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This study aimed to explore the survival of AIDS patients treated with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in addition to combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) and of AIDS patients treated with cART. Data of patients taking cART between 30 October 2003 and 30 October 2004 in the National TCM HIV Treatment Trial Program area were retrospectively analyzed, with follow-up from 30 October 2004 to 30 October 2012. The log-rank test was used to compare survival between the two groups. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to determine hazard ratios to identify prognostic factors. The study included 521 patients in the TCM + cART group followed up for 3548 person-years and 375 patients in the cART group followed up for 2523 person-years. Mortality rates were 3.2/100 person-years and 4.2/100 person-years in the TCM + cART and cART groups, respectively. The difference in survival was significant. After adjusting for explanatory variables, the mortality rate of AIDS patients in the cART group was 1.7 times higher than in the TCM + cART group. Male sex, older age, little education, and lower CD4 cell count were risk factors for mortality. TCM intervention in addition to cART could increase survival of AIDS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The grey dynamic model by convolution integral with the first-order derivative of the 1-AGO data and n series related, abbreviated as GDMC(1, n), performs well in modelling and forecasting of a grey system. To improve the modelling accuracy of GDMC(1, n), n interpolation coefficients (taken as unknown parameters) are introduced into the background values of the n variables. The parameters optimization is formulated as a combinatorial optimization problem and is solved collectively using the particle swarm optimization algorithm. The optimized result has been verified by a case study of the economic output of high-tech industry in China. Comparisons of the obtained modelling results from the optimized GDMC(1, n)model with the traditional one demonstrate that the optimal algorithm is a good alternative for parameters optimization of the GDMC(1, n) model. The modelling results can assist the government in developing future policies regarding high-tech industry management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose. The vascular morphology in crowd with family history of stroke remains unclear. The present study clarified the characteristics of the intracranial vascular CoW and prevalence of intracranial aneurysms in subjects with family history of stroke. Methods. A stratified cluster, random sampling method was used for subjects with family history of stroke among rural residents in Jixian, Tianjin, China. All the subjects underwent a physical examination, head computed tomography (CT) scan, and cephalic and cervical computed tomography angiography (CTA) scan. Anatomic variations in the Circle of Willis and cerebrovascular disease in this population were analyzed. Results. In the crowd with similar living environment, stable genetic background, and family history of stroke and without obvious nerve function impairment (1) hypoplasia or absence of A1 segment was significantly different in gender (male versus female: 9.8% versus 18.8%, p=0.031), especially the right-side A1 (male versus female: 5.9% versus 16.4%, p=0.004). (2) Hypoplasia or absence of bilateral posterior communicating arteries was more common in men than women (58.2% versus 45.3%, p=0.032). Unilateral fetal posterior cerebral artery was observed more often in women than men (17.2% versus 8.5%, p=0.028). (3) The percentage of subjects with incomplete CoW did not increase significantly with age. Compared to healthy Chinese people, the crowd had a higher percentage of incomplete CoW (p<0.001). (4) No obvious correlation between risk factors and CoW was found. (5) The prevalence of aneurysm was 10.3% in the special crowd. Conclusions. The certain variations of CoW showed significant relation to gender, but not to age in people with family history of stroke. The incomplete circle may be a dangerous factor that is independent of common risk factors for stroke and tend to lead to cerebral ischemia in the crowd with family history of stroke. The prevalence of intracranial aneurysm is comparatively high in the present subjects compared to other people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the potential application of artificial neural networks in permanent deformation parameter identification for rockfill dams. Two kinds of neural network models, multilayer feedforward network (BP) and radial basis function (RBF) networks, are adopted to identify the parameters of seismic permanent deformation for Zipingpu Dam in China. The dynamic analysis is carried out by three-dimensional finite element method, and earthquake-induced permanent deformation is calculated by an equivalent nodal force method. Based on the sensitivity analysis of permanent deformation parameters, an objective function for network training is established by considering parameter sensitivity, which can improve the accuracy of parameter identification. By comparison, it is found that RBF outperforms the BP network in this problem. The proposed inverse analysis model for earth-rockfill dams can identify the seismic deformation parameters with just a small amount of sample designs, and much calculation time can be saved by this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]