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To address the clinical need for readily available small diameter vascular grafts, biomimetic tubular scaffolds were developed for rapid in situ blood vessel regeneration. The tubular scaffolds were designed to have an inner layer that is porous, interconnected, and with a nanofibrous architecture, which provided an excellent microenvironment for host cell invasion and proliferation. Through the synthesis of poly(spirolactic-co-lactic acid) (PSLA), a highly functional polymer with a norbornene substituting a methyl group in poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA), we were able to covalently attach biomolecules onto the polymer backbone via thiol-ene click chemistry to impart desirable functionalities to the tubular scaffolds. Specifically, heparin was conjugated on the scaffolds in order to prevent thrombosis when implanted in situ. By controlling the amount of covalently attached heparin we were able to modulate the physical properties of the tubular scaffold, resulting in tunable wettability and degradation rate while retaining the porous and nanofibrous morphology. The scaffolds were successfully tested as rat abdominal aortic replacements. Patency and viability were confirmed through dynamic ultrasound and histological analysis of the regenerated tissue. The harvested tissue showed excellent vascular cellular infiltration, proliferation, and migration with laminar cellular arrangement. Furthermore, we achieved both complete reendothelialization of the vessel lumen and native-like media extracellular matrix. No signs of aneurysm or hyperplasia were observed after 3 months of vessel replacement. Taken together, we have developed an effective vascular graft able to generate small diameter blood vessels that can function in a rat model.

Retinal ischemia is a common pathological event that can result in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death and irreversible vision loss. The pathogenic mechanisms linking retinal ischemia to RGC loss and visual deficits are uncertain, which has greatly hampered the development of effective treatments. It is increasingly recognized that pyroptosis of microglia contributes to the indirect inflammatory death of RGCs. In this study, we report a regulatory NOD-like receptor, NOD-, LRR- and CARD-containing 5 (NLRC5), as a key regulator on microglial pyroptosis and the retinal ischemia process. Through an in-depth analysis of our recently published transcriptome data, we found that NLRC5 was significantly up-regulated in retina during ischemia–reperfusion injury, which were further confirmed by subsequent detection of mRNA and protein level. We further found that NLRC5 was upregulated in retinal microglia during ischemia, while NLRC5 knockdown significantly ameliorated retinal ischemic damage and RGC death. Mechanistically, we revealed that knockdown of NLRC5 markedly suppressed gasdermin D (GSDMD) cleavage and activation of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and caspase-3, indicating that NLRC5 promotes both microglial pyroptosis and apoptosis. Notably, we found that NLRC5 directly bound to NLRP3 and NLRC4 in inflammasomes to cooperatively drive microglial pyroptosis and apoptosis mediating retinal ischemic damage. Overall, these findings reveal a previously unidentified key contribution of NLRC5 signaling to microglial pyroptosis under ischemia or hypoxia conditions. This NLRC5-dependent pathway may be a novel therapeutic target for treatment of ischemic retinopathy.

N-doped porous carbon-based material with a 3D interconnected network structure was synthesized by carbonizing the amino-functionalized metal-organic framework (NH2-MOF-5) combined with expanded graphite (EG). NH2-MOF-5 grows in situ between the EG sheet layers by solvent heat method. After 1000 °C carbonization, N-doped porous carbon (NPC) was supported in the pores of EG in the form of a 3D interconnected carbon network. SA/NPC@EG, which anchored stearic acid (SA) in NPC@EG by capillary action, surface tension, and the additional hydrogen bonding between SA molecules and doped nitrogen, forming a shape-stabilized phase change material. The layer structure of EG reduces the interface thermal resistance. NPC serves as a phonon transfer channel to connect the heat transfer between the EG sheets. The ‍results showed that NPC@EG loaded with 85 wt% SA owned excellent thermal conductivity (2.134‍ W∙m−1∙K−1) while retaining sufficient phase change enthalpy (177.7 J∙g−1). SA/NPC@EG exhibited high thermal stability owing to the combined effect of the expanded graphite sheet layer structure and the N-doped porous carbon chain network structure. This material can block and absorb high-energy-density heat flow to meet the stability and reliability requirements of the working environment.

