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This paper constructs a two-layer road data asset revenue allocation model based on a modified Shapley value approach. The first layer allocates revenue to three roles in the data value realization process: the original data collectors, the data processors, and the data product producers. It fully considers and appropriately adjusts the revenue allocation to each role based on data risk factors. The second layer determines the correction factors for different roles to distribute revenue among the participants within those roles. Finally, the revenue values of the participants within each role are synthesized to obtain a consolidated revenue distribution for each participant. Compared to the traditional Shapley value method, this model establishes a revenue allocation evaluation index system, uses entropy weighting and rough set theory to determine the weights, and adopts a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation and numerical analysis to assess the degree of contribution of participants. It fully accounts for differences in both the qualitative and quantitative contributions of participants, enabling a fairer and more reasonable distribution of revenues. This study provides new perspectives and methodologies for the benefit distribution mechanism in road data assets, which aid in promoting the market-based use of road data assets, and it serves as an important reference for the application of data assetization in the road transportation industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper considers adaptive event‐triggered control for nonlinear systems with time‐varying parameter uncertainties. The time‐varying uncertainties do not need to be differentiable, but their variation amplitudes are required to be known. Such uncertainties appear not only in the system nonlinearities but also as the control coefficient. We pursue a tight design scheme by combining tuning functions and the congelation of variables method, thereby avoiding the overuse of dominations and obtaining a less conservative controller. In view of the essence of the control problem, we don't design a continuous controller first and then search for a complex and suitable event‐triggering mechanism, as emulation methods done in the literature. In contrast, we adopt a simple event‐triggering mechanism with the relative threshold, while seeking a complex and appropriate adaptive controller which contains the new adaptive treatment for execution error due to the unknown time‐varying control coefficient. Note that there are three parameter dynamic compensators in the adaptive controller, and one is specialized to the execution error, which is not required in the continuous feedback context. It is shown that with the proposed adaptive event‐triggered controller, all the closed‐loop signals are bounded, the system state converges to zero, and no Zeno behavior occurs. A comparative simulation is provided to verify the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease for which bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) have become one of the most promising tools for treatment. Cuprizone(CPZ) induces demyelination in the central nervous system and its use has established a demyelination sheath animal model which is particularly suitable for studying the effects of BM-MSCs on the re-myelination and mood improvement of a demyelinating model mice. Methods: 70 C57BL/6 male mice were selected and divided into 4 groups: the normal control (n = 20), chronic demyelination (n = 20), myelin repair (n =15) and cell-treated groups (n = 15). Mice in the normal control group were given a normal diet; the chronic demyelination group mice were given a 0.2% CPZ mixed diet for 14 weeks, mice in the myelin repair and cell-treated groups mice were given a 0.2% CPZ diet for 12 weeks and normal diet for 2 weeks, while the cell-treated group mice were injected with BM-MSCs from the 13th week. The cuprizone-induced demyelination model was successfully established and BM-MSCs extracted, behavioural changes of the mice were detected by open field test, elevated plus maze test and tail suspension test, demyelination and repair of the corpus callosum and astrocyte changes were observed by immunofluorescence and electron microscopy and the concentrations of monoamine neurotransmitters and their metabolites detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and high performance liquid chromatography-electrochemistry (HPLC-ECD). Results: Results suggest BM-MSCs were successfully extracted and cultured, and migrated to the demyelinating area of brain tissue after cell transplantation. Compared with the normal control group, the mice in the chronic demyelination group showed obvious anxiety and depression behaviours (p < 0.05); compared with the chronic demyelination group, the anxiety and depression behaviours of the cell-treated group mice were improved (p < 0.05); compared with the normal control group, the demyelination of the corpus callosum region of the chronic demyelination group mice was significant (p < 0.01), while the myelin sheath of the cell-treated and myelin repair groups was repaired when compared with the chronic demyelination group (p < 0.05), and the cell-treated group had a more significant effect than the myelin repair group (p < 0.05). Compared with the normal control group, the number of astrocytes in the corpus callosum of the chronic demyelination group mice was significantly increased (p < 0.01), and the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in the cell-treated group was lower than that in the chronic demyelination and myelin repair groups (p < 0.05); the serum concentrations of norepinephrine (NE), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and 5-Hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid (5-HIAA) between the normal control and the chronic demyelination groups were significantly different (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The CPZ-induced model can be used as an experimental carrier for MS combined with anxiety and depression, and BM-MSC transplantation promotes the repair of myelin sheath and the recovery of emotional disorders in the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the long-term dynamics and driving factors behind small and micro wetlands is critical for their management and future sustainability. This study explored the impacts of natural and anthropogenic factors on the spatiotemporal evolution of these areas in Wuxi area using the support vector machine (SVM) classification method and the geographic detector model based on Landsat satellite image data from 1985 to 2020. The results revealed that: (1) Natural wetlands were prominent in Wuxi area, with an average proportion of 70%, and although they exhibited a downward trend over the last ten years, the scale of natural small and micro wetlands increased 1.5-fold—from 4349.59 hm2 in 1985 to 10,841.59 hm2 in 2020. (2) The small and micro wetlands in Wuxi area had obvious seasonal variations, with most being 0.1–1 hm2 and 1–3 hm2, respectively. From the perspective of spatial distribution, they were primarily distributed in Yixing district, which accounts for 34% of Wuxi area. (3) The distribution of small and micro wetlands was systematically affected by natural and human activities. The main factors that affected the distribution of small and micro wetlands were the average annual temperature and GDP, with the interactions between all factors being nonlinear and bi-linear. The influences of natural factors on small and micro wetlands were weakened, with human activities steadily emerging as the dominant factor that affected their distribution. The results of this study can provide supportive data and a scientific basis for the ecological restoration and protection of wetlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Event-triggered control, as networked systems are popular, is increasingly appreciated. Such control could arouse essential saving of communication/computation and would lay the groundwork for networked (control) systems. However, due to the discontinuity and hybrid nature of event-triggered control, the exclusion of Zeno phenomenon is the premise of its workability. Aiming to circumvent the Zeno behaviour more explicitly, we attach a dynamic dwell time to triggering mechanism and propose a new adaptive event-triggered control scheme for uncertain nonlinear systems. Specifically, a set of dynamic gains are first introduced to compensate for large uncertainties and nonlinearities, and the indispensability of a set of gains rather than a gain is elaborated on. Then, from a dynamic-gain-dependent monitoring rule, the positive dwell time is generated so that the Zeno phenomenon can be excluded automatically. In particular, the rule enables system behaviour to be always monitored by evaluating the sampling errors of gains. Based on this, we construct an adaptive controller with linear structure, which allows the execution error can be estimated explicitly, and in turn suppressed by the gains. It is shown that, with the proposed event-triggered control, all the closed-loop system signals are bounded and the system state ultimately converges to zero. Notably, the designed triggering mechanism could save more resources in theory since the event detection and gains monitoring are performed alternately. The effectiveness and superiority of the proposed scheme is illustrated by two simulation examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wood vinegar, a by-product of wood pyrolysis, is mostly discarded. Wood vinegar has a phytotoxic effect and could be potentially used as a naturally derived herbicide for weed control. The objective of this research was to evaluate the efficacy of wood vinegar from the pyrolysis of apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) tree branch wastes to control weeds. The wood vinegar concentrations required to inhibit 50% motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca L.), redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.), Spanish needles (Bidens pilosa L.), and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea L.) seed germination measured 0.51%, 0.48%, 0.16%, and 1.1%, respectively. The wood vinegar application rates (spray volume) required to provide 50% control of motherwort and Spanish needles measured 1911 L ha−1 and 653 L ha−1, respectively, while the highest evaluated rate at 4000 L ha−1 controlled 35% tall fescue by 10 days after treatment (DAT). Common purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) control increased as the wood vinegar application rate increased from 500 L ha−1 to 2000 L ha−1. Wood vinegar was more effective in dark than light conditions for controlling common purslane. By 5 DAT, averaged over application rates, wood vinegar provided 95% and 87% control of common purslane in dark and light conditions, respectively. These findings suggest that wood vinegar obtained from the pyrolysis of apple tree branches could be used for weed management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the value of using an enema alone for mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) before transvaginal pelvic floor reconstruction (TPFR) in patients ≥65 years old. In total, 190 patients were included [81 in the enema group vs. 109 in the enema + polyethylene glycol (PEG) group]. The levels of serum potassium (p =.004) and calcium (p =.005) were higher in the enema group after surgery. The decrease in serum calcium was more significant in the enema + PEG group (p =.027). More patients in the enema + PEG group developed hypokalaemia (p =.035) or hypocalcaemia (p =.008) after surgery. The incidence of thrombus and surgical site infection was similar and earlier bowel movement was evident in the enema group (p =.000). Overall, the enema group used more laxatives (p =.026). Using enema alone before TPFR reduces the incidence of electrolyte disturbances with no increase in surgical complications in elderly patients. What is already known on this subject? TPFR is an effective treatment for pelvic organ prolapse (POP) in elderly women. Bowel preparation performed before gynecological surgery can reduce surgical site infection, but increase discomfort and electrolyte disturbance. What do the results of this study add? The levels of serum potassium and calcium were lower in the enema + PEG group than in the enema group after surgery and more patients developed hypokalaemia or hypocalcaemia in the enema + PEG group. The incidence of thrombus and surgical site infection was similar between the two groups. Bowel movement was earlier in the enema group. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or future research? Using enema alone before TPFR reduces the incidence of electrolyte disturbance and does not increase surgical complications. This conclusion needs to be confirmed by random controlled trial studies in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Together with the rapid development of the sensors technology in recent years, sensor-based human activity recognition (HAR) has shown promising performance using well-known supervised deep learning methods. However, it remains challenging in a realistic scenario, i.e., limited number of labeled samples and sensors. This article proposes a novel deep learning method to achieve accurate and robust HAR with only a single inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor. Our contributions are twofold. First, based on the skinned multiperson linear (SMPL) model, we build a large synthetic HAR dataset containing multimodal measurements: acceleration and angular velocity, which were generated according to the forward kinematics. Second, We propose a multiple-level domain adaptive learning model with information-theoretically stimulated constraints to simultaneously align the distributions of low- and high-level representations of virtual and real HAR data. The proposed mutual information constraints encourage the neural network to learn a disentangled representation for the multimodal sensing data. Comprehensive experimental results on three publicly available datasets demonstrate that the proposed method compares favorably with competing ones and has robust performance with variable labeled samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Base on the analysis of the coaxial coupling theory, the experimental model of the coaxial cable short-range coupling lightning electromagnetic pulse is established to study the problem of coaxial cable short-range coupling lightning electromagnetic pulse on the ship mast and high tower. The combination wave generator is used to simulate the 8/20 μs lightning current waveform, and the metal bar with the length of 1 m and diameter of 0.016 m is used to simulate the lightning channel as the radiation source. The length of the coaxial cable and the distance from the radiation source are changed for the test. The conclusion is as follows: when the coaxial cable is coupled with lightning wave in a short distance, the voltage waveform of cable terminal is still double exponential wave, with strong damping oscillation at 0.1 ∼0.4 μs. When the cable terminal is open circuit or connected with matching resistance, the rising time is shorter, about 1 μs; when the cable terminal shielding layer is grounded, the rising time is longer, about 10 μs. The peak voltage and energy coupled to the coaxial cable at short distance are positively correlated with the cable length, and inversely correlated with the distance from the radiation source. The energy that the cable is coupled to mainly comes from the low-frequency part, and there are multiple energy peaks below 100 Hz. Using fitting curve and experimental data, when the coaxial cable terminal is open circuit, the lightning current reaches 30 kA, the cable length is 30 m, and the distance from the lightning channel is 0.15 m, the peak value of the voltage coupled to the cable terminal is 66 V. It has certain guiding significance and value in the practical application of electromagnetic pulse protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Stem cell therapy using neural progenitor cells (NPCs) shows promise in mitigating the debilitating effects of spinal cord injury (SCI). Notably, myelin stimulates axonal regeneration from mammalian NPCs. This led us to hypothesize that myelin-associated proteins may contribute to axonal regeneration from NPCs. Methods: We conducted an R-based bioinformatics analysis to identify key gene(s) that may participate in myelin-associated axonal regeneration from murine NPCs, which identified the serine protease myelin basic protein (Mbp). We employed E12 murine NPCs, E14 rat NPCs, and human iPSC-derived Day 1 NPCs (D1 hNPCs) with or without CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Mbp knockout in combination with rescue L1-70 overexpression, constitutively-active VP16-PPARγ2, or the PPARγ agonist ciglitazone. A murine dorsal column crush model of SCI utilizing porous collagen-based scaffolding (PCS)-seeded murine NPCs with or without stable Mbp overexpression was used to assess locomotive recovery and axonal regeneration in vivo. Results: Myelin promotes axonal outgrowth from NPCs in an Mbp-dependent manner and that Mbp's stimulatory effects on NPC neurite outgrowth are mediated by Mbp's production of L1-70. Furthermore, we determined that Mbp/L1-70's stimulatory effects on NPC neurite outgrowth are mediated by PPARγ-based repression of neuron differentiation-associated gene expression and PPARγ-based Erk1/2 activation. In vivo, PCS-seeded murine NPCs stably overexpressing Mbp significantly enhanced locomotive recovery and axonal regeneration in post-SCI mice. Conclusions: We discovered that Mbp supports axonal regeneration from mammalian NPCs through the novel Mbp/L1cam/Pparγ signaling pathway. This study suggests that bioengineered, NPC-based interventions can promote axonal regeneration and functional recovery post-SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an adaptive multi-dimensional Taylor network (MTN) control approach for a class of nonlinear systems with unknown parameters. MTN is employed to identify unknown nonlinear characteristics existing in the system, and then a novel adaptive MTN tracking control method is proposed, via backstepping technique. In the controller design, double adaptive laws are designed and appropriate Lyapunov functions are chosen to overcome the difficulties caused by the unknown parameters. The designed controller can guarantee that all the variables in the closed-loop systems are bounded and the tracking error can be arbitrarily small. Finally, simulation results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fibrous membranes with asymmetric wettability have attracted great interest. Benefiting from the inspiration of biological paradigms and the development of fabrication techniques, many asymmetric wettability membranes with well-designed surface topologies and chemical compositions have been reported in the literature. In this review, different structures of asymmetric wetted fibrous membranes are discussed, including Janus, sandwich, gradient, and hierarchy structure. Various top-down and bottom-up methods for the construction of asymmetric wetted fibrous membranes are summarized, including template, etching, surface modification, phase separation, self-assembly, electrospinning/electrospraying, and various composite methods. Furthermore, biological applications of asymmetric wetted fibrous membranes, such as smart fabrics, sensors, drug release, wound dressings, and tissue patches, are reviewed. Future challenges for asymmetric wettability fibrous membranes are suggested. [Display omitted] • Outline structure, preparation and application of asymmetric wettability membrane. • Classify asymmetric into Janus, sandwich, gradient, and hierarchy structures. • Summarize top-down and bottom-up methods to construct asymmetric membranes. • List biomedical applications of asymmetric wettability membrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invisible units mainly refer to small-scale units that are not monitored by, and thus are not visible to utilities. Integration of these invisible units into power systems does significantly affect the way in which a distribution grid is planned and operated. This paper, based on random matrix theory (RMT), proposes a statistical, data-driven framework to handle the massive grid data, in contrast to its deterministic, model-based counterpart. Combining the RMT-based data-mining framework with conventional techniques, some heuristics are derived as the solution to the invisible units detection and estimation task: linear eigenvalue statistic indicators (LESs) are suggested as the main ingredients of the solution; according to the statistical properties of LESs, the hypothesis testing is formulated to conduct change point detection in the high-dimensional space. The proposed method is promising for anomaly detection and pertinent to current distribution networks—it is capable of detecting invisible power usage and fraudulent behavior while even being able to locate the suspect's location. Case studies, using both simulated data and actual data, validate the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To discuss the sensitivity and specificity of the combinations of multiple factors that work on bone infection after artificial joint, and provide evidence-based medical basis for the early diagnosis of infection after artificial joint. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted on 35 patients diagnosed with periprosthetic joint infections (PJI) or aseptic loosening (AL) who both received revision operation from January 2011 to January 2015. Analyzing and comparing their epidemiology indexes and expounded a series of auxiliary examinations corresponding positive diagnosis ratio. Results: Thirty-five patients were divided into two groups. One is called group PJI which includes 16 patients, and the other is called group AL which contains 19 patients. There was no statistical difference between in age (p = 0.536), gender ratio (p = 0.094), and the time of catching infection or getting loose (p = 0.055). Swelling was statistical significant (p = 0.0435 < 0.05). AUC of CRP = 0.947, ESR = 0.893, IL-6 = 0.893, PCT = 0.781, WBC = 0.839, and PMN = 0.755, respectively, CRP has a high diagnostic value to PJI, ESR, IL-6, PCT, WBC, and PMN% possess a moderate diagnostic value. There were 3 cases of PJI whose pathological paraffin section showed infectious inflammatory cells (100%). three PJI patients and one AL patient whose 99mTc-MDP examination presented 100% infection or looseness rate. Conclusion: CRP has a high diagnostic value to PJI. Histopathology HE staining, Gram staining, and 99mTc-MDP provide a highly accurate diagnosis for PJI. Therefore, the results suggest combining the unique clinical symptoms of PJI patients with relevant laboratory indexes, histopathologic characteristics, and imageological examinations that can improve diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of PJI in its early stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the precoding problem in massive multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) systems equipped with low-resolution digital-to-analog converters. In previous literature on this topic, it is commonly assumed that the channel state information (CSI) is perfectly known. However, in practical applications the CSI is inevitably contaminated by noise. In this paper, we propose, for the first time, an eigen-inference (EI) precoding scheme to improve the error performance of the coarsely quantized massive MU-MIMO systems under imperfect CSI, which is mathematically modeled by a sum of two rectangular random matrices (RRMs): $\sqrt{1 - \eta } {{\bf H}} + \sqrt\eta {{\bf E}}$. Instead of performing analysis based on the RRM, using Girkoąŕs Hermitization trick, the proposed method leverages the block random matrix theory by augmenting the RRM into a block symmetric channel matrix (BSCA). Specially, we derive the empirical distribution of the eigenvalues of the BSCA and establish the limiting spectra distribution connection between the true BSCA and its noisy observation. Then, based on these theoretical results, we propose an EI-based moments matching method for CSI-related noise level ($\eta$) estimation and a rotation invariant estimation method for CSI reconstruction. Based on the cleaned CSI, the quantized precoding problem is tackled via the Bussgang theorem and the Lagrangian multiplier method. The prosed methods are finally verified by numerical simulations and the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed precoder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the full-endoscopic lumbar discectomy (FELD) via lateral superior articular process (LSAP) approach and full-endoscopic transforaminal discectomy (FETD) for treating far lateral lumbar disk herniation (FFLDH). Methods: From January 2020 to June 2022, patients who were diagnosed as FLLDH underwent the FELD via LSAP approach or FETD. The operation time, estimated blood loss, length of hospital stays, and complications were recorded. The visual analog scale (VAS) for back pain, VAS for leg pain, and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores was measured during preoperative and postoperative follow-up. Results: Thirty-two patients were enrolled in this study, of which 12 patients were treated with the FELD via LSAP approach (LSAP-FELD group) and 20 patients underwent FETD (FETD group). The LSAP-FELD group exhibited significantly shorter operation times and hospital stays compared to the FETD group, while no statistically significant differences were observed in intraoperative blood loss and complication rates. There were no significant differences in the VAS for back pain, the VAS for leg pain, and the ODI score between the two groups preoperatively and three days, three months, and the last follow-up postoperatively. Conclusions: Both the FELD via LSAP approach and FETD have demonstrated favourable clinical efficacy in the treatment of FLLDH. Notably, the FELD via LSAP approach shows the advantages of shorter operation time and hospital stays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aim: We aimed to assess the value of early laparoscopic therapy in management of tubo-ovarian abscess (TOA) or pelvic abscess.Methods: This was a retrospective study of all consecutive patients who were initially diagnosed with TOA or pelvic abscess at the local hospital between January 2010 and December 2014. The risks of operation and recurrence were analyzed using logistic analyses.Results: The durations of body temperature > 38.0°C (p = 0.001) and hospitalization (p < 0.001) were longer in the conventional group versus the early laparoscopy group. In the conventional group, 15 (50%) patients finally underwent laparoscopic exploration. The abscess size in the late laparoscopic group was significantly larger than the successful antibiotic treatment group (6.3 ± 1.5 vs. 4.9 ± 1.2 cm, p = 0.010). Abscess > 5.5 cm was independently associated with antibiotic failure (OR 4.571; 95% CI 1.612-12.962). Compared with late laparoscopy, early laparoscopy was associated with a shorter operation time (p = 0.037), less blood loss (p = 0.035), and shorter durations of body temperature > 38.0°C (p < 0.001) and hospitalization (p < 0.001). The cost was the lowest in the patients successfully treated conservatively.Conclusion: Early laparoscopic treatment is associated with shorter time of fever resolution, shorter hospitalization, and less blood loss compared with conventional treatment for TOA or pelvic abscess. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslide susceptibility mapping (LSM) is a critical tool for mitigating the damages caused by geologic disasters. The selection of map units and mathematical models greatly affects the efficiency of LSM. To obtain the most appropriate combination of map units and mathematical models, four scales of catchment map units (CMUs) were analyzed and random forest (RF) and multivariate adaptive regression spline (MARSpline) models were applied in Gero City, Japan. The percentage of correctly identified landslides and the areas under the relative operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to evaluate the model performances. The results indicate that the RF model had higher prediction accuracy than the MARSpline model, especially when the size of the CMU was 0.09 km2. A relatively high percentage of landslides fell into the high and very high landslide susceptibility classes (73%) and the lowest percentage of landslides fell into the very low landslide susceptibility classes (0.82%). The prediction-area (P-A) plots indicated that the prediction rates were higher for the RF model than the MARSpline model. The results of this study also suggest that the model accuracy can be increased if the appropriate CMU size is used. Therefore, the potential benefits of using the RF model in combination with the appropriate CMU size should be further explored using additional landslide-conditioning factors and other models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To examine effects of percutaneous endoscopic débridement and allograft via the transforaminal approach combined with percutaneous pedicle screw fixation as treatment for single-level thoracic tuberculosis. Methods This multicenter retrospective analysis included 75 patients with single-level thoracic tuberculosis who underwent percutaneous endoscopic débridement and allograft via the transforaminal approach combined with percutaneous pedicle screw fixation and were followed for >36 months between January 2012 and December 2014. Results Follow-up was 36–48 months (average 41.1 ± 2.2 months). Intraoperative blood loss was low (average 30.5 ± 7.9 mL), and bed rest time was short (average 1.5 ± 0.3 days). No recurrence was observed in all 75 patients. Except for 3 patients, almost all patients (96%) achieved grade I or II fusion in interbody bone grafting. Segmental Cobb angle was 13.5° ± 4.1° before surgery, 10.5° ± 3.7° immediately after surgery, and 11.7° ± 3.9° at 36 months of follow-up. All patients achieved complete recovery of neurologic function (American Spinal Injury Association grade E), including 15 patients with spinal cord injury (American Spinal Injury Association grade D) before surgery. The visual analog scale and 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey scores significantly improved at 1, 3, 12, and 36 months of follow-up. No complications related to internal fixation occurred within the follow-up period; complication rate was 9.0%. Conclusions Median follow-up clinical experience with percutaneous endoscopic débridement and allograft via the transforaminal approach combined with percutaneous pedicle screw fixation indicates that the technique is safe, effective, feasible, and minimally invasive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To examine the effects of anterior transcorporeal percutaneous endoscopic cervical diskectomy (ATPECD) for the treatment of single-level cervical intervertebral disk herniation (CIDH) with a focus on its safety, feasibility, clinical efficacy, and specific possible complications. Methods A series of 35 patients with symptomatic single-level CIDH were enrolled to be treated with ATPECD. Neck and arm pain was measured using the visual analog scale. Quality of life was measured using the bodily pain and physical function on the SF-36. The average disk height and vertical vertebral body height were recorded. Bone healing was evaluated on the basis of postoperative computed tomography. Results Successful removal of the herniated disk was confirmed in all 35 cases. At 2 years, the patients showed a significant treatment effect in the visual analog scale and body pain and physical function portions of the SF-36 (1.14 ± 0.60 vs. 7.62 ± 0.61, 63.92 ± 6.74 vs. 32.55 ± 6.80, and 82.14 ± 6.22 vs. 34.43 ± 4.50, respectively, P < 0.01). Mean preoperative disk height was 6.79 ± 0.37 mm, which decreased to 6.34 ± 0.46 mm 2 years post operation (6.6% decrease). Preoperative surgical vertebral body height also decreased from preoperation (15.79 ± 0.52 mm) to 2 years post operation (15.12 ± 0.38 mm) (4.2% decrease). Three surgery-related complications were observed (8.6%). Conclusions Preliminary clinical experience with ATPECD shows that it is safe, effective, feasible, and minimally invasive. Although it has some disadvantages, such as the need for repeated fluoroscopy, some minor complications, and nonsymptomatic disk height decreases, ATPECD can supplement minimally invasive surgeries in selected cases of CIDH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Currently the amount of data available on the effect of sand dune stabilization on species conservation in inter-dune lowland is very limited, especially for the sand dune systems in semi-arid regions. In this study, we determined whether the characteristics of above-ground vegetation, soil seed bank and their relationships with environmental factors changed with sand dune stabilization in the inter-dune lowlands in Horqin Sandy Land, China. Species composition, abundance and coverage of aboveground vegetation as well as soil seed bank composition and density were surveyed and their correlations with environmental factors (pH, organic matter content, total nitrogen and total phosphorus) were determined. The results showed that changes in the relationship between aboveground vegetation, soil seed bank and soil quality followed the changes in aboveground vegetation and soil seed banks. Aboveground vegetation species richness increased with sand dune stabilization, but soil seed bank species richness declined. The inter-dune lowland of active sand dunes could provide specific habitats for some endemic species and pioneer psammophyte species as indicated by data on aboveground vegetation and soil seed bank. Our results suggested that both active and stabilized sand dunes should be maintained since active sand dunes are essential for the survival of endemic or pioneer species and stabilized sand dunes are important for sustaining species richness. Graphical abstract This study contributes towards a better understanding of sand dune stabilization by showing the changes in the characteristics of above-ground vegetation and soil seed bank, including their correlations with environmental factors. Unlabelled Image Highlights • Aboveground vegetation species richness increased with sand dune stabilization. • Soil seed bank species richness declined with sand dune stabilization. • Inter-dune lowland of active sand dunes is suitable for some endemic species. • Conservation areas should be set up in active sand dunes to protect biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To compare the clinical efficacy and complications which obtained foraminoplasty at the tip or base of the superior articular process (SAP) for the patients with lateral recess stenosis treated by percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD). Methods. Between January 2015 and January 2016, 156 patients of lumbar disc herniation accompanying with lateral recess stenosis were treated with PELD in five tertiary hospitals and fulfilled the 2-year follow-up. Among them, 78 patients obtained a foraminoplasty at the tip of SAP (group A), and foraminoplasty at the base of SAP was performed in the other 78 cases (group B). Clinical efficacy was evaluated using the visual analog scale (VAS) score for back and leg pain, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) score. The intervals of follow-up were scheduled at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years after surgery. Results. Mean operative duration is shorter in group B (55 versus 61 min, P = 0.047). Only one case belonged to group A could not tolerate the neural irritation and required conversion to an open procedure. During the surgery, no dura tears, cauda equina syndrome, or infections were observed. 5 patients experienced transient dysesthesia located at the exiting nerve in group A, while no cases complained dysesthesia in group B. 2 cases who suffered temporary motor weakness all belonged to group A. A total of 5 cases obtained a revision surgery after recurrence in the follow-up, in which 3 patients belonged to group A. Compared to the preoperative data, significant improvements in VAS scores of low back pain and sciatica, ODI, and SF-36 PCS and MC were observed in the follow-up, respectively (P < 0.05, respectively). However, no statistical difference was observed at all time-points after surgery between these two groups (P > 0.05, respectively). Conclusions. For the patients of LDH accompanying with lateral recess stenosis, compared with the routine foraminoplasty at the tip of SAP, our modified foraminoplastic technique does not only change place of foraminoplasty to the base of SAP but also simplified puncture process in transforaminal PELD. Although there was no significant difference in symptom relief, the modified foraminoplasty showed the advantages in decreasing the incidence of postoperative neural dysfunction and reducing operation time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Currently, anterior transdiscal access and posterior interlaminar approach are the main approaches for percutaneous endoscopic cervical discectomy (PECD). To overcome access shortcomings, we previously described a novel anterior endoscopic transcorporeal approach on a migrated cervical disc. We innovatively introduced bone wax into endoscopic surgery to aid hemostasis and facilitate the process of drilling an intracorporeal tunnel. Methods Five patients with cervical intervertebral disc herniation (CIDH) were treated by PECD via the anterior transcorporeal approach. During the operation, we marked the punctured tunnel with bone wax containing indigo carmine as a guide and smeared bone wax on the endoscopic burr to aid hemostasis. Results A satisfactory clinical outcome was observed in all 5 patients postoperatively; pain and neurologic condition were dramatically improved. Surgery-related