Search

Heat shield is one of the important parts in aero engine, its function is to effectively prevent engine overheating. Under normal operation, the heat shield is subjected to high temperature from the combustion chamber and pressure pulsations inside and outside, and the phase difference of this pulsation pressure results in a very harsh working environment. Based on the experimental results, the approximate equation of the pulsating pressure is established, and the finite element method (FEM) is used to simulate the pulsating pressure. Meanwhile, the mechanical quantities such as thermal stress and mechanical stress are considered comprehensively. Linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM), Paris and Forman-Newman-de Koning (FNK) models were employed during the study in order to calculate the fatigue crack propagation life (FCPL) of the heat shield. The results show that the heat shield has an infinite lifetime at a phase difference of zero. As the phase difference increases, the FCPL and critical crack length (CCL) tend to decrease nonlinearly. When the phase difference is π, the FCPL and CCL are the shortest, which are only 3% and 17.1% of those at π/6. This study can provide a reference for the improvement and overhaul of heat shields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, novel organic-inorganic hybrid material, 2-fluorobenzylpyridinium tetrabromidocuprate(II) [2FBzPy]2[CuBr4], has been obtained by using a slow evaporation solution-growth method and was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectrum. The compound crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c, and the packing is governed by C − H···Br hydrogen bonding interactions, which was confirmed by the Hirshfeld surface analysis. The results of antimicrobial experiments showed that the compound possessed excellent antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: An inorganic-organic hybrid salt [2FBzPy]2[CuBr4] was synthesized and characterized. The main intermolecular interaction in [2FBzPy]2[CuBr4] crystals have been studied and analyzed. The interactions between different molecules in[2FBzPy]2 [CuBr4] were examined by Hirshfeld surface analyses. [2FBzPy]2[CuBr4] had an optical band gap of 1.69 eV, was a typical semiconductor material with good optical property. The as-synthesized salts exhibits good antibacterial activities against S. aureus and E. coli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental information disclosure (EID) actively causes enterprises to bear responsibility for both respecting the ecology and preserving a clean environment. It not only acts as an essential way for the public to be involved in controlling environmental pollution and supervising the performance of enterprises with respect to the environment, but is also a significant method to promote the modernization of ecological and environmental governance systems as well as capacity to govern. Panel data for 285 municipalities at the prefecture level in China from 2003 to 2019 are taken for the study. By adopting the difference-in-differences (DID) method and the mediation effect model, we discuss the influence and transmission mechanisms of environmental information disclosure on total-factor energy efficiency. The performance of total factor energy efficiency is greatly facilitated by environmental information disclosure, as indicated by the results. The conclusion remains valid after being tested. The mechanism analysis shows that its conduction path mainly comes from an innovation effect, while the structural effect, marketization effect and supervision effect play relatively weak intermediary roles. Heterogeneity analyses show that the promoting effect appears to be more pronounced in non-resource-based cities, large cities and those cities that are under strong environmental regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractAccurately predicting the effects of extreme weather on offshore wind turbines (OWT) is crucial for ensuring their safety and normal operation. This study combines fluid-structure interaction (FSI) and linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) to simulate the crack propagation behavior of a 2.1 MW OWT tower in the offshore environment. First, ANSYS finite element software is used to simulate the OWT under normal operating conditions to determine the hot spot stress locations and introduce initial cracks at these locations. Then, the crack propagation process of the tower is simulated using FRANC3D software, and the fatigue crack propagation life (FCPL) is assessed using the Forman-Newman-de Koning (FNK) model. The study concludes that the middle and upper parts of the OWT tower are the most dangerous locations, influenced by aerodynamic and inertial loads, with initial cracks tending to extend linearly to both sides after penetrating the tower wall thickness. The occurrence of typhoons significantly reduces the FCPL and critical crack length of the tower, with the FCPL numerically decreasing from 4.75 years to 2.46 years, and the critical crack length decreasing from 1079.67 mm to 608.49 mm. The results of this study can provide a reference for maintenance and reinforcement work by technical maintenance personnel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, an organic-inorganic hybrid crystal with excellent bactericidal activity, 4-methyl-1-(2'-nitrobenzyl)pyridinium tetrabromocuprate(II) ([4Me2NO2BzPy]2[CuBr4]), was synthesized by the crystal growth by a slow evaporation method and characterized. [4Me2NO2BzPy]2[CuBr4] crystallized in the orthorhombic space group Pna21. Hirshfeld surface analysis indicated that the H···H (28.8%), H···Br/Br···H (27.0%), and O···H/H···O (17.5%) interatomic contacts played a primary role in contributing to the stacking of the crystals. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the material was stable up to 192.5 °C. The charge transfer interaction between anions and cations was explained by UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. [4Me2NO2BzPy]2[CuBr4] exhibited favorable bactericidal activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: An inorganic-organic hybrid salt[4Me2NO2BzPy]2[CuBr4] was synthesized and characterized. Hirshfeld surface analysis indicated the primary intermolecular interactions were H···H, Br···H and O···H interactions. The salt exhibited favorable thermal stability and could be used in applications below 192.5 °C. The salt had an optical band gap of 1.73 eV and was a typical semiconductor material with good optical properties. The as-synthesized salt exhibits good antibacterial activities against S. aureus and E. coli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effect of xylitol on gut mucosal barrier injury in a type 2 diabetes rat model. Treatment with xylitol not only ameliorated diabetic-induced changes to small intestinal mucosa morphology and decreased diamine oxidase concentration in the serum of diabetic rats, but also modified the inflammatory infiltrates and improved the secretory IgA levels of the small intestinal epithelium. Increased expression of zo-1, occludin, mucin-2 and intestinal trefoil factor also was detected in small intestinal tissue. Intragastric administration of xylitol suppressed diabetes-induced increases of myeloperoxidase, eosinophil peroxidase, IL-6 and TNF-α. These results suggest that xylitol reduces mucosal inflammatory lesions and improves the intestinal barrier in diabetic rats by maintaining the structural integrity of the mucous layer, inhibiting the expression of inflammatory mediators and enhancing the expression of tight junction proteins associated with intestinal permeability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hurricane Ian in 2022 was a destructive category 4 Atlantic hurricane striking the state of Florida, which caused hundreds of deaths and injuries, catastrophic property damage, and an economic loss of more than $112 billion. Before the landfall of Ian in Florida, the state government issued evacuation orders in high-risk zones to reduce casualties and injuries. However, there is limited data available to monitor the actual evacuation patterns and compliance with the evacuation orders at a large geographic scale. This study utilizes human mobility data (i.e. SafeGraph Weekly Pattern) to analyse the spatial patterns of evacuation during Hurricane Ian in 2022. The objectives of the study include three key aspects: 1) proposing an analytical workflow that utilizes human mobility data to detect mobility patterns in disasters and other emergency events; 2) identifying significant evacuation patterns, and 3) revealing the spatial variations in the compliance with evacuation orders in the affected areas. Using data science and spatial analysis techniques, this study detected notable changes in population movements, both within Florida and nationwide, which are potentially linked to the hurricane-induced population evacuation. The distance decay pattern of population flows from Florida demonstrates a propensity for individuals to relocate to nearby areas during the hurricane. Furthermore, the increase in population outflows from the impacted areas suggests the effectiveness of mandatory evacuation orders. A more pronounced increase in outflows from designated mandatory evacuation areas points to the public awareness of the evacuation zone designation. This study provides large-scale, fine-resolution analysis of evacuation behaviours in natural disasters which cannot be easily detected in traditional data sources. The analytical workflows provide actionable tools for government agencies and policymakers to evaluate the effectiveness of evacuation orders and improve evacuation plans in future disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering that the road network shares traffic flow as a system, this study aimed to predict the network-level flexible pavement performance, using an optimised artificial neural network (ANN) approach to predict the pavement performance of each individual road, and the Ford-Fulkerson algorithm to determine the weight coefficients of roads. ANNs were developed to predict distress conditions, functional conditions and structural performance using the inputs of the pavement age and structural, traffic and climatic conditions. ANNs were trained with Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) program data, and almost all the coefficient of determination values between ANN outputs and measured results are larger than 0.9. This ANN approach was optimised by establishing grey models to provide predictive short-term performance data for training ANNs, and employing Kalman Filter to modify the long-term performance prediction. Applications in typical LTPP sections validated the effectiveness of the optimisation method. This study used the reduction in road network capacity due to the assumed unavailability of a certain road to quantify its role (weight coefficient), which was calculated using the Ford-Fulkerson algorithm. This network-level performance prediction approach was applied in a 25-expressways network in Shanghai, which validated the good generalisation capabilities of ANNs and feasibility of the Ford-Fulkerson algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Microtransplantation (MST) has been found to enhance clinical outcomes in elderly patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) compared with chemotherapy alone. It is important to investigate clinical effectiveness and mechanisms. Methods: From January 2012 to December 2022, a total of 40 patients over 60 years with newly diagnosed low – and medium-risk AML were analyzed retrospectively, which was divided into two groups: MST group (chemotherapy combined with donor peripheral blood stem cell [PBSC] injection, n = 20) and control group (chemotherapy alone, n = 20). Flow cytometry and commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits were used to measure changes in the percentage of natural killer (NK) cells and the quantity of interferon IFN-γ. The complete remission (CR), 2-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were also calculated following therapy. Results: After induction chemotherapy, the 20 MST patients had a CR rate of 60%, a 2-year OS of 61.8%, and a 2-year DFS of 51.6%. Conclusion: MST has a faster hematological recovery and a greater CR, both of which can enhance OS and DFS in elderly AML patients. After MST, there is a significant correlation between the percentage of NK cells and the quantity of IFN-γ. This suggests that NK cells and IFN-γ are putative immunologic mechanisms of MST action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual Tree Detection-and-Counting (ITDC) is among the important tasks in town areas, and numerous methods are proposed in this direction. Despite their many advantages, still, the proposed methods are inadequate to provide robust results because they mostly rely on the direct field investigations. This paper presents a novel approach involving high-resolution imagery and the Canopy-Height-Model (CHM) data to solve the ITDC problem. The new approach is studied in six urban scenes: farmland, woodland, park, industrial land, road and residential areas. First, it identifies tree canopy regions using a deep learning network from high-resolution imagery. It then deploys the CHM-data to detect treetops of the canopy regions using a local maximum algorithm and individual tree canopies using the region growing. Finally, it calculates and describes the number of individual trees and tree canopies. The proposed approach is experimented with the data from Shanghai, China. Our results show that the individual tree detection method had an average overall accuracy of 0.953, with a precision of 0.987 for woodland scene. Meanwhile, the R2 value for canopy segmentation in different urban scenes is greater than 0.780 and 0.779 for canopy area and diameter size, respectively. These results confirm that the proposed method is robust enough for urban tree planning and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vugs are usually distributed in carbonate reservoirs, which have an important contribution to oil reserves. The number, size, distribution mode, and distance from the well of vugs are important factors affecting the transient pressure response, which cannot be fully described by continuum mode. Therefore, a discontinuum single-phase oil model which treat the vug as an aquifer is proposed to study the effect of vugs on transient pressure response. Four oilfield cases are used to calibrate and validate the proposed model and code. After verifying the model, a vertical well model is established to conduct the sensitivity study. We found that the larger the vug, the greater the number of vugs and the closer the distance between the vug and the well, the greater the effect. When multiple vugs are symmetrically distributed around the well and the formation is isotropic, it can be equivalent to a large vugs which means that the derivative curve of pressure can only reflect the characteristics of one vug but not all vugs. The findings of this study can help for better understanding of effect of vugs on the transient pressure response and have great significance for further exploration and development of carbonate reservoir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well recognized that the liquefaction resistance is closely related to the consolidation stress in soils. However, previous studies investigated the effects of unidirectional consolidation loads rather than multi-directional consolidation loads on liquefaction resistance. In this study, two types of granular materials, spherical glass beads and irregularly-shaped sands, are tested under undrained conditions with the uni- and bi-directional loads to investigate the liquefaction resistance. The effects of consolidation loads on liquefaction resistance can be explained in terms of material anisotropy. In simple shear tests, the stress- and strain-controlled loading paths are adopted for the consolidation and the undrained shear process, respectively. The results indicate that the liquefaction resistances of both materials consolidated under the multi-directional consolidation loads are higher than those consolidated under the linear loads. More consolidation loading cycles induce a better liquefaction resistance of the specimens at a given relative density. In addition, the influence of consolidation stress on liquefaction resistance is demonstrated by the anisotropy of specimens. Cyclic vertical stress, unidirectional shear stress, and bidirectional shear stress applied during consolidation produce greater isotropy and improve the liquefaction resistance of the specimen compared with the monotonic vertical stress, and their effects align with an increasing order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooking oil fumes (COFs) are widely acknowledged as substantial contributors to indoor air pollution, having detrimental effects on human health. Despite the existence of commercialized in vitro aerosol exposure platforms, assessment risks of aerosol pollutants are primarily evaluated based on multiwell plate experiments by trapping and redissolving aerosols to conduct comprehensive in vitro immersion exposure manner. Therefore, an innovative real-time exposure system for COF aerosol was constructed, featuring a self-designed microfluidic chip as its focal component. The chip was used to assess toxicological effects of in vitro exposure to COF aerosol on cells cultured at the gas–liquid interface. Meanwhile, we used transcriptomics to analyze genes that exhibited differential expression in cells induced by COF aerosol. The findings indicated that the MAPK signaling pathway, known for its involvement in inflammatory response and oxidative stress, played a crucial role in the biological effects induced by COF aerosol. Biomarkers associated with inflammatory response and oxidative stress exhibited corresponding alterations. Furthermore, the concentration of COF aerosol exposure and post-exposure duration exert decisive effects on these biomarkers. Thus, the study suggests that COF can induce oxidative stress and inflammatory response in BEAS-2B cells, potentially exerting a discernible impact on human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The computational efficiency of the discrete element simulation process is often a limiting factor. However, the use of the coarse-grained method, which employs dimensional analysis to amplify particles, significantly improves computational efficiency. This research utilizes the coarse-grained method to amplify particles and examines the impact of linear models on the mechanical of fly ash. By examining parameters such as magnification, stiffness, sliding friction coefficient, and rolling friction coefficient, we establish the relationship between fly ash cohesion, internal friction angle, and microscopic parameters in discrete element method (DEM) simulation. The simulation results demonstrate that the shear strength of fly ash increases as magnification, stiffness, and sliding friction coefficient increase. The rolling friction coefficient, on the other hand, has minimal effect on shear strength. The elastic potential energy of the system is unaffected by magnification, with stiffness inversely proportional to adaptable potential power. However, sliding and rolling friction coefficients positively impact adaptable potential power. Furthermore, this study proposes a practical simplification method for amplification of materials with small particle sizes. The comparison between numerical simulation and experimental data yields consistent results. As a result, this study provides a foundation for the application of large-scale fly ash transportation, storage, and other engineering purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product configurators are recognised as critical toolkits enabling customers to co-create products with companies. Most available product configurators require customers to select suitable product attributes from predefined options. However, customers usually find the selection processes frustrating due to their lack of product knowledge. In view of the fact that customers often express their needs in imprecise and vague natural language, we define a new needs-based configuration mechanism and propose an implementation approach based on text embeddings and multilayer perceptron. Specifically, we leverage the massive amount of product reviews by encoding them into text embeddings. A multilayer perceptron is trained to map text embeddings to product attribute options. Experiment results indicate that the mapping has good generalisation capability to map customer needs into product configurations. The performance of our approach is comparable to that of deep learning-based approaches but with much higher efficiency in terms of computational complexity. Our needs-based configuration thus provides a quick and effective means of facilitating product customisation. It also demonstrates an innovative way of utilising customer resources in unstructured text to co-create products with companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fatigue crack fracture is a common failure mode in structures. For the propeller with initial crack, the hydrodynamic effect cannot be ignored when studying the fatigue crack propagation behavior. Taking the full-size KP505 propeller as the research object, its hydrodynamic performance is simulated and verified. By using the fluid-structure interaction (FSI), the pressure distribution and stress distribution of propeller under different working conditions are analyzed comprehensively, and the position of propeller hot spot stress is obtained. According to the principal stress and its direction of the hot spot stress, the location and orientation of possible macroscopic crack initiation are determined. By using the linear elastic fracture mechanics and finite element method (FEM), the propeller fatigue crack propagation law and life are calculated. The analysis results show that the Forman-Newman-de Koning (FNK) model predicts more complete fatigue crack propagation life than Paris model. The fatigue crack propagation of propeller has two stages, steady propagation stage, and accelerated propagation stage. The crack breaking blade thickness is the dividing point between the two stages. In addition, the effects of the advance coefficient, stress ratio, and initial crack size on the computed results are also analyzed, which provide reference for ship driving and propeller maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in treating lower limb motor dysfunction after stroke and explore the optimal stimulation parameters. Methods: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and other relevant databases were systematically queried for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the efficacy of rTMS in addressing lower limb motor dysfunction post-stroke. The search encompassed records from inception to July 2022. The assessed outcomes encompassed parameters such as the Fugl-Meyer motor function score for lower limbs, balance function, and Barthel index (BI). Three independent researchers were responsible for research selection, data extraction, and quality assessment. Study screening, data extraction, and bias evaluation were performed independently by two reviewers. Data synthesis was undertaken using Review Manager 5.3, while Stata version 14.0 software was employed for generating the funnel plot. Results: A total of 13 studies and 428 patients were included. The meta-analysis indicated that rTMS had a positive effect on the BI (MD = 5.87, 95% CI [0.99, 10.76], p = 0.02, I2 = 86%, N of studies = 8, N of participants = 248). Subgroup analysis was performed on the stimulation frequency, treatment duration, and different stroke stages (stimulation frequency was low-frequency (LF)-rTMS (MD = 4.45, 95% CI [1.05, 7.85], p = 0.01, I2 = 0%, N of studies = 4, N of participants = 120); treatment time ≤ 15 d: (MD = 4.41, 95% CI [2.63, 6.18], p < 0.00001, I2 = 0%, N of studies = 4, N of participants = 124); post-stroke time ≤6 months: (MD = 4.37, 95% CI [2.42, 6.32], p < 0.0001, I2 = 0%, N of studies = 5, N of participants = 172). Conclusion: LF-rTMS had a significant improvement effect on BI score, while high-frequency (HF)-rTMS and iTBS had no significant effect. And stroke time ≤6 months in patients with treatment duration ≤15 d had the best treatment effect. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION: Stroke Lower limb dysfunction is a common complication after stroke, seriously affecting the daily life of patients. Lower limb motor function improved significantly within 6 months after low frequency treatment. To maximise motor gains in patients with lower limb motor dysfunction following stroke in the shortest possible time, it is recommended to initiate early rehabilitation therapy using low-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation during the subacute phase of stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering that the cohort effect is added to the population mortality prediction model, the data information on the impact of birth year on mortality can be captured. In this article, the Linear Link model (LL) is extended to obtain the Extended Linear Link model (ELL) with cohort effect. Model fitting and forecasting employ a two-stage approach, first estimating the age term parameters of the extended model, and then forecasting the time parameters using an optimal combination ARIMA(p,d,q) of time series model. Using the mortality data of the Chinese population aged 0–89 from 1995 to 2018 to fit and predict the model, and to test the stability by rolling-window time frame. The results show that when the singular value decomposition method and the least square estimation method are adopted, the prediction effect of the Extended Linear Link model with cohort effect is significantly better than the previous Linear Link model, and the accuracy of fitting and predicting are improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the integration of metro and ride-hailing services is a promising way to handle the last-mile problem, the viability of long-term subsidies funded by municipalities with limited budgets is in doubt. We thus investigate two self-funded subsidy schemes: metro-lead subsidy scheme (MS) and ride-hailing platform-lead subsidy scheme (RS). To this end, an integrated system consisting of a metro operator and a ride-hailing platform is considered, where the participants have access to negotiation. A game-theoretic model is established to capture the interactions among self-interested stakeholders. The results across MS and RS show that bargaining behaviour is always effective in promoting traveller adoption of 'metro + ride-hailing', but cannot leave both operators better off due to the adverse effect on the ride-hailing platform. Also, bargaining behaviour enables the preferences of the operators for MS and RS to be aligned, which are sensitive to metro coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Juniperus L. is the second largest conifer genus, having the widest distribution of all conifer genera. However, its evolution in East Asia is unclear due to the scarce fossil records. We described a set of Juniperus fossils from the Early Miocene of Tiejianggou, Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. Although only two seed cones and five branch segments were preserved, the fossils were assigned to Juniperus chifengensis Liang Xiao et Liyan Guo sp. nov. (Cupressaceae). The diagnostic characteristics include leaves in a decussate or ternate arrangement, both scalelike and needle-like leaves on mature branchlets, scalelike leaves on juvenile branchlets, leaves with two stomatal bands adaxially and abaxially, terminal seed cones, and two or four seeds, which is the most similar extant species J. chinensis morphologically. However, the cuticle of the abaxial epidermis shows longer and more disordered cells. With a close affinity to the extant Juniperus chinensis, J. chifengensis, the macrofossil record of sect. Sabina (Juniperus) in East Asia, had existed in East Asia in the early Early Miocene. The longer abaxial epidermal cells confirm its adaptation to the dry and cold climate that occurred from the Early Miocene to the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores Goa-Gunggari-Wakka Wakka Murri artist Leah Purcell's recent multigenre project, "The Legend of Molly Johnson". Beginning as an adaptation of Henry Lawson's "The Drover's Wife", the project fundamentally defamiliarises and subverts Lawson's story from the standpoint of an Aboriginal woman. Evolving across different genres—from play to novel and film—Purcell's project is a unique case of adaptation, identity-making and transmedia world-building. This article considers Purcell's adaptations as a form of franchise storytelling, and central to her cultural and political interventions is the figure of Molly Johnson. As an iconic Aboriginal heroine, Molly is empowered by her deep connection with Country and her role as a mother. Central to the narrative is the theme of maternalism, which allows Purcell to weave her personal experiences and family history into the character of Molly, who encapsulates the strength and resilience of generations of Aboriginal women. Purcell's "Drover's Wife" project also mounts an intersectional critique of mainstream White feminism through the juxtaposition of Molly and Louisa Clintoff, a character introduced in the novel and film versions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interlayer hybrid foldcore sandwich structures have been introduced in this study. Both facesheets and foldcores were hybridized in the same ply sequence with two layers of plain woven carbon (C) and two layers of satin woven glass (G) fiber prepregs (Carbon-to-Glass ratio 1:1). Foldcore sandwich structures with six-ply combinations were designed including two symmetric layups (GCCG and CGGC) and four asymmetric layups (CGCG, GCGC, CCGG, and GGCC). The static compression and low-velocity impact performance of foldcore sandwich structures of different ply sequences were investigated. A user-defined material subroutine (VUMAT) was employed to characterize the damage evolution of composite materials based on selected failure criteria. The findings revealed that hybridization was effective in enhancing its energy absorption value of pure carbon fiber foldcore sandwich structures in terms of static compression performance. The damage degree of the interlayer hybrid foldcore sandwich structures increased gradually with the increasing impact energy. Moreover, the damage of facesheet was mainly caused by fiber tensile, matrix tensile damage and delamination, and damage of foldcore was mainly delamination. GCGC sandwich panel with asymmetrical cross-ply sequence has the optimal load bearing capacity, and CGGC sandwich panel with symmetrical layup has a strong energy absorption capacity under high-energy impact load. The foldcore sandwich structure showed smaller peak load, longer crushing distance, and more energy absorption value under larger oblique impact angle. The simulation and experimental results show good agreement in peak force, maximum energy absorption, and damage mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At depots with refined oil shortage, arranging a reasonable distribution scheme with limited supply affects operation costs, demand satisfaction rate of gasoline stations (hereafter, 'station satisfaction'), and overtime penalty. This study considers the refined oil distribution problem with shortages using a multi-objective optimisation approach from the perspective of decision makers of oil marketing companies. The modelling and solving process involves (i) formulation of a crisp multi-depot vehicle routing model with limited supply (MDVRPLS) which considers station priority and soft time windows, (ii) development of a robust optimisation model (ROM) to manage uncertainty in demand, and (iii) the proposal of a multi-objective particle swarm optimisation (MOPSO)algorithm. Results of numerical experiments show that (i) the crisp model can better balance operation costs, station satisfaction, and overtime penalty, which produces 3.33% and 4.60% increase in station satisfaction at an increased unit cost and overtime penalty respectively; (ii) ROM successfully addresses uncertainty in demand compared to the crisp model, which requires an additional 8.81% in cost and 12.85% in penalty; and (iii) the MOPSO manages these MDVRPLS models more effectively than other heuristic algorithms. Therefore, applying ROM of refined oil supply shortage to the management significantly improves the efficiency and resists the disturbance caused by external uncertainties, providing scope for efficient distribution of scarce resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between occupational noise-induced hearing loss (ONIHL) and noise exposure in different positions within manufacturing facilities that primarily produce electronic devices, wooden furniture and hardware machinery in southern China and to investigate the practical application of the risk assessment model. Methods. Noise exposure data were collected from 115 workers in 10 manufacturing industries in southern China through on-site investigation. Subsequently, sample testing was conducted in accordance with Chinese standards. The 31 job positions investigated were classified into two similar exposure groups (SEGs). The occupational health risk assessment (OHRA) model was used to evaluate the risks of ONIHL in various job positions. Results. More than half of the positions in both groups had noise levels exceeding 85 dB. In both SEGs, male workers exhibited similar risk patterns of acquiring hearing impairment, with a more pronounced and earlier risk of hearing loss compared to female workers. Age was also found to be a risk factor for hearing impairments. Conclusion. The ORHA model demonstrated a positive correlation between noise exposure levels and NIHL. This model can help employers assess job management with noise exposure and take measures to implement an effective risk management system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acquiring precise change map for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images poses challenges due to the absence of labelled datasets and the presence of speckle noise interference. This paper presents a two-stage fusion strategy coupled with capsule network classification detection method. Initially, to enhance the structure of change areas within the difference image (DI), we propose an energy ratio (ER) algorithm based on the mean ratio (MR). Subsequently, employing a two-stage fusion strategy integrating multiplication and discrete wavelet transform (DWT), we fuse the DIs generated by the three algorithms to effectively complement change information across distinct DIs. In addition, a saliency detection algorithm is introduced to mitigate noise interference and balance the number of samples. Hierarchical fuzzy c-means clustering (HFCM) is then used to pre-classify the salient fusion difference image (SFDI) and derive pseudo-labels. Finally, we apply the residual shrinkage capsule network (RSCN) to reclassify pre-classification results and obtain the change detection outcome, capable of extracting the multi-scale refinement features and adaptively learning discriminant information from changed and unchanged regions. Experimental evaluations on various SAR image datasets demonstrate the exceptional detection performance of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the transdermal mechanisms and compare the differences in transdermal delivery of Sinomenine hydrochloride (SN) between solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN), liposomes (LS), and nanoemulsions (NE). SN-SLN, SN-LS and SN-NE were prepared by ultrasound, ethanol injection and spontaneous emulsification, respectively. FTIR, DSC, in vitro skin penetration, activation energy (Ea) analysis were used to explore the mechanism of drug penetration across the skin. The particle size and encapsulation efficiency were 126.60 nm, 43.23 ± 0.48%(w/w) for SN-SLN, 224.90 nm, 78.31 ± 0.75%(w/w) for SN-LS, and 83.22 nm, 89.01 ± 2.16%(w/w) for SN-LS. FTIR and DSC showed the preparations had various levels of impacts on the stratum corneum's lipid structure which was in the order of SLN > NE > LS. Ea values of SN-SLN, SN-LS, and SN-NE crossing the skin were 2.504, 1.161, and 2.510 kcal/mol, respectively. SLN had a greater degree of alteration on the skin cuticle, which allows SN to permeate skin more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of lightweight structures, foldcore sandwich structure is regarded as a promising replacement for conventional honeycomb sandwich structure. In this study, a new M-type glass fiber foldcore structure was fabricated by hot-pressing molding technology, and the effects of various factors on the low-velocity impact characteristics were investigated. In addition, a 3 D progressive damage numerical model matching the experimental results was established. The results showed that the impact energy exerted a certain influence on the response characteristics of the sandwich structure, but did not change the development trend of the load curve. The sandwich panel was able to achieve the overall load-carrying potential for the impactor whose size was longer than the foldcore span (25 mm). In addition, as the sharpness of the impactor increased, the damage range of the sandwich panel became concentrated and the load-bearing capacity gradually decreased. As revealed by the findings, the maximum load and specific energy absorption of laminated sandwich panels were improved by 150 and 40% respectively compared to single sandwich panel at base position. Therefore, it is beneficial to appropriately reduce the core span and increase the number of laminations to improve impact resistance of foldcore sandwich in practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accounts payable payment period for transportation costs is usually less than the accounts receivable cycle for transportation fees for a third-party logistic (3PL) firm in China; hence, a capital-constrained 3PL firm has a strong demand to seek credit loans from some competitive lenders (e.g., fourth-party logistic [4PL] firm or private lending [PL] organization). To investigate the attractiveness and effectiveness of different financing modes, two practical financing modes (4PL-driven and PL-driven) and an improved 4PL-driven financing mode are formulated in this work. We present a game-theoretical approach to investigate the equilibria based on the profile functions among 4PL firm (or PL), 3PL firm, supplier and retailer under different financing modes. We find that (1) the practical 4PL-driven financing mode will be the Pareto-dominant financing mode for 3PL firms, suppliers and retailers when the initial budget of the 3PL firm falls below a certain level. (2) The 4PL firm's profit is always higher when using the improved 4PL-driven financing mode. (3) The 4PL firm should use the practical 4PL-driven financing mode for start-up 3PL firms to support their growth; but when they grow to a certain scale, the 4PL firm should use the improved 4PL-driven financing mode to enhance its profit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new annonaceous acetogenins, annotemoyin L (1), annotemoyin Y (2) and annotemoyin X, (3) were isolated from the seeds of Annona squamosa Linn. Their structures were ascertained by chemical methods and spectral data. The cytotoxic activities of compounds against three multidrug-resistant cancer cell lines were evaluated, and compound 3 exerted strong cytotoxicity against SMMC 7721/ADR (IC50 0.163 μM), A549/T (IC50 0.064 μM) and MCF-7/ADR (IC50 0.057 μM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new guaiane-type sesquiterpenes, wenyujinolides A (1) and B (2), were isolated from the ethanol extract of Curcuma wenyujin, together with 10 known compounds. Their structures were established by extensive spectroscopic methods (IR, ESIMS, HRESIMS, ECD, 1D and 2D NMR) and comparison of their NMR data with literatures. Compounds 1 and 2 were evaluated for the inhibition of NO production in LPS induced RAW 264.7 macrophages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving high strength and ductility for Ti alloys and their composites has been a key objective and also a great challenge for their engineering applications. Herein, we designed TiC/(TC18 + TC4) composites with bionic and heterogeneously lamella structures, achieving an exceptional combination of high strength and ductility. This is attributed to the formation of alternative layers of TC18-coarse grains and TC4-fine grains with TiC precipitated at their interfaces. Plastic incompatibility of these three-phases produces significant hetero-deformation-induced hardening, induced by mutual interactions of heterogeneous grains and TiC precipitates, as well as activation of extensive < c + a > slip groups. An optimal yield strength of ∼ 1168 MPa and a uniform elongation of ∼ 6% have been achieved, which are much higher than those of the TC4 matrix (i.e. ∼919 MPa and ∼2%). This study provides a new strategy for composite designs to overcome the trade-off dilemma for strength-ductility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effects of risk message frames on tourists' post-pandemic travel intention via the meditation of loneliness and went further to investigate the roles of conflictive family atmosphere and risk propensity in moderating these effects. A situational experiment was conducted in China resulting 622 valid responses. The study found that respondents in risk attenuating frame had higher travel intention than those in risk amplifying frame; social loneliness partially mediated the effect of risk message on travel intention. Conflictive family atmosphere moderated the effects of risk message on social loneliness and travel intention. And risk propensity alleviated the negative impact of risk message on travel intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The charging coil plays an important role in the wireless charging system system. However, there are still some problems in the design of the wireless charging coil, such as the low coupling coefficient. In order to improve the coupling effect, this paper proposes an optimized design scheme for the metal shielding layer structure of DD coil. Firstly, the influence of the structure size of DD coil metal plate on the coupling coefficient is studied by the mathematical modeling analysis. Futhermore, the maxwell simulation is used to study the metal plate coupling coefficients with varying structure sizes, addressing receiving uniformity issues. The optimal size of the shielding layer is designed for optimal magnetic coupling in wireless charging. Finally, this paper validates the feasibility of the improved metal shielding layer through experiments. The research in this paper may have a reference role in the wireless charging system of electric vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to prepare a solid self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (S-SMEDDS) of cinnamaldehyde (CA) by spray drying technique to improve the oral bioavailability of CA. The preparation of CA S-SMEDDS with maltodextrin as the solid carrier, a core-wall material mass ratio of 1:1, a solid content of 20% (w/v), an inlet air temperature of 150 °C, an injection speed of 5.2 mL/min, and an atomization pressure of 0.1 MPa was determined by using the encapsulation rate as the index of investigation. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) revealed the possibility of CA being encapsulated in S-SMEDDS in an amorphous form. The in-vitro release showed that the total amount of CA released by S-SMEDDS was approximately 1.3 times higher than that of the CA suspension. Pharmacokinetic results showed that the relative oral bioavailability of CA S-SMEDDS was also increased to 1.6-fold compared to CA suspension. Additionally, we explored the mechanism of CA uptake and transport of lipid-soluble drugs CA by S-SMEDDS in a Caco-2/HT29 cell co-culture system for the first time. The results showed that CA S-SMEDDS uptake on the co-culture model was mainly an energy-dependent endocytosis mechanism, including lattice protein-mediated endocytosis and vesicle-mediated endocytosis. Transport experiments showed that CA S-SMEDDS significantly increased the permeability of CA in this model. These findings suggested that CA S-SMEDDS is an effective oral solid dosage form for increasing the oral bioavailability of lipid-soluble drug CA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese regime in urban redevelopment has evolved from a command type to one that seems committed to adopting the successful elements of participatory institutions. Recent studies mostly focus on the analysis of cities populated by the Han ethnic group and, as such, are susceptible to ethnographical and cultural bias. Building upon the concepts of habitus and nomocratic-teleocratic imbrication, this article investigates the variegated forms of Chinese urban governance in redevelopment projects through a comparative view of critical geopolitics in cities with stark ethnographical differences—a Uyghur community in Kashgar's Old Town, and a Han community in Shenzhen. Our findings reveal that, when faced with a teleocratic order imposed on their nomocratically formed space, Uyghur residents with a community-based habitus preferred non-confrontational practices for self-protection, rather than direct engagement in open conflict; conversely, Shenzhen residents with state-preference habitus chose public mobilization as a means to seek state attention, largely because their teleocratic community was allowed certain room for negotiations and contestation in the planning process. Two hybrid planning orders are identified: teleocratized nomocracy and nomocratized teleocracy, manifesting the divergent ways in which collaborative strategies have been incorporated by China's governing authorities in order to increase policy adaptability. These findings contribute to understanding the complexity and flexibility of urban governance in the participatory transformation of the urban policy framework in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the perspective of bionics, this paper proposes a new self-similar hierarchical quasi-honeycomb (SHQ) structure. It specifically analyzes the hierarchy and gradient distribution's influence on the impact characteristics under different impact loads by using a combination of numerical simulation, theoretical analysis and experimental validation. Research found that the hierarchical design can improve the out-of-plane impact performance of the honeycomb, and a reasonable out-of-plane gradient distribution can greatly reduce the peak crushing force (PCF) of the out-of-plane impact. In addition, based on the simplified super folding element theory, an out-of-plane impact theoretical model of the SHQ was established, which can better predict the mean crushing force (MCF) and energy absorption (EA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with a rare cancer often face delays in their diagnostic and treatment trajectory, which may affect their work. In this study, we explored experiences and needs of: 1) patients with a rare cancer regarding return to work (RTW) and work retention, and 2) (health care) professionals (HCPs) regarding work-related support of patients with a rare cancer, throughout their disease trajectory. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with working-age patients with a rare cancer (n = 16), and HCPs (n = 9) were conducted. During the interviews, a predefined topic list was used. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed by means of thematic analysis. In total, three themes emerged from the interviews: 1) Awareness in patients and HCPs as a first step towards work, 2) Being/becoming an expert is a tough job, and 3) Enhancing employability through early personalized guidance. Patients with a rare cancer are confronted with uncertainties regarding work, due to an overall lack of knowledge and experience with these types of cancer. Raising awareness among patients, HCPs and employers about rare cancer and its implications, and providing timely individualized, supportive occupational care are required to improve rare cancer patients' ability to work. Recognizing and paying attention to the work-related consequences of a rare cancer diagnosis and its treatment is essential to facilitate rare cancer patients' occupational rehabilitation process. Multidisciplinary collaboration and involvement of HCPs specialized in rare cancer are required to provide suitable work-related support. A personalized approach is necessary to adequately address rare cancer patients' RTW and work retention needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of gastric cancer (GC) ranks fourth among all malignant tumors worldwide, and the fatality rate ranks second among all malignant tumors. Several Chinese traditional medicines have been used in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer. This study aims to investigate the effect of combinational use of natural product cryptotanshinone (CTS) with anti-cancer drug trifluorothymidine (FTD) in GC. Cell Counting Kit-8 assay was used to detect the inhibitory effect of the combinational or separate use of FTD and CTS on the growth of HGC-27 and AGS GC cells. The combined index of FTD and CTS was calculated using CompuSyn software. To understand the mechanism, we applied flow cytometry to study the cell cycle and cell apoptosis after treatment. We also investigated the amount of FTD incorporated into the DNA by immunofluorescence assay. The expression of relevant proteins was monitored using western blot. Furthermore, the effect of using TAS-102 in combination with CTS was studied in xenograft tumor nude mice model. FTD and CTS inhibited the growth of GC cells in a dose-dependent manner, respectively. They both exhibited low to sub-micromolar potency in HGC-27 and AGS cells. The combination of FTD and CTS showed synergistic anticancer effect in HGC-27 cells and AGS cells. Our mechanism studies indicate that FTD could block HGC-27 cells at G2/M phase, while CTS could block HGC-27 cells at G1/G0 phase, while FTD combined with CTS could mainly block HGC-27 cells at G2 phase. FTD in combination with CTS significantly increased the apoptosis of HGC-27 cells. We observed that CTS treatment increased the incorporation of FTD into the DNA HGC-27 cell. FTD treatment activated STAT3 phosphorylation in HGC-27 cells, while CTS treatment down-regulated the concentration of p-STAT3. Interestingly, the combination of CTS and FTD reduced STAT3 phosphorylation induced by FTD. In the in vivo experiments, we observed that the combination of TAS-102 with CTS was significantly more potent than TAS-102 on tumor growth inhibition. FTD combined with CTS has a synergistic anti-gastric cancer effect as shown by in vitro and in vivo experiments, and the combined treatment of FTD and CTS will be a promising treatment option for advanced gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the safety and efficacy of High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) treatment for vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia(VaIN). Methods: Retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical, pathological, and follow-up data of 43 patients who underwent HIFU treatment for VaIN at Xiangya Third Hospital of Central South University between January 2018 and December 2022. The preliminary efficacy and safety of HIFU in treating VaIN were discussed. Results: The 36 patients were analyzed, and the average age was 50.09 ± 12.06 years, including 24 patients with VaIN I and 12 patients with VaIN II. Five cases had a history of hysterectomy (4 due to cervical lesions, 1 due to hysteromyoma), and 2 cases had conization of cervical intraepithelial lesions (CIN). All 36 cases were complicated by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, with 3 cases also having grade I-II CIN and undergoing cervical HIFU treatment. All patients successfully completed the HIFU treatment, with an average treatment time of 5.99 ± 1.25 min, treatment power of 3.5 W, and average total treatment dose of 1118.99 ± 316.20 J. Patients tolerated the treatment well, experiencing only slight pain with VAS score of 3. There was a mild postoperative burning sensation, which resolved within approximately 10-20 min. After 6 follow-up visits, 33 patients (91.66%) achieved cure, 1 patient (2.77%) showed persistence, 2 patients (5.55%) exhibited progression, and 27 patients (75%) tested negative for HPV. At 12 months of follow-up, the results were consistent with those of 6 months. No complications occurred during the procedure and the follow-up period. Conclusion: HIFU is a safe and effective treatment for VaIN. However, this study had a small sample size, a relatively short follow-up period, and lacked a control group, requiring further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese Accelerator Front end (CAFe) is a demo superconducting proton linac for an accelerator-driven subcritical system (ADS). It includes an electron-cyclotron resonance ion source, a low-energy transport line, a radio-frequency quadrupole, a medium-energy transport line, a superconducting section, a high-energy transport line, and a beam dump. The design energy and current are 20 MeV and 10 mA, with a beam power of 200 kW. The goal of the CAFe is to demonstrate the 10-mA ability of a full superconducting linac, especially in the low-energy region. In previous beam commissioning, the maximum beam power achieved was 34 kW, which was limited by the capacity of the beam dump. Thus, for the high-power beam commissioning of CAFe, a new 200-kW beam dump has been designed and developed. Based on the thermal analysis, a maximum power density of 200 W/cm2 is adopted for the dump. To avoid a high-level residual dose, the material of the dump is aluminum alloy (Al6063). The dump is a conical structure, with water flow in the interlayer. During beam commissioning, the dump withstood 200-kW proton beam power and collected a total charge of 2049 mAh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of molecular dynamics simulations were performed using the ReaxFF reactive force field to investigate the pyrolysis of Longkou oil shale kerogen in the presence of methanol. The roles of methanol in kerogen pyrolysis were deeply explored to reveal the microscopic mechanism of methanolysis by analyzing the distribution of products, the consumption of methanol, and the formation processes of typical products at different temperatures. The results demonstrate that the yield of shale oil in the presence of methanol is consistently higher than that of kerogen direct pyrolysis at the same temperature, which is consistent with the trend of oil yield with temperature reported by previous methanolysis experiments. Methanol supplies a large number of small radicals under the pyrolysis condition, which can facilitate the breakage of weak bonds and take part in the formation of products through combining with the radical fragments generated by the pyrolysis of kerogen. This study will provide theoretical guidance for understanding the methanolysis process of oil shale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of studies show that the intestinal flora is closely related to spinal cord injury. Many researchers are exploring the changes in the richness, diversity, and evenness of intestinal flora in spinal cord injury animal models to identify the characteristic bacteria. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using three databases: PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science. A meta-analysis was performed using R 4.3.1 to evaluate the comparison of microbiota diversity, richness, and evenness and the relative abundance of intestinal microbiota in animals with spinal cord injury and blank controls. Fifteen studies were included in the meta-analysis, of which 12 involved gut microbiota distribution indicators and 11 included intestinal microflora relative abundance indicators. Meta-analysis of high-dimensional indicators describing the distribution of the gut microbiota identified a substantial decline in the evenness and richness of the intestinal flora. In addition, the Actinobacteria phylum and Erysipelotrichales and Clostridiales orders were significantly different between the spinal cord injury and sham groups; therefore, they may be the characteristic bacteria in spinal cord injury models. Our meta-analysis suggested that the gut microbiota in the spinal cord injury animal model group was altered compared with that in the control group, with varying degrees of changes in richness and evenness and potentially pathogenic characteristic flora. More rigorous methodological studies are needed because of the high heterogeneity and limited sample size. Further research is needed to clinically apply intestinal microbiota and potentially guide fecal microbiota transplantation therapy. Our meta-analysis showed that spinal cord injury significantly decreased the richness and evenness of intestinal flora in experimental animals. No statistically significant changes in the phyla flora during spinal cord injury have been found. Erysipelotrichales and Clostridiales may be the characteristic flora of gut microbiota changes during spinal cord injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spinal giant cell tumor (GCT) combined with secondary aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC) is a locally aggressive primary bone tumor. Total en bloc spondylectomy has never been reported to treat thoracic GCT combined with secondary ABC. We retrospectively reviewed two cases of spinal GCT combined with secondary ABC. A 41-year-old male patient was presented with back pain due to irregular expansive bone destruction involving the T6 vertebral body and intraspinal space-occupying lesion. Total en bloc spondylectomy of T6 vertebra was performed with good neurological status after the surgery. A 29-year-old female patient was presented with right scapular region pain due to irregular expansive bone destruction involving the T5 vertebral body and intraspinal space-occupying lesion. Total en bloc spondylectomy of T5 vertebra was performed with good neurological status after the surgery. Adjuvant radiation therapy was applied after the surgery without local recurrence at the 12-month or 24-month follow-up. Spinal GCT combined with secondary ABC appears to have a high local recurrence rate. Therefore, total en bloc spondylectomy should be applied to treat thoracic GCT combined with secondary ABC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reasonable transportation risk models are conducive to achieving the green reform of hazardous material logistics industry. However, existing multi-depot vehicle routing programming models for hazardous material transportation may result in overemphasis on either global risk or local risk. To overcome such shortcomings, we develop two novel two-stage programming models that consider weight variety in risk measures. The ordered weighted averaging risk-based model effectively reduces both the global risk and the maximum local risk with respect to the weight distribution in the aggregation process of local risks, and the state variable weight risk-based model helps reduce the global risk and the maximum local risk based on the variable weights associated with local risk values. Furthermore, we design a constraint reduction mechanism and a variable neighbourhood search-based hybrid parallel genetic algorithm to handle the proposed models, such that they could rapidly reach the near-optimal solution using multiplication processors. Experimental investigations demonstrate that the proposed models achieve a good balance between overall risk and local risk, and proposed algorithm can obtain a satisfactory approximate solution within an acceptable time frame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the impact of early cyclosporin A (CsA) initiation (day −5) on the risk of acute graft versus host disease (aGvHD) after allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Sixty-seven leukaemia patients who underwent allo-HSCT were investigated. The correlation between the CsA level in the first four weeks and the following indices was examined: GvHD, cumulative incidence (CI) of GvHD, CI of relapse at month 18, and non-relapse mortality (NRM) at month 18. A significant association between aGvHD and CsA level in the fourth week after allo-HSCT was observed, with the incidence of aGvHD in the fourth week in the lower level group being higher than that in the higher level group (p = 0.044). The CI of aGvHD was 30.1% and 9.8% at day +90 and 42.3% and 17.1% at day +180 in the lower level and higher level groups, respectively. For Chinese patients, early introduction and reaching the target CsA concentration within four weeks after allo-HSCT have a positive effect on preventing GvHD, especially in the fourth week after HSCT. Compared to the Western population, the target CsA concentration is lower and the time required to reach the target (within 4 weeks) is longer in the Chinese population (274.75 ng/mL). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By the end of 2022, China had made a pivotal decision to optimize the COVID-19 policy. The dominant Omicron variant in China at that time was highly transmissible. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the real-world safety and efficacy of tixagevimab and cilgavimab against this background in China. Participants were enrolled if they were over 12 years old and were planning to receive tixagevimab or cilgavimab. All participants received intramuscular administration of tixagevimab (150 mg) and cilgavimab (150 mg). Data were collected on demographics, underlying illness, prior infection, vaccination, adverse events, and COVID-19 outcomes (e.g., infection rate, hospitalization rate, and severe disease). During the study period, 168 (37.9%) of 443 who received tixagevimab/cilgavimab were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection. All infected patients had mild COVID-19. Two patients (0.5%) were hospitalized for COVID-19, but none of them were admitted to the ICU. None of the patients died during this study. 4 (0.9%) reported mild local adverse events, and no severe systemic adverse reactions were reported. Tixagevimab/cilgavimab may have protected high-risk populations against infection with the Omicron variant, hospitalization and severe disease during the China COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many manufacturing contexts, performance modelling of an integrated production and material handling system is a complex problem. Existing research lacks an in-depth consideration of the integration of these two areas. A flexible flow shop with random and state-dependent batch transport, where the batch size depends on the number of jobs in the buffers and the capacity of automated guided vehicles, is considered and modelled as an open queueing network with blocking. A decomposition method of state space is proposed for computing system performance measures. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are demonstrated by comparing the results with simulations from numerical experiments. Meanwhile, the properties of the system, especially for material handling processes, are investigated and analyzed according to the experiments. The results of this paper can be used as a basis for system design, analysis, and resource planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fairness has been regarded as a vital role in developing and sustaining benign channel cooperation relationships. One can exhibit either distributional fairness when comparing with upstream/downstream parties or peer-induced fairness when comparing with competitors located at the same stage of the supply chain. This paper examines distributional fairness in a simple reverse supply chain (RSC) consisting of one collector and one remanufacturer, and then extends to the case of one remanufacturer and two collectors to investigate the case of peer-induced fairness. Adopting the game-theory analysis framework, we explore the optimal decisions of transfer price and collection effort in the fair-minded RSC and discuss the impacts of fairness concern. It is shown that under some condition channel coordination can be achieved by a simple contract of constant transfer price with distributional fairness concern from the collector, but this is not true when the collectors are peer-induced fair-minded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]