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This article aimed to investigate the existence and stability of Besicovitch almost periodic ($ B_{ap} $) positive solutions for a stochastic generalized Mackey-Glass hematopoietic model. To begin with, we used stochastic analysis theory, inequality techniques, and fixed point theorems to prove the existence and uniqueness of $ \mathcal{L}^p $-bounded and $ \mathcal{L}^p $-uniformly continuous positive solutions for the model under consideration. Then, we used definitions to prove that this unique positive solution is also a $ B_{ap} $ solution in finite-dimensional distributions. In addition, we established the global exponential stability of the $ B_{ap} $ positive solution using reduction to absurdity. Finally, we provided a numerical example to verify the effectiveness of our conclusions.

This article considered two generalized Nicholson's blowflies equations with iteration term and time delay, as well as with immigration, and Nicholson's blowflies equation with iteration term and time delay, as well as harvesting term, respectively. Under appropriate conditions, the existence and uniqueness of almost periodic positive solutions for these two equations were established, respectively, by employing Banach's fixed point theorem. These results were brand new.

BackgroundThe incidence of stroke has increased globally, resulting in medical expenditures and social burdens over the past few decades. We aimed to explore the relationship between systemic immune inflammatory index (SII) and stroke using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2005 to 2018.MethodsBased on NHANES data, 902 stroke patients and 27,364 non-stroke patients were included in this study. SII was the independent variable and stroke was the dependent variable. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to explore the association between SII and stroke. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) method was used to test the nonlinear association between SII and stroke.ResultsWeighted logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between SII and stroke (OR: 1.985, 95% CI: 1.245–3.166, p = 0.004). The interaction test showed that the association between SII and stroke was not significant between strata (p > 0.05). A significant positive association between SII and stroke risk (OR >1, p

We adopted a non decomposition method to study the existence and stability of Stepanov almost periodic solutions in the distribution sense of stochastic shunting inhibitory cellular neural networks (SICNNs) with mixed time delays. Due to the lack of linear structure in the set composed of Stepanov almost periodic stochastic processes in the distribution sense. Due to the lack of linear structure in the set composed of distributed Stepanov periodic stochastic processes, it poses difficulties for the existence of Stepanov almost periodic solutions in the distribution sense of SICNNs. To overcome this difficulty, we first proved that the network under consideration has a unique solution in a space composed of $ \mathcal{L}^p $ bounded and $ \mathcal{L}^p $ uniformly continuous stochastic processes. Then, using stochastic analysis, inequality techniques, and the definition of Stepanov almost periodic stochastic processes in the distribution sense, we proved that this solution is also a Stepanov almost periodic solution in the distribution sense. Moreover, the result of the global exponential stability of this almost periodic solution is given. It is worth noting that even if the network under consideration degenerated into a real-valued network, our results are novel. Finally, we provided a numerical example to validate our theoretical findings.

Background Vertebrobasilar artery occlusion (VBAO) is a severe type of stroke. Multiple prediction models for outcome and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) of patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with endovascular treatment have been developed to improve patient management, but few are based on VBAO. This study aimed to provide an overview of published models to predict functional outcome and sICH as well as to validate their ability in patients with acute VBAO treated with endovascular treatment. Methods We performed a systematic search to identify models either developed or validated to predict functional outcomes or sICH after endovascular treatment. Models were externally validated in the Posterior Circulation Ischemic Stroke Registry (PERSIST) study (n = 2422). Outcome measures included the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at 90 days and sICH. Model performance was evaluated with discrimination (c‐statistic) and calibration (slope and intercept). Results A total of 65 models were included in overview. The most frequently used predictors were baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score (n = 57), age (n = 45), and glucose (n = 32). In the external validation cohort, 777 of 2353 patients (33.0%) achieved mRS score 0–2 at 90 days, 1061 of 2353 patients (45.1%) patients achieved mRS score 0–3 at 90 days, and sICH occurred in 170 of 2422 patients (7.0%). Finally, 27 models were included in external validation. For functional outcome models focusing on mRS score 0–2/3–6, discrimination ranged from 0.63 to 0.66 and best calibrated model was SC (Stroke Checkerboard) (intercept, −0.13 [95% CI, −0.27 to 0.01]; slope, 0.92 [95% CI, 0.67–1.17]). For functional outcome models focusing on mRS score 0–3/4–6, discrimination ranged from 0.64 to 0.74 and best calibrated model was modified Houston Intra‐Arterial Therapy 2 (mHIAT2) (intercept, −0.12 [95% CI, −0.31 to 0.07]; slope, 0.85 [95% CI, 0.65–1.04]). For sICH models, discrimination ranged from 0.53 to 0.83 and best calibrated model was Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction score, Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score, and glucose (TAG) (intercept, 0.13 [95% CI, −0.25 to 0.51]; slope, 0.93 [95% CI, 0.63–1.23]). Conclusions The currently published models are inadequate for predicting functional outcomes and sICH in patients with acute VBAO undergoing endovascular treatment and, therefore, there is a need for more effective models specifically developed for VBAO conditions.

Abstract Background Laparoscopic access to liver segment 7 (S7) is difficult for deep surgical situations and bleeding control. Herein, our proposed laparoscopic technique for S7 lesions using a self-designed tube method is introduced. Methods Clinical data of patients who underwent laparoscopic anatomical liver resection of S7 (LALR-S7) with the help of our self-designed tube to improve the exposure of S7 and bleeding control in the Second Affiliated Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University) from April 2019 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed to evaluate feasibility and safety. Results Nineteen patients were retrospectively reviewed. The mean age was 51.3 ± 10.3 years; mean operation time, 194.5 ± 22.7 min; median blood loss, 160.0 ml (150.0–205.0 ml); and median length of hospital stay, 8.0 days (7.0–9.0 days). There was no case conversion to open surgery. Postoperative pathology revealed all cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Free surgical margins were achieved in all patients. No major postoperative complications were observed. Patients with postoperative complications recovered after conservative treatment. During outpatient follow-up examination, no other abnormality was presented. All patients survived without tumor recurrence. Conclusions The preliminary clinical effect of our method was safe, reproducible and effective for LALR-S7. Further research is needed due to some limitations of this study.

This paper focuses on the study of a class of fractional p&q-Laplacian problems with unbalanced growth, which includes vanishing potential and a supercritical growth exponent. By employing the mountain pass theorem alongside the Truncation method, penalization method, and Moser iteration method, the main result establishes the existence of a nontrivial solution under conditions of low perturbations of supercritical nonlinearity. Furthermore, we derive L∞(RN) estimates and the interior Hölder regularity of weak solutions in the context of supercritical growth.

Abstract Hypothermia is a promising neuroprotective treatment. This study aims to explore and optimize the intervention scheme of intra-arterial hypothermia (IAH) in a middle cerebral artery occlusion and reperfusion (MCAO/R) rat model. The MCAO/R model was established with a thread that could be retracted 2 h after occlusion. Cold normal saline was injected into the internal carotid artery (ICA) through a microcatheter in different infusion conditions. Grouping followed an orthogonal design (L9[34]) based on three critical factors closely associated with IAH: perfusate temperature (4, 10, 15 °C), infusion flow rate (1/3, 1/2, 2/3 blood flow rate of ICA), and duration (10, 20, 30 min), resulting in 9 subgroups (H1, H2 to H9). A myriad of indexes were monitored, such as vital signs, blood parameters, changes in local ischemic brain tissue temperature (Tb), ipsilateral jugular venous bulb temperature (Tjvb), and the core temperature of the anus (Tcore). After 24 h and 72 h of cerebral ischemia, cerebral infarction volume, cerebral water content, and neurological function were assessed to explore the optimal IAH conditions. The results revealed that the three critical factors were independent predictors for cerebral infarction volume, cerebral water content, and neurological function. The optimal perfusion conditions were 4 °C, 2/3 RICA (0.50 ml/min) for 20 min, and there was a significant correlation between Tb and Tjvb (R = 0.994, P

In this work, we first propose a concept of Weyl almost anti-periodic functions. Then, we make use of the contraction mapping principle and analysis techniques to research the existence of a unique Weyl almost anti-periodic solution to a neutral functional semilinear abstract differential equation. Finally, we give an example of a neutral functional partial differential equation to show the validity of the obtained results.

Context Chlorogenic acid (CGA) has good antioxidant effects, but its explicit mechanism in cerebral ischaemia-reperfusion injury is still uncertain.Objective We studied the effect of CGA in human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs) under OGD/R damage.Materials and methods HBMECs in 4 groups were treated with oxygen-glucose deprivation/re-oxygenation (OGD/R) (4 + 24 h), normal no CGA treatment and different concentrations (20, 40 or 80 μM) of CGA. Male C57BL/6J mice were classified as sham, middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), and MCAO + CGA (30 mg/kg/day) groups. Mice in the sham group were not subjected to MCAO. Cell viability, apoptosis, angiogenesis and related protein levels were investigated by CCK-8, flow cytometry, TUNEL staining, tube formation and western blot assays. Infarct volume of brain tissues was analyzed by TTC staining.Results CGA curbed apoptosis (from 32.87% to 13.12% in flow cytometry; from 34.46% to 17.8% in TUNEL assay) but accelerated cell angiogenesis of HBMECs with OGD/R treatment. Moreover, CGA augmented activation of the PI3K-Akt signalling (p-PI3K/PI3K level, from 0.39 to 0.49; p-Akt/Akt level, from 0.52 to 0.81), and the effect of CGA on apoptosis and angiogenesis was abolished by an inhibitor of PI3K-Akt signalling. Furthermore, CGA attenuated infarct (from 41.26% to 22.21%) and apoptosis and promoted angiogenesis and activation of the PI3K/Akt signalling in MCAO-induced mice.Conclusions CGA effectively repressed apoptosis and promoted angiogenesis in OGD/R-treated HBMECs and MCAO-treated mice by modulating PI3K-Akt signalling. Our research provides a theoretical basis for the use of CGA in the treatment of ischaemic stroke.

Dieting is a basic treatment for lowering hyperuricemia. Here, we aimed to determine the optimal amount of dietary food that lowers serum uric acid (SUA) without modifying the dietary ingredients in rats. Increased SUA was found in food-deprived 45-day-old uricase-deficient rats (Kunming-DY rats), and the optimal amount of dietary food (75% dietary intake) to lower SUA was established by controlling the amount of food given daily from 25% to 100% for 2 weeks. In addition to lowering SUA by approximately 22.5 ± 20.5%, the optimal amount of dietary food given for 2 weeks inhibited urine uric acid excretion, lowered the uric acid content in multiple organs, improved renal function, lowered serum triglyceride, alleviated organ injuries (e.g., liver, kidney and intestinal tract) at the histological level, and down-regulated the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome (KEGG) pathway of the cell cycle (ko04110). Taken together, these results demonstrate that 75% dietary food effectively lowers the SUA level without modifying dietary ingredients and alleviates the injuries resulting from uricase deficiency or hyperuricemia, the mechanism of which is associated with the down-regulation of the cell cycle pathway.

Abstract Polysorbate 80 for injection (TW80) is a common excipient used for injection whose macromolecular impurities, including those that cause anaphylactoid reactions, are frequently ignored. The main aim of this study was to prove that the macromolecular impurities in the excipient are an important cause of anaphylactoid reactions. Component A (containing macromolecules > 100 kDa), Component B (containing macromolecules from 10 to 100 kDa), and Component C (containing substances 10kD. The original TW80 and Components A and B caused strong anaphylactoid reactions in both guinea pigs and rabbits by intravenous administration. Moreover, the original TW80 and Components A and B even caused strong passive cutaneous anaphylactoid (PCA) reactions and pulmonary capillary permeability. The PCA reaction and increased permeability were partly prevented by cromolyn sodium. Additionally, the original TW80 and Components A and B caused vasodilation and severe hemolysis in vitro. The anaphylactoid reactions were associated with histamine release but not with mast cell degranulation. Nevertheless, Component C almost caused no anaphylactoid reactions or hemolysis and was weaker in the few reactions that ocurred. Taken together, these results suggest that macromolecular substances are one of the main risk factors responsible for anaphylactoid reactions and hemolysis caused by TW80.

This article uses EB furnace to prepare TA10 alloy ingots with higher purity. Studying their hot deformation behavior and microstructure evolution can provide theoretical support for practical processes.The hot deformation behavior of TA10 alloy smelted via an electron beam furnace has been studied using thermal deformation experiments, the experiments were conducted from 800 °C to 1,050 °C, from 0.01 s ^−1 to 1 s ^−1 and a reduction to 60%. According to Arrhenius and Zener-Hollomon models, the constitutive equation can be constructed. TEM and EBSD aimed at exploring the microstructures and microstructural evolution, respectively. When deformed at the temperatures below the phase transition point, grain boundaries converted to large-angle gradually. The textural strength reduced when the strain rate increased. Besides, the recrystallization rate was relatively small, mainly dynamic recovery, and there was a tendency to turn into dynamic recrystallization. At the temperature higher than the phase transition point, the textural strength increased, the recrystallization rate was small, and the dynamic recovery was partially enhanced.

In this paper, we are concerned with a class of Clifford-valued fuzzy cellular neural networks with time-varying delays. Based on the Banach fixed point theorem and inequality technique, we obtain the existence and uniqueness of Besicovitch-like almost periodic solutions and global exponential stability of the fuzzy cellular neural network under consideration. Finally, we give a numerical example to illustrate the effectiveness of our results. Even when the systems we consider degenerate to quaternion-valued, complex-valued and real-valued ones, our results in this paper are completely new.

In present paper, several conditions ensuring existence of three distinct solutions of a system of over-determined Fredholm fractional integro-differential equations on time scales are derived. Variational methods are utilized in the proofs.

We consider the existence and stability of Weyl almost periodic solutions for a class of quaternion-valued shunting inhibitory cellular neural networks with time-varying delays. In order to overcome the incompleteness of the space composed of Weyl almost periodic functions, we first obtain the existence of a bounded continuous solution of the system under consideration by using the fixed point theorem, and then prove that the bounded solution is Weyl almost periodic by using a variant of Gronwall inequality. Then we study the global exponential stability of the Weyl almost periodic solution by using the inequality technique. Even when the system we consider degenerates into a real-valued one, our results are new. A numerical example is given to illustrate the feasibility of our results.

In this paper, we consider a class of Clifford-valued stochastic high-order Hopfield neural networks with time-varying delays whose coefficients are Clifford numbers except the time delays. Based on the Banach fixed point theorem and inequality techniques, we obtain the existence and global exponential stability of almost periodic solutions in distribution of this class of neural networks. Even if the considered neural networks degenerate into real-valued, complex-valued and quaternion-valued ones, our results are new. Finally, we use a numerical example and its computer simulation to illustrate the validity and feasibility of our theoretical results.

In order to explore the mechanism of the influence of Sn contents on the relevant properties of Cu–Sn alloys, the structure, elasticity, electronic, and thermal properties of Cu–Sn alloys doped with different proportions of Sn (3.125 at%, 6.25 at%, and 9.375 at%) were established using the first-principles calculation based on density functional theory. Firstly, their lattice constants and Sn concentration comply with Vegard’s Law. From the mixing enthalpy, it can be seen that Sn atoms can be firmly dissolved in the Cu matrix, and the structure is most stable when the Sn content is 3.125 at%. In addition, the introduction of mismatch strain characterized their solid solution strengthening effect. The elastic and electronic properties showed that when the Sn content is 6.25 at%, the Cu–Sn alloy has the best plasticity and the highest elastic anisotropy; when the Sn content is 3.125 at%, the Cu–Sn alloy is the most stable and has stronger bulk and shear modulus, which was mainly due to a stronger Cu-Cu covalent bond. Finally, the Debye temperature, thermal conductivity, and melting point were calculated. It is estimated that the thermal conductivity of Cu–Sn alloy is relatively good when the Sn content is low.

Abstract In this paper, we introduce a new structure of the generalized multi-point thermostat control model motivated by its standard model. By presenting integral solution of this boundary problem, the existence property along with the uniqueness property are investigated by means of a special version of contractions named μ-φ-contractions and the Banach contraction principle. Then, on the given nonlinear generalized BVP of thermostat, the Bernstein polynomials are introduced and numerical solutions obtained by them are presented. At the end, three different structures of nonlinear thermostat models are designed and the results are examined.

This present work aims to understand the strengthening mechanism of TiB2p reinforced rheological forming of Al matrix composites. The mechanism of in-situ TiB2p on microstructure evolution and mechanical properties strengthening of semi-solid Al–20Si (wt%) alloy was studied. The experiments show that the primary Si phase, α-Al phase, and eutectic Si are refined by in-situ TiB2p combined semi-solid forming. The primary Si phase is distributed uniformly in the matrix and the morphology of eutectic Si phase changed from needle-like to short rod-like. In addition, the Si/TiB2p interface is clear and well-bonded but no orientation relationship existed. On the contrary, the TiB2 are tightly bound to the α-Al and exist good lattice matching coherence in (01-1-1)TiB2p//(200)α-Al. The tensile strength and elongation are an increase from 110 MPa to 2.3% to 215.7 MPa and 4.2% with the content of in-situ TiB2p from 0 to 6%, respectively, own to dislocation strengthening, fine grain strengthening, and second phase grain strengthening induced by TiB2p. The fracture form from cleavage fracture to cleavage-ductile mixed-mode fracture due to the incorporation of TiB2p inhibits the crack propagation.

ABSTRACT: Pigeon paramyxovirus type 1 (PPMV-1), a variant of Newcastle disease virus (NDV), causes severe Newcastle disease (ND) in pigeons. However, there is no PPMV-1 vaccine available worldwide. In this study, a strain of PPMV-1 was isolated from outbreaks in a vaccinated racing pigeon (Columbia livia) loft in China, namely, PPMV-1/pigeon/Gansu/China/02/2020 (GS02). Experimental infection with GS02 showed mortality rates of 100% and 87.50% in 4- and 12-week-old pigeons, respectively, suggesting that GS02 is virulent and more sensitive to young pigeons. The whole genome of GS02 determined the fusion (F) protein possessing virulence cleavage site 112RRQKRF117. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that GS02 was a subgenotype VI.2.1.1.2.2 (VIk) of Class II NDV and more closely related to the JS/06/20/Pi (MW271791) strain, but it was far from the genetic distance from the commercial vaccine chicken-origin La Sota strain. Using inactivated GS02 as a vaccine candidate and inactivated vaccine La Sota to immunize the pigeons, both of them provided complete protection against GS02 challenge. The GS02 vaccine candidate induced higher antibody titers than the La Sota vaccine, and cross-reactivity testing showed antigenically slight differences between GS02 and La Sota. These results indicated that the GS02 candidate could be a potential pigeon-derived vaccine for the prevention and control of PPMV-1 in pigeons.

This paper deals with a class of quaternion-valued high-order Hopfield neural networks with time-varying delays and leakage delays on time scales. Based on the Banach fixed point theorem and the theory of calculus on time scales, some sufficient conditions are obtained for the existence and global exponential stability of pseudo almost periodic solutions for the considered networks. The results of this paper are completely new. Finally, an example is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the obtained results.

Abstract Collagen-type I alpha 1 chain (COL1A1) and COL1A2 are abnormally expressed in intracranial aneurysm (IA), but their mechanism of action remains unclear. This study was performed to investigate the mechanism of COL1A1 and COL1A2 affecting the occurrence and rupture of IA. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to measure the expression of hsa-miR-513b-5p, COL1A1, COL1A2, TNF-α, IL-6, MMP2, MMP3, MMP9 and TIMP4 in patients with ruptured IA (RA) (n = 100), patients with un-ruptured IA (UA) (n = 100), and controls (n = 100). Then, human vascular smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) were cultured, and dual luciferase reporter assay was performed to analyse the targeting relationship between miR-513b-5p and COL1A1 or COL1A2. The effects of the miR-513b-5p mimic and inhibitor on the proliferation, apoptosis, and death of HASMC and the RIP1-RIP3-MLKL and matrix metalloproteinase pathways were also explored. The effect of silencing and over-expression of COL1A1 and COL1A2 on the role of miR-513b-5p were also evaluated. Finally, the effects of TNF-α on miR-513b-5p targeting COL1A1 and COL1A2 were tested. Compared with those in the control group, the serum mRNA levels of miR-513b-5p, IL-6 and TIMP4 were significantly decreased in the RA and UA groups, but COL1A1, COL1A2, TNF-α, IL-1β, MMP2, MMP3 and MMP9 were significantly increased (p

In this paper, the microstructures, mechanical properties, and corrosion behavior of xTiB2/Al–9Si–3Cu-0.8Zn composites after T6 heat treatment were invested in detail through the combination of different technologies, including optical microscopy (OM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), tensile testing, corrosion testing, etc. The research results showed that the average size of the α-Al grains gradually decreased with the increase of TiB2 particles (TiB2p) content. In addition, there was a semi-coherent relationship between TiB2p and the α-Al matrix, and the nanoscale precipitates were identified as θ and θʹ phases by virtue of their crystal orientation relationship. Tensile testing results revealed that an increase in TiB2 content caused the elastic modulus, yield strength and tensile strength of the composites to increase and then decrease. And with a TiB2p content of 4 wt%, they reached 85.7 GPa, 360 MPa and 398 MPa, reflecting increases of 26.2%, 60.0%, and 30.9%, respectively. The contributions of thermal mismatch, grain boundary and Orowan strengthening mechanisms to the overall yield strength of the 4%TiB2/Al–9Si–3Cu–0.8Zn composite were 72.1, 3.8, and 35.6 MPa, respectively. Unfortunately, the corrosion resistance of xTiB2/Al–9Si–3Cu–0.8Zn composites gradually decreased with increasing TiB2p content. The corrosion morphology analysis indicated that the agglomeration of TiB2p and Si weakened the protection afforded by the oxide film, evolving into a point of nucleation for the subsequent corrosion reaction. Moreover, point–pair correlation was observed between the TiB2p and Al matrix, exacerbating the corrosion. The results implied that extra factors be considered in industrial application of TiB2 ceramic particles in a metallic system.

In this study, an enclosed cooling slope channel (ECSC) was used to produce a semi-solid slurry of the 7075 aluminum alloy. The effects of the pouring temperature and the rate of cooling water on the microstructure of the semi-solid slurry were studied. The microstructure, solidification behavior, mechanical properties, and fracture mechanism of rheological squeeze casting (Rheo-SC) and liquid squeeze casting (LSC) samples were compared. The results indicate that lowering the pouring temperature and increasing the rate of cooling water can refine the crystals of the semi-solid slurry. The best process is a pouring temperature of 670 °C and a rate of cooling water of 200 L/h. The microstructure of the LSC samples was made up of coarse dendritic crystals, but the microstructure of the Rheo-SC samples was made up of almost spherical primary α1-Al and refined secondary α2-Al under this method. The ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, and elongation of the Rheo-SC samples were 238 MPa, 151 MPa, and 5.2%, respectively, which were 10%, 10.5%, and 44.4% higher than those of the LSC sample. The key factor contributing to the increased performance of the Rheo-SC samples is the combination of decreased casting flaws, strengthened grain refinement, and improved segregation.

Volcanic lava cave habitats are extreme environments. We carried out field investigations for five years and reported the results of bryophyte diversity in eight volcanic lava caves of Jingpo Lake World Geopark, where the largest underground lava caves in China are preserved. The results are as follows: (1) A total of 230 quadrats were set up, and 2041 bryophyte specimens were collected. The specimens belong to 272 species of 107 genera in 47 families, including 26 liverworts (13 genera, 11 families) and 246 mosses (94 genera, 36 families). (2) The α diversity of bryophytes in Underground Lava Fall Cave was the highest, while that in Foggy Cave was the lowest. (3) The dominant families included Mniaceae, etc, accounting for 55.9% of the total species. The dominant genera included Plagiomnium, etc, accounting for 24.3% of the total species. The dominant species included Sanionia uncinata (Hedw.) Loeske etc. (4) There are no shared species among all eight lava caves, and each cave has a unique species composition. (5) Compared with that in other habitats in our previous studies, the similarity of bryophyte species between lava caves and underground forests of craters was high (113 species, 40.07%), while it was low between lava caves and lava platforms (9 species, 4.65%). Our study revealed that the lava caves have a high potential for bryophyte diversity, and such ancient ecological disaster sites are now rare refuges for bryophytes. Mosses are more adapted to cave habitats than liverworts. Bryophytes in this special eco-environment need to be considered and protected in order to preserve high-quality gene resources for humans, which is of great significance for the maintenance and development of biodiversity.

Entodon challengeri (Paris) Cardot has important environmental monitoring and medical value. It is critical we inspect the influence of climate warming on its spatiotemporal distribution pattern. Based on actual geographical distribution records and environmental datasets, a MaxEnt model coupled with ArcGIS was executed to display the potential suitable habitats of E. challengeri in China under future climate warming scenarios. We showed the following. (i) The simulation accuracy of the MaxEnt model was excellent, with an AUC value of 0.918. (ii) Annual precipitation and precipitation during the wettest month were the critical factors that restricted the distribution range of E. challengeri. (iii) Current suitable habitats were concentrated in the northern temperate zone in eastern China. (iv) Under climate warming scenarios, on the spatial scale, the distributional pattern presented a shrinkage in the south and expansion in the north, which was more obvious in the RCP8.5 than in the RCP2.6 scenario. On the time scale, shrinkage of the potential distributional range was greater in the 2070s than in the 2050s. (v) The distributional centroids shifted to the northeast. In general, future climate warming will have a great negative effect on the suitability of habitats of E. challengeri.

ObjectivesAn active control T-foil can effectively improve the longitudinal anti-rolling motion of the ship, but there is still no conclusion on what control strategy has the best anti-rolling effect. So the paper has studied and analyzed the active control strategies of the T-foil.Methods The paper uses the slender body theory to calculate the longitudinal motion of Wigley III in regular waves of different wavelengths. Then, the damping effect of the ship with the passive and active T-foil is calculated and analyzed under the same speed and wave conditions. Results The results show that the passive control T-foil has a good anti-rolling effect in the resonance region, however, the anti-rolling effect in the long and short wave region is relatively limited. The control with a pitch velocity signal is very effective in reducing the pitch motion and the acceleration of bow motion, but it increases the heave motion in the longwave area. The anti-rolling effect of bow motion velocity signal on-pitch motion and acceleration of bow motion is 10%-20% higher than that of a pitch velocity signal, and there is no reduction effect on heave motion.Conclusions For the active control strategies of T-foil, the bow motion velocity signal can achieve a better anti-rolling effect by comprehensively considering both pitch and heave motions.

Exponential Euler differences have got rapid development recently for integer-order differential equations. But there are few papers focusing on this difference to fractional differential equations. This paper establishes the basic structure of Mittag-Leffler implicit Euler scheme for fractional differential equations by using the constant variation methods in fractional calculus. More critically, since the acquired difference forms belong to the scope of implicit Euler differences and then the fractional PECE algorithms are proposed to solve these implicit differences in numerical calculations effectively. Besides, a novel nonlocal difference operator is proposed and some relative properties are presented. In the end, the existence and boundedness of a unique globally exponentially stable solution of some nonlocal difference system with short-term memory are investigated. Some calculative examples and numerical simulations are given to illustrate the primary research findings.

Abstract At present, the research on discrete-time Clifford-valued neural networks is rarely reported. However, the discrete-time neural networks are an important part of the neural network theory. Because the time scale theory can unify the study of discrete- and continuous-time problems, it is not necessary to separately study continuous- and discrete-time systems. Therefore, to simultaneously study the pseudo almost periodic oscillation and synchronization of continuous- and discrete-time Clifford-valued neural networks, in this paper, we consider a class of Clifford-valued fuzzy cellular neural networks on time scales. Based on the theory of calculus on time scales and the contraction fixed point theorem, we first establish the existence of pseudo almost periodic solutions of neural networks. Then, under the condition that the considered network has pseudo almost periodic solutions, by designing a novel state-feedback controller and using reduction to absurdity, we obtain that the drive-response structure of Clifford-valued fuzzy cellular neural networks on time scales with pseudo almost periodic coefficients can realize the global exponential synchronization. Finally, we give a numerical example to illustrate the feasibility of our results.

Abstract Background The effect and safety of preoperative biliary drainage (PBD) in patients with perihilar cholangiocarcinoma are still controversial; the aim of our study is to evaluate all aspects of PBD. Methods All included studies featured PBD versus non-PBD (NPBD) groups were from 1996 to 2019 and were extracted from Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, and Science Citation Index Expanded. Results Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this analysis. PBD may lead to a significantly higher incidence of overall morbidities (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.53, 0.85; P = 0.0009) and intraoperative transfusions (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.55, 0.94; P = 0.02); moreover, bile leakage (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.24, 1.41; P = 0.04), infection (OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.20, 0.47; P < 0.00001), and cholangitis (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.007, 0.48; P = 0.0007) are also related to PBD. However, NPBD was associated with more frequent hepatic insufficiency (OR 3.09, 95% CI 1.15, 8.31; P = 0.03). In the subgroup meta-analysis, the differences in the outcomes of bile leakage and overall morbidity lost significance between the PBD and NPBD groups when the mean total serum bilirubin (TSB) concentration was above 15 mg/dl. Conclusion Meta-analysis demonstrated that compared to NPBD, PBD is associated with a greater risk of several kinds of infection and morbidities, but its ability to reduce postoperative hepatic insufficiency cannot be ignored. In patients with a high TSB concentration, PBD tends to be a better choice. However, these results need to be confirmed in a future prospective randomized trial with large samples to clarify the effects and find a specific TSB concentration for PBD.

Abstract In this paper, we consider a class of Clifford-valued neutral-type neural networks with leakage delays on time scales. We do not decompose the networks under consideration into real-valued systems, but we directly study the Clifford-valued networks. We first establish the existence of weighted pseudo almost periodic solutions of this class of neural networks by the theory of calculus on time scales and the Banach fixed point theorem. Then, we study the global exponential stability of weighted pseudo almost periodic solutions of this class of neural networks by using inequality techniques and the proof by contradiction. Finally, we give an example to illustrate the feasibility of the obtained results.

Abstract In this paper, we are concerned with the existence and global exponential stability of pseudo-almost-periodic solutions for quaternion-valued recurrent neural networks (RNNs) with time-varying delays. By using the Banach fixed point theorem and proof by contradiction, we directly study the existence and exponential stability of pseudo-almost-periodic solutions of the quaternion-valued systems under consideration without decomposing them into into real- or complex-valued systems. Our results obtained in this paper are new. Finally, we give a numerical example and computer simulation to illustrate the feasibility of our results.

Abstract In this paper, we study the following planar Schrödinger–Newton system: { − Δ u + V ( x ) u + λ ϕ u = f ( x , u ) in R 2 , Δ ϕ = u 2 in R 2 , $$ \left \{ \textstyle\begin{array}{l} -\Delta u+ V(x)u+\lambda\phi u= f(x,u)\quad \textrm{in } \mathbb{R}^{2},\\ \Delta\phi=u^{2}\quad\textrm{in } \mathbb{R}^{2}, \end{array}\displaystyle \right . $$ where V, f are axially symmetric about x, V is positive, and f is super-linear at zero and exponential critical at infinity. Using a weaker condition [ f ( x , u ) u 3 − f ( x , t u ) ( t u ) 3 ] sign ( 1 − t ) + θ V ( x ) | 1 − t 2 | ( t u ) 2 ≥ 0 , ∀ x ∈ R 2 , t > 0 , u ≠ 0 $$ \biggl[\frac{f(x,u)}{u^{3}}-\frac{f(x,tu)}{(tu)^{3}} \biggr]\operatorname {sign}(1-t)+ \theta V(x)\frac{ \vert 1-t^{2} \vert }{(tu)^{2}}\geq0,\quad \forall x\in \mathbb{R}^{2}, t>0, u\neq0 $$ with θ ∈ [ 0 , 1 ) $\theta\in[0,1)$ instead of the Nehari type monotonic condition on f ( x , u ) | u | 3 $\frac{f(x,u)}{|u|^{3}}$ , we obtain a ground state solution of the above problem via variational methods.

By the concept of fractional derivative of Riemann-Liouville on time scales, we first introduce fractional Sobolev spaces, characterize them, define weak fractional derivatives, and show that they coincide with the Riemann-Liouville ones on time scales. Then, we prove equivalence of some norms in the introduced spaces and derive their completeness, reflexivity, separability, and some imbeddings. Finally, as an application, by constructing an appropriate variational setting, using fibering mapping and Nehari manifolds, the existence of weak solutions for a class of fractional boundary value problems on time scales is studied, and a result of the existence of weak solutions for this problem is obtained.

This paper gives some results on almost automorphic strong solutions to time-fractional partial differential equations by employing a mix o thef Galerkin method, Fourier series, and Picard iteration. As an application, the existence, uniqueness, and global Mittag–Leffler convergence of almost automorphic strong solution are discussed to a concrete time-fractional parabolic equations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on almost automorphic strong solutions on this subject.

Objective: This work explores collateral circulation metrics, such as the anterior borderzone angle grading (ABZA-grading), as a predictor of the prognosis in patients with acute middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) following endovascular treatment (EVT).Methods: Clinical data from 108 patients with acute MCAO, treated by EVT, were retrospectively analyzed. In patients with MCAO, ABZA is the angle between the median line of the sagittal sinus and the borderzone of the pial arterioles of ACA and MCA, and the ABZA/23.0° was rounded to obtain the corresponding collateral circulation score (ABZA-grading). In parallel, the primary outcome was defined as the 90-day clinical outcome by modified ranking scale score (mRS). Univariate analysis and logistic regression were used to analyze the independent predictors of the 90-day clinical outcome (mRS). Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was used to judge the predictive value of ABZA.Results: Univariate analysis and logistic regression analysis showed that ABZA-grading > 2 and age were independent predictors of the 90-day clinical outcome after EVT in patients with acute MCAO. The ROC analysis showed that ABZA alone could predict a favorable 90-day clinical outcome with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.868. Using an ABZA of >57.8° (the corresponding ABZA-grading of >2) as the cut-off value, the predictive sensitivity and specificity were 75.7 and 88.7%, respectively. Contingency table analysis showed a statistical difference in mRS score between ABZA-grading subgroups, and ABZA-grading between stroke caused by large artery atherosclerosis (LAA) and cardiogenic embolism (CE).Conclusion: The ABZA-grading is an easy and objective assessment of collateral circulation that is independently associated with short-time clinical outcome after EVT in patients with acute MCAO. Therefore, it may guide selection of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) suitable for EVT. The ABZA-grading of collateral circulation can be a supplemental metric to help differentiate stroke by LAA and CE.

Abstract In this paper, we are concerned with a class of quaternion-valued cellular neural networks with time-varying transmission delays and leakage delays. By applying a continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory and the Wirtinger inequality as well as constructing a suitable Lyapunov functional, sufficient conditions are derived to ensure the existence and global exponential stability of anti-periodic solutions via direct approaches. Our results are completely new. Finally, numerical examples are also provided to show the effectiveness of our results.

In this paper, we consider quaternion-valued stochastic delayed neural networks. We first obtain the existence of almost periodic solutions in distribution sense by employing the contraction mapping principle. Then by using stochastic analysis and inequality techniques, we obtain the mean square global exponential stability of the almost periodic solutions of the considered neural networks. Finally, we present a numerical example to illustrate the feasibility of our results.

Abstract In this paper, we study the existence of weighted pseudo-almost periodic solutions and the global exponential synchronization of delayed quaternion-valued cellular neural networks (QVCNNs). Firstly, we use the Banach fixed point theorem to establish the existence of weighted pseudo-almost periodic solutions for this class of QVCNNs. Then, under the condition that the drive system has a unique weighted pseudo-almost periodic solution, by designing a state-feedback controller and constructing suitable Lyapunov functions, we see that the drive–response structure of delayed QVCNNs with weighted pseudo-almost periodic coefficients achieve global exponential synchronization. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the feasibility of our results.

Abstract In this paper, we consider the existence and global exponential stability of pseudo almost automorphic solutions to quaternion-valued cellular neural networks with infinitely distributed delays. Unlike most previous studies of quaternion-valued cellular neural networks, we do not decompose the systems under consideration into real-valued or complex-valued systems, but rather directly study quaternion-valued systems. Our method and the results of this paper are new. An example is given to show the feasibility of our main results.

Abstract In this paper, quaternion-valued fuzzy cellular neural networks (QVFCNNs) with time-varying delays are considered. First, we decompose QVFCNNs into their equivalent real-valued systems according to Hamilton’s multiplication rules. Then, we establish the existence and global exponential stability of periodic solutions of QVFCNNs by using the Schauder fixed point theorem and by constructing an appropriate Lyapunov function. Our results are completely new and supplementary to the known results. Finally, we give a numerical example to illustrate the effectiveness of our results.

The main purpose of this paper was to study the almost anti-periodic oscillation caused by external inputs and the global exponential synchronization of Clifford-valued recurrent neural networks with mixed delays. Since the space consists of almost anti-periodic functions has no vector space structure, firstly, we prove that the network under consideration possesses a unique bounded continuous solution by using the contraction fixed point theorem. Then, by using the inequality technique, it was proved that the unique bounded continuous solution is also an almost anti-periodic solution. Secondly, taking the neural network that was considered as the driving system, introducing the corresponding response system and designing the appropriate controller, some sufficient conditions for the global exponential synchronization of the driving-response system were obtained by employing the inequality technique. When the system we consider degenerated into a real-valued system, our results were considered new. Finally, the validity of the results was verified using a numerical example.

The application of semi-solid metal forming technology to the production of high-quality copper alloy parts has attracted more and more attention. Accordingly, as the key and foundation of semi-solid metal forming technology, it is particularly important to stably and efficiently prepare copper alloy semi-solid slurry with high quality. The purpose of this study was to innovatively optimize the process parameters by combining multiple optimization algorithms to stabilize the preparation of high-quality CuSn10P1 semi-solid slurry. And the self-developed Fully Enclosed Melt-Constrained Cooling Inclined Plate (FEMCIP) device was taken as the experimental equipment. Based on the optimization method of neural network genetic algorithm, the parameters of the preparation process of CuSn10P1 semi-solid slurry were optimized by combining orthogonal experimental design, grey correlation analysis method and Latin hypercube sampling, and using the finite element analysis software ProCAST and data analysis software MATLAB with the average shape factor as the evaluation index. By comparing with the slurry before optimization, numerical simulation results and experimental verification results, it was found that the semisolid slurry prepared by the crucible with preheating temperature of 990°C, cooling water flow rate of 680.517 L/h, cooling channel angle of 45°, inclined plate length of 300 mm and quasi-isothermal time of 42.715 s had the best quality. In this research, the semi-solid slurry of CuSn10P1 alloy with uniform microstructure and high roundness of solid particles was prepared by using this optimization method, which provided a new optimization strategy for the preparation of semi-solid metal slurry by using inclined plate type equipment.

First, we show the equivalence of two definitions of the left Riemann–Liouville fractional integral on time scales. Then, we establish and characterize fractional Sobolev space with the help of the notion of left Riemann–Liouville fractional derivative on time scales. At the same time, we define weak left fractional derivatives and demonstrate that they coincide with the left Riemann–Liouville ones on time scales. Next, we prove the equivalence of two kinds of norms in the introduced space and derive its completeness, reflexivity, separability, and some embedding. Finally, as an application, by constructing an appropriate variational setting, using the mountain pass theorem and the genus properties, the existence of weak solutions for a class of Kirchhoff-type fractional p-Laplacian systems on time scales with boundary conditions is studied, and three results of the existence of weak solutions for this problem is obtained.

Uricase-deficient rats could be one of the optimal model animals to study hyperuricemia. The present study aimed to find the biological differences between uricase-deficient (Kunming-DY rats) and wild-type male rats. Uricase-deficient rats and wild-type rats were commonly bred. Their body weight, water and food consumption, 24-h urine and feces, uric acid in serum and organs, and serum indexes were recorded or assayed. Organs, including the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, thymus, stomach, duodenum, and ileum, were examined using a routine hematoxylin-eosin staining assay. We found that the growth of male uricase-deficient rats was retarded. These rats excreted more urine than the wild-type rats. Their organ indexes (organ weight body weight ratio), of the heart, liver, kidney, and thymus significantly increased, while those of the stomach and small intestine significantly decreased. The uricase-deficient rats had a significantly higher level of serum uric acid and excreted more uric acid via urine at a higher concentration. Except for the liver, uric acid increased in organs and intestinal juice of uricase-deficient rats. Histological examination of the uricase-deficient rats showed mild injuries to the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, thymus, stomach, duodenum, and ileum. Our results suggest that uricase-deficient rats have a different biological pattern from the wild-type rats. Uricase deficiency causes growth retardation of young male rats and the subsequent increase in serum uric acid results in mild organs injuries, especially in the kidney and liver.

This paper deals with a class of inertial quaternion-valued high-order Hopfield neural networks with state-dependent delays. Without decomposing the considered neural networks into real-valued systems, based on a continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory and the Wirtinger inequality, the existence of anti-periodic solutions of the networks is established. By constructing a suitable Lyapunov function, the global exponential stability of anti-periodic solutions of the networks is obtained. Finally, a numerical example is given to show the feasibility of our results.

Parity declustering is widely deployed in erasure-coded storage systems so as to provide fast recovery and high data availability. However, to perform scaling on such redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAIDs), it is necessary to preserve parity declustered data layout so as to preserve the properties after scaling. Unfortunately, existing scaling algorithms fail to achieve this goal so they cannot be applied for scaling RAIDs with parity declustering. To address this challenge, we develop an efficient online scaling scheme called parity declustering scaling (PDS), which employs an auxiliary balanced incomplete block design to define the data migration so as to preserve parity declustered data layout. Furthermore, PDS can also be applied to scale RAIDs for improving reliability and/or storage efficiency as options by allocating more parity blocks and/or data blocks in stripes. We provide theoretical proofs to formally show that PDS preserves parity declustered data layout, and achieves uniform distributions of data and parity blocks after scaling while requiring only the minimal data migration. We implement PDS in Linux kernel 3.14.72 and evaluate its performance with real-world traces. The results show that PDS can reduce 82.37 percent of scaling time and 18.25 percent of user response time during scaling on average, compared with “moving-everything” round-robin approach adapted to achieve parity declustered data layout after scaling.

In this paper, we consider a class of Clifford-valued recurrent neural networks (RNNs) with discrete and infinitely distributed delays. In order to overcome the non-commutativity of the multiplication of Clifford numbers, we first transform the Clifford-valued RNNs with discrete and infinitely distributed delays into real-valued systems based on the multiplication rule and properties of Clifford numbers. Then, we establish the existence and uniqueness of almost automorphic solutions for the neural networks under consideration by applying the contraction mapping principle, and we obtain the globally asymptotic almost automorphic synchronization of the neural networks under consideration by designing a novel state feedback controller and constructing an appropriate Lyapunov function. Finally, we present a numerical example to illustrate the feasibility of the results of this paper.

In this paper, we are concerned with a class of Clifford-valued neutral high-order Hopfield neural networks with leakage delays. Although the multiplication of Clifford numbers does not satisfy the commutativity, which brings great difficulties to the study of Clifford-valued systems, we have found a method that does not decompose Clifford-valued systems into real-valued systems to study the existence and global exponential stability of pseudo-almost periodic solutions of this class of neural networks. Our results are completely new. Finally, two examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness and feasibility of our main results.