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In the current research, a new Mn(II)-based coordination polymer, {(NH2Me)2[Mn4(Hntb)4(4,4′-bpy)(OH)2] DMF} (1) have been formed by mixing the ligands of H3ntb (4,4′,4′′-nitrilotris-benzoic) and 4,4′-bpy (4,4′-bipyridine). According to the results of UV detection, complex 1 has strong blue luminescence, which means that it can be used as a fluorescent probe for specific detection of Fe3+ ion in water with a Ksv value of 3.2 × 104 M−1. Furthermore, the treatment activity of the compound on sepsis treatment was assessed and the protentional mechanism was revealed. Firstly, the inflammatory cytokines released into the plasma was measured with ELISA detection kit. Then, the survival rate of the infected animals was recorded after compound treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the clinical outcomes of two different fixation techniques for anatomic medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstruction.Methods: A retrospective study was undertaken between 2012 and 2018 of 60 cases of patellar dislocation who underwent surgical reconstruction between 2007 and 2010: 30 patients were treated with modified semi-tunnel bone bridge fixation (group A) and 30 patients with suture anchor fixation (group B). All patients had computed tomography scans available to review the patellar tilt angle and lateral patellar angle (LPA). In addition, a physical examination was performed, and the patellar apprehension sign and patellar stability were evaluated. Knee function was also evaluated using the Kujala score and Lysholm score.Results: At a minimum 5-year follow-up, the patellar tilt angle and LPA were restored to the normal range, and a significant difference was observed between the groups. There was a significant improvement in knee function in the Kujala and Lysholm scores after surgery in both groups. At the final follow-up, the mean Kujala and Lysholm scores in groups A and B were significantly different.Conclusion: Both the semi-tunnel bone bridge and suture anchor fixation for double-bundle anatomic reconstruction of the MPFL can effectively restore patellar stability and improve knee function. The semi-tunnel bone bridge technique achieved statistically better knee function than the suture anchor technique at a minimum 5-year follow-up.Level Of Evidence: III. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global navigation satellite system (GNSS)/acoustic positioning precision is determined by the positioning geometry and the ranging precision; thus optimizing GNSS buoys array is meaningful to improve the positioning accuracy and reliability. An analytical method is proposed for optimizing the GNSS buoys array with regard to the cutoff angle constraints for underwater acoustic observations. For the practical limitation of coplanarity of GNSS buoys and the cutoff angle, an algorithm is proposed to analytically minimize the position dilution of precision (PDOP). The proposed method is validated to give complete solutions of PDOP minimization with five GNSS buoys. At last, in order to search a best configuration among the PDOP solution set, we propose a search algorithm to get the solution with the smallest geometric dilution of precision (GDOP). It indicates that within a given region, the GDOP minimization at the center of a region is equivalent to the PDOP mean minimization over the region. The relation between the positioning accuracy and the positioning geometry with five known points is illustrated in an experiment performed in South China Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chandler wobble (CW) and annual wobble (AW) are the two main components of polar motion, which are difficult to separate because of their very close periods. In the light of Fourier dictionary and basis pursuit method, a Fourier basis pursuit (FBP) spectrum is developed, which can reduce spectral smearing and leakage caused by the finite length of the time series. Further, a band-pass filtering method based on FBP spectrum (FBPBPF), which can effectively suppress the edge effect, is proposed in this paper. The simulation test results show that the FBPBPF method can effectively suppress the edge effect caused by spectral smearing and leakage and that its reconstruction accuracy at the boundary is approximately three times higher than the Fourier transform band-pass filtering method, which is based on Hamming windowed FFT spectrum, in extracting quasi-harmonic signals. The FBPBPF method is then applied to Earth's polar motion data during 1900-2015. Through analyzing the amplitude and period variations of CW and AW, and calculating the eccentricity variation of the AW, we found that: (1) the amplitude of the CW is currently at a historic minimum level, and it is even possible to diminish further until a complete stop; and (2) the eccentricity of the AW has a gradually decreased fluctuation during the last 116 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Succinate dehydrogenase subunit B (SDHB) and pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1) play key roles in the regulation of growth and survival of various cancers. This study aimed to investigate expression of SDHB and PDK1 in recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (rNPC) tissues and analyzed the association of SDHB and PDK1 expression with the clinical significance and potential prognostic implication of rNPC. Immunohistochemistry was performed to determine the expression of SDHB and PDK1 in tissues in primary NPC (pNPC) and rNPC patients. Our results revealed that expression of SDHB in rNPC was significantly lower than that in pNPC, while the expression of PDK1 was higher compared to pNPC. The expression levels of SDHB and PDK1 were associated with T stage, N stage, clinical stage, and metastasis of rNPC. Survival analysis showed that patients with low SDHB expression had a significantly shorter overall survival time than those with high SDHB expression. Patients with high PDK1 expression had a shorter survival time than patients with low PDK1 expression. Multivariate analysis showed that the expression of SDHB and PDK1 was an independent predictor for the survival of patients with rNPC. Our results demonstrated that down-regulation of SDHB and up-regulation of PDK1 may be novel biomarkers for predicting advanced tumor progression and unfavorable prognosis in rNPC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents normal time-frequency transform (NTFT) application in harmonic/quasi-harmonic signal prediction. Particularly, we use the normal wavelet transform (a special NTFT) to make long-term polar motion prediction. Instantaneous frequency, phase and amplitude of Chandler wobble, prograde and retrograde annual wobbles of Earth's polar motion are analyzed via the NTFT. Results show that the three main wobbles can be treated as quasi-harmonic processes. Current instantaneous harmonic information of the three wobbles can be acquired by the NTFT that has a kernel function constructed with a normal half-window function. Based on this information, we make the polar motion predictions with lead times of 1 year and 5 years. Results show that our prediction skills are very good with long lead time. An abnormality in the predictions occurs during the second half of 2005 and first half of 2006. Finally, we provide the future (starting from 2013) polar motion predictions with 1- and 5-year leads. These predictions will be used to verify the effectiveness of the method proposed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]