Finally, multiple trajectories from different cameras are merged to create a complete traceability event for the target object. According to the experiment, the 3D models is useful to generate the unified traceability trajectories and the deep learning based method is efficient in extract the interesting objects from video surveillance system.

The internal flow of jet fan has been simulated using FLUENT software.By changing the length of exit duct and the angle of the exit cowl,a series of numerical simulation research has been done.The calculation results show that the length of exit duct and structure of exit cowl has obvious influence on jet fan aerodynamics performances and reasonable export structure can effectively improve jet fan aerodynamic performances.

Emphysema is a type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) usually leading to difficulty breathing. It is highly in need of effective interventions to prevent airspace damage and stretch. Herein, we studied the protective effect of 1,8-cineole (CIN) on porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE)-induced emphysema in mice via quantitative pulmonary administration. To overcome the volatility, instability and poor water solubility of CIN that limits its pharmacological activities in vivo, a hyaluronic acid (HA)-coated liposome was prepared to encapsulate CIN (Lipo/CIN@HA), which facilitated the delivery of CIN to lung tissue and improved its therapeutic effect for emphysema. A MicrosprayerⓇaerosolizer was used to deliver free CIN and its liposomal preparations every other day for four weeks and evaluate the therapeutic effects on emphysema in mice. The results clearly showed that CIN significantly reduced the level of inflammation and oxidative stress, resulting in less lung cell apoptosis. Compared with the free CIN and Lipo/CIN, Lipo/CIN@HA exhibited superior protective effects on mice to prevent the PPE-induced emphysema. Furthermore, the therapeutic mechanisms were verified to be mainly mediated by Nrf2/NQO1 and NF-κB/IκBα pathways. In conclusion, quantitative pulmonary administration of CIN could alleviate the progression of emphysema and the therapeutic effects were further improved by the HA-coated liposome carrier.

In order to meet the demands of the high precision and high speed, the interface design of TMS320C6713 and AD7679 is widely used in data acquisition system. In this paper, the interface design of TMS320C6713 and AD7679 is introduced, including the design of the interface circuit and the software design of the interface. The configuration of every register of McBSP is also expounded, including configuration method and specific function.

Jet fans are widely used in ventilation systems of road tunnels, railway tunnels and subways etc. It was demonstrated that the static pressure generated by jet fan impeller is merely useful for overcoming its own internal flow resistance and can not improve the ventilation state of tunnel. It was pointed out that in the aerodynamic design process, the static pressure of jet fan should be made as small as possible. The effective way to reduce static pressure produced by impeller is the rational design of jet fan passage components.

The parameterized drafting technology an database, which is used in diagram drafting of centrifugal fan, is introduced in this paper. The parameterized drafting system for main parts of centrifugal fan is developed by VBA under the circumstances of AutoCAD 2000. The paper introduced the realizing process of drafting principle and system function in detail.

The FAD3000/50 safety valve is researched that is newly developed by Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group Co.,Ltd with high water-based pressure ultra great current capacity. The mathematical model is fistly established according to the study of its structure and the practical system on hydraulic support. The simulation computation has carried under the MATLAB software, and this simulation model has confirmed through the test result. After a comparison of multiple sets of simulation results, the influence of primary structure parameter’s change in safety valve to dynamic characteristics is gived.

The paper develops a special CAD system for the centrifugal fan. The system can realize the automatic selection,aerodynamic design calculation,main parts parameterized drawing and other functions of the fan. It avoids the repetition of the manual labor and enhances the working efficiency and the cartography quality. On the base of the research on the selecting method and regularity of the main parameters of a large number of existing high performance centrifugal fans, the paper provides a new method, which determines the main geometric parameters of centrifugal impeller.

A number of existing centrifugal fans’ aerodynamic sketches and dimensionless characteristics are investigated and evaluated by means of statistical method. Based on the statistical data, the optimum curve of centrifugal fans is replenished and amended. The paper also puts forward the relation curve between exit width of blade and diametral quotient, and discusses its application in fans’ design and calculation.

C18‐functionalized magnetic microspheres synthesized in a three‐stage system and characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and SEM were applied for clean‐up and enrichment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil samples combined with ultrasonication extraction. Magnetic solid‐phase extraction (MSPE) parameters, such as elution solvents, amounts of sorbents, enrichment time and organic modifier, were optimized together with ultrasonication time and extraction solvents. Under the optimal conditions, the developed method provided spiked recoveries of 63.2–92.8% with RSDs of less than 6.4% and limits of detection were 0.5–1.0 ng/g. This new method provides several advantages, such as high extraction efficiency, convenient extraction procedure and short analysis times. Finally, the method was successfully applied to the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil samples.

N-glycosylation of the I-like domain of β1 integrin plays an essential role in integrin structure and function, and the altered sialylation of β1 integrin regulates β1 integrin binding to fibronectin. However, the structural basis underlying the effect of altered sialylation of the β1 I-like domain on β1 integrin binding to fibronectin remains largely unknown. In this study, we used a combination of molecular dynamics simulations and binding free energy analyses to investigate changes in binding thermodynamics and in conformation of the glycosylated β1 I-like domain-FN-III9-10complex caused by altered sialylation of the β1 I-like domain. Binding free energy analyses showed that desialylation of β1 I-like domain increased β1 integrin binding to fibronectin, consistent with experimental results. Interaction analyses showed that altered sialylation of the β1 I-like domain resulted in significant changes in the interaction of the N-glycans of the I-like domain with both the I-like domain and fibronectin, and these changes could directly affect the allosteric regulation of the interaction between the I-like domain and fibronectin. Altered sialylation of the β1 I-like domain caused significant conformational changes in key functional sites of both the β1 I-like domain and fibronectin. In addition, altered sialylation of the β1 I-like domain resulted in changes in the degree of correlated motions between residues in the I-like domain and residues in fibronectin, and in the degree of motion changes in fibronectin, which could affect β1 integrin binding to fibronectin. We believe results from this study provide thermodynamic and structural evidence for a role of altered sialylation of β1 integrin in regulating β1 integrin binding to fibronectin and it's induced cellular activities.

Electric two-wheeler (ETW) accidents are one of the most important types of traffic accidents in China. Currently, the China New Car Assessment Program (C-NCAP) has proposed test scenarios to evaluate the effectiveness of autonomous emergency braking (AEB) for ETWs, including several common typical crash scenarios, but other atypical scenarios have not been considered. To determine the performance of AEB in real accidents, 16 in-depth accident cases with typical scenarios and 11 cases with atypical scenarios were selected based on a proposed C-NCAP typical scenario set and reconstructed using the virtual simulation tools MADYMO and PC-Crash. The crashes were re-simulated with a car equipped with an AEB system while varying the sensor field of view (FOV), time-to-collision (TTC), sensor delay time (SDT), and lateral trigger width (W). The results show that for almost all combinations of AEB parameters, the crash avoidance rate was much higher in the typical scenario than that in the atypical scenario. When using an AEB with a FOV of 90° (±45°), all ETW accidents were avoided in typical scenarios, while even with the most efficient AEB system (FOV = ±60°, TTC trigger value = 1.5 s, SDT = 0.1 s), only 82% of crashes were avoided in atypical scenarios. Further considering the effect of lateral width, increasing the width from 2 to 5 m, the maximum avoidance rate of the AEB system increased by 43% in the typical scenarios and 18% in the atypical scenarios. The findings suggest that the typical AEB test scenarios proposed for C-NCAP were useful for other crash scenarios, but that including additional test scenarios may better reflect real world crash scenarios. It is recommended that atypical scenarios should be considered in C-NCAP, particularly perpendicular crash scenarios with the car or ETW turning, to better describe real accidents and improve vehicle safety.

Underlying kidney disease is an emerging risk factor for more severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) illness. We examined the clinical courses of critically ill COVID-19 patients with and without pre-existing chronic kidney disease (CKD) and investigated the association between the degree of underlying kidney disease and in-hospital outcomes.

Many US states published crisis standards of care (CSC) guidelines for allocating scarce critical care resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the performance of these guidelines in maximizing their population benefit has not been well tested. In 2,272 adults with COVID-19 requiring mechanical ventilation drawn from the Study of the Treatment and Outcomes in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19 (STOP-COVID) multicenter cohort, we test the following three approaches to CSC algorithms: Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores grouped into ranges, SOFA score ranges plus comorbidities, and a hypothetical approach using raw SOFA scores not grouped into ranges. We find that area under receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curves for all three algorithms demonstrate only modest discrimination for 28-day mortality. Adding comorbidity scoring modestly improves algorithm performance over SOFA scores alone. The algorithm incorporating comorbidities has modestly worse predictive performance for Black compared to white patients. CSC algorithms should be empirically examined to refine approaches to the allocation of scarce resources during pandemics and to avoid potential exacerbation of racial inequities.