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This paper presents a long stroke nanopositioning stage supported with annular flexure guides to be used in high precision optical instruments. Firstly, the structure of the novel annular flexure guide and the positioning stage is proposed. Because of the symmetric configuration of the flexure guide, large motion range, high linearity, and high stiffness ratio of the positioning stage are achieved. Secondly, the stiffness of the flexure guide is modeled by applying the two-port mechanical network method combining with the Castigliano's theorem and the static equilibrium equation of the structure. Afterwards, the dimension parameters of the flexure guide are optimized by applying the stiffness model to maximize the motion stiffness and the stiffness ratio of the positioning stage. Model validation and performance evaluation are conducted via finite element analysis (FEA). Finally, a prototype of the nanopositioning stage is fabricated, and the classical feed-forward PID (FF-PID) controller is employed to improve its motion accuracy. Experimental results show that the proposed positioning stage can achieve 5 mm motion range, 20 nm motion resolution, 20 nm positioning accuracy at the maximum output position, and micron tracking accuracy for both sinusoidal trajectory and triangular trajectory under the closed-loop controller.

Federated learning (FL) unleashes the full potential of training a global statistical model collaboratively from edge clients. In wireless FL, for the scarcity of spectrum, only a fraction of clients are capable to participate in the FL training in each round. On the other hand, the performance of FL suffers from the label noise, which naturally exists in the dataset of each client. To alleviate the label noise issue, prior works proposed several client selection algorithms, where the privacy of raw data might be compromised when extra information exchange was introduced. To avoid extra information exchange in FL, we propose to leverage an algorithm that measures the noise ratio of each client based on a clean validation dataset. We then propose an online client selection framework, supported by Copeland score and multi-arm bandits, which can select the client set with low noise ratios efficiently. The proposed algorithm is performed in the server side, thereby it can be implemented in the basic FL framework seamlessly. Simulation results demonstrate that our proposed algorithm spends less training time while guaranteeing the required accuracy compared to other baseline algorithms.

BACKGROUND Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) is a type of spindle cell sarcoma originating from the peripheral nerve, which usually results in the corresponding nerve sign on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Patients with MPNST may also have neurofibromatosis type 1. CASE SUMMARY A 78-year-old male was admitted to the hospital due to a tumor in his left knee. He had a previous history of superficial spreading melanoma on the left thigh. Color Doppler ultrasonography showed a hypoechoic mass in the subcutaneous soft tissues of the medial left knee with an abundant rich blood flow. Computed tomography scanning did not show obvious signs of bone destruction, but the skin adjacent to the tumor was slightly thickened. MRI examination revealed that the hypervascular lesion was well-circumscribed, lobulated, invaded the surrounding soft tissues and demonstrated heterogeneous enhancement but lacked an entering and exiting nerve sign. The MRI result indicated the invasiveness of the tumor. The patient underwent a left knee joint mass expanded resection and the first histopathological examination showed a MPNST with positive surgical margins. Therefore, the second extended resection was performed, and the patient had a good outcome in the short term. CONCLUSION MRI is a useful technique for revealing the biological characteristics of MPNST and provides clinical support for evaluation of the surgical area before operation.

Background Propofol, an intravenous anesthetic, was proven to protect against lung ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. However, the detailed mechanism of Propofol in lung I/R injury is still elusive. This study was designed to explore the therapeutic effects of Propofol, both in vivo and in vitro, on lung I/R injury and the underlying mechanisms related to metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1)/microRNA-144 (miR-144)/glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β). Methods C57BL/6 mice were used to establish a lung I/R injury model while pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMVECs) were constructed as hypoxia/reperfusion (H/R) cellular model, both of which were performed with Propofol treatment. Gain- or loss-of-function approaches were subsequently employed, followed by observation of cell apoptosis in lung tissues and evaluation of proliferative and apoptotic capabilities in H/R cells. Meanwhile, the inflammatory factors, autophagosomes, and autophagy-related proteins were measured. Results Our experimental data revealed that Propofol treatment could decrease the elevated expression of MALAT1 following I/R injury or H/R induction, indicating its protection against lung I/R injury. Additionally, overexpressing MALAT1 or GSK3β promoted the activation of autophagosomes, proinflammatory factor release, and cell apoptosis, suggesting that overexpressing MALAT1 or GSK3β may reverse the protective effects of Propofol against lung I/R injury. MALAT1 was identified to negatively regulate miR-144 to upregulate the GSK3β expression. Conclusion Overall, our study demonstrated that Propofol played a protective role in lung I/R injury by suppressing autophagy and decreasing release of inflammatory factors, with the possible involvement of the MALAT1/miR-144/GSK3β axis.

Targeted therapies tend to have biomarker defined subgroups that derive differential efficacy from treatments. This article corrects three prevailing oversights in stratified analyses comparing treatments in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with binary and time-to-event outcomes: 1.Using efficacy measures such as odds ratio (OR) and hazard ratio (HR) can make a prognostic biomarker appear predictive, targeting wrong patients, because the inference is affected by a confounding/covert factor even with ignorable treatment assignment in an RCT. As shown analytically and with real immunotherapy patient level data, OR and HR cannot meet the causal Estimand requirement of ICH E9R1. 2.Mixing efficacy in subgroups by prevalence, the prevailing practice, can give misleading results also, for any efficacy measured as a ratio. However, mixing relative response (RR) and ratio of median (RoM) survival times by the prognostic effect, the confounding/covert factor hiding in plain sight, will give causal inference in an RCT. 3.Effects in subgroups should not be mixed on the logarithmic scale, because it creates an artificial Estimand for the whole population which changes depending on how the population is divided into subgroups. Current computer package implementations contain all these oversights. Probabilities, including survival curve probabilities, naturally average within each treatment arm by prevalence. The subgroup mixable estimation (SME) principle fixes the oversights by first averaging probabilities (not their logarithms) within each treatment arm, then computing simultaneous confidence intervals for ratio efficacy in subgroups and their mixtures based on rigorous mathematical derivation, to finally provide causal inference in the form of apps.

