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Abstract The electromagnetic force used in electromagnetic forming is mainly divided into attraction and repulsion. Dual-coil attractive electromagnetic forming can be used in the field of sheet pit repair. However, the magnetic field and eddy current generated by the two coils compete with each other, and the energy utilization rate is low. Therefore, a compensation coil is introduced, and an electromagnetic forming scheme of a three-coil dual-power sheet based on mixed force is proposed and verified by simulation. It is found that the three-coil mixed force can effectively improve the competition between the magnetic field and eddy current. The loading of the mixing force is not a simple superposition of attraction and repulsion, but the mutual promotion of the two. The forming displacement of the three-coil mixed force forming scheme is 582% higher than that of the dual-coil attraction forming scheme, and 89% higher than that of the attract first and then repel forming scheme. The forming effect of the three-coil mixing force is related to the number of turns of the compensation coil. The research results can improve the energy utilization rate of electromagnetic forming and provide a new idea for the loading scheme of electromagnetic forming force field.

Abstract Reconfigurable metasurfaces have exhibited significant potential in wireless communication owing to their capacity to transmit information without relying on traditional complex radio frequency (RF) chain transmitters. Nonetheless, the majority of metasurface‐based wireless communication systems modulate signals only in the time domain. Here, an amplitude‐phase reconfigurable metasurface is proposed to establish a wireless communication system that can simultaneously transmit different messages to users by encoding digital signals within the spatial domain. By changing the bias voltages of varactors integrated in the meta‐atom, the reconfigurable metasurface can achieve independent 3‐bit phase and 1‐bit amplitude coding. Through a beamforming methodology, the proposed metasurface generates diverse scattering beams with suppressed sidelobe levels, which not only enables multiple channels through space coding but also reduces signal leakage in undesired directions. Numerical simulations and experiments are carried out to verify the beamforming scheme, and a dual‐channel wireless communication system is established. The results show that two distinct images can be simultaneously retrieved by two separate users, which demonstrates the dual‐channel transmission capability of the wireless communication system. The proposed strategy opens up an avenue for implementing multi‐channel wireless communication systems, which indicates its great potential in multiple‐user collaborative wireless communication and radar systems.

Abstract Despite the recent achievements in urea electrosynthesis from co-reduction of nitrogen wastes (such as NO3 −) and CO2, the product selectivity remains fairly mediocre due to the competing nature of the two parallel reduction reactions. Here we report a catalyst design that affords high selectivity to urea by sequentially reducing NO3 − and CO2 at a dynamic catalytic centre, which not only alleviates the competition issue but also facilitates C−N coupling. We exemplify this strategy on a nitrogen-doped carbon catalyst, where a spontaneous switch between NO3 − and CO2 reduction paths is enabled by reversible hydrogenation on the nitrogen functional groups. A high urea yield rate of 596.1 µg mg−1 h−1 with a promising Faradaic efficiency of 62% is obtained. These findings, rationalized by in situ spectroscopic techniques and theoretical calculations, are rooted in the proton-involved dynamic catalyst evolution that mitigates overwhelming reduction of reactants and thereby minimizes the formation of side products.

Abstract Background Immunotherapy targeting PD-1/PD-L1 has revolutionized the treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC). However, clinical trials suggest differential efficacy of anti-PD-1 agents and anti-PD-L1 agents in first-line treatment of ES-SCLC. This retrospective multicenter study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of anti-PD-1 agents versus anti-PD-L1 agents in first-line treatment of ES-SCLC in real-world practice. Methods Patients with pathologically or cytologically confirmed ES-SCLC treated with platinum plus etoposide combined with anti-PD-1 or PD-L1 agents as first-line treatment in different centers of PLA General Hospital between January 2017 and October 2021 were included for this study. Survival outcomes and safety were compared between patients receiving anti-PD-1 and PD-L1 agents. Results Of the total 154 included patients, 68 received anti-PD-1 agents plus chemotherapy (PD-1 group), and 86 received anti-PD-L1 agents plus chemotherapy (PD-L1 group). Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in the entire cohort were 7.6 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.5–8.2 months) and 17.4 months (95% CI: 15.3–19.3 months), respectively. Median PFS and OS were comparable between the PD-1 group and PD-L1 group (PFS: 7.6 months vs. 8.3 months, HR = 1.13, 95% CI: 0.79–1.62, p = 0.415; OS: 26.9 months vs. 25.6 months, HR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.63–1.47, p = 0.859. The objective response rate and disease control rate were comparable between the two groups: 79.4% vs. 79.1% and 92.6% vs. 94.2%, respectively. The 6-month, 12-month, and 18-month PFS and OS rates were slightly higher in the PD-L1 group than in the PD-1 group, while the 24-month PFS rate was slightly higher in the PD-1 group than in the PD-L1 group. Stratified analysis showed that locoregional thoracic radiotherapy and normal lactate dehydrogenase level were independent predictors of better OS in ES-SCLC patients treated with first-line chemotherapy plus ICI. Adverse events were not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusions Anti-PD-1 agents and anti-PD-L1 agents combined with chemotherapy as first-line treatment for ES-SCLC are comparably effective and well tolerated.

Accurate identification of the buried faults is crucial for the water conservancy projects construction. Geophysical exploration is an effective method for identifying buried faults quickly. However, due to the multi-solution nature of geophysical problems, a single geophysical method is also one-sided. Therefore, the selection of an optimized combination of geophysical methods to identify buried faults quickly and accurately is currently a difficult and hot issue to be addressed. Based on the comprehensive analysis of the physical characteristics of various rock and soil masses and on-site geological conditions in limestone area of Taihang Mountain in northern Henan, the comprehensive geophysical exploration methods such as electrical resistivity tomography, seismic reflection survey, refraction tomography and transient Rayleigh surface wave method were carried out for the F1 small-scale tensional torsional normal fault and F16 large-scale torsional translational normal fault respectively. It is found that the combined exploration results of refraction tomography and seismic reflection survey fully revealed the development characteristics of F1 fault from the characteristics of shear wave velocity and reflection wave events respectively. For the F16 fault, the comprehensive detection results of electrical resistivity tomography, seismic reflection survey, and transient Rayleigh surface wave method are highly consistent in the abnormal areas, and the refraction tomography has also achieved complete results. F16 fault was verified by drilling and borehole television to be massive and associated with caves, which is consistent with the physical results. The research results show that the combination of seismic reflection survey and refraction tomography for detecting similar F1 fault can reduce the multiplicity of interpretation results and save exploration costs effectively. Using electrical resistivity tomography, seismic reflection survey and transient Rayleigh surface wave method for detailed investigation, rapid and accurate identification of faults similar to F16 has been achieved. The two combined detection techniques can determine the location, depth, occurrence and nature of two types of typical thin overburden buried faults in limestone areas quickly, and could reduce blindness and one-sidedness in the detection work effectively, provide a new idea for efficient detection for similar condition. The proposed method could play a greater role in this field.

BackgroundTranscutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) has emerged as a potentially effective neuromodulation technique for addressing neurological disorders, including disorders of consciousness. Expanding upon our prior clinical study, which demonstrated the superior effectiveness of a 4-week taVNS treatment in patients with minimally conscious state (MCS) compared to those in a vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness state, the aim of this investigation was to evaluate the safety and therapeutic efficacy of taVNS in individuals with MCS through a sham-controlled randomized double-blind clinical trial.MethodsA cohort of 50 adult patients (male = 33, female = 17) diagnosed with a MCS were randomly assigned to either the active taVNS (N = 25) or sham taVNS (N = 25) groups. The treatment period lasted for 4 weeks, followed by an 8-week follow-up period. The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) were administered at baseline and weekly during the initial 4 weeks. Additionally, the Disability Rating Scale (DRS) was used to assess the patients’ functional abilities via telephone at week 12. Furthermore, various neurophysiological measures, including electroencephalogram (EEG), upper-limb somatosensory evoked potentials (USEP), brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP), and P300 event-related potentials (P300), were employed to monitor changes in brain activity and neural conduction pathways.ResultsThe scores for the active taVNS group in the CRS-R and GCS showed greater improvement over time compared to the sham taVNS group (CRS-R: 1-week, Z = −1.248, p = 0.212; 2-week, Z = −1.090, p = 0.276; 3-week, Z = −2.017, p = 0.044; 4-week, Z = −2.267, p = 0.023. GCS: 1-week, Z = −1.325, p = 0.185; 2-week, Z = −1.245, p = 0.213; 3-week, Z = −1.848, p = 0.065; 4-week, Z = −1.990, p = 0.047). Additionally, the EEG, USEP, BAEP, and P300 also demonstrated significant improvement in the active taVNS group compared to the sham taVNS group at week 4 (EEG, Z = −2.086, p = 0.037; USEP, Z = −2.014, p = 0.044; BAEP, Z = −2.298, p = 0.022; P300 amplitude, Z = −1.974, p = 0.049; P300 latency, t = 2.275, p = 0.027). Subgroup analysis revealed that patients with MCS derived greater benefits from receiving taVNS treatment earlier (CRS-R, Disease duration ≤ 1-month, mean difference = 8.50, 95% CI = [2.22, 14.78], p = 0.027; GCS, Disease duration ≤ 1-month, mean difference = 3.58, 95% CI = [0.14, 7.03], p = 0.044). By week 12, the active taVNS group exhibited lower Disability Rating Scale (DRS) scores compared to the sham taVNS group (Z = −2.105, p = 0.035), indicating a more favorable prognosis for MCS patients who underwent taVNS. Furthermore, no significant adverse events related to taVNS were observed during treatment.ConclusionThe findings of this study suggest that taVNS may serve as a potentially effective and safe intervention for facilitating the restoration of consciousness in individuals diagnosed with MCS. This therapeutic approach appears to enhance cerebral functioning and optimize neural conduction pathways.Clinical trial registrationhttp://www.chictr.org.cn, Identifier ChiCTR2200066629.

Abstract Training convolutional neural networks (CNN) often require a large amount of data. However, for some biometric data, such as fingerprints and iris, it is often difficult to obtain a large amount of data due to privacy issues. Therefore, training the CNN model often suffers from specific problems, such as overfitting, low accuracy, poor generalization ability, etc. To solve them, we propose a novel image augmentation algorithm for small sample iris image in this article. It is based on a modified sparrow search algorithm (SSA) called chaotic Pareto sparrow search algorithm (CPSSA), combined with contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization (CLAHE). The CPSSA is used to search for a group of clipping limit values. Then a set of iris images that satisfies the constraint condition is produced by CLAHE. In the fitness function, cosine similarity is used to ensure that the generated images are in the same class as the original one. We select 200 categories of iris images from the CASIA-Iris-Thousand dataset and test the proposed augmentation method on four CNN models. The experimental results show that, compared with the some standard image augmentation methods such as flipping, mirroring and clipping, the accuracy and Equal Error Rate (EER)of the proposed method have been significantly improved. The accuracy and EER of the CNN models with the best recognition performance can reach 95.5 and 0.6809 respectively. This fully shows that the data augmentation method proposed in this paper is effective and quite simple to implement.

Glioblastoma is a malignant tumor with the highest morbidity and mortality in the central nervous system. Conventional surgical resection combined with radiotherapy or chemotherapy has a high recurrence rate and poor prognosis. The 5-year survival rate of patients is less than 10%. In tumor immunotherapy, CAR-T cell therapy represented by chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cells has achieved great success in hematological tumors. However, the application of CAR-T cells in solid tumors such as glioblastoma still faces many challenges. CAR-NK cells are another potential adoptive cell therapy strategy after CAR-T cells. Compared with CAR-T cell therapy, CAR-NK cells have similar anti-tumor effects. CAR-NK cells can also avoid some deficiencies in CAR-T cell therapy, a research hotspot in tumor immunity. This article summarizes the preclinical research status of CAR-NK cells in glioblastoma and the problems and challenges faced by CAR-NK in glioblastoma.

The distribution of renewable energy sources is geographically limited. In the process of long-distance transmission, the direct current flowing from a ground electrode into the ground will cause a higher step voltage, which will bring serious security risks to the surrounding industry and life. Accurate calculation of the complex soil electrical model around the grounding electrode is crucial for site selection. Existing simulation software like CDEGS results in significant errors, particularly in complex karst topography. Therefore, constructing a finite element model that accurately reflects the characteristics of geotechnical soil near the DC grounding electrode is an essential but unresolved problem. This paper establishes a soil electrical model for karst topography and explores the impact of cave-type caverns and underground rivers on the step voltage distribution of DC grounding electrodes. These research findings can guide the site selection of DC transmission projects in karst topography.

Abstract Background Accumulating evidence has revealed that the gut microbiota influences the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in cancer patients. As a part of the human microbiome, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) was reported to be associated with reduced effectiveness of anti-PD1 immunotherapy in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Gastric cancer is more closely related to H. pylori, so we conducted a retrospective analysis to verify whether the association of H. pylori and effectiveness is applicable to advanced gastric cancer (AGC) patients. Material and methods AGC patients who had evidence of H. pylori and received anti-PD-1 antibodies were enrolled in the study. The differences in the disease control rate (DCR), overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) between the H. pylori-positive group and the negative group were compared. Results A total of 77 patients were included in this study; 34 patients were H. pylori positive, and the prevalence of H. pylori infection was 44.2%. Compared with the H. pylori-negative group, patients in the H. pylori-positive group had a higher risk of nonclinical response to anti-PD-1 antibody, with an OR of 2.91 (95% CI: 1.13–7.50). Patients in the H. pylori-negative group had a longer OS and PFS than those in the positive group, with an estimated median OS of 17.5 months vs. 6.2 months (HR = 2.85, 95% CI: 1.70–4.78; P = 0.021) and a median PFS of 8.4 months vs. 2.7 months (HR = 3.11, 95% CI: 1.96–5.07, P = 0.008). Multivariate analysis indicated that H. pylori infection was independently associated with PFS (HR = 1.90, 95% CI: 1.10–3.30; P = 0.022). Conclusion Our study unveils for the first time that H. pylori infection is associated with the outcome of immunotherapy for AGC patients. Multicenter, large sample and prospective clinical studies are needed to verify the association.

ObjectiveTo investigate the efficacy of median nerve stimulation (MNS) combined with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), MNS alone, and rTMS alone in elevating the level of consciousness in patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness (pDOC).Participants and methodsWe enrolled 75 eligible inpatients suffering from pDOC as a result of traumatic or non-traumatic brain injury. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the following three treatment groups: (1) rTMS+sham-MNS; (2) MNS + sham-rTMS; or (3) MNS + rTMS. The rTMS protocol involved stimulation above the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex at a 10 Hz frequency and 90% resting motor threshold. The MNS protocol involved the delivery of a 15–20 mA current at the median nerve point 2 cm from the wrist crease of the right distal forearm. The primary outcome was the change from baseline of the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) score after treatment. Secondary outcomes included post-treatment changes from baseline of the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, awaken ratio, electroencephalography (EEG) scores, and the latency and amplitude of N20 on somatosensory evoked potentials.ResultsBefore the intervention, there were no significant differences between groups in the CRS-R, GCS scores, age, duration of pDOC, clinical diagnosis, EEG scores, latency and amplitude of N20, sex, job, marital status, education level, or disease etiology. Within the three groups, the total CRS-R, GCS scores and amplitude of N20 on both side significantly increased and latency of N20 on poor side significantly decreased post-intervention. Significantly greater improvement in CRS-R, GCS total scores, amplitude of N20 on both side and latency of N20 on the poor side were observed in the MNS + TMS group compared to those of the groups receiving rTMS alone or MNS alone. The patients receiving TMS and MNS intervention showed a greater EEG activity improvement, and the EEG activity improved ratio significantly differ between groups, while there were no significant differences in the awakening ratios between the three groups.ConclusionThe combination of MNS + rTMS was more efficacious in improving the level of consciousness than MNS alone or rTMS alone in patients with pDOC.

IntroductionDisorders of consciousness (DoCs) are a frequent complication of brain injury disease, and effective treatments are currently lacking. Transauricular vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) has been proposed as a promising therapeutic method for neurological disorders such as epilepsy and depression. In our previous study, we demonstrated that vagus nerve stimulation promoted recovery in rats with DoCs caused by traumatic brain injury. However, the clinical effect of vagus nerve stimulation on consciousness disorders is unclear. We aimed to investigate the therapeutic efficacy and safety of tVNS in patients with DoCs.MethodsWe conducted a randomized, double-blinded, sham-controlled trial. Patients (N = 60) with DoCs, including minimally conscious state (MCS) and vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome, were enrolled and randomized to groups receiving either active or sham tVNS. A frequency of 20 Hz and pulse wave of 200 us was used in the active-tVNS protocol, which was performed in the auricular branch of the vagus nerve in the left outer ear. The sham-tVNS protocol was the same as the active-tVNS protocol although without current input. Both groups of patients also received conventional treatments. Consciousness was evaluated according to the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised before and after the 4-week intervention. We also recorded the type and number of behavioral responses. Safety was primarily assessed according to the incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events. Each patient's heart rate and blood pressure were monitored during all treatment sessions.ResultsUltimately, 57 patients completed the study: 28 patients underwent active tVNS and 29 patients underwent sham tVNS. No significant differences were observed in Coma Recovery Scale-Revised scores between the active- and sham-tVNS groups before the tVNS sessions. Compared with patients in the sham-tVNS group (9.28 ± 4.38), patients with DoCs treated with active tVNS showed improved consciousness (10.93 ± 4.99), although not statistically significant. Further analysis revealed obvious differences between patients with MCS receiving active and sham tVNS, but no significant difference in patients with vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome in both groups. All side effects were considered common medical conditions with no obvious correlation to tVNS.ConclusionThese preliminary data provide early evidence that tVNS may be an effective and safe approach for promoting the recovery of consciousness, especially in patients with MCS.Clinical trial registrationhttps://www.chictr.org.cn/edit.aspx?pid=175938&htm=4, identifier: ChiCTR2200066629.

Abstract Background Osimertinib is the standard first‐line treatment for non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation. Resistance to osimertinib remains a clinical challenge. However, the optimal therapy for these patients is still controversial. In this study, we aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy plus chemotherapy (IO+C) compared with chemotherapy (C) in NSCLC patients after progression on osimertinib. Methods Advanced NSCLC patients after progression on osimertinib were retrospectively reviewed. Progression‐free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and safety were evaluated between the patients treated with IO+C and C. Results A total of 40 patients were included in the study. There were 20 patients each in the IO+C group or C group. The ORR was significantly higher in patients in the IO+C group (45% vs. 25%, p

PURPOSE: This study aims to objectively measure the effect of slow tempo music on various markers for anxiety. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a repeated measure randomized control trial of patients with age-related cataracts undergoing cataract extraction through phacoemulsification under local anesthesia. Patients were randomized into two groups: music group where a standardized piano music was played and control group. Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) levels were measured at the beginning and at the end of surgery. Blood pressure and heart rate were also measured at 5 min before surgery and at four other standardized points during and after surgery. Visual Analog Scale for anxiety was also gauged: preoperatively, perioperatively, and 15 min postoperatively. RESULTS: Ninety-two patients were randomized equally to the music group and control group. Paired sample t-test showed a reduction in the level of sAA during surgery in the music group (P = 0.019). The odds ratio for a drop in sAA with music was 4.407 (P = 0.001). Lower systolic blood pressure was observed in the music group: at delivery of local anesthesia (P = 0.047), at first incision (P = 0.023), and during sculpting (P = 0.15). Similarly, diastolic blood pressure was lower at first incision (P = 0.019) in the music group. The visual analog scale for anxiety during surgery was found to be lower in the music group (P = 0.046). CONCLUSION: A slow tempo music during cataract surgery was shown to significantly reduce several indicators for anxiety at various points during cataract surgery.

Radical prostatectomy has undergone a development from open to laparoscopic surgery to a surgical robotic approach. With improved surgical equipment and the continuous development of surgical techniques, various surgical strategies for controlling the dorsal vascular complex (DVC) during RP have been investigated, which affect intraoperative blood loss, postoperative tumour control and postoperative urinary and sexual function. The present narrative review summarizes the latest anatomical information about the prostatic apex and DVC and then describes the three types of DVC control. More detailed anatomy of the DVC is required and the optimal DVC control under different situations needs further research.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to establish and validate a prediction model for clinical outcomes in patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness (pDOC).MethodsA total of 170 patients with pDOC enrolled in our rehabilitation unit were included and divided into training (n = 119) and validation sets (n = 51). Independent predictors for improved clinical outcomes were identified by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses, and a nomogram model was established. The nomogram performance was quantified using receiver operating curve (ROC) and calibration curves in the training and validated sets. A decision curve analysis (DCA) was performed to evaluate the clinical usefulness of this nomogram model.ResultsUnivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that age, diagnosis at entry, serum albumin (g/L), and pupillary reflex were the independent prognostic factors that were used to construct the nomogram. The area under the curve in the training and validation sets was 0.845 and 0.801, respectively. This nomogram model showed good calibration with good consistency between the actual and predicted probabilities of improved outcomes. The DCA demonstrated a higher net benefit in clinical decision-making compared to treating all or none.ConclusionSeveral feasible, cost-effective prognostic variables that are widely available in hospitals can provide an efficient and accurate prediction model for improved clinical outcomes and support clinicians to offer suitable clinical care and decision-making to patients with pDOC and their family members.

In this work, orange peel (OP) was used as raw material to produce biochar. The effect of oxygen-limited carbonization temperature (200, 400, and 600°C) on the physicochemical properties and adsorption behavior of orange peel biochar (OPB) toward La(III) and Y(III) in aqueous media was studied. The prepared OPB samples were characterized by SEM, FTIR, and XRD. The experimental results exhibited effective removal of La(III) and Y(III) from aqueous solution by OPB. The carbonization promoted the pore development, and the adsorption process occurred rapidly. The main chemisorption of La(III) and Y(III) on OPB was analyzed by the Langmuir and pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and the participations of electrostatic attraction, exchange, and hydroxyl and carboxyl complexation in OPB were confirmed. The Langmuir maximum capacity of 55.57 mg/g and 31.49 mg/g was obtained at the optimum pH range of 4~6 and the OPB dosage of 1 g/L and 2 g/L for La(III) and Y(III). The efficient orange peel biochar with high adsorption performance can be obtained by considering suitable carbonization temperature.

BackgroundSome VOCs are identified as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), interfering with the effect of sex hormones. However, no studies focused on the common spectrum of environmental VOCs exposure affecting sex hormones in the average male population.ObjectivesWe aimed to explore the association between VOCs and sex hormones in American adult males using multiple statistical models.MethodsThe generalized linear (GLM), eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), weighted quantile sum (WQS), Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) and stratified models were used to evaluate the associations between Specific Volatile Organic Compounds and sex hormones in American adult male from NHANES 2013–2016.ResultsPearson correlation model revealed the potential co-exposure pattern among VOCs. XGBoost algorithm models and the WQS model suggested the relative importance of VOCs. BKMR models reveal that co-exposure to the VOCs was associated with increased Testosterone (TT), Estradiol (E2), SHBG and decreased TT/E2. GLM models revealed specific VOC exposure as an independent risk factor causing male sex hormones disorders. Stratified analysis identified the high-risk group on the VOCs exposures. We found Blood 2,5-Dimethylfuran in VOCs was the most significant effect on sex hormones in male. Testosterone increased by 213.594 (ng/dL) (124.552, 302.636) and estradiol increased by 7.229 (pg/mL) for each additional unit of blood 2,5-Dimethylfuran (ng/mL).ConclusionThis study is an academic illustration of the association between VOCs exposure and sex hormones, suggesting that exposure to VOCs might be associated with sex hormone metabolic disorder in American adult males.

A major challenge in natural killer (NK) cell immunotherapy is the limited persistence of NK cells in vivo. However, the proliferation of NK cells is dependent on cytokines such as interleukin-2 (IL-2). Although IL-2 is a critical cytokine for NK cell activation and survival, IL-2 administration in adoptive NK cell therapy can induce adverse toxicities. To improve the persistence of NK cells and attenuate the systemic toxicity of IL-2, we constructed a cell-restricted artificial IL-2, named membrane-bound IL-2 (mbIL-2), comprising human IL-2 and human IL-2Rα joined by a classic linker. We found that mbIL-2-activated NK-92 cells can survive and proliferate in vitro and in vivo, independent of exogenous IL-2, while mbIL-2-expressing NK-92 cells do not support bystander cell survival or proliferation. Additionally, mbIL-2 enhanced NK-92 cell-mediated antitumor activity by tuning the IL-2 receptor downstream signals and NK cell receptor repertoire expression. To conclude, our novel mbIL-2 improves NK-92 cell persistence and enhances NK-92 cell-mediated antitumor activity. NK-92 cells genetically modified to express the novel mbIL-2 with potential significance for clinical development.

A highly efficient and environment-friendly scale inhibitor (MA-VA-VS) was synthesized via free radical solution polymerization method, where maleic anhydride (MA), vinyl acetate (VA) and vinyl sulfonate (VS) acted as monomers, while ammonium persulfate was used as initiator. The inhibition performance and the structure as well as properties was characterized using static jar measurement and dynamic test, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The surface morphology and composition of scale formed in the solution were examined using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, respectively. The binding energies of inhibitor with calcite (104) face were calculated using Materials Studio 2017 (MS) at 323 K.The results show that the inhibition efficiency gradually increases with increasing inhibitor concentration. While as the Ca2+ concentration increases, the efficiency first increases and then decreases. With the increase in temperature or pH, the efficiency generally decreases. It is confirmed that the inhibition efficiency can reach 91.4% when 150 mg/L MA-VA-VS is used in a flow condition. Both the calculated binding energy and inhibition performance evaluation results demonstrate that the scale inhibition performance of MA-VA-VS is better than a commercial scale inhibitor (HPMA). The excellent inhibition performance of this inhibitor is due to its chelation and dispersion properties.

BackgroundSeveral lines of evidence implicate that there are distinct differences between patients with myeloperoxidase (MPO)-antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) and anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) antibody double-seropositive patients (DPPs) and single-positive patients. Hence, we conducted a retrospective study from a single center in China to analyze the clinical and pathological features, and prognosis of DPPs.Methods109 patients with MPO-ANCA-associated vasculitis (MPO-AAV), 20 DPPs and 23 patients diagnosed with anti-GBM disease from a large center in China were included in this study. The ratio of patients with renal biopsy in three groups were 100%, 50% and 100%, respectively. Their clinical and pathological characteristics, and outcomes were analyzed. The intensity of immune deposits in the kidney at diagnosis was detected by immunofluorescence (IF). Furthermore, multivariate Cox hazard model analysis was used to assess the clinical and histological predictors of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and death for DPPs.ResultsIn our study, we found that patients in the DPPs group were older than the other two groups (p = 0.007, MPO-AAV vs. DPPs; p < 0.001, DPPs vs. anti-GBM). The DPPs group had a higher value of serum creatinine (p = 0.041) and lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (p = 0.032) compared with MPO-AAV patients. On the contrary, the DPPs group had a lower serum creatinine (p = 0.003) compared with patients with anti-GBM group. The proportion of patients with cardiac system involvement in the DPPs group was higher than anti-GBM patients (p = 0.014). Cellular crescents could be generally observed in renal biopsy of DPPs and patients with anti-GBM glomerulonephritis. In addition, Bowman’s capsule rupture was more common in DPPs than MPO-AAV patients (p = 0.001). MPO-AAV had a better renal and overall survival outcome than DPPs (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference of renal and overall survival outcome between DPPs and patients with anti-GBM disease. The incidence of ESRD in DPPs was negatively associated with lymphocyte count (HR 0.153, 95% CI 0.027 to 0.872, p = 0.034) and eGFR (HR 0.847, 95% CI 0.726 to 0.989, p = 0.036). Elevated serum creatinine was confirmed as a risk factor of both renal (HR 1.003, 95% CI 1.000 to 1.005, p = 0.019) and patient survival in DPPs (HR1.461, 95% CI 1.050 to 2.033, p = 0.024).ConclusionIn summary, compared with anti-GBM disease, DPPs tended to involve multi-organ damage rather than limited to the kidney. It is highlighted that serologic DPPs have a worse renal and patient prognosis than MPO-AAV. Moreover, we found that the risk factors of renal survival of DPPs include low lymphocyte count, elevated serum creatinine and reduced eGFR, and serum creatinine can predict patient survival.

Background: Rechallenge of immunotherapy beyond progression (RIBP) has been demonstrably effective in a variety of cancers. Our study aims to investigate the efficacy of RIBP in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients under real-world conditions.Methods: SCLC patients who experienced progressive disease after receiving programmed cell death-1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) inhibitors combined with chemotherapy from January 2017 to October 2021 were enrolled. The study population was divided into two groups: the RIBP group and the discontinuation of immunotherapy beyond progression (DIBP) group. Inverse propensity score weighting (IPSW) method was used to balance the clinical baseline characteristics. The short-term and long-term efficacy of the two groups was compared.Results: 100 SCLC patients were included in this study. There were 45 patients in the RIBP group and 55 patients in the DIBP group. The disease control rate (DCR) and the proportion of durable clinical benefit (DCB) were significantly higher in the RIBP group (DCR: 79.7% vs. 55.7%, p = 0.027; DCB: 40.7 vs. 20.7%, p = 0.025) after weighting. The median progressive-free survival (PFS) in the RIBP group was significantly longer than the DIBP group in the total population (mPFS: 4.8 vs. 2.4 months, p = 0.002), while there was no significant difference in overall survival (OS) of the two groups (mOS: 17.4 vs. 8.0 months, p = 0.098). In the weighted first-line initial immunotherapy subgroup, PFS and OS were significantly improved in the RIBP group (mPFS: 4.5 vs. 2.8 months, p = 0.017; mOS: 11.6 vs. 5.4 months, p = 0.028). After weighting, the RIBP group had a significantly longer PFS than the DIBP group in the SD/PD response to the initial immunotherapy subgroup (mPFS: 6.8 vs. 1.8 months, p = 0.026).Conclusion: Rechallenge of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors could bring benefits to SCLC patients, especially in the first-line initial immunotherapy subgroup or SD/PD response to the initial immunotherapy subgroup.

