Search

Cuie Gao,1 Lan Ge,1 Dewei Chen,2 Mengjie Zhang,2 Li Zhao,2 Wenying Liu,1 Shuguang Chen,1 Juan Wang,1 Cunjian Zhou,1 Xingwang Zhao,1 Shifei Li,1 Zhiqiang Song,1 Jian Li1 1Department of Dermatology, Southwest Hospital, Army Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pathophysiology, Army Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jian Li; Zhiqiang SongDepartment of Dermatology, Southwest Hospital, Army Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 23 68754290Fax +86 23 68755290Email leejian860@126.com; drsongzq@hotmail.comPurpose: Monocyte subsets, including classical, intermediate and non-classical monocytes, are involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory or autoimmune diseases. The pathogenic role of monocytes in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with rosacea remains unclear. This study aimed to assess frequencies of monocyte subsets in PBMCs from rosacea patients before and after clinical treatment.Patients and Methods: We applied flow cytometry to examine frequencies of monocyte subsets in 116 patients with rosacea, while patients with 26 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 28 acne and 42 normal healthy subjects without skin problems (HC) were recruited as controls. Expression of C–C chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2) on monocytes and plasma levels of CC-chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2), high mobility group box-1 (HMGB-1), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were measured in HC and rosacea patients before and after treatment.Results: The frequency of classical monocytes, but not intermediate or non-classical monocytes, was higher in rosacea as compared with HC, which decreased after treatment. Frequencies of monocyte subsets showed no gender difference, while increased with age in patients but not in HC. Frequencies of classical monocytes in patients with erythematotelangiectatic rosacea (ETR) and ETR-papulopustular rosacea (PPR) overlap were significantly higher than HC or patients with only PPR or phymatous rosacea (PhR). There was a significant higher expression of CCR2 in classical monocytes, with higher plasma levels of CCL2, HMGB-1, IL-1β and TNF-α in patients than in HC, which all significantly decreased after treatment.Conclusion: Our data indicated a possible association between abnormal classical monocytes frequencies and rosacea.Keywords: monocytes, classical monocytes, CCR2, rosacea

Artificial intelligence (AI) offers the potential for the development of e-textiles that give wearers a smart and intuitive experience. An emerging challenge in intelligent materials design is hand gesture recognition textiles. Most current research focuses on number gesture recognition via smart gloves, so there is a gap in research that studies contact-less number gesture recognition textiles via computer vision. Meanwhile, there is lack of exploration on the integration of illuminating function and number gesture recognition textiles to improve interactivity by real-time visualizing detection results. In this research, a novel interactive illuminating textile with a touch-less number gesture recognition function has been designed and fabricated by using an open-source AI model. It is used in sync with a polymeric optical fiber textile with illuminative features. The textile is color-changing, controlled by the system's mid-air interactive number gesture recognition capability and has a woven stripe pattern and a double-layer weave structure with open pockets to facilitate integration of the system's components. Also described here is a novel design process that permits textile design and intelligent technology to integrate seamlessly and in synchronization, so that design in effect mediates continuously between the physical textile and the intangible technology. Moreover, this design method serves as a reference for the integration of open-source intelligent hardware and software into e-textiles for enhancement of the intuitive function and value via economy of labor.

Background Bezoars can be found anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract. Esophageal bezoars are rare. Esophageal bezoars are classified as either primary or secondary. It is rarely reported that secondary esophageal bezoars caused by reverse migration from the stomach lead to acute esophageal obstruction. Guidelines recommend urgent upper endoscopy (within 24 h) for these impactions without complete esophageal obstruction and emergency endoscopy (within 6 h) for those with complete esophageal obstruction. Gastroscopy is regarded as the mainstay for the diagnosis and treatment of esophageal bezoars. Case summary A 59-year-old man was hospitalized due to nausea, vomiting and diarrhea for 2 d and sudden retrosternal pain and dysphagia for 10 h. He had a history of type 2 diabetes mellitus for 9 years. Computed tomography revealed dilated lower esophagus, thickening of the esophageal wall, a mass-like lesion with a flocculent high-density shadow and gas bubbles in the esophageal lumen. On gastroscopy, immovable brown bezoars were found in the lower esophagus, which led to esophageal obstruction. Endoscopic fragmentation was successful, and there were no complications. The symptoms of retrosternal pain and dysphagia disappeared after treatment. Mucosal superficial ulcers were observed in the lower esophagus. Multiple biopsy specimens from the lower esophagus revealed nonspecific findings. The patient remained asymptomatic, and follow-up gastroscopy 1 wk after endoscopic fragmentation showed no evidence of bezoars in the esophagus or the stomach. Conclusion Acute esophageal obstruction caused by bezoars reversed migration from the stomach is rare. Endoscopic fragmentation is safe, effective and minimally invasive and should be considered as the first-line therapeutic modality.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop an illuminated polymeric optical fibre (POF) garment – the LUMI jacket – with accessibility and wearability improvements. This paper demonstrates how wearable technology can be seamlessly integrated into daily life. Design/methodology/approach An interdisciplinary approach involving design and technological techniques was adopted. Both garment design approaches and textile technologies were used to optimise the performance of a POF jacket. A group of tactile sensors was developed to create an easy-to-access interactive function. A POF fabric sample and garment were washed and examined to prove that a POF garment could be made part of a domestic laundry routine. Findings As a result, an illuminated POF garment – the LUMI jacket with textile-based switches – was created. Compared with current POF garments, the LUMI jacket’s wearability and accessibility were highly improved. Originality/value This project explored an unobstructive POF-illuminated garment to address the functional and wearable barriers to adoption. The interaction between wearer and garment is accessible. Electronics and textile touch sensors were seamlessly integrated into garment. Washability of POF garment was proved. This research explores how e-textiles can fit into everyday life.

