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To investigate the feasibility of integrating radiomics and morphological features based on computed tomography enterography (CTE) for developing a noninvasive grading model for mucosal activity and surgery risk of Crohn's disease (CD) patients. A total of 167 patients from three centers were enrolled. Radiomics and image morphological features were extracted to quantify segmental and global simple endoscopic score for Crohn's disease (SES-CD). An image-fusion-based support vector machine (SVM) classifier was used for grading SES-CD and identifying moderate-to-severe SES-CD. The performance of the predictive model was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). A multiparametric model was developed to predict surgical progression in CD patients by combining sum-image scores and clinical data. The AUC values of the multicategorical segmental SES-CD fusion radiomic model based on a combination of luminal and mesenteric radiomics were 0.828 and 0.709 in training and validation cohorts. The image fusion model integrating the fusion radiomics and morphological features could accurately distinguish bowel segments with moderate-to-severe SES-CD in both the training cohort (AUC = 0.847, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.784–0.902) and the validation cohort (AUC = 0.896, 95% CI: 0.812–0.960). A predictive nomogram for interval surgery was developed based on multivariable cox analysis. This study demonstrated the feasibility of integrating lumen and mesentery radiomic features to develop a promising noninvasive grading model for mucosal activity of CD. In combination with clinical data, the fusion-image score may yield an accurate prognostic model for time to surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying the main pollutants of non-point source pollution within the scope of small watersheds, carrying out load estimation, and probing its mechanism and characteristics can provide a basis for water quality control and management. The nutrient loss characteristics, load, and reduction rate of nutrients under different land use types were analyzed through the runoff plot monitoring experiment, and the non-point source pollution load in the watershed was further calculated. Results showed that the loss of nutrients in each runoff plot was farmland>grassland>orchard in each runoff plot. Under the same slope, the loss of nutrient performance was maize>sweet potato>grassland>orchard. Taking S12 as the control group, the best reduction rate was orchard>grassland >sweet potato>maize>peanut. In runoff plot, the pollutant concentration under a single rainfall increased first and then decreased with the rainfall time. The pollutant concentrations sharply increased with the increase in flow, then gradually decreased, and finally stabilized at the outlet of the small watershed under a single rainfall. At this time, the shallow nutrients on the surface were easy to scour into the river, resulting in the sharp rise of pollutants in the river. In 2020, the losses of ammonia nitrogen (NH 3 -N), nitrate nitrogen (NO 3 -N), total nitrogen (TN), orthophosphate (SRP), and total phosphorus (TP) in the basin were 41.77, 296.93, 494.51, 33.87, and 44.03 kg/km2, respectively. TN and TP were the primary nutrients in this area. The research results can provide a reference for the study of non-point source pollution in similar areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• It is demonstrated that the pilot directional protection based on traveling waves amplitude comparison may fail to trip in flexible DC transmission lines. • Taking into account the impact of subsequent traveling waves, the amplitude of the forward traveling wave can exceed that of the backward traveling wave. • In contrast to amplitude-based protection, the proposed protection method offers superior sensitivity and reliability when detecting internal faults. Furthermore, it can be effectively employed in a diverse range of fault scenarios. • The reflection relation of traveling waves at the line boundary is further analyzed, expanding the fault traveling waves analysis and facilitating the protection principle design. The pilot directional protection based on amplitude comparison of the traveling wave (TW) has good performance in flexible DC transmission systems. However, this type of protection may fail to detect internal line faults correctly, as the amplitude of the forward voltage TW may be greater than that of the backward voltage TW in some fault cases. To address this issue, a novel pilot protection method based on the difference of fault TWs has been proposed. The proposed method fully considers the polarity of backward voltage TW and current TW. By utilizing the electrical quantity relationship at the line boundary, the difference between the two TWs mentioned above is transformed into the difference between the forward and backward voltage TWs. In this way, a conclusion is drawn that the absolute value of the integral ratio of forward and backward voltage TWs is less than 1 in the case of forward faults, and much greater than 1 when reverse faults occur. Therefore, a reliable directional identification criterion based on the forward and backward voltage TWs has been developed. Hardware-in-the-loop experiments and test results showcase that the proposed protection method has higher sensitivity and reliability for line faults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although glucagon-like peptide 1 levels have been closely associated with inflammation and mortality in septic patients, the clinical importance of glucagon-like peptide 1 on hospital-acquired infections and long-term mortality after burn injury remains unexplored. Plasma samples from 144 burn patients were collected on admission to determine total glucagon-like peptide 1, interleukin 6, and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 levels. Hospital-acquired infections were determined by positive microbial culture. One-year mortality was assessed by telephone interview. Factors associated with glucagon-like peptide 1 were determined by multivariable linear logistic regression. Predicting the clinical importance of glucagon-like peptide 1 on the development of hospital-acquired infections and mortality were determined by Cox proportional hazards models and further by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Kaplan-Meier analyses were performed to examine whether the mean glucagon-like peptide 1 level of the cohort could discriminate the hospital-acquired infections-free survival. Median burn size was 41% (19%−70%) of total body surface area. Hospital-acquired infections developed in 36 (25%) patients after a mean of 10 ± 1 days after injury. Interleukin 6, monocyte chemotactic protein-1, and blood urea nitrogen levels and thrombin time were independently associated with increased glucagon-like peptide 1 levels. Levels of glucagon-like peptide 1 (median, interquartile range) were greater in patients who developed hospital-acquired infections than in those who did not (237 pmol/L, 76−524 vs 80 pmol/L, 51−158; P <.001) and in patients who died (536 pmol/L, interquartile range: 336−891 pmol vs 98 pmol/L, 47−189; P <.001). Although the glucagon-like peptide 1 level could not predict hospital-acquired infections-free survival in individual patients, it could predict 1-year mortality independently (P =.021). Moreover, a glucagon-like peptide 1 level of 200 pmol/L could discriminate hospital-acquired infections-free survival (P <.001). Admission glucagon-like peptide 1 level can discriminate hospital-acquired infections-free survival and predict long-term mortality in a group of patients with burn injury. Our data suggests that glucagon-like peptide 1 may be a predictive biomarker for hospital-acquired infections and mortality in burn patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To observe the dynamic impacts of shock waves on the severity of lung injury in rats with different injury distances. Simulate open-field shock waves; detect the biomechanical effects of explosion sources at distances of 40, 44, and 48 cm from rats; and examine the changes in the gross anatomy of the lungs, lung wet/dry weight ratio, hemoglobin concentration, blood gas analysis, and pathology. Biomechanical parameters such as the overpressure peak and impulse were gradually attenuated with an increase in the injury distance. The lung tissue hemorrhage, edema, oxygenation index, and pathology changed more significantly for the 40 cm group than for the 44 and 48 cm groups. The overpressure peak and impulse were significantly higher for the 40 cm group than for the 44 and 48 cm groups (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The animal mortality was significantly higher for the 40 cm group than for the other two groups (41.2% vs. 17.8% and 10.0%, P < 0.05). The healing time of injured lung tissues for the 40 cm group was longer than those for the 44 and 48 cm groups. The effects of simulated open-field shock waves on the severity of lung injuries in rats were correlated with the injury distances, the peak overpressure, and the overpressure impulse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A universal multiple AAS scheme is given for different arc extinguishing situations, effectively reducing the arc dissociation time. Compared with other fault reclosing, the proposed reclosing reduces the outage time by up to 30% and speeds up the NPF fault recovery. • By controlling the insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) of the current commutation path in the DCCB, the input and output states of the ground switch (GS) can be changed without additional equipment. • The proposed reclosing is independent of the MMC-HVDC topology and can be used with traditional and other adaptive reclosing to improve reclosing speed and reliability under various faults. DC fault arcs continue to burn for a certain period under line residual energy (LRE) excitation, and existing DC fault reclosing has to wait for the DC arc to extinguish, resulting in a slow system recovery due to the long arc dissociation time. To address this problem, adaptive reclosing with active arc suppression (AAS) is proposed to speed up fault recovery. Firstly, a strategy is given for coordinating DC circuit breakers to quickly control the ground switch (GS) to switch between input and output states. Secondly, the positive effect of GS changing the line endpoint characteristics to achieve the AAS function on reducing the LRE content is revealed. In addition, a multiple AAS coordination method is given for different DC arc extinguishing speeds. Further, after each AAS, the voltage difference between permanent and non-permanent faults is mapped using the Pearson correlation coefficient to determine non-permanent faults. Compared with other typical reclosing, the proposed adaptive reclosing can actively shorten the arc dissociation time, reduce the power outage time to 13.5%–30%, which effectively improves the successful probability of fault reclosing, and prevents the MMC from restarting under non-permanent fault. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale wind farms are usually integrated into the transmission system. Applying traditional steady-state power-frequency based protection strategies in these transmission lines creates challenges such as: (1) the fault current of the wind farm might be dominated by non-power-frequency components caused by the activation of their own protection systems during fault ride through (FRT). The frequency of the dominant component is determined by the rotor speed at the fault inception and might vary from 0.7 to 1.3 times the power frequency. This will create errors in phasors calculated at the power-frequency. (2) The steady-state fault current angles of wind farms are fully controlled by their power converters. The variety of control actions of the different converters during FRT makes these phase angles greatly deviate from those of the synchronous generators. Protection systems that use double-ended phasors such as current differential schemes will suffer from low sensitivity or even malfunction when large-scale wind farms are integrated. Therefore, a novel full-time transient current waveform similarity based protection scheme is proposed to deal with these issues. The full-time current protection scheme uses both the power-frequency and non-power-frequency characteristics and can therefore reduce the influence of power-frequency phasor calculation errors to a minimum. The proposed method uses the transient current (within 10 ms after the fault inception) and is ignores the features of the steady-state fault current. In other words, the proposed protection is suitable for wind farms with a variety of controls. In the proposed method, the