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We propose and experimentally demonstrate an approach to generating a stepped-frequency microwave waveform (SFMW) with a large time-bandwidth product (TBWP) based on a modified Fourier domain mode-locked optoelectronic oscillator (FDML-OEO). A uniformly stepped-frequency optical carrier is generated by an optical frequency-shifting loop (FSL), which is used as a light source of the FDML-OEO. The joint operation of the stepped-frequency optical carrier generator, a phase modulator (PM), a phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating (PS-FBG), and a photodetector (PD) in the FDML-OEO forms a tunable microwave photonic filter (MPF), with the tuning interval being identical to the step duration of the stepped-frequency optical carrier. When the round-trip time of the OEO is equal to an integer multiple of the tuning interval of the MPF, Fourier domain mode-locking is achieved, and an SFMW is generated. The operation of the proposed SFMW generator is experimentally evaluated. An SFMW with a large TBWP of $3.25\times 10 ^{5}$ is generated.

3D concrete printing (3DCP) is crucial in the construction because of the low labor cost, eco-friendly behavior; however, getting a proper mixture is always a challenge. This study focuses on predicting the compressive strength (CS) of fiber-reinforced concrete produced with 3DCP using eight machine learning (ML) algorithms to get optimized mixture. The ML models were trained and tested using a comprehensive database on CS collected from literature considering the various fiber-reinforced cementitious composites, comprising over 299 mixtures with 11 features. The results show that the trained ML models could predict CS with R2ranging from 0.927 to 0.990 and 0.914 to 0.988 for the training and testing dataset, respectively. Furthermore, supplementary experiments were conducted to create a new dataset to validate the predictive model's accuracy, with the extreme gradient boosting (XGB) and gene expression programming (GEP). Based on the GEP, a novel empirical equation was proposed and rigorously validated using experiments. The equation exhibits a high accuracy with the GEP algorithm (R2= 0.89), providing real-world field applications that might be improve decision-making and mixture optimization, which contributes to advancements, efficiency, and innovative solutions in 3D printing practical domains.

ABSTRACT The high tensile strain capacity of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) is exceptional for cementitious material. In the present paper, a comprehensive review is conducted to summarize the fundamental information [...]

A novel approach to the implementation of photonic aggregation of microwave signals using a single dual-polarization dual-drive Mach-Zehnder modulator (DP-DDMZM) and a polarizer is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Four binary phase shift keying (BPSK) microwave signals with an identical carrier frequency are aggregated into a single 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) optical signal through phase and amplitude control at the DP-DDMZM and the polarizer. The aggregated optical signal is then transmitted over an optical fiber to an optical coherent receiver, where the BPSK signals are recovered by demodulating the aggregated optical signal. The approach is evaluated experimentally. Four BPSK microwave signals with an identical carrier frequency of 15 GHz and each having a symbol rate of 1 GBaud are aggregated to be a 16QAM optical signal. The constellation diagrams are measured to confirm the effectiveness of the aggregation process. To further increase the transmission capacity without using additional spectral resources, the employment of polarization division multiplexing (PDM) is studied, and the doubling in transmission capacity is confirmed.

A novel approach to the generation of stepped frequency microwave waveforms (SFMW) in the temporal-frequency synthetic dimension with analog predistortion is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The system consists of two coupled fiber-optic loops with an acoustic-optic modulator (AOM) incorporated in each of the two loops. When a light wave is passing through an AOM, the amplitude of the light wave is altered and its frequency is shifted, depending on the applied driving signal. The dynamic amplitude modulation and frequency shift to the optical pulses recirculating in the system implemented by the AOMs establish a temporal-frequency synthetic dimension. For SFMW generation, a seed optical pulse with a fixed carrier frequency is injected into the system. The frequency and amplitude of the optical pulse after each recirculation are determined by the frequencies and strengths of the driving signals applied to the AOMs. By applying two pre-designed driving signals to the AOMs, a stepped frequency pulse burst with the designated magnitude profile is generated after the seed pulse recirculates in the two loops for multiple round trips. By beating the pulse burst with the same optical carrier, an SFMW can be generated. The proposed approach is evaluated experimentally. Two SFMWs with predesigned spectral magnitudes having stepped frequencies from 5.44 to 7.24 GHz and 7.12 to 8.92 GHz are generated. The control of the spectral magnitude can be employed for spectrum distortion compensation. For a microwave transmitter frontend with an uneven magnitude response of up to 3.24 dB, transmitted microwave waveforms with flattened spectra having unevenness of less than 1.11 dB are achieved.