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease is a systemic autoimmune disorder affecting multiple organs, including eyes, skin, and central nervous system. It is known that monocytes significantly contribute to the development of autoimmune disease. However, the subset heterogeneity with unique functions and signatures in human circulating monocytes and the identity of disease-specific monocytic populations remain largely unknown. Here, we employed an advanced single-cell RNA sequencing technology to systematically analyze 11,259 human circulating monocytes and genetically defined their subpopulations. We constructed a precise atlas of human blood monocytes, identified six subpopulations-including S100A12, HLA, CD16, proinflammatory, megakaryocyte-like, and NK-like monocyte subsets-and uncovered two previously unidentified subsets: HLA and megakaryocyte-like monocyte subsets. Relative to healthy individuals, cellular composition, gene expression signatures, and activation states were markedly alternated in VKH patients utilizing cell type-specific programs, especially the CD16 and proinflammatory monocyte subpopulations. Notably, we discovered a disease-relevant subgroup, proinflammatory monocytes, which showed a discriminative gene expression signature indicative of inflammation, antiviral activity, and pathologic activation, and converted into a pathologic activation state implicating the active inflammation during VKH disease. Additionally, we found the cell type-specific transcriptional signature of proinflammatory monocytes, ISG15, whose production might reflect the treatment response. Taken together, in this study, we present discoveries on accurate classification, molecular markers, and signaling pathways for VKH disease-associated monocytes. Therapeutically targeting this proinflammatory monocyte subpopulation would provide an attractive approach for treating VKH, as well as other autoimmune diseases.

OBJECTIVE To assess the overall diagnostic accuracy of different MR imaging sequences in the detection of the dysplastic nodule (DN). METHODS PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were systematically searched. Study selection and data extraction were conducted by two authors independently. Quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS) 2 in RevMan software was used to score the included studies and assess their methodological quality. A random-effects model was used for statistical pooling by Meta-Disc. Subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis were used to explore potential sources of heterogeneity. RESULTS Fourteen studies (335 DN lesions in total) were included in our meta-analysis. The area under the curve (AUC) of summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) of T2WI was 0.87. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), and negative likelihood ratio (NLR) of DWI were 0.81 (95%CI, 0.73-0.87), 0.90 (95%CI, 0.86-0.93), 7.04 (95%CI, 4.49-11.04), and 0.24 (95%CI, 0.17-0.33) respectively. In the arterial phase, pooled sensitivity, specificity, PLR, and NLR were 0.89 (0.84-0.93), 0.75 (0.72-0.79), 3.72 (2.51-5.51), and 0.17 (0.12-0.25), respectively. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, PLR, and NLR of the delayed phase were 0.78 (0.72-0.83), 0.60 (0.55-0.65), 2.19 (1.55-3.10), and 0.36 (0.23-0.55) separately. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, PLR, and NLR of the hepatobiliary phase were 0.77 (0.71-0.82), 0.92 (0.89-0.94), 8.74 (5.91-12.92), and 0.24 (0.14-0.41) respectively. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, and PLR were higher on DWI and hepatobiliary phase in diagnosing LGDN than HGDN. CONCLUSION MR sequences, particularly DWI, arterial phase, and hepatobiliary phase imaging demonstrate high diagnostic accuracy for DN. KEY POINTS • MRI has dramatically improved the detection and accurate diagnosis of DNs and their differentiation from hepatocellular carcinoma. • Overall diagnostic accuracy of different MRI sequences in the detection of DN has not been studied before. • Our meta-analysis demonstrates that MRI achieves a high diagnostic value for DN, especially when using DWI, arterial phase imaging, and hepatobiliary phase imaging.

Background There are adequate evidences showing that early diagnosis significantly improves the prognosis of patients. Currently, radiology diagnosis to s-HCC is still difficult. Radiomics, a new type of quantitative imaging diagnosis method, has been widely used in the study of multi-system diseases. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the value of radiomics based on MRI plain images in differentiating s-HCC and benign cirrhotic nodule.Methods A total of 78 patients with 114 lesions (89 s-HCCs and 25 benign cirrhotic nodules) were retrospectively enrolled during September 2017 to January 2020. MRI plain images (T1WI, T2WI) of each nodule was segmented to form VOI, and 1223 quantitative radiomics features were extracted from each sequence. 10 optimal features were respectively selected from the T1WI, T2WI, and T1WI+T2WI based on SelectKBest. Logistic Regression (LR) was applied in establishing 2 radiomics models based on single sequence images (T1WI and T2WI) respectively and 1 radiomics model based on T1WI+T2WI. Clinical information (including age, gender, AFP level and the longest diameter of lesion) was collected and analyzed using binary logic analysis to obtain statistically significant (pResults 78 patients with 114 lesions were included in this study. There were 89 s-HCCs, 11 of nodules were e-HCCs, and the remaining 25 were benign cirrhotic nodules, including 3 DNs and 22 RNs. There was no significant difference in diagnostic performance among the radiomics model based on T2WI, T1WI+T2WI and the fusion model. And their diagnostic performance were higher than that of the radiomics model based on T1WI. Conclusions The radiomics model based on MRI plain images can be used to differentiate s-HCC and benign cirrhotic nodule. Radiomics features obtained from T2WI played a key role in the differentiation of s-HCC and benign cirrhotic nodule.

We introduce Infinite Hidden Markov (IHM) models to forecasting realized volatilities of crude oil futures markets with exogenous factors. With these IHM models, we lift the restriction of a pre-defined number of regimes and allow for an unknown number of different parameter regimes and breakpoints. We employ two types of infinite hidden Markov models to accommodate structural breaks incurred by policy changes, exogenous shocks, and other factors. We find that IHM-HAR models outperform all other non-switching variants. In regard to forecasting performance, IHM-HAR models with exogenous factors such as realized volatilities of competing futures markets and the S&P500 are superior model choices for short-term forecasts. For longer-term forecasts, the equity channel shows only little positive impact. Evidence of economic gains in portfolio construction based on IHM-HAR forecasts is provided.

The catalysts’ redox capacity and surface acidity was important during the catalytic combustion of chlorobenzene (CB). CeO2 showed great attractiveness due to its high oxygen storage capacity. Furthermore, the increase of acidity on the catalyst surface could improve the resistance to the chlorine poisoning. In this work, the silicotungstic (HSiW) modified CeO2 catalysts prepared by four cerium salts and exhibited the different morphologies and catalytic activity. The HSiW modified CeO2 catalyst prepared by Ce(CH3COO)3 (Cat-A) exhibited the best catalytic activity due to its abundant surface weak acid sites, more Ce3+ species and surface adsorption oxygen. The HSiW mainly located on the CeO2 (111) planes of the Cat-A, which was conducive to redox property of CeO2, thus promoting the deep oxidation of CB. Meanwhile the redox ability together with the weak acidity influenced the catalytic efficiency at low temperature. And the redox ability played a major role at high temperature. In addition, the Cat-A still possessed high stability and water resistance and maintained high activity after continuous catalytic oxidation of CB at 235 and 295 °C for 100h, exhibiting the possibility of industrial application.

Background Acute glaucoma, characterized by a sudden elevation in intraocular pressure (IOP) and retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) death, is a major cause of irreversible blindness worldwide that lacks approved effective therapies, validated treatment targets and clear molecular mechanisms. We sought to explore the potential molecular mechanisms underlying the causal link between high IOP and glaucomatous RGCs death. Methods A murine retinal ischemia/ reperfusion (RIR) model and an in vitro oxygen and glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGDR) model were used to investigate the pathogenic mechanisms of acute glaucoma. Results Our findings reveal a novel mechanism of microglia-induced pyroptosis-mediated RGCs death associated with glaucomatous vision loss. Genetic deletion of gasdermin D (GSDMD), the effector of pyroptosis, markedly ameliorated the RGCs death and retinal tissue damage in acute glaucoma. Moreover, GSDMD cleavage of microglial cells was dependent on caspase-8 (CASP8)-hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) signaling. Mechanistically, the newly identified nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat-containing receptor (NLR) family pyrin domain-containing 12 (NLRP12) collaborated with NLR family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) and NLR family CARD domain-containing protein 4 (NLRC4) downstream of the CASP8-HIF-1α axis, to elicit pyroptotic processes and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) maturation through caspase-1 activation, facilitating pyroptosis and neuroinflammation in acute glaucoma. Interestingly, processing of IL-1β in turn magnified the CASP8-HIF-1α-NLRP12/NLRP3/NLRC4-pyroptosis circuit to accelerate inflammatory cascades. Conclusions These data not only indicate that the collaborative effects of NLRP12, NLRP3 and NLRC4 on pyroptosis are responsible for RGCs death, but also shed novel mechanistic insights into microglial pyroptosis, paving novel therapeutic avenues for the treatment of glaucoma-induced irreversible vision loss through simultaneously targeting of pyroptosis.

