Search

Based on a survey of 266 ridesharing consumers in the United States, the study investigates relative impacts of trust and risk on intentions to continue using the service by comparing three alternative models via SEM analysis. We examine specific trust and risk sub-dimensions that are salient in the online-tooffline environment and identify a mechanism of their joint effects on consumer decision-making. Our findings show that risk does not directly affect intentions in this collaborative consumption context but is mediated by consumer trust. The results highlight the importance of trust-building efforts for ridesharing service providers.

As the main research content of artificial intelligence, the artificial neural network has been widely concerned because of its excellent performance in the fields such as computer vision and natural language processing since it was proposed in the 1940s. The neuron model of the traditional neural network was proposed by McCulloch and Pitts in 1943 (MP neurons), But MP neurons is too simple to representing biological neurons. Based on this, this paper studies the attention mechanism and proposes vectorized neuron and its activation function. Firstly, we propose vectorized neurons, then use the attention mechanism to dynamically generate connection weights between vectorized neurons. Nextly, we construct a new type of neural network with vectorized neurons, which we called neural functional group (NFG). Finally, we tested the proposed neural functional group model on two tasks: image classifcation and few-shot learning. The vectorized neuron can be conditionally activated through its activation function. Besides, the vectorized neuron has the potential of representing complex biological neurons, which is difficult for MP neuron. The experimental results show that it can achieve higher accuracy with fewer parameters than convolutional neural networks (CNN) and capsule networks in image classication task; it also competitive to CNN based feature extractor in few-shot learning task.

Coxsackievirus B1 (CVB1) is a leading causative agent of severe infectious diseases in humans and has been reported to be associated with outbreaks of aseptic meningitis, myocarditis, and the development of chronic diseases such as type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). There is no approved vaccine or effective antiviral therapy to treat CBV1 infection. And animal models to assess the effects of antiviral agents and vaccine remain limited. In this study, we established a neonatal mouse model of CVB1 using a clinically isolated strain to characterize the pathological manifestations of virus infection and to promote the development of vaccines and antiviral drugs against CVB1. One-day-old BALB/c mice were susceptible to CVB1 infection by intraperitoneal injection. Mice challenged with CVB1 at a low dose [10 median tissue culture infective dose (TCID50)] exhibited a series of clinical symptoms, such as inactivity, emaciation, limb weakness, hair thinning, hunching and even death. Pathological examination and tissue viral load analysis showed that positive signals of CVB1 were detected in the heart, spinal cord, limb muscle and kidney without pathological damage. Particularly, CVB1 had a strong tropism towards the pancreas, causing severe cellular necrosis with inflammatory infiltration, and was spread by viraemia. Notably, the monoclonal antibody (mAb) 6H5 and antisera elicited from CVB1-vaccinated mice effectively protected the mice from CVB1 infection in the mouse model. In summary, the established neonatal mouse model is an effective tool for evaluating the efficacy of CVB1 antiviral reagents and vaccines. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12250-021-00444-1.

Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides have intrinsic spin-valley degrees of freedom, drawing broad interests due to their potential applications in information storage and processing. Here, we demonstrate the possibility of using cylindrical vector pumped beams, which are nonseparable in their polarization and spatial modes, to manipulate nonlinear valley-locked twisted-vortex emissions in monolayer tungsten disulfide (WS2). The second-harmonic (SH) photons from K and K' valleys are encoded with opposite optical vortices, thus allowing the SH beams to emerge as cylindrical vector beams with doubled topological orders compared to the fundamental beams. The conically refracted pumped beams allow us to generate the first-order SH cylindrical vector and full Poincare beams via tuning the valley-locked emitted light field profiles. With fanshaped WS2 films breaking the axial symmetry of SH beams, the SH valley photons are routed to opposite directions. Our results pave the way to develop atomically thin nonlinear photonic devices and valleytronic nanodevices.

Aims/Introduction Vaspin is linked to obesity and its metabolic abnormalities. However, the role of vaspin serum levels in diabetic retinopathy (DR) is unknown. In the present study, we investigated the association between serum levels of vaspin and both DR and vision‐threatening DR. Materials and Methods This was a cross‐sectional single‐center observational study from December 2018 to September 2019. We evaluated circulating serum levels of vaspin in 372 participants with type 2 diabetes. DR was screened through detailed ocular examination. DR patients were also divided two groups: vision‐threatening DR and non‐vision‐threatening DR. The relationship between vaspin and DR was investigated by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses, and the results are shown as odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. Results The vaspin serum levels of 372 patients were obtained, with a median value of 1.50 ng/mL (interquartile range 0.94–2.18 ng/mL). The median age of those patients was 53 years (interquartile range 44–62 years), and 44.4% were women. Patients with DR and VDTR had significantly increased vaspin serum levels (P, The regulation of vaspin serum concentrations in diabetic retinopathy is unknown. This study showed that higher vaspin serum levels were associated with increased risk of diabetic retinopathy and vision‐threatening diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes, which showed that vaspin is an important indicator factor for diabetic retinopathy.

To evaluate the accuracies of simultaneous 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging ([18F]-FDG PET/MRI) in preoperative localization and the postsurgical prediction. This retrospective study was performed on ninety-eight patients diagnosed with refractory epilepsy whose presurgical evaluation included [18F]-FDG PET/MRI, with 1-year post-surgery follow-up between August 2016 and December 2018. PET/MRI images were interpreted by two radiologists and a nuclear medicine physician to localize the EOZ using standard visual analysis and asymmetry index based on standard uptake value (SUV). The localization accuracy and predictive performance of simultaneous 18F-FDG PET/MRI based on the surgial pathology and postsurgical outcome were evaluated. A total of 41.8% (41/98) patients were found to have a definitely structural abnormality on the MR portion of PET/MRI; 93.9% (92/98) were shown hypometabolism on the PET portion of the hybrid PET/MRI. PET/MRI identified 18 cases with subtle structural abnormalities on MRI re-read. Six percent (6/98) of patients PET/MRI were negative. A total of 65.3% (64/98) patients showed seizure-free at 1-year follow-up after epilepsy surgery. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of [18F]-FDG PET/MRI was 95.3%, 8.8%, and 65.3% for seizure onset localization based on surgical pathology and postsurgical outcome, respectively. Multivariate regression analysis indicated that concordant of EOZ localization between PET/MRI and surgical resection range, which was a good positive predictor of seizure freedom (Engel I) (OR = 14.741, 95% CI 3.934–55.033, p < 0.001). [18F]-FDG PET/MRI used as two combined modalities providing additional sensitivity when detecting possible epileptic foci and will probably improve the surgical outcome. • Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of [18F]-FDG PET/MRI were 95.3%, 8.8%, and 65.3% for seizure onset localization based on surgical pathology and postsurgical outcome, respectively. • Concordance of EOZ localization between PET/MRI and surgical resection range was a good positive predictor of seizure freedom; presurgical [ 18 F] -FDG PET/MRI will probably improve the surgical outcome.

