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This study aimed to analyze potential ethnic disparities in the dose–exposure–response relationships of trilaciclib, a first-in-class intravenous cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor for treating chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC). This investigation focused on characterizing these relationships in both Chinese and non-Chinese patients to further refine the dosing regimen for trilaciclib in Chinese patients with ES-SCLC. Population pharmacokinetic (PopPK) and exposure–response (E–R) analyses were conducted using pooled data from four randomized phase 2/3 trials involving Chinese and non-Chinese patients with ES-SCLC. PopPK analysis revealed that trilaciclib clearance in Chinese patients was approximately 17% higher than that in non-Chinese patients with ES-SCLC. Sex and body surface area influenced trilaciclib pharmacokinetics in both populations but did not exert a significant clinical impact. E–R analysis demonstrated that trilaciclib exposure increased with a dosage escalation from 200 to 280 mg/m2, without notable changes in myeloprotective or antitumor efficacy. However, the incidence of infusion site reactions, headaches, and phlebitis/thrombophlebitis rose with increasing trilaciclib exposure in both Chinese and non-Chinese patients with ES-SCLC. These findings suggest no substantial ethnic disparities in the dose–exposure–response relationship between Chinese and non-Chinese patients. They support the adoption of a 240-mg/m2intravenous 3-day or 5-day dosing regimen for trilaciclib in Chinese patients with ES-SCLC.

ABSTRACTBackgroundConsiderable interindividual variability for the pharmacokinetics of caffeine in preterm infants has been demonstrated, emphasizing the importance of personalized dosing. This study aimed to develop and apply a repository of currently published population pharmacokinetic (PopPK) models of caffeine in preterm infants to facilitate model-informed precision dosing (MIPD).Research design and methodsLiterature search was conducted using PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Relevant publications were screened, and their quality was assessed. PopPK models were reestablished to develop the model repository. Covariate effects were evaluated and the concentration–time profiles were simulated. An online simulation and calculation tool was developed as an instance.ResultsTwelve PopPK models were finally included in the repository. Preterm infants’ age and body size, especially the postnatal age and current weight, were identified as the most clinically critical covariates. Simulated blood concentration–time profiles across these models were comparable. Caffeine citrate-dose regimen should be adjusted according to the age and body size of preterm infants. The developed online tool can be used to facilitate clinical decision-making.ConclusionsThe first developed repository of PopPK models for caffeine in preterm infants has a wide range of potential applications in the MIPD of caffeine.

Background and Objectives: Tacrolimus is a widely used immunosuppressive agent with narrow therapeutic window. Nowadays, tacrolimus has gained acceptance as a therapeutic option in myasthenia gravis (MG) treament, however, little is known about its pharmacokinetic characteristics in MG population. In this study, we aimed to investigate the population pharmacokinetic (PopPK) of tacrolimus in patients with MG and to develop model-informed dosing regimens. Methods: Trough concentrations of tacrolimus (267 measurements) and cytochrome P450 (CYP) genotypes were determined in 97 Chinese adults. The non-linear mixed-effects model was used for PopPK modeling. Monte Carlo simulations based on the established model were employed to design dosing regimens. Results: The PopPK model was described using a one-compartment model with first-order absorption and elimination. The mean apparent clearance (CL/F) of tacrolimus was 17.1 L/h, with a between-subject variability of 20.1%. Covariate screening of demographic characteristics, blood test results, co-medications, and CYP3A5*3or CYP3A4*1Gpolymorphisms showed that the CYP3A5*3genotype and co-administration of a Wuzhi capsule significantly affected tacrolimus CL/F. Conclusions: For patients with the CYP3A5*3*3allele, the required tacrolimus dose for 75% of subjects to achieve target trough concentrations of 4.8–15 ng/mL was 2 mg every 12 h (q12h). For patients with the CYP3A5*1*1allele, the required dose was 2 mg tacrolimus q12h with a Wuzhi capsule, and for patients with the CYP3A5*1*3allele, the required dose was 3 mg of tacrolimus q12h or 4 mg q24h co-administered with a Wuzhi capsule. This model could be employed to optimize individualized therapies for patients with MG.

•All published linezolid popPK models showed an unsatisfactory predictability.•Bayesian forecasting significantly enhanced the predictability of the models.•TDM was necessary for optimization of linezolid therapy in clinical practice.

