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Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic inflammatory disorders affecting the digestive tract, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Ruscogenin, a prominent steroidal sapogenin present in radix ophiopogon japonicus, has shown a protective effect on attenuating the inflammatory response associated with inflammatory diseases, but the efficacy of ruscogenin in IBD remains unclear. The aim of this study is to explore the effect of ruscogenin on intestinal barrier dysfunction and inflammatory responses as well as the underlying mechanism in ulcerative colitis. A dextran sulfate sodium salt (DSS)-induced C57BL/6 mouse colitis model was employed for the in vivo studies, while in vitro experiments were performed in THP-1 cells and human intestinal epithelial cells involved in inducing inflammatory responses and pyroptosis using LPS/nigericin. The results indicated that ruscogenin treatment attenuated the symptoms of ulcerative colitis, reduced the release of inflammatory cytokines and the expression of pyroptosis-associated proteins, and restored the integrity of the intestinal epithelial barrier in colon tissue in mice. Moreover, ruscogenin inhibited LPS/nigericin-induced pyroptosis in THP-1 cells. Mechanically, ruscogenin inhibited NLRP3 inflammasome activation and canonical pyroptosis, at least in part, through the suppression of the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway. These findings might provide new insights and a solid foundation for further exploration into the therapeutic potential of ruscogenin in the treatment of IBD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Observational studies have indicated associations between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease (PD). Objective: To evaluate the causal associations of IBD with PD and other selected neurodegenerative disorders using updated data. Methods: Bidirectional two‐sample Mendelian randomization studies using genome‐wide association studies summary statistics of IBD and PD. Results: We found a lack of evidence for the causal association of IBD on PD (odds ratio [OR], 1.014; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.967–1.063; P = 0.573). Reverse analysis also indicated no evidence of a causal effect for PD on IBD (OR, 0.978; 95% CI, 0.910–1.052; P = 0.549). The causality between IBD and Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis was unfounded (all P > 0.05). Conclusions: The updated analyses provide no clear evidence for causal associations of IBD with PD or the other three neurodegenerative diseases. Potential confounders might contribute to the previously observed associations, and further investigations are warranted. © 2023 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has led to a fundamental number of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Glucosamine was indicated to help prevent and control RNA virus infection preclinically, while its potential therapeutic effects on COVID‐19‐related outcomes are largely unknown. To assess the association of habitual glucosamine use with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection, hospital admission, and mortality with COVID‐19 in a large population based cohort. Participants from UK Biobank were reinvited between June and September 2021 to have SARS‐CoV‐2 antibody testing. The associations between glucosamine use and the risk of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection were estimated by logistic regression. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for COVID‐19‐related outcomes were calculated using COX proportional hazards model. Furthermore, we carried out propensity‐score matching (PSM) and stratified analyses. At baseline, 42 673 (20.7%) of the 205 704 participants reported as habitual glucosamine users. During median follow‐up of 1.67 years, there were 15 299 cases of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection, 4214 cases of COVID‐19 hospital admission, and 1141 cases of COVID‐19 mortality. The fully adjusted odds ratio of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection with glucosamine use was 0.96 (95% CI: 0.92–1.01). The fully adjusted HR were 0.80 (95% CI: 0.74–0.87) for hospital admission, and 0.81 (95% CI: 0.69–0.95) for mortality. The logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard analyses after PSM yielded consistent results. Our study demonstrated that habitual glucosamine use is associated with reduced risks of hospital admission and death with COVID‐19, but not the incidence of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disorder that is hard to cure once diagnosed. Bisdemethoxycurcumin has shown positive effects on inflammatory diseases. However, the underlying bioactive interaction between bisdemethoxycurcumin and ulcerative colitis is unclear. The objective of this study was to determine the core target and potential mechanism of action of bisdemethoxycurcumin as a therapy for ulcerative colitis. The public databases were used to identify potential targets for bisdemethoxycurcumin and ulcerative colitis. To investigate the potential mechanisms, the protein-protein interaction network, gene ontology analysis, and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes analysis have been carried out. Subsequently, experimental verification was conducted to confirm the findings. A total of 132 intersecting genes of bisdemethoxycurcumin, as well as ulcerative coli-tis-related targets, were obtained. SRC, EGFR, AKT1, and PIK3R1 were the targets