Search

This study aimed to assess the impact of diabetic retinopathy (DR) severity on the incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in T1D patients. Patients diagnosed with T1D between 1999 and 2013 were identified from patient-level data of Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research database. A total of 1135 patients were included and classified into mild DR (n = 454), severe DR (n = 227), or non-DR (n = 454) by using propensity score matching. Multi-state model analyses, an extension of competing risk models with adjustment for transition-specific covariates for prediction of subsequent MACE and ESRD, were performed. MACE and ESRD risks were significantly higher in the severe DR patients; a 2.97-fold (1.73, 5.07) and 12.29-fold (6.50, 23.23) increase in the MACE risk among the severe DR patients compared to the mild DR and DR-free patients, respectively; and, a 5.91-fold (3.50, 9.99) and 82.31-fold (29.07, 233.04) greater ESRD risk of severe DR patients than that of the mild DR and DR-free groups, respectively (p < 0.001). Severity of DR was significantly associated with the late diabetes-related vascular events (i.e., MACE, ESRD) among T1D patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-sided matching is a common research topic in our everyday life like marriage problem between men and women, schools and students. However, from the industrial perspective, the matching problem for complex equipment is a special research direction that needs professional participants that involve in the complex equipment production process. In this paper, a two-sided matching model for complex equipment production on the military–civilian integration platform is constructed that considers the reference satisfaction, and the reference satisfaction is firstly proposed which originates from operation management field. Moreover, the main influencing factors for complex equipment production are analyzed based on combined evaluation methods. The combined evaluation methods utilized in this research, one is DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation) method and the other is Grey–TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity for an Ideal Solution) method, are employed to acquire the joint importance results of the main analyzed influencing factors. The analyzed influencing factors are based on the evaluation indicators established in the evaluation indicator system for complex equipment production on the military–civilian merging platform, and the evaluation indicators are collected from relevant exist research. Then, suppliers and the manufacturers involved in the production of complex equipment give preference information to each other, and preference information is given on the basis of comprehensive analysis of the analyzed influencing factors which is by the aid of the aforementioned DEMATEL–Grey–TOPSIS analysis; meanwhile, the real satisfaction value of the suppliers and the manufacturers is obtained based on the preference value; then, the comprehensive reference satisfaction value could be obtained from the combination of the real satisfaction value and the expected satisfaction (real satisfaction value and disappointed satisfaction value), through aforementioned could we build a two-sided matching model for complex equipment on the military–civilian integration platform. Finally, we use a numerical example to illustrate the whole process about supplier–manufacturer matching for complex equipment production on the military–civilian integration platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the association of autoimmune bullous diseases [bullous pemphigoid (BP) and pemphigus vulgaris (PV)] with radiotherapy (RT) among patients with breast cancer from a population-based Taiwanese database. The case–control study included 365 women with BP or PV and 1460 randomly selected propensity score-matched controls without BP or PV. We compared the prevalences of prior RT and breast cancer between the cases and controls. In addition, we performed multivariable logistic regression analysis to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for developing BP or PV according to previous RT and/or breast cancer status. Among the 1825 subjects, 680 patients (37.16%) had previously undergone RT, including 196 cases (53.41%) and 484 controls (33.08%) (P < 0.001). 288 of the 1825 subjects (15.78%) had breast cancer, including 90 cases (24.66%) and 198 controls (13.56%) (P < 0.001). The multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated that, after adjusting for comorbidities, urbanization level, level of care, and monthly income, elevated risks of developing BP or PV were associated with prior RT (adjusted OR: 1.744, 95% CI 1.343–2.511) and having breast cancer (adjusted OR: 1.574, 95% CI 1.025–1.889). An even greater risk of BP or PV was associated with the combination of previous RT plus having breast cancer (adjusted OR: 2.896, 95% CI 1.882–7.013). The present study's findings suggest that a significantly elevated risk of developing BP or PV is associated with previous RT and/or breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thin metal sheets are often located in the coupling paths of magnetic coupling energy transfer (MCET) systems. Eddy currents in the metals reduce the energy transfer efficiency and can even present safety risks. This paper describes the use of etched fractal patterns in the metals to suppress the eddy currents and improve the efficiency. Simulation and experimental results show that this approach is very effective. The fractal patterns should satisfy three features, namely, breaking the metal edge, etching in the high-intensity magnetic field region, and etching through the metal in the thickness direction. Different fractal patterns lead to different results. By altering the eddy current distribution, the fractal pattern slots reduce the eddy current losses when the metals show resistance effects and suppress the induced magnetic field in the metals when the metals show inductance effects. Fractal pattern slots in multilayer high conductivity metals (e.g., Cu) reduce the induced magnetic field intensity significantly. Furthermore, transfer power, transfer efficiency, receiving efficiency, and eddy current losses all increase with the increase of the number of etched layers. These results can benefit MCET by efficient energy transfer and safe use in metal shielded equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-entropy alloy layer up to 150 μm in thickness was formed on H13 substrate with a metallurgical bonding at the coating/substrate interface. Simple solid solution phases were formed in the coating layer with a typical microstructure composed of both dendrite and interdendrite. The microstructure at the top of the cladding zone consists of equiaxed grains while that at the bottom consists of columnar grains. The coating layer exhibits great enhancement in microhardness and wear resistance compared with the H13 substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel representation of a triangular mesh surface using a set of scale-invariant measures is proposed. The measures consist of angles of the triangles (triangle angles) and dihedral angles along the edges (edge angles) which are scale and rigidity independent. The vertex coordinates for a mesh give its scale-invariant measures, unique up to scale, rotation, and translation. Based on the representation of mesh using scale-invariant measures, a two-step iterative deformation algorithm is proposed, which can arbitrarily edit the mesh through simple handles interaction. The algorithm can explicitly preserve the local geometric details as much as possible in different scales even under severe editing operations including rotation, scaling, and shearing. The efficiency and robustness of the proposed algorithm are demonstrated by examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim:To test the hypothesis that the traditional Chinese medicine Cordyceps sinensis could improve the metabolic function of extrarenal organs to achieve its anti-chronic kidney disease (CKD) effects.Methods:Male SD rats were divided into CKD rats (with 5/6-nephrectomy), CKD rats treated with Cordyceps sinensis (4 mg•kg-1•d-1, po), and sham-operated rats. After an 8-week treatment, metabolites were extracted from the hearts and livers of the rats, and then subjected to 1H-NMR-based metabolomic analysis.Results:Oxidative stress, energy metabolism, amino acid and protein metabolism and choline metabolism were considered as links between CKD and extrarenal organ dysfunction. Within the experimental period of 8 weeks, the metabolic disorders in the liver were more pronounced than in the heart, suggesting that CKD-related extrarenal organ dysfunctions occurred sequentially rather than simultaneously. Oral administration of Cordyceps sinensis exerted statistically significant rescue effects on the liver and heart by reversely regulating levels of those metabolites that are typically perturbed in CKD.Conclusion:Oral administration of Cordyceps sinensis significantly attenuates the liver and heart injuries in CKD rats. The 1H NMR-based metabolomic approach has provided a systematic view for understanding of CKD and the drug treatment, which can also be used to elucidate the mechanisms of action of other traditional Chinese medicines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We prepare a new type of multi-wavelength infrared laser diode with four chips, three wavelengths (865 nm, 905 nm and 1064 nm) and two working modes (pulse and single). The preparation technology of the diode includes two key processes: heat-sink and packaging processing technique to package four different chips on a same heat-sink. The experimental results show that four output peak-wavelengths of the prototype diode all possess favorable stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Zhejiang University: Science A is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Surrounding rocks of weakly consolidated soft rock roadway show obvious strain softening and dilatancy effects after excavation. A damage coefficient concerning modulus attenuation was defined. Response models of stress and displacement of surrounding rock of soft rock roadway and analytical expressions to calculate plastic zones under different interior pressures and non-uniform original rock stresses were derived based on damage theories and a triple linear elastic-plastic strain softening model. Influence laws of dilatancy gradient on damage development, distributions of stresses and displacement in plastic region were analyzed. Interior pressure conditions to develop plastic region under different origin rock stresses were established and their influences on plastic region distribution were also discussed. The results show that the order of maximum principle stress is exchanged between σ and σ with the increase of interior pressure P, which causes distributions of plastic zone and stress shift. Dilatancy effect which has great influences on the damage propagation and displacements in plastic region has little effect on the size of plastic region and stress responses. The conclusions provide a theoretical basis for a reasonable evaluation of stability and effective supporting of weakly consolidated soft rock