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BackgroundAssessing hand sensation in stroke patients is necessary; however, current clinical assessments are time-consuming and inaccurate.ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore the nature of light touch sensation and two-point discrimination (2-PD) of different hand sites in convalescent stroke patients based on somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP).MethodsLight touch sensation and 2-PD of the thumb, the index finger, the little finger, thenar, and hypothenar were measured (n = 112) using sensory measurement tools. Sensory differences among the hand sites were then compared. The correlation analysis between SEP and the hemiplegic hand function was made. Sensory functions were divided into three levels: sensory intactness, sensory impairment, and sensory loss.ResultsLight touch sensations were mainly associated with sensory impairment in the finger and palm region. The 2-PD of the finger region was mainly sensory loss and that of the palm region was mainly sensory impairment. There was no statistical difference in the light touch sensation among the sites of the hand. The correlation coefficients between the 2-PD and SEP N20 amplitudes differed. The correlation coefficients of the thenar and hypothenar were the smallest, and that of the finger was the largest. Light touch sensation and 2-PD in patients with stroke were related to the hemiplegic hand function.ConclusionAny site on the hand could be selected as the measurement site for light touch sensation. The little finger and hypothenar may be appropriate sites when screening for 2-PD. To improve the patient’s recovery they could receive more sensory stimulation of the hand.

Tomb murals are the special kind of murals that are buried underground. Due to the narrow exit of the tomb passage, the tomb murals were excavated by dividing the whole mural into blocks, which made lots of information missing between the blocks. The digital restoration technology Image inpainting uses the edge information around the missing parts to spread the information inside of the defect area and fills the information from the outside to the inside. But it is not suitable for filling the missing parts between the tomb mural blocks. Because these parts are large for exemplar-based inpainting which may make texture dislocation and for PDE which may make cartoon blur. It is a need to generate the information outwards to complete the information. The generative adversarial network uses deep learning training by the murals remains to generate the information from inside to outside, but the typical GAN doesn‘t have a good nonlinear feature. This paper provided a generating technology based on the deep convolution generative adversarial network to rebuild the missing information between the tomb mural blocks. It built the training data set of the simulation platform with Keras and designed a whole mural generation scheme based on DCGAN. In order to get better generated results to avoid the bad artifacts; it adds the nonlinear layers by choosing 13 layers convolution and 2 deconvolution layers of the generator and contained 5 layers convolution discriminator; it designed a new phased nonlinear loss function by using Pycharm pretreatment for Numpy array file data sets; finally, it completed the generate tomb mural information to obtain the good simulation effect.

This paper puts forward an improved multi-stage noise-shaping (MASH) sigma-delta modulator. Derived from a fourth-order two-stage MASH architecture with adder-less architecture of cascade of integr...

Objective To explore the clinical characteristics of anti⁃leucine⁃rich glioma⁃inactivated 1 (LGI1) antibody⁃related encephalitis. Methods and Results Clinical data of 6 patients with anti⁃LGI1 antibody⁃related encephalitis from September 2016 to April 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. The clinical manifestations of 6 cases were lognition disorders in 6 cases, seizures in 4 cases, behavioral changes in 3 cases, sleep disorders in 5 cases and autonomic nervous system abnormality in 3 cases. Hyponatremia (4 cases) could be presented. Abnormal EEG (4 cases) was often seen. Brain MRI showed abnormal signals in 3 cases, mainly involved hippocampus and medial temporal lobe. Indirect immunofluorescence assay (IIF) was used to detect anti⁃LGI1 antibody. Four cases were positive in both serum and cerebrospinal fluid, while 6 cases only in serum and 4 cases only in cerebrospinal fluid. The follow⁃up results of 6 to 24 months afterintravenous hormone orimmunoglobulin therapies showed no one died; the sequelae were memory deficit in 3 cases, faciobrachial dystonic seizures in one case, hyponatremia in 2 cases, sleep disorders in one case. Conclusions Anti⁃LGI1 antibody⁃related encephalitis is often characterized by cognitive impairment, seizures, sleep disorders and hyponatremia. Immunotherapy is effective, which has good prognosis comparatively. DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1672⁃6731.2020.09.009

Surface plasmons (SPs) of metals enable the tight focusing and strong absorption of light to realize an efficient utilization of photons at nanoscale. In particular, the SP-generated hot carriers have emerged as a promising way to efficiently drive photochemical and photoelectric processes under moderate conditions. In situ measuring of the transport process and spatial distribution of hot carriers in real space is crucial to efficiently capture the hot carriers. Here, we use electrochemical tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (EC-TERS) to in situ monitor an SP-driven decarboxylation and resolve the spatial distribution of hot carriers with a nanometer spatial resolution. The transport distance of about 20 nm for the reactive hot carriers is obtained from the TERS imaging result. The hot carriers with a higher energy have a shorter transport distance. These conclusions can be guides for the design and arrangement of reactants and devices to efficiently make use of plasmonic hot carriers., Revealing the spatial distribution of hot carriers in real space is crucial to their efficient utilization. Here, the authors show that in-situ electrochemical tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy is able to resolve the spatial distribution of reactive hot carriers with a nanometer spatial resolution.

Cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) synthase (cGAS) is a predominant DNA sensor inducing the activation of the innate immune responses that produce proinflammatory cytokines and type I interferons, which has been well-investigated in mammals. However, chicken cGAS (chcGAS), which participates in avian innate immunity, has not been well-investigated. Here, we cloned the complete open reading frame sequence of chcGAS. Multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis revealed that chcGAS was homologous to mammalian cGAS. The chcGAS mRNA was highly expressed in the bone marrow and ileum. The subcellular localization of chcGAS was mainly in the cytoplasm, and partial co-localization was observed in the endoplasmic reticulum. Through overexpression and RNA interference, we demonstrated that chcGAS responded to exogenous dsDNA, HS-DNA, and poly(dA:dT), and to self dsDNA from the DNA damage response, thereby triggering the activation of STING/TBK1/IRF7-mediated innate immunity in both chicken embryonic fibroblasts and chicken liver cancer cells. Furthermore, downregulation of chcGAS enhanced the infection of fowl adenovirus serotype 4 in LMH cells. Our results demonstrated that chcGAS was an important cytosolic DNA sensor activating innate immune responses and may shed light on a strategy for preventing infectious diseases in the poultry industry.

Colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) is one of the most common malignant tumors with high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. Due to the poor clinical outcomes, it is indispensable to investigate novel biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of COAD. The aim of this study is to explore key genes as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of COAD for clinical utility. Gene expression profiles (GSE44076 and GSE44861) and gene methylation profile (GSE29490) were analyzed to identify the aberrantly methylated-differentially expressed genes by R language and Perl software. Function enrichments were performed by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway. Moreover, hub genes were identified through protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. Besides, key genes were found by the module analysis and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) survival analysis. Finally, TCGA data and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to validate the key genes involved in COAD. Our study found two hypomethylation-high-expression genes (CXCL3 and CXCL8) in COAD tissues compared with the adjacent normal tissues. These results were also confirmed by RT-qPCR with 25 pairs of COAD and adjacent normal tissues. Meanwhile, low expression of the two genes was associated with poor survival in patients with COAD. CXCL3 and CXCL8 may serve as key genes in the diagnosis and prognosis for COAD.

Context Panax japonicus is the dried rhizome of Panax japonicus C.A. Mey. (Araliaceae). Saponins from Panax japonicus (SPJ) exhibit anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects. Objective To explore the neuroprotective effect of SPJ on natural ageing of rat. Materials and methods Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats 18-month-old were divided into ageing control, ageing treated with SPJ 10 or 30 mg/kg (n = 8). Five-month-old rats were taken as the adult control (n = 8). Rats were fed regular feed or feed containing SPJ for 4 months. Cognitive level was evaluated by Morris water maze (MWM) test. The mechanisms of SPJ’s neuroprotection were evaluated by transmission electron microscope, western blot analysis, and immunofluorescence in vivo and in vitro. Results SPJ attenuated ageing-induced cognitive impairment as indicated by elevated number of times crossing the target platform (from 1.63 to 3.5) and longer time spent in the target platform quadrant (from 1.33 to 1.98). Meanwhile, SPJ improved the morphology of microglia and synapse, and activated M2 microglia polarisation including increased hippocampus levels of CD206 (from 0.98 to 1.47) and YM-1 (from 0.67 to 1.1), and enhanced autophagy-related proteins LC3B (from 0.48 to 0.82), Beclin1 (from 0.32 to 0.51), Atg5 (from 0.22 to 0.89) whereas decreased p62 level (from 0.71 to 0.45) of ageing rats. In vitro study also showed that SPJ regulated the microglial polarisation and autophagy. Discussion and conclusions SPJ improved cognitive deficits of ageing rats through attenuating microglial inflammation and enhancing microglial autophagy, which could be used to treat neurodegenerative disorders.

Objective. To evaluate the efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in improving lower limb spasticity after stroke. Methods. The PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biology Medicine (CBM) disc, China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP), and Wanfang databases were searched online from their inception to May 2021 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for lower extremity spasticity after stroke. Valid data were extracted from the included literature, and the quality evaluation was conducted with the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions along with the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale (PE-Dro scale). The data that met the quality requirements were systematically analysed using Review Manager 5.4 software. Results. A total of 554 patients from seven articles (nine studies) were quantitatively analysed. Outcomes included the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), Fugl–Meyer Assessment of Lower Extremity (FMA-LE), Modified Barthel Index (MBI), and Timed Up and Go (TUG), measured as the effect of rTMS compared with controls conditions after treatment. The systematic review showed that rTMS reduced MAS and increased MBI scores, respectively (SMD = −0.24, 95% CI [−0.45, −0.03], P = 0.02; MD = 6.14, 95% CI [−3.93,8.35], P ＜ 0.00001), compared with control conditions. Low-frequency rTMS (LF-rTMS) significantly improved FMA-LE scores (SMD = 0.32, 95% CI [0.13, 0.51], P = 0.001). However, there was no significant difference in FMA-LE scores when using high-frequency rTMS (HF-rTMS) ( P > 0.1) and in TUG times ( P > 0.1) between the treatment and control groups. Conclusions. rTMS was effective in improving spasticity and activities of daily living. LF-rTMS has positive clinical effects on enhancing motor function in patients who experience lower extremity spasticity after stroke. To better validate the above conclusions, more multicentre, high-quality, and double-blind randomized controlled trials are needed.

Electrochemical tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (EC-TERS) appears as a promising in situ nanospectroscopic tool for characterization and understanding of the electrochemical interfacial processes at the nanometer scale and molecular level. However, the wide application of EC-TERS is hampered by its low sensitivity as a result of the optical path distortion due to the refractive index mismatch of the multilayer media (air, glass, and electrolyte). Here, we propose a new side-illumination EC-TERS setup by coupling a water immersion objective with a high numerical aperture to a scanning tunneling microscope scanning head customized with a large open space and a compact spectroelectrochemical cell. It not only effectively eliminates the optical distortion but also increases the sensitivity remarkably, which allows sensitive monitoring of the electrochemical redox processes of anthraquinone molecules. More importantly, EC-TERS is able to independently control the tip position and laser illumination position. By utilizing this feature, we reveal that the irreversible reduction reaction of anthraquinone observed in EC-TERS is induced by the synergistic effect of the negative potential and laser illumination rather than the localized surface plasmon. The highly improved sensitivity and the flexibility to control the tip and laser illumination position on the nanometer scale endows EC-TERS as an important tool for the fundamental understanding of the photo- or plasmon electrochemistry and the interfacial structure-activity relationship of important electrochemical systems.

