Controlling the dynamic behavior of decentralized cluster through centralized approaches

How to control the dynamic behavior of large-scale artificial active matter is a critical concern in experimental research on soft matter, particularly regarding the emergence of collective behaviors and the formation of group patterns. Centralized systems excel in precise control over individual behavior within a group, ensuring high accuracy and controllability in task execution. Nevertheless, their sensitivity to group size may limit their adaptability to diverse tasks. In contrast, decentralized systems empower individuals with autonomous decision-making, enhancing adaptability and system robustness. Yet, this flexibility comes at the cost of reduced accuracy and efficiency in task execution. In this work, we present a unique method for regulating the centralized dynamic behavior of self-organizing clusters based on environmental interactions. Within this environment-coupled robot system, each robot possesses similar dynamic characteristics, and their internal programs are entirely identical. However, their behaviors can be guided by the centralized control of the environment, facilitating the accomplishment of diverse cluster tasks. This approach aims to balance the accuracy and flexibility of centralized control with the robustness and task adaptability of decentralized control. The proactive regulation of dynamic behavioral characteristics in active matter groups, demonstrated in this work through environmental interactions, holds the potential to introduce a novel technological approach and provide experimental references for studying the dynamic behavior control of large-scale artificial active matter systems.

Multilevel analysis of the central-peripheral-target organ pathway:contributing to recovery after peripheral nerve injury

Peripheral nerve injury is a common neurological condition that often leads to severe functional limitations and disabilities.Research on the pathogenesis of peripheral nerve injury has focused on pathological changes at individual injury sites,neglecting multilevel pathological analysis of the overall nervous system and target organs.This has led to restrictions on current therapeutic approaches.In this paper,we first summarize the potential mechanisms of peripheral nerve injury from a holistic perspective,covering the central nervous system,peripheral nervous system,and target organs.After peripheral nerve injury,the cortical plasticity of the brain is altered due to damage to and regeneration of peripheral nerves;changes such as neuronal apoptosis and axonal demyelination occur in the spinal cord.The nerve will undergo axonal regeneration,activation of Schwann cells,inflammatory response,and vascular system regeneration at the injury site.Corresponding damage to target organs can occur,including skeletal muscle atrophy and sensory receptor disruption.We then provide a brief review of the research advances in therapeutic approaches to peripheral nerve injury.The main current treatments are conducted passively and include physical factor rehabilitation,pharmacological treatments,cell-based therapies,and physical exercise.However,most treatments only partially address the problem and cannot complete the systematic recovery of the entire central nervous system-peripheral nervous system-target organ pathway.Therefore,we should further explore multilevel treatment options that produce effective,long-lasting results,perhaps requiring a combination of passive(traditional)and active(novel)treatment methods to stimulate rehabilitation at the central-peripheral-target organ levels to achieve better functional recovery.

Role of copper in central nervous system physiology and pathology

Copper is a transition metal and an essential element for the organism,as alterations in its homeostasis leading to metal accumulation or deficiency have pathological effects in several organs,including the central nervous system.Central copper dysregulations have been evidenced in two genetic disorders characterized by mutations in the copper-ATPases ATP7A and ATP7B,Menkes disease and Wilson’s disease,respectively,and also in multifactorial neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease,Parkinson’s disease,amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,and multiple sclerosis.This review summarizes current knowledge about the role of copper in central nervous system physiology and pathology,reports about unbalances in copper levels and/or distribution under disease,describes relevant animal models for human disorders where copper metabolism genes are dysregulated,and discusses relevant therapeutic approaches modulating copper availability.Overall,alterations in copper metabolism may contribute to the etiology of central nervous system disorders and represent relevant therapeutic targets to restore tissue homeostasis.

Meningeal lymphatic vessel crosstalk with central nervous system immune cells in aging and neurodegenerative diseases

Meningeal lymphatic vessels form a relationship between the nervous system and periphery, which is relevant in both health and disease. Meningeal lymphatic vessels not only play a key role in the drainage of brain metabolites but also contribute to antigen delivery and immune cell activation. The advent of novel genomic technologies has enabled rapid progress in the characterization of myeloid and lymphoid cells and their interactions with meningeal lymphatic vessels within the central nervous system. In this review, we provide an overview of the multifaceted roles of meningeal lymphatic vessels within the context of the central nervous system immune network, highlighting recent discoveries on the immunological niche provided by meningeal lymphatic vessels. Furthermore, we delve into the mechanisms of crosstalk between meningeal lymphatic vessels and immune cells in the central nervous system under both homeostatic conditions and neurodegenerative diseases, discussing how these interactions shape the pathological outcomes. Regulation of meningeal lymphatic vessel function and structure can influence lymphatic drainage, cerebrospinal fluid-borne immune modulators, and immune cell populations in aging and neurodegenerative disorders, thereby playing a key role in shaping meningeal and brain parenchyma immunity.

Microglia lactylation in relation to central nervous system diseases

The development of neurodegenerative diseases is closely related to the disruption of central nervous system homeostasis.Microglia,as innate immune cells,play important roles in the maintenance of central nervous system homeostasis,injury response,and neurodegenerative diseases.Lactate has been considered a metabolic waste product,but recent studies are revealing ever more of the physiological functions of lactate.Lactylation is an important pathway in lactate function and is involved in glycolysis-related functions,macrophage polarization,neuromodulation,and angiogenesis and has also been implicated in the development of various diseases.This review provides an overview of the lactate metabolic and homeostatic regulatory processes involved in microglia lactylation,histone versus non-histone lactylation,and therapeutic approaches targeting lactate.Finally,we summarize the current research on microglia lactylation in central nervous system diseases.A deeper understanding of the metabolic regulatory mechanisms of microglia lactylation will provide more options for the treatment of central nervous system diseases.

Heterogeneity of mature oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system

Mature oligodendrocytes form myelin sheaths that are crucial for the insulation of axons and efficient signal transmission in the central nervous system.Recent evidence has challenged the classical view of the functionally static mature oligodendrocyte and revealed a gamut of dynamic functions such as the ability to modulate neuronal circuitry and provide metabolic support to axons.Despite the recognition of potential heterogeneity in mature oligodendrocyte function,a comprehensive summary of mature oligodendrocyte diversity is lacking.We delve into early 20th-century studies by Robertson and Río-Hortega that laid the foundation for the modern identification of regional and morphological heterogeneity in mature oligodendrocytes.Indeed,recent morphologic and functional studies call into question the long-assumed homogeneity of mature oligodendrocyte function through the identification of distinct subtypes with varying myelination preferences.Furthermore,modern molecular investigations,employing techniques such as single cell/nucleus RNA sequencing,consistently unveil at least six mature oligodendrocyte subpopulations in the human central nervous system that are highly transcriptomically diverse and vary with central nervous system region.Age and disease related mature oligodendrocyte variation denotes the impact of pathological conditions such as multiple sclerosis,Alzheimer's disease,and psychiatric disorders.Nevertheless,caution is warranted when subclassifying mature oligodendrocytes because of the simplification needed to make conclusions about cell identity from temporally confined investigations.Future studies leveraging advanced techniques like spatial transcriptomics and single-cell proteomics promise a more nuanced understanding of mature oligodendrocyte heterogeneity.Such research avenues that precisely evaluate mature oligodendrocyte heterogeneity with care to understand the mitigating influence of species,sex,central nervous system region,age,and disease,hold promise for the development of therapeutic interventions targeting varied central nervous system pathology.

Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived therapies for regeneration after central nervous system injury

In recent years,the progression of stem cell therapies has shown great promise in advancing the nascent field of regenerative medicine.Considering the non-regenerative nature of the mature central nervous system,the concept that“blank”cells could be reprogrammed and functionally integrated into host neural networks remained intriguing.Previous work has also demonstrated the ability of such cells to stimulate intrinsic growth programs in post-mitotic cells,such as neurons.While embryonic stem cells demonstrated great potential in treating central nervous system pathologies,ethical and technical concerns remained.These barriers,along with the clear necessity for this type of treatment,ultimately prompted the advent of induced pluripotent stem cells.The advantage of pluripotent cells in central nervous system regeneration is multifaceted,permitting differentiation into neural stem cells,neural progenitor cells,glia,and various neuronal subpopulations.The precise spatiotemporal application of extrinsic growth factors in vitro,in addition to microenvironmental signaling in vivo,influences the efficiency of this directed differentiation.While the pluri-or multipotency of these cells is appealing,it also poses the risk of unregulated differentiation and teratoma formation.Cells of the neuroectodermal lineage,such as neuronal subpopulations and glia,have been explored with varying degrees of success.Although the risk of cancer or teratoma formation is greatly reduced,each subpopulation varies in effectiveness and is influenced by a myriad of factors,such as the timing of the transplant,pathology type,and the ratio of accompanying progenitor cells.Furthermore,successful transplantation requires innovative approaches to develop delivery vectors that can mitigate cell death and support integration.Lastly,host immune responses to allogeneic grafts must be thoroughly characterized and further developed to reduce the need for immunosuppression.Translation to a clinical setting will involve careful consideration when assessing both physiologic and functional outcomes.This review will highlight both successes and challenges faced when using human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cell transplantation therapies to promote endogenous regeneration.

High mobility group box 1 in the central nervous system:regeneration hidden beneath inflammation

High-mobility group box 1 was first discovered in the calf thymus as a DNA-binding nuclear protein and has been widely studied in diverse fields,including neurology and neuroscience.High-mobility group box 1 in the extracellular space functions as a pro-inflammatory damage-associated molecular pattern,which has been proven to play an important role in a wide variety of central nervous system disorders such as ischemic stroke,Alzheimer’s disease,frontotemporal dementia,Parkinson’s disease,multiple sclerosis,epilepsy,and traumatic brain injury.Several drugs that inhibit high-mobility group box 1 as a damage-associated molecular pattern,such as glycyrrhizin,ethyl pyruvate,and neutralizing anti-high-mobility group box 1 antibodies,are commonly used to target high-mobility group box 1 activity in central nervous system disorders.Although it is commonly known for its detrimental inflammatory effect,high-mobility group box 1 has also been shown to have beneficial pro-regenerative roles in central nervous system disorders.In this narrative review,we provide a brief summary of the history of high-mobility group box 1 research and its characterization as a damage-associated molecular pattern,its downstream receptors,and intracellular signaling pathways,how high-mobility group box 1 exerts the repair-favoring roles in general and in the central nervous system,and clues on how to differentiate the pro-regenerative from the pro-inflammatory role.Research targeting high-mobility group box 1 in the central nervous system may benefit from differentiating between the two functions rather than overall suppression of high-mobility group box 1.

Liposomes as versatile agents for the management of traumatic and nontraumatic central nervous system disorders:drug stability,targeting efficiency,and safety

Various nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems for the treatment of neurological disorders have been widely studied.However,their inability to cross the blood–brain barrier hampers the clinical translation of these therapeutic strategies.Liposomes are nanoparticles composed of lipid bilayers,which can effectively encapsulate drugs and improve drug delivery across the blood–brain barrier and into brain tissue through their targeting and permeability.Therefore,they can potentially treat traumatic and nontraumatic central nervous system diseases.In this review,we outlined the common properties and preparation methods of liposomes,including thin-film hydration,reverse-phase evaporation,solvent injection techniques,detergent removal methods,and microfluidics techniques.Afterwards,we comprehensively discussed the current applications of liposomes in central nervous system diseases,such as Alzheimer's disease,Parkinson's disease,Huntington's disease,amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,traumatic brain injury,spinal cord injury,and brain tumors.Most studies related to liposomes are still in the laboratory stage and have not yet entered clinical trials.Additionally,their application as drug delivery systems in clinical practice faces challenges such as drug stability,targeting efficiency,and safety.Therefore,we proposed development strategies related to liposomes to further promote their development in neurological disease research.

Centralized isolation of Helicobacter pylori from multiple centers and transport condition influences

AIM:To evaluate the efficacy of centralized culture and possible influencing factors.METHODS:From January 2010 to July 2012,66452 patients with suspected Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori) infection from 26 hospitals in Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces in China underwent gastrointestinal endoscopy.Gastric mucosal biopsies were taken from the antrum for culture.These biopsies were transported under natural environmental temperature to the central laboratory in Hangzhou city and divided into three groups based on their transport time:5,24 and 48 h.The culture results were reported after 72 h and the positive culture rates were analyzed by a χ2 test.An additional 5736 biopsies from H.pylori-positive patients(5646 rapid urease test-positive and 90 14C-urease breath test-positive) were also cultured for quality control in the central laboratory setting.RESULTS:The positive culture rate was 31.66%(21036/66452) for the patient samples and 71.72%(4114/5736) for the H.pylori-positive quality control specimens.In the 5 h transport group,the positiveculture rate was 30.99%(3865/12471),and 32.84%(14960/45553) in the 24 h transport group.In contrast,the positive culture rate declined significantly in the 48 h transport group(26.25%; P < 0.001).During transportation,the average natural temperature increased from 4.67 to 29.14℃,while the positive culture rate declined from 36.67%(1462/3987) to 24.12%(1799/7459).When the temperature exceeded 24℃,the positive culture rate decreased significantly,especially in the 48 h transport group(23.17%).CONCLUSION:Transportation of specimens within 24 h and below 24℃ is reasonable and acceptable for centralized culture of multicenter H.pylori samples.

Quantitative analysis of distributed and centralized development of renewable energy

Global renewable energy has maintained a steady growth in recent years, mainly fostered by national policies and increasing demand. Analyzing the experience of renewable energy development in developed countries can be important to provide reference and guidance for its adoption in other countries. First, we compare and summarize definitions of distributed generation from 18 leading countries and organizations in renewable energy. On this basis, we provide three basic characteristics for successful distributed generation using renewable resources. Then, we empirically analyze the distributed and centralized development of renewable energy in Germany with focus on wind and photovoltaic power. We determined that 95% of the photovoltaic generation and 85% of the wind power generation is distributed in Germany, suggesting that the most suitable generation mode for renewable energy is the distributed approach.

Monitoring and Assessment of Water Quality of Centralized Drinking Water Sources in Kaixian County during the " Twelfth Five-year Plan " Period

Based on the monitoring data of water quality of more than 40 centralized drinking water sources in 40 towns （townships or streets） of Kaixian County in the first and second half of each year during the ＂Twelfth Five-year Plan＂ period, the changing rules of the water quality were studied to provide scientific references for the improvement of drinking water safety of urban and rural residents and drinking water quality. The re- sults show that the water quality of centralized drinking water sources in Kaixian County improved year by year during the ＂Twelfth Five-year Plan＂ period, and most monitoring sites with water quality exceeding the standard are distributed in reservoirs. Total phosphorus, total nitrogen, chemical oxygen demand, and permanganate index exceeded the standard obviously. Main pollution sources are domestic pollution and non-point source pol- lution caused by excessive discharge of nitrogen, phosphorus and organic pollutants. To improve drinking water quality, it is suggested that some towns can get drinking water from other reservoirs, surface water or underground water with better quality instead of previous reservoirs with water quality exceeding the standard, and the control of non-point source pollution should be enhanced.

Analysis of Ornidazole Injection in Clinical Use at Post-marketing Stage by Centralized Hospital Monitoring System

This study aims to analyze the clinical use of ornidazole injection at the post-marketing stage by centralized hospital monitoring system method,and investigate its widespread use in patients,in order to regulate and guide the rational drug use,improve the drug specificity and provide a basis for drug therapy.The study adopts a prospective,multi-center,large sample size,centralized hospital monitoring system.We selected five leading hospitals in Hubei province,and observed the inpatients who received the ornidazole injection from July 1,2015 to October 31,2015.The basic information of patients was recorded,as well as the drug use and adverse events.The statistical analysis was performed based on these data.A total of 4396 individuals were enrolled in this study,most of them were middle-aged female patients and the ornidazole injection was mainly used as prophylactic prior to surgery to prevent the infections,and surgical treatment of anaerobic infections,abdominal infections and pelvic infections.The irrational drug use existed mainly in the prescribing and administration process,including unreasonable dosing frequency,rapid intravenous drip speed and extended duration of drug use.Eleven cases of adverse reactions were collected during the monitoring,incidence rate of adverse reactions was 2.5‰;adverse drug reactions occurred within 30 min.The study results fully reflected the usage of ornidazole injection in the real world.Based on the study,we calculated the adverse reaction incidence of ornidazole and identified the risk factors which may affect the safety of ornidazole injection.Study results strongly recommend that the manufacturers should publish standards for inpatient use and doctors should prescribe with caution accordingly.

Facilities for Centralized Isolation and Quarantine for the Observation and Treatment of Patients with COVID-19

The coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic increased the burden on many healthcare systems and in the process,exposed the need for medical resources and physical space.While few studies discussed the efficient utilization of medical resources and physical space so far.Therefore,this study aimed to summarize experiences related to facilities used for centralized isolation for medical observation and treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic in China and to provide suggestions to further improve the management of confirmed cases,suspected cases,and close contacts.In China,three types of facilities for centralized isolation(Fangcang shelter hospitals,refitted non-designated hospitals,and quarantine hotels)underwent retrofitting for the treatment and isolation of confirmed and suspected cases.These facilities mitigated the immediate high demand for space.Moreover,in order to minimize infection risks in these facilities,regulators and governmental agencies implemented new designs,management measures,and precautionary measures to minimize infection risk.Other countries and regions could refer to China’s experience in optimally allocating social resources in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.As a conclusion,government should allocate social resources and construct centralized isolation and quarantine facilities for an emergency response,health authorities should issue regulations for centralized isolation facilities and pay strict attention to the daily management of these facilities,a multidisciplinary administration team is required to support the daily operation of a centralized isolation facility,in-depth studies and international collaboration on the centralized isolation policy are encouraged.

An application-layer based centralized information access control for VPN

With the rapid development of Virtual Private Network (VPN), many companies and organizations use VPN to implement their private communication. Traditionally, VPN uses security protocols to protect the confidentiality of data, the message integrity and the endpoint authentication. One core technique of VPN is tunneling, by which clients can access the in- ternal servers traversing VPN. However, the tunneling technique also introduces a concealed security hole. It is possible that if one vicious user can establish tunneling by the VPN server, he can compromise the internal servers behind the VPN server. So this paper presents a novel Application-layer based Centralized Information Access Control (ACIAC) for VPN to solve this problem. To implement an efficient, flexible and multi-decision access control model, we present two key techniques to ACIAC—the centralized management mechanism and the stream-based access control. Firstly, we implement the information center and the constraints/events center for ACIAC. By the two centers, we can provide an abstract access control mechanism, and the material access control can be decided dynamically by the ACIAC’s constraint/event mechanism. Then we logically classify the VPN communication traffic into the access stream and the data stream so that we can tightly couple the features of VPN communication with the access control model. We also provide the design of our ACIAC prototype in this paper.

Supply Chain for Regional Centralized Purchasing: An Application Model

In Europe Health Organizations are progressively modifying their management models to rationalize expenditure in order to assure better levels of effectiveness and efficiency: many countries are going to centralize the management of goods and services supply. In this paper a specific model of centralized purchasing is proposed;it is particularly suitable in cases of severe economy suffering at regional level (e.g. Campania, Lazio, Calabria in Italy) or at national level (e.g. Greece, Ireland, Italy), that means in all those cases where the scale economies, obtainable by supply centralization, would be partly or totally compromised by the extra charges induced by the missing of contractual commitments. This work aims either to analyse such specific approach for centralized purchasing or to propose a simulation model based on Petri net, which could be useful for designing and managing similar case studies.

Research on Model of Guiding Rural Residents' Relatively Centralized Residence——A Case Study of Chongqing City

On the basis of expounding the status quo of rural residents' residence, the thesis notes that influenced by the weak foundation of rural economy, the characteristic of mountain landscape, smallholder consciousness, shortage of capital and other factors, the rural residents in Chongqing City mainly live scattered. In addition to opportunities of the expansion and drive of city, rural market development, rural resources development, rural industrial development, and rural ecological migration, the model of urban development promotion, the model of market development drive, the model of land development drive, the model of rural industry construction and the model of resettlement and reconstruction are advocated in order to guide the rural residents to adopt relative centralized residence. The suggestions concerning guiding rural residents' relative centralized residence are put forward as follows: firstly, act according to circumstances and conduct scientific planning and design; secondly, propagate extensively and activate famers' willingness; thirdly, first experiment and exert the exemplary guide; fourthly, perfect policy and guarantee farmers' benefit; fifthly, strengthen leadership and decrease the risk of centralized residence; sixthly, boost gradually and realize moderate centralized residence.

Joint Centralized Power Control and Cell Sectoring for Interference Management in CDMA Cellular Systems in a 2D Urban Environment

The interference reduction capability of cell sectoring and power control algorithms have been considered separately as means to decrease the interference in Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) cellular systems. In this paper, we present Switched-Beam (SB) and Rotatable Equal Sectoring (RES) techniques for CDMA cellular systems in a 2D urban environment. In the SB technique by using a number of fixed, independent, or directional antennas we increase the downlink capacity of the CDMA systems. Also in the RES method, the equal sectors of the base stations are rotating together to decrease the inter-cell and intra-cell interferences. Also in this paper we use centralized power control to overcome the near-far problem. Simulation results indicate that the proposed techniques considerably increase the capacity of the CDMA cellular systems compared to ordinary Equal Sectoring (ES) method.

The Research about the Trans-provincial Centralized Bidding Trading Market of East China Power Grid --I:Empirical Analysis

The clearing price and bidding price in electricity market are two key indicators to measure whether it is reasonable or not. Based on the grey incidence analysis, this paper studies the correlation coefficient between the clearing price and bidding price with the generation cost, the supervision and rules of the market, the supply and demand situation, the behavior of market members over the same period, which is based on the actual data of the trans-provincial centralized trading market of East China Power Grid. The results show that the factors affecting the clearing price and bidding price from largest to smallest are generation cost, supervision and rules of the market, the supply and demand situation, the behavior of market members. The conclusion is that the trans-provincial trading platform of East China Power Grid is a reasonable regional market which can discover the market cost, and regulate the market supply and demand balance, and promote healthy competition.

Return on Investment after Implementation of a Centralized Automated Storage System in a Hospital Pharmacy

An ADS （automated dispensing system） was implemented in our hospital pharmacy in 2008 to optimize and secure the medication process. The main objective of this study was to compare the projected and the real ROI （return on investment）, after seven years of use. ROI was calculated annually （from 2008 to 2015）, by deducting the cost of investment （ADS buying and implementation, maintenance, repairs and ADS upgrade） from the cost saving （drugs stock reduction and decrease of pharmacy staff dedicated to global dispensing）. In 2015, total costs saving （＋$1,141,987） were divided between decreasing drug stock value and reduction of pharmacy staff. Total costs of investment （-$978,656） were acquisition, maintenance, repairs and an unplanned upgrade costs. Finally, the real ROI was ＋$163,331 after seven years of use. In 2008, projected ROI was ＋$410,786. The real payback period has been increased by approximately two years （six years of use, instead of four years as expected）. Despite their cost, ADSs are a worthwhile investment, leading to a ROI within a few years. These economic considerations should be put into perspective with optimization of drugs stock management, greater efficiency of the global dispensing process, securitization of medication process and redeployment of pharmacy staff.