An empirical study on KDIGO-defined acute kidney injury prediction in the intensive care unit.

MOTIVATION: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a syndrome that affects a large fraction of all critically ill patients, and early diagnosis to receive adequate treatment is as imperative as it is challenging to make early. Consequently, machine learning approaches have been developed to predict AKI ahead of time. However, the prevalence of AKI is often underestimated in state-of-the-art approaches, as they rely on an AKI event annotation solely based on creatinine, ignoring urine output.We construct and evaluate early warning systems for AKI in a multi-disciplinary ICU setting, using the complete KDIGO definition of AKI. We propose several variants of gradient-boosted decision tree (GBDT)-based models, including a novel time-stacking based approach. A state-of-the-art LSTM-based model previously proposed for AKI prediction is used as a comparison, which was not specifically evaluated in ICU settings yet. RESULTS: We find that optimal performance is achieved by using GBDT with the time-based stacking technique (AUPRC = 65.7%, compared with the LSTM-based model's AUPRC = 62.6%), which is motivated by the high relevance of time since ICU admission for this task. Both models show mildly reduced performance in the limited training data setting, perform fairly across different subcohorts, and exhibit no issues in gender transfer.Following the official KDIGO definition substantially increases the number of annotated AKI events. In our study GBDTs outperform LSTM models for AKI prediction. Generally, we find that both model types are robust in a variety of challenging settings arising for ICU data. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The code to reproduce the findings of our manuscript can be found at: https://github.com/ratschlab/AKI-EWS.

Glucose-Driven Droplet Formation in Complexes of a Supramolecular Peptide and Therapeutic Protein.

Biology achieves remarkable function through processes arising from spontaneous or transient liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of proteins and other biomolecules. While polymeric systems can achieve similar phenomena through simple or complex coacervation, LLPS with supramolecular materials has been less commonly shown. Functional applications for synthetic LLPS systems are an expanding area of emphasis, with particular focus on capturing the transient and dynamic state of these structures for use in biomedicine. Here, a net-cationic supramolecular peptide amphiphile building block with a glucose-binding motif is shown that forms LLPS structures when combined with a net-negatively charged therapeutic protein, dasiglucagon, in the presence of glucose. The droplets that arise are dynamic and coalesce quickly. However, the interface can be stabilized by addition of a 4-arm star PEG. When the stabilized droplets formed in glucose are transferred to a bulk phase containing different glucose concentrations, their stability and lifetime decrease according to bulk glucose concentration. This glucose-dependent formation translates into an accelerated release of dasiglucagon in the absence of glucose; this hormone analogue itself functions therapeutically to correct low blood glucose (hypoglycemia). These droplets also offer function in mitigating the most severe effects of hypoglycemia arising from an insulin overdose through delivery of dasiglucagon in a mouse model of hypoglycemic rescue. Accordingly, this approach to use complexation between a supramolecular peptide amphiphile and a therapeutic protein in the presence of glucose leads to droplets with functional potential to dissipate for the release of the therapeutic material in low blood glucose environments.

Deubiquitination of CDC6 by OTUD6A promotes tumour progression and chemoresistance.

BACKGROUND: CDC6 is an oncogenic protein whose expression level fluctuates during the cell cycle. Although several E3 ubiquitin ligases responsible for the ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis of CDC6 have been identified, the deubiquitination pathway for CDC6 has not been investigated. METHODS: The proteome-wide deubiquitinase (DUB) screening was used to identify the potential regulator of CDC6. Immunofluorescence, protein half-life and deubiquitination assays were performed to determine the protein stability of CDC6. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments were implemented to analyse the impacts of OUTD6A-CDC6 axis on tumour growth and chemosensitivity in vitro. N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl) nitrosamine (BBN)-induced conditional Otud6a knockout (CKO) mouse model and tumour xenograft model were performed to analyse the role of OTUD6A-CDC6 axis in vivo. Tissue specimens were used to determine the association between OTUD6A and CDC6. RESULTS: OTUD6A interacts with, depolyubiquitinates and stabilizes CDC6 by removing K6-, K33-, and K48-linked polyubiquitination. Moreover, OTUD6A promotes cell proliferation and decreases sensitivity to chemotherapy by upregulating CDC6. CKO mice are less prone to BCa tumorigenesis induced by BBN, and knockdown of OTUD6A inhibits tumour progression in vivo. Furthermore, OTUD6A protein level has a positive correlation with CDC6 protein level, and high protein levels of OTUD6A and CDC6 are associated with poor prognosis in patients with bladder cancer. CONCLUSIONS: We reveal an important yet missing piece of novel DUB governing CDC6 stability. In addition, our findings propose a model for the OTUD6A-CDC6 axis that provides novel insights into cell cycle and chemosensitivity regulation, which may become a potential biomarker and promising drug target for cancer treatment.

NSUN2 promotes lung adenocarcinoma progression through stabilizing PIK3R2 mRNA in an m5C-dependent manner.

It is well known that 5-methylcytosine (m5C) is involved in variety of crucial biological processes in cancers. However, its biological roles in lung adenocarcinoma (LAUD) remain to be determined. The LUAD samples were used to assess the clinical value of NOP2/Sun RNA Methyltransferase 2 (NSUN2). Dot blot was used to determine global m5C levels. ChIP and dual-luciferase assays were performed to investigate the MYC-associated zinc finger protein (MAZ)-binding sites in NSUN2 promoter. RNA-seq was used to explore the downstream molecular mechanisms of NSUN2. Dual luciferase reporter assay, m5C-RIP-qPCR, and mRNA stability assay were conducted to explore the effect of NSUN2-depletion on target genes. Cell viability, transwell, and xenograft mouse model were designed to demonstrate the characteristic of NSUN2 in promoting LUAD progression. The m5C methyltransferase NSUN2 was highly expressed and caused elevated m5C methylation in LUAD samples. Mechanistically, MAZ positively regulated the transcription of NSUN2 and was related to poor survival of LUAD patients. Silencing NSUN2 decreased the global m5C levels, suppressed proliferation, migration and invasion, and inhibited activation of PI3K-AKT signaling in A549 and SPAC-1 cells. Phosphoinositide-3-Kinase Regulatory Subunit 2 (PIK3R2) was upregulated by NSUN2-mediated m5C methylation by enhancing its mRNA stabilization and activated the phosphorylation of the PI3K-AKT signaling. The present study explored the underlying mechanism and biological function of NSUN2-meditated m5C RNA methylation in LUAD. NSUN2 was discovered to facilitate the malignancy progression of LUAD through regulating m5C modifications to stabilize PIK3R2 activating the PI3K-AKT signaling, suggesting that NSUN2 could be a novel biomarker and promising therapeutic target for LUAD patients.

Design and synthesis of matrine derivatives for anti myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury by promoting angiogenesis.

Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) is a common cardiovascular disease that seriously affects the quality of life and prognosis of patients. In recent years, matrine has attracted widespread attention in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. This study designed, synthesized, and characterized 20 new matrine derivatives and studied their protective effects on ischemia-reperfusion injury through in vivo and in vitro experiments. Based on cellular assays, most newly synthesized derivatives have a certain protective effect on Hypoxia/Reoxygenation (H/R) induced H9C2 cell damage, with compound 22 having the best activity and effectively reducing cell apoptosis and necrosis. In vitro experimental data shows that compound 22 can significantly reduce the infarct size of rat myocardium and improve cardiac function after MI/R injury. In summary, compound 22 is a new potential cardioprotective agent that can promote angiogenesis and enhance antioxidant activity by activating ADCY5, CREB3l4, and VEGFA, thereby protecting myocardial cell apoptosis and necrosis induced by MI/R.

Spatially Resolved Defect Characterization and Fidelity Assessment for Complex and Arbitrary Irregular 3D Printing Based on 3D P-OCT and GCode.

To address the challenges associated with achieving high-fidelity printing of complex 3D bionic models, this paper proposes a method for spatially resolved defect characterization and fidelity assessment. This approach is based on 3D printer-associated optical coherence tomography (3D P-OCT) and GCode information. This method generates a defect characterization map by comparing and analyzing the target model map from GCode information and the reconstructed model map from 3D P-OCT. The defect characterization map enables the detection of defects such as material accumulation, filament breakage and under-extrusion within the print path, as well as stringing outside the print path. The defect characterization map is also used for defect visualization, fidelity assessment and filament breakage repair during secondary printing. Finally, the proposed method is validated on different bionic models, printing paths and materials. The fidelity of the multilayer HAP scaffold with gradient spacing increased from 0.8398 to 0.9048 after the repair of filament breakage defects. At the same time, the over-extrusion defects on the nostril and along the high-curvature contours of the nose model were effectively detected. In addition, the finite element analysis results verified that the 60-degree filling model is superior to the 90-degree filling model in terms of mechanical strength, which is consistent with the defect detection results. The results confirm that the proposed method based on 3D P-OCT and GCode can achieve spatially resolved defect characterization and fidelity assessment in situ, facilitating defect visualization and filament breakage repair. Ultimately, this enables high-fidelity printing, encompassing both shape and function.