Purpose: NeosedumosideIII (Neo) is a megastigmanes and belongs to monocyclic sesquiterpenoids compound with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and other pharmacological activities. In order to explore the anti-cancer effect and possible mechanism of Neo, the study examined the anti-proliferation and apoptosis effect of Neo against human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells and SMMC-772 cells and related mechanism in vitro. Methods ：The anti-proliferation effect of Neo was detected on HepG2 cells and SMMC-772 cells by MTT assay and IC50 with increasing dose and time. Cell cycle and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometer. The changes of Bcl-2, Bax, Caspase-3, Caspase-8 and Caspase-9 proteins were detected by western blotting.Results ：The results indicated that Neo could inhibited proliferation of HepG2 cells and SMMC-772 cells in vitro and promoted apoptosis, it significantly induced apoptosis of HepG2 cells and SMMC-772 cells arrested cell cycle at G0/G1 phase in a dose-dependent manner, reduce the expression of Bcl-2 protein, and increase the expression of Bax and Caspase-3, Caspase-8 and Caspase-9 proteins. Conclusion：Neo could inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of HepG2 cells and SMMC-7721 cells in vivo which suggested that it might be served as a promising candidate for the treatment of liver cancer.

Active oxygen species (AOS) play key roles in many important catalytic reactions relevant to clean energy and environment. However, it remains challenging to characterize the active sites for producing AOS and to image the surface properties of AOS, especially on multicomponent metallic catalyst surfaces. Herein, we utilize tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) to probe the local generation and diffusion of OH radicals on a Pd/Au(111) bimetallic catalyst surface. The reactive OH radicals can be catalytically generated from hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) at the metal surface, which then oxidizes the surface adsorbed thiolate, a reactant that is used as the TERS probe. By TERS imaging of the spatial distribution of unreacted thiolate molecules, we demonstrate that the Pd surface is active for generation of OH radicals and the Pd step edge shows much higher activity than the Pd terrace, whereas the Au surface is inactive. Furthermore, we find that the locally generated OH radicals at the Pd step edge could diffuse to both the Au and the Pd surface sites to induce oxidative reactions, with a diffusion length estimated to be about 5.4 nm. Our TERS imaging with few-nanometer spatial resolution not only unravels the active sites but also characterizes in real space the diffusion behavior of OH radicals. The results are highly valuable to understand AOS-triggered catalytic reactions. The strategy of using reactants with large Raman cross sections as TERS probes may broaden the application of TERS for studying catalysis with reactive small molecules.

Three new mononuclear lanthanide complexes [Ln(2-Br-5-MOBA)3(terpy)(H2O)] (Ln = Gd (1), Tb (2), Er (3); 2-Br-5-MOBA = 2-bromine-5-methoxybenzoate; terpy = 2,2:6′,2″-terpyridine) have been successfully synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The complexes 1–3 were isostructural and eight-coordinated, which is different from the binuclear structure of the previously reported complexes. The molecular structure of complexes 1–3 is very interesting: two adjacent mononuclear units are connected through hydrogen bonding giving rise to a pseudo binuclear structure. These pseudo binuclear units are further linked via O–H⋯Br hydrogen bonds and slightly offset π–π stacking interactions to from 1D and 2D supramolecular structures. The thermal decomposition mechanism of complexes 1–3 was studied by TG analysis and further authenticated by TG/DSC-FTIR techniques. The solid-state luminescent property of complex 2 was investigated at room temperature. The result indicates that Tb (III) complex appear to be promising candidate for the application as green luminescent material.

Let q be a positive integer. Recently, Niu and Liu proved that, if n ≥ max ⁡ { q , 1198 − q } , then the product ( 1 3 + q 3 ) ( 2 3 + q 3 ) ⋯ ( n 3 + q 3 ) is not a powerful number. In this note, we prove (1) that, for any odd prime power l and n ≥ max ⁡ { q , 11 − q } , the product ( 1 l + q l ) ( 2 l + q l ) ⋯ ( n l + q l ) is not a powerful number, and (2) that, for any positive odd integer l, there exists an integer N q , l such that, for any positive integer n ≥ N q , l , the product ( 1 l + q l ) ( 2 l + q l ) ⋯ ( n l + q l ) is not a powerful number.

Six new lanthanide complexes [Ln(2-Br-5-MOBA)3(2,2′-DIPY)]2 (Ln = Nd(1), Eu(2), Gd(3), Tb(4), Ho(5), Er(6); 2-Br-5-MOBA = 2-bromine-5-methoxybenzoate; 2,2′-DIPY = 2,2′-bipyridine) have been successfully synthesized and characterized. The complexes 1–5 are isostructural and nine-coordinated by the single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses, while the complex 6 is eight-coordinated. The difference of crystal structure may be the result of the lanthanide contraction effect. The binuclear units were further assembled into 1D, 2D, 3D supramolecular structures by the π-π stacking and C H⋯O hydrogen bonding interactions. The thermal decomposition mechanism of complexes 1–6 was studied by TG analysis and further authenticated by TG/DSC-FTIR techniques. The solid-state luminescence properties of complexes 2 and 4 were investigated at room temperature. The results indicate that complexes 2 and 4 show characteristic emission of Eu3+ ion and Tb3+ ion, respectively. What's more, the title complexes have good antibacterial activities against Candida albicans.

Two novel lanthanide complexes with the general formula [Ln(2-Br-5-MOBA) 3 (2,2′-DIPY)] 2 (Ln = Pr(1), Dy(2); 2-Br-5-MOBA = 2-bromine-5-methoxybenzoate; 2,2′-DIPY = 2,2′-bipyridine) have been successfully synthesized and characterized. The complexes 1 and 2 are isostructural and nine-coordinated with distorted monocapped square antiprismatic coordination geometry by the single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses. Two complexes are all assembled into the 1D, 2D, 3D supramolecular structures by C H⋯O hydrogen bonding and π–π stacking interactions. The thermal decomposition mechanism for title complexes were obtained by TG/DSC-FTIR technology. The molar heat capacities of the complexes 1 and 2 are measured by a DSC instrument over the temperature range from 263.15 K to 365.15 K. On the basis of the fitted polynomial and thermodynamic equations, the smoothed values of heat capacities and thermodynamic functions ( H T - H 298.15K ), and ( S T - S 298.15K ) of the two complexes are calculated. In addition, the fluorescence spectra indicate that the complex 2 exhibits the characteristic emission of Dy(III) ion ( 4 F 9/2 → 6 H 13/2–15/2 ).

Ten novel lanthanide complexes {[Ln(L) 3 phen][Ln(L) 3 phen (C 2 H 5 OH)(H 2 O)]} 2 (Ln = La ( 1 ), Nd ( 2 )) and [Ln(L) 3 phen] 2 (Ln = Pr ( 3 ), Sm ( 4 ), Eu ( 5 ), Gd ( 6 ), Tb ( 7 ), Dy ( 8 ), Ho ( 9 ), Er ( 10 ); HL: 2,3-dimethoxybenzoic acid; phen: 1,10-phenanthroline) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses, IR spectra and powder X-ray diffraction. Single crystals of complexes 1 – 5 and 8 were obtained and their structures have been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The molecular structures of complexes 1 and 2 are very particular. They both contain two structures with different coordination environments but the same geometric configurations in the molecular structures, which has rarely been reported previously. Complexes 3 , 4 , 5 and 8 have similar structures with coordination numbers of nine, forming distorted monocapped square antiprisms, and their binuclear structures are stitched together by π–π intermolecular interactions to form 1D chains. The thermal decomposition mechanisms of complexes 1 – 10 have been studied by the technology of TG and TG-FTIR. The antimicrobial activities of the ten complexes have been explored by the disc diffusion method. The solid-state luminescence of complexes 5 and 7 was also studied, and the two complexes exhibit strong fluorescence, which shows that phen has a better sensitizing effect.

Three novel ternary lanthanide complexes [Ln(2,5-DClBA)3(terpy)(H2O)] (Ln = Eu (1), Tb (2), Ho (3), 2,5-DClBA = 2,5-dichlorobenzoate, terpy = 2,2:6′,2″-terpyridine) have been successfully synthesized and characterized by single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction. Complexes 1–3 are isostructural, and each metal center is nine-coordinated with distorted monocapped square antiprismatic coordination geometry. The mononuclear units are assembled into 1D, 2D, 3D supramolecular structures by the π–π stacking and halogen–halogen interactions. Thermal decomposition mechanisms of the title complexes were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis and further authenticated by TG/DSC-FTIR techniques. The solid-state fluorescent properties of complexes 1–2 were studied at room temperature, and characteristic emission was observed for all complexes. Complex 1 exhibits the strong red emission, while the complex 2 is green under UV light. Moreover, the antibacterial activities of the complexes against Candida albicans, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were also evaluated.

Three novel Ho(III) complexes, [(Ho(2-Br-5-MOBA)3(terpy)(H2O)] (1), [Ho(2-Br-5-MOBA)3(2,2′-bipy)]2 (2) and [Ho(2-Br-5-MOBA)3(5,5′-DM-2,2′-bipy)]2 (3) (2-Br-5-MOBA = 2-bromine-5-methoxybenzoate, terpy = 2,2:6′,2″-terpyridine, 2,2′-bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine, 5,5′-DM-2,2′-bipy = 5,5′-dimethy-2,2′-bipyridine), have been synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Although 1–3 have the same triclinic crystal system and P 1 ¯ space group, they show three different types of molecule structures. For 1, it is mononuclear and fake binuclear units constituted by the mononuclear molecules are stitched together via π–π stacking and C–H⋯O hydrogen bonding interactions to form the 1D, 2D supramolecular structure. Complexes 2 and 3 are binuclear structures with the different coordination numbers, which are assembled into 1D, 2D, 3D supramolecular structures by different intermolecular interactions. This is because of the different auxiliary ligands. The thermal decomposition mechanism of complexes 1–3 were studied by TG analysis and further authenticated by TG/DSC-FTIR techniques, indicating that the difference of the auxiliary ligand affects the thermal stabilities of complexes. The average molar heat capacity values of the complexes gradually increased with an increase of temperature, indicating the complexes have good thermal stability within this range of temperature. In addition, the IR, PXRD, and the antibacterial activities of complexes 1–3 were measured.

The recent observation that black holes in certain Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton (EMD) theories can violate the entropy super-additivity led to the suggestion that these black holes might repel each other. In this paper, we consider EMD theories with two Maxwell fields $A_i$, with general exponential couplings $\exp(a_i ��)$ in their kinetic terms. We calculate the gravi-electrostatic force between charged black holes $(m_1,e_1)$ and $(M_2,Q_2)$; the former is sufficiently small and can be treated as a point-like object. We find there is a potential barrier caused by the dilaton coupling at $r_0$ outside the back hole horizon $r_+$, provided that $-a_1 a_2> 2(D-3)/(D-2)$. As the black hole approaches extremality, both $r_+$ and $r_0$ vanish, the barrier becomes infinitesimally thin but infinitely high, and the two black holes repel each other in the whole space. There is no electrostatic force between them; the dilaton is the antigravity agent. Furthermore we find that the exact constraint on $a_1 a_2$ can be derived from the requirements that two-charged extremal black holes have a fusion bomb like mass formula and the violation of entropy super-additivity can occur. The two very different approaches give a consistent picture of the black hole repulsion., Latex, 11 pages, comments and references added

Major and trace elements play an important role in human body, and it has been reported that ionomic distribution differ greatly in tumor patients. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of cisplatin-based neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy on the ionomic profile in human plasma as a potential biomarker for the therapeutic effects of cervical cancer.Thirty-seven patients with cervical cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy were included in this study, pretherapy and post-treatment blood samples were collected and concentrations of 24 ions were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).The results showed that after cisplatin chemotherapy and radiotherapy, patients' plasma Pt level significantly increased, Na, Mg, P, K, Ca, Se, Cu, Zn, Se, Sr, Ba levels significantly decreased (P 0.01), and Al, Cu ions were significantly correlated with the treatment effect (P 0.05). In addition, the pattern of elemental correlations changed dramatically after the neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.The results indicated that the plasma ionomic profile may serve as a quick and convenient tool to reflect the therapeutic effect of cisplatin-based chemoradiotherapy in cervical cancer patients, and supplement of certain essential elements may be of great importance for the maintenance of ion homeostasis in human body and for the reduction of adverse effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Two unprecedented Ln-based metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) based on 5-nitroisophthalic acid (H2L) and 2,4,5-tri(4-pyridyl)-imidazole (Htpim), namely {[H3tpim][Ln2(L)4(H2O)]}n [Ln = La (I), Nd (II)], were prepared by solvothermal reactions and characterized by IR, elemental analysis and X-ray diffraction analysis. X-ray single crystal diffraction indicates that complexes I and II display similar 2D 44 frameworks with similar tetranuclear [Ln4(COO)16(H2O)2] secondary building units due to the effect of Ln contraction and the same coordination modes of L ligands as well as the template effect of Htpim. Moreover, thermal stabilities and luminescent properties of I and II were also investigated.

Three-dimensional (3D) α -Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticle anchored graphene aerogel (Fe 2 O 3 @GA) composites were assembled by a hydrothermal method using Fe(OH) 3 colloids and graphene oxides as starting materials. It was found that the Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles were uniformly embedded into the 3D networks of graphene aerogels and the resulting composites contained meso- and macro-scale pores. Remarkably, the composites possessed much higher surface area (S BET = 212.5 m 2 g −1 ) and larger pore volume (V p = 0.2073 cm 3 g −1 ) than those of pure Fe 2 O 3 (S BET = 19.8 m 2 g −1 , V p = 0.1770 cm 3 g −1 ). The Fe 2 O 3 @GA composites used as electrode materials for lithium ion batteries were demonstrated to exhibit high reversible capacity at large current densities and excellent cycling stabilities.

Aluminum-substituted MCM-41 (Al-MCM-41) were hydrothermally synthesised and used as supports to fabricate the mesostructured H3PW12O40 (HPW) solid acid catalysts via an impregnation method. The influences of various HPW loadings on the structures of the catalysts were verified by X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen physisorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) measurements and their acidities were evaluated by infrared of pyridine adsorption (Py-IR) and temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia (NH3-TPD) measurements. The optimisation of the reaction conditions for levulinic acid esterification with n-hexanol such as the reaction temperature and time, the reactant molar ratio, and the catalyst dosages was performed to maximise the conversion of levulinic acid. The effects of various HPW loadings on the conversion of levulinic acid were investigated under the o...

Two novel mononuclear lanthanide complexes, [Ln(2,4-DClBA)3(terpy)(H2O)]·H2O (Ln = Dy(1), Er(2)); 2,4-DClBA: 2,4-dichlorobenzoate; terpy: 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine; have been synthesized and characterized by single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction. The results reveal that complexes 1–2 are isomorphous, and each Ln3+ ion is nine coordinated adopting a distorted monocapped square antiprismatic molecular geometry. Mononuclear complexes 1–2 are stitched together via Cl–π and hydrogen bonding interactions to form the 1D, 2D, 3D supramolecular structures, which the 3D is rarely observed. Thermal decomposition mechanism is determined by TG/DSC-FTIR, and the 3D stacked plots for the FTIR spectra of the evolved gases were recorded. Heat capacities of complexes 1–2 were measured, and the derived thermodynamic functions (H T − H 298.15), (S T − S 298.15) and (G T − G 298.15) of the complexes relative to the standard reference temperature 298.15 K were obtained. The activation energy E values of the first decomposition stage for title complexes were calculated by integral isoconversional nonlinear (NL-INT) and Starink methods. Complex 1 shows the characteristic emission of Dy3+ with strong yellow emission.

The basic mechanical performance of glue laminated timber (GLT) reinforced with glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) for structural materials was studied. The differences of mechanical performance of the GLT reinforced with GFRP and the common GLT were compared by the test, and the quantitative influence of reinforcement ratio and arrangement pattern of GFRP on the mechanical performance was investigated. The test results showed that the static bending strength of GLT increased with the increasing of GFRP reinforcement ratio, and the reasonable arrangement pattern of GFRP could improve the internal bonding strength of GLT. The influence of reinforcement ratio and arrangement pattern of GFRP on the elastic modulus was relatively small. Finally, a mathematical model of static bending strength for GLT reinforced with GFRP was proposed, which can consider the influence of reinforcement ratio and GFRP arrangement pattern

A novel facile strategy was developed to prepare the Fe 3 O 4 @graphene aerogel (Fe 3 O 4 @GA) composites. Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed into the 3D network of graphene aerogel and the resultant hybrid composites contained meso- and macro-scale pores with high specific surface area (276.9 m 2 g −1 ) and large pore volume (0.3230 cm 3 g –1 ). The electrochemical performance revealed that the Fe 3 O 4 @GA anode exhibited high reversible capacity (~941.5 mAh g −1 at a current density of 100 mA g −1 ), stable cycling performance, and excellent rate capability.

