Search

Boron (B), with high energy density and low cost, is regarded as a promising fuel for energetic applications such as propellants. However, achieving efficient combustion of B is challenging due to its delayed ignition and slow combustion. Additives are needed to promote the ignition and combustion of B particles by providing heat, gases, and/or fluorine-containing species. In this study, we demonstrated that a mixture of graphene oxide (GO) and graphite fluoride (GtF) is a new and effective additive for B particles. We compared the energetic performance of B/GO/GtF mixtures with B/GO, B/GtF, and B/PTFE in a laser ignition experiment. B/GO/GtF has the shortest ignition delay time, longest burning duration, and strongest BO2 emission among all four samples. This enhancement is caused by the synergistic properties of GO and GtF, which releases heat, gases, and fluorocarbon radicals to facilitate B ignition and combustion. Our study suggests that the mixture of functionalized graphene and graphite materials can be a new class of promising additive for metal combustion and other energetic materials.

Copyright of Computer Engineering & Science / Jisuanji Gongcheng yu Kexue is the property of Computer Engineering & Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Inhalational anesthetic preconditioning can induce neuroprotective effects, and the notch signaling pathway plays an important role in neural progenitor cell differentiation and the inflammatory response after central nervous system injury. This study evaluated whether the neuroprotective effect of isoflurane preconditioning is mediated by the activation of the notch signaling pathway. Mice were divided into two groups consisting of those that did or did not receive preconditioning with isoflurane. The expression levels of notch-1, notch intracellular domain (NICD), and hairy and enhancer of split (HES-1) were measured in mice subjected to transient global cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. The notch signaling inhibitor DAPT and conditional notch-RBP-J knockout mice were used to investigate the mechanisms of isoflurane preconditioning-induced neuroprotection. Immunohistochemical staining, real-time polymerase chain reaction assays, and Western blotting were performed. Isoflurane preconditioning induced neuroprotection against global cerebral ischemia. Preconditioning up-regulated the expression of notch-1, HES-1, and NICD after ischemic-reperfusion. However, these molecules were down-regulated at 72 h after ischemic-reperfusion. The inhibition of notch signaling activity by DAPT significantly attenuated the isoflurane preconditioning-induced neuroprotection, and similar results were obtained using notch knockout mice. Our results demonstrate that the neuroprotective effects of isoflurane preconditioning are mediated by the pre-activation of the notch signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multimotors traction is a common driving mode for electric locomotives. The complexity and variability of the operating environment often cause difficulties for one or some traction motors to output the distributed traction torque, which requires the redistribution of the torque output of multimotors to maintain the total traction torque of all motors at a given constant. To this end, a multimotors coordination control method was proposed for consistent total traction torque of electric locomotives. Through this approach, a traction torque-coordinated control structure was constructed on the basis of energy minimisation with an optimal dynamic adjustment mode. The sliding mode tracking control was developed for each independent motor to improve its dynamic response performance. A simulation verification of motors fault types in two different cases was conducted. The results showed that the proposed method could track the total traction torque in a short time, and the system fluctuations in independent motor coordination process were very small.

Double-sided permanent magnet linear synchronous machine with 120° phase belt toroidal windings (120°-TWDSPMLSM) suffers from large detent force due to the end effect and slot effect. Many existing methods can reduce the detent force of the 120°-TWDSPMLSM effectively. But they also minimize the back electromotive force (back-EMF) and thrust simultaneously. To alleviate this problem, this paper adopts a method of combining slot-shift structure with rearranging the 120° phase belt toroidal windings (120°-TW) to suppress the detent force and improve the back-EMF and thrust of the 120°-TWDSPMLSM simultaneously. First, the slots on the two sides of the primary part are stagger by an optimal distance to reduce the detent force. The models of the detent force, including the end force and cogging force, is established theoretically, and then verified by finite-element analysis (FA). Then, the 120°-TW are rearranged to improve the back-EMF and average thrust. And the electromagnetic characteristics of the 120°-TWDSPMLSM under different shifted distances are analyzed and compared in detail. Finally, the result shows that the detent force of optimized machine is 70.19% lower than that of the original machine, and the thrust fluctuation reduces 19.21%. Besides, the back-EMF of optimized machine is 6.84% lower than that of the original machine, but 31.86 higher than the machine with shifting slots and without rearranging the 120°-TW. Therefore, the optimal method in this paper is available in the detent force reduction and thrust improvement of the 120°-DSPMLSM.

Eosinophils are important mediators of allergic responses, but how they are recruited to the inflamed site is still unclear. Here the authors show that CD103+ cDC1 cells secrete CCL17 and CCL22 for eosinophil recruitment, with this process promoted by CD24−CD11b+ DC2s in the early phase but suppressed by CD24+ cDC2s in the late phase.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the most important types of diabetic microangiopathy, which is a specific change of fundus lesions and is one of the most serious complications of diabetes. When DR develops to proliferative DR, the main factors of decreasing vision, and even blindness, include retinal detachment and vitreous hemorrhage caused by contraction of blood vessels by fiber membrane. Recent studies reported that the formation of fiber vascular membrane is closely related to retinal fibrosis. The connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is a cytokine that is closely related to DR fibrosis. However, its mechanism is poorly understood. This paper summarizes the recent studies about CTGF on DR fibrosis for a comprehensive understanding of the role and mechanism of CTGF in PDR.

Abstract In recent studies, electronegative multimodal chromatography with Eshmuno HCX was demonstrated to be a highly promising recovery step for direct immunoglobulin G (IgG) capture from undiluted cell culture fluid. In this study, the binding properties of HCX to IgG at different pH/salt combinations were systematically studied, and its purification performance was significantly enhanced by lowering the washing pH and conductivity after high capacity binding of IgG under its optimal conditions. A single polishing step gave an end-product with non-histone host cell protein (nh-HCP) below 1 ppm, DNA less than 1 ppb, which aggregates less than 0.5% and an overall IgG recovery of 86.2%. The whole non-affinity chromatography based two-column-step process supports direct feed loading without buffer adjustment, thus extraordinarily boosting the overall productivity and cost-savings.

Telenomus remus (Nixon) is a dominant egg parasitoid of the destructive agricultural pest Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), and so is used in augmentative biocontrol programs in several countries. An optimized mass-rearing system is essential to produce biological control products in a timely and cost-effective manner. In this study, the photoperiod, host egg:parasitoid ratio, and exposure time were evaluated to identify the optimal rearing conditions for T. remus on the alternative host Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) eggs. Results showed that increasing photoperiod above 12L:12D remarkably improved parasitoid progeny yield and life table parameters. Overlong photoperiods shortened female longevity, but within acceptable limits. There was a significant negative correlation between parasitism rate and host egg:parasitoid ratio under exposure times of 12 and 36 h, but not 24 h. Percentage of female progeny increased significantly along with increasing the host egg:parasitoid ratio. A significant negative relationship between the number of emerged adults per egg and the host egg:parasitoid ratio was observed at an exposure time of 36 h. It was concluded that T. remus may be mass-reared most efficiently on S. litura eggs using a photoperiod of more than 12L:12D, a 14–20:1 host egg:parasitoid ratio, and an exposure time of 24 h. These findings can be used to produce T. remus more efficiently and at lower costs.

Based on the principle of energy variation, a calculation model for the free vibration characteristics of a cylindrical shell with a finite submerged depth considering the influence of the free liquid surface is established in this paper. First, the Euler beam function is used instead of the shell axial displacement function to obtain the shell kinetic energy and potential energy. Then, by using the mirror image method, the analytical expression of the fluid velocity potential considering the free surface is obtained, and the flow field is added to the system energy functional in the form of fluid work. Then the energy functional is changed to obtain the shell–liquid coupled vibration equation. Solving the equation can obtain the natural frequencies and modes of the structure. The comparison with the finite element calculation results verifies the accuracy of the calculation model in this paper. The research on the influence of the free liquid surface shows that compared to the infinite domain, the free liquid surface destroys the symmetry of the entire system, resulting in a difference in the natural frequency of the positive and negative modes of the shell, and the circumferential mode shapes are no longer mutually uncoupled trigonometric functions. The existence of free liquid surface will also increase the natural frequency of the same order mode, and the closer to the free surface, the natural frequency is greater. As the immersion depth increases, the free vibration characteristics will quickly tend to the result of infinite domain. Additionally, when the immersion depth is equal to or greater than four times the radius of the shell structure, it can be considered that the free liquid surface has no effect. These law and phenomena have also been explained from the mechanism. The method in this paper provides a new analytical solution pattern for solving this type of problem.

For any positive integer n, the famous Smarandache dual function s* (n) was defined as the greatest positive integer m such that m! |n. The solutions of the equation ... = ω(n)Ω(n) were studied by using the elementary method and to obtain all its positive integer solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the behavior of the Kolmogorov constants C2, Ck, and Ck1, which are, respectively, the prefactors of the second-order longitudinal structure function and the three-dimensional and one-dimensional longitudinal energy spectrum in the inertial range. We show that their ratios, C2/Ck1 and Ck/Ck1, exhibit clear dependence on the microscale Reynolds number Rλ, implying that they cannot all be independent of Rλ. In particular, it is found that (Ck1/C2 - 0.25) = 1.95Rλ-0.68. The study further reveals that the widely used relation C2 = 4.02Ck1 holds only asymptotically when Rλ ≳ 105. It is also found that C2 has much stronger Rλ dependence than either Ck or Ck1 if the latter indeed has a systematic dependence on Rλ. We further show that the varying dependence on Rλ of these three numbers can be attributed to the difference of the inertial range in real- and wave-number space, with the inertial range in real-space known to be much shorter than that in wave-number space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curcumin is extracted from the rhizomes of the ginger family plant Curcuma longa L., which has a good protection for liver, kidney, and immune system. However, there is little information about its contribution in protection of astrocytes recently. The present study was undertaken to elucidate the protective effect of curcumin, an herbal antioxidant, on l-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion-(MPP+-) and lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced cytotoxicities, as well as the underlying mechanisms by using primary mouse mesencephalic astrocytes. The results showed that curcumin protected the mesencephalic astrocytes from MPP+- and LPS-induced toxicities along with reducing reactive oxygen species (P < 0.05) and maleic dialdehyde (P < 0.05) sufficiently Moreover, curcumin significantly inhibited the cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) expression (P < 0.01 at mRNA level, P < 0.05 at protein level) and its activity (P < 0.05) sufficiently induced by MPP+ and LPS in the mouse mesencephalic astrocytes. And curcumin as well as diallyl sulphide, a CYP2E1 positive inhibitor, ameliorated MPP+- and LPS-induced mouse mesencephalic astrocytes damage. Accordingly, curcumin protects against MPP+- and LPS-induced cytotoxicities in the mouse mesencephalic astrocyte via inhibiting the CYP2E1 expression and activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an experimental study of turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection with polymer additives made in two convection cells, one with a smooth top and bottom plates and the other with a rough top and bottom plates. For the cell with smooth plates, a reduction of the measured Nusselt number (Nu) was observed. Furthermore, the amount of Nu reduction increases with increasing polymer concentration (c), reaching ∼12% for c=120 ppm and an apparent leveling off thereafter. For the cell with rough plates, however, an enhancement (∼4%) of Nu was observed when the polymer concentration is greater than 120 ppm. This increase in Nu is corroborated by an increased large-scale circulation (LSC) velocity in the same cell when polymers are added. In contrast, the LSC velocity in the smooth cell is found to be essentially the same with and without polymers. It is further found that in the smooth cell the rms values of the global Nu, σNu, and that of the local temperature, σT, both exhibit similar dependence on c as Nu itself. In contrast, σNu and σT in the rough cell are found to be essentially independent of c. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The local kinetic energy dissipation rate εu,c in Rayleigh-Bérnard convection cell was measured experimentally using the particle tracking velocimetry method, with varying Rayleigh number Ra, Prandtl number Pr, and cell height H. It is found that εu,c/(K³H-4) = 1.05 x 10-4Ra1.55±0.02Pr1.15±0.38 The Ra and H dependencies of the measured results are found to be consistent with the assumption made for the bulk energy dissipation rate εu,bulk in the Grossmann-Lohse model. A remarkable finding of the study is that εu,cbalances the directly measured local Nusselt number Nuc in the cell center, not only scalingwise but also in magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sand waves constitute ubiquitous geomorphology distribution in the ocean. In this paper, we quantitatively investigate the sand wave variation of topology, morphology, and evolution from the high-resolution mapping of a side scan sonar (SSS) in an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), in favor of online sequential Extreme Learning Machine (OS-ELM). We utilize echo intensity directly derived from SSS to help accelerate detection and localization, denote a collection of Gaussian-type morphological templates, with one integrated matching criterion for similarity assessment, discuss the envelope demodulation, zero-crossing rate (ZCR), cross-correlation statistically, and estimate the specific morphological parameters. It is demonstrated that the sand wave detection rate could reach up to 95.61% averagely, comparable to deep learning such as MobileNet, but at a much higher speed, with the average test time of 0.0018 s, which is particularly superior for sand waves at smaller scales. The calculation of morphological parameters primarily infer a wave length range and composition ratio in all types of sand waves, implying the possible dominant direction of hydrodynamics. The proposed scheme permits to delicately and adaptively explore the submarine geomorphology of sand waves with online computation strategies and symmetrically integrate evidence of its spatio-temporal responses during formation and migration.

A new isolate of Aspergillus sp. hydrogenated the γ,δ-double bond of securinine (143 mg l−1) to give 14,15-dihydrosecurinine at over 98% (w/w) yield after 8 h. It also hydrogenated the C11(13) double bond of 3-hydroxy-1(10),3,11(13)-guaiatriene-12,6-olide-2-one (HGT) (200 mg l−1) to give 3-hydroxy-1(10),3-guaiadiene-12,6-olide-2-one with over 98% (w/w) conversion after 24 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meng and Sedgwick (2001, 2002) found that the perceived distance of an object in a stationary scene was determined by the position at which it contacted the ground in the image, or by nested contact relations among intermediate surfaces. Three experiments investigated whether motion parallax would allow observers to determine the distance of a floating object without intermediate contact relations. The displays consisted of one or more computer‐generated textured cylinders inserted into a motion picture or still image of an actual 3‐D scene. In the motion displays, both the cylinders and the scene translated horizontally. Judged distance for a single cylinder floating above the ground was determined primarily by the location at which the object contacted the ground in the projected image (“optical contact”), but was altered in the direction indicated by motion parallax. When more than one cylinder was present and observers were asked to judge the distance of the top cylinder, judged distance moved closer to that indicated by motion parallax, almost matching that value with three cylinders. These results indicate that judged distance in a dynamic scene is affected both by optical contact and motion parallax, with motion parallax more effective when multiple objects are present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utilization of position sensor reduces the system reliability of switched reluctance motor (SRM), especially in harsh environments. It also increases the complexity of the system. Therefore, the research on sensorless control has become one of the hot spots in recent years. Comparing with the existing sensorless control technology, the new method exploring the sensorless control of double-sided linear switched reluctance motor (DLSRM) shows the following advantages:1)high accuracy , and 2) good practicability. Based on the new proposed method, the DLSRM speed controller is augmented with the peak current method and the voltage chopping closed-loop speed control. Moreover, the winding resistance in the equation is corrected according to the integral flux linkage when the phase current is zero. The accuracy and feasibility of the simplified flux linkage method in estimating the position of the DLSRM is verified.

In this article, we study the steady generalized Navier-Stokes equations in a half-space in the setting of variable exponent spaces. We first establish variable exponent spaces of Clifford-valued functions in a half-space. Then, using this operator theory together with the contraction mapping principle, we obtain the existence and uniqueness of solutions to the stationary Navier-Stokes equations and Navier-Stokes equations with heat conduction in a half-space under suitable hypotheses.

The burden of obesity and associated cardiometabolic diseases has been considered as an important risk factor for lupus patients. Therefore, whether obesity is involved in the over-activation of autoimmune response has attracted more and more attention. Hydroxychloroquine is a synthetic antimalarial drug and has been the clinical treatment of rheumatic diseases irreplaceable first-line drugs. Hydroxychloroquine has been suggested to have beneficial effects on lipids and insulin sensitivity, which may contribute in lowering high cardiovascular risk in SLE patients. However, its mechanism on insulin sensitivity and lipid disorders is far from being completely understood. In the present study, the therapeutic effects of hydroxychloroquine were evaluated under pathological conditions in vivo. Obesity was induced in C57BL/6 mice fed with high-fed diet, or in mice fed with high-fat diet and hydroxychloroquine. In addition, healthy mice that received normal chow diet were also monitored. The present results revealed that hydroxychloroquine reduced weight, hepatic steatosis, glucose, and insulin resistance. Furthermore, hydroxychloroquine downregulated the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma in the liver. According to these present results, genes about lipid metabolism went down in high-fat mice liver. Hydroxychloroquine shows potential in ameliorating obesity-induced pathology, which acts though PPARγ to facilitate the healthy function of hepatic tissues. This evidence shows that hydroxychloroquine plays a role in improving obesity-induced lipotoxicity and insulin resistance though the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma pathway.

To explore factors influencing adolescents and young adults’ (AYAs) risk perception of COVID-19 and adherence to public health measures, we conducted a cross-sectional online survey of AYAs (14–22 years old) from Quebec (Canada) recruited through school and community partners in April 2020 during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study included 3037 participants (mean age = 17.7 years, 74.6% female). AYAs had higher mean (standard deviation (SD)) risk perception of COVID-19 for their relatives (8.2 (1.9)) than for themselves (5.6 (2.6)) (p < 0.001). Factors associated with higher risk perception included higher disease knowledge (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.06, 95% CI 1.01–1.11), presence of chronic disease (aOR 2.31, 95%CI 1.82–2.93) and use of immunosuppressants (aOR 2.53, 95%CI 1.67–3.87). AYAs with a higher risk perception (aOR 1.06, 95%CI 1.02–1.10) those wishing to help flatten the disease curve (aOR 1.18, 95%CI 1.12–1.25) or to protect their family/friends (aOR 1.14, 95%CI 1.05–1.24) were more likely to engage in preventive behaviors. Self-perceived risk and desire to protect others were significantly associated with adherence to preventive measures among youth. These findings may help inform public health messaging to AYAs in the current and future pandemics.

In the present study, a novel graft modified flocculant CTS-g-PAMD was synthesized and applied to conduct sludge conditioning and dewatering. CTS-g-PAMD was copolymerized with AM, DMC and chitosan (CTS) under UV-H2O2 initiation. In addition, the effects of single factor experiments on the molecular weight (MW) CTS grafting efficiency (GE) of CTS-g-PAMD were determined and the optimal copolymerization conditions were achieved. The GE of CTS-g-PAMD reached 91.1% and the MW was 4.82 × 106 Da. As revealed from the characterized results of Fourier-transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), 1H/ NMR, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopic (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the successful synthesis of CTS-g-PAMD was confirmed, which is considered to be conducive to explaining sludge dewatering performance. Under the optimal conditions (pH = 7.0, flocculant dosage = 35 mg/L), the best flocculating performance (FCMC: 73.7%; SRF: 4.7 × 1012 m·kg−1, turbidity: 9.4 NTU) and large and dense sludge flocs (floc size d50 = 379.142 µm, floc fractal dimension Df = 1.58) were formed. The DMC and CTS chain segments exhibiting cationic properties significantly improved the positive charge density and enhanced the electrical patching effect of CTS-g-PAMD. The long molecular chain of CTS-g-PAMD exhibited superior extensibility, which enhanced bridging effect on adsorption. Moreover, the sludge floc after undergoing CTS-g-PAMD conditioning exhibited robust shear resistance and regeneration ability. After the sludge floc was crushed and broken, a large and dense sludge floc was formed, helping significantly reduce the sludge specific resistance (SRF), turbidity and cake moisture content (FCMC) and enhance the sludge dewatering effect. The novel CTS-g-PAMD flocculant shows promising practical applications and high market value.

Building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) is one of the most efficient ways to utilize renewable energy in buildings. However, the stochastic characteristic of PV power generation and load challenges the optimal dispatch of the BIPV. This paper proposes an optimal scheduling strategy of BIPV microgrid considering virtual energy storage (VES), which intends to further improve the operating economy of a BIPV microgrid. Firstly, existing research findings and gaps in this research area were analyzed. Then, the mathematical model of each unit in the system was created, meanwhile, the air conditioner-based VES (ACVES) model and electric water heater-based VES (EWHVES) model are built by exploiting the heat/cold storage capability of building and the electric water heater, respectively. Next, the optimal scheduling model considering the VES is designed. Finally, the optimal scheduling model is solved by CPLEX to obtain the optimal scheduling strategy that reduces the operating cost of the system. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed strategy can reduce the operating cost of the system. Furthermore, the VES shows the potential to replace the battery energy storage system.

Inflammatory burden is a primary cellular event in many liver diseases, and the overall capacity of drug elimination is decreased. PXR (pregnane X receptor) and CAR (constitutive androstane receptor) are two master regulators of genes encoding drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters. DEC1 (differentiated embryonic chondrocyte-expressed gene 1) is a ligand-independent transcription factor and reportedly is induced by many inflammatory cytokines including IL-6. In this study, we used primary hepatocytes (human and mouse) as well as HepG2 cell line and demonstrated that IL-6 increased DEC1 expression and decreased the expressions of PXR, CAR, and their target genes. Overexpression of DEC1 had similar effect as IL-6 on the expression of these genes, and knockdown of DEC1 reversed their downregulation by IL-6. Interestingly, neither IL-6 nor DEC1 altered the expression of RXRα, a common dimerization partner for many nuclear receptors including PXR and CAR. Instead, DEC1 was found to interact with RXRα and IL-6 enhanced the interaction. These results conclude that DEC1 uses diverse mechanisms of action and supports IL-6 downregulation of drug-elimination genes and their regulators.

In this paper, a novel iterative sparse extended information filter (ISEIF) was proposed to solve the simultaneous localization and mapping problem (SLAM), which is very crucial for autonomous vehicles. The proposed algorithm solves the measurement update equations with iterative methods adaptively to reduce linearization errors. With the scalability advantage being kept, the consistency and accuracy of SEIF is improved. Simulations and practical experiments were carried out with both a land car benchmark and an autonomous underwater vehicle. Comparisons between iterative SEIF (ISEIF), standard EKF and SEIF are presented. All of the results convincingly show that ISEIF yields more consistent and accurate estimates compared to SEIF and preserves the scalability advantage over EKF, as well.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a gradual lung disease with a survival of less than 5 years post-diagnosis for most patients. Poor molecular description of IPF has led to unsatisfactory interpretation of the pathogenesis of this disease, resulting in the lack of successful treatments. The objective of this study was to discover novel noninvasive biomarkers for the diagnosis of IPF. We employed a coupled isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ)-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) approach to examine protein expression in patients with IPF. A total of 97 differentially expressed proteins (38 upregulated proteins and 59 downregulated proteins) were identified in the serum of IPF patients. Using String software, a regulatory network containing 87 nodes and 244 edges was built, and the functional enrichment showed that differentially expressed proteins were predominantly involved in protein activation cascade, regulation of response to wounding and extracellular components. A set of three most significantly upregulated proteins (HBB, CRP and SERPINA1) and four most significantly downregulated proteins (APOA2, AHSG, KNG1 and AMBP) were selected for validation in an independent cohort of IPF and other lung diseases using ELISA test. The results confirmed the iTRAQ profiling results and AHSG, AMBP, CRP and KNG1 were found as specific IPF biomarkers. ROC analysis indicated the diagnosis potential of the validated biomarkers. The findings of this study will contribute in understanding the pathogenesis of IPF and facilitate the development of therapeutic targets.

In this letter, we have presented an experimental investigation of the specific heat cp of water-based Al2O3 nanofluid with a differential scanning calorimeter. The result indicates that the specific heat cp of nanofluid decreases gradually as the nanoparticle volume fraction [lowercase_phi_synonym] increases from 0.0% to 21.7%. The relationship between them exhibits good agreement with the prediction from the thermal equilibrium model [Eq. (2)]. The other simple mixing model [Eq. (1)] fails to predict the specific heat cp of nanofluid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonlinear interactions between light waves can exchange energy, linear momentum, and angular momentum. The direction of energy flow between frequency components is usually determined by the conventional phase-matching condition related to the linear momentum. However, the transfer law of orbital angular momentum (OAM) during frequency conversion remains to be elucidated. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that OAM transfer depends strongly on the phase-matching condition defined by both linear and orbital angular momenta. Under different phase-matching configurations, the second-harmonic wave exhibits variable OAM spectral characteristics such as the presence of just a single value or of odd orders only. Our results pave the way toward unveiling the underlying mechanism of nonlinear conversion of OAM states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When nitrile rubber contacting with water under the external force during the service life, swelling and sliding wear occur. Since nitrile has similar polarity to water, the interaction between water and nitrile rubber and its influence on mechanical and tribological behaviors of the nitrile rubber play an important role in rubber performance, which is extremely necessary to be studied systematically. In this study, immersion experiments were conducted on three nitrile rubber samples which contained different acrylonitrile weight percentages of 18%, 26% and 41% (i.e. N18, N26, and N41) respectively. The hardness, tensile, dry and wet unidirectional sliding wear tests were further conducted. To reveal the mechanisms, the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis were performed and interpreted accordingly. The results showed that cross-linking break based structural damage, substance dissolution and surface layer defects occurred after swelling, resulting in decreases in hardness and tensile strength and increases in permanent deformation fracture rates of the nitrile rubbers. The friction coefficient value of the un-swollen NBRs was positively related to the wear loss and decreased with the increase of the acrylonitrile content. During the wear process under dry conditions, the un-swollen rubbers presented hardening in aging while the swollen samples softened along with the deterioration of adhesive wear with higher steady-state friction coefficient value and wear loss. Under wet friction conditions, the susceptible wear behavior of the swollen rubbers induced reductions in friction coefficient and increases in wear loss. The swelling degree and its effects on mechanical and tribological behavior decreased with the increase of the acrylonitrile content. The swelling influences on the tribological behavior of nitrile rubber affected and acted on the entire wear process.

Underwater vision is one of the dominant senses and has shown great prospects in ocean investigations. In this paper, a hierarchical Independent Component Analysis (ICA) framework has been established to explore and understand the functional roles of the higher order statistical structures towards the visual stimulus in the underwater artificial vision system. The model is inspired by characteristics such as the modality, the redundancy reduction, the sparseness and the independence in the early human vision system, which seems to respectively capture the Gabor-like basis functions, the shape contours or the complicated textures in the multiple layer implementations. The simulation results have shown good performance in the effectiveness and the consistence of the approach proposed for the underwater images collected by autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).

Navigation technology is one of the most important challenges in the applications of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) which navigate in the complex undersea environment. The ability of localizing a robot and accurately mapping its surroundings simultaneously, namely the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) problem, is a key prerequisite of truly autonomous robots. In this paper, a modified-FastSLAM algorithm is proposed and used in the navigation for our C-Ranger research platform, an open-frame AUV. A mechanical scanning imaging sonar is chosen as the active sensor for the AUV. The modified-FastSLAM implements the update relying on the on-board sensors of C-Ranger. On the other hand, the algorithm employs the data association which combines the single particle maximum likelihood method with modified negative evidence method, and uses the rank-based resampling to overcome the particle depletion problem. In order to verify the feasibility of the proposed methods, both simulation experiments and sea trials for C-Ranger are conducted. The experimental results show the modified-FastSLAM employed for the navigation of the C-Ranger AUV is much more effective and accurate compared with the traditional methods.

Taking Bismuth Titanate (Bi4Ti3O12) as a Aurivillius-type compound with m = 3 for example, the ion (W6+/Cr3+) doping effect on the lattice distortion and interlayer mismatch of Bi4Ti3O12 structure were investigated by stress analysis, based on an elastic model. Since oxygen-octahedron rotates in the ab-plane, and inclines away from the c-axis, a lattice model for describing the status change of oxygen-octahedron was built according to the substituting mechanism of W6+/Cr3+ for Ti4+, which was used to investigate the variation of orthorhombic distortion degree (a/b) of Bi4Ti3O12 with the doping content. The analysis shows that the incorporation of W6+/Cr3+ into Bi4Ti3O12 tends to relieve the distortion of pseudo-perovskite layer, which also helps it to become more stiff. Since the bismuth-oxide layer expands while the pseudo-perovskite layer tightens, an analytic model for the plane stress distribution in the crystal lattice of Bi4Ti3O12 was developed from the constitutive relationship of alternating layer structure. The calculations reveal that the structural mismatch of Bi4Ti3O12 is constrained in the ab-plane of a unit cell, since both the interlayer mismatch degree and the total strain energy vary with the doping content in a similar trend to the lattice parameters of ab-plane.

A sort of tungsten/chromium(W/Cr) co-doped bismuth titanate (BIT) ceramics (Bi4Ti2.95W0.05O12.05 + 0.2 wt % Cr2O3, abbreviate to BTWC) are ordinarily sintered between 1050 and 1150 °C, and the indentation behavior and mechanical properties of ceramics sintered at different temperatures have been investigated by both nanoindentation and microindentation technology. Firstly, more or less Bi2Ti2O7 grains as the second phase were found in BTWC ceramics, and the grain size of ceramics increased with increase of sintering temperatures. A nanoindentation test for BTWC ceramics reveals that the testing hardness of ceramics decreased with increase of sintering temperatures, which could be explained by the Hall–Petch equation, and the true hardness could be calculated according to the pressure-state-response (PSR) model considering the indentation size effect, where the value of hardness depends on the magnitude of load. While, under the application of microsized Vickers, the sample sintered at a lower temperature (1050 °C) gained four linearly propagating cracks, however, they were observed to shorten in the sample sintered at a higher temperature (1125 °C). Moreover, both the crack deflection and the crack branching existed in the latter. The hardness and the fracture toughness of BTWC ceramics presented a contrary variational tendency with increase of sintering temperatures. A high sintering tends to get a lower hardness and a higher fracture toughness, which could be attributed to the easier plastic deformation and the stronger crack inhibition of coarse grains, respectively, as well as the toughening effect coming from the second phase.

Fish ethology is a prospective discipline for ocean surveys. In this paper, one ROV-based system is established to perform underwater visual tasks with customized optical sensors installed. One image quality enhancement method is first presented in the context of creating underwater imaging models combined with homomorphic filtering and wavelet decomposition. The underwater vision system can further detect and track swimming fish from the resulting images with the strategies developed using curve evolution and particular filtering, in order to obtain a deeper understanding of fish behaviours. The simulation results have shown the excellent performance of the developed scheme, in regard to both robustness and effectiveness.

Although studies have been done in China’s large cities on education policy issues, research is lacking on China’s smaller towns, which are more indicative of the situations throughout China. This article presents lessons learned from studying Chinese English teachers at four different schools that were adopting new English textbooks, in accordance with revised national education policy. Using conflict theory and social action theory as an analytical lens, and combining ethnographic and naturalistic inquiry as research methods, the article reports on the conflicts that the Chinese English teachers confronted as they were adopting the new English textbooks at the classroom level. Analysis of the implementation conflict resulted in lessons learned related to the influence of the traditional cultural and education structures, the impact of policy implementation contexts, and the availability of support systems for teachers. The lessons indicate that future education policymakers in both China and the United States need to be mindful of obstacles that teachers struggle to overcome when implementing new policies.

Abstract Hyperkeratosis of the nipples and areolae (HNA) is an uncommon skin disorder with no definite aetiology. We report a case of a 16‐year‐old boy, who presented with bilateral pigmentation and thickening of the nipples and areolae, accompanied with linear brown protrusions on the anterior neck and a velvet like appearance with pigmentation on the axillary bilaterlly. Based on clinical and histopathological, and dermatoscopic findings, the diagnosis of bilateral HNA accompanied by linear nevus and acanthosis nigricans was made. The skin lesions were improved by treatment with topical calcipotriol gel.

The collective motion of groups of animals emerges from the net effect of the interactions between individual members of the group. In many cases, such as birds, fish, or ungulates, these interactions are mediated by sensory stimuli that predominantly arise from nearby neighbors. But not all stimuli in animal groups are short range. Here, we consider mating swarms of midges, which are thought to interact primarily via long-range acoustic stimuli. We exploit the similarity in form between the decay of acoustic and gravitational sources to build a model for swarm behavior. By accounting for the adaptive nature of the midges’ acoustic sensing, we show that our ‘adaptive gravity’ model makes mean-field predictions that agree well with experimental observations of laboratory swarms. Our results highlight the role of sensory mechanisms and interaction range in collective animal behavior. Additionally, the adaptive interactions that we present here open a new class of equations of motion, which may appear in other biological contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cardiomyopathy is arguably the most concerning complication of diabetes. It is characterized by the apoptosis, hypertrophy, and fibrosis of cardiac muscle. The protease calpain is an important mediator of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Our lab has previously shown that cardiomyocytes isolated from diabetic mice display increased calpain activity. The current study aims to investigate a specific pathway by which calpain inhibits the ATP synthase 5A1 subunit in the mitochondria to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) and induce cardiomyopathy. As well, the potential for ATP synthase 5A1 upregulation to serve as a therapy will be investigated. Methods: A diabetic mouse model was created using streptozotocin (STZ), and the heart was surgically isolated once diabetes was successfully induced. Calpain activity in the mitochondria was measured using the fluorescent substrate N-succinyl-LLVY-AMC, and ROS level in the mitochondria was measured using Amplex® Ultrared. Interaction between calpain and ATP synthase 5A1 was shown using immunoprecipitation. Upregulation of ATP synthase 5A1 was achieved using adenovirus transfection. Finally, fluorescence microscopy and the ImageJ software was used to measure the degree of cardiomyopathy, based on the extent of hypertrophy and fibrosis. Results: Our results show that calpain activity and ROS level are both elevated in the mitochondria of diabetic cardiomyocytes. This is mediated through ATP synthase 5A1 inhibition, since overexpression of the ATP synthase 5A1 gene resulted in decreased ROS generation, hypertrophy, and fibrosis. This is further confirmed by immunoprecipitation results showing interaction between calpain and ATP synthase 5A1. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that diabetes results in increased mitochondrial calpain activity and inhibition of ATP synthase 5A1 subunit, ultimately leading to diabetic cardiomyopathy. These findings reveal a specific pathway of the disease and propose a potential therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce a new method to measure Lagrangian vorticity and the rotational dynamics of anisotropic particles in a turbulent fluid flow. We use 3D printing technology to fabricate crosses (two perpendicular rods) and jacks (three mutually perpendicular rods). Time-resolved measurements of their orientation and solid-body rotation rate are obtained from four video images of their motion in a turbulent flow between oscillating grids with = 91. The advected particles have a largest dimension of 6 times the Kolmogorov length, making them a good approximation to anisotropic tracer particles. Crosses rotate like disks and jacks rotate like spheres, so these measurements, combined with previous measurements of tracer rods, allow experimental study of axisymmetric ellipsoids across the full range of aspect ratios. The measured mean square tumbling rate, , confirms previous direct numerical simulations that indicate that disks tumble much more rapidly than rods. Measurements of the alignment of a unit vector defining the orientation of crosses with the direction of their solid-body rotation rate vector provide the first direct observation of the alignment of anisotropic particles by the velocity gradients in a turbulent flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During coordinated development of two neighboring organs from the same germ layer, how precursors of one organ resist the inductive signals of the other to avoid being misinduced to wrong cell fate remains a general question in developmental biology. The liver and anterior intestinal precursors located in close proximity along the gut axis represent a typical example. Here we identify a zebrafish leberwurst (lbw) mutant with a unique hepatized intestine phenotype, exhibiting replacement of anterior intestinal cells by liver cells. lbw encodes the Cdx1b homeoprotein, which is specifically expressed in the intestine, and its precursor cells. Mechanistically, in the intestinal precursors, Cdx1b binds to genomic DNA at the regulatory region of secreted frizzled related protein 5 (sfrp5) to activate sfrp5 transcription. Sfrp5 blocks the mesoderm-derived, liver-inductive Wnt2bb signal, thus conferring intestinal precursor cells resistance to Wnt2bb. These results demonstrate that the intestinal precursors avoid being misinduced toward hepatic lineages through the activation of the Cdx1b-Sfrp5 cascade, implicating Cdx/Sfrp5 as a potential pharmacological target for the manipulation of intestinal-hepatic bifurcations, and shedding light on the general question of how precursor cells resist incorrect inductive signals during embryonic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder, which has been linked to mutations or deletions of RNA binding protein, fox-1 homolog (Caenorhabditis elegans) 3 (RBFOX3)/NeuN, a neuronal splicing regulator. However, the mechanism of seizure mediation by RBFOX3 remains unknown. Here, we show that mice with deletion of Rbfox3 in gammaaminobutyric acid (GABA) ergic neurons exhibit spontaneous seizures and high premature mortality due to increased presynaptic release, postsynaptic potential, neuronal excitability, and synaptic transmission in hippocampal dentate gyrus granule cells (DGGCs). Attenuating early excitatory gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) action by administering bumetanide, an inhibitor of early GABA depolarization, rescued premature mortality. Rbfox3 deletion reduced hippocampal expression of vesicle-associated membrane protein 1 (VAMP1), a GABAergic neuron-specific presynaptic protein. Postnatal restoration of VAMP1 rescued premature mortality and neuronal excitability in DGGCs. Furthermore, Rbfox3 deletion in GABAergic neurons showed fewer neuropeptide Y (NPY)-expressing GABAergic neurons. In addition, deletion of Rbfox3 in NPY-expressing GABAergic neurons lowered intrinsic excitability and increased seizure susceptibility. Our results establish RBFOX3 as a critical regulator and possible treatment path for epilepsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]