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To observe the effects of acupoint thread-embedding therapy and low-carbohydrate diet therapy on obese patients with food addiction. Sixty-five eligible patients were randomized into a thread-embedding group of 33 cases and a diet group of 32 cases to respectively receive 12-week treatment. Before treatment, after treatment and at 6-month follow-up, the two groups were observed and compared in terms of body mass (BM), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), body mass index (BMI), body fat rate (BFR), basal metabolic rate (BMR) and Yale food addiction scale version 2.0 (YFAS 2.0). At the end of treatment, there were no significant differences in the general efficacy, and the improvements in BM, BMI, WC, HC, WHR and BFR between the thread-embedding group and diet group (all P>0.05). At follow-up, the thread-embedding group showed more significant improvements in all the aforementioned indicators compared with the diet group except HC (all P

Objective The present study investigated the functional neuroanatomy underlying negative and positive schemas towards the self and others in patients with early stage schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) using a task-based fMRI procedure.Methods This study included 50 patients with SSDs and 52 controls. The schema-evoking task consisted of four active conditions and neutral condition. Differences in brain activation were compared between the two groups. Correlation analysis was performed between task-related activation and psychopathology.Results The SSD patients exhibited higher activity of the left middle and inferior frontal gyri under the negative-others minus neutral contrast as well as greater activation of the left superior and middle frontal gyri and right medial superior frontal gyrus under the positive- self minus neutral and positive-others minus neutral contrasts. Under the positive-others minus neutral contrast, negative correlation was observed between activity of the right inferior parietal gyrus and right angular and total score of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), whereas positive correlation between activity of the left middle cingulate gyrus and left/right precuneus and positive-others score of the Brief Core Schema Scales (BCSS).Conclusion The present findings suggest that the frontal brain regions of SSD patients are more sensitive to negative and positive schemas towards the self and/or others compared to those of controls.

Aiming at the problem that it is difficult to detect the discharge state of narrow pulse width and small duty cycle pulse, this paper studies the variation characteristics of inter electrode impedance in micro-EDM process, puts forward a detection method to distinguish different discharge states in micro-EDM based on the change of electrical signal caused by the change characteristics. The influence of pulse width and duty cycle on the quality of micro-EDM is analyzed. The surface machining quality of workpiece can be improved obviously by compressing the pulse width of pulse power supply. And designs a discharge state detection system based on inter electrode impedance variation characteristics. Experiments verify the detection method, and test the machining effect of the control strategy through the trial machining experiment, which ensures that the micro-EDM process is efficient and stable.

Previous studies have shown that poisoning is a major threat to human health. Inhalation of acute toxic gas has been linked to serious health consequences. Among the antidotes for poisoning currently used, supportive care is the most common intervention in clinical practice. Severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and/or refractory cardiogenic shock or cardiac arrest caused by toxins are associated with high mortality and are difficult to treat. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is an aggressive supportive measure used to manage severely poisoned patients. This study presents two cases of acute toxic gases inhalation, severe ARDS and circulatory instability induced by bromine inhalation, and ARDS induced by nitric acid inhalation which were successfully treated with ECMO. The ECMO techniques used in the animal models and in human cases to treat severe poisoning are described as well as the indications, contraindications, complications, and weaning of ECMO.

Deep learning technology has received extensive consideration in recent years, and its application value in target detection is also increasing day by day. In order to accelerate the practical process of deep learning technology in electric transmission line defect detection, the current work used the improved Faster R-CNN algorithm to achieve data-driven iterative training and defect detection functions for typical transmission line defect targets. Based on Faster R-CNN, we proposed an improved network that combines deformable convolution and feature pyramid modules and combined it with a data-driven iterative learning algorithm; it achieves extremely automated and intelligent transmission line defect target detection, forming an intelligent closed-loop image processing. The experimental results show that the increase of the recognition of improved Faster R-CNN network combined with data-driven iterative learning algorithm for the pin defect target is 31.7% more than Faster R-CNN. In the future, the proposed method can quickly improve the accuracy of transmission line defect target detection in a small sample and save manpower. It also provides some theoretical guidance for the practical work of transmission line defect target detection.

The rapid development of smart grids puts forward high requirements on the fine management of the distribution network side, which based on distribution network electrical topology identification. Facing the big data during the operation of the distribution network, edge computing has obvious advantages. Therefore, this paper studies the electrical topology identification algorithm of the distribution network based on edge computing. In this method, the phase of user in each station area is identified by the edge gateway. Based on the principle that the similarity of the voltage curves of the same phase is higher than that of different phases in a station area, this paper proposes an improved KNN (K-Nearest Neighbor) algorithm. In this algorithm, the traditional KNN algorithm is improved by using correlation coefficient instead of Euclidean distance as the distance metric. In addition, this paper proposes a training set update mechanism, which adds the tested voltage data into the training set. The analysis results of the examples show that this algorithm has high accuracy, and the verification of multiple stations proves its effectiveness.

