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In this study, arginineated chitosan (ACS) was used as a soft brain membrane and chelating agent to synthesize ACS-ZnO NPs, and then ACS and ACS-ZnO NPs were added to a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix as an antimicrobial agent to form films by casting. The formation and structural morphology of ACS and ACS-ZnO NPs were investigated by applying FTIR

Recently, multifunctional nanoparticles have shown great prospects in cancer treatment, which have the ability to simultaneously deliver the drug, image and target tumor cells. In this paper, we designed a luminescent nanoparticles platform based on hydrothermal hyaluronic acid/amorphous calcium phosphate (HA-FCNs/ACP) with multifunctional properties for drug delivery, bio-imaging, and targeting treatment. HA-FCNs/ACP shows an ability to load curcumin (Cur) with pH-sensitive responsive drug release behavior and excellent biocompatibility. HA-FCNs/ACP dispersed in the cytoplasm through the overexpressed CD44 receptor that is actively targeted into human lung cancer cells (A549 cells). Meanwhile, the viability of A549 cells was significantly inhibited in vitro. The prepared HA-FCNs and HA-FCNs/ACP both exhibit excellent targeted bioimaging performance on cancer cells Hence, the as-prepared nanoparticles have promising applications in treating tumor disease.

Honey bees (Apis) are important pollinators for food crops and wild plants, but are facing great threats from pathogens and parasites, especially an obligate ectoparasitic mite, Varroa destructor. Cell invasion is a key step for V. destructor to reproduce, and the parasite displays remarkable host preference in this process. Varroa destructor made its host-shift from its original host, the Asian honey bee Apis cerana, to the new host, the European honey bee Apis mellifera several decades ago. However, it remains largely unstudied whether V. destructor shows a cell invasion preference between the two host species. Using cell invasion bioassays on a modified four-well arena, we showed that V. destructor significantly preferred to invade the worker and drone larvae of A. mellifera rather than A. cerana, suggesting that the new host is much more attractive to the parasite than the original one. Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), we revealed significant differences between the cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles of worker and drone larvae of the two bee hosts. The amounts of methyl-branched alkanes and alkenes (unsaturated CHCs), but not n-alkanes, were significantly different, and A. mellifera worker and drone larvae were found to express significantly higher amounts of methyl-alkanes, while A. cerana larvae produced higher amounts of alkenes. Cell invasion bioassays with glass dummies showed that the mites preferred the glass dummies coated with the CHCs of A. mellifera worker or drone larvae, which indicates a role of larval CHCs in mediating the preferential cell invasion of Varroa. The findings from this study extend our understanding of the host preference of V. destructor, and can potentially contribute to the development of effective strategies for mite control.

Existing researches on cascading failures mainly focus on static spatial networks, but rarely consider network scenarios where mobile nodes and static nodes coexist. Therefore, in this work, we explore the impact of node mobility on cascading failures in spatial networks. We first develop a cascading model for static-mobile spatial network systems. In this model, we use the general betweenness to characterize the load of static nodes in the network, and adopt the Gauss–Markov mobility model to generate the movement trajectory of mobile nodes. On this basis, we develop three node interaction modes ( i.e., all-connection mode, high-load priority mode and low-load priority mode) to characterize the interaction between static nodes and mobile nodes. Experimental results have shown that 1) unlike the traditional cascading process that is a continuous process, the cascading process of static-mobile spatial networks consists of multiple cascading processes that occur at different times; 2) expanding the network size and reducing the number of mobile nodes can help the network resist cascading failures; 3) there is a tolerance space for network configuration parameters . When the configuration parameters fall into this space, the network can avoid cascading failures; 4) among the three interaction modes, the network robustness in all-connection mode is the worst, followed by low-load priority mode, and finally high-load priority mode. The obtained results can provide theoretical guidance for users to establish a more robust static-mobile spatial network.

