Search

Craniomaxillofacial bone defects seriously affect the appearance, function, and psychological status of patients. Traditional autologous bone grafting is very challenging due to the limited sources of bone tissue, excessive surgical trauma, and high incidence of related complications. Craniomaxillofacial bone tissue engineering (BTE) strategies based on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are emerging as an alternative. Craniomaxillofacial BMSCs (C-BMSCs) are homologous to craniomaxillofacial bones, which develop from the mesoderm and neural crest. This article aims to compare the differences in osteogenesis, angiogenesis, and immune regulation of C-BMSCs and other sources of BMSCs, and propose ideas and strategies such as 3D printing and mechanotherapy to completely harness the characteristics of C-BMSCs. In conclusion, C-BSMCs are a promising source of stem cells for the repair and reconstruction of craniomaxillofacial bone defects, and more attention should be paid to accelerating their basic research and clinical practices.

China is considered as the main producer of kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.) in the world. During 2020-2021, root rot (~8000 plants, ~5% disease incidence) of 3-year-old kiwifruit (cv. Xuxiang) was observed in Lujiang County (117°24'E, 31°15'N), Anhui, China. This disease usually occurred in fields with poor drainage in hot and humid summers. Symptoms started on leaves showing dehydration and curling, the last root of diseased plant turned black and died. Dig out the skin on rotten root was cracking and flaking and white mycelium covered on surface. Twenty rotten tissues from ten plants were cut and surface disinfected with 1% NaOCl for 5 min, rinsed in sterile water, and cultured on potato dextrose agar (PDA) at 25 ± 2°C in the dark. Fifteen fungal isolates were obtained. The first type (KWRR1, 3-10) was cotton-like, reverse with white outer margin, and light brown inner region on PDA. The second type (KWRR2, 11-15) was cotton-like on PDA but appeared pale yellow in reverse. On oatmeal agar, the KWRR1 colony was flat with little aerial hyphae and was red, while KWRR2 was hyaline. On carnation leaf agar (CLA), microconidia of the KWRR1 and KWRR2 isolates were reniform, fusiform or oblong, 0-1 septate, and measuring 1.9-4.3×8.4-15.7 µm and 3.0-3.8×8.2-16.7 µm, respectively (n=50). The macroconidia of KWRR1 were straight or moderately curved, 3-5 septa (2.7-4.6×21.5-52.6 µm in size, n=50). For KWRR2, the macroconidia were straight or slightly curved and with 3-4 septate, 4.1-4.8×26.1-30.8 µm (n=50). Chlamydospores of the KWRR1 and KWRR2 isolates were 1-2 celled, irregular globose, measuring 4.5-8.5 µm and 7.6-9.0 µm diam, respectively (n=50). To identify the isolates, four DNA fragments (RPB1, RPB2, ITS and TEF-1α) were amplified and sequenced from all isolates (O'Donnell, et al. 2012; White et al. 1990; O'Donnell et al. 2022). BLAST analysis of the RPB1, RPB2, ITS and TEF-1α sequences of the KWRR1 isolates (OL474057, OL474055, OL468550, OP382187) showed highest identity with F. solani (NRRL66304; MW218134, KT313623, KT313633, KT313611) at 98.2%-99.8%, while KWRR2 (OL505579, OL474056, OL468551, OP382188) showed that their homology with F. breve (NRRL28009; HM347149, EF470136, DQ094351, DQ246869) at 98.2%-99.4%. F. solani and F. breve belong to clade 3 of the F. solani species complex (FSSC) (Geiser et al. 2021). Phylogenetic analysis based on RPB2, ITS and TEF-1α sequences with MEGA7 software (Šišić et al. 2018), placed the KWRR1 sequences with F. solani (FSSC5), while there of KWRR2 nested with F. breve (FSSC15). One-year-old seedlings (n=6) of 'Xu Xiang', growing in a greenhouse (at 28℃, relative humidity 80%), were inoculated by drenching the soil with a conidial suspension with one of the two isolates (30 ml, 106 conidia/ml). Control plants (n=6) were inoculated with sterilized water and the pathogenicity assay was repeated three times. One month post-inoculation, the leaves of inoculated plants became chlorotic, wilted and died, whereas the controls were disease-free. F. solani and F. breve were successfully reisolated from diseased samples (n=6) and verified based on morphology and sequencing as described above, fulfilling Koch's postulates. Members of the FSSC cause root rot on many hosts (Coleman. 2016; Schroers et al. 2016), but this is the first report of F. solani and F. breve causing root rot disease on kiwifruit in China. The result will serve as the foundation for management of root rot of kiwifruit.

