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In response to thermal runaway (TR) of electric vehicles, recent attention has been focused on mitigation strategies such as efficient heat dredging in battery thermal management. Thermal management with particular focus on battery cooling has been becoming increasingly significant. TR usually happened when an electric vehicle is unpowered and charged. In this state, traditional active battery cooling schemes are disabled, which can easily lead to dangerous incidents due to loss of cooling ability, and advanced passive cooling strategies are therefore gaining importance. Herein, we developed an enhanced thermal radiation material, consisting of ∼1 ​μm thick multilayered nano-sheet graphene film coated upon the heat dissipation surface, thereby enhancing thermal radiation in the nanoscale. The surface was characterized on the nanoscale, and tested in a battery-cooling scenario. We found that the graphene-based coating's spectral emissivity is between 91 ​% and 95 ​% in the mid-infrared region, and thermal experiments consequently illustrated that graphene-based radiative cooling yielded up to 15.1 ​% temperature reduction when compared to the uncoated analogue. Using the novel graphene surface to augment a heat pipe, the temperature reduction can be further enlarged to 25.6 ​%. The new material may contribute to transportation safety, global warming mitigation and carbon neutralization.

Isothermal uniaxial compression experiments were performed in the temperature range of 340–460 °C and the deformation rate range of 0.001–1 s−1 to analyze the hot deformation behavior of the rapidly-solidified Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy in hot isostatic pressing state. A strain-compensated constitutive model was established to determine the flow stress in the alloy (based on the true stress-true strain data), and the average activation energy for the hot deformation was calculated as Q = ∼146 kJ/mol. The proposed model exhibited a high predictability with an average absolute relative error of 2.68% and a correlation coefficient of 0.99724. The processing map revealed that the alloy in the hot isostatic pressed state offers better workability than the spray-deposited alloy, and its optimal workable ranges at a strain of 0.78 are 370–390 °C/0.004–0.01 s−1 and 400–460 °C/0.005–0.06 s−1, respectively. The microstructural evolution shows that the main dynamic softening mechanism changes from dynamic recovery to continuous dynamic recrystallization with the increase in temperature and the decrease in strain rate.

The adaptive single-mode fiber (SMF) coupling technique is normally adopted since the coupling efficiency (CE) significantly determines the performance of the free-space optical communication (FSOC) systems. The stochastic parallel gradient descent (SPGD) algorithm is the most commonly used control algorithm in adaptive SMF fiber coupling system. This paper proposes an improved SPGD algorithm named estimation-based stochastic parallel gradient descent (ESPGD) algorithm to accelerate the sytem convergence when applied to a practical adaptive SMF coupling system based on fast steering mirror (FSM). Applying the perturbed voltages, FSM dynamic response and then recording the performance metrics is the basic and most time-consuming process in actual adaptive SMF coupling system control. The ESPGD algorithm uses a different gradient estimation method based on adaptive parameter estimation method. The algorithm only needs to perform this process once in one iteration while the original SPGD algorithm needs to perform it twice to obtain the estimated gradient. This greatly reduce the time consumed by one iteration of the algorithm, thereby reducing the convergence time. The simulation and experimental results show that the ESPGD algorithm reduces the system convergence time by nearly half when correcting static angular errors and more than doubles the control bandwidth when correcting sinusoidal angular jitters.

The deterioration of winding defects is one of the important causes of power transformer fires and even explosion failures. The change of leakage magnetic field distribution is the most direct response to winding defects. Currently there are few sensors suitable for online measurement of the internal magnetic field of transformers. Based on the Faraday magneto-optical effect, a magnetic field sensor with wide range and high sensitivity is proposed in this paper, which is suitable for the interior use of transformers. The straight-through optical structure with interior polarizer is adopted, and the sensor has a measurement range of 1.5 T and a sensitivity of 1 mT. It also possesses a small size, with a length of about 30 mm after encapsulation. The influence mechanism of vibration and temperature is revealed through theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. It is proposed to filter out the interference of vibration by characteristic frequency analysis and to compensate for temperature by a two-probe structure. An anti-interference test verifies the effectiveness of this method, and it can reduce the error from 80.56% to 2.63% under the combined interference of vibration and temperature.

Pressure monitoring of a transformer oil tank can grasp the pressure change process caused by gas production when severe internal defects occur and take timely measures to ensure the safe operation of the transformer. Existing pressure sensors generally use metal encapsulation or have an air cavity structure, threatening the transformer's insulation if it is directly used inside the transformer. To this end, this paper proposes a method for developing a high-sensitivity, large-range, and metallization-free optical pressure sensing device with temperature compensation. Fiber grating is encapsulated by fluorosilicone rubber and supplemented by an epoxy resin shielding shell on the outside. At the same time, a double-grating vertical arrangement is adopted to improve pressure measurement sensitivity, further avoiding the influence of temperature rise caused by a defect of the transformer on the measurement result of the sensor. In addition, by optimizing the geometric structure of the internal sensitizing element, pre-stretching length of the fiber grating, gap distance, and other parameters, probe size can be reduced while ensuring the sensor's performance. Results show the proposed method can meet the requirements of sensor fabrication with different sensitivities and ranges, and to a certain extent, both high sensitivity and extensive ranges can be taken into account. The sensitivity of the fabricated prototype is 15 pm/kPa, and the range is about 0.2 MPa. At the same time, the metal-free feature of the sensor makes it suitable for use in various oil-immersed power equipment. It records oil pressure changes caused by oil discharge breakdown, making it sensitive to small pressure changes in early failures.

Oil-pressboard/paper insulation materials are essential in transformers for ensuring their safe and stable operation, primarily due to their roles in spatial electric field distribution and charge migration mechanisms. Current spatial distribution analyses rely on computational methods that lack empirical validation, particularly for oil-pressboard/paper composites. This study leverages the principles of the Kerr electro-optic effect to develop a rapid measurement platform for electric fields within oil-pressboard/paper insulation under impulse voltage conditions, which measures the spatial electric field characteristics using Cu-Cu and Al-Al electrodes under various scenarios: with asymmetric and symmetric pressboard coverage and different numbers of insulating paper layers. Findings indicated: (1) In asymmetric pressboard models, Cu-Cu electrodes exhibit a consistent peak electric field of approximately 16 kV/mm, while Al-Al electrodes show peak values of 18.13 kV/mm and −14.98 kV/mm. Charge density patterns are similar, with Cu-Cu at about 68 μC/m2 and Al-Al at 11.2 μC/m2 and −124.8 μC/m2. (2) Symmetric models present consistent peak electric fields and charge densities for both polarities. (3) Increasing insulating paper layers elevates electric field strengths. Both electrodes show the similar peak field of about 17 kV/mm with differing paper layers due to higher charge injection from the Al electrode. (4) Utilizing the Schottky effect and field emission principles, the study clarifies charge generation and migration mechanisms. These insights could provide a theoretical foundation for designing and verifying oil-pressboard/paper insulation structures in transformers.