Purpose: Endovascular treatment of femoropopliteal arterial diseases remains controversial. We conducted a Bayesian network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials aiming to investigate the efficacy differences between paclitaxel- or sirolimus-eluting stents, covered stents, drug-coated balloons, bare metal stents, and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty.Method: MEDLINE, Embase, Ovid, and other relevant online material were searched up to October 21, 2020. Primary endpoints were primary patency and target lesion revascularization at 6, 12, and more than 24 months.Results: Thirty-eight eligible trials included 6026 patients. In terms of primary patency, drug eluting stents were ranked as the most effective treatment based on the surface under the cumulative ranking curve values at 6 (80.6), 12 (78.4), and more than 24 months (96.5) of follow-ups. In terms of target lesion revascularization, drug eluting stents were ranked as the most effective treatment based on the surface under the cumulative ranking curve values at 6 (90.3), 12 (71.3), and more than 24 months (82.1) of follow-ups. Covered stents and bare metal stents had higher ranks in target lesion revascularization than those in primary patency. Sirolimus stents had a higher rank than paclitaxel stents.Conclusion: Drug eluting stents showed encouraging results in primary patency rates and freedom from target lesion revascularization at all phases of follow-up for femoropopliteal arterial diseases. Sirolimus stents appear to be more effective in femoropopliteal segment than paclitaxel stent.

If found and treated early, fast-growing skin cancers can dramatically prolong patients’ lives. Dermoscopy is a convenient and reliable tool during the fore-period detection stage of skin cancer, so the efficient processing of digital images of dermoscopy is particularly critical to improving the level of a skin cancer diagnosis. Notably, image segmentation is a part of image preprocessing and essential technical support in the process of image processing. In addition, multi-threshold image segmentation (MIS) technology is extensively used due to its straightforward and effective features. Many academics have coupled different meta-heuristic algorithms with MIS to raise image segmentation quality. Nonetheless, these meta-heuristic algorithms frequently enter local optima. Therefore, this paper suggests an improved salp swarm algorithm (ILSSA) method that combines iterative mapping and local escaping operator to address this drawback. Besides, this paper also proposes the ILSSA-based MIS approach, which is triumphantly utilized to segment dermoscopic images of skin cancer. This method uses two-dimensional (2D) Kapur’s entropy as the objective function and employs non-local means 2D histogram to represent the image information. Furthermore, an array of benchmark function test experiments demonstrated that ILSSA could alleviate the local optimal problem more effectively than other compared algorithms. Afterward, the skin cancer dermoscopy image segmentation experiment displayed that the proposed ILSSA-based MIS method obtained superior segmentation results than other MIS peers and was more adaptable at different thresholds.Graphical Abstract

Nanoscale plastics, being ubiquitous in the environment, can cross biological barriers primarily through interactions with the cell membrane; yet there remains a lack of knowledge about the mechanisms regulating the nanoplastic–cell membrane interface. Herein, we systematically describe nanoplastics of five common materials and three aging properties and reveal that interfacial processes including nanoplastic translocation, transformation and membrane perturbation are governed by the competition of polymer–polymer and polymer–lipid interactions. Molecular simulations suggest spontaneous insertion of polystyrene and polyethylene nanoplastics into the membrane, where some kinds of lipids are adsorbed and form monolayered coronas, increasing the nanoplastic's effective size, reducing its hydrophobicity, and endowing it with a negative surface charge. Polyethylene terephthalate nanoplastics of lower hydrophobicity readily penetrate through the membrane with fewer lipids adsorbed. Polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride nanoplastics dissolve in the membrane to retard their translocation and aggravate membrane perturbation. Among aging properties, decreasing size facilitates nanoplastic dissolution, and fiber-shaped nanoplastics easily translocate from the tip first. Different molecules are rearranged and exchanged at the charged nanoplastic–cell membrane interface to alter nanoplastic translocation and membrane remodeling. Such distinctive interactions reduce membrane fluidity and rigidity, making it less stable and apt to collapse under stress. These results uncover key roles of the polymer type and aging properties in nanoplastic fate and toxicity to mammalian cells.