As an important energy conversion component in electromagnetic-forming technology, the coil is subjected to great internal stress and is easy to break. The geometric structure and winding process of the forming coil draw on the research results of pulsed magnets. However, the two use conditions are different. It is very important to clarify the force difference between the two for the design of the forming coil. In this paper, the numerical model of an aluminum alloy (AA1060-O) is established, and the difference in force between the pulse magnet and forming coil with the same size in time and space under different working conditions is analyzed. A two-dimensional fully coupled finite element model consisting of circuit, magnetic field, and solid mechanics is established and used to determine the key parts of the coil force. It is found that the von Mises stress of the forming coil is greater than that of the pulsed magnet under the same circuit parameters and geometric structure. In the electromagnetic forming of the tube, the glass fiber is subjected to a large stress. In addition, the stress of glass fiber under the condition of tube necking is about 2 times that of pulsed magnet. When the voltage is increased, the failure of the middle part of the glass fiber causes the coil to break. In the electromagnetic forming of the sheet, the coil skeleton is subjected to large stress, and its upper end failure causes the coil to break. Therefore, new design ideas for forming coils under different working conditions are proposed.

This study investigated the effect of different concentrations of ferulic acid (FA) on the quality of goat semen preserved at 17 °C. First, semen was collected from three black-headed goat bucks using an artificial vagina. Then, the mixed semen was diluted with basal dilutions containing different concentrations of FA (0, 25, 50, 100, and 200 μmol/L) and stored at 17 °C. Sperm total motility, plasma membrane integrity, acrosome integrity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) were measured during semen storage. The results showed that sperm total motility, plasma membrane integrity, and acrosome integrity were significantly improved in the 50 μmol/L FA group compared with the control group (0 μmol/L) on days 1–5, and the level of T-AOC significantly increased, while the contents of ROS and MDA significantly reduced. Meanwhile, the goats’ conception rate showed that supplementing semen with 50 μmol/L FA preserved at 17 °C for 3 days had no significant effect on fertility. Taken together, our findings suggest that adding 50 μmol/L FA in dilution at 17 °C can improve goat bucks’ semen quality.

A memristor is a kind of nonlinear electronic component. Parameter identification for memristive chaotic systems is a multi-dimensional variable optimization problem. It is one of the key issues in chaotic control and synchronization. To identify the unknown parameters accurately and quickly, we introduce, in this paper, a modified Pelican Optimization Algorithm (POA) called the fractional-order chaotic Pareto Pelican Optimization Algorithm (FPPOA). First, the pelican population’s diversity is augmented with the integration of a fractional chaotic sequence. Next, the utilization of the Pareto distribution is incorporated to alter the hunting strategy of pelicans in the POA. These measures are effective in hastening the speed of finding an optimal solution and circumventing local optimization issues. Thirdly, the FPPOA is used to determine the values of the parameters of the simplest memristive chaotic system, which has a property of conditional symmetry. The proposed algorithm was evaluated during simulations, where it was utilized to solve six objective functions of varying unimodal and multimodal types. The performance of the FPPOA exceeds three traditional swarm intelligence optimization algorithms. In the parameter identification experiment, the results for the parameters with the FPPOA had error rates all within a 1% range. Extensive testing shows that our new strategy has a faster rate of convergence and better optimization performance than some other traditional swarm algorithms.

Abstract Background Anlotinib significantly extended progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in small‐cell lung cancer (SCLC) as third or later line treatment. Methods In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the efficacy and safety of anlotinib in the clinical practice and aimed to identify risk factors for predicting the clinical benefit of anlotinib in SCLC patients. 29 SCLC patients treated with anlotinib monotherapy or combination therapy as second or later line treatment were included. PFS, OS, objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and adverse events (AEs) were analyzed. Results In whole patients, the median PFS was 2.1 months (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1–3.2 months); The ORR and DCR were 10.3% and 48.3%, respectively; The median OS was 7.2 months (95%CI: 3.2–11.2 months). Cox regression analysis demonstrated that response to first‐line treatment was the independent risk factor for PFS. The ORR (20.0% vs. 0%) and DCR (53.3% vs. 42.9%) were promoted in patients treated with anlotinib combination therapy comparing to anlotinib monotherapy. The most common AEs were hoarseness, fatigue, decreased appetite, oral mucositis, and anemia. No treatment‐related AEs graded 3 or more. Conclusion Anlotinib is an effective option for SCLC patients with tolerable toxicity as second or later line treatment. Patients sensitive to first‐line treatment had longer PFS when treated with anlotinib. Anloitnib combined with other therapy increased the efficacy without adding toxicity.

BackgroundThe aberrant regulation of cell cycle is significantly correlated with cancer carcinogenesis and progression, in which cell cycle checkpoints control phase transitions, cell cycle entry, progression, and exit. However, the integrative role of cell cycle checkpoint-related genes (CRGs) in bladder carcinoma (BC) remains unknown.MethodsThe transcriptomic data and clinical features of BC patients were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), used to identify CRGs correlated with overall survival (OS) by univariate Cox regression analysis. Then, the multivariate and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression analyses further developed a prognostic CRG signature, which was validated in three external datasets retrieved from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was conducted for evaluating the performance of the CRG signature in prognosis prediction. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) was performed to explore the expression difference in the identified CRGs between tumor and normal tissue samples from 11 BC patients in the local cohort. Ultimately, genomic profiles and tumor microenvironment (TME), and the Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer (GDSC) were investigated to guide precision treatment for BC patients with different CRG features.ResultsThe novel constructed 23-CRG prognostic signature could stratify BC patients into high-risk and low-risk groups with significantly different outcomes (median OS: 13.64 vs. 104.65 months). Notably, 19 CRGs were the first to be identified as being associated with BC progression. In three additional validation datasets (GSE13507, GSE31684, and GSE32548), higher CRG scores all indicated inferior survival, demonstrating the robust ability of the CRG signature in prognosis prediction. Moreover, the CRG signature as an independent prognostic factor had a robust and stable risk stratification for BC patients with different histological or clinical features. Then, a CRG signature-based nomogram with a better performance in prognostic prediction [concordance index (C-index): 0.76] was established. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that collagen-containing extracellular matrix (ECM), and ECM-related and MAPK signaling pathways were significantly associated with the signature. Further analysis showed that low-risk patients were characterized by particularly distinctive prevalence of FGFR3 (17.03% vs. 6.67%, p < 0.01) and POLE alterations (7.97% vs. 2.50%, p < 0.05), and enrichment of immune infiltrated cells (including CD8+ T cells, CD4+ naïve T cells, follicular helper T cells, Tregs, and myeloid dendritic cells). RNA-seq data in our local cohort supported the findings in the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between tumor and normal tissue samples, and the difference in TME between high-risk and low-risk groups. Additionally, CRG signature score plus FGFR3 status divided BC patients into four molecular subtypes, with distinct prognosis, TME, and transcriptomic profiling of immune checkpoint genes. Of note, CRG signature score plus FGFR3 status could successfully distinguish BC patients who have a higher possibility of response to immunotherapy or chemotherapy drugs.ConclusionsThe CRG signature is a potent prognostic model for BC patients, and in combination with FGFR3 alterations, it had more practical capacity in the prediction of chemotherapy and immunotherapy response, helping guide clinical decision-making.

