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Glycidyl azide polymer energetic thermoplastic elastomer (GAP-ETPE) has become a research hotspot due to its excellent comprehensive performance. In this paper, metastable intermolecular energetic nanocomposites (MICs) were prepared by a simple and safe method, and the catalytic performance for decomposition of GAP-ETPE was studied. An X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the MICs exhibited specific crystal formation, which proved that the MICs were successfully prepared. Morphology, surface area, and pore structure analysis showed that the Al/copper ferrite and Al/Fe2O3 MICs had a large specific surface area mesoporous structure. The Al/CuO MICs did not have a mesoporous structure or a large surface area. The structure of MICs led to their different performance for the GAP-ETPE decomposition catalysis. The increase in specific surface area is a benefit of the catalytic performance. Due to the easier formation of complexes, MICs containing Cu have better catalytic performance for GAP-ETPE decomposition than those containing Fe. The conclusions of this study can provide a basis for the adjustment of the catalytic performance of MICs in GAP-ETPE propellants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation The metabolome and microbiome disorders are highly associated with human health, and there are great demands for dual-omics interaction analysis. Here, we designed and developed an integrative platform, 3MCor, for metabolome and microbiome correlation analysis under the instruction of phenotype and with the consideration of confounders. Results Many traditional and novel correlation analysis methods were integrated for intra- and inter-correlation analysis. Three inter-correlation pipelines are provided for global, hierarchical and pairwise analysis. The incorporated network analysis function is conducive to rapid identification of network clusters and key nodes from a complicated correlation network. Complete numerical results (csv files) and rich figures (pdf files) will be generated in minutes. To our knowledge, 3MCor is the first platform developed specifically for the correlation analysis of metabolome and microbiome. Its functions were compared with corresponding modules of existing omics data analysis platforms. A real-world dataset was used to demonstrate its simple and flexible operation, comprehensive outputs and distinctive contribution to dual-omics studies. Availabilityand implementation 3MCor is available at http://3mcor.cn and the backend R script is available at https://github.com/chentianlu/3MCorServer. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: The onset and progression of chronic liver disease (CLD) is a multistage process spanning years or several decades. Some bile acid (BA) features are identified as indicators for CLD progression. However, BAs are highly influenced by various factors and are stage and/or population specific. Emerging evidences demonstrated the association of structure of conjugated BAs and CLD progression. Here, we aimed to investigate the alteration of conjugated BAs and identify new features for CLD progression. Methods: Based on liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry platform, 15 BAs were quantified in 1883 participants including healthy controls and CLD patients (non‐alcoholic fatty liver [NAFL], non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis [NASH], fibrosis, cirrhosis, and three types of liver cancer). Logistic regression was used to construct diagnostic models. Model performances were evaluated in discovery and test sets by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and kappa index. Results: Five BA glycine : taurine ratios were calculated, and glycocholic acid/taurocholic acid, glycodeoxycholic acid/taurodeoxycholic acid, and glycochenodeoxycholic acid/taurochenocholic acid were identified as candidates. Three diagnostic models were constructed for the differentiation of healthy control and early CLD (NAFL + NASH), early and advanced CLD (fibrosis + cirrhosis + liver cancer), and NAFL and NASH, respectively. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the models ranged from 0.91 to 0.97. The addition of age and gender improved model performances further. The alterations of the candidates and the performances of the diagnostic models were successfully validated by independent test sets (n = 291). Conclusions: Our findings revealed stage‐specific BA perturbation patterns and provided new biomarkers and tools for the monitoring of liver disease progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the most common chronic liver disease, along with the prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome. Non-alcoholic fatty liver will progress to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), NASH-related liver fibrosis and liver cirrhosis, and even hepatocellular carcinoma. Accurate assessment and early intervention are conducive to clinical burden reduction and disease control. Although being the "golden standard" for diagnosing NAFLD, the clinical application of liver biopsy is limited due to well-known limitations and significant complications. Serological testing, as a noninvasive method, has been well-recognized among researchers and clinicians. The understanding of the pros and cons and the application ranges of various methods and indexes is helpful for clinical applications, including providing more diagnosis approaches, improving diagnosis power, relieving pain of patients, and saving medical resources. This article reviews the advances in serological noninvasive diagnostic methods for NAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composite solid propellants demand fine and stable mechanical properties, creep resistance and stress relaxation performance during their long storage and usage time. In this study, modified hyperbranched polyester (MHBPE) was prepared and introduced into HTPE/AP/Al/RDX (HTPE, hydroxyl‐terminated polyether; AP, ammonium perchlorate; RDX, cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine) solid propellant as an effective additive. The static tensile and dynamic mechanical properties of this propellant before and after the introduction of MHBPE were evaluated. The elevated interfacial interaction by using MHBPE between the binder and RDX fillers improved the toughness and elasticity of the propellant. The enhancement mechanisms were also confirmed by the influence on the fracture surface morphology of the binder which was investigated by SEM. In addition, some influence on the dynamic mechanical properties of HTPE/AP/Al/RDX propellant caused by MHBPE was investigated by dynamic mechanical analysis. The creep behaviors of the HTPE/AP/Al/RDX propellants with and without MHBPE were also investigated at different stresses and temperatures. Reduced creep strain rate and strain were obtained for the modified propellant, implying enhanced creep resistance performance. The creep properties were quantitatively evaluated using a six‐element model and the long‐term creep performance of the propellant was predicted using the time–temperature superposition principle. A creep behavior of nearly 106 s at 30 °C could be acquired in a short‐term experiment (800 s) at 30–70 °C. Moreover, the stress relaxation investigation of the propellants with and without MHBPE at −40 °C, 20 °C and 70 °C suggested that MHBPE/HTPE/AP/Al/RDX propellant possessed better response ability to deformation. Thus, the application of MHBPE provides an efficient route of reinforcement to enhance the creep resistance and stress relaxation properties. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effects of nitrocellulose (NC) content on the creep properties of glycidyl azide polyol energetic thermoplastic elastomer (GAP-ETPE)-based propellant, creep behaviour was studied by rotary rheometer under various shear stress and temperatures. Experimental results showed that creep strain and creep rate of samples increase with the increasing shear stress level, and similar creep behaviour tendency was observed under elevated temperature. When filled with 1 and 2 wt% NC, the creep strain and creep rate of GAP-ETPE/NC-based propellant were significantly less than the unfilled state, indicating that the NC contents partly inhibited the mobility of the binder segment and improved the creep resistance of GAP-ETPE-based propellant. Moreover, the constitutive equations of the creep curves were obtained from the four-element mechanical model, and the fitting results coincided well with the experimental data. Among the fitting parameters, the elastic modulus of high elastic deformation, E2, and the viscosity of Voigt units, η2, were sensitive and promising for the evaluation of creep strain of the GAP-ETPE-based propellant. Finally, the creep resistance model was established and verified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, glass temperature and physical crossing point density of GAP-ETPE/NC-based propellant. Upon analysis of the experimental data, we concluded that the creep resistance mechanism of GAP-ETPE/NC-based propellant came from NC altering the flow lines of the continuous phase and restricted chain mobility in the propellant, which improved the creep resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interfacial interaction between the selective layer and porous substrate directly determines the separation performance and service lifetime of functional composite membranes. Till now, almost all reported polymeric selective layers are physically in contact with the substrate, which is unsatisfactory for long-term operation. Herein, we introduced a functional composite membrane with ultra-interfacial stability via layer integration between the polydimethylsiloxane selective layer and polyacrylonitrile substrate, where a facile light-triggered copolymerization achieved their covalent bonding. The critical load for the failure of the selective layer is 45.73 mN when testing the interfacial adhesion, i.e. , 5.8 times higher than that before modification and significantly higher than previous reports. It also achieves superior pervaporation performance with a separation factor of 9.54 and membrane flux of 1245.6 g m -2 h -1 feeding a 1000 ppm phenol/water solution at 60 °C that is significantly higher than the same type of polymeric ones. Not limited to pervaporation, such a strategy sheds light on the design of highly stable composite membranes with different purposes, while the facile photo-trigged technique shows enormous scalability.

Objective: To investigate the association between vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene Apa I polymorphism and the susceptibility to bone and joint tuberculosis in Chinese Han population., Methods: Between May, 2015 and June, 2016, 100 patients with bone and joint tuberculosis and 100 healthy volunteers were recruited concomitantly in Heyuan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Vitamin D receptor gene Apa I polymorphisms in these subjects were analyzed using SNaPshot., Result: The genotype frequencies of Apa I-AA, Apa I-Aa and Apa I-aa were 51%, 41%, and 8% in the case group and 33%, 55%, and 12% in the control group, respectively, showing significant differences between the two groups (P<0.05). The genotype of Apa I-AA was significantly higher in the case group with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.073 (95% CI: 1.142-3.763)., Conclusion: The Apa I polymorphisms of the VDR gene are associated with the susceptibility to bone and joint tuberculosis in Chinese Han population, and individuals with a Apa I-AA genotype are at greater risks to develop bone and joint tuberculosis.

Objective: To fabricate a new composite scaffold material as an implant for sustained delivery of rifampicin and evaluate its performance of sustained drug release and biocompatibility., Methods: The composite scaffold material was prepared by loading poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) microspheres that encapsulated rifampicin in a biphasic calcium composite material with a negative surface charge. The in vitro drug release characteristics of the microspheres and the composite scaffold material were evaluated; the in vivo drug release profile of the composite scaffold material implanted in a rat muscle pouch was evaluated using high-performance liquid chromatography. The biochemical parameters of the serum and liver histopathologies of the rats receiving the transplantation were observed to assess the biocompatibility of the composite scaffold material., Results: The encapsulation efficiency and drug loading efficiency of microspheres were (56.05±5.33)% and (29.80±2.88)%, respectively. The cumulative drug release rate of the microspheres in vitro was (94.19±5.4)% at 28 days, as compared with the rate of (82.23±6.28)% of composite scaffold material. The drug-loaded composite scaffold material showed a good performance of in vivo drug release in rats, and the local drug concentration still reached 16.18±0.35 µg/g at 28 days after implantation. Implantation of the composite scaffold material resulted in transient and reversible liver injury, which was fully reparred at 28 days after the implantation., Conclusion: The composite scaffold material possesses a good sustained drug release capacity and a good biocompatibility, and can serve as an alternative approach to conventional antituberculous chemotherapy.