Objective In second-stage percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL), because the hydronephrosis has been decompressed, the dilated renal pelvis has resolved and the space is small. Consequently, introduction of the tip of the Amplatz dilator can cause injury to the opposite side of the renal-pelvic mucosa. In this study, we report the experimental and initial clinical performance of a spherical-headed fascial dilator developed specifically for second-stage PCNL. Methods The novel spherical-headed dilator was compared with existing tapered-headed dilators in configuration and in puncture resistance utilizing a static puncture test. Subsequently, a pilot clinical study was conducted during which patients scheduled to undergo second-stage PCNL from June 2019 to October 2019 in our center were enrolled. A typical ultrasound guided PCNL procedure was performed with the exception that the new spherical-headed fascial dilator was substituted for a tapered-headed one. Results Experimentally, stab resistance against polyethylene film was significantly increased using the novel spherical-headed dilator compared to the traditional tapered-headed dilators (p

Background: Race may influence vulnerability to HPV and have an effect on cervical cancer survival independent of socioeconomic status. Integration of the virus and host transcriptomes from different populations provides an unprecedented opportunity to understand these racial disparities in the prevalence of HPV and its associated cervical cancers in addition to fundamentally advancing the knowledge of HPV-induced cervical carcinogenesis and progression. Methods: We performed RNA-Seq analysis of 90 tumors and 39 adjacent normal tissues from cervical cancer patients at Zhejiang University (ZJU) in China, and conducted a comparative analysis with RNA-Seq data of 286 cervical cancers from TCGA. Results: We found a significantly higher rate of HPV positives and HPV integrations in TCGA than in ZJU. In addition to LINC00393 and HSPB3 as new common integration hotspots in both populations, we found new hotspots such as SH2D3C and CASC8 in TCGA, and SCGB1A1 and ABCA1 in ZJU. We described the first, to our knowledge, virus-transcriptome-based classification of cervical cancer that is highly predictive of clinical outcome. Particularly, patients with expressed E5 performed better than those without E5 expression. However, the constituents of these virus-transcriptome-based tumor subtypes differ dramatically between the two populations. We further characterized the immune infiltration landscapes between different HPV statuses and revealed significantly elevated levels of regulatory T cells and M0 macrophages in HPV positive tumors, which were associated with poor prognosis. Conclusions: These findings increase our understanding of the racial disparities in the prevalence of HPV and its associated cervical cancers between Asian and Western populations, and also have important implications in the classification of tumor subtypes, prognosis, and anti-canc

In this paper, the problem of non-fragile H ∞ control for uncertain active suspension systems (ASSs) with time-delay is investigated via a fuzzy control approach in the finite frequency domain. Firstly, considering the variation of sprung and unsprung masses, a Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy model is constructed to describe the nonlinear suspension dynamics based on a typical quarter-automobile ASS model. Meanwhile, the input delays and gain perturbations of the actuator are considered to approximate the real physical device situations in the control systems. Secondly, through combining Lyapunov stability theory, generalized Kalman-Yakubovich-Popov (GKYP) lemma with the further universalization of the strict S-procedure, a sufficient condition is presented to ensure that the resulted closed-loop system is asymptotically stable and satisfies the desired finite frequency H ∞ performance simultaneously. Furthermore, the existing conditions of the fuzzy controller are given as a convex optimization problem in terms of a set of linear matrix inequality (LMI) constraints. Finally, numerical simulations are implemented to examine the effectiveness and performance advantages of the proposed control approach.

The purpose of our study was to assess organ function in 102 patients with severe COVID-19 infections, using retrospective clinical analysis.A retrospective analysis was conducted on 102 patients with severe COVID-19 infections. The patients were divided into a survival group (AST, BUN, CR, CK-MB, LDH, and CK in the non-survival group were higher than those in the survival group, and the differences were statistically significant (The results showed that there were different degrees of damage to the liver, kidneys, blood coagulation, and heart function in the non-survival group. In addition, PLT, AST, BUN, CR, D-Dimer, PT, FIB, F VIII:C, CK-MB, CK, and LDH had value in evaluating disease prognosis.Nuestro estudio tiene como objetivo evaluar la función del órgano en 102 pacientes con infección grave COVID-19 mediante análisis clínicos retrospectivos.Análisis retrospectivo de 102 pacientes con infección grave COVID-19. Los pacientes se dividieron en grupo de supervivencia (n = 73) y grupo de no supervivencia (n = 29) según la pre-fase. Edad, género, enfermedades subyacentes, datos de laboratorio clínico dentro de las 48 h (prueba de sangre de rutina, ALT, AST, TBIL, ALB, BUN, CR, dímero D, PT, APTT, FIB, F VIII: C, CK-MB, CK y LDH), y el estado de ventilación. Al comparar las diferencias entre los 2 grupos, se evaluó la función orgánica de estos pacientes graves con COVID-19.AST, BUN, CR, CK-MB, LDH y CK fueron todos más altos que el grupo de supervivencia en el grupo no sobreviviente, con una diferencia estadísticamente significativa (p 0,05). Dímero D, PT, FIB y F VIII: C fueron mayores que el grupo de supervivencia en el grupo de no supervivencia, y la diferencia fue estadísticamente significativa (p 0,05). PLT, AST, BUN, CR, dímero D, PT, FIB, F VIII: C, CK-MB, CK y LDH predijeron el área de curva inferior ROC (AUC) del evento final COVID-19, a 0,721, 0,854, 0,867, 0,757, 0,699, 0,679, 0,715, 0,811, 0,935 y 0,802, respectivamente.Los resultados mostraron que el grupo de no supervivencia tenía diferentes grados de daño al hígado, riñón, coagulación y función cardíaca. Además, PLT, AST, BUN, CR, dímero D, PT, FIB, F VIII:C, CK-MB, CK y LDH tienen valor en la evaluación del pronóstico de la enfermedad.

The incessant diffusion of smart wearable devices and Body Area Networks (BANs) systems is pushing more and more researches on human activity recognition. Previous studies usually adopted fixed time window or chose an optimal window size depending on the characteristics of the activity. In this paper, we propose an adaptive time window-based algorithm of activity recognition, which addresses the problem of different types of activities having different time duration that usually causes poor recognition results. Multivariate Gaussian Distribution (MGD) method was used to detect the signal difference between each determined time window and the defined activity characteristics, and we more accurately define the time window size for each activity. To evaluate the proposed algorithm, we focused on the activities performed by wheelchair users in their daily life, so as to provide them with better healthcare services. We construct two different datasets, respectively considering static and dynamic wheelchair user activities on different ground surfaces. Then, we use time window expansion and contraction method to determine and dynamically adjust the window size for each activity. Different comparison criteria such as recognition precision and F-score were used to evaluate our algorithm. Experiment results revealed that, according to F-score, the proposed algorithm performs 15.3% better than traditional methods in static conditions. In dynamic scenarios we observed 6.4% and 24.5% improvements on flat and rough floors, respectively.

In most cases, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are deployed in unattended scenarios and are featured by energy sensitivity and low cost, thus making the performance of WSNs prone to the impact of external environment and internal energy. Existing routing protocols attempted to optimize the energy efficiency and routing reliability from the perspective of the network itself and failed to take into consideration the environmental impact from outside, causing them cannot make prompt reactions to the dynamic changes of the environments (e.g., wildfire). Thus, in these routing protocols the routing survivability under harsh environments is questionable. To tackle this issue, the paper proposes an environment-fusion multipath routing protocol (EFMRP) to provide sustainable message forwarding service under harsh environments. In EFMRP, routing decisions are made according to a mixed potential field in terms of depth, residual energy and environment. The basic idea of this approach is to instruct data packets to select routes with the best trade-off among latency, energy conservation and routing survivability. As the environmental field is constructed and updated using the sensing capability of WSN itself, constructed routes can avoid crossing through the danger zones to keep the paths safe. To enhance the performance of EFMRP, specific maintenance, traffic allocation and retreat mechanisms are proposed. We investigate the impact of configuration parameters and paths number on the routing performance respectively and compare EFMRP with respect to commonly used routing protocols. The experimental results show that EFMRP can obtain significant improvements in packet delivery ratio and network lifetime under harsh environments.

Plastic mulching has been extensively used for near 40 years in China because of the commonly recognized trade-offs between economic profit and adverse impacts. Whether the trade-offs is well kept after decades of mulching usage is poorly understood. In this study, microplastic (MP) pollution, soil physical properties, as well as the root traits and yields of cotton under plastic mulching for different years (up to 32 years) in northwest China were investigated. The results showed that average abundance of MPs in soil ranged from 28.00 to 1426.67 items kg

Red cabbage (RC) is a vegetable rich in anthocyanins. This study analyzed comparative applications of RC hot air drying (HAD) at 60 °C, which took 810 min, and RC air-impingement jet drying (AIJD) at 60 °C, which took 630 min. The results indicated that AIJD retained a better color in the RC than HAD. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS) analysis of the RC showed that 28 anthocyanins and one anthocyanidin (cyanidin (C)) were derived from cyanidin-3-diglucoside-5-glucoside (C3dG5G). Multivariate analysis revealed that AIJD degraded the C3dG5G and C in the RC, which were revealed as 1.5-order and 2-order reactions, respectively. Moreover, the AIJD-induced degradation of C3dG5G and C were non-spontaneous and endothermic reactions. These kinetic equations could also be applied to predict the content of C3dG5G and C during degradation. Therefore, the results of this study could be beneficial in improving the AIJD of RC for more effective preservation.

Tb3+ is a typical green emitting luminescence center in inorganic compounds. However, the absorption of Tb3+ is very weak in ultraviolet spectral region (from 240 to 400 nm). Ce3+ is often used as a sensitizer to transfer energy to Tb3+. In this paper, Ce3+ and Tb3+ were co-doped into a novel aluminates-borates LaAl2.03B4O10.54. Ce3+ can absorb UV light (from 240 to 340 nm) and transfer absorbed energy to co-doped Tb3+ effectively and bring bright green emission of Tb3+. The crystal structure and fluorescence spectra of phosphors, the efficiency of energy transfer between Ce3+ and Tb3+, decay dynamics, the thermal stability and internal quantum efficiency of luminescence have been investigated in detail. These results indicate that the color tunable LaAl2.03B4O10.54: Ce3+, Tb3+ phosphor is a potential green-emitting material. Especially, analysis about the relationship of the doping concentration of luminescence centers and thermal stability of luminescence points out a feasible way to enhance the thermal stability of luminescence in the future.

This paper investigates the problem of fuzzy finite-frequency output feedback control for nonlinear active suspension systems with time delay and output constraints. Firstly, as the physical suspension systems always exist the phenomenon of sprung and un-sprung mass variation and time delay, the Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy model is adopted to represent the nonlinear uncertain active suspension system with uncertainties and time delay. Secondly, since the human body is much more sensitive to vertical vibrations between 4 and 8 Hz, a finite-frequency control criterion is formulated for the controller deign with consideration of time delay and output constraints. Other mechanical constraints such as suspension travel, tire dynamic deflection and actuator saturation are also considered. Thirdly, on a practical point of view, not all the states are online measurable. Hence, a novel fuzzy static output feedback (SOF) controller is proposed by applying the parallel-distributed compensation (PDC) scheme. The sufficient conditions for deriving the fuzzy SOF controller are obtained in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Finally, numerical simulations on a quarter-car suspension model are conducted to validate the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed fuzzy SOF controller.

High brightness and precise adjustment of luminescence colour of phosphors are two main targets in the research of phosphor-converted white LEDs. However, few feasible strategy can be employed to achieve the multicolor-tunable luminescence under the premise of maintaining high quantum efficiency. Here, we demonstrate a high-efficiency energy-transfer process from Tb3+ to Eu3+ ions with a higher luminescent quantum efficiency (64.5% and 53.4%, respectively), and green-red multicolor emission in Lu2GeO5 host via varying the doping content of Tb3+ and Eu3+ ions. Besides, Lu2GeO5:Tb3+, Lu2GeO5: Eu3+ and Lu2GeO5: Tb3+, Eu3+ all exhibit weak thermal quenching which ensures the stable use of white LED device in the high temperature environment. This paper provides a novel multicolor-tunable phosphor with high brightness, efficient energy transfer and weak thermal quenching, which presents a potential application for UV-converted white LEDs.

Research hotspots about Ce3+-Tb3+ and Ce3+-Mn2+ codoped multicolor-tunable materials, has grown rapidly and is still growing. However, few feasible strategies can be employed to achieve the multicolor-tunable luminescence under the premise of maintaining high QE. In this paper, KSrLu(PO4)2:0.25Ce presents a high luminescence efficiency with approximately 78% quantum efficiency. Furthermore, Ce3+-Tb3+ and Ce3+-Mn2+ codoped optimal samples give a green and red luminescence, which corresponds to a high 61% and 55% quantum efficiency due to a high energy transfer efficiency of Ce3+→Tb3+ and Ce3+→Mn2+. Besides, we achieved the precise adjustment of blue, green, orange and pink emissions of KSrLu(PO4)2:Ce3+, Tb3+, Mn2+ samples. Meanwhile, KSrLu(PO4)2:Ce3+, Tb3+ and KSrLu(PO4)2:Ce3+, Mn2+ phosphors present a weak thermal quenching: their integrated emission intensity at 500K still keep more than 80% of their initial intensity at room temperature. Therefore, the results might provide a novel multicolor-tunable phosphor for backlight display application.

Design and preparation of novel advanced carbon materials with unique architecture and functional groups is of great significance. Herein, a spongy acetylenic carbon material (SACM) was prepared through mechanochemical reaction of CaC2 and chlorinated rubber in a planetary ball mill at ambient temperature. Its composition and structure were characterized, and its electrochemical properties and adsorption performance for Hg2+ were studied. The SACM is composed of submicron spongy aggregates with high carbon content (81.8%) and specific area (503.9 m2·g−1), rich porosity and acetylenic groups. The SACM exhibits excellent adsorption for Hg2+ with saturated adsorption amount being 157.1 mg·g−1, which is superior to conventional carbon materials. Further, it exhibits good electrochemical performance with low equivalent series resistance (0.50 Ω), excellent cycling stability and ideal double layer capacitive behavior. This paper provides a novel and universal synthesis method of spongy carbon materials, and better results can be expected through tuning the pore structure, graphitization degree, and heteroatoms of the target carbon materials.

Covalently closed, single-stranded circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of newly discovered endogenous RNAs involved in the pathological process of various types of diseases through sponging microRNAs (miRNAs). However, the role of circRNAs in diabetic cataract (DC) is unclear. Our previous studies have demonstrated that miR-204-5p was expressed more lowly in DC than the normal controls, but whether it relates to the sponge function of circRNAs remains unknown. This study aimed to identify differentially expressed circRNAs in DC tissues and investigate the interaction between circRNAs and miR-204-5p in the development of cataract. RNA-sequencing based circRNA expression profiling was determined in DC lens tissues as well as transparent lens tissues, and 1063 circRNAs were significantly differentially expressed in the DC group compared to the normal control group (p ≤ 0.05, fold change ≥ 2.0). Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were applied to predict the function of these differentially expressed circRNAs, and the top ten enriched GO entries and KEGG pathways were annotated. Expression levels of the two candidate circRNAs having conserved interaction with miR-204-5p were validated by qRT-PCR, showing that the change direction of these circRNAs was consistent with the RNA-sequencing data. Moreover, circKMT2E was up-regulated more than two folds in DC lens tissues compared with normal tissues, exhibiting an expression trend opposite to miR-204-5p. Bio-informatics analysis showed that there were totally four seed sequences of circKMT2E on hsa-miR-204-5p. Thus, we speculated that circKMT2E may function as a sponge molecule of miR-204-5p and play a role in the pathogenesis of DC. Although the exact mechanisms need further validation, our study found that the differentially expressed circRNAs was involved in the pathogenesis of DC, which can provide a new target for non-surgical treatment of DC.

