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Inflammatory bone disease is a general term for a series of diseases caused by chronic inflammation, which leads to the destruction of bone homeostasis, that is, the osteolytic activity of osteoclasts increases, and the osteogenic activity of osteoblasts decreases, leading to osteolysis. Macrophages are innate immune cell with plasticity, and their polarization is related to inflammatory bone diseases. The dynamic balance of macrophages between the M1 phenotype and the M2 phenotype affects the occurrence and development of diseases. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have shown that extracellular vesicles existing in the extracellular environment can act on macrophages, affecting the progress of inflammatory diseases. This process is realized by influencing the physiological activity or functional activity of macrophages, inducing macrophages to secrete cytokines, and playing an anti-inflammatory or pro-inflammatory role. In addition, by modifying and editing extracellular vesicles, the potential of targeting macrophages can be used to provide new ideas for developing new drug carriers for inflammatory bone diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) resistance is the most important risk factor for eradication failure. However, in most regions, antibiotic resistance rates of H. pylori in patients with different types of gastric mucosal lesions are still unclear. An 8-year clinical retrospective cohort study involving 2847 patients was performed. In this study, we first summarized and compared the resistance status of H. pylori in different years, ages, sexes, and gastric diseases. The resistance profiles of amoxicillin (AMX), clarithromycin (CLR), levofloxacin (LVX) and furazolidone (FR) and their changing trends in the clinic were described. Then, multiple antibiotic resistance in different gastric diseases and years were described and compared. The relationship between proton pump inhibitor (PPI) medication history and antibiotic resistance in H. pylori was also explored. Finally, an antibiotic resistance risk model was constructed for clinical resistance risk prediction. The overall resistance rates of AMX, CLR, LVX and FR in gastric diseases were 8.18%, 38.11%, 43.98%, and 13.73%, respectively. The mono resistance, double resistance, triple resistance, and quadruple resistance rates were 30.17%, 25.96%, 6.46%, and 0.63%, respectively. Compared with the period from 2014 to 2016, the rates of mono-resistance and multiple resistance all showed relatively downward trends in the past 5 years. Factors including age, sex, type of gastric lesions and recent PPI treatment history are associated with the antibiotic resistance rate of H. pylori. Atrophic gastritis is an important clinical feature of high-risk antibiotic resistance in H. pylori-infected patients. Patients with atrophic gastritis have higher risk of resistant strains infection. In this study, our data provide the association between antibiotic resistance of H. pylori and gastritis pattern, which indicate the higher risk of resistant strain infection if the patients with atrophic gastritis, PPI history and older age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first local mpox outbreak in Guangdong Province, China occurred in June 2023. However, epidemiological data have failed to quickly identify the source and transmission of the outbreak. Here, phylogeny and molecular evolution of 10 monkeypox virus (MPXV) genome sequences from the Guangdong outbreak were characterized, revealing local silent transmissions that may have occurred in Guangdong whose mpox outbreaks suggested a molecular epidemiological correlation with Portugal and several regions of China during the same period. The lineage IIb C.1, which includes all 10 MPXV from Guangdong, shows consistent temporal continuity in both phylogenetic characteristics and unique molecular evolutionary mutation spectrum, reflected in the continuous increase of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and shared mutations over time. Compared with the Japan MPXV, the Guangdong MPXV showed higher genomic nucleotide differences and separated 14 shared mutations from the B.1 lineage, comprising 6 non-synonymous mutations in genes linked to host regulation, virus infection, and virus life cycle. The unique mutation spectrum with temporal continuity in IIb C.1, related to apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing catalytic polypeptide-like 3, promotes rapid viral evolution and diversification. The findings contribute to understanding the ongoing mpox outbreak in China and offer insights for developing joint prevention and control strategies. The first known local mpox outbreak in Guangdong Province, China occurred in June 2023. Here, the authors perform phylogenetic and molecular evolution analysis of ten mpox virus genome sequences from this outbreak, and place them in the context of other samples detected in surrounding regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The joint design criteria of significant wave heights and wind speeds are quite important for the structural reliability of fixed offshore platforms. However, the design method that regards different ocean environmental variables as independent is conservative. In the present study, we introduce a bivariate sample consisting of the maximum wave heights and concomitant wind speeds of the threshold by using the peak-over-threshold and declustering methods. After selecting the appropriate bivariate copulas and univariate distributions and blocking the sample into years, the bivariate compound distribution of annual extreme wave heights and concomitant wind speeds is constructed. Two joint design criteria, namely, the joint probability density method and the conditional probability method, are applied to obtain the joint return values of