Enhancing Erectile Function and Alleviating Andropause Symptoms: Clinical Efficacy of a Human Stem Cell Conditioned Medium Cream

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is increasingly prevalent in Japan, exceeding 30%, and increasing with age. Unhealthy lifestyle habits, obesity, insufficient exercise, and smoking have been implicated in its pathogenesis, along with endothelial dysfunction of the corpora cavernosa and impaired blood flow to the penis considered underlying factors. However, the current treatments are limited to Phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitors. ED is the primary symptom of andropathy. This study reports the clinical efficacy of human stem cell-conditioned medium cream for ED treatment. Ten men without underlying diseases suspected of andropause with ED (mean age 43.2 ± 4.4 y, Hb 15.2 ± 0.6 gm/dL, AST/ALT 30.2/37.9 ± 12.4/14.0, eGFR 82.7 ± 12.4 mL/min/1.73 m2) were targeted. The cream was applied twice daily to the genital and scrotal areas. The erectile hardness score (EHS), International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5), and Aging Male Symptoms (AMS) scale were used to evaluate the participants before and 30 days after use, and the results were compared using paired t-tests. The post-use qualitative opinions were collected through interviews. Significant improvements were observed compared to baseline in the IIEF-5 (11.8 ± 4.6→17.2 ± 5.1, P < 0.001), and AMS (46.3 ± 6.7→37.6 ± 5.3, P < 0.001) scores post cream use. EHS did not show a statistically significant difference, but a trend towards improvement was observed. Qualitative feedback included increased morning erection, improved maintenance of erection during intercourse, and reduced post work fatigue. Human stem cell-conditioned medium contains endothelial growth factors that potentially contribute to the improvement of ED and andropause by enhancing corporal endothelial function. Future studies should include control groups to further investigate the efficacy of these treatments.

Review on the plastic instability of medium -Mn steels for identifying the formation mechanisms of Lüders and Portevin -Le Chatelier bands

Plastic instability,including both the discontinuous yielding and stress serrations,has been frequently observed during the tensile deformation of medium-Mn steels(MMnS)and has been intensively studied in recent years.Unfortunately,research results are controversial,and no consensus has been achieved regarding the topic.Here,we first summarize all the possible factors that affect the yielding and flow stress serrations in MMnS,including the morphology and stability of austenite,the feature of the phase interface,and the deformation parameters.Then,we propose a universal mechanism to explain the conflicting experimental results.We conclude that the discontinuous yielding can be attributed to the lack of mobile dislocation before deformation and the rapid dislocation multiplication at the beginning of plastic deformation.Meanwhile,the results show that the stress serrations are formed due to the pinning and depinning between dislocations and interstitial atoms in austenite.Strain-induced martensitic transformation,influenced by the mechanical stability of austenite grain and deformation parameters,should not be the intrinsic cause of plastic instability.However,it can intensify or weaken the discontinuous yielding and the stress serrations by affecting the mobility and density of dislocations,as well as the interaction between the interstitial atoms and dislocations in austenite grains.

A Dual-Cluster-Head Based Medium Access Control for Large-Scale UAV Ad-Hoc Networks

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV)ad hoc network has achieved significant growth for its flexibility,extensibility,and high deployability in recent years.The application of clustering scheme for UAV ad hoc network is imperative to enhance the performance of throughput and energy efficiency.In conventional clustering scheme,a single cluster head(CH)is always assigned in each cluster.However,this method has some weaknesses such as overload and premature death of CH when the number of UAVs increased.In order to solve this problem,we propose a dual-cluster-head based medium access control(DCHMAC)scheme for large-scale UAV networks.In DCHMAC,two CHs are elected to manage resource allocation and data forwarding cooperatively.Specifically,two CHs work on different channels.One of CH is used for intra-cluster communication and the other one is for inter-cluster communication.A Markov chain model is developed to analyse the throughput of the network.Simulation result shows that compared with FM-MAC(flying ad hoc networks multi-channel MAC,FM-MAC),DCHMAC improves the throughput by approximately 20%~50%and prolongs the network lifetime by approximately 40%.

Assessing Factors Influencing Solar Energy Adoption among Small and Medium Enterprises in Mzuzu City, Malawi

One of the many renewable energy sources that offer advantages is solar energy, which also lowers energy prices and promotes environmental sustainability and energy security. Despite these advantages, various barriers, such as installation costs, have prevented small and medium-sized enterprises from investigating this invention. Malawi has a significant energy shortfall such that most businesses have been hindered from their profit maximization goals. The “Photovoltaic systems” (PV) that transform sunlight into electricity are the subject of this study. This type of solar energy system is situated on the building’s roof and generally produces electricity for businesses and even homes. Solar energy offers a great impact to small and medium enterprises in Mzuzu city with a cost-effective and dependable alternative to energy that has the potential to change the game. Therefore the aim of the study was to identify factors that encourage the adoption of solar energy among small medium enterprises in the city of Mzuzu city. And to identify some of barriers faced when adopting solar energy among small and medium enterprises in the city of Mzuzu. The research approach employed in the study was a survey. A survey is a type of research methodology in which primary data is gathered from a sample using a questionnaire. When information is to be gathered from a wider sample, a survey is employed. A bigger sample size was needed in this study in order to facilitate hypothesis testing. It is advised to apply a logical approach while using the survey. The survey utilized a five-point Likert scale. The study used convenience sampling to select study participants. The sample size in this study was determined using Cochran’s sample size formula. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel were used for statistical analysis. About 97.2% of the participants were aware of solar as a source of energy compared to 2.8 % who were unaware. The majority of participants use solar energy for lighting only, seconded by those who use electricity. The least number of participants use solar energy for cooling only. The majority of participants 21.5% indicated partnership and collaboration as the most motivating factor for the adoption of solar energy. This was followed by technical expertise 19.1 % the least number of participants 10.8% expressed that policy and regulatory frameworks were associated with the adoption of solar energy. This study found that there are no statistically significant factors influencing barriers to the adoption of solar energy. The price of solar energy adoption was identified as the least factor associated with the acceptance or rejection of solar energy. Nonetheless, the reasons given by the homes that had embraced solar technology aligned with the findings of other studies. This survey also found that although the public was aware of solar energy, and technology, there were still a number of factors that mattered, especially for non-adopters.

THE INTERIOR TRANSMISSION EIGENVALUE PROBLEM FOR AN ANISOTROPIC MEDIUM BY A PARTIALLY COATED BOUNDARY

We consider the interior transmission eigenvalue problem corresponding to the scattering for an anisotropic medium of the scalar Helmholtz equation in the case where the boundary?Ωis split into two disjoint parts and possesses different transmission conditions.Using the variational method,we obtain the well posedness of the interior transmission problem,which plays an important role in the proof of the discreteness of eigenvalues.Then we achieve the existence of an infinite discrete set of transmission eigenvalues provided that n≡1,where a fourth order differential operator is applied.In the case of n■1,we show the discreteness of the transmission eigenvalues under restrictive assumptions by the analytic Fredholm theory and the T-coercive method.

Conditioned medium from human dental pulp stem cells treats spinal cord injury by inhibiting microglial pyroptosis

Human dental pulp stem cell transplantation has been shown to be an effective therapeutic strategy for spinal cord injury.However,whether the human dental pulp stem cell secretome can contribute to functional recovery after spinal cord injury remains unclear.In the present study,we established a rat model of spinal cord injury based on impact injury from a dropped weight and then intraperitoneally injected the rats with conditioned medium from human dental pulp stem cells.We found that the conditioned medium effectively promoted the recovery of sensory and motor functions in rats with spinal cord injury,decreased expression of the microglial pyroptosis markers NLRP3,GSDMD,caspase-1,and interleukin-1β,promoted axonal and myelin regeneration,and inhibited the formation of glial scars.In addition,in a lipopolysaccharide-induced BV2 microglia model,conditioned medium from human dental pulp stem cells protected cells from pyroptosis by inhibiting the NLRP3/caspase-1/interleukin-1βpathway.These results indicate that conditioned medium from human dental pulp stem cells can reduce microglial pyroptosis by inhibiting the NLRP3/caspase-1/interleukin-1βpathway,thereby promoting the recovery of neurological function after spinal cord injury.Therefore,conditioned medium from human dental pulp stem cells may become an alternative therapy for spinal cord injury.

Simultaneously realizing thermal andelectromagnetic cloaking by multi-physicalnull medium

Simultaneously manipulating multiple physical fields plays an important role in the increasingly complex integrated systems,aerospace equipment,biochemical productions,etc.For on-chip systems with high integration level,the precise and efficient control of the propagation of electromagnetic waves and heat fluxes simultaneously is particularly important.In this study,we propose a graphical designing method(i.e.,thermal-electromagnetic surface transformation)based on thermal-electromagnetic null medium to simultaneously control the propagation of electromagnetic waves and thermal fields according to the pre-designed paths.A thermal-electromagnetic cloak,which can create a cloaking effect on both electromagnetic waves and thermal fields simultaneously,is designed by thermal-electromagnetic surface transformation and verified by both numerical simulations and experimental measurements.The thermal-electromagnetic surface transformation proposed in this study provides a new methodology for simultaneous controlling on electromagnetic and temperature fields,and may have significant applications in improving thermal-electromagnetic compatibility problem,protecting of thermal-electromagnetic sensitive components,and improving efficiency of energy usage for complex onchip systems.

Adenosine A_(2A)receptor blockade attenuates excitotoxicity in rat striatal medium spiny neurons during an ischemic-like insult

During brain ischemia,excitotoxicity and peri-infarct depolarization injuries occur and cause cerebral tissue damage.Indeed,anoxic depolarization,consisting of massive neuronal depolarization due to the loss of membrane ion gradients,occurs in vivo or in vitro during an energy failure.The neuromodulator adenosine is released in huge amounts during cerebral ischemia and exerts its effects by activating specific metabotropic receptors,namely:A_(1),A_(2A),A_(2B),and A_(3).The A_(2A)receptor subtype is highly expressed in striatal medium spiny neurons,which are particularly susceptible to ischemic damage.Evidence indicates that the A2Areceptors are upregulated in the rat striatum after stroke and the selective antagonist SCH58261 protects from exaggerated glutamate release within the first 4 hours from the insult and alleviates neurological impairment and histological injury in the following 24 hours.We recently added new knowledge to the mechanisms by which the adenosine A2Areceptor subtype participates in ischemia-induced neuronal death by performing patch-clamp recordings from medium spiny neurons in rat striatal brain slices exposed to oxygen and glucose deprivation.We demonstrated that the selective block of A2Areceptors by SCH58261 significantly reduced ionic imbalance and delayed the anoxic depolarization in medium spiny neurons during oxygen and glucose deprivation and that the mechanism involves voltage-gated K+channel modulation and a presynaptic inhibition of glutamate release by the A2Areceptor antagonist.The present review summarizes the latest findings in the literature about the possibility of developing selective ligands of A2Areceptors as advantageous therapeutic tools that may contribute to counteracting neurodegeneration after brain ischemia.

Flow and Heat Transfer of a Dusty Williamson MHD Nanofluid Flow over a Permeable Cylinder in a Porous Medium

This study investigates the flow and heat transfer of dusty Williamson (MHD) Nanofluid flow over a stretching permeable cylinder in a porous medium. Dusty Williamson Nanofluid was considered due to its thermal properties and potential benefits of increasing the heat transfer rate. Firstly, partial differential equations are transformed into coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations through a similarity variables transformation. The resulting set of dimensionless equations is solved analytically by using the Homogony Perturbation Method (HPM). The effects of the emerging parameters on the velocity and temperature profiles as well as skin-friction coefficient and Nusselt number are publicized through tables and graphs with appropriate discussions. The present result has been compared with published papers and found to be in agreement. To the best of author’s knowledge, there has been sparse research work in the literature that considers the effect of dust with Williamson Nanofluid and also solving the problem analytically. Therefore to the best of author’s knowledge, this is the first time analytical solution has been established for the problem. The results revealed that the fluid velocity of both the fluid and dust phases decreases as the Williamson parameter increases. Motivated by the above limitations and the gaps in past works, therefore, it is hoped that the present work will assist in providing accurate solutions to many practical problems in science, industry and engineering.

Improvement of Temperature Drop Model Parameters for 4200mm/3500mm Rolling of Baosteel Medium and Thick Plate

Based on the temperature situation during the rolling process of 4200 mm/3500 mm medium and thick plates at Baosteel,this article analyzes the influencing factors of temperature changes during the rolling process from the perspective of heat transfer theory and the temperature change law during the rolling process.The temperature loss during the four rolling processes is tracked on site,and the temperature drop model parameters during the rolling process of 4200mm/3500mm medium and thick plates at Baosteel are quantitatively provided.It is applied to actual rolling production and has achieved good results.

Contract Mechanism of Water Environment Regulation for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Based on Optimal Control Theory

The small and scattered enterprise pattern in the county economy has formed numerous sporadic pollution sources, hindering the centralized treatment of the water environment, increasing the cost and difficulty of treatment. How enterprises can make reasonable decisions on their water environment behavior based on the external environment and their own factors is of great significance for scientifically and effectively designing water environment regulation mechanisms. Based on optimal control theory, this study investigates the design of contractual mechanisms for water environmental regulation for small and medium-sized enterprises. The enterprise is regarded as an independent economic entity that can adopt optimal control strategies to maximize its own interests. Based on the participation of multiple subjects including the government, enterprises, and the public, an optimal control strategy model for enterprises under contractual water environmental regulation is constructed using optimal control theory, and a method for calculating the amount of unit pollutant penalties is derived. The water pollutant treatment cost data of a paper company is selected to conduct empirical numerical analysis on the model. The results show that the increase in the probability of government regulation and public participation, as well as the decrease in local government protection for enterprises, can achieve the same regulatory effect while reducing the number of administrative penalties per unit. Finally, the implementation process of contractual water environmental regulation for small and medium-sized enterprises is designed.

A novel binary effective medium model to describe the prepeak stressstrain relationship of combined bodies of rock-like material and rock

Combined bodies of rock-like material and rock are widely encountered in geotechnical engineering,such as tunnels and mines.The existing theoretical models describing the stress-strain relationship of a combined body lack a binary feature.Based on effective medium theory,this paper presents the governing equation of the“elastic modulus”for combined and single bodies under triaxial compressive tests.A binary effective medium model is then established.Based on the compressive experiment of concretegranite combined bodies,the feasibility of determining the stress threshold based on crack axial strain is discussed,and the model is verified.The model is further extended to coal-rock combined bodies of more diverse types,and the variation laws of the compressive mechanical parameters are then discussed.The results show that the fitting accuracy of the model with the experimental curves of the concretegranite combined bodies and various types of coal-rock combined bodies are over 95%.The crack axial strain method can replace the crack volumetric strain method,which clarifies the physical meanings of the model parameters.The variation laws of matrix parameters and crack parameters are discussed in depth and are expected to be more widely used in geotechnical engineering.

A Comparison Study on the δD Value of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Hydrous Pyrolysate of Herbaceous Peat with Different Water Medium

To investigate the influence of diagenetic water media on the hydrogen isotopes of individual sedimentary aromatic compounds,a series of hydrous pyrolyses were conducted on herbaceous peat.Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs)in hydrous pyrolysed samples and their hydrogen isotopic composition characteristics were studied.The aqueous medium demonstrated a significant influence on the hydrogen isotopic composition of the individual PAHs generated during pyrolysis.The results showed that the PAHs formed after pyrolysis in the presence of a saltwater medium with high δD value from a salt lake had a heavy hydrogen isotopic composition.The PAHs formed after pyrolysis in the presence of a fresh water medium with low δD value from a swamp had a light hydrogen isotopic composition.The difference in the average PAHδD value between the two hydrous experiments varied from -174‰ to -109‰,suggesting that the hydrogen isotopic composition of individual sedimentary PAHs can reflect the source of the diagenetic water medium.In addition,a comparative study found that the hydrogen isotopes of PAHs were superior to those of n-alkanes in the same sample for diagenetic water indications.The results indicated that the exchange of water-derived inorganic hydrogen and organic hydrogen was more intensive in freshwater experiments than in saltwater experiments.With an increase in the simulation temperature,the average δD value of PAHs generated in the hydrous simulation experiments showed an increasing trend,reflecting that the δD value of sedimentary PAHs formed with the participation of diagenetic water media was still closely related to the thermal maturity of organic matter.Comparative studies showed that theδD values of different types of organic compounds produced by hydrous pyrolysis of peat were in the order,PAHs>n-alkanes>methane.

Principle of subtraction ghost imaging in scattering medium

Scattering medium in light path will cause distortion of the light field,resulting in poor signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)of ghost imaging.The disturbance is usually eliminated by the method of pre-compensation.We deduce the intensity fluctuation correlation function of the ghost imaging with the disturbance of the scattering medium,which proves that the ghost image consists of two correlated results:the image of scattering medium and the target object.The effect of the scattering medium can be eliminated by subtracting the correlated result between the light field after the scattering medium and the reference light from ghost image,which verifies the theoretical results.Our research may provide a new idea of ghost imaging in harsh environment.

Flow and heat transfer of a nanofluid through a porous medium due to stretching/shrinking sheet with suction,magnetic field and thermal radiation

This study investigates the suction and magnetic field effects on the two-dimensional nanofluid flow through a stretching/shrinking sheet at the stagnation point in the porous medium with thermal radiation.The governing partial differential equations(PDEs)are converted into ordinary differential equations(ODEs)using the similarity transformation.The resulting ODEs are then solved numerically by using the bvp4c solver in MATLAB software.It was found that dual solutions exist for the shrinking parameter values up to a certain range.The numerical results obtained are compared,and the comparison showed a good agreement with the existing results in the literature.The governing parameters’effect on the velocity,temperature and nanoparticle fraction fields as well as the skin friction coefficient,the local Nusselt number and the Sherwood number are represented graphically and analyzed.The variation of the velocity,temperature and concentration increase with the increase in the suction and magnetic field parameters.It seems that the thermal radiation effect has increased the local Sherwood number while the local Nusselt number is reduced with it.

2.5-Dimensional modeling of EM logging-while-drilling tool in anisotropic medium on a Lebedev grid

A 2.5D finite-difference(FD)algorithm for the modeling of the electromagnetic(EM)logging-whiledrilling(LWD)tool in anisotropic media is presented.The FD algorithm is based on the Lebedev grid,which allows for the discretization of the frequency-domain Maxwell's equations in the anisotropic media in 2.5D scenarios without interpolation.This leads to a system of linear equations that is solved using the multifrontal direct solver which enables the simulation of multi-sources at nearly the cost of simulating a single source for each frequency.In addition,near-optimal quadrature derived from an optimized integration path in the complex plane is employed to implement the fast inverse Fourier Transform(IFT).The algorithm is then validated by both analytic and 3D solutions.Numerical results show that two Lebedev subgrid sets are sufficient for TI medium,which is common in geosteering environments.The number of quadrature points is greatly reduced by using the near-optimal quadrature method.

INVERSE CONDUCTIVE MEDIUM SCATTERING WITH UNKNOWN BURIED OBJECTS

This paper is concerned with inverse acoustic scattering in an inhomogeneous medium with a conductive boundary condition and the unknown buried impenetrable objects inside.Using a variational approach,we establish the well-posedness of the direct problem.For the inverse problem,we shall numerically reconstruct the inhomogeneous medium from the far-field data for different kinds of cases.For the case when a Dirichlet boundary condition is imposed on the buried object,the classical factorization method proposed in[1]is justified as valid for reconstructing the inhomogeneous medium from the far-field data.For the case when a Neumann boundary condition is imposed on the buried object,the classical factorization method of[1]cannot be applied directly,since the middle operator of the factorization of the far-field operator is only compact.In this case,we develop a modified factorization method to locate the inhomogeneous medium with a conductive boundary condition and the unknown buried objects.Some numerical experiments are provided to demonstrate the practicability of the inversion algorithms developed.

Aerodynamic shape and drag scaling law of a flexible fibre in a flowing medium

The study of a flexible body immersed in a flowing medium is one of the best way to find its aerodynamic shape.This Letter revisited the problem that was first studied by Alben et al.(Nature 420,479–481,2002).To determine the aerodynamic shape of the fibre,a simpler approach is proposed.A universal drag scaling law is obtained and the universality of the Alben-Shelley-Zhang scaling law is confirmed by using dimensional analysis.A complete Maple code is provided for finding aerodynamic shape of the fibre in the flowing medium.

Influence of heat treatment processing on the microstructure and properties in medium manganese steel

For the purpose of developing a 1 500 MPa grade steel sheet with excellent strength and ductility, a 0.15C-10Mn-1.5Al steel was employed to study austenite stability and microstructural evolution based on a novel double annealing processing.After a conventional intercritical annealing process, the sample was heated again to a temperature higher than A_(c3) for a very short time to generate austenite grains with different manganese content;thus, the microstructure of martensite plus austenite can be obtained at room temperature.The experimental results show that with increasing annealing temperature, the tensile strength and yield strength increase.When the annealing temperature was higher than 820 ℃,the microstructure consisted of martensite plus austenite, and the tensile strength almost remained invariant with the annealing temperature.A tensile strength of 1 537 MPa and an elong-ation of 25.1% were achieved for the 820 ℃ condition.The volume fractions of austenite and martensite were identified by X-ray diffraction.It was found that with increasing annealing temperature, the volume fraction of the retained austenite decreased, and the ductility also had a gradual downward trend.The related austenite stability was discussed here as well.

Slip Condition Effects on Unsteady MHD Fluid Flow with Radiative Heatflux over a Porous Medium

The objective of this paper is to study unsteady magneto hydrodynamic (MHD) free flow of viscoelastic fluid (Walter’s B) past an infinite vertical plate through porous medium. The temperature is assumed to be oscillating with time. The solution obtained shows different profiles of effects of slip conditions on primary and secondary velocity. Also, the effects of various parameters on temperature, concentration, primary and secondary velocity profiles were presented graphically. The result indicated the secondary velocity is enhanced with increase in slip parameter. Primary velocity demonstrated opposite trend.