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The shell thickness dependence of the ultrafast plasmon-induced hot-electron injection process in Au@CdS core–shell nanocrystals has been studied with mid-infrared and visible femtosecond transient...

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is one of the common acute abdominal inflammatory diseases in clinic with acute onset and rapid progress. About 20% of the patients will eventually develop into severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) characterized by a large number of inflammatory cells infiltration, gland flocculus flaky necrosis and hemorrhage, finally inducing systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Pancreatic enzyme activation, intestinal endotoxemia (IETM), cytokine activation, microcirculation disturbance, autonomic nerve dysfunction and autophagy dysregulation all play an essential role in the occurrence and progression of SAP. Organ dysfunction is the main cause of early death in SAP. Acute kidney injury (AKI) and acute lung injury (ALI) are common, while cardiac injury (CI) is not, but the case fatality risk is high. Many basic studies have observed obvious ultrastructure change of heart in SAP, including myocardial edema, cardiac hypertrophy, myocardial interstitial collagen deposition. Moreover, in clinical practice, patients with SAP often presented various abnormal electrocardiogram (ECG) and cardiac function. Cases complicated with acute myocardial infarction and pericardial tamponade have also been reported and even result in stress cardiomyopathy. Due to the molecular mechanisms underlying SAP-associated cardiac injury (SACI) remain poorly understood, and there is no complete, unified treatment and sovereign remedy at present, this article reviews reports referring to the pathogenesis, potential markers and treatment methods of SACI in recent years, in order to improve the understanding of cardiac injury in severe pancreatitis.

Over the past decades, low‐dose computed tomography (LD‐CT) screening has been widely used for the early detection of lung cancer. Increasing numbers of indeterminate pulmonary nodules are now being discovered. However, it remains challenging to distinguish malignant from benign pulmonary nodules, especially those considered to be small or ground‐glass (GGN) nodules. Liquid biopsies have been successfully applied in the diagnosis of advanced lung cancer, and the potential value for early detection of lung cancer has made great progress. Recent studies have demonstrated the value of various blood‐based tumor biomarkers in determining the nature of pulmonary nodules, including cell‐free DNA (cfDNA), microRNAs (miRNAs), circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and tumor‐associated autoantibodies (AAbs). In this review, we summarize the latest progress of liquid biopsies, and their potential applications and challenges in the diagnosis of malignant pulmonary nodules., Schematic representation of liquid biopsies for aiding in the diagnosis of pulmonary nodules detected by LD‐CT. The biomarkers for liquid biopsies include cell‐free DNA (cfDNA), microRNAs (miRNAs), circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and autoantibodies (AAbs).

Endocrine therapies with SERMs (selective estrogen receptor modulators) or SERDs (selective estrogen receptor downregulators) are standard therapies for patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer. Multiple small molecule inhibitors targeting the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway or CDK4/6 have been developed to be used in combination with anti-estrogen drugs to overcome endocrine resistance. In addition to their direct antitumor effects, accumulating evidence has revealed the tumor immune microenvironment (TIM)-modulating effects of these therapeutic strategies, which have not been properly acknowledged previously. The immune microenvironment of breast tumors plays a crucial role in tumor development, metastasis and treatment response to endocrine therapy and immunotherapy. Therefore, in our current work, we comprehensively review the immunomodulatory effect of endocrine therapy and discuss its potential applications in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors in breast cancer treatment.

BACKGROUND We studied the protective effects of Qingyi decoction (QYD) (a Traditional Chinese Medicine) against severe acute pancreatitis (SAP)-induced myocardial infarction (MI). AIM To study the function and mechanism of QYD in the treatment of myocardial injuries induced by SAP. METHODS Ultrasonic cardiography, hematoxylin and eosin staining, immunohistochemistry, qRT-PCR, western blot, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and apoptosis staining techniques were used to determine the effects of QYD following SAP-induced MI in Sprague-Dawley rats. RESULTS Our SAP model showed severe myocardial histological abnormalities and marked differences in the symptoms, mortality rate, and ultrasonic cardiography outputs among the different groups compared to the control. The expression of serum cytokines [interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, amyloid β, and tumor necrosis factor-α] were significantly higher in the SAP versus QYD treated group (P < 0.05 for all). STIM1 and Orai1 expression in myocardial tissue extracts were significantly decreased post QYD gavage (P < 0.001). There was no significant histological difference between the 2-aminoethyl diphenylborinate inhibitor and QYD groups. The SAP group had a significantly higher apoptosis index score compared to the QYD group (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION QYD conferred cardio-protection against SAP-induced MI by regulating myocardial-associated protein expression (STIM1 and Orai1).

Virtual image distance (VID) is a key parameter in augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) systems and has a great influence on product performance and user experience. Therefore, it is very necessary to measure the VID accurately and efficiently. In this paper, we develop a VID measurement system which needs no mechanical scanning in the measurement process. The VID can be measured in a short period of time based on one single image generated by the AR/VR system. An image-telecentric lens is designed which is used to capture the virtual image. A diaphragm with two pinholes is placed at the entrance pupil plane of the imaging lens. When the imaging lens is not focused on the virtual image, the captured image contains two copies of the virtual image with a certain interval which is proportional to the VID in units of diopters. By calculating the interval, we can obtain the VID. A simulation is performed in LightTools to verify the effectiveness of the measurement system, and the result indicates that the measurement error is 5 mm when the virtual image is at 3 m.

