Search

Objective: To explore the relationship among plasma 3-deoxyglucuronide (3-DG) level, severity of sepsis and clinical prognosis, and to provide references for the assessment of sepsis patients' condition and prognosis. Methods: 120 sepsis patients and 50 health particapants in our hospital from January 2018 to December 2018 were enrolled in the observation group and the control group respectively. The plasma levels of 3-DG were measured and compared between the two groups at the time of admission. According to the 28-day prognosis of the patients in the observation group, they were divided into the survival group and the death group. The plasma 3-DG changes and acute physiology and chronic health scoring system II (APACHE II) and Glasgow coma score (GCS) were compared between the two groups at the time of enrollment, on the third day of admission, on the 7th day of admission, on the 14th day after admission. The correlation between plasma 3-DG and the severity score of sepsis patients was analyzed, and the value of plasma 3-DG in predicting the mortality of sepsis patients was analyzed by ROC. Results: The plasma concentration of 3-DG in the observation group was (296.38±52.97) 毺 g/L, which was higher than that in the control group (91.06±22.38) 毺 g/L , and the difference was statistically significant. After 28 d of hospitalization, 81 patients survived and 39 died in the observation group, with a fatality rate of 32.50%. The plasma levels of 3-DG in the survival group and the death group decreased continuously at the time of admission, the 3rd day of admission, the 7th day of admission and the 14th day of admission. The plasma 3-DG levels of survival group and fatality group decreased continuously at admission, 3rd day, 7th day and 14th day. The plasma 3-DG levels of the survival group were lower than those of the fatality group at admission, 3rd day, 7th day and 14th day. The scores of APACHE II, SOFA and MODS of the survival group and the fatality group decreased continuously at admission, 3rd day, 7th day, 14th day, and increased continuously. The scores of APACHE II, SOFA and MODS of the survival group and the fatality group were lower than those of the fatality group at admission, 3rd day, 7th day, 14th day, and their GCS scores were higher than those of the fatality group, with significant difference. Pearson correlation analysis showed that plasma 3-DG level was positively correlated with APACHE II, SOFA, MODS scores in sepsis patients, and negatively correlated with GCS scores. ROC curve showed that plasma 3-DG levels at admission, 3rd day of admission, 7th day of admission and 14th day of admission could effectively predict the mortality risk of sepsis patients ion were 82.22%, 80.35% and AUC was 0.871, respectively. Conclusion: The increase of plasma 3-DG level is accompanied by the aggravation of the severity of sepsis and the increase of the risk of fatality. Early detection of plasma 3-DG level is expected to guide the assessment of the condition and prognosis of sepsis patients.

In this research, two transition metal coordination polymers (CPs), namely {[Cu2(dppa)(bpy)2(H2O)]·H2O}n (1) and {[Co2(dppa)(phen)2(H2O)]·3H2O}n (2) (bpy ​= ​2,2′-bipyridine, phen ​= ​1,10-phenanthroline, and H4dppa ​= ​5-(3′4′-dicarboxylphenoxy)isophthalic acid), have been synthesized via utilizing the mixed ligand method with the reaction between the ligand of H4dppa and corresponding metal salts under the existence of diverse nitrogen-donor ligands. Magnetic investigations have indicated that there is antiferromagnetic coupling between neighboring metal ions in the two compounds. The inhibition of the new compounds on the wound healing after facial plastic surgery was assessed. The detection of Cell Counting Kit-8 was carried out for the evaluation of compounds’ inhibitory activity against the fibroblasts of granulation tissue. In addition to this, the signaling pathway of VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) activation was assessed after treated via the compounds with real time RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction).

Drill flute has a great influence on the drilling performance of micro-drill, and its profile largely depends on the grinding parameters, wheel profile and position. It is promising to obtain a desired flute profile with a standard wheel by adjusting the wheel position parameters. To investigate the influence of wheel position parameters on the flute profile, the micro-drill flute is simulated by MATLAB software considering the wheel installation angle and the offset distance from wheel origin to the drill blank origin, and the radial rake angle, flute width and chip evacuation capacity are quantitatively calculated to evaluate the flute profile. The simulated results show that the wheel installation angle has an obvious effect on the three performance parameters of flute profile, and the wheel offset distance only influences a parameter, i.e., the flute width evidently. The radial rake angle of drill flute increases obviously with the increased wheel installation angle, and decreases slightly with the increased wheel offset distance. With the decreased wheel installation angle, the flute width of drill flute increases causing the reduction of micro-drill strength but improvement of the chip evacuation capacity. With the increased wheel offset distance, the flute width also increases resulting in the reduction of micro-drill strength but no obvious change on chip evacuation capacity. Thus the wheel installation angle can be used as a main factor among the wheel position parameters to obtain the desired flute profile.

Helical point micro-drill is characterized by a continuous helical flank instead of the piecewise planar flank, and its improved drilling performance is validated compared with planar drill point by some researchers. In this study, to analyze the effect of geometry parameters of helical point drill on the drilling performance, the micro-drills with different point angles, web thicknesses and helix angles of the flute are fabricated on a 6-axis CNC tool grinder, and a serial of micro-drilling experiments involving these drills on 1Cr18Ni9Ti austenitic stainless steel are carried out. In experiments, the drilling forces are measured and exit burrs are observed. Within a certain range of geometry parameters, thrust force increases with the increase of point angle and web thickness, and the decrease of the helix angle of the flute. The point angle is the main contributory factor for the thrust force followed by web thickness, while helix angle has a moderate effect on the force. Furthermore, poisson burr and rollover burr are generated with different point angles. Based on the results, a good selection of the helical point drill geometry parameters with small point angle, big helix angle and small web thickness are proposed to improve the micro-drilling performance.

The double-chain boron ribbon should be taken as an element geometric unit for the construction of boron fullerenes and sheets. In this work, a series of B2n C2H2 clusters (n = 2–9) were extensively investigated using the density functional theory and the coupled cluster method. The most stable structures of B2n C2H2 are planar double-chain nanoribbon with lengths from 3.9 to 15.0 A. The adaptive natural density partitioning analyses show that there exist conjugated multi-center π bonds along the nanoribbons. The two-dimensional contour pictures of the nucleus-independent chemical shifts reveal that B2n C2H2 clusters have ribbon aromaticity that fluctuates along the ribbons. This finding will provide new insights on the boron fullerenes and the two-dimensional boron sheets.

The newly discovered borospherenes B40 (-/0) and B39 (-) mark the onset of a new class of boron nanostructures. Based on extensive first-principles calculations, we introduce herein two new chiral members to the borospherene family: the cage-like C1 B41 (+) (1) and C2 B42 (2+) (2), both of which are the global minima of the systems with degenerate enantiomers. These chiral borospherene cations are composed of twelve interwoven boron double chains with six hexagonal and heptagonal faces and may be viewed as the cuborenes analogous to cubane (C8 H8 ). Chemical bonding analyses show that there exists a three-center two-electron σ bond on each B3 triangle and twelve multicenter two-electron π bonds over the σ skeleton. Molecular dynamics simulations indicate that C1 B41 (+) (1) fluctuates above 300 K, whereas C2 B42 (2+) (2) remains dynamically stable. The infrared and Raman spectra of these borospherene cations are predicted to facilitate their experimental characterizations.

Micro-drilling become more widely used from precision mechanics to electronics. Nowadays, the main commercial tools are planar point micro-drills. However, that geometry often causes a high thrust force, high temperature, and rapid wear during micro-drilling. Furthermore, it is difficult to adjust the four flank surfaces to accurately intersect at one point, particularly when the drill diameter becomes smaller. To solve this problem, non-coaxial helical drills points have been proposed by some researchers, and is characterized by a continuous helical flank instead of the piecewise planar flank. Its drilling performance is improved compared with planar drill point. This study presents a 5-axis coordinated CNC grinding method of the non-coaxial helical drill flank. Mathematical models of the drill flank and its engagement line between cylinder grinding wheel and drill tool are established, and then the path of the grinding wheel with respect to the drill tool is obtained. In order to verify the availability of the proposed methods, three dimension (3D) grinding simulation of non-coaxial helical drills with diameter 0.5mm was carried out using the CAD software, and then were fabricated on a 6-axis Makino CNC tool grinder. The ground micro-drills examined by 3D laser scanning microscope show good identity with the simulated result. These indicate that the manufacturing model presented in this paper provides a practical and efficient method to grind the flank of a non-coaxial helical micro-drill.

In the course of sampling, the self-adaptive approach to exposure time was adopted for increasing the sample precision of the linear CCD. The path recognition method was obtained in the light of proceeding posture of the smart car, and provided path parameters. According to the path parameters, the controller regulated simultaneously the left motor speed and the right motor speed by left motor driver and right motor driver respectively. The difference of the left motor speed and the right motor speed made the smart car go straight and turning, so the smart car realized the path recognition accurately.