correlation coefficient index is used to calculate the similarity of the transient current signals at both ends of the line. Both experimental and field testing results show that using a common sampling frequency, the proposed protection scheme only uses current information and can correctly identify all types of external and internal line faults in a short period of time and can offer better performance for high fault resistance and noise, both for different types of wind farms. All these features and contributions make the new protection feasible for industry application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is a mental illness comorbid risk factor for glucose intolerance worldwide. Chaihu-shugan san, a ‘Shu-Gan’ formula in traditional Chinese medicine, is clinically used in the treatment of depression. The aim of this study was to investigate whether Chaihu-shugan san improved glucose tolerance with its antidepressant activity in rat model of depression and explore the mechanisms underlying its action on liver-brain inflammation axis. After 6 weeks of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) procedure, male Wistar rats were given Chaihu-shugan san water extract (925 and 1850 mg/kg) by gavage for the next 6 consecutive weeks. Sucrose consumption test was used to assess animal depressive-like behaviors. Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was employed to define the status of glucose tolerance in rats. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) were measured by commercial kits, respectively. Western blot was used to detect the expression of key proteins in inflammatory signaling cascades including toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), myeloid differentiation protein 88 (MyD88), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), Nod-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3), apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing CARD (ASC), cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase-1 (Caspase-1) and IL-1β, as well as insulin signaling in liver and prefrontal cortex of rats. Immunohistochemical staining or immunofluorescence staining of NF-κB, and nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio of NF-κB by Western blot were used to describe its nuclear entry in liver and prefrontal cortex of rats. RT-qPCR and Western blot analysis, as well as microRNA-155 (miR-155) mimic or inhibitor transfection were used to explore possible association of MyD88 and miR-155. In this study, Chaihu-shugan san increased sucrose consumption and reduced serum glucose levels in CUMS rats, showing its antidepressant activity with glucose tolerance improvement. Chaihu-shugan san reduced serum levels of ALT and IL-1β in this animal model. Furthermore, this formula inhibited hepatic and prefrontal cortical inflammatory response by suppressing TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB pathway and NLRP3 inflammasome activation, and improved insulin signaling in CUMS rats. More importantly, Chaihu-shugan san up-regulated miR-155 expression in liver and prefrontal cortex of CUMS rats. These results provide direct evidence that Chaihushugan San can ameliorate depressive-like behaviors by inhibiting liver-brain inflammation axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale photovoltaic (PV) power plants contain numerous transmission line branches and laterals inside. When a fault occurs conventional fault location methods face challenges due to the complex system structure and the diversity of PV inverter controls. Most of the published fault location methods cannot be directly used in the PV power plant due to the following issues: (1) Most of the fault location methods consider the PV inverter as a constant voltage source while the actual inverters have varied controls during faults. Without analysis of the unique fault transients of the PV, the fault location will suffer from errors. (2) In a complicated large-scale PV power plant with massive quantity of nodes, the synchronised measurements from all the nodes are almost impossible. A method with sparse un-synchronized measurements is required. Therefore, a new negative-sequence voltage amplitude sparse measurement based fault location method is proposed for unbalanced faults. The improved Bayesian compressive sensing algorithm is used to recover the sparse fault current vector and then determine the faulted node. Both the field testing and the simulation results indicate that the proposed method can locate the faulted nodes accurately and effectively without synchronizing measurement requirements from all the nodes. This method also presents a good performance for various unbalanced fault types, fault resistances, inverter controls and signal noise. All these factors make the propose method feasible for industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent findings found that TiO 2 nanoparticles (TiO 2 -NPs) have male reproductive toxicity. However, few reports have studied the toxicity of TiO 2 -NPs in crustaceans. In this study, we first chose the freshwater crustacean Eriocheir sinensis (E. sinensis) to explore the male toxicity of TiO 2 -NP exposure and the underlying mechanisms. Three nm and 25 nm TiO 2 -NPs at a dose of 30 mg/kg bw induced apoptosis and damaged the integrity of the haemolymph-testis-barrier (HTB, a structure similar to the blood-testis-barrier) and the structure of the seminiferous tubule. The 3-nm TiO 2 -NPs caused more severe spermatogenesis dysfunction than the 25-nm TiO 2 -NPs. We initially confirmed that TiO 2 -NP exposure affected the expression patterns of adherens junctions (α-catenin and β-catenin) and induced tubulin disorganization in the testis of E. sinensis. TiO 2 -NP exposure caused reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and an imbalance of mTORC1-mTORC2 (mTORC1/rps6/Akt levels were increased, while mTORC2 activity was not changed). After using the ROS scavenger NAC to inhibit ROS generation, both the mTORC1-mTORC2 imbalance and alterations in AJs were rescued. More importantly, the mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin abolished mTORC1/rps6/Akt hyperactivation and partially restored the alterations in AJs and tubulin. Collectively, the mTORC1-mTORC2 imbalance induced by TiO 2 -NPs was involved in the mechanism of AJ and HTB disruption, resulting in spermatogenesis in E. sinensis. [Display omitted] • Exposure to TiO 2 -NPs disrupted the haemolymph-testis-barrier. • Exposure to TiO 2 -NPs changed the expression patterns of adhesion junctions. • ROS were the initiating factor of AJ and HTB impairment. • The mTORC1/rps6/Akt cascade signalling involved in AJ and HTB disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• It is demonstrated that the difference of short-circuit current characteristics between renewable energy sources and synchronous generators. • The pilot protection based on Canberra distance is less affected by short-circuit current amplitude and abnormal data, and has good applicability in scenarios with the weak output of renewable energy sources. • The protection based on waveform differential breaks through the limitation of power frequency and solves the problems faced by traditional differential protection. Affected by the control objectives of the inverter, the short-circuit characteristics of renewable energy sources are quite different from those of traditional synchronous generators. As a result, the performance of traditional protection is degraded, and may lead to mis-operation and rejection, posing hazards for the safety of the power grid. In this research, the fault characteristics of renewable energy sources and traditional synchronous generators are analyzed and compared. Then, according to the difference between the fault transient current waveforms of two power sources, a pilot protection principle based on Canberra distance is proposed. Considering the phase angle error and amplitude error during normal operation, the protection constant is theoretically set to 0.35. Simulations and field experiments show that the protection principle reliably distinguishes the faults inside and outside the zone in different scenarios. The protection is less affected by short-circuit current amplitude and abnormal data, because the numerator of Canberra distance signifies the difference between the transient current waveforms and denominator normalizes the difference. In addition, the Canberra distance is 1 when the output of renewable energy sources is 0, so the proposed protection is also applicable to the scenario where the renewable energy sources output is 0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance Banxia-houpu decoction is a famous formula in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with the powerful anti-depressant activity. Aim of the study This study aimed to investigate the effect of Banxia-houpu decoction on glucose intolerance associated with anhedonia in chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) rats, then to explore its underlying pharmacological mechanisms. Materials and methods After 6-week CUMS procedure, male Wistar rats were given Banxia-houpu decoction (3.29 and 6.58 g/kg, intragastrically) for 6 weeks. Sucrose solution consumption test was employed to evaluate the anhedonia behavior. Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was used to determine glucose tolerance. Serum levels of corticosterone, corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), insulin and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) were measured by commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits, respectively. Furthermore, the key proteins for insulin signaling, as well as nod-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, were analyzed by Western blot in periphery liver and brain regions hypothalamus, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, respectively. Results Banxia-houpu decoction significantly increased sucrose solution consumption and decreased serum corticosterone and CRF levels in CUMS rats, further demonstrating its antidepressant activity. More importantly, Banxia-houpu decoction improved glucose tolerance in OGTT in this animal model. Furthermore, it protected against CUMS-induced insulin signaling impairment in the liver, as well as hypothalamus and prefrontal cortex in rats. Although without significant effect on serum IL-1β levels, Banxia-houpu decoction inhibited NLRP3 inflammasome activation in the liver, hypothalamus, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of CUMS rats, respectively. Conclusions The present study demonstrates that Banxia-houpu decoction suppresses NLRP3 inflammasome activation and improves insulin signaling impairment in both periphery liver and brain regions in CUMS rats, possibly contributing to its anti-depressive effect with glucose tolerance improvement. These results may provide the evidence that Banxia-houpu decoction is a potential antidepressant with the advantage to reduce the risk of comorbid depression with type 2 diabetes mellitus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the role of the coherent displacements in the entanglement and the quantum teleportation when PS-TMSCs considered as an entangled resource. We find that the scheme of asymmetric photon-subtraction operation and the displacement parameters involving in the two-mode squeezed coherent state (TMSCs) will decrease the EPR correlation and the fidelity of the coherent teleportation. While the EPR correlation and the fidelity of the coherent teleportation can be effectively enhanced by the symmetric photon subtraction. In addition, the improvement increases with the number of the symmetric operations in small-squeezing regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of liquefaction resistance and fabric anisotropy simulation capability in constitutive models on site level seismic response analysis is analyzed through a series of numerical dynamic simulations of a sloping liquefiable ground model. A constitutive model that incorporates enhanced liquefaction resistance and fabric anisotropy simulation capabilities into the original unified plasticity model for large post-liquefaction deformation of sand (CycLiq) model is proposed. With a single set of parameters, the modified model is able to successfully simulate undrained cyclic tests on the same sand under different void ratios, cyclic stress ratios, and both symmetrical and asymmetrical loading. Using the model to simulate the seismic response of sloping liquefiable ground, it is shown that liquefaction resistance and fabric anisotropy depiction at the element level have a pronounced influence on site level seismic response. The modified and original models can yield distinctly different displacement, pore pressure, and acceleration results