The emergence of distributed real-time database provides a convenient and unified data storage method for ship monitoring and control software. Based on the distributed real-time database developed by ourselves, aiming at the application demand of ship monitoring and control system to distributed real-time database, combining the self defined protocol with the distributed real-time database, this paper proposes a data synchronization method of the distributed real-time database. It effectively solves the problem of data synchronization of distributed real-time database, and constructs a fully peer-to-peer distributed real-time database.

STUDY DESIGN Prospective trial. OBJECTIVE To establish an individualized navigation template for safe and accurate insertion of lower cervical anterior transpedicular screw (ATPS) based on a three-dimensional (3D) printing technique. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Conventional screw insertion manually under fluoroscopy easily leading to deviation of ATPS screw channel, cervical instrumentation procedures demand the need for a precise technique for screw placement. METHODS Twenty adult cervical spine specimens (10 men and 10 women, with a mean age of 50.29 ± 6.98) were selected for computed tomography pre- and postoperatively. A 3D lower cervical spine model was reconstructed using Mimics software to measure the screw-related parameters and generate a reverse template with optimal screw channel as well as a prototype using 3D printing. Assisted by the navigation template, bilateral ATPS were inserted into the cadavers. RESULTS The mean outer width and height of pedicle were 5.31 ± 1.23 and 6.78 ± 1.10 mm, respectively. The average length, sagittal, and axial angles of the optimal screw channel obtained through the optimal entry point were 36.34 ± 4.39 mm, 40.67° ± 5.10°, and 93.7° ± 7.96°, respectively. The adjustable safe ranges of sagittal and axial angles were 3.89° ± 1.13° and 5.64° ± 0.97°, respectively. The axial and sagittal accuracies of the 200 screws were 99.5% and 97%, respectively. The average deviations of the actual entry point and the preset opening in the X, Y, and Z axes were 0.39 ± 0.43, 0.21 ± 0.41, and 0.29 ± 0.14 mm, respectively (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION An individualized ATPS navigation template was developed using Mimics software and 3D printing prototyping, based on computed tomography, for highly accurate screw insertion. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 4.

Based on the standard 40 nm Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) process, a curvature compensation technique is proposed. Two low-voltage, low-power, high-precision bandgap voltage reference circuits are designed at a 1.2 V power supply. By adding IPTAT (positive temperature coefficient current) and ICTAT (negative temperature coefficient current) to the output resistance, the first-order compensation bandgap voltages can be obtained. Meanwhile, the third high-order compensation current is also superimposed on the same resistance. We make use of the collector current of the bipolar transistor to compensate for the nonlinear term of VBE. The simulation results show that TC (temperature coefficient) of the first circuit reference could be reduced from 29.1 × 10−6/°C to 5.71 × 10−6/°C over the temperature range of −25 to 125 °C after temperature compensation. The second one could be reduced from 17 × 10−6/°C to 5.22 × 10−6/°C.

The self-purification MBR system for domestic sewage is commonly used in living areas, scenic spots, and industrial sites, for remote areas and other regions where energy supply is inconvenient. The new energy system provides energy to the sewage treatment system, and achieves remote monitoring, which is of substantial significance for saving energy to reduce pollution. In this paper, three modes of power generation, namely, photovoltaic, wind and temperature difference, are employed for domestic sewage purification systems, and a reasonable energy supply and energy control strategy is proposed according to the conventional water treatment; and then a new-energy self-purification system for domestic sewage is designed and experimented with supplying and consuming quantity, tracking the system-consumed energy and water quality data for one year, so as to present that the equipment has good application prospects.

The hybrid solar PV system (HyPV) with dual energy storage and peak-shaving function was developed. The solar power is stored as heat using an electric water heater when the battery is full. The electric water heater was modified using a smart control and turned it into the main hot water supply system to eliminate a backup heater. Two HyPVs were built for field test. The long-term performance shows that the peak-shaving function is satisfactory and the smart hot water supply was also achieved.

Distributed energy generation with energy storage is quite important for high penetration of solar PV energy. A solar home system which generates solar power for self-consumption was studied. The solar home system utilizes a switching-type solar PV (HyPV) which operates in either solar or grid mode automatically without feeding solar power into grid. The solar home system also uses dual energy storage consisting of a battery and an electric water heater which stores PV energy as hot water (thermal storage) when the battery is full. Since thermal storage is much cheaper than battery, the dual energy storage would reduce the total cost of solar home system dramatically. Four HyPV solar home systems were built to run long-term field test. The results show that the specific PV energy generation approximates that of feed-in-tariff PV system. A solar PV energy production cost analysis shows that the HyPV solar home system with dual storage is economic if it was used to replace partial energy demand which is paid at higher grid electricity price. This verifies the possibility of grid parity for a solar PV system with energy storage.

