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In order to broaden the muffler frequency band in the low-frequency range of the exhaust muffler and to achieve the purpose of broadband noise reduction, in this paper, a model of an annular connecting pipe muffler is proposed using the finite element method (FEM) to simulate the nonreflection boundary condition and to solve the transmission loss (TL). In addition, the experimental value is obtained by the spatial five-point measurement method and compared with the simulated value, and the validity and reliability of the solution model are verified. Compared with a simple expansion muffler, the average TL of the annular connecting pipe muffler is increased by 11.86 dB, and the maximum TL is increased by 18.31 dB, effectively widening the muffler frequency area, and the overall performance is effectively improved. Finally, the influence of structural factors is analyzed, including the width (W) of the annular connecting pipe, the length (L) of the annular connecting pipe, and the length ratio (m) of the front and rear chambers on the TL and on the width of the anechoic frequency band. The results reveal that the width and length of the annular connecting pipe and front-to-back cavity length ratio are the most significant factors to influence the TL, muffler frequency band, and elimination or reduction of the passing frequency, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. In recent years, carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) has emerged rapidly in China with the abuse and overuse of antibiotics, and infections caused by CRKP pose a serious threat to global public health safety. The present study aimed to explore the epidemiological characteristics of CRKP isolates in Northern China and to elucidate their drug resistance mechanisms. Methods. 45 CRKP strains were consecutively collected at a teaching hospital from March 1st, 2018 to June 30th, 2018. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by the VITEK2 compact system and microbroth dilution method. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing were used to analyze multilocus sequence typing (MLST), drug resistance determinants, and plasmid types. The transfer of resistance genes was determined by conjugation. All statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 22.0 software. Results. All 45 isolates showed multidrug resistance (MDR). MLST analysis showed ST11 (48.9%, 22/45) was the most frequent type. All of the 45 CRKP isolates contained carbapenemase genes, extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) genes, and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes. For carbapenemase genes, KPC-2 (93.3%, 42/45) was the main genotype, and followed by GES (37.8%, 17/45) and NDM-1 (11.1%, 5/45). Plasmid typing analysis showed that IncFII and IncFIB were the most prevalent plasmids. The carbapenem resistance rate of K.pneumoniae was 11.4% and ICU was the main CRKP infection source. Conclusions. ST11 is the most frequent sequence type and KPC-2 is the predominant carbapenemase of CRKP strains in Northern China. KPC-2-ST11 are representative clonal lineages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The traditional indwelling needle catheter is hard and can only complete one puncture at a time. The safety and indwelling needle catheter is soft, with a large lumen, with high success rate of blood collection, and one puncture completes two operations, so it is of important value and significance to study the new safety and indwelling needle. To explore the clinical utility of a novel blood collection device with indwelling needle for blood collection among pediatric patients. Methods. A total of 300 children who were admitted to the children's hospital from March to June 2020 were selected and randomly divided into the control group (148) and the observation group (152). The control group received venipuncture using regular needles for infusion and blood collection. For the observation group, a modified indwelling needle device was used for the procedures. Comparisons were made between the two devices in five aspects: blood sample quality, operation time, needlestick incidence, related complications, and patient satisfaction. Results. There was no significant difference in coagulation rate between the two groups, but slightly lower overall hemolysis incidence in the observation group. The unqualified rate of blood specimens collected in the observation group was 10.0% lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05). Shorter operation time, lower incidence of needlestick injuries, and improved satisfaction were observed in the group using the novel blood collection device. Conclusions. This modified blood collection device is superior to the regular venipuncture needle, in terms of safety, efficiency, and patient satisfaction; thus, it has potential for broad clinical applications for infusion and blood collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting price of contemporary ceramic artworks is an important and difficult problem, particularly when every object is unique and potential bidder's tastes may exhibit substantial variation. In recent years, China's ceramic art market has shown a considerable developing trend, but at the same time, there are also problems that severely restrict its development, such as the chaotic price system. As cultural products, contemporary ceramic artworks have the value of cultural services. Unfortunately, the existing price evaluation models all ignore cultural services. By introducing the "cultural services" and "gray model GM(1, N, x(1))," a new predictor, called CCCAP-Pre, has been developed to predict prices of contemporary ceramic artworks. As demonstrated, the minimum error, the maximum error, and the average relative error of CCCAP-Pre were 0.02%, 6.19%, and 1.40% on ceramic sculpture artworks and 0.06%, 9.11%, and 3.63% on ceramic painting artworks, respectively. It will provide a reference for the benign development of ceramic art market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fuzzy c‐means (FCM) is a time‐honored method for its simplicity of calculation and ease of understanding. However, the previous image segmentation work exploiting FCM could not achieve the ideal effect in image edge recognition of the fuzzy information or antinoise of the pixel. This paper exploits the spatial T‐spherical fuzzy c‐means model with bias correction (EM‐sTSFCMpq) to improves the effect of antinoise and image edge recognition. First, the image is transformed into a T‐spherical fuzzy set by a novel T‐spherical fuzzification technology with the processing of the bias fields. Second, the membership degree of the image is updated through the proposed T‐spherical FCM algorithm. Third, a novel calculation method of weighted combination is exploited to integrate spatial information to overcome the noise. The proposed method is applied to three‐dimensional MR image segmentation and the Berkeley segmentation datasets to illustrate the accuracy and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to analyze the effects of acetylation-related lncRNAs in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A total of 399 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs) have been identified between 497 NSCLC tissues and 54 normal tissues in the TCGA database, and 105 of which were correlated with acetylation regulators. By using univariate cox regression analysis and combining it with clinical prognosis information, 12 prognostic-related lncRNAs were selected for the subsequent analysis. The NSCLC patients were divided into two subgroups (cluster 1 and cluster 2) by clustering software, and immunocyte infiltration analysis, microenvironmental analysis, and clinical relevance analysis were performed between the two subgroups. A risk model was also built to further assess the prognosis value of prognostic-related lncRNAs in NSCLC patients. We found that AC099850.3 was significantly higher in both cluster 1 and high-risk subgroups, which may serve as a potential biomarker for the prognosis of NSCLC patients. Then, based on ceRNA competition mechanisms, the pathway enrichment of 105 acetylation-related lncRNAs was conducted by GO and KEGG analyses. We found the acetylation-related lncRNAs were primarily enriched in MAPK and EGFR signaling pathways, which were closely associated with NSCLC development. Finally, we validated the expression levels of AC099850.3 in NSCLC tissues and adjacent non-cancerous tissues and confirmed that AC099850.3 was significantly highly expressed in NSCLC tissues and cells. These results may provide clues for our understanding of the role of acetylation-related lncRNAs and valuable information for future clinical diagnosis and prognosis in NSCLC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probiotics may offer an attractive alternative for standard antibiotic therapy to treat Clostridium difficile infections (CDI). In this study, the antibacterial mechanism in vitro of newly isolated B. amyloliquefaciens C-1 against C. difficile was investigated. The lipopeptides surfactin, iturin, and fengycin produced by C-1 strongly inhibited C. difficile growth and viability. Systematic research of the bacteriostatic mechanism showed that the C-1 lipopeptides damage the integrity of the C. difficile cell wall and cell membrane. In addition, the lipopeptide binds to C. difficile genomic DNA, leading to cell death. Genome resequencing revealed many important antimicrobial compound-encoding clusters, including six nonribosomal peptides (surfactins (srfABCD), iturins (ituABCD), fengycins (fenABCDE), bacillibactin (bmyABC), teichuronic, and bacilysin) and three polyketides (bacillaene (baeEDLMNJRS), difficidin (difABCDEFGHIJ), and macrolactin (mlnABCDEFGHI)). In addition, there were other beneficial genes, such as phospholipase and seven siderophore biosynthesis gene clusters, which may contribute synergistically to the antibacterial activity of B. amyloliquefaciens C-1. We suggest that proper application of antimicrobial peptides may be effective in C. difficile control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]