ABSTRACTBackgroundSIM0295, a novel inhibitor of human uric acid transporter 1 (hURAT1), is used to treat patients with gout and hyperuricemia. This study aimed to develop population pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (popPK/PD) models of SIM0295 and explore potential covariates to inform clinical drug development.Research design and methodsData were obtained from four phase I studies conducted in healthy Korean and Chinese subjects and two phase II studies conducted in Korean patients with gout and hyperuricemia. The popPK/PD model of SIM0295 was developed using nonlinear mixed effects modeling.ResultsSIM0295 pharmacokinetics was described using a two-compartment model with the absorption of four transit compartments and first-order elimination. PK parameters were normalized to weight via allometric scaling. Food was identified as a factor significantly affecting the absorption rate, with no clinical relevance. The sigmoid Emaxmodel with a semi-mechanism of inhibition of serum uric acid (sUA) reabsorption was used to describe the exposure-response relationship. Additionally, Monte Carlo simulations demonstrated that approimately 9 mg/day of SIM0295 for 7 days could achieve the maximum decrease in sUA.ConclusionThe established popPK/PD model characterized the dose-exposure-response relationship for SIM0295 in healthy subjects and patients with gout and hyperuricemia and could be used to inform the drug development.

Active matter is characterized by out-of-equilibrium behaviors, offering an attractive, alternative route for revolutionizing disease diagnostics and therapy. A better understanding of how active matter interacts with cell membranes is critical to elucidating the underlying physical mechanisms and broadening the potential biomedical applications. This review provides a conceptual framework on the physiochemical mechanisms underlying active matter-biomembrane interactions. We briefly introduce the physical models of active matter and lipid membranes, and summarize the typical phenomena emerging from various active matter, including artificial active particles, cellular cytoskeletons, bacteria, and membrane proteins. Moreover, the remaining challenges and future perspectives of such non-equilibrium systems in living organisms are discussed. The findings and fundamental principles discussed in this review shed light on the rational design of activity-mediated cellular interaction, and could trigger better strategies to design and develop novel functional systems and materials toward advantageous biomedical applications.

The system consists of three modules: data acquisition, feature extraction, and online prediction. The data acquisition module obtains the value of process variables from the sensor and transfers the acquired variables to the database via PLC. The feature extraction module is designed to filter the collected process data. In this module, multiple related variables are selected as the preselected variables. Then the PLS method is used to reduce the dimension of the preselected variables to obtain the feature variables with a high correlation with the predicted variables. Finally, the online prediction module based on a cascade neural network predicts membrane fouling, membrane integrity, and membrane life for clean decisions.

Meal timings and content related to gallbladder emptying in the enterohepatic circulation are important for explaining the high variability in mycophenolic acid exposure. The limited sampling strategy (LSS) was established to estimate the area under the plasma concentration–time curve from time 0 to 12 hours (AUC0‐12h) of mycophenolic acid in therapeutic drug monitoring. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of meal timings and content on the AUC0‐12hof mycophenolic acid and to assess the influence of meals on LSS. A mycophenolic acid pharmacokinetic model with a mechanism‐based enterohepatic circulation process was employed to perform simulations under various assumed meal scenarios. The simulations were compared to evaluate the effect of meal timings and meal content on mycophenolic acid AUC0‐12h. Monte Carlo simulations were performed using the meal parameter with the greatest impact on mycophenolic acid AUC0‐12has a variable. The corresponding LSS equations were established, and the predictive performance was assessed. Both the meal timings and meal content affected the mycophenolic acid AUC0‐12h, and the postdose fasting period had the greatest impact. The predictive performance of the LSS is sensitive to the postdose fasting period. Therefore, meal timings may improve the estimation of mycophenolic acid AUC0‐12hand the efficacy of therapeutic drug monitoring.

Rivaroxaban, a direct factor Xa inhibitor, is widely used for stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). The aim of this study was to conduct a population pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) analysis of rivaroxaban in Chinese patients with NVAF to assess ethnic differences and provide model-based precision dosing. A total of 256 rivaroxaban plasma concentrations and 244 prothrombin time (PT) measurements were obtained from 195 Chinese NVAF patients from a prospective clinical trial. The population PK-PD model was developed using nonlinear mixed effects modeling (NONMEM) software. The PK of rivaroxaban was adequately described using a one-compartment model with first-order adsorption and elimination. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was identified as a major covariate for apparent clearance. No single nucleotide polymorphism was identified as a significant covariate. PT exhibited a linear relationship with rivaroxaban concentration. Total bilirubin (TBIL) and eGFR were identified as significant covariates for baseline PT. According to the Monte Carlo simulation, 15 mg for Chinese patients with eGFR ≥50 mL/min and normal liver function yielded an exposure comparable to 20 mg for Caucasian patients. Patients with moderately impaired renal function may require a lower dose of rivaroxaban to avoid overexposure. Moreover, there was an approximate 26% increase in PT levels in patients with TBIL of 34 μmol/L and eGFR of 30 mL/min, which could increase the risk of major bleeding. The established population PK-PD model could inform individualized dosing for Chinese NVAF patients who are administered rivaroxaban.

Almost a decade ago, the sudden rise of breast muscle defects in fast-growing commercial broiler breeds challenged the broiler production industry and meat scientists to address the issue of these novel muscle abnormalities. After that, a widespread hypothesis showing a correlation between high muscle yield and incidence of these muscle myopathies received much acceptance from the research community. Increased muscle hypertrophy and unbalanced growth of connective tissues lead to an inadequate blood supply that ultimately causes hypoxia in muscle fibers. Reduced blood vascular density in muscle fibers induces oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, leading to muscle fibrosis, lipidosis and myodegeneration. Along with physical changes, the myopathic muscles exhibit poor sensory properties, abnormal texture properties and a low nutritional profile. As these myopathies alter meat’s physical appearance, they have a negative impact on customer’s behavior and preference. A better production environment with proper dietary supplementation with balanced breeding strategies can minimize the incidence of muscle myopathies in broiler chicken. This review aims to address the underlying mechanism behind these myopathies and their impact on poultry meat quality, including nutritional value and consumer behavior. It describes the link between genetic and non-genetic elements influencing myopathies, along with the strategies to minimize the occurrence of breast muscle myopathies.

A low terahertz broadband tunable absorber was proposed, which composed of vanadium oxide (VO2) film and nematic liquid crystal layer. The simulation results show that the absorption is great than 90% in the frequency range of 0.458–1.1492 THz. The tuning absorber was realized by increasing the temperature to modulate the VO2transited into metal state. Since the dielectric constant of the nematic liquid crystal can be adjusted by bias voltage, without changing the intensity of absorption, however, a shift in the bandwidth was observed. In addition, the designed structure is insensitive to incident light polarization and still remained high absorption at 60°. The tunable broadband metamaterial absorber can be used for attenuator and energy harvesting.

Camrelizumab, a programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) inhibitor, has been approved for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma, nasopharyngeal cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. The aim of this study was to perform a population pharmacokinetic (PK) analysis of camrelizumab to quantify the impact of patient characteristics and to investigate the appropriateness of a flat dose in the dosing regimen. A total of 3092 camrelizumab concentrations from 133 patients in four clinical trials with advanced melanoma, relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma and other solid tumor types were analyzed using nonlinear mixed effects modeling. The PKs of camrelizumab were properly described using a two-compartment model with parallel linear and nonlinear clearance. Then, covariate model building was conducted using stepwise forward addition and backward elimination. The results showed that baseline albumin had significant effects on linear clearance, while actual body weight affected intercompartmental clearance. However, their impacts were limited, and no dose adjustments were required. The final model was further evaluated by goodness-of-fit plots, bootstrap procedures, and visual predictive checks and showed satisfactory model performance. Moreover, dosing regimens of 200 mg every 2 weeks and 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks provided similar exposure distributions by model-based Monte Carlo simulation. The population analyses demonstrated that patient characteristics have no clinically meaningful impact on the PKs of camrelizumab and present evidence for no advantage of either the flat dose or weight-based dose regimen for most patients with advanced solid tumors.

•AUCssof caspofungin in Chinese ICU patients was higher and CL and Vwere lower than in previous research.•Blood albumin and total bilirubin levels were factors affecting CL, and body weight was the only factor affecting Vof caspofungin among Chinese people with relatively low weight compared with other populations.•For C. albicans(MIC ≤ 0.06 mg/L) and C. glabrata(MIC ≤ 0.125 mg/L), a maintenance dose of 50 mg caspofungin achieved a high PTA for treating invasive fungal infections when the source was not intra-abdominal.•For C. parapsilosis, higher doses of caspofungin or alternative antifungals should be further studied when MIC > 0.03 mg/L.

Azilsartan (AZL), the active metabolite of azilsartan medoxomil, is the newest angiotensin receptor blocker that has been approved for the treatment of hypertension in 2012 in Japan. The present study aimed to evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetic properties of AZL in healthy Chinese subjects. We performed 2 phase 1 studies to investigate the pharmacokinetics and safety of AZL in healthy Chinese adults after a single dose (20 mg or 40 mg) or multiple doses of AZL (40 mg/d for 7 days; Study I) and after a single 40‐mg dose under the fasted and fed conditions (Study II). Noncompartmental analysis and nonlinear mixed‐effects modeling were used to analyze the pharmacokinetic properties of AZL. Twenty‐seven healthy volunteers (14 men and 13 women) aged 20‐32 years were enrolled and completed the study. During single dosing of AZL, the pharmacokinetics of AZL exhibited a linear profile between dosage and area under the concentration‐time curve. There is no AZL accumulation after multiple doses. Food had no effect on the pharmacokinetic characteristics of AZL. AZL concentrations were best fit with a 2‐compartment model, and the typical value of clearance was 1.63 L/h. Body weight had an impact on both the apparent clearance and peripheral volume of distribution. The pharmacokinetic parameters were consistent with previous studies in non‐Chinese subjects. Model‐based simulations indicated that a 45‐kg subject would have approximately double the AZL exposure of a 90‐kg subject. Whether the exposure difference has clinical significance needs to be confirmed in further studies among patients.

