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1. The objective of this study was to investigate the protective effects of a peptidoglycan produced by Limosilactobacillus reuteri against aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) induced toxicity in vitro and in vivo in broiler chicks. 2. Toxin adsorption experiments were carried out firstly in vitro. These experiments indicated that the absorption efficiency of the peptidoglycan for AFB1 was 64.3–75.9%. 3. In the in vivo experiments, Hy-Line Brown chicks were fed a diet containing AFB1 at 71.43 µg/kg with and without peptidoglycan supplementation at concentrations of 100, 200, or 300 g/kg feed from 0–42 d of age. 4. The peptidoglycan supplementation in AFB1-contaminated diets resulted in significant improvements in terms of average daily gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, white blood cell count, haemoglobin content, glutathione peroxidase activity, immunoglobulin (Ig) A, IgG, IgM and Newcastle disease virus antibody titres (p < 0.05) and diminished liver steatosis. 5. In conclusion, peptidoglycan supplementation alleviated AFB1-induced toxicity through adsorbing toxins and improving growth performance, antioxidant ability, immunity and liver pathological changes in chicks. The optimal supplemental dose was 200 mg/kg in feed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter reports a case of a 60-year-old Chinese woman with rheumatoid arthritis who experienced a hepatitis B virus (HBV) outbreak after discontinuing treatment with a Janus kinase inhibitor (tofacitinib) and methotrexate. The patient had previously tested negative for HBV and had normal liver function tests during treatment. The abrupt discontinuation of the immunosuppressive medications led to the activation of HBV and severe liver dysfunction. The authors suggest that clinicians should avoid abruptly discontinuing JAK inhibitor therapy to prevent fulminant hepatitis and further research is needed to determine effective corticosteroid dosages for managing withdrawal reactions. [Extracted from the article]

To build machine learning-based radiomics models to discriminate between high- (HGGs) and low-grade gliomas (LGGs) and to compare the effectiveness of three-dimensional arterial spin labelling (3D-ASL) to evaluate which is a better method. We retrospectively analysed the magnetic resonance imaging T1WI-enhanced images of 105 patients with gliomas that were pathologically confirmed in our hospital. We divided the patients into a training group and a verification group at a ratio of 8:2; 200 patients from the Brain Tumour Segmentation Challenge 2020 were selected as the test group for image segmentation, feature extraction and screening. We constructed models using multilayer perceptron (MLP), support vector machine, random forest and logistic regression and evaluated their predictive performance. We obtained the mean maximum relative cerebral blood flow (rCBFmax) value from 3D-ASL of 105 patients from the hospital to evaluate its efficacy in discriminating between HGGs and LGGs. In machine learning, the MLP classifier model exhibited the best performance in discriminating between HGGs and LGGs; the areas under the curve obtained by MLP and rCBFmax were 0.968 versus 0.815 (verification group) and 0.981 versus 0.815 (test group), respectively. The machine learning-based MLP classifier model performed better in discriminating between HGGs and LGGs than 3D-ASL. In our study, we found that machine learning-based radiomics models and 3D-ASL were valuable in discriminating between HGGs and LGGs and between them, the machine learning-based MLP model had better diagnostic performance. • We analysed the two methods that have been shown to have good diagnostic performance in previous studies. • We compared their ability to discriminate between HGGs and LGGs. • The aim was to identify a better imaging method for preoperative diagnosis and treatment of patients. • We found that machine learning-based radiomics models and 3D-ASL were valuable in discriminating between HGGs and LGGs. • Between them, the machine learning-based MLP model had better diagnostic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the thigh muscle showed extensive muscle oedema, indicating myositis (predominant in the anterior group), myofasciitis, and slight subcutaneous soft tissue swelling of the left thigh (Figure 1a). Immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM) is a newly recognized type of traditional idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM), with muscle fibre necrosis and regeneration, with or without a small amount of inflammatory cell infiltration, as the main pathological changes. It has been reported that 25-40% of IMNM cases present with negative serum antibody tests, but subsequent positivity for other antibodies associated with myositis, such as anti-PM-Scl75 antibodies and anti-Ro52 antibodies ([9]). [Extracted from the article]

Rice bodies bursitis is a rare disease that is often found in the shoulder and knee joints and is commonly associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and infectious arthritis. This case report describes a 56-year-old male with recurrent swelling and pain in multiple joints, who was diagnosed with RA. Despite treatment with steroids and disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, the patient's knee pain and swelling persisted. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed synovial thickening and nodule formation, and arthroscopic lavage of the knee joint yielded rice-grain-like material. The patient was diagnosed with rice bodies bursitis secondary to RA and was successfully treated with joint lavage and anti-rheumatic medication. The report emphasizes the importance of considering rice bodies bursitis in RA patients with unresponsive joint swelling and pain, and highlights the potential for improved prognosis with early diagnosis and treatment. [Extracted from the article]

The aim of this study was to explore the significance of serum CCL28 in Sjögren's syndrome (SS) diagnosis and evaluation. The expression of CCL28 mRNA in salivary glands of SS patients from the GEO database was analysed. Serum levels of CCL28 of SS patients, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, and healthy controls (HCs) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The serum immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels and the focus score of labial salivary gland (LSG) in patients with SS were also measured, and the correlation between serum IgA levels and serum CCL28 was explored. In addition, the level of serum CCL28 was compared between two subsets of SS patients who were classified by clinical symptoms and laboratory tests. SS patients displayed decreased expression of CCL28 mRNA in salivary glands, accompanying more severe pathological injury. Serum levels of CCL28 in both primary and secondary SS patients were significantly lower than those in the HC group, whereas no significant differences were observed between RA patients or SLE patients and HCs. Compared with RA and SLE patients alone, serum levels of CCL28 were dramatically lower in patients with SS secondary to RA or SLE. No remarkable correlation between serum IgA and CCL28 levels was observed, while the focus score of LSG negatively correlated with serum CCL28 levels. Serum levels of CCL28 were lower in SS patients who had dental caries and thrombocytopenia. Serum CCL28 is a useful biomarker in the diagnosis and evaluation of SS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are promising as solvents and electrolytes in electrochemistry due to low volatility, wide electrochemical window, moderate ionic conductivity and solubility to some species. Water content has profound effects on physico-chemical properties of DESs and could be used to tune electrochemical performance of redox active species in DESs. Effects of water content on reline (mixture composed of choline chloride and urea in molar ratio of 1 : 2) were investigated, including ionic conductivity, electrochemical