Based on the Burgers model, by adding a damper unit, this paper proposes a new viscoelastic model with five units and eight parameters to characterize the viscoelastic deformation of fiber reinforced asphalt concrete (FRAC). According to the creep tests of FRAC beams, this paper studies both the parameters in the model and the viscoelastic behaviour of FRAC with different fiber volume fraction and aspect ratio. In this model, this paper establishes the viscoelastic constitutive equation of asphalt concrete, which takes into account the impacts of fiber content characteristic parameter. Both the experimental study and theoretical analysis show that the new model has a high correlation with the results of creep experiment and plays a key role in describing the whole creep process of FRAC. The fiber content characteristic parameter can comprehensively reflect the effects of the fiber volume fraction and aspect ratio on the viscoelastic behaviour of FRAC. Within the range of this test, the optimum fiber volume fraction, fiber aspect ratio and fiber content characteristic parameter are 0.35%, 324 and 1.13, respectively.

Intestinal obstruction is one of the most common complications of Crohn’s disease (CD), jeopardizing the quality of life of patients. Numerous factors may contribute to intestinal obstruction in CD. Thus far, the primary reason has been identified as intestinal fibrosis caused by repeated chronic inflammation during the active phase of CD. Herein, we report two rare complicated CD cases and provide a reference for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of similar patients. Case one involves capsule endoscope retention in the small intestine of one CD patient concurrent with intestinal obstruction. Case two is a CD patient with intestinal obstruction caused by a mesangial hernia and ileal stenosis. Individualized and minimally invasive surgical intervention ultimately resulted in the successful management of these two patients. The two cases serve as an excellent guide for diagnosing and treating CD patients who present with similar symptoms.

Re-expression of an embryonic morphogen, Nodal, has been seen in several types of malignant tumours. By far, studies about Nodal’s role in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain limited. Ferroptosis is essential for CRC progression, which is caused by cellular redox imbalance and characterized by lipid peroxidation. Herein, we observed that Nodal enhanced CRC cell’s proliferative rate, motility, invasiveness, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) in vivo and in vitro. Notably, Nodal overexpression induced monounsaturated fatty acids synthesis and increased the lipid unsaturation level. Nodal knockdown resulted in increased CRC cell lipid peroxidation. Stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase 1 (SCD1) inhibition at least partially abolished the resistance of Nodal-overexpressing cells to RSL3-induced ferroptosis. Mechanistically, SCD1 was transcriptionally up-regulated by Smad2/3 pathway activation in response to Nodal overexpression. Significant Nodal and SCD1 up-regulation were observed in CRC tissues and were associated with CRC metastasis and poor clinical outcomes. Furthermore, bovine serum albumin nanoparticles/si-Nodal nanocomplexes targeting Nodal had anti-tumour effects on CRC progression and metastasis. This research elucidated the role of Nodal in CRC development and revealed a potential gene-based therapeutic strategy targeting Nodal for improving CRC treatment.