Search

Background: Therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (t-AML) is considered high risk as it related to prior exposure to cytotoxic chemotherapy agents for solid tumors or hematologic malignancies. Compared with de novo AML, t-AML is associated with lower remission rates, inferior overall survival (OS) and higher relapse rates. Many efforts have been devoted to improving the overall but with limited success, and novel strategy is thus highly needed. Case description: We reported one patient with refractory/relapsed t-AML was successfully treated with Palbociclib combined with Venetoclax and Azacytidine (AZA). In this case, a 47-year-old patient with t-AML recurred during Venetoclax in combination with AZA therapy. However, the patient achieved morphological, immunophenotypic and molecular complete remission again after Palbociclib combined with Venetoclax and AZA. Conclusions: Although only one successful case is presented here, three-drug combination regimens should be considered as another treatment option for t-AML in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prediction of the ultimate bearing capacity (UBC) of composite foundations represents a critical application of test monitoring data within the field of intelligent geotechnical engineering. This paper introduces an effective combinational prediction algorithm, namely SA-IRMO-BP. By integrating the Improved Radial Movement Optimization (IRMO) algorithm with the simulated annealing (SA) algorithm, we develop a meta-heuristic optimization algorithm (SA-IRMO) to optimize the built-in weights and thresholds of backpropagation neural networks (BPNN). Leveraging this integrated prediction algorithm, we forecast the UBC of soil–cement mixed (SCM) pile composite foundations, yielding the following performance metrics: RMSE = 3.4626, MAE = 2.2712, R = 0.9978, VAF = 99.4339. These metrics substantiate the superior predictive performance of the proposed model. Furthermore, we utilize two distinct datasets to validate the generalizability of the prediction model presented herein, which carries significant implications for the safety and stability of civil engineering projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Hyaluronic acid-containing ethosomes was a potential transdermal drug carrier. • Hyaluronic acid improves the stability of the ethosomes. • The ethosomes showed a good transdermal drug delivery effect. Abstract A hyaluronic acid-containing ethosomes (HA-ES) as the transdermal drug delivery system was prepared in this work, and rhodamine B (RB) was used as a model drug to be encapsulated. The obtained HA-ES-RB was then characterized by the surface morphology, entrapment efficiency, drug loading and the stability. Results showed that the prepared HA-ES-RB was spherical and showed good dispersion as well as the stability, with a particle size of below 100 nm. The skin permeation experiments were carried out in vitro with the Franz diffusion cells and the rat dorsal skins were used. It was found that the penetration effect of HA-ES-RB was much better than that of ES-RB. The fluorescence microscopy image showed that HA-ES-RB penetrated into the deepest dermis. The excellent transdermic drug delivery effect of HA-ES-RB maybe attributed from its smaller size, hydration of hyaluronic acid as well as greater potential targeting to skin and skin appendages of liposomal carriers. Moreover, the HA-ES delivery system showed non-cytotoxicity to normal cells, indicating a good biocompatibility. This work provded a hyaluronic acid-containing ethosomes which can offer a quick, high efficient, safe and self-administered transdermal drug delivery system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) requires sustained suppression of tumor cell growth and metastasis for long‐term efficacy. However, traditional intratumoral drug delivery system always exhibits burst release with less therapeutic outcomes. Here, a new self‐assembling amphiphilic peptide drug conjugate (SAAPDC) is fabricated as a “two‐in‐one” nanofiber system comprising a hexapeptide as a matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) inhibitor and doxorubicin (DOX) for the treatment of HCC. The results indicate that doxorubicin‐conjugated peptide (DOX‐KGFRWR) self‐assembles to form long nanofibers showing sustained release property for inhibiting the enzymatic activities of MMP‐2 and MMP‐9. This nanofiber not only inhibits tumor growth in situ but also effectively prevents pulmonary metastasis in an SMMC7721 cell line–based mouse model. In summary, this hexapeptide‐based supermolecule system represents a promising nanoscale platform to sustain drug release with high loading capacity for intratumoral administration. Moreover, the delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs via drug‐bearing supramolecular MMP inhibitor nanofibers simultaneously inhibits metastasis and tumor growth to achieve synergistic effects for metastatic HCC therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to prolong NO release and enhance the antibacterial effect, N-Carboxy propionyl chitosan sodium (CPCS) was cross-linked to branched polyethylenimine (bPEI) (CPCS-bPEI) and used as a NO donor. The CPCS-bPEI has been successfully synthesized at different molar ratios of CPCS to bPEI, followed with the reaction with NO gas under a parr high-pressure reactor to yield CPCS-bPEI-NO. Successful preparation