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[Objective] As an important type of coarse-grained sedimentary system and oil and gas reservoir in faulted basins, fan delta and slump fan complex deposition has been the hot topic of research on lacustrine sedimentary and reservoir formation, such as distribution area, evolution period and accumulation model. [Methods] Based on high resolution 3D seismic and drilling and logging data in the A Sag of Melut Basin in central Africa region, the sedimentary characteristics and evolution of fan delta-slump fan complex are studied by using core observation, sequence division, seismic reflection characteristics and seismic attribute analysis. [Results and Conclusions] The results showed that the types of sedimentary facies of fan in the study area included fan delta and slump fan caused by gravity flow, slump fan had two types of morphology characteristic, the first one was line source slump fan controlled by slope break, the second one was multistage slump fan with single point source controlled by steep topographic slope. Combined with seismic profiles and well logging features, five periods of fans were recognized in the Cretaceous study section. The single-stage fan all had the characteristics of retrogradation, the vertical evolution of multiple periods of fans was characterized by "first progradation and later retrogradation" . The fan distribution was the largest at the end of Renk Formation deposition in the Lower Cretaceous, reaching 148 km². However, the fan evolution was mainly influenced by tectonic activity, palaeogeomorphology, provenance supply, and base-level cycle. The fan distribution was larger in the period of strong tectonic activity, abundant provenance supply and large short-axis tectonic uplift, and the slump fan was most developed in the early period of relative base-level rising cycle and decreasing cycle. A new understanding of the sedimentary pattern transformation occurred in the Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous in the A Sag was put forward. The exploration potential of the fan delta and slump fan complex deposition in the faulted depression is clarified, which guided the exploration deployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the pneumatic conveyance of biomass in a coal-fired power station boiler, biomass particles have cylindrical shapes with different aspect ratios. They move through the fluid at any angle and rotate strongly. However, highly accurate and general models of the drag, lift, and torque coefficients (CD, CL, and CT) for biomass particles in a wide range of aspect ratios, especially the CT model and the high aspect ratios, are currently lacking. This paper presents detailed direct numerical simulations of the flow around cylindrical cylinders with varying aspect ratios (6 ≤ AR ≤ 22), Reynolds numbers (100 ≤ Re ≤ 2000), and angles of incidence (0° ≤ θ ≤ 90°). The simulation was conducted using the OpenFOAM solver with the body-fitted mesh method. The flow characteristics and force coefficients of cylindrical particles with different AR were systematically analyzed. New functional correlations between CD, CL, and CT and AR, Re, and θ values were established. The mean squared errors for CD, CL, and CT were 8.8 × 10–2, 2.4 × 10–2, and 4.7 × 10–2, with average relative errors of 5.8%, 3.5%, and 8.17%, respectively. A comparison of the results with other experimental and simulation data in previous literatures showed that the new CD and CL models have considerable higher predictive ability. The generality of the new CD model expanding to low ARs of 1.5 and 3 is verified finally. The new force and torque models are expected to improve the accuracy of Eulerian–Lagrangian simulations of various cylindrical particle-laden flows in the utility of biomass energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass straw fuel has the advantage of low-carbon sustainability, and therefore, it has been widely used in recent years in coupled blending combustion with coal-fired utility boilers for power generation. At present, the drag force FD, the lift force FL, and the torque T evaluation model are very limited. In this study, within a wide range of Reynolds numbers (10 ≤ Re ≤ 2000) and incident angles (0° ≤ θ ≤ 90°), the computational fluid dynamics open source code OpenFOAM-body-fitted mesh method is used to carry out the direct numerical simulation of the flow characteristics of large cylindrical biomass particles with a high aspect ratio of L/D = 9:1. The results show that (1) the projected area of the cylinder begins to decrease after reaching the maximum at θ = 15°, while the change in the incident angle causes the formation of a smaller recirculation zone on the leeward side of the structure, and the effect of the pressure difference on the drag coefficient (CD) is reduced. (2) The lift coefficient (CL) displays a parabolic symmetric distribution when θ = 45°, and then the distribution becomes asymmetrical when Re > 100. The torque coefficient (CT) exhibits a similar trend. (3) Based on the simulation data and the literature data, new models for CD, CL, and CT for cylinders with L/D = 9:1, 10 ≤ Re ≤ 2000 and 0° ≤ θ ≤ 90° are obtained, and the mean square errors are 2.4 × 10−2, 1.4 × 10−2, and 6.4 × 10−2, respectively. This new model can improve the accuracy and adaptability of the universal model of gas–solid dynamics for biomass particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase in the proportion of new energy power generation in grids, there is an urgent need for the flexible operation of coal‐fired power plants. However, as the most efficient commercial coal‐fired power generation technology, the flexibility of double‐reheat ultra‐supercritical units is limited due to the steam temperature fluctuation in transient processes. To inhibit the steam temperature fluctuations, a data‐driven method, called long short‐term memory (LSTM) was introduced to model the dynamics of the steam temperatures of a 1000‐MW double‐reheat coal‐fired boiler. Moreover, an advanced controller was proposed by combining the LSTM‐based dynamic model and the model predictive control architecture. The results demonstrate that the LSTM model can be used to capture the time delay, multivariable coupling and non‐linear dynamics of the steam temperatures and the proposed controller exhibits excellent performance in steam temperature regulation. The superheated steam temperature fluctuation decreases from 15.4 to 9.8°C, the primary reheat temperature fluctuation decreases from 34.6 to 8.3°C, and the secondary reheat temperature fluctuation decreases from 41.4 to 8.8°C. The proposed method has good potential to stabilize steam temperatures during transient processes of wide‐range load cycling, and finally improves the flexibility of the double‐reheat ultra‐supercritical unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To maximize the potential energy utilization of agricultural and forestry wastes and sludge, experimental studies were conducted on the co-gasification characteristics of two types of sludge (municipal sludge, MS; paper-mill sludge, PS) and a typical biomass