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Zi Han Zhai,1,2 Jun Hao Ning,1,2 Linda Dong-Ling Wang1,3 1Institute of Translational Medicine, Medical College, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225001, People’s Republic of China; 2Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Experimental & Translational Non-Coding RNA Research, Yangzhou, 225001, People’s Republic of China; 3Centre for Psycho-Oncology Research & Training, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Linda Dong-Ling Wang, Institute of Translational Medicine, Medical College, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225001, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-051487978925, Email lindawdl@yzu.edu.cnPurpose: The Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS) is a well-known scale for measuring personal decisional conflict, particularly when a person feels uninformed about the risks/benefits of choices, is unclear about personal values, and feels unsupported in making a choice. Higher scores of DCS indicate higher decisional conflict. In the present study, we aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the DCS among Chinese young women making HPV vaccination decisions.Methods: A total of 107 HPV-unvaccinated Chinese women aged 18– 26 completed the survey assessing decisional conflict, knowledge and decision of HPV vaccination. Factorial validity, construct validity, and reliability of the DCS were examined.Results: The mean score of the DCS-16 was 41.5 (SD=20.0). Principal component analysis extracted a 3-factor model of DCS containing 13 items (DCS-13), but both the original DCS-16 and extracted DCS-13 showed poor factorial validity. An alternative DCS-10 revealed a good fit to the data with Cronbach’s alpha 0.86. Some subscales of the three versions of DCS showed inconsistent correlation.Conclusion: The DCS-10 demonstrated good model fit to the data. By using the DCS-10 total score rather than sub-scores to measure Chinese young women’s HPV vaccination decisional conflict a more valid assessment can be obtained.Keywords: decisional conflict, validation, HPV vaccination, decision making

Deep source rocks undergo high degrees of evolution， leading to a significant decrease in biomarker content in crude oil as maturity increases. The decrease affects the reliability of the oil source correlation with conventional biomarker parameters. To better use the δ13CPDB value for identifying deep crude oil sources， authors analyzed the δ13CPDB values of four group components in the soluble organic matter from naturally evolved source rock profiles in Dongying Sag， Jiyang Depression， Bohaiwan Basin and the products of physical experiments on hydrocarbon generation and expulsion. Considering the relative content of alkane， authors discussed the carbon isotope fractionation effects in the crude oil from deep source rock. Additionally， authors proposed the working thought and procedure for identifying the source of deep oil with the δ13CPDB values. The carbon isotope fractionation effects resulting from high thermal maturity are obvious in deep source rocks. The δ13CPDB values of the four group components of soluble organic matter from source rocks （alkane， aromatics， non-hydrocarbon， and asphaltene） exhibit a significant elevation with increasing burial depth. Specifically， the δ13CPDB values of alkane exhibit the most pronounced change， exceeding 5‰， while aromatics show a change of around 4‰. The changes in the δ13CPDB value of non-hydrocarbon and asphaltene are relatively small， ranging from 2‰ to 3‰. As burial depth increases， the alkane contents in soluble organic matter increase from around 40% to over 80%. Correspondingly， the δ13CPDB values of alkane increase from around -30‰ to over -24‰， and the alkane contents show a great correlation with the variations of its δ13CPDB values. Similar results can also be observed from the δ13CPDB values of group components from physical experiments on hydrocarbon generation with the same type of source rock samples. In these experiments， the variations in the δ13CPDB values of alkane can reach 4‰， while those in aromatics， non-hydrocarbon， and asphaltene are relatively low， ranging from 1‰ to 3‰. When utilizing carbon isotopes to identify the source of deep oil， it is essential to first check the correlation between alkane contents and their δ13CPDB values to identify if the carbon isotope fractionation effects derived from thermal maturation exists. Subsequently， the δ13CPDB values of alkane should be properly recovered before utilizing it to identify the source of the oil. According to the abovementioned methods， authors identified the source of light oil from Chepaizi Uplift in the Western region of Junggar Basin. It confirmed the presence of carbon isotope fractionation effects in the light oil derived from thermal evolution. It shows a great possibility that the light oil is sourced from the underlying high-maturity source rock of the Permian， which is of important practical significance in the evaluation and deployment of the petroleum exploration target in this area.

The cavity expansion theory provides a theoretical basis for the displacement prediction of the installed piles and the analysis of pressuremeter test results. However, there is a lack of systematic analysis of the influences of soil structure in the existing solutions. In this paper, based on the Cemented-CASM considering the cementation effect, an elastoplastic solution for the cylindrical cavity expansion under undrained condition was presented by deriving the elastic-plastic.pngfness matrix reflecting the soil stress-strain relationship in combination with the hardening laws and larger-strain theory. To verify the validation of the present solution, it was compared with the solution in Modified Cam Clay soils when ignoring the soil structure and compared with the numerical results of pressuremeter tests when the soil structure was considered. Parametric analyses were conducted to illustrate the effects of soil structure and destructuration on the cavity expansion process. The results show that the effective stresses and pore water pressure caused by the cavity expansion in structured soils are larger than those in reconstituted soils, while the plastic range around the cavity becomes smaller due to the soil structure. With the damage of the structure, the soil exhibits a strain softening behavior, while the radial stress increases and then decreases as the distance from the cavity wall decreases. When the soil structure is completely destroyed, the effective stresses around the cavity are consistent with those in the reconstituted soils. As the soil structure strengthens, destructuration become faster under the same variation in cavity expansion pressure or cavity radius, and the strain softening behavior becomes more pronounced.

