Search

BACKGROUND Currently, there is a lack of sepsis screening tools that can be widely used worldwide. Pulmonary sepsis can be of sufficient concern to physicians due to their noticeable symptoms, which usually rely less on screening tools. AIM To investigate the efficiency of the international normalized ratio (INR) for the early rapid recognition of adult nonpulmonary infectious sepsis. METHODS This is a prospective observational study. A total of 108 sepsis patients and 106 nonsepsis patients were enrolled according to relevant inclusion and exclusion criteria. Commonly used clinical indicators, such as white blood cell, neutrophil count, lymphocyte count, neutrophil-lymphocyte count ratio (NLCR), platelets (PLT), prothrombin time, INR, activated partial thromboplastin time, and quick Sequential “Sepsis-related” Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) scores were recorded within 24 h after admission. The diagnostic performances of these clinical indicators were analyzed and compared through multivariate logistic regression analysis, Spearman correlation, and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. RESULTS The INR value of the sepsis group was significantly higher than that of the nonsepsis group. INR has superior diagnostic efficacy for sepsis, with an area under the curve value of 0.918, when those preexisting diseases which significantly affect coagulation function were excluded. The diagnostic efficacy of the INR was more significant than that of NLCR, PLT, and qSOFA (P < 0.05). Moreover, INR levels of 1.17, 1.20, and 1.22 could be used to categorize the relative risk of nonpulmonary infections sepsis into three categories: low, medium and high risk, respectively. CONCLUSION The INR is a promising and easily available biomarker for diagnosis, and it can be used as one of the indicators for early screening of adult nonpulmonary infectious sepsis. When its value is higher than the optimal cutoff value (1.22), high vigilance is required for adult nonpulmonary infectious sepsis.

It’s a challenge for detecting the therapeutic targets of a polypharmacological drug from variations in the responsed networks in the differentiated populations with complex diseases, as stable coronary heart disease. Here, in an adaptive, 31-center, randomized, double-blind trial involving 920 patients with moderate symptomatic stable angina treated by 14-day Danhong injection(DHI), a kind of polypharmacological drug with high quality control, or placebo (0.9% saline), with 76-day following-up, we firstly confirmed that DHI could increase the proportion of patients with clinically significant changes on angina-frequency assessed by Seattle Angina Questionnaire (ΔSAQ-AF ≥ 20) (12.78% at Day 30, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.86–19.71%, P = 0.0003, 13.82% at Day 60, 95% CI 6.82–20.82%, P = 0.0001 and 8.95% at Day 90, 95% CI 2.06–15.85%, P = 0.01). We also found that there were no significant differences in new-onset major vascular events (P = 0.8502) and serious adverse events (P = 0.9105) between DHI and placebo. After performing the RNA sequencing in 62 selected patients, we developed a systemic modular approach to identify differentially expressed modules (DEMs) of DHI with the Zsummary value less than 0 compared with the control group, calculated by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), and sketched out the basic framework on a modular map with 25 functional modules targeted by DHI. Furthermore, the effective therapeutic module (ETM), defined as the highest correlation value with the phenotype alteration (ΔSAQ-AF, the change in SAQ-AF at Day 30 from baseline) calculated by WGCNA, was identified in the population with the best effect (ΔSAQ-AF ≥ 40), which is related to anticoagulation and regulation of cholesterol metabolism. We assessed the modular flexibility of this ETM using the global topological D value based on Euclidean distance, which is correlated with phenotype alteration (r2: 0.8204, P = 0.019) by linear regression. Our study identified the anti-angina therapeutic module in the effective population treated by the multi-target drug. Modular methods facilitate the discovery of network pharmacological mechanisms and the advancement of precision medicine. (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01681316).

IntroductionThis study was performed to explore the function of B-Raf proto-oncogene-activated non-coding RNA (BANCR) in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) and cisplatin resistance.Material and methodsThe relative expression level of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) BANCR was examined by qRT-PCR in tumor tissues and adjacent tissues, normal laryngeal cells (Het-1A) and laryngeal squamous carcinoma cells (TU686, TU177). Cisplatin-resistant laryngeal squamous carcinoma cell lines (TU686-DDP-R, TU177-DDP-R) were established. Next, we inhibited BANCR expression by transfecting siRNA-BANCR and enhanced BANCR expression by transfecting pcDNA3.1-BANCR into TU686, TU177, TU686-DDP-R and TU177-DDP-R cells. The CCK-8 assay and clone formation assay were performed to detect colony proliferation ability and formation ability of cells. Further, to investigate through which BANCR cell viability/formation is regulated, we detected the expression of MRP1, Bcl-2, p-PKB, and Bax by western blot.ResultsBANCR was highly expressed in laryngeal squamous carcinoma tissues and cells. Chemoresistance was generated in TU686-DDP-R and TU177-DDP-R compared with TU686 and TU177 cells after cisplatin treatment. In addition, upregulated lncRNA BANCR reduced or postponed cell sensitivity to cisplatin by enhancing cell proliferation in TU686 and TU177 cells. Meanwhile, the expression of MRP1, Bcl-2, and p-PKB was increased, while Bax was reduced. After cisplatin treatment, down-regulation of BANCR could consequently attenuate TU686-DDP-R and TU177-DDP-R cell proliferation, and the expression of MRP1, Bcl-2, and p-PKB was decreased and Bax was increased.ConclusionsDown-regulation of BANCR reverses cisplatin resistance of cisplatin-resistant LSCC cell lines.

Purpose Significant displacement of the mandibular canal (MC), which occurs frequently in extensive mandibular cystic lesion cases, may raise the risk of inferior alveolar neurovascular bundle injury in surgery. The aim of the present study was to measure the association between positional changes of the MC and the direction (in the coronal plane) of bone expansion of cystic lesions in the mandible. Patients and Methods We performed a retrospective study of patients who had undergone decompression and enucleation surgery from January 2014 to December 2018. Based on coronal planes of cone-beam computerized tomography, the centroids of the expanded mandibles were calculated and considered markers for evaluation of the directions of bone expansion. In addition, the changes in the position of the MC before decompression and enucleation were measured and compared. A Cartesian coordinate system was introduced in this study to illustrate the relationship of positional changes between the displacement of the MC and expansion of the mandible in a straightforward manner. Statistical analysis was performed using the paired t test, unpaired t test, one-way analysis of variance or linear regression as appropriate. Results Thirty-six patients with an average age of 29.8 years (14 men, 22 women) who received treatment of decompression and enucleation for mandibular cystic lesions were included in this study. The MCs were displaced in the direction toward the lower edge of the mandible and opposite to the direction of mandibular expansion. In addition, the MCs were relocated close to their original location by 1.67 ± 1.45 mm (mean ± standard deviation) approximately 1 year after decompression, accounting for 22.66% of the total displacement. Conclusions In mandibular cystic lesion cases, the MCs tend to displace opposite to the direction of mandibular expansion and relocate less after decompression.

Since the very recent discovery of ferroic ordering under two dimensional limit, novel devices based on 2D ferroelectricity or ferromagnetism has attracted a lot of interests and are promising for next generation electronic and optoelectronic applications. We find that, below the transition temperature Tc ~320 K, ultrathin CuInP2S6 (CIPS) nanoflakes down to bilayer are still pyroelectric. Changing the temperature will lead to charge modification at the surface of CIPS. 2D pyroelectric nanogenerator is fabricated which can efficiently convert the pyroelectric charges into electrical current. This work will facilitate novel applications of pyroelectric and ferroelectric materials, including pyroelectric devices, thermal sensors, ultrathin nanogenerators and various van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure at room temperature. Ministry of Education (MOE) National Research Foundation (NRF) Accepted version This work was supported by the National Research Foundation Singapore under NRF award number NRF-RF2013-08, Tier 2 MOE2017-T2-2-136, Tier 2 MOE2016-T2-2-153, MOE2015-T2-2-007, Tier 1 RG7/18, Tier 1 RG4/17. X.F.L thanks the support from the Ministry of Science and Technology (2017YFA0205004 and 2016YFA0200700), National Natural Science Foundation of China (21673054 and 11874130), Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality (4182076 and 4184109).

Our aim was to investigate the diagnostic potential of an automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) system in differentiating benign and malignant breast masses compared with handheld ultrasound (HHUS).Women were randomly and proportionally selected from outpatients and underwent both HHUS and ABUS examinations. Masses with final American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System categories 2 and 3 were considered benign. Masses with final Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System categories 4 and 5 were considered malignant. The diagnosis was confirmed by pathologic results or at least a 1-year follow-up. Automated breast US and HHUS were compared on the basis of their sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy. Diagnostic consistency and areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were analyzed. The maximum diameters of masses were compared among HHUS, ABUS, and pathologic results.A total of 599 masses in 398 women were confirmed by pathologic results or at least a 1-year follow-up; 103 of 599 masses were malignant, and 496 were benign. There were no significant differences between ABUS and HHUS in terms of diagnostic accuracy (80.1% versus 80.6%), specificity (77.62% versus 80.24%), positive predictive value (46.12% versus 46.46%), and negative predictive value (97.96% versus 95.67%). There were significant differences in sensitivity (92.23% versus 82.52%; P .01) and areas under the curve (0.85 versus 0.81; P .05) between ABUS and HHUS. The correlation of the maximum diameter was slightly higher between ABUS and pathologic results (r = 0.885) than between HHUS and pathologic results (r = 0.855), but the difference was not significant (P .05).Automated breast US is better than HHUS in differentiating benign and malignant breast masses, especially with respect to specificity.