significant wave heights and wind speeds. Results show that (28.5±0.5)ms−1 is the frequently obtained wind speed based on the Atlantic dataset, and these joint design values are more appropriate than those calculated by univariate analysis in the fatigue design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we consider the contextual multi-armed bandit problem for linear payoffs under a risk-averse criterion. At each round, contexts are revealed for each arm, and the decision maker chooses one arm to pull and receives the corresponding reward. In particular, we consider mean-variance as the risk criterion, and the best arm is the one with the largest mean-variance reward. We apply the Thompson sampling algorithm for the disjoint model, and provide a comprehensive regret analysis for a variant of the proposed algorithm. For T rounds, K actions, and d-dimensional feature vectors, we prove a regret bound of O ((1 + ρ + 1 ρ) d ln T ln K δ d K T 1 + 2 ϵ ln K δ 1 ϵ ) that holds with probability 1 − δ under the mean-variance criterion with risk tolerance ρ, for any 0 < ϵ < 1 2 , 0 < δ < 1 . The empirical performance of our proposed algorithms is demonstrated via a portfolio selection problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a reduced-order model (ROM) based on dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) for efficient reduced-order modeling of parameterized time-dependent partial differential equations. Given high-fidelity solutions for training time and parameter sets, a proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) is first used to extract the POD modes and the projection coefficients onto the modes. After that, a DMD model is built for each parameter value based on the corresponding projection coefficients. These DMD models are used to predict the projection coefficients over a larger time region than the training time region. We rearrange these predicted coefficients as a new matrix and perform POD again to decompose the matrix into time-dependent and parameter-dependent parts, which are approximated using cubic spline interpolation (CSI) and Gaussian process regression (GPR), respectively. Finally, the ROM solutions at any given time or parameter value are estimated by a simple multiplication of the POD modes and the approximated projection coefficients. The proposed method is tested through several benchmark problems, and the impact of using CSI and GPR to model the time-dependent part on the model accuracy is analyzed. In addition, numerical results for a PDE with 19 parameters demonstrate the great potential of the proposed method in the construction of a ROM for problems with high dimensional parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a common and extensive datum to analyze wind, wind rose is one of the most important components of the meteorological elements. In this study, a model is proposed to establish the joint probability distribution of wind speed and direction using grouped data of wind rose. On the basis of the model, an algorithm is presented to generate pseudorandom numbers of wind speed and paired direction data. Afterward, the proposed model and algorithm are applied to two weather stations located in the Liaodong Gulf. With the models built for the two cases, a novel graph representing the continuous joint probability distribution of wind speed and direction is plotted, showing a strong correlation to the corresponding wind rose. Moreover, the joint probability distributions are utilized to evaluate wind energy potential successfully. In cooperation with Monte Carlo simulation, the model can approximately predict annual directional extreme wind speed under different return periods under the condition that the wind rose can represent the meteorological characters of the wind field well. The model is beneficial to design and install wind turbines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Again, the IPRF i.n. vaccine induced robust anti-RBD IgG and IgA antibody responses, while the RBD vaccine group did not induce a detectable antibody response (Supplementary Fig. In preclinical studies, this interferon-armed RBD protein vaccine induces robust immune responses via i.m. injection even without adjuvant[15], suggesting that the V-01 vaccine could be a potential effective i.n. vaccine candidate for SARS-CoV-2. Similar to the known protein vaccines, the RBD protein vaccine could hardly induce detectable anti-RBD antibodies in the absence of adjuvants (Fig. [Extracted from the article]

A calculation method for the friction coefficient and meshing efficiency of plastic line gear (LG) pair under dry friction conditions was studied theoretically and experimentally, taking a polyoxymethylene parallel line gear pair (POM PLGP) as an example. Firstly, the geometric and mechanical models of PLGP were built by considering the effects of misalignment and loaded deformation under the actual operating condition. Then, the friction coefficient of POM specimens was obtained via the ball-on-disk experiment, of which the value varies between 0.35 and 0.45 under the experimental conditions. The calculation formula for the friction coefficient of POM LG pair was obtained by fitting the friction coefficient of the POM specimens, and the meshing efficiency of POM LG pair was calculated based on the calculation formula for friction coefficient and the meshing efficiency calculation approach. Finally, the meshing efficiency of POM PLGP specimens was measured using a homemade gear meshing efficiency test rig. The experimental results validated the feasibility of the proposed calculation method for the friction coefficient and meshing efficiency of the plastic LG pair. This study provides a method for the calculation of the friction coefficient and meshing efficiency of plastic gear pairs under dry friction conditions. It also provides the basis for the wear calculation