A modified zero energy critical point theory with applications to several nonlocal problems

In this paper, we devote ourselves to considering a modified zero energy critical point theory for a specific set of functionals denoted as $\Phi_{\mu}$, defined within the confines of a uniformly convex Banach space. Integrating the nonlinear generalized Rayleigh quotient approach with Ljusternik–Schnirelman category, we establish the nonexistence and multiplicity of zero energy critical points of the involved functionals. In particular, the modified zero energy critical point theory can be applied to more nonlocal problems. Our main results improve and complement the existing results in the related literature

Therapeutic effects and mechanism of oat β-glucan plus montmorillonite powder on diarrhea in young rats

Oat β-glucan is a prebiotic that affects intestinal microbiota and maintains energy homeostasis. Oat β-glucan helps treat diarrhea and other associated disorders, because it can regulate intestinal microbiota. We investigated the therapeutic effects and mechanism of oat β-glucan combined with montmorillonite powder on diarrhea induced by Senna leaf extract in young Sprague-Dawley rats. Compared with the diarrhea-induced model group (DM), the combined treatment, especially in the group treated with a medium dose of Montmorillonite powder plus oat β-glucan (M+G2), effectively reduced the diarrhea (P < 0.05) and inflammation indices, alleviated damage to the colon, and promoted weight gain in rats. In the combined treatment group, the relative abundance of Firmicutes increased at the phylum level, while the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria decreased. At the genus level, the Lactobacillus content recovered, and the proportion of conditional pathogens, such as Prevotella and Paraprevotella decreased. M+G2 treatment significantly reduced diarrhea in young rats, restored intestinal microbiota diversity, and promoted the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Based on metabolomics, the mechanism of the anti-diarrheal effect of M+G2 treatment may be related to the regulation of glucose and amino acid metabolism. The metabolic micro-environment was improved through the pentose phosphate and vitamin B6 pathways. The core metabolic regulator in metabolic network analysis was L-aspartic acid. Overall, our findings suggest that the combined treatment of oat β-glucan and montmorillonite powder may provide an effective therapeutic strategy for treating diarrhea and associated disorders by regulating the inflammatory biomarkers, SCFAs, and intestinal microbiota

Analysis of Tornado-Induced Pressures and Internal Forces of a Building Frame

This paper was reviewed and accepted by the APCWE-IX Programme Committee for Presentation at the 9th Asia-Pacific Conference on Wind Engineering, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, held from 3-7 December 2017

Non-ideal hydrogen permeation through V-alloy membranes

In the present work, an experimental and theoretical investigation on hydrogen permeation through different three-element V/Al-alloy membranes – V85Cr10Al5, V88Co4Al8 and V85Ni10Al5 (alloy composition expressed in atom %) – is carried out at 400 °C under conditions of moderate values of hydrogen pressure (up to 5 bar). To analyse the membrane behaviour in these conditions, at which system works far from the infinite dilution (non-ideal conditions), an approach already available in the literature is extended to allow splitting ideal and non-ideal contributions on the overall permeability. Furthermore, such an extension allows the non-ideal contribution of H-diffusion and solubility to be recognised and quantified, thus giving the possibility of describing the curvature of the flux trend with hydrogen pressure more precisely with respect to the original form. The permeation tests, performed keeping the atmospheric pressure in the permeate side, first reveal that the V85Cr10Al5-alloy gives the greatest Sieverts-like permeability – here referred to as apparent permeability, which is constant at a certain temperature value in the pressure range considered for its calculation – followed by V88Co4Al8 and V85Ni10Al5. Afterwards, the same permeation data are used to calculate the so-called intrinsic (ideal) permeability as well as the non-ideal terms, which describe diffusion and solubility effect. The same analysis is performed also on some data taken from the literature for comparison. As results, we found that the intrinsic permeability shows this trend: V85Cr10Al5 > V85Ni10Al5 > V88Co4Al8, whereas the extent of non-ideal contribution, expressed in terms of a Non-Ideality Index, is found to follow this order: V88Co4Al8 > V85Cr10Al5 > V85Ni10Al5. This leads to a situation where the overall permeability show a maximum for Co and Cr at around 350 kPa, whereas it is monotonically increasing for the V/Ni-membranes in the pressure range considered. The presence of this maximum is explained by considering the contrasting effect of diffusion and solubility at progressively higher hydrogen pressure. The presented approach allows a precise characterisation of metal membranes in conditions of relatively high pressure, which are of interest for practical industrial applications