We build a new estimate relative with Hermite functions based upon oscillatory integrals and Langer's turning point theory. From it we show that the equation $$ i \partial_t u =-\partial_x^2 u+x^2 u+\epsilon \langle x\rangle^{\mu} W(\nu x,\omega t)u,\quad u=u(t,x),~x\in\mathbb R,~ 0\leq \mu, Comment: 33 pages

Background Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a malignant tumor formed by the clonal proliferation of bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells. CML is a relatively rare disease, mainly affecting elderly patients, but the prevalence of CML is expected to increase dramatically. The tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have changed the CML patients' treatment patterns and improved its treatment effect, but drug resistance still remains a significant problem to be solved. Therefore, the identification of biomarkers of CML resistance involved therein is essential for treatment and prognosis prediction. Methods Bioinformatics was used to analyze and construct a lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network of CML resistance to dasatinib and predict key lncRNAs. Results By screening differentially expressed genes in CML resistant to dasatinib and comprehensively analyzing their functions and signal pathways, the core genes in these differential genes were found, and by predictive analysis of the upstream targets of these core genes. Finally, a network diagram containing lncRNA, miRNA, and mRNA was constructed. Conclusions MALAT1 as a lncRNA may be a tumor suppressor in patients with CML. According to our data, MALAT1 may have potential role as a molecular biomarker for the occurrence and development of CML resistance to dasatinib.

We augment the HAR model with additional information channels to forecast realized volatility of WTI futures prices. These channels include stock markets, sentiment indices, commodity and FX markets, and text-based Google indices. We then apply four differing machine learning techniques to identify the most suitable endo- and exogenous factors which improve baseline model forecasts. We show that machine learning generated forecasts provide better forecasting quality and that portfolios which are constructed with these forecasts outperform their competing models. We find LASSO and SSVS to provide outperforming forecasts and portfolio weights. Analyzing the selection process, we show that variable choices vary across forecasting horizon. Variable selection produces clusters and provides evidence that there are structural changes with regard to the significance of information channels.

A variational optimization approach is used to optimize kinematic dynamos in a unit sphere and locate the enstrophy-based critical magnetic Reynolds number for dynamo action. The magnetic boundary condition is chosen to be either pseudo-vacuum or perfectly conducting. Spectra of the optimal flows corresponding to these two magnetic boundary conditions are identical since theory shows that they are relatable by reversing the flow field (Favier & Proctor 2013 Phys. Rev. E 88 , 031001 ( doi:10.1103/physreve.88.031001 )). A no-slip boundary for the flow field gives a critical magnetic Reynolds number of 62.06, while a free-slip boundary reduces this number to 57.07. Optimal solutions are found to possess certain rotation symmetries (or anti-symmetries) and optimal flows share certain common features. The flows localize in a small region near the sphere’s centre and spiral upwards with very large velocity and vorticity, so that they are locally nearly Beltrami. We also derive a new lower bound on the magnetic Reynolds number for dynamo action, which, for the case of enstrophy normalization, is five times larger than the previous best bound.

This paper investigates the realised volatility connectedness of US crude oil futures and five China's agricultural commodity futures using connectedness measures and high-frequency data. Time-varying volatility connectedness characteristics are identified by combining a multivariate heteroscedastic autoregressive (HAR) model with the DCC-GARCH model. The results verify the existence of volatility spillover from the US crude oil market to China's agricultural commodity markets, although the magnitude of this spillover is weak. Furthermore, the realised volatility is decomposed into positive and negative components to identify the asymmetric effect of volatility connectedness. The results show that market interdependence has obviously increased for negative volatility relative to positive volatility, implying that volatility transmission has a leverage effect across markets.

This article identifies the breakdowns in the covariance of three benchmark crude oil futures markets (WTI, Brent and Dubai) and investigates the changes of market connectedness across the breakdow...

The catalytic activity and durability of catalysts were severely affected by preparation method. A series of Co-La catalysts were prepared and used to catlytic oxidation of toluene via sol–gel (SG), coprecipitation (CP), one-pot (OP) and physical mixing (PM) methods. The order of catalytic activity was SG > CP > OP > PM. SG catalyst exhibited the lowest apparent activation energy (Ea = 51.9 kJ/mol), the largest reaction rate (Rs), suggesting that the catalytic oxidation of toluene was more easily occured. SG catalyst possessed the smallest grain size (9.8 nm) and the largest SBET (41.4 m2/g), indicating that more active sites were provided. Meanwhile, it possessed the weakest Co-O bond strength, the abundant Co3+, active oxygen species and the excellent low-temperature reducibility, which could enhance the oxygen mobility and the redox performance. SG catalyst exhibited the excellent stability and durability, showing a great potential for industrial application.