of CPCS-bPEI-NO was confirmed by elemental analysis, FITR and SEM. The effective release of NO was determined by in vitro release. The antibacterial assay showed that CPCS-bPEI-NO can effectively inhibit Gram-negative Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ). We found that the NO loading amount and antibacterial effect can be adjusted by the molar ratio of CPCS to bPEI, and there was no significant toxicity of CPCS-bPEI-NO, suggesting that it may serve as an ideal antimicrobial agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oligopeptides, a type of short peptide, which consist of 2–20 amino acids, exhibit a variety of biological functions in drug delivery systems, such as specific targeting, cell penetration, self-assembled capacity and responsiveness to the environment. In this review, we aim to highlight the importance of functional oligopeptides for nanomedical applications and put forward the views on the future development direction of oligopeptide medicines. Oligopeptides have gained wide attentions due to their inherent properties, but the lack of understanding the mechanisms ofin vivotransport behavior is the biggest problem and challenge at the present stage. Therefore, it is an important direction for the future clinical research to systematically evaluate its metabolic behavior and safetyin vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular oxygen activation often suffers from high energy consumption and low efficiency. Developing eco-friendly and effective photocatalysts remains a key challenge for advancing green molecular oxygen activation. Herein, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) with abundant hydroxyl groups (HCN) was synthesized to investigate the relationship between these polar groups and molecular oxygen activation. The advantage of the hydroxyl group modification of g-C3N4 included narrower interlayer distances, a larger specific surface area and improved hydrophilicity. Various photoelectronic measurements revealed that the introduced hydroxyl groups reduced the charge transfer resistance of HCN, resulting in accelerated charge separation and migration kinetics. Therefore, the optimal HCN-90 showed the highest activity for Rhodamine B photodegradation with a reaction time of 30 min and an apparent rate constant of 0.125 min−1, surpassing most other g-C3N4 composites. This enhanced activity was attributed to the adjusted band structure achieved through polar functional group modification. The modification of polar functional groups could alter the energy band structure of photocatalysts, narrow band gap, enhance visible-light absorption, and improve photogenerated carrier separation efficiency. This work highlights the significant potential of polar functional groups in tuning the structure of g-C3N4 to enhance efficient molecular oxygen activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Cellulose acetate is a renewable resource with the characteristics of biodegradation, thermal stability and high strength. • Electrospun CA nanofibers was introduced into the core layer of HPLs as a reinforcing material. • The strength and toughness of HPLs reinforced with CA nanofibers exhibited a remarkable enhancement. • The thermal stability of HPLs with CA nanofibers improved significantly. In the work, the non-woven cellulose acetate (CA) nanofiber mats were prepared via electrospinning, and CA nanofiber were incorporated into the core layer of the high-pressure laminates (HPLs). When the concentration of CA was 16 wt%, SEM images demonstrated that the morphology of the CA nanofiber mat was the best, with an average diameter of 654±246 nm. When CA nanofiber mats were incorporated into the core layer of HPLs, the mechanical properties of the resulted HPLs composites were significantly improved. Specifically, the tensile strength and elongation at break of the nanofiber mats reinforced HPLs composites increased remarkably to 40.8 ±1.1 MPa and 27.9 ± 0.9 %, respectively, which were nearly 6 times and 4.4 times higher than those of the pure HPLs. Furthermore, the incorporation of the CA nanofiber mats also significantly improved the flame retardancy of the HPLs, which was revealed from the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angular resolution is crucial for the detailed study of gamma-ray sources and current Cherenkov telescopes (e.g., HESS, MAGIC, and VERITAS) that operate below tens of TeV. Several gamma-ray sources with a photon energy larger than 100 TeV have been revealed by the LHAASO in recent years; the angular resolution of the LHAASO is around  0.3 ∘ . A gamma-ray detector with an angular resolution of less than  0.1 ∘  operating beyond 100 TeV is needed to study the detailed morphology of ultra-high-energy gamma-ray sources further. The cost-effectiveness is crucial for such large-area detectors. In this paper, the impact of telescope aperture, field of view, pixel size, optical point spread function, and signal integration time window on angular resolution is studied. These results can provide essential elements for the design of telescope arrays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Asymmetric somatic hybridization is an efficient crop breeding approach by introducing several exogenous chromatin fragments, which leads to genomic shock and therefore induces genome-wide genetic variation. However, the fundamental question concerning the