Synchronization of the secondary isolation system with a dual-motor excitation

A dynamical model is proposed in this paper to study the synchronization and stability of the secondary isolation system with a dual-motor excitation. After deducing the dynamic equations of the system by Lagrange’s equation, the Laplace transform is used to deduce the displacement responses of the system when the system operate in steady state. The synchronous balance equation and stability condition of the system is derived with average method, and the relationship between the coefficient of synchronous ability and the geometric parameters of the system is discussed. It can be found that synchronization ability of the system is gradually increased with the increase between two motors mounting distance; meanwhile the larger difference of the mass between the two unbalanced rotors, the more difficult to implement synchronous operation of the system. Moreover, the stable phase difference of the vibrating system being as the key determinant to reach synchronization is discussed numerically. The research result shows that the synchronous behavior of the system is influenced by rotation direction of the rotors, mounting position of two motors, and mass ratios between unbalanced rotors and vibrating body. The correctness of theoretical analyses is verified by simulation results with Runge-Kutta method

An effective method for refining predicted protein complexes based on protein activity and the mechanism of protein complex formation

BACKGROUND: Identifying protein complexes from protein-protein interaction network is fundamental for understanding the mechanism of cellular component and protein function. At present, many methods to identify protein complexes are mainly based on the topological characteristics or the functional similarity features, neglecting the fact that proteins must be in their active forms to interact with others and the formation of protein complex is following a just-in-time mechanism. RESULTS: This paper firstly presents a protein complex formation model based on the just-in-time mechanism. By investigating known protein complexes combined with gene expression data, we find that most protein complexes can be formed in continuous time points, and the average overlapping rate of the known complexes during the formation is large. A method is proposed to refine the protein complexes predicted by clustering algorithms based on the protein complex formation model and the properties of known protein complexes. After refinement, the number of known complexes that are matched by predicted complexes, Sensitivity, Specificity, and f-measure are significantly improved, when compared with those of the original predicted complexes. CONCLUSION: The refining method can discard the spurious proteins by protein activity and generate new complexes by just-in-time assemble mechanism, which can enhance the ability to predict complex

6-Gingerol attenuates sepsis-induced acute lung injury by suppressing NLRP3 inflammasome through Nrf2 activation

Introduction. Sepsis is characterized by an inappropriate inflammatory response. Acute lung injury (ALI) is the most common type of organ injury in sepsis, with high morbidity and mortality. 6-Gingerol is the main bioactive compound of ginger, and it possesses anti-inflammatory bioactivity in different diseases. This study is aimed to explore the specific function of 6-Gingerol in sepsis-induced ALI. Material and methods. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was intraperitoneally injected into Sprague-Dawley rats for establishing the ALI models in vivo. The ALI rats were intraperitoneally injected with 20 mg/kg 6-Gingerol. The contents of oxidative stress markers malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were detected in the lung tissues of ALI rats. The concentrations of inflammatory factors [Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-1β] were measured by ELISA. Inflammatory cell infiltration in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of rats was tested. Western blot was utilized to test the protein levels of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in lung tissues. Furthermore, immunohistochemical staining was applied for testing the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome in lung tissues. Results. The pathological changes in ALI rats were characterized by increased accumulation of inflammatory cells, alveolar hemorrhage, and pulmonary interstitial edema. However, the degree of pathological injury of lung tissues was significantly improved after 6-Gingerol treatment. Additionally, 6-Gingerol significantly attenuated the lung wet/dry ratio and protein permeability index (PPI) of LPS-induced rats. Furthermore, 6-Gingerol repressed oxidative stress and inflammatory reaction in LPS-induced rats by reducing the contents of MDA, GSH, SOD, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β in the lung. LPS-induced infiltration of eosinophils, macrophages, neutrophils, and lymphocytes into lung was suppressed by 6-Gingerol administration. Moreover, 6-Gingerol activated Nrf2/HO-1 signaling and repressed LPS-induced‑NLRP3 inflammasome expression in lung tissues of LPS-induced rats. Intraperitoneal injection of ML385 (Nrf2 inhibitor) treatment into rats reversed the effects of 6-Gingerol on lung injury, inflammation, and oxidative stress in LPS-subjected rats. Conclusions. 6-Gingerol attenuates sepsis-induced ALI by suppressing NLRP3 inflammasome activation through Nrf2 activation

Synchronization of the secondary isolation system with a dual-motor excitation

A dynamical model is proposed in this paper to study the synchronization and stability of the secondary isolation system with a dual-motor excitation. After deducing the dynamic equations of the system by Lagrange’s equation, the Laplace transform is used to deduce the displacement responses of the system when the system operate in steady state. The synchronous balance equation and stability condition of the system is derived with average method, and the relationship between the coefficient of synchronous ability and the geometric parameters of the system is discussed. It can be found that synchronization ability of the system is gradually increased with the increase between two motors mounting distance; meanwhile the larger difference of the mass between the two unbalanced rotors, the more difficult to implement synchronous operation of the system. Moreover, the stable phase difference of the vibrating system being as the key determinant to reach synchronization is discussed numerically. The research result shows that the synchronous behavior of the system is influenced by rotation direction of the rotors, mounting position of two motors, and mass ratios between unbalanced rotors and vibrating body. The correctness of theoretical analyses is verified by simulation results with Runge-Kutta method

Evaluation of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of psychological first aid (PFA) system based training for frontline health workers in emergency health services in China a study protocol of a cluster randomized controlled trial

IntroductionThere is insufficient evidence on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of psychological interventions to enhance frontline responders’ mental health proficiency and competence in emergency settings. This paper describes the methods for the evaluation of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Psychological First Aid training, to determine whether the intervention is effective and cost-effective as a mental health intervention in public health emergencies. A pilot to evaluate the acceptability of the PFA training found participants were either satisfied (55.6%) or extremely satisfied (44.4%) with the training program.MethodThis paper describes the protocol for a cluster randomized two-arm controlled trial. A total of 1,399 non-specialist health care workers will be recruited in 42 hospitals and health care centers across six provinces in China. Participants will be assigned according to hospital or health care center site to one of two groups (n = 699 for intervention group and 709 for control group) to receive system based PFA training or PFA training as usual. Both groups will receive one-day of training, comprising six modules including PFA core concepts, knowledge, skills and practice. Their knowledge, skills, competency, self-efficacy, resilience, and professional quality of life will be assessed immediately after the training; and reassessed after 1 and 2 months.AnalysisFor effectiveness outcomes, repeated measures will be used in a multi-level linear mixed model. The pooled standard deviations will be used to calculate the effect sizes (Cohen’s d) within and between groups. Appropriate statistical tests will be used to explore differences between intervention and control groups. For economic outcomes, a health service sector perspective will be adopted, with intervention costs and outcomes collected prospectively. Within-trial cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) will quantify the incremental costs and PFA proficiency gains of the intervention compared with training as usual at 2 months post training. CEA will present results as cost per unit of mental health proficiency gained. A cost-utility analysis (CUA) model will extend the population to emergency health service users.in order to identify potential for incremental cost offsets attributable to mental health improvement arising from intervention. Intervention costs and effects will be extrapolated to the population of patients who receive the emergency health service in clinical wards and will be modeled over the cohort’s lifetime. Modeled CUA results will be calculated as quality-adjusted life-years saved and healthcare cost savings in preventing mental disorders.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval was obtained from the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University Clinical Research Ethics Committee (2021) Ethical Review [Clinical Research] #067). Data about the economic evaluation of the intervention will be stored in the KCL OneDrive at King’s College London, UK. The trial protocol was registered with the China Clinical Trials Registry: ChiCTR2200060464. Study findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed academic papers, and participating hospitals