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In the companion volume, Kinetic Alfven Wave: Theory, Experiment, and Application, we have presented the systematic theories and basic principles of kinetic Alfven waves (KAWs) based on both kinetic and fluid descriptions of magnetic plasmas. The present volume builds upon that and proceeds into the in-depth analyses and discussions of observation, generation, and application of KAWs in various plasma environments in the solar-terrestrial coupling system, which is a unique natural laboratory for the comprehensive and thorough study of KAWs. However, first of all, in this introductory chapter we concisely review main physical properties of KAWs without proving, which are from the companion volume and set up the basis for the following chapters.

Unlike the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling is concentrated mainly in the polar magnetosphere, especially in the auroral plasma and is performed via field-aligned currents, the solar wind-magnetosphere coupling can occur in all outer boundaries of the magnetosphere from the magnetopause on the day side to the magnetotail on the night side. On the day side, in fact, before the supersonic magnetized plasma flow of the solar wind directly impacts on the magnetosphere, a shock can be first formed in front of the magnetosphere due to the blunt obstacle of the magnetosphere, called the bow shock, and the magnetopause is the interface between the shocked solar wind and the magnetosphere.

Background: An outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) started in December 2019 in Wuhan, China and spread rapidly across the globe In light of most COVI

In previous chapters we comprehensively introduced KAWs in space and solar plasmas, including their observational identifications and applications to related particle kinetic phenomena, such as the auroral energetic electron acceleration in auroral magnetospheric plasmas, the anomalous particle transport in the magnetopause, the kinetic turbulence in the solar wind, and the solar coronal heating problem. The solar and solar-system plasma, especially the solar-terrestrial coupling system, is a natural laboratory for plasma astrophysics.

The Sun is our nearest star and the energy released by nuclear reactions near its center is transported by photons inside the inner \({\sim }71\%\) of the solar radius (\(R_\odot \simeq 6.9\times 10^5\) km), called the radiative zone. Outside this radiative zone, called the convective zone, photons are no longer able to transfer energy efficiently, so convective instabilities set in and vertical flows carry nearly all the excess heat to the solar surface. This visible surface, called the photosphere, is the lowest layer of the solar outer atmosphere, emits almost all the solar light, and lowers its temperature by the radiation.

Background Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is the main cause of end-stage kidney disease and has become a heavy economic and social burden due to its high prevalence and morbidity. The most effective strategy is that patients with DKD should be diagnosed and treated early. Preliminary studies showed that the Chinese herbal Tangshen Formula (TSF) may delay the progression of DKD, reducing microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria and improving renal function. We designed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of TSF in patients with DKD. Methods/design This trial is a 13-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. A total of 632 participants will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to an experiment group (TSF plus losartan) and a control group (placebo plus losartan). The trial cycle will last 24 weeks. The primary outcome will be the change in the urine microalbumin–creatinine ratio from baseline to week 24. The secondary outcome will be the change in the rate of progression to the clinical proteinuria period after intervention, the rate of urine microalbumin negative conversion, the rate of normal urinary microalbumin, the doubling rate of the baseline creatinine value and the glomerular filtration rate between the two groups. Safety in medication will also be evaluated. Discussion We hypothesize that patients with type 2 diabetes in the early stage of DKD will benefit from TSF. If successful, this study will provide evidence-based recommendations for clinicians. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03009864. Registered January 2017.

Objectives To determine whether the rates of postoperative complications, rate of readmission, cumulative transfusion volume, and length of stay (LOS) differ between simultaneous total hip arthroplasty (THA) and staged bilateral THA and to assess whether the length of the interval between staged procedures influences surgery outcome. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study comparing the rate of postoperative complications, readmission, cumulative transfusion volume, and LOS between simultaneous THA and staged bilateral THA in our hospital's registration database. The inclusion criteria is listed as follows: patients who underwent bilateral primary THA between January 2011 and January 2015 with minimum 3-month follow-up; simultaneous bilateral THA; staged bilateral THA; postoperative complications, readmission, cumulative transfusion volume, length of stay of the patients and the influence of the interval between stages of bilateral THA on the outcome above; and retrospective cohort study. Finally, a total of 1145 patients, including simultaneous bilateral THA in 863 patients (1726 hips) and staged bilateral THA in 282 patients (564 hips), were eligible for the present study. The patients were divided into three groups according to the interval time (≤30 days, 30-90 days, >90 days) between the two stages of bilateral THA and we compared postoperative complications, readmission rates, cumulative transfusion volume, and LOS for the three groups. All patients' medical records and outpatient notes were reviewed to extract preoperative data, perioperative complications, readmission, cumulative transfusion, and LOS. Preoperative information included patients' age, sex, diagnosis, body mass index, and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification. Perioperative complications were sorted into two groups: (i) medical complications included cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, digestive, and urologic system complications, along with other miscellaneous issues; and (ii) surgical complications included dislocation, superficial wound infection, hematoma, deep periprosthetic joint infection, and nerve palsy. Patients who failed to come back to visit our hospital in the postoperative 3 months were followed up by telephone, at which point we inquired about any postoperative complications and readmission. Results Simultaneous THA was performed more often in younger men, and patients in the simultaneous group had fewer major medical complications (excluding venous thromboembolism), fewer surgical complications, and shorter hospital stays; however, patients in the simultaneous group were likelier to have a higher transfusion rate than patients in the staged group. Among patients in the staged group, there were no differences for differing time intervals, except that patients with a between-stage interval of ≤30 days required more blood transfusions. Conclusion With careful patient assessment and selection, simultaneous bilateral THA is a safe procedure, and has lower rates of surgical and major medical complications than staged bilateral THA.

