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An increasing number of people are living or working at high altitudes, which are often accompanied by cold environments. High altitude and cold exposure often result in physiological, perceptual and biochemical changes, thus affecting work efficiency and even human health. This study created different altitude conditions of 0 m, 2560 m, 3650 m, and 4290 m with an ambient temperature of −10 °C in a climate chamber. Six health subjects were recruited, and human physiological and perceptual responses during this experiment were continuously investigated, involving objective parameters such as core temperature, local skin temperature, blood oxygen saturation, heart rate, respiratory rate and subjective parameters such as overall and local thermal sensation, overall and local thermal comfort. The statistical analysis showed that blood oxygen saturation is the most sensitive parameter in short exposure to high altitude, which is consistent with previous studies and shows a close relationship with altitude. All of the mean local skin temperatures in the face, hands and feet throughout the experimental period were lowest at 0 m altitude. The overall thermal sensation decreased by 2.83 units at 0 m, whereas it decreased by only 2.00 units at an altitude of 4290 m. The local thermal sensation correlated well with the local skin temperature (R2 > 0.8) at 0 m, 2560 m and 3650 m when the subjects keep sedentary and wear clothing ensemble with total insulation of 2.16 clo. At an altitude of 4290 m, the local thermal sensations of the face, hands and feet were close to 0 (neutral). These findings indicate that higher altitude may compensate for some of the decreases in thermal sensation caused by a cold environment.

A commercially available epoxy resin from Hexion was demonstrated as a complementary material to PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) for rapidly fabricating rigid microfluidic devices. The fabrication process was streamlined to include the master mold fabrication, one or two times of the PDMS casting, and an enclosed casting of epoxy resin. The use of PDMS as intermediate molds not only guaranteed the easy demolding, but also enabled the novel enclosed casting. This process can produce epoxy resin microdevices in suitable shapes with even surfaces and preformed via holes, eliminating the inconvenient device preparations, such as cutting and drilling. A series of facile bonding methods were developed for epoxy resin with most of common materials used in microfluidics, yielding improved bonding strengths of 261 kPa for epoxy-PDMS, 1185 kPa for epoxy-glass, and 1516 kPa for epoxy-epoxy. To further demonstrate the material versatility, we performed three critical microfluidic applications on epoxy resin-based microdevices, including multilayer pneumatic microvalves, on-chip PCR with improved efficiencies, and ultra-high-speed flow cytometry imaging of microbeads at a flow rate of 8.3 m/s. This study validated the feasibility of utilizing epoxy resin as a routine material for rapidly testing out new designs, for which PDMS may not work, in a laboratory setting.

The chemokine receptor CXCR4 is highly expressed and associated with poor prognosis in multiple malignancies. Upon engagement by its ligand, CXCL12, CXCR4 triggers intracellular signaling pathways that control trafficking of cells to tissues where the ligand is expressed, such as the bone marrow (BM). In hematologic cancers, CXCR4-driven homing of malignant cells to the BM protective niche is a key mechanism driving disease and therapy resistance. We developed a humanized CXCR4 immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) antibody (Ab), PF-06747143, which binds to CXCR4 and inhibits CXCL12-mediated signaling pathways, as well as cell migration. In in vivo preclinical studies, PF-06747143 monotherapy rapidly and transiently mobilized cells from the BM into the peripheral blood. In addition, PF-06747143 effectively induced tumor cell death via its Fc constant region-mediated effector function. This Fc-mediated cell killing mechanism not only enhanced antitumor efficacy, but also played a role in reducing the duration of cell mobilization, when compared with an IgG4 version of the Ab, which does not have Fc-effector function. PF-06747143 treatment showed strong antitumor effect in multiple hematologic tumor models including non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and multiple myeloma (MM). Importantly, PF-06747143 synergized with standard-of-care agents in a chemoresistant AML patient-derived xenograft model and in an MM model. These findings suggest that PF-06747143 is a potential best-in-class anti-CXCR4 antagonist for the treatment of hematologic malignancies, including in the resistant setting. PF-06747143 is currently in phase 1 clinical trial evaluation (registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT02954653).

