Explore the vast range of titles available.

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is an infectious disease caused by human enterovirus 71 (EV71), coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) and other enteroviruses. It is of interest that other enteroviruses associated with HFMD in Jinan have been rarely reported. The aim of the present study is to detect and characterize the circulating serotypes of non-EV71 and non-CVA16 enteroviruses associated with HFMD in Jinan city, Shandong province, China. A total of 400 specimens were collected from clinically diagnosed HFMD cases in Jinan from January 2009 to June 2013. All specimens were infected with non-EV71 and non-CVA16 enteroviruses previously confirmed by RT-PCR or real-time PCR according to the protocols at that time. The GeXP-based multiplex RT-PCR assay (GeXP assay) was performed to investigate the pathogen spectrum of 15 enteroviruses (coxsackieviruses A4, A5, A6, A9, A10, A16; coxsackieviruses B1, B3, B5; Echoviruses 6, 7, 11, 13, 19 and EV71) infections associated with HMFD. For GeXP assay negative samples, reverse transcription nested PCR (nested RT-PCR) based on the 5' -untranslated region (5'- UTR) sequence and phylogenetic analysis were conducted to further explore the etiology of multiple enteroviruses. The results showed that a total of twenty serotypes of enteroviruses (including EV71 and CVA16) were identified by GeXP assay and nested RT-PCR. The most circulating twelve serotypes of enteroviruses with HFMD in Jinan from 2009 to June 2013 were EV71, CVA16, CVA10, CVA6, CVA12, CVA2, Echo3, CVA4, CVA9, CVB1, CVB3 and Echo6. CVA10 and CVA6 were the most prevalent pathogens other than EV71 and CVA16 in Jinan and their most prevalent seasons were spring and summer, and a slight increase was observed in autumn and early winter. It should be noted that mixed-infections were identified by GeXP assay and the phylogenetic tree clearly discriminated the multiple pathogens associated with HFMD. Our results thus demonstrate that there was a clear lack of a reliable testing method for EV71 and CVA16 and multiple non-EV71 and non-CVA16 enteroviruses associated with HFMD were present in Jinan. The GeXP assay combined with nested RT-PCR based on 5'-UTR region could meet the need for the national surveillance of multiple enteroviruses or the investigation of epidemic outbreaks triggered by enteroviruses in the future.

Landslides are one of the most common catastrophic mass flows in mountainous areas. The occurrence of fragmentation leads to the evolution of the integrity and stiffness of the sliding mass. The changes in internal composition caused by basal erosion and entrainment make the dynamic evolution of landslides more complex. To consider these complex processes, physics-based dynamic models are often used to analyze the dynamic characteristics of landslides. However, the proprietary assumptions of dynamic models often limit their application to complex events. A single dynamic model is often not competent for the analysis of landslides with evolving dynamic characteristics. In this study, two dynamic models are effectively integrated according to the evolving characteristics of the landslide. The common effects of basal erosion and entrainment are also considered. The maximum sliding velocity, accumulation range, and erosion depth characteristics of this integrated dynamic model are more consistent with the field than those of the single dynamic model. Under the terrain conditions of this study, within a few seconds of the triggering stage, if the occurrence of disintegration is advanced by 2 s, the maximum impact area will increase by about 3.1% to 4.1%, and the maximum kinetic energy will increase by more than 20%. Simulation results indicate that the changes in the integrity of the landslide body significantly affect the evolution of subsequent landslide dynamic characteristics.

Fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) have evolved from passive sensing elements into actively programmable photonic components, enabling dynamic wavelength control across diverse applications. This review provides a comprehensive and systematic overview of active wavelength control technologies for FBGs, deliberately excluding passive sensing applications. We systematically categorize the fundamental tuning mechanisms—including mechanical, thermal, optothermal, electro-optic, nonlinear optical, and hybrid approaches—and compare their performance characteristics in terms of tuning range, speed, precision, and trade-offs. Key enhancement techniques, such as mechanical amplification, thermal packaging, femtosecond laser fabrication, and FPGA-based interrogation, are examined. The transformative impact of actively controlled FBGs is elucidated across three major application domains: tunable and narrow-linewidth fiber lasers, reconfigurable microwave photonic systems, and emerging fields including quantum information processing and biomedical imaging. A consolidated technology map visualizes the connections between enabling techniques and applications. Finally, we critically analyze core challenges—performance trade-offs, control complexity, and integration bottlenecks—and outline future research directions driven by novel materials, artificial intelligence, and quantum technologies. This review offers a structured framework for understanding active FBGs as programmable photonic primitives, providing actionable insights for researchers and engineers in academia and industry.

In order to accurately and quickly predict the failure probability of gears with multiple failure modes, a novel reliability analysis methodology based on the mixed Copula (MCopula) function model is proposed to deal with the complex correlation among different failure functions. Firstly, we construct a novel MCopula model based on three famous Copula functions: Gumbel Copula, Clayton Copula, and Frank Copula functions. Secondly, we use and improve the particle swarm optimization (PSO) method to optimally calculate the weight coefficients in the proposed MCopula model. Thirdly, the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method is adopted to estimate related parameters in the proposed MCopula model. Finally, we verify the proposed reliability analysis methodology with a standard life-prediction case of a strut system and a practical life-problem case of a gear pair system. Comparison results of both cases show that, by using the proposed methodology, the failure probability of a gear pair system with multiple failure correlations can be quickly calculated through a small number of samples and can be estimated as accurately as that by the Monte Carlo scheme. Consequently, our proposed novel methodology successfully analyzes the reliability problems for a gear pair system with multiple failure modes. The proposed methodology can be further applied to solve the reliability problem for other machine parts.

Background Open repair of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA) was characterized by significant risk of postoperative mortality and morbidity. The aim of this study was to determine the perioperative predictors of early and long-term mortality in patients undergoing open repair of TAAA. Besides, the postoperative outcomes in patients with open repair of TAAA were described. Methods This is a single-center retrospective study, and 146 patients with open repair of TAAA from January 4, 2011, to November 22, 2018 was involved. Categorical variables were analyzed by the Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test, and continuous variables were analyzed by the independent sample t-test and the WilCoxon rank-sum test. Multivariate Logistic regression and Cox regression were applied to identify the predictors of 30-day and long-term mortality, respectively. The Kaplan Meier curves were used to illustrate survival with the Log-rank test. Results The 30-day mortality was 9.59% ( n  = 14). Older than 50 years, the intraoperative volume of red blood cell (RBC) and epinephrine use were independently associated with postoperative 30-day mortality in open repair of TAAA. Long-term mortality was 17.12% ( n  = 25) (median of 3.5 years (IQR = 2–5 years) of follow-up). Prior open thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA) repair, aortic cross-clamping (ACC) time, intraoperative volume of RBC and use of epinephrine were independently correlated with long-term mortality. Conclusions Identifying perioperative risk factors of early and long-term mortaliy is crucial for surgeons. Intraoperative volume of RBC and use of epinephrine were predictors of both early and long-term mortality. In addition, patients of advanced age, prior open repair of TAAA and prolonged ACC time should be paid more attention.

During the operation of an active clearance control (ACC) system of a turbine, the aerodynamic performance of the intake grille indirectly influences its control. To improve the performance, an aerodynamic optimization method is proposed, consisting of parameterization, an optimization algorithm, and a fitness evaluation. During parameterization, its geometry is represented by seven geometric variables. A modified social spider algorithm is used as the optimization algorithm. To evaluate the aerodynamic performance of the grille, a special fitness function is adopted, obtained using an adaptive topological multi-layer feedforward artificial neural network. To verify the feasibility of this method, experiments and numerical calculations are carried out on the original and optimized intake grilles. The results show that the average intake flow rate and average total pressure recovery coefficient of the optimized grille have increased by 17.3% and 4.9%, respectively.

Chronic postoperative pain (CPSP) after cardiac surgery can cause severe health problems. As demonstrated in noncardiac surgeries, preoperative chronic pain can potentially lead to CPSP. However, the association between preoperative chronic pain and CPSP over follow-up in cardiac surgical settings in the context of sex differences is still lacking. This observational study aims to explore the role and sex differences of preoperative chronic pain in the occurrence and development of long-term CPSP and CPSP-related complications after cardiac surgery. This observational study enrolled 495 patients (35.3% women) who underwent cardiac surgery via median sternotomy in March 2019. Validated questionnaires were delivered to assess preoperative chronic pain and moderate to severe CPSP at 3 and 24 months following surgical procedures. The secondary outcomes included the occurrence of moderate to severe chronic pruritus, sleep disturbance, and daily activities interference at follow-up. Multivariable logistic regression was employed. Of 495 patients analyzed, the incidences of preoperative chronic pain (29.7% versus 20.6%) and moderate to severe CPSP (14.8% versus 8.1%) were both higher in females than males. Female sex (P = 0.048) and preoperative chronic pain (P = 0.008) were identified as significant risk factors for CPSP occurrence. However, preoperative chronic pain contributed significantly to CPSP (P = 0.008), sleep disturbance (P =0.047), and daily activities interference (P =0.019) in females, but not in males. The 2-year prevalence of moderate to severe CPSP after cardiac surgery was 10.5%. Compared to males, females are more susceptible to CPSP and pain-related outcomes in the long term. In addition, preoperative chronic pain was associated with a higher risk of CPSP in females but not in males.

Background This cohort study aims to retrospectively investigate the incidence of severe systemic inflammatory response syndrome (sSIRS) in patients following total aortic arch replacement (TAR) under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) with selective cerebral perfusion and its effect on clinical outcomes. Methods All patients who underwent TAR with DHCA were consecutively enrolled from January 2013 until December 2015 at our institute. sSIRS was diagnosed between 12 and 48 h postoperatively if patients met all four criteria of the SIRS definition. Results Of the 522 patients undergoing TAR with DHCA, 31.4% developed sSIRS. Patients aged under 60 yr were characterized by a higher prevalence of sSIRS (OR = 2.93; 95% CI 2.01–4.28; P  <0.001). Higher baseline serum creatinine (OR = 1.61; 95% CI 1.18–2.20; P  = 0.003), concomitant coronary disease (OR = 2.00; 95% CI 1.15–3.48; P  = 0.015) and extended cardiopulmonary time (OR = 1.63; 95% CI 1.23–2.18; P  = 0.001) independently contributed to a greater likelihood of postoperative sSIRS onset, while the preferred administration of ulinastatin (OR = 0.69; 95% CI 0.51–0.93; P  = 0.015) and dexmedetomidine (OR = 0.36; 95% CI 0.23–0.56; P  < 0.001) attenuated it. Patients with sSIRS had a greater risk of developing postoperative major adverse complications compared with the no sSIRS group [56.7%(93/164) vs 26.8% (96/358), P  < 0.001]. sSIRS was found to be a significant risk factor for major adverse complications (OR, 4.52; 95% CI, 3.40–6.01; P  < 0.001). A significant difference was revealed in in-hospital death following TAR between the sSIRS group and the no-sSIRS group [4.88% (8/164) vs 1.12% (4/358), P  = 0.019]. The Kaplan-Meier curve indicated that the time to discharge from the intensive care unit was significantly prolonged in the sSIRS group compared with patients without it (log-rank p  < 0.001). Conclusions sSIRS occurs commonly in patients following TAR with DHCA. There is an inverse association between age and sSIRS onset, whereby age over 60 yr can lower the risk of it. sSIRS development can increase the likelihood of major postoperative major adverse events.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3/Machado–Joseph disease (SCA3/MJD) is a progressive autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease caused by abnormal CAG repeats in the exon 10 of ATXN3. The accumulation of the mutant ataxin-3 proteins carrying expanded polyglutamine (polyQ) leads to selective degeneration of neurons. Since the pathogenesis of SCA3 has not been fully elucidated, and no effective therapies have been identified, it is crucial to investigate the pathogenesis and seek new therapeutic strategies of SCA3. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be used as the ideal cell model for the molecular pathogenesis of polyQ diseases. Abnormal CAG expansions mediated by CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering technologies have shown promising potential for the treatment of polyQ diseases, including SCA3. In this study, SCA3-iPSCs can be corrected by the replacement of the abnormal CAG expansions (74 CAG) with normal repeats (17 CAG) using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated homologous recombination (HR) strategy. Besides, corrected SCA3-iPSCs retained pluripotent and normal karyotype, which can be differentiated into a neural stem cell (NSCs) and neuronal cells, and maintained electrophysiological characteristics. The expression of differentiation markers and electrophysiological characteristics were similar among the neuronal differentiation from normal control iPSCs (Ctrl-iPSCs), SCA3-iPSCs, and isogenic control SCA3-iPSCs. Furthermore, this study proved that the phenotypic abnormalities in SCA3 neurons, including aggregated IC2-polyQ protein, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and glutathione expressions, increased reactive oxygen species (ROS), intracellular Ca2+ concentrations, and lipid peroxidase malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, all were rescued in the corrected SCA3-NCs. For the first time, this study demonstrated the feasibility of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated HR strategy to precisely repair SCA3-iPSCs, and reverse the corresponding abnormal disease phenotypes. In addition, the importance of genetic control using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated iPSCs for disease modeling. Our work may contribute to providing a potential ideal model for molecular mechanism research and autologous stem cell therapy of SCA3 or other polyQ diseases, and offer a good gene therapy strategy for future treatment.

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease, and the pathogenesis is still quite challenging. Emerging evidence has shown that the brain-gut-microbiota axis served a pivotal role in neurological diseases; however, researches utilizing metagenomic sequencing to analyze the alteration in gut microbiota of MSA patients were quite rare. Here, we carried out metagenomic sequencing in feces of 15 MSA patients and 15 healthy controls, to characterize the alterations in gut microbial composition and function of MSA patients in mainland China. The results showed that gut microbial community of MSA patients was significantly different from healthy controls, characterized by increased genus and species , , , , and , while decreased genera , , , and and species , , , , , and . Further, functional analysis based on the KEGG database revealed aberrant functional pathways in fecal microbiome of MSA patients. In conclusion, our findings provided evidence for dysbiosis in gut microbiota of Chinese MSA cohorts and helped develop new testable hypotheses on pathophysiology of MSA.