under certain peak ground acceleration values, due to different liquefaction resistance formulations. The incorporation of fabric anisotropy can also significantly affect the response of the sloping ground, with the initial fabric state being an important factor of influence. Under seismic loading, fabric anisotropy within the slope can evolve as the soil deforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic fluorescent materials have been widely used in various fields including visualization of latent fingerprints and imaging of lysosomes. High-performance organic fluorescent molecules based on simple molecular structures are still limited and highly demanded for high-definition and high-contrast imaging of latent fingerprints and lysosomes. In this work, two organic fluorescent molecules (DANPAN and DANBEN) were developed based on dimethylamino naphthalenyl phenylethene structure. These two molecules have quite different fluorescent properties, and the position of cyano group significantly affects the optical properties of these dimethylamino naphthalenyl phenylethene derivatives. Compound DANPAN shows strong yellow emission in solid state, while compound DANBEN has strong fluorescent emission in organic solutions. In addition to these differences, both compounds have large Stokes shifts and positive solvatochromic properties. Further studies showed that these compounds could be used to display latent fingerprints on various substrate surfaces. The obtained fingerprint images have excellent contrast and high resolution. It is also found that these molecules could specifically stain lysosomes in living cell within short incubation time. This work provides a series of new high-performance organic fluorescent materials with diverse applications. Highly emissive dimethylamino naphthalenyl phenylethene derivatives have been synthesized, which show large Stokes shifts and positive solvatochromic properties. These compounds could be applied for visualization of latent fingerprints and specific localization of lysosomes in living cell imaging. [Display omitted] • Two dimethylamino naphthalenyl phenylethene derivatives are synthesized. • These molecules show large Stokes shifts and positive solvatochromic properties. • These compounds could be applied for visualization of latent fingerprints on various substrate surfaces. • These molecules could be used for specific localization of lysosomes in living cell imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Neutrophil elastase (NE) takes part in the pathogenesis of acute lung injury. However, its role in lung injury of burn-blast combined injury is unclear. Our objective was to assess the role of NE, and effect of sivelestat, a specific NE inhibitor, in lung injury induced by burn-blast combined injury in rats. METHODS: One hundred and sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly subjected to burn-blast combined injury (BB) group, burn-blast combined injury plus sivelestat treatment (S) group or control (C) group. Blood gas, protein concentration and NE activity in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), pulmonary myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, serum concentrations of TNF-[alpha] and IL-8, etc. were investigated from 0h to 7d post-injury. RESULTS: In BB group, PaO2 decreased, while NE activity in BALF, total protein concentration in BALF, pulmonary MPO activity and W/D ratio, serum concentrations of TNF-[alpha] and IL-8 increased with neutrophil infiltration, progressive bleeding and pulmonary oedema. Compared with BB group, sivelestat treatment decreased the NE activity and ameliorated the above indexes. CONCLUSION: Sivelestat, exerts a protective effect in lung injury after burn-blast combined injury through inhibiting NE activity to decrease pulmonary vascular permeability, neutrophil sequestration, and production of TNF-[alpha] and IL-8. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: An algorithm for frequency offset estimation and symbol timing based on correlation matrix was given to reduce ISI and ICI of OFDM system. The algorithm got the fractional frequency offset by minimizing the off-diagonal elements and got the integral frequency offset by sizing the diagonal elements. The estimation of symbol timing based on maximized the function by sliding the FFT window. Simulation results show that the algorithm has high estimate precision and large range. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Hyperglycemia with insulin resistance is commonly seen in severely burned patients and tight glycemia control with insulin may be beneficial in this condition. The most potent insulinotropic hormone, gucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), stimulates insulin secretion in a glucose-dependent manner. Because infusion of GLP-1 never reduces glucose levels to below ∼70 mg/dL, the risk of hypoglycemia by using insulin is reduced. In this study we investigated the metabolic effects of GLP-1 infusion after burn injury in an animal model. Methods: Male CD rats were divided in 3 groups: burn injury with saline, burn injury with GLP-1 treatment, and sham burn (SB). Burn injury was full thickness 40% total body surface area. The burn injury with GLP-1 treatment group received GLP-1 infusion via osmotic pump. Fasting blood glucose, plasma insulin, and plasma GLP-1 levels were measured during intraperitoneal glucose tolerance tests. Expressions of caspase 3 and bcl-2 were evaluated in pancreatic islets. In a subset of animals, protein metabolism and total energy expenditure were measured. Results: Fasting GLP-1 was reduced in burn injury with saline compared to SB or burn injury with GLP-1 treatment. Burn injury with GLP-1 treatment showed reduced fasting blood glucose, improved intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test results, with increased plasma insulin and GLP-1 responses to glucose. GLP-1 reduced protein breakdown and total energy expenditure in burn injury with GLP-1 treatment versus burn injury with saline, with improved protein balance. Increased expression of caspase 3 and decreased expression of bcl-2 in islet cells by burn injury were ameliorated by GLP-1. Conclusion: Burn injury reduced plasma GLP-1 in association with insulin resistance. GLP-1 infusion improved glucose tolerance and showed anabolic effects on protein metabolism and reduced total energy expenditure after burn injury, possibly