Study on cumulative effects of biological craniocerebral trauma under repeated blast

Repeated blast impacts on personnel in explosive environments can exacerbate craniocerebral trauma.Most existing studies focus on the injury effects of a single blast,lacking in-depth analysis on the injury effects and cumulative effects of repeated blasts.Therefore,rats were used as the experimental samples to suffer from explosion blasts with different peak air overpressures(167 kPa~482 kPa)and varying number of repeated blasts.The cumulative effect of craniocerebral trauma was most pronounced for moderate repeated blast,showing approximately 95%increase of trauma severity with penta blast,and an approximately 85%increase of trauma severity with penta minor blast.The cumulative effect of craniocerebral trauma from severe,repeated blast has a smaller rate of change compared to the other two conditions.The severity of trauma from penta blast increased by approximately 69%compared to a single blast.Comprehensive physiological,pathological and biochemical analysis show that the degree of neurological trauma caused by repeated blasts is higher than that of single blasts,and the pathological trauma to brain tissue is more extensive and severe.The trauma degree remains unchanged after double blast,increases by one grade after triple or quadruple blast,and increases by two grades after penta blast.

Changes in macrophage infiltration and podocyte injury in lupus nephritis patients with repeated renal biopsy: Report of three cases

BACKGROUND In this study,we retrospectively analysed macrophage infiltration and podocyte injury in three patients with diffuse proliferative lupus nephritis(LN)who un-derwent repeated renal biopsy.CASE SUMMARY Clinical data of three diffuse proliferative LN patients with different pathological characteristics(case 1 was LN IV-G(A),case 2 was LN IV-G(A)+V,and case 3 was LN IV-G(A)+thrombotic microangiopathy)were reviewed.All patients underwent repeated renal biopsies 6 mo later,and renal biopsy specimens were studied.Macrophage infiltration was assessed by CD68 expression detected by immunohistochemical staining,and an immunofluorescence assay was used to detect podocin expression to assess podocyte damage.After treatment,Case 1 changed to LN III-(A),Case 2 remained as type V LN lesions,and Case 3,which changed to LN IV-S(A),had the worst prognosis.We observed reduced macro-phage infiltration after therapy.However,two of the patients with active lesions after treatment still showed macrophage infiltration in the renal interstitium.Before treatment,the three patients showed discontinuous expression of podocin.Notably,the integrity of podocin was restored after treatment in Case 1.CONCLUSION It may be possible to reverse podocyte damage and decrease the infiltrating ma-crophages in LN patients through effective treatment.

Axial length shortening in myopic children with Stickler syndrome after repeated low-level red-light therapy

AIM:To report the myopia-controlling effect of repeated low-level red-light(RLRL)therapy in patients with Stickler syndrome(STL),an inherited collagenic disease typically presenting with early onset myopia.METHODS:Three STL children,aged 3,7,and 11y,received RLRL therapy throughout the follow-up period of 17,3,and 6mo,respectively after exclusion of fundus anomalies.Data on best-corrected visual acuity(BCVA),intraocular pressure,cycloplegic subjective refraction,ocular biometrics,scanning laser ophthalmoscope,optical coherence tomography,genetic testing,systemic disease history,and family history were recorded.RESULTS:At the initiation of the RLRL therapy,the spherical equivalent(SE)of 6 eyes from 3 patients ranged from-3.75 to-20.38 D,axial length(AL)were from 23.88 to 30.68 mm,and BCVA were from 0.4 to 1.0(decimal notation).Myopia progression of all six eyes slowed down after RLRL therapy.AL in five out of the six eyes shortened-0.07 to-0.63 mm.No side effects were observed.CONCLUSION:Three cases of STL whose progression of myopic shift and AL elongation are successfully reduced and even reversed after RLRL therapy.

Evaluation of PS-DInSAR technology for subsidence monitoring caused by repeated mining in mountainous area

The high resolution Terra SAR-X dataset was employed with DIn SAR and persistent scatterer interferometry（PSI） technique for subsidence monitoring in a mountainous area. For DInS AR technique, the generally used SRTM and relief-DEM, which was derived from aerial topographic map, were used to evaluate the influence of external DEM. The results show that SRTM could not fully compensate the complex topography of the research area. The corner reflectors installed during the acquisition of SAR dataset were used to estimate the accuracy of geocoding. The terrain corrected geocoding results based on relief-DEM were much better than using SRTM, with the root mean square error（RMSE） being 6.35 m in X direction and 11.65 m in Y direction（both in UTM projection）, around one pixel of the multilooked intensity image to be geocoded. For PSI technique, the results from time-series analysis of multi-baseline differential interferograms were integrated to restrict only persistent scatterer candidates near the boundary of subsiding area for regression analysis. The results demonstrate that PSI can refine the boundary of subsidence, which could then be used to derive some angular parameters to help people to learn the law of subsidence caused by repeated excavation in this area.

Relationship between repeated triaxial test and Hamburg wheel tracking test on asphalt mixtures

Both the repeated triaxial test （RTT） and the Hamburg wheel tracking test （HWTT） are adopted to evaluate the high temperature performance of the stone mastic asphalt （SMA） and the mastic asphalt （MA）. The correlation of the permanent deformations of the MA and the correlation of the deformation developments of the SMA between the two tests are analyzed, respectively. Results show that both the two tests can effectively identify the high temperature performance of mixtures, and the correlation between the final results of the two tests as well as that between the deformation developments of the two tests are excellent with R20.9. In order to further prove the correlation, viscoelastic parameters estimated from the RTT results is used to simulate the rutting development in the HWTT slabs by the finite element method （FEM）. Results indicate that the correlation between the two tests is significant with errors less than 10%. It is suitable to predict the rutting development with the viscoelastic parameters obtained from the RTT.

Viscoelastic model for asphalt mixture under repeated haversine load

The series-wound dashpot of the Burgers model is modified by introducing the strain hardening parameter, and the new model is considered as a combination of the modified dashpot and the Van Der Poel model. The cyclical pulse load consisting of a haversine load time and a rest period is adopted to simulate the actual vehicle load, and the permanent strain model under the repeated load is derived from the rheological and viscoelastic theories. Subsequently, the model is validated by the results of uniaxial repeated load permanent deformation tests of three asphalt mixtures. It is indicated that the proportion of residual viscoelastic strain to permanent strain decreases gradually with the load cycles, and only accounts for 2% to 3% during most of the loading period. If the rest period is long, the residual viscoelastic strain is little. The rest period of the actual vehicle load may be long enough, so the residual viscoelasticity can be ignored and the simplified model can be obtained. The proposed model can well describe the permanent deformation of asphalt mixtures under repeated load.

Strength and Chloride Diffusion Behaviour of Three Generations of Repeated Recycled Fine Aggregate Concrete

The feasibility of using different generations of recycled fine aggregate（RFA） in structural concrete in a chloride environment was evaluated by studying the performance of the RFA and the corresponding concrete. The different generations of RFA were recycled by following the cycle of ‘concrete-waste concrete-fine aggregate-concrete＇. The properties of three generations of repeatedly recycled fine aggregate（RRFA） were systematically investigated, and we focused on the compressive strength and splitting tensile strength and chloride ion permeability of the related structural concretes with 25%, 75%, and 100% replacement of natural fine aggregates with RFA. The results indicated that the quality of RRFA presents a trend of slow deterioration, but the overall performance of all RRFA still fulfils the quality requirements of recycled fine aggregate for structural concrete. All RRFA concretes achieved the target compressive strength of 40 MPa after 28 days except for the second generation of the recycled aggregate concrete and the third generation of the recycled aggregate concrete with 100% replacement, and all the concrete mixes achieved the target compressive strength after 90 days. The insights obtained in this study demonstrate the feasibility of using at least three generations of RRFA for the production of normal structural concrete with a design service life of 100 years in a chloride environment.

A REPEATED METHOD FOR ECG DATA COMPRESSION

A new electrocardiogram(ECG) data compression method is presented.It employs a repeated coding.In this method beat templates are extracted from original signals according to the features of ECG.The data are divided into three parts:beat template,residual and position parameter.The three separate parts are first encoded with LADT,and then use the lossless entropy encoding to maintain a low level of reconstructed waveform distortion.The entropy encoding based on Huffman encoding is employed here as an example.Selections from the MIT BIH arrhythmia database,show that there is substantial improvement in compression ratio (CR) over other single and simple compression methods for comparable percent root mean square difference(PRD).