Yingxian Dong,1,* Jialong Li,1,* Junke Chang,1 Wenpeng Song,1 Yu Wang,2 Yan Wang,1 Guowei Che1 1Department of Thoracic Surgery, West-China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, People’s Republic of China; 2Day Surgery Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Guowei CheDepartment of Thoracic Surgery, West-China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, People’s Republic of ChinaTel/Fax +86-28-85422494Email hx_guowei_che@foxmail.comBackground: We reviewed our experience with 200 patients who underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic day surgery (VATDS) at the Day Surgery Center at West China Hospital to identify the safety and feasibility of VATDS and assess the value of novel management in patients with pulmonary nodules.Methods: Between June 2019 and December 2020, 200 patients with pulmonary nodules underwent VATDS at the Day Surgery Center at West China Hospital. The medical records of these 200 patients were reviewed for age, sex, preoperative history, operative and pathological findings, amount of daily chest tube drainage, procedure method and duration, length of stay (LOS), visual analog scale (VAS), and postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs).Results: There were 45 male and 155 female patients with a median age of 43 years (range 18 to 58 years). A total of 158 (79.00%) patients were diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma, 35 (17.50%) were diagnosed with chronic inflammation with fibrous hyperplasia, and seven (3.50%) were diagnosed with granulomatous inflammation with necrosis. The mean LOS of the 200 patients was 1.25± 0.95 days, and 187 (93.50%) patients were discharged within 24 hours as planned. Thirteen patients were transferred to the thoracic surgery ward for further treatment because of PPCs. The median VAS was 3 points (range 1 to 7 points), and the rate of PPCs was 11.50%.Conclusion: Two hundred patients underwent VATDS with an acceptable 24-hour discharge rate. However, selection of patients for VATDS is required, and the implementation of VATDS on a larger scale requires further discussion.Keywords: video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, day surgery, lung cancer, enhanced recovery after surgery

Kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.) is one of the most important fruit crops in China. Post-harvest anthracnose symptoms were observed on kiwifruit in October 2021. Kiwifruits 'Longcheng 2' (n=200) were obtained from an orchard in Kuandian city of Liaoning province, China (124°32'E, 40°20'N). And cultivar 'Cuiyu' (n=100) were harvested from orchards in Mianzhu city, Sichuan Province, China (104°03'E, 31°15'N). After storage at 24 °C and 80% relative humidity (RH) for 8 days, the disease incidence of 'Longcheng 2' and 'Cuiyu' was 30% and 15%, respectively. Symptoms of diseased fruits appeared as water-soaked, irregular and light brown lesions. Orangish conidial masses were observed on some fruits. Ten lesion margins (5×5 mm) from 'Longcheng2' or 'Cuiyu' were respectively excised, surface sterilized by 70% ethanol (1 min), 1% NaOCl (5 min), washed, dried, plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA), and incubated at 25 °C for 5 days. Eight isolates were obtained from 'Longcheng 2' (LC1-3 to LC1-10) and nine strains from 'Cuiyu' (CY1-2 to CY1-10). The representative isolates LC1-3 and CY1-2 were put on PDA, and appeared white to pale gray on the upper side. However, isolate LC1-3 secreted red pigments after 7 days of culture. Conidia of LC1-3 were hyaline, smooth-walled, single-celled, cylindrical (3.0 to 4.9×7.2 to 14.7 µm, n=50). Ellipsoidal single cell conidia of CY1-2 were hyaline, and ranged in size from 3.2 to 5.0×8.5 to 13.9 µm (n=50) born on conidiophores. Appressorium of isolates LC1-3 and CY1-2 were globose to ellipsoid with 4.2 to 7.4×7.3 to 10.8 µm and 3.0 to 4.9×6.3 to 10.3 µm in size, respectively (n=50) (Fu et al. 2019 ). Four genes (ACT, CHS, GAPDH, TUB2) and the ITS region were successfully amplified and sequenced from all isolates (Weir et al. 2012). Based on sequence alignment, the isolates from 'Longcheng 2' or 'Cuiyu' were identical. BLAST analysis of the ACT, CHS, GAPDH, ITS and TUB2 sequences of LC1-3 (ON018724, ON018722, ON018720, OM980324, ON018718) or CY1-2 (ON018725, ON018723, ON018721, OM980325, ON018719) showed high similarity with C. fioriniae (CBS 128517; JQ949613, JQ948953, JQ948622, MH865005, JQ949943) were 97.1% to 99.7% or 98.1% to 99.7%, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis using concatenated sequences (maximum likelihood method) with MEGA 11 showed LC1-3 and CY1-2 were located within the same clade with C. fioriniae. Previous studies showed that C. fioriniae was classified into three subclades (Damm et al. 2012; Fu et al. 2019). However, LC1-3 and CY1-2 were located within a new subclade, namely the subclade IV. To test pathogenicity, healthy and mature kiwifruits 'Donghong', 'Cuiyu', 'Xuxiang', 'Hayward' and 'Jinyan' were surface sterilized. Each un-wounded fruit was dropped with 10 μl conidial suspension (105 conidia/ml) on the fruit surface. All fruits were placed into a plastic box and stored at 24 °C under 80% RH. Each treatment consisted of 10 fruits and were repeated three times. After 8 days, typical anthracnose lesions were observed on all inoculated fruits. Whereas, the controls treated with sterile distilled water remained asymptomatic. The pathogens re-isolated from diseased fruits were similar morphological and identical to the original isolates, fulfilling Koch's postulates. Anthracnose caused by C. fioriniae has been reported on many fruits (Ling et al. 2020; Waller et al. 2021), but to our knowledge, this is the first report of anthracnose on kiwifruit caused by C. fioriniae. The results will provide valuable information for avoiding post-harvest anthracnose on kiwifruit.

Background With the aim of addressing the difficulty in identifying temperatures in virtual chemistry experiments, we propose a temperature-sensing simulation method of virtual chemistry experiments. Methods We construct a virtual chemistry experiment temperature simulation platform, based on which a wearable temperature generation device is developed. The typical middle school virtual experiments of concentrated sulfuric acid dilution and ammonium nitrate dissolution are conducted to verify the actual effect of the device. Results The platform is capable to indicate near real-world experimental situations. The performance of the device not only meets the temperature sensing characteristics of human skin, but also matches the temperature change of virtual chemistry experiments in real-time. Conclusions It is demonstrated that this temperature-sensing simulation method can represent exothermic or endothermic chemistry experiments, which is beneficial for students to gain understanding of the principles of thermal energy transformation in chemical reactions, thus avoiding the danger that may be posed in the course of traditional teaching of chemistry experiments effectively. Although this methoddoes not have a convenient enough operation for users, the immersion of virtual chemical experiments can be enhanced.

We report the fabrication of bulk anisotropic (SmCo + FeCo)/NdFeB multicomponent nanocomposite magnets using high-pressure thermal compression (HPTC). The correlations among microstructure, magnetic properties, heating temperature and composition of the HPTC nanocomposite magnets were studied. The HPTC magnet made under variable temperatures (VT), with 19 wt% of FeCo phase, exhibits a maximum energy product of 32 MGOe, which is much higher than that (14 MGOe) for the HPTC magnet made under a constant temperature (CT). When the FeCo content increases to ∼23 wt%, the HPTC magnet made under VT still remains a high energy product of about 25 MGOe. With increasing NdFeB content, the (SmCo + FeCo)/NdFeB multicomponent nanocomposite magnets exhibit an enhanced magnetic anisotropy and coercivity. This work is beneficial to fabricating high-performance and low-cost permanent magnets for practical applications.

Kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.) is an important fruit with high nutritional and economic value, which is widely cultivated in China. In April 2021, leaf spots were observed on the leaves of 'Xuxiang' (A. deliciosa) in a kiwifruit plantation of Hefei city, Anhui province, China (117°26'E, 31°85'N). Disease incidence was about 10% of the observed plants. Small yellow spots initially developed on the leaves and gradually expanded into irregular dark brown spots, and eventually the diseased leaves curled and withered. Leaf tissues (n=10, 5×5 mm) were collected from five infected plants, sterilized in 75% ethanol solution for 30 s and 1% NaOCl for 5 min, washed, dried and plated on PDA at 25°C. In total, ten isolates were obtained, including two previously reported Botryosphaeria dothidea (Zhou et al. 2015) and Diaporthe actinidiae strains (Bai et al. 2017) and eight unknown isolates with similar morphology. All unknown isolates initially appeared white with many aerial hyphae, and at the later stage, the center of all colonies turned gray. Colonies were transferred to new PDA with 0.1% yeast extract for three days. Then, aerial hyphae were scraped with sterile cotton swabs, and continued to grow for four days. Orange conidial masses were produced. Conidia were hyaline, smooth-walled, single-celled, cylindrical with broadly rounded ends, with average size around 4.1-5.5×13.2-18.2 µm (n=100). Appressoria (n=50) were ovoid in shape with average size around 4.9-6.7×8.6-11.8 µm. Morphological features were similar to Colletotrichum. gloeosporioides species complex (Weir et al. 2012). To confirm their species identification, internal transcribed spacers (ITS), β-tubulin (TUB2), glyceraldehydec-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), actin (ACT) and chitin synthase (CHS) were amplified by PCR using the primer pairs ITS1/ITS4, Bt2a/Bt2b, GDF/GDR, ACT-512F/ACT-783R CHS-79F/CHS-234R, respectively (Weir et al. 2012). Based on alignment analysis, sequences of the eight unknown isolates were 100% homologous. The representative isolate LSD3-1 was selected for further study. BLAST analysis showed that the ITS (OM033371), TUB2 (OM044376), GAPDH (OM044377), ACT (OM044379) and CHS (OM044378) sequences of isolate LSD3-1 were 98.7%-100% identical with the collected sequences of C. fructicola strain ICMP:18581 (NR_144783, JX010405, JX010033, JX009866, JX009501). Phylogenetic analysis of multiple genes was conducted with the Maximum likelihood method using MEGA 7. Based on morphological and molecular characteristics, the LSD3-1 was identified as Colletotrichum fructicola (Prihastuti et al., 2009). Koch's postulates were performed on six one-year-old 'Xuxiang' plants, which were used to test pathogenicity in the greenhouse (at 28℃, relative humidity 80%, 16/8 h light/dark). Surface-sterilized leaves were sprayed with a conidial suspension (107 conidia/mL). Yellow and brown lesions were formed 14 to 21 days after inoculation, whereas the mock-inoculated controls remained asymptomatic. The experiment was performed three times. The fungus was reisolated and confirmed as C. fructicola by morphology and sequencing of all previously used genes. Although C. fructicola has been reported as a leaf spot disease on many plants (Shi et al. 2018), this is the first report of leaf spot caused by C. fructicola on kiwifruit in China. This result is helpful to better understanding the pathogen of kiwifruit leaf spot diseases in China and formulate effective control strategies.

Kiwifruits (Actinidia ssp.), known as "King of vitamin C", have been wildly cultivated. In August 2020, about 15% of A. deliciosa (cv. Xuxiang) and A. macrosperma (rootstock) plants displayed symptoms typical of root rot at a farm in Hefei (117°25'E, 31°86'N), Anhui Province of China (Fig.1 a-b). Symptoms first appeared at the root and stem junction which were covered by cottony white mycelium during warm and humid summer. Then, the infected tissues were rotted, and subsequently the whole plant withered. Tan to brown sclerotia were observed on the basal stem epidermis and soil surface surrounding the stem (Fig.1 c-d). Infected plant tissues and sclerotia were collected for isolating the fungal pathogen. The samples were surface sterilized in 70% alcohol for 30 s, followed by 2% sodium hypochlorite for 3 min, washed five times with sterile double-distilled water (ddH2O), dried, placed on potato dextrose agar, and incubated at 25 °C in the dark. In total, twelve fungal isolates were obtained. The mycelia of all the isolates were white with a fluffy appearance (Fig.1 e). Sclerotia formed after 7 days were initially white (Fig.1 f) and gradually turned to dark brown (Fig.1 g) measuring 0.67 to 2.03 mm in diameter (mean = 1.367 ± 0.16 mm; n = 30). Hyphae were hyaline, septate. Some cells possessed multiple nuclei (Fig.1 h) and clamp connections (Fig.1 i). No spores were observed. For species-level identification, ITS1/ITS4 and EF1-983F/EF1-2218R primers were used to amplify the internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS) and translation elongation factor-1 alpha regions (TEF-1α), respectively (White et al. 1990; RehnerBuckley 2005). Based on ITS and TEF-1α sequence analyses, all 12 isolates were categorized into two groups, group one including isolates NC-1 and NC-6~10 and group two containing NC-2~5 and NC-11~12. The length of ITS sequences for NC-1 (MW311079) was 684bp and 99% to 100% similar to Athelia rolfsii (MN610007.1, MN258360.1). Similarly, ITS sequences for NC-2 (MW311080) were 99% to 100% similar to A. rolfsii (MH858139.1; MN872304.1). Also, TEF-1α sequences of NC-1 (MW322687) and NC-2 (MW322688) were 96% to 99% similar to sequences of A. rolfsii (MN702794.1, GU187681.1, MN702789.1). Based on morphology and phylogenetic analyses (Fig.1 jk), the isolates NC-1 and NC-2 were identified as Athelia rolfsii (anamorph Sclerotium rolfsii) (Mordue. 1974; Punja. 1985). To fulfill Koch's postulates, ten sclerotia of NC-1 were incorporated into the soil near stems of healthy Xuxiang plants (Fig.2 a). Similar treatments were also used for plants of A. macrosperma or A. arguta (Fig.2 gm). Each control group had the same number of plants (n=3) for inoculating with ddH2O. The plants were kept in an incubator with a relative humidity of 80% and temperature of 28°C with 16/8 hours light/dark photoperiod. After twenty days, the pathogen-inoculated plants developed similar symptoms of root rot observed in the field (Fig.2 b-d, h-j, n-o). Similarly, four days after inoculation with sclerotia, leaves developed water-soaked lesions (Fig.2 e, kp). No significant difference in pathogenicity was observed between NC-1 and NC-2. Non-inoculated control plants remained disease-free (Fig.2 f, lq). The pathogenicity experiments were repeated three times. The pathogen was re-isolated from infected tissues and sclerotia, and isolates were confirmed as A. rolfsii by the ITS sequences. A. rolfsii has been reported to cause root rot in kiwifruit in the USA (Raabe. 1988). To our knowledge, this is the first report A. rolfsii causing root rot on kiwifruits in China.

In this paper, various gradient structures (i.e., the ferrite grain size increases continuously with the depth) with different grain size distributions are produced in low-carbon steel by using pre-torsion deformation and thermal annealing at ~ 550 °C to 700 °C for 0.5 h. Results indicate that the grain size distribution possesses a crucial influence on mechanical properties of gradient-structured samples. The yield strength decreases steady accompanied by a gradual increase in uniform ductility and static toughness with increasing the ferrite grain size. The optimal synergy of high yield strength (σy~ 506.0 ± 3.9 MPa), promising uniform ductility (eu~ 9.6 ± 0.5%) and static toughness (Ur~ 108.8 ± 4.1 MJ/m3) is achieved by a specific gradient structure with the grain size distribution from ~ 7.2 µm at the surface to ~ 16.5 µm at the core, which is much better than that (σy~ 318.2 ± 1.6 MPa, eu~ 13.4 ± 0.4% and Ur~ 102.5 ± 4.8 MJ/m3) of its coarse-grained (CG) counterpart. Related strengthening and toughening mechanisms are also discussed.

Fabricating anisotropic bulk rare-earth (RE)-free magnets with both crystallographic texture and refined grains is a difficult task. In this paper, an anisotropic bulk Mn-Al-(C) RE-free magnet with a (00l) crystallographic texture was fabricated using the confined deformation under high-stress and large-strain conditions during the phase transformation from hexagonal e-phase to tetragonal τ-phase. XRD patterns of the magnets revealed that the τ-phase with grain sizes of 150–200 nm is the predominant phase and that the magnets exhibit a (00l) texture perpendicular to the pressure direction. The deformed magnets have an obvious magnetic anisotropy and enhanced remanence perpendicular to the pressure direction due to the texture formation. The effects of deformation temperature (Td) and time (t) on microstructures and magnetic properties of these magnets were investigated, and optimal magnetic properties, with a coercivity of 239 kA/m (3 kOe) and energy product of 14.5 kJ/m3 (1.82 MGOe), were obtained at Td = 550 °C and t = 60 s. Our work is of importance for future development of high-performance anisotropic bulk RE-free magnets.

In recent years, neutrophil extracellular traps at the forefront of neutrophil biology have proven to help capture and kill pathogens involved in the inflammatory process. There is growing evidence that persistent neutrophil extracellular traps drive the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. In this paper, we summarize the potential of neutrophil extracellular traps to drive the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis and experimental animal models. We also describe the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in association with neutrophil extracellular traps.

Understanding the formation mechanism of crystallography texture for hard magnetic nanocrystals in bulk materials is of great significance for developing high-performance nanocomposite magnets. Here, we studied the texture formation of SmCo7 crystal in bulk SmCo7/Fe(Co) nanocomposites prepared by high-pressure thermal compression (HPTC) using different precursors. We found that amorphous precursors favored a (00l) texture of SmCo7 nanocrystals and an obvious magnetic anisotropy, amorphous + crystalline precursors resulted in a weak (00l) texture and weak magnetic anisotropy, and nanocrystalline precursors led to isotropic SmCo7 grains and magnetic isotropy. These results demonstrate that grain alignment of SmCo7 phase in the HPTC process results from its preferential growth in the amorphous matrix under high stress and large strain. This work provides new insight into the texture growth of hard magnetic nanocrystals in bulk materials.

A macroscopically large-size anisotropic bulk SmCo/Fe(Co) nanocomposite magnet with a small grain size (∼10 nm) and a (00l) texture along easy magnetization axis has been prepared by rolling the heated Sm-Co amorphous precursors containing α-Fe(Co) nanocrystals at large strain and high stress. This anisotropic magnet exhibits a significantly enhanced energy product of 21 MGOe compared with that (14.5 MGOe) of the corresponding isotropic magnet. This enhanced property is attributed to the remanence enhancement which results from the SmCo7 hard-phase grain alignment along easy magnetization axis and the small grain size for the soft and hard phases. The large size and high-performance of the fabricated magnets and the simplicity of manufacturing make them great potential for practical applications.

Anisotropic bulk Nd2Fe14B/α-Fe nanohybrid magnets have been prepared by high-pressure thermal compression (HPTC) of the blends of 70 wt% Nd-lean Nd9Fe85.5Cu1.5B4 amorphous and 30 wt% Nd-rich Nd13.6Fe73.6Ga0.6Co6.6B5.6 nanocrystalline alloys. The nanohybrid magnets have a high fraction ∼24 wt% of α-Fe phase and exhibit a (0 0 l) texture for Nd2Fe14B nanocrystals in both Nd-lean and Nd-rich regions. The Nd-lean region contains α-Fe and Nd2Fe14B nanograins with equivalent sizes of 19 nm and 27 nm and the Nd-rich region comprises Nd2Fe14B phase having lath nanograins with 20–35 nm in thickness and 50–142 nm in length. This nanohybid magnet exhibits a maximum energy product of 23 MGOe and an enhanced thermal stability. The present work provides a candidate route to fabricate high-performance bulk magnets for practical applications.

High-temperature magnetic properties of the anisotropic bulk SmCo7/Fe(Co) nanocomposite magnets prepared by multistep deformation have been investigated and compared with the corresponding isotropic nanocomposites. The anisotropic SmCo7/Fe(Co) nanocomposites with a Fe(Co) fraction of 28% exhibit much higher energy products than the corresponding isotropic nanocomposites at both room and high temperatures. These magnets show a small remanence ( $\alpha = -0.022$ %/K) and a coercivity ( $\beta = -0.25$ %/K) temperature coefficient which can be comparable to those of the conventional SmCo5 and Sm2Co17 high-temperature magnets. The magnetic properties of these nanocomposites at high temperatures are sensitive to the weight fractions of the Fe(Co) phase. This paper demonstrates that the anisotropic bulk SmCo7/Fe(Co) nanocomposites have better high-temperature magnetic properties than the corresponding isotropic ones.

Objectives. The aim of this study is to explore the textural features that may identify the morphological changes in the lymphoma region and predict the prognosis of patients with primary renal lymphoma (PRL) and primary adrenal lymphoma (PAL). Methods. This retrospective study comprised nineteen non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) patients undergoing 18F-FDG-PET/CT at West China Hospital from December 2013 to May 2017. 18F-FDG-PET images were reviewed independently by two board certificated radiologists of nuclear medicine, and the texture features were extracted from LifeX packages. The prognostic value of PET FDG-uptake parameters, patients’ baseline characteristics, and textural parameters were analyzed using Kaplan–Meier analysis. Cox regression analysis was used to identify the independent prognostic factors among the imaging and clinical features. Results. The overall survival of included patients was 18.84 ± 13.40 (mean ± SD) months. Univariate Cox analyses found that the tumor stage, GLCM (gray-level co-occurrence matrix) entropy, GLZLM_GLNU (gray-level nonuniformity), and GLZLM_ZLNU (zone length nonuniformity), values were significant predictors for OS. Among them, GLRLM_RLNU ≥216.6 demonstrated association with worse OS at multivariate analysis (HR 9.016, 95% CI 1.041–78.112, p=0.046). Conclusions. The texture analysis of 18F-FDG-PET images could potentially serve as a noninvasive strategy to predict the overall survival of patients with PRL and PAL.

Objectives The aim of this study is to explore the textural features that may identify the morphological changes in the lymphoma region and predict the prognosis of patients with primary renal lymphoma (PRL) and primary adrenal lymphoma (PAL). Methods This retrospective study comprised nineteen non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients undergoing 18F-FDG-PET/CT at West China Hospital from December 2013 to May 2017. 18F-FDG-PET images were reviewed independently by two board certificated radiologists of nuclear medicine, and the texture features were extracted from LifeX packages. The prognostic value of PET FDG-uptake parameters, patients' baseline characteristics, and textural parameters were analyzed using Kaplan–Meier analysis. Cox regression analysis was used to identify the independent prognostic factors among the imaging and clinical features. Results The overall survival of included patients was 18.84 ± 13.40 (mean ± SD) months. Univariate Cox analyses found that the tumor stage, GLCM (gray-level co-occurrence matrix) entropy, GLZLM_GLNU (gray-level nonuniformity), and GLZLM_ZLNU (zone length nonuniformity), values were significant predictors for OS. Among them, GLRLM_RLNU ≥216.6 demonstrated association with worse OS at multivariate analysis (HR 9.016, 95% CI 1.041–78.112, p=0.046). Conclusions The texture analysis of 18F-FDG-PET images could potentially serve as a noninvasive strategy to predict the overall survival of patients with PRL and PAL.

From a dataset of macrobenthos obtained from 18 cruises from 2004 to 2013 in the Huanghe (Yellow River) Estuary and its adjacent areas, the composition and characteristics of macrobenthos were analyzed, and the applicability of the Shannon-Wiener Index (H′), AZTI’s Marine Biotic Index (AMBI) and multivariate AMBI (MAMBI) for assessing benthic habitat quality was compared. The results showed a total of 203 macrobenthos in the study area. The macrobenthos were dominated by polychaetes, followed by mollusks and crustaceans. The macrobenthic ecological groups were dominated by EGI, EGII and EGIII, which respectively accounted for 31.5%, 36.0% and 21.2% of the total. There were significant differences between the evaluation results of the three indices. The ecological quality status (EQS) levels given by the AMBI were greater than those given by the H′ and M-AMBI. The AMBI could not reflect the differences between 11 sites but the H′ and M-AMBI could do. Moreover, the three indices responded well to the variations in salinity (S) and dissolved oxygen (DO) in the waters. The H′ and M-AMBI also responded sensitively to the differences in physical parameters, such as water depth and sediment texture. The correlation between M-AMBI and environmental pressure gradient data was the strongest. The MAMBI could effectively distinguish degraded conditions from undegraded but the H′ and AMBI could not. Therefore, the M-AMBI reflected benthic habitat health well in the study areas. However, the objectivity of evaluation results of M-AMBI needs further verification by physical, chemical and biological methods. The thresholds also need further discussion.

The nucleation, growth kinetics and atomic process of the preexisting α-(Fe,Co) and newly-formed SmCo7 nanocrystals in the annealed nanocrystalline-amorphous Sm10.9Co66.5Fe22.6 alloy have been investigated. The preexisting α-(Fe,Co) phase possesses a growth activation energy of Eg = 0.6 eV, smaller than the nucleation activation energy En = 0.8 eV and growth activation energy Eg = 1.4 eV for the newly-formed SmCo7 phase. This demonstrates an easy growth of the α-(Fe,Co) nanocrystals and a relatively difficult formation of the SmCo7 phase, which leads to a large grain size for the α-(Fe,Co) soft phase in the α-(Fe,Co)/SmCo7 nanocomposite magnets. The activation volumes Δ V g ∗ = 0.67 Ω and Δ V g ∗ = 0.99Ω (Ω = average atomic volume) for the growth of α-(Fe,Co) and SmCo7 nanocrystals were obtained, indicating that the atom diffusion during the growth of both the α-(Fe,Co) and the SmCo7 are assisted by thermal vacancies. These findings provide a fundamental understanding to the crystallization of the SmCo based nanocomposite magnets.

Partially crystallized amorphous alloys SmCo/Fe and SmCo/FeCo with nanocrystalline α-Fe and α-(Fe,Co) grains distributed in the amorphous SmCo matrix were synthesized by mechanical alloying of a mixture of SmCo5 and α-Fe and FeCo powders. The crystallization process and kinetics of these amorphous alloys upon annealing have been investigated. For SmCo/Fe amorphous alloy, with the increase of the annealing temperature to 700 °C, a SmCo5 phase and a SmCo7 phase precipitate in sequence then the SmCo5 transforms to SmCo7. The activation energies for the SmCo5 and SmCo7 crystallization are 2.5 ± 0.1 and 2.8 ± 0.1 eV, respectively. Differently, the SmCo/FeCo amorphous alloy processes only one phase transformation to SmCo7 with an activation energy of 2.8 ± 0.1 eV after annealing to 700 °C. The present study gives an insight into the phase transformation of the SmCo amorphous alloys with different soft phase and is of basic significance to the microstructure controlling of the SmCo based nanocomposite magnets.