via insulinotropic and non insulinotropic mechanisms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A realistic model is very useful in laying the foundation for clinical treatment and further study of high-voltage electrical burns. We therefore established a soft-tissue-injury model of high-voltage electrical burn in rabbits using the highest voltage alternating current reported. Twenty-five healthy big-ear white rabbits were randomly divided into five groups (five in each group): control group (C group) before injury and 0.5-h, 24-h, 48-h and 72-h groups after injury. Except for the control group, the rabbits in the other four groups were anaesthetised with ketamine and the electrodes were placed in their left limbs. Electric shock was administered from a distance of 7cm at 3000V output voltage for 0.1s to observe the skin temperature, electric resistance, wound morphology, histological change and to measure the level of muscle viability and serum myocardial enzymes, among others. Instant current application reached 3–5A (mean: 4.1±0.8A), and electric shock voltage was fixed at 3000V. The resistance between the two electrodes in the left limb decreased from between 1500 and 3600Ω (mean: 2590.3±812.9Ω) to 921.5±528.7Ω after the electric shock. The skin temperature of the control group was 30.1±2.5°C, which elevated to 50.3±4.5°C after the electric shock. Muscle necrosis occurred progressively 24–72h after the injury with obvious acute inflammation. Electron microscopic examination revealed a bilaminar sarolemma membrane structure, multiple mitochondria between muscle bundles and disappearance of shortened mitochondrial crista 48h after injury. Additionally, the muscle viability index decreased gradually to 0.376±0.071 72h after the injury, while in the control group it was 1.354±0.117. The skin, arterial walls, and peripheral nerves showed obvious degeneration and necrosis. Moreover, pathological changes were found in vital organs distal to the electric shock sites, such as the heart, liver, lung and kidney, indicating systemic injuries. The level of serum myocardial enzymes was significantly elevated, especially 24h after injury. Thus, electric shock at 3000V output electric voltage for 0.1s can cause severe, focal, soft-tissue injury and pathological changes in the vital organs such as heart, liver, kidney and lung with the characteristics similar to those of high-voltage-electrical-burn patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, inflammatory disorders and immune dysfunction cause high morbidity and mortality in patients with severe trauma, burn injuries, or sepsis. Many studies have shown that intensive insulin therapy can combat insulin resistance, decrease blood glucose levels, and induce anabolic processes, thus, decreasing morbidity and mortality. Moreover, in recent years, it has been proven that insulin can attenuate systemic inflammatory responses and modulate the proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation and immune functions of certain immune cells, especially monocytes/macrophages, neutrophils, and T cells associated with severe trauma, burn injury, or sepsis. This effect of insulin may expand our understanding of intensive insulin therapy in critically ill patients. This review attempts to summarize studies on the modulatory effects and mechanisms of insulin therapy on systemic inflammation and immune cells in severe trauma, burn injury and sepsis, and further propose some questions for future studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In our previous study, we used composite grafts consisting of meshed porcine acellular dermal matrix (PADM) and thin split-thickness autologous epidermis to cover full thickness burn wounds in clinical practice. However, a certain degree of contraction might occur because the distribution of dermal matrix was not uniform in burn wound. In this study, we prepare a composite skin graft consisting of PADM with the aid of laser to improve the quality of healing of burn wound. Methods: PADM was prepared by the trypsin/Triton X-100 method. Micropores were produced on the PADM with a laser punch. The distance between micropores varied from 0.8, 1.0, 1.2 to 1.5mm. Full thickness defect wounds were created on the back of 144 SD rats. The rats were randomly divided into six groups: micropore groups I–IV in which the wound were grafted with PADM with micropores, in four different distances, respectively and split-thickness autograft; mesh group rats received meshed PADM graft and split-thickness autograft; control group received simple split-thickness autografting. The status of wound healing was histologically observed at regular time points after surgery. The wound healing rate and contraction rate were calculated. Results: The wound healing rate in micropore groups I and II was not statistically different from that in control group, but was significantly higher than that in mesh group 6 weeks after grafting. The wound healing rate in micropore groups III and IV was lower than that in mesh and control groups 4 and 6 weeks after grafting. The wound contraction rate in micropore groups I and II was remarkably lower than that in control group 4 and 6 weeks after surgery and it was significantly much lower than that in mesh group 6 weeks after surgery. Histological examination revealed good epithelization, regularly arranged collagenous fibers and integral structure of basement membrane. Conclusion: Laser micropore PADM (0.8 or 1.0mm in distance) grafting in combination with split-thickness autografting can improve wound healing. The PADM with laser micropores in 1.0mm distance is the better choice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The complex and time-consuming character of the current methods to synthesize cuprous catalysts hampers use of such compounds as replacements for noble metal catalysts for the degradation of organic pollutants. Herein, we report on the development of a simple one-pot method for synthesis of Cu 2 O/Cu nanoparticles. The method was comprised of adding benzyl alcohol during the process of nanoparticle synthesis, where the amount of benzyl alcohol used determined the content of Cu in the obtained nanoparticles. A thorough physicochemical characterization was carried out for the synthesized nanoparticles, where it was found that they could act as catalysts for ultra-fast degradation of phenolics and dyes. Thus, their