Microfluidics is facing critical challenges in the quest of miniaturizing, integrating, and automating in vitro diagnostics, including the increasing complexity of assays, the gap between the macroscale world and the microscale devices, and the diverse throughput demands in various clinical settings. Here a “3D extensible” microfluidic design paradigm that consists of a set of basic structures and unit operations was developed for constructing any application-specific assay. Four basic structures- check valve (in), check valve (out), double-check valve (in and out), and on-off valve, were designed to mimic basic acts in biochemical assays. By combining these structures linearly, a series of unit operations can be readily formed. We then proposed a “3D extensible” architecture to fulfill the needs of the function integration, the adaptive “world-to-chip” interface, and the adjustable throughput in the X, Y, and Z directions, respectively. To verify this design paradigm, we developed a fully integrated loop-mediated isothermal amplification microsystem that can directly accept swab samples and detect Chlamydia trachomatis automatically with a sensitivity one order higher than that of the conventional kit. This demonstration validated the feasibility of using this paradigm to develop integrated and automated microsystems in a less risky and more consistent manner.

MicroRNAs were known to play very important roles in human diseases, and have attracted great interests of research scientists in medicine, toxicology and functional foods. Gastric carcinoma (GC) remains one of the most common and lethal types of malignancy worldwide. However, the molecular mechanism of GC and the role of microRNAs in GC development remain unclear. The expression of extracellular matrix protein 1 (ECM1) is up-regulated in many cancer types, but its functional role is inconstant. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the correlation between GC development and ECM1 expression, along with its regulation by microRNAs. Immunohistochemical results showed that ECM1 was up-regulated in GC tissues and ECM1 expression level was negatively correlated with the prognosis of GC. ECM1 was found to promote gastric cancer cell metastasis in cell migration assays by facilitating the expression of proteins involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). MiR-92a was recognized for the first time to suppress the migration of human GC cells by directly targeting to the 3'UTR of ECM1 gene in a dual-luciferase reporter assay. These results highlighted the antagonistic roles of ECM1 and miR-92a in GC development, which may serve as a new target for gastric cancer.

To explore the effects of biogas slurry coordinating chemical fertilizer on growth promotion of tomato, we used three kinds of typical biogas slurry as concentrated nutrient solution, respectively fermented from raw duck manure, pig manure, cow dung, while urea, monocalcium phosphate and potassium sulphate as auxiliary nutrition to balance the nutrient difference between different dilution ratios of biogas slurry. The results showed the biogas slurry partially substituting chemical fertilizer could significantly improve soil fertility, including available nitrogen, phospho-rus, and potassium. As for water soluble calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese and zinc in soil, biogas slurry application could activate their availability, with the magnitude of such effects depended on the fermentation level of raw materials and dilution ratio. Compared with chemical fertilizer, coordinating biogas liquid fertilizer significantly promoted the growth of tomato, with the yield increased by 55.9%-232.8% and the chemical fertilizer dosage decreased by 18.2%-85.0%. Furthermore, such effects became more prominent along with prolonged time. The fruit quality was significantly improved with the increases of lycopene, ascorbic acid and total sugar, and the decreases of acidity and nitrite concentration, and the decrease of NO为探索沼液和化肥协同促生的效果,以3种常见禽畜粪便(鸭粪、猪粪、牛粪)作为发酵原料的沼液为母液,以氮磷钾镁肥作为化学肥料辅助,平衡不同稀释比例之间的养分差异,研究沼液配施对番茄生长发育的影响. 结果表明: 沼液部分替代化肥可以显著改善土壤速效氮、磷、钾的肥力状况,依发酵原料和稀释比例不同,沼液对土壤水溶性钙、镁和有效铁、锰、铜、锌有不同程度的活化作用. 与完全施用化肥相比,沼液配施化肥可显著促进番茄生长,且随生育期的延长,沼液的促生作用愈发凸显,最终增产幅度达55.9%～232.8%,化肥用量减少18.2%～85.0%;番茄果实品质显著改善,番茄红素、Vc、总糖含量均显著提高,果实酸度显著降低,NO

