Effect of Hedyotis diffusa Willd extract on gouty arthritis in rats

Purpose: To investigate the effect of Hedyotis diffusa Willd extract (HDWE) on gouty arthritis in rats.Method: Monosodium urate (MSU) crystal was injected into the ankle joint of rats to establish a rat model of gouty arthritis. HDWE (4.8, 9.6 and 19.2 g/kg) was administered to the rats treated with MSU crystals. The walking behavior of the rats was observed daily, and the gait score was calculated to evaluate the Oswestry disability index of rats. Levels of IL-1β and TNF-α in lavage fluid of articularcavities were measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. The synovial tissues of joint of control, model and 19.2 g/kg HDWE group rats were obtained and NLRP3 inflammasome was analysed by Western blot.Results: The results showed that HDWE ameliorated the symptoms of gouty arthritis and gait score in rats significantly (p < 0.05). Further pharmacological experiments showed that all doses of HDWE decreased the levels of inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and TNF-α (p < 0.05), and inhibited NLRP3, caspase-1, ASC, IL-1β and IL-18 protein expressions of the lavage fluid of articular cavities in MSU crystal-treated rats (p < 0.01).Conclusion: The results indicate that HDWE exhibits a significant effect in ameliorating gouty arthritis via inhibition NLRP3  inflammasome, and thus is a potential new drug choice for the treatment of gouty arthritis. Keywords: Hedyotis diffusa, Caspase, Gouty arthritis, Inflammatory cytokines, NLRP3 inflammaso

Computational Emotion Analysis From Images: Recent Advances and Future Directions

Emotions are usually evoked in humans by images. Recently, extensive research efforts have been dedicated to understanding the emotions of images. In this chapter, we aim to introduce image emotion analysis (IEA) from a computational perspective with the focus on summarizing recent advances and suggesting future directions. We begin with commonly used emotion representation models from psychology. We then define the key computational problems that the researchers have been trying to solve and provide supervised frameworks that are generally used for different IEA tasks. After the introduction of major challenges in IEA, we present some representative methods on emotion feature extraction, supervised classifier learning, and domain adaptation. Furthermore, we introduce available datasets for evaluation and summarize some main results. Finally, we discuss some open questions and future directions that researchers can pursue.Comment: Accepted chapter in the book "Human Perception of Visual Information Psychological and Computational Perspective

Effects of a novel microbial fermentation medium produced by Tremella aurantialba SCT-F3 on cigar filler leaf

IntroductionAdding a fermentation medium is an effective way to improve the quality of cigar tobacco leaves.MethodsA novel microbial fermentation medium produced by an edible medicinal fungus, Tremella aurantialba SCT-F3 (CGMCC No.23831) was used to improve the quality of cigar filler leaves (CFLs). Changes in sensory quality, chemical components, volatile flavor compounds (VFCs), and the structure and function of microbes were investigated during the fermentation process.ResultsThe sensory quality of CFLs supplemented with the T. aurantialba SCT-F3 fermentation medium significantly improved. Adding the fermentation medium increased the total alkaloid, reducing sugar, total sugar, and 12 VFCs significantly. A total of 31 microbial genera were significantly enriched, which increased the microbial community’s richness and diversity. Microbial functions increased, including nucleotide biosynthesis, amino acid biosynthesis, fatty acid and lipid biosynthesis, nicotine degradation, and nicotinate degradation. During fermentation, the total alkaloid, reducing sugar, and total sugar content decreased. The richness and diversity of the microbial community decreased, whereas bacterial enzyme activity increased. At the end of fermentation, the sensory quality was excellent. The microbial structure gradually stabilized, and functional genes were low. The contents of the four Maillard reaction products and three nicotine degradation products increased significantly. 2-Ethyl-6-methylpyrazine, methylpyrazine, D,L-anatabine, β-nicotyrine, nicotinic degradation products, and total nitrogen were significantly and positively correlated with sensory quality. Methylpyrazine, D,L-anatabine, and β-nicotyrine were negatively correlated with Luteimonas, Mitochondria, Paracoccus, Stemphylium, and Stenotrophomonas.ConclusionThis research provides not only a new microbial fermentation medium that utilizes edible and medicinal fungi to improve the quality of fermented CFLs, but also new ideas for the development and application of other edible medicinal fungi to improve the quality of cigar tobacco leaves

