The metamaterials with negative Poisson’s ratio are called auxetic materials, which as a branch of metamaterials has drawn a lot of attention in many areas. Existing auxetic knitting textiles combine ...flexibility and auxeticity, however the loose structure has been a main disadvantage for its application. In this study, we fabricated Miura origami structure fabrics by weaving technology in order to acquire more stable auxetic textiles. The results show that using the combination of fabric structure type and elastic yarns, an origami structure can be realized in a jacquard loom. In the Miura origami structure, the crease pattern can be separated into three parts, unfolding areas, convex areas, and concave areas. One warp system and two weft systems are compounded together, in which a weft backed weave is used to get elastic floats in the convex and concave areas, and to make the fabrics bend to the concave side. The physical map showed that the fabrics had a clear Miura origami structure and the unfolding areas were flat and even. On the basis of the designed geometric pattern, weft backed weaves can be used to construct different folded areas, spandex wrapped PET (Polyester) and inelastic PET are selected as two weft systems for weaving. Meanwhile, the Miura origami fabrics exhibit distinct in-plane negative Poisson’s ratio and out-of-plane positive Poisson’s ratio. Apart from the Miura origami structure, other origami and paper-cut structures can be realized using this method, and these special auxetic textiles have potential in protective cloths, ornamented textiles, wearable devices, and flexible sensors.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Materials with a negative Poisson’s ratio (NPR) are also called auxetic materials, which as a branch of mechanical metamaterials have drawn a great deal of attention in many areas. Origami ...tessellation structures (OTSs) exhibit an in-plane NPR; meanwhile, they may also show an out-of-plane NPR, which may be called three-dimensional (3D) auxetic structures. In the crease pattern of OTSs, there are folding lines in perpendicular directions. Contractions in the warp direction need warp backed weave structures. Herein, warp and weft backed weaves are used together and three OTS Jacquard fabrics are designed. From the physical map, we can see that the elastic warp yarns and elastic weft yarns can form floats in the warp and weft directions, and the flat fabrics can be folded in to 3D OTSs according to the crease patterns designed. The in-plane and out-of-plane Poisson’s ratios of OTSs have been predicted and, subsequently, compared with the experimental results. All OTS fabrics can show an in-plane NPR, two fabrics show out-of-plane NPRs and one shows an out-of-plane positive Poisson’s ratio. A parametric analysis about the interior angle has revealed the interplay between the geometrical parameters of OTSs and the Poisson’s ratio. In various design fields, elastic yarns combined with warp and weft backed weave textile technology can pave the way for realizing new crease pattern fabrics focused on 3D auxetic materials. Theoretical results can provide methodological guidance and technical support for the design and manufacture of OTS fabrics with optimum functional performance or desired aesthetics.
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Dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (DASH) has been widely deployed to provide various video services in the Internet. However, the HTTP/1.1 or HTTP/2 utilized by the DASH system cannot ensure high ...quality of user experience in highly dynamic network scenarios. Specifically, when the clients fetch the video chunks from servers, it is well known that HTTP/1.1 protocol suffers from low utilization due to its stop-wait fashion. Though HTTP/2 enables the servers proactively push multiple chunks to clients on a single request, it exhibits poor adaptability to the network dynamic, since the bitrate of multiple chunks is fixed in one push cycle. To address these inefficiencies, we propose elastic chunk scheduling (ECS) to adaptively adjust the batch size of chunks in each push cycle according to network dynamic. To achieve high utilization, ECS increases the batch size of chunks under low network dynamic. Otherwise, ECS reduces the batch size to flexibly change the bitrate of chunks to avoid rebuffer and overflow at the player buffer. Through achieving good tradeoff between high link utilization and flexible rate switching, ECS improves overall QoE performance. The experimental results of testbed implementations show that ECS greatly decreases the rebuffer ratio by up to 36% and increases the average bitrate by up to 10% compared with the state-of-the-art solutions.
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CEKLJ, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Background
Biliary tract cancer (BTC) is a malignancy associated with unfavorable outcomes. Advanced BTC patients have a propensity to experience compromised immune and nutritional status as a result ...of obstructive jaundice and biliary inflammation. Currently, there is a lack of consensus on the impact of the Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score in the context of BTC prognosis. The purpose of this study is to conduct a meta-analysis on the association between CONUT and the prognosis of patients suffering from BTC.
Methods
A defined search strategy was implemented to search the PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases for eligible studies published until March 2023, with a focus on overall survival (OS), relapse-free survival/recurrence-free survival(RFS), and relevant clinical characteristics. The prognostic potential of the CONUT score was evaluated using hazard ratios (HRs) or odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
Results
In this meta-analysis, a total of 1409 patients from China and Japan were involved in 9 studies. The results indicated that the CONUT score was significantly correlated with worse OS (HR=2.13, 95% CI 1.61-2.82,
P
<0.0001) and RFS (HR=1.83, 95% CI 1.44–2.31,
P
<0.0001) in patients with BTC. And, the analysis showed that a high CONUT score was significantly associated with clinical characteristics such as jaundice (OR=1.60, 95% CI=1.14–2.25,
P
=0.006), poorly differentiated tumor (OR=1.43, 95% CI=1.03–1.99,
P
=0.03), pT3 and 4 stage of the tumor (OR=1.87, 95% CI=1.30–2.68,
P
=0.0007), and complications of Clavien-Dindo classification grade IIIa or higher (OR=1.79, 95% CI=1.03–3.12,
P
=0.04).
Conclusion
This meta-analysis indicates that a high CONUT score can serve as a significant prognostic indicator for survival outcomes among patients diagnosed with BTC.
We report an outbreak of carbapenemase-producing hypervirulent
Klebsiella pneumoniae
in two hospitals that undergo frequent patient transfers. Analysis of 11 completely assembled genomes showed that ...the bacteria were ST11-K64 strains. Moreover, 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified the strains as having originated from the same cluster, and were also indicative of the interhospital transmission of infection. Five plasmids were assembled in each of the strains. One plasmid carried several virulence genes, including the capsular polysaccharide regulators
rmpA
and
rmpA2
. Two others carried antimicrobial-resistance genes, including one for carbapenem resistance,
bla
KPC–2
. Comparative genomic analysis indicated the occurrence of frequent and rapid gain and loss of genomic content along transmissions and the co-existence of progeny strains in the same ward. A 10-kbp fragment harboring antimicrobial resistance-conferring genes flanked by insert sequences was missing in a plasmid from strain KP20194c in patient 3, and this strain also likely subsequently infected patient 4. However, strains containing the 10-kbp fragment were also isolated from the ward environment at approximately the same time, and harbored different chromosome indels. Tn
1721
and multiple additional insert sequence-mediated transpositions were also seen. These results indicated that there is a rapid reshaping and diversification of the genomic pool of
K. pneumoniae
facilitated by mobile genetic elements, even a short time after outbreak onset. ST11-K64 CR-hvKP strains have the potential to become new significant superbugs and a threat to public health.
In order to investigate the influences of emulsifier types on properties of cement bitumen emulsion mortars (CBEM), anionic and cationic emulsifiers were used to prepare CBEM in this work. Influences ...of anionic and cationic bitumen emulsions on workability, mechanical properties, and viscoelastic property of CBEM were studied. The workability of CBEM was evaluated by fluidity and extensibility tests. The mechanical properties were assessed by compressive strength and flexural strength tests. XRD was used to analyze the phase before and after bitumen emulsion was added. The viscoelastic property was studied by a dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA). The results show that CBEM prepared by cationic bitumen emulsion (CBE) has better workability. The mechanical properties of CBEM are negatively affected by bitumen emulsion. The impact on the compressive strength of CBEM prepared by CBE is higher. Bitumen emulsion can significantly improve the viscoelastic property of CBEM. With the increase of bitumen emulsion dosage, the loss factor of CBEM increases. The viscoelastic property at low frequency is better than that at high frequency. In contrast to CBEM prepared by CBE, CBEM prepared with anionic bitumen emulsion (ABE) possesses better viscoelastic property.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The cooling system is an important subsystem of an internal combustion engine, which plays a vital role in the engine’s dynamical characteristic, the fuel economy, and emission output performance at ...each speed and load. This paper proposes an economical and precise model for an electric cooling system, including the modeling of engine heat rejection, water jacket temperature, and other parts of the cooling system. This model ensures that the engine operates precisely at the designated temperature and the total power consumption of the cooling system takes the minimum value at some power proportion of fan and pump. Speed maps for the cooling fan and pump at different speeds and loads of engine are predicted, which can be stored in the electronic control unit (ECU). This model was validated on a single-cylinder diesel engine, called the DK32. Furthermore, it was used to tune the temperature of the water jacket precisely. The results show that in the common use case, the electric cooling system can save the power of 255 W in contrast with the mechanical cooling system, which is about 1.9% of the engine’s power output. In addition, the validation results of the DK32 engine meet the non-road mobile machinery China-IV emission standards.
In this paper, the effects of drywet cycling and salt erosion on the unconfined compressive strength (UCS), relative dynamic elastic modulus and mass of cemented tailings backfill (CTB) were ...investigated, and the mechanism for CTB deterioration was explored with scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The reliability lifespan of CTB was predicted with the Wiener stochastic process. The results showed that with the increases in the number of drywet cycles, the damage to the CTB deepened continuously, including skin peeling, corner damage, and aggregate exposure; the UCS, relative dynamic elastic modulus and mass of CTB immersed in a sodium chloride solution, a sodium sulfate solution, and a solution of both first increased and then decreased; and the UCS, relative dynamic elastic modulus and mass of CTB immersed in a magnesium chloride solution, a magnesium sulfate solution, and a solution of both showed a decreasing trend. Cl- inhibited the erosion of CTB by SO42- but did not inhibit erosion by Mg2+. Cl- and SO42- invaded the CTB to produce calcium hydroxide, gypsum, Friedel's salt, ettringite, C-S-H and other products. The reliable lifetime predicted with the relative dynamic elastic modulus used as the degradation index was the longest, followed by the UCS, and the lifetime predicted with the mass was the shortest.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
In this research, a CFD solver is developed for solving the 2D/3D compressible flow problem: the finite volume method based on multi-block structural grids is used to solve the compressible Reynolds ...averaged Navier–Stokes equations (RANS). Included in the methodology are multiple high-order reconstruction schemes, such as the 3rd-order MUSCL (Monotone Upstreamcentered Schemes for Conservation Laws), 5th-order WENO (Weight Essentially Non-Oscillatory), and 5th-order MP (Monotonicity-Preserving) schemes. Of the variety of turbulence models that are embedded, this solver is mainly based on the shear stress transport model (SST), which is compatible with OpenMP/MPI parallel algorithms. This research uses the CFD solver to conduct steady-state flow simulation for a two-dimensional supersonic inlet/isolator, incorporating these high-precision reconstruction schemes to accurately capture the shock wave/expansion wave interaction and shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interaction (SWTBLI), among other effects. By comparing the 2D/3D computation results of the same inlet configuration, it is found that the 3D effects of the side wall cannot be ignored due to the existing strong lateral flow near the corner. To obtain a more refined turbulence simulation, the commercial software ANSYS Fluent 18.0 is used to carry out the detached eddy simulation (DES) and the large eddy simulation (LES) of the same supersonic inlet, so as to reveal the flow details near the separation area and boundary layers.
Background
The clinical outcomes are not always favorable in certain thyroid cancer patients. The effect of Forkhead-box family on immune cells infiltration and tumor microenvironment in thyroid ...cancer was explored. The role of FOXP2 in tumor invasion and recurrence was investigated consequently.
Methods
TIMER and GEPIA were firstly employed to compare FOXPs expression in normal and cancer tissues from multiple human cancers. The results from database were confirmed by quantitative Real Time-PCR and Western blot in matched thyroid cancer and adjacent normal tissues, in addition to a panel of thyroid cancer cell lines and normal thyroid cell. GEPIA platform was employed to discover the possibility of FOXPs as prognostic indicator. TISIBD and UACLCAN were then employed to estimate the influence of FOXPs on lymph node metastasis and tumor staging. GEPIA analysis was initially employed to analyze correlation of FOXPs and tumor immune infiltrating cells, and TIMER dataset was then included for standardization according to tumor purity.
Result
Different member of FOXPs showed divergence in expression in various cancer tissues. Lower FOXP1, FOXP2 and higher FOXP3, FOXP4 levels could be identified in thyroid cancer tissues when compared with matched normal tissue. There was an inverse correlation between FOXP2, FOXP4 and immune invasion, whereas FOXP1 and FOXP3 were positively correlated. FOXPs showed remarkable correlations with multiply immune cells. More importantly, only FOXP2 showed the significant effect on recurrence and tumor staging.
Conclusion
As immune regulatory factor, the reduction of FOXP2 may affect tumor microenvironments and immune cells infiltration, enhance tumor immune escape, and promote recurrence of thyroid cancer. FOXP2 could be a new potential diagnostic and prognostic marker.
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