A memristor is a non-linear element. The chaotic system constructed by it can improve its unpredictability and complexity. Parameter identification of a memristive chaotic system is the primary task to implement chaos control and synchronization. To identify the unknown parameters accurately and quickly, we introduce the Sine Pareto Sparrow Search Algorithm (SPSSA), a modified sparrow search algorithm (SSA). in this research. Firstly, we introduce the Pareto distribution to alter the scroungers’ location in the SSA. Secondly, we use a sine-cosine strategy to improve the producers’ position update. These measures can effectively accelerate the convergence speed and avoid local optimization. Thirdly, the SPSSA is used to identify the parameters of a memristive chaotic system. The proposed SPSSA exceeds the classic SSA, particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO), and artificial bee colony algorithm (ABC) in simulations based on the five benchmark functions. The simulation results of parameter identification of a memristive chaotic system show that the method is feasible, and the algorithm has a fast convergence speed and high estimation accuracy.

AIM: To systematically evaluate the effect of anti-VEGF and laser treatment on type 1 retinopathy of prematurity(ROP). METHODS: Randomized controlled trials(RCTs)comparing the efficacy of anti-VEGF and laser therapy for type 1 ROP were retrieved from PubMed, EMbase, CBM, The Cochrane Library, WanFang Data, CNKI and VIP databases. The search time was from the establishment of the databases to January 2020. The data were extracted according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. After quality evaluation, then Meta-analysis was made by Revman 5.3 software. RESULTS: A total of 6 RCTs were included. The results of Meta-analysis showed that: there was no statistical difference in the recurrence incidence between anti-VEGF group and laser group [RR=0.94, 95% CI (0.17-5.23), P=0.94]; subgroup analysis revealed a statistical significant in zone Ⅰ[RR=0.17, 95% CI (0.05-0.62), P=0.007], while zone II has no statistical significant [RR=2.20, 95% CI (0.07-73.48), P=0.66]. Compared with the laser group, the retreatment rate [RR=2.36, 95% CI (0.70-7.99), P=0.17]was statistical significant; There was no significant difference in subgroup analysis of zone Ⅰ[RR=0.33, 95% CI (0.01-7.50), P=0.49], while the difference in zone Ⅱ[RR=13, 95% CI (1.84-92.01), P=0.01] was statistically significant. There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups[RR=0.87,95% CI(0.54-1.40),P=0.57]. CONCLUSION: Laser and anti-VEGF treatment are equally effective. Anti-VEGF has less recurrence rate in zone Ⅰ while laser is more effective in the retreatment rate in zone Ⅱ.

Abstract Background Cogan’s anterior internuclear ophthalmoplegia (INO) is characterized by INO with inability to converge and commonly thought to be due to rostral midbrain lesion. A lesion outside midbrain that causes unilateral Cogan’s anterior INO combined with upgaze palsy and ataxia are rarely described. Case presentation A 67-year old male presented with left Cogan’s anterior internuclear ophthalmoplegia (INO), left appendicular ataxia and bilateral upgaze palsy. A Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) brain showed a left dorsal tegmental infarct at the level of pontomesencephalic junction. Conclusions This case highlights the clinical importance of Cogan’s anterior INO in combination with upgaze palsy and ataxia, and report possible site of lesion in patients with such constellation. Clinicians should consider looking for cerebellar signs in cases of Cogan’s anterior INO, apart from just considering localizing the lesion at the midbrain.

This paper researched on the pre-synchronization grid connection method of a virtual synchronous generator (VSG), and proposed a fast pre-synchronization method based on the virtual power loop. According to the self-synchronization characteristics of the VSG power loop, the double power loop design was adopted in this paper. The two power loops had the same structure, which the power loop 1 was used to implement the basic VSG function, and the power loop 2 was used to achieve rapid pre-synchronous control. Therefore, the mathematical model of the VSG was similar to the synchronous generator in the pre-synchronization control. This method did not require a phase-locked loop and VSG has a good inertia and Damping performance. Moreover, this method was suitable for the networking of multiple VSGs.

BackgroundThe increasing prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has emerged as a major challenge worldwide. China as the most populous country in the globe is amid rapid aging of its population, highlighting the need for appropriate social and medical policies to meet the challenge. The current multicenter cross-sectional observational study aims to provide understanding of the current status of caring given to AD patients in China and investigate the factors that influence the family burden as well as the choice of care given to AD patients.MethodsA total of 1,675 patients with probable AD from 30 provincial regions of mainland China were enrolled in the current study from August 2019 to December 2019. We analyzed the caregiving status and its relationship with family burden and various socio-economical and medical factors.ResultsIn the current study, 90.87% of the AD patients enrolled adopted family care. The choice of caregiving method was influenced by factors including age (>80 years old, OR 0.648; 95% CI, 0.427–0.983), overall family burden (high, OR 0.574; 95% CI, 0.0.373–0.884), patients’ income (OR 0.511; 95% CI, 0.330–0.789) and self-care ability (OR 0.329; 95% CI, 0.183–0.588).ConclusionFamily care is the primary method of care for AD patients in China and the institutional care system for AD patients is still underprepared in China.

Methamphetamine (METH) addiction and its induced mental disorders have become a severe worldwide problem. A candidate Chinese herbal medicine (CCHM) in our lab had therapeutic effects on METH-induced locomotor sensitization, however, its chemical and pharmacological profiles remain to be elucidated. The current study aimed to investigate the effect of CCHM on conditioned place preference (CPP) induced by METH and screen the main active ingredients and key targets by using network pharmacology and molecular docking methods. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment, Gene ontology (GO) analysis and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network were performed to discover the potential mechanisms. Results showed that CCHM could significantly inhibit METH-induced CPP behaviors in mice. A total of 123 components and 43 targets were screened. According to the network pharmacology analysis, ten hub targets including D(2) dopamine receptor (DRD2) and 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 3A (HTR3A) were screened. GO analysis and KEGG enrichment indicated that mechanisms of CCHM treatment of METH addiction were related to multiple pathways such as dopaminergic synapse and serotoninergic synapse. Western blot results showed that the protein expressions of DRD2 in nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex were significantly decreased in METH group, while the protein expressions of HTR3A were significantly increased. These changes caused by METH could be prevented by CCHM pretreatment. The results of molecular docking displayed that the five active ingredients such as (S)-Scoulerine, Hyndarin, and Beta-Sitosterol had good affinities with DRD2 and HTR3A. In conclusion, this study constructed the CCHM’s pharmacologic network for treating METH addiction based on the method of network analysis and experimental verification, and analyzed its major active ingredients and potential targets, indicating a new direction for further revealing its mechanisms of effect on METH addiction.

This research was designed to investigate if antioxidant sulforaphane (SFN) alleviates methamphetamine (METH)-induced neurotoxicity by activation of the Nrf2-mediated pathway. Oxidative damage, apoptosis and mitochondrial membrane potential were evaluated in PC12 cells or the prefrontal cortex of SD rats post METH treatment with/without SFN. In addition, knockdown of Nrf2 expression in PC12 cells was used to further study the underlying mechanism. The results showed that METH exposure induced increased oxidative damage and apoptosis accompanied by decreased expressions of Nrf2, HO-1 and GCS in PC12 cells and the prefrontal cortex of SD rats. Meanwhile SFN effectively prevented METH-induced cell oxidative damage, apoptosis and mitochondrial membrane potential; however, the knockdown of Nrf2 expression partly reversed the protective effect of SFN in reducing METH-induced oxidative damage and apoptosis in PC12 cells. These results indicate that SFN might be a promising functional food-derived compound for preventing METH-induced neurotoxicity via the Nrf2-mediated pathway.

