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To explore the mechanisms whereby dexmedetomidine reversed lung injury in rats with toxic shock via inhibiting inflammation and autophagy.Thirty-six specific pathogen-free male Sprague Dawley rats with were screened and randomly divided into three groups. Toxic shock was induced by intestinal leakage. The control group received no cecal ligation and the treatment group received dexmedetomidine hydrochloride. Lung tissue morphology was studied by hematoxylin-eosin staining. The expression levels of inflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were determined by Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). The expression levels of beclin l and LC3 were measured, and the expression levels of apoptosis gene Bax and Bcl-2 were determined. The autophagosomes in lung cells were observed by transmission electron microscopy. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 expression was determined by Western blotting assays.The results showed that the W/D, total protein and myeloperoxidase (MPO) index in the toxic shock group were 5.45 ± 0.35, 3.21 ± 0.47 and 4.53 ± 0.36, respectively. The W/D (4.02 ± 0.67), total protein (2.01 ± 0.35) and MPO index (2.31 ± 0.59) were significantly lower in the dexmedetomidine group (p0.05). Similarly, compared with the toxic shock group, the expression of p-ERK1/2 protein in the dexmedetomidine treatment group was significantly decreased (p0.05). The expression levels of autophagy proteins beclin1 and LC3 in the dexmedetomidine treatment group were not significantly different from those of the control group (p0.05). Transmission electron microscopy showed that the number of autophagic bodies in lung cells decreased. After induction with dexmedetomidine hydrochloride, the proapoptotic gene Bax was significantly downregulated in the cells. Bax expression levels in each group were 0.36 ± 0.12, 0.67 ± 0.06, and 0.32 ± 0.12, respectively. Compared with the control group, Bax expression in lung tissue significantly increased in the toxic shock group (p0.05).Dexmedetomidine attenuates lung injury in toxic shock rats by inhibiting inflammation and autophagy.

This study investigated the physicochemical characteristics and antioxidant activities of cell-bound exopolysaccharides (c-EPS) from Lactobacillus fermentum S1 extracted using either phenol (CFP) or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (CFE). The extraction products, CFP and CFE, were homogeneous polysaccharides with molecular weights of 2.89 × 105 and 2.44 × 105 Da, respectively. Both CFP and CFE were composed of five kinds of monosaccharides. They had a main chain of β-D-Glcp-(1→2), α-L-Rhap-(1→2), β-D-Galp-(1→3), α-D-Glcp-(1→3), α-D-Galp-(1→3) and β-L-Rhap-(1→3,4) residues, and a tail of α-D-Manp-(1→) residue, but with different molar ratios. Trace amounts of D-Galp-(1→) and L-Araf-(1→2,5) residues were randomly distributed in the sugar chains. Although both CFP and CFE were in triple-helical conformation, they differed from each other in relation to surface morphology and thermal properties. The two c-EPS had different performances in radical scavenging and ferric reducing antioxidant power assays in vitro. The antioxidant capacity of both c-EPS extracts was confirmed in vivo using Caenorhabditis elegans, whose total antioxidant capacity and total superoxide dismutase activity increased after c-EPS treatment. Overall, the extraction method significantly affected the structure and biological activity of c-EPS. Moreover, the potent antioxidant activities of CFP and CFE support their use as natural antioxidants in dietary supplements or food additives.

Purpose Only a few studies have investigated the brain morphology abnormalities in structural MRI in patients with drug-naive idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) and mainly focused on brain volume changes. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the changes in three morphologic measurement differences including cortical thickness, cortical volume, and surface area using FreeSurfer in a pediatric cohort of recent-onset, drug-naive IGE. Methods Forty-five recent-onset, drug-naive patients diagnosed with IGE and 32 demographically matched healthy controls were recruited. All participants underwent structural MRI scans with a 3.0 T MR system. FreeSurfer, an automated cortical surface reconstruction toolbox, was applied to compare the cortical morphology between patients and controls. The brain regions with significant group differences after multiple comparison correction were extracted in common space for each patient, and then correlated with their clinical characteristics (including onset age, duration of epilepsy, and mini-mental state examination (MMSE)) using partial correlation analysis with age, sex and intracranial volume as covariates. Results Compared with controls, IGE patients showed decreased cortical thickness in the left rostral middle frontal gyrus, decreased cortical volume in the right cuneus and left superior frontal gyrus that extended to the precentral gyrus, and decreased surface area in the right cuneus and right inferior parietal gyrus. None of these regions showed significant relationships with clinical measurements in the patient group. Conclusion Our findings suggest that cortical thickness, cortical volume, and surface area changes occurred in the early stage of IGE. These findings provide structural neuroimaging evidence underlying the pathology of IGE.

Because of the complexity of real-world problems , large-scale group decision making has become a research topic of great interest in the field of decision science. Differences of opinion in a large group are highly likely. Sometimes, decision makers are unwilling to adjust their opinions to promote consensus. It is hence necessary to establish a consensus model for the effective management of opinion differences and non-cooperative behaviors. More importantly, the credibility of the adjustment information must be ensured. In this paper, we present a confidence consensus-based model for large-scale group decision making that provides a novel approach to addressing non-cooperative behaviors. First, some new concepts are proposed, including the collective adjustment suggestion and rationality degree. Then, we combine the rationality and non-cooperation of the adjustment information to construct the concept of a confidence level. This confidence level measures the impartiality and objectivity of the adjustment information and is the basis for managing non-cooperative behaviors. We then establish a mechanism for addressing non-cooperative behaviors. Finally, we present a case study that illustrates that the proposed model is feasible and effective. A comparative analysis reveals the features and advantages of this model for managing large-scale group decision making.

Based on a two-dimensional phase coding, a novel range ambiguity suppression technique is proposed in this paper. By transmitting two-dimensional phase coded signals, the two-dimensional spectrum of the range ambiguous signals will be shifted along both range and azimuth directions compared with that of desired signals. Then, part of the two-dimensional spectrum of the range ambiguous signals will be located outside the two-dimensional spectral support, which is known in priori, of the desired signals. Considering the range frequency and Doppler oversamplings, a filter corresponding to the two-dimensional spectral support of the desired signals is applied, which suppresses the range ambiguity. Simulation results of both point targets and distributed targets validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Recurrent miscarriage (RM) affects 5% of women, it has an adverse emotional impact on women. Because of the complexities of early development, the mechanism of recurrent miscarriage is still unclear. We hypothesized that abnormal placenta leads to early recurrent miscarriage (ERM). The aim of this study was to identify ERM associated factors in human placenta villous tissue using proteomics. Investigation of these differences in protein expression in parallel profiling is essential to understand the comprehensive pathophysiological mechanism underlying recurrent miscarriage (RM).To gain more insight into mechanisms of recurrent miscarriage (RM), a comparative proteome profile of the human placenta villous tissue in normal and RM pregnancies was analyzed using iTRAQ technology and bioinformatics analysis used by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) software.In this study, we employed an iTRAQ based proteomics analysis of four placental villous tissues from patients with early recurrent miscarriage (ERM) and four from normal pregnant women. Finally, we identified 2805 proteins and 79,998 peptides between patients with RM and normal matched group. Further analysis identified 314 differentially expressed proteins in placental villous tissue (≥1.3-fold, Student's t-test, p 0.05); 209 proteins showed the increased expression while 105 proteins showed decreased expression. These 314 proteins were analyzed by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) and were found to play important roles in the growth of embryo. Furthermore, network analysis show that Angiotensinogen (AGT), MAPK14 and Prothrombin (F2) are core factors in early embryonic development. We used another 8 independent samples (4 cases and 4 controls) to cross validation of the proteomic data.This study has identified several proteins that are associated with early development, these results may supply new insight into mechanisms behind recurrent miscarriage.

Achieving carbon neutrality is of great importance to many developed and developing countries around the globe. Global warming is one of the leading issues caused by human activities. To cope with environmental challenges, and to achieve carbon neutrality, fiscal decentralization and eco-innovation are promising strategies that can also enable countries and local governments to pursue visible economic growth. This study investigates the role of export diversification, environment-related technological innovation, and fiscal decentralization in effectively achieving carbon neutrality target for 37 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) economies from 1970 to 2019. For empirical analysis, it uses second-generation tests that deal with heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence issues. To this end, this study employs updated cointegration techniques. The augmented mean group (AMG) approach is used to examine the long-run dynamic equilibrium among the variables of interest. The findings indicate that export diversification and fiscal decentralization followed by GDP growth affect carbon dioxide emission positively. While renewable energy consumption and environment-related technological innovation assure environmental improvement. Additionally, short-run causal and unidirectional links are found running from fiscal decentralization, export diversification, and environment-related technological innovation to carbon emissions. Our findings suggest that OECD partner countries need to be careful while devising fiscal decentralization and export diversification policies. They should increase the share of renewable energy, and expand environment-related technological innovation. Such strategic efforts would direct the OECD countries to meet the climate change mitigation agenda of sustainable development goals.