Abstract Background: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is the main cause of end stage kidney disease(ESKD) and It has become a heavy economic and social burden due to its high prevalence and morbidity. However, the current therapies for DKD are not entirely perfect. The most effective strategy is that patients with DKD should be diagnosed and treated early. Preliminary studies showed the Chinese herbal Tangshen Formula(TSF) may delay the progression of DKD, reducing micro-and macro-albuminuria, improving renal function. This trial was conducted to assess the effectiveness and safety of TSF used in combination with conventional treatment. Methods/design: We are implementing a randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter, clinical trial as a means of evaluating the effectiveness and safety of TSF. 623 participants will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to an experiment group (TSF plus Losartan) and a control group (placebo plus Losartan). The trial cycle lasts 24 weeks. The primary outcome will be changes in ACR from baseline to 24 weeks between the two groups and ACR will be compared at baseline and treatment endpoint in each group. The secondary outcome will be changes in the ratio of progression into the clinical proteinuria period after intervention, Urine micro albumin negative conversion rate, the ratio of normal urinary micro albumin, doubling rate of baseline creatinine value and GFR between the two groups. Safety in medication will also be evaluated. Discussion: We hypothesize that type 2 diabetic patients in early stage of DKD will benefit from TSF. If successful, this study will provide an evidence-based complementary remedies for delaying the progression of DKD. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03009864) Keywords: Diabetes Kidney Disease, Traditional Chinese medicine, Treatment, Clinical trials，Randomized controlled trial

Background: Panax notoginseng, a Chinese herbal medicine, has been widely used to treat vascular diseases. Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the complications of diabetic microangiopathy. According to recent studies, the application of Panax notoginseng extract and related Chinese patent medicine preparations can significantly improve DR. However, the pharmacological mechanisms remain unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to decipher the potential mechanism of Panax notoginseng treatment of DR using network pharmacology. Methods: We evaluated and screened the active compounds of Panax notoginseng using the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology database and collected potential targets of the compounds by target fishing. A multi-source database was also used to organize targets of DR. The potential targets as the treatment of DR with Panax notoginseng were then obtained by matching the compound targets with the DR targets. Using protein-protein interaction networks and topological analysis, interactions between potential targets were identified. In addition, we also performed gene ontology-biological process and pathway enrichment analysis for the potential targets by using the Biological Information Annotation Database. Results: Eight active ingredients of Panax notoginseng and 31 potential targets for the treatment of DR were identified. The screening and enrichment analysis revealed that the treatment of DR using Panax notoginseng primarily involved 28 biological processes and 10 related pathways. Further analyses indicated that angiogenesis, inflammatory reactions, and apoptosis may be the main processes involved in the treatment of DR with Panax notoginseng. In addition, we determined that the mechanism of intervention of Panax notoginseng in treating DR may involve five core targets, VEGFA, MMP-9, MMP-2, FGF2, and COX-2. Conclusion: Panax notoginseng may treat diabetic retinopathy through the mechanism of network pharmacological analysis. The underlying molecular mechanisms were closely related to the intervention of angiogenesis, inflammation, and apoptosis with VEGFA, MMP-9, MMP-2, FGF2, and COX-2 being possible targets.

The CYP2C19*2 or *3 loss-of-function (LOF) allele is associated with high platelet reactivity (HPR) on clopidogrel treatment. East Asians may benefit from a lower dose of prasugrel due to their more potent platelet inhibitory response. The impact of LOF alleles on the pharmacodynamic response to half-dose prasugrel in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is unknown.Seventy patients with the LOF alleles were assigned to half-dose prasugrel (n = 35, 30-mg load followed by 5 mg daily) or clopidogrel (n = 35, 600-mg load followed by 75 mg daily). The primary endpoint was the rate of HPR, defined as VerifyNow-P2Y12 reaction unit (PRU)235, at 24 h post loading.Prasugrel achieved a lower PRU compared to clopidogrel after loading (119 [56-175] vs. 245 [189-299]), at 24 h (34 [8-58] vs. 196 [122-244]), and at 30 days (134 [98-189] vs. 203 [144-248]). Prasugrel had a lower rate of HPR after loading (5.7% vs. 57.1%, p0.001), at 24 h (2.9% vs. 28.6%, p=0.006), and at 30 days (11.4% vs. 34.3%, p=0.004). Prasugrel had a similar rate of optimal platelet reactivity at 30 days (71.4% vs. 60.0%, p=0.450). There was no significant difference in the occurrence of periprocedural myonecrosis within 48 h after PCI with clopidogrel and prasugrel (22.9% vs. 17.1%, p0.960).Half-dose prasugrel provided potent platelet inhibition in NSTE-ACS patients that were carriers of the CYP2C19*2 or *3 allele, with a lower rate of HPR. Periprocedural myonecrosis was not significantly different in the 2 groups.

