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Objective. To investigate the clinical significance and safety of interferon in the treatment of chronic myeloproliferative tumors (MPN). Methods. In this prospective study, a total of 120 patients with advanced chronic MPN admitted to our hospital between April 2016 and August 2020 were assessed for eligibility and recruited, including 62 patients with JAK2V617F mutation-positive ET (ET group) and 58 patients with JAK2V617F mutation-positive PV (PV group). 62 patients with JAK2V617F mutation-positive ET were assigned (1 : 1) to receive interferon-α (IFN-α) or hydroxyurea (HU). A similar subgrouping method for treatment of IFN-α and HU was introduced to patients with JAK2V617F mutation-positive PV. Outcome measures included efficacy and adverse reactions. Results. For patients with JAK2V617F mutation-positive ET and PV, there were no significant differences in the overall response rate between the groups treated with IFN-α or HU ( P > 0.05 ); however, the patients treated with IFN-α had a significantly higher 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) than those treated with HU ( P < 0.05 ). IFN-α was associated with a significantly lower incidence of disease progression, thrombotic events, splenomegaly, myelofibrosis, nausea, and vomiting and a higher incidence of hematological adverse reactions and flu-like symptoms versus HU ( P < 0.05 ). After six months of treatment, the PV group had 12 cases of hematological response both in the IFN-α subgroup and the HU subgroup and fewer PV patients treated with IFN-α required phlebotomy versus those treated with HU ( P < 0.05 ), in which 4 patients in the IFN-α subgroup had no hematological response and 6 patients in the HU subgroup had no hematological response. There was no significant difference in the number of cases with phlebotomy between the two subgroups of PV patients without hematological response ( P > 0.05 ). Conclusion. The use of IFN in the treatment of JAK2V617F mutation-positive ET and PV patients yields a prominent clinical effect by prolonging PFS and avoiding phlebotomy for JAK2V617F mutation-positive PV patients.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) represents the commonest etiologic agent of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) in most Asian countries. Nucleos(t)ide analogs (NAs) are effective in the treatment of chronic HBV infections, but may also exacerbate the disease and stimulate its development into HBV-associated ACLF if not used appropriately. The current study aimed to assess the prevalence and severity of HBV-associated ACLF as a result from irregular medication of NAs (IMNA). A total of 1134 individuals with HBV-associated ACLF in nine hospitals in Heilongjiang Province were enrolled in this study between 2005 and 2015. Among these, 777 chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and 357 HBV-associated liver cirrhosis cases were classified based on various predisposing factors, including IMNA, HBV reactivation (HBVR), infections, treatment drugs, alcohol use and others (hepatitis C virus, hepatitis E virus, gastrointestinal bleeding and unknown reasons). The percentage and improvement rate were examined. Among individuals with HBV-associated ACLF and CHB, IMNA was found in 9.01%, HBVR in 46.20%, infections in 9.52%, treatment drugs in 14.67%, alcohol in 11.71%, and others in 24.58% as predisposing factors. Improvement rates in cases with IMNA, HBVR, infections, treatment drugs, alcohol and others were 41.43%, 58.50%, 58.11%, 56.14%, 53.85%, and 65.97%, respectively. Multivariable analysis showed that IMNA, others, infections, hepatic encephalopathy and hepatorenal syndrome were associated with prognosis. Only IMNA independently predicted HBV-associated ACLF prognosis. Overall, our study demonstrated that the percentage of IMNA-induced HBV-associated ACLF was 12.61%, and worse disease conditions resulted from IMNA compared with other factors. Thus, the suitability of treatment with NAs should be thoroughly evaluated.

Chemical corrosion and hydraulic fracturing are important ways to improve the permeability of the enhanced geothermal systems. In this work, we developed a discrete element code for simulating the hydraulic fracturing of three different fracture network models after chemical corrosion. Mechanisms of the crack extension and coalescence in the field-scale models with fracture network were systematically revealed, in which the effects of corrosion time, inclination of the fracture (γ), pH value and hydraulic pressure were considered. The results show that the simulated cracking behaviors of granites agree well with those obtained through Brazilian tests and triaxial compression tests, verifying the validity of the developed discrete element code. During hydraulic fracturing, the impact of γ on the fracture network connectivity increases with the increment of hydraulic pressure (Pin). With the increase in hydraulic pressure, crack propagation accelerates whereas the connectivity of fracture network models decreases. The reasons are that the excessive hydraulic pressure causes the crack to spread in an unfavorable direction and increases the effect of γ on the connectivity of models of fracture networks. As the pH value increases from 2 to 12, the crack growth rate first decreases and subsequently raises. The numbers of cracks per time step of sparse mixed fracture networks with artificial fractures (SM), dense mixed fracture networks with artificial fractures (DM) and dense mixed fracture networks without artificial fractures (NDM) are in the ranges of 0.06601–0.1259, 0.05176–0.2072 and 0.1727–0.6846, respectively. The connectivity of SM is better than that of NDM under the same hydraulic fracturing conditions, indicating that artificial fractures can greatly improve the fracture network connectivity and the utilization efficiency of EGS.

