Research on blasting mechanism and blasting effect of aqueous media in open pit coal mines.

Surface coal mining procedures include piercing-blasting-mining and loading-transportation-discharging, blasting link exists due to the poor blasting effect leads to low loading efficiency, blasting dust caused by environmental pollution and other problems. In this paper, from the mechanical characteristics of the water medium, we analyze in detail the transferring effect, transducing effect and bubble pulsation phenomenon of the water medium in the blasting process. The results show that when the blasting medium is water medium, the maximum principal stress is 1.53 times that of air medium; the peak energy transfer can be up to 2.73 times that of air medium. With the help of TrueGrid/LS-DYNA finite element analysis software to simulate the dynamic process of blasting, the study of the maximum principal stresses around the hole, the top of the slope, the foot of the slope on the maximum principal stress changes, the results show that the maximum principal stresses around the hole, the top of the slope, the foot of the slope unit with the increase in the water content is gradually increasing trend. Finally, combined with the actual mine production conditions for blasting field test, water-mediated blasting dust reduction rate of 75%, the use of AHP-fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method of two groups of traditional dry hole blasting and three groups of water-mediated blasting comprehensive evaluation, the results show that the water-mediated blasting scores are higher than the traditional dry hole blasting, proving that the water-mediated blasting has a certain prospect of engineering applications.

Almost Sure Stability of Complex-Valued Complex Networks: A Noise-Based Delayed Coupling Under Random Denial-of-Service Attacks.

This article is concerned with stability for stochastic complex-valued delayed complex networks under random denial-of-service (RDoS) attacks. Different from the existing literature on the stability of stochastic complex-valued systems that concentrate on moment stability, we investigate almost sure stability (ASS), where noise plays a stabilizing role. It is noted that, besides the vertex systems influenced by noise, the interactions among vertices are also at the mercy of noise. As a consequence, an innovative noise-based delayed coupling (NDC) in the presence of RDoS attacks is proposed first to accomplish the stability of complex-valued networks, where the RDoS attacks have a certain probability of triumphantly interfering with communications at active intervals of attackers. Namely, RDoS attacks considered are randomly launched at active periods, which is more realistic. In terms of the Lyapunov method and stochastic analysis theory, an almost sure exponential stability (ASES) criterion of the system discussed straightforwardly is developed by constructing a delay-free auxiliary system, while removing the traditional assumption of moment stability. The criterion strongly linked with topological structure, RDoS frequency, attack successful probability, and noise intensity reveals that the higher the noise intensity, the faster the convergence rate is for the stability of the network. In light of the criterion established, we present an algorithm that can be employed to analyze the tolerable attack parameters and the upper bound of the coupling delays, under the prerequisite of guaranteeing the stability of the network. Eventually, the theoretical results are applied to inertial complex-valued neural networks (ICNNs) and an illustrative example is presented to substantiate the efficiency of the theoretical works.

The law of blast stress wave propagation and fracture development in soft and hard composite rock.

The process of blasting stress wave propagation and crack propagation is directly affected by the physical properties of the rock mass and internal joints in the rock. In soft and hard rock layers, the blasting process is more complicated since the blasting stress wave needs to penetrate two kinds of rocks with different physical properties and the interface between soft rock and hard rock. In this study, the modal transformation of stress waves at the interface of layered composite rock was analyzed, and the process was reproduced by finite element analysis. Furthermore, the development law of cracks was explored. The research results demonstrated that in the single blasting-hole model, a triangular crack area caused by reflected stress waves appeared at the rock interface of rock medium I near the blast hole. In rock medium II, the tensile crack generated by the interface wave appeared on the side away from the blast hole. Besides, the development of the tensile crack was associated with the incident mode of the blast stress wave and the incident angle. In the deep hole blasting model, the incidence of the detonation wave front from hard rock to soft rock promoted the fragmentation of the hard rock.

Dust pollution in cold region Surface Mines and its prevention and control.

The application of traditional dust reduction methods in surface mines is limited, particularly during winter due to long-term drought and a rainless environment. Therefore, it is essential to investigate dust pollution in cold region mines and get insights into its scientific prevention and control. This research analyzed dust pollution (concentration of TSP, PM10, PM2.5) from a combined perspective of production and metrological conditions in the Haerwusu open pit coal mine located in northwest China to provide the basis for prevention and control. The main findings indicate that the dust concentration in the pit exceeds the national regulatory limit of 50 µg/m for PM10 and 35 µg/m for PM2.5. According to the air quality index, PM10 was the primary pollutant at the bottom of the pit where coal mining was occurring. The order of the factors influencing dust concentration was as follows: coal production > boundary layer height > wind speed > temperature difference > temperature > humidity. Our study revealed that mining activity polluted the surrounding areas, mostly in December and January. The southeastern and eastern regions of the mine site were found to be the most polluted areas. The implications of this study could be used to optimize mining operations and develop dust prevention and control strategies.

Boundary Stabilization of Stochastic Delayed Cohen-Grossberg Neural Networks With Diffusion Terms.

This study considers the boundary stabilization for stochastic delayed Cohen-Grossberg neural networks (SDCGNNs) with diffusion terms by the Lyapunov functional method. In the realization of NNs, sometimes time delays and diffusion phenomenon cannot be ignored, so Cohen-Grossberg NNs with time delays and diffusion terms are studied in this article. Moreover, different from the previously distributed control, the boundary control is used to stabilize the system, which can reduce the spatial cost of the controller and is easy to implement. Boundary controllers are presented for system with Neumann boundary and mixed boundary conditions, and criteria are derived such that the controlled system achieves mean-square exponential stabilization. Based on the criterion, the effects of diffusion matrix, coupling strength, coupling matrix, and time delays on exponentially stability are analyzed. In the process of analysis, two difficulties need to be addressed: 1) how to introduce boundary control into system analysis? and 2) how to analyze the influence of system parameters on stability? We deal with these problems by using Poincaré's inequality and Schur's complement lemma. Moreover, mean-square exponential synchronization of stochastic delayed Hopfield NNs with diffusion terms, as an application of the theoretical result, is considered under the boundary control. Examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

Case Report: Intravitreal dexamethasone implant as adjuvant treatment for taxane-related cystoid macular edema.

Taxane-related cystoid macular edema (CME) is a rare complication of the taxoid medication, a chemotherapeutic drug. We report a 47-year-old Han Chinese man referred to our Eye Center for decreased vision with visual distortion in both eyes for two weeks. Two weeks prior, he received the last cycle of his six-monthly chemotherapy, including paclitaxel for hypopharyngeal malignancy. The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.4 OD and 0.1 OS. Macular optical coherence tomography showed significant bilateral CME, and fluorescein angiography (FA) revealed the fluorescein pooling at the late phase without leakage. Intravitreal 700 µg dexamethasone (DEX) implant was applied to the left eye and 13 days after to the right eye. Two months later, the macular morphology recovered to normal. One year after the first visit, the BCVA was 1.0 OD and 0.8 OS with standard macula on OCT. In conclusion, the intravitreal DEX implant might be an effective adjuvant treatment for taxane-related CME.

Comparison of Calcium Scoring Between 64-Multidetector Computed Tomography and 320-Multidetector Computed Tomography Using a Cardiac Phantom: Achieving Consistent Image Quality With Dose Optimization.

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between radiation dose and noise level on various coronary calcium scoring protocols between 64-multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and 320-MDCT. The cardiac QRM phantoms (1 small size and 1 medium size) were used in this study. Lower-dose imaging protocols were proposed for optimization with the parameters of 120 kVp and 10 mAs for small-size phantom (0.336 mSv) in 64-MDCT imaging and small-size phantom (0.2 mSv) in 320-MDCT case, and 120 kVp and 80 mAs for medium-size phantom (2.73 mSv) in 64-MDCT imaging and medium-size phantom (1.58 mSv) in 320-MDCT case. Our results suggest that people can apply lower-dose protocols in the clinical use for early diagnosis of coronary disease without sacrificing diagnostic accuracy.

Distributed Secure Consensus Control With Event-Triggering for Multiagent Systems Under DoS Attacks.

Consensus control of multiagent systems (MASs) has applications in various domains. As MASs work in networked environments, their security control becomes critically desirable in response to various cyberattacks, such as denial of service (DoS). Efforts have been made in the development of both time- and event-triggered consensus control of MASs. However, there is a lack of precise calculation of control input during the attacking periods. To address this issue, a distributed secure consensus control with event triggering is developed for linear leader-following MASs under DoS attacks. It is designed with a dual-terminal event-triggered mechanism, which schedules information transmission through two triggered functions for each follower: one on the measurement channel (sensor-to-controller) and the other on the control channel (controller-to-actuator). To deal with DoS attacks, the combined states in the triggered functions are replaced by their estimations from an observer. Sufficient conditions are established for the duration and frequency of DoS attacks. To remove continuous monitoring of the measurement errors, a self-triggered secure control scheme is further developed, which combines the system states and other information at past triggered instants. Theoretical analysis shows that the followers in MASs under DoS attacks are able to track the leader and meanwhile the Zeno behavior is excluded. Case studies are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of our distributed secure consensus control of MASs.

Fragile X syndrome in a male with methylated premutation alleles and no detectable methylated full mutation alleles.

Most cases of fragile X syndrome (FXS) result from aberrant methylation of the FMR1 gene. Methylation occurs when the number of tandemly arranged cytosine guanine guanine (CGG)-repeats in the 5' end of the transcriptional unit of FMR1 exceeds a certain critical threshold, thought to be between 200 and 400 repeats. Such alleles are referred to as full mutation (FM) alleles. Premutation (PM) alleles, alleles with 55-200 repeats, are generally not aberrantly methylated and in fact may have hyperexpression of the FMR1 mRNA. We describe here a male who meets the diagnostic criteria for FXS, who is highly mosaic with a mixture of multiple PM and FM alleles and 50% methylation. However, the methylated alleles are limited to two alleles in the PM range, ~165 and ~175 repeats respectively, with the FM alleles being unmethylated. This finding has implications for FXS diagnosis as well as for efforts to delete the repeat in individuals with FXS using a CRISPR-Cas9 approach.

MicroRNA-143-3p suppresses tumorigenesis by targeting catenin-δ1 in colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy in the United States. Mounting microRNAs (miRNAs) have been identified as oncogenes or tumor suppressors in various cancers including CRC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The levels of microRNA-143-3p (miR-143-3p) and catenin-δ1 (CTNND1) were determined by RT-qPCR assay. Cell proliferative ability was assessed by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Cell migratory and invasive capacities were measured by transwell migration and invasion assay. Luciferase reporter assay was conducted to explore whether miR-143-3p could bind with CTNND1 3'UTR. CTNND1 protein level was determined through Western blot assay. Mouse xenograft models of CRC were established to test the functions and molecular basis of miR-143-3p in the development of CRC in vivo. RESULTS: Low amounts of miR-143-3p were expressed in CRC tissues and cells. Functional analysis revealed that miR-143-3p overexpression suppressed cell proliferation, migration and invasion in CRC. Molecular mechanism exploration indicated that miR-143-3p directly targeted CTNND1. Moreover, enforced expression of CTNND1 contributed to cell proliferation, migration and invasion in CRC, and CTNND1 silencing exerted opposite effects. Restoration experiments disclosed that CTNND1 upregulation weakened the inhibitory effects of miR-143-3p on CRC cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Additionally, miR-143-3p inhibited the growth of HCT116-derived xenograft tumors by targeting CTNND1 in vivo. CONCLUSION: miR-143-3p hampered the development and progression of CRC by targeting CTNND1 in vitro and in vivo, deepening our understanding of the functions and molecular basis of miR-143-3p in the tumorigenesis of CRC and providing some candidate prognostic markers or therapeutic targets for CRC.

Mutations in NUP160 Are Implicated in Steroid-Resistant Nephrotic Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Studies have identified mutations in >50 genes that can lead to monogenic steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS). The NUP160 gene, which encodes one of the protein components of the nuclear pore complex nucleoporin 160 kD (Nup160), is expressed in both human and mouse kidney cells. Knockdown of NUP160 impairs mouse podocytes in cell culture. Recently, siblings with SRNS and proteinuria in a nonconsanguineous family were found to carry compound-heterozygous mutations in NUP160. METHODS: We identified NUP160 mutations by whole-exome and Sanger sequencing of genomic DNA from a young girl with familial SRNS and FSGS who did not carry mutations in other genes known to be associated with SRNS. We performed in vivo functional validation studies on the NUP160 mutations using a Drosophila model. RESULTS: We identified two compound-heterozygous NUP160 mutations, NUP160R1173× and NUP160E803K . We showed that silencing of Drosophila NUP160 specifically in nephrocytes (fly renal cells) led to functional abnormalities, reduced cell size and nuclear volume, and disorganized nuclear membrane structure. These defects were completely rescued by expression of the wild-type human NUP160 gene in nephrocytes. By contrast, expression of the NUP160 mutant allele NUP160R1173× completely failed to rescue nephrocyte phenotypes, and mutant allele NUP160E803K rescued only nuclear pore complex and nuclear lamin localization defects. CONCLUSIONS: Mutations in NUP160 are implicated in SRNS. Our findings indicate that NUP160 should be included in the SRNS diagnostic gene panel to identify additional patients with SRNS and homozygous or compound-heterozygous NUP160 mutations and further strengthen the evidence that NUP160 mutations can cause SRNS.

Berberine attenuate staphylococcal enterotoxin B-mediated acute liver injury via regulating HDAC expression.

Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) has been documented to be implicated in the pathogenesis of liver injury in the experimental models of hepatitis. However, the underlying mechanism of SEB-induced acute liver injury (ALI) remains to be further explored. In our study, we explored the therapeutic effectiveness of berberine (BBR), a natural isoquinoline alkaloid, in the SEB-induced ALI. In our study, we found that injection of SEB into D-galactosamine (D-gal)-sensitized mice induced ALI, as demonstrated by an increase of levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, massive infiltration of immune cells into the liver, and pro-inflammatory cytokine release. However, intragastric administration of BBR attenuated SEB-induced ALI in mice. Meanwhile, we discovered that BBR treatment suppressed activation of splenocytes and pro-inflammatory cytokine release in SEB-stimulated splenocytes. Moreover, mechanistic analyses demonstrated that BBR was effective at inhibiting the expression of class I HDAC, but not class II, in SEB-stimulated splenocytes. Furthermore, trichostatin A, a standard HDAC inhibitor, alleviated activation of splenocytes and pro-inflammatory cytokine release in SEB-stimulated splenocytes. Taken together, we inferred from these results that BBR attenuated SEB-mediated ALI through repressing the class I HDAC enzyme, suggesting that BBR may constitute a novel therapeutic modality to prevent SEB-mediated inflammation and ALI.

Numerical computation of homogeneous slope stability.

To simplify the computational process of homogeneous slope stability, improve computational accuracy, and find multiple potential slip surfaces of a complex geometric slope, this study utilized the limit equilibrium method to derive expression equations of overall and partial factors of safety. This study transformed the solution of the minimum factor of safety (FOS) to solving of a constrained nonlinear programming problem and applied an exhaustive method (EM) and particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO) to this problem. In simple slope examples, the computational results using an EM and PSO were close to those obtained using other methods. Compared to the EM, the PSO had a small computation error and a significantly shorter computation time. As a result, the PSO could precisely calculate the slope FOS with high efficiency. The example of the multistage slope analysis indicated that this slope had two potential slip surfaces. The factors of safety were 1.1182 and 1.1560, respectively. The differences between these and the minimum FOS (1.0759) were small, but the positions of the slip surfaces were completely different than the critical slip surface (CSS).

Antiviral activity of Folium isatidis derived extracts in vitro and in vivo.

Folium isatidis is a native Chinese herbaceous plant widely used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years. However, few studies have focused on the leaves of Isatis indigotica. In this report, we isolated a series of four fractions (I-IV) from Folium isatidis and explored the antiviral activity of each tested extract. The extracts were active against a panel of RNA and DNA viruses in vitro, namely influenza A virus (IAV), coxsackie virus B3 (CVB3), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and adenovirus type 7 (Ad-7). Oral administration of 200 mg/kg/d of fraction III in mice exerted strong antiviral effects in viral replication, accompanied by prolonged survival rate, attenuated lung tissue damage as well as significant reductions in pulmonary virus titers and lung index. Our results provide the first biochemical evidence that Folium isatidis and its extracts could be used as potential antiviral agent in the postexposure prophylaxis for multiple viral infections.

Genetic analysis of hantaviruses and their rodent hosts in central-south China.

Hantaan virus (HTNV) and Seoul virus (SEOV) are two major zoonotic pathogens of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Asia. Hubei province, which is located in the central-south China, had been one of the most severe epidemic areas of HFRS. To investigate phylogenetic relationships, genetic diversity and geographic distribution of HTNV and SEOV in their reservoir hosts, a total of 687 rodents were trapped in this area between 2000 and 2009. Sequences of partial S- and M-segments of hantaviruses and mitochondrial D-loop gene from 30 positive samples were determined. Our data indicated that SEOV and HTNV were co-circulating in Hubei. Phylogenetic analysis based on partial S- and M-segment sequences revealed two and three previously undefined lineages of SEOV, and a novel genetic lineage of HTNV, respectively. Four inter-lineage reassortment SEOVs carried by Rattus norvegicus and Apodemus agrarius were observed. It suggests that SEOV may cause spillover infections to A. agrarius naturally. The abundance of the phylogenetic lineages of SEOV suggested that central-south China was a radiation center for SEOVs.

Fragile X analysis of 1112 prenatal samples from 1991 to 2010.

OBJECTIVE: To determine risks of expansion for normal, intermediate, and premutation FMR1 CGG repeats. METHODS: PCR was used to compare the FMR1 alleles in prenatal (chorionic villi and amniocytes) and parental samples collected from 1991 to 2010. Prenatal diagnoses were confirmed by Southern analysis. RESULTS: Fragile X analysis of 1112 pregnancies identified 558 normal, 106 intermediate, 216 premutation, and 232 full mutation fetuses. Of 509 maternal, intermediate, and premutation alleles, 350 (68.7%) were unstable on transmission with expansions ranging from one repeat to the full mutation. The smallest premutation alleles expanding to the full mutation were in mothers with 65 and 66 repeats. Transmissions from women with or without a family history of fragile X suggested greater instability in women from families that included full mutation expansions. CONCLUSIONS: The maternal transmissions of alleles with 55 to 59 CGG repeats summarized here indicate that the risk for expansion to full mutation is substantially less than previous estimates for this size category. Most premutation alleles with no family history of fragile X exhibited less instability than those with a history of fragile X. Thus, lower risk estimates for full mutation expansion may be appropriate for women newly identified as premutation carriers through routine screening.

In situ synthesis of ordered mesoporous silica materials embedded in cotton fiber and their CO2 capture properties.

Mesoporous silica/cotton fiber composite materials have been prepared in situ by using pluronics P123 (EO20PO70EO20) as template, tetraethyl orthosilicate as silica source and degreasing cotton as supporter. In order to avoid the hydrolysis of cotton fiber in a strong acidic media during the hydrothermal treatment, two kinds of methods were used to control the acidity of the reaction media. One was to adjust the pH to 5 after self-assembly in a strong acidic media; the other was a two-step route containing the pre-hydrolysis of TEOS and self-assembly in a weak acidic media. The resulting shaped composite materials presented the morphology of cotton fiber, and the silica particles mainly covered the surfaces of cotton fibers. These silica particles possessed a slightly ordered pore structure or a well ordered SBA-15 structure according to the difference in the synthetic methods. After modification with tetraethylenepentamine, these shaped composite materials exhibited considerable CO2 adsorption capacity. The use of cotton fiber has the advantages of shaping the powdery materials, dispersing the silica particles and avoiding the formation of moisture and sticky solid surfaces by overloaded tetraethylenepentamine.