Environmental context Photocatalytic TiO2 materials are good prospects in water quality treatment due to their stable chemical properties and limited secondary pollution. TiO2 photocatalytic material prepared with biochar as a carrier can greatly improve the photocatalytic efficiency of CrVI , and the removal rate of CrVI can reach 84.4%. This study shows that biochar-supported TiO2 photocatalytic composites are feasible for the green and efficient removal of CrVI from an aqueous phase. Rationale TiO2 has great application prospects in the treatment of chromium-containing wastewater due to its photochemical stability and low toxicity. Loading TiO2 on solid adsorption materials can improve the photocatalytic efficiency and solve the problem of difficult separation and recovery of TiO2 . Methodology In this study, biochar-supported TiO2 (BC-TiO2 ) and acid-washed biochar-supported TiO2 (HBC-TiO2 ) were prepared by a sol–gel method using biochar (BC) and acid-washed biochar (HBC) as adsorption carriers. The effects of various experimental parameters such as ultraviolet irradiation conditions, catalyst dose and pH on the removal efficiency of CrVI by BC, HBC, BC-TiO2 and HBC-TiO2 were investigated. The structure and morphology of the four materials were characterised. Results The results indicated that under the optimal reaction conditions (pH = 6, dosage of biochar materials/photocatalytic composites = 5 g/6 g), the removal percentage of CrVI changed as BC-TiO2 (Light) (84.43%) > HBC-TiO2 (Light) (80.19%) > BC-TiO2 (Dark) (57.9%) > HBC-TiO2 (Dark) (52.94%) > HBC (30.06%) > BC (14.66%). Loading TiO2 on biochar materials improved the specific surface area and increased the reaction sites when compared with BC and HBC. Discussion This study shows that BC-TiO2 is more suitable to remove CrVI from an aqueous system because of its high removal efficiency. The enrichment of CrVI on the biochars and the close contact between the biochar and TiO2 through the Ti–O–C dense heterojunction promote the interfacial transfer of CrVI , which is the key to the removal of CrVI . This study has great significance for the treatment of chromium-containing wastewater by photocatalytic composites.

Antarctic krill mainly inhabit the Antarctic Ocean, not far from Antarctica, especially the Weddell Sea, where krill is dense. Marine fisheries have reached new levels, but the topic of sustainable use of marine fishery resources is far from reaching the required levels. In order to study the sustainable development of the Antarctic krill environment, this paper studies the living environment and applicability of Antarctic krill based on system dynamics, and provides some references for the sustainable development of marine resources. Mentioned the use of case analysis method, literature analysis method and other methods to collect data, build a Model, and read and analyse a large number of related literatures through the literature survey method. The experimental results proved that the salinity has a significant effect on the survival rate of Antarctic krill (p< 0.05). When the salinity is 34, the molting frequency reaches its maximum value, which is 70 %. It is concluded that the ability of Antarctic krill to adapt to gradual changes in salinity is stronger than that of sudden changes in salinity, and the suitable salinity for survival is 30-42. With 34 as the basic salinity, when the salinity rises within a certain range, the molting rate of krill will increase, and as the salinity decreases, the molting rate will gradually decrease. This shows that improving the environmental resources of Antarctic krill is an effective method for improving salinity.

Nanoparticles may acquire coatings of ecological molecules to form an eco–nano interface, which may alter the nature of nano–bio interactions. However, whether the nascent nanoparticle properties are concealed by this eco-corona or still play a role in nano–bio interactions remains unclear. Here, we employ nanoparticles of the same core material, shape and size, but with diverse physicochemical properties to study interplays between nanoparticle properties, adsorption of humic acids (HAs), and downstream interactions with cells. Among nanoparticles, hydrophobic and positively charged nanoparticles are more active in cell uptake and cytotoxicity induction. Although HAs alleviate some nanoparticle uptake and toxicity, the modified activities are still much higher than those of hydrophilic and negatively charged nanoparticles. The latter two nanoparticles are less capable of adsorbing HAs or binding to the cell membrane, as revealed by both experiments and molecular dynamics simulations. Depending on the nanoparticle properties, adsorbed HAs adopt distinct conformations with specific groups exposed to modify the nanoparticle surface properties and influence subsequent interactions with cells. Moreover, HA molecules undergo frequent exchanges allowing exposure of the original nanoparticle surface for cell recognition, explaining the high bioactivities of hydrophobic and positively charged nanoparticles even after heavy HA adsorption. These results demonstrate from the molecular scale that the original nanoparticle surface properties regulate nanoparticle–cell interactions through dictating HA adsorption and conformation or dynamics of HA molecules on the nanoparticle surface, and this critical nanoparticle property cannot be concealed by eco-corona formation.