Minimally invasive versus traditional inverted “L” approach for posterior cruciate ligament avulsion fractures: a retrospective study

Purpose To evaluate the clinical efficacy of a minimally invasive arthroscopic approach and to compare it with the traditional inverted “L” approach for the treatment of posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) avulsion fractures. Methods From January 2016 to January 2020, the clinical data from patients with PCL avulsion fracture of the tibial insertion were analyzed retrospectively. They were divided into two groups based on surgical approaches: minimally invasive approach group (n = 15) and traditional inverted “L” group (n = 15 cases). The operation time, incision length, intraoperative blood loss, hospitalization time and complications were all recorded and compared between the two groups. The fracture healing time, knee range of motion (ROM), and residual relaxation degree were compared between the two groups after regular follow-up. The International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) and Lysholm scores were used to assess knee joint function. Results There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of gender, age, side, body mass index, cause of injury, Meyers McKeever classification and time from injury to operation (P > 0.05). The incision length and intraoperative bleeding in the minimally invasive group were significantly lower (P 0.05). The Lachman test and posterior drawer test were both negative, and there were no postoperative complications. The VAS pain score within 2 weeks and ROM within 4 weeks in the minimally invasive group were significantly better (P 0.05) between the two groups. Conclusion The minimally invasive approaches for the treatment of PCL avulsion fractures provide adequate exposure without the surgical complications associated with traditional open surgical approaches. The procedure is safe, fast and minimally invasive, and does not need a long learning curve