catalytic activity for the degradation of 4-nitrophenol, methyl orange, and Congo red were evaluated, where pseudo-first-order kinetics were observed. The percentage degradation and rate constant (k app) values were, respectively, 98% (in 60 s) and k app = 61.23 × 10−3 s−1 for 4-nitrophenol, 96% (in 100 s) and k app = 31.5 × 10−3 s−1 for methyl orange, and 97% (in 100 s) and k app = 35.5 × 10−3 s−1 for Congo red. Comparisons with previously reported cuprous catalysts for degradation of these compounds revealed that the Cu 2 O/Cu nanoparticles of the present paper exhibited the fastest degradation rates. [Display omitted] • One-pot method to synthesize Cu 2 O/Cu catalysts by introducing benzyl alcohol. • Cu 2 O/Cu catalysts facilitates the degradation of phenolics and dyes. • Degradation of pollutants within minutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• It is demonstrated that the high-frequency fault component circuit is immune to the states of the converter switches. • The relationship between the fault distance and resonance current is derived by analyzing the faulted high frequency network. • The proposed method does not require a high sampling frequency and additional injection source. • The proposed method can perform well when considering the distributed capacitance, fault resistance, and measurement noise. Photovoltaic (PV) power DC integration systems can be applied in remote areas in which conventional AC cable integration is inhibited by PV collection and transmission distance. However, unpredictable DC fault transients create challenges for traditional fault location methods. To address this issue, a high-frequency resonance estimation based fault location technique is proposed in this paper. Series resonance is generated by discharging the DC capacitor through a current-limiting reactor, which weakens the attenuation of high-frequency signals at the line boundary. The relationship between resonance current and fault distance can then be obtained by analyzing the fault current loop, which is immune to the states of the converter. Compared with the traditional fault location method, the proposed method does not require additional high-frequency injection sources and very high sampling frequency. A flexible DC photovoltaic integration system is also built in PSCAD/EMTDC and the simulation results verify the accuracy of the proposed location method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• During a DC fault, the transient procedure of the VSC converter is analyzed in detail. • The limitation of current feeding rate from the AC side of each sub-stage is calculated. • Two time boundaries are derived to help analyze the commutation of the internal bridge arms. • The switching and commutation information of the converter itself is used to partition the DC faults. Two-level voltage source converters (VSC) have been widely used in energy conversion and transmission but they are vulnerable to the high discharge current from the DC-linked capacitor when the DC faults occurs. Previous studies have divided the DC fault process into three stages. The capacitor discharge stage (first stage) and the fault steady-state (final stage) are relatively simple and have been analyzed in detail. In contrast, the transition between these stages, i.e., the uncontrolled rectification stage, exhibits an extremely complex transient current feeding process when a DC fault occurs due to the unilateral conductivity of the internal power electronic devices and charge/discharge characteristics of the internal energy storage components. However, the switching characteristics of the converter in this stage have not been investigated to date. This study focuses on the analysis of the transient current feeding process of the uncontrolled rectification stage. Two time-boundaries of the commutation are defined based on the calculation of the limit of the current feeding rate and the effects of different fault distances on the transient switching performance of the converter are investigated. It is demonstrated that it is relatively easy to divide the DC line into three partitions by using the converter's switching information instead of measuring the line's electrical quantities; this provides a basis for developing DC protection. In the simulation analysis of the proposed method, a range of fault distances and initial feeding angles are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Proposal has fast operation speed and high reliability to recognize the faulty zone. • Proposal is not affected by noise, transient impedance and distributed capacitance. • DC/DC converter is improved to have fault current control capability. • Utilization of additional injection equipment and DC breaker is avoided. A flexible DC collection system for a photovoltaic (PV) power plant contains a large number of feeders. When fault occurs, the fault current rapidly increases, causing electronic devices to block to protect themselves. This blockage presents a challenge to the protection because of extremely short data windows. To address this difficulty, a protective method based on active control is proposed. The fault current control principle is analyzed and derived so that DC/DC converters can provide a low-amplitude and controllable post-fault stable current signal. The system protection algorithm is designed based on identifying the direction of the generated current signal. Simulation results indicate that the fault section is accurately distinguished and that the proposed method performs efficiently against transition resistance and noise. A highly reliable and complete protective action can be completed within 5 ms after a fault occurs, with grounding impedance, noise, and distributed capacitance considered. The proposed approach provides a solution for future DC system protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • MSRM markedly outperforms the NHP model in strong earthquake forecasting in Yunnan. • Strong earthquakes are likely to occur at locations with high seismicity in Yunnan. • Southeastern Yunnan has potential long-term risks of strong earthquakes in future. Abstract The long-term seismic activity in the Yunnan region has attracted much attention due to frequent occurrences of disastrous earthquakes. We investigated the seismicity of the Yunnan region using the multidimensional stress release model (MSRM) to evaluate the long-term seismic hazard. MSRM combines three factors that affect earthquake occurrence, i.e., initial stress background, tectonic loading, and coseismic stress transfer, and can simulate and forecast the spatiotemporal seismicity. In this study, a complete catalog comprising 28 strong earthquakes (M ≥ 6.5) after 1900 in the Yunnan region was investigated using MSRM. We calculated the spatiotemporal variations of seismicity rates, and found that strong earthquakes occur at locations with higher seismic activity. Comparisons between the seismicity rates at the epicenter locations immediately before and after strong earthquakes show that the seismicity rates in the vicinity of the epicenters significantly decrease after strong earthquakes. The estimated seismicity rates at the ending time (January 1, 2025) suggest that strong earthquake potential in the section between Kunming and Huaning of the Xiaojiang fault and the northeastern section of the Lijiang-Xiaojinhe fault should receive more attention, while the seismicity in the southwestern part decreases and the seismicity in the middle segment of the Red River fault remains low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few-shot learning is a special challenge in pattern recognition, which identifies unseen categories given only limited samples. In the past few years, various methods have been proposed to solve few-shot problems. Based on the predecessors, we discuss the prior influence of the training set bring into the model, the relationship between data quality and feature performance, as well as the method and reason to expand negative samples. We consequently improve the models and learning strategies in these aspects, then we obtain a novel framework named AFSL: Adaptive Few-Shot Learning, which can eliminate the impact of data sets on the model, and also performs well on several public datasets. Specifically, we achieved a percentage increase of verification accuracy of 7.8% and 1.5% for 1-shot and 5-shots tasks comparing to prototype network on mini-Imagenet dataset, 9.8% and 2.4% on tiered-Imagenet, and 28.4% and 14.0% on the CUB dataset. • Training data will bring serious bias information to classification results. • The image quality of sample is positively correlated with its feature's normalization. • An adaptive approach should be used to balance the effects of samples. • More negative samples can help to compress the within class distance, to enhance the discriminative capability of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Analysis for underground structure in liquefiable sand with vertical motion. • Vertical ground motion increases underground structure column axial force. • Aboveground structure amplifies the influence of vertical input motion. • Relative position of the structures affects underground structure response. Vertical ground motion components are often observed during earthquakes, which could affect the seismic performance of underground structures. This study investigates the influence of vertical ground motion on the seismic response of underground structures and underground-aboveground structure systems (UASS) in liquefiable ground. Both centrifuge shaking table tests and numerical simulations are conducted. The centrifuge shaking table tests provide basic insights into the seismic response of underground structures under simultaneous horizontal and vertical shaking, and also serve to validate the numerical simulation method. Numerical simulations are conducted using solid–fluid coupled FEM with a constitutive model for soil liquefaction analysis. The analysis results show that although the influence of vertical ground motion on the shearing related motions and internal forces of underground structures is limited, its influence on the axial force of the structure is significant, especially for the center column. The inertia effect of the aboveground structure in UASS can amplify the influence of vertical ground motion via structure-soil-structure interaction. For UASS, the horizontal and vertical relative positions of the aboveground structure and the underground structure also affect the influence of vertical ground motion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals with social anxiety often exhibit atypical processing of facial expressions. Previous research in social anxiety has primarily emphasized cognitive bias associated with face processing and the corresponding abnormalities in cortico-limbic circuitry, yet whether social anxiety influences early perceptual processing of emotional faces remains largely unknown. We used a psychophysical method to investigate the monocular advantage for face perception (i.e., face stimuli are better recognized when presented to the same eye compared to different eyes), an effect that is indicative of early, subcortical processing of face stimuli. We compared the monocular advantage for different emotional expressions (neutral, angry and sad) in three groups (N = 24 per group): individuals clinically diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (SAD), individuals with high social anxiety in subclinical populations (SSA), and a healthy control (HC) group of individuals matched for age and gender. Compared to SSA and HC groups, we found that individuals with SAD exhibited a greater monocular advantage when processing neutral and sad faces. While the magnitudes of monocular advantages were similar across three groups when processing angry faces, individuals with SAD performed better in this condition when the faces were presented to different eye. The former findings suggest that social anxiety leads to an enhanced role of subcortical structures in processing nonthreatening expressions. The latter findings, on the other hand, likely reflect an enhanced cortical processing of threatening expressions in SAD group. These distinct patterns of monocular advantage indicate that social anxiety altered representation of emotional faces at various stages of information processing, starting at an early stage of the visual system. • Individuals with social anxiety disorder showed increased monocular advantage for neutral and sad expressions. • Social anxiety did not affect the magnitude of monocular advantage for angry expression. • Distinct patterns of monocular advantage indicate altered facial emotion processing at an early stage of the visual system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]