The catalytic oxidation of toluene was investigated over CeO2-MnOx catalysts with the different cerium sources. The CeO2-MnOx catalyst synthesized by ceric ammonium nitrate (marked as Cat-A) possessed the superior catalytic performance among the samples. Notably, the synergistic effect between CeO2 and MnOx could provide more amounts of oxygen vacancy, the highest concentration of Mn3+ and the highest Ce3+ contents, which resulted in the outstanding oxygen mobility, causing the improvement of catalytic activity. In brief, the catalytic performance of CeO2-MnOx was closely related to the different modulation cerium sources during the preparation process.

We construct a set of HAR models with three types of infinite Hidden Markov regime-switching structures. In particular, jumps, leverage effects, and speculation effects are all taken into account in the realized volatility modeling. We forecast five agricultural commodity futures (Corn, Cotton, Indica rice, Palm oil and Soybeans) based on high-frequency data from Chinese futures markets, and evaluate the forecast performances using both statistical and economic evaluation measures. The statistical evaluation results suggest that HAR models with infinite Hidden Markov regime-switching structures have better precision than the benchmark HAR models based on the MZ- R 2 , MAFE, and MCS results. The economic evaluation results suggest that portfolios constructed with infinite Hidden Markov regime-switching HARs also achieve higher portfolio returns for risk-averse investors than benchmark HAR model for short-term volatility forecasts.

Video dubbing is a new type of language learning practice. Because of the fun it brings into learning, video dubbing mobile applications have become quite popular. During video dubbing, learners not only mimic characters’ pronunciations but also other voicing characteristics, e.g., emotions. In this study, we collected a corpus from Liulishuo English learning App’s video dubbing practices and investigated three research questions. We find that L2 learners do try to mimic emotions via their voices, and human raters tend to focus more on the emotion production aspect when evaluating dubbing performance. Furthermore, we develop state-of-the-art speech emotion recognition technology and show it can be used for evaluating emotion production automatically.

A series of Mn2O3 catalysts were prepared by different hydrothermal temperatures and employed to the catalytic oxidation of benzene due to their high activity. The Mn-120 sample with three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical cube-like morphology mainly exposed (2 1 1) crystal plane exhibited the best catalytic activity for the oxidation of benzene and achieved the benzene conversion of 90% at 248 °C. Meanwhile, the best catalytic performance of the Mn-120 sample was attributed to the most amounts of the Mn3+ species and surface-adsorbed oxygen. With the increase of Mn3+ species, the oxygen binding capacity of Mn-120 was reduced, which could increase its oxygen mobility. The abundant adsorbed oxygen species of Mn-120 could improve the replenishment capacity of lattice oxygen species, and the reaction pathway of catalytic oxidation of benzene over MnO2 obeyed the Mars-Van-Krevelen (MVK) mechanism.

This article proves that three regimes of asymptotic behavior exist in the critical case and transit smoothly from one to another according to a single parameter. Our results correct and extend the results of Saichev and Sornette (2005), Zhuang and Ogata (2006), and Vere‐Jones and Zhuang (2008) on the asymptotic behavior of the largest event in the epidemic‐type aftershock sequence model for earthquake occurrence when the process is critical.

Catalytic combustion is an effective and economic technology to remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The La2O3, Co3O4, 90Co-10La, 80Co-20La and 70Co-30La samples were prepared via traditional precipitation means, and employed for the catalytic oxidation of toluene. Coupled with XRD, SEM, BET, Ranman, XPS, O2-TPD and H2-TPR analyses, it were found that the addition of LaOx could change the microstructure and redox ability of catalyst, resulting in the formation of LaCoO3 perovskite and the increase in the concentrations of Co2+ and Oads. The 80Co-20La sample exhibited the best toluene conversion (T90 = 242 °C), CO2 selectivity, stability, the optimal specific reaction rates (Rs = 2.0 × 10−3 mmol h−1m−2) and Ea (17.4 kJ/mol). The high catalytic efficiency could be explained by the enhanced synergistic effect between LaOx and CoOx due to the appropriate incorporation of LaOx, and the formed more LaCoO3 perovskite. It was related to the concentrations of Co2+ and Oads, which was beneficial to the low-temperature reducibility, and thus catalytic performance at low temperature was improved. The present work provids a useful idea for the rational design of the removal of VOCs for using transition/rare earth bimetallic oxides efficient to replace the noble metal catalysts.

The 2.5-terahertz quantum cascade lasers (THz QCLs) based on first-order distributed feedback (DFB) Bragg grating are reported. The loss and threshold gain within different grating duty cycles are calculated according to the mode-coupling theory. The laser output power reaches up to record values of 34.1 mW in pulse mode and 23.4 mW in continuous wave mode at 15 K. The threshold current density is as low as 125 A / cm2. The single-mode emission is achieved, and the side-mode suppression ratio is 12 dB. In addition, the device is bonded together with the other two DFB THz QCLs (2.9 and 3.0 THz) on a copper chip. The simultaneous different wavelength emissions with single mode are successfully realized.

In his seminal work, Taylor (1963 Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 274, 274–283. (doi:10.1098/rspa.1963.0130).) argued that the geophysically relevant limit for dynamo action within the outer core is one of negligibly small inertia and viscosity in the magnetohydrodynamic equations. Within this limit, he showed the existence of a necessary condition, now well known as Taylor's constraint, which requires that the cylindrically averaged Lorentz torque must everywhere vanish; magnetic fields that satisfy this condition are termed Taylor states. Taylor further showed that the requirement of this constraint being continuously satisfied through time prescribes the evolution of the geostrophic flow, the cylindrically averaged azimuthal flow. We show that Taylor's original prescription for the geostrophic flow, as satisfying a given second-order ordinary differential equation, is only valid for a small subset of Taylor states. An incomplete treatment of the boundary conditions renders his equation generally incorrect. Here, by taking proper account of the boundaries, we describe a generalization of Taylor's method that enables correct evaluation of the instantaneous geostrophic flow for any three-dimensional Taylor state. We present the first full-sphere examples of geostrophic flows driven by non-axisymmetric Taylor states. Although in axisymmetry the geostrophic flow admits a mild logarithmic singularity on the rotation axis, in the fully three-dimensional case we show that this is absent and indeed the geostrophic flow appears to be everywhere regular., Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 474 (2218), ISSN:1364-5021, ISSN:1471-2946, ISSN:0080-4630, ISSN:0950-1207

We present a variational optimization method that can identify the most efficient kinematic dynamo in a sphere, where efficiency is based on the value of a magnetic Reynolds number that uses enstrophy to characterize the inductive effects of the fluid flow. In this large-scale optimization, we restrict the flow to be steady and incompressible, and the boundary of the sphere to be no-slip and electrically insulating. We impose these boundary conditions using a Galerkin method in terms of specifically designed vector field bases. We solve iteratively for the flow field and the accompanying magnetic eigenfunction in order to find the minimal critical magnetic Reynolds number $Rm_{c,min}$ for the onset of a dynamo. Although nonlinear, this iteration procedure converges to a single solution and there is no evidence that this is not a global optimum. We find that $Rm_{c,min}=64.45$ is at least three times lower than that of any published example of a spherical kinematic dynamo generated by steady flows, and our optimal dynamo clearly operates above the theoretical lower bounds for dynamo action. The corresponding optimal flow has a spatially localized helical structure in the centre of the sphere, and the dominant components are invariant under rotation by $\unicode[STIX]{x03C0}$.

In his seminal work, Taylor (1963 Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 9, 274–283. (doi:10.1098/rspa.1963.0130).) argued that the geophysically relevant limit for dynamo action within the outer core is one of negligibly small inertia and viscosity in the magnetohydrodynamic equations. Within this limit, he showed the existence of a necessary condition, now well known as Taylor's constraint, which requires that the cylindrically averaged Lorentz torque must everywhere vanish; magnetic fields that satisfy this condition are termed Taylor states. Taylor further showed that the requirement of this constraint being continuously satisfied through time prescribes the evolution of the geostrophic flow, the cylindrically averaged azimuthal flow. We show that Taylor's original prescription for the geostrophic flow, as satisfying a given second-order ordinary differential equation, is only valid for a small subset of Taylor states. An incomplete treatment of the boundary conditions renders his equation generally incorrect. Here, by taking proper account of the boundaries, we describe a generalization of Taylor's method that enables correct evaluation of the instantaneous geostrophic flow for any three-dimensional Taylor state. We present the first full-sphere examples of geostrophic flows driven by non-axisymmetric Taylor states. Although in axisymmetry the geostrophic flow admits a mild logarithmic singularity on the rotation axis, in the fully three-dimensional case we show that this is absent and indeed the geostrophic flow appears to be everywhere regular.

