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The research focused on addressing various challenges in intelligent top caving theory, intelligent perception and recognition key technology, intelligent caving comprehensive decision-making technology, and remote caving intelligent control technology of fully mechanized top coal caving face. This is being done under the “13th Five-Year” national key research and development plan, specifically designed for the key technology and demonstration of intelligent fully mechanized top coal caving mining method with annual production of 10 million of tons in extra-thick coal seam. The research has resulted in the following outcomes: ① Comprehensive experiments were conducted to understand the interaction process of crushing and migrating of roof and top coal combination (RTCC) and the fragmentation distribution of RTCC under different roof conditions. A three-dimensional laser goaf space detection technology has been developed, and the arching phenomenon of top coal blocks on contact, at coal discharge process with multiple coal discharge ports, has been validated. In addition, the numerical simulation of multi-port intelligent coal caving in extra-thick coal seam is carried out with the constraints of mining and caving coordination, high recovery rate, and low gangue ratio, and the number of coal caving ports is determined. those provide a reliable theoretical basis for optimizing intelligent coal-caving processes. ②The research has explored the geological information and physical characteristics of coal and gangue in the working face, along with full-cycle sensing elements of the top coal caving process. This has led to the development of a comprehensive sensing technology system, including real time detection of top coal thickness, accurate identification of coal and gangue, and dynamic measurement of coal flow, providing crucial data information support for decision making of intelligent coal top caving technology. ③A multi-source information database has been established for the man-machine-environment interface, and a decision-making model has been developed for fully mechanized top caving in extra-thick coal seams. An intelligent coal top caving decision-making software based on the Q-learning algorithm has been created, utilizing artificial intelligence for coal and gangue identification, top coal thickness detection, and coal quantity monitoring. ④A high-precision inertial navigation monitoring and control technology for intelligent fully mechanized caving faces has been developed, enabling real-time positioning, attitude monitoring, and action control for the shearer, hydraulic support, and scraper conveyor. An intelligent mine-integrated communication scheduling system and a remote-integrated control platform for fully mechanized caving have also been established. Those allow for the successful implementation of intelligent coal caving in remote one-button start mode. ⑤Advanced technologies such as ground-penetrating radar for top coal thickness detection, vibration-audio-hyperspectral for coal-gangue identification, and laser three-dimensional scanning for real-time coal caving monitoring are utilized in the 8222 Working Face of Tashan Mine. Intelligent coal caving decision software is applied in fully mechanized caving operations, leading to a control of errors within 10.71% for top coal thickness detection, 9.32% for mixed gangue rate, and 7.8% for coal caving amount. On average, each coal caving cycle now saves about 30 minutes, leading to intelligent and efficient coal caving operations with an annual output of 15 million tons.

In order to solve the problem that current theory models cannot accurately describe thick-hard roof (THR) elastic energy and assess the mine tremor disasters, a theoretical method, a Timoshenko beam theory on Winkler foundation was adopted to establish the THR’s periodic breaking model. The superposition principle was used for this complex model to derive the calculation formulas of the elastic energy and impact load on hydraulic supports. Then, the influence of roof thickness h, cantilever length L1, and load q on THR’s elastic energy and impact load was analyzed. And, the effect of mine tremor disasters was assessed. Finally, it is revealed that: (1) The THR’s elastic energy U exhibits power-law variations, with the fitted relationships U=0.0096L13.5866, U=5943.9h−1.935, and U=21.049q2. (2) The impact load on hydraulic supports FZJ increases linearly with an increase in the cantilever length, thickness, and applied load. The fitted relationships are FZJ=1067.3L1+6361.1, FZJ=125.89h+15100, and FZJ=10420q+3912.6. (3) Ground hydraulic fracturing and liquid explosive deep-hole blasting techniques effectively reduce the THR’s cantilever length at periodic breakages, thus eliminating mine tremor disasters.

LNG corrugated hoses have better flexible mechanical properties and compliance. However, due to the influence of its outline structure and the large heat transfer coefficient, large heat loss is caused during LNG transportation, with the transportation efficiency reduced. Therefore, the flow and heat transfer characteristics of LNG in the plain tube and the corrugated hoses with 5 types of different structural parameters were analyzed with the numerical simulation method. Meanwhile, the influence laws of the corrugation depth,corrugation pitch and Reynolds number on the heat transfer characteristics of the hoses were explored, and the heat transfer characteristics of the hoses were characterized with the thermal performance evaluation criterion(PEC). The results show that: The corrugated hoses have higher Nusselt number, greater friction coefficient and better heat transfer characteristics than the plain tubes. The Nusselt number in the corrugated hoses increases with the increase of Reynolds number, while the friction coefficient decreases with the increase of Reynolds number and becomes stable at high Reynolds number. Under the same Reynolds number, the Nusselt number of the corrugated hoses increases with the increase of the corrugation depth, but decreases with the increase of the corrugation pitch. Besides, the friction coefficient is proportional to the change of the corrugation depth and pitch, and the corrugation depth has the greatest influence. Generally, the research results could provide theoretical guidance for the engineering application and the structural optimization design of LNG cryogenic corrugated hoses.

Abstract Background Hepatocyte-cholangiocyte transdifferentiation (HCT) is a potential origin of proliferating cholangiocytes in liver regeneration after chronic injury. This study aimed to determine HCT after chronic liver injury, verify the impacts of HCT on liver repair, and avoid harmful regeneration by understanding the mechanism. Methods A thioacetamide (TAA)-induced liver injury model was established in wild-type (WT-TAA group) and COX-2 panknockout (KO-TAA group) mice. HCT was identified by costaining of hepatocyte and cholangiocyte markers in vivo and in isolated mouse hepatocytes in vitro. The biliary tract was injected with ink and visualized by whole liver optical clearing. Serum and liver bile acid (BA) concentrations were measured. Either a COX-2 selective inhibitor or a β-catenin pathway inhibitor was administered in vitro. Results Intrahepatic ductular reaction was associated with COX-2 upregulation in chronic liver injury. Immunofluorescence and RNA sequencing indicated that atypical cholangiocytes were characterized by an intermediate genetic phenotype between hepatocytes and cholangiocytes and might be derived from hepatocytes. The structure of the biliary system was impaired, and BA metabolism was dysregulated by HCT, which was mediated by the TGF-β/β-catenin signaling pathway. Genetic deletion or pharmaceutical inhibition of COX-2 significantly reduced HCT in vivo. The COX-2 selective inhibitor etoricoxib suppressed HCT through the TGF-β-TGFBR1-β-catenin pathway in vitro. Conclusions Atypical cholangiocytes can be derived from HCT, which forms a secondary strike by maldevelopment of the bile drainage system and BA homeostasis disequilibrium during chronic liver injury. Inhibition of COX-2 could ameliorate HCT through the COX-2-TGF-β-TGFBR1-β-catenin pathway and improve liver function.

Abstract The hard roof in coal mines will induce strong pressure problems for the working face and the lanes, which will seriously affect the safe and efficient production of the mine. For these issues, our team developed a new technology of cutting hard roof by composite blasting. With the new technology, a penetrating process is key to the directionally cut roof. Thus, an arbitrary Lagrange–Euler method is proposed to calculate the penetrating process. In this method, it was taken that the Jones–Wilkins–Lee constitutive model, Johnson–Cook constitutive model, and Holmquist–Johnson–Cook constitutive model to build a numerical model, by LS‐DYNA software, of the process of the penetrating the hard roof. Finally, the following conclusions were obtained: (1) The velocity variation law of metal liner from head to tail is revealed. The speeds of the metal liner's head and tail are 3500 and 450 m/s, respectively. (2) The shape of the channel formed by shaped charge jets is like a funnel, whose mouth's depth and diameter are 33 and 49 mm, respectively. The funnel's narrow diameter is 7.5 mm. (3) With the increase of the channel depth, the rock damage area changes in three different states: slow increase, rapid increase, and linear increase. Then, a shovel‐shaped geometric model of rock damage zone is established, whose key size parameters in the model are given.

The stope space, after mining an extra-thick coal seam with hard roofs, is large, and its law of mining pressure is complex. The mechanism of strong mine pressure action for this stope is unclear, and there is a lack of multi-point control technology system for different layers of hard roof, so it is necessary to develop a new theory and new technology system for hard roof control in a larger range of stope space. For this reason, the author's team has developed a theory and technical system for hard roof control in the large space stopes after nearly 15 years’ industry-university joint research. In view of limited space covered in the past study of strata control, a concept of large space stope is proposed. Based on the roof break characteristics and the mining pressure laws, the far-field hard roof and near-field hard roof are defined. Considering the gangue compression in goaf and the coordinated movement of overlying rock strata, a mechanical model of the break structures for far-filed hard roofs in the large space stope is established, and the control mechanism of the strong mining pressure, due to breakage and instability of the hard roof in the far-field, is revealed. Based on the elastic thin plate theory, the mechanical models of first and periodic breakage for the near-field hard roof with nine boundary conditions for different roof-cutting methods are constructed, and the pressure relief mechanism of directional cutting near-field hard roof is revealed. Combining the basic indexes such as working face parameters, mining pressure effect from the near-field, and the strengthening conditions such as mining gob-side working faces and double coal seams, a classification prediction and evaluation system of strong mining pressure is established, and the quantitative indexes and corresponding control technologies of four different levels of mining pressure are given. It has developed the ground volume fracturing technology by a horizontal well on hard roof (GVFTHWHR) and the ground staged fracturing technology by a vertical well on hard roof, and the crack expansion monitoring technology for far-field hard roofs, and effectively solved the problem of strong mining pressure from the far-field hard roof. It has pioneered a technology of directional and precise seam making for hard roof by the composite blasting, developed a technology of deep-hole blasting for hard roofs with liquid explosives (TDHBHRLE), and a technology of continuous and precise hard roof cutting with a chainsaw machine, and realized the precise control of the collapse shape and breaking characteristics of near-field hard roofs. A technology, the collaborative control of hard roof with ground fracturing +X, is proposed to realize a multi-point collaborative control of hard roof in the far and near-fields. Based on the above research results, a field test of the collaborative control with the GVFTHWHR and TDHBHRLE is carried out for the hard roof at the 8204 fully mechanized caving working face, an extra-thick coal seam workface, at the Tashan Coal Mine. The results show that after entering the collaborative control area of fracturing and blasting, the displacement of the roof and floor, and the two sidewalls of the gob-side roadway are less than 388 mm. The maximum resistance of the support in the middle of the working face reaches 13 295 kN, which is less than 15 000 kN, a rated working resistance of hydraulic supports. The strong mining pressure in the working face and roadway has been effectively controlled.