In aquatic ecosystems, mercuric compounds are considered to be highly toxic to a great variety of aquatic biota ranging from bacteria to fishes. In the present study, the effects of different concentrations (0, 2.0, 6.0, 10.0, 14.0 and 18.0 μg·L − 1 ) of Hg 2 + on the life table demography of Brachionus calyciflorus were investigated at three densities (1.0 × 10 6 , 2.0 × 10 6 and 4.0 × 10 6 cells·mL − 1 ) of Scenedesmus obliquus . The results showed that compared to the controls, Hg 2 + at 14.0 and 18.0 μg·L − 1 significantly decreased both the average lifespan and the life expectancy at hatching, Hg 2 + at 2.0–18.0 μg·L − 1 shortened the generation time, and Hg 2 + at 18.0 μg·L − 1 decreased the net reproductive rate of B. calyciflorus cultured at 1.0 × 10 6 cells·mL − 1 of S. obliquus . Increase in algal food level reduced the negative effects of high concentrations of Hg 2 + on survival, reproduction and population growth of the rotifers. Hg 2 + at 6.0 μg·L − 1 , and 6.0 and 18.0 μg·L − 1 increased the intrinsic rate of population increase of the rotifers cultured at 1.0 × 10 6 and 2.0 × 10 6 cells·mL − 1 of S. obliquus , respectively. But Hg 2 + at 18.0 μg·L − 1 decreased the intrinsic rate of population increase of the rotifers cultured at 4.0 × 10 6 cells·mL − 1 of S. obliquus . Significantly nominal concentration–response relationships existed between Hg 2 + concentration and each of all the five life history variables of B. calyciflorus cultured at 1.0 × 10 6 cells·mL − 1 of S. obliquus , the generation time of the rotifers cultured at 2.0 × 10 6 cells·mL − 1 of S. obliquus , as well as the intrinsic rate of population increase of the rotifers cultured at 4.0 × 10 6 cells·mL − 1 of S. obliquus . Among all the life history variables, generation time was the most sensitive to mercury pollution. Since algal levels chosen in the present study are much higher than those available in natural waters, except in eutrophic water bodies, the effects of mercury on survival, reproduction and population growth of the rotifers in natural waters may be more severe than those extrapolated from the present study.

MCM-41 was synthesized with a non-hydrothermal procedure and then used to assemble a series of supported H3PW12O40 (HPW) mesoporous catalysts. The optimization of the reaction conditions for LA esterification with ethanol, such as the reaction temperature, reaction time, the reactant molar ratio and the catalyst dosages was performed to maximize the conversion of LA over 25 wt% HPW/MCM-41 catalysts. The catalytic performance of the resultant HPW/MCM-41 catalysts was investigated. The results show that these catalysts retain the hexagonal phase of MCM-41 and the Keggin characteristic of HPW. Although their textural parameters decrease with increasing HPW loading, these catalysts still exhibit much higher specific surface area and pore volume (SBET ≥ 446 m2 g−1, VP ≥ 0.345 cm3 g−1) than that of HPW (SBET = 5 m2 g−1, VP = 0.010 cm3 g−1). LA conversion increases with increasing HPW loading and the value may reach up to 83.7 % over 45 wt% HPW/MCM-41 under the present conditions. The resultant ethyl levulinate is promising in reducing the consumption of petroleum-derived fossil fuels.

Let R be a commutative ring with $$1\in R$$ and $$R^{*}$$ be the multiplicative group of its units. In 1969, Nagell introduced the concept of an exceptional unit, namely a unit u such that $$1-u$$ is also a unit. Let $${\mathbb {Z}}_n$$ be the ring of residue classes modulo n. In this paper, given an integer $$k\ge 2$$ , we obtain an exact formula for the number of ways to represent each element of $$ \mathbb {Z}_n$$ as the sum of k exceptional units. This generalizes a recent result of J. W. Sander for the case $$k=2$$ .

This review summarizes the research on timber construction materials used in bridge construction. It focuses on the application of antiseptic treatments and the use of timber engineering materials in decks and bridges. This review also provides an overview on the future research and prospects of engineered timber materials.

We study the static equilibrium of a charged massive particle around a charged black hole, balanced by the Lorentz force. For a given black hole, the equilibrium surface is determined by the charge/mass ratio of the particle. By investigating a large class of charged black holes, we find that the equilibria can be stable, marginal or unstable. We focus on the unstable equilibria which signal chaotic motions and we obtain the corresponding Lyapunov exponents $\lambda$. We find that although $\lambda$ approaches universally the horizon surface gravity $\kappa$ when the equilibria are close to the horizon, the proposed chaotic motion bound $\lambda, Comment: Latex, 29 pages, 1 figure

A double-sided silicon strip detector (DSSD) with active area of $${48\, \hbox {mm}}\times {48\, \hbox {mm}}$$ and thickness of $${300\, \upmu \hbox {m}}$$ has been developed. Each side of DSSD consists of 48 strips, each with width of 0.9 mm and inter-strip separation of 0.1 mm. Electrical properties and detection performances including full depletion bias voltage, reverse leakage current, rise time, energy resolution and cross talk have been studied. At a bias of 80 V, leakage current in each strip is less than 15 nA, and rise time for alpha particle at 5157 keV is approximately 15 ns on both sides. Good energy resolutions have been achieved with 0.65–0.80% for the junction strips and 0.85–1.00% for the ohmic strips. The cross talk is found to be negligible on both sides. The overall good performance of DSSD indicates its readiness for various nuclear physics experiments.

Four complexes based on 2,4,5-tri(4-pyridyl)-imidazole (Htpim), such as [Co(Htpim)2(SO4)(H2O)]n (1), [Co(tpim)2(H2O)2]n (2), [Cu(Htpim)2(SO4)]n (3), and [Cu2(Htpim)(tpim)(NO3)3(DMAC)]n (4), have been synthesized and characterized. Different structures, including two similar 1D linear chains in 1 and 2, a 2D 44 layer in 3, and a 2D double layer {4.62}2{42.64.82.102}{62.8} network in 4, were attributed to different kinds and quantities of inorganic acids under the reaction condition. Hereinto, inorganic acid was not only used to adjust the pH value of the reaction system, but also to act as a coordination component in 1, 3, and 4. Moreover, thermal stabilities and luminescent properties of 1–4 were also investigated.

Soil profiles from 0 to 80 cm depth were collected at five typical zones (including permanently flooded floodplain (B), 1-year floodplain (O), 5-year floodplain (F), 10-year floodplain (T), and 100-year floodplain (H)) which are divided by different flooding frequencies along the direction penperdicular to the river channel in different floodplain wetlands of Xianghai National Nature Reserve of China. A 14-day incubation experiment was carried out at 25°C in the dark to reveal the effects of different flooding frequencies on nitrogen mineralization rates. Our results showed that nitrogen mineralization rates showed an alternative tend of “increasing and decreasing”in the soil profiles at five sampling zones except the 1-year floodplain and permanent floodplain. The nitrogen mineralization rates were lower in permanently flooded floodplain soils compared to another four floodplain wetlands with different flooding frequencies. Additionally, nitrogen mineralization rates were significantly correlated with electrical conductivity, total soluble salt, pH values and salinity.

The strawberry vein banding virus (SVBV) open reading frame (ORF) VI encodes a P6 protein known as the RNA silencing suppressor. This protein is known to form inclusion like granules of various sizes and accumulate in both the nuclei and the cytoplasm of SVBV-infected plant cells. In this study, we have determined that the P6 protein is the only trans-activator (TAV) encoded by SVBV, and can efficiently trans-activate the translation of downstream gfp mRNA in a bicistron derived from the SVBV. Furthermore, the P6 protein can trans-activate the expression of different bicistrons expressed by different caulimovirus promoters. The P6 protein encoded by SVBV from an infectious clone can also trans-activate the expression of bicistron. Through protein-protein interaction assays, we determined that the P6 protein could interact with the cell translation initiation factor FveIF3g of Fragaria vesca and co-localize with it in the nuclei of Nicotiana benthamiana cells. This interaction reduced the formation of P6 granules in cells and its trans-activation activity on translation.

The SiO/C composite materials were prepared via a solution route and subsequent thermal treatment. The effects of carbon source on the particle morphology of composite, the graphitization degree of carbon component and the electrochemical performance of the prepared SiO/C composites were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectrometer and electrochemical charge/discharge tests. The results reveal that the SiO/C composite synthesized with the epoxy resin as carbon source exhibits the higher graphitic degree and higher reversible specific capacity (~690 mAhg-1) and excellent cycling stability.

Spatial distribution characteristics of available phosphorus (AP) and total phosphorus (TP) in wetland soils withPhragmites australis,Suaeda salsaandTamarix chinnensiswere investigated and their influencing factors was also indentified using principal correspondence analysis for ordination in the Yellow River Delta of China. Our results showed that TP and AP contents in both sites withPhragmites australisandSuaeda salsa, and the horizontal distributions of AP content in three sites exhibited similar distribution characteristics to that of AP:TP ratios. Additionally, soil properties such as soil moisture, salinity, total nitrogen, total carbon and pH values were the important influencing factors of higher spatial variability of AP and TP.

Spatial variability of soil nitrogen and phosphorus in the Yellow River Delta was investigated using geostatistical method. Our results showed moderate variation in TN and TP and high variations in NH4+-N and AP. The best semi-variogram model for each nutrient was identified. The model parameters suggested that the structure variance dominated the total variance of TN, TP and NH4+-N, while the spatial variability of AP was relatively random. The spatial variation scales of soil nitrogen and phosphorus are similar.

A dendritic cell (DC) networking system has become an attractive approach in cancer immunotherapy. Successful DC gene engineering depends on the development of transgene vectors. A cationic polymer, chitosan-linked polyethylenimine (PEI) (CP), possessing the advantages of both PEI and chitosan, has been applied in nonviral transfection of DCs. Physicochemical evaluation showed that CP/DNA complexes could form cationic nanoparticles. Compared with DCs transfected with commercial reagent, Lipofectamine2000, it showed higher transfection efficiency and lower cytotoxicity when DCs were transfected with CP/DNA complexes. A nuclear trafficking observation of CP/DNA complexes by a confocal laser scanning microscope further revealed that the CP could help DNA enter into the cytoplasm and finally into the nucleus of a DC. Finally, vaccination of DCs transfected with CP/DNA encoding gp100 slightly improved resistance to the B16BL6 melanoma challenge. This is the first report that CP polymer is used as a nonviral vector for DC gene delivery and DC vaccine. Essentially, these results might be helpful to design a promising nonviral vector for DC gene delivery.

PEI and chitosan are considered to be promising non-viral gene delivery vectors. To improve the transfection efficiency of chitosan, we linked chitosan with polyethylenimine (PEI, Mw = 1.8 kDa) by 1,1′-carbonyldiimidazole to form a complex. The composition, particle size, as well as the zeta potential of this chitosan-linked-PEI (CP) complex were measured. And the DNA binding ability, cytotoxicity, and gene transfection efficiency of CP complex were also investigated in cancer cells. In HepG2, A549 and HeLa cells, CP complex exhibited lower cytotoxicity as compared with PEI25KDa (Mw = 25 kDa), a positive control proved to be an efficient gene transfection polymer. Likewise, it showed good transfection efficiency in these cancer cell lines. Specifically, the long-term transfection efficiency of CP was higher than PEI25KDa as demonstrated by the in vitro cancer cell model. The confocal laser scanning microscopy data showed the time for CP to enter the nucleus was 4 h, which was longer than that of PEI25KDa but shorter than that of chitosan. Furthermore, CP complexes were used as a gene carrier to deliver the CCL22 gene into H22 cells. When these gene-altered cells were inoculated in mice, the tumor growth rate was significantly decreased, indicating the CP copolymer was a promising vector for the therapeutic gene delivery.

