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To adapt to the complex and changing environment, the artillery often needs to be launched at different ambient temperatures, and different temperatures can have complex effects on the muzzle flow characteristics. It is crucial to fully understand the effect of ambient temperature on the muzzle flow field characteristics, which will help optimize the design of the propellant charge and improve the stability and consistency of the ballistic trajectory. Therefore, the internal and intermediate ballistic trajectories of the artillery are simulated to investigate the effect of ambient temperature on muzzle flow development and the phenomenon of secondary combustion. A set of internal ballistic equations is used to provide precise velocity and pressure as the projectile moves to the muzzle. By coupling the van der Waals gas state equation and a detailed chemical reaction kinetic model, the multispecies Navier–Stokes equations with complex chemical reactions were solved. The established numerical model is validated by comparing it with experimental results. The results demonstrate that the shock wave propagation speed gradually increases and the shock wave intensity gradually decreases with the increase in ambient temperature. The initial formation time of Mach disk lags, and the diameter of the Mach disk decreases with increasing temperature, while the displacement of the Mach disk increases with increasing temperature. The structure of muzzle flash is synchronized with the Mach disk structure; the lower the temperature, the "shorter and fatter" the flash is. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coke plays a key role as the skeleton of the charge column in BF. The gas path formed by the coke layer in the BF has a decisive influence on gas permeability. At high temperatures, the interface between coke and ore undergoes a melting reaction of coke and a reduction reaction of ore. The better the reducibility of the ore, the more conducive it is to the coupling reaction of ore and coke. The melting loss reaction of coke becomes more intense, and the corresponding strength of coke will decrease, which will affect the permeability of the blast furnace and is not conducive to the smooth operation of the blast furnace. Especially with a deterioration in iron ore quality, BF operation faces severe challenges, which makes it necessary to find an effective way to strengthen BF operation. In this study, a melting-dropping furnace was used to develop and clarify the high-temperature interaction between coke and iron ores with different layer thicknesses. The influencing factors were studied by establishing a gas permeability mathematical model and observing the metallographic microscope images of samples after the coke solution loss reaction. The relationships between coke layer thickness, distribution of gas flow, and pressure drop were obtained. The results showed that, under certain conditions, the gas permeability property of a furnace burden has been improved after the coke layer thickness increased. Upon observing the size of coke particles at the interface reaction site, the degree of melting loss reaction can be determined. A smaller particle size indicates more melting loss reaction. A dripping eigenvalue for molten metal was introduced to evaluate the dynamic changes in the comprehensive dripping properties of molten metal of furnace burden, which showed that the dripping eigenvalue for the molten metal could deteriorate because of the unruly thickness and the coke layer thickness should be limited through considering the operational indicators of the blast furnace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most annual studies of tintinnid and phytoplankton in coastal habitats are influenced by alien species introduced by water masses exchange, and therefore cannot be used as direct evidence for exploring the mechanism of annual succession in indigenous community. For brackish communities, very limited annual studies exist because of the difficulty of conducting stable sampling in the transition between freshwater and seawater. The special topography of Xiangshan Bay isolates the external water mass and provides a suitable habitat for exploring the annual succession mechanism of the brackish tintinnid community. In this study, samples were collected from seven stations in Tie Harbor, Xiangshan Bay (East China Sea) during 10 months from 2022 to 2023. A total of 23 tintinnid species of five genera were identified throughout the year. These tintinnid species can be clustered into four seasonal groups, winter, summer, autumn and spring-autumn, with three temperature preferences. The Lorica Oral Diameter (LOD) size-class of each tintinnid species, which determines the food item size of tintinnid, separated their different ecological niches within each seasonal group. The seasonal succession of tintinnid community in Xiangshan Bay was organized by both temperature preference and LOD size of the tintinnid species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the association of uric acid (UA) with adverse outcomes and its potential mediator in patients with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) and pulmonary hypertension (PH). We retrospectively analyzed 234 patients with LVDD and PH. The baseline characteristics of patients with low UA (≤ 330 µmol/L) group were compared with high UA (> 330 µmol/L) group. Adverse outcomes included all-cause mortality, cardiac death and heart failure (HF) hospitalization. Their association with UA and the mediator were evaluated using Cox regression and mediation analysis. The mediation proportion was further quantified by the R mediation package. During a mean follow-up of 50 ± 18 months, there were 27 all-cause deaths, 18 cardiovascular deaths and 41 incidents of HF hospitalization. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed UA was an independent risk factor of adverse outcomes in LVDD and PH patients, even after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, medical histories, systolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, eGFR, BNP and medications. The hazard ratios (HRs) for UA (per 10 µmol/L increase) were as below: for all-cause mortality, HR 1.143, 95% CI 1.069–1.221, P < 0.001; for cardiac death, HR 1.168, 95% CI 1.064–1.282, P = 0.001; for HF hospitalization, HR 1.093, 95% CI 1.035–1.155, P = 0.001. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) played a partial mediation role in the association, and the mediation proportion for NLR on the UA-adverse outcomes were 21%, 19% and 17%, respectively. In patients of LVDD with PH, higher UA level was independently correlated with adverse outcomes. Furthermore, NLR partially mediated the effect of UA on the risk of all-cause mortality, cardiac death and HF hospitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aims to examine the associations among fear of childbirth, psychological distress, resilience, and sleep quality among Chinese pregnant women. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out between January 2022 to March 2022 among pregnant women who met the inclusion criteria and sought healthcare services at The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine in Guangdong Province, Southern China. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire that included sociodemographic characteristics, childbirth attitudes questionnaires (CAQ), hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS), Connor-Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC), and Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI). A generalized additive model and moderated mediation analysis were employed for data analysis. Results: A non-linear and negative association between fear of childbirth and sleep quality was found in the second trimester and antenatal period. Psychological distress significantly mediated the relationship between fear of childbirth and sleep quality (first trimester: β = 0.044, 95%CI:0.022–0.071; second trimester: β = 0.029, 95%CI:0.009–0.056; third trimester: β = 0.064, 95%CI:0.046–0.088; antenatal period: β = 0.050, 95%CI:0.037–0.063). The moderating role of resilience between fear of childbirth and sleep quality was significant (second trimester: β=-0.006, 95%CI:-0.012–0.001, P = 0.025; antenatal period: β=-0.004, 95%CI:-0.007–-0.001, P = 0.014), as well as between fear of childbirth and psychological distress (first trimester: β=-0.016, 95%CI:-0.026–-0.005, P = 0.004; antenatal period: β=-0.005, 95%CI:-0.009–-0.001, P = 0.014). Conclusions: Fear of childbirth, psychological distress, and resilience are three important factors affecting sleep quality in Chinese pregnant women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WRKY transcription factors in plants are known to be able to mediate either transcriptional activation or repression, but the mechanism regulating their transcriptional activity is largely unclear. We found that group IId WRKY transcription factors interact with OBERON (OBE) proteins, forming redundant WRKY‐OBE complexes in Arabidopsis thaliana. The coiled‐coil domain of WRKY transcription factors binds to OBE proteins and is responsible for target gene selection and transcriptional repression. The PHD finger of OBE proteins binds to both histones and WRKY transcription factors. WRKY‐OBE complexes repress the transcription of numerous stress‐responsive genes and are required for maintaining normal plant growth. Several WRKY and OBE mutants show reduced plant size and increased drought tolerance, accompanied by increased expression of stress‐responsive genes. Moreover, expression levels of most of these WRKY and OBE genes are reduced in response to drought stress, revealing a previously uncharacterized regulatory mechanism of the drought stress response. These results suggest that WRKY‐OBE complexes repress transcription of stress‐responsive genes, and thereby balance plant growth and stress tolerance. Synopsis: The mechanism regulating plant WRKY transcription factor activity remains unclear. Here, they are found to interact with histone‐binding proteins OBERON (OBE) 1–4 in Arabidopsis to form complexes that mediate repression of stress‐responsive genes and thereby balance plant growth and drought stress tolerance.Group IId WRKY transcription factors and histone‐binding OBE proteins form WRKY‐OBE complexes.OBE proteins contribute to both target selection and transcriptional repression activities of WRKY‐OBE complexes.WRKY‐OBE complexes repress transcription of stress‐responsive genes for maintaining normal growth and development.Stress‐reduced expression of WRKY genes releases the transcription of stress‐responsive genes and thereby enhances drought tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Although hereditary von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most common bleeding disorder, its epidemiology is not well understood. A systematic review (PROSPERO CRD42020197674/CRD42021244374) on the epidemiology/burden of illness of VWD was conducted to better understand patients' unmet needs. Methods: Observational studies (published January 1, 2010 to April 14, 2021) were identified in MEDLINE and Embase databases, using free-text keywords and thesaurus terms for VWD and outcomes of interest. Pragmatic web-based searches of the gray literature, including conference abstracts, were performed, and reference lists of retained publications were manually searched for additional sources. Case reports and clinical trials (phase 1– 3) were excluded. Outcomes of interest were incidence, prevalence, mortality, patient characteristics, burden of illness, and therapeutic management/treatments currently used for VWD. Results: Of the 3095 identified sources, 168 were included in this systematic review. Reported VWD prevalence (22 sources) ranged from 108.9 to 2200 per 100,000 in population-based studies and from 0.3 to 16.5 per 100,000 in referral-based studies. Reported times between first symptom onset and diagnosis (two sources; mean 669 days; median 3 years) highlighted gaps in timely VWD diagnosis. Bleeding events reported in 72– 94% of the patients with VWD (all types; 27 sources) were mostly mucocutaneous including epistaxis, menorrhagia, and oral/gum bleeding. Poorer health-related quality of life (three sources) and greater health care resource utilization (three sources) were reported for patients with VWD than in general populations. Conclusion: Available data suggest that patients with VWD experience high disease burden in terms of bleeding, poor quality of life, and health care resource utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cloud and fog droplets are essential in atmospheric chemistry since they affect the distribution and chemical transformation of pollutants. Collecting sufficient volumes using cloud/fog samplers is the premise of cloud fog chemical studies. Accurate identification of fog events and high collection efficiency are the basic principles of sampler design. Therefore, an automatic cloud/fog collector (ACFC) has been designed, fabricated, and extensively tested for collecting samples of cloud/fog water. The control box and standard sensors for air temperature, relative humidity, and instantaneous rainfall were used to ensure sampling automation. Airflow measurement was used to guarantee the stability of the airspeed on the inlet section, and the airspeed is 7.5 m s−1. Moreover, the median collection rate of ACFC was 160–220 mL h−1, which was tested via a simulation experiment. To evaluate the actual performance of the device in the field, we obtained eight samples of cloud fog water from Shanghuang Observatory in eastern China from the summer through the fall of 2022. Collection rates varied from 62 to 169 mL h−1. For a cloud/fog sampler equipped with multiple sensors, the ACFC has excellent sampling efficiency in thick fog, sufficient cloud fog water samples can be collected in weak fog, and it can precisely identify fog mingled with rain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A general multi-layered plate theory of growth is established. • The calculation scheme for deriving the plate equation system is proposed. • Some examples are studied to verify the efficiency of the plate theory. • The problems of shape-programming for some typical examples are solved. • The growth behaviors of plate samples can be predicted accurately. In this paper, we propose a general multi-layered hyperelastic plate theory to study the growth-induced deformations of soft material samples. First, by considering a multi-layered plate sample with an arbitrary geometrical shape and adopting a general hyperelastic constitutive model, the 3D governing system is established, which incorporates the growth effects of the different layers in the plate. Then, a series expansion-truncation approach is adopted to eliminate the thickness variables in the 3D governing system. An elaborate calculation scheme is applied to derive the iteration relations of the coefficient functions in the series expansions. Through some further manipulations, a 2D vector plate equation system with the associated boundary conditions is established. To show the efficiency of the plate theory, three typical examples regarding the growth-induced deformations and instabilities of multi-layered plate samples are studied, where the incompressible neo-Hookean constitutive model is adopted. Some analytical and numerical solutions to the plate equation system are obtained, which can provide accurate predictions on the growth behaviors of the plates. Furthermore, the problem of 'shape-programming' of multi-layered plates through differential growth is studied and the explicit formulas for some typical examples are derived. By using these formulas, the shape evolutions of the plates during the growing processes can be controlled accurately. The results obtained in the current work are applicable for the design of intelligent soft devices with multi-layered plate structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the stress-induced twin interface nucleation in single-crystalline NiMnGa alloys is studied through theoretical analyses and numerical simulations. First, the mechanical governing system for a single-crystalline NiMnGa sample is formulated, which contains the mechanical field equation and the twin interface movement criteria. To complete the governing system, the nucleations of twin interfaces in the NiMnGa sample under general mechanical loads are investigated. By considering the connection conditions of some physical quantities across a "fictitious" twin interface, the explicit expression of the configurational force on the twin interface is derived. Then, based on the twin interface movement criteria, a practical scheme for predicting the twin interface nucleation is proposed. This scheme can be integrated into the iterative numerical algorithm for solving the mechanical governing system. To demonstrate the efficiency of this scheme, some simulation results are presented for two typical deformations of a NiMnGa sample (i.e., the axial compression and the bending deformation), which show good consistency with the experimental results. By analyzing the evolution properties of the configurational forces on the possible nucleation interfaces, the mechanism responsible for twin interface nucleations under different loading conditions can be revealed. The results obtained in the current work would be helpful for the design of smart devices by utilizing NiMnGa alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A literary criticism of the novel "Snow Crow" by Zijian Chi is presented. It outlines the physical and mental responses of the people in Harbin and their tendency to see the outbreak through metaphors. It reveals that along with showing the progress and development of epidemiology, Snow Crow sheds light on how the quarantine tradition in ancient Chinese dynasties develops from instinctive self-isolation to government-led quarantining.

It is predicted that oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) in the ocean will expand as a consequence of global warming and environmental pollution. This will affect the overall microbial ecology and microbial nitrogen cycle. As one of the world's largest alluvial estuaries, the Yangtze Estuary has exhibited a seasonal OMZ since the 1980s. In this study, we have uncovered the microbial composition, the patterns of community assembly and the potential for microbial nitrogen cycling within the water column of the Yangtze Estuary, with a particular focus on OMZ. Based on the 16 S rRNA gene sequencing, a specific spatial variation in the composition of prokaryotic communities was observed for each water layer, with the Proteobacteria (46.1%), Bacteroidetes (20.3%), and Cyanobacteria (10.3%) dominant. Stochastic and deterministic processes together shaped the community assembly in the water column. Further, pH was the most important environmental factor influencing prokaryotic composition in the surface water, followed by silicate, PO 4 3−, and distance offshore (p < 0.05). Water depth, NH 4 +, and PO 4 3− were the main factors in the bottom water (p < 0.05). At last, species analysis and marker gene annotation revealed candidate nitrogen cycling performers, and a rich array of nitrogen cycling potential in the bottom water of the Yangtze Estuary. The determined physiochemical parameters and potential for nitrogen respiration suggested that organic nitrogen and NO 3 − (or NO 2 −) are the preferred nitrogen sources for microorganisms in the Yangtze Estuary OMZ. These findings are expected to advance research on the ecological responses of estuarine oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) to future global climate perturbations. [Display omitted] • Planktonic prokaryotic microbiome in the Yangtze Estuary water was characterized. • Oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) in the Yangtze Estuary has distinct prokaryotic community. • Stochastic and deterministic processes shape community assembly in the Estuary. • OMZ shows potent nitrogen respiration potential. • Terrigenous organic N and NO 3 − (or NO 2 −) may be preferred N source for OMZ microbes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The aging hardening behavior of the Mg-Sm-Nd-Zn-Zr alloy was clarified. • The precipitation evolution of the Mg-Sm-Nd-Zn-Zr alloy was revealed. • The intrinsic relationship between hardness and precipitates is established. Precipitation-hardenable Mg-Sm-Nd-Zn-Zr alloy is a high-performance magnesium alloy with great potential for aviation applications. A more comprehensive understanding of the precipitation evolution will help fully exert its mechanical properties. The hardness initially rose and then fell with alloy aging to 100 h at 200 °C. A peak hardness of 84.1 HV was achieved at the aging time of 20 h, with a 39.7 % increase in hardness compared to the unaged alloy. The primary precipitates were the GP zones and β′ phase at the under-aged stage. As the aging time was extended to 20 h, a more abundant β′ phase precipitated in the matrix, and the alloy achieved the peak-aged stage. Eventually, the over-aging stage came with the aging process continuing, where the β′ phase coarsened severely and further transformed into the β 1 phase. When the aging temperature was raised to 350 °C, even under a short aging time of 1 h, the coarse β 1 phase formed rapidly, and the β phase could also nucleate and grow directly on the β 1 phase. This work offers a guide for developing aging treatment processes for Mg-RE alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MRTX849 is a novel, highly selective, targeted inhibitor of KRAS (G12C), which significantly improves the objective response rate in patients with advanced solid tumors. However, neither an analytical HPLC-MS/MS assay nor pharmacokinetics has been reported for MRTX849 in plasma. In the present study, chromatography was accomplished on a reversed phase C18 column (50 × 2.1 mm, 3.5 μm). The limit of detection of MRTX849 was 0.02 ng mL−1 at S/N ≥ 3. Only 20 μL of plasma was utilized for accurate quantitation. The optimized analytical assay was fully validated and verified in accordance with guidelines. The calibration curve for MRTX849 was linear with a correlation coefficient >0.99 in the range of 0.05–200 ng mL−1. The intra- and inter-day accuracy and precision were all within ±10%. The matrix effect and recovery were consistent and acceptable under several quality control concentrations. This HPLC-MS/MS method was successfully applied for a pharmacokinetic study of MRTX849 at a dose of 15 mg kg−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relational functions of shared laughter in workplace conflict interactions. It is argued that two intertwined but distinct relational concerns are addressed in conflict interactions, namely 'face' at the individual level and 'relational dynamics' at the interactional level. Based on a case analysis of an intercultural conflictual meeting, it is found that laughing together can be strategically deployed to achieve different relational goals at different stages of the conflict process, including launching aligned face attack, mitigating relational tension, and facilitating reconciliation. It is also found that the audience plays a proactive role in mobilizing shared laughter to mitigate relational tension. Under the verbal constraints of their participation role, they achieve this by transforming the speaker's mitigation laughter into a laughter invitation and thereby constructing metacommunicative laughables. The metacommunicative laughable makes it possible to achieve 'laughing with' without 'laughing at' and affiliation without disaffiliation in sensitive conflict situations. The process of co-constructing the metacommunicative laughables shows how the intercultural interactants can locally and collaboratively develop shared practices at the interactional level despite possible cultural differences in values, expectations, and practices. • Laughter can be deployed to address two relational concerns in conflict interactions, namely face and relational dynamics. • Shared laughter can be deployed to attack face or mitigate tension in conflict talk. • Shared laughter can achieve 'laughing with' without 'laughing at' by orienting to metacommunicative laughables. • The audience plays a proactive role in mobilizing shared laughter as tension mitigation strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obvious spatiotemporal heterogeneity is a distinct characteristic of ecosystems in subtropical bays. To aid targeted management and ecological restoration in long and narrow semi-enclosed subtropical bays, we analyzed seasonal and regional differences in long-term changes (1980–2019) in the biomass and abundance of large mesozooplankton (LMZ; >505 µm) in Xiangshan Bay, Zhejiang, China. We found spatiotemporal heterogeneity in the historical changes of LMZ. Significant negative trends in LMZ biomass were found in the inner and middle bay during the warm season (summer and autumn), when the nutrient concentration (especially dissolved inorganic nitrogen) and temperature increased simultaneously. Nutrient changes in Xiangshan Bay began in the late 1980s or early 1990s, coinciding with large-scale fish cage development. A rapid decline in LMZ biomass occurred after 2005 when power plants commenced operation, accelerating the warming trend. Therefore, the joint stress of eutrophication and warming likely precipitated the decline in LMZ biomass. Conversely, a significant increase in LMZ biomass was found in the outer bay in spring. This trend was consistent with the trend of LMZ biomass near the Changjiang (Yangtze) River estuary, which indicates that the pelagic ecosystem in the outer bay was affected by water from the Changjiang River estuary during spring. Based on our results, ecosystem management and restoration in semi-enclosed subtropical bays should focus on internal waters, which have a poor capacity for water exchange. For Xiangshan Bay, the changes in the Changjiang River estuary ecosystem during the cold season (winter and spring) should also be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extended aggregate basis function method (EABFM) is proposed to analyze the electromagnetic scattering by the composite structure with periodic array. The generation of the impedance matrix in the EABFM is still time consuming. The fast dipole method (FDM) and the equivalent dipole‐moment method (EDM) are applied to accelerate the fill‐in of the matrix. Several numerical examples are performed. Simulation results validate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remdesivir is a nucleotide analog prodrug that has received much attention since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2019. GS-441524 (Nuc) is the active metabolite of remdesivir and plays a pivotal role in the clinical treatment of COVID-19. Here, a robust HPLC-MS/MS method was developed to determine Nuc concentrations in rat plasma samples after a one-step protein precipitation process. Chromatographic separation was accomplished on Waters XBrige C18 column (50 × 2.1 mm, 3.5 μm) under gradient elution conditions. Multiple reaction monitoring transitions in electrospray positive ion mode were m/z 292.2 → 163.2 for Nuc and 237.1 → 194.1 for the internal standard (carbamazepine). The quantitative analysis method was fully validated in line with the United States Food and Drug Administration guidelines. The linearity, accuracy and precision, matrix effect, recovery, and stability results met the requirements of the guidelines. Uncertainty of measurement and incurred sample reanalysis were analyzed to further ensure the robustness and reproducibility of the method. This optimized method was successfully applied in a rat pharmacokinetics study of remdesivir (intravenously administration, 5 mg kg−1). The method can act as a basis