Nanoparticles (NPs), owing to their small size, are capable of crossing biological barriers to generate desired or unexpected effects. Previous studies considered the cell membrane as the primary interface of NP–cell interactions, while overlooking the complexity of the extracellular environment, where functional proteins are ubiquitous and potential targets for NPs prior to reaching the cell membrane surface. Here, by means of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, we consider extracellular interactions between graphene nanosheets (GNs) and E-cadherin, which is a typical calcium-dependent adhesion protein maintaining the integrity of the intercellular junction viaforming X- and strand-dimers. With the X-dimer interface identified to involve hydrophobic residue contacts plus salt bridges, our results demonstrate the reduction of the dimer stability by GNs through spontaneous intercalation into the dimer to disrupt the homophilic interactions. By contrast, the strand-dimer is maintained by docking of two Trp residues into pockets of opposing subunits with higher stability. GNs fail to enter the strand-dimer interface, but acquire adhesive contacts with the two subunits from opposite sides to tighten the dimer against mechanical separation, as evidenced by steered MD simulations. Oxidation and lipid adsorption are employed to represent the chemical and biological transformations of GNs, which are found to alleviate impacts through reduction of GN hydrophobicity plus surface passivation. These results can help explain the impairment of barrier integrity induced by NPs as observed in previous experiments, and highlight the importance of considering extracellular nano–bio interactions in future studies of nanomedicine and nano-safety evaluation.

MiR-128, one of the most enriched miRNAs in the human brain, has been reported to protect MCAO mice via inhibiting P38α MAPK. Whether it is involved in pathogenesis in acute ischemic stroke patients remains to be determined. The present study focused on the clinical importance of miR-128 and its underlying mechanisms. We detected miR-128 levels in the circulating lymphocytes, neutrophils, and plasma of acute ischemic stroke patients by using RT-PCR. miR-128 levels were significantly elevated in circulating lymphocytes, neutrophils, and plasma of patients with acute ischemic stroke. In addition, miR-128 levels in circulating lymphocytes correlated positively with the infarction volume, NIHSS scores at 7 days and mRS at 90 days after ischemic stroke onset. Subsequent KEGG pathway analysis showed that the MAPK signaling pathway and cell cycle are among the pathways targeted by miR-128. Although no correlation was found between miR-128 in plasma and peripheral inflammatory cell numbers, miR-128 decreased in the penumbra and increased in the infarction core of ipsilateral brain tissues in MCAO mice. Moreover, an in vitro study demonstrated that miR-128 antagomir aggravated primary neuronal damage and exacerbated cell cycle reactivation induced by OGD/R stimulation; the underlying mechanism involved increasing cyclin A2, PTEN, and ERK expression and promoting phosphorylation of PTEN and ERK. From the above results, we concluded that the upregulation of miR-128 in circulating lymphocytes of acute ischemic stroke patients was correlated with stroke severity and miR-128 antagomir exacerbated ischemia-reperfusion induced neuronal injury via promoting neuronal cell cycle reentry.

Rosamultin is a major active pentacyclic triterpenoid saponin isolated from the root of Potentilla anserinaL., which has various pharmacological activities. So far, the pharmacokinetics of rosamultin have not been studied. Hence, the present study was aimed at the development of a high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method to quantify the concentration of rosamultin in rat plasma for an in vivopharmacokinetics study. Plasma samples were prepared by a simple protein precipitation and further purified by solid phase extraction. Kaji-ichigoside F1, an epimer of rosamultin, was chosen as the internal standard. Chromatographic separation was performed on a HPLC XB-C18column (4.6 × 150 mm, i.d., 3 μm) with a mobile phase consisting of methanol–water–formic acid (63 : 37 : 0.075, v/v/v). Quantification was performed by selected ion monitoring with m/z673.5 [M + Na]+for rosamultin and the internal standard. The validated method exhibited good linearity over a wide concentration range (r> 0.9995), and the lower limit of quantification was as low as 5.0 ng mL−1for rosamultin. The intra- and inter-day precisions (RSD) at all quality control (QC) levels ranged from 3.4–7.7% and 4.3–7.2%, respectively. The accuracy (RE) was from 2.5% to 5.3%. The developed method was rapid, accurate, sensitive and fully validated. It was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetics study of rosamultin in rats after oral administration of rosamultin.

A quantum spin Hall insulator, i.e., topological insulator (TI), is a natural candidate for low-power electronics and spintronics because of its intrinsic dissipationless feature. Recent density functional theory and scanning tunneling spectroscopy experiments show that the mechanical strain allows dynamic, continuous, and reversible modulations of the topological surface states within the topological phase and hence opens prospects for TI straintronics. Here, we combine the mechanical strain and the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) of a ferromagnet–TI (FM–TI) junction to construct a novel TI GMR straintronics device. Such a FM–strained-FM–TI junction permits several energy spectral ranges for 100% GMR and a robust strain-controllable magnetic switch. Beyond the 100% GMR energy range, we observe a strain-modulated oscillating GMR, which is an alternative hallmark of the Fabry-Pérot quantum interference of Dirac surface states. These strain-sensitive GMR responses indicate that FM–strained-FM–TI junctions are very favorable for practical applications for low-power nanoscale strain sensors.

Polymers with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics have aroused tremendous interest because of their potential applications in large-area flexible display and luminescent self-assembling, and as stimuli-responsive and porous materials. However, the design of AIE-active polymers is always not as easy as that of small molecules because their properties are hard to predict. In some cases, the polymers prepared from the AIE-active monomers show the aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) instead of AIE effect. To understand the structure–property relationship of the polymers constructed from the AIE monomers, in this paper, two pyrazine-containing AIE monomers were utilized to construct luminescent polymers by click polymerization. The photophysical property investigation indicates that the polytriazole containing tetraphenylpyrazine units is AIE-active, whereas that bearing 2,3-dicyano-5,6-diphenylpyrazine units suffers from the ACQ effect. Through systematical investigation, the cause for such difference was unveiled. Thus, this work provides a useful guidance for further design of AIE-active polymers.

AbstractObjectiveChitosan (CS) is currently used as a hemostatic agent in emergencies and in military settings. However, its application is limited owing to its poor hydrophilia at neutral pH. Carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) is an important, water-soluble derivative of CS. In this study, we prepared CS and CMCS microspheres (CSMs and CMCSMs, respectively) and evaluated their hemostatic effect.MethodsTo prepare the microspheres of various sizes, we used the emulsion cross-linking technique. CMCSMs were also loaded with etamsylate (DIC). Clotting time in vitro and in a hepatic injury model was examined to evaluate the hemostatic effect.ResultsCMCSMs swelled more and clotted faster than did CSMs. CMCSMs loaded with DIC had no effect on hemostasis.ConclusionsBoth increasing material hydrophilicity and expanding the contact area promoted clotting, whereas chemical cross-linking hampered it because of decreased swelling. CMCSMs are promising candidates for the production of effective hemostatic agents. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:660–667)

ABSTRACTGut microbial disturbance affects allergic diseases including asthma, atopic dermatitis (AD) via the aberrant immune response. Some Bifidobacterial species and strains have been reported to improve AD via modulating immune-microbe interactions in patients. However, the effective metabolites and mechanism of alleviating AD in bifidobacteria remain to be elucidated. This study aimed to explore the microbial metabolite and mechanism of Bifidobacterium longumto improve AD. Based on shotgun metagenomic sequencing and UHPLC Q-Exactive-MS targeted metabolic experiments in vitroand in vivo, we focused on tryptophan metabolism and indole derivatives, which are endogenous ligands for aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR). Indole-3-carbaldehyde (I3C), a tryptophan metabolite of B. longumCCFM1029 activated AHR-mediated immune signaling pathway to improve AD symptoms in animal and clinical experiments. B. longumCCFM1029 upregulated tryptophan metabolism and increased I3C to suppress aberrant T helper 2 type immune responses, but these benefits were eliminated by AHR antagonist CH223191. Furthermore, B. longumCCFM1029 reshaped gut microbial composition in AD patients, increased fecal and serum I3C, and maintained the abundance of Lachnospiraceaerelated to tryptophan metabolism of gut microbiota. The results suggested that based on the interactions of the gut-skin axis, B. longumCCFM1029 upregulated tryptophan metabolism and produced I3C to activate AHR-mediated immune response, alleviating AD symptoms. Indole derivates, microbial metabolites of tryptophan, may be the potential metabolites of bifidobacteria to alleviate AD via the AHR signaling pathway.

Solid carbon source (SCS)-based denitrification is a promising technique for nitrogen removal from sewage. However, a sustainable and effective supply of carbon sources, crucial to denitrification performance, has always been challenging. This study developed four synthetic SCSs: biochar (BC), poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), PHBV loaded on biochar (BCP), and PHBV loaded on biochar-supported nanoscale zero-valent iron (BCPF), to examine their denitrification efficiency enhancement. Insufficient carbon sources caused low nitrate removal (<45%) in the BC reactor during the entire experiment. At the biofilm formation stage (influent nitrate: 40 mg L-1), the relatively higher nitrate removal in biochar-based SCS reactors than in the P reactor in the first 4 h indicated that the biochar's rapid release of carbon sources played a priming role in denitrification. Then, the subsequent sharp decrease in nitrate removal revealed the biochar's unsustainable release of carbon sources for the denitrifiers. Similar to the P reactor, the nitrate removal in BCP and BCPF reactors gradually increased after 12 h until the 48 h mark, where the high nitrate removal efficiency was stabilized (P: 79.93%−93.74%, BCP: 86.90%−100%, and BCPF: 91.68%−100%), except in the BC reactor. Evidently, the decomposed products from PHBV provided sustainable carbon sources for the denitrifiers. Compared with the P reactor in the continuous running stage, BCP and (especially) BCPF reactors exhibited excellent resistance to load impact. Here, PHBV supplied sustainable carbon sources and electron donors for denitrification, while nZVI served as extra electron donors. The biochar dominantly provided habitats for denitrifiers and functioned as an electron mediator.

Compliance with security requirements in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is known as an important phenomenon in conserving energy consumption due to its dynamic topology. Energy consumption management in WSN can be achieved through secure routing protocols. Authentication, firewall and intrusion detection, and trust management are common ways to provide security on the WSNs. Meanwhile, trust management provides better performance due to ensuring distributed security through collaboration. In this paper, a Trust-Aware Dynamic Routing algorithm based on Extended AODV protocol for secure communications in the WSN (TADR-EAODV) is proposed. TADR-EAODV considers factors such as direct trust, recommended trust, connectivity strength, energy rate and worthiness score to measure the distributed safety level of nodes in routing. We use the AODV protocol for routing work, which is extended through a multi-route routing approach. In addition, a centralized ensemble clustering for node grouping is included in TADR-EAODV, which enables clustering-based routing to enhance WSN performance. Extensive experiments have been performed in the presence of denial-of-service attacks to verify our claims. The experimental results prove that high-performance TADR-EAODV has been able to identify attackers by detecting their anomalous behavior. Besides, TADR-EAODV has improved the average packet transfer rate by 6% to 17% compared to existing state-of-the-art algorithms such as LEACH-TM, TAAO-SDTIM and TAOSC-MHR.

A facile and novel method to prepare SnO2/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) droplet aerogels with complex morphologies had been developed. This method has been named dynamic self-assemble. Aerogels with both “egg-tart” and “mushroom” shapes were obtained by this method. The changes in the graphene oxide (GO) droplet morphologies during the dynamic process of a GO droplet falling into a SnCl2target solution were monitored using a high speed camera. The formed SnO2/rGO aerogels were then characterized by Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The microstructures of the SnO2/rGO aerogels were observed with scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Finally, the SnO2/rGO droplet aerogels were used as the electrode material in a symmetrical two-electrode supercapacitor and the electrochemical performance of the supercapacitor was investigated using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge methods. The SnO2/rGO electrodes demonstrated excellent electrochemical performance and stability. At a scan rate of 5 mV/s, their highest gravimetric and volumetric specific capacitances were 310 F/g and 180 F/cm3, respectively, and their energy and power densities were as high as 30 Wh·kg–1and 8.3 kW·kg–1, respectively.

Flavonoids, the most diverse class of plant secondary metabolites, exhibit high affinity toward the purified cytosolic NBD2(C-terminal nucleotide-binding domain) of P-glycoprotein (P-gp). To explore the affinity of flavonoids for P-gp, quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) models were developed using back-propagation artificial neural networks (BPANN) and multiple linear regression (MLR). Molecular descriptors were calculated using PaDELDescriptor, and the number of descriptors was then reduced using a genetic algorithm (GA) and stepwise regression. The MLR (R2=0.855, q2=0.8138, Rext 2=0.6916), 14-3-1 BPANN (R2=0.8514, q2=0.7695, Rext 2=0.8142), 14-4-1 BPANN (R2=0.9199, q2=0.7733, Rext 2=0.8731), and 14-5-1 BPANN (R2=0.8660, q2=0.7432, Rext 2=0.8292) models all showed good robustness. While BPANN models exceeded significantly MLR in predictable performance for their flexible characters, could be used to predict the affinity of flavonoids for P-gp and applied in further drug screening.

A facile approach to prepare SnO2/rGO (reduced graphene oxide) hybrid nanoparticles by a direct redox reaction between graphene oxide (GO) and tin powder was developed. Since no acid was used, it is an environmentally friendly green method. The SnO2/rGO hybrid nanoparticles were characterized by ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The microstructure of the SnO2/rGO was observed with scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The tin powder efficiently reduced GO to rGO, and the Sn was transformed to SnO2nanoparticles (∼45 nm) that were evenly distributed on the rGO sheets. The SnO2/rGO hybrid nanoparticles were then coated on an interdigital electrode to fabricate a humidity sensor, which have an especially good linear impedance response from 11% to 85% relative humidity.

Wang: Beijing Medical Award Foundation: Honoraria; Lu Daopei Medical Group: Honoraria; Kite Pharma: Consultancy, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses, Research Funding; Pulse Biosciences: Consultancy; Loxo Oncology: Consultancy, Research Funding; Targeted Oncology: Honoraria; OMI: Honoraria, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses; Nobel Insights: Consultancy; Guidepoint Global: Consultancy; Dava Oncology: Honoraria; Verastem: Research Funding; Molecular Templates: Research Funding; OncLive: Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses, Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses, Research Funding; Oncternal: Consultancy, Research Funding; Juno: Consultancy, Research Funding; BioInvent: Research Funding; VelosBio: Research Funding; Acerta Pharma: Research Funding; InnoCare: Consultancy; MoreHealth: Consultancy; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses, Research Funding.

