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Herein, we have prepared SiO2 particles uploaded MXene nanosheets via in-situ hydrolysis of tetraetholothosilicate. Due to the large number of groups at the edges of MXene, SiO2 grows at the edges first, forming MXene@SiO2 composites with a unique core-rim structure. The tribological properties of MXene@SiO2 as lubricating additive in 500 SN are evaluated by SRV-5. The results show that MXene@SiO2 can reduce the friction coefficient of 500 SN from 0.572 to 0.108, the wear volume is reduced by 73.7%, and the load capacity is increased to 800 N. The superior lubricity of MXene@SiO2 is attributed to the synergistic effect of MXene and SiO2. The rolling friction caused by SiO2 not only improves the bearing capacity but also increases the interlayer distance of MXene, avoiding accumulation and making it more prone to interlayer slip. MXene@SiO2 is adsorbed on the friction interface to form a physical adsorption film and isolate the friction pair. In addition, the high temperature and high load induce the tribochemical reaction and form a chemical protection film during in the friction process. Ultimately, the presence of these protective films results in MXene@SiO2 having good lubricating properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antigenically divergent H7N9 viruses pose a potential threat to public health, with the poor immunogenicity of candidate H7N9 vaccines demonstrated in clinical trials underscoring the urgent need for more-effective H7N9 vaccines. In the present study, mice were immunized with various doses of a suspended-MDCK-cell-derived inactivated H7N9 vaccine, which was based on a low-pathogenic H7N9 virus, to assess cross-reactive immunity and cross-protection against antigenically divergent H7N9 viruses. We found that the CRX-527 adjuvant, a synthetic TLR4 agonist, significantly enhanced the humoral immune responses of the suspended-MDCK-cell-derived H7N9 vaccine, with significant antigen-sparing and immune-enhancing effects, including robust virus-specific IgG, hemagglutination-inhibiting (HI), neuraminidase-inhibiting (NI), and virus-neutralizing (VN) antibody responses, which are crucial for protection against influenza virus infection. Moreover, the CRX-527-adjuvanted H7N9 vaccine also elicited cross-protective immunity and cross-protection against a highly pathogenic H7N9 virus with a single vaccination. Notably, NI and VN antibodies might play an important role in cross-protection against lethal influenza virus infections. This study showed that a synthetic TLR4 agonist adjuvant has a potent immunopotentiating effect, which might be considered worth further development as a means of increasing vaccine effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background and objective: Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) can accelerate wound healing, reduce scar formation, and inhibit hypertrophic scar (HTS). ADSCs can secrete a large amount of CCL5, and CCL5 has been proved to be pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic. CXCL12 (SDF-1) is a key chemokine that promotes stem cell migration and survival. Therefore, this study selected normal skin and HTS conditioned medium to simulate different microenvironments, and analyzed the effects of different microenvironments on the expression of CCL5 and CXCL12 in human ADSCs (hADSCs). Materials and methods: hADSCs with silenced expression of CCL5 and CXCL12 were co-cultured with hypertrophic scar fibroblasts to verify the effects of CCL5 and CXCL12 in hADSCs on the proliferation ability of hypertrophic scar fibroblasts. A mouse model of hypertrophic scar was established to further confirm the effect of CCL5 and CXCL12 in hADSCs on hypertrophic scar formation. Results: CCL5 level was found to be significantly high in hADSCs cultured in HTS conditioned medium. CXCL12 in HTS group was prominently lowly expressed compared with the normal group. Inhibition of CCL5 in hADSCs enhanced the effects of untreated hADSCs on proliferation of HTS fibroblasts while CXCL12 knockdown exerted the opposite function. Inhibition of CCL5 in hADSCs increased the percentage of HTS fibroblasts in the G0/G1 phase while down-regulation of CXCL12 decreased those. Meanwhile, the down-regulated levels of fibroblast markers including collagen I, collagen III, and α-SMA induced by CCL5 knockdown were significantly up-regulated by CXCL12 inhibition. hADSCs alleviate the HTS of mice through CCL5 and CXCL12. Conclusion: In summary, our results demonstrated that hADSCs efficiently cured HTS by suppressing proliferation of HTS fibroblasts, which may be related to the inhibition of CXCL12 and elevation of CCL5 in hADSCs, suggesting that hADSCs may provide an alternative therapeutic approach for the treatment of HTS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the 3MV tandem accelerator of Sichuan University, monoenergetic neutrons were generated through the T(d,n)4He reaction by bombarding a Tritium–Titanium (T–Ti) target with a 2 MeV deuterium beam. The neutron activation method and offline gamma-ray spectroscopy were utilized to measure the cross sections of the 232Th(n,2n)231Th reaction at neutron energies of 12.49 ± 0.33 MeV, 16.38 ± 0.60 MeV, and 18.10 ± 0.23 MeV. Factors such as neutron scattering, neutron flux fluctuation, cascade coincidence effects in gamma-ray measurements, and gamma-ray self-absorption were analytically corrected. The TALYS-1.9 program was used to calculate the reaction cross sections of 232Th(n,2n)231Th within the 6–20 MeV neutron energy range. The experimental data were compared and analyzed against existing experimental data, evaluated data from CENDL-3.2, ENDF/B-VIII, JENDL-5, ROSFONDR-2010 and theoretical values computed by TALYS-1.9. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: Developing a universal strategy of the p–n homojunction engineering that could significantly boost electron mobility of electron transport layer (ETL) by two orders of magnitude. Proposing a new mechanism based on p–n homojunction to explain inhibited carrier loss at buried interface. Setting a new performance benchmark as high as 25.50% for planar perovskite solar cells employing TiO2 as ETLs. Low-temperature processed electron transport layer (ETL) of TiO2 that is widely used in planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has inherent low carrier mobility, resulting in insufficient photogenerated electron transport and thus recombination loss at buried interface. Herein, we demonstrate an effective strategy of laser embedding of p-n homojunctions in the TiO2 ETL to accelerate electron transport in PSCs, through localized build-in electric fields that enables boosted electron mobility by two orders of magnitude. Such embedding is found significantly helpful for not only the enhanced crystallization quality of TiO2 ETL, but the fabrication of perovskite films with larger-grain and the less-trap-states. The embedded p–n homojunction enables also the modulation of interfacial energy level between perovskite layers and ETLs, favoring for the reduced voltage deficit of PSCs. Benefiting from these merits, the formamidinium lead iodide (FAPbI3) PSCs employing such ETLs deliver a champion efficiency of 25.50%, along with much-improved device stability under harsh conditions, i.e., maintain over 95% of their initial efficiency after operation at maximum power point under continuous heat and illumination for 500 h, as well as mixed-cation PSCs with a champion efficiency of 22.02% and over 3000 h of ambient storage under humidity stability of 40%. Present study offers new possibilities of regulating charge transport layers via p-n homojunction embedding for high performance optoelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a nitrogen-doped microporous carbon nanospheres (N@MCNs) prepared by a facile polymerization–carbonization process using low-cost styrene. The N element in situ introduces polystyrene (PS) nanospheres via emulsion polymerization of styrene with cyanuric chloride as crosslinking agent, and then carbonization obtains N@MCNs. The as-prepared carbon nanospheres possess the complete spherical structure and adjustable nitrogen amount by controlling the relative proportion of tetrachloromethane and cyanuric chloride. The friction performance of N@MCNs as lubricating oil additives was surveyed utilizing the friction experiment of ball-disc structure. The results showed that N@MCNs exhibit superb reduction performance of friction and wear. When the addition of N@MCNs was 0.06 wt%, the friction coefficient of PAO-10 decreased from 0.188 to 0.105, and the wear volume reduced by 94.4%. The width and depth of wear marks of N@MCNs decreased by 49.2% and 94.5%, respectively. The carrying capacity of load was rocketed from 100 to 400 N concurrently. Through the analysis of the lubrication mechanism, the result manifested that the prepared N@MCNs enter clearance of the friction pair, transform the sliding friction into the mixed friction of sliding and rolling, and repair the contact surface through the repair effect. Furthermore, the tribochemical reaction between nanoparticles and friction pairs forms a protective film containing nitride and metal oxides, which can avert direct contact with the matrix and improve the tribological properties. This experiment showed that nitrogen-doped polystyrene-based carbon nanospheres prepared by in-situ doping are the promising materials for wear resistance and reducing friction. This preparing method can be ulteriorly expanded to multi-element co-permeable materials. Nitrogen and boron co-doped carbon nanospheres (B,N@MCNs) were prepared by mixed carbonization of N-enriched PS and boric acid, and exhibited high load carrying capacity and good tribological properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purification of ethylene (C2H4) as the most extensive and output chemical, from complex multi-components is of great significance but highly challenging. Herein we demonstrate that precise pore structure tuning by controlling the network hydrogen bonds in two highly-related porous coordination networks can shift the efficient C2H4 separation function from C2H2/C2H4/C2H6 ternary mixture to CO2/C2H2/C2H4/C2H6 quaternary mixture system. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction revealed that the different amino groups on the triazolate ligands resulted in the change of the hydrogen bonding in the host network, which led to changes in the pore shape and pore chemistry. Gas adsorption isotherms, adsorption kinetics and gas-loaded crystal structure analysis indicated that the coordination network Zn-fa-atz (2) weakened the affinity for three C2 hydrocarbons synchronously including C2H4 but enhanced the CO2 adsorption due to the optimized CO2-host interaction and the faster CO2 diffusion, leading to effective C2H4 production from the CO2/C2H2/C2H4/C2H6 mixture in one step based on the experimental and simulated breakthrough data. Moreover, it can be shaped into spherical pellets with maintained porosity and separation performance. C2H4 is one of the most important chemical raw materials. Here, the authors report that tuning of pore structure shifts the multi-component gas separation function, enabling one-step production of high-purity C2H4 in the quaternary mixture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SrFe12–2xNixZrxO19 (x = 0–0.9) ferrites were successfully synthesized through hydrothermal method using metal chloride as start materials. It exhibits very good hexagonal crystals with doping content x < 0.3, but deviate from hexagonal flakes with increasing doping, accompanied by some debris. XRD confirm that the impurity phase decrease with the increase of doping amount even though the sample annealed at 950 °C. After annealing at 1150 °C, It exhibits the absence of secondary phases of SrCO3. It was found the obvious preferred orientation and becomes more significant with the increase of doping amount. In addition, the deconvoluted XPS of Sr 3d and Zr 3d indicated the complexed coordination with high doping amount x > 0.5. Magnetic properties further validated the ions migration and multielectron transitions. The highest saturation magnetization value observed is 55.66 emu/g for the x = 0.3 sample. With dopant increasing, the coercivity decreases steadily from 840 to 190 Oe. Thus, the materials with high Ms and low Hc values could be suitable used in longitudinal magnetic recording media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the ex vivo expansion of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) in a stirred tank bioreactor, the formation of cell–microcarrier aggregates significantly affects cell proliferation and physiological activity, making it difficult to meet the quantity and quality requirements for in vitro research and clinical applications. In this study, computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations were used to investigate the effect of an impeller structure in a commercial spinner flask on flow field structure, aggregate formation, and cellular physiological activity. By designing a modified impeller, the aggregate size was reduced, which promoted cell proliferation and stemness maintenance. This study showed that increasing the stirring speed reduced the size of hUCMSC-microcarrier aggregates with the original impeller. However, it also inhibited cell proliferation, decreased activity, and led to spontaneous differentiation. Compared to low stirring speeds, high stirring speeds did not alter the radial flow characteristics and vortex distribution of the flow field, but did generate higher shear rates. The new impeller's design changed the flow field from radial to axial. The use of the novel impeller with an increased axial pumping rate (Qz) at a similar shear rate compared to the original impeller resulted in a 43.7% reduction in aggregate size, a 37.4% increase in cell density, and a better preservation of the expression of stemness markers (SOX2, OCT4 and NANOG). Increasing the Qz was a key factor in promoting aggregate suspension and size reduction. The results of this study have significant implications for the design of reactors, the optimisation of operating parameters, and the regulation of cellular physiological activity during MSC expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the wavefront perturbation method based on power detection of radio sources is used to measure the surface error of the Tianma radio telescope. By measuring the surface errors at different elevation angles, a surface compensation model to correct gravitational deformation is established. Observation results shows that the efficiency reduction caused by the gravitational deformation can be effectively compensated by loading this model on the active surface, especially at high and low elevations. A dual-beam calibration scheme is further used to remove atmospheric background fluctuations, which significantly improves data quality at lower elevations. The form and order of the perturbation modes and data processing are optimized to improve measurement accuracy. This paper presents the first attempt to apply the wavefront perturbation method to large radio telescopes and demonstrates its capacity and effectiveness in telescope runtime surface measurement and maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Individual differences in pain sensitivity play a role in the development and maintenance of chronic pain. Previous studies have shown more interpretation and memory biases toward pain-related information in chronic pain patients than in healthy controls. Yet, it remains unclear whether interpretation and/or memory biases in healthy individuals vary with the level of pain sensitivity. Methods: Two groups of healthy participants with high or low pain sensitivity (HPS and LPS) were recruited based on their scores on a pain-sensitivity questionnaire, which categorization was verified by an experimental pain-sensitivity test. Interpretation bias was indirectly assessed by an incidental learning task that measured the tendency to interpret ambiguous expressions as either painful or happy, and memory bias was assessed by an image-recognition task that used images depicting painful or neutral situations. Results: Participants in the HPS group tended to interpret ambiguous expressions as painful, indicative of interpretation bias toward pain, which was not observed in the LPS group. Participants overall generally recognized pain-related images more accurately and quickly than neutral images, indicative of memory bias toward pain, which did not differ between the two groups. Conclusion: Individual variation in pain sensitivity is related to an interpretation bias toward pain but not to a memory bias. The observed link between pain-sensitivity profiles and interpretation bias in healthy individuals suggests the potential role of interpretation bias in chronic pain development and maintenance. Intervention to reduce interpretation bias toward pain might be helpful in the prevention and treatment of chronic pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tribochemistry can be defined as a field dealing with the chemical reactions occurring in the friction zone, capable of catalyzing mechanical and physico-chemical changes in the friction contact area, facilitating the formation of tribo-films, which is also an efficient approach to fabricate novel innovative materials. In this paper, we report the successful synthesis of the silicon oil (SO)-functionalized covalent organic frameworks (COFs) prepared via the tribochemical method when subjected to the reciprocating friction; during the friction process, the rich aldehyde-terminated COFs can bond with amino SO via the Schiff base reaction between aldehyde group and amino group to obtain the desired functionalized COFs (SO@COF-LZU1). The tribochemical reaction progress was tracked through in-situ monitoring of the friction coefficient and the operating conditions during the entire friction process. Noticeably, the friction coefficient continued to decrease until it finally stabilized as the reaction progressed, which revealed the formation of a protective tribo-film. Herein, an approximate tribochemical model was presented, wherein the reaction mechanism was investigated and analyzed by employing structural analysis techniques like magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS NMR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Furthermore, the tribochemical-induced SO@COF-LZU1 exhibited remarkable tribological performance with a low friction coefficient of 0.1 and 95.5% reduction in wear volume when used as additives of 500SN base oil. The prime focus of our research was on the preparation and functionalization of COF materials via tribochemical reactions, unraveling a new avenue for the rational design and preparation of functional materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The accumulation of carbon dioxide during large-scale culture of animal cells brings adverse effects, appropriate aeration strategies alleviate CO2 accumulation while improper reactor operation may lead to the presence of low CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) condition as occurs in many industrial cases. Thus, this study aims to reveal the in-depth influence of low pCO2 on Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells for providing a reference for design space determination of CO2 control with regard to the Quality by Design (QbD) guidelines. Methods and results: The headspace air over purging caused the ultra-low pCO2 (ULC) where the monoclonal antibody production as well as the aerobic metabolic activity were reduced. Intracellular metabolomics analysis indicated a less efficient aerobic glucose metabolic state under ULC conditions. Based on the increase of intracellular pH and lactate dehydrogenase activity, the shortage of intracellular pyruvate could be the cause of the deficient aerobic metabolism, which could be partially mitigated by pyruvate addition under ULC conditions. Finally, a semi-empirical mathematical model was used to better understand, predict and control the occurrence of extreme pCO2 conditions during the cultures of CHO cells. Conclusion: Low pCO2 steers CHO cells into a defective metabolic state. A predictive relation among pCO2, lactate, and pH control was applied to get new insights into CHO cell culture for better and more robust metabolic behavior and process performance and the determination of QbD design space for CO2 control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 34-year-old female patient presented with hair loss due to black dot tinea capitis caused by Trichophyton tonsurans for 6 months. Hair loss progressed to painful swelling for 2 months due to kerion Celsi which may be associated with treatment like topical minoxidil, antibiotic and corticosteroid previously. The patient was treated with oral Itraconazole initially without success but cured by Terbinafine eventually. It's very interesting that the patient caught kerion celsi secondary to a four-month history of hair loss due to black dot tinea capitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[RuCl2(p-cymene)]2 in a mixture of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG-400) and water is shown to be a highly efficient catalyst for the annulation of N-methoxybenzamides with alkynes. The reaction proceeded smoothly at 60 ºC with MesCO2K as a cocatalytic additive under external oxidant-free conditions, delivering a variety of substituted isoquinolones in mostly good to excellent yields. The isolation of the crude products can be easily performed by extraction with diethyl ether and more importantly, [RuCl2(p-cymene)]2/PEG-400/H2O system could be facilely recycled and reused more than six times without any apparent loss of catalytic efficiency. Ruthenium-catalyzed annulation of N-methoxybenzamides with alkynes leading to isoquinolones by using [RuCl2(p-cymene)]2/PEG-400/H2O as a highly efficient and recyclable catalytic system is described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ofloxacin (OFLX) and norfloxacin (NFLX) are typical quinolone antibacterials used in medicine, aquaculture, and animal husbandry in China. The abusive use of antibiotics has led to the presence of OFLX and NFLX in surface water and groundwater. Due to similarities in the molecular structure of OFLX and NFLX, their simultaneous detection has been challenging. In this study, a simple and highly sensitive electrochemical sensor for the simultaneous detection of OFLX and NFLX was developed using a graphene modified glassy carbon electrode (ERGO/GCE), which was prepared by the electrochemical reduction method. With electrochemical reduction, oxygen-containing groups in graphene oxide (GO) were deoxidized to electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (ERGO) and can effectively separate the overlapping oxidation peaks of OFLX and NFLX with a 136 mV peak potential difference. The mechanism of these oxidation processes was analyzed by comparing the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) of OFLX and NFLX electrochemical response on prepared modified electrodes. The limitations of this electrochemical method in terms of simultaneous detection are as follows: 1.25 μM for OFLX and 2.44 μM for NFLX. This detection method was also applied in medicine and aquaculture wastewater with satisfactory results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Rheumatologie is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

To investigate the prevalence and influencing factors of Demodex folliculorum (DF) in the eyelashes of healthy young males. An epidemiological cross-sectional prevalence study was conducted. We conducted visual acuity, eye-related examination, eyelash microscopic examination and DF count of recruits in Fujian Province in 2019. The presence of DF was analyzed according to age, keratorefractive surgery, annual household income, educational level, long-term residence, sleep time, time of using electronic products, smoking and drinking habit. A total of 2253 healthy young males (aged 17–24 years) were studied for the presence of DF within eyelash follicles. The total prevalence of DF was 20.73% in our study. Subjects with history of keratorefractive surgery had a statistically significant increase in the prevalence of DF (P < 0.001). The prevalence of DF was higher in subjects with ocular symptoms than in those without symptoms (P < 0.05). Factors such as the educational level and so on we analyzed had no significant correlation with the prevalence of DF (all P > 0.05). According to the multivariate logistic regression analysis, the history of keratorefractive surgery was the risk factors of DF infection (P < 0.001), and the risk of infection was 1.437 times higher in the population with the history of keratorefractive surgery than in the population without. There was no correlation between ocular discomfort and DF infection (P > 0.05). The prevalence of DF in eyelash follicles in healthy young males was relatively high. The history of keratorefractive surgery was an important risk factor for the infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The TBC (Tre-2/Bub2/Cdc16, TBC) structural domain is now considered as one of the factors potentially regulating tumor progression. However, to date, studies on the relationship between TBC structural domains and tumors are limited. In this study, we identified the role of TBC1 domain family member 8 (TBC1D8) as an oncogene in colorectal cancer (CRC) by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and Cox regression analysis, showing that TBC1D8 may independently predict CRC outcome. Functional enrichment and single-cell analysis showed that TBC1D8 levels were associated with hypoxia. TBC1D8 levels were also positively correlated with M2 macrophage infiltration, which may have a complex association with hypoxia. Taken together, these results show that the TBC1D8 gene is involved in colorectal carcinogenesis, and the underlying molecular mechanisms may include hypoxia and immune cell infiltration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Frontiers of Information Technology & Electronic Engineering is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Solution-processed perovskite wires are attractive candidates for photodetectors (PDs) due to their simple processibility as well as one-dimensional (1D) geometry with desirable charge carrier transport. However, the performance of the perovskite PDs is generally restricted by the charge carrier transport and extraction efficiency. Herein, we demonstrate that the charge transport and the consequent photodetection performance of MAPbI3 perovskite wires can be effectively enhanced by incorporating nanocrystals (NCs) of GaAs—a semiconductor with high charge carrier mobility. Taking advantage of the pulsed laser irradiation technique, we successfully fabricate ligand-free GaAs NCs with a size of ∽7 nm and homogeneously embed them in MAPbI3 perovskite wires through a simple solution-processed synthesis route. Compared with the pristine perovskite wires, the GaAs NCs modulated perovskite wires show improved charge carrier transport with the mobility rising from 1.13 to 3.67 cm2 V−1 s−1, and the resultant PD shows significant improvement in responsivity and detectivity. This study provides a new strategy for improving optoelectronic properties of halide perovskite materials and optimizing the device performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The machining precision of grinding machine determines the precision of parts. To improve the machining accuracy, an effective geometric error modeling and compensation method was proposed. Firstly, the comprehensive error model of grinding machine was established based on differential theory. In contrast to the multi-body system theory, the proposed modeling method can simplify the calculation process and reflect the influence of each component on the tool. Secondly, MATLAB curve fitting tool was used to fit the known error function, and a link between 24 basic geometric error terms (BGETs) and milling instructions was discovered using the sum of sine function. Finally, the compensation dosage (dx dz db dc) for the grinding machine comprehensive error was determined by combining 24 fitting functions, the known error, the differential matrix of each part, and the Jacobian matrix. To test the feasibility of the above method, the grinding machine geometric error compensation experiment was conducted. The average machining accuracy is increased by 15.948%. It is showed that the proposed method can realize the error compensation of CNC grinding machine well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunotherapy with CD19-targeting bispecific T-cell engagers (CD19BiTEs) has demonstrated highly effective killing of cancer cells in patients with precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. However, there are some drawbacks to this therapy, such as toxicity, short half-life in the serum, and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment that could limit the use of CD19BiTEs in the clinic. Here, we generate an oncolytic vaccinia virus (OVV) encoding a CD19-specific BiTE (OVV-CD19BiTE). We demonstrate that OVV-CD19BiTE's ability to replicate and induce oncolysis was similar to that of its parental counterpart. Supernatants from OVV-CD19BiTE-infected cells could induce activation and proliferation of human T cells, and the bystander effect of the virus was also demonstrated. In vivo study showed that OVV-CD19BiTE selectively replicated within tumor tissue, and contributed to a more significantly increased percentage of CD3, CD8, and naïve CD8 T subpopulations within tumors in contrast to blinatumomab. More importantly, treatment with OVV-CD19BiTE both in vitro and in vivo resulted in potent antitumor activity in comparison with control OVV or blinatumomab, a first-in-class BiTE, thereby resulting in long-term tumor remissions without relapse. The study provides strong evidence for the therapeutic benefits of CD19-targeting BiTE expression by OVV, and suggests the feasibility of testing the approach in clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar flares are one of the most important sources of disastrous space weather events, leading to negative effects on spacecrafts and living organisms. It is very important to predict solar flares to minimize the potential losses. In this paper, we use three different machine learning algorithms: K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Random Forest (RF), and XGBoost (XGB) to predict the total flare index T flare and the maximum flare index M flare of an active region (AR) within the subsequent of 24, 48, and 72 hrs. First, we selected 54514 vector magnetograms of 129 ARs on the visible solar hemisphere in solar cycle 24 whose maximum sunspot groups' area was larger than 400 μh. Then the following four magnetic parameters of each magnetogram were calculated: 1) the total magnetic flux | Φ tot | , 2) the total photospheric free magnetic energy density E free , 3) the gradient-weighted integral length of the neutral line with horizontal magnetic gradient of line-of-sight magnetic field larger than 0.1 G km − 1 ( WL SG ), and 4) the area with magnetic shear angle larger than 40 ∘ ( A Ψ ), as well as T flare and M flare corresponding to each magnetogram. Afterward, we split samples randomly into training (85% of the whole data) and testing (15%) data sets. After hyperparameter tuning and model construction we found that RF is an optimal algorithm for the prediction task and that the coefficients of determination ( R 2 ) of test data set via the majority of RF models are beyond 0.97. In addition, the feature importance of RF and XGB models indicates that | Φ tot | and E free are two optimal parameters to predict both T flare and M flare , and | Φ tot | and E free are the best parameters for M flare and T flare , respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modulating effector immune cells via monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and facilitating the co-engagement of T cells and tumor cells via chimeric antigen receptor- T cells or bispecific T cell-engaging antibodies are two typical cancer immunotherapy approaches. We speculated that immobilizing two types of mAbs against effector cells and tumor cells on a single nanoparticle could integrate the functions of these two approaches, as the engineered formulation (immunomodulating nano-adaptor, imNA) could potentially associate with both cells and bridge them together like an 'adaptor' while maintaining the immunomodulatory properties of the parental mAbs. However, existing mAbs-immobilization strategies mainly rely on a chemical reaction, a process that is rough and difficult to control. Here, we build up a versatile antibody immobilization platform by conjugating anti-IgG (Fc specific) antibody (αFc) onto the nanoparticle surface (αFc-NP), and confirm that αFc-NP could conveniently and efficiently immobilize two types of mAbs through Fc-specific noncovalent interactions to form imNAs. Finally, we validate the superiority of imNAs over the mixture of parental mAbs in T cell-, natural killer cell- and macrophage-mediated antitumor immune responses in multiple murine tumor models. Current strategies to boost anti-tumor immune response include the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors and bispecific T cell-engaging antibodies. Here the authors describe a versatile antibody immobilization nanoplatform that can be used to deliver different combinations of immunotherapeutics, showing therapeutic superiority in pre-clinical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Climate Science for Service Partnership China (CSSP China) is a joint program between China and the United Kingdom to build the basis for climate services to support the weather and climate resilient economic development and welfare in China. Work Package 5 (WP5) provides the translational science on identification of: different users and providers, and their mandates; factors contributing to communication gaps and capacities between various users and providers; and mechanisms to work through such issues to develop and/or evolve a range of climate services. Key findings to emerge include that users from different sectors have varying capacities, requirements, and needs for information in their decision contexts, with a current strong preference for weather information. Separating climate and weather services when engaging users is often not constructive. Furthermore, there is a need to move to a service delivery model that is more user-driven and science informed; having sound climate science is not enough to develop services that are credible, salient, reliable, or timely for diverse user groups. Greater investment in building the capacity of the research community supporting and providing climate services to conduct translational sciences and develop regular user engagement processes is much needed. Such a move would help support the China Meteorological Administration's (CMA) ongoing efforts to improve climate services. It would also assist in potentially linking a broader group of "super" users who currently act as providers and purveyors of climate services because they find the existing offerings are not relevant to their needs or cannot access CMA's services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To obtain the optimal simultaneous-multislice (SMS)—accelerated diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) of the liver at 3.0 T MRI by systematically estimating the repeatability of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and image quality of different breathing schemes in comparison to standard DWI (STD) and other SMS sequences. Methods: In this institutional review board-approved prospective study, hepatic DWIs (b = 50, 300, 600 s/mm2) were performed in 23 volunteers on 3.0 T MRI using SMS and STD with breath-hold (BH-SMS, BH-STD), free-breathing (FB-SMS, FB-STD) and respiratory-triggered (RT-SMS, RT-STD). Reduction of scan time with SMS-acceleration was calculated. ADC and SNR were measured in nine anatomic locations and image quality was assessed on all SMS and STD sequences. An optimal SMS-DWI was decided by systematically comparing the ADC repeatability, SNR and image quality among above DWIs. Results: SMS-DWI reduced scan time significantly by comparison with corresponding STD-DWI (27 vs. 42 s for BH, 54 vs. 78 s for FB and 42 vs. 97 s for RT). In all DWIs, BH-SMS had the greatest intraobserver agreement (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC): 0.920–0.944) and good interobserver agreement (ICC: 0.831–0.886) for ADC measurements, and had the best ADC repeatability (mean ADC absolute differences: 0.046–0.058 × 10−3mm2/s, limits of agreement (LOA): 0.010–0.013 × 10−3mm2/s) in nine locations. BH-SMS had the highest SNR in three representative sections except for RT-STD. There were no significant differences in image quality between BH-SMS and other DWI sequences (median BH-SMS: 4.75, other DWI: 4.5–5.0; P > 0.0.5). Conclusion: BH-SMS provides considerable scan time reduction with good image quality, sufficient SNR and highest ADC repeatability on 3.0 T MRI, which is thus recommended as the optimal hepatic DWI sequence for those subjects with adequate breath-holding capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To systematic analysis of domestic and foreign literature on the incidence and related factors of glaucomatous optic nerve damage (GOND) in patients with Glaucomatocyclitic Crisis (PSS). Methods: A computerized literature search was carried out in PubMed database, Wanfang Medical Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure to collected domestic and foreign research studies on the incidence and related factors of glaucomatous optic nerve damage of Glaucomatocyclitic Crisis. Using Stata 15.1 software, select the indicators: incidence, gender, age, single/double eyes, duration of disease, and intraocular pressure (IOP) at onset for meta-analysis. OR (odds risk) was used as the effect variable for the binary variables, and mean difference was used as the effect variable for the continuous variables. The results are expressed by each effect amount and its 95% Confidence interval (CI). If there was heterogeneity among the original studies, a random effects model was used; otherwise, a fixed effects model was used. Results: A total of 13 studies were included. The incidence of GOND in PSS was 0.251 (95%CI: 0.175–0.327). Three studies include the relevant factor analysis and the results showed: there was a statistically significant difference in age, and duration of disease in PSS patients with/without GOND (p = 0.000, p = 0.000), there was no statistical difference between the two groups in gender, single /double eyes, and IOP at onset (p = 0.468, 0.053, 0.065). Conclusion: Glaucomatocyclitic Crisis can cause glaucomatous optic nerve damage. GOND is more likely to occur in patients who are older, and have a long course of the disease. For such patients, special attention should be paid to the detailed examination of visual function and follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug-resistant bacteria are becoming an increasingly widespread problem in the clinical setting. The current pipeline of antibiotics cannot provide satisfactory options for clinicians, which brought increasing attention to the development and application of non-traditional antimicrobial substances as alternatives. Metal ions, such as iron and zinc ions, have been widely applied to inhibit pathogens through different mechanisms, including synergistic action with different metabolic enzymes, regulation of efflux pumps, and inhibition of biofilm formation. Compared with traditional metal oxide nanoparticles, iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) display stronger bactericidal effect because of their smaller ion particle sizes and higher surface energies. The combined utilization of metal NPs (nanoparticles) and antibiotics paves a new way to enhance antimicrobial efficacy and reduce the incidence of drug resistance. In this review, we summarize the physiological roles and bactericidal mechanisms of iron and zinc ions, present the recent progress in the research on the joint use of metal NPs with different antibiotics, and highlight the promising prospects of metal NPs as antimicrobial agents for tackling multidrug-resistant bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The close proximity of esophagus to the left atrial posterior wall predisposes esophagus to thermal injury during catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF). In this retrospective study, we aimed to investigate risk factors of esophageal injury (EI) caused by catheter ablation for AF. Patients who underwent first-time AF ablation from July 2013 to June 2018 were included. The esophagus was visualized by oral soluble contrast during ablation for all patients and a subset of patients were selected to undergo endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) to estimate EI post ablation. Degree of EI was categorized as Kansas City classification: type 1: erythema; type 2: ulcers (2a: superficial ulcers; 2b: deep ulcers); type 3: perforation (3a: perforation without communication with the atria; 3b: atrioesophageal fistula [AEF]). Of 3,852 patients, 236 patients (61.5 ± 9.7 years; male, 69%) received EUS (EUS group) and 3616 (63.2 ± 10.9 years; male, 61.1%) without EUS (No-EUS group). In EUS group, EI occurred in 63 patients (type 1 EI in 35 and type 2 EI in 28), and no type 3 EI was observed during follow up. In a multivariable logistic regression analysis, an overlap between the ablation lesion and esophagus was an independent predictor of EI (odds ratio, 21.2; 95% CI: 6.23–72.0; P < 0.001). In No-EUS group, esophagopericardial fistula (EPF; n = 3,0.08%) or AEF (n = 2,0.06%) was diagnosed 4–37 days after ablation. In 3 EPF patients, 2 completely recovered with conservative management and 1 died. Two AEF patients died. Ablation at the vicinity of the esophagus predicts risk of EI. EUS post ablation may prevent the progression of EI and should be considered in management of EI. It remains challenging to identify patients with high risk of EI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the literature in recent years has examined the vulnerability of transportation networks. To identify appropriate and operational measures of nodal centrality using connectivity in the case of heavy rail systems, this paper presents a set of comprehensive measures in the form of a Degree of Nodal Connection (DNC) index. The DNC index facilitates a reevaluation of nodal criticality among distinct types of transfer stations in heavy rail networks that present a number of multiple lines between stations. Specifically, a new classification of transfer stations—mandatory transfer, non-mandatory transfer, and end transfer—and a new measure for linkages—link degree and total link degree—introduces the characteristics of heavy rail networks when we accurately expose the vulnerability of a node. The concept of partial node failure is also introduced and compare the results of complete node failure scenarios. Four local and global indicators of network vulnerability are derived from the DNC index to assess the vulnerability of major heavy rail networks in the United States. Results indicate that the proposed DNC indexes can inform decision makers or network planners as they explore and compare the resilience of multi-hubs and multi-line networks in a comprehensive but accurate manner regardless of their network sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep-water facies sections have advantages of recording complete information across the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB). Here we present a detailed study on the conodont biostratigraphy and carbon isotope profile ranges from the Wuchiapingian-Changhsingian boundary (WCB) to the PTB of two deep-water facies sections at Zhuqiao and Shiligou in the Middle Yangtze region, western Hubei, South China. Fifteen species and three genera are identified. Eight conodont zones are recognized, in ascending order, they are the Clarkina orientalis, C. wangi, C. subcarinata, C. changxingensis, C. yini, C. meishanensis, Hindeodus parvus and Isarcicella isarcica zones. The onset of deposition of the deep-water siliceous strata of the Dalong Formation in western Hubei began in the Late Wuchiapingian and persisted to the Late Changhsingian. Carbon isotope negative excursions occur near both the WCB and PTB in both sections. The WCB δ13Ccarb negative excursion is in the C. orientalis and C. wangi zones. The PTB δ13Ccarb negative excursion began in the C. yini Zone and extended to the I. isarcica Zone. The absence of several Changhsingian zones may indicate the difficulty of extracting conodonts from siliceous strata or the presence of an intra-Changhsingian hiatus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) sections (Pojue and Dala) are well exposed in an isolated carbonate platform (Napo Platform) on the southwestern margin of the Nanpanjiang Basin, South China. These sections provide an insight into the transition across the PTB and a detailed investigation of the conodont biostratigraphy and inorganic carbon isotopes is presented. The PTB at the Pojue Section is placed at the base of Bed 10B (a dolomitized mudstone found below a microbialite horizon), defined by the first occurrence of Hindeodus parvus. At the Dala Section, four conodont zones occur. They are, in ascending order, the Hindeodus parvus Zone, Isarcicella staeschei Zone, Isarcicella isarcica Zone and Clarkina planata Zone. Comparison with the Pojue Section suggests the PTB at Dala also occurs at the base of dolomitized mudstone below a microbialite horizon, although the first occurrence of Hindeodus parvus is near the top of a microbialite bed: an occurrence that is also seen in other platform sections. The succeeding microbialite beds developed during the ongoing PTB mass extinction phase. This time was characterized by low carbon isotope values, and a microbialite ecosystem that provided a refuge for selected groups (bivalves, ostracods and microgastropods) that were likely tolerant of extremely high temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple and fast method based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed for cymoxanil residue analysis in grape. Sample preparation based on solid-liquid extraction was optimized without using adsorbent for purification. Recoveries were 79.8-109.5% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 2.5-9.4% at fortified levels from 0.001 to 0.50 mg/kg. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.3 μg/kg. Field trials were conducted to explore the dissipation and terminal residue behavior of cymoxanil in grape. Results showed that the half-lives of cymoxanil were from 0.5 to 0.7 days. Terminal residues were from below the limit of quantification (LOQ) to 0.363 mg/kg. Dietary exposure risk assessment revealed that the risk quotients (RQs) were much less than 1. It was concluded that cymoxanil in grape raised negligible concerns to human health under field conditions. Sixty grape samples from Guangzhou market were found to be free of cymoxanil. The proposed study would provide reference for appropriate use of cymoxanil in grape planting in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State estimation of nonlinear systems over sensor networks is a current challenge. This work pertains to the study of the target estimation in sensor networks using impulsive control. We first propose an impulse-based filtering scheme of a class of nonlinear systems over sensor networks. Based on impulsive control theory and a comparison theorem, we then present generic criteria for estimation under the designed impulse-based filter. The performance is illustrated with simulations in a network with four sensor groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal denoising is an important preprocessing for ECG signal analysis. The contaminated ECG signal can be considered as the combination of the desired clean signal and the noise. Thus, ECG signal denoising can be considered as a problem of obtaining an optimal solution to the desired clean signal. In this paper, an effective optimization scheme for ECG signal denoising is presented based on low-rank matrix decomposition. First, the ECG denoising problem is formulated as low-rank matrix decomposition. So, an ECG beats matrix is assumed to be the combination of a sparse noise matrix and a low-rank matrix. Considering the repeatability of ECG signal, the rank of the ECG beats matrix is assumed to be one. Then, to fully exploit the low-rank property of the ECG signal, the matrix decomposition is modified by means of adding different weights to different singular values. Finally, the desired clean ECG signal is reconstructed by the low-rank component. The experimental results show that the proposed denoising method achieves the best performance of suppressing the electromyographic noise in the ECG signals compared with other optimization models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sparsity adaptive matching pursuit (SAMP) algorithm has an advantage of reconstructing signals without the prior information of the sparsity level. However, the required computational power is high and the reconstruction performance is not satisfied for perturbed systems. This is because this algorithm is based on the expectation maximization algorithm. Also, a pseudo-inverse operation of the matrix is employed to select the element candidates of the sensing matrix in each iteration. In this paper, a mixed $$L_{1}$$ norm and $$L_{2}$$ norm regularized algorithm is proposed to address these issues. Similar to the SAMP algorithm, the regularized algorithm also reconstructs the signals without the prior information of the sparsity level. Different from the SAMP algorithm, the element candidates of the sensing matrix are selected by the $$L_{2}$$ norm strategy in each iteration. Experiments are performed on an ideal simulation system, a perturbed simulation system and real image reconstruction. Simulation and real image reconstruction experimental results indicate that the regularized algorithm has lower computational power than the SAMP algorithm. Also, the proposed algorithm has better reconstruction performance on the perturbed system compared to the SAMP algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) is significantly more malignant than other type of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). In this study, we aimed to identify specific global gene expression signatures of TSCC to investigate the more invasive behavior of the deeply infiltrating cancer. Methods: Using RNA-seq technology, we detected gene expression of 20 TSCCs, 20 matched paratumor tissues, and 10 healthy normal mucosa tissues. Enrichment analysis of gene ontology (GO) and pathway was conducted using online tools DAVID for the dysregulated genes. Additionally, we performed the quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) to validate the findings of RNA-Seq in 10 samples of TSCC, matched paratumor, and normal mucosa, respectively. Results: We detected 252 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between TSCC and matched paratumor tissue, including 117 up-regulated and 135 down-regulated genes. For comparison between TSCC and normal mucosa, 234 DEGS were identified, consisting of 67 up-regulated and 167 down-regulated genes. For both two comparisons, GO categories of muscle contraction (GO: 0006936), epidermis development (GO: 0008544), epithelial cell differentiation (GO: 0030855), and keratinization (GO: 0031424) were commonly enriched. Altered gene expression affected some cancer-related pathways, such as tight junction. The qRT-PCR validation showed that gene expression patterns of FOLR1, NKX3-1, TFF3, PIGR, NEFL, MMP13, and HMGA2 were fully in concordance with RNA-Seq results. Conclusion: Findings in this study demonstrated the genetic and molecular alterations associated with TSCC, providing new clues for understanding the molecular mechanisms of TSCC pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Land use/land cover change and other human activities contribute to the changing climate on regional and global scales, including the increasing occurrence of extreme-precipitation events, but the relative importance of these anthropogenic factors, as compared to climatic factors, remains unclear. Objectives: The main goal of this study was to determine the relative contributions of human-induced and climatic factors to the altered spatiotemporal patterns of heavy rainfall in China during the past several decades. Methods: We used daily precipitation data from 659 meteorological stations in China from 1951 to 2010, climatic factors, and anthropogenic data to identify possible causes of the observed spatiotemporal patterns of heavy rainfall in China in the past several decades, and quantify the relative contributions between climatic and human-induced factors. Results: Our analysis suggests that a total of 84.7-87.5% of the variance in heavy rainfall factors could be explained by large-scale climate phenomena and the local/regional anthropogenic activities. In particular, urbanization and air pollution together explained 58.5-65.5% of the variance. The spatial distribution of heavy rainfall amount and days over time shows a significant and increasing correlation with the spatial distributions of population density and annual low-visibility days. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the substantial increase in heavy rainfall across much of China during the past six decades is likely triggered by local and regional anthropogenic factors. Our results call for a better understanding of local and regional anthropogenic impacts on climate, and the exacerbated extreme climate events as a potential consequence of urbanization and air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by symptoms of cough, dyspnea, chest tightness, and wheeze. Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) have been recommended as initial therapy in the treatment of persistent asthma in all guidelines, as they have been shown to reduce morbidity and mortality. However, high-dose regimens and long-term use of ICS may be associated with a variety of side effects, similar to those observed with systemic corticosteroid therapy. These side effects include impaired growth in children, osteoporosis, fractures, glaucoma, cataracts, and skin thinning. The current recommendations on ICS use in asthma management will be reviewed in this article with a view to highlight treatment strategies that strike an optimal balance between safety and efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]