of plastic LG pair under dry friction conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serious haze-fog problems in Beijing have aroused considerable concern. The objectives of this study are to determine elemental concentrations in PM2.5, assess their enrichment in PM2.5, and identify their sources during winter in Beijing. Daily PM2.5 samples were collected at the Beijing Normal University campus from January 28 to February 27, 2014. Twenty-three metal elements were determined following digestion by using inductively coupled-plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The daily PM2.5 concentration ranged from 21.8 to 474.3 μg m−3, with a mean of 172 μg m−3. The daily PM2.5 concentration exceeded 75 mg m−3 (China ambient air quality standards: grade II) for 23 days of the month; therefore, ambient air pollution was severe. The median of daily elemental concentrations in the air decreased in the order of K, Na, and Al (> 103 ng m−3); Ca, Fe, Mn, Mg, Zn, Pb, and Cu (> 102 ng m−3); Ba, P, Ti, and Sr (> 10 ng m−3); and Rb, Sb, Ga, V, Ce, Cd, Tl, Li, La, and Co (> 1 ng m−3). Average and median values of enrichment factors were > 100 for Cd, Sb, Pb, Cu, Zn, and Tl but < 10 for Sr, V, K, Co, Na, Li, Rb, La, Mg, Ce, Ca, Fe, and Al. Enrichment factor, correlation, and principal component analyses demonstrated that Cd, Sb, Pb, Cu, Zn, and Tl in PM2.5 mainly originated from anthropogenic sources, whereas V, Co, Na, Li, Rb, La, Ce, Fe, and Al mainly originated from lithogenic sources. However, the ignition of fireworks during Spring Festival resulted in three pronounced peaks of Ba, K, Mg, Sr, and Cu concentrations. Therefore, national and local governments should continue controlling atmospheric emissions of toxic heavy metals and prohibit firework displays in megacities during Spring Festival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the stability of treatment effects of maxillary protraction therapy in Class III children.Materials and methods: Multiple electronic databases were searched from 01/1996 to 10/2016. Randomized clinical trials, controlled clinical trials, and cohort studies with untreated Class III controls and a follow-up over 2 years were considered for inclusion. The methodological quality of the studies and publication bias were evaluated. Mean differences and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of six variables (SNA, SNB, ANB, mandibular plane angle, overjet, and lower incisor angle) were calculated.Results: Ten studies were included in the qualitative analysis, and four studies were included in the quantitative analysis. Compared with the control group, after treatment, the treated group showed significant changes: SNA +1.79° (95% CI: 1.23, 2.34), SNB −1.16° (95% CI −2.08, −0.24), ANB +2.92° (95% CI 2.40, 3.44), mandibular plane angle +1.41° (95% CI 0.63, 2.20), overjet +3.94 mm (95% CI 2.17, 5.71) and lower incisor angle −3.07° (95% CI −4.92, −1.22). During follow-up, the changes in five variables reflected significant relapse. Overall, the treated group showed significant changes only in ANB +1.66° (95% CI 0.97, 2.35) and overjet +2.41 mm (95% CI 1.60, 3.23).Conclusions: Maxillary protraction can be a short-term effective therapy and might improve sagittal skeletal and dental relationships in the medium term. But some skeletal and dental variables showed significant relapse during the follow-up period. Long-term studies are still required to further evaluate its skeletal benefits.Clinical relevance: The study evaluated the medium-term stability of skeletal and dental effects of maxillary protraction in Class III children and discussed whether the therapy can reduce the need for orthognathic surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Fufangkushen colon-coated capsule (FCC) was a newly developed herbal drug for treating ulcerative colitis (UC) patients with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) pattern of damp-heat accumulating in the interior. Objective: To explore the efficacy and safety of FCC in the treatment of active UC compared with Huidi (HD, mesalazine enteric-coated tablets) were evaluated in a double-blinded and randomized clinical trial. Materials and Methods: In the double-blind, double-dummy, multicenter, randomized and controlled study, 320 active UC patients with TCM pattern of damp-heat accumulating in the interior were assigned to two groups: 240 treated with FCC plus HD placebo treatment, 80 with HD plus FCC placebo. The drugs and their corresponding placebos were administrated at advised dosage for 8 weeks. The primary endpoint was a positive clinical response at week 8, and Mayo scoring system was employed for assessment of UC activity. Results: At the 8th week, 72.50 % of patients in FCC group (170 of 234) and 65.00 % of patients in HD group (52 of 80) had achieved a clinical response. There was no statistically significance between the 2 groups (P > 0.05). The proportions of patients who had a clinical remission was similar in 2 groups (41.50 % in FCC group, 41.25 % in HD group, P > 0.05), mucosal healing rate at week 8 in the two groups were also without significant difference (55.13 % in FCC group, 55.00 % in HD group, P > 0.05). Mayo scores at week 8 showed no statistically difference in the two groups. No significant differences were observed between the safety profiles of the 2 groups (P > 0.05). No severe AEs were reported in either group. The latent class analysis indicated that FCC was superior applicable for the left hemicolon involved patients than HD. Conclusions: Compared with HD, a mesalamine enteric-coated tablet, FCC is similarly effective and safe in the treatment of active UC with TCM pattern of damp-heat accumulation interior pattern. In addition, FCC indicates superior effect in the treatment of UC with inflamed area of the left hemicolon than HD. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]