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Spent nuclear fuel reprocessing is the key step of the nuclear fuel cycle. It also restricts the sustainable development of nuclear power. With the help of external neutron source in an accelerator driven advanced nuclear energy system(ADANES), spent nuclear fuel reprocessing only needs to remove some volatile fission products and neutron poisons, such as rare elements. Moreover, it is not necessary to separate the long-lived minor actinides Np, Am and Cm finely. These minor actinides can be refabricated as new nuclear fuels together with uranium dioxide for burn, transmutation, breeding, and power production in the accelerator driven advanced nuclear energy system. Based on this, our group proposed a technical route for spent nuclear fuel reprocessing and regeneration of accelerator driven advanced nuclear energy system, including high-temperature oxidation pulverization and volatilization, selective dissolution separation, and fuel regeneration. The recent research of our group is summarized, which has a great significance for implementation of accelerator driven advanced nuclear energy system.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac dysfunction accompanies acute ischemic stroke and affects the effective implementation of early rehabilitation interventions. There is a lack of reference hemodynamic data on cardiac function in the subacute phase of ischemic stroke. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to identify appropriate cardiac parameters for exercise training utilizing a pilot study. METHODS: We used a transthoracic electrical bioimpedance non-invasive cardiac output measurement (NICOM) device to monitor cardiac function in real time for two groups [i.e., subacute ischemic stroke inpatients group (n = 10) and healthy control group (n = 11)] using a cycling exercise experiment. The parameters of both groups were compared to highlight the cardiac dysfunction in the subacute phase in patients with ischemic stroke. RESULTS: We considered stroke volume index (SVI) and systemic vascular resistance index (SVRi) as the primary outcomes, and there was significant intragroup difference (stroke group: P < 0.001; control group: P < 0.001, using one-way ANOVA) and significant intergroup difference at each individual time segment (P < 0.01, using independent t -test). Among the secondary outcomes, i.e., cardiac index (CI), ejection fraction (EF), end-diastolic volume (EDV), and cardiac contraction index (CTI), we found significant intergroup differences in CI, EF, and CTI scores (P < 0.01, using independent t -test). Significant interaction with respect to time and group were seen only in the SVRi and CI scores (P < 0.01, using two-way ANOVA). There was no significant inter- or intra-group differences in EDV scores. CONCLUSION: SVRI, SVI, and CI values highlight cardiac dysfunction in stroke patients the most. At the same time, these parameters suggest that cardiac dysfunction in stroke patients may be closely related to the increased peripheral vascular resistance caused by infarction and the limitation of myocardial systolic function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Valve-induced flow characteristics were often concerned in many fluid transportation and control industries. In this paper, the eccentric jet-flow characteristics induced by a gate valve have been studied by considering the influence of valve opening regulation. The experimental setup of monitoring the downstream pressures along the pipeline was developed, and corresponding numerical simulation was employed. The downstream-monitoring pressure distribution caused by valve opening regulation was investigated to verify the flow simulation. The generation mechanism of eccentric jet-flow was revealed as a strong pressure gradient caused by the throttling effect at the valve throat. It was found that the eccentric jet-flow evolved in the pipeline was accompanied by shearing vortices, extremely under a small valve opening. The pressure and axial velocity distributions at various downstream cross-sections of the eccentric jet-flow evolving in the pipeline were analyzed. The axial velocities on four monitoring lines in downstream cross-sections were extracted, and the radial location of the maximum axial velocity was derived to assess the eccentric characteristics of jet-flow. A dimensionless parameter of velocity eccentric ratio was introduced to quantify the eccentric intensity of the evolving jet-flow in the downstream pipeline, and its correlation with the pipeline length could be adequately expressed by a natural decreasing exponential curve via fitting analysis. By virtue of that correlation, the critical pipeline length was proposed that can be used as the judgment to the terminal of the eccentric jet-flow evolving in the downstream pipeline. This study was helpful to characterize the valve-induced flow characteristics in scientific research and provide useful insight into fluid and mechanical engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate the effects and mechanism of curculigoside against poststroke depression (PSD)., Methods: In vivo, a PSD rat model was created by combining bilateral common carotid artery occlusion and chronic unpredictable mild stress stimulations. After 4-week modeling and intragastrically administration of curculigoside, the effects of curculigoside on behavior, hippocampal neurogenesis, and hippocampal mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) were investigated. In vitro, PSD-like primary neural stem cells (NSCs) model was established by oxygen-glucose deprivation/recovery (OGD/R) combing high-corticosterone (CORT) concentration, followed by treatment with curculigoside. The investigation subsequently examined the impact of curculigoside on mitochondrial OxPhos, proliferation, and differentiation of NSCs under OGD/R + CORT conditions., Key Findings: In vivo, PSD rats showed significantly depressive behaviors, dysfunctional neurogenesis in hippocampus, as well as decreased hippocampus adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels, reduced electron transport chain complexes activity, and downregulates mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) and PPAR-gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1α) expression in hippocampus. In vitro, OGD/R +CORT significantly injured the proliferation and differentiation, as well as impaired the mitochondrial OxPhos in NSCs. Curculigoside treatment was effective in improving these abnormal changes., Conclusion: Curculigoside may repair hippocampal neurogenesis in PSD rats by enhancing hippocampal mitochondrial OxPhos, and has shown a great potential for anti-PSD., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)