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The treatment of patients with acute pulmonary embolism (APE) is extremely challenging due to the complex clinical presentation and prognosis of APE related to the patient's hemodynamic status and insufficient arterial blood flow and right ventricular overload. Protective efficacy against cardiovascular diseases of curcumin, a common natural polyphenolic compound, which has antithrombotic properties and reduces platelet accumulation in the circulation by inhibiting thromboxane synthesis has been demonstrated. However, the direct effect of curcumin on APE has rarely been studied. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the therapeutic potential of curcumin in APE and associated myocardial injury to provide new insights into curcumin as a promising competitive new target for the treatment of APE. A suspension of 12 mg/kg microspheres was injected intravenously into rats. An APE rat model was built. Before modeling, intragastric 100 mg/kg curcumin was given, and/or lentiviral plasmid vector targeting microRNA-145-5p or insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) was injected. Pulmonary artery pressure was measured to assess right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP). Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining was performed on liver tissues and myocardial tissues of APE rats. TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase biotin-dUTP nick end labeling) staining and immunohistochemical (IHC) staining were conducted to measure apoptosis and CyPA-CD147 expression in the myocardium, respectively. Inflammatory indices interleukin-1beta (IL-1b), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) were measured by ELISA in cardiac tissues. RT-qPCR and Western blot were performed to determine the expression levels of related genes. In addition, by dual luciferase reporter assay and RIP assay, the relationship between microRNA-145-5p and insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) was confirmed. In results: curcumin improved APE-induced myocardial injury, reduced myocardial tissue edema, and thrombus volume. It attenuated APEinduced myocardial inflammation and apoptosis, as well as reduced lung injury and pulmonary artery pressure. Curcumin promoted microRNA-145-5p expression in APE rat myocardium. MicroRNA-145-5p overexpression protected against APE-induced myocardial injury, and microRNA-145-5p silencing abolished the beneficial effects of curcumin in APE-induced myocardial injury. IRS1 was targeted by microRNA-145-5p. IRS1 silencing attenuated APEinduced myocardial injury, and enhanced therapeutic effect of curcumin on myocardial injury in APE rats. In conclusion, curcumin alleviates myocardial inflammation, apoptosis, and oxidative stress induced by APE by regulating microRNA-145-5p/IRS1 axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to observe the differential expression of Annexin-A1 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and explored the effect of small interfering ribonucleic acid (RNAi)-Annexin-A1 on the biological behavior of CE81T-0 cells. An immunohistochemical approach was used to detect the expression of Annexin-A1 in 86 pairs of ESCC samples. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the expression of Annexin-A1 in CE81T-0 and CE81T-4 cells, and the expression of Annexin-A1 in CE81T-0 cells was knocked out by RNAi. A methyl-thiazolyltetrazolium assay was used to observe the effect of Annexin-A1 on cell proliferation, and flow cytometry was conducted to analyze its effect on cell cycles and apoptosis. A scratch assay and a Transwell chamber were used to detect changes in cell migration and invasion. From the results, compared with the Annexin-A1 expression rate of 59.3% in para-carcinoma tissues, the expression of Annexin-A1 in cancer was reduced to only 32.6% in ESCC cells. Annexin-A1 was strongly expressed in highly differentiated ESCC cells without lymphatic metastasis and highly expressed in the CE81T-0 cell group with low metastasis. Annexin-A1 gene silencing promoted cell proliferation and inhibited apoptosis, blocked cells in the S-phase, and increased cell migration, leading to an increase in the number of invaded cells. Above all, Annexin-A1 could reflect the differentiation degree and lymph node metastasis of ESCC cells to some extent and was involved in the invasion, metastasis, proliferation, and other biological behaviors of ESCC cells, indicating an experimental basis for Annexin-A1 as a molecular marker in the early diagnosis of ESCC and the prediction of cell metastasis, invasion, and differentiation degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the acoustic properties of materials with complex micro-geometry containing partially open or dead-end (DE) porosity. One of these kinds of materials can be obtained from dissolving salt grains embedded in a solid metal matrix with the help of water. The solid matrix is obtained after the metal, in liquid form, has invaded the granular material formed by the salt particles at negative pressure and high temperature, and after cooling and solidification of the metal. Comparisons between theoretical and experimental results show that the classical Johnson-Champoux-Allard model does not quite accurately predict the acoustic behavior. These results suggest that the assumptions of the Biot theory may not all be fulfilled and that cavity resonators and dead ends can be present in the material. The first part of the study proposes a simple model to account for this geometry. Based upon this model, two acoustic transfer matrices are developed: one for non-symmetric and one for symmetric dead-end porous elements. It is thought that this model can be used to study the acoustic absorption and sound transmission properties of the type of material previously described. In the second part, a series of simplified samples are proposed and tested with a three-microphone impedance tube to validate the exposed model. Finally, the third part compares the predictions of the exposed model to the impedance tube results on a real aluminum foam sample containing dead-end pores. These first results are encouraging and show that this simple model also provides a good prediction for these materials with more complicated microstructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current magnetorheological (MR) fluids have the limitation that their yield stresses are not strong enough to meet some industrial requirements. X. Táng, X. Zhang, and R. Tao [J. App. Phys 87, 2634 (2000) ] proposed a method to achieve high-efficiency MR fluids by study of squeeze-strengthen effect. But there is little report on its mechanism. This paper aims to investigate this effect through experimental and theoretical approaches. For this purpose, an apparatus is designed to experimentally study the mechanism of this squeeze-strengthen effect. Taking account of a modified magnetic dipole model and the friction effect, a semiempirical model is proposed to explain this effect. In addition, this model is expected to study the squeeze-strengthen effect in electrorheological fluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental mechanics is one of the important pillars for the development of modern mechanics and related disciplines. They found the optimal aperture and speckle generation parameters (speckle diameter and density) through evaluating the measurement errors with different apertures and different speckle generation parameters. In order to solve the problem of DIC measurement in an electrochemical environment, H.M. Xie et al. developed a fluorescence DIC strain measurement method characterized by fluorescent speckle and active optical imaging. [Extracted from the article]

This paper studies the maximizing second-best pricing model of social welfare under achieving the breakeven of high-speed railway products at different seating classes. Different seating classes have different Ramsey index, so it is called "Differential Ramsey Pricing Model". Firstly, this paper introduces the hypothesis conditions for constructing the differential Ramsey second-best pricing model. Then the model is deduced to obtain the pricing formula, while the Ramsey index and Lagrange multiplier value range, pricing range and implementation effect are further analyzed. In the model construction, two pricing models are provided: one is the general differential Ramsey pricing model, and the other is the differential Ramsey pricing model which introduces the transport capacity restriction condition to be modified. Finally, the empirical calculation of the effects of profits, consumer surplus and total social welfare under different Ramsey indices is carried out to verify the applicability of the model. The two reasonable pricing methods provided in this paper provide specific guidance for high-speed railway pricing, which has certain guiding significance for practical work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The acoustic properties of an air-saturated macroscopically inhomogeneous aluminum foam in the equivalent fluid approximation are studied. A reference sample built by forcing a highly compressible melamine foam with conical shape inside a constant diameter rigid tube is studied first. In this process, a radial compression varying with depth is applied. With the help of an assumption on the compressed pore geometry, properties of the reference sample can be modelled everywhere in the thickness and it is possible to use the classical transfer matrix method as theoretical reference. In the mixture approach, the material is viewed as a mixture of two known materials placed in a patchwork configuration and with proportions of each varying with depth. The properties are derived from the use of a mixing law. For the reference sample, the classical transfer matrix method is used to validate the experimental results. These results are used to validate the mixture approach. The mixture approach is then used to characterize a porous aluminium for which only the properties of the external faces are known. A porosity profile is needed and is obtained from the simulated annealing optimization process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CuInSe2 (ClS)-based powders were successfully prepared by a facile refluxing reaction route using metal halides and Se/S powder as raw starting materials. The phase and crystallographic structure, morphology, chemical composition of the products were characterized by X-ray dif-fraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). It is found that single phase CIS powders with chalcopyrite structure can be prepared in a relatively short time using triethylenetetramine as the solvent; the most suitable reaction tem-perature and time are 200°C, 1-2 h, respectively. CuIn(SxSe1-x)2 powders were also prepared by refluxing reaction route using the mixed solvent of triethylenetetramine-glycol (1:1, v/v). The characterizations showed that the CuIn(SxSe1-x)2 has single chalcopyrite phase, and the stoichiometric composition closely follows the primary mixed ratio. The morphology of CuIn(SxSe1-x)2 is close to spheres, and the particle sizes become distinctly smaller with the incorporation of S. A possible formation mechanism of CuInSe2 was put forward and briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work focused on the mechanical behavior, especially creep resistance, of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) filled with ozone-treated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). It was found that the ozone functionalization of MWCNTs could improve their dispersion and interfacial adhesion to the TPU matrix as proved by scanning electron microscope and Raman spectrometer. It finally contributed to the enhancement of Young's modulus and yield strength of TPU/MWCNT composites. Moreover, the creep resistance and recovery of MWCNT/TPU composites revealed a significant improvement by incorporating ozone functionalized MWCNTs. The strong interaction between the modified MWCNTs and TPU matrix would enhance the interfacial bonding and facilitate the load transfer, resulting in low creep strain and unrecovered strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An imidazoline-based dissymmetric bis-quaternary ammonium gemini surfactant has been synthesized. Its surface active properties at equilibrium in water at 25 °C were determined. The inhibitive effect of the compound on Q235 steel in 1 M hydrochloric solution was investigated by the weight-loss method, potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, and quantum chemical calculations. The results indicate that the compound has high surface properties and the inhibition efficiency (IE) increases with the increase in inhibitor concentration, which attain the maximum value around the CMC value. The imidazoline-based dissymmetric bis-quaternary ammonium acts as a mixed type inhibitor mainly inhibiting the cathodic processes and does not change the mechanism of either hydrogen evolution reaction or mild steel dissolution. The best IE is obtained at the immersion time of 144 h. The adsorption of the studied inhibitor on Q235 steel can be fitted to a Langmuir isotherm and the adsorption process is a spontaneous chemical adsorption. Quantum chemistry calculation results show that the imidazoline ring and heteroatoms of N, O, are the active sites of the inhibitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tunable stiffness and damping vibration isolator based on magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) is developed. In this isolator, four MRE elements are used as the tunable springs, whose stiffness can be controlled by varying the magnetic field. A voice coil motor, which is controlled by the relative velocity feedback of the payload, is used as the tunable damper of the isolator. Under the combined ON–OFF control, the proposed vibration isolator shows satisfying isolation effect. The experimental results indicate that the responses of the payload are suppressed significantly in comparison to the passive system. The transmissibility of the payload around the resonant frequency is decreased by 61.5%. The root mean square (RMS) value and the maximum value of the displacement responses of the payload are decreased by 36.0% and 50.0%, respectively. In addition, the RMS values and maximum values of the velocity responses are decreased by 45.4% and 52.5%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trembling shear behavior of electrorheological (ER) fluids has been investigated by using a computer simulation method, and a shear-slide boundary model is proposed to understand this phenomenon. A thiourea-doped Ba-Ti-O ER fluid which shows a trembling shear behavior was first prepared and then systematically studied by both theoretical and experimental methods. The shear curves of ER fluids in the dynamic state were simulated with shear rates from 0.1 to 1000 s-1 under different electric fields. The simulation results of the flow curves match the experimental results very well. The trembling shear curves are divided into four regions and each region can be explained by the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inhibitive effect on Q235 steel and the adsorption behavior of a compound inhibitor, including imidazoline phosphate (IPI) and potassium iodide (KI), were studied in 1 mol/L hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution using the weight-loss method, potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results showed that the inhibition efficiency increased with an increase in inhibitor concentration, and temperature had no significant effect on inhibition efficiency. The compound inhibitor was a mixed-type inhibitor that mainly inhibits cathodic processes. The best inhibition efficiency was obtained at an immersion time of 120 h. The adsorption of the compound inhibitor on Q235 steel could befitted to a Langmuir isotherm and the values of the adsorption free energy 4Gads are close to -40 kJ/mol over the studied temperature range. The adsorption process is a spontaneous chemical adsorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the design and analysis of a novel dynamic stiffness tuning vibration absorber working with Magnetorheological elastomers (MRE). In this design, the MRE worked in a shear mode, but its MR effect was significantly enhanced by dynamically squeezing the sample thickness with an embedded piezoelectric (PZT) actuator. With this design, both the quasi-static magnetic field and the PZT driven dynamic squeeze strain in the direction of particles chain were properly adjusted to control the vibration of the primary system. The vibration suppression capabilities were theoretically analyzed by the harmonic analysis. A combined control strategy (the tuning strategy and the ON-OFF strategy) and the control system were developed to suppress the vibration of the primary system. The simulation results indicate that the proposed MRE-PZT-based dynamic stiffness-tuning dynamic vibration absorber (DSTDVA) exhibits more effective suppression capabilities than those conventional MRE-based quasi-static tuned vibration absorbers; the stronger the enhanced effect of squeeze strain on MRE's shear storage modulus is, the more effective vibration suppression capabilities the proposed MRE-PZT-based DSTDVA has. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents an adaptive tuned vibration absorber (ATVA) which is based on magnetorheological elastomer (MRE). Traditional dynamic absorber has limited its application and vibration absorption capacity for its narrow working frequency bandwidth. MRE is a kind of smart material whose modulus can be controlled by applied magnetic field. Based on MREs, an ATVA which works on shear mode is proposed in this study. After the vibration mode shapes of the ATVA are analyzed, the mechanical structure of the ATVA is brought forward. Then the magnetic circuit of the ATVA is identified by ANSYS software. By using a modified dipole model, the shift-frequency properties of the ATVA versus magnetic field and strains are theoretically analyzed and simulated. Furthermore, by employing a beam with two ends supported, its shift-frequency property and vibration absorption capacity are experimentally justified. The experimental results demonstrate that the designed ATVA has better performance than traditional passive absorber in terms of frequency-shift property and vibration absorption capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents two kinds of magnetorheological elastomers (MREs). One is composed of appropriate silicon rubber, carbonyl iron particles and some other materials. It is cured under a strong magnetic field at a room temperature. Its shear modulus change from 0.34MPa at zero magnetic field to 3.34MPa at 1T magnetic field, the relative MR effect reaches 878%. Such high MR effect has not been reported until now. The other is composed by appropriate natural rubber, carbonyl iron particles and some other materials. After the compositions are mixed in a two-roll mill, they are cured under a strong magnetic field according to a temperature profile. The increment of its modulus reaches 3.6MPa, and the relative modulus increment is 133%. Their mechanical properties are also evaluated. All observed results show that the fabricated MREs are utilizable. They have successfully been utilized to adaptive tuned vibration absorbers, which will serve for vibration absorption of vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunological methods have been developed for the diagnosis of Myxobolus rotundus but their use has been limited for the prevention and therapy of this serious parasitic pathogen. Phage display antibody libraries are a powerful technique for the development of antibodies to molecules of interest and have advantages over traditional hybridroma approaches. In the present study, four antigen fractions related to M. rotundus were prepared and a combined phage display single-chain antibody fragments (ScFv) library was constructed against this parasite. Preliminary analysis indicated that a combined antibody library of about 2.08 x 105 individual clones and high diversity was generated. After four rounds of screening (bio-panning) against soluble spore protein prepared from lysed, intact, mature M. rotundus spores, a strain monoclonal phage display ScFv, termed pCAN-6H9, with better affinity, was isolated. The pCAN-6H9 gene fragment was sequenced and analysed. The specificity of pCAN-6H9 was further demonstrated by dot-blot. In competition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, both the original and enriched phage-displayed ScFv repertoire showed significant inhibition of mouse anti-M. rotundus serum binding to coated antigen, while the inhibition rate of monoclonal pCAN-6H9 phage particles was only 11.83%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residual stresses occur during most manufacturing processes (from shrinkage of the resin, difference of thermal expansion coefficients, etc.). Residual stresses may cause local yielding and damage initiation and propagation, and can severely affect performances of a composite structure component. The aim of this work is to investigate the influence of residual stresses on the mechanical behavior of carbon/epoxy cross-ply laminates under tensile and torsion loading. The residual stresses field was determined using the incremental blind-hole drilling technique combined with the finite element analysis. The effect of various cure cycles on the residual stress level is analysed. The quantitative effect of the residual stresses on the mechanical behaviour and the damage initiation and growth is studied by using acoustic emission technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetorheological elastomers' mechanical property is greatly influenced by the microstructure of magnetizable particles embedded in the rubber matrix. When synthesizing magnetorheological elastomers, usually the mixture is cured in the presence of a magnetic field and particles are arranged in chainlike or columnar structure after the crosslink, in order to get remarkable effect controlled by the magnetic field. However curing under the magnetic field will face some problems, e.g. the preparation will become not convenient. In this paper magnetorheological elastomers are prepared in various volume fractions in the absence of a magnetic field. Their dynamic viscoelastic properties are tested by a system designed by ourselves. Their microstructures are observed by scan electronic microscope. Finally the inherent relation is revealed between the magnetoviscoelasticity and the distribution of particles in the matrix as well as the components of the mixture and the chemical technique. A kind of typical microstructure is found to be relative to the magnetoviscoelasticity of magnetorheological elastomers prepared in the absence of a magnetic field. This study also provides a guide when designing and preparing this kind of smart materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents investigation of dynamic properties of MR fluids by using a rheometer with parallel-plate geometry. The sample is reduced iron powder based MR suspensions. Linear viscoelastic properties of such sample, which can be variably controlled using a magnetic field, are obtained and summarized based on oscillatory tests. Four field-induced regimes, I, II, III, and IV, are found in the system, which are defined by three critical field strengths: BC1 < BC2 < BC3. MR fluids in regime I through IV experience four typical structural convolutions: coexisting of particles and random chains; coexisting of chains and random clusters; coexisting of clusters and chains; stable clusters. Such results are in good accord with experimental results achieved by Liu's group using light scattering techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A kind of magnetorheological elastomers based on polyurethane (PU)/silicone rubber (Si-rubber) hybrid is fabricated without applying magnetic fields. The MR effect is improved by optimizing preparation conditions, in particular by adjusting PU/Si-rubber ratio, and improving compatibility between PU and Si-rubber. The influences of the preparation condition and the relationship between the microstructure and MR effect of this kind of magnetorheological elastomers are discussed in detail. The results show that this kind of MR elastomers has better MR effect than that of MR elastomers based on pure Si-rubber or PU matrix with same testing conditions. SEM analysis indicates that the former forms a peculiar interpenetrating microstructure in the presence of PU in the matrix. The maximum increase in shear modulus of this kind of MR elastomers can be up to 0.5MPa when exposed to a magnetic field of about 0.2T. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of the stress state in a composite plate under torque loadings and some practical information are necessary for the engineering design. The large rotation displacement has been taken into account for the stress analysis and the experimental results have shown a good agreement with the analytical results. It is found that the normal stress due to the fiber deformation is no longer negligible if the rotation angle becomes important and we notice also that there exists a compression zone in the middle of the plate and two tension zones in each side, the ratio of the compression zone width to the total width is about 0.58. The maximum tension stress in the plate is double its compression stress. The experimental observations have shown that the shear stresses 712max and jT13m seem responsible for the material degradation under torque loadings, and the determination of these shear stresses has to use the effective torque (MAff) instead of the applied torque (M.). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We present a dynamic strain field mapping method based on synchrotron X-ray digital image correlation (XDIC). Synchrotron X-ray sources are advantageous for imaging with exceptional spatial and temporal resolutions, and X-ray speckles can be produced either from surface roughness or internal inhomogeneities. Combining speckled X-ray imaging with DIC allows one to map strain fields with high resolutions. Based on experiments on void growth in Al and deformation of a granular material during Kolsky bar/gas gun loading at the Advanced Photon Source beamline 32ID, we demonstrate the feasibility of dynamic XDIC. XDIC is particularly useful for dynamic, in-volume, measurements on opaque materials under high strain-rate, large, deformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of (Li0.8Fe0.2) OHFeSe1-xS x (0 ⩽ x ⩽ 1) samples were successfully synthesized via hydrothermal reaction method and the phase diagram is established. Magnetic susceptibility suggests that an antiferromagnetism arising from (Li0.8Fe0.2)OH layers coexists with superconductivity, and the antiferromagnetic transition temperature nearly remains constant for various S doping levels. In addition, the lattice parameters of the both a and c axes decrease and the superconducting transition temperature Tc is gradually suppressed with the substitution of S for Se, and eventually superconductivity vanishes at x = 0.90. The decrease of Tc could be attributed to the effect of chemical pressure induced by the smaller ionic size of S relative to that of Se, being consistent with the effect of hydrostatic pressure on (Li0.8Fe0.2) OHFeSe. But the detailed investigation on the relationships between Tc and the crystallographic facts suggests a very different dependence of Tc on anion height from the Fe2 layer or Ch-Eel-Ch angle from those in FeAs-based superconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]