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Abstract Purpose Malignant melanoma is a tumor generated from the basal melanocytes of human epidermis. Primary malignant melanoma of the cervix (PMMC) is derived from cervical melanocytes. It is an uncommon disease, mostly occurring in perimenopausal women. PMMC has a bad prognosis and lacks a defined protocol or treatment standards. The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of different surgical procedures and different adjuvant treatment modalities on their prognosis and to find risk factors for their prognosis by integrating published case report data based on the Chinese population. Methods and Results This study included 165 patients with PMMC in the Chinese population. We used the Kaplan‐Meier method to build the survival curve, and the log‐rank test to examine the variations among the subgroups. Prognostic factors were examined utilizing the Cox proportional hazards regression model. We found that patients who underwent radical hysterectomy‐based surgery, those who underwent lymphadenectomy, and those who underwent other treatments in addition to surgery had significantly better survival rates. The overall analysis, showed that age, and FIGO Stage II, III, and IV, increased the risk of death. Moreover, radical hysterectomy (RH), total hysterectomy (TAH), lymphadenectomy, and adjuvant therapy were correlated with a decreased mortality risk. Conclusion After summarizing the current data, we recommend radical hysterectomy, and lymphadenectomy treatment for patients with PMMC. For patients who had already undergone surgery, other treatment options had a positive effect on prognosis. For patients who had already undergone surgery, other treatment options had a positive effect on prognosis; therefore patient‐specific treatment options need to be further discussed.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may cause cytokine storm and respiratory illness such as pneumonia and progressive respiratory failure. Tocilizumab (TCZ), a monoclonal antibody that targets the interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor, was approved as an alternative treatment for severe COVID-19 patients despite limited real-world clinical data in China. In the present study, we will discuss and evaluate the treatment response of TCZ therapy in patients with COVID-19. The clinical characteristics, treatment, laboratory parameters of IL-6, C-reactive protein (CRP), lymphocyte counts before and after TCZ therapy, and clinical outcomes in the 13 patients with COVID-19 were retrospectively evaluated according to the related medical records. The results showed that 13 patients with COVID-19 were totally included in this study. One of them was moderately ill, 8 were seriously ill, and 4 were critically ill. Eleven patients received TCZ administration once, while the other 2 patients received it twice. The median level of IL-6 before TCZ administration was 27.91 (7.42–210.90) pg/mL. Serum IL-6 level tended to further spike firstly and then gradually decreased after TCZ therapy in 10 patients. A persistent and dramatic increase of IL-6 was observed in 2 patients who were finally dead. The CRP levels of 76.92% (10/13) of the patients were above the normal range before the start of TCZ therapy and gradually declined after the TCZ treatment. No. 1 and No. 10 patients finally died accompanied by the corresponding lymphocyte counts persistently dropping. No. 13 patient became exacerbated possibly due to inducing severe bacterial infection after TCZ treatment, while the other 10 patients showed clinical improvement. In summary, the study revealed that TCZ may have a certain therapeutic effect on severe COVID-19 patients with a risk of the cytokine storm. It is necessary to further evaluate the efficacy and safety of TCZ by rigorous randomized controlled trial in the next step.

In the mathematical model of the optimal operation of a single pump unit with a fully adjustable blade in the Chinese South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the decision variable, namely, blade angle, was uniformly dispersed in its feasible region in a fixed step size in consideration of the requirements of the pumping head and matching motor power. 1D dynamic programming was applied to solve the original model. When the obtained blade for each time period was set as the middle reference value and the discrete region of the blade was reduced to two times of the step size in the previous time, the blade angle was correspondingly reduced and dispersed in this new discrete region, thus eliminating unnecessary optimization space. Then, 1D dynamic programming was applied again to optimize the blade angle of the single pump unit further. After a series of successive approximation discretization of the blade angle and corresponding solutions of the obtained mathematical model, the optimization process was considered completed when the given control precision met the requirement. A case study showed that under typical operating conditions, the total cost saving percentage of water pumping quantity reached 0.048%–0.463%, with an average saving rate of 0.192%. The actual total water pumping quantity of the single unit decreased by 2153 m3 on the average. The proposed discretization method exerted a better optimization effect and needed a smaller computational amount compared with traditional one-time uniform discretization in the original feasible region of the blade angle.

In order to consider the influence of nonlinear characteristics of porcelain pillar electrical equipment on the dynamic response under seismic excitation, a theoretical analysis method of nonlinear dynamics was raised to define the nonlinear parameter of the flange connection and establish a dynamic model of porcelain pillar electrical equipment. The theoretical analysis and the test results have a good degree of fitting, which verifies the correctness of the dynamic model and reveals the nonlinear seismic response law of the porcelain pillar equipment. According to the results, both the nonlinear calculation results of the displacement at the top end of the porcelain pillar and the stress at the bottom end of the porcelain pillar are smaller than the results in the linear calculation. The difference between them increases gradually with the increase of seismic excitation. The differences in displacement and stress at a seismic excitation of 0.5 g are 14.58% and 23.25%, respectively. When the nonlinear parameter increases to a certain value, the impact of maximum stress on the bottom of the porcelain pillar is very small and the change is not obvious. The research provides a theoretical reference for the seismic design of pillar electrical equipment.

In order to analyze the uplift bearing capacity of transmission tower foundation in the geosythetic-reinforced aeolian sand, a series of simplified indoor modeling tests are carried out. A simplified reduced-scale foundation made according to the prototype and the uplift bearing capacity of transmission tower foundation in geosynthetic-reinforced aeolian sand is studied. Three kinds of reinforcement materials are embedded in the sand according to five ways of layout spacing. A total of 15 reinforcement schemes are tested. The results show that ultimate uplift bearing capacity of transmission tower foundation can be significantly improved by the reinforcement treatment of geotechnical materials in the aeolian sand. The type and spacing of reinforced materials also have a significant influence on the uplift bearing capacity of the foundation model in reinforced aeolian sand, and the effect of reinforcement works until the end of the loading process. The comprehensive effect is evaluated by the ratio of bearing capacity improvement and the total layer of reinforced materials. Based on the above results, the bearing mechanism of transmission tower foundation in geosynthetic-reinforced aeolian sand is elaborated and analyzed in detail.

Pillar electrical equipment is an important part of substations. The application of composite materials in pillar equipment can facilitate the improvement of the seismic performance of electrical equipment. In this paper, the test of elastic modulus and bending rigidity was conducted for individual composite elements in insulators and arresters, and the calculation formula for bending rigidity at the composite flange cementing connections was put forward. The numerical simulation model for the earthquake simulation shaking table test of ±1,100 kV composite pillar insulators was established, in which the bending rigidity value for the flange cementing part was obtained by the test or calculation formula. The numerical simulation results were compared with the earthquake simulation shaking table test results, the dynamic characteristics and seismic response of the model were compared, respectively, the validity of the proposed calculation formula for flange bending rigidity of composite cementing parts was verified, and a convenient and effective means was provided for calculating the seismic performance of composite electrical equipment.

Leady isolator shows hysteretic nonlinearity. The isolation efficiency of leady isolator is an important problem in many engineering structures. In this paper, vibrations of a ceramic upright pole coupled with four leady isolators under harmonic base excitation are studied. A hysteretic force-deformation model of leady isolator is derived from experimental results. With this model, the vibration of the pole in rotation is studied. The frequency response is obtained analytically by employing harmonic balance method. The analytical results are agreed well with numerical results. The vibration of the pole is decreased greatly by leady isolator, especially near resonant case. The influences of system parameters on vibration response and resonant peak are discussed in detail.