for further pharmacokinetic and clinical efficacy investigations in patients with COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Association of RNA polymerase V (Pol V) with chromatin is a critical step for RNA‐ directed DNA methylation (RdDM) in plants. Although the methylated DNA‐binding proteins SUVH2 and SUVH9 and the chromatin remodeler‐containing complex DRD1‐DMS3‐RDM1 are known to be required for the association of Pol V with chromatin, the molecular mechanisms underlying the association of Pol V with different chromatin environments remain largely unknown. Here we found that SUVH9 interacts with FVE, a homolog of the mammalian retinoblastoma‐associated protein, which has been previously identified as a shared subunit of the histone deacetylase complex and the polycomb‐type histone H3K27 trimethyltransferase complex. We demonstrated that FVE facilitates the association of Pol V with chromatin and thus contributes to DNA methylation at a substantial subset of RdDM target loci. Compared with FVE‐independent RdDM target loci, FVE‐dependent RdDM target loci are more abundant in gene‐rich chromosome arms than in pericentromeric heterochromatin regions. This study contributes to our understanding of how the association of Pol V with chromatin is regulated in different chromatin environments. Significance Statement: We demonstrate that FVE interacts with SUVH9 and facilitates the association of RNA polymerase V with chromatin, thereby contributing to RNA‐directed DNA methylation (RdDM) at a substantial subset of RdDM target loci. Compared with FVE‐independent RdDM target loci, FVE‐dependent RdDM target loci are more abundant in gene‐rich chromosome arms than in pericentromeric heterochromatin regions, suggesting that FVE is involved in the association of RNA polymerase V with chromatin especially at euchromatin regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective  This study was aimed to determine if glutathione (GSH) deficiency occurs in children with HIV infection and whether GSH deficiency is associated with HIV-related short stature. Methods  We conducted a cross-sectional study with two age-matched comparison groups in an inner city hospital-based pediatric AIDS/HIV outpatient clinic. Ten perinatally HIV-infected children aged 6 to 49 months with short stature (height–age percentile ≤5) were studied together with age-matched 10 HIV-infected children with normal height and 10 HIV-seronegative children with normal height. Total erythrocyte GSH (GSH and GSH disulfide) levels were determined by a modification of the 5,5′-dithiobis-2-nitrobenzoic acid glutathione disulfide reductase method. Other measures included complete blood counts, lymphocyte subset analysis, plasma albumin, cholesterol, vitamins A and E, and determination of HIV disease stage. Discussion  Erythrocyte GSH levels were lower in HIV-infected children with short stature (mean ± standard deviation [SD]: 0.639 µmol/mL ± 0.189) compared with HIV-infected children with normal height (mean ± SD: 0.860 µmol/mL ± 0.358; p  < 0.05) and HIV-negative controls (mean ± SD: 0.990 µmol/mL ± 0.343; p  < 0.05). Plasma levels of cholesterol, albumin, and vitamins A and E did not differ between the short-stature group and either the HIV-infected normal-height group or HIV-negative controls. Conclusion  These results demonstrate a GSH deficiency in HIV-infected children with short stature and support the hypothesis that GSH balance is important in growth among HIV-infected children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Expanding access to direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) for treating hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the national goal for HCV elimination, but important urban-rural disparities exist in DAA use. Evidence is needed to evaluate intervention efforts to reduce urban-rural disparities in DAA utilization. Methods: We used Medicare data to compare DAA use between urban HCV patients and rural HCV patients in two states: State A with a telementoring approach to train rural providers to treat HCV patients and State B without such an intervention. We focused on DAA utilization among newly diagnosed HCV patients in 2014–2016 and defined DAA use as filling at least one prescription of DAAs during 2014–2017. We classified patient's urban-rural status based on their ZIP code of residence. We assessed overtime changes in urban-rural disparities in DAA utilization for each state using multivariable cause-specific Cox regression analyses with time-varying hazard ratios. Results: Among 1,872 new HCV patients in State A, 135 (17.00%) rural patients and 243 (22.54%) urban patients received DAAs in 2014–2017. Although there was noticeable urban-rural disparities in DAA use during the first 24 months of follow-up (hazard ratios [HRs] = 0.73 [0.51 to 1.03] for 0–12 months and 0.61 [0.39 to 0.95] for 13–24 months), the disparities became nonsignificant afterward (HR = 1.06 [0.58 to 1.93] after 24 months). Most DAA users in rural areas (94, 70%) in State A received DAAs prescribed by primary care providers (PCPs). In State B, among 8,928 new HCV patients, 227 (18.22%) rural patients and 1,600 (20.83%) urban patients received DAAs in 2014–2017. Rural patients were less likely to receive DAAs over time (HR = 1.12 [0.93 to 1.36] in the first 12 months and HR = 0.62 [0.40 to 0.96] after 24 months). Only 81 (36%) DAA users in rural areas in State B were treated by PCPs. Conclusions: Our study suggests that the telementoring approach may help reduce urban-rural disparities in DAA utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Inhalation is the main exposure pathway of Be, Ni, and Cd soil contamination. • It exhibits seasonal feature with a lower risk in the summer than that in winter. • Inhalation possesses 100% ratios of exposure routes for the TCR. Risk assessment is the key process for environmental management and remediation of soil contamination. Metals, such as beryllium (Be), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), and cobalt (Co) are considered important soil contaminants and environmental challenges, which cause a potential risk of harm to human health through inhalation exposure routes but show limitations regarding cross-discussion and in-depth analysis of previous works. We introduce a systematic and multidimensional perspective to assess the human health risk caused by four metals soil contamination via the 338 regional PM 10 levels on a city scale from 2015 to 2021. As the significant characteristics, total carcinogenic risk (TCR), hazard index (HI n), and risk control level (RCL) are calculated for the detailed analysis of annual and seasonal performance. The inhalation is the main risk exposure pathway of Be, Ni, and Cd soil contamination. TCR and HI n show the lowest levels in 2021 among other years with all regions below the risk thresholds, and the RCLs are yearly increasing according to the different calculated methods by the annual average PM 10. This refined study can provide a detailed strategy for the environmental risk assessment of metals soil contamination on a regional scale and promise desirable support for the protection of human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The advent of direct-acting antiviral agents for treating hepatitis C virus infection has made hepatitis C virus elimination possible. Rural patients with hepatitis C virus infection may be less likely to access direct-acting antiviral agents, but the real-world evidence is scarce on urban-rural disparities in direct-acting antiviral agent utilization.Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted in 2019-2020 using Medicare data to examine urban-rural disparities in direct-acting antiviral agent utilization among newly diagnosed patients with hepatitis C virus infection in 2014-2016. Direct-acting antiviral agent use was defined as filling ≥1 prescription for direct-acting antiviral agents during 2014-2017, and patient's urban-rural status was classified on the basis of their ZIP code of residence. This study evaluated the associations between multilevel factors and direct-acting antiviral agent use with a focus on urban-rural disparities. It also assessed changes over time in urban-rural disparities in direct-acting antiviral agent utilization using multivariable cause-specific Cox regression analyses with time-varying hazard ratios.Results: Among 204,018 new patients with hepatitis C virus infection, about 30% received direct-acting antiviral agents during 2014-2017. Cumulative direct-acting antiviral agent use gradually increased over time in both urban and rural patients. However, the increase was greater in urban patients than in rural patients. In the first year of follow-up, rural patients had a similar rate of receiving direct-acting antiviral agents (adjusted hazard ratio=1.03, 95% CI=1.00, 1.07), but they were less likely to use direct-acting antiviral agents in later years than urban patients (adjusted hazard ratio=0.85, 95% CI=0.81, 0.90 in the second year, adjusted hazard ratio=0.82, 95% CI=0.76, 0.89 in the third year, and adjusted hazard ratio=0.76, 95% CI=0.64, 0.90 in the fourth year of follow-up).Conclusions: This study reveals important gaps in hepatitis C virus treatment and suggests increasing urban-rural disparities in direct-acting antiviral agent utilization. Enhancing direct-acting antiviral agent uptake in rural populations with hepatitis C virus infection will help reduce hepatitis C virus‒related health disparities and reach the national goal of eliminating hepatitis C virus infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of comb polymers poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA)-co-methacrylic acid (MAA)-co-methoxy polyethylene glycol methacrylate (MPEGMA)) (poly(DMAEMA-MAA-MPEGMA, DMM) were synthesized and used as N-methyl-2-pyrolidinone (NMP)-based lithium iron phosphate (LFP) suspension dispersants. The effects of the grafting density of the carboxyl group as the anchoring group and the chain length of the side chain of PEG, which plays the role of spatial site resistance, on the rheological properties and suspension stability of the slurry were systematically investigated. By investigating the adsorption amount and thickness of DMM on the LFP surface, combined with calculations based on the scalar law and Flory theory, the molecular structure of the comb polymer dispersant was revealed to influence the adsorption and dispersion performance. The dispersion of LiFePO4 was due to the synergistic effects of adsorption and steric hindrance effect, which resulted that dispersants with medium carboxyl density and PEG side chain length can improve the dispersion performance and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young adults living with HIV (YALH) have lower rates of retention in care and HIV viral suppression. Multiple barriers exist to engage YALH in care. We developed and implemented a multifaceted, mobile application-based intervention, "OPT-In for Life," by targeting YALH to encourage retention in care and eventually viral suppression. The app integrated multiple user-friendly features for YALH to manage their HIV care, including a two-way secure messaging function, HIV-related laboratory results, and appointment or medication reminders. We recruited 92 YALH who were 18 to 34 years old and were newly diagnosed with HIV, had a history of falling out of care, or had a detectable HIV viral load into this intervention. Study participants used the app to manage their HIV care and to communicate and interact with their HIV care team. During the intervention period, the retention rate among our study participants increased from 41.3% at baseline to 78.6% at 6-month follow-up, maintained at 12-month follow-up (79.8%), and slightly decreased to 73.4% at 18-month follow-up but it was still significantly higher than the baseline retention rate (p <.0001). The viral suppression rate (HIV RNA <200 copies/ml) increased from 64.1% at baseline to about 85% at 6-month and at 12-month follow-up and reached 91.4% at 18-month (p =.0002) among participants who were retained in care. Our study demonstrated using a HIPAA-compliant mobile application as an effective intervention to engage YALH in care. This mobile technology–based intervention can be incorporated into routine clinical practice to improve HIV care continuum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arachidonic acid (AA) and cascade metabolites have been shown to be involved in cancer pathologic states. Anlotinib, a novel oral small molecule inhibitor of multiple receptor tyrosine kinases, has brought significant improvement to the survival of patients with advanced lung cancer. Here, a robust and reproducible ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed, optimized and validated for quantitating AA and cascade metabolites for the first time. Through careful optimization of the analytical conditions, a total of 69 analytes can be efficiently separated and quantitated in a single run of 17 min. A simple and labor-saving protein precipitation procedure was utilized for serum sample pretreatment. The validation parameters and quality control chart of all analytes satisfy the acceptance criteria of bioanalytical method guidelines. The limit of detection (LOD) ranged from 0.005 ng mL−1 to 1 ng mL−1, and the volume of serum was only 20 μL. This rapid and sensitive UPLC-MS/MS method was successfully applied to a longitudinal metabolomics study in rat serum after a single administration of anlotinib (6 mg kg−1). Finally, a total of 41 metabolites can be calculated under the present conditions. Serum samples from the same rat were segregated into a tight cluster in both unsupervised principal component analysis (PCA) and supervised orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) at different sampling time points after anlotinib treatment. Moreover, the number of analytes whose variable importance (VIP) values were larger than 1.0 was 17. The present study not only offers a UPLC-MS/MS analytical reference for AA but also brings out insights for future mechanistic studies or biomarkers to predict the efficacy, toxicity and clinical outcomes in patients with cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Olanzapine, a second‐generation atypical antipsychotic drug, is widely used for schizophrenia and moderate to severe mania associated with bipolar disorders. This open‐label, randomized, single‐dose, 2‐sequence, 2‐period crossover, comparative pharmacokinetic study assessed the bioequivalence of 5 mg of olanzapine administered in tablet (R) or disintegrating tablet (T) formulation in healthy Chinese volunteers under both fasting and fed conditions. Numbers of enrolled subjects were 30 and 24 for fasting and fed treatments, respectively. Blood samples were drawn and collected predose as well as up to 144 hours postdose. The plasma concentration of olanzapine was quantitated by a robust, rapid, and sensitive liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method. The R was bioequivalent to T formulation under either fasting or fed conditions. The 90%CI for ratios of the geometric means observed maximum plasma concentration, area under the curve from time 0 extrapolated to last time point, and area under the curve from time 0 extrapolated to infinity were all within the allowed limit (80.0% to 125.0%). The pharmacokinetic profiles of T and R formulations were similar under fasting and fed conditions. Both formulations were well tolerated, with a similar incidence of treatment‐emergent adverse events under fasting and fed conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micro- and nanowires are commonly used in biological sciences, micro- and nanoelectronics, and optoelectronics, and their morphological stability needs to be understood and controlled. We study the linear stability of equilibrium circular wires with length to diameter ratio of 1, 2, 3.5, 6, and 11, assuming that the wire surface can deform by capillarity-driven surface diffusion. The facetted equilibrium wire shape is modeled by the Dirac delta function and is perturbed by an infinitesimal axisymmetric disturbance, leading to an eigenvalue problem for the growth rate, which is solved by a finite-difference method. Numerical accuracy is checked by grid refinement. All converged eigenvalues are negative, indicating that the wires are linearly stable. The first six eigenvalues are listed for all the wires which show that, for the same eigenmode, the eigenvalue decreases in magnitude as the wire length increases. The eigenfunctions for the longest wire studied are plotted and reveal how a non-equilibrium wire finally approaches the equilibrium state. The linear-stability formulation is then extended to an infinitely-long circular wire. The wire is stable for all wavelengths if its surface coincides with a facet plane. Hence, Rayleigh's instability is completely suppressed in faceted circular wires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a simplified multi-layered plate model is proposed, which can be used to study the growth-induced deformations of multi-layered hyperelastic plates. First, we introduce a full-form multi-layered plate theory of growth, which has a relatively complicated plate equation system. To simplify the plate equations, systematic asymptotic analyses are conducted with some specified magnitudes of growth functions and surface tractions. It is found that the terms containing a high-order stress tensor always have higher asymptotic orders. By dropping these higher-order terms from the original plate equations, a simplified multi-layered plate model can be derived. Despite its simplicity, this new plate model is valid in a wide range of growth and loading conditions. To be prepared for practical applications, the associated weak forms of the simplified plate equations are derived and implemented in a finite element software. Some typical examples are further studied to show the efficiency of the plate model. By virtue of the plate model, the growth deformations of multi-layered plate samples are simulated, which show very good consistency with the results of 3D volume model. Especially, the distributions of residual stresses on the interfaces of different layers can be predicted accurately, which has an important meaning for the design of soft devices with multi-layered plate structures. [Display omitted] • A simplified multi-layered plate model of growth is developed. • Asymptotic analyses with different growth and surface traction conditions are conducted. • The weak form of the plate equation system is derived and implemented in a FE software. • Some typical examples are studied to demonstrate the efficiency of the plate model. • The multi-layered plate model shows advantages in the aspect of numerical calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing proportion of night consumption in the total daily consumption means the night economy has become an indispensable part of national economic development. However, early social science research on alcohol in the night economy and social science research on the night leisure industry dominated our understanding of the night city. Few researchers have built effective mathematical statistical models to explore the spatio-temporal distribution and regional interactions of the night economy. This paper presents a method to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution pattern of the night economy based on multi-source data. Firstly, K-Means++ and DBSCAN were used to cluster OD points to identify the gathering areas of night activities. Then, the local L-function in "flow space" was used to extract the aggregated flow of each aggregation area and analyze the regional interactions. Finally, the correlation between night activity and night service facilities was calculated by using geographic detector, and night activity and lighting were coupled by the profit and loss value. The research shows that this method can identify the main areas of night activity, dig out the interrelationships at the community level, and find the new night activity gathering points and night economic growth areas in the future. This study extends the current situation that the night economy is limited to theoretical research and research in central urban areas, provides the temporal and spatial distribution of night activities and night lighting supplies from the perspective of big data, and provides a basis for future night economy research, urban planning, and relevant policy issuance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A selective and robust UPLC-MS/MS method has been firstly developed for simultaneous determination of three anti-tumor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (anlotinib, ANL; ceritinib, CER; ibrutinib, IBR) in rat plasma using cost-effective protein precipitation extraction. LC separation was achieved on Waters XBrige C18 column (50 mm × 2.1 mm, 3.5 μm) under gradient conditions in a run time of 5 min. ESI+ was involved through mass spectrometry. Multiple reaction monitoring transitions were at m/z 408.2 → 339.2 for ANL, 558.2 → 433.2 for CER, 441.0 → 138.0 for IBR, 285.0 → 193.1 for diazepam (internal standard), respectively. The optimized method was validated based on US FDA guideline, EMEA guideline as well as Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China. The assay was linear in the range of 0.1–20 ng mL−1 for ANL, 2–1000 ng mL−1 for CER, 1–500 ng mL−1 for IBR. Intra- and inter-day accuracy and precision for all analytes were ≤13.84% and ≤12.56%, respectively. ANL, CER and IBR were sufficiently stable under most investigated conditions. The optimized method was successfully applied for a pharmacokinetic study after single oral gavage administration of mixture (ANL, CER and IBR) at dose of 6 mg kg−1, 25 mg kg−1 and 10 mg kg−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cervical cancer pathogenesis is regulated by numerous factors, including microRNAs. MicroRNA 1246 (miR-1246) has been shown to serve a role in cervical cancer tumorigenesis. However, the mechanisms through which miR-1246 exerts its oncogenic effects are largely unknown. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effects of lentivirus-mediated miR-1246 knockdown on the biological characteristics and behavior of cervical cancer cells, and to identify the downstream signaling pathways affected by miR-1246 knockdown. Short hairpins inhibiting miR-1246 were synthesized and cloned into a recombinant lentiviral vector (LV-miR-1246-Inh), which was then used to infect SiHa cervical cancer cells. The effects of LV-miR-1246-Inh infection on cell invasion, proliferation and apoptosis were evaluated by Transwell assay, Cell Counting Kit-8 assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Thrombospondin-2 (THBS2), matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2), MMP9 and extracellular matrix (ECM) component expression levels were evaluated, and the growth of xenograft tumors formed following injection of SiHa cells with knockdown of miR-1246 was assessed. miR-1246 downregulation in SiHa cells decreased proliferation, induced apoptosis and upregulated THBS2 expression. Furthermore, MMP2 and MMP9 levels were downregulated, whereas components of the ECM were upregulated subsequent to miR-1246 knockdown, indicating that this miRNA regulates cervical cancer cell pathogenesis via the THBS2/MMP/ECM pathway. Notably, SiHa cells with miR-1246 downregulation had a markedly decreased ability to form tumors in vivo. These results suggest that miR-1246 functions during cervical cancer pathogenesis and tumor formation via the THBS2/MMP/ECM signaling pathway. These findings support the future use of miR-1246 suppression in the treatment of cervical cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Little is known about the effects of long-term e-cigarette use, particularly the risks of relapse to cigarette smoking or increased dependence.Methods: In a 2012-2014 baseline online e-cigarette survey, 1,863 respondents consented to participate in future research. A follow-up online survey was conducted in 2017-2018 to assess changes in e-cigarette use behaviors and e-cigarette-related dependence. For both surveys, exclusive e-cigarette use was defined as only using e-cigarettes in the past 7 days, and poly use was defined as using both e-cigarettes and other tobacco or nicotine products in the past 7 days. The Penn State Electronic Cigarette Dependence Index (PSECDI) score was calculated for each study subject and was used to evaluate e-cigarette dependence. Paired t-tests or Pearson correlation coefficients were used to examine changes in e-cigarette use behaviors or PSECDI scores between baseline and follow-up. Baseline and follow-up survey data were analyzed in January 2019.Results: A total of 494 subjects provided complete data on both surveys. At baseline, 402 subjects (81.4%) were exclusive e-cigarette users, and 71 subjects (14.4%) were poly users. Among baseline exclusive e-cigarette users, the majority (88.3%) continued using e-cigarettes exclusively, but 37 users (9.2%) became poly users and 1 returned to cigarette smoking at follow-up. Among baseline poly users, 60.6% became exclusive e-cigarette users at follow-up. The mean PSECDI score remained similar over time (8.4 at baseline vs 8.3 at follow-up).Conclusions: Findings suggest that the risk of relapse to cigarette smoking is low, and e-cigarette-related dependence remains stable in long-term e-cigarette users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the accurate sub-entire-domain (ASED) basis function method is combined with the interpolation technique to efficiently analyze the wideband electromagnetic scattering from the large-scale finite-sized periodic arrays with planar cells. Comparing with the conventional method of moments (MoM), the ASED basis function method can tremendously reduce the number of unknowns. Thus, the computational complexity can be tremendously reduced. It is a single-frequency technique. The impedance matrix needs to be calculated repeatedly at each frequency. The interpolation technique can speed up the wideband simulation because the impedance matrices can be efficiently obtained using the interpolation technique. To validate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method, several numerical examples are carried out. Simulation results show that the results of the proposed technique agree well with those of the ASED bases. Both the CPU time and the memory cost are significantly reduced by using the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature increase caused by thermal discharge from power plants promotes phytoplankton growth and frequent bloom in eutrophic subtropical waters, particularly in cold seasons. Suspension filter-feeding bivalves show size-selective grazing on phytoplankton. Thus, we hypothesized that algal bloom under thermal stimulation could be controlled and that phytoplankton community was structured by oyster farming. Here, ten cruises were conducted in two oyster farms (OFs) and control areas (CAs) adjacent to the Ninghai Power Plant in the upper section of Xiangshan Bay during 2009–2015. We found that thermal discharge induced severe winter algal blooms. Phytoplankton abundance and chlorophyll a (chla) were significantly lower (46.3% and 28.3%, respectively) in OF than in CA, indicating a high filtration efficiency by oysters and the associated biofouling assemblages. In addition, oyster farming significantly increased species richness (by 26.3%), Shannon–Wiener diversity (by 38.3%), and Pielou's evenness indices (by 28.8%) and reduced suspended solids (by 12.2%), total organic carbon (by 18.4%), dissolved inorganic nitrogen (by 1.5%), and phosphorus (by 3.7%). Furthermore, oyster farming considerably reduced (increased) micro-chla contribution (pheophytin/chla) by 34.8% (71.1%), suggesting a strong size-selective grazing on phytoplankton. Analysis of similarity revealed a significant difference in phytoplankton community composition between OF and CA. However, after the removal of culture rafts, all the abundance, chla, species diversity, dominant species, size structure, and community composition of phytoplankton showed no significant difference. Our study demonstrated that oyster farming effectively alleviated eutrophication and algal bloom and enhanced phytoplankton diversity, which provides guidance for aquaculture and ecological restoration in subtropical coastal eutrophic waters. Image 1 • Thermal discharge induced severe winter algal blooms. • Oyster farming effectively alleviated eutrophication and algal bloom. • Oyster farming significantly increased phytoplankton diversity. • Oyster farming reduced suspended solids and total organic carbon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the planktonic protistan community in Xiangshan Bay during spring 2015 using 18S rDNA sequencing. We found significant spatial heterogeneity in α-diversity, β-diversity (Bray–Curtis and Jaccard indices) and the relative abundance of dominant taxa. The spatial heterogeneity of the protistan community was due more to variation in species (operational taxonomic units) than abundance, and the spatial variation in species was dominated by variation in rare biota. Salinity was the most important driver of spatial heterogeneity in the total community and the abundant subcommunity, but environmental factors could not explain the variation in the rare subcommunity. For α-diversity, spatial heterogeneity was mainly associated with the rare biota; α-diversity was positively correlated with water mass complexity but negatively correlated with temperature and nutrients. Of the dominant protistan phyla, the more abundant Cryptophyta, Chlorophyta and Haptophyta were correlated with lower salinity and higher nutrient concentrations, while the more abundant mixotrophs (e.g. Dinoflagellata and Protalveolata) were associated with lower nutrient concentration. Our study suggests that rare taxa are important for preserving the spatial heterogeneity of the protistan community, whose structural variation might be influenced by biotic interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Selecting the timing of laser treatment is an important task for improving O 2 -dependent photodynamic therapy (PDT) efficiency. Here, a black phosphorus-based strategy was developed for dual-mode monitoring oxygen self-supply, enhancing photodynamic therapy, and feeding back therapeutic effect. The hybridized nanoplatform (R-MnO 2 -FBP) was prepared by assembly of Rhodamine B (RhB)-encapsulated manganese dioxide (R-MnO 2) as O 2 supplier and indicator, and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labelled peptide-functionalized black phosphorus as the theranostic agent. The time-dependent assays suggested that the O 2 release was proportional to the liberation of Mn2+ and RhB in the R-MnO 2 -FBP system. After specific delivery into cancer cells, R-MnO 2 -FBP was dissociated in the acidic and H 2 O 2 -rich environment and generated oxygen to overcome hypoxia-associated PDT resistance. In the meantime, it released both Mn2+and RhB dye, leading to dual-mode (magnetic resonance imaging/fluorescence imaging) monitoring of the oxygen self-supply process. More significantly, the imaging-guided PDT in hypoxic cells displayed 51.6% of cell apoptosis at optimizing timing of laser application, which could also be confirmed by the FITC fluorescence recovery induced by the activated caspase-3 in apoptotic cells. In vivo photonic therapy by R-MnO 2 -FBP further demonstrated the ability of R-MnO 2 -FBP to choose the timing of laser application, providing an efficient approach for the enhancement of PDT process. Graphical abstract A multifunctional black phosphorus was designed as all-in-one theranostic nanoplatform for cancer-cell target delivery, dual-modal tracking of the pH/H 2 O 2 responsive oxygen supply, photodynamic therapy enhancement, and feeding back therapeutic efficacy in real time. Image 1 Highlights • Black phosphorus-based theranostic system is developed for enhanced PDT. • Dual-modal tracking of oxygen supply guides the timing of laser application. • A self-feedback system is established for the therapeutic response in real time. • All-in-one theranostic platform is achieved with whole-process self-tracking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electromagnetic radiation from transmission lines is an important topic in electromagnetic compatibility. Thus, this paper aims at developing an analytical technique to evaluate radiated electric field and shielding effectiveness (SE) of shielded cable. The induced voltages and currents on the screen are modeled by the surface transfer impedance with Kley's method. Then, based on the Hertzian dipole technique, the radiating transmission line is decomposed into small-length hypothetical dipoles and the total electromagnetic radiation can be replaced by the summation of the dipoles. After that, the SE expression of shielded cable is obtained according to the electromagnetic calculation results, which is defined by using transfer impedance. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out by using a commercial software computer simulation technology (CST) to validate the proposed approach. The expressions give a way of allowing fast parametric analysis of radiation and SE during the design phase of the electrical and geometrical configuration of shielded cable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Established three-stage PEG 6000-citrate aqueous two-phase extraction system. • The final recovery and purity of foot-and-mouth disease virus was 72.8% and 0.14. • Removed PEG 6000 at the third step. • The results of 1000 g scale-up experiment are consistent with 10 g system. Abstract Downstreaming vaccine production faces a challenge in adopting numerous chromatography and filtration steps to efficiently purify large viral particles. Purity, potency, and quality are the main problems that plague virus separation and purification. This article aims to evaluate a three-stage PEG-Salt aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE) system to purify foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). Unique separation efficiencies were obtained by selecting phase-forming salt and varying the molecular weight (MW) of PEG and the pH value by using neutral salt additives. Improving the purity of FMDV and removing the phase-forming polymer were performed by multi-stage ATPE system. Results revealed that the partition coefficient (K) of FMDV in single-stage ATPE did not linearly increase with the MW of PEG. The highest K value and recovery of FMDV were 98.9% and 107.69, respectively, when the concentrations of PEG 6000 and sodium citrate were 14% and 16%, respectively. With the use of the three-stage APTE, the purity of FMDV increased from 0.007 to 0.14, PEG was eliminated, and the overall recovery of FMDV reached 72%. The results of the 1000 g scale-up experiment are consistent with those of the 10 g system without centrifugation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A posteriori consistency diagnostics have been used in recent years to estimate correlated observation error. These diagnostics provide an estimate of what the observation error covariances should be and could, in turn, be introduced in the assimilation to improve the statistical consistency between the error statistics used in the assimilation and those obtained from observation departures with respect to the background and the analysis. To estimate the observation error covariances, it is often assumed that the background error statistics are optimal, an assumption that is open to criticism. The consequence is that if the background error covariances are in error, then the estimated observation error statistics will adjust accordingly to fit the innovation error covariances. In this paper, the RTTOV radiative transfer model is used as the observation operator. Using controlled experiments, the background error is considered fixed, and it is shown that the iterative procedure to estimate the observation error may require more than one iteration. It is also shown that the underlying matrix equation being solved can be factorized, and the exact solution can be obtained. If the true background error covariances are used in the assimilation, the estimated observation error covariances are then obtained by subtracting the background error covariances from those of the innovations. This can be applied to the full set of assimilated observations. Using the Environment Canada assimilation system, the results for several types of observations indicate that the background error estimation would deserve additional attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adsorption of levofloxacin (LEV) to goethite in the pH range of 3–10, and in the absence or presence of natural organic matter (NOM) represented by nine types of humic acid (HA) and fulvic acid (FA), was studied using batch experiments. The adsorption of LEV to goethite was weak and showed a maximum around pH 5.8. Adding NOM to goethite strongly increased LEV adsorption to goethite, but hardly affected its pH dependency. The adsorption envelopes were well fitted to a linear additive model, in which LEV adsorption to goethite was simulated with the Charge Distribution Multi-Site Complexation (CD-MUSIC) model, and LEV adsorption to NOM was simulated with the Langmuir model. The fitted affinity constants (log K ) for LEV adsorption to NOM were significantly and positively correlated with the SUVA (specific ultraviolet absorbance at 280 nm) values of NOM, and negatively correlated with E 2 /E 3 (absorbance ratio at 250 nm and 365 nm) values, carboxyl contents, and the polarity of NOM. The results indicated that aromatic moieties of NOM play a key role in the interactions between LEV and NOM, and hydrophobic interactions and π-π interactions were the major mechanisms for LEV adsorption to NOM, whereas H-bond or surface complexation might not play an important role. Results show that both the concentrations and properties of NOM have a significant effect on the distribution or treatment of antibiotics in soils and waters, which will eventually affect the influence of antibiotics on microorganisms in the environmental systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonspecific distribution of photosensitizer and the intrinsic hypoxic condition in the tumor microenvironment are two key factors limiting the efficacy of O 2 -dependent photodynamic therapy (PDT). Herein, a dual-triggered oxygen self-supported nanosystem using black phosphorus nanosheet (BPNS) as both photosensitizer and nanocarrier was developed to enhance PDT for tumors within hypoxic microenvironment. The BPNS platform was functionalized with folate and a blocker DNA duplex of 5′-Cy5-aptamer-heme/3′-heme labeled oligonucleotides. The resulting heme dimer could passivate its peroxidase activity. After specific recognition of aptamer-target, the quenched fluorescence is “turned” on by cellular adenosine triphosphate. The passivated nanosystem then activates the catalytic function towards excessive intracellular H 2 O 2 to generate O 2 essential to sustain BPNS-mediated PDT, leading to 8.7-fold and 7.5-fold increase of PDT efficacy in treating the hypoxic cell and tumor, respectively. Therefore, the dual-triggered oxygen self-supply nanosystem not only exerts tumor microenvironment-associated stimulus for enhanced PDT but also surmounts hypoxia-associated therapy resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A flowerlike nanovector is developed for the fluorescence imaging and detection of miRNA in live cells with catalytic hairpin assembly. This horned vector provides a high loading efficiency of DNA amplifiers for multiple signal outputs and is applied to detect miRNA-21 in an average single HeLa cell, showing promising application in trace detection of intracellular biomolecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world; taxol displayed modest efficacy as first-line chemotherapy for gastric cancer, conversely, it has limitations used alone. β-catenin is a multifunctional oncogenic protein and the elevation in expression and activity of β-catenin has been implicated in many cancers. Therefore, we assume that the inhibition of β-catenin can enhanced the efficacy of taxol. The purpose of this study was to investigate the inhibitory effect of miR-200a mimics, FH535 combined with taxol on proliferation and invasion of human gastric cancer cell lines SGC-7901 and BGC-823. In the current study, we identified that the combination of FH535 and miR-200a with taxol had potent growth-inhibitory and pro-apoptotic effects. Further, similar results were also observed in vivo, intratumoral injection of FH535, taxol and miR-200a mimics which also delayed tumor growth in nude mice harboring subcutaneous SGC-7901 xenografts. Collectively, miR-200a and FH535 can enhance the inhibitory effect of taxol on cell proliferation and moderate the invasion of human gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two types of approaches are commonly used for estimating the impact of arbitrary subsets of observations on short-range forecast error. The first was developed for variational data assimilation systems and requires the adjoint of the forecast model. Comparable approaches were developed for use with the ensemble Kalman filter and rely on ensembles of forecasts. In this study, a new approach for computing observation impact is proposed for ensemble-variational data assimilation (EnVar). Like standard adjoint approaches, the adjoint of the data assimilation procedure is implemented through the iterative minimization of a modified cost function. However, like ensemble approaches, the adjoint of the forecast step is obtained by using an ensemble of forecasts. Numerical experiments were performed to compare the new approach with the standard adjoint approach in the context of operational deterministic NWP. Generally similar results are obtained with both approaches, especially when the new approach uses covariance localization that is horizontally advected between analysis and forecast times. However, large differences in estimated impacts are obtained for some surface observations. Vertical propagation of the observation impact is noticeably restricted with the new approach because of vertical covariance localization. The new approach is used to evaluate changes in observation impact as a result of the use of interchannel observation error correlations for radiance observations. The estimated observation impact in similarly configured global and regional prediction systems is also compared. Overall, the new approach should provide useful estimates of observation impact for data assimilation systems based on EnVar when an adjoint model is not available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel approach to quadrangulate a sequence of meshes with global optimization method, generating consistent quad meshes expressing global topological and geometric characteristics during animation. The key contribution is that our method first proposes a grouping strategy to extract the geometric and topological features of the sequence in animation quadrangulation. Animation sequence is firstly divided into groups through picked key frames. Then analyze the local deformation of each group and detect the surface feature for each reference frame, inducing a set of hard and soft constraints for each key frame of every subgroup, next smooth the cross field of each reference frame and combine them through singularities for the whole sequence, finally compute a field guided global parametrization and quad meshes extraction with an off-the-shelf method. It is effective and easy to implement, and experiment results and comparisons show that our method achieves better quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the enhanced gap source model is combined with the frequency-independent reaction(FIR)-MoM to analyze the input impedance of the metallic antenna over a wide frequency band. The enhanced gap source model is a simple feeding model, which can overcome the instability of the gap source model. Thus, the stable results can be obtained. In the FIR-MoM, the exponential of the Green's function is expanded as Taylor series in terms of the distance between the centers of the testing and source functions. The impedance matrix is expressed as the summation, in which each term is the multiplication of the frequency-independent matrix and the frequency-dependent phase term. The frequency-independent matrices are computed before the frequency sweep. Thus, the efficiency of the FIR is very high. The impedance matrix can be efficiently generated when the FIR is used for frequency sweep. The FIR-MoM is suitable for the whole frequency range. Moreover, the precision can be dynamically improved. By combining these two techniques, the stable results over a wide frequency range can be efficiently obtained. To test the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method, two numerical examples are implemented. Numerical results validate the accuracy and the efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this project was to develop an easily operable and scalable process for the recovery and purification of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) from cell culture. Heparin resins HipTrap Heparin HP and AF-Heparin HC-650 were utilized to purify FMDV O/HN/CHA/93. Results showed that the purity of AF-Heparin HC-650 was ideal. Then, the O/HN/CHA/93, O/Tibet/CHA/99, Asia I/HN/06, and A/CHA/HB/2009 strains were purified by AF-Heparin HC-650. Their affinity/virus recoveries were approximately 51.2%/45.8%, 71.5%/70.9%, 96.4%/73.5, and 59.5%/42.1%, respectively. During a stepwise elution strategy, the viral particles were mainly eluted at 300 mM ionic strength peaks. The heparin affinity chromatography process removed more than 94% of cellular and medium proteins. Anion exchange resin Capto Q captured four FMD virus particles; 40% of binding proteins and 80%–90% of viral particles were eluted at 450 mM NaCl. Moreover, ionic strength varied from 30 to 450 mM had no effect on the immunity to FMDV. The results revealed that heparin sulfate may be the main receptor for CHA/99 strain attachment-susceptible cells. Heparin affinity chromatography can reach perfect results, especially when used as a ligand of the virus. Anion exchange is useful only as previous step for further purification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]