Search

Silylated MXene/BC aerogels demonstrate great potential for practical applications, considering the simultaneous realization of high electrical conductivity, superior hydrophobicity, and excellent reversible compressibility.

A near field communication (NFC)-connected coupler using inductive power transfer (IPT)-capacitive power transfer (CPT)-combined wireless charging is proposed for metal-cover smartphone applications. To mitigate eddy current loss in the metal cover, CPT is introduced. Compared with traditional CPT, wireless power transfer through a metal cover is realized, and cost and valuable space inside the smartphone are saved. To achieve CPT through a metal cover, the metal cover itself is separated by a cross slot and utilized as receiving plates. To reduce the voltage across the metal cover within a safety range, IPT is applied. The already-existing NFC antenna is first used as the receiving coil for IPT and also performs as the compensated inductance for CPT. By connecting one of its feed lines to the metal cover, only a parallel external capacitor is needed to construct the receiver of the proposed coupler because the metal cover and NFC antenna are components that already exist inside the smartphone, which greatly saves space inside the smartphone and cost for the proposed coupler. Prototypes of the proposed NFC-connected coupler with and without actual smartphone have been built. The wireless power transfer through metal cover by IPT and CPT has been validated via experiment.

A near-field communication capacitive power transfer (NFC-CPT)-combined coupler with a series-none compensation topology is proposed for metal-cover smartphone applications. To achieve capacitive power transfer through metal cover, the metal cover itself is used as the receiving metal plates. To realize NFC through metal cover, the cross slot including a slim horizontal slot and a rectangular slot is embedded on the metal cover, which mitigates the eddy current loss and increases the inductive coupling for the NFC antenna. Besides, the cross slot divides the metal cover into two separate metal plates, which is necessary for capacitive power transfer. Considering the space limitation and safety requirement, no compensation components are integrated inside the smartphone and only a series inductance is integrated on the transmitter side. A prototype of the proposed NFC-CPT-combined coupler has been built. The wireless power transfer and NFC through metal cover have been validated through experiment. The experimental results show that the prototype achieves 5-W output power with a 93.5% circuit efficiency at 6.78 MHz, and the detection range of the NFC antenna is 61 mm.

Atherosclerosis is a chronic disease of arteries, which constitutes the pathological basis of a series of cardiovascular diseases. The inflammatory response of vascular endothelial cells mediated by oxidized low density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) is the early behavior and main signal of atherosclerosis. In this study, the damage model of vascular endothelial cells treated with ox-LDL was used to reproduce the damage process of vascular endothelial cells in the process of atherosclerosis. Cell viability was detected by CCK-8. The release levels of reactive oxygen species, nitric oxide, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were detected by commercial kits. EdU cell proliferation assay was used to detect cell proliferation, real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR and Western blot were used to detect the expression level of related genes. The results showed we successfully constructed a vascular endothelial injury model by incubating vascular endothelial cells with gradient concentrations of ox-LDL. The incubation of safflor yellow A (SYA) partially restored the loss of viability of vascular endothelial cells mediated by ox-LDL, and SYA could promote the proliferation of injured vascular endothelial cells. In addition, SYA may transmit related signals through the AMPK pathway to protect vascular endothelial cells from ox-LDL-mediated damage. All these results provide a further understanding of the occurrence and development of atherosclerosis, provide a theoretical basis for the use of SYA-related drugs in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, and provide a reference paradigm for studying the pharmacology, toxicology, and mechanism of action of key active substances in TCM.

A metal-rim-connected inductive coupler with series-none compensation topology is proposed for smartwatch applications. By cross-connecting the receiving coil to the metal rim with a 1 mm slot, the direction of the induced current on the metal rim is transformed to be the same as the current flowing on the receiving coil, leading to a strong magnetic coupling between the transmitting coil and receiving coil. Considering the space limitation in the smartwatch, non-compensation components are needed inside the smartwatch and only a series capacitance is integrated on the transmitter side. A prototype of the proposed inductive coupler has been built and the wireless power transfer through metal rim has been validated via experiment. The experimental results show that the prototype achieves 5 W output power with 87.4% coil-to-coil efficiency.