Background:Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is an incurable B cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma characterized by high refractory occurrence following drug treatment. Despite the encouraging initial MCL tumor response to ibrutinib (IBN), relapse occurs only after few months of treatment due to multiple resistance mechanisms. Thus, the novel therapeutic strategies targeting resistant mechanisms are crucial. Our group has recently shown that among the highly proliferative MCL population, a subpopulation of IBN-R cells exhibits increased OXPHOS activity that is fueled by increased glutaminolysis and rely more on mitochondrial respiration for their grow and survival. The aim of this work was to uncover potential targets responsible for the upregulation of OXPHOS pathway in the refractory/relapsed (R/R) MCL by using multiple biochemical and biological strategies. We focused the present study on glutaminase (GLS), the enzyme that converts glutamine to glutamate, a precursor of α-ketoglutarate (α-KG) that links glutamate to the TCA cycle. Incorporation of α-KG into the TCA cycle is a major anaplerotic step in proliferating cells and is critical for the maintenance of TCA cycle function. To further demonstrate the reliance of OXPHOS on glutamine anaplerosis, we have further tested the combinatory effects of targeting GLS and OXPHOS using their respective inhibitors, CB-839 and IACS-010759, on tumor killing activity in R/R MCL.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate mandibular ramus growth after different treatment methods for intracapsular condylar fracture (ICF) of growing goats.

Synaptic hypothesis of schizophrenia suggests that alterations of synaptic transmission and neuronal connectivity might be core feature of schizophrenia. STON2participates in synaptic vesicle protein recognition and neural endocytosis. To explore the association of STON2with schizophrenia, 11 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were examined in 768 Chinese Han schizophrenia cases and 1347 Chinese Han controls. The results showed that three SNPs had strong association with schizophrenia, two exonic SNPs (rs2241621: allelic P=0.0005; rs3813535: allelic P=0.0078) and one intronic SNP (rs9323698: allelic P=0.0019). When haplotype analysis performed, two linkage disequilibrium blocks showed significant differences in frequency between cases and controls. Notably, our data displays an over-transmitted functional haplotype C-C (Pro307-Ala851) in schizophrenia cases. Our results suggest STON2may be a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia.

Massive cerebral infarction (MCI) is a life-threatening disease and may lead to cerebral herniation. Neutrophil degranulation contributes to ischemic injury in the early stage. To investigate whether neutrophil degranulating factors can predict cerebral herniation and the long-term prognosis of patients with MCI and to investigate the relationship between neutrophil degranulation and blood brain barrier (BBB) damage. In this case-control study of 14 MCI patients, we divided the patients into a cerebral hernia group and no cerebral hernia group according to whether they developed cerebral herniation within 5 days. The prognosis of MCI patients was assessed using the Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at 6 months, which was the primary end point. The composition of white blood cells (WBC) and degranulating factors for neutrophils in the plasma of MCI patients was determined on days 2 and 4. Baseline characteristics were comparable in both groups. The neurological functional scores and long-term prognosis showed no difference between patients with or without cerebral herniation, while the mortality rate of the cerebral hernia group in the short term was higher (P< 0.05). The WBC count, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and plasma myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels of patients with cerebral hernia were significantly higher than those of patients without cerebral hernia (all P< 0.05). MPO is a better predictor of cerebral herniation, and the NLR showed superior predictive value in the prognosis of MCI patients. neutrophil degranulation may play an important role in malignant cerebral hernia during MCI. These data suggest that, MPO and the NLR might be predictive factors for cerebral herniation and the prognosis of MCI patients.

The prevalence of atopic dermatitis (AD) has increased and a therapeutic strategy using probiotic intervention has been reported. The effects of different Bifidobacterium(B. breve, B. bifidum, B. animalis, B. infants, and B. adolescentis) on gut microbial changes were explored in 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB)-induced AD, a T helper type 2-dominant allergic disease. Oral administration of Bifidobacteriumsuppressed skin thickening and mast cell infiltration, blocked pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, CCL11, IL-13, and CCL22), increased IL-10 and IFN-γ, and modulated the microbiome and ecology in the gut. Based on 16S rRNA results, DNFB treatment resulted in gut microbial dysbiosis, characterized by a decrease in the proportion of Firmicutesand an increase in Bacteroidetes. The core microbiome related to AD were also observed (Dorea, Prevotella, Sutterella, Odoribacter, and Pseudomonas). B. breveand B. bifidumtreatments increased the relative abundance of Adlercreutzia, Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, Anaerostipes, and Anaerotruncus. The functional modules involved in fructose and mannose metabolism, propanoate metabolism, and fatty acid biosynthesis were upregulated, and these might be related to immune regulation and short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) production. Taken together, these results suggested that Bifidobacteriumtreatments affected gut microbial composition and structure, altered gut microbial ecosystem, and these alterations were closely associated with inflammation and SCFA production.

Wang: AstraZeneca: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses, Research Funding; Acerta Pharma: Research Funding; Oncternal: Consultancy, Research Funding; Guidepoint Global: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses, Research Funding; Dava Oncology: Honoraria; Molecular Templates: Research Funding; Juno: Consultancy, Research Funding; Kite Pharma: Consultancy, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses, Research Funding; Pulse Biosciences: Consultancy; Loxo Oncology: Consultancy, Research Funding; Lu Daopei Medical Group: Honoraria; InnoCare: Consultancy; OncLive: Honoraria; Verastem: Research Funding; VelosBio: Research Funding; OMI: Honoraria, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses; Nobel Insights: Consultancy; Beijing Medical Award Foundation: Honoraria; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses, Research Funding; BioInvent: Research Funding; MoreHealth: Consultancy; Targeted Oncology: Honoraria.

Wang: Oncternal: Consultancy, Research Funding; Lu Daopei Medical Group: Honoraria; Juno: Consultancy, Research Funding; Guidepoint Global: Consultancy; Dava Oncology: Honoraria; MoreHealth: Consultancy; Targeted Oncology: Honoraria; Beijing Medical Award Foundation: Honoraria; Verastem: Research Funding; OncLive: Honoraria; Acerta Pharma: Research Funding; VelosBio: Research Funding; Molecular Templates: Research Funding; Nobel Insights: Consultancy; AstraZeneca: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses, Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses, Research Funding; Pulse Biosciences: Consultancy; Loxo Oncology: Consultancy, Research Funding; Kite Pharma: Consultancy, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses, Research Funding; BioInvent: Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses, Research Funding; OMI: Honoraria, Other: Travel, accommodation, expenses; InnoCare: Consultancy.

Background:Complex genetic, epigenetic alterations and metabolic reprogramming are among the hallmarks of mantle cell lymphoma, an aggressive B-cell type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. CDKN2Aand MTAPare frequently co-deleted in human cancers including MCL. Deletion of MTAPgene results in the accumulation of methylthioadenosine (MTA), a selective inhibitor of protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5), signifying a dependence of MTAPdeleted tumors on PRMT5. PRMT5 plays an important role in normal cellular processes viaepigenetic and post-translational modification of RNA splicing, DNA repair and cell cycle regulators. These pathways may be activated in response to targeted therapies to maintain tumor growth and survive chemotherapy. Sustained PRMT5 expression and activity could be therapeutically targeted in MTAP-deficient MCL. Mutations in RNA splicing factors are common in lymphoma and increase the susceptibility to perturbations in splicing events. Deregulated PRMT5 might induce alternative splicing, leading to loss of expression of proteins or epitopes, and subsequent immune evasion and failure of tumor specific immune therapy. Multiple mechanisms may co-exist.

There have been few studies evaluating depressive symptoms in Chinese patients with schizophrenia. Thus, we planned to compare the diagnostic validity of 4 commonly used assessment scales for depression in schizophrenia in China. The association between different depression scales and between depression scales and negative symptoms were also studied. The study population consisted of 101 inpatients meeting the DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia. Depression in the study subjects was defined by the DSM-IV criteria for a major depressive episode. The negative subscale of the PANSS was used to assess the negative symptoms in schizophrenia. The following 4 depression scales were assessed for their diagnostic validity as measures of depressive disorder in schizophrenia: the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS), the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), and the depression subscale of the PANSS (PANSS-D). The depression scales were found to be highly intercorrelated with each other. Of the 4 depression scales studied, only CDSS can discriminate between depression and a PANSS negative symptoms subscale score or negative item scores. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of the CDSS, HAM-D, MARDS, and PANSS-D were 0.954, 0.881, 0.828, and 0.897, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the CDSS was significantly greater than those of the HAM-D, the MARDS, and the PANSS-D. Our study suggests that the CDSS may provide optimal assessment of depression in patients with schizophrenia.

Since the reform and opening up of Chinese tourism industry, the scale has been continuously expanded and the income from tourism has been continuously increasing. Chinese tourism industry has become one of the most potential industries in the service industry. By analyzing the development environment and development trend of Chinese tourism industry from 2000 to 2016, we can understand the current situation of Chinese tourism development and provide suggestions for better development of Chinese tourism industry.