Abstract Background Esophageal cancer (ESCA) is a highly invasive malignant tumor with poor prognosis. This study aimed to discover a generalized and high‐sensitivity immune prognostic signature that could stratify ESCA patients and predict their overall survival, and to discover potential therapeutic drugs by the connectivity map. Methods The key gene modules significantly related to clinical traits (survival time and state) of ESCA patients were selected by weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WCGNA), then the univariate and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression analyses were used to construct a 15‐immune‐related gene prognostic signature. Results The immune‐related risk model was related to clinical and pathologic factors and remained an effective independent prognostic factor. Enrichment analyses revealed that the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of the high‐ and low‐risk groups were associated with tumor cell proliferation and immune mechanisms. Based on the gathered data, a small molecule drug named perphenazine (PPZ) was elected. The pharmacological analysis indicates that PPZ could help in adjuvant therapy of ESCA through regulation of metabolic process and cellular proliferation, enhancement of immunologic functions, and inhibition of inflammatory reactions. Furthermore, molecular docking was performed to explore and verify the PPZ‐core target interactions. Conclusion We succeed in structuring the immune‐related prognostic model, which could be used to distinguish and predict patients' survival outcome, and screening a small molecule drug named PPZ. Prospective studies also are needed to further validate its analytical accuracy for estimating prognoses and confirm the potential use of PPZ for treating ESCA.

In order to obtain the best extraction process of sulfated polysaccharides from Kappaphycus alvarezii and determine its antiallergic activity, the single factor experiments were carried out firstly. The polysaccharides yield of Kappaphycus alvarezii was chose as the investigation index, and the ratio of material to liquid, ultrasonic pretreatment time and extraction time were selected for Box-Behnken response surface design. Then the extracted crude polysaccharides was purified through the DEAE-52 cellulose chromatography column. The effects of the purified polysaccharides on RBL-2H3 cell viability, inhibition of cell degranulation and regulation of histamine release were measured by RBL-2H3 cell model method. The results showed that the optimum extraction condition of polysaccharides from Kappaphycus alvarezii was as follows: The ratio of material to liquid (w/v) was 1:92 g/mL, the ultrasonic pretreatment time was 40 min, and the extraction time was 4 h. Under the optimum extraction conditions, the extraction rate of polysaccharides from Kappaphycus alvarezii was 13.92%. The KSP（Kappaphycus alvarezii Sulfated Polysaccharides）, a component purified by DEAE-52 cellulose chromatography, had no significant inhibition on the activity of RBL-2H3 cells in the concentration range from 50 to 1200 μg/mL, and also had no cytotoxicity. The β-Hexosaminidase activity and histamine release inhibition rates of RBL-2H3 cells stimulated by 2,4-Dinitrophenyl-Bovine Serum Albumin (DNP-BSA) with 25, 50 and 100 μg/mL KSP were 36.3%, 37.0%, 51.7%, and 17.5%, 18.3%, 42.0% respectively. In conclusion, the process parameters obtained in this test are feasible, KSP had no obvious toxicity to RBL-2H3 cells and showed significant inhibition of degranulation and histamine release, with good in vitro anti-allergic activity. This study can provide a reference for the development of nutritional functional food with anti-allergic activity using Kappaphycus alvarezii as raw material.

Abstract Porphyra dentata is widely cultivated for its rich nutritional value and superior palatability. However, its quality varies with harvest time and there is a lack of understanding of the molecular mechanism of quality differences. Photosynthesis is a key factor in human‐mediated plant development and quality formation and changes. To explore the quality impact of photosynthesis on P. dentata, we compared transcriptomic and proteogenomic data of the first and fifth harvests. Of the 53,580 genes detected in this study, 7073 were identified as differentally expressed genes by RNA‐seq, and 462 showed differential expression between genes and proteins in proteogenomics. The results show that quality differences between harvest periods were regulated by proteins and genes from the allophycocyanin, Lhca1, chloroplast processing enzyme, and phycocyanin families. Generated cell tissue passivated continuously, the blades gradually became thicker and darker and had an increased degree of lignification, decreased protein levels, increased carbohydrate levels, and decreased quality. Our results demonstrate the complementary power of transcriptomics and proteogenomics and provide a rich database for quality improvement or evolutionary function analysis of P. dentata.

The flexible parallel mechanism is widely utilized in precision instruments, thanks to its numerous advantages, such as high precision, frictionless operation, and seamless movements. The establishment of the motion equations for this mechanism is crucial for designing, analyzing, controlling, and simulating parallel mechanisms. While the existing inverse kinematics solution theory is comprehensive, developing a forward solution model is challenging due to the nonlinear nature of the attitude equation. To address this issue, a new method based on the transfer matrix approach is proposed in this research to calculate the forward kinematics of parallel mechanisms. The proposed method is applied to analyze the forward kinematics and workspace of both planar and spatial flexible mechanisms. Simulation calculations and experiments are conducted to verify the method’s effectiveness. The results demonstrate that the error is approximately 2%, indicating the feasibility and accuracy of the calculation method.

In human–computer interaction interfaces, icons serve as highly symbolic elements that convey information and significantly influence the performance of visual search and other tasks. Thus, the selection of appropriate colors plays a crucial role in the design of human–computer interfaces. This study aimed to investigate the effects of icon color combinations on human visual search task performance across various cognitive load conditions. The experiment was divided into two parts, involving a cognitive load test experiment and an icon search task, wherein the former required participants to select the target icon from 16 de-colored icons, and the latter involved selecting the target icon from 16 color combinations of 8 colors (background colors: black, red, blue, and purple; foreground colors: white, yellow, green, and turquoise). A total of 20 participants (11 females and 9 males, all aged between 18 and 24 years) were recruited for this experiment to perform both tasks sequentially. Through a comprehensive consideration of factors such as the NASA-TLX scale, retrieval time, etc., the experimental results revealed that cognitive load increased with time pressure, resulting in varying optimal color combinations for different cognitive load levels. Additionally, background colors did not affect task response time under different cognitive loads, whereas white foreground color was superior to turquoise foreground color in a medium cognitive load environment. Meanwhile, our results recommend prioritizing white-on-black as the preferred color combination, given that it demonstrated excellent cognitive performance in all three cognitive load environments. Conversely, white-on-blue is not recommended as a color combination for the design of high cognitive load environments. Concerning medium cognitive load environments, yellow-on-red or white-on-purple color combinations were preferred. Finally, in low cognitive load environments, white-on-purple is recommended as the primary color combination. Overall, this study provides a theoretical reference for the future design of interactive interface icons across various contexts.

Development of biocompatible and biodegradable 3D scaffold for biomedical application has been challenging. Herein, the application of a novel nanocomposite 3D scaffold based on poly vinyl alcohol and sodium alginate embedded with Ca2+ doped titanium dioxide nanoparticle (PVA + SA/Ca@TiO2) as bioactive material was investigated. The 3D scaffold was prepared using a solvent casting method and characterized using FTIR, SEM, XRD and TGA to study their physiochemical properties. The spectroscopy techniques were used to confirm the formation of the required poly vinyl alcohol and sodium alginate with Ca doped TiO2 nanoparticles fillers interaction by the identification of bands. The TiOH bonds and the bonds related to the interconnected network between the inorganic and the organic components from hybrids. The PVA + SA/Ca@TiO2 nanocomposite 3D scaffold was demonstrated good bioactivity to promote nucleation and growth of hydroxyapatite (HAp) in the simulated body fluid. The PVA + SA/Ca@TiO2 nanocomposite 3D scaffold supported the growth and proliferation of 3 T3 mouse fibroblast cells with strong proliferation and cell attachment. The biocompatibility and nontoxic character of the 3D scaffold was probed using fibroblast cell with over 90 % of cell viability. It offers a potential for cell attachment and captured for biomedical application.

BackgroundPediatric liver transplantation is an important modality for treating biliary atresia. The overall survival rate of pediatric liver transplantation has significantly improved. The incidence of perioperative cardiac events was evaluated, and risk factors were also investigated in adult patients undergoing liver transplantation in previous studies. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of a cardiac event during a pediatric living-donor liver transplantation.Case summaryOur report describes the management of cardiac events during a liver transplantation in a 7-month-old girl. The ST segment began to increase to 3.0 mm immediately after reperfusion, with peak ST-segment elevation reaching 13.2 mm after 45 min. The procedure ended uneventfully after continuous symptomatic and etiological treatment. It was considered to be the occurrence of an acute air embolism complication during the procedure based on the electrocardiograph and biomarkers. An echocardiogram during follow-up showed a patent foramen ovale with a left-to-right shunt tract width of 2.7 mm.DiscussionPediatric liver transplantation has become a state-of-the-art treatment for children with end-stage liver disease and can improve the quality of life to some extent. These children may be complicated with congenital heart disease, which increases the risk of surgery. Application of echocardiogram, close monitoring, and appropriate management may reduce the incidence of perioperative cardiac events.

Abstract The current continuity equation is usually applied to solve DC electric field distribution when there is inhomogeneous material conductivity due to temperature gradient or multi‐layer dielectrics. However, in the presence of charge accumulation, which may result from the process of electrode injection, impurity ionisation or charge trapping, the material conductivity is in tangled relationship with local field strength, and the current continuity equation can be hardly applied due to the ignorance of conductivity distribution. Thus, quantitative analysis on the effect of space (surface) charge for DC apparatus with inhomogeneous material conductivity has been a difficult problem, which requires a complicated physical model to solve. This paper has proposed a simple method to compute the synergetic influence of inhomogeneous conductivity and the space charge on the DC field distribution; through assigning bulk (interface) charge as functions of local material conductivity and field strength, the effect of inhomogeneous conductivity can be incorporated in Gauss' law and the space charge accumulation can be further included in the equation. The effect of space (surface) charge on electric field distribution in DC apparatus with temperature gradient as well as multiple‐layer dielectrics is simulated through the proposed method, which shows that the method has offered a convenient approach for investigating the effect of charge accumulation on DC field distribution under various insulation structure and working conditions.

The active substances derived from plants have received increasing attention owing to their wide range of pharmacological applications, including anti-tumor, anti-allergic, anti-viral, and anti-oxidative activities. The allergy epidemic is a growing global public health problem that threatens human health and safety. Polyphenols from plants have significant anti-allergic effects and are an important source of anti-allergic drug research and development. Here, we describe recent advances in the anti-allergic efficacy of plant polyphenols, including their comprehensive effects on cellular or animal models. The current issues and directions for future development in this field are discussed to provide a theoretical basis for the development and utilization of these active substances as anti-allergic products.

BackgroundAlthough dexmedetomidine (DEX) is widely used during the perioperative period in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), its clinical effects on liver function and postoperative inflammation are unclear. This study aimed to explore effects of DEX on postoperative liver function and inflammation in patients with HCC after hepatectomy.MethodsA retrospective cohort study with propensity score matching was performed. A total of 494 patients who underwent hepatectomy from June 2019 to July 2020 and fulfilled the eligibility criteria were included in this study. Baseline data, liver function indexes and inflammation-related biomarkers were collected and compared between the two groups. Survival analysis was conducted to investigate the effects of DEX on the overall survival (OS) of patients. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to minimize bias between the two groups.ResultsThe study cohort comprised 189 patients in the DEX-free group and 305 patients in the DEX group. Patients in the DEX group had lower levels of alanine transaminase (ALT, P = 0.018) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH, P = 0.046) and higher level of serum albumin (ALB, P < 0.001) than patients in the DEX-free group before discharge. A total of 107 pairs of patients were successfully matched by PSM. Results consistently suggested that ALT and LDH levels were significantly lower (P = 0.044 and P = 0.046, respectively) and ALB levels were significantly higher (P = 0.002) in the DEX group than in the DEX-free group in the early postoperative period. No significant differences of inflammation-related biomarkers were observed between two groups after PSM. Neither the Kaplan–Meier survival analysis nor the multiple Cox regression survival analysis identified DEX as a contributing factor that would affect the OS of patients after PSM.ConclusionDEX exerts protective effects on liver function while has little effects on inflammation-related biomarkers in the early postoperative period in patients undergoing hepatectomy due to HCC.

Compliant amplifying mechanisms are used widely in high-precision instruments driven by piezoelectric actuators, and the dynamic and static characteristics of these mechanisms are closely related to instrument performance. Although the majority of existing research has focused on analysis of their static characteristics, the dynamic characteristics of the mechanisms affect their response speeds directly. Therefore, this paper proposes a comprehensive theoretical model of compliant-amplifying mechanisms based on the multi-body system transfer matrix method to analyze the dynamic and static characteristics of these mechanisms. The effects of the main amplifying mechanism parameters on the displacement amplification ratio and the resonance frequency are analyzed comprehensively using the control variable method. An iterative optimization algorithm is also used to obtain specific parameters that meet the design requirements. Finally, simulation analyses and experimental verification tests are performed. The results indicate the feasibility of using the proposed theoretical compliant-amplifying mechanism model to describe the mechanism’s dynamic and static characteristics, which represents a significant contribution to the design and optimization of compliant-amplifying mechanisms.

