The effect of sludge inoculum concentration on acetate (Ac) production by a novel coupled system was investigated. The coupled system consisted of a syntrophic acetogenesis phase and a ...homoacetogenesis phase. The results showed that the inoculum concentration not only affected the acetate production at the syntrophic acetogenesis phase but also that produced at the homoacetogenesis phase. When the inoculum concentration in the syntrophic acetogenesis phase was 4 g l
−1
, the acetate yield of the coupled system was found to be about 0.36 g Ac g
−1
glucose. In addition, when the inoculum concentration in the homoacetogenesis phase was 4 g l
−1
, a maximum acetate production of 11.2 g l
−1
was obtained in the syntrophic acetogenesis phase and the yield of acetate was 0.39 g Ac g
−1
glucose. Analysis shows that the variation in acetate yield might be attributed to different metabolic pathways and the imbalance between hydrogen production and hydrogen consumption in the coupled system with different inoculum concentrations.
Laser shock processing as a novel surface treatment technology, induces compressive residual stresses generation and microstructural transformation. However, compressive residual stresses will be ...relaxed under fatigue related conditions or elevated temperature conditions. Thus, we focus on the microstructural transformation especially surface nanocrystallization after LSP process. In this paper, the two typical alloys of TC6 titanium alloy and AISI 304 stainless steel were taken to study the surface nanocrystallization process, and the surface microstructures were characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD). The experiment results showed that nanostructure was formed in the surface layer with adequate laser parameters. In addition, we found that the more shock impacts or larger laser energy injected, the higher grain refinement degree was generated. Finally, surface nanocrystallization mechanisms of the two metallic alloys and the effects of different stacking fault energy on surface nanocrystallization were discussed in detail.
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•Surface nanostructure were realized in TC6 titanium alloy and AISI 304 stainless steel by ultra-high strain rate plastic deformation induced by LSP.•Surface nanocrystallization mechanisms of TC6 titanium alloy and AISI 304 stainless steel subjected to LSP and their difference were discussed.•The effects of stacking fault energy on surface nanocrystallization induced by LSP were summarized and discussed.
An inexact chance-constrained integer programming (ICIP) method is developed for planning contamination control of fluid power system (FPS). The ICIP is derived by incorporating chance-constrained ...programming (CCP) within an interval mixed integer linear programming (IMILP) framework, such that uncertainties presented in terms of probability distributions and discrete intervals can be handled. It can also help examine the reliability of satisfying (or risk of violating) system constraints under uncertainty. The developed method is applied to a case of contamination control planning for one typical FPS. Interval solutions associated with risk levels of constraint violation are obtained. They can be used for generating decision alternatives and thus help designers identify desired strategies under various environmental, economic, and system reliability constraints. Generally, willingness to take a higher risk of constraint violation will guarantee a lower system cost; a strong desire to acquire a lower risk will run into a higher system cost. Thus, the method provides not only decision variable solutions presented as stable intervals but also the associated risk levels in violating the system constraints. It can therefore support an in-depth analysis of the tradeoff between system cost and system-failure risk.
The role of statin therapy in the development of kidney disease in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) remains uncertain. We aimed to determine the relationships between statin initiation and ...kidney outcomes in patients with type 2 DM.
Through a new-user design, we conducted a multicentre retrospective cohort study using the China Renal Data System database (which includes inpatient and outpatient data from 19 urban academic centres across China). We included patients with type 2 DM who were aged 40 years or older and admitted to hospital between Jan. 1, 2000, and May 26, 2021, and excluded those with pre-existing chronic kidney disease and those who were already on statins or without follow-up at an affiliated outpatient clinic within 90 days after discharge. The primary exposure was initiation of a statin. The primary outcome was the development of diabetic kidney disease (DKD), defined as a composite of the occurrence of kidney dysfunction (estimated glomerular filtration rate eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m
and > 25% decline from baseline) and proteinuria (a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio ≥ 30 mg/g and > 50% increase from baseline), sustained for at least 90 days; secondary outcomes included development of kidney function decline (a sustained > 40% decline in eGFR). We used Cox proportional hazards regression to evaluate the relationships between statin initiation and kidney outcomes, as well as to conduct subgroup analyses according to patient characteristics, presence or absence of dyslipidemia, and pattern of dyslipidemia. For statin initiators, we explored the association between different levels of lipid control and outcomes. We conducted analyses using propensity overlap weighting to balance the participant characteristics.