Delayed or missed doses are unavoidable in clinical practice and remain as a challenge that threatens a patient’s health and quality-of-life, especially in the pharmacotherapy of chronic disease treatment. Unfortunately, information or guidance concerning the management of delayed or missed doses is scarce, precluding clinicians or clinical pharmacologists from instructing patients in a precision dosing manner. It is therefore urgent to develop remedial strategies to inform patients of alternative dosing regimens in compensation for the loss of efficacy due to delayed or missed doses and minimize unintended clinical consequences. Studies aiming to establish remedial regimens have been conducted since the 1980s for oral contraceptives and antihypertensive agents, using the controlled substitution of placebos for active medications. However, it appeared to be unethical in many areas of pharmacotherapy due to deliberately discontinuing or restarting the medication. Alternatively, pharmacometric modeling and simulation offers an opportunity to investigate the effect of various non-adherence scenarios on pharmacokinetic profiles and establish the optimum remedial dosing regimen in a time-effective and systematical way. This review provides a general overview of procedures and strategies on how to develop remedial dosing regimens based on pharmacometric approaches through the scrutiny of case examples in the literature.

The present study aimed to evaluate the pharmacokinetic properties and antiplatelet aggregation activity of eptifibatide in healthy Chinese subjects. Eptifibatide (180 μg/kg) was administrated by 2 bolus injections 10 minutes apart, followed by a 2.0 μg/kg/min infusion for 24 hours. The eptifibatide pharmacokinetic and antiplatelet aggregation activities were evaluated using nonlinear mixed‐effects modeling and noncompartmental analysis. Safety assessments included adverse events, hematology, and biochemistry tests. Twelve Chinese healthy subjects were enrolled and completed the study. Steady‐state concentrations were achieved at 0.5 to 24 hours after dosing. The median time to maximum concentration was 13 minutes, and the mean terminal elimination half‐life was 148.19 minutes. The effective inhibition of platelet aggregation (<20% platelet aggregation) occurred by 3 minutes after starting dosing to 4 hours after termination of the infusion. Eptifibatide concentrations were fitted with a 3‐compartment model, and the typical value of clearance was 0.11 L/min, with no significant covariates found. Three mild adverse events were detected in the study. Eptifibatide displays high sensitivity and excellent tolerability in healthy Chinese subjects. The dosage of eptifibatide recommended on the label for whites can effectively inhibit platelet aggregation.

It is a challenge to invigorate tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes without causing immune-related adverse events, which also stands as a primary factor contributing to resistance against cancer immunotherapies. Interleukin (IL)-15 can potently promote expansion and activation of T cells, but its clinical use has been limited by dose-limiting toxicities. In this study, we develop a tumor-conditional IL-15 (pro-IL-15), which masks IL-15 with steric hindrance caused by Fc fragment and IL-15Rα-sushi domain. Upon reaching the tumor site, it can be cleaved by tumor-associated proteases to release an IL-15 superagonist, resulting in potent antitumor activities. Systemic delivery of pro-IL-15 demonstrates significantly reduced toxicity but uncompromised antitumor efficacy. Pro-IL-15 can yield better effectors and vitalize terminally exhausted CD8+T cells to overcome checkpoint blockade resistance. Moreover, pro-IL-15 promotes chemotaxis and activation of adoptive T cells, leading to eradication of advanced solid tumors and durable cures. Furthermore, pro-IL-15 shows promise for synergizing with other immunotherapies like IL-12 and oncolytic virus by improving the CD8/Treg ratio and interferon-γ levels, resulting in substantial regression of both local and metastatic cold tumors. Collectively, our results suggest that pro-IL-15 represents a compelling strategy for overcoming resistance to current immunotherapies while avoiding toxicities.

•The proposed model-informed remedial approach is superior to existing guidelines, minimizing the time spent outside the therapeutic window.•A web-based dashboard has been devised to offer remedial dosing regimen for managing delayed or missed dose of DOACs.

Semiconductor nanostructured Ge is a unique material of widespread technological applications, particularly in the field of microelectronics. New strategies for controllable growth and an understanding of the effects of Ge nanocrystals inducted by Au nanoparticles in Au/Ge bilayer films are of fundamental importance in the development of micro/nanodevices. After an extensive search in the published literature, it is found that the previous nanostructures are one-dimensional nanomaterials such as nanowires, nanorods, nanobelts/nanoribbons, and nanotubes, two-dimensional nanoscale thin films, or zero-dimensional nanoparticles, which all have integer dimensions. Herein, the noninteger dimensional Ge nanostructures, which are called nanofractals, were successfully assembled by high-vacuum thermal evaporation techniques. A widely applicable annealing route to produce Ge nanocrystals in the form of nanoparticles, nanorings, and nanofractals is presented in detail. To our surprise, we found that a Au/Ge bilayer film with an interesting nanofractal showed a nonlinear voltage–current behavior. This result suggested that the Au/Ge bilayer film may be a promising material to facilitate future design improvement of micro/nanodevices for microelectronic applications.

BiOCl is a promising photocatalyst, but due to its weak visible light absorption capacity and low photogenerated electron–hole pair separation rate, its practical application is limited to a certain extent. In this study, a novel double Z-scheme heterojunction UiO-66-NH2/BiOCl/Bi2S3catalyst was constructed to broaden the visible light response range and promote high photogenerated hole–electron separation of BiOCl. Its photocatalytic performance is evaluated by dissociating tetracycline (TC) and rhodamine B (RhB) in visible light. The optimal proportion of UiO-66-NH2/BiOCl/Bi2S3hybrids exhibits the best degradation efficiency of visible light illumination (∼93% in 120 min for TC and ∼98% in 60 min for RhB). The synergistic effect of a large visible light response range and the Z-scheme charge transfer mechanism ensure the excellent visible photocatalytic activity of UiO-66-NH2/BiOCl/Bi2S3. It is proven that h+and •O2–are the main active substances in the photocatalysis process by active substance capture experiments and electron spin resonance tests. The intermediates and degradation processes are analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. This study proves that the new UiO-66-NH2/BiOCl/Bi2S3photocatalyst has great application potential in the field of water pollution degradation and will provide a new idea for the optimization of BiOCl.

Aim:This study aimed to establish a population pharmacokinetic (PPK) model in Chinese patients with chronic myeloid leukemia, and to quantify the effects of pharmacogenetics on pharmacokinetic parameters of imatinib. Methods:A total of 229 plasma concentrations from 170 patients were analyzed. Nonlinear mixed effect model was used to establish the PPK model. Results:A one-compartment model with first-order absorption and first-order elimination adequately describes imatinib pharmacokinetics. Actual bodyweight shows slight effect on the estimated apparent clearance (CL/F) of imatinib in this study population. The final PPK model is: Ka(1/h) = 0.329; CL/F (l/h) = 9.25 × (actual bodyweight/70)0.228; V/F(l) = 222. Conclusion:Actual bodyweight has a slight effect on CL/F. Demographics, physiopathology and pharmacogenetics covariates have no significant effects on imatinib pharmacokinetics.

A series of new porous aromatic frameworks (PAA-VTMS) co-cured by diethynylbenzene (DEB) and vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMS) have been described. Thermally treated PAA-VTMS were also investigated. When the ratio of DEB to VTMS was 1:1 (PAA-VTMS-4), it showed characteristic pores with uniform diameter, confirmed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses. The surface area of PAA-VTMS-4 was up to 457 m2/g and its pore size was 7 nm, related to the hyper-cross-linked structure with plentiful benzene units. The co-cured PAA-VTMS samples whose DEB/VTMS ratios were higher or less than 1:1 showed low surface area. CO2uptake of PAA-VTMS-4 was 83 cm3/g at 0 °C and 72 cm3/g at 25 °C. The temperature of 5% weight loss of PAA-VTMS-4 was 388 °C in nitrogen and 346 °C in air. The surface area of the thermally treated sample (OPAA-VTMS-4) was decreased, but its CO2uptake was as high as 115 cm3/g at 0 °C and 105 cm3/g at 25 °C. The OPAA-VTMS-4 sample almost did not decompose in N2, and the temperature of its 5% weight loss was 450 °C in air. It showed that PAA-VTMS with its new porous aromatic framework can be used at high temperature.