For high speed maneuvering platforms, multichannel synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can realize wide-swath imaging more flexibly at a high squint. In this mode, the signal reconstruction and imaging is a challenging task because the direction of the channel array vector is time-variant and inconsistent with the radar velocity vector. In this paper, the properties of space time spectrum are analyzed in detail at first. It is found that the space time spectrum of the signal is irregular, in which the space time spectral lines are nonlinear and there is a massive Doppler spectrum shift. Therefore, a range-dependent signal reconstruction method based on space time spectrum correction is proposed to obtain the unambiguous Doppler spectrum. For wide-swath data processing, an improved Omega-K approach based on time domain spectrum compression is further proposed to obtain a well-focused image. A modified Stolt mapping is used to address the range variations of range cell migration (RCM). Subsequently, a time domain spectrum compression function is used to eliminate the time domain aliasing of small-aperture data without zero-padding. Simulation results and real data processing are presented to validate the proposed algorithm.

Synthetic Aperture Ladar (SAL) is a combination of synthetic aperture and lidar. At present, sub-aperture stitching with PGA algorithm is used to realize SAL imaging. However, this algorithm has a low rate of data utilization, resulting in a worse image SNR and resolution. For solving this problem, a method of sub-aperture phase error stitching for full aperture airborne SAL data processing based on azimuth deramp is proposed in this paper. The data is divided into a sequence of sub-apertures and the standard Standard Minimum Entropy Autofocus (MEA) is used to estimate the phase error of each sub-aperture. Then all the phase errors of the sub-apertures are stitched to obtain the full-aperture phase error. After the compensation of the full-aperture phase error, the full-aperture image is obtained by deramp. Compared with the SAL image obtained by sub-aperture algorithm, the method we proposed can offer better resolution and SNR. Finally, the imaging results of airborne SAL real data verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

With an intention to find more potent antibacterial agents, four halogen disubstituted thiazolineone derivatives (2a–d), five halogen monosubstituted thiazolineone derivatives (2e–i), and eleven 2-arylimino-3-pyridin-thiazolineone derivatives (2j–t) were synthesized and screened for their antibacterial activity, bactericidal activity, cytotoxicity, and erythrocyte hemolysis. Most of the synthesized derivatives showed antibacterial activity in inhibiting the growth of S. epidermidis and MRSA, and exhibited safety in the cytotoxicity study on the Vero cells and hemolytic activities test on healthy human erythrocytes. 2-Arylimino-3-pyridin-thiazolineone derivatives not only improved the clog P, but also showed potent antibacterial activity in inhibiting the growth of S. epidermidis and MRSA. In particularly, several compounds (2f, 2i, 2r and 2t) showed bactericidal activity, in which compound 2r displayed the best inhibitory capacity among the synthesized compounds, and further druggability research is on going.

Precision agriculture poses new challenges for real-time monitoring pest population in field based on new-generation AI technology. In order to provide a big data resource for training pest detection deep learning models, this paper establishes a large-scale multi-target standardized data set of agricultural pests, named Pest24. Specifically, the data set currently consists of 25,378 field pest annotated images collected from our automatic pest trap & imaging device. Totally, 24 categories of typical pests are involved in Pest24, which dominantly destroy field crops in China every year. We apply several state-of-the-art deep learning detection methods, Faster RCNN, SSD, YOLOv3, Cascade R-CNN to detect the pests in the data set, and obtain encouraging results for real-time monitoring field crop pests. To explore the factors that affect the detection accuracy of pests, we analyze the data set in a variety of aspects, finding that three factors, i.e. relative scale, number of instances and object adhesion, mainly influence the pest detection performance. Overall, Pest24 is featured typically with large scale multi-pest image data, very small object scales, high object similarity and dense pest distribution. We hope that Pest24 promotes accurate multi-pest monitoring for precision agriculture and also benefits the machine vision community by providing a new specialized object detection benchmark.

Clarifying the association of differences in endosperm biochemical composition with nutrient and edible quality can guide rice breeding and cultivation. In this study, very-low-amylose-content (LAC), Japanese good-taste (JTC), Northeast China good-taste (CTC), and Northeast China high-yield (CHC) cultivars were milled to obtain four layers (L1-L4) from outside-in, and then analyzed for apparent amylose content (AAC), protein content (PC), amino acids, soluble sugars, and minerals. The association of these compositions and Rapid-Visco analysis values with taste was also examined. LAC had low AAC, high amino acid and mineral content, and the highest taste value. Taste was significantly affected by AAC and soluble sugar in L3, and by PC in the L2 layer. High levels of amino acid in L2 and L3 improved the taste, as did Mg, P, and Ca in L1. On the whole, starch factors had the highest contribution to taste, followed by minerals, amino acids, and PC.

Four novel lanthanide complexes [Ln(3,4-DMOBA) 3 (H 2 O) 2 ]·H 2 O·C 2 H 5 OH (Ln = Sm(1), Tb(2), Dy(3), Ho(4); 3,4-DMOBA = 3, 4-dimethoxybenzoate) have been hydrothermal synthesized and characterized. Structural analyses reveal that adjacent lanthanide ions are connected by 3,4-DMOBA ligands adopting bridging bidentate mode to generate one-dimensional (1-D) structure with the uncoordinated water and ethanol molecules. 1-D structures are linked by hydrogen bonds to form a three-dimensional (3-D) structure, which is rarely observed in lanthanide carboxylic acids complexes. Under the radiation of UV light, complex 2 exhibits the characteristic emission of Tb 3+ ion ( 5 D 4 → 7 F 6-3 ). The thermal decomposition mechanism is investigated by TG-FTIR technology. IR spectra of the evolved gases show that the uncoordinated water and ethanol molecules lose in the first step. And then 3,4-DMOBA ligand is decomposed into H 2 O, CO 2 and other gaseous molecules as well as the gaseous organic fragments.

A new lithographic approach for the fabrication of an enticing optical diffuser with concave microlens array (MLA) is reported. A flexible photopolymerizable polymer mold is employed as an intermediate transferring template from nickel stamp and directly adopted to fabricate concave MLA diffuser films. The influence of the parameters (such as diameter, fill factor etc.) of concave MLA is analyzed experimentally and theoretically. The results verify that the optical gain can be reached as high as 53%, which has a similar fascinating diffusion effect compared with that of conventional convex MLA diffuser films. Additionally, it is found that diffusion angle could be manipulated by the profile of the concave elliptical MLA, leading to luminance increase in long axis larger than that in short axis. The approach demonstrated here affords the intriguing opportunity to large scale industrial processing for high-quality diffusers with low manufacturing and materials cost.

The fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea (Drury) (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae), is an invasive and important pest in China. Understanding the physiological–biochemical characteristics of the overwintering pupae is essential for its cold tolerance and potential distribution in the northeast of China. Results indicated that the supercooling point (SCP) of H. cunea overwintering pupae varied significantly among Jilin city (43°N, 126°E), Jilin Province, Shenyang (41.8°N, 123.4°E), Liaoning Province and Yingkou (40.39°N, 122.13°E), Liaoning Province. The average SCP in Jilin was the lowest (− 23.49 ± 0.46 °C) in those of three areas. The water content in overwintering pupae had a significant positive correlation with the SCP (R = 0.848,P = 0.03). Contents of alanine (ALA) (26.00%), lysine (LYS) (30.51%) and arginine (ARG) (22.88%) in the overwintering pupae's hemolymph were higher than others. During the overwintering, the fat content in pupae's bodies decreased gradually. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that the content of trehalose in the body of H. cunea was remarkably different (P = 0.007) month by month, with the maximum in March (2.88 mg·mL − 1 ) and the minimum (0.40 mg·mL − 1 ) in November. Pearson's correlation test indicated that SCP had a significant negative correlation with the SOD enzyme activity (R = − 0.850; P = 0.008). Thermal hysteresis activity (THA) of hemolymph was 0.68°C and 0.7–0.8°C for H. cunea pupae and larva, respectively, using differential scanning calorimetry, which suggests that the H. cunea can improve their cold tolerance through producing antifreeze proteins. These results could help us to predict the distribution of the H. cunea in the northeast of China.

The hybrid cobalt–iron hexacyanoferrate nanoparticles modified electrode has been fabricated by electrochemical methods using MWCNT as a template. The electrochemical properties as well as the kinetic parameters such as the electron transfer coefficient α , rate constant k s of the electrode reaction and the catalytic rate constant k cat of the catalytic reaction are determined. Isoniazid was chosen as a model compound to elucidate the electrocatalytic activity of the resulting modified electrode. The results showed that this modified electrodes exhibited good stability and high electrocatalytic activity to the oxidation of isoniazid. Hydrodynamic amperometry was applied for the determination of isoniazid with linear range of 2.0 × 10 −7 to 1.0 × 10 −4 mol L −1 , The detection limit and sensitivity was 8.0 × 10 −8 mol L −1 and 114.9 μA mM −1 , respectively.

Summary Groundwater evapotranspiration (ETg) is a significant component of water balance analysis in desert areas. Estimation of ETg using diurnal water table fluctuations, i.e. the White method, is considered simple and straightforward, but it was seldom applied in desert areas. In this study, long-term and high-resolution groundwater level data were used to estimate ETg rate at two sites covered by typical desert plants Salix psammophila and Artemisia ordosica, respectively, in the Mu Us Desert in northern China. The specific yield (Sy) was derived from a drainage experiment in laboratory. The results showed that the water demand of S. psammophila could result in a weak but identifiable diurnal fluctuation of water table that was 2.35 m below the land surface, reasonable estimates of ETg could be derived from the White method, and the level of the ETg corresponded with the plant growth stages. However, the water table data from the area covered by A. ordosica did not show diurnal fluctuation during the growing season. The White method is good for the desert areas where groundwater use by other processes is negligible, and evapotranspiration is the main process for groundwater consumption. In addition, the information about diurnal water table fluctuations is useful for identification of groundwater-dependence of vegetation. A. ordosica is groundwater-independent, whereas S. psammophila is groundwater-dependent.

To demonstrate the hypothesis that aerobic exercise training inhibits the development of insulin resistance through IL-6 and probe into the possible molecular mechanism about it.Rats were raised with high-fat diets for 8 weeks to develop insulin resistance, and glucose infusion rates (GIRs) were determined by hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamping to confirm the development of insulin resistance. Aerobic exercise training (the speed and duration time in the first week were respectively 16 m/min and 50 min, and speed increased 1m/min and duration time increased 5 min every week following it) and/or IL-6shRNA plasmid injection (rats received IL-6shRNA injection via the tail vein every two weeks) were adopted during the development of insulin resistance. The serum IL-6, leptin, adiponectin, fasting blood glucose, fasting serum insulin, GIR, IL-6 gene expression levels, p-p38 in various tissues and p-STAT3/t-STAT3 ratio in the liver were measured.Rats fed with high-fat diets for 8 weeks were developed insulin resistance and the IL-6mRNA levels of IL-6shRNA injection groups in various tissues were significantly lower than those of control group (P0.05), respectively. The development of insulin resistance in exercise rats significantly decreased, however, compared with that, the GIR of exercise rats injected by IL-6shRNA was lower (P0.05). The IL-6mRNA levels were highest in the fat tissue and lowest in the skeletal muscles in all the rats. The serum adiponectin levels decreased (P0.05) following the development of insulin resistance, and it increased (P0.05) when the rats were intervened by aerobic exercise training for 8 weeks at the same time. However, there were not significant differences when serum leptin concentrations were compared (P0.05). The p-p38 significantly increased in the rats fed with high-fat diets, however, p-p38 of the exercise high-fat diets rats in the liver and fat tissues significantly decreased than that (P0.05). The changes of p-p38 in exercise rats injected by IL-6shRNA were irregular. The activation of STAT3 in the liver significantly increased (P0.05) following the development of insulin resistance, and it decreased (P0.05) when the rats were intervened by aerobic exercise training for 8 weeks at the same time, and the gene silencing of IL-6 did not have effects on the activation of STAT3 in the liver (P0.05).In conclusion, aerobic exercise training prevented the development of insulin resistance through IL-6 to a certain degree. The gene expression and secretion of IL-6 could inhibit the development of insulin resistance. The mechanism of the effects were possibly related with elevating the levels of serum adiponectin, and/or inhibiting the activation of STAT3 in the liver and p38MAPK in the skeletal muscles, liver and fat tissues.

The cobalt hexacyanoferrate nanocrystals (Nano-CoHCF) with uniform shape and size were electrochemical deposited on the electrode surface modified with the overoxidized polypyrrole (OPyox) film in the presence of ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA). The conceivable effect of EDTA and OPyox film was studied using SEM and electrochemical techniques. The experiment results showed that the nucleation and deposition rate of CoHCF on the electrode surface were controlled by the synergic action of EDTA and OPyox film, which resulted in the formation of uniform Nano-CoHCF. Moreover, some electrodeposition conditions for Nano-CoHCF film had been optimized such as pH, concentration of EDTA, as well as deposition cycles. The resulting modified electrode exhibited excellent catalytic activity and improved stability for the oxidation of hydrazine. Hydrodynamic amperometry was applied for the determination of hydrazine with a linear range of 2.0 × 10−7 to 1.1 × 10−5 mol L−1 and 1.1 × 10−5 to 4.1 × 10−4 mol L−1 with the maximum sensitivity of 2719.5 μA mM−1 cm−2.

Objective Many studies have suggested that adiponectin gene might be involved in the development of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, the results have been inconsistent. In this study, the authors performed a meta-analysis to assess the associations of + 45T/G, + 276G/T and − 11377C/G polymorphisms in adiponectin gene with CAD susceptibility. Methods Published literature from PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched. Pooled odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using fixed- or random-effects model. Results Sixteen studies (4394 cases / 8187 controls) for + 45T/G polymorphism, fifteen studies (3569 cases / 7463 controls) for + 276G/T polymorphism, and thirteen studies (3531 cases / 7072 controls) for − 11377C/G polymorphism were included in the meta-analysis. The overall results showed that there was a statistically significant association between − 11377C/G polymorphism and CAD (G vs. C: OR = 1.15, 95%CI 1.07-1.24).Similar results were observed among European (G vs. C: OR = 1.11, 95%CI 1.02-1.20) and East Asian populations (G vs. C: OR = 1.27, 95%CI 1.11-1.45). However, no significant association was found for + 45T/G or + 276G/T polymorphism with CAD susceptibility. Conclusions The meta-analysis indicated the significant association of − 11377C/G polymorphism, but not + 45T/G or + 276G/T polymorphism, with CAD susceptibility. However, large-scale studies with the consideration of gene-gene and gene-environment interactions should be conducted to investigate the associations in future.

To analyze our experience and the surgical and survival outcomes of patients with pancreatic carcinoma who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) by analysis of a retrospective cohort of 205 patients over a 10 years period.The patients were categorized into two 5-year periods: period 1, from 2000 January 1 to 2004 December 31(group 1, n = 48) and period 2, from 2005 January 1 to 2009 December 31(group 2, n = 157). We analysis the data using statistical software and find the improvement of surgical and survival outcomes of PD for pancreatic cancer in the past 10 years.The two groups have similar age, sex distribution, comorbidity, preoperative serum tumor markers, patients number of preoperative biliary drainage and postoperative chemotherapy. More patients in group 2 underwent lymph nodes dissection (P = 0.031). And patients of group 2 had a better surgical outcomes and longer 5-year overall survival (8% vs. 19%, P = 0.036). The blood loss volume, transfusion volume, and the number of patients need blood transfusion were significantly fewer (P 0.001) for the patients in group 2, however, the operation time was obviously lengthened (P = 0.002). Patients in Group 1 suffered more postoperative complications than those of the patients in group 2 (P = 0.021). A significant difference was reached for survival between the two group (P = 0.036).A significant improvement of surgical and survival outcomes after PD for pancreatic cancer patients was achieved in the past 10 years. PD remains the only treatment option that potentially provides a cure for pancreatic head cancer, and postoperative chemotherapy may produce survival benefit.

The effect of copper addition on microstructures and mechanical properties of in situ TiC particulates reinforced Fe-based composites was investigated. The results demonstrated that copper was an expanding austenite element which could move eutectoid point to the left in Fe–C equilibrium diagram and result in the refinement of pearlite interlamelar spacing. Copper could effectively prevent the transition and deposition from carbon to graphite and also improve the activity of Ti and C element which was beneficial to synthesize more of TiC particulates. The Fe-based composites with a copper content of 1.5 wt% resulted in the best mechanical properties.

Degradation of rhodamine B by Fe(0)-based Fenton process with H(2)O(2) was investigated. The effects of H(2)O(2) dose, Fe(0) dose, initial concentration of rhodamine B and initial pH value on the degradation of rhodamine B were examined. The results showed that the degradation and mineralization of rhodamine B occurred with low dose of H(2)O(2) and Fe(0). The intermediates of rhodamine B were analyzed with UV-Vis spectrophotometry and ion chromatography and the mechanism of oxidative degradation of rhodamine B was also discussed. The reactive oxygen species (·OH) produced in Fe(0)-based Fenton process with H(2)O(2) is the key to the degradation of rhodamine B by ways of N-de-ethylation, chromophore cleavage, ring-opening and mineralization.

