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High-performance X-ray detectors are usually based on single crystals, due to the long-range ordering and hence outstanding electronic properties. On the other hand, bulk heterojunctions (BHJs) that can effectively enhance photogenerated exciton dissociation are widely used for photodetectors. The benefits of both spur investigation into how to combine these two strategies to enhance X-ray detection. Here, TiO2 networks are incorporated into PbI2 crystals to form interpenetrating type II heterojunctions, namely BHJs. These BHJs exhibit long-range ordering in molecular packing similar to that of single crystals. Compared with single crystals, the long-range ordered BHJs facilitate the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes to inhibit recombination, extend the mobility lifetime product by 6.4 times, and consequently improve X-ray sensitivity by 5.8 times. Hence, this work provides a new strategy using gel-grown crystals to fabricate high-performance X-ray detectors as well as a new platform for studying the behavior of X-ray-generated carriers in BHJs with long-range ordering.

We provide evidence regarding mutual funds’ motivation to hold lottery stocks. Funds with higher managerial ownership invest less in lottery stocks, suggesting that managers themselves do not prefer such stocks. The evidence instead supports that managers cater to fund investors’ preference for such stocks. In particular, funds with more lottery holdings attract larger flows after portfolio disclosure compared with their peers, and poorly performing funds tend to engage in risk shifting by increasing their lottery holdings toward year-ends. Funds’ aggregate holdings of lottery stocks contribute to their overpricing.

Background The treatment for displaced Salter-Harris II (S-H II) distal tibia fractures remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to review S-H II distal tibia fractures and evaluate the rate of premature physeal closure (PPC) treated by open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF). Methods We reviewed the charts and radiographs of S-H II fractures of the distal tibia with displacement > 3 mm between 2012 and 2019 treated by ORIF. Patients were followed up for a minimum of 6 months. CT scans of injured side or contralateral ankle radiograph were obtained if there was any evidence of PPC. Any angular deformity or shortening of the involved leg was documented. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify risk factors for the occurrence of PPC. Results A total of 65 patients with a mean age of 11.8 years were included in this study. The mean initial displacement was 8.0 mm. All patients but one were treated within 7 days after injury and the mean interval was 3.7 days. Supination-external rotation injuries occurred in 50 patients, pronation-eversion external rotation in 13, and supination-plantar flexion in two. The residual gap was less than 1 mm in all patients following ORIF and all fractures healed within 4–6 weeks. Superficial skin infection developed in one patient. Ten patients complained of the cosmetic scar. The rate of PPC was 29.2% and two patients with PPC developed a varus deformity of the ankle. Patients with associated fibular fracture had 7 times greater odds of developing PPC. Age, gender, injured side, mechanism of injury, amount of initial displacement, interval from injury to surgery, or energy of injury did not significantly affect the rate of PPC. Conclusions ORIF was an effective choice of treatment for S-H II distal tibia fractures with displacement > 3 mm to obtain a satisfactory reduction. PPC is a common complication following ORIF. The presence of concomitant fibula fracture was associated with PPC.

Optoelectronic devices, especially III-nitride quantum-structure devices, are suffering from a series of material problems, such as polarization induced quantum efficiency drop and the lack of a suitable p-type dopant. Herein, dopant-free polarization-induced doping by deposition of a linearly graded AlGaN was utilized to achieve the p-type layer. Benefiting from the polarization doping, p-down structure p–i–n photodiodes based on InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs), in which the polarization field in the InGaN QWs is aligned with the built-in electric field, were fabricated to promote the quantum efficiency. As a result, high responsivity, high speed, and bandpass response were realized via polarization engineering. The photodiodes exhibited a turn-on voltage of ∼2.5 V and a very low dark current below 3.0 × 10−13 A at 0 to −3 V. Bandpass responses of 420 to 365 nm were observed with a peak responsivity of 0.56 A W−1 at 395 nm, an EQE of 145%, and a light to dark current ratio of ∼104 at 26 μW cm−2 illumination. In addition to the enhanced field in the QWs, the pure photoconductive gain originating from the polarization-induced energy band incline and carrier escape mechanism in the MQWs also contributes to the improved responsivity. The gain mechanism without involving trap states is supported by the high-speed response with a rising time of ∼41 ns.

BACKGROUND: Colonic transendoscopic enteral tubing (TET) requires double cecal intubation, raising a common concern of how to save cecal intubation time and make the tube stable. We hypothesized that cap-assisted colonoscopy (CC) might reduce the second cecal intubation time and bring potential benefits during the TET procedure. AIM: To investigate if CC can decrease the second cecal intubation time compared with regular colonoscopy (RC). METHODS: This prospective multicenter, randomized controlled trial was performed at four centers. Subjects ≥ 7 years needing colonic TET were recruited from August 2018 to January 2020. All subjects were randomly assigned to two groups. The primary outcome was the second cecal intubation time. Secondary outcomes included success rate, insertion pain score, single clip fixation time, purpose and retention time of TET tube, length of TET tube inserted into the colon, and all procedure-related (serious) adverse events. RESULTS: A total of 331 subjects were randomized to the RC (n = 165) or CC (n = 166) group. The median time of the second cecal intubation was significantly shorter for CC than RC (2.2 min vs 2.8 min, P < 0.001). In patients with constipation, the median time of second cecal intubation in the CC group (n = 50) was shorter than that in the RC group (n = 43) (2.6 min vs 3.8 min, P = 0.004). However, no difference was observed in the CC (n = 42) and RC (n = 46) groups of ulcerative colitis patients (2.0 min vs 2.5 min, P = 0.152). The insertion pain score during the procedure in CC (n = 14) was lower than that in RC (n = 19) in unsedated colonoscopy (3.8 ± 1.7 vs 5.4 ± 1.9; P = 0.015). Multivariate analysis revealed that only CC (odds ratio [OR]: 2.250, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.161-4.360; P = 0.016) was an independent factor affecting the second cecal intubation time in difficult colonoscopy. CC did not affect the colonic TET tube’s retention time and length of the tube inserted into the colon. Moreover, multivariate analysis found that only endoscopic clip number (OR: 2.201, 95%CI: 1.541-3.143; P < 0.001) was an independent factor affecting the retention time. Multiple regression analysis showed that height (OR: 1.144, 95%CI: 1.027-1.275; P = 0.014) was the only independent factor influencing the length of TET tube inserted into the colon in adults. CONCLUSION: CC for colonic TET procedure is a safe and less painful technique, which can reduce cecal intubation time.

A genetic algorithm image segmentation method based on membrane computing is proposed. Membrane calculation (system is a computing model abstracted from the function and structure of biological cells and tissues and organs composed of cells. The distributed, maximum parallelism, uncertainty of the system and the better adaptability and strong optimization ability of the membrane optimization algorithm have certain advantages for solving complex optimization problems. How to integrate these features and advantages of the system are applied to image processing, which is helpful for the development of image processing. It is of great significance to study the application scope of the system and new image processing algorithms. Each membrane is optimized by running evolution rules and exchange rules.

Image-based classification of histology sections plays an important role in predicting clinical outcomes. In this paper, we propose a Locality-Constrained Group Lasso Coding (LCGLC) method for microvessel image classification, which realizes the automatic “hot spot” detection of angiogenesis for human liver carcinoma. First, we extract Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) descriptors on the Single-Opponent (SO) feature map, which simulates the biological functionality of human visual systems. Then, we present the feature-biased dictionary learning to effectively generate the dictionary of SIFT descriptors. With the learned dictionary, our LCGLC method introduces the locality constraint in classical group lasso problem to encode SIFT descriptors. Furthermore, we apply the Spatial Pyramid Matching (SPM) for the code pooling of microvessel images. Finally, we use Support Vector Machine (SVM) to classify a tissue image as having angiogenesis or not. Comprehensive experiments on the microvessel dataset show that the proposed LCGLC method achieves better performance compared with other representative approaches.

We report the fabrication and characterization of the visible-blind AlGaN/GaN-based avalanche heterojunction phototransistors (AHPT) with a collector-up configuration. The fabricated devices with 150-μm-diameter active area exhibit low dark currents of less than 20 pA at collector-emitter voltage (VCE) below 5.0 V. Optical gain as high as 3.6 × 104 was obtained due to the combination of photon-induced current amplification and carrier multiplication at an operating voltage of VCE = 53.5 V, which is much lower than the avalanche breakdown voltage required for GaN-based visible-blind avalanche photodiodes. An ultraviolet–visible rejection ratio of more than 100 was measured at zero bias. Under VCE = 5 V, a peak responsivity of 0.91 A/W was obtained at 335 nm.

In response to climate change, developing renewable energy has become a main way of energy transition in many countries. In terms of medium-and long-term, the development of renewable energy generation technologies, such as wind and solar, is certain to face uncertainties. More than this, power demand and other factors are also facing many complex uncertainties. However, traditional planning methods are not able to take various uncertainties into account. In the past, the serious underestimation of uncertainties existing in the development caused China’s a series of problems, such as renewables curtailment. Therefore, this paper firstly reviews the current status and the existing problems of renewable energy generation in China, and discusses the crucial uncertainty factors affecting medium-and long-term renewable energy planning; and then, the complex uncertainty models of power demand and renewable energy generation cost are built respectively, and the improved integrated resource strategic planning model is proposed; finally, by using the proposed model China’s wind, solar and biomass power development during 2016–2030 is studied from the perspective of big data planning, and the advantages and drawbacks of the improved method is discussed.

Objective To explore the effects of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) on renal function and toxin clearance in patients with sepsis and concurrent acute kidney injury (AKI). Method A retrospective analysis was performed using the medical records of 115 patients with sepsis and AKI. Among them, 60 patients received routine treatment (group A) and 55 patients received CRRT plus routine treatment (group B). Result After treatment, the clearance rates of serum creatinine, lactic acid, and urea nitrogen were significantly lower in group A than in group B. The decrease in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and tumor necrosis factor-α levels after treatment was significantly higher in group B than in group A. For the Acute Physiology Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores from the two groups, the scores were significantly lower in group B than in group A. The mortality rate within 28 days was significantly higher in group A than in group B. Conclusion CRRT can effectively improve the condition of patients with sepsis and AKI, promote elimination of toxins (serum creatinine, lactic acid, and urea nitrogen) from the body, and reduce the mortality rate.

Background: Temporal lobe epilepsy is a group of neurological diseases caused by the repeated abnormal discharge of brain neurons. Patients with this disease are often accompanied with cognitive impairment. However, the pathogenesis of the cognitive impairment remains unclear. Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging is a kind of magnetic resonance imaging method based on blood oxygen level dependence. This can reflect the spontaneous brain functional activity of a human brain in the resting state. In recent years, a number of researchers have used resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the changes in resting spontaneous brain function in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy with cognitive impairment (TLE-CI). However, due to the differences in sample and methodology, the results of these studies were inconsistent. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of the resting spontaneous brain function in patients with TLE-CI through a meta-analysis. Methods: A search was conducted on electronic databases, including PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WANGFANG DATA and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and Baidu scholar Database, from the establishment of the database to April 20, 2021. Randomized controlled trials that employed amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations/regional homogeneity to investigate the changes in resting spontaneous brain function in patients with TLE-CI were selected. Anisotropic effect size version of signed differential mapping was applied to perform the data analysis. Results: The study summarized the changes in spontaneous brain function in patients with TLE-CI. Conclusion: The conclusion for the functional cerebral alterations based on the latest studies will be provided.

