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Additional file 1: Fig. S1. The animal experimental protocol. DSS, dextran sulfate sodium; GC-K, ginsenoside compound K. Fig. S2. The frequency of Foxp3 + Treg cells among the CD4 + T cells (CD3 + CD4 + CD25 + cells) in spleen(A) and blood(B) of mice detected by flow cytometry; The frequency of IL-17a + Th17 cells among the CD4 + T cells (CD3 + CD4 + cells) in spleen(C) and blood(D) of mice detected by flow cytometry (n = 4, 5). Fig. S3. The relative abundance of the top 5 species at the phylum level in each group. Relative abundance of Bacteroidetes(a), Firmicutes(b), Verrucomicrobia(c), Patescibacteria(d) and Proteobacteria(e) in each group (n = 6). (* p < 0.1 and ** p < 0.01 vs. model group.) Fig. S4. Relative abundance of Akkermansia(a), Dubosiella(b), Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136(c), Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014(d), Turicibacter(e) and Candidatus_Saccharimonas(f) in each group (n = 6). (* p < 0.1 and ** p < 0.01 vs. model group.) Fig. S5 Effects of GC-K on the growth of representative strains in Bacteroides. (*** p < 0.001 vs. model group.) Fig. S6. Fecal microbial DNA concentration of mice before and after antibiotic administration. (** p < 0.01 vs. model group.) Fig. S7. Flow cytometry analysis of Treg cells (CD3 + CD4 + CD25 + Foxp3 +) and Th17 cells (CD3 + CD4 + IL-17a +) in spleen of mice in FMT group (n = 4). (* p < 0.1 and **** p < 0.0001 vs. model group; ### p < 0.001 vs. model group.)

Additional file 1: Table S1. Clinical characteristics of NMOSD patients for purified AQP4-IgG. Table S2. A list of materials. Fig S1. Fullblot images.

Additional file 2: Table S1. The primer sequences used in real-time qPCR assays in colonic tissue.

Summary ParagraphDespite effective countermeasures, SARS-CoV-2 persists worldwide due to its ability to diversify and evade human immunity1. This evasion stems from amino-acid substitutions, particularly in the receptor-binding domain of the spike, that confer resistance to vaccines and antibodies2–16. To constrain viral escape through resistance mutations, we combined antibody variable regions that recognize different receptor binding domain (RBD) sites17,18into multispecific antibodies. Here, we describe multispecific antibodies, including a trispecific that prevented virus escape >3000-fold more potently than the most effective clinical antibody or mixtures of the parental antibodies. Despite being generated before the evolution of Omicron, this trispecific antibody potently neutralized all previous variants of concern and major Omicron variants, including the most recent BA.4/BA.5 strains at nanomolar concentrations. Negative stain electron microscopy revealed that synergistic neutralization was achieved by engaging different epitopes in specific orientations that facilitated inter-spike binding. An optimized trispecific antibody also protected Syrian hamsters against Omicron variants BA.1, BA.2 and BA.5, each of which uses different amino acid substitutions to mediate escape from therapeutic antibodies. Such multispecific antibodies decrease the likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 escape, simplify treatment, and maximize coverage, providing a strategy for universal antibody therapies that could help eliminate pandemic spread for this and other pathogens.

A novel Mg-La-Fe ternary (hydr)oxide magnetic zeolite adsorbent (MLFZ) was prepared using the hydrothermal method and employed for effective phosphate removal in this study. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicated that the MLFZ presented an amorphous surface with Mg, Fe, and La dispersed on the surface of the zeolite. The isothermal adsorption and kinetics results showed that the adsorption behavior of the MLFZ was consistent with that of the Langmuir isothermal model and quasi-second-order kinetics model. A relatively fast adsorption of phosphate with a short equilibrium time of 30 min was observed in the kinetics experiment, and the maximum adsorption capacity of the MLFZ was 13.46 mg·g

Mulberry (

Additional file 2: Figure S1. Distribution of bacterial taxa at the phylum level and genus level; Figure S2. Reveal of characteristic bacterial taxa based on LDA Effect Size (LEfSe) analysis between Healthy-LB and PCOS-LB, between Healthy-HB and PCOS-HB; Figure S3. Distribution of fungal taxa at the phylum level and genus level; Figure S4. Reveal of characteristic fungal taxa based on LDA Effect Size (LEfSe) analysis between Healthy-LB and PCOS-LB; Figure S5. Reveal of characteristic fungal taxa based on LDA Effect Size (LEfSe) analysis between Healthy-HB and PCOS-HB; Figure S6. Serum metabolome changes in disease and healthy subjects; Figure S7. Reveal of characteristic metabolites based on LDA Effect Size (LEfSe) analysis between Healthy-LB and PCOS-LB; Figure S8. Reveal of characteristic metabolites based on LDA Effect Size (LEfSe) analysis between Healthy-HB and PCOS-HB; Figure S9. The bacterial genera and predicted pathway features were excavated on the base of Wilcox test comparison and Mean Decrease Gini by random forest importance parameter; Figure S10. The fungal genera and metabolites were excavated on the base of Wilcox test comparison and Mean Decrease Gini by random forest importance parameter; Figure S11. Correlation between bacterial diversity and fungal diversity.

Additional file 1: Table S1. Detailed information on used studies. Table S2. Detailed information on used studies from FinnGen consortium. Table S3. Associations of CSF sTREM2 with neurological diseases and subtypes in inverse-variance weighted method, as well as weighted median method and MR-Egger method. Table S4. Effects of genetic liability to MS on CSF sTREM2 levels in reverse Mendelian randomization analysis. Figure S1. Leave-one-SNP-out sensitivity analyze for CSF sTREM2 levels on MS.

Physical model experiment is a key method to analyze and solve the complex problems of hydraulic and hydropower projects, and a reasonable and accurate similarity law is the basis of the model experiment. Aiming at the model experiment of pressurized water-delivery system with IEC standard model turbine, which is a new and special kind of model experiment, this paper studies the newly induced problems regarding the similarity law, establishes the methodology of similarity law and model scale for the model experiment with single value condition, and explains the difference between the new and traditional similarity laws. Taking a 1:4 scale experimental platform of variable-speed pumped storage plant as an example, numerical simulation is carried out by using TOPSYS, a software for transient processes calculation and analysis of hydropower plants; the validity of the similarity law and the model scale is verified.

Analysis the necessity of supporting construction of offshore wind power and pumped storage power station, and the design of multiple synchronous paralleling system of unit. Describes the shortcomings of the traditional design of the synchronous circuit of pumped storage unit, and designs the multiple synchronous paralleling system of unit by combining software and hardware, which effectively improves the success rate of synchronous paralleling between unit and power grid with large wind power ratio.

This paper presents the architecture and techniques used to realize the first direct-digitization open-loop gyroscope frontend, which achieves an input range of +/-8000°/s (4x larger than state of art [1]–[4]) with a noise floor of 0.0047°/s/√Hz, deployed in an inertial measurement unit (IMU) drawing 650μA from a 1.8V supply in gyroscope-only mode.

The surface potentials of Mg2Si and Al7Cu2Fe intermetallic particles in AA7075-T6 alloys were investigated by scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy (SKPFM) technique. The experimental surface potentials of Mg2Si and Al7Cu2Fe intermetallic particles relative to Al matrix were ranging from − 368 to − 265 mV and 480–500 mV, respectively. A theoretical method for assessing relative nobility of intermetallics in Al alloys was discussed through first principle calculation. The work functions and surface energies of Mg2Si and Al7Cu2Fe surfaces were calculated by using density functional theory (DFT) method. The results showed that work functions and surface energies of Mg2Si and Al7Cu2Fe intermetallics were influenced by the orientations of crystal face and terminal types. At the oxygen coverage of 1/4 ML and 1 ML, the theoretical surface potential differences between Mg2Si intermetallics and Al matrix were increased by 10–560 mV and 0–620 mV, while those between Al7Cu2Fe intermetallics and Al matrix were increased by 62–360 mV and 102–331 mV. For the adsorption of oxygen atom, theoretical surface potentials of Mg2Si and Al7Cu2Fe intermetallics relative to Al matrix had a close agreement with the experimental surface potentials. It was verified that DFT method was a valuable theoretical approach to assess the relative nobility of different phases in alloys.

The detection of rock particle motion information is the basis for revealing particle motion laws and quantitative analysis. Such a task is crucial in guiding engineering construction, preventing geological disasters, and verifying numerical models of particles. We propose a machine vision method based on video instance segmentation (VIS) to address the motion information detection problem in rock particles under a vibration load. First, we designed a classification loss function based on Arcface loss to improve the Mask R-CNN. This loss function introduces an angular distance based on SoftMax loss that distinguishes the objects and backgrounds with higher similarity. Second, this method combines the abovementioned Mask R-CNN and Deep Simple Online and Real-time Tracking (Deep SORT) to perform rock particle detection, segmentation, and tracking. Third, we utilized the equivalent ellipse characterization method for segmented particles, integrating with the proportional calibration algorithm to test the translation and detecting the rotation by calculating the change in the angle of the ellipse’s major axis. The experimental results show that the improved Mask R-CNN obtains an accuracy of 93.36% on a self-created dataset and also has some advantages on public datasets. Combining the improved Mask R-CNN and Deep SORT could fulfill the VIS with a low ID switching rate while successfully detecting movement information. The average detection errors of translation and rotation are 5.10% and 14.49%, respectively. This study provides an intelligent scheme for detecting movement information of rock particles.

Additional file 3: Supplementary Table S1. Distribution of BT at 24h post-MT with diagnosed infection/antibiotics use during the entire course of hospitalization.

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-pmj-10.1177_0269216321994728 for The effectiveness of hope-fostering interventions in palliative care: A systematic review and meta-analysis by Natalia Salamanca-Balen, Thomas V Merluzzi and Man Chen in Palliative Medicine

Additional file 1 : Table S1. Clinical characteristics of patients with NMOSD and healthy controls from whom serum samples were collected and purified IgG. Table S2. The primer sequences. Table S3. Demographics and baseline characteristics of patients with NMOSD and healthy controls.

Additional file 4: Supplementary Table S2. Relationships between diagnosis of infection/antibiotics use and clinical outcomes at different time points after MT.

This paper addresses the scheduling of user-side energy storage (ES) participating in demand response (DR). A multi layer scheduling policy using rolling optimization is proposed to cope with the fluctuation of scheduling power. At the aim of minimizing the user purchasing electric power cost, day-ahead (DA) scheduling model is established, which considers the time-of-use (TOU) energy prices in hour time scales, subside revenue of DR and the loss cost of battery storage battery. Furthermore, considering the impact of the load forecasting deviation, the real-time (RT) scheduling is benchmarked on the result of DA scheduling and using rolling optimization method to minimize the deviation of net load power and energy storage stage of charge (SOC) in minute time scales. Finally, we verify the feasibility of proposed scheduling policy by numerical results.

Mulberry (Morus alba L.) fruit is a fruit with nutritional and medicinal value. It is widely cultivated in different regions of China, which may result in differences in its chemical composition. In this research, 25 mulberry fruit samples from six provinces in China were investigated. The contents of anthocyanins were evaluated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The contents of two main anthocyanins, cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (C3G) and cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside (C3R), ranged from 0.656 ± 0.006 mg/g to 4.367 ± 0.243 mg/g and from 0.226 ± 0.007 mg/g to 1.649 ± 0.013 mg/g, respectively. Additionally, the contents of total phenolic, total flavonoid, vitamin C, titratable acids, reducing sugars and antioxidant capacity (FRAP, DPPH, scavenging and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity) were also assessed. The results and principal component analysis showed that the Zhongsang 5801 variety from Sichuan, Dechang had the greatest health value with the highest active compound contents. Based on our analysis, the variety from Sichuan, Dechang is a high-quality plant source for mulberry fruit cultivation. This research provides a basis for the rational development and utilization of mulberry fruit resources in China.

Background The platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) level are markers that have been reported to predict the histological type of various tumors, and here, we evaluated their utility in predicting colorectal polyp histological types. Methods We retrospectively reviewed 172 patients with colorectal polyps who underwent endoscopic polypectomy. The associations between histological type and clinicopathologic parameters were assessed by multivariate analysis. Results The optimal PLR and CRP cut-off values were 113.32 and 0.39, respectively. The PLR (P = 0.002) and CRP (P = 0.009) values were associated with the histological type according to the univariate analysis, whereas low PLR (P ≤ 0.001) and CRP (P = 0.017) values were independent risk factors in the multivariate analysis together with maximum tumor diameter (P ≤ 0.001) and tumor number (P = 0.0014). Conclusions Preoperative PLR and CRP are correlated with the colorectal polyp histological type.

The influence of parameters non-uniformity including various controller, power levels and network parameters on multiple grid-connected inverters dynamic equivalent error are investigated. The error is divided into two parts. One part is caused by the inconsistent recovery time of inverters at different power levels during low voltage ride-through (LVRT), and the other is attributed to the different dominant dynamics of the inverters. According to these two sources of error, a two-step clustering method is proposed and implemented in a 36-inverter system. The simulation results show that this method has higher precision in different scenarios, but it is accompanied with the sacrifice of simulation speed. Then, the simulations of a 6-bus system show that the error of the single inverter equivalence become large when crowbar acts, and the impact of the first type of error is significantly greater than the second one.

The ABO blood group is considered to be one of the most important markers in forensic testing. Additionally, autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) genotyping continues to be recognized as the dominan...

Farmers in China have been concerned with the efficiency and utilization rate of fertilizers, because of the rigorous implementation of China’s “dual-reduction” plan, which calls for reducing fertilizer and pesticide usage. This study was aimed to improve the spreading performance and fertilizer distribution uniformity of an independently developed centrifugal variable-rate fertilizer applicator. The spreading performance was evaluated by conducting discrete-element-simulation tests, and the relationship between the variations in the fertilizer particle distribution and the working parameters of the fertilizer spreader was analyzed. The quality of the particles was evaluated using a two-dimensional matrix, and the coefficient of variation of the transverse distribution of the fertilizer particles was determined. The results show that the shape of the distribution varies irregularly with the increase in the vane pitch angle, and the coefficient of variation decreases with the increase in the spreader disc height. Further, when the application flow rate is increased gradually, the coefficient of variation decreases rapidly first but gradually thereafter. In addition, with an increase in the rotational speed of the disc, the distribution gradually changes from a triangular shape to a W shape and ultimately to an M shape. The average coefficient of variation was the lowest (14.39%) for a single-row application flow rate of 300 g/s, a vane pitch angle of 15°, a spreader disc height of 95 cm, and a rotational speed of 600 r/min, with a good spreading uniformity. Field validation tests show that the average coefficient of variation with respect to the effective spreading swath width of the applicator was 16.74%. The relative error was 10.66% with respect to the simulation results, thus validating the simulation model and confirming its accuracy. The results show that the coefficient of variation for the developed variable-rate spreader is reduced, exhibiting a high spreading performance. The results serve as a theoretical basis for farmers for altering their traditional empirical fertilization techniques and should aid design and optimization of centrifugal variable-rate fertilizer applicators.

The service life of concrete structures shortened by corrosive ions endangers public safety and results in considerable repair costs worldwide. For the objective of producing more sustainable concrete, how do polycarboxylate superplasticizers (PCEs) with different side-chain lengths affect the resistance of concrete to chloride penetration and sulfate attack is studied. The foam and adsorption behavior of PCEs, the heat release of cement hydration, the resistance of concrete to chloride penetration and sulfate attack and the microstructure observation were investigated to achieve the aim. Results show that the shortest side-chain PCE (M400C3.5, nEO = 9) had the best effect on improving the resistance of concrete to chloride penetration and sulfate attack. Among all the tested concrete samples, the concrete containing M400C3.5 exhibited the lowest total porosity and the most compact structure. The largest adsorption amount of M400C3.5 on the cement surface led to the most significant retardation of the initial cement hydration. This retardation may reduce the number of microcracks resulting from fast heat release.

Ad-q frame impedance model of modular multilevel converter (MMC) is presented in this paper. The basis of the modeling method is dynamic phasors and transfer matrix. The 10th-order dynamic phasor model for the MMC is linerized. Then, a 14th-order transfer matrix in the rotating d-q frame can be derived, by combining the 10th-order linearized electrical model and the controller model. The proposed analytical impedance model obtained from the transfer matrix is implemented in MATLAB. The validity and accuracy of the model are verified against a 81-level MMC aggregate model in MATLAB/SIMULINK in frequency domain. The results show that the impedance model has good accuracy at 1–3000 Hz, thus this model can be used in the stability and resonance analysis of MMC in a wide frequency range. The influence of phase-locked loop (PLL) and arm equivalent capacitance on the MMC dynamic is also studied using the proposed impedance model. The results show that high PLL bandwidth and small arm equivalent capacitance can lead to instability. Furthermore, the simulation results verify the suitability of the proposed model.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Seven traditional medicinal plants (including Astragalus membranaceus, Dioscorea hemsleyi, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Scrophularia ningpoensis, Ophiopogon japonicus, Panax ginseng and Fritillariae cirrhosae) and one insect leech (Whitmania pigra Whitman) were combined into BuZangTongLuo formula (BZTLF) under the guidance of traditional Chinese medicine. BZTLF is potentially effective against diabetic vascular complications. Aim of the study Previous studies failed to clarify the molecular mechanism through which BZTLF suppressed diabetic ischemia. In this study, we aimed to explore whether BZTLF treatment could prevent the occurrence of type 2 diabetic (T2D) hindlimb ischemia in mice. Further, we investigated the regulatory effect of BZTLF on angiogenesis-related VEGF signaling pathway and gut microbiota dysfunction in diabetic ischemia mice. Materials and methods C57BL/6J mice fed with high-fat diet (HFD) received STZ injection and femoral artery ligation to build T2D diabetic hindlimb ischemia model. Mice were gavaged with BZTLF (5 g [raw materials]/kg/d) or with metformin plus atorvastatin for three weeks. Laser doppler imaging system was utilized for the visualization of blood flow. Histochemistry analysis was performed for microvascular vessel staining. Western blot was applied to detect the protein changes of signaling molecules responsible for VEGF pathway. Finally, 16S rDNA gene sequencing was conducted for analysis of gut microbiota structure. Results BZTLF treatment remarkably restored blood flow and capillary density of diabetic hindlimb ischemia. And the protein changes of VEGF signaling molecules were reversed in BZTLF-treated diabetic ischemia mice, including the decreased VEGF and HIF-1α, and the increased NO, eNOS and p-ERK1/2. The gut microbiota analysis suggests that BZTLF treatment increased the abundances of several beneficial bacteria (Akkermansia, Bifidobacterium and Bacteroides), while decreased the populations of some harmful bacteria(Blautia, Weissella, Escherichia Shigella and Kurthia). By using Spearman's correlation analysis, these changed gut flora were positively/negatively correlated with VEGF signaling pathway or glycometabolic parameters. Conclusion BZTLF displayed beneficial effects on diabetic hindlimb ischemia by reshaping the gut microbiota structure and stunning the VEGF/HIF-1α pathway.

Variable-speed pump-turbine units are used as the large capacity flexible and fast storage system for peak and frequency modulation in grid. There are several advantages as follows: the total energy conversion efficiency is nearly 80%. The modulation performance that ms-level time can be achieve MWlevel power response. Possibility of active power control in pumping mode. In the generating mode, the range of unit output is wide than conventional units. With the help of flywheel effect, network stability improvement by instantaneous active power injection in the grid. Summing up the above, variable-speed pump-turbine units are useful in concentration area of wind power and other new energy. And it can be used to solve the problem of large-scale wind power integration. The operation characteristics of Variable-speed pump-turbine units and the operation characteristics of wind power output is taken into account in this paper. Variable-speed principle, physical operating characteristics, operating parameters and economic investment of variable-speed pump-turbine units is presented. And the combined operation technology of variable-speed pumpturbine units and wind power is summarized.

Background Apoptosis, reactive oxidative stress (ROS) and inflammation act as the pivotal pathogenesis of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury (MIRI). Our prior study and other investigation have demonstrated the participations of src homology 2 (SH2) B adaptor protein 1 (SH2B1) in ischemic injury and cardiac hypertrophy; whereas, the involvements of SH2B1 in MIRI and underlying mechanisms are completely unknown. Method In present study, MIRI model in vivo was induced by 30 min of ligation of LAD coronary artery and 24 h of reperfusion, and primary cultured cardiomyocytes were challenged with 2 h of hypoxia followed by 4 h of reoxygenation (H/R) to mimic MIRI in vitro. Adenovirus encoding for SH2B1 or GFP were pre-transfected into myocardium prior to MIRI both in vivo and in vitro. The myocardial damage, cardiac function, apoptosis, ROS and inflammation were evaluated systematically. Immunofluorescence staining and western blotting were alternatively performed to detect protein expression. Results The results exhibited that H/R or I/R significantly reduced SH2B1 in cardiomyocytes, followed by impaired cell survival and function, which were strongly reversed after the adenovirus-mediated SH2B1 up-regulation. Meanwhile, I/R- and H/R-elevated inflammation, apoptosis and ROS were also alleviated by SH2B1 up-regulation. A mechanistic study suggested that the protective contributions of SH2B1 on H/R-suffered cardiomyocytes were based on the activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway. The abolishment of the PI3K/AKT via a pharmacological inhibitor (LY294002) repressed anti-H/R capabilities of SH2B1. Conclusion Therefore, SH2B1 prevents cardiomyocytes from inflammation, apoptosis and ROS in MIRI partially through the PI3K/AKT-dependent avenues. It may provide a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of MIRI.

With wide distribution and a large planting area, soybeans are an important cash crop in China. Due to the low position of soybean plants, improper control of the header height during harvesting is likely to cause poor harvesting and soil shoveling. To solve such problems, a soybean harvester header-height adjustment system is developed in this study. A profiling mechanism and hydraulic driving system were designed based on a current soybean harvester. The interaction between the soil and the harvester’s profiling mechanism was explored, the force and motion of the profiling mechanism were analyzed, and a relational model between the detection angle of the angular transducer and the rotational angle of the profiling mechanism was built. By analyzing the soil compactness of soybean growing plots, a linear fitting method was used to establish a mathematical model of soil compactness and compacting depth, a computational model of profiling the header height was determined, and an adaptive header-height adjustment system was designed. Evaluation indicators of the soybean harvester header-height adjustment system were constructed and a field harvesting experiment was conducted, whose results show that the absolute error between the average stubble height and the profiling height set by an industrial personal computer (IPC) before the tests was less than 2 mm. The variation coefficients of stubble height in the four groups of tests were 9.3%, 11.6%, 8.5%, and 6.5%, with respective profiling control accuracy of 88%, 86%, 90%, and 92%, ground flatness and soil compactness have little effect on the overall control effect of the control system.

Ethnopharmacological relevance In Chinese folk medicine, Ligustrum robustum (Roxb.) Blume has been widely used as a healthy tea beverage for improvement in obesity and lipidemic metabolic disorders. Aim of the study: We aimed to investigate the effect of L. robustum extract (LRE) on metabolic syndrome in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice and to explore the underlying role of gut microbiota during the treatment. Materials and methods The ground dried leaves of L. robustum (Roxb.) Blume were extracted with ethanol and then purified by a resin column. The composition of L. robustum extract (LRE) was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). C57BL/6 J mice fed with HFD were treated with LRE for 16 weeks. RT-qPCR and morphological staining were utilized to reveal the impact of LRE on hepatic glucolipid metabolism and gut integrity. The next-generation sequencing of 16 S rDNA was applied for analyzing the gut microbial community of fecal samples. Results LRE, mainly composed of ligupurpuroside A and aceteoside, alleviated insulin resistance, improved hepatic metabolism, enhanced intestinal integrity, and suppressed inflammatory responses in HFD-fed mice. Moreover, LRE treatment reshaped the gut microbiota structure by increasing the levels of genera Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, and Mucispirillum and decreasing the populations of Alistipes and Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 group in HFD-fed mice. The alteration of gut microbiota was associated with several metabolic pathways of gut bacteria. Spearman's correlation analysis further confirmed the links between the changed intestinal bacteria and multiple disease indices. Conclusions LRE prevented gut microbiota dysbiosis and metabolic disorder in HFD-fed mice, which helps to promote the application in LRE-mediated prevention from metabolic syndrome as a gut microbial regulator.

Formation pressure estimation of shale gas wells is one of the key factors affecting production prediction of gas wells, and diagnostic fracture injection test analysis is an important means to accurately obtain formation pressure parameters. In this paper, through the establishment of shale gas well diagnostic fracture injection test model, taking ChangNing shale gas field as an example, the actual test data of pre-production gas wells are fitted. Then analysis the change law of pressure transient curves and the model fitting results with conventional analysis method comparing with the results - G function diagnosis curve method to explain, optimizing fracture closure point selection mode, this paper proposes a new method to determine fracture closure point: when G derivative curve begins to deviate from the initial linear trend, correct selection of closed point, to obtain accurate formation pressure coefficient, formation pore pressure of reservoir parameters such as reservoir. At the same time, the improved method is used to evaluate the reservoir parameters of the actual gas wells in ChangNing, providing theoretical guidance for the subsequent fracturing construction and production.

Poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) is a novel biodegradable material. PPC has great potential to be used not only in the cosmetic chemical industry, but also in the medical material industry due to its good biodegradability and biocompatibility. One of the advantages of making PPC emulsion is that PPC could reduce the amount of organic solvent required as compared to the traditional solvent blending method, thus using PPC emulsion has emerged as a novel technique for preparing PPC materials. The amount and hydrophilic–lipophilic balance (HLB) value of emulsifiers along with the content of continuous phase determine the properties, such as appearance, stability, solid content, conductivity, and particle size, of the PPC emulsion. The effect of different parameters on the properties of the resulting PPC emulsion was investigated. With chloroform as the dispersion phase solvent and 1 wt% of aqueous polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution as the continuous phase, a relatively stable white-opaque with pan blue light emitting PPC emulsion was obtained by stirring the mixture for 1 h at room temperature where 2.5 wt% of emulsifier with a HLB value 13.0 was used. However, emulsions prepared with HLB value in the range of 12.6–16.0 except for HLB 13.0 failed to exhibit good performance. Decreased stability of the resulting PPC emulsion was noted at PVA concentrations higher than 1.0 wt%. Moreover, we also found an increase in the production of solid content of PPC emulsion when the amount of emulsifier (HLB value 13.0) increased from 0 to 5.0 wt% in the presence of 1.0 wt% PVA.

Effects of polycarboxylate (PCE) superplasticizers with different densities of carboxylate groups, functional group contents, molecular weight, and side chain polymerization degrees on the hydration behavior of Portland cement were investigated in this study. The experiments were conducted by using semi-adiabatic calorimeters equipped with a temperature measurement system. The water cement ratio (W/C) was 0.4, and the PCE dosage used was 0.3%. Besides, the Total Organic Carbon (TOC) experiments were taken to further study the delaying mechanism of different PCE on cement hydration. The ability to delay hydration increased in PCEs with high densities of carboxylate groups, short side chains, and high molecular weight and the copolymerization of methyl acrylate (MA) monomers decreased the heat flow peak. Nevertheless, the main hydration temperature peak and the maximum elevated temperature decreased when the density of the carboxylate groups increased. Moreover, PCEs with only a moderate molecular weight had the lowest hydration degree. The main hydration peak decreased but appeared in advance when the amount of MA monomers copolymerized with PCEs was increased; the hydration degree also decreased. PCEs only polymerized by methyl allyl polyethenoxy ether (TPEG400) macromonomer had a hydration degree of 69.46%. Absorption amount results indicate that PCEs affect the hydration of cement paste by absorbing PCEs on the surface of cement particles or encapsulating some cement particles to restrain cement hydration. PCEs grafted with MA hydrolyzed to carboxylic and hydroxyl groups, which can both restrain the hydration of cement paste.

Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a harmful disease that poses a serious threat to human life. By effectively controlling its risk factors, the occurrence and development of CVD can be reduced, and people's health status and quality of life can be improved. Methods A total of 36,215 participants were collected from participants of the Early Screening and Comprehensive Intervention Program for High Risk Population of Cardiovascular Disease in Tianjin on July 31, 2017. We analyzed the relationship between CVD risk and personal information, personal and family medical history, biochemical index, and physical fitness index using Pearson's chi-squared test with and without Yates's correction for continuity, and Fisher's exact test. CVD risk-related factors were examined through logistic regression and decision tree analysis. Results A personal history of hypertension and apoplexy had a contingency coefficient with CVD risk of more than 0.3. A higher risk of CVD was also found to be associated with biochemical markers of cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and blood sugar. Logistic regression analysis revealed 12 indicators to be influencing factors of CVD, including age, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and the number of people aged >90 in the family. Hypertension, SBP, BMI, cholesterol, and blood glucose were associated with five or more other indicators. Conclusions The prevalence of CVD risk factors in Tianjin residents is relatively high. Family disease history and individual physical fitness indicators need to be taken into account during CVD screening and intervention, to reduce the risk of CVD.

It is of great significance to study the friction characteristics in the process of slippage and friction of the wet clutch for optimizing vehicle start, improving vehicle driving comfort and prolonging the service life of the clutch. Based on the test data of wet multi-plate clutch under braking condition in SAE#2 test bench friction torque test, we analyze the influence of rotate speed and average pressure on the friction torque through the comparison of friction torque under two friction pairs. The results show that in the case of sufficient lubricating oil flow, the attenuation of multiple pairs of friction plates has nothing to do with the proportion of the groove area of friction plates. Friction torque attenuation will occur under any groove area, but different groove areas will affect the rotate speed and average pressure of this phenomenon. In general, the frictional torque attenuation of wet multi-plate clutch gradually increases with the increase of relative speed and decreases with the increase of average surface pressure.

Production in shale is highly related to the well placement in both sweetspot and fracable zone. Due to both, market conditions and also shale property, geosteering in tight shale reservoirs have generally employed basic and economical steering tools, such as gamma ray; however, though the tool provides some data to steer the well, the data provided does not allow for predictions of fracability and production potential of the shale rock. This paper introduces a new geosteering approach, which augments existing techniques by providing data to also help well placement, then design stage and perforation location. This novel formation evaluation technique is essentially building a quantitative model of "sweetspot fracable window" for shale, which can help to land and target most prospective zones. The main quantitative data is obtained through measurement of cuttings samples at well-site in semi-realtime on a field portable SEM (Ashton et. al., 2013), generating the mineralogical and elemental composition of the samples, and also providing rock textural data. Although cuttings are evaluated after the well being drilled, cuttings are only physical representative rock samples from the bottom of the hole.Case studies presented in the paper have shown that maintaining the well path in the sweetspot fracable window can result in better well production after fracturing. Thus, the goal for geosteering is to ensure as much as possible that the horizontal well trajectory is maintained within this window. Additionally, the cuttings data generated during the drilling process can also be used both during and after TD to generate optimized completion design, aiming to further maximize well productivity. The cases’ study in this paper also shows that, compared with conventional wireline logging data, the on-location cutting based analysis is able to generate richer mineralogical and elemental data throughout lateral wells, providing a better understanding of geological heterogeneity. Meanwhile, the authors also apply several strategies to calibrate the cutting depths and cuttings’ time lags.The authors created an approach, which can provide a fast analysis for enhanced reservoir navigation, to keep the well trajectory within a predefined sweetspot fracable zone. The production analysis of the wells, hereafter, verifies that the higher the rate of intersecting into sweetspot fracable zone, the higher production the well receives. This approach then assists in generating cost-effective completion optimization of stage placement and perforation, with the ultimate goal of increasing the investment returns.In conclusion, the production statistics of the wells verifies the higher rate of intersecting into sweetspot fracable zone, the higher production the well receives. The goal for geosteering is to ensure as much as possible that the horizontal well trajectory is maintained within this window.

Achieving demodulation for near-infrared spectroscopy signal with digital envelope demodulation technique. A near-infrared spectroscopy signal collecting system with simple and flexible signal processing are designed and implemented. Altera Corporation's CPLD EPM240TIOOC5N, which has enough I/O ports for the system expansion, was selected to generate sequence pulse for ADS8505; STC89LE54RD+ was used used as microcontroller. Quartus II development environment was used to design internal procedure of CPLD. Experiments on effect of total sampling periodical number on SNR (single-to-noise ratio) and effect of single periodical sampling number on SNR were designed to implement system detection and verification. Compared with the phase-sensitive detection circuit, the digital signal processing is simple and flexible, and simplifies circuit and reduces the debugging steps.

In this work, the flammability behaviors and synergistic effects of red phosphorus masterbatch (RPM) with expandable graphite (EG) in flame-retardant high-density polyethylene/ethylene vinyl-acetate copolymer (HDPE/EVA) composites have been investigated by limiting oxygen index (LOI), UL-94 test, cone calorimeter test (CCT), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The data obtained from LOI, UL-94 test and CCT showed that suitable amount of RPM had synergistic effects with EG in the HDPE/EVA/EG/RPM composites. The addition of RPM greatly increased the LOI values by 3.4%, obtained UL-94 V-0 rating, decreased the heat release rates and total heat release, and prolongated the ignition time when 6.7 phr RPM substituted for EG in the HDPE/EVA/EG/RPM composites. The data from TGA and FTIR spectra also indicated the synergistic effects of RPM with EG considerably enhanced the thermal degradation temperatures. The morphological observations after UL-94, CCT, and SEM images presented positive evidences that the synergistic effects took place for RPM with EG, and the flame-retardant mechanism has been changed in flame-retardant HDPE/EVA/EG/RPM composites. The formation of stable and compact charred residues promoted by RPM acted as effective heat barriers and thermal insulations, which improved the flame-retardant performances and prevented the underlying polymer materials from burning. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:2884–2892, 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers

In this article, elastomer-toughened high density polyethylene/magnesium hydroxide (HDPE/MH) composites with various contents of ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) are prepared in a twin-screw extruder and then injection-molded. The effect of EVA on the viscoelastic, crystallization, morphology, and tensile properties of the HDPE/EVA/MH composites is studied. The rheological behaviors show that the complex viscosity, storage, and loss modulus at low frequencies are largely unaffected with various EVA contents; however, the corresponding values decrease with increasing EVA content at high frequencies. The scanning electronic microscopy studies on the HDPE/EVA/MH composites show that the MH particles mainly disperse in the EVA phase, and the interfacial adhesion has been also enhanced due to the addition of EVA. The crystallization of HDPE diminishes because of the surface energy difference resulting in encapsulation structure. The tensile properties of the HDPE/EVA/MH composites are strong influenced by the incorporation of EVA. POLYM. COMPOS., 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers