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Surgery is the main treatment for resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. However, for patients with locally advanced lesions, surgery-based comprehensive treatment is the best treatment strategy. According to the results of some randomized controlled clinical studies and meta-analysis, preoperative neoadjuvant therapy is recommended to improve the survival rate of patients. Neoadjuvant therapy includes neoadjuvant chemotherapy, chemoradiotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy. Great progress has been made in neoadjuvant therapy, but there are still many clinical problems that need to be solved urgently, including the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant therapy, the choice of neoadjuvant regimen and treatment cycle, the best combination and advantages of multimodal treatment, and the selection of responders to treatment, etc. This article provides a systematic review of the latest developments and existing controversies in neoadjuvant therapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.手术是可切除食管鳞癌的主要治疗手段，然而对于局部进展期患者，以手术为主的综合治疗是其最佳治疗策略。一些随机对照临床研究和Meta分析的研究结果表明，新辅助治疗可以提高患者生存率，新辅助治疗包括新辅助化疗、放化疗、靶向治疗和免疫治疗。近年来，食管鳞癌的新辅助治疗虽然取得了长足进步，但仍存在许多亟待解决的临床问题，包括新辅助治疗的疗效和安全性，新辅助治疗方案和治疗周期的选择、最佳组合和多模式治疗的策略以及优势人群的筛选等。本文就目前食管鳞癌新辅助治疗的最新进展和存在的挑战做一综述。.

The application of day surgery on thoracic surgery is just started, and the innovation of surgical robots and their application on thoracic surgery bring new opportunities to the development of thoracic day surgery. However, the clinical practice of robot-assisted thoracic day surgery (RTDS) in China still has challenges and disagreements. Based on the experience of domestic experts in the field of RTDS clinical practice, this review discussed several key points of RTDS, including the future direction of RTDS, adjusting the indications according to their own conditions for the institutions carrying out RTDS, the robot-assisted advantage of RTDS being brought into play during the operation, and the perfect post-discharge follow-up mechanism being an important guarantee for the safe development of RTDS, to promote the application progress of RTDS in China.日间手术在胸外科领域的应用目前仍处于起步阶段，而近年来机器人辅助胸腔镜手术在胸外科的应用为胸外科日间手术的推广普及带来了新的契机。但目前国内机器人胸外科日间手术（RTDS）的临床应用仍存在诸多挑战与分歧。本文立足国内相关领域专家在RTDS临床实践中的心得体会，讨论了RTDS目前的焦点问题，从RTDS未来方向、开展RTDS的机构可根据自身条件调整适应证、减少创伤、严格出院标准、完善出院后随访机制5个方面予以探讨，以期促进RTDS在国内应用的普及与进步。.

Bulk dense Ti-25Nb-3Mo-3Zr-2Sn (TLM) alloy with a discontinuous core-shell structure was successfully synthesized by spark plasma sintering (SPS) of the oxidized TLM powder. A discontinuous core-shell structure is formed, which is mainly attributed to the participation of α phases in β matrix near boundaries induced by diffusion of oxygen. The core-shell TLM compact exhibits a yield strength and fracture plasticity approaching 1.36 GPa and 34%, respectively.

The high corrosion rate of Mg alloys has hindered their wider use in orthopedic applications. In order to decrease the corrosion rate and to improve the bioactivity, a modified nanocrystalline (NC) surface layer with an average grain size of 70 nm and a thickness of 70 μm on the topmost surface of coarse-grained (CG) AZ31 alloy was successfully achieved by means of a surface nanocrystallization technique called sliding friction treatment (SFT). It showed that the extreme grain refinement in NC layer was favorably capable of enhancing the protective efficiency of the corrosion product layer and alleviating the susceptibility to localized corrosion. Moreover, SFT-induced second-phase particles fragmentation also helped to hinder micro-galvanic corrosion. Resultantly, the NC sample exhibited notably enhanced corrosion resistance as compared to the CG counterpart (e.g., the average hydrogen evolution rate of AZ31 during 170 h immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF) solution was reduced from 0.12 to 0.068 mL cm−2 h−1 after SFT processing). Meanwhile, the in vitro results confirmed that SFT processing enhanced the cytocompatibility of AZ31 Mg alloy to osteoblasts, which also benefited from the improved corrosion resistance induced by grain size reduction. Therefore, our study suggests a promising approach for the fabrication of biodegradable Mg alloy with modified properties.

Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1/CD279) and cytotoxic T Lymphocyte Antigen-4 (CTLA-4) are important immune checkpoints, through the role of the corresponding ligands and inhibit T cell activation and production of cytokines, in maintaining the body's vital role in peripheral tolerance. The use of anti-CTLA-4/PD-1 /PD-L1 monoclonal antibodies to block the tumor signaling pathway has shown excellent anti-tumor efficacy in a variety of solid tumors, and it is expected that immunotherapy will be available for the treatment of 60% advanced tumors in the next decade. Esophageal cancer is one of the major causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and its 5-year survival rate is generally low. Currently, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery are the standard treatments for esophageal cancer, and there is no effective treatment scheme for patients with esophageal cancer who fail to respond to standard treatment. Due to the diversity of somatic cell gene mutations and the generation of neo-antigens in esophageal cancer, immunotherapy has become a feasible treatment scheme to improve the prognosis of esophageal cancer. In this situation, the application of immunotherapy for esophageal cancer or more specific immune checkpoint inhibitors has gradually become the focus of the treatment of esophageal cancer. Nowadays, the research of immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as ipilimumab, tremelimumab, pembrolizumab, nivolumab and avelumab on esophageal cancer is proceeding at an amazing speed. The phase Ⅰ b clinical study of immunotherapy for esophageal cancer, which previously attracted great interest, has been replaced by the phase Ⅲ clinical study, and the results of the relevant studies also show a good prospect for the application of immune checkpoint inhibitors for esophageal cancer. However, the prediction of therapeutic effect and the selection of the best candidates still need to be further studied.程序性细胞死亡蛋白-1 （PD-1）和细胞毒性T细胞抗原-4 （CTLA-4）是重要的免疫检查点，可通过与对应配体的相互作用而抑制T细胞的活化及细胞因子的产生，在维持机体的外周耐受方面发挥重要的作用。利用抗CTLA-4/PD-1/PD-L1的单克隆抗体阻断肿瘤的信号转导通路，已经在多种实体瘤中显示出卓越的抗肿瘤疗效，预计未来十年内免疫疗法将用于60%晚期肿瘤的治疗。食管癌是世界范围内癌症相关死亡的主要原因之一，其5年生存率普遍较低，放疗、化疗、手术是食管癌目前标准的治疗手段，对于接受标准治疗无效的食管癌患者，目前尚无有效的治疗方案。由于食管癌体细胞基因突变的多样性及新抗原的产生，免疫治疗成为改善食管癌预后的一种可行的治疗方案。在这种情况下，食管癌的免疫疗法，或者更具体的免疫检查点抑制剂的应用逐渐成为食管癌治疗研究的重点。目前，依匹单抗、曲美姆单抗、派姆单抗、纳武单抗等免疫检查点抑制剂治疗食管癌的相关研究正以惊人的速度进行，其相关研究结果也显示了免疫检查点抑制剂在食管癌治疗中良好的应用前景，然而其疗效预测及最佳获益人群选择的标准仍需进一步研究。.

Microstructure characteristics and strain rate sensitivity of Ti–25Nb–3Zr–3Mo–2Sn alloy were studied by compression deformation at 850 °C and strain rate of 0.001–50 s−1, to give a basic understanding for the alloy being able to obtain a reasonable microstructure by thermomechanical processing. The results show that both microstructure evolution and flow behavior are sensitive to strain rate. At the lower strain rates of 0.001–0.1 s−1, dynamic recovery leads to abundant sub-grains. At the higher strain rates of 1–50 s−1, dynamic recrystallization (DRX) is activated in small extent, resulting in the localized grain refinement and a decreased strain rate sensitivity (m). Two typical orientation accumulation patterns, i.e., continuous accumulation and multi-peak orientation, are prone to occur at the lower and higher strain rates, respectively. It is considered that the activated DRX is associated with the strain concentration and deformation heating. The former promotes the boundary bugling and migration as well as misorientation accumulations, while the latter provides an energy potential needed for grain nucleation, and accelerates the rearrangement of the mobile dislocations into low-energy configurations.

We reported the formation of nanocrystalline structure in the surface layer of a pure tantalum plate under sliding friction treatment. Nanocrystalline grains of 7 nm with amorphous boundaries were formed in the topmost surface layer of Ta plate. Deformation twins were also observed in the nanocrystalline grains with size below 20 nm. Deformation twinning and localized amorphization are the possible deformation mechanisms in the top surface layer of tantalum induced by sliding friction.

Surgery is the major approach for the treatment of patients with resectable esophageal cancer. Patients treated with conventional surgery have poor survival rates. In recent years, many new theories of surgery for esophageal cancer are springing up and the quality of life and survival rates have been improved. However, controversies exist in the selection of appropriate surgical approach, minimally invasive esophagectomy and neoadjuvant therapy. The aim of this article is to discuss these three hot issues.

Epoxy chloropropane (ECP) grafting modification method was used for the surface treatment of Carbon fiber to improve the interfacial adhesion of the Carbon fiber-reinforced Poly(methyl methacrylate)(PMMA) composite. The interfacial shear strength between PMMA and Carbon fiber was analyzed by measuring short beam strength of composite. The friction and wear properties were also comparatively studied using ring-block tribomachine. Results showed that ECP grafting modification of Carbon fiber improved the interfacial adhesion than the untreated one. Thus both the mechanical and tribological properties of ECP treated CF/PMMA increased.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the correlation between preoperative/postoperative Cytokeratin 19 (CK19) messenger RNA (mRNA) level in peripheral blood (PB) and the clinical significance in esophageal cancer patients with different clinicopathological factors. We detected the preoperative and postoperative CK19 mRNA level in the PB of 139 esophageal cancer patients who underwent complete resection and evaluated its clinical significance. We found that both the preoperative and postoperative CK19 mRNA level increased in the esophageal cancer patients with lymph node metastasis, relapse or distant metastasis compared with that in cancers without lymph node metastasis, relapse or distant metastasis. High postoperative CK19 mRNA levels indicate a short disease-free survival (DFS) for the whole cohort esophageal cancer patients, whereas the high preoperative CK19 mRNA levels only indicate a short DFS for the esophageal cancer patients with squamous cell carcinoma, TNM III stage, and lymph node metastasis. The dynamic change of CK19 mRNA levels could indicate the prognosis of esophageal cancer patients. The patients with decreasing CK19 mRNA level after surgery had good prognosis, and the patients with changeless CK19 mRNA level had poor prognosis. Taken together, CK19 mRNA levels could be a promising marker in assessing prognosis or assigning treatment for the esophageal cancer patients according to different clinicopathological factors.

Lake sediment is an important carbon reservoir. However, little is known on the dynamics and sources of sediment organic carbon in the Bosten Lake. We collected 13 surface (0–2 cm) sediment samples in the Bosten Lake and analyzed total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), stable carbon isotopic composition in TOC (δ13Corg) and grain size. We found a large spatial variability in TOC content (1.8–4.4 %) and δ13Corg value (−26.77 to −23.98 ‰). Using a three end member mixing model with measured TOC : TN ratio and δ13Corg, we estimated that 54–90 % of TOC was from autochthonous sources. Higher TOC content (> 3.7 %) was found in the east and central-north sections and near the mouth of the Kaidu River, which was attributable to allochthonous, autochthonous plus allochthonous, and autochthonous sources, respectively. The lowest TOC content was found in the mid-west section, which might be a result of high kinetic energy levels. Our study indicated that the spatial distribution of sediment TOC in the Bosten Lake was influenced by multiple and complex processes.

The impact tensile test was carried out on hot-rolled commercially pure titanium at temperature from 293 K to 77 K. The microstructures after fracture were examined by transmission electron microscope to determine the deformation modes. Strength and ductility increase with decreasing temperature from 293 K to 77 K. The investigation on the microstructure shows that slip cooperates with twinning in the deformation, and twinning becomes more active at lower temperature. At high strain rate titanium exhibits obvious strain hardening and twinning plays an important role in strain hardening. {1012} twin is identified in the microstructure at room temperature and three types of twins were identified at 77 K, which are {1011}, {1012}, {1121} twins.

In this paper, we apply a new fixed-point theorem and use various monotonicity and some coercivity conditions to establish equilibrium theorems for multimaps. As a simple consequence, we give a unified approach to vectorial equilibria for multimaps. We show that, from our results, some well-known classical results, such as the Ky Fan minimax inequality theorem and the Browder and Hartman-Stampacchia theorems concerning the existence for variational inequalities, can be derived easily.

Author(s): Bai, JZ; Bian, JG; Blum, I; Chai, ZW; Chen, GP; Chen, HF; Chen, J; Chen, JC; Chen, Y; Chen, YB; Chen, YQ; Cheng, BS; Cui, XZ; Ding, HL; Ding, LY; Dong, LY; Du, ZZ; Dunwoodie, W; Feng, S; Gao, CS; Gao, ML; Gao, SQ; Gratton, P; Gu, JH; Gu, SD; Gu, WX; Gu, YF; Guo, YN; Han, SW; Han, Y; Harris, FA; He, J; He, JT; He, M; Hitlin, DG; Hu, GY; Hu, HM; Hu, JL; Hu, QH; Hu, T; Hu, XQ; Huang, JD; Huang, YZ; Izen, JM; Jiang, CH; Jin, Y; Ke, ZJ; Kelsey, MH; Kim, BK; Kong, D; Lai, YF; Lang, PF; Lankford, A; Li, CG; Li, D; Li, HB; Li, J; Li, PQ; Li, RB; Li, W; Li, WD; Li, WG; Li, XH; Li, XN; Liu, HM; Liu, J; Liu, JH; Liu, RG; Liu, Y; Lou, XC; Lowery, B; Lu, F; Lu, JG; Lu, JY; Lu, LC; Luo, CH; Ma, AM; Ma, EC; Ma, JM; Malchow, R; Mao, HS; Mao, ZP; Meng, XC; Nie, J; Olsen, SL | Abstract: The decays of the ψ(2S) into vector plus tensor meson final states have been studied for the first time using the BES detector. We determine upper limits on branching fractions for ψ(2S) decays into ωf2, ρa2, K*0K*02 + c.c., and φf'2(1525) that are, in each case, significantly smaller than the corresponding branching fractions for the J/ψ meson, scaled according to the expectations of perturbative QCD. © 1998 The American Physical Society.

Author(s): Bai, JZ; Bian, JG; Blum, I; Chai, ZW; Chen, GP; Chen, HF; Chen, J; Chen, JC; Chen, Y; Chen, YB; Chen, YQ; Cheng, BS; Cui, XZ; Ding, HL; Ding, LY; Dong, LY; Du, ZZ; Dunwoodie, W; Feng, S; Gao, CS; Gao, ML; Gao, SQ; Gratton, P; Gu, JH; Gu, SD; Gu, WX; Gu, YF; Guo, YN; Han, SW; Han, Y; Harris, FA; He, J; He, JT; He, M; Hitlin, DG; Hu, GY; Hu, HM; Hu, JL; Hu, QH; Hu, T; Hu, XQ; Huang, JD; Huang, YZ; Izen, JM; Jiang, CH; Jin, Y; Ke, ZJ; Kelsey, MH; Kim, BK; Kong, D; Lai, YF; Lang, PF; Lankford, A; Li, CG; Li, D; Li, HB; Li, J; Li, PQ; Li, RB; Li, W; Li, WD; Li, WG; Li, XH; Li, XN; Liu, HM; Liu, J; Liu, JH; Liu, RG; Liu, Y; Lou, XC; Lowery, B; Lu, F; Lu, JG; Lu, JY; Lu, LC; Luo, CH; Ma, AM; Ma, EC; Ma, JM; Malchow, R; Mao, HS; Mao, ZP; Meng, XC; Nie, J; Olsen, SL | Abstract: The processes ψ(2S) → I π+ π−, γK+ K−, and γpp¯ have been studied using a sample of 3.79 × 106 ψ(2S) decays. We determine the total width of the χc0 to be γtotχc0 = 14.3 ± 2.0 ± 3.0 MeV. We present the first measurement of the branching fraction B(χc0 → pp¯) = (15.9 ± 4.3 ± 5.3) × 10−5, where the first error is statistical and the second one is systematic. Branching fractions of χc0, 2 → π+ π− and K+ K− are also reported. © 1998 American Physical Society.

With 7.8 million produced J / ψ events collected by the BES detector at the BEPC, decays J/ψ→Λ Λ ,Λ Λ γ and Λ Λ π 0 are analysed. The branching ratios are measured to be Br (J/ψ→Λ Λ )=(1.08±0.06±0.24)×10 −3 , Br (J/ψ→Λ Λ γ) −4 (90% C.L. ) , Br (J/ψ→Λ Λ π 0 )=(2.3±0.7±0.8)×10 −4 , respectively. The angular distribution for J/ψ→Λ Λ is of the form d N d cos θ =N 0 (1+α cos 2 θ) , from which we determine α =0.52±0.33±0.13.

A search is performed for the production of the ψ(2S) in e^+e^- annihilation at a center-of-mass energy of 4.03 GeV using the BES detector operated at the Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPC). The kinematic features of the reconstructed ψ(2S) signal are consistent with its being produced only in association with an energetic photon resulting from initial state radiation (ISR). Limits are placed on ψ(2S) production from the decay of unknown charmonia or metastable hybrids that might be produced in e^+e^- annihilations at 4.03 GeV. Under the assumption that the observed cross section for ψ(2S) production is due entirely to ISR, the partial width Γ_(ee) of the ψ(2S) is measured to be 2.07±0.32keV.

Author(s): Bai, JZ; Bardon, O; Bian, JG; Blum, I; Breakstone, A; Burnett, T; Chai, ZW; Chen, GP; Chen, HF; Chen, J; Chen, JC; Chen, SM; Chen, Y; Chen, YB; Chen, YQ; Cheng, BS; Cowan, RF; Cui, XZ; Ding, HL; Du, ZZ; Dunwoodie, W; Fan, XL; Fang, J; Fero, M; Gao, CS; Gao, ML; Gao, SQ; Gratton, P; Gu, JH; Gu, SD; Gu, WX; Gu, YF; Guo, YN; Han, SW; Han, Y; Harris, FA; He, J; He, JT; He, M; Hitlin, DG; Hu, GY; Hu, JL; Hu, QH; Hu, T; Hu, XQ; Huang, XP; Huang, YZ; Izen, JM; Jia, QP; Jiang, CH; Jin, S; Jin, Y; Jones, L; Kang, SH; Ke, ZJ; Kelsey, MH; Kim, BK; Kong, D; Lai, YF; Lan, HB; Lang, PF; Lankford, A; Li, J; Li, PQ; Li, Q; Li, RB; Li, W; Li, WD; Li, WG; Li, XH; Li, XN; Lin, SZ; Lu, F; Liu, HM; Liu, J; Liu, JH; Liu, Q; Liu, RG; Liu, Y; Liu, ZA; Lou, XC; Lowery, B; Lu, JG; Lu, JY; Luo, SQ | Abstract: The absolute inclusive semileptonic branching fraction of the [Formula presented] meson has been measured based on [Formula presented] of [Formula presented] collision data collected with the Beijing Spectrometer at [Formula presented] At this energy, the [Formula presented] are produced in pairs: [Formula presented] We reconstructed [Formula presented] [Formula presented] events in five hadronic decay modes. In the recoil system of these events, several [Formula presented] inclusive semileptonic decays were observed and the branching fraction is estimated to be [Formula presented] © 1997 The American Physical Society.

Primary adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC) of the esophagus is a rare kind of malignancy characterized by mixed glandular and squamous differentiation as well as a propensity for aggressive clinical behavior. Data on the evaluation of the clinicopathological features and the prognosis of patients suffering from this malignancy are few because of the rarity of this disease. We conducted a retrospective review of 24 patients with primary esophageal ASC among 6546 esophageal cancer patients who underwent transthoracic esophagectomy in our hospital. The clinicopathological presentation, diagnosis, treatment, and prognostic factors of the patients were respectively investigated. The Kaplan-Meier method and the log rank test were used to calculate and compare overall survival (OS). The Cox proportional hazards model was employed to identify independent prognostic factors. There were 18 males and 6 females with a median age of 60 years (range: 40-78 years). The clinical symptoms, macroscopic type, as well as the radiological and endoscopic features of esophageal ASC were similar to those of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Sixteen (88.9%) of the 18 cases who underwent preoperative esophagoscopic biopsy were misdiagnosed as adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma. The overall median follow-up period was 36 months, and the median survival time was 32 months. The 1, 3, 5-year OS rates were 75.0%, 48.5%, and 19.4%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that gender (P=0.047), lymph node metastasis (P=0.007), and TNM stage (P=0.037) were important factors associated with OS of the 22 patients who underwent radical resection. Multivariate analysis showed that the pathological N stage was the only independent prognostic factor (P=0.031, hazard ratio [HR], 5.369, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.167-24.700). These results suggest that esophageal ASC is an uncommon disease prone to be misdiagnosed by endoscopic biopsy. Surgical resection is the primary treatment, but the prognosis of ASC is usually poorer than conventional squamous cell carcinoma. Lymph node metastasis is an independent prognostic factor after radical resection.

The aim of this study was to clarify the clinico-pathological outcome and prognostic significance of phospholipase A2 group IIA (PLA2G2A) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).Immunohistochemical staining for PLA2G2A was performed on surgical specimens obtained from 132 patients with ESCC, and 43 from matched adjacent non-malignant sites. Differences in PLA2G2A expression and clinical characteristics were compared by χ2 test. Correlations between prognostic outcomes and with PLA2G2A expression were investigated using Kaplan-Meier analysis and the Cox proportional hazards model.Immunoreactivity of PLA2G2A was observed in 32% (42 of 132) of ESCC tissues compared with negative staining in matched adjacent non-malignant sites. In addition, PLA2G2A expression inversely correlated with pathological classification (p0.05 for T, N, and M classifications) and clinical staging (p = 0.03). Furthermore, patients with positive PLA2G2A had prolonged overall survival (p0.01).Reduced PLA2G2A expression may be a risk factor for advanced clinicopathological classification and poor patient survival. These findings suggest that PLA2G2A may serve as a useful marker for the prognostic evaluation of ESCC patients.

The BES experiment at the Beijing electron-positron collider has observed the $\ensuremath{\xi}$(2230) signal in ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{+}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$, ${K}^{+}{K}^{\ensuremath{-}}$, ${K}_{S}^{0}{K}_{S}^{0}$, and $p\overline{p}$ final states with $4.6\ensuremath{\sigma}$, $4.1\ensuremath{\sigma}$, $4.0\ensuremath{\sigma}$, and $3.8\ensuremath{\sigma}$ statistical significances, respectively. The new observations of two nonstrange decay modes of $\ensuremath{\xi}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{+}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ and $p\overline{p}$ are important evidence for the glueball interpretation of the $\ensuremath{\xi}(2230)$.

Bulk nanocrystalline Ti bars (Grade 4, ϕ4 × 3000 mm3) were massively fabricated by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) via follow-up conform scheme with the microcrystalline CP Ti as raw material. Homogeneous nanostructured crystals with the average grain size of 250 nm were identified for the ECAPed Ti, with extremely high tensile/fatigue strength (around 1240/620 MPa) and adorable elongation (more than 5%). Pronounced formation of bonelike apatite for the nanocrystalline Ti group after 14 days static immersion in simulated body fluids (SBF) reveals the prospective in vitro bioactive capability of fast calcification, whereas an estimated 17% increment in protein adsorption represents good bioaffinity of nanocrystalline Ti. The documentation onto the whole life circle of osteoblast cell lines (MG63) revealed the strong interactions and superior cellular functionalization when they are co-incubated with bulk nanocrystalline Ti sample. Moreover, thread-structured specimens were designed and implanted into the tibia of Beagles dogs till 12 weeks to study the in vivo responses between bone and metallic implant made of bulk nanocrystalline Ti, with the microcrystalline Ti as control. For the implanted nanostructured Ti group, neoformed bone around the implants underwent the whole-stage transformation proceeding from originally osteons or immature woven bone to mature lamellar bone (skeletonic trabecular), even with the remodeling being finished till 12 weeks. The phenomenal osseointegration of direct implant-bone contact can be revealed from the group of the ECAPed Ti without fibrous tissue encapsulation in the gap between the implant and autogenous bone. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A, 2013.

The enhanced heat transfer and flow of water‐glycol mixture in transversely ribbed circular tubes was numerically investigated with a 2D axisymmetric model. A pitch long section was chosen and periodic flow with isothermal surface condition within this tube section was computed with Fluent 6.2. The mean friction factor and heat transfer data are obtained. The influence of different rib height and rib pitch on the enhanced heat transfer and flow behavior was studied. The friction factor was well correlated with e/d, p/d and Re with one equation. No critical e/d, which exists for air, was found and the correlation of Nusselt number with Re, e/d, p/d cannot be correlated with similar equations used for air. This could be due to the uncertainty in computation and further experiments are needed to examine this.