Subchronic Oral Toxicity Evaluation of Lanthanum： A 90-day, Repeated Dose Study in Rats

Objective The present study was undertaken to evaluate the subchronic toxicity of lanthanum and to determine the no observed adverse effect level（NOAEL）,which is a critical factor in the establishment of an acceptable dietary intake（ADI）.Methods In accordance with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development（OECD） testing guidelines,lanthanum nitrate was administered once daily by gavage to Sprague-Dawley（SD） rats at dose levels of 0,1.5,6.0,24.0,and 144.0 mg/kg body weight（BW） per day for 90 days,followed by a recovery period of 4 weeks in the 144.0 mg/kg BW per day and normal control groups.Outcome parameters were mortality,clinical symptoms,body and organ weights,serum chemistry,and food consumption,as well as ophthalmic,urinary,hematologic,and histopathologic indicators.The benchmark dose（BMD） approach was applied to estimate a point of departure for the hazard risk assessment of lanthanum.Results Significant decreases were found in the 144.0 mg/kg BW group in the growth index,including body weight,organ weights,and food consumption.This study suggests that the NOAEL of lanthanum nitrate is 24.0 mg/kg BW per day.Importantly,the 95% lower confidence value of the benchmark dose（BMDL） was estimated as 9.4 mg/kg BW per day in females and 19.3 mg/kg BW per day in males.Conclusion The present subchronic oral exposure toxicity study may provide scientific data for the risk assessment of lanthanum and other rare earth elements（REEs）.

Effects of repeated applications of fungicide carbendazim on its persistence and microbial community in soil

Carbendazim, a systemic benzimidazole fungicide, is applied repeatedly to control plant diseases including soilborne diseases, over a growing season. Studies were carried out under laboratory conditions to assess the effects of repeated carbendazim applications on its persistence and microbial community in soil. The results indicate that dissipation of carbendazim in soil was accelerated with its application frequency. The degradation rate constant of carbendazim was increased significantly from 0.074 d-1 to 0.79 d-1. The corresponding half-life was shorten markedly from 9.3 d to 0.9 d after four repeated applications. No significant inhibitory effect of carbendazim on soil microbial utilization of the carbon sources was observed after first treatment, but a slight increase in average well color development （AWCD） was shown after second, third, and fourth applications. It suggested that soil microorganisms become adapted to carbendazim after repeated application. Simpson and Shannon indexes of soil microbial community from carbendazim treated soil were also similar to those from the control soil, indicating that the richness and dominant character of soil microorganisms remain unchangeable after repeated application. However, after first, second, and third addition of carbendazim, McIntosh indexes on day 21 were significantly higher compared with the control, suggesting that balance of soil microorganisms was altered due to the enrichment of the specific carbendazim-adapting strains in soil

Human-induced landslide on a high cut slope: a case of repeated failures due to multi-excavation

The paper attempts to represent a case of repeated failures on a high cut slope due to multi-excavation. The characteristics of each failure induced by excavation are analyzed through geological investigation, and then a geological model at different failure stages is proposed. The geological analysis shows that the excavation-induced repeated failures are related to the exposure of the weak bedding plane and the toe unloading of the cut slope, Numerical modeling is conducted based on a sequential method, taking into account the main failure stages of cut slope. The simulation results fairly coincide with the practical phenomena observed in field. It is shown that the decrease in normal stress of displaced mass on cut slope will induce the increase in shear stress in bedding planes and that at the toe of the cut slope. The released stress leads to repeated gravitational instabilities of cut slope due to the decrease in normal stress and the increase in shear stress along the bedding planes of mudstone.

Structure and properties of AZ31B magnesium alloy sheets processed by repeatedly unidirectional bending at different temperatures

Repeatedly unidirectional bending(RUB) was applied to the magnesium alloy sheet to improve the basal texture.The effect of RUB temperature on resulting structure and room temperature properties was investigated.The texture components of the sheet undergoing RUB at recovery temperature were similar to those of the sheet undergoing RUB at room temperature(RT).As the RUB temperature increased to above recrystallization temperature,the texture components became more disperse and the pyramidal components increased.With the increase of RUB temperature,the grain size near the surface of the sheets undergoing RUB tended to grow up.When the sheets were processed by RUB at medium-high temperature followed by annealing at 533 K,the yield strength and fracture elongation were lower than those of the cold rolled sheet;however,the Erichsen value was slightly higher than that of the cold rolled sheet.The sheet undergoing RUB at RT followed by annealing at 533 K represented the best mechanical properties.

Mechanical Response and Energy Dissipation Analysis of Heat-Treated Granite Under Repeated Impact Loading

The mechanical behaviors and energy dissipation characteristics of heat-treated granite were investigated under repeated impact loading.The granite samples were firstly heat-treated at the temperature of 20℃,200℃,400℃,and 600℃,respectively.The thermal damage characteristics of these samples were then observed and measured before impact tests.Dynamic impact compression tests finally were carried out using a modified split-Hopkinson pressure bar under three impact velocities of 12 m/s,15 m/s,and 18 m/s.These test results show that the mineral composition and the main oxides of the granite do not change with these treatment temperatures.The number of microcracks and microvoids decreases in the sample after 200℃ treatment.The mechanical properties of a sample after 600℃ treatment were rapidly deteriorated under the same impact velocity.The average of peak stress is much smaller than those after 20℃,200℃ and 400℃ treatments.The heat-treated samples have an energy threshold each.When the dissipated energy of a sample under a single impact is less than this threshold,the repeated impacts hardly lead to further damage accumulation even if its total breakage energy dissipation(BED)density is large.Under the same number of repeated impacts,the cumulative BED density of a sample after 600℃ treatment is the largest and its damage evolves most quickly.The total BED density of the sample after 200℃ treatment is the highest,which implies that this sample has better resistance to repeated impact,thus having less crack initiation and growth.

Repeated vitrification/warming of human sperm gives better results than repeated slow programmable freezing

In this study, we compared the effects of repeated freezing/thawing of human sperm by our in-house method of rapid freezing with slow programmable freezing. Sperm samples from 11 normozoospermic subjects were processed through density gradients and divided into three aliquots： non-frozen, rapid freezing and slow programmable freezing. Sperm in the rapid freezing group had better motility and viability than those in the slow freezing group （P〈O.01） after the first, second and third cycles of freezing/thawing, but there was no difference in morphology. In the second experiment, rapid freezing was repeated three times in 20 subjects. The samples from each thawing cycle were evaluated for DNA fragmentation using the alkaline comet assay. DNA fragmentation began to increase considerably after the second cycle of freezing/thawing, but to a level that was not clinically important. In the third experiment, rapid freezing was done repeatedly in 10 subjects, until no motile sperm were observed after thawing. The median number of repeated freezing/thawing that yielded no motile sperm was seven （range： 5-8, mean： 6.8）. In conclusion, we demonstrated that repeated freezing/thawing of processed semen using our rapid freezing method gave better results than standard slow programmable freezing. This method can help maximize the usage of precious cryopreserved sperm samples in assisted reproduction technology.

Purposeless repeated acquisition time-lapse seismic data processing

In China, most oil fields are continental sedimentation with strong heterogeneity, which on one side makes the reservoir prospecting and development more difficult, but on the other side provides more space for searching residual oil in matured fields. Time-lapse seismic reservoir monitoring technique is one of most important techniques to define residual oil distribution. According to the demand for and development of time-lapse seismic reservoir monitoring in China, purposeless repeated acquisition time-lapse seismic data processing was studied. The four key steps in purposeless repeated acquisition time-lapse seismic data processing, including amplitude-preserved processing with relative consistency, rebinning, match filtering and difference calculation, were analyzed by combining theory and real seismic data processing. Meanwhile, quality control during real time-lapse seismic processing was emphasized.

Repeated lumps and infections: A case report on breast augmentation complications

BACKGROUND Polyacrylamide hydrogel(PAAG)injections were once common in breast augmentation and have been prohibited for augmentation mammaplasty in China since a large number of patients who underwent breast augmentation with PAAG injections have continued to seek medical advice as a result of related complications.Among all these complications,distant migration is relatively rare.CASE SUMMARY A 49-year-old female presented at the hospital with a one-year history of a vulvar lump.The sonography of the lump showed several subcutaneous fluid-filled regions from the left vulva to the pubic symphysis,which suggested possible fat liquefaction.An enhanced magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)revealed a cystic area,which was considered a benign lesion.Intraoperative observations showed that the mass did not have an obvious capsule,the subcutaneous tissue presented as a cavity,and some yellow material came out of this cavity.A culture of the drainage did not show bacterial contamination.Histopathology revealed a foreign body granuloma.After resection and closed drainage,lumps were successively observed in the left lower abdomen and the bilateral hypochondriac region with infections.Sonography found that the hypoechoic areas in the bilateral hypochondriac region seemed continuous with deep in the breasts.The patient reported that she had undergone surgery with PAAG injections 20 years ago after she was repeatedly asked about her past history.Finally,a diagnosis of distant migration of PAAG was made.CONCLUSION PAAG gel can migrate after long periods of time.A diagnosis should not be limited to the area where the symptom develops.

Pituitary Suppression before Frozen Embryo Transfer Is Beneficial for Patients Suffering from Idiopathic Repeated Implantation Failure

Long-term gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist（Gn RHa） administration before in vitro fertilization（IVF）/intracytoplasmic sperm injection（ICSI） in infertile women with endometriosis or adenomyosis significantly enhanced the chances of pregnancy in both fresh and frozen embryo transfer cycles. We hypothesized that long-term Gn RHa treatment might also be beneficial for the idiopathic repeated implantation failure（RIF） patients. In the 21 patients receiving Gn RHa and hormone replacement therapy（G-HRT） protocols for frozen embryo transfer, their data were compared with those of the 56 of frozen/fresh cycles they had previously undergone（previous protocols）. Comparison showed that the finial results were significantly better with G-HRT protocols than with their previous protocols, with pregnancy rate, clinical pregnancy rate, implantation rate and on-going pregnancy rate being 70%, 60%, 40% and 38% respectively with G-HRT protocols, against 17%, 11%, 6.3% and 5% with previous protocols. The results showed that hormonally controlled endometrial preparation with prior Gn RHa suppression could be used for patients who had experienced repeated failures of IVF treatment despite having morphologically optimal embryos, and the treatment may help increase the receptivity of the endometrium in these patients.

Experimental study on repeatedly loaded foundation soil strengthened by wraparound geosynthetic reinforcement technique

In the recent past,the potential benefits of wraparound geosynthetic reinforcement technique for constructing the reinforced soil foundations have been reported.This paper presents the experimental study on the behaviour of model strip footing resting on sandy soil bed reinforced with geosynthetic in wraparound and planar forms under monotonic and repeated loadings.The geosynthetic layers were laid according to the reinforcement ratio to minimise the scale effect.It is found that for the same amount of reinforcement material,the wraparound reinforced model resulted in less settlement in comparison to planar reinforced models.The efficiency of wraparound reinforced model increased with the increase in load amplitude and the rate of total cumulative settlement substantially decreased with the increase in number of load cycles.The wraparound reinforced model has shown about 45% lower average total settlement in comparison to unreinforced model,while the double-layer reinforced model has about 41% lower average total settlement at the cost of approximately twice the material and 1.5 times the occupied land width ratio.Moreover,wraparound models have shown much greater stability in comparison to their counterpart models when subjected to incremental repeated loading.

Load-bearing characteristics of square footing on geogrid-reinforced sand subjected to repeated loading

A series of dynamic model tests that were performed on a geogrid-reinforced square footing are presented.The dynamic(sinusoidal)loading was applied using a mechanical testing and simulation(MTS)electro-hydraulic servo loading system.In all the tests,the amplitude of loading was±160 kPa;the frequency of loading was 2 Hz.To better ascertain the effect of reinforcement,an unreinforced square footing was first tested.This was followed by a series of tests,each with a single layer of reinforcement.The reinforcement was placed at depths of 0.3B,0.6B and 0.9B,where B is the width of footing.The optimal depth of reinforcement was found to be 0.6B.The effect of adopting this value versus the other two depths was quantified.The single layer of geogrid had an effective reinforcement depth of 1.7B below the footing base.The increase of the depth between the topmost geogrid layer and the bottom of the footing(within the range of 0.9B)did not change the failure mode of the foundation.

A FAMILY OF MODAL METHODS FOR COMPUTING EIGENVECTOR DERIVATIVES WITH REPEATED ROOTS

A family of modal methods for computing eigenvector derivatives with repeated roots are directly derived from the constraint generalized inverse technique which is originally formulated by Wang and Hu. Extensions are made to Akgun's method to allow treatment of eigensensitivity with repeated roots for general nondefective systems, and Bernard and Bronowicki's modal expansion approach is expanded to a family of modal methods.