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Interval‐censored data arise when a failure process is under intermittent observation and failure status is only known at assessment times. We consider the development of predictive algorithms when training samples involve interval censoring. Using censoring unbiased transformations and pseudo‐observations, we define observed data loss functions, which are unbiased estimates of the corresponding complete data loss functions. We show that regression trees based on these loss functions can recover the tree structure and yield good predictive accuracy. An application is given to a study involving individuals with psoriatic arthritis where the aim is to identify genetic markers useful for the prediction of axial disease within 10 years of a baseline assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractAll newly developed anti-loosening fasteners, before mass production, should be tested for suitability for their intended application. Currently, prevailing torque (Tp) is a conventionally used assessment parameter. Previously we proposed loosening resistance torque (TuR) as a more reliable anti-loosening metric. However, its validity was proved only in one type of fastener. This study aims to validate TuR applicability to a variety of structurally different frictional fasteners. Using experiments and the finite element method, we examined five types of frictional fasteners under the same TuR condition. Then we did the loosening tests where the TuR values were equal in all fastener types. The results demonstrate that TuR magnitude is directly proportional to the fasteners’ anti-loosening ability independently of the nuts’ structure. As opposed to TuR, Tp cannot serve as such a universal indicator of loosening resistance. In addition, we developed a relatively simple TuR measurement method. Compared to the Junker and NAS vibration tests, our method is less laborious and does not require sophisticated equipment. Thus, our method can be useful for on-site fastener assessment. Moreover, being a feasible alternative to conventional tests, the TuR measurement might be helpful for engineers and researchers for quick fasteners’ evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperspectral imaging is an emerging non-invasive technology with potential for early nutrient stress detection in plants prior to visible symptoms. This study evaluated hyperspectral imaging for early identification of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) deficiencies across three greenhouse-grown industrial hemp plant cultivars (Cannabis sativa L.). Visible and near-infrared spectral data (380–1022 nm) were acquired from hemp samples subjected to controlled NPK stresses at multiple developmental timepoints using a benchtop hyperspectral camera. Robust principal component analysis was developed for effective screening of spectral outliers. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and support vector machines (SVM) were developed and optimized to classify nutrient deficiencies using key wavelengths selected by variable importance in projection (VIP) and interval partial least squares (iPLS). The 16-wavelength iPLS-C-SVM model achieved the highest precision of 0.75 to 1 on the test dataset. Key wavelengths for effective nutrient deficiency detection spanned the visible range, underscoring the hyperspectral imaging sensitivity to early changes in leaf pigment levels prior to any visible symptom development. The emergence of wavelengths related to chlorophyll, carotenoid, and anthocyanin absorption as optimal for classification, highlights the technology's capacity to detect subtle impending biochemical perturbations linked to emerging deficiencies. Identifying stress at this pre-visual stage could provide hemp producers with timely corrective action to mitigate losses in crop quality and yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Friction has been the most widely exploited anti-loosening (AL) mechanism. The threaded fasteners are desired to have predictable frictional torques (Tf) values and minimum stress concentration. The goal of this study is to assess the available fasteners in terms of the abovementioned criteria to choose the most optimal design. We categorized frictional fasteners into five types according to the torques generation mechanism. For each group, we made and examined both an experimental specimen and a 3D finite element method (FEM) model. Results show that only the fastener type, in which Tf are generated by the radial force, satisfies the criteria. Developing frictional fasteners of such type can be a promising future research direction. Additionally, the study gives some recommendations on the AL performance evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phytochemical analyses of Swertia davidii Franch. extracts using column chromatography and semi-preparative HPLC were performed. Two novel phenolic glycosides named swertiosides A and B (compounds 1 and 2, respectively) were isolated and characterized. Four known phenolic glycosides were also extracted (compounds 3-6). The structural characteristics of these novel compounds were analyzed using 1D, 2D NMR, and HRMS. All six compounds have never been isolated from this particular plant species before this study. Subsequent assessment of bioactive properties suggested that compounds 1 and 2 exhibited moderate levels of cytotoxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Massive, diverse, and high‐frequency Internet of Things (IoT) applications pose challenges to the operation of cluster systems that serve it. Fair and efficient multidimensional resource allocation is of great significance to the sustainable operation of these systems. However, most of the existing cluster multiresource allocation optimization researches focus too much on the fairness of resource allocation and ignore the efficiency. The unbalanced use of multidimensional system resources reduces the effective utilization of system resources, which seriously affects the service quality of IoT applications. In this paper, we define the multiresource fair and efficient sharing optimization as a fairness‐constrained efficiency optimization problem, which is from dynamics, discrete resources, and heterogeneous perspectives according to the characteristics of cluster system in practical. Moreover, we present a dynamic efficiency‐aware multiresource fair allocation algorithm, DEF, which can improve the ability of the cluster system to serve diverse IoT applications. In the algorithm, large jobs schedule to the servers that expect the least remaining resources. Simulations performed using Google cluster‐usage traces show that DEF can improve system resource utilization and guarantee the fairness of sharing among users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In epidemiological hearing studies, estimating the association between exposures and hearing loss using audiometrically‐assessed hearing measurements is challenging due to the complex correlation structure in the clustered data, with clusters formed by the two ears of the same individual and the testing site and audiologist. We propose a linear mixed‐effects model to take into account the multilevel correlation structures of the data. Both theoretically and in simulation studies, we compare single‐ear linear regression models commonly used in published hearing loss studies with the proposed both‐ears linear mixed models properly accounting for the multi‐level correlations. Our findings include (1) when there are only participant‐level covariates, the worse‐ear linear regression models produce unbiased but typically less efficient estimators than the both‐ear and average‐ear approaches; (2) when there are ear‐level confounders, the worse‐ear method may lead to biased estimators and the average‐ear method produces unbiased but typically less efficient estimators than the both‐ear method; (3) the both‐ear method may gain efficiency when additionally adjusting for testing sites and audiologists. As an illustrative example, we applied the single‐ear and both‐ear methods to assess aspirin‐hearing association in the Nurses' Health Study II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Soybean (Glycine max) was domesticated from its wild relative Glycine soja. One‐hundred‐seed weight is one of the most important domesticated traits determining soybean yield; however, its underlying genetic basis remains elusive.We characterized a soybean seed size 1 (sss1) mutant featuring large seeds compared to its wild‐type background. Positional cloning revealed that the candidate gene GmSSS1 encoded a SPINDLY homolog and was co‐located in a well‐identified quantitative trait locus (QTL)‐rich region on chromosome 19. Knocking out GmSSS1 resulted in small seeds, while overexpressing GmSSS1/Gmsss1 induced large seeds. Modulating GmSSS1/Gmsss1 in transgenic plants can positively influence cell expansion and cell division. Relative to GmSSS1, one mutation leading to an E to Q substitution at the 182nd residue in Gmsss1 conferred