The influences of ecological protection redlines on urban sustainable development can significantly vary from place to place with distinct ecological functions and human activity interference. However, recent research lacks the evaluation of ecological functions and human activity interference in ecological protection redline areas near urban areas. This article presents an evaluation method consisting of two evaluation criteria systems: an ecological function evaluation criteria system based on conserving water resources and soil and maintaining biodiversity and a human activity interfer- ence evaluation criteria system based on the human activity impact index, population and road network density, and the intensity of tourism activity and livelihood sewage discharge. This evaluation method was verified in Zoige County, China, by using remote sensing data to evaluate ecological functions and human activity interference in the ecological redline area for an urban environment. This evaluation method is one of the preliminary studies of urban sustainable develop- ment planning, and the result could provide a basis for the formulation of urban sustainable development strategy.

Rubber seeds are a by-product of rubber production and are rich in oil and protein. Upgrading of rubber seeds to produce proteins, oils and feedstock can generate additional revenue for rubber production and reduce waste. The present study investigates the effects of different pre-treatments and extraction methods to determine the optimal methods to produce oil and protein from rubber seed kernels. Mechanical expulsion using a screw press and solvent extraction using n-hexane were employed for oil separation. The highest oil recovery efficiency of 95.12% was obtained using rubber seed meal that was pre-dried at 105 ℃. The sequential water–alkaline treatment was ideal for achieving high protein recovery while reducing the protein denaturation that can result from high operating temperatures and organic solvent contact. Over 90% of the total protein from rubber seed kernels could be recovered. Separating oil from kernels using hexane followed by protein extraction from the meals by enzymatic treatment provides a suitable method for comprehensive utilization of rubber seeds.

Background:. Bendamustine was approved in China on May 26th, 2019 by the National Medical Product Administration for the treatment of indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The current study was the registration trial and the first reported evaluation of the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of bendamustine in Chinese adult patients with indolent B-cell NHL following relapse after chemotherapy and rituximab treatment. Methods:. This was a prospective, multicenter, open-label, single-arm, phase 3 study (NCT01596621; C18083/3076) with a 2-year follow-up period. Eligible patients received bendamustine hydrochloride 120 mg/m2 infused intravenously on days 1 and 2 of each 21-day treatment cycle for at least six planned cycles (and up to eight cycles). The primary endpoint was the overall response rate (ORR); and secondary endpoints were duration of response (DoR), progression-free survival (PFS), safety, and pharmacokinetics. Patients were classified according to their best overall response after initiation of therapy. Proportions of patients in each response category (complete response [CR], partial response [PR], stable disease, or progressive disease) were summarized along with a two-sided binomial exact 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the ORR. Results:. A total of 102 patients were enrolled from 20 centers between August 6th, 2012, and June 18th, 2015. At the time of the primary analysis, the ORR was 73% (95% CI: 63%–81%) per Independent Review Committee (IRC) including 19% CR and 54% PR. With the follow-up period, the median DoR was 16.2 months by IRC and 13.4 months by investigator assessment; the median PFS was 18.6 months and 15.3 months, respectively. The most common non-hematologic adverse events (AEs) were gastrointestinal toxicity, pyrexia, and rash. Grade 3/4 neutropenia was reported in 76% of patients. Serious AEs were reported in 29 patients and five patients died during the study. Pharmacokinetic analysis indicated that the characteristics of bendamustine and its metabolites M3 and M4 were generally consistent with those reported for other ethnicities. Conclusion:. Bendamustine is an active and effective therapy in Chinese patients with relapsed, indolent B-cell NHL, with a comparable risk/benefit relationship to that reported in North American patients. Clinical trial registration:. ClinicalTrials.gov, No. NCT01596621; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01596621

Comorbidities are important for the disease outcome of COVID‐19, however, which underlying diseases that contribute the most to aggravate the conditions of COVID‐19 patients are still unclear. Viral clearance is the most important laboratory test for defining the recovery of COVID‐19 infections. To better understand which underlying diseases that are risk factors for delaying the viral clearance, we retrospectively analyzed 161 COVID‐19 clinical cases in the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China between January 5 and March 13, 2020. The demographic, clinical and laboratory data, as well as patient treatment records were collected. Univariable and multivariable analysis were performed to explore the association between delayed viral clearance and other factors by using logistic regression. Survival analyses by Kaplan‐Meier and Cox regression modeling were employed to identify factors negatively influencing the viral clearance negatively. We found that hypertension and intravenous immunoglobulin adversely affected the time of viral RNA shedding. Hypertension was the most important risk factor to delay the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus clearance, however, the use of Angiotensin‐Converting Enzyme Inhibitors(ACEI)/Angiotensin Receptor Blockers(ARB) did not shorten the time for virus clearance in these hypertensive patients’ virus clearance. We conclude that patients having hypertension and intravenous immunoglobulin may delay the viral clearance in COVID‐19 patients.

To assess the correlation between meteorological factors and spinal disease admissions.Data was obtained from the electronic medical records of a tertiary general hospital. Meteorological data was collected from China Meteorological Science Data Sharing Service. Distributed lag nonlinear models were used to evaluate the impact of meteorological variables on weekly spinal disease admissions.A total of 2739 spinal cases were documented. Compared with estimates at the 50Extremely high temperatures were significantly associated with higher risks of spinal disease admissions.

Fog computing provides computation and services to the edge of networks to support real-time applications. The latency performance is a crucial metric in fog computing. In this article, we consider a computation offloading problem in a fog network with unknown dynamics. In this network, mobile users can offload their computational tasks to neighborhood fog nodes (FNs) in each time slot. The queue of arrival tasks at each FN follows a Markov model with unknown statistics. In order to provide a satisfactory quality of experience, the network latency needs to be minimized. In this article, we construct an offloading policy with interleaved exploration and exploitation epochs to solve the sequential FN selection problem. An upper bound of regret is derived to show the effectiveness of the proposed method. The proposed policy is optimal in the sense that it achieves a regret with sublinear order. In addition, the proposed policy can be applied to both single-user setting and multiuser setting. Simulation results show that when compared with the existing offloading algorithms, the proposed algorithm can reduce the average latency by 7%–47% in the single-user setting, and 91% in the multiuser setting.

The integration of energy storage facilities into existing structures will result in increased costs. Therefore, it is of great significance to optimize the configuration of integrated power systems with multienergy flows to reduce the cost of the comprehensive utilization of energy. This study established a wind-solar-battery-fuel cell integrated power supply system to optimize the grid-connected regional power supply. First, the load is given with a known daily energy demand. The optimization goal is to minimize the average annual cost and the loss of power supply probability. The cost model includes the constraints of transportation costs and the benefits of selling hydrogen and oxygen. Then, an improved genetic algorithm is developed to optimize the structure of the wind-solar-battery-fuel cell integrated power supply system. The basic idea of the improved genetic algorithm is to change the coordination mode of the crossover operator and the mutation operator according to the size of the initial population fitness. Finally, according to the calculation results of the improved genetic algorithm, the optimal configuration of the capacity of devices in the system is obtained, verifying the effectiveness of the improved genetic algorithm. The cost calculation result of the genetic algorithm is 18.7% higher than that of the improved genetic algorithm, and it completely converges at approximately 70 steps. The cost calculation result of the particle swarm optimization is 17.1% higher than that of the improved genetic algorithm, and it completely converges at approximately 75 steps. The cost calculation result of the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm is 9.6% higher than that of the improved genetic algorithm, and it completely converges at approximately 58 steps. The system established in this research can fully meet the power demands for a given area and effectively reduce the local curtailment of wind energy and solar energy.

Dexmedetomidine (Dex) possesses analgesic and anaesthetic values and reported being used in cerebral ischaemic injury therapeutics. Accumulating studies have determined the effect of microRNAs (miRNAs) on the cerebral ischaemic injury. Thus, the present study aimed to unravel the molecular mechanism of miR‐381 and Dex in cerebral ischaemic injury. For this purpose, the cerebral ischaemic injury rat model was established by induction of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and expression of miR‐381 and IRF4 was determined. Thereafter, MCAO rats were treated with Dex, miR‐381 mimic, miR‐381 inhibitor and oe‐IRF4 respectively, followed by evaluation of neurological function. Furthermore, neuron cells were isolated from the hippocampus of rats and subjected to oxygen‐glucose deprivation (OGD). Then, OGD‐treated neuron cells and primary neuron cells were examined by gain‐ and loss‐of‐function assay. Neuron cell apoptosis was detected using TUNEL staining and flow cytometry. The correlation between interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4) and interleukin (IL)‐9 was detected. Our results showed down‐regulated miR‐38 and up‐regulated IRF4 in MCAO rats. Besides, IRF4 was targeted by miR‐381 in neuron cells. Dex and overexpressed miR‐381, or silenced IRF4 improved the neurological function and inhibited neuron cell apoptosis in MCAO rats. Additionally, in MCAO rats, Dex was found to increase the miR‐381 expression and reduced IRF4 expression to decrease the IL‐9 expression, which suppressed the inflammatory response and cell apoptosis both in vivo and in vitro. Importantly, our study demonstrated that Dex elevated the expression of miR‐381, which ultimately results in the inhibition of inflammation response in rats with cerebral ischaemic injury.

To evaluate whether the efficacy of Getong Tongluo Capsule (葛酮通络胶囊, GTC, consisted of total flavone of Radix Puerariae) on improving patients’ quality of life and lowering blood pressure are superior to the extract of Ginkgo biloba (EGB) for patients with convalescent-phase ischemic stroke and primary hypertension. This randomized, positive-drug- and placebo-controlled, double-blind trial was conducted from September 2015 to October 2017. Totally 477 eligible patients from 18 hospitals in China were randomly assigned in a 2:1:1 ratio to the following interventions, twice a day for 12 weeks: (1) GTC 250 mg plus EGB-matching placebo 40 mg (237 cases, GTC group), (2) EGB 40 mg plus GTC-matching placebo 250 mg (120 cases, EGB group) or (3) GTC-matching placebo 250 mg plus EGB-matching placebo 40 mg (120 cases, placebo group). Moreover, all patients were orally administered aspirin enteric-coated tablets 100 mg, once a day for 12 weeks. The primary outcome was the Barthel Index (BI). The secondary outcomes included the control rate of blood pressure and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores. The incidence and severity of adverse events (AEs) were calculated and assessed. The BI relative independence rates, the clinical recovery rates of NIHSS, and the total effective rates of NIHSS in the GTC and EGB groups were significantly higher than the placebo group at 12 weeks after treatment (P 0.05). The control rate of blood pressure in the GTC group was significantly higher than the EGB and placebo groups at 12, 18 and 24 weeks after treatment (P 0.05). GTC exhibited significant efficacy in improving patients’ quality of life as well as neurological function and controlling hypertension. (Registration No. ChiCTR1800016667)

The association between autoimmune bullous dermatoses (AIBD) and serum vitamin D levels has been revealed by some studies, however, inconsistent.We aimed to evaluate the difference in vitamin D status between AIBD patients and controls.We searched the studies about the vitamin D status of AIBD patients in electronic databases published before January 2020. Mean difference (MD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of eligible studies were calculated in meta-analyses of 25(OH)D levels. Pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95%CI were used in analyses of the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D. Different subgroup analyses, sensitivity analyses and publication bias assessment were conducted.We included nine case-control studies in the meta-analysis. Vitamin D level was significantly lower in both pemphigus (MD: -7.02, 95%CI: -10.30 to -3.74) and bullous pemphigoid (BP) (MD: -6.37, 95%CI: -12.15 to -0.58) patients than that in controls. Active pemphigus patients were at higher risk of presenting hypovitaminosis D (OR: 6.95, 95%CI: 1.37-35.25).Abnormal vitamin D status are more common in AIBD patients than that in general population. Therefore, regular monitoring of vitamin D levels and vitamin D supplementation should be considered as part of the management strategy for AIBD.

