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Background and Aim: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a common affective disorder. GuiPi decoction (GPD) is used to treat depression in China, Japan, and Korea. However, its effective ingredients and antidepressant mechanisms remain unclear. We attempted to reveal the potential mechanisms of GPD in the treatment of MDD by network pharmacology and molecular docking. In addition, we conducted an enzymatic activity assay to validate the results of molecular docking. Methods: GPD-related compounds and targets, and MDD-related targets were retrieved from databases and literature. The herb-compound-target network was constructed by Cytoscape. The protein- protein interaction network was built using the STRING database to find key targets of GPD on MDD. Enrichment analysis of shared targets was analyzed by MetaCore database to obtain the potential pathway and biological process of GPD on MDD. The main active compounds treating MDD were screened by molecular docking. The PDE4s inhibitors were screened and verified by an enzyme activity assay. Results: GPD contained 1222 ingredients and 190 potential targets for anti-MDD. Possible biological processes regulated by GPD were neurophysiological processes, blood vessel morphogenesis, Camp Responsive Element Modulator (CREM) pathway, and Androgen Receptor (AR) signaling crosstalk in MDD. Potential pathways in MDD associated with GPD include neurotransmission, cell differentiation, androgen signaling, and estrogen signaling. Fumarine, m-cresol, quercetin, betasitosterol, fumarine, taraxasterol, and lupeol in GPD may be the targets of SLC6A4, monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), DRD2, OPRM1, HTR3A, Albumin (ALB), and NTRK1, respectively. The IC50 values of trifolin targeting Phosphodiesterase (PDE) 4A and girinimbine targeting PDE4B1 were 73.79 μM and 31.86 μM, respectively. The IC50 values of girinimbine and benzo[a]carbazole on PDE4B2 were 51.62 μM and 94.61 μM, respectively. Conclusion: Different compounds in GPD may target the same protein, and the same component in GPD can target multiple targets. These results suggest that the effects of GPD on MDD are holistic and systematic, unlike the pattern of one drug-one target.

Sleep, as the basis for regular body functioning, can affect human health. Poor sleep conditions can lead to various physical ailments, such as poor immunity, memory loss, slow cognitive development, and cardiovascular diseases. Along the increasing stress in society comes with a growing surge in conditions associated with sleep disorders. Studies have shown that sleep stages are essential for the body’s memory, immune system, and brain functioning. Therefore, automatic sleep stage classification is of great medical practice importance as a basis for monitoring sleep conditions. Although previous research into the classification of sleep stages has been promising, several challenges remain to be addressed: (1) The EEG signal is a non-smooth signal with harrowing feature extraction and high requirements for model accuracy. (2) Some existing network models suffer from overfitting and gradient descent. (3) Correlation between long time sequences is challenging to capture. This paper proposes NAMRTNet, a deep model architecture based on the original single-channel EEG signal to address these challenges. The model uses a modified ResNet network to extract features from sub-epochs of individual epochs, a lightweight attention mechanism normalization-based attention module (NAM) to suppress insignificant features, and a temporal convolutional network (TCN) network to capture dependencies between features of long time series. The recognition rate of 20-fold cross-validation with the NAMRTNet model for Fpz-cz channel data in the public sleep dataset Sleep-EDF was 86.2%. The experimental results demonstrate the network’s superiority in this paper, surpassing some state-of-the-art techniques in different evaluation metrics. Furthermore, the total time to train the network was 5.1 h, which was much less than the training time of other models.

In order to study the influence of the circumferential position of the balance hole on the cavitation performance of the semiopen impeller centrifugal pump, a low specific speed semiopen impeller centrifugal pump is taken as the object, and 4 kinds of circumferential positions of balance holes are designed. The SST k-ω turbulence model and the Rayleigh–Plesset cavitation bubble dynamics equation are used to calculate the full flow field of the centrifugal pump. Research shows that, under cavitation conditions, as the circumferential position of the balance hole is farther away from the blade working surface, the cavitation performance of the pump is reduced, and the larger θ (the angle of the balance hole and the leading edge of the blade in the direction of rotation) is, the easier the jet cavitation occurs near the balance hole. On the other hand, with the development of cavitation, the axial force of the impeller has also changed greatly. In contrast, the farther the balance hole is arranged in the circumferential direction (i.e., the greater θ), the more limited is the ability of the balance hole to balance the axial force.

Traditional Chinese Medicine prescription Suanzaoren decoction (SZRD) is composed of Ziziphi Spinosae Semen, Chuanxiong Rhizoma, Anemarrhenae rhizoma, Poria and Licorice. It was used to treat central nervous system diseases such as insomnia and anxiety for thousands of years. This paper aims to systematically understand varieties and quantities of compounds and clarify chemical components of SZRD, subsequently to further provide the reference for phytochemistry and pharmacology researches of SZRD. Our results showed that SZRD contained 145 components, including flavonoids, triterpenoids, steroids, coumarins, phthalides, and volatile oils, etc., while five-single herbs contain 1104 components. Only in terms of compound number, there were 80 common components in SZRD and its five herbs, which accounted for 6.8% of total compounds in all 5 herbs and 55.2% of compounds in SZRD. The components of SZRD were not simply the sum of one in every single herb. It is necessary to perform parallel studies among SZRD and its herbs. This review discussed the problems that existed in the chemical research of SZRD and pointed out the direction for its further research.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common affective disorder. GuiPi decoction (GPD) is used to treat depression in China, Japan, and Korea. However, its effective ingredients and antidepressant mechanisms remain unclear. We attempted to reveal the potential mechanisms of GPD in the treatment of MDD by network pharmacology and molecular docking. In addition, we conducted an enzymatic activity assay to validate the results of molecular docking.GPD-related compounds and targets, MDD-related targets were retrieved from databases and literature. The herb-compound-target network was constructed by Cytoscape. The protein-protein interaction network was built using STRING database to find key targets of GPD on MDD. Enrichment analysis of shared targets were analyzed by MetaCore database to obtain the potential pathway and biological process of GPD on MDD. The main active compounds treating for MDD were screened by molecular docking. The PDE4s inhibitors were screened and verified by an enzyme activity assay.GPD contained 1222 ingredients and 190 potential targets for anti-MDD. Possible biological processes regulated by GPD were neurophysiological processes, blood vessel morphogenesis, cAMP responsive element modulator (CREM) pathway, and androgen receptor (AR) signaling crosstalk in MDD. Potential pathways in MDD associated with GPD include neurotransmission, cell differentiation, androgen signaling, and estrogen signaling. Fumarine, m-cresol, quercetin, beta-sitosterol, fumarine, taraxasterol, and lupeol in GPD may be the targets of SLC6A4, monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), DRD2, OPRM1, HTR3A, albumin (ALB), and NTRK1, respectively. The IC50 values of trifolin targeting phosphodiesterase (PDE)4A and girinimbine targeting PDE4B1 were 73.79 μM and 31.86 μM, respectively. The IC50 values of girinimbine and benzo[a]carbazole on PDE4B2 were 51.62 μM and 94.61 μM, respectively.Different compounds in GPD may target the same protein, and the same component in GPD can target multiple targets. These results suggest that the effects of GPD on MDD are holistic and systematic, unlike the pattern of one drug-one target.

In this paper, the influence of the specific area of balancing hole on the cavitation performance of high-speed centrifugal pump is studied by numerical method. The results show that in the initial cavitation stage, with the increase of the specific area, the head and efficiency of the pump decreases, and the shaft power increases in a small range. The specific area of the balance hole can change the magnitude and direction of the rotor axial force. With the increase of the specific area, the anti-cavitation performance of the pump is weakened, especially when the specific area reaches a certain value, the vortex flow appears in the balance hole, which causes serious distortion of the flow condition at the inlet of the centrifugal impeller. Meanwhile, cavitation also occurs in the balance chamber and is mainly concentrated near the hub of the centrifugal impeller.

In order to study the correlation between the internal flow noise of the centrifugal pump and the turbulent pressure pulsation, a single-stage single-suction centrifugal pump was used as the research object by the combination of numerical calculation and experiment. Based on the RNG k-e model and the N-S equation, the model pump was simulated numerically by CFD. A dipole sound source was extracted by the turbulent pulse action of the volute wall surface according to the FW-H equation. The acoustic field of the model pump was solved on the basis of the boundary element method, and the sound pressure distribution of the internal flow field under the action of the dipole sound source of the volute wall and the frequency response of the inlet and outlet fields were obtained. The results show that the distribution of hydrodynamic noise inside the centrifugal pump is related to the pressure pulsation, presenting obvious dipole distribution and disturbance at the tongue. The sound pressure value of the field is mainly concentrated in the blade passing frequency and double frequency, in which the blade passing frequency is the strongest, and the sound pressure value decreases obviously under other double frequency. The main frequency of hydrodynamic noise is the blade passing frequency.

In order to study the influence of the circumferential placement position of the guide vane on the flow field and stress-strain of a nuclear reactor coolant pump, the CAP1400 nuclear reactor coolant pump is taken as the research object. Based on numerical calculation and test results, the influence of circumferential placement position of the guide vane on the performance of the nuclear reactor coolant pump and stress-strain of guide vanes are analyzed by the unidirectional fluid-solid coupling method. The results show that the physical model and calculation method used in the study can accurately reflect the influence of the circumferential placement position of the guide vane on the nuclear reactor coolant pump. In the design condition, guide vane position has a great influence on the nuclear reactor coolant pump efficiency value, suction surface of the guide vane blade, and the maximum equivalent stress on the hub. However, it has a weak effect on the head value, pressure surface of the guide vane blade, and the maximum equivalent stress on the shroud. When the center line of the outlet diffuser channel of the case is located at the center of the outlet of flow channel of the guide vane, it is an optimal guide vane circumferential placement position, which can reduce the hydraulic loss of half of the case. Finally, it is found that the high stress concentration area is at the intersection of the exit edge of the vane blade and the front and rear cover, and the exit edge of the guide vane blade and its intersection with the front cover are areas where the strength damage is most likely to occur. This study provides a reference for nuclear reactor coolant pump installation, shock absorption design, and structural optimization.

According to the design requirements of a booster centrifugal pump, the full three-dimensional numerical calculation of the model pump is carried out based on the RNG k-ɛ turbulence model and the Rayleigh–Plesset cavitation model to analyze the influence of the axial matching of the inducer and the suction chamber (i.e. the degree of the axial extension of the inducer into the suction chamber) on the cavitation performance of the centrifugal pump. Five sets of centrifugal pump design schemes were selected respectively with the ratio of the axial direction of the inducer into the suction chamber and the axial distance of the inducer hub were 0 (original scheme), 1.6%, 3.2%, 4.8%, and 6.4% to compare the distribution of axial static pressure of the inducer and the suction chamber, the variation of cavitation characteristics, head (energy of a fluid per unit weight obtained by working with a pump expressed in the form of height) and efficiency of the centrifugal pump, the distribution of bubbles in the inducer and the impeller, and the static pressure distribution law of the inducer in the runner. According to the results, what are illustrated are that the cavitation performance of the centrifugal pump can be improved by inserting the inducer into the suction chamber to a certain extent, and the cavitation performance is better with the increase of the axial indentation degree, but it tends to be stable after reaching a certain degree. At the same time, it was found that the vapor bubbles in the inducer and the impeller first appeared in the low pressure region at the inlet rim of the blade.

Qi-Fu-Yin, a traditional Chinese medicine formula, has been used to treat Alzheimer’s disease (AD, a neurodegenerative disorder) in clinical setting. In this study, the chemical components of Qi-Fu-Yin and its prototype components and metabolites in rat plasma and cerebrospinal fluid, after oral administration, were preliminarily characterized via ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS). A total of 180 compounds, including saponins, flavonoids, organic acids, sucrose esters, oligosaccharide esters, phthalides, phenylethanoid glycosides, alkaloids, xanthones, terpene lactones, ionones, and iridoid glycoside, were tentatively characterized. For the first time, 51 prototypical components and 26 metabolites, including saponins, phthalides, flavonoids, sucrose esters, organic acids, alkaloids, ionones, terpene lactones, iridoid glycoside, and their derivatives, have been tentatively identified in the plasma. Furthermore, 10 prototypical components (including butylidenephthalide, butylphthalide, 20(S)-ginsenoside Rh1, 20(R)-ginsenoside Rh1, and zingibroside R1) and 6 metabolites were preliminarily characterized in cerebrospinal fluid. These results were beneficial to the discovery of the active components of Qi-Fu-Yin anti-AD.

Anxiety is a common, universal disease caused by psychological and environmental factors. There are medications available to treat anxiety disorders, but these are accompanied by problems such as addiction and withdrawal difficulties. Suanzaoren Prescription (SZRP) is often used to treat anxiety disorders in traditional Chinese medicine clinical practice. However, its therapeutic mechanism remains unclear. This work aims to identify potential core therapeutic targets and predict major bioactive compounds by means of network pharmacology, screen compounds that may bind to anxiety targets by molecular docking methods, and validate and evaluate possible therapeutic mechanisms of compounds for anxiety in vitro cell experiments. Datebase TCMSP, BATMAN-TCM, ETCM, TCMGeneDIT and TCMID was used to obtain SZRP compounds, while TCMSP, BATMAN-TCM and ETCM were used to obtain target of compounds. The targets of anxiety disorders were obtained through database TTD, OMIM, PharmgKB, CTD, DrugBank and Metacore. The network diagram is drawn by Cytoscape 3.7.2 software and STRING. Biological process and KEGG pathway analysis were conducted by MetaCore and NIMNT. AutoDock Vina software was used to conduct molecular docking. The calcium Flux assay was employed to detect the activation of compounds on CNR1 in cell line CHO-K1/CNR1/Gα15. The 545 compounds in SZRP were collected. We found there were 1050 potential targets of these compounds in SZRP which involved in brain disease, mood disorder, endocrine system disease, bipolar disorder, etc. There were 117 potential targets of SZRP against anxiety (such as DRD2, BDNF, COMT, SLC6A4, HTR1A, etc.), which played the roles in regulation of membrane potential and synaptic transmission, nicotine addiction, retinol metabolism, GABAergic and serotonergic synapse, etc. The results of molecular docking indicated there were the biggest affinity between Jujuboside B and DRD2, BDNF, COMT, SLC6A4, Anemarsaponin B_qt and HTR1A, n-methylasimilobine and MAPK3. Based on cell CHO-K1/CNR1/Gα15 and calcium flux technique, we found Chrysophanol, Kaempferol and Emodin have activation effects on CNR1 with EC50 138.3µM, 52.28µM and 56.86µM respectively. These results indicated that the effects of SZRP against anxiety were correlated with synaptic transmission, substance addiction and retinol metabolism, especially targeted on CNR1. It suggested that the therapeutic mechanism of SZRP treating anxiety might be due to the weak action of multiple compounds on multiple pathways and biological processes.

To suppress the cavitation instability caused by the leakage vortex at the tip clearance of the high-speed inducer, this study establishes a structure (i.e., annular groove) at the upstream boundary of the high-speed inducer that can absorb the leakage vortex, and 6 sets of design projects are determined, including the initial plan and the axial distance of 0 mm, 2.5 mm, 5 mm, 7.5 mm, and 10 mm, respectively. The effects of annular grooves on cavitation performance under different schemes are studied through a combination of experiment and numerical calculation. The results show that cavitation tends to occur at the position where the leading edge of the suction surface of the inducer intersects the shroud and the bubbles volume is distributed in gradient. Vortex belt is formed at the inlet of the inducer. The axial position of the annular groove relative to the inducer is an important parameter suppressing the occurrence of clearance leakage vortex cavitation, asymmetric vortex cavitation and rotating vortex cavitation. In the proper position, annular groove can significantly suppress the bubbles incipient and improve the cavitation performance of the inducer. It can improve the head of the centrifugal pump effectively under the condition of little effect on centrifugal pump efficiency. However, at other positions, the annular groove cannot improve the cavitation performance of the centrifugal pump, indicating the annular groove has an axial optimal position in inhibiting cavitation and improving cavitation performance of the inducer, at this time $${\mathrm{L}}_{1}=0$$ mm.

Mounting evidence has shown that inflammation might drive Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology and contribute to its exacerbation. Previous studies have indicated that indomethacin or atorvastatin are beneficial in treating AD; however, no significant clinical effects have been shown. Furthermore, no study has investigated the efficacy of combining these agents for treating AD. This study sought to determine the effect of a combination of indomethacin and atorvastatin in the PrP-hAβPPswe/PS1ΔE9 (APP/PS1) transgenic AD mouse model. Treatment with indomethacin and atorvastatin ameliorated impairments in spatial learning and memory, and the active avoidance response in APP/PS1 mice. Moreover, we found a suppression of Aβ plaques and decreased concentration of Aβ1-42 in the hippocampus of APP/PS1 mice following treatment. In addition, indomethacin and atorvastatin ameliorated abnormal cytokine secretion, lymphocyte subset disorder, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis imbalances in APP/PS1 mice. The combination of indomethacin and atorvastatin restored immune and neuroendocrine processes, attenuated pathologic changes and cognitive impairments in APP/PS1 transgenic mice, and could thus be a potential therapeutic agent for AD.

In order to study the effects of inlet sweepback angle on the cavitation performance of inducers based on the Reynolds N-S equation, RNG k-ε turbulent model, and Schnerr and Sauer cavitation model, a three-dimensional numerical calculation is employed to study the flow characteristics of a certain LNG pump. Laws of the variation of cavitation performance, head, and efficiency with the change of sweepback were studied. Numerical analysis of the eight inducer projects with a sweepback angle from 120° to 290° was carried out. The results show that the cavitation bubbles first appear at the suction surface near the inlet side. With the decrease of net positive suction head (NPSHa), the bubbles spread to the outlet side of the inducer and the pressure surface. Finally, they fill the entire channel. When the inducer sweepback angle increases from 120° to 270°, the NPSHr of the pump reduces gradually, that is to say that the anti-cavitation performance of the pump has been improved. However, the NPSHr of the pump increases gradually when the inducer sweepback angle increases from 270° to 290°. In other words, there is an optimal sweepback from 120° to 290°, and efficiency and head of pump tend to be stable near the optimal sweepback.

Background Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a central nervous system (CNS) disease characterized by progressive cognitive dysfunction and memory loss. Qi Fu Yin is mainly used to treat dementia, particularly AD, in the clinic, but its comprehensive mechanisms are not known. Objective In this research, we aimed to investigate the mechanisms of Qi Fu Yin in AD by network pharmacology and molecular docking. Methods First, the chemical constituents in Qi Fu Yin were obtained from five databases and classified according to their structure. Targets of chemical constituents and AD-related targets were also collected from the databases. Then, overlapping genes between Qi Fu Yin and AD were identified by intersection analysis. MetaCore was used to gather enrichment information. Combination synergy analysis was performed by Cytoscape. After ligand-receptor docking, the binding affinity was verified by ADP-Glo™ kinase assay and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) assay. Results We found 12 classes with 977 components in Qi Fu Yin. A total of 511 compounds and 577 potential target proteins in Qi Fu Yin were found to be related to AD. The pathways of Qi Fu Yin in AD included oxidative stress and immune response. There was the best binding affinity between 11 pairs of genes and compounds. Furthermore, CDK5 was inhibited by nepetin with an IC50 of 3.172 μM and kaempferol with an IC50 of 2.659 μM. Ceanothic acid and 18 beta-glycyrrhetinic acid inhibited GSK3β, and the IC50 values were 8.732 μM and 8.06 μM, respectively. Conclusion Qi Fu Yin might alleviate Tau hyperphosphorylation by nepetin, kaempferol, ceanothic acid and 18 beta-glycyrrhetinic acid.

