Al-Li alloy has been widely used in aerospace field attribute to the advantages of lower density, higher strength, damage tolerance and corrosion resistance. Dynamic recrystallization phenomena exist ...in Al-Li alloy during hot deformation. This paper overviews the dynamic recrystallization behavior occurring in hot processing of Al-Li alloy. The research history of dynamic recrystallization is summarized, together with the key factors that influencing the dynamic recrystallization processes including stacking fault energy, grain size, hot processing conditions and secondary particles. The nucleation mechanisms and conditions of discontinuous dynamic recrystallization, continuous dynamic recrystallization and geometric dynamic recrystallization are depicted and analyzed respectively, followed by a discussion on the effects of the forward three dynamic recrystallization mechanisms regarding the mechanical properties and microstructure. Ultimately, the unsolved and challenging scientific and technological issues
Depression is a severe emotional condition that significantly affects the quality of life. Acupuncture exerts preventive effects on depression in rats with post-chronic unpredictable mild stress ...(CUMS). Methods The study involved chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) depression model mice to administer acupuncture as a preventative measure to investigate the mechanism of acupuncture's antidepressant and observe the effect of acupuncture on impact via the Lateral Habenula (LHb) and Gut-Liver-Brain Axis. The researcher investigated molecules correlating with a nitric oxide/cyclic guanosine monophosphate (NO/cGMP) pathway and assessed inflammation in the LHb and liver. In addition, 16 S rDNA bioinformatics study revealed the quantity and variety of gut microbiota. Rats were randomly divided into five groups: control (CON), CUMS, CUMS + acupuncture (AP), CUMS + fluoxetine (FX) and CUMS + N(G) -nitro -L- arginine methyl ester (LNAME) group. Except for the CON group, other rats were exposed to CUMS condition for 28 days. Simultaneously, manual acupuncture (at Fengfu and Shangxing acupoints, once every other day) and fluoxetine gavage (2.1 mg/kg, 0.21 mg/mL, daily) were conducted to the groups of AP and FX, respectively, after stressors. Rats in LNAME group were treated with LNAME normal saline (10 mg/kg, 1 mg/mL, i.p.) solution. Behavioural tests and biological detection methods were conducted sequentially to evaluate depressionlike phenotype in rats.
The results showed CUMS induced depression-like behaviours, hyper-activation of NO/cGMP signaling pathway, inflammation in serum, LHb and liver, and dysbiosis of the gut microbiota. These changes could be prevented and ameliorated by acupuncture to varying extents.
Acupuncture prevented and attenuated depression-like phenotype induced by CUMS, possibly via regulating the NO/cGMP signaling pathway and thus improving inflammation in serum, LHb and liver, and gut microbiota dysbiosis. In addition, these can be evidence of the existence of the gut-liver-brain axis.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Study Design:
Prospective cohort study.
Objective:
To evaluate whether pre-existing adjacent spinal canal stenosis (SCS) is associated with short-term outcomes after lumbar fusion surgery.
Methods:
...We included patients with lumbar spinal stenosis treated surgically between July 2015 and December 2017 at 4 centers. All patients had the same pathology, with L4-S1 as the culprit sections. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on the cerebrospinal fluid occlusion sign on MRI at the adjacent L3/4 level. Patients without SCS (grade 0) and with mild SCS (grade 1) were classified into the non-stenosis (NS) and mild stenosis (MS) groups, respectively. All patients underwent PLIF and completed at least 1-year follow-up. The incidence of adjacent segment degeneration (ASDeg) and clinical outcomes were compared between the 2 groups.
Results:
A total of 308 patients (NS, 156; MS, 152) met the inclusion criteria. The incidence of ASDeg in the NS group (n = 40, 25.6%) was significantly lower than that in the MS group (n = 74, 48.7%; P < .001). The most frequent type of ASDeg in the 2 groups was the SCS-aggravated type. No significant difference was observed in adjacent segment disease incidence between the 2 groups (P = .243). The NS group had better outcomes according to the clinical function scores (P < .05).
Conclusions:
The cerebrospinal fluid occlusion sign on MRI is valuable for evaluating the adjacent segment with pre-existing degeneration. Patients with mild SCS in adjacent segments were more likely to have ASDeg, and the most frequent type of ASDeg was the SCS-aggravated type at early follow-up.