Cell death after spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) can occur through necrosis, apoptosis, and autophagy, resulting in changes to the immune environment. However, the molecular mechanism of this immune regulation is not clear. Accumulating evidence indicates that microRNAs (miRs) play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of spinal cord I/R injury. Here, we hypothesized miR-22-3p may be involved in spinal cord I/R injury by interacting with interferon regulatory factor (IRF) 5. Rat models of spinal cord I/R injury were established by 12-min occlusion of the aortic arch followed by 48-hr reperfusion, with L4-6 segments of spinal cord tissues collected. MiR-22-3p agomir, a lentivirus-delivered siRNA specific for IRF5, or a lentivirus expressing wild-type IRF5 was injected intrathecally to rats with I/R injury to evaluate the effects of miR-22-3p and IRF5 on hindlimb motor function. Macrophages isolated from rats were treated with miR-22-3p mimic or siRNA specific for IRF5 to evaluate their effects on macrophage polarization. The levels of IL-1β and TNF-α in spinal cord tissues were detected by ELISA. miR-22-3p was down-regulated, whereas IRF5 was up-regulated in rat spinal cord tissues following I/R. IRF5 was a target gene of miR-22-3p and could be negatively regulated by miR-22-3p. Silencing IRF5 or over-expressing miR-22-3p relieved inflammation, elevated Tarlov score, and reduced the degree of severity of spinal cord I/R injury. Increased miR-22-3p facilitated M2 polarization of macrophages and inhibited inflammation in tissues by inhibiting IRF5, thereby attenuating spinal cord I/R injury. Taken together, these results demonstrate that increased miR-22-3p can inhibit the progression of spinal cord I/R injury by repressing IRF5 in macrophages, highlighting the discovery of a promising new target for spinal cord I/R injury treatment.

Radiotherapy is one of the most common treatments for oral cancer. However, in the clinic, recurrence and metastasis of oral cancer occur after radiotherapy, and the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Cancer stem cells (CSCs), considered the “seeds” of cancer, have been confirmed to be in a quiescent state in most established tumours, with their innate radioresistance helping them survive more easily when exposed to radiation than differentiated cancer cells. There is increasing evidence that CSCs play an important role in recurrence and metastasis post-radiotherapy in many cancers. However, little is known about how oral CSCs cause tumour recurrence and metastasis post-radiotherapy. In this review article, we will first summarise methods for the identification of oral CSCs and then focus on the characteristics of a CSC subpopulation induced by radiation, hereafter referred to as “awakened” CSCs, to highlight their response to radiotherapy and potential role in tumour recurrence and metastasis post-radiotherapy as well as potential therapeutics targeting CSCs. In addition, we explore potential therapeutic strategies targeting these “awakened” CSCs to solve the serious clinical challenges of recurrence and metastasis in oral cancer after radiotherapy.

Impervious surface data has become an indicator of the degree of urbanization and the environmental quality, which inspires the widely use of remote sensing technology in extracting impervious surface. In order to reduce the confusion between impervious surface and other landcover types, this paper proposed an effective urban impervious surface extraction method based on multi-features and Random Forest (RF). First, Sentinel-2 multispectral data and Luojia 1–01 images are employed to extracted multi-features, including spectral features, texture features and temporal features. Then, a feature selection method with null importance is proposed to remove irrelevant features. Finally, Probabilistic Label Relaxation (PLR) is introduced into RF to obtain the classification results and impervious surface. The main urban areas of Zhengzhou and Hangzhou are selected as study areas. The experiment results show that the integration of the multi-features can significantly improve the overall accuracy of classification and the extraction accuracy of impervious surface. And the classification accuracy can be further improved after the feature selection with null importance. Besides, the PLR method can effectively reduce the salt-and-pepper phenomenon of classification results using random forest, which presupposes the optimal number of iterations. The method proposed in this paper can effectively improve the estimation of impervious surface and provide an important reference for the extraction of impervious surface based on pixel level.

The spatiotemporal features of land use changes and the evolution process of landscape pattern from 1980 to 2017 were investigated using historical satellite images from a Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) for 1980, 1990, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2017 in the wetlands of Lake Baiyangdian in the North China Plain (NCP). Landscape pattern indices were used to quantify landscape changes in wetlands, and a redundancy analysis (RDA) was conducted to analyze the driving forces and quantitatively explain the effects of human activities and natural changes on wetland fragmentation. The results showed that the total wetland area was 234.4 km2 in 1980 but it decreased by 8.1% at an average decrease rate of 0.5 km2 per year. The dominant transition between land use types was from natural wetlands to artificial wetlands, and wetland conversion to dry land and residential land. The RDA results suggested that agricultural activities and total population were the main driving factors affecting wetland landscape. Additionally, climate change provided a potentially favorable environment for agricultural development, due to the increased temperatures and decreased wind speeds. Additionally, governmental policy changes and dam construction also played the roles in land use changes.

Endovascular therapies have not yet had an ideal effect on thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO) and no data have been published about laser-assisted angioplasty (LA) combined with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for TAO. This study aimed to investigate the outcome of LA combined with RFA for TAO. Sixteen consecutive patients underwent LA and RFA procedures between June 2018 and March 2019 in this prospective pilot study. The clinical outcomes and complications were assessed at 6, 12, and 18 months after the procedure. The primary endpoint was defined as the limb salvage rate and freedom of target-lesion revascularization (f-TLR) of the limb, and the effect on the outcome was assessed by the ankle brachial index (ABI), numerical rating scores (NRSs), and the EuroQol Group 5-Dimension Self-Report Questionnaire (EQ-5D). Men accounted for 87.5% of the patients. All patients underwent LA, and following the RFA procedure, two patients received bailout stenting (12.50%). The technique success rate was 100%, and no severe complications occurred. The ABI was significantly higher at the 18-month follow-up than at baseline (P

The linear motor system is a low-damping system, which will cause residual vibration especially in the high-speed start-stop motion process, and then deteriorates the accuracy of the equipment. By employing an eddy current damper, the residual vibration can be controlled and efficiently reduced. In this paper, an improved dual-sided hybrid excitation eddy current damper (ECD) by using steel-copper plate secondary is proposed. An analytical model is established to explore the relation between the thickness of the steel layer and the copper layer. According to the finite element analysis (FEA), with the increase of the steel thickness, the damping force first increases and then decreases. The maximum damping force is increased by 36.15% compared with that of the pure copper plate. Experimental tests are carried out on the prototype to verify the improvement of the optimized damper. The results show that the peak amplitude of the position error and the settling time are reduced by 1.94 times and 1.80 times, respectively, compared with that of the pure copper plate.