straw (ST) under CO2 atmosphere. In this paper, the main two stages of the gasification process, the pyrolysis in the low-temperature region and the CO2-gasification in the high-temperature region, were separately studied and analyzed. The experimental results showed that biomass could effectively promote the pyrolysis of the sludge in the low-temperature region and improve the gasification in the high-temperature region. Due to the complex interactions between components, the characteristic parameters presented obvious nonlinear rules during the co-pyrolysis and co-gasification processes. For the MS-ST mixtures, when increasing the ST content, (i) in the pyrolysis process, the initial reaction temperature gradually decreased, but the final reaction temperature, the peak reaction rate and the corresponding temperature, and the pyrolysis index gradually increased; (ii) in the gasification process, the initial reaction temperature, the reaction final temperature, and the temperature corresponding to the peak gradually increased. Combined with the reaction kinetics analysis of the co-pyrolysis and the co-gasification processes, 25% may be a reasonable mixing ratio for ST for the MS-ST mixtures, which had a relatively lower reaction temperature, relatively high pyrolysis index and low activation energy (26.58 kJ·mol−1 and 178.29 kJ·mol−1 for the co-pyrolysis and co-gasification processes, respectively). For the PS-ST mixtures, when increasing the ST content, (i) in the pyrolysis process, the initial reaction temperature, the peak reaction rate, the temperature corresponding to the peak and the pyrolysis index gradually decreased, but the final reaction temperature gradually increased; (ii) in the gasification process, the initial and final reaction temperatures and the temperature corresponding to the peak gradually decreased, but the peak reaction rate gradually increased. Combined with the reaction kinetics analysis of the pyrolysis and the gasification processes, 25% may be a reasonable mixing ratio for ST for the PS-ST mixtures, which had a relatively lower reaction temperature, relatively high pyrolysis index and low activation energy (64.29 kJ·mol−1 and 301.16 kJ·mol−1 for the co-pyrolysis and co-gasification processes, respectively). These findings can provide useful information for the co-gasification of sludge and straw under CO2 atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cofiring of coal slime in existing utility boilers is a promising approach to the disposal of coal slime. However, reports about cofiring coal slime with anthracite in the down-fired utility boiler are still few. This work presents a comprehensive study on the combustion characteristics, slagging potential, and NOx emissions of cofiring coal slime and anthracite through lab-scale experiments, numerical simulations, and full-scale industrial measurements in a 600MW down-fired utility boiler. The lab-scale experiments show combustion interactions between anthracite and coal slime, which have both a promotive effect on the ignition of anthracite and inhibitive effect on the combustion and burnout of anthracite. Especially, the inhibitive effect is greater than the promotive effect when the blending ratio of coal slime is above 5%. The addition of coal slime can effectively improve the ash fusion temperature of blended samples. In addition, simulations and full-scale industrial measurements of anthracite cofiring with coal slime are performed in a down-fired utility boiler. The results show that as the blending ratio of coal slime increases, the carbon content in fly ash increases and the boiler efficiency and NOx emissions decrease. A 5% ratio is validated to be a reasonable cofiring ratio of coal slime in the actual operation without no slagging phenomenon. These results provide more insights into the cofiring behavior of coal slime and anthracite and guide the application of blending coal slime in a down-fired boiler. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proximal pulmonary artery masses are exceedingly rare, and their diagnosis and therapy are important and challenging for clinicians. This study reviews our experience exploring the value of a combination of transthoracic echocardiography and contrast echocardiography for the differential diagnosis of proximal pulmonary artery masses. Between January 2018 and June 2021, 44 patients diagnosed with a mass attached to the major pulmonary artery and straddling the bilateral pulmonary arteries or pulmonary valve on transthoracic echocardiography were referred to this study. Contrast echocardiography was performed in 17 patients. Masses were diagnosed based on their site of attachment, shape, size, mobility, hemodynamic consequences on transthoracic echocardiography, and tissue perfusion on contrast echocardiographic perfusion imaging. Pathological data were collected from medical records and analyzed. The most frequent location of proximal pulmonary artery masses was the major pulmonary artery trunk. Twelve patients underwent complete mass resection, whereas nine patients underwent percutaneous pulmonary artery biopsy puncture and had a pathological diagnosis. Another 24 patients were confirmed with the validation methods. Contrast echocardiography has good sensitivity and specificity for differentiating thrombi from pulmonary artery sarcomas (PAS). The mass types were distributed as follows: thrombi (19, 43%), PAS (15, 34%), metastatic tumors (6, 14%), vegetations (3, 7%), and primary benign lesions (1, 2%). The majority of proximal pulmonary artery masses were thrombi or PAS. A combination of transthoracic echocardiography and contrast echocardiography offers advantages in the early identification of proximal pulmonary masses and provides clinically important information about the characteristics of masses, especially for differentiating thrombi from PAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combustion interactions during blended coal combustion affect their combustion characteristics, and the combustion interactions under air–fuel conditions have been well studied. However, oxy–fuel combustion considerably differs from air–fuel firing. Significantly, the char–CO2 gasification reaction under oxy–fuel and high-temperature conditions substantially affects the combustion behaviors, which may influence the combustion interactions. This paper is to study the effect of the char oxidation and gasification reaction competition on comprehensive interactions in O2/CO2 mixture. The results show that under high-temperature and low-oxygen (O2<4%) conditions, an intense gasification reaction is observed. The competition between the char–CO2 gasification and char–O2 oxidation reactions influences the comprehensive interactions during blended chars combustion. As the char–O2 oxidation reaction is strengthened and the char–CO2 gasification reaction is weakened, the comprehensive interactions during blended chars combustion gradually decrease. Moreover, under the competition between the char–CO2 gasification and char–O2 oxidation reactions, only enhancing the char–CO2 gasification reaction or enhancing the char–O2 oxidation reaction weakens