Background Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease. Dysarthria, dysphagia, and difficulty swallowing as exclusive initial and primary complaints in MG (laryngeal MG) are rare and seldom reported. Methods Here we review and analyze the largest series of laryngeal MG patients. Results A total of 30 patients with laryngeal MG as primary manifestation were found in 20 case reports/series. Dysarthria was the most frequent primary symptom (14/30), followed by dysphagia (11/30), slurred speech (4/30) and dysphonia (1/30). Sixty-three percent visited the otolaryngology department first. Only 23.33% of patients were diagnosed with MG at the first clinic visit. Forty-five percent laryngeal MG patients were acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibody positive, 52.9% showed decremental response in the repetitive nerve stimulation (RNS) test, and 92.6% were positive in the neostigmine/edrophonium test. Fluctuating weakness was examined in 16 of 30 patients and observed in 14/16 patients. Conclusion Laryngeal MG is a rare and possibly under-diagnosed condition. The patients can present with dysarthria, dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing. Fluctuation in severity of disease by neostigmine/edrophonium test is a typical feature for MG patients. AChR antibody and RNS tests should be included to evaluate the pathologic changes in the neuromuscular junction.

Wilms tumor gene on the X chromosome (WTX) is a putative tumor suppressor gene in Wilms tumor, but its expression and functions in other tumors are unclear. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women and the second leading cause in men in the United States. We demonstrated that WTX frequently lost in CRC which was highly correlated with cell proliferation, tumor invasion and metastasis. Mechanistically, WTX loss disrupts the interaction between RhoGDIα and CDC42 by losing of the binding with RhoGDIα and triggers the activation of CDC42 and its downstream cascades, which promotes CRC development and liver metastasis. The aberrant upregulation of miR-20a/miR-106a were identified as the reason of WTX loss in CRC both in vivo and in vitro. These study defined the mechanism how miR-20a/miR-106a-mediated WTX loss regulates CRC progression and metastasis, and provided a potential therapeutic target for preventing CRC progression., Wilms tumor gene on the X chromosome (WTX) is commonly downregulated in human cancers. Here the authors show that in colorectal cancer (CRC) WTX expression is downregulated via miR20a and miR160a and its loss promotes tumor development and liver metastasis by disrupting the interaction between RhoGDIα and CDC42 leading to the activation of the CDC42 downstream cascades.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is challenging the current public health emergency response systems (PHERSs) of many countries. Although environmental factors, such as those influencing the survival of viruses and their transmission between species including humans, play important roles in PHERSs, little attention has been given to these factors. This study describes and elucidates the roles of environmental factors in future PHERSs. To improve countries' capability to respond to public health emergencies associated with viral infections such as the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of environmental factors should be considered before, during, and after the responses to such emergencies. More specifically, to prevent pandemic outbreaks, we should strengthen environmental and wildlife protection, conduct detailed viral surveillance in animals and hotspots, and improve early-warning systems. During the pandemic, we must study the impacts of environmental factors on viral behaviors, develop control measures to minimize secondary environmental risks, and conduct timely assessments of viral risks and secondary environmental effects with a view to reducing the impacts of the pandemic on human health and on ecosystems. After the pandemic, we should further strengthen surveillance for viruses and the prevention of viral spread, maintain control measures for minimizing secondary environmental risks, develop our capability to scientifically predict pandemics and resurgences, and prepare for the next unexpected resurgence. Meanwhile, we should restore the normal life and production of the public based on the "One Health" concept, that views global human and environmental health as inextricably linked. Our recommendations are essential for improving nations' capability to respond to global public health emergencies.

Deep learning technology has been widely used in the classification and recognition of various kinds of images. In order to improve the speed of deep learning network and the accuracy of detection, the input images of deep learning network, especially convolution neural network, have fixed size, which usually is minuscule. However, the size of computed tomography (CT) images used for detecting pulmonary nodules is 512 × 512, which is usually difficult for ordinary convolution neural networks to detect directly. As a special full convolution network, U-net can be used directly for large-scale image detection by replacing the full connection layer with the convolution layer. The U-net network structure is adjusted and optimized in this paper, and the improved U-net is used for region detection and segmentation of pulmonary nodules. In order to avoid over fitting of deep learning network, the method of generating pulmonary Nodules image by deep convolutional generative adversarial networks (DCGAN) is used to enlarge the sample size of pulmonary. By comparing the segmented results with the labeled ground truth mask, the experimental results show that the proposed method based on U-net in this paper can obtain high sensitivity, which is of great significance for the recognition of pulmonary nodules and privacy protection of patients using deep learning technology.

The traditional fault diagnosis method only uses the protection and circuit breaker alarm messages to determine the fault sections. This paper put forward a new power grid fault track method based on big data platform. It extends the data source to transformer substation and deal with the fault date by the technology of Spark. This method can solve the problem of mass data processing. This paper analyses fault information by data mining and track the malfunction of protection or circuit breaker by decision tree. It can give the reason of fault and optimize the function of fault diagnosis system.

