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Background: Myoglobin released by rhabdomyolysis (RM) is considered to be involved in the pathogenesis of kidney disease caused by crush injury, but whether a high level of serum myoglobin predisposes patients to acute kidney injury (AKI) and increases mortality following exertional heatstroke (EHS) and its molecular mechanisms are still unclear. Methods: Serum myoglobin concentrations in patients with EHS were measured at admission, 24 h and 48 h after admission and discharge. The risk of AKI at 48 hours was the primary outcome, AKI at discharge and death at 90 days were the secondary outcome. In experimental studies, we further investigated the mechanisms of human kidney proximal tubular (HK-2) cells that were exposed to human myoglobin under heat stress conditions and the effect of baicalein.Results: The myoglobin levels were assessed in 187 patients who were undergoing EHS, 82 who were undergoing AKI. The highest myoglobin quartile (vs. the lowest) had an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 18.95 (95% confidence interval [CI], 6.00 to 59.83) for the primary outcome and the OR (vs. quartile 2) was 7.92 (95% CI, 1.62 to 38.89) for the secondary outcome. The survival rate of HK-2 cells treated with myoglobin under heat stress was significantly decreased, and the production of Fe2+ and ROS was markedly increased, accompanied by changes in ferroptosis proteins, including increased p53, decreased SLC7A11 and GPX4, and alterations in ERS marker proteins. Treatment with baicalein attenuated HK-2 cell ferroptosis induced by myoglobin under heat stress through inhibition of ERS. Conclusions: High serum myoglobin levels were associated with AKI and mortality following EHS, which mechanisms involved ferroptosis and ERS. Baicalein-targeted ERS- ferroptosis may be a potential therapeutic drug for the treatment of AKI in patients with RM after EHS.

Objective Nervous dysfunction is the main manifestation of heat stroke (HS). Here we investigated the clinical signs for HS-induced nerve injuries. Methods Retrospective data were collected on 119 patients who got HS from 2016 to 2020. Patients were divided into 4 groups, including the cerebellar injury group, the other nerve injuries group, non-cerebellar injury group and non-nerve injury group. The age, body temperature (Tc), degree of consciousness disorder, liver and kidney function, blood coagulation function, blood routine and cardiac indicators within 24 h after HS were summarized. Moreover, we performed regression analyses to identify risk factors for nervous dysfunction. The Activity of Daily Living (ADL) score was assessed 3 months after HS to evaluate the prognosis of HS. Results Compared with other groups, the cerebellar injury group had shorter Tc recovering time, lower GSC scales, longer coma time and more hypotension, gastrointestinal bleeding, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and metabolic acidosis significantly. The cerebellar injury group had higher myocardial enzymogram and indexes of liver and kidney dysfunction, immune and coagulation dysfunction significantly. Risk factors associated with HS-induced cerebellar injury are Tc, recovery time of Tc, NSE, GCS scale, lymphocyte count, HLA-DR/CD14, coagulation dysfunction, cardiac injury, metabolic acidosis and MODS. The ADL scale of the cerebellar injury group and the other nerve injury group were significantly lower than other groups. Conclusions Patients with severe coma and MODS are more prone to cerebellar injury after HS and the HS-induced nerve injury leaded to a worse prognosis.

Heat stroke (HS) is a condition that can lead to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and death; however, there is no reliable method for stratifying mortality risk in HS. The abundance of exosomes in the circulation and their contents may be used as potential biomarkers of HS. The present study aimed to examine whether histone H3 levels in plasma exosomes could be used to determine HS prognosis. Blood samples were collected from patients with HS (36 survivors and 8 non-survivors) at admission to the intensive care unit and 4 days after admission. Blood samples were additionally collected from 15 healthy volunteers. Plasma exosomes were isolated using high-speed differential centrifugation. Correlation between histone H3 level and organ function and disease severity was examined. The results suggested differential expression and enrichment of histone H3 in the plasma exosomes of patients with HS (survivors, 249.3±04.6; non-survivors, 500.4±216.8; healthy controls, 161.1±52.49 pg/100 µg; P