complications, such as esophageal injury, vascular rupture, hematoma, intervertebral disc infection, or postoperative headache, were not encountered. A computed tomography scan was used to observe the process of bone healing. At 3-month postoperative follow-up, the bone defect within the drilling tunnel had partially shrank and was completely healed at 6 months postoperatively. Conclusions The anterior endoscopic transcorporeal approach for PECD is a novel, valuable alternative for the treatment of CIDH. Bone wax could indeed facilitate the operation by guiding the drilling process and instantly controlling the bleeding without obvious interference with bone healing. Long-term follow-up is warranted in further clinical studies. Highlights • A transcorporeal approach to remove a herniated disc at the C4-5 level under endoscopy is introduced. • Bone wax was introduced into endoscopic surgery to aid hemostasis and facilitate the process of drilling a tunnel. • Satisfactory clinical outcome was observed in all 5 patients postoperatively, with improved pain and neurologic condition. • With the process of osteogenesis, a phenomenon of self-repair was observed in the bone defect within the drill tunnel. • Because injury to the residual disc is mild, the probability of further intervertebral space collapsing is low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective We sought to preliminarily explore the efficacy and safety of percutaneous endoscopic spinal surgery for epidural cement leakage. We report a case series of patients who underwent percutaneous retrieval of leaked epidural cement and achieved spinal decompression under endoscopy. Methods Five patients with neurologic impairment due to epidural cement leakage after percutaneous vertebroplasty were treated with percutaneous endoscopic spinal decompression. Computed tomography reconstruction and 3-dimensional imaging were used to evaluate the extruded material. During follow-up at 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively, all patients were advised to undergo plain radiograph and computed tomography examinations. Results The leaked epidural cement was successfully removed in all patients under percutaneous endoscopy through a unilateral or bilateral approach. At the 12-month follow-up, the visual analog scale score of all patients improved. In addition, the neurologic function of each patient improved to at least 1 grade level, as evaluated using the American Spinal Injury Association. According to the modified MacNab criteria, 2 patients had excellent recovery, whereas the other 3 patients had good recovery. Conclusions We described a novel and minimally invasive procedure to ameliorate intractable epidural cement extrusion. As an alternative to conventional laminectomy, percutaneous endoscopic retrieval achieved the targeted decompression without damaging the posterior lamina. Moreover, the whole operation was performed under regional anesthesia accompanied with dexmedetomidine sedation, allowed real-time neural function evaluation, and had lower risks of anesthesia-related complications, compared with general anesthesia. Highlights • Generally, an urgent and extensive laminectomy was required to thoroughly remove the intraspinal extravasated comment. • Percutaneous endoscopic retrieval could achieve targeted decompression without damaging the posterior lamina. • It is not only capable of being monitored for efficacy but also avoids the risks associated with general anesthesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background There are currently no high-quality studies on the optimal therapeutic approach for juxtafacet cyst, as treatment guidelines have not been developed. Herein, a novel technique in which we used an endoscopic transfacet approach to treat a patient with symptomatic lumbar synovial cyst is presented. Case Description An 87-year-old man presented with severe dull pain in the right anterior thigh. Lumbar magnetic resonance imaging revealed disc extrusion over the central canal zone at the L2–L3 and L4–L5 levels and an ovoid lesion with a hyperintense center plus a hypointense rim on the T2-weighted image. The lesion was located over the medial side of the right juxtafacet region at the L2–L3 level, causing thecal sac compression. After the operation, the visual analog pain scale improved with a value of 0–1/10, and straight leg raise test was negative. Microscopically, cystic fibrous tissue with focal myxoid degeneration, fibrin exudate, and scant synovial-like lining was observed. These findings were consistent with clinical synovial cyst. Three months later, lumbar magnetic resonance imaging was performed, and no evidence of cyst was disclosed. Lumbar computed tomography revealed the upper part of left L2–L3 facet joint was removed. The patient did not report any radicular pain during the 6-month follow-up period. Conclusions Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar surgery could be a new option for the management of lumbar synovial cysts, especially when general anesthesia is not appropriate for the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To observe the therapeutic effects of Saussurea involucrata (Sau) injection against severe acute pancreatitis (SAP)-induced brain injury. Methods Sodium taurocholate-induced SAP-modeled rats were equally randomized into an SAP model group (SAP group) and a Sau treated group (Sau  +  S group). Healthy rats were equally randomized into a Sau treated group (Sau  +  H group) and a sham operation group (SO group). Serum amylase levels, endothelin-1 (ET-1) and nitric oxide (NO) contents were determined by optical turbidimetry, ELISA and nitrate reductase method respectively. Western blot was used to detect protein expression levels of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (Akt), ET-1, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and endothelial NOS (eNOS) while mRNA levels of these biomarkers in brain tissue were measured by quantitative real-time PCR. Furthermore, pathological changes, as well as all above indexes of pancreas and brain, were observed at 6, 24 and 48 h after administration. Results There was a significant difference in mortality between SAP and Sau  +  S groups ( P   <  0.05). Serum amylase levels, ET-1 and NO contents, ET-1/NO ratio, relative expression levels of ET-1 and iNOS protein/mRNA of brain tissue in Sau + S group were lower than those in SAP group at 24 and 48 h post-operation ( P   <  0.05 or 0.01), meanwhile, pancreas and brain pathological scores showed similar tendency ( P   <  0.01). However, both protein and mRNA levels of PI3K, Akt and eNOS of brain tissue in Sau + S group were higher than those in SAP group ( P   <  0.05 or P  <   0.01). There were no significant differences in all indexes between Sau + H and SO groups at all designated time points ( P   >  0.05). Conclusions Sau injection has therapeutic effects on SAP-induced brain injury in rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rectifying properties of three cyano side group substituted arylethynylene thiolate molecules are theoretically investigated based on abinitio calculations. The current-voltage curves show that rectifying performance of the junctions correlates negatively with conjugation of the molecules, which reveals a much more pronounced rectification behavior for that with broken-conjugated dihydroanthracene core (sAH) than the counterpart with linearly-conjugated anthracene core (sAC) or cross-conjugated anthraquinone core (sAQ). It is demonstrated that the conjugation breaking induced localization of molecular orbital and asymmetric evolution of its spatial distribution under positive and negative biases play the key role for the rectification enhancement in sAH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heteroatom doped porous carbons have shown great potential as metal-free catalysts for electrochemical catalyzed oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Most previous works have been focused on preparation of single and dual heteroatom doped porous carbons for ORR. In this work, we developed a new two-step method for preparation of boron, nitrogen, and phosphorus (B, N, P) ternary doped hierarchically porous graphene aerogels by using boron phosphate as both B and P precursor and ammonia as N dopant. As-produced ternary-doped graphene aerogels exhibited promising ORR performance (mainly 4e− mechanism, Jk: −4.6 mA cm−2) in alkaline medium in comparison with commercially available precious metal based Pt/C catalyst. As-prepared B/N/P ternary doped hierarchically porous graphene aerogels can serve as the next generation of metal-free catalysts and alternatives to precious metal catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction and fuel cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Context: With the continuous development of the spinal endoscopic technique in recent years, percutaneous endoscopic cervical discectomy (PECD) has emerged, which bridges the gap between conservative therapy and traditional surgery and has been mainly divided into the anterior transdiscal approach and the posterior interlaminar access. Because of the relatively greater violation to the anterior nucleus pulposus, there is a higher potential of postoperative intervertebral space decrease in the anterior transdiscal approach than in the posterior interlaminar access. In addition, when the herniated lesion is migrated upward or downward behind the vertebral body, both approaches, and even anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, are impractical, and corpectomy is commonly considered as the only efficacious treatment. Anterior transcorporeal approach under endoscopy could enable an individual and adjustable trajectory within the vertebral body under different conditions of disc herniation preserving the motion of adjacent segment, especially in a migrated or sequestered lesion.Purpose: This report aimed to first describe a novel anterior transcorporeal approach under endoscopy in which we addressed a migrated disc herniation at the C4-C5 levels.Study Design: A technical report was carried out.Patient Sample: A 37-year-old woman presented with posterior neck pain and weakness of extremities for 9 months. On neurologic examination, tingling sensation and numbness were not obvious. However, the power of extremities was dramatically decreased at a level of 3. Hoffmann sign was positive in the bilateral hand. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a huge herniation of the C4-C5 disc compressing the median area of the spinal cord. Besides the C4-C5 disc herniation, preoperative computer tomography (CT) also detected that the herniated disc had partial calcification. A novel anterior transcorporeal approach of PECD, through the vertebral body of C5, was performed to address a migrated disc herniation at the C4-C5 levels.Outcome Measures: The posterior neck pain was measured using the visual analog scale (VAS).Methods: A novel anterior transcorporeal approach under endoscopy was performed to address a migrated disc herniation at the C4-C5 levels.Results: This operation was accomplished in 75 minutes. Postoperatively, the drainage tube was retained into the drilling hole for 24 hours to avoid the possibility of hematoma. The patient was advised to wear a neck collar for 3 weeks. Immediately after the operation, the posterior neck pain improved from VAS 7/10 preoperatively to 3/10, and the myodynamia of extremities improved stepwise. At 12 hours postoperatively, the range of motion was also improved. In the further follow-up, the patient has completely recovered from the preoperative symptoms, whose myodynamia of extremities is normal. Besides the postoperative MRI, a total removal of the herniated disc and the transcorporeal drilling tunnel are observed in CT. At postoperative 3-month follow-up, neither disc space narrowing nor instability was observed on CT, in which the bone defect after drilling tunnelwas partially decreased, indicating bone healing. There were no surgery-related complications, such as dysphagia, Horner syndrome, recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy, vagus nerve injury, tracheoesophageal injury, or cervical hematocele.Conclusions: As a supplement to the described surgical approach of PECD, the transcorporeal approach is a novel access for the treatment of cervical intervertebral disc herniation. Among the advantages of this approach are providing a clear visual field during microendoscopic surgery and decreasing the intraoperative iatrogenic injury to, as well as avoiding violation to the discal tissue. Theoretically, the potential of secondary decline of intervertebral height is low. However, as the limitation of one case shows, whether this transcorporeal approach is efficacious and reliable should be verified in a further comparative cohort study with a large volume of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the most ancient crops in the world, and is mainly used in feed, as a grain and as industrial material for beer, medicine and health protection. Its purity can affect beer taste and quality, thus it is important to set up rapid and accurate identification methods for the malting industry. In this study, 27 domestic and imported malt barley varieties were studied. Three pair primers of EcoR I + 3/Mse I + 3 were selected from 64 different primer combinations for DNA-AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphisms) and an AFLP fingerprinting map of the 27 domestic and imported malt barley varieties was constructed, with the primer combination of E-AGG/M-CAA amplification after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. With this fingerprinting map, it was possible to distinguish all of the 27 malt barley varieties with 10 specific loci. This could be useful for the identification of malt barley varieties in the beer industry. Copyright © 2015 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a vascular disease characterized by persistent precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PH), leading to progressive right heart failure and premature death. The pathological mechanisms underlying this condition remain elusive. Analysis of global metabolomics from lung tissue of patients with PAH (n = 8) and control lung tissue (n = 8) leads to a better understanding of disease progression. Using a combination of high-throughput liquid-and-gas-chromatography-based mass spectrometry, we showed unbiased metabolomic profiles of disrupted arginine pathways with increased Nitric oxide (NO) and decreased arginine. Our results also showed specific metabolic pathways and genetic profiles with increased Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) metabolites as well as increased Heme metabolites with altered oxidative pathways in the advanced stage of the human PAH lung. The results suggest that PAH has specific metabolic pathways contributing to the vascular remodeling in severe pulmonary hypertension. Profiling metabolomic alterations of the PAH lung has provided a new understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms of PAH, which benefits therapeutic targeting to specific metabolic pathways involved in the progression of PAH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background context Percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) has proven to be a valuable palliative treatment option for patients with medically refractory painful osteolytic metastases of the spine. Percutaneous vertebroplasty of the atlas has been reported in only seven articles and has been performed with different techniques and approaches. Purpose To describe the technique we used to perform PVP of a lytic lesion of the lateral mass of C1 via anterior retropharyngeal approach guided by C-arm fluoroscopy. Study design A technical report. Patient sample It included a 75-year-old man with known metastatic lung carcinoma and incapacitating right suboccipital and neck pain refractory to conventional medical treatment. Radiologic evaluation showed revealed osteolytic destruction of C1 and C2, mainly invading the right lateral mass of C1 and the vertebral body of C2. Outcome measures The right suboccipital and neck pain was measured using the visual analog scale (VAS). Methods Under C-arm fluoroscopy, a novel anterior retropharyngeal approach, through the vertebral body of C2 into the metastatic osteolytic vertebral lesion of C1, was performed to achieve the PVP in C1 followed by a PVP in C2. Results Immediately after the operation, the patient reported substantial pain relief (from VAS 9/10 preoperatively to 3/10). At 12 hours postoperatively, the range of motion was also improved. There were no surgery-related complications. The immediately postoperative cervical plain film and computed tomography scan showed adequate filling of the osteolytic lesion without the obvious leakage of bone cement. Clinical follow-up at 3 months revealed that this pain condition was improved and maintained (VAS 1/10). Conclusions When the transoral approach is unsuitable or contraindicated, the anterior retropharyngeal approach could be an efficacious alternative in selected patients with C1 metastasis, providing adequate filling of bone cement and significant pain relief. Based on our preliminary exploration, only assisted by C-arm fluoroscopy, this approach is feasible to achieve PVP in C1 under local anesthesia and intravenous analgesia. Nevertheless, when considering the substantial potential risks, this technically challenging procedure should be performed by experienced operators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The thermodynamic parameters and mass and heat balance equation were estimated. [•] A mathematical model on the pyrolysis of bio-oil was established. [•] The effects of temperature on the pyrolysis of bio-oil aqueous fraction were studied. [•] The comparison of the established model and the experimental results was performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Streptococcus oligofermentans is a novel strain of oral streptococcus that can specifically inhibit the growth of Streptococcus mutans. The aims of this study were to assess the growth of S. oligofermentans and the ability of S. oligofermentans to inhibit growth of Streptococcus mutans at different pH values. Growth inhibition was investigated in vitro using an interspecies competition assay. The 4-aminoantipyine method was used to measure the initial production rate and the total yield of hydrogen peroxide in S. oligofermentans. S. oligofermentans grew best at pH 7.0 and showed the most pronounced inhibitory effect when it was inoculated earlier than S. mutans. In terms of the total yield and the initial production rate of hydrogen peroxide by S. oligofermentans, the effects of the different culture pH values were as follows: pH 7.0 > 6.5 > 6.0 > 7.5 > 5.5 = 8.0 (i.e. there was no significant difference between pH 5.5 and pH 8.0). Environmental pH and the sequence of inoculation significantly affected the ability of S. oligofermentans to inhibit the growth of S. mutans. The degree of inhibition may be attributed to the amount of hydrogen peroxide produced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

White clover (Trifolium repens L.) is cultivated as a forage crop and planted in various landscapes for soil conservation. There are numerous reports of failed white clover stands each year. A good understanding of the seed germination biology of white clover in relation to environmental factors is essential to achieve successful stand establishment. A series of experiments were conducted to investigate the impacts of light, temperature, planting depth, drought, and salt stress on seed germination and the emergence of white clover. White clover is negatively photoblastic, and seed germination averaged 63 and 66% under light and complete dark conditions 4 weeks after planting (WAP), respectively. Temperature affected the seed germination speed and rate. At 1 WAP, seeds incubated at 15 to 25 °C demonstrated a significantly higher germination rate than the low temperatures at 5 and 10 °C; however, the germination rate did not differ among the temperature treatments at 4 WAP. The results suggest that white clover germination decreases with increasing sowing depths, and the seeds should be sown on the soil surface or shallowly buried at a depth ≤1 cm to achieve an optimal emergence. White clover seeds exhibited high sensitivity to drought and salinity stress. The osmotic potential and NaCl concentration required to inhibit 50% seed germination were −0.19 MPa and 62.4 mM, respectively. Overall, these findings provide quantifiable explanations for inconsistent establishment observed in field conditions. The results obtained in this research can be used to develop effective planting strategies and support the successful establishment of white clover stands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to introduce the unilateral biplanar screw-rod fixation (UBSF) technique (a hybrid fixation technique: 2 sets of atlantoaxial screws were placed on the same side), which serves as a salvage method for traditional posterior atlantoaxial fixation. To summarize the indications of this technique and to assess its safety, feasibility, and clinical effectiveness in the treatment of odontoid fractures. Patients with odontoid fractures were enrolled according to special criteria. Surgical duration and intraoperative blood loss were documented. Patients were followed up for a minimum of 12 months. X-ray and computerized tomography scans were conducted and reviewed at 1 day, and patients were asked to return for computerized tomography reviews at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after surgery until fracture union. Recorded and compared the Neck Visual Analog Scale and Neck Disability Index presurgery and at 1 week and 12 months postsurgery. Between January 2016 and December 2022, our study enrolled 7 patients who were diagnosed with odontoid fractures accompanied by atlantoaxial bone or vascular abnormalities. All 7 patients underwent successful UBSF surgery, and no neurovascular injuries were recorded during surgery. Fracture union was observed in all patients, and the Neck Visual Analog Scale and Neck Disability Index scores improved significantly at 1 week and 12 months postoperative (P < 0.01). The UBSF technique has been demonstrated to be safe, feasible, and effective in treating odontoid fractures. In cases where the atlantoaxial bone or vascular structure exhibits abnormalities, it can function as a supplementary or alternative approach to the conventional posterior C1–2 fixation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To examine the effect of preoperative stent placement on total cost of ureteroscopic stone intervention. Passive ureteral dilation with a preoperative ureteral stent has been proposed as a method to facilitate both upper tract access and stone removal. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients who underwent ureteroscopic stone intervention at our institution from 2005 to 2009. A sample of patients who had undergone stenting before ureteroscopy was selected and nonstented matched controls were used as a comparison group. A cost model was used to compare the total healthcare costs for the prestented and nonstented patients with a large (>1 cm) and small (≤1 cm) stone burden using the actual cost accrued for each patient. Sensitivity analyses were used to examine the robustness of the cost model. Results: A total of 104 patients were included in the present study (45 prestented, 59 not prestented). The median stone size was 1 cm (range 0.3-4). The overall stone clearance rate was 95.8%. The median number of procedures was 1. Pre-stenting significantly decreased the total healthcare cost in patients with stones >1 cm. The median cost for the prestented and nonstented cohorts was $17 706 and $27 806, respectively (P < .01). However, prestenting increased the total cost for smaller stones of ≤1 cm, although not significantly. The median cost for the prestented and nonstented cohorts was $10 872 and $12 344, respectively (P = .70). Sensitivity analysis confirmed that the model conclusions are robust. Conclusions: Preoperative stent placement is cost-effective for successful ureteroscopic treatment of stones >1 cm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractPurpose:Large stone burden can be treated ureteroscopically, but the treatment often requires more than one procedure. Placement of a preoperative stent may theoretically enhance stone clearance by dilating the ureter to facilitate both access and stone removal. This study determines the impact of stent placement before ureteroscopy on operative time, radiologic stone clearance, and reoperative rates.Materials and Methods:We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients who underwent ureteroscopic stone intervention at our institution from 2002 to 2008 by a single surgeon. Nonstented matched controls were used for comparison. Demographics, stone characteristics (size, number, density, and location), presence of preprocedural ureteral stent, operative time, and results of postoperative imaging were compared between the two cohorts. Statistical analysis was performed.Results:There were 104 patients included in the study (45 prestented and 59 nonstented). Median stone size was 1 cm (range 0.3–4 cm). Overall stone clearance was 95.8%. The median number of procedures was one. Prestenting significantly reduced operative time during first ureteroscopy in patients with large stone requiring multiple ureteroscopies (p= 0.008) and total operative time to stone clearance in patients with stone >1 cm (p= 0.01), but not in patients with stone burdens <1 cm (p= 0.48). Prestenting also significantly reduced reoperative rates in patients with stone burden >1 cm (p= 0.001), especially for stones located in proximal ureter and kidney. Prestenting improves postoperative radiologic clearance, but this was not statistically significant (p= 0.56).Conclusions:Results show that ureteroscopic lithotripsy of large stone burden can be performed with a high success rate. Preureteroscopic stent placement was associated with a decreased operative time and reoperative rates in patients with larger stone burdens of >1 cm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, broilers were fed with heavy-metal-containing diets (Zn, Cu, Pb, Cr, As, Hg) at three rates (T1: 5 kg premix/ton feed, T2: 10 kg premix/ton feed and T3: 15 kg premix/ton feed) and Doxycycline (DOX) and Gatifloxacin (GAT) at low or high doses (T4: 31.2 mg DOX/bird/day and 78 mg GAT/bird/day, T5: 15.6 mg DOX/bird/day and 48 mg GAT/bird/day) to assess the accumulation of various heavy metals and the fate of two antibiotics in broiler manure after 35 days of aerobic composting. The results indicated that the two antibiotics changed quite differently during aerobic composting. About 14.96–15.84% of Doxycycline still remained at the end of composting, while Gatifloxacin was almost completely removed within 10 days of composting. The half-lives of Doxycycline were 13.75 and 15.86 days, while the half-lives of Gatifloxacin were only 1.32 and 1.38 days. Based on the Redundancy analysis (RDA), the concentration of antibiotics was significantly influenced by physico-chemical properties (mainly temperature and pH) throughout the composting process. Throughout the composting process, all heavy metal elements remained concentrated in organic fertilizer. In this study the Cr content reached 160.16 mg/kg, 223.98 mg/kg and 248.02 mg/kg with increasing premix feed rates, similar to Zn, which reached 258.2 mg/kg, 312.21 mg/kg and 333.68 mg/kg. Zn and Cr concentrations well exceeded the United States and the European soil requirements. This experiment showed that antibiotic residues and the accumulation of heavy metals may lead to soil contamination and pose a risk to the soil ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to make clear of grassland coverage change and quantitative assessment its effect factors. We collected the data from the National Bureau of Statistics (http://www.stats.gov.cn) and "China 20th Century Land Use/Cover Change (LUCC) Spatio-temporal Platform". Grassland coverage area showed an upward trend from 1980 to 1990, and the grassland coverage area is gradually decreasing from 1990 to 2000, and the grassland coverage area has not changed much from 2000 to 2018. The medium-coverage grassland area has the highest correlation with the total population, and the high-coverage grassland area has the lowest correlation with the total population. Land use types and the composite of gross agricultural output have influence on grassland coverage area. It is hoped that relevant policies should consider land use types and ecological benefits while balancing economic development and urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the accuracy of values of ice water content (IWC) in ice clouds based on the measurements of radar reflectivity (Z). Relationship between IWC and Z based on aircraft measurement of ice particle spectra; Effect of ice density on IWC inferred from Z; Impact of spatial integration on retrieved IWC.