With the rapid development of modern society and economy, all sectors of society have put forward more stringent requirements on the production level and infrastructure construction of power plants. In the process of power plant operation, the relevant staff need to in-depth analysis of thermal power system, and adopt corresponding measures to optimize and establish a perfect production system structure, to do a good job of thermal power system optimization and energy saving transformation, so that the energy consumption decrease, create more benefits for power plant, this paper mainly to power plant heat energy power system optimization and energy saving transformation are analyzed.

Aortic valve calcification (AVC), which used to be recognized as a passive and irreversible process, is now widely accepted as an active and regulated process characterized by osteoblastic differentiation of aortic valve interstitial cells (AVICs). Apelin, the endogenous ligand for G-protein-coupled receptor APJ, was found to have protective cardiovascular effects in several studies. However, the effects and mechanisms of apelin on osteoblastic differentiation of AVICs have not been elucidated. Using a pro-calcific medium, we devised a method to produce calcific human AVICs. These cells were used to study the relationship between apelin and the osteoblastic calcification of AVICs and the involved signaling pathways. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity/expression and runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) expression were examined as hallmark proteins in this research. The involved signaling pathways were studied using the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) inhibitor, PD98059, and the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K) inhibitor, LY294002. The results indicate that apelin attenuates the expression and activity of ALP, the expression of Runx2, and the formation of mineralized nodules. This protective effect was dependent on the dose of apelin, reaching the maximum at 100 pM, and was connected to activity of ERK and Akt (a downstream effector of PI3-K). The activation of ERK and PI3-K initiated the effects of apelin on ALP activity/expression and Runx2, but PD98059 and LY294002 abolished the effect. These results demonstrate that apelin attenuates the osteoblastic differentiation of AVICs via the ERK and PI3-K/Akt pathway.

Background Sun’s procedure is a surgical technique widely used in type A aortic dissection. The purpose of this study was to analyze clinical outcomes and morphologic changes in true and false lumen by computed tomography (CT) angiography after Sun’s procedure. Material/Methods We retrospectively reviewed 51 patients who underwent Sun’s procedure for acute Stanford type A aortic dissection extending down to iliac bifurcation between January 2013 and December 2014. The images of preoperative, one-month, three-month, and six-month follow-up were analyzed by CT angiography to measure the area and diameter of true and false lumen. Results Four patients died before surgical intervention and postoperative deaths occurred in five patients (in-hospital mortality rate 10.6%). Only 42 patients (36 male, 6 female; mean age, 45.9±9.8 years; range, 24–65 years) with acute type A aortic dissection were involved in our study. Thirty-five patients (83.3%) suffered from chest or abdominal pain and only one patient (2.4%) was asymptomatic. Thirty-seven patients (88.1%) had hypertension as the most common comorbidity. In the ascending aorta, false lumen was eliminated and the change of true lumen was not significant (p>0.05). In the descending aorta, complete and partial thrombosis of false lumen were observed in eight patients (19.0%) and 33 patients (78.6%) by one-month follow-up CT scan, respectively. After the six-month follow-up, the rate of complete thrombosis increased to 36.1% and partial thrombosis decreased to 61.9%. The area and maximal diameter of true lumen were increased significantly (p0.05). Nevertheless, the false luminal area and maximal diameter decreased significantly (p0.05). Conclusions After Sun’s procedure, aortic remodeling was a continuous process and occurred in a predictable model, and the extent of aortic remodeling varied at different levels. Remodeling in descending thoracic aorta was earlier than it was in abdominal aorta.

We examine the distribution characteristics of stock market liquidity by employing the generalized additive models for location, scale and shape (GAMLSS) model and three-minute frequency data from Chinese stock markets. We find that the BCPE distribution within the GAMLSS framework fits the distributions of stock market liquidity well with the diagnosis test. We also find that the stock market index exhibits a significant impact on the distributions of stock market liquidity. The stock market liquidity usually exhibits a positive skewness, but a normal distribution at a low level of stock market index and a high-peak and fat-tail shape at a high level of stock market index.