In this paper, the concept of s 2 -quasialgebraic posets is introduced. The main results are: (1) A poset is an s 2 -quasialgebraic iff the σ 2 -topology is a hypercontinuous and algebraic lattice; (2) A poset is s 2 -algebraic iff it is meet s 2 -continuous and s 2 -quasialgebraic.

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma in situ generates reactive species (e*, OH, O, H, H2O2, O3, etc.), UV irradiation and local high temperature. These physiochemical effects can non-selectively destroy aqueous organic contaminants, but the energy efficiency of DBD plasma for water decontamination can be further improved. Persulfate ( S 2 O 8 2 - , PS) and ferrous ions (Fe2+) were employed for enhancing the degradation of p-nitrophenol (PNP). An addition of both S 2 O 8 2 - ( OH and SO 4 · - through Fenton-like reactions and PS activation process. Moreover, the tertiary system of plasma/PS/Fe2+ (81.1%) presented higher PNP degradation efficiency after 50 min treatment than discharge plasma alone (34.8%) and the binary systems of plasma/PS (63.6%), plasma/Fe2+ (69.6%) and PS/Fe2+ (13.7%). However, an excessive addition of S 2 O 8 2 - (2.5–3.6 mM) and Fe2+ (36–360 µM) had unobvious or even harmful influence on PNP degradation, possibly due to the enhanced recombination or consumption of OH and SO 4 · - by radical side reactions. The effect of radical scavengers on PNP degradation indicates that OH was the most important radical species in plasma system for PNP degradation, but SO 4 · - was also very important for PNP degradation when PS was present in solution. Besides Fe2+ and the heat effect from discharge plasma, the electrons produced by electric discharge may also be one of the important contributors to the activation of PS.

To deal with serious environmental pollution resulting from plastic packaging materials, biodegradable films using chitosan (CS) are gaining considerable increase gradually. However, chitosan films lack important properties to meet the preserved demands. This study aimed to develop new bio-based films incorporated with carboxymethyl chitosan-ZnO (CMCS-ZnO) nanoparticles and sodium alginate (SA) to overcome the weakness of CS films. CMCS-ZnO nanoparticles were successfully synthesized in the matrix of CMCS through direct precipitation method, which showed an average diameter of 100 nm. Multilayer films with CS film as the outer layer and SA film as the inner layer were prepared by solution casting method. The addition of CMCS-ZnO nanoparticles led to enhanced tensile strength, and to better water vapor resistance. The as-prepared films exhibited distinctive antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli. The results suggested that the as-prepared film is expected to be a promising material for food packaging.

Porphyromonas gingivalis , a clinically important oral pathogen causing periodontal disease, is difficult to culture in routine conditions. Hence, it is necessary to establish a reliable technique to detect this pathogen. Previously, our laboratory developed a new isothermal detection method, called MB-LAMP (molecular beacon-Loop-mediated isothermal amplification), which combines the advantages of LAMP and qPCR through the accurate and quantitative detection of LAMP products. This approach offers significant potential for the point-of-care detection of P. gingivalis. Here, MB-LAMP was used to detect P. gingivalis targeting a specific fragment, and the sensitivity was as high as 1.4 × 10−1 pg μL–1. The method showed no cross-reaction with 14 other bacterial pathogens. For clinical samples, this assay showed a high diagnostic sensitivity (100%) and specificity (100%), equivalent to that of real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (real-time qPCR). Moreover, detection with MB-LAMP was significantly faster than that with real-time qPCR, reducing the time required for clinical diagnosis. Finally, we established an absolute quantification method with MB-LAMP for P. gingivalis using pilot samples. Thus, the highly specific, sensitive, and rapid assay developed in this study makes it feasible to diagnose P. gingivalis.