of highest potential, and the PI3K/Akt and MAPK pathways may be essential for the treatment of ulcerative colitis by bisdemethoxycurcumin. Molecular docking demonstrated that bisdemethoxycurcumin combined well with SRC, EGFR, PIK3R1, and AKT1. Moreover, the in vitro experiments suggested that bisdemethoxycurcumin might reduce LPS-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines levels in RAW264.7 cells by suppressing PI3K/Akt and MAPK pathways. Our study provided a comprehensive overview of the potential targets and molecular mechanism of bisdemethoxycurcumin against ulcerative colitis. Furthermore, it also provided a theoretical basis for the clinical treatment of ulcerative colitis, as well as compelling evidence for further study on the mechanism of bisdemethoxycurcumin in the treatment of ulcerative colitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most malignant tumors in brain with high morbidity and mortality. Mitophagy plays a significant role in carcinogenesis, metastasis, and invasion. In our study, we aim to construct a mitophagy-related risk model to predict prognosis in GBM.Methods: RNA-seq data combined with clinical information were downloaded from TCGA. The 4-gene risk model and nomograph was then constructed and validated in external cohort. Evaluation of immune infiltration, functional enrichment and tumor microenvironment (TME) were then performed.Result: A mitophagy-related risk model was established and patients in TCGA and CGGA were classified into low-risk and high-risk groups. In both cohorts, patients in low-risk group had improved survival, while high-risk group had poor prognosis. Also, the risk model was identified as an independent factor for predicting overall survival via Cox regression. Furthermore, a prognostic nomogram including mitophagy signatures was established with excellent predictive performance. In addition, the risk model was closely associated with regulation of immune infiltration as well as TME.Conclusion: In conclusion, our study constructed a mitophagy-related risk model, which can be utilized for the clinical prognostic prediction in GBM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As asymmetric interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (AIPMSM) has excellent performance but complicated topological structure, a novel high-resolution encoding and edge smoothing method is proposed for topology optimization of the asymmetric rotor of interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) in this study. This method aims to solve complex electromagnetic design problems with time-dependent performance through a multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) integrated with a high-resolution encoding and edge smoothing method. The complex structure is represented by a high-resolution image-like matrix and then vectorized by the edge smoothing method. Therefore, the commonly used discrete binary encoded variables related to the finite element (FE) model are replaced with a vectorized topological structure and other control variables. In this sense, high-resolution matrix and edge smoothing methods are used for the first time to represent the rotor topology of AIPMSMs. Compared with the traditional topology optimization method, the proposed method has the advantage of expressing more complex and vectorized topological structures; meanwhile, the obtained performance is accurate and trustworthy using conventional FE simulation. Numerical results show that a stable convergence is achieved with the avoidance of checkerboards and material overlapping. It is shown that the proposed method can find solutions with better performances, in comparison with the reference model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for fast magnetic field approximation for the optimal design of electromagnetic devices is urgent nowadays. However, due to the lack of a publicly available dataset and the unclear definition of each parameter in the magnetic field dataset, the expansion of data-driven magnetic field approximation is severely limited. This study presents a physics-informed generative adversarial network (PIGAN), as well as a permanent magnet linear synchronous motor (PMLSM)-based magnetic field dataset, for fast magnetic field approximation. It includes the current density, material distribution, electromagnetic material properties, and other parameters of the electric machine. Physics-informed loss functions are utilized in the training process, making the output governed by Maxwell's equation. Different slot-pole combinations of the PMLSM are involved in the dataset to extend the generalization of PIGAN. Some indicators for the further evaluation of magnetic approximation performance, including image-based metrics and calculation methods for the performance of electric motors, are presented in this study. Some challenges of magnetic field approximation using PIGAN are also discussed. The effectiveness of the physics-informed method is verified by comparing the magnetic field approximation results and the performance analysis results of the PMLSM with FEM, and the speed of PIGAN is approximately 40 times faster than that of FEM, while the accuracy is similar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a novel general pattern of assisted flux barriers in an asymmetric V-shape interior permanent magnet (AVIPM) machine is presented. The AVIPM machine has a symmetric permanent magnet (PM) structure and an asymmetric rotor core structure to realize the magnetic-field-shifting (MFS) effect. The general pattern