stability of reline and electrochemical processes of ZnCl2 and FeCl3 in reline. The experimental results showed, the ionic conductivity of reline is sensitive to water, when water content is below 41.0 wt %, and ionic conductivity keeps stable above 51.0 wt % water content. When water content changes from 41.0 to 51.0 wt %, transition point from "water-in-reline" to "reline components-in-water aqueous solvent" was observed from both electrochemical stability tests and electrochemical behavior of ZnCl2. Electrochemical processes of ZnCl2 and FeCl3 in reline are promoted with water content increase until up to 41.0 wt %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of contemporary industrial pipeline installation, most pipelines must be cleaned before being put into use due to production and operation process requirements. This paper takes the offline trough cleaning of pipelines as the research object, and explores the evolution process of the metal microstructure under this cleaning method and the best cleaning conditions under the influence of the three factors of concentration, temperature and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Genomic selection uses genome‐wide molecular marker data to predict an animal's genetic value in the breeding program. This study's objective was to present heritability estimates and accuracy of genomic prediction using different methods for meat quality traits in Pekin duck. There were two kinds of ducks in the genomic selection training population: 639 fat‐type ducks and 540 lean‐type ducks. A single‐trait animal model was used to estimate heritability and adjust the phenotype. GBLUP and BayesR methods were performed to estimate the SNP effects. The accuracy of genomic prediction was calculated using 5‐fold cross‐validation. The accuracy varied from 0.235 to 0.501 with the lowest accuracy estimated for traits associated with abdominal fat weight in the combined population and the most remarkable accuracy observed for abdominal fat percentage traits in the lean‐type duck population. Overall, BayesR can achieve the highest prediction accuracy, while the combined population strategy could be used to increase the accuracy of prediction only when the two populations have the same breeding aim for a certain trait. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Steinernema populi n. sp. was recovered by baiting from beneath poplar trees in China. Morphological and molecular features provided evidence for placing the new species into the Kushidai clade. The new species is characterized by the following morphological features: third-stage infective juveniles (IJ) with a body length of 1095 (973–1172) μm, a distance from the anterior end to excretory pore of 77 (70–86) μm and a tail length of 64 (55–72) μm. The Body length/Tail length (c) ratio and Anterior end to Excretory pore/ Tail length × 100 (E%) of S. populi n. sp. are substantially greater than those of all other 'Feltiae–Kushidai–Monticolum' group members. The first-generation males can be recognized by a spicule length of 66 (57–77) μm and a gubernaculum length of 46 (38–60) μm. The new species is further characterized by sequences of the internal transcribed spacer and partial 28S regions of the ribosomal DNA. Phylogenetic analyses show that Steinernema akhursti and Steinernema kushidai are the closest relatives to S. populi n. sp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bombyx mori belonging to the Lepidoptera family of insects, is an oligophagous insect that feeds on mulberry leaves. But why the silkworm has a soft spot for mulberry leaves is still a scientific mystery. The existing silkworm genome assembly and annotation are not satisfactory, which limits further analysis of silkworm gene functions. We used next-generation and third-generation sequencing technology, Hic, and other new technologies to resequence and assemble the whole genome of Bombyx mori Jiangsu. Through Venn analysis, Bombyx mori Jiangsu, Bombyx mori_JP and Bombyx mandarina that eats mulberry leaves was compared with other 6 species, and the Bombyx-specific gene families were found. The positive selection analysis was used to find the positively selected genes among the Bombyx mori Jiangsu, Bombyx mori_JP and Bombyx mandarina. And then, GO and KEGG enrichment analysis were used to explore the functions of these genes, trying to find genes that affect silkworm feeding. The total amount of data obtained by next-generation, third-generation and Hi-C sequencing was 198.67 G, and the ratio of GC was 38.31%, with contig N50 of 3.75 Mb and scaffold N50 of 17.26 Mb. We found that UGT46A1, UGT33R1 and UGT33R2 were only found in Bombyx mori Jiangsu, Bombyx mori_JP, and Bombyx mandarina. And they were all involved in multiple pathways such as cytochrome P450 foreign body metabolism, starch and sucrose metabolism, and pentose and glucuronate conversion pathways. We found that cyclic nucleotide-gated cation channel subunit A-like (CNGA) was subject to positive selection and was involved in the olfactory transduction pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, pyrolysis kinetic mechanism was studied for regenerated cellulosic fiber (RCF) and composite RCF containing silicon/nitrogen flame retardants. Limited oxygen index and microscale combustion calorimeter tests show that the loading of nitrogen/silicon into the RCF enhanced flame retardancy. The kinetic triplets of the two kinds of samples were determined by applying iso-conversional methods and integral master plots approach. Compared to the untreated RCF, flame retardant (FR) treated RCF shows enhanced activation energy due to the physical barrier layer due to dehydration of silicate and charring effect resulting from organic–inorganic interaction. Exponential nucleation model can be successful in describing experimental results for RCF in higher conversion degree (0.4–0.9). Simultaneously, the degradation process of FR treated RCF in the main pyrolysis stage (0.2–0.7) is consistent with kinetics of nuclei growth and could be described by one-step reaction whose rate presented an Avrami–Erofeev-type model (n = 2.38). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of hoisting the memorial archway, because the balance beam directly lifts the memorial archway, it is easy to deform during the hoisting process, and the deformation will affect the follow-up work, resulting in the delay of the project progress. In order to avoid this situation, the existing conditions are used to calculate the load that the balance beam can bear. Using 3D modeling and numerical simulation software, conduct force analysis on the balanced beam, and compare the simulation results with the calculated values to determine whether the stress and deformation of the balanced beam meet the requirements. The simulation results show that the stress on the balance beam during the lifting process does not exceed the maximum yield stress of its own material, which meets the requirements of the working conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To evaluate the accuracy of unenhanced attenuation and early biphasic contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) in differentiating adrenal metastases (AMs) from lipid-poor adrenal adenomas (AAs).Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 37 patients with 50 AMs and 86 patients with 89 lipid-poor AAs. Quantitative data including the longest diameter (LD), the shortest diameter (SD), LD/SD ratio, CT attenuation values (CTu, CTa, CTv), degree of enhancement (DEAP, DEPP, DEpeak, APW, RPW), and peak enhanced/unenhanced (PE/U) CT attenuation ratio were obtained. Qualitative data including enhancement pattern, location, shape, the presence of calcification or haemorrhage, and intra-lesion necrosis were analysed. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were also calculated.Results: The PE/U ratio (≤1.25), CTu (≥32.2 HU), DEpeak (≤43.15 HU), DEPP (≤37.65 HU), presence of intralesional necrosis, location (bilateral adrenal glands), and irregular shape were significant variables for differentiating AMs from lipid-poor AAs (p<0.05). Among them, PE/U ratio (≤1.25) was of greater value in differentiating the two adrenal diseases, with sensitivity, specificity, area under the receiver operating curve (ROC) curve (AUC) of 92%, 84%, 0.933, respectively. When at least any three of above criteria were combined, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV for diagnosing AMs were 88%, 93%, 88%, and 88%, respectively.Conclusions: These seven CT criteria are conducive to differentiate AMs from lipid-poor AAs. Early biphasic contrast-enhanced CT is a high-efficient and practical imaging tool in differentiating them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aeromonas and Pseudomonas are important bacterial species involved in spoilage of refrigerated freshwater fish. In this study, 10 Aeromonas and seven Pseudomonas bacterial strains were isolated from spoiled grass carp and identified. Twelve of seventeen bacterial strains showed high potential of biofilm formation and 14 of 17 can produce extracellular protease. In order to explore the spoilage capacity of dual‐species, the sterile grass carp fillets were inoculated with mono‐ and dual‐species of Aeromonas salmonicida and Pseudomonas azotoformans strains. The results revealed significantly higher levels of the total viable count and total volatile basic nitrogen in dual‐species as compared to mono‐species from day 6. The higher contents of histamine, cadaverine and serious degradation in muscles tissue were also observed in dual‐species after 10 days of storage. Results of in vitro experiments showed that the co‐culture of A. salmonicida and P. azotoformans significantly increased the bacterial maximum growth rate, promoted the biofilm formation and improved the spoilage capacity of bacterial strains. This study has revealed that the co‐culture of Aeromonas and Pseudomonas bacterial strains accelerated spoilage process of grass carp and increased biofilm formation. It indicates that the mixed‐cultures of spoilage micro‐organisms pose a huge threat to food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer patients are regarded as a highly vulnerable group in the current Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. To date, the clinical characteristics of COVID-19-infected cancer patients remain largely unknown. In this retrospective cohort study, we included cancer patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 from three designated hospitals in Wuhan, China. Clinical data were collected from medical records from 13 January 2020 to 26 February 2020. Univariate and multivariate analyses were carried out to assess the risk factors associated with severe events defined as a condition requiring admission to an intensive care unit, the use of mechanical ventilation, or death. A total of 28 COVID-19-infected cancer patients were included; 17 (60.7%) patients were male. Median (interquartile range) age was 65.0 (56.0–70.0) years. Lung cancer was the most frequent cancer type (n = 7; 25.0%). Eight (28.6%) patients were suspected to have hospital-associated transmission. The following clinical features were shown in our cohort: fever (n = 23, 82.1%), dry cough (n = 22, 81%), and dyspnoea (n = 14, 50.0%), along with lymphopaenia (n = 23, 82.1%), high level of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (n = 23, 82.1%), anaemia (n = 21, 75.0%), and hypoproteinaemia (n = 25, 89.3%). The common chest computed tomography (CT) findings were ground-glass opacity (n = 21, 75.0%) and patchy consolidation (n = 13, 46.3%). A total of 15 (53.6%) patients had severe events and the mortality rate was 28.6%. If the last antitumour treatment was within 14 days, it significantly increased the risk of developing severe events [hazard ratio (HR) = 4.079, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.086–15.322, P = 0.037]. Furthermore, patchy consolidation on CT on admission was associated with a higher risk of developing severe events (HR = 5.438, 95% CI 1.498–19.748, P = 0.010). Cancer patients show deteriorating conditions and poor outcomes from the COVID-19 infection. It is recommended that cancer patients receiving antitumour treatments should have vigorous screening for COVID-19 infection and should avoid treatments causing immunosuppression or have their dosages decreased in case of COVID-19 coinfection. • We retrospectively studied clinical features of 28 severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-infected cancer patients from three hospitals in Wuhan, China. • We analysed risk factors associated with occurrence of admission to an intensive care unit, usage of mechanical ventilation, or death. • COVID-19-infected cancer patients presented poor outcomes with high occurrence of clinically severe event and mortality. • Antitumour treatment within 14 days of COVID-19 diagnosis increased the risk of developing severe events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The miR399 is a conserved microRNA (miRNA) family, and it has been characterized as an essential regulator of phosphorus transport in plants. However, the biological function of miR399 in Cunninghamia lanceolata is still largely unclear. In this study, the comparison of mature miR399 sequence revealed a high similarity between Arabidopsis thaliana and C. lanceolate, and the pre-miR399 was capable of forming a typical stem-loop hairpin structure. A gene PHOSPHATE 2 (PHO2) was identified as a target of cln-miR399 using 5' rapid amplification of cDNA ends. Furthermore, the relationship between cln-miR399 and PHO2 was further confirmed through a transient co-expression of both genes in Nicotiana benthamiana. To examine the function of miR399 in Arabidopsis, miR399-overexpressing transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana was acquired using Agrobacterium-mediated approach. Real-time PCR showed that the amount of cln-MIR399 transcripts was higher in miR399-overexpressing plants than in wild-type plants, which was accompanied with down-regulation of expression of its target gene AtPHO2. The P content was 1.40 to 1.56-fold higher in the leaves of three transgenic lines than in wild type plants. However, the P content in the roots of the three transgenic lines was 24.5 - 37.2 % less than that in wild type plants. Moreover, the transcriptions of three phosphate transporter genes (PHT1, PHT2, and PHT3) were up-regulated in roots of miR399-overexpressing Arabidopsis plants. Interestingly, the transgenic lines exhibited retarded growth under normal P conditions compared with the wild type. Our findings demonstrate that cln-miR399 may play crucial roles in P transport and plant growth via regulation of its target gene PHO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Establishing the fundamental framework of atomic motion through hierarchical dynamic correlations. • Unveiling two intrinsic deformation mechanisms in the creep process from the perspective of atomic motion correlations. • Elucidating the impact of thermal and mechanical effects on the creep process. • Providing new insights into structural relaxation in disordered amorphous structures. Investigation of the strain evolution of a Cu 46 Zr 47 Al 7 metallic glass (MG) was conducted through creep deformation encompassing various temperature and stress conditions. The fundamental framework of atomic motion was established through hierarchically dynamic correlation. By discerning a transition in strain rate from three to two regions under cyclic loading conditions, we effectively identified the two underlying mechanisms of creep. The initial deformation mechanism is associated with τ-defects (shear microdomains, SMDs) characterized by a high degree of atomic correlation. This mechanism entails both reversible deformation within a short temporal span and irreversible deformation over an extended duration. Remarkably, the atomic correlation of SMDs remains nearly unaffected by variations in stress and temperature. Furthermore, a fundamental intrinsic correlation emerges between the atomic correlation of SMDs and the defect concentration as ascertained through the framework of quasi-point defect (QPD) theory. The second deformation mechanism entails irreversible deformation attributed to structural relaxation, exhibiting a relatively diminished atomic correlation. In this mechanism, the correlation of atomic motion exhibits a decline with rising temperatures, while remaining relatively less influenced by mechanical effects. Meanwhile, after annealing treatment, the deformation strength associated with structural relaxation significantly decreases. Our study sheds light on the underlying mechanisms of creep in MGs, compensates for the shortcomings of QPD theory in describing long-term creep and provides insights into the fundamental atomic-scale processes governing the mechanical behavior of MGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen doping or nitrogen infusion is new technology that has been recently developed to improve the quality factor of superconducting RF (SRF) cavities. The technique favors higher frequency 2K applications (especially for frequencies higher than 1 GHz). In this paper nitrogen infusion has been applied to a β = 0. 