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Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) remains incurable and new treatments are needed, especially in the relapsed/refractory setting. We therefore investigated the effects of carfilzomib, a novel, long-acting, second-generation proteasome inhibitor, in MCL cells. Eight established MCL cell lines and freshly isolated primary MCL cells were treated with carfilzomib. Cell proliferation was assessed by a 3H-thymidine incorporation assay. Cell apoptosis was evaluated by flow cytometry with annexin V and propidium iodide. Electrophoresis mobility shift (EMSA), Western blot, and luciferase assays were used to analyze NF-κB activation and related signaling proteins. Carfilzomib inhibited growth and induced apoptosis in both established MCL cell lines and freshly isolated primary MCL cells in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast, carfilzomib was less toxic to normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy individuals. The carfilzomib-induced apoptosis of MCL cells occurred in a caspase-dependent manner through both intrinsic and extrinsic caspase pathways. In addition, carfilzomib inhibited constitutive activation of the NF-κB signaling cascade, both in MCL cell lines and primary MCL cells, by completely blocking the phosphorylation of IκBα. Our results demonstrate that carfilzomib can induce growth arrest and apoptosis in MCL cells and that the mechanism may involve the NF-κB signaling pathway.

Neuroinflammation has been suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). Electroacupuncture (EA) is an irreplaceable method in traditional Chinese medicine that is used for treating neurodegenerative diseases in clinical and experimental studies. The aim of this study was to examine whether EA improves cognitive dysfunction caused by surgery and to investigate the pathological mechanism of TLR2 and TLR4 in the hippocampus of aged rats. A rat model of POCD was established and treated with EA or minocycline. Both EA- and minocycline-treated rats performed significantly better than untreated operated rats in spatial memory tasks of the Morris water maze (MWM) test, spending comparatively greater amounts of time in the target zone during the probe test. Additionally, decreased levels of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and HMGB1) and decreased TLR2 and TLR4 protein expression in the hippocampus of EA- and minocycline-treated rats were detected. Our data suggested that EA treatment alleviated the cognition performance deficit and neuroinflammation in aged rats following surgery, which may be mediated by inhibiting the expression of hippocampal neuroinflammatory cytokines through the microglia/TLR2/4 pathway.

In the paper, by virtue of the Faa di Bruno formula and two identities for the Bell polynomials of the second kind, the authors establish an explicit expression for degenerate Cauchy numbers and find explicit, meaningful, and significant expressions for coefficients in a family of nonlinear differential equations for the generating function of degenerate Cauchy numbers.

Thirty-six pullout tests, including twelve groups of three specimens, were performed to study the bond behavior of steel reinforcement in concrete containing ferronickel slag and blast furnace slag powder (F-S powder/concrete). Test parameters considered in this research were F-S powder replacement percentages (i.e., 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%) and concrete strength grades (i.e., C30 and C35). Unexpectedly, the results showed that the bond quality of steel reinforcement in F-S concrete was inferior to that of normal concrete even with comparable concrete strength. The more F-S powder content, the greater the inferiority. Through investigating the underlying mechanism, it was found that bleeding adversely affected the reinforcement-concrete bond quality in F-S concrete. Based on the pullout test results, a bond stress-slip relationship and an anchorage length modifying factor were proposed for F-S concrete of C30 and C35 strength grade. The conclusions would help designers assess the suitability of a particular F-S concrete for use in a given structure.

As a by-product of nickel production, a large amount of ferronickel slag (FNS) puts great pressure on the environment. Therefore, there is an urgent need to treat the FNS to solve serious challenges to the environment. The FNS can be used as a partial replacement of Portland cement in concrete, so this industrial by-product may act as a suitable alternative of conventional building materials with high carbon footprint to achieve sustainable development. The concrete containing 0%, 15% and 30% FNS was prepared and assessed for its compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, tensile strength, resistance to chloride ions penetration and bond behaviors. The obtained results showed that the use of FNS had positive effects on the mechanical properties and durability of concrete due to the higher pozzolanic activity of FNS at the late hydration age and its finer particles than cement. Moreover, 15% FNS addition brought more significant increase in compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, tensile strength and bond strength than the use of 30% FNS as a replacement of cement. But the increasing FNS content resulted in the increase of resistance to chloride ions penetration of concrete. In addition, static loading tests and cyclic loading tests were carried out to assess the effects of the FNS on the overall structural behaviors of the prefabricated members. The specimens exhibited similar failure modes which mainly involved yielding of longitudinal steel bars. The ultimate bearing capacity attained by FNS concrete members was similar to that of conventional concrete members, but the specimens made of FNS concrete exhibited higher ductile capacity. The FNS concrete members also experienced more cracking and concrete crushing at the end of test, thus showing better energy dissipation capacity.

By vacuum sputtering and annealing processes of gold (Au) films on boron-doped diamond (BDD) surfaces, Au-nanoparticles/BDD (AuNP/BDD) composite substrates were prepared as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates. The SERS performances of the substrate were investigated using methylene blue molecule as a probe. With the AuNPs having an average diameter of 20 nm, high performance of SERS was achieved at an enhancement factor of 9 × 105, arising from the synergistic effect of electromagnetic enhancement from AuNPs and chemical enhancement from diamond. The AuNP/BDD substrate is demonstrated to be highly sensitive, reproducible, stable, and reusable for the SERS examination. Due to the facile preparation process and controllable surface morphology, the AuNP/BDD substrates are favorable as a high performance SERS platform performed in practical applications.

This study investigated the mechanical properties of concrete of strength grade C30 and C35, containing different content (10%–50%) of a composite admixture of ferronickel slag and blast furnace slag powder (referred to as F-S powder and F-S concrete hereafter, respectively). The mechanical properties include axial compressive strength, elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio, splitting tensile strength, and the compressive stress-strain relationship. The difference in mechanical properties between F-S concrete and conventional concrete was analyzed. Test results indicated that the positive correlation of conventional concrete between the axial compressive strength, elastic modulus, splitting tensile strength, and cubic compressive strength was applicable to F-S concrete irresponsible of the specific F-S powder content. Both Poisson’s ratio and the failure mode under compression for F-S concrete were identical to those of conventional concrete. The shape characteristics and fitting parameters of the stress-strain curve were mainly related to F-S concrete strength grade but had little connection with the specific F-S powder content. Furthermore, based on tested data, the stress-strain constitutive equations were established for F-S concrete, which provides a reference for the test analysis of large specimens and corresponding engineering application.

Precast monolithic structures are increasingly applied in construction. Such a structure has a performance somewhere between that of a pure precast structure and that of a cast-in-place structure. A precast concrete frame structure is one of the most common prefabricated structural systems. The post-pouring joint is important for controlling the seismic performance of the entire precast monolithic frame structure. This paper investigated the joints of a precast prestressed concrete frame structure. A reversed cyclic loading test was carried out on two precast prestressed concrete beam&ndash, column joints that were fabricated with two different concrete strengths in the keyway area. This testing was also performed on a cast-in-place reinforced concrete joint for comparison. The phenomena such as joint crack development, yielding, and ultimate damage were observed, and the seismic performance of the proposed precast prestressed concrete joint was determined. The results showed that the precast prestressed concrete joint and the cast-in-place joint had a similar failure mode. The stiffness, bearing capacity, ductility, and energy dissipation were comparable. The hysteresis curves were full and showed that the joints had good energy dissipation. The presence of prestressing tendons limited the development of cracks in the precast beams. The concrete strength of the keyway area had little effect on the seismic performance of the precast prestressed concrete joints. The precast prestressed concrete joints had a seismic performance that was comparable to the equivalent monolithic system.

Objective To understand middle school students’ current cognition, attitude, self daily behaviors and injury situation of using electronic equipment while walking and to provide a scientific basis for invention strategies. Methods a total of 696 students selected from 4 junior high schools and 4 senior high schools in 4 districts in Hangzhou by multistage random cluster sampling were investigated with a questionnaire survey. Results 89.91% of the students were distracted by using electronic devices while walking. 77.81% of surveyed students were listening to music while walking. 72.70% were on the phone. 71.66% were sending messages. 45.52% were seeking information. 35.06% were playing electronic games, and 25.94% of the students were watching the video. As for the rate of the reported distracted behaviors by electronic equipment, the senior high school students had a higher rate than junior high school students. Girls had a higher reported rate of listening music while walking than that of boys. While boys had a higher rate of playing games while walking than that of girls. 95.40% of students believed that their peers would be distracted by using electronic devices while walking. 50.51% of the surveyed students said they had been hit by a motor vehicle or were almost hit while walking, of which 14.57% were related to the distraction of using electronic devices. 52.61% of students using electronic devices during their daily walk were hit by a motor vehicle or were almost hit, higher than the proportion of non-use electronic device students (30.4%). Conclusion Most of the junior/senior high school students would use electronic equipment frequently in the walk, leading to the distraction, influencing personal safety and certain measures should be taken as soon as possible to reduce the occurrence of related accidents.

Feng Qi, Ai-Qi Liu, and Dongkyu Lim, Explicit expressions related to degenerate Cauchy numbers and their generating function, In: J. Singh, D. Kumar, H. Dutta, D. Baleanu, and S. Purohit (eds), Mathematical Modelling, Applied Analysis and Computation, ICMMAAC 2018 (Jaipur, India, July 6-8, 2018), Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics, vol. 272, Chapter 2, pp. 41--52, Springer, Singapore, 2019; available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9608-3_2.; International audience; In the paper, by virtue of the Fa\`a di Bruno formula and two identities for the Bell polynomials of the second kind, the authors establish an explicit expression for degenerate Cauchy numbers and find explicit, meaningful, and significant expressions for coefficients in a family of nonlinear differential equations for the generating function of degenerate Cauchy numbers.

A CuII coordination polymer with tetrachloroterephthalate (BDC–Cl4), {[Cu(BDC–Cl4)(DMF)2]·H2O}n has been synthesised by a resin-assisted solvothermal method. The complex has a one-dimensional (1-D) [Cu2(BDC–Cl4)2]n double chain structure in the solid state, exhibits high aqueous solubility, and further evaporation of its aqueous solution yielded a further coordination polymer {[Cu(BDC–Cl4) (H2O)4]·4H2O}n, which displays a 1-D [Cu(BDC–Cl4)]n single chain structure. IR spectroscopy, molar electrical conductivity, thermal stability and luminescence properties of both complexes have also been investigated.

Aims and objectives Methods and materials Results Conclusion Personal information References, Aims and objectives: The maximum dimension (MD) of single/confluent metastatic nodes in the neck is a surrogate of nodal volume (NV) for nodal staging of head and neck cancer. N3 disease, which is defined as a lymph node with largest dimension of > 6.0 cm (N3a) or...

LiCoO2 sample prepared by high-temperature solid state calcination shows a typical hexagonal structure with a single phase and fine particle size distribution. The high-voltage electrolyte with additive fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) has been used. Electrochemical results show that the initial discharge capacities of the prepared LiCoO2 cathode are 157.7, 169.5, 191.0, and 217.5 mAh g−1 in the voltage ranges of 3.0–4.3, 3.0–4.4, 3.0–4.5, and 3.0–4.6 V, respectively. The capacity increases, while the initial coulombic efficiency and capacity retention decrease with increasing the charge cutoff voltage. The capacity retention is only 10.4 % after 200 cycles at 1C rate in the voltage range of 3.0–4.6 V. X-ray diffraction measurements confirm structural changes of the layered material in the different voltage ranges. A phase transition from the O3 to the H1-3 phase can be observed when LiCoO2 is charged above 4.5 V. The AC impedance analysis indicates that the resistances (R (sf+b), R ct) of the prepared LiCoO2 rapidly increase when the cell is charged to higher voltage. The amount of dissolved Co into the electrolyte also greatly increases with increasing the charge cutoff voltage.

Purpose: To examine the effects of commercially available sports beverages with various components on substrate metabolism and subsequent performance. Methods: Two studies were conducted in a double-blinded, counterbalanced manner. Study I was designed to determine the glycemic index, while study II determined the utilization of substrates and subsequent exercise performance. Ten healthy male participants (age 21.70 ± 2.41 years, height 176.60 ± 5.23 cm, weight 66.58 ± 5.38 kg, V̇O2max 48.1 ± 8.4 mL/kg/min) participated in both study I and study II. Three types of commercially available sports beverage powders were used. The powders consisted primarily of oligosaccharides (low molecular weight carbohydrates, L-CHO), hydrolyzed starch (high molecular weight CHO, H-CHO), and whey protein powder with carbohydrate (CHO-PRO). They were dissolved in purified water with identical CHO concentration of 8% (w/v). In study I, each participant underwent two oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) and one glycemic response test for each sports drink. In study II, participants cycled for 60 min at 70% V̇O2max, one hour after consuming a standardized breakfast. One of four prescribed beverages (L-CHO, H-CHO, CHO-PRO, and Placebo control, PLA) was served at 0, 15, 30, 45 min during the exercise. Six hours after the first exercise session, participants came back for a “time to exhaustion test” (TTE). Blood samples were drawn at 0, 30, and 60 min in the first exercise session, while arterial blood gas analysis was conducted at 0, 30, and 60 min in both sessions. Subjective feelings (rating of perceived exertion and abdominal discomfort) were also evaluated every 30 min during exercise. Results: Compared to the reference standardized glucose solution, the glycemic index of the L-CHO beverage was 117.70 ± 14.25, while H-CHO was 105.50 ± 12.82, and CHO-PRO was 67.23 ± 5.88. During the exercise test, the insulin level at 30 and 60 min was significantly lower than baseline following the treatment of L-CHO, H-CHO, and PLA (p < 0.05). The CHO oxidation rate at 60 min in the first exercise session was significantly higher than that at 60 min in the second exercise session following the L-CHO treatment (p < 0.05). Time to exhaustion was not significantly different (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The CHO sports beverage with additional PRO maintains insulin production during endurance cycling at 70% V̇O2max in the postprandial state. L-CHO sports beverage suppresses fat utilization during the subsequent exercise performance test. The subsequent exercise performance (as evaluated by TTE) was not influenced by the type of CHO or the addition of PRO in the commercially available sports beverages used in the present study.