This paper focuses on the pulse-like near-fault ground motion, developing a probabilistic seismic demand model to estimate the seismic response of regular continuous bridges. A three-span bridge with continuous deck is taken as the basic case to establish 25 representative samples by changing the geometrical parameters and modeled with OpenSees software. The ground motions of both near fault and far fault are selected from PEER NGA strong ground motion database. The seismic response of the bridge is evaluated using the drift ratio at the top of the pier. A series of nonlinear dynamic time history analysis is carried out to compare the damage obtained with near-fault and far-fault ground motions for three different site conditions. Subsequently, a sensitivity analysis is performed on the design parameters according to the orthogonal experimental design methodology. After selecting the Housner intensity as the most suitable intensity measure and drift ratio as the engineering demand parameter, the probabilistic seismic demand model is established for the near-fault earthquake on the site II condition which is classified by Chinese design code. The results show that the near-fault earthquake can lead to more serious damage with respect to regular bridges and that the probabilistic seismic demand model allows for a quick evaluation of the seismic behavior of regular continuous bridges under pulse-like near-fault earthquake.

The influence of site liquefaction on seismic response of bridges is studied, and a three-dimensional saturated soil-bridge is simulated based on the platform of OpenSEES. The disciplines of seismic response of the two models have been discussed. It is found that liquefied and non-liquefied sites have obvious amplification effect on ground motion, and the seismic response of saturated liquefied sites is related to the frequency spectrum of input motion. Site liquefaction enlarges the absolute maximum value of seismic response at pier, and is more detrimental for shear force than bending moment. The liquefied site increases the lateral deformation of the pile foundation, and there have differences in the location of maximum internal force. Site liquefaction significantly increases the deck displacement, when compared with non-liquefied site. The increase of displacement may induce the possibility of pounding between decks or collapsing, which more attention should be paid to.

Extremely cold events have occurred more frequently in the past few years. People exposed to extremely cold exposure could suffer the threats of human health and safety like cold stress and injury. This study aims to investigate human physiological responses of exposure to extremely cold environments and the moment of temperature step. The experiments of 12 subjects exposed to three different cold exposure conditions (-5 °C, -10 °C, -15 °C) were carried out in a climate chamber. Most critical physiological parameters, including the core temperature, local skin temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate and blood oxygen saturation, were measured to evaluate human physiological responses. In the particular short term study, the results show that the local skin temperature and blood pressure are the most significant indexes for evaluating the risk of cold strain in extremely cold environment. The finger temperature is a critical index of hand and finger flexibility, and it will lead to serious injuries and reduced manual performance when exposed to below -5 °C for more than 20 min. The high physiological strain at the very beginning moment of cold exposure can significantly affect the ability to make correct judgment and action, and it is suggested that the personnel adapt for 3 min after entering into the extremely cold environment to stabilize physiological parameters and thus enhancing the safety and occupational performance. The experimental data of this study is also of great significance for the development and validation of thermophysiological models.

To investigate the association of polymorphisms in genes involved in coagulation, fibrinolysis, and inflammation with pre-eclampsia (PE) in a Chinese population. It is a case–control study of patients with PE (n = 117) and controls (n = 286) from the Maternal and Children’s Hospital of Shenzhen City carried out between June 2014 and May 2015. The rs6025, rs6020, rs1801133, rs1799963, rs1799889, rs231775, rs1800896, rs1800629, and rs1799724 polymorphisms were analyzed using Snap Shot. Multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) and logistic regression analyses were carried out to assess the interactions among these SNPs. The frequencies of polymorphisms in tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (rs1800629 and rs1799724) and interleukin 10 (IL-10) (rs1800896) were significantly different between patients with PE and controls (P