Abstract Background During the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals became focal points for normalised prevention and control. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of an inpatient bed reservation system for cancer patients that was developed in the department?s public WeChat account. We also explored its role in improving operational efficiency and nursing quality management, as well as in optimising nursing workforce deployment. Methods We utilised WeChat to facilitate communication between cancer patients and health care professionals. Furthermore, we collected data on admissions, discharges, average number of hospitalisation days, bed utilisation rate, and the number of bed days occupied by hospitalised patients through the hospital information system and nurses? working hours and competency levels through the nurse scheduling system. The average nursing hours per patient per day were calculated. Through the inpatient bed reservation system, the number of accepted admissions, denied admissions, and cancelled admissions from the reservation system were collected. The impact of the bed reservation system on the department?s operational efficiency was analysed by comparing the number of hospitalisation discharges before and after reservations, as well as the average hospitalisation and bed utilisation rates. By comparing nurses? working hours per month and average nursing hours per patient per day, the system?s impact on nurses? working hours and nursing quality indicators was analysed. Results The average hospitalisation length, bed utilisation rate, and nurses? working hours were significantly lower, and the average number of nursing hours per patient per day was significantly higher after the implementation of the reservation system. The full-cycle bed information management model for cancer patients did not affect the number of discharged patients. Conclusion Patients? ability to reserve bed types from home in advance using the department?s official WeChat-based inpatient bed reservation system allowed nurses to prepare for their work ahead of time. This in turn improved the operational efficiency of the department and nursing quality, and it optimised the deployment of the nursing workforce

ObjectiveTo establish and improve the food composition database of He’nan Province， the nutritional components of fish， shrimp， crab， and shellfish in He’nan province were analyzed.MethodsThe water， ash， protein， fat， carbohydrate， total nitrogen， carbohydrate， multivitamins， and essential minerals of fish and crab from restaurants and supermarkets from December 2017 to December 2020 were determined.ResultsThe water and ash contents were basically the same. Carbohydrate was not detected except in fried food. The energy content of crab was higher than that of fish and shrimp. The energy， protein， total nitrogen， and fat contents of fried fish were higher than those of fresh fish. The total amount of fatty acids in fish， shrimp， crab， and shellfish was normal； EPA and DHA were the major components. The highest content of DHA was observed in squid （0.209 g/100 g）， pasha （0.181 g/100 g）， and cod （0.153 g/100 g）， and the highest content of EPA was observed in crab roe （1.07 g/100 g）， small yellow croaker （0.38 g/100 g）， and golden carp （0.297 g/100 g）. All the amino acids were detected in fish， 90% in shrimp， crab， and shellfish， and the content of amino acids in crab roe was higher.ConclusionFlavoring and cooking oil influenced the food composition in the cooking process of fish， shrimp， and crab products. The content of monounsaturated fatty acids was positively correlated with the total fat content in fresh fish. Fish and crab had higher contents of monounsaturated fatty acids， and shrimp had the recommended proportion.

In this paper, we report the use of femtosecond radially polarized vortex laser with MHz repetition rate for direct writing of cladding waveguides (WGs) and realization of waveguide laser oscillations in ytterbium-doped calcium fluoride crystal. The negative refractive index modification in Yb:CaF2 crystal is fabricated by the homemade all-fiber laser amplifier. At 976 nm pump wavelength, these Yb:CaF2 WGs can achieve continuous-wave (CW) laser oscillation. The length of resonant cavity is 4 mm, and the minimum laser threshold is 116 mW, corresponding to the propagation loss of 0.85 dB/cm, the center wavelength of 1045.2 nm, and the maximum output power of 91 mW. In addition, a saturable absorber mirror (SAM) was prepared by depositing ReS0.8Se1.2 on the reflective surface of a dichroic mirror to realize Q-switched waveguide laser output. The output Q-switched pulses with a tunable repetition rate in the range of 125–692.5 kHz, and the shortest pulse duration is 513 ns.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to provide basic data for the regulatory authorities to formulate regulatory policies or for the preparation and revision of national standards by investigating the content level of furfural pollutants in coffee and its products.MethodsFurfural pollutants in coffee and its products were detected by gas chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. The results were analyzed and counted using Excel and SAS.ResultsThree furfural pollutants were detected in 52 samples， the content level of furfural pollutants was 5-hydroxymethylfurfural > furfural > 5-methylfurfural， and the highest content of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural was 2 587 mg/kg. By category analysis， it was found that the change trend was pure instant coffee > two-in-one instant coffee > coffee bean （powder） > coffee beverage. According to the proportion of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in the total amount of furfural pollutants， it was found that the change trend was pure instant coffee / two-in-one instant coffee > coffee bean （powder） / coffee beverage.ConclusionThe survey results show that all coffee types and their products contain furfural pollutants and their content levels are consistent with foreign literature reports.

The clinical oncogenic functions and mechanisms of activating transcription factor 1 (ATF1) in the progression of lung adenocarcinoma have not been completely elucidated. In this study, by employing human lung adenocarcinoma tissues and cells, we detect the correlation of ATF1 expression with the clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients with lung adenocarcinoma and find that ATF1 promotes lung adenocarcinoma cell proliferation and migration by transcriptionally enhancing zinc finger protein 143 (ZNF143) expression. ATF1 and ZNF143 are strongly expressed in lung adenocarcinoma tissues compared with those in the adjacent normal tissues, and high ATF1 and ZNF143 expressions are related to poor disease-free survival of lung adenocarcinoma patients. ATF1 overexpression results in increased proliferation and migration of lung adenocarcinoma cells, whereas knockdown of ATF1 inhibits cell proliferation and migration. Furthermore, ATF1 transcriptionally regulates the expression of ZNF143, and ATF1 and ZNF143 expressions are positively correlated in lung adenocarcinoma tissues. ZNF143 knockdown blocks lung adenocarcinoma cell migration, which is mediated by ATF1 upregulation. Hence, this study provides a potential therapeutic candidate for the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma.

In view of the future development trend of ocean altimetry satellites, the design idea of Ka/C dual frequency combination system is proposed, that is, the mode of using an altimeter antenna to contain Ka and C frequencies (35.7 and 5.3 GHz, respectively) for combined ranging. First, the random error model of altimeter measuring the distance from the altimeter phase center to the sea surface is given, and the analysis shows that the ionospheric correction error is one of the important factors. Second, the calculation of typical ionospheric parameters shows that the influence of ionospheric higher order terms on altimeter ranging is below the mm level, and its influence can be ignored. The rigorous expression for the first-order and second-order term correction of ionosphere error are given, respectively, by using dual frequency and three frequencies. The computational experiment of Jason-2 and SARAL satellite show that the maximum magnitude of ionospheric error correction in Ku band can reach 11 cm, while the maximum magnitude of ionospheric error correction in Ka band can reach 2 cm. For high-precision applications, ionospheric corrections must be made for single Ka frequency. After Ka/C dual frequency combination is adopted, error correction can be directly conducted without global ionospheric map (GIM) model, and its accuracy will be further improved than GIM model. Under 1 Hz sampling conditions, the ionospheric correction accuracy of Ka/C combination can be better than 2.5 mm, basically eliminating the influence of the ionosphere, and the total ranging accuracy can reach 3.5 cm considering the propagation error.