Forest fires are one of the most serious natural disasters that threaten forest resources. The early and accurate identification of forest fires is crucial for reducing losses. Compared with satellites and sensors, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are widely used in forest fire monitoring tasks due to their flexibility and wide coverage. The key to fire monitoring is to accurately segment the area where the fire is located in the image. However, for early forest fire monitoring, fires captured remotely by UAVs have the characteristics of a small area, irregular contour, and susceptibility to forest cover, making the accurate segmentation of fire areas from images a challenge. This article proposes an FBC-ANet network architecture that integrates boundary enhancement modules and context-aware modules into a lightweight encoder–decoder network. FBC-Anet can extract deep semantic features from images and enhance shallow edge features, thereby achieving an effective segmentation of forest fire areas in the image. The FBC-ANet model uses an Xception network as the backbone of an encoder to extract features of different scales from images. By transforming the extracted deep semantic features through the CIA module, the model’s feature learning ability for fire pixels is enhanced, making feature extraction more robust. FBC-ANet integrates the decoder into the BEM module to enhance the extraction of shallow edge features in images. The experimental results indicate that the FBC-ANet model has a better segmentation performance for small target forest fires compared to the baseline model. The segmentation accuracy on the dataset FLAME is 92.19%, the F1 score is 90.76%, and the IoU reaches 83.08%. This indicates that the FBC-ANet model can indeed extract more valuable features related to fire in the image, thereby better segmenting the fire area from the image.

Abstract Background Histone deacetylases (HDACs) have been demonstrated to be aberrantly activated in tumorigenesis and cancer development. Thus, HDAC inhibitors (HDACIs) are considered to be promising anti‐cancer therapeutics. However, recent studies have shown that HDACIs promote the migration of many cancer cells. Therefore, there is a need to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of HDACIs on cancer cell migration to establish a combination therapy that overcomes HDACI‐induced cell migration. Methods KYSE‐150 and EC9706 cells were treated differently. Effects of drugs and siRNA treatment on tumor cell migration and cell signaling pathways were investigated by transwell migration assy. Gene expression for SNAI2 was tested by RT‐qPCR. Western blot analysis was employed to detect the level of E‐cadherin, β‐catenin, vimentin,Slug，ERK1/2, H3, PAI‐1 and BRD4. The effect of drugs on cell morphology was evaluated through phase‐contrast microscopic images. Results TSA promotes epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) in ESCC cells by downregulating the epithelial marker E‐cadherin and upregulating mesenchymal markers β‐catenin, vimentin, Slug, and PAI‐1. Knockdown of Slug by siRNA or inhibition of PAI‐1 clearly suppressed TSA‐induced ESCC cell migration and resulted in the reversal of TSA‐triggered E‐cadherin, β‐catenin, and vimentin expression. However, no crosstalk between Slug and PAI‐1 was observed in TSA‐treated ESCC cells. Blocking ERK1/2 activation also inhibited TSA‐induced ESCC cell migration, EMT, and upregulation of Slug and PAI‐1 levels in ESCC cells. Interestingly, inhibition of BRD4 suppressed TSA‐induced ESCC cell migration and attenuated TSA‐induced ERK1/2 activation and upregulation of Slug and PAI‐1 levels. Conclusions Our data indicate the existence of at least two separable ERK1/2‐dependent signaling pathways in TSA‐mediated ESCC cell migration: an ERK1/2–Slug branch and an ERK1/2‐PAI‐1 branch. Both branches of TSA‐induced ESCC cell migration appear to favor the EMT process, while BRD4 is responsible for two separable ERK1/2‐dependent signaling pathways in TSA‐mediated ESCC cell migration.

Abstract The moisture content has a great influence on the electric insulation strength of oil‐pressboard. Therefore, it is very important to assess the moisture content in power transformers. There is lack of research about the effect of DC electric field on moisture migration. Here, the authors analyse the moisture migration characteristics of oil‐pressboard under DC electric field. The DC electric field has a greater influence on the moisture content in the oil. Compared with no DC electric field, the moisture content in oil is reduced by 22.91 mg/L at 50°C, while it is reduced by 17.63 mg/L at 70°C. Under the same moisture content in the oil, the moisture content in the pressboard which affected by the DC electric field is higher than the Oommen curve, the maximum difference is 0.88% at 50°C, and 0.05% at 70°C. This result can provide a reference for the revision of existing moisture assessment methods.

Porphyra dentata is an edible red seaweed with high nutritional value. It is widely cultivated and consumed in East Asia and has vast economic benefits. Studies have found that P. dentata is rich in bioactive substances and is a potential natural resource. In this study, label-free shotgun proteomics was first applied to identify and characterize different harvest proteins in P. dentata. A total of 13,046 different peptides were identified and 419 co-expression target proteins were characterized. Bioinformatics was used to study protein characteristics, functional expression, and interaction of two important functional annotations, amino acid, and carbohydrate metabolism. Potential bioactive peptides, protein structure, and potential ligand conformations were predicted, and the results suggest that bioactive peptides may be utilized as high-quality active fermentation substances and potential targets for drug production. Our research integrated the global protein database, the first time bioinformatic analysis of the P. dentata proteome during different harvest periods, improves the information database construction and provides a framework for future research based on a comprehensive understanding.

This research aimed to analyze structural characterization and hypolipidemic activity in vitro of G. lemaneiformis polysaccharide (GLP) and its degradation products. The results presented that the content of galacturonic acid declined and glucuronic acid level enhanced, average particle size decreased from 99.9 μm to 25.7 μm, and color brightness of polysaccharide strengthened after degraded by H2O2-Vc. There was no significant change in thermal stability of polysaccharide before and after degradation. It was observed in AFM analysis, polysaccharide changed to smaller, delicacy and dispersion after degradation. As seen in FT-IR, H2O2-Vc degradation never change the structure of polysaccharide. Polysaccharide and its degradation products showed a significant inhibition effect on pancreatic lipase and cholesterol esterase in a dose-dependent manner, which presented the mixed type of competitive and non-competitive for pancreatic lipase, and non-competitive for cholesterol esterase, respectively. The fluorescence quenching type was static on pancreatic lipase and dynamic on cholesterol esterase.

Abtsract Oil–paper composite insulation (OPCI) is used as the main insulation material in the converter transformer. However, the dielectric properties of insulating oil and oil‐impregnated paper are markedly mismatched under direct current (DC) voltage, resulting in an unbalanced distribution of voltage, which is considered to be a major cause of large insulation margin but frequent failures. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the voltage distribution in OPCI to enhance its breakdown strength. In this work, surface‐treated TiO2 nanoparticles were employed to modify OPCI. The polarisation current tests revealed that by changing the additive amount of nanoparticles, the polarisation intensities of both oil and oil‐impregnated paper could be adjusted. Based on this, a model taking relaxation polarisations into full consideration was established to analyse the voltage distribution in OPCI and predict the optimal concentration. The prepared OPCI with the concentration of 0.02 g/L has desired balanced voltage distribution due to the influence of nanoparticles on interface charge, and therefore high breakdown strengths under both DC voltage and polarity reversal voltage, which can be increased by 22.6% at most. This work puts forward a novel idea to improve insulation property of OPCI and provides a reference for broader application of nanomaterial in power equipment.

In this manuscript, a method of generating an ultra-long optical needle (depth-to-width ratio 37.5:1) is proposed and demonstrated by focusing an azimuthally polarized beam. In theory, the action mechanism between the incident beam and the amplitude modulation element, the spiral phase modulation element, the focusing lens were studied based on the Richards and Wolf's theory. The relationship between the intensity distribution of the optical needle and the structure parameter of the element were obtained, thus leading to the complete design model and design standard. In experiment, the annular amplitude modulation element and spiral phase modulation element were fabricated by lithography. The optical needle was obtained based on a custom-designed optical setup in our laboratory. The optical system consists of an annular aperture (3.9-mm inner diameter, 80-μm annular width), a spiral phase plate (topological charge of 1), and an objective lens with numerical aperture of 0.95. Finally, an optical needle with a subwavelength size (0.416λ) and an ultra-long depth of focus (15.6λ) was obtained, showing an excellent agreement with our theoretical model.

The imaging quality of sparse aperture telescope systems is degraded by several factors including design, manufacturing, and arrangement errors. To achieve a high-resolution, the optical system requires an accurate control of not only the wave-front errors such as the piston and tip-tilt but also the decenter errors. Decenter diminishes the field of view of synthetic systems heavily and causes frequency shifting as well. In this paper, we firstly present an approach to sense the decenter of the sparse aperture telescope using the multi-beam interference method based on phase shift and centroid extraction algorithm. The most attractive point of our method is that it can sense not only the decenter but also the other wave-front errors simultaneously, but does not need to install any additional sensors. The numerical simulations are described and preliminary experiments are performed for validation, demonstrating that this technique is efficient and accurate and could be used to guide future sparse aperture telescope error correction.

The condition of the transformer can be accurately assessed based on dissolved gas online monitoring and analysis technology. With the widespread use of Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA) technology, a large amount of dissolved gas time series data is obtained and forms DGA big data, which brings challenges to the data selection process of traditional condition assessment methods. Inaccurate results might be generated by selecting excessive or insufficient data from a long-span dissolved gas time series. The shorter dissolved gas time series fails to fully characterize the operation law of transformers, and the longer dissolved gas time series contains redundant information that results in inaccurate analysis models and excessive calculation consumption. This paper attempts to mine the optimal data selection rule of long-span dissolved gas time series for more accurate and efficient analysis. In this paper, C-C method was employed to calculate the phase space parameters of the time series. By analyzing the convergence of the correlation integral, the boundary conditions that maintain the time series phase space stability were revealed, and so was the relationship between the optimal length and the embedding dimension. The real cases show that the optimal data set provides the same accuracy and significantly improves the computation speed by 113.54 times. The optimal data selection rule eliminates redundant information in the long-span dissolved gas time series and retains the “optimal data”, which not only preserves the characteristics of the original data, but also improves the computation speed of transformer condition assessment.

Complex microbial metabolism is key to taste formation in high-quality fish sauce during fermentation. To guide quality supervision and targeted regulation, we analyzed the function of microbial flora during fermentation based on a previously developed metagenomic database. The abundance of most identified genes involved in metabolic functions showed an upward trend in abundance during fermentation. In total, 571 proteins extracted from fish sauce at different fermentation stages were identified. These proteins were mainly derived from Halanaerobium, Psychrobacter, Photobacterium, and Tetragenococcus. Functional annotation revealed 15 pathways related to amino acid metabolism, including alanine, aspartate, glutamate, and histidine metabolism; lysine degradation; and arginine biosynthesis. This study demonstrated the approaches to identify microbiota functions and metabolic pathways, thereby providing a theoretical basis for taste formation mechanisms during traditional fish sauce fermentation.

Abstract Background Perioperative ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury during liver transplantation is strongly associated with early allograft dysfunction (EAD), graft loss, and mortality. Hepatic I/R injury also causes remote damage to other organs including the renal and pulmonary systems. Dexmedetomidine (DEX), a selective α2-adrenoceptor agonist which is used as an adjuvant to general anesthesia, has been shown in preclinical studies to provide organ protection by ameliorating the effects of I/R injury in a range of tissues (including the liver). However, prospective clinical evidence of any potential benefits in improving outcomes in liver transplantation is lacking. This study aimed to verify the hypothesis that the application of dexmedetomidine during the perioperative period of liver transplantation can reduce the incidence of EAD and primary graft non-function (PNF). At the same time, the effects of dexmedetomidine application on perioperative renal function and lung function were studied. Methods This is a prospective, single-center, randomized, parallel-group study. Two hundred participants (18–65 years) scheduled to undergo liver transplantation under general anesthesia will be included in this study. For participants in the treatment group, a loading dose of DEX will be given after induction of anesthesia (1 μg/kg over 10 min) followed by a continuous infusion (0.5 μg/kg /h) until the end of surgery. For participants in the placebo group, an equal volume loading dose of 0.9% saline will be given after the induction of anesthesia followed by an equal volume continuous infusion until the end of surgery. All other supplements, e.g., opioids, sedatives, and muscle relaxant, will be identical in both arms and administered according to routine clinical practice. Discussion The present trial will examine whether DEX confers organoprotective effects in the liver, in terms of reducing the incidence of EAD and PNF in orthotopic liver transplantation recipients. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03770130. Registered on 10 December 2018. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03770130

Incoherent Fourier Ptychography (IFP) is a super-resolution imaging method, which requires lots of iteration time to recover the high-resolution object image from raw images. To improve the convergence rate of the IFP, we propose an improved algorithm, termed momentum-accelerated Incoherent Fourier Ptychography (mIFP). Based on the IFP algorithm, the mIFP adds momentum that is commonly used to accelerate the training of weights in a neural network. During the update process, the current vector is updated based on the downward trend of the objective function during several updates and the previous vector. The updated vector is then added to the objective function. We demonstrate the proposed approach by both simulations and experiments. By reducing the recovery time, mIFP may accelerate the applications of IFP.

Here, we aimed to retrospectively analyze the clinical characteristics of 27 patients with severe pneumonia caused by Chlamydia psittaci between January 2019 and April 2021 in southwest China. To this end, we collected data on the exposure history, clinical symptoms, laboratory examination, imaging characteristics, evolution, etiology, treatment, and outcomes to suggest a better diagnosis and prevention system. Our results showed that a metagenomic next-generation sequencing test could provide early diagnosis. All patients were sensitive to quinolones and tetracyclines, and the recovery rate was relatively high. Overall, all patients were in critical condition with moderate to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome and shock. In conclusion, early diagnosis of pneumonia caused by C. psittaci depends on effective molecular testing, and most patients recover after treatment.

A swirling drill bit designed with an integrated vane swirler was developed to improve reverse circulation in down-the-hole hammer drilling. Its entrainment effect and influential factors were investigated by CFD simulation and experimental tests. The numerical results exhibit reasonable agreement with the experimental data, with a maximum error of 13.68%. In addition, the structural parameters of the swirler were shown to have an important effect on the reverse circulation performance of the drill bit, including the helical angle and number of spiral blades, swirler outlet area, and the flushing nozzles. The optimal parameters for the swirling drill bit without flushing nozzles include a helical angle of 60°, four spiral blades, and the area ratio of 2, while it is about 30°, 3, and 3 for the drill bit with flushing nozzles. Moreover, the entrainment ratio of the drill bit without flushing nozzles can be improved by nearly two times compared with one with flushing nozzles under the same conditions.

Gracilaria lemaneiformis is a kind of edible economic red algae, which is rich in polysaccharide, phycobiliprotein, pigments, minerals and other nutrients and functional components. Polysaccharide is one of the main active components of Gracilaria lemaneiformis, which has been reported to present various physiological bioactivities, including regulation of glycolipid metabolism, immune, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory and other biological activities. This paper aims to provide a brief summary of extraction, purification, structural characteristics, and physiological activities of Gracilaria lemaneiformis polysaccharide (GLP). This article is able to provide theoretical basis for the future research and exploitation of GLP, and improve its potential development to promote the healthy and sustainable processing and high value utilization industry of Gracilaria lemaneiformis

Chinese fermented mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi) have unique aroma characteristics that are appreciated by local consumers. In this study, electronic nose (E-nose) and gas chromatography–ion mobility spectrometry analyses were combined to establish a volatile fingerprint of fermented mandarin fish during fermentation. Clear separation of the data allowed mandarin fish samples at different fermentation stages to be distinguishing using E-nose analysis. Forty-three volatile organic compounds were identified during fermentation. Additionally, partial least squares discrimination analysis was performed to screen for different VOC metabolites in the fermented mandarin fish; the levels of six VOCs changed significantly during fermentation (variable importance in projection >1; p < 0.05). Three VOCs, i.e., hexanal-D, nonanal, and limonene were identified as potential biomarkers for fermentation. This study provided a theoretical basis for flavor real-time monitoring and quality control of traditional mandarin fish fermentation.

Deciphering the genetic basis underlying agronomic traits is of importance for soybean improvement. However, covariation, modulated by genetic correlations between complicated traits via hub QTLs, commonly affects the efficiency and accuracy of soybean improvement. The goals of soybean improvement have nearly all focused on agronomic traits, including yield, plant type traits, and seed-related traits especially. To decipher the hub QTLs of yield, plant type, and seed, nine pertinent traits of an F2 population (181 plants) derived from a cross between KeXin No.03 and JiDou 17, which were different in multiple traits such as plant height, seed protein, and 100-seed weight, were investigated with a high-density genetic map covering 2708.63 cM. A highly significant negative phenotypic correlation (−0.95) was found between seed protein (Pro) and seed oil (Oil). A total of 35 final QTLs after combining the ones closely linked physically were identified for eight traits explaining from 0.10% to 24.63% of the phenotypic variance explained (PVE) using composite interval mapping (CIM) and inclusive composite interval mapping (ICIM) procedures, and 13 QTLs were novel genes. A genomic region on chromosome 14 (qPro14, qOil14.2, and qSw14) was associated with three seed-related traits based on the relationship within and among the three trait modules. In addition, four genomic regions were detected as hub QTLs which linked to the seed-related module and plant-type model, including the E loci (E1 and E2). From the QTL results, 31 candidate genes were annotated, including the verified genes E1, E2, and QNE1, and they were grouped into three categories of biological processes. These results illustrate the genetic architecture as correlations among various soybean traits, and the hub QTLs should provide insights into the genetic improvement of complex traits in soybean.

Ice core drilling with air reverse circulation is a promising technology that uses high-speed airflow to transport the ice core from the bottom of the hole along the central passage of the drill pipe to the surface. Understanding how the ice core moves through the pipe is crucial for this technology in order to calculate the pneumatic parameters. In this paper, experimental study and the CFD dynamic mesh technique are used to analyze the ice core transport process and flow field characteristics. In order to prove the correctness of the dynamic mesh technique, the simulation results were verified with the experimental results, and it was found that all the simulation data were in agreement with the experimental data trend, and the maximum error was less than 10%. According to the study, once the ice core’s velocity reaches its maximum throughout the transport process, it does not change. The ice core’s maximum velocity increases with the diameter ratio and decreases with the length-to-diameter ratio, while eccentricity has no impact on the maximum velocity. When the air velocity reaches 21 m/s, the diameter ratio for the ice core with a length-to-diameter ratio of 2 increases from 0.80 to 0.92, and the maximum velocity increases from 8.92 m/s to 17.45 m/s. Data fitting demonstrates that the equation Vmax=−1.04V0 + 1.04Va describes the relationship between the ice core’s maximum velocity, Vmax, and air velocity, Va. Finally, we obtain the ice core’s suspension velocity model using CFD simulation to calculate the suspension velocity, V0.

Purpose – For the purpose of reducing the incidence of hazardous materials transport accident, eliminating the potential threats and ensuring their safety, aiming at the shortcomings in the process of current hazardous materials transportation management, this paper aims to construct the framework of hazardous materials transportation safety management system under the vehicle-infrastructure connected environment. Design/methodology/approach – The system takes the intelligent connected vehicle as the main supporter, integrating GIS, GPS, eye location, GSM, networks and database technology. Findings – By analyzing the transportation characteristics of hazardous materials, this system consists of five subsystems, which are vehicle and driver management subsystem, dangerous sources and hazardous materials management subsystem, route analysis and optimization subsystem, early warning and emergency rescue management subsystem, and basic information query subsystem. Originality/value – Hazardous materials transportation safety management system includes omnibearing real-time monitoring, timely updating of system database, real-time generation and optimization of emergency rescue route. The system can reduce the transportation cost and improve the ability of accident prevention and emergency rescue of hazardous materials.

Nowadays giant segmented telescopes and multiaperture telescopes have grown out of the quest for high-resolution observations in astronomy. One of the major issues is the phasing of such telescopes. A concept of multispectral piston sensing technology is, therefore, re-examined and studied experimentally for the first time. Based on the phase-shifting “Telescope-Interferometer” technology and multispectral information, the multispectral piston sensing technology was assumed to be feasible with the segmented telescopes and multiaperture telescopes. In this paper, the optical scheme for this method has been designed and realized. Experimental tests have been carried out and demonstrated that the method is effective for piston sensing in a large capture range with high-precision despite some instrument-related limitations that can be eliminated. In our tests, the shortest coherent length of the three working spectrums we chose was less than 17.5 μm. Results show that the method successfully handled an amplitude of correction of about ±8 μm with an accuracy of about λ/30 (λ = 535 nm) RMS in our tests, and we can foresee that the capture range can be enlarged if we choose working spectrums with larger coherent lengths.

