Search

Background As a common geriatric chronic disease, sarcopenia has a high prevalence in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD), which increases the risk of adverse events such as falls and fractures, calf circumference, upper arm circumference, and Ishii score have been shown to be valuable in screening for sarcopenia, but are less commonly used in CHD patients. Objective To evaluate the accuracy and consistency of calf circumference, upper arm circumference, and Ishii score in screening for combined sarcopenia in hospitalized elderly patients with CHD. Methods A total of 213 CHD patients treated at the Department of Cardiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College from January 1, 2023 to May 31, 2023, were selected for the study, the body composition test instrument was used to detect indicators such as muscle mass and upper arm circumference, the measurement of calf circumference was performed, and Ishii score was calculated simultaneously. Spearman's rank correlation analysis was used to explore the correlation of upper arm circumference, calf circumference and Ishii score with indicators such as muscle mass, the diagnostic effect of upper arm circumference, calf circumference and Ishii score on sarcopenia in different people was analyzed by plotting receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and the optimal diagnostic cut-off values were determined, which were calculated as Kappa values to determine the consistency of the upper arm circumference, calf circumference and Ishii score with the diagnostic criteria of sarcopenia according to the Chinese Expert Consensus (2023) Criteria for the Prevention and Treatment of Sarcopenia in the elderly. Results The prevalence of combined sarcopenia in CHD patients was 27.2% (58/213). In the whole population, upper arm circumference and calf circumference was positively correlated with appendicular skeletal muscle mass, appendicular skeletal muscle mass index, and grip strength (P

Objective: This study aimed to make full use of walnut by-products. Methods: Ultrasonic-assisted ethanol extraction method was used to extract the antioxidant components of walnut shell and distraction wood. The changes of antioxidant components (total phenols and total flavonoids) and antioxidant activities (DPPH, ABTS, hydroxyl radical scavenging ability, Iron reduction antioxidant capacity-FRAP and ferrous ion chelating activity) of walnut by-products extract during the simulated digestion were studied in vitro, and their correlation was analyzed. Results: The total phenols(TPC), total flavonoids(TFC) content, and antioxidant activity of distraction wood were always higher than those of walnut shells (P＜0.05). After simulated in vitro digestion, the TPC and TFC of both walnut shell and distraction wood decreased gradually (Pstomach>intestine (P2+ chelating activity, the antioxidant capacity of the digestive juices showed a significant positive correlation with TPC and TFC (P

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a chronic life-threatening disease caused by organized blood clots that narrow or block the pulmonary arteries, leading to redistributions of blood flow and remodeling of the pulmonary microvascular bed. This progressive increase in pulmonary vascular resistance and pulmonary arterial pressure eventually results in right heart failure or even death. Pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) is considered the preferred treatment for CTEPH. However, approximately 40% of patients are unable to undergo PEA surgery due to distal lesions or complications. Balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) is an angiographically guided catheter intervention that uses appropriately sized balloons to dilate and open narrowed or occluded pulmonary vessels step by step. BPA holds great promise for offering a new treatment option for these patients. This article reviews the clinical efficacy and predictability of postoperative complications of BPA in treating CTEPH, as well as the advances in combined treatment of BPA with PEA or with riociguat, with the aim to provide reference for clinicians in selecting treatment options for CTEPH patients.

The optimization analysis of gears in a hybrid transmission is carried out using the micro-modification module in the simulation platform of system analysis software MASTA，aiming at the vibration and noise problems of gear meshing in hybrid transmission. By comparing the transmission error between gears before and after modification and the contact stress nephogram of the tooth surface, the effectiveness of micro-modification based on system analysis software MASTA is verified, which provides a reliable theoretical basis for actual modification. The analysis results show that the transmission error of the gear is obviously reduced after micro-modification, and the contact stress nephogram of the tooth surface has been improved to a great extent, which plays an active role in reducing the vibration and noise of the gear. Finally, the data collection and comparative analysis of vibration and noise of gears in transmission are carried out. The results show that the corresponding box vibration acceleration and gear noise will be significantly improved after the micro-modification of the gear pair.

Prognosis in pulmonary hypertension is closely associated with right heart function. In the early stage of pulmonary hypertension, the right ventricle can maintain the normal blood flow of the pulmonary circulation by increasing its contractility. As the disease progresses, the right ventricular afterload rises persistently, the right ventricle is gradually decompensated, even right heart failure occurs. Right ventricular-pulmonary arterial coupling refers to a matching between right ventricular contractility and afterload. The impairment of this coupling may be an early marker of right ventricular dysfunction. This article reviews the research progress of its assessment and application in pulmonary hypertension.

Oral anticoagulants can effectively reduce the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. However, patients with atrial fibrillation and chronic renal insufficiency have an increased risk in both stroke and bleeding, making anticoagulant therapy challenging. Compared with traditional anticoagulant warfarin, non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants are non-inferior to warfarin in efficacy and safety. They don't require routine monitoring of the international normalized ratio and have better patient compliance. However, all the non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants are partially metabolized through kidneys to a varying degree, and thus their administration in patients with atrial fibrillation and chronic renal insufficiency is controversial. This review summarizes the administration of oral anticoagulants in these patients to guide clinical practice.

Pulmonary thromboembolism(PTE)is the third most common cause of cardiovascular death. However, only about 20% to 30% of patients with high-risk PTE received systemic thrombolysis in real world, due to concerns about the risks such as major bleeding. Although systemic thrombolysis could decrease all-cause mortality of patients with intermediate-risk PTE, the risk of bleeding outweighs the benefits. Ultrasound-assisted catheter-directed thrombolysis (UA-CDT) could directly deliver thrombolytic drugs to the thrombus with lower doses needed. Meanwhile, ultrasound waves could also enhance thrombolysis. Therefore, UA-CDT is emerging as a new tool, with good efficacy and safety records, for the treatment of PTE. In the present review article, we introduce the mechanism, required device, common protocol, efficacy and safety of UA-CDT and discuss directions for future studies.

A lightweight power quality disturbances (PQDs) recognition model that integrates convolutional neural network (CNN) and Transformer (CaT) is proposed to address the high number of parameters and computational complexity in existing deep learning-based models. Depthwise separable convolutions are first employed to extract local features from the disturbance signals. An efficient softthreshold block is then introduced to reduce noise and redundant features without significantly increasing the model′s parameters or complexity. The Transformer model is used to capture global features of the disturbance signals. Finally, pooling layers, fully connected layers, and Softmax are applied to complete the recognition PQDs. Simulation experiments demonstrate that the CaT model effectively recognizes PQDs with fewer parameters and floating point operations, achieving high accuracy and strong noise robustness. Its lightweight, end-to-end design also results in shorter inference times compared to other deep learning models.