Mechanical ventilation is an important way to maintain the temperature and moisture of grain piles in the warehouse within the safe storage range, which is closely related to grain storage safety and the benefits of storage enterprises. In order to solve the disadvantages of the slow advancing speed of the inlet air in the vertical direction of the traditional Gui-shaped ventilation network, this paper proposed a new ventilation network with Gui-shaped and vertical riser to shorten the travel path and time of air or fumigation gas in the grain pile. The new ventilation network effects through numerical simulation were simulated and predicted to verify its feasibility. The results showed that the cooling rate and uniformity of this ventilation network were good, and the flow resistance of the inlet air in the vertical direction was significantly reduced. The cold front at the position of the riser could pass through the grain surface with a height of 5.5 m on the second day of ventilation, and the ventilation energy consumption could be reduced by about 16% compared with the traditional Gui-shaped ventilation network under the same conditions. The results could provide theory basis for the selection of optimal ventilation network of room type warehouse.

Based on the mathematical model of internal air flow, heat and humidity coupled transfer in paddy grain piles, while combined with the dynamic model of paddy yellowing, the paper adopted the method of numerical simulation to compare and study the variation of temperature, moisture content and paddy yellowing in the stored grain inside the shallow round warehouse under the conditions of annual natural storage and staged natural storage. On the basis of temperature and humidity, this paper further considered the yellowing effect on the quality of long-term storage of paddy. The results showed that, at the end of storage for 365 days, the average temperature of staged natural storage with ventilation was about 18 ℃ lower than that of natural storage throughout the year, the average moisture was about 0.5% lower, and the average yellowing value was about 0.8 lower. Low temperature air flowling into the high temperature granary could not only reduce the temperature, but also reduce the grain moisture and alleviate the process of paddy yellowing, so the phased natural storage was more conducive to the long-term quality storage of paddy. The rice near the warehouse wall was easily affected by the external ambient temperature, and the coating could be applied on the outside of the warehouse wall to reduce the influence of solar radiation.

In order to meet the requirements of target detection at different distances in infrared polarization detection, a transmission-type long-wave infrared polarization zoom optical system is designed, can zoom in 18–90 mm and the wavelength range is 8–14 μm. The spatial resolution is 0.18–0.9 mrad, and the machining and assembly errors are analyzed. Based on BRDF and Stokes vector model, aluminum is spontaneous emission, and reflected emission characteristics under specific conditions are simulated and analyzed. Infrared polarization imaging and island imaging experiments verify the unique advantages of infrared polarization technology in distinguishing natural and manufactured objects, metal and non-metal, and high-temperature object recognition. The changing trend of contrast between infrared intensity image and polarization image with solar altitude angle is explored, providing theoretical support for developing an infrared photoelectric detection field.

Considering the advancement in marine research in recent years, studies on the identification of offshore scenery are becoming popular globally. In this study, multiband polarimetric imaging is presented to address the deficiencies of the previous single-band study. Polarization imaging experiments of sea fog and non-sea fog in an indoor simulated environment are carried out and compared and analyzed by establishing an artificial simulation system to characterize the sea fog concentration by optical thickness with different concentrations of sea fog environment as the medium. The polarization information of each waveband converted by Stokes parametric is then brought into the two-dimensional discrete wavelet algorithm for image fusion processing. The findings indicate that when the optical thickness of sea fog increases, the polarized light in the chaotic medium recedes and the effect of the image blurs. Finally, after the image fusion process, the contrast of the image is improved and the detail of the target contour is obvious, which proves that the method has good robustness under the low signal-to-noise ratio of the sea fog environment. This provides a solid platform for targeted surveys and civic operations under dense marine fog conditions.

