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Introduction Stiff neck is a condition mainly characterised by persistent pain and limited neck movement, which can substantially impact patients’ daily lives during acute episodes. Accordingly, rapid pain relief and restoration of normal activities are the main needs of patients during doctor visits. This study aims to assess the immediate efficacy of acupuncture combined with active exercises in rapidly relieving pain and improving movement disorders within 10 min in patients with acute stiff neck (ASN).Methods and analysis This randomised controlled clinical trial is being conducted at a single centre in China. 120 participants diagnosed with ASN will randomly be assigned in a 1:1:1 ratio to one of three groups: the acupuncture combined with active exercise group (group A), sham acupuncture combined with active exercise group (group B) and active exercise only group (group C). Each participant will undergo a single 10 min session. The primary outcome is the effective rate at 10 min of treatment. Secondary outcomes include the effective rate at other time points (0–1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 min), Visual Analogue Scale score and cervical range of motion. The intention-to-treat analysis will include all randomised participants.Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine (2022-009). Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants before randomisation. The findings of this study will be disseminated through publication in a peer-reviewed journal and presentation at conferences.Trial registration number ChiCTR2200066997.

IntroductionMigraine is a common clinical disorder, ranks as the second most disabling disease worldwide, and often manifests with unilateral onset. Contralateral acupuncture (CAT), as a classical acupuncture method, has been proven to be effective in the treatment of migraine without aura (MWoA). However, its neural mechanisms have not been investigated using multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Methods and analysisIn this multimodal neuroimaging randomized trial, a total of 96 female MWoA participants and 30 female healthy controls (HCs) will be recruited. The 96 female MWoA participants will be randomized into three groups: Group A (CAT group), Group B [ipsilateral acupuncture (IAT) group], and Group C (sham CAT group) in a 1:1:1 allocation ratio. Each group will receive 30 min of treatment every other day, three times a week, for 8 weeks, followed by an 8-week follow-up period. The primary outcome is the intensity of the migraine attack. Data will be collected at baseline (week 0), at the end of the 8-week treatment period (weeks 1–8), and during the 8-week follow-up (weeks 9–16). Adverse events will be recorded. Multimodal MRI scans will be conducted at baseline and after 8-week treatment.DiscussionThis study hypothesized that CAT may treat MWoA by restoring pathological alterations in brain neural activity, particularly by restoring cross-integrated functional connectivity with periaqueductal gray (PAG) as the core pathological brain region. The findings will provide scientific evidence for CAT in the treatment of MWoA.Ethics and disseminationThe Medical Ethics Committee of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine has given study approval (approval no. 2022-006). This trial has been registered with the Chinese Clinical Trials Registry (registration no. ChiCTR2300069456). Peer-reviewed papers will be used to publicize the trial’s findings.Clinical trial registrationhttps://clinicaltrials.gov/, identifier ChiCTR2300069456.

PurposeSeveral surgical risk models are widely utilized in general surgery to predict postoperative morbidity. However, no studies have been undertaken to examine the predictive efficacy of these models in biliary tract cancer patients, and other perioperative variables can also influence morbidity. As a result, the study’s goal was to examine these models alone, as well as risk models combined with disease-specific factors, in predicting severe complications.MethodsA retrospective study of 129 patients was carried out. Data on demographics, surgery, and outcomes were gathered. These model equations were used to determine the morbidity risks. Severe morbidity was defined as the complication comprehensive index ≥ 40.ResultsSevere morbidity was observed in 25% (32/129) patients. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that four parameters [comprehensive risk score ≥1, T stage, albumin decrease value, and international normalized ratio (INR)] had a significant influence on the probability of major complications. The area under the curve (AUC) of combining the four parameters was assessed as having strong predictive value and was superior to the Estimation of Physiologic Ability and Surgical Stress System (E-PASS) alone (the AUC value was 0.858 vs. 0.724, p = 0.0375). The AUC for the modified E-PASS (mE-PASS) and Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the Enumeration of Mortality and Morbidity (POSSUM) in patients over the age of 70 was classified as no predictive value (p = 0.217 and p = 0.063, respectively).ConclusionThe mE-PASS and POSSUM models are ineffective in predicting postoperative morbidity in patients above the age of 70. In biliary tract cancer (BTC) patients undergoing radical operation, a combination of E-PASS and perioperative parameters generates a reasonable prediction value for severe complications.

Background: Previous studies have reported alterations in brain structure in major depressive disorder (MDD) patients with suicide attempts. However, age-related changes in suicidal MDD patients remain unclear. Methods: We performed a systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science were searched to identify relevant studies from inception to January 2023. All voxel-based and surface-based morphometry studies comparing suicidal MDD patients to MDD or healthy controls were included. Studies were then grouped by age range (old, middle-age, adolescent) and the commonalities and age-related structural brain alterations were summarized. The included studies were evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Results: A total of 17 studies met the inclusion criteria, including 3 of late-life depression (LLD) patients, 11 of middle-aged depression (MAD) patients, and 3 of adolescent depression (AOD) patients. The majority of studies had moderate to high NOS scores, indicating good quality. Patients in all three age groups exhibited extensive alterations in the lateral, medial, and orbital regions of the frontal lobes. Furthermore, suicidal MAD patients showed a specific decrease in the gray matter volume of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex compared to suicidal LLD patients. Cortical thickness and left angular gyrus volume were decreased in suicidal MAD and suicidal LLD patients, but increased in suicidal AOD patients. Conclusion: This systematic review summarizes structural brain changes in suicidal MDD patients at three age groups: elderly, middle-aged, and adolescent. These findings help elucidate the common circuitry of MDD related to suicide over the lifespan and highlight unique circuitry associated with different ages. These findings may help predict the risk of suicide in MDD patients at different ages.

To investigate the effect of calcium (Ca) application on post-harvest fruit quality in Nanfeng tangerines, this study sprayed three calcium fertilizers (Calbit, Larry 8 Calcium, and Suspended Calcium) before harvesting. The fruit quality was assessed over a storage period of 0–60 d at a controlled room temperature of 20 ± 5 °C. The evaluation methods included principal component analysis (PCA) and linearly weighted summation. Pre-harvest calcium treatments increased the fruit calcium content and maintained higher firmness and shear. Compared to the control group, fruits treated with Calbit exhibited decreased levels of decay, weight loss, and respiration rates. Additionally, they demonstrated higher values of L*, b*, C*, and H° and lower values of a* and CCI. Moreover, the Larry 8 Calcium and Calbit treatments increased the levels of soluble solids, total soluble sugars, titratable acids, and VC content in the fruit. They accelerated the decomposition of tartaric, oxalic, and citric acids in the pulp, promoting the accumulation of sucrose and glucose. PCA and comprehensive evaluation scores indicated that the comprehensive scores assessing the storage quality of Nanfeng tangerine fruits treated with pre-harvest Larry 8 Calcium and Calbit were higher than those of the control group. The highest composite quality scores for Calbit-treated fruits were observed at 40 and 60 d, and the highest scores for Larry 8 Calcium were recorded at other intervals. These findings suggest that pre-harvest calcium application improved the post-harvest fruit quality of Nanfeng tangerines, with Larry 8 Calcium and Calbit emerging as favorable options.

Evidence points to increasing the development of floating wind turbines to unlock the full potential of worldwide wind-energy generation. Barge-type floating wind turbines are of interest because of their shallow draft, structural simplicity, and moonpool-damping effect. Based on the BEM potential flow method, this study uses ANSYS-AQWA software to create a floating-barge moonpool platform model equipped with an OC5 NREL 5 MW wind turbine, to study the effect of the damping lid method on the resonance of the moonpool gap water, the wind–wave coupling effect, and the dynamic response of the FOWT and mooring system after single-line and double-line failure. The results show that the damping lid method, based on the potential flow theory, can effectively correct the effect caused by the lack of viscosity; the effect of a single breakage of upwind mooring lines on the motion is mainly in the sway and yaw modes, and after mooring line 8 breaks, the maximum tension of the adjacent mooring line increases by 2.91 times compared to the intact condition, which is 58.9% of the minimum breaking strength; and the breakage of two mooring lines located at one corner leads to a surge drift of up to 436.7 m and a cascading failure phenomenon.