Since its completion in 1973 the Danjiangkou Dam has markedly changed downstream flows, water levels, temperatures, sediment loads and other water quality characteristics in downstream reaches of the Hanjiang River. There have been changes in the growth, spawning behaviour and overwintering condition of local fish populations, in the composition and abundance of food organisms and in the composition of the commercial fish catch. Despite the changed environment and the absence of a fish pass, fish populations are still able to grow and spawn under the new regime. Where conditions are like those of the Hanjiang River, dams may not necessarily have calamitous consequences for fishery production.

In order to improve the biocompatibility and surface activity of a TLM alloy, a layer of a porous TiO(2) film was prepared by the micro-arc oxidation method on the surface, and then the NH(-)(2) active group was introduced on the film by an activation treatment in an aminated solution. The phase identification and surface characteristics of the micro-arc oxidation films were characterized by XRD, XPS, SEM and EDS. The in vitro blood compatibility of the TLM alloy samples with and without surface modification was evaluated by contact angle tests, hemolysis tests and electrochemical tests. The results indicate that the biocompatibility and surface activity of the TLM alloy could be remarkably improved by surface modification of micro-arc oxidation and activation treatment.

Transcription of the cucumber hpr-A gene is responsive to cytokinin and light. To investigate the molecular basis for transcriptional regulation by cytokinin, we have identified DNA sequences and proteins that may be involved in the regulation of hpr-A gene expression. Transient expression assays in etiolated cucumber cotyledons indicate that the 315 bp fragment (-382 to -67) contains sequences necessary for cytokinin responsiveness of the luciferase reporter gene. Band shift assays detected cytokinin-enhanced and -reduced protein binding sites in a 97 bp fragment (-382 to -285) upstream of the hpr-A gene. DNase I footprinting identified two protein-protected sites, a 15 bp sequence, 5'-AAATGACGAAAATGC-3', that contains an as-1 TGACG motif found in other plant promoters, and a 13 bp sequence, 5'-AAGATTGATTGAG-3', of unknown function. Two-dimensional band shift analysis of the cytokinin-responsive DNA protein complex revealed the presence of six DNA protein interactions. Band shift assays showed that cytokinin and light have different effects on the interaction of nuclear proteins to the 97 bp fragment of the hpr-A gene. These data suggest that cytokinin and light do not share identical signal transduction pathways in regulating hpr-A gene expression.

A comparison of the rates for {psi}(2S){r_arrow}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup {minus}}J/{psi}, J/{psi}{r_arrow}l{sup +}l{sup {minus}} and J/{psi}{r_arrow} anything is used to determine the J/{psi} leptonic branching fractions. The results are B(J/{psi}{r_arrow}e{sup +}e{sup {minus}})=(5.90{plus_minus}0.05{plus_minus}0.10){percent} and B(J/{psi}{r_arrow}{mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup {minus}})=(5.84{plus_minus}0.06{plus_minus}0.10){percent}, where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic. Assuming lepton universality, the leptonic branching fraction of the J/{psi} is B(J/{psi}{r_arrow}l{sup +}l{sup {minus}})=(5.87{plus_minus}0.04{plus_minus}0.09){percent} per species. This result is used to estimate the QCD scale factor {Lambda}{sub {ovr MS}}{sup (4)} and the strong coupling constant {alpha}{sub s}. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}

We report the first measurements of the branching fractions: $B(\psi(2S) -> \gamma \eta') = (1.54 \pm 0.31 \pm 0.23) x 10^{-4}$ and $B(\psi(2S) -> \gamma \eta) = (0.53 \pm 0.31 \pm 0.08) x 10^{-4}$. The $\psi(2S)$ to $\gamma \eta'$ result is consistent with expectations of a model that considers the possibility of $\eta' - \eta$ mixing. The ratio of the $\psi(2S)$ to $\gamma \eta'$ and $\psi(2S)$ to $\gamma \eta$ rates is used to determine the pseudoscalar octet-singlet mixing angle.

A hydroxyapatite/titania composite material was coated onto a titanium (pure Ti) substrate by the sol-gel method. HA (hydroxyapatite) and TiO(2) (titania) sols were made from precursors separately and mixed together. The mixed sol was coated onto the Ti substrate by a spin coating method. The coated samples were dried and heat-treated at certain temperature. The XRD data show that there is an improvement in crystallization and growth of the grain size as the temperature increases. The addition of TiO(2) delayed the crystallization of HA and accelerated its decomposition. The composite HA coating has a porous structure. The addition of TiO(2) also improved the corrosion resistance of the coating.