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Three quarters of the world's significant urban centers are located in coastal regions where clay minerals are prevalent. The microstructures and physico-mechanical properties of clay sediments are highly susceptible to alterations in pore water chemistry. The pore water chemistry in soil changes easily due to groundwater pollution, seawater erosion, degradation, etc. However, there are several inconsistencies in the literature on the change of physical and mechanical properties of clay soils caused by the change of pore water chemical properties, i.e., disparate experimental results were reported for the same soil property, or varying explanations were proposed for the identical experimental results. Currently, the research in this field mainly focuses on the macroscopic behavioral modifications while lacking the explanations of microscopic mechanism. Therefore, this paper presents a comprehensive review of researches conducted over the past four decades on the impact of pore water chemistry (including salt type, salinity, ion valence, pH) on soil properties such as the microstructure, settlement, Atterberg limits, shear strength, conductivity, unsaturated soil mechanics properties and thermal properties. The fundamental mechanisms underlying the varied experimental observations on clay sediments affected by salt and pH are systematically explored, and deficiencies in this field are identified. The observed dispersion in the literatures is attributed to the spatial variation and heterogeneity of soil compositions, different test methods, and insufficiency of the fundamental microscopic mechanisms of the observed soil behaviors, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to further explore the essential mechanisms of the test results in the future to establish a unified conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fractional flow reserve (FFR) has been established as a gold standard for functional coronary ischemia. At present, the FFR can be calculated from coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) images (CT-FFR). Previous studies have suggested that CT-FFR outperforms CCTA and invasive coronary angiography (ICA) in determining hemodynamic significance of stenoses. Recently, a novel automatical algorithm of CT-FFR called RuiXin-FFR has been developed. The present study is designed to investigate the predictive value of this algorithm and its value in therapeutic decision making. The present study retrospectively included 166 patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) who underwent CCTA screening and diagnostic ICA examination at Peking University People's Hospital, in 73 of whom wire-derived FFR was also measured. CT-FFR analyses were performed with a dedicated software. All patients were followed up for at least 1 year. We validated the accuracy of RuiXin-FFR with invasive FFR as the standard of reference, and investigated the role of RuiXin-FFR in predicting treatment strategy and long-term prognosis. The mean age of the patients was 63.3 years with 63.9% male. The CT-FFR showed a moderate correlation with wire-derived FFR (r = 0.542, p < 0.0001) and diagnostic accuracy of 87.6% to predict myocardial ischemia (AUC: 0.839, 95% CI 0.728–0.950), which was significantly higher than CCTA and ICA. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, CT-FFR ≤ 0.80 was an independent predictor of undergoing coronary revascularization (OR: 45.54, 95% CI 12.03–172.38, p < 0.0001), whereas CT-FFR > 0.80 was an independent predictor of non-obstructive CAD (OR: 14.67, 95% CI 5.42–39.72, p < 0.0001). Reserving ICA and revascularization for vessels with positive CT-FFR could have reduced the rate of ICA by 29.6%, lowered the rate of ICA in vessels without stenosis > 50% by 11.7%, and increased the rate of revascularization in patients receiving ICA by 21.2%. The average follow-up was 23.7 months, and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) occurred in 11 patients. The rate of MACE was significantly lower in patients with CT-FFR > 0.80. The new algorithm of CT-FFR can be used to predict the invasive FFR. The RuiXin-FFR can also provide useful information for the screening of patients in whom further ICA is indeed needed and prognosis evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a novel trajectory-optimized cluster-based network model (tCNM) for nonlinear model order reduction from time-resolved data following Li et al. ["Cluster-based network model," J. Fluid Mech. 906, A21 (2021)] and improving the accuracy for a given number of centroids. The starting point is k-means++ clustering, which minimizes the representation error of the snapshots by their closest centroids. The dynamics is presented by "flights" between the centroids. The proposed trajectory-optimized clustering aims to reduce the kinematic representation error further by shifting the centroids closer to the snapshot trajectory and refining state propagation with trajectory support points. Thus, curved trajectories are better resolved. The resulting tCNM is demonstrated for the sphere wake for three flow regimes, including the periodic, quasi-periodic, and chaotic dynamics. The representation error of tCNM is five times smaller as compared to the approximation by the closest centroid. Thus, the error is at the same level as proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of same order. Yet, tCNM has distinct advantages over POD modeling: it is human interpretable by representing dynamics by a handful of coherent structures and their transitions; it shows robust dynamics by design, i.e., stable long-time behavior; and its development is fully automatable, i.e., it does not require tunable auxiliary closure and other models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The present study is designed to investigate the impact of coronary angiography-derived index of microcirculatory resistance (caIMR) on left ventricular performance recovery.Background: IMR has been established as a gold standard for coronary microvascular assessment and a predictor of left ventricular recovery after ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). CaIMR is a novel and accurate alternative of IMR.Methods: The present study retrospectively included 80 patients with STEMI who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We offline performed the post-PCI caIMR analysis of the culprit vessel. Echocardiography was performed within the first 24 hours and at 3 months after the index procedure. Left ventricular recovery was defined as the change in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) more than zero.Results: The mean age of the patients was 58.0 years with 80.0% male. The average post-PCI caIMR was 43.2. Overall left ventricular recovery was seen in 41 patients. Post-PCI caIMR (OR: 0.948, 95% CI: 0.916-0.981, p = 0.002), left anterior descending as the culprit vessel (OR: 3.605, 95% CI: 1.23-10.567, p = 0.019), and male (OR: 0.254, 95% CI: 0.066-0.979, p = 0.047) were independent predictors of left ventricular recovery at 3 months follow-up. A predictive model was established with the best cutoff value for the prediction of left ventricular recovery 2.33 (sensitivity 0.610, specificity 0.897, and area under the curve 0.765). In patients with a predictive model score less than 2.33, the LVEF increased significantly at 3 months.Conclusions: The post-PCI caIMR can accurately predict left ventricular functional recovery at 3 months follow-up in patients with STEMI treated by primary PCI, supporting its use in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between working memory and text coherence in Chinese text comprehension. Eighty-six native Cantonese speakers completed an operation-character working memory span task to be classified into low-span or high-span readers and a reading task to measure the time to detect inconsistency as well as the accuracy of recall. High-span readers took less time to detect inconsistency and had better recall, whereas low-span readers took a longer time to detect inconsistency and had more memory distortions. In addition, readers took more time to read passages with coherence breaks and distorted more and substituted more information in passages with coherence breaks. However, coherence breaks did not facilitate their recall as has been suggested by previous studies. This work extends the literature on working memory and comprehension from just reaction times to include recall of the passages and introduced the use of substitution units as another measure of error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple and efficient, one-pot strategy for the preparation of 4-methylene-2-thiazolidinethiones has been developed. This protocol involved condensation of primary amines with carbon disulfide in water to generate the dithiocarbamate salts in situ, which coupled with 2,3-dibromopropene, followed by intramolecular cyclization to the corresponding heterocycles in moderate to good yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disease status before HSCT2 was described as active in 14 patients (58.3%), complete remission (CR) in 6 patients (25%), and graft failure in 4 patients (16.7%). Six patients suffered from only skin GVHD; 1 patient suffered from both intestinal and skin GVHD; and 2 patients suffered from skin, liver and intestinal GVHD. Ten patients had CMV reactivation, while 1 patient was diagnosed with CMV interstitial pneumonia and another patient was diagnosed with CMV encephalitis. Veno-occlusive disease (VOD) only occurred in 2 patients (8%), whereas the rate reported in patients undergoing HSCT2 was 21% from the same matched related donor or after Myeloablative (MA) conditioning [[2], [10]]. [Extracted from the article]

Previous studies have reported that short-term statin loading effectively protects statin-naive patients with mild renal insufficiency from contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI). The aim of the present study was to determine whether patients with more advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) and long-term statin therapy also benefit from high-loading statin pretreatment. A total of 256 consecutive patients with moderate-to-severe CKD receiving long-term statin therapy and undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery angiography (CAG) were divided into the statin-loading group (n=34) and the no statin-loading group (n=222), depending on whether the respective patient received high-dose statin within 24 h prior to the intervention. The primary endpoint was the percent change in serum creatinine (SCr) levels. Additional endpoints included absolute change in SCr levels, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at 48–72 h after contrast exposure, incidence rate of CI-AKI and composite in-hospital adverse events. The mean SCr decreased from baseline in either of the two groups, and the differences in the percent (P=0.930) and absolute change (P=0.990) in SCr levels were not significant between the two groups. Furthermore, no significant difference in the post-procedural eGFR was observed between the two groups. The incidence rates of CI-AKI (2.9 vs. 4.1%, P>0.999) and in-hospital adverse events (0.0 vs. 3.6%, P=0.602) were also similar between the two groups. Stratified analyses were then performed, which yielded results consistent with the above. Multiple linear regression indicated that the baseline eGFR value and current smoking status were independent factors affecting the post-procedural eGFR value, while high-dose statin loading was not. Therefore, statin reloading prior to intervention may not provide any further renal protection or decrease the occurrence of in-hospital adverse events in patients with moderate-to-severe CKD receiving long-term statin therapy, which warrants validation in prospective trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we establish an effective medium model to describe the low-frequency complex dielectric (conductivity) dispersion of dilute clay suspensions. We use previously obtained low-frequency polarization coefficients for a charged oblate spheroidal particle immersed in an electrolyte as the building block for the Maxwell Garnett mixing formula to model the dilute clay suspension. The complex conductivity phase dispersion exhibits a near-resonance peak when the clay grains have a narrow size distribution. The peak frequency is associated with the size distribution as well as the shape of clay grains and is often referred to as the characteristic frequency. In contrast, if the size of the clay grains has a broad distribution, the phase peak is broadened and can disappear into the background of the canonical phase response of the brine. To benchmark our model, the low-frequency dispersion of the complex conductivity of dilute clay suspensions is measured using a four-point impedance measurement, which can be reliably calibrated in the frequency range between 0.1  Hz and 10 kHz. By using a minimal number of fitting parameters when reliable information is available as input for the model and carefully examining the issue of potential over-fitting, we found that our model can be used to fit the measured dispersion of the complex conductivity with reasonable parameters. The good match between the modeled and experimental complex conductivity dispersion allows us to argue that our simplified model captures the essential physics for describing the low-frequency dispersion of the complex conductivity of dilute clay suspensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Rare disease. Background: Cholesterol granuloma is a benign condition that can be misdiagnosed as breast cancer on mammographic and ultrasound imaging. A case of concomitant cholesterol granuloma with invasive ductal carcinoma of the left breast was imaged with ultrasound elastography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods, including T1-weighted dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI), before biopsy and histopathology. Case Report: A 52-year-old woman, with a previous history of intraduct papillomas in both breasts, underwent six-monthly follow-up breast imaging. The most recent breast mammogram showed a progressively enlarging oval mass in the upper inner quadrant (UIQ) of the left breast, and an adjacent irregular mass with microcalcifications. Virtual Touch IQ (VTIQ) shear wave elastography was used with ultrasound of the breast lesions. T1-weighted fat saturation (T1WFS) MRI, T2-weighted short-tau inversion recovery (STIR) MRI, and T1-weighted DCE-MRI were used to image the left breast. T1-weighted DCE-MRI showed that the oval lesion had a high T1-weighted signal and mild progressive enhancement, with a Type I (benign) time-signal intensity curve; the second, irregular, mass showed rapid, intense enhancement with a washout pattern or Type III (malignant) time-signal intensity curve. Histopathology confirmed that the oval mass was a cholesterol granuloma, and the irregular mass was an invasive ductal carcinoma. Conclusions: A case of concomitant cholesterol granuloma with invasive ductal carcinoma of the left breast, showed that ultrasound with shear wave elastography and T1-weighted DCE-MRI could distinguish between cholesterol granuloma and invasive ductal carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study aimed to evaluate and understand the water–ethanol system effect on the stability of purple‐fleshed sweet potato anthocyanins (PSPa). The stability of the PSPa in the model ethanol–water solutions (0–80%, vol/vol, pH 3.5) during storage (60 hr) at room temperature was monitored by UV‐vis. The frontier molecular orbital theory was used to interpret the hydration reaction rate of the PSPa in both ethanol–water and aqueous solutions. In all of the model ethanol–water solutions, the degradation of the PSPa followed first‐order kinetics during storage, and the degradation rates increased with increased ethanol concentration. Theory calculation results showed that an increase in ethanol concentration decreased the LUMO energy of anthocyanins, and accelerated nucleophilic attack from water, thus, resulting in lower stability. These findings could provide valuable evidence of the solvent effect on the stability of anthocyanins. Practical applications: Fruit wines that contain anthocyanins are among the common alcoholic beverages. The stability of the anthocyanins is responsible for wine quality and may also affect the nutritional properties. Thus, investigating the effect of ethanol on the stability of anthocyanins is particularly valuable. The results of this research have important implications for the models developed so far to explain the degradation mechanism of anthocyanins in different media. In this context, examining the effect of different media on the degradation of anthocyanins would be useful to provide improved anthocyanin ability in the food and beverage industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A facile and reliable colorimetric sensor in both solution and paper-based membrane was presented for the determination of nickel ions. Commercial organometallic reagent zincon had been incorporated within hollow ZnSiO 3 nanospheres to serve as hybrid ionophore, the blue color of which faded after successive addition of Ni 2+ due to competition and displacement of Zn 2+ in the ionophore. The selectivity was very good and can be further improved using Na 2 -EDTA as a masking agents which eventually becomes a co-ionophore. The detection solutions were further used to coat cellulose membrane modified with TiO 2 and silylating reagent to fabricate paper-based sensors for naked-eye detection of Ni 2+ . With optimum conditions selected, the assays in solution obtained a detection limit of 35.6 nM with linear range from 32 nM to 9.2 mM, while for the paper-based assays, the detection limit goes to 83 nM with linear range between 78 nM and 76 μΜ. Besides, the assay enable naked-eye differentiation of nickel ions down to 0.1 μΜ. Testing the present paper sensor on real river turbulent water shows a maximum 5% relative error, demonstrating the feasibility of present assays for real applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of test trial and processing level on immediate and delayed retention. A 2 x 2 x 2 mixed ANOVAs was used with two between-subject factors of test trial (single test, repeated test) and processing level (shallow, deep), and one within-subject factor of final recall (immediate, delayed). Seventy-six college students were randomly assigned first to the single test (studied the stimulus words three times and took one free-recall test) and the repeated test trials (studied the stimulus words once and took three consecutive free-recall tests), and then to the shallow processing level (asked whether each stimulus word was presented in capital letter or in small letter) and the deep processing level (whether each stimulus word belonged to a particular category) to study forty stimulus words. The immediate test was administered five minutes after the trials, whereas the delayed test was administered one week later. Results showed that single test trial recalled more words than repeated test trial in immediate final free-recall test, participants in deep processing performed better than those in shallow processing in both immediate and delayed retention. However, the dominance of single test trial and deep processing did not happen in delayed retention. Additional study trials did not further enhance the delayed retention of words encoded in deep processing, but did enhance the delayed retention of words encoded in shallow processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Epithelial ovarian cancer and relapsed type II endometrial cancer share common characteristics. Although the role of intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy in the treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer has been well-established, its role in the treatment of relapsed type II endometrial cancer remains to be elucidated. Material and Methods: From January 2000 to December 2012, patients who were diagnosed with relapsed type II endometrial cancer and underwent secondary cytoreductive surgery, patients with residual tumors less than 1 cm in diameter were initially screened for this study. Of the screened patients, consecutive patients who received salvage IP chemotherapy (IP platinum plus intravenous paclitaxel) were considered the case group. The case study group was matched to a control group that was composed of patients who received salvage systemic chemotherapy (intravenous platinum plus intravenous paclitaxel) in a 1:2 ratio. The overall survival was compared between the case group and the control group, and the IP treatment-related toxicities were reported. Results: In total, 11 patients were assigned into the case group and 22 patients were assigned into the control group. The median overall survival (95% confidence interval) was 40.5 (25.5-56.2) months for the case group versus 28.0 (18.0-37.0) for the control group (hazard ratio=0.37 (95% confidence interval, 0.15-0.95); p=0.032, by the log-rank test). The most commonly observed toxicity was of gastrointestinal origin (81.8%). Toxicities that stemmed from hematological, cardiovascular, neurological, and catheter-related complications were similar to results published in other studies on IP chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. Conclusion: Salvage IP chemotherapy may potentially confer a longer overall survival than conventional systemic chemotherapy in the treatment of relapsed type II endometrial cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was focused on developing new hydroxycinnamoyl maltodextrin derivatives to evaluate their antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity. Vanillic acid, caffeic acid and ferulic acid were covalently attached to maltodextrin. The prepared derivatives were confirmed by ATR- IR and 1H- NMR. The thermal characteristics and viscosity were measured by thermogravimetric analysis and viscometer, respectively, and the studies revealed the grafted maltodextrins to be more thermal stable and viscous than the native maltodextrin. Moreover, the scavenging ability of most of the products was higher than 60% at 1 mg mL−1 against DPPH radical. The inhibitory effect of lipid peroxidation of caffeic acid and ferulic acid grafted maltodextrins attained 85% at 0.5 mg mL−1. It was also found that these compounds had no toxic effect (up to 100 μg mL−1) on the HEK 293 cells through the MTT test. These findings suggested that the prepared derivatives could potentially be used as a nontoxic antioxidant in food and drug industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cytochrome c oxidase subunit II (COX II) containing a dual core CuA active site is one of the core subunits of mitochondrial Cytochrome c oxidase (Cco), which plays a significant role in the physiological process. In this report, the full-length cDNA of COXII gene was cloned from Sitophilus zeamais , which had an open reading frame (ORF) of 684 bp encoding 227 amino acids residues. The predicted COXII protein had a molecular mass of 26.2 kDa with pI value of 6.37. multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis indicated that Sitophilus zeamais COXII had high sequence identity with the COXII of other insect species. The gene was subcloned into the expression vector pET-32a, and induced by isopropyl β- d -thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) in E. coli Transetta (DE3) expression system. Finally the recombinant COXII with 6-His tag was purified using affinity chromatography with Ni 2+ -NTA agarose. Western Blotting (WB) showed the recombinant protein was about 44 kD, and the concentration of fusion protein was 50 μg/mL. UV-spectrophotometer and infrared spectrometer analysis showed that recombinant COXII could catalyze the oxidation of substrate Cytochrome C (Cyt c ), and influenced by allyl isothiocyanate (AITC). By using molecular docking method, It was found that a sulfur atom of AITC structure could form a length of 2.9 Å hydrogen bond with Leu-31. These results suggested that tag-free COXII was functional and one of the action sites of AITC, which will be helpful to carry out a point mutation in binding sites for the future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, maltodextrin-grafted-cinnamic acid (MD-g-CA) was synthesised and used as wall material to improve the stability of purple sweet potato anthocyanins (PSPa) via microencapsualtion. MD-g-CA was prepared through esterification in a two-step convenient synthesis procedure and characterised using infra-red (IR) spectroscopy. The IR data indicated the typical ester carbonyl stretching at around 1721 cm−1. Moreover, MD-g-CA could give about 40% inhibition of DPPH radical and present excellent UV-absorption, which were notably better than that of native MD. Maltodextrin (MD) and MD-g-CA were used to prepare PSPa microcapsules by spray drying. The stability of PSPa was evaluated by UV-Vis analysis. The microcapsules produced by MD-g-CA showed a spheres-like appearance with some cracks. Storage tests revealed that the degradation rate of PSPa embedded by MD-g-CA was much lower than that of free PSPa under the same condition. Thus, MD-g-CA could be used as an effective wall material to improve stability of anthocyanins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronary calcified lesions can exert serious effects on stent expansion. A calcium scoring system, based on optical coherence tomography (OCT), has been previously developed to identify relatively mild calcified lesions that would benefit from plaque modification procedures. Therefore, the present study aimed to establish a novel OCT-based scoring system to predict the stent expansion of moderate and severe calcified lesions. A total of 33 patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; 34 calcified lesions were observed using coronary angiography) were retrospectively included in the present study. Coronary angiography and OCT images were subsequently reviewed and analyzed. Furthermore, a calcium scoring system was developed based on the results of multivariate analysis before the optimal threshold for the prediction of stent underexpansion in patients with moderate and severe calcified lesions was determined. The mean age of the patients was 67±10 years. The present analysis demonstrated that the final post-PCI median stent expansion was 70.74%, where stent underexpansion (defined as stent expansion <80%) was observed in 23 lesions. The mean maximum calcium arc, length and thickness, which were assessed using OCT, were found to be 230˚, 25.10 mm and 1.18 mm, respectively. A multivariate logistic regression model demonstrated that age and the maximum calcium arc were independent predictors of stent underexpansion. A novel calcium scoring system was thereafter established using the following formula: (0.16 x age) + (0.03 x maximum calcium arc) according to the β-coefficients in the multivariate analysis, with the optimal cut-off value for the prediction of stent underexpansion being 16.87. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated that this novel scoring system yielded a larger area under the curve value compared with that from a previous study's scoring system. Therefore, in conclusion, since the calcium scoring system of the present study based on age and the maximum calcium arc obtained from OCT was specifically developed in the subjects with moderate and severe calcified lesions, it may be more accurate in predicting the risk of stent underexpansion in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the analysis of survival data for cancer patients, the problem of competing risks is often ignored. Competing risks have been recognized as a special case of time-to-event analysis. The conventional techniques for time-to-event analysis applied in the presence of competing risks often give biased or uninterpretable results.Methods: Using a prospectively collected administrative health care database in a single institution, we identified patients diagnosed with stage III or IV primary epithelial ovarian, tubal, and peritoneal cancers with minimal residual disease after primary cytoreductive surgery between 1995 and 2012. Here, we sought to evaluate whether intraperitoneal chemotherapy outperforms intravenous chemotherapy in the presence of competing risks. Unadjusted and multivariable subdistribution hazards models were applied to this database with two types of competing risks (cancer-specific mortality and other-cause mortality) coded to measure the relative effects of intraperitoneal chemotherapy.Results: A total of 1263 patients were recruited as the initial cohort. After propensity score matching, 381 patients in each arm entered into final competing risk analysis. Cumulative incidence estimates for cancer-specific mortality were statistically significantly lower (p = 0.017, Gray test) in patients receiving intraperitoneal chemotherapy (5-year estimates, 34.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 29.5-39.6%, and 10-year estimates, 60.7%; 95% CI, 52.2-68.0%) versus intravenous chemotherapy (5-year estimates, 41.3%; 95% CI, 36.2-46.3%, and 10-year estimates, 67.5%, 95% CI, 61.6-72.7%). In subdistribution hazards analysis, for cancer-specific mortality, intraperitoneal chemotherapy outperforms intravenous chemotherapy (Subdistribution hazard ratio, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.70-0.96) after correcting other covariates.Conclusions: In conclusion, results from this comparative effectiveness study provide supportive evidence for previous published randomized trials that intraperitoneal chemotherapy outperforms intravenous chemotherapy even eliminating the confounding of competing risks. We suggest that implementation of competing risk analysis should be highly considered for the investigation of cancer patients who have medium to long-term follow-up period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Present a new polymer-based (Locatite3525) microbottle resonator fabricated by UV light irradiation and thermal reflow technology. • By optimizing the concentration of the dip impregnation GO solution, the microbottle resonator exhibited high RH sensitivity and figure of merit of 0.161 nm/%RH and 2.01/%RH. • After high-temperature annealing at 300 °C, temperature sensitivity of the microbottle resonator decreased by an order of magnitude, which significantly reduces the cross-sensitivity between humidity and temperature. A polymer-based micro-bottle resonator coated with graphene oxide (GO) film is presented to improve the relative humidity (RH) sensing performance. Polymeric material Loctite 3525 was coated onto a quartz fiber and cured by using UV light irradiation and thermal reflow technology. A layer of GO film was prepared on the micro-bottle resonator by the dip impregnation method, which realized a high Q-factor (>104) transmission of energy by appropriately designing a wave-guide resonator coupling. By optimizing the concentration of GO dip impregnation solution, high sensitivity and figure of merit (FoM) of 0.161 nm /%RH and 2.01/%RH were achieved in the RH range of 22–81%. In addition, after high-temperature annealing at 300 °C, the temperature sensitivity decreased by an order of magnitude from 0.793 nm /°C to 0.068 nm /°C, which significantly reduces the cross-sensitivity between humidity and temperature. The proposed resonator has the advantages of being compact in size, low in cost, high sensitivity, and low in temperature crosstalk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Software evolution information measurement not only could be used to found software problems during software development and software maintenance, but also to predict software change tendency. However, traditional methods of measuring software evolution information mainly used file, directory or project as the basic unit to track the software change, which lacked the ability of measuring the software evolution in the higher level of abstraction, this paper proposed an approach, which was based on the component-based software configuration management model and took the component as the basic measure unit, to measure the software itself evolution (such as the latest evolution measurement, the earlier evolution measurement) and the evolution similarity between two software based on the attribute change. Also it designed and implement a prototype support software system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The diagnostic performance of 64-detector computed tomographic angiography (CTA) for detection of small intracranial aneurysms (SIAs) was evaluated. METHODS In this prospective study, 112 consecutive patients underwent 64-detector CTA before volume-rendering rotation digital subtraction angiography (VR-RDSA) or surgery. VR-RDSA or intraoperative findings or both were used as the gold standards. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive values (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV), as measures to detect or rule out SIAs, were determined by patient-based and aneurysm size-based evaluations. RESULTS The reference standard methods revealed 84 small aneurysms in 71 patients. The results of patient-based 64-detector CTA evaluation for SIAs were: accuracy, 98.2%; sensitivity, 98.6%; specificity, 97.6%; PPV, 98.6%; and NPV, 97.6%. The aneurysm-based evaluation results were: accuracy, 96.8%; sensitivity, 97.6%; specificity, 95.1%; PPV, 97.6%; and NPV, 95.1%. Two false-positive and two false-negative findings for aneurysms <3 mm in size occurred in the 64-detector CTA analysis. CONCLUSION The diagnostic performance of 64-detector CTA did not improve much compared with 16-detector CTA for detecting SIAs, especially for very small aneurysms. VR-RDSA is still necessary for patients with a history of subarachnoid hemorrhage if the CTA findings are negative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study phase slips in one-dimensional topological superconducting wires. These wires have been proposed as building blocks for topologically protected qubits in which the quantum information is distributed over the length of the device and thus is immune to local sources of decoherence. However, phase slips are nonlocal events that can result in decoherence. Phase slips in topological superconductors are peculiar for the reason that they occur in multiples of 4π (instead of 2π in conventional superconductors). We reestablish this fact via a beautiful analogy to the particle physics concept of dynamic symmetry breaking by explicitly finding a "hidden" zero mode in the fermion spectrum computed in the background of a 2π phase slip. Armed with the understanding of phase slips in topological superconductors, we propose a simple experimental setup with which the predictions can be tested by monitoring the tunneling rate of a superconducting flux quantum through a topological superconducting wire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A plant-esterase extracted from wheat flour and purified with a PEG1000/NaHPO aqueous two-phase system was characterized for its catalytic characteristics. The optimal condition for plant-esterase to catalyze 1-naphthyl acetate was at 30°C, pH 6.5. It kept stability at 20°C during 120 min and at pH 5.5 during 60 h. The effects of metal ions, chemical modification reagents and pesticides on plant-esterase activity were investigated. It was found that Ba and Pb at concentrations of 20 mM significantly inhibited the activity of plant-esterase while Mg, Ca and Fe at the same concentration enhanced the enzyme activity. Chemical modification reagents significantly influenced the activity of plant-esterase. Particularly, PMSF (4.5 mM) and N-bromosuccinimide (11 mM) inhibited by 5.40-19.87% of the enzyme activity. It is implied that serine and tryptophan are related to the enzyme activity. Plant-esterase were displayed concentration-dependent inhibition by dichlorvos, carbofuran and carbendazim (IC50 = 0.31-63.12 ppm). All these results indicated that catalytic efficiency of plant-esterase strongly depends on reaction conditions, activity effectors and amino acid residues at the active site. It makes meaningful guidance on further design of sensing material in monitoring pesticides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, existence and uniqueness of the generalized global solution and the classical global solution to the initial value problem for a class of fourth-order nonlinear wave equations are studied in the fractional order Sobolev space using the contraction mapping principle and the extension theorem. The sufficient conditions for the blow up of the solution to the initial value problem are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, a hydrodynamic model is developed to simulate the six degrees of freedom motions of the underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) including the umbilical cable effect. The corresponding hydrodynamic forces on the underwater vehicle are obtained by the planar motion mechanism test technique. With the relevant hydrodynamic coefficients, the 4th-order Runge–Kutta numerical method is then adopted to solve the equations of motions of the ROV and the configuration of the umbilical cable. The multi-step shooting method is also suggested to solve the two-end boundary-value problem on the umbilical cable with respect to a set of first-order ordinary differential equation system. All operation simulations for the ROV including forward moving, ascending, descending, sideward moving and turning motions can be analyzed, either with or without umbilical cable effect. The current effect is also taken into consideration. The present results reveal that the umbilical cable indeed significantly affects the motion of the ROV and should not be neglected in the simulation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose: Our study aims to develop a personal digital assistant (PDA)-based wireless application in medical information processing by using Bluetooth and IEEE 802.11b wireless standards and SyncML codes. Methods: In this study, an “integrated database access module” is used to provide a unified integrated access interface while consistency of wireless data transmission is achieved by using the standardized SyncML protocol. A prototype of the system has been developed, implemented, and tested for its mobility, usability, stability, and performance with questionnaire survey. Results: Response time for browsing/searching was usually less than 3s. The average time intervals needed for data transmissions were 68.6±8.5s for Bluetooth and 47.0±4.8s for 802.11b. The five-point Likert scale (from 1=least to 5=most) questionnaire survey of 30 medical professionals yielded a high degree of satisfaction with the system''s mobility (4.18±0.89), usability (4.69±0.90), stability (3.81±0.94), and performance (3.97±0.88). Conclusion: The results of our study suggested that PDA applications which exploit wireless communication are convenient and feasible in clinical practice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy is a neurodegenerative disorder with highly variable clinical presentation, including the childhood cerebral form, adult form adrenomyeloneuropathy, and Addison disease. The biochemical hallmark of the disorder is the accumulation of saturated very long chain fatty acids in all tissues and body fluids. This accumulation results from mutations in the ABCD1 gene localized to Xq28. Using polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing of deoxyribonucleic acid, we identified five novel mutations, including a microdeletion (1624 del ATC), a splicing site mutation (intervening sequence 1 [IVS1] -2a>c), and three missense mutations (1172 T>C, 1520 G>A, and 1754 T>C), from Taiwanese kindred with X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy. A polymorphism involving a single nucleotide deletion in the intervening sequence 5 (IVS5 -6 del c) of the ABCD1 gene, previously misattributed as a mutation in the Chinese population, was also identified. The dinucleotide deletion (1415 del AG) mutation common in Japan and Western countries was not found as frequently in the Chinese and Taiwanese populations. Instead, a higher mutation frequency was observed in exon 6 of the ABCD1 gene among Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwanese kindred with X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy, representing a potential mutational hotspot for future mutational screening among these Asian populations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Platelets are an ideal model for studying a rapid morphological change in response to various signal transduction systems. Morphological changes via the activation of integrin αIIbβ3 in platelets have been investigated intensively. In contrast, activation via integrin α6β1 is less well studied. Here, we provide the first biochemical evidence that integrins α6β1 and αIIbβ3 of platelets are associated with different membrane proteins. We also demonstrate that platelets activated by integrin α6β1 show dynamic change by actively forming filopodia and never fully spreading over a period of more than an hour. In addition, platelets activated by integrin α6β1 are different from those activated by integrin αIIbβ3 in terms of cell–substrate contact and in their distribution pattern of actin, Arp2/3 and various phosphotyrosine proteins. The morphological appearance of platelets produced through integrin α6β1 activation is highly dependent on PI3 kinase (PI3K) but less dependent on Src kinase. Suppression of PI3K activity in integrin α6β1 activated platelets induces an increase in Cdc42 activity and more filopodium formation. However, both Cdc42 and PI3K activity are higher in platelets activated by integrin α6β1 than in those activated by integrin αIIbβ3. Taken together, this study demonstrates that the signals induced by integrin α6β1 modulate at the level of PI3K and Cdc42 activity to allow platelets to actively form filopodia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue virus infection causes life-threatening hemorrhagic fever. Increasing evidence implies that dengue viral nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) exhibits a tendency to elicit potentially hazardous autoantibodies, which show a wide spectrum of specificity against extracellular matrix and platelet antigens. How NS1 elicits autoantibodies remains unclear. To address the hypothesis that NS1 and matrix proteins may have structural and functional similarity, cellmatrix and cell-NS1 interactions were evaluated using a cell-adhesion assay. The present study showed that dengue NS1 immobilized on coverslips resulted in more cell adhesion than did the control proteins. This cell adhesion was inhibited by peptides containing arginine-glycineaspartic acid (RGD), a motif important for integrin-mediated cell adhesion. In addition, antiNS1 antibodies blocked RGD-mediated cell adhesion. Although there is no RGD motif in the NS1 protein sequence, these data indicate that RGD structural mimicry exists within the NS1 antigen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract:From July 1, 1999, to June 30, 2000, the Formosan Blood Purification Society conducted a survey on the current status of therapeutic apheresis (TA) treatments in Taiwan. There were 13 centers with a total of 437 patients, 498 courses, and 2,086 procedures. The most common indication was for neurological disorders (58.4%), which included mainly myasthenia gravis (34.9%) and Guillain-Barré syndrome (18.2%). The other indications were hematological disorders (19.3%), hepatic-pancreatic disorders (12.3%), and rheumatic disorders (7.1%). Seventy-one percent of TA treatments were reported to be effective. Plasma exchange (PE) performed by either centrifugation or the filtration method constituted 55.4% of TA treatments, the double-filtration (DF) method constituted 39.3% of treatments, and cytapheresis constituted 5.3% of treatments. The most common machines used for TA were the Plasauto iQ, the KM 8800, the Hemonetics series, and the Fenwal CS-3000. The overall frequency of complications was 42.2% per course and 12.9% per procedure. Among them, fever, urticaria, and hypotension were the major complications. As compared with the trends of TA treatment in the world, PE still represents the major TA treatment in Taiwan, which should be replaced by DF or more selective adsorptive methods to reduce the PE-related adverse effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the radiographic outcome in fractures of the distal radius treated with closed reduction and external fixation in Taiwan. Improvement in radial height and inclination; Failure of external fixation to improve the volar tilt; Consequences of failed reduction of distal radial fractures.

Presents information on the 3rd World Congress of the International Society for Apheresis in Taipei, Taiwan from January 11 to 14, 2001. Theme of the convention; Highlights of the event; Details on workshops and scientific sessions.

Abstract: Hypotension is an uncommon complication of procedures involving extracorporeal circulation, including plasmapheresis. From November 1993 to March 1999, we treated 139 patients who underwent a total of 1,137 sessions of double filtration plasmapheresis (DFP). Hypotension was defined as a systolic blood pressure (BP) < 80 mm Hg or any decrease of systolic BP with systemic reactions. A total of 17 (1.5%) episodes of hypotension were documented in 15 patients during the study period. Hypotensive episodes occurred in 2.3% of patients with inflammatory neuropathy, 1.2% of patients with myasthenia gravis, and 1.2% of patients with all other medical diseases. Involvement of the autonomic nerve system (ANS) and a low baseline BP were associated with the occurrence of hypotension. Eight (47%) of 17 episodes were symptomatic and 2 were complicated with seizure. Patients with symptomatic hypotension had a higher level of systolic BP prior to DFP and a larger drop of systolic BP and pulse rate during hypotensive attacks compared to asymptomatic patients. Most hypotensive episodes were resolved briefly after intravenous infusion of saline within 30 min. Eight (47%) of the hypotensive episodes occurred during the first session of DFP treatment. Twelve (71%) of 17 episodes occurred during the last half period of treatment; 6 of them were noted during the terminating stage of DFP. In conclusion, in this series plasmapheresis-related hypotension occurred in 1.5% of DFP sessions and had a higher prevalence in patients with ANS instability and low BP. Extra caution in monitoring BP during DFP therapy is warranted in these vulnerable patients, especially during the termination phase of the first DFP session. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Plasmapheresis (PP) effectively removes autoantibodies in various autoimmune diseases. The use of PP in the treatment of myasthenia gravis (MG) has been widely accepted since the 1970s. The treatment protocol, however, has not been standardized. For the last 6 years, we collected a total of 94 MG patients, 38 males and 56 females aged 14–80 years, who received 175 courses of PP treatment for a total of 823 sessions. The methods we used were double filtration plasmapheresis (DF), immunoadsorption plasmapheresis (IA), and plasma exchange (PE). There were 167 courses of DF, 6 courses of IA, and 2 courses of PE. Each course of treatment consists of 4 to 5 sessions of apheresis. The processed volume of plasma is 1 calculated plasma volume. All patients tolerated PP well although 2.3% of them experienced hypotension. Our experiences are summarized as follows. Both DF and IA effectively ameliorate symptoms and signs of MG. IA removes acetylcholine receptor antibody more effectively than DF does, but clinical effects between these 2 methods are similar. A daily schedule seems more effective than an alternate daily schedule. The optimal number of PP sessions for each course is 4. The factors correlating with better clinical response are high MG score, nonthymoma patients, younger age at onset, and higher removal rate for immunoglobulin G. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunotherapy is currently the standard therapy for myasthenia gravis (MG) although some patients may be refractory to treatment. We describe the use of sequential plasmapheresis and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy for treatment of advanced MG in a patient refractory to all forms of medical treatment including corticosteroids, immunosuppressants, and intermittent plasmapheresis. The patient, a 37-year-old woman with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), had initially responded well to treatment with high dose corticosteroids and intermittent plasmapheresis, with the duration of response ranging from 3 to 4 months. However, after 18 months of therapy, the duration of response had gradually decreased to 1 month. She responded well to a 5 day trial of plasmapheresis followed by high dose IVIG, and the duration of response increased to 6 months. The SLE activity was relatively silent during each relapse. This report indicates the potential usefulness of sequential plasmapheresis and IVIG in the treatment of patients with refractory MG and SLE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We retrospectively analyzed 155 AML patients with DAT mutations at diagnosis who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) at complete remission. Of the 155 AML patients with DAT mutations at diagnosis, 59 (38.1%) patients had persisting DAT mutations pretransplantation. Compared to patients with pretransplant DAT transitions, patients with persisting DAT mutation burden were shown to be older (p = 0.004), and fewer patients had TET2 mutations at diagnosis (p = 0.033). Patients with persistent DAT mutation burden had shorter overall survival (OS) (3-year OS: 59.3% vs. 83.0%, p < 0.001) and disease-free survival (DFS) (3-year DFS: 56.1% vs. 83.0%, p < 0.001) with a higher cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) (24.6% vs. 17.4%, p = 0.002) than those with DAT transitions. Additionally, multivariate analysis confirmed that persisting DAT mutations were an independent adverse factor for relapse, OS, and DFS. Collectively, persisting DAT mutations prior to allo-HSCT at complete remission for AML correlated with negative outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study focuses on the glucose concentrations by an U-shaped spiral fiber optical probes device. In this article, we used zero-knotted and double-knotted U-shaped spiral fiber optical probes with 0.6 mm bending radius for measuring glucose solutions was investigated. The fiber optical probe is worked on the different concentrations of the glucose solution and obtain the effective refractive index changes. The principle theory underlying the probe is the whispering gallery mode (WGM). The experimental results show that the double-knotted transmission loss sensitivity can achieve 0.061 dB/% and the highest linearity was 0.99 at the same time. The indicated that the double-knotted U-shaped spiral optical fiber probe with small radius has good the resolution of glucose concentration measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To discover the function of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in ASXL1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. Methods: We analyzed the prognostic value of ASXL1 mutations and explored the role of allo-HSCT in 581 AML patients. Results: According to the definition of intermediate- and adverse-risk AML groups in the European Leukemia Net (ELN), ASXL1-mutated patients had shorter OS and DFS than ASXL1-wild-type patients in the intermediate- and adverse-risk AML groups (3-year OS: 47.5% vs. 60.8%, P<0.001; 3-year DFS: 28.5% vs. 48.9%, P<0.001). Among the cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (CN-AML), differences were found in both OS (47.4% vs.65.2%, P<0.001) and DFS (21.0% vs. 52.1%, P<0.001) between ASXL1-mutated patients and ASXL1 wild-type patients. In the ASXL1-mutated AML cohort, the patients received allo-HSCT had longer 3-year OS (P=0.0005) and 3-year DFS (P<0.0001) than those who did not receive allo-HSCT. Multivariate analysis revealed that ASXL1 mutation was an independent prognostic factor for OS (HR 2.248, 95% CI 1.155-4.375, P=0.017), and allo-HSCT had a positive impact on OS (HR 7.568, 95% CI 3.597-15.92, P<0.001) and DFS (HR 2.611, 95% CI 1.688-4.039, P<0.001) in ASXL1-mutated patients. Conclusion: The results indicate that the presence of ASXL1 mutations is a factor predictive of poor prognosis in AML patients and allo-HSCT could improve the survival of AML patients with ASXL1 mutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has been spreading globally for four years, yet specific drugs that effectively suppress the virus remain elusive. Furthermore, the emergence of complications associated with COVID-19 presents significant challenges, making the development of therapeutics for COVID-19 and its complications an urgent task. However, traditional drug development processes are time-consuming. Drug repurposing, which involves identifying new therapeutic applications for existing drugs, presents a viable alternative. In this study, we construct a knowledge graph by retrieving information on genes, drugs, and diseases from databases such as DRUGBANK and GNBR. Next, we employ the TransR knowledge representation learning approach to embed entities and relationships into the knowledge graph. Subsequently, we train the knowledge graph using a graph neural network model based on TransR scoring. This trained knowledge graph is then utilized to predict drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 and its complications. Based on experimental results, we have identified 15 drugs out of the top 30 with the highest success rates associated with treating COVID-19 and its complications. Notably, out of these 15 drugs, 10 specifically aimed at treating COVID-19, such as Torcetrapib and Tocopherol, has not been previously identified in the knowledge graph. This finding highlights the potential of our model in aiding healthcare professionals in drug development and research related to this disease. • We proposed a novel TransR and GNN integration, offering insights into COVID-19 drug development and complication discovery. • We utilized the TransR model to concentrate on uncovering implicit semantics within COVID-19 data. • 10 out of 15 predicted COVID-19 drugs, like Torcetrapib and Tocopherol, were not identified in the knowledge graph before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) is a life-threatening complication after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and is primarily treated with steroids. However, there is no standard treatment for steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease (SR-aGVHD). Although mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have proven effective for SR-aGVHD, few reports have focused on human umbilical cord blood-derived MSCs (hUCB-MSCs). Here, we report on the efficiency of hUCB-MSCs as the salvage therapy for SR-aGVHD in 54 patients. The overall response rate (ORR) reached 59.3% (32/54) 28 days later. Twenty-four patients achieved complete remission (CR), and 8 achieved partial remission (PR). The median follow-up time after the initiation of hUCB-MSC treatment was 19.3 (0.6–59.0) months. The probability of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) was 60.9% (47.4–74.4%, 95% CI) and 58.8% (45.3–72.3%, 95% CI), respectively, while that of GVHD/relapse-free survival (GRFS) was only 30.8% (17.86–43.74%, 95% CI). Multivariate analysis revealed that response on Day 28 was an independent favorable prognostic factor (OS, P < 0.001; PFS, P < 0.001; GRFS, P = 0.001), but an age of ≥ 18 years suggested an unfavorable long-term prognosis (OS, P < 0.001; PFS, P < 0.001; GRFS, P = 0.003). In addition, liver involvement was adversely associated with PFS (P = 0.021) and GRFS (P = 0.009). An infused MNC ≥ 8.66 × 108/kg was also detrimental to GRFS (P = 0.031). Collectively, our results support hUCB-MSCs as an effective treatment for SR-aGVHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The reaction of potassium pyridyl amido ligand {L = [N(R)(2-C5H3N-6-Me)]–, R = CH2But} with YbI2(thf)2 afforded the linear polymeric complex [K0.5(L)3YbiiK0.5]n, which was characterized by X-ray structure analysis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

High-performance measurement and removal of copper ions is highly desirable in both clinical and environmental applications. Herein, an efficient, reliable and recyclable functional material was prepared to adsorb and determine Cu 2+ using N -[3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl] ethylenediamine modified mesoporous hollow shells (HMS-NHs). By stepwise coating with mesoporous silica at highly mono-dispersed PS spheres, removal of template materials, and modification with functional diamine groups, higher absorption capacity of about 138.58 mg/g was obtained. After optimization of PS template size, thickness of SiO 2 layers, pore size of the shell, and etc, as-prepared HMS-NHs gave clear colorimetric response after color development using cupron solution. Selectively measure Cu 2+ in a wide concentration ranges from 0.025 to 49 μΜ was observed with a detection limit around 0.025 μΜ (3δ). More importantly, the functional absorbent can be regenerated by treatment with hydrochloric acid and maintains high efficiency upon repeated use for at least 10 times. Extensive investigation demonstrated that the HMS-NHs can serve as not only high-performance absorption materials but also sensitive sensor for Cu 2+ , thus offering a good alternative for potential removal and detection of copper ions in real applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we developed a novel photon sieve consisting of a large number of precisely positioned holes distributed according to an underlying Fresnel zone plate (FZP) geometry, while the holes at transparent and opaque circular rings of the FZP have a π phase shift. Compared to a conventional photon sieve which we call an amplitude-photon sieve (PS), the binary photon sieve has a transmission two times more amplitude-PS and a diffractive efficiency approximately four times than amplitude-PS. A 70-mm diameter, f/10 binary photon sieve has been fabricated for operation at visible light. Details of design, fabrication, and performance of the binary photon sieve are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invites participants to the Third World Congress of the International Society for Apheresis in Taipei, Taiwan. History of the foundation of the organization; Application of therapeutic apheresis to refractory diseases; Details of the program.

A simple, cheap and effective functional paper has been fabricated to absorb and detect Cu 2+ with good sensitivity and selectivity. Using commercial cellulose filter papers as substrate, Magneli phase structure of Ti 6 O 11 was coated at the surface to serve as intermediate linker to modify N-[3-(Trimethoxysilyl) propyl] ethylenediamine for Cu 2+ binding. Under optimized conditions, i.e. at 50 °C with electromagnetic stirring, the functional paper can adsorb Cu 2+ with high performance and give clear color response using cupron as chromogenic agent. The concentration-dependent colorimetric response (Δ B value) matches well with the exponential linear curve under dynamic adsorption conditions, where the linear range was from 33.6 nM to 39.8 μM and the detection limit was measured to be about 33.6 nM. Measurement of a group of possible interfering ions and spiked real water samples demonstrated the good selectivity of the proposed paper. Furthermore, the performance can be further improved using microwave irradiation, where a lower detection limit of 16.8 nM was achieved within a wider linear range from 16.2 nM to 0.98 mM. The reaction time can be shortened to 20 min to reach final equilibrium and the saturated adsorption amount of Cu 2+ for a single piece of paper (diameter = 1.0 cm) was as high as 4.5169 μg/cm 2 . The proposed functional papers would offer an effective alternative for potential adsorption and determination of copper ions in real applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that AITC can effectively control pathogenic fungi, which cause fruits and vegetables decay and rotting during storage. However, because of its strong irritant, AITC has not been conveniently used in fruits and vegetables preservation. Microencapsulation techniques may solve this problem. Up to 2% (w/v) gelatin and 2% (w/v) gum arabic (as wall material and materials), as well as AITC (as core material) were prepared used to form microcapsules with a ratio of 1:2 (the core material: to wall material). On the basis of the microcapsule option conditions, the AITC microcapsule encapsulation efficiency is above 90%, which can effectively control AITC release decrease irritant. Compared with control group, the storage time of the tomato of AITC microcapsule preservation was prolonged significantly, and the sensory quality of the tomato was better. Thus, the AITC microcapsule preservation has broad application prospects and development value prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myasthenia gravis (MG), an acquired autoimmune-related neuromuscular disorder that causes muscle weakness, presents with varying severity, including myasthenic crisis (MC). Although MC can cause significant morbidity and mortality, specialized neuro-intensive care can produce a good long-term prognosis. Considering the outcomes of MG during hospitalization, it is critical to conduct risk assessments to predict the need for intensive care. Evidence and valid tools for the screening of critical patients with MG are lacking. We used three machine learning-based decision tree algorithms, including a classification and regression tree, C4.5, and C5.0, for predicting intensive care unit (ICU) admission of patients with MG. We included 228 MG patients admitted between 2015 and 2018. Among them, 88.2% were anti-acetylcholine receptors antibody positive and 4.7% were anti-muscle-specific kinase antibody positive. Twenty clinical variables were used as predictive variables. The C5.0 decision tree outperformed the other two decision tree and logistic regression models. The decision rules constructed by the best C5.0 model showed that the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America clinical classification at admission, thymoma history, azathioprine treatment history, disease duration, sex, and onset age were significant risk factors for the development of decision rules for ICU admission prediction. The developed machine learning-based decision tree can be a supportive tool for alerting clinicians regarding patients with MG who require intensive care, thereby improving the quality of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sarcopenia and obesity can negatively impact quality of life and cause chronic fragility, and are associated with neuromuscular diseases, including myasthenia gravis (MG). The long-term consequences of body composition changes in chronic MG remain unknown; we therefore evaluated changes in body composition, including sarcopenia, obesity, lean body mass, and the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity in patients. In this cross-sectional study, 35 patients with MG (mean age: 56.1 years) and 175 matched controls were enrolled. Body fat mass and skeletal muscle mass were measured using whole body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Patients with MG exhibited a higher prevalence of obesity and higher android adiposity and total body fat percentage than those of controls. Although the prevalence of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity did not increase with age, there was a decrease in arm and android muscle mass in patients with MG compared with controls. Lower muscle mass percentages were correlated with increased age and MG severity, but not with corticosteroid use. Thus, MG is associated with increased risk for obesity and decreased muscle mass with aging, regardless of corticosteroid use. Therefore, accurate diagnosis of body composition changes in MG could facilitate the application of appropriate therapies to promote health, improve quality of life, and prevent fragility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]