Gang Wang,1 Tian-Mei Si,2 Lingjiang Li3,4Yiru Fang,5 Chun-Xue Wang,6 Li-Na Wang,7 Kristin Hui Xian Tan,8 Anders Ettrup,9 Hanne-Lise Falgreen Eriksen,9 Si Luo,10 Lan Ge101Beijing An Ding Hospital, Capital Medical University, China National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 2Peking University Sixth Hospital & Peking University Institute of Mental Health, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China; 3Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Ministry of Health (Peking University) &National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China; 4The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, People’s Republic of China; 5Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 6Beijing Tian Tan Hospital, Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurology, Capital Medical University, National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Disease, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 7Tianjin Anding Hospital, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China; 8Lundbeck Singapore Pte Ltd, Singapore; 9H. Lundbeck A/S, Valby, Denmark; 10Lundbeck China, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaObjective: Cognitive symptoms in major depressive disorder (MDD) are common and may negatively impact clinical and functional outcomes. The Prospective Research Observation to Assess Cognition in Treated patients with MDD (PROACT) study aimed to assess the prevalence and course of cognitive symptoms, and their associations with clinical and functional outcomes during 6 months of antidepressant treatment, in a real-world setting among Chinese patients with MDD.Patients and methods: Outpatients (n=598) aged 18–65 years with MDD and a total score ≥17 on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale – 17 Items (HAM-D17) were observed over 6 months after initiating new antidepressant monotherapy, with follow-up visits at months 1, 2, and 6. Cognitive symptoms were assessed using the Perceived Deficits Questionnaire – Depression (PDQ-D) and cognitive performance using the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST).Results: At baseline, 76.9% of patients had indications of cognitive symptoms (PDQ-D total score ≥21); at month 6, this was reduced, but still present in 32.4%. Across the 6-month study period, patients improved across cognitive, clinical and functional assessments. High levels of cognitive symptoms (PDQ-D) consistently predicted worse clinical outcomes, ie, lower odds for remission and increased odds for relapse, as well as worse patient-reported functional outcomes and lower quality of life. In contrast, cognitive performance (DSST) predicted performance-based functioning but only a few patient-reported functional outcomes (absenteeism and quality of life), and no clinical outcomes. PDQ-D and DSST scores were uncorrelated at baseline.Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of assessing and targeting cognitive symptoms for increasing patients’ chances of recovery and restoring functioning in the treatment of MDD. The results further highlight the relevance of complementary assessment methods to fully capture aspects of cognitive symptoms in patients with depression.Keywords: MDD, antidepressants, cognitive performance, real-world evidence, PDQ-D, DSST

Polymeric optical fibres (POFs) can be integrated into a textile structure for illuminative fashion and interior fabric applications. In this study, the development of a touch-sensitive POF fabric ...

Background There is still a certain gap between the effective implementation and requirements of sepsis bundle. Our aim is to establish the clinical nursing pathway of the cluster treatment of septic shock in the Intensive Care Unit and promote effective implementation of the cluster treatment of septic shock. Methods By means of evidence-based method, quality control index requirements and on-site investigation, the implementation process of clinical nursing pathway of the cluster treatment within 6 h of diagnosis of septic shock was established. Results After the implementation of clinical nursing pathway, the completion rate of septic shock cluster treatment was 81.4% (66.4%) in 1 h, 89.4% (77.0%) in 3 h, 95.5% (82.3%) in 6 h (P Conclusions The clinical nursing pathway of septic shock cluster treatment is guided by evidence-based nursing, which emphasizes standardization and standardization of septic shock cluster treatment nursing under the guidance of the guideline, and can promote the effective implementation of septic shock cluster treatment, significantly improve efficiency of septic shock treatment and the quality of medical care.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of metronidazole and oral probiotics adjunct to metronidazole in the treatment of bacterial vaginosis (BV). One hundred and twenty-six Chinese women with BV were enrolled in this parallel, controlled trial, and were randomly assigned into two study arms: the metronidazole group, which was prescribed metronidazole vaginal suppositories for 7 days, and the adjunctive probiotic group, which received Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Limosilactobacillus reuteri RC-14 orally for 30 days as an adjunct to metronidazole. Clinical symptoms and Nugent scores at the initial visit, 30 days and 90 days were compared. There was no significant difference of the 30-day total cure rate between the adjunctive probiotic group (57.69%) and the metronidazole group (59.57%), with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.97 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.70 to 1.35, p-value = 0.04), or of the 90-day total cure rate (36.54% vs. 48.94%, OR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.47 to 1.19; p-value = 0.213). Also, no significant difference of the vaginal and faecal microbial diversity and structure between the two groups at 0, 30 or 90 days were shown based on 16S rRNA sequences. The probiotic species were rarely detected in either the vaginal microbiota or the faecal microbiota after administration which may revealed the cause of noneffective of oral probiotics. No serious adverse effects were reported in the trial. The study indicated that oral probiotic adjunctive treatment did not increase the cure rate of Chinese BV patients compared to metronidazole.

Background: Recently, the combination of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formulae and other drugs has been used frequently in clinical practice, while the possibility of herb-drug interaction (HDI) risk remains a challenge. Since metabolic enzymes mediate the majority of drug interactions, evaluating the effects of formulae on metabolic enzymes is therefore instructive for the rational formulation of drug delivery plans. Objective: Herein, we are devoted to estimating the effects of Zhenwu detection (ZWD) on activities and mRNA expression of 7 cytochrome P450 (CYP450) isoenzymes in chronic heart failure (CHF) rats. Methods: The CHF rats were replicated by coronary artery ligation and were randomly divided into sham operation group, model group, ZWD low- (2.188 g/kg), middle- (4.375 g/kg), and high- (8.750 g/kg) dose groups, n=6. After 8 weeks, rats were administrated with ZWD and normal saline (NS) for four weeks, and the mixed solution of 7 probe drugs (1 mL/kg) was subsequently injected into 30 rats through the caudal vein after the last administration. Pharmacokinetic parameters and mRNA expression of 7 probe drugs were measured by using UPLC-MS/MS and RT-qPCR, respectively. Results: Activities and mRNA expression of CYP1A2, CYP2B1, CYP2C6, CYP2C11, CYP3A1 were inhibited in CHF rats, and ZWD could reverse this effect except for CYP2B1. Conclusion: Overall, these findings underscore that for CHF patients, the HDI should be taken into consideration when ZWD is used on its own or combined with drugs meditated by CYP1A2 (CYP1A2 in rats), CYP2C9 (CYP2C6 in rats), CYP2C19 (CYP2C11 in rats) and CYP3A4 (CYP3A1 in rats). Furthermore, since the apparent volume of distribution (Vd) of amodiaquine, dextromethorphan and bupropion has been proved to be far greater than the total volume of body fluids, we speculate that the dose adjustment and potential organotoxicity of these substrates may need further consideration.

Melanoma, also known as malignant melanoma, is a type of cancer derived from the pigment-containing cells known as melanocytes. Cisplatin (CDDP) is widely used in the treatment of different types of tumors with high response rates, but it generally has low efficiency in melanoma. This study aimed to investigate whether metformin could sensitize the melanoma cell line A375 to cisplatin. Our results for the first time indicated that CDDP increased the miR-34a secretion by exosomes in melanoma A375 cells, which was, at least partially, related to the cisplatin resistance of melanoma cells. Moreover, metformin significantly sensitized A375 cells to cisplatin. Mechanistically, metformin significantly blocked the exosome-mediated miR-34a secretion induced by cisplatin. Our study not only reveals a novel mechanism that exosomal secretion of miR-34a is involved in the cisplatin resistance of melanoma cells but also provides a promising therapeutic strategy by synergistic addition of metformin.