This paper proposes a real-time co-simulation platform for wind farm based on RT-LAB and FAST, which can enhance the simulation accuracy of the wind farm. The complete mechanical and aerodynamic models of Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS) are built in FAST developed by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and the electrical part is constructed in the RT-LAB. In this way, the advantages of the two simulation tools can be fully utilized, and all dynamic behaviors of WECS can be covered. To guarantee its real-time characteristic, the FAST is running on the Xenomai-based realtime operating system, and it communicates with RT-LAB using User Datagram Protocol (UDP) which is widely applied in the real-time co-simulation. The correctness of the platform for wind farm has been verified by the simulation results.

Patient: Female, 54-year-old Final Diagnosis: Actinomycete Symptoms: Tenderness Medication:— Clinical Procedure: Antibiotics • surgery removal Specialty: Infectious Diseases Objective: Rare disease Background: The aim of this study was to report the clinical diagnosis and treatment of a case of pelvic actinomycosis in our hospital and provide a review of recent literature. Case Report: The patient was a 54-year-old woman who was admitted to our hospital due to “bilateral lower abdominal tenderness accompanied with anorexia and vomiting for 3 months”. After admission, a variety of imaging examinations found pelvic space-occupying lesions, which were considered as malignant. She underwent surgery and pelvic actinomycosis was diagnosed by postoperative pathology. Postoperatively, she was treated with a high-dose sufficient course of penicillin (20 million U, iv gtt) for 14 days and she is currently under close follow-up for 1 year, with no recurrent symptoms. Conclusions: Pelvic actinomycosis is rare and often forms mass invasion into the tissue structure around the pelvic cavity, which is easily misdiagnosed as ovarian malignant tumor. The criterion standard for diagnosing an infection is culture, with histopathology aiding the diagnosis.

Objective Substantial research indicates a clear relationship between obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) and depression. The study aim was to quantitatively evaluate whether continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy improves mood symptoms in OSAS patients. Methods PubMed and Embase databases were systematically searched up to 2017 for publications on the impact of CPAP on mood symptoms in OSAS patients. Results For the final analysis, nine randomized controlled trials comprising 1,052 patients were selected. The pooled standard mean difference (SMD) of the effect of CPAP on depression was 0.31 (95% confidence interval 0.18, 0.43). A subgroup analysis showed that when CPAP use was greater than 4 hours per night, it tended to be effective in improving patients’ mood symptoms (SMD = 0.38; confidence interval 0.23, 0.54). Analysis of publication bias using Egger’s test found no evidence of publication bias. Conclusion CPAP treatment can improve depression in OSAS patients.

This paper is a comprehensive review on the applications of Model Predictive Control (MPC) on wind turbines and the Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) implementations of MPC. MPC is an optimal control algorithm that can effectively deal with system constraints, which has been extensively applied to various aspects. FPGA, with the advantages of parallel processing capability, re-programmability, and flexible design, is one of the suitable implementations of MPC. In this paper, the applications of MPC on wind turbines are carried out in four aspects according to the four control objectives: maximum wind power extraction, regulation capability enhancement, mechanical loads minimization and weighting coefficients optimization. The FPGA implementations of MPC primarily focus on two aspects: the algorithms for Quadratic Programming (QP) problem and the FPGA-based implementations.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Magnolia officinalis Cortex (M. officinalis) is a traditional herbal drug widely used in Asian countries. Depending on its multiple biological activities, M. officinalis is used to regulate gastrointestinal (GI) motility, relieve cough and asthma, prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and treat depression and anxiety. Aim of the review We aimed to review the abundant form of pharmacodynamics activity and potential mechanisms of action of M. officinalis and the characteristics of the internal processes of the main components. The potential mechanisms of local and distance actions of M. officinalis based on GI tract was provided, and it was used to reveal the interconnections between traditional use, phytochemistry, and pharmacology. Materials and methods Published literatures about M. officinalis and its main components were collected from several scientific databases, including PubMed, Elsevier, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar and Web of Science etc. Results M. officinalis was shown multiple effects including effects on digestive system, respiratory system, central system, which is consistent with traditional applications, as well as some other activities such as cardiovascular system, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects and so on. The mechanisms of these activities are abundant. Its chief ingredients such as magnolol and honokiol can be metabolized into active metabolites in vivo, which can increase water solubility and bioavailability and exert pharmacological activity in the whole body. In the GI tract, M. officinalis and its main ingredient can regulate GI hormones and substance metabolism, protect the intestinal barrier and affect the gut microbiota (GM). These actions are effective to improve local discomfort and some distal symptoms such as depression, asthma, or metabolic disorders. Conclusions Although M. officinalis has rich pharmacological effects, the GI tract makes great contributions to it. The GI tract is not only an important place for absorption and metabolism but also a key site to help M. officinalis exert local and distal efficacy. Pharmacodynamical studies on the efficacies of distal tissues based on the contributions of the GI tract hold great potential for understanding the benefits of M. officinalis and providing new ideas for the treatment of important diseases.