Prediction of recovery from multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in pediatric sepsis patients.

MOTIVATION: Sepsis is a leading cause of death and disability in children globally, accounting for ∼3 million childhood deaths per year. In pediatric sepsis patients, the multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) is considered a significant risk factor for adverse clinical outcomes characterized by high mortality and morbidity in the pediatric intensive care unit. The recent rapidly growing availability of electronic health records (EHRs) has allowed researchers to vastly develop data-driven approaches like machine learning in healthcare and achieved great successes. However, effective machine learning models which could make the accurate early prediction of the recovery in pediatric sepsis patients from MODS to a mild state and thus assist the clinicians in the decision-making process is still lacking. RESULTS: This study develops a machine learning-based approach to predict the recovery from MODS to zero or single organ dysfunction by 1 week in advance in the Swiss Pediatric Sepsis Study cohort of children with blood-culture confirmed bacteremia. Our model achieves internal validation performance on the SPSS cohort with an area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) of 79.1% and area under the precision-recall curve (AUPRC) of 73.6%, and it was also externally validated on another pediatric sepsis patients cohort collected in the USA, yielding an AUROC of 76.4% and AUPRC of 72.4%. These results indicate that our model has the potential to be included into the EHRs system and contribute to patient assessment and triage in pediatric sepsis patient care. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: Code available at https://github.com/BorgwardtLab/MODS-recovery. The data underlying this article is not publicly available for the privacy of individuals that participated in the study. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Effects of adding corn steep liquor on bacterial community composition and carbon and nitrogen transformation during spent mushroom substrate composting.

BACKGROUND: Carbon and nitrogen are essential energy and nutrient substances in the composting process. Corn steep liquor (CSL) is rich in soluble carbon and nitrogen nutrients and active substances and is widely used in the biological industry. Nonetheless, limited research has been done on the effect of CSL on composting. This work firstly reveals the effect of adding CSL to bacterial community composition and carbon and nitrogen conversion during composting. This study provides the choice of auxiliary materials for the spent mushroom substrate compost (SMS) and some novel knowledge about the effect of bacterial community on C and N cycling during composting of SMS and CSL. Two treatments were set up in the experiment: 100% spent mushroom substrate (SMS) as CK and SMS + 0.5% CSL (v/v) as CP. RESULTS: The results showed that the addition of CSL enhanced the initial carbon and nitrogen content of the compost, altered the bacterial community structure, and increased the bacterial diversity and relative abundance, which might be beneficial to the conversion and retention of carbon and nitrogen in the composting process. In this paper, network analysis was used to screen the core bacteria involved in carbon and nitrogen conversion. In the CP network, the core bacteria were divided into two categories, synthesizing and degrading bacteria, and there were more synthesizing bacteria than degrading bacteria, so the degradation and synthesis of organic matter were carried out simultaneously, while only degrading bacteria were found in the CK network. Functional prediction by Faprotax identified 53 groups of functional bacteria, among which 20 (76.68% abundance) and 14 (13.15% abundance) groups of functional bacteria were related to carbon and nitrogen conversion, respectively. Adding CSL stimulated the compensatory effect of core and functional bacteria, enhanced the carbon and nitrogen transformation ability, stimulated the activity of low-abundance bacteria, and reduced the competitive relationship between the bacterial groups. This may be why the addition of CSL accelerated the organic matter degradation and increased carbon and nitrogen preservation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that the addition of CSL promoted the cycling and preservation of carbon and nitrogen in the SMS composts, and the addition of CSL to the compost may be an effective way to dispose of agricultural waste.

Hyperbolic Cooper-Pair Polaritons in Planar Graphene/Cuprate Plasmonic Cavities.

Hyperbolic Cooper-pair polaritons (HCP) in cuprate superconductors are of fundamental interest due to their potential for providing insights into the nature of unconventional superconductivity. Here, we critically assess an experimental approach using near-field imaging to probe HCP in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x (Bi-2212) in the presence of graphene surface plasmon polaritons (SPP). Our simulations show that inherently weak HCP features in the near-field can be strongly enhanced when coupled to graphene SPP in layered graphene/hexagonal boron nitride (hBN)/Bi-2212 heterostructures. This enhancement arises from our multilayered structures effectively acting as plasmonic cavities capable of altering collective modes of a layered superconductor by modifying its electromagnetic environment. The degree of enhancement can be selectively controlled by tuning the insulating spacer thickness with atomic precision. Finally, we verify the expected renormalization of room-temperature graphene SPP using near-field infrared imaging. Our modeling, augmented with data, attests to the validity of our approach for probing HCP modes in cuprate superconductors.

Dual-Gated Graphene Devices for Near-Field Nano-imaging.

Graphene-based heterostructures display a variety of phenomena that are strongly tunable by electrostatic local gates. Monolayer graphene (MLG) exhibits tunable surface plasmon polaritons, as revealed by scanning nano-infrared experiments. In bilayer graphene (BLG), an electronic gap is induced by a perpendicular displacement field. Gapped BLG is predicted to display unusual effects such as plasmon amplification and domain wall plasmons with significantly larger lifetime than MLG. Furthermore, a variety of correlated electronic phases highly sensitive to displacement fields have been observed in twisted graphene structures. However, applying perpendicular displacement fields in nano-infrared experiments has only recently become possible [Li, H.; Nano Lett. 2020, 20, 3106-3112]. In this work, we fully characterize two approaches to realizing nano-optics compatible top gates: bilayer MoS2 and MLG. We perform nano-infrared imaging on both types of structures and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. Our work paves the way for comprehensive near-field experiments of correlated phenomena and plasmonic effects in graphene-based heterostructures.

Long-Lived Phonon Polaritons in Hyperbolic Materials.

Natural hyperbolic materials with dielectric permittivities of opposite signs along different principal axes can confine long-wavelength electromagnetic waves down to the nanoscale, well below the diffraction limit. Confined electromagnetic waves coupled to phonons in hyperbolic dielectrics including hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) and α-MoO3 are referred to as hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPPs). HPP dissipation at ambient conditions is substantial, and its fundamental limits remain unexplored. Here, we exploit cryogenic nanoinfrared imaging to investigate propagating HPPs in isotopically pure hBN and naturally abundant α-MoO3 crystals. Close to liquid-nitrogen temperatures, losses for HPPs in isotopic hBN drop significantly, resulting in propagation lengths in excess of 8 µm, with lifetimes exceeding 5 ps, thereby surpassing prior reports on such highly confined polaritonic modes. Our nanoscale, temperature-dependent imaging reveals the relevance of acoustic phonons in HPP damping and will be instrumental in mitigating such losses for miniaturized mid-infrared technologies operating at liquid-nitrogen temperatures.

Excitons in strain-induced one-dimensional moiré potentials at transition metal dichalcogenide heterojunctions.

The possibility of confining interlayer excitons in interfacial moiré patterns has recently gained attention as a strategy to form ordered arrays of zero-dimensional quantum emitters and topological superlattices in transition metal dichalcogenide heterostructures. Strain is expected to play an important role in the modulation of the moiré potential landscape, tuning the array of quantum dot-like zero-dimensional traps into parallel stripes of one-dimensional quantum wires. Here, we present real-space imaging of unstrained zero-dimensional and strain-induced one-dimensional moiré patterns along with photoluminescence measurements of the corresponding excitonic emission from WSe2/MoSe2 heterobilayers. Whereas excitons in zero-dimensional moiré traps display quantum emitter-like sharp photoluminescence peaks with circular polarization, the photoluminescence emission from excitons in one-dimensional moiré potentials shows linear polarization and two orders of magnitude higher intensity. These results establish strain engineering as an effective method to tailor moiré potentials and their optoelectronic response on demand.

