ObjectiveFebrile seizure (FS) is the most common form of childhood seizure disorders. FS is perhaps one of the most frequent causes of admittance to pediatric emergency wards worldwide. We aimed to identify a new, safe, and effective therapy for preventing FS recurrence.MethodsA total of 115 children with a history of two or more episodes of FS were randomly assigned to levetiracetam (LEV) and control (LEV/control ratio = 2:1) groups. At the onset of fever, LEV group was orally administered with a dose of 15–30 mg/kg per day twice daily for 1 week. Thereafter, the dosage was gradually reduced until totally discontinued in the second week. The primary efficacy variable was seizure frequency associated with febrile events and FS recurrence rate (RR) during 48-week follow-up. The second outcome was the cost effectiveness of the two groups.ResultsThe intention-to-treat analysis showed that 78 children in LEV group experienced 148 febrile episodes. Among these 78 children, 11 experienced 15 FS recurrences. In control group, 37 children experienced 64 febrile episodes; among these 37 children, 19 experienced 32 FS recurrences. A significant difference was observed between two groups in FS RR and FS recurrence/fever episode. The cost of LEV group for the prevention of FS recurrence is lower than control group. During 48-week follow-up period, one patient in LEV group exhibited severe drowsiness. No other side effects were observed in the same patient and in other children.InterpretationIntermittent oral LEV can effectively prevent FS recurrence and reduce wastage of medical resources.

Based on the experimental results of uniaxial time-dependent ratcheting behavior of SS304 stainless steel at room temperature and 973K, three kinds of time-dependent constitutive models were employed to describe such time-dependent ratcheting by using the Ohno-Abdel-Karim kinematic hardening rule, i.e., a unified viscoplastic model, a creep-plasticity superposition model and a creep-viscoplasticity superposition model. The capabilities of such models to describe the time-dependent ratcheting were discussed by comparing with the corresponding experimental results. It is shown that the unified viscoplastic model cannot provide reasonable simulation to the time-dependent ratcheting, especially to those with certain peak/valley stress hold and at 973K; the proposed creep-plasticity superposition model is reasonable when the creep is a dominant factor of the deformation, however, it cannot provide a reasonable description when the creep is weak; the creep-viscoplastic superposition model is reasonable not only at room temperature but also at high temperature.

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BACKGROUND Semanotus bifasciatus Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is one of the most destructive wood‐boring pests of Platycladus trees in East Asia, threatening the protection of antique cypresses and urban ecological safety. Early identification of Semanotus bifasciatus attacks can help forest managers mitigate the infestation before it turns into an outbreak. Acoustic detection technology is a non‐destructive and continuous monitoring method with the potential to early identify and accurately evaluate the wood‐boring damage. However, few studies have focused on the detection timing and corresponding acoustic features. In this study, we employed a manipulated insect infestation experiment to identify time windows in which early instar Semanotus bifasciatus larvae are most actively boring and feeding within logs and to identify acoustic features that distinguish larval sounds from typical background noise. RESULTS The Semanotus bifasciatus larvae produced sounds most frequently between 13:00 and 20:00 while sounds were detectable from the first to the third instar during the larval growth stage, indicating a suitable time window for early detection. The stepwise regression (SR) model was optimal for detecting the larval instar [coefficient of determination (R2) = 0.71, root mean squared error of prediction (RMSEp) = 0.42, and relative percent deviation (RPD) = 3.38] while the best model for predicting larval population size was the partial least squares regression (PLSR) model (R2 = 0.97, RMSEp = 61.96, and RPD = 28.87). CONCLUSION This study developed an acoustic method for identifying the early attack of Semanotus bifasciatus (including detection time window, feature variables and models for larval instar prediction and population size estimation). This technology integrated with internet of things (IoT) framework can be of value in developing an automated monitoring system for forest wood borer, and provide necessary guidance for integrated pest management (IPM). © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Based on a series of uniaxial ratcheting tests on 304 and 1Cr18Ni9Ti stainless steels carried out under cyclic stressing at room temperature and elevated temperature, the concepts of unitary ratcheting stress and ratcheting stress threshold were presented and a set of methodological system was developed to be used for modeling evolution of ratcheting strain of the materials under uniaxial stress at room temperature as well as for simulating saturated ratcheting (SR) constitutive behavior of the materials at elevated temperature. The presented systemic methods can overcome difficult problems to describe ratcheting deformation from traditional dualistic stress control. Both the ratcheting-evoluted model and SR constitutive model have better precision to regress experimental data and are accessible to engineering application due to easy establishment in equation.