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum(PXE) is a rare, genetic, metabolic disease characterized by ectopic calcification of connective tissue that primarily affects the skin, retina and cardiovascular system, which characteristic histopathology is calcification and fragmentation of elastic fibers in dermis.PXE is mainly caused by ABCC6 gene mutation, which is one of the important regulators of the serum inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi) homoeostasis, a main inhibitor of ectopic calcification and the deficiency of PPi can lead to ectopic calcification. The clinical features are highly heterogeneous.Typical skin lesions of PXE are yellowish flat papules and plaques, and the symptoms of skin relaxation and shrinkage can be manifested in the later stage.Retina, cardiovascular and other complications seriously affect the health and quality of life of patients. The current therapy of PXE include symptom improvement, systemic anti-ectopic calcification medicine, gene therapy and so on.We review the pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment of PXE.

Aiming at the problems of easy introduction of chemical element residues, micro scratches and low material removal rate in contact chemical mechanical polishing and non-contact plasma polishing processes of single-crystal silicon, a non-contact green polishing method of plasma cavitation stripping for single-crystal silicon is proposed. In the water-based working fluid medium with pulse voltage more than 100 V, the high impedance state isolation vapor layer breaks down due to the small curvature convergence of electron flux and induces an oxygen plasma channel. The convex position of the micro-region on the surface of the anode single crystal Si generates an SiO2 loose film due to the enhancement of the anode chemical reaction by the oxygen plasma. During the pulse intermission period, the plasma channel collapses due to the cold shock liquefaction of the water-based working fluid medium near the wall surface, and cavitation micro-jet impact force is formed at the same time to strip the loose film on a nano scale. After treating the sample for a certain time, the surface roughness of the sample can reach 1.54 nm, and no new chemical elements will be introduced into the surface of the sample. It provides a green non-contact method for plane/non-plane ultra-precision machining of brittle and hard materials.

In order to explore the influence of the physical crosslinking network structure of polyborosiloxanes(PBDMSs) on the viscoelasticity of the system, hydroxyl terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with different hydroxyl contents were reacted with boric acid to prepare PBDMSs with different boronization crosslinking densities. Thereafter the structure, thermodynamics and rheological properties of the as prepared samples were characterized. The results show that PBDMSs contain Si—O—Si, Si—O—B, CH3—Si—CH3 and B—O—B structural units. And PBDMSs have excellent low temperature resistance, while their glass transition temperature increases with the increase of hydroxyl content in PDMS. And at low hydroxyl content of PDMS (1% and 2%, mass fraction), crystallization of PBDMSs are observed. Moreover, PBDMSs possess the characteristics of frequency sensitivity, good impact resistance, excellent damping dissipation and excellent resilience. The hydroxyl content of PDMS obviously affects the physical crosslinking network structure of PBDMSs, and thus has a significant impact on the dynamic modulus of PBDMSs. In practical application, the viscoelasticity of PBDMSs can be adjusted by changing the hydroxyl content of PDMS.

This paper provides the Carleson characterization of the extension of fractional Sobolev spaces and Lebesgue spaces to Lq(ℝ+n+1,μ)L^q (\mathbb{R}_ + ^{n + 1} ,\mu ) via space-time fractional equations. For the extension of fractional Sobolev spaces, preliminary results including estimates, involving the fractional capacity, measures, the non-tangential maximal function, and an estimate of the Riesz integral of the space-time fractional heat kernel, are provided. For the extension of Lebesgue spaces, a new Lp–capacity associated to the spatial-time fractional equations is introduced. Then, some basic properties of the Lp–capacity, including its dual form, the Lp–capacity of fractional parabolic balls, strong and weak type inequalities, are established.

Hedgehog (Hh) signalling plays essential roles in regulating embryonic development and contributes to tumour initiation, growth and progression in multiple cancers. The detailed mechanism by which Hh signalling participates in tumour growth warrants thorough study, although several downstream target genes have been identified. Herein, a set of novel targets of Hh signalling was identified in multiple types of tumour cells via RNA-Seq analysis. Among these targets, the expression regulation and oncogenic function of the extracellular matrix component biglycan (BGN) were investigated. Further investigation verified that Hh signalling activates the expression of BGN via the transcription factor Gli2, which directly binds to the promoter region of BGN. Functional assays revealed that BGN facilitates tumour cell growth and proliferation in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells, and xenograft assays confirmed that BGN also promotes tumour growth in vivo. Moreover, analysis of clinical CRC samples showed that both the protein and mRNA levels of BGN are increased in CRC tissues compared to those in adjacent tissues, and higher expression of BGN is correlated with poorer prognosis of CRC patients, further confirming the function of BGN in CRC. Taken together, aberrantly activated Hh signalling increases the expression of BGN, possibly regulates the extracellular matrix, and thereby promotes tumour growth in CRC.

In order to improve the cargo owner’s satisfaction and obtain better economic benefits for shipping companies, the ship deployment along routes and speed optimization of tramp ships are studied, considering the influencing factors of ship scheduling with the configuration and speed of self-owned ships and chartered ships. A goal is developed by minimizing sailing cost, fuel, and waiting cost at ports, penalty cost for late arrival at ports, time cost, and voyage ship chartering cost by applying fuzzy time window to characterize the cargo owner’s satisfaction. The model of scheduling and speed optimization with fuzzy time window for heterogeneous tramp ships is established. A variable neighborhood genetic simulated annealing (VNGSA) algorithm is presented to solve the problem. First, the ship type is matched with the cargo. Then the route is generated according to the time constraint. Finally, the neighborhood search strategy is adopted to improve the solution quality. Computational results indicate that integrated planning for ship scheduling and speed can reduce sailing cost; considering time requirement of cargo owners can increase their satisfaction. This paper can enrich tramp ship routing and speed optimization problems and provide a theoretical tool for shipping companies to make related decisions.

Objective To explore the relationship of lupus nephritis (LN) with different pathological types with disease activity and prognosis, and investigate the risk factors of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Methods A total of 305 pathologically-confirmed LN patients admitted in our hospital from the year of 2013 to 2018 were retrospectively enrolled in this study. According to the results of renal biopsy, they were divided into mesangial hypercellularity LN (including 146 cases of LN-Ⅲ/Ⅳ and 106 cases of LN-Ⅲ/Ⅳ+Ⅴ) and non-mesangial hypercellularity LN (53 cases of LN-Ⅱ/Ⅴ). The disease activity and prognosis of the patients with different pathological types were compared, and the risk factors of ESRD were explored. Results There were more patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) ≥10 (66.3% vs 45.3%), occurrences of serositis, hair loss, anemia, higher serum creatinine, hematuria, and ESRD, and manifestations of anti-dsDNA antibody and anti-AnuA antibody in the LN-Ⅲ/Ⅳ patients (with or without LN-Ⅴ) than the LN-Ⅱ/Ⅴ patients (P < 0.05). The cumulative incidence of ESRD was 14.4%, and LN-Ⅲ/Ⅳ(with or without LN-Ⅴ), as well as anti-dsDNA antibody, higher serum creatinine, and SLEDAI ≥10, was identified as independent risk factors for ESRD (OR=2.977, 1.722, 5.484, 2.070). But there was no statistical difference in survival time among different pathological types (P>0.05). Conclusion The LN-Ⅲ/Ⅳ patients (with or without LN-Ⅴ) have higher disease activity, severer impairment both in inside and outside of the kidney, and higher risk of progression to ESRD.

Air curtain is an effective control for separating air spaces and reducing the cross-transfer of air, heat, and contaminant between different zones. Studies show that displacement ventilation is better for indoor air quality than mixed ventilation. However, displacement ventilation may be susceptible to a phenomenon called lock-up, whereby contaminants are held in a lower stratified portion of the space and increase infection potential. This study investigates whether indoor air curtain and circulation fan can reduce the lock-up phenomenon for spaces with displacement ventilation and thus reduce infection risk across the breathing zone. Specially, numerical test is conducted to explore if a side-wall diffuser-integrated vertical slot air curtain would be sufficient for reducing infection risk. Additionally, circulation fans above the occupants are applied to explore if they would reduce the lock-up phenomenon. The conclusions are that neither a side air curtain slot nor circulation fans is/are adequate to reduce infection risk. In fact, all methods tested increased infection risk. This increase in infection risk is contrary to previous research and is due to changing air flow patterns throughout the space that disrupted thermal plumes and created contaminant leakage from one side of the room to the other. Circulation fans provided the promising results while further optimization should be conducted in terms of the ideal quantity, location, flow rate, orientation, and size of fans throughout a given space.

The coupled transport of heavy metals with suspended particles has been a topic of growing interest. The main purpose of this study is to experimentally investigate the seepage transport of heavy metal Pb2+ in the presence of silicon powders (SPs) through a sand column under different seepage velocities (v = 0.087–0.260 cm/s), injection Pb2+ concentrations (CP = 0–800 μg/ml) and SP sizes (D50 = 2.8–25.5 μm), which were likely to be encountered in practical engineering. The sand column was installed in a cylindrical chamber of 300 mm in length and 80 mm in internal diameter. The results clearly show that the increase in acidity results in a reduction of the repulsive interactions between SPs and the matrix, and consequently a decrease in the peak values in breakthrough curves (BTCs), especially for larger-sized SPs. The peak values and recovery rate of Pb2+ are obviously increased and an earlier breakthrough can be observed, due to the higher capacity of SPs with negative charge to adsorb heavy metal pollutants such as Pb2+ with positive charge. The adsorption of Pb2+ on SPs can reduce the repulsive forces between SPs and the matrix, thus resulting in the increase of the deposition possibility of SPs and the decrease of peak value and recovery rate.

C36H34N6O12S2Ni2, monoclinic, C2/c (no. 15), a = 29.642(4) Å, b = 6.2241(4) Å, c = 21.667(2) Å, β = 108.592(13)°, V = 3788.9(7) Å3, Z = 4, Rgt(F) = 0.0907, wRref(F2) = 0.1605, T = 293(2) K.

To improve the wear resistance of polyurethane (PU) coating and its adhesion to the steel substrate, a series of simple and practicable techniques were designed to mix nano-SiO2 with PU powder to cast a coating layer onto the steel. When the addition of nano-SiO2 was small, a network structure of PU-SiO2 was produced. It improved the wear resistance of the composite coating and its adhesion to the steel substrate. When the addition of nano-SiO2 was excessive, agglomerated nano-SiO2 particles not only affected the bond between the PU resin and the steel substrate but also became abrasive materials, intensifying the abrasion of the composite coating during friction. It resulted in lower bonding strength and poorer wear resistance of the composite coating. The wear rate and friction coefficient of 2 wt.% SiO2/PU composite coating were 1.52×10−6 cm3/min N and 0.31, respectively. Its wear resistance was about 10 times as high as that of the pure PU coating. Furthermore, a simple and practicable installation was designed to test the bonding strength between the coating and the steel substrate. The bonding strength between 2 wt.% SiO2/PU composite coating and the steel substrate was 7.33 MPa, which was 39% higher than that of the pure PU coating.

This paper studies a robot with rapid bottoming technology that integrates the transportation, installation and removal of bottoming modules, and rapid road surface leveling. It is driven by explosion-proof diesel and is used for new application equipment with fine operation ability in high-risk environment of coal mine roadway. Research on the integrated design of equipment and research on automation control technology to realize the safe and rapid construction of the bottom laying module, so as to realize the automation of module laying and achieve efficient and safe laying of modules.

