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The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between platelet microRNA-96 (miR-96) expression levels and the occurrence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in orthopedic patients. A total of consecutive 69 orthopedic patients with DVT and 30 healthy individuals were enrolled. Ultrasonic color Doppler imaging was performed on lower limb veins after orthopedic surgery to determine the occurrence of DVT. An enzyme-linked fluorescent assay was performed to detect the levels of D-dimer in plasma. A quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay was performed to determine the expression levels of miR-96. Expression levels of platelet miR-96 were significantly increased in orthopedic patients after orthopedic surgery. miR-96 expression levels in orthopedic patients with DVT at days 1, 3 and 7 after orthopedic surgery were significantly increased when compared with those in the control group. The increased miR-96 expression levels were correlated with plasma D-dimer levels in orthopedic patients with DVT. However, for the orthopedic patients in the non-DVT group following surgery, miR-96 expression levels were correlated with plasma D-dimer levels. In summary, the present results suggest that the expression levels of miR-96 may be associated with the occurrence of DVT. The occurrence of DVT may be accurately predicted by comprehensive analysis of the levels of miR-96 and plasma D-dimer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrocatalyst layers of the oxygen electrode with various Nafion loading for water electrolyzer with polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM-type) were prepared, and the relationship between Nafion loading in the oxygen electrode and the performance of PEMtype water electrolyzer were examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Steady-state galvanostatic polarization (GP). It is found that the appropriate Nafion loading in the oxygen electrode (i.e., 0.5 and 1.0 mg/cm2) can increase the electrochemically active area and decrease resistance of electrocatalyst layer. The decrease in working voltage for water electrolyzer with 0.5 and 1.0 mg/cm2 Nafion loading was 0.23 and 0.19 V at a current density of 1A/cm2, compared with that of water electrolyzer without Nafion loading (2.25V). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The in situ heterogeneous catalytic reaction of formic acid decomposition was applied as a 'reaction template' in the synthesis of porous Pd black. The obtained porous Pd black was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, electrochemical measurements and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that the porous Pd black had a high electrochemical active surface area of about 40:2 m2 g-1 and a clean surface. It could be used directly as a catalyst in many fields such as fuel cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel nitrogen doped carbon-graphene support for a direct methanol fuel cell was synthesised via thermal decomposition of the graphene oxide-polypyrrole composite. The supported catalysts show considerable enhancement of activity and stability towards themethanol electro-oxidation reaction. Physical characterizations reveal that the enhanced performance was due to a uniform particle dispersion and modified electronic structure of platinum nanoparticles by the support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Deep learning (DL), a specialized form of machine learning (ML), is valuable for forecasting survival in various diseases. Its clinical applicability in real-world patients with gastric cancer (GC) has yet to be extensively validated. Methods A combined cohort of 11,414 GC patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database and 2,846 patients from a Chinese dataset were utilized. The internal validation of different algorithms, including DL model, traditional ML models, and American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage model, was conducted by training and testing sets on the SEER database, followed by external validation on the Chinese dataset. The performance of the algorithms was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, decision curve, and calibration curve. Results DL model demonstrated superior performance in terms of the area under the curve (AUC) at 1, 3, and, 5 years post-surgery across both datasets, surpassing other ML models and AJCC stage model, with AUCs of 0.77, 0.80, and 0.82 in the SEER dataset and 0.77, 0.76, and 0.75 in the Chinese dataset, respectively. Furthermore, decision curve analysis revealed that the DL model yielded greater net gains at 3 years than other ML models and AJCC stage model, and calibration plots at 3 years indicated a favorable level of consistency between the ML and actual observations during external validation. Conclusions DL-based model was established to accurately predict the survival rate of postoperative patients with GC [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the bridge is a large civil engineering, it is very difficult for air force to attack because of its structural characteristics, and there is a big controversy on the attack methods. Based on the grey correlation theory, the operational thinking and operational law are highlighted, and the weight of the correlation degree is improved by combining with analytic hierarchy process. A method for selecting the strike position of bridge targets is studied, which meets the objective and actual combat need. The method is proved by an example, and it can provide a combination of qualitative and quantitative reference for the decision-making of attacking bridge targets in wartime.

To enhance the temperature uniformity and NOx reduction performance of the gasfired radiant tubes, we proposed a new multi-stage dispersed burner based on fuel-staging combustion technology in this study. The effect of fuel nozzle structural parameters, including secondary fuel nozzle distance, D, (30 mm, 50 mm, 70 mm), secondary fuel nozzle diameter, ds, (2-6 mm), and tertiary fuel nozzle diameter, dt, (2.5 mm, 5 mm, 7.5 mm, 10 mm) on the flow field, temperature distribution, NOx generation and thermal efficiency were analyzed by numerical simulations. The results show that the multi-stage dispersed fuel nozzle could slow down the combustion rate and form a low oxygen dilution zone in the reaction process, reducing the maximum combustion temperature and NOx emission. With the increase of the secondary fuel nozzle distance, the NOx concentration at the outlet decreased from 69.0 ppm to 54.6 ppm, and a decrease of 20.9%. When the secondary fuel nozzle diameter increased from 2-6 mm, the maximum wall temperature difference gradually increased 72.8-76.3 K. The NOx emission at the outlet first decreased, then increased, and was as low as 45.6 ppm at a 5 mm diameter. Furthermore, increasing the tertiary fuel nozzle diameter could reduce the maximum wall temperature difference and NOx emission, and improve thermal efficiency. When dt = 7.5 mm, the overall performance of the radiant tube was the best, and the outlet NOx concentration, wall temperature difference and thermal efficiency were 46.1 ppm, 73.0 K, 63.7%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CO electrooxidation is long considered invincible in the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), where even a trace level of CO in H2 seriously poisons the anode catalysts and leads to huge performance decay. Here, we describe a class of atomically dispersed IrRu-N-C anode catalysts capable of oxidizing CO, H2, or a combination of the two. With a small amount of metal (24 µgmetal·cm-2) used in the anode, the H2 fuel cell performs its peak power density at 1.43 W·cm-2. When operating with pure CO, this catalyst exhibits its maximum current density at 800 mA·cm-2, while the Pt/C-based cell ceases to work. We attribute this exceptional catalytic behavior to the interplay between Ir and Ru singleatom centers, where the two sites act in synergy to favorably decompose H2O and to further facilitate CO activation. These findings open up an avenue to conquer the formidable poisoning issue of PEMFCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine against invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) was introduced in China in April 2017. We describe 105 children <5 years of age who were hospitalized for IPD at Soochow University Affiliated Children's Hospital in Suzhou, China, during January 2010-December 2017. We calculated the incidence of hospitalization for IPD as 14.55/100,000 children in Suzhou. We identified 8 different capsular serotypes: 6B (28.4% of cases), 14 (18.9% of cases), 19A (18.9% of cases), 19F (12.2% of cases), 23F (10.8% of cases), 20 (4.1% of cases), 9V (4.1% of cases), and 15B/C (2.7% of cases). These results provide baseline data of IPD before the introduction of this vaccine in China, enabling researchers to better understand its effects on IPD incidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work a nonmonotonic dependence of standard rate constant (k0) on reorganization energy (λ) was discovered qualitatively from electron transfer (Marcus-Hush-Levich) theory for heterogeneous electron transfer processes on electrode surface. It was found that the nonmonotonic dependence of k0 on λ is another result, besides the disappearance of the famous Marcus inverted region, coming from the continuum of electronic states in electrode: with the increase of λ, the states for both Process I and Process II ET processes all vary from nonadiabatic to adiabatic state continuously, and the λ dependence of k0 for Process I is monotonic thoroughly, while for Process II on electrode surface the λ dependence of k0 could show a nonmonotonicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]