Early detection of bacteria in water treatment is desired to mitigate system biofouling and potential human health impacts. This research involved the development of an antibody-based sensor, which was attached to a hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) modified cellulose acetate ultrafiltration membrane surface, to target bacteria. HPC was chosen because it collapses above and expands below a lower critical solution temperature (43 °C), thus allowing temperature modulation. The membrane had a high target recovery efficiency (10–18%) in both single bacterium and complex samples (simulated by adding organics and competitive organisms). Sensor recovery was decreased (to 5–7%) following temperature activation (above 50 °C) due to adverse impacts of temperature on the antibody. The membrane was able to be regenerated (with 0.1 M NaOH) and reused three consecutive times. The thermally responsive sensing membrane developed from this work was specifically developed to detect biofoulants in membrane-based water treatment processes. However, it could be adapted to address a range of environmental detection concerns, such as pathogen detection.

A convenient method for electrochemical deposition of compact and uniform CuHCF nanoparticles was proposed. The size and the deposition rate of CuHCF nanoparticles could be easily controlled with the synergic action of EDTA and HAuCl 4 in the deposition solution. The possible mechanism was investigated by using electrochemical and SEM techniques. Moreover, electrodeposition conditions such as pH, concentrations of HAuCl 4 and EDTA as well as the initial concentration of ferricyanide had also been optimized. The resulting modified electrode exhibited excellent catalytic activity and improved stability for the oxidation of hydrazine. Hydrodynamic amperometry was applied for the determination of hydrazine with a linear range of 5.0 × 10 −7 –2.0 × 10 −3 mol L −1 and the sensitivity was 194.0 μA mM −1 .

TiC particles reinforced Fe matrix composites (TiCp/Fe) with different TiC volume fractions were prepared by in situ reaction synthesis process in conventional melting and casting route. The impact wear resistance and wear mechanism of the TiCp/Fe composites under casting and normalizing conditions were investigated using optical microscopy, SEM and a specially designed impact-abrasive wear device. Results showed that the impact wear of the TiCp/Fe composites occurred through microcutting, microploughing, and partly microcracking. With the increase of TiC volume fraction, the wear resistance of TiCp/Fe composites increased. The normalizing treatment greatly improved the impact wear resistance of the particle-reinforced composite due to formation of the fine secondary TiC particles.

Three novel Cd(II)/Zn(II) compounds, [Cd 2 (poda) 2 (phen) 3 (H 2 O)] n · n EtOH·3 n H 2 O (1) , [Zn(poda) 2 (bpy)(H 2 O)] n (2) and [Zn(Hpoda) 2 (bpy)] (3) (H 2 poda = 1,2-phenylenediacetic acid, phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, bpy = 2,2′-bipyridyl), have been synthesized and characterized by IR, TG, fluorescent spectrum and single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. In 1, poda 2− anions link the adjacent Cd(II) centers to generate a 1D zigzag chain. Furthermore, an unprecedented four-footed “8-shaped” mixed water–ethanol (H 2 O) 6 (C 2 H 5 OH) 2 cluster connects four double chains based on 1D zigzag chain into 3D supramolecular architecture. By bis(chelate–monodentate) fashion of poda 2− ligand, compound 2 exhibits 1D zigzag chains, which forming a dense zipper-like 2D structure via strong π–π stacking interactions. Differed from 1 and 2 , compound 3 has a mononuclear motif, and displays a 3D 6-connected α-Po net hydrogen-bonded topology. The structure-related solid-state fluorescence spectra of compounds 1 and 2 have been determined.

We investigate quantum teleportation using the entangled channel consisting of a two-qubit Heisenberg X Y Z model with a nonuniform magnetic field in the presence of phase decoherence. It is shown that the initial state of the channel plays an important role in the fully entangled fraction and the average fidelity of teleportation. The distinct feature of our teleportation scheme is that when the initial system is in the state | Ψ 〉 = m 2 | 01 〉 + n 2 | 10 〉 , the corresponding average fidelity is always larger than 2 / 3 even if there exist phase decoherence effects. Moreover, under certain circumstance, the average teleportation fidelity can be optimized by adjusting the magnitude of the nonuniform magnetic field.