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MOF membranes exhibit impressive performance in gas separation due to their large surface area, controllable pore size and unique affinity. Here, the ultrathin UiO-66-NH2 polycrystalline membranes with thickness of ∼320 nm are successfully prepared within 1 h using a combination of ultrasound-assisted and microwave synthesis strategies. During the reaction, high-density small MOF nuclei are produced by sodium formate ultrasound-assisted, which act as sufficient nucleation sites for heterogeneous nucleation during membrane growth, aiming for development of a continuous MOF membrane on the porous substrate. The obtained UiO-66-NH2 membrane shows an ideal CO2/CH4 selectivity of 40 due to the enhanced the interaction between CO2 molecules and the membrane. Moreover, the narrowed pore structure further hinders the diffusion of larger-sized molecules owing to -NH2 occupying the pore channels, resulting in elevated CO2/CH4 selectivity. Compared to many other MOF membranes, the UiO-66-NH2 polycrystalline membranes exhibit a well balance of gas permeance and CO2/CH4 selectivity, which presents a new route for CO2 capture.

The application of thin composite material laminate secondary bonding technology to the main loadbearing structure of small UAV wings has important engineering applications for reducing the manufacturing costs of wing box section. A single-lap structural tensile shear test is carried out using a 2 mm sheet made of carbon fibre twill. The suitability of three different types of adhesive for the sheet is analyzed, as well as the effect of adhesive thickness and laminate lay-up angle on the strength of the secondary glue joint, and the simulation is verified by ABAQUS software. The results show that, using SY-23B epoxy structural adhesive, the adhesive layer thickness is 0.2 mm, the lay-up method is [(0/90)]8-[(0/90)]8, the bonding performance is optimal, the structural shear strength can reach 18.2 MPa, which can meet the small UAV stress box section bonding strength requirements,the secondary bonding formed wing stress box section has the advantages of light weight, low cost.

With the transformation of the new medical structure in the new era, the center of gravity of treatment for patients with mental disorders gradually shifted from the hospital to the community. The study randomly divided 70 community hospitalized patients with mental disorders who met the diagnostic criteria into an experimental group and a control group of 35 patients each and treated them with visualization music therapy and traditional spiritual rehabilitation therapy, respectively. At the end of the treatment, the basic characteristics, sleep quality, cognitive function, and related symptoms of the patients with community psychiatric disorders before and after the treatment were analyzed by using independent samples t-test, and the quality of life and intimate adaptability of the patients after community rehabilitation before and after the treatment were also explored. The results showed that there were significant time main effects in depression (F=234.801, P

In order to study the traveling wave effect and combined site effect of long-span steel tube concrete-filled arch bridge, a 400-m span bridge of the same type is taken as an example, and a large-mass time-history analysis method with multipoint input of recorded seismic waves is used. A total of 11 kinds of traveling wave excitations and 9 kinds of combined site excitations under 4 types of typical sites are carried out to calculate the structural response, and the chord axial force ratio and displacement changes are compared and analyzed. The results show that the long-span arch bridge also has nonuniform seismic excitation conditions in the lateral and vertical directions, and the spatial effect of the structural response is significant; under the traveling wave excitation, the change of the axial force ratio of the chord has a certain periodicity, and it is not the larger the axial force ratio is, the larger the axial force ratio is; the X direction has a significant influence, the maximum axial force ratio of the vault under the design condition is 6.26, and the changes in the Y and Z directions are relatively gentle, but there are still nearly two times the working condition; after the same amplitude modulation of different recorded waves, under the uniform excitation, the axial force is similar, but the displacement is quite different; under the unidirectional traveling wave excitation, the displacement in the X and Z directions shows an accelerating and increasing trend toward the vault. When it is relatively consistent under the unidirectional combined site excitation, and the axial force ratio changes under small and then increases, the L/4–3L/8 segment has a significant impact; the axial force ratio changes are the combined site excitation in different directions are spatially random; three under the combined site excitation. The axial force ratio in the orthogonal direction changes greatly. When the hard field is transformed into the soft field, the axial force ratio decreases, and the displacement increases continuously.

In the present work, 4-methylcatechol oligomer has been prepared by using enzyme-catalyzed polymerization in water and preliminary evaluations as stabilizing agent in polypropylene (PP) was performed. In comparison with intrinsic PP, the oxidation onset temperature of the 4-methylcatechol oligomer/PP composite increased by 66°C, and the oxidation induction time increased by 40 min. In addition, the mixing of a 4-methylcatechol oligomer with PP (i.e., in the formation of a 4-methylcatechol oligomer/PP composite) did significantly enhance the long-term stability of PP in a thermal oxidative environment. Moreover, the tensile strength of this composite did not significantly decrease after aging for 800 h in an air atmosphere at 120°C. These results show that the addition of a 4-methylcatechol oligomer will markedly delay the aging and degradation of PP materials, even under extreme conditions. Thus, an enzyme-catalyzed polymerization of phenol compounds may provide a new avenue toward the preparation of novel antioxidants.

Abstract Background In this study we explored whether one pleural catheter plus single chest tube drainage could achieve a noninferior drainage effect when compared with the traditional two chest tubes in uniportal video‐assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for an upper pulmonary lobectomy. Methods Patients that underwent an upper pulmonary lobectomy from January to November 2020 were enrolled in this single‐center, randomized, open‐label, noninferiority trial. Prior to closure, patients were randomized to an intervention group who received an improved drainage strategy involving one pleural catheter with one chest tube (24 Fr), while traditional double chest tube drainage was applied for the control group. Results A total of 390 patients entered the study, although 190 were excluded for changing nonuniportal surgical approaches or opting for nonlobectomy resections. Finally, 200 patients were randomized (100 in the intervention group and 100 in the control group). The baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were comparable between the groups. The incidence of pneumothorax in the intervention and control groups was similar on postoperative Day 1 (noninferiority, 10% vs. 13%, p = 0.658). In addition, there were no significant differences in secondary outcomes such as incidence of pneumothorax by Day 30, postoperative chest tube/pleural catheter removal time, amount of drainage on Day 1, total amount of drainage after operation, or postoperative hospitalization. A significantly lower pain score was observed in the intervention group (3.33 ± 0.68 vs. 3.68 ± 0.94, p = 0.003). Conclusions The new strategy is noninferior to double chest tube drainage after an upper pulmonary lobectomy offers superior pain control, and is recommended for an upper lobectomy by uniportal VATS.

The issue of fatigue in modern hydraulic pipelines is increasingly severe, and there remains a lack of effective prediction methods for pipeline fatigue life. In practical engineering, hydraulic pipelines are primarily subjected to random excitation and fluid excitation, representing a typical composite excitation. Most current research relies on solutions considering only single excitations, which leads to inaccuracies. To accurately calculate the fatigue life under composite excitation, this study incorporates resonance excitation and pulsation excitation into the optimal transport meshless method (OTM) within a strong fluid–structure coupling computational framework. Subsequently, by utilizing the hazard point method based on obtained stress data, an estimation of the service life for engine hydraulic lines can be determined. This work provides both practical guidance and theoretical insights for designing hydraulic lines in modern aircraft.

This paper proposes a novel path planning method that considers the natural frequencies of pipes. The approach begins by presenting an adaptive decomposition method to accurately define the routing space for aero engines. Compared with the traditional decomposition method, obstacle identification efficiency is improved by more than 50%. This paper improves the initial population of the genetic algorithm based on the rapidly exploring random tree. Subsequently, a numerical surrogate model is developed to predict the natural frequencies of pipes. An evaluation function is created incorporating the weighted values of the natural frequency and the tube length. Additionally, this paper introduces several new operators to mitigate the issue of illegal paths during algorithm iterations. Finally, the proposed algorithm is demonstrated through experiments on two well-designed examples and an application in an aero engine.

Light-matter interaction has been dominated by Born-Oppenheimer approximation for centuries. Here the authors proposed a light-matter interaction mechanism beyond this approximation, proposing stimulated phonon polariton-mediated light-matter interaction, showing further understanding and applications in the fields of optics/photonics and condensed-matter physics.

Abstract Since the first outbreak in December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has been constantly evolving and five variants have been classified as Variant of Concern (VOC) by the World Health Organization (WHO). These VOCs were found to enhance transmission and/or decrease neutralization capabilities of monoclonal antibodies and vaccine-induced antibodies. Here, we successfully designed and produced a recombinant COVID-19 vaccine in CHO cells at a high yield. The vaccine antigen contains four hot spot substitutions, K417N, E484K, N501Y and D614G, based on a prefusion-stabilized spike trimer of SARS-CoV-2 (S-6P) and formulated with an Alum/CpG 7909 dual adjuvant system. Results of immunogenicity studies showed that the variant vaccine elicited robust cross-neutralizing antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 prototype (Wuhan) strain and all 5 VOCs. It further, stimulated a TH1 (T Helper type 1) cytokine profile and substantial CD4+ T cell responses in BALB/c mice and rhesus macaques were recorded. Protective efficacy of the vaccine candidate was evaluated in hamster and rhesus macaque models of SARS-CoV-2. In Golden Syrian hamsters challenged with Beta or Delta strains, the vaccine candidate reduced the viral loads in nasal turbinates and lung tissues, accompanied by significant weight gain and relieved inflammation in the lungs. In rhesus macaque challenged with prototype SARS-CoV-2, the vaccine candidate decreased viral shedding in throat, anal, blood swabs over time, reduced viral loads of bronchus and lung tissue, and effectively relieved the lung pathological inflammatory response. Together, our data demonstrated the broadly neutralizing activity and efficacy of the variant vaccine against both prototype and current VOCs of SARS-CoV-2, justifying further clinical development.

In view of the lack of intelligent tools for the quality assurance and rating of power equipment defect text， the paper proposes a quality assurance and rating software program for power equipment defect text based on standards and historical defects. Firstly， it analyzes the software requirements and determines that the software needs to analyze text quality and automatically rate the defects. Then， according to the characteristics of the two bases， two application processes are designed. Then， the detailed program design process of key functional modules is introduced. The standard-based text quality analysis and automatic defect rating adopt standard tree matching methods. The text quality analysis and automatic defect rating based on history defects adopt graph retrieval methods based on knowledge graph （KG）. Finally， the operation effect of the software is demonstrated by examples. The results show that the software realizes the intelligent quality control and automatic rating of the input defect text by interactive means， which renders powerful support for the closed-loop management of power equipment defects and the improvement of the intelligence level of operation and inspection.

Objective To investigate the effects of N6-methyladenosine (M6A) related genes on the prognosis and cell biological behaviors of colorectal cancer. Methods The long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) for colorectal cancer and the expression profile data of 21 M6A-related genes were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and the differential genes were analyzed with R software. Cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) were further conducted, and prognostic related M6A genes were screened by univariate Cox regression analysis. The risk prediction model was then established with LASSO algorithm. In addition, differentially expressed lncRNA associated with colorectal cancer (DElncRNA) were screened out, and a co-expression network with M6A-related genes was subsequently established. Moreover, RT-qPCR was performed to determine the gene expression of fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) in colorectal cancer tissues. After FMR1 gene was knocked out in colorectal cancer cells, the cell proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis were detected by CCK8 assay, cell scratch test, Transwell assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Results Fifteen of the 21 M6A-related genes were differentially expressed in colorectal cancer, and cluster analysis indicated 2 subtypes of colorectal cancer tumors. According to the risk model, ALKBH5 (a-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase alk B homolog 5), YTHDC2 (YTH domain-containing protein 2) and FMR1 may be the independent prognostic factors. With a total of 1 784 DElncRNAs screened out, a co-expression network was successfully constructed containing the 3 prognostic factors and 18 DElncRNAs. FMR1 was found to be the hub gene in the network diagram. RT-qPCR showed that FMR1 was up-regulated in colorectal cancer tissues. Knockout of FMR1 gene inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion, and promoted cell apoptosis in colorectal cancer HT-29 cells. Conclusion M6A methylation regulators ALKBH5, YTHDC2 and FMR1 may be the independent prognostic factors in colorectal cancer. FMR1 knockout can inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion, and promote the apoptosis of colorectal cancer cells.

Monitoring ferroptosis-related miRNAs is crucial for the treatment and prognosis of patients with intracerebral hemorrhage. In this work, a novel hydrophobic paper (h-paper)-based plasmonic substrate was produced by dropping DS Au nanorods with a narrow range of sizes and morphologies onto h-paper. Raman reporter molecules were adsorbed to the array surface, and surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectra at randomly selected points reveal uniform and significant SERS enhancement. Hairpin DNAs labelled with Raman reporters and hybridized with placeholder DNAs were decorated on SERS substrate to fabricate SERS biosensor. Target miRNAs initiated the “inverse Molecular Sentinel” process. During the process, PHs were removed and the conformation of HPs changed toward the hairpin structure, thus eliciting the proximity of Raman reporter to substrate and a stronger SERS signal. The proposed SERS biosensor performs well in terms of stability, reproducibility, and selectivity. The limits of detection of miR-122-5p and miR-140-5p in serum were 4.17 aM and 4.49 aM, respectively. Finally, the fabricated SERS biosensor was applied to detect miR-122-5p and miR-140-5p in ICH patients and healthy subjects, and the results obtained by SERS were consistent with the results from quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, revealing the accuracy of the method. This simple, rapid approach offers great potential for the simultaneous detection of miRNAs in practical clinical applications.

Acoustic graphene plasmons (AGPs) hold promise for nanophotonics and sensing applications. Here, the authors observe enhanced in-plane scattering of mid-infrared AGPs caused by atomic steps on the substrate surface, suggesting potential strategies for controlling their propagation via substrate engineering.

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is the simplest, most economical, convenient, and effective method of preventing cervical cancer. However, the current HPV vaccine is supplied as a single-dose vial with a relatively high cost per dose, which hinders its supply to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the demand for HPV vaccine is highest. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a multi-dose HPV vaccine to promote large-scale affordable vaccination in LMICs. Moreover, the addition of preservatives is required to reduce the risk of microbial contamination in multi-dose vaccines within a single vial. In this study, we investigated the effects of six preservatives on HPV 16L1 and 18L1 virus-like particles in solution, as well as the aluminum adsorption status, under normal and high-temperature conditions. Multiple methods were employed, including dynamic light scattering, differential scanning calorimetry, an in vitro relative potency assay, and an in vivo potency assay in mice. Based on the above results, four types of selected preservatives were further studied, and an antimicrobial effectiveness test was performed on the HPV-2 vaccine, which was employed as a model HPV vaccine. Finally, three preservatives were selected based on their performance to evaluate the long-term stability of the HPV-2 vaccine. The results indicated that 0.12% methylparaben is the most suitable preservative for the multi-dose HPV-2 vaccine, guaranteeing the shelf life for at least three years and meeting “B” standards for antimicrobial effectiveness. The formula developed in this study can contribute toward combating cervical cancer in LMICs.

Introduction: Cervical cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide. Nearly all cervical cancers are resulted from high-risk Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Currently, there is no available HPV-specific therapy. Cancer therapeutic vaccines have shown anti-tumor efficacy in preclinical animal models as well as clinical patients. Methods: Here, we used a previously-reported therapeutic vaccine candidate (VR111) based on HPV16E7-HBcAg-Hsp65 fusion protein (with aluminum hydroxide adjuvant) and injected mice with 2 doses of VR111 at a two-week interval 2 days after TC-1 tumor cell implantation. Tumor growth and animal survival rates were monitored and the vaccine-associated immune responses were evaluated by cytotoxic T lymphocytes assay, T-cell proliferation assay and CD4+/CD8+ T-cell depletion. Results: In TC-1 tumor murine model, VR111 vaccine showed potent dose dependent therapeutic efficacy against tumor growth and improved survival rates in the medium (10 μg) and high doses (30 μg). The three fusion components of VR111 were all necessary to induce the best anti-tumor activity, CTL response and T cell proliferation. The tumor growth inhibition and a higher mouse survival rate were among the beneficial effects of cisplatin-based combination treatment. Moreover, the anti-tumor potency of VR111 vaccine was proved to be significantly associated with E7 specific CD8+ T cell immune response and the adoptive lymphocyte transfer therapy also showed tumor growth inhibition. Conclusion: The results confirmed VR111 as a potent therapeutic HPV vaccine candidate with superior anti-tumor efficacy in a murine model of HPV-induced cancer which its potentials could be considered for combination therapies against cervical cancer.

Abstract Background Existing studies on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) mainly covered single growth stages of childhood or adolescence and did not report on the trends in the relationships of HRQoL with sleep duration, physical activity, and screen time. This study aimed to establish the population norm of HRQoL in children and adolescents aged 6–17 years and examine the associations of screen time, sleep duration, and physical activity with HRQoL in this population. Methods We conducted a large-scale cross-sectional population-based survey study of Hong Kong children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years. A representative sample of students were interviewed to assess their HRQoL using PedsQL and EQ-5D-Y-5L. Multivariable homoscedastic Tobit regression with linear form or restricted cubic spline of predictors was used to analyze the associations between screen time, sleep duration, and HRQoL. Multiple imputation by chained equations was performed to deal with missing data. Results A total of 7555 respondents (mean age 11.5, SD 3.2; 55.1% female) were sampled. Their EQ VAS scores, PedsQL physical summary scores, and psychosocial summary scores were positively correlated with sleep duration and moderate/vigorous activity but was negatively correlated with screen time. Conclusions Children and adolescents who had longer exposure to screen, shorter sleep duration, and lower physical activity levels appeared to have poorer HRQoL as assessed by PedsQL and EQ-5D-Y-5L. Advice and guidance on screen time allocation for children and adolescents should be provided at the levels of school, community, and family.

Many handheld terminal devices require a light and compact receiving and transmitting antenna. FPC antennas are popular among designers because of their light weight and thin thickness. In order to obtain an antenna with suitable size, bandwidth and gain, an FPC soft material is used as an integrated platform, and the transmission line and antenna are used as an integrated design. While maintaining the size of the antenna, the energy coupling of radiating unit is enhanced by adding coupling branches，which effectively improves bandwidth and gain. The integrated design of transmission line and antenna can effectively use the antenna space and improve the port characteristics. Through simulation and actual testing, the antenna bandwidth meets 470 MHz~510 MHz, S11

In this study, a simple fluorescent chemosensor with good fluorescence properties was synthesized, and was used to develop a sensitive and selective sensor, for the determination of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) and Ag+ in THF/H2O medium, based on the fluorescence quenching mechanism. Fluorescence quenching experiments revealed that the fluorescence intensities of the resulted probe were linear with the concentrations of TNP and Ag+ in the concentration range of 3.0–5.0 and 2.0–5.0 μmol dm-3, with the detection limit of 1.36 and 0.82 μmol dm-3, respectively. At the same time, accompanied with fluorescent color change under 365 nm UV light irradiation. This has demonstrated that the compound can act as a potential candidate for a “naked-eye” rapidly detector for Ag+ and TNP in soils and aquatic systems.

Thymoma and thymic carcinoma are the most common tumors of the anterior mediastinum and a relatively rare type of thoracic cancer. The prerequisite for surgery is clinical staging and operative evaluation, both of which are based on medical imaging. The best strategy for treating a thymic epithelial tumor is surgical resection of the organ and surrounding tissue. Thymectomy modalities vary, including open surgery and minimally invasive surgery, and surgeons have used various innovations to better meet the needs of the procedure; therefore, it is critical to select the appropriate procedure based on the patient’s characteristics. Evaluation of resectability is the first step of surgical resection for thymic tumors without distant metastasis. The decision regarding unresectability should be made carefully. During subsequent chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy, reevaluation of whether an area is resectable or not remains essential. Despite numerous technological advances in the surgical treatment of thymic tumors, several contentious issues remain, including the selection of surgical approaches for difficult cases, the selection of video-assisted thoracoscopic approaches, the evaluation of resectability, minimally invasive surgery for locally advanced thymic tumors, lymphadenectomy in thymic tumors, neoadjuvant therapy for thymic tumors, debulking surgery, and salvage surgery. In solving these problems, the surgeon’s judgment, surgical experience, and surgical skills are especially important.

Taking a concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) arch bridge with a clear span of 400 m as an example, the in-depth analysis of its natural vibration characteristics is carried out by establishing a finite element model. Then, the three-dimensional El Centro recorded wave after amplitude modulation is taken as the excitation wave; the structural response under three kinds of single dimension and four kinds of multidimensional combined excitation and 0∼90° transformation X(longitudinal) + Y(transverse) orthogonal combined excitation is evaluated. The results show that the structure of long-span top-supported arch bridge extends in the longitudinal and vertical dimensions at the same time, and the mode shape density and mass distribution have multidirection and multiangle coupling. With the increase of excitation dimensions, the value and relative ratio of chord axial force increase. The maximum axial force ratio of X + Y to X and Y is 2.1, the maximum axial force ratio of X + Y + Z (longitudinal) to X + Y, X + Z, and Y + Z is 1.4, 1.8, and 1.8; the displacement in X and Y direction under combined excitation is independent and the displacement in Z direction is its coupling term, but the displacement under X + Y + Z combined excitation is only 10% larger than that under X + Z and Y + Z combined excitation. Under the combined excitation of X + Y with a changing angle of 0°∼90°, the axial force variation of the chord at different positions and on the same section of the arch rib has spatial characteristics. The variation range of upper and lower rod axial force varies from 0.63 to 1.35 and from 0.81 to 1.51, respectively, the change trend of displacement in the X and Y directions is relatively consistent, the change of displacement in the Z direction is asynchronous, and the displacement of vault section increases by one time. The seismic response of this bridge type under multidimensional and multiangle excitation shows obvious superposition.

Understanding and controlling the reflection phase picked up by graphene plasmons (GPs) upon scattering at graphene boundaries is a prerequisite for designing the GP propagation and the resonance properties of GPs in nanostructures. However, an efficient method that could continuously change the reflection phase of GPs in a wide range is still lacking. Here, we demonstrate that the reflection phase of GPs can be effectively controlled by electronic boundary design. Specifically, a Fabry–Pérot (F–P) cavity is constructed by two electronic boundaries and then acts as an equivalent reflection boundary. Theoretical results show that the reflection phase of GPs could continuously vary in a wide range, almost 2π, by simply changing the graphene Fermi energy and the width of the F–P cavity. Furthermore, the evolution of GP modes is obtained in the simulated scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy experiment, which verifies the feasibility of the reflection phase control by employing our configuration. This work not only paves a way for in-plane plasmon control but also could serve as a valuable reference to various graphene-based plasmonic applications.

Existing studies have proved that the incorporation of polypropylene fiber can effectively improve the impact resistance of concrete. In this paper, the split Hopkinson pressure bar and digital pulse shaping technology are used to further study the dynamic compression performance and constitutive relationship of concrete in the cold regions under the deteriorating effect of freeze-thaw cycle, and obtain the dynamic increase factor. Studies have shown that polypropylene fiber-reinforced high-strength concrete has a strain rate enhancement effect. The number of freeze-thaw cycle times at low strain rates has an obvious effect on concrete deterioration, and the effect is weaker at higher strain rates. By comparing three typical dynamic strength growth factor models with the test results, after revising the model, the dynamic increase factor equations under different freeze-thaw circulation times were fitted. This research provides a basis for the design of durability and robustness of building structures in cold regions.

STUDY DESIGN: Clinical case series. OBJECTIVE: To describe the cause, treatment and outcome of 6 cases of perioperative spinal cord injury (SCI) in high-risk adult deformity surgery. SETTING: Adult spinal deformity patients were enrolled in the multi-center Scoli-RISK-1 cohort study. METHODS: A total of 272 patients who underwent complex adult deformity surgery were enrolled in the prospective, multi-center Scoli-RISK-1 cohort study. Clinical follow up data were available up to a maximum of 2 years after index surgery. Cases of perioperative SCI were identified and an extensive case review was performed. RESULTS: Six individuals with SCI were identified from the Scoli-RISK-1 database (2.2%). Two cases occurred intraoperatively and four cases occurred postoperatively. The first case was an incomplete SCI due to a direct intraoperative insult and was treated postoperatively with Riluzole. The second SCI case was caused by a compression injury due to overcorrection of the deformity. Three cases of incomplete SCI occurred; one case of postoperative hematoma, one case of proximal junctional kyphosis (PJK) and one case of adjacent segment disc herniation. All cases of post-operative incomplete SCI were managed with revision decompression and resulted in excellent clinical recovery. One case of incomplete SCI resulted from infection and PJK. The patients treatment was complicated by a delay in revision and the patient suffered persistent neurological deficits up to six weeks following the onset of SCI. CONCLUSION: Despite the low incidence in high-risk adult deformity surgeries, perioperative SCI can result in devastating consequences. Thus, appropriate postoperative care, follow up and timely management of SCI are essential.

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is one of the major causative agents for hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in children. Although there are three inactivated virus-based HFMD vaccines licensed in China, alternative approaches have been taken to produce an effective and safer vaccine that is easier to manufacture in large scale. Among these, a virus-like particles (VLPs) based EV71 vaccine is under active development. For this purpose, an efficient methodology for the production of EV71-VLPs by recombinant technology is needed. We here report the construction and expression of the P1 and 3C genes of EV71 in Pichia pastoris for producing VLP-based EV71 vaccine antigen with a high yield and simple manufacturing process. Based on codon-optimized P1 and 3C genes, EV71-VLPs were efficiently expressed in Pichia pastoris system, and the expression level reached 270 mg/L. Biochemical and biophysical analyses showed that the produced EV71-VLPs consisted of processed VP0, VP1, and VP3 present as ~35nm spherical particles. The immune response as a function of EV71-VLPs and adjuvant dose ratio was investigated for vaccine development. Immunization with EV71-VLPs of 1–5 µg/dose and adjuvant of 225 µg/dose induced robust neutralizing antibody responses in mice and provided effective protection against lethal challenge in both maternally transferred antibody and passive transfer protection mouse models. Therefore, the yeast produced EV71-VLPs antigen is a promising candidate for the development of a vaccine against HFMD.

The shortage of freshwater resources is becoming increasingly serious. A thermal power plant coupled with a low-temperature multi-effect distillation seawater desalination (single-stage thermal vapor compressor (TVC)) has been widely used. To reduce the water production cost effectively, a two-stage TVC is proposed in this study. The simulation work for the system performance under single- and two-stage TVC is analyzed. Results show that the performance of the system coupled with the two-stage TVC is superior under most conditions, and an optimal intermediate pressure (16 kPa) of the two-stage TVC is found for minimum coal consumption. When the power plant load is higher than 70% THA, the cogeneration system performs well, and the motive steam of the two-stage TVC comes from extraction point No. 5. Otherwise, the motive steam that comes from extraction point No. 4 is a suitable choice. The maximum coal consumption reduction value is 1.48 t/h. To deal with the low operation load of power plants in China, 60% THA load of power plant is a suitable choice for two-stage TVC of power-water cogeneration system.

Carbon dots (CDs) can be widely used in the field of sensing because of its good water solubility, low toxicity, high fluorescence stability and excellent biocompatibility. It has become a popular trend to prepare high-value, inexpensive, renewable and environmentally friendly CDs sensors from biomass resources. This article reviewed the research progress of biomass-derived CDs as chemical, physical and biological sensors in recent years and studied their preparation processes and sensing abilities. Furthermore, the prospects and challenges of biomass-CDs sensors were discussed. This article is expected to provide inspirations for the design, preparation and application of biomass-CDs sensors in the future.

The Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) involves extremely complex multi-scale multi-physics and multiple thermal cycles issues, making it difficult to accurately predict the resultant mechanical properties of fabricated components from given process parameters. This research, by proposing a cladding stacking model that uses the structural evolution history of the heat-affected zone, predicts the overall structure of fabricated components, and establishes a process–structure–property multi-scale simulation framework based on this model, a general solution for the abovementioned difficulty. Based on the Hot Optimal Transportation Meshfree (HOTM) method, a platform ESCAAS is developed to simulate the meso-scale Ti-6Al-4V powder evolution process. Based on the Cellular Automaton (CA) method, the micro-scale grain structure in the molten pool is simulated. The macro-scale mechanical property of the fabricated component is calculated based on a polycrystalline Representative Volume Element (RVE) model and the homogenization technology. Experiments including LMD multilayer printings, metallographic observations, and static tension are designed to verify the accuracy of the model and simulations. The results are greatly consistent with the experimental data and the relative error of the final mechanical property prediction is within 5.18%. This work provides a basis for the quantitative analysis of the process–structure–property relationship and the optimization of process parameters.