The advents in continuous fibre-reinforced polymer additive manufacturing (CFRP-AM) present unprecedented opportunities for the rapid development of next-generation high-performance composites with selectively and spatially distributed reinforcement. However, the widely adopted 3-degree-of-freedom motion configuration in current CFRP-AM systems hinders the exploration of composite structures with non-planar fibre layouts. This work presents a novel conformal CFRP-AM system to fabricate grid-stiffened shell structures leveraging its multi-DoF motion to pattern spatial features. The system integrates a 6-axis robot with an optimally designed co-extrusion module and operates through a design-to-manufacturing workflow. The proposed workflow includes three steps: system calibration, conformal toolpath generation, and process implementation. The conformal toolpath generation is a surface-mapping-based method that allows a simultaneous exploration of various geometric designs and their toolpaths. Experimental comparisons were made between parts fabricated by different processes, i.e., planar and conformal based, with different toolpaths, i.e., shells filled with zigzag and arc-offset patterns, and with various geometric designs, i.e., stiffener ribs with different crossline angles. The results manifest that the proposed system can significantly improve the compression strength and stiffness of grid-stiffened shell structures. Meanwhile, the additional design freedom on process and structure opens up a new possibility to customise their mechanical performance.

Abstract The use of computer vision for fish monitoring in aquaculture fisheries has gained importance. It is crucial to obtain the object box, instance mask and landmarks of the fish to determine their status. There are well‐established methods to achieve these tasks, but running them in a serial sequence is inefficient and complex. A multi‐tasking framework is proposed that can implement the above three tasks in parallel, FishNet. Unlike other multi‐tasking frameworks that use one encoder with multiple decoders, the authors use only one encoder and one decoder to achieve multi‐tasking fusion and can be trained end‐to‐end. A multi‐task dataset for fish is produced to validate the framework. It achieved the best speed‐accuracy balance on object detection (a 95.3% box AP), instance segmentation (a 53.9% mask AP) and pose recognition (95.1% OKS AP), and reached real‐time inference speed (66.3 FPS) on the NVIDIA Tesla V100.

Introduction Migraine is a widespread neurological disorder characterised by recurrent moderate-to-severe headaches. These headaches can seriously affect patients’ daily life and work, especially during acute attacks when patients often need immediate pain relief. This study aims to assess the immediate analgesic effect of acupuncture for 10 min during acute migraine attacks.Methods and analysis The study will randomly divide 80 participants into either the acupuncture group or the sham acupuncture group with an allocation ratio of 1:1. Each group will receive 10 min of treatment, and the post-treatment evaluation will be performed after 0, 0–2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 min of acupuncture. The primary outcome is the pain Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score assessed before and after treatment at 10 min. Additionally, secondary outcomes include the pain VAS score assessed at 0–2, 4, 6 and 8 min, blinding assessment and treatment effectiveness expectations scale. Data will be collected at baseline time and the end of treatment (after 10 min). Adverse events during each treatment period will be collected and recorded.Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine (2022–008). All participants will provide written informed consent before randomisation. The results of this study will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at conferences.Trial registration number Chinese Clinical Trial Registration Center (ChiCTR2200066976).

In this study, 50% iron ore tailings (IOTs) were used to prepare the cemented mortar at low economic costs and with great environmental benefits. Basalt fiber (BF) and polyacrylonitrile fiber (PANF) were added to the tailing mortar to improve the comprehensive performance of tailing mortars, including BF (0~0.5%), PANF (0~0.05%) and the combination of them. The results show that the addition of BF and PANF can significantly improve the ultrasonic velocity, uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), split-tensile strength (STS), flexural strength (FS) and toughness of the tailing mortar. A novel finding is that the enhancement of hybrid fibers is much better than single fiber, and the best hybrid fiber combination is B0.25P0.05 (0.25 wt% BF and 0.05 wt% PANF), because this combination not only causes the most considerable increase in strength but also possesses great cost-effectiveness. Compared to the B0P0 group without fibers, the maximum increments of B0.25P0.05 in UCS, STS and FS are 45.74%, 52.33% and 15.65%, respectively. It is evidenced that the improvement in STS is the largest because the fibers have good cracking resistance and bridging effect in the tailing mortar. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) further confirms that too many hybrid fibers will agglomerate and produce more voids, which is harmful to the development of the internal structure. Beyond B0.25P0.05, the hydration products are also reduced due to the decrease in nucleation sites, observed by combining X-ray diffraction (XRD) tests. Therefore, it is suggested that the hybrid fibers containing 0.25% BF and 0.05% PANF should be used in this tailing mortar.

Abstract The single event burnout (SEB) effects of SiC power MOSFET are investigated by irradiations. An SEB is observed when drain biased above 400 V for 181Ta ion irradiation. The failure analysis shows a melting “hole” near the gate region due to the thermal runaway. Based on TCAD simulations, the impact ionization and parasitic bipolar are the key factors to trigger SEB in SiC MOSFET. Unlike the impact ionization, the turning on of the parasitic bipolar is not necessary for an SEB. But it will significantly reduce the threshold of SEB. Except for SEB, another permanent damage mode is also observed, which is manifested as the increase of leakage current and the abnormal of the output characteristics. This damage may be related to the latent track produced by heavy ion according to the failure analysis. The SEBs are observed for proton irradiations. The maximum LET value of the proton‐induced secondary ions can reach 13.9 MeV cm2/mg for 100 MeV proton. The simulations imply that most of the secondary ions can contribute to SEB. The biggest discrepancy from heavy ion irradiation is that no leakage current increases and output characteristics degradations are observed for the device without SEB after proton irradiation.

In this study, we developed a monoclonal antibody against picoxystrobin (PIC). After cell fusion, four cell lines (3C2, 4D1, 4G4 and 5D4) capable of producing monoclonal antibodies against oxystrobin were obtained. The monoclonal antibody produced by the cell line 3C2 was the most sensitive to PIC, and its IC50 value was 0.1 ng/ml. The monoclonal antibody was then used to prepare immunochromatographic strips, and its cut-off values in both phosphate-buffered saline solution and cucumber samples were 50 and 100 ng/ml, respectively. It was concluded that the ICS can sensitively and rapidly detect PIC in cucumber samples.

Dwarfing rootstocks are capable of high-density planting and are therefore urgently needed in the modern citrus cultivation system. However, little is known about the physiological relevance and molecular basis underlying citrus height. This study aimed to comprehensively analyze phytohormone, carbohydrate, and associated transcriptome changes in the stem of two weak growth rootstocks (‘TO’ and ‘FD’) relative to the vigorous ‘CC’ rootstock. The phenotypic observation revealed that the plant height, plant weight, and internode length were reduced in dwarfing rootstocks. Moreover, the contents of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), trans-zeatin (tZ), and abscisic acid (ABA), were higher in TO and FD rootstocks, whereas the gibberellin 3 (GA3) content was higher in the CC rootstocks. The carbohydrate contents, including sucrose, fructose, glucose, starch, and lignin significantly decreased in both the TO and FD rootstocks. The full-length transcriptome analysis revealed a potential mechanism regulating dwarfing phenotype that was mainly related to the phytohormone signaling transduction, sugar and starch degradation, lignin synthesis, and cellulose and hemicellulose degradation processes. In addition, many transcription factors (TFs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and alternative splicing (AS) events were identified, which might act as important contributors to control the stem elongation and development in the weak growth rootstocks. These findings might deepen the understanding of the complex mechanisms of the stem development responsible for citrus dwarfing and provide a series of candidate genes for the application in breeding new rootstocks with intensive dwarfing.

The article focuses on supported atomically dispersed palladium (Pd) catalysis for direct alkoxylation and allylic alkylation, emphasizing the catalyst's efficiency and unique mechanism. It discusses the utilization of atomically dispersed Pd on titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanosheets for direct allylic alkylation from allylic alcohols, highlighting the role of hydrogen bonding at the organic-inorganic interface in facilitating the reaction.

Abstract Background Jianpi-yangwei (JPYW), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), helps to nourish the stomach and spleen and is primarily used to treat functional declines related to aging. This study aimed to explore the antiaging effects and mechanism of JPYW by employing a Caenorhabditis elegans model. Methods Wild-type C. elegans N2 worms were cultured in growth medium with or without JPYW, and lifespan analysis, oxidative and heat stress resistance assays, and other aging-related assays were performed. The effects of JPYW on the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the expression of specific genes were examined to explore the underlying mechanism of JPYW. Results Compared to control worms, JPYW-treated wild-type worms showed increased survival times under both normal and stress conditions (P

In this study, we prepared a monoclonal antibody against pyrimethanil, for which we first derived its hapten according to the structural formula of pyrimethanil; we used indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ic-ELISA) to screen positive mice for cell fusion; finally, we developed five cell lines (1A5, 1E7, 3A6, 3H12 and 5D4) that produced monoclonal antibodies to pyrimethanil. The monoclonal antibody produced by each cell was detected by ic-ELISA, and the monoclonal antibody produced by the 1E7 cell strain was found to be the most sensitive to pyrimethanil. The IC50 value of this antibody was 4 ng/ml. After using this monoclonal antibody, i.e. 1E7, to perform immunocolloidal gold strip treatment on cucumber samples, the PBS and the cucumber samples cutoff value of Immunochromatographic strips (ICS) was found to be 50 ng/ml; We conclude that ICS can rapidly detect pyrimethanil in cucumber samples.

In order to improve the production efficiency of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) by anaerobic fermentation of food waste and reduce the cost for the production of organic deicing salt (ODS), ceramic microfiltration (MF) membrane separation was applied in the conventional food waste fermenter to build an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR). Results showed that the maximum VFA concentration in AnMBR was up to 55.37 g/L. Due to the fact that the MF membrane could realize in situ separation of VFAs, the recovery of VFAs could reach 95.0%; 66.6% higher than that of traditional fermentation reactors. After the application of the MF membrane, more than 20.0% of soluble COD, 40.0% of proteins, and 50.0% of polysaccharides were retained and more than 90.0% of VFAs could be transferred in a timely fashion in the AnMBR system. In addition, the enrichment effect of the MF membrane enhanced enzymatic activities such as protease, α-Glucosidase and acetate kinase, and increased the abundance of some important bacteria for organic acid generation such as Amphibacter, Peptoniphilus and Halomonas, which made a significant contribution to the yield of VFAs. After concentration, evaporation and crystallization, the melting efficiency of obtained ODS can reach more than 90.0% in chloride salts, which was 112.0% of commercial calcium magnesium acetate (CMA). When compared to chloride salts and CMA, ODS was more environmentally-friendly as it can reduce the corrosion of carbon steel and concrete significantly. This study created a new way of converting food waste into a high-value organic deicing agent, realizing the resource utilization of solid waste and reducing the production cost of organic deicing agents.

Abstract Background Catheter-related bladder discomfort (CRBD), secondary to catheterization of urinary bladder is distressing. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of preoperative education on CRBD with image illustration for alleviating CRBD. Methods Sixty adult male patients, undergoing elective colonal and rectal surgery, were randomized to receive tetracaine mucilage instilled into the urethra and applied to the catheter (tetracain group), or receive tetracaine mucilage in combination with image illustration on CRBD (image group) before urethral catheterization. The incidence and severity of CRBD were assessed at 0.5, 1, 2, and 6 h after patients’ extubation. The severity of postoperative pain, incidence of postoperative agitation and other adverse events were also recorded. Results Patients in image group reported remarkably less CRBD than those in tetracaine group at 0.5,1, 2 and 6 h after extubation (20, 20, 6.7 and 6.7% v.s. 60, 73.3, 53.3 and 53.3%, respectively, P

The transcription factor retinoid X receptor-alpha (RXRα) can also form homotetramers. Here the authors show that the anti-cancer agent K-80003 selectively inhibits the nongenomic action of N-terminally-cleaved RXRα in tumour cells by stabilizing its tetramerization but not that of full-length RXRα.