Background: Constipation is one of the common complications of thoracolumbar compression fractures, which seriously affects the quality of life and increases pain of patients. External treatment of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been widely used clinically for constipation after thoracolumbar compression fractures, but there are no systematic review and meta-analysis of its efficacy. Therefore, we will conduct this study to systematically evaluate the clinical effects of external treatment of TCM for patients with constipation after thoracolumbar compression fractures. Methods: We will search the following electronic databases: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literatures Database, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, and Wanfang Database. Randomized controlled trials on the treatment of constipation after thoracolumbar compression fractures with external treatment of TCM published from inception to May 2021 will be included in the search scope. The observation group was treated with Simple external treatment of TCM (such as external application of Chinese medicine, Chinese drugs at the acupoint, acupuncture, moxibustion, etc) or external treatment of TCM combined with conventional treatment/nursing of Western medicine, while the control group only was treated by conventional treatment/nursing of Western medicine. After screening literatures, extracting data, and assessing the risk of bias in the included studies, meta-analysis will be performed by Revman 5.3 software. Results: This study is expected to provide an evidence of the efficacy of external treatment of TCM for constipation after thoracolumbar compression fractures. Conclusion: The results of this meta-analysis may help provide evidence to determine whether external treatment of TCM can be effective interventions for thoracolumbar compression fractures patients with constipation. Trial registration number: INPLASY202150005

BackgroundScleral cross-linking is a potential method to inhibit axial elongation of the eye, preventing the progression of pathological myopia. Formaldehyde releasers, which are common preservatives found in cosmetics and ophthalmic solutions, have been shown to be not only effective in cross-linking corneal collagen in vitro and in vivo, but also have minimal toxicity effects on the eye. The present study aims to evaluate the efficacy of scleral cross-linking using sodium hydroxymethylglycinate (SMG) to inhibit eye growth using an in vivo rabbit model.MethodsA cross-linking solution containing 40 mM SMG was delivered to the sub-Tenon’s space behind the equator. The application regimen included a two-quadrant injection performed five times over 2 weeks on New Zealand White rabbits (n=5, group 1), and one-time injection followed for up to 5 days on Dutch-Belted rabbits (n=6, group 2). Group 1 was monitored serially for axial length changes using B-scan ultrasound for 5–6 weeks. Group 2 was injected with a higher viscosity solution formulation. Both groups were evaluated for thermal denaturation temperature changes of the sclera postmortem.ResultsAxial growth was limited by 10%–20% following SMG treatment as compared with the untreated eye. Thermal denaturation analysis showed increased heat resistance of the treated eyes in the areas of injection. Overall, the SMG treatment inhibited eye growth with few side effects from the injections.ConclusionsCross-linking solutions delivered via sub-Tenon injection provide a potential method for limiting axial length growth in progressive myopia and could be used as a potential treatment for myopia.

Objective The effect of lumbar traction on low back pain (LBP) patients is controversial. Our study aims to assess changes in the intervertebral disc water content after lumbar traction using T2 mapping and explore the correlation between changes in the T2 value and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI)/visual analogue scale (VAS) score. Design Lumbar spine magnetic resonance imaging was performed, and the ODI/VAS scores were recorded in all 48 patients. Midsagittal T2-weighted imaging and T2 mapping were performed to determine the Pfirrmann grade and T2 value. Then, the T2 values were compared between pre- and posttraction, and the correlation between changes in the T2 value and ODI/VAS scores were examined. Results In the traction group, the changes in the nucleus pulposus (NP) T2 values for Pfirrmann grades II-IV and the annulus fibrosus (AF) T2 values for Pfirrmann grade II were statistically significant after traction ( P < 0.05). Changes in the mean NP T2 value of 5 discs in each patient and in the ODI/VAS score showed a strong correlation ( r = 0.822, r = 0.793). Conclusion T2 mapping can be used to evaluate changes in the intervertebral disc water content. Ten sessions of traction resulted in a significant increase in quantitative T2 measurements of the NP in discs for Pfirrmann grade II-IV degeneration and remission of the patients’ clinical symptoms in the following 6 months. Changes in the mean NP T2 value of 5 discs in each patient were strongly correlated with changes in the ODI/VAS score.

Background: The potential of washed microbiota transplantation (WMT) in Crohn's disease (CD) has been reported. This study aimed to explore the suitable timing of WMT in patients with CD complicated with malnutrition.Methods: This is a randomized, open-label study. Patients with active CD complicated with malnutrition were included and 1:1 randomized to undergo WMT at day 1 (group WMT-DAY1) or day 8 (group WMT-DAY8). The observation duration was 15 days. Exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) was administered in both groups. The primary outcome was the improvement in nutritional parameters at day 8 and day 15 in two groups. The secondary outcome was the rate of clinical remission at day 15 in two groups.Results: Totally 19 patients completed the trial. At day 8, the lymphocyte count, albumin and prealbumin increased significantly compared to those at day 1 in group WMT-DAY1 (p = 0.018, p = 0.028, p = 0.028, respectively), while no significant increase in any nutritional parameter was shown in group WMT-DAY8. At day 15, albumin increased significantly compared to that at day 1 in both groups (p < 0.05), while significant increase in prealbumin was only shown in group WMT-DAY1 (p = 0.004) compared to that at day 1. The rate of clinical remission at day 15 in group WMT-DAY1 and group WMT-DAY8 was 87.5% (7/8) and 72.7% (8/11), respectively (p = 0.603).Conclusion: EEN combined with immediate WMT intervention could rapidly improve the nutritional status and induce clinical remission in malnourished patients with CD.Clinical Trial Registration:www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT02897661.

Crohn’s disease (CD)-related fibrotic stricture remains a clinical challenge because of no effective treatments. This study aimed to evaluate the potential efficacy of rapamycin in patients with CD-related strictures in different locations in gastrointestinal tract. A pilot prospective study on using rapamycin for CD-related stricture was performed from April 2015 to August 2020 in a single center in China. Fifteen patients were enrolled into the study. The clinical efficacy was evaluated by diet score and gastrointestinal obstruction symptoms score. Clinical responses were defined as the ability to tolerate the regular diet with vegetable fiber combined with a reduction of ≥75% in overall target score and a score of less than two points for each item. Three patients discontinued rapamycin for less than 1-month due to intolerance to adverse events, then, 12 patients received ≥1 dose of the rapamycin and provided ≥1 post-baseline target score after baseline were included for intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis. 100% (5/5) of patients with upper gastrointestinal strictures achieved clinical response after using rapamycin. However, no clinical response was observed in those patients with CD lesions in lower gastrointestinal tract. Adverse events occurred in 40% (6/15) of patients. No death or serious opportunistic infections were observed in the present study. This study firstly reported that rapamycin might be effective for CD-related stricture in the upper, but not in lower gastrointestinal tract.

Background: How to handle patients with anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) failure was a common challenge to clinicians in Crohn’s disease (CD). The present study is dedicated to clarifying whether fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) could be a switch therapy for patients with prior failure of infiiximab (IFX) in CD in a long-term observation.Methods: Thirty-six patients with CD who had prior failure of IFX were recruited from January 2013 to December 2019. The “one-hour FMT protocol” was followed in all patients. All patients received the first course of FMT through gastroscopy or mid-gut transendoscopic enteral tubing. After April 2014, the methodology of FMT was coined as washed microbiota transplantation (WMT), substituting for the manual methods, which is dependent on the automatic microbiota purification system and the washing process. The primary endpoint of this study was the clinical remission at one month and one year after FMT. The secondary endpoint was the safety of FMT in the short and long term, and clinical factors as predictors for long-term efficacy of FMT. Clinical factors as independent predictors of efficacy from FMT were isolated using univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis.Results: There was no significant difference in the rates of clinical response and remission between IFX treatment stage and FMT treatment stage (at one month, three months and six months after administration) (p > 0.05). Compared with those of 19 patients who achieved clinical remission at one month after FMT, the rates of clinical relapse were significantly higher in 18 patients who achieved clinical remission at one month after IFX [log-rank test p = 0.0009 HR = 3.081 (95% CI 1.43–6.639)]. Multivariate analysis revealed that the gender of donor (95% CI: 0.001–0.72; p = 0.031) was an independent predictor of efficacy at one year after FMT. No serious adverse events (AEs) associated with FMT were observed during and after FMT. The rate of AEs was significantly lower in group FMT than that in group IFX (p = 0.002).Conclusion: The present findings first time provided the evidence for clinicians to consider FMT into practice as an alternative switch therapy for patients with prior loss of response or intolerance to IFX in CD.Clinical Trial Registration:https://clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT01793831

The aim of this work is to contribute to our knowledge of emotional maps in spatial planning. The maps show the spatial distribution of residents’ feelings related to the perception of public spaces. This work aims to validate the theory that the suitability of a site for various functional purposes depends on the emotional preferences of users. Users of space (investors, residents, tourists) are guided in their spatial behavior by emotions rather than cold calculation. This phenomenon, well known from marketing theory, is also reflected in the built environment. The basic research method is an architectural and urban query in the area of communes of the Poznan metropolitan area, Poland.

Following the current rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT) and wireless condition monitoring systems, energy harvesters which use ambient energy have become a key part of achieving an energy-autonomous system. Miniature wind energy harvesters have attracted widespread attention because of their great potential of power density as well as the rich availability of wind energy in many possible areas of application. This article provides readers with a glimpse into the state-of-the-art of miniature wind energy harvesters. The crucial factors for them to achieve high working efficiency under lower operational wind speed excitation are analyzed. Various potential energy coupling mechanisms are discussed in detail. Design approaches for broadening operational wind-speed-range given a variety of energy coupling mechanisms are also presented, as observed in the literature. Performance enhancement mechanisms including hydrodynamic configuration optimization, and non-linear vibration pick-up structure are reviewed. Conclusions are drawn and the outlook for each coupling mechanisms is presented.

In order to improve the real-time interaction of virtual simulation experiment teaching system for electrical engineering and automation specialty, an experiment teaching system is designed. Through the selection of arm devices, USB interface design, hardware design of oscilloscope module and controller design, the hardware design of the system is realized. In the software part of the system, the virtual simulation transformation is designed, so as to complete the research on the virtual simulation experiment teaching system of electrical engineering and automation specialty. The experimental results show that the teaching system in this study has better real-time interaction, lower packet loss rate and strong practical significance than the traditional system.

The article presents an analysis of urbanization processes in the Poznan metropolis (Poland) using the Geo-urban centric method. The aim of the study is to broaden our knowledge of the importance of the city center in the research area. The study also makes it possible to evaluate the distribution of urban functions using defined indicators. The samples were collected from 18 communes included in the Poznan metropolis. The research is based on the geo-urban centric methodology combined with an urban query. This methodology is the result of the conceptual and analytical work of the research team of the IAPP PUT. The method is very up-to-date in mapping trends in the distribution of places of service provision. An important feature of the method is the use of information displayed on websites.

In order to improve the response speed of distance learning system for electrical automation technology specialty, a new online distance learning system for electrical automation technology specialty is designed. In the hardware part, mainly through the selection of microprocessor, power supply mode and download circuit, built-in memory module, external memory module and communication module design to complete the system hardware design; on this basis, mainly through the login process, system management process and database design to achieve system software design. The experimental results show that the response speed of the online distance learning system of electrical automation technology is fast, and the students’ performance has been significantly improved after the application of the system.