BACKGROUND Regional lymph node metastasis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is not uncommon, and is often under- or misdiagnosed. Regional lymph node metastasis is associated with a negative prognosis in patients with HCC, and surgical resection of lymph node metastasis is considered feasible and efficacious in improving the survival and prognosis. It is critical to characterize lymph node preoperatively. There is currently no consensus regarding the optimal method for the assessment of regional lymph nodes in patients with HCC. AIM To evaluate the diagnostic value of single source dual energy computed tomography (CT) in regional lymph node assessment for HCC patients. METHODS Forty-three patients with pathologically confirmed HCC who underwent partial hepatectomy with lymphadenectomy were retrospectively enrolled. All patients underwent dual-energy CT preoperatively. Regional lymph nodes (n = 156) were divided into either a metastatic (group P, n = 52) or a non-metastasis group (group N, n = 104), and further, according to pathology, divided into an active hepatitis (group P1, n = 34; group N1, n = 73) and a non-active hepatitis group (group P2, n = 18; group N2, n = 31). The maximal short axis diameter (MSAD), iodine concentration (IC), normalized IC (NIC), and the slope of the spectral curve (λHU) of each group in the arterial phase (AP), portal phase (PP), and delayed phase (DP) were analyzed. RESULTS Analysis of the MSAD, IC, NIC, and λHU showed statistical differences between groups P and N (P < 0.05) during all three phases. To distinguish benign from metastatic lymph nodes, the diagnostic efficacy of IC, NIC, and λHU in the PP was the best among the three phases (AP, PP, and DP), with a sensitivity up to 81.9%, 83.9%, and 81.8%, and a specificity up to 82.4%, 84.1% and 84.1%, respectively. The diagnostic value of combined analyses of MSAD with IC, NIC, or λHU in the PP was superior to the dual energy CT parameters alone, with a sensitivity up to 84.5%, 86.9%, and 86.2%, and a specificity up to 83.0%, 93.6% and 89.8%, respectively. Between groups P1 and P2 and groups N1 and N2, only IC, NIC, and λHU between groups N1 and N2 in the PP had a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Dual-energy CT contributes beneficially to regional lymph node assessment in HCC patients. Combination of MSAD with IC, NIC, or λHU values in the PP is superior to using any single parameter alone. Active hepatitis does not deteriorate the capabilities for characterization of metastatic lymph nodes.

Background The aim of this study was to characterize patients who ingested multiple rare-earth magnets, reveal the harm of rare-earth magnet foreign bodies in the digestive tract, and develop a clinical management algorithm. Methods This was a retrospective review of patients with rare-earth magnet foreign bodies in the digestive tract admitted to a university-affiliated pediatric medical center in China, between January 2016 and December 2019; the subset of medical data evaluated included clinical symptoms, signs, treatments and outcomes. Results A total of 51 cases were included in this study, including 36(70.6%) males and 15(29.4%) females. The magnets were passed naturally in 24(47.1%) patients and removed by intervention in 27(52.9%) patients, including 5(9.8%) cases by endoscopy and 22(43.1%) cases by surgery. Twenty-two (43.1%)cases had gastrointestinal obstruction, perforation, and fistula. Compared with the non-surgical group, the time of the surgical group from ingestion to arriving at the hospital was longer([80(5–336) vs 26(2–216)]hours, p Conclusions Magnets are attractive to children, but lead to catastrophic consequences including gastrointestinal obstruction, perforation, and surgical interventions when ingested multiple magnets. Endoscopic resection should be urgently performed in the presence of multiple magnets as early as possible within 24 h, even in asymptomatic patients.

The strong volatility and randomness of wind power impact the grid and reduce the voltage quality of the grid when wind power is connected to the grid in large scale. The power sector takes the wind abandonment measures to ensure the grid voltage stability. The enhanced crow search algorithm optimization-extreme learning machine (ENCSA-ELM) model is proposed to accurately forecast short-term wind power to improve the utilization efficiency of clean energy. (1) The enhanced crow search algorithm (ENCSA) is proposed and applied to short-term wind power forecast. The convergence performance test revealed that the local development and global exploration capabilities of the ENCSA were enhanced, and the test result of the proposed ENCSA algorithm outperformed other well-known nature inspired algorithms and state-of-the-art CSA variants; (2) The output and input of the forecasting models were determined by analysis of the wind power impact factors and the wind power samples in autumn, winter and spring were forecasted by the ENCSA-ELM model; and (3) The forecast results were analyzed by multiple evaluation indexes. The simulation experiments revealed that the error interval and evaluation indexes of the ENCSA-ELM model outperformed the state-of-the-art wind power forecast methods, traditional machine learning models and ELM optimized by other algorithms. The RMSE value and MAPE value of the proposed model were controlled below 20% and 4%. Accurate wind power prediction maintains the voltage stability of power grid and increases the utilization efficiency of clean energy.

