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Abstract. Background:. When it comes to preterm newborns, respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is the most frequent respiratory condition. Despite the fact that it is well acknowledged that preterm delivery plays a significant role, the causes of lung damage are still not completely understood. In newborns with extremely low birth weight and neonatal RDS, nasal continuous positive airway pressure has been suggested as the first respiratory assistance for spontaneous breathing. In the current research, we aim to carry out a meta-analysis to assess the effectiveness and safety of high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) and non-invasive continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) in patients with neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS). Methods:. We intend to search the following databases: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Wanfang database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Google Scholar, starting from their initial publication until February 2022, to identify randomized controlled trials comparing HFNC to nCPAP in patients with NRDS. The suitable papers will be chosen by 2 writers who will work independently of one another. Using the Cochrane updated technique for risk of bias, each included article will be subjected to an independent data extraction process by the 2 writers who will then independently evaluate the risk of bias. Consequently, a third author will be asked to address any discrepancies that may arise between the writers. It will be necessary to pool the data and do a meta-analysis with the help of the RevMan 5.3 software. Results:. In this study, the effectiveness and safety of HFNC will be compared with those of nCPAP in patients with NRDS. Conclusion:. If the results of this research are confirmed, they may serve as a summary of the most recent data for non-invasive respiratory assistance in NRDS. Ethics and dissemination:. The study will require ethical approval. Registration number:. DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/BKSQ5

Biomass gasification based building cooling, heating, and power (BCHP) system is an effective distributed energy system to improve the utilization of biomass resources. This paper proposes a combined methodology of optimization method and life cycle inventory (LCI) for the biomass gasification based BCHP system. The life cycle models including biomass planting, biomass collection-storage-transportation, BCHP plant construction and operation, and BCHP plant demolition and recycle, are constructed to obtain economic cost, energy consumption and CO2 emission in the whole service-life. Then, the optimization model for the biomass BCHP system including variables, objective function and solution method are presented. Finally, a biomass BCHP case in Harbin, China, is optimized under different optimization objectives, the life-cycle performances including cost, energy and CO2 emission are obtained and the grey incidence approach is employed to evaluate their comprehensive performances of the biomass BCHP schemes. The results indicate that the life-cycle cost, energy efficiency and CO2 emission of the biomass BCHP system are about 41.9 $ MWh-1, 41% and 59.60 kg MWh-1 respectively. The optimized biomass BCHP configuration to minimize the life-cycle cost is the best scheme to achieve comprehensive benefit including cost, energy consumption, renewable energy ratio, steel consumption, and CO2 emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several combined heat and power (CHP) system options are presented to assess and compare with respect to the end users' requirements. According to the obtained data from literature, 16 kinds of CHP systems are evaluated using gray relational method in multi-criteria, such as technology, economy, environment, and society. The results depend greatly on the criteria weights in multi-criteria evaluations. Aiming to obtain rational result, this paper reviews the weighting method briefly and proposes an optimal combined weighting method to consider the subjectivity of decision-maker and the objectivity of measurement data. The singular value decomposition aggregation method is employed to verify the rationality of evaluation result. Through multi-criteria evaluation and discussions, the combination weighting method is recommended to be used in the selection of CHP schemes. Finally, the best CHP system is selected and the most conspicuous factors having great impact on CHP system with respect to the users' requirements are given out. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study where the problem of timing acquisition in decision feedback equalization (DFE) detectors for magnetic recording channels. Optimality of preamble pattern; Optimality of multi-level DFE; Conclusions.

Aim: To detect the expression of Arpin, and determine its correlation with clinicopathological characteristics and the prognosis of gastric cancer (GC) patients., Methods: A total of 176 GC patients were enrolled as study subjects and classified into groups according to different clinicopathological variables. GC mucosal tissues were obtained via surgery. Another 43 paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of normal gastric epithelium (> 5 cm away from the edge of the tumor) were included in the control group. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for the Arpin and Arp3 proteins was performed on the formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded GC tissues. Additionally, expression of the Arpin protein in 43 normal gastric tissues was also determined using IHC., Results: Expression of the Arpin protein in GC was lower than that in normal gastric mucosa (30.68% vs 60.47%, P < 0.001). A χ 2 test of the 176 GC samples used for IHC showed that decreased Arpin expression was associated with advanced TNM stage ( P < 0.01) and the presence or absence of lymph node metastasis (80.92% vs 35.56%, P < 0.001). Additionally, a significant correlation was observed between the expression of Arpin and the presence of the Arp2/3 complex in GC tissues ( χ 2 = 30.535, P < 0.001). Moreover, a multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that Arpin expression [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.551, P = 0.029] and TNM stage (HR = 5.344, P = 0.001) were independent prognostic markers for overall survival of GC patients. Regarding the 3-year disease-free survival (DFS), the recurrence rate of GC patients with low Arpin expression levels (median DFS 19 mo) was higher than that in the high-Arpin-expression group (median DFS 34 mo, P = 0.022)., Conclusion: Low Arpin levels are associated with clinicopathological variables and a poor prognosis in GC patients. Arpin may be regarded as a potential prognostic indicator in GC., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.