Oxidative stress, a term that describes the imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants, leads to the disruption of redox signals and causes molecular damage. Increased oxidative stress from diverse ...sources has been implicated in most senescence-related diseases and in aging itself. The Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1- (Keap1-) nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) system can be used to monitor oxidative stress; Keap1-Nrf2 is closely associated with aging and controls the transcription of multiple antioxidant enzymes. Simultaneously, Keap1-Nrf2 signaling is also modulated by a more complex regulatory network, including phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt), protein kinase C, and mitogen-activated protein kinase. This review presents more information on aging-related molecular mechanisms involving Keap1-Nrf2. Furthermore, we highlight several major signals involved in Nrf2 unbinding from Keap1, including cysteine modification of Keap1 and phosphorylation of Nrf2, PI3K/Akt/glycogen synthase kinase 3β, sequestosome 1, Bach1, and c-Myc. Additionally, we discuss the direct interaction between Keap1-Nrf2 and the mammalian target of rapamycin pathway. In summary, we focus on recent progress in research on the Keap1-Nrf2 system involving oxidative stress and aging, providing an empirical basis for the development of antiaging drugs.
This paper is concerned with the adaptive decentralized fault-tolerant tracking control problem for a class of uncertain interconnected nonlinear systems with unknown strong interconnections. An ...algebraic graph theory result is introduced to address the considered interconnections. In addition, to achieve the desirable tracking performance, a neural-network-based robust adaptive decentralized fault-tolerant control (FTC) scheme is given to compensate the actuator faults and system uncertainties. Furthermore, via the Lyapunov analysis method, it is proven that all the signals of the resulting closed-loop system are semiglobally bounded, and the tracking errors of each subsystem exponentially converge to a compact set, whose radius is adjustable by choosing different controller design parameters. Finally, the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed FTC approach are illustrated with two simulated examples.
This paper is concerned with the problem of adaptive fault-tolerant synchronization control of a class of complex dynamical networks (CDNs) with actuator faults and unknown coupling weights. The ...considered input distribution matrix is assumed to be an arbitrary matrix, instead of a unit one. Within this framework, an adaptive fault-tolerant controller is designed to achieve synchronization for the CDN. Moreover, a convex combination technique and an important graph theory result are developed, such that the rigorous convergence analysis of synchronization errors can be conducted. In particular, it is shown that the proposed fault-tolerant synchronization control approach is valid for the CDN with both time-invariant and time-varying coupling weights. Finally, two simulation examples are provided to validate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.
Stabilization of switched systems composed fully of unstable subsystems is one of the most challenging problems in the field of switched systems. In this brief paper, a sufficient condition ensuring ...the asymptotic stability of switched continuous-time systems with all modes unstable is proposed. The main idea is to exploit the stabilization property of switching behaviors to compensate the state divergence made by unstable modes. Then, by using a discretized Lyapunov function approach, a computable sufficient condition for switched linear systems is proposed in the framework of dwell time; it is shown that the time intervals between two successive switching instants are required to be confined by a pair of upper and lower bounds to guarantee the asymptotic stability. Based on derived results, an algorithm is proposed to compute the stability region of admissible dwell time. A numerical example is proposed to illustrate our approach.
Abstract
Background
Novel endoscopic techniques used in the treatment of gastric lesions with local submucosal fibrosis need preclinical evaluation and training due to safety limitations. Therefore, ...the purpose of our study was to establish an animal model of gastric local fibrotic target lesions and assess its feasibility in the evaluation and training of endoscopic techniques.
Methods
In six experimental beagles, a 50% glucose solution was injected into three submucosal areas of the fundus, body, and antrum of the stomach to create gastric local fibrotic target lesions (experimental group). On post-injection day (PID) 7, the injection sites were assessed endoscopically to confirm the presence of submucosal fibrosis formation, and the dental floss clip traction assisted endoscopic submucosal dissection (DFC-ESD) procedure was performed on the gastric local fibrotic target lesions to confirm its feasibility after endoscopic observation. The normal gastric mucosa of six control beagles underwent the same procedure (control group). All the resected specimens were evaluated by histological examination.
Results
All 12 beagles survived without postoperative adverse events. On PID 7, 16 ulcer changes were observed at the injection sites (16/18) under the endoscope, and endoscopic ultrasonography confirmed the local submucosal fibrosis formation in all ulcer lesions. The subsequent DFC-ESD was successfully performed on the 32 gastric target lesions, and the mean submucosal dissection time in the ulcer lesions was greater than that in the normal gastric mucosa (15.3 ± 5.6 vs. 6.8 ± 0.8 min;
P
< 0.001). There was no difference in rates of en bloc resection, severe hemorrhage, or perforation between the two groups. Histological analysis of the ulcer lesions showed the absence of epithelial or muscularis mucosae and extensive submucosal fibrous tissue proliferations compared with normal gastric mucosa. Overall, endoscopists had high satisfaction with the realism and feasibility of the animal model.
Conclusion
We developed a novel animal model of gastric local fibrotic target lesions to simulate difficult clinical situations, which strongly appeared to be suitable for the preclinical evaluation and learning of advanced endoscopic techniques.
Summary
Environmental factors, such as temperature, traffic, and wind, play an important role on the variations of dynamic properties of long‐span cable‐stayed bridges. The dynamic characteristics of ...Sutong Cable‐Stayed Bridge (SCB), including acceleration and strain responses as well as modal frequencies, are investigated using one‐year continuous monitoring data under operating conditions by the structural health monitoring system. The in situ wind characteristics and structural temperature behavior of SCB are also analyzed. More than 99% of the wind speed values are smaller than 16 m/s; and the largest temperature variation of the main girder exceeds 60 °C. Besides, acceleration and strain, root mean square (RMS) data are both normalized using the Z‐score standardization method. Relation analysis between the normalized acceleration and strain RMS values is conducted based on the time‐history comparison and linear least square fitting. Results show that both of the processed acceleration and strain RMS values could properly describe the variation trend of the traffic load, although variation amplitudes of the two normalized parameters differ from each other. In addition, one‐year continuous modal frequencies of SCB are identified using Hilbert–Huang transform method. Variability analysis of the structural modal frequencies due to environmental temperature and operational traffics is then conducted. Results show that temperature is the most important environmental factor for vertical and torsional modal frequencies. The traffic load is the second critical factor especially for the fundamental vertical frequency of SCB. Research results could provide references for damage detection and safety evaluation for similar long‐span cable‐stayed bridges.
•Microbial fermentation is the key factor controlling the quality of dark tea.•Serial reactions modify the chemical constituents of tea leaves during fermentation.•Multi-omics approaches are used to ...reveal microbial impact on dark tea quality.
Dark tea is a unique fermented tea produced by solid-state fermentation of tea leaves (Camellia sinensis). It includes ripe Pu-erh tea, Fu brick tea, Liupao tea, and other teas. Microbial fermentation is considered to be the key factor controlling the quality of dark tea. It involves a series of reactions that modify the chemical constituents of tea leaves. These chemical conversions during microbial fermentation of dark tea are associated with a variety of functional core microorganisms. Further, Multi-omics approaches have been used to reveal the microbial impact on the conversion of the chemical components in dark tea. In the present review, we provide an overview of the most recent advances in the knowledge of the microbial bioconversion of the chemical components in dark tea, including the chemical composition of dark tea, microbial community composition and dynamics during the fermentation process, and the role of microorganisms in biotransformation of chemical constituents.
There is a notion that finance plays a crucial role in anthropogenic; however, the emerging trends have been observed to incorporate environmental concerns into sustainable financing. Moreover, ...technological innovations tend to help in achieving carbon neutrality. This research examines the role of green financing (GFIN) and green technologies in dealing with carbon neutrality in G10 economies from 2000 through 2018. Advanced panel estimations; Cross-Sectional ARDL, cross-sectional dependence, unit root test with and without structural breaks, slope homogeneity, and panel cointegration has applied. The long- and short-run estimates confirm that GFIN and technologies promote carbon neutrality. Moreover, the long-run results endorse the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve. Similar findings are observed in the short run except for EKC; however, their marginal contribution toward carbon neutrality is relatively higher in the long run. Moreover, the negative sign of the error correction term endorses convergence towards steady-state equilibrium. These results are endorsed by alternative estimators and offer valuable recommendations.
The aim of this study is to estimate the state of charge (SOC) of the lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery pack by applying machine learning strategy. To reduce the noise sensitive issue of ...common machine learning strategies, a kind of SOC estimation method based on fuzzy least square support vector machine is proposed. By applying fuzzy inference and nonlinear correlation measurement, the effects of the samples with low confidence can be reduced. Further, a new approach for determining the error interval of regression results is proposed to avoid the control system malfunction. Tests are carried out on modified COMS electric vehicles, with two battery packs each consists of 24 50 Ah LiFePO4 batteries. The effectiveness of the method is proven by the test and the comparison with other popular methods.
•We propose a measure of nonlinear correlation.•We propose a reliability identification method for multidimensional samples.•We propose an error interval for SVM regression.•The daily use of electric vehicle is simulated in a filed test.
Perovskite-based optoelectronic devices are gaining much attention owing to their remarkable performance and low processing cost, particularly for solar cells. However, for perovskite light-emitting ...diodes, non-radiative charge recombination has limited the electroluminescence efficiency. Here we demonstrate perovskite–polymer bulk heterostructure light-emitting diodes exhibiting external quantum efficiencies of up to 20.1% (at current densities of 0.1–1 mA cm−2). The light-emitting diode emissive layer comprises quasi-two-dimensional and three-dimensional (2D/3D) perovskites and an insulating polymer. Photogenerated excitations migrate from quasi-2D to lower-energy sites within 1 ps, followed by radiative bimolecular recombination in the 3D regions. From near-unity external photoluminescence quantum efficiencies and transient kinetics of the emissive layer with and without charge-transport contacts, we find non-radiative recombination pathways to be effectively eliminated, consistent with optical models giving near 100% internal quantum efficiencies. Although the device brightness and stability (T50 = 46 h in air at peak external quantum efficiency) require further improvement, our results indicate the significant potential of perovskite-based photon sources.
PDF