A three-coil wireless charging system is proposed for full metal-cover smartphone applications. Considering the space limitation and other antennas in the smartphone, the receiver coil embedded in the smartphone is designed to be miniaturized as 16 mm × 65 mm. By integrating a series capacitance at the end of the 2-mm width narrow horizontal slot loading on the metal cover, the metal cover is converted to a relay coil of the three-coil system and wireless power transfer (WPT) through the metal cover is thus achieved. A prototype of the proposed three-coil system has been built and WPT through metal cover has been validated via experiment. The experimental results show that the prototype achieves 5 W output power with 71% coil-to-coil efficiency.

Tumor angiogenesis is an important biological process involved in the proliferation and migration of endothelial cells, regulated by Ang/Tie-2 signaling pathways, which is essential for tumor growth and metastasis. Therefore, blocking Ang/Tie-2 signaling pathways is a promising anti-angiogenic strategy for tumor treatment. 2,5-Diketopiperazines (DKPs) are a kind of bioactive compounds derived from marine fungi and they present a wide spectrum of pharmacological properties, particularly in the field of cancer treatment. Herein, a DKP marine natural product, Cryptoechinuline D (Cry D) was applied to structural modification and twelve derivatives were synthesized. Among which, compound 5 showed significant inhibitory activity against HUVECs with an IC

Background. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been found to be effective in irritable bowel syndrome with predominant diarrhea (IBS-D). We conducted this study to determine the impact of a low FODMAP diet (LFD) on the gut microbiota and the efficacy of FMT in the treatment of IBS-D. Methods. A retrospective analysis of a single-arm open-label prospective study was conducted to investigate the impact of FMT alone ( n = 40 ) and FMT+LFD ( n = 40 ) in refractory IBS-D. The IBS-quality of life (QOL), IBS-severity scoring system (SSS), gastrointestinal symptom rating scale (GSRS), Hamilton anxiety scale (HAMA), and Hamilton depression scale (HAMD) were used to evaluate the efficacy, and partial 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing was used to profile the microbiota. Results. The response rates were higher in the FMT+LFD group than in the FMT group (1 mo, 3 mo, 6 mo: 70.0% vs. 55.0%, 67.5% vs. 57.5%, 62.5% vs. 27.5%, respectively). The FMT+LFD group showed significantly better improvement in IBS-QOL at 1, 3, and 6 months; IBS-SSS at 6 months; and GSRS at 1 month compared to FMT alone. Changes in HAMA and HAMD were similar in the two groups. The LFD significantly upregulated the FMT-induced microbial diversity (OTUs: 666 vs. 574, Adonis: P = 0.02 ) and significantly strengthened the upregulation of Bacteroides, Alistipes, and Ruminococcaceae_UCG-002 and the downregulation of Bifidobacterium. Conclusion. An LFD enhanced the efficacy of FMT, increased the gut microbial diversity after FMT, and strengthened the inhibitory effect of FMT on conditional pathogens.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most fatal malignancies with few effective treatment options all around the world. The efficacy of the arisen immune checkpoint therapy is still uncertain due to local immunosuppression. In order to further overcome T cell suppression in the tumor immune microenvironment while promoting the immune response of antigen-presenting cells, a biointerfacing antagonizing T-cell inhibitory nanoparticles (BAT NPs) has been developed by cloaking platelet membrane on the PLGA microsphere surface to load T-cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain-3 antibodies (anti-TIM-3) as well as PD-L1. Notably, in addition to activating the proliferation and migration of T cells, the contained anti-TIM-3 can cooperate with PD-L1 checkpoint blockade to exert therapeutic effects. Furthermore, the components of BAT NPs like anti-TIM-3 and platelet can act together for collagen deposition in tumor starvation treatment. Thus, a novel targeting therapeutic strategy that can effectively reverse the immune-inhibiting microenvironment is effectively applied to PD-L1 checkpoint combination therapy. Such therapeutic effect can subsequently activate the effector T lymphocytes and antigen presentation of dendritic cells as well as the polarization of M1-type macrophages. Last, the study presented the synergistic effect of immune therapeutic adjuvants and BAT NPs components in achieving tumor inhibition and prolonging tumor-burden survival.

Background Autophagy is an important regulatory process to coordinate the homeostasis of intestinal epithelial cells under stress and mediate pathogen clearance. Fecal microbiota transplantation(FMT) is an important treatment for ulcerative colitis. In this study, we constructed autophagy activated/inhibited dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) induced colitis mice and observed whether FTM improve experimental colitis by regulating autophagy. Methods Thirty male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into five groups: healthy control group (Control), DSS induced colitis group (DSS), autophagy activated colitis group (DSS+RAPA), autophagy inhibited colitis group (DSS+CQ) and autophagy inhibited and FMT intervention group (DSS+CQ+FMT). 3% DSS drinking water was used to induce colitis, and the following interventions were given daily for seven days: Control group and DSS group were administered with PBS by gavage and intraperitoneal injection, DSS+RAPA group were administered with PBS by gavage and rapamycin (4mg/kg) by intraperitoneal injection, DSS+CQ group were administered with hydroxychloroquine (40mg/kg) by gavage and PBS by intraperitoneal injection, DSS+CQ+FMT group were administered with hydroxychloroquine (40mg/kg) and PBS by intraperitoneal injection, and eight hours later administered FMT from healthy mice (100µL/10g) by gavage. Disease activity index (DAI) were monitored daily. On the eighth day, colonic tissues were resected after the mice were euthanized. The colon length was recorded, and some tissues were collected for histopathologic evaluation, while some tissues for observing autophagy expression (P62, LC3B and TFEB) by PCR Results DAI (P=0.0128), colon length (P=0.043), and colon histopathologic score (P=0.0392) of colitis mice were effectively improved by autophagy activation (rapamycin), while DAI (P=0.4178), colon length (P=0.0393) and colon histopathologic score (P=0.765) were worsened markedly by autophagy inhibition (hydroxychloroquine); After autophagy inhibition, the following indexes of colitis were still significantly improved by FMT: DAI (P=0.0205), colon length (P=0.0008) and colon histopathologic score (P=0.0015)(IDDF2021-ABS-0212 Figure 1A. Fecal microbiota transplantation ameliorated experimental colitis and up-regulated autophagy expression, IDDF2021-ABS-0212 Figure 1B. Fecal microbiota transplantation ameliorated experimental colitis and up-regulated autophagy expression, IDDF2021-ABS-0212 Figure 1C. Fecal microbiota transplantation ameliorated experimental colitis and up-regulated autophagy expression, IDDF2021-ABS-0212 Figure 1D. Fecal microbiota transplantation ameliorated experimental colitis and up-regulated autophagy expression), and the expression of the following autophagy genes were changed: P62 was significantly down-regulated (P=0.006), while LC3B and TFEB were significantly increased (P=0.0033; P=0.0039)(IDDF2021-ABS-0212 Figure 1E. Fecal microbiota transplantation ameliorated experimental colitis and up-regulated autophagy expression). Conclusions Autophagy activation may be one of the mechanisms by which FMT improves DSS induced experimental colitis.

A two-dimensionally (2-D) scanning multibeam array with planar structure and low sidelobe level (SLL) is realized in this paper. It is for the first time that the SLL of 2-D scanning multibeam array is properly addressed. To suppress the SLL, a $4 \times 16$ beam-forming network (BFN) is proposed in this paper. Different from the existing schemes, such BFN can provide tapered illuminations in two orthogonal directions and thus can be applied to realize low-SLL 2-D scanning beams. The proposed $4 \times 16$ BFN is formed by interconnecting two sets of sub-BFNs, each of which is stacked by several $2 \times 4$ Butler matrices (BMs). Like other 2-D scanning schemes, the preliminary $4 \times 16$ BFN is of 3-D topology so that it is challenging to be integrated into planar substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) structure. Facing this problem, some modifications of the proposed topology are conducted. Operation principle, simulation, and experiment of a planar, low-SLL 2-D scanning multibeam array operating at 28 GHz are illustrated, which can help to demonstrate its feasibility for millimeter-wave applications.

This letter proposes a novel capacitive coupler array with free-positioning feature for mobile tablet applications. The capacitive coupler consists of three printed circuit boards, two of which constitute the transmitter and the third one is the receiver. The coupler is vertically arranged to make the charging system compact and feasible for mobile tablet applications. By applying a repetitive structure on the transmitter side and properly designing the receiver, free-positioning capacitive charging is realized and the coil-to-coil charging efficiency is not affected by the variation of the receiver position. Only two series inductances are utilized for compensation purposes, which makes the system more compact and easy to be fabricated. This proposed capacitive coupler is studied via finite-element analysis and verified by the experimental results at 1, 2.17, and 3.45 MHz.

A useful method to transform the smartphone metal cover into an antenna booster for near-field communication (NFC) antenna installed in a full metal cover (FMC) smartphone is proposed. In this proposed work, by properly embedding a series capacitor into a meticulously selected location within the metal cover, strong coupling between the NFC antenna coil and the metal cover will be generated, which mitigates the reverse eddy current induced on the metal cover. Because of that, the performance of the NFC antenna (located below a narrow horizontal slot-loaded metal cover) is substantially improved, as compared to a reference stand-alone NFC antenna in free-space conditions. To verify this proposed methodology, an ordinary single-turn coil reference NFC antenna 1 (ref 1) and a 3-turn coil reference NFC antenna 2 (ref 2) are initially designed via simulation, followed by the conducting of several typical experiments on these two reference antennas. Finally, the two reference prototype NFC antennas that have utilized this method for a single horizontal slot-loaded FMC are also certified by the Europay, MasterCard, and Visa (EMV) test.

Wind speed forecasting is important for high-efficiency utilisation of wind energy and management of grid-connected power systems. Due to the noise, instability and irregularity of atmosphere system, the current models based on raw historical data have encountered many problems. In this study, a deep novel feature extraction approach is developed based on stacked denoising autoencoders and batch normalisation. Then the deep features extracted from raw historical data are fed to long short-term memory (LSTM) neural networks for prediction. Meanwhile, density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise is employed to process the numerical weather prediction data. By picking out the abnormal samples, the representative training samples are selected to improve the efficiency of the model. For illustration and verification purposes, the proposed model is used to predict the wind speed of Wind Atlas for South Africa (WASA). Empirical results show that deep feature extraction can improve the forecasting accuracy of LSTM 49% than feature selection, indicating that proper feature extraction is crucial to wind speed forecasting. And the proposed model outperforms other benchmark methods at least 17%. Hence, the proposed model is promising for wind speed forecasting.

Graphene-aluminum (Gr/Al) composite laminated by aluminum (Al) and graphene sheets alternately has excellent mechanical properties thanks to the high strength, high Young’s modulus and the two-dimensional atomic structure of graphene. In this study, the uniaxial tensile properties of Gr/Al nano-laminated composite are studied by molecular dynamics (MD) method. It is found that the thickness of Al layer has a significant effect on the tensile strength and Yang’s modulus of the Gr/Al composite. Composite with a smaller thickness of Al layer shows better properties. Graphene not only block propagation of dislocations, but bear most of the loads, resulting in higher Young's modulus, tensile strength and failure strain of the composites than those of pure Al. The simulation of temperature-effect shows that the Gr/Al composite is difