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Background: Accumulation of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) is a main pathological hallmark of Parkinson's and related diseases, which are collectively known as synucleinopathies. Growing evidence has supported that the same protein can induce remarkably distinct pathological progresses and disease phenotypes, suggesting the existence of strain difference among α-syn fibrils. Previous studies have shown that α-syn pathology can propagate from the peripheral nervous system (PNS) to the central nervous system (CNS) in a "prion-like" manner. However, the difference of the propagation potency from the periphery to CNS among different α-syn strains remains unknown and the effect of different generation processes of these strains on the potency of seeding and propagation remains to be revealed in more detail. Methods: Three strains of preformed α-syn fibrils (PFFs) were generated in different buffer conditions which varied in pH and ionic concentrations. The α-syn PFFs were intramuscularly (IM) injected into a novel bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) transgenic mouse line that expresses wild-type human α-syn, and the efficiency of seeding and propagation of these PFFs from the PNS to the CNS was evaluated. Results: The three strains of α-syn PFFs triggered distinct propagation patterns. The fibrils generated in mildly acidic buffer led to the most severe α-syn pathology, degeneration of motor neurons and microgliosis in the spinal cord. Conclusions: The different α-syn conformers generated in different conditions exhibited strain-specific pathology and propagation patterns from the periphery to the CNS, which further supports the view that α-syn strains may be responsible for the heterogeneity of pathological features and disease progresses among synucleinopathies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Surgical Pleth Index (SPI) is an objective tool that can reflect nociception-antinociception balance and guide the use of intraoperative analgesics. Multimodal analgesia has been neglected in many previous studies. The aim of this study was to compare fentanyl consumption using SPI-guided analgesia versus conventional analgesia techniques under multimodal analgesia in laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Methods: A total of 80 patients aged 18–65 years with American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) grade I-II and a body mass index (BMI) of 18.5 to 30 kg/m2 who were scheduled for laparoscopic cholecystectomy under total intravenous anaesthesia from March 2020 to September 2020 were selected. Multimodal analgesia, including local infiltration of the surgical incision, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids, was adopted perioperatively. Fentanyl boluses of 1.0 µg/kg were administered to maintain the SPI value between 20 and 50 in the SPI group. By contrast, fentanyl boluses of 1.0 µg/kg were administered whenever the heart rate (HR) or mean arterial pressure (MAP) increased to 20 % above baseline or when the HR was greater than 90 beats per minute (bpm) in the control group. Preoperative and postoperative blood glucose, plasma cortisol and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were evaluated. Intraoperative haemodynamic events and propofol and fentanyl doses were noted. The extubation time, postoperative visual analogue scale (VAS) score, use of remedial analgesics and opioid-related adverse reactions were recorded. Results: In total, 18 of 80 patients withdrew for various reasons, and data from 62 patients were finally analysed. Intraoperative fentanyl consumption was significantly lower in the SPI group than in the control group (177.1 ± 65.9 vs. 213.5 ± 47.5, P = 0.016). The postoperative extubation time was shorter in the SPI group than in the control group (16.1 ± 5.2 vs. 22.1 ± 6.3, P < 0.001). Preoperative and postoperative blood glucose, plasma cortisol and IL-6 levels, intraoperative haemodynamic changes, postoperative VAS scores, remedial analgesic consumption and opioid-related adverse reactions were comparable in the two groups. Conclusions: Lower doses of fentanyl are required intraoperatively with shorter extubation times when SPI is used to guide intraoperative analgesia compared to conventional analgesia techniques under multimodal analgesia in laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Trial registration: Chictr.org.cn ChiCTR2000030145. Retrospectively Registered (Date of registration: February 24, 2020). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a vehicle moving over a bridge, the vehicle-bridge interaction (VBI) embraces the time-varying modal parameters of the system. The identification of non-stationary characteristics of bridge responses due to moving vehicle load is important and remains a challenging task. A new method based on the improved empirical wavelet transform (EWT) along with ridge detection of signals in time-frequency representation (TFR) is proposed to estimate the instantaneous frequencies (IFs) of the bridge. Numerical studies are conducted using a VBI model to investigate the time-varying characteristics of the system. The effects of the measurement noise, road surface roughness and structural damage on the bridge IFs are investigated. Finally, the dynamic responses of an in-situ cable-stayed bridge subjected to a passing vehicle are analyzed to further explore the time varying characteristics of the VBI system. Numerical and experimental studies demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method on the IF estimation. The identified IFs reveal important time-varying characteristics of the bridge dynamics that is significant to evaluating the actual performance of operational bridges in operation and may be used for structural health assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we achieve the determination of the cosmic curvature Ω K in a cosmological model-independent way, by using the Hubble parameter measurements H (z) and type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). In our analysis, two non-linear interpolating tools are used to reconstruct the Hubble parameter, one is the artificial neural network (ANN) method, and the other is the Gaussian process (GP) method. We find that Ω K based on the GP method can be greatly influenced by the prior of H 0, while the ANN method can overcome this. Therefore, the ANN method may have more advantages than GP in the measurement of the cosmic curvature. Based on the ANN method, we find a spatially open universe is preferred by the current H (z) and SNe Ia data, and the difference between our result and the value inferred from Planck cosmic microwave background is 1.6σ. In order to test the reliability of the ANN method, and the potentiality of the future gravitational waves (GW) standard sirens in the measurement of the cosmic curvature, we constrain Ω K using the simulated Hubble parameter and GW standard sirens in a model-independent way. We find that the ANN method is reliable and unbiased, and the error of Ω K is ∼0.186 when 100 GW events with electromagnetic counterparts are detected, which is |$\sim 56{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$| smaller than that constrained from the Pantheon SNe Ia. Therefore, the data-driven method based on ANN has potential in the measurement of the cosmic curvature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It has been proposed that the dose of rescue opioids should be individually titrated to the severity of obstructive sleep apnea after adenotonsillectomy. However, a sleep study is not always available before adenotonsillectomy. This randomized, controlled and blinded trial evaluated a strategy of pain control individualized to the results of a fentanyl test, rather than the results of polysomnography, in children after adenotonsillectomy. Methods: A total of 280 children (3–10 years old) undergoing elective adenotonsillectomy were randomized into an individualized protocol (IP) group or a conservative protocol (CP) group. All patients received a fentanyl test before extubation. Pain was assessed every 10 min in the recovery room, and rescue morphine was given when the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Pain Scale (CHEOPS) score was > 6. In the IP group, the dose of rescue morphine was individualized to the results of the fentanyl test (10 μg/kg in the case of a positive result and 50 μg/kg in the case of a negative result). In the CP group, the dose was fixed (25 μg/kg). The primary outcome was the percentage of patients requiring at least one medical intervention. The secondary outcome was the median duration of CHEOPS scores > 6. Results: Fewer patients in the IP group than in the CP group required medical interventions [11.9% (16/134) vs 22.3% (29/130), P = 0.025]. The median duration of CHEOPS scores > 6 was shorter in the IP group than in the CP group [20 (95% CI: 17 to 23) min vs 30 (95% CI: 28 to 32) min, P < 0.001]. Conclusions: Compared with a conservative dosing approach, this individualized protocol may improve analgesia without a significant increase in respiratory adverse events. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02990910, registered on 13/12/2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Fruit abortion is a major limiting factor for fruit production. In flat peach, fruit abortion is present in the whole tree of some accessions during early fruit development. However, the physiological factors and genetic mechanism underlying flat fruit abortion remain largely elusive. Results: In this study, we have revealed that the fertilization process was accomplished and the reduction of sucrose and starch contents might result in flat fruit abortion. By combining association and gene expression analysis, a key candidate gene, PpSnRK1βγ, was identified. A 1.67-Mb inversion co-segregated with flat fruit shape altered the promoter activity of PpSnRK1βγ, resulting in much lower expression in aborting flat peach. Ectopic transformation in tomato and transient overexpression in peach fruit have shown that PpSnRK1βγ could increase sugar and starch contents. Comparative transcriptome analysis further confirmed that PpSnRK1βγ participated in carbohydrate metabolism. Subcellular localization found that PpSnRK1βγ was located in nucleus. Conclusions: This study provides a possible reason for flat fruit abortion and identified a critical candidate gene, PpSnRK1βγ, that might be responsible for flat fruit abortion in peach. The results will provide great help in peach breeding and facilitate gene identification for fruit abortion in other plant species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To overcome the lengthy search time, massive space occupation, and overlong planned path of the traditional A* algorithm, this paper integrates the bidirectional search with the intelligent ant colony algorithm to obtain the heuristic function selection factor, and uses the factor to improve the evaluation function of the algorithm. The simulation results show that the improved algorithm achieved better dynamic navigation than the traditional A* algorithm both in search time and distance, featuring shorter path searching time and the algorithm running time. Therefore, the result of this research has effectively reduced the search time and enhanced the dynamic search. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lane-changing control is a crucial task to regulate the traffic flow in the intelligent transportation system efficiently, and manipulating the lane-changing maneuvers for many vehicles optimally and simultaneously in a congested traffic environment is a challenge. This study formulates a lane-changing model where the traffic lanes are discretized into cells, considers both mandatory lane-changing and discretionary lane-changing maneuvers and proposes a novel approach based on a deep Q-network with a request–respond mechanism. The modeled lane-changing system is divided into isolated and symmetry groups, then independent Q-learning and the concept "central agent" are integrated to simplify the training process. In the proposed approach, these groups can be classified into two categories: request group and respond group. The request group and respond group are trained separately during the training process. Specifically, the request group trains agents with only considering the states of the group, while the respond group also evaluates the superimposing actions (i.e., the request message) from the request group besides the states of the group. The execution process is also treated the same decentralized way as the training process. Then, the baselines such as a rule-based method, a game theory-based decomposition algorithm and a simple deep Q-learning method are compared with the proposed approach. Results reveal that the proposed approach performs as well as the game theory-based decomposition algorithm and outperforms the other two in terms of lane-changing efficiency. However, the computational time of the proposed approach in the execution process is far less than the game theory-based decomposition algorithm, especially in a congested traffic environment. • A cellular lane-changing model is constructed mathematically. • A deep Q-learning method with the concept of "central agent" is implemented. • The "virtual agent" concept is introduced to train the group. • A novel deep Q-learning approach with a request and respond mechanism is proposed. • Baselines are compared and the proposed approach shows great potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In drug delivery systems, graphene materials are promising drug carriers. Drug molecules are loaded on graphene through π-π interaction between graphene and benzene ring structure, which is widely found in organic drug molecules. Then the drug molecules are released under different conditions, such as different environmental pH, at lesion site. In the application, the adsorption and desorption between benzene ring structure in drug molecules and graphene play a key role. Herein, an experimental method for measuring the adhesion force between a single phenyl and graphene is proposed, and the adsorption and desorption mechanical properties of a benzene ring structure on graphene surface at different environmental pH are firstly measured. The experimental results show that the adhesion force decreases with the increase of environmental pH. Moreover, molecular dynamics simulations show that the influence of pH on adhesion force is mainly realized by changing the electrostatic potential distribution on graphene surface, and the interaction force between a single benzene and graphene changes from attractive to repulsive with the increase of environmental alkalinity. In addition, a molecular dynamics model for the dynamic adsorption and desorption capacities of benzene molecules on graphene surface at different quantity of ions is established. Benzene molecules can achieve full adsorption on the surface of graphene when there are 10 and 20 hydrogen ions. And benzene molecules can achieve full desorption on the surface of graphene when there are 10 and 20 hydroxide ions. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stable water in water (W/W) emulsions of guar rich droplets dispersed in an amylopectin rich continuous phase (G/A) and the inverse (A/G) can be achieved by adding gelatin and inducing microphase separation of the latter by cooling. In this research, the effect of gelatin on the emulsion stability was further studied by storing the emulsions at 10, 20 and 25 °C. The visual aspect, the microstructure, and the viscosity of the emulsions were investigated at different times during storage at different temperatures and pH. It was found that depending on the conditions, the gelatin phase wetted the interface or formed small discrete microdomains that adsorbed at the interface and dispersed in the bulk phases. The observed differences in morphology and stability are related to the interplay of the rates of aggregation, phase separation of gelatin, which itself depend on the gelatin concentration, temperature and pH. Emulsions could be prepared in this manner that were stable for at least one week and remained visually homogeneous. We believe that this is a promising method to stabilize W/W emulsions as long as the components of the emulsion are incompatible with aggregated gelatin. • Water in water (W/W) emulsions were stabilized by adding gelatin. • Microphase separation of gelatin in the W/W emulsions was induced by cooling. • Either a gelatin layer or discrete gelatin domains formed at the W/W interface. • The stability is related to the rates of gelatin aggregation and phase separation. • The stability could be tuned by gelatin concentration, temperature and pH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SnO 2 has a high specific capacity, low price, and a wide range of sources, but the anode material made from SnO 2 is extremely unstable due to volume expansion. In this work, SnO 2 nanoparticles were prepared using Sn-MOF as the precursor and compounded with sunflower seed shell porous carbon (SSSC) in a solvothermal manner to obtain a high-performance lithium-ion battery anode. The size of SnO 2 nanoparticles prepared using Sn-MOF as the precursor is uniform, only 10–20 nm, which can fully alleviate the volume expansion of SnO 2. On this basis, MOF-SnO 2 is anchored onto the porous carbon of the sunflower seed shell, which can provide more lithium insertion sites and further inhibit the volume expansion of SnO 2. The composite anode in this article has a stable specific capacity of 1050.8 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at a magnification of 0.2C and a stable specific capacity of 512.9 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at a magnification of 2C. [Display omitted] • SnO 2 nanoparticles were prepared by using tin-based metal organic framework as template. • SnO 2 nanoparticles composited with sunflower seed shell porous carbon were used as anode materials. • The composite material maintains 1050.2 