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A single CeB6 nanoneedle structure has been fabricated using a focused ion beam (FIB) and its field emission characteristics have been evaluated. A converged electron beam has been obtained, attributed to its sharpened tip with a radius of curvature of about 10 nm. Combined with its low work function, the required electric field is as low as 1.6 V nm−1 to generate a field emission current of 50 nA. The most outstanding feature of the CeB6 nanoneedle emitter is its excellent current stability that enabled continuous emission for 16 hours with a fluctuation of 1.6% and without deterioration even in a vacuum of 10−7 Pa. The stable field-emission is attributed to the nanometric tip radius that led to reduction in gas adsorption and desorption. In addition, the downward dipolar structure on the emission surface is also beneficial for making the surface inert. These performance factors make CeB6 a practical field-emission point electron source for microscopy applications.

A material with a low work function exhibiting field-emission of electrons has long been sought as an ideal point electron source to generate a coherent electron beam with high brightness, long service life, low energy spread, and especially stable emission current. The quality and performance of the electron source are now becoming limiting factors for further improving the spatial resolution and analytical capabilities of the electron microscope. While tungsten (W) is still the only material of choice as a practically usable field emission filament since it was identified more than six decades ago, its electron optical performance remains unsatisfactory, especially the poor emission stability (>5% per hour), rapid current decay (20% in 10 hours), and relatively large energy spread (0.4 eV), even in an extremely high vacuum (10−9 Pa). Herein, we report a LaB6 nanoneedle structure having a sharpened tip apex with a radius of curvature of about 10 nm that is fabricated and finished using a focused ion beam (FIB) and show that it can produce a field emission electron beam meeting the application criteria with a high reduced brightness (1010 A m−2 sr−1 V−1), small energy spread (0.2 eV), and especially high emission stability (

Electric field-induced point electron source is highly demanded for microscopy, spectroscopy, lithography, X-ray tubes, microwave devices, and data displays. However, the instability in emission current and requirement of ultrahigh vacuum have often limited its extensive applications. Herewith we report a single-crystalline HfC nanowire with oxycarbide emission surface for stable electron emission at 50 nA with fluctuations less than 1% in a vacuum of 4 × 10−7 Pa. The emitter has a low work function of 2.5 eV measured by the field emission Fowler-Nordheim curve and it is in good agreement with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The energy spread is in a range of 0.21–0.26 eV with a corresponding reduced brightness 1.95 × 1011−3.81 × 1011 A·m−2·sr−1·V−1. The HfC nanowire with oxycarbide emission surface is a qualified candidate for the next-generation electron source with high brightness, large current, and low energy spread.

The electronic transport and field emission properties of a single-crystalline GdB44Si2 nanowire are studied. The atomic structure and elemental composition of the GdB44Si2 nanowire are characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) using atomic imaging, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and electron energy-loss spectroscopic (EELS) mapping. The electrical conductivity of the single GdB44Si2 nanowire is in the range of 46.8–60.1 S m−1. The in situ TEM field emission measurement reveals that it has a low work function of 2.4 eV. To realize a converged electron emission, a field evaporation pretreatment was used to clean the emission surface and to make a sharpened tip. The field emission probe measurement results show that the electron emission from the sharp GdB44Si2 nanowire is converged to a single field emission spot and it has a work function of 2.6 eV which is in agreement with the in situ TEM measurement. The stability of field emission current is also very good with a fluctuation of 1.4% in 20 min. With a low work function and stable emission current, the GdB44Si2 nanowire shows great promise for field emission applications.

Mid-infrared electro-optic Q-switched lasers with high repetition rates have many vital applications. However, the required voltage of electro-optic Q-switching is proportional to the wavelength leading to the severe piezoelectric ring effect, which limits its developments especially with high repetition rates. Based on the rate equation, this work designs a Langasite (LGS) electro-optic Q-switched laser with high repetition rates at 2 μ m by balancing the gain and loss in the cavity. The driven voltage determines the rotation of the polarization corresponding the loss in the cavity, and the gain depends on the incident pump power and repetition rate. By theoretical calculation, the driven voltage used in the high repetition rates is reduced to be 3.9 kV, which is 45% lower than the quarter-wave voltage. We demonstrated the LGS electro-optic Q-switched 2 μ m laser with a repetition rate of 200 kHz and pulse width of 5.52 ns. To the best of our knowledge, this work presents the highest repetition rate in the electric–optic Q-switched laser at 2 μ m and should be helpful for the design of Q-switched lasers with high repetition rates.

Background: Japanese Encephalitis (JE) is a zoonotic natural epidemic disease caused by Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) infection. Currently, there is no specific medicine for Japanese encephalitis. At present, autophagy regulating drugs have played an important role in the treatment of tumors, heart diseases and other diseases. We hope that by studying the effects of autophagy-regulating drugs on JEV infection and host response in mice, will provide effective clinical trials for autophagy-regulating drugs in the treatment of Japanese encephalitis and other viral infectious diseases. Methods: After establishing appropriate animal model. We observed the neurological symptoms of the mice and counted their survival rate. We compared the degree of viral infection in the brain of mice infected with JE virus. We compared the extent of neuroinflammatory responses in the brain of mice and explored the signaling processes involved in neuroinflammation.Results: We found autophagy inhibitors wortmannin (Wort) and chloroquine (CQ) alleviate degree of viral infection in the brain of JEV-infected mice. Autophagy inhibitors reduced the neuroinflammation in Mouse Model of Japanese encephalitis. We speculated that autophagy inhibitors may attenuate the activation of the PI3K/AKT/NF-kB pathway, thereby reducing the brain inflammation in mice, thereby protecting mice from JEV-induced death. This result is not significant enough, the specific mechanism still needs further study.Conclusions: Our study suggests that autophagy inhibitors wortmannin and chloroquine could reduce the degree of viral infection and inflammatory response in the brain of JEV infected mice, providing a clinical basis for the treatment of Japanese encephalitis.

Searching for viable field-emission structures with a stable emission current, high emission brightness, and low energy spread has always been highly demanded for the development of high-performance electron-optical instrumentation. In this work, a single-crystalline HfC nanowire emitter with an oxycarbide surface is investigated. This new emitter shows an excellent current stability with a fluctuation less than 1%/h, as well as a narrow energy spread and high emission brightness. It exhibits great potentials to be a practical electron source for experimental trials in electron microscopes.

BACKGROUND Glycated albumin (GA), the non-enzymatic glycation product of albumin in plasma, became a glycemic marker in the beginning of the 21st century. The assay is not affected by hemoglobin levels and reflects the glycemic status over a shorter period as compared to HbA1c measurements. Thus, GA may contributes as an intermediate glucose index in the current diabetes mellitus (DM) diagnostic system. AIM To search and summarize the available data on glycated albumin measurements required for the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. METHODS Databases, including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), among others, were systematically searched. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool was applied for the assessment of quality, and the bivariate model was used to pool the sensitivity and specificity. The hierarchical summary receiver operator characteristic curves (HSROC) model was utilized to estimate the summary receiver operating characteristics curve (SROC). Sensitivity analysis was performed to investigate the association of the study design and patient characteristics with the test accuracy and meta-regression to find the source of heterogeneity. RESULTS Three studies regarding gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and a meta-analysis of 16 non-GDM studies, comprising a total sample size of 12876, were included in the work. Results reveal that the average cut-off values of GA reported for the diagnosis of GDM diagnosis was much lower than those for non-GDM. For non-GDM cases, diagnosing DM with a circulating GA cut-off of 14.0% had a sensitivity of 0.766 (95%CI: 0.539, 0.901), specificity of 0.687 (95%CI: 0.364, 0.894), and area under the curve of 0.80 (95%CI: 0.76, 0.83) for the SROC. The estimated SROC at different GA cut-off values for non-GDM exhibited that the average location parameter lambda of 16 non-GDM studies was 2.354 (95%CI: 2.002, 2.707), and the scale parameter beta was -0.163 (95%CI: -0.614, 0.288). These non-GDM studies with various thresholds had substantial heterogeneity, which may be attributed to the type of DM, age, and body mass index as possible sources. CONCLUSION Glycated albumin in non-DM exhibits a moderate diagnostic accuracy. Further research on the diagnostic accuracy of GA for GDM and combinational measurements of GA and other assays is suggested.

As a persistent organic pollutant, pentachlorophenol (PCP) has serious impacts on human health. However, its presence in animal source food products sold in the Guangdong Province (GD) of China, and the resultant dietary exposure have not been elucidated. To address this gap, 3,100 samples from seven food categories, including beef, pork, mutton, offals, broilers, hen eggs, and farmed freshwater fish, marketed throughout four geographical regions of GD, were collected from 2015 to 2018. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry was employed to detect PCP levels in these food matrices. PCP was found in all food categories, but the average contamination levels were low, ranging from 0.40 µg/kg wet weight (ww) (hen eggs) to 5.85 µg/kg ww (offals). However, higher concentrations of PCP were detected (P < 0.05) in animal source food from the North region. Additionally, a temporal declining trend was observed in this four-year consecutive survey. The estimated human dietary exposure of PCP to population groups, including the general population and subgroups (male and female, children, and adults), was found to be far below the permissible daily intake (3 µg/kg body weight). Therefore, the health impacts of PCP should be correspondingly low for local residents, based on current toxicological knowledge. Regional exposure patterns varied due to different extents of contamination in the four areas, and pork, broilers, and freshwater fish were the major sources of dietary PCP exposure. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: As a persistent organic pollutant, pentachlorophenol (PCP) has serious impacts on human health. However, its presence in animal source food products sold in Guangdong Province of China, and the resultant dietary exposure have not been elucidated. In this study, we conducted an in-depth investigation on the occurrence of PCP in major foodstuff categories, including beef, pork, mutton, broilers, offals, hen eggs, and farmed freshwater fish, marketed in all 21 prefecture-level divisions of Guangdong Province, in order to provide integral insights for regulatory authorities.