Functional signals emerge from the structural network, supporting multiple cognitive processes through underlying molecular mechanism. The link between human brain structure and function is region‐specific and hierarchical across the neocortex. However, the relationship between hierarchical structure–function decoupling and the manifestation of individual behavior and cognition, along with the significance of the functional systems involved, and the specific molecular mechanism underlying structure–function decoupling remain incompletely characterized. Here, we used the structural‐decoupling index (SDI) to quantify the dependency of functional signals on the structural connectome using a significantly larger cohort of healthy subjects. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) was utilized to assess the general multivariate correlation pattern between region‐specific SDIs across the whole brain and multiple cognitive traits. Then, we predicted five composite cognitive scores resulting from multivariate analysis using SDIs in primary networks, association networks, and all networks, respectively. Finally, we explored the molecular mechanism related to SDI by investigating its genetic factors and relationship with neurotransmitter receptors/transporters. We demonstrated that structure–function decoupling is hierarchical across the neocortex, spanning from primary networks to association networks. We revealed better performance in cognition prediction is achieved by using high‐level hierarchical SDIs, with varying significance of different brain regions in predicting cognitive processes. We found that the SDIs were associated with the gene expression level of several receptor‐related terms, and we also found the spatial distributions of four receptors/transporters significantly correlated with SDIs, namely D2, NET, MOR, and mGluR5, which play an important role in the flexibility of neuronal function. Collectively, our findings corroborate the association between hierarchical macroscale structure–function decoupling and individual cognition and provide implications for comprehending the molecular mechanism of structure–function decoupling. Practitioner Points: Structure–function decoupling is hierarchical across the neocortex, spanning from primary networks to association networks.High‐level hierarchical structure–function decoupling contributes much more than low‐level decoupling to individual cognition.Structure–function decoupling could be regulated by genes associated with pivotal receptors that are crucial for neuronal function flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS), which naturally exists in higher plants, is a useful mechanism for analyzing nuclear and mitochondrial genome functions and identifying the role of mitochondrial genes in the plant growth and development. Polima (pol) CMS is the most universally valued male sterility type in oil-seed rape. Previous studies have described the pol CMS restorer gene Rfp and the sterility-inducing gene orf224 in oil-seed rape, located in mitochondria. However, the mechanism of fertility restoration and infertility remains unknown. Moreover, it is still unknown how the fecundity restorer gene interferes with the sterility gene, provokes the sterility gene to lose its function, and leads to fertility restoration. Result: In this study, we used multi-omics joint analysis to discover candidate genes that interact with the sterility gene orf224 and the restorer gene Rfp of pol CMS to provide theoretical support for the occurrence and restoration mechanisms of sterility. Via multi-omics analysis, we screened 24 differential genes encoding proteins related to RNA editing, respiratory electron transport chain, anther development, energy transport, tapetum development, and oxidative phosphorylation. Using a yeast two-hybrid assay, we obtained a total of seven Rfp interaction proteins, with orf224 protein covering five interaction proteins. Conclusions: We propose that Rfp and its interacting protein cleave the transcript of atp6/orf224, causing the infertility gene to lose its function and restore fertility. When Rfp is not cleaved, orf224 poisons the tapetum cells and anther development-related proteins, resulting in pol CMS mitochondrial dysfunction and male infertility. The data from the joint analysis of multiple omics provided information on pol CMS's potential molecular mechanism and will help breed B. napus hybrids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problem of the corona discharge trigger electric filed threshold at different shapes of a metal tip, through the theoretical analysis of the electric field distribution near the surface of the conical tip and the ellipsoidal tip, and the laboratory simulation experiment, reached the following conclusion. The relationship between the value of corona current amplitude, the frequency and the tip's radius of curvature is obtained; the corona discharge electric field threshold is relatively fixed and between 6.9382 kV/cm and 8.2824 kV/cm. The above relationship has a certain reference value in practical application and computer simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power system state estimation is heavily subjected to measurement error, which comes from the noise of measuring instruments, communication noise, and some unclear randomness. Traditional weighted least square (WLS), as the most universal state estimation method, attempts to minimize the residual between measurements and the estimation of measured variables, but it is unable to handle the measurement error. To solve this problem, based on random matrix theory, this paper proposes a data-driven approach to clean measurement error in matrix-level. Our method significantly reduces the negative effect of measurement error, and conducts a two-stage state estimation scheme combined with WLS. In this method, a Hermitian matrix is constructed to establish an invertible relationship between the eigenvalues of measurements and their covariance matrix. Random matrix tools, combined with an optimization scheme, are used to clean measurement error by shrinking the eigenvalues of the covariance matrix. With great robustness and generality, our approach is particularly suitable for large interconnected power grids. Our method has been numerically evaluated using different testing systems, multiple models of measured noise and matrix size ratios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a multi-dimensional Taylor network (MTN)-based adaptive tracking control approach is proposed for a class of switched nonlinear systems with input nonlinearity. Firstly, the input nonlinearity is assumed to be bounded by a sector interval. Secondly, with the help of MTNs approximating the unknown nonlinear functions, a novel adaptive MTN control scheme has the advantages of low cost, simple structure and real time feature is developed via backstepping technique. It is shown that the tracking error finally converges to a small domain around the origin and all signals in the closed-loop system are bounded. Finally, two examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although epidural analgesia is considered the gold standard for pain relief during labor and is safe for maternity and fetus, the association between the epidural analgesia and pelvic floor disorders remains unclear. Thus we estimate the association between epidural analgesia and early postpartum urinary incontinence (UI). Methods: A propensity score-matched retrospective cohort study was conducted at a university-affiliated hospital in Shanghai, China. Primiparous women with term, singleton, and vaginal delivery between December 2020 and February 2022 were included. UI was self-reported by maternity at 42 to 60 days postpartum and was classified by International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-UI SF). Using logistic regression models, the associations between epidural analgesia and early postpartum UI were assessed. Results: Among 5190 participants, 3709 (71.5%) choose epidural anesthesia during labor. Analysis of the propensity-matched cohort (including 1447 maternal pairs) showed epidural anesthesia during labor was independently associated with UI in early postpartum period (aOR 1.50, 95% CI 1.24–1.81). This association was mainly contributed to stress UI (aOR 1.38, 95% CI 1.12–1.71) rather than urge UI (aOR 1.45, 95% CI 0.99–2.15) and mixed UI (aOR 1.52, 95% CI 0.95–2.45). Furthermore, we observed that the association between epidural anesthesia and UI was more pronounced among older women (≥ 35 y) and women with macrosomia (infant weight ≥ 4000 g), compared with their counterparts (both P for interaction < 0.01). After further analysis excluding the women with UI during pregnancy, the results remained largely consistent with the main analysis. Conclusions: The findings support that epidural anesthesia was associated with SUI in the early postpartum period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]