mAh g–1 after 100 cycles at 0.2 C for LIB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shock drag and aeroheating are major problems faced by hypersonic vehicles. This study proposes a novel three-dimensional model combining spike-aerodisk with a bleed air channel featuring multiple lateral nozzles for drag and aeroheating reduction. The high-temperature and high-pressure air at the stagnation point of the aerodisk is introduced into the channel and ejected laterally through multiple nozzles to modify the flow field structure and reduce drag and aeroheating. In contrast to previous research employing a two-dimensional axisymmetric assumption, our innovation considers the structure of the exit nozzles and the spacing between nozzles. Due to multiple lateral nozzles, the connection thickness between nozzles can lead to asymmetric flow phenomena. Three-dimensional flow field simulation has been employed with the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations coupled with the shear stress transport (SST) k-ω turbulence model. The effects of the convergence half-angle of the channel inlet, the divergent angle of the nozzle, and the nozzle position on modifying the characteristics of the flow field are studied. Increasing the convergence half-angle of the channel inlet can further push away the reattachment shock, but when it exceeds 60°, the drag reduction performance degrades. Reducing the divergent angle of the nozzle and increasing the number of nozzles can reduce the drag coefficient and the peak value of the Stanton number. However, when the divergent angle is reduced to 10°, the performance of reducing drag and aeroheating is weakened. In the range of research parameters, when the convergence half-angle is 60°, the divergent angle is 15°, and the nozzles are located in the middle of the spike, compared with the plain spike-aerodisk model, the drag coefficient and peak Stanton number of the combined model are further reduced by 17.8 % and 34.8 %, respectively. Our findings confirm that a multi-nozzle can effectively reduce drag and aeroheating while the channel structure is viable in practice. • A new model of lateral jet without gas source is studied by 3-D numerical simulation. • The gas for the lateral jet is coupled with the outside flow. • A distribution form of multiple lateral nozzles is proposed. • A realistic 3-D simulation is conducted, enhancing its practical applicability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

0.75BiFeO 3 -0.25BaTiO 3 (0.75BF-0.25BT) ceramics have been widely studied because of their high Curie temperature, good thermal stability and lead-free trait. The evolution of domain motion during electric poling and thermal depoling processes is closely related to the piezoelectric properties and thermal stability of ferroelectric ceramics. Herein, the non-180° domain reversals of 0.75BF-0.25BT ceramics in these two processes were investigated by an in situ XRD technique. The non-180° domain switching fraction during the poling and depoling processes was calculated quantitatively based on the (111) and (11 1 ‾) diffraction peaks. During the poling process, the non-180° domain reversal percentage N 111 and piezoelectric properties increase abruptly when the poling field exceeds 35 kV/cm and then saturate at the electric field of 50 kV/cm (N 111 reaches the maximum value of 59%). The domains switched under the poling electric field of 50 kV/cm are stable below 500 °C. The depoling temperature is sensitive to the domain switching fraction under different poling electric fields, and the ceramics under a strong poling field possess excellent thermal stability and high depolarization temperatures. This work revealed the relationship between the electric properties, domain switching, poling electric field, and depoling temperature in the 0.75BF-0.25BT ceramics, which may pave the way to enhancing the room temperature piezoelectric properties and their thermal stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NMR serves as an important technique for probing rock pore space, such as pore structure characterization, fluid identification, and petrophysical property testing, due to the reusability of cores, convenience in sample processing, and time efficiency in laboratory tests. In practice, NMR signal collection is normally achieved through polarized nuclei relaxation which releases crucial relaxation messages for result interpretation. The impetus of this work is to help engineers and researchers with petroleum background obtain new insights into NMR principals and extend existing methodologies for characterization of unconventional formations. This article first gives a brief description of the development history of relaxation theories and models for porous media. Then, the widely used NMR techniques for characterizing petrophysical properties and pore structures are presented. Meanwhile, limitations and deficiencies of them are summarized. Finally, future work on improving these insufficiencies and approaches of enhancement applicability for NMR technologies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calcitonin was discovered as a peptide hormone that was known to reduce the calcium levels in the systemic circulation. This hypocalcemic effect is produced due to multiple reasons such as inhibition of bone resorption or suppression of calcium release from the bone. Thus, calcitonin was said as a primary regulator of the bone resorption process. This is the reason why calcitonin has been used widely in clinics for the treatment of bone disorders such as osteoporosis, hypercalcemia, and Paget's disease. However, presently calcitonin usage is declined due to the development of efficacious formulations of new drugs. Calcitonin gene-related peptides and several other peptides such as intermedin, amylin, and adrenomedullin (ADM) are categorized in calcitonin family. These peptides are known for the structural similarity with calcitonin. Aside from having a similar structure, these peptides have few overlapping biological activities and signal transduction action through related receptors. However, several other activities are also present that are peptide specific. In vitro and in vivo studies documented the posttreatment effects of calcitonin peptides, i.e., positive effect on bone osteoblasts and their formation and negative effect on osteoclasts and their resorption. The recent research studies carried out on genetically modified mice showed the inhibition of osteoclast activity by amylin, while astonishingly calcitonin plays its role by suppressing osteoblast and bone turnover. This article describes the review of the bone, the activity of the calcitonin family of peptides, and the link between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Induction-based reaction spheres have been presented in many references and their performances are normally investigated through experiments or numerical simulations which are time-consuming. Here, an analytical way is presented and it enables researchers to evaluate a new design quickly. In this article, the presented performance analysis is conducted through the classical equivalent circuit approach. Involved circuit parameters are determined through the magnetic flux density distribution which is a function of design variables. Based on this, the steady-state torque–speed curve and the achievable maximum driving torque $T^\ast$ are identified. $T^\ast$ deviates from the maximum torque obtained from numerical simulations by only 3%. For validation, the presented performance analysis method is applied to an experimental case. Mean absolute percentage errors of predicted torque–speed curves are within 23% and mainly caused by end effects. The presented performance analysis method is generally applicable to induction-based spherical actuators, not only limited to reaction spheres. Additionally, since influences of design variables of the actuator have been formulated analytically through the determined circuit parameters, performance optimizations could be greatly facilitated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the advancements in sensing technologies and computational capabilities, system health assessment and prognostics have been extensively investigated in the literature. Industry has adopted and implemented many advanced system prognostic applications. This article reviews recent research advances and applications in prognostics modeling methods for engineering systems. The reviewed papers are classified into three major areas based on whether the physics of failure knowledge is incorporated for prognostics, i.e., the data-driven, physics-based, and hybrid prognostic methods. The technical merits and limitations of each prognostic method are discussed. This review also summarizes research and technological challenges in engineering system prognostics, and points out future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endometriosis is a common gynecological disease, ectopic endometrium can invade any part of the body, usually in the