18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) estimate brain activities from different aspects, including regional glucose uptake (rGU) by 18FDG-PET, regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) by arterial spin labeling, and dynamic changes of deoxyhemoglobin by blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, the relationships between them remain incompletely understood. In the current study, twenty-four subjects (14 males, 10 females) were recruited and investigated the correlation among rGU, rCBF, and BOLD fMRI-derived metrics reflecting the neural activity, including amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), and degree centrality (DC) by hybrid PET/fMRI. Correlation analyses were performed across subject and across space at both voxel level and region level, considering partial volume effects by adjusting for gray matter volume. Each pair of metrics showed significant across-space correlations. rGU against ReHo showed the highest mean correlation coefficients. rGU had higher correlations with three resting-state (RS) fMRI metrics than did ASL-rCBF. However, the across-subject correlations were not significant among functional modalities (rGU, rCBF, and RS-fMRI BOLD data) at either voxel level or region level even with a liberal threshold, except for significant across-subject correlation between RS-fMRI metrics (ALFF, ReHo, and DC). These comprehensive findings from hybrid PET/MR might provide complementary information to reveal the underlying mechanisms of the brain activity and open new perspective to interpret pathologic conditions.

LaO1−xBiSSe polycrystalline samples were successfully synthesized by conventional solid-state reaction method. The effects of oxygen vacancies on the crystal structure, magnetic properties under atmospheric and high pressure, and electrical property of LaOBiSSe were investigated. Polycrystalline samples LaO1−xBiSSe with x = 0–0.1 were well indexed to the tetragonal CeOBiS2-type structure with the space group P4/nmm. With increasing oxygen vacancy content, the crystal lattice contracted significantly along the c-axis, the semiconductor behavior was suppressed, and the metal-semiconductor transition temperature decreased, which is a necessary prerequisite for superconductivity in BiCh2-based (Ch = S and Se) system. However, oxygen vacancy level introduced in this work is insufficient to further contract the crystal lattice and increase carrier density. Even though external pressure (~ 1 GPa) was applied, no superconducting transition corresponding to LaO1−xBiSSe appeared except for that of manometer Pb. The reasons for the absence of superconductivity in LaO1−xBiSSe system were discussed.

Microgrids should go into islanding operations to supply power for local critical loads in the event of grid faults. During the operation of the microgrid, the voltage of the point of common coupling (PCC) can be maintained within a certain range by energy storage equipment (ESE). In this article, a direct seamless transfer strategy is developed based on the design of the power and inductor parameters of the three-phase converter in the ESE. When unintentional islanding occurs, the amplitude and frequency of the PCC voltage is affected by the output voltage of the converter, the rated power of the converter, and the voltage drop across the inductor. To ensure the value of the amplitude and frequency of the PCC voltage within the prescribed range, limiters are added to the modulation waves to realize the direct seamless transfer strategy. By analyzing the vector diagram of voltage and current vectors for different loads, the power requirement of the ESE and the voltage drop across the inductor in the converter are obtained. Finally, the design of the limiters’ parameters, analysis of inductor ripple current, and influence of nonlinear load on the PCC voltage are presented for the proposed control strategy.

From March 20, 2019 to April 30, 2019, the 10th China Trajectory Optimization Competition (CTOC10) was jointly held by the Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The CTOC10 focused on trajectory optimization for Jovian exploration. The team from Harbin Institute of Technology won the first prize. In this paper, first, the history of the CTOC is presented. Subsequently, the mission of the CTOC10 is introduced, and an account of the final rankings of the competition is given. Finally, trajectory optimization methods are discussed, and suggestions for practical missions are provided.

To investigate the predictive value of static O-(2-18F-fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine positron emission tomography (18F-FET PET) and cerebral blood volume (CBV) for glioma grading and determining isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation and 1p/19q codeletion status. Fifty-two patients with newly diagnosed gliomas who underwent simultaneous 18F-FET PET and dynamic susceptibility contrast perfusion-weighted imaging (DSC-PWI) examinations on hybrid PET/MR were retrospectively enrolled. The mean and max tumor-to-brain ratio (TBR) and normalized CBV (nCBV) were calculated based on whole tumor volume segmentations with reference to PET/MR images. The predictive efficacy of FET PET and CBV in glioma according to the 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) classification was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve analyses with the area under the curve (AUC). TBRmean, TBRmax, nCBVmean, and nCBVmax differed between low- and high-grade gliomas, with the highest AUC of nCBVmean (0.920). TBRmax and nCBVmean showed significant differences between gliomas with and without IDH mutation (p = 0.032 and 0.010, respectively). Furthermore, TBRmean, TBRmax, and nCBVmean discriminated between IDH-wildtype glioblastomas and IDH-mutated astrocytomas (p = 0.049, 0.034 and 0.029, respectively). The combination of TBRmax and nCBVmean showed the best predictive performance (AUC, 0.903). Only nCBVmean differentiated IDH-mutated with 1p/19q codeletion oligodendrogliomas from IDH-wildtype glioblastomas (p < 0.001) (AUC, 0.829), but none of the parameters discriminated between oligodendrogliomas and astrocytomas. Both FET PET and DSC-PWI might be non-invasive predictors for glioma grades and IDH mutation status. FET PET combined with CBV could improve the differentiation of IDH-mutated astrocytomas and IDH-wildtype glioblastomas. However, FET PET and CBV might be limited for identifying oligodendrogliomas. • Static 18F-FET PET and DSC-PWI parameters differed between low- and high-grade gliomas, with the highest AUC of the mean value of normalized CBV. • Static 18F-FET PET and DSC-PWI parameters based on hybrid PET/MR showed predictive value in identifying glioma IDH mutation subtypes, which have gained importance for both determining the diagnosis and prognosis of gliomas according to the 2016 WHO classification. • Static 18F-FET PET and DSC-PWI parameters have limited potential in differentiating IDH-mutated with 1p/19q codeletion oligodendrogliomas from IDH-wildtype glioblastomas or IDH-mutated astrocytomas.

Background Inflammation and angiogenesis are the two dominant mechanisms of diabetic retinopathy (DR), which act more as mutual pathways rather than individual processes. However, the underlying mechanism of their interactions is still unclear. Here, we explored the potential crossing points between these pathways and the targeted therapeutic method in rats with DR. Materials and methods Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to four groups: normal control group, streptozocin (STZ)-induced diabetes mellitus (DM) group, DM+shNC (non-specific negative control shRNA) group, and DM+shNLRP3 group. Silencing the NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) protein was performed by intravitreal injections of NLRP3-targeted shRNA (shNLRP3) for rats in the DM+shNLRP3 group. All the rats' retinas were collected for further morphological examination and pro-inflammatory and pro-angiogenic cytokine detection. Human retinal endothelial cells (HRECs) were also employed to explore the underlying mechanism. Results NLRP3-targeted shRNA given by intravitreal injection effectively alleviated the retinal histopathological changes in STZ-induced diabetic rats, which reduced the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and suppressed the expressions of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and inflammatory cytokines in diabetic rats' retinas. In HRECs, NLRP3 over-expressing plasmid evoked an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines and VEGF. In addition, YC-1, a HIF-1α inhibitor, could reverse the NLRP3 over-expression-induced VEGF production but not the pro-inflammatory cytokine expressions. Conclusion Our results suggest NLRP3 inflammasome as the potential cross-point between inflammation and pro-angiogenesis in DR and support the effectiveness of NLRP3-targeted shRNA administrated by intravitreal injection in animal models of DR. The protective effect of NLRP3-targeted shRNA may stem from the inhibition of both pro-inflammatory cytokines and HIF-1α/VEGF axis.

Hippocampal morphological change is one of the main hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, whether hippocampal radiomic features are robust as predictors of progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to AD dementia and whether these features provide any neurobiological foundation remains unclear. The primary aim of this study was to verify whether hippocampal radiomic features can serve as robust magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) markers for AD. Multivariate classifier-based support vector machine (SVM) analysis provided individual-level predictions for distinguishing AD patients (n = 261) from normal controls (NCs; n = 231) with an accuracy of 88.21% and intersite cross-validation. Further analyses of a large, independent the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) dataset (n = 1228) reinforced these findings. In MCI groups, a systemic analysis demonstrated that the identified features were significantly associated with clinical features (e.g., apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype, polygenic risk scores, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Aβ, CSF Tau), and longitudinal changes in cognition ability; more importantly, the radiomic features had a consistently altered pattern with changes in the MMSE scores over 5 years of follow-up. These comprehensive results suggest that hippocampal radiomic features can serve as robust biomarkers for clinical application in AD/MCI, and further provide evidence for predicting whether an MCI subject would convert to AD based on the radiomics of the hippocampus. The results of this study are expected to have a substantial impact on the early diagnosis of AD/MCI.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with disruptions in brain activity and networks. However, there is substantial inconsistency among studies that have investigated functional brain alterations in AD; such contradictions have hindered efforts to elucidate the core disease mechanisms. In this study, we aim to comprehensively characterize AD‐associated functional brain alterations using one of the world's largest resting‐state functional MRI (fMRI) biobank for the disorder. The biobank includes fMRI data from six neuroimaging centers, with a total of 252 AD patients, 221 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients and 215 healthy comparison individuals. Meta‐analytic techniques were used to unveil reliable differences in brain function among the three groups. Relative to the healthy comparison group, AD was associated with significantly reduced functional connectivity and local activity in the default‐mode network, basal ganglia and cingulate gyrus, along with increased connectivity or local activity in the prefrontal lobe and hippocampus (p

Purpose: Non-invasive quantification of cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (CMRGlc) and characterizing cerebral metabolism of cerebrovascular territories are useful for the understanding of ischemic cerebrovascular disease (ICVD). Here, we proposed a non-invasive quantification approach based on image-derived input function (IDIF) suitable for ICVD patients and monitored the pathophysiological changes after surgical intervention.Methods: Sixteen healthy controls and 26 ischemic cerebrovascular disease patients with baseline and after surgical visits underwent 18F-FDG PET/MR imaging. The voxel-wise CMRGlc maps were derived via our proposed IDIF method. The CMRGlc and standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) maps were subsequently used to extract quantitative values within 7 volumes of interest (gray matter, white matter, anterior, middle, and posterior cerebral artery, basilar artery, and cerebellar artery territory). Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and absolute percentage error were employed to measure consistency in healthy controls. The quantitative differences of healthy controls and patients at baseline and after surgical visits were statistically analyzed. Results: For healthy controls, there were no significant differences for region CMRGlc values across bilateral and unilateral IDIF measurements (ICC: 0.91-0.98). Significant differences in CMRGlc were observed across the cohorts in all territories (P< 0.001). The CMRGlc values in the ipsilateral side were significantly increased after surgery intervention (P < 0.05) for all territories (percentage changes: 7.4%~22.5%). Only the posterior cerebral artery and basilar artery territories (-2.8% and 1.9%) were significant differences for SUVR (P < 0.05). The diagnostic ability of CMRGlc in various territories (area under curve: 0.923-0.966) was significantly higher than of SUVR. There was a significant association between CMRGlc with the national institutes of health stroke scores (r: -0.54, P = 0.0041).Conclusion: These observations suggested the non-invasive quantification approach based on IDIF allowed the individual metabolism measurement of cerebrovascular territories after surgery and identified the glucose pathology changes underlying territories.

In this paper, defective microwave photonic crystals (MPCs) are designed to sense the salinity of aqueous solutions. The defective MPC sensors are constructed by two kinds of microwave dielectric layers and one defective salt solution layer. Transfer matrix method (TMM) for lossy medium is developed to calculate the transmittance spectra of the sensors. It is found that the peak transmittance of both the defective resonance within the microwave band gap (MBG) and transmitting modes outside the MBG monotonously decrease with the increase of salinity, while the resonant and transmitting mode frequencies remain unchanged. By comparing the four MPC sensor structures, the first transmitting mode in the upper frequency band outside the MBG of the 15-layer MPC sensor has the largest salinity sensing range from 0 to 40‰ with relative stable detecting sensitivity. The sensing principle is based on the fact that the dielectric loss factor of saline solution is much more sensitive to salinity than the dielectric constant in the microwave frequency band. The sensitivity, quality factor, and salinity detection range of the MPC sensors are calculated and compared. The reported defective MPC sensors are suitable to be used for non-contact salinity detection.

Ultrasound (US) simulation has been widely used in clinical training and multi-modal image registration. However, there is a gap between the realism of simulated US images and real US images. In this paper, we propose an improved U-GAT-IT model by adding the spatial and channel “Squeeze and Excitation” (scSE) module to improve the feature extraction ability of generator. The model is used to enhance realism in simulated US images from computed tomography (CT) images. By comparing the quantitative indicators such as Peak signal-to-noise Ratio (PSNR), Structural Similarity (SSIM) and Frechet Inception Distance (FID) with the previous models, the experimental results show that the proposed model is conducive to enhancing realism of simulated US images, and the simulation effect of fine structures is more realistic.

In minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery, doctors use laparoscopic images to guide surgical operations. During the operation, the visual field is narrow and the operation space is limited, which is not conducive to the observation and operation for doctors. Comprehensive intra-abdominal scene information exerts an enormous function on understanding anatomical structure for doctors, compensating errors in surgical navigation, and displaying in augmented reality surgery. In this paper, a laparoscopic reconstruction method based on multiscale feature patch tracking is proposed. The new method uses a multiscale Kernel Correlation Filter (KCF) to track feature patches in Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) framework, which is called MKCF-SLAM. The proposed method is applied in stereoscopic laparoscopy, which can reconstruct laparoscopic scene under the conditions of less texture, high reflection, and target scale changes. The new method is validated on a public invivo data set. Compared with feature-based SLAM methods and our previous work, the proposed method can get better and more stable work in some special difficult environments. The results suggest that the proposed method can reconstruct the laparoscopic scene accurately and robustly.

In this paper, extreme learning machine (ELM) method is used to classify the faults of fuel system. Although the learning speed of ELM is fast, its classification accuracy and generalization ability need to be improved. Bat Algorithm has a strong ability of global optimization. In order to make up for the deficiency of the ELM, this paper proposes a fault diagnosis model based on an improved bat algorithm to optimize the ELM. The experimental results show that the improved bat algorithm greatly improves the classification accuracy and generalization ability of the ELM, and verifies the validity of the proposed model.

Deep learning methods have been widely used in hyperspectral image classification and have achieved state-of-the-art performance. Nonetheless, the existing deep learning methods are restricted by a limited receptive field, inflexibility, and difficult generalization problems in hyperspectral image classification. To solve these problems, we propose HSI-BERT, where BERT stands for bidirectional encoder representations from transformers and HSI stands for hyperspectral imagery. The proposed HSI-BERT has a global receptive field that captures the global dependence among pixels regardless of their spatial distance. HSI-BERT is very flexible and enables the flexible and dynamic input regions. Furthermore, HSI-BERT has good generalization ability because the jointly trained HSI-BERT can be generalized from regions with different shapes without retraining. HSI-BERT is primarily built on a multihead self-attention (MHSA) mechanism in an MHSA layer. Moreover, several attentions are learned by different heads, and each head of the MHSA layer encodes the semantic context-aware representation to obtain discriminative features. Because all head-encoded features are merged, the resulting features exhibit spatial–spectral information that is essential for accurate pixel-level classification. Quantitative and qualitative results demonstrate that HSI-BERT outperforms any other CNN-based model in terms of both classification accuracy and computational time and achieves state-of-the-art performance on three widely used hyperspectral image data sets.

Under a multiscenario environment with frequent bursts of data in the edge cloud, the resource allocation in the edge cloud will affect the stability of its nodes. To address this problem, a balanced virtual resource allocation model based on conflict conditions is proposed. Based on a thorough study of the similarity between task attributes and resources used by the host, the concept of a task backlog is implemented to achieve a preliminary balanced allocation of tasks; thus, a conflict condition based on the remaining resources of the physical and virtual machines is proposed. Further, a matrix of phased conflict coefficients is built to establish a balanced virtual machine allocation model. The results of experiments comparing the performance of the proposed model with that of other existing models indicate that the proposed model can reduce the virtual machine scheduling time by up to 8.33%, save up to 6.25% of host energy consumption, and improve the algorithm efficiency by 20.47% compared with the other algorithms. To avoid the local optimal problem caused by dynamic virtual machine migration, an improved ant colony algorithm is combined with the above model, and concepts of a pheromone volatility factor and suppression factor are implemented to optimize the pheromone measurement function and ensure that the virtual machine migration path is globally optimal. Overall, the model reduces the conflict rate of resources on the physical machine and can maintain stable operation under CPU usage fluctuation, thus realizing a balanced allocation of node resources.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical effects of the Trivex system in the treatment of primary severe superficial varicose veins of the lower extremity and compare Trivex to the point-form-stripping combined with foam sclerotherapy (FS). Methods: A total of 64 patients (35 females, 29 males; mean age, 57 ± 11 years [range, 29–79 years]) with primary severe superficial varicose veins of the lower extremity involving 64 legs were included between October 2015 and July 2019. The maximum diameter of the vein branches was >20 mm, which appeared to be cystic dilatation and forms large-scale in the crus or the thigh. All patients underwent high ligation and endovenous laser ablation or stripping of the trunk under general anesthesia. The surgical time, pain/phlebitis, number of incisions, amount of bleeding, recurrence of varicose vein, incidence of surgical site infections (SSIs), satisfaction score, and improvement in clinical symptoms were evaluated respectively with the patients in two groups: Group A, with patients who underwent treatment with the Trivex system, and Group B, patients who underwent treatment by point-form-stripping combined with FS. Results: All procedures were performed successfully. The average operative time in Group A was 56 ± 11 min, whereas that of Group B was 90 ± 33 min, which was a significant difference (p 0.05). Conclusions: This study shows that patients benefited from both treatment options. However, primary severe superficial varicose veins of the lower extremity treated with the Trivex system suffered less pain with fewer incisions than severe branches treated with the point-form-stripping combined with foam sclerotherapy (FS). In summary, the Trivex system is a suitable treatment prior to point-form-stripping combined with foam sclerotherapy (FS) for those who demand a high level of appearance, and especially for young patients, the Trivex system is recommended. Keywords: Varicose veins, Trivex system, Point-form-stripping, Foam sclerotherapy

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are increasingly investigated in numerous carcinomas containing gastric cancer (GC). The aim of our research is to inquire about the expression profile and role of LBX2-AS1 in GC. The expressions of LBX2-AS1, miR-219a-2-3p, FUS and LBX2 were measured by qRT-PCR. Western blot evaluated FUS and LBX2 protein levels. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were, respectively, evaluated by CCK-8, colony formation, EdU, flow cytometry and TUNEL assays. FISH and subcellular fractionation assays examined the position of LBX2-AS1. The binding between genes were certified by RIP, RNA pull-down, ChIP and luciferase reporter assays. Pearson correlation analysis analyzed the association of genes. Kaplan–Meier method detected the relationship of LBX2-AS1 expression with overall survival. The up-regulation of LBX2-AS1 in GC tissues and cells was verified. Function assays proved that LBX2-AS1 down-regulation restricted the proliferation ability. Then, we unveiled the LBX2-AS1/miR-219a-2-3p/FUS axis. Additionally, LBX2-AS1 positively regulated LBX2 mRNA stability via FUS. LBX2 transcriptionally modulated LBX2-AS1. In the end, rescue and in vivo experiments validated the whole regulatory mechanism. LBX2-AS1/miR-219a-2-3p/FUS/LBX2 positive feedback loop mainly affected the proliferation and apoptosis abilities of GC cells, offering novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of patients with GC.

Shale gas is a crucial unconventional natural gas; carbon dioxide is a serious greenhouse gas. Therefore, using supercritical carbon dioxide as a fracturing fluid can fracture shale reservoirs and ...

Propagation properties of photonic crystals with defect are analyzed by the precise integration time domain (PITD) method in the paper. The precise integration is applied to the finite diff...

Several monocentric studies have noted alterations in spontaneous brain activity in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), although there is no consensus on the altered amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations in AD patients. The main aim of the present study was to identify a reliable and reproducible abnormal brain activity pattern in AD. The amplitude of local brain activity (AM), which can provide fast mapping of spontaneous brain activity across the whole brain, was evaluated based on multisite rs-fMRI data for 688 subjects (215 normal controls (NCs), 221 amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) 252 AD). Two-sample t-tests were used to detect group differences between AD patients and NCs from the same site. Differences in the AM maps were statistically analyzed via the Stouffer’s meta-analysis. Consistent regions of lower spontaneous brain activity in the default mode network and increased activity in the bilateral hippocampus/parahippocampus, thalamus, caudate nucleus, orbital part of the middle frontal gyrus and left fusiform were observed in the AD patients compared with those in NCs. Significant correlations (P

As part of its Paris Agreement commitment, China pledged to peak carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions around 2030, striving to peak earlier, and to increase the non-fossil share of primary energy to 20% by 2030. Yet by the end of 2017, China emitted 28% of the world’s energy-related CO2 emissions, 76% of which were from coal use. How China can reinvent its energy economy cost-effectively while still achieving its commitments was the focus of a three-year joint research project completed in September 2016. Overall, this analysis found that if China follows a pathway in which it aggressively adopts all cost-effective energy efficiency and CO2 emission reduction technologies while also aggressively moving away from fossil fuels to renewable and other non-fossil resources, it is possible to not only meet its Paris Agreement Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments, but also to reduce its 2050 CO2 emissions to a level that is 42% below the country’s 2010 CO2 emissions. While numerous barriers exist that will need to be addressed through effective policies and programs in order to realize these potential energy use and emissions reductions, there are also significant local environmental (e.g., air quality), national and global environmental (e.g., mitigation of climate change), human health, and other unquantified benefits that will be realized if this pathway is pursued in China.

Flexible transparent conductive films (TCFs) based on silver nanowires (AgNWs) networks have been widely researched as an alternative to indium tin oxide (ITO) for optoelectronic devices. However, AgNW-based TCFs still involve issues such as high haze and poor transmittance for practical application. The innovation point of our work is the synthesis of ultra-fine and high aspect ratio AgNWs, and they are developed to prepare high-performance AgNW-based TCFs. In this study, a rapid and rationally designed method to synthesize ultra-fine AgNWs through dual ionic assistants assisted has been explored. As a result, the as-synthesized AgNWs have a uniform ~ 20 nm diameter, and a high aspect ratio of 2000, which are the minimum diameter and maximum aspect ratio among the values reported previously for solvothermal-processed AgNWs. A highly transparent and bendable AgNW-based conductive film shows a 97.71% transmittance and a haze of 1.49% under the condition of disregarding the transmittance and haze of bare PET substrate. The sheet resistance (Rsheet) of the resulting AgNW-based conductive film is ~ 15 Ω sq–1. Most importantly, the AgNW-based conductive film exhibits strong adhesion to the substrate. The advanced and wide-ranging features of the as-prepared AgNW-based conductive film greatly contribute to its use as a transparent conductive film in multifunctional flexible optoelectronic devices.

This paper presents a digital twin platform towards automatic and intelligent management for data center networks: NetGraph. It builds a virtual image of the physical network, which comprises the entire network elements and simplifies the workflows of network service management. NetGraph redefines network operation (including maintenance) model by integrating four functional blocks: unified digital twin model management, automatic configuration deployment and translation, Inventory search, and network elements validation. NetGraph has been deployed in Huawei's data center networks and served more than fifty thousand devices along with millions of network connectivity information (e.g., links and terminations points). Statistics in real network scenarios show that NetGraph has a wide coverage of network models and supports multiple functions.

Significance Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is the most common form of adult-onset hydrocephalus, but its etiology is poorly understood. Symptoms develop in previously normal individuals and include gait difficulty, incontinence, and dementia. We recently reported that 15% of iNPH patients harbor heterozygous loss-of-function deletions in CWH43, which encodes a protein that modifies other cell membrane proteins. Mice harboring CWH43 deletions develop hydrocephalus and gait dysfunction. Mutations affecting the L1CAM adhesion protein cause developmental brain abnormalities and hydrocephalus from birth. Here, we show that CWH43 deletion leads to L1CAM hypoglycosylation, decreased L1CAM association with lipid microdomains, increased plasmin-mediated L1CAM cleavage, and decreased L1CAM expression. Thus, decreased L1CAM expression appears to occur in adult-onset iNPH and congenital hydrocephalus., Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is a common neurological disorder that is characterized by enlarged cerebral ventricles, gait difficulty, incontinence, and dementia. iNPH usually develops after the sixth decade of life in previously asymptomatic individuals. We recently reported that loss-of-function deletions in CWH43 lead to the development of iNPH in a subgroup of patients, but how this occurs is poorly understood. Here, we show that deletions in CWH43 decrease expression of the cell adhesion molecule, L1CAM, in the brains of CWH43 mutant mice and in human HeLa cells harboring a CWH43 deletion. Loss-of-function mutations in L1CAM are a common cause of severe neurodevelopmental defects that include congenital X-linked hydrocephalus. Mechanistically, we find that CWH43 deletion leads to decreased N-glycosylation of L1CAM, decreased association of L1CAM with cell membrane lipid microdomains, increased L1CAM cleavage by plasmin, and increased shedding of cleaved L1CAM in the cerebrospinal fluid. CWH43 deletion also decreased L1CAM nuclear translocation, suggesting decreased L1CAM intracellular signaling. Importantly, the increase in L1CAM cleavage occurred primarily in the ventricular and subventricular zones where brain CWH43 is most highly expressed. Thus, CWH43 deletions may contribute to adult-onset iNPH by selectively downregulating L1CAM in the ventricular and subventricular zone.

As increasing of online measuring units in power system, a large amount measured data are collected which leads to an urgent problem to test and process these data. Internet of Things (IoT) monitoring terminals such as online monitoring terminals and detection devices can collect and upload the operating data of the equipment in real time to monitor the operating status of the power grid. By studying of data processing technology, multiple data integration technology, warning and data analysis technology, and data visualization and penetration technology, this paper presents the design and development of a province-wide online monitoring data collection and analysis platform to realize the functions of standing book management, automatic early warning and status evaluation. Successfully implementation of the platform demonstrates that it can provide different capabilities of data processing functions, such as risk assessment of equipment, and operation and maintenance decision-making, which is conducive to the safe and stable operation of the power grid.

Purpose We aimed to, for the first time, investigate the interplay of simultaneous functional MRI (fMRI) and FDG PET using a randomized self-control protocol on an integrated PET/MR. Materials and methods 24 healthy volunteers underwent PET/MR scan 30 to 40 minutes after the injection of FDG. A 22-minute brain scan was separated into MRI-off (without fMRI pulsing) and MRI-on modes (with fMRI pulsing) with each one lasting for 11 minutes. We calculated the voxel-wise fMRI metric (ReHo, ALFF, fALFF and DC), resting networks, relative standardized uptake value ratios (SUVr), Patlak Ki and regional cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (rCMRGlu) maps. Paired two-sample t-tests were applied to assess the statistical differences between SUVr, Ki, correlation coefficients of fMRI metrics and rCMRGlu between MRI-off and MRI-on mode, respectively. Results Voxel-wise whole brain SUVr in MRI-off mode and MRI-on mode revealed no statistical difference, while Ki was significantly elevated in the whole brain (P༜0.05) during fMRI scan. Task-based group ICA revealed that the most active network components derived from combined MRI-off and MRI-on static PET images were frontal pole, superior frontal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus and occipital pole. High correlation coefficients were found among the four-fMRI metrics with rCMRGlu in MRI-off and MRI-on mode (P༜0.05). The highest correlation coefficients between rCMRGlu and all fMRI metrics were found in the visual network (R, 0.523 ± 0.057) and default network (R, 0.461 ± 0.099). Conclusions Static PET quantitation SUVr as an indicator of the accumulative effect of FDG update post-injection does not exhibit immediate change between MRI-on and MRI-off modes. Dynamic PET quantitation Ki is instantly elevated during MRI-on mode due to the additional impact of MRI sequence on imaging subjects. Network connectivity analysis also demonstrated intermediate modulation of brain function in MRI-on mode as compared to MRI-off mode.

Digital twin network has gradually become an important tool platform for network management and optimization. With bandwidth growing larger and speed getting higher in physical network, how to efficiently and accurately emulate network traffic in digital twin network is an important research problem. This paper proposes a complete flow emulation framework for digital twin network for the first time, which leverages unified ID and deterministic network technology to keep physical network traffic in consistency with that in digital twin network. Aiming at growing bandwidth, we use flow sampling to reduce large transmission data. Furthermore, we describe in detail an application case based on the proposed traffic emulation framework, namely, network delay measurement. Analysis results show that our proposal can achieve high delay measurement accuracy without affecting the physical network.

Situs inversus totalis (SIT) is a congenital disorder in which the thoracic and abdominal viscera organs are mirrored from their normal anatomical position. Thus, the presence of any cancerous mass in one of the visceral organs of patients with SIT represents a great challenge due to the anatomical variation. We report a 52-year-old male with SIT who presented with obstructive jaundice and pancreatic-head mass. After preoperative examinations, it was decided to perform a laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy. In this case, we aim to demonstrate the diagnosis and management of pancreatic cancer in an SIT patient, in addition to presenting the advantages and difficulties of laparoscopic surgery in this case.

