The Study of Partial Connective Stability for Singular Linear Large-Scale Interconnected Systems

The connective stability is an important content among the large-scale interconnected systems. The many results recently have been given for the normal systems. In this paper, we shall discuss the connective stability of singular linear large-scale dynamical systems by means of singular Lyapunovf equation and vector Lyapunovf function. We give a simple form of a stable domain of connective parameters.Key words: Singular system; Large-scale systems; Stability; Connective stability; Vector Lyapunovf functio

Analysis of potential dynamic concealed factors in the difficulty of lower third molar extraction

The purpose of this study was to identify potential concealed variables associated with the difficulty of lower third molar (M3) extractions. To address the research purpose, we implemented a prospective study and enrolled a sample of subjects presenting for M3 removal. Predictor variables were categorized into Group-I and Group-II, based on predetermined criteria. The primary outcome variable was the difficulty of extraction, measured as extraction time. Appropriate univariate and multivariate statistics were computed using ordinal logistic regression. The sample comprised of 1235 subjects with a mean age of 29.49 +/- 8.92 years in Group-I and 26.20 +/- 11.55 years in Group-II subjects. The mean operating time per M3 extraction was 21.24 +/- 12.80 and 20.24 +/- 12.50 minutes for Group-I and Group-II subjects respectively. Three linear parameters including B-M2 height (distance between imaginary point B on the inferior border of mandibular body, and M2), lingual cortical thickness, bone density and one angular parameter including Rc-Cs angle (angle between ramus curvature and curve of spee), in addition to patient?s age, profile type, facial type, cant of occlusal plane, and decreased overbite, were found to be statistically associated (P < or = 0.05) with extraction difficulty under regression models. In conclusion, our study indicates that the difficulty of lower M3 extractions is possibly governed by morphological and biomechanical factors with substantial influence of myofunctional factors. Practical Implications: Preoperative evaluation of dynamic concealed factors may not only help in envisaging the difficulty and planning of surgical approach but might also help in better time management in clinical practice

Diclofenac transdermal patch versus the sustained release tablet: A randomized clinical trial in rheumatoid arthritic patients

Purpose: To prepare and characterize transdermal films of diclofenac diethanolamine as a safer and more effective alternative than the sustained release (SR) tablet equivalent for prolonged relief from pain and inflammation in arthritis.Methods: Transdermal films of diclofenac were prepared using sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and polyvinyl pyrrolidone K30, with turpentine oil and sesame oil as penetration enhancers. The films were characterized for  physicochemical properties and for ex vivo permeation in a randomized clinical trial(RCT) for analgesic activities in arthritic patients.Results: The transdermal films were uniform in weight and thickness, flat, with high drug content (94.40 ± 1.04 to 98.62 ± 1.08 %) and with high folding endurance (149 ± 9.09 to 192 ± 10.12). Drug permeation through excised rat abdominal skin was prolonged. Films containing penetration enhancers showed higher ex vivo drug permeation than those without the enhancer; furthermore, drug permeation increased with increase in the concentration of enhancer. The films were  non-irritating to the skin. In RCT, F3 (containing turpentine oil, 1 %v/w) decreased the pain score from 9.87 ± 1.14 to 4.94 ± 0.78 units, compared with the SR tablet (once daily) which decreased pain from 9.59 ± 0.42 to 6.49 ± 1.20 units, 48 h post-administration. Turpentine oil showed better permeation enhancement than sesame oil in the transdermal films.Conclusion: Transdermal films of diclofenac, formulated with permeation enhancers, may have greater therapeutic advantages over conventional oral tablets in terms of prolonged release and improvement of patient compliance in rheumatoid arthritis.Keywords: Analgesic activity, Diclofenac, Permeation enhancer, Rheumatoid arthritis, Transdermal film

A study of the fire smoke propagation in subway station under the effect of piston wind

A running traffic train induces piston wind in the subway. The influence of piston wind on fire smoke propagation in subway is investigated numerically. The flow field structure in fire platform, temperature contours and velocity profiles at certain positions are obtained at various scenarios respectively. Three methods are adopted to reduce the impact of piston wind on smoke layers. Results show that large-scale vortexes and tremendous horizontal inertial force would be produced under the influence of piston wind; and that smoke stratification would be broken totally under its influence, therefore toxic gas would spread to subway hall through stairs. So the former smoke management system in a subway station becomes less effective. Results also show that combination of enhanced the volume flux of pressurization at the subway hall and lowering the height of smoke screens around stairs are necessary to restrict hazard smoke on the floor on fire. The bypass wind tunnel and ventilation shaft are useful to attenuate the magnitude of piston wind

Augmentation of Pulmonary Epithelial Cell IL-8 Expression and Permeability by Pre-B-cell Colony Enhancing Factor

© 2008 Li et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Trace the Accretion Geometry of H 1743--322 with Type C Quasi-periodic Oscillations in Multiple Outbursts

We present a systematic analysis of type C quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) observations of H 1743--322 throughout the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) era. We find that, while different outbursts have significant flux differences, they show consistent positive correlations between the QPO fractional root-mean-square (rms) amplitude and non-thermal fraction of the emission, which indicate an independence of the intrinsic QPO rms on individual outburst brightness in H 1743--322. However, the dependence of the QPO rms on frequency is different between the outburst rise and decay phases, where QPO fractional rms of the decay phase is significantly lower than that of the rise phase at low frequencies. The spectral analysis also reveals different ranges of coronal temperature between the two outburst stages. A semi-quantitative analysis shows that the Lense-Thirring precession model could be responsible for the QPO rms differences, requiring a variable coronal geometric shape. However, the variable-Comptonization model could also account for the findings. The fact that the rms differences and the hysteresis traces in the hardness-intensity diagram (HID) accompany each other indicates a connection between the two phenomena. By correlating the findings with QPO phase lags and the quasi-simultaneous radio flux previously published, we propose there could be corona-jet transitions in H 1743--322 similar to those that have been recently reported in GRS 1915+105.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figure

Return of 4U~1730--22 after 49 years silence: the peculiar burst properties of the 2021/2022 outbursts observed by Insight-HXMT

After in quiescence for 49 years, 4U~1730--22 became active and had two outbursts in 2021 \& 2022; ten thermonuclear X-ray bursts were detected with Insight-HXMT. Among them, the faintest burst showed a double-peaked profile, placing the source as the 5th accreting neutron star (NS) exhibiting double/triple-peaked type-I X-ray bursts; the other bursts showed photospheric radius expansion (PRE). The properties of double-peaked non-PRE burst indicate that it could be related to a stalled burning front. For the five bright PRE bursts, apart from the emission from the neutron star (NS) surface, we find the residuals both in the soft ($$10 keV) X-ray band. Time-resolved spectroscopy reveals that the excess can be attributed to an enhanced pre-burst/persistent emission or the Comptonization of the burst emission by the corona/boundary-layer. We find, the burst emission shows a rise until the photosphere touches down to the NS surface rather than the theoretical predicted constant Eddington luminosity. The shortage of the burst emission in the early rising phase is beyond the occlusion by the disk. We speculate that the findings above correspond to that the obscured part (not only the lower part) of the NS surface is exposed to the line of sight due to the evaporation of the obscured material by the burst emission, or the burst emission is anisotropic ($\xi>1$) in the burst early phase. In addition, based on the average flux of PRE bursts at their touch-down time, we derive a distance estimation as 10.4 kpc.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2208.13556; text overlap with arXiv:2208.1212

Fld1p, a functional homologue of human seipin, regulates the size of lipid droplets in yeast

Lipid droplets (LDs) are emerging cellular organelles that are of crucial importance in cell biology and human diseases. In this study, we present our screen of ∼4,700 Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants for abnormalities in the number and morphology of LDs; we identify 17 fld (few LDs) and 116 mld (many LDs) mutants. One of the fld mutants (fld1) is caused by the deletion of YLR404W, a previously uncharacterized open reading frame. Cells lacking FLD1 contain strikingly enlarged (supersized) LDs, and LDs from fld1Δ cells demonstrate significantly enhanced fusion activities both in vivo and in vitro. Interestingly, the expression of human seipin, whose mutant forms are associated with Berardinelli-Seip congenital lipodystrophy and motoneuron disorders, rescues LD-associated defects in fld1Δ cells. Lipid profiling reveals alterations in acyl chain compositions of major phospholipids in fld1Δ cells. These results suggest that an evolutionally conserved function of seipin in phospholipid metabolism and LD formation may be functionally important in human adipogenesis

Differential Emphases on Modernity and Confucian Values in Social Categorization: The Case of Hong Kong Adolescents in Political Transition

This study investigated if modernity and Confucian values were ingroup's positively valued distinctiveness for Hong Kong adolescents with different social identities. Participants (236 Hong Kong adolescents) filled out a questionnaire which tapped social identity and intergroup perception. They also participated in a card-sorting activity in which they decided if any of 20 attributes (e.g., advanced, respecting collective will) could be used to characterize a specific ethnic-social group (e.g., mainland Chinese, Hongkongers, Americans). Multidimensional scaling performed on the card-sorting data resulted in a two-dimensional solution. Emphasis on Dimension I (modernity) correlated with positive perception of Hong Kong and Hong Kong people while emphasis on Dimension 2 (Confucian values) correlated with positive perception of China and Chinese. In addition, compared to adolescents who identified themselves as Chinese or Chinese-Hongkongers, those who identified themselves as Hongkongers or Hongkonger-Chinese placed more emphasis on modernity and less on Confucian values. The results were discussed with reference to Tajfel's theory of social identity. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved