Search

Sunflowers are widely cultivated as a cash crop in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. However, due to the lack of efficient resource utilization techniques, most of the sunflower stalks are discarded. In the Hetao irrigation area, the problem of desertification has prompted the limited use of sunflower straw to construct physical sand barriers for windbreaks and sand stabilization. In response to this, this study focuses on synthesizing a cellulose ether sand-fixing material using sunflower straw, the primary agricultural waste in Denkou County, Hetao irrigation district. This material enhances the effective adhesion between sand grains, reduces porosity among loose sand grains, and inhibits sand grain movement. The findings from this study conclusively demonstrate that the sand-fixing materials under investigation meet international standards for mechanical properties. They effectively transform loose, unconnected sand grains into a state with strong adhesion properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Owing to its unique characteristics, the lateral circumflex femoral artery perforator (LCFAP) flap is often preferred for repairing head wounds with exposed skulls. However, given the vascular distribution in the head, particularly the veins, can lead to postoperative complications such as venous congestion of the flap. The rates of vascular exploration and necrosis in these flaps are significantly higher than in other body regions. Therefore, it is crucial to identify a safe and effective method for venous anastomosis of free flaps in the head region. Methods: This retrospective case series study included 10 patients with large head soft tissue defects treated at the Burn and Plastic Surgery Department of the Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University from January 2020 to December 2022. The head defects were reconstructed using LCFAP flaps, with flap veins anastomosed to the external jugular vein in the neck, either directly or via a bridging technique. Results: Among the 10 adult patients with massive head wound defects, 7 (70%) were men. The patients' mean age was 53.0 years (48--59 years). The wound defects were caused by trauma in 6 (60%) patients and by tumors in 4 (40%) patients. Postoperatively, no significant complications occurred, and all LCFAP flap survived without necrosis. Conclusion: The descending branch of the LCFAP flap effectively repairs massive head wound defects. The venous anastomosis method for this flap is associated with a low incidence of venous complications and a high patency rate, making it a clinically valuable reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The timely and accurate estimation of leaf water content (LWC) is of great practical significance for monitoring the state of vegetation growth and forecasting crop yield. As the spectral capabilities of terrestrial spectroscopy instruments and high-spatial-resolution satellite sensors steadily increase, people pay more and more attentions to the application potential for the spectral characteristics of the plant in shortwave infrared (SWIR) domain. The major purpose of this article was to investigate the relationship between leaf spectral reflectance and LWC in SWIR. A normalized vegetation index model constructed with SWIR reflectances centred at 1725 and 2200 nm yielded a high overall performance compared to the previous normalized difference water index (NDWI). The Leaf Optical Properties Experiment 1993 data set was introduced to validate the LWC estimated with the proposed model. The results showed that the accuracy of LWC estimation from this index can reach 0.0046 g cm-2, which is better than that from traditional NDWI with root mean square error equalled to 0.0104 g cm-2. The effects of band width and random noise on the LWC estimation from these two indices were also analysed and the results showed that LWC retrieved from both indices were insensitive to band width choices and random noise variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been shown that oxidative damage and inflammation caused by hyperglycemia in endothelial cells are key factors triggering diabetic vascular complications. The aim of the present study was to investigate the antioxidant and anti‑inflammatory effects of Danhong Huayu Koufuye (DHK)‑medicated serum on high glucose (HG)‑induced injury in endothelial cells, and examine its underlying mechanisms. EA. hy926 cells were treated with normal glucose, HG, or HG with DHK‑medicated serum. Cell viability was assessed using the MTT method. Apoptosis was detected using flow cytometry. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were measured using the 2',7'‑dichlorodihydrofluorescein method. Cell culture supernatant was collected for detecting the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA). The protein expression levels of intercellular adhesion molecule‑1 (ICAM‑1), nuclear factor‑κB (NF‑κB), hypoxia‑inducible factor‑1α (HIF‑1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were determined using western blot analysis. The results revealed that DHK‑medicated serum accelerated the proliferation and inhibited the apoptosis of cells treated with HG (P<0.01) in a dose‑dependent manner. Compared with the HG group, the high levels of ROS and MDA were significantly reduced by DHK‑medicated serum (P<0.01). A 10% concentration of DHK‑medicated serum increased the activities of SOD and GPx by 59.4 and 95.5%, respectively. The high protein expression levels of ICAM‑1, NF‑κB, VEGF and HIF‑1α were significantly ameliorated by DHK‑medicated serum (P<0.01, vs. HG group). These findings indicated that DHK‑medicated serum protected EA. hy926 cells from HG‑induced injury and apoptosis through antioxidation and anti‑inflammatory effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid-state refrigeration offers potential advantages over traditional cooling systems, but few devices offer high specific cooling power with a high coefficient of performance (COP) and the ability to be applied directly to surfaces. We developed a cooling device with a high intrinsic thermodynamic efficiency using a flexible electrocaloric (EC) polymer film and an electrostatic actuation mechanism. Reversible electrostatic forces reduce parasitic power consumption and allow efficient heat transfer through good thermal contacts with the heat source or heat sink. The EC device produced a specific cooling power of 2.8 watts per gram and a COP of 13. The new cooling device is more efficient and compact than existing surface-conformable solid-state cooling technologies, opening a path to using the technology for a variety of practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, dissolved organic matter (DOM) was extracted from storm sewer sediments collected in four typical regions (residential, campus, traffic and business regions) in Beijing, China. The basic characteristics of DOM were analyzed by UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), excitation-emission matrix Fluorescence Spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. Furthermore, the complexation between DOM and Cu(II) were investigated. The results showed that there were large amount of aromatic structure in the DOM extracted from storm sewer sediments. The microbial activities had also made a contribution to the DOM in storm sewer sediments. The composition of DOM influenced the complexing capacity of Cu(II) greatly, which may be attributed to the protein-like and humic-like substances in storm sewer sediments. This study demonstrated valuable information on the structure present in the DOM of storm sewer sediments and provided new insight for exploring the relationship between DOM and co-existing heavy metals in storm sewer sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we demonstrated a benign and metal-free [3+2]-cycloaddition reaction using simple and readily available phenols and styrenes as substrates and sodium persulfate as an inexpensive and environmentally friendly oxidant for the direct synthesis of dihydrobenzofurans. This methodology was applied to the synthesis of corsifuran A in a single step. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Induction of neovascularization by releasing therapeutic growth factors is a promising application of cellbased gene therapy to treat ischemia-related problems. In the present study, we have developed a new strategy based on nucleofection with alternative solution and cuvette to promote collateral growth and re-establishment of circulation in ischemic limbs using double transplantation of gene nucleofected primary cultures of fibroblasts, which were isolated from rat receiving such therapy. Methods and Results: Rat dermal fibroblasts were nucleofected ex vivo to release bFGF or VEGF165 in a hindlimb ischemia model in vivo. After femoral artery ligation, gene-modified cells were injected intramuscularly. One week post injection, local confined plasmid expression and transient distributions of the plasmids in other organs were detected by quantitative PCR. Quantitative micro-CT analyses showed improvements of vascularization in the ischemic zone (No. of collateral vessels via micro CT: 6.8±2.3 vs. 10.1±2.6; p<0.05). Moreover, improved collateral proliferation (BrdU incorporation: 0.48±0.05 vs. 0.57±0.05; p<0.05) and increase in blood perfusion (microspheres ratio: gastrocnemius: 0.41±0.10 vs. 0.50±0.11; p<0.05; soleus ratio: soleus: 0.42±0.08 vs. 0.60±0.08; p,0.01) in the lower hindlimb were also observed. Conclusions: These results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of double transplantation of gene nucleofected primary fibroblasts in producing growth factors and promoting the formation of collateral circulation in ischemic hindlimb, suggesting that isolation and preparation of gene nucleofected cells from individual accepting gene therapy may be an alternative strategy for treating limb ischemia related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A biomimetic total synthesis of (±)-rossinone B has been achieved through a highly efficient strategy featuring a series of rationally designed reactions, including a one-pot allylic rearrangement/oxidation reaction to generate the vinyl quinone 27, an intramolecular vinyl quinone Diels−Alder reaction to construct the linear 6−6−5 tricyclic core of 28, and a double conjugate addition/β-elimination cascade to complete the total synthesis of 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Counter-directional coupling between subwavelength-diameter silica wire and single-line-defect two-dimensional photonic crystal slab waveguide is studied numerically using parallel three-dimensional finite-different time-domain method. By modifying silica wire properties or engineering photonic crystal waveguide dispersion band, the coupling central wavelength can be moved to the slow light region and the coupling efficiency improves simultaneously. One design gives 82% peak power transmission from silica wire to photonic crystal waveguide over an interacting distance of 50 lattice constants. The group velocity is estimated as 1/35 of light speed in vacuum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model hubs with many pre-trained models (PTMs) have become a cornerstone of deep learning. Although built at a high cost, they remain under-exploited|practitioners usually pick one PTM from the provided model hub by popularity and then fine-tune the PTM to solve the target task. This naïve but common practice poses two obstacles to full exploitation of pre-trained model hubs: first, the PTM selection by popularity has no optimality guarantee, and second, only one PTM is used while the remaining PTMs are ignored. An alternative might be to consider all possible combinations of PTMs and extensively fine-tune each combination, but this would not only be prohibitive computationally but may also lead to statistical over-fitting. In this paper, we propose a new paradigm for exploiting model hubs that is intermediate between these extremes. The paradigm is characterized by two aspects: (1) We use an evidence maximization procedure to estimate the maximum value of label evidence given features extracted by pre-trained models. This procedure can rank all the PTMs in a model hub for various types of PTMs and tasks before fine-tuning. (2) The best ranked PTM can either be fine-tuned and deployed if we have no preference for the model's architecture or the target PTM can be tuned by the top K ranked PTMs via a Bayesian procedure that we propose. This procedure, which we refer to as B-Tuning, not only improves upon specialized methods designed for tuning homogeneous PTMs, but also applies to the challenging problem of tuning heterogeneous PTMs where it yields a new level of benchmark performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A systematic and structure-agnostic method for identifying heterogeneous activity of solid acids for catalyzing cellulose hydrolysis is presented. The basis of the method is preparation of a supernatant liquid by exposing the solid acid to reaction conditions and subsequent use of the supernatant liquid as a cellulose hydrolysis catalyst to determine the effects of in situ generated homogeneous acid species. The method was applied to representative solid acid catalysts, including polymer-based, carbonaceous, inorganic, and bifunctional materials. In all cases, supernatant liquids produced from these catalysts exhibited catalytic activity for cellulose hydrolysis. Direct comparison of the activity of the solid acid catalysts and their supernatants could not provide unambiguous detection of heterogeneous catalysis. A reaction pathway kinetic model was used to evaluate potential false-negative interpretation of the supernatant liquid test and to differentiate heterogeneous from homogeneous effects on cellulose hydrolysis. Lastly, differences in the supernatant liquids obtained in the presence and absence of cellulose were evaluated to understand possibility of false-positive interpretation, using structural evidence from the used catalysts to gain a fresh understanding of reactant--catalyst interactions. While many solid acid catalysts have been proposed for cellulose hydrolysis, to our knowledge, this is the first effort to attempt to differentiate the effects of heterogeneous and homogeneous activities. The resulting supernatant liquid method should be used in all future attempts to design and develop solid acids for cellulose hydrolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-dimensional multi-mode interference devices are demonstrated using a single-mode fiber (SMF) center-spliced to a section of polygon-shaped core multimode fiber (MMF). This simple structure can effectively generate well-localized self-focusing spots that match to the layout of a chosen multi-core fiber (MCF) as a launcher device. An optimized hexagon-core MMF can provide efficient coupling from a SMF to a 7-core MCF with an insertion loss of 0.6 dB and a power imbalance of 0.5 dB, while a square-core MMF can form a self-imaging pattern with symmetrically distributed 2 × 2, 3 × 3 or 4 × 4 spots. These spots can be directly received by a two-dimensional detector array. The device can work as a vector curvature sensor by comparing the relative power among the spots with a resolution of ∼0.1° over a 1.8 mm-long MMF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrostatic electret generator has attracted a lot of attention in recent years, but their low power density cannot be ignored. Based on the existing research, this paper increases its power density from two aspects, including in-plane and in-space aspects. In the plane aspect, through simulation analysis, we can draw a conclusion that the output power can be increased effectively by using the bipolar charging method. From the perspective of space, the power density can be increased several times by connecting the output ends of the multi-layer generation structure. By integrating the method into the electrostatic electret generator, the power output can be effectively increased, which is suitable to the application of higher energy requirements in the specific field and a certain application prospect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The search for cell-permeable drugs has conventionally focused on low-molecular weight (MW), nonpolar, rigid chemical structures. However, emerging therapeutic strategies break traditional drug design rules by employing flexibly linked chemical entities composed of more than one ligand. Using complementary genome-scale chemical-genetic approaches we identified an endogenous chemical uptake pathway involving interferon-induced transmembrane proteins (IFITMs) that modulates the cell permeability of a prototypical biopic inhibitor of MTOR (RapaLink-1, MW: 1784 g/mol). We devised additional linked inhibitors targeting BCR-ABL1 (DasatiLink-1, MW: 1518 g/mol) and EIF4A1 (BisRoc-1, MW: 1466 g/mol), uptake of which was facilitated by IFITMs. We also found that IFITMs moderately assisted some proteolysis-targeting chimeras and examined the physicochemical requirements for involvement of this uptake pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The load-displacement curves of six types of roof-to-wall connection joints were obtained through uplift experiments, while the mechanical properties of each type of joint were compared and analyzed, and the applicability of each joint was verified by the Foschi load-displacement curve model simulation. The specimens were made of three kinds of wood (Pinus sylvestris (PS), Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPF), and Douglas fir (DF)) and two different metal connectors (A-type and B-type), and then the monotonic pullout tests were conducted on each specimen. The failure modes of each group of specimens were analyzed, and the characteristic values analysis method was used to analyze and compare the characteristic values of the load-displacement curves of each specimen, including six characteristic values: maximum load, yield load, deformation capacity, energy dissipation capacity, ductility ratio, and initial stiffness. The results showed that the load capacity of TA group (specimens with A-type metal connectors) was much greater than that of TB group (specimens with Btype metal connectors). The specimens made of DF had the best mechanical performance, but the specimens of DF group were prone to brittle failure. Finally, the fitting parameters of the Foschi model applicable to such joints were obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the macroscopic and microscopic deformation caused by sodium penetration in the carbon cathode has been studied during aluminum electrolysis. The distributions of sodium concentration in the carbon cathode has been measured by SEMEDS. The microstructure change caused by the gradient of the sodium concentration in the carbon cathode has been studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicate that sodium penetration decreases with the increase of the penetration depth. The stresses caused by the gradient of the sodium concentration result in a remarkable change for the microstructure of the carbon cathode. The formation of dislocations resulting in dislocation arrays and the development of kink band networks bring about material damage growth and possibly subsequent weakening of the cathode. These results can provide useful information that is helpful in developing an improved comprehending of the microscopic deformation mechanism of the carbon cathode during aluminum electrolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal conversion of phytoremediation plant waste into biochar was performed as a safe approach for organic waste management. In this work, a promising phytoremediation plant-Silphium perfoliatum L. was pyrolyzed for biochar production at 350, 550 and 750 °C. The long-term leaching risk of potentially toxic metals (PTMs) in the derived biochars and the oxidation resistance of the biochars were investigated. The results showed that PTMs in the biochar could transform into more stable and less toxic forms with the elevated pyrolysis temperature. PTMs leaching behavior in the 350 °C biochar was considerably sensitive to the leaching while that in the 750 °C biochar was not affected. The biochar produced at a higher temperature possessed a greater oxidation resistance with little amount of C loss, and the stronger oxidation resistance would prevent the release of metals bound to the organic matter. The findings of this study demonstrated that high-temperature pyrolysis was able to reduce the potential risk of PTMs and ensure carbon stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Negative energy balance (NEB) is a common pathological foundation of ketosis and fatty liver. Liver and fat tissue are the major organs of lipid metabolism and take part in modulating lipid oxidative capacity and energy demands, which is also a key metabolic pathway that regulates NEB develop during perinatal period. Fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF-21) is a recently discovered protein hormone that plays an important and specific regulating role in adipose lipid metabolism and liver gluconeogenesis for human and mouse. Our aim is to investigate the variation and relationship between serum FGF-21 concentration and characteristic parameters related to negative energy balance in different energy metabolism state. Methods: In this research, five non-pregnant, non-lactating Holstein–Friesian dairy cows were randomly allocated into two groups. The interventions were a controlled-energy diet (30 % of maintenance energy requirements) and a moderate-energy diet (120 % of predicted energy requirements) that lasted for the duration of the experiment. We measured biochemical parameters, serum FGF-21, leptin and insulin levels by commercial ELISA kits. Results: The results showed that serum FGF-21 levels were significantly higher in both groups treated with a controlled-energy diet, while FGF-21 levels in both groups treated with moderate-energy diet were low. FGF-21 levels exhibited a significant positive correlation with serum leptin levels, while an inverse relationship was found between FGF-21 and blood glucose and β-hydroxybutyrate acid (BHBA) levels. Conclusion: An increase in FGF-21 levels after a controlled-energy diet treatment may contribute to a positive metabolic effect which could result in a new theoretical and practical basis for the preventive strategy of dairy cows with NEB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]