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In this article, an almost sure central limit theorem for non-stationary Markov chains on a general state space is established by using the techniques of shift operator and harmonic function.

The stochastic dynamic damage location vector (SDDLV) method has been widely utilized for localizing damage in structures. However, under changing environmental temperatures, its accuracy is greatly reduced, and the method may even lose efficacy. Furthermore, there has been no investigation of how SDDLV could localize damage in all bridges that are simultaneously monitored within one cluster, i.e., several medium- and small-span bridges with the same structural design on a continuous elevated corridor. To address these issues, a probabilistic SDDLV method is proposed in this study. First, unlike the conventional SDDLV method, the damage location vectors (DLVs) are generated using acceleration monitoring data acquired in the same period that are obtained from each pair of identical bridges among all the monitored bridges in one cluster. Second, considering variations in the finite element model (FEM) of bridges with respect to the environmental temperature, the probabilistic FEM is applied to replace the regular definite FEM, which is utilized to calculate the stresses of all the elements of the structures. Third, a method based on the probability characteristics of the damage localization index is presented to determine the thresholds of damage localization. Then, by incorporating hypothesis testing and a cross-validation strategy, the structural damage of all monitored bridges within one cluster is localized. Finally, a numerical simulation example is utilized to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, and the effect of structural deviations in construction on the damage localization results is analyzed through the monitoring data of actual bridges.

Cell’s bilayer phospholipid membranes work as insulators that separate the extracellular matrix and cytoplasm, creating a charge gradient across the cell membrane. Cell membrane capacitance, together with membrane resistance, impacts how fast the cell responds to the flow of ions currents. And for neurons, it affects how the neurons integrate electric signals and their synaptic efficacy. In this study, we performed logistic regression and used statistical analysis, and found a significant correlation with a relatively large R-squared value between depression and cell membrane capacitance. Objective This study aims to study if the lower cell membrane capacitance correlates with an increased rate of depression in participants aged 8-49 years old. Data collection Data used in this study were collected in the 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 CDC National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database. 11,260 participants aged 8 – 49 years old in the 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 NHANES database were examined for bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), which indicates the impedance analyzing components in this study including the ECF volume, percent body fat, and cell membrane capacitance. 1,707 participants aging between 20-39 years old in the 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 NHANES database signed up for a depression mental health examination, which indicates the diagnosis of depression in this study. Logistic regression and statistical modeling were performed to study the association between cell membrane capacitance and odds of depression. Results For unadjusted correlation between cell membrane capacitance and depression odds, with one standard deviation decrease in cell membrane capacitance, the depression odds will increase by 3.742 [95%CI 3.598 - 3.885] times. For demographics data adjusted correlation between cell membrane capacitance and depression odds, with one standard deviation decrease in cell membrane capacitance, the depression odds will increase by 2.675 [95%CI 2.310 - 3.042] times. For demographics data and bioelectrical impedance analysis data adjusted correlation between cell membrane capacitance and depression odds, with one standard deviation decrease in cell membrane capacitance, the depression odds will increase by 2.193 [95%CI 1.407 - 2.979] times. For demographics data and bioelectrical impedance analysis data adjusted correlation between cell membrane capacitance and depression odds, with one standard deviation decrease in cell membrane capacitance, the depression odds will increase by 2.654 [95%CI 1.695 - 3.612] times. Conclusion This study shows the correlation between cell membrane capacitance and depression scores using data collected from the 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 CDC National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database. Among participants aging from 8 to 49 years old, after adjusting for demographics data and bioelectrical impedance analysis data as covariance, with one standard deviation decrease in cell membrane capacitance analysis, an increase in odds of depression by 2.654 [95%CI 1.695 - 3.612] times was observed in this statistical analysis. The p-value of cell membrane capacitance in logistic regression after being adjusted was significant (

We investigate the convergence of nonhomogeneous Markov chains in general state space by using the f norm and the coupling method, and thus, a sufficient condition for the convergence of nonhomogeneous Markov chains in general state space is obtained.