The slurry–earth pressure balance dual-mode shield has an earth pressure balance (EPB) and slurry shield functions. Based on a shield tunnel project of Guangzhou Metro Line 12 in China, this study investigates the clogging prevention of a slurry–earth pressure balance dual-mode shield in a composed stratum with medium–coarse sand and argillaceous siltstone. The results show that the slurry mode was not applicable to the composed stratum with medium–coarse sand and argillaceous siltstone. The excavated soil accumulated easily in the slurry chamber, causing shield clogging. The total thrust force of the shield increased significantly, the tunneling speed gradually decreased to 0, and the torque of the cutterhead increased slightly after the slurry shield was clogged. The fluctuation in the total thrust force, the cutterhead torque, and the tunneling speed also increased significantly. The EPB mode is recommended for composed strata with medium–coarse sand and argillaceous siltstone. The dispersible foam agent and water needed to be used for soil conditioning. The injection amount of foam and water was determined according to the status of the mud discharged by the screw conveyor. Water absorption can be used to characterize the water absorption capacity of particles larger than 0.15 mm. The ideal soil state was that the consistency index of the particles smaller than 0.15 mm was less than 0.5 to prevent the EPB shield from clogging. The water absorption of soil with a particle larger than 0.15 mm should be removed when calculating the consistency index.

Helium diffusion in mantle minerals is crucial for understanding mantle structure and the dynamic processes of Earth's degassing. In this paper, we report helium incorporation and the mechanism of its diffusion in perfect crystals of quartz and coesite. The diffusion pathways, activation energies (Ea), and frequency factors of helium under ambient and high pressure conditions were calculated using Density Functional Theory (DFT) and the climbing image nudged elastic band (CI-NEB) method. The calculated diffusive coefficients of He in the quartz in different orientations are: D[100] = 1.24 × 10−6 exp. (−26.83 kJ / mol / RT) m2 /s D[010] = 1.11 × 10−6 exp. (−31.60 kJ / mol / RT) m2 /s and in the coesite: D[100] = 3.00 × 10−7 exp. (−33.79 kJ / mol / RT) m2 /s D[001] = 2.21 × 10−6 exp. (−18.33 kJ / mol / RT) m2 /s The calculated results indicate that diffusivity of helium is anisotropic in both quartz and coesite and that the degree of anisotropy is much more pronounced in coesite. Helium diffusion behavior in coesite under high pressures was investigated. The activation energies increased with pressure: Ea[100] increased from 33.79 kJ/mol to 58.36 kJ/mol, and Ea[001] increased from 18.33 kJ/mol to 48.87 kJ/mol as pressure increased from 0 GPa to 12 GPa. Our calculations showed that helium is not be quantitatively retained in silica at typical surface temperatures on Earth, which is consistent with the findings from previous studies. These results have implications for discussion of the Earth's mantle evolution and for recognition thermal histories of ultra-high pressure (UHP) metamorphic terranes.

The harmonious development of urban rail transit, underground space engineering, and social economy is the key to regional sustainable development. Based on synergetic theory, this paper constructs the coupling coordination evaluation system of “rail transport-social economy” composite system at the scale of a city cluster. With this system, the coupling and coordinated development pattern and characteristics of “rail transit-social economy” in the Yangtze River Delta city cluster from 2002 to 2020 were analyzed. The paper makes a horizontal comparison with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city cluster and the Pearl River Delta city cluster, as well as analyzes the differences in development and existing problems, and puts forward policy suggestions for rail and urban underground space development. The results show that: (1) The rail transit of 11 cities in the Yangtze River Delta shows a “step by step” development pattern. That is “national central city, provincial city, second-tier city, third-tier city, etc.”, accompanied by periodic changes of coupling and coordination degree. In addition, there is also the phenomenon of unbalanced development within the region; (2) From 2002 to 2020, the development of rail transit in the three city clusters shows a situation of “the overall supply is lacking and lags behind the social economy for a long time”. Among them, the Pearl River Delta city cluster has the most serious lags. Multi-channel financing, speeding up the construction of the rail transit scale according to local conditions, and improving operating efficiency are considered to be the keys to solve this problem; (3) In general, the coupling between rail transit and the social economy in the Yangtze River Delta city cluster is better than that in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city cluster and the Pearl River Delta city cluster, but the coordination is at a slight disadvantage.

Recently, the study of quantum materials through thermal characterization methods has attracted much attention. These methods, although not as widely used as electrical methods, can reveal intriguing physical properties in materials that are not detectable by electrical methods, particularly in electrical insulators. A fundamental understanding of these physical properties is critical for the development of novel applications for energy conversion and storage, quantum sensing and quantum information processing. In this review, we introduce several commonly used thermal characterization methods for quantum materials, including specific heat, thermal conductivity, thermal Hall effect, and Nernst effect measurements. Important theories for the thermal properties of quantum materials are discussed. Moreover, we introduce recent research progress on thermal measurements of quantum materials. We highlight experimental studies on probing the existence of quantum spin liquids, Berry curvature, chiral anomaly, and coupling between heat carriers. We also discuss the work on investigating the quantum phase transitions and quasi-particle hydrodynamics using thermal characterization methods. These findings have significantly advanced knowledge regarding novel physical properties in quantum materials. In addition, we provide some perspectives on further investigation of novel thermal properties in quantum materials.

Objectives To investigate the pulpal repair potential of an experimental zirconium-oxide containing tricalcium-silicate cement, referred to as ‘TCS 50’. Materials and methods The effect of TCS 50 on viability, proliferation, migration, and odontoblastic differentiation of human dental pulp cells (HDPCs) was assessed using XTT assay, in-vitro wound healing assay and RT-PCR, respectively. Additionally, the pulp-capping potential was evaluated using a vital human tooth model. Statistical analysis was performed using non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test and post-hoc test (Mann-Whitney U test). The tests were performed at a significance level of α = 0.05. Results The effect of TCS 50 towards HDPCs was dose dependent. Undiluted TCS 50 extract showed no immediate adverse impact on cell viability (p > .05); however, it significantly inhibited proliferation and migration of HDPCs (p < .05). A 25% diluted TCS 50 extract showed no significant effect on cell viability, proliferation or migration (p > .05), and it significantly enhanced odontoblastic differentiation of HDPCs (p < .05). In pulps capped with TCS 50 for both 2 and 4 weeks, H&E staining revealed a normal morphology of pulp tissue; mineralized foci with cellular components entrapped in the matrix were formed underneath the exposure site. Collagen I expression was weak within the matrix of mineralized foci, while the expression of nestin was positive for entrapped cellular components within the mineralized foci, indicating that the formed mineralized foci corresponded to an initial form of reparative dentin formation. Conclusion TCS 50 is capable of generating an early pulp-healing reaction and therefore could serve as a promising pulp-capping agent. ispartof: Materials Science & Engineering C-Materials For Biological Applications vol:116 ispartof: location:Netherlands status: Published online

A novel disordered structure crystal has drawn intense interest as a promising ultrafast laser crystal host for its broad absorption and emission bands. Herein, a novel disordered crystal of Nd3+-doped CaYAl3O7 (CYAM) was successfully grown using the Czochralski method for the first time. The effective segregation coefficient of Nd3+ ions in CaYAl3O7 was calculated to be 0.76. To better understand the intrinsic optical properties, the transmission spectra and refractive index of pure CaYAl3O7 were measured. A systematic investigation of the crystal structure characteristics, fluorescence lifetime, and polarized absorption and emission cross-sections of the Nd:CYAM crystal at RT was reported. The maximal absorption cross-sections are 3.51 and 5.34 × 10−20 cm2 for π-polarization and σ-polarization, with a FWHM of 18 nm. The emission cross-sections of π- and σ-polarization are 5.97 and 4.55 × 10−20 cm2 with FWHM values of 14 and 14.4 nm, respectively. The results show that the Nd:CYAM crystal has broad, strong absorption and emission cross-sections. In particular, effective continuous-wave laser operation was realized with this crystal in the a-cut sample for the first time. A maximum output power of 714 mW was achieved, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 7.14% and a slope efficiency of 8.6%. Collectively, these results show that the Nd:CaYAl3O7 crystal is a promising disordered laser host.