This study contributes to construct the mathematical model of hybrid dynamic economic emission dispatch (HDEED) considering renewable energy generation and propose a novel solving approach based on enhanced moth-flame optimization algorithm. Renewable energy power generation technology has an important impact on reducing pollutant emissions and promoting sustainable development. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the HDEED problem in consideration of renewable energy generation and improve the economic and environmental benefits of the power system. First, a moth-flame optimization algorithm based on position disturbance updating strategy (MFO_PDU) was proposed aiming at the non-convex, non-linear and high-dimensional characteristics of HDEED problem. Second, the mathematical model of HDEED on the basis of Wind-Solar-Thermal integrated energy was constructed, while taking into account the valve point effect, equality constraints and inequality constraints. Finally, three cases including test systems of different scales were formulated and employed to verify the proposed approach, and the compromise solution was determined through membership function. The results revealed that the fuel cost obtained by the MFO_PDU algorithm was 11.31%, 4.01% and 5.27% smaller than those of HHO, TSA and MFO algorithms for small-scale test system. Accordingly, the research outcomes contribute in reducing the fuel cost and pollutant emissions of power generation system, and further improving the utilization and penetration rate of renewable energy.

Robotics has become a crucial domain in technology education, helping students to improve their abilities in assembly and programming. Despite the considerable research that has gone into the learning performance associated with robotics, little work has been done on the cognitive processes involved in learning this subject. The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument (based on the theoretical framework of MSLQ), with which to evaluate the motivation of high school students to learn robotics and the strategies they employ. Fifty participants in the open category competition of the World Robot Olympiad 2010 completed the self-reported questionnaire (RMSLQ-HS). Thirteen factors and fifty one items were extracted using exploratory factor analysis. Implications for the educational application of robotics and research suggestions related to RMSLQ are also discussed.

Under environmental excitation and based on observability, an online model to predict the state of heavy-duty machine tool–foundation systems is proposed aimed to address the difficulties of directly measuring machine tool displacement states. The aim of the model is to address the difficulties associated with directly measuring machine tool displacements in real time. In this paper, to accurately obtain contact parameters of the joint surface, three states—elasticity, plasticity, and fracture—of concrete micro-bumps were studied. To obtain the equivalent elastic modulus of the secondary pouring material and reinforced concrete material, a composite foundation constitutive model is proposed to determine the equivalent elastic modulus of the concrete foundation. Surface topography features were reconstructed by truncating the peaks of curves, force balance relationships were defined at the joint surfaces, and a metal–concrete joint contact model based on fractal theory was deduced. Based on the joint contact model, a dynamic model of the heavy-duty machine tool–foundation system was established. The dynamic parameters were detected in real time and used to reconstruct the above dynamic model based on observation theory. Further, an estimation model was established to describe the state of a heavy-duty machine tool–foundation system, and online estimation of the machine tool displacement was realized. Finally, the estimation model was validated using an experimental setup of the heavy-duty machine tool–foundation system that considers joint surface factors. In conclusion, the model provides a theoretical basis for stable online control of heavy-duty machine tools.

Septic encephalopathy (SE) is a diffuse cerebral dysfunction resulting from a systemic inflammatory response, and is associated with an increased risk of mortality. The pathogenesis of SE is complex and multifactorial, but unregulated immune imbalance may be an important factor. The current retrospective study examined the clinical data of 86 patients with severe sepsis who were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at Zhongshan Hospital, Xiamen University (Xiamen, China) from January, 2014 to January, 2015. The patients were assigned to SE and non-SE patient groups according to the presence or absence of SE. The proportion of T-lymphocyte subsets and natural killer (NK) cells in the immune cell population, representing the function of the immune system, were analyzed for their association with SE and compared with other clinical predictors and biomarkers. The incidence of SE in the patients was 39.5%, and this group demonstrated higher mortality rates (38 vs. 10% in non-SE patients; P=0.001). Univariate analysis revealed that the SE patients reported a lower percentage of cluster of differentiation 4+(CD4+) T-lymphocytes (51.67±7.12 vs. 60.72±3.70% in non-SE patients; P0.05). The present results confirm that SE leads to higher mortality in patients with severe sepsis, and demonstrate that immune imbalance is important in the development of SE. The proportion of CD4+ T-lymphocytes present were revealed in the current study to be a powerful predictor of SE in patients with severe sepsis.

The bolted joint provides more than half of the stiffness and nearly all of the damping of the whole machine tool. It is necessary to study the dynamics mechanism and establish accurate model of joint surface. The paper proposes the model of nonlinear virtual material based on fractal theory and Hertz contact theory, the contact surface can be divided into several sections based on the pressure distribution, the elastic modulus and stress of each section can be calculated. An L-shaped specimen is designed to validate the accuracy of presented model. The maximum errors of natural frequencies between theoretical and experimental is 8.8%, suggesting that nonlinear virtual material method is appropriate for the bolted joint.

In the wake of big data and Internet plus era, continuous infiltration of digital technology has been happening in various fields of social and economic development. As the most important material carrier of historical culture, the historical value of historical buildings is produced and accumulated in its historical evolution, and it can only be protected from being created again. Based on the background of digitization of cultural resources, this paper summarizes the relevant digital technologies for the digital translation of information on buildings of historical and cultural heritage, as a means to promote the spread of the PDA+APPS mobile terminal, so as to achieve the purpose of preservation, protection, management and publicity. Meanwhile, this paper analyzes the application of digital technology in this field and the prospect of its function.

The authors examine e-tutor perceptions of the star rural area e-learning project, service learning. The study employed 125 volunteer e-tutors twice per week for one semester. A survey found that e-tutors had the most positive perceptions towards teaching preparation. The results showed that only e-tutors from different grades reflected various perceptions of the star rural area e-learning project and no significant differences existed regarding genders, schools, and majors' perceptions. Integrating digital technology into teaching improves e-tutee abilities in information technology and balances the educational resources gap between city and county.

The dynamic performance of the static pressure oil film is the key factor that affects the comprehensive performance of the hydrostatic rotary table, which is closely related to the surface quality and the load of the rotary table. First of all, the nonlinear capacity of the hydrostatic bearing pad and the preload thrust bearing is calculated by considering the surface roughness and centrifugal force. Then the dynamic model of the rotary table is established, and the thickness of oil film is calculated by Runge-Kutta method, and analyze the influence of unbalance loading on the dynamic characteristics of the rotary table. The results show that the deviation of the oil film thickness and the dynamic performance of the rotary table are reduced by unbalance loading; with the increase of the rotating speed, the oil film thickness decreases, and the oil film thickness fluctuates within a certain range, which is very small. The model and the conclusion of this paper will provide the theoretical support for the actual production and the service performance of the rotary table.

Geometric errors are of great influence to the machining accuracy of machine tools, so they should be given special consideration in the design of machine tools. This paper proposes an approach for error allocation of machine tools. Based on D-H and Monte Carlo simulation (MCS), the reliability and sensitivity analysis were formed into two mathematics models to calculate the machining accuracy reliability and identify the error parameters which have larger influence to the machining accuracy reliability respectively. The proposed approach was performed on a heavy-duty CNC machine tool, and then it was verified by an experiment.

The medium redundancy is achieved thanks to two different physical networks. Each node shall be linked to both physical networks via a Link Selector. Ethernet data before heading to Media Access Controller, in order to achieve the medium redundancy, there is a Link Selector functional block, it can put three physical networks of the best quality network data to the Media Access Controller. This will ensure the robustness and stability of the physical network. The data delay is only a few microseconds time, does not affect the normal operation of network. All combinations of line and star (or tree) topology are allowed. The line topology will require external hubs or internal hubs with four ports.

"Creative development" and "creativity" have become important topics in the field of education research. The assessment of creativity is a key to understanding how instructional strategies influences the creative process and the output of learners. At present, most methods of assessing creativity are paper-and-pencil tests scored by individuals. Despite the professional training of evaluators, subjectivity in scoring assessments remains inevitable. Therefore, a completely objective tool of measurement is crucial for the progress of education to eliminate the subjectivity in manual grading. This paper presents at first place a review of the literature related to the development of creativity, the assessment of creativity, and further on the means of measuring creativity, particularly in a digital game environment. Our focus is on the application of computing technologies for the assessment of creativity, while exploring the possibility of using computerized systems such as fuzzy logic and hybrid methods to produce objective measurement results. The results of Pearson correlation coefficient between the fuzzy inference scores and the Williams CAP scores is 0.805, which shows the strong construct validity. Additionally, the fuzzy inference system can eliminate subjectivity in scoring and provide analysis results to enhance creativity, unlike paper-and-pencil scores provided without explanations.

The paper presented a view of incorporate universal design principles into the planning of public facilities in Chinese cities. Then we concluded some problems of Chinese urban public facilities now days, such as insufficient numbers of facilities sometimes, lacking of humane care, ineffective supervision and management in some cities. Finally we proposed ways to enhancing the quality and efficiency of urban public facilities by universal design, including setting up an expert group, mining the culture of the city features, expressing the love and care of the human needs, emphasizing fairness, protecting the safety of the users, improving comfort of the users and insisting on a sustainable use.

Construction of buildings on soft ground, key issues need to improve the bearing capacity on soft ground. The cement mixing pile and high pressure rotary grouting pile technology are widely applied in road soft foundation consolidation engineering. However, due to the impact of various factors of construction technology, machinery and equipment, geological conditions, such as the quality of the construction team, quality control has great difficulty. This paper presents three indicators - SPT blow count, and core samples described and unconfined compressive strength of cement mixing pile quality evaluation, which SPT blow count based, core sample description, followed by anti-supplemented unconfined compressive strength. According to certain standards of each score, and assign different individual scores are weighted average weights to obtain weighted score of three indicators of the quality.

In order to achieve the goal of saving energy and materials, hydraulic sheet metal drawing press are selected as the research objects. Testing technologies are used to obtain hydraulic press's distribution ratio of forming craft's energy consumption so that the importance of moving beam's structure optimization is revealed. Finite element method is used to comprehensively analyze the stress and displacement activity of original beam, mapping out the place of redundant material in the structure. Then, moving beam's structure is optimized by the method of Topology Optimization, and got redesigned on this basis. Thus, the redesigned hydraulic presss moving beam not only satisfies the basic requirement of safety and reliability, but also reduces 433.19 t carbon emissions during the service life of hydraulic press.

The heat generated during Titanium alloy cutting can cause bad products, which must be eliminated by Sorting System. This paper describes the design and implementation of serial communication between the automatic sorting machine and the host computer, introduces the system framework and the software flow, and gives a detailed introduction to the communication process, parameters setting and also gives part of the MFC dialog-based serial communication program. It shows that the design and implementation completely meets the requirements of systems performance and function.

Heat stroke often leads to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) with a neurological morbidity of 30%. Current studies suggested that pathophysiological responses to heat stroke may be due to a systemic inflammatory response syndrome and a series of peptidergic nerve reactions. The mechanisms underlying the high neurological morbidity in heat stroke have remained largely elusive. In recent years, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) has been considered to have a positive role in central nervous system injury. The present study investigated the influence of CGRP on brain injury induced by heat stroke. A rat model of heat stroke was established in a pre-warmed artificial climate chamber with a temperature of 35.5±0.5°C and a relative humidity of 60±5%. The rectal core temperature (Tc) was monitored. Heat stress was halted at a Tc of no more than 41°C A bolus injection of CGRP was administered to each rat in the HS+CGRP group and a bolus injection of CGRP8-37 was administered to each rat in the HS+CGRP8-37 group after heat stress. After 2 h, electroencephalograms were recorded and the pathological morphology of brain tissue as well as brain cell apoptosis and caspase-3 protein levels in the brain were measured. The EEG of rats in the HS+CGRP group was characterized by a short- to long-term α-wave and low-voltage β-waves as well as a large amount of intermittent δ- and θ-waves. Compared with the HS group, the θ-wave decreased and the α-wave increased significantly (P

In photovoltaic and wind power storage systems, the reliability of the battery directly affects the overall reliability of the energy storage system. Failed batteries can seriously affect the stable operation of energy storage systems. This paper aims to improve the reliability of the storage systems by accurately predicting battery life and identifying failing batteries in time. The current prediction models mainly use artificial neural networks, Gaussian process regression and hybrid models. Although these models can achieve high prediction accuracy, the computational cost is high due to model complexity. Least squares support vector machine (LSSVM) is a computationally efficient alternative. Hence, this study combines the improved chicken swarm optimization algorithm (ICSO) and LSSVM into a hybrid ICSO-LSSVM model for the reliability of photovoltaic and wind power storage systems. The following are the contributions of this work. First, the optimal penalty parameter and kernel width are determined. Second, the chicken swarm optimization algorithm (CSO) is improved by introducing chaotic search behavior in the hen and an adaptive learning factor in the chicks. The performance of the ICSO algorithm is shown to be better than CSO using standard test problems. Third, the prediction accuracy of the three models is compared. For NMC1 battery, the predicted relative error of ICSO-LSSVM is 0.94%, for NMC2 battery, the relative error of ICSO-LSSVM is 1%. These findings show that the proposed model is suitable for predicting the failure of batteries in energy storage systems, which can improve preventive and predictive maintenance of such systems.

This paper presents a framework of prototype compressor impeller auto-test system. Two type performance test can be held in a unique pipeline layout. Work conditions are accuratly under control. Status data is acquired synchronously and precisely. Performance evaluation is accomplished efficient. This framework is proved to be highly available to improve traditional manual test method.

By directing at the current situation of excessive midspan deflection in prestressed concrete continuous bridge during the past few years, this paper raised a calculation method to elevate the pre-camber. Factors that affect bridge alignment after the bridge is completed were treated as uniform load, test data about the existing bridge were set as the basis, quartic polynomial function was adopted to fit the pre-camber of bridge under construction, and the following conclusions were gained through simulation analysis on the bridge: 1) During calculation for construction pre-camber, this method can overcome or weaken the situation of excessive midspan deflection when the bridge is at operation stage; 2) It can reduce detail analysis on displacement caused by concrete creep and automobile load after the bridge is completed; 3) Relevant parameters are introduced to calculate predicted value of midspan deflection and make calculation for empirical pre-camber more rigorous; 4) Its feasibility has been verified through calculation to guarantee load carrying safety in bridge construction and operation process, so it has relatively high promotion and application values.

According to actual needs of measurement system, the virtual instrument with functions of automatic acquisition and automatic control was built by NI data acquisition card. Then, automatic control and measurement system with modular features was set up using LabVIEW software. The mode of autonomous configuration is flexible and convenient, which can greatly improve the adaptability of the device in the actual measurement. The experimental efficiency was enhanced, and the experimental data was reliable.

This paper analyses the master station redundancy technology in the POWERLINK network. Through the monitoring network and data refresh to achieve the master station redundancy function. The Managing Node redundancy ensures the POWERLINK cycle production continuance after the failure of the current master station, the switch-over time (recovery time) of the POWERLINK system is in the two POWERLINK cycle time at least. That ensures a very fast restoring of normal operation without any downtime for the control system.

Objective To evaluate the effects of Xuebijing (XBJ) injection in heat stroke (HS) rats and to investigate the mechanisms underlying these effects. Methods Sixty anesthetized rats were randomized into three groups and intravenously injected twice daily for 3 days with 4 mL XBJ (XBJ group) or phosphate buffered saline (HS and Sham groups) per kg body weight. HS was initiated in the HS and XBJ groups by placing rats in a simulated climate chamber (ambient temperature 40°C, humidity 60%). Rectal temperature, aterial pressure, and heart rate were monitored and recorded. Time to HS onset and survival were determined, and serum concentrations of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, alanine-aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate-aminotransferase (AST) were measured. Hepatic tissue was harvested for pathological examination and electron microscopic examination. Kupffer cells (KCs) were separated from liver at HS initiation, and the concentrations of secreted TNF-α, IL-β and IL-6 were measured. Results Time to HS onset and survival were significantly longer in the XBJ than in the HS group. Moreover, the concentrations of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, ALT and AST were lower and liver injury was milder in the XBJ than in the HS group. Heat-stress induced structural changes in KCs and hepatic cells were more severe in the HS than in the XBJ group and the concentrations of TNF-α, IL-β and IL-6 secreted by KCs were lower in the XBJ than in the HS group. Conclusion XBJ can alleviate HS-induced systemic inflammatory response syndrome and liver injury in rats, and improve outcomes. These protective effects may be due to the ability of XBJ to inhibit cytokine secretion by KCs.

This study investigates how Internet self-efficacy helps students to transform motivation into learning action, and its influence on learning performance. In this study, the effects of Internet self-efficacy on motivation and the learning performance of online college students were examined using social cognitive theory. The subjects of this study were 87 college students participating in an online course. We applied quantitative analysis to elucidate the relationship between student-perceived Internet self-efficacy and learning performance. The effects of Internet self-efficacy on student motivation and learning performance were evaluated through the analysis of variance. Students with high Internet self-efficacy outperformed those with low Internet self-efficacy on the final exam and were more confident in their ability to complete an online course. Significant gender differences were noted, in which males had a higher degree of Internet self-efficacy and confidence than females; whereas, females had hi...

Starting from the investigation on the detailed flow pattern, finite analytic numerical method is developed to solve the two-dimensional fluid flows in heterogeneous porous media. It is shown that only for some specific permeability distributions the pressure has the piecewise linear distribution, where harmonic average scheme works very well. In general case, the pressure will have the power-law behavior and its gradient will diverge as approaching the node joining the different permeability areas. The nodal flow effects cause the flow fingering into the high permeability region. It is a challenge problem to numerically describe the nodal fingering effects. With the help of the specific properties of pressure and its gradient around the node, a local analytical nodal solution is derived and then applied to construct a finite analytic numerical scheme. Numerical examples show that the detailed flow pattern can be reconstructed with the proposed numerical scheme under few grid refinements. Only with 2x2 or 3x3 subdivisions, the proposed numerical scheme can provide rather accurate solutions. The convergent speed of the numerical scheme is independent of the permeability heterogeneity. In contrast, the refinement ratio for the grid cell needs to be increased dramatically to get an accurate result when the traditional numerical method is used for strong heterogeneous cases.

Hybrid solar cell based on copper-phthalocyanine (CuPc) and textured Si has been fabricated. Influence of silicon texturization on the photovoltaic properties of CuPc/n-Si hybrid solar cell was studied by current-voltage characteristic curves in the dark and under illumination conditions. As a result, it is found that textured Si can improve significantly the performance of hybrid solar cell. It exhibits a three times increase in the short-circuit current density with respect to that of the standard hybrid solar cell, and the short-circuit current density reaches up to 5.4 mA/cm2. In addition, the open-voltage and fill factor are almost constant. The solar-energy conversion efficiency is increased by about three times by the textured Si and achieved about 0.8% under “one Sun” illumination. Furthermore, the possible reasons for this result have been discussed.

Various mechanical forces are used to promote the waste thermosetting phenol resin to produce the physical decomposition process. The molecular structure and physicochemical properties change, thus it obtains the reversible thermos plasticity and restore the processing performance. The paper proposes the regeneration principle based on physical methods, and smashing and regeneration experiments have been carried out. The optimized design for important factors of rotational speed, crushing time, feed, feed size and other parameters which impact crushing and regenerating effects has been carried out after experiments. Multivariate quadratic simulation equations are established and the order of significantly affecting the regeneration is determined.

Based on software GaBi4.3, life cycle assessment method is used to analyze the abiotic depletion, energy consumption and environmental emissions of recycling process of 1kg waste thermosetting phenolic laminated plastic. This paper also takes advantage of CML2001 provided by GaBi to assess the environmental impacts through the recycling process. The result shows that the rank of environmental impact is: Regeneration> Molding > Crush; the main environmental impacts are global warming potential, acidification potential and eutrophication potential.

Recently online discussion forums have become alternative information resources for student learning. This paper investigated the influences of the quality of online discussion forums on students’ discussion behaviors and learning performance. The statistical results revealed that students would have better learning performance and more discussion behaviors when an elaborated online discussion forum was provided as a learning resource.

Semiconductive property of elementary substance is an interesting and attractive phenomenon. We obtain a breakthrough that fibrous phase red phosphorus, a recent discovered modification of red phosphorus by Ruck et al., can work as a semiconductor photocatalyst for visible-light-driven hydrogen (H2 ) evolution. Small sized fibrous phosphorus is obtained by 1) loading it on photoinactive SiO2 fibers or by 2) smashing it ultrasonically. They display the steady hydrogen evolution rates of 633 μmol h(-1) g(-1) and 684 μmol h(-1) g(-1) , respectively. These values are much higher than previous amorphous P (0.6 μmol h(-1) g(-1) ) and Hittorf P (1.6 μmol h(-1) g(-1) ). Moreover, they are the highest records in the family of elemental photocatalysts to date. This discovery is helpful for further understanding the semiconductive property of elementary substance. It is also favorable for the development of elemental photocatalysts.

Virtual Reality, Automobile Model, Ergonomics, Aesthetics Abstract. In the process of design development for vehicles, Virtual Reality (VR) technology is the inevitable trend in future. The paper explores the foundation of automobile model based on VR technology. The automobile ergonomic analysis in virtual environment and the aesthetic utilization of VR technology in automobile design are also discussed in paper.

In this study we explored the indicators that attract users to engage in online question and answer (Q&A) discussion forums. Our strategy of recruiting users as a source of information to generate user-centered indicators was a new approach. We conducted in-depth interviews with 41 users to gain a perspective on 2 popular online Q&A discussion forums. To establish a theoretical framework, we employed the personal, environmental, and behavioral components proposed by Bandura (1986). Our findings revealed that 15 indicators are associated with the popularity of online Q&A discussion forums. The indicators identified in this study could be used in future research to guide users in the selection of appropriate online Q&A forums.

In view of the problem that the remanufacturability evaluation index is imperfect in current study, the evaluation index system and the quantitative methods including environment, resource, energy, economy and technology is established. The evaluation method of the remanufacturability based on fuzzy AHP is proposed for the electromechanical products. Finally, an evaluation example of a type of automobile engine is provided to verify the feasibility and practicality of this method.

The paper introduces the effects of virtual reality (VR) technology on product development and product design for improvement. By analyzing the design and development of baby stroller, the paper demonstrates the preparation of product design and its optimization, product exhibition and experience, the product process and manufacture by utilizing VR technology.

A novel property of red phosphorus for visible light driven photocatalytic H 2 formation from water by photogenerated electrons has been discovered. The detection of hydroxyl radicals and results from photoconductivity measurements confirmed the photogeneration of electrons and holes. Theoretical calculations also indicated that the reduction of water by photogenerated electrons would be energetically possible. A P-type semiconductor behavior of red phosphorus was observed. Our findings may provide insights for developing phosphorus-based photocatalysts.

The aim in this study was to integrate the flow experience and instructional design by incorporating digital games into the school curriculum using the following 7 principles: 1) analyze learners, 2) set clear teaching objectives and select appropriate gaming materials, 3) design teaching instructions according to teaching objectives and game content, 4) consider teaching as the primary goal and use games as supplementary tools, 5) make good use of the characteristics of computer games, 6) place students at the center of the process and help them enjoy studying, and 7) periodically assess students' learning and constantly improve teaching. Ultimately, digital games in which appropriate instructional design principles are incorporated will facilitate the development of educational digital games and related investments.

Personal and consumer electronics products facilitate and enrich our life, however consume lots of energy and resources. Synthetically considering a product's quality, functions, cost, schedule and user experiences, this paper systematically discusses how to design energy saving product and lists some methods and actions in practice from three aspects, hardware design, user interface design and software design. It is of guidance and reference for energy saving design of personal and consumer electronics products on certain aspects.

The mesopic vision theory is used to study illumination properties of series of light sources, through the test of luminous spectrum and derivation based on the MOVE model, the results show that spectral luminous efficiency function Vmes(λ) is between traditional V(λ) and V′(λ) when the background brightness under mesopic vision condition, and the function of Vmes(λ) is changed with the different of light sources and background brightness. Based on human visual perception, the mesopic vision equivalent brightness can be calculated, which of HPS is lower than test brightness corrected by V(λ), but white LEDs and FL show opposite phenomena, and the different value between mesopic and photopic brightness presents reduce trend with rising of background brightness.

The product life cycle energy consumption model was established considering the impact of remanufacturing on the product lifecycle, and the energy consumption quantitative method was given. In order to optimize the life of a product, a method to calculate its life cycle critical point was proposed. The energy consumption model was applied to two types of gearboxes, new and remanufactured, to compare their life cycle energy, and the energy-saving design scheme optimization was achieved.

When using shape memory materials into active disassembly of actual electronic products, because the elastic modulus of shape memory materials is affected by the temperature is relatively large, therefore, the main difference of environmental reliability between active disassembly products and common products is the impact of collision and vibration under different temperature. Establishing three-dimensional analysis model, comparing the impact of collision and vibration of mobile phone shells which are made up of PVC materials after casting & radiation and PC/ABS materials under different temperature. Analyzing the reliability of mobile phone under different temperature and optimizing its structure according to data of testing.

Test paper problem is a typical multi-constrained objective optimization problem. By using genetic algorithm, this paper analyzes the initial population generation, the chromosome coding and its genetic manipulation, control parameters. Solving that by natural-coded genetic algorithm, improves test paper success rate and convergence rate. This genetic algorithm is applied successfully on NHibernate architecture, and developed "automatic test paper" Online Examination system.

The electronic products continue to upgrade at present, how to recycle the discarded electronic products is one of the key research of green design. The method of active disassembly using smart material (ADSM) has acquired widespread concerns. For some products, there is a long distance between the internal active disassembly structure and shell, it needs a long time to reach to the stimulation temperature of internal active disassembly structure, and therefore, it is difficult to completely disassemble these discarded electric products by one step. Moreover, it is not conducive to recycling the material if the components and parts of the disassembly products are mixed together, and the efficiency of disassembly is very low. This paper puts forward multi-step active disassembly method of products, it gives specific procedures of classifying steps according to the principle of division, and it proves the feasibility and superiority of the multi-step active disassembly method of products by referring to mobile model.

In this study, LEGO robotics and cooperative learning were integrated into the design of a course. In the course, preservice teachers had to complete their assignments by cooperating, solving problems, and conducting team discussions. After the course, questionnaires were used to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the design of the robotics course, student satisfaction with the course, and changes of the preservice teachers' confidence in learning LEGO robotics. The satisfaction questionnaire covered three dimensions: teaching environment, teaching content, and teaching method. Results showed that by the end of the semester, students' satisfaction with the cooperative robotics course had improved. Furthermore, the results showed positive effects on preservice teachers' perceived self-efficacy when learning LEGO robotics.