The activation of stimulator of interferon genes (STING) and NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis signaling pathways represent two distinct central mechanisms in liver disease. However, the interconnections between these two pathways and the epigenetic regulation of the STING-NLRP3 axis in hepatocyte pyroptosis during liver fibrosis remain unknown. STING and NLRP3 inflammasome signaling pathways are activated in fibrotic livers but are suppressed by Sting knockout. Sting knockout ameliorated hepatic pyroptosis, inflammation, and fibrosis. In vitro, STING induces pyroptosis in primary murine hepatocytes by activating the NLRP3 inflammasome. H3K4-specific histone methyltransferase WD repeat-containing protein 5 (WDR5) and DOT1-like histone H3K79 methyltransferase (DOT1L) are identified to regulate NLRP3 expression in STING-overexpressing AML12 hepatocytes. WDR5/DOT1L-mediated histone methylation enhances interferon regulatory transcription factor 3 (IRF3) binding to the Nlrp3 promoter and promotes STING-induced Nlrp3 transcription in hepatocytes. Moreover, hepatocyte-specific Nlrp3 deletion and downstream Gasdermin D (Gsdmd) knockout attenuate hepatic pyroptosis, inflammation, and fibrosis. RNA-sequencing and metabolomics analysis in murine livers and primary hepatocytes show that oxidative stress and metabolic reprogramming might participate in NLRP3-mediated hepatocyte pyroptosis and liver fibrosis. The STING-NLRP3-GSDMD axis inhibition suppresses hepatic ROS generation. In conclusion, this study describes a novel epigenetic mechanism by which the STING-WDR5/DOT1L/IRF3-NLRP3 signaling pathway enhances hepatocyte pyroptosis and hepatic inflammation in liver fibrosis.

On the basis of CFD numerical simulation technology, the numerical simulation results of radial ventilation and cooling under different central air collection pipe forms of shallow circular silo were analyzed, and they were compared to judge the advantages and disadvantages. The grain type studied in this paper was soybean. The temperature distribution and air distribution in the grain pile under the ventilation of the top or opening or non-circulation of four variable diameter central air collection pipes were numerically simulated. The numerical simulation results of the eight cases were compared to analyze their ventilation uniformity and ventilation cooling rate. It is found that the air collecting duct has obvious advantages when its height was flush with the grain surface, thick at the top and fine at the bottom, which is mainly reflected in its ventilation uniformity. The research results provide theoretical guidance and basis for the selection of ventilation and cooling methods for soybean storage in shallow circular warehouse.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has a high prevalence worldwide, but there are no medications approved for treatment. Gut microbiota would be a novel and promising therapeutic target based on the concept of the gut–liver axis in liver disease. We reviewed randomized controlled trials on gut microbiota therapy in NAFLD in this study to evaluate its efficacy and plausibility in NAFLD.

Systemic vasculitis are multisystem blood vessel disorders. However, Portal venous involvement is extremely rare, which represents a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge due to the heterogeneous nature, a lack of diagnostic criteria and limited effective therapy of vasculitis. We have reported a 48-year-old woman who was previously diagnosed with systemic vasculitis and was treated with prednisone, presented with gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding on admission. Further abdominal contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) with three-dimensional reconstruction suggested atrophic left hepatic lobe, enlarged spleen, and severe stenosis of main portal vein. Liver biopsy showed no evidence of fibrosis/cirrhosis. To prevent rebleeding, portal venous angioplasty by balloon dilation with collateral varices embolization was performed, and the GI hemorrhage was resolved completely. However, refractory ascites presented 8 months postoperatively. Abdominal CT angiography confirmed the recurrence of portal venous stenosis. Portal venous angioplasty by stent implantation was then performed to treat the portal hypertension (PHT)-related complications. After the intervention, the patient received anticoagulation therapy and continued immunosuppressive therapy. During the 5-year follow-up, the patient did not experience any onset of GI bleeding or ascites. Therefore, portal venous angioplasty with stent placement could be an effective treatment to prevent PHT-related complications when immunosuppression therapy failed.

Abstract The command line interface is a crucial way of interacting with Linux, many programs such as ls, pwd and netstat are used on it and it is also the primary way to access a server remotely. However, the command line interface is not user friendly and thus it is difficult to use; there are many programs and users do not know which one is appropriate for finishing their task. To help users find useful commands efficiently, the authors propose FindCmd that retrieves commands based on the local data and user familiarity with commands. Then the local command data are collected including user manual such as man, info and strings extracted from the binary ELF (executable and linkable format) file. Based on the characteristics of local data, an enhanced command retrieval framework is proposed. In addition, the authors marginally decreased the priority of familiar commands when retrieving commands since users tend to use command retrieval tool to find an unfamiliar command. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first local tool for personalised command retrieval. In the evaluation section, the authors compare FindCmd with retrieval tools apropos and howdoi; our experimental results show that FindCmd outperforms the other two tools in retrieving commands. In addition, the experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of personalised search of FindCmd.

Abstract To control roadway under small abandoned mines in ultrathick coal seam, this paper analyzed its deformation and failure characteristics. As a result, the roadway occurred roof leakage and right rib extrusion. Based on above characteristics, the secondary support schemes were put forward. To predict the control effects of the roadway, a numerical model was built to analyze its deformation under the secondary support schemes. Besides, the industrial test was carried out. From the test and numerical simulation, a significant increase could be found in vertical stress and bearing capacity on ribs after the secondary support. Moreover, under the secondary support, the roof separations of roadway decreased more than 90%, while the lateral displacements of the roadway dropped over 85%. Based on the above, it was indicated that the deformation of the roadway could be well controlled.

Abstract With the increase of the coal mining depth, the surrounding rock shows characteristics of high stress and large deformation. However, the traditional bolt could not adapt to this surrounding rock environment and become invalid due to low elongation. In order to solve the problem, the new type of yielding bolt has been designed. It could release the deformation energy of the surrounding rock through its yielding pipe. However, few studies have been reported on the mechanism in bearing capacity decrease of the yielding pipe. Furthermore, the evaluation of the yielding bolt was not fully understood. Under such a background, a numerical model of the yielding model was established. According to the numerical simulation, the mechanism of the decrease in the bearing capacity of the yielding bolt is that the buckling occurs at different positions of the yielding pipe, making the material stiffness matrix turn negative, and the bearing capacity decreases significantly. Also, the performance of the yielding bolt could be evaluated from the use efficiency of the yielding pipe, the plastic strain characteristics of the components of the yielding bolt, and the energy absorption law. The evaluation results indicated that: (a) the deviation of the yielding pipe's Mises stresses was within the range of 1.0%‐4.0%. The stresses were distributed evenly, and the material use efficiency was high; (b) only the yielding pipe occurred the plastic failure during the yielding process, and other components were at the elastic stages. After the yielding, the yielding bolt was still effective for support. (c) The yielding pipe could absorb energy smoothly, which is helpful for the stability of the yielding bolt.

Abstract A major objective of plant ecology research is to determine the underlying processes responsible for the observed spatial distribution patterns of plant species. Plants can be approximated as points in space for this purpose, and thus, spatial point pattern analysis has become increasingly popular in ecological research. The basic piece of data for point pattern analysis is a point location of an ecological object in some study region. Therefore, point pattern analysis can only be performed if data can be collected. However, due to the lack of a convenient sampling method, a few previous studies have used point pattern analysis to examine the spatial patterns of grassland species. This is unfortunate because being able to explore point patterns in grassland systems has widespread implications for population dynamics, community‐level patterns, and ecological processes. In this study, we developed a new method to measure individual coordinates of species in grassland communities. This method records plant growing positions via digital picture samples that have been sub‐blocked within a geographical information system (GIS). Here, we tested out the new method by measuring the individual coordinates of Stipa grandis in grazed and ungrazed S. grandis communities in a temperate steppe ecosystem in China. Furthermore, we analyzed the pattern of S. grandis by using the pair correlation function g(r) with both a homogeneous Poisson process and a heterogeneous Poisson process. Our results showed that individuals of S. grandis were overdispersed according to the homogeneous Poisson process at 0–0.16 m in the ungrazed community, while they were clustered at 0.19 m according to the homogeneous and heterogeneous Poisson processes in the grazed community. These results suggest that competitive interactions dominated the ungrazed community, while facilitative interactions dominated the grazed community. In sum, we successfully executed a new sampling method, using digital photography and a geographical information system, to collect experimental data on the spatial point patterns for the populations in this grassland community.

Abstract The coal production exploited from extra‐thick coal seams accounts for 45% of China's total coal production. With large coal output, the extra‐thick coal seams require that the chamber section be more than 100 m2. In case of parting (the noncoal rock, usually mudstone, sandwiched in the coal seam) in the extra‐thick coal seams, the integrity of the coal seams will be damaged and the large‐section chamber is extremely easy to occur rib spalling and roof leakage, which will increase the chamber's supporting difficulty. To solve such problems, this paper took the electromechanical chamber in Tashan Coal Mine as the engineering background and analyzed the deformation and failure characteristics of this chamber surrounding rocks by the numerical simulation method during the excavation process. The results indicated that the failure areas of surrounding rocks were mainly in partings, chamber ribs, and chamber dome with the failure depths of 15 m, 10 m, and 5 m, respectively. Based on the obtained deformation and failure characteristics, the supporting method of grouting integrated with high‐strength bolts and anchor cables was put forward. The grouting method was firstly used to improve the integrity of the chamber surrounding rocks, and the high‐strength bolts and anchor cables were used for supporting. Then, the supporting parameters of the bolts and anchor cables and the grouting parameters were optimized by the numerical simulation method. The optimized parameters were applied in the electromechanical chamber in Tashan Coal Mine, and the on‐site chamber ribs lateral displacement and roof separation amounts were only 0.018 m and 0.012 m, respectively, indicating that the surrounding rocks were controlled effectively.

Abstract Aiming at serious deformation and failure of large‐section coal roadway under mined zones in ultra‐thick coal seam, its deformation and failure characteristics are analyzed based on the field measurement. This paper reveals the mechanism of roadway roof separation, roof leakage, and right rib extrusion. Based on the mechanism, two kinds of secondary support schemes are proposed, that is, “grouting + I‐steel support + bolt” (scheme I) and “grouting + U steel support + anchor + anchor cable” (scheme II). The industrial experiment is carried out at 1070 auxiliary transportation roadway in Tashan Coal Mine. The measured results show that the roadway roof separations of the secondary support scheme I and II are only 1/11 and 1/46 of the original support scheme, respectively, while the lateral displacements of the roadway are only 1/7 and 1/44 of the original support scheme. It could be seen that the deformation and failure of the roadway surrounding rock have been well controlled.

Abdominal tuberculosis is one of common forms of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis. However, portal vein involvement leading to portal venous stenosis and portal hypertension is a rare complication in abdominal tuberculosis. Because of the non-specific presentations and insensitive response to anti-tuberculosis therapy of the lesions involving portal vein, it continues to be both a diagnostic and treatment challenge. We have reported a 22-year-old woman presented with massive ascites and pleural effusion, which was proved to be TB infection by pleural biopsy. After standard anti-tuberculosis therapy, her systemic symptoms completely resolved while ascites worsened with serum-ascites albumin gradient >11 g/L. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography and portal venography showed severe main portal vein stenosis from compression by multiple calcified hilar lymph nodes. Finally, the patient was diagnosed with portal venous stenosis due to lymphadenopathy after abdominal tuberculosis infection. Portal venous angioplasty by balloon dilation with stent implantation was performed and continued anti-tuberculosis therapy were administrated after discharge. The ascites resolved promptly with no recurrence occurred during the six-month follow-up. Refractory ascites due to portal venous stenosis is an uncommon vascular complication of abdominal tuberculosis. Portal venous angioplasty with stent placement could be a safe and effective treatment for irreversible vascular lesions after anti-tuberculosis therapy.

Background Liver cirrhosis is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can regulate liver fibrosis, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood, and the interactions between miRNAs and mRNAs are not clearly elucidated. Methods miRNA and mRNA expression arrays of cirrhotic samples and control samples were acquired from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. miRNA-mRNA integrated analysis, functional enrichment analysis and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction were performed to identify differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) and mRNAs (DEGs), miRNA-mRNA interaction networks, enriched pathways and hub genes. Finally, the results were validated with in vitro cell models. Results By bioinformatics analysis, we identified 13 DEMs between cirrhotic samples and control samples. Among these DEMs, six upregulated (hsa-miR-146b-5p, hsa-miR-150-5p, hsa-miR-224-3p, hsa-miR-3135b, hsa-miR-3195, and hsa-miR-4725-3p) and seven downregulated (hsa-miR-1234-3p, hsa-miR-30b-3p, hsa-miR-3162-3p, hsa-miR-548aj-3p, hsa-miR-548x-3p, hsa-miR-548z, and hsa-miR-890) miRNAs were further validated in activated LX2 cells. miRNA-mRNA interaction networks revealed a total of 361 miRNA-mRNA pairs between 13 miRNAs and 245 corresponding target genes. Moreover, PPI network analysis revealed the top 20 hub genes, including COL1A1, FBN1 and TIMP3, which were involved in extracellular matrix (ECM) organization; CCL5, CXCL9, CXCL12, LCK and CD24, which participated in the immune response; and CDH1, PECAM1, SELL and CAV1, which regulated cell adhesion. Functional enrichment analysis of all DEGs as well as hub genes showed similar results, as ECM-associated pathways, cell surface interaction and adhesion, and immune response were significantly enriched in both analyses. Conclusions We identified 13 differentially expressed miRNAs as potential biomarkers of liver cirrhosis. Moreover, we identified 361 regulatory pairs of miRNA-mRNA and 20 hub genes in liver cirrhosis, most of which were involved in collagen and ECM components, immune response, and cell adhesion. These results would provide novel mechanistic insights into the pathogenesis of liver cirrhosis and identify candidate targets for its treatment.

Liver fibrosis results from the imbalance between extracellular matrix (ECM) production and degradation, which is a common pathological consequence of various chronic liver diseases. Although many miRNAs have been reported in liver fibrosis progression, miRNA-mRNA interactions in its reversal process remain to be elucidated. In the current study, we performed an integrated analysis of miRNA and mRNA expression profiles in the mouse model with the spontaneous reversal potency of liver fibrosis. A total of 102 miRNA and 2,845 mRNAs showed significant differential expression in reversal mice compared to fibrotic mice. Moreover, 3,769 putative negatively correlated miRNA-mRNA pairs were revealed to be potentially implicated in the biological function regulation of small molecule metabolism and ECM organization. By integrating miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks, mmu-miR-1843a-5p, mmu-miR-193a-5p, mmu-miR-194-2-3p, and mmu-miR-30c-2-3p were identified as lysyl oxidases-specific miRNAs that were correlated with fibrosis reversal. Our results provided potential candidate targets for the treatment of liver fibrosis.

Green fluorescent protein (GFP) is a light-emitting protein that does not require a prosthetic group for its fluorescent activity. As such, GFP has become indispensable as a molecular tool in molecular biology. Nonetheless, there has been no subatomic elucidation of the GFP structure owing to the structural polymorphism around the chromophore. Here, subatomic resolution X-ray structures of GFP without the structural polymorphism are reported. The positions of H atoms, hydrogen-bonding network patterns and accurate geometric parameters were determined for the two protonated forms. Compared with previously determined crystal structures and theoretically optimized structures, the anionic chromophores of the structures represent the authentic resonance state of GFP. In addition, charge-density analysis based on atoms-in-molecules theory and noncovalent interaction analysis highlight weak but substantial interactions between the chromophore and the protein environment. Considered with the derived chemical indicators, the lone pair–π interactions between the chromophore and Thr62 should play a sufficient role in maintaining the electronic state of the chromophore. These results not only reveal the fine structural features that are critical to understanding the properties of GFP, but also highlight the limitations of current quantum-chemical calculations.

Abstract It is well recognized that ecological processes are scale‐dependent. Despite this recognition, the influence of scale on population density has still not been explored in detail. While the relationship between population density and overall sampling area is well known, understanding how neighborhood density varies with scale is a persistent challenge. Here, neighborhood density refers to the density of individuals occurring within a ring of radius r and width w located at distance r from the typical individual. In this study, we examined the relationship between population neighborhood density and scale. We then compared the results from the O‐ring analysis between grazed and ungrazed communities in a temperate steppe ecosystem in China. The primary grazers in this ecosystem are domesticated sheep. Our results show that (1) the relationship between neighborhood density and scale can be well described by the O‐ring function; (2) grazing has a substantial impact on neighborhood density and the impact is dependent on spatial scale; specifically, grazing increases the rate of change in neighborhood density across scales and increases plant aggregation at small scales (

In order to adapt to the high stress and avoid the large deformation in roadways, the pre-stressed yielding bolt has been developed. Prior to the installation of the pre-stressed yielding bolt, boreholes need to be drilled. However, not all boreholes are perpendicular to the surface of the roadway, and the non-perpendicular holes make the pre-stressed yielding bolt exposed to eccentric loads. In order to reveal the influence of the eccentric load on the performance of the pre-stressed yielding bolt, some numerical simulations were carried out in this study. The influence of the eccentric load on the displacement–load relations, utilization rate of the yielding pipe, the plastic strains of the bolt components as well as the evolution of the absorptive capacity of the yielding pipe were analysed. The results are as follows: (i) eccentric loads affected the utilization rate of the yielding pipe, plastic strains of bolt components and the absorptive capacity was quite great when displacement was less than 2 mm, while these impacts could be neglected when displacement is greater than 2 mm; (ii) as the eccentric load increased, the yielding point and its corresponding displacement increased linearly while the yielding magnitude decreased linearly; and (iii) the eccentric load could be adjusted to control the yielding point and magnitude in order to meet the roadway support's requirement for the yielding bolt.

China consumes more than 3.6 billion tons of coal every year. In the meanwhile, coal accounts for over 60% of the energy consumption sector. Therefore, the sustainable development of coal mines is a problem that needed to be solved by the Chinese government. During the coal resources recovery process, the protective coal pillars between the adjacent working faces lead to a vast waste of coal resources. In order to mitigate the resource-wasting issue, a new technology of roof cutting with chain arm retaining roadway was put forward in this paper. First, the procedures of retaining roadway, roof-cutting parameters and the damage ranges of roadway surrounding rock induced by roof cutting with chain arm were analysed. Then, the working resistance of the temporary support equipment is given when using the new technology to retain the roadway. Next, the roof-cutting height, the temporary support equipment selection, working resistance of portal support and support parameters of the bolt and anchor cables were optimized based on the numerical calculation. The industrial experiment of retaining roadway by roof cutting with chain arm was carried out in a working face. The surrounding rock damage was lowered and controlled with the application of chain arm roof-cutting technology. Also, it was found that the variation range of the uniaxial compressive strength was only 5%, resulting in the roof damage range of 82 mm. The new technology has proved a potentially wide application in the coal mining industry with prosperous economic and safety improvement.

The narrow pillar mining method is widely adopted for working faces in coal mines. However, in cases of an overlying hard roof, a suspended triangle roof plate or a cantilever will be formed near the goaf. At this point, the coal pillar extrusion and serious deformation will occur in the gob-side roadway. In order to mitigate the problem, the roof-cutting technology with a chainsaw arm and its equipment have been developed. In this paper, based on the analysis of deformation and failure characteristics of 2312 roadway, which is close to the goaf of 2311 working face in Tashan Coal, the roof-cutting technology with a chainsaw arm was chosen to be applied in 2311 roadway. Then, the roof-cutting process and the load acting on the coal pillar were discussed and analysed. A numerical model was established to analyse the stress releasing effects after roof cutting. Moreover, the roof-cutting height and the support parameters of the roadway were optimized through numerical analysis and the results manifested that the roof cutting was the most effective when the roof-cutting height was 6.4 m. After roof cutting, the vertical stresses within the coal pillars were lowered by about 25.0%. Finally, the roof-cutting experiment was carried out in the 2311 roadway in Tashan Coal Mine. The on-site roof-cutting depth was 6.4 m and the roof-cutting width was 42 mm guided by the numerical analysis. To verify the stress-relieving effects, the borehole stress meters were applied to monitor the peak advancing stresses of narrow pillars at various depths. The measured results indicated that the peak advancing stresses decreased by 22.8% on average, and therefore, roof cutting and stress releasing effects were achieved.

As the development characteristics of cracks of the chamber are closely related to the bolt and cable anchoring parameters, the original rock stress of the surrounding rock, and fracture degree, this paper proposes the control method for chamber in extra-thick coal seam by the crack development characteristics. Based on the numerical model analysis, the chamber generates a large amount of shear cracks. Then, these cracks further extend and expand. When the cracks penetrate each other, the chamber bearing capacity decreases sharply, and the corresponding displacement also increases significantly. Based on the above rules, a chamber control method by high-strength anchor bolts and grouting reinforcement is proposed to improve the rock shear strength. By optimizing the anchor bolt parameters and grouting parameters, such as spacing, length, and the grouting pressure, the cracks are significantly reduced and the cracks are prevented from penetrating. Finally, an industrial test was conducted in the chamber at Datong Coal Group, and the chamber deformation was well controlled.

The effects of texture and precipitates on the plane anisotropy of Cu-Ni-Si alloy under different solid-solution temperature conditions were investigated by X-ray diffraction, electron backscattered diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. The results show that strength and elongation first increase and then decrease with increasing solid-solution temperature, exhibiting apparently anisotropy. After 800℃ solid solution, the Cu' and S' are mainly texture and the alloy has weak anisotropic properties, which correlates with the coexistence of Brass, Goss, and {011}〈511〉orientation owing to deformed grains. Complete recrystallization can be obtained at high temperature solution (≥ 850℃), the Cu' and S' texture intensity increases, whereas the Brass texture weakens and disappears and the anisotropy increases. δ-Ni2Si precipitation is observed after 850℃ solution and subsequent aging, and the crystal orientation between the matrix and precipitates is [001]Cu//[110]δ and (010)Cu//(001)δ. The fraction of nanosize precipitates decreases significantly with increasing temperature and this improves the anisotropy.

Guide rails' nonlinear dynamic response to the collision process between gangues and the suspended buffer is the basis for its intensity examination and fatigue prediction. This paper established a numerical model for simulating the dynamic response of buffer's guide rails using Pro/E and Femap based on an analysis of the basic structural components of the suspended buffer. The effects of the gangues diameter and feeding rate on the guide rails' dynamic response were investigated, which were mainly revealed by a tension in guide rails. Simulation results showed that the tension in guide rails rapidly increased to a peak value after the suspended buffer was impacted by gangues, followed by a periodic vibration. The peak tension, maximum and minimum tensions within the periodic vibration were exponential functions of the gangues diameter. And they depended linearly on the feeding rate. The vibration frequency of the tension in guide rails was an exponential function of the gangues diameter but did not depend on the feeding rate. Based on the backfilling workface parameters used in D.Ping coal miner's 15601 working panel, the feeding rate of 500 t/h was selected. The diameter of the crushed gangues was selected to be 50 mm based on the strength of guide rails. Their expected service life is 54.2 years. Finally, an industrial test was performed in D.Ping coal miner's 15601 working panel and the guide rails operated steadily. The measured vibration parameters of the tension in guide rails agree well with that of numerical predictions, which verified the reliability of the numerical model to some extent.

In recent years, the international situation has become more and more complex, and the regional conflicts have been escalating, and the risks of overseas public security have been increasing. Based on the four types of public security events, a public safety risk assessment index system of "one belt and one road" electric power investment project is established. Combining the Bayesian network model, and using fuzzy set and DS evidence theory, the public security risk level of the “Belt and Road” countries can be this method has been effectively verified and put forward countermeasures by an example.