Electromagnetic forming is a novel technology in which a coil is used to generate a pulsed Lorentz force for shaping sheet metal pieces. However, the Lorentz force between the coil and the sheet metal is generally repulsive due to the Lenz's Law, which limits the practical application of this technology. To break this bottleneck, a dual-coil method is proposed to generate attractive Lorentz force, which is then used to form sheet metals. The theoretical principle of this method is presented, and an infinite element model is established to simulate the forming effect. The simulation results show that an A1060-O plate with a diameter of 140 mm and thickness of 1 mm can be attractively shaped under this method. The maximum axial displacement of the plate reaches 2.74 mm. Unfortunately, a dent exists in this situation. Further analysis indicates that this dent can be eliminated by increasing the inner and outer diameters of the coils. Further, it is found that when the capacitance value of the long pulse-width discharge circuit is set to 5.6 mF and the initial discharge voltage is set to 10.690 kV, the sheet metal attains the best shape.

Electromagnetic forming is a well-developed high-rate forming technology. An important issue of this technology is the temperature rise of the driving coil, which can adversely affect the coil service life. This paper is aimed at addressing this issue through detailed investigation of an electromagnetic forming based on half-wave current method. On the basis of the principle of electromagnetic forming and finite element modelling, this paper compares and analyzes the temperature rise profile of the driving coil along with the forming efficiency of the workpiece in the traditional discharge, the crowbar discharge and the half-wave current discharge models. Results show that with the same system discharge parameters, the half-wave current method can reduce the Joule heating of the driving coil from 1.82kJ to 1.3kJ, which effectively reduces the temperature rise of the driving coil. At the same time, the workpiece forming efficiency is improved from 9.6% to 11.8%. Thus, the half-wave current method can solve the issue of the temperature rise of the driving coil to some extent and promote the process of industrial applications of the electromagnetic forming technology.

Due to the fact that geometrical structure of tube electromagnetic bulging process with field shaper does not conform to the axisymmetric property, three-dimensional (3D) model is usually used to analyze the process which is complicated and time consuming. Therefore, on the basis of understanding the working principle of the field shaper, a two-dimensional (2D) model with current constraint is proposed in this paper to analyze the electromagnetic bulging process of a tube fitted with a field shaper. COMSOL finite element analysis software is used to develop three models for performance analysis and comparison, these are: conventional 3D model and the proposed 2D model with and without current constraint. Simulation results show that the induced eddy current density, magnetic flux density and electromagnetic body density of the two-dimensional model with current constraint are in good agreement with the results of the three-dimensional model. This provides an alternative and effective way to analyze the performance of the tube electromagnetic bulging with field shaper using a simple but yet reliable 2D model.

The attractive electromagnetic bulging is a novel technology which has unique advantages in the formation of small tube fittings. To generate the attractive electromagnetic force, a dual-frequency current method has been proposed in the existing research on the attraction bulging of the small tube fittings. This method, however, has a flaw that the tube fittings are subjected to a large repulsion electromagnetic force before the attraction, which will lead to a negligible effect on the final forming results. To solve this problem, a non-uniform solenoid coil structure is proposed in this paper to suppress the repulsion to improve the attraction. On this basis, a finite element model is built to analyze the process of an aluminum tube with an inner diameter of 20 mm and an outer diameter of 22 mm and the thickness of 1 mm. The influences of the coil structure on the magnetic induction intensity B, eddy current density Je and the stress of the coil have been studied. The results show that the expansion of the tube can be improved when the non-uniform solenoid coil is used. The maximum expansion in this dissertation is achieved with a 28 turns non-uniform solenoid, and its expansion uniformity standard deviation is only 0.156. These simulations have a significant outcome to the design of the coils and the application of electromagnetic bulging in small tube fittings.

Improving the forming efficiency at a reasonable cost has been the main challenge in the electromagnetic forming technology. Towards this aim, this paper proposes a simultaneous cost-effective double-sheet electromagnetic forming method using single driving coil. In order to highlight the features of the proposed technique, comparison of the performance of five electromagnetic forming models is presented. These models include a no-sheet model, single-sheet stationary model, single-sheet moving model, double-sheet stationary model and double-sheet moving model. For each model, electromagnetic force distribution and forming efficiency of the workpiece are analyzed. Furthermore, the influence of the pulse current width of the driving coil on the electromagnetic forming efficiency of the plate is investigated for all models. Results show that for the same system discharge parameters, electromagnetic forming efficiency of double-sheet is 21.14% whereas the single-sheet electromagnetic forming model only achieves 14.68% efficiency. Thus, the double-sheet electromagnetic forming technology can improve the low forming efficiency of a single-sheet electromagnetic forming method and at the same time, the method can form two workpieces simultaneously which makes it more cost effective than the single-sheet method.

Electromagnetic forming (EMF) is a kind of high-energy-rate forming technology which uses pulsed electromagnetic forces to achieve rapid plastic deformation of workpieces. It can significantly improve the forming limit and formability of light-weight alloys and has been widely used in the field of tube forming. However, in the existing tube forming systems, the electromagnetic force between the tube and the coil is mainly dominated by a repulsive force. When flaring the tube, the coil must be placed inside the tube, which is not suitable for the forming of small tubes. In order to solve this problem, a method of flaring small tube with an outer coil is developed, where the coil current is generated by a dual-power supply system and a significant attractive electromagnetic force between the coil and the tube is produced for flaring forming. The feasibility of the method has been demonstrated by both numerical simulations and experiments. It has been shown that the flaring of an A1060-O aluminum alloy tube with diameter of 20 mm can be successfully realized, and the maximum radial deformation is about 4.88 mm. Meanwhile, it has been pointed out that the performance of tube flaring can be further improved by changing the relative position of tube and coil and the discharge voltage value of the dual-power supply system. The obtained results provide a new flaring tool for small tubes and expand the application of electromagnetic forming technology in tube processing.

Electromagnetic forming is a method of high-speed metal workpiece forming technology that uses electromagnetic force pulses generated from the interaction of the magnetic flux density and workpiece induced eddy current. The main challenge of this technology is the control of the eddy current and magnetic flux density to perform various forming processes. This paper is aimed at overcoming this challenge by introducing a new electromagnetic sheet forming method based on discretely driven rings. In this method, a set of discrete conducting rings are placed between the driving coil and the metal workpiece to enhance the shaping process of the workpiece. By changing the number and position of the rings, the induced eddy current can be adjusted, and different electromagnetic force distribution profiles can be realized. COMSOL software is used to develop an electromagnetic field-structure coupling model of the proposed electromagnetic forming method. The characteristics of the electromagnetic force distribution and its effect on the workpiece forming process are analyzed. Results show that the electromagnetic force distribution profile can be controlled by adjusting the rings physical parameters such as diameter, material, and position. The proposed method can effectively improve the performance of the conventional electromagnetic forming technology and has the potential for implementation in wide industry applications.

Electromagnetic tube expansion has been given much attention due to its superior cold forming properties. The traditional electromagnetic coil is of single structure, which results in substantial tube wall thinning and mechanical strength reduction. This shortcoming restricts further development of the electromagnetic tube expansion technology in various industrial applications. This paper proposes an axial-radial electromagnetic force bidirectional loading method to increase the axial fluidity of the material and eliminate the wall thinning issue that currently exists in the traditional method. Furthermore, the performances of three proposed structures for the axial compression electromagnetic tube expansion using three-coil, two-coil and one-coil are analyzed and compared. In this context, the electromagnetic force distribution and the wall thinning of the tube during the expansion process are analyzed based on finite element modelling. Results show that with the proposed modified structure of the traditional single coil, the axial electromagnetic force can be substantially increased which results in reducing the tube wall thinning significantly. The proposed technique in this paper paves the way for further development and more industrial applications of the electromagnetic expansion technology.

