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Objective: This study intended to explore the relation between heart rate recovery at 1 minutes (HRR1) during the recovery phase of cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) and exercise capacity in female systemic lupus erythematosus associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SLE‐PAH) patients. Methods: Twenty‐one female SLE‐PAH patients underwent right heart catheterization (RHC), pulmonary function test (PFT) and CPET. Forty‐two healthy subjects matched with SLE‐PAH patients in age, sex and BMI were recruited as a control group. The correlations between HRR1 with clinical and CPET parameters were performed. Results: Peak HR, ΔHR, HRR1, Peak HR‐warm HR1min, Peak HR‐warm HR2min and CR were significantly lower in SLE‐PAH than in controls (P < .01). Increased incidence of CRI was seen in SLE‐PAH. Except for the Peak PETO2, which was higher in controls, all other CPET parameters were lower in SLE‐PAH. SLE‐PAH patients with HRR1 ≥ 16 had longer 6MWD, lower NT‐proBNP, better percent of predicted gas transfer index or diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLco% pred) as well as better CO and CI. Peak HR, ΔHR, HRR1, Peak HR‐warm HR1min, Peak HR‐warm HR2min, CR, Peak Load, Peak VO2, Peak PETCO2, OUEP and OUES were lower and duration of exercise was shorter in patients with HRR1 < 16. HRR1 had positive correlation with 6MWD, DLco% pred, CO, CI and some key CPET parameters. Conclusions: HRR1 is an easily obtained auxiliary parameter in SLE‐PAH patients to reflect an altered autonomic tone. SLE‐PAH patients with HRR1 < 16 have more severe hemodynamics, worse clinical findings and marked oxygen uptake inefficiency than those with HRR1 ≥ 16. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) because of lung cancer has been sufficiently studied, nevertheless, little is known regarding the discrepancy of clinical characteristics and predictive factors among different presentations of VTE because of lung cancer. Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the distinction of clinical characteristics and predictive factors among different presentations of VTE because of lung cancer. Methods: All patients concomitant lung cancer and VTE were stratified into three groups: pulmonary embolism (PE) group in which patients had sole PE, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) group with sole DVT and concomitance group with both PE and DVT. Results: Concomitance of PE and DVT (28.2 days) mostly occurred at the early stage after the diagnosis of lung cancer, by contrast with DVT (63.6 days) which did at the latest stage, whereas PE (36.7 days) generally developed intermediately in between (P = .02). In a Kaplan‐Meier analysis, the cumulative survival rate of DVT group was higher than that of concomitance group, whereas the rate of PE group lied in between. (P = .002) The strongest correlated factors with the development of DVT, PE and concomitance were adenocarcinoma (HR 3.27, P = .003), chemotherapy (HR 2.62, P = .005) and D‐Dimer (HR 3.88, P < .001), respectively. The strongest correlated factors with the mortality of DVT, PE and concomitance were comorbidity (HR 2.32, P = .003), metastasis (HR 3.12, P < .001), and metastasis (HR 4.29, P < .001), respectively. Conclusion: Concomitance of DVT and PE represents the severest state of lung cancer, the earliest occurrence of VTE, and the worst survival rate, whereas DVT stands for the mildest condition of lung cancer and stablest pattern of VTE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the global stabilization problem via sampled-data control for a class of switched nonlinear systems meanwhile taking into account asynchronous switching. First of all, a state feedback sampled-data controller is constructed by backstepping design method. Then, a relationship between the sampling period and the average dwell time is derived, which can guarantee that the closed-loop system is globally asymptotically stable. Finally, two simulation examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The time-triggered CAN (TTCAN) protocol has been widely used in the automotive industry to fulfil the safety and real-time requirements of the application. As an extension of the standard CAN protocol, the TTCAN protocol aims to guarantee a safe and deterministic communication by introducing time-triggered messages with respect to a global synchronized time, which are scheduled in independent transmission windows within the system matrix. However, the new features bring more difficulties in designing and verifying the reliable applications in the TTCAN network. In this paper, we first present a formal probabilistic model of the TTCAN protocol with a consideration of its novel features. A TTCAN system consisting of three parts, i.e., a system matrix, an arbitration and some nodes, is modeled as discrete Markov chains model. Furthermore, five probabilistic properties are described and verified in the probabilistic model checker tool PRISM. Our work gives a quantitative analysis method for the given requirements, which facilitates the designers to a formal understanding of TTCAN protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The superb mechanical properties make graphene an ideal candidate material for impact protection. Combining molecular dynamics simulations and theoretical analyses, the deformation and failure modes, energy absorption of single-layer graphene under ballistic impact are investigated. According to numerical and theoretical results, the expression for residual velocity of projectile after impact is given. The dependence of deformation and failure modes, energy absorption mechanisms, specific penetration energy (SPE) on impact velocity is analyzed. The results show that during low-velocity impact, there are conical deformation region (CDR), star-like crack and monoatomic carbon chain in graphene. Energy absorption mechanisms of graphene are mainly local deformation and fracture. With increasing impact velocity, the size of CDR decreases. The star-like crack gradually transforms into circular hole. When impact velocity is high enough, carbon atoms within projectile projection area in graphene will be ejected in the form of debris. The kinetic energy (KE) loss of projectile is converted into KE of debris carbon atoms and fracture energy of carbon bonds. Besides, it is also found that SPE (dominant factors are deformation of conical region and KE increments) exhibits a decreasing–increasing trend with increasing impact velocity. When impact velocity is the same, SPE decreases with increasing projectile diameter. [Display omitted] • Energy absorption of graphene under ballistic impact is studied by MD simulations. • The expression for residual velocity of rigid projectile after impact is given. • The dependence of deformation and failure modes on impact velocity is discussed. • Energy absorption mechanism of graphene during impact process is analyzed. • The effect of impact velocity on specific penetration energy is studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The models are applicable to various engineer fields. • The relationships between the UCS and other mechanical indices. • Generalized function for capturing the effect of curing time. Given the wide application of lime stabilized loess in road base and subbase, subgrade, building foundations and slopes, a set of generalized and accurate mechanical estimation models of lime stabilized loess is essential for quality control. In this research, three modified models were proposed to capture the effects of lime content and compactness on the unconfined compressive strength (UCS), California bearing ratio (CBR), resilience modulus (M R), internal friction angle (φ), cohesion (c) and compression coefficient (a 1-2) of lime stabilized loess at both 7-day and 28-day curing periods. Compared with the logarithmic model, the hyperbolic model can more reasonably characterize the effect of the curing period on these mechanical indices. Taking those factors together, a set of three-factor estimation models based on both 7-day and 28-day references were developed and show high reliability. Moreover, the establishment of relationships between UCS and CBR , M R , φ and c provides a shortcut for the mechanical property estimation of lime stabilized loess. Finally, based on multiple sets of UCS data sourced from numerous papers, a hyperbolic model with a wider application range was established to link normalized UCS to curing time. The proposed estimation models can be adopted for design checking and quality evaluation of lime stabilized loess applied in various engineering fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal management of fuel cell vehicles is posing a constant challenge due to the growing installed power of the fuel cell stack and consequent heat-overloaded situations of the radiator. Based on the "time-dependent" idea that considers the