The primary goal of this paper is to investigate the combined effects of strain rate and microscopic parameters (fiber off-axis orientation, array pattern and cross-sectional shape) on the mechanical behavior of metal matrix composites (MMCs). To this end, a rate-dependent micromechanical model by the combination of finite-volume theory and Bodner-Partom viscoplastic model is developed to analyze the inelastic response of MMCs. In the simulations, the fibers are modeled as linearly elastic while the metal matrix exhibits viscoplasticity. The macroscopic stress-strain response, local stress and strain fields are obtained simultaneously. An acceptable agreement has been found between the model’s prediction and finite-element results, which demonstrates the good predictive capabilities of the proposed method. It is concluded that the composite response is strongly affected by strain rate, fiber array pattern and cross-sectional shape in the elastic-plastic region but to a lesser extent in the elastic region. Furthermore, the clustering array provides stiffer response than random and square ones; the square fiber predicts stiffer response than circular and elliptical ones. However, increasing the strain rate will weaken the influence of clustering array and square fibers.

This study presents a new micromechanical model to investigate the effects of thermal residual stresses and interfacial properties on the transverse behaviors of SiC/Ti composites with different microstructures. In this model, the fiber-matrix interface is modeled by the bilinear cohesive zone model. The interface model is introduced into the generalized method of cells, which has the advantage of computational accuracy and efficiency. At the same time, the generalized method of cells is extended to consider thermal residual stresses within the fiber and matrix phases. Thermal residual stresses are found to have a significant influence on the transverse behaviors of the composites. Compared with the perfect interface, the transverse behaviors of the composites with weak interface bonding are much lower. Moreover, with the increase of fiber fraction, the stiffness of the composites increases before debonding occurs while the saturation stress decreases. The predicted results using the circular fiber model and considering thermal residual stresses are more consistent with the experimental values compared with the results using the square or elliptical fiber model. When the stress concentration factor is considered and the interface is weakly bonding, the strength predictions are much better than the results using the perfect bonding.

Silica-containing barium-rich BaTiO₃ ceramics for thermistors with a positive temperature coefficient of resistance are prepared by a tape-casting technique. The ceramics are sintered in a reducing atmosphere at low temperatures of 1175-1225°C. The influences of reoxidation are investigated after the reduced ceramics are reoxidized in air at 700-900°C. An anomalous correlation is illustrated between room temperature resistivity and reoxidation temperature. The anomaly results from the ferroelectricity rebuilding mechanism, which includes the spontaneous polarization theory and the ferroelectricity degradation caused by oxygen vacancies. The acceptor-state densities are estimated from the temperature-dependent resistivity. A critical temperature of 750-800°C is concluded for the grain boundary reoxidation.

Cobalt doped mesoporous silica (Co-SiO2) was prepared using the rice husks as both silicon source and template. Structural characterization of the catalysts was done by various techniques, such as Xray diffraction, FT-IR, N2 adsorption/desorption, and scanning electron microscopy. Co-SiO2 was used as a catalyst for the oxidation of 2-methyl pyridine and exhibited high substrate conversion (94.6%) and good product (2-pyridinecarboxylic acid) selectivity (92.4%). It even exhibited higher selectivity than Co-MTiO2, Co-MCM-41, Co-SBA-15. Fast hot catalyst filtration experiment proved that the catalyst acted as a heterogeneous one and it can be reused with almost the same activity.

In this paper, the effects of microstructural parameters on the initial yield surface of non-isothermal composites were investigated. The fiber phase was assumed to be a linear elastic material, and the matrix was assumed to be a non-linear material. Incorporating the Bodner-Partom viscoplastic constitutive model into a high-fidelity generalized method of cells allowed the initial yield surfaces of non-isothermal composites with different microscopic arrays and fiber cross-section shapes to be studied. Moreover, working temperature effects on initial yield surface are also discussed. The results show that the initial yield stress in the σxx–σyy plane of unidirectional fiber-reinforced composites tends to decrease with increasing working temperature. Furthermore, the effects of fiber arrays and fiber off-axis angles on initial yield stress show similar variation at different working temperature conditions.

A new kind of compound extrusion technology including direct extrusion and shears for AZ31 magnesium billets can cause plastic large deformations and high strain rates. A series of compressive tests have been done to obtain the stress-strain curves of AZ31 magnesium alloy. Three-dimensional (3D) thermo-mechanical coupled finite element modeling of forming magnesium alloy AZ31billets into small rods at certain high ram speed and low temperature by extrusion-shears have been carried out. The simulation model has been established and meshed based on symmetrical characteristic. Computed parameters including material characteristics for workpiece and die and process conditions consisting of initial billet temperature, extrusion ratio, channel angle and ram speed have been list. The evolution of temperature during extrusion-shear process, there are hardly any temperature gradients within the workpiece, but temperature in severe plastic deformation zone increase rapidly. Strain evolutions for inner billet are larger than those of border positions. The flow velocity distribution is uniform basically which avoid the extrusion cracks to a certain degree. Experiments show that the rods with good surface smoothness can be obtained by low temperature and high speed extrusion-shear, and the alloy grains are effectively refined by dynamic recrystallization (DRX).

To explore the deformation mechanisms of a new composite extrusion including extrusion and successive shear subsequently which is shorten "ES", Three dimensional finite element modeling of grain refinements for magnesium alloys by ES process has been researched. The ES die have been designed and manufactured and installed to the horizontal extruder. Finite element software DEFORM TM-3D to investigate the plastic deformation behaviors of magnesium alloy during extrusion-shear has been employed. The extrusion loads and temperatures distribution of billets and maximum extrusion forces have been obtained from simulation results. From the simulation results it is clear that evolutions of extrusion loads curve and effective stresses and temperatures can be divided into three stages. ES process has been applied to fabricate AZ31 magnesium alloy rod at preheat temperature of 420ºC with extrusion speed of 20 mm/s. The results proved that the ES process is a formality method for magnesium suitable for large scale industrial application. The microstructures of AZ31 magnesium alloy along the longitudinal section of rods have been sampled and examined and observed. Fine grained microstructures can be observed throughout longitudinal section of extruded rod. The researches results show that ES process would cause severe plastic deformation and improve the dynamic recrystallization of AZ31 magnesium alloy. The simulation results and calculated Zener-Hollomon parameters showed that the grains of magnesium would be refined gradually during ES process.

