Charge Measurement of Cosmic Ray Nuclei with the Plastic Scintillator Detector of DAMPE

One of the main purposes of the DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is to measure the cosmic ray nuclei up to several tens of TeV or beyond, whose origin and propagation remains a hot topic in astrophysics. The Plastic Scintillator Detector (PSD) on top of DAMPE is designed to measure the charges of cosmic ray nuclei from H to Fe and serves as a veto detector for discriminating gamma-rays from charged particles. We propose in this paper a charge reconstruction procedure to optimize the PSD performance in charge measurement. Essentials of our approach, including track finding, alignment of PSD, light attenuation correction, quenching and equalization correction are described detailedly in this paper after a brief description of the structure and operational principle of the PSD. Our results show that the PSD works very well and almost all the elements in cosmic rays from H to Fe are clearly identified in the charge spectrum.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure

Calculus Bovis Sativus Improves Bile Acid Homeostasis via Farnesoid X Receptor-Mediated Signaling in Rats With Estrogen-Induced Cholestasis

Cholestatic diseases are characterized by toxic bile acid (BA) accumulation, and abnormal BA composition, which subsequently lead to liver injury. Biochemical synthetic Calculus Bovis Sativus (CBS) is derived from natural Calculus Bovis, a traditional Chinese medicine, which has been used to treat hepatic diseases for thousands of years. Although it has been shown that CBS administration to 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE)-induced cholestatic rats improves bile flow and liver injury, the involved underlying mechanism is largely unknown. In this study, we showed that CBS administration to EE-induced cholestatic rats significantly decreased serum and hepatic BA levels and reversed hepatic BA composition. DNA microarray analysis suggested that the critical pathways enriched by CBS treatment were bile secretion and primary BA synthesis. These findings led us to focus on the effects of CBS on regulating BA homeostasis, including BA transport, synthesis and metabolism. CBS enhanced hepatic BA secretion by inducing efflux transporter expression and inhibiting uptake transporter expression. Moreover, CBS reduced BA synthesis by repressing the expression of BA synthetic enzymes, CYP7A1 and CYP8B1, and increased BA metabolism by inducing the expression of metabolic enzymes, CYP3A2, CYP2B10, and SULT2A1. Mechanistic studies indicated that CBS increased protein expression and nuclear translocation of hepatic and intestinal farnesoid X receptor (FXR) to regulate the expression of these transporters and enzymes. We further demonstrated that beneficial effects of CBS administration on EE-induced cholestatic rats were significantly blocked by guggulsterone, a FXR antagonist. Therefore, CBS improved BA homeostasis through FXR-mediated signaling in estrogen-induced cholestatic rats. Together, these findings suggested that CBS might be a novel and potentially effective drug for the treatment of cholestasis

An Improved Entropy-Weighted Topsis Method for Decision-Level Fusion Evaluation System of Multi-Source Data

Due to the rapid development of industrial internet technology, the traditional manufacturing industry is in urgent need of digital transformation, and one of the key technologies to achieve this is multi-source data fusion. For this problem, this paper proposes an improved entropy-weighted topsis method for a multi-source data fusion evaluation system. It adds a fusion evaluation system based on the decision-level fusion algorithm and proposes a dynamic fusion strategy. The fusion evaluation system effectively solves the problem of data scale inconsistency among multi-source data, which leads to difficulties in fusing models and low fusion accuracy, and obtains optimal fusion results. The paper then verifies the effectiveness of the fusion evaluation system through experiments on the multilayer feature fusion of single-source data and the decision-level fusion of multi-source data, respectively. The results of this paper can be used in intelligent production and assembly plants in the discrete industry and provide the corresponding management and decision support with a certain practical value

Study on Adsorption of Heavy Metals Cu and Zn by Microplastics Under Different Aged Factors

Microplastics are widely distributed in a variety of environments, absorbing heavy metals in the environment while aging due to various environmental factors. In this paper, the effects of different aging factors (pH, DOM, and H2O2) on the adsorption capacity of heavy metals Cu and Zn on polyethylene microplastics (PE-MPs) were investigated, and the changes in physical and chemical properties of PE microplastics were analyzed. The results demonstrate that H2O2 aging bears the greatest effect on the adsorption effect of PE microplastics, dissolved organic matter (DOM) aging has the least effect on the adsorption effect of PE microplastics, and the adsorption effect of microplastics aged with pH=9 is stronger than that aged with pH=4; the adsorption kinetics model of microplastics fitted to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and the thermodynamic model fitted to Langmuir model; aging mainly changed the surface structure of microplastics, increased the Zeta potential of microplastics, introduced more oxygen-containing functional groups, and finally affected the ability of microplastics to adsorb heavy metals. The research provides data reference for understanding the influence of different aging on the adsorption capacity of heavy metals in microplastics