the comprehensive interactions. The weaker comprehensive interactions result in the smaller nonadditive behavior of the comprehensive combustion index. The findings shed light on the interaction effects observed during blended chars combustion, which can provide useful information to improve the combustion behaviors of the blended coals in oxy–fuel conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deep and ultra-deep oil and gas has been a prominent exploration direction in the field of petroleum industry in recent years. The deep oil and gas resources are mainly distributed in the carbonate rocks, clastic rocks and igneous rocks, of which the carbonate rock reservoirs account for about 40% of global oil and gas reserves for their superior reservoir properties. Currently, a number of large oil and gas fields have been discovered in the deep marine carbonate rocks in China, especially in the Sichuan and Tarim Basin, thus showing a broad oil and gas exploration potential in the deep marine carbonate rocks. In this paper, the genesis and source of deep natural gas in the Tarim and Sichuan Basin has been systematically studied. The results show that the natural gas in the deep marine carbonate rock reservoirs is not only sourced from the deep-source rocks, but the substantial crack of crude oil in the reservoir under the condition of high burial depth and high geotemperature can provide abundant natural gas sources for the deep reservoir. Accordingly, the contribution of gas from oil cracking should be concerned in evaluation on deep natural gas resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal blends are commonly used in thermal power plants and oxy-fuel combustion also attracts great concerns recently. However, little has been done on oxy-fuel combustion of coal blends. In this paper, combustion tests are performed in a drop tube furnace for various coal blends under O 2 /CO 2 mixtures, which are also reproduced numerically. Strong combustion interactions between the parent coals in a blend are observed. The ignition of the low-volatile coal is promoted due to the rapid combustion of the volatiles from the high-volatile coal. However, the char burnout of the low-volatile coal is compromised due to the rapid O 2 consumption by the large amount of volatiles. The interactions under oxy-fuel conditions are more sensitive to the excess O 2 , inlet oxidizer temperature and coal particle size. 1) The increase in the excess O 2 tends to weaken the combustion interactions, in which both the ignition promotion and burnout inhibition effects on the low-volatile coal become less apparent. 2) The increase in the inlet oxidizer temperature further promotes the ignition of the low-volatile coal whereas weakens the burnout inhibition of the low-volatile coal. 3) The effects of reducing particle size on the combustion interactions are similar to those of increasing inlet oxidizer temperature. Since biomass often contains a high volatile content, the findings may shed light on the synergistic effects in oxy-fuel co-combustion of biomass and coal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blending coal combustion technology is commonly used in coal-fired power stations, and the combustion interactions (i.e., the ignition promotion and burnout inhibition) during blended coal combustion affect their combustion characteristics. The combustion interactions under conventional air-fuel condition have been well studied. Oxy-fuel firing considerably differs from air-fuel combustion and the combustion interactions of blended coals in O 2 /CO 2 atmospheres have been investigated in our previous research. However, the H 2 O concentration in actual oxy-fuel condition is relatively high, which may influence the combustion interactions. This study further investigates the effect of H 2 O on the combustion characteristics and interactions of blended coals in O 2 /H 2 O/CO 2 atmospheres. The results show that adding H 2 O into the oxy-fuel atmosphere remarkably affects the combustion characteristics with the more notable ignition delay, faster burnout and better comprehensive combustion characteristics (CCI). In addition, the presence of H 2 O strengthens the ignition promotion, the burnout inhibition and the comprehensive interactions, resulting in the more obvious non-additive behaviors of CCI. In O 2 /H 2 O/CO 2 mixtures, enhancing the H 2 O/CO 2 ratio slightly strengthens the ignition promotion, the burnout inhibition, and the comprehensive interactions, which increases the non-additive behaviors of CCI. Furthermore, both of increasing O 2 /H 2 O or O 2 /CO 2 ratios significantly weaken the ignition promotion, strengthen the burnout inhibition and the comprehensive interactions, which increases the non-additive behaviors of CCI. The findings shed light on the interaction effects observed during blended coal combustion in O 2 /H 2 O/CO 2 mixtures, which can provide useful information to improve the combustion characteristics of the blended coals in the real oxy-fuel atmospheres. • Effect of H2O on interactions of blended coals oxy-fuel combustion is studied. • H 2 O increases promotion, inhibition and CCI non-additive behavior in O 2 /H 2 O/CO 2. • Higher H 2 O/CO 2 ratio increases promotion, inhibition, CCI non-additive behavior. • Higher O 2 /H 2 O or O 2 /CO 2 ratios show weaker promotion and stronger inhibition. • Higher O 2 /H 2 O or O 2 /CO 2 ratios present more obvious CCI non-additive behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal blending is an effective method to reduce the slagging tendency. The mineral transformation within blended coal ashes has an important influence on the slagging behaviors, which have been well studied under conventional air-fuel condition. Oxy-fuel combustion is recognized as one of the most promising CO 2 reduction technologies. However, the mineral transformation within blended coal ashes in oxy-fuel condition has yet to be fully understood. This work is aimed to comprehensively study the influence of CO 2 atmosphere on Ca -containing mineral transformation behaviors during a Ca dominated coal co-firing with a Si/Al dominated coal in O 2 /CO 2 condition by TG-DSC, XRD and HSC simulation. These results show that the atmosphere significantly affects on the transformation of Ca -containing mineral and the final existing form of Ca in the blended coal ashes. When the high content Ca coal is blended with the high content Al/Si coal in the O 2 /CO 2 atmosphere, the CO 2 promotes the transformation of Ca into CaCO 3 and Ca under low temperature mainly exists in the form of CaCO 3 (little CaSO 4) in the blended coal ashes. CaCO 3 under high temperature is decomposed to produce highly active CaO, and CaO reacts with Al/Si to form the low melting point minerals, which may aggravate the slagging tendency. The present study can provide useful information to reduce the slagging behavior of the blended coals in the O 2 /CO 2 atmosphere. • Ca -containing mineral transformation of blended coal oxy-fuel combustion is studied. • The atmosphere affects the final Ca- existing form within blended coal ashes. • The CO 2 in O 2 /CO 2 promotes the transformation of