[Nondestructive Measurement of RDX Grain's Internal Pressure by Using Raman Spectrum Method].

RDX is a most widely used military explosive. As the development of new warheads, there are more and more applications of RDX with abnormal grain shapes. To ensure the operational effectiveness of the new warheads, it is necessary to find an on-line nondestructive methods that can measure the RDX grain's internal pressure. In this paper, we use Raman spectrum and first-principles methods to determine the characteristic spectral line of the RDX samples and have studied the shift of the Raman spectral lines under various pressures. In particular, we measured the RDX samples under the pressures of 10, 20 and 30 MPa, respectively, and checked the fitting errors by measuring the RDX samples under the pressures of 15, 25 and 35 MPa, respectively. It is found that the shift of the characteristic Raman spectral line has a good linear dependence on the external pressures. Therefore, we can at first calibrate the linear relation between the shift of the Raman spectral line of regular RDX and the pressures in laboratory and then measure the Raman spectral line shift of the RDX with abnormal shapes. Based on the calibrated linear relation and the measurement of Raman spectra, one can determine the internal pressure in RDX. In this way, we can realize the nondestructive detection of the internal pressure of RDX. The experiment results show that this method has the advantage of good sensitivity and reproducibility. The Raman spectrum method has been successfully tested in the warhead production line.

Regulation of RAGE splicing by hnRNP A1 and Tra2ß-1 and its potential role in AD pathogenesis.

The receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) gene expresses two major alternative splicing isoforms, full-length membrane-bound RAGE (mRAGE) and secretory RAGE (esRAGE). Both isoforms play important roles in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis, either via interaction of mRAGE with ß-amyloid peptide (Aß) or inhibition of the mRAGE-activated signaling pathway. In the present study, we showed that heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 (hnRNP A1) and Transformer2ß-1 (Tra2ß-1) were involved in the alternative splicing of mRAGE and esRAGE. Functionally, two factors had an antagonistic effect on the regulation. Glucose deprivation induced an increased ratio of mRAGE/esRAGE via up-regulation of hnRNP A1 and down-regulation of Tra2ß-1. Moreover, the ratios of mRAGE/esRAGE and hnRNP A1/Tra2ß-1 were increased in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from AD patients. The results provide a molecular basis for altered splicing of mRAGE and esRAGE in AD pathogenesis. The receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) gene expresses two major alternative splicing isoforms, membrane-bound RAGE (mRAGE) and secretory RAGE (esRAGE). Both isoforms play important roles in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis. Mechanism for imbalanced expression of these two isoforms in AD brain remains elusive. We proposed here a hypothetic model to illustrate that impaired glucose metabolism in AD brain may increase the expression of splicing protein hnRNP A1 and reduce Tra2ß-1, which cause the imbalanced expression of mRAGE and esRAGE.

[Improved synthesis process of diethyl N-[4-[(2,4-diaminopyrido[3,2-d]pyrimidin-6-yl)methylamino]benzoyl]-L-glutamate].

OBJECTIVE: To establish a new approach to synthesis of diethyl N-[4-[(2,4-diaminopyrido[3,2-d]pyrimidin-6-yl)methylamino]benzoyl]-L-glutamate. METHODS: Target compound (5) was synthesized by the use of (2,4-dioxo-tetrahydropyridopyrimidin-6-yl)methyl acetate (1) as starting material via hydrolysis, chlorination, condensation with diethyl (p-aminobenzoyl)glutamate and aminolysis. RESULTS: A new approach to synthesis of diethyl N-[4-[(2,4-diaminopyrido[3,2-d]pyrimidin-6-yl)methylamino]benzoyl]-L-glutamate was established. This synthetic route has hydrolysis reaction, chlorination, diethyl N-(p-aminobenzoyl)-L-glutamate condensation reaction and ammonolysis reaction. The total yield is 36.7%.The structures of those compounds have identified by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance, 13C nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry. This synthetic route avoid the unstable brominated reaction product and improves the harsh condition of ammonolysis reaction. CONCLUSION: The new synthetic route has improved the reaction condition and the stability of the intermediate, and increased the extent of the derivative compounds, which has great significance to anti-folic acid of anti-tumor inhibitor synthesis.

Systematic study of the effects of lowering low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol on regression of coronary atherosclerotic plaques using intravascular ultrasound.

BACKGROUND: Conflicting results currently exist on the effects of LDL-C levels and statins therapy on coronary atherosclerotic plaque, and the target level of LDL-C resulting in the regression of the coronary atherosclerotic plaques has not been settled. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were searched from Jan. 2000 to Jan. 2014 for randomized controlled or blinded end-points trials assessing the effects of LDL-C lowering therapy on regression of coronary atherosclerotic plaque (CAP) in patients with coronary heart disease by intravascular ultrasound. Data concerning the study design, patient characteristics, and outcomes were extracted. The significance of plaques regression was assessed by computing standardized mean difference (SMD) of the volume of CAP between the baseline and follow-up. SMD were calculated using fixed or random effects models. RESULTS: Twenty trials including 5910 patients with coronary heart disease were identified. Mean lowering LDL-C by 45.4% and to level 66.8 mg/dL in the group of patients with baseline mean LDL-C 123.7 mg/dL, mean lowering LDL-C by 48.8% and to level 60.6 mg/dL in the group of patients with baseline mean LDL-C 120 mg/dL, and mean lowering LDL-C by 40.4% and to level 77.8 mg/dL in the group of patients with baseline mean LDL-C 132.4 mg/dL could significantly reduce the volume of CAP at follow up (SMD -0.108 mm3, 95% CI -0.176 ~ -0.040, p = 0.002; SMD -0.156 mm3, 95% CI -0.235 ~ -0.078, p = 0.000; SMD -0.123 mm3, 95% CI -0.199 ~ -0.048, p = 0.001; respectively). LDL-C lowering by rosuvastatin (mean 33 mg daily) and atorvastatin (mean 60 mg daily) could significantly decrease the volumes of CAP at follow up (SMD -0.162 mm3, 95% CI: -0.234 ~ -0.081, p = 0.000; SMD -0.101, 95% CI: -0.184 ~ -0.019, p = 0.016; respectively). The mean duration of follow up was from 17 ~ 21 months. CONCLUSIONS: Intensive lowering LDL-C (rosuvastatin mean 33 mg daily and atorvastatin mean 60 mg daily) with >17 months of duration could lead to the regression of CAP, LDL-C level should be reduced by >40% or to a target level <78 mg/dL for regressing CAP.

Hierarchical Robust Generalized Nash Equilibrium Seeking of High-Order Uncertain Nonlinear Systems.

This article investigates the distributed generalized Nash equilibrium (GNE) seeking problem of noncooperative games (NGs) for high-order strict-feedback nonlinear multiagent systems (MASs). In particular, the feasible action set of each agent is not only subject to local set and inequality constraints but also coupled through an equality constraint with other agents. This constraint structure is more general and covers most of the constraints in the GNE seeking literature. To accomplish the concerned GNE seeking objective, we propose a novel hierarchical GNE seeking approach in this article to decouple the distributed GNE seeking algorithm design into two layers. First, we construct a distributed primary-dual GNE estimator to generate virtual reference signals that converge to the GNE. Then, with the output of the estimator as the reference signal, we develop an adaptive tracking controller to solve the resultant tracking problems under output constraints. To overcome the negative effects of the disturbances, novel compensating terms associated with smooth functions and positive integrable time-varying functions are incorporated in the controller design, which thereby realizes the exact GNE seeking in the presence of nonvanishing mismatched disturbances. At last, an example is given to support the theoretical analysis of the proposed algorithms.

Assessment of abnormal bowel perfusion using contrast-enhanced ultrasonography after small bowel transplantation: a case report.

A 59-year-old man with short-bowel syndrome received a small bowel transplantation. Because the recipient complained of severe abdominal pain 40 hours after the surgery and was highly suspected of having mesenteric vascular thrombosis, contrast-enhanced sonography (CEUS) was performed at his bedside. CEUS demonstrated that the superior mesenteric artery was patent, but the bowel graft showed hypoenhancement, indicating severely inadequate perfusion of the graft. Due to this complication, the patient underwent an exploratory laporatomy, and the bowel graft was removed. The pathologic findings support the diagnosis of acute vascular rejection after intestinal transplantation. This case suggests that CEUS can be used to assess perfusion and vascular complications after intestinal transplantation, as it is noninvasive and easily performed at bedside.

Adaptive Neural Asymptotic Tracking of Uncertain Non-Strict Feedback Systems With Full-State Constraints via Command Filtered Technique.

This brief addresses the adaptive neural asymptotic tracking issue for uncertain non-strict feedback systems subject to full-state constraints. By introducing the significant nonlinear transformed function (NTF), the command filtered technology, and the boundary estimation method into control design, a novel command filtered backstepping adaptive controller is proposed. The proposed control scheme is able to not only deal with full-state constraints but also avoid the "explosion of complexity" issue. By means of a Lyapunov stability analysis, we prove that: 1) the tracking error asymptotically converges to zero; 2) all the variables in the controlled systems are bounded; and 3) all the states are constrained in the asymmetric predefined sets. Finally, a numerical simulation is used to demonstrate the validity of the proposed algorithm.

Event-Triggered Adaptive Fuzzy Asymptotic Tracking Control of Nonlinear Pure-Feedback Systems With Prescribed Performance.

This article considers the problem of fixed-time prescribed event-triggered adaptive asymptotic tracking control for nonlinear pure-feedback systems with uncertain disturbances. The fuzzy-logic system (FLS) is introduced to deal with the unknown nonlinear functions in the system. By constructing a new type of Lyapunov function, the restrictive requirement that the upper bounds of the partial derivative of the unknown system functions need to be known is relaxed during the controller design process. At the same time, by developing a novel fixed-time performance function (FPF), the fixed-time prescribed performance (FPP) can be achieved, that is, the tracking error can converge to the neighborhood of the origin in a fixed time and finally converges to zero asymptotically. In addition, the event-triggered strategy is developed to reduce the waste of communication resources. The proposed control law can ensure that all the signals of the system are bounded. Meanwhile, the Zeno behavior can be effectively avoided. Finally, an example is provided to prove the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

Adaptive NN-Based Event-Triggered Containment Control for Unknown Nonlinear Networked Systems.

This article systematically addresses the distributed event-triggered containment control issues for multiagent systems subjected to unknown nonlinearities and external disturbances over a directed communication topology. Novel composite distributed adaptive neural network (NN) event-triggering conditions and event-triggered controller are raised meanwhile. Furthermore, the designed event-triggered controller is updated in an aperiodic way at the moment of event sampling, which saves the computation, resources, and transmission load. On the basis of the NN-based adaptive control techniques and event-triggered control strategies, the uniform ultimate bounded containment control can be achieved. In addition, the Zeno behavior is proven to be excluded. Simulation is presented to testify the effectiveness and advantages of the presented distributed containment control scheme.

Managing depression with complementary and alternative medicine therapies: a scientometric analysis and visualization of research activities.

Background: Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) interventions may prove to be an attractive option for the treatment of depression. The aim of this scientometric analysis is to determine the global scientific output of research regarding managing depression with CAM and identify the hotspots and frontiers within this theme. Methods: Publications regarding the utilization of CAM for treating depression were collected from the Web of Science Core Collection from 1993 to 2022, and analyzed and visualized by Bibliometrix R-package, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace. Results: A total of 1,710 publications were acquired. The number of annual publications showed an overall rapid upward trend, with the figure peaking at 179 in 2021. The USA was the leading research center. Totally 2,323 distinct institutions involving 7,638 scholars contributed to the research theme. However, most of the cooperation was limited to within the same country, institution or research team. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine was the most productive periodical. The CAM therapies of most interest to researchers were acupuncture and body-mind techniques, such as yoga, meditation and mindfulness. Systematic review and meta-analysis are commonly used methods. "Inflammation," "rating scale" and "psychological stress" were identified as the most studied trend topics recently. Conclusion: Managing depression with evidence-based CAM treatment is gaining attention globally. Body-mind techniques and acupuncture are growing research hotspots or emerging trending topics. Future studies are predicted to potentially investigate the possible mechanisms of action underlying CAM treatments in reducing depression in terms of modulation of psychological stress and inflammation levels. Cross-countries/institutes/team research collaborations should be encouraged and further enhanced.

[Outcomes of chronic radiation intestinal injury treated with surgical interventions].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the surgical approaches and clinical outcomes of chronic radiation intestinal injury (CRII). METHODS: From January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2010, at Department of Surgery, Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Command a consecutive series of 206 CRII patients undergoing surgical interventions was reviewed retrospectively. There were 64 males and 142 females with an age range of (50 ± 11) years old. The indications, surgical approaches, surgical complications and mortality were analyzed. RESULTS: 206 CRII patients received 229 surgical treatment, 31 patients underwent two or more operations. The course of surgical interventions included intestinal obstruction (n = 142), intestinal fistula (n = 56), proctitis (n = 12), bleeding (n = 6) and others (n = 13). They underwent 229 laparotomies including intestinal resection and primary anastomosis (n = 142), intestinal resection and enterostomy (n = 57), exclusion of radiation-related gastrointestinal diseases (n = 14) and other procedures (n = 16). The occurrence rate of postoperative intestinal complications was 25.7% (53/206). Five patients (2.4%) died within the postoperative 28 days. CONCLUSION: Surgery is often required for patients with chronic radiation-induced intestinal obstruction, fistula, hemorrhage and perforation, etc. Resection and primary anastomosis with undamaged segments may be performed safely in selected patients. And a judicious use of stoma can reduce the rates of major surgical mortality and morbidity.

A Bound Estimation Approach for Adaptive Fuzzy Asymptotic Tracking of Uncertain Stochastic Nonlinear Systems.

The adaptive fuzzy tracking control problems for a class of uncertain stochastic nonlinear systems are investigated in this article using the backstepping control approach. Different from the existing research, the crucial but highly restrictive hypothesis on the prior knowledge of unknown virtual control coefficients (UVCCs) is removed from this article. An asymptotic tracking control scheme is proposed by applying smooth functions and a bounded estimation method. By delicately constructing a specific composite Lyapunov function for the controlled system and several useful inequalities, the stability and asymptotic tracking performance with unknown nonlinear function and unknown UVCCs can be guaranteed almost surely. Finally, the method is illustrated with simulation examples.

Backstepping-Based Fuzzy Adaptive Stabilization of Reaction-Diffusion Equation With State Constraints.

This article proposes a stabilization scheme for a cascaded parabolic partial differential equation (PDE)-ordinary differential equation (ODE) system with state constraints. To begin, by employing the fuzzy-logic system (FLS) technique for the unknown nonlinear functions in the ODE subsystem, the influence of the nonlinearities is successfully eliminated. Then, the infinite and finite-dimensional backstepping methods are skillfully applied to the design of control schemes. Specifically, the infinite-dimensional backstepping transformation and its inverse are utilized to obtain a new PDE subsystem, which is convenient for control design. Next, based on the new target PDE-ODE cascade system, a novel first-order filter is subtly introduced into each step of the finite-dimensional backstepping-based controller design procedure to avoid the issue of "explosion of complexity." Furthermore, a novel barrier Lyapunov function (BLF) is constructed to guarantee that the states of the ODE subsystem do not violate the constraints. The controller designed in this article ensures that all signals in the closed-loop system are bounded and the states can converge to zero. Finally, a simulation example verifies that the proposed scheme can achieve satisfactory performance.

Event-Triggered Adaptive Neural Control for Fractional-Order Nonlinear Systems Based on Finite-Time Scheme.

This article addresses the finite-time event-triggered adaptive neural control for fractional-order nonlinear systems. Based on the backstepping technique, a novel adaptive event-triggered control scheme is proposed, and finite-time stability criteria are introduced with the aim to ensure that the tracking error enters into a small region around the origin in finite time. Finally, the stability of the closed-loop system is ensured via a fractional Lyapunov function theory and two simulation examples were used to prove the validity of the designed control scheme.

Event-Triggered Fuzzy Adaptive Fixed-Time Tracking Control for Nonlinear Systems.

In this article, the problem of event-based adaptive fuzzy fixed-time tracking control for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with unknown virtual control coefficients (UVCCs) is considered. The unknown nonlinear functions of the considered systems are approximated by fuzzy-logic systems (FLSs). Moreover, a novel Lyapunov function is designed to remove the requirement of lower bounds of the UVCC in control laws. In addition, an event-triggered control method is developed by using the backstepping technique to save the network resources. Through theoretical analysis, the event-based fixed-time controller was proposed, which can guarantee that all signals of the controlled system are bounded and the tracking error can converge to a small neighborhood of the origin in a fixed time. Meanwhile, the convergence time is independent of the initial states. Two numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Event-Based Design of Finite-Time Adaptive Control of Uncertain Nonlinear Systems.

The problem of finite-time adaptive tracking control against event-trigger error is investigated in this article for a type of uncertain nonlinear systems. By fusing the techniques of command filter backstepping technical and event-triggered control (ETC), an adaptive event-triggered design method is proposed to construct the controller, under which the effect of event-triggered error can be compensated completely. Moreover, the proposed controller can increase robustness against uncertainties and event error in the backstepping design framework. In particular, we establish the finite-time convergence condition under which the tracking error asymptotically converges to zero in finite time with the aid of a scaling function. Detailed and rigorous stability proofs are given by making use of the improved finite time stability criterion. Two simulation examples are provided to exhibit the validity of the designed adaptive ETC approach.

Nussbaum-Based Adaptive Fault-Tolerant Control for Nonlinear CPSs With Deception Attacks: A New Coordinate Transformation Technology.

In this article, two novel adaptive fault-tolerant control schemes for a class of nonlinear strict-feedback cyber-physical systems (CPSs) with deception attacks are presented. Deception attacks, such as false data-injection attacks, which destroy sensor networks, make the outputs and states of the CPSs unavailable. It is very difficult and challenging for a designer to achieve the tracking control under the circumstance of cyberattacks. To realize the tracking control for the studied CPSs, we propose a new coordinate transformation technology without precedent, where it takes the attack gains into account and uses the compromised states to design the corresponding controllers. In the backstepping design process, Nussbaum functions are presented to alleviate the influence of the unknown attack gains. Furthermore, we consider the actuator faults problem, which includes the loss of effectiveness and the bias fault. By skillfully designing the adaptive laws, the effect of actuator faults is completely eliminated. It is theoretically proved that the first proposed tracking control scheme can guarantee all signals in the closed-loop system are bounded and the output can track the desired reference signal. In addition, the second adaptive control scheme is also developed for the CPSs under the actuator faults and a more general assumption on the deception attacks is proposed simultaneously. Finally, the feasibility of the new proposed methods is verified by MATLAB simulation analysis.

Adaptive Fuzzy Asymptotic Tracking for Nonlinear Systems With Nonstrict-Feedback Structure.

In this article, the tracking control problems of the nonlinear nonstrict-feedback systems are considered. By combining the backstepping technique and bound estimation method, a novel nonlinear adaptive asymptotical control law is proposed, which offsets the effect of the unknown virtual control parameters and the uncertain nonlinearities. Correspondingly, an improved Lyapunov function by introducing the lower bounds of control parameters has been devised in this article. Compared with the existing adaptive tracking control schemes, the controller designed in this article can guarantee that the tracking control error converges to zero asymptotically and all the signals which contain the state variables and the adaptive laws are bounded. Moreover, the asymptotic stability of the system is realized for the first time. Finally, simulation examples are applied to test and prove the availability of the presented methods and the performance of the controlled system.

[Liposomal encapsulation of free anthraquinones in rhizoma et radix rhei and its quality control].

OBJECTIVE: To encapsulate the free anthraquiones in Rhizoma et Radix Rhei (rhein, chrysophanol, physcione, emodin and aloeemodin) in liposomes and characterize the liposomes. METHODS: The liposomes were separated from free drug with sephadex G-50 with HPLC determination of the free anthraquinones in liposomes, then its entrapment efficiency was calculated. Ethanol injection method was used to prepare the liposomes with the addition of a suitable amount Ca2+ in the medium. The influence of Ca2+ on the entrapment efficiency of free anthraquinones in Rhizoma et Radix Rhei in liposomes has been studied. Dynamic laser scatterometer and transmission electron microscopy were used to study the sizes and morphology of the liposomes. RESULTS: The entrapment efficiency of rhein, chrysophanol, physcione, emodin and aloeemodin in liposomes were 27.63%, 85.16%,100.14%, 99.77% and 66.16%, respectively. The total entrapment efficiency of free anthraquinones in Rhizoma et Radix Rhei was 80.67%. Ca2+ could greatly promote the liposomal encapsulation of free anthraquinones in Rhizoma et Radix Rhei from 13.98% - 23.78% to 81.42% - 89.43%. The liposomes were white spheres and its average size was mainly concentrated on 340 nm. CONCLUSION: The entrapment efficiency of the liposomal encapsulation of free anthraquinones in Rhizoma et Radix Rhei is high. The quality control method is simple and rapid with good repeatability.

Observer-Based Adaptive Fuzzy Decentralized Event-Triggered Control of Interconnected Nonlinear System.

This paper addresses the decentralized output feedback problem of an interconnected nonlinear system subject to uncertain interactions. A decentralized event-triggered control scheme is presented so that the decentralized output feedback problem is solved with only event-sampling states. With the proposed triggering mechanism, each subsystem only uses local signals to construct the decentralized controller at its own triggering times or the switching times. It is proved that both the tracking performance and the closed-loop stability can be preserved via the presented approach. Moreover, a uniform positive lower bound for the interevent time is guaranteed. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control design.