Objective To explore the mediating role of personality traits and mental resilience in the relationship between competence and job performance among junior officers. Methods Competency Inventory, 25-Item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-25), short version of the Big Five Personality Scale [Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI)], and Chinese Perceived Stress Scale (CPSS) were used as assessment tools to survey 586 junior officers selected by convenience sampling. Results ① For junior officers, their competence was positively and moderately correlated with job performance, openness personality, extroversion personality, agreeableness personality, responsibility personality, and total score and score for each dimension of psychological resilience (P < 0.01), and negatively and moderately correlated with neuroticism personality (P < 0.01). ② Significantly mediating role was observed in personality and mental resilience for competence and job performance in junior officers, with an indirect effect of 20.68% for personality and 33.18% for mental resilience. Conclusion Personality and mental resilience mediate significantly between competence and job performance in junior officers. Our findings provide a theoretical basis for the action mechanism of competence in job performance for junior officers.

The application of hyperpolarized 3He gas is extensive in fields such as neutron polarimetry, fundamental physics, and diagnostic medicine. The polarimetry measurement is crucial for 3He polarization systems. Typically, a free induction decay nuclear magnetic resonance (FID NMR) coil is used to detect the FID signal of 3He atoms. The measurement signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the coil is correlated with factors such as diameter, number of turns, and relative position to the cell. There is limited literature and insufficient experimental verification on the optimization analysis of FID NMR coils. In this study, an SNR model for the coil was established through theoretical analysis of the FID signal and coil noise. The FID NMR coil was experimentally validated in a 3He polarization system based on the metastability-exchange optical pumping (MEOP) technique, which is known for its high polarization efficiency. The experimental results indicated that for a cylindrical cell with both radius and height of rcell, the optimal SNR of the coil was achieved at a radius of rcell/2, which was consistent with the theoretical analysis. The relative error of the fitted SNR model was less than 10%, demonstrating its effectiveness. These research findings hold significant practical implications for optimizing the design of 3He polarization systems.

Virtual coupling of urban rail train sets represents a cutting-edge frontier in urban rail transit research, with the goal of improving operational efficiency of trains on the existing lines, particularly in the starting and stopping stages. This paper proposes an efficient collaborative control system for virtual coupling. Firstly, a model was constructed to simulate relative braking between urban rail train sets and it was used to generate relative braking distances between trains virtually coupled. Next, an efficient starting and stopping objective function was constructed at the collaborative control layer, and an optimized controller was devised to solve the objective function under constraints, generating key decision-making information for the leading and following trains during the starting and stopping stages. Subsequently, this study focused on the operation sequence planning technology, yielding the executable operation sequences of the leading and following trains, respectively. Finally, an LQR controller was designed, enabling the accurate following and control of operation sequences and the generation of execution instructions. Simulation results showed that the proposed control system for virtual coupling could achieve a parking time interval of less than 1.6s between the leading and following trains in urban rail transit within a speed range of 0~60 km/h, effectively improving the operational efficiency of virtually coupled urban rail train sets during the starting and stopping stages.

ObjectiveTo investigate the pollution levels of algal health products in China， the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method based on AQC derivation for BMAA and its isomers in algal health products was established.MethodsThe samples were treated by acid hydrolysis， nitrogen concentration and AQC derivatization， and then analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry， quantified by internal standard methods of two commercial isotope standards.ResultsIn the linear range of 0.25-100 μg/L， the correlation coefficients of BMAA toxins were all above 0.998. When the samples were 15 mg and the volume were 20.0 mL， the detection limits of BMAA， AEG and DAB were 133， 133 and 200 μg/kg， respectively. And the quantitative limits were 443， 443 and 667 μg/kg， respectively. The recoveries were between 86.7% and 126.0%， with the relative standard deviations between 1.1% and 14.0%. The detection rate for DAB was the highest in all samples （86%）， followed by AEG （23%） and BMAA （14%）. The concentrations of DAB， AEG and BMAA in the detectable samples were between 385-2 305， 250-518 and 472-698 μg/kg， respectively.ConclusionThe established method based on AQC derivation LC-MS/MS method is more efficient and accurate. The levels of BMAA toxins in domestic algae health products were relatively high， it should be paid more attention and to strengthen the supervision.

Mammalian defencins are cationic peptides with antimicrobial activity produced by a variety of cells. They are divided into α-defencins, β-defencins and θ-defencins, which exert antimicrobial effects mainly by increasing the permeability of bacterial membranes. Defensins can exert direct and effective bacteriostatic effect on both intracellular and extracellular mycobacteria, and can also exert anti-mycobacterial effect by chemotactic macrophages and neutrophils. The article aims to explore the potential of mammalian defensins as tuberculosis treatment or prevention drugs, summarizes and analyzes the anti-mycobacterial infection mechanism and effect of different mammalian defensins, to provide reference for the subsequent development of mammalian defensins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To establish a group psychological training program for improving the psychological capital of recruit training squad leaders, and to explore its intervention efficacy for their psychological capital and work engagement. Methods Delphi method was used to construct a psychological training program to improve the psychological capital of recruit training squad leaders. With convenient sampling, 71 recruit training squad leaders were enrolled from April 1 to May 30, 2023, and then randomly divided into experimental group (n=35, 6 times of psychological training, for 2 hours each time, twice a week) and control group (n=36, routine training). Pre-test, post-test and one-month follow-up measurements were conducted using Psychological capital questionnaire(PCQ) and Utrecht work engagement scale(UWES) in both groups. Results ① The expert authority coefficient (Cr) of the 2 rounds of expert consultation was 0.905, the positive coefficient was 100%, and the Kendall coordination coefficient was 0.142 and 0.260 (P < 0.001). The psychological capital group training program had 6 first-level indicators and 24 second-level indicators. ② After the intervention, the group-by-time interaction between the experimental group and the control group showed that the total scores of psychological capital and work engagement were significantly higher in the experimental group than the control group (Wald Chi-square=60.341, 101.410; P < 0.001). Conclusion Group training program can significantly improve the psychological capital and enhance work engagement for recruit training squad leadser.

