Mixed D-vine copula-based conditional quantile model for stochastic monthly streamflow simulation

Copula functions have been widely used in stochastic simulation and prediction of streamflow.However,existing models are usually limited to single two-dimensional or three-dimensional copulas with the same bivariate block for all months.To address this limitation,this study developed a mixed D-vine copula-based conditional quantile model that can capture temporal correlations.This model can generate streamflow by selecting different historical streamflow variables as the conditions for different months and by exploiting the conditional quantile functions of streamflows in different months with mixed D-vine copulas.The up-to-down sequential method,which couples the maximum weight approach with the Akaike information criteria and the maximum likelihood approach,was used to determine the structures of multivariate Dvine copulas.The developed model was used in a case study to synthesize the monthly streamflow at the Tangnaihai hydrological station,the inflow control station of the Longyangxia Reservoir in the Yellow River Basin.The results showed that the developed model outperformed the commonly used bivariate copula model in terms of the performance in simulating the seasonality and interannual variability of streamflow.This model provides useful information for water-related natural hazard risk assessment and integrated water resources management and utilization.

Saturated absorption spectrum of cesium micrometric-thin cell with suppressed crossover spectral lines

Micrometric-thin cells(MCs)with alkali vapor atoms have been valuable for research and applications of hyperfine Zeeman splitting and atomic magnetometers under strong magnetic fields.We theoretically and experimentally study the saturated absorption spectra using a 100-μm cesium MC,where the pump and probe beams are linearly polarized with mutually perpendicular polarizations,and the magnetic field is along the pump beam.Because of the distinctive thin chamber of the MC,crossover spectral lines in saturated absorption spectra are largely suppressed leading to clear splittings of hyperfine Zeeman transitions in experiments,and the effect of spatial magnetic field gradient is expected to be reduced.A calculation method is proposed to achieve good agreements between theoretical calculations and experimental results.This method successfully explains the suppression of crossover lines in MCs,as well as the effects of magnetic field direction,propagation and polarization directions of the pump/probe beam on saturated absorption spectrum.The saturated absorption spectrum with suppressed crossover lines is used for laser frequency stabilization,which may provide the potential value of MCs for high spatial resolution strong-field magnetometry with high sensitivity.

Difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis treated with Abatacept combined with Baricitinib:A case report

BACKGROUND Sporadic cases of rheumatoid arthritis(RA)due to unsatisfactory responses to Abatacept(ABT)have been reported;however,the rescue therapy has not been finalized.Here,we present a case with difficult-to-treat RA(D2T RA)that was resistant to either a single ABT or a Janus kinase(JAK)inhibitor(Tofacitinib),but improved with a combination of ABT and JAK inhibitor(Baricitinib,BAT).CASE SUMMARY A 46-year-old Chinese woman who had RA for ten years that was resistant to Tocilizumab,Etanercept,Adalimumab,and ABT.According to the European League Against Rheumatism definition,the patient was diagnosed with D2T RA.It was then improved with a combination of ABT and a JAK inhibitor BAT.CONCLUSION ABT combined with BAT may be an acceptable strategy for treating D2T RA.

Gardenia jasminoides attenuates hepatocellular injury and fibrosis in bile duct-ligated rats and human hepatic stellate cells

AIM:To investigate the anti-hepatofibrotic effects of Gardenia jasminoides in liver fibrosis.METHODS:Male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent common bile duct ligation(BDL) for 14 d and were treated with Gardenia jasminoides by gavage.The ef-fects of Gardenia jasminoides on liver fibrosis and the detailed molecular mechanisms were also assessed in human hepatic stellate cells(LX-2) in vitro.RESULTS:Treatment with Gardenia jasminoides decreased serum alanine aminotransferase(BDL vs BDL + 100 mg/kg Gardenia jasminoides,146.6 ± 15 U/L vs 77 ± 6.5 U/L,P = 0.0007) and aspartate aminotransferase(BDL vs BDL + 100 mg/kg Gardenia jasminoides,188 ± 35.2 U/L vs 128 ± 19 U/L,P = 0.005) as well as hydroxyproline(BDL vs BDL + 100 mg/kg Gardenia jasminoides,438 ± 40.2 μg/g vs 228 ± 10.3 μg/g liver tissue,P = 0.004) after BDL.Furthermore,Gardenia jasminoides significantly reduced liver mRNA and/or protein expression of transforming growth factor β1(TGF-β1),collagen type?Ⅰ?(Col?Ⅰ) and α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA).Gardenia jasminoides significantly suppressed the upregulation of TGF-β1,Col?Ⅰand α-SMA in LX-2 exposed to recombinant TGF-β1.Moreover,Gardenia jasminoides inhibited TGF-β1-induced Smad2 phosphorylation in LX-2 cells.CONCLUSION:Gardenia jasminoides exerts antifibrotic effects in the liver fibrosis and may represent a novel antifibrotic agent.

Search for topological defect of axionlike model with cesium atomic comagnetometer

Many terrestrial experiments have been designed to detect domain walls composed of axions or axionlike particles(ALPs), which are promising candidates of dark matter. When the domain wall crosses over the Earth, the pseudoscalar field of ALPs could couple to the atomic spins. Such exotic spin-dependent couplings can be searched for by monitoring the transient-in-time change of the atomic spin precession frequency in the presence of a magnetic field. We propose here a single-species cesium atomic comagnetometer, which measures the spin precession frequencies of atoms in different ground-state hyperfine levels, to eliminate the common-mode magnetic-field variations and search for the exotic nonmagnetic couplings solely between protons and ALPs. With the single-species atomic comagnetometer, we experimentally rule out the possibility that the decay constant of the linear pseudoscalar couplings of ALPs to protons is fp■ 3.71 ×107 Ge V. The advanced system has the potential to constrain the constant to be fp■ 10.7 × 109 Ge V, promising to improve astrophysical constraint level by at least one order of magnitude. Our system could provide a sensitive detection method for the global network of optical magnetometers to search for exotic physics.

Intervention effect and mechanism of Jisheng Shenqi Decoction plus Panax notoginseng and Bionjia on CCl4-induced hepatic fibrosis rat model

Objective:To investigate the intervention effect and specific mechanism of Jisheng Shenqi Decoction plus Panax notoginseng and Turmeric on carbon tetrachloride(CCl4)-induced liver fibrosis in rats.Methods:SPF SD rats were randomly divided into control group,model group,and Chinese medicine treatment(low,medium and high dose)groups.The model group and Chinese medicine treatment group were given intraperitoneal injection of 40%CCl4 olive oil solution twice a week.A rat model of liver fibrosis was replicated by the method for 8 weeks.After successful modeling,each drug-administered group was gavaged with corresponding drugs,and the control group and model group were gavaged with equal volume of distilled water,once a day,for 4 weeks.After the last intragastric administration,HE staining and Masson staining were used to observe the pathological morphology of liver tissue,and liver function(ALT,AST)was detected;ELISA method was used to determine transforming growth factorβ(TGF-β),angiotensin II(Ang-Ⅱ),chitinase 3-like protein 1(CHI3L1),interleukin-1(IL-1),interleukin-6(IL-6),tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)content;The expression levels of type I,type III collagen(Col-Ⅰ,Col-Ⅲ)and TGF-βmRNA were determined by RT-PCR.Results:①HE and Masson staining showed that a large number of liver cells in the model group were inflamed and necrotic,the collagen fibers in the liver tissue were extensively proliferated,the fibrous septa were interconnected,and the pseudolobules were formed.Compared with the model group,the levels of ALT,AST,TGF-β,Ang-Ⅱ,CHI3L1,IL-1,IL-6 and TNF-αin the traditional Chinese medicine treatment group were decreased,while the levels of Col-Ⅰ,Col-ⅢThe expressions ofⅢand TGF-βmRNA were decreased,and the effect was most obvious in the middle and high dose groups of traditional Chinese medicine(P<0.01).Conclusion:Jisheng Shenqi Decoction combined with Panax notoginseng and Biejia can significantly improve liver fibrosis induced by CCl4 in rats,and its mechanism may be related to the down-regulation of angiotensin-converting enzyme(ACE)-angiotensin II(Ang-II)-angiotensin II receptor 1(AT1R)signaling pathway related gene expression,reducing the level of related cytokines,promoting the degradation of extracellular matrix and so on.

Magnetic field imaging with radio-frequency optically pumped magnetometers [Invited]

High-sensitivity radio-frequency optically pumped magnetometers (RF-OPMs), working without cryogenic condition, play a critical role in magnetic field imaging(MFI) at low frequencies(e.g., 100 Hz to 1 MHz). We introduce the principle of operation and recent developments of RF-OPMs and focus on reviewing the MFI applications in magnetic induction tomography, ultralow-field magnetic resonance imaging, and magnetic particle imaging. For the applications of RF-OPMs, ranging from industrial monitoring to medical imaging and security screening, the unshielded and portable RF-OPMs(and RF-OPM array)techniques are still under the further development for detecting and scanning over the target object for accomplishing the final three-dimensional imaging, and thus extremely require the abilities of active compensation of the ambient magnetic field and sensor miniaturization in the future.

A novel mouse model of PEDF-associated serious liver inflammation,hepatic tumorigenesis and cardiovascular injury mimics human nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

There are no approvedtherapeuticdrugs for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis(NASH)due to the many bottlenecks,including the lack of preclinical animal models that can perfectly mimic human NASH features,such as systemic metabolic disorders,hepatic steatosis,intense liver inflammation and fibrosis,liver tumorigenesis,and cardiovascularcomplications.i,2"Pigment"epitheliumderived factor(PEDF)is a lipid metabolism regulator with high expression in the liver,and its reduced expression in the liver is closely related to the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD).

SiO2对CaCl2熔盐电解还原钛铁矿精矿制备FeTi合金的影响

在不同电解时间和槽电压下,添加SiO2电解还原钛铁矿精矿制备钛铁合金.结果表明,以添加一定量SiO2的钛铁矿精矿为阴极,控制阴极中主要组元的摩尔比Ti：Fe：Si=1.2：1：0.2,以石墨棒为阳极、CaCl2熔盐为电解质,在槽电压3.2 V、温度900℃下电解2 h,可制得疏松多孔、颗粒尺寸较均匀的FeTi合金粉体.钛铁矿精电解还原过程中会生成CaTiO3和Fe-Ti-O等中间产物,添加的SiO2在电解时会优先还原生成单质Si,并参与CaTiO3等中间产物的还原反应,降低中间产物电解还原生成FeTi合金的理论电压,有利于加快电解还原钛铁矿精矿制备钛铁合金的速率.

An overview of vortex-induced vibration(VIV)of bridge decks

A brief overview of vortex-induced vibration(VIV)of circular cylinders is first given as most of VIVstudies have been focused on this particular bluff cross-section.A critical literature review of VIV of bridge decks thathighlights physical mechanisms central to VIV from a renewed perspective is provided.The discussion focuses on VIVofbridge decks from wind-tunnel experiments,full-scale observations,semi-empirical models and computational fluidsdynamics(CFD)perspectives.Finally,a recently developed reduced order model(ROM)based on truncated Volterraseries is introduced to model VIVof long-span bridges.This model captures successfully salient features of VIVat“lockin”and unlike most phenomenological models offers physical significance of the model kernels.

Revisiting aerodynamic admittance functions of bridge decks

A framework was proposed to identify a comprehensive set of aerodynamic admittance functions for bridge decks. The contributions of the cross-spectra between longitudinal and vertical wind velocity components and between turbulence components and gust-induced forces were embedded in the identification procedure. To facilitate application of the identified functions in engineering practice, the concept of an equivalent aerodynamic admittance function was introduced and numerically validated. The equivalent aerodynamic admittance functions of a set of streamlined and bluff cross sections were identified experimentally in a wind tunnel. Buffeting analysis of a bridge deck was carried out and the response predicted using the identified aerodynamic admittance functions compared well with the measured response. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was performed to delineate the influence of aerodynamic and structural parameters on the buffeting response, thereby demonstrating the significance of the proposed identification framework.

The development and application of genome editing technology in ruminants: a review

Transgenic ruminants are a valuable resource for both animal breeding and biomedical research.The development of transgenic breeding is proceeding slowly,because it suffers from low efficiency of gene transfer and possible safety problems from uncontrolled random integration.However,new breeding methods combined with genome editing and somatic cell nuclear transfer or microinjection can offer an economic and efficient way to produce gene-edited ruminants,which can serve as bioreactors or have improved disease resistance,animal welfare and product quality.Recent advances in precise genome editing technologies,especially clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat(CRISPR)/Cas9 nucleases,are enabling the systematic development of gene-edited ruminant production.This review covers the development of gene-edited ruminants,the particulars of site-specific engineered nucleases and the state of the art and new insights into practical applications and social acceptance of genome editing technology in ruminants.It is concluded that the production of gene-edited ruminants is feasible and through improvements in genome editing technology it is possible to help feed the world.

Co-delivery of Andrographolide and Notch1-targeted siRNA to Macrophages with Polymer-based Nanocarrier for Enhanced Anti-inflammation

Chronic inflammatory responses induced by macrophages play a pivotal role in the progression of atherosclerosis. In the present study, a multifunctional nanocarrier based on poly（ethylene glycol）-block-poly（L-aspartic acid） grafted with diethylenetriamine, lysine and cholic acid （PEG-PAsp（DETA）-Lys-CA2） polymer was synthesized for co-delivery of andrographolide and siRNA targeting Notchl gene to alleviate the inflammatory response in macrophages. The nanocarrier exerted low cytotoxicity as well as high performance in drug/siRNA co-delivery. In vitro studies demonstrated the co-delivery of andrographolide and Notchl siRNA not only significantly inhibited lipopolysaccharide （LPS）-activated interleukin-6 （IL-6） and monocytes chemotactic protein 1 （MCP-1） expression as well as blocked nuclear factor-rd3 （NF-rd3） signal activation, but also interfered the Notchl gene expression and increased anti-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-10 （IL-10） and arginase-1 expression obviously in macrophages. These results suggested that the combination therapy based on Notchl siRNA and andrographolide co-delivered nanocarrier, i.e. suppressing the expression of proinflammatory cytokines while simultaneously increasing anti-inflammatory factors expression, be a feasible strategy for atherosclerosis treatment.