ovary and uterine sacral ligament, while endometriosis invades the intestinal wall to cause intestinal obstruction is very rare, which easily leads to misdiagnosis. In this case report, we present a case of sigmoid endometriosis with bowel obstruction. Pathological examination is the main basis for the diagnosis of intestinal endometriosis, and the comprehensive treatment of surgery and hormonal therapy is an effective method for the treatment of intestinal endometriosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In certain scenarios, such as detection of unexploded ordnance (UXO), submarines, and intruders, magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) is an effective method due to the magnetic field advantages of small operating power, strong penetrability, and strong anti-interference ability. However, variability in the background geomagnetic field and low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in MAD cannot be avoided. In this article, we propose a MAD method employing an improved orthogonal basis function (OBF) for the magnetic tensor contraction decomposition. The orthogonal basis decomposition approach makes the best use of modeling the MAD output signal, whereas the magnetic tensor contraction aid in avoiding the background field problem. Furthermore, by increasing the baseline length of the magnetic gradiometer, the SNR can also be improved in some manner. A dual magnetic gradiometer framework is introduced to fulfill the demand of the magnetic anomaly localization. From our simulation results, the proposed method improves the SNR of the MAD raw signal and is capable of detecting and locating the magnetic anomaly. Moreover, field test has been carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of three-dimensional molecular dynamics (MD) simulations was performed to investigate the effect of temperature on the nanoscale deformation behaviour and mechanical properties of c -plane monocrystalline gallium nitride (GaN) under nanoindentation. Simulation results showed that the atomic displacement and strain increased with increasing temperature. Thus, the nucleation and propagation of dislocations in the main slip systems were promoted to intensify the plastic deformation of GaN crystal. Increasing the temperature also contributed to the increase in local phase transition from the wurtzite crystal structure (B4-GaN) to the zinc-blende crystal structure (B3-GaN) and a very evident amorphization of GaN in the indentation zone. Based on the analysis of the load-depth curves, it was found that both the hardness and Young's modulus decreased as the temperature increased. This work can enrich the atomic-level understanding of the effect of temperature on the mechanical response of monocrystalline GaN when subjected to the external loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many traffic models and control methods have already been utilized in the public transportation system due to the increasing traffic congestion. Thus, an intelligent traffic model is formalized and presented to control multiple traffic light simultaneously and efficiently according to the distribution of vehicles from each incoming link (i.e. sections) in this paper. Compared with constant strategy, two methods are proposed for traffic light control, i.e., game theoretical strategy and reinforcement learning methods. Game theoretical strategy is generated in a game theoretical framework where incoming links are regarded as players and the combination of the status of traffic lights can be regarded as decisions made by these players. The cost function is evaluated and the strategy is produced with Nash equilibrium for passing maximum vehicles in an intersection. The other one is Single-Agent Reinforcement Learning (SARL), specifically with the Q-learning algorithm in this case, which is usually used in such a dynamic environment to control traffic flow so the traffic problem could be improved. Generally, the intersection is regarded as the centralized agent and controlling signal status is considered as the actions of the agent. The performance of these two methods is compared after simulated and implemented in a junction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The xBiFeO3‐(1‐x)Ba(Zr0.02Ti0.98)O3 + 1.0 mol% MnO2 (xBF‐BZT) lead‐free piezoelectric ceramics were prepared by conventional solid‐state reaction method. The structure, dielectric, and piezoelectric properties were studied. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that xBF‐BZT ceramics exhibited pure perovskite structure with the coexistence of tetragonal and rhombohedral phases (0.66 ≤ x ≤ 0.74). The Curie temperature Tc, the dielectric constant εr (1 kHz), dielectric loss tanδ (1 kHz), piezoelectric constant d33, coercive field Ec (80 kV/cm), and remnant polarization Pr (80 kV/cm) of 0.7BF‐0.3BZT‐Mn ceramics were 491°C, 633, 0.044, 165 pC/N, 35.6 kV/cm, and 22.6 μC/cm2, respectively. The unipolar strain of 0.7BF‐0.3BZT reached up to 0.20% under the electric field of 60 kV/cm, which is larger than that (0.15%) of BiFeO3–BaTiO3 ceramics. These results indicated that the xBF‐BZT ceramics were promising candidates for high‐temperature piezoelectric materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bus saturation is deemed as one of the primary causes of delays in the data propagation between spacecraft components. However, the conditions under which bus congestion can affect measurements variability were not well characterized before. This paper presents a bus saturation model and a set of experiments to characterize the bus performance of satellite missions for different traffic load, data rate, and synchronization periods. The results showed an increase of measurements variance of up to 18% caused by bus saturation. Additionally, an algorithm was proposed to reduce the data delay by controlling the saturation on the communication channel at the operational level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous advancement of medical technology, the survival rate of high-risk children is increasing year by year, but the developmental problems that have gradually become apparent in the later stages have a serious impact on the quality of life of children. Amplitude-integrated EEG is an EEG monitoring technology developed for clinical use in newborns in recent years. Therefore, to better detect neuromata development in high-risk children, this study explores the validity prediction of amplitude-integrated EEG in early neuromata development in high-risk children. For 100 high-risk children, amplitude-integrated EEG was used for monitoring, and the exercise scale and validity predictors in the Bailey Infant Development Scale were used to assess whether high-risk children had neurobehavioral abnormalities. The experimental results show that the application of amplitude-integrated EEG can make accurate and effective predictions of early neuromata development outcomes in high-risk children. Compared with traditional neurological examination methods, it has higher sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and consistency in predicting the early neuromata development outcomes of high-risk children. It is suitable for application and promotion in China and has a good application value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Operational spacecraft are facing a risk of collision with space debris objects. The net capturing method has been proposed to mitigate this risk on spacecraft. The mass-spring model is usually applied for net modeling by discretizing a cable into one or several mass-spring-damper elements in simulation. The absolute nodal coordinates formulation (ANCF) has also been applied to model the net, and this model is able to describe the flexibility of a net using less elements. However, the influence on the net behavior in simulation by the flexibility modeling of a net is not well understood and barely discussed. In this paper, flexibility models of a net are established based on the mass-spring model and the ANCF model,respectively. The influence on the net behavior by the flexibility modeling is, for the first time, analyzed via simulations. Two case studies of capturing a ball and a cube shaped targets are performed. It is found that the flexibility modeling has little influence on the net dynamics in simulation. Finally, the characteristics and benefits of the ANCF model are described and analyzed. A drawback of the ANCF model was found to be its inferior computational performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current investigation applied the invariant manifold technique to study the halo orbits around the libration points in circular restricted three-body problem. Two dominant (leading) directions were considered as dominant motions for the construction of spatial halo orbits, the third direction motion being the slave (following) motion. The dominant motions correspond to four-dimensional invariant manifolds in the phase space. The invariant nonlinear asymptotic relations (i.e. INARs) between the two