Fatty liver disease associated with metabolic dysfunction is of increasing concern in mainland China, the world's most populous country. The incidence of fatty liver disease is highest in China, surpassing the incidence in European countries and the USA. An international consensus panel recently published an influential report recommending a novel definition of fatty liver disease associated with metabolic dysfunction. This recommendation includes a switch in name from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to metabolic (dysfunction)-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and adoption of a set of positive criteria for disease diagnosis that are independent of alcohol intake or other liver diseases. Given the unique importance of this proposal, the Chinese Society of Hepatology (CSH) invited leading hepatologists and gastroenterologists representing their respective provinces and cities to reach consensus on alternative definitions for fatty liver disease from a national perspective. The CSH endorses the proposed change from NAFLD to MAFLD (supported by 95.45% of participants). We expect that the new definition will result in substantial improvements in health care for patients and advance disease awareness, public health policy, and political, scientific and funding outcomes for MAFLD in China.

Using the methods of literature review and logical analysis, from the perspective of healthy sports, this paper combs the development of campus football, and analyzes the impact of campus football on students' health and the prevention and control of potential risks. To further promote the development of campus football. The research shows that: the development of Chinese campus football has gone through three stages, and then it begins to get on the right track. In the process of development, it brings beneficial influence to students, but also has some potential risks. We should attach importance to it and guide campus football to develop in a virtuous circle through reasonable control.

The equivalent pipe network (EPN) model is an effective way to model fluid flow in large-scale fractured rock masses with a complex fracture network due to its straightforwardness and computational efficiency. This study presents the EPN model for characterizing fluid flow through three-dimensional fracture networks using the Monte-Carlo method. The EPN model is extracted from an original three-dimensional discrete fracture network (DFN) model and is used to simulate the fluid flow processes. The validity of the proposed EPN modeling approach is verified via the comparisons of permeability (k) with analytical solutions and simulation results reported in the literature. The results show that the numerically calculated k using EPN models agrees well with the analytical values of simplified DFN models and the simulation results of complex DFN models. The k increases following an exponential function with the increment of mean length of exponentially distributed fractures (u), which is strongly correlated with fracture density (P32) and average intersection length (Li). The P32 increases in an exponential way with the increment of u. The Li increases as u increases, following a power-law function. The increment of u leads to the increment of a number of long fractures in three-dimensional DFN models. A larger u results in a denser fracture network and a stronger conductivity when the number and length distribution range of fractures remain the same. The representative elementary volumes (REVs) of three-dimensional DFN models with u = 9 m and P32 = 0.4 m2/m3 are determined as 2.36 × 104 m3, 9.16 × 103 m3, and 1.26 × 104 m3 in 3 flow directions, respectively.

The harmonious development of urban rail transit, underground space engineering, and social economy is the key to regional sustainable development. Based on synergetic theory, this paper constructs the coupling coordination evaluation system of “rail transport-social economy” composite system at the scale of a city cluster. With this system, the coupling and coordinated development pattern and characteristics of “rail transit-social economy” in the Yangtze River Delta city cluster from 2002 to 2020 were analyzed. The paper makes a horizontal comparison with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city cluster and the Pearl River Delta city cluster, as well as analyzes the differences in development and existing problems, and puts forward policy suggestions for rail and urban underground space development. The results show that: (1) The rail transit of 11 cities in the Yangtze River Delta shows a “step by step” development pattern. That is “national central city, provincial city, second-tier city, third-tier city, etc.”, accompanied by periodic changes of coupling and coordination degree. In addition, there is also the phenomenon of unbalanced development within the region; (2) From 2002 to 2020, the development of rail transit in the three city clusters shows a situation of “the overall supply is lacking and lags behind the social economy for a long time”. Among them, the Pearl River Delta city cluster has the most serious lags. Multi-channel financing, speeding up the construction of the rail transit scale according to local conditions, and improving operating efficiency are considered to be the keys to solve this problem; (3) In general, the coupling between rail transit and the social economy in the Yangtze River Delta city cluster is better than that in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city cluster and the Pearl River Delta city cluster, but the coordination is at a slight disadvantage.