Ca into CaCO 3. • CaCO 3 is decomposed to produce highly active CaO under high temperature. • CaO– Al/Si reaction produces low melting point mineral to aggravate the slagging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) experience cognitive deficits but the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms are not known. We therefore applied Granger causality analysis of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the effective connectivity (EC) of the hippocampus in patients with T2DM. Eighty six patients with T2DM and 84 matched healthy controls (HC) were recruited. The directional EC between anatomically defined seeds in left hippocampus (LHIP) and right hippocampus (RHIP) and other brain regions was compared between T2DM and HC and Pearson correlation analysis was performed to determine whether alterations in EC were related to clinical characteristics of diabetes. Compared with HC, patients with T2DM had altered EC between LHIP and RHIP and the default mode network (DMN), occipital cortex and cerebellum. In addition, for LHIP only duration of diabetes positively correlated with decreased inflow from right postcentral gyrus and right parietal lobe, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) negatively correlated with decreased inflow from right thalamus (r = −0.255, p = 0.018) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) negatively correlated with decreased inflow from left inferior parietal lobe (r = −0.206, p = 0.05). The altered EC between hippocampus and DMN is interpreted to be related to cognitive deficits in patients with T2DM particularly affecting memory and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An extended theoretical model based on a two-scale coupled momentum balance method is proposed to estimate aerodynamic effects of wind turbine towers on the performance of both ideal (infinitely large) and more realistic (large but finite-size) wind farms. A key implication of the extended model is that a normalized support-structure drag, A S / A × C D * , where A and A S are the rotor swept area and support-structure frontal projected area, respectively, and C D * is an effective support-structure drag coefficient, may play an important role in the design of future large wind farms. For the infinitely large case, the theoretical model shows that the optimal turbine spacing should increase with the value of A S / A × C D * , whereas for the large finite case, this also depends on an additional parameter describing the response characteristics of the atmospheric boundary layer to the total farm drag. To validate the theoretical model for the infinitely large case, Wall-Modeled Large-Eddy Simulations of a periodic array of actuator disks with and without support structures are conducted. The results show a reasonably good agreement (within 10% in the prediction of power) with the theoretical model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper cysteamine (Cu–Cy) is a new type of photosensitizer, which can be activated not only by ultraviolet light, but also by X-rays, microwaves and ultrasound to generate reactive oxygen species for treating cancer and infection diseases. Moreover, copper cysteamine has a strong luminescence, which can be used for both therapeutics and imaging. In addition, it can also be used for solid state lighting, radiation detection and sensing. However, its electronic structures, and particularly its excited states, are not yet clear. Here, we present a computational study aiming to determine the nature of the excited states involved in the photophysical processes that lead to the luminescence of this compound. This study has been conducted using density functional theory (DFT), using both hybrid functionals and time-dependent DFT. It is found that both absorption and emission involve the replacement of an electron among the 3d and 4s orbitals of one or the other of the two types of Cu atoms found in the system. Our computed results compared well with the experimental absorption and emission results. These results are very helpful for the understanding of the experimental observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combustion of a biomass with coal may be one of the most effective methods to improve energy utilisation efficiency. This study aims to investigate the combustion characteristics of distillers' grains with bituminous coal using a thermo‐gravimetric analyser. The results demonstrate that increasing the proportion of distillers' grains in coal results in a reduced ignition temperature (Ti) and burnout temperature (Tb), and activation energy (E) in the combustion stage. Therefore, the comprehensive combustion index (CCI) improves. In an O2/CO2 atmosphere, Ti increased by ∼15°C, while Tb did not change much. However, E and CCI declined relative to an O2/N2 atmosphere. Under the O2/CO2 atmosphere, with an increase in O2 concentration from 10 to 40%, Ti changed over a small range, but Tb declined from 745.8 to 641.4°C, while E and CCI improved. As the heating rate rose from 10 to 30°C/min, the values of Ti decreased (from 281.4 to 244.9°C), but the values of Tb increased significantly (from 662.8 to 745.8°C); the value of E reduced, and CCI also improved. This research could provide useful information as a practical reference for heat and power production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To clarify the effectiveness and safety of x-ray-activated photodynamic therapy (X-PDT) for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and melanoma. Materials & methods: Copper-cysteamine nanoparticles were used as a photosensitizer of X-PDT. The dark toxicity and cytotoxicity were studied in vitro. Tumor volume, microvessel density and acute toxicity of mice were evaluated in vivo. Results: Without x-ray irradiation, copper-cysteamine nanoparticles were nontoxic for keratinocyte cells. XL50 cells (SCC) were more sensitive to X-PDT than B16F10 cells (melanoma). X-PDT successfully inhibited the growth of SCC in vivo (p < 0.05), while the B16F10 melanoma was resistant. Microvessel density in SCC tissue was remarkably reduced (p < 0.05). No obvious acute toxicity reaction was observed. Conclusion: X-PDT is a safe and effective treatment for SCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of oxy-fuel and blended-coal combustion may be one of these effective methods to both reduce CO 2 emissions and improve energy utilization efficiency in coal-fired power stations. The aim of this study is to investigate oxy-fuel combustion interactions of blended coals under different conditions using a thermo-gravimetric analyzer. The results show that compared with those in an O 2 /N 2 mixture, the promotive and inhibitive effect and the comprehensive interactions are considerably weaker in an O 2 /CO 2 mixture. In the O 2 /CO 2 mixture, both increasing the O 2 concentration and decreasing the particle size result in decreasing the promotive effect but increasing the inhibitive effect and the comprehensive interactions, which increase the non-additive combustion characteristics. Enhancement of the heating rate increases the promotive effect but decreases the inhibitive effect and the comprehensive interactions, which weaken the non-additive combustion characteristics. Of these factors, the effects of the oxygen concentration and heating rate on comprehensive interactions are greater than that of particle size. This study provides useful information for the design and optimization of thermo-chemical conversion systems of coal blends in the O 2 /CO 2 atmosphere. • Ignition promotion and burnout inhibition exist during blended coal combustion. • Weaker promotion, inhibition and interaction are shown in O 2 /CO 2 than in O 2 /N 2. • Higher oxygen shows weaker promotion, stronger inhibition and interaction. • Smaller particle size shows weaker promotion, stronger inhibition and interaction. • Higher heating rate shows stronger promotion, weaker inhibition and interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary malignancy of the liver and occurs predominantly in patients with underlying chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. HCC is now the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, with over 500,000 people affected. However, there is no complete effective (ideal) treatment for liver cancer yet, and the new methods are expected to be discovered. Herein, for the first time, we report the anti-HCC effects of copper-cysteamine nanoparticles (Cu-Cy NPs), a new type of photosensitizers. An in vitro 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol- 2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay shows that Cu-Cy NPs could significantly reduce the activity of HepG2 cells at a very low dose after a short time of ultraviolet radiation. In addition, we found that cell death was induced by Cu-Cy NPs, which is associated with cellular apoptosis. This implied that apoptosis might be the main mechanism of the Cu-Cy's anti-HCC activity. Furthermore, we found that Cu-Cy NPs obviously inhibited the tumor growth in vivo. More interestingly, we found that the soluble Cu-Cy NPs were able to enter exosomes which were secreted by tumor cells, and exosomes could be used to deliver Cu-Cy NPs to target tumor cells. All these observations suggest that Cu-Cy NPs have a good potential for cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is an urgent need for a meta-analysis that characterizes the brain states of major depression disorder (MDD) patients and potentially provides reliable biomarkers, because heterogeneity in the results of resting-state functional neuroimaging has been observed between studies, with some patients not showing the consistent changes, or even opposite patterns. Thus, we evaluated consistent regional brain activity alterations in medication-naive patients with first-episode unipolar MDD and compared the results with those in healthy controls (HCs). Methods: A systematic database search was conducted (in PubMed, Ovid, and Web of Knowledge) between January 1984 and July 2016 to select resting-state functional activity studies with a voxel-wise analysis in MDD. We used anisotropic effect size-signed differential mapping to perform a whole-brain meta-analysis, comparing functional alterations between first-episode medication-naive unipolar MDD patients and HCs by integrating the studies. In addition, subgroup meta-analysis was conducted to control for the MRI analysis method. Moreover, the meta-regression analyses were performed to examine the potential effects of mean age, education duration, illness duration, and severity of depressive symptoms. Results: A total of 12 studies were included, comparing 313 MDD patients with 283 HCs. The pooled and subgroup meta-analysis found that the MDD patients showed hyperactivity in the left parahippocampal gyrus, left supplementary motor area, left amygdala, left hippocampus, and left middle frontal gyrus (MFG; orbital part), and hypoactivity in the left lingual gyrus, left middle occipital gyrus, right cuneus cortex, right MFG (orbital part), and left cerebellum. In the meta-regression analyses, the mean illness duration was positively associated with hyper-activation in the left parahippocampal gyrus and hypoactivation in the hemispheric lobule IV/V of the left cerebellum. Conclusions: This meta-analysis indicated that MDD patients had significant and robust resting-state brain activity alteration in amygdala, left hippocampus and other regions, which implicated this finding in the pathophysiology of cognitive and emotional impairment in MDD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Raman spectroscopy and several microstructure analysis techniques have been used to better characterize recently synthesized copper‐cysteamine Cu3Cl(SR)2, where R = CH2CH2NH2. Nanoparticles of this new copper‐cysteamine have been identified as having potential applications in radiation detection and cancer treatment because of the fact that they can be activated by light, X‐rays, ultrasound, and microwave radiation to produce reactive oxygen species. Three samples were grown under different conditions, and their microstructure was examined by using Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X‐ray scattering, and X‐ray diffraction. The Raman spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared measurements identify numerous Raman active and infrared absorption bonds with wavenumbers ranging from 200 to 3,500 cm−1. Scanning electron microscopy scans show well‐faceted crystals varying in size from approximately 10 nm to 4 μm, energy dispersive X‐ray scattering measurements identify relative elemental composition (C = 48%, N = 37.5%, S = 5%, Cl = 2.6%, Cu = 7%), X‐ray diffraction data show the crystal plane spacing varies from 0.8454 to 0.8616 nm. The microstructure observed for the three samples is consistent with variations in the growth conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is accumulating evidence showing that patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have obvious changes in resting-state functional brain activity. So far, there have been no meta-analyses of the resting-state brain activity alterations in patients with ASD. We attempted to explore the resting-state functional activity changes in patients with ASD, possibly providing a new perspective for investigating the pathophysiology of patients with ASD. Methods: We screened relevant studies published before August 2017 in PubMed, Ovid, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and the Wan-fang database. Fifteen resting-state functional neural activity datasets (including 382 patients and 348 healthy controls) were included. Through the use of the effect-size signed differential mapping (ES-SDM) method, we carried out a meta-analysis of resting-state functional activity studies of patients with ASD. Results: Compared with healthy controls, patients with ASD showed hyperactivity in the right supplementary motor area, middle frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, the left precentral gyrus, and the bilateral cerebellum hemispheric lobule (VIII/IX), and hypoactivity in the right middle temporal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, and the left precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, median cingulate cortex, and bilateral cerebellum (crus I). Conclusion: This meta-analysis indicates that patients with ASD have significant and robust resting-state brain activity alterations in the language comprehension network, inferior-posterior cerebellum, default mode network (DMN), and cerebellar crus I. These brain regions may serve as specific regions of interest for further studies of ASD, which will allow us to further clarify the neurobiological mechanisms in patients with ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of Sr3Gd1−xLi(PO4)3F: xSm3+ (x = 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08) phosphors were synthesized by a high-temperature solid state method. The Sm3+ activated Sr3GdLi(PO4)3F phosphors can be efficiently excited by the wavelengths in the range from 350 to 450 nm, which matches perfectly with that of the commercial near-UV LED chips. The optimal doping concentration of Sr3Gd1−xLi(PO4)3F: xSm3+ phosphors was determined to be x = 0.04, corresponding to the quantum efficiency of 2.23%, and the CIE chromaticity coordinates (x = 0.5172, y = 0.4641). The concentration quenching mechanism of Sm3+ in Sr3GdLi(PO4)3F host is mainly attributed to the dipole-dipole interaction, which was confirmed by the fluorescent lifetimes. The effect of temperature on the photoluminescence property of Sr3GdLi(PO4)3F: Sm3+ was investigated. 90% of the intensity is preserved at 150 °C. In addition, a white light emitting diode (WLED) lamp was fabricated by a 405 nm n-UV LED chip coated with Sr3Gd0.96Li(PO4)3F:0.04Sm3+ phosphor and commercial yellow phosphor (YAG: Ce3+) of a certain mass ratio. The present work indicates that the Sr3GdLi(PO4)3F: Sm3+ orange-red-emitting phosphors tend to be potential application in n-UV WLED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Sonodynamic therapy (SDT), as a newly emerging and promising modality for cancer treatment, has been extensively investigated but with limited therapeutic outcome because of the absence of highly efficient sonosensitizer. Copper–cysteamine (Cu–Cy), as a new sensitizer, has been reported for oxidative therapy which can be activated with light, X‐ray, or microwave. Herein, for the first time, Cu–Cy nanoparticles are reported as new sonosensitizers for SDT on breast cancer treatment. Upon exposure of Cu–Cy nanoparticles to ultrasound, a large quantity of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated for cancer cell destruction with a high SDT efficiency to induce cell apoptosis and necrosis as observed in vitro. In vivo animal studies show a significant inhibition of tumor growth for the xenografts of 4T1 cancer cells with the combination of 0.75 mg kg−1 Cu–Cy and ultrasound. Overall, the preliminary results show that Cu–Cy nanoparticles can significantly augment the levels of ROS induced by ultrasound, demonstrating Cu–Cy is a new kind of efficient sonosensitzers for SDT applications. Such therapeutic platform by integrating a noninvasive, highly safe, deep‐penetration ultrasound modality. and quickly developed versatile nanosensitizers for tumor eradication will facilitate SDT future clinical translation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dy-Bi co-doped yttrium tungstate crystal materials were synthesized by high temperature solid-state method. To reveal the photoluminescence features and properties of the samples, some measurements have been taken. It turned out that different Bi concentrations play obvious influence in emission performance, and show visible light emission under ultraviolet light excitation. Besides, the effect of temperature on phase structure of samples has also been studied here. Superhigh X-ray luminescence of the phosphors exhibited the promising application in the field of high energy detection. The X-ray irradiation crystal resistance stability of the phosphors has also been investigated through the subsequent testing of XRD and spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results of a systematic paleomagnetic study are reported based on Late Carboniferous to Early Permian sedimentary rocks on the north slope of the Tanggula Mountains, in the northern Qiangtang terrane (NQT), Tibet, China. Data revealed that magnetic minerals in limestone samples from the Zarigen Formation (CP^ z)are primarily composed of magnetite, while those in sandstone samples from the Nuoribagaribao Formation (P nr) are dominated by hematite alone, or hematite and magnetite in combination. Progressive thermal, or alternating field, demagnetization allowed us to isolate a stable high temperature component (HTC) in 127 specimens from 16 sites which successfully passed the conglomerate test, consistent with primary remnance. The tilt-corrected mean direction for Late Carboniferous to Early Permian rocks in the northern Qiangtang terrane is D =30.2°, I =- 40.9°, k =269.0, α =2.3°, N=16, which yields a corresponding paleomagnetic pole at 25.7°N, 241.5°E (d p/d m=2.8°/1.7°), and a paleolatitude of 23.4°S. Our results, together with previously reported paleomagnetic data, indicate that: (1) the NQT in Tibet, China, was located at a low latitude in the southern hemisphere, and may have belonged to the northern margin of Gondwana during the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian; (2) the Paleo-Tethys Ocean was large during the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian, and (3) the NQT subsequently moved rapidly northwards, perhaps related to the fact that the Paleo-Tethys Ocean was rapidly contracting from the Late Permian to Late Triassic while the Bangong Lake-Nujiang Ocean, the northern branch of the Neo-Tethys Ocean, expanded rapidly during this time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gallium-Indium co-substituted yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG:Yb,Tm) phosphors were synthesized by co-precipitation method. It can be seen that gallium and indium ions co-substitution didn't change the phase of YAG. The upconversion luminescence (UCL) properties of the Gallium-Indium co-substituted (YAG:Yb,Tm) samples were measured under 980 nm excitation. The effects of different Inconcentration on the luminescence properties of Gallium-Indium co-substituted (YAG:Yb,Tm) were also investigated. The fluorescence-lifetime investigation shows that the substitution of Ga and In has a significant influence on energy transfer between Yb and Tm in the YAG samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanosonosensitization by Using Copper-Cysteamine Nanoparticles Augmented Sonodynamic Cancer Treatment GLO:OLV/01dec22:ppsc202200155-fig-0001.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): 6 The in vivo ROS generation detected through fluorescence microscopy after different treatment. gl This correction does not change any results or conclusions of the original paper. B 2018 b , I 35 i , 1700378 DOI: 10.1002/ppsc.201700378 In the original version of Figure 6, the image of US (-) Cu-Cy (+) was mistakenly misplaced. [Extracted from the article]

White light phosphors have many potential applications such as solid-state lighting, full color displays, light source for plant growth, and crop improvement. However, most of these phosphors are rare-earth-based materials which are costly and would be facing the challenge of resource issue due to the extremely low abundance of these elements on earth. A new white color composite consisted of a graphitic-phase nitrogen carbon (g-C3N4) treated with nitric acid and copper-cysteamine Cu3Cl(SR)2 is reported herein. Under a single wavelength excitation at 365 nm, these two materials show a strong blue and red luminescence, respectively. It is interesting to find that the white light emission with a quantum yield of 20% can be obtained by mixing these two self-activated luminescent materials at the weight ratio of 1:1.67. Using a 365 nm near-ultraviolet chip for excitation, the composite produces a white light-emitting diode that exhibits an excellent color rendering index of 94.3. These white-emitting materials are environment friendly, easy to synthesize, and cost-effective. More importantly, this will potentially eliminate the challenge of rare earth resources. Furthermore, a single chip is used for excitation instead of a multichip, which can greatly reduce the cost of the devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human norovirus is a leading cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide in a plethora of residential and commercial settings, including restaurants, schools, and hospitals. Methods for easily detecting the virus and for treating and preventing infection are critical to stopping norovirus outbreaks, and inactivation via nanoparticles (NPs) is a more universal and attractive alternative to other physical and chemical approaches. Using norovirus GI.1 (Norwalk) virus-like particles (VLPs) as a model viral system, this study characterized the antiviral activity of Au/CuS core/shell nanoparticles (NPs) against GI.1 VLPs for the rapid inactivation of HuNoV. Inactivation of VLPs (GI.1) by Au/CuS NPs evaluated using an absorbance-based ELISA indicated that treatment with 0.083 μM NPs for 10 min inactivated ~50% VLPs in a 0.37 μg/ml VLP solution and 0.83 μM NPs for 10 min completely inactivated the VLPs. Increasing nanoparticle concentration and/or VLP-NP contact time significantly increased the virucidal efficacy of Au/CuS NPs. Changes to the VLP particle morphology, size, and capsid protein were characterized using dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy, and Western blot analysis. The strategy reported here provides the first reported proof-of-concept Au/CuS NPs-based virucide for rapidly inactivating human norovirus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a prerequisite for effective prognostics, the goodness of the features affects the complexity of the prognostic methods. Comparing to features quality evaluation in diagnostics, features evaluation for prognostics is a new problem. Normally, the monotonic tendency of feature series can be used as the visual representation of equipment damage cumulation so that forecasting its future health states is easy to implement. Through introducing the concept of ranking mutual information in ordinal case, a monotonicity evaluation method of monitoring feature series is proposed. Finally, this method is verified by the simulating feature series and the results verify its effectivity. For the specific application in industry, the evaluation results can be used as the standard for selecting prognostic feature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: In this study, Ce3+-doped lanthanum(III) fluoride (LaF3:Ce3+) nanoparticles were synthesized by a wet-chemistry method in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and their application as an intracellular light source for photodynamic activation was demonstrated. Materials & methods: The LaF3:Ce3+/DMSO nanoparticles have a strong green emission with a peak at approximately 520 nm, which is effectively overlapped with the absorption of protoporphyrin IX (PPIX). The nanoparticles were encapsulated into poly( D, L-lactide- co-glycolide (PLGA) microspheres along with PPIX. Upon irradiation with x-rays (90 kV), energy transfer from the LaF3:Ce3+/DMSO nanoparticles to PPIX occurs and singlet oxygen is generated for cancer cell damage. Results: The LaF3:Ce3+/DMSO/PLGA or LaF3:Ce3+/DMSO/PPIX/PLGA microspheres alone caused only sublethal cytotoxicity to the cancer cells. Upon x-ray irradiation, the LaF3:Ce3+/DMSO/PPIX/PLGA microspheres induced oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage and DNA fragmentation on prostate cancer cells (PC3). Discussion: The results indicate that x-rays can activate LaF3:Ce3+ and PPIX nanocomposites, which can be a novel method for cancer destruction. Original submitted 7 June 2013; Revised submitted 25 September 2013 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we report the structure and optical properties of a new Cu–cysteamine complex (Cu–Cy) with a formula of Cu3Cl(SR)2 (R = CH2CH2NH2). This Cu–Cy has a different structure from a previous Cu–Cy complex, in which both thio and amine groups from cysteamine bond with copper ions. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance results show that the oxidation state of copper in Cu3Cl(SR)2 is +1 rather than +2. Further, Cu3Cl(SR)2 has been observed to show intense photoluminescence and X-ray excited luminescence. More interesting is that Cu3Cl(SR)2 particles can produce singlet oxygen under irradiation by light or X-ray. This indicates that Cu3Cl(SR)2 is a new photosensitizer that can be used for deep cancer treatment as X-ray can penetrate soft tissues. All these findings mean that Cu3Cl(SR)2 is a new material with potential applications for lighting, radiation detection and cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photothermal therapy (PTT) for cancer treatment is the use of heat between 41 and 45 °C to damage cancer cells. As a new type of transducer agent for PTT of cancer, CuS nanoparticles have several advantages. The most favorable features are the low cost, simple, and easy preparation and small size for targeting. However, the CuS nanoparticle PTT efficacy needs to be improved for practical applications. In this study, the CuS nano-PTT efficiency is enhanced via the local field enhancement from Ag nanoparticle surface plasmon coupling. The results show that absorbance of CuS nanoparticles in Ag/CuS nanocomposites is enhanced about four times by Ag nanoparticle surface plasmon coupling. Consequently, the PTT efficacy is enhanced and a power of 0.6 W/cm with a 980-nm laser is sufficient for Ag/CuS nano-PTT activation for cancer treatment in vitro observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report paleomagnetic results from the Late Carboniferous-Late Permian strata in eastern Tibet (China), and aim to clarify the tectonic and paleogeographic evolution of the northern Qiangtang-Qamdo block, which is the key to the study of plate boundary between the Gondwanaland and the Eurasia during the late Paleozoic. Two hundred and nineteen samples-including limestone, muddy siltstone, basalt, lava, and tuff-were collected at 24 sites in the Upper Carboniferous and Middle-Upper Permian successions. A systematic study of rock magnetism and paleomagnetism yields three reliable paleomagnetic pole positions. Both hematite and magnetite occurred in the Late Carboniferous limestone samples. The demagnetization curve shows a characteristic double-component, with the remanent magnetization (ChRM) exhibiting a positive polarity (negative inclination). In the Late Permian limestone, tuff, and basalt, magnetic information were recorded primarily in magnetite, although a small fraction of them was found in hematite in basalt. The demagnetization curve illustrates a double or single component, with the ChRM showing a negative polarity (positive inclination), which has passed the classic fold test successfully. The single polarity features of the ChRM directions of the Late Carboniferous and Middle-Late Permian rocks are respectively related to the Kiaman positive and reversed polarities under the stratigraphic coordinates. This, in turn, indicates that both ChRMs directions represent the original remanence directions. By comparison with the previously published paleomagnetic results from the late Paleozoic rocks in the northern Qiangtang Range, we suggest that: (1) Qamdo and northern Qiangtang block were independent of each other during the Late Carboniferous to the Early Permian periods. The north Lancangjiang ocean basin between the two blocks may have closed before the Middle Permian and been involved in the continent-continent collision stage in the Late Permian-Early Triassic periods. (2) The northern Qiangtang-Qamdo Block paleogeographically was situated at low to intermediate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere in the Late Carboniferous-Late Permian periods, and began to displace northward in the Early Triassic, with an amount of more than 5000 km northward transport from its current location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultraweak intrinsic bioluminescence of cancer cell is a noninvasive method of assessing bioenergetic status of the investigated cells. This weak biophoton emission generated by prostate cancer cells (PC) was measured in the presence of Ag nanoparticles and its correlation with singlet oxygen production was investigated. The comparison between nanoparticles concentration, bioluminescence intensity, and cell survival showed that Ag nanoparticles do not significantly affect cell survival at used concentration but they increase cell bioluminescent processes. It was also confirmed that singlet oxygen contributes to biophoton emission, that Ag nanoparticles increase this contribution, and that there are secondary mechanisms independent of singlet oxygen by which Ag nanoparticles contribute to increased cellular bioluminescence, possibly through plasmon resonance enhancement of intrinsic fluorescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, we consider the problem of estimating gain-phase and position errors for constellation synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. In the conventional method, the position error estimation is based on the first-order Taylor series expansion of the position-error exponential function. However, the first-order Taylor series expansion causes an approximation error, resulting in the inaccuracy of the estimation by the conventional method. In this letter, an improved method is developed to overcome this problem, based on the fact that the aforementioned approximation error decreases with the reduction in position errors. In the improved method, we first compensate the position error estimates obtained at the kth iteration in order to reduce the remaining position errors at the (k + 1)th iteration. Then, the position error estimates obtained at all iterations are summed as the estimates of the true position errors. In this way, the improved method removes the aforementioned approximation error, leading to estimates with high accuracy. Simulation results verify that the estimates by the improved method are closer to the true array errors than those by the conventional method. In addition, simulation results show that the improved method is more robust to position errors than the conventional method. Furthermore, the increase in the computational load of the improved method is negligible. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In practice, unavoidable array errors, consisting of phase and position errors, significantly degrade the performance of constellation synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. Therefore, methods are required to estimate these errors. In constellation SAR systems, the clutter spectrum components within a Doppler bin can be used as calibration sources with known directions. In this letter, it is observed that the steering vectors of the spectrum components in one Doppler bin are conjugate with those of the spectrum components in its contrary Doppler bin on condition that each SAR operates in side-looking mode and its nominal left coordinate is zero, which is easy to realize. We obtain a new phase error estimation method based on this observation. An array error estimation method, which estimates phase and position errors simultaneously, is proposed via combining the new phase error estimation method with the least squares method for estimating position errors. The advantages of the proposed method include its capability to directly estimate phase and position errors without joint iteration between the estimations of phase and position errors; thus, it performs well, while the conventional method behaves unstably because it may converge to a local optimal solution, when position errors are large. Furthermore, mathematical analysis indicates that the proposed method has less computational load. In addition, computer simulations show that it performs better than the conventional method. The only cost is that it employs twice as many Doppler bins as the conventional method does, which is endurable because there are numerous Doppler bins. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A novel autofocus algorithm for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) based on total variation is presented in this paper. The method, which starts with a complex phasedegraded SAR image, after the phase errors model is introduced into the range-compressed phase-history domain, carries out phase errors correction by changing the focus till the total variation of the azimuth profile is maximized. Compared with the minimum entropy autofocus algorithm, the autofocus algorithm has less computational complexity and is easier to implement. The simulation and the processing results of the measured data show the validity of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CdTe quantum dots have intense photoluminescence but exhibit almost no x-ray luminescence. However, intense x-ray luminescence from CdTe quantum dots is observed in LaF3:Ce/CdTe nanocomposites. This enhancement in the x-ray luminescence of CdTe quantum dots is attributed to the energy transfer from LaF3:Ce to CdTe quantum dots in the nanocomposites. The combination of LaF3:Ce nanoparticles and CdTe quantum dots makes LaF3:Ce/CdTe nanocomposites promising scintillators for radiation detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]