Oil chromatography data together with its variation trend provide the key basis for the evaluation of the transformer health state. The existing studies on deep belief network (DBN) and support vector machine (SVM) have reported a few results in the field of oil chromatography data prediction. However, the above-mentioned methods are proposed for the classification problem, so there is no theoretical basis for applying the above-mentioned methods to the time-series prediction. The wrong usage limits the accuracy of the predicted results, which is observed as the obvious “time-shift” error in the prediction curve, leading to the predicted state inconsistent with the actual situation. To fill the gap, a deep recurrent belief network (DRBN) model for the transformer state prediction was proposed based on the time-series theory and oil chromatography data characteristics. In this model, the construction shortage of DBN in time-series prediction was analyzed as a prototype pattern to structure the stereoscopic mapping relation. The self-adaptive delay network based on the principle of autocorrelation, together with the corresponding error feedback network, realized the stereoscopic flow of data in multi-dimensional space and, thus, ensured the model's valid expression of the time-domain correlation. In addition, the cross-entropy loss function, based on the Kullback-Leibler divergence and the Weibull distribution with an obvious characteristic of DGA, was constructed to eliminate the uncertainty of initialization process and also effectively control the direction and step size of the error gradient. The examples in the field were used to verify the method to find that the model proposed in this paper can availably overcome the “time-shift” error, and its prediction accuracy can reach more than 95.16%.

The electric field and space charge dynamics characteristics in oil under impulse voltage are key factors to the transformer insulation design, which are mainly obtained through simulation, falling short of experimental verifications. Applying the Kerr electro-optic method, the present paper carried out an actual measurement for the electric field characteristics in transformer oil under impulse voltage and managed to obtain their correlations with an electrode material, voltage amplitude, and wave-front time, respectively. First, it was found that, under impulse voltage and in pure transformer oil, the aluminum electrode had the largest amount of charge injection, followed by stainless steel and then copper, which was attributed to the different work functions of metal elements in electrodes. Second, with the increase of voltage amplitude, the effect of the space charge on the intermediate electric field of the oil gap was first enhanced, then weakened, and eventually enhanced. Third, as the wave-front time was prolonged, the peak of electric field in transformer oil showed a downward trend. For instance, the peak value of the electric field was reduced by 17.6 % when the wave-front time was increased from 0.5 μs to 40.0 μs. The reason is that when the wave-front time is longer, the amount of injected charge grows larger and the weakening effect becomes stronger. Fourth, a charge dynamic motion model in transformer oil under impulse voltage was established to demonstrate its spatial-temporal effects on the electric field. Besides, this paper has clarified the source of the negative and positive charges in the transformer oil under impulse voltage by using the theories of field emission and field ionization. Moreover, the variation of electron mobility over-voltage amplitude, wave-front time, and spatial distribution was worked out to present the quantitative results of its motion process.

Dissolved gases in oil are major parameters for assessing the health state of power transformers. Recognizing that the existing state recognition methods are often restrained by data fluctuation and usually require greater computational load, this paper proposes a rapid transformer health state recognition method through Canopy cluster-merging of dissolved gas data in high-dimensional space. Following the introduction of fluctuation coefficient to evaluate the quality of data and the assignation of weight to reflect the difference between gases, the variable-weighted high-dimensional space of dissolved gases is established to suppress the impact from the fluctuated data. The novel Canopy cluster-merging method that overcomes the instability and high computational complexity of the conventional clustering method is then proposed and used in the variable-weighted high-dimensional space to recognize the abnormal state transformer. Applying the state recognition rules and matching with the established abnormal event base, the health state of the transformer could be rapidly recognized. The single case verification concludes that the proposed method has better clustering effect and can significantly improve the clustering speed even by 17.08 times. The group verification test indicates that the proposed method not only demonstrates an accuracy as high as 91.43% but also shows extremely high efficiency compared with the conventional recognition methods.

Object detection in high-resolution remote sensing images has been attracted increasing attention in recent years owing to the successful applications of civil and military. However, there are many critical challenges deciding the performance of object detection in large-scale complex remote sensing image. One of these challenges is how extract and enhance the discriminative features without the top-down feedback mechanism for the existing convolutional neural network (CNN). To cope with this problem, a novel object detection algorithm based on direct feedback control for CNN (DFCCNN) is proposed in this paper. The DFCCNN combines a region proposal network with an object detection network to generate the proposals and to detect the object separately. Initially, a candidate region proposal network (CRPN) is implemented to extract candidate regions within the remote sensing image. Then multi-class objects detection feedback network (MODFN) propose a new top-down feedback mechanism based on the traditional feedforward network to detect the objects. A direct feedback loop (DFL) and a feedback control layer (FCL) are contained in the feedback network. The DFL propagates the posterior information directly from the top layer without depending on the rest of the network and the FCL make full use of top-down information to inhibit object-irrelevant neurons and emphasize object-relevant neurons. Through the addition of direct feedback control mechanism, these object-relevant neurons can be emphasized by taking feedback information of top layer into feature extraction, whereas these object-irrelevant neurons can be inhibited effectively by pruning the neural pathway. The proposed DFCCNN model is able to extract more discriminative low-level features under the guidance of the high-level information. Some experiments on NWPU VHR-10 data set and aircraft data set are induced, and the experimental results show that the proposed method can achieve a higher accuracy of object detection in remote sensing image with various complex background clutter.

The objective of this research was to investigate the antioxidant activity of Gracilarialemaneiformis polysaccharide degradation and its underlying mechanism involved in the Nrf-2/Keap-1 signaling pathway in HepG2 cells with oxidative stress induced by H2O2. The result of the scavenging ability of free radicals showed that GLP-HV (polysaccharide degraded by H2O2–vitamin C (Vc)) performed a better scavenging ability than GLP (G.lemaneiformis polysaccharide). Moreover, the scavenging ability of polysaccharide to these free radicals from strong to weak was as follows: superoxide radical, ferric ion, ABTS+, and DPPH radical, and their IC50 values were 3.56 ± 0.0028, 4.97 ± 0.18, 9.62 ± 0.35, and 23.85 ± 1.78 mg/mL, respectively. Furthermore, GLP-HV obviously relieved oxidative stress in HepG2 cells, which strengthened the activity of T-AOC, CAT, GSH-PX, and SOD, and diminished the intensity of MDA, intracellular ROS, and calcium ion based on the Nrf-2/Keap-1 signaling pathway. The PCR result revealed that polysaccharide upregulated the expression of the genes Nrf-2, HO-1, NQO-1, and ZO-1 and downregulated Keap-1. The correlation between chemical properties and antioxidant mechanism of GLP-HV was evaluated via a heat map. The results illustrated that reducing sugar and active groups presented a positive correlation, and molecular weight and viscosity exhibited a negative relation with antioxidant activity.

Salt stress severely restricts the growth of plants and threatens the development of agriculture throughout the world. Worldwide studies have shown that exogenous melatonin (MT) can effectively improve the growth of plants under salt stress. Through a meta-analysis of 549 observations, this study first explored the effects of salt stress characteristics and MT application characteristics on MT regulated plant growth under salt stress. The results show that MT has a wide range of regulatory effects on plant growth indicators under salt stress, of which the regulatory effect on root indexes is the strongest, and this regulatory effect is not species-specific. The intensity of salt stress did not affect the positive effect of MT on plant growth, but the application effect of MT in soil was stronger than that in rooting medium. This meta-analysis also revealed that the foliar application of a concentration between 100–200 μM is the best condition for MT to enhance plant growth under salt stress. The results can inspire scientific research and practical production, while seeking the maximum improvement in plant salt tolerance under salt stress.