Aim:To investigate the effects of SNPs in the cyclophilin A/calcineurin/nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFATs) pathway genes (PPIA, PPP3CB, PPP3R1, NFATC1and NFATC2) on cyclosporine (CsA) efficacy in renal transplant recipients. Materials & methods:Seventy-six tag SNPs were detected in 155 CsA-treated renal recipients with at least a 5-year follow-up. The associations of SNPs with acute rejection, nephrotoxicity, pneumonia and estimated glomerular filtration rate post transplant were explored. Results:NFATC1rs3894049 GC was a risk factor for acute rejection compared with CC carriers (p = 0.0005). NFATC1rs2280055 TT carriers had a more stable estimated glomerular filtration rate level than CC (p = 0.0004). Conclusion:Detecting NFATC1polymorphisms could help predict CsA efficacy in renal transplant patients.

Three-dimensional (3D) interconnected spherical graphene framework-decorated SnS nanoparticles (3D SnS@SG) is synthesized by self-assembly of graphene oxide nanosheets and positively charged polystyrene/SnO2nanospheres, followed by a controllable in situ sulfidation reaction during calcination. The SnS nanoparticles with diameters of ∼10–30 nm are anchored to the surface of the spherical graphene wall tightly and uniformly. Benefiting from the 3D interconnected spherical graphene framework and subtle SnS nanoparticles, the generated Li2S could keep in close contact with Sn to make possible the in situ conversion reaction SnS + 2Li++ 2e–↔ Sn + Li2S. As a result, the 3D SnS@SG as the anode material for lithium ion batteries shows a high initial Coulombic efficiency of 75.3%. Apart from the irreversible capacity loss of 3D spherical graphene, the initial Coulombic efficiency of SnS in the 3D SnS@SG composite is as high as 99.7%, demonstrating the almost complete reversibility of Li2S in this system. Furthermore, it also exhibits an excellent reversible capacity (800 mAh g–1after 100 cycles at 0.1 C and 527.1 mAh g–1after 300 cycles at 1 °C) and outstanding rate capability (380 mAh g–1at 5 °C).

Ozone is becoming a significant air pollutant in some regions, and VOCs are essential for ozone prediction as necessary ozone precursors. In this study, we proposed a recurrent neural network based on a double-stage attention mechanism model to predict ozone, selected an appropriate time series for prediction through the input attention and temporal attention mechanisms, and analyzed the cause of ozone generation according to the contribution of feature parameters. The experimental data show that our model had an RMSE of 7.71 µg/m3and a mean absolute error of 5.97 µg/m3for 1-h predictions. The DA-RNN model predicted ozone closer to observations than the other models. Based on the importance of the characteristics, we found that the ozone pollution in the Jinshan Industrial Zone mainly comes from the emissions of petrochemical enterprises, and the good generalization performance of the model is proved through testing multiple stations. Our experimental results demonstrate the validity and promising application of the DA-RNN model in predicting atmospheric pollutants and investigating their causes.

Abstract

Research on the laser ablation behavior of SiC ceramics has great significance for the improvement of their anti-laser ability as high-performance mirrors in space and lasers, or the laser surface micro-machining technology as electronic components in micro-electron mechanical systems (MEMS). In this work, the laser ablation of SiC ceramics has been performed by using laser pulses of 12 ns duration at 1064 nm. The laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) below 0.1 J/cm2was obtained by 1-on-1 mode and its damage morphology appeared in the form of “burning crater” with a clear boundary. Micro-Raman mapping technique was first introduced in our study on the laser ablation mechanisms of SiC surface by identifying physical and chemical changes between uninjured and laser-ablated areas. It has been concluded that during the ablation process, SiC surface mainly underwent decomposition to the elemental Si and C, accompanied by some transformation of crystal orientation. The oxidation of SiC also took place but only in small amount on the edges of target region, while there was no hint of SiO2in the center with higher energy density, maybe because of deficiency of O2atmosphere in the ablated area, elimination of SiO2by carbon at 1505 °C, or evaporating at 2230 °C.

Silicon nitride (Si3N4) ceramics with Y2O3-Al2O3 as sintering additives were prepared by pressureless sintering technology using two kinds of Si3N4 powders as raw materials. The particle size of Si3N4 powders ball-milled with various times were characterized and the effects of particle size on the densification behavior of Si3N4 ceramics were investigated. The relative density and microstructure of the sintered bodies at different sintering temperatures were determined. The experimental results show that the powders with longer milling time have finer particle size and the samples with fine particle display higher shrinkage-rate at lower sintering temperature than the one with coarse particle. By extending milling time, the density gap between the sintered ceramics using different Si3N4 powder become narrower. The main factor resulting in the difference of sintering densification behavior is the particle size of Si3N4 powders rather than metallic oxide impurity of raw powders.

Abstract

Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text.