Ever since endogenous hydrogen sulfide (H2S) was found in mammals in 1989, accumulated evidence has demonstrated that H2S functions as a novel neurological gasotransmitter in brain tissues and may play a key role in traumatic brain injury. It has been proved that H2S has an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptosis function in the neuron system and functions as a neuroprotective factor against secondary brain injury. In addition, H2S has other biologic effects such as regulating the intracellular concentration of Ca2+, facilitating hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP), and activating ATP-sensitive K channels. Due to the toxic nature of H2S when exceeding the physiological dose in the human body, only a small amount of H2S-related therapies was applied to clinical treatment. Therefore, it has huge therapeutic potential and has great hope for recovering patients with traumatic brain injury.

Nanoparticle (NP) clusters are attractive for many applications, but controllable and regioselective assembly of clusters remains challenging. This communication reports a strategy to precisely assemble Ag nanoplates (NP-As) and Au nanospheres (NP-Bs) grafted with copolymer ligands into defined ABx clusters with controlled coordination number (x) and orientation of the NPs. The directional bonding of shaped NPs relies on the stoichiometric reaction of complementary reactive groups on copolymer ligands. The x value of NP clusters can be tuned from 1 to 4 by varying the number ratio of reactive groups on single NP-Bs to NP-As. The regioselective bonding of nanospheres to the edge or face of a central nanoplate is governed by the steric hindrance of copolymeric ligands on the nanoplate. The clusters exhibit distinctive plasmonic properties that are dependent on the bonding modes of NPs. This study paves a route to fabricating nanostructures with high precision and complexity for applications in plasmonics, catalysis, and sensing.

With the structural health monitoring technique, several medium- and small-span bridges possessing the same or similar structural characteristics located in a local road network are simultaneously monitored within one cluster. Nevertheless, insufficient research has been performed on detecting the damage of all the bridges monitored within one cluster under time-varying environmental temperatures. To address this issue, a method is proposed to assess the damage in all the bridges within one cluster utilizing the residual between the cumulative distribution functions of strain monitoring data. First, an algorithm for reconstructing the strain monitoring dataset is introduced, effectively improving the computational efficiency at removing as much measured noise from a large amount of monitoring data as possible. Second, a cluster analysis algorithm considering the similarity among the strain monitoring data at different measured points is proposed to classify the strain monitoring data for all the bridges monitored within one cluster. Different classes of strain monitoring data are established by identifying similar probability distribution patterns. Third, for each class, a damage detection index is proposed based on the residual between the cumulative distribution functions of strain monitoring data. All the bridges monitored within one cluster are acted upon by similar environmental temperatures during the same monitoring period; hence, the effects of the environmental temperature on the proposed index are mitigated indirectly during the same monitoring period. Thus, the proposed index is implemented to effectively detect the damage in all the bridges belonging to each class. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through a numerical simulation and with strain monitoring data obtained from actual bridges.

De novo mutations contribute to a large proportion of sporadic psychiatric and developmental disorders, yet the potential role of environmental carcinogens as drivers of causal de novo mutations in neurodevelopmental disorders is poorly studied. We demonstrate that several mutagens, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), disproportionately mutate genes related to neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorders (ASD), schizophrenia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Other disease genes including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s disease, congenital heart disease, orofacial clefts, and coronary artery disease were generally not mutated more than expected. Our findings support a new paradigm of neurodevelopmental disease etiology driven by a contribution of environmentally induced rather than random mutations.

Background Ligase IV (LIG4) dificiency is a very rare clinical syndrome with around 50 cases reported to date. This syndrome is caused by biallelic pathogenic variants in the LIG4 gene, which cause DNA damage repair disorders, mainly manifesting as severe immunodeficiency. Case presentation We report the case of a 15-month-old male child with pancytopenia, growth retardation, microcephaly, history of vaccine-related rubella, elevated immunoglobulin G, and decreased T- and B lymphocytes. Next-generation sequencing revealed LIG4 pathogenic genes and compound heterozygous mutations, namely the missense mutation c.833G > T (p.Arg278Leu) and deletion mutation c.1271_1275del (p.Lys424Argfs*20). Conclusion This case suggests that LIG4 dificiency can manifest not only as immunodeficiency but also with increased serum IgG levels and pancytopenia, which constitutes an additional clinical phenotype. Furthermore, this case suggests that LIG4 deficiency should be considered upon differential diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome in children.

Crohn's disease activates the inflammatory reactions to induce intestinal disorders. Enteral nutrition (EN) could exert general immunomodulatory effects. Cecal ligation and perforation (CLP) surgery was utilized to establish Crohn's disease mice models. Survival analysis, hematoxylin-eosin staining, flow cytometry, ELISA, Western blot and liquid chromatography-tandem MS were applied. Baicalein was added to inhibit lipoxygenases. The survival rate was restored and inflammatory injury, exudate neutrophils in peritoneal lavage and serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were ameliorated by EN treatment as compared with CLP treatment. EN also increased ILC-3 content, 5/15-LOX level and RvD1-RvD5 in peritoneal lavage. Baicalein reversed all the detected effects of EN except ILC-3 content. EN could activate special pro-resolving mediators (SPMs) through ILCs to mitigate injuries of Crohn's disease.

Immune-related adverse events, particularly severe toxicities such as myocarditis, are major challenges to the utility of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in anticancer therapy1. The pathogenesis of ICI-associated myocarditis (ICI-MC) is poorly understood. Pdcd1–/–Ctla4+/– mice recapitulate clinicopathological features of ICI-MC, including myocardial T cell infiltration2. Here, using single-cell RNA and T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing of cardiac immune infiltrates from Pdcd1–/–Ctla4+/– mice, we identify clonal effector CD8+ T cells as the dominant cell population. Treatment with anti-CD8-depleting, but not anti-CD4-depleting, antibodies improved the survival of Pdcd1–/–Ctla4+/– mice. Adoptive transfer of immune cells from mice with myocarditis induced fatal myocarditis in recipients, which required CD8+ T cells. The cardiac-specific protein α-myosin, which is absent from the thymus3,4, was identified as the cognate antigen source for three major histocompatibility complex class I-restricted TCRs derived from mice with fulminant myocarditis. Peripheral blood T cells from three patients with ICI-MC were expanded by α-myosin peptides. Moreover, these α-myosin-expanded T cells shared TCR clonotypes with diseased heart and skeletal muscle, which indicates that α-myosin may be a clinically important autoantigen in ICI-MC. These studies underscore the crucial role for cytotoxic CD8+ T cells, identify a candidate autoantigen in ICI-MC and yield new insights into the pathogenesis of ICI toxicity.

In bridge structural health monitoring systems, an accurate baseline model is particularly important for identifying subsequent structural damage. Environmental and operational loads cause nonstationarity in the strain monitoring data of urban girder bridges. Such nonstationary monitoring data can mask damage and reduce the accuracy of the established baseline model. To address this problem, a steady-state data baseline model for bridges is proposed. First, for observable effects such as ambient temperature, a directional projection decoupling method for strain monitoring data is proposed, which can reduce the nonstationary effect of ambient temperature, and the effectiveness of this method is proven using equations. Second, for unobservable effects such as traffic load, a k-means clustering method for steady state of traffic loads is proposed; using this method, which can divide the steady and nonsteady states of traffic loads and reduce the nonstationary effect of traffic loads on strain monitoring data, a steady-state baseline model is established. Finally, the effectiveness of the steady-state baseline model is verified using an actual bridge. The results show that the proposed baseline model can reduce the error caused by nonstationary effects, improve the modelling accuracy, and provide useful information for subsequent damage identification.

Benggang is a typical erosional landform in southern and southeastern China. Since benggang poses significant risks to local ecological environments and economic infrastructure, it is vital to accurately detect benggang-eroded areas. Relying only on remote sensing imagery for benggang detection cannot produce satisfactory results. In this study, we propose integrating high-resolution Digital Orthophoto Map (DOM) and Digital Surface Model (DSM) data for efficient and automatic benggang discovery. The fusion of complementary rich information hidden in both DOM and DSM data is realized by a two-stream convolutional neural network (CNN), which integrates aggregated terrain and activation image features that are both extracted by supervised deep learning. We aggregate local low-level geomorphic features via a supervised diffusion-convolutional embedding branch for expressive representations of benggang terrain variations. Activation image features are obtained from an image-oriented convolutional neural network branch. The two sources of information (DOM and DSM) are fused via a gated neural network, which learns the most discriminative features for the detection of benggang. The evaluation of a challenging benggang dataset demonstrates that our method exceeds several baselines, even with limited training examples. The results show that the fusion of DOM and DSM data is beneficial for benggang detection via supervised convolutional and deep fusion networks.