Observation of Rydberg exciton polaritons and their condensate in a perovskite cavity

The condensation of half-light half-matter exciton polaritons in semiconductor optical cavities is a striking example of macroscopic quantum coherence in a solid state platform. Quantum coherence is possible only when there are strong interactions between the exciton polaritons provided by their excitonic constituents. Rydberg excitons with high principle value exhibit strong dipole-dipole interactions in cold atoms. However, polaritons with the excitonic constituent that is an excited state, namely Rydberg exciton polaritons (REPs), have not yet been experimentally observed. Here, for the first time, we observe the formation of REPs in a single crystal CsPbBr3 perovskite cavity without any external fields. These polaritons exhibit strong nonlinear behavior that leads to a coherent polariton condensate with a prominent blue shift. Furthermore, the REPs in CsPbBr3 are highly anisotropic and have a large extinction ratio, arising from the perovskite's orthorhombic crystal structure. Our observation not only sheds light on the importance of many-body physics in coherent polariton systems involving higher-order excited states, but also paves the way for exploring these coherent interactions for solid state quantum optical information processing

Mechanisms of Myocardial Stunning in Stress-Induced Cardiomyopathy

Stress-induced cardiomyopathy, in contrast to acute myocardial infarction, is a type of acute heart failure characterized by reversible left ventricular dysfunction. Cardiac imaging primarily reveals left ventricle myocardial stunning, 81.7% of which is apical type. Emotional or psychological stress usually precedes the onset of stress-induced cardiomyopathy, which is increasingly being recognized as a unique neurogenic myocardial stunning disease. To distinguish between acute myocardial infarction and acute viral or auto-immune myocarditis, this review summarizes specific mechanisms of myocardial stunning in stress-induced cardiomyopathy, such as calcium disorders, metabolic alterations, anatomical and histological variations in different parts of the left ventricle, and microvascular dysfunction

Evaluation Model on Activation Classification of Coal Mine Goaf Ground Considering High-Speed Railway Loads

The construction and expansion of high-speed railway networks in China has been occurring at a fast pace, resulting in some lines crossing through coal mine goaf sites. However, the embankment and train loads may trigger the activation of the coal mine goaf ground, posing a threat to traffic safety. To ensure the safety of construction and railway lines, an evaluation model on the activation classification of coal mine goaf ground, taking into account the high-speed railway load, is proposed, which is mainly applicable for middle–deep and level goaf areas using a longwall mining method. Firstly, 12 influencing factors are selected as the underlying evaluation indexes, and the catastrophe progression method model for evaluating the coal mine goaf ground stability is constructed. The findings of the evaluation were found to align with the actual results, indicating the reliability of the model. Then, the additional stress calculation model for high-speed railway ground with different embankment heights, train speeds, and axle loads was established, and the train load disturbance depth with a 5% criterion was determined. The influence degree of load on high-speed railway was divided, and the weight of each factor was determined. Finally, the extension comprehensive evaluation method was used to unite the stability grade of the coal mine goaf site and the influence degree of the train, so the evaluation model on activation classification was proposed. The accurateness and reliability of the proposed model was verified using the Taijiao high-speed railway cases and the model test

Correlation Study between the Mechanical Property of the Square Cone Energy-Absorbing Structure and Collision Energy Distribution for Urban Rail Trains

