•It is demonstrated that the pilot directional protection based on traveling waves amplitude comparison may fail to trip in flexible DC transmission lines.•Taking into account the impact of ...subsequent traveling waves, the amplitude of the forward traveling wave can exceed that of the backward traveling wave.•In contrast to amplitude-based protection, the proposed protection method offers superior sensitivity and reliability when detecting internal faults. Furthermore, it can be effectively employed in a diverse range of fault scenarios.•The reflection relation of traveling waves at the line boundary is further analyzed, expanding the fault traveling waves analysis and facilitating the protection principle design.
The pilot directional protection based on amplitude comparison of the traveling wave (TW) has good performance in flexible DC transmission systems. However, this type of protection may fail to detect internal line faults correctly, as the amplitude of the forward voltage TW may be greater than that of the backward voltage TW in some fault cases. To address this issue, a novel pilot protection method based on the difference of fault TWs has been proposed. The proposed method fully considers the polarity of backward voltage TW and current TW. By utilizing the electrical quantity relationship at the line boundary, the difference between the two TWs mentioned above is transformed into the difference between the forward and backward voltage TWs. In this way, a conclusion is drawn that the absolute value of the integral ratio of forward and backward voltage TWs is less than 1 in the case of forward faults, and much greater than 1 when reverse faults occur. Therefore, a reliable directional identification criterion based on the forward and backward voltage TWs has been developed. Hardware-in-the-loop experiments and test results showcase that the proposed protection method has higher sensitivity and reliability for line faults.
, an important vegetation restoration species with economic and ecological benefits in the arid region of northwest China, is characterized by significant drought tolerance. However, the underlying ...molecular mechanisms by which miRNAs confer this trait in
are unclear. Here, we investigate the effect of CkmiR2119 on drought tolerance and identified its target gene,
. A negative correlation of CkmiR2119 and
in both stems and leaves in a drought gradient treatment followed by target gene validation suggest that CkmiR2119 might negatively regulate
. Consistently, a decrease in the expression of the
gene was observed after both transient transformation and stable transformation of CkamiR2119 in tobacco (
). Moreover, the physiological analysis of CkamiR2119 and
transgenic plants further indicate that CkmiR2119 can enhance the drought tolerance of
in two aspects: (i) downregulating
expression to accelerate vessel maturation in stems; (ii) contributing to a higher level of
in mesophyll cells to inhibit programmed cell death (PCD). This work reveals that CkmiR2119 can increase plants' drought tolerance by downregulating the expression of
, providing a theoretical basis to improve plants' ability to withstand stress tolerance by manipulating miRNAs.
A three-equation transition model based on the transition V-model is proposed for subsonic flows in this study. Considering the mechanical approximation of the generation process of the ...pre-transitional vorticities, the value of laminar Reynolds shear stress related to the mean shear deformation was calculated in the original transition V-model. Then a new transition model, named V-SA model, was proposed, which considered the phenomenological process of transition and presented great results for flows with and without pressure gradient. It is well-known that the baseline Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model shows excellent performance of accuracy and robustness in plentiful flow cases, but it is important to predict boundary layer transition. The current model (V-SST) successfully couples the V-model to the SST turbulence model by introducing the effective turbulent viscosity and additional correction terms into the transport equations. A thorough evaluation of its ability to predict transition features is performed versus the well-documented flat plate of ERCOFTAC, including T3A and T3B without pressure gradient, T3L2 and T3L3 with semi-circular leading edge, the three-dimensional 6:1 prolate-spheroid under two angles of attack, and the NLR-7301 airfoil under different Mach numbers. Numerical results show that the current model has an attractive and superior performance in the simulation of boundary layer transition processes
Observational studies have investigated the associations between antihypertensive drugs and fracture risk as well as bone mineral density (BMD), but yielding controversial results.
In this study, a ...comprehensive drug-target Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was conducted to systematically examine the associations between genetic proxies for eight common antihypertensive drugs and three bone health-related traits (fracture, total body BMD TB-BMD, and estimated heel BMD eBMD). The main analysis used the inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method to estimate the causal effect. Multiple MR methods were also employed to test the robustness of the results.
The genetic proxies for angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) were associated with a reduced risk of fracture (odds ratio OR = 0.67, 95% confidence interval CI: 0.54 to 0.84;
= 4.42 × 10
;
adjusted = 0.004), higher TB-BMD (β = 0.36, 95% CI: 0.11 to 0.61;
= 0.005;
adjusted = 0.022), and higher eBMD (β = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.21 to 0.38;
= 3.59 × 10
;
adjusted = 6.55 × 10
). Meanwhile, genetic proxies for calcium channel blockers (CCBs) were associated with an increased risk of fracture (OR = 1.07, 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.12;
= 0.002;
adjusted = 0.013). Genetic proxies for potassium sparing diuretics (PSDs) showed negative associations with TB-BMD (β = -0.61, 95% CI: -0.88 to -0.33;
= 1.55 × 10
;
adjusted = 1.86 × 10
). Genetic proxies for thiazide diuretics had positive associations with eBMD (β = 0.11, 95% CI: 0.03 to 0.18;
= 0.006;
adjusted = 0.022). No significant heterogeneity or pleiotropy was identified. The results were consistent across different MR methods.
These findings suggest that genetic proxies for ARBs and thiazide diuretics may have a protective effect on bone health, while genetic proxies for CCBs and PSDs may have a negative effect.
Aberrant inflammatory responses drive the initiation and progression of various diseases, and hyperactivation of NLRP3 inflammasome is a key pathogenetic mechanism. Pharmacological inhibitors of ...NLRP3 represent a potential therapy for treating these diseases but are not yet clinically available. The natural product butein has excellent anti-inflammatory activity, but its potential mechanisms remain to be investigated. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the ability of butein to block NLRP3 inflammasome activation and the ameliorative effects of butein on NLRP3-driven diseases. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-primed bone-marrow-derived macrophages were pretreated with butein and various inflammasome stimuli. Intracellular potassium levels, ASC oligomerization and reactive oxygen species production were also detected to evaluate the regulatory mechanisms of butein. Moreover, mouse models of LPS-induced peritonitis, dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis, and high-fat diet-induced non-alcoholic steatohepatitis were used to test whether butein has protective effects on these NLRP3-driven diseases. Butein blocks NLRP3 inflammasome activation in mouse macrophages by inhibiting ASC oligomerization, suppressing reactive oxygen species production, and upregulating the expression of the antioxidant pathway nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2). Importantly, in vivo experiments demonstrated that butein administration has a significant protective effect on the mouse models of LPS-induced peritonitis, dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis, and high-fat diet-induced non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Our study illustrates the connotation of homotherapy for heteropathy, i.e., the application of butein to broaden therapeutic approaches and treat multiple inflammatory diseases driven by NLRP3.
Drought stress poses severe threat to the development and even the survival status of plants. Plants utilize various methods responding to drought, among which the forming of more well-developed ...xylem in leaf vein in woody plants deserves our attention. Herein, we report a transcription factor CkREV from HD-ZIP III family in
Caragana korshinskii
, which possesses significant functions in drought response by regulating xylem vessel development in leaf vein. Research reveal that in
C. korshinskii
the expression level of
CkREV
located in xylem vessel and adjacent cells will increase as the level of drought intensifies, and can directly induce the expression of
CkLAX3
,
CkVND6
,
CkVND7
, and
CkPAL4
by binding to their promoter regions. In
Arabidopsis thaliana
, CkREV senses changes in drought stress signals and bidirectionally regulates the expression of related genes to control auxin polar transport, vessel differentiation, and synthesis of cell wall deposits, thereby significantly enhancing plant drought tolerance. In conclusion, our findings offer a novel understanding of the regulation of CkREV, a determinant of leaf adaxial side, on the secondary development of xylem vessels in leaf vein to enhance stress tolerance in woody plants.
Background The sedative dexmedetomidine has been shown to reduce mortality in adult patients with severe sepsis, but it is not known whether children benefit. This study explored the effects of ...dexmedetomidine on the outcomes of children with severe sepsis with mechanical ventilation. Methods In this retrospective cohort study, children with severe sepsis requiring mechanical ventilation from 2016 to 2020 were categorized as dexmedetomidine and non-dexmedetomidine group. The propensity score matching was performed to match cases in both groups. The primary outcome was 28-day mortality, and the secondary outcomes were acute kidney injury, ventilator-free days, lengths of PICU and hospital stays. The Kaplan-Meier method and was the log-rank test used to estimate the 28-day mortality rate and assess between-group differences. Results In total, 250 patients were eligible patients: 138 in the dexmedetomidine group and 112 in the non-dexmedetomidine group. After 1:1 propensity score matching, 61 children in each group. dexmedetomidine group showed more lower 28-day mortality (9.84% vs. 26.23%, P = 0.008). During the 7-day observation period after PICU admission, the dexmedetomidine group showed significantly lower neurological and renal sub-scores at day 7 and serum creatinine level at day 3 and day 7. There were no statistical differences in the incidence of acute kidney injury, ventilator-free days, lengths of PICU and hospital stays between the two groups. Conclusions dexmedetomidine treatment in children with severe sepsis is associated with better outcomes and should therefore be considered for the sedation strategy. Keywords: Dexmedetomidine, Pediatric, Outcome, Severe sepsis, Mechanical ventilation
Railway stations in Japan and elsewhere are undergoing redevelopment to accommodate new spaces of consumption and leisure. Tokyo Station redevelopment is a representative case illustrating the ...experiment of integrating new facilities into an existing spatial system. The station's image is being recast as an important urban centre in Tokyo with a particular mix of prestige business, shopping and unique entertainment venues. The walking network is being reconfigured in a larger space with a complex set of new land uses, leading to new spatial configurations and patterns of behaviour. These transformations support a new role for the station. The station redevelopment, along with related investments in the surrounding space represent a distinctly Japanese approach to transit-oriented development. This article examines the urban design strategy underlying these transformations.
We report a molecularly imprinted polymer electrochemiluminescence (MIP-ECL) sensor with dual recognition effects on dopamine (DA). Boric-acid-functionalized carbon dots (B-CDs) with good ECL ...performance at − 2.0 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) were prepared and immobilized on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The MIP was then introduced via electropolymerization using o-phenylenediamine (OPD) as a functional monomer and DA as a template molecule to fabricate the MIP-ECL sensor. The cavities in the MIP after elution were used to capture the target molecular DA. The affinity of boric acid of B-CDs to the cis-diol of DA, as well as the special recognition of MIP, provides dual recognition effects on DA. The selective readsorption of DA onto the sensor leads to the ECL quenching of B-CDs. The quenching effect was used to detect DA from 1.0 × 10
−9
to 1.0 × 10
−5
mol·L
−1
with a detection limit of 2.1 × 10
−10
mol·L
−1
. The dual recognition caused the MIP-ECL sensor exhibiting excellent selectivity and sensitivity toward DA. The sensor was successfully used to determine DA in real samples.
Graphical abstract
PDF