BACKGROUND: Molecular subtype, the basis for personalized treatment of breast cancer, is of great value in evaluating prognosis and guiding treatment of early-stage breast cancer. However, its value in stage IV patients remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the association between molecular subtype and prognosis of de novo stage IV breast cancer using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database with the purpose to provide evidence for optimal therapeutic options for breast cancer patients. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed de novo stage IV breast cancer patients with the SEER Program data from 2010 to 2015. Characteristics of patients with different molecular subtypes were compared by chi-square test and survival curves for breast cancer specific survival (BCSS) according to subtypes were plotted by Kaplan-Meier method. The Cox proportional hazards model was performed to search for independent prognostic factors in stage IV breast cancer patients. RESULTS: A total of 11,974 patients were included in this study, among which 7,100 (59.30%) patients were of HR(+)/HER2(−), 2,093 (17.48%) of HR(+)/HER2(+), 1,139 (9.51%) of HR(−)/HER2(+) and 1,642 (13.71%) of HR(−)/HER2(−). Multivariate Cox analysis revealed that molecular subtype, age, race, marital status, grade, surgery and chemotherapy were independent prognostic factors for BCSS in de novo stage IV patients. Taking HR(+)/HER2(−) patients as reference, HR(+)/HER2(+) patients had better BCSS (HR =0.81, 95% CI: 0.75–0.88, P

This paper proposes a differential compensation system with a differential optical path which is consisted of a pentaprism, a half-pentaprism and a beam splitter. This system can split the source laser beam into two equal and opposite laser beams without considering the thickness of the beam splitter. Thus the average of the positions of the two laser beams remains constant despite the laser beam dithering angle. Simulations verify the feasibility of this system in ideal situation. Furthermore, the compensation error is analyzed taking into account the thickness of the beam splitter. Theoretical analysis shows that the system error is within 6 μm. Monte Carlo simulation are then verified that the collimated laser beam dithering can be reduced within 7 μm considering the machining error of the parameters of the prisms and the system error. This system with advantages of compact structure, free from electro magnetic interference(EMI) and transplantation, is wildly used in one dimensional measurement fields especially for the compact and containment detecting setup.

Computer technology, information technology and various industries are developing more and more closely, which is no exception for electric power enterprises. Cost management staff, use advanced information technology, have perfect management system, and strengthen the cost management of electric power engineering in China. This paper mainly talks about the current situation and existing problems of information technology in power engineering cost management, and makes solutions.

Background This study aimed to explore whether the mechanical stretching-induced expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in pulmonary veins occurred through the stretch-activated channel (SAC)/ mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) pathway. Methods Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three sham groups and seven model groups. A metal clip was placed on the ascending aorta in the model group to establish PH-LHD rat model. The sham group received a similar operation without ascending aorta clamped. On day 25, pulmonary vein was given mechanical stretching with 0 g, 2.0 g tension in two model groups and two sham groups. Another four model groups were given 2.0 g tension after MAPKs pathway inhibitors soaked. The last sham group and model group rats’ pulmonary veins, pulmonary artery and lung tissues were obtained on day 35. Pulmonary vein, pulmonary artery and lung tissue were evaluated by echocardiography, HE staining, immunohistochemistry and western blotting respectively. Results On day 25, left heart weight, right ventricular pressure (35.339 cmH2O) and left atrial pressure (13.657 cmH2O) were increased in model group than those in sham group. Echocardiography showed left heart failure in the PH-LHD group (Interventrieular septum dimension 1.716 mm, left ventricular internal end diastolic dimension 4.888 mm, left ventricular posterior wall thickness in diastole 1.749 mm, ejection fraction 76.917%). But there was no difference in lung tissue between the sham group and PH-LHD group as showed by HE staining. Our results showed that the expression of IL-6 and TNF-α was highly expressed in PH-LHD rats’ serum and pulmonary vein, which were further increased after 2.0 g tension was given and were decreased after SAC/MAPKs inhibitors treatment. Meanwhile, on day 25, immunohistochemistry analysis showed the expression of IL-6 and TNF-α was higher in the PH-LHD rats’ pulmonary vein than that in pulmonary artery and lung tissue, and these expressions in pulmonary vein of PH-LHD group were also higher than that in sham group. However, on day 35, IL-6 and TNF-α were all increased in the pulmonary veins, arteries and lung tissues. Besides, our results uncovered that SAC/MAPKs pathway were upregulating in PH-LHD rats’ pulmonary vein. Conclusion In conclusion, pulmonary vein mechanical stretching exacerbated PH-LHD possibly through the SAC/MAPKs pathway and upregulating expression of IL-6 and TNF-α.

With the expansion of urban area and population, air pollution in many areas is becoming more and more serious. PM 2.5 has the characteristics of complexity and randomness, because its concentration is affected by many factors. Researchers usually input a large number of data into random forest, Neuro-Fuzzy model or neural network model for prediction. However, there are many factors affecting PM 2.5 , some factors can promote the production of PM 2.5 , while other factors may hinder its production. In the process of training, these factors will not only bring extra noise to the prediction, but also increase the complexity of training. In this study, a method for predicting PM 2.5 concentration based on Multi-Input LSTM model was proposed. First, we design a Multi-Input LSTM model, and then the features are divided into two groups through the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, which can be used as auxiliary input to LSTM, and add attention mechanism to reduce the noise in the data, and extract valuable features. The experimental results show that this method achieves 97.3% accuracy on the dataset better than the baseline method.

Background The pectoralis major muscle is a versatile flap used as an advancement or turnover flap for the treatment of deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) after median sternotomy. Advancement flaps provide suboptimal mass volume and sometimes cannot fully fill the dead space in the mediastinum. Turnover flaps can sufficiently cover the inferior sternum and fill dead space; however, the procedure requires disinsertion of the muscle from the humerus, resulting in functional loss and cosmetic deformity. In an attempt to optimize the benefits and minimize the drawbacks of both flaps, we developed a novel turnover flap method using the bilateral partial pectoralis major muscle. In this study, we introduce this new flap method and report its initial clinical results. Methods The bilateral pectoralis major muscle is split into upper and lower parts according to the direction of the muscle fibers. The upper part of the pectoralis major muscle on one side and the lower part of the pectoralis major muscle on the other side were selected as the turnover flaps. The parts of the pectoralis major muscle selected as turnover flaps were transected vertically at the midline of the clavicle. Our novel turnover flap method was used to treat 11 patients with DSWI following cardiac surgery. Results No deaths occurred in the group. In 10 patients, the chest incision healed without complications and reoperation, while 1 patient experienced delayed healing of the skin incision. None of the patients experienced subcutaneous hematoma or oozing that required reopening and drainage. The average hospitalization time was 14±7.9 days. After 6 months of follow-up, none of the patient had experienced recurrence of DSWI. Abnormal movement of the upper limbs or deformities of the chest wall were not detected in all 11 patients. Conclusions Bilateral partial pectoralis major muscle turnover flaps are appropriate for the treatment of DSWI after cardiac surgery. This novel method does not only provide sufficient volume to fill the defect but can also preserve the function of the upper limbs and prevent cosmetic deformity of the chest wall.

The identification and labeling of the Circle of Willis in cerebral arteries is an important part of cerebral aneurysm treatment, which can assist physicians in making accurate diagnostic analysis. Most studies are based on manual extraction of vessel features, which obtain the low accuracy of labeling vessels with high topological variability in the Circle of Willis. In this paper, we propose a method combining transfer learning and active learning for automatic anatomical labeling of cerebral vessels. Firstly, the neural network model is transferred to automatically extract vessel features. Secondly, we use different sampling strategies of active learning to select some most valuable samples. The information of selected samples is fully utilized to improve the accuracy of machine learning modeling. Finally, in order to achieve automatic labeling of cerebral blood vessels, the downstream task model of transfer learning is integrated into active learning to construct a learning model. The experimental results present that the proposed method improves the labeling accuracy as much as possible while reducing the burden of manual labeling. It can effectively solve the Circle of Willis automatic anatomical labeling problem. In addition, the method can be better applied to vessels with high topological variability.