dominant motions and the slave motion were established, enabling a transformation from the 3-DOF problem into a 2-DOF problem. Application of the INARs are also discussed. Such invariant nonlinear relations in polynomial expansion form could be used as: (I) approximate analytical solutions; (II) topological constraints to obtain more exact numerical solutions with differential correction. General findings in the current research revealed that the nonlinear asymptotic relations among the directions provided an alternative point of view to explore the overall dynamics of halo orbits around libration points with general rules. The effectiveness of the proposed method was also verified by numerical simulations. • Invariant nonlinear asymptotic relations (INARs) between dominant and slave motions are obtained. • The 3D system is reduced into a 2D system by INARs. • Analytical solutions for halo orbits are obtained by INARs. • INARs are used as topological constraints to obtain halo orbit with differential correction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we use a stochastic dynamic programming model to evaluate the impacts of uncertainties on the abatement planning process. By involving the endogenous emission path, we differentiate two types of uncertainties during the planning process, which come from the volatility of the abatement cost and the ambiguity of emission rate. Results suggest that the considered uncertainties influence the decision-making process in several aspects by shaping the abatement path as well as emission path. (1) The impacts vary with the expected value and the level of variance of the uncertainty effects. Uncertainties caused by abatement costs from 0.02 to 0.06 and emission factors from 0.01 to 0.03 increase the total abatement costs around 7% and 5% respectively. (2) Both of these uncertainties can generate precautionary abatement in short-term. Especially during the early stages, the abatement task will be increased by 1% around in each period due to the uncertainties. However such an action will be diminishing as the duration elapses. (3) Both of these uncertainties influence the long-term abatement performances, however, with different forms and mechanisms. With small volatility, the emission rate changes the priority sequence of abatement actions more substantially in the short-term than the emission rate does. (4) The combined uncertainties can behave in a compound way to improve the uncertainty performance in the model. The difference between the emission peaks of conservative and extreme cases is significant with the gap being about 5 million metric ton. These results have potentially important policy implications and can provide a rationale for abatement actions. • We use a stochastic dynamic programming model to evaluate the impacts of uncertainty on the abatement strategy. • We differentiate two types of uncertainties during the planning process. • For both types of the uncertainty precautionary abatement is required at early stage to hedge the future risk. • The level of synergy effect and the hedging effect between the uncertainties depends on how they are combined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study intended to explore the relation between heart rate recovery at 1 minutes (HRR1) during the recovery phase of cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) and exercise capacity in female systemic lupus erythematosus associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SLE‐PAH) patients. Methods: Twenty‐one female SLE‐PAH patients underwent right heart catheterization (RHC), pulmonary function test (PFT) and CPET. Forty‐two healthy subjects matched with SLE‐PAH patients in age, sex and BMI were recruited as a control group. The correlations between HRR1 with clinical and CPET parameters were performed. Results: Peak HR, ΔHR, HRR1, Peak HR‐warm HR1min, Peak HR‐warm HR2min and CR were significantly lower in SLE‐PAH than in controls (P < .01). Increased incidence of CRI was seen in SLE‐PAH. Except for the Peak PETO2, which was higher in controls, all other CPET parameters were lower in SLE‐PAH. SLE‐PAH patients with HRR1 ≥ 16 had longer 6MWD, lower NT‐proBNP, better percent of predicted gas transfer index or diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLco% pred) as well as better CO and CI. Peak HR, ΔHR, HRR1, Peak HR‐warm HR1min, Peak HR‐warm HR2min, CR, Peak Load, Peak VO2, Peak PETCO2, OUEP and OUES were lower and duration of exercise was shorter in patients with HRR1 < 16. HRR1 had positive correlation with 6MWD, DLco% pred, CO, CI and some key CPET parameters. Conclusions: HRR1 is an easily obtained auxiliary parameter in SLE‐PAH patients to reflect an altered autonomic tone. SLE‐PAH patients with HRR1 < 16 have more severe hemodynamics, worse clinical findings and marked oxygen uptake inefficiency than those with HRR1 ≥ 16. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) because of lung cancer has been sufficiently studied, nevertheless, little is known regarding the discrepancy of clinical characteristics and predictive factors among different presentations of VTE because of lung cancer. Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the distinction of clinical characteristics and predictive factors among different presentations of VTE because of lung cancer. Methods: All patients concomitant lung cancer and VTE were stratified into three groups: pulmonary embolism (PE) group in which patients had sole PE, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) group with sole DVT and concomitance group with both PE and DVT. Results: Concomitance of PE and DVT (28.2 days) mostly occurred at the early stage after the diagnosis of lung cancer, by contrast with DVT (63.6 days) which did at the latest stage, whereas PE (36.7 days) generally developed intermediately in between (P = .02). In a Kaplan‐Meier analysis, the cumulative survival rate of DVT group was higher than that of concomitance group, whereas the rate of PE group lied in between. (P = .002) The strongest correlated factors with the development of DVT, PE and concomitance were adenocarcinoma (HR 3.27, P = .003), chemotherapy (HR 2.62, P = .005) and D‐Dimer (HR 3.88, P < .001), respectively. The strongest correlated factors with the mortality of DVT, PE and concomitance were comorbidity (HR 2.32, P = .003), metastasis (HR 3.12, P < .001), and metastasis (HR 4.29, P < .001), respectively. Conclusion: Concomitance of DVT and PE represents the severest state of lung cancer, the earliest occurrence of VTE, and the worst survival rate, whereas DVT stands for the mildest condition of lung cancer and stablest pattern of VTE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the global stabilization problem via sampled-data control for a class of switched nonlinear systems meanwhile taking into account asynchronous switching. First of all, a state feedback sampled-data controller is constructed by backstepping design method. Then, a relationship between the sampling period and the average dwell time is derived, which can guarantee that the closed-loop system is globally asymptotically stable. Finally, two simulation examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The time-triggered CAN (TTCAN) protocol has been widely used in the automotive industry to fulfil the safety and real-time requirements of the application. As an extension of the standard CAN protocol, the TTCAN protocol aims to guarantee a safe and deterministic communication by introducing time-triggered messages with respect to a global synchronized time, which are scheduled in independent transmission windows within the system matrix. However, the new features bring more difficulties in designing and verifying the reliable applications in the TTCAN network. In this paper, we first present a formal probabilistic model of the TTCAN protocol with a consideration of its novel features. A TTCAN system consisting of three parts, i.e., a system matrix, an arbitration and some nodes, is modeled as discrete Markov chains model. Furthermore, five probabilistic properties are described and verified in the probabilistic model checker tool PRISM. Our work gives a quantitative analysis method for the given requirements, which facilitates the designers to a formal understanding of TTCAN protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal management of fuel cell vehicles is posing a constant challenge due to the growing installed power of the fuel cell stack and consequent heat-overloaded situations of the radiator. Based on the "time-dependent" idea that considers the fluctuated heat generation and the intermittent heat peak during the journey, a novel thermal management system that employs a heat-peak regulator is proposed in the present work. The heat-peak regulator is a thermal accumulator filled with phase-change material that separately exchanges heat with the fuel cell coolant and the air conditioner refrigerant. It temporarily receives the excess heat that cannot be released out by the radiator when the heat peak occurs; later on, when the heat peak is gone, the heat is transferred to the refrigerant to remove it from the condenser. The system simulations based on the developed thermal models demonstrate that, the thermal runaway of the fuel cell stack can be eliminated or effectively weakened by this novel thermal management system, relying on the amount of the phase-change material filling the heat-peak regulator. In the present study, the 135 s and 250 s thermal runaway durations can be shortened to 0 s and 105 s, respectively, in the standardized New European Driving Cycle and World-wide Harmonized Light Duty Test Cycle under 38 °C summer weather, and the maximum temperature for the latter can be reduced from 89 °C to 83 °C. This work can make a significant contribution towards the solution of thermal management problems of the fuel cell vehicles. • Proposing the "time-dependent" thermal management methodology. • The thermal management system contains a heat-peak regulator. • The heat-overload problem for the radiator of fuel cell stack is properly handled. • The proposed system is analyzed based on a self-developed thermal model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carteolol is a commonly-used topical medication for primary open-angle glaucoma. However, long-term and frequent ocular application of carteolol entails its residuals at low concentration in the aqueous humor for a long duration and may exert latent toxicity in the human corneal endothelial cells (HCEnCs). Here, we treated the HCEnCs in vitro with 0.0117% carteolol for 10 days. Thereafter, we removed the cartelolol and normally cultured the cells for 25 days to investigate the chronical toxicity of carteolol and the underlying mechanism. The results exhibited that 0.0117% carteolol induces senescent features in the HCEnCs, such as increased senescence-associated β-galactosidase positive rates, enlarged relative cell area and upregulated p16INK4A and senescence-associated secretory phenotypes, including IL-1α, TGF-β1, IL-10, TNF-α, CCL-27, IL-6 and IL-8, as well as decreased Lamin B1 expression and cell viability and proliferation. Thereby, further exploration demonstrated that the carteolol activates β-arrestin–ERK–NOX4 pathway to increase reactive oxygen species (ROS) production that imposes oxidative stress on energetic metabolism causing a vicious cycle between declining ATP and increasing ROS production and downregulation of NAD+ resulting in metabolic disturbance-mediated senescence of the HCEnCs. The excess ROS also impair DNA to activate the DNA damage response (DDR) pathway of ATM–p53–p21WAF1/CIP1 with diminished poly(ADP-Ribose) polymerase (PARP) 1, a NAD+-dependent enzyme for DNA damage repair, resulting in cell cycle arrest and subsequent DDR-mediated senescence. Taken together, carteolol induces excess ROS to trigger HCEnC senescence via metabolic disturbance and DDR pathway. [Display omitted] • 0.0117% carteolol induces senescence of human corneal endothelial cells (HCEnCs). • The carteolol activates β-arrestin–ERK–NOX4 axis to elevate ROS production. • The elevated ROS impair DNA and impose oxidative stress (OS) on energy metabolism. • The DNA damage elicits senescence of the HCEnCs via DNA damage response pathway. • The OS provokes metabolic disturbance resulting in senescence of the HCEnCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, a directional wireless multimedia sensor network is a popular environment for solving the task assignment problem. Achieving long‐term frontal monitoring of moving objects is a crucial challenge for scholars in this field. Utilizing directional sensors equipped with energy harvesting is an effective technique to enhance network performance. In this way, the energy of nodes is no longer limited to batteries and can result in better frontal monitoring. In this method, each sensor categorizes tasks based on its own energy, allowing the determination of task execution nodes through bidding. The present study proposes a distributed algorithm for directional task assignment, EN‐DADA, based on energy harvesting. The task was first classified to determine the candidate node set that could execute the task, and then the task assignment was determined according to the monitoring income of each node in the candidate node set. The comparative analysis confirmed that the proposed method had advantages in terms of task revenue and network lifetime when using the same energy harvesting model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing number of satellites for specific space missions is hindering efficient control from the ground stations. In addition, the risk of failing or deteriorating elements in a multi-satellite system (MSS) leads to the uncertainty in its operating environment which challenges traditional centralized planning algorithms. Centralized algorithms depend on one coordinator to overview entire system, which is a single poitn of failure, so if it malfunctional, the MSS may go down. To overcome this problem, a distributed onboard mission planning algorithm based on the Hybrid Dynamic Mutation Genetic Algorithm (HDMGA) is proposed for such MSS. The satellites are considered as autonomous agents which can communicate and negotiate with other satellites. The mission objective is decomposed through the team negotiation procedures, and the local goals are dispatched to the participant satellite. The local planning procedure on each satellite is modeled as local search problems, while the planning problem for entire team is formulated as strongly-coupled distributed optimization problem. The verification shows that the proposed distributed approach can achieve the same results as the centralized approach. The simulation results illustrate that the proposed approach shows superior performance on both computation time and success rate, as compared with other two state-of-the-art distributed mission planning approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Contact dynamic models for active debris capturing using a net are presented and analyzed using numerical simulations. The contact dynamics are based on two methods: the penalty-based method and the impulse-based method. Both methods apply contact detection algorithms based on the Axis-Aligned Bounding Box. The impulse-based method is, for the first time, being used in a net capturing scenario. Strengths and weaknesses of both models are compared and discussed. Moreover, the results from numerical simulations of target capturing are presented and analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of the contact dynamic models. It is found that the average difference of bullet trajectories obtained by two models can be restricted within 6% when it compares with the dimension of the net. Highlights • The impulse-based method is proposed for contact dynamics modeling of a net capturing scenario. • The impulse-based method is compared with the penalty-based method using numerical simulations. • The impulse-based method is found suitable by avoiding penetration and a stiff equation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Abstract The NiFe-layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanosheets were decorated on the surface of doped BiVO 4 to structure an integrating photoanode for improving solar photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting efficiency, which is a dynamic research topic to solve the energy crisis and remit environmental pollution caused by fossil fuel combustion. The fabricated photoanode exhibits rapid response to visible light, enhances photocurrent density and shows significant cathodic shift compared to BiVO 4. Moreover, the measured incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) of the photoanode is comparable to that reported in the literature. The amount of evolution oxygen was measured and the faradaic efficiency produced oxygen was also obtained by comparing the theoretical calculation value. The enhancement is attributed to the increase of the carrier density, the effective separation of photogenerated electron-hole and consuming of the photogenerated holes accumulated at the electrode surface, which has been confirmed by electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) and the intensity modulated photocurrent spectra (IMPS). The work may offer a promising method for designing a high efficiency and low-cost photoanode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young's modulus, failure strength, and failure strain of precracked graphene are investigated via finite element method based on molecular structure mechanics in this research. The influence of distribution, length, and orientation of precrack and graphene sizes on these mechanical properties is analyzed. The ratio of precrack length and graphene width is defined as P value, and its particular value Pc can be found, at which the variation trends of Young's modulus, failure strength, and strain have changes with increasing P value. In addition, the fracture toughness of precracked graphene is investigated, and the stress intensity factor (SIF) is