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in the digestive tract worldwide, with increased morbidity and mortality. In recent years, with the development of surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy, and the change of the medical thinking model, remarkable progress has been made in researching comprehensive diagnosis and treatment of PC. However, the present situation of diagnostic and treatment of PC is still unsatisfactory. There is an urgent need for academia to fully integrate the basic research and clinical data from PC to form a research model conducive to clinical translation and promote the proper treatment of PC. This paper summarized the translation progress of mass spectrometry (MS) in the pathogenesis, diagnosis, prognosis, and PC treatment to promote the basic research results of PC into clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Mo2C is one of the few compounds that possess good electronic conductivity. Meanwhile, it possesses a natural 1D zigzag tunnel structure that is ideally suited for fast ion diffusion. Here, an effective approach is demonstrated for fabrication of structurally stable N-doped Mo2C/C nanobelts. They demonstrate high and fast energy storage ability with initial capacitances of 1139 C g−1 at 1 mV s−1, 151 C g−1 at an extremely high scan rate of 2000 mV s−1 and 208 C g−1 at a discharge current density of 200 A g−1. After electrochemical activation of cycling, the capacity is continuously enhanced and much higher capacitances of 2523 C g−1 at 1 mV s−1 and 1403 C g−1 at 50 A g−1 are achieved after 15 000 cycles at 50 mV s−1. Using the power law, it is evaluated that a surface-controlled capacitive process makes the main contribution to the capacity, which is over 90% when the scan rates are higher than 10 mV s−1 and still high as 73% at 1 mV s−1. From in situ synchrotron XRD, it is found that there is a negligible change in the crystal structure and volume during charging/discharging, reflecting an insertion-type charge storage mechanism.

A new class of white luminescent materials, white-light-emitting graphene quantum dots (WGQDs), have attracted increasing attention because of their unique features and potential applications. Herein, we designed and synthesized a novel WGQDs via a solvothermal molecular fusion strategy. The modulation of chlorine doping amount and reaction temperature gives the WGQDs a single-crystalline structure and bright white fluorescence properties. In particular, the WGQDs also exhibit novel and robust white phosphorescence performance for the first time. An optimum fluorescence quantum yield of WGQDs is 34%, which exceeds the majority of reported WGQDs and other white luminescent materials. The WGQDs display broad-spectrum absorption within almost the entire visible light region, broad full width at half maximum and extend their phosphorescence emission to the entire white long-wavelength region. This unique dual-mode optical characteristic of the WGQDs originates from the synergistic effect of low-defect and high chlorine-doping in WGQDs and enlarges their applications in white light emission devices, cell nuclei imaging, and information encryption. Our finding provides us an opportunity to design and construct more advanced multifunctional white luminescent materials based on metal-free carbon nanomaterials.

The developments of three-dimensional (3-D) imaging and display technology have created important demands for 3-D model with realistic texture. Due to texture misalignment and inconsistent illumination, texture reconstruction is subject to degradation like blurring, ghosting and color discontinuity. A composite weight texture blending approach is proposed to mitigate the artifacts. For inaccurate geometric model, bidirectional similarity function based multi-scale energy minimization method is proposed to correct texture misalignment. The average processing time of the proposed method is only 40% of existing method. The optical experiments demonstrate that photorealistic texture could be achieved for inaccurate geometric model and inconsistent illumination.

While sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) hold great promise for large-scale electric energy storage and low speed electric vehicles, the poor capacity retention of the cathode is one of the bottlenecks in...

The aim of this study was to compare the sensitivity of mammography (MG), ultrasound (US), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and combinations of these imaging modalities for the detection of small (≤2 cm) breast cancer and to evaluate the benefit of preoperative breast MRI after performing conventional imaging techniques for small breast cancer. This was an observational retrospective review of 475 patients with pathologically confirmed breast cancer. We reviewed the medical records; assessed the preoperative reports of MG, US, and MRI; and categorized them as benign features (BI-RADS 1–3) or malignant features (BI-RADS 4 or 5). The criterion standard for detection was the pathologic assessment of the surgical specimen. The sensitivities of the different techniques were compared using the McNemar test. Among the 475 women, the sensitivity of MG was significantly greater in patients with low breast density than in those with high breast density (84.5% vs 65.8%, P

What is already known about this topic? Healthcare workers are at high risk of acquiring COVID-19 from occupational exposure to COVID-19 virus during their daily medical service work. Excellent infection prevention and control measures and adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) are essential to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired COVID-19. What is added by this report? On March 17, 2021, a female healthcare professional who already received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccination and was working in the isolation area of a designated COVID-19 hospital was diagnosed with COVID-19 in Xi’an city. Her exposure likely occurred five days before illness onset when she obtained nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs from the two imported cases that were identified as belonging to the B.1.1.7 lineage, the variant first detected in the United Kingdom. What are the implications for public health practices? Since the healthcare worker had been fully vaccinated and had mild symptomatology, it is considered a mild breakthrough infection. All vaccines are associated with breakthrough infections. In addition to rigorous adherence to infection prevention and control measures, use of adequate PPE, and using good clinical practices, the potential role of chronic upper respiratory infection in acquiring COVID-19 during medical procedures deserves further consideration.

It is rather challenging to collect ocean wave energy at high efficiency because of its ultra-low frequencies and variable amplitudes. Triboelectric Nanogenerator (TENG) technology is more suitable for harvesting low-frequency than electromagnetic power generation technology. In this work, we designed a built-in cylindrical Triboelectric Nanogenerator (C-TENG) installed inside the ocean buoy (BUOY-41). The hydrodynamic properties of the C-TENG are consistent with the ocean buoy, which are calculated by CFD software (Star-CCM+). The Energy Capture Properties of the C-TENG are established by the finite element software (COMSOL). The C-TENG has high power density (30 mW/m2) and can meet the power demand of the ocean buoy (10 mW). The implementation of the present work is of great academic value and practical significance for the development of efficient marine renewable energy conversion technology, enhancement of marine equipment energy replenishment, enrichment of hydrodynamic theories and revealing of the complex mechanisms.

Backgrounds. The pathogenesis of nephrotic syndrome (NS) is complex, and there are differences between regions. This study attempted to collect clinicopathological data of patients diagnosed with NS in Xinjiang and Heilongjiang in the past 2 years, so as to explore the onset features of NS and treatment and prognosis of patients in the two regions. Methods. Clinical data of 375 patients diagnosed with NS using renal biopsy in Xinjiang and Heilongjiang from March 2019 to March 2021 were collected. Clinical data of patients before treatment were collected, and the chi-square test was utilized to compare the differences in the sex distribution of two groups. The U test was utilized to compare abnormal distribution continuous data between two groups, such as age, hemoglobin, plasma albumin, proteinuria, and triglycerides. Independent sample t -test was utilized to compare normal distribution continuous data between two groups, such as serum total protein, serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, glomerular filtration rate, and total cholesterol. The independent sample t -test was also used to compare the immunoglobulin levels and complement levels between the two groups after treatment, including IgA, IgG, IgM, C3, and C4. Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze and plot the cumulative curves of complete remission rate and partial remission rate. Results. For 275 NS patients from Xinjiang, the male-to-female ratio was 0.81 : 1. For 84 patients from Heilongjiang, the male-to-female ratio was 1.05 : 1. The onset ages of patients in Xinjiang and Heilongjiang were 22-45 years old and 22-47 years old, respectively. Respectively, there were 221 cases (80.36%) and 66 cases (78.57%) of primary NS in Xinjiang and Heilongjiang. There were 54 cases (19.64%) and 18 cases (21.43%) of secondary NS in Xinjiang and Heilongjiang, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in cause distribution between the two regions ( p = 0.756 ). After treatment, immunoglobulin levels (IgA ( p = 0.009 ), IgG ( p = 0.002 ), IgM ( p < 0.001 )) and complement C3 ( p < 0.001 ) and C4 ( p < 0.001 ) levels in Xinjiang and Heilongjiang were statistically significant. 129 cases in Xinjiang (46.91%) and 55 cases in Heilongjiang (65.48%) were treated with glucocorticoid (GC) combined with immunosuppressive therapy, respectively. After receiving treatment, 67 (24.36%) of 275 patients in Xinjiang achieved complete remission, 166 (60.36%) achieved partial remission, 22 (26.19%) of 84 patients in Heilongjiang achieved complete remission, and 56 (66.67%) achieved partial remission, and there was no statistically significant difference in remission rate between the two regions ( p = 0.159 ). Patients in Xinjiang and Heilongjiang achieved complete remission at an average of 10.34 weeks (9.98-10.70) and 9.95 weeks (9.26-10.65), respectively. There was no significant difference in complete remission rates between the two regions ( p = 0.663 ). Patients in Xinjiang and Heilongjiang achieved partial remission at an average of 8.76 weeks (8.38-9.14) and 7.99 weeks (7.33-8.65), respectively. There was no significant difference in the partial remission rate between the two regions ( p = 0.065 ). Conclusion. The causes of NS in Xinjiang and Heilongjiang were similar. After treatment, there were differences in immunoglobulin levels (IgA, IgG, IgM) and complement levels (C3, C4) in the two regions. The main treatment methods used in the two regions were GC combined with immunosuppressive therapy. The prognosis of patients in the two regions was similar. The complete remission rate and partial remission rate after treatment in the two regions were similar, and the average time required to achieve complete remission and partial remission was also similar.

The continuous change of energy structure and the continuous renewal of demand make the traditional energy management system no longer adapt to the current demand. The latest development urgently needs to combine the new generation of information technology such as Internet, cloud computing and big data to build smart energy systems and put them into practical use. This is the top priority of national development and innovation. This paper summarizes the current smart energy applications at home and abroad, and further investigates and analyzes the energy situation of Yunnan Province and the smart energy application cases of Yunnan Province.

It has been a challenge to design an automotive head-up display (HUD) that has large eyebox while maintain a compact structure. In this paper, we present a combiner-type HUD design using freeform mirrors. The HUD is an off-axis fourmirror system consisting of 4 mirrors, which are enclosed in a box to achieve a compact form. The tilt angle of the combiner is adjustable, which can be adapted to different heights of exit pupil. We initially propose an off-axis, fourmirror system which only uses spherical surfaces, then we optimize it by replacing with freeform surfaces, which enables us to balance the residual asymmetrical aberrations. Finally, we obtain an HUD system with good imaging performance. The virtual image is projected at 5 meters away from observer, and the eye box is 106 × 66 mm2 .

The compound eye optical system has attracted much recent attention, owing to its large field-of-view, compact structure, and rapid imaging capabilities. We designed a compact image scanner (cross-section 36.5 mm × 17 mm) based on the compound eye system. A single imaging unit is mainly composed of two freeform mirrors and a flat mirror, and its field-of-view in object space reaches 10 mm. The modulation transfer function of the system is greater than 0.6 at 12 cycles/mm corresponding to Nyquist spatial frequency of 600 dots per inch in depth-of-field of 0~4 mm. Furthermore, a larger field-of-view is achieved by splicing multiple imaging units with 1-mm overlap in object space. An object-side telecentric system is used to obtain constant magnification at different object distances and the distortion (

With the widespread use of AR/VR head-mounted displays, there is an increasing demand for pinhole cameras to test their image quality. However, it has been a challenge to design a pinhole camera with a wide field of view (FOV), high image performance and low distortion while maintaining compact and lightweight. In this paper, a pinhole camera optical system is designed. Based on a 1 in. sensor, the pinhole lens has a FOV of 100° and an entrance pupil diameter of 4mm. In our final design, the distortion is limited within 2.5% and the modulation transfer function values across the entire field are above 0.3 at 161 line pairs/mm (lps/mm). The spherical aberration, color aberration and field curvature are corrected. The design result shows that the optical system of the pinhole camera is compact and meets the requirements of the VR/AR image quality test system.

Kidney injury is one of the main complications of obstructive jaundice (OJ) and its pathogenesis has not been clarified. As an independent risk factor for OJ associated with significant morbidity and mortality, it can be mainly divided into two types of morphological injury and functional injury. We called these dysfunctions caused by OJ-induced kidney injury as OJKI. However, the etiology of OJKI is still not fully clear, and research studies on how OJKI becomes a facilitated factor of OJ are limited. This article reviews the underlying pathological mechanism from five aspects, including metabolisms of bile acids, hemodynamic disturbances, oxidative stress, inflammation and the organic transporter system. Some nephrotoxic drugs and measures that can enhance or reduce the renal function with potential intervention in perioperative periods to alleviate the incidence of OJKI were also described. Furthermore, a more in-depth study on the pathogenesis of OJKI from multiple aspects for exploring more targeted treatment measures were further put forward, which may provide new methods for the prevention and treatment of clinical OJKI and improve the prognosis.

Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP), a serious inflammatory disease of the pancreas, can easily lead to systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and multiple organ dysfunction syndromes (MODS). Acute lung injury (ALI) is one of the most serious complications of SAP. However, the specific pathogenesis of SAP-associated ALI is not fully understood. Crosstalk and multi-mechanisms involving pancreatic necrosis, bacteremia, intestinal barrier failure, activation of inflammatory cascades and diffuse alveolar damage is the main reason for the unclear pathological mechanism of SAP-associated ALI. According to previous research on SAP-associated ALI in our laboratory and theories put forward by other scholars, we propose that the complex pattern of SAP-associated ALI is based on the “pancreas-intestine-inflammation/endotoxin-lung (P-I-I/E–L) pathway”. In this review, we mainly concentrated on the specific details of the “P-I-I/E–L pathway” and the potential treatments or preventive measures for SAP-associated ALI.

Pneumonia caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is spreading globally. There have been strenuous efforts to reveal the mechanisms that the host defends itself against invasion by this virus. The immune system could play a crucial role in virus infection. Dendritic cell as sentinel of the immune system plays an irreplaceable role. Dendritic cells-based therapeutic approach may be a potential strategy for SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this review, the characteristics of coronavirus are described briefly. We focus on the essential functions of dendritic cell in severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. Basis of treatment based dendritic cells to combat coronavirus infections is summarized. Finally, we propose that the combination of DCs based vaccine and other therapy is worth further study.

Concrete-filled carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) tubular arches have been constructed as the load-carrying structure for bridge engineering over the last decade in the US. To investigate the dynamic responses under blast loading, four scaled tubular arches with different CFRP strengthening ratios and concrete strength were researched. The TNT explosive remained 2.0 kg while the standoff distance was set as 0.76 m and 0.4 m, respectively. The damage modes of the tested arches were observed. The dynamic responses including displacement histories and reflected pressures were recorded. According to experimental results, blast-resistance of tubular arches could be enhanced by improving the CFRP strengthening ratios and concrete strength. In addition, residual load capacities of these arches were tested. A factor to evaluate the damage of the arches under explosion is defined. Simplified theoretical models were suggested and discussed, which can be used to predict the ultimate load of the arches. Both the blast test and the subsequent residual load capacity test reveal that this composite tubular arch has the potential to be constructed as underground protective structures.

The features of the electronic structure of semiconductor photocatalysts are fundamental to understanding the corresponding photocatalytic process. Besides the bandgap and edges, the behavior of photogenerated charge carriers and trap states can also greatly affect the photocatalytic process but it has been less considered during the material design. A previous study (G. Liu, J. Pan, L. Yin et al., Adv. Funct. Mater., 2012, 22, 3233-3238) showed that the interstitial boron on anatase {001} facets can change the photocatalytic preference from reductive H2 evolution to oxidative O2 evolution in the water splitting reaction, interpreted as the change in the band edges. In this work, we employed transient infrared absorption-excitation energy scanning spectroscopy and femtosecond time-resolved mid-infrared spectroscopy to investigate this phenomenon in view of the effect caused by the boron dopant on the photogenerated carrier kinetics and the energy level distribution of the trap states. We found that the surface boron doping eliminates significantly the trap states above the valence band, which improves its photocatalytic oxygen generation. On the other hand, surface boron doping also introduces a substantial amount of electron recombination centers (i.e., Bσ+ in the shell layer). Furthermore, surface boron doping also leads to an inefficient electron transfer from TiO2 to the co-catalyst Pt. Both of these effects give rise to its inferior photocatalytic capability in H2 evolution.

In this paper, we propose a method of real-time point cloud registration for flexible hand-held 3D scanning. In this study, The problem of point cloud registration to be solved can be divided into refined registration and coarse registration with eight small or large overlap. The fine registration problem is solved by point-to-projection algorithm to ensure high efficiency. In addition, we solve the two types of coarse registration by exhaustive screening with different sampling means. To employ sampling screening algorithm, first we establish multiple matching relationships between two range image by using sampling point pairs, which are derived from the sampling sets of the respective 3D point clouds. Then we propose pose evaluation algorithm(PEA) inspired by ICP to screen out the most optimal matching relationship as the coarse registration result. In this case, we design PEA as a separate kernel function combined with GPU parallel technology to realize real-time computing. Back-projection calibration technology that robust for system distance error solve the problem of pose rejection criteria. The algorithm is highly versatile and robust, since the feature information of the 3D point cloud has never been utilized and extracted. The proposed method has been applied to our hand-held 3D scanners and has been tested on extensive real measured data to demonstrate the effectiveness.

In this paper, a unified Jacobi-Ritz method is present to analyze the free vibration of composite laminated doubly-curved shells of revolution with general boundary conditions. The composite laminated doubly-curved shells of revolution are divided into their segments in the axial direction , and the theoretical model for vibration analysis is formulated by applying first-order shear deformation theory . The Jacobi polynomials along the axial direction and the standard Fourier series along the circumferential direction make up the displacement functions of shell segments. The boundary conditions at the ends of the composite laminated doubly-curved shells of revolution and the continuity conditions at two adjacent segments were enforced by penalty method. The results including frequency parameter and mode shapes of composite laminated doubly-curved shells of revolution are easy obtained by Ritz method. The major advantage of presented solutions for solving the vibration characteristics of composite laminated doubly-curved shells of revolution is no need to change the mathematical model or the displacement functions. The accuracy and reliability of the proposed method are verified by the results of literature and finite element method (FEM), and various numerical examples are presented for free vibration analysis of composite laminated doubly-curved shells of revolution.

Hierarchical anisogrid stiffened panel (HASP) consists of three parts: main stiffeners, sub-stiffeners, and panel. The basis of HASPs’ dynamic response calculation is equivalent to the orthotropic panel. There are mainly two methods to calculate the dynamic response of orthotropic panels. One is the modal superposition method, and this method is an accurate calculation; the other method is equivalent static load method, which is an approximate calculation of deflection. Equivalent static load method is equivalent to the structure as a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system. Deflection and strain equivalent method were compared for structural failure analysis. On this basis, the dynamic amplification factor ( K d ) was calculated and the effects of parameters on it were discussed. According to these two deflection calculation method, the pressure-impulse (P-I) curve was plotted and the variation of the P-I curve under different conditions was analyzed. These theories were applied to the composite HASP protective door, the deflection and P-I curve of the doors were obtained and verified by tests.

Background: Approximately 60% of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) undergo either local recurrence or distant metastases after surgery. Current prognostic biomarkers are insufficient to predict recurrence of CRC and provide little forecast information about what patients are likely to receive benefit from the adjuvant chemotherapy. As microRNAs (miRNAs) constantly exist in human serum and being used to predict the prognosis of a various cancers, this study was designed to identify miRNA-based circulating biomarkers to predict clinical outcomes of CRC. Methods: A serum-focused miRNA expression was used to investigate if miRNA expression profiles could predict the clinical outcomes of patients with CRC. We created miRNA signature profiles associated in the training set (n = 40), and further validated its prediction in two independent testing cohorts. Results: Using Cox regression and risk-score analysis, we identified a four-miRNA signature (miR-652, miR-342, miR-501, and miR-328) for the prediction of tumor relapse and the overall survival(OS) of patients with CRC in the training set (n = 40). This miRNA signature was further validated in a testing set (n = 226) and another independent cohort (n = 56). A high-risk signature score was significantly associated with CRC tumor recurrence and poor treatment outcome. Multivariable Cox regression models indicated that the risk score, based on the four-miRNA signature, was an independent prognostic classifier for patients with CRC. Conclusions: The serum miRNA signature may serve as a minimally invasive predictor for tumor relapse and treatment outcome in patients with CRC and provide a useful reference for treatment selection. Funding Statement: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81372593, 81201965, 81772565), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (7132052), and the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) (No.2012AA02A506, 2014AA020801). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Ethics Approval Statement: This research was approved by the ethics committee of the Health Science Center of Peking University and the Oncology Center at Peking University and Zhejiang University. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants before enrollment to the study.

Due to the variation of the images of a face, limited training samples have high uncertainty for representing a test sample. Moreover, traditional grouped sparse representation method only consider...

Foams are widely used in the oil and gas industry due to their unique viscous and elastic properties. However, typical foam injection methods into reservoirs require large equipment with high injec...

In this research, failure mechanisms of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) wrapped protective arches under static and blast loadings were investigated through experiments. Adopting bonding and partially-wrapping scheme, the plain concrete (PLC) arch is strengthened and its load carrying ability achieves the level of steel bar reinforced concrete (RC) arch in the static loading experiment. Adopting bonding and fully-wrapping scheme, it’s akin to apply hollow CFRP tubular arch to reinforce plain PLC arches. Load carrying capacity of the CFRP composite arch achieves twice as much as that of the RC arch and the composite arch fails in a shear mode. Subjected to explosive loading, anti-blast ability of the CFRP tubular concrete arch is much better than the PLC arch. Critical scaled distance to prevent the arch from dynamic broken is considerably reduced. According to the research, it is confirmed that using the composite technique an efficient composite protective arch structure can be constructed and steel reinforcements can be entirely replaced by CFRP in some cases, such as coastal engineering and anti-blast structures.

To make protective door structure light, sheet molding compound (SMC) material was adopted to make all-composite blast-resistant door through hot-pressing method. To make the door panel have enough bending rigidity, two-scale orthogrid structures are designed to stiffen the SMC panel. The 1st order primary orthogrid enhances the integral bending rigidity of the door and makes the door stiff and strong enough under specific blast loading. The 2nd order orthogrid is much thinner but denser and is used to stiffen the mono-cell panel encased by the 1st order orthogrid to resist local failure under explosion. Experiments were carried out to reveal the tensile property of the SMC material and the blast responses of the SMC protective doors. Under required over-pressure, the composite door has satisfied anti-blast performance. The maximum deflection is close to 3 mm, but the panel completely rebounds back leaving little residual deformation. Finite element modeling (FEM) was applied to investigate and compare the dynamic responses of door panels with different stiffening styles. It is found that the 1st order orthogrid controls the dynamic response of the door and setting up a transverse primary rib at the central cross section will make the door stiffer and stronger. The research validates that the SMC door satisfies the requirement of blast resistance and is a lightweight candidate for traditional steel or concrete protective door structures.

Judicious interfacial-, crystalline- and structural-engineering of plasmonic metal-semiconductor nanocomposites is key to harnessing their plasmonic functions for enhancing solar energy conversion. In this work, metal@semiconductor core-shell nanocrystals with atomically organized interface, quasi-monocrystalline shell and diverse controllable structures/morphologies, which are hardly tractable by conventional synthetic strategies, are accessed by developing an aqueous cation exchange method. The combined studies including Mid-IR femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy measurements show that the superior metal-semiconductor interface attained by the presented method can greatly promote the extraction of hot electrons from metal to semiconductor (the quantum yield of hot electron injection was estimated at ~ 48%) in comparison with the nanostructures bearing unoptimized interfaces. Thus produced metal@semiconductor nanocrystals give 2–3 orders of magnitude enhancement in photocatalytic H2 evolution activity relative to their counterparts accessed by conventional methods.

Aims Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is a serious disease associated with systematic inflammation and multiple organs dysfunction. Soluble ST2 (sST2), a member of the Toll interleukin (IL)-1 receptor (TIR) superfamily, has been demonstrated to exert immune-regulatory and anti-inflammatory properties in several inflammation-related diseases. In this study, we investigated whether transfer of sST2 gene by adenovirus vector could attenuate sodium taurocholate-induced SAP and associated cardiac injury. Main methods A rat model of SAP was induced by retrograde injection of 5% sodium taurocholate (1 ml/kg) into the biliopancreatic duct. Rats in the treatment groups were intravenously injected with adenovirus expressing sST2 (Ad-sST2, 1 × 109 particles/rat) or green fluorescent protein (Ad-GFP) via the tail vein 48 h before SAP induction. Histological changes in the pancreatic and heart tissues, and parameters for evaluating SAP and associated cardiac injury were determined at 24 h after SAP. Key findings Sodium taurocholate induced obvious pathological changes in pancreas and elevated serum levels of amylase and lipase. Furthermore, SAP animals exhibited significant cardiac impairment, evidenced by decreased cardiac function, increased myocardial apoptosis and cardiac-related enzymes including creatine kinase isoenzyme, lactate dehydrogenase, and Troponin T. Administration of Ad-sST2 markedly improved the structure of pancreas and heart tissues, and reversed the alterations in serum amylase, lipase and cardiac-related enzymes. In addition, Ad-sST2 treatment downregulated pro-inflammatory cytokines production, demonstrating the anti-inflammatory property of sST2. Significance Our results suggest that administration of Ad-sST2 significantly attenuated the severity of SAP and associated cardiac damage, and the cardioprotective effect is associated with its anti-inflammatory action.

Hierarchical anisogrid stiffened panel (HASP) is applied to construct a protective door structure, for its advantages in rigidity improving and weight saving. In this research, sheet molding compound (SMC) material is selected to make a new all-composite blast-resistant door structure through hot-pressing molding method. Facesheet of the blast-resistant door is stiffened by two-scale stiffeners to improve the global bending rigidity and restrain the local deformation of the facesheet simultaneously. Explosion experiment has been carried out to reveal the blast response of the composite door. Equivalent theory and dynamic structural model are built to analyze the blast response and predict the potential failure of the protective HASP. In the analysis, damping effect to the dynamic deformation and permitted blast wave of the SMC door is analyzed through introducing damping coefficient and damping force into the dynamic motion equation. An engineering method is introduced to calculate the damping coefficient based on the strain variation. Damping of the composite material greatly reduces the magnitude of the dynamic deformation and attenuates the vibration rapidly.

An acute gastroenteritis outbreak occurred at a private college in June 2014 in northwest China. This outbreak involved two teachers and 629 students (range: 17–27 years, average 21.3 years). The main symptoms included non-bloody watery diarrhea, stomach ache, nausea, and vomiting, and the duration of illness ranged from 1 to 7 days. Eight of 18 water samples were disqualified. Thirty-four norovirus (NoV) RNA-positive samples were identified from 48 stool-related samples (genotyping results: 13 GII, 13 GI and 8 GI + GII mixture). Fourteen NoV samples were successfully characterized for genotype, including two GII.6, five GI.6, four GI.3, and three GI.1. Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and enteroadherent Escherichia coli (EAEC) DNA was detected from patient stool specimens and water samples from well one; two EAEC strains and one EPEC strain were isolated from patient stool specimens. The risk ratios (RRs) associated with wells one and two were 1.66 and 1.49, respectively, and the RR associated with living in north dormitory building one was 2.59. The patients' epidemiological characteristics, symptoms, and duration of illness indicated that NoV-contaminated water might be the origin of this outbreak, and RR analysis suggested that the two wells were linked to the outbreak.