Objective To construct a career management index system for army mental health personnel in order to promote the development of mental health personnel team. Methods A total of 82 mental health personnel were selected for semi-structured interviews. Colaizzi analysis was used for this qualitative research, and Delphi expert consultation was employed to establish a career management index system for army mental health personnel. Results The effective recovery rate of the questionnaires for the 2 rounds of expert consultation was 100%, with a recommendation ratio of 70% and 35% respectively, and the authority coefficient of the expert consultation was 0.86. The values of Kendall's concordance coefficients for each level ranged in 0.186 to 0.240 and 0.132 to 0.162, respectively (all P < 0.01), and the coefficient of variation of each indicator was < 20%. Finally, a career management index system for military mental health personnel was constructed, specifically including 4 first-level indicators (organizational mechanism, management content, implementation path and effect evaluation), 13 second-level indicators and 36 third-level indicators. Conclusion Our constructed career management index system for army mental health personnel has high authority and scientificity.

Edible mushrooms are a group of large fungi for culinary and medicinal use. Edible mushrooms are rich in nutrients such as polysaccharides, proteins, and vitamins. Research has proven that edible mushroom polysaccharides have multiple biological activities including anticancer, hyperglycemic, and antioxidant activities. Furthermore, they can regulate the performance of starch in raw materials due to their structure characteristics as biomacromolecules. Currently, edible mushroom powders or purified polysaccharides from edible mushrooms have been introduced as ingredients to starch-based foods, which not only has a great impact on the sensory, textural, and nutritional qualities, but also endows products with new functionality. In this paper, recent progress in the application of edible mushroom polysaccharides for the improvement of starch properties and starchy food quality is reviewed. The effects of edible mushroom polysaccharides on starch solubility and swelling capacity, thermal properties, gelatinization properties, gelling properties and digestion characteristics are summarized. The application of edible mushroom polysaccharides in endowing new functionalities to starchy foods is outlined. We hope that this review could provide a reference for research on the enhancing effect of edible mushroom polysaccharides on starch functionality, and provide a new idea for the innovative development of functional starchy foods.

In order to better improve the rationality and efficiency of the flat knitted sweater model, and to solve the problem that the flat knitting method is difficult to produce the complex structure of the suit, the garment CAD pattern technology was proposed to apply to the knitting process design of the flat knitted suit. The body-shaped female suit was selected as a research case, the application method and process of transforming the pattern structure of the front and back garment, sleeve and collar of the female suit was introduced in detail with CAD pattern technology, the design of the pattern structure drawing and the knitting program design of the computer flat knitting machine was analyzed after importing the SKT knitting intelligent software, and the finished female suit was finally knitted on the machine. The results show that the knitting process of women's suits prepared according to the paper pattern structure diagram meets the requirements of sweater processing technology, and the pattern is fit and beautiful, and the method is operability with high efficiency, and the knitting of the formed garment pieces can be precisely adjusted. Process data can provide reference practical application value and theoretical guiding significance for the development of unconventional knitted sweaters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to enrich sweater products, meet the needs of intelligent production of knitted sweater and apply the pattern to the manu facture of sweater craft template better, the implementation mode and result of pattern in smart knitting CAD software was analyzed, four kinds of template making methods of sleeve body conjoined pattern in smart knitting CAD software were put forward, direct implementation method, rotation method, one-step needle stopping method and multi-step needle stopping method, the four methods were compared from the aspects of template making, knitting and fabric appearance. The research results show that the shape of the same sleeve-body conjoined pattern can be realized by four kinds of template making methods in the smart knitting CAD software, that are four kinds of knitting implementation methods. By comparing the pattern making and knitting difficulty, its influence on fabric appearance and the deformation characteristics of four kinds of methods, the optimal knitting implementation mode of the pattern can be obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Food Safety & Quality is the property of Journal of Food Safety & Quality Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Food Safety & Quality is the property of Journal of Food Safety & Quality Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Accurate peach detection is a prerequisite for automated agronomic management, e.g., peach mechanical harvesting. However, due to uneven illumination and ubiquitous occlusion, it is challenging to detect the peaches, especially when the peaches are bagged in orchards. To this end, an accurate multi-class peach detection method was proposed by means of improving YOLOv5s and using multi-modal visual data for mechanical harvesting in this paper. RGB-D dataset with multi-class annotations of naked and bagging peach was proposed, including 4127 multi-modal images of corresponding pixel-aligned color, depth, and infrared images acquired with consumer-level RGB-D camera. Subsequently, an improved lightweight YOLOv5s (small depth) model was put forward by introducing a direction-aware and position-sensitive attention mechanism, which could capture long-range dependencies along one spatial direction and preserve precise positional information along the other spatial direction, helping the networks accurately detect peach targets. Meanwhile, the depthwise separable convolution was employed to reduce the model computation by decomposing the convolution operation into convolution in the depth direction and convolution in the width and height directions, which helped to speed up the training and inference of the network while maintaining accuracy. The comparison experimental results demonstrated that the improved YOLOv5s using multi-modal visual data recorded the detection mAP of 98.6% and 88.9% on the naked and bagging peach with 5.05 M model parameters in complex illumination and severe occlusion environment, increasing by 5.3% and 16.5% than only using RGB images, as well as by 2.8% and 6.2% when compared to YOLOv5s. As compared with other networks in detecting bagging peaches, the improved YOLOv5s performed best in terms of mAP, which was 16.3%, 8.1% and 4.5% higher than YOLOX-Nano, PP-YOLO-Tiny, and EfficientDet-D0, respectively. In addition, the proposed improved YOLOv5s model offered better results in different degrees than other methods in detecting Fuji apple and Hayward kiwifruit, verified the effectiveness on different fruit detection tasks. Further investigation revealed the contribution of each imaging modality, as well as the proposed improvement in YOLOv5s, to favorable detection results of both naked and bagging peaches in natural orchards. Additionally, on the popular mobile hardware platform, it was found out that the improved YOLOv5s model could implement 19 times detection per second with the considered five-channel multi-modal images, offering real-time peach detection. These promising results demonstrated the potential of the improved YOLOv5s and multi-modal visual data with multi-class annotations to achieve visual intelligence of automated fruit harvesting systems.

ObjectiveTo investigate the method and feasibility of establishing a rabbit heart-failure model using transverse aortic constriction (TAC).MethodsTwenty-five healthy male Japanese white rabbits were randomly divided into an operation group (n=15) and a sham-operation group (n=10). The animals in the operation group underwent TAC to establish the rabbit model of heart failure. The sham-operation group underwent thoracotomy but no narrowing operation. Cardiac function was evaluated using ultrasound at 4 and 8 weeks after operation. Eight weeks after operation, the descending aortic flow velocity was detected using cardiac ultrasound, combined with molecular biological indexes and pathological observations to verify the feasibility and stability of TAC in establishing the rabbit heart-failure model.ResultsEight weeks after operation, 13 rabbits in the operation group and 10 in the sham-operation group survived. The blood flow velocities at the constriction in the operation group were >2.20 m/s. Compared with the sham-operation group, the following outcomes in the operation group increased significantly (P

The shortage of feed grain is continually worsening in China, which leads to the transformation of feed grain security into national food security. Therefore, comprehensively integrating the basic data resources of feed nutrition and improving the nutritional value of all available feed resources will be one of the key technical strategies to ensure national food security in China. In this study, based on the description specification and attribute data standard of 16 categories of Chinese feed raw materials, more than 500,000 pieces of data on the types, spatial distribution, chemical composition and nutritional value characteristics of existing feed resources, which were accumulated through previous projects from the sixth Five-Year Plan to the thirteenth Five-Year Plan period, were digitally collected, recorded, categorized and comprehensively analyzed. By using MySQL relational database technology and PHP program, a new generation of feed nutrition big data online platform (http://www.chinafeeddata.org.cn/) was developed and web data sharing service was provided as well. First of all, the online platform provided visual analysis of all warehousing data, which could realize the visual comparison of a single or multiple feed nutrients in various graphic forms such as scatter diagram, histogram, curve line and column chart. By using two-dimensional code technology, all feed nutrition attribute data and feed entity sample traceability data could be shared and downloaded remotely in real-time on mobile phones. Secondly, the online platform also incorporated various regression models for prediction of feed effective nutrient values using readily available feed chemical composition in the datasets, providing dynamic analysis for feed raw material nutrient variation. Finally, based on Geographic Information System technology, the online platform integrated the data of feed chemical composition and major mineral element concentrations with their geographical location information, which was able to provide the distribution query and comparative analysis of the geographic information map of the feed raw material nutrition data at both provincial and national level. Meanwhile, the online platform can also provide a download service of the various datasets, which brought convenience to the comprehensive application of existing feed nutrition data. This research also showed that expanding feed resource data and providing prediction and analysis models of feed effective nutrients could maximize the utilization of the existing feed nutrition data. After embedding online calculation modules of various feed formulation software, this platform would be able to provide a one-stop service and optimize the utilization of the feed nutrition data.

Objective To determine the effects of improvement of G alpha q-protein carboxyl terminus imitation polypeptide (GCIP) on deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)/salt-induced cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis in mice. Methods After unilateral nephrectomy, 61 male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into control group (n=10), DOCA-salt group (n=14), GCIP 0.1 mg/kg group (n=12), GCIP 0.3 mg/kg group (n=12) and GCIP 1.0 mg/kg group (n=13). Except control group, the mice in other groups were given subcutaneous injection of deoxycorticosterone acetate (100 mg/kg) every 2 d and replacement of drinking water with 1% NaCl to prepare cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis model. At the same time, the GCIP groups were given subcutaneous injection of GCIP at corresponding doses, twice a day. Their survival rate was observed every day. The blood pressure (BP) was measured by a tail-cuff blood pressure system every 4 days, and cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography. Hematoxylin-Eosin (HE) and wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) staining in heart tissue were used to evaluate cardiac hypertrophy. Sirius red staining in heart tissue was used to evaluate cardiac fibrosis. Moreover, Western blot analysis was used to detect the expression of α-SMA, p38 and ERK1/2. Results Compared with the control group, the DOCA-salt group had obviously decreased survival rate (43%), increased BP level (25.61%), decreased left ventricular systolic function, and obvious hypertrophy and fibrosis in hear tissue (P < 0.05). GCIP treatment significantly increased survival rate (35%), decreased BP (12.40%), improved left ventricular systolic function and attenuated cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the expression of α-SMA and phosphorylation of p38 and ERK1/2 were increased in the heart tissue of the DOCA/salt-treated mice (P < 0.05), while GCIP treatment reversed above phenomena (P < 0.05). Conclusion GCIP can effectively inhibit DOCA/salt-induced hypertensive cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis, which is associated with its inhibition on phosphorylation of p38 and ERK1/2.

In view of the uneven mass distribution and the excessive weight of the power head gearbox bodies, and the first-order natural frequency is close to the excitation frequency generated by the second-stage gear transmission. The Genesis module in the Ansys Workbench simulation platform was used to analyze the modal topology of the gearbox. Based on the size to be optimized obtained from the topology optimization, the gearbox body was optimized by the target drive optimization tool. Without affecting the strength and rigidity of the gearbox body, the mass was reduced by 12.9%, and the first-order natural frequency was increased by 10.9%, which achieved the dual purpose of reducing weight and increasing the first-order natural frequency. The research results have practical guiding significance for saving manufacturing costs and improving product performance.

Objective To investigate the effect of tristetraprolin (TTP) on the proliferation of lung cancer cells and to explore the possible mechanism. Methods The human lung adenocarcinoma cells with tetracycline-inducible (Tet-on) expression regulatory system were established in H1975 and 1299 cells with the aid of lentivirus infection. Western blotting and q-PCR were used to confirm the overexpression of TTP in the cells after the doxycycline (Dox) treatment. Effect of TTP on the proliferation, migration and colony-forming capacity were detected by CCK-8 assay, Transwell test and colony forming unit test respectively. The cell apoptosis and cell cycle were measured by flow cytometry. The expression of cellular apoptosis-related proteins were determined by Western blotting. Results Lung adenocarcinoma cells with Dox-induced TTP overexpression were successfully established. Compared with the cells with low TTP expression, those with Dox-induced TTP overexpression siginicantly inhibited proliferation, migration(H1975: P < 0.01, H1299: P < 0.001)and colony-formation (all P < 0.0001) in lung adenocarcinoma cells H1975 and H1299. What's more, H1975 cells were arrested at S stage (P < 0.01). However, TTP overexpression exerted no effect on cell apoptosis. Conclusion TTP overexpression obviously inhibits proliferation, migration and colony-forming capacity, and arrests cell cycle at S stage in lung adenocarcinoma cells. But the mechanism is not due to the regulation of cell apoptosis.

