Search

Condensed films of functional luminophores dominated by the magnitude and dimensionality of the intermolecular interactions play important roles in sensing performance. However, controlling the molecular assembly and regulating photophysical properties remain challenging. In this study, a new luminophore, ortho‐PBI‐Au, was synthesized by anchoring a cyclometalated alkynyl‐gold(III) unit at the ortho‐position of perylene bisimide. An unprecedented T‐type packing model driven by weak Au‐π interaction and Au−H bonds was observed, laying foundation for striking properties of the luminophore. Controlled assembly of ortho‐PBI‐Au at the air‐water interface, realized using the classical Langmuir–Schaeffer technique, afforded the obtained luminescent films with different packing structures. With an optimized film, sensitive, selective, and rapid detection of a hazardous new psychoactive substance, phenylethylamine (PEA), was achieved. The detection limit, response time, and recovery time were <4 ppb, <1 s, and <5 s, respectively, surpassing the performance of the PEA sensors known thus far. The relationship between the characters of films and the sensing performance was systematically examined by grey relational analysis (GRA). The present study suggests that designing novel molecular aggregation with definite adlayer structure is a crucial strategy to enhance the sensing performance, which could be favorable for the film‐based fluorescent sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The acceptance check is a key step to decide whether an overhead transmission line can be put into use. However, for the acceptance check of towers, the manual means is still adopted mostly nowadays, which is dangerous and inefficient. The main challenges for intelligent check technique are the automatic tower segmentation and intelligent requirements of some detection items. Here, based on point clouds from lidars, some intelligent methods are proposed for tower related acceptance check items. The geometric structural changing rules for towers are found and analyzed to identify and segment towers from the scene point cloud automatically. A model‐constrained method is proposed for fine filtering of towers. With point cloud registration strategies, the tilt angle of a tower is calculated intelligently and the defect detection of a tower is conducted successfully. Experiments show that the results of the proposed methods are accurate, efficient and automatic, which have potential for real applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) and its lymphatic drainage pattern (LDP) of breast cancer were studied by contrast‐enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). Methods: From July 2017 to December 2019, patients with SLN localization of breast cancer in Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences·Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital were selected. The sentinel lymph system of breast cancer was observed by CEUS before both operation and blue staining in the surgery. The location, number, and route of sentinel lymphatic channel (SLC) were recorded, along with the number, size, and the depth from skin of SLN. LDPs were summarized according to these basic characteristics of SLC and SLN. Results: A total of 368 cases were included; 465 SLCs and 423 SLNs were detected. Most of the SLCs were originated from the outer upper quadrant of areola. Eleven LDPs were found, including 31 subtypes of LDPs. There were 6 cases of type A (1.63%), 15 cases of type B (4.08%), 223 cases of type C (57.88%), 38 cases of type D (10.33%), 2 cases of type E (0.54%), 3 cases of type F (0.82%), 50 cases of type G (13.59%), 30 cases of type H (8.15%), 2 cases of type I (0.54%), 6 cases of type J (1.63%), and 3 cases of type K (0.82%). Conclusions: The most common LDP of breast cancer was one SLC originated from the upper quadrant of areola with one SLN. CEUS can identify the LDP before surgery to reduce the false negative rate of SLN biopsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Female fertility is a heterogeneous condition of complete psychosocial and physical well‐being. Observational studies have revealed that women with infertility have varying degrees of poor mental status and lifestyle choices in varying degrees. However, the genetic contribution to female infertility remains elusive. Our study aimed to explore the genetic correlations between female infertility and mental health and lifestyle factors. Methods: The genome‐wide association study (GWAS) data sets of characteristics related to mental health and lifestyle were obtained from the IEU OpenGWAS database. The GWAS data sets of female infertility were derived from the Finggen database. Linkage disequilibrium score regression was performed to systematically estimate the pairwise genetic correlations between female infertility and a set of mental health‐ and lifestyle‐related traits. Results: The genetic correlation analysis revealed a moderate and positive genetic correlation between depressive symptoms, major depressive disorder, and female infertility. Similarly, worry and the personality trait of neuroticism displayed a moderate positive genetic correlation with female infertility. Adversely, a negative and moderate genetic correlation was observed between strenuous sports or exercises and female infertility. Conclusion: The study demonstrated genetic correlations between female infertility and mental health status, including depression, worry, and neuroticism. Additionally, we observed that females with better physical activity may have reduced risks of female infertility. These findings would serve as a fundamental resource for understanding the genetic mechanisms of the effects of mental health and lifestyle factors on female infertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objects: Traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) causes neurological dysfunction below the injured segment of the spinal cord, which significantly impacts the quality of life in affected patients. The phosphoinositide 3kinase/serine‐threonine kinase (PI3K/AKT) signaling pathway offers a potential therapeutic target for the inhibition of secondary TSCI. This review summarizes updates concerning the role of the PI3K/AKT pathway in TSCI. Materials and Methods: By searching articles related to the TSCI field and the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, we summarized the mechanisms of secondary TSCI and the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway; we also discuss current and potential future treatment methods for TSCI based on the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Results: Early apoptosis and autophagy after TSCI protect the body against injury; a prolonged inflammatory response leads to the accumulation of pro‐inflammatory factors and excessive apoptosis, as well as excessive autophagy in the surrounding normal nerve cells, thus aggravating TSCI in the subacute stage of secondary injury. Initial glial scar formation in the subacute phase is a protective mechanism for TSCI, which limits the spread of damage and inflammation. However, mature scar tissue in the chronic phase hinders axon regeneration and prevents the recovery of nerve function. Activation of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway can inhibit the inflammatory response and apoptosis in the subacute phase after secondary TSCI; inhibiting this pathway in the chronic phase can reduce the formation of glial scar. Conclusion: The PI3K/AKT signaling pathway has an important role in the recovery of spinal cord function after secondary injury. Inducing the activation of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in the subacute phase of secondary injury and inhibiting this pathway in the chronic phase may be one of the potential strategies for the treatment of TSCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the stabilization of the translational oscillator with a rotational actuator (TORA) system. Existing control methods for the TORA system are developed on the basis of the assumptions that full state feedback is available, and the actuator can supply control torques with any bounded amplitudes or system parameters are exactly known. In order to relax these assumptions, an amplitude‐saturated output feedback controller is proposed for the TORA system. Compared with existing control methods, the proposed method exhibits four remarkable features: free of plant parameters, bounded amplitude, output feedback, and unwinding behavior prevention. Specifically, the passivity of the TORA system is analyzed first. Then, a constructive energy‐like function is introduced and a corresponding amplitude‐saturated output feedback control law for the TORA system is proposed on the basis of the constructed energy‐like function. Lyapunov‐based analysis and LaSalle's invariance principle are used to prove the boundedness and convergence of the closed‐loop signals. Finally, numerical simulations with comparisons to previous reported methods are implemented to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogels with environment‐sensitive properties have great potential applications in the controlled drug release field. In this paper, hybrid hydrogels with semi‐interpenetrating polymer networks (semi‐IPNs), composed of poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) as the thermo‐sensitive component by in situ polymerization and self‐assembled collagen nanofibrils as the pH‐sensitive framework, were prepared for controlled release of methyl violet as a model drug. From Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, it was indicated that the crosslinking of PNIPAM in the presence of collagen nanofibrils led to the formation of semi‐IPNs with homogeneous porous structure, and the semi‐IPNs showed improved thermal stability and elastic properties compared with the native collagen as determined using differential scanning calorimetry and rheologic measurements. Furthermore, the semi‐IPNs possessed swelling behaviors quite different from those of neat collagen or PNIPAM hydrogel under various pH values and temperatures. Correspondingly, as expected, the drug release behavior in vitro for semi‐IPNs performed variously compared with that for single‐component semi‐IPNs, which revealed the tunable performance of semi‐IPNs for release ability. Finally the thermo‐ and pH‐responsive mechanism of the semi‐IPNs was illuminated to provide guidance for the application of the thermo‐ and pH‐sensitive collagen‐based hybrid hydrogels in controlled drug delivery systems. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma is associated with complications of pregnancy, including preeclampsia. Determination of levels is affected by fetal gender and genetic polymorphisms. Unmethylated maspin (u-maspin) is present in the placenta, and is placental-specific. The purpose of this study was to determine whether u-maspin DNA in maternal blood could serve as a marker of preeclampsia by measuring levels in different trimesters of normal pregnancies and in those complicated by preeclampsia. Material and methods This case-control study was set in a tertiary care hospital. The population consisted of 45 women with normal pregnancies (15 in the 1st trimester, 15 in the 2nd trimester, 15 in the 3rd trimester), 20 women with mild preeclampsia, 25 women with severe preeclampsia, and six women with gestational trophoblastic disease. Peripheral blood was collected and methylation-specific PCR and fluorescence quantitative PCR were performed to measure the content of u-maspin DNA in maternal blood. Results U-maspin DNA was 5.5-fold higher in women with severe preeclampsia than in those with a normal 3rd trimester pregnancy ( p < 0.05). During normal pregnancy, u-maspin DNA in maternal plasma tended to increase with advancing gestational age ( p = 0.06). U-maspin DNA was not detected in healthy non-pregnant women or those with gestational trophoblastic disease. Conclusion U-maspin DNA in maternal blood is associated with severe preeclampsia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the results of a study on the effect of changing the surface hydrophobicity of chitosan membranes on lipase activity, stability and adsorption behavior. The chitosan membrane surface was modified by changing the degree of amidation of amino groups with stearic acid. The results showed that the modified chitosan membranes resulted to improved adsorption capacity, activity retention, and thermal stability of the immobilized Candida rugosa lipases.

Diatomic catalysts (DACs), as a frontier of research on atomically dispersed catalysts, have drawn great attention, especially in electrocatalysis. However, most of the current synthetic strategies for DACs suffer from poor efficiency and high cost. In this work, a novel noncovalent assembly strategy is reported for the efficient synthesis of DACs. By the aid of two kinds of noncovalent intermolecular force, the π–π stacking and Coulomb forces, a pair of metal complex ions with opposite electrical charges is spontaneously loaded onto the carbon substrate and transformed into diatomic sites via thermal treatment. This noncovalent assembly approach shows universal feasibility for a broad spectrum of DACs (Ir–Fe, Pt–Fe, Pt–Co, and Pt–Ni). To prove the practical utility, the as‐prepared PtFe‐DAC is deployed as oxygen reduction reaction catalyst, performing excellent activity with a half‐wave potential of 0.935 V (vs RHE) and a 2.3 times higher turnover frequency than that of the single‐atomic Fe‐SAC. In situ characterization and theoretical calculation indicate that the adjacent Pt sites could endow moderate activation of oxygen molecule on Fe sites by lowering the electron pairing energy as well as the modulation of the d‐band center and spin states of Fe centers propelling the desorption of the intermediates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]