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Objective: To use weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and molecular docking techniques to predict the mechanism of action of Huangqi Guizhi Wuwu decoction (HGWWD) in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) and to provide a bioinformatics basis for the clinical application of HGWWD in the treatment of OA. Methods: After searching the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, the GSE55235, GSE206848 and GSE55457 datasets were obtained. After merging and normalizing the GSE55235 and GSE206848 datasets, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened, modules closely associated with OA were screened using a weighted gene co-expression network (WGCN) constructed using R software, and the common genes among DEGs and key module genes were imported into the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) for Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis. The active ingredients in HGWWD were retrieved through the traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology database and analysis platform (TCMSP), and a "drug-active ingredient-target" network was constructed using Cytoscape software. The GSE55457 dataset was used to verify and compare the expression differences in hub genes between different groups. AutoDock was used to conduct molecular docking of key genes and related active ingredients, and PyMOL and Discovery Studio were used for visual analyses. Results: A total of 1455 DEGs were screened in the merged dataset, including 574 upregulated genes and 881 downregulated genes. The key module contained 388 genes. A total of 47 pathways were obtained from the KEGG analysis. β-Sitosterol, kaempferol, β-carotene, stigmasterol, and quercetin were identified as the main compounds of HGWWD, and interleukin (IL)-6, prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), JUN, MYC, NFKBIA, SELE, and chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 2 (CXCL2) were the main hub genes involved in the treatment of OA with HGWWD. Molecular docking indicated that except for quercetin, the binding energies of other major compounds to hub genes were less than -5.0 kcal/mol. Conclusion: β-Sitosterol, kaempferol, β-carotene, stigmasterol and quercetin in HGWWD act on MYC, JUN, IL-6, VEGFA, and SELE, thus generating good therapeutic effects in individuals with OA.

Objective To quantitatively describe the stress of the ligamentum flavum (LF) using the finite element method and to compare the stress at different parts of the healthy LF. Methods Based on the high resolution computed tomography imaging data of a healthy 22-year-old man, three-dimensional nonlinear L4-5 lumbar finite element model (FEM) representing intact condition was developed. The LF, as the object of the present research, was incorporated into the spinal model in the form of solid three-dimensional structure. The model's validity is verified by comparing its biomechanical indices, such as range of motion and axial compression pressure displacement, with published results under specific loading conditions. To authenticate the accuracy of the solid LF, the lamina attachments, the central cross-section, and other anatomy indicators were compared with figures in the published literature. After the average and maximum von Mises stress on the surface of LF under various working conditions were measured using ANSYS and AutoCAD software, the surface stress difference in the LF between the ventral and dorsal sides as well as the lateral and lamina parts were determined. Results The FEM predicted a similar tendency for biomechanical indices as shown in previous studies. The lamina attachments, the central cross-section, and the height as well as the width of the LF in the healthy FEM were in accordance with published results. In the healthy model, the average and maximum von Mises stress in the shallow layer of the LF were, respectively, 1.40, 2.28, 1.76, 1.48, 1.38 and 1.79, 2.41, 1.46, 1.42, 1.71 times that in the deep layer under a compressive preload of 500 N incorporated with flexion, extension, and lateral and rotational moments (10 Nm). The most conspicuous difference in surface stress was observed with the flexion motion, with a nearly 241% difference in the maximum stress and a 228% difference in the average stress compared to those in other states. As far as the whole dorsal side of the LF was concerned, the maximum surface stress was almost all concentrated in the dorsal neighboring facet joint portion. In addition, the maximum and average stress were, respectively, 77%, 72%, 15%, 11%, 71% and 153%, 39%, 54%, 200%, 212% higher in the lateral part than in the lamina part. Conclusion Based on the predisposition of LF hypertrophy in the human spine and the stress distribution of this study, the positive correlation between LF hypertrophy and its stress was confirmed.

To develop an FPGA-based controller, we proposed the architecture and implementation schemes for the controller and determined the technical indexes for the design. The schemes include the board layout and design of the logic daughter card for the architecture of the FPGA-based controller. To improve reliability, self-diagnosis and self-protection circuits are included in the controller design. The data communication design mainly consists of backplane serial data communication, a 422/485 serial data communication daughter card, and an I/O daughter card. We developed a prototype controller and established a propellant loading prototype control system for a space launch site. Experimental results show that the performance of the designed FPGA-based controller meets the major technical indexes. The controller is then compared with existing PLCs. The comparison shows that the FPGA-based controller has higher reliability, faster response time, and better performance.