With the large-scaled data generated from various interconnected machines and networks, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) provides unprecedented opportunities for facilitating data mining for ...industrial applications. The current IIoT architecture tends to adopt cloud computing for further timely mining IIoT data, however, the openness of security-critical IIoT becomes challenging in terms of unbearable privacy issues. Most existing privacy-preserving data mining (PPDM) techniques are designed to resist honest-but-curious adversaries (i.e., cloud servers and data users). Due to the complexity and openness in IIoT, PPDM is significantly difficult with the presence of malicious adversaries in IIoT who may incur incorrect learned models and inference results. To solve the aforementioned issues, we propose a framework to extend existing PPDM to guard linear regression against malicious behaviors (hereafter referred to as GuardLR). To prevent dishonest computations of cloud servers and inconsistent inputs of data users, we first design a privacy-preserving verifiable learning scheme for linear regression, which guarantees the correctness of learning. In this article, to avoid malicious clouds from returning incorrect inference results, we design a privacy-preserving prediction scheme with lightweight verification. Our formal security analysis shows that GuardLR achieves privacy, completeness, and soundness. Empirical experiments using real-world datasets also demonstrate that GuardLR has high computational efficiency and accuracy.
Transmitted drug resistance (TDR) reduces the efficacy of initial antiretroviral treatment and has become a public health concern. Little information is available regarding the genetic diversity of ...HIV-1 and the prevalence of TDR among treatment-naïve patients in a northwestern province of China since the implementation of national free antiretroviral therapy (ART).
Blood samples from 372 HIV-1 treatment-naive patients were collected between 2003 and 2013 in Shaanxi province. Viral RNA was extracted for nested PCR, and phylogenetic reconstruction and recombination analyses were performed to characterize patterns of the HIV-1 subtypes. Genotypic drug resistance testing was performed using an in-house assay to determine trends in the prevalence of HIV-1 transmitted drug resistance.
Multiple genotypes were identified among the patients in Shaanxi, including B (25.0%), C (0.3%), G (0.3%), and CRF01_AE (39.2%), CRF07_BC (32.7%), CRF08_BC (0.8%), CRF55_01B (1.1%), and URFs (0.6%). The subtypes were associated with the transmission routes (χ2 = 77.113, p < 0.01). In this study, a low baseline CD4+ T cell count and a high viral load were found among CRF01_AE-infected patients compared with patients who were infected with non-CRF01_AE (p<0.01) through sexual transmission; however, the CRF01_AE subtype was not associated with a low baseline CD4+ T cell count or a high viral load in Chinese patients infected through blood transmission (p = 0.249). The overall TDR rate in this population was 4.4% between 2003 and 2013. A univariate logistic regression model revealed that a low CD4 T cell count (≤ 100 cells/µL) was associated with the development of drug-resistant strains.
Our work revealed diverse HIV-1 subtype distributions in Shaanxi province. We identified a low and stable TDR time trend among ART-naive patients. These findings enhance our understanding of HIV-1 genetic diversity and provide some guidelines for the improvement and implementation of a comprehensive public health strategy of HIV-1 TDR prevention.
Full text
Available for:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Reclaimed water threatens the ecological safety of the Chaobai River. SMX, TMP, and SDZ were the first three abundant antibiotics in the research area. SRGs and intI1 were widespread with high ...abundance after reclaimed water recharge. The SRGs values followed the sequence: Summer>autumn>spring>winter. Strong correlations were detected between SRGs and environmental factors.
Reclaimed water represents an important source of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes, threatening the ecological safety of receiving environments, while alleviating water resource shortages. This study investigated the dissemination of sulfonamide (SAs), sulfonamide resistance genes (SRGs), and class one integrons ( intI1) in the surface water of the recharging area of the Chaobai River. The three antibiotics sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, and sulfadiazine had the highest abundance. The highest absolute abundances were 2.91×10 6, 6.94×10 6, and 2.18×10 4 copies/mL for sul1, sul2, and intI1 at the recharge point, respectively. SRGs and intI1 were widespread and had high abundance not only at the recharging point, but also in remote areas up to 8 km away. Seasonal variations of SRGs abundance followed the order of summer>autumn>spring>winter. Significant correlations were found between SRGs and intI1 ( R 2 = 0.887 and 0.786, p<0.01), indicating the potential risk of SRGs dissemination. Strong correlations between the abundance of SRGs and environmental factors were also found, suggesting that appropriate environmental conditions favor the spread of SRGs. The obtained results indicate that recharging with reclaimed water causes dissemination and enrichment of SAs and SRGs in the receiving river. Further research is required for the risk assessment and scientific management of reclaimed water.
Full text
Available for:
EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Rolipram is a selective phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) inhibitor that exerts a variety of effects, including anti-inflammatory, immunosuppressive, and anti-tumor effects. The aim of this study was to ...investigate the effect of rolipram on metabolic disorder and its underlying mechanisms. Metabolic disorder was induced in 8-week-old wild type BABL/c mice by administration of D-galactose for 4 weeks. Simultaneously the mice were administered vehicle or rolipram. Alternatively, beginning at 3 or 21 months, the mice were administered db-cAMP for 3 months, with or without a high-fat-diet (HFD) to induce metabolic disorder. In both models, better metabolic function was observed in rolipram-treated mice. Rolipram reduced adipose deposition and inflammation and reserved metabolic disorder. Treatment with rolipram increased the AMPK phosphorylation and SIRT6 levels in the liver and kidney while reducing NF-κB acetylation. In vitro, these effects were blocked by suppression of SIRT6 expression using specific siRNA. Increased cAMP levels reduced excessive adipose deposition, and improved adipose distribution in presenile mice. These findings provide a promising strategy for the treatment of aging-related metabolic dysfunctions and suggest that selective PDE4 inhibitors may be useful agents for the treatment of aging-related metabolic diseases.
The excellent specific strength and elevated-temperature mechanical properties make titanium alloys essential structural materials in aerospace. Resistance spot welding (RSW) has high efficiency and ...cost-effective and is widely used in titanium joining. However, the exceeded welding penetration and coarse martensite α′ limit the mechanical properties of titanium welds. This paper implemented an external magnetic field (EMF) in the RSW process of Ti-2Al-1.5Mn titanium alloy, with detailed investigations into microstructure and mechanical properties. It was found that the penetration rate was reduced, and the nugget diameter was increased under the EMF. Moreover, the coarser columnar prior β grains (PBGs) and martensite α′ formed in traditional RSW transformed into the equiaxed PBGs and widmannstatten structure with α colonies. Due to the significantly improved microstructure and larger nugget diameter, the lap-shear properties were also improved.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Point Cloud Transformer is undergoing a rising trend in both industry and academia. It aligns traditional point cloud feature extraction methods with the latest transformer architecture and achieves ...remarkable performance. However, accelerators for traditional point cloud neural networks (PCNNs) and those solely for transformers fail to capture the characteristics of point cloud transformers, thus exhibiting poor performance. To address this challenge, we propose Sava, a co-designed accelerator that adopts a spatial- and value-aware hybrid pruning strategy for point cloud transformers. In terms of the spatial domain, we observe that points in regions of various densities exhibit different levels of importance. In the value space, a minor input contributes less to features, indicating lower importance. Considering both perspectives, we hybridize the information inherited from the spatial and value spaces to prune less significant values in attention, which converts data to sparse patterns and makes it readily accelerated. Furthermore, we adopt low-bit quantization to boost computations and apply varying quantization precisions across different network layers based on their sensitivity. In support of our algorithm, we propose an architecture that employs a configurable mixed-precision systolic array for various computing loads under diverse precisions. To address the workload imbalance of the unstructured sparse computations, we introduce a data rearrangement mechanism, which improves resource utilization while hiding latency. We evaluate our Sava on four point cloud transformer models and achieve notable accuracy and performance gains. In comparison with CPU, GPUs, and ASICs, our Sava offers 10.3×, 3.6×, 3.3×, 2.6×, 2.2× speedup, along with 20×, 8.8×, 6.9×, 3.2×, 2.4× energy savings on average.
PDF