This paper investigates the determinants of liquidity by utilizing the Graphical Reversible-Jump-MCMC algorithm (G-RJMCMC-VS) of Lunn et al. (2009) and employing the data of individual stocks sorted by scale from Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange in China. The empirical results show that daily average intraday prices and institutional holding proportion are the two most important determinants of liquidity while short-selling facilitates the liquidity of middle-scale stocks.

The treatment of maxillonasal dysplasia in Binder's syndrome using autologous costal bone and cartilage is well established, but postoperative results may be compromised by scarring, unpredictable absorption of transferred autologous tissue, and donor site morbidity. Here, we propose a simple surgical technique to improve maxillonasal dysplasia using an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) implant.From February 1999 to May 2014, fifty-eight patients affected by maxillonasal dysplasia with different degrees of flattened nose and midfacial depression underwent surgical correction by augmentation of the nasal dorsum using an "L"-shaped ePTFE and subperiosteal implantation of an inverted "m"-shaped ePTFE at the base of the piriform aperture. The outcome was evaluated based on preoperative and postoperative patient pictures, 3D imaging technology for the assessment of nasolabial angle and facial convexity angle, and a postoperative patient satisfaction survey.Postoperative results showed improved facial aesthetics with a significantly increased nasolabial angle from initially 74.1° ± 8.9° to 93.7° ± 6.1° at 6 months postoperatively (p 0.05). Temporary discomfort involving upper lip numbness, foreign body sensation, and stiff smiling expression were complained during the first 3 months postoperatively, but spontaneously resolved within 6 months. Complications included infection (2 cases), implant migration (2 cases), and implant exposure (1 case). The vast majority of patients (95.7%) rated their postoperative outcome as highly improved and improved.The present therapeutic strategy provides a simple and effective treatment for the correction of maxillonasal dysplasia with high patient acceptance in a single step approach. Further research is required to determine long-term outcomes.

An electrothermal bimorph micromirror with integrated temperature control is presented. The central mirror plate position is controlled against the ambient temperature variation through a thermally-isolated frame with embedded Pt heaters and temperature sensors.

This paper reports recent works on calibrating peak power sensors with the measurement traceability to a primary power standard, microcalorimeter. Several practical measurement setups have been evaluated and compared. Those uncertainty components relevant and significant to the calibration process are also discussed.

This paper reports recent theoretical modeling and analysis of traceable peak envelope power measurements for mobile communications. Double Sideband Large Carrier (DSB-LC) amplitude modulation has been used, for establishing the measurement traceability to primary RF and microwave power standard. In this work, the reference peak envelope power calculated from modulation index and reference average power is used in calibrations. This is followed by performance comparison of the proposed model with detailed uncertainty analysis.

We investigate the realised volatility (RV) forecasts for the short, mid, and long term by developing the HAR models with Bayesian approaches and employing the high-frequency data of the China Stock Index 300 (CSI300) future for the period from 16 April 2010 to 21 May 2014. We also evaluate the performances of competing models for both in-sample forecasts and out-of-sample forecasts. We find that the proposed HAR-type models with Bayesian approaches capture the time-varying properties of parameters and predictor sets. We also find that the HAR-type models with Bayesian approaches have superior forecast performance for both in-sample forecasts and out-of-sample forecasts as compared with the benchmark HAR-type models.

Axisymmetric oscillations of fluid in a rapidly rotating whole sphere immersed in a magnetic field can be supported by the elastic tension of the magnetic field lines. This special class of Alfvén waves is largely geostrophic (invariant along the rotation axis) and describes a set of normal modes that has been extensively studied in the ideal, lossless case, a limit in which regular solutions do not exist when the background magnetic field is axisymmetric. We study the geophysically relevant limit with parameters such that magnetic diffusion plays a realistic role appropriate to the Earth’s core, by choosing a Lundquist numberLuappropriately. We demonstrate for the first time the existence of normal modes in the presence of an axisymmetric background field, and obtain eigenfrequencies and decay rates that lead us to deduce quality factorsQfor these modes for two simple background fields of dipole and quadrupole parity. Two scaling behaviours ofQare seen depending on the background field and normal modes’ frequency, one scaling asLu1/2and another asLu, so that likelyQ>10in the core of the Earth. A one-dimensional theory is presented that is able to capture the frequencies of oscillation quite accurately.

Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 478 (2261), ISSN:1364-5021, ISSN:1471-2946, ISSN:0080-4630, ISSN:0950-1207