Objective: To explore the risk factors for early clinical recurrence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) after fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 192 patients with IBD who received FMT treatment in the Colorectal Disease Specialty/Intestinal Microecology Treatment Center of the Tenth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University from February 2017 to June 2020. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to analyze the risk factors for early recurrence of inflammation. Feces from all participants were collected to extract the total bacterial genomic DNA. The V6-8 regions of the bacterial 16S rDNA gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the PCR products were detected by the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) method, and the intestinal flora was analyzed by DNA fingerprinting. Stool samples from all patients were tested for 9 bacteria, white blood cells (WBC) and platelet (PLT) counts, as well as the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level. Results: Of the 192 patients, 15 cases had inflammation recurrence during FMT and within one week after treatment, including 11 cases of ulcerative colitis (UC) and 4 cases of Crohn’s disease (CD), with a total recurrence rate of 7.8%. High Mayo inflammatory activity score, Mayo endoscopic sub-item score (MES) =3 points, CRP>10 mg/L, anemia, albumin

Nanoparticle clusters with molecular-like configurations are an emerging class of colloidal materials. Particles decorated with attractive surface patches acting as analogs of functional groups are used to assemble colloidal molecules (CMs); however, high-yield generation of patchy nanoparticles remains a challenge. We show that for nanoparticles capped with complementary reactive polymers, a stoichiometric reaction leads to reorganization of the uniform ligand shell and self-limiting nanoparticle bonding, whereas electrostatic repulsion between colloidal bonds governs CM symmetry. This mechanism enables high-yield CM generation and their programmable organization in hierarchical nanostructures. Our work bridges the gap between covalent bonding taking place at an atomic level and colloidal bonding occurring at the length scale two orders of magnitude larger and broadens the methods for nanomaterial fabrication.

Objectives Intestinal tuberculosis (ITB) remains prevalent and a big health hazard in China. The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyse its clinico-pathological features. Methods Retrospective study of 85 consecutive ITB patients in two tertiary hospitals in East China. Relevant clinical, laboratory examination, radiological, endoscopic and histopathological features of ITB were recorded. Results The mean age was 37.3 ± 16.0 years; 56 patients (65.9%) were male. 67.1% had ITB secondary to pulmonary tuberculosis. The overall median length of hospital stay was 28 days and was significantly longer in patients with intestinal complications (P = 0.003) and malnutrition (P = 0.042). Abdominal pain (88.2%) and weight loss (75.3%) were the commonest symptoms. The positive rate of the purified protein derivative (PPD) test was 88.2%; of the T-spot, 85.7%. Histopathology revealed caseating granuloma in 70.6% and caseating necrosis in 24.7% of patients. The most commonly affected sites were the ileocecal valve (56, 65.9%), terminal ileum (40, 47.1%) and caecum (33, 38.8%). Only 17 (20%) patients were initially diagnosed as ITB, the other 68 patients were misdiagnosed. Six patients with caecum tuberculosis were misdiagnosed as appendicitis, four of whom had improper surgical procedures followed by post-operative intestinal fistulas; two died due to MODS. Conclusions Diagnosis of ITB is often misdirected and delayed, which may lead to inappropriate treatment and high mortality. High diagnostic suspicion is necessary for patients with unexplained abdominal complaints. Diagnosis is not easy but could benefit coexisting pulmonary tuberculosis, T-spot, CT imaging, colonoscopy, pathological features, acid-fast bacilli and response to anti-tuberculosis therapy (ATT).

Fully distributed optical fiber sensing technology allows the high-density strain to measure the overall curvature and cross-section deformation of tunnels. However, there are few studies on the use of longitudinal strain along the tunnel to measure the cross-section convergence deformation, and the method of obtaining the strain along the tunnel loop is costly. To address this issue, a method of monitoring the cross-section deformation of tunnels using the strain data is proposed. First, a model of the relationship between strain and deformation in tunnels is constructed to obtain the overall settlement using the longitudinal strain. Second, based on the finite element method (FEM), the deformation law about the strain measured points and non-measured points on the cross-section of the tunnel is proposed, and on this basis, the correlation coefficient is presented. Using the product of overall settlement and correlation coefficient, the cross-section deformation at non-measured points is obtained. The results of numerical examples shown that the proposed method can effectively expand the monitoring scale and realize high-density cross-section deformation measurement of tunnels.

Antibiotics and nanoparticles, which are emerging contaminants, can occur simultaneously in biological wastewater treatment systems, potentially resulting in complex interactive effects. This study investigated the effects of individual and complex zinc oxide nanoparticles (nZnO) and antibiotics (quinolone and sulfonamide), on the Shewanella strain used to remove phosphorus (PO43-), metabolic processes, as well as its complexing and toxicity mechanisms. The inhibition of PO43- removal increased from 30.7% to 100.0% with increased nZnO concentrations (half maximal effective concentration (EC50) = 1.1 mg Zn/L) by affecting poly-p and glycogen metabolites. The combined exposure to nZnO and ciprofloxacin/norfloxacin (CIP/NOR) had a significant antagonistic effect on the removal of PO43- and on the metabolism of poly-p and glycogen in phosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs), whereas the complexing of sulfonamide and nZnO had no significant additional effect. Thus, the complexing of nanoparticles and antibiotics exhibited different toxicity effects from the antibiotic structure-based complex reactions. These results can be used to improve wastewater treatment processes and reduce risks associated with wastewater discharge.

In this paper, we prove that the Foster–Lyapunov drift condition is necessary and sufficient for recurrence of a Markov chain on a general state space. And then an answer in the affirmative for the question presented in the monograph of Meyn and Tweedie (Markov chains and stochastic stability. Springer, Berlin, 1993, P175) is obtained.

Current interest in functional assemblies of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) stems from their collective properties and diverse applications ranging from nanomedicines to optically active metamaterials. Coating the surface of NPs with polymers allows for tailoring of the interactions between NPs to assemble them into hybrid nanocomposites with targeted architectures. This class of building blocks is termed "hairy" inorganic NPs (HINPs). Regiospecific attachment of polymers has been used to achieve directional interactions for HINP assembly. However, to date anisotropic surface functionalization of NPs still remains a challenge. This Account provides a review of the recent progress in the self-assembly of isotropically functionalized HINPs in both the condensed state and aqueous solution as well as the applications of assembled structures in such areas as biomedical imaging and therapy. It aims to provide fundamental mechanistic insights into the correlation between structural characteristics and self-assembly behaviors of HINPs, with an emphasis on HINPs made from NPs grafted with linear block copolymer (BCP) brushes. The key to the anisotropic self-assembly of these HINPs is the generation of directional interactions between HINPs by designing the surrounding medium (e.g., polymer matrix) or engineering the surface chemistry of the HINPs. First, HINPs can self-assemble into a variety of 1D, 2D, or 3D nanostructures with a nonisotropic local arrangement of NPs in films. Although a template is not always required, a polymer matrix (BCPs or supramolecules) can be used to assist the assembly of HINPs to form hybrid architectures. The interactions between brushes of neighboring HINPs or between HINPs and the polymer matrix can be modulated by varying the grafting density and length of one or multiple types of polymers on the surface of the NPs. Second, the rational design of deformable brushes of BCP or mixed homopolymer tethers on HINPs enables the anisotropic assembly of HINPs (in analogy to molecular self-assembly) into complex functional structures in selective solvents. It is evidenced that the directional interactions between BCP-grafted NPs arise from the redistribution and conformation change of the long, flexible polymer tethers, while the lateral phase separation of brushes on NP surfaces is responsible for the assembly of HINPs carrying binary immiscible homopolymers. For HINPs decorated with amphiphilic BCP brushes, their self-assembly can produce a variety of hybrid structures, such as vesicles with a monolayer of densely packed NPs in the membranes and with controlled sizes, shapes (e.g., spherical, hemispherical, disklike), and morphologies (e.g., patchy, Janus-like). This strategy allows fine-tuning of the NP organization and collective properties of HINP assemblies, thus facilitating their application in effective cancer imaging, therapy, and drug delivery. We expect that the design and assembly of such HINPs with isotropic functionalization is likely to open up new avenues for the fabrication of new functional nanocomposites and devices because of its simplicity, low cost, and ease of scale-up.

Cystic fibrosis is a disease caused by defective function of a chloride channel coupled to a blockade of autophagic flux. It has been proposed to use synthetic chloride transporters as pharmacological agents to compensate insufficient chloride fluxes. Here, we report that such chloride anionophores block autophagic flux in spite of the fact that they activate the pro-autophagic transcription factor EB (TFEB) coupled to the inhibition of the autophagy-suppressive mTORC1 kinase activity. Two synthetic chloride transporters (SQ1 and SQ2) caused a partially TFEB-dependent relocation of the autophagic marker LC3 to the Golgi apparatus. Inhibition of TFEB activation using a calcium chelator or calcineurin inhibitors reduced the formation of LC3 puncta in cells, yet did not affect the cytotoxic action of SQ1 and SQ2 that could be observed after prolonged incubation. In conclusion, the squaramide-based synthetic chloride transporters studied in this work (which can also dissipate pH gradients) are probably not appropriate for the treatment of cystic fibrosis yet might be used for other indications such as cancer.

Quasi-static strain influence lines (ILs) based on the Brillouin optical time domain analysis (BOTDA) technique have been proposed to effectively locate damage in beam bridges. Using measurement points with a high spatial resolution, the BOTDA technique supplies enough strain ILs to help detect damage in bridges. Unlike quasi-static strain ILs based on the BOTDA technique, quasi-static displacement ILs are relatively easy to implement in actual bridges, furthermore, only a few quasi-static displacement ILs are necessary for actual bridges. On this basis, an improved method is proposed to determine the existence of damage in beam bridges by using only a few quasi-static displacement ILs. First, the Hankel matrix of the damage feature, established based on the number of strain ILs, is reconstructed to generate the damage feature using only a few quasi-static displacement ILs. Second, the method used to obtain the metric for evaluating the damage feature is improved, thereby greatly increasing the efficiency of damage detection using quasi-static ILs. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through both numerical analysis and experimentally measured data obtained during a quasi-static load test of a model bridge.

Inorganic nanoparticles show unique physical properties (e.g., optical, electronic, magnetic and catalytical properties), and highly tunable appearance characteristics (e.g., size, shape, morphology, and surface). Unlike inorganic nanomaterials, organic polymers generally have good biocompatibility, stability and processability, as well as highly tailorable degradability and responsiveness to external stimuli (e.g., light, heat, pH, acoustic wave and biological signals). Nanosized assemblies derived from polymers and inorganic nanoparticles naturally combine the complementary strengths of both parties to exhibit synergistically improved properties that are often not readily accessible from their single constituent parts. These properties have enabled the emerging applications of polymer-inorganic nanoparticle assemblies (PINAs) in biology and medicine, especially in cancer imaging and therapy. This review summarizes recent advances in the development of nanosized PINAs with synergistically enhanced properties from polymers and inorganic nanoparticles for cancer imaging and therapy. We start with an introduction of the field in Section Introduction and a brief discussion of physicochemically relevant structural parameters of PINAs in Section Structural parameters of PINAs. We then elaborate on reviewing the design and implementation of PINAs for cancer imaging in Section Cancer imaging. Several major imaging modalities we discussed include emission-based imaging, photothermal/photoacoustic imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography imaging and multi-modal imaging. Section Cancer therapy is focused on the design and use of PINAs for various therapeutic strategies of cancers, such as hypothermia, photodynamic therapy and controlled drug delivery. The review is ended with a discussion of our perspectives on future research in the field.

Herein, a transition-metal-free trifluoromethylative heteroarylation of unactivated alkenes is presented by employing CF3SO2Na and quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones as coupling partners and PhI(OAc)2 as oxidant. This three-component radical domino reaction allows an efficient synthesis of valuable β-trifluoromethyl alkyl quinoxalinones derivatives in a single step in moderate to excellent yields under mild conditions. Mechanistic studies indicated the cascade radical addition pathway controlled by radical polar. This three-component strategy readily affords synthetically and biologically important trifluoromethyl- and quinoxalinones -containing framework, which has been demonstrated by the preliminary antibacterial evaluation against Magnaporthe grisea for the first time.

To evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of remnant small intestinal length measured by barium follow-through (BaFT) examination and three-dimensional CT enterography (CTe). Twenty-nine consecutive short bowel syndrome patients (SBS) who underwent BaFT, CTe, and prior surgical measurements of small intestine were included. Measurements of total remnant small intestinal length on BaFT and CTe were compared to surgical measurements using Spearman's rank correlation coefficients, Bland–Altman plots, and paired t test. The average remnant intestinal length was 73.1 ± 37.2 cm according to surgical measurement. There was a significant positive correlation between CTe and surgical measurement (r2 = 0.99; p

Prosthetic mesh used for ventral incisional hernia makes hernia repair surgery simple, effective, and safe. The mesh infection is a formidable complication and bimodal distribution. The differences between early- and late-onset are unknown. This is a cohort study of patients undergoing ventral incisional hernia (VIH) repair from January 2003 to September 2013. Data of specific risk variables were collected from electronic medical record systems in Jinling Hospital. And, the quality of lives was evaluated by WHO Quality of Life-BREF. A total of 102 VIH repair patients were analyzed and followed including the noninfection group and early- and late-onset group. There were significant differences between the early- and late-onset group in clinical manifestation, descriptive analysis of the study population, and postoperative quality of lives. These differences might imply the different pathophysiologic process of early- and late-onset mesh infection. Permanent prosthetic mesh should be used with caution, and the study of intraperitoneal onlay mesh is still needed in long-term follow-up.

A superelement-based virtual distortion method (VDM) was proposed to improve the efficiency of the finite element model (FEM) updating of large-scaled bridges by using static information. O...

Published experience in feeding patients with enteroatmospheric fistulae is scarce. This study aimed to determine if enteral nutrition (EN) could be safely delivered in the presence of enteroatmospheric fistula.This is a retrospective descriptive study from a major fistula treatment center in China. Medical records of patients who developed enteroatmospheric fistulae in the open abdomen after abdominal trauma were reviewed. The timing of initiation and achievement of full strength (25 kcal/kg/d) EN after enteroatmospheric fistula were noted, as well as the incidence of feeding-associated complications and weaning of parenteral nutrition (PN). The outcomes of open abdomen and enteroatmospheric fistula were also noted.Nine patients were included in this study. EN was successfully implemented in all patients. The median timing of initiation and achievement of full strength of EN after enteroatmospheric fistula was 9 (interquartile range [IQR], 3–22) and 27 (IQR, 22–43) days, respectively. Feeding-associated complications developed in 1 (11.1%) patient. All patients were liberated from PN at hospital discharge. Split-thickness skin grafting was performed in all patients, of whom 5 underwent successful delayed abdominal closure, and 4 were awaiting definitive closure. Repair or resection of enteroatmospheric fistula occurred in 8 (88.9%) patients.This study showed that EN could be safely implemented in patients with enteroatmospheric fistulae without complicating the treatment of open abdomen and enteroatmospheric fistula.

The aim of the present study was to retrospectively analyze the bacteriology and drug susceptibility of pus flora from abdominal trauma patients with severe intra-abdominal infection (SIAI). A total of 41 patients with SIAI induced by abdominal trauma were enrolled in the study, from which 123 abdominal pus samples were obtained. The results from laboratory microbiology and drug sensitivity were subjected to susceptibility analysis using WHONET software. A total of 297 strains were isolated in which Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-positive bacteria and fungi accounted for 53.5 (159/297), 44.1 (131/297) and 0.7% (2/297), respectively. Anaerobic bacteria accounted for 1.7%. The five predominant bacteria were Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae), Enterococcus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa). E. coli was highly susceptible to cefoperazone (91%) and imipenem (98%), while Gram-positive cocci were highly susceptible to teicoplanin (100%) and linezolid (100%). S. aureus was 100% susceptible to vancomycin and K. pneumoniae was highly susceptible to imipenem (100%) and amikacin (79%). P. aeruginosa was the most susceptible to ciprofloxacin (90%). Gram-negative bacterial infection was present in the majority of cases of SIAI. However, a large number of patients were infected by Gram-positive bacteria, particularly S. aureus that exhibited significant resistance to penicillin (100%), oxacillin (100%) and a third-generation cephalosporin antibiotic cefotaxime (95%). Amongst the pathogenic bacteria that cause SIAI, both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria account for a high proportion, so high-level and broad-spectrum antibiotics should be initially used.