Cabin ventilation is crucial for maintaining thermal comfort and air quality for passengers and crew. The genetic algorithm, proper orthogonal decomposition (POD), and adjoint method have been proposed to inversely design the cabin ventilation. However, each method has its cons and pros. This paper proposed to integrate the above three methods in cascades. The genetic algorithm was applied first in the first stage to roughly circumscribe the ranges of design parameters. Then POD was applied in the next stage to further narrow the ranges and estimate the optimal parametric sets for each design criterion. The estimated optimal design from POD was supplied to the adjoint method for fine tuning. The air-supply parameters of a five-row aircraft cabin were inversely designed to achieve the minimum absolute value of the predicted mean vote (PMV) and the minimum averaged mean age of air. The results showed that the integrated method was able to improve the design stage by stage. The integrated method has superior advantages to assure the optimal design while minimizing the computing expense.

A combined intumescent flame retardant expandable graphite (EG), with an initial expansiontemperature of 155°C and expansion volume of 515 mL g-1, was successfully prepared based ona chemical intercalation method of material graphite under oxidation of KMnO4, intercalationof H2SO4 and Na4B2O7· 10H2O at the mass ratio C : KMnO4 : H2SO4 (98%) : Na 4B2O7· 10H2Oof 1.0 : 0.4 : 5.5 : 0.6 (H2SO4 diluted to a mass concentration of 80-wt. % before reaction),and characterized by expansion volume (EV), initial expansion temperature, X-ray diffraction(XRD). The flame retarding and thermal properties of LLDPE/EG and LLDPE/EG/APPcomposites (LLDPE-Linear low density polyethylene; APP-ammonium polyphosphate) wereinvestigated and characterized by limiting oxygen index (LOI), Fourier transform infraredspectroscopy (FTIR), thermal gravimetric (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). Theresults showed that addition of EG (30-wt. %) increased the LOI of 70LLDPE/30EG compositeto 28.4 %. Even more, the synergistic effect of 20% EG together with 10% APP improvedthe LOI of 70LLDPE/20EG/10APP composite to 30.5%. At the same time, temperaturescorresponding to a 1% weight loss and a maximum weight loss rate increased at about 50°C and2°C, respectively. The 70LLDPE/10APP/20EG composite exhibited higher flame retardancyeven at a lower residual chars than 70LLDPE/30EG specimen. Cohesive and dense charlayer caused by swollen expanded graphite and decomposing products of APP played a moreimportant role in improving thermal stability and flame retardancy than weight of residualcarbon. The intercalated borate was more effectual in improving the flame retardancy than thedirect additive of Na4B2O7· 10H2O.

Frequent accidents have occurred in coal mine enterprises; therefore, raising the technological level of coal mine safety monitoring systems is an urgent problem. Wireless sensor networks (WSN), as a new field of research, have broad application prospects. This paper proposes a Web of Things- (WoT-) based remote monitoring system that takes full advantage of wireless sensor networks in combination with the CAN bus communication technique that abstracts the underground sensor data and capabilities into WoT resources to offer services using representational state transfer (REST) style. We also present three different implemented scenarios for WoT-based remote monitoring systems for coal mine safety, for which the system performance has been measured and analyzed. Finally, we describe our conclusions and future work.

Micro-texture evolvement mechanism of AZ31 magnesium alloy during compressing deformation had been studied in situ tracking method by EBSD(Electron backscatter diffraction). The micro-texture at same observation areas, which compressed three times continually at different deformation degree, had been investigated. The results presented that the micro-texture of AZ31 magnesium alloy rolling state is typical (0001) basic texture. When deformation degree was 11% and the temperature was 170ଌ, grains orientation changed remarkably, and most grains had been twined fully and little grains twined partially. The initial basical rolling texture weakened gradually, and twined grains tropism accorded with $ \lt 10\bar 10 \gt $ and 86.3° $ \lt \bar 12\bar 10 \gt $ orientation.

Abstract Background Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (APP) is one of the most important swine pathogens worldwide. Identification and characterization of novel antigenic APP vaccine candidates are underway. In the present study, we use an immunoproteomic approach to identify APP protein antigens that may elicit an immune response in serotype 1 naturally infected swine and serotype 1 virulent strain S259-immunized rabbits. Results Proteins from total cell lysates of serotype 1 APP were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE). Western blot analysis revealed 21 immunoreactive protein spots separated in the pH 4-7 range and 4 spots in the pH 7-11 range with the convalescent sera from swine; we found 5 immunoreactive protein spots that separated in the pH 4-7 range and 2 in the pH 7-11 range with hyperimmune sera from S259-immunized rabbits. The proteins included the known antigens ApxIIA, protective surface antigen D15, outer membrane proteins P5, subunit NqrA. The remaining antigens are being reported as immunoreactive proteins in APP for the first time, to our knowledge. Conclusions We identified a total of 42 immunoreactive proteins of the APP serotype 1 virulent strain S259 which represented 32 different proteins, including some novel immunoreactive factors which could be researched as vaccine candidates.