BACKGROUND To compare the effects and side effects of intrathecal ropivacaine supplemented with dexmedetomidine and fentanyl in hysteroscopic surgery under spinal anesthesia. METHODS Female patients (n = 108) undergoing operative hysteroscopic procedures under spinal anesthesia were randomly allocated to the following groups for subarachnoid drug delivery: R (n = 36) received 7.5 mg ropivacaine; RD (n = 36) received 7.5 mg ropivacaine plus 5 μg dexmedetomidine; RF (n = 36) received 7.5 mg ropivacaine plus 15 μg fentanyl. The onset and regression time of sensory and motor blockade, together with the postoperative analgesia and side effects were recorded. RESULTS There was no significant difference as to sensory and motor onset time between groups. RD had significantly longer sensory and motor blockade time than RF and R. The mean time of sensory regression to the S1 segment was 191.25 ± 40.24 minutes in RD, 149.86 ± 37.46 minutes in RF, and 139.44 ± 38.97 minutes in R (RD vs. R and RD vs. RF, p < 0.001). The regression time of motor blockade to Bromage score 0 was 146.31 ± 40.72 minutes in RD, 80.28 ± 41.18 minutes in RF, and 84.94 ± 26.11 minutes in R (RD vs. R and RD vs. RF, p < 0.001). RD produced similar analgesia effect with RF, (2 hour visual analog scale (VAS) was 0.00 ± 0.00 and 0.31 ± 0.79, respectively) better than the R group (1.35 ± 1.65, p < 0.005). No pruritus occurred in the RD group, while the rate was 36.1% in the RF group. However, the RD group produced milder postsurgical hypotension (RD vs. R and RD vs. RF, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION Intrathecal dexmedetomidine (5 μg) produced prolonged motor and sensory blockade and less pruritus compared with fentanyl (15 μg) in hysteroscopic surgery.

Aims Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a progressive disease, which severely affects men's health. Here, we sought to analyze the functions and mechanism of action of the tripartite motif protein 52 (TRIM52), a novel prostate basal cell biomarker in BPH. Materials and methods Immunohistochemistry assay was performed in sectioned human BPH tissues, BPH-1 cells, and prostate RWPE-1 cells, to detect the expressions of TRIM52 and NF-κB. Western blotting and qRT-PCR analyses were conducted to measure the relative protein and mRNA expression levels, respectively. Further, lentiviral transfection was performed in BPH-1 and RWPE-1 cells to study the overexpression and siRNA knockdown of TRIM52. Dual-luciferase reporter assay was applied to evaluate the relationship between NF-κB and TRIM52. Furthermore, CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry were employed to analyze cell proliferation and apoptosis. Key findings TRIM52 and NF-κB levels were elevated in BPH tissues, and TRIM52 expression positively correlated with NF-κB expression. TRIM52 silencing suppressed the growth of BPH-1 cells and decreased the promoter activity of NF-κB. Moreover, the NF-κB inhibitor, pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC), suppressed TRIM52-induced proliferation of RWPE-1 cells and inhibited NF-κB promoter activity in oeTRIM52 transfected RWPE-1 cells. Silencing TRIM52 also inhibited TRAF2 ubiquitination in BPH-1 cells. Further, NF-κB promoter activity in siNC transfected cells was enhanced by the recombinant protein TNF-α and inhibited by siTRIM52. Significance TRIM52 accelerated the growth of BPH-1 cells by upregulating NF-κB, and TRIM52 could promote TRAF2 ubiquitination. These findings might contribute to the understanding of the biological functions and action mechanisms of TRIM52 in BPH.

A separated foundation model was proposed in order to reduce the calculation scale of the numerical model for analyzing soil-bridge structure dynamics. The essence of the wave input analysis model considering soil-structure interaction was analyzed. Based on the large mass method, a one-dimensional time-domain algorithm of the free field was derived. This algorithm could simulate the specified ground motion input well. The displacement expansion solution of the free wave field was solved based on the propagation law of waves in a medium. By separating the soil foundations around the pile foundations of the bridge, the ground motion was transformed into an equivalent load applied on an artificial boundary. The separated foundation model could consider the incoherence effect and soil-structure interaction simultaneously, the number of model elements were reduced, and the computational efficiency was improved. In order to investigate the seismic response of a curved bridge considering soil-structure interaction under spatially varied earthquakes, a curved bridge with small radius was adopted in practical engineering. Spatially correlated multi-point ground motion time histories were generated, and the nonuniform ground motion field was simulated based on the wave input method on an artificial viscoelastic boundary. The effects of different apparent wave velocities, coherence values, and site conditions on the seismic response of the bridge were analyzed. The results showed that the spatial variation of seismic ground motion had a considerable effect on the bending moment and the torsion of the girder. The site effect had great influence on the bending moment of the pier bottom. When considering soil-structure interaction, the spatial variation of ground motion should be fully considered to avoid underestimating the structural response.