The addition of abundant fillers to obtain conductive and superhydrophobic waterborne polyurethane (WPU) composites generally results in increased interfaces in the composites, leading to reduced adhesion and poor corrosion resistance. Fillers such as Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were first treated by a coupling agent to reduce the contents of the fillers. Thus, in this work, WPU superhydrophobic conductive composites were prepared using electrostatic spraying (EsS). The polar groups (-OH and -COOH, etc.) on the WPU, PTFE, and MWCNTs were reacted with the coupling agent, making the WPU, PTFE, and MWCNTs become crosslinked together. Thus, the uniformity of the coating was improved and its curing interfaces were reduced, causing enhanced corrosion resistance. The dehydration reaction that occurred between the silane coupling agent and the polar surface of Fe formed -NH2 groups, increasing the adhesion of the coating to the steel substrate and then solving the problems of low adhesion, easy delamination, and exfoliation. With the increased content of the modified fillers, the conductivity and hydrophobic property of the composite were amplified, and its corrosion resistance and adhesion were first strengthened and then declined. The composite with the WPU, PTFE, MWCNTs, and KH-550 at a mass ratio of 7:1.5:0.1:0.032 held excellent properties; its volume resistivity and WCA were 1.5 × 104 Ω·cm and 155°, respectively. Compared with the pure WPU coating, its adhesive and anticorrosive properties were both better. This provides a foundation for the fabrication and application of anticorrosive and conductive waterborne composites.

Diffusion tensor imaging measures three-dimensional distribution of water molecule displacement in tissues, and has been widely used to study the structure of the brain. The technique has attracted wide research interests in recent years. Interpolation is often needed in the acquisition and reconstruction of diffusion tensor images to improve spatial resolution and/or facilitate visualization, especially when the images are used for white matter fiber tracking and registration in human brain. In this paper, the existing tensor interpolation methods are reviewed. The theory underlying the interpolation methods is described first. The technical challenges and limitations of the currently-used methods are then reviewed, followed by the introduction to the evaluation indices of the interpolation methods. The performance of typical interpolation methods is then compared with simulated data and real experimental data. The future direction of the development of tensor interpolation method is suggested.

Objective To investigate the application of superb micro-vascular imaging(SMI) technology in accurately targeted biopsy of prostate cancer. Methods One month after 87 patients with clinically suspected prostate cancer received the first systematic 12-points puncture, 48 patients received system 12-points puncture, 39 patients received SMI technology to accurately target abnormal areas replacing local system puncture. According to histo pathological confirmation of the first puncture, the results of two methods in prostate cancer biopsy were compared and analyzed. Results There was no significant difference in prostate volumes between patients with malignant and benign prostate diseases, and the difference in serum PSA levels was statistically significant(t=2.045, P=0.04). In the SMI group, 20 cases were malignant, puncture positive rate was 51.28%, and the total numbers of puncture were 456 needle points; in the control group, 14 cases were malignant, puncture positive rate was 29.17%, and the total numbers of puncture were 576 needle points; there were significant differences in puncture positive rate and the average numbers of puncture point between the two groups (χ2=4.420, P=0.036; t=13.18, P=0.000). There were 79 cases of malignant pathological tissues and the highest Gleason scores were 7.2±0.4 in the SMI group; in the control group, there were 64 cases of malignant pathological tissues, and the highest Gleason scores were 6.5±0.4; there were significant differences between the two groups in the positive rate of single sampling and the highest Gleason score (χ2=8.232, P=0.004; t=5.940, P=0.000). Conclusion SMI technology to guide prostate cancer biopsy could improve the positive rate of draw materials.

The study on the flow behave inside of a ball valve is important for heavy crude oil transportation. Owe to the fast progress of the numerical technique, it becomes an effective way to observe the flows inside a valve and to analyze the flow structure of the oil-water core annular flow. In the present study, the simulation of the oil-water core annular flowing through the valve is conducted by combined the VOF and CSF model, and the effects of open rate on vortex and oil distribution characteristics are analyzed. The simulated data is a satisfactory match with empirical value and the experimental results. The results show that there are lots of vortexes inside and behind the valve, the coordinate values of the vortex decrease and the aggregation rate increases with an increase in open rate. As the input velocity increases, the change rate of the vortex position is greater, and the oil aggregation rate decreases, the highly viscous oil with has greater aggregation rate after flow through the valve, and the variation of the vortex core position is relatively slow. As the vortex flow across the oil core, the oil will be scattered and contributes to the instability of the annular flow.

