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This letter considers the transceiver design in frequency division duplex (FDD) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems for high-quality data transmission. We propose a novel deep learning based framework where the procedures of pilot design, channel feedback, and hybrid beamforming are realized by carefully crafted deep neural networks. All the considered modules are jointly learned in an end-to-end manner, and a graph neural network is adopted to effectively capture interactions between beamformers based on the built graphical representation. Numerical results validate the effectiveness of our method.

Fast and precise beam alignment is crucial for high-quality data transmission in millimeter-wave (mmWave) communication systems, where large-scale antenna arrays are utilized to overcome the severe propagation loss. To tackle the challenging problem, we propose a novel deep learning-based hierarchical beam alignment method for both multiple-input single-output (MISO) and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, which learns two tiers of probing codebooks (PCs) and uses their measurements to predict the optimal beam in a coarse-to-fine search manner. Specifically, a hierarchical beam alignment network (HBAN) is developed for MISO systems, which first performs coarse channel measurement using a tier-1 PC, then selects a tier-2 PC for fine channel measurement, and finally predicts the optimal beam based on both coarse and fine measurements. The propounded HBAN is trained in two steps: the tier-1 PC and the tier-2 PC selector are first trained jointly, followed by the joint training of all the tier-2 PCs and beam predictors. Furthermore, an HBAN for MIMO systems is proposed to directly predict the optimal beam pair without performing beam alignment individually at the transmitter and receiver. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed HBANs are superior to the state-of-the-art methods in both alignment accuracy and signaling overhead reduction.

With the rapid development of satellite communication technologies, the space-based access network has been envisioned as a promising complementary part of the future 6G network. Aside from terrestrial base stations, satellite nodes, especially the low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites, can also serve as base stations for Internet access, and constitute the LEO-satellite access network (LEO-SAN). LEO-SAN is expected to provide seamless massive access and extended coverage with high signal quality. However, its practical implementation still faces significant technical challenges, such as high mobility and limited budget for communication payloads of LEO satellite nodes. This article aims at revealing the main technical issues that have not been fully addressed by the existing LEO-SAN designs, from three aspects namely random access, beam management and Doppler-resistant transmission technologies. More specifically, the critical issues of random access in LEO-SAN are discussed regarding low flexibility, long transmission delay, and inefficient handshakes. Then the beam management for LEO-SAN is investigated in complex propagation environments under the constraints of high mobility and limited payload budget. Furthermore, the influence of Doppler shifts on LEO-SAN is explored. Correspondingly, promising technologies to address these challenges are also discussed, respectively. Finally, the future research directions are envisioned.

A prominent characteristic of 2D magnetic systems is the enhanced spin fluctuations, which reduce the ordering temperature. We report that a magnetic field of only 1000th of the Heisenberg superexchange interaction can induce a crossover, which for practical purposes is the effective ordering transition, at temperatures about 6 times the Néel transition in a site-diluted two-dimensional anisotropic quantum antiferromagnet. Such a strong magnetic response is enabled because the system directly enters the antiferromagnetically ordered state from the isotropic disordered state, skipping the intermediate anisotropic stage. The underlying mechanism is achieved on a pseudospin-half square lattice realized in the [(SrIrO3)1/(SrTiO3)2] superlattice thin film that is designed to linearly couple the staggered magnetization to external magnetic fields by virtue of the rotational symmetry-preserving Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction. Our model analysis shows that the skipping of the anisotropic regime despite finite anisotropy is due to the enhanced isotropic fluctuations under moderate dilution.

The present study aimed to determine the capsular serotype distribution and antimicrobial drug resistance patterns of Haemophilus influenzaefrom children in the Kunming region of China. This information could guide policymakers in clinical treatment. In the present study, H. influenzaeisolates were tested for their serotypes, antimicrobial susceptibility pattern, and presence of β-lactamases. One-hundred forty-eight H. influenzaestrains isolated from children 0–2 years old were investigated for capsular types by glass slide agglutination and molecular methods, and biotyped by the biochemical reactions. The drug resistance-encoding genes TEM-1, ROB-1, and the ftsIgene mutations PBP3-3, and PBP3-BLNwere detected with real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The prevalence of β-lactamase-producing strains (60.3%) was significantly higher (p< 0.05) than non-enzyme-producing strains. β-Lactamase-producing strains were multidrug resistant to various antibiotics such as ampicillin, tetracycline, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, chloramphenicol, cefuroxime, and cefaclor. Among β-lactamase-producing strains, the detection rates of the TEM-1, PBP3-BLN, PBP3-s, and ROB-1were 54.1%, 18.9%, 11.8%, and 6.9%, respectively. The biotyping results show that most H. influenzaestrains were of type II and III. Non-typeable H. influenzae (NTHi) accounted for 89.3% of the strains. NTHi strains were the most prevalent in this region; most belonged to biological types II and III. β-Lactamase-positive ampi-cillin-resistant (BLPAR) strains were prevalent among H. influenzaeisolates in this region.

This study explores the combined effects of coal fly ash (FA) and CO2curing on the flexural strength, compressive strength, and water resistance of magnesium potassium phosphate cement (MKPC). Additionally, the hydration products and microstructure of MKPC and MKPC-FA blends are examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), mercury injection porosity (MIP), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results demonstrate that carbonation curing effectively improves the mechanical strength and water resistance of MKPC-FA blends by refining the pore structure and reducing porosity. Incorporating fly ash into magnesium phosphate cement leads to a longer setting time and appropriate enhancement in the water resistance of MKPC-FA blends. It should be mentioned that the mechanical strength of MKPC-FA blends declines with increasing fly ash content, and carbonation curing can partially ameliorate these negative effects. Therefore, both incorporating fly ash and storing carbon dioxide have positive effects on the durability and environmental sustainability aspects associated with MKPC preparation.

Photosynthesis in nature has been deemed as the most significant biochemical reaction, which maintains a relatively stable content of O2and CO2in the atmosphere. Herein, for a deeper comprehension of natural photosynthesis, an artificial photosynthesis model reaction of photochemical CO2to CO conversion (CO2+2 H++ 2e−→ CO + H2O) catalyzed by a homogeneous hexanuclear ring cobalt complex {K2[CoO3PCH2N(CH2CO2)2]}6(Co6complex) is developed. Using the [Ru(bpy)3]2+as a photosensitizer and TEOA as a sacrificial electron donor, an optimal turnover frequency of 503.3 h−1and an apparent quantum efficiency of 0.81% are obtained. The good photocatalytic CO2reduction performance is attributed to the efficient electron transfer between Co6complex and [Ru(bpy)3]2+, which boosts the photogenerated carriers separation of the photosensitizer. It is confirmed by the j-Vcurves, light-assisted UV-vis curves, steady-state photoluminescence spectra and real-time laser flash photolysis experiments. In addition, the proposed catalytic mechanism for CO2reduction reaction catalyzed by the Co6complex is explored by the potassium thiocyanate poison experiment, Pourbaix diagram and density functional theory calculations.

Optical limiting (OL) is an important application of nonlinear optics. Summarizing the structure–property relationship of organic materials is an effective means to develop superior optical limiters. In this work, two triphenylamine-based chalcone derivatives T1and T2with different peripheral substituent groups were synthesized to study their transient kinetics and nonlinear optical (NLO) absorption performance. The transient absorption spectrum (TAS) of compounds T1and T2in solvents of varying polarities visualizes the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) processes between the local excited state (LES) and the charge transfer state (CTS). Nanosecond Z-scan experiment and hole–electron analysis indicate that all compounds have excellent reverse saturated absorption (RSA) performance at 532 nm and T1exhibits stronger RSA than T2due to the stronger ICT performance of T1caused by the halogen effect. Degenerate pump–probe experiment shows that the ESA of T2at 532 nm is significantly enhanced by expanding the molecular π-conjugation. Under the premise of consistent linear transmittance (78%), compound T2shows better OL performance than compound T1at 532 nm in the nanosecond time domain. The OL thresholds of T1and T2are 3.72 and 0.72 J cm–2, respectively, which are better than those of the most reported OL materials. Our research shows that simple and common chalcone derivatives exhibit amazing NLO performance through a reasonable design.

This article revisits the sampled-data cooperative output regulation problem in a hybrid system framework. Due to the inevitable network-induced imperfections caused by communication among agents, we consider the problem under asynchronous transmissions and time-varying delays. A hybrid system model is introduced to incorporate the aforementioned communication imperfections and facilitate the analysis on internal stability and $\mathcal {L}_2$ ($\mathcal {L}_\infty$) performance of closed-loop systems. A novel Lyapunov functional candidate is proposed to establish the stability condition in terms of maximally allowable transmission intervals (MATIs) and maximally allowable delays (MADs). Compared with some existing results, the proposed Lyapunov functional candidate provides clearer physical significance. As a result, more straightforward computations and tradeoff designs on MATIs and MADs can be provided. Finally, numerical simulations are given to illustrate the efficiency and feasibility of the obtained results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To review the pharmacological characteristics, clinical evidence, and place in the management of acute postoperative pain severe enough to require an intravenous opioid.Data Sources A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed (January 2000 to December 1, 2020). Key search terms included oliceridineor acute postoperative pain. Other sources were derived from product labeling and ClinicalTrials.gov.Study Selection and Data Extraction All English-language articles identified from the data sources were reviewed and evaluated. Phase I, II, and III clinical trials were included.Data Synthesis Oliceridine is a novel selective µ-receptor G-protein pathway modulator. It has the property of activating G-protein signaling while causing low β-arrestin recruitment to the µ-receptor. Intravenous oliceridine showed statistically superior analgesia than placebo in patients with moderate or severe pain after surgery, with a favorable safety and tolerability profile regarding respiratory and gastrointestinal adverse effects, compared with morphine.Relevance to Patient Care and Clinical Practice The analgesic capacity of oliceridine is at least comparable to that of morphine at clinically relevant dosages, with a rapid onset of action. Also, it may be associated with a lower incidence of adverse events at dosing regimens associated with comparable analgesia. These data suggest that oliceridine may provide an important new treatment option for the management of moderate to severe postoperative pain where an intravenous opioid is warranted.Conclusion Oliceridine has obvious analgesic effects in patients with moderate or severe pain after surgery; additionally, it has a favorable safety and tolerability profile.

Objective To review the pharmacological characteristics, clinical evidence, and place in therapy of satralizumab for the treatment of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSDs).Data Sources A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed (January 2000 to October 15, 2020). Key search terms included satralizumaband neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders. Other sources were derived from product labeling and ClinicalTrials.gov.Study Selection and Data Extraction All English-language articles identified from the data sources were reviewed and evaluated. Phase I, II, and III clinical trials were included.Data Synthesis NMOSD is an autoimmune disease characterized by inflammatory lesions in the optic nerves and spinal cord. Interleukin-6 is involved in the pathogenesis of the disorder. Satralizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting the interleukin-6 receptor. Phase III trials showed that protocol-defined relapse was 30% for satralizumab and 50% for placebo (P= 0.018) when patients with NMOSD were treated with satralizumab monotherapy; protocol-defined relapse was 20% for satralizumab and 43% for placebo (P= 0.02) when satralizumab was added to immunosuppressant treatment. Satralizumab is generally well tolerated, with common adverse effects including injection-related reaction.Relevance to Patient Care and Clinical Practice Satralizumab has the potential to become a valuable treatment option for patients with NMOSD.Conclusion Satralizumab appears to be safe and effective as monotherapy or in combination with an immunosuppressant for patients with NMOSD and has the potential to become a valuable treatment option for these patients.

We report the fabrication of amorphous zinc tin oxide (ZTO) thin films using rf magnetron sputtering and rapid postannealing. A vertically graded composition alloy (Zn1–xSnxO) is constructed in a single amorphous layer, which exhibits strong visible light absorption. The ultrafast carrier dynamics of the ternary zinc tin oxide film is investigated by femtosecond transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy, which shows that the photocarriers in ZTO films have nearly identical relaxation dynamics under an ultraviolet or visible pump, indicating that the visible light absorption is induced by band gap reduction rather than defect state in the ZTO film. Our results provide insights into understanding the photophysical mechanism of amorphous ZTO films and suggest that this gradient film is a promising candidate for solar cell and photodetector devices.