Images taken under water usually suffer from the problems of quality degradation, such as low contrast, blurring details, color deviations, non-uniform illumination, etc. As an important problem in image processing and computer vision, the restoration and enhancement of underwater image are necessary for numerous practical applications. Over the last few decades, underwater image restoration and enhancement have been attracting an increasing amount of research effort. However, a comprehensive and in-depth survey of related achievements and improvements is still missing, especially the survey of underwater image dataset which is a key issue in underwater image processing and intelligent application. In this exposition, we first summarize more than 120 studies about the latest progress in underwater image restoration and enhancement, including the techniques, datasets, available codes, and evaluation metrics. We analyze the contributions and limitations of existing methods to facilitate the comprehensive understanding of underwater image restoration and enhancement. Furthermore, we provide detailed objective evaluations and analysis of the representative methods on five types of underwater scenarios, which verifies the applicability of these methods in different underwater conditions. Finally, we discuss the potential challenges and open issues of underwater image restoration and enhancement and suggest possible research directions in the future.

Background Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination has been demonstrated as an effective way to reduce the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and only a few vaccinees suffered from SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, limited data concerning the clinical features of these vaccinees infected with SARS-CoV-2 can be identified. Methods We retrospectively collected and analyzed epidemiological and clinical characteristics data of the imported COVID-19 cases who received Chinese inactivated vaccines abroad. Data were extracted from electronic medical records from a designated hospital in the Shaanxi Province of China between March 22 and May 17, 2021. Results Totally, 46 confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection patients were enrolled. The mean age was 40.5 years (range 20-61), 41 (89.1%) are male. Eighteen (39.1%) patients were from Pakistan. Fourteen (30.4%) patients had at least one comorbidity. Forty (87.0%) and 6 cases were fully vaccinated and partly vaccinated. The time interval between vaccination and infection was 88 days (IQR, 33-123), 31 (67.4%) and 15 (32.6%) were asymptomatic and symptomatic cases, respectively. Fever (3/46, 6.5%) was the most common symptom; however, none had a body temperature higher than 38.0℃, and no severe case was observed. Notably, the rate of SARS-CoV-2 shedding discontinuation at 7 days after hospitalization in asymptomatic cases was higher than symptomatic one (93.5% vs 40%, P < 0.0001). Conclusions Individuals who received Chinese inactivated vaccines abroad remain have the probability to be infected with SARS-CoV-2, but all the vaccinees infected with SARS-CoV-2 were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms with favorable clinical outcomes.

Today's society has entered the “Internet + Education” era. The course of “Modern Mold Manufacturing Technology” should adapt to the development of the times, followed by teaching reforms to cultivate “double innovation” talents, achieve the training goal of undergraduate mold manufacturing professionals, and meet the talent needs of the mold industry. Through rational selection of teaching content, reform of teaching methods and teaching methods, establishment of knowledge base, cultivation of innovative thinking and entrepreneurial ability, etc., the author has carried out some exploration and practice of teaching reform, which stimulated students’ interest in classroom and after-school learning, improved the quality of teaching and the students’ comprehensive professional ability, and achieved better teaching results.

The flexure joints are proposed to replace the rigid assembly between the cross-arm and the moving carriages of dual-drive H-type gantry (DHG) for higher reliability and fine rotational alignments. In the literature, the flexure joint of the DHG is modeled as an ideal linear torsional spring, resulting in an inaccurate estimation of the cross-arm’s angle. In this study, a generalized analytical kinetostatic model of flexure-linked DHG is built by considering the geometric nonlinearities. The expressions of beam coefficients in the model are obtained from either beam constraint model (BCM) or Timoshenko BCM (TBCM) according to the given criterion of length-to-thickness ratio. The model is capable to accurately estimate any two variables among the rotation angle of the cross-arm, the misalignment of two carriages, and the net driving force, as long as the other is known. Simulations and experiments on the testbed validate the accuracy and show practical appeals of the proposed model.

The extensive use of solar energy has promoted the development of the photovoltaic power generation industry. Traditional electric energy collection methods are easily affected by human factors, have poor real-time performance, and low reliability. The photovoltaic power generation management system based on the Internet of Things usually connects the Internet of Things equipment to a self-developed system or a third-party platform for function display and management, which can improve the above problems to a certain extent. But the lack of a unified operation and maintenance platform makes the system compatibility, scalability and stability poor. This paper designs a photovoltaic power generation management system based on NB-IoT proposes a new type of photovoltaic equipment access protocol to improve the flexibility and safety of the system and uses multiple sensors to report data analysis rules to ensure system compatibility. This establishes a data-centric, highly available photovoltaic power generation management platform to realize the unified management of different equipment manufacturers and multiple types of equipment.

Spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion (SCIR) injury is a serious complication of open surgical and endovascular aortic procedures. MicroRNA-132-3p (miR-132-3p) has been reported to be involved in the progression of various diseases, but its role in SCIR injury is unclear. Thus, we aimed in this study to investigate the mechanism of miR-132-3p in SCIR injury and explore its pathway as a therapeutic target for SCIR injury. We first constructed a SCIR injury rat model and documented motor function in the model. Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPC)R and Western blot analysis were used to detect the expression of miR-132-3p and mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase 3 (MEKK3) in SCIR injury rats. The interaction between miR-132-3p and MEKK3 was identified by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. Then, the effects of miR-132-3p and MEKK3 on macrophage M1 polarization were evaluated in vitro and in vivo by altering their expression in macrophages of SCIR injury rats, with treatments altering the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)/p38 signaling pathways using SP600125, SB203580, or PDTC. The SCIR injury rats had a high Tarlov score and low miR-132-3p expression along with high MEKK3 expression. miR-132-3p could directly bind to MEKK3, and that macrophage M1 polarization and inflammation could be inhibited by overexpression of miR-132-3p through downregulating MEKK3 and inactivating the NF-κB and p38/JNK signaling pathways. Besides, increased miR-132-3p expression could decrease the injured rat Tarlov score. Overall, our study demonstrated that miR-132-3p can suppress M1 polarization of macrophages and alleviate SCIR injury by blocking the MEKK3-dependent activation of the NF-κB and p38/JNK signaling pathway. Thus, miR-132-3p and its downstream pathways may be useful targets to alleviate the symptoms of SCIR injury.