Author Correction: Excitons in strain-induced one-dimensional moiré potentials at transition metal dichalcogenide heterojunctions.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Midterm Results of Retrograde In Situ Needle Fenestration During Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair of Aortic Arch Pathologies.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and feasibility of the in situ needle fenestration (ISNF) technique for reconstruction of the left subclavian artery (LSA) during thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) of complicated aortic arch pathologies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted from January 2014 to December 2019 of 50 patients (mean age 60.2±11.1; 45 men) who underwent ISNF to revascularize the LSA during TEVAR. Twenty-one of the patients also required revascularization of the left common carotid artery (LCCA; n=19) and innominate artery (IA; n=2) using physician-modified in vitro fenestration. Overall, 73 supra-aortic branches were targeted for revascularization. RESULTS: ISNF was successful in 48 patients (96%); one LSA could not be stented and a tortuous LSA prevented the needle from fenestrating the graft. No perioperative major adverse event occurred. There were no type I and 4 type III endoleaks (8%), 3 of which occurred among the first 20 cases. Types II and IV endoleaks were found in 3 (6%) and 6 (12%) cases, respectively; all disappeared during a median follow-up of 15 months (range 3-66). One death (2%) occurred within 12 months due to cerebral hemorrhage. Two patients (4%) required open reinterventions at 6 and 62 months. CONCLUSION: ISNF for revascularization of the LSA during TEVAR seems to be feasible with acceptable midterm outcomes. The learning curve and evolving patient selection criteria affected technical success, complications, and the need for reinterventions. Long-term durability requires further evaluation.

Study on the Mechanical Properties of Fly-Ash-Based Light-Weighted Porous Geopolymer and Its Utilization in Roof-Adaptive End Filling Technology.

This paper aims to study the porous structure and the mechanical properties of fly-ash-based light-weighted porous geopolymer (FBLPG), exploring the feasibility of using it in roof-adaptive end filling technology based on its in-situ foaming characteristics and plastic yielding performance. A porous structure model of FBLPG during both the slurry and solid period was established to study their influence factor. In addition, this study also built a planar structure model in the shape of a honeycomb with bore walls, proving that the bore walls possess the characteristics of isotropic force. FBLPG shows a peculiar plastic yielding performance in the experiment where its stress stays stable with the gradual increase of the deformation, which can guarantee the stability of a filling body under the cycled load from the roof. At the same time, the in-situ foaming process combined with the unique filling technique can make the FBLPG filling body fully in contact with the irregular roof. This roof-adaptive end filling technology makes it a successful application in plugging the 1305 working face, which avoids problems of the low tight-connection ratio and secondary air-leakage channel resulted from the traditional filling technology, effectively improving coal production in terms of safety and high efficiency.

Organocatalytic Control over a Fuel-Driven Transient-Esterification Network*.

Signal transduction in living systems is the conversion of information into a chemical change, and is the principal process by which cells communicate. In nature, these functions are encoded in non-equilibrium (bio)chemical reaction networks (CRNs) controlled by enzymes. However, man-made catalytically controlled networks are rare. We incorporated catalysis into an artificial fuel-driven out-of-equilibrium CRN, where the forward (ester formation) and backward (ester hydrolysis) reactions are controlled by varying the ratio of two organocatalysts: pyridine and imidazole. This catalytic regulation enables full control over ester yield and lifetime. This fuel-driven strategy was expanded to a responsive polymer system, where transient polymer conformation and aggregation are controlled through fuel and catalyst levels. Altogether, we show that organocatalysis can be used to control a man-made fuel-driven system and induce a change in a macromolecular superstructure, as in natural non-equilibrium systems.

[Recent Progress at Atomic Spectrum Field for DBD Research and Development].

Because of its small volume, simple structure, low energy consumption, low working temperature, strong ability of sample dissociation/excitation and other significant characteristics, the dielectric barrier discharge is especially suitable for the miniaturization and portable analytical instruments. By now, atomizer or excitation source based on dielectric barrier discharge has applied in atomic absorption spectrometer, atomic fluorescence spectrometer and atomic emission spectrometer successfully, which promoted the development of miniaturization atomic spectrum instrument. This paper reviews DBD's recent progress in atomic spectrum field, emphatically introduces the applications of the DBD-AFS system in different sampling modes and analyses, along with their respective merits and demerits. This paper also introduces the new applications of DBD in vapor generation and direct solid sampling. Due to the DBD's reaction mechanism is still unclear; the study of its subsequent development may be restricted.

[Effects of Enhanced Ultraviolet B Irradiation on Photosynthetic and Antioxidant System of Sorghum Seedlings].

The UV-B radiation on the surface of our planet has been enhanced due to gradual thinning of ozone layer. The change of solar spectrum UV-B radiation will cause damage to all kinds of terrestrial plants at certain degree. In this paper, taking breeding sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.Moench))variety Longza No.5 as sample, 40 µW·cm-2 UV-B radiation treatment was conducted on sorghum seedlings at two-leaf and one-heart stage and different time courses; then after a 2 d recovering, photosynthetic parameters were measured with a photosynthetic apparatus; the activities of antioxidant enzymes were detected as well. Our results revealed that, as the dosages of UV-B increasing, leaf browning injury was aggravated, plants dwarfing and significantly were reduced fresh weight and dry weight were observed; anthocyanin content was significantly increased; chlorophyll and carotenoid content significantly were reduced and net photosynthetic rate and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters were decreased. Meanwhile, with the increase in UV-B dosages, stomatal conductance, intercellular CO2 concentration and transpiration rate showed "down - up - down" trend; the activities of SOD and GR presented "down - up" changes; activities of POD and CAT demonstrated "down - up - down", and APX, GPX showed an "up - down - up" pattern. It is worth to note that, under the four-dose treatment, a sharp decline in net photosynthesis in sorghum seedlings was observed at 6 h UV-B treatment (equals to 2.4 J·m-2), and an obvious turning point was also found for other photosynthetic parameters and activities of antioxidant enzymes at the same time point. In summary, the results indicated that the enhanced UV-B radiation directly accounted for the damages in photosynthesis system including photosynthetic pigment content, net photosynthetic rate and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of sorghum; the antioxidant system showed different responses to UV-B radiation below or above 6 h treatment: ASA-GSH cycle was more sensitive to low-dose UV-B radiation, while high-dose UV-B radiation not only undermined the photosynthesis system, but also triggered plant enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant systems, resulting in leaf browning and necrosis,biomass accumulation reduction, plant dwarfing and even death.

Experimental, numerical, and mechanistic analysis of the nonmonotonic relationship between oscillatory frequency and photointensity for the photosensitive Belousov-Zhabotinsky oscillator.

The oscillation frequency of a nonlinear reaction system acts as a key factor for interaction and superposition of spatiotemporal patterns. To control and design spatiotemporal patterns in oscillatory media, it is important to establish the dominant frequency-related mechanism and the effects of external forces and species concentrations on oscillatory frequency. In the Ru(bipy)3(2+)-catalyzed Belousov-Zhabotinsky oscillator, a nonmonotonic relationship exists between light intensity and oscillatory frequency (I-F relationship), which is composed of fast photopromotion and slow photoinhibition regions in the oscillation frequency curve. In this work, we identify the essential mechanistic step of the I-F relationship: the previously proposed photoreaction Ru(II)* + Ru(II) + BrO3(-) + 3H(+) → HBrO2 + 2Ru(III) + H2O, which has both effects of frequency-shortening and frequency-lengthening. The concentrations of species can shift the light intensity that produces the maximum frequency, which we simulate and explain with a mechanistic model. This result will benefit studies of pattern formation and biomimetic movement of oscillating polymer gels.

Dynamic characterization of water hammer in gangue fly ash slurry pipelines during valve closure.

In the process of coal-filling mining, the gangue fly-ash slurry (GFS) needs to be transported over a long distance to reach the gobs. The abrupt closure of the valve during the transportation of GFS can result in a water hammer that significantly endangers the stability and safety of the pipeline transport system. To study the fluctuations in pressure induced by abrupt closure of the valve, experiments on the rheological parameters of gangue-coal ash slurry were conducted. Transient numerical simulations were carried out using the computational fluid dynamics method for various valve closing times. The results indicate that, with the increase of slurry concentration, the yield stress of the slurry significantly increases. When the concentration exceeds 76%, the increase in yield stress reaches 38.4% and 35.1%, respectively. Upon valve closure, the internal pressure of the slurry in the pipeline exhibits periodic dynamic oscillations. As the duration of valve closure increases, the frequency of periodic water hammer events decreases. The maximum water hammer pressure caused by valve closure decreases with the increasing distance between the valve and the closure point. At the same time, the intensity of maximum water hammer pressure fluctuations increases with the increase in slurry concentration and flow velocity in the pipeline. The results can provide references for water hammer protection and pipeline selection during the transportation of backfill slurry in mining.