roadway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Case retrieval (CR) is critically an important part of case-based design. However few studies attempt to research CR for customer-driven design and analyze the effect of other production factors besides similarity computation. This paper proposes a new CR method for customer-driven design, and requirement-weighting analysis. Fuzzy set theory are integrated into CR process to deal with the fuzzy and imprecision customer requirements. So the proposed method is called weighted fuzzy case retrieval (WFCR). Furthermore, similar case evaluation is added into CR process to demonstrate that the best case is selected not only on the basis of satisifaction for the given requriements, but also on the degree of preference over other cases according to multiple evaluation criteria. Meanwhile, WFCR system is developed and applied to power transformer design to validate its scientificity and practicality. Finally, the paper statistically validated the supriority of WFCR by comparing it with traditional fuzzy case retrieval methods (FCRs), and the comparison indicates that WFCR is more accurate than other FCRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The composition, structure, physicochemical properties, and optical properties of the raw jute and the treated jute were studied in this work. The results of FT-IR and SEM indicated that both alkali scouring and hydrogen peroxide bleaching exhibited good ability to remove non-cellulose materials, and the results were further confirmed by the composition analysis. Changes in fineness and moisture regain were obviously affected by the degree of non-cellulose removal. The XRD results showed that there was no crystalline transformation of the crystalline structure when the jute was treated under the applied condition. However, the crystallinity index of all the treated samples increased in comparison with the raw jute, which induced the change of mechanical properties. The brightness index and the whiteness index were greatly affected by bleaching rather than alkali scouring. Furthermore, there was a formidable decrease in the yellowness index when the jute was bleached. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functionality represents a blueprint of a product and plays a crucial role in problem-solving such as design. This article discusses the model representation from the angle of functional ontology by function deployment. We construct a framework of functional ontology which decomposes the function and contains a library of vocabulary to comprehensively represent the conceptual design model. The ontology enables the automatic identification system to search in the functional space. Furthermore, the functional ontology can form a systematic representation for the model so that it can be reused in the conceptual design and can be applied in the domain of knowledge fusion in our further work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The constitutive equation was deduced. The results were obtained from the elastic and elastoplastical analysis of the cylinder sample applied with different ratios of load on both the inner and outer sides and different moduli ratio. The factors affecting the development of the plastic field of the cylinder with finite radius were shown. The results show that the different moduli ratio is the most important factor in the development of the plastic zone. The slight fluctuation of the ratio will bring multiplied increment of the displacement, which may result in the final destruction of the engineering material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

About 250 fossil pollen types related to 113 extant angiospermous families from the Cretaceous and the Tertiary in China are discussed in the first part of this article. In the second part, comparisons of early records of fossil pollen in and outside China are made to trace the oldest fossil records. Based on these data, we conclude that many plants may have originated in China, a finding that may be important for the study of the origin and early development of angiosperms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated photonics provides a miniaturized and potentially implantable platform to manipulate and enhance the interactions between light and biological molecules or tissues in in-vitro and in-vivo settings, and is thus being increasingly adopted in a wide cross-section of biomedical applications ranging from disease diagnosis to optogenetic neuromodulation. However, the mechanical rigidity of substrates traditionally used for photonic integration is fundamentally incompatible with soft biological tissues. Cytotoxicity of materials and chemicals used in photonic device processing imposes another constraint towards these biophotonic applications. Here we present thin film TiO2 as a viable material for biocompatible and flexible integrated photonics. Amorphous TiO2 films were deposited using a low temperature (<250 °C) sol-gel process fully compatible with monolithic integration on plastic substrates. High-index-contrast flexible optical waveguides and resonators were fabricated using the sol-gel TiO2 material, and resonator quality factors up to 20,000 were measured. Following a multi-neutral-axis mechanical design, these devices exhibit remarkable mechanical flexibility, and can sustain repeated folding without compromising their optical performance. Finally, we validated the low cytotoxicity of the sol-gel TiO2 devices through in-vitro cell culture tests. These results demonstrate the potential of sol-gel TiO2 as a promising material platform for novel biophotonic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]