Accurately characterizing the conformational variation of novel molecular assemblies is important but often ignored due to limited characterization methods. Herein, we reported the use of ion-mobility mass spectrometry (IMS/MS) to investigate the conformational changes of four azobenzene covalently functionalized Keggin hybrids (azo-Keggins, compounds 1–4). The as-prepared azo-Keggins showed the general molecular formula of [C16H36N]4[SiW11O40(Si(CH2)3NH–CO(CH2)nO–C6H4N=NC6H4–R)2] (R = H, n = 0 (1); R = NO2, n = 0 (2); R = H, n = 5 (3); R = H, n = 10 (4)). The resultant azo-Keggins maintained stable monomeric states in the gas phase with intact molecular structures. Furthermore, the subtle photo-responsive trans-cis conformational variations of azo-Keggins were clearly revealed by the molecular shape-related collision cross-section value difference ranging from 2.44 Å2 to 6.91 Å2. The longer the alkyl chains linkers were, the larger the conformational variation was. Moreover, for compounds 1 and 2, higher stability in trans-conformation can be observed, while for compounds 3 and 4, bistability can be achieved for both of them.

Objective: To understand the mental health status and its risk factors among discharged COVID-19 patients during the first month of centralized quarantine and the subsequent home isolation.Methods: The scales of the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) were used to measure the symptoms of insomnia, anxiety, and depression in 782 COVID-19 patients during the first month of centralized quarantine (March 16 to 26, 2020) and then during home isolation (April 3 to 10, 2020).Results: During the centralized quarantine, the prevalence rates of insomnia, anxiety, and depressive symptoms were 44.37, 31.59, and 27.62%, respectively, and those during the home isolation decreased significantly at 27.11, 17.26, and 16.11%, respectively. In both waves, women showed a higher prevalence of symptoms of poor mental health compared to men, and middle-aged (40–59 years old) and elderly (≥60 years old) showed a higher risk of symptoms of poor mental health compared to the younger. In addition, the severity of COVID-19 revealed no significant relationship to symptoms of poor mental health, whereas, the interaction analysis revealed that those with other underlying diseases showed more symptoms of poor mental health during the centralized quarantine and a greater decrease during the follow-up home isolation.Conclusion: The discharged COVID-19 patients suffered from mental health problems such as, insomnia, depression, and anxiety, and this was especially so for women, the middle-aged and elderly, and those with underlying diseases, but along with the rehabilitation and the environmental change from centralized quarantine to home isolation, all the mental symptoms were significantly alleviated. Based on a follow-up investigation, the current results provide critical evidence for mental health and early rehabilitation upon the discharged COVID-19 patients.

A reverse circulation Down-The-Hole (DTH) hammer drill bit in Casing-while-Drilling (CwD) processes is designed and applied to drilling under complicated formation. The drill bit is a special retractable drill bit with an exclusive reverse circulation gas channel. Using numerical simulations and experiments, the influence of the gas channel structure parameters of the drill bit, including the inner jet nozzles, flushing nozzles, suction channel, and other parameters, on its reverse circulation performance is analyzed, and the optimal gas channel structure parameters of the drill bit are determined to improve the reverse circulation effect. The results show that the flushing nozzles and inner jet nozzles have an important influence on entrainment performance. The entrainment rate η decreases as the flushing nozzle diameter increases and decreases as the inner jet nozzle diameter increases. An increase in the suction channel diameter can improve the reverse circulation effect of the drill bit. The spiral slot drill bit is more conducive to air being sucked into the central channel in the form of spiral flow, so it can improve the entrainment performance. The entrainment rate η can reach 23.4% with the optimum structured drill bit.

The microwave-assisted carboxymethylation of agar to improve its physicochemical properties was investigated. Microwave power, reaction time, and temperature, ethanol concentration, and amounts of chloroacetic acid and sodium hydroxide were assessed for their effects on synthetic yield and degree of substitution (DS). All factors were positively correlated with DS within a certain range. Using optimized conditions, samples with different DS were prepared, and the physicochemical properties of unmodified and carboxymethyl agars prepared by microwave and conventional methods were compared. Carboxymethylation significantly changed the physicochemical properties of the agar, improving gel transparency and reducing dissolution temperature, gel strength, gel hardness, molecular weight, and molecular size; DS was the key factor. Specifically, higher DS values resulted in greater changes. The microwave-assisted method significantly shortened the reaction time and preserved molecular weight, gel strength, and texture hardness of the agar. Therefore, as an environmentally friendly method, microwave-assisted synthesis shows great promise for producing carboxymethyl agar.

The influence of harvest time on the photosynthetic protein quality of the red alga Porphyra dentata was determined using label-free proteomics. Of 2716 differentially abundant proteins that were identified in this study, 478 were upregulated and 374 were downregulated. The top enriched Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and gene ontology (GO) pathways were metabolic processes and biosynthetic pathways such as photosynthesis, light harvesting, and carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms. Nine important photosynthetic proteins were screened. Correlations among their expression levels were contrasted and verified by western blotting. PSII D1 and 44-kDa protein levels increased with later harvest time and increased light exposure. Specific photoprotective protein expression accelerated P. dentata growth and development. Biological processes such as photosynthesis and carbon cycling increased carbohydrate metabolism and decreased the total protein content. The results of the present study provide a scientific basis for the optimization of the culture and harvest of P. dentata.

Norepinephrine (NE) is often administered during the perioperative period of liver transplantation to address hemodynamic instability and to improve organ perfusion and oxygen supply. However, its role and safety profile have yet to be evaluated in pediatric living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). We hypothesized that intraoperative NE infusion might affect pediatric LDLT outcomes. A retrospective study of 430 pediatric patients (median [interquartile range] age, 7 [6.10] months; 189 [43.9%] female) receiving LDLT between 2014 and 2016 at Renji Hospital was conducted. We evaluated patient survival among recipients who received intraoperative NE infusion (NE group, 85 recipients) and those that did not (non-NE group, 345 recipients). The number of children aged over 24 months and weighing more than 10 kg in NE group was more than that in non-NE group. And children in NE group had longer operative time, longer anhepatic phase time and more fluid infusion. After multivariate regression analysis and propensity score regression adjusting for confounding factors to determine the influence of intraoperative NE infusion on patient survival, the NE group had a 169% more probability of dying. Although there was no difference in mean arterial pressure changes relative to the baseline between the two groups, we did observe increased heart rates in NE group compared with those of the non-NE group at anhepatic phase (P=0.025), neohepatic phase (P=0.012) and operation end phase (P=0.017) of the operation. In conclusion, intraoperative NE infusion was associated with a poorer prognosis for pediatric LDLT recipients. Therefore, we recommend the application of NE during pediatric LDLT should be carefully re-considered.