Fabrication of anti-wetting coatings with anti-biofouling and anti-biofilm properties has become a hot spot of attention in recent years. However, the anti-biofilm mechanism of anti-bacterial adhesion coatings with different wet resistance properties has not been explored in detail. In this work, SiOxmicro–nano particles were prepared by the Stöber method and were in situmodified. The SiOx/waterborne polyurethane (WPU) coatings were prepared by the drop coating method, and the coatings with different hydrophobic and oleophobic properties were constructed by modifying the process conditions using SiOxmicro–nano particles as the roughness construction factor. Taking the dominant spoilage bacteria of aquatic products, Shewanella putrefaciensas the object, the anti-bacterial adhesion properties and anti-biofilm mechanism of the SiOx/WPU coatings were investigated. The results show that, with the unmodified SiOxparticles increasing from 1.2% (w/V) to 4.0% (w/V), the hydrophobicity and thermal stability of the SiOx/WPU coatings are significantly enhanced, but the oil repellency becomes worse due to the mesoporous structure. After SiOxmicro–nano particles are modified with 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyl trichlorosilane (PFOTS), the surface energy of the SiOx/WPU coatings is decreased, the liquid repellency is improved, and the surfaces are rough with the appearance of fluorocarbon compounds, but the thermal stabilities are slightly reduced. Among them, after the secondary modification of SiOxmicro–nano particles, the SiOx/WPU coatings showed excellent oil repellency, lower surface energies and higher fluorocarbon content on the surface. Particularly, SiOx/WPU coatings exhibited super-amphiphobicity after adjusting the amount of concentrated ammonia added during the secondary modification process. Meanwhile, we found that for the hydrophobic SiOx/WPU coatings, the stronger the oleophobic property, the greater the anti-bacterial adhesion ability is, while the anti-bacterial adhesion ability of hydrophobic and selectively oleophobic or superhydrophobic and oleophobic SiOx/WPU coatings is poor than that of amphiphilic SiOx/WPU coatings. However, because the super-amphiphobic SiOx/WPU coatings can be in the Cassie state with the bacterial solution for a long time, it can “capture” enough air to inhibit the irreversible adhesion of the bacteria. More importantly, the coatings can also inhibit the metabolic activity, secretion of extracellular polysaccharides, and activities of ATPase and AKP of the adherent bacteria, so it has a better anti-biofilm property. The anti-biofilm coatings can be used as food packaging materials or coated on the inner surface of packaging boxes to prevent the microbial infection.

Three cross-conjugated chalcone derivatives T3CT, T3CP2, and T3CP3were designed and synthesized to develop excellent organic nonlinear optical (NLO) materials. In a Z-scan experiment, all compounds show good NLO absorption characteristics in the visible to near-infrared region. The photophysical mechanism is confirmed to be two-photon absorption (TPA)-induced excited-state absorption (ESA). Intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) observed in transient absorption spectra (TAS) significantly affects molecular NLO properties. We define the π-conjugated system that dominates the electron transition process in the cross-conjugated structure as the effective π-conjugated structure. Electron transition analysis shows a sufficiently strong ICT can effectively expand the effective π-conjugated structure in these cross-conjugated structures. The TPA cross sections of these compounds at 650 and 750 nm are only in the range of 17–97 GM. However, we achieve a significant enhancement of the TPA cross section at 580 nm (1737–2027 GM) by extending the effective π-conjugated structure. Excited by 580 nm femtosecond laser pulses, all compounds exhibit excellent OL performance and the minimum OL threshold is 4.71 × 10–3J/cm2. The results show that these cross-conjugated chalcone derivatives have promising applications in OL, and their NLO performance can be effectively improved by modulating the effective π-conjugated structure.

Cobalt-based oxides, with high abundance, good stability and excellent catalytic performance, are regarded as promising photocatalysts for artificial photosynthetic systems to alleviate foreseeable energy shortages and global warming. Herein, for the first time, a series of novel spongy porous CDs@CoOxmaterials were synthesized to act as an efficient and stable bifunctional photocatalyst for water oxidation and CO2reduction. Notably, the preparation temperatures visibly influence the morphologies and photocatalytic performances of the CDs@CoOx. Under the optimal conditions, a maximum O2yield of 40.4% and pretty apparent quantum efficiency (AQE) of 58.6% at 460 nm were obtained over CDs@CoOx-300 for water oxidation. Similarly, the optimized sample CDs@CoOx-300 manifests significant enhancement on the CO2-to-CO conversion with a high selectivity of 89.3% and CO generation rate of 8.1 μmol/h, which is superior to most previous cobalt-based catalysts for CO2reduction. The composite CDs@CoOx-300 not only exposes more active sites but also facilitates electron transport, which results in excellent photocatalytic activity. In addition, the boosted photocatalytic behavior is attributed to the synergistic effect between CoOxand CDs, which was verified by the photocatalytic activity control experiments and electrochemical characterization. The work offers a novel strategy to fabricate a high performance bifunctional photocatalyst for water oxidation and CO2reduction.

Four substituted twistacenes decorated with different twisted π-conjugated units are synthesized to investigate their structure–property relationship. To improve the nonlinear optical (NLO) response of these twistacenes, phenyl, naphthyl, anthryl, and pyrenyl are selected as the twisted units to gradually increase the population of π-electrons. Broadband excited-state absorption (ESA) and reverse saturable absorption (RSA) of these compounds show a significant enhancement in femtosecond transient absorption spectra (TAS) and multiwavelength Z-scan experiments, respectively. The photophysical mechanism exhibits a typical feature of two-photon absorption (TPA)-induced ESA (TPA-ESA) on the singlet state. With the analysis of the electron transition calculated by the time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT), it can be inferred that TPA and ESA of these twistacenes are modulated by intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) and local excitation (LE), respectively. The TPA cross sections of these twistacenes at 515 nm are dramatically enhanced from 214 to 534 GM by introducing ICT, while the ESA cross sections are significantly increased from 1.2 × 10–21to 6.5 × 10–21m2at 690 nm via strengthening LE with the π–π* feature. The result indicates that not only can TPA and ESA be enhanced simultaneously but also the selective modulation of the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties can be achieved in such kinds of compounds.

An event-triggered affine formation maneuver control problem is studied in this work. The formations are invariant for any affine transformation. An event-triggered mechanism is proposed for the closed-loop system under which the controller updates and information broadcasting are generated only when it is necessary to maintain the system behavior. The practical convergence is guaranteed for the closed-loop system and Zeno behavior is excluded. Simulations are provided to verify the effectiveness of the method.

Orthosiphon stamineusBenth. (OSB) is a popular plant used for making “Shen tea” or “Java tea”. It has been demonstrated with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and hepatoprotective activities. However, its potential beneficial effects and bioactive material basis for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has not been convincingly studied. In the present work, we conducted dual phytochemical/activity-guided extraction optimization and component fractionation of OSB, and evaluated its beneficial effects on NAFLD. Flavonoids and polyphenols (caffeic acid/protocatechuic acid derivatives) were determined as the dominant phytochemicals in OSB. The extraction process for these phytochemicals was optimized by using response surface methodology. Noticeably, flavonoids showed a stronger correlation with the antioxidant activities of OSB than polyphenols. Likewise, the flavonoid-rich fraction of OSB exerted antioxidant activities stronger than those of other fractions. As expected, in vitroand in vivostudies demonstrated that the flavonoid-rich fraction effectively attenuated weight increase, improved lipid metabolism, alleviated hepatic steatosis, and reversed hepatic inflammation. Importantly, this fraction showed equivalent beneficial effects to the total extract of OSB, suggesting that flavonoids were the main bioactive constituents of OSB. The action mechanism was indicated as direct antioxidant effect through chemical interaction with free radicals and indirect mitochondria-mediated antioxidant defense. Our research offers bioactive substances for further exploitation and expands the potential application of OSB.

BZD is a classic Chinese herbal formula consisting of eight herbs, including Panax ginseng C.A. Mey.(Rén shēn), Rehmannia glutinosa (Gaertn.) DC.(Dì (Huáng), Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz.(Bái zhú), Smilax glabra Roxb.(Fúlíng), Angelica sinensis(Oliv.) Diels(Dāngguī), Conioselinum anthriscoides 'Chuanxiong'(Chuānxiōng), Paeonia lactiflora Pall.(Sháoyào), Glycyrrhiza glabra L.(Gāncǎo). Pharmacological studies have demonstrated that the active ingredients in BZD have some hypoglycemic effect. This study aims to systematically evaluate the effectiveness and safety of BZD on T2DM.

Downwelling aeration has become a widely applied approach to cope with the water eutrophication in stratified reservoirs, rivers and lakes. The aeration parameters involving flow rate, flow locations and working periodicity and their impacts on the temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO) distributions of water have been largely unclarified, causing extra time and energy consumptions in practice. In this study, a home-built water tank and an aeration pump are used to model the downwelling aeration processes in stratified water. Temporal influences of aeration parameters on the water stratifications and eutrophicated elements are systemically investigated, with the purpose of searching parametric configurations to enhance the anti-eutrophication efficiency. It is found that the variation rates of temperature destratification and DO distribution in the water body could be saturated and strongly correlated with the flow rate. Based on such experimental saturation rates, we find an optimized working condition from the aspect of energy saving: a 300 rpm pump speed and a 15 cm distance between the flow exit and the sediment surface. In such conditions, the total nitrogen and phosphorus dissolved in the bottom layer of water decrease exponentially with aeration time, and can be reduced by 53.8 and 86% in the first 6 h of aerations, respectively, taking full advantage of the microbial bonding to the sedimentations. The present work provides better understandings for efficient implementations of downwelling aerations.

A fundamental difference between antiferromagnets and ferromagnets is the lack of linear coupling to a uniform magnetic field due to the staggered order parameter1. Such coupling is possible via the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya (DM) interaction2,3, but at the expense of reduced antiferromagnetic (AFM) susceptibility due to the canting-induced spin anisotropy4. We solve this long-standing problem with a top-down approach that utilizes spin–orbit coupling in the presence of a hidden SU(2) symmetry. We demonstrate giant AFM responses to sub-tesla external fields by exploiting the extremely strong two-dimensional critical fluctuations preserved under a symmetry-invariant exchange anisotropy, which is built into a square lattice artificially synthesized as a superlattice of SrIrO3and SrTiO3. The observed field-induced logarithmic increase of the ordering temperature enables highly efficient control of the AFM order. Our results demonstrate that symmetry can be exploited in spin–orbit-coupled magnets to develop functional AFM materials for fast and secured spintronic devices5–9. A superlattice consisting of SrIrO3and SrTiO3is shown to display a giant response to sub-tesla external magnetic fields—a direct consequence of its antiferromagnetic nature.

Two simple hydrazone derivatives (A1 and A2) linked with different Π-conjugated systems are designed and synthesized to reach ultrafast broad-band optical limiting (OL) under different pulse widths. To exploit various virtues of two-photon absorption (TPA)-induced excited-state absorption (TPA–ESA), ESA is successfully established on a singlet state. Both compounds show a broad-band ESA range from 556 to 750 nm and a relatively long ESA lifetime. A1 displays a larger broad-band reverse saturable absorption than A2 in the multiwavelength Z-scan experiments. Furthermore, superior OL performance in A1 is shown from 515 to 800 nm under both femtoseconds and picoseconds. The thresholds (2.07 × 10–3J/cm2at 532 nm under 190 fs) are lower than those of most of the OL materials reported previously. Our results indicate that singlet-based TPA–ESA is a feasible method to achieve OL with high linear transmittance and broad-band and ultrafast response. Simple molecules with proper design display superior OL performance, which offers us a practical way to achieve ultrafast broad-band OL in low-cost organic materials.

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a novel amorphous solid dispersion system for tectorigenin (TG). TG is one of isoflavone aglycones extracted from Iris tectorum and flowers of Pueraria thunbergiana, but its poor water solubility and low membrane permeability have severely restricted the clinical application. To increase the aqueous solubility and oral bioavailability of TG, we prepared the solid dispersions of tectorigenin (TG-SD) using a simple solvent evaporation process with TG, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and PEG4000 at weight ratio of 7:54:9 after tested in several ratios. The prepared solid dispersions of tectorigenin are duly characterized for drug morphological conversion, in vitro dissolution and in vivo bioavailability. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies have indicated the morphological conversion of tectorigenin to amorphous form. In vitro release profiles revealed that the % release of TG-SD was achieved 4.35-fold higher than that of the pure drug after 150 min. The oral bioavailability of the solid dispersion in rats was also increased based on AUC0–tand Cmaxof TG-SD, which were 4.8- and 13.1-fold higher than that of TG crystal, respectively. It is worth noting that physical mixture containing TG, PEG4000and PVP produced a similar level of oral exposure as TG-SD, suggesting that PEG4000and PVP were able to enhance bioavailability of TG in rats. However, with the reduction of particle size, TG-SD provided the fastest oral absorption compared to physical mixture and pure drug. These results demonstrated that the efficacy of solid dispersions for the enhancement of TG oral bioavailability was by increasing its aqueous solubility and the solid dispersion formulation could be a viable option for enhancing the oral bioavailability of TG.

A generalized dynamic model of driveline system is formulated that includes the coupling effect and gyroscopic moments of the propeller shaft and hypoid gear rotor assembly. Firstly, the dynamic models with only gear-shaft coupling, with only gyroscopic effect, and with both gear-shaft coupling and gyroscopic effect are analyzed and compared. The results show that the combined effects of the gear-shaft interaction and gyroscopic behavior have considerable influence on the system dynamic responses surrounding gear bending resonances, especially for the bearing responses. However, the gear out-of-phase torsional modes still dominate the gear mesh frequency response. Secondly, the influence of pinion bending moment of inertia, propeller shaft stiffness and bearing stiffness on the system dynamic responses are examined. The system responses are then applied to perform further vibration and acoustic analysis for an axle housing structure. Computational results reveal that NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) refinement can be achieved by tuning the pinion bearing rotational stiffness and pinion bending moment of inertia for the example considered. This study provides an understanding of the interaction between hypoid gear pair and propeller shaft, and can be employed to enhance driveline system design.

Cardiac structural remodeling, including cardiomyocyte apoptosis, interstitial fibrosis, and inflammation, appears to be a key event associated with the progression of left ventricular hypertrophy and heart failure. Asiatic acid (AA) is a triterpenoid compound extracted from Centella asiaticathat exhibits antiapoptotic, antifibrotic, and anti-inflammatory activities. In the present study, a transverse aortic constriction (TAC) model was created in mice to mimic the progression of hypertrophy (2 weeks post-TAC) and heart failure (4 weeks post-TAC) to investigate whether the potential therapeutic drug AA ameliorates hypertrophy progression and which mechanisms are involved in this amelioration. Our results demonstrated that AA markedly inhibited the process of progression induced by pressure overload. The increases cardiomyocyte apoptosis and interstitial fibrosis, and inflammatory responses were significantly suppressed by AA. Our investigation revealed that this inhibitory effect was mediated by blocking the activation of both mitochondrial and death receptor-dependent apoptotic signaling pathways. Additional experiments demonstrated that AA attenuated fibrosis by blocking both transforming growth factor-β1/Smad and interleukin-6, signaling activation. Consequently, these findings indicated that AA attenuated pathological cardiac structural remodeling and preserved cardiac function via multiple intracellular signaling pathways in response to cardiac stimuli.

The cleft nasal deformity is a prevailing problem of complex challenge for plastic surgery, especially in the secondary correction. We mainly chose 40 patients with unilateral secondary cleft lip nasal deformity with alar collapse. Based on biomechanics and anatomy of nasal cartilage, we adapt a Z-plasty with cartilage mucosa using the deformed lateral crus of the upper lateral cartilage to support the collapse of lower lateral cartilage. All of our patients were satisfied with the aesthetic morphology after surgery, so we are confident that this method should be considered as an auxiliary treatment to rhinoplasty.

The aim of this study was to correct facial disharmony with or without occlusal dysfunction.

With the deployment of small cells and device to device communications in future heterogeneous networks, in many situations we would encounter mobile radio channels with partly blocked line of sight component, which are well modeled by the Rician shadowed (RS) fading channel. In this paper, by the usage of Kummer transformation, a simplified representation of the RS fading channel with integral fading parameter is given. It is a finite series representation involving only exponential function and low order polynomials. This allows engineers not only the closed-form expressions for exact performance analysis over RS fading channel, but also the insights on the system design tactics.

Creativity is imperative to the progression of civilization and is central to cultural life. Many neuroimaging studies have investigated the patterns of functional activity in the brain during different creative tasks, and the structural and functional characteristics of the highly creative individuals. However, few studies have investigated resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) in the brain related to individual differences in creativity, and it is still unclear whether the RSFC underlying creativity can be changed by training. The present study therefore used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (Rs-fMRI) to investigate the relationship between RSFC and creativity (divergent thinking, measured by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking) to explore whether RSFC can be influenced by cognitive stimulation. The results of 269 adults showed that creativity was positively correlated with the strength of RSFC between the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the middle temporal gyrus (mTG). In addition, behavioral data showed that cognitive stimulation was successful in enhancing originality in a subset of the original participants (n = 34). Most interesting, we found that there was also a significantly increased RSFC between the mPFC and the mTG by analyzing the data of Rs-fMRI after creativity training. Taken together, these results suggest that increased RSFC between mPFC and mTG, which belong to the default mode network might be crucial to creativity, and that RSFC between the mPFC and mTG can be improved by means of cognitive stimulation (reflecting creativity training-induced changes in functional connectivity, especially in the lower creativity individuals who had lower scores of Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking).

Using the nonlinear-imaging technique with a phase object (NIT-PO), we have studied third-order nonlinearities of various samples. In this work, we develop, for pure nonlinear refractive materials, an approximate method to calculate the nonlinear refractive coefficient analytically. By decomposing the object field passing through the phase object into two top-hat beams of different phases and beam radius, we acquire the approximate phase contrast, from which we extract the nonlinear refractive coefficient. This approximation is valid when the on-axis nonlinear phase shift by the sample is less than π. In addition, this approximation serves to estimate the sensitivity and monotonic interval for nonlinearity measurements more easily and thus helps us to maximize both the sensitivity and monotonic interval of measurements. We test this method with CS_2, a well-characterized third-order nonlinear refractive material using 21?ps laser pulses at 532?nm. We expect this method can be applied to high-order nonlinear refraction cases.

A newly developed method for the characterization of the optical nonlinearities and dynamics is applied to Kerr liquids. The time-resolved pump-probe system based on the 4f nonlinear imaging technique with phase object is used to obtain the diffraction pattern of the nonlinear filter induced in the liquid CS_2 placed in the Fourier plane by a charge-coupled device at various delay times. A theory based on two-beam coupling in perpendicular linear polarizations is used to interpret the measurement results. Good agreement is obtained between theory and experiment, suggesting a new method for simultaneous measurements of both magnitude and sign of the intensity-dependent refractive index as well as the dynamics of the Kerr liquids.

Crouzon is an autosomal dominant craniosynostosis syndrome caused by mutation in the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR)-2 gene. Recent findings from animal studies imply a critical role for FGFs in the regulation of mineralization. Here, we presented a 5-year-old girl with severe meningeal calcification. Subsequently, we analyzed FGFR2mutation and identified a mutation of Cys342Tyr. The findings suggest that abnormal calcification was atypical phenotype of Crouzon patients with Cys342Tyr mutation in FGFR2.

Ala and nostril collapse are most raised complaints in secondary deformity of unilateral cleft patients. While a lot of techniques have been introduced so far, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of edge locked stitching between nostril ala and lateral cartilages with mucochondrial Z-plasty to correct the collapse in lower lateral cartilage in the ala and nostril shaping.

Multidentate organic ligands 3,5-bis(4-pyridyl)pyridine (dpypy) and 1,2,4,5-tetrakis(4-pyridyl)benzene (tpb) are first exploited to construct cluster-containing metal–organic frameworks (C-MOFs). Two W/S/Cu C-MOFs {[NH4][WS4Cu4(dpypy)Cu(CN)4]·DMF}n(1) and {[NH4][WS4Cu4(tpb)Cu2(CN)5]·DMF}n(2) have been successfully synthesized and fully characterized. 1possesses an unprecedented (3,3,7)-c 3D framework with the first 7-connected (7-c) W(Mo)/S/Cu building clusters, 3-c Cu+and dpypy building units, and single/double CN–bridges. 2is fabricated by the rare 8-c [WS4Cu4]2+building clusters, 3-c Cu+and 4-c tpb building units, and single CN–to form a new (3,4,8)-c 3D architecture. Z-scan experiments reveal that they exhibit strong NLO properties. Especially, the hyperpolarizability (γ) of 1is 10 or even a hundred times higher than those of the reported [W(Mo)S4Cu4]2+-cluster-containing MOFs or coordination polymers. Moreover, luminescence tests demonstrate that 1can efficiently detect TNP in a water medium.

A new and simple technique is presented to investigate nonlinear optical properties. In this technique, a phase object is introduced into the measurement system. Both the nonlinear absorption coefficient and nonlinear refraction index can be determined conveniently by measuring the transmittance of the sample. The optical nonlinearities of the ZnSe are investigated by using this technique with 19 ps pulses at 532 nm wavelength as a test.

A phase-object (PO) Z-scan technique, which can conveniently distinguish the transient thermal-lensing effect from the third-order nonlinear refraction, is described. The PO Z-scan trace of the transient thermal-lensing effect shows a valley-peak shape that is very different from the single-valley (peak) shape of the pure negative (positive) third-order nonlinearity. The nonlinear refraction of the C_70/toluene solution is investigated by using the PO Z scan with 8 ns pulses at 532 nm wavelength as a test.