Prescribed pattern transformation in swelling gel tubes by elastic instability

We present a study on swelling-induced circumferential buckling of tubular shaped gels. Inhomogeneous stress develops as gel swells under mechanical constraints, which gives rise to spontaneous buckling instability without external force. Full control over the post-buckling pattern is experimentally demonstrated. A simple analytical model is developed using elastic energy to predict stability and post-buckling patterns upon swelling. Analysis reveals that height to diameter ratio is the most critical design parameter to determine buckling pattern, which agrees well with experimental and numerical results.Comment: 32 pages, 7 figure

Arctigenin-induced reversal of drug resistance in cisplastin-resistant cell line A549/DDP, and the mechanism involved

Purpose: To investigate the drug resistance reversal effect of arctigenin (ARG) on cisplatin-insensitive A549/DDP cancer cells, and to elucidate the underlying mechanism(s). Methods: Four groups of cells: control, DDP, ARG and ADP were used. The degrees of inhibition of proliferation, drug resistance and apoptotic changes were measured using MTT assay, CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Expressions of PTEN and STAT3 proteins were determined by Western blotting. Results: At ARG concentration of 5 μmol/L, A549/DDP cells were significantly inhibited (p < 0.05). The combination therapy was more effective in reversing A549/DDP cells resistance than the single therapy. The expression level of PTEN protein increased with increase in ARG concentration, while STAT3 protein expression decreased with increase in ARG concentration. ADP group up-regulated PTEN but decreased STAT3 expression levels. Conclusion: ARG regulates drug resistance in A549/DDP cells, possibly via a mechanism involving reduction of A549/DDP cell sensitivity to DDP, thereby regulating the stress pathways associated with PTEN and STAT3. The combination of ARG and DDP effectively reduces A549/DDP cells resistance

Classifying Mental-Disorders through Clinicians Subjective Approach based on Three-way Decision

In psychiatric diagnosis, a contemporary data-driven, manual-based method for mental disorders classification is the most popular technique; however, it has several inevitable flaws. Using the three-way decision as a framework, we propose a unified model that stands for clinicians' subjective approach (CSA) analysis consisting of three parts: quantitative analysis, quantitative analysis, and evaluation-based analysis. A ranking list and a set of numerical weights based on illness magnitude levels according to the clinician's greatest degree of assumptions are the findings of the qualitative and quantitative investigation. We further create a comparative classification of illnesses into three groups with varying important levels; a three-way evaluation-based model is utilized in this study for the aim of understanding and portraying these results in a more clear way. This proposed method might be integrated with the manual-based process as a complementary tool to improve precision while diagnosing mental disorder

Txilm: Lossy Block Compression with Salted Short Hashing

Current blockchains are restricted by the low throughput. Aimed at this problem, we propose Txilm, a protocol that compresses the size of transaction presentation in each block to save the bandwidth of the network. In this protocol, a block carries short hashes of TXIDs instead of complete transactions. Combined with the sorted transactions based on TXIDs, Txilm realizes 80 times of data size reduction compared with the original blockchains. We also evaluate the probability of hash collisions, and provide methods of resolving such collisions. Finally, we design strategies to protect against potential attacks on Txilm.Comment: 5 pages and 2 figure

Forecasting return of used products for remanufacturing using graphical evaluation and review technique (GERT)

This research develops a forecasting model that can predict the quantity, time and probability of product return, recyclable parts/components/materials and disposal. It adopts the Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique (GERT) by translating the remanufacturing operational process into a stochastic network. This stochastic network possesses two characteristics: activities having a probability of occurrence associated with them; and time to perform an activity. Together with the GERT method, Mason’s rule is applied to calculate the equivalence transfer function of the system, therefore predicting the desired outcomes. A generic eight-step process on how to implement this method in any structure of return products and remanufacturing network is provided. A numerical example is presented to demonstrate the result of using GERT on forecasting printer remanufacturing outcomes. The main contribution of this research is: Instead of giving one result such as either return quantity, or time, or probability, our research can forecast three of these outcomes simultaneously, and the algorithm is generalised to be applicable to any product structure and remanufacturing network

Preoperative imatinib for patients with primary unresectable or metastatic/recurrent gastrointestinal stromal tumor

OBJECTIVES: Despite its rising popularity, reports on the use of preoperative imatinib mesylate (IM) in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) are limited. This study aims to explore the clinical efficacy of preoperative IM in patients with primarily unresectable or metastatic/recurrent GIST. METHODS: Between September 2009 and February 2014, patients with primarily unresectable or metastatic/recurrent GIST treated by a single medical team were recruited and considered for preoperative IM therapy. Re-examination was conducted regularly and abdominal enhanced CT data, blood biochemistry and responses to IM were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 18 patients were enrolled, including 13 with a primary tumor (7 stomach, 3 small bowel, 2 rectal and 1 pelvic tumor) and 5 with recurrent or metastatic GIST (2 with liver metastasis, 2 with anastomotic recurrence and 1 with pelvic GIST). The median follow-up time was 9.5 months (range of 3-63). The median tumor sizes before and after initiation of IM treatment were 9.1 cm and 6.0 cm (p = 0.003) based on the CT findings, respectively. All patients showed a decrease in tumor burden and the median tumor size reduction was 35%. Sixteen of the 18 patients showed a partial response to IM and two possessed stable disease. Nine of the 18 patients (50%) underwent surgical resection of primary or metastatic/recurrent tumors, with a median of 7 months of IM therapy. One case each of multivisceral resection and tumor recurrence were noted. CONCLUSIONS: IM as a preoperative therapy is feasible and safe for unresectable or metastatic/recurrent GIST that can effectively decrease tumor size, facilitating resection

The Hydrodynamic Characteristics Induced by Multiple Layouts of Typical Artificial M-Type Reefs with Sea Currents Typical of Liaodong Bay, Bohai Sea

Artificial reefs are effective measures to improve the marine ecological environment and increase fishery production. However, there are several geometries being investigated nowadays and their setup, including the spacing between groups of them, can provide dissimilar effects on hydrodynamics. To enhance the understanding of this topic, in this paper, the focus is mainly on M-Type artificial reefs that will be adopted in Juehua Island, Liaodong Bay, China. An experimental campaign was carried out in order to simulate the influence that M-Type unit reef groups may have on the local flow field and the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique has been implemented to provide velocity maps. The results showed that with the increase of velocity’s current approaching the artificial reef, the height, length and area of the upwelling and the back vortex rise with the increase of spacing between the artificial reefs. Furthermore, when comparing different geometrical configurations with similar currents approaching the artificial reef, the maximum values of both upwelling and back vortex were obtained when the spacing between unit reefs was 1.25 L. Finally, the entropy method was used to evaluate the effects on the flow field under four kinds of spacing based on the hydrodynamic characteristics and the economic cost. The comprehensive score obtained for all the configurations followed the order 1.25 L > 1.50 L > 0.75 L > 1.00 L. Therefore, it is suggested that the original design spacing should be increased by 25% when the M-type unit reef is put into practice. Additionally, after having completed a comparative analysis, it is recommended to further change the reef group into four reef monocases. By executing this adjustment, the unit reef cost was reduced by 10%, and the influence range on the flow field increased by 10%, and this result can consequently achieve greater ecological benefits with less economic input. The results of this study provide a preliminary reference for the construction of artificial reefs M-Type from the perspective of theory and practice