In this study, the cytotoxicity and transfection efficiency of using chitosan/DNA complex combined with poly(ethylenimine) (PEI) were investigated. The combination of PEI with the chitosan/DNA complex markedly enhanced the gene expression of HeLa cells to 1000-fold of that induced by chitosan alone. PEI's cytotoxicity was considerably decreased upon combination with the chitosan/DNA complex. Furthermore, the PEI/chitosan/DNA could maintain the gene expression efficiency in the presence of serum.

The spatially explicit model of leaf litter can help to understand its dispersal process, which is very important to predict the distribution pattern of leaves on the surface of the earth. In this paper, the spatially explicit model of leaf litter was developed for 20 tree species using litter trap data from the mapped forest plot in an evergreen broad-leaved forest in Tiantong, Zhejiang Pro- vince, eastern China. Applicability of the model was analyzed. The model assumed an allometric equation between diameter at breast height (DBH) and leaf litter amount, and the leaf litter declined exponentially with the distance. Model parameters were estimated by the maximum likelihood method. Results showed that the predicted and measured leaf litter amounts were significantly correlated, but the prediction accuracies varied widely for the different tree species, averaging at 49.3% and ranging from 16.0% and 74.0%. Model qualities of tree species significantly correlated with the standard deviations of the leaf litter amount per trap, DBH of the tree species and the average leaf dry mass of tree species. There were several ways to improve the forecast precision of the model, such as installing the litterfall traps according to the distribution of the tree to cover the different classes of the DBH and distance apart from the parent trees, determining the optimal dispersal function of each tree species, and optimizing the existing dispersal function.

A dendritic cell (DC) networking system has become an attractive approach in cancer immunotherapy. Successful DC gene engineering depends on the development of transgene vectors. A cationic polymer, chitosan-linked polyethylenimine (PEI) (CP), possessing the advantages of both PEI and chitosan, has been applied in nonviral transfection of DCs. Physicochemical evaluation showed that CP/DNA complexes could form cationic nanoparticles. Compared with DCs transfected with commercial reagent, Lipofectamine2000, it showed higher transfection efficiency and lower cytotoxicity when DCs were transfected with CP/DNA complexes. A nuclear trafficking observation of CP/DNA complexes by a confocal laser scanning microscope further revealed that the CP could help DNA enter into the cytoplasm and finally into the nucleus of a DC. Finally, vaccination of DCs transfected with CP/DNA encoding gp100 slightly improved resistance to the B16BL6 melanoma challenge. This is the first report that CP polymer is used as a nonviral vector for DC gene delivery and DC vaccine. Essentially, these results might be helpful to design a promising nonviral vector for DC gene delivery.

For designing a complex vector that has the advantages of both polyethylenimine (PEI) and chitosan for gene delivery, a PEI/chitosan/DNA complex was constructed at various N/P ratios (the ratios of moles of the amine groups of cationic polymers to those of the phosphate ones of DNA) and both the cytotoxicity and the transfection efficiency of the vector were evaluated. The results demonstrated that the chitosan/DNA binding degree was depended on the N/P ratio. The mean size of the complex vector was between 100 nm and 150 nm. Compared with PEI/DNA, the complex vector (PEI/chitosan/DNA with chitosan/DNA N/P=4, PEI/DNA N/P=10) appeared to have low cytotoxicity, which maintained the cell survival rate at greater than 80%, and showed higher transfection efficiency of nearly 1000 fold compared with that using chitosan/DNA alone. Furthermore, the expression efficiency of the complex vector carrying enhanced green fluorescent protein was not inhibited in the presence of serum in both HeLa cells and A549 cells. The PEI/chitosan complex may be a promising gene carrier that has high transfection efficiency as well as low cytotoxicity.

Qing-Qing Zhao,1,2 Yu-Lan Hu,1 Yang Zhou,3 Ni Li,1 Min Han,1 Gu-Ping Tang,4 Feng Qiu,2 Yasuhiko Tabata,5 Jian-Qing Gao,11Institute of Pharmaceutics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China; 2Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China; 3Institute of Biochemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA; 4Institute of Chemical Biology and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China; 5Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, JapanBackground: The success of gene transfection is largely dependent on the development of a vehicle or vector that can efficiently deliver a gene to cells with minimal toxicity.Methods: A liver cancer-targeted specific peptide (FQHPSF sequence) was successfully synthesized and linked with chitosan-linked polyethylenimine (CP) to form a new targeted gene delivery vector called CPT (CP/peptide). The structure of CPT was confirmed by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and ultraviolet spectrophotometry. The particle size of CPT/DNA complexes was measured using laser diffraction spectrometry and the cytotoxicity of the copolymer was evaluated by methylthiazol tetrazolium method. The transfection efficiency evaluation of the CP copolymer was performed using luciferase activity assay. Cellular internalization of the CP/DNA complex was observed under confocal laser scanning microscopy. The targeting specificity of the polymer coupled to peptide was measured by competitive inhibition transfection study. The liver targeting specificity of the CPT copolymer in vivo was demonstrated by combining the copolymer with a therapeutic gene, interleukin-12, and assessed by its abilities in suppressing the growth of ascites tumor in mouse model.Results: The results showed that the liver cancer-targeted specific peptide was successfully synthesized and linked with CP to form a new targeted gene delivery vector called CPT. The composition of CPT was confirmed and the vector showed low cytotoxicity and strong targeting specificity to liver tumors in vitro. The in vivo study results showed that interleukin-12 delivered by the new gene vector CPT/DNA significantly enhanced the antitumor effect on ascites tumor-bearing imprinting control region mice as compared with polyethylenimine (25 kDa), CP, and other controls, which further demonstrate the targeting specificity of the new synthesized polymer.Conclusion: The synthesized CPT copolymer was proven to be an effective liver cancer-targeted vector for therapeutic gene delivery, which could be a potential candidate for targeted cancer gene therapy.Keywords: targeting, peptide, polyethylenimine, chitosan, antitumor