Among 7272 statin initiators and 12 586 noninitiators in the weighted cohort, statin initiation was associated with lower risks of incident DKD (hazard ratio HR 0.72, 95% confidence interval CI 0.62-0.83) and kidney function decline (HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.44-0.81). We obtained similar results to the primary analyses for participants with differing patterns of dyslipidemia, those prescribed different statins, and after stratification according to participant characteristics. Among statin initiators, those with intensive control of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (< 1.8 mmol/L) had a lower risk of incident DKD (HR 0.51, 95% CI 0.32-0.81) than those with inadequate lipid control (LDL-C ≥ 3.4 mmol/L).
For patients with type 2 DM admitted to and followed up in academic centres, statin initiation was associated with a lower risk of kidney disease development, particularly in those with intensive control of LDL-C. These findings suggest that statin initiation may be an effective and reasonable approach for preventing kidney disease in patients with type 2 DM.
Abstract CDEX-50 is a next-generation project of the China Dark Matter Experiment (CDEX) that aims to search for dark matter using a 50-kg germanium detector array. This paper comprises a thorough ...summary of the CDEX-50 dark matter experiment, including an investigation of potential background sources and the development of a background model. Based on the baseline model, the projected sensitivity of weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) is also presented. The expected background level within the energy region of interest, set to 2–2.5 keVee, is ∼0.01 counts keVee -1 kg -1 day -1 . At 90% confidence level, the expected sensitivity to spin-independent WIMP-nucleon couplings is estimated to reach a cross-section of 5.1 × 10 -45 cm 2 for a WIMP mass of 5 GeV/c 2 with an exposure objective of 150 kg·year and an analysis threshold of 160 eVee. This science goal will correspond to the most sensitive results for WIMPs with a mass of 2.2–8 GeV/c 2 .
Plasma ionization, excitation, mode transitions and associated electron heating mechanisms in atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharges (DBD) driven by dual radio frequency sources are ...investigated in this paper. The electrons are found to be heated mainly by the high frequency component in the plasma bulk when discharged in α mode. On the contrary, the low frequency component is primarily responsible for heating in the sheath which is caused by intense motion in the sheath. It was also found that variation of the lower frequency component ratio could effectively modulate the electron energy distribution as determined from time averaged EEDF. The results above have demonstrated that the independent control of plasma parameters via non-linear synergistic effect between the dual frequency sources can be achieved through reasonable selection of processing parameters.
We present the improved constraints on couplings of solar axions and more generic bosonic dark matter particles using 737.1 kg days of data from the CDEX-1B experiment. The CDEX-1B experiment, ...located at the China Jinping Underground Laboratory, primarily aims at the direct detection of weakly interacting massive particles using a p-type point-contact germanium detector. We adopt the profile likelihood ratio method for analysis of data in the presence of backgrounds. An energy threshold of 160 eV was achieved, much better than the 475 eV of CDEX-1A with an exposure of 335.6 kg days. This significantly improves the sensitivity for the bosonic dark matter below 0.8 keV among germanium detectors. Limits are also placed on the coupling gAe < 2.48 × 10−11 from Compton, bremsstrahlung, atomic-recombination, and deexcitation channels and geffAN × gAe < 4.14 × 10−17 from a 57Fe M1 transition at 90% confidence level.
As a main digestive organ and an important immune organ, the intestine plays a vital role in resisting the invasion of potential pathogens into the body. Intestinal immune dysfunction remains ...important pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In this review, we explained the interactions among symbiotic flora, intestinal epithelial cells, and the immune system, clarified the operating mechanism of the intestinal immune system, and highlighted the immunological pathogenesis of IBD, with a focus on the development of immunotherapy for IBD. In addition, intestinal fibrosis is a significant complication in patients with long-term IBD, and we reviewed the immunological pathogenesis involved in the development of intestinal fibrogenesis and provided novel antifibrotic immunotherapies for IBD.
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