09 162.5MHz high current superconducting half wave resonator (HWR) with a relatively large beam pipe which has been developed at Peking University for the deuteron driver accelerator of the Beijing Isotope-Separation-On-Line neutron rich beam facility (BISOL). The cavity demonstrated an increase in the quality factor Q 0 at both 4.2 K and 2.0 K, the value of Q 0 was increased by about 60% at a very low field at 4.2 K and Q 0 doubled at the accelerating gradient of E acc = 10 MV/m and at 2.0 K. The HWR cavity performance both with and without nitrogen infusion surface treatment has been presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The elastoplastic field near crack tips is investigated through finite element simulation. A refined mesh model near the crack tip is proposed. In the mesh refining area, element size continuously varies from the nanometer scale to the micrometer scale and the millimeter scale. Graphics of the plastic zone, the crack tip blunting, and the deformed crack tip elements are given in the paper. Based on the curves of stress and plastic strain, closely near the crack tip, the stress singularity index and the stress intensity factor, as well as the plastic strain singularity index and the plastic strain intensity factor are determined. The stress and plastic strain singular index vary with the load, while the dimensions of the stress and the plastic strain intensity factors depend on the stress and the plastic strain singularity index, respectively. The singular field near the elastoplastic crack tip is characterized by the stress singularity index and the stress intensity factor, or alternatively the plastic strain singularity index and the plastic strain intensity factor. At the end of the paper, following Irwin's concept of fracture mechanics, σ δ K criterion and ε δ Q criterion are proposed. Besides, crack tip angle criterion is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: The multiple sclerosis prodrome remains poorly understood. We aimed to examine the prodrome in people with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis at onset (RMS) and primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). Methods: We conducted a matched cohort study using clinical and linked health administrative data in two Canadian provinces. We identified people with RMS, PPMS and age‐ sex‐ and geographically‐matched population controls, and compared the number of physician encounters (total number, per International Classification of Diseases chapter, and per physician speciality) in the five years before symptom onset. Negative binomial regression models were sex, age, socioeconomic status and calendar year adjusted. Results: We identified 1887 RMS, 171 PPMS cases, and 9837 matched population controls. No difference existed in the total number of encounters in the five years before index between RMS and PPMS, or between the phenotypes and their respective controls. Compared to RMS cases, PPMS cases had more nervous system‐related encounters (adjusted rate ratio, 3.00; 95% confidence interval, 1.06–8.49) and fewer encounters with dermatologists (adjusted rate ratio 0.53; 95% confidence interval, 0.30–0.96). Conclusion: Findings suggest that people with RMS and PPMS may both experience a prodrome, although aspects may differ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particle crushing underpins important macroscopic behaviour of granular materials such as yielding, deformation, dilatancy, failure, mobility and packing features. The crushing condition and crushing pattern have commonly been examined for particles subjected to uniaxial loadings. In the real engineering context, a sand grain is typically in contact with several surrounding particles and is hence subjected to multi-directional loadings, a critical condition that has not been well accounted for in most crushing criteria and studies of crushing patterns relevant to discrete-based sand modelling. In this study, the crushing of single sand particles under different loading conditions is examined based on peridynamic simulations. The peridynamic method is found capable of realistically capturing the crushing of a sand particle under uniaxial loadings in terms of crushing load and the crushing pattern observed in experiments, and is able to simulate multi-contact particle crushing where experimental data are relatively scarce. By examining existing crushing criteria, it is found that the numerical results on the crushing load under multiple contacts compare favourably with the maximum contact force criterion, which states that particle crushing occurs when the maximum contact force reaches a threshold. It is observed that the number of child particles after the crushing of a sand particle bears no apparent correlation with the coordination number. The volumes of child particles can be statistically described by a normal or gamma distribution. The findings from the study offer insights into the behaviour of sand particle crushing, which can be useful for future discrete modelling of granular sand where crushing is important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this short communication, we aimed to elucidate the changes of water distribution and status in wetted porous fabrics during simulating drying process by using low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR). Fabrics were dried under different moisture regain conditions, i.e. 0%, 10%, 25 and 50% on a dry basis, respectively. Distributed exponential analysis of T2 transversal relaxation times revealed that the existence of three distinct water populations: bound water, capillary water and bulk free water at relaxation time ranges of 0~10 ms (T2b), 10~100 ms (T21) and ~1000 ms (T22). Water dynamics during simulating drying process show that the amount of immobile water increased slightly, whereas the amount of mobile water including capillary water and free water decreased. In addition, comparisons among the pore size distribution characteristics of porous fabrics from Mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) tests interpret the phenomena that the population of T21 for Aramid IIIA fabric was lowest among all the tested fabrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of Pb and Zn on chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence and plant growth of one-year-old Koelreuteria paniculata and Zelkova schneideriana young plants was investigated. Pb and Zn contents in plant organs were measured. The results showed Pb and Zn stress decreased photochemical quenching and quantum efficiency of PSII, but increased energy dissipation in the tested plants. At the same time, maximum net photosynthetic rate, maximum quantum use efficiency, and organ biomass were reduced. Under the same concentration of heavy metals, the damage induced by Zn toxicity was more serious than that of Pb. Pb was less accumulated in leaves, with a mild effect on photosynthesis. Zn was mostly accumulated in leaves and strongly disturbed chloroplast functioning and affected photosynthesis. Pb and Zn had different pathway to influence biomass production, and both tested plants might use different mechanisms of action for heavy metal stress resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Thyroid eye disease (TED), an orbital inflammatory status, generally occurred in Graves’ disease. Objective. This study aimed to acquire further insight into molecular mechanisms of TED, especially several key involved genes and pathways. Design. The microarray dataset GSE58331 including expression data for orbital adipose tissue samples, isolated from TED patients and normal controls, was downloaded from a publicly accessible Gene Expression Omnibus database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified from 23 adipose tissues of TED patients versus 20 samples from normal controls. Subjects and Methods. A protein-protein interaction network of DEGs was constructed by using Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes and Cytoscape 3.6.0. Several hub genes/proteins were extracted from the protein-protein interaction network based on connectivity degree. Furthermore, we used the iRegulon plugin of Cytoscape3.6.0 to predict the transcription factors (TFs). Results. A total of 678 DEGs (538 up- and 140 down-regulated genes) were identified in TED patients. Proopiomelanocortin (POMC), interleukin 2 (IL-2), G protein subunit gamma 3 (GNG3), CXC motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4), toll like receptor 4 (TLR4), colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R), lysophosphatidic acid receptor 3 (LPAR3), CXC motif chemokine ligand-8 (CXCL8), etc., were considered as the hub genes among the DEGs. There were 6 TFs predicted to be differentially expressed in regulating the DEGs related to TED. A total of 71 DEGs had been reported to be associated with TED in the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database. Conclusions. Through this analysis, we have identified plenty of potential biomarkers and pathways which may have an important role in the pathogenesis of TED. However, these findings require verification by more detailed future experimental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamical behavior of intramolecular electronic excitation transfer in 9,9’-bifluorene and 2,2’-binaphthyl has been investigated in various solvents using a heterodyned and background-subtracted femtosecond polarization technique. It has been found that the excitation transfer between fluorenyl moieties occurs on a time scale of around 300 fs in hexane, but evidently slows down to around 970 fs in CCl4, and there appears little observable variation in transfer dynamics when the solvent is changed through the hexane–decane–hexadecane series. It has also been found that excitation transfer between naphthyl moieties in CCl4 undergoes damped oscillations which have an apparent period of 1.2±0.1 ps and a damping time constant of 180±20 fs. While there is no clear sign of any oscillation in hexane, the transfer dynamics decays only slightly faster. All the phenomena observed can be neatly categorized, within the simple phenomenological Bloch theory, as either over- or underdamped motion relevant to the ratio of the exciton splitting to the pure dephasing rate. However, it is the thorough analysis of all the secular elements of the Redfield relaxation matrix that pinpoints the role of correlated fluctuations in the excitation transfer, and provides a quantitative relation of the pure dephasing between the excited local states to that between the excited and ground states. The equivalency of the pure dephasing rate between the two local states to the population transfer rate between the two delocalized states also prompts us to propose that a local libration of solvent CCl4 could play a key role in underdamping the excitation transfer coherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanodots consisting of Co/Pt multilayer have been fabricated using nanosphere lithography and ion beam etching. The nanodots retained the perpendicular anisotropy as that of the continuous films. However, the coercivity of the nanodots was greatly enhanced, more substantially for smaller nanodots. Concurrently, the remnant magnetization was reduced to 50%–80%. Magnetic force microscopy revealed that the domain pattern of nanodots at the remnant state was largely single domain but with nonperpendicular stray fields on the edges, indicating noncollinear alignment of magnetizations in those regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suction caissons are being increasingly considered as an alternative foundation type to monopiles for offshore wind turbines. Single caisson foundations (or monopods) for offshore wind turbines are subjected to lateral cyclic loading from wind and waves acting on the structure. Recent studies have considered the response of suction caissons to such loading in sand, but have generally been limited to a few thousand cycles, whereas offshore wind turbines will generally experience millions of loading cycles over their lifetime. This paper presents the results from a programme of caisson tests in sand, clay and sand over clay seabed profiles, where each test involved about one million cycles of lateral load. The capacity and rotation response is shown to approach that measured in the sand seabed when the sand–clay interface is located at or beneath the caisson skirt tip. In contrast to previously published studies in sand, one-way cyclic loading is the most onerous loading symmetry for a layered seabed with a sand thickness equal to half the skirt length. However, the rotation for this seabed profile is essentially identical if the load is sustained or cyclic, provided that the cyclic loading remains one way. Lateral cyclic loading was seen to increase caisson capacity by up to 30% – with a bias towards clay-dominated seabed profiles – and stiffness by up to 50%. Such stiffness increases need to be considered when assessing the system dynamics for the offshore wind turbine, as demonstrated in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MnCoGe-based materials exhibiting large magnetocaloric effect (MCE) are potential candidates for magnetic refrigerants. However, the poor mechanical properties and intrinsic brittleness restrict their applications. Here, we report the synthesis of epoxy-bonded Mn 0.98 CoGe composites and the evolutions of their microstructure, mechanical properties, and MCE with varying epoxy content. The mechanical properties and machinability are remarkably improved with epoxy resin addition. Meanwhile, the magnetic entropy change (ΔS M ) remains nearly unchanged when the content of epoxy is <5 wt%. Their relative cooling powder and the thermal conductivity are comparable to those of typical magnetic refrigerants with giant MCE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The determination of multiple easy axes in magnetic multilayers with noncollinear spin structures using traditional hysteresis loop measurements at different angles is time consuming and problematic. We describe a simple and accurate method for determining the easy axis and remnant magnetization of each individual magnetic layer. By measuring the angular dependence of the x component of the remnant magnetization using a vector vibrating sample magnetometer and numerical fitting based on superposition of the remnant magnetizations, multiple easy axes can be determined with a resolution of about 0.1°. We demonstrate that multilayer samples with one, two, or even three easy axes can be determined with only one measurement of angular dependent remanence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic nano-network structure has been fabricated by electrochemical deposition Ni onto laser modified Au film. Scanning electron microscopy images show that the network has a three-dimensional interconnecting branch structure with branch diameter of about 100 nm, constructed from grains with diameter of about 25 nm. Because of this structure, the Ni network has enhanced coercivity, in-plane isotropy, and a combination of longitudinal and transverse anisotropic magnetoresistance. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A finite element model of the head of a 55-kg Yucatan pig was developed to calculate the incident pressure and corresponding intracranial pressure due to the explosion of 8 lb (3.63 kg) of C4 at three different distances. The results from the model were validated by comparing findings with experimentally obtained data from five pigs at three different blast overpressure levels: low (150 kPa), medium (275 kPa), and high (400 kPa). The peak values of intracranial pressures from numerical model at different locations of the brain such as the frontal, central, left temporal, right temporal, parietal, and occipital regions were compared with experimental values. The model was able to predict the peak pressure with reasonable percentage differences. The differences for peak incident and intracranial pressure values between the simulation results and the experimental values were found to be less than 2.2 and 29.3%, respectively, at all locations other than the frontal region. Additionally, a series of parametric studies shows that the intracranial pressure was very sensitive to sensor locations, the presence of air bubbles, and reflections experienced during the experiments. Further efforts will be undertaken to correlate the different biomechanical response parameters, such as the intracranial pressure gradient, stress, and strain results obtained from the validated model with injured brain locations once the histology data become available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phase transition performance of the CaCl2 · 6H2O-Ca(NO3)2 · 4H2O composite salt system with nucleating and thickening agents was investigated in this paper. The CaCl2 · 6H2O-Ca(NO3)2 · 4H2O composite salt system was prepared by adding Ca(NO3)2 · 4H2O (12 wt%) to CaCl2 · 6H2O. Different nucleating agents including SrCl2 · 6H2O, SrCO3, BaCl2, BaCO3, Na2B4O7 · 10H2O, H3BO3 and NH4Cl were used to address the problems of phase segregation and supercooling phenomena during the phase change process. The results show that the single nucleating agent SrCl2 · 6H2O or the mixture of nucleating agents with 2 wt% SrCl2 · 6H2O, 1 wt% BaCl2 and 0.5 wt% of thickening agent carboxyl methyl cellulose is the most suitable for this system. The latent heat remained constant at about 116 J/g before and after adding the agents. Density functional theory was used to further investigate the microstructure-related reason for the salt-water separation and supercooling phenomena. It can be deduced that the hydrogen bond is the vital factor involved during the phase transition. The aim of adding thickener was to form more hydrogen bonds which encapsulated the hydrated species and made it difficult to lose the hydrated waters. The main purpose of adding nucleating agent was to break the metastable state among microscopic species. The results of this work indicate that the CaCl2 · 6H2O-Ca(NO3)2 · 4H2O salt mixture has potential as a thermal energy storage material. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a direct stress approach based on finite element analysis to determine the stress intensity factor is improved. Firstly, by comparing the rigorous solution against the asymptotic solution for a problem of an infinite plate embedded a central crack, we found that the stresses in a restrictive interval near the crack tip given by the rigorous solution can be used to determine the stress intensity factor, which is nearly equal to the stress intensity factor given by the asymptotic solution. Secondly, the crack problem is solved numerically by the finite element method. Depending on the modeling capability of the software, we designed an adaptive mesh model to simulate the stress singularity. Thus, the stress result in an appropriate interval near the crack tip is fairly approximated to the rigorous solution of the corresponding crack problem. Therefore, the stress intensity factor may be calculated from the stress distribution in the appropriate interval, with a high accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A modified fractional model based on power-law is derived for the viscoelasticity of MGs, which fully considers the dynamic heterogeneity nature of amorphous materials. • This is a meaningful endeavor to apply the fractional model in viscoelastic materials. • We further combine the quasi-point defect theory based on fluctuations in entropy or enthalpy to make the model physically interpretable. • It allows to extract the distribution of relaxation times which argue strongly the existence of microstructural heterogeneity in such materials. Dynamic mechanical relaxation is an important metric to understand the mechanical/physical properties of amorphous solids which are of viscoelastic nature. Due to the heterogenous microstructure, the relaxation behavior of amorphous solids usually shows strong deviation from the Debye relaxation. The distribution of relaxation time derived from either the stretched exponential function (KWW function) or the power law form is probably the most adopted paradigm to describe the non-Debye relaxation. They are essentially the continuous spectrums given in analytical forms. However, whether a real amorphous material conforms to such distribution law remains to be discussed. Here we test the assumption in typical metallic glasses (MGs) as representatives of the general amorphous solids. The mechanical spectrum of a Cu 46 Zr 47 Al 7 MG in wide frequency domain is probed by the dynamic mechanical analysis technique. It is found that both the KWW function and the modified fractional (MF) model based on power law can well describe the experimental data. As a step forward, we combine the quasi-point defect theory with the MF model to theoretically reveal the feature of temperature-dependent structural evolution in MG. Finally, the distribution of relaxation time corresponding to the experimental data is discretized to argue the theoretically predicted microstructural heterogeneity in the MGs. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A test platform was set up to investigate the combined high and low cycle fatigue behavior. • A new CCF life prediction model is proposed based on CPFEM. • The new model can predict fatigue life through parameters with clear physical meaning. Combined low and high cycle loading of AISI 4140 steel during service has a significant effect on its fatigue performance, compared to pure low or high cycle loading. In this study, we analyzed the combined low and high cycle fatigue (CCF) responses of AISI 4140 steel under different frequency ratios (20%-30%), and stress amplitude ratios (100–1000). The results indicated that the higher the stress amplitude ratio and frequency ratio, the shorter was the fatigue life of CCF. The fatigue life prediction model was established based on the crystal plasticity theory, the fatigue indicator parameters were obtained from the microstructure evolution, and then fatigue life under different stress amplitude ratios and frequency ratios was predicted. Comparison of the predicted and experimental results demonstrated that the predicted lives were located within thrice the scatter band. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deorientation plays an important role in polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) target decomposition, terrain classification, and geophysical parameters retrieval. The existing deorientation method roughly rotates the target by an average/mixed orientation angle (OA) about the line of radar sight. However, regarding the complex high-entropy mixed scatterer, which usually comprises several comparable sub-scatterers with different OAs, the average/mixed OA is obviously insufficient to account for the diverse OAs’ reality. To address this, a novel PolSAR data deorientation method is proposed in this letter. The proposed method deorients a mixed scatterer by reconstructing the underlying sub-scatterers using the eigenvalue-based Cloude–Pottier decomposition first, and then compensates the OA of each reconstructed sub-scatterer using Huynen’s desying operation, respectively. One important feature of the proposed method is that it is consistent with Huynen’s desying operation that the real part of the (1, 3) element of the deoriented coherency matrix should be zero. The proposed method provides a fine deorientation for mixed targets, and is especially suitable for the extraction of oriented urban regions. Comparative experiments with the existing method on RADARSAT-2 PolSAR data demonstrate the excellent deorientation performance of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The epidemiology of cutaneous herpes simplex infection ( CHSI) has dramatically changed over the past several decades. Valaciclovir is one of a new generation of antiviral medications that has expanded treatment options for the most common cutaneous manifestations of herpes simplex virus. However, the efficacy and safety of formulations with different doses of valaciclovir remain unclear. Aim To carry out hospital risk management by ascertaining the incidence and risk of CHSI in patients during treatment with varying doses of valaciclovir. Methods The PubMed, MEDLINE and Web of Science electronic databases were systematically searched from database inception to date of searching. Efficacy of drug treatment was measured by average easement score ( AES). Safety was characterized as the proportion of patients with drug adverse reactions ( DARs) such as fever, dizziness, headache, anxiety, irritability and yellowing of the skin. Outcomes for continuous and dichotomous data were estimated by standard mean difference ( SMD) and risk ratio ( RR), respectively. Results Five randomized controlled trials involving 1753 randomized participants for efficacy assessment and 1874 randomized participants for safety assessment were identified. Valaciclovir dose increasing from 1000 mg/day improved AES only moderately, but significantly promoted the incidence of DARs. Twice-daily treatment showed no increase in therapeutic effect but greatly increased DAR incidence. The valaciclovir dose that produced a reduction in AES was 1000 mg/day: SMD = −0.73 (95% CI −0.98 to 0.48; P < 0.01) and RR = 0.95 (95% CI 0.81-1.09; P < 0.002). Conclusions Increasing the daily dose of valaciclovir does not substantially improve therapeutic efficacy for CHSI but may raise DAR incidence. Drug doses of 1000 and 2000 mg/day show no significant difference in efficacy scores, but the latter exhibits a higher incidence of DARs. The dose-dependent, long-term efficacy and safety of valaciclovir remain to be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BISOL, which was named as Beijing_ISOL before (Cui et al., 2013), is the abbreviation of Beijing Isotope-Separation-On-Line neutron beam facility. It is proposed jointly by Peking University (PKU) and China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) for basic science study and application. It is a double driven facility that can be driven by a reactor or a deuteron accelerator. The deuteron driver accelerator should accelerate the deuteron beam up to 40 MeV with maximum beam current of 10 mA. Proton beams up to 33 MeV and He 2+ beams up to 81.2 MeV can also be accelerated in this accelerator. The accelerator can be operated on either CW (continuous waveform) or pulsed mode, and the ion energy can be adjusted in a wide range. The accelerator will also allow independent operation of the RIB (Radioactive Ion Beams) system. It will be mainly charged by PKU group. Details of the deuteron accelerator preliminary design for BISOL will be given in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aflatoxin contamination in agricultural products has been an important and long-standing problem around the world. Produced by certain fungal species of the Aspergillus genus, aflatoxins are highly toxic and carcinogenic. This study investigated the integration of fluorescence and reflectance visible near-infrared (VNIR) hyperspectral images to detect aflatoxins in whole corn kernels. Field-inoculated corn ears were harvested, and kernels having different aflatoxin contamination levels were collected. Both fluorescence hyperspectral images under ultraviolet (UV) excitation and reflectance hyperspectral images under halogen illumination were recorded on the two sides of the kernels (endosperm and germ). Subsequent chemical analysis was performed on each kernel to provide reference aflatoxin concentration. Threshold values of 20 and 100 ppb were adopted separately to group kernels as contaminated or healthy. Contaminated kernels exhibited different fluorescence and reflectance spectral features compared with healthy kernels. Spectral datasets were compressed and interpreted using principal component analysis (PCA). Least squares support vector machines (LS-SVM) and k-nearest neighbor (KNN) classifiers were used on the fluorescence PC, reflectance PC, and integrated fluorescence and reflectance PC variables for classifying both sides of kernels as contaminated or healthy. The best overall prediction accuracy was 95.33% for the LS-SVM model with the 100 ppb threshold on the germ side in the integrated analysis. Overall, the germ side performed better than the endosperm side, especially for the true positive rate (TPR). Fluorescence and reflectance image data generally achieved similar classification accuracy. The integrated analysis achieved better results than separate fluorescence or reflectance analysis on the germ side, and conspicuous improvement in the TPR of the germ side was observed after integration. The mean aflatoxin concentration in the prediction samples was reduced from 2662.01 ppb to 64.04, 87.33, and 7.59 ppb after removing samples that were classified as contaminated by fluorescence, reflectance, and integrated analysis, respectively, on the germ side. This study demonstrated the potential of the integrated technique for better screening of aflatoxin-contaminated kernels and could lead to rapid and non-destructive scanning-based detection in the corn industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D printing has emerged as a rapid and cost-efficient manufacturing technique to enable the fabrication of bespoke, complex prototypes. If the technology is to have a significant impact in biomedical applications, such as drug discovery and molecular diagnostics, the devices produced must be biologically compatible to enable their use with established reference assays and protocols. In this work we demonstrate that we can adapt the Fish Embryo Test (FET) as a new method to quantify the toxicity of 3D printed microfluidic devices. We assessed the biocompatibility of four commercially available 3D printing polymers (VisiJetCrystal EX200, Watershed 11122XC, Fototec SLA 7150 Clear and ABSplus P-430), through the observation of key developmental markers in the developing zebrafish embryos. Results show all of the photopolymers to be highly toxic to the embryos, resulting in fatality, although we do demonstrate that post-printing treatment of Fototec 7150 makes it suitable for zebrafish culture within the FET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insulin/Insulin-like growth factors play important roles in promoting proliferation, differentiation, growth and development of organisms. In this article, bioinformatics analysis was performed to locate and identify the Bombyx mori insulin-like peptide (BmILP) gene, which had two introns, three exons, and a predicted signal peptide at the front, and it also determined that BmILP was the same to the gene Bombyxin Z1, a member of the bombyxin family. Both the full-length BmILP gene and the gene without the signal peptide expressed mainly existed in inclusion body forms at different induction conditions and it was noted that the signal peptide had significant influence on the expression level. In addition, protein-protein interaction experiments suggested that there was interaction between BmILP and the autophagy-related protein Atg8, indicating that BmILP may play a role in immunity. It was found was that BmILP predominantly produced by the ovary among different tissues in the silkworm. Particularly, the adult females had higher expression levels than the adult males, and the expression level appeared to be the highest in the mated female moths, suggesting that BmILP may be a key factor in the regulation of egg maturation in Bombyx mori. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: A novel allelic variant in HLA‐B*40 lineage, HLA‐B*40:298:02, has been identified in an individual of Han ethnicity afflicted with nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Hunan province, southern China. Following polymerase chain reaction–Sanger sequence‐based typing (PCR–SBT), this new variant was further confirmed by two distinct strategies of cloning and sequencing. HLA‐B*40:298:02 differs from HLA‐B*40:298:01 by a single synonymous cytosine substitution at nucleotide position 26 (T→C) in exon 3, which corresponds to codon 99 of the mature HLA‐B mRNA molecule. This new allele has an estimated frequency of 0.0002, in about 2,500 sequence‐based typed subjects from the same population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The fatigue life prediction model based on the surface integrity features was developed. • The eigenstrain method was used to restructure the residual stress field after milling. • Simulation of different feed rates impact on fatigue life after milling. • Mapping from microscopic characteristics to macroscopic mechanical properties was established. The surface integrity of AISI 4140 steel after milling at different feed rates (75–125 mm/min) was measured by performing laser scanning microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electron backscatter diffraction. Subsequently, the fatigue responses under different maximum stress values (650–800 MPa) were analyzed. The results showed that the increase in the feed rate increases the residual stress and roughness, whereas the fatigue life at low stress is reduced. Moreover, the feed rate has a limited effect on the surface grain refinement layer, and fatigue life at high stress. The measured surface integrity models were used to predict the fatigue life based on the crystal plasticity theory, and these yielded results within the three times scatter bands from the corresponding experimental values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we typed 930 cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma ( NPC) and 1134 normal controls recruited from Hunan province, southern China for human leukocyte antigen-A ( HLA-A) locus by sequencing exons 2-4. Very significant associations between HLA-A*02:07, HLA-A*11:01 and NPC were established [25.7% vs 16.18%; odds ratio, OR (95% confidence interval, CI) = 1.79 (1.54-2.09), P < 0.0001 and 21.1% vs 30.42%, OR (95% CI) = 0.61 (0.53-0.70), P<0.0001, respectively]. Further analysis of the molecular basis underlying these associations suggests that cysteine (C) at codon 99 of α2-helix of HLA-A protein is probably deleterious and confers risk to NPC. Convincing evidence was uncovered for negative association of a rare allele in southern Chinese populations, HLA-A*31:01, with NPC [0.22% vs 2.12%, OR (95% CI) = 0.1 (0.04-0.28), P < 0.0001]. rs1059449-A, which encodes arginine (R) at codon 56 of α1-helix of HLA-A protein, was postulated to be crucial for such a pattern of negative association with NPC. A subset of NPC cases ( N = 632) and normal controls ( N=712) were tested for anti-virus capsid antigen (anti- VCA) immunoglobulin A ( IgA), very significant difference in seropositivity for anti- VCA IgA was observed between the two groups [67.56% vs 6.46%, OR (95% CI) = 30.16 (21.42-42.46), P < 0.0001]. However, seropositivity for anti- VCA IgA did not correlate with HLA-A allelic typing in both groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal sulfides have recently emerged as a new class of anode materials for lithium ion batteries. In this work, a facile method based on anion exchange reaction is reported to prepare nanowire interwoven NiCo2S4 nanowall arrays through topotactical transformation from the Ni-Co carbonate hydroxide precursor. The nanowire interwoven NiCo2S4 nanowall arrays are investigated as binder free anodes for lithium ion batteries. The electrochemical measurements reveal that the NiCo2S4 nanowall arrays possess large reversible capacity, good cycling stability and good rate capacity, making them promising anodes for advanced lithium ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lightly fullerene-doped polymers are suitable composite systems to study spin-dependent bimolecular interactions among charge excitations due to their long lifetimes in these systems. These interactions can affect the photocurrent as well as the open-circuit voltage in an organic solar cell. Combining photoluminescence detected magnetic resonance (PLDMR) and electrically detected magnetic resonance (EDMR) spectroscopies we study films and devices of poly(p-phenylene vinylene) polymers poly[2-methoxy-5-(3',7'-dimethyloctyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene] (MDMO-PPV) and superyellow PPV (SY-PPV) lightly doped with various fullerene derivatives [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), bis[60]PCBM (bis-PCBM), indene-C60 bisadduct (ICBA), and [6,6]-phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC70BM). (i) We demonstrate strong fullerene triplet exciton (TE) production in SY-PPV:fullerene blends, whereas this is absent in MDMO-PPV:PCBM and only very weak in MDMO-PPV:ICBA. The low TE production in blends with MDMO-PPV is attributed to a weaker singlet-singlet energy-transfer coupling and an unfavorable triplet level alignment between the blend components. (ii) The fullerene TE spectra are analyzed on the basis of a single type of triplet excitation in PCBM, bis-PCBM, and ICBA, and two triplet species in PC70BM which are attributed to the α- and β-type isomers of the latter molecule. (iii) The sign change with increasing temperature of the g~2 sharp central line in photo-EDMR, which is observed both in pristine SY-PPV and in blends with fullerene, is correlated to a transition from dominant TE-polaron annihilation to nongeminate polaron recombination processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Established closure techniques for the pancreatic remnant after distal pancreatectomy include stapler, suture and anastomotic closure. However, controversy remains regarding the ideal technique; therefore, the aim of this study was to compare closure techniques and risk of postoperative pancreatic fistula ( POPF). Methods A systematic review was carried out according to PRISMA guidelines for studies published before January 2014 that compared at least two closure techniques for the pancreatic remnant in distal pancreatectomy. A random-effects model was constructed using weighted odds ratios ( ORs). Results Thirty-seven eligible studies matched the inclusion criteria and 5252 patients who underwent distal pancreatectomy were included. The primary outcome measure, the POPF rate, ranged 0 from to 70 per cent. Meta-analysis of the 31 studies comparing stapler versus suture closure showed that the stapler technique had a significantly lower rate of POPF, with a combined OR of 0·77 (95 per cent c.i. 0·61 to 0·98; P = 0·031). Anastomotic closure was associated with a significantly lower POPF rate than suture closure ( OR 0·55, 0·31 to 0·98; P = 0·042). Combined stapler and suture closure had significantly lower POPF rates than suture closure alone, but no significant difference compared with stapler closure alone. Conclusion The use of stapler closure or anastomotic closure for the pancreatic remnant after distal pancreatectomy significantly reduces POPF rates compared with suture closure. The combination of stapler and suture closure shows superiority over suture closure alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]