The emerging Local Maximum-Entropy (LME) approximation, which combines the advantages of global and local approximations, has an unsolved issue wherein it cannot adaptively change the morphology of the basis function according to the local characteristics of the sample, which greatly limits its highly nonlinear approximation ability. In this research, a novel Adaptive Local Maximum-Entropy Surrogate Model (ALMESM) is proposed by constructing an algorithm that adaptively changes the LME basis function and introduces Particle Swarm Optimization to ensure the optimality of the adaptively changed basis function. The performance of the ALMESM is systematically investigated by comparison with the LME approximation, a Radial basis function, and the Kriging model in two explicit highly nonlinear mathematical functions. The results show that the ALMESM has the highest accuracy and stability of all the compared models. The ALMESM is further validated by a highly nonlinear engineering case, consisting of a turbine disk reliability analysis under geometrical uncertainty, and achieves a desirable result. Compared with the direct Monte Carlo method, the relative error of the ALMESM is less than 1%, which indicates that the ALMESM has considerable potential for highly nonlinear problems and structural reliability analysis.

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images contain rich information on brain white matter (WM), and have been used to construct brain templates/atlases. However, the accuracy of brain templates reconstructed with the diffusion tensor model is often limited in regions with complex WM configurations. To overcome this problem, high angular resolution diffusion imaging acquisition and reconstruction have been developed for building higher quality brain template. In this paper, the research progresses on the construction of brain template using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) are reviewed. Firstly, the technical aspects and limitations in using DTI data to build brain templates were discussed. Secondly, diffusion spectrum imaging and high angular resolution diffusion imaging techniques were introduced, with their advantages over the DTI techniques explained. Finally, the existing problems and the perspectives of the field were discussed.

Radar-based high-precision deformation monitoring has drawn more and more attention in the industry, automation, and other fields. For FMCW radar, a high precision measurement method based on the combination of frequency and phase estimation is proposed in this paper. The proposed method measures the distances of multiple targets simultaneously. The measurement accuracy is evaluated by theory and simulation, and the effectiveness of the method is verified by the measured data in the real scene for slope deformation monitoring application.

To analyze the causes of failure of cubic concrete test specimens under quasistatic axial compression, microtests and finite element numerical simulation of C40 cubic concrete test specimens were conducted without the freeze-thaw cycle and with 50 freeze-thaw cycles. Based on the analysis of the microstructure of concrete, the variation law of the full curve of stress and strain was analyzed by the uniaxial compression test and the splitting tensile test of concrete. The results show that freeze-thaw damage is mainly caused by the cyclic reciprocating stress of the micropore structure inside the concrete. The peak stress of concrete uniaxial compression and splitting tensile strength gradually decrease with the number of freeze-thaw cycles; the full stress-strain curve tends to shift downward and to the right. Finite element analysis shows that under the quasistatic uniaxial compression loading condition, the stress and strain fields in the test specimens are symmetrically distributed but nonuniform. The plastic deformation of the concrete weakens the nonuniformity of the stress distribution and is closer to the experimental failure morphology.

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT), a mechanism that shares genetic material between the host and donor from separated offspring branches, has been described as a means of producing novel and beneficial phenotypes for the host organisms. In the present study, 12 HGT genes were identified from California two-spot octopus Octopus bimaculoides based on a similarity search, phylogenetic construction, gene composition analysis and PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) validation. The data collected from the HGT genes from octopus, indicating the phylogenetic incongruences, CodonW analysis, PCR products, detailed motifs and organisms used in screening. In phylogenetic screening, those genes were nested within bacteria homologs and identified as HGT genes transferred from the bacteria to the octopus. The motifs were similar in proteins of the horizontally acquired Zn-metalloproteinases, but differed to endogenous proteins. CodonW was employed to investigate the codon usage bias between HGT genes and other genes in the octopus genome. In PCR validation, all the HGT genes could be produced as amplified fragments. The results collectively indicated the existence of HGT in molluscs and its potential l contribution to the evolution of octopus with regards to functional innovation and adaptability.

Background and objective As computed tomography (CT) screening for lung cancer becomes more common in China, so too does detection of pulmonary ground-glass nodules (GGNs). Although anumber of national or international guidelines about pulmonary GGNs have been published,most of these guidelines are produced by respiratory, oncology or radiology physicians, who might not fully understand the progress of modern minimal invasive thoracic surgery, and these current guidelines may overlook or underestimate the value of thoracic surgery in the management of pulmonary GGNs. In addition, the management for pre-invasive adenocarcinoma is still controversial. Based onthe available literature and experience from Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, we composed this consensus about diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary GGNs. For lesions which are considered as adenocarcinoma in situ, chest thin layer CT scan follow-up is recommended and resection can only be adopt in some specific cases and excision should not exceed single segment resection. For lesions which are considered as minimal invasive adenocarcinoma, limited pulmonary resection or lobectomy is recommended. For lesions which are considered as early stage invasive adenocarcinoma, pulmonary resection is recommend and optimal surgical methods depend on whether ground glass component exist, location, volume and number of the lesions and physical status of patients. Principle of management of multiple pulmonary nodules is that primary lesions should be handled with priority, with secondary lesions taking into account.