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The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety of carbohydrate intake 2 hours before surgery in elderly patients undergoing free flap surgery for oral cancer. Elderly patients undergoing free flap surgery between September 2019 and January 2021 were randomly divided into control (n = 43) and intervention (n = 43) groups. Control group patients fasted for 6 hours and were forbidden from drinking water for 4 hours before surgery. Intervention group patients fasted for 6 hours and were forbidden from drinking after the oral administration of 5 ml/kg carbohydrate (≤400 ml) 2 hours before surgery. The main outcome measures were aspiration, fasting blood glucose level, insulin concentration, insulin resistance index (fasting at admission, prior to anaesthesia induction, immediately after surgery, and at 6 a.m. on postoperative days 1 and 2), and comfort before and after surgery. No aspiration occurred in any of the patients during anaesthesia. There were significant differences in fasting blood glucose, insulin concentration, and insulin resistance index between the control and intervention groups prior to anaesthesia induction, immediately after surgery, and on day 1 after surgery (P < 0.01). Thirst (P = 0.001) and hunger (P = 0.003) differed significantly between the two groups prior to anaesthesia induction. The intake of oral carbohydrate 2 hours before surgery was both safe and effective for elderly patients with oral cancer undergoing free flap surgery and could relieve the physiological stress response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A self-assembled three-dimensional (3-D) MoS2 microsphere-based memristor with a favorable ON/OFF resistance ratio of ~104, endurance, and retention time is demonstrated at room temperature. The formation and rupture of a localized Ag metallic filament, establishment and destruction of a boundary-based hopping path, and charge trapping and detrapping from the space charge region co-contribute to the bipolar resistive switching memory behaviours observed in the device of Ag/MoS2/ITO. This work may give insight into the mechanism of the resistive switching memory behaviours of a device with a 3-D micro-scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The elastic and structural properties of nanolaminate Zr2InC are studied by first-principles, and it is shown that, for any used modes, including the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and localized density approximation, there always exists an ultraincompressibility along c axis between 70 GPa and 400 GPa. Such anomalous behavior is originated from the slowdown of core-valence charge transfer. The rapid shift of Zr atom along c axis also contributed much to the ultraincompressibility as it is greatly reduced once the Zr atom shift suspends along c axis above about 400 GPa. Both the elastic constants and the phononic vibrational frequencies investigations confirmed the structural unstable simultaneously. The Poisson's ratio investigations observed a higher ionic or weaker covalent contribution in interatomic bonding and the degree of ionicity increases with pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Tile-grey plumage is a unique and rare feather type of local chicken breeds in China, but its genetic mechanism and corresponding genes remain unknown. 2. In order to identify the genetic basis and molecular characteristics of tile-grey plumage, this experiment investigated variations of melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene in Yunnan Piao chickens with typical tile-grey plumage characteristics in contrast with three Yunnan local breeds as well as two standard breeds with different plumage colour, and analysed the association between genic variation and tile-grey plumage. 3. Through sequencing and comparison of the entire coding region of the MC1R gene, a total of 10 SNP loci were detected, of which eight were non-synonymous mutations that cause amino acid changes. The gene frequency and genotype frequency of the MC1R mutation sites in different breeds and different plumage colour groups revealed that C69T, T212C and A274G were significantly associated with tile-grey plumage. Eighteen haplotypes of the MC1R gene were constructed based on 10 nucleotide variations and eight amino acid variations. Haplotype distribution and the median joining network in breeds and plumage colour groups revealed a main haplotype (hap2) for tile-grey plumage. Hap2 is unique to the tile-grey feather of Piao chicken, and the individuals carrying this haplotype account for 62.96% of the whole tile-grey chicken. 4. The results of this study are of significance for further analysis of the molecular basis of tile-grey plumage and the selective breeding of tile-grey plumage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To provide biomarkers related to the radiation response of patients to avoid unnecessary side effects on those who were not sensitive to radiotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In the present study, we compared the different four proteins (PDIA3, Vimentin, Galectin3, Dhe3) patterns in rectal tumor tissue before and after radiation therapy by using 2-D PAGE, mass spectrometry, and bioinformatics analysis. RESULTS: The protein level of Galectin3 and PDIA3 were downregulated in rectal cancer patients before and after radiotherapy (1.42 folds); while Dhe3 protein and Vimentin were upregulated (1-2 folds), and we also revealed Vimentin as its role in the negative regulation of the wellknown transcription factor ATF4. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that four candidate proteins, including PIDA3, Galectin3, Dhe3, and Vimentin, might be the potential biomarkers in the identification of radiation response in rectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermal behavior of aluminum nanoparticles reacting with propylene oxide was investigated in normal incident shock waves. Their reactive temperature, which is about 2705±150 K, was experimentally determined by the emission strength of AlO. The reactive products were evaluated by x-ray diffraction, which shows that several different phases of Al2O3 are produced in different temperature regions. The scanning electron microscopy image of the reactive products shows that some holes, which were produced in the process of aluminum nanoparticles violently reacting with suboxides of aluminum, are found on the surface of the products. The data of transmission electron microscopy indicate that the grain diameters of the products were within the range of 20–90 nm. The geometry of propylene oxide was calculated and optimized using the Rb31yp function and the 6–311+g(d,p) basis set. The calculated results show that the diameter of the molecule is about 0.435 nm. The process of vaporizing and condensing of propylene oxide was investigated by electron microscopy, and the results show that the average drop diameter is 4.03 μm at t=70 s and then is 2.06 μm at t=120 s. It suggests that the average drop diameters tend to range from several nanometers to tens of nanometers, which is very close to the diameter of aluminum nanoparticles (average of 70 nm). Thus, we may consider them to react with each other in the gas phase in normal incident shock waves in the experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Cell autophagy reduces the sensitivity of cancer cells to therapeutic reagents in various types of human cancer. Therefore, the aim of our study was to use human colorectal cancer HCT116 cells to explore whether inhibition of autophagy by 3-Methyladenine (3-MA, an autophagy inhibitor) is able to enhance hypoxia-induced apoptosis in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHODS: HCT116 cells were treated with 3-MA, hypoxia, or 3-MA plus hypoxia, and the autophagy, apoptosis and proliferation of the HCT116 cells were investigated. Western blot analysis was used to detect autophagy specificity protein microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3) expression. Effects on apoptosis were evaluated by using flow cytometry (JC-1 staining to measure mitochondrial membrane potential) and annexin V-propidium iodide (PI) staining. RESULTS: The results showed that the treatment of HCT116 cells in vitro with hypoxia alone increased autophagy as well as apoptosis, whereas combination treatment with 3-MA and hypoxia markedly inhibited hypoxia-induced autophagy, but increased hypoxia-induced cell apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: Autophagy might play a role as a self-defense mechanism in hypoxia-treated colon cancer cells, and its inhibition could be a promising strategy for the adjuvant chemotherapy of colon cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hot spots induced by lower hybrid wave in experimental advanced superconducting tokamak tokamak have caused high performance experiment disruption and serious damages to the guard limiters. Experimental and theoretical analyses have been carried out to study its physical mechanism. Plasma density scan experiments indicate that the wall temperature within the hot spots enhanced by a factor of 5 and increases with the plasma density near the antenna. A lower hybrid current drive (LHCD)-only density climb experiment shows that the carbon impurity decreases to a minimum value at certain plasma density and then increases with the line averaged plasma density. A model has been developed to explain the mechanism of sputtering of graphite tiles due to hot spots as the plasma density near the LHCD antenna and the time increases. A theoretical scaling of the heat flux driven by LHCD is also presented and is consistent with the experimental scaling in the Tore Supra tokamak. The simulation results show that the total sputtering flux density has a minimum at a certain plasma density and gradually increases as the plasma density increases or decreases away from the minimum value, and the increase in parallel heat flux near the antenna would enhance the sputtering flux density. The sputtering flux density trend is qualitatively consistent with the density scan experiments. The simulated temporal evolution of sputtered flux implies that the chemical sputtering could be a candidate for the carbon impurity explosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common types of cancer worldwide. Emerging evidence has verified that Rab1A plays an oncogenic role in several human malignancies including breast cancer, lung cancer, and hepatocellular carcinomas. However, the clinical significance and prognostic impact of Rab1A in CRC is still unclear. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We initiated our investigation by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis to confirm Rab1A expression in CRC tissues. Meanwhile, the correlation of Rab1A expression and clinicopathologic features, as well as outcome in CRC patients, were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: I n t he i ssue, R ab1A i s o verexpressed in CRC tissues compared with matched noncancerous tissues. Meanwhile, high Rab1A expression was significantly associated with the TNM stage, lymph node metastasis, and peritoneal metastasis. In addition, multivariate analyses identified Rab1A expression and TNM stage as independent predictors for CRC patients. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with high Rab1A expression had a significantly worse survival time than those with low Rab1A expression, which especially affected the survival in CRC patients with advanced stage. Spearman analysis suggested that there was a positive relationship between Rab1A expression and preoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) for CRC patients. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that Rab1A is an important diagnostic marker for CRC, and Rab1A can be used as a valuable biomarker for prognosis as well as peritoneal metastasis in CRC patients. Rab1A may prove to be clinically useful for developing a new therapeutic target of CRC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recombination property of nitrogen (N)-related acceptor-bound states in ZnO has been investigated by photoluminescence (PL), time-resolved PL, and selective PL. Several possible recombination processes were discussed by analyzing the relaxation and recombination properties under large Coulomb interaction. It is strongly suggested that bound exciton emission dominates the recombination process related to the N acceptor. The recombination lifetime is 750 ps and the binding energy is 67 meV for N-acceptor-bound exciton at low temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A three-dimensional full-annulus computational model for aerodynamic damping prediction based on energy method is demonstrated by the consideration of a transonic rotor which is designed for experimental research of flutter to improve understanding the influence of frequency mistuning and inter-blade phase angle mistuning on aeroelastic stability of transonic compressor. Each individual blade is capable of vibration with its own independent frequency and phase angle, thus modeling a full-annulus rotor with arbitrary mistuned blades. The numerical analyses of alternate, random, linear frequency mistuning, and random inter-blade phase angle mistuning are performed in detail. The studies of tuned rotor show that the aerodynamic damping for the blade first bending mode is most sensitive to inter-blade phase angle. Further investigations on various frequency mistuning and inter-blade phase angle mistuning indicate that inter-blade phase angle mistuning has almost no effect on average aerodynamic damping of rotor, while frequency mistuning significantly changes it. Especially, the aerodynamic damping is about 7 to 11 times at the least stable conditions of the study rotor. Furthermore, the divergence of individual blade aerodynamic damping enlarges due to both frequency and inter-blade phase angle mistuning. The individual blade aerodynamic damping for frequency mistuned blade is affected significantly by the blade local mistuned pattern and mistuning amount. Even more remarkable, the local instability of blade is induced by inter-blade phase angle mistuning at some case. It is beneficial to improve understanding the blade response and onset time differences of flutter in turbomachinery flutter problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E3 ubiquitin ligases are a large family of proteins that catalyse the ubiquitination of many proteins for degradation by the 26S proteasome. E3 ubiquitin ligases play pivotal roles in the process of insulin resistance and diabetes. In this review, we summarize the currently available studies to analyse the potential role of E3 ubiquitin ligases in the development of insulin resistance. We propose two mechanisms by which E3 ubiquitin ligases can affect the process of insulin resistance. First, E3 ubiquitin ligases directly degrade the insulin receptor, insulin receptor substrate and other key insulin signalling molecules via the UPS. Second, E3 ubiquitin ligases indirectly regulate insulin signalling by regulating pro-inflammatory mediators that are involved in the regulation of insulin signalling molecules, such as tumour necrosis factor-α, interleukin ( IL)-6, IL-4, IL-13, IL-1β, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and hypoxia-inducible factor 1α. Determining the mechanism by which E3 ubiquitin ligases affect the development of insulin resistance can identify a novel strategy to protect against insulin resistance and diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chen, L.-Q., and X.-D. Yang. Stability in parametric resonance of axially moving viscoelastic beams with timedependent speed. Journal of Sound and Vibration (United Kingdom) 284(3-5):879-891, June 21, 2005 (www.idealibrary. com). [...]

The feasibility of alleviating burst release of electrospun bead-on-string nanofiber scaffolds loaded with protein particles was evaluated, including an investigation of the influence of the beads number on the release profile. Bovine serum albumin–loaded dextran particles were used as the model drug and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) as the polymer to fabricate the bead-on-string nanofiber scaffolds by electrospinning. Both the bead structure and the distribution of the particles in the beads were examined by scanning electron, transmission electron, and fluorescence microscopy. The results of fluorescence microscopy suggested that the particles were well encapsulated by the beads of the fibers. In vitro release tests showed that a more sustainable release profile with less initial burst release could be obtained from the bead-on-string fibers than from smooth fibers with uniform diameter. In addition, when the number of the forming beads was not numerous enough to encapsulate all the particles in the suspensions, the release performance worsened because the surplus particles were not properly encapsulated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, a two-dimensional damage model and its numerical solution are presented by means of fast Fourier transforms for anisotropic composite. First, the constitutive relation with damage variable is given from strain energy density based on the two-dimensional constitutive relation of anisotropic composites. Second, the crack growth principle is given according to maximum K criterion. Finally, a numerical solution can be obtained using the fast Fourier transforms method. Numerical examples of carbon-fibre unidirectional reinforced resin matrix composite are introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A liquid material identification system based on electrical capacitance tomography technique is proposed. The structure of the sensor is discussed, and the parameters of designed capacitance tomography technique sensor are listed. The key parameters affecting the sensor performance and sensitivities are analysed. The performances of the sensor are simulated by COMSOL, and the practical performance of the capacitance tomography technique sensor is demonstrated in the experiments. The image reconstruction results are given which indicate the feasibility of the capacitance tomography technique system applied in liquid material identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]