Illumination of the molecular mechanisms regulating odontoblastic differentiation of dental papilla cells is of great significance for proper dentinogenesis and dental pulp regeneration. In this study, we discovered that microRNA (miR)-3065-5p is up-regulated during odontoblastic differentiation. Overexpression of miR-3065-5p promoted odontoblastic differentiation in vitro. Dual luciferase report assay verified that miR-3065-5p could bind to the 3′UTR of bone morphogenetic protein receptor type II (BMPR2), which dramatically increased in the beginning of odontoblastic differentiation but decreased in the terminal differentiation stage. Inhibition of Bmpr2 in the early stage retarded odontoblastic differentiation while knockdown of Bmpr2 in the terminal stage enhanced odontoblastic differentiation, resembling the effect of miR-3065-5p. Taken together, our present study suggests that miR-3065-5p positively regulates odontoblastic differentiation by directly binding to Bmpr2 in the terminal differentiation stage.

With the rapid growth of scientific publications, research paper recommendation which suggests relevant research papers to users can bring great benefits to researchers. In this paper, we focus on the problem of recommending conference papers to the conference attendees. While most of the related existing methods depend on the content-based filtering, we propose a unified conference paper recommendation method named $CPRec$ , which exploits both the contents and the authorship information of the papers. In particular, besides the contents, we exploit the relationships between a user and the authors of a paper for recommendation. In our method, we extract several features for a user-paper pair from the citation network, the coauthor network, and the contents, respectively. In addition, we derive a user’s pairwise preference towards the conference papers from the user’s bookmarked papers in each conference. Furthermore, we employ a pairwise learning to rank model which exploits the pairwise user preference to learn a function that predicts a user’s preference towards a paper based on the extracted features. We conduct a recommendation performance evaluation using real-world data and the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method.

Our previous studies have demonstrated that KLF4 is a critical transcription factor that promotes the odontoblastic differentiation of dental papilla cells. Klf4 mRNA was found to be regulated by multiple microRNAs (miRNAs). Competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) are a group of transcripts post-transcriptionally regulating each other by competing for their common miRNAs. However, the regulation of Klf4 by ceRNAs in odontoblastic differentiation remains unknown. In this study, we predicted a group of potential Klf4 ceRNAs with bioinformatics approach, and examined the expression of Klf4 and five interested potential ceRNAs including Sp1 using real-time PCR during odontoblastic differentiation of mDPC6T. The expression levels of both Sp1 and Klf4 were significantly upregulated during this process. In situ hybridization verified that Sp1 was co-expressed with Klf4 in the differentiating and the mature odontoblasts in vivo. Knockdown of Sp1 using siRNA resulted in a significant reduction of Klf4 and vice visa. This interaction was further confirmed to be miRNA dependent. Common miRNAs of Klf4 and Sp1 were predicted, among which miR-7a, miR-29b and miR-135a were able to downregulate both Klf4 and Sp1 expression after their separate overexpression in the mDPC6T cells. Dual luciferase assays showed that these miRNAs separately regulated the 3'UTRs of both Klf4 and Sp1, and the down-regulation of Klf4 3 'UTR by Sp1 siRNA was abolished when these three miRNAs' binding sites were mutated in the Klf4 3 'UTR. Therefore, our results indicate that Sp1 functions as a ceRNA of Klf4 during odontoblastic differentiation through competing for miR-7a, miR-29b and miR-135a.

Event-based social networks (EBSNs) provide convenient online platforms for users to organize, attend and share social events. Understanding users' social influences in social networks can benefit many applications, such as social recommendation and social marketing. In this paper, we focus on the problem of predicting users' social influences on upcoming events in EBSNs. We formulate this prediction problem as the estimation of unobserved entries of the constructed user-event social influence matrix, where each entry represents the influence value of a user on an event. In particular, we define a user's social influence on a given event as the proportion of the user's friends who are influenced by him/her to attend the event. To solve this problem, we present a hybrid collaborative filtering model, namely, Matrix Factorization with Event-User Neighborhood (MF-EUN) model, by incorporating both event-based and user-based neighborhood methods into matrix factorization. Due to the fact that the constructed social influence matrix is very sparse and the overlap values in the matrix are few, it is challenging to find reliable similar neighbors using the widely adopted similarity measures (e.g., Pearson correlation and Cosine similarity). To address this challenge, we propose an additional information based neighborhood discovery (AID) method by considering both event-specific and user-specific features in EBSNs. The parameters of our MF-EUN model are determined by minimizing the associated regularized squared error function through stochastic gradient descent. We conduct a comprehensive performance evaluation on real-world datasets collected from DoubanEvent. Experimental results show that our proposed hybrid collaborative filtering model is superior than several alternatives, which provides excellent performance with RMSE and MAE reaching 0.248 and 0.1266 respectively in the 90% training data of 10000 users dataset. HighlightsWe define and solve the event-level social influence prediction problem in event-based social networks (i.e., EBSNs).We present a novel hybrid collaborative filtering prediction model which incorporates neighborhood methods into matrix factorization for social influence prediction in EBSNs.We extract three event-specific features and three user-specific features in EBSNs.We propose an additional information based neighborhood discovery (AID) method to find reliable similar neighbors.The experimental results on real-world datasets show the superiority of our model.

This paper reviews the AIM 2020 challenge on extreme image inpainting. This report focuses on proposed solutions and results for two different tracks on extreme image inpainting: classical image inpainting and semantically guided image inpainting. The goal of track 1 is to inpaint large part of the image with no supervision. Similarly, the goal of track 2 is to inpaint the image by having access to the entire semantic segmentation map of the input. The challenge had 88 and 74 participants, respectively. 11 and 6 teams competed in the final phase of the challenge, respectively. This report gauges current solutions and set a benchmark for future extreme image inpainting methods.

Image inpainting has a wide range of applications. However, to this challenge existing inpainting models that usually have a large model size can hardly run fast, as memory and supported operations are much limited. In this paper, we propose a novel light-weight inpainting model in which we design three novel operations named Equilibrium Conv Mask-wise Gated Conv, Difference Conv and define a new loss function based on SN-patchGAN. In specific, the incorporation of Equilibrium Conv and Mask-wise Gated Conv not only reduces the model size and improve the efficiency, but also keeps comparative performance. For Difference Conv, it is benefit to handle big mask problem. Moreover, our proposed loss results in a better performance in recovering images with rich textures. Experimental results demonstrate our model is 1.43\(\times \) speeding up and reduces the size by 2.37\(\times \) compared with the state-of-the-art model.

The reinforcement of disease dam in China is one urgent problem to be solved. Because the rivers and lakes in south of China are quite a lot, and many dams have been built in these rivers and lakes for power station and farmland irrigation in the 1960s or 1970s. Those dams are being “ill” because the building technology at that time is under-developed which causes those dams mostly to be being “ill”. With the increase of dam operation time, the majority of disease dams have been becoming seriously and have to be reinforced to extend the operation time. As one techology of dam reinforcement methods for environmental protection and save material, the splitting grouted has been created firstly and used in many dam reinforcements in China. With this technology, a certain amount of grouting pressure is applied at the dam axis to control the split dam body at first; after that, an appropriate amount of seriflux is injected into the dam body to fill the holes and crannies in the dam body, and form an effective anti-seepage solid bodies, thus improving the stress state of dam body and achieving the consolidating the dam structure. In the reinforcement technology, the slurry has been filled inside dam body, the slurry diffusion mechanism is the important for studying the working principle of splitting grouted. So, based on the numerical simulation, the slurry diffusion law has been simulated to investigate the mechanism of slurry diffusion. At the same time, the deformation of dam during the splitting grouted has been comparative demonstration. Through those numerical calculation, it can be founded that the strength of dam is improved and cracks are filled which because the splitting slurry has been diffusing from grouting port to dam body, and the dam has been moving to both sides of dam body. Those would lead to fill the fractures in dam body and form the impervious wall along the grouted ports.

Odontoblastic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) is essential for the formation of reparative dentin after dental caries or injury. Our previous studies have demonstrated that kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) is a critical transcription factor that promotes the odontoblastic differentiation of hDPSCs. Analysis of the microRNA binding sites within the 3'-UTR of KLF4 revealed that QKI, an RNA-binding protein, shared the most microRNAs with KLF4, presumably served as a "competent endogenous RNA (ceRNA)" with KLF4. Thus, we hypothesized QKI could also promote odontoblastic differentiation. In this study, we found QKI was up-regulated during mouse odontoblast differentiation in vivo and hDPSCs odontoblastic differentiation in vitro. Overexpression or knockdown of QKI in hDPSCs led to the increase or decrease of odontoblast marker genes' expressions, indicating its positive role in odontoblastic differentiation. We further validated that QKI served as a key ceRNA of KLF4 via interaction of the shared miRNAs in hDPSCs. Last, we found that, as an RNA binding protein, QKI protein could bind to, and stabilize dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP) mRNA, resulting in the augmented accumulation of DSP protein. Taken together, our study indicates that QKI promotes the odontoblastic differentiation of hDPSCs by acting as a ceRNA of KLF4 and as a binding protein of DSPP mRNA to stabilize its level. These two mechanisms of QKI will together positively regulate the downstream pathways and hence potentiate odontoblastic differentiation.

