Effect of Lixujieyu recipe in combination with Five Elements music therapy on chronic fatigue syndrome

AbstractObjectiveTo observe the clinical effects of the Lixujieyu recipe combined with Five Elements music therapy on chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) identified as the symptom patterns of liver stagnation and spleen deficiency in terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine.MethodsPatients with CFS were randomly divided into treatment group 1 (Lixujieyu recipe combined with Gong-Tune, n = 15); treatment group 2 (Lixujieyu recipe combined with Jiao-Tune, n = 15); treatment group 3 (Lixujieyu recipe combined with Yu-Tune, n = 15); treatment group 4 (Lixujieyu recipe combined with Shang-Tune, n = 15); treatment group 5 (Lixujieyu recipe combined with Zhi-Tune, n = 15); and the control group (Lixujieyu recipe alone, n = 15). Chinese medicine was given twice daily, and music was listened to for 45 minutes daily, 5 days a week. All patients were treated for 4 weeks. Patients were assessed via the Fatigue Scale, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale before and after treatment.ResultsTreatment groups 1 and 2 had better effects on relieving the symptoms of physical fatigue related to anxiety and depression than the control group (P < 0.05).ConclusionLixujieyu recipe combined with Gong-Tune or Jiao-Tune significantly relieved the symptoms of CFS

Biological control agents colonize litchi fruit during storage and stimulate physiological responses to delay pericarp browning

IntroductionLitchi is an economically important fruit in subtropical countries, but pericarp browning can limit its shelf life outside of controlled storage conditions. Effective and sustainable biological control strategies are needed to protect fruit against postharvest browning.Results and DiscussionIn this study, we show that the four bacterial strains Bacillus licheniformis HS10, B. amyloliquefaciens LI24 and PP19, and Exiguobacterium acetylicum SI17 can delay fruit browning in both laboratory trials (LTs) and field plus laboratory trials (FLTs). Strains HS10, LI24, PP19 and SI17 showed 47.74%, 35.39%, 33.58% and 32.53% browning-inhibitory efficacy respectively at 180 h in LT. Litchi sarcocarp interior sourced isolate SI17 showed 74.05% inhibit-brown efficacy at 216 h in FLTs, performing better in FLT than in LT. Furthermore, strains PP19 and SI17 colonized the fruit pericarp and increased total phenolic and anthocyanin contents but decreased peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase activity. This is the first report of E. acetylicum (SI17) and B. licheniformis (HS10) strains acting as biological control agents (BCAs) to delay postharvest browning in litchi fruit. We conclude that PP19 and SI17 are promising BCAs against fruit browning, and their application could be effective for prolonging the shelf life of harvested litchi fruit

Integrated motor drives: state of the art and future trends

With increased need for high power density, high efficiency and high temperature capabilities in Aerospace and Automotive applications, Integrated Motor Drives (IMD) offers a potential solution. However, close physical integration of the converter and the machine may also lead to an increase in components temperature. This requires careful mechanical, structural and thermal analysis; and design of the IMD system. This paper reviews existing IMD technologies and their thermal effects on the IMD system. The effects of the power electronics (PE) position on the IMD system and its respective thermal management concepts are also investigated. The challenges faced in designing and manufacturing of an IMD along with the mechanical and structural impacts of close physical integration is also discussed and potential solutions are provided. Potential converter topologies for an IMD like the Matrix converter, 2-level Bridge, 3-level NPC and Multiphase full bridge converters are also reviewed. Wide band gap devices like SiC and GaN and their packaging in power modules for IMDs are also discussed. Power modules components and packaging technologies are also presented

Robust Spectral Clustering Incorporating Statistical Sub-Graph Affinity Model

Hyperspectral image (HSI) clustering is a challenging work due to its high complexity. Subspace clustering has been proven to successfully excavate the intrinsic relationships between data points, while traditional subspace clustering methods ignore the inherent structural information between data points. This study uses graph convolutional subspace clustering (GCSC) for robust HSI clustering. The model remaps the self-expression of the data to non-Euclidean domains, which can generate a robust graph embedding dictionary. The EKGCSC model can achieve a globally optimal closed-form solution by using a subspace clustering model with the Frobenius norm and a Gaussian kernel function, making it easier to implement, train, and apply. However, the presence of noise can have a noteworthy negative impact on the segmentation performance. To diminish the impact of image noise, the concept of sub-graph affinity is introduced, where each node in the primary graph is modeled as a sub-graph describing the neighborhood around the node. A statistical sub-graph affinity matrix is then constructed based on the statistical relationships between sub-graphs of connected nodes in the primary graph, thus counteracting the uncertainty image noise by using more information. The model used in this work was named statistical sub-graph affinity kernel graph convolutional subspace clustering (SSAKGCSC). Experiment results on Salinas, Indian Pines, Pavia Center, and Pavia University data sets showed that the SSAKGCSC model can achieve improved segmentation performance and better noise resistance ability

Robust Spectral Clustering Incorporating Statistical Sub-Graph Affinity Model

Hyperspectral image (HSI) clustering is a challenging work due to its high complexity. Subspace clustering has been proven to successfully excavate the intrinsic relationships between data points, while traditional subspace clustering methods ignore the inherent structural information between data points. This study uses graph convolutional subspace clustering (GCSC) for robust HSI clustering. The model remaps the self-expression of the data to non-Euclidean domains, which can generate a robust graph embedding dictionary. The EKGCSC model can achieve a globally optimal closed-form solution by using a subspace clustering model with the Frobenius norm and a Gaussian kernel function, making it easier to implement, train, and apply. However, the presence of noise can have a noteworthy negative impact on the segmentation performance. To diminish the impact of image noise, the concept of sub-graph affinity is introduced, where each node in the primary graph is modeled as a sub-graph describing the neighborhood around the node. A statistical sub-graph affinity matrix is then constructed based on the statistical relationships between sub-graphs of connected nodes in the primary graph, thus counteracting the uncertainty image noise by using more information. The model used in this work was named statistical sub-graph affinity kernel graph convolutional subspace clustering (SSAKGCSC). Experiment results on Salinas, Indian Pines, Pavia Center, and Pavia University data sets showed that the SSAKGCSC model can achieve improved segmentation performance and better noise resistance ability

Analysis of metabolomics associated with quality differences between room‐temperature‐ and low‐temperature‐stored litchi pulps

Studies on how temperature affects the postharvest quality of litchi have focused mainly on pericarp browning but rarely on the metabolites in postharvest litchi pulp. In this study, the differences in respiration rates, total soluble solid content, and titratable acid content demonstrated that room and low temperatures have different effects on the quality of “Feizixiao” litchi pulp. UHPLC‐ESI‐QTOF‐MS/MS analysis was performed to compare the differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) in litchi pulp after 8 days of storage at room temperature (RT‐8 d) with those in litchi pulp after 28 days of storage at low temperature (LT‐28 d). Nineteen carbohydrates (phosphohexoses, sorbitol, and mannose), fifteen acids, seven amino acids, nine energy metabolites and nucleotides, and six aliphatic and secondary metabolites were identified as common DEMs in RT‐8 d and LT‐28 d pulps. These findings indicated active fructose and mannose metabolism and increased catabolism of nicotinate, nicotinamide, alanine, aspartate, and glutamate. Four carbohydrates (mainly phosphohexoses), five acids, ten amino acids, three aliphatic and secondary metabolites, and one hormone were identified as unique DEMs in RT‐8 d pulp, the consumption of key metabolites in glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and accumulation of phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan. Active consumption of nucleotide metabolites and biosynthesis of aliphatics in LT‐28 d pulp were indicated by unique DEMs (eleven carbohydrates, four acids, seven amino acids, seven energy metabolites and nucleotides, and six aliphatic and secondary metabolites). These results provided an unambiguous metabolic fingerprint, thereby revealing how room and low temperatures differentially influenced the quality of litchi pulp

Size and Shape Effects on Fatigue Behavior of G20Mn5QT Steel from Axle Box Bodies in High-Speed Trains

In this paper, the axial loading fatigue tests are at first conducted on specimens ofG20Mn5QT steel from axle box bodies in high-speed trains. Then, the size and shape effects on fatigue behavior are investigated. It is shown that the specimen size and shape have an influence on the fatigue performance of G20Mn5QT steel. The fatigue strength of the hourglass specimen is higher than that of the dogbone specimen due to its relatively smaller highly stressed region. Scanning electron microscope observation of the fracture surface and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy indicate that the specimen size and shape have no influence on the fatigue crack initiation mechanism. Fatigue cracks initiate from the surface or subsurface of the specimen, and some fracture surfaces present the characteristic of multi-site crack initiation. Most of the fatigue cracks initiate from the pore defects and alumina inclusions in the casting process, in which the pore defects are the main crack origins. The results also indicate that the probabilistic control volume method could be used for correlating the effects of specimen size and shape o the fatigue performance of G20Mn5QT steel for axle box bodies in high-speed trains

The effect of desulfurization on the postharvest quality and sulfite metabolism in pulp of sulfitated “Feizixiao” Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) fruits

Abstract The residual sulfite caused by sulfur fumigation (SF) is a hazard to health and influenced the export trade of litchi. Desulfurization (DS) is a valid chemical method to reduce the residual sulfite. However, the effect of DS on fumigated litchi has not been studied at physiological and molecular level. This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of DS (SF plus 3% desulfurizer) on the postharvest quality, sulfite residue, and the sulfite metabolism in sulfitated “Feizixiao” litchi during the 4°C storage. Results indicated that the DS promoted the color recovery of sulfitated litchi and achieved an effect similar to SF on controlling rot and browning. DS recovered the water content and respiration rate of sulfitated litchi pericarp. Thus, DS improves commodity properties of sulfitated litchi. Moreover, DS greatly reduced sulfite residue especially in pulp and ensured the edible safety of sulfitated litchi. The activities of sulfite oxidase, sulfite reductase, serine acetyltransferase, and O‐acetylserine(thiol) lyase in pulp increased after SF but fell down after DS while the expressions of their encoding genes decreased after SF but then rallied after DS. These results indicated the key role of these enzymes in sulfite metabolism after SF and DS changed the sulfite metabolism at both enzymatic and transcriptional level. It could be concluded that DS used in this study was an effective method for improving the color recovery and ensuring the edible safety of sulfitated litchi by not only chemical reaction but also both of enzymatic and transcriptional regulation