A pipette-actuated capillary array comb (PAAC) system operated on a smartphone-based hand-held device has been successfully developed for the multiplex detection of bacteria in a "sample-to-answer" manner. The PAAC consists of eight open capillaries inserted into a cylindrical plastic base with a piece of chitosan-modified glass filter paper embedded in each capillary. During the sample preparation, a PAAC was mounted into a 1 mL pipette tip with an enlarged opening and was operated with a 1 mL pipette for liquid handling. The cell lysate was drawn and expelled through the capillaries three times to facilitate the DNA capture on the embedded filter discs. Following washes with water, the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) reagents were aspirated into the capillaries, in which the primers were pre-fixed with chitosan. After that, the PAAC was loaded into the smartphone-based device for a one-hour amplification at 65 °C and end-point detection of calcein fluorescence in the capillaries. The DNA capture efficiency of a 1.1 mm-diameter filter disc was determined to be 97% of λ-DNA and the coefficient of variation among the eight capillaries in the PAAC was only 2.2%. The multiplex detection of genomic DNA extracted from Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Staphylococcus aureus provided limits of detection of 200, 500, and 500 copies, respectively, without any cross-contamination and cross reactions. "Sample-to-answer" detection of E. coli samples was successfully completed in 85 minutes, demonstrating a sensitivity of 200 cfu per capillary. The multiplex "sample-to-answer" detection, the streamlined operation, and the compact device should facilitate a broad range of applications of our PAAC system in point-of-care testing.

The solution culture method was used to study the effects of sodium nitroprusside (SNP) on plant growth, nutrient uptake and antioxidant enzyme activities of tomato seedlings under iron deficiency and NO采用营养液培养方法,研究外源NO供体(硝普钠,SNP)对缺铁和硝酸盐胁迫番茄幼苗生长、养分吸收及抗氧化酶活性的影响.结果表明: 处理7 d后,缺铁使番茄幼苗生长受到抑制,叶绿素a、b、类萝卜素含量显著降低,出现明显失绿症状;降低叶片中超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化物酶(POD)和过氧化氢酶(CAT)的活性,电解质渗漏率、丙二醛含量明显增加,脯氨酸和可溶性糖含量变化不显著,幼苗叶片和根中N、P、K、Ca、Mg、Fe含量比对照处理有不同程度的减少.硝酸盐和缺铁双重胁迫对番茄幼苗生长抑制加剧,叶绿素a、b、类萝卜素含量、SOD、POD和CAT活性显著降低,电解质渗漏率、脯氨酸、可溶性糖和丙二醛含量明显增加;番茄幼苗叶片和根中N、P、Mg、Fe含量显著减少,而K、Ca含量显著增加. 与不添加处理相比,添加0.1 mmol·L

A novel bisphosphonic-trimesic acid adduct, 2H3 BTC·H4 L·2H2O 1 (H4 L = N,N′-piperazinebis(methylenephosphonic acid), H3 BTC = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid) was obtained by solvothermal technique. It was characterized by elemental analysis, IR, TGA, PXRD, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The compound 1 possesses a 3-D supramolecular network with a double chain built from H4 L and a double zigzag supramolecular chain derived from H3 BTC. We also studied quantum chemistry calculation of spectrum (UV–Vis spectra) using the B3LYP/6-31G* method. The result reveals that 1 has small (HOMO-7)–LUMO energy gap (1.395 eV) and high chemical reactivity. Results of electrochemical studies indicate a higher donor ability of 1. The maximum of the fluorescent emission bands of 1 is located at 458 nm (λ ex = 365 nm).

An integrated graphene oxide purification-lateral flow test strip (iGOP-LFTS) was developed for on-strip purifying and visually detecting polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products with an improved sensitivity as well as a more stringent specificity. PCR products amplified with a pair of biotin- and digoxin-labeled primers were directly pipetted onto GO pads, on which graphene oxide selectively adsorbed residual primers and primer-dimers with the aid of a running buffer containing MgCl2 and Tween 20. By stacking up three GO pads to increase the surface area for adsorption, 83.4% of double-stranded DNA with a length of 30 bp and 98.6% of 20-nt primers could be removed from a 10-μL DNA mixture. Since no primers interfered with detection, the increase of the sample loading volume from 5 to 20 μL could improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the test line 1.6 fold using the iGOP-LFTS while no changes were observed using the conventional LFTS. The limit of detection of the iGOP-LFTS was determined to be 30 copies o...