Background Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is a severe health care concern, while anxiety and depression rates among ED patients have been reported to be substantially higher compared to the general population. We hypothesized that anxiety due to over crowdedness may lead to adverse events in EDs. Aim To investigate correlations between crowdedness in EDs and anxiety of patients and nurses, and to identify factors affecting their anxiety. Methods In this prospective observational study, a total 43 nurses and 389 emergency patients from two tier III hospitals located in Beijing were included from January 2016 to August 2017. Patients were grouped into inpatients when they were hospitalized after diagnoses, or into outpatients when they were discharged after treatments. The State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI Form Y) questionnaire was used to investigate patient and nurse anxieties, while crowdedness of EDs was evaluated with the National Emergency Department Over Crowding Score. Results The present results revealed that state anxiety scores (49.50 ± 6.00 vs 50.80 ± 2.80, P = 0.005) and trait anxiety scores (45.40 ± 5.70 vs 46.80 ± 2.70, P = 0.002) between inpatients (n = 173) and outpatients (n = 216) were significantly different, while the state anxiety of nurses (44.70 ± 5.80) was different from those of both patient groups. Generalized linear regression analysis demonstrated that multiple factors, including crowdedness in the ED, were associated with state and trait anxieties for both inpatients and outpatients. In addition, there was an interaction between state anxiety and trait anxieties. However, multivariable regression analysis showed that while overcrowding in the ED did not directly correlate with patients' and nurses' anxiety levels, the factors that did correlate with state and trait anxieties of inpatients were related to crowdedness. These factors included waiting time in the ED, the number of patients treated, and the number of nurses in the ED, whereas for nurses, only state and trait anxieties correlated significantly with each other. Conclusion Waiting time, the number of patients treated, and the number of nurses present in the ED correlate with patient anxiety in EDs, but crowdedness has no effect on nurse or patient anxiety.

The scientific analysis of food safety issues and the establishment of rapid and efficient food safety detection methods are of great significance for safeguarding the health of consumers, ensuring the healthy development of food safety systems and realizing food safety strategies. As an emerging electrochemical analysis technology, photoelectrochemical (PEC) biosensors, which combine the advantages of biological analysis and optical analysis, have attracted extensive attention. Due to the complete separation of the excitation source (light) and the detection signal (current), the background signal of PEC biosensors is greatly decreased, and their sensitivity is high. The detection principle is that under illumination, the biological recognition effect between the bio-specific recognition element and the corresponding target causes a change in the signal generated by the photoactive nanomaterial. This review aims to cover the most recent advances of PEC biosensing in the field of food analysis, including mycotoxins, heavy metals, antibiotics, and pesticide residues. The future prospects in this field are also discussed.

Objective: To investigate the current practice of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) for Chinese cardiac arrest patients after the publication of 2015 American Heart Association guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to healthcare providers of emergency departments (EDs) and/or Intensive Care Units (ICUs) across 52 hospitals in China from August to November 2016. Data collection ended in February 2017. The questionnaire included three parts: (1) characteristics of the departments and the respondents; (2) knowledge about ECPR; (3) practice of ECPR in cardiac arrest patients (case volume, inclusion/exclusion criteria, ECPR procedure). The characteristics of the departments/hospitals were only answered by the head of the department. Results: A total of 1 952 (86.8%) respondents fulfilled the survey. Only 2.5% of the respondents from 3 of 52 hospitals performed ECPR. Among the three hospitals, the case number of ECPR were ≤5 per year and none of them had written ECPR procedures. Only one hospital had formal inclusion/exclusion criteria. The inclusion criteria included age between 18 to 60 years, suspected cardiogenic cardiac arrest, beginning of cardiopulmonary resuscitation 10 min. The top three reasons for the nonuse of ECPR were unknown fields (31.2%), potential ECMO-related side effects (26.9%) and cost (18.7%). Conclusions: ECPR for cardiac arrest patients are not well understood by healthcare providers in the emergency department or ICUs and its application is still in the early stage in China. Educational training and other interventions are needed to promote the clinical practice.

Developing effective sensing method for trace analysis of ampicillin (AMP) is urgent and significant due to its residue possess serious threats to human health. Herein, a p-n heterojunction, on the basis of p-type BiFeO3 nanoparticles coupled n-typed ultrathin graphite-like carbon nitride (utg-C3N4) nanosheets, has been designed and synthesized via a simple electrostatic interaction strategy. Such p-n heterojunction has two advantages: one is capable to narrow the band gap of photoactive materials from 2.20 eV of BiFeO3 down to 2.04 eV of BiFeO3/utg-C3N4, leading to improve the efficiency of visible light utilization; and the other is to facilitate the charge separation rate, resulting in the boosted photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance of BiFeO3/utg-C3N4. Under visible light illumination, the photocurrent of the resulted BiFeO3/utg-C3N4 was 7.0-fold enhanced than that of pure BiFeO3 nanoparticles, and indeed 2.3-fold enhanced comparing to BiFeO3/bulk-C3N4. Based on excellent PEC properties of BiFeO3/utg-C3N4, an on-off-on PEC aptasensor was successfully fabricated for ampicillin (AMP) determination with highly selectivity and sensitivity. The fabricated PEC aptasensor exhibited excellent PEC performance with a broad linear in the range from 1 × 10–12 mol L–1 to 1 × 10−6 mol L–1 as well as a low detection limit of 3.3 × 10–13 mol L–1 (S/N = 3), and also good feasibility in real sample. The excellent analytical performance indicated that PEC aptasensor on the basis of the visible light driven BiFeO3/utg-C3N4 heterojunction can provide a promising biosensor platform for sensitive detection AMP in food and environment analysis.

In certain cases, major hepatectomy is essential and inevitable in patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma and obstructive jaundice (OJ). The current study was designed to evaluate effects of a novel method of portal blood occlusion, where the portal vein was occluded (OPV) and the hepatic artery flow was preserved in rats with OJ that underwent partial hepatectomy. OJ was induced in rats by ligation of the common bile duct for 7 days. Subsequently, OJ rats underwent hepatectomy removing 76% of the liver following occlusion of the portal triad (OPT), OPV or without portal blood occlusion. Liver blood flow (LBF), liver damage and regeneration were assessed. The safety limit for the duration of liver ischemia was 20 min for OPT and 40 min for OPV in rats with OJ. OPT and OPV methods resulted in significantly decreased microvascular LBF in rats with OJ from 529.53±91.55 laser speckle perfusion units (LSPU) in the control to 136.89±32.32 and 183.99±49.25 LSPU, respectively. Liver damage was assessed analyzing levels of serum alanine transaminase and direct bilirubin, determining interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α expression and histological examination. It was demonstrated that liver damage and caspase-3 and -9 expression in the liver were substantially reduced in the OPV group compared with the OPT group. In addition, the OPV method significantly improved liver regeneration in OJ rats, as indicated by increased rates of liver regeneration and expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen and Ki-67 compared with the OPT group. Therefore, the OPV method may prolong the duration of portal blood occlusion, reduce liver injury and improve liver regeneration by preserving hepatic arterial flow during portal blood control in rats with OJ undergoing partial hepatectomy. The current study describes a novel technique, which may be applied in liver surgery in patients with complex jaundice.

This paper presents a study of the applicability of the flexibility coefficient limit for vertical boundary elements (VBEs) in steel plate shear walls (SPSWs). One 1/3-scale, one-bay, and two-storey SPSW specimen was tested under quasi-static cyclic loading. The specimen had the flexibility coefficient and axial load ratio of the VBEs of 2.2 and 0.3, respectively. The results show that axial loads on the VBEs exacerbate the failure of SPSW structure. At the drift ratio of 0.9%, VBEs subjected to the axial load of 0.3fyAg exhibited considerable inward deformation equivalent to 1/400 of the column height. Besides, a finite element model (FEM) of SPSW structure was established and validated by test results. A parametrical study of SPSW specimens with various width-to-height ratios of infill steel plates and axial load ratios of VBEs was subsequently conducted by the FEM. The influence of VBEs with different axial loads on the structural performance of SPSWs was also discussed. Without considering the effect of axial load, the VBE flexibility coefficient limit of 2.5 is applicable for the SPSWs with the width-to-height ratio of 1.0 for the infill steel plate. However, with an increase of the width-to-height ratio of the infill steel plate, the development of the tension field tends to be inadequate, while the shear capacity and stress uniformity of the infill steel plate decrease. As a result, the flexibility coefficient limit of 2.1 is recommended for the design of VBEs in SPSW structures. Contrarily, considering the axial load effect, axial loads acting on the VBEs significantly decrease the shear capacity and stress uniformity of SPSWs with levels depending on the width-to-height ratio of infill steel plates and the flexibility coefficient of VBEs. To fully develop the tension field in infill steel plates for lateral resistance of SPSWs, axial load ratio, width-to-height ratio, and column flexibility coefficient should be taken into consideration in the design of SPSW structures.

With the development of cognitive information technology and continuous application, human society has also accelerated the development. Cognitive information is widely used in the field of oil and gas, where production forecasts are of great importance to firms and companies. In this article, the support vector machine and the least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM) and particle swarm optimization algorithm research, combined to accurately predict and make error estimates. In this article, the model is applied to verify the actual output data of certain enterprises in previous years. The results show that the model has good convergence, high prediction accuracy and training speed, and can predict its output more accurately. The method used in this article is of the development of cognitive information technology, the authors have reason to believe that with the continuous development of cognitive information technology, our society will have a breakthrough.

The efficient separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs in photoactive materials is highly desired, allowing their transfer to specific sites for undergoing redox reaction in various applications. The construction of ternary heterojunctions is a practical strategy to enhance the migration of photogenerated electron that realizes the synergistic effect of multicomponents rather than the simple overlay of single component. Here, we demonstrate an available way to fabricate new BiOCl/BiVO4/nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dot (N-GQD) ternary heterojunctions that exhibit higher efficiency in charge separation than any binary heterojunction or pure material under visible-light irradiation. UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy demonstrated that the proposed BiOCl/BiVO4/N-GQD ternary heterojunctions possess the narrower band gap energy. More importantly, the ternary heterojunctions reveal the prolonged lifetime of photogenerated charges and enhanced the separation efficiency of photogenerated electron–h...

A shaking table test of a 1:3 scale semi-rigid steel frame with buckling-restrained steel plate shear wall was conducted herein to study the seismic performance of this type of structure. The model was designed as ordinary steel plate shear walls, but with buckling-restrained. Its members consisted of non-simplified sections. The descriptions of the test specimen, instruments, set-up procedures were also presented. The dynamic characteristics, acceleration, displacement, and shear force were analysed. The maximum inter-storey drift angle in elastic-plastic was 1/68. The lateral stiffness drop was only 12% when completely loaded. The test model did not collapse under rare earthquakes. The results showed that the seismic behaviour was adequate for survival in large seismic excitations, and the design methods of the members and the semi-rigid connections were reasonable.

Smart Farming is a development that emphasizes the use of information and communication technology in the cyber-physical farm management cycle. New technologies such as the Internet of Things and Cloud Computing are expected to leverage this development and introduce more robots and artificial intelligence in farming. This is encompassed by the phenomenon of Big Data, massive volumes of data with a wide variety that can be captured, analysed and used for decision-making. This review aims to gain insight into the state-of-the-art of Big Data applications in Smart Farming and identify the related socio-economic challenges to be addressed. Following a structured approach, a conceptual framework for analysis was developed that can also be used for future studies on this topic. The review shows that the scope of Big Data applications in Smart Farming goes beyond primary production; it is influencing the entire food supply chain. Big data are being used to provide predictive insights in farming operations, drive real-time operational decisions, and redesign business processes for game-changing business models. Several authors therefore suggest that Big Data will cause major shifts in roles and power relations among different players in current food supply chain networks. The landscape of stakeholders exhibits an interesting game between powerful tech companies, venture capitalists and often small start-ups and new entrants. At the same time there are several public institutions that publish open data, under the condition that the privacy of persons must be guaranteed. The future of Smart Farming may unravel in a continuum of two extreme scenarios: 1) closed, proprietary systems in which the farmer is part of a highly integrated food supply chain or 2) open, collaborative systems in which the farmer and every other stakeholder in the chain network is flexible in choosing business partners as well for the technology as for the food production side. The further development of data and application infrastructures (platforms and standards) and their institutional embedment will play a crucial role in the battle between these scenarios. From a socio-economic perspective, the authors propose to give research priority to organizational issues concerning governance issues and suitable business models for data sharing in different supply chain scenarios.

Objective Portal hyperperfusion after extended hepatectomy or small-for-size liver transplantation may induce organ dysfunction and failure. This study was designed to monitor and characterize the hepatic microcirculatory perfusion following different volumes of hepatectomy in rats by using laser speckle contrast image (LSCI) and Oxygen to See (O2C), a spectrometric device. Methods The microcirculatory liver blood flow of the rats that underwent 68%, 85% and 90% hepatectomy (68PH, 85PH and 90PH) was monitored with LSCI and O2C before and following the hepatectomy. The portal venous flow (PVF) and hepatic arterial flow (HAF) were measured with an ultrasonic flowmeter. Liver regeneration, liver injury, histologic evaluation and gene expression were also assessed at 12 h, 24 h, 3 d and 7 d post hepatectomy. Results All the 68PH and 85PH rats survived, and 57% of the 90PH rats survived. After hepatectomy, both PVF and HAF decreased transiently, with the PVF of the 85PH and 90PH rats significantly lower than that of the 68PH rats. In contrast, the PVF and HAF per gram of liver weight were greatly increased after liver resection and were proportional to the volume of resected liver. Correspondingly, the microcirculatory liver blood flow of the 68PH, 85PH and 90PH rats, as assessed by both LSCI and O2C, were increased after hepatectomy, and the 90PH group was significantly higher than the 68PH and 85PH groups. The hyperperfusion continued for approximately 3 days and returned to baseline following the completion of liver regeneration. The liver venous oxygen saturation of the three groups decreased immediately after hepatectomy and returned to baseline from 24 h after hepatectomy. The 90PH rats also showed delayed liver regeneration and the most severe liver injury, as reflected by increased serum ALT, AST and TBIL levels, hepatocellular vacuolization, and inflammatory and endothelial constriction gene expressions (TNF-α, IL-1β, MIP-1α, ET-1 and TM-1). Conclusion Hepatic microcirculation hyperperfusion resulting from major and extended liver resection could be assessed by LSCI and O2C methods. The 90PH in rats led to extraordinary sinusoidal hyperperfusion, severe endothelial injury and liver failure. Monitoring the changes of hepatic microcirculation perfusion following extended hepatectomy or small-for-size liver transplantation may help to analyze the extent of hyperperfusion.

Cognitive information is widely used in the field of oil and gas, where production forecasts are of great importance to companies. In this chapter, combining support vector machine and improved particle swarm optimization algorithm, a gas field production prediction model is established, and the model is validated by the actual production data of an enterprise over the years. The results show that the model has good convergence, high prediction accuracy, and training speed and can predict its output more accurately. The method adopted in this chapter is the development of cognitive information technology. The authors have reason to believe that with the continuous development of cognitive information technology, it will have a far-reaching impact on social progress.

Catestatin (CTS), a catecholamine-release inhibitory peptide, exerts pleiotropic cardiac protective effects. Pulmonary embolism caused by deep vein thrombosis involving vascular dysfunction. The present study aims to investigate the effects of CTS on thrombus formation that may inhibit the development of pulmonary embolism and its potential pathway. Acute pulmonary embolism (APE) model was developed as an in vivo model. The effects of CTS on mice with APE were examined. Human pulmonary artery endothelial cells (HPAECs) were pretreated with CTS before thrombin stimulation, and endothelial inflammation and underlying mechanisms were evaluated in vitro. That plasma CTS level was decreased in APE mice, while the number of platelets was significantly increased. The decreased circulating CTS level negatively associated with the number of platelets. CTS administration increased the survival rate of APE mice and protected against microvascular thrombosis in lung. APE-induced the increase in platelets number and plasma von Willebrand factor (VWF) were inhibited by CTS. Platelets from CTS-treated APE mice showed impaired agonist-induced platelets aggregation and spreading. CTS also ameliorated APE-induced the systemic inflammatory response. In in vivo study, thrombin-induced the increase in inflammation, TLR-4 expression and p38 phosphorylation were abrogated by CTS in HPAECs. Furthermore, TLR-4 overexpression inhibited the effect of CTS on VWF release and inflammation in HPAECs. Collectively, CTS increases thrombus resolution by attenuating endothelial inflammation at partially via inhibiting TLR-4-p38 pathway. The present study may provide a novel approach for anti-thrombosis.

The need to feed an increasing world population and to respond to the effects of climate change creates unprecedented challenges for bio-based production systems. Many of these systems have been designed to maximize productivity and efficiency under standard conditions, increasing their vulnerability to changes in their surrounding natural, technological and social systems. Reviewing the recent literature and reflecting on current research, we find that dominant attempts to increase production focus on maximizing control, while insufficient attention has been paid to system resilience, adaptability and transformability. These three core aspects of resilience thinking aim to reduce system vulnerability. We therefore argue for stronger adoption of resilience thinking into research on bio-based production systems. We show how applying resilience thinking helps to address both the production and the vulnerability challenges through interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-fertilization.

BACKGROUND Limited progress has been made in improving therapeutic outcomes for glioblastoma (GBM) patients. Enzastaurin (enza) is an oral PKC-β inhibitor that suppresses signaling through the PKC and PI3K/AKT pathways. Although enza did not significantly improve survival in a prior Phase 1/2 study, we have identified a novel genomic biomarker, DGM1, that may predict a response to enza in GBM. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE To assess whether enza added to temozolomide and radiation therapy (RT) improves overall survival (OS) in newly diagnosed GBM patients who possess the DGM1 biomarker. POPULATION Adults with newly diagnosed GBM regardless of DGM1 status who have undergone surgical resection and are candidates for chemoradiation. Approximately 318 patients will be enrolled. DGM1 status will be determined prior to analysis. DESIGN This is a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study. Patients will be stratified by MGMT and IDH1 status and by geographic region. Treatment will be divided into 3 phases. In the Concurrent Phase (6 weeks), patients will receive RT plus temozolomide and either enzastaurin or placebo. Patients will then enter the Single-Agent Phase and receive either enza or placebo (21-35 days). Then, patients will enter the Adjuvant Phase and receive temozolomide with either enza or placebo (6-12 cycles) followed by enza or placebo alone (to 24 cycles total). ANALYSIS The primary efficacy endpoint of OS will be analyzed using stratified log-rank test for all DGM1-positive randomized patients. The study has approximately 90% power to detect a HR of 0.63 assuming 196 OS events based on a 2.5% one-sided false positive error rate. Statistical significance would be achieved with an estimated observed HR < 0.76. Safety evaluation will include all patients receiving at least one dose of enza or placebo. If OS in DGM1-positive patients is statistically significant, OS in the overall population will be assessed.

The farms included in the Dutch FADN (Farm Accountancy Data Network) are a sample of agricultural and horticultural companies from the Agricultural Census. The FADN is a European instrument for evaluating the income of agricultural holdings and the impacts of the Common Agricultural Policy. This report explains the background of the sample and the developments concerning the population and sample of 2016. All phases – from the determination of the selection plan, the recruitment of farms to the quality control of the final sample – are described in this report. De bedrijven die zijn opgenomen in het Nederlandse FADN (Farm Accountancy Data Network) vormen een steekproef van land- en tuinbouwbedrijven uit de Landbouwtelling. Het Europese FADN is een instrument om het agrarische inkomen en de invloed van het Europese landbouwbeleid te evalueren. Dit rapport beschrijft de achtergronden van de steekproef en de ontwikkelingen aangaande de populatie en de steekproef in 2016. Alle stappen van het bepalen van het selectieplan, het werven van bedrijven en de kwaliteit van de steekproef worden beschreven.

Textile materials, which have been widely used in apparel, interior design, health care, automobile, and infrastructure, play a fundamental role and exhibit a close relationship to human’s daily life. For the past few decades, smart textile materials with new performance, functionality, and design values have been developed through the integration of advanced technologies [1]. This study aims to review and examine current approaches to realize photonic textiles, including LED-embedded, photoluminescent, and polymeric optical fiber (POF) textiles. This work also reviews examples of woven interactive textiles and discusses how weave parameters can affect POF textiles. POF textiles, which exhibit the advantage of directly incorporating functional fibers during the fabrication process, have the potential to serve as a flexible textile display. In addition, this material provides high design values due to its dynamic visual appearance. One of the fabrication methods used to produce POF textiles is the weaving technique. The properties of smart textiles, including hand feel, elasticity, flexibility, and drapability, can be considerably changed through the interplay among weaving variables, such as fiber content, patterns, weave structures, fabric construction, and finishing techniques. Complex woven structures can be designed to simplify the production process; novel yarns can be used to provide variety to textile appearance and tactility. However, few studies have been conducted on the fabrication process of smart textiles through weaving. Tan and Bai developed prototypes of interactive cushions using POF textiles integrated with touch sensors [2, 3]. The design process of these prototypes focuses on the integration of electronic components and interactivity instead of on the textile fabrication method. A literature review indicates that research on the weaving structures of POF textiles is lacking. The use of weaving techniques to create innovations for smart textiles to enhance their appearance, performance, and functionality demonstrates potential.

Purpose We intended to evaluate expression and mechanisms of human microRNA 1270 (hsa-miR-1270) in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Methods In PTC cell lines and human PTC tumors, hsa-miR-1270 expressions were evaluated by qRT-PCR. Hsa-miR-1270 was downregulated in TPC1 and K1 cells via lentiviral transduction. Its effects on PTC cancer cell proliferation, migration and in vivo transplantation were assessed, respectively. Potential targeting of hsa-miR-1270 on downstream gene, Suppressor Of Cancer Cell Invasion (SCAI), was assessed. In hsa-miR-1270-downregulated PTC cells, SCAI was further downregulated to examine its associating role in hsa-miR-1270-mediated regulation on cancer cell proliferation and migration. Results Hsa-miR-1270 was aberrantly upregulated in PTC cell lines and human PTC tumors. In TPC1 and K1 cells, lentivirus-mediated hsa-miR-1270 downregulation suppressed cancer cell proliferation, migration and in vivo transplantation. Hsa-miR-1270 binds SCAI and inversely regulated SCAI gene expression in PTC cells. SCAI downregulation removed the suppressing effects of hsa-miR-1270 downregulation in human PTC cells. Conclusion Hsa-miR-1270 downregulation may suppress human PTC cell development both in vitro and in vivo. The regulatory mechanism of hsa-miR-1270 in PTC may be primarily associated with SCAI.

Given the increased attention to risk management in the European Union’s (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), it is important to monitor and evaluate the rates of adoption by farmers and their determinants over time. Current European Agricultural statistics (Farm Accountancy Data Network) capture few indicators that assess such strategies, but complementing data collected during the EU Framework 7 project FLINT have allowed the adoption of risk management strategies and the determinants of farmers’ preference for complementary or substitute instruments to be assessed. Adoption rates of risk management instruments such as insurance contracts, price contracts, off-farm income, other types risk of reduction measures and other gainful activities vary signifi cantly across EU Member States and farming types. Econometric analysis indicates that larger farms more often adopt crop insurance, occupational accident insurance, price contracts and diversifi cation but are less likely to adopt credit avoidance and off-farm employment (at a signifi cance level of 1 per cent). For policy analyses these indicators are a step forward for the determination of the net impacts and establishment of counterfactuals in the long term (i.e. time series encompassing also adverse years) for measuring the impact of the CAP at farm level.

Massive hepatectomy often leads to fatal liver failure because of a small remnant liver volume. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential mechanisms leading to liver failure. Sprague–Dawley rats had performed a sham operation, 85 % partial hepatectomy (PH) or 90 % PH, and all had free access to water with or without supplemented glucose. Liver function and survival were evaluated. Liver parenchymal injury was assessed by evaluating hepatic pathology, blood biochemistry, and apoptotic and necrotic alterations. The regeneration response was assessed by the weight gain of the remnant liver, hepatocyte proliferation markers, and regeneration-related molecules. The 90 % hepatectomy resulted in a significantly lower survival rate and impaired liver function; however, no significant more serious liver parenchymal injuries were detected. TNF-α, HGF, myc and IL-6 were either similarly expressed or overexpressed; however, the increase in remnant liver weight, mitotic index, and the presence of Ki-67 and PCNA were significantly lower in the 90 %-hepatectomized rats. mTOR, p70S6K and 4EBP1 were not activated in the remnant liver after a 90 % hepatectomy as obviously as those after an 85 % hepatectomy, which was concomitant with the higher expression of phospho-AMPK and a lower intrahepatic ATP level. Glucose treatment significantly improved the survival rate of 90 %-hepatectomized rats. Suppression of remnant liver regeneration was observed in the 90 % PH and contributed to fatal liver failure. This suppressed liver regenerative capacity was related to the inhibited activation of mTOR signaling.

Emerging evidence suggests a potential role of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in linking sterile inflammation and thrombosis. We hypothesized that NETs would be induced during myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R), and NET-mediated microthrombosis may contribute to myocardial “no-reflow”. Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into I/R control, DNase (DNase I, 20 μg/rat), recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA, 420 μg/rat), DNase + rt-PA, and sham control groups after 45-min myocardial ischemia. In situ NET formation, the anatomic “no re-flow” area, and infarct size were evaluated immediately after 3 h of reperfusion. Long-term left ventricular (LV) functional and histological analyses were performed 45 days after operation. Compared with the I/R controls, the DNase + rt-PA group exhibited reduced NET density [8.38 ± 1.98 vs. 26.86 ± 3.07 (per 200 × field), P < 0.001] and “no-flow” area (15.22 ± 0.06 vs. 34.6 ± 0.05%, P < 0.05) in the ischemic region, as well as reduced infarct size (38.39 ± 0.05 vs. 71.00 ± 0.03%, P < 0.001). Additionally, compared with the I/R controls, DNase + rt-PA treatment significantly ameliorated I/R injury-induced LV remodeling (LV ejection fraction: 64.22 ± 3.37 vs. 33.81 ± 2.98%, P < 0.05; LV maximal slope of the LV systolic pressure increment: 3,785 ± 216 vs. 2,596 ± 299 mmHg/s, P < 0.05). The beneficial effect was not observed in rats treated with DNase I or rt-PA alone. Our study provides evidence for the existence of NETs in I/R-challenged myocardium and confirms the long-term benefit of a novel DNase-based reperfusion strategy (DNase I + rt-PA), which might be a promising option for the treatment of myocardial I/R injury and coronary no-reflow.

Keratinocyte migration is essential for reepithelialization during skin wound healing, but the molecular mechanisms regulating this cellular response remain to be completely deciphered. Here we show that keratinocyte-specific mir-205 is significantly downregulated in the leading edge of migrating epithelial tongue after skin injury in mice. And miR-205 knockdown could promote keratinocyte migration in both HaCaT keratinocytes wound scratch model in vitro and mouse skin wound model in vivo. Moreover, we identified integrin alpha 5 (ITGA5) as one key functional miR-205 target in the reepithelialization process, and epidermal downregulation of miR-205 may desilence ITGA5 to promote keratinocyte migration. What’s more, we found dysregulation of miR-205 and its target ITGA5 in the epidermis of clinical chronic wound samples with persistence of high-level miR-205 and absence of ITGA5. Our findings indicate that downregulation of miR-205 in the leading migrating keratinocytes is critical for reepithelialization and miR-205 may be a potential therapeutic target for chronic wounds.