fluctuated heat generation and the intermittent heat peak during the journey, a novel thermal management system that employs a heat-peak regulator is proposed in the present work. The heat-peak regulator is a thermal accumulator filled with phase-change material that separately exchanges heat with the fuel cell coolant and the air conditioner refrigerant. It temporarily receives the excess heat that cannot be released out by the radiator when the heat peak occurs; later on, when the heat peak is gone, the heat is transferred to the refrigerant to remove it from the condenser. The system simulations based on the developed thermal models demonstrate that, the thermal runaway of the fuel cell stack can be eliminated or effectively weakened by this novel thermal management system, relying on the amount of the phase-change material filling the heat-peak regulator. In the present study, the 135 s and 250 s thermal runaway durations can be shortened to 0 s and 105 s, respectively, in the standardized New European Driving Cycle and World-wide Harmonized Light Duty Test Cycle under 38 °C summer weather, and the maximum temperature for the latter can be reduced from 89 °C to 83 °C. This work can make a significant contribution towards the solution of thermal management problems of the fuel cell vehicles. • Proposing the "time-dependent" thermal management methodology. • The thermal management system contains a heat-peak regulator. • The heat-overload problem for the radiator of fuel cell stack is properly handled. • The proposed system is analyzed based on a self-developed thermal model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carteolol is a commonly-used topical medication for primary open-angle glaucoma. However, long-term and frequent ocular application of carteolol entails its residuals at low concentration in the aqueous humor for a long duration and may exert latent toxicity in the human corneal endothelial cells (HCEnCs). Here, we treated the HCEnCs in vitro with 0.0117% carteolol for 10 days. Thereafter, we removed the cartelolol and normally cultured the cells for 25 days to investigate the chronical toxicity of carteolol and the underlying mechanism. The results exhibited that 0.0117% carteolol induces senescent features in the HCEnCs, such as increased senescence-associated β-galactosidase positive rates, enlarged relative cell area and upregulated p16INK4A and senescence-associated secretory phenotypes, including IL-1α, TGF-β1, IL-10, TNF-α, CCL-27, IL-6 and IL-8, as well as decreased Lamin B1 expression and cell viability and proliferation. Thereby, further exploration demonstrated that the carteolol activates β-arrestin–ERK–NOX4 pathway to increase reactive oxygen species (ROS) production that imposes oxidative stress on energetic metabolism causing a vicious cycle between declining ATP and increasing ROS production and downregulation of NAD+ resulting in metabolic disturbance-mediated senescence of the HCEnCs. The excess ROS also impair DNA to activate the DNA damage response (DDR) pathway of ATM–p53–p21WAF1/CIP1 with diminished poly(ADP-Ribose) polymerase (PARP) 1, a NAD+-dependent enzyme for DNA damage repair, resulting in cell cycle arrest and subsequent DDR-mediated senescence. Taken together, carteolol induces excess ROS to trigger HCEnC senescence via metabolic disturbance and DDR pathway. [Display omitted] • 0.0117% carteolol induces senescence of human corneal endothelial cells (HCEnCs). • The carteolol activates β-arrestin–ERK–NOX4 axis to elevate ROS production. • The elevated ROS impair DNA and impose oxidative stress (OS) on energy metabolism. • The DNA damage elicits senescence of the HCEnCs via DNA damage response pathway. • The OS provokes metabolic disturbance resulting in senescence of the HCEnCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Theoretical models are established to analyze the interface mechanical behaviors when a droplet infiltrates the microstructures. • The physical mechanism of compressive stability and excellent wettability on the Salvinia surface is theoretically revealed. • The effects of surface geometry and microstructure characteristics parameters on the compressive stability and wettability of the biomimetic surface are discussed. • The geometric structure relationships for designing highly stable superhydrophobic surfaces are proposed. The surface of Salvinia had superhydrophobicity and kept good compressive stability, which was mainly attributed to the dense microscopic eggbeater structure villi on the surface. By means of force equilibrium, a theoretical model was established to analyze the interface mechanical behaviors when a droplet infiltrates the microstructures. Based on the minimum energy principle, a theoretical model was presented to analyze the process of a droplet spreading on the surface of Salvinia reaching a steady state. Combined with numerical simulations, it was found that the superhydrophobicity and compressive stability of the Salvinia were dependent on the morphological and geometric parameters of the microstructure (edge angle φ , number of branching n , width W and spacing D , etc.). By adjusting these geometrical parameters, the surface of the biomimetic structure can maintain a stable Cassie state at 0.63 kPa pressure, and the apparent contact angle is controllable in the range of 121°−169.8°. The research results provide a theoretical foundation for the structural design of superhydrophobic surfaces with high stability and tunable wettability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, a directional wireless multimedia sensor network is a popular environment for solving the task assignment problem. Achieving long‐term frontal monitoring of moving objects is a crucial challenge for scholars in this field. Utilizing directional sensors equipped with energy harvesting is an effective technique to enhance network performance. In this way, the energy of nodes is no longer limited to batteries and can result in better frontal monitoring. In this method, each sensor categorizes tasks based on its own energy, allowing the determination of task execution nodes through bidding. The present study proposes a distributed algorithm for directional task assignment, EN‐DADA, based on energy harvesting. The task was first classified to determine the candidate node set that could execute the task, and then the task assignment was determined according to the monitoring income of each node in the candidate node set. The comparative analysis confirmed that the proposed method had advantages in terms of task revenue and network lifetime when using the same energy harvesting model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a sampled-data adaptive output feedback controller is proposed for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with unmeasured states, unknown dynamics and unknown time-varying external disturbances. To approximate uncertain nonlinear functions, radial basis function neural networks (RBFNNs) are employed. The state observer and the disturbance observer (DO) are constructed to estimate the unmeasured state and the external disturbance, respectively. Then, the sampled-data adaptive output feedback controller and adaptive laws are designed by using the backstepping design technique. The allowable sampling period T is derived to guarantee that all states of the resulting closed-loop system are semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, two simulation examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiac repair depends on angiogenesis and cell proliferation. Previously we identified Canopy 2 (CNPY2) as a secreted angiogenic growth factor which promotes neovascularization. We investigated the role of CNPY2 in cardiac repair following myocardial infarction (MI) and the possible mediators involved using Cnpy2 knockout (KO) mice and human cardiac tissue. Cardiac tissue from patients with end-stage heart failure had significantly lower endogenous CNPY2 expression compared to samples from control patients. CNPY2 expression in mouse hearts significantly decreased following MI. Significantly less leukocyte and endothelial cell proliferation was found in Cnpy2 KO than wild-type (WT) mice post MI which contributed to impaired angiogenesis, tissue repair, and decreased cardiac function (fractional shortening: WT: 21.1 ± 2.1% vs. KO: 16.4 ± 1.6%, p <.01 at day 28 post MI). RT-qPCR revealed significantly increased p16INK4a expression in Cnpy2 KO mouse hearts (WT: 1.0 ± 0.04 vs. KO: 2.33 ± 0.11 [relative expression of p16 INK4a], p <.01) which was confirmed by immunostaining (WT: 8.47 ± 1.22 vs. KO: 12.9 ± 1.22 [% total cells], p <.05) for the p16INK4a protein. Expression of cell cycle-related proteins, cyclin D1, cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6, and phosphorylated retinoblastoma protein (pRb) was significantly decreased in Cnpy2 KO mouse hearts. The up-regulation of the p16INK4a/cyclin D1/Rb pathway by knockout of Cnpy2 was accompanied by attenuation of PDK1/Akt phosphorylation. MI exacerbated the detrimental effects of p16INK4a on tissue repair in Cnpy2 KO mice. Overexpression of CNPY2 in the cardiac tissue of transgenic mice reversed the inhibition of cell proliferation through suppression of the p16INK4a pathway. Cardiac injury and progressive heart failure were associated with decreased CNPY2 levels in both humans and mice. Knockout of Cnpy2 resulted in up-regulation of p16INK4a which impaired cardiac function and tissue repair. These data suggest that CNPY2 is an important regulator of p16INK4a and promotes cell proliferation and tissue repair through inhibition of the p16INK4a pathway. CNPY2 treatment may offer a new approach to restore cardiac function after an MI. • Lower CNPY2 expression in cardiac tissue from patients with end-stage heart failure. • CNPY2 expression in mouse hearts decreased significantly following an MI. • Cnpy2 KO mice showed impaired functional recovery post MI. • Cnpy2 KO upregulated p16INK4a to hinder leukocyte and endothelial cell proliferation and heart repair. • Overexpressing CNPY2 reversed inhibited cell proliferation by suppressing p16INK4a. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The predatory mite, Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor), is an important biological control agent of Tetranychus urticae Koch in greenhouse crops. Oulenziella bakeri is an important alternative prey for the commercial production of N. californicus. To confirm that the predatory relationship between N. californicus and O. bakeri is beneficial to the reproduction of N. californicus, the functional and numerical responses of N. californicus to O. bakeri and T. urticae were compared when exposed to six prey densities (2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 individuals) under laboratory conditions. An analysis of the logistic regression showed that the adult female N. californicus displayed a type II functional response when fed on O. bakeri and T. urticae eggs and nymphs. The proportion of the consumed prey by N. californicus to the total supplied prey declined, even though the absolute number of predation events increased as the prey density increased. The Holling disc equation revealed that N. californicus had greater attack rates on the eggs (0.86-1.03) and nymphs (0.73-0.93) of T. urticae than those of O. bakeri, which were (0.55–0.73) and (0.71–0.96), respectively. N. californicus had longer handling times for the eggs (0.05–0.09) and nymphs (0.07–0.12) of O. bakeri compared with those of T. urticae, which were (0.03–0.05) and (0.04–0.07), respectively. The numbers of eggs laid by N. californicus feeding on eggs and nymphs of T. urticae were greater than those feeding on O. bakeri; but as the density increased, the difference in the oviposition rates between the predators feeding on two mites decreased. The comparison of the functional and numerical responses of the predator to O. bakeri and T. urticae revealed that the former is a good alternative food in the commercial production of N. californicus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing number of satellites for specific space missions is hindering efficient control from the ground stations. In addition, the risk of failing or deteriorating elements in a multi-satellite system (MSS) leads to the uncertainty in its operating environment which challenges traditional centralized planning algorithms. Centralized algorithms depend on one coordinator to overview entire system, which is a single poitn of failure, so if it malfunctional, the MSS may go down. To overcome this problem, a distributed onboard mission planning algorithm based on the Hybrid Dynamic Mutation Genetic Algorithm (HDMGA) is proposed for such MSS. The satellites are considered as autonomous agents which can communicate and negotiate with other satellites. The mission objective is decomposed through the team negotiation procedures, and the local goals are dispatched to the participant satellite. The local planning procedure on each satellite is modeled as local search problems, while the planning problem for entire team is formulated as strongly-coupled distributed optimization problem. The verification shows that the proposed distributed approach can achieve the same results as the centralized approach. The simulation results illustrate that the proposed approach shows superior performance on both computation time and success rate, as compared with other two state-of-the-art distributed mission planning approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new species of Orangescirulinae, Orangescirula lii Chen & Jin sp. nov., is described and illustrated. It is characterized by having 2 claw-like setae, no solenidion and adorsal setae on palpal tibiotarsus, having 5 pairs of hysterogastral setae, 1 bsl and 5 sts on tibia III, 1 asl and 3 bsl on tarsus I. A key to adult females of Orangescirula of the world is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of the present study was undertaken to isolate bioactive substances from microbial secondary metabolites of Streptomyces gilvosporeu AXY-25 and to determine their antiparasitic effect against Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. A pure compound showing strong anti- I. multifiliis activity was isolated from a culture of S. gilvosporeu AXY-25 by using the method of bioassay-guided isolation. The chemical structure of the active compound was confirmed as natamycin (NAT) by spectral analysis (EI-MS, 1H NMR and 13C NMR). An in vitro anti-parasitic assay demonstrated that 100% of theronts were killed with a concentration of 25.0 mg L−1 NAT for 4 h with an effective concentration (EC 50) (95% CI) at 10.9 (10.7–11.1) mg L−1. Similiary, all tomonts were killed by a dose of 25.0 mg L−1. An in vivo anti-parasitic assay showed that the number of I. multifiliis trophonts on the surface of hybrid Erythroculter ilishaeformis in the NAT-treated group were markedly lower when compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Mortality in the 25.0 mg L−1 NAT-treated group was 36.7% at day 10. Mortality in the control group due to the I. multifiliis infection was 83.3% by day 10. In addition, the survival rate and reproduction of tomonts in the 25.0 mg L−1NAT treated group were markedly lower than those in the control group (p < 0.05). The results of the acute toxicity of NAT indicated that NAT was safe to use on hybrid E. ilishaeformis , the median lethal concentration (LC 50) was 508.6 mg L−1. • An active compound against Ichthyophthirius multifiliis was isolated and was elucidated as natamycin. • In vitro and in vivo results showed that natamycin were effective against Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. • The safety of natamycin was verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Contact dynamic models for active debris capturing using a net are presented and analyzed using numerical simulations. The contact dynamics are based on two methods: the penalty-based method and the impulse-based method. Both methods apply contact detection algorithms based on the Axis-Aligned Bounding Box. The impulse-based method is, for the first time, being used in a net capturing scenario. Strengths and weaknesses of both models are compared and discussed. Moreover, the results from numerical simulations of target capturing are presented and analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of the contact dynamic models. It is found that the average difference of bullet trajectories obtained by two models can be restricted within 6% when it compares with the dimension of the net. Highlights • The impulse-based method is proposed for contact dynamics modeling of a net capturing scenario. • The impulse-based method is compared with the penalty-based method using numerical simulations. • The impulse-based method is found suitable by avoiding penetration and a stiff equation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Abstract The NiFe-layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanosheets were decorated on the surface of doped BiVO 4 to structure an integrating photoanode for improving solar photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting efficiency, which is a dynamic research topic to solve the energy crisis and remit environmental pollution caused by fossil fuel combustion. The fabricated photoanode exhibits rapid response to visible light, enhances photocurrent density and shows significant cathodic shift compared to BiVO 4. Moreover, the measured incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) of the photoanode is comparable to that reported in the literature. The amount of evolution oxygen was measured and the faradaic efficiency produced oxygen was also obtained by comparing the theoretical calculation value. The enhancement is attributed to the increase of the carrier density, the effective separation of photogenerated electron-hole and consuming of the photogenerated holes accumulated at the electrode surface, which has been confirmed by electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) and the intensity modulated photocurrent spectra (IMPS). The work may offer a promising method for designing a high efficiency and low-cost photoanode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changes in biochemical marker level of bone turnover of women before and after menopause and the relationship between it and bone mineral density (BMD) are analyzed. At the same time, the level of biochemical markers of bone metabolism of women with decreased BMD at premenopause and postmenopause is discussed. In this paper, the lumbar vertebrae (L1–L4) and femoral neck BMD of 225 female outpatients with osteoporosis were measured by dual-energy X ray bone sonometer. Among them, 185 menopause women at age of 45–65 were selected, and they were divided into normal bone mass group (50), decreased bone mass group (35) and osteoporosis group (100) according to BMD; in addition, 45 menopause women with decreased BMD at age of 51–70 were selected as postmenopause decreased-BMD group, and 25 non-menopause decreased-BMD women at age of 42–50 were selected as premenopause decreased-BMD group. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was carried out to measure the level of serum cathespin K (Cathe K), bone alkaline phosphatase (B-ALP) and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) of all patients; and electrochemiluminescence immunoassay is used to detect the level of osteocalcin, β-crosslaps and type-I procollagen N-terminal propeptide(PINP). The Cathe K, PINP, β-crosslaps, osteocalcin and TRAP level of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis are obviously higher than those of normal bone mass group (P < 0.05), and they are in negative correlation to lumbar vertebrae (L1–L4) or femoral neck BMD (P < 0.05); B-ALP level is slightly lower than that of normal bone mass group, however, such difference is of no statistical significance (P > 0.05). The Cathe K and TRAP level of serum in postmenopause decreased-BMD group were significantly lower than those in premenopausal women (P < 0.01), and the PINP and osteocalcin level of serum were significantly higher than those in premenopause decreased-BMD group (P < 0.01). However, the differences of lumbar vertebrae (L1–L4), femoral neck BMD and β-crosslaps, B-ALP level between the two groups are of no statistical significance (P > 0.05). Osteoporosis of postmenopausal women is high turnover. The changes in the levels of serum osteocalcin, β-crosslaps, PINP, B-ALP, TRAP and Cathe K could reflect the bone metabolism activity. The joint detection of BMD and bone-turnover biochemical marker is beneficial to the prevention, treatment and efficacy observation of the patients with osteoporosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young's modulus, failure strength, and failure strain of precracked graphene are investigated via finite element method based on molecular structure mechanics in this research. The influence of distribution, length, and orientation of precrack and graphene sizes on these mechanical properties is analyzed. The ratio of precrack length and graphene width is defined as P value, and its particular value Pc can be found, at which the variation trends of Young's modulus, failure strength, and strain have changes with increasing P value. In addition, the fracture toughness of precracked graphene is investigated, and the stress intensity factor (SIF) is calculated according to the Griffith criterion in classical fracture mechanics. The numerical values of the SIF are about 3.20-3.37 MPa√m, which are compared with the experimental results, and the simulations verify the applicability of the classical fracture mechanics to graphene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • This is the first Method of characteristics code for pebble bed reactor. • Special geometry modeling is developed for pebble bed reactor. • Special algorithm for ray tracing is optimized pebble bed reactor. Abstract The method of characteristics which is an effective method for neutron transport calculation with high flexibility in complex geometry has been applied to high temperature gas-cooled pebble-bed reactor geometry. The MOCP (the M ethod o f C haracteristics for P ebble-bed high temperature gas-cooled reactor) code was developed in Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University to achieve this goal. The first stone standing ahead is the geometry modeling for pebble-bed district. In this work, a solid modeling method called constructive solid geometry (CSG) is introduced to model the pebble-bed district. A universal ray tracing technique is developed to arrange tracks in 3-D cylinder geometry. Furthermore, tree search method is implemented into MOCP to improve the ray tracing efficiency. Automatic meshing is implemented to improve the geometry modeling efficiency. A redundant tree was constructed to mesh the interspace among pebbles. The geometry modeling capability of MOCP is verified by fast converging single group benchmarks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study a reversibly fluorescence immunoassay was prepared through grafting, using hydrogen bonding, of an antibody-conjugated ZnS quantum dots (ZQD-antiHA) onto an electrospun poly (2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) fibrous mats (EPFM) with poly (n-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) grafts. The PPO was first electrospun into a fibrous mat, then brominated and reacted with NaN 3 to generate the azido-terminated EPFMs. A propargyl-terminated poly ( n -isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) was synthesized and grafted onto the azido-terminated EPFMs. ZQDs were conjugated by antibodies (antiHA) to adsorb onto the PNIPAAm grafts of EPFMs with hydrogen bonding. Because of the stronger interaction between antigen (HA) and antibody (antiHA), the hydrogen bonding was blocked due to the introduction of the antigen which resulted in the desorption the ZQDs from the EPFMs. The blue fluorescence of the PNIPAAm-grafted EPFMs with antibody-conjugated ZQDs was disappeared while immersing in the solution of antigen. The 3.82 mg/m 2 of ZQDs on the PNIPAAm grafts EPFMs significantly reduced to 0.22 mg/m 2 after the immersion of the antigen solution which verified the transference of the ZQDs from EPFMs to the solution. The behavior of adsorption and desorption of the ZQDs was reversible up to five cycles. The revisable fluorescence immunoassay of EPFMs with PNIPAAm grafts experimentally exhibited a high potential in a simple setup for biosensing with its unique sensitivity and selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the increasing need in small satellite solutions triggers the miniaturization of attitude control systems. Reaction spheres were proposed as promising replacements of conventional reaction wheels for their $4\pi $ rotations. Since the generated control torques could be about any desired axes, a single reaction sphere is sufficient for three-axis stabilizations of spacecraft. This paper presents an innovative design of reaction spheres. Its driving unit is a combination of permanent magnets (PMs) and electromagnetic induction. This enables the generation of torques about three principle axes simultaneously. Meanwhile, a contactless bearing is integrated into the actuator design. Detailed designs and working principles of the reaction sphere are described. To investigate performance characteristics of the actuator, field modeling is of great importance and provides the basis for dynamics modeling. In this paper, an improved analytical model for dynamic fields excited by slotless distributed windings is presented for the first time. To study the cross coupling between PMs and electromagnetic induction, the static field generated by PMs is also modeled analytically. These developed models are validated through comparisons with numerical simulations. Electromagnetic torques generated by the actuator are calculated through the approaches of the Maxwell stress tensor and the Lorentz force law. Torque calculations based on the analytical field models deviate from those based on the numerical model slightly, with the maximum error within 4%. This means the presented analytical models allow to predict the electromagnetic field distribution and torques precisely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The current treatments used in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) therapy have significant side effects. Thus, it is very necessary to position and release TNF-α siRNA in inflamed tissues. Here, we demonstrate that poly(lactic- co -glycolic acid) can pack TNF-α siRNA efficiently into nanoparticles (NPs), and galactosylated chitosan (GC) can be grafted onto the NP surface, improving the RAW 264.7 macrophage-targeting kinetics of the NPs in vitro. Next, we orally administered GC-modified NPs loaded with TNF-α siRNA to C57BL/6 mice treated with 3% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) to investigate their use in the treatment of colitis. When TNF-α siRNA loaded NPs were released into the colitis tissues of mice, GC-modified NPs (GPNs) alleviated the inflammation more efficiently than unmodified PGLA NPs (PNs). A series of colitis parameters (e.g., weight loss, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity) demonstrated that GPNs have better anti-inflammatory effects than PNs. As indicated by flow cytometry, grafting GC onto NPs increased the macrophage uptake capacity and improved the kinetics of endocytosis. Collectively, our findings indicate that GC- modified TNF-α siRNA loaded NPs are powerful and efficient nanoscale materials for the delivery of therapeutic molecules to colitis tissues. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In this paper, the practical leader‐following consensus via the sampled‐data protocol is investigated for second‐order nonlinear multiagent systems with external disturbances, where the velocity information of all agents are assumed to be unmeasurable. The consensus problem of the multiagent system is first transformed to a stabilization problem of the constructed error system. Because of the unknown of the agents' velocities, an observer is then proposed for the constructed error system to estimate the velocity errors. By the backstepping approach, a new protocol is designed with only position measurements and sampled‐data information. Furthermore, the upper bound of the sampling period is given. It is proved that the practical leader‐following consensus can be achieved by the proposed sampled‐data protocol with a proper sampling period. The result is then extended to the multiagent systems with multiple leaders. Finally, two numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the designed protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to explore the influence of Ganoderma lucidum-derived polysaccharides (GLP) to coix oil-based microemulsion on pharmaceutical performance and anti-lung cancer treatment. GLP-integrated coix oil-based microemulsion (MEs(PS-GLP)) exhibited a clear spherical shape, small particle size, and good hydrodynamics similar to the coix oil-based microemulsion, but showed a lower zeta potential and a better stability. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer analysis presented that GLP was integrated with microemulsion as a single system. Notably, the average molecular distance between polysaccharide and microemulsion was approximately 1.7 nm. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration of MEs(PS-GLP) against A549 cells was about 119 μg/mL. In vivo imaging studies showed that introduction of GLP promoted the tumor-specific accumulation of microemulsion in comparison with controls. In vivo, antitumor results showed that MEs(PS-GLP) markedly inhibited the tumor growth of A549-bearing xenograft nude mice and obviously improve the serum immune index. Collectively, this study demonstrates the potential mechanism of spatial relation between polysaccharides and microemulsion and validates the significances of GLP on tumoral accumulation and antitumor efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To assess the value of the MR-based radiomics signature in differentiating ocular adnexal lymphoma (OAL) and idiopathic orbital inflammation (IOI).Methods: One hundred fifty-seven patients with pathology-proven OAL (84 patients) and IOI (73 patients) were divided into primary and validation cohorts. Eight hundred six radiomics features were extracted from morphological MR images. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) procedure and linear combination were used to select features and build radiomics signature for discriminating OAL from IOI. Discriminating performance was assessed by the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC). The predictive results were compared with the assessment of radiologists by chi-square test.Results: Five radiomics features were included in the radiomics signature, which differentiated OAL from IOI with an AUC of 0.74 and 0.73 in the primary and validation cohorts respectively. There was a significant difference between the classification results of the radiomics signature and those of a radiology resident (p < 0.05), although there was no significant difference between the results of the radiomics signature and those of a more experienced radiologist (p > 0.05).Conclusions: Radiomics features have the potential to differentiate OAL from IOI.Key Points: • Clinical and imaging findings of OAL and IOI often overlap, which makes diagnosis difficult. • Radiomics features can potentially differentiate OAL from IOI non invasively. • The radiomics signature discriminates OAL from IOI at the same level as an experienced radiologist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cutting edge structure of PCBN tools has an important influence on cutting force, chip morphology, and tool wear in hard cutting process. In order to evaluate the cutting performance of PCBN tools with variable chamfered edge, this paper carried out comparative experiments of high-speed hard cutting hardened steel GCr15 by PCBN tools, respectively, with variable chamfered edge and uniform chamfered edge, and proposed the detection index and measurement of macroscopic and microscopic morphological characteristics of chips, and found the variation rule of cutting force, chip morphology, and tool wear over cutting time. The experimental results showed that under the effect of helical cutting edge, the axial and radial load of the PCBN with variable chamfered edge, to a certain extent, was decomposed, which resulted in relatively smaller radial force and axial force; in the state of no tool wear, the macro morphologies of chips generated by the two cutting tools with different chamfered edges, were both wavy, however, with the increase of cutting time, the chip morphology of the cutting tool with uniform chamfered edge changed from being wavy into being irregularly curved, while the one of the cutting tool with variable chamfered edge remained invariable. In contrast, as for the cutting tool with variable chamfered edge, the margin of its rake crater wear is relatively far away from the cutting edge, and it has obvious advantages in improving the chip removal performance and tool life, and reducing the cutting resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to seek the suitable local objectives for each satellite to optimal the global mission allocation strategy with a global utility function. This paper uses a game-theoretical formulation for a multi-satellite system in which the satellites are viewed as a unique unit with their self-interests. To solve the problem, the first is to identify the utility functions for individual satellite, align them to form the global utility function which can represents the allocation requirements. The second is to design the suitable negotiation mechanisms that can be equipped on each satellite so they can pursue the optimization by their own interest. The Utility-based Regret play, the Smoke Signal play, and the Broadcast-based play are proposed as negotiation mechanisms for the team to cooperate under the distributed and decentralized system structure. The simulation results illustrate that using these mechanisms can help this multi-satellite system reaches a near-optimal allocation profile. The effectiveness of proposed mechanisms are demonstrated by comparing their simulation results with several existing mechanisms under different scale of participant number. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date the management of glioma remains a great challenge in cancer therapy worldwide. The identification of novel diagnostic and therapeutic methods is required. Although there is data indicating that matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-26 serves an important role in many human cancer types, its clinical significance in glioma remains uncertain. The present study aimed to evaluate MMP-26 expression in human astrocytic glioma specimens, and investigate its role and significance in the progression of astrocytic glioma. Immunohistochemistry was performed to assess MMP-26 expression in astrocytic glioma tissues. The levels of MMP-26 expression and its relevance to the clinicopathological features and prognostic factors in patients with astrocytic glioma patients were then investigated. The results demonstrated that MMP-26 expression was significantly assocaited with the World Health Organization grade (P<0.05). Additionally, it was identified that MMP-26 expression was an effective predictor of the overall survival of patients with astrocytic glioma (P<0.05). Analyses of univariate and multivariate Cox regression confirmed that MMP-26 expression was an independent factor for evaluating the prognosis of astrocytic glioma patients (P<0.05). The current results support that MMP-26 may be a novel indicator of diagnosis and an independent factor for evaluating prognosis in patients with glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In field of drug delivery, graphene is a potential material as drug carrier due to its large specific surface area and excellent chemical stability. Many kinds of drug molecules can be adsorbed on graphene surface through single or multiple benzene ring structures in drug molecules. Graphene loaded with drug molecules needs to be transported to the lesion site through blood. The content of water molecules in blood accounts for 92%. Therefore, the influence of water molecule on adsorption performance cannot be ignored. Here, the influence and mechanism of water molecule on the adsorption properties between benzene molecule and graphene is studied. The adsorption models of benzene molecule on graphene surface in vacuum and water environments are established, respectively. The adhesion energy, adhesion force and stable adsorption position of benzene molecule in two environments are analyzed by molecular dynamics simulation and potential function theory. Moreover, a model of preadsorption of a single water molecule on graphene surface is further presented, which explains the reason of the difference in adsorption performance in vacuum and water environment from the perspective of energy. The preadsorption of water molecule on graphene surface promotes the adsorption of benzene molecule. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to measure in-plane conductivity of Nafion membrane for fuel cell, but this target is generally inhibited by measuring system with heterogeneous interfaces and immature electrochemical measurements. This paper simply used water media to establish stable measuring system with metal electrode and Nafion membrane, representing system as equivalent circuit. Our equivalent circuit was validated by both cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements, also clarified connection and difference in two measurements. This electrochemistry breakthrough helps realize measuring system completely and reliably even under successive temperature cycles, providing circuit elements for kinetic analysis in contact resistance, in-plane conductivity, inactive and active proton. We also clarified that the inactive and active proton shift can dictate low frequency inductance, which is an important sign for active and stable operation in fuel cell, secondary battery and materials. All these results can induce enormous progress in multi-disciplines, making our work have great significance and broad impact for future studies. • The equivalent circuit is key for measurements and analysis. • The equivalent circuit was validated by EIS and CV measurements. • The equivalent circuit has good in situ characterization for measuring system. • The circuit elements revealed kinetic relationship for measuring system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the morphology of void and compressive performances of CNTs-reinforced filament-wound risers under axial compressive loading. The porosity morphology and distribution induced by the filament winding process were measured and analyzed, revealing a transition from nearly circular to elongated voids with gradual growth in the size of the individual void as the winding angle increased. Failure modes of composite risers were comprehensively discussed to understand the progressive failure process and load-bearing capacity. The results indicated that failure mechanisms of composite risers mainly manifest as initial resin splitting at the end of the structure, cracks growing in the interwoven region and local buckling at the end of the structure, and local asymmetric buckling as winding angle increased. While the addition of CNTs enhances the brittleness of the substrate and leads to an increased probability of debonding and delamination. Furthermore, the experiment results demonstrate that the energy absorption capacity can be generally improved at larger winding angles for the composite riser with 3% and 5% of CNTs volume content. The maximum values of peak crushing load, mean crushing force, energy absorption, and specific energy absorption were observed in the circumferentially wound riser with 5% of CNTs volume content. • The shape of voids transitions with an increase in winding angle. • There is a slight sensitivity of the void content to the winding angle. • Failure mode is similar to the different composite risers with the same winding angle. • Large winding angles improve energy absorption for 1% and 5% of CNTs volume content. • Winding angle strongly affects the compressive performance but no nonlinear is observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature-dependent material attrition and subsurface lattice damage of single-crystal AlN at various scratching depths/forces are investigated at atomic level using molecular dynamics simulation. An ultimate removal precision of depth down to monolayer of AlN is achieved based on the present temperature-dependent critical conditions. The number of worn atoms, positively influenced by temperature due to the reduction of hardness, increases exponentially with increasing normal force in the plastic domain. Archard-type wear coefficient K values calculated at different temperatures increase linearly with normal force, and the slope is independent of temperature. Independently of load and temperature, a wear coefficient normalized with the tangential contact area, K / A tang , is developed to interpret the removal efficiency of AlN substrate with diamond abrasive. • Temperature-dependent plastic removal of AlN was elucidated at atomic level via MD simulation. • Increasing temperature can promote wear of GaN primarily due to the reduction of hardness. • Atomic layer removal of AlN is realized over a wide temperature range. • Temperature-independent wear coefficient increases linearly with normal load. • A normalized wear coefficient, K / A tang , is developed to interpret the removal efficiency of AlN with diamond abrasive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Compressive properties of 3D graphene are studied by theory and MD simulations. • The unified constitutive relations of three kinds of 3D graphene are derived. • Compressive deformation mechanisms of three kinds of 3D graphene are discussed. • The configuration-property relationships of 3D graphene are elucidated. • Energy absorption capacities of three kinds of 3D graphene are analyzed. Combining molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and continuum modeling, the uniaxial in-plane compressive properties of honeycomb three-dimensional (h3D), triangle-like 3D (t3D) and non-equilateral hexagon 3D (nh3D) graphene are investigated to elucidate configuration-property relationships, and the constitutive relations of three kinds of 3D graphene are derived to evaluate the compressive mechanical properties. Based on theoretical and MD simulation results, it is found that the compressive stress-strain responses of 3D graphene can be divided into five stages. The compressive mechanical properties and deformation mechanisms of each stage are different. When 3D graphene is compressed, graphene sidewalls undergo rotations, bending and buckling deformations, collapses. Because graphene sidewalls of h3D graphene are prone to undergo buckling deformations, there is large locking strain in h3D graphene. For t3D and nh3D graphene, their high plateau stress is attributed to unique configurations. Moreover, we also find that with increasing graphene sidewall width, Young's modulus and plateau stress of 3D graphene gradually decrease. In addition to the above investigations, the energy absorption mechanisms and compression-unloading stress-strain curves of 3D graphene are also studied. It is found that there are extraordinary compression-recovery properties and energy absorption capacities in 3D graphene. Finally, the selection criteria of 3D graphene are proposed. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer is one of the most malignant diseases in women worldwide. Serum microRNAs (miRNAs), with the characteristics of high sensitivity and specificity, have recently attracted more attentions to serve as potential biomarkers for tumor diseases. In this study, 194 breast cancer patients’ serum samples were collected before surgery and enrolled into different groups based on their diagnostic information. To search for breast cancer diagnostic biomarkers, serum miRNAs were screened by microarray in pooled samples of healthy volunteers and breast cancer patients in different clinical stages. The miRNAs were further verified in each individual patient’s serum samples in diagnostic and predictive sets. The serum level of miR-1915-3p was upregulated and miR-455-3p was downregulated significantly in breast cancer patients compared with healthy volunteers. Furthermore, the patients with infiltrating carcinoma or lymph node metastasis had a higher serum level of miR-1915-3p and lower serum level of miR-455-3p than patients with the carcinoma in situ or patients without lymph node metastasis. ROC analysis suggested that miR-1915-3p and miR-455-3p had the potential as a promising serum diagnostic and predictive biomarkers of breast cancer. miR-1915-3p was over-expressed in certain human breast cancer cells. Functional experiments in vitro showed that miR-1915-3p enhanced cell proliferative and migrational abilities. Overexpression of miR-1915-3p repressed target gene DUSP3 and activated ERK1/2. Collectively, this study provided a new insight that miR-1915-3p might play a role in the development of breast cancer and that serum miR-1915-3p and miR-455-3p could serve as diagnostic and predictive biomarkers for breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The volcanic‐hosted Xiangshan uranium orefield is the largest uranium deposit in South China. Recent exploration has discovered extensive Pb–Zn mineralization beneath the uranium orebodies. Detailed geological investigation reveals that the major metallic minerals include pyrite, sphalerite, galena, and chalcopyrite, whilst the major non‐metallic minerals include quartz, sericite, and calcite. New δ18Ofluid and δDfluid data indicate that the ore‐forming fluids were mainly derived from magmatic, and the sulfide δ34S values (2.2–6.9‰) suggest a dominantly magmatic sulfur source. The Pb isotope compositions are homogeneous (206Pb/204Pb = 18.120–18.233, 207Pb/204Pb = 15.575–15.698, and 208Pb/204Pb = 37.047–38.446). The 87Sr/86Sr ratios of sulfide minerals range from 0.7197 to 0.7204, which is much higher than volcanic rocks and fall into the range of metamorphic basement. Lead and strontium isotopic compositions indicate that the metallogenic materials probably were derived from metamorphic basement. Pyrite Rb–Sr dating of the ores yielded 131.3 ± 4.0 Ma, indicating that the Pb–Zn mineralization occurred in the Early Cretaceous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to explore the effects of mineral diesel fuel carbon soot (MCS) and biodiesel carbon soot (BCS) on the lubrication of polyalphaolefin (PAO) and diesel fuels.Design/methodology/approach Two styles of carbon soot were prepared from the natural combustion of mineral diesel fuel oil (MDO) and biodiesel oil (BDO). Tribological tests were conducted on a high-frequency reciprocating rig. Friction surfaces were characterized using three-dimensional laser scanning confocal microscopy and Raman spectroscopy.Findings The addition of MCS and BCS to PAO could reduce friction in most cases. MCS had a negligible effect on the wear for contents not exceeding 1.0 per cent. By contrast, BCS exhibited a considerable negative influence on the wear resistance even at low contents. For diesel fuels, MCS reduced both friction and wear, whereas BCS substantially deteriorated the lubrication of BDO. MCS formed a Fe3O4/C composite lubricating film on the friction surface. BCS also entered the contact region, but it did not form an effective Fe3O4/C composite lubricating film.Originality/value This work compared MDO and BDO from a different perspective, i.e. the effects of their combustion carbon soot on the lubrication of lubricating oil and fuel oil. The significant negative effect of BCS on the lubrication of lubricating oil and BDO is a problem that could occur in the industrial application of BDO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterostructured Bi 3 O 4 Br/α-Bi 2 O 3 nanocomposites are prepared via in situ one-step self-combustion of ionic liquids. Tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) is employed to be fuel, complexing agent for ionic liquids, as well as the reactant supplying Br for the objective material. The ratio of Bi 3 O 4 Br/α-Bi 2 O 3 can be easily adjusted by controlling the amount of TBAB. The heterojunctions show higher photocatalytic ability towards both azo dye methyl orange (MO) and colorless pollutant phenol. The electron spin resonance (ESR) test and p-nitro blue tetrazolium chloride (NBT) degradation result indicate that generation amounts of superoxide anion radicals ( O 2 − ) over heterojunctions are less than that over pure Bi 3 O 4 Br. Photoelectrochemical measurements show that separation efficiencies of photo-generated electrons and holes are decreased after the combination of Bi 3 O 4 Br and α-Bi 2 O 3 . Work function test and scavenger experiments display that holes play key role for pollutant degradation and the position of holes on α-Bi 2 O 3 is lowered via hybridization. Thus, the enhanced photocatalytic activity over composites can be attributed to the position decline of α-Bi 2 O 3 valence band, thus improving the reactivity of holes in direct oxidation of pollutants. In this case, valence band position is confirmed to be more important than separation efficiency of charge carriers in affecting photocatalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) was electrospun into fibrous membranes and then reacted with NaN 3 to generate azido-terminated PVC fibrous membranes. A propargyl-terminated poly( N -isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) was also synthesized and then grafted, through click reactions, onto the azido-terminated PVC fiber surface. Protrusion-, scale-, and joint-like structures of the PNIPAAm grafts on the PVC fibers were formed upon increasing the molecular weight of the PNIPAAm grafts. The PNIPAAm-grafted PVC fibrous mats exhibited completely wetted surfaces at 25 °C because of their high roughness. The static water contact angle of the PNIPAAm-grafted PVC fibrous mats reached 140° when the temperature was increased to 45 °C. This thermoresponsive behavior was significantly greater than that of the PNIPAAm grafted on a flat surface. Temperature-responsive membranes were constructed having a pore size of 1.38 μm and applied as protein valves to block and release an antibody (fluorescein-conjugated AffiniPure goat anti-rabbit IgG). At 25 °C, the collection efficiency remained at 94% for antibody concentrations up to 60 ng/L. As the temperature increased to 45 °C, the collection efficiency decreased abruptly, to 4%, when the antibody concentration was greater than 20 ng/L. Accordingly, this system of PNIPAAm-grafted PVC fibers functioned as a protein valve allowing the capture and concentration of proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant protein-based diets (e.g., egg or meat alternatives) have emerged as a promising approach for developing healthy and sustainable food systems. Mayonnaise, a formulated sauce prepared by mixing vegetable oil, egg yolk, vinegar and salt, is probably one of the most widely used condiments in the world today. In this paper, wheat gluten (WG) as an available and low-cost plant protein ingredient was used to prepare and stabilize oil-in-water high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) as mayonnaise replacers via emulsification–evaporation method. Firstly, WG was dissolved into aqueous acetic acid/ethanol (55/45, v/v, pH 3.0) solution to form phase-separated WG particles, and then HIPEs were prepared through homogenization of high sunflower oil fraction (75 wt%) with WG particles suspension at 80 °C after evaporating ethanol completely. Compared with egg-based mayonnaise, HIPEs (especially for 1.0 wt% WG) exhibited very similar droplet size distribution, rheological behavior, near-perfect thixotropic recovery, and tribological property. These results demonstrated that HIPEs and mayonnaise might have similar sensory property and perceived texture such as creaminess, smoothness, and sliminess. The confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) indicated that close-packed oil droplets could allow them to form homogeneous oil-in-protein network microstructure in HIPEs and mayonnaise, which might contribute to high viscoelasticity, consistency, and correct texture. In addition, thermal stability of HIPEs was much better than that of the mayonnaise. Design and construction of WG-stabilized oil-in-water HIPEs may provide a potential strategy for preparing mayonnaise replacers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an onboard autonomous mission re-planning system for Multi-Satellites System (MSS) to perform onboard re-planing in disruptive situations. The proposed re-planning system can deal with different potential emergency situations. This paper uses Multi-Objective Hybrid Dynamic Mutation Genetic Algorithm (MO-HDM GA) combined with re-planning techniques as the core algorithm. The Cyclically Re-planning Method (CRM) and the Near Real-time Re-planning Method (NRRM) are developed to meet different mission requirements. Simulations results show that both methods can provide feasible re-planning sequences under unforeseen situations. The comparisons illustrate that using the CRM is average 20 % faster than the NRRM on computation time. However, by using the NRRM more raw data can be observed and transmitted than using the CRM within the same period. The usability of this onboard re-planning system is not limited to multi-satellite system. Other mission planning and re-planning problems related to autonomous multiple vehicles with similar demands are also applicable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study a thermo-sensitive switching membrane was prepared through grafting, using a click reaction, of an N -isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) derivative onto an electrospun poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) fibrous membrane (EPFM). The PPO was first electrospun into a fibrous membrane, then brominated and reacted with NaN 3 to generate the azido-terminated EPFMs. A propargyl-terminated poly( N -isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) was synthesized and grafted onto the azido-terminated EPFMs. The surface roughness of PPO fibers was increased due to the presence of PNIPAAm grafts, such that the thermoresponse of the static water contact angle (SWCA) of PNIPAAm-grafted EPFMs between 25 and 45 °C was significantly greater than that of the same PNIPAAm grafted on a flat surface. Thermo-sensitive affinity of the membrane with water resulted the average pore dimension responded to temperature changes. Taking advantage of this temperature-responsive affinity, we applied the membranes as protein valves that blocked and released an antibody. At 25 °C, the collection efficiency was 90% for antibody concentrations of up to 5 ng/mL. Increasing the temperature to 45 °C caused the collection efficiency to decrease abruptly, to 7.5%, when the antibody concentration was greater than 1.5 ng/mL. Accordingly, this system of PNIPAAm-grafted PPO fibers functioned as a protein valve, allowing the blocking and release of proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the Bayesian melding method ( BMM ) for system reliability analysis by effectively integrating various available sources of expert knowledge and data at both subsystem and system levels. The integration of multiple priors is investigated under both linear and geometric pooling methods. The aggregated system prior distributions using various pooling methods including the BMM are evaluated and compared. Based on these integrated and updated prior distributions and three scenarios of data availability from a system and/or subsystems, methods for posterior system reliability inference are proposed. Computational challenges for posterior inferences using the sophisticated BMM are addressed using the adaptive sampling importance re-sampling ( SIR ) method. A numerical example with simulation results illustrates the applications of the proposed methods and provides insights for system reliability analysis using multilevel information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper investigates the stabilization problem of sampled‐data output feedback for a class of uncertain switched nonlinear systems in nonstrict‐feedback form. An observer is designed to estimate the unmeasured states, and a sampled‐data controller is obtained by discretizing the virtual controller that is constructed via the dynamic surface control method. It is proved that the designed sampled‐data controller can render all states of the resulting closed‐loop system to converge to a neighborhood of the origin for the arbitrary switching signal, and an allowable sampling period is also given. Finally, 2 examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to explore the influence of Ganoderma lucidum-derived polysaccharides (GLP) to coix oil-based microemulsion on pharmaceutical performance and anti-lung cancer treatment. GLP-integrated coix oil-based microemulsion (MEs(PS-GLP)) exhibited a clear spherical shape, small particle size, and good hydrodynamics similar to the coix oil-based microemulsion, but showed a lower zeta potential and a better stability. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer analysis presented that GLP was integrated with microemulsion as a single system. Notably, the average molecular distance between polysaccharide and microemulsion was approximately 1.7 nm. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration of MEs(PS-GLP) against A549 cells was about 119 μg/mL. In vivo imaging studies showed that introduction of GLP promoted the tumor-specific accumulation of microemulsion in comparison with controls. In vivo, antitumor results showed that MEs(PS-GLP) markedly inhibited the tumor growth of A549-bearing xenograft nude mice and obviously improve the serum immune index. Collectively, this study demonstrates the potential mechanism of spatial relation between polysaccharides and microemulsion and validates the significances of GLP on tumoral accumulation and antitumor efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes a three-dimensional buckling finite element method (FEM) to calculate the tilt limit force of the rectangular winding of an amorphous alloy transformer. The short-circuit leakage magnetic FEM is used to calculate the axially distributed force of the transformer. The maximum axial compression force is obtained by integrating the short-circuit distributed force along the axial height of the winding. The model is used to characterize the axial stability of the transformer by means of the maximum compression force and the size of the tilt limit force, and thus to formulate the evaluation criterion of the axial instability of the amorphous alloy transformer. The proposed method is verified by the calculation results of the tilt limit force and by checking the axial stability of the rectangular winding of an actual amorphous alloy transformer. The analysis results show that reducing the size difference of the rectangular winding between the long side and the short side and increasing the width of the wire will improve the tilt limit force. Experimental results of the short-circuit test on several amorphous alloy transformers verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. © 2017 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the influence of heterogeneity on mechanical and acoustic emission (AE) behaviours of stratified rock specimens under uniaxial compression using a digital image processing (DIP)-based finite difference method (FDM). In the DIP, a developed image segmentation algorithm based on seeded region growing (SRG) is proposed to fully acquire the mesostructure of stratified rock specimens, instead of the traditional threshold value method. To sufficiently capture the heterogeneity of stratified rock, Weibull statistical manner is adopted to describe mechanical properties of each material component. Three schemes are adopted to study the effect of heterogeneity with different homogeneity index and different mesostructure under two compression loading conditions. The results show that heterogeneity has a great influence on the mechanical and AE behaviours of stratified rock. As the homogeneity of material components increases, the peak strength and brittleness of rocks increase, and the macro elastic modulus improves as well. Simultaneously, the AE modes change from swarm shock to main shock. Under the same component content, the macro-property is better while the component distribution is concentrative relatively, especially to the property of strength. For the coupling effect of mesostructure and heterogeneity arising from material components, mesostructure is considered to cause the visible increase of AE counts. And the numerical results agree well with the previously numerical results and experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Failure detection, isolation, and recovery is an essential requirement of any space mission design. Several spacecraft components, especially sensors, are prone to performance deviation due to intrinsic physical effects. For that reason, innovative approaches for the treatment of faults in onboard sensors are necessary. This work introduces the concept of agent-based fault detection and recovery for sensors used in satellite attitude determination and control. Its focuses on the implementation of an algorithm for addressing linear drift bias in gyroscopes. The algorithm was implemented using an agent-based architecture that can be integrated into the satellite's onboard software. Numerical simulations were carried out to show the effectiveness of this scheme in satellite's operations. The proposed algorithm showed a reduction of up to 50% in the stabilization time for the detumbling maneuver, and also an improvement in the pointing accuracy of up to 20% when it was applied in precise payload pointing procedures. The relevance of this contribution is its added value for optimizing the launch and early operation of small satellite missions, as well as, an enabler for innovative satellite functions, for instance, optical downlink communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]