Coherent structures in an actively drag-reduced zero-pressure gradient turbulent boundary layer are investigated using particle-image velocimetry (PIV) and micro-particle-tracking velocimetry (μ-PTV). The friction drag reduction is achieved by spanwise traveling waves via wall-normal deflection of an aluminum surface generated by an electromagnetic actuator system. For a momentum thickness based Reynolds number R e θ = 1200 flow, the measurements yield a maximum local drag reduction of 5.3%. The coherent structures in the streamwise vertical and streamwise horizontal planes are measured by phase-averaged PIV. The spanwise traveling transversal surface waves manipulate the coherent structures by interrupting the regeneration cycle of the wall-bounded turbulence. The Reynolds stresses are enhanced in the outer part of the boundary layer above the wave trough. The turbulence production is shifted off the wall during the upward motion of the wall due to the wall-normal momentum induced by the transversal surface waves. This finding is substantiated by the distributions of the wall-normal vorticity fluctuations and two-point correlations. A secondary spanwise flow induced by the waves generates a net spanwise fluid transport in the direction of the wave propagation. This secondary flow prevents the low-speed streaks to follow the downward motion. It rearranges them in the outer region of the boundary layer resulting in the shift of the near-wall turbulence production off the wall.

Accelerating and regulating collagen formation during wound healing repair is key issues for skin regeneration. Insulin can promote the healing of damaged skin by stimulating cellular migration and angiogenesis. Here, human hair keratin-conjugated insulin was synthesized to enhance full-thickness skin regeneration based on the excellent wound healing and hemostatic effects of keratin and the collagen deposition regulation ability of insulin. The insulin-conjugated keratin (Ins-K) was synthesized through the EDC/NHS reaction, which can supply a sustained release of insulin. The Ins-K hydrogel displayed similar water absorption, porosity and rheology properties to those of the keratin hydrogel. However, the Ins-K hydrogel shows a stronger hemostatic ability than the keratin hydrogel group, with a stronger wound healing effect found for the Ins-K hydrogel in the early regeneration stage (first 2 weeks) than for the keratin hydrogel treatment, resulting in smoother skin tissues at an excision section realized by regulating transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) and hydroxyproline (HYP) expression. The results demonstrate that keratin promotes hemostasis and wound healing after insulin conjugation, which highlights the potential of keratin-based materials in tissue regeneration applications.

How to shorten time delay and enhance delivery ratio in sparse settings is still an open issue in the study of opportunistic networks. Most proposals are trying to deal with this issue by introducing infrastructures; however, although related research has been proved to be useful in improving the routing performance of the network, there is still room for further improvement. In this paper, inspired by the powerful message synchronization capability of wireless sensor networks (WSNs), we propose a new opportunistic network framework called WON that introduces WSNs into the opportunistic network. With the support of WSNs, low latency delivery and high delivery ratio can be achieved. To make the best use of WSNs, we present a comprehensive routing mechanism that is able to cover all the message-forwarding activities (i.e., mobile-to-mobile, mobile-to-stationary, stationary-to-mobile and stationary-to-stationary) in WON. To tackle the challenging issues caused by constrained energy and storage space, we develop a storage management scheme and a message control scheme. The experimental results show that WON can improve the success ratio while lowering the latency compared with the existing architectures. Furthermore, it is shown that WON is a highly effective solution for the rapid deployment of a low-latency communication network in the disaster-relief scenarios.

Wireless sensor networks have been widely used in industrial IoT contexts due to their useful support during the production monitoring and risk pre-warning. However, complicated and extremely variable industrial environments call for higher communication stability and reliability to guarantee timely transmission of monitored data. Considering mobile intelligences such as Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), within industrial scenarios, we propose a solution based on hybrid (fixed and mobile) industrial wireless sensor networks featured with a task-oriented model. The proposal includes a heuristic modeling method adopted to assign tasks from definite orders which will be sent to the controller, and a collaborative routing algorithm exploiting the AGVs mobility on specific trajectories. Experiments have shown that, using mobility features of the AGVs, the integrated solution can promptly repair the network when a node and the relative link fail or the detected quality is low, significantly reducing the energy consumption of wireless nodes and data communication delay, thus improving the overall throughput and reliability of industrial IoT systems.