Animal horns (AHs) have been applied to traditional medicine for more than thousands of years, of which clinical effects have been confirmed by the history. But now parts of AHs have been listed in ...the items of wildlife conservation, which limits the use for traditional medicine. The contradiction between the development of traditional medicine and the protection of wild resources has already become the common concern of zoophilists, traditional medical professionals, economists, sociologists. We believe that to strengthen the identification for threatened animals, to prevent the circulation of them, and to seek fertile animals of corresponding bioactivities as substitutes are effective strategies to solve this problem.
A powerful technique of DNA barcoding based on the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) was used to identify threatened animals of Bovidae and Cervidae, as well as their illegal adulterants (including 10 species and 47 specimens). Meanwhile, the microcalorimetric technique was used to characterize the differences of bio-responses when those animal specimens acted on model organism (Escherichia coli). We found that the COI gene could be used as a universal primer to identify threatened animals and illegal adulterants mentioned above. By analyzing 223 mitochondrial COI sequences, a 100% identification success rate was achieved. We further found that the horns of Mongolian Gazelle and Red Deer could be exploited as a substitute for some functions of endangered Saiga Antelope and Sika Deer in traditional medicine, respectively.
Although it needs a more comprehensive evaluation of bioequivalence in order to completely solve the problem of substitutes for threatened animals, we believe that the identification (DNA barcoding) of threatened animals combined with seeking substitutions (bio-response) can yet be regarded as a valid strategy for establishing a balance between the protection of threatened animals and the development of traditional medicine.
•Direct, explicit approach to modeling SMA pseudo-elasticity.•New nonlinear hardening rule with substantial coupling.•Thermodynamic restrictions are rendered free and explicit.•Direct, explicit ...approach to matching realistic hysteresis loops of any given shape.•Bypassing usual complicated procedures for identifying a large set of unknown parameters.
Toward a straightforward approach to modeling SMA pseudoelastic behavior, a new finite J2-flow elastoplastic model with nonlinear combined hardening is proposed by coupling the size change of the yield surface with the moving of the yield surface center. A departure from usual approaches is that any given shapes of hysteresis loops may be automatically generated via explicit procedures in the framework of classical J2 elastoplasticity with no reference to any phase variables. Numerical examples are presented to show good accord with test data for Ti–Ni alloys.
Clofazimine has shown activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, including multidrug-resistant strains in vitro and in animal studies. However, clinical experience with clofazimine in ...multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is scarce. We reported our clinical experience with 39 MDR-TB patients treated with combination regimens that included clofazimine. From January 2008 to March 2011, 39 patients received clofazimine for the treatment of MDR-TB in Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital. Patients had isolates resistant to a median of six drugs (range, 2–11 drugs). Of the 39 cases, 36 had cavitary changes noted on initial chest radiograph or chest computed tomography, and positive sputum-smear microscopy results at the time of MDR-TB diagnosis. At data censure, 15 of the 39 patients had successful therapy, with at least five consistently negative cultures documented for the final 12 months of treatment. Eleven continued to receive treatment. There were no deaths. Thirteen patients had a poor outcome, including four defaults and nine treatment failures. Culture conversion occurred in 22 cases at a median of 12 weeks. Side-effects occurred in 34 patients, mainly including skin discolouration, ichthyosis and gastrointestinal adverse events. No patients reported significant toxicity likely to be attributable to clofazimine therapy. Adverse events were managed by combinations of dose adjustment and symptom management. In our experience, clofazimine was well tolerated and may have efficacy in the treatment of MDR-TB.
Ammonia for power Valera-Medina, A; Xiao, H; Owen-Jones, M ...
Progress in energy and combustion science,
11/2018, Letnik:
69
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
A potential enabler of a low carbon economy is the energy vector hydrogen. However, issues associated with hydrogen storage and distribution are currently a barrier for its implementation. Hence, ...other indirect storage media such as ammonia and methanol are currently being considered. Of these, ammonia is a carbon free carrier which offers high energy density; higher than compressed air. Hence, it is proposed that ammonia, with its established transportation network and high flexibility, could provide a practical next generation system for energy transportation, storage and use for power generation. Therefore, this review highlights previous influential studies and ongoing research to use this chemical as a viable energy vector for power applications, emphasizing the challenges that each of the reviewed technologies faces before implementation and commercial deployment is achieved at a larger scale. The review covers technologies such as ammonia in cycles either for power or CO2 removal, fuel cells, reciprocating engines, gas turbines and propulsion technologies, with emphasis on the challenges of using the molecule and current understanding of the fundamental combustion patterns of ammonia blends.
In contrast with the widely known elastoplastic behavior of hard solids with very small elastic deformations, we study elastoplastic behavior of soft solids dominated by very large elastic ...deformations. Toward this goal, thermo-coupled rate-independent and rate-dependent elastoplastic J2-flow models with evolving rubberlike elasticity are established for the first time in a sense of identically meeting the Clausius–Duhem inequality. Novel results are presented for coupling effects in three respects: (i) how finite strain elastic behavior may evolve with development of plastic flow; (ii) how plastic flow may be induced in a process of pure heating; and (iii) how strain rate effects may be characterized to ensure smooth transitions to the rate-independent case. It is demonstrated that complex inelastic deformation features observed in soft solids such as elastomers, including the Mullins effect, the permanent set, the induced anisotropy, the thermal recovery and the rate effect etc., may be derived as direct, natural consequences of the proposed model. In particular, explicit expressions for the constitutive functions incorporated are derivable from the uniaxial data for the purpose of achieving an explicit, exact simulation of the foregoing inelastic features, thus bypassing usual complexities both in choosing suitable forms of constitutive functions and in identifying unknown parameters in an approximate sense.
•New elastoplasticity model with evolving elastic behavior.•Finite elastoplastic flows dominated by large rubberlike elastic deformations.•Inelastic features of polymers are derived as natural consequences of the new model.•Bypassing usual procedures both in searching for suitable forms of constitutive functions.
Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are quickly becoming an attractive solution for autonomous vehicles, military weapons, and space exploration. Thanks to their reconfiguration ability, design ...flexibility, and low power consumption, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) have become a promising candidate for CNN accelerators. However, FPGAs have been proven to be susceptible to radiation-induced single-event upsets (SEUs). One goal of this article is to analyze the impact of quantization on the reliability of CNNs in FPGAs. Therefore, we performed quantization on ZynqNet without affecting its classification accuracy. Meanwhile, we implemented the triple modular redundancy (TMR) version of ZynqNet and we also evaluated the effects of SEUs on these CNNs through both fault injections and neutron exposures. Fault injection results show that TMRed ZynqNet reduces the soft error rate (SER) by 33.59% with a circuit area increase of 111.92% when compared with the standard ZynqNet. The experimental results demonstrate that the quantized ZynqNet reduces the SER by 71.36% with a circuit area reduction of 44.76% when compared with the standard ZynqNet. These results confirm that quantization does contribute to SER reduction of the neural networks. In addition, the operating system on the processing system (PS) side was also found to be highly sensitive to SEUs, and, thus, mitigation techniques should be applied.
In Alzheimer's disease (AD), neurodegenerative signals such as amyloid-beta (Aβ) and the precursors of neurotrophins, outbalance neurotrophic signals, causing synaptic dysfunction and ...neurodegeneration. The neurotrophin receptor p75 (p75NTR) is a receptor of Aβ and mediates Aβ-induced neurodegenerative signals. The shedding of its ectodomain from the cell surface is physiologically regulated; however, the function of the diffusible p75NTR ectodomain (p75ECD) after shedding remains largely not known. Here, we show that p75ECD levels in cerebrospinal fluid and in the brains of Alzheimer's patients and amyloid-beta precursor protein (APP)/PS1 transgenic mice were significantly reduced, due to inhibition of the sheddase-tumor necrosis factor-alpha-converting enzyme by Aβ. Restoration of p75ECD to the normal level by brain delivery of the gene encoding human p75ECD before or after Aβ deposition in the brain of APP/PS1 mice reversed the behavioral deficits and AD-type pathologies, such as Aβ deposit, apoptotic events, neuroinflammation, Tau phosphorylation and loss of dendritic spine, neuronal structures and synaptic proteins. Furthermore, p75ECD can also reduce amyloidogenesis by suppressing β-secretase expression and activities. Our data demonstrate that p75ECD is a physiologically neuroprotective molecule against Aβ toxicity and would be a novel therapeutic target and biomarker for AD.
Summary
Background
Tong‐Xie‐Yao‐Fang (TXYF) is a Chinese herbal formula for treating chronic diarrhoea accompanied by abdominal pain. The results were inconsistent in previous trials examining its ...effect.
Aim
To study the efficacy of TXYF granules for treating diarrhoea‐predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS‐D).
Methods
We performed a double‐blind, placebo‐controlled randomised trial and enrolled 160 participants with IBS‐D. The participants had VAS scores ≥3 cm in IBS‐D global symptoms and ≥2 days in a week with abdominal pain and loose stools (Bristol score 5, 6 or 7). They were randomly assigned to received TXYF or placebo during a treatment period of 4 weeks, and they were followed up for 8 weeks after treatment. The primary outcome was adequate relief of IBS‐D global symptoms for at least 2 of 4 weeks during weeks 1‐4. Secondary outcomes included mean weekly VAS scores of IBS‐D major symptoms, mean weekly stool frequency, mean weekly Bristol score, and adverse events.
Results
155 of 160 patients completed the trial. We found a significantly higher rate of adequate relief of global symptoms in TXFY group during weeks 1 to 4 (57.5% vs 37.5%, χ2 = 5.6391, P = 0.017); logistic regression analysis showed a similar result (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.2‐4.4, P = 0.016). Most of the secondary outcomes showed superiority of TXYF over placebo in weekly assessment from week 3 to week 7. The adverse event rate was low in both groups (3.8% vs 3.8%, P = 1.000).
Conclusion
During a 4 week trial, TXFY granules were superior to placebo in controlling symptoms of IBS‐D.
Linked ContentThis article is linked to Vitta and Sayuk and Chen et al papers. To view these articles visit https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.14902 and https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.14906.
Energy storage is one of the highest priority challenges in transitioning to a low-carbon economy. Fluctuating, intermittent primary renewable sources such as wind and solar require low-carbon ...storage options to enable effective load matching, ensuring security of supply. Chemical storage is one such option, with low or zero carbon fuels such as hydrogen, alcohols and ammonia having been proposed. Ammonia provides zero-carbon hydrogen storage whilst offering liquefaction at relatively low pressures and atmospheric temperatures, enabling ease of transportation in a pre-existing infrastructure. Ammonia can also be used directly as a fuel in power plants such as gas turbines to avoid complete conversion back to hydrogen. It is a relatively unreactive fuel, and so it is of interest to explore the potential utilisation of ammonia/hydrogen mixtures. Hence, the goal of this paper is to provide a first assessment of the suitability of a chosen 70%NH330%H2 (%vol) blend for utilisation within a gas turbine environment, based on primary combustion diagnostics including combustion stability – via OH chemiluminescence - and emissions (NOx and NH3). An established optical generic swirl-burner enabled studies of the influence of equivalence ratio (φ > 1), ambient temperature (<484 ± 10 K) and bypass air, with a focus on NOx reduction, one of the main challenges for ammonia combustion. A numerical GT cycle model is developed alongside the experimental investigation. The results demonstrate that the blend has considerable potential as a fuel substitute with reasonable combustion stability and significant reduction of emissions for the cases without bypass air, due to increased chemical reactivity of unburned ammonia. However, emissions are still above those recommended for gas turbine cycles, with a theoretical cycle that still produces low efficiencies compared to DLN methane, highlighting the requirement for new injection techniques to reduce NOx/unburned NH3 in the flue gases whilst ensuring increased power outputs.
•Ammonia can become a new energy vector for large-scale power generation.•Ammonia/Hydrogen blends can be created by cracking small amounts of NH3.•Current research shows stable flames with 70:30 NH3/H2 blends.•High inlet air temperatures increase NOx and OH reactivity, reducing flame size.•Current gas turbines will be inefficient using solely these blends.
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