The purpose of the present study is to put forward an innovative method to improve dynamic response behaviors of protective concrete arches subjected to blast load. To achieve this goal eight arches were made, of which six were strengthened with carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) on the intrados. Field explosion experiments were designed and carried out to reveal the strengthening effects of different CFRP strengthening schemes. The dynamic structural responses of the tested arches were recorded through linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs) and pressure sensors. The results of the experiments, such as the distribution of concrete cracks and the debonding length of the CFRP strips, indicate that CFRPs are effective in reducing concrete cracking and spalling of the protective arches, and that the fully-bonding method is significantly more effective than the partially-bonding method. Meanwhile, when the scaled standoff distance decreases, the strengthened arches experience failures ranging from ductile cracking to dynamic spalling. Simplified analysis models are proposed to estimate the equivalent static load and to reveal the protective mechanism of the CFRP strengthening. The research confirms that by using the CFRP bonding technique, an efficiently protective concrete arch structure with excellent anti-explosion performance could be constructed.

Hierarchical anisogrid stiffened panels (HASPs) have two-level stiffeners. The primary stiffeners improve the global stiffness of the HASP and the sub-stiffeners enhance the local stiffness of the mono-cell skin supported by the primary stiffeners. A smearing method was proposed to homogenize the HASP into a homogenous panel, based on two-step equivalences of extensional rigidities and bending rigidities. Dynamic responses of blast-loaded HASPs were analyzed based on the homogenous panel and the mode superposition method and validated by finite element (FE) analysis. Commonly the HASP vibrates like a homogenous panel and the theoretical prediction is accurate. Local mono-cell vibration appears only when the skin and the sub-stiffeners are weak enough. The model was applied to analyze the blast response of a composite protective door. Failure criterion based on maximum strain was proposed to predict the peak blast pressure the HASP can bear. The equivalent theory has good accuracy, providing a feasible way to analyze blast responses of HASPs.

INTRODUCTION It is widely accepted that inflammatory responses play a key role in acute pancreatitis (AP). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the effect of QingYi decoction on inflammatory markers. METHODS The PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, CNKI, CBM, and WANFGANG databases were searched for randomized controlled trials published before December 2019. Thirty-eight eligible studies were included in the meta-analysis. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool. The standardized mean differences (SMDs) with corresponding 95% CIs were examined for inflammatory markers. The chi-square test and I2 statistic were used to assess heterogeneity. We assessed publication bias by Begg's test, Egger's test, and the trim and fill method. In addition, a meta-regression, sensitivity analysis, subgroup analysis, and cumulative meta-analysis were performed to assess the effects of confounding factors. The quality of evidence was evaluated by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system. RESULTS The pooled effect estimate indicated that QingYi decoction treatment significantly reduced the levels of pro-inflammatory IL-6 (SMD = -3.33; 95% CI, -4.17, -2.50; p < 0.001; I2: 97.9%), IL-8 (SMD = -1.55; 95% CI, -2.03, -1.07; p < 0.001; I2: 96.1%), TNF-α (SMD = -1.04; 95% CI, -1.37, -0.72; p < 0.001; I2: 93.9%), IL-1 (SMD = -2.05; 95% CI, -3.21, -0.90; p < 0.001; I2: 93.4%), and IL-1β (SMD = -1.31; 95% CI, -2.42, -0.21; p < 0.001; I2: 89.8%) and elevated the levels of anti-inflammatory IL-10 (SMD = 0.99; 95% CI, 0.60, 1.38; p < 0.001; I2: 91.1%) among patients with AP. CONCLUSION The current review and meta-analysis suggest that the therapeutic effect of QingYi decoction may be related to its anti-inflammatory properties. Due to the high heterogeneity across the included studies, additional large-scale and rigorously designed studies are needed to confirm the conclusions of this study.

Compactness and light weight, large exit pupil diameter and distance, small distortion for virtual image, and see-through light paths are pivotal factors to achieve a better, wearable experience of optical see-through head-mounted displays (OST-HMDs). In addition, light efficiency of the virtual image light path is an important factor for heat dissipation in HMD devices. This paper presents a new type of OST-HMD optical system that includes three wedge-shaped freeform prisms and two symmetric lenses. Based on a 0.71 in. microdisplay, an OST-HMD prototype with a diagonal field of view (FOV) of 45.3°, an F-number (F/#) of 1.8, an exit pupil size of 12 mm × 8 mm , and an eye relief of 18 mm is demonstrated. The maximum value of distortion of the final system is 0.6% and 0.4% for virtual image and see-through light path, respectively. The overall dimension of the optical system per eye is no larger than 30 mm ( width ) × 40 mm ( height ) × 14 mm (thickness), and the weight of the optical module including lenses, holder, and microdisplay is 12.8 g. The light efficiency of the virtual image light path is up to 50% higher than those of other OST-HMD optical solutions.

The last decade has witnessed significant advances in the adoptive cell transfer (ACT) technique, which has been appreciated as one of the most promising treatments for patients with cancer. Utilization of ACT can enhance the function of the immune system or improve the specificity and persistence of transferred cells. Various immune cells including T lymphocytes, natural killer cells, dendritic cells, and even stem cells can be used in the ACT despite their different functional mechanisms. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is among the most common malignancies and causes millions of deaths worldwide every year. In this review, we discuss the status and perspective of the ACT in the treatment of CRC.

Constructing heterojunctions with matched band semiconductor is regarded as effective strategy to promote high-efficiency photocatalytic CO2 reduction. Herein, 0D/2D direct Z-scheme heterojunction involving carbonized polymer dots and Bi4O5Br2 nanosheets (CPDs/Bi4O5Br2) is designed and fabricated, which effectively facilitate migration and separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers and retain more negative electron reduction potential of CPDs and more positive hole oxidation potential of Bi4O5Br2. Moreover, CPDs promote adsorption of CO2 and intermediate COOH* as well as desorption of product CO. The direct Z-scheme mechanism of CPDs/Bi4O5Br2 is collaboratively confirmed by theory calculation, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy. The 8 wt% CPDs/Bi4O5Br2 exhibits the maximal CO production of 132.42 μmol h−1g−1 under Xe lamp irradiation, 5.43 fold higher than that of Bi4O5Br2 nanosheets. The CPDs with up-conversion properties can broaden light utilization range, so that composite material also show better CO2 conversion performance when excitation wavelength is greater than 580 nm.

Metal magnetic memory (MMM) technique can evaluate early damages of ferromagnets and search possible defect locations, while just classifies the defect types roughly. To promote study in this area, the magnetic gradient tensor (MGT) of the self-magnetic leakage field (SMLF) on the fracture zone of crack and stress concentration was measured using a tri-axis magnetometer. From measured results, both the plane and the vertical characteristics of SMLF distributions were discussed. To remove the influence of the measuring direction on experimental results, a new parameter of the analytical signal of magnetic gradient tensor (AMGT) was introduced to determine the location and boundary of the defect. Then, the vertical features were acquired by measuring the plane distributions of AMGT under different lift offs. Through analyzing the vertical features, it was concluded that change rule of the maximum AMGT can be used to predict the defect type. At last, the explanation of the relationship between the vertical feature and the defect type was discussed, which can give some useful inspirations to researchers on magnetic leakage field testing.

The wave energy, as a clean and non-pollution renewable energy sources, has become a hot research topic at home and abroad and is likely to become a new industry in the future. In this article, to effectively extract and maximize the energy from ocean waves, a vertical axisymmetric wave energy converter (WEC) was presented according to investigating of the advantages and disadvantages of the current WEC. The linear and quadratic equations in frequency-domain for the reactive controlled single-point converter property under regular waves condition are proposed for an efficient power take-off (PTO). A method of damping coefficients, theoretical added mass and exciting force are calculated with the analytical method which is in use of the series expansion of eigen functions. The loads of optimal reactive and resistive, the amplitudes of corresponding oscillation, and the width ratios of energy capture are determined approximately and discussed in numerical results.

The ability to control and vary the atomic compositions of two-dimensional (2D) layered semiconductors is of considerable importance for tailoring their electronic and optoelectronic properties. The current methods to tailor chemical composition of 2D layered semiconductors is largely limited to vapor phase chemistry, and solution phase chemistry is insufficiently explored to date. Here, we report a general approach to prepare 2D layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) by ion exchange reactions in solution phase. By choosing four typical layered metal dichalcogenides including MoS2, MoSe2, WS2 and SnS2 as representative cases, the feasibility and versatility of both cation and anion exchange reactions in layered metal dichalcogenides are confirmed. Transient absorption results indicate that exciton lifetime of these samples as excitation energy is increased. The optoelectronic properties of these TMD nanosheets after the ion exchange exhibit potential for future devices. Our strategy can be employ...

A process of target penetration by a shaped-charge jet includes three main stages: charge detonation, formation of a metallic jet and its penetration of the target. With continuously increasing computational power, a numerical approach gradually becomes more prominent (combined with experimental and theoretical methods) in investigations of performance of a shaped-charge jet and its target penetration. This paper presents a meshfree methodology - Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) - for a shaped charge penetrating underwater structures. First, a SPH model of a sphere impacting a plate is developed; its numerical results agree well with the experimental data, verifying the validity of the mentioned developed method. Then, results obtained for different cases - for various materials of explosives and liners - are discussed and compared, and as a result, more suitable parameters of the shaped charge in order to increase the penetration depth are obtained - HMX and copper were chosen respectively as the explosive and the liner material. It follows by validation of a model of a free-field underwater explosion, developed to verify the effectiveness of the modified SPH method in solving problems of underwater explosion; its numerical results are compared with an empirical formula. Finally, the SPH method is applied to simulate the entire process ranging from the detonation of the shaped charge to the target penetration employing the optimal parameters. A fluid around the shaped charge is included into analysis, and damage characteristics of the plate exposed to air and water on its back side are compared.

Avoiding steel-bar-like corrosion in concrete members, basalt fiber reinforced plastic (BFRP) bars behaving as reinforcement have advantages in coastal civil engineering. One-way concrete slabs reinforced by BFRP bars (SRBBs) were designed to investigate their mechanical responses under static loads and explosions. High strength but relatively low stiffness of BFRP bars make SRBBs have different responses to slabs reinforced by steel bars (SRSBs). BFRP bars work in the elastic stage while steel bars result into plastic deformation after limited elastic deformation. SRBBs have larger deflections but higher ultimate loads compared with SRSBs in static bending tests. Explosive experiments reveal the damage patterns of SRBBs under various scaled distances, from 0.474 m/kg1/3 to 0.684 m/kg1/3. Crack, spall and breach are three typical damage modes for blast-loaded slabs. Compared with SRSB, the SRBB of the same reinforcement ratio and under the same scaled distance has larger deflections, but smaller damage level and greater residual loads. It is indicated that although the SRBB is not stiffer than the SRSB, it has greater anti-blast ability in current research.