To study the effect of the dip angle of the inducer blade section in the meridian plane on the cavitation performance of the high-speed centrifugal pump, four schemes of the inducer have been considered only by changing the dip angle of the blade section in the meridian plane while keeping the other geometrical parameters unchanged. Based on the RNG k–ɛ turbulence model and Zwart-Gerber-Belamri cavitation model, three-dimensional numerical simulation of a high-speed centrifugal pump is carried out. The results show that the cavitation performance of high-speed centrifugal pump will be improved when the dip angle of the blade section in the meridian plane increases within a certain range, but the cavitation performance will deteriorate when the dip angle exceeds a certain extent. A moderate raise of the blade section dip angle will change the blade inlet angle and blade outlet angle of the shroud and hub of the inducer, improve the matching of the liquid flow angle with the blade inlet angle and restrain the cavitation at the blade leading edge. The change in the dip angle has a weak influence on the external performance of the high-speed centrifugal pump, indicating that there is almost no effect on the capacity of the inducer.

LW-AFC is a new formula derived from the Liuwei Dihuang decoction, a classical traditional Chinese medicine prescription. Based on our research, LW-AFC is a promising drug for Alzheimer's disease (AD). The studies were conducted primarily in two typical AD mouse models: SAMP8 and APP/PS1 mice. The results showed that LW-AFC could improve many cognitive behaviors, such as spatial learning and memory ability, passive and active avoidance response, and object recognition memory capability. In addition, LW-AFC could also alleviate the AD-like pathology in animal models, such as neuron loss and Aβ deposition. Subsequent studies found that LW-AFC could rebalance hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis, and modulate the disturbance of immune system and gut flora. These data suggested that the anti-AD effects of LW-AFC might be mainly via modulating the neuroendocrine immunomodulation (NIM) network. As inhibiting the immune function by immunosuppressant could abolish the protective effects of LW-AFC against long-term potentiation (LTP) impairment model, it is likely that LW-AFC balancing the NIM network is initiated by modulating the immune system.

Based on the RNG k–ɛ turbulence model, the multi-coordinate system is used to simulate the three-dimensional unsteady constant value of the nuclear main pump model under different axial and circumferential positions of the guide vane and the annular casing. By analyzing the external characteristics, pressure field and velocity field of different schemes and comparing the pressure pulsation at the impeller outlet, the flow of guide vane and the annular casing is studied through the axial and circumferential position changes in the vane and the annular casing. The results show that the axial distance between the center line of the guide vane and the center line of the outlet extension will increase the uneven distribution of pressure in the impeller outlet and the annular casing and the circumferential position of the guide vane will increase as well. When the center lines of the two are coincident, the pressure distribution in the impeller outlet and the casing is relatively uniform. The change in the axial and circumferential positions of the guide vane of the nuclear main pump has little effect on the vector distribution of the impeller outlet flow, and the influence of liquid flow in the interior of casing is large. The impeller outlet pressure pulsation increases as the axial distance between the guide vane outlet center line and the annular casing outlet center line increases. When the two center lines coincide, the impeller outlet pressure pulsation peak is the lowest.

Mounting evidence points to alterations in the gut microbiota-neuroendocrine immunomodulation (NIM) network that might drive Alzheimer's Disease (AD) pathology. In previous studies, we found that Liuwei Dihuang decoction (LW) had beneficial effects on the cognitive impairments and gastrointestinal microbiota dysbiosis in an AD mouse model. In particular, CA-30 is an oligosaccharide fraction derived from LW. We sought to determine the effects of CA-30 on the composition and function of the intestinal microbiome in the senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) mouse strain, an AD mouse model. Treatment with CA-30 delayed aging processes, ameliorated cognition in SAMP8 mice. Moreover, CA-30 ameliorated abnormal NIM network in SAMP8 mice. In addition, we found that CA-30 mainly altered the abundance of four genera and 10 newborn genera. Advantageous changes in carbohydrate-active enzymes of SAMP8 mice following CA-30 treatment, especially GH85, were also noted. We further found that seven genera were significantly correlated with the NIM network and cognitive performance. CA-30 influenced the relative abundance of these intestinal microbiomes in SAMP8 mice and restored them to SAMR1 mouse levels. CA-30 ameliorated the intestinal microbiome, rebalanced the NIM network, improved the AD-like cognitive impairments in SAMP8 mice, and can thus be a potential therapeutic agent for AD.

The application of pumps as turbines (PAT) has been developed in several applications for energy recovery schemes. Therefore, establishing a performance correlation between pump mode and turbine mode is essential for selecting the proper machine. However, slip phenomenon is the challenges of head prediction for PAT. In this paper, the slip phenomenon of pump and PAT was revealed, and the slip factor was studied using CFD. The effect of slip on head prediction for PAT was analyzed, and a theoretical prediction model was presented considering slip factors. In order to validate the head prediction model, six centrifugal pumps with specific speed (ns) from 9 to 54.8 were tested as turbines. Results showed that the predicted head by the proposed method was in good agreement with the experimental data, and it is more accurate than Stepanoff, Alatorre-Frenk, Sharma, and Derakhshan models. This method can be applied in head prediction for low specific speed PAT ( ns

Mounting evidence has shown that inflammation might drive Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology and contribute to its exacerbation. Previous studies have indicated that indomethacin or atorvastatin are beneficial in treating AD; however, no significant clinical effects have been shown. Furthermore, no study has investigated the efficacy of combining these agents for treating AD. This study sought to determine the effect of a combination of indomethacin and atorvastatin in the PrP-hAβPPswe/PS1

In order to study the relationship between the cavitation flow and energy conversion, based on the continuity equation, Renault N-S equation and RNG k-ε turbulence model, the whole flow field cavitation numerical simulation on unclear main pump model under design condition is carried out. Through the variation of pressure and velocity on the streamlines, combined with the basic equation of the pump, the dynamic and hydrostatic head of the nuclear main pump under different cavitation conditions are studied. The results show that the energy of fluid of nuclear main pump is provided by posterior segment of impeller, and the energy of the fluid decreases gradually from the shroud to the hub. Cavitation interferes with the flow of liquid in the impeller, which leads to the relative velocity increases and the pressure decreases in cavitation region, and the work capacity of blades is almost zero in bubble areas. At the same time, in non-cavitation region along with streamlines the dynamic head increases and the hydrostatic head decreases with the development of cavitation, and the decrease of the hydrostatic head is greater than the increase of the dynamic head, which results in the decrease of pump head and efficiency. In addition, in the cavitation region, with the development of cavitation, the sudden change of the dynamic and hydrostatic head increases, which increase the flow loss in the impeller and results in the decrease of pump head and efficiency moreover.

IntroductionThe aim of this study was to investigate the potential role of a microRNA panel as early diagnostic markers for Alzheimer’s disease (AD).MethodsThe differentially expressed serum microRNAs were screened with microarray among cognitively normal controls (CNC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and AD. QRT-PCR assay was applied to evaluate differentially expressed microRNAs with two independent cohorts including 202 participants. Logistic regression model based on microRNA panel was constructed using a training cohort and then validated using an independent cohort.ResultsFirst, four differentially expressed serum microRNAs (let-7g, miR-197, miR-126 and miR-29a) were found, which expressions were positively correlated with mini mental state examination (MMSE) score. Second, a microRNA panel with the four microRNAs demonstrated good diagnostic performance for MCI and AD with 84% and 92% accuracy. Third, when combined with MMSE score, the diagnostic performance of the microRNA panel was further improved.DiscussionBlood microRNAs are potential AD biomarkers that may lead to new diagnostic strategies.

Glycosylation is one of the most common eukaryotic post-translational modifications, and aberrant glycosylation has been linked to many diseases. However, glycosylation and glycome analysis is a significantly challenging task. Although several lines of evidence have indicated that protein glycosylation is defective in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), only a few studies have focused on AD glycomics. The etiology of AD is unclear and there are no effective disease-modifying treatments for AD. In this study, we found that the object recognition memory, passive avoidance, and spatial learning and memory of senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) strain, an AD animal model, were deficient, and LW-AFC, which was prepared from the traditional Chinese medicine prescription Liuwei Dihuang decoction, showed beneficial effects on the deterioration of cognitive capability in SAMP8 mice. Forty-three and 56 N-glycan were identified in the cerebral cortex and serum of SAMP8 mice, respectively. The N-glycan profile in SAMP8 mice was significantly different from that of senescence accelerated mouse resistant 1 (SAMR1) strains, the control of SAMP8 mice. Treatment with LW-AFC modulated the abundance of 21 and 6 N-glycan in the cerebral cortex and serum of SAMP8 mice, respectively. The abundance of (Hex)3(HexNAc)5(Fuc)1(Neu5Ac)1 and (Hex)2(HexNAc)4 decreased in the cerebral cortex and serum of SAMP8 mice compared with SAMR1 mice, decreases that were significantly correlated with learning and memory measures. The administration of LW-AFC could reverse or increase these levels in SAMP8 mice. These results indicated that the effects of LW-AFC on cognitive impairments in SAMP8 mice might be through modulation of N-glycan patterns, and LW-AFC may be a potential anti-AD agent.

Compared with the general centrifugal pump, the screw centrifugal pump has a spiral radial impeller and opening flow passage. The impeller inlet is a spiral blade and outlet of blade looks like to mixing-flow pump blade. Its special structure made the screw pump not only having spiral propelling effect but also having centrifugal effect, therefore the screw centrifugal pump has both the merits of screw pump and centrifugal pump. According to the structure characteristics of screw centrifugal pump, character of flow-field inside the pump and projection drawing on foundation with one-dimension, the regularity for change of pitch in the variable-pitch parametric equation group is given in this paper. And the variable-pitch parameter equation group of the screw centrifugal pump is perfected. Using the parametric equation, to segment streamline dots on axial plane for designing screw centrifugal pump blade is facilitated, which has important meaning to the CAD, numerical simulation of three-dimension flow-field and improve performances of screw centrifugal pump

Based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations of relative coordinates and the RNG k-ε turbulence model, using our SIMPLE algorithm, we performed numerical simulations for an AP1000 nuclear main pump model with water as the medium. By changing the size of the tongue blend in the annular casing, seven different schemes were designed. Three-dimensional numerical simulations were conducted for the flow within the pump under various settings, and the flow characteristics of the annular casing using different tongue blends were obtained. The results show that for different operating conditions, there is a specific tongue blend that optimizes pump performance. Based on the calculation results, a larger tongue blend leads to a larger flow rate. Off-design conditions caused flow instability, which in turn caused the tongue blend to have a certain impact on the performance of the impeller. However, the performance of the pump was not primarily affected by changes in the impeller performance, but was instead affected by the performance of the annular casing, which was itself affected by tongue blend. When changing the tongue blend, the change in static pressure and total pressure of the annular casing was larger under the condition of 0.6 Qd and was smaller under the conditions of 1.0 Qd and 1.4 Qd. The turbulent kinetic energy in the annular casing changed mainly in the tongue impact zone and outlet diffuser under the condition of 1.0 Qd; furthermore, the turbulent kinetic energy in the whole of the annular casing demonstrated significant changes under the conditions of 0.6 Qd and 1.4 Qd.

The three-dimensional turbulent flow in a supercritical pump with complex double-cases based on the integral model combined with the pass-by pipes is computed and simulated by means of a parallel computer and the software FLUENT using the mathematical models (Navier-Stokes equations, RNG k-e turbulence model and boundary conditions) in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), which aims at improving the pump's performance. Meanwhile, the supercritical pump's efficiency correction is emphasized according to the leakages at wear rings of impellers and at the radial clearances between pump stages; the pump's hydraulic design and improvement are briefly introduced; the effects of grid number and pass-by pipes on the computational accuracy are discussed, and the flow fields in the internal complex passages of the pump are also represented. The hydro-dynamically numerical computational results and operation testing ones of the pump, which is modified from the original one based on the primary simulation results, indicate that they are in coincidence with each other well.