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The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has a significant global social and economic impact, and the emergence of new and more destructive mutant strains highlights the need for accurate virus detection. Here, 90 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) that exclusively reacted with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleocapsid protein (NP) were generated. These MAbs did not cross-react with NPs of common human coronaviruses (HCoVs, i.e., 229E, OC43, HKU1, and NL63) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus. Subsequently, overlapped peptides in individual fragments (N1-N4) of NP were synthesized. N1-3 (25-GSNQNGERSGARSKQ-39), N3-1 (217-AALALLLLDRLNQL-230), and N4-8 (393-TLLPAADLDDFSKQL-407) were identified as major epitopes using enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) and recognized by 47, 1, and 18 MAbs, respectively. The 24 remaining MAbs exhibited no reactivity with all synthetic peptides. Among MAb-epitope pairs, only MAbs targeting epitope N1-3 displayed no cross-reaction with NPs of SARS-CoV-1 and other SARS-related CoVs. All Omicron variants contained a three-amino acid deletion (31ERS33) in the N1-3 region. Thus, MAbs targeting N1-3 failed to recognize these variants. Furthermore, a double-antibody sandwich ELISA for antigen detection was established using the optimal MAbs. Overall, a series of MAbs targeting SARS-CoV-2 NP was prepared, characterized with epitope mapping, and applied for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigens, and some novel B-cell epitopes of the viral NP were identified.

In vitro fertilization and embryo transfer is one type of assisted reproductive technology, although the technology is now more mature. Many factors, however, will have an impact on oocyte fertilization, embryo growth, pregnancy outcome, and child safety due to the journey from clinical to the laboratory. The influence of degranulated cells early in fertilization on frozen embryo transfer (FET) results is investigated in this study. This article analyzes 255 patients who underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) and FET transplantation at the author’s central unit from January 1, 2015, to June 30, 2021. Among them, IVF-assisted conception is the early degranulation of homologous oocyte fertilization. Correlation analysis is performed by observing the embryonic outcome of the early degranulation group and the overnight fertilization group and the clinical outcome after FET. Through data mining analysis, the results show that the polyfertilization rate and 0PN rate for the early degranulation group are significantly higher than the overnight fertilization group (9.87% vs. 8.24% and 3.14% vs. 1.69%). In terms of normal fertilization rate, there is no significant difference between D3 high-quality embryo rate and D5 high-quality blastocyst rate (64.07% vs. 65.15%, 27.5% vs. 26.5%, and 15.97% vs. 17.35%). There is no significant difference in the complete recovery rate of embryos after thawing (93.24% vs. 93.46%), and the implantation rate, clinical pregnancy rate, abortion rate, and live birth rate are not significantly different between the two groups after FET. The offspring outcomes of singletons do not differ significantly between the two groups; however, twins born early degranulate have much greater rates of ultralow birth weight and ultrapreterm children than twins born overnight fertilization (14.29% vs. 0). Therefore, it can be concluded that degranulation of cells early in fertilization is a desirable method to prevent fertilization disorders. However, under the premise of ensuring that no fertilization disorder occurs, it is not appropriate to degranulate all the oocytes of the patient at the early stage of fertilization.

Objectives: As a rare but serious disease with high mortality, the features and risk factors of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) in underlying autoimmune related diseases (AIRDs) are not well characterized.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records of TTP patients with AIRDs who were hospitalized in Tongji Hospital from January 2017 to August 2021. 120 AIRDs patients with severe thrombocytopenia were included as controls. Statistical analysis involved Student's t test, Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-squared test, Fisher's exact test, and univariate logistic regression.Results: The prevalence of TTP in AIRD patients was 1.541‰, with a high mortality of 32.26% in this study. Lower platelet count, higher LDH level, higher cTnI level, more frequent proteinuria and coma on admission were observed in non-survivors when compared with survivors. History of thrombocytopenia, antiphospholipid antibody (aPL) positivity, neurologic symptoms, anti-SSB positivity, proteinuria and hematuria were associated with TTP in AIRD patients who had severe thrombocytopenia. Levels of IBIL, LDH, Hb, cTnI, and D-Dimer had good capabilities to discriminate TTP from severe thrombocytopenia in patients with AIRD.Conclusion: AIRD-TTP is a rare emergency with a high mortality rate of 32.26%. Organ damages, severities of thrombocytopenia and hemolysis on admission were associated with the outcome of AIRD-TTP patients. Levels of IBIL, LDH, Hb, cTnI, and D-Dimer may provide important information for the diagnosis of AIRD-TTP.

In the present study, in order to improve the properties of nanostarch-based nanocomposite film for food packaging, a type of nanocomposite film based on corn nanostarch (CNS) as the matrix and modified cellulose nanocrystals (modified-CNCs) as the reinforcement was prepared using a solution casting method. The cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were modified by a two-step method in which they were initially crosslinked with citric acid, and subsequently amidated with chitosan. Then, a type of CNS/modified-CNCs nanocomposite film with different content levels of modified-CNC were prepared and characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR); X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS); X-Ray Diffraction (XRD); Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC); and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). It was observed that when compared with the pure CNS film, the 8.0 wt% modified-CNCs loaded nanostarch-based nanocomposite film had displayed a 230.0% increase in tensile strength. And the moisture absorption ability had decreased by 25.6%; water vapor permeability had decreased by 87.4%; and the water contact angle value had increased by 18.1%. Also the results of this experimental study had revealed that the CNS/modified-CNCs nanocomposite film had displayed better antimicrobial activities against E. coli and S. aureus bacteria when compared with the pure CNS film.

Nanostarch has attracted much research interest recently due to its biodegradability and biocompatibility. A type of biocomposite film based on corn nanostarch (CNS) as the matrix and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) as the reinforcement was prepared using a solution casting method. The influences of corn nanostarch concentration (CCNS), glycerin dosage (Dg), and cellulose nanocrystals dosage (DCNC) on the tensile strength of the biocomposite film were investigated by central composite design. The results were examined by an analysis of variance (ANOVA) and response surface methodology (RSM). The optimized process conditions as follows: CCNS of 11.25%, Dg of 12.00%, and DCNC of 5.00%. The CNS/CNC biocomposite film produced under these conditions showed a high tensile strength of 12.90 MPa. The CNS/CNC biocomposite film was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), water contact angle, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The CNS/CNC biocomposite film has potential application prospects in the field of food and biomedical packaging.

The rare earth doped NiZnCo ferrites were prepared by the sol-gel auto-combustion method. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet visible spectrophotometer and vibrating sample magnetometer were used to characterize the microstructure, optical and magnetic properties of rare earth doped NiZnCo ferrite. The results show that with the increase of rare earth doping amount, the lattice parameters of NiZnCo ferrite increase firstly and then decrease, the grain size decreases monotonously. And the second phase appears when the La and Gd doping amount is 0.06 and 0.1, respectively. The morphology of rare earth doped ferrites is relatively homogeneous sphere. The cations are redistributed in the crystal lattice. When the amount of dopant is small, the rare earth ions occupy both A-site and B-site. Increasing dopants, the rare earth ions occupy the B-sites. The critical content is 0.02 for La dopant, while it is 0.06 for Gd. La doping results in broadening of the band gap; Doping Gd results in narrowing of the band gap. The saturation magnetization decreased linearly from 108 emu/g to 43 emu/g and 85 emu/g, respectively, with the increase of Gd and La doping. The faster downtrend for Gd doped ferrites is due to its greater solubility.

The emergence of Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) has greatly increased the efficiency of the transportation industry, which put forward the urgent requirement for the accuracy and ease of use of 2D planar motion robot positioning. Multi-sensor fusion positioning has gradually become an important technical route to improve overall efficiency when dealing with AGV positioning. As a sensor directly acquiring depth, the RGB-D camera has received extensive attention in indoor positioning in recent years, while wheel odometry is the sensor that comes with most two-dimensional planar motion robots, and its parameters will not change over time. Both the RGB-D camera and the wheel odometry are commonly used sensors for indoor robot positioning, but the existing research on the fusion of RGB-D and wheel odometry is limited based on classic filtering algorithms, few fusion solutions based on optimization algorithm of them are available at present. To ensure the practicability and greatly improve the accuracy of RGB-D and odometry fusion positioning scheme, this paper proposed a tightly-coupled positioning scheme of online calibrated RGB-D camera and wheel odometry based on SE(2) plane constraints. Experiments have proved that the angle accuracy of the extrinsic parameter in the calibration part is less than 0.5 degrees, and the displacement of the extrinsic parameter reaches the millimeter level. The field-test positioning accuracy of the positioning system we proposed having reached centimeter-level on the dataset without pre-calibration, which is better than ORB-SLAM2 relying solely on RGB-D cameras. The experimental results verify the excellent performance of the frame in positioning accuracy and ease of use and prove that it can be a potential promising technical solution in the field of two-dimensional AGV positioning.

ObjectiveThe clinical features of rheumatic patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have not been reported. This study aimed to describe the clinical features of COVID-19 in rheumatic patients and provide information for handling this situation in clinical practice.MethodsThis is a retrospective case series study. Deidentified data, including gender, age, laboratory and radiological results, symptoms, signs, and medication history, were collected from 2326 patients diagnosed with COVID-19, including 21 cases in combination with rheumatic disease, in Tongji Hospital between 13 January and 15 March 2020.ResultsLength of hospital stay and mortality rate were similar between rheumatic and non-rheumatic groups, while the presence of respiratory failure was more common in rheumatic cases (38% vs 10%, pConclusionsRespiratory failure was more common in rheumatic patients infected with COVID-19. Differential diagnosis between COVID-19 and a flare of rheumatic disease should be considered.Trial registration numberChiCTR2000030795.

Starch microcrystals have the advantages of native starch grains but with higher specific surface area and numerous active sites. In this study, tapioca starch microcrystals were made by sulfuric acid hydrolysis and then chemically modified with succinic anhydride in an aqueous alkaline medium. The succinylated starch microcrystals were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The adsorption properties of the succinylated starch microcrystals in aqueous solutions were studied at different time periods (1 to 60 min), pH (2 to 7), and metals concentration (100 to 2000 mg/L) for different divalent metal ions such as Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), and Pb(II). The results showed that the starch microcrystals were successfully succinylated, and their adsorption equilibrium for divalent metal ions was reached within 1 min. The adsorption capacity in high metal concentration was 147.7 mg/g for Cu(II), 143.2 mg/g for Zn(II), 216.4 mg/g for Cd(II), and 216.0 mg/g for Pb(II)). The metal-adsorption of succinylated starch microcrystals followed the Freundlich isotherm.

The NixZnyMn1-x-yFe2O4 ferrite ceramics were prepared by the sol–gel auto-combustion method. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer and vector network analyzer were used to characterize the microstructure and magnetic properties of the samples. The results show that only cubic spinel structure was detected by XRD in all sintered samples except the sample Zn0.4Mn0.6Fe2O4. The lattice parameter decreases monotonously with Ni content and simply increases with Mn content, which is stemmed from the change of ionic radii. The saturation magnetism increases when Ni content x is less than 0.4. The initial permeability has the largest value at x = 0.2, which fits in with the mechanism of domain wall motion. The Curie temperature increases with the increase of x due to the enhanced A-B interaction. The highest Tc is 505℃ for Ni0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4 ferrite. The effect of adding Mn elements on the magnetic properties depends on the content of Zn. When y is 0.2, the magnetic parameters (Ms and μi) increase with Mn content. However, when y is 0.4, they decrease because of redistribution of cations and the increase of α-Fe2O3. In addition, all samples with Ni elements show strong electromagnetic wave absorption capability in 2–13 GHz range, the minimum RF is −25.36 dB at 4.74 GHz for the Ni0.6Zn0.2Mn0.2Fe2O4 samples.

The emergency SARS-CoV-2, a member of severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronaviruses (SARSr-CoV), is still greatly harming the health of mankind. SARS-CoV-2-specific monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), which can identify SARS-CoV-2 from common human coronaviruses, are considered to extensively apply to developing rapid and reliable antigen assays. In this study we generated a rabbit MAb (RAb) detecting SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (NP), which has cross-reaction with SARS-CoV-1 NP, but not with NPs of MERS and common human CoVs (OC43, NL63, 229E, and HKU1). With truncated NP fragments and synthesized peptides, the linear epitope detected by RAb was mapped in peptide N4-8, 393–407 amino acid residue (TLLPAADLDDFSKQL) of SARS-CoV-2 NP. This epitope N4-8 was highly conserved in SARSr-CoVs, including SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, and bat CoV RaTG13 strain. However, the corresponding peptide of bat SARSr-CoV BtKY72 strain could not be recognized by RAb, which indicates amino acid D399 may be critical for N4-8 epitope detected by RAb. The present study will be conducive to developing reliable diagnosis for SARS-CoV-2 and gaining insights into the function of the SARS-CoV-2 N protein.

This work investigates the high frequency characteristics of [FeCoB/ZnO]50 multilayers with different ZnO thickness. The results reveal that the Acher’s limit of [FeCoB/ZnO]50 multilayers can be modulated by medium thickness. Increasing medium layer thickness is favorable for breaking through the Acher’s limit. It is found that the differences of Acher’s limit between multilayers and single layers are caused by magnetic interface anisotropy related to interface roughness and some unknown factor.

A phenomenological study reveals Chinese mothers’ perception and interpretation of smartphone (tablet) in their everyday communications and interactions with their young children. In total, 23 in-depth interviews were used to collect data. Data of the current study indicated that Chinese mothers’ perception of smartphone (tablet) in their everyday lives’ communication and interaction with young children is both grounded and reflective of their parenting philosophy and family communication style. Data of the current study indicated that today’s Chinese mothers have a mixed feeling toward the role of smartphone and tablet plays in their parenting practices. According to those participants, the smartphone and tablet both help and hurt their communications and interactions with their children. There are both direct and indirect benefits of using smartphone for parenting. Similarly, the smartphone (tablet) also hurts Chinese mothers’ communications and interactions with their children directly and indirectly.

The larger $(\mu _{\mathrm {s}} - 1)f_{\mathrm {r}}^{2}$ in the [Fe 45Co 45 B 10/ZnO] n multilayers than that in single-layer films was found. Large Acher’s limit resulted from the interface magnetic anisotropy of Fe 45Co 45 B 10/ZnO, and the effect of interface magnetic anisotropy increases with increasing the number (n) of magnetic layers. With increasing n, μ s decreases, H k increases, and f r of the multilayer increases from 2.7 to 6 GHz, which greatly broadens the working frequency range. The damping coefficient also increases with increasing n, so the magnetic loss increases with n, and it is introduced by the dispersion of the spins at the interface.

Microplastics (MPs) are becoming one class of pollutants with high global concerns. Information regarding aging behaviors of MPs in complicated natural conditions is still lacking due to the very slow aging processes. In this study, discharge plasma oxidation was applied to simulate the various radical oxidation and physical effects naturally occurring in the environment to shed light on the aging behaviors and mechanisms of MPs, with polyvinyl chloride microplastic (PVC-MP) as a model. The surface morphology, particle size, specific surface area, crystallinity, and chemical compositions of PVC-MP were comprehensively characterized as a result of aging. The aging degree indicated by carbonyl index and oxygen-to-carbon ratio increased with the plasma oxidation intensity and duration. The aged PVC-MP was characterized as more O-containing functional groups, smaller particle size, larger specific surface area, higher hydrophilicity, and higher crystallinity. Consequently, the aged PVC-MP provided more sites for adsorption of tetrabromobisphenol (TBBPA) in solutions by forming hydrogen-bonds, and electrostatic force. The changes in the properties of the aged PVC-MP, and the strong adsorption with TBBPA led to unexpected synergistic toxic effects to Scenedesmus obliquus. The results provide direct evidences of aging processes of MPs and the potential environmental risks due to aging in the environment.

Heavy metals and natural organic matters (NOM) form very stable heavy metal-NOM complexes in aqueous, facilitating the migration of heavy metals and enhancing their potential risks. In this study, non-thermal plasma oxidation was attempted to destroy the heavy metal-NOM complexes, with Cu-humate (Cu-HA) as a model. The decomplexation efficiency reached 86.1 % within 50 min of plasma oxidation at 16 kV. The generated reactive species by the non-thermal plasma, including O2 −, 1O2, OH, attacked the carboxyl and hydroxyl functional groups of HA, leading to cleavage of the Cu-O bonds, decomplexation of Cu-HA, and release of free Cu(II). Meanwhile, a variety of small molecular intermediates, including phenols, benzoic acids, esters, amines, ketones, acetic acid, formic acid, and oxalic acid, were generated due to attack by the oxidative species on the aromatic moiety and double bonds in Cu-HA. As a consequence of decomplexation, the residual toxicity of Cu-HA to Scenedesmus obliquus was distinctly reduced. This study provides a potential technique to decomplex heavy metal-NOM complexes, and reduces their toxicity to typical Scenedesmus obliquus.

DNA-binding proteins play essential roles in many molecular functions and gene regulation. Therefore, it becomes highly desirable to develop effective computational techniques for detecting DNA-binding proteins. In this paper, we proposed a new method, iDBP-DEP, which performs DNA-binding prediction by using the discriminative feature derived from multi-view feature sources including evolutionary profile, dipeptide composition, and physicochemical properties with feature selection. We evaluated iDBP-DEP on two benchmark datasets, i. e., PDB1075 and PDB594 by rigorous Jackknife test. Compared with the state-of-the-art sequence-based DNA-binding predictors, the proposed iDBP-DEP achieved 1.8 % and 3.0 % improvements of accuracy (Acc) and Mathew's Correlation Coefficient (MCC), respectively, on PDB1075 dataset; 7.4 % and 14.8 % improvements of Acc and MCC, respectively, on PDB594. The independent validation test with PDB186 show that the proposed method achieved the best performances on Acc (80.1 %) and MCC (0.684), which further demonstrated the robustness of iDBP-DEP for the detection of DNA-binding proteins. Datasets and codes used in this study are freely available at https://githup.com/Zll-codeside/iDBP-DEP.

Excellent soft magnetic properties in a wide x range with coercivity not exceeding 5.0 Oe were obtained successfully in the (Ni75Fe25) x (ZnO)1−x granular films which were fabricated by the magnetic alloy Ni75Fe25 and semiconductor ZnO. For the typical sample with x = 0.74, coercivities in hard and easy axes are 1.1 and 1.7 Oe, respectively, and the electric resistivity ρ reaches 425 μΩ cm. The dependence of complex permeability u = u ′−j u ″ on frequency f shows that the real part u ′ is more than 200 below 1.0 GHz and the ferromagnetic resonance frequency f r reaches 1.32 GHz, implying the promising for high-frequency application.

Nanostarch has a small particle size and large surface area compared with traditional modified starch. In this study, nanostarch was prepared by dual screw extrusion and was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The nanostarch was studied as a coating adhesive in surface coating of lightweight coated paper. The crystallinity of nanostarch granules was decreased by dual screw extrusion, and its average particle size was about 100 nm. The results showed that for the paper coating formula of styrene butadiene latex and an ordinary oxidized coating starch ratio of 9:5, all ordinary oxidized coating starch and part of the styrene butadiene latex can be replaced by nanostarch. When 5 parts of ordinary oxidized coating starch and 4 parts of styrene butadiene latex were replaced by 6.5 parts nanostarch, the water retention property of nanostarch coating was increased by 64.0%, and its viscosity was decreased by 11.0%. The IGT printing surface strength of lightweight coated paper by the nanostarch coating was increased by 11.6%, and the glossiness of coated paper was increased by 7.2%. These results show that nanostarch surface coatings have good prospects for application in papermaking.

The inhibitory effect of Buyang Huanwu decoction (BYHWD) on ischemic injury has been proven, but it is not clear how amino acid levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are associated with BYHWD treatment, nor the mechanism by which BYHWD protects the brain from ischemia/reperfusion injury. We investigated the effect of BYHWD on the amino acid content of CSF in rats during ischemia-reperfusion injury. Ischemia was imposed by right middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). CSF was continuously collected from the striatum via brain microdialysis before and after ischemia/reperfusion. We used on-line derivatization combined with high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FD) to determine levels of glutamate (Glu), aspartate (Asp), glycine (Gly), taurine (Tau), and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in CSF. The MCAO model displayed an infarct lesion in the ipsilateral hemisphere and nerve injuries, as the left upper limb was unable to extend and turn leftward. Significant increases in excitatory and inhibitory amino acids were observed in the CSF of the ischemic rats relative to the sham-operated group (P