Objectives To evaluate the effect of the eluates from 3 freshly-mixed and setting hydraulic calcium-silicate cements (hCSCs) on human dental pulp cells (HDPCs) and to examine the effect of a newly developed hCSC containing phosphopullulan (PPL) on HDPCs. Methods Human dental pulp cells, previously characterized as mesenchymal stem cells, were used. To collect the eluates, disks occupying the whole surface of a 12-well plate were prepared using an experimental hCSC containing phosphopullulan (GC), Nex-Cem MTA (GC), Biodentine (Septodont) or a zinc-oxide (ZnO) eugenol cement (material-related negative control). Immediately after preparing the disks (non-set), 3 ml of Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) were added. The medium was left in contact with the disks for 24 h before being collected. Four different dilutions were prepared (100%, 50%, 25% and 10%) and cell-cytotoxicity, cell-proliferation, cell-migration and odontogenic differentiation were tested. The cell-cytotoxicity and cell-proliferation assays were performed by XTT-colorimetric assay at different time points. The cell-migration ability was tested with the wound-healing assay and the odontogenic differentiation capacity of hCSCs on HDPCs was tested with RT-PCR. Results Considering all experimental data together, the eluates from 3 freshly-mixed and setting hCSCs appeared not cytotoxic toward HDPCs. Moreover, all three cements stimulated proliferation, migration and odontogenic differentiation of HDPCs. Significance The use of freshly-mixed and setting hCSCs is an appropriate approach to test the effect of the materials on human dental pulp cells. The experimental material containing PPL is non-cytotoxic and positively stimulates HDPCs.

Shotcrete is an essential preliminary support means in New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) construction and plays a very important role in controlling the stability of surrounding rock. The accelerator is a necessary admixture in shotcrete and its quality can greatly affect shotcrete performance. This paper proposes a new liquid accelerator characterized by short initial and final setting time, small dosage, and good adaptability to cement. Laboratory tests and field tests are conducted to verify the influence of this liquid accelerator on performance of shotcrete. Numerical simulation is carried out to study the strength growth of shotcrete with time and interaction between the strength and stress release of surrounding rock. The results show that the initial and final setting time of this liquid accelerator is 2 minutes and 4 minutes respectively. Its dosage is just 1.5% to 4% of the cement quantity. Adding this liquid accelerator can effectively improve the early strength and reduce the later strength loss of shotcrete, and therefore enhance the supporting effects of shotcrete on surrounding rock. In the field application, it is an ideal liquid accelerator for shotcrete, characterized by little resilience, no slurry shedding, and low dust.

A kind of stabilizing controller in terms of being partially mode-dependent is developed for discrete-time Markovian jump systems (MJSs). The property referred to be partially mode-dependent is described by the Bernoulli variable. Based on the established model, the stabilization for MJSs over unreliable networks is considered, where both network-induced delay and packet dropout take place in system modes and states. Such effects of network are taken into account in controller design. All the conditions are derived in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Finally, illustrative examples are presented to show the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed method.

Many numerical methods are carried out to study the nonlinear failure behaviors of the rock; however, the numerical simulation methods for the failed rock are still in the research stage. This paper establishes the damage constitutive equation by combining the bilinear strain softening constitutive model with energy dissipation principles, as well as the energy failure criterion of mesoscopic elements based on the strain energy density theory. When the strain energy stored by an element exceeds a fixed value, the element enters the damage state and the damage degree increases with increasing energy dissipation. Simultaneously, the material properties of the damaged element change until it becomes an element with certain residual strength. As the load increases, the damage degree of an element increases. When the strain energy stored by an element exceeds the established value of the energy criterion, the element is defined to be failed. As the number of failed elements constantly increases, failed elements interconnect and form macrocracks. The rock fracture calculation program on the basis of the preceding algorithm is successfully applied to the fracture simulation process in Brazilian splitting and intermediate crack tensile tests. This method completes the nonlinear calculation process with linear calculation, avoids singularity of numerical calculation in element fracture, and simulates the rock post-peak fracture behaviors. The simulation results agree well with the test results, indicating the accuracy and feasibility of this method for simulating the rock fracture process.

Al has significant effect on properties of minerals. We reported crystal structure and elasticity of phase H, an important potential water reservoir in the mantle, which contains different Al using first principles simulations for understanding the effect of Al on the phase H. The crystal and elastic properties of Al end-member phase H (Al2O4H2) are very different from Mg end-member (MgSiO4H2) phase H and two aluminous phase H (Mg0.875Si0.875Al0.25O4H2 (12.5at%Al) and Mg0.75Si0.75Al0.5O4H2 (25at% Al)). However differences between Mg end-member phase H and aluminous phase H are slight except for the O-H bond length and octahedron volume. Al located at different crystal positions (original Mg or Si position) of aluminous phase H has different AlO6 octahedral volumes. For three Al-bearing phase H, bulk modulus (K), shear modulus (G), compressional wave velocity (Vp) and shear wave velocity (Vs) increase with increasing Al content. Under high pressure, density of phase H increases with increasing Al content. The Al content affects the symmetry of the phase H and then affects the density and elastic constants of phase H. The total ground energy of phase H also increases with increasing Al content. So an energy barrier for the formation of solid solution of phase H with δ-phase AlOOH is expected. However, if the phase H with δ-phase AlOOH solid solution does exit in the mantle, it may become an important component of the mantle or leads to a low velocity layer at the mantle.Al has significant effect on properties of minerals. We reported crystal structure and elasticity of phase H, an important potential water reservoir in the mantle, which contains different Al using first principles simulations for understanding the effect of Al on the phase H. The crystal and elastic properties of Al end-member phase H (Al2O4H2) are very different from Mg end-member (MgSiO4H2) phase H and two aluminous phase H (Mg0.875Si0.875Al0.25O4H2 (12.5at%Al) and Mg0.75Si0.75Al0.5O4H2 (25at% Al)). However differences between Mg end-member phase H and aluminous phase H are slight except for the O-H bond length and octahedron volume. Al located at different crystal positions (original Mg or Si position) of aluminous phase H has different AlO6 octahedral volumes. For three Al-bearing phase H, bulk modulus (K), shear modulus (G), compressional wave velocity (Vp) and shear wave velocity (Vs) increase with increasing Al content. Under high pressure, density of phase H increases with increasing Al content. ...

Event-based social networks (EBSNs) provide convenient online platforms for users to organize, attend and share social events. Understanding users’ social influences in social networks can benefit many applications, such as social recommendation and social marketing. In this paper, we focus on the problem of predicting users’ social influences on upcoming events in EBSNs. We formulate this prediction problem as the estimation of unobserved entries of the constructed user-event social influence matrix, where each entry represents the influence value of a user on an event. In particular, we define a user’s social influence on a given event as the proportion of the user’s friends who are influenced by him/her to attend the event. To solve this problem, we present a combined collaborative filtering model, namely, Matrix Factorization with Event Neighborhood (MF-EN) model, by incorporating event-based neighborhood method into matrix factorization. Due to the fact that the constructed social influence matrix is very sparse and the overlap values in the matrix are few, it is challenging to find reliable similar event neighbors using the widely adopted similarity measures (e.g., Pearson correlation and Cosine similarity). To address this challenge, we propose an additional information based neighborhood discovery (AID) method by considering three event-specific features in EBSNs. The parameters of our MF-EN model are determined by minimizing the associated regularized squared error function through stochastic gradient descent. We conduct a comprehensive performance evaluation on real-world datasets collected from DoubanEvent. Experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed model compared to several alternatives.

Recent years have witnessed the rapid growth of event-based social networks (EBSNs) such as Plancast and DoubanEvent. In these EBSNs, followee recommendation which recommends new users to follow can bring great benefits to both users and service providers. In this paper, we focus on the problem of followee recommendation in EBSNs. However, the sparsity and imbalance of the social relations in EBSNs make this problem very challenging. Therefore, by exploiting the heterogeneous nature of EBSNs, we propose a new method called Heterogenous Network based Followee Recommendation (HNFR) for our problem. In the HNFR method, to relieve the problem of data sparsity, we combine the explicit and latent features captured from both the online social network and the offline event participation network of an EBSN. Moreover, to overcome the problem of data imbalance, we propose a Bayesian optimization framework which adopts pairwise user preference on both the social relations and the events, and aims to optimize the area under ROC curve (AUC). The experiments on real-world data demonstrate the effectiveness of our method.