Based on the fast development of Internet and big data, how to pick out a high-quality service composition quickly from large qualities of services, and meet users’ needs have become a hotspot in service composition research. Service composition optimization is a classic NP hard problem. A modified Beetle Antennae Particle Swarm Algorithm was proposed in this paper and it was applied in web service composition optimization. The author introduced Beetle Antennae Searching Algorithm into the modified Particle Swarm Algorithm, modified position update formula, adopted the modified Nonlinear Dynamic Trigonometric Learning Factors to control the particles’ expanding capacity and global convergence capability and incorporated the modified Secondary Oscillation factors which increased the searching precision of the algorithm and global searching ability. The experimental results under real data set indicated that the modified Beetle Antennae Particle Swarm Algorithm proposed in this paper could settle large-scale web service composition optimization problems in cloud environment, had good global searching ability, comparatively faster convergence speed and needed less time cost.

Background: Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) infections poses a serious public health threat, which caused outbreaks of severe respiratory illness and has been closely associated with "polio-like" central nervous system disease. The patterns of immune responses to EV-D68 have not been fully understood. This study was performed to investigate the level of neutralizing antibody against EV-D68 among the healthy population in Xiamen City.Methods: A total of 515 serum samples from healthy people were selected by stratified random sampling in Xiamen City in 2016, and the titer of neutralizing antibody against EV-D68 was detected by an efficient micro-neutralization assay.Results: The overall seroprevalence of neutralizing antibody against EV-D68 was 81.9%, and the overall geometric mean titers (GMT) was 248.0. The positive rates were 42.2%, 49.3%, 71.9%, 94.2% and 98.5%, respectively, in groups of Conclusions: EV-D68 infection was prevalent in Xiamen City. Children are the high-risk groups for EV-D68-related illnesses, especially those aged ≤ 3 years. It is necessary to establish preventive measures and strengthened the surveillance on EV-D68 to prevent disease outbreaks.

Objective Altered functional activities and hypometabolism have been found in medial temporal lobe epilepsy patients with hippocampal sclerosis (mTLE‐HS). Hybrid PET/MR scanners provide opportunities to explore the relationship between resting‐state energy consumption and functional activities, but whether repeated seizures disturb the bioenergetic coupling and its relationship with seizure outcomes remain unknown. Methods 18F‐FDG PET and resting‐state functional MRI (rs‐fMRI) scans were performed with hybrid PET/MR in 26 patients with mTLE‐HS and in healthy controls. Energy consumption was quantified by 18F‐FDG standardized uptake value ratio(SUVR) relative to cerebellum. Spontaneous neural activities were estimated using regional homogeneity (ReHo), fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (fALFF) from rs‐fMRI. Between‐group differences in SUVR and rs‐fMRI derived metrics were evaluated by two‐sample t test. Voxel‐wise spatial correlations were explored between SUVR and ReHo, fALFF across gray matter and compared between groups. Furthermore, the relationships between altered fALFF/SUVR and ReHo/SUVR coupling and surgical outcomes were evaluated. Results Both the patients and healthy controls showed significant positive correlations between SUVR and rs‐fMRI metrics. Spatial correlations between SUVR and fMRI‐derived metrics across gray matter were significantly higher in patients with mTLE‐HS compared with healthy controls (fALFF/SUVR, P

Melatonin is a neurohormone associated with sleep and wakefulness and is mainly produced by the pineal gland. Numerous physiological functions of melatonin have been demonstrated including anti-inflammation, suppressing neoplastic growth, circadian and endocrine rhythm regulation, and its potent antioxidant activity as well as its role in regeneration of various tissues including the nervous system, liver, bone, kidney, bladder, skin, and muscle, among others. In this review, we summarize the recent advances related to the multiple protective roles of melatonin receptor agonists, melatonin and N-acetylserotonin (NAS), in brain injury, liver damage, and bone health. Brain injury, including traumatic brain injury, ischemic stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and newborn perinatal hypoxia-ischemia encephalopathy, is a major cause of mortality and disability. Liver disease causes serious public health problems and various factors including alcohol, chemical pollutants, and drugs induce hepatic damage. Osteoporosis is the most common bone disease in humans. Due in part to an aging population, both the cost of care of fracture patients and the annual fracture rate have increased steadily. Despite the discrepancy in the pathophysiological processes of these disorders, time frames and severity, they may share several common molecular mechanisms. Oxidative stress is considered to be a critical factor in these pathogeneses. We update the current state of knowledge related to the molecular processes, mainly including anti-oxidative stress, anti-apoptosis, autophagy dysfunction, and anti-inflammation as well as other properties of melatonin and NAS. Particularly, the abilities of melatonin and NAS to directly scavenge oxygen-centered radicals and toxic reactive oxygen species, and indirectly act through antioxidant enzymes are disscussed. In this review, we summarize the similarities and differences in the protection provided by melatonin and/or NAS in brain, liver and bone damage. We analyze the involvement of melatonin receptor 1A (MT1), melatonin receptor 1B (MT2), and melatonin receptor 1C (MT3) in the protection of melatonin and/or NAS. Additionally, we evaluate their potential clinical applications. The multiple mechanisms of action and multiple organ-targeted properties of melatonin and NAS may contribute to development of promising therapies for clinical trials.

The Scheimpflug imaging system has been widely applied in many fields, such as 3D reconstruction and tomographic PIV. Modeling and calibration are essential steps for further analysis of the Scheimpflug imaging system. In this paper, lens distortion model of the Scheimpflug imaging system is established and simplified for calibration. Firstly, lens distortion model of the Scheimpflug imaging system is analyzed and established, which is proved to be different from the conventional imaging system. Secondly, the established lens distortion model is simplified to reduce the complexity of the calibration for the infinite parameters. The application condition of the simplified lens distortion model is also analyzed. Finally, calibration experiment is implemented for the Scheimpflug imaging system with the simplified lens distortion model. The high calibration accuracy verifies that the simplified lens distortion model is feasible.

In most countries, the demand for integrated care for people with chronic diseases is increasing as the population ages. This demand requires a fundamental shift of health-care systems towards more integrated service delivery models. To achieve this shift in China, the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the Chinese government proposed a tiered health-care delivery system in accordance with a people-centred integrated care model. The approach was pioneered in Luohu district of Shenzhen city from 2015 to 2017 as a template for practice. In September 2017, China's health ministry introduced this approach to people-centred integrated care to the entire country. We describe the features of the Luohu model in relation to the core action areas and implementation strategies proposed and we summarize data from an evaluation of the first two years of the programme. We discuss the challenges faced during implementation and the lessons learnt from it for other health-care systems. We consider how to improve collaboration between institutions, how to change the population's behaviour about using community health services as the first point of contact and how to manage resources effectively to avoid budget deficits. Finally, we outline next steps of the Luohu model and its potential application to strengthen health care in other urban health-care systems.Dans la plupart des pays, la demande de soins intégrés pour les personnes atteintes de maladies chroniques augmente à mesure que la population vieillit. Cette demande nécessite une réorientation majeure des systèmes de soins de santé vers des dispositifs de prestation de services plus intégrés. Pour effectuer cette réorientation en Chine, l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé, la Banque mondiale et le gouvernement chinois ont proposé un système de soins de santé à plusieurs niveaux selon un dispositif de soins intégrés axés sur l'être humain. Cette approche a été utilisée pour la première fois dans le district de Luohu de la ville de Shenzhen de 2015 à 2017 en tant que modèle de pratique. En septembre 2017, le ministère chinois de la Santé a appliqué à l'ensemble du pays ce dispositif de soins intégrés axés sur l'être humain. Nous décrivons les caractéristiques du modèle de Luohu par rapport aux principaux domaines d'action et aux stratégies de mise en œuvre proposées et nous résumons les données extraites d'une évaluation des deux premières années du programme. Nous examinons les difficultés rencontrées lors de la mise en œuvre et les leçons tirées de ces difficultés pour d'autres systèmes de soins de santé. Nous réfléchissons aux moyens d'améliorer la collaboration entre les institutions, de changer le comportement de la population concernant l'utilisation des services de santé des collectivités comme premier point de contact et de gérer efficacement les ressources pour éviter les déficits budgétaires. Enfin, nous décrivons les prochaines étapes à suivre dans le cadre du modèle de Luohu et son application potentielle pour renforcer les soins de santé dans d'autres systèmes urbains de soins de santé.En la mayoría de los países, la demanda de atención integrada para las personas con enfermedades crónicas aumenta a medida que la población envejece. Esta demanda requiere un cambio fundamental de los sistemas de atención sanitaria hacia modelos de prestación de servicios más integrados. Para lograr este cambio en China, la Organización Mundial de la Salud, el Banco Mundial y el gobierno chino propusieron un sistema escalonado de prestación de servicios sanitarios de acuerdo con un modelo de atención integrada centrada en las personas. El enfoque se introdujo en el distrito de Luohu de la ciudad de Shenzhen de 2015 a 2017 como modelo para la práctica. En septiembre de 2017, el Ministerio de Salud de China introdujo este enfoque de atención integrada centrada en las personas en todo el país. Se describen las características del modelo de Luohu en relación con las áreas centrales de acción y las estrategias de implementación propuestas y se resumen los datos de una evaluación de los dos primeros años del programa. Se exponen los desafíos enfrentados durante la implementación y las lecciones aprendidas de la misma para otros sistemas de atención sanitaria. Se considera cómo mejorar la colaboración entre las instituciones, cómo cambiar el comportamiento de la población sobre el uso de los servicios sanitarios comunitarios como primer punto de contacto y cómo gestionar eficazmente los recursos para evitar déficits de presupuesto. Por último, se esbozaron los próximos pasos del modelo de Luohu y su posible aplicación para fortalecer la atención sanitaria en otros sistemas urbanos de atención sanitaria.في معظم الدول، يتزايد الطلب على خدمات الرعاية المتكاملة للأشخاص المصابين بأمراض مزمنة كلما ازداد عدد السكان. ويتطلب ذلك تحولا أساسيا في نظم الرعاية الصحية باتجاه نماذج لتقديم الخدمات أكثر تكاملا. ولتحقيق هذا التحول في الصين، اقترحت كل من منظمة الصحة العالمية، والبنك الدولي، والحكومة الصينية نظاماً لتقديم الرعاية الصحية المتدرجة وفقاً لنموذج للرعاية المتكاملة المرتكزة على الأشخاص. ظهر هذا النهج في منطقة لوهو بمدينة شنتشن من عام 2015 إلى عام 2017 كنمط للممارسة. في سبتمبر/أيلول 2017، قدمت وزارة الصحة الصينية هذا النهج للرعاية المتكاملة المرتكزة على الأشخاص للدولة بأكملها. نحن نصف مزايا نموذج لوهو فيما يتعلق بمجالات العمل الأساسية واستراتيجيات التنفيذ المقترحة، كما أننا نلخص البيانات من تقييم للسنتين الأوليين من البرنامج. كذلك، فإننا نناقش التحديات التي تمت مواجهتها أثناء التنفيذ، والدروس المستفادة منها في أنظمة الرعاية الصحية الأخرى. نحن ننظر في كيفية تحسين التعاون بين المؤسسات، وكيفية تغيير سلوك السكان بخصوص استخدام الخدمات الصحية للمجتمع كنقطة اتصال أولى، وكيفية إدارة الموارد بفعالية لتجنب العجز في الميزانية. وأخيرًا، فإننا نوجز الخطوات التالية لنموذج لوهو وتطبيقه المحتمل، لتعزيز الرعاية الصحية في أنظمة الرعاية الصحية الحضرية الأخرى.随着人口老龄化的加剧，大多数国家的慢性病病人对整合型卫生服务的需求也在不断增加。这种需求要求当前的卫生服务体系从根本上向着更加整合的服务提供模式转变。为帮助中国实现这一转变，世界卫生组织、世界银行和中国政府提出根据以人为本的一体化服务模式打造分级诊疗的卫生服务提供体系。深圳市罗湖区作为实践模板率先于2015年至2017年试点引入该模式。2017年9月，中国国家卫生和计划生育委员会向全国推介罗湖以人为本的整合型服务提供模式。我们描述罗湖模式的核心行动领域及相应的实施策略，并且总结该模式的第一个两年评估结果。我们讨论罗湖模式实施过程中所面临的挑战，以及它为其他卫生体系提供的经验。这些经验包括，如何促进机构间协作、如何改变居民的行为使其到社区卫生服务机构首诊、如何有效整合资源以避免医保基金赤字。最后，我们概述罗湖模式接下来的行动计划，以及该模式在加强其他城市卫生体系的潜在应用。.В большинстве стран по мере старения населения растет потребность в комплексном уходе для лиц, страдающих хроническими заболеваниями. Эта потребность требует изменения основополагающих принципов системы здравоохранения и сдвига в сторону моделей, в большей мере ориентированных на предоставление комплексных услуг. Для достижения этого сдвига в Китае Всемирная организация здравоохранения, Всемирный банк и Правительство Китая предложили внедрить многоуровневую систему предоставления услуг в соответствии с социально ориентированной моделью комплексного ухода. В качестве образца этот подход впервые был применен в районе Луоху города Шэньчжэнь в период с 2015 по 2017 год. В сентябре 2017 года Министерство здравоохранения Китая ввело принцип социально ориентированного комплексного ухода для всей страны. Авторы описывают характерные черты модели Луоху применительно к ключевым областям действия и предложенные стратегии внедрения этой модели, а также приводят итоговые данные, полученные в результате оценки первых двух лет проведения программы. Обсуждаются проблемы, с которыми медицинские работники столкнулись при ее внедрении, а также тот опыт, который может быть полезен для других систем здравоохранения. Авторы рассматривают такие вопросы, как улучшение взаимодействия между организациями, изменение поведения населения при использовании учреждений общественного здравоохранения в качестве пунктов первоочередного обращения за медицинской помощью, а также эффективное использование имеющихся ресурсов с целью исключения дефицита бюджета. Наконец, описываются дальнейшие этапы модели Луоху и ее потенциальное применение для укрепления здравоохранения в других аналогичных городских системах.

Carbon dioxide injection, gas flow, and adsorption of CO2 in a coal matrix are modelled by a large-scale physical experiment. The process primarily comprises an increase in the gas pressure from an unsaturated to a saturated status during gas injection followed by a reduction in the gas pressure due to the adsorption of CO2 after the cessation of gas injection. We developed a straightforward and effective calibration-based gas pressure model for the spatio-temporal prediction of CO2 in a coal matrix. The Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency of the models for predicting gas pressure is between 0.931 and 0.998. The results indicate that the spatio-temporal distribution of gas pressure in the coal matrix mainly relates to the gas pressure injected, geological boundary conditions, initial geo-stress, and gas type. The gas concentration tends to increase in high Earth stress and boundary areas during gas injection, whereas the gas adsorption rate is high in areas of low Earth stress. The gas adsorption rate of the coal matrix decreases as the gas injection content and gas injection time increase; improvement of the gas injection pressure can boost the gas adsorption to some extent. This model can explain or predict the behaviour of gas in a coal matrix depending on the matrix density, and it has the potential to simulate gas behaviour in a large-scale undisturbed coal sample considering the structure (joints and cleats) of the coal.