an enhancing effect on seed weight.GmSSS1 underwent diversification in wild‐type and cultivated soybean, and the alleles encoding the Gmsss1‐type substitution of 182nd‐Q, which originated along the central and downstream parts of the Yellow River, were selected and expanded during soybean domestication and improvement.We cloned the causative gene for the sss1 mutant, which is linked with a seed weight QTL, identified an elite allele of this gene for increasing seed weight, and provided new insights into soybean domestication and breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large cohort studies now routinely involve biobanks in which biospecimens are stored for use in future biomarker studies. In such settings, two-phase response-dependent sampling designs involve subsampling individuals in the cohort, assaying their biospecimen to measure an expensive biomarker, and using this data to estimate key parameters of interest under budgetary constraints. When analyses are based on inverse probability weighted estimating functions, recent work has described adaptive two-phase designs in which a preliminary phase of subsampling based on a standard design facilitates approximation of an optimal selection model for a second subsampling phase. In this article, we refine the definition of an optimal subsampling scheme within the framework of adaptive two-phase designs, describe how adaptive two-phase designs can be used when analyses are based on likelihood or conditional likelihood, and consider the setting of a continuous biomarker where the nuisance covariate distribution is estimated nonparametrically at the design stage and analysis stage as required; efficiency and robustness issues are investigated. We also explore these methods for the surrogate variable problem and describe a generalization to accommodate multiple stages of phase II subsampling. A study involving individuals with psoriatic arthritis is considered for illustration, where the aim is to assess the association between the biomarker MMP-3 and the development of joint damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological restoration of coastal land by planting salt-tolerant plants has been widely used to construct vegetation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes induced by tamarisk (Tamarix chinensis) shrub on coastal soil physical quality and as well as the corresponding impact on salt distribution in the soil. A field study was conducted on coastal saline land, North China, where tamarisk plantation was established 5-year-old (T-5yr) and 11-year-old (T-11yr), and compared with barren land as control (CK). Quantitative soil physical properties, soil physical quality index, soil salt distribution, and salt leaching were examined. The results indicated that planting tamarisk improved the coastal soil properties at higher degree in topsoil than in deep soil layers. Tamarisk plantation significantly increased soil organic carbon content and pH. It also enhanced the formation of soil large aggregates and porosity; however, reduction soil bulk density and salt content in topsoil were recorded. Soil physical quality index was positively correlated with root weight density of tamarisk, and soil of T-11 yr plantation exhibited the highest soil physical quality index, with promoted soil physical functions of supporting root growth and the resistance to soil degradation. In addition, tamarisk induced soil physical changes which enhanced the salt-leaching in rainy season and contributed to the homogeneous salt distribution in soil profile. Consequently, the ecological benefits of tamarisk vegetation turned coastal saline land into a fertile land by plant–soil interaction and the soil structure improvement, therefore, it prevented the natural soil accumulation by accelerating the salt leaching after tamarisk was restored. This study provides some insights into the mechanism of tamarisk on coastal soil restoration and its regulation of soil salt distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the most promising methods for harnessing ocean wave energy, the oscillating water column device has been intensively investigated, especially the Wells turbine within the device. However, owing to the low efficiency of the Wells turbine, it is essential to provide a deep insight into the loss audit and loss quantification. The scope of this work is to explore the main loss mechanisms due to the irreversibility. The aerodynamic losses and associated flow behaviors within four typical working conditions were quantified and analyzed in detail based on entropy generation and exergy analysis. The loss weight of the Wells turbine indicates that the secondary flow loss coupled with the friction loss is the largest, 34%, under the stall condition. The blade tip streamlines show that a large-scale vortex structure on the blade suction caused by the interaction of the leakage flow and the suction side flow is one of the main reasons of the decreasing blade loading and growth of low-energy fluids. Moreover, the exergy loss gradually increases with the increasing angle of attack, leading to a dramatic drop of the second law efficiency from 0.52 at the maximum torque point to 0.22 at the stall condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Implemented optimization and full life cycle economic analysis on the inter‐stage pressure ratio were rarely paid attention to in supercritical carbon dioxide multi‐stage recompression. In this article, a thermodynamic model of supercritical carbon dioxide recompression Brayton cycle was established based on gas‐cooled fast reactor and the sensitivity analysis was performed. With the aim of seeking the optimal pressure ratio for two‐stage, three‐stage, and four‐stage recompression configuration, the full life cycle economic indicators were predicted, respectively. Parameter sensitivity analysis indicated that the thermodynamically optimized result could not coincide with that of the economically optimized. The optimal PR distribution scheme may result in the improvement of the initial cycle system efficiency from 46.89% to 48.07%. Meanwhile the levelized cost of electricity decreased from 57.40$/MWh to 55.87$/MWh. The approaching equilibrium trend of thermoeconomic parameters confirmed the existence of the optimal number of recompression stages, which could also be derived from the prediction tendency based on full life cycle economic indicators. Furthermore, it was discovered that reducing the year of repayment and the loan proportion enhanced the net present value of nuclear power plant, but the former method gave rise to longer payback period and lower internal rate of return. The present work preserves the guiding significance for nuclear power plant investors and the utilization of the supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the effects of water-cement ratio, air-entraining agent type, and air content on the pore characteristic parameters of hardened concrete were investigated through an extensive series of experimental studies. First of all, according to different water-cement ratios, air-entraining agent types, and air contents, the correlation between the concrete pore spacing factor and the frost resistance durability factor was revealed by using the automatic analysis and testing instrument for the pore system of hardened concrete. Then, the decision tree method was utilized to propose specific pore spacing factors for different concrete scenarios, including the non-air-entrained concrete, air-entrained concrete, concrete with unqualified frost resistance, and concrete with qualified frost resistance. In cases where the pore spacing factor measurement fell within an ambiguous range, the classification was further refined according to the water-cement ratio. On that basis, the comprehensive range of pore spacing factors for the concrete with a qualified frost resistance was determined. Finally, the post-evaluation method and standard procedure for assessing the frost resistance of concrete entities based on pore spacing factor and water-cement ratio were proposed to verify whether the frost resistance of concrete buildings meets the life expectancy requirements. This method facilitates the evaluation of the frost resistance quality of newly-built concrete projects, as well as the investigation and monitoring of frost resistance in existing structures during service. • The correlation between the pore spacing factor and the frost resistance durability was established. • The threshold value of the pore spacing factor was determined based on the decision tree method. • A post-evaluation method for frost resistance of hardened concrete was proposed. • The frost resistance quality evaluation system for in-service concrete entities was constructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The southern South China Sea (SCS) is an ideal region for investigating the low-latitude climatic and oceanic dynamics in the context of local and global effects. However, records of upper-water hydrography beyond the last two glacial cycles are still limited from the southern SCS. In this study, we present shell δ18O, Mg/Ca and Nd/Ca records of three planktonic foraminiferal species (Globigerinoides ruber , Globigerinoides sacculifer and Pulleniatina obliquiloculata) from Core TX05 to explore changes in upper-water hydrography in the southern SCS over the past ∼280 kyr. The results show that shell δ18O of the three species exhibit more positive values in glacials than interglacials. The δ18O residual (i.e. δ18O sw-ice) calculated by shell δ18O subtracting the signals of ice volume and temperature suggests fresher upper seawaters (lower salinity) during glacials than interglacials. This may be caused by terrestrial freshwater discharge from the paleo-Sunda continent that exposed during glacial sea level low-stands. The freshwater discharge may further be ascribed to relatively abundant precipitation over the paleo-Sunda continent during glacials, possibly pointing to the collective effects of the southward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and the enhanced Pacific Walker circulation. The vertical thermal gradients (ΔT rub-obl and ΔT sac-obl) at Site TX05 show lower values during glacials than interglacials. The SST differences of the southern SCS from the northern SCS (ΔSST S-N) and from the western tropical Pacific (ΔSST SCS-WTP) correlate well with indicators from the Chinese Loess section, indicating relatively strong East Asian winter monsoon during glacials. The good correlation of ΔT, ΔSST S-N and ΔSST SCS-WTP to the relative sea-level suggests a remarkable effect of sea level low-stands and the strengthened East Asian winter monsoon during glacials on the upper ocean hydrography in the southern SCS. • Upper ocean hydro-condition and thermal structure were reconstructed in the southern South China Sea over the past ∼280 kyr; • Upper seawater freshened due to freshwater discharge from the paleo-Sunda continent during glacial sea level low-stands; • Thermal structure was influenced by the East Asian winter monsoon and sea level change over glacial-interglacial cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To further interpret the control mechanisms of leading-edge micro-cylinders for flow separation in a Wells turbine, the residual circulation budget was performed through an improved triple decomposition method that the computational cost was reduced by 38.2%.The intensity of the leading-edge vortex (LEV), free of shear effects, was tracked under typical conditions. Meanwhile, disturbance physics was dissected by splitting the contributions of shear, swirling, and straining motions to the flow from dominant modes, captured by the proper orthogonal decomposition method under typical working conditions. The influence of micro-cylinders on the spatiotemporal evolution of the LEV has been discussed in detail. The results indicate that the accumulative shaft power of the turbine is improved by 54.2% through the micro-cylinders operating by suppressing the swirling intensity near the leading edge and weakening the instability of the boundary layer. Moreover, low-frequency disturbances could be significantly weakened and tended to transfer to higher-order modes with lower energy. Under the stall condition, the shear layer flux and diffusive flux dominated the LEV circulation rate. In contrast to the referential model, as the cylinders blocked the LEV trajectory after falling, the annihilation slowed down with an intensified accumulative circulation of the LEV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schematic view of the past, present, and future of accidental and nonaccidental traffic injuries in China. [Display omitted] • China faces a great challenge in traffic safety and public health. • The accurate data on Chinese traffic injuries was controversial for varying standards. • Progress toward mitigating nonaccidental injuries from motor vehicles continues. • A comprehensive human-centered system of traffic safety was being built in China. • China prepared for the construction of a new three-dimensional transportation network. Transportation-related harms have developed into a social disease, threatening public safety and health in China. We aimed to increase the global understanding of traffic safety and public health in China from past knowledge, current status, and future directions by collecting, collating, and analyzing the Chinese traffic incidents reported in the published literature. A systematic search of China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Weipu, and published articles referenced in PubMed, Web of Science and ProQuest between January 1, 1988 and April 30, 2023 was performed. China encountered the first recorded traffic accident as early as three thousand years ago in the Shang Dynasty. An increase in vehicle capacity and velocity increased the traffic risks during the transition from rickshaws and livestock to motor vehicles in varying traffic environments. Humans are not only the decisive factor of a large number of vehicles, traffic routes, and environmental variables, but also the victims at the end and starting point of traffic accidents. Injuries (mechanical force, burns) and diseases (traffic-related air pollution, noise) caused by traffic activities not only threaten public health, but also cause risks to safe driving. Analysis of traffic activities and biomarkers promotes the treatment of traffic injuries in ethology and medicine. China prepared for the construction of healthy transportation in the "decade of road safety" toward an estimation of worldwide road traffic injuries in 2030. Improvement of traffic safety concerning public health under the "Outline of the National Comprehensive Three-dimensional Transportation Network Planning" in China will propel the realization of worldwide traffic environmental advancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Cyclic dimer is essential to the aggregation of caprolactam solution concentrates. • Cyclic dimer showed higher solubility in liquid caprolactam than hot water. • Adding fresh caprolactam effectively avoids blockages of solution concentrates. • Aggregation mechanism of caprolactam solution concentrates was illustrated. • An energy and cost saving process model was introduced to avoid aggregation. The cyclic dimer 1,8-diazacyclotetradecane-2,9-dione is one of the most important components of caprolactam solution concentrates and triggers significant agglomeration during the recovery process in industrial polyamide-6 plants. For this reason, the agglomeration behaviour and morphology changes of cyclic dimers in solution concentrates were investigated. Precipitates separated from an ∼80 wt.% solution concentrate were explored. Cyclic dimers aggregated in the solution concentrates at lower temperatures to form larger, thicker, and compacted structures or multi-layers structures. An appropriate increase in the solution temperature and addition of fresh caprolactam aid in avoiding agglomeration, but high temperatures (over 140 ℃) initiate the hydrolytic polymerisation of caprolactam in the solution concentrate, which aggravates blockages. Based on these results, an optimised process model is introduced to avoid aggregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To facilitate energy system integration, it is imperative that a multienergy system produce and deliver in a coordinated way the energy in its different component forms. In particular, a small‐scale integrated energy system must accommodate renewable energy resources, flexible loads, and energy coupling technologies, which creates new challenges to the interactions between the energy vectors. Hence, an energy management model for a microenergy system in grid‐connected mode under uncertainties is proposed to perform the decision‐making for shifting energy modes for all energy sources and end‐use applications with the aim of optimally scheduling controllable energy resources in the system and minimizing the net management cost under uncertainty. To address the stochastic nature of the price of electricity, a data‐driven robust optimization approach is introduced. It uses the available sample data to design the appropriate uncertainty set using statistical hypothesis tests, and a combination of conditional value‐at‐risk and a worst‐case optimization problem is used to formulate the energy management problem under uncertainty. We explore a computationally tractable robust counterpart of the original optimization problem. The optimal energy scheduling solution obtained from the proposed approach is immune against any worst‐case realizations. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach and its performance of less conservation. © 2019 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dual sub-pulse train 1064 nm picosecond radially polarized beam pump KGW single-pass Raman generator was designed. The Stokes lines of both the 768 cm−1 and 901 cm−1 vibrational modes of the KGW Raman-active crystal were excited simultaneously. The Raman generator radiated up to seven Stokes lines in the infrared spectrum, which covered multiple optical communication channels. The overall Stokes average power reached 1.01 W, and the maximum Raman overall conversion efficiency was 23.1%. The interaction between the optical field and the Raman crystal was discussed from two perspectives of line width compression and beam quality. • An infrared picosecond KGW Raman generator operated at two vibrational modes simultaneously. • The first report that the radially polarized beam was employed as the pump beam for the Raman generator. • The first report on the picosecond Raman generator which adopted an innovative dual sub-pulse train pump configuration. • For the picosecond pump regime, the Raman generator obtained the most numbers of collinear infrared Stokes lines to date. • The maximum Stokes power of 1.01 W at 1 kHz was obtained and the maximum Raman conversion efficiency of 23.1% was achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The casing wall static pressures in both circumferential and streamwise directions were obtained by 72 static pressure probes. • Two typical casing pressure distribution patterns were confirmed from choke to stall at different rotational speeds. • The proportions of the two casing pressure patterns are related to the surge line knee, which is caused by the different stall behavior at different rotational speeds. • Long-lived impeller leading-edge stall without rotating occurs at higher rotational speed and short-lived diffuser stall with partial rotating occurs at lower rotational speed. • Circumferential non-uniform pressure distributions and consequent non-uniform stall positions are fundamental to asymmetric flow control system design. Obtaining the casing static pressure distribution of a centrifugal compressor with volute is beneficial in understanding the compressor stall mechanism and designing the corresponding asymmetric structures to improve the compressor performance and stability. The present study investigates the casing pressure evolution from the choke to stall operating conditions and focuses on the relationship between the casing pressure evolutions and stall behavior under different rotational speeds. A total of 72 steady static pressure sensors (6 sensors in circumferential direction and 12 in streamwise direction) were mounted around the compressor casing wall to measure the casing pressure. In the experiment, the steady pressure data were acquired by averaging the 50 values measured in 1 s. The results show that at the same rotational speed, from the near choke to near stall conditions, the casing pressure distribution patterns can be divided into two parts: the single-peak pressure pattern, from the choke point to maximum efficiency point (transition point), and the double-peak (peak and bulge) pressure pattern, from the transition point to near stall point. One interesting phenomenon is that the proportions of the flow rate range of the two casing pressure patterns at different rotational speeds are related to the surge line knee. The vast operating range contraction indicates that the double-peak pattern has more instability at a higher rotational speed, which is linked with the different stall behavior at different rotational speeds. Combined with unsteady full annulus simulations, the leading-edge spillage triggers the impeller long-lived stall earlier at a higher rotational speed, corresponding to the short-lived double-peak pressure pattern. However, at lower rotational speeds, short-lived diffuser stall occurs owing to the impeller outlet recirculation flow and diffuser inlet separated flow, corresponding to the long-lived double-peak pressure pattern. Furthermore, the circumferential non-uniform casing pressure distribution can indicate the circumferential position of the stall onset and provide a reason for the non-rotating stall in the impeller inlet and partly rotating stall in the diffuser, which is fundamental and beneficial to the compressor flow control system design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimized variational modal decomposition (VMD) algorithm is widely used in the diagnosis of rolling bearing faults. However, the subjectivity of the optimization range can compromise the effect of fault feature extraction under strong background noise (SBN). To enhance the fault diagnosis accuracy of rolling bearings under SBN, an adaptive range selection for parameter optimization of the VMD algorithm was developed. The proposed algorithm utilizes a method based on peak spectral clustering and center frequency to determine the optimal range of mode number and penalty factor. An optimization process based on the weighted kurtosis spectrum L2/L1 norm is then employed as the fitness function to obtain the optimal values of modes and penalty factor. Experimental results have demonstrated that the proposed method achieves a 20.02 % increase in fault diagnosis accuracy compared to the classical adaptive variational mode decomposition (AVMD) method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paper, we demonstrate homodyne tomography on a narrow-band heralded single photon generated from spontaneous four-wave mixing process in a cold atomic cloud. This is the first work that shows the photon-number state of the narrow-band single photons transmitted through electromagnetically-induced transparency window. The Wigner function of the optical state is demonstrated as a non-Gaussian state. The homodyne tomography provides an important route to characterize the single-photon source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • 2 nm Pd nanoparticles have low selectivity and rapid deactivation for propane dehydrogenation due to Pd carbide formation. • 2 nm Pd 3 Fe intermetallic nanoparticles have high olefin selectivity and do not be form carbides, thus deactivate more slowly. • Pd 3 Fe shows higher selectivity and stability, which is due to smaller Pd ensembles separated by inactive Fe atoms. • Changes in the energy of the filled and unfilled Pd 4d orbitals in Pd 3 Fe are suggested by Pd L 3 edge XANES. Abstract Silica supported Pd (∼2 nm), Pd 3 Fe (∼2 nm) and Pd 3 Fe_large (∼12 nm) catalysts were synthesized and tested for propane dehydrogenation at 510 °C. At the 10% conversion, Pd and Pd 3 Fe catalysts exhibited propylene selectivity of 45% and 94%, respectively. Moreover, the latter showed a turnover rate (TOR) of 0.2 s−1, which is five times higher than that of the Pd catalyst (0.04 s−1). Pd K edge XAS, XRD, and CO adsorbed IR were used to characterize the geometric structure of the catalysts. By combined comparison of XRD and XAS spectra of Pd 3 Fe and Pd 3 Fe_large catalysts, we successfully identified the crystalline phase in the 2 nm Pd 3 Fe catalyst. The CO adsorbed IR suggests that the formation of Pd 3 Fe breaks the ensemble of Pd, which is responsible for the increase of selectivity. The Pd L edge XAS was used to characterize the electronic structure of the catalysts. The Pd 3 Fe catalyst exhibits an increase of the edge energy compared with the Pd catalyst, which indicates the change of d-band structure in the bimetallic catalyst. The change in the electronic structure is likely the reason for the increase in TOR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Owing to the asymmetric structure of the volute, the internal flow field in a centrifugal compressor is circumferentially non-uniform. Previous studies have paid little attention to whether the circumferentially non-uniform flow field has an influence on the circumferential position of stall inception under transonic inlet conditions. In this study, the performance of the centrifugal compressor and static pressure distribution around the casing wall are obtained by means of an experimental method. Thereafter, the experimental results are compared with the time-averaged results of unsteady simulations, and the stall process with shock waves is obtained. The results demonstrate that, in the presence of shock waves, the volute tongue (VT) determines the stall inception circumferential position. Owing to the asymmetric structure of the volute, the positions, strengths, and shapes of shock waves exhibit significant differences in varying blade passages. The VT induces the high static pressure region in a blade passage; the shock wave in the corresponding blade passage is much closer to the impeller inlet than the other blade passages; and the forward velocity of the shock wave in the stall process is significantly larger. Furthermore, leading edge spillage, which represents the stall inception, will first occur in this passage. The reason for these phenomena is that the high static pressure region can increase the static pressure at the blade passage outlet position, which compels the shock wave to move closer to the impeller inlet; therefore, stall inception first occurs in this passage. In the stall inception process, the shock wave in the blade passage, located in the low static pressure region, is not constantly moving to the impeller inlet; the shock wave moving direction also changes, and the shock wave moves downstream during a certain period. The tip