Extent of intravital contraction of arterial and venous thrombi and pulmonary emboli

Blood clots and thrombi undergo platelet-driven contraction/retraction followed by structural rearrangements. We have established quantitative relationships between the composition of blood clots and extent of contraction to determine intravital contraction of thrombi and emboli based on their content. The composition of human blood clots and thrombi was quantified using histology and scanning electron microscopy. Contracting blood clots segregated into the gradually shrinking outer layer that contains a fibrin-platelet mesh and the expanding inner portion with compacted red blood cells (RBCs). At 10% contraction, biconcave RBCs were partially compressed into polyhedral RBCs, which became dominant at 20% contraction and higher. The polyhedral/biconcave RBC ratio and the extent of contraction displayed an exponential relationship, which was used to determine the extent of intravital contraction of ex vivo thrombi, ranging from 30% to 50%. In venous thrombi, the extent of contraction decreased gradually from the older (head) to the younger (body, tail) parts. In pulmonary emboli, the extent of contraction was significantly lower than in the venous head, but was similar to the body and tail, suggesting that the emboli originate from the younger portion(s) of venous thrombi. The extent of contraction in arterial cerebral thrombi was significantly higher than in the younger parts of venous thrombi (body, tail) and pulmonary emboli, but was indistinguishable from the older part (head). A novel tool, named the "contraction ruler," has been developed to use the composition of ex vivo thrombi to assess the extent of their intravital contraction, which contributes to the pathophysiology of thromboembolism.

DESIGN OF DEEP-FERTILIZATION MECHANISM WITH DEFORMED GEARS AND PERFORMANCE TESTS

Deep-fertilization mechanism is a key part of deep-fertilization liquid fertilizer applicator. To obtain a good-performance deep-fertilization mechanism, this study developed a deep-fertilization mechanism with deformed gears and designed a deformed gear fertilization test bench. Single-factor and central composite design tests were performed with the planet carrier, spray hole size and pump pressure as the test factors, and the fertilizer amount as the test index. The results of the single-factor test showed a linear functional relationship between fertilizer amount and pump pressure, an exponential functional relationship between planet carrier velocity and fertilizer amount, and an exponential relationship between spray hole size and fertilizer amount. The rotating and perpendicular test data were analyzed and optimized using Design-Expert 8.0.5 software. The result of the optimization is: 10.5ml of fertilizer amount with pump pressure 0.36MPa, planet carrier velocity 82 r/min, and spray hole size 2 mm. The test result can meet the agronomic requirements.

Characterization and Modeling Study on Softening and Seepage Behavior of Weakly Cemented Sandy Mudstone after Water Injection

Water injection-induced rock softening and the associated water seepage characteristics are the common and basic problems in underground reservoir construction and the prevention of mine water disaster. In this paper, a series of experimental studies was carried out to investigate these characteristics with the weakly cemented sandy mudstone collected from Shendong Buertai coal mine, China. The characteristics of water softening and the stress-seepage interactions in water-saturated weakly cemented sandy mudstone were directly obtained. Then, a modification method of the constitutive model for rock mass considering the softening effect and a stress-damage-driven model for permeability evolution were established. Research results show that water saturation reduces the tensile strength, compressive strength, and cohesion by 56% and reduces the elastic modulus by 28%. The hydraulic effects on Poisson’s ratio and internal friction angle are negligible. The relationship between the permeability of weakly cemented sandy mudstone with complete compaction deformation is to be divided into three stages of seepage shielding, seepage surge, and seepage recovery. Rock permeability in each stage has a negative exponential relationship with the effective stress. This research provides a theoretical basis for the researches of hydromechanical couplings on weakly cemented sandy mudstone, which is insightful for rock engineering practice.

Toxic element concentrations in lichen Platismatia interrupta around the geothermal power station on Kunashir Island

The results of the study of the gross content of 14 chemical elements in lichen Platismatia interrupta collected around the geothermal power station “Mendeleevskaya” on Kunashir Island are presented. The highest exceedance was noted for As in the research area. The gross content of As varies from 0.8–2.6 mg/kg in control areas and up to 5–9 mg/kg in the impact zone, i.e. the maximum excess in lichen is noted by 11.6 times. For other elements, there were no strong exceedances in the impact zone compared to the control areas. According to the results of regression analysis, a statistically reliable inverse exponential relationship between the content of As and the distance to the power station (adjusted R2: 0.86, p-value: 0.001) is traced. The average value of the enrichment coefficient for As exceeds 100, which indicates the non-substrate origin of this element.

Reconstruction of Rice Drying Model and Analysis of Tempering Characteristics Based on Drying Accumulated Temperature

Previous research has shown that the accumulated temperature can describe drying processes as well as crop growth. To describe the mass and heat transfer processes in the rice drying process more accurately, a mathematical model of rice drying was proposed based on the drying accumulated temperature, and the optimal tempering ratio for conventional hot air drying was obtained through data comparison and analysis. First, it was proven that there was an exponential relationship between the moisture ratio and the drying accumulated temperature of rice. Second, by comparing and analyzing the fitting results of seven different drying mathematical models, the model with the highest fitting degree was selected and reconstructed to obtain the drying accumulated temperature–moisture ratio model. Finally, the new model was used to fit the results of two drying experiments without and with tempering, and the tempering characteristics of rice drying were proved by comparing and analyzing the coefficient difference between the two models. The results showed that the optimal tempering ratio was 3. This study thus provides a reference for rice drying process parameters.

Empirical and Theoretical Analysis of Particle Diffusion in Mucus

Mucus is a complex fluid that coats multiple organs in animals. Various physicochemical properties can alter the diffusion of microscopic particles in mucus, impacting drug delivery, virus infection, and disease development. The simultaneous effect of these physicochemical properties in particle diffusion, however, remains elusive. Here, we analyzed 106 published experiments to identify the most dominant factors controlling particle diffusion in mucus. The effective diffusion—defined using a one-second sampling time window across experiments—spanned seven orders of magnitude, from 10–5 to 102 μm2/s. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses identified the anomalous exponent (the logarithmic slope of the mean-squared displacement) as the strongest predictor of effective diffusion, revealing an exponential relationship that explained 89% of the variance. A theoretical scaling analysis revealed that a stronger correlation of the anomalous exponent over the generalized diffusion constant occurs for sampling times two orders of magnitude larger than the characteristic molecular (or local) displacement time. This result predicts that at these timescales, the molecular properties controlling the anomalous exponent, like particle–mucus unbinding times or the particle to mesh size ratio, would be the most relevant physicochemical factors involved in passive microrheology of particles in mucus. Our findings contrast with the fact that only one-third of the studies measured the anomalous exponent, and most experiments did not report the associated molecular properties predicted to dominate the motion of particles in mucus. The theoretical foundation of our work can be extrapolated to other systems, providing a guide to identify dominant molecular mechanisms regulating the mobility of particles in mucus and other polymeric fluids.

Ablation Patterns of the Debris Covered Tongue of Halong Glacier Revealed by Short Term Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Surveys

Debris-covered glaciers are an important glacier type and have attracted more and more attention. This study presents the results of ablation patterns of debris-covered tongue of the Halong Glacier in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, by using two repeated unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) surveys performed on August 11 and September 15, 2019. The results show that the tongue of Halong Glacier has experienced strong ablation during the surveyed period, with an overall ice loss amount to 4.17 × 105 metric tons Among all the briefly classified surface types, supraglacial debris has the largest area (80.9%) and also mass losses (58.6%) comparing to others. However, ice cliffs show the strongest and the most significant ablation rates (averagely 1.36 and 1.22 m w.e. for supraglacial and lateral ice cliffs, respectively), followed by clean ice regions (1.01 m w.e.). The backwastes of ice cliffs also resulted in up to 7.8 m horizontal back-off at different parts of Halong Glacier, lead to fast terminal retreat and narrowing down of the glacier tongue, and may result in the break off of Halong Glacier tongue into separated parts in the future. The surface ablation rates show a clear negative exponential relationship with the measured debris thicknesses, well in accordance with previous studies. Regions in cutting and flushing by supraglacial and lateral rivers have the largest surface elevation decreases but are not significant due to their limited area and the relatively lower quality of UAV digital surface models (DSMs) in those covered regions.

Prediction Models of Droplet Characteristics Based on the Locally Convergent Configurations in PMMA Microchips

This paper novel designed the local convergence configuration in the coaxial channels to study the two-phase flow (lubricating oil (continuous phase, flow rate Q c)/deionized water (dispersed phase, flow rate Q d)). Two geometric control variables, the relative position (x) and tapering characteristics (α), had the different effects on the droplet formation. The increase of relative position x caused the higher frequency and finer droplets, and the increase of convergence angle α, took the opposite effects. The results indicated that the equivalent dimensionless droplet length Ld/Wout and the flow rate ratio Qd/Qc had an exponential relationship of about 1/2. Similarly, it was found that the dispersed droplets generating frequency and the two-phase capillary number, CaTP = uTPμc/σ, had an exponential relationship. The advantage of the convergent configurations in micro-channel was the size and efficiency of droplet generation was very favorable to be controlled by α and x.

Image-based goniometric appearance characterisation of bronze patinas

Patinas are a form of metal polychromy used to decorate metallic artworks. Due to the nature of the metallic surface, their colour and gloss is perceived differently when the illumination and viewing directions vary. Sparkle effect on surfaces is a physical phenomenom caused by micro-facets on the surface coating which are also perceived with changing viewing and illumination geometry. In this paper, a method designed for the measurement of sparkle is applied for the goniometric characterisation of bronze patinas. Using a set of six different patinas, in three colours and two surface finishes, it is found that these surfaces exhibit different appearance when illuminated and viewed at different angles. Moreover, the roughness of the patinas is measured and as expected, as the roughness increases the specular reflection peak decreases. The experiment is repeated at two different institutions with different sets of equipment to test its repeatability and robustness. The sparkle is presented as a function of the angle of tilting, and it is characterised by its maximum value and full-width halfmaximum. It is found that the maximum and the roughness have a negative exponential relationship whereas the full-width halfmaximum and the roughness have a linear relationship.

High-resolution monitoring of VFA dynamics reveals process failure and exponential decrease of biogas production

The future of biogas production will be characterized by on-demand provision to compensate the unpredictability of solar and wind power. Such biogas production through feedstock management is a promising possibility but requires close monitoring. The dynamics of volatile fatty acid (VFA) formation and further degradation to methane production are of special interest when providing high portions of fast degradable carbohydrates. Their fast degradability can impair process stability. The correlation of VFA loading and the biogas process was tested in four anaerobic continuously stirred tank reactors supplied with maize silage hourly and with sugar beet silage twice a day at a 12-h interval. The reactors differed in the amount of sugar beet silage and thus in total organic loading rate from 2.0 to 3.5 kgVS m−3 day−1. The VFA concentrations increased immediately after each input of sugar beet silage but levelled down until the next feeding period. At the highest organic loading rate, successive VFA accumulation escalated after 25 days (50 feeding periods) at 3.5 kgVS m−3 day−1, causing process failure with propionic acid concentrations exceeding 3500 mg L−1. The data revealed a strong negative exponential relationship between VFA concentrations and biogas and methane yields, respectively. High-resolution monitoring showed the instant dynamics of VFA production after intermittent sugar beet silage supply and the cumulative impact during increasing process disturbance.