Non-iterative mode shape expansion for three-dimensional structures based on coordinate decomposition

The direct mode shape expansion method is an iterative technique, one can conclude that the convergence performance maybe challenged when applied to three-dimensional structures. In addition, mode shape values at different DOFs (degrees-of-freedom) sometimes are not in a same order of magnitude, which will produce much error for the estimation of small values of unmeasured mode components. Therefore this paper proposed a non-iterative mode shape expansion method based on coordinate decomposition technique. The advantage of coordinate decomposition is that the unmeasured components of mode shape values could be estimated with different weighting coefficients, even in a physical meaningful interval. Numerical studies in this paper are conducted for a 30-DOF cantilever beam with multiple damaged elements, as the measured modes are synthesized from finite element models. The numerical results show that the approach can estimate unmeasured mode shape values at translational and rotational DOFs in x, y and z directions with different weighting coefficients, respectively; and better mode shape expansion results can be obtained when proper constraints are employed. A numerical three dimensional structure is also investigated, and results indicate that the estimation of unmeasured components can be improved by imposing reasonable constraints based on the coordinate decomposition technique, even only translational DOFs of two diagonal nodes of the first floor are measured

Pathologically Activated Neuroprotection via Uncompetitive Blockade of \u3cem\u3eN\u3c/em\u3e-Methyl-d-aspartate Receptors with Fast Off-rate by Novel Multifunctional Dimer Bis(propyl)-cognitin

Uncompetitive N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists with fast off-rate (UFO) may represent promising drug candidates for various neurodegenerative disorders. In this study, we report that bis(propyl)-cognitin, a novel dimeric acetylcholinesterase inhibitor and γ-aminobutyric acid subtype A receptor antagonist, is such an antagonist of NMDA receptors. In cultured rat hippocampal neurons, we demonstrated that bis(propyl)-cognitin voltage-dependently, selectively, and moderately inhibited NMDA-activated currents. The inhibitory effects of bis(propyl)-cognitin increased with the rise in NMDA and glycine concentrations. Kinetics analysis showed that the inhibition was of fast onset and offset with an off-rate time constant of 1.9 s. Molecular docking simulations showed moderate hydrophobic interaction between bis(propyl)-cognitin and the MK-801 binding region in the ion channel pore of the NMDA receptor. Bis(propyl)-cognitin was further found to compete with [3H]MK-801 with a Ki value of 0.27 μm, and the mutation of NR1(N616R) significantly reduced its inhibitory potency. Under glutamate-mediated pathological conditions, bis(propyl)-cognitin, in contrast to bis(heptyl)-cognitin, prevented excitotoxicity with increasing effectiveness against escalating levels of glutamate and much more effectively protected against middle cerebral artery occlusion-induced brain damage than did memantine. More interestingly, under NMDA receptor-mediated physiological conditions, bis(propyl)-cognitin enhanced long-term potentiation in hippocampal slices, whereas MK-801 reduced and memantine did not alter this process. These results suggest that bis(propyl)-cognitin is a UFO antagonist of NMDA receptors with moderate affinity, which may provide a pathologically activated therapy for various neurodegenerative disorders associated with NMDA receptor dysregulation

A novel physics-informed framework for reconstruction of structural defects

Ultrasonic guided wave technology has played a significant role in the field of non-destructive testing as it employs acoustic waves that have advantages of high propagation efficiency and low energy consumption during the inspect process. However, theoretical solutions to guided wave scattering problems using assumptions such as Born approximation, have led to the poor quality of the reconstructed results. Moreover, scattering signals collected from industry sectors are often noised and nonstationary. To address these issues, a novel physics-informed framework (PIF) for quantitative reconstruction of defects using the integration of data-driven method with the guided wave scattering analysis has been proposed in this paper. Based on the geometrical information of defects and initial results obtained by PI-based analysis of defect reconstructions, a deep learning neural network model is built to reveal the physical relationship between defects and the noisy detection signals. This data-driven learning model is then applied to quantitatively assess and characterize defect profiles in structures, improve the accuracy of the analytical model and eliminate the impact of noise pollution in the process of inspection. To demonstrate advantages of the developed PIF for complex defect reconstructions with the capability of denoising, numerical examples including basic defect profiles, a stepped defect, a mixed-type defect have been examined. Results show that PIF has greater accuracy for reconstruction of defects in structures as compared with the analytical method and provides a valuable insight into the development of artificial intelligence-assisted inspection systems with high accuracy and efficiency in the fields of structural integrity and condition monitoring

Vaccination with dengue virus-like particles induces humoral and cellular immune responses in mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The incidence of dengue, an infectious disease caused by dengue virus (DENV), has dramatically increased around the world in recent decades and is becoming a severe public health threat. However, there is currently no specific treatment for dengue fever, and licensed vaccine against dengue is not available. Vaccination with virus-like particles (VLPs) has shown considerable promise for many viral diseases, but the effect of DENV VLPs to induce specific immune responses has not been adequately investigated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>By optimizing the expression plasmids, recombinant VLPs of four antigenically different DENV serotypes DENV1-4 were successfully produced in 293T cells. The vaccination effect of dengue VLPs in mice showed that monovalent VLPs of each serotype stimulated specific IgG responses and potent neutralizing antibodies against homotypic virus. Tetravalent VLPs efficiently enhanced specific IgG and neutralizing antibodies against all four serotypes of DENV. Moreover, vaccination with monovalent or tetravalent VLPs resulted in the induction of specific cytotoxic T cell responses.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Mammalian cell expressed dengue VLPs are capable to induce VLP-specific humoral and cellular immune responses in mice, and being a promising subunit vaccine candidate for prevention of dengue virus infection.</p

The effect of base column on vortex-induced vibration of a circular cylinder with low aspect ratio

The end condition of a cylinder is known to influence its vortex-induced vibration (VIV) response. The design of a short circular cylinder with a concentric base column attached to its bottom is adopted by some floating structures for improved stability, but how the base column would affect the VIV of the cylinder has been rarely studied. In this paper, the VIV of an elastically mounted rigid cylinder with a base column and a low aspect ratio of 2 is investigated numerically by solving the Navier-Stokes equations. The numerical methods are validated against two existing VIV studies, including a 2D cylinder and a cylinder with a finite length. The impacts of the base column on the cylinder are analysed. It is found that although the free end effects associated with fluid flowing around the cylinder end are still present, attaching the base column leads to the expansion of the lock-in regime of the cylinder response. A relationship between non-dimensional response amplitude and lift coefficient is established, which takes into consideration the geometrical properties of the base column. By analysing the energy transfer from fluid to structure, the base column is also found to have significant damping effects on the cylinder response

Global characteristics and trends in research on Candida auris

IntroductionCandida auris, a fungal pathogen first reported in 2009, has shown strong resistance to azole antifungal drugs and has caused severe nosocomial outbreaks. It can also form biofilms, which can colonize patients’ skin and transmit to others. Despite numerous reports of C. auris isolation in various countries, many studies have reported contradictory results.MethodA bibliometric analysis was conducted using VOSviewer to summarize research trends and provide guidance for future research on controlling C. auris infection. The analysis revealed that the United States and the US CDC were the most influential countries and research institutions, respectively. For the researchers, Jacques F. Meis published the highest amount of related articles, and Anastasia P. Litvintseva’s articles with the highest average citation rate. The most cited publications focused on clade classification, accurate identification technologies, nosocomial outbreaks, drug resistance, and biofilm formation. Keyword co-occurrence analysis revealed that the top five highest frequencies were for ‘drug resistance,’ ‘antifungal susceptibility test,’ ‘infection,’ ‘Candida auris,’ and ‘identification.’ The high-frequency keywords clustered into four groups: rapid and precise identification, drug resistance research, pathogenicity, and nosocomial transmission epidemiology studies. These clusters represent different study fields and current research hotspots of C. auris.ConclusionThe bibliometric analysis identified the most influential country, research institution, and researcher, indicating current research trends and hotspots for controlling C. auris

Neuroendocrine pathogenesis of perimenopausal depression

With the development of social economics and the increase of working pressure, more and more women are suffering from long-term serious stress and showing symptoms of perimenopausal depression (PMD). The incidence rate of PMD is increasing, and the physical and mental health are seriously affected. However, due to the lack of accurate knowledge of pathophysiology, its diagnosis and treatment cannot be accurately executed. By consulting the relevant literature in recent years, this paper elaborates the neuroendocrine mechanism of perimenopausal depression from the aspects of epigenetic changes, monoamine neurotransmitter and receptor hypothesis, glial cell-induced neuroinflammation, estrogen receptor, interaction between HPA axis and HPG axis, and micro-organism-brain gut axis. The purpose is to probe into new ways of treatment of PMD by providing new knowledge about the neuroendocrine mechanism and treatment of PMD

Relationship Between Stressful Life Events and Sleep Quality: Rumination as a Mediator and Resilience as a Moderator

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between stressful life events and sleep quality and to probe the role of rumination and resilience in the relationship.Method: The Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist, Ruminative Responses Scale, Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index were used among 1,065 college students. Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) 20.0 and the SPSS macro Process, which were specifically developed for assessing complex models including both mediators and moderators, were used to analyze the data.Results: High scores of stressful life events predicted worse sleep quality. Rumination partially mediated the relations between stressful life events and sleep quality. Resilience moderated the direct and indirect paths leading from stressful life events to sleep quality.Conclusions: The results demonstrate that stressful life events can directly affect the sleep quality of college students and indirectly through rumination. Additionally, increasing psychological resilience could decrease both the direct effect and the indirect effect of stressful life events affecting sleep quality. The results of this study may contribute to a better understanding of the effects, as well as the paths and conditions, of stressful life events on sleep quality in college students. Moreover, these findings can provide constructive suggestions for improving college students’ sleep quality

Integrative analysis of different low-light-tolerant cucumber lines in response to low-light stress

IntroductionLow light stress inhibits plant growth due to a line of physiological disruptions in plants, and is one of the major barriers to protected cucumber cultivation in northern China.MethodsTo comprehensively understand the responses of cucumber seedlings to low-light stress, the low-light-tolerant line (M67) and The low-light-sensitive line (M14) were conducted for the analysis of photosynthetic phenotype, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and the expression level of photosynthesis-related genes in leaves under low-light stress and normal light condition (control).ResultsThe results showed that there was a sharp decrease in the photosynthate accumulation in the leaves of the sensitive line, M14, resulting in a large decrease in the photosynthetic rate (Pn) (with 31.99%) of leaves compared to that of the control, which may have been caused by damage to chloroplast ultrastructure or a decrease in chlorophyll (Chl) content. However, under the same low-light treatment, there was no large drop in the photosynthate accumulation and even no decrease in Pn and Chl content for the tolerant line, M67. Moreover, results of gene expression analysis showed that the expression level of genes CsPsbQ (the photosystem II oxygen-evolving enhancer protein 3 gene) and Csgamma (ATPase, F1 complex gene) in the M14 leaves decreased sharply (by 35.04% and 30.58%, respectively) compared with the levels in the M67 leaves, which decreased by 14.78% and 23.61%, respectively. The expression levels of genes involved in Chl synthesis and carbohydrate biosynthesis in the leaves of M14 decreased markedly after low-light treatment; in contrast, there were no sharp decreases or changes in leaves of M67.DiscussionOver all, the ability of cucumber to respond to low-light stress, as determined on the basis of the degree of damage in leaf structure and chloroplast ultrastructure, which corresponded to decreased gene expression levels and ATP phosphorylase activity, significantly differed between different low-light-tolerant lines, which was manifested as significant differences in photosynthetic capacity between them. Results of this study will be a reference for comprehensive insight into the physiological mechanism involved in the low-light tolerance of cucumber

Multidimensional risk factor analysis of acute low back pain progressing to chronicity: a longitudinal cohort study protocol

IntroductionApproximately 40% of patients with acute low back pain (LBP) develop chronic low back pain, which significantly increases the risk of poor prognosis. To reduce the risk of acute LBP becoming chronic, effective preventive strategies are needed. Early identification of risk factors for the development of chronic LBP can help clinicians choose appropriate treatment options and improve patient outcomes. However, previous screening tools have not considered medical imaging findings. The aim of this study is to identify factors that can predict the risk of acute LBP becoming chronic based on clinical information, pain and disability assessment, and MRI imaging findings. This protocol describes the methodology and plan for investigating multidimensional risk factors for acute LBP becoming chronic, in order to better understand the development of acute LBP and prevent chronic LBP.MethodsThis is a prospective multicenter study. We plan to recruit 1,000 adult patients with acute low back pain from four centers. In order to select four representative centers, we find the larger hospitals from different regions in Yunnan Province. The study will use a longitudinal cohort design. Patients will undergo baseline assessments upon admission and will be followed up for 5 years to collect the time of chronicity and associated risk factors. Upon admission, patients will be collected detailed demographic information, subjective and objective pain scores, disability scale, and lumbar spine MRI scanning. In addition, patient’s medical history, lifestyle, psychological factors will be collected. Patients will be followed up at 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years and up for 5 years after admission to collect the time of chronicity and associated factors. Multivariate analysis will be used to explore the multidimensional risk factors affecting the chronicity of acute LBP patients (such as age, gender, BMI, degree of intervertebral disc degeneration, etc.), and survival analysis will be performed to explore the impact of each factor on the time of chronicity.Ethics and disseminationThe study has been approved by the institutional research ethics committee of each study center (main center number: 2022-L-305). Results will be disseminated through scientific conferences and peer-reviewed publications, as well as meetings with stakeholders