This chapter provides overview of fundamental definitions, tools and new methods towards improved channel modeling reported in the Co-operation in Science and Technology (COST)-Inclusive Radio Communications (IRACON) Action for future wireless communications and networks. The overview first covers definitions of propagation environments as they determine most relevant propagation mechanisms to consider and model, and furthermore, guide approach to channel modeling methods. This chapter then introduces new insights into popular approaches of channel modeling, i.e., site-specific and geometry-based stochastic channel modeling, where the latter particularly features canonical and standardized channel modeling approaches taken by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), COST, and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) communities. Finally, this chapter shed lights on new modeling approaches to small-scale radio propagation behaviors, covering plane wave propagation paths and distributed diffuse scattering.

Objective Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is often diagnosed at late stage with a poor prognosis. The study hereunder aimed to construct a multi-gene model to simultaneously promote early diagnosis of OSCC by evaluating malignant risk of oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) and predict prognosis. Materials and methods 3 GEO datasets including OPMDs and OSCC samples were obtained for overlapping differentially expressed genes (DEGs) being screened. The predictive model was built with optimal DEGs by SVM algorithm, estimated by receiver operator characteristic curves and validated for double prediction via oral cancer-free survival (for malignant risk of OPMDs) and overall survival time (for OSCC) analysis respectively compared to other models. The protein expression of biomarkers in the model was validated in human samples by immunohistochemistry. Results A novel predictive model of 4-gene signature was built based on 12 common DEGs revealed from 3 GEO datasets. It could well distinguish OSCC from OPMDs and normal tissues. Both oral cancer-free survival and overall survival time analysis were significantly poorer in high-risk patients than in low-risk ones in Kaplan Meier survival curve respectively. The protein expression of biomarkers in OSCC was with significant difference compared to normal and OPMDs. Conclusions The novel 4-gene signature model presents strong ability in simultaneous prediction of the malignant risk of OPMDs and OSCC progression, potentially benefiting both the early diagnosis and therapeutic outcomes of OSCC.

Background: The peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) has been widely used. However, there is still a lack of large sample size-based relevant risk factor investigation in children with blood diseases in china. Methods: We performed a retrospective, the single-center cohort study of child blood disease patients with PICC insertion. Totally, 2974 patients were enrolled for our study. Results: B-ultrasound plus Seldinger technology significantly improved the success rate of PICC insertion. The most common non-infectious complications were rash, followed by catheter blockage, mechanical phlebitis, and catheter broke. the male, 1-3 years old, Power PICC solo catheter and spring are risk factors for the rash. The power PICC solo catheter was the most important risk factor for catheter blockage. Insertion site under the elbow was the most important risk factor for phlebitis and catheter damage. Conclusion: Our finding first shed new light on the risk factors associated with PICC complications for Chinese blood disease children.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to determine the effect of C-reactive protein (CRP), lymphocytes (LYM), and the ratio of CRP to LYM (CRP/LYM) on assessing the prognosis of COVID-19 severity at early stages of disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 108 hospitalized patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University from January 17, 2020 to March 12, 2020 were enrolled. Data of demographic parameters, clinical characteristics, laboratory indicators, clinical manifestation, and outcome of disease were collected. The patients were divided into a severe group and a non-severe group according to diagnosis and classification, which followed the guidelines and management of the Chinese National Health Council COVID-19. The receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and comparison of ROC curves were used for the laboratory findings for assessment of COVID-19 severity. RESULTS Of the 108 patients, 42 patients (38.9%) were male and 24 patients (22.2%) were considered severe cases, with the mean age of 51.0 years old. Males and patients with comorbidities were more likely to become severe cases. CRP increased and LYM decreased in the severe group.The results for the areas under the curve (AUC) of CRP/LYM and CRP used to assess severe COVID-19 were 0.787 (95% CI 0.698-0.860, P

Purpose: To provide a new system of in-hospital blood glucose team management combining with network blood glucose monitoring system, and analyze the effect on hyperglycemic patients’ blood glucose control lived in non-critical care units. Methods: Hyperglycemic patients admitted to non-critical care units were divided into two groups. They were intervened actively by the hospital’s blood glucose management team and routine consultation group, respectively. A better method with shorter hospital stay and inpatient diabetes cost could be selected by comparing the two blood glucose management methods. Results: Compared to routine consultation group, the team management group had higher detection rate of hyperglycemia (18.49% vs16.17%, P Conclusion: In-hospital blood glucose team management combined network blood glucose monitoring system effectively improved the blood glucose control and fluctuation level of patients, who admitted to non-critical care units, thereby reducing hospital stay and inpatient hyperglycemia cost. Disclosure Y. Zhu: None. M. Yang: None. H. Zhou: None. W. Xia: None. P. Li: None. Y. Yang: None.

Background The aim of this study was to understand the quality of discharge guidance for patients with chronic diseases, to clarify the gap between patient needs and the content of discharge guidance, and to provide a reference for health education and clinical path management of patients with chronic diseases in the future. Methods A total of 602 inpatients with stroke, coronary heart disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes from the chronic disease-related departments of 7 tertiary general hospitals in China were selected by convenience sampling. Measures included a demographic questionnaire and the Quality of Discharged Teaching Scale(QDTS). Descriptive analysis ANOVA and paired t-test were completed by SPSS 22.0 software. Results The overall average score of QDTS in this survey was 155.79 ± 23.29. The total score of QDTS in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was lower than coronary heart disease (P P = 0.02). While coronary heart disease was higher than stroke (P = 0.01) and diabetes (P = 0.01). And the scores of patients on discharge guidance skills and effects were higher than 8.50. Conclusions The level of the patients’ perception of quality of discharge insrtuction is middle to high. Managers should understand the characteristics of various departments, give corresponding guidance and help, and clinical nurses should understand the characteristics of ward patients and pay more attention to individual guidance.

A combined system of heating, power and biogas (CHPB) system has been developed and tested in a single building in MinQin County, Gansu Province, China. The CHPB system shows favorable performances of heating in most winter days. However, when bad weather lasts over two days, the system would not meet the heating. Therefore, for the sake of reduce the operation cost and the environmental impact of the CHPB system considering its preoperational variable is the future availability of renewable energy, intelligent energy management of the CHPB system is proposed in this paper. The factors, such as the ambient temperature, humidity, power availability, and wind speed, are predicted by adaptive Neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and then are combined with the instantaneous value of the backup batteries state of charge (SOC) and a gas tank level to make a decision whether to use the gas or electricity stored in the backup batteries to satisfy the user demand by fuzzy system. The cost saving of the proposed multiobjective intelligent energy management (MIEM) approach compared to operation based on opportunity was equal to 9.24% compared to 12.9% for the next day as a result of the intelligent switch scheduling, and lS.49 % compared to 26.5 for CO 2 emission.

Purpose To provide a new system of in-hospital blood glucose team management combined with a network blood glucose monitoring system and analyse the effect on hyperglycaemic participants’ blood glucose control in noncritical care units. Methods Hyperglycaemic participants in noncritical care units were divided into two groups. They underwent active intervention by the hospital’s blood glucose management team or the routine consultation group. The better method, based on a shorter length of stay (LOS) and lower hospital cost, could be selected by comparing the two blood glucose management strategies. Results Compared with the routine consultation group, the team management group had a higher detection rate of hyperglycaemia (18.49% vs 16.17%, P

Comparing to cloud computing, fog computing performs computation and services at the edge of networks, thus relieving the computation burden of the data center and reducing the task latency of end devices. Computation latency is a crucial performance metric in fog computing, especially for real-time applications. In this paper, we study a peer computation offloading problem for a fog network with unknown dynamics. In this scenario, each fog node (FN) can offload their computation tasks to neighboring FNs in a time slot manner. The offloading latency, however, could not be fed back to the task dispatcher instantaneously due to the uncertainty of the processing time in peer FNs. Besides, peer competition occurs when different FNs offload tasks to one FN at the same time. To tackle the above difficulties, we model the computation offloading problem as a sequential FN selection problem with delayed information feedback. Using adversarial multi-arm bandit framework, we construct an online learning policy to deal with delayed information feedback. Different contention resolution approaches are considered to resolve peer competition. Performance analysis shows that the regret of the proposed algorithm, or the performance loss with suboptimal FN selections, achieves a sub-linear order, suggesting an optimal FN selection policy. In addition, we prove that the proposed strategy can result in a Nash equilibrium (NE) with all FNs playing the same policy. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed policy., Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, accepted by IEEE Internet of Things Journal

A three-dimensional reactive multi-phase particle-in-cell (MP-PIC) model is employed to investigate biomass combustion and gasification in fluidized bed furnaces. The MP-PIC model considered here is based on a coarse grain method (CGM) which clusters fuel and sand particles into parcels. CGM is computationally efficient, however, it can cause numerical instability if the clustered parcels are passing through small computational cells, resulting in over-loading of solid particles in the cells. To overcome this problem, in this study, a distribution kernel method (DKM) is proposed and implemented in an open-source CFD code, OpenFOAM. In DKM, a redistribution procedure is employed to spread the solid volume and source terms of the particles in the parcel to the domain in which the particles are clustered. The numerical stiffness problem caused by the CGM clustering can be remedied by this method. Validation of the model was performed using data from different lab-scale reactors. The model was shown to be able to capture the transient heat transfer process in a lab-scale bubbling fluidized bed reactor under varying fluidization velocities and loads of sand. Then, the model was used to study the combustion/gasification process in a bubbling fluidized bed reactor under varying ambient temperatures, equivalent air ratios, and steam-to-biomass ratios. The performance of DKM was shown to improve the accuracy and the robustness of the model.

Bridge-type mechanism is one of the most widely used displacement amplifiers in micro scale applications due to its compact and symmetrical structure. However, a drawback of the bridge-type mechanism that restricts its further applications is the limited amplification ratio. To solve this problem, a bridge-lever-type displacement amplifier is developed and analyzed in this paper. Compared with the conventional design, the proposed amplifier not only maintains a compact and symmetrical structure, but also features a high amplification ratio and high load capacity. To reduce the displacement loss of the amplifier and enhance its load capacity, the hybrid flexure hinges are employed in the novel design. Furthermore, the kineto-static model based on the compliance matrix method and the dynamic model based on Lagrangian method are established to analyze the bridge-lever-type amplifier. Finally, a prototype is fabricated whose amplification ratio is approximately 48 and 34 in the case of zero load and 30 N load respectively, which is confirmed by FEA simulation and experimental study.

Dual-mode optical assays are becoming more popular and attractive because they would provide robust detailed information in biochemical analysis. We herein unveil a novel dual-mode optical (i.e., UV-vis absorption and fluorescence) method for multifunctional sensing of phosphate compounds (PCs) (e.g., nucleotides and pyrophosphate) based on pattern recognition, which innovatively employs only one kind of porphyrin/lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles (Ln-UCNPs) hybrid integrated with a facile pH-regulated strategy as the sensor array. An easy-to-obtain porphyrin hydrate (tetraphenylporphyrin tetrasulfonic acid hydrate, TPPS) can assemble onto the ligand-free Ln-UCNPs to construct the organic/inorganic hybrid (TPPS/Ln-UCNPs), leading to a new absorption band to quench the upconversion fluorescence of Ln-UCNPs due to fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). The dual-mode optical performances of TPPS/Ln-UCNPs are characteristically correlated with the pH in aqueous solution. Thus, as a proof-of-concept design, three types of TPPS/Ln-UCNPs (TPPS/Ln-UCNPs

This study investigated indium tin oxide (ITO) films that were deposited on fluororesin-46 (F46) and polyimide (PI) transparent flexible substrates by a DC magnetron sputtering system. The optical properties of ITO films on F46 and PI including transmittance and reflectance in visible, near-infrared, and infrared spectral regions were obtained, and the surface morphology, and optical and electrical properties of ITO/F46 and ITO/PI after vacuum ultraviolet irradiation were investigated. The results showed that the mean transmittances of ITO/F46 and ITO/PI decreased and the sheet resistance increased after the irradiation, and these effects were mainly attributed to the greater surface roughness and crystal defects caused by the irradiation.