The A-site sublattice order of the Na0.5Bi0.46K0.04TiO2.96 (NBT-K4) compound was changed by the isovalent Na+ ions partly substituting K+ ions. The Na0.5+xBi0.46K0.04−xTiO2.96 (x = 0, 0.01 and 0.02) samples were prepared. By the AC impedance test, the grain conductivity of the Na0.52Bi0.46K0.02TiO2.96 (x = 0.02) samples is 8.23 × 10−4 S/cm at 623 K, which is around 1.65 times higher than that of NBT-K4 sample at the same tested temperature. By anatomizing relaxation spectroscopy, when the Na-doped content x in the NBT-K4 compound increases from 0 to 2 mol%, the activation energy E decreases from 0.64 to 0.57 eV. Accompany with the rise of the Na-doped content in the NBT-K4 compound, although the mobile oxygen vacancy content decreases, the oxygen vacancy diffusivity are strengthened. The higher oxygen vacancy jumping rates and lower oxygen relaxation activation energies were found in the Na-doped NBT-K4 samples, which causes the higher grain conductivity in the Na0.5+xBi0.46K0.04−xTiO2.96 (x = 0.01 and 0.02) samples. There is the higher oxygen-ion conductivity and lower activation energy in the relative A-site order of Na-doped NBT-K4 compound, which is consistent with the first principle simulation results. The investigation provides a new way to design a high oxygen-ion conductivity NBT-based oxide ion conductors and related materials.

Consider the linear response eigenvalue problem (LREP) for H = [ 0 K M 0 ] , where K and M are positive semidefinite and one of them is definite. Given a pair of approximate deflating subspaces of { K , M } , it can be shown that LREP can be transformed into one for H ˜ that is nearly decoupled into two smaller LREPs upon congruence transformations on K and M that preserve the eigenvalues of H. In this paper, we establish a bound on how far the pair of approximate deflating subspaces is from a pair of exact ones, using the closeness of H ˜ from being decoupled.

Gemcitabine is the first-line chemotherapeutic agent for advanced adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, despite the high risk of chemoresistance as a major disadvantage. In the past few years, significant advances have been made in the field of pancreatic cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) and their critical roles in drug resistance, invasion and metastasis, which are tightly regulated by long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). The present study demonstrated that HOX antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) is not different between the pancreatic cancer cell line PANC-1 and its enriched CSC sub-population. However, after gemcitabine treatment, the expression levels of HOTAIR in CSCs were induced, but not in PANC-1 cells. HOTAIR induced by gemcitabine failed to cause chemoresistance, but promoted the clonogenicity, proliferation and migration of the cells. By introducing HOTAIR using lentivirus, chemoresistance was induced and the self-renewal capacity, proliferation and migration were significantly promoted. By contrast, HOTAIR knockdown in PANC-1 CSCs treated with or without gemcitabine decreased the cell proliferation, altered the cell cycle progression and induced apoptosis, demonstrating its critical roles in regulating the malignant character of PANC-1 CSCs. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that HOTAIR may be induced by gemcitabine and acts as a tumor promoter by inhibiting the chemosensitivity, and promoting the self-renewal capacity, proliferation and migration of PANC-1 CSCs, which supports its potential application as a novel therapeutic approach for pancreatic cancer.

We present normwise and componentwise perturbation bounds for the LU, the Cholesky, the L D L T and the QR decompositions by using a new approach. The explicit expressions of mixed and componentwise condition numbers for these matrix decompositions are derived. The condition numbers improve known results of the normwise and componentwise cases and reveal the characterizations of the structured perturbations. The exact explicit perturbation expressions are derived for the factors L and U of the LU decomposition, and the rigorous normwise and componentwise perturbation bounds are presented for the LU decomposition.

Surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (SALDI-MS) has become an indispensable tool in analysis of macromolecule and small molecule in solid and liquid samples. However, there were few studies focusing on the ionization mechanisms especially for the small molecules. In this work, the compounds of pyrene, coronene and rubrene with similar molecular structures were used to investigate the ionization mechanism via SALDI-MS. Additionally, the effect of laser power on product ions was also investigated. It was found that strong cluster ions peaks nM+ (M = pyrene, coronene) were observed for pyrene and coronene, and daughter ions of coronene by loss of C2H2 were also observed. On the contrary, no cluster ion was obtained for rubrene, only daughter ions with the losses of nC6H5 (n = 1, 2, 3) were acquired. Finally, the ionization mechanism was discussed. The formation of clusters of pyrene and coronene was attributed to the interaction of π-π bonds. For rubrene, the spatial barrier weakened the interaction of π-π bonds because the four phenyl groups were not on the same plane of skeleton structure, thus impeding the formation of cluster ions.

In this work, we investigate quasi-product production functions taking the form: $$L(x_1,\ldots,x_n)=F\big(\prod _{i=1}^nf_i(x_i)\big).$$ We get a simple geometric classification of quasi-product production functions via studying geometric properties of their associated graphs in Euclidean spaces. Moreover precisely, if their corresponding graphs are flat spaces, a complete classification of quasi-product production functions with an arbitrary number of inputs is obtained.

The internal friction behavior of Al green power compact duxing the sintering process was studied as a function of temperature. The internal friction measurements were performed from room temperature to 600 °C. Two typical internal friction peaks were detected corresponding to heating and cooling processes, respectively. The heating peak corresponds to a recrystallization process of deformed Al particles, which is influenced by many extrinsic parameters, such as measuring frequency, strain amplitude, heating rate, power particle size and compacting pressure. However, the intrinsic nature of the peak is originated from the micro-sliding of the weak-bonding interfaces between Al particles and increased dislocation density induced in compressing. The cooling peak with the activation energy of (1.64±0.06) eV is associated with the grain boundary relaxation, which can be interpreted as the viscous sliding of grain boundaries. The similar phenomena are also found in the Mg green powder compact.

Quantitative electrochemical contributions of cell, air electrode contact, and hydrogen electrode contact in the solid-oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) stack are investigated with an H2O/H2 ratio of 90/10 and at 750 °C. Ohmic resistances of cell, hydrogen electrode contact, and air electrode contact are 63.6%, 4.8%, and 30.9%, respectively, of those of the stack under OCV condition. Moreover, their polarization resistances account for 93%, 2.6%, and 3.5% of those of the stack, respectively. When the stack is operated at a constant electrolysis current density of 0.8 A cm−2 for 384 h, voltage degradations of cell, hydrogen electrode contact, and air electrode contact are 71.5%, 8.9% and 19.6%, respectively, of the total voltage degradation of the stack. Variation in stack resistance is highly attributed to the increase in cell ohmic resistance caused by air-electrode delamination from the GDC (Ce0.9Gd0.1O1.95). However, the applied voltage of the stack is more sensitive to the cell polarization resistance caused by Ni-particle agglomeration in hydrogen electrode, which may be the major factor affecting SOEC stack degradation.

Summary Several iterative methods for maximal correlation problems (MCPs) have been proposed in the literature. This paper deals with the convergence of these iterations and contains three contributions. Firstly, a unified and concise proof of the monotone convergence of these iterative methods is presented. Secondly, a starting point strategy is analysed. Thirdly, some error estimates are presented to test the quality of a computed solution. Both theoretical results and numerical tests suggest that combining with this starting point strategy these methods converge rapidly and are more likely converging to a global maximizer of MCP. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

By adjusting mass fraction of Ni-Al composite additive in Ti-B4C primary system, a series of TiB2-based ceramic composites were prepared by combustion synthesis in high gravity field. Because the adiabatic temperature of the whole reaction system maintained a constant in the presence of mass fraction of Ni-Al additive smaller than 18.55%, increasing mass fraction of Ni-Al additive to be 15% brought about the improved homogeneity in refined microstructure of the enhanced-densification TiB2-based composite, so flexural strength and fracture toughness of the ceramic composite increased simultaneously due to the enhanced self-toughening mechanisms contributed by a number of fine TiB2 platelets.

Hydrogen is an emerging energy source/carrier for oil refining and fuel cell applications. The development of an efficient and stable catalyst to produce hydrogen-rich gas is required for industrial application. The Ni@yolk-ZrO2 catalyst could be a potential solution to tackle the challenges in hydrogen production. The catalyst was characterized using a combination of XRD, TEM, AAS, TPR, BET, and XPS. In this study, the amount of micropores in ZrO2 hollow shells was demonstrated to influence the catalytic performance. Ni@yolk-ZrO2 catalysts were evaluated for 48 hours under steam reforming of methane and their porosity effect in ZrO2 hollow shells was identified. From the characterization of BET and catalytic evaluation, the physical information of the ZrO2 hollow shell was established, which affected the catalytic performance in steam reforming of methane. Furthermore, the results from XPS and TEM showed that Ni particles were controlled under a ZrO2 yolk–shell structure framework and showed the characteristic of moderately strong hydrothermal stability after the steam reforming test. The catalysts were studied at a GHSV of 50 400 mL gcat−1 h−1 and S/C = 2.5 at 750 °C and they remained stable with methane conversion more than 90% for 48 hours.

The modified Van Assche magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based score is a feasible system to assess the clinical status of anal fistulas in Crohn disease. In this study, we evaluated this score's association with clinical status in patients with anal fistulas (AFs). We included all patients with AF who underwent contrast-enhanced pelvic MRI and surgery between January 2011 and December 2016. The score was evaluated retrospectively preoperatively and 1, 3, and 6 months postoperatively. Univariate and multivariate analyses of the risk factors for AF recurrence were also performed. We retrospectively analyzed data for 104 patients. Twelve (11.5%) patients developed AF recurrence. We classified patients’ preoperative clinical status into three grades: 52 (50.0%) grade A, 31 (29.8%) grade B, and 21 (20.2%) grade C. The preoperative MRI-based score was significantly correlated with patients’ preoperative clinical status grade (Pearson correlation: 0.547; P

18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography integrated with computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) has been proved to be practical in detecting occult malignant lesions. However, the evidence of its utility in detecting early recurrence after resection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is lacking. Therefore, the primary aim of the present study is to evaluate the diagnostic value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in the early postoperative period after radical resection of PDAC. This retrospective study included 32 patients who had 18F-FDG PET/CT scan within 6 months after radical resection of PDAC between January 2010 and December 2018. In total, 10 positive PET results were found at surgical margins of remnant pancreas, 12 at locoregional lymph nodes, 5 at distant areas, with the corresponding mean maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) of 5.8 ± 1.1, 5.9 ± 0.9, and 6.4 ± 0.7, respectively. The median follow-up time was 23.5 months (range: 8–75 months), and the median survival time was 39.5 months (95% confidence interval: 14.6–64.4 months) for the entire cohort. Patients with positive PET findings at either locoregional lymph nodes or distant areas obtained significantly poorer overall survival (OS) than those without increased FDG uptake at the corresponding areas (P = .003 and P

The Clavien-Dindo (C-D) classification is a simple and feasible grading system of postoperative complications. The aim of the present study was to apply this system to retrospectively classify all types of post-pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) complications (PPCs) and to systematically identify associated risk factors. Between January 2009 and December 2014, the C-D classification was applied to retrospectively classify PPCs for 1,056 patients who had undergone PD at the West China Hospital. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to link perioperative parameters and mortality with the severity of PPCs, which were subdivided into overall PPCs (Grade I-V), severe PPCs (Grade III-V) and mortality (Grade V). The number of patients with Clavien-Dindo grade I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb and V complications was 185 (17.5%), 128 (12.1%), 50 (4.7%), 25 (2.4%), 35 (3.3%), 19 (1.8%) and 33 (3.1%), respectively. A total of 475 (45.0%) patients experienced overall PPCs; 168 (15.9%) patients experienced severe PPCs; and 33 patients succumbed to mortality following PD. The following risk factors were identified following PD: Preoperative hypoproteinemia was correlated with all three subdivisions; obstructive jaundice was associated with severe PPCs and mortality; and older age was revealed to be an independent risk factor of mortality. A large retrospective study was performed in the present study and PD was correlated with a high occurrence of PPCs. The Clavien-Dindo system represents a broad applicable and feasible approach to evaluating PPCs in patients following PD. The independent risk factors of PPCs that were identified in the present study require further validation using the Clavien-Dindo classification in additional prospective studies.

In this paper, four types of doped ceria powders and sinters, including Gd 0.1 Ce 0.9 O 1.95 , Gd 0.2 Ce 0.8 O 1.9 , Sm 0.1 Ce 0.9 O 1.95 and Sm 0.2 Ce 0.8 O 1.9 , are prepared and characterized. The results indicate that the Sm 0.2 Ce 0.8 O 1.9 samples possess the lowest densification temperature and a relatively optimal conductivity, which make it more suitable for use as an interlayer compared to other doped ceria. In addition, a series of interlayers were prepared from Sm 0.2 Ce 0.8 O 1.9 powders with different precalcination temperatures using an industrial screen printing method. The area-specific resistances of these interlayers were determined from their microstructures, including the grain and pore size, electrolyte/interlayer interface, layer uniformity and density, which are significantly dependent on the precalcination temperatures of the powders. A minimum area-specific resistance of 0.036 Ω cm 2 at 750 °C was obtained for the sample with Sm 0.2 Ce 0.8 O 1.9 powders precalcined at 950 °C (the corresponding BET value was approximately 20 m 2 g −1 ). In addition, lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (LSCF) cells were prepared with the as-prepared Sm 0.2 Ce 0.8 O 1.9 interlayer. Their power density was measured and determined to be 0.72 W cm −2 at 750 °C (0.75 V, active area of 64 cm 2 ).

In this work, the (ZrO 2 ) 0.95 (Yb 2 O 3 ) 0.05 (5YbSZ) electrolyte supported SOFCs with the large area of 10 cm × 10 cm and thin substrate of about 70 μm are prepared, and the microstructures, electrochemical and anti-redox properties of the single cells are investigated systematically. The powders of 5YbSZ with the tetragonal and cubic mixed phase are synthesized by the so-called “solid–liquid composite method” at a somewhat low temperature of 1100 °C. The 5YbSZ electrolyte substrates which are prepared by the tape-casting, multilayer-lamination and sintering method showed the optimal comprehensive performances with the sintering temperature being 1500 °C. By using these electrolyte substrates, the NiO+GDC/5YbSZ/LSM+5YbSZ single cells are obtained at the co-sinter temperature of 1100 °C. The power densities of these cells can reach 0.56 W cm −2 at the output voltage of 0.7 V, and the degradation rate can attain 1.45% kh −1 under a constant current density of 0.2 A cm −2 at the temperature of 830 °C. After 11 redox cycles, no crack through the 5YbSZ electrolyte can be found in the single cells, and the electrochemical properties of the 5YbSZ electrolyte supported single cells show an acceptable degradation.

A series of LaCo0.95-xFexPd0.05O3 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3) perovskite-type catalysts have been prepared by a modified sol-gel method. Their structures and physicochemical properties have been studied by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) isotherm technique, and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR). Structural characterization showed that Fe had been successfully doped into the perovskite lattice and that Fe doping improves the stability of LaCo0.95Pd0.05O3. A study of the catalysts showed that aged samples maintain the perovskite structure. They all exhibited similar catalytic performance, which has been ascribed to the similar state of palladium at the surface of the catalysts. Of these as-prepared catalysts, the Fe-doped perovskites achieved better catalytic activities than LaCo0.95Pd0.05O3, and LaCo0.65Fe0.3Pd0.05O3 showed the optimal catalytic performance for vehicle emission purification.

Three hydrogen electrode-supported, large-scale solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) with different composite air electrodes, namely LSM–YSZ, LSC–GDC, and LSCF–GDC (LSM, LSC, and LSCF cells, respectively), were compared for performance and degradation in the same three cell stack with an H 2 O/H 2 ratio of 90/10. The initial SOEC performance increased in the following order: LSM, LSCF, and LSC. The three cells were operated at a constant current density of 0.50 A cm −2 for 640 h during hydrogen production at 750 °C. After the operation, the 10 cm × 10 cm large-scale single cell was divided equally into four subparts from the two diagonal parts with the steam or air inlet area and steam or air outlet area for post-mortem analysis. Delamination mainly occurred in the steam and air inlet areas of the LSM and LSC cells, with more severe delamination in the steam inlet area than that in the air inlet area. Agglomeration of Ni in the Ni–YSZ hydrogen electrode was observed in the LSM and LSCF cells, whereas honeycomb Ni was observed in the steam and air inlet areas of the LSC cell.

Mn-doped La0.8Sr0.2CoO3 perovskite oxides (La0.8Sr0.2Co1–xMnxO3; x = 0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5) were synthesized by a modified sol-gel method. The phase-pure oxides were obtained. CoO and carbonates were formed on the surface of La0.8Sr0.2CoO3. With increasing doping content, these impurities were reduced while the stability of the perovskite structure was improved. The valence state of B-site ions and the amount of absorbed oxygen were influenced by Mn doping. The catalytic activity of the perovskite catalysts was investigated for CO oxidation and simultaneous removal of CO, C3H8, and NO. For CO and NO removal, La0.8Sr0.2Co0.9Mn0.1O3 exhibited the best performance. For C3H8 removal, the reactivity was promoted linearly with the doping content. The structure-activity relationship is also discussed.