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The detection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has important value for the monitoring of diseases such as sepsis and the impurity control of drugs. In this work, we prepared guanidinylated carbon dots (GQ-CDs) and used them to adsorb 5-carboxyfluorescein (FAM)-labeled single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) to become GQ-CDs/FAM-DNA, resulting in quenched FAM. The quenching efficiency of the FAM-DNA by GQ-CDs in the GQ-CDs/FAM-DNA system was 91.95%, and this quenching was stable over the long term. Upon the addition of LPS, the quenched FAM-DNA in the GQ-CDs/FAM-DNA system regained fluorescence at 520 nm. The mechanism studies found that the addition of LPS promoted the dissociation of FAM-DNA adsorbed on GQ-CDs, thereby restoring fluorescence. The degree of fluorescence recovery was closely related to the content of LPS. Under optimized conditions, the fluorescence recovery was linearly related to LPS concentrations ranging from 5 to 90 μg/mL, with a detection limit of 0.75 μg/mL. The application of this method to plasma samples and trastuzumab injections demonstrated good spiked recoveries and reproducibility. This platform, based on GQ-CDs for the adsorption and quenching of FAM-DNA, enables the detection of LPS through relatively simple mixing operations, showing excellent competitiveness for the determination of actual samples under various conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stable and safe operation of highway/railway lines is largely dependent on the dynamic behavior of subgrade fillings. Clay soils are widely used in subgrade construction and are compacted at different remolding water contents and compaction degrees, depending on the field conditions. As a result, their dynamic behaviors may vary, which have not been fully investigated until now. To clarify this aspect, a series of cyclic triaxial tests were carried out in this study with three typical remolding water contents (w = 19%, 24%, and 29%), corresponding to the optimum water content as well as its dry and wet sides, and two compaction degrees (Dc = 0.8 and 0.9), which were selected according to the field-testing data. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) tests were also conducted on typical samples to investigate the corresponding soil fabric variations. The findings indicate the following: (a) The soil fabric at the optimum remolding water content and its dry side was characterized by a clay aggregate assembly with a bimodal pore size distribution. In contrast, the soil fabric on the wet side of the optimum water content consisted of dispersed clay particles with a unimodal pore size distribution. (b) As the compaction degree increased, to ensure the optimum water content and its dry side, large pores were compressed to make them smaller, while small pores remained unchanged. Comparatively, all the pores on the wet side were compressed to make them smaller. (c) For each compaction degree, as the remolding water content increased, a non-monotonic changing pattern was identified for both the permanent strain and resilient modulus; the permanent strain first decreased and then increased, while, for the resilient modulus, an initial increasing trend and then a decreasing trend were identified. In addition, a larger changing rate of the permanent strain (resilient modulus) was observed on the dry side, indicating a larger effect of the remolding water content. (d) For each remolding water content, as the compaction degree increased, the permanent strain exhibited a decreasing trend, but an increasing trend was identified for the resilient modulus. Moreover, the rate of change in the permanent strain (resilient modulus) on the dry side of the optimum water content was larger than that on the wet side. In contrast, the minimum rate of change was identified at the optimum water content. The obtained results allowed for the effects of the remolding water content and compaction degree on the dynamic behavior to be analyzed, and they helped guide the construction and maintenance of the subgrade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let |$\psi :{\mathbb{N}} \to [0,\infty)$|⁠ , |$\psi (q)=q^{-(1+\tau)}$| and let |$\psi $| -badly approximable points be those vectors in |${\mathbb{R}}^{d}$| that are |$\psi $| -well approximable, but not |$c\psi $| -well approximable for arbitrarily small constants |$c>0$|⁠. We establish that the |$\psi $| -badly approximable points have the Hausdorff dimension of the |$\psi $| -well approximable points, the dimension taking the value |$(d+1)/(\tau +1)$| familiar from theorems of Besicovitch and Jarník. The method of proof is an entirely new take on the Mass Transference Principle (MTP) by Beresnevich and Velani (Annals, 2006); namely, we use the colloquially named "delayed pruning" to construct a sufficiently large |$\liminf $| set and combine this with ideas inspired by the proof of the MTP to find a large |$\limsup $| subset of the |$\liminf $| set. Our results are a generalisation of some |$1$| -dimensional results due to Bugeaud and Moreira (Acta Arith, 2011), but our method of proof is nothing alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personal thermal management (PTM) textiles with heating or cooling capabilities are highly attractive because they offer individual comfort and contribute to lower energy consumption. However, due to the subjectivity of thermal comfort, developing adaptive and personalized PTM textiles remains a challenge. Here, we report a thermoresponsive cotton fabric (PMOG-cotton), which is prepared by a combination of ultraviolet-induced free radical polymerization and pad-dry-cure process. 2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl methacrylate (MEO2MA) and oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (OEGMA475) are selected as thermoresponsive monomers, while glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) is chosen as the linking monomer for copolymerization. The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of P(MEO2MA-co-OEGMA475-co-GMA) can be precisely regulated by adjusting the dosage of OEGMA475. Furthermore, PMOG-cotton demonstrates a reversible transition between hydrophobic and hydrophilic states in response to variations in external temperature (T > LCST, hydrophobic; T < LCST, hydrophilic). This transition can be sustained for a minimum of 5 cycles and 50 rubbing cycles. PMOG-cotton exhibits superior control over breathability and moisture permeability compared to raw cotton in response to temperature fluctuations. Compared to raw cotton, PMOG-cotton offers a 2.4 °C heating effect in cold environments and a 1.3 °C cooling effect in hot environments. This adaptive thermal management textile shows promise for delivering human thermal comfort in complex and dynamic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria still pose a clinical challenge. Although nanomaterials have been developed for antibacterial treatments, a systematic evaluation of the mechanisms and intervention models of antibacterial materials toward Gram-negative bacteria is still lacking. Herein, antibacterial quaternized carbon dots (QCDs) were synthesized via a one-step melting method using anhydrous citric acid and diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride (DDA). The QCDs exhibited effective broad-spectrum antibacterial activity and enhanced inhibitory ability towards Gram-negative bacteria. The antibacterial mechanism of the QCDs with respect to Gram-negative bacteria was investigated through the characterization of bacterial morphology changes, the absorption modes of the QCDs on bacteria, and the potential generation of reactive oxygen species by the QCDs. The QCDs showed low toxicity in different cells, and did not cause hemolysis. The QCDs were administered via intraperitoneal injection to treat acute peritonitis in mice infected with E. coli. Routine blood examination, magnetic resonance imaging, and pathological analysis were undertaken and it was found that, similar to the positive control group treated with gentamicin sulfate, the QCDs exhibited a therapeutic effect that eliminated infection and inflammation. This study explores a controllable synthetic strategy for the synthesis of active carbon dots with antibacterial activity, a material that is a promising candidate for new treatments of Gram-negative bacterial infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is susceptible to atmospheric disturbance and other factors that cause the position offset error of the antenna phase center and motion error. In close-range detection scenarios, the large elevation angle may make it impossible to directly observe areas near the underlying plane, resulting in observation blind spots. In cases where the illumination elevation angle is extremely large, the influence of range variant envelope error and phase modulations becomes more serious, and traditional two-step motion compensation (MOCO) methods may fail to provide accurate imaging. In addition, conventional phase gradient autofocus (PGA) algorithms suffer from reduced performance in scenes with few strong scattering points. To address these practical challenges, we propose an improved phase-weighted estimation PGA algorithm that analyzes the motion error of UAV SAR under a large elevation angle, providing a solution for high-order range variant motion error. Based on this algorithm, we introduce a combined focusing method that applies a threshold value for selection and optimization. Unlike traditional MOCO methods, our proposed method can more accurately compensate for spatially variant motion error in the case of scenes with few strong scattering points, indicating its wider applicability. The effectiveness of our proposed approach is verified by simulation and real data experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The polymorphisms of VKORC1 and CYP2C9 play increasingly important roles in the inter-individual variability in warfarin dose. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of clinical application of pharmacogenetic-based warfarin-dosing algorithm in patients of Han nationality with rheumatic heart disease after valve replacement in a randomized and controlled trial. Methods One hundred and one consecutive patients of Han nationality with rheumatic heart disease undergoing valve surgery were enrolled and randomly assigned to an experimental group (n=50, based on CYP2C9 and VKORC1 genotypes, pharmacogenetic-based “predicted warfarin dose” for 3 days and then was adjusted to INR until stable warfarin maintenance dose) or a control group (n=51, 2.5mg/d for 3 days and then was adjusted to INR until stable warfarin maintenance dose). All included patients were followed for 50 days after initiation of warfarin therapy. The primary end-point was the time to reach a stable warfarin maintenance dose. Results During the follow-up, 84.0% patients in the experimental group and 58.8% patients in the control group received warfarin maintenance dose. Compared with control group, patients in the experimental group had shorter mean time elapse from initiation of warfarin therapy until warfarin maintenance dose (27.5±1.8 d versus 34.7±1.8 d, pConclusion: Based on CYP2C9 and VKORC1 genotypes, the pharmacogenetic-based warfarin-dosing algorithm may shorten the time elapse from initiation of warfarin therapy until warfarin maintenance dose. It is feasible for the clinical application of the pharmacogenetic-based warfarin-dosing algorithm in patients of Han nationality with rheumatic heart disease after valve replacement.

The status of the 66-kDa human estrogen receptor-[alpha] (hER-[alpha]66) is a critical determinant in the assessment of the prognosis and in the design of treatment strategies of human breast cancer. Recently, we cloned the cDNA of an alternatively spliced variant of hER-[alpha]66, termed hER-[alpha]36; the predicted protein lacks both transcriptional activation domains of hER-[alpha]66 but retains its DNA-binding domain, partial dimerization, and ligand-binding domains and three potential myristoylation sites located near the N terminus. These findings thus predict that hER-[alpha]36 functions very differently from hER-[alpha]66 in response to estrogen signaling. We now demonstrate that hER-[alpha]36 inhibits the estrogen-dependent and estrogen-independent transactivation activities of hER-[alpha]66 and hER-[beta]. We further demonstrate that hER-[alpha]36 is predominantly associated with the plasma membrane where it transduces both estrogen-and antiestrogen-dependent activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase signaling pathway and stimulates cell growth. We conclude that hER-[alpha]36 is a predominantly membrane-based, unique alternatively spliced variant of hER-[alpha]66 that acts as a dominant-negative effector of both estrogen-dependent and estrogen-independent transactivation functions signaled through hER-[alpha]66 and ER-[beta]; it also transduces membrane-initiated estrogen-dependent activation of the mitogenactivated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase mitogenic signaling pathway. The estrogen and antiestrogen signaling pathways mediated by hER-[alpha]36 provide an alternative explanation for why some human breast cancers are resistant to and others are worsened by antiestrogen therapy; the data suggest that hER-[alpha]36 also may be an important marker to direct therapy in human breast cancers, and perhaps hER-[alpha]36 also may transduce estrogen-dependent signaling in other estrogen target tissues. breast cancer | mitogen-activated protein kinase / extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK) | membrane antiestrogen signaling | membrane estrogen signaling