This paper describes the SLAB heavy gas dispersion modeling and uses SLAB View to simulate the H2S diffusion process and hazardous areas in a sour gas well blowouts. It identifies the influence range of H2S cloud cluster at specified concentration averaging time, the time when the H2S cloud cluster of specified concentration reaches the furthest distance, and the furthest diffuse distance in wind direction. The comparison shows that SLAB View offers an easier and faster option to simulate leakage and diffusion process during sour gas well blowouts on flat terrains, and therefore it is a useful tool for the prediction of the diffusion consequence and influence range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid growth of China's natural gas import trade volume and increasing of import source in China, it is in urgent need of comparative analysis for domestic and foreign natural gas test standards. This paper mainly introduced the similarities and differences of domestic and foreign standards for natural gas quality test method, including gas sampling, composition analysis, calculation of physical parameters, water content/water dew point determination, hydrocarbon dew point determination, sulfide content analysis, etc. The test standards were comparatively analyzed from the following aspects: scope, method and principle, data processing and precision requirement of analysis results. The conclusion could provide technical support for the negotiations in the selection of the test standards for natural gas quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coalbed methane (CBM) composition analysis in China is adopting the natural gas sampling and analysis standards at present. In this paper, the applicability of these standards for CBM was studied by theoretical evaluation and experimental verification. The results show that most of the existing methods are suitable for CBM, some methods still need to be improved for CBM quality analysis. Based on these studies, the proposals for improvement of CBM analysis methods and standardization are put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under multiple gas sources environment, the quality of natural gas and substituted natural gas is quite complex. In order to ensure the safety of long distance pipeline and the natural gas metering accuracy, the gas quality of conventional, unconventional natural gas and substituted natural gas is discussed. The gas quality control demanded in multiple gas sources environment is summarized. In order to formulate the national standard of quality requirements for all kinds of gas entering long-distance transmission pipe networks, the control limits were discussed to find out the limits which including the concentration of total sulfur, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, oxygen, particles, and water content/water dew point. These parameters are fully discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prospect of transporting coal-bed methane (CBM) by natural gas pipeline network was predicted, which indicated the urgent standardization for pipeline coal-bed methane. Then, natural gas standards, CBM relevant standards and the CBM constituents in China were studied. And suggestions were proposed for the standard based on the research results considering the economic benefits, safety & health and environmental protection factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconstruction, post-processing and visualization of images are important parts of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this work, a new open source framework, namely Yet Another Pipeline (YAP), was proposed for reconstruction, post-processing and visualization of MR images. With YAP, researchers can build customized image-processing pipelines with ease. Compared with the existing open source frameworks, YAP has the following features: (1) it has an interface-based design, enabling function extension by plugin development; (2) it uses a script language with straightforward grammar, making it easy to build and modify customized pipelines; (3) it supports branches in the pipelines, facilitating pipeline building and debugging. YAP has been implemented on a commercial MRI system.

International Organization for Standardization Natural gas Technical Committees (ISO/TC 193) is mainly engaged in standardization of terminology, quality specifications, methods of measurement, sampling, analysis and test for natural gas and natural gas substitutes (gaseous fuel) in all its facets from production to delivery to all possible end users across national boundaries. ISO/TC 193 also undertakes recognition of work related to natural gas in other technical committees. ISO/TC 193 has drafted and revised 43 international standards since its establishment. With the rapid development of Chinese natural gas industry, as well as the rapid growth of international trade of natural gas, the demands for standardization of natural gas quality and analytical techniques are also growing. This article focused on detailed analysis of the development of international standard system revision projects in natural gas quality specifications and analytical techniques of ISO/TC 193, and proposed the concerned ISO standard projects and our next work ideas, so as to lay foundation for improving our natural gas quality and analytical techniques standard system as soon as possible and accomplish the targets in line with the international standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional gas standards and analysis methods are commonly used in shale gas exploration and development process, because the composition of shale gas is similar to natural gas. The applicability research whether pipeline natural gas analysis standards are fit for shale gas testing was conducted in this article. Based on the result, some suggestions of drafting shale gas analysis and measurement standards are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to better judge the interchangeability of two different gases with different components and combustion characteristics, the paper analyses the method of foreign gas interchangeability and the characteristics of the domestic gas, and elaborates the identification method of theoretical research. According to the theory principle of these methods, such as Wobbe index, American gas association (A.G.A), Weaver, Delbaurg Law and Dutton, the program is complied. The features and functions of gas interchangeability identification software are introduced, which proves the importance of developing corresponding identification software. In addition, the graphical method is used to compile a logic diagram and gather all kinds of gas source, by which the identification method of natural gas interchangeability can be summarized. The practical application prospects of the software are also forecasted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of analysis and measurement of natural gas, China has established a series of technologies acting on international convention. The article summarizes the detection technologies including sampling of natural gas, composition analysis, detection of sulfide content, determination of water/hydrocarbon dew point, solid particulate matter, other hazardous and noxious substances, property parameter calculation, and preparation of reference material. Quality assurance to analysis result was also put forward from the aspects of proficiency test in laboratory as well as analysis comparison. With rapid development of natural gas industry and increasing international trade of natural gas, new demand was raised in analyzing and measuring natural gas. The paper also outlooks the development direction of natural gas analysis and measurement technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces the organization structure, constitute of work groups, international standards issued and the 23rd plenary meeting of ISO/TC 193. Emphasis focuses on detailed illustration and discussion of natural gas quality specification, analysis and measurement technology development of work group directly under TC/193, SC1 Natural Gas Analysis, SC3 Upstream in 2011. The next work proposals of natural gas quality specification, analysis and measurement standardization developed for adopting standard and international standardization in China were also put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To analyze circular RNA (circRNA) expression profiles in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and its clinical significance. Methods The expression of circRNA was detected with circRNA microarray as⁃ say in three samples of OSCC tumor and matched adjacent tissues. Quantitative real⁃time PCR (RT⁃qPCR) was used to verify the expression of circRNA in 45 pair OSCC tissues and normal adjacent tissues. The relationship between the ex⁃ pression of circRNA and the clinicopathological characteristics of OSCC was analyzed. circRNAs/miRNAs interaction were predicted using Arraystar􀆳 s home⁃made miRNA target prediction software. Results 155 circRNAs were differen⁃ tially expressed between the OSCC tissues and matched adjacent tissues, of which 45 circRNAs were up⁃regulated and 110 circRNAs were down⁃regulated in OSCC tissues (fold changes ≥1.5 and P < 0.05). In the selected three circRNAs that were most significantly upregulated or downregulated in OSCC, the RT ⁃ qPCR results showed that hsa_circ_ 0001874, hsa_circ_0001971 and has_circ_0067934 were increased, while hsa_circ_0000520, hsa_circ_0023944 and hsa_circ_0000140 were decreased in OSCC tissues versus normal adjacent tissues (P < 0.001). The results were general⁃ ly consistent with the microarray data. Among the circRNA expression profiles in OSCC, the up⁃regulation of hsa_circ_ 0001874 was the highest and the expression of hsa_circ_0001874 was significantly correlated with TNM stage and tu⁃ mor grade. The result of Arraystar􀆳 s home⁃made miRNA target prediction software indicated that miR⁃103a⁃3p, miR⁃ 107, miR⁃593⁃5p, miR⁃661 and miR⁃662 may be potential target genes of hsa_circ_0001874. Conclusion The differ⁃ entially expressed circRNAs in OSCC tissues and normal adjacent tissues were identified, and these dysregulated cir⁃ cRNAs and their potential target gents may play important roles in the development of OSCC.