genetic variation such as whether it occurs randomly and suffers from selection pressure remains unknown. Results: Here, we explored this issue by comparing expressed sequence tags of a common wheat cultivar and its asymmetric somatic hybrid line. Both nucleotide substitutions and indels (insertions and deletions) had lower frequencies in coding sequences than in un-translated regions. The frequencies of nucleotide substitutions and indels were both comparable between chromosomes with and without introgressed fragments. Nucleotide substitutions distributed unevenly and were preferential to indel-flanking sequences, and the frequency of nucleotide substitutions at 5′-flanking sequences of indels was obviously higher in chromosomes with introgressed fragments than in those without exogenous fragment. Nucleotide substitutions and indels both had various frequencies among seven groups of allelic chromosomes, and the frequencies of nucleotide substitutions were strongly negatively correlative to those of indels. Among three sets of genomes, the frequencies of nucleotide substitutions and indels were both heterogeneous, and the frequencies of nucleotide substitutions exhibited drastically positive correlation to those of indels. Conclusions: Our work demonstrates that the genetic variation induced by asymmetric somatic hybridization is attributed to both whole genomic shock and local chromosomal shock, which is a predetermined and non-random genetic event being closely associated with selection pressure. Asymmetric somatic hybrids provide a worthwhile model to further investigate the nature of genomic shock induced genetic variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical control is the major approach to handle the American Hyphantria cunea issue; however, it often causes chemical pollution and resource waste. How to precisely apply pesticide to reduce pollution and waste has been a difficult problem. The premise of accurate spraying of chemicals is to accurately determine the location of the spray target. In this paper, an algorithm based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) is proposed to locate the screen of American Hyphantria cunea. Specifically, comparing the effect of multicolor space-grouping convolution with that of the same color space-grouping convolution, the better effect of different color space-grouping convolution is first proved. Then, RGB and YIQ are employed to identify American Hyphantria cunea screen. Moreover, a noncoincident sliding window method is proposed to divide the image into multiple candidate boxes to reduce the number of convolutions. That is, the probability of American Hyphantria cunea is determined by grouping convolution in each candidate box, and two thresholds (E and Q) are set. When the probability is higher than E, the candidate box is regarded as excellent; when the probability is lower than Q, the candidate box is regarded as unqualified; when the probability is in between, the candidate box is regarded as qualified. The unqualified candidate box is eliminated, and the qualified candidate box cannot exit the above steps until the number of extractions of the candidate box reaches the set value or there is no qualified candidate box. Finally, all the excellent candidate boxes are fused to obtain the final recognition result. Experiments show that the recognition rate of this method is higher than 96%, and the processing time of a single picture is less than 150 ms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study explored how 249 transgender and non-binary (TNB) adolescents (ages 14–18) described salient supports in their lives, and ways in which key social-ecological contexts could better support TNB adolescents' wellbeing. Participants were recruited through social media, and completed online surveys; all study procedures were approved by the Boston University Institutional Review Board. Most (84.7%) participants identified as White, and as sexual minorities (96.4%). Modified consensual qualitative research (CQR-M) methods were used to examine TNB adolescents' responses to two questions: "In your life, which people, if any, would you describe as most supportive, and why?" and "What can individuals/groups within families, schools, and communities do to best support the well-being of transgender and non-binary adolescents?" Results indicated that the most common source of support for TNB participants was peers, followed by family members. Participants also highlighted the centrality of supportive environments that offer access to resources, as well as support derived through policies and practices that reduce stigma. Collectively, results have implications for how individuals and systems can foster wellbeing among TNB adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five ester-bonded gemini quaternary ammonium surfactants C12-En-C12 (n = 2, 4, 6), with a flexible spacer group, and C12-Bm-C12 (m = 1, 2), with rigid benzene spacers, were synthesized via a two-step reaction and analyzed. Furthermore, the effects of the spacer structure, spacer length and polymerization degree on the self-aggregation, antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity of C12-En-C12 and C12-Bm-C12 and their corresponding monomer N-dodecyl-N,N,N-trimethyl ammonium chloride DTAC were investigated. The results showed that C12-En-C12 and C12-Bm-C12 had markedly lower critical micellar concentration (CMC) values and lower surface tension than DTAC. Moreover, the CMC values of C12-En-C12 and C12-Bm-C12 decreased with increasing spacer length. In the case of equivalent chain length, the rigidity and steric hindrance of phenylene and 1,4-benzenediyl resulted in larger CMC values for C12-Bm-C12 than for C12-En-C12. The antibacterial ability of C12-En-C12 and C12-Bm-C12 was assessed using Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus albus (S. aureus) based on minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). Furthermore, C12-En-C12 and C12-Bm-C12 exhibited higher antimicrobial activity than DTAC and had stronger function toward S. aureus than E. coli. The antimicrobial activity was enhanced by increasing the spacer chain length and decreased with the increased rigidity of the spacers. The cytotoxic effects of C12-En-C12 and C12-Bm-C12 in cultured Hela cells were evaluated by the standard CCK8 method based on half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50). The cytotoxicity of C12-En-C12 and C12-Bm-C12 was significantly lower than alkanediyl-α,ω-bis(dimethyldodecylammonium) bromide surfactants and DTAC. The spacer structure and the spacer length could induce significant cytotoxic effects on Hela cells. These findings indicate that the five ester-bonded GQASs have stronger antibacterial activity and lower toxicity profile, and thus can be used in the pharmaceutical industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, aiming at the problem of high-precision trajectory tracking of the gantry welding robot system under the influence of uncertain factors, a composite adaptive fuzzy compensation controller based on the computed torque control strategy has been proposed. The controller is composed of an adaptive fuzzy feedback control strategy and a dead zone adaptive fuzzy control strategy, which realizes high-precision trajectory tracking of the gantry welding robot, improves the solving speed of the control algorithm, and its tracking errors has been reduced. Screw theory and Lie group lie algebra are used to solve the problem of high algorithm complexity of controllers in multi-degree-of-freedom robot systems due to Newton-Euler dynamics modeling. Based on the computed torque control, the adaptive fuzzy feedback control strategy is adopted to compensate for the modeling errors and external disturbances in the gantry welding robot system, and the dead zone adaptive fuzzy control strategy is designed to compensate for the nonlinear dead zone structure with unknown parameters. The Lyapunov equation is introduced to prove the stability of the controller. Finally, the controller designed in this paper is compared with the conventional controller through simulation and experiment on the gantry welding robot platform, which verifies the effectiveness and superiority of the controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problem that the traditional inverse solution optimization method is not comprehensive and does not consider the robot structure and actual working conditions, an inverse solution multi-objective optimization method is proposed. This method comprehensively considers the structural size and working state of the welding robot, establishes the stiffness performance evaluation index, optimizes the performance index of the subsequent connecting rod movement area caused by joint rotation, and selects the optimal inverse solution combined with the principle of "minimum joint displacement." Compared with the traditional method, this method is more comprehensive. It makes the variation range of the rear three small joints of the welding robot larger than the front three large joints, which reduces the power consumption. In addition, it also improves the stiffness of the welding robot at the trajectory point, which ensures the reliability of the welding robot. On this basis, for linear and arc welds, the position interpolation of cartesian space line and arc trajectory based on the S-shaped acceleration and deceleration curve and the posture interpolation of spherical linear interpolation based on unit quaternion are realized. MATLAB simulation results show that the combination of the inverse optimization method and the interpolation method makes the end trajectory, velocity, acceleration, posture curve, and joint displacement curve of the welding robot continuous, smooth, and without mutation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The ZnO nanostructures have been synthesized by hydrothermal process in a dilute aqueous solution consisting of Zn(AC)2 and NaOH. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern indicates that the synthesized ZnO crystal is of hexagonal phase. By means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE–SEM), it has been revealed that the ZnO nanoparticles, nanorods and nanotips sequentially occur along with the hydrothermal process, during which the concentration of Zn source is ever decreasing. The nanoparticles terminated with pyramids firstly generate at the early stage of hydrothermal process; subsequently, a number of seed-crystals branch on the pyramids, furthermore, the homo-epitaxy based on which along the <0001> direction results in the formation of nanorods; finally, due to the extremely low concentration of Zn source, instead of the continual elongation of the nanorods, the nanotips dispersively occur on the top flat plane of nanorods as a result of selective epitaxy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

CuO nanodendrites have been synthesized by a simple and novel hydrothermal method. Their morphology, structure, and composition have been also characterized. The results show that an as-prepared nanodendrite is composed of a main branch-like nanorod near upon a micrometre in length and about 100 nm in diameter and the sub-branch nanorods several hundred nanometres in length and 20–60 nm in diameter. The dendrite-like CuO nanostructures are of monoclinic phase and single crystalline in nature. The investigation of the hydrothermal process assisted by different quantities of ethylene glycol (EG) indicates that EG plays a critical role in the formation of dendrite-like CuO nanostructures. A possible mechanism for the formation of such CuO nanostructures is discussed. Furthermore, the correlation between the optical spectrum and the different morphologies of copper oxides nanomaterials is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Tiny silicon nano-wires (SiNWs) were synthesized on silicon wafers by the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique. The morphology and structure of tiny SiNWs were analyzed by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The results indicate that the tiny SiNWs were part-crystalline structure and were about 3 nm in minimal diameter. Based on the line shift of Raman spectra, the structure transform of the tiny SiNWs was discussed. The defect-inducing growth mechanism will probably provide a new method for the minimum of the one-dimensional nano-materials. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Cadmium sulphide (CdS) nanorods have been prepared by a novel thioglycolic acid assisted hydrothermal method. X-ray diffraction shows that the nanorods are of hexagonal structure, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy further identifies that the CdS nanorods are single crystalline in nature. The optical properties of CdS nanorods were characterized by ultraviolet–vis and photoluminescence spectra. Furthermore, the mechanism for the TGA assisted hydrothermal synthesis of CdS nanorods has been preliminary presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] From the perspective of resource reserves, the development of coal-based methanol-to-olefins (MTO) technology is regarded as an important direction for the sustainable development of the chemical processing industry in China. However, the wastewater generated in the process of industrial operation has a significant impact on the stability of the process. To remove the fine waste catalyst particles from MTO quench water, a swirl regenerating micro-channel separation (SRMS) technology was developed. A 25 m3/h pilot-scale study was conducted to examine the separation and regeneration effects under different operating parameters and verify the feasibility of this technology through a long-duration experiment. Results showed that for filtration velocities ranging from 11 to 15 m/h, the total separation efficiency was 95–99 %, the removal efficiency of 0.2 μm particles was 83–90 %, and the regeneration cycle was 24–40 h while the waste catalyst particle concentration in quench water was 300–600 mg/L. The optimum regeneration water and gas speeds were determined to be 11–15 m/h and 56.6 m/h, respectively. Moreover, the performance of the pilot plant over 600 h continuous operation effect of was tested, and an average separation efficiency > 95 % with excellent regeneration was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cadmium hydroxide (Cd(OH)2) nanoflake and nanowisker were prepared via pure hydrothermal method and Citric acid (CA) assisted hydrothermal method, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results shows that the nanoflake and nanowisker are of hexagonal structure, and the selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern indicates that the Cd(OH)2 nanoflakes and nanowiskers are single crystal in nature. The growth mechanism of the nanoflake and nanowisker is also discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Lanthanum hydroxide (La(OH)3) nanorods with 6–15 nm in width and 200–400 nm in length have been prepared by a simple hydrothermal process. X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows that the nanorods are of hexagonal structure, and furthermore, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) identifies that the lanthanum hydroxide nanorods are highly crystalline. Moreover, the mechanism for the hydrothermal synthesis of lanthanum hydroxide nanorods has been preliminarily presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The influenza B virus (IBV) causes seasonal influenza and has accounted for an increasing proportion of influenza outbreaks. IBV mainly causes human infections and has not been found to spread in poultry. The replication mechanism and the determinants of interspecies transmission of IBV are largely unknown. In this study, we found that the host ANP32 proteins are required for the function of the IBV polymerase. Human ANP32A/B strongly supports IBV replication, while ANP32E has a limited role. Unlike human ANP32A/B, chicken ANP32A has low support activity to IBV polymerase because of a unique 33-amino-acid insert, which, in contrast, exhibits species specific support to avian influenza A virus (IAV) replication. Chicken ANP32B and ANP32E have even lower activity compared with human ANP32B/E due to specific amino acid substitutions at sites 129–130. We further revealed that the sites 129–130 affect the binding ability of ANP32B/E to IBV polymerase, while the 33-amino-acid insert of chicken ANP32A reduces its binding stability and affinity. Taken together, the features of avian ANP32 proteins limited their abilities to support IBV polymerase, which could prevent efficient replication of IBV in chicken cells. Our results illustrate roles of ANP32 proteins in supporting IBV replication and may help to understand the ineffective replication of IBV in birds. Author summary: Influenza B viruses infect humans and few other mammals, but fairly rare in birds. Here we found that IBV requires the involvement of host ANP32 proteins in the replication process, in which ANP32A and ANP32B play major roles and can fully support polymerase activity independently, while ANP32E gives only limited support to IBV polymerase because of certain substitutions compared with ANP32A/B. Chicken ANP32A has a 33-amino-acid insert not present in mammals and provides better support to avian IAV polymerase, but this insert impairs its support for IBV polymerase activity. Chicken ANP32B and ANP32E have even lower support to IBV polymerase due to specific inactive mutations at sites 129/130. Our findings reveal an important role for ANP32 proteins in IBV polymerase activity and suggest the possible molecular basis of adaptation and restriction of IBV infection in different species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DEXD/H box helicase 60 (DDX60) is a new type of DEAD-box RNA helicase, which is induced to express after virus infection. It might involve in antiviral immunity by promoting RIG-I-like receptor-mediated signal transduction. In addition, previous studies had shown that the expression of DDX60 is related to cancer, but there was still a lack of relevant research in breast cancer. In this study, we used the information of patients with breast cancer in the TCGA database for statistical analysis and found that the breast cancer patients with low expression of DDX60 exhibited radiosensitivity. Comparing the radiotherapy groups with the nonradiotherapy groups, for patients with low expression of DDX60, the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) values for radiotherapy were 0.244 (0.064–0.921) and 0.199 (0.062–0.646) in the training and validation datasets, with the p values 0.040 and 0.007, respectively. However, for patients with high expression of DDX60, the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) values were 3.582 (0.627–20.467) and 2.421 (0.460–12.773), with the p values 0.054 and 0.297, respectively. These results suggested that the expression of DDX60 might strongly associate with individualized radiosensitivity in patients with breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vibration characteristics of heavy CNC machine tools are directly affected by their foundations. To analyze vibrations of heavy CNC machine tools caused by internal and external loads, a system dynamics model of a rigid-flexible coupled heavy-duty CNC machine tool-foundation system was established based on the multibody transfer matrix method. Since joint surfaces can seriously affect the accuracy of system mechanics models, the substructure synthesis method was first used to establish a dynamic model of the joint surface. The frequency response function was then used to identify model parameters. Moreover, to improve the accuracy of parameter identification of the joint surface, a residual frequency compensation function was used to reconstruct the frequency response function. Finally, the multibody system model was implemented by combining surface elements. To verify the system dynamics model, an experimental model of the heavy-duty machine-foundation system was built, taking into consideration joint surface factors, and the theoretical model was validated by comparing theoretical, simulation, and experimental results. Using the theoretical model, the influence of different forms of concrete foundations, materials, and soil properties on the vibration characteristics of heavy-duty CNC machine tools was analyzed, thus providing a theoretical basis for optimizing and improving CNC machine tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global separation energy consumption accounts for 10–15% of the total one. The development of non-thermal separation instead of thermal separation opens up a novel direction for global energy development. As one of the classical non-thermal separation methods, the accuracy of cyclone separation is limited to the micron level due to the limitation of turbulent diffusion, and no revolutionary breakthrough has been reported on this approach in the past 100 years. The bottleneck is that the law of turbulent flow and particle motion in the hydrocyclone is unclear, and their pertinent research is difficult to be conducted. In the present paper, a slice test particle image velocimetry (S-PIV) methodology is proposed and employed to test the rotational turbulent flow characteristics of three different structures and flow rates. The results obtained by PIV (axial and radial velocities) verify the accuracy of the present CFD simulation. On this basis, the consistency and correctness of the tangential velocity of the micro-hydrocyclone obtained