This paper evaluates several key approaches for their impact on the development of insensitive munition (IM) with special emphasis on the fuze. The effect of these approaches on the thermal vulnerability of a fuze is studied and evaluated by finite element analysis. These approaches include changing the proportion of the desensitizing agent, replacing the charge, changing the shell material, and adding the heat insulation coating. First, the cook-off test of a plastic-bonded explosive number-5 (PBXN-5) squib tube is simulated by abaqus and compared with the test results to validate the soundness of the proposed method. After this, comprehensive evaluations are conducted on each approach for its influence on the cook-off time. The results suggest that the weighting on the four proposed approach from high to low are insulation design, the insensitive charge, the shell material, and the proportion of the desensitizing agent, respectively.

Aim. Colonic transendoscopic enteral tubing (TET) has been used for delivering fecal microbiota transplantation by washed preparation since 2015, which was recently named as washed microbiota transplantation (WMT). However, there are few reports available regarding the feasibility and safety of these studies in low-age population. This study is aimed at evaluating the safety, feasibility, and value of colonic TET in 3-7 years old children. Methods. All patients aged 3-7 years who underwent colonic TET in our center for WMT or medication were prospectively evaluated. The feasibility and safety of TET were evaluated. A questionnaire was completed by the children’s parents to evaluate the children’s response to the colonic TET as well as the parent’s satisfaction. Results. Forty-seven children were included (mean age 5 years). TET was implemented into the colon of all the patients, and the success rate of the procedure was 100%. The median retention time of TET tube within the colon was 6 (IQR 5-7) days in 45 patients with tube falling out spontaneously, and the maximum retention time was up to 21 days. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that endoscopic clip number ( P = 0.009 ) was an independent contributing factor for the retaining time of tube. With increase in the number of large clips, the retention time of TET tube was prolonged. No discomfort was reported during injection of the microbiota or medication suspension through the TET tube. During the follow-up, no severe adverse events were observed. All children’s parents were satisfied with TET. Interestingly, the proportion of children’s parents choosing TET as the delivery way of WMT increased from 29.79% before to 70.21% after TET ( P < 0.001 ). Conclusions. This study, for the first time, demonstrates that colonic TET is a novel, safe, and convenient colonic delivery way for WMT and medication in children aged 3-7 years.

SUMMARY: Trans-sutural distraction is a biological process that induces the formation of new bone and changes the position of bone by pulling on growing suture under the action of external forces. Currently, therapy to midfacial hypoplasia treated by trans-sutural distraction has been applied. In this study, Beagle dogs were selected as experimental animals, and a traction device designed by ourselves was applied to Beagle dogs to simulate the treatment process of trans-sutural distraction in human face, so as to provide a basis for the subsequent research on the related mechanism of trans-sutural distraction. The objective is that the animal model can provide the basis for the follow-up study of transsutural distraction. 45 month beagle dogs were randomly divided into two groups 3 in experiment group and 3 in control group. Implant nails were implanted as the bone marker in the bilateral zygomatic temporal suture, zygomandibular maxillary suture and palatine transverse suture in experimental group. The traction of the maxilla was carried out by the external cranial traction frame with canine fossa as bearing point, 800g force each side, elastic traction for 15 days. The control group only implanted the implant nail as the bone marker on both sides of the bone suture. The distance between two implant nails was measured by vernier calipers and X-ray examination, compared with preoperative and postoperative changes. X-ray and cephalometric measurements were used to measure change in the cranial basal angle. HE staining was used to observe the width of the bone seams, the morphology and structure of the cells and the tissue of the new bone under the phase contrast microscope. Then descriptive statistical analysis and t-test between two independent samples are carried out for the measurement data. The experimental group had a good retention of the beagle traction frame. In the experimental group, the maxillaries of dogs were protrudent in the process of traction gradually and the occlusal relationship changed to type II malocclusion. When the traction is 15 days, the coverage distance is about 8~9 mm. Before and after the traction, the distance between landmark points indicated that the spacing between the transverse palatine suture was the largest (experimental group: 5.52±0.19 mm control group 1.31±0.06 mm P0.05. Histology showed that the collagenous fibers in the suture of the control group were denser and the osteoblasts were visible on the edge of the suture, showing osteogenic activity. The experimental group significantly widened suture (experimental group: 1209.388±42.714 µm, control group 248.276±22.864 µm, P

Background: Cap-assisted endoscopic sclerotherapy is a new interventional therapy for internal hemorrhoids and rectal prolapse under colonoscopy. The proper length of the endoscopic injection needle is the core for performing cap-assisted endoscopic sclerotherapy well with more benefits and less complications. However, no data are currently available to guide endoscopists to consider the length of injection needle before cap-assisted endoscopic sclerotherapy. This study is designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of cap-assisted endoscopic sclerotherapy with long or short injection needle in the treatment of internal hemorrhoids. Methods: This is a nationwide multi-center, prospective, single-blind and randomized controlled trial. Patients with grade I-II internal hemorrhoids who have failed to conservative treatments and grade III internal hemorrhoids who are not suitable for surgery or refuse surgery will be included. Participants will be randomized 1:1 into either long or short injection needle group. The primary outcome is the recurrence rate of internal hemorrhoids 24 weeks after cap-assisted endoscopic sclerotherapy. The secondary outcomes are as follows: (1) symptom severity score, (2) three-level EuroQoL five dimensions health scale scores, (3) occurrence of adverse events and severe adverse events, and (4) patients’ attitudes toward cap-assisted endoscopic sclerotherapy. Data collection will be conducted before and during operation, the 1st day, 1st week, 2nd week, and 24th week after cap-assisted endoscopic sclerotherapy. Discussion: The outcome of this study is expected to provide a practical clinical protocol of cap-assisted endoscopic sclerotherapy for patients with internal hemorrhoids and promote the use of this new endoscopic technique. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03917056. Registered on 12 April 2019.

The objective of this study was to quantitatively assess fat deposition in the testis and epididymis by measuring the fat/water signal ratios with mDIXON Quant and to investigate its correlation with age and ejaculation. Routine pelvic magnetic resonance imaging and mDIXON Quant were performed on 120 subjects. The fat/water signal ratios of the testis and epididymis were measured based on the fat/water signal intensity on mDIXON Quant. The fat/water signal ratio values of the testis and epididymis in the early adulthood group (0.952–3.550%, p

High power pulsed laser orbiting debris removal is considered as one of the most efficient and feasible methods to mitigate the threat from the small scale space debris. It is divided into two methods in accordance with its placement of the laser system, i.e. the ground-based system and the space-based system. However, each of the systems has its inherent advantages and drawbacks. Therefore, this article combined the advantages of both laser systems to propose a hybrid ground and space based laser system. First, we established a laser ablation impulse coupling model according to the analysis of the rotation characteristic of the small scale space debris. Then, a momentum transfer model of space debris orbit was built up through the analysis of orbit transfer. Finally, the proposed scheme is investigated by numerical simulation, and the small scale space debris in typical altitude of 800 km was removed through 1553 laser pulses by using the hybrid laser system within one pass. The simulation results shown that, the proposed system can effectively remove the small scale space debris.

Background Simultaneous wastewater treatment and lipid production by oleaginous microalgae show great potential to alleviate energy shortage and environmental pollution, because they exhibit tremendous advantages over traditional activated sludge. Currently, most research on wastewater treatment by microalgal are carried out at optimized temperature conditions (25–35 °C), but no information about simultaneous wastewater treatment and lipid production by microalgae at low temperatures has been reported. Microalgal growth and metabolism will be inhibited at low temperature conditions, and satisfactory wastewater treatment performance will be not obtained. Therefore, it is critical to domesticate and screen superior microalgal strains with low temperature adaptability, which is of great importance for wastewater treatment and biodiesel production. Results In this work, simultaneous wastewater treatment and lipid production were achieved by a microalgal mutant Scenedesmus sp. Z-4 at the low temperature conditions (4, 10, and 15 °C). The results showed that algal growth was inhibited at 4, 10, and 15 °C compared to that at the optimal temperature of 25 °C. However, decreased temperature had no significant effect on the total cellular lipid content of algae. Importantly, lipid productivity at 10 °C was compromised by more net energy output relevant to biodiesel production, which demonstrated that the low temperature of 10 °C was favorable to wastewater treatment and energy recovery by Scenedesmus sp. Z-4. When molasses wastewater with optimal COD concentration of 8000 mg L−1, initial inoculation ratio of 15%, and C/N ratio of 15 was used to cultivate microalgae, the maximum removal rate of COD, TN, and TP at 10 °C reached 87.2, 90.5, and 88.6%, respectively. In addition, lipid content of 28.9% and lipid productivity of 94.4 mg L−1 day−1 were obtained. Conclusions Scenedesmus sp. Z-4 had good adaptability to low temperature conditions, and showed great potential to realize simultaneous wastewater treatment and lipid production at low temperatures. The proposed approach in the study was simple compared to other wastewater treatment methods, and this potential novel process was still efficient to remove COD, N, and P at low temperatures. Thus, it had a vital significance for the wastewater treatment in low temperature regions.

Recombinant human erythropoietin (rh-EPO) has been reported to have protective effects against brain injury. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the levels of erythropoietin receptor (EPOR) and neuroglobin (Ngb) in a neonatal rat model of periventricular white matter damage (PWMD), and to identify the relationship between the two proteins. On postnatal day 3 (P3), rats underwent permanent ligation of the right common carotid artery followed by 6% O2 for 4h (HI) or sham operation and normoxic exposure (sham). Immediately after HI, rats received a single intraperitoneal injection of rh-EPO (5U/g) or saline. We assessed the expression level of Ngb and EPOR on postnatal days 5, 7, 10 and 14. EPOR in the HI rats was initially increased as compared to the sham rats at P5. Subsequently, EPOR expression decreased, but was maintained at a higher level than in sham rats from P7 to P14. In rh-EPO treated rats, the increase in EPOR was greater than in HI rats at P5. However, EPOR levels decreased sharply from P7 to P14. In HI rats, Ngb was increased compared to the sham rats from P5 to P14. Ngb levels were further upregulated after rh-EPO administration from P5 to P10 compared to HI rats. However, this upregulation decreased at P14. In conclusion, this study shows that EPOR and Ngb were upregulated, and both of them act as important coordinated neuroprotectors in rh-EPO treatment of PWMD. However, the two proteins exhibit different expression patterns.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the role of stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1) and C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR-4) in the premature brain with white matter damage (WMD) undergoing treatment with human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) and recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Three-day-old Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into sham operation group, hypoxia-ischemia (HI) group, rhEPO treated HI group, hUC-MSCs treated HI group, and rhEPO + hUC-MSCs treated HI group. WMD was established in all groups except the Sham group. SDF-1 and CXCR-4 levels in each group were detected at postnatal day (P) 5, P7, and P14. Pathological changes were assessed via HE staining at P14 and neuroethological tests were performed at P28. OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS The rhEPO and hUC-MSCs intervention reduced injury area, increased body weight at P7, and improved neurobehavioral scores at P28. Furthermore, their combined use proved even more beneficial. SDF-1 levels in the rhEPO group were higher than those in the other groups and highest in the hUC-MSCs + rhEPO group (all p

We find that a large portion of U.S. equity mutual funds almost second-order stochastically dominates the market portfolio. Consistent with the canonical definition of second-order stochastic dominance, both fund investors and managers reveal their preference for funds with a higher degree of almost second-order stochastic dominance through higher inflows and higher manager ownership. Funds with a higher degree of stochastic dominance over the market portfolio significantly outperform their peers, after controlling for common performance predictors and the Sharpe ratio. Inference based on stochastic dominance is more consistent with the Manipulation-Proof Performance Measure (MPPM) than with the Sharpe ratio.

We investigate the return predictability across stocks and bonds using big data and machine learning. We find that machine learning models substantially improve the out-of-sample performance of stock and bond characteristics in predicting future stock and bond returns. Although both stock and bond characteristics provide strong forecasting power for both stock and bond returns, stock (bond) characteristics do not offer significant incremental predictive power above and beyond bond (stock) characteristics in predicting bond (stock) returns. The results also indicate that stock (bond) characteristics are cash flow (discount rate) predictors and stock (bond) return predictability is driven by mispricing (risk) phenomenon.

This paper examines the pricing of a firm's carbon risk in the corporate bond market. Contrary to the "carbon risk premium" hypothesis, bonds of more carbon-intensive firms earn significantly lower returns. This effect cannot be explained by a comprehensive list of bond characteristics and exposure to known risk factors. Investigating sources of the low carbon alpha, we find the underperformance of bonds issued by carbon-intensive firms cannot be fully explained by divestment from institutional investors. Instead, our evidence is most consistent with investor underreaction to the predictability of carbon intensity for firm cash-flow news, creditworthiness, and environmental incidents.

With its 100Mbps high bandwidth and high-speed transmission characteristics, automotive Ethernet is expected to solve traditional vehicle bus’s problem of low bandwidth and low data transmission rate, and become the backbone network of the future vehicle. The use of automotive Ethernet introduces a new diagnostic technology, DoIP (Diagnostic over IP). ISO 13400 is the standard protocol for DoIP, which provides an Ethernet-based diagnostic method for automotive systems and describes how external tester communicate with in-vehicle ECUs. This paper analyzes the implementation principle of DoIP by studying ISO 13400 protocol, including the communication scenarios of DoIP, DoIP diagnostic process and the network time management of DoIP. Then a bootloader based on DoIP is developed and the performance of the bootloader is tested. The result shows that the DoIP-based bootloader only takes 29.6 second to update the ECU with 384K bytes code.

Background Colonic transendoscopic enteral tubing (TET) refers to colonic transendoscopic tube-delivered enteral therapy. Colonic TET has been successfully used for frequent colonic administration of drugs or multiple fecal microbiota transplantations (FMTs). This prospective observational study aimed to evaluate possible factors affecting methodology, feasibility and safety of colonic TET. Methods Patients who underwent colonic TET at our center from October 2014 to November 2018 were included. The feasibility, efficacy, and safety of TET were evaluated. Results In total, 224 patients were analyzed. The success rate of TET was 100%. The median retention time of TET tube within the colonic lumen was 8.5 (IQR 7–11) days in 158 patients with tube falling out spontaneously, and the maximum retention time was up to 28 days. These patients were divided into the short-retention group (≤ 8.5 days) and the long-retention group (> 8.5 days). Univariate and multivariate analysis demonstrated that the type of endoscopic clip (p = 0.001) was an independent factor for the retention time. The larger clips as well as a greater number of clips significantly affected the retention time (p = 0.013). No severe adverse event was observed during and after TET. Conclusions Colonic TET is a feasible, practical, and safe colon-targeted drug delivery technique with a high degree of patients’ satisfaction. Two to four large endoscopic clips are recommended to maintain stability of the TET tube within the colon for over 7 days.

Many factors impede embryonic implantation, and excluding obvious known factors such as chronic endometritis, the immune status of the endometrium may be related to pregnancy. Although an abundantly large number of immune cells infiltrate the endometrium during the secretory phase, whether these immune cells can be used as a predictor of prognosis in ART has not yet been clarified. In the present study we therefore retrospectively analyzed 97 CD138-negative women with a previous fresh-embryo-transfer failure. We assessed the expression of CD56+ uNK cells, CD16+ NK cells, CD57+ NK cells, CD68+ pan-macrophages, CD163+ M2 macrophages, CD4+T cells, CD8+T cells, FOXP3+ regulatory T cells, and CD19+ B cells in the endometrium by IHC to evaluate mid-luteal endometrial immune cells as prognostic indicators of pregnancy outcome in the next frozen-embryo-transfer cycle. CD19-positive cells and the intraglandular CD163-positivity rate increased significantly in the clinically non-pregnant group (0.47 % vs. 0.20 %, P = 0.021; 61 % vs. 30 %, P = 0.017). The ratios of CD4/CD8 were also higher in the non-pregnant group (1.96 vs. 1.45, P = 0.005).The area under the ROC curve of CD19 cell number alone, the intraglandular CD163-positivity alone, and CD19 number combined with the intraglandular CD163-positivity were 0.692 (95 % CI, 0.55–0.834), 0.661 (95 % CI, 0.514–0.809), and 0.748 (95 % CI, 0.614–0.882), respectively. The optimal cut-off value of CD19 was 0.464 %, and the clinical pregnancy rate and live-birth rate diminished significantly when the CD19 level was above this cut-off value. Our study suggests that CD19-positive cells and intraglandular CD163-positivity can be used as prognostic indicators of pregnancy outcome in CD138-negative patients who experienced first-fresh-embryo transfer failure.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine fat/water signal ratios using the mDIXON Quant sequence, quantitatively assess fat infiltration in the penis, and explore its possible relationship with penile hardness and erectile dysfunction. Methods: Routine pelvic MRI with the mDIXON Quant sequence was performed in 62 subjects, including 22 people in the normal group, 20 people in the normal erectile hardness group, and 20 people in the erectile dysfunction (ED) group. The fat/water signal ratio in the penis was measured using the mDIXON Quant sequence. Shear wave elastography was used to evaluate the hardness of the corpus cavernosa of the penis. Results: The fat/water signal ratio of the corpus spongiosum was significantly lower than that of the corpus cavernosa in the normal group (p = 0.03) and ED group (p < 0.01). There was no significant difference in the fat/water signal ratios between the normal group and the normal erectile hardness group. Fat infiltration was significantly lower, and erectile hardness was significantly higher in the normal erectile hardness group than in the ED group, and the fat infiltration in the left and right corpus cavernosa was inversely proportional to the erectile hardness of the penis. Conclusion: This study suggests that mDIXON Quant can be used as a non-invasive, quantitative, and objective method for evaluating penile fat infiltration. This method could help diagnose penile fat infiltration in patients with erectile dysfunction and varying body mass indexes. Our results could also allow for a more accurate diagnosis and monitoring of erectile hardness function by quantitatively measuring penile fat infiltration. Advances in knowledge: (1) The proton density fat fraction technology is a new tool for the objective, quantitative and non-invasive evaluation of penile fat infiltration. (2) The quantitative measurement of fat infiltration in the corpora cavernosa might help diagnose and monitor penile erection hardness and its function more accurately.

In the past decades, the demand for platinum group metals (PGMs) has increased rapidly in various applications such as electronics, chemical engineering, biomedical devices, and automotive catalytic converters. Recovery of PGMs from secondary resources is necessary for addressing the supply issues. The migration of PGMs from solid to liquid streams is irreplaceable for achieving high-purity products. Hence, it is a meaningful issue to reduce resource depletion and avoid environmental pollution during separation processes. This paper systematically reviews various improvements and new technologies for the separation and purification of PGMs, including solvent extraction, membranes separation, supercritical fluids, solid-phase extraction, photoreduction, and electrochemical methods. The separation mechanism and optimized process parameters are summarized. Particularly, the advantages, challenges, and perspective are highlighted in terms of commercial applications. This study aims to present the current research for scholars, and to identify a promising PGMs separation method that is safe and effective. Finally, several recommendations have been proposed for the further promotion of separation technologies.

Squeeze film dampers are widely applied in high rotating speed machinery to reduce vibration, add damping and increase the stability of the system. The traditional method of squeeze film dampers analysis usually involves a complicated calculation program that is limited to a simplified physical model. In this study, the feasibility of applying commercial code ANSYS-FLUENT to study the characteristics of the squeeze film damper is investigated, where the dynamic mesh method is employed. The Zwart–Gerber–Belamri model is applied to simulate the cavitation phenomenon in squeeze film damper. By numerical simulation, the dynamic pressure distribution and oil film force are obtained and then the damping coefficients are acquired. The effect of the cavitation model on the damping coefficients and inertia coefficients is obtained. The parametric study including the squeeze film damper clearance, length and whirl frequency is carried out. The result indicates that the use of the cavitation model will reduce the amplitude of the dynamic oil film force and the hysteresis phenomenon can be observed. It leaves room for further improvement on this method.

Background: Diabetic neurogenic bladder (DNB) is one of the common complications of diabetes mellitus, which has a high prevalence rate. Some research suggested that acupuncture can improve the clinical symptoms of diabetic neurogenic bladder patients, but there is no systematic review or meta-analysis to assess this therapy. Therefore, this study aims to explore the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for patients with DNB. Methods: In this study, we will search for electronic databases including the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wan-Fang, and Baidu Scholar Database from inception to December 2020. We will select randomized controlled trials that have been published in English or Chinese related to acupuncture for DNB. Selection of study, extraction of data, and assessment of study quality will be performed independently by 2 researchers, and we will use Revman 5.3 software which is provided by Cochrane assistance network, to perform the data analysis. Results: This study will provide evidence of the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for DNB. Conclusion: This study will clarify whether acupuncture is an effective treatment for DNB, and will also provide a reference for clinical practice and guidelines development.

The effects of different ammonium sulfide [(NH4)2Sx]-based treatments on the surface passivation of dry-etched and thermally recovered GaN epilayer have been investigated. A two-step treatment using HCl followed by the mixture of (NH4)2Sx and isopropyl alcohol demonstrated a more effective removal of intrinsic oxide layer and formation of sulfide passivation. The compensating centers on both the p- and n+-type GaN surfaces were significantly reduced. The fabricated base-floating GaN/Al0.1GaN heterojunction phototransistors (HPTs) with the surface passivation showed improved I–V and enhanced optical gain due to the effective suppression of surface recombination current. A maximum gain of 1.3 × 105 was obtained at 5 V bias in the HPTs using the two-step treatment.

Building information modeling (BIM) is an emerging technique in the construction industry. It is regarded as an effective approach for green building development, however, its effectiveness has not been sufficiently investigated from a lifecycle perspective. To bridge this research gap, this study investigates BIM application value in different phases of a green building through a convolutional neural network (CNN) method. To begin with, an assessment framework was developed with the consideration of balancing the estimation accuracy and the data size. Then, the validity of the developed model was verified from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Finally, the effectiveness of BIM was tested using the proposed framework. Results showed that the overall score of the tested project was four in the five-point Likert scale, with an average relative error less than 1%. From a value-based perspective, it is revealed that the application value of BIM represented a descending order throughout the lifecycle of the tested project. In addition, it is found that the functional value obtained the highest score, whereas social value was at the bottom. The findings of this study can help decision makers to detect the weaknesses of BIM implementation during green building development.