Abstract Backgrounds Urokinase (UK) 2 200 U/kg·h for 12 hours infusion(UK-12 h)is an ACCP recommended regimen in treating acute pulmonary embolism (PE). It is unclear whether this dose and time can be reduced further. We compared the efficacy and safety of 20, 000 U/kg for 2 hours (UK-2 h) with the UK-12 h regime in selected PE patients. Methods A randomized trial involving 129 patients was conducted. Patients with acute PE were randomly assigned to receive either UK-12 h (n = 70), or UK-2 h (n = 59). The efficacy was determined by the improvement of right heart dysfunction and perfusion defect at 24 h and 14 d post UK treatment. The bleeding incidence, death rate and PE recurrence were also evaluated. Results Similarly significant improvements in right heart dysfunction and lung perfusion defects were observed in both groups. Overall bleeding incidents were low in both groups. Major bleeding directly associated with UK infusion occurred in one patient in the UK-2 h group and one in the UK-12 h group. Mortality rates were low, with one reported fatal recurrent in the UK-12 h group and none in the UK-2 h group. When the rate of bleeding, death and PE recurrence were compared separately in the hemodynamic instability and the massive anatomic obstruction subgroups, no significant difference was found. Conclusions The UK-2 h regimen exhibits similar efficacy and safety as the UK-12 h regimen for acute PE. Trial Registration Clinical trial registered with http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00799968 (Identifier: NCT 00799968)

At present, the differentiation potential and antioxidant activity of feline umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) have not been clearly studied. In this study, feline UC-MSCs were isolated by tissue adhesion method, identified by flow cytometry detection of cell surface markers (CD44, CD90, CD34, and CD45), and induced differentiation toward osteogenesis and adipogenesis in vitro . Furthermore, the oxidative stress model was established with hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) (100 μM, 300 μM, 500 μM, 700 μM, and 900 μM). The antioxidant properties of feline UC-MSCs and feline fibroblasts were compared by morphological observation, ROS detection, cell viability via CCK-8 assay, as well as oxidative and antioxidative parameters via ELISA. The mRNA expression of genes related to NF-κB pathway was detected via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, while the levels of NF-κB signaling cascade-related proteins were determined via Western Blot. The results showed that feline UC-MSCs highly expressed CD44 and CD90, while negative for CD34 and CD45 expression. Feline UC-MSCs cultured under osteogenic and adipogenic conditions showed good differentiation capacity. After being exposed to different concentrations of H 2 O 2 for eight hours, feline UC-MSCs exhibited the significantly higher survival rate than feline fibroblasts. A certain concentration of H 2 O 2 could up-regulate the activities of SOD2 and GSH-Px in feline UC-MSCs. The expression levels of p50 , MnSOD , and FHC mRNA in feline UC-MSCs stimulated by 300 μM and 500 μM H 2 O 2 significantly increased compared with the control group. Furthermore, it was observed that 500 μM H 2 O 2 significantly enhanced the protein levels of p-IκB, IκB, p-p50, p50, MnSOD, and FHC, which could be reversed by BAY 11-7,082, a NF-κB signaling pathway inhibitor. In conclusion, it was confirmed that feline UC-MSCs, with good osteogenesis and adipogenesis abilities, had better antioxidant property which might be related to NF-κB signaling pathway. This study lays a foundation for the further application of feline UC-MSCs in treating the various inflammatory and oxidative injury diseases of pets., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Zhai, Li, You, Cai, Yang, An, Zhao, Wang, Dou, Du and Qin.)

Exploring flexible electronics is on the verge of innovative breakthroughs in terahertz (THz) communication technology. Vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) with insulator-metal transition (IMT) has excellent application potential in various THz smart devices, but the associated THz modulation properties in the flexible state have rarely been reported. Herein, we deposited an epitaxial VO 2 film on a flexible mica substrate via pulsed-laser deposition and investigated its THz modulation properties under different uniaxial strains across the phase transition. It was observed that the THz modulation depth increases under compressive strain and decreases under tensile strain. Moreover, the phase-transition threshold depends on the uniaxial strain. Particularly, the rate of the phase transition temperature depends on the uniaxial strain and reaches approximately 6 °C/% in the temperature-induced phase transition. The optical trigger threshold in laser-induced phase transition decreased by 38.9% under compressive strain but increased by 36.7% under tensile strain, compared to the initial state without uniaxial strain. These findings demonstrate the uniaxial strain-induced low-power triggered THz modulation and provide new insights for applying phase transition oxide films in THz flexible electronics.

Purpose: Pyrotinib (PTN), an irreversible EGFR/HER2 dual tyrosine kinase inhibitor used for treating HER2-positive breast cancer, is primarily metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP)3A4 isozyme. Rifampicin (RIF) is a strong index CYP3A4 inducer. Therefore, the study aimed to elucidate the effect of RIF on PTN pharmacokinetics (PK) in Chinese healthy volunteers., Methods: This phase I, open-label study investigated the effects of steady-state RIF administration on single-dose PK of PTN. 18 healthy participants were enrolled in this trial, who received a single oral dose of 400 mg of PTN on days 1 and 13, and were administrated with RIF 600 mg qd on days 6 through 16. RIF was administrated on an empty stomach, PTN were administrated orally in the morning 30 min after the start of the standard meal. Serial PK samples for PTN were collected on days 1 and days 13. Safety assessments were performed via clinical laboratory tests throughout the study., Results: 18 subjects were enrolled and 16 completed the study. RIF significantly reduced PTN exposure: Geometric least-squares mean ratios (90% CI) for PTN + RIF versus PTN alone were 0.04 (0.034,0.049), 0.04 (0.037,0.054), and 0.11 (0.09,0.124) for area under the curve from time zero to time of last quantifiable concentration (AUC 0 - t ), area under the curve from time zero to infinity (AUC 0-∞ ), and maximum observed plasma concentration(C max ), respectively. PTN alone and co-administered with RIF was well tolerated., Conclusion: The exposure of PTN was significantly affected by the action of RIF. The findings suggest that concomitant strong CYP3A4 inducers should be avoided during PTN treatment. Concurrent administration of PTN and RIF was well tolerated., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

This study aimed to determine the potential effects of alfalfa saponins on the production performance, serum biochemical factors, and immune factors in sheep. Twenty Small-Tailed Han sheep were equally and randomly divided into Groups 1-4, fed with diets containing 0, 5, 10, and 20 g alfalfa saponins per kg, respectively, for 40 consecutive days. During the treatments, the body weight change was recorded for each sheep. Before, during, and after the treatments of alfalfa saponins, serum was collected from each group to compare the levels of biochemical and immune factors. All sheep were killed after the treatments, and the longissimus dorsi muscle was collected to compare the meat quality. The results validated the effects of alfalfa saponins on the growth performance and meat quality in Small-Tailed Han sheep, and the supplementation level of 10 g/kg was the best. Alfalfa saponins also had effects on the levels of biochemical factors in serum. However, both dose- and time-dependent effects were observed. After a shorter feeding period (14 days), the concentrations of cholesterol (CHOL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in Groups 2, 3, and 4 were all lower than those in the control group; however, when alfalfa saponins were continuously fed, this effect was not apparent or even gone. Supplying alfalfa saponins increased serum concentrations of IgA, IgG, IgE, IgM, IL-1, IFN-α, and IFN-β. And this effect was distinctly observed in Groups 3 and 4. Based on the current results, the alfalfa saponins concentration of 10 g/kg (for 14 consecutive days) could be suggested as the optimum ratio for good health conditions of Small-Tailed Han sheep., (Copyright © 2022 Yang, Yang, Zhai, Wang, Zhao, Zhang, Chen and Wang.)

It is well-established that mitophagy leads to Diabetic Nephropathy (DN) and renal failure. Mitophagy mediated by a Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) plays a beneficial role in many diseases. Nevertheless, the mechanisms underlying HIF-1α-mediated mitophagy in DN remain unclear. This study defines the role of HIF-1α mediated mitophagy in DN. The expression of HIF-1α was upregulated in HK-2 cells in an High-Glucose (HG) environment, and the YC-1 (a specific inhibitor of HIF-1α) further exacerbated the hypoxia-induced mitochondrial dysfunction. Conversely, the HIF-1α-mediated protective effect was strengthened by scavenger N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a type of reactive oxygen species. Moreover, HIF-1α-Parkin/PINK1-mediated mitophagy prevented apoptosis and ROS production in HK-2 cells subjected to HG exposure. In summary, HIF-1α mediated mitophagy on HK-2 cells under HG conditions could alleviate DN, suggesting that it has huge prospects for DN treatment., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Yu, Wang, Guo, Wang, Yang, Zhai and Tang.)

Terahertz (THz) waves show great potential in nondestructive testing, biodetection and cancer imaging. Despite recent progress in THz wave near-field probes/apertures enabling raster scanning of an object's surface, an efficient, nonscanning, noninvasive, deep subdiffraction imaging technique remains challenging. Here, we demonstrate THz near-field microscopy using a reconfigurable spintronic THz emitter array (STEA) based on the computational ghost imaging principle. By illuminating an object with the reconfigurable STEA followed by computing the correlation, we can reconstruct an image of the object with deep subdiffraction resolution. By applying an external magnetic field, in-line polarization rotation of the THz wave is realized, making the fused image contrast polarization-free. Time-of-flight (TOF) measurements of coherent THz pulses further enable objects at different distances or depths to be resolved. The demonstrated ghost spintronic THz-emitter-array microscope (GHOSTEAM) is a radically novel imaging tool for THz near-field imaging, opening paradigm-shifting opportunities for nonintrusive label-free bioimaging in a broadband frequency range from 0.1 to 30 THz (namely, 3.3-1000 cm -1 )., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestL.-G.Z is a named inventor on Chinese patent number 201310442738.9 (publication date 27.05.2015, filing date 26.09.2013). L.-G.Z, J.L, L.-H.D, Z.-H.Z and Z.-R.L are named inventors on Chinese patent number 201410815227.1 (publication date 25.03.2015, filing date 24.12.2014), which is related to the THz wave ghost microscope. L.-G.Z, S.-C.C, J.L, L.-H.D, Z.-H.Z and Z.-R.L filed a Chinese patent (number 201911281187.6, filing date 11.12.2019), which is related to the concept demonstrated in this work., (© The Author(s) 2020.)

Background/Aims: Previous studies have suggested that myricetin (Myr) could promote the expression and nuclear translocation of nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like (Nrf2). This study aimed to investigate whether Myr could attenuate diabetes-associated kidney injuries and dysfunction in wild-type (WT) and Nrf2 knockdown (Nrf2-KD) mice. Methods: Lentivirus-mediated Nrf2-KD and WT mice were used to establish type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) by streptozotocin (STZ) injection. WT and Nrf2-KD mice were then randomly allocated into four groups: control (CON), Myr, STZ, and STZ + Myr. Myr (100 mg/kg/day) or vehicle was administered for 6 months. Kidneys were harvested and weighed at the end of the experiment. Hematoxylin and eosin staining and Masson's trichrome staining were used to assess the morphology and fibrosis of the kidneys, respectively. Urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio was used to test renal function. Western blotting was performed to determine oxidative-stress- or inflammation-associated signaling pathways. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed to detect the expression of fibrosis or inflammatory cytokines at the message Ribonucleic Acid (mRNA) level. Results: In WT mice, Myr alleviated DM-induced renal dysfunction, fibrosis, and oxidative damage and enhanced the expression of Nrf2 and its downstream genes. After knockdown of Nrf2, Myr treatment partially but significantly mitigated DM-induced renal dysfunction and fibrosis, which might be associated with inhibition of the I-kappa-B (IκB)/nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) (P65) signaling pathway. Conclusions: This study showed that Myr prevented DM-associated decreased expression of Nrf2 and inhibited IκB/NF-κB (P65) signaling pathway. Moreover, inhibition of IκB/NF-κB (P65) signaling pathway is independent of the regulation of Nrf2. Thus, Myr could be a potential treatment for preventing the development and progression of DM-associated kidney injuries and dysfunction.

We report a high-performance terahertz (THz) modulator with dual operation mode. For the pulse operation mode, the proposed THz modulator has the advantage of high modulation depth (MD) and can operate in a broadband frequency range. We have experimentally achieved a MD larger than 90% for the fifth-order pulse THz echo at 0.8 THz, and the MD stays larger than 75% in a broadband frequency range larger than 1 THz, whereas, for the coherent operation mode, the Fabry-Perot (F-P) interference effect has been taken into consideration and a MD larger than 75% at 0.76 THz has also been realized.