Background The CXCR4-CXCL12 axis plays an important role in the chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)-microenvironment interaction. Overexpression of CXCR4 has been reported in different hematological malignancies including CLL. Binding of the pro-survival chemokine CXCL12 with its cognate receptor CXCR4 induces cell migration. CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling axis promotes cell survival and proliferation and may contribute to the tropism of leukemia cells towards lymphoid tissues and bone marrow. Therefore, we hypothesized that targeting CXCR4 with an IgG1 antibody, PF-06747143, may constitute an effective therapeutic approach for CLL. Methods Patient-derived primary CLL-B cells were assessed for cytotoxicity in an in vitro model of CLL microenvironment. PF-06747143 was analyzed for cell death induction and for its potential to interfere with the chemokine CXCL12-induced mechanisms, including migration and F-actin polymerization. PF-06747143 in vivo efficacy was determined in a CLL murine xenograft tumor model. Results PF-06747143, a novel-humanized IgG1 CXCR4 antagonist antibody, induced cell death of patient-derived primary CLL-B cells, in presence or absence of stromal cells. Moreover, cell death induction by the antibody was independent of CLL high-risk prognostic markers. The cell death mechanism was dependent on CXCR4 expression, required antibody bivalency, involved reactive oxygen species production, and did not require caspase activation, all characteristics reminiscent of programmed cell death (PCD). PF-06747143 also induced potent B-CLL cytotoxicity via Fc-driven antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) and complement-dependent cytotoxicity activity (CDC). PF-06747143 had significant combinatorial effect with standard of care (SOC) agents in B-CLL treatment, including rituximab, fludarabine (F-ara-A), ibrutinib, and bendamustine. In a CLL xenograft model, PF-06747143 decreased tumor burden and improved survival as a monotherapy, and in combination with bendamustine. Conclusions We show evidence that PF-06747143 has biological activity in CLL primary cells, supporting a rationale for evaluation of PF-06747143 for the treatment of CLL patients. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13045-017-0435-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background The efficacy of intravenous (IV) acetaminophen compared with its oral formulation for postoperative analgesia is unknown. We hypothesized that the addition of acetaminophen to a multimodal analgesia regimen would provide improved pain management in patients after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and that the effect of acetaminophen would be variable based on the route of delivery. Methods The study was a single-center, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial on the efficacy of IV vs oral acetaminophen in patients undergoing unilateral TKA. One hundred seventy-four subjects were randomized to one of the 3 groups: IV acetaminophen group (IV group, n = 57) received 1 g IV acetaminophen and oral placebo before postanesthesia care unit (PACU) admission; oral acetaminophen group (PO group, n = 58) received 1 g oral acetaminophen and volume-matched IV normal saline; placebo group (Placebo group, n = 59) received oral placebo and volume-matched IV normal saline. Pain scores were obtained every 15 minutes during PACU stay. Average pain scores, maximum pain score, and pain scores before physical therapy were compared among the 3 groups. Secondary outcomes included total opiate consumption, time to PACU discharge, time to rescue analgesia, and time to breakthrough pain. Results The average PACU pain score was similar in the IV group (0.56 ± 0.99 [mean ± standard deviation]) compared with the PO group (0.67 ± 1.20; P = .84) and Placebo group (0.58 ± 0.99; P = .71). Total opiate consumption at 6 hours (0.47 mg hydromorphone equivalents ± 0.56 vs 0.54 ± 0.53 vs 0.54 ± 0.61; P = .69) and at 24 hours (1.25 ± 1.30 vs 1.49 ± 1.34 vs 1.36 ± 1.31; P = .46) were also similar between the IV, PO, and Placebo groups. No significant differences were found between all groups for any other outcome. Conclusion Neither IV nor oral acetaminophen provides additional analgesia in the immediate postoperative period when administered as an adjunct to multimodal analgesia in patients undergoing TKA in the setting of a spinal anesthetic.

The current situation, domestic supportive policies and problems of photovoltaic generation technology are analyzed. According to the roof resources and solar illumination conditions in Shanghai, feasibility analysis of distributed roof photovoltaic generation technology is presented in angle of economic feasibility. The influence of generation price subsidies on the internal rate of return and payback period is obtained and finally raising advices to improve domestic photovoltaic generation technology.

Revenue metering is one of the most important profit growth modes in services. This paper study the issue based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) analyzes, the results show that the revenue metering constitute indicators of the degree of impact on revenue metering, its from the index layer constituting hotel revenue metering to explore the impact of the implementation of the effect of a short board, to establish a perfect hotel revenue metering system to provide a more reliable basis and achieve the desired results.

The energy consumption increases rapidly with the economic development and population change. Buildings are becoming the most important energy consumption sector in Shanghai. The gross domestic product per capita in Shanghai has reached to $13,500 in 2012 and the energy consumption is also amounted to 11,000×104 ton of coal equivalent. Buildings energy consumption accounted for about 25% of the total energy consumption. Building energy saving will greatly contribute to the energy saving and environmental protection. By analyzing the trend of population growth, economic development and energy consumption and the present buildings structure and situation in Shanghai, this paper proposed the measurements of building energy saving and energy consumption reduction.

In this paper, case of hotel in Shanghai was studied, and three kinds of CCHP import solutions are discussed by this algorithm based on real working condition parameters of thermoelectric load. Then, put forward the relative conclusions based on comparison of each scheme and calculation of power supply benefits and heating benefits, from the point of power supply economics and heating economics. So it has certain realistic meaning for the application of CCHP system in city hotel buildings.

In today’s research environment, children’s diet, physical activity, and other lifestyle factors are commonly studied in the context of health, independent of their effect on cognition and learning. Moreover, there is little overlap between the two literatures, although it is reasonable to expect that the lifestyle factors explored in the health-focused research are intertwined with cognition and learning processes. This thematic review provides an overview of knowledge connecting the selected lifestyle factors of diet, physical activity, and sleep hygiene to children’s cognition and learning. Research from studies of diet and nutrition, physical activity and fitness, sleep, and broader influences of cultural and socioeconomic factors related to health and learning, were summarized to offer examples of research that integrate lifestyle factors and cognition with learning. The literature review demonstrates that the associations and causal relationships between these factors are vastly understudied. As a result, current knowledge on predictors of optimal cognition and learning is incomplete, and likely lacks understanding of many critical facts and relationships, their interactions, and the nature of their relationships, such as there being mediating or confounding factors that could provide important knowledge to increase the efficacy of learning-focused interventions. This review provides information focused on studies in children. Although basic research in cells or animal studies are available and indicate a number of possible physiological pathways, inclusion of those data would distract from the fact that there is a significant gap in knowledge on lifestyle factors and optimal learning in children. In a climate where childcare and school feeding policies are continuously discussed, this thematic review aims to provide an impulse for discussion and a call for more holistic approaches to support child development.

Asphalt pavement with semi-rigid base is the major structure adopted in the new built highway and municipal roads in China. So as to reduce the unfavorable impact on the rehabilitation of municipal roads which require quick resumption of traffic, better base materials should be adopted. If a pavement base fails, the flexible base, i.e. large stone asphalt mixture (LSAM), should be employed in the pavement rehabilitation practice. Focusing on the practice pavement sections using LSAM as base in Hangzhou municipal roads, the effect factors of subgrade modulus, base modulus and base thickness on surface deflection and bending strain in base bottom is analyzed. That work is done through finite element method of software BISAR3.0. The results provide a practice reference for municipal roads rehabilitation needing to open traffic early.

