The risk factors, pathological mechanisms and therapeutic strategies of sexual dysfunction.
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Sexual dysfunction (SD) is a disorder of sexual behavior and sexual sensation that appears ...as an abnormality or absence of sexual psychology and physiological reaction. It is a general term for many different symptoms includes several aspects, erectile dysfunction (ED), failure of sexual intercourse and loss of libido/desire. According to statistics, 52% of 40˜70 year old men suffer from varying degrees of SD. And these diseases caused by a variety of biological and psychological factors. In world about 15% of couples are affected by sexual disharmony among these 40 to 50% are because of male factors. Considering the sensitivity of male reproduction system, it is being easily affected by multiple risk factors, such as chronic diseases, environmental contaminants, drug toxicity and unhealthy lifestyle and so on. In the last few years, significant progress have been made toward understanding the various forms of male SD and the possible potential pathological mechanisms. However, for the time being, the exact cause of SD is not fully understood from the literature. What is also significant about there are quite limited treatments in reproductive medicine being directed against these lesions. The purpose of this review is to summarize the current findings of pathogenic factors of SD in clinical or animal studies, to elaborate the underlying mechanisms of these diseases from studies in vivo and in vitro, to analyses the risk factors, and to describe the management strategies traditionally recommended of male sexual dysfunction. The review findings elucidate a systematic strategies for effectively preventing these diseases.
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major endocrine metabolic disease and is marked by a lack of insulin. The complication of DM is one of the most difficult problems in medicine. The initial translational ...studies revealed that growth factors have a major role in integrating tissue physiology and in embryology as well as in growth, maturation and tissue repair. In some tissues affected by diabetes, growth factors are induced by a relative deficit or excess. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a promising regulator of glucose and lipid metabolism with multiple beneficial effects including hypoglycemic and lipid-lowering. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent angiogenic and vascular permeability factor and is implicated in both of these complications in diabetes. Increase or decrease in the production of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) has been associated with diabetic nephropathy and retinopathy. The insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) is a naturally-occurring single chain polypeptide which has been widely used in the treatment of diabetic glomerular and renal tubular injuries. This review summarizes the recent evidences for an involvement of growth factors in diabetic complications, focusing on their emergence in sequence of events leading to vascular complications or their potential therapeutic role in these diseases. Growth factor therapy in diabetic foot ulcers is already a clinical reality. As methods to finely regulate growth factors in a tissue and time-specific manner are further developed and tested, regulation of the growth factor to normal level in vivo may well become a therapy to prevent and treat diabetic complications.
Ultrathin noble metal nanosheets with atomic thickness exhibit abnormal electronic, surfacial, and photonic properties due to the unique two-dimensional (2D) confinement effect, which have attracted ...intensive research attention in catalysis/electrocatalysis. In this work, the well-defined ultrathin Rh nanosheet nanoassemblies with dendritic morphology are synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method with assistance of poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH), where PAH effectively acts as the complexant and shape-directing agent. Transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy images reveal the thickness of 2D Rh nanosheet with (111) planes is only ca. 0.8–1.1 nm. Nitrogen adsorption–desorption measurement displays the specific surface area of the as-prepared ultrathin Rh nanosheet nanoassemblies is 139.4 m2 g–1, which is much bigger than that of homemade Rh black (19.8 m2 g–1). Detailed catalytic investigations display the as-prepared ultrathin Rh nanosheet nanoassemblies have nearly 20.4-fold enhancement in mass-activity for the hydrolysis of ammonia borane as compared with homemade Rh black.
This study aims to develop an inner selective coordination nanofiltration hollow fiber (CNHF) membrane for the efficient removal of antibiotics from groundwater. In the first step, a modified ...substrate with the controlled modification degree is achieved by pressure-assisted alkali modification of polyimide hollow fiber substrate to provide the active points for the construction of the dense active layer. Then, the high-performance active layer is dynamically built on the modified substrate by the coordination between Fe3+ and phytic acid. Compared to static synthesis, the pure water permeability (PWP) of the membrane is improved from 4.1 to 8.5 Lm−2h−1bar−1 and Na2SO4 rejection enhanced from 68.3% to 97.0% by the dynamic synthesis with a cross-flow system. The newly developed membranes exhibit high rejection to several pharmaceuticals (>99%). This work may provide insightful guidelines for improving the fabrication procedures and scaling up the inner-selective CNHF membrane modules for water purification and other applications.
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•Inner-selective NF hollow fiber membrane was achieved by PA/Fe coordination.•The substrate modified with assist-pressure allows optimum performance.•Double the water permeability by dynamic synthesis with cross-flow.•CNHF membrane shows high removal performance to pharmaceutics (>99%).
•The extracellular domain of the EBOV GP (N20) was prepared by prokaryotic expression and chromatography purification.•CTA1-DD adjuvanted N20 vaccine could stimulate the humoral, mucosal and Th1 ...cellular immunity in mice.•The vaccine could protect the mice against lethal challenges with the little morbidity.
Ebola virus (EBOV) disease (EVD) leads to lethal hemorrhagic fever with a case fatality rate as high as 90%, thus posing a serious global public health concern. However, while several vaccines based on the EBOV glycoprotein have been confirmed to be effective in animal experiments, no licensed vaccines or effective treatments have been approved since the first outbreak was reported in 1976. In this study, we prepared the extracellular domain of the EBOV GP protein (designated as N20) by prokaryotic expression and purification via chromatography. Using CTA1-DD (designated as H45) as a mucosal adjuvant, we evaluated the immunogenicity of N20 by intranasal administration and the associated protective efficacy against mouse-adapted EBOV challenge in mice. We found that intranasal vaccination with H45-adjuvanted N20 could stimulate humoral immunity, as supported by GP-specific IgG titers; Th1 cellular immunity, based on IgG subclasses and IFN-γ/IL-4 secreting cells; and mucosal immunity, based on the presence of anti-EBOV IgA in vaginal lavages. We also confirmed that the vaccine could completely protect mice against a lethal mouse-adapted EBOV (MA-EBOV) challenge with few side effects (based on weight loss). In comparison, mice that received N20 or H45 alone succumbed to lethal MA-EBOV challenge. Therefore, mucosal vaccination with H45-adjuvanted N20 represents a potential vaccine candidate for the prevention of EBOV in an effective, safe, and convenient manner.
Quasiparticle poisoning, expected to arise during the measurement of the Majorana zero-mode state, poses a fundamental problem for the realization of Majorana-based quantum computation. Parafermions, ...a natural generalization of Majorana fermions, can encode topological qudits immune to quasiparticle poisoning. While parafermions are expected to emerge in superconducting fractional quantum Hall systems, they are not yet attainable with current technology. To bypass this problem, we employ a photonic quantum simulator to experimentally demonstrate the key components of parafermion-based universal quantum computation. Our contributions in this paper are twofold. First, by manipulating the photonic states, we realize Clifford-operator Berry phases that correspond to braiding statistics of parafermions. Second, we investigate the quantum contextuality in a topological system for the first time by demonstrating the contextuality of parafermion-encoded qudit states. Importantly, we find that the topologically encoded contextuality opens the way to magic state distillation, while both the contextuality and the braiding-induced Clifford gates are resilient against local noise. By introducing contextuality, our photonic quantum simulation provides the first step toward a physically robust methodology for realizing topological quantum computation.
Purpose
This paper aims to focus on the variable stick force-displacement (SFD) gradience in the active side stick (ASS) servo system for the civil aircraft.
Design/methodology/approach
The problem ...of variable SFD gradience was introduced first, followed by the analysis of its impact on the ASS servo system. To solve this problem, a linear-parameter-varying (LPV) control approach was suggested to process the variable gradience of the SFD. A H∞ robust control method was proposed to deal with the external disturbance.
Findings
To validate the algorithm performance, a linear time-variant system was calculated to be used to worst cases and the SFD gradience was set to linear and non-linear variation to test the algorithm, and some typical examples of pitch angle and side-slip angle tracking control for a large civil aircraft were also used to verify the algorithm. The results showed that the LPV control method had less settling time and less steady tracking errors than H∞ control, even in the variable SFD case.
Practical implications
This paper presented an ASS servo system using the LPV control method to solve the problem caused by the variable SFD gradience. The motor torque command was calculated by pressure and position feedback without additional hardware support. It was more useful for the electronic hydraulic servo actuator.
Originality/value
This was the research paper that analyzed the impact of the variable SFD gradience in the ASS servo system and presented an LPV control method to solve it. It was applicable for the SFD gradience changing in the linear and non-linear cases.
The effect of deflector curvature on hydrodynamic performances of a double-slotted cambered otter-board was investigated using engineering models in a wind tunnel. Four different curvature ...(0.06,0.09, 0.12 and 0.15) were evaluated at a wind speed of 28 m/s. Parameters measured included: drag coefficient C
x
, lift coefficient C
y
, pitch moment coefficient C
m
, center of pressure coefficient C
p
, over a range of angle of attack (0° to 70°). These coefficients were used in analyzing the differences in the performance among the four otter-board models. Results showed that the maximum lift coefficient C
y
of the otter-board model with the curvature (0.06) of two deflectors was highest (2.020 at °=55°). The maximum C
y
/C
x
of the otter-board with the curvature (0.12) of two deflectors was highest (3.655 at °=22.5°). A comparative analysis of C
m
and C
p
showed that the stability of otter-board model with the curvature (0.12) of two deflectors is better in pitch, and the stability of otter-board model with the curvature (0.06) of two deflectors is better in roll. The findings of this study can offer useful reference data for the structural optimization of otter-boards for trawling.
The infection of the central nervous system (CNS) by schistosome may or may not have clinical manifestations. When symptomatic, neuroschistosomiasis (NS) is one of the most severe presentations of ...schistosome infection. Among the NS symptoms, cerebral invasion is mostly caused by Schistosoma japonicum (S. japonicum), and the spinal cord symptoms are mainly caused by S. mansoni or S. haematobium. There are 2 main pathways by which schistosomes cause NS: egg embolism and worm migration, via either artery or vein system, especially the valveless perivertebral Batson’s plexus. The adult worm migrates anomalously through the above pathways to the CNS where they lay eggs. Due to the differences in species of schistosomes and stages of infection, mechanisms vary greatly. The portal hypertension with hepatosplenic schistosomiasis also plays an important role in the pathogenesis. Here the pathways through which NS occurs in the CNS were reviewed.
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