The interfacial design and defect engineering are of huge interest for achieving efficient photocatalytic H2 evolution using solar energy. In this work, we successfully integrated the Schottky junction and S-scheme heterojunction with oxygen vacancies to achieve the defective Ru/SrTiO3/TiO2 hybrid photocatalyst. As verified by experimental studies, these junctions with defects fully exploit the benefits of interfacial charge separation and transport. It is demonstrated that the designed hybrid exhibits dramatically enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution rate with respect to pristine SrTiO3, high apparent quantum efficiency at 365 nm irradiation as well as excellent stability. Furthermore, the Ru/SrTiO3/TiO2 based device photocatalyst also displays the excellent H2 evolution activity with easy recycle nature. This finding provides a newfangled thought for developing highly efficient hybrid materials for photocatalytic H2 evolution.

During the thinning process of plate-shaped optical parts (PSOP), the release of internal stress would cause the deformation of ultra-thin PSOP, which deteriorates the processed surface figure. The stress-release-induced deformation is hard to be predicted and controlled due to the difficulty in measuring the tiny internal stress in ultra-thin PSOP. In this paper, an analytical model is established to depict the variation of internal stress and deformation during the thinning process. It can be used to calculate the initial internal stress distribution along the thickness according to the deformation and the residual thickness of the sample. Meanwhile, the model can predict the residual stress distribution and deformation in the whole thinning process. The prediction results obtained from the proposed model agree well with the experimental results, and the prediction error is less than 13%. The presented model has great significance for the analysis of the tiny internal stress and then guide the process of making ultra-thin PSOP.

Sepsis is a life-threatening disease that affects 30 million people worldwide each year. Despite the rapid advances in medical technology and organ support systems, it is still difficult to reduce the mortality rate. Early and rapid diagnosis is crucial to improve the treatment outcome. The aim of this study was to investigate the prediction efficiency of lymphopenia and other clinical markers, such as white blood cell (WBC), neutrophil count (N#), procalcitonin (PCT), and arterial lactic acid (Lac) in the diagnosis and prognosis assessment for adult patients with nonviral infection-related sepsis. A total of 77 sepsis- and 23 non-sepsis adult patients were enrolled in this study from September 2016 to September 2018. Daily lymphocyte count (Lym) of the patients was calculated until discharge or death. The diagnostic performance of the Lym and other biomarkers were compared using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) value. The level of Lym was decreased significantly in the sepsis group. Lym had a high diagnostic performance for sepsis, with an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.971 (95% CI = 0.916–0.994). The diagnostic efficacy of Lym was more significant than WBC, N#, and PCT (P 3 days indicates a higher 28-day mortality rate.

At present, the fault diagnosis information of the middle and low voltage distribution network is insufficient and scattered, and the fault diagnosis and positioning of the low and low pressure synthesis is urgently needed for the comprehensive utilization of power distribution automation, metering automation and 95598 customer service report. This paper carried out based on the large data of low voltage intelligent fault diagnosis and positioning analysis, further enhance the fault of the distribution and grab the dispatcher commander and people with disabilities positioning analysis efficiency, improve the level of fault disposal of the lean management.

Medical informatization takes a key role in medical and healthcare industries, which is a necessary way of improving service quality and treatment experience in a hospital. In this paper, we design and implement an integrated and intelligent healthcare system with mobile services, specific to dental healthcare. The developed system contains four components, including WeChat official account, intelligent question and answering (Q&A) system, mobile follow-up care mini program and AI speech assistant. The developed WeChat official account and intelligent Q&A system provide a large amount of professional knowledge on dental health, which can help narrow the knowledge gap between doctors and patients. The two components facilitate patients to follow up our applications without downloading any extra softwares, as the developed functions (e.g., voice service) are provided through mobile services. These two components also facilitate follow-up management, decreasing manpower and resource usage in hospital. Our system is developed to serve patients as well as dentists, and provides a group of interactive healthcare services in a low cost. In this paper, we elaborate the whole system architecture and implementation detail of each component. We also report the performance test result and training process of the classifier.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Organolead halide perovskites (e.g., CH3NH3PbI3) have caught tremendous attention for their excellent optoelectronic properties and applications, especially as the active material for solar cells. Perovskite crystal quality and dimension is crucial for the fabrication of high-performance optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices. Herein the controlled synthesis of organolead halide perovskite CH3NH3PbI3 nanoplatelets on SiO2/Si substrates is investigated via a convenient two-step vapor transport deposition technique. The thickness and size of the perovskite can be well-controlled from few-layers to hundred nanometers by altering the synthesis time and temperature. Raman characterizations reveal that the evolutions of Raman peaks are sensitive to the thickness. Furthermore, from the time-resolved photoluminescence measurements, the best optoelectronic performance of the perovskite platelet is attributed with thickness of ≈30 nm to its dominant longest lifetime (≈4.5 ns) of perovskite excitons, which means lower surface traps or defects. This work supplies an alternative to the synthesis of high-quality organic perovskite and their possible optoelectronic applications with the most suitable materials. Accepted version

It has a complicated system wiring, a large variety of equipment, and high operation and maintenance technology requirements in the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter station. So the higher requirements on the technical skills will be put forward for the operation and maintenance personnel working in the (HVDC) converter station. It analyzes the training needs of HVDC equipment maintenance personnel systematically, researches on the training program deeply, and designs the course contents carefully in this paper. The results will play a positive role in the cultivation of HVDC technical staff.

BACKGROUND Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a common congenital cardiac abnormality in premature infants. In low-birth-weight infants weighing less than 2500 g, if the PDA continues to open, abnormal circulation hemodynamics and pulmonary edema may occur. This study aimed to investigate the role of lung ultrasound score in the assessment of pulmonary edema in low-weight neonates with PDA. MATERIAL AND METHODS Two hundred and twenty-one neonates with low birth weight were selected as the subjects, children with PDA as the observation group, and children with closed ductus arteriosus as the control group. On the fourth postnatal day, lung ultrasound examination and 6-segment lung ultrasound scoring were performed. RESULTS All 221 infants (94 in the observation group, 127 controls) underwent ultrasound examinations of the lungs. Intergroup differences in gestational age, birth weight, length of hospital stay, and left ventricular ejection fraction were not statistically significant. There was a significant difference in lung ultrasound score (t=0.005, P=0.000) and aortic root ratio to left atrial (t=0.085, P=0.000), which was negatively correlated with gestational age (r=-0.235, P=0.000) and positively correlated with PDA diameter (r=0.261, P=0.011). CONCLUSIONS Low-birth-weight children often have PDA. Its continued opening changes the circulation hemodynamics in children. Lung ultrasound score can semi-quantitatively evaluate the extravascular lung water content, identifying the need to intervene and follow up the hemodynamic significance of PDA over time.

III–IV layered materials such as indium selenide have excellent photoelectronic properties. However, synthesis of materials in such group, especially with a controlled thickness down to monolayer, still remains challenging. Herein, we demonstrate the successful synthesis of monolayer InSe by physical vapor deposition (PVD) method. The high quality of the sample was confirmed by complementary characterization techniques such as Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and high resolution annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (ADF-STEM). We found the co-existence of different stacking sequence (β- and γ-InSe) in the same flake with a sharp grain boundary in few-layered InSe. Edge reconstruction is also observed in monolayer InSe, which has a distinct atomic structure from the bulk lattice. Moreover, we discovered that the second-harmonic generation (SHG) signal from monolayer InSe shows large optical second-order susceptibility that is 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than MoS2, and even 3 times of the largest value reported in monolayer GaSe. These results make atom-thin InSe a promising candidate for optoelectronic and photosensitive device applications. NRF (Natl Research Foundation, S’pore)

Based on multi-source substation equipment inspection data, this article achieve fault diagnosis in the case of incomplete understanding of the mechanism of substation equipment, by establishing fault diagnosis model.This article selected a substation equipment failures and operational information in different conditions as simulation study. The simulation results show the feasibility of the algorithm. Compared with the traditional fault diagnosis model, this method is more flexible , have a stronger ability to handle noisy data and good prospects.

Based on image processing of SF6 gas leakage on-line pattern recognition method, this paper achieves gas leakage feature extracting, on-line identification of gas leakage and leakage points, SF6 gas leakage can be on-line automatic identification. The simulation results show the feasibility of the algorithm. Compared with the traditional method, paper provides a more intuitive discrimination basis for field staff , as well as for the depth of the late testing data mining provides a research way of thinking

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of adlay extract on melanin production and the antioxidant characteristics of the extract. The seeds were extracted by the supercritical fluid CO2 extraction (SFE) method. The effect of adlay extract on melanin production was evaluated using mushroom tyrosinase activity assay, intracellular tyrosinase activity, antioxidant properties and melanin content. Those assays were performed spectrophotometrically. In addition, the expression of melanogenesis-related proteins was determined by western blotting. The results revealed that the adlay extract suppressed intracellular tyrosinase activity and decreased the amount of melanin in B16F10 cells. The adlay extract decreased the expression of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), tyrosinase, tyrosinase related protein-1 (TRP-1) and tyrosinase related protein-2 (TRP-2). The extract also exhibited antioxidant characteristics such as free radical scavenging capacity and reducing power. It effectively decreased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in B16F10 cells. We concluded that the adlay extract inhibits melanin production by down-regulation of MITF, tyrosinase, TRP-1 and TRP-2. The antioxidant properties of the extract may also contribute to the inhibition of melanogenesis. The adlay extract can therefore be applied as an inhibitor of melanogenesis and could also act as a natural antioxidant in skin care products.

Based on the traditional safety coefficient method,Continuum Model and single track railway tunnel lining structure, the paper does numerical simulation calculates and compares effects of actions on tunnel lining structure, analyses and get the effect of actions in different section of tunnel lining.According to the tunnel lining element’s safety coefficient and standard requirements, reasonable lining structure thickness is gave by comparison and optimization of lining structure thickness,and this provides the theory support for the structure design of track railway tunnel .

The article proposed the reliability calculation method for tunnel lining design combining Rock-Mechanics model and Monte Carlo finite element method.The reliability calculation model of tunnel lining structure design was established considering tunnel character. The types of the statistical characteristics and distribution of axial force for the big cross section of the loess tunnel structure had been summarized. The study result stated that the method is feasible. It has important theoretical guiding significance to the practice structure reliability design of tunnel and underground engineering.

This paper researches on a method for on-line fault calculation based on expert system theory. The method improves traditional method of width precedence searching, and applies to form the node impedance matrix, which not only settles loop net but also advances calculation efficiency. To convenient for fault calculation, we process and identify the basic parameters and perform equivalent of 220kV external system. Moreover inbuilt fault calculation software has been realized, which can exchange data with SCADA system on-line.

The THOR formula is widely used in the investigation of vulnerability and effectiveness of weapon system, however, its application was limited by the small slenderness ratio and limited materials of target. In order to investigate the damage effect of KE-rod warhead, this paper, basing on the classic THOR formula, focused on improving the formula of residual velocity and residual mass. The improved THOR model could predict the residual velocity and residual mass of KE-rod penetration in the complex conditions, and the predictions were found to be consistent with the experimental numerical results in the literatures. As the experimental data is limited, for the better validation of the improved formula, the paper investigated further research and verification of the improvement THOR formula with numerical simulation. Since the experimental data are limited for hypervelocity impact, comparisons of results between M-THOR with experimental and numerical data were widely preceded. The error is less than 4.8% for the predicted residual velocity while 5.4% for predicted residual velocity. The effect of yaw angle in the modified THOR formula was also found to agree quite well with the reference.

This paper applies the theory of expert system to analysis for relay protection action based on PAS. And it also summarizes various rules according to the experience of operating personals and relay protection personals for several years. All these rules are suitable for 110kV and 66kV regional networks. This paper not only analyzes three-phase current protection, zero-sequence current protection, distance protection etc, but also discusses some special situations such as under voltage lockout over-current protection for transformer, remote backup protection etc.

By analyzing the two lightning accidents happening to a 500kV substation situated in the lightning-prone northeastern Guangdong Province, I conclude as follows, there should be some problem in the equipotential earthing of the secondary system of this substation. Specifically, the existing potential difference in the secondary equipment gave rise to the meltdown of it which finally caused the accident. In the context,I build the one-point earthing parallel system simulation model according to ATP graphic pretreatment program, then by using slope-ramp simulation I study the lightning current which leaked into the grounding grids of the substation.In conclusion, the application of high frequency signal mixed low frequency signal earth system in the secondary system and the equipotential bonding is key to preventing accidents.

In this paper, the transient characteristics of the permanent magnet synchronous motor based on the space vector pulse width modulation technology are researched in detail. Firstly, the mathematical model of the control system is established. Secondly, the simulation model based on MATLAB/Simulink is built. Thirdly, the transient simulation is implemented by the constructed model. It is proved that the mathematical model is valid and effective, which provides a theoretic base for the design of an actual permanent magnet synchronous motor control system.

Under the increasingly stringent situation of environmental protection management, it is necessary to research the distribution law of power frequency electric field around Ultra-High Voltage (UHV) AC transmission lines to provide technical basis for the design of transmission lines and the environmental impact assessment. Firstly the basic principle of equivalent charge method and its mathematical model are introduced in this paper. Then it is researched how to use equivalent charge method to analyze the electric field near the transmission lines. Based on the three-phase double-circuit overhead transmission line model, the influences of several factors on the power frequency electric field have been analyzed. These factors include the conductor-to-ground height, the phase sequence arrangement, the number of split conductors and the split spacing. Finally the frequency electric field of parallel UHV AC transmission lines is discussed. The results can provide reference for engineering design of UHV AC transmission lines.

Winding temperature rise is inevitable for electrical equipment. There is no harm when device is working properly. However, winding temperature rise will be abnormal when equipment failure exists, this will affect the normal operation of equipment even cause electrical accidents. According to the principle of winding temperature rise, we designed an experiment in which the winding temperature rise is real-time monitoring by the thermal infrared imager. Then we get the data and analysis them,after all we simulated the procedure of monitoring and troubleshooting by infrared technology for equipment in electrical system.

Fault diagnosis is an effective means to assure the safe operation of power system. In this paper, a detection and monitoring of transformer fault diagnosis of multi-source data fusion technology is introduced. Based on the correlation distance, to calculate the relationship between detection and monitoring data and equipment failure, using the weight function to set fault indicators, status online monitoring data over the fault indicators, judging the equipment what kind of failure is happened, improving the precision of fault diagnosis.

In order to ensure the safe and stable operation of power grid and reduce the huge economic loss by equipment failure, Failure prognostic system plays a vital role. Based on distance correlation principle ,this paper proposes a method of failure prognostic. We analyze correlation between various factors influencing the equipment failure and failure from a large number of historical data. Then sets fault indicators by weight function. When online testing data are beyond the fault indicator ,system alarms. Then system prompts operating personnel to check equipments state. At last, through overheating fault of transformer case validates the effectiveness of the proposed method.

To analyze the main causes of electric power equipments failure, this paper based on distance correlation definition, proposed a method about correlation identification between the multi-factor and equipments failure. Firstly, this paper sets the related factors influencing the equipments failure as numerical value, based on distance correlation definition, calculate the correlation between each factors and equipments failure, so as to determine the power of the main causes of equipments failure. At last, through 220 kV transformer fault case validates the effectiveness of the proposed method.

2D elasto-plastic finite element method was adopted to analyze the forced state of the surrounding rock and the tunnel lining in every step of the construction project for Fulongping double-decked tunnel. In the analysis,Mohr-Coulombs yield criterion was employed incoporating associated flow law to account for the elasto-plastic characteristics of materials. The tangent stiffness method was adopted to solve the equation of equilibrium, and the stresses which exceeded yielded point were adjusted.

A new converter with spherical cap for energy harvesting is proposed. Based on the method of separated variables within the toridal coordinate system, a corresponding analytical model for spherical cap converter is further established so as to obtain the analytic expressions of the topology capacitance and the output voltage. The concept of energy increment factor is specifically defined to denote the improvement of energy storage efficiency.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of bridges which are being instrumented and monitored on an ongoing basis. This is in part due to the introduction of bridge management systems designed to provide a high level of protection to the public and early warning if the bridge becomes unsafe. This paper investigates a novel alternative; a low-cost method consisting of the use of a vehicle to monitor the dynamic behaviour of bridges. A truss vehicle-bridge model is used to test the effectiveness of the approach in identifying the damping ratio of the bridge with the time-delay neural networks (TNNs). A simulation study has been carried out for the incomplete measurement data. It has been observed that TNNs have performed better than traditional neural networks(NN) in this application and the arithmetic of the TNNs is simple.

To investigate whether curcumin (Cur) suppressed lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) of rats, and to determine its molecular mechanisms.Primary rat VSMCs were treated with LPS (1 μg/L) and Cur (5, 10, or 30 μmol/L) for 24 h. The levels of MCP-1, TNF-α, and iNOS were measured using ELISA and real-time RT-PCR. NO level was analyzed with the Griess reaction. Western-blotting was used to detect the activation of TLR4, MAPKs, IκBα, NF-κB p65, and the p47(phox) subunit of NADPH oxidase in the cells.Treatment of VSMCs with LPS dramatically increased expression of inflammatory cytokines MCP-1 and TNF-α, expression of TLR4 and iNOS, and NO production. LPS also significantly increased phosphorylation of IκBα, nuclear translocation of NF-κB (p65) and phosphorylation of MAPKs in VSMCs. Furthermore, LPS significantly increased production of intracellular ROS, and decreased expression of p47(phox) subunit of NADPH oxidase. Pretreatment with Cur concentration-dependently attenuated all the aberrant changes in LPS-treated VSMCs. The LPS-induced overexpression of MCP-1 and TNF-α, and NO production were attenuated by pretreatment with the ERK inhibitor PD98059, the p38 MAPK inhibitor SB203580, the NF-κB inhibitor PDTC or anti-TLR4 antibody, but not with the JNK inhibitor SP600125.Cur suppresses LPS-induced overexpression of inflammatory mediators in VSMCs in vitro via inhibiting the TLR4-MAPK/NF-κB pathways, partly due to block of NADPH-mediated intracellular ROS production.

During eating, the teeth usually endure the sharply temperature changes because of different foods. It is of importance to investigate the heat transfer and heat dissipation behavior of the dentino–enamel junction (DEJ) of human tooth since dentine and enamel have different thermophysical properties. The spatial and temporal temperature distributions on the enamel, dentine, and pulpal chamber of both the human tooth and its discontinuous boundaries, were measured using infrared thermography using a stepped temperature increase on the outer boundary of enamel crowns. The thermal diffusivities for enamel and dentine were deduced from the time dependent temperature change at the enamel and dentine layers. The thermal conductivities for enamel and dentine were calculated to be 0.81 Wm-1K-1 and 0.48 Wm-1K-1 respectively. The observed temperature discontinuities across the interfaces between enamel, dentine and pulp-chamber layers were due to the difference of thermal conductivities at interfaces rather than to the phase transformation. The temperature gradient distributes continuously across the enamel and dentine layers and their junction below a temperature of 42°C, whilst a negative thermal resistance is observed at interfaces above 42°C. These results suggest that the microstructure of the dentin-enamel junction (DEJ) junction play an important role in tooth heat transfer and protects the pulp from heat damage.

The article analyzed the forced state of the surrounding rock and the tunnel lining for Fu longping double-decked tunnel by the Elasto-plastic finite element method. In the analysis, DP’s yield criterion was employed for the elasto-plastic characteristics of materials. It studied the construction method with the theory, and guided the construction for the double-decked tunnel ,too.