Non-ideal hydrogen permeation through V-alloy membranes

\u3cp\u3eIn the present work, an experimental and theoretical investigation on hydrogen permeation through different three-element V/Al-alloy membranes – V\u3csub\u3e85\u3c/sub\u3eCr\u3csub\u3e10\u3c/sub\u3eAl\u3csub\u3e5\u3c/sub\u3e, V\u3csub\u3e88\u3c/sub\u3eCo\u3csub\u3e4\u3c/sub\u3eAl\u3csub\u3e8\u3c/sub\u3e and V\u3csub\u3e85\u3c/sub\u3eNi\u3csub\u3e10\u3c/sub\u3eAl\u3csub\u3e5\u3c/sub\u3e (alloy composition expressed in atom %) – is carried out at 400 °C under conditions of moderate values of hydrogen pressure (up to 5 bar). To analyse the membrane behaviour in these conditions, at which system works far from the infinite dilution (non-ideal conditions), an approach already available in the literature is extended to allow splitting ideal and non-ideal contributions on the overall permeability. Furthermore, such an extension allows the non-ideal contribution of H-diffusion and solubility to be recognised and quantified, thus giving the possibility of describing the curvature of the flux trend with hydrogen pressure more precisely with respect to the original form. The permeation tests, performed keeping the atmospheric pressure in the permeate side, first reveal that the V\u3csub\u3e85\u3c/sub\u3eCr\u3csub\u3e10\u3c/sub\u3eAl\u3csub\u3e5\u3c/sub\u3e-alloy gives the greatest Sieverts-like permeability – here referred to as apparent permeability, which is constant at a certain temperature value in the pressure range considered for its calculation – followed by V\u3csub\u3e88\u3c/sub\u3eCo\u3csub\u3e4\u3c/sub\u3eAl\u3csub\u3e8\u3c/sub\u3e and V\u3csub\u3e85\u3c/sub\u3eNi\u3csub\u3e10\u3c/sub\u3eAl\u3csub\u3e5\u3c/sub\u3e. Afterwards, the same permeation data are used to calculate the so-called intrinsic (ideal) permeability as well as the non-ideal terms, which describe diffusion and solubility effect. The same analysis is performed also on some data taken from the literature for comparison. As results, we found that the intrinsic permeability shows this trend: V\u3csub\u3e85\u3c/sub\u3eCr\u3csub\u3e10\u3c/sub\u3eAl\u3csub\u3e5\u3c/sub\u3e &gt; V\u3csub\u3e85\u3c/sub\u3eNi\u3csub\u3e10\u3c/sub\u3eAl\u3csub\u3e5\u3c/sub\u3e &gt; V\u3csub\u3e88\u3c/sub\u3eCo\u3csub\u3e4\u3c/sub\u3eAl\u3csub\u3e8\u3c/sub\u3e, whereas the extent of non-ideal contribution, expressed in terms of a Non-Ideality Index, is found to follow this order: V\u3csub\u3e88\u3c/sub\u3eCo\u3csub\u3e4\u3c/sub\u3eAl\u3csub\u3e8\u3c/sub\u3e &gt; V\u3csub\u3e85\u3c/sub\u3eCr\u3csub\u3e10\u3c/sub\u3eAl\u3csub\u3e5\u3c/sub\u3e &gt; V\u3csub\u3e85\u3c/sub\u3eNi\u3csub\u3e10\u3c/sub\u3eAl\u3csub\u3e5\u3c/sub\u3e. This leads to a situation where the overall permeability show a maximum for Co and Cr at around 350 kPa, whereas it is monotonically increasing for the V/Ni-membranes in the pressure range considered. The presence of this maximum is explained by considering the contrasting effect of diffusion and solubility at progressively higher hydrogen pressure. The presented approach allows a precise characterisation of metal membranes in conditions of relatively high pressure, which are of interest for practical industrial applications.\u3c/p\u3

Effects of Composition and Strength of Wheat Gluten on Starch Structure, Digestion Properties and the Underlying Mechanism

To understand the effect of gluten on starch digestion characteristics, the structural characteristics of protein, starch, and starch digestion attributes were explored by using flours of four wheat near-isogenic lines. Protein and starch fractions from the four flours were used to form so-called recombinant flours where glutenin and gliadin protein fractions, in different ratios, were combined with starch and heated in a water slurry at 80 &deg;C for 5 min. We found that starch digestibility of the recombinant flours could be reproducibly modified by altering the long- and short-range molecular order of starch through varying the attributes of the gluten protein by virtue of the gluten strength as well as the proportions of glutenin and gliadins. The gluten composition changes of strong-gluten flour did not improve the starch digestion resistibility, however, for the moderate- and weak-gluten flours, the proportional increase of glutenin improved the resistance of starch to digestion through the increased long- and short-range molecular order of starch. The resistance of starch to digestion could also be enhanced with increasing gliadin, and was associated with the modified short-range molecular order of starch. We propose that flour mixtures can be optimized for specified product quality by manipulating the amounts of both gliadin and glutenin

Degradation of Pd/Nb30Ti35Co35/Pd hydrogen permeable membrane: a numerical description

The hydrogen flux degradation in hydrogen permeation tests of Pd/Nb30Ti35Co35 (at.%)/Pd composite membranes was experimentally investigated at temperatures from 400 to 650 °C. The hydrogen fluxes through the Pd/Nb30Ti35Co35/Pd membranes during isothermal long-term hydrogen permeation tests above 500 °C exhibit two hydrogen-flux-decline steps. The aggregation of the Pd-catalytic layer and the boundary layer formed between Pd and Nb30Ti35Co35 due to interdiffusion were experimentally confirmed contributing to the degradation of the hydrogen flux through the Pd/Nb30Ti35Co35/Pd membrane. Modelling work was carried out to reveal and validate the temperature-dependence of the two attributing factors to the degradation of hydrogen permeation flux