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Aiming at the problems of poor heat resistance, deformation, and swelling, a turning test of polycarbonate was carried out under dry cutting, water cooling, ultra-low temperature cooling, and the shape of the surface was analyzed. The morphological differences of machined surfaces were explained from the perspective of relaxation time of molecular chains, crazing generation, and brittle-toughness transition. It is found that, on polycarbonate surfaces, dry cutting produces a large number f strong crazing, water-cooled cutting produced a large number of fine crazing, while the ultra-low temperature cooling cutting produces less crazing. Therefore, ultra-low temperature cooling has a positive effect on improving the processing quality of polycarbonates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To evaluate potential improvements in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules when conventional ultrasound (US) is combined with contrast-enhanced US (CEUS). Methods We recruited 515 participants with 323 malignant and 192 benign nodules, who underwent both US and CEUS examinations at 8 different medical centers in China between October 2020 and October 2021. We assessed the malignancy of thyroid nodules in US using the American College of Radiology (ACR) Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TIRADS). Diagnostic criteria for US and US + CEUS were developed by investigators based on evaluations of sonographic features. Using multivariate logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, we compared diagnostic performance between the 2 methods based on criteria identified by investigators and via statistical models. Results On the basis of diagnostic criteria identified by investigators, we measured statistically significant differences in area under the curve (AUC) values between ACR TIRADS (0.83) and CEUS TIRADS (0.87; P <.001). On the basis of diagnostic regression models, we found statistically significant differences in AUC values between US (0.76) and US + CEUS (0.84; P =.001). Models based on US + CEUS outperformed those based on US alone (Akaike information criterion of 347.7 and significant improvement in integrated discrimination). These results were confirmed by similar analyses applied to a validation cohort. Conclusion The accuracy of conventional US for differentiating between benign and malignant thyroid nodules can be improved by combining this approach with CEUS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintenance of proteome integrity is essential for cell function and survival in changing cellular and environmental conditions. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the major site for the synthesis of secretory and membrane proteins. However, the accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins can perturb ER protein homeostasis, leading to ER stress and compromising cellular function. Eukaryotic organisms have evolved sophisticated and conserved protein quality control systems to ensure protein folding fidelity via the unfolded protein response (UPR) and to eliminate potentially harmful proteins via ER-associated degradation (ERAD) and ER-phagy. In this review, we summarize recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms of ER protein homeostasis in plants and discuss the crosstalk between different quality control systems. Finally, we will address unanswered questions in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurological-related disorders are diseases that affect the body's neurons or peripheral nerve tissue, such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The development of neurological disorders can cause serious harm to the quality of life and functioning of the patient. The use of traditional therapeutic agents such as dopamine-promoting drugs, anticholinergic drugs, cholinesterase inhibitors, and NMDA receptor antagonists is often accompanied by a series of side effects such as drug resistance, cardiac arrhythmia, liver function abnormalities, and blurred vision. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find a therapeutic drug with a high safety profile and few side effects. Herbal medicines are rich in active ingredients that are natural macromolecules. Ginsenoside is the main active ingredient of ginseng, which has a variety of pharmacological effects and is considered to have potential value in the treatment of human diseases. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that ginsenosides Rg2 and Rh1 have strong pharmacological activities in the nervous system, with protective effects on nerve cells, improved resistance to neuronal injury, modulation of neural activity, resistance to cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury, improvement of brain damage after eclampsia hemorrhage, improvement of memory and cognitive deficits, treatment of AD and vascular dementia, alleviation of anxiety, pain, and inhibition of ionic-like behavior. In this article, we searched the pharmacological research literature of Rg2 and Rh1 in the field of neurological diseases, summarized the latest research progress of the two ginsenosides, and reviewed the pharmacological effects and mechanisms of Rg2 and Rh1, which provided a new way of thinking for the research of the active ingredients in ginseng anti-neurological diseases and the development of new drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper numerically investigates the vortex and film composite cooling performance under rotating conditions. The cooling performance of the adiabatic and conjugate models is compared under the range of 0–4000 r/min. The conjugate model contains the fluid region: the cascade, the film holes, and the internal vortex cooling chamber, as well as the solid region: the blade material between the internal flow and the mainstream flow. The adiabatic model is established by removing the blade material part in the conjugate model. The dimensionless temperature θ inversely proportional to the temperature is adopted. Results show that the blade leading edge temperature doesn't vary linearly with the rotating speed. The stagnation line of the mainstream flow on the blade leading edge moves from the pressure surface to the suction surface. The maximum θ appears at 1500 r/min when the stagnation line stays certainly on the row of film holes located on the pressure surface and is 7.86% higher than the minimum θ. The minimum θ appears at 2500 r/min when the stagnation line stays on the position between the rows of film holes. The distribution of θ is much uniform, and the value of θ is much higher in the conjugate cases than the adiabatic cases due to the heat conduction through the blade material. The highest aerodynamic parameter appears at 2000 r/min due to its relatively low blade leading edge temperature and low coolant consumption and is 41% higher than the aerodynamic parameter at 0 r/min. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]