leakage flow (TLF) trajectory in different blade passages differs significantly. Tip leakage vortex (TLV) breakdown first occurs in the blade passage that is most influenced by the VT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Develop a one-dimensional steady-state off-design model for the sCO 2 -RC. • Examine the off-design performance of the sCO 2 -RC using a VIGV-equipped turbine. • Compressor's surge margin limits the nozzle opening of the VIGV-equipped turbine. • Inventory-bypass hybrid control promotes the use of the VIGV-equipped turbine. Many control strategies have been proposed to improve the off-design performance of supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2) cycles caused by changes in cycle parameters. However, the component-level control scheme solely utilizes the compressor with variable inlet guide vanes (VIGV) and not the VIGV-equipped turbine for the sCO 2 cycle. In this study, we examine the potential of using a VIGV-equipped turbine in a supercritical carbon dioxide recompression cycle (sCO 2 -RC) heated by molten salt to enhance the system's off-design thermal efficiency under low-load conditions. To accurately model the system's behavior, one-dimensional design and off-design models of the sCO 2 -RC are developed, as simplified component models are inadequate. Following the completion of the preliminary design, we present the optimal off-design performance of the inventory-controlled system as the load changes. We then analyse the impact of the VIGV-equipped turbine on the system's performance at low load. The results show that when the load is decreased from 100% to 10%, both the system and turbine efficiencies decrease from 41.55% and 90% to 24.31% and 66.62%, respectively, and the surge margin of the compressor is significantly reduced. While the VIGV-equipped turbine improves the efficiencies of both the system and turbine at 10% load, the nozzle opening is constrained by the surge margin of the compressor. We propose a hybrid control strategy, comprising of inventory and turbine bypass, to facilitate the utilization of the VIGV-equipped turbine and enhance its efficiency while maintaining the system's performance no lower than the initial value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore and optimize the high-dimensional design space of the supercritical CO 2 recompression cycle (sCO 2 -RC) using deep learning and data mining techniques. Firstly, the thermodynamic model of the sCO 2 -RC for nuclear-powered ships is established. The design space of the system is then comprehensively explored by data mining techniques consisting of Sobol's sensitivity analysis and self-organizing map based on deep neural networks. Subsequently, a baseline optimisation considering the thermal efficiency and total component volume of the system is performed, and the effect of exergoeconomic and specific work on the optimal baseline results is discussed. The results show that the parameters whose multi-order sensitivity is comparable to first-order sensitivity are crucial to the trade-off of the performance indicators. Data-mining techniques can provide useful information for system optimisation by quantifying parameter interactivity and visualizing the nonlinear relationships between parameters and objectives. The optimal thermal efficiency and total component volume under the baseline optimisation are 39.92% and 3.92 m3, respectively, which are correspondingly reduced by 1.44% and increased by 0.68 m3 when exergoeconomic and specific work are considered. This study has guiding significance for the optimal design of the sCO 2 -RC with high-dimensional design space in space- and energy-limited scenarios. • Predict design performance of a sCO 2 recompression cycle using a deep neural network. • Use data-mining techniques to determine decision variables for system optimisation. • Baseline optimisation is performed for the scenario of a marine propulsion system. • Analyse the impact of exergoeconomic and specific work on optimal baseline results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used hyperspectral imaging technique to classify healthy and gray mold diseased tomato leaves. Hyperspectral images of diseased samples at 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 96 h and 120 h after inoculation and healthy samples were taken in the wave range of 380–1023 nm. A total of ten pixels from each sample were identified as the region of interest (ROI), and the mean reflectance values of ROI were calculated. The dependent variables of healthy samples were set as 0, and diseased samples were set as 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 according to infection severities, respectively. K-nearest neighbor (KNN) and C5.0 models were built to classify the samples using the full wave band set. To reduce data volume, features ranking (FR) was used to select sensitive bands. Then, the KNN classification model was built based on just the selected bands. This later procedure of reducing spectral dimensionality and classifying infection stages was defined as FR-KNN. Performances of KNN classifier on all wave bands and FR-KNN were compared. The overall classification results in the testing sets were 61.11% for KNN, 54.17% for C5.0 and 45.83% for FR-KNN model. When differentiating infected samples from control, the testing results were 94.44%, 94.44% and 97.22% for each model, respectively. In addition, early disease detection (1 dpi) obtained the results of 66.67% for KNN, 66.67% for C5.0 and 41.67% for FR-KNN. Therefore, it demonstrated that hyperspectral imaging has the potential to be used for early detection of gray mold disease on tomato leaves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rescue after a maritime disaster remains a great challenge in emergency medicine.Objective: We performed an overview of rescue efforts among the victims in the sunken cruise ship Eastern Star in the 2015 Changjiang River marine disaster, as well as possible preventive measures in maritime transport situations.Methods: The rescue records of 454 victims of the sunken ship were analyzed retrospectively. Their demographic data, rescue effects, accident inducement, and injury disposition were reviewed. A thorough analysis from the point of view of maritime traffic safety was also performed.Results: Of the 454 victims, 442 (97.36%) were killed and only 12 (2.64%) survived. The survivors were classified based on their gender, rescue type, and rescue spot as follows: male (91.67%), female (8.33%); tourists (50.00%), and ship staff (50.00%), after the breakdown of the rescue spot in Jianli, Hubei province, China. The survivors were saved only during the initial 17 h after the disaster. The survivors suffering from somato- and psychotrauma were urgently treated for limb injuries, infections of the upper respiratory tract and lungs, fluid and electrolyte imbalance, and acute traumatic stress. This incident was the most severe maritime disaster since the establishment of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, due to the large number of elderly victims, fast overturning speed, and severe weather.Conclusions: Emergency rescue requires more automated and intelligent systems for maritime safety. An increased focus must be placed on public welfare and ethics, with the goal of influencing more prosocial behavior rather than the pursuit of profit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Analyze the effect of inlet conditions on characteristics of isothermal compressors. • Iso-MC is recommended for high-temperature and low-pressure inlet conditions. • The modified sCO 2 recompression cycle is more suitable for isothermal compressors. • Exergy loss of the HTR in the modified layout is notably reduced. Isothermal compressors have significant application potential in the supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2) cycle. In this study, two recompression cycle models (conventional and modified) integrated into lead-cooled fast reactors and an isothermal compressor model are established. The effect of different inlet conditions on the performance of the isothermal compressor and the applicability of the two layouts to the isothermal compressor are analysed. Results show that the isothermal compressor significantly reduces the compression work but dissipates a large amount of heat under high-temperature and low-pressure inlet conditions. The sCO 2 recompression cycle using an isothermal compressor both increases its specific power and reduces its overall heat exchanger size. The modified layout is more suitable for isothermal compressors than the conventional layout. Exergy analysis reveals that the use of the isothermal compressor augments the irreversibility of the high-temperature recuperator by 8.75% for the traditional layout, while only 0.68% for the modified layout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transient performance of an inventory-controlled supercritical CO 2 recompression cycle under synchronous adjustment of parameters has rarely been studied. In this study, a one-dimensional design of a supercritical CO 2 recompression cycle with a 10 MW output power was completed for a lead-cooled fast reactor. The dynamic characteristics of the system power, which decreased from full load to half load under three ramp signals, were compared. Furthermore, the effect of the fluctuating reactor outlet coolant temperature on the transient performance of the system was investigated. Steady-state analysis revealed that the maximum design efficiency of the system was 43.40% at a split ratio of 0.37. The dynamic results showed that the shorter the ramp signal for parameter adjustment, the more significantly the transient performance of the system degraded. When the load decreased significantly, a secondary efficiency trough appeared in the system. These poor phenomena were improved by appropriately extending the action time of the ramp signal. Additionally, the influence of coolant temperature fluctuation on the temperature at both ends of the recuperator differed owing to the difference in the heat capacity. Moreover, the reduction in the target load of the system made the fluctuation range wider for efficiency but narrower for power. • Predict the performance of supercritical CO 2 turbomachinery using machine learning. • Study the dynamic characteristics of an inventory-controlled supercritical CO 2 cycle. • Compare the transient performance of the system under three ramp-regulating signals. • Analyze the effect of fluctuating reactor outlet coolant temperature on the dynamic system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Evolution trajectory of two-phase region is consistent with the LP1. • Evolution of the two-phase region in an impeller passage is revealed. • Prediction model for the two-phase region in impeller passage is established. In this study, unsteady numerical calculations of centrifugal compressors with volute were carried out. The unsteady evolution of two-phase regions and flow behavior in impeller passages were determined. The results show that the two-phase regions in impeller passages are governed mainly by the low static pressure strip LP1 on the casing wall. Meanwhile, the unsteady trajectory of a two-phase region is consistent with the trajectory of LP1. The unsteady evolution of a two-phase region undergoes two stages: In the first stage, it appears near the middle streamwise position and simultaneously expands to the leading edge (LE) and trailing edge (TE) of the blade. In the second stage, it shifts from the middle streamwise position to the LE of the blade and finally disappears. Moreover, based on the rotor enthalpy conservation, the prediction model for the formation of two-phase region in the impeller passage under different inlet conditions was determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerical methods were carried out on a turbocharger compressor with inlet bent pipe to research a novel clocking effect between the inlet bend and the volute. It was found that the clocking effect with 3.4 percent of variations (1.9 percentage points) in compressor efficiency positively exists at the research point near chock. The reason for the changed efficiency loss is that the inlet bend induces a serious distortion of approaching flow to impeller inlet on one hand, and the downstream volute causes a circumferentially non-uniform distribution of pressure in vaneless diffuser. By adjusting the clocking positions between inlet bend and volute, not only is the unsteadiness of the flow rate through single impeller channel changed, but the uniformity of the incoming flow at the vaneless diffuser inlet is modulated as well. It is the dominant reason for the novel clocking effect that the bad uniformity causes more flow loss in both diffuser and volute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Centrifugal compressor is seen as the predominant choice in turbocharging and natural gas transportation. The energy loss measurement in centrifugal compressor is of great essence, especially under instability conditions. Based on one-dimensional model and simulations, each energy loss mechanism in diffuser was evaluated by defining the weight coefficient representing the influence of energy loss on compressor performance. The thermodynamics in the diffuser was investigated under design and stall inception conditions. Vortex transportation and synergy angle analysis was realized to identify the correlation between energy losses and stall identification. The results indicate that the skin friction loss accounts for 75.06% of the total energy loss in diffuser, while 16.96% and 7.98% for diffusion and secondary loss near stall condition, respectively. The determination of stall in vanless diffuser may be confirmed according to the combination of secondary vorticity coefficient and synergy angle. Due to small inflow angle and large width ratio of the diffuser, stall inception is the results of secondary flow sweep and momentum loss induced by diffusion. The weight function was originally modelled to quantize the influence of energy loss on flow aerodynamics. The present work may shed lights on stall identification and energy loss reduction in industrial compressor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperspectral imagery divides spectrum into many bands with very narrow bandwidth. It is more capable to detect or classify objects, where visible information is not sufficient for the task. However, hyperspectral image contains a large amount of redundant information, which eliminates its discriminability. Band selection is used to both reduce the dimensionality of hyperspectral images and save useful bands for further application. This study explores the feasibility of hyperspectral imaging for the task of classifying blueberry fruit growth stages and background. Three information theory based band selection methods using Kullback–Leibler divergence: pair-wise class discriminability, hierarchical dimensionality reduction and non-Gaussianity measures were applied. Three classifiers, K -nearest neighbor, support vector machine and AdaBoost were used to test the performance of the selected bands by the three methods. The selected bands achieved classification accuracies of 88% and higher. Therefore, the band selection methods are very useful in reducing the volume of the hyperspectral data, and constructing a multispectral imaging system for detecting blueberry fruit maturity stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the ambient temperature is low, a large amount of water mist and dust will inevitably appear around the zinc flotation cell, forming haze, which seriously affects the extraction of flotation froth image features. General defogging methods of natural image are difficult to obtain satisfactory results for such industrial haze image. Therefore, we propose a real-time defogging method based on ASM-VoFD (Atmospheric Scattering Model and the Variable-order Fractional Differential). First, the dark pixel ratio is used to detect fog in froth image, which solves the redundant calculation caused by unnecessary defogging operations. Second, the linear transformation of the atmospheric scattering model is used to calculate the initial transmission map, and the gaussian filter is used to optimize the initial transmittance, and the haze-free image is restored with atmospheric light estimation. Finally, a variable order fractional differential operator is used to enhance the edges and texture details of the restored froth image, which solves the problems of blurred edges and low contrast. The experiments show that the algorithm has a good defogging effect on the industrial images, enhance the edges of the image, and can be effectively implemented in O(N) time to meet the application requirements of real-time flotation monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing the prediction model of the end‐point carbon content of the electric arc furnace (EAF) is an effective way to reduce the adjustment frequency of liquid steel composition and shorten the smelting time. Previous data‐driven models lack effective handling of the missing values in EAF production data. This may be the main reason why model accuracy is difficult to improve. This article proposes a novel modeling method based on the CatBoost algorithm with two‐stage optimization. In the preprocessing session, empirical and empirical‐cumulative‐distribution‐based outlier detection (ECOD) methods are utilized to extract input features and reject outliers. The end‐point carbon content prediction model is built based on CatBoost. The generative adversarial imputation nets (GAIN) method is used in the first optimization stage to handle the missing values. In the second optimization stage, recursive feature elimination (RFE) is used to select the final features, and whale optimization algorithm (WOA) is used to optimize the parameters of the CatBoost model. After verification with actual production data, the two‐stage optimized CatBoost model demonstrates excellent performance compared with other methods, with an R2 of 0.903, mean absolute error of 0.021, root mean squared error of 0.043, and 90.34% hit ratio within ±0.05% error range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural killer (NK) cell is a valuable tool for immunotherapy in cancer treatment, both the cultured cell line NK92 and primary NK cells are widely studied and used in research and clinical trials. Clinical observations witnessed the improvement of patients' NK cells in terms of cell counts and cytotoxic activity upon dasatinib treatment, an approved drug for chronic myeloid leukaemia and Ph+ acute lymphocytic leukaemia. Several studies supported the clinical observations, yet others argued a detrimental effect of dasatinib on NK cells. Due to the complex conditions in different studies, the definite influence of dasatinib on NK92 and primary NK cells remains to be settled. Here, we used a well‐defined in vitro system to evaluate the effects of dasatinib on NK92 cells and peripheral blood (PB)‐NK cells. By co‐culturing NK cells with dasatinib to test the cell counts and target cell‐killing activities, we surprisingly found that the chemical influenced oppositely on these two types of NK cells. While dasatinib suppressed NK92 cell proliferation and cytotoxic activity, it improved PB‐NK‐killing tumour cells. RNA sequencing analysis further supported this finding, uncovering several proliferating and cytotoxic pathways responding invertedly between them. Our results highlighted an intrinsic difference between NK92 and PB‐NK cells and may build clues to understand how dasatinib interacts with NK cells in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wave energy conversion of oscillation water column (OWC) systems is limited by the narrow range of efficient operation of Wells turbines. Effective control methods are critical to improving performance. In this study, spanwise stall cylinders were mounted near the blade leading edge to delay the stall using dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) analysis. The performance of the Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation with steady inflow conditions is in good agreement with the experimental data. The results indicate that the aerodynamics and turbine performance is significantly influenced by cylinder wakes, which are associated with the location and radius of the stall cylinders. The relatively optimal location of the stall cylinders is determined at a 10% chord of the blade with a radius of 1% of the chord, producing 19.15% and 26.57% increases in the operation range and maximum torque coefficient, respectively. The cylinders act by intensifying the turbulence in the boundary layer and weakening the tip leakage vortex, causing the cylinder wake vortices to interact with vortices near the boundary layer to guide the flow near the suction side. A larger cylinder radius produces stronger wake vortices, but the efficiency decreases due to increased dissipation losses. • The relatively optimal combination of the stall cylinder location and radius determined • The stall suppression mechanism of the spanwise cylinders revealed • The coherent structures caused by cylinder wakes discussed by DMD method • The irreversible loss caused by cylinder wakes quantified by entropy production [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Previous studies have demonstrated that acute lung injury (ALI) is associated with significant mortality and so far no effective pharmacotherapy is shown to reverse the natural progression. This study aims to investigate whether the transplantation of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) might restore damaged pulmonary function and tissue structure in ALI. By using a sublethal chest impact injury plus endotoxemia model, MSCs were intravenously transplanted into the injured rats 2h after trauma. The blood samples were obtained for determination of blood gas. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was collected for analysis of inflammatory cell count and cytokine (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-10) levels. The left lower lobes of the lungs, nearby the impact zone, were collected for SRY gene analysis and histological examination and scoring. After engraftment of MSCs, the number of inflammatory cells in BALF was decreased. Meanwhile, the secretions of pro-inflammatory TNF-α and IL-6 were alleviated, while the secretion of anti-inflammatory IL-10 was elevated. Engraftment of MSCs improved the pulmonary gas exchanges, alleviated the lung injury, and reduced the rats'' mortality. These results suggested that the MSCs based measures might be a promising strategy in trauma and endotoxemia induced ALI treatment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Blueberry spectral analysis can provide necessary wavelengths, for use in multispectral imaging that could be applied in blueberry yield estimation system. Samples of fruit and leaves were obtained from a commercial blueberry field in Waldo, Florida and an experimental field in Citra, Florida, USA in 2011. Samples were also collected in 2010 in Waldo. Seven representative southern highbush varieties were chosen for the experiment. Spectral reflectance was measured in the 200–2500 nm with an increment of 1 nm. Samples were divided into leaf, mature fruit, near-mature fruit, near-young fruit and young fruit. Normalised indices were used as the candidate variables for classification. Each index was composed of the two wavelengths that had the greatest difference in reflectance between two classes. Classification tree, principal component analysis (PCA) and multinomial logistic regression (MNR) were conducted to develop classification models. An MNR model with six wavelengths (233, 551, 554, 691, 699 and 1373 nm) performed the best for the 2011 dataset, with a prediction accuracy of 100% for leaf and mature fruit, 97.8% for young fruit, 97.9% for near-young fruit and 94.6% for near-mature fruit. Four wavelengths (553, 688, 698 and 1373 nm) were used in the classification models of two years'' data with four classes (mature fruit, intermediate fruit, young fruit and leaf), and accuracies of 100%, 100%, 99%, and 98.5% were obtained for the classification of leaf, mature fruit, intermediate fruit and young fruit, respectively. An easy-to-use and low cost blueberry fruit detector could thus be developed using multispectral imaging. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To achieve environmental sustainability and improve material characteristics, this study examines the performance of self-compacting concrete (SCC) that incorporates different industrial by-products, including fly ash (FA), coal gangue powder (CGP), cement kiln dust (CKD), and recycled concrete powder (RCP). Through an experimental program, the research evaluates the fresh and hardened properties of SCC as well as its microstructural features. Slump flow, T50, and V-funnel tests were utilized to evaluate the fresh characteristics, while the compressive strength was the main emphasis of the hardened property at 7, 14, and 28 days of curing periods. To clarify the internal structure of the material and the pozzolanic processes taking place therein, further microstructural investigations were carried out using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Due to pozzolanic reactions and the densification of the microstructure, the results show that adding these industrial by-products not only makes SCC more workable but also gradually increases its compressive strength. In particular, the study shows that combinations with FA, CKD, and RCP perform better than CGP in terms of flowability and strength development. The results highlight the technical advantages of improving concrete qualities through material innovation, in addition to the possible environmental benefits of recycling waste materials in construction. • The main objective of this study is to find out the filling and passing ability of Fly ash, coal gangue powder, cement kiln dust, and recycled concrete powder. • The primary goal is to examine the differences in FA, CGP, CKD, and RCP's compressive strength at 7, 14, and 28 days of Curing. • This study analyzed microstructural changes using SEM, XRD, and FTIR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: The regulation of neuroendocrine hormones on the innate immune responses in trauma has not been fully understood. Previous studies have shown that the neuroendocrine hormones are important factors in their effects on immune parameters, depending on their concentration and timing instead of the simple suppressive effects. Materials and methods: A total of 144 Sprague–Dawley rats were divided randomly into sham, pulmonary blast injury (BI) and adrenalectomy plus pulmonary BI groups. Bilateral adrenalectomy was performed on rats, which were then subjected to blast injury. Following this, peripheral leucocyte responsiveness to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation, phagocytosis activities of macrophages and bacteria translocation (BT) were examined. Tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels and the expression levels of scavenger receptor (SR) A, CD14, Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 and MD2 were assayed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Results: In adrenalectomised rats after pulmonary BI, the number of peripheral leucocytes was increased and the phagocytosis of peritoneal and splenic macrophages was decreased as compared to the BI group. Simultaneously, the gut-derived BT and TNF-α secretion in lung tissues were elevated, whilst the LPS-stimulated TNF-α synthesis by peripheral leucocyte responsiveness was reduced. Furthermore, the mRNA levels of SR-A, CD14, TLR4 and MD2 in lung tissues of adrenalectomised rats decreased. Adrenalectomised rats showed enhancement of inflammatory responses and severe tissue injuries in trauma. Conclusions: Release of adrenal hormones might enhance, rather than inhibit, the innate immune functions, particularly in the early stages of trauma. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: The regulation of neuroendocrine hormones on the innate immune responses remains controversial. This report investigated the effects of exogenous norepinephrine with respect to macrophage function as well as to elucidate the underlying mechanism. Materials and Methods: The adherence, chemotaxis, phagocytosis, and cytokine production of macrophages were observed in the presence of increasing concentrations of norepinephrine. The expression of macrophage glucose response protein 78 (GRP78), X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1), activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6), and C-EBP homologous protein (CHOP) in macrophages was determined. The lentiviral vector pGCL-GFP-siXBP1 was cloned by inserting the annealed oligonucleotides encoding shRNAs specific for XBP1. Results: Norepinephrine exerted immunostimulatory effects on macrophage at low concentrations, while partial effects were observed at high concentrations. Low-dose norepinephrine induced an endoplasmic reticulum stress response, which was correlated with the immunostimulatory activities of norepinephrine. Levels of mRNA expression of XPB1, but not ATF6 or CHOP, was significantly increased only by low concentrations of norepinephrine. Inhibition of XBP1 expression with siRNA treatment significantly inhibited the immunostimulatory effects of low concentrations of norepinephrine. Conclusions: Our data convincingly indicated that norepinephrine exerted immunostimulatory actions on macrophages at low concentrations, suggesting that the underlying mechanisms are related to endoplasmic reticulum stress via XBP1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent progress in research on Fe3O4nanocrystals has attracted much attention both for investigating fundamental nanomagnetism and their potential applications in nanocatalysis, biosensing, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents and drug delivery. In this feature article, we provide an overview of synthetic strategies and growth mechanisms of various Fe3O4nanostructures, discuss the uniqueness of associated properties, and illustrate their potential applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis is involved in the modulation of the innate immune response. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dynamic relationship between plasma corticosterone and interleukin-6 in the hypothalamus-destroyed rats after blast injury. A total of 105 Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into normal control (normal), sham operated (sham), blast injury plus sham operated (blast injury) and blast injury plus hypothalamus destruction groups. Symmetric electrolytic bilateral destruction of the hypothalamus was performed for the deeply anesthetic rats under sterile conditions. Seven days after the destruction of the hypothalamus, the animals were succumbed to moderate blast injury using a BST-I bioimpact machine. Plasma corticosterone and IL-6 levels were determined by radioimmunoassay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. After blast injury, the corticosterone level in the hypothalamus-destroyed rats was significantly lower than that in the rats without destruction of hypothalamus at 3h (P <0.01) or from 5 to 8h (P <0.05). Reduction of corticosterone may be intrinsically correlated with the severe tissue injury and increased mortality (4/15 vs. 0/15, P <0.05). Circulating IL-6 level was markedly elevated in response to blast injury and hypothalamus destruction further increased IL-6 secretion (P <0.05). We concluded that elevation of pro-inflammatory IL-6 secretion might compensate the impaired HPA axis function after the trauma occurred in the hypothalamus-destroyed rats. These results also suggested that release of hypothalamus hormones is necessary to maintain certain magnitude of innate immunity after trauma. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Background: The regulation of neuroendocrine hormones on the innate immune responses in trauma has not been fully understood. Previous studies have shown that the neuroendocrine hormones are important factors in their effects on immune parameters, depending on their concentration and timing instead of the simple suppressive effects. Materials and methods: A total of 144 Sprague–Dawley rats were divided randomly into sham, pulmonary blast injury (BI) and adrenalectomy plus pulmonary BI groups. Bilateral adrenalectomy was performed on rats, which were then subjected to blast injury. Following this, peripheral leucocyte responsiveness to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation, phagocytosis activities of macrophages and bacteria translocation (BT) were examined. Tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels and the expression levels of scavenger receptor (SR) A, CD14, Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 and MD2 were assayed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Results: In adrenalectomised rats after pulmonary BI, the number of peripheral leucocytes was increased and the phagocytosis of peritoneal and splenic macrophages was decreased as compared to the BI group. Simultaneously, the gut-derived BT and TNF-α secretion in lung tissues were elevated, whilst the LPS-stimulated TNF-α synthesis by peripheral leucocyte responsiveness was reduced. Furthermore, the mRNA levels of SR-A, CD14, TLR4 and MD2 in lung tissues of adrenalectomised rats decreased. Adrenalectomised rats showed enhancement of inflammatory responses and severe tissue injuries in trauma. Conclusions: Release of adrenal hormones might enhance, rather than inhibit, the innate immune functions, particularly in the early stages of trauma. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Background: Well-equipped comprehensive hospitals may provide better emergency and patient services for the recovery of injured patients from the earthquake zone. This study aimed to provide an overview of injuries among the patients admitted to the six teaching hospitals in Chongqing, China, after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Materials and methods: The medical records of 533 earthquake victims who were treated and followed-up by the six hospitals were analysed retrospectively. Patients’ demographic data, diagnosis, microbiological assessment and dispositions were reviewed. Results: Of the 533 patients, 45.0% patients had an Injury Severity Score (ISS) below 8, 41.1% had an ISS between 9 and 14 and 13.9% had an ISS above 15. The patients were classified based on their fracture sites as follows: head and neck (7.9%), face (1.3%), chest (21.4%), abdomen and pelvis (15.2%), limb and pelvis (58.9%) and body surface (38.5%). Of the 533 patients, 41.6% had a single fracture site, 32.1% had two combined fracture sites and 26.3% had more than three combined fracture sites, while 32 (6.0%) patients suffered from amputation, 3.9% suffered from crush syndrome and 52.7% underwent surgical operations at the hospitals. Seventy-nine (14.8%) patients suffered from infections, including 87.3% of pre-hospital infections. The results from bacterial culture and antibiotic susceptibility assays showed that the infectious bacteria mainly involved Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Baumanii, Aerobacter cloacae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, C type chain coccus and Bacillus aerogenes capsulatus. The sensitivity of various bacterial strains to antibiotics did not exhibit obvious changes, except that the previously multi-drug-resistant hospital bacteria were sensitive to antibiotics. Conclusions: For emergency conditions after a catastrophe, comprehensive hospitals must be prepared to meet the massive numbers of severely injured patients. Trauma patients from delayed rescue and admission should be given broad-spectrum antibiotics, such as cephalosporin and macrolide antibiotics. The selection of antibiotics in the combination therapy, as described in this study, may greatly enhance the effectiveness of early specific treatments and prevent severe trauma complications in future natural disasters. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]