In the conventional electromagnetic tube expansion, tube wall thickness tends to decrease significantly while the workpiece is expanded. This paper is aimed at introducing a new technique using three-coil electromagnetic tube bulging with axial compression as an innovative solution for this issue. To validate the feasibility of the proposed technique and investigate the electromagnetic force distribution along the workpiece, COMSOL software is used to construct a detailed finite element analysis model for the proposed electromagnetic coupling model. Results show that the ratio of the axial and the radial electromagnetic forces increases linearly with the increase of the height and the outer diameter of the top and bottom coils. Furthermore, the tube deformation profile and the wall thickness are compared with two different coil structures. Comparison analysis reveals that for the same axial to radial electromagnetic forces ratio, the effect of prohibiting the wall thickness reduction using different coil structures is quite similar. The new method is expected to have a good potential in enhancing the tube-forming performance.

Exploring areas of innovation and development and promoting total factor productivity is a topic that is crucial to implementing innovation-driven strategies and building a modern economic system in the Hubei province in China. So, the aim of the research is to find a methodology for computing innovation performance and its influence factors in the Hubei region of China. Based on the existing efficiency measurement methods, this study measures the innovation efficiency performance and subsequently the innovation performance by using the optimized Färe-Primont index for a sample of 28 manufacturing industries in Hubei. A threshold regression model of multidimensional explanatory variables focusing on business performance, government support, industry openness, and synergic innovation is used to investigate the core factors that affect the improvement of innovation performance in Hubei’s manufacturing industries. Results show that there is a significant “technological heterogeneity” in Hubei’s manufacturing industries. Business performance plays a significant role in promoting the innovation performance of manufacturing industries, while the roles of industry development, government support, and synergic innovation on innovation performance change depending on the “technological characteristics” of industries.

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a major blindness-causing disease that is characterized by an arrest of normal vascular development and neovascularization of the retina. Previous studies have shown that genetic factors may be associated with the development and severity of ROP. However, the genes and mechanisms underlying ROP remain unclear. We aimed to identify hub genes in ROP and drugs related to these genes by integrative analysis. The expression profiles of GSE158799 and GSE135844 were acquired from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. Then, an integrative analysis was performed including Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, transcription factor (TF)-gene, and miRNA-gene networks analysis. Moreover, we verified hub genes and identified potential drugs. 225 common DEGs were identified. Biological function analysis indicated that angiogenesis, cell surface, cell adhesion, extracellular matrix, and focal adhesion genes were enriched among DEGs. The PI3K/Akt signalingpathway, focal adhesion, and extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction were markedly enriched in the KEGG pathway analysis. Finally, 5 hub genes related to the nosogenesis of ROP were identified and found to be targeted by VEGFA inhibitors, TLR4 antagonists, and sunitinib. The present study showed that VEGFA, ACTA2, MKI67, CD68, and TLR4 are potential hub genes involved in the pathogenesis of ROP. Moreover, TLR4 antagonists and sunitinib may be new candidate drugs for ROP therapy, in addition to VEGFA inhibitors.

Timely and accurate acquisition of crop type information is significant for irrigation scheduling, yield estimation, harvesting arrangement, etc. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has emerged as an effective way to obtain high resolution remote sensing images for crop type mapping. Convolutional neural network (CNN)-based methods have been widely used to predict crop types according to UAV remote sensing imagery, which has excellent local feature extraction capabilities. However, its receptive field limits the capture of global contextual information. To solve this issue, this study introduced the self-attention-based transformer that obtained long-term feature dependencies of remote sensing imagery as supplementary to local details for accurate crop-type segmentation in UAV remote sensing imagery and proposed an end-to-end CNN–transformer feature-fused network (CTFuseNet). The proposed CTFuseNet first provided a parallel structure of CNN and transformer branches in the encoder to extract both local and global semantic features from the imagery. A new feature-fusion module was designed to flexibly aggregate the multi-scale global and local features from the two branches. Finally, the FPNHead of feature pyramid network served as the decoder for the improved adaptation to the multi-scale fused features and output the crop-type segmentation results. Our comprehensive experiments indicated that the proposed CTFuseNet achieved a higher crop-type-segmentation accuracy, with a mean intersection over union of 85.33% and a pixel accuracy of 92.46% on the benchmark remote sensing dataset and outperformed the state-of-the-art networks, including U-Net, PSPNet, DeepLabV3+, DANet, OCRNet, SETR, and SegFormer. Therefore, the proposed CTFuseNet was beneficial for crop-type segmentation, revealing the advantage of fusing the features found by the CNN and the transformer. Further work is needed to promote accuracy and efficiency of this approach, as well as to assess the model transferability.

Iris localization in non-cooperative environments is challenging and essential for accurate iris recognition. Motivated by the traditional iris-localization algorithm and the robustness of the YOLO model, we propose a novel iris-localization algorithm. First, we design a novel iris detector with a modified you only look once v4 (YOLO v4) model. We can approximate the position of the pupil center. Then, we use a modified integro-differential operator to precisely locate the iris inner and outer boundaries. Experiment results show that iris-detection accuracy can reach 99.83% with this modified YOLO v4 model, which is higher than that of a traditional YOLO v4 model. The accuracy in locating the inner and outer boundary of the iris without glasses can reach 97.72% at a short distance and 98.32% at a long distance. The locating accuracy with glasses can obtained at 93.91% and 84%, respectively. It is much higher than the traditional Daugman’s algorithm. Extensive experiments conducted on multiple datasets demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of our method for iris localization in non-cooperative environments.

Methamphetamine (METH) abuse exerts severe harmful effects in multiple organs, especially the brain, and can induce cognitive dysfunction and memory deficits in humans. Krill oil is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, while its effect on METH-induced cognitive impairment and mental disorders, and the underlying mechanism remain unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the protective effect of krill oil on METH-induced memory deficits and to explore the molecular mechanisms by using an integrated strategy of bioinformatics analysis and experimental verification. METH-exposed mice were treated with or without krill oil. Learning and memory functions were evaluated by the Morris water maze. The drug–component–target network was constructed in combination with network pharmacology. The predicted hub genes and pathways were validated by the Western blot technique. With krill oil treatment, memory impairment induced by METH was significantly improved. 210 predicted targets constituted the drug–compound–target network by network pharmacology analysis. 20 hub genes such as DRD2, MAPK3, CREB, BDNF, and caspase-3 were filtered out as the underlying mechanisms of krill oil on improving memory deficits induced by METH. The KEGG pathway and GO enrichment analyses showed that the MAPK signaling pathway, cAMP signaling pathway, and dopaminergic synapse pathway were involved in the neuroprotective effects of krill oil. In the hippocampus, DRD2, cleaved caspase-3, and γ-H2AX expression levels were significantly increased in the METH group but decreased in the krill oil–treated group. Meanwhile, krill oil enhanced the expressions of p-PKA, p-ERK1/2, and p-CREB. Our findings suggested that krill oil improved METH-induced memory deficits, and this effect may occur via the MAPK signaling pathway and dopaminergic synapse pathways. The combination of network pharmacology approaches with experimental validation may offer a useful tool to characterize the molecular mechanism of multicomponent complexes.