A Unified Multiple Transport Mechanism Model for Gas through Shale Pores

Predicting apparent gas permeability (AGP) in nanopores is a major challenge for shale gas development. Considering the differences in the gas molecule-pore wall interactions in inorganic and organic nanopores, the gas transport mechanisms in shale remain unclear. In this paper, gas flow channels in shale, which are separated into inorganic pores and organic pores, are treated as nanotubes. Inorganic pores are assumed to be hydrophilic, and organic pores are assumed to be hydrophobic. In organic pores, multiple bulk free gas and surface adsorbed gas transport mechanisms are incorporated, while the bulk gas and water film are considered within inorganic pores. This paper presents a unified multiple transport mechanism model for both organic nanopores and inorganic nanopores. Unlike the earlier models, the presented models consider the absorption, stress dependence, real gas, and water storage effects on gas transport comprehensively for the entire flow regime. The results are validated with published data which is more in line with the real situation. The results show that (1) the AGP decreases gradually as the pore pressure decreases but that the decrease is sharp in small pores, (2) the AGP decreases dramatically when considering the real gas effect at 50 MPa in a 2 nm pore size, and (3) for a small pore size at the critical high-water saturation, AGP might increase suddenly as the flow regime changes from continuum flow to slip flow. The findings of this study can help for better understanding of the gas transport mechanisms for the entire flow regime in shale

The Cost of Hyperkalemia in the United States

There are limited data on the cost of hyperkalemia. Methods: This retrospective analysis of the Truven MarketScan claims database assessed the economic burden of hyperkalemia among selected adult patients with hyperkalemia and matched controls. Results: A total of 39,626 cases (patients with hyperkalemia) were matched to 39,626 controls (patients without hyperkalemia) based on age, dialysis, chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage, heart failure, and renin-angiotensin aldosterone system inhibitor use. Compared with controls, cases incurred $4128 (95$3893–$4363) higher 30-day total health care costs ($5994 vs. $1865) and$15,983 (95% CI $15,026–$16,940) higher 1-year costs ($31,844 vs.$15,861). Among 11,221 matched pairs of patients with CKD and/or heart failure, cases incurred $5553 (95$5059–$6047) higher 30-day total health care costs ($8165 vs. $2612) and$24,133 (95% CI $21,748–$26,518) higher 1-year costs ($48,994 vs.$24,861) than controls. The multivariable adjusted 1-year total health care cost difference was $15,606 (95$14,648–$16,576) among all patients and$25,156 (95% CI $23,529–$26,757) among patients with CKD and/or heart failure. Cases had higher resource utilization rates including inpatient admissions (30-day: 0.14 vs. 0.03; 1-year: 0.44 vs. 0.19), outpatient visits (30-day: 3.33 vs. 2.28; 1-year: 26.58 vs. 18.53), and emergency department visits (30-day: 0.16 vs. 0.06; 1-year: 0.86 vs. 0.50) (all P < 0.001). When hospitalized, cases stayed 1.51 days (95% CI 1.22–1.80) longer and were 40% more likely to be readmitted. Conclusion: These data indicate that hyperkalemia is associated with a significant economic burden on afflicted patients and the health care system

Health expenditure and reimbursement, total and per capita, China 2004–2011 (in US $).

<p>Note:</p><p>①Total medical expenditure = CHF. 1.2 + CHF. 2.1 + CHF. 2.2(<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0124995#pone.0124995.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>) – Unspent BSHI funds (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0124995#pone.0124995.t003" target="_blank">Table 3</a>)</p><p>②Total reimbursement = CHF. 1.2 + CHF. 2.1(<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0124995#pone.0124995.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>) – Unspent BSHI funds (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0124995#pone.0124995.t003" target="_blank">Table 3</a>)</p><p>③Total OOP = CHF. 2.2(<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0124995#pone.0124995.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>).</p><p>Health expenditure and reimbursement, total and per capita, China 2004–2011 (in US $).</p

Trends in the National Reimbursement Ratio in China, 2004–2011.

<p>The height of bowls indicates the reimbursement level of the China Health Insurance System, and the volume of bowls indicates the population coverage under the China Health Insurance System.</p

Unspent BSHI funds, 2004–2011 (US$, in billions).

<p>Source of data: National Health and Family Planning Commission of China: <i>China Statistical Yearbook of Health and Family Planning 2013</i>. Beijing: 2013.</p><p>Unspent BSHI funds, 2004–2011 (US$, in billions).</p

Thermal Hydraulic and Neutronics Coupling Analysis for Plate Type Fuel in Nuclear Reactor Core

The thermal hydraulic and neutronics coupling analysis is an important part of the high-fidelity simulation for nuclear reactor core. In this paper, a thermal hydraulic and neutronics coupling method was proposed for the plate type fuel reactor core based on the Fluent and Monte Carlo code. The coupling interface module was developed using the User Defined Function (UDF) in Fluent. The three-dimensional thermal hydraulic model and reactor core physics model were established using Fluent and Monte Carlo code for a typical plate type fuel assembly, respectively. Then, the thermal hydraulic and neutronics coupling analysis was performed using the developed coupling code. The simulation results with coupling and noncoupling analysis methods were compared to demonstrate the feasibility of coupling code, and it shows that the accuracy of the proposed coupling method is higher than that of the traditional method. Finally, the fuel assembly blockage accident was studied based on the coupling code. Under the inlet 30% blocked conditions, the maximum coolant temperature would increase around 20°C, while the maximum fuel temperature rises about 30°C. The developed coupling method provides an effective way for the plate type fuel reactor core high-fidelity analysis