As a non-volatile memory, zero-dimensional quantum dot resistive random access memory (RRAM) has shown broad application prospects in the field of intelligent electronic devices due to its advantages of simple structure, low switching voltage, fast response speed, high storage density, and low power consumption. Tin dioxide quantum dots (SnO2 QDs) are a good option for resistive functional materials with excellent physical and chemical stabilities, high electron mobilities, and adjustable energy band structures. In this paper, the SnO2 QDs with sizes of 2.51 nm, 2.96 nm and 3.53 nm are prepared by the solvothermal method, and the quantum size effect is observed in a small size range and the effective regulation of resistive switching voltage is achieved based on its quantum size effect, which is the unique advantage of quantum dot material in comparison with that of bulk material. Research result shows that as the size of SnO2 QD increases, the SET/RESET voltage gradually decreases from –3.18 V/4.35 V to –2.02 V/3.08 V. The 3.53 nm SnO2 QDs have lower SET/RESET voltage (–2.02 V/3.08 V) and larger resistive switching ratio (> 104), and the resistive switching performance of the device has changed less than 5% after having experienced durability tests 2 × 104 times, showing good stability and retention. Besides, according to the fitting of charge transport mechanism, SnO2 QD RRAM exhibits Ohmic conduction under LRS, while Ohmic conduction, thermionic emission and space charge limit current work together during HRS. The resistive switching effect of SnO2 QDs is controlled by trap filled limit current and interface Schottky Barrier modulation; the trapping/de-trapping behavior of internal defect potential well of SnO2 QDs on electrons dominates the HRS/LRS switching, while the effective control of ITO/SnO2 QDs and SnO2 QDs/Au interface Schottky barrier is the key to accurately regulating the switching voltage. The reason why SnO2 QD RRAM exhibits good size-switching voltage dependence is that the larger SnO2 QD has lower Fermi level and interface Schottky barrier height, so the junction resistance voltage division is reduced, and the SET/RESET voltage decrease accordingly. This work reveals the huge application potential and commercial application value of SnO2 QDs in the field of resistive switching memory, and provides a new option for the development of RRAM.

Bedaquiline, a diarylquinoline, improved cure rates when added to a multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment regimen in a previous placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial (TMC207-C208; NCT00449644). The current phase 2, multicenter, open-label, single-arm trial (TMC207-C209; NCT00910871) reported here was conducted to confirm the safety and efficacy of bedaquiline.Newly diagnosed or previously treated patients with MDR-TB (including pre-extensively drug-resistant (pre-XDR)-TB or extensively drug-resistant (XDR)-TB) received bedaquiline for 24 weeks with a background regimen of anti-TB drugs continued according to National TB Programme treatment guidelines. Patients were assessed during and up to 120 weeks after starting bedaquiline.Of 233 enrolled patients, 63.5% had MDR-TB, 18.9% had pre-XDR-TB and 16.3% had XDR-TB, with 87.1% having taken second-line drugs prior to enrolment. 16 patients (6.9%) died. 20 patients (8.6%) discontinued before week 24, most commonly due to adverse events or MDR-TB-related events. Adverse events were generally those commonly associated with MDR-TB treatment. In the efficacy population (n=205), culture conversion (missing outcome classified as failure) was 72.2% at 120 weeks, and 73.1%, 70.5% and 62.2% in MDR-TB, pre-XDR-TB and XDR-TB patients, respectively.Addition of bedaquiline to a background regimen was well tolerated and led to good outcomes in this clinically relevant patient cohort with MDR-TB.

The metabolic etiology of breast cancer has been explored in the past several years using metabolomics. However, most of these studies only included non-Hispanic White individuals. To fill this gap, we performed a two-step (discovery and validation) metabolomics profiling in plasma samples from 358 breast cancer patients and 138 healthy controls. All study subjects were either Hispanics or non-Hispanic African Americans. First, a panel of 14 identified metabolites significantly differed between breast cancer cases and healthy controls in both the discovery and validation sets. Most of these identified metabolites were lipids. In the pathway analysis, citrate cycle (TCA cycle), arginine and proline metabolism, and linoleic acid metabolism pathways were observed, and they significantly differed between breast cancer cases and healthy controls in both sets. From those 14 metabolites, we selected 9 non-correlated metabolites to generate a metabolic risk score. Increased metabolites risk score was associated with a 1.87 and 1.63-fold increased risk of breast cancer in the discovery and validation sets, respectively (Odds ratio (OR) =1.87, 95% Confidence interval (CI): 1.50, 2.32; OR=1.63, 95%CI: 1.36, 1.95). In summary, our study identified metabolic profiles and pathways that significantly diffed between breast cancer cases and healthy controls in Hispanic or non-Hispanic African American women. The results from our study might provide new insights on the metabolic etiology of breast cancer.

This paper analyzes the policy and scale of China’s prefabricated buildings, expounds the current project management model EPC of prefabricated buildings, and further analyzes the changes in job requirements and cost trends.

Progranulin (PGRN), a novel peptide that has recently emerged as an important regulatory adipokine, is relevant to energy homeostasis and obesity in animals and adult humans. Little is known about its roles in children. The aim of the current study was to determine the potential role of PGRN and explore its relationship to various obesity-related markers in obese children. This was a cross-sectional study composed of 77 children (43 obese and 34 healthy, age 8.68 ± 0.28 and 8.46 ± 0.45 years, resp.). The PGRN levels were significantly higher in obese children (102.44 ± 4.18 ng/mL) comparing to controls (69.32 ± 5.49 ng/mL) (P<0.05). Moreover, the PGRN levels were positively correlated with triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), IL-6, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in obese children after adjusted for BMI and age. However, there was no correlation of serum PGRN levels with OGTT-derived dynamic parameters, HOMA-IR, or HOMA-β in obese children. The results suggest that serum PGRN levels are significantly higher in obese children in China and correlate significantly with obesity-related markers. Increased PGRN levels may be involved in the pathological mechanism of childhood obesity.

Perioperative anaphylaxis caused by drugs is an important factor associated with narcotic mortality. Most of drugs administered during the anesthetic period have the potential to cause adverse reactions. Anaphylactic shock is a severe allergic reaction with a high fatality rate. Although the incidence is fairly low, the consequences can’t imagine, especially in the process of general anesthesia, which will increases the difficulty in diagnosing anaphylactic shock. Meanwhile, because it is rather difficult to determine the definite cause for anaphylactic shock, there is very few related documentation of anaphylaxis, and only few patients can receive allergy testing to do the confirmation. In this case, there is a 53 year-old woman proposed for thyroid surgery, has suffered from anaphylaxis during the general propofol-maintaining.

The telematics box is a vehicle communication terminal in the Internet of Vehicles, used to collect data from electronic control units and transfer data between users and application server. With the rapid development of Internet of Vehicles, T-Box provides users personalized service and abundant entertainment. However, it also becomes easy to cause security problems, such as disclosure of private information of owners, illegal control of vehicles and so on. Therefore, it is very important to reinforce the security of T-Box. To reinforce the security of T-Box, this paper will present a security reinforcement technology, which uses a secure element and traditional security measures to implements secure boot based on TrustZone and security service. This paper designs a software hierarchical model of security service based on the research of AUTOSAR and make innovative improvements to Transport Layer Security. Besides, to validate the feasibility of the solution, this paper also implements a security reinforcement technology and verifies the validity of it.

Background and Aims Tuberculosis is a major global health problem. However, anti-tuberculosis drug treatment has many adverse effects, such as drug-caused fever. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical features and treatments of anti-tuberculosis drugs-induced fever. Methods A total of 78 inpatients and outpatients with pulmonary tuberculosis accompanied by drug fever during the anti-tuberculosis treatment were analysed retrospectively from April 2006 to March 2013. Results Among the anti-tuberculosis drugs that caused the drug fever, rifampicin was the most common one, followed by para-aminosalicylic and pyrazinamide. The symptoms occurred within 2 months after treatment, mainly in the 1–3 weeks, and the main symptom was high fever with body temperature above 39°C. The accompanying symptoms include rash, chills, headache, stuffy nose, runny nose, nausea, vomiting and joint pain. Routine blood examination found that eosinophilia increased in 15 cases and decreased in another 15. Among 63 patients who underwent liver function tests, there were 10 cases of abnormal function and 4 cases of liver damage. When the drug fever was suspected, the measure of withdrawal was taken first. All the suspected drugs were withdrawn in 59 cases, while gradual withdrawal was conducted in 19 cases. Patients with complications were first treated in accordance with the principles of complications treatment and then were gradually given some drugs after recovery. The patients without complications were gradually given some drugs after the body temperature was back to normal. Conclusion Drug fever is an allergic reaction, the resolution of which depends on whether it was accompanied by liver damage and/or rash or not.

Nuclear industry differs from most other industries in the characters of large scaling, long period and multiple collaborating institutions [1]. Traditionally, the material codes are compiled respectively by collaborating institutions of nuclear power plant projects, so the whole code system lacks unified management and planning, causing many defects such as the incompleteness in information coverage, the inconformity in classification and description of materials and the confusion in commodity codes. So, it is of great significance in setting up a standard nuclear power material code system to effectively enhance the efficiency of design and management, and to ensure the schedules of the projects. This article introduces in detail the entire process of the setting up and application of the material code system of State Nuclear Power Technology Company (SNPTC) by Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research & Design Institute (SNERDI) for the CAP1400 nuclear power plant project. The application of the material code system in the CAP1400 project remarkably simplifies the work of design, material take-off and purchase, improving the project’s quality.

Background Breastfeeding confers substantial benefits to child health and has also been associated with lower risk of maternal cardiovascular diseases ( CVDs ) in later life. However, the evidence on the effects of CVD is still inconsistent, especially in East Asians, in whom the frequency and duration of breastfeeding significantly differ from those in the West. Methods and Results In 2004–2008, the nationwide China Kadoorie Biobank recruited 0.5 million individuals aged 30 to 79 years from 10 diverse regions across China. During 8 years of follow‐up, 16 671 incident cases of coronary heart disease and 23 983 cases of stroke were recorded among 289 573 women without prior CVD at baseline. Cox regression yielded adjusted hazard ratios ( HR s) and 95% CIs for incident CVD by breastfeeding. Overall, ≈99% of women had given birth, among whom 97% reported a history of breastfeeding, with a median duration of 12 months per child. Compared with parous women who had never breastfed, ever breastfeeding was associated with a significantly lower risk of CVD , with adjusted HR s of 0.91 (95% CI, 0.84–0.99) for coronary heart disease and 0.92 (95% CI, 0.85–0.99) for stroke. Women who had breastfed for ≥24 months had an 18% ( HR, 0.82; 0.77–0.87) lower risk of coronary heart disease and a 17% ( HR, 0.83; 0.79–0.87) lower risk of stroke compared with women who had never breastfed. Among women who ever breastfed, each additional 6 months of breastfeeding per child was associated with an adjusted HR of 0.96 (95% CI, 0.94–0.98) for coronary heart disease and 0.97 (95% CI, 0.96–0.98) for stroke. Conclusions Among Chinese women, a history of breastfeeding was associated with an ≈10% lower risk of CVD in later life and the magnitude of the inverse association was stronger among those with a longer duration of breastfeeding.

Background: Chronic nonhealing wound is a multifactorial complication of diabetes that results specifically as a consequence of impaired angiogenesis and currently lacks in effective treatments. Although a stem cell-based therapy may provide a novel treatment to augment diabetic wound healing, inferior cell survival at the diabetic skin wound is one of the key causes that are responsible for the low efficacy of the stem cell therapy. Materials and methods: In this work, we used an injectable, biocompatible, and thermosensitive hydrogel Pluronic F-127 to encapsulate allogeneic nondiabetic adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) and topically applied the cells to a full-thickness cutaneous wound in the streptozotocin-induced diabetic model in rats. Results: The cells seeded in the hydrogel enhanced angiogenesis (CD31 marker) and promoted the cell proliferation (Ki67 marker) at the wound site and significantly accelerated wound closure, which was accompanied by facilitated regeneration of granulation tissue. Consistently, levels of the messenger RNA expression of key angiogenesis growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, and key wound healing growth factor, transforming growth factor beta 1, were also upregulated in the cell-treated wounds when compared with untreated wounds. Conclusions: The results indicated that the transplantation of allogeneic ADSCs via the hydrogel improves the efficiency of cell delivery and optimizes the performance of ADSCs for augmenting diabetic wound healing. In conclusion, this ADSC-based therapy may provide a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of nonhealing diabetic foot ulcers. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

The design of modulation schemes at low pulse ratios is a known topic. However, most of previous work has focused on optimized pulse patterns, e.g., selective harmonic elimination. For industrial applications, standard carrier modulators are still highly attractive in many cases. Unfortunately, few papers presented insightful studies on carrier modulators at extremely low pulse ratios. This paper covers this gap. At extremely low pulse ratios, several special phenomena of carrier modulators are introduced for the first time. For example, a significant performance variation effect can be observed when carrier modulators are used. Moreover, the thermal unbalance of the hotspot devices in the converter may lead to significant power capability degradation of the converter unit. In this paper, the mechanisms behind this are explored and explained in detail for the first time. A quantitative comparison between different carrier-based modulation schemes is presented. Based on that, several design instruction for modulators at low pulse ratios are summarized at the end.

The aperiodic impulse voltage generator is huge and difficult to move in field, thereby limits its application in field significantly. For this problem, the oscillating impulse voltage (OIV) is recommended in standard IEC60060-3. In order to study the influence factor of oscillating impulse voltage generator, the simulation circuit is set up using ATP software. The influence of parameters such as shaping resistors, load capacitance and shaping inductance are study in this paper.

Flow diverters (FD), a new generation of intracranial stents with a low porosity mesh, have been applied as an alternative treatment for intracranial aneurysms. However, their efficacy varies among aneurysms of different morphology. In this study, computational fluid dynamic simulations were performed to examine the influence of an FD on the hemodynamics of wide-necked and narrow-necked cerebral aneurysms. An FD with 70% porosity mesh was deployed across the neck of an ideal narrow-necked and wide-neck aneurysm model. The hemodynamics at the aneurysmal sac were changed markedly in both models. At the inflow portion of the aneurysm neck of the narrow-necked aneurysm, the peak velocity and wall shear stress were reduced by 84% and 91%, respectively. By comparison, in the wide-necked aneurysm model, the results were 47% and 21%, respectively. This study demonstrates that the FD markedly altered the hemodynamic conditions inside intracranial aneurysms, depending on aneurysm morphology. Therefore, hemodynamic modifications should be individually designed for aneurysms with different morphology.

Particles concentration distribution in a stirred tank with pitched blade turbine was investigated using computational fluid dynamics. The effect of the pumping mode on the turbulent flow and particles concentration distribution was studied. The turbulent solid-liquid flow in a stirred tank was simulated using a two-fluid model with standard k-ε turbulence model. The multiple reference frames approach was used to simulate impeller rotation. Results show that different pumping modes create different flow field which decide the characteristics of the mixing quality. A further detailed discussion about particles mixing at the bottom of the stirred tank was made. The computational model and the predicted results discussed here would be useful for understanding the solid-liquid mixing process.

To obtain the optimal path in a unknown disaster field,a rescue robot needs to build an environment map. The information of the disaster field is collected by the sonsors of different robots, all signal from sensors (mounted on all robots and signal form GPS) are sent to the bakeside parllel processors with wireless network. A grid computing environment serves as the backside parallel processors with Globus Toolkit, the grid computing processor process all the signals and construct the global map to help robot for navigation path planning.The rescue robot get control signal from the grid computing processor with wireless network,thus, the robot is not necessary to be sophisticated. New computing methods are given for parallel algorithm on grid environment. The navigation control is implemented with the cooperation among heterogeneous agents, the advantages of large seale computing on grid are shown.

In the present work, detached eddy simulation (DES) of the turbulent flow in an unbaffled stirred tank agitated by a six-pitched-blade turbine was carried out. The sliding mesh (SM) approach was applied to simulate the rotation of the impeller. For comparison, the computations based on the large eddy simulation (LES) model and RANS equations closed with Reynolds stress model (RSM) were also performed. The instantaneous velocity fluctuations, mean velocity and turbulent kinetic energy profiles were analyzed and compared with the laser doppler velocimetry (LDV) results from literature. Results show that DES model can capture the unsteady turbulent flow characteristics accurately. The mean velocity and turbulent kinetic energy profiles by the DES model are in good agreements with the LES results and the LDV data. Besides, the computational cost of DES is only about 80% of LES. By contrast, the results obtained by RSM are not so good. It can be concluded that the DES model can produce as similarly good predictions as LES with less computational cost, and can work as an alternative of the LES model in predicting the hydrodynamics in the stirred tanks.

Despite the quality of engineers that still universities are forming, the existing system for educating engineers must change, provides the courses for engineering educators, and a large experience developing and implementing engineering programs, the engineering education research team has decided to develop and to offer a graduation level program for engineers dedicated to education. Through the application of computer-mediated communication educators or instructional designers in the field of engineering with an opportunity to share the ideas and experience of innovating curriculum and instructional methods of engineering education. In this paper, we briefly review the status of engineering education in China. Additionally, we provide details of how these concepts can be used in an educational model, a learning system is also believed to be the stepping stone to one that generates and rewards “active, independent, self-directed learning” for students to gather and assess data rigorously and critically.

Animal models that mimic cardiovascular diseases are indispensable tools for understanding the mechanisms underlying the diseases at the cellular and molecular level. This review focuses on various methods in preclinical research to create small animal models of cardiac diseases, such as myocardial infarction, dilated cardiomyopathy, heart failure, myocarditis and cardiac hypertrophy, and the related stem cell treatment for these diseases.

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of Tongluo recipe(TLR) on hepatic injury in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats and the possible mechanism.Methods Experimental diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin(60 mg/kg) in male Sprague-Dawley rats.The study included 5 groups:normal control(CN) group,diabetes mellitus control (DM) group,low-dose TLR (TL) group,middle-dose TLR (TM) group and high-dose TLR (TH) group,with 10 rats in each group.Diabetic rats in the latter three groups received 0.5 g/(kg·d),1.0 g/(kg·d),2.0 g/(kg·d) TLR,respectively throughout the experiment.The fasting glucose,blood lipid,and serum liver function indices were measured.Twelve weeks after treatment,rats were sacrificed and the liver tissues were collected to examine the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD),catalase (CAT),glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px),and malondialdehyde (MDA).The ultrastructure of liver tissues was observed through transmission electron microscope.Results The serum AST,ALT and AKP levels of diabetic rats were increased 12 weeks after intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (P 0.01),and electron microscope observation showed characteristic pathological changes of diabetes.TLR treatment (middle and high dose) obviously decreased serum AST,ALT levels(P 0.05)and ameliorated ultrastructure changes of liver tissues:glycogen granules decreased in cytoplasm,mitochondrial cristae became distinct and electron density decreased,appearance of smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum became nearly normal,and the interstitial collagenofiber decreased.The SOD and CAT activities were significantly decreased and MDA levels were increased in liver tissues of diabetic rats (P 0.01).Twelve weeks of treatment with TLR obviously improved SOD activity (at all three doses,P 0.01) and decreased the levels of MDA (middle and high dose,P 0.01).Conclusion Our data suggest that TLR can improve hepatic injury in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats,probably through increasing activities of antioxidant and depleting lipid peroxidation production.

This article describes the nursing shortage situation in China and the causes for it. China is a major donor of nurses to other parts of the world and this article discusses the solutions China has implemented to address its nursing shortage, and the challenges that it is currently facing. The strategies that have been employed include: improving the health care system, improving work cultures for increased retention through policy and regulation, making greater investments in nursing education to build sustainable nursing education infrastructures, and enhancing the image of the nursing profession. These solutions may serve as a reference to other countries to deal with the crisis of a nursing shortage.

This paper introduces a novel phase-interleaving algorithm for asymmetric multiterminal power converters. Using a variable phase interleaving (VI), the first harmonic of the dc-link current and voltage can be thoroughly eliminated even under the situation where the input voltage and current of each converter differ. This means that the cost and size of the dc-link capacitor can be significantly reduced compared to when the standard (symmetric) interleaving algorithm is used. The VI-algorithm does not require any additional hardware and has only slight influence on the control loop of the converters when compared to the standard solution, which simplifies the integration of this algorithm. As a concrete application, the VI-algorithm is integrated into a photovoltaic inverter with three independent input converters. This paper also provides a method for determining the required dc-link capacitance through a worst-case analysis. Furthermore, a performance comparison between edge-aligned fixed interleaving, center-aligned fixed interleaving and VI and is given.

Sapphire and SiC are typical substrates used for GaN growth. However, they are non-native substrates and result in highly defective materials. The use of ZnO substrates can result in perfect lattice-matched conditions for 22% indium InGaN layers, which have been found to suppress phase separation compared to the same growths on sapphire. InGaN layers were grown on standard (0 0 0 2) GaN template/sapphire and (0 0 0 1) ZnO substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. These two substrates exhibited two distinct states of strain relaxation, which have direct effects on phase separation. InGaN with 32% indium exhibited phase separation when grown on sapphire. Sapphire samples were compared with corresponding growths on ZnO, which showed no evidence of phase separation with indium content as high as 43%. Additional studies in Si-doping of InGaN films also strongly induced phase separation in the films on sapphire compared with those on ZnO. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy results showed perfectly matched crystals at the GaN buffer/ZnO interface. This implied that InGaN with high indium content may stay completely strained on a thin GaN buffer. This method of lattice matching InGaN on ZnO offers a new approach to grow efficient emitters.

GaN thin films have been grown on Si(1 1 1) substrates using an atomic layer deposition (ALD)-grown Al2O3 interlayer. This thin Al2O3 layer reduces strain in the subsequent GaN layer, leading to lower defect densities and improved material quality compared to GaN thin films grown by the same process on bare Si. XRD ω-scans showed a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 549 arcsec for GaN grown on bare Si and a FWHM as low as 378 arcsec for GaN grown on Si using the ALD-grown Al2O3 interlayer. Raman spectroscopy was used to study the strain in these films in more detail, with the shift of the E2(high) mode showing a clear dependence of strain on Al2O3 interlayer thickness. This dependence of strain on Al2O3 thickness was also observed via the redshift of the near bandedge emission in room temperature photoluminescence (RT-PL) spectroscopy. The reduction in strain results in a significant reduction in both crack density and screw dislocation density compared to similar films grown on bare Si. Screw dislocation density of the films grown on Al2O3/Si substrates approaches that of typical GaN layers on sapphire. This work shows great promise for the use of oxide interlayers for growth of GaN-based LEDs on Si.