Four seasonal rainfall simulations in 2009 and 2010 were applied to a field containing 36 plots (0.75 × 2 m each), resulting in 144 runoff events. In all simulations, a constant rate of rainfall was applied then halted 60 min after initiation of runoff, with plot-scale monitoring of runoff every 5 min during that period. Runoff was simulated with the Kinematic Runoff and Erosion/Simulator of Transport with Infiltration and Runoff (KINEROS2/STWIR) field-scale model, whose hydrodynamics are based on the kinematic wave equation. Because of the non-linear nature of the model and a highly parameterized model with respect to the available data, several approaches were investigated to upscale nine runoff-related parameters from a series of small monitored plots to the field scale. Inverse modeling was performed using the model-independent Parameter ESTimation (PEST) algorithm to individually calibrate the nine KINEROS2/STWIR parameters on 36 plots. The parameters were averaged, and bootstrapping was used to assess uncertainty of the parameters via estimation of confidence intervals (CI). A Monte Carlo simulation using the bootstrap results showed reasonable field-scale representation of flow rates. Median values of calibrated parameters were within the 95% CI obtained with bootstrapping. The simulated results for the median values associated with the 90% CI flow rates produced similar trends as those exhibited with the observed data, suggesting that median values of the calibrated parameters from the PEST inverse modeling could be used to represent the field scale. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This article expatiates the theory system of life cycle cost analysis and researches actual periodic cost models, providing the necessary theoretical basis to the whole bridge life design, which is based on the life cycle cost.

The early ripening date of mid-April for rabbiteye blueberries in Chengjiang signals a bright future, with a total of 338 kg of fruit harvested from 780 2-year-old plants on 0.1 ha of paddy land. I...

In this paper, a simple and practical performance-based seismic design (PBSD) method for regular highway bridges is suggested. In the proposed PBSD method, the drift ratio of the bridge column is employed as quantitative indices of seismic performance levels, and its target values for each seismic performance level are given. The whole design processes of a regular highway bridge with various performance objects under different seismic levels are demonstrated.

The failure behavior and the vulnerable position of the rigid frame bridge are analyzed by nonlinear response analysis, based on incremental dynamic analysis (IDA). The damage index, applying for long-span continuous rigid frame bridge with high pier, is studied. The seismic vulnerability problem of the whole bridge is analyzed by fiber model. The strain was used for damage index of piers. The displacement was used for damage index of bearings. According to the studies above, the fragility curves are established based on integral performance of the bridge.

This paper proposes a concept of layered fiber reinforced concrete (LFRC) beam. In the concept of a LFRC beam, low-modulus fiber and high-modulus fiber are randomly dispersed and uniformly distributed into the concrete matries of the compression and tension zones, respectively. The static behaviors of LFRC beam are investigated from both experimental and numerical aspects. Four-point bending tests are performed on two simply supported T-shaped LFRC beam specimens and an ordinary T-shaped RC beam specimen with large scales. Comparison between the testing results of LFRC and RC beam specimens shows that the initial cracking load, flexural toughness and post-yielding stiffness of a LFRC beam can be significantly improved, but the ultimate loads are nearly without change. Numerical simulations are also carried out to investigate the static behaviors of the LFRC beam specimens. It is found that the simulation results are agreed well with that of tests. Further numerical parameter analysis for the LFRC beam specimens is conducted. The effects of high-modulus fiber volume fraction on the static behaviors of LFRC beams are studied. The research results show that the additions of high-modulus fibers have little effect on the initial stiffness, yielding loads and ultimate loads of LFRC beams; both the load and displacement at the initial cracking point increase linearly with the increasing volume fraction of the high-modulus fiber, but both the yielding displacement and ultimate displacement decrease linearly with the increasing volume fraction of the high-modulus fiber.

The flexural fatigue performance of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fiber reinforced concrete (PANFRC）was investigated by third-point loading tests. Based on the previous research work, optimum mixture proportions of PANFRC for highway overlays and bridge decks that satisfied both the minimum compressive and bending strengths, and showed excellent mechanical properties, were selected for fatigue testing. The experimental program included a total of 69 flexural specimens, 15 of which were plain concrete specimens, and the remaining 54 specimens were PANFRC specimens. Three mixes containing 0.0%, 0.1 %, and 0.15% of PAN fiber volume fractions were selected. For each mix, 4 different target load ranges were applied: 10–75%, 10–80%, 10–85%, and 10–90% of the ultimate flexural capacity, as obtained from the corresponding control static test. The bending fatigue life of PANFRC specimens under various stress ratios are proved to follow two-parameter Weibull distribution. Both a semi-logarithm and a double-logarithm P-S-N equations with various failure probabilities are derived from the experimental measurements. The denifition of the fatigue damage variable and damage evolution equation for PANFRC are furtherly proposed based on theory of continuum damage mechanics.