State of the art and practice of pavement anti-icing and de-icing techniques

Pavement snow and icing are worldwide problems, but effective countermeasures are just beginning to be developed in China. The two most common snow and ice removal methods are mechanical clearance and chemical melting, and the advantages and disadvantages of each approach are discussed here, including environmental and structural damage caused by corrosive snow melting agents. New developments in chemical melting agents and mechanical equipment are discussed, and an overview of alternative thermal melting systems is presented, including the use of geothermy and non-geothermal heating systems utilizing solar energy, electricity, conductive pavement materials, and infrared/microwave applications. Strategic recommendations are made for continued enhancement of public safety in snow and ice conditions.

Design and Development of Anti-Icing Aluminum Surface

An anti-icing surface has been designed and prepared with an aluminum panel by creating an artificial lotus leaf which is highly hydrophobic. The hydrophobicity of a solid surface can be generated by decreasing its surface tension and increasing the roughness of the surface. On a highly hydrophobic surface, water has a high contact angle and it can easily rolls off, carrying surface dirt and debris with it. Super-cooled water or freezing rain can also run off this highly hydrophobic surface instead of forming ice on the surface, due to the reduction of the liquid-solid adhesion. This property can also help a surface to get rid of the ice after the water becomes frozen. In this study, a Cassie-Baxter rough surface was modeled, and an aluminum panel was physically and chemically modified based on the modeled structure. Good agreement was found between predicted values and experimental results for the contact and roll-off angles of water. Most importantly, by creating this highly hydrophobic aluminum rough surface, the anti-icing and de-icing properties of the modified surface were drastically improved compared to the control aluminum surface, and the cost will be reduced.

Anti-Icing Method Based on Reducing Voltage of Transmission Lines

The icing of transmission lines threatens the security of power system. This paper proposes a novel anti-icing method based on reducing voltage of the transmission lines. The line voltage can be reduced by regulating the ratio of the transformers which install the both ends of the transmission lines. The line current can be increased and the power loss of the transmission lines can also be increased, which means the heat generated by power loss increases and the icing process of the transmission lines can be restrained. When the icing may occur in the atrocious weather, the anti-icing transformers installed the both ends of transmission line are put into operation. The ratios of transformers are regulated to the appropriate value. The current of transmission line can be increased to the value that is a little greater than the critical current, which can realize the purpose of anti-icing. At the same time, the conditions of normal running in the load side are kept invariably, which can ensure the security of power system. This method can be applicable to a wide range. It's an effective measure to prevent the icing of the transmission lines.

Fast Algorithm for Prediction of Airfoil Anti-icing Heat Load

Many flight and icing conditions should be considered in order to design an efficient ice protection system to prevent ice accretion on the aircraft surface. The anti-icing heat load is the basic knowledge for the design of a thermal anti-icing system. In order to help the design of the thermal anti-icing system and save the design time, a fast and efficiency method for prediction the anti-icing heat load is investigated. The computation fluid dynamics (CFD) solver and the Messinger model are applied to obtain the snapshots. Examples for the calculation of the anti-icing heat load using the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method are presented and compared with the CFD simulation results. It is shown that the heat loads predicted by POD method are in agreement with the CFD computation results. Moreover, it is obviously to see that the POD method is time-saving and can meet the requirement of real-time prediction.

Super-hydrophobic film deposition by an atmospheric-pressure plasma process and its anti-icing characteristics

In this work,the super-hydrophobic(SH)surface was prepared through chemical vapor deposition process by an argon atmospheric pressure plasma jet source with HMDSN(hexamethyldisilazane)as the polymerization precursor.Plasma synthesized organosilicon(SiOxCyHz)thin films with water contact angle over 160°and sliding angle below 5°,were able to be achieved.FTIR and XPS analysis indicates a large number of hydrocarbon compositions were polymerized in the thin films enduing the latter very-low surface free energy.SEM shows the SH films display micro-nanostructure and with high degree of averaged surface roughness 190 nm evaluated by AFM analysis.From experiments under controlled low-temperature and moisture conditions,the prepared SH surface exhibits good anti-icing effects.Significantly prolonging freezing time was achievable on the SH thin films for both static and sliding water droplets.This investigation demonstrates the anti-icing potentials of SH surface prepared through low-cost simple atmospheric-pressure plasma polymerization process.

Implications for Antigravity Tests of Dirac’s Negative Energy Antiparticles

P. A. M. Dirac conceived antimatter in 1928 as having negative energy by allowing a consistent representation of matter-antimatter annihilation into light. To achieve compatibility with special relativity, particle physics of the early 20th century made the theoretical assumption that antiparticles have positive energy, an assumption that remains in effect as of today. In this note we prove apparently for the first time a theorem stating that positive mass antiparticles violate Dirac’s particle-antiparticle annihilation into light. We then show the consequential unsettled character of the recent gravity test of the anti-Hydrogen atom due to the positive mass of its nucleus. We conclude by suggesting that a final scientific claim on matter-antimatter gravity requires tests on particles with clear antimatter character, such as the 1994 resolutory proposal for the comparative test of the gravity of very low energy electron and positron in horizontal flight on a supercooled vacuum tube.

类风湿关节炎合并骨关节炎病人血清anti-Sa、anti-CCP水平与骨关节损伤、全身炎症反应的相关性分析

目的:分析类风湿关节炎(RA)病人血清anti-Sa、anti-CCP抗体水平与其骨关节损伤、全身炎症反应的相关性。方法:选择RA合并骨关节损伤病人108例,根据血清anti-Sa、anti-CCP抗体水平分别列入高anti-Sa组和低anti-Sa组、高anti-CCP组和低anti-CCP组。比较各组病人WOMAC骨性关节炎指数、lysholms膝关节功能评分值,血清白细胞介素(IL)-1β、IL-6、IL-27、肿瘤坏死因子α(TNF-α)水平。采用Pearson检验评估有关指标的相关性。结果:高anti-Sa组、高anti-CCP组病人的WOMAC骨性关节炎指数明显高于低anti-Sa组(P<0.01),lysholms膝关节功能评分明显低于低anti-Sa组(P<0.01);血清中IL-1β、IL-6、IL-27、TNF-α的水平明显高于低anti-CCP组(P<0.01)。RA病人血清anti-Sa、anti-CCP抗体水平与骨关节损伤、全身炎症反应严重程度呈正相关关系(P<0.05~P<0.01),与lysholms膝关节功能评分呈负相关关系(P<0.01)。结论:RA病人血清中anti-Sa、anti-CCP抗体水平显著升高与关节损伤及全身炎症反应有一定的相关性,可作为临床判断病情活动性与骨关节损伤的参考指标。

Anti-metastatic Effect of Repeated Cyclic-GRGDSPA Peptide Produced by Intein Protein Trans-splicing on Murine B16 Melanoma Cells

Background and objective Metastasis is one of the most important causes of mortality in tumor. The pathological process of metastasis includes several sequential steps as

Safety and in Vivo Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Ethanolic Extract of Ficus umbellata (Vahl.) Leaves

Toxicity is the totality of adverse effects, which can be functional and morphological lesions in a living organism, caused by a substance introduced in relatively high single doses or in small, repeated doses. The aim of this study was to assess the OECD-recommended acute oral toxicity and anti-inflammatory activity of ethanolic extract of Ficus umbellata leaves. Animals were given a single oral dose of 1000, 3000 and 5000 mg/Kg body weight (BW) of the extract. For the anti-inflammatory activity test, rats were given the ethanolic extract of F. umbellata leaves at doses of 100, 300 and 500 mg/Kg or aspirin® at a concentration of 100 mg/Kg PC orally, one hour before injection of 0.05 ml of 1% formalin under the plantar fascia of the rat’s right hind paw. Paw volume measurements were taken one, two and three hours after formalin injection, using an electronic caliper. After 14 days of observation, no deaths were observed in treated rats. The LD50 of ethanolic extract of Ficus umbellata leaf powder is greater than 5000 mg/Kg body weight. This extract has no significant effects on hematological parameters and on the main markers of nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity for a single dose of less than 5000 mg/Kg PC. It reduces formalin-induced edema. Evaluation of the percentage inhibition showed that the extract had greater anti-inflammatory activity at 3 hours after the start of the experiment. However, better inhibition of inflammatory oedema of the paw of rats treated with 500 mg/Kg was observed at 5 hours after the start of the experiment, with a percentage inhibition of 69.23 ± 1.02, compared with the reference group treated with aspirin® 100 mg/Kg, which showed an inhibition of 63.50 ± 0.98. These results show that F. umbellata leaves possess anti-inflammatory activity, which would justify their use in traditional African medicine to prevent or treat inflammation.

31 Plant Species against Blood Feeding and Disease Vectors Insects: Beyond Anti-Insect Properties, Unvalued Opportunities and Challenges for Health and Sustainability

Plants with bioactive properties are greatly useful in preventing and controlling blood-sucking and disease-vector invertebrates, particularly in developing countries and low-income communities. Their application is a promising alternative to synthetic compounds whose use remains a health, environmental, and economic challenge. However, many are still unknown and unvalued, while others are becoming ignored and threatened. The main objective of this ethnobotanical study is to identify and characterize indigenous and locally grown plants against blood-sucking and disease-vector insects. Salient opportunities and challenges of using these plants are documented and discussed. Semi-structured interviews, using a prepared questionnaire, were conducted with 228 informants. The consensus index (CI) was calculated to analyze the reliability of the collected information. The identified 31 anti-insect plant species belong to 20 botanical families, four morphological categories, and six habitat types. They can be categorized as insecticidal plants (42% of the total), insect repellent (42% of the total), and both insecticidal and insect repellent (16% of the total). More than 54% of these are still abundant in the study area, while about 35.5% have become rare and difficultly accessible. Based on the numerical importance of related anti-insect plant species, the seven targeted blood-sucking insects range in the following decreasing order: Jiggers (16 species) > Fire Ants (9 species) > Flies (8 plants) > Mosquitoes (4 species) > Fleas (2 species) > Bedbugs (1 species) > lice (0 species). The three most commonly used plants, with the highest confirmation indices, are Tetradenia riparia (ICs = 0.712), Eucalyptus globulus subsp. maidenii (ICs = 0.302), and Solanum aculeastrum (ICs = 0.288). The antimicrobial role of many locally grown anti-insect plants and the multiple other associated valorization possibilities are ignored by most informants. Domesticating, propagating, protecting, and promoting the sustainable use of these plants would be an appropriate route for their conservation and continued availability.

Roles of Community Pharmacists in Screening and Disseminating of Information about Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Risks: Implications for Drug Safety Assessment

Background: The increasing use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) both on prescription and over the counter raises a major global health concern because of the risks associated with their use if no proper guidance is given by the health care provider. This study assessed the roles of community pharmacists in screening and disseminating information about the risks associated with NSAID use in Zambia. Methodology: This was a national cross-sectional study in which a structured self-administered questionnaire was administered to 245 registered community pharmacists in Zambia. Stata/BE, version 15.1 (Stata Corporation, College Station, Texas, USA) and multivariate logistic regression model was used to determine factors associated with information dissemination about ADRs of NS-NSAIDs. Results: 231 of the 245 distributed questionnaires were returned giving a response rate of 94.3%. All (100%) participating community pharmacists claimed to have practiced dispensing NSAIDs. However, only 26 (11.0%) and 71 (30.8%) regularly screened for risk factor of selective COX-2 NSAIDS (SC2-NSAIDS) and non-selective NSAIDS (NS-NSAIDs) respectively. Information dissemination on adverse drug reactions (ADRs) of SC2-NSAIDS was regularly provided by only 22 (9.5%) of pharmacists while that of NS-NSAIDs was regularly provided by 49 (21.2%). In the multivariate logistic regression model, being the owner of a pharmacy (AOR: 5.4, CI: 1.84 - 16.4) was significantly associated with information dissemination about ADRs of NS-NSAIDs while an hour increase in the working hours per day (AOR: 0.9, CI: 0.64 - 0.95) was associated with less likelihood of information dissemination. Conclusion: Pharmacists working in community pharmacies in Zambia did not regularly screen and disseminate information about the risks associated with NSAID use. Therefore, pharmacists should be able to screen and monitor patients at risk and be aware of the majority of risk factors while dispensing NSAIDs to minimize the associated complications.

Phytochemical Screening, Study of Acute Toxicity and Hypoglycemic and Antihyperglycemic Activities of Silver Nanoparticles from Guibourtia tessmannii (Harms) J. Leonard (Caesalpiniaceae)

According to the World Health Organization, diabetes affects approximately 347 million people worldwide. Its management is not within the reach of all social classes, therefore medicinal plants are still the first resort for many populations in Africa. The biological material used in this study was the trunk bark of Guibourtia tessmannii. 50 g of trunk bark powder were decocted in 500 ml of distilled water for 5 minutes were carried out. The method used for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNps) was an organometallic bio-reduction of silver nitrate salts mediated by various secondary metabolites contained in the plant extract. The study of the toxicity acute was conducted according to guideline 423 of the OECD protocol. The pharmacological activities were each carried out with 28 female rats divided into 7 groups of four rats. It was a question for the hypoglycemic activity of administering various doses of silver nanoparticles and other substances to the rats thirty minutes after the carbohydrate intake and for the anti-hyperglycemic activity of administering the same substances to the rats thirty minutes before the carbohydrate intake. The extraction yield was 8.76%. Only the alkaloid test was negative. After acute toxicity study, the LD50 was greater than 2000 mg/kg. Blood sugar tests revealed that glibenclamide 5 mg/kg, which is the reference molecule, lowered blood sugar more than the other treatments applied in the other batches. It was followed by treatment with silver nanoparticles at a dose of 400 μg/kg in both tests. It was therefore concluded that silver nanoparticles from G. tessmannii are good for the formulation of improved traditional medicines and bring up their afficacity .

Contribution of Anti-p63 Antibodies in the Interpretation of Benign Label Prostatic Biopsies

Introduction: Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men. The diagnosis is most often based on the prostate biopsies’ analysis and on histological criteria recognizable on standard coloring. In some cases, the use of immunohistochemistry is important. Objectives: This paper aims to specify the p63 phenotypic profile of lesions diagnosed benign, with minimal suspect foci, difficult to interpret, HGPIN (high grade intraepithelial neoplasia) and LGPIN (low-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia) and evaluate the manual technique of p63 immunohistochemistry. Patients and Method: This was a retrospective, descriptive study of prostate biopsies recorded in the PAC service of the HALD from January 1st, 2018 to December 31st, 2018. It was completed by a manual immunohistochemical study of the blocks enrolled from November 19th to December 4th, 2020 in the PAC department of the HPD. The studied parameters were: registry number, age, clinical stage, prostate volume, PSA level, microscopic appearance and p63 immunohistochemical profile. Results: Our study included 60 prostate biopsies. The ages of our patients varied from 45 to 77 years, with an average of 64.2 years and a standard deviation of 6.2. The majority of patients were at clinical stage cT2b (33%) with a prostate volume varying between 33.15 and 169.4 cc. The minimum value of PSA in our series is 5 ng/ml, the maximum being 100 ng/ml with an average level of 24.1 ng/ml and a standard deviation of 21.2. Our series included 50 adenomyomatous hyperplasias, 7 adenomyomatous hyperplasias associated with chronic prostatitis, 2 HGPIN and 1 LGPIN. After re-reading we found 5 discordant cases, which corresponded to minimal suspect foci (kappa = 0.5098). The p63 marking was informative in 53 cases, i.e. 88%, and non-informative in 7 cases, i.e. 12%. Among the uninformative markings, 2 were due to lack of tissue adhesion to the slides. Among the informative markings, 11 were negative. p63 immunohistochemistry was useful in all suspected foci and detected 6 other minimal foci of adenocarcinoma. Conclusion: The immunostaining with the anti-p63 antibody in the prostate cancer diagnosis is of considerable benefit. It made it possible to correct 11.3% of benign diagnosis in minimal malignant focus in our context. Despite the difficulties associated with the manual technique, it is possible to have an informative rate, similar to the automatic technique.

Evaluation of Serum Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) Values for 28,016 Bulgarian Women: Prognostic Statistical Model of Age Specific AMH Declining

The present study aims to establish a relationship between serum AMH levels and age in a large group of women living in Bulgaria, as well as to establish reference age-specific AMH levels in women that would serve as an initial estimate of ovarian age. A total of 28,016 women on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria were tested for serum AMH levels with a median age of 37.0 years (interquartile range 32.0 to 41.0). For women aged 20 - 29 years, the Bulgarian population has relatively high median levels of AMH, similar to women of Asian origin. For women aged 30 - 34 years, our results are comparable to those of women living in Western Europe. For women aged 35 - 39 years, our results are comparable to those of women living in the territory of India and Kenya. For women aged 40 - 44 years, our results were lower than those for women from the Western European and Chinese populations, close to the Indian and higher than Korean and Kenya populations, respectively. Our results for women of Bulgarian origin are also comparable to US Latina women at age 30, 35 and 40 ages. On the base on constructed a statistical model to predicting the decline in AMH levels at different ages, we found non-linear structure of AMH decline for the low AMH 3.5) the dependence of the decline of AMH on age was confirmed as linear. In conclusion, we evaluated the serum level of AMH in Bulgarian women and established age-specific AMH percentile reference values based on a large representative sample. We have developed a prognostic statistical model that can facilitate the application of AMH in clinical practice and the prediction of reproductive capacity and population health.

Quantification of Total Phenols, Total Flavonoids, Total Anthocyanins and Evaluation of Antioxidant and Antiradical Activities of Detarium Senegalense Extracts from Chad

The aim of the present work is to assess the value of Detarium Senegalense by determining the content of total phenols, total flavonoids and total anthocyanins, and by evaluating the free radical scavenging activity of Detarium Senegalense extracts. For this purpose, sequential extraction using solvents of increasing polarity was essential. The various extracts obtained underwent phytochemical and biochemical analyses. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, polyphenols, anthocyanins and steroids/terpenes. Quantitative analysis of total polyphenols, total flavonoids and total anthocyanins yielded the following results: total flavonoids (0.803 ± 0029 mg EQ/100g P for acetone extract of roots and 0.871 ± 0.401 mg EQ/100g P for methanol extract of leaves);total polyphenols (23.298 ± 12.68 mg EAG/100g P for acetone extract of roots and 24.69 ± 0.49 401 mg EAG/100g P for methanol extract of leaves);total monomeric anthocyanins (44.697 ± 0.939 mg EC3G/100g P and 16.699 ± 0.193 mg EC3G/100g P respectively for acetone and methanol extracts of stem bark). DPPH free radical scavenging activity was 1.674 ± 0.023 mg/mL for the acetone extract and 0.934 ± 0.24 mg/mL for the methanol extract of roots. .

Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder According to the Dose and Trimester of Exposure to Antiseizure Medications: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: The association between prenatal exposure to antiseizure medications (ASM) and autism spectrum disorder has been documented. This study sought to examine and synthesize evidence from studies that have evaluated these associations, with particular focus on the trimester of pregnancy and dosage of exposure. Methodology: PubMed, Embase, and PsycINFO databases were searched following strict inclusion/exclusion criteria. 10 studies were recruited involving children born to mothers with epilepsy who took ASM during pregnancy as cases, and those with epilepsy who did not take any ASM in pregnancy. Results: The relative risk of developing ASD among children exposed to valproic acid (RR, 3.90 [95% CI: 2.36 - 6.44], p < 0.006), was twice higher than that of carbamazepine (RR, 1.65 [95% CI: 0.62 - 4.37], p < 0.0001), or lamotrigine (RR, 1.60 [95% CI: 0.77 - 3.32], p = 0.006). The trimester of exposure and dosage of ASM administered were not significant. Conclusion: In summary, prenatal exposure to ASM increased the risk of developing ASD in children. The relative risk was twice as high in those exposed to valproic acid compared to those exposed to carbamazepine or lamotrigine. Trimester of pregnancy and dosage of ASM used by the mothers were not significant.

Detection of Clinically Significant Warm Reactive Anti-A1 in a Post Red Blood Cells Transfusion Patient with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

The purpose of this article is to report that some anti-A1 that react at 37°C are IgG antibodies and are clinically significant, as they can cause the destruction of a proportion of A1 cells in vivo following the transfusion of red blood cells. Therefore, when a serum of an individual contains anti-A1, further testing of the plasma against group A1, A2, and O by referencing red blood cells and individual cells against anti-A1 lectin (Dolichos biflorus lectin) must be performed. Confirming the specificity of anti-A1 by referencing red blood cells is also important in selecting the appropriate blood for transfusion. ABO antibodies are naturally occurring and activate the complement cascade, making them more likely to cause severe transfusion reactions compared to antibodies to other RBC antigens.

基于YOLOv5s-AntiUAV的反无人机目标检测算法研究

随着无人机的应用领域不断拓展,无人机的“黑飞”给公共安全造成严重损害。为解决侵入式无人机小目标在复杂飞行环境下的错检和漏检问题,提出基于YOLOv5s-AntiUAV的反无人机目标检测算法。首先,引入结合深度超参数卷积的Slim-Neck范式,增强算法特征提取能力并保持计算效率。其次,在骨干和颈部网络引入SPD-Conv模块,提高在低分辨率图像中小目标的检测性能。最后,用Alpha-CIoU替换YOLOv5s算法中的CIoU,增强算法泛用性。YOLOv5s-AntiUAV算法与YOLOv5s、SSD和Faster R-CNN算法在数据集Anti-UAV上的对比实验结果表明,改进算法的mAP@0.5值分别增长了1.1、12.1和4.9个百分点,凸显其实用性。由在VisDrone2019数据集上进行的迁移实验显示,相较于YOLOv5s算法,改进算法mAP@0.5值提升了4.5个百分点,表明其相较于原算法具有更强的鲁棒性。