A survey was performed to assess the current management of targeted temperature management (TTM) in patients following cardiac arrest (CA) and whether healthcare providers will change target temperature after publication of 2015 American Heart Association guidelines for resuscitation in China. 52 hospitals were selected from whole of China between August to November 2016. All healthcare providers in EMs and/or ICUs of selected hospitals participated in the study. 1952 respondents fulfilled the survey (86.8%). TTM in CA patients was declared by 14.5% of physicians and 6.7% of the nurses. Only 4 of 64 departments, 7.8% of physicians and 5.7% of the nurses had implemented TH for CA patients. Since the publication of 2015 AHA guidelines, 33.6% of respondents declared no modification of target temperature, whereas 51.5% declared a target temperature’s change in future practice. Respondents were more likely to choose 35∼36 °C-TTM (54.7%) after guidelines publication, as compared to that before guidelines publication they preferred 32∼34 °C-TTM (54.0%). TTM for CA patients was still in the early stage in China. Publication of 2015 resuscitation guidelines did have impact on choice of target temperature among healthcare providers. They preferred 35∼36 °C-TTM after guidelines publication.

Background The cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for the age-associated delay of cutaneous wound healing are still not well understood. Previous studies have shown that miR-21 plays key roles during skin wound healing. We presumed that dysregulation of miR-21 may be involved in age-associated defects in wound healing and that miR-21 may be one potential therapeutic target by which to ameliorate wound defects in elderly subjects. Methods Circular full thickness excisional wounds were made on the dorsal skin of young (2-month-old) and aged (12-month-old) female mice. The wound healing rates were quantified and compared between wild-type and miR-21 knock-in mice. Both histologic and morphometric analyses of the wounds were evaluated. Furthermore, the expression patterns of miR-21 during wound healing in both young and aged mice were assessed by in situ hybridization. The effects of topical miR-21 overexpression on wound healing in aged mice were estimated by both wound closure quantification and histological analyses. Results Aged miR-21 knock-in female mice showed significantly improved wound healing compared to their wild-type counterparts with respect to mature granulation tissue, smaller wound width and thinner epidermis. The expression patterns of miR-21 showed that miR-21 levels were insufficient for repairing granulation tissue in aged mice. Intradermal injection of miR-21 plasmid around wounds could upregulate miR-21 levels during wound healing and ameliorate age-associated skin wound defects. Conclusions The results of the present study reveal that the upregulation of miR-21 levels could improve wound repair in aged mice, which suggests that a therapeutic strategy targeting miR-21 expression in age-associated wound healing may be feasible.

The oil and gas production forecasting is instructive for oilfield development and operation. Based on the combination of particle swarm optimization (PSO) and least squares support vector machine (LSSVM), this paper analyzes the factors influencing the oil and gas production by adopting the historical data of oil and gas data in a company. In this paper, the oil and gas production forecasting is instructive for oilfield development and operation. The oil and gas production forecasting model was established and model validation was carried out. The experimental results show that the model of least squares support vector machine based on particle swarm optimization has good convergence, high prediction accuracy and training speed.

Monocyte subsets and monocyte-platelet aggregates (MPAs) play important role in atherosclerosis and thrombosis. We aimed to determine their changes in patients with unstable angina (UA). In this cross-sectional case-control study, Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) score was determined in 95 UA patients without elevated troponin level. Thirty age-and-sex matched stable coronary heart disease (CHD) subjects served as control group. The classical (CD14++CD16-, Mon1), the intermediate (CD14++CD16+, Mon2) and the non-classical (CD14+CD16++, Mon3) monocytes, as well as subset-specific MPAs, were measured by flow cytometry. Compared with stable CHD patients, UA patients had increased Mon2 and Mon3 counts (all P0.001). For UA subjects, compared with GRACE score-determined low risk patients (GRACE score ≤108, n = 70), intermediate-to-high risk patients (GRACE score108, n = 25) had higher counts of Mon2 and total MPAs, as well as Mon1- and Mon2-associated MPAs (all P0.001). Adjusted binary logistic regression analysis revealed that increased counts of Mon2 subset (for per 5 cells/μL increase, OR 1.186, 95% CI 1.044-1.347, P = 0.009), Mon2 MPAs (for per 5 cells/μL increase, OR 1.228, 95% CI 1.062-1.421, P = 0.006) and total MPAs (for per 5 cells/μL increase, OR 1.072, 95 % CI 1.010-1.137, P = 0.022) independently associated with GRACE score-determined intermediate-to-high risk UA patients. In UA patients with intermediate-to-high risk (determined by GRACE score), counts of Mon2 subset, Mon2-associated MPAs and total MPAs are increased, which are independent of traditional risk factors.

The electrothermal characteristics and degradation mechanism of 4H-SiC JBS under high temperature power cycling (HTPC) stress were investigated based on thermal structure function, failure analysis and electrothermal simulation. Results show that, the HTPC stress at different temperature conditions (maximum junction temperature Tjmax = 150 °C and Tjmax = 200 °C) have different effects on the reverse breakdown voltage (Vbr), reverse leakage current and the on-resistance (Ron-sp). It was that the increased reverse leakage currents with HTPC stress are due to the Schottky barrier lowering at the beginning. However, as the heat concentration effect increased at the metal/4H-SiC interface, the contribution of tunneling to leakage current is the major components. So the heat flux path and thermal distribution are very crucial to the reliability of chip and package. It can be concluded that the degradations of die-attach, die surface and metal/SiC interface are the main reliability limiting factors of SiC JBS diodes under high temperature applications.

This study consists of a desk study on business models related to Ag data platforms and stakeholder consultation through interviews and stakeholder workshops (information on the interviews can be found in the Section References). An Ag data platform is interpreted as an IT-based interorganisational arrangement dealing with the collection, storage, exchange and use of Ag data. The scope of the desk study is limited to Ag data platforms with publicly available information on their key features. 8 | Wageningen Economic Research Report 2017-014 The objective of this study is to examine main types of business models that are used for developing Ag data platforms in agrifood chains and identify viable options that can be used for future development of the compliance platform envisaged by FarmDigital. More specifically, the research intends to provide answers to the following questions: What types of business models are being used for Ag data platforms? What features characterise the current landscape of Ag data platforms? What are the analogs and antilogs of the compliance platform envisaged by FarmDigital? What are the challenges and enabling options for future development of a compliance platform?

This report documents experiences and findings from the public private partnership (PPP) project ‘Blockchain for Agrifood’ that was started in March 2017. The project aims to contribute to a better understanding of the blockchain technology (BCT) and its implications for agrifood, especially how it can impact specific aspects of supply chains and what is needed to apply BCT in agrifood chains. A second aim of this project is to conceptualise and develop a proof of concept in an application based on a use case concerning table grapes from South Africa where BCT could be applied. This has been done by building a demonstrator that keeps track of different certificates involved in the table grapes supply chain. The code of this demonstrator is published at Github. Furthermore, the project explored issues regarding the relevance, applicability and implications of BCT for the agrifood sector through literature study and stakeholder consultation.

Summary Zoonotic infectious livestock diseases are becoming a significant burden for both animal and human health and are rapidly gaining the attention of decisionmakers who manage public health programmes. If control decisions have only monetary components, governments are generally regarded as being risk-neutral and the intervention strategy with the highest expected benefit (lowest expected net costs) should be preferred. However, preferences will differ and alternative intervention plans will prevail if (human) life and death outcomes are involved. A rational decision framework must therefore consider risk aversion in the decisionmaker and controversial values related to public health. In the present study, risk aversion and its impact on both the utility for the monetary component and the utility for the non-monetary component is shown to be an important element when dealing with emerging zoonotic infectious livestock diseases and should not be ignored in the understanding and support of decision-making. The decision framework was applied to several control strategies for the reduction of human cases of brucellosis (Brucella melitensis) originating from sheep in Turkey.

Myocardial perfusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with sliding-window conjugate-gradient highly constrained back-projection reconstruction (SW-CG-HYPR) allows whole left ventricular coverage, improved temporal and spatial resolution and signal/noise ratio, and reduced cardiac motion-related image artifacts. The accuracy of this technique for detecting coronary artery disease (CAD) has not been determined in a large number of patients. We prospectively evaluated the diagnostic performance of myocardial perfusion MRI with SW-CG-HYPR in patients with suspected CAD. A total of 50 consecutive patients who were scheduled for coronary angiography with suspected CAD underwent myocardial perfusion MRI with SW-CG-HYPR at 3.0 T. The perfusion defects were interpreted qualitatively by 2 blinded observers and were correlated with x-ray angiographic stenoses ≥50%. The prevalence of CAD was 56%. In the per-patient analysis, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of SW-CG-HYPR was 96% (95% confidence interval 82% to 100%), 82% (95% confidence interval 60% to 95%), 87% (95% confidence interval 70% to 96%), 95% (95% confidence interval 74% to100%), and 90% (95% confidence interval 82% to 98%), respectively. In the per-vessel analysis, the corresponding values were 98% (95% confidence interval 91% to 100%), 89% (95% confidence interval 80% to 94%), 86% (95% confidence interval 76% to 93%), 99% (95% confidence interval 93% to 100%), and 93% (95% confidence interval 89% to 97%), respectively. In conclusion, myocardial perfusion MRI using SW-CG-HYPR allows whole left ventricular coverage and high resolution and has high diagnostic accuracy in patients with suspected CAD.

Most domestic automobile factories use test method to design rubber engine-mount, which wasting of time and energy. The design optimization of engine-mount is studied by virtue of ANSYS. In order to satisfying three directions stiffness requires of engine mount, the optimization math model has been established, mount material and geometry parameters have finally been calculated by selecting appropriate arithmetic.

The Shuttle AS/RS System, which is one kind of crowded, highly effective, quick, safe warehouse memory system, has realized brand-new pattern of crowded memory for the warehouse. This warehouse system includes the steel structure tray shelf, the coordinate hay stacker and the shuttle trolley. The hay stacker transports the goods to the entrance and lays them on the shuttle, the shuttle trolley transports the pallet together with goods to region of shelf memory. This article mainly introduces the Shuttle AS/RS, which includes its structural style and the application characteristic.

The Pro/Toolkit secondary development tools and Visual C++ programming language are used in the second development of the Pro/E, which can realize the parametric design of machine tool’s parts. Input the parameters, the system will automatically generate 3D models. This system can reduce the time of machine tool design and development, and improve the design efficiency. The information management module system can realize the management of machine tool important design parameters, which greatly lightened designers’ workload. This paper develops the parameterization design of supporting stand for the example, and introduces this development mentality and its key technologies in detail.

The navigator gating and slice tracking approach currently used for respiratory motion compensation during free-breathing coronary magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) has low imaging efficiency (typically 30-50%), resulting in long imaging times. In this work, a novel respiratory motion correction technique with 100% scan efficiency was developed for free-breathing whole-heart coronary MRA. The navigator signal was used as a reference respiratory signal to segment the data into six bins. 3D projection reconstruction k-space sampling was used for data acquisition and enabled reconstruction of low resolution images within each respiratory bin. The motion between bins was estimated by image registration with a 3D affine transform. The data from the different respiratory bins was retrospectively combined after motion correction to produce the final image. The proposed method was compared with a traditional navigator gating approach in nine healthy subjects. The proposed technique acquired whole-heart coronary MRA with 1.0 mm(3) isotropic spatial resolution in a scan time of 6.8 ± 0.9 min, compared with 16.2 ± 2.8 min for the navigator gating approach. The image quality scores, and length, diameter and sharpness of the right coronary artery (RCA), left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD), and left circumflex coronary artery (LCX) were similar for both approaches (P > 0.05 for all), but the proposed technique reduced scan time by a factor of 2.5.

SummaryHistoplasmosis is a deep mycosis caused by Histoplasma capsulatum, which is endemic in many areas of the world but is relatively rare in China. Although the majority of cases present as a mild to moderate flu-like disease requiring only supportive therapy, approximately 1% of patients experience more serious pulmonary and extrapulmonary disease, which can be life-threatening if diagnosis is delayed or the treatment is not initiated rapidly. Definitive diagnosis is usually made by a combination of culture, detection of the organism in tissues, measurement of antibodies, and detection of antigen. We present the case of a 51-year-old patient who presented with histoplasmosis only, with several ulcerated lesions in the oral cavity and without HIV infection, who did not show any detectable signs and symptoms of systemic disease or extra-oral manifestations. Histopathological analysis indicated a chronic inflammatory process with granulomas with yeast-like organisms. Isolation of H. capsulatum and molecular identification provided the definitive diagnosis. Treatment with oral itraconazole led to remission of the oral lesions. This is the first Chinese case report of localized histoplasmosis with lesions restricted to the mouth in an HIV-negative patient.

First-pass perfusion MRI is a promising technique for detecting ischemic heart disease. However, the diagnostic value of the method is limited by the low spatial coverage, resolution, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and cardiac motion-related image artifacts. In this study we investigated the feasibility of using a method that combines sliding window and CG-HYPR methods (SW-CG-HYPR) to reduce the acquisition window for each slice while maintaining the temporal resolution of one frame per heartbeat in myocardial perfusion MRI. This method allows an increased number of slices, reduced motion artifacts, and preserves the relatively high SNR and spatial resolution of the "composite images." Results from eight volunteers demonstrate the feasibility of SW-CG-HYPR for accelerated myocardial perfusion imaging with accurate signal intensity changes of left ventricle blood pool and myocardium. Using this method the acquisition time per cardiac cycle was reduced by a factor of 4 and the number of slices was increased from 3 to 8 as compared to the conventional technique. The SNR of the myocardium at peak enhancement with SW-CG-HYPR (13.83 +/- 2.60) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the conventional turbo-FLASH protocol (8.40 +/- 1.62). Also, the spatial resolution of the myocardial perfection images was significantly improved. SW-CG-HYPR is a promising technique for myocardial perfusion MRI.

Innovation and adoption of innovation are considered key indicators of competitiveness and sustainability. Analysing data from 821 farms from eight Member States of the European Union in the frame of the EU Framework 7 project FLINT, this study provides an insight into the different adoption rates of fi ve types of innovation in agriculture across Europe and suggests the potential effects of different factors, including farm type and farm size, subsidies and age, on farmers’ decision to innovate.