calculated according to the Griffith criterion in classical fracture mechanics. The numerical values of the SIF are about 3.20-3.37 MPa√m, which are compared with the experimental results, and the simulations verify the applicability of the classical fracture mechanics to graphene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the increasing need in small satellite solutions triggers the miniaturization of attitude control systems. Reaction spheres were proposed as promising replacements of conventional reaction wheels for their $4\pi $ rotations. Since the generated control torques could be about any desired axes, a single reaction sphere is sufficient for three-axis stabilizations of spacecraft. This paper presents an innovative design of reaction spheres. Its driving unit is a combination of permanent magnets (PMs) and electromagnetic induction. This enables the generation of torques about three principle axes simultaneously. Meanwhile, a contactless bearing is integrated into the actuator design. Detailed designs and working principles of the reaction sphere are described. To investigate performance characteristics of the actuator, field modeling is of great importance and provides the basis for dynamics modeling. In this paper, an improved analytical model for dynamic fields excited by slotless distributed windings is presented for the first time. To study the cross coupling between PMs and electromagnetic induction, the static field generated by PMs is also modeled analytically. These developed models are validated through comparisons with numerical simulations. Electromagnetic torques generated by the actuator are calculated through the approaches of the Maxwell stress tensor and the Lorentz force law. Torque calculations based on the analytical field models deviate from those based on the numerical model slightly, with the maximum error within 4%. This means the presented analytical models allow to predict the electromagnetic field distribution and torques precisely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to explore the influence of Ganoderma lucidum-derived polysaccharides (GLP) to coix oil-based microemulsion on pharmaceutical performance and anti-lung cancer treatment. GLP-integrated coix oil-based microemulsion (MEs(PS-GLP)) exhibited a clear spherical shape, small particle size, and good hydrodynamics similar to the coix oil-based microemulsion, but showed a lower zeta potential and a better stability. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer analysis presented that GLP was integrated with microemulsion as a single system. Notably, the average molecular distance between polysaccharide and microemulsion was approximately 1.7 nm. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration of MEs(PS-GLP) against A549 cells was about 119 μg/mL. In vivo imaging studies showed that introduction of GLP promoted the tumor-specific accumulation of microemulsion in comparison with controls. In vivo, antitumor results showed that MEs(PS-GLP) markedly inhibited the tumor growth of A549-bearing xenograft nude mice and obviously improve the serum immune index. Collectively, this study demonstrates the potential mechanism of spatial relation between polysaccharides and microemulsion and validates the significances of GLP on tumoral accumulation and antitumor efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cutting edge structure of PCBN tools has an important influence on cutting force, chip morphology, and tool wear in hard cutting process. In order to evaluate the cutting performance of PCBN tools with variable chamfered edge, this paper carried out comparative experiments of high-speed hard cutting hardened steel GCr15 by PCBN tools, respectively, with variable chamfered edge and uniform chamfered edge, and proposed the detection index and measurement of macroscopic and microscopic morphological characteristics of chips, and found the variation rule of cutting force, chip morphology, and tool wear over cutting time. The experimental results showed that under the effect of helical cutting edge, the axial and radial load of the PCBN with variable chamfered edge, to a certain extent, was decomposed, which resulted in relatively smaller radial force and axial force; in the state of no tool wear, the macro morphologies of chips generated by the two cutting tools with different chamfered edges, were both wavy, however, with the increase of cutting time, the chip morphology of the cutting tool with uniform chamfered edge changed from being wavy into being irregularly curved, while the one of the cutting tool with variable chamfered edge remained invariable. In contrast, as for the cutting tool with variable chamfered edge, the margin of its rake crater wear is relatively far away from the cutting edge, and it has obvious advantages in improving the chip removal performance and tool life, and reducing the cutting resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to seek the suitable local objectives for each satellite to optimal the global mission allocation strategy with a global utility function. This paper uses a game-theoretical formulation for a multi-satellite system in which the satellites are viewed as a unique unit with their self-interests. To solve the problem, the first is to identify the utility functions for individual satellite, align them to form the global utility function which can represents the allocation requirements. The second is to design the suitable negotiation mechanisms that can be equipped on each satellite so they can pursue the optimization by their own interest. The Utility-based Regret play, the Smoke Signal play, and the Broadcast-based play are proposed as negotiation mechanisms for the team to cooperate under the distributed and decentralized system structure. The simulation results illustrate that using these mechanisms can help this multi-satellite system reaches a near-optimal allocation profile. The effectiveness of proposed mechanisms are demonstrated by comparing their simulation results with several existing mechanisms under different scale of participant number. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date the management of glioma remains a great challenge in cancer therapy worldwide. The identification of novel diagnostic and therapeutic methods is required. Although there is data indicating that matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-26 serves an important role in many human cancer types, its clinical significance in glioma remains uncertain. The present study aimed to evaluate MMP-26 expression in human astrocytic glioma specimens, and investigate its role and significance in the progression of astrocytic glioma. Immunohistochemistry was performed to assess MMP-26 expression in astrocytic glioma tissues. The levels of MMP-26 expression and its relevance to the clinicopathological features and prognostic factors in patients with astrocytic glioma patients were then investigated. The results demonstrated that MMP-26 expression was significantly assocaited with the World Health Organization grade (P<0.05). Additionally, it was identified that MMP-26 expression was an effective predictor of the overall survival of patients with astrocytic glioma (P<0.05). Analyses of univariate and multivariate Cox regression confirmed that MMP-26 expression was an independent factor for evaluating the prognosis of astrocytic glioma patients (P<0.05). The current results support that MMP-26 may be a novel indicator of diagnosis and an independent factor for evaluating prognosis in patients with glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In field of drug delivery, graphene is a potential material as drug carrier due to its large specific surface area and excellent chemical stability. Many kinds of drug molecules can be adsorbed on graphene surface through single or multiple benzene ring structures in drug molecules. Graphene loaded with drug molecules needs to be transported to the lesion site through blood. The content of water molecules in blood accounts for 92%. Therefore, the influence of water molecule on adsorption performance cannot be ignored. Here, the influence and mechanism of water molecule on the adsorption properties between benzene molecule and graphene is studied. The adsorption models of benzene molecule on graphene surface in vacuum and water environments are established, respectively. The adhesion energy, adhesion force and stable adsorption position of benzene molecule in two environments are analyzed by molecular dynamics simulation and potential function theory. Moreover, a model of preadsorption of a single water molecule on graphene surface is further presented, which explains the reason of the difference in adsorption performance in vacuum and water environment from the perspective of energy. The preadsorption of water molecule on graphene surface promotes the adsorption of benzene molecule. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Compressive properties of 3D graphene are studied by theory and MD simulations. • The unified constitutive relations of three kinds of 3D graphene are derived. • Compressive deformation mechanisms of three kinds of 3D graphene are discussed. • The configuration-property relationships of 3D graphene are elucidated. • Energy absorption capacities of three kinds of 3D graphene are analyzed. Combining molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and continuum modeling, the uniaxial in-plane compressive properties of honeycomb three-dimensional (h3D), triangle-like 3D (t3D) and non-equilateral hexagon 3D (nh3D) graphene are investigated to elucidate configuration-property relationships, and the constitutive relations of three kinds of 3D graphene are derived to evaluate the compressive mechanical properties. Based on theoretical and MD simulation results, it is found that the compressive stress-strain responses of 3D graphene can be divided into five stages. The compressive mechanical properties and deformation mechanisms of each stage are different. When 3D graphene is compressed, graphene sidewalls undergo rotations, bending and buckling deformations, collapses. Because graphene sidewalls of h3D graphene are prone to undergo buckling deformations, there is large locking strain in h3D graphene. For t3D and nh3D graphene, their high plateau stress is attributed to unique configurations. Moreover, we also find that with increasing graphene sidewall width, Young's modulus and plateau stress of 3D graphene gradually decrease. In addition to the above investigations, the energy absorption mechanisms and compression-unloading stress-strain curves of 3D graphene are also studied. It is found that there are extraordinary compression-recovery properties and energy absorption capacities in 3D graphene. Finally, the selection criteria of 3D graphene are proposed. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer is one of the most malignant diseases in women worldwide. Serum microRNAs (miRNAs), with the characteristics of high sensitivity and specificity, have recently attracted more attentions to serve as potential biomarkers for tumor diseases. In this study, 194 breast cancer patients’ serum samples were collected before surgery and enrolled into different groups based on their diagnostic information. To search for breast cancer diagnostic biomarkers, serum miRNAs were screened by microarray in pooled samples of healthy volunteers and breast cancer patients in different clinical stages. The miRNAs were further verified in each individual patient’s serum samples in diagnostic and predictive sets. The serum level of miR-1915-3p was upregulated and miR-455-3p was downregulated significantly in breast cancer patients compared with healthy volunteers. Furthermore, the patients with infiltrating carcinoma or lymph node metastasis had a higher serum level of miR-1915-3p and lower serum level of miR-455-3p than patients with the carcinoma in situ or patients without lymph node metastasis. ROC analysis suggested that miR-1915-3p and miR-455-3p had the potential as a promising serum diagnostic and predictive biomarkers of breast cancer. miR-1915-3p was over-expressed in certain human breast cancer cells. Functional experiments in vitro showed that miR-1915-3p enhanced cell proliferative and migrational abilities. Overexpression of miR-1915-3p repressed target gene DUSP3 and activated ERK1/2. Collectively, this study provided a new insight that miR-1915-3p might play a role in the development of breast cancer and that serum miR-1915-3p and miR-455-3p could serve as diagnostic and predictive biomarkers for breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterostructured Bi 3 O 4 Br/α-Bi 2 O 3 nanocomposites are prepared via in situ one-step self-combustion of ionic liquids. Tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) is employed to be fuel, complexing agent for ionic liquids, as well as the reactant supplying Br for the objective material. The ratio of Bi 3 O 4 Br/α-Bi 2 O 3 can be easily adjusted by controlling the amount of TBAB. The heterojunctions show higher photocatalytic ability towards both azo dye methyl orange (MO) and colorless pollutant phenol. The electron spin resonance (ESR) test and p-nitro blue tetrazolium chloride (NBT) degradation result indicate that generation amounts of superoxide anion radicals ( O 2 − ) over heterojunctions are less than that over pure Bi 3 O 4 Br. Photoelectrochemical measurements show that separation efficiencies of photo-generated electrons and holes are decreased after the combination of Bi 3 O 4 Br and α-Bi 2 O 3 . Work function test and scavenger experiments display that holes play key role for pollutant degradation and the position of holes on α-Bi 2 O 3 is lowered via hybridization. Thus, the enhanced photocatalytic activity over composites can be attributed to the position decline of α-Bi 2 O 3 valence band, thus improving the reactivity of holes in direct oxidation of pollutants. In this case, valence band position is confirmed to be more important than separation efficiency of charge carriers in affecting photocatalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an onboard autonomous mission re-planning system for Multi-Satellites System (MSS) to perform onboard re-planing in disruptive situations. The proposed re-planning system can deal with different potential emergency situations. This paper uses Multi-Objective Hybrid Dynamic Mutation Genetic Algorithm (MO-HDM GA) combined with re-planning techniques as the core algorithm. The Cyclically Re-planning Method (CRM) and the Near Real-time Re-planning Method (NRRM) are developed to meet different mission requirements. Simulations results show that both methods can provide feasible re-planning sequences under unforeseen situations. The comparisons illustrate that using the CRM is average 20 % faster than the NRRM on computation time. However, by using the NRRM more raw data can be observed and transmitted than using the CRM within the same period. The usability of this onboard re-planning system is not limited to multi-satellite system. Other mission planning and re-planning problems related to autonomous multiple vehicles with similar demands are also applicable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study a thermo-sensitive switching membrane was prepared through grafting, using a click reaction, of an N -isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) derivative onto an electrospun poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) fibrous membrane (EPFM). The PPO was first electrospun into a fibrous membrane, then brominated and reacted with NaN 3 to generate the azido-terminated EPFMs. A propargyl-terminated poly( N -isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) was synthesized and grafted onto the azido-terminated EPFMs. The surface roughness of PPO fibers was increased due to the presence of PNIPAAm grafts, such that the thermoresponse of the static water contact angle (SWCA) of PNIPAAm-grafted EPFMs between 25 and 45 °C was significantly greater than that of the same PNIPAAm grafted on a flat surface. Thermo-sensitive affinity of the membrane with water resulted the average pore dimension responded to temperature changes. Taking advantage of this temperature-responsive affinity, we applied the membranes as protein valves that blocked and released an antibody. At 25 °C, the collection efficiency was 90% for antibody concentrations of up to 5 ng/mL. Increasing the temperature to 45 °C caused the collection efficiency to decrease abruptly, to 7.5%, when the antibody concentration was greater than 1.5 ng/mL. Accordingly, this system of PNIPAAm-grafted PPO fibers functioned as a protein valve, allowing the blocking and release of proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to explore the influence of Ganoderma lucidum-derived polysaccharides (GLP) to coix oil-based microemulsion on pharmaceutical performance and anti-lung cancer treatment. GLP-integrated coix oil-based microemulsion (MEs(PS-GLP)) exhibited a clear spherical shape, small particle size, and good hydrodynamics similar to the coix oil-based microemulsion, but showed a lower zeta potential and a better stability. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer analysis presented that GLP was integrated with microemulsion as a single system. Notably, the average molecular distance between polysaccharide and microemulsion was approximately 1.7 nm. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration of MEs(PS-GLP) against A549 cells was about 119 μg/mL. In vivo imaging studies showed that introduction of GLP promoted the tumor-specific accumulation of microemulsion in comparison with controls. In vivo, antitumor results showed that MEs(PS-GLP) markedly inhibited the tumor growth of A549-bearing xenograft nude mice and obviously improve the serum immune index. Collectively, this study demonstrates the potential mechanism of spatial relation between polysaccharides and microemulsion and validates the significances of GLP on tumoral accumulation and antitumor efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]