The thermal insulating properties of polymer greatly restrict the application of polymer as the thermal conductivity materials in industry. Multilayer graphene was chosen as a filler due to its unique thermal transfer property. The effect of alumina oxide (Al2O3) and silicon carbide (SiC) with graphene as hybrid fillers on thermal conductivity of polymers was also explored. The thermal conductivity of the composites enhances 161% with 3%(mass fraction) graphene content compared to pure nylon-6(PA6). The thermal conductivity of PA6 composites is within 0.653-4.307W·m-1·K-1 by adjusting hybrid fillers content and the ratio of graphene with Al2O3 and SiC. The best thermal conductivity is 20 times higher than the pure PA6. It is no doubt that the exploration can provide valuable experimental basis for extending the utilization of graphene as thermal conductivity filler and the application of PA6 thermal conductivity materials in industry.

As an important means of regulating ligands, steric hindrance effect is always the first choice to construct structures. It is rare to assemble complexes with different topological and structural types by increasing or decreasing the steric hindrance of ligands and to regulate their properties. Here, we successfully obtained two types of lanthanide structures [Ln(H2L1)(NO3)3]n (1: Dy; 2: Gd, H2L1 ​= ​6,6'-((1E,1′E)-((2,2-dimethylpropane-1,3-diyl)bis(azanylylidene))bis(methanylylidene))bis(2-methoxyphenol)) and [Ln2(H2L2)3(NO3)6]·(CH3CN)x·(CH3OH)y (3: Dy, x ​= ​3, y ​= ​0; 4: Gd, x ​= ​y ​= ​2, H2L2 ​= ​6,6'-((1E,1′E)-((2,2-dimethylpropane-1,3-diyl)bis(azanylylidene))bis(methanylylidene))bis(2-ethoxyphenol)), which are controlled by ligands with the steric hindrance effect. For the all structures, the ligands are distorted when they coordinate with lanthanide ions, which make the ligands form helical structures around Ln(III) ions. For chains 1 and 2, there is a single twisted ligand bridging to form a one-dimensional spiral chain between the Ln(III) ion and the Ln(III) ion. But for complexes 3 and 4, there is a helical dinuclear structure formed by the cross-bridging of a double twisted ligand between the Ln(III) ion and the Ln(III) ion. AC magnetic susceptibilities show that chain 1 is a single-molecule magnet (SMM), which exhibits obviously frequency dependent behavior with the energy barriers of 39.6 (3) K and 44.6 (5) K, but complex 3 shows field-induced single-molecule magnetic behavior. The magnetocaloric effects (MCEs) show that chain 2 has bigger value of S than that of complex 4.

Ponkan is one of the two easy-peeling mandarins grown in China, and ‘Xinnu’ Ponkan ( Citrus reticulata Blanco) is a major cultivar in the industry. We selected a spontaneous mutant of ‘Xinnu’ named ‘Zaomi’ Ponkan. Compared to the wild type, ‘Zaomi’ Ponkan exhibited alternating agronomic traits comprising earlier colouring, thinner peel, fewer seeds and higher sugar content. Pollen analysis showed that ‘Zaomi’ produced a greater number of deformed, nonviable pollen grains. Experiments in self- and cross-pollination suggested that self-incompatibility of ‘Zaomi’ contributes to the seedlessness of ‘Zaomi’ × ‘Zaomi’. Fruit quality analysis demonstrated that ‘Zaomi’ was a high-sugar mutant that was not affected by pollinating combination. This study on the fruit characteristics of ‘Zaomi’ indicates that partial male sterility and self-incompatibility contributes to fewer or no seeds; natural pollination promotes the overall fruit quality of ‘Zaomi’ Ponkan. These results provide an explanation of the seed formation of ‘Zaomi’ Ponkan and supply information relevant to its commercial planting.

Rock mass unloading is an important rock engineering problem because unloading may impact the stability of a rock mass slope. Based on hydroelectric engineering principles, this study focuses on the classification of unloading zones to reflect the rock mass structure characteristics. Geological background and slope structure of the study region were considered to investigate the distribution and deformation of the unloading process. Quantitative indices were classified according to the formation mechanisms and the geological exhibition of unloading zones. The P-wave velocity (VP), the ratio of the wave velocity (KV, the ratio of the test P-wave velocity along the adit depth to the P-wave velocity of intact rock), the sum of joint openings every 2 meters (St), and the density of open joints (Dt) were calculated as quantitative indices for the rock mass unloading zone. The characteristics of the unloading zone of rock mass slopes at the dam site were successfully determined. The method of combining qualitative data with quantitative indices was found to be effective for the classification of slope unloading zones.