Hardness gradient, residual stress gradient and the organization structure of surface super-hardened M50NiL steel roller and M50 steel roller were studied, the rolling contact fatigue life was measured, and the failure process was analyzed and compared by using surface profiler, Vickers hardness tester, X ray residual stress determinator, optical microscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM), rolling contact fatigue test machine and other equipment. The fatigue failure mechanism of surface super-hardened M50NiL steel was revealed. The results show that the fatigue failure mechanism of surface super-hardened M50Nil steel returns to the Hertz theory and shows typical contact fatigue characteristics. The high surface hardness, residual compressive stress and a good organization structure can completely inhibit the initiation of surface cracks; therefore, the failure mechanism is returned to the Hertz theory.

Refer to gas chromatography verification regulations of JJG 700 -- 1999 Gas Chromatograph and GB/T 10628 - 2008 Gas Analysis -- Comparison Methods for Determining and Checking the Composition of Calibration Gas Mixtures, the calibration method of on--line gas chromatograph is made, which has some guiding significance for practical applications of on--line gas chromatograph. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The comparison method of on--line water dew point hygrometer is established. The analysis result of on--line dew point hygrometer is compared with the cooled surface condensation hygrometer, in order to verify whether the determination result of on--line dew point hygrometer an be satisfied with the requirement of water dew point on--line measurement of natural gas, and calibrate the measuring results of the on--line dew point hygrometer according to the comparison results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the mechanism of human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) expression and T cells activation in triple-negative breast cancer(TNBC) cells to exert immunosuppressive function. Methods From three groups of breast cancer cell lines（MDA-MB-231，HCC1937， MDA-MB-468）,real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and Western blot were detected and screened that the breast cancer cell line was HCC1937,which with high expression of HLA-G, and low expression of fibrinogen-like protein 1 (FGL1), programmed death factor ligand 1 (PD-L1), as well as sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin 15 (SIGLEC15) . HCC1937 cells were divided into NC group (control group) and KD group (knockdown group), and RNA interference (RNAi) lentiviral vectors were constructed and transfected into KD cells to knock down HLA-G gene, and the verification was carried out. HCC1937 cells were treated with HLA-G antibody blocking/nonblocking, and Jurkat cells were treated with CD3 and CD28 activation/non-activation, respectively, and the two types of cells were co-cultured into 8 groups: NC--, KD--, NC+-, KD+-, NC-+, KD-+, NC++, and KD++ groups. Cell scratch assay, MTT and ELISA method were used to detect cell migration rate, proliferation rate, and interferon (IFN)-γ and interleukin (IL)-2 levels in cell supernatants, respectively. Results RT-qPCR showed that the HLA-G gene was successfully knocked down in HCC1937 cells. Compared with the NC++ group, the migration rate of the KD++ group was significantly increased (P＜0.05), but there was no statistical difference in the cell proliferation rate between each pair of co-culture groups (P＞0.05). The concentration of IFN-γ in the KD++ group was lower than that in the NC++ group and the NC-+ group (P＜0.05), but there was no significant difference in the concentration of IL-2 between each pair of co-culture groups (P＞0.05). Conclusion HLA-G in TNBC cells may promote the secretion of IFN-γ by activing T cells, and IFN-γ can inhibit the immune function of T cells and promote tumor metastasis after HLA-G decreased."

Two prenylated 2-arylbenzofurans were isolated from roots of Artocarpus heterophyllus, with a combination of various chromatographic approaches, including ODS, MCI, Sephadex LH-20, and semipreparative high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC). They were identified as 5-[6-hydroxy-4-methoxy-5,7-bis(3-methylbut-2-enyl)benzofuran-2-yl]-1,3-benzenediol(1) and 5-[2H,9H-2,2,9,9-tetramethyl-furo[2,3-f]pyrano[2,3-h][1]benzopyran-6-yl]-1,3-benzenediol(2) with spectroscopic methods, such as HR-ESI-MS, IR, 1D NMR, and 2D NMR, and named artoheterins B(1) and C(2), respectively. The anti-respiratory burst activities of the two compounds were evaluated with rat polymorphonuclear neutrophils(PMNs) stimulated by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate(PMA). The results showed that 1 and 2 exhibited significant inhibitory effect on respiratory burst of PMNs with IC&#95;(50) values of 0.27 and 1.53 μmol·L~(-1), respectively.

Objective: The aim of this study is to explore the operative method, indication and clinical effect of enlarging anterior lacrimal Fossa via Piriform foramen for complex lesions of maxillary Sinus. Method: By imaging and pathology, twenty-one patients with tumors and bone cysts were confirmed that the lesion base was located in the anterior wall of maxillary sinus, alveolar recess and zygomatic recessor even more broadly. All patients were treated with pyriform aperture extend prelacimal recess approach surgery, and followed up for average 25 months. Result: All the 21 operations went smoothly, including 11 cases diagnosed with papilloma, 4 cases diagnosed with maxillary sinus carcinoma, 1 case diagnosed with moderate dysplasia, 1 case diagnosed with fibroangioma, 1 case diagnosed with schwannomas, 1 case diagnosed with maxillary sinus osteoma, 1 case diagnosed with maxillary sinus bone cyst and 1 case diagnosed with dentigerous cyst. Pyriform aperture extend prelacimal recess approach can thoroughly deal with lesions located in each part of the maxillary sinus. Intraoperative blood loss（191.6±44.7） mL. After operations, 6 patients had mild facial swelling, and 8 cases experienced facial numbness; There were no facial scar, collapse and deformation, anterior nares narrowing, tears overflow and other complications. None of the patients relapsed. Conclusion: The enlarged anterior lacrimal fossa via piriform aperture can provide enough space for complete resection of the complex lesions of maxillary Sinus, which are located in anterior wall, Alveolar recess, zygomatic recess and various parts of the base, the postoperative reaction is light, the complication is few., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.)