In order to study the influence of the square cone energy-absorbing structure of urban rail trains on the collision energy distribution of trains during the collision process, an eight-marshalling train crash dynamics model was established, and the force–displacement energy-absorbing characteristic curve of the anti-climbing structure was obtained through a full-scale impact experiment. According to the characteristics of the curve, the influence of the initial peak force, the platform force and the slope of the platform force of the anti-climbing energy-absorbing device on the energy absorption of the train collision under a 25 km/h condition was studied. Based on this, the multi-objective genetic algorithm was used to optimize the overall energy distribution scheme of the train. The results showed that the changes in the initial peak force, the platform force and the slope of the platform force will lead to changes in the energy absorption of the four-section moving train and the four-section stationary train that are closer to the collision interface, and the other is almost unchanged. Through the optimized design, the energy absorption of the head car impact interface is increased by 0.74%, the energy absorption of the first impact interface of the middle cars is reduced by 3.36% and the third impact interface of the middle cars is increased by 9.17%. The distribution of the collision energy of the train is more reasonable. At the same time, the deformation of the middle car body is reduced, and the utilization efficiency of the overall energy-absorbing structure of the train is improved

Experimental and Numerical Study of Collision Attitude Auxiliary Protection Strategy for Subway Vehicles

An auxiliary protection device (rail holding mechanism) was proposed to control the collision attitude of subway vehicles. The dynamics model of head-on collision of subway vehicles was established and verified by the full-scale collision test of the real car; then the force element structure of the rail holding mechanism was equated; finally, the vertical lift and the pitch angle of the three characteristic sections of car body and the wheelsets were used as the evaluation indicators to study the effects of the three design parameters: the gap distance (x1), the linear stage distance (Δ x2) and the stiffness of linear stage (k1). The results show that the linear stage distance has little influence on the collision attitude of the car body, while the x1 and k1 had a greater influence on the collision attitude of the car body. The reasonable reduction of the gap distance x1 and increase the k1 can effectively reduce the vertical lift of the wheelsets and alleviate the nodding phenomenon of the train, and reduce the derailment and jumping phenomenon during the train collision

Experimental and Numerical Study of Collision Attitude Auxiliary Protection Strategy for Subway Vehicles

An auxiliary protection device (rail holding mechanism) was proposed to control the collision attitude of subway vehicles. The dynamics model of head-on collision of subway vehicles was established and verified by the full-scale collision test of the real car; then the force element structure of the rail holding mechanism was equated; finally, the vertical lift and the pitch angle of the three characteristic sections of car body and the wheelsets were used as the evaluation indicators to study the effects of the three design parameters: the gap distance (x1), the linear stage distance (Δ x2) and the stiffness of linear stage (k1). The results show that the linear stage distance has little influence on the collision attitude of the car body, while the x1 and k1 had a greater influence on the collision attitude of the car body. The reasonable reduction of the gap distance x1 and increase the k1 can effectively reduce the vertical lift of the wheelsets and alleviate the nodding phenomenon of the train, and reduce the derailment and jumping phenomenon during the train collision

Novel Bionic Design Method for Skeleton Structures Based on Load Path Analysis

Biological structures have excellent mechanical performances including lightweight, high stiffness, etc. However, these are difficult to apply directly to some given complex structures, such as automobile frame, control arm, etc. In this study, a novel bionic design method for skeleton structures with complex features is proposed by the bio-inspired idea of “main-branch and sub-branch”. The envelope model of a given part is established by analyzing the structural functions and working conditions, and the load path is extracted by the load-transferred law as the structural main-branch. Then, the selection criterion of bionic prototype is established from three aspects: load similarity, structural similarity and manufacturability. The cross-sections with high similarities are selected as the structural sub-branch. Finally, the multi-objective size optimization is carried out and a new model is established. The bionic design of a control arm is carried out by the method: structural main-branch is obtained by the load path analysis and structural sub-branch is occupied by the fish-bone structure. The design result shows that the structural stiffness is increased by 62.3%, while the weight is reduced by 24.75%. The method can also be used for other fields including automobile, aerospace and civil engineering