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To address organic dye pollution and agricultural waste comprehensive utilization, the biochar (ZB) was prepared using Rosa roxburghii residue as the material for preparation. Three modified biochars (ZBO, ZBS, and ZBH) were created using NaOH, Na2S, and H3PO4 as modifying agents. The morphology, structure, pore size, and elemental composition of biochars were characterized and analyzed by a combination of FTIR, SEM-EDS, and N2 adsorption–desorption techniques. Furthermore, the adsorption performance of the as-prepared biochars was investigated in the adsorption of RhB and MB dye process. The experimental findings showed that adsorption equilibrium for these dyes was achieved in 180 min. Moreover, the dye adsorption on biochars followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic equation. For the biochar (ZB), the Langmuir equation proved to be more appropriate than the Freundlich equation. In contrast, the Freundlich equation was more apt for the modified biochars. More importantly, Pearson's correlation analysis revealed that the adsorption rate and capacity of RhB positively correlated with the specific pore volume, t-plot micropore area, and BET surface area, but a negative one with the pore size. The MB adsorption showed the opposite correlations. This study reveals a novel biochar for adsorbing organic dyes, which provides a strategy for the treatment of Rosa roxburghii residue.

The realization of higher coupling strengths between coupled resonant modes enables exploration of compelling phenomena in diverse fields of physics and chemistry. In this study, we focus on the modal coupling between localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of Au nanoparticles (Au-NPs) and Fabry–Pérot mode (p-NiO/Au film). The effects of nanoparticle size, projected surface coverage (PSC), interparticle distance (IPD), and arrangement to the coupling strength between the two modes are theoretically investigated using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. Au-NPs/p-NiO/Au film (ANA) nanostructures with NPs size of 10 nm, 30 nm, and 50 nm are considered. Numerical calculations point to larger size and higher projected surface coverage (also smaller IPD) of NPs as pre-eminent factors in enhancing the strength of modal coupling. ANA nanostructure with NPs size of 30 nm (ANA-30) and 50 nm (ANA-50) are experimentally fabricated via a facile air–liquid interface self-assembly. The fabricated nanodevices exhibit immense Rabi splitting energies of 655 meV (ANA-30) and 770 meV (ANA-50), and thus fulfill the ultrastrong coupling condition with remarkable splitting energy to bare (plasmon) energy ratio of 0.35 (ANA-30) and 0.4 (ANA-50). The physical insights presented in this study, together with the simple and scalable fabrication process, establish a viable approach to realize stronger coupling between LSPR and Fabry–Pérot mode in metal NPs/dielectric/metal film systems. This will be vital to take advantage of the promising performance enhancements of plasmonic-based nanostructures under strongly coupled regimes in areas such as solar to fuel conversion, sensing, opto-electronics, and quantum applications.

In this article, we investigate a spherically symmetric backward heat conduction problem, starting from the final temperature. This problem is severely ill posed: the solution (if it exists) does not depend continuously on the final data. A conditional stability result of its solution is given. Further, we propose a quasi-boundary value regularization method to solve this ill-posed problem. Two Hölder type error estimates between the approximate solution and its exact solution are obtained under an a priori and an a posteriori regularization parameter choice rule, respectively.

lncRNA TPT1-AS1 plays an oncogenic role in ovarian and cervical cancers. However, its involvement in the pathological progress of esophageal squamous-cell carcinomas (ESCCs) is unclear. lncRNA TPT1-AS1 was mainly localized in the cytoplasm of ESCC cells and interacted with miR-26a. In ESCC tissues, lncRNA TPT1-AS1 level was obviously increased, while miR-26a level was decreased. Interestingly, lncRNA TPT1-AS1 level was not significantly correlated with miR-26a level but was positively correlated with HMGA1 mRNA, a target of miR-26a. In ESCC cell lines KYSE510 and KYSE-30, lncRNA TPT1-AS1 overexpression enhanced HMGA1 expression, while it had no effect on miR-26a expression. Cell migration and proliferation assays indicated that lncRNA TPT1-AS1 and HMGA1 overexpression promoted ESCC cell migration and invasion, while their effects were alleviated by miR-26a overexpression. The migration and invasion of ESCC cells were suppressed by lncRNA TPT1-AS1 knockdown. In conclusion, lncRNA TPT1-AS1 plays an oncogenic role in ESCC and might function by upregulating HMGA1 via sponging miR-26a.

Spatial visualization of mode distribution of light scattering from plasmonic nanostructures is of vital importance for understanding the scattering mechanism and applications based on these plasmonic nanostructures. A long unanswered question in how the spatial information of scattered light from a single plasmonic nanostructure can be recovered in the far-field, under the constraints of the diffraction limit of the detection or imaging optical system. In this paper, we reported a theoretical model on retrieving local spatial information of scattered light by plasmonic nanostructures in a far-field optical imaging system. In the far-field parametric sin δ images, singularity points corresponding to near-field hot spots of the edge mode and the gap mode were resolved for gold ring and split rings with subwavelength diameters and feature sizes. The experimental results were verified with Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulation in the near-field and far-field, for the edge mode and the gap mode at 566 nm and 534 nm, respectively. In sin δ image of split-ring, two singularity points associated with near-field hot spots were visualized and resolved with the characteristic size of 90 and 100 nm, which is far below the diffraction limit. The reported results indicate the feasibility of characterizing the spatial distribution of scattering light in the far-field and with sub-wavelength resolution for single plasmonic nanostructures with sub-wavelength feature sizes.

Suppurative arthritis has an acute onset and mostly affects old people and children. Recently, the incidence of adult suppurative hip arthritis, as well as its serious consequences, has increased. The deep hip joint and surrounding hypertrophic muscle tissue limit physical examination. Furthermore, they may cause variable and atypical symptoms of suppurative hip arthritis, possibly inducing delayed diagnosis and treatment. This atypical presentation is uncommon, causing delayed diagnosis and treatment, thus worsening the outcomes. We herein report the case of a 58-year-old man with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) septicemia and multiple organ failure due to left pyogenic arthritis of the hip. The patient’s early symptoms were extremely atypical given that he only presented hip pain. Moreover, there was no obvious history of trauma or inflammatory manifestations, such as fever or local swelling, and laboratory examination results and imaging findings were atypical. However, the disease progressed rapidly, developing into systemic sepsis within a short period of time followed by multiple organ failure and death. Early diagnosis and effective treatment of S. aureus hip arthritis are essential to avoid poor outcomes.

In this article, we consider a two-dimensional inverse heat conduction problem that determines the surface temperature distribution from measured data at the fixed location. This problem is severely ill-posed, i.e., the solution does not depend continuously on the data. A quasi-boundary value regularization method in conjunction with the a posteriori parameter choice strategy is proposed to solve the problem. A Hölder-type error estimate between the approximate solution and its exact solution is also given. The error estimate shows that the regularized solution is dependent continuously on the data.

Pulmonary Aspergillus infection may have a variety of manifestations depending on the patients’ immunity status and pre-existing lung conditions. Radiographically, aspergilloma, which is usually associated with noninvasive Aspergillus fumigatus conidia, may feature a characteristic mass in a cavity commonly located in the upper lobes of the lung. It is typically encountered upon pre-existing lung damage. Here we report Aspergillus growing in a pulmonary metastatic cavity in a 47-year-old male worker with a history of tongue cancer after a radical operation with neck dissection and concurrent chemotherapy in 2014. Chest radiography and computed tomography showed a cavitary lesion with a ball-in-hole lesion in the right upper lobe (RUL) and two cystic lesions within the bilateral upper lung field. Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial biopsy (EBUS-TBB) from the RUL anterior segmental bronchus (RB3) revealed the presence of Aspergillus conidia and squamous cell carcinoma. Wedge resection of the cystic lesion within the left upper lobe confirmed the diagnosis of metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. This is a rare case of aspergillosis within cavities of pulmonary metastases in a patient who was diagnosed with tongue squamous cell carcinoma. The conclusive distinction between neoplasm and fungal infection is difficult to achieve by radiography, and a pathological biopsy by EBUS-TBB is necessary to aid diagnosis. Clinicians should be aware of such an atypical presentation of metastases coexisting with Aspergillus infection.

Mevalonate pyrophosphate decarboxylase (MPD) is a key enzyme in terpenoid biosynthesis. MPD plays an important role in the upstream regulation of secondary plant metabolism. However, studies on the MPD gene are relatively very few despite its importance in plant metabolism. Currently, no systematic analysis has been conducted on the MPD gene in plants under the order Apiales, which comprises important medicinal plants such as Panax ginseng and Panax notoginseng. This study sought to explore the structural characteristics of the MPD gene and the effect of adaptive evolution on the gene by comparing and analyzing MPD gene sequences of different campanulids species. For that, phylogenetic and adaptive evolution analyses were carried out using sequences for 11 Campanulids species. MPD sequence characteristics of each species were then analyzed, and the collinearity analysis of the genes was performed. As a result, a total of 21 MPD proteins were identified in 11 Campanulids species through BLAST analysis. Phylogenetic analysis, physical and chemical properties prediction, gene family analysis, and gene structure prediction showed that the MPD gene has undergone purifying selection and exhibited highly conserved structure. Analysis of physicochemical properties further showed that the MPD protein was a hydrophilic protein without a transmembrane region. Moreover, collinearity analysis in Apiales showed that MPD gene on chromosome 2 of D. carota and chromosome 1 of C. sativum were collinear. The findings showed that MPD gene is highly conserved. This may be a common characteristic of all essential enzymes in the biosynthesis pathways of medicinal plants. Notably, MPD gene is significantly affected by environmental factors which subsequently modulate its expression. The current study’s findings provide a basis for follow-up studies on MPD gene and key enzymes in other medicinal plants.

The ratio of poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) fillers in PLA/PBAT/CaCO3 composites was set at 90/10/5, 70/30/5, and 30/70/5. The effect of nano- and micro-CaCO3 on the melting and crystallization performance of the composites was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry. PLA crystallization was related to the PLA and PBAT ratio, cooling rate, and CaCO3 particle size in PLA/PBAT/CaCO3 composites. Nano-CaCO3 prevented the crystallization of PLA in PLA/PBAT/CaCO3 90/10/5 and 70/30/5 but did not prevent the crystallization of PLA in PLA/PBAT/CaCO3 30/70/5. Unlike nano-CaCO3, micro-CaCO3 did not prevent PLA crystallization regardless of the PLA and PBAT ratio. Nano- and micro-CaCO3 enhance PLA90 and PLA70 to some extent, due to the aggregation and dissociation of the CaCO3 filler in polylactic acid. But nano- and micro-CaCO3 improved the mechanical properties of PLA30 several times, due to the good compatibility of the CaCO3 filler and PBAT. The effect of nano-CaCO3 and micro-CaCO3 on the mechanical properties of PLA/PBAT/CaCO3 composites had no significant difference.

Pleural effusions are rarely observed in association with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and their true incidence remains unknown. Given the low diagnostic yield from cytopathologic analysis of malignant pleural effusions and the fact that patients with leukemia are often thrombocytopenic and unable to tolerate invasive procedures, the incidence of leukemic effusions may be underestimated. Here, we report a rare case of pleural effusion in a patient with newly diagnosed AML. Initial analysis revealed an exudative, lymphocyte-predominant effusion. High levels of adenosine deaminase (ADA) were detected in pleural fluid, consistent with a diagnosis of tuberculosis. However, the analysis of pleural cytology revealed leukemic cells, permitting the diagnosis of leukemic effusion to be made. The patient underwent induction chemotherapy and pleural effusion resolved without recurrence. This case emphasizes the diagnostic dilemma presented by high levels of ADA in a leukemic pleural effusion, as this association has not been previously considered in the literature.

Metal ions are widely present in biological systems and participate in many critical biochemical processes such as material transportation, energy conversion, information transmission and metabolic regulation, making them indispensable substance in our body. They can cause health problems when deficiency or excess occurs. To understand various metabolic processes and facilitate diseases diagnosis, it is very important to measure the content and monitor the distribution of metal ions in individual cells, tissues and whole organisms. Among the various methods for metal ion detection, fluorescent sensors with organic dyes have attracted tremendous attention due to many advantages such as high fluorescence quantum yield, facile modification approaches and biocompatibility in addition to operation ease, high sensitivity, fast detection speed, and real-time detection. This review summarizes the recent progress on the detection and imaging of the metal ions in biological systems including Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe2+/Fe3+, Zn2+, and Cu2+ provides an opinion on remaining challenges to be addressed in this field.

Lunar exploration is a significant process to unravel the evolutionary history of the Earth-Moon system and the pivotal foundation for the exploration of the solar system. A total of 49,161 articles recorded in a comprehensive online literature database between 1959 and 2018 were reviewed to address the development of lunar science in six aspects: publication output volume, keywords, journals, authorship, collaboration, and national output efficiency. The development of lunar science experienced rise and fall corresponding to a log-linearized model that could be clearly divided into three stages: space race (1959-1977), silent stage (1978-1996) and renaissance (1997-2018). Keywords extracted from publications as reliable predictors of multidiscipline showed that the well-developed disciplines of lunar science were astronomy, space engineering, earth and planetary science, while other disciplines played important roles in different stages. Researchers had become cooperative rather than independent in publishing in the past sixty years. Countries with higher average annual GDP contributed more to the development of lunar science. The findings of this work help scholars comprehend the development of lunar science for the past, present and future.

We report the case of a thirty-eight-year-old woman admitted to our hospital due to palpitation and chest distress. ST-T segment change was found in her ECG. She was then diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by two-dimensional echocardiography. Physical examination showed no obvious abnormal signs and all laboratory examinations were within the normal range. Myocardial fibrosis was detected by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A novel heterozygous mutation (c.235C>T/p.Arg79Cys) in TNNI3 for cardiac troponin I was identified in her. Subsequently, her families were investigated. No one died suddenly in her family. Her father, one of her siblings and one of her daughters had the same genetic mutation but with different clinical manifestations while the others were healthy. Her father and brother were also diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with different clinical manifestation. However, the echocardiography of her daughter was absolutely normal. We hypothesized that the Arg79Cys mutation in TNNI3 leads to a slow development of cardiac hypertrophy and the phenotype of this gene mutation is diverse.

Mechanical stimulation via acupuncture and tuina massage triggers various cell responses. This study aims to understand these cellular bio-physical mechanisms by investigating the effect of different stimulation intensities on cell viability and protein expression.

C23H33BrO4, monoclinic, C2 (no. 5), a = 10.314(2) Å, b = 7.590(2) Å, c = 28.312(6) Å, β = 99.79(3)°, V = 2184.1 Å3, Z = 4, Rgt(F) = 0.0670, wRref(F2) = 0.1446, T = 293 K.