Objective: To assess the exercise capacity of three kinds of pulmonary artery hypertension using cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET)., Methods: In the Center for Pulmonary Vascular Disease Diagnosis and Treatment of Fuwai Hospital, idiopathic pulmonary artery hypertension (IPAH), congenital heart disease associated pulmonary artery hypertension (CHD-PAH), connective tissue disease associated pulmonary artery hypertension (CTD-PAH) were enrolled into this study from December 2012 to May 2013. CPET was performed in all patients, and clinical features, routine tests results, N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), Six-minutes-walk distance (6MWD) were all collected., Results: Thirty-two patients with IPAH, 38 patients with CHD-PAH, 25 patients with CTD-PAH were enrolled. For IPAH, CHD-PAH, and CTD-PAH patients, the peak oxygen uptake via body weight (VO₂max/kg) was (12.3 ± 2.3), (14.9 ± 4.0), and (11.1 ± 2.5) ml·min⁻¹·kg⁻¹, respectively. The peak VO₂/kg was significantly different within these three groups (P<0.001), and was significantly higher in CHD-PAH patients compared with the other two groups (P=0.003, P<0.001). The peak VO2/heart rate (HR) was (5.8±1.4), (6.4 ± 1.8), (5.3 ± 1.7) ml·beat(-1)·min⁻¹ in the above three groups and was significantly different within these three groups (P=0.034). The peak VO₂/HR was significantly increased in CHD-PAH patients than CTD-PAD patients (P=0.012). The peak HR was (136.1 ± 21.4), (140.8 ± 19.9), (124.5 ± 21.6) beat/min respectively and was significantly lower in CTD-PAD patients than CHD-PAH patients (P=0.009). The 6MWD was significantly decreased in CTD-PAD patients compared with CHD-PAH and IPAH patients (P=0.006, 0.010). Nt-proBNP was significantly decreased in CTD-PAD patients compared with CHD-PAH patients (P=0.012). In Pearson and partial correlation analysis, the peak VO₂/kg was significantly correlated with peak VO₂/HR, peak HR, 6MWD, Nt-proBNP, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, right ventricular end-diastolic diameter (r=0.477, 0.518, 0.387, 0.465, -0.350, 0.349, -0.259)., Conclusion: CPET parameters can objectively evaluate exercise capacity and cardiopulmonary function of the patients with pulmonary hypertension.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical features and reasons of misdiagnosis of connective tissue disease plus pulmonary embolism (PE)., Methods: The clinical data were reviewed retrospectively for 22 hospitalized patients with connective tissue disease and PE from February 2006 to March 2014. And the features of onset, clinical and laboratory characteristics, imaging tests and causes of misdiagnosis were analyzed., Results: There were 12 males and 10 females with an average age of (36.2 ± 14.2) years. And 12 (54.5%) PE patients had concurrent deep venous thrombosis. Antiphospholipid syndrome and Behcet's disease were the major causes of connective tissue disease. Chest distress, palpitation and extremity swelling were initial symptoms. There were elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (n = 11, 50.0%), elevated C-reactive protein (n = 8, 36.4%) and abnormal autoantibody (n = 15, 68.2%) respectively. Computed tomography showed pulmonary arteries stenosis, occlusion and aneurismal dilation. Eighteen (81.8%) patients had pulmonary hypertension with a systolic pulmonary pressure of (72 ± 20) mmHg (1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa). And 3 of them presented severity of pulmonary pressure non-matched to the degree of pulmonary vascular involvement. And 18 (81.8%) patients with connective tissue disease were missed due to a lack of typical symptoms and physician understanding of disease before admission. Three (13.6%) patients had a misdiagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. The median time of diagnosis was 12 months., Conclusions: Connective tissue disease may develop PE as the initial symptom. And some patients lack typical clinical manifestations of connective tissue disease. It should raise an alert with the physicians.

Objective: To observe effects of syndrome-differentiation acupuncture on life quality in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD) in order to evaluate its clinical efficacy., Methods: One hundred and five cases of FD were randomly divided into a syndrome-differentiation acupuncture group, a regular acupuncture group and a non-acupoint group, 35 cases in each one. Zhongwan (CV 12), Tianshu (ST 25), Zusanli (ST 36) were selected as main acupoints in the syndrome-differentiation acupuncture group. After syndrome differentiation, Danzhong (CV 17) and Zhangmen (LR 13) were added for those with stagnation of liver qi; Pishu (BL 20) and Weishu (BL 21) were added for those with deficiency of spleen-stomach qi; Qimen (LR 14) and Taichong (LR 3) were added for liver-qi invading stomach and Yinlingquan (SP 9) and Neiting (ST 44) were added for dampness-heat blocking stomach. The selection of acupoints in the regular acupuncture group was the same as main acupoints in the syndrome-differentiation acupuncture group. The points 10 mm lateral to the main acupoints were selected in the non-acupoint group. The treatment was given once a day, six days as a treatment course and totally two courses were required. The symptom total score, health-related quality of life survey (SF-36) and Nepean dyspepsia index (NDI) were evaluated before and after the treatment as well as one month after the treatment (follow-up visit), respectively. The efficacy was also assessed., Results: After the treatment, the total effective rate was 87.5% (28/32) in the syndrome-differentiation acupuncture group, which was superior to 74.2% (23/31) in the regular acupuncture group and 20.7% (6/29) in the non-acupoint group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Compared before the treatment, the SF-36, NDI and symptom total score after the treatment and in the follow-up visit were all obviously improved in the syndrome-differentiation acupuncture group and regular acupuncture group (all P < 0.05), which was the most obvious in the syndrome-differentiation acupuncture group [after the treatment, SF-36: 84.54 +/- 5.93 vs 81.44 +/- 6.22, 63.46 +/- 6.59; NDSI: 18.94 +/- 9.30 vs 21.23 +/- 8.39, 43.93 +/- 11.26; NDLQI: 71.42 +/- 7.23 vs 63.11 +/- 7.06, 54.87 +/- 6.00; symptom total score: 22.06 +/- 15.80 vs 32.52 +/- 16.88, 47.97 +/- 10.92]; the improvement in the regular acupuncture group was more obvious than that in the non-acupoint group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). Compared before the treatment, only NDSI score was improved in the non-acupoint group after the treatment (P < 0.05)., Conclusion: The syndrome-differentiation acupuncture could obviously improve patient's life quality in the treatment of FD, which is an effective therapy for FD.

Due to the similarities between mammoth ivory ornaments and modern elephant ivory ones in the market, the spectral properties of the two kinds of ivories were analyzed and compared in the present paper through the gemological tests, infrared spectrum and X-ray powder diffraction, etc. The research found that the refractive index and specific gravity of the two ivories are very similar. The refractive index of mammoth ivory is 1.52-1.53 whereas that of elephant ivory is 1.54-1.55. The specific gravity of mammoth ivory is 1.77 and that of elephant ivory is 1.72. It should be careful that Schreger angles are used to distinguish the two kinds of ivories, because the angles of inner and middle layers in the two kinds of tusks are similar except the angles of elephant tusk out-layers are larger than those of mammoth (The Schreger angle of the sample mammoth ivory belonging to out-layer tusks is 100 degrees nd that of elephant ivory is 115 degrees). In addition, the out-layer Schreger angles of Asian elephants are normally less than 120 degrees, while those of Africa elephants are bigger than 120 degrees (This can be used to identify Asian and Africa elephant ivories). The infrared spectroscopy test shows that the water-molecule-related absorption peaks of 3319, 1642 and 1557 cm(-1) are more obvious in the modern elephant ivory samples than in the mammoth ivory samples; the collagen-related absorption peaks of 2927and 2855 cm(-1) are obvious in the modern elephant ivory but extremely weak in the mammoth ivory. The results indicate that collagen and crystallized water in mammoth ivory reduced to a very low level after having been buried for a long period. X-ray powder diffraction results show that the diffraction peak splits of mammoth ivories are more obvious and sharp than that of elephant ivories, which means hydroxyapatites crystallized better despite being buried for thousands of years. Hence, it is an important reference for identifying the two kinds of ivories that the ivory organic matter was losing and inorganic matter crystallized better at same time after having been buried.

Objective: To evaluate the application value of cardiopulmonary exercise testing in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH)., Methods: A total of 116 consecutive patients admitted into the Cardiology Department of Fuwai Hospital.They were divided into 3 groups of CTEPH (n = 44), CPE (without pulmonary hypertension in chronic pulmonary embolism) (n = 24) and control (without pulmonary embolism or pulmonary hypertension) (n = 48) respectively. Their levels of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) were measured. Incremental cardiopulmonary exercise testing was performed to compare its differential results among 3 groups and evaluate the correlation between NT-proBNP and its parameters., Results: The body mass index (BMI) in the CTEPH group was lower than those in the CPE and control groups ((23.8 ± 3.9) vs (26.1 ± 3.6) and (26.7 ± 3.2) kg/m(2) ), both P < 0.05); the medical history in the CTEPH group was longer than those in the CPE and control groups ((58 ± 48) vs (12 ± 10) and (29 ± 25) months, both P < 0.05). The plasma concentrations of NT-proBNP in the CTEPH group were higher than those in the CPE and control groups ((1678 ± 1255) vs (577 ± 167) and (608 ± 247) pmol/L, both P < 0.05). All of them completed the test and there were no severe complications such as syncope or exacerbation of disease. Maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max), percentage of predicted maximum oxygen consumption (VO2 %), oxygen consumption in relation to body weight (VO2/kg), anaerobic threshold and O2 pulse in the CTEPH group were significantly lower than those in the CPE and control groups (P < 0.05). The ratios of dead space volume (VD) to tidal volume (VT) in the CTEPH and CPE groups were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The plasma concentrations of NT-proBNP were inversely correlated with right ventricular internal diameter (r = -0.690, P = 0.000) and VO2/kg (r = -0.496, P = 0.000). The right ventricular internal diameter (β = 0.583, P = 0.000) and VO2/kg (β = 0.233, P = 0.032) were strong independent determinants of NT-proBNP., Conclusion: As a reliable pathophysiological indictor of CTEPH, cardiopulmonary exercise testing may be used objectively and safely to evaluate the cardiopulmonary function of CTEPH patients.

Objective: To explore the exercise characteristics of patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH)., Methods: From November 2010 to September 2012 , 76 consecutive IPAH patients and 24 healthy controls from Fuwai Cardiovascular Hospital were enrolled to undergo cardiopulmonary exercise testing. The exercise parameters were compared. Correlations among peak oxygen consumption, anaerobic threshold, peak oxygen pulse, New York Heart Association (NYHA) class, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), 6-minute walking distance (6 MWD) and cardiac index are analyzed in IPAH., Results: There were 21 males and 55 females in IPAH and 8 males and 16 females in controls. Their mean ages were (31.5 ± 10.6) and (35.5 ± 6.4) years respectively. Significant differences (P = 0.000) existed between two groups in peak oxygen consumption ((12.7 ± 3.3) vs (25.6 ± 5.8) ml·min(-1)·kg(-1)), anaerobic threshold ((9.8 ± 2.5) vs (16.7 ± 3.9) ml·min(-1)·kg(-1)), peak oxygen pulse ((5.3 ± 1.6) vs (9.9 ± 2.5) ml/bpm) and ventilator efficiency (slope of minute ventilation in relation to CO2 produced) ((42.6 ± 2.0) vs (25.5 ± 3.5)). In IPAH, peak oxygen consumption was significantly correlated with NYHA class (r = -0.509, P = 0.000), 6 MWD (r = 0.443, P = 0.002) and NT-proBNP levels (r = -0.423, P = 0.011). And anaerobic threshold was significantly correlated with NYHA class (r = -0.362, P = 0.002), 6MWD (r = 0.343, P = 0.004) and NT-proBNP levels (r = -0.275, P = 0.017). Peak oxygen pulse and ventilator efficiency were both correlated well with total pulmonary vascular resistance. Partial correlation analysis demonstrated that there were significant correlations among peak oxygen consumption, anaerobic threshold, NYHA class, NT-proBNP levels and 6MWD after adjusting for age, gender and weight., Conclusions: Peak oxygen consumption and anaerobic threshold decrease ventilator efficiency in IPAH patients. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing is an invasive tool of assessing safely the function of IPAH patients.