Self-assembling natural drug hydrogels formed without structural modification and able to act as carriers are of interest for biomedical applications. A lack of knowledge about natural drug gels limits there current application. Here, we report on rhein, a herbal natural product, which is directly self-assembled into hydrogels through noncovalent interactions. This hydrogel shows excellent stability, sustained release and reversible stimuli-responses. The hydrogel consists of a three-dimensional nanofiber network that prevents premature degradation. Moreover, it easily enters cells and binds to toll-like receptor 4. This enables rhein hydrogels to significantly dephosphorylate IκBα, inhibiting the nuclear translocation of p65 at the NFκB signalling pathway in lipopolysaccharide-induced BV2 microglia. Subsequently, rhein hydrogels alleviate neuroinflammation with a long-lasting effect and little cytotoxicity compared to the equivalent free-drug in vitro. This study highlights a direct self-assembly hydrogel from natural small molecule as a promising neuroinflammatory therapy.

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BackgroundAcute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is an autoimmune disease that typically follows a monophasic course and may affect any age group. The precise population-based incidence of ADEM is still unknown in most countries. In China, there is no ADEM surveillance system. The exact incidence of ADEM is difficult to estimate, and other epidemiological characteristics of ADEM are unknown. The purpose of this study is to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of ADEM in Nanchang, China.MethodsA retrospective investigation was conducted with ADEM patients admitted to second-level and third-level hospitals in Nanchang from 2008 to 2010, aiming to analyse the epidemiologic characteristics of ADEM in the population in Nanchang. ADEM patients, defined as patients who were diagnosed according to the consensus definition of ADEM provided by the International Pediatric MS Study Group, were enrolled in the study. The data were extracted from the ADEM patients’ medical records.ResultsForty-seven ADEM patients were investigated. The average annual incidence was 0.31/100,000; the incidence among males (0.31/100,000) was nearly equal to that among females (0.31/100,000). The median age of onset was 25.97 years old, and the peak incidence was observed in the 5- to 9-year-old age group (0.75/100,000), followed by the over-60 age group (0.55/100,000). ADEM occurs throughout the year, but it occurs most frequently in March (n = 7) and least frequently in April and July (both n = 2). The patient numbers are roughly even in the other months. In the 2 months before the onset of ADEM, 15 patients presented with a preceding infection, but none of the patients received a vaccination. An increased number of vaccination was not accompanied by a corresponding increased number of cases of ADEM.ConclusionsThe average annual incidence of ADEM was 0.31/100,000 in Nanchang. The incidence among males was nearly equal to that among females. The peak age of onset was 5–9 years old. The peak season of onset was not apparent. There was no evidence of an association between increased number of vaccines administered and number of cases of ADEM in Nanchang, China.

Nowadays, hybrid power excavators are an active research subject in the construction machinery area. The primary focus of this study is to investigate the control strategy for improving the stability of a powertrain for compound hybrid power excavators. First, the power flow and the dynamics of the powertrain of compound hybrid power excavators are analysed. It is concluded that the control strategy for compound hybrid power excavators has to guarantee the charge and discharge priority for operation of the swing and the boom lowering. Otherwise, large-scale switches of the operation point of the engine have to be performed in order to keep the state of charge in the appropriate range, which results in worse stability of the powertrain. Then, an improved rule-based control strategy is presented, which incorporates a load torque distributor, a charge-sustaining strategy and a dynamic torque compensator. The simulation model of a 20 ton compound hybrid power excavator, namely the ZE205E hybrid, is established. The improved rule-based control strategy, the thermostat control strategy and the control strategy presented by Yoo in 2009 are compared with respect to the stability of the powertrain and the fuel consumption through simulations. The simulation results show that the improved rule-based control strategy is best for the stability; however, for the fuel consumption, the improved rulebased control strategy is better than the thermostat control strategy but poorer than the control strategy described by Yoo. Taking into overall consideration the stability of the powertrain and the fuel consumption, the improved rule-based control strategy presented in this paper is more applicable for compound hybrid power excavators.

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ObjectiveThis study was conducted to explore the prevalence and associated factors of anxiety disorder among the population in an urban area of China.DesignA cross-sectional study.SettingThe study was conducted in Shanghai, China.ParticipantsResidents aged 30–70 years who have lived for over 6 months in Shanghai from December 2018 to April 2019 were included in the study.Outcome measuresThe main study outcome was the prevalence of anxiety. The association of demographic information, medical expenses, living habits and sleep conditions with anxiety was also evaluated based on the collected data using structured questionnaires.ResultsAmong 5063 participants, 498 (9.84%, 95% CI: 9.02% to 10.66%) suffered from anxiety. The female sex, age 60–70 years old, lower educational level, partly self-expenses, higher family medical expenses in the past year, stroke history, hypertension history, dyslipidaemia history, diabetes history, drinking, sleeping on average <6 hours per day and waking up suffocating during sleep were associated with a higher prevalence of anxiety (p<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age, gender, type of medical expenses, family medical expenses, hours of sleep and waking up suffocating were related to anxiety (p<0.05).ConclusionsOur findings showed an alarmingly high prevalence of anxiety in the population living in an urban area of China. Sleep time <6 hours and waking up suffocating had a significant association with anxiety. These findings suggest that future anxiety prevention programmes in urban areas should incorporate interventions targeted at these factors, such as improving residents’ sleep quality.

In this paper, a 20-ton prototype compound hybrid excavator is presented which includes assisting electric motor, swing electric motor, a super capacitor pack, an engine and negative flow hydraulic system. The energy-saving principle of hybrid excavator is introduced as well. The development rules of power train which include parameter design rules of key components and hierarchical structure of control strategy of hybrid power system are presented. By developing the electric swing control strategy and power management algorithm, experiments show that the developed hybrid power system can significantly improve the fuel economy of the excavator.

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