Prussian blue and its analogs (PB/PBAs) are competitive candidates for cathode materials of rechargeable metal-ion batteries (monovalent metal such as Na and K and multivalent metal, e.g. Mg, Ca, Zn, and Al) due to their stable frame structures, tunable redox sites, and facile synthesis methods. This paper comprehensively reviews the research progress of PB/PBAs-based cathode materials of metal-ion batteries in terms of their synthesis, structural/composition characteristics, electrochemical performance, functional mechanisms, applications and recycling in electrical energy storage. For facilitating the research and development, some technical challenges are analyzed and future research directions are also proposed for overcoming the challenges toward their practical applications.

Upconversion nanocrystals have many advantages over other fluorescent materials. However, their upconversion luminescence intensities are not desirable, limiting their applications for highly sensitive detection. Therefore, it is really important to enhance upconversion luminescent intensities of upconversion nanocrystals. In the present study, a novel Ag core and upconversion nanocrystal shell based nanocomposite Ag@SiO2@Lu2O3:Gd/Yb/Er for metal-enhanced upconversion luminescence was fabricated successfully, and its morphology, crystalline phase, composition, optical property, and cell imaging application were investigated. It was found that a maximum upconversion luminescence enhancement of 30-fold was obtained in comparison with the control without a silver core, and the nanocomposite exhibited bright upconversion luminescence when it was used for imaging with HeLa cells. This enhancement potentially increases the overall upconversion nanocrystal detectability, endowing the nanocomposite with a potential capability for highly sensitive biological, medical, and optical detection.

Based on our observations made in our previous work that nitrogen (N)/oxygen (O) dual dopant porous hollow carbon nanocapsules (N/O-CNCs) have state-of-the-art lithium storage and sodium storage capabilities, we further studied their potassium storage performance in this study. It was found that for potassium storage, 259 mA h g−1at 0.05 A g−1can be retained up to 100 cycles, and 107 mA h g−1at 1 A g−1can be retained after 100 cycles. Even at 2 A g−1, an excellent rate capability of 73.4 mA h g−1in K-ion batteries (KIBs) was delivered. A capacitive charge–storage mechanism dominated the potassium storage of N/O-CNCs at high rates during the potassiation/depotassiation process through kinetics analysis, ensuring a remarkable rate performance.

Abstract

Abstract

The aims of this study were to determine the population pharmacokinetics of tacrolimus in Chinese adult liver-transplant recipients and to identify factors that may account for this variability.

In this paper, a leaf-like porous CuO–graphene nanostructure is synthesized by a hydrothermal method. The as-prepared composite is characterized using XRD, Raman, SEM, TEM and nitrogen adsorption–desorption. The growth mechanism is discussed by monitoring the early growth stages. It is shown that the CuO nanoleaves are formed through oriented attachment of tiny Cu(OH)2nanowires. Electrochemical characterization demonstrates that the leaf-like CuO–graphene are capable of delivering specific capacitances of 331.9 and 305 F g−1at current densities of 0.6 and 2 A g−1, respectively. A capacity retention of 95.1% can be maintained after 1000 continuous charge–discharge cycles, which may be attributed to the improvement of electrical contact by graphene and mechanical stability by the layer-by-layer structure. The method provides a facile and straightforward approach to synthesize CuO nanosheets on graphene and may be readily extended to the preparation of other classes of hybrids based on graphene sheets for technological applications.

Tin oxide is a unique material of widespread technological applications, particularly in the field of strategic functional materials. Versatile strategies for growth of tin dioxide nanocrystals are of fundamental importance in the development of micro/nanodevices. After an extensive search of the published literature, it is found that previous nanocrystals were assembled either by aqueous synthesis, hydrothermal, and pyrolysis or by epitaxial approaches through the gas phase. Herein, tin dioxide nanocrystals prepared by sol–gel method are successfully radiated by an electron accelerator. The microstructure evolution of tin dioxide nanocrystals is evaluated by X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, Raman, thermogravimetric-differential scanning calorimetry, and automated surface area analysis. It is surprisingly found that the crystallinity of the irradiated tin dioxide powders is better than the unirradiated one. The clear lattice fringes of quantum dots are investigated in detail using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The sizes of tin dioxide quantum dots are localized in the range of 2–4 nm. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area analysis indicates that the specific surface area of the irradiated sample is much higher, which is almost doubled at 1400 kGy with an irradiation rate of 8 mA/s and irradiation time of 50 s. Raman experiments show two new peaks at 538 and 680 cm–1.

(+)-alpha-phenylglycine are significant contaminants at pharmaceutical intermediates production. To study processes for the destruction of contaminant L(+)-alpha-phenylglycine in acid aqueous solution we have investigated the transient species using both laser flash photolysis. The OH· reaction with L(+)-alpha-phenylglycine process was investigated and formed polymer. Furthermore, the results of steady-state analysis suggested that L(+)-alpha-phenylglycine removal was found to be more efficient with increasing applied dose. L(+)-alpha-phenylglycine, decreased by 44.50%, using a dose of 14kGy.

In this paper, the TiO2nanotubes were synthesized by hydrothermal method using a 10mol/L NaOH aqueous solution at 150°C. The structure of prepared materials was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET). The prepared TiO2nanotubes were used to prepare thick film gas sensors and the gas sensing properties to various gases were tested. Results show the prepared TiO2nanotube gas sensors responses to ethanol under dry condition at 450°C. This could be attributed to the fact that it had high porous morphology and a higher pore volume, which can promote the diffusion of ethanol deep inside the films and improve the sensor response. Moreover, the gas sensor made with nanotubes exhibit high selective response towards ethanol gas compared with H2, CO, acetone.

Tin oxide is a unique material of widespread technological applications, particularly in the field of environmental functional materials. New strategies of fractal assessment for tin dioxide thin films formed at different substrate temperatures are of fundamental importance in the development of microdevices, such as gas sensors for the detection of environmental pollutants. Here, tin dioxide thin films with interesting fractal features were successfully prepared by pulsed laser deposition techniques under different substrate temperatures. Fractal method has been first applied to the evaluation of this material. The measurements of carbon monoxide gas sensitivity confirmed that the gas sensing behavior is sensitively dependent on fractal dimensions, fractal densities, and average sizes of the fractal clusters. The random tunneling junction network mechanism was proposed to provide a rational explanation for this gas sensing behavior. The formation process of tin dioxide nanocrystals and fractal clusters could be reasonably described by a novel model.

We have investigated the inhibitory effect of triterpenoid saponins from the leaves of ILEX KUDINGCHA C.?J. Tseng on aggregated low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-induced lipid deposition in macrophages. A cell-based screening model was initially applied on aggregated LDL (aggLDL)-induced lipid deposition on macrophages to test the inhibitory effects of the 12 triterpenoid saponins from this plant. Eight of these compounds inhibited the formation of foam cells and reduced intracellular total cholesterol and triglyceride contents. Structure-activity relationship analysis showed the essential role of the ?-lactone ring for the biological activity. The promoter action of the OH group at the C-12 position, the number of monosaccharides in the sugar chain and the rhamnose at the terminal of the sugar chain is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new electron beam radiation method was developed to prepare spinel-type nanocrystalline ZnFe2O4 at room temperature and ambient pressure, without any kind of catalysts. The structure, morphology and size were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), infrared spectroscopy (IR). The obtained Nanocrystalline ZnFe2O4 particles have Spinel structure, spherical shape morphology and a mean particle size distribution of 20 and 40 nm.

Strong acid cation‐exchange membranes were obtained by radiation‐induced grafting of acrylic acid and sodium styrene sulfonate onto high‐density polyethylene (HDPE). Thermal and chemical properties of the cation‐exchange membranes were investigated. The effectiveness of &bond;SO3Na containing membranes was conformed in inducing high resistance to oxidative degradation. The char residue of the grafted HDPE is greater than that of ungrafted HDPE. It shows that the branch chains, including &bond;SO3Na and &bond;COOH groups, give catalytic impetus to the charring. The crystallinity of the grafted membranes was decreased when increasing the grafting yield. It was assumed that the decreased crystallinity was due to collective effects of the inherent crystallinity dilution by the amorphous grafted chains and the crystal distortion of the HDPE component. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99:3396–3400, 2006

The authors used Landau-Pekar variational method to investigate a strong-coupling singlet optical bipolaron in different configuration of quantum confinement. Numerical and analytical results showed that when configuration changes from quantum dot and wire to well, confinement shows different effect on the formation of a bipolaron. In contrast to a bipolaron in a quantum dot or wire, the binding energy of a bipolaron in a quantum well increases with increasing confinement, indicating that confinement favors bipolaron formation in a quantum well.

To investigate the pharmacokinetic profile of carbamazepine (CBZ) in Chinese epilepsy patients.

Different classes of first-principle pseudopotentials are compared and various schemes for pseudopotential generation based on norm conservation are discussed in this paper. BHS (Bachelet, Hamann, and Schlüter)-scheme and V (Vanderbilt)-modifications are used to derive the KB (Kleinman and Bylander)-pseudopotentials and pseudo wave functions of bismuth. Quality test of pseudopotentials shows that no ghost states occur in the logarithmic derivatives of pseudo wave functions of Bismuth. The obtained bond length of bismuth dimer with this type of pseudopotentials is in good agreement with previous accurately calculatedab initioquantum chemical result.