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Abstract Blast neurotrauma has been linked to impairments in higher-order cognitive functions, including memory, attention, and mood. Current literature is limited to a single overpressure exposure or repeated exposures at the same level of overpressure. In this study, a rodent model of primary blast neurotrauma was employed to determine the pressure at which acute and chronic neurological alterations occurred. Three pressure magnitudes (low, moderate and high) were used to evaluate injury thresholds. A biology shock tube (BST) was used to simulate shock waves with overpressures of 60 kPa, 90 kPa and 120 kPa respectively. Neurological behavior of the rats was assessed by the Multi-Conditioning System (MCS) at 1 d, 7 d, 28 d and 90 d after shock wave exposure. Serum dopamine (DA), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) were measured at the same time points. The proteomic analysis was conducted to identify potentially vulnerable cellular and molecule targets of serum in the immediate post-exposure period. Results revealed that: (1) Anxiety-like behavior increased significantly at 1 d post-exposure in the medium and high overpressure (90 kPa, 120 kPa) groups, returned to baseline at 7 days, and anxiety-like behavior in the high overpressure groups re-emerged at 28 d and 90 d. (2) High overpressure (120 kPa) impaired learning and memory in the immediate post-exposure period. (3) The serum DA levels decreased significantly at 1 d post-exposure in the medium and high overpressure groups; The 5-HT levels decreased significantly at 1 d and 90 d in the high overpressure groups; The BDNF levels decreased significantly at 90 d in the high overpressure groups. (4) Proteomic analysis identified 38, 306, and 57 differentially expressed proteins in serum following low, medium and high overpressure exposures, respectively. Two co-expressed proteins were validated. Functional analysis revealed significant enrichment of 1121, 2096, and 1121 Gene Ontology (GO) items and 33, 47, and 26 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways, indicating extensive molecular responses to overpressure in the early phase. These findings suggest that exposure, even at moderate levels, can induce persistent neurobehavioral and molecular alterations, highlighting the need for further research into the long-term consequences of blast neurotrauma.

Abstract The problem of cadmium pollution and its control is becoming increasingly severe issue in the world. Banana straw is an abundant bio raw material, but its burning or discarding in field not only causes pollution but also spreads fusarium wilt. The objective of this paper is to utilize biochar derived from the wilt-infected banana straw for remediation of Cd(II) pollution while to eliminate the pathogen. The activity of wilt pathogen in biochar was determined by PDA petri dish test. The Cd(II) adsorption of the biochar was determined by batch adsorption experiments. The effects of KOH concentration (0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 M) on the physicochemical characteristics of the biochar were also observed by BET, SEM, FTIR, XRD and XPS. Results showed that pristine banana straw biochar (PBBC) did not harbor any pathogen. The specific surface area (SSA) and Cd(II) adsorption capacity of 0.75 M KOH modified banana straw biochar (MBBC0.75M) were increased by 247.2% and 46.1% compared to that of PBBC, respectively. Cd(II) adsorption by MBBC0.75M was suitable to be described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Freundlich isotherm. After Cd(II) adsorption, the CdCO3 were confirmed by XRD and observed through SEM. The weakness and shift of oxygen-containing functional groups in MBBC0.75M after Cd(II) adsorption implied that those groups were complexed with Cd(II). The results showed that pyrolysis could not only eliminate banana fusarium wilt, but also prepare porous biochar with the wilt-infected banana straw. The porous biochar possessed the potential to adsorb Cd(II) pollutants.

Abstract Background Lignin played an important role in the establishment of coated fertilizers coating material as a substitute for petrochemical raw materials. However, so far, the lignin-based coated fertilizers was limited in only the poor slow-release performance. To achieve good slow-release performance of lignin-based coated fertilizers, hydrophilic of lignin need to be resolved to establish an green and better controllable lignin-based coated fertilizers. Results In the study, a novel green double layer coating with lignin-based polyurethane (LPU) as the inner coating and epoxy resin (EP) as the outer coating was effectively constructed for coated urea. Fourier transform infrared spectra confirmed that lignin and polycaprolactone diol successfully reacted with Hexamethylene diisocyanate. The loss weight and water contact angle (WCA, 75.6–63.6°) of the LPUs decreased with the increased lignin content. The average particle hardness of the lignin-based double-layer coated urea (LDCU) first increased from 58.1 N (lignin of 30%) to 67.0 N (lignin of 60%), but then decreased to 62.3 N (lignin of 70%). The release longevity of the coated urea was closely related to the preparation parameters of the coating material. The optimal cumulative nutrient release rate (79.4%) of LDCU was obtained (lignin of 50%, –CNO/–OH molar ratios of 1.15, EP of 35%, and coating ratio of 5%). The aggregates of hydrone on the LDCU caused the dissolution and swelling of nutrients, and then the diffusion of nutrients through the concentration gradient. Conclusions A though the nutrient release of the LDCUs was affected by many factors, the successful development of the LDCUs will help improve the rapid development of the coated fertilizer industry.

New stochastic and deterministic Hepatitis B epidemic models with general incidence are established to study the dynamics of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) epidemic transmission. Optimal control strategies are developed to control the spread of HBV in the population. In this regard, we first calculate the basic reproduction number and the equilibrium points of the deterministic Hepatitis B model. And then the local asymptotic stability at the equilibrium point is studied. Secondly, the basic reproduction number of the stochastic Hepatitis B model is calculated. Appropriate Lyapunov functions are constructed, and the unique global positive solution of the stochastic model is verified by Itô formula. By applying a series of stochastic inequalities and strong number theorems, the moment exponential stability, the extinction and persistence of HBV at the equilibrium point are obtained. Finally, using the optimal control theory, the optimal control strategy to eliminate the spread of HBV is developed. To reduce Hepatitis B infection rates and to promote vaccination rates, three control variables are used, for instance, isolation of patients, treatment of patients, and vaccine inoculation. For the purpose of verifying the rationality of our main theoretical conclusions, the Runge-Kutta method is applied to numerical simulation.

The purpose of this article is to research the existence of solutions for fractional periodic boundary value problems with p(t)-Laplacian operator. In this regard, the article needs to establish a continuation theorem corresponding to the above problem. By applying the continuation theorem, a new existence result for the problem is obtained, which enriches existing literature. In addition, we provide an example to verify the main result.

The purpose of the article is to investigate Dirichlet boundary-value problems of the fractional p-Laplacian equation with impulsive effects. By using the Nehari manifold method, mountain pass theorem and three critical points theorem, some new results are achieved under more general growth conditions. In addition, this paper weakens the commonly used p-suplinear and p-sublinear growth conditions.

In marine environments, bridge piers and columns are prone to corrosion caused by harmful media, particularly chloride ions. This corrosion can lead to cracking of the steel bars in the protective layer of the bridge piers. To enhance the corrosion resistance of concrete in bridge piers, this article introduces the use of nanoclay-modified cement mortar. This innovative material offers high-performance surface treatment options that can effectively slow down the erosion process of harmful media and reduce the risk of bridge pier column cracking. To evaluate the ion erosion resistance of this nanoclay-modified cement mortar, we conducted detailed experiments on the pore structure of cement paste. The pore structure of cement paste with different dosages of nano-kaolinite clay and the dispersion method was studied using mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP). The fractal dimension of the pore surface area of the net cement paste was calculated from the fractal model based on thermodynamic relationships of the pore structure-related parameters obtained with mercury pressure experiments. The relationship among the multiple fractal dimensions, pore structure parameters, dispersion mode, and permeability is explored. The results show that the addition of nano-kaolinite clay particles can improve the internal pore structure of cement materials. When 1.5% nano-kaolinite clay is mechanical dispersed, the total specific pore volume and the most probable pore size are reduced by 47.83% and 56.87%, respectively, compared with the control group. The fractal dimension image of cement-based materials with nano-kaolinite clay has a range of singular points and does not have fractal characteristics in this range. Nano-kaolinite clay has a significant effect on the fractal dimension of pore size range I. The fractal dimension of the whole pore size range is not suitable for the analysis of permeability, and the fractal dimension calculated by selecting less than the critical pore size range has a good correlation with permeability.

A stochastic SIRS epidemic model with vaccination is discussed. A new stochastic threshold $ R_0^s $ is determined. When the noise is very low ($ R_0^s < 1 $), the disease becomes extinct, and if $ R_0^s > 1 $, the disease persists. Furthermore, we show that the solution of the stochastic model oscillates around the endemic equilibrium point and the intensity of the fluctuation is proportional to the intensity of the white noise. Computer simulations are used to support our findings.

Reduction of cadmium accumulation in rice grain is of great significance for food safety. The purposes of this study were to investigate the efficacy and mechanism of alkaline functional fertilizer (AFF) on soil acid, available cadmium (Cd) and its and accumulation in rice through three field experiments in Hunan province with different soil type by use of conventional fertilizer as control. Results showed that soil pH value was increased with the amount of the AFF, the maximum increment of the pH was 1.65 units. Soil available Cd was reduced with increase of the AFF and soil pH value, and it decreased by 12 %, 38 % and 44 % in the three sites, respectively. The rice yield was related to the original or basal soil pH and available cadmium content. The yield increased by 4–16 %, 12–27 % and 9–24 %, respectively. Cd content of root, stem, leaf and polished rice reduced by 78.75 %, 88.05 %, 84.05 % and 80.38 % by use of the AFF in the three sites, respectively. The Cd content of polished rice would be declined below the allowable limit of food safety standard in China (0.2 mg·kg−1). The Cd enrichment coefficient (ERC) was in the order of root > stem > leaf > polished rice. The results of index of transport coefficient (TC) showed that Cd in polished rice mainly came from stem and leaf. The Cd content in the leaf and stem should be reduced first to reduce the Cd content of polished rice. The mechanism of the AFF reducing Cd uptake and accumulation lies in the fertilizer neutralizing both active and potential soil acid by slow release of OH–. The fertilizer was capable to increase soil cation exchange capacity and passivate Cd to reduce its bio-availability. Development and promotion of the AFF are significance to decline Cd transport in the soil–plant ecosystem and ensure food safety. The recommended economic fertilization rate of the AFF is 3000 to 4500 kg/ha.

The fractional-order calculus model is suitable for describing real-world problems that contain non-local effects and have memory genetic effects. Based on the definition of the Caputo derivative, the article proposes a class of fractional hepatitis B epidemic model with a general incidence rate. Firstly, the existence, uniqueness, positivity and boundedness of model solutions, basic reproduction number, equilibrium points, and local stability of equilibrium points are studied employing fractional differential equation theory, stability theory, and infectious disease dynamics theory. Secondly, the fractional necessary optimality conditions for fractional optimal control problems are derived by applying the Pontryagin maximum principle. Finally, the optimization simulation results of fractional optimal control problem are discussed. To control the spread of the hepatitis B virus, three control variables (isolation, treatment, and vaccination) are applied, and the optimal control theory is used to formulate the optimal control strategy. Specifically, by isolating infected and non-infected people, treating patients, and vaccinating susceptible people at the same time, the number of hepatitis B patients can be minimized, the number of recovered people can be increased, and the purpose of ultimately eliminating the transmission of hepatitis B virus can be achieved.

Social Internet of Things (SIoT) is extended to integrate social networks in the Internet of Things (IoT). SIoT enriches IoT, and thus resource (or service) discovery and consolidation in SIoT becomes an important and challenging problem. In this paper, we represent the SIoT as the heterogeneous information networks (HINs) with multi-typed entities and relations, and resolve this problem from the perspective of cohesive subgraph search. Specifically, given a query node $q$ , we discover a cohesive subgraph containing $q$ from a HIN, where all nodes are of the same type as $q$ and have dense relationships. Yet existing solutions cannot be applied to various HINs, and the result subgraph is not accurate and close enough due to ignoring the connectivity among nodes within the subgraph. To this end, 1) we extend the connectivity with novel meta-path-based edge-disjoint paths to HINs, and propose the $k$ -path connected component ( $k$ -PCC) to measure the cohesiveness of subgraph in HINs; 2) we model the densest connected subgraph containing $q$ as the $k$ -PCC with the maximum connectivity including $q$ , called the Steiner Maximum Path-Connected Subgraph (SMPCS); 3) we develop efficient algorithms based on an index tree for searching the SMPCS. Extensive experiments on four real HINs are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed approaches.

Understanding the origin of the enormous catalytic power of enzymes is very important. Electrostatic interactions and desolvation are the phenomena that are most proposed to explain the catalysis of enzymes; however, they also decelerate enzymatic reactions. How enzymes catalyze reactions through noncovalent interactions is still not well-understood. In this study, we explored how enzyme-substrate noncovalent interactions affect the free energy barriers (ΔG‡s) of reactions by using a theoretical derivation approach. We found that enzymes reduce ΔG‡s of reactions by decreasing positive charges and/or increasing negative charges in the electron-donating centers and by decreasing negative charges and/or increasing positive charges in the electron-accepting centers of reactions. Enzyme-substrate noncovalent interactions are essential approaches through which the charge alterations lead to ΔG‡ reductions. Validations with reported experimental data demonstrated that this charge alteration mechanism can explain the catalyses caused by diverse types of noncovalent interactions. Electrostatic interactions and desolvation are the most observed noncovalent interactions essential for ΔG‡ reductions. This mechanism does not contradict any specific enzymatic catalysis and overcomes the shortages of the electrostatic interaction and desolvation mechanisms. This study can provide useful guidance in exploring enzymatic catalysis and designing catalyst.

In this article, the performance indices on consensus problems for three-layered, multiagent systems are studied from the perspective of algebraic graph theory, where the indices can be used as a measurement of the system performance and refer to the network coherence and algebraic connectivity. Specifically, some operations of two graphs are applied to established the three-layered networks based on k-partite structure, and the mathematical expression of the coherence is derived by the methods of algebraic graph theory. We found that the operations of adding star-shaped copies or fan-graph copies will make the coherence increase by some scalars under the computations of limitation. Then, the indices of the three-layered systems with non-isomorphic topologies but the same number of nodes were compared and simulated; it is found that, when the number of nodes in the counterpart node classes tend to infinity, their difference in coherence are only relevant with the number of peripheral nodes in the sense of limitation.

In this paper, a novel cluster consensus problem related with the bipartition of the graph of multi-agent systems (MASs) is studied. To track the virtual leaders and reach the expected consensus, a new type of pinning consensus protocol with aperiodic intermittent effects is designed according to the graph structure, and a new kind of aperiodic intermittent communication is defined. Moreover, the protocol is applied to construct networked systems with intermittent communications. Lyapunov functional is applied to get sufficient conditions for solving the multi-tracking problem under a dual subsystem framework. Finally, some numerical simulations are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect and mechanism of alkaline fertilizer, bio-control fungi, and their synergistic application on control of Fusarium Tr4 incidence. Synchronized use of the alkaline fertilizer and biocontrol fungi eliminates rhizome browning and reduces the incidence rate of banana Fusarium wilt. The incidence of yellow leaves (ratio of yellow leaf to total leaf) and disease index in +Foc Tr4 CF treatment were the same (65%), while incidence of yellow leaves and disease index in +Foc Tr4 AFBCF were 31% and 33%, respectively. Under the stress of Foc Tr4 infection, the synergistic utilization of the alkaline fertilizer and biocontrol fungi would raise the activities of peroxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase in banana roots. The root activity of banana was also increased. As a result, the banana height and stem diameter increments, shoot and root dry weight, accumulation of N, P and K in banana plants had been increased. The efficacy of the synergistic application of alkaline fertilizer and biocontrol fungi was not only reducing Foc Tr4 pathogen colonization and distribution in banana plants, but also preventing tylosis formation in vascular vessel effectively. Therefore, the normal transport of water and nutrients between underground and aboveground is ensured.

Abstract Background To increase the production of bioethanol, a two-step process based on hydrothermal and dilute alkaline treatment was applied to reduce the natural resistance of biomass. However, the process required a large amount of water and a long operation time due to the solid/liquid separation before the alkaline treatment, which led to decrease the pure economic profit for production of bioethanol. Therefore, four one-step processes based on order of hydrothermal and alkaline treatment have been developed to enhance concentration of glucose of wheat straw by enzymatic saccharification. The aim of the present study was to systematically evaluated effect for different one-step processes by analyzing the physicochemical properties (composition, structural change, crystallinity, surface morphology, and BET surface area) and enzymatic saccharification of the treated substrates. Results In this study, hemicelluloses and lignins were removed from wheat straw and the morphologic structures were destroyed to various extents during the four one-step processes, which were favorable for cellulase absorption on cellulose. A positive correlation was also observed between the crystallinity and enzymatic saccharification rate of the substrate under the conditions given. The surface area of the substrate was positively related to the concentration of glucose in this study. As compared to the control (3.0 g/L) and treated substrates (11.2–14.6 g/L) obtained by the other three one-step processes, the substrate treated by one-step process based on successively hydrothermal and alkaline treatment had a maximum glucose concentration of 18.6 g/L, which was due to the high cellulose concentration and surface area for the substrate, accompanying with removal of large amounts of lignins and hemicelluloses. Conclusions The present study demonstrated that the order of hydrothermal and alkaline treatment had significant effects on the physicochemical properties and enzymatic saccharification of wheat straw. The one-step process based on successively hydrothermal and alkaline treatment is a simple operating and economical feasible method for the production of glucose, which will be further converted into bioethanol.

Lentinula edodes (shiitake mushrooms) is heavily affected by the infection of Trichoderma atroviride, causing yield loss and decreases quality in shiitake mushrooms. The selection and breeding of fungal-resistant L. edodes species are an important approach to protecting L. edodes from T. atroviride infection. Herein, a highly resistant L. edodes strain (Y3334) and a susceptible strain (Y55) were obtained by using a resistance evaluation test. Transcriptome analyses and qRT-PCR detection showed that the expression level of LeTLP1 (LE01Gene05009) was strongly induced in response to T. atroviride infection in the resistant Y3334. Then, LeTLP1-silenced and LeTLP1-overexpression transformants were obtained. Overexpression of LeTLP1 resulted in resistance to T. atroviride. Compared with the parent strain Y3334, LeTLP1-silenced transformants had reduced resistance relative to T. atroviride. Additionally, the LeTLP1 protein (Y3334) exhibited significant antifungal activity against T. atroviride. These findings suggest that overexpression of LeTLP1 is a major mechanism for the resistance of L. edodes to T. atroviride. The molecular basis provides a theoretical basis for the breeding of resistant L. edodes strains and can eventually contribute to the mushroom cultivation industry and human health.

Bisphenol A is used in the production of many plastic products, but has adverse health effects and is therefore being replaced. Here the authors show that its substitute, fluorene-9-bisphenol, is released from commercial plastic bottles into drinking water, and has anti-oestrogenic effects in mice.

The problem of cluster consensus with multiple leaders is called multitracking. In this article, a sort of multitracking of first-order multiagent systems with adaptive coupling strength is studied by the application of adaptive strategy, and the delayed relation between various leaders and clusters is considered. To reach the clustered multitracking goal, a novel pinning-like control protocol with adaptive approach is designed according to the properties of network topology. In addition, the structure of the networked system is a weakly connected digraph. Some conditions are derived to ensure that the nodes in the same cluster reach the consensus via tracking their leader, while leaders will keep a delayed relation with the settled leader node as time goes on to form the required delay consensus.

In this work, an improved IMplicit Pressure and Explicit Saturation (IMPES) scheme is proposed to solve the coupled partial differential equations to simulate the three-phase flows in subsurface porous media. This scheme is the first IMPES algorithm for the three-phase flow problem that is locally mass conservative for all phases. The key technique of this novel scheme relies on a new formulation of the discrete pressure equation. Different from the conventional scheme, the discrete pressure equation in this work is obtained by adding together the discrete conservation equations of all phases, thus ensuring the consistency of the pressure equation with the three saturation equations at the discrete level. This consistency is important, but unfortunately it is not satisfied in the conventional IMPES schemes. In this paper, we address and fix an undesired and well-known consequence of this inconsistency in the conventional IMPES in that the computed saturations are conservative only for two phases in three-phase flows, but not for all three phases. Compared with the standard IMPES scheme, the improved IMPES scheme has the following advantages: firstly, the mass conservation of all the phases is preserved both locally and globally; secondly, it is unbiased toward all phases, i.e., no reference phases need to be chosen; thirdly, the upwind scheme is applied to the saturation of all phases instead of only the referenced phases; fourthly, numerical stability is greatly improved because of phase-wise conservation and unbiased treatment. Numerical experiments are also carried out to demonstrate the strength of the improved IMPES scheme.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179565.].

The "hygiene hypothesis" is a theory try to explain the dramatic increases in the prevalence of autoimmune and allergic diseases over the past two to three decades in developed countries. According to this theory, reduced exposure to parasites and microorganisms in childhood is the main cause for the increased incidences of both T helper 1 (Th1)-mediated autoimmunity and Th2-mediated allergy. In this study, we investigated the impact of Schistosoma japonicum infection on the allergic airway inflammation induced by repeated intracheal inoculations of house dust mites (HDM), which is a Th17 and neutrophils dominant murine asthma model, mimicking severe asthma. We found that S. japonicum infection downregulated airway hyperresponsiveness. The infiltrating cells, Th17 and Th2 effector cytokines in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluids and lungs were significantly reduced in the infected mice. Our findings indicated that S. japonicum infection was able to effectively inhibit host's allergic airway inflammation, which may be related to the upregulated Treg cells upon infection. To our knowledge, it is the first study to reveal the impact of S. japonicum infection on house dust mite induced severe asthma. More in depth investigation is need to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.

Globally, vegetable fields are the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions. A closed-chamber method together with gas chromatography was used to measure the fluxes of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in typical vegetable fields planted with four vegetables sequentially over time in the same field: endive, lettuce, cabbage and sweet corn. Results showed that N2O fluxes occurred in pulses with the N2O emission peak varying greatly among the crops. In addition, N2O emissions were linearly associated with the nitrogen (N) application rate (r = 0.8878, n = 16). Excessive fertilizer N application resulted in N loss through nitrous oxide gas emitted from the vegetable fields. Compared with a conventional fertilization (N2) treatment, the cumulative N2O emissions decreased significantly in the growing seasons of four plant species from an nitrogen synergist (a nitrification inhibitor, dicyandiamide and biochar treatments by 34.6% and 40.8%, respectively. However, the effects of biochar on reducing N2O emissions became more obvious than that of dicyandiamide over time. The yield-scaled N2O emissions in consecutive growing seasons for four species increased with an increase in the N fertilizer application rate, and with continuous application of N fertilizer. This was especially true for the high N fertilizer treatment that resulted in a risk of yield-scaled N2O emissions. Generally, the additions of dicyandiamide and biochar significantly decreased yield-scaled N2O-N emissions by an average of 45.9% and 45.7%, respectively, compared with N2 treatment from the consecutive four vegetable seasons. The results demonstrated that the addition of dicyandiamide or biochar in combination with application of a rational amount of N could provide the best strategy for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in vegetable field in south China.

In this study, a novel three-component hydrogel has been designed and fabricated via hierarchical self-assembly by amino acid derivative (NPPD), riboflavin (RF) and α-cyclodextrin (α-CD). These molecules were aggregated to form some fibrous structures based on hydrogen bond and π–π stacking. The results show that the hydrogel has a specific response to α-amylase and the fluorescence disappears once hydrolyzed. Therefore, this multi-component hydrogel has potential application in the field of drug delivery.

In a randomized, phase III trial of nilotinib versus imatinib in patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome positive chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase, more patients had suboptimal response or treatment failure on front-line imatinib than on nilotinib. Patients with suboptimal response/treatment failure on imatinib 400 mg once or twice daily or nilotinib 300 mg twice daily could enter an extension study to receive nilotinib 400 mg twice daily. After a 19-month median follow up, the safety profile of nilotinib 400 mg twice daily in patients switching from imatinib (n=35) was consistent with previous reports, and few new adverse events occurred in patients escalating from nilotinib 300 mg twice daily (n=19). Of patients previously treated with imatinib or nilotinib 300 mg twice daily, respectively, 15 of 26 (58%) and 2 of 6 (33%) without complete cytogenetic response at extension study entry, and 11 of 34 (32%) and 7 of 18 (39%) without major molecular response at extension study entry, achieved these responses at any time on nilotinib 400 mg twice daily. Estimated 18-month rates of freedom from progression and overall survival after entering the extension study were lower for patients switched from imatinib (85% and 87%, respectively) versus nilotinib 300 mg twice daily (95% and 94%, respectively). Nilotinib dose escalation was generally well tolerated and improved responses in about one-third of patients with suboptimal response/treatment failure. Switch to nilotinib improved responses in some patients with suboptimal response/treatment failure on imatinib, but many did not achieve complete cytogenetic response (clinicaltrials.gov identifiers:00718263, 00471497 - extension).

We study the global property in a delayed periodic predator-prey model with stage-structure in prey and density-independence in predator. The sufficient conditions on the ultimate boundedness of all positive solutions are obtained, and the sufficient conditions of the integrable form for the permanence and extinction are further established, respectively. Some well-known results on the predator density-dependency are improved and extended to the predator density-independent cases. The theoretical results are confirmed by the special examples and the numerical simulations.

In this study, we report a novel three-component luminescent hydrogel, which is composed of amino acid derivatives (N,N′-di valine-3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic acid, NVPD), riboflavin (RF), and melamine (MM). The three-component hydrogel is attributed to multiple hydrogen bonds and the strong π-π stacking interaction between these molecules. Based on the strong hydrogen bonding of the gelator, when the reversible process between the gel and the solution take places it changes the pH of the system from 6.1 to 10.6. In addition, green fluorescence could be the emissive of the hydrogel under 498 nm and the conversion process of the aggregation state repeated reversibly by altering the value of ambient pH. This pH-responsive luminescent gel may display potential for use in nano pH sensors.

A novel three-component supramolecular hydrogel based on riboflavin, melamine and amino acid derivatives were constructed for controlled release of pesticides, Niclosamide derivatives. The formation of hydrogel may be attributed to self-assemble via hydrogen bonding and π–π interaction, which have been researched via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra. The rheological experiments showed that the hydrogel materials and drug-loaded hydrogel all demonstrated good mechanical strength and high stability. Further experimental results indicated that the drug-loaded hydrogels show large drug loadings, long-term release time and relatively higher efficiency to anti-cercariae in the water environment.

This paper begins with presenting a mathematical model for contaminant transport in the fractured vuggy porous media of a species of contaminant (PCP). Two phases are numerically simulated for a process of contaminant and clean water infiltrated in the fractured vuggy porous media by coupling mixed finite element (MFE) method and finite volume method (FVM), both of which are locally conservative, to approximate the model. A hybrid mixed finite element (HMFE) method is applied to approximate the velocity field for the model. The convection and diffusion terms are approached by FVM and the standard MFE, respectively. The pressure distribution and temporary evolution of the concentration profiles are obtained for two phases. The average effluent concentration on the outflow boundary is obtained at different time and shows some different features from the matrix porous media. The temporal multiscale phenomena of the effluent concentration on the outlet are observed. The results show how the different distribution of the vugs and the fractures impacts on the contaminant transport and the effluent concentration on the outlet. This paper sheds light on certain features of karstic groundwater are obtained.