In this study, the authors develop a hybrid Laplace transform finite analytic method (LTFAM) to solve the advection-dispersion equations with large Peclet and Courant numbers. The finite analytic method with a hybrid Laplace transform can incorporate the temporal variable into the numerical scheme and effectively control the numerical dispersion and oscillation at solute sharp fronts. Since the conventional numerical methods use a large amount of time steps to iterate to the specified time, they may lead to an accumulation of computation errors from each iteration step. Instead of using many fine time steps to satisfy the condition of Courant numbers less than 1 for the conventional numerical methods, the LTFAM algorithm uses a one-step approach to compute the solute concentrations at any specified time with stable numerical solutions. The derived LTFAM algorithm is verified with two numerical simulation examples against the analytical solutions. The numerical results of the LTFAM match the analytical solutions very well, especially for solute transport in the advection-dominated cases. The developed algorithm in this paper can save a large amount of simulating time and improve the computational accuracy. Furthermore, because the solutions of the LTFAM for a set of specified times can be obtained separately in the Laplace space, independence of each time step implies that the LTFAM is well-suited for executing on high performance parallel computers. This algorithm facilitates the long-term predictions of contaminant transport in the kilometer-scale field sites.

Shallow fresh groundwater is not common in the middle of basins in arid and semiarid areas with strong evaporation where shallow groundwater is often brackish water or saline water. In this study, the shallow fresh groundwater in the north area of Yanchi county, China was investigated for the main influencing factors and mechanisms of its formation. The results showed that freshwater of HCO3 and SO4 types with mean salinity of 0.78 g/L formed in the north of the study area while brackish and saline water of SO4·Cl–Na type with mean salinity of 2.28 g/L formed in the west and south of the study area. The fresh groundwater formed owing to the special physico-chemical properties of the aeolian sand which has the good permeation of atmospheric precipitation, the weak evaporation of the groundwater, the low salt contents in the vadose zone and aquifer medium, the weak water–rock interaction and the good hydrodynamic condition. The lateral recharge of low salinity groundwater also played a mixing and diluting role in the formation of the fresh groundwater. The findings should provide a scientific basis for the exploitation and utilization of local groundwater resources and be of significance in the exploration and exploitation of fresh groundwater in arid and semiarid regions.

Objectives To investigate the effect of the Xiongbing compound (XBC) on the pharmacokinetics and brain targeting of tetramethylpyrazine (TMP). Methods Three microemulsions containing the same TMP concentration were prepared. XBC microemulsions were made from Rhizoma ligustric Chuanxiong extracts, borneol and TMP. TMP microemulsions were made with TMP only. Borneol microemulsions contained borneol and TMP. Microdialysis with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to measure the concentration of TMP in the blood and striatum after intravenous (i.v.) or intragastric (i.g.) administration of the three different microemulsions. Key findings The pharmacokinetics of free TMP concentration in the blood and the striatum fit a first-order rate, open two-compartment model after intravenous and intragastric microemulsion administration. The maximal concentration (Cmax) and area under curve (AUC) values in the XBC microemulsion i.v. group were significantly higher than that in the TMP microemulsion and borneol microemulsion i.v. groups. After XBC microemulsion i.g. administration, the t1/2, mean residence time (MRT) and AUC of TMP in both plasma and brain tissues were greater than those with TMP microemulsion and borneol microemulsion administration. The relative brain targeting efficiency of TMP for the XBC microemulsion i.v and i.g. groups relative to the TMP microemulsion and borneol microemulsion groups were greater than 1. Conclusion XBC microemulsion can enhance TMP oral bioavailability, brain targeting and tissue distribution, mainly through a synergistic action of Rhizoma ligustric Chuanxiong extracts and borneol.

In this study, the influence of chlorinated polyethylene (CPE) and acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene copolymer (ABS) on the mechanical properties of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC)/CPE and PVC/ABS hybrids were examined. The experimental results show that the toughness of the hybrids could be modified greatly by the introduction of CPE or ABS. The microstructure and impact surfaces of the blends were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. ABS dispersed in the form of particles or agglomerates in the PVC matrix, and CPE tended to disperse as a net structure. In the tensile test, ABS initiated crazes as stress concentrators to toughen the PVC matrix, whereas CPE, with the PVC matrix together, caused a yield deformation by shear stress to form a shear band. The formation of crazes and shear bands benefited the toughening of PVC, but to the different extent. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 916–924, 2003

The effects of styrene-co-acrylonitrile resin (AS) on the mechanical properties, morphology, and plasticizing and rheological behaviors of poly(vinyl chloride)/chlorinated polyethylene(PVC/CPE) blends are studied. The results show that the impact strength and the tensile strength are all increased and the plasticizing and rheological behaviors are also improved when a certain amount of AS is added into PVC/CPE blends, which are different in characteristics and regularity from plastics toughened with elastomers. It is blends of brittle—ductile transition regions (i.e., PVC/CPE = 100/10, 100/15) that can obviously be toughened by AS. The analysis of the morphological structure shows that AS promotes the formation of a CPE network that embeds the primary particles of PVC. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 66: 1455–1460, 1997

Objective To evaluate the effect and safety of trigonal injection of botulinum toxin A (BTX-A) for patients with neurological detrusor overactivity (NDO) with incontinence. Methods A prospective, multicenter, single-blind and randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted between June 2011 and June 2014. Spinal cord injury patients with urinary incontinence secondary to NDO were recruited. At a 1:1 ratio, patients randomly received 200 U BTX-A intradetrusor injections excluding the trigone (control group) or 160 U intradetrusor and 40 U intratrigonal injections (experimental group). Patients were evaluated at baseline, and 4, 12 weeks after injection. The efficacy and safety outcomes included I-QoL, voiding volume, urinary incontinence episodes, complete dryness, maximum detrusor pressure (Pdetmax), volume at first involuntary detrusor contraction (VFIDC). Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) and other adverse events were recorded. Results Ninety-six patients were recruited and 91 of them completed the trial. Among the 91 patients, 47 were randomized to experimental group and 44 to the control group. There were no significant differences in baseline evaluation items (gender, age, duration of spinal cord injury, level of neurological injury, AIS scores) between the two groups. At 12 weeks, the improvement was significantly better in the experimental group than in the control group for I-QoL (26.01 vs. 18.75, P=0.01), mean urinary incontinence episodes (−5.22/d vs. −4.68/d, P=0.01), complete dryness (13 vs. 5, P=0.03), mean voiding volume (159.72 vs. 139.07 mL, P=0.02), Pdetmax (−33.34 vs. −28.02 cmH2O, P=0.04), and VFIDC (106.81 vs. 97.86 mL, P=0.02), duration of first detrusor contraction (−41.54 vs. −18.65 s, P=0.03) and the number of patients with detrusor contraction (−20 vs. −9, P=0.02). In both of two groups, no patients developed VUR. Conclusions BTX-A intradetrusor and intratrigonal injections are more effective than those excluding the trigone for patients with NDO with incontinence. Intratrigonal injections do not induce VUR.

Objective:To assess feasibility of plasma protein-binding percentage by using microdialysis method. Method: Sinomenine hydrochloride was selected as model drug. The in vitro rat plasma protein-binding percentage of three kinds of concentration was determinated by using microdialysis sampling tool and HPLC-UV. At the same time the classical study method, such as ultrafiltration metod, was also used to determinate the protein-binding percentage to compare the difference between the two methods. Result: The in vitro rat plasma protein-binding percentage of sinomenine hydrochloride using microdialysis method was about 26% and kept relative stable at the concentration range. There was no significant difference between the two methods. Conclusion: The results shows that the binding percentage is relative low. Microdialysis method is a new method for the study of protein-binding degree.

We investigate interference effects of the backscattering current through a double-barrier structure in an interacting quantum wire attached to noninteracting leads. Depending on the interaction strength and the location of the barriers, the backscattering current exhibits different oscillation and scaling characteristics with the applied voltage in the strong and weak interaction cases. However, in both cases, the oscillation behaviors of the backscattering current are mainly determined by the quantum mechanical interference due to the existence of the double barriers., 6 pages, 3 figs

To study the drug releasing properties of Cyclovirobuxine D matrix-type patch.To prepare Cyclovirobuxine D single-layered and double-layered patch was prepared and the study the drug releasing properties by in vitro releasing and in vitro skin permeation experiments was studied.The coefficient of first-order dynamical equation was good for single-layered patch, which means the releasing rate decreased with the amounts of drug decreasing. Nevertheless, Higuchi equation was good for double-layered patch, which means it belonged framing-type releasing system. In-vitro skin permeation experiment showed that zero-order dynamical equation was good for these two patches which indicated all of them abided by Ficks diffusion law.The structure of patch can change the drug releasing properties, the double-layered patch can obtain steady releasing and permeating rate because of storage layer releasing.