The image segmentation of a robot binocular stereo vision system is the key issue in imaging processing. In this paper, the method of 2-D maximum entropy threshold image segmentation with chaos-particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to segment the images information collected by a robot vision system, and the algorithm is checked by a real robot binocular stereo vision system. The results show that more space information of an image is sufficiently used by the above method, and the running time is shortened by the algorithm. In addition, the image segmentation effect is better than other conventional methods.

In this paper, a technical solution of remote monitoring system based on ZigBee and embedded technology are focused, designed and analyzed. This technical solution of remote monitoring system is a promising solution for the limitations of traditional agricultural information. In this work, the star form network topology based on the ZigBee was used to achieve the low-power sensor module in the agricultural field. Then such information is delivered to the remote control center through GPRS. According to the received information, the control center sends out the control command in time so that agricultural manage departments or farmers take relative measures. Therefore, costs can be reduced, and crop production can be increased.

The current investigation sought to evaluate the relation between hemorheological properties and the metabolic syndrome. 1400 office workers aged 35 to 59 years were enrolled in this study. Waist circumference and blood pressure were determined. Plasma high-density lipoprotein (HDL cholesterol), triglyceride, fasting blood glucose, plasma insulin and whole blood viscosity (WBV) at a high-shear rate of 200 s(-1) were measured at the attendance. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP)/ATP III guidelines. The metabolic syndrome was identified in 18% of this sedentary population. Mean WBV was 4.71+/-0.56 mPa s. One-way ANOVA indicated WBV increased across subjects with 0-4 metabolic syndrome components (F=3.86, p

Chirality plays an important role in chemistry, biology, and materials science. The recent discovery of the B40(-/0) borospherenes marks the onset of a class of boron-based nanostructures. Here we report the observation of axially chiral borospherene in the B(39)(-) nanocluster on the bases of photoelectron spectroscopy, global minimum searches, and electronic structure calculations. Extensive structural searches in combination with density functional and CCSD(T) calculations show that B(39)(-) has a C3 cage global minimum with a close-lying C2 cage isomer. Both the C3 and C2 B(39)(-) cages are chiral with degenerate enantiomers. The C3 global minimum consists of three hexagons and three heptagons around the vertical C3 axis. The C2 isomer is built on two hexagons on the top and at the bottom of the cage with four heptagons around the waist. Both the C3 and C2 axially chiral isomers of B(39)(-) are present in the experiment and contribute to the observed photoelectron spectrum. The chiral borospherenes also exhibit three-dimensional aromaticity, featuring σ and π double delocalization for all valence electrons. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal that these chiral B(39)(-) cages are structurally fluxional above room temperature, compared to the highly robust D(2d)B40 borospherene. The current findings add chiral members to the borospherene family and indicate the structural diversity of boron-based nanomaterials.

The differences in metal-thiolate coordination and reactivity of mammalian metallothionein (MT) domains are closely related to their distinct, highly conservative cysteine number and position. Monkey metallothionein-1, containing a beta-domain with Cd(3)S(9) cluster and an alpha-domain with Cd(4)S(11) cluster, was used to evaluate the role of cysteine residues in the formation of MT's metal-thiolate clusters. The possible influence of cysteine residues on the binding and stability of MT domains has been examined with the metallothionein mutants: N4C, T27C and N4C/T27C, which possess ten or eleven cysteine residues in the re-constructed beta-domain, respectively. Assisted by study of UV, CD and electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS) and their reactivity with DTNB (5,5'-dithiobis (2-nitrobenzoic acid)), we found that besides the original alpha-domain, some kinds of new domain containing 4-cadmium-thiolate clusters were formed in the N4C and N4C/T27C mutants of mkMT1. These new domains displayed metal binding and kinetic reactivity with DTNB similar to the alpha-domain. However, the thermal stability of the mutants was less stable than that of WT mkMT1. This might result from the disturbance of the inter-domains hydrogen bonds and of the non-cysteine amino acid residue arrangement.