A 3-D bridge-type mechanism is designed and analyzed in this paper. Compared with the previous design, the mechanism proposed in this paper, among other advantages that the conventional bridge-type mechanisms have e.g., compact size, simple design and symmetric structure etc, features a high amplification ratio. To evaluate the displacement loss of the amplifier, as a new evaluation index, the relative amplification rate, is proposed in this paper. An analytical model for the amplification ratio and the relative amplification rate is established based on the screw theory. Several bridge-type mechanisms combined with four frequently used flexure hinges are analyzed based on the consideration of stiffness distribution, which are compared via the aforementioned analytical model. Based on the comparison, the numerical results show that the proposed bridge-type mechanism reaches the optimal performance in terms of the amplification ratio and the relative amplification rate when the V-shaped hinge and the filleted leaf hinge are employed in bridge 1 and bridge 2 respectively. Finally, the performance of the amplifier with amplification ratio of 41 and relative amplification rate of 0.93 is confirmed by FEA simulation and experiments.

Underwater images contain an interacting mixture of distortions due to the physicochemical properties of the water, suspended organic matter and floating particles in water. Unlike images in traditional natural image quality databases, underwater images are often difficult to acquire with reference images and sets of images with gradient distortion. Therefore, it is even more difficult for the viewers to assign an absolute psychophysical scale to the quality of underwater images. In this paper, we propose a pairwise subjective comparison procedure for underwater images quality ranking inspired by the intuitive suppression and competence mechanisms in visual perception. In the proposed method, we construct a preselection based initial image quality dataset by full pairwise comparison, which also enables online adaptive new image updating. The proposed method is not constrained by the lack of reference images, and is reliable and sensitive to images with discriminable distortion level and various image contents. The proposed pairwise comparison further allows an uncertain choice, which does not require a reinforce human opinion. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first implementation for underwater image subjective quality ranking, and a new approach to the image quality ranking for different image contents with unknown distortion level. We demonstrate that the obtained subjective image ranking correlates well with the human perception of quality difference among the underwater images than that of the single stimuli image quality assessment with finite labor burden. Moreover, our proposed method accurately characterize the gradual degradation in the underwater image sequence taken in controlled conditions. The proposed progressive learning ranking is also an alternative way to realize adaptive extension of the existing image quality databases.

Silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cell, as one of the promising technologies for next-generation passivating contact solar cells, employs an undiffused and n-type mono-crystalline silicon (c-Si) substrate and two amorphous-silicon-based selective contacts with opposite polarities. In this work, a numerical model based on Richter's theory has been developed to simulate the performances of a 25.11 % efficiency SHJ solar cell obtained recently. Analyses on series resistivity (Rs) explicit that the upper bound for the sum of contact resistivities for p-type (ρc,p) and n-type (ρc,n) contacts is 0.073 Ω cm2. With the updated contact resistivities, the theoretical limiting efficiency estimated by Brendel's formulation is therefore 28.5 % for SHJ solar cells, which is comparable to 28.7 % for bi-facial tunneling-oxide passivating contact (TOPCon) solar cells. A hybrid structure consisting of p-type contact from SHJ and n-type contact from TOPCon is feasible to reach 28.9 % limiting efficiency in principle, showing potential of solar cells with hybrid structures.

In this paper, an X-Y nano-positioner driven by the shear piezoelectric actuators (SPAs) is proposed based on the friction-inertial theory. The nano-positioner can output a two-dimensional motion at a maximum speed of 0.187 mm/s within a 5 mm×5 mm workspace. In order to solve the contradiction between the motion velocity and the motion resolution, the coarse and the fine motion modes are first proposed on the SPAs application. The coarse motion and the fine motion are realized based on the power-function-shaped signal and the combined piecewise-curve signal respectively. The performance of the nano-positioner, e.g. the resolution, the velocity and the fluctuation, are analyzed and discussed based on different driving signals. Compared with other nano-positioners, the proposed system in this paper is superior in respect of compact size, high resolution, high velocity and two switchable motion modes. Furthermore, a prototype system of the proposed nano-positioner has been developed, which is evaluated by using a capacitive sensor based measurement system. Experiment results validate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology that can be employed and extended to a variety of SPA involved systems.

Mean and mean-and-variance corrections are the 2 major principles to develop test statistics with violation of conditions. In structural equation modeling (SEM), mean-rescaled and mean-and-variance...

Heart of Darkness is often viewed as an allegory that relates the tragic demise of the colonists and the annihilation of the noble ideas they hold. In Heart of Darkness, the colonial theme is best examined through the fate of Kurtz, the protagonist of the novel who emerges from the surface of conventional European values as a man of varied talents and high culture. Equipped with moral ideas, Kurtz travelled to the Congo to campaign for noble ideals, yet having arrived in a primeval place, the uncivilised wilderness awakened his “brutal instincts” and “monstrous passion”. He submitted himself utterly to the temptation to “go native”, descending into a moral and physical state of degeneration. He is to become a savage man, consumed by the tangled and unforgiving jungle. The life and death of Kurtz in the wilderness helps to demonstrate that the treat of barbarism comes from indeed within civilisation itself. This paper thus seeks to examine the savage humanity by scrutinising Kurtz’s Mephistophelian transformation in the heart of darkness.