by the CFD and S-PIV were compared. The results indicate that S-PIV can replace the expensive and cumbersome phase doppler particle analyzer (PDPA) and 3D velocity field (V3V). Based on the S-PIV and CFD, the characteristics of the turbulent flow, as well as the self-rotation and revolution of particles in micro-hydrocyclone were systematically explored. The law between the turbulent flow parameters and the self-rotation and revolution of particles was established. The influence of the inlet position of the hydrocyclone on the law between turbulent flow and particle motion was examined. The unsolved problem of the correlation theory between fluid flow and particle motion that has not been established since the invention of the hydrocyclone in 1891 was unlocked. The S-PIV methodology expands the PIV test technology from a two-dimensional flow field to a three-dimensional flow field, which is an innovation for examining the test method of the turbulent flow field. [Display omitted] • The micro-hydrocyclones for various inlet numbers were studied. • The S-PIV methodology was proposed to measure the tangential velocity. • Study on the law of self-rotation and revolution of particles. • CFD numerical simulation was used to verify the S-PIV test results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is reported that there are hundreds of thousands of deaths caused by seasonal flu all around the world every year. More other diseases such as chickenpox, malaria, etc. are also serious threats to people's physical and mental health. There are 250,000-500,000 deaths every year around the world. Therefore proper techniques for disease surveillance are highly demanded. Recently, social media analysis is regarded as an efficient way to achieve this goal, which is feasible since growing number of people have been posting their health information on social media such as blogs, personal websites, etc. Previous work on social media analysis mainly focused on English materials but hardly considered Chinese materials, which hinders the application of such technique to Chinese people. In this paper, we proposed a new method of Chinese social media analysis for disease surveillance. More specifically, we compared different kinds of methods in the process of classification and then proposed a new way to process Chinese text data. The Chinese Sina micro-blog data collected from September to December 2013 are used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results show that a high classification precision of 87.49 % in average has been obtained. Comparing with the data from the authority, Chinese National Influenza Center, we can predict the outbreak time of flu 5 days earlier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The CdS nanoparticles have been assembled into CdS nanorods and arrayed nanorod bundles by a thioglycolic acid (TGA) assisted hydrothermal processes using sodium sulfide (Na2S) and thiourea ((NH2)2CS) as the sulfur source, respectively. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) shows that the CdS nanorods are single crystalline and the arrayed nanorod bundles are polycrystalline in nature. It is believed that the CdS nanorods were formed through the cluster-to-cluster oriented attachment mechanism, while the CdS nanorods bundles were formed through the particle-to-particle oriented attachment mechanism. In addition, the optical properties of CdS nanostructures were characterized by photoluminescence spectra (PL) and Raman spectroscopy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The disk-like, flower-like and nanorod flower-like ZnO nanostructures have been controllably fabricated by citric acid (CA) assisted hydrothermal process. All the ZnO nanostructures are hexagonal and single crystal in nature. The effects of the growth conditions such as temperature, pH value and the molar ratio of Zn2+ and CA on the morphology of ZnO nanostructures have also been investigated. It is considered that CA has a critical role in the formation of disk-like ZnO nanostructure. The pH value is the main factor to determine the anisotropic growth. The blue shift in the ZnO nanostructures is observed. Finally, the mechanism for CA assisted hydrothermal synthesis of the ZnO nanostructure is discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A thioglycolic acid (TGA) assisted hydrothermal process has been developed to synthesize submicron-sized copper sulfide (CuS) hollow spheres via the reaction between copper sulfate (CuSO4) and thioacetamide (CH3CSNH2). X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were employed to characterize the obtained product. Furthermore, the possible mechanism and the critical factors for the TGA-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of the CuS hollow spheres have been preliminarily presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Quantities of crystalline array-orderly silicon nano-wires (SiNWs) were fabricated using chemical-vapor-deposition (CVD) method at low temperature (550–400°C). In the experiments, the decreasing temperature process was used. By means of transmission electron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, it was found that the SiNWs were well crystallized. Finally, the growth mechanism of the SiNWs during the decreasing process was discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Flower-like Bi2S3 nanostructures consisting of nanorods with a lateral size of about 30 nm have been prepared via a thioglycolic acid (HSCH2COOH, TGA) assisted hydrothermal method. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern shows that the obtained flower-like Bi2S3 nanostructures are of orthorhombic phase. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) identifies that the flower-like Bi2S3 nanostructures are single crystalline in nature. It is believed that the sodium thiosulfate (STS) as the sulfur source could facilitate the formation of flower-like embryos and the TGA could enhance the anisotropic growth of Bi2S3 nanorods initiated from the embryos. STS and TGA play the key roles in the formation of flower-like Bi2S3 nanostructures during the hydrothermal process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tiny SiO2 nano-wires (SiO2-NWs) were synthesized on a p-Si (1 1 1) wafer by the chemical-vapor-deposition method. The minimum diameter of the nano-wires was around 9 nm, and the length was longer than 10 μm. The results of transmission electron microscopy shows that the amorphous nano-wires were composed of Si and O with an approximate atomic ratio of 1:2. Furthermore, the photoluminescence behavior of the SiO2-NWs has been also checked. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The influence of copper precipitation on oxygen precipitation in Czochralski-grown silicon was investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, defect etching and transmission electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive x-ray analysis. It was found that interstitial copper almost had no influence on oxygen precipitation but copper precipitation remarkably enhanced oxygen precipitation. Furthermore, the enhancement of copper precipitation under air cooling (30 K s-1) on oxygen precipitation subsequently was much more noticeable than that of copper precipitation under slow cooling (0.3 K s-1). It was also observed that the dislocations induced by oxygen precipitates occurred in the samples without copper contamination, but in the samples experiencing copper precipitation, oxygen preferably precipitated on the dislocations induced by copper precipitates, or dislocation-free oxygen precipitates occurred. These results indicate that heterogeneous nucleation of oxygen precipitates on dislocations and successful release of the stress from oxygen precipitation are responsible for the enhancement of oxygen precipitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have been successfully synthesized with titanate-modified palygorskite as catalyst and acetylene as carbon source by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) at high temperature. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies showed that there were a lot of carbon nanotubes partially filled with elongated foreign material in their inner cavities. X-ray energy dispersive spectrum (EDS) analyses and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) investigations on the encapsulated material revealed that it was single crystalline iron carbide (Fe3C) derived from ferric precursors in the mineral. The yield of carbon nanotubes was influenced by preparation temperature based on thermal gravimetric analyses (TGA). The relative quantity of Fe3C nanowires was influenced by the temperature and the local structure of nanotubes upon TEM observations. A growth mechanism is also proposed in the paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights from the article: From Nanofibers to Nanorods: Nanostructure of Peptide-Drug Conjugates Regulated by Polypeptide-PEG Derivative and Enhanced Antitumor Effect The initially published version of this article contained a typographical error in the affiliation linked with the author Gang Cao (Zhengjiang Chinese Medical University). The authors apologize for any inconvenience or misunderstanding that this error may have caused.

Peptide‐drug conjugates (PDCs) are a type of self‐assembled prodrug with good potential for drug delivery due to their excellent biocompatibility, high drug loading, and permanent controllable release. However, most PDCs tend to self‐assemble into filamentous nanostructures in water and under physiological conditions, making them unsuitable as intravenous formulations due to the entanglement of long fibers and the risk of thrombus. Injected PDCs also face challenges in overcoming the complex physiological environment to reach the target site. To expand their clinical use, it is necessary to control the properties of PDC, including the self‐assembled structure and physiological performance, to avoid the above problems. Based on assembly mechanism studies of PDCs, a new method for regulating PDC morphology is developed by controlling intermolecular interactions in the assembly process. This method can alter the final morphology of PDCs from nanofibers to nanorods, and the introduced macromolecules endow the PDC with new characteristics that facilitate stable and high‐efficiency access to the target site. An entirely new strategy for regulating peptide‐drug conjugates (PDCs) morphology by controlling intermolecular interactions in the assembly process is developed. This method can not only alter the final morphology of PDCs from nanofibers to nanorods, but also endow the PDCs with new characteristics that facilitate stable and high‐efficiency access to the target site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]