A single hafnium carbide (HfC) nanowire field-induced electron emitter with a sharp tip apex is fabricated by Pt deposition and focused ion beam (FIB) milling. The structure of the electron emitter is characterized by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and atom probe tomography (APT). The HfC nanowire is single-crystalline with a thin oxide layer on its tip surface. The field emission properties are determined by using both in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and a field-emission probe in a high-vacuum chamber. A high current of 173 nA was obtained at a low extraction voltage of 631 V with an emission gap of 5 mm. The emission current is stable at 60 nA for 100 min with a fluctuation of 0.7%. The deduced work function was 3.1 eV. It is suggested that the implanted Ga ions and the oxide layer induce more downward dipoles that are beneficial for lowering the work function and creating a stable surface. When the low keV FIB processing is applied, it takes within 30 minutes to finish a HfC nanowire emitter, establishing an efficient procedure for the preparation of nanowire emitters. These results provide a controllable and fast production method for the fabrication of single nanowire field-emission point electron sources.

This study aims to explore the non-linear renewables and carbon emission efficiency (CEE) nexus to optimize the energy transition path. Taking 32 developed countries that have proposed carbon neutrality targets as the research objects, the super-efficiency slacks-based measure (SE-SBM) model is first used to measure their CEE from 2000 to 2018. Then, a newly developed panel threshold model with interactive fixed effects (PTIFEs) is established to comprehensively explore the non-linear impact of renewable energy development (RED) on CEE. The results show that: (1) During the sample period, there are significant differences in CEE among countries, and most countries are inefficient. (2) On the whole, RED is conductive to CEE, but there is a significant threshold effect. Specifically, this positive effect decreases with energy consumption intensity, whereas it increases with financial development, RED, and CEE. (3) The heterogeneity analysis shows that the threshold effect persists across countries with different income levels, and the direction is consistent with the entire sample. Besides, as the incomes down, the positive correlation between RED and CEE is significantly diminished. This study provides a new perspective for optimizing the energy transition path.

Objective Real-world epidemiological data on the risk of tuberculosis (TB) in patients with immune-mediated diseases treated with biologics are scarce in TB endemic areas. We investigated the incidence of TB in a population-based setting and stratified the risk of TB among different biological therapies. Methods We collected medical data from a territory-wide computerized database in Hong Kong. We reported the incidence of TB in patients treated with various classes of biologics, and calculated standardized incidence ratio by comparing with the general population. Subgroup analyses were performed based on disease subtypes and biological drugs. Results Among 2485 subjects with immune-mediated diseases (82.5% rheumatology diseases; 10.6% IBD; 6.9% dermatology diseases), 54 subjects developed active TB during 6921 person-years of follow-up. The mean age (±s.d.) was 43 (14) years, and the median follow-up duration was 24.9 months (interquartile range 4.9–45.0). The overall standardized incidence ratio of TB was 10.91 (95% CI 8.00–13.82), and patients treated with infliximab had a nearly 26 times increased risk of TB compared with the general population (standardized incidence ratio 25.95; 95% CI 17.23–34.67). The risk of TB with TNF inhibitor was higher than with a non-TNF biologic (hazard ratio 4.34; 95% CI 1.31–14.39), while the risk of infliximab was higher than etanercept and adalimumab (hazard ratio: 4.10 and 2.08, respectively). Conclusion The risk of TB is much higher in patients with immune-mediated diseases on biological therapy compared with the general population, and infliximab is associated with the highest risk of TB among the biologics analysed.

Hexagonal BCN (h-BCN) has been identified as a promising class of electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption material for critical Mach number aerocraft due to its exceptional thermal and chemical stabilities as well as adjustable dielectric property. Herein, we report a facile precursor synthesis-pyrolysis method to obtain ultra-light h-BCN bulk ceramics and microtubes (MTs) using commercially available BCl3, ethylenediamine and aniline as the monomers. The h-BCN bulk with a density of 15 mg/cm3 can be in situ synthesized derived from the precursor located in a tube furnace, while h-BCN MTs are simultaneously obtained on the downstream graphite sheets by controlling the pyrolysis temperature at the wide range of 800–1200 °C. For the h-BCN bulk ceramics, the minimum reflection loss (RL) can be tailored by controlling the N dopants, ranging from −52.7 dB at 5.44 GHz (the band width below −10 dB is achieved in a wide frequency range from 2.8 to 18 GHz) to −20.6 dB at 14.8 GHz (the band width below −10 dB is narrowed from 13.4 to 18 GHz). The excellent and frequency-controllable microwave absorption properties are due to the combination of tunable complex permittivity and lattice polarization resulting from B and N dopants in carbon networks.

Background Zearalenone (ZEN) can cause serious defects in development and reproduction in humans and animals. Silymarin shows antioxidant and estrogenic effects. Objective This study was conducted to determine if silymarin can antagonize ZEN-induced hepatic and reproductive toxicities. Methods Thirty-five 21-d-old female Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 7/diet) were fed a control diet (Ctrl) or Ctrl plus 20 mg ZEN/kg or Ctrl plus 20 mg ZEN/kg with 100, 200, or 500 mg silymarin/kg for 6 wk. Serum, livers, ovaries, and uterus were collected at week 6 for biochemistry, hormone, and redox status and selected gene and protein assays. Results The consumption of ZEN decreased (P

Unequal electrode capacitance in a symmetric supercapacitor results in an unequal voltage distribution on the two electrodes and the supercapacitor usually cannot utilize the full electrochemical window of electrolyte. In this study, the voltage distribution on the two electrodes of graphene supercapacitor is optimized by an adjustment of electrode mass ratio from 1 to 1.5 and an enlarged energy density of 118 Wh kg−1 is achieved at operating voltage 4.7 V using an ionic liquid electrolyte 1-methyl-1-propylpiperidinium bis (trifluoromethyl sulfonyl) imide (MPPp-TFSI).

The resolution of the electron microscope is now largely limited by the performance of its electron source when various aberrations in the electron imaging system, especially spherical aberrations, are corrected. A nanowire tip could be an ideal point electron source, where electrons are emitted from a small physical area. In this article, we review recent advances in electric-field-induced electron emission using a single nanowire, specifically, single-crystalline lanthanum hexaboride (LaB6) nanowire, compared to the state-of-the-art contemporary tungsten cold-field electron emitter W(310) as well as single atom tip and single-carbon nanotube emitters. Owing to its low work function, improved emission stability, and high emission brightness, the LaB6 nanowire as a cold-field-emission electron source offers a new and exciting opportunity for developing the next generation of electron microscopes.

In this paper, we investigate a multi-objective optimal design of a tuned vibration absorber for a two degrees-of-freedom linear system, in which we take white Gaussian noise as the excitation. We use the simple cell mapping method to obtain solutions to the multi-objective optimization problem. We optimize tuned vibration absorbers in two different configurations. As our objective, we take various features of the response of the power spectrum density function. Our results show that the primary mass vibration with the optimally designed absorber has a lower peak power spectrum value. In addition, the two natural frequencies of the optimized system are further apart than in the non-optimized system, which implies that the absorber has a wider effective region in the frequency domain.

We describe the structural parameters and atomic positions of a single-walled WS2 nanotube. The structure factor is calculated in detail using analytic expressions for both single-walled and multi-walled WS2 nanotubes. A zoning scheme has been developed to obtain the ratio m/n from the electron diffraction patterns. The procedure for determination of the chiral indices of both single-walled and multi-walled WS2 nanotubes and the tilt angle is illustrated in detail for either normal incidence or inclined incidence. As an example of application, the determination of the chiral indices of a five-shell WS2 nanotube was carried out and the tilt angle was obtained as 17.7°. The method developed here is useful and valid to determine the atomic structure of WS2 nanotubes.

Associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) could induce extensive and rapid future liver remnant hypertrophy. However, the morbidity for ALPPS is very high. This paper reports a modified ALPPS (associating microwave ablation and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy, AMAPS), which was successfully applied in the treatment of huge hepatocellular carcinoma with cirrhosis, and the procedure of operation was greatly simplified. Hence, AMAPS is feasible and safe in selected patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis.

Huannao Yicong Decoction (还脑益聪方, HYD), an effective herbal formula against Alzheimer's disease (AD), has been proven to have neuroprotective action in amyloid β-protein1-42 (Aβ1-42)-induced rat model. This study was designed to characterize mechanisms by which HYD leads to suppression of inflflammation and apoptosis in the brains of Aβ1-42-induced rat. A total of 72 rats were divided into 6 groups, which were referred to as: sham operation group, model group, donepezil-treated group, HYD low-dose group (HYDL), HYD middle-dose group (HYDM) and HYD high-dose group (HYDH). Rats in HYDL, HYDM and HYDH were injected with Aβ1-42 at the CA1 region of hippocampus to form AD model and were fed the HYD extract at different dose of 3.78, 7.56 and 18.90 g crude drug/kg. The behavioral changes of rats were evaluated by Morris water maze (MWM) before sacrififice. Pathological changes of the brain tissue were evaluated using hematoxylin eosin (HE) staining. The levels of interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were measured by radioimmunoassay. The levels of Aβ and proteins that are associated with apoptosis such as B-cell lymphoma-2 protein (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), cysteine-aspartic protease (caspase)-3, -8, -9 and -12 in serum were measured by immunohistochemistry. Compared with the sham operation group, the spatial learning and memory abilities of AD rats were signifificantly decreased (P

Graphene has been widely used as an electrode material for supercapacitors. However, parallelly-stacked graphene layers often result in inefficient ion diffusion and electron transfers that usually reduce the rate capability of a supercapacitor. In this study, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) composite films were prepared by a solvent evaporation method using PEDOT:PSS as the binder to fix aligned graphene for its good conductivity and strong π-π stacking interactions with the graphene sheets. Analyses using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nitrogen adsorption-desorption, and small-angle X-ray scattering show that the graphene sheets were well aligned when a magnetic field was applied, though they were oriented randomly without the magnetic field. As a capacitor electrode material, the aligned rGO shows a specific capacitance of 169 F g−1 with a capacitance retention of about 70% at a current density of 50 A g−1 and its cyclic voltammetry (CV) loops maintained a rectangular shape at a voltage scan rate of 2 V s−1. The aligned rGO electrode can help break through the limitations of traditional supercapacitors and increase significantly their charge/discharge rate and power density.

Introduction Conventional gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy reports written by physicians are time consuming and might have obvious heterogeneity or omissions, impairing the efficiency and multicenter consultation potential. We aimed to develop and validate an image recognition-based structured report generation system (ISRGS) through a multicenter database and to assess its diagnostic performance. Methods First, we developed and evaluated an ISRGS combining real-time video capture, site identification, lesion detection, subcharacteristics analysis, and structured report generation. White light and chromoendoscopy images from patients with GI lesions were eligible for study inclusion. A total of 46,987 images from 9 tertiary hospitals were used to train, validate, and multicenter test (6:2:2). Moreover, 5,699 images were prospectively enrolled from Qilu Hospital of Shandong University to further assess the system in a prospective test set. The primary outcome was the diagnosis performance of GI lesions in multicenter and prospective tests. Results The overall accuracy in identifying early esophageal cancer, early gastric cancer, early colorectal cancer, esophageal varices, reflux esophagitis, Barrett's esophagus, chronic atrophic gastritis, gastric ulcer, colorectal polyp, and ulcerative colitis was 0.8841 (95% confidence interval, 0.8775-0.8904) and 0.8965 (0.8883-0.9041) in multicenter and prospective tests, respectively. The accuracy of cecum and upper GI site identification were 0.9978 (0.9969-0.9984) and 0.8513 (0.8399-0.8620), respectively. The accuracy of staining discrimination was 0.9489 (0.9396-0.9568). The relative error of size measurement was 4.04% (range 0.75%-7.39%). Discussion ISRGS is a reliable computer-aided endoscopic report generation system that might assist endoscopists working at various hospital levels to generate standardized and accurate endoscopy reports (http://links.lww.com/CTG/A485).

〈100〉 Oriented zirconium carbide (ZrC) nanowires have been synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). A single ZrC nanowire emitter has been prepared for investigations of its field emission properties. A high field enhancement factor of 8.23 × 106 m−1 was obtained, attributed to the unique structure of the ZrC nanowire. Furthermore, the emitter exhibited a high emission current density of 6.92 × 1010 A/m2 at a low extraction voltage of 555 V, which is much lower than the voltage required for traditional cone shaped ZrC emitters. The results demonstrated that ZrC nanowires are of great advantages for field emission applications.

Objective The effect of alcohol consumption on the risk of coronary heart disease is controversial. Several studies have assessed the effects of alcohol on the formation of atherosclerotic plaques, but few studies have evaluated the chronic effects of alcohol consumption on the coronary artery diameter. We investigated whether alcohol consumption affects the coronary artery diameter. Methods This prospective study enrolled men who were undergoing coronary angiography at the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from November 2016 to December 2017. The participants were categorized into three groups based on their drinking behavior: heavy drinking (>175 g/week in the last 2 years, n = 70), moderate drinking (>42 to ≤175 g/week in the last 2 years, n = 53), and nondrinking (lifetime alcohol consumption of Results No significant differences in the diameters of the left and right coronary arteries were observed among the three groups. Conclusions Alcohol consumption may not affect the diameter of the coronary arteries.

Aquaculture meets the growing demand for aquatic products. However, significant economic loss and environmental impact may occur if fish escape from a damaged cage. In this paper, we present an omnidirectional surface vehicle (OSV) for efficient fish cage inspection. The OSV features symmetric multi-hull design for omnidirectional maneuverability in aquaculture sites. The overactuated thruster configuration with ducted propellers provides redundancy and reliability in the complex fish farm environment. An underwater camera with motorized depth adjustment allows the OSV to inspect the fish cage at different depths. The neural network based damage detection functionality is capable of detecting holes with irregular shapes. The detection algorithm is implemented onboard the OSV with discrete hardware accelerator, which improves the robustness and accuracy of the inspection by allowing each damage point to be detected multiple times. With pose of the OSV measured by high-accuracy localization devices, positions of the holes in the fish cage can be estimated with respect to the fish farm. This fish cage inspection methodology shows satisfying accuracy in a pool test. The experimental results show that the estimated position of the hole closely aligns with the ground truth.

Electron sources in the form of one-dimensional nanotubes and nanowires are an essential tool for investigations in a variety of fields, such as X-ray computed tomography, flexible displays, chemical sensors and electron optics applications. However, field emission instability and the need to work under high-vacuum or high-temperature conditions have imposed stringent requirements that are currently limiting the range of application of electron sources. Here we report the fabrication of a LaB6 nanowire with only a few La atoms bonded on the tip that emits collimated electrons from a single point with high monochromaticity. The nanostructured tip has a low work function of 2.07 eV (lower than that of Cs) while remaining chemically inert, two properties usually regarded as mutually exclusive. Installed in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) field emission gun, our tip shows a current density gain that is about 1,000 times greater than that achievable with W(310) tips, and no emission decay for tens of hours of operation. Using this new SEM, we acquired very low-noise, high-resolution images together with rapid chemical compositional mapping using a tip operated at room temperature and at 10-times higher residual gas pressure than that required for W tips.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the safety and therapeutic efficacy of herbal drug, Di Huang Yin Zi (DHYZ), in patients affected by ischemic stroke.METHODS: In this double blind, placebo-controlled study, a total of 100 patients with recent (less than 30 days) ischemic stroke were randomized to receive DHYZ or placebo for 12 weeks. Both groups also received rehabilitation therapy during the study period. As there were 13 dropouts, a total of 45 patients on DHYZ and 42 on placebo were available for analysis. The Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) and Barthel index (BI) were assessed before treatment and at 4-week intervals.RESULTS: We observed that the FMA score and BI were increased, in both groups at week 4, 8 and 12 compared with the baseline. Furthermore, significantly better FMA score was observed in patients treated with DHYZ at week 8 and 12 (both PCONCLUSIONS: DHYZ showed good efficacy, safety and tolerability in patients affected by ischemic stroke. We conclude that DHYZ may be a useful therapeutic option in patients with ischemic stroke.

This paper presents a numerical algorithm tuning aircraft landing gear control system with three objectives, including reducing relative vibration, reducing hydraulic strut force and controlling energy consumption. Sliding mode control is applied to the vibration control of a simplified landing gear model with uncertainty. A two-stage generalized cell mapping algorithm is applied to search the Pareto set with gradient-free scheme. Drop test simulations over uneven runway show that the vibration and force interaction can be considerably reduced, and the Pareto optimum form a tight range in time domain.

Organizational changes are becoming a common response to financial and operational needs. The changes may be systematic and gradual or dramatic and sudden in an attempt to face various business dem ...

With the rapid development of information technology, improvements on financial management system in colleges and universities are required. Based on analyzing the characteristics of the financial management system in Guangxi colleges and universities, the work optimized the procedure of financial management. With financial processing module as the core, 8 subsystem modules are designed including student finance subsystem, wages management subsystem, to achieve intelligent financial management.Funded project: 12th 5-year plan of Guangxi science of education, one of the research findings in the special issue “Research on the Establishment of Financial Management System in Colleges and Universities” (Grant No. 2013ZCW022) of 2013 Guangxi educational financial management research.

The dependence of photocurrent of a typical copper phthalocyanine (CuPc)/C60 device on external negative bias under monochromatic light illumination is reported. With increase of the negative bias, the photocurrent originating from excitons in the CuPc layer is quickly saturated. On the contrary, the photocurrent originating from excitons in C60 layer does not reach saturation but increases continuously with negative bias. This abnormal enhancement shows that the behavior of excitons in C60 layer is completely different from that in the typical donor material CuPc. The triplet exciton–electron interaction in C60 is supposed to cause the photoinduced hole injection enhancement from cathode, resulting in the observed phenomenon. More experiments designed have confirmed this mechanism.

The grout behind the lining segments have a powerful influence on the long-term basis in shield tunnel construction in gravel sand and round gravel layers. Grouting layer detection in the shield construction is important. Two aspects are usually be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the grout treatment, one is the thickness of the Grouting layer and the other is to determine the presence and distribution of any damage in grouting layer. This study reports on the applications of the ground penetrating radar (GPR) and associated work carried out on Nanchang Metro line 1, Jiangxi province of China. After raw data preprocessing the results of the radar image are used to evaluate the thickness and hidden trouble of the grout layer automatically.

Cashew classification technology is tested by the method of orthogonal test in this paper, and it found the main factors, the trend and the optimum operating parameters of cashew classification by observing three factors of the sieve length, drum speed and the number of turns which influenced mixed-level rate and classification efficiency. We did regression analysis of test data by using SPSS software, and got the universal formula of cashews samples grading for cashews samples. The paper provided theoretical basis for the structural design and optimization of the operating parameters of the cashew grading machine.

Roles of the buried interface between polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) layer and indium tin oxide (ITO) on the glass substrate have been characterized by transient photovoltage (TPV). Since P3HT is the hole-transporting material, from intuitiveness, ITO/P3HT contact (IPcontact) tends to be hole extracting. However, in this letter, the negative TPV of ITO/P3HT/Al demonstrates that IPcontact dominates the reversed built in electric field, namely pointing from ITO to Al, and is confirmed to be electron extracting. Meanwhile, an interesting biphasic feature of TPV is demonstrated in a device of ITO/P3HT:[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester/Al. The negative component in biphasic TPV shows that IPcontact is one reason resulting in the leakage current for P3HT based solar cells in normal structures. The theoretical study is conducted, and reveals that the interaction between P3HT and ITO reduces electron barrier by 0.5 eV for IPcontact. Band bending and dipole formation are two possible reasons to reduce the electron barrier. By taking advantage of the electron extraction, IPcontact is employed as a composite cathode in an inverted solar cell by pre-coating a pristine P3HT buffer layer between a blended layer and ITO. The study paves a way to characterize the buried interface in solution processable optoelectronics by observing polarity change of TPV, and to fabricate the simplified inverted organic solar cell employing IPcontact to extract electrons.

To investigate the potential protective effect of exogenous recombinant interleukin-22 (rIL-22) on L-arginine-induced acute severe pancreatitis (SAP)-associated lung injury and the possible signaling pathway involved.Balb/c mice were injected intraperitoneally with L-arginine to induce SAP. Recombinant mouse IL-22 was then administered subcutaneously to mice. Serum amylase levels and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in the lung tissue were measured after the L-arginine administration. Histopathology of the pancreas and lung was evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. Expression of B cell lymphoma/leukemia-2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-xL and IL-22RA1 mRNAs in the lung tissue was detected by real-time PCR. Expression and phosphorylation of STAT3 were analyzed by Western blot.Serum amylase levels and MPO activity in the lung tissue in the SAP group were significantly higher than those in the normal control group (P0.05). In addition, the animals in the SAP group showed significant pancreatic and lung injuries. The expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL mRNAs in the SAP group was decreased markedly, while the IL-22RA1 mRNA expression was increased significantly relative to the normal control group (P0.05). Pretreatment with PBS did not significantly affect the serum amylase levels, MPO activity or expression of Bcl-2, Bcl-xL or IL-22RA1 mRNA (P0.05). Moreover, no significant differences in the degrees of pancreatic and lung injuries were observed between the PBS and SAP groups. However, the serum amylase levels and lung tissue MPO activity in the rIL-22 group were significantly lower than those in the SAP group (P0.05), and the injuries in the pancreas and lung were also improved. Compared with the PBS group, rIL-22 stimulated the expression of Bcl-2, Bcl-xL and IL-22RA1 mRNAs in the lung (P0.05). In addition, the ratio of p-STAT3 to STAT3 protein in the rIL-22 group was significantly higher than that in the PBS group (P0.05).Exogenous recombinant IL-22 protects mice against L-arginine-induced SAP-associated lung injury by enhancing the expression of anti-apoptosis genes through the STAT3 signaling pathway.

This paper presents an experimental study of robustness of multi-objective optimal sliding mode control, which is designed in a previous study. Inertial and stiffness uncertainties are introduced to a two degrees-of-freedom (DOF) under-actuated rotary flexible joint system. A randomly selected design from the Pareto set of multi-objective optimal sliding mode controls is used in the experiments. Three indices are introduced to evaluate the performance variation of the tracking control in the presence of uncertainties. We have found that the multi-objective optimal sliding mode control is quite robust against the inertial and stiffness uncertainties in terms of maintaining the stability and delivering satisfactory tracking performance as compared to the control of the nominal system, even when the uncertainty is not a small quantity. Furthermore, we have studied the effect of upper bounds of the model estimation error on the stability of the closed-loop system.

Background & objective The results of epidemiologic studies on the relationship between the coffee consumption and pancreatic cancer risk were inconsistent. Thus, we performed an update meta-analysis of cohort studies to quantitatively summarize the association between coffee consumption and pancreatic cancer risk. Methods We searched CBM (China Biology Medicine disc) and MEDLINE for studies of coffee consumption and pancreatic cancer risk up to June 2015. A total of 20 cohort studies were identified in this meta-analysis, and we analyzed these studies using random effects model. The dose-response analysis was conducted too. Results The overall relative risk (RR) for highest coffee consumption versus lowest coffee consumption was 0.75 (95% Confidence Interval (CI), 0.63-0.86). Statistic significant heterogeneity was found among these studies (I (2) =37.8%, P for heterogeneity =0.045). The pooled RR for increment of 1 cup/day of coffee consumption was 0.99 (95%CI, 0.96-1.03) for the nine studies, without statistically significant. Conclusions High coffee consumption is associated with a reduced pancreatic cancer risk. However, the result should be accepted with caution, due to the potential confounder and bias could not be excluded. Further well designed studies are needed to confirm the finding.

This paper presents simulation and experimental studies of controls for time-delayed dynamical systems. An inverted pendulum made by Quanser is used as a model system. We investigate two control design methods: optimal feedback gain with the semi-discretization method and a high-order control design. Both simulations and experiments are carried out to demonstrate the utility of the control. The semi-discretization method offers optimal controls without increasing the dimensions of the gain vector, while high-order control involves an increased number of gains. The disadvantages and advantages of both methods are discussed with the support of simulation and experimental results. This paper highlights the fact that high-order control is determined by an Nth order filter where N is the discretization level. We have also found that the performance of high-order control appears to be insensitive to N.

Aim To assess whether glomerular hyperfiltration (GHF) could result in renal tubular damage in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. Methods Reference value of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was determined in 248 healthy individuals based on serum CysC levels. GHF was defined as an eGFR exceeding the sex-specific 97.5th percentile in non-diabetic individuals. In the present study, 30 with GHF, 58 with norm-GFR T2DM, and 24 healthy controls were recruited. Tubular markers, such as urinary N-acetyl-β- d -glucosaminidase (NAG) and kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1), as well as serum and urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), were measured and compared. The correlation of these markers with eGFR was analyzed in the GHF group. Results The GHF group had higher urinary NGAL and KIM-1 levels but lower serum NGAL level than the norm-GFR and control groups. Slightly decreased serum NGAL and increased urinary NGAL levels were also noted in the norm-GFR group compared with those of the controls. There was no statistical difference in the urinary NAG values among the three groups. Correlation analysis showed that eGFR was positively related to fasting blood glucose (FBG), HbA1c, urinary NGAL, and KIM-1, but negatively with serum NGAL in the GHF group. Conclusion Higher urinary tubular damage markers were found in T2DM patients with GHF than the norm-GFR and control groups, probably a direct proof that GHF is a deleterious factor for diabetic nephropathy.

Aim To develop a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of serum hepatitis B virus large surface protein (HBV-LP), and study the clinical value of HBV-LP. Methods Serum HBV-LP levels and a panel of other HBV markers were investigated in a large population of patients with chronic HBV. The clinical value of HBV-LP was evaluated by comparing the coincidence of detection of HBV markers and the change of serum HBV-LP level during antiviral therapy. Results The ELISA was found to be sensitive and specific for the detection of HBV-LP. Serum HBV-LP level was positively correlated with HBV DNA (r = 0.743) in HBV patients. Among the five HBV markers tested, HBV-LP displayed the highest coincidence rate (94.7%) with HBV DNA. Conclusions Serum HBV-LP was strongly correlated with HBV DNA. This ELISA therefore offers a promising approach for the diagnosis and treatment monitoring of HBV patients.

LaB(6) nanowires are ideal for applications as an electrical field-induced ion and electron point source due to their miniature dimensions, low work function, as well as excellent electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties. We present here a reliable method to fabricate and assemble single LaB(6) nanowire-based field emitters of different crystal orientations. The atomic arrangement, emission brightness from each crystal plane, and field emission stability have been characterized using field ion microscopy (FIM) and field emission microscopy (FEM). It is found that the 001 oriented LaB(6) nanowire emitter has the highest field emission symmetry while the 012 oriented LaB(6) nanowire has the lowest apical work function. The field emission stability from the single LaB(6) nanowire emitter is significantly better than either the LaB(6) needle-type emitter or W cold field emitters.

A NIR identification system consisting of two proposed models (Model I and Model II) has been developed for the analysis of 10 different products of macrolides tablets from different manufacturers. A total of 253 batches of the 10 products from 93 manufacturers in China were used for the system construction. First, a universal classification model (termed Model I) was constructed for 10 products using all the samples with the objective to distinguish the macrolides homologues which have the similar molecular structures. Secondly, 10 models (termed Model II) were developed separately for each product by using their samples. For each type of macrolides products, the two qualitative models are used in tandem as an identification system in mobile labs. Only when Model I and Model II both show acceptance results can an unknown sample be identified as "genuine". Internal and external validation showed almost 100% correct identity. Our study has shown that the analytical accuracy can be greatly improved when using this identification system and it will be efficient for quickly prescreening the drug quality in the open market and distribution channels.

A universal classification model has been developed for identification of 26 different products of cephalosporins for injection using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. A total of 324 batches of the 26 products, from 166 manufacturers in China, were used in the study. The classification model was a principle component analysis (PCA)-based method consisting of a primary identification library with four sub-libraries. The accuracy and specificity of the model were tested and were both found to be approximately 95%. The transfer of the classification model between different instruments of the same brand and the same instrument model has been investigated in this study. This study has shown that it is feasible to build a universal classification model to quickly screen for counterfeit drugs in the open market and distribution channels.

A facile, template-free method was used to grow large areas of well-aligned ZnO nanowire arrays on amorphous SiO2 substrates. The arrays are composed of vertically aligned, single-crystalline, wurt...

Purpose To centrally assess the safety, efficacy, and 6-year follow-up of recombinant adenovirus-p53 (rAd-p53) combined with radiotherapy (RT) for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Patients and Methods A randomized controlled clinical study on rAd-p53 combined with RT in 42 patients with NPC was compared with a control group of 40 patients with NPC treated with RT alone. In the group receiving rAd-p53 combined with RT, rAd-p53 was intratumorally injected once a week for 8 weeks. Concurrent RT (70 Gy in 35 fractions) was given to the nasopharyngeal tumor and neck lymph node. Patients and tumors were monitored for adverse events and responses. Results rAd-p53–specific p53 mRNA was detected in postinjection of rAd-p53 biopsies from 16 (94.1%) of 17 patients. Upregulation of p21/WAF1 and Bax and downregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor were observed in postinjection tumor biopsy. Complete response rate in the group receiving rAd-p53 combined with RT was observed at 2.73 times that of the group receiving RT alone (66.7% v 24.4%). Six-year follow-up data showed that rAd-p53 significantly increased the 5-year locoregional tumor control rate by 25.3% for patients with NPC treated with irradiation (P = .002). The 5-year overall survival rate and 5-year disease-free survival rate of the group receiving rAd-p53 combined with RT were 7.5% (P = .34) and 11.7% (P = .21) higher than those of the group receiving RT alone. No dose-limiting toxicity or adverse events appeared, except for transient fever after rAd-p53 administration. Conclusion In patients with NPC, rAd-p53 was safe and biologically active. Our results indicated that rAd-p53 improves radiotherapeutic tumor control and survival rate in patients with NPC.