To investigate whether pituitrin can lower 28-day mortality as compared with treatment with norepinephrine (NE) in patients with septic shock.Randomized, controlled, open-label trial was conducted. One hundred and thirty-nine septic shock patients with dopamine requirements exceeding 5 μg×kg(-1)×min(-1) were divided at random into two groups as the study group and control group. All patients enrolled were treated by the same treatment principle and measures. In patients of study group injection of pituitrin 0.017-0.042 U/min (1.0- 2.5 U/h) was given, and if hemodynamics was still unstable, catecholamines was added to obtain the target blood pressure; while in the control group catecholamines was given to maintain stability of hemodynamics.Among 139 patients enrolled in the study, 66 composed of the clinical study group and 73 in the control group. The main principle of the treatment in the two groups was similar. There was no significant difference in overall 28-day mortality rate between study group and control group (40.9% vs. 46.6%, P0.05). In patients whose acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II ( APACHE II ) score was less than 25, the mortality of study group was significantly lower than that of control group [10.3% (3/29) vs. 35.7% (10/28), P0.05]. The length of stay in intensive care unit [ICU, days: 5(3,8) vs. 5(3,8)], and duration of mechanical ventilation [days: 4.0 (2.8, 6.0) vs. 4.0 (2.0, 5.0)] were similar in two groups (both P0.05). The dosage of NE (μg/min: 7.99 ± 5.02 vs. 10.12 ± 5.12) and heart rate (beat/min: 93.27 ± 7.84 vs. 108.45 ± 12.31) were significantly lower in study group compared with that of control group (both P0.05). Serum creatinine and lactate levels in the two groups were similar at baseline, and creatinine [μmol/L: 87.5 (62.8, 157.0) vs. 76.0 (52.5, 117.0)] and lactate level (mmol/L: 3.72 ± 2.47 vs. 3.53 ± 1.86) were still similar in two groups 24 hours later (all P0.05). The rate of use of glucocorticoid (43.9% vs. 31.5%) and heparin in small dosage (42.4% vs. 41.1%) had no significant difference between two groups (both P0.05).Combined use of pituitrin in patients with septic shock can reduce the dosage of catecholamines, and decrease the heart rate. Although it can not lower the overall mortality of septic shock, among patients with less severity whose APACHE II score lower than 25, low-dose pituitrin in conjunction with catecholamine vasopressors can reduce 28-day mortality .

The datum is disposed by rough set theory in the data fusion center of a distributed detection system. Its basic theoric scheme is explained while its typical applications are discussed. The structure of distributed detection system and crisp fusion method in data fusion center are presented. In crisp method, redundant condition attributes and redundant condition attribute values are removed respectively by the condition attribute reduction, the value reduction of the condition attributes. Decision rules are deduced.

In this paper an acetonitrile-induced unfolding of the manganese-stabilizing protein (MSP) of photosystem II was discovered. More distinct unfolding states of MSP were identified than previously by using mainly electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), together with fluorescence spectra and far-UV circular dichroism (CD) at pH 2.0, 6.2 or 11.6, and with acetonitrile concentrations from 0 to 50%. At pH 6.2 with acetonitrile concentration changing from 0 to 10%, relatively broad charge-state distributions and poor intensity were observed in ESI-MS, indicating the presence of coexisting conformers. It was concluded that the structure of the MSP protein is unlikely to be a tightly folded form. When the concentration of acetonitrile was 20–40%, simulating the state in the biological membrane, changes in the state of unfolding of MSP were observed to a certain extent using ESI-MS, fluorescence and CD spectroscopy. The charge-state distribution in ESI-MS was found to move toward high states (from 13+ to 27+ to 15+ to 31+) with increasing acetonitrile concentration. At pH 2.0, the MSP structure is rearranged into an unfolded state, and at pH 11.6 the MSP structure is induced to assume another unordered state by deprotonation of appropriate residues. An interesting observation was that a second peak envelope emerged with 20–50% acetonitrile in the medium at pH 11.6. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The differences in metal-thiolate coordination and reactivity of mammalian metallothionein (MT) domains are closely related to their distinct, highly conservative cysteine number and position. Monkey metallothionein-1, containing a beta-domain with Cd(3)S(9) cluster and an alpha-domain with Cd(4)S(11) cluster, was used to evaluate the role of cysteine residues in the formation of MT's metal-thiolate clusters. The possible influence of cysteine residues on the binding and stability of MT domains has been examined with the metallothionein mutants: N4C, T27C and N4C/T27C, which possess ten or eleven cysteine residues in the re-constructed beta-domain, respectively. Assisted by study of UV, CD and electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS) and their reactivity with DTNB (5,5'-dithiobis (2-nitrobenzoic acid)), we found that besides the original alpha-domain, some kinds of new domain containing 4-cadmium-thiolate clusters were formed in the N4C and N4C/T27C mutants of mkMT1. These new domains displayed metal binding and kinetic reactivity with DTNB similar to the alpha-domain. However, the thermal stability of the mutants was less stable than that of WT mkMT1. This might result from the disturbance of the inter-domains hydrogen bonds and of the non-cysteine amino acid residue arrangement.