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Due to its unique geographical location and rapid urbanization, Xiamen is particularly susceptible to geological disasters. This study employs 80 Sentinel-1A SAR images covering Xiamen spanning from May 2017 to December 2023 for comprehensive dynamic monitoring of the land subsidence. PS-InSAR and SBAS-InSAR techniques were utilized to derive the surface deformation field and time series separately, followed by a comparative analysis of their results. SBAS-InSAR was finally chosen in this study for its higher coherence. Based on its results, we conducted cause analysis and obtained the following findings. (1) The most substantial subsidence occurred in Maluan Bay and Dadeng Island, where the maximum subsidence rate was 24 mm/yr and the maximum cumulative subsidence reached 250 mm over the course of the study. Additionally, regions exhibiting subsidence rates ranging from 10 to 30 mm/yr included Yuanhai Terminal, Maluan Bay, Xitang, Guanxun, Jiuxi entrance, Yangtang, the southeastern part of Dadeng Island, and Yundang Lake. (2) Geological structure, groundwater extraction, reclamation and engineering construction all have impacts on land subsidence. The land subsidence of fault belts and seismic focus areas was significant, and the area above the clay layer settled significantly. Both direct and indirect analysis can prove that as the amount of groundwater extraction increases, the amount of land subsidence increases. Significant subsidence is prone to occur after the initial land reclamation, during the consolidation period of the old fill materials, and after land compaction. The construction changes the soil structure, and the appearance of new buildings increases the risk of subsidence.

Introduction In current study we assessed the effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) on the quality of early recovery in patients undergoing gynecological laparoscopic surgery. Methods Sixty patients undergoing gynecological laparoscopic surgery were randomly assigned to TEAS (TEAS group) or control group (Con group). TEAS consisted of 30 min of stimulation (12–15 mA, 2/100 Hz) at the acupoints of Baihui (GV20), Yingtang (EX-HN-3), Zusanli (ST36) and Neiguan (PC6) before anesthesia. The patients in the Con group had the electrodes applied, but received no stimulation. Quality of recovery was assessed using a 40-item questionnaire as a measure of quality of recovery (QoR-40; maximum score 200) scoring system performed on preoperative day 1 (T0), postoperative day 1 (T1) and postoperative day 2 (T2); 100-mm visual analogue scale (VAS) scores at rest, mini-mental state examination (MMSE) scores, the incidence of nausea and vomiting, postoperative pain medications, and antiemetics were also recorded. Results: QoR-40 and MMSE scores of T0 showed no difference between two groups (QoR-40: 197.50 ± 2.57 vs. 195.83 ± 5.17), (MMSE: 26.83 ± 2.74 vs. 27.53 ± 2.88). Compared with the Con group, QoR-40 and MMSE scores of T1 and T2 were higher in the TEAS group ( P  < 0.05) (QoR-40: T1, 166.07 ± 8.44 vs. 175.33 ± 9.66; T2, 187.73 ± 5.47 vs. 191.40 ± 5.74), (MMSE: T1, 24.60 ± 2.35 vs. 26.10 ± 2.78; T2, 26.53 ± 2.94 vs. 27.83 ± 2.73). VAS scores of T1 and T2 were lower ( P  < 0.05) in the TEAS group (T1, 4.73 ± 1.53 vs. 3.70 ± 1.41; T2, 2.30 ± 0.95 vs. 1.83 ± 0.88); the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), remedial antiemetics and remedial analgesia was lower in the TEAS group ( P  < 0.05) (PONV: 56.7% vs. 23.3%; incidence of remedial antiemetics: 53.3% vs. 23.3%; incidence of remedial analgesia: 80% vs. 43.3%). Conclusion The use of TEAS significantly promoted the quality of early recovery, improved MMSE scores and reduced the incidence of pain, nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing gynecological laparoscopic surgery. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02619578. Registered on 2 December 2015. Trial registry name: https://clinicaltrials.gov

In order to address the challenges of small and micro-water pollution in parks and the low level of 3D visualization of water quality monitoring systems, this research paper proposes a novel wireless remote water quality monitoring system that combines the Internet of Things (IoT) and a 3D model of reality. To begin with, the construction of a comprehensive 3D model relies on various technologies, including unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) tilt photography, 3D laser scanning, unmanned ship measurement, and close-range photogrammetry. These techniques are utilized to capture the park’s geographical terrain, natural resources, and ecological environment, which are then integrated into the three-dimensional model. Secondly, GNSS positioning, multi-source water quality sensors, NB-IoT wireless communication, and video surveillance are combined with IoT technologies to enable wireless remote real-time monitoring of small and micro-water bodies. Finally, a high-precision underwater, indoor, and outdoor full-space real-scene three-dimensional visual water quality monitoring system integrated with IoT is constructed. The integrated system significantly reduces water pollution in small and micro-water bodies and optimizes the water quality monitoring system.

Erosion caused by sediment-laden flow significantly affects the efficiency and durability of Francis turbines. In this study, the Euler–Lagrange multi-phase flow model was employed to simulate solid-liquid two-phase flow with different sediment particle sizes to analyze erosion characteristics in turbine components. The results show that the maximum erosion rate of the runner blades is positively correlated with particle impact velocity, confirming that impact velocity is the dominant factor influencing local material removal. The total erosion rate of the runner blades, guide vanes, and draft tube corresponds closely with vorticity, indicating that vortex-induced flow separation accelerates particle–wall collisions and intensifies erosion. Both vorticity and erosion exhibit a nonlinear variation with particle size, reaching a minimum at 0.05 mm. These findings establish clear qualitative and quantitative relationships between erosion and key flow parameters, providing theoretical guidance for understanding and mitigating sediment-induced wear in Francis turbines.

Pumping station engineering is crucial for our country’s national economy as a part of water conservancy infrastructure. The vertical axial flow pump commonly used in pumping station construction features a high flow rate and low discharge pressure. Understanding the impact of turbulence on the flow of water entering and leaving the pump unit is crucial for the efficient and reliable operation of a pumping station. This paper examines the internal flow and hydraulic characteristics of the device for vertical axial flow pump at a pumping station through numerical simulation technology and experimental validation. It is inferred that turbulent flow develops in the outlet flow passage while the pump device is currently functioning, impacting the impeller’s outlet bend and guide vane. This leads to the formation of vortices, backflow, and folding flow at the guide vane and outlet bend. As water flows out through the outlet passage, bias and backflow develop, causing erosion on both sides of the outlet pool and impacting the pump unit’s overall head and efficiency.

Effect of dexmedetomidine-assisted general anesthesia on early postoperative cognitive dysfunctions in elderly patients with colorectal cancer was explored. In total, 140 patients with radical colorectal cancer under general anesthesia from March 2012 to June 2015 were enrolled in the Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, including 80 patients in the dexmedetomidine group and 60 patients in the saline group. Surgery conditions were recorded, and the incidence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) and cognitive function score (MMSE score) were compared between the two groups. Serum levels of S-100β protein (S-100β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The anesthesia time and intraoperative blood loss in the experiment group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The MMSE scores of the two groups on the 1st and 3rd day after surgery were lower than those before surgery (P<0.05). The incidence rates of the experiment group were significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0.05). The levels of serum IL-6 and S-100β were increased on the 1st and 3rd day after surgery compared with those before surgery (P<0.05). The levels of serum IL-6 and S-100β in the control group were significantly higher than those in the experiment group on the 1st and 3rd day after surgery (P<0.05). Age, duration of anesthesia, intraoperative blood loss, expression of IL-6 and S-100β were the influencing factors of POCD. Age ≥70 years, anesthesia duration ≥3 h, intraoperative blood loss ≥350 ml, and high expression of IL-6 and S-100β was an important factor related to the occurrence (P<0.05). Dexmedetomidine can significantly improve postoperative cognitive dysfunction in elderly patients with colorectal cancer, and the occurrence of cognitive dysfunction can be affected by age, duration of anesthesia, intraoperative blood loss and the high expression of IL-6 and S-100β.

BackgroundAcupuncture and related techniques are used worldwide to alleviate pain; however, their mechanisms of action are still not fully understood. In the present study, we investigated the effect of transcutaneous electrical acupuncture point stimulation (TEAS) at different frequencies in a chronic constriction injury (CCI) model of neuropathic pain in rats.MethodsCCI was induced by ligating the common sciatic nerve, which produced neuropathic pain. 18 male Sprague–Dawley rats with CCI were randomly divided into three groups (n=6 each) that remained untreated (CCI group) or received TEAS at high frequency (CCI+TEAS-H group) or TEAS at low frequency (CCI+TEAS-L group). Rats in the CCI+TEAS-H group received high frequency stimulation (6–9 mA, 100 Hz) at GB34/GV26/ST36; those in the CCI+TEAS-L group received low frequency stimulation (6–9 mA, 2 Hz) at the same points. Rats in the control group had the same electrodes applied but received no stimulation. All three groups were subjected to behavioural studies after treatment. Expression of μ opioid receptors (MORs) in the L3–L5 dorsal root ganglion (DRG) was determined by immunofluorescence staining and Western blotting after treatment.ResultsCompared with the untreated CCI group, both mechanical allodynia and thermal hypergesia were significantly attenuated, and MOR expression in the DRG was significantly increased by low frequency TEAS treatment at GB34/GV26/ST36 (p<0.05). In contrast, no significant differences were observed between the CCI and CCI+TEAS-H groups.ConclusionsThe use of low frequency TEAS significantly mitigated neuropathic pain in this rat model, and its analgesic effect is likely mediated by upregulation of MOR expression in the DRG.

Timely and accurate land use information in open-pit mines is essential for environmental monitoring, ecological restoration planning, and promoting sustainable progress in mining regions. This study used high-resolution unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery, combined with object-oriented methods, optimal segmentation algorithms, and machine learning algorithms, to develop an efficient and practical method for classifying land use in open-pit mines. First, six land use categories were identified: stope, restoration area, building, vegetation area, arterial road, and waters. To achieve optimal scale segmentation, an image segmentation quality evaluation index is developed, emphasizing both high intra-object homogeneity and high inter-object heterogeneity. Second, spectral, index, texture, and spatial features are identified through out-of-bag (OOB) error of random forest and recursive feature elimination (RFE) to create an optimal multi-feature fusion combination. Finally, the classification of open-pit mines was executed by leveraging the optimal feature combination, employing the random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and k-nearest neighbor (KNN) classifiers in a comparative analysis. The experimental results indicated that classification of appropriate scale image segmentation can extract more accurate land use information. Feature selection effectively reduces model redundancy and improves classification accuracy, with spectral features having the most significant effect. The RF algorithm outperformed SVM and KNN, demonstrating superior handling of high-dimensional feature combinations. It achieves the highest overall accuracy (OA) of 90.77%, with the lowest misclassification and omission errors and the highest classification accuracy. The disaggregated data facilitate effective monitoring of ecological changes in open-pit mining areas, support the development of mining plans, and help predict the quality and heterogeneity of raw clay in some areas.

Plasma hyaluronan (HA) increases systemically in type 2 diabetes (T2D) and the HA synthesis inhibitor, 4-Methylumbelliferone, has been proposed to treat the disease. However, HA is also implicated in normal physiology. Therefore, we generated a Hyaluronan Synthase 2 transgenic mouse line, driven by a tet-response element promoter to understand the role of HA in systemic metabolism. To our surprise, adipocyte-specific overproduction of HA leads to smaller adipocytes and protects mice from high-fat-high-sucrose-diet-induced obesity and glucose intolerance. Adipocytes also have more free glycerol that can be released upon beta3 adrenergic stimulation. Improvements in glucose tolerance were not linked to increased plasma HA. Instead, an HA-driven systemic substrate redistribution and adipose tissue-liver crosstalk contributes to the systemic glucose improvements. In summary, we demonstrate an unexpected improvement in glucose metabolism as a consequence of HA overproduction in adipose tissue, which argues against the use of systemic HA synthesis inhibitors to treat obesity and T2D. Hyaluronan is a naturally occurring linear polysaccharide that together with collagens, enzymes, and glycoproteins forms the extracellular matrix. Here the authors show that adipose tissue overproduction of Hyaluronan reduces fat accumulation in mice fed high-fat diet and improves systemic glucose homeostasis.

LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 (LNMO) is a high-capacity spinel-structured material with an average lithiation/de-lithiation potential at ca. 4.6–4.7 V vs Li + /Li, far exceeding the stability limits of electrolytes. An efficient way to enable LNMO in lithium-ion batteries is to reformulate an electrolyte composition that stabilizes both graphitic (Gr) negative electrode with solid-electrolyte-interphase and LNMO with cathode-electrolyte-interphase. In this study, we select and test a diverse collection of 28 single and dual additives for the Gr||LNMO battery system. Subsequently, we train machine learning models on this dataset and employ the trained models to suggest 6 binary compositions out of 125, based on predicted final area-specific-impedance, impedance rise, and final specific-capacity. Such machine learning-generated new additives outperform the initial dataset. This finding not only underscores the efficacy of machine learning in identifying materials in a highly complicated application space but also showcases an accelerated material discovery workflow that directly integrates data-driven methods with battery testing experiments. A key challenge for high-voltage lithium-ion batteries is electrolyte instability. Here, authors use machine learning-guided experiments to rapidly discover optimal dual electrolyte additives, identifying combinations such as LiDFOB and succinic anhydride that improve multiple performance metrics.