can represent four possible types of assisted flux barriers at different positions on the rotor core and the final structure can be automatically determined by using optimization method. The advantage of the proposed optimization pattern is that the optimal design of assisted flux barriers in V-shape interior permanent magnet (VIPM) machines with high torque and low torque ripple can be generated within a short computing time. The proposed optimization method is applied to improve the structure of a conventional 8-pole 48-slot VIPM machine, which is commonly used for driving electric vehicles (EVs). A non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) is used for the global optimization of both a VIPM machine and an AVIPM machine. The electromagnetic performance is computed using a finite element analysis (FEA). Moreover, a frozen permeability (FP) method is applied to perform an accurate separation of PM torque and reluctance torque. The results exhibit that the peak output torque of the AVIPM machine is increased by 8.7% compared to a conventional VIPM machine with the same PM volume due to the notable MFS effect. In the meantime, the AVIPM machine has a better overload capability due to the larger contribution of reluctance torque. Moreover, the proposed machine has high efficiency of over 97%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare the treatment zone (TZ) measurements obtained using manual and software‐based methods in orthokeratology (ortho‐k) subjects and explore the TZ characteristics of children with slow and fast axial elongation after ortho‐k. Methods: Data from 69 subjects (aged 7 to <13 years old), who participated in three 24‐month longitudinal orthokeratology studies, showing fast (>0.27 mm, n = 38) and slow (<0.09 mm, n = 31) axial elongation, were retrieved. The TZ after ortho‐k was defined as the central flattened area enclosed by points with no refractive power change. TZ parameters, including decentration, size, width of the peripheral steepened zone (PSZ), central and peripheral refractive power changes and peripheral rate of power change, were determined manually and using python‐based software. TZ parameters were compared between measurement methods and between groups. Results: Almost all TZ parameters measured manually and with the aid of software were significantly different (p < 0.05). Differences in decentration, size and the PSZ width were not clinically significant, but differences (0.45 to 0.92 D) in refractive power change in the PSZ were significant, although intraclass coefficients (0.95 to 0.98) indicated excellent agreement between methods. Significantly greater TZ decentration, smaller TZ size and greater inferior rate of power change (relative to the TZ centre) were observed in slow progressors using both methods, suggesting a potential role of TZ in regulating myopia progression in ortho‐k. Conclusion: TZ measurements using manual and software‐based methods differed significantly and cannot be used interchangeably. The combination of TZ decentration, TZ size and peripheral rate of power change may affect myopia control effect in ortho‐k. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is a highly malignant type of digestive tract cancers with a poor prognosis despite therapeutic advances. Pyroptosis is an inflammatory form of programmed cell death, whereas the role of pyroptosis in EAC remains largely unknown. Herein, we identified a pyroptosis-related five-gene signature that was significantly correlated with the survival of EAC patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort and an independent validation dataset. In addition, a nomogram based on the signature was constructed with novel prognostic values. Moreover, the downregulation of GSDMB within the signature is notably correlated with enhanced DNA methylation. The pyroptosis-related signature might be related to the immune response and regulation of the tumor microenvironment. Several inhibitors including GDC-0879 and PD-0325901 are promising in reversing the altered differentially expressed genes in high-risk patients. Our findings provide insights into the involvement of pyroptosis in EAC progression and are promising in the risk assessment as well as the prognosis for EAC patients in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging evidence suggested that mitophagy may play an important role in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), whereas the association between mitophagy-related genes and HCC patients' prognosis remains unknown. In this study, we aimed to investigate the potential prognostic values of mitophagy-related genes (MRGs) on HCC patients at the genetic level. According to median immunoscore, we categorized HCC patients from TCGA cohort into two immune score groups, while 39 differential expression MRGs were identified. By using univariate analysis, we screened out 18 survival-associated MRGs, and then, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis was applied to construct a prognosis model that consisted of 9 MRGs (ATG7, ATG9A, BNIP3L, GABARAPL1, HTRA2, MAP1LC3B2, TFE3, TIGAR, and TOMM70). In our prognostic model, overall survival in the high and low-risk groups was significantly different P < 0.001 , and the respective areas under the curve (AUC) of our prognostic model were 0.686 for 3-year survival in the TCGA cohort and 0.776 for 3-year survival in the ICGC cohort. Moreover, we identified the risk score as the independent factor for predicting the HCC patients' prognosis by using single and multifactor analyses, and a nomogram was also constructed for future clinical application. Further functional analyses showed that the immune status between two risk groups was significantly different. Our findings may provide a novel mitophagy-related gene signature, and these will be better used for prognostic prediction in HCC, thus improving patient outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a novel pre-processing method is proposed for magnetic field approximation based on neural networks. The process of calculating magnetic fields based on neural networks is presented first. In order to save the training time and reduce the estimation error, an excitation distance function, which is inspired by an analytical formula of magnetic potential, is proposed to integrate the input data, such as the geometry, excitations, and boundaries. This pre-processing or roughly reduces the dimension of the input layer by three quarters, while the training process is accelerated by a more integrated input layer. Preliminary experiments show that the predicted results by the proposed pre-processing method are close to the ground truth, with a significant reduction of computation time compared with the traditional finite element method (FEM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a novel power supply system that utilises wind power to produce AC and DC power. A special designed generator based on bidirectional flux modulation effect is the key part of the proposed power supply system. The novel power system has a compact structure since the proposed generator has two electric port. There are three essential points that make the proposed system outstanding. One is the contra‐rotating rotors, which will cluster wind power even under low wind speed. Second one is the dual armature winding structure, which will provide AC and DC power simultaneously. There are two electric port in the proposed generator. One port can produce AC power to the non‐sensitive resistive load. The other can provide AC power with different frequency to the rectifier to obtain DC power. The induced voltage due to flux modulation effect can be used to offer AC power, and the induced voltage due to the outer rotor can be used to offer DC power. The voltage frequency of two sets windings is different. The last one is the air gap flux rotation speed amplification due to flux modulation effect. Time stepping finite element method is used to analyse the dynamic performance of the proposed machine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, an adaptive degrees-of-freedom (DoFs) finite-element method (FEM) is presented to solve the 3-D transient magnetic problems. For time-dependent problems, the error distribution changes over time, and hence mesh coarsening is needed in some regions to keep the number of DoFs small. In this novel h-type adaptive FEM, real mesh coarsening is replaced by an implicit elimination of DoFs, which avoids the following operations after mesh coarsening and the interpolation errors from fine mesh to coarse mesh. The DoFs to be eliminated are constrained by interpolation functions, which are formulated by the master DoFs. To adapt to the 3-D field, a constraint with a variable number of master DoFs and rational coefficients is adopted. The constraints are then integrated into the finite-element (FE) equation in the element level using the slave–master technique, which is followed by a global assembly process. After solving the global FE equation, the solution of constrained DoFs can be recovered from the solution of master DoFs. Several transient problems are computed to showcase the effectiveness of this proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an innovative approach to improve the cooling efficiency of fluid, the use of nanofluids has attracted increasing attention in engineering applications. In this paper, the impact on the natural convective heat transfer in disc-type transformer windings due to transformer oil-based nanofluids is studied numerically. A low-voltage winding using nanofluid (SiC/oil) as the coolant is modelled two-dimensionally and simulated by computational fluid dynamics and the multi-phase mixture model. The numerical method is validated with the existing results of transformers using conventional oil cooling, and grid-independence study is carried out for the nanofluid flow. Compared with transformer oil cooling, the temperature of nanofluid cooled winding is significantly reduced, while the temperature trend along the flow direction remains essentially the same. Moreover, the effects of nanofluid on the mass flow rate and the coolant temperature have been taken into consideration in the heat transfer analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An adaptive degrees-of-freedom finite element method (FEM) for 3-dimensional nonlinear magneto-thermal fields is proposed in this article. Both magnetic field and thermal field are discretized using a single FEM mesh, and their degrees of freedom (DoFs) are individually controlled based on the field characteristics. Before solving the algebraic equations, the constrained DoFs are removed using the slave-master technique. The computing time and the storage resources of the second set of FEM mesh are saved while meeting the different requirements on discretization. Data transfer between the thermal and magnetic fields are easily implemented, and mapping errors between different meshes are avoided. To showcase the feasibility and the effectiveness of this method, several numerical examples are tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]