AlGaN/GaN superlattice structures have been deposited on (0 0 0 1) ZnO substrates by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. The growth conditions were first optimized on GaN templates using N 2 as carrier gas at relatively low temperature (

The metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) growth of GaN based materials on ZnO substrates has numerous technical issues that need to be investigated and resolved. These include the thermal stability of ZnO, out-diffusion of Zn/O from the ZnO into the epilayers, and H2 back etching into the ZnO all of which can cause poor film quality. Cracks and pinholes were seen in the epilayers, leading to the epilayer peeling off. In this study, good quality InGaN films with a wide range of indium incorporation have been grown on (0001) ZnO substrates by MOCVD. No indium droplets and phase separation were observed even at high indium concentrations. The optical microscopy and field-emission scanning electron microscopy revealed a mirror-like InGaN surface with no evidence of indium droplets on the surface. Photoluminescence (PL) showed broad InGaN-related emissions with peak energy lower than the calculated InGaN band gap, possibly due to Zn/O impurities diffused into InGaN from the ZnO substrate. More recently, Al2O3 coated ZnO substrates have been employed for growth to limit Zn diffusion as well as assist epilayer growth. HRXRD result shows that a single crystal InGaN film has been successfully grown on an annealed Al2O3 coated ZnO substrate. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

MOCVD growth of InGaN on ZnO substrates has achieved indium concentration as high as 43% as observed by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD). The uniqueness of this finding is the absence of phase separation and the higher indium incorporation compared to growth on thick GaN/sapphire. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) shows perfectly matched GaN and ZnO lattices. In addition, atomic layer deposition (ALD) transition layers have been grown in order to provide a transition layer on ZnO substrates to block Zn diffusion and allow for future substrate removal for thin nitride fabrication.

This paper proposes a Fuzzy System learned through Fuzzy Clustering and Support Vector Machine (FS-FCSVM). The FS-FCSVM is a fuzzy system constructed by fuzzy if-then rules with fuzzy singletons in the consequence. The structure of FS-FCSVM is constructed by fuzzy clustering on the input data, which helps to reduce the number of rules. Parameters in FS-FCSVM are learned through a support vector machine (SVM) for the purpose of achieving higher generalization ability. In contrast to nonlinear kernel-based SVM or some other fuzzy systems with a support vector learning mechanism, both the number of parameters/rules in FS-FCSVM and the computation time are much smaller. FS-FCSVM is applied to skin color segmentation. For color information representation, different types of features based on scaled hue and saturation color space are used. Comparisons with a fuzzy neural network, the Gaussian kernel SVM, and mixture of Gaussian classifiers are performed to show the advantage of FS-FCSVM.

In this paper, the three-dimensional finite element model of a low voltage and heavy current three-phase busbar bridge system is established. The edge element is used to discretize the finite element equations of the electromagnetic field. The main characteristics of magnetic flux density and electromagnetic force in the system are obtained. Through the comparison between calculation results and measured ones, the reliability of the calculation is validated. The influence of the operating current, different arrangements of three-phase busbars, space between each phase busbar and frequency on electro-magnetic parameters, especially magnetic flux density and electromagnetic force, are also studied. The low voltage and heavy current busbar bridge is a new type of transmission facility, which is widely applied to transmitting current and power in power plants, large and medium-sized enterprises as well as transformer substations. The electric performance and reliability of busbar bridge systems have gained a good market and brought considerable economic benefits. However, the working noise of such facilities is remarkable, especially when the power consumption increases. On-the-spot investigations show that the working noise is mainly composed of electromagnetic noise and ventilating noise, which have three possible generating sources: the vibration of busbars and steel boxes caused by the alternating electromagnetic force; the aeolian vibration caused by air convection when the temperature inside the bridge rises; the vibration of the magnetic components of the busbar bridge system caused by the magnetostrictive effect. In order to understand the underlying mechanism, energy sources and propagation paths of the working noise, an analysis of the electromagnetic field for busbar bridge systems is required, so that the magnetic field distribution and the electromagnetic force on busbars and steel boxes can be obtained. The analysis is the basis of studying the working noise and it also plays an important role in optimizing the structure of busbar bridge systems.

This paper presents an MVB signal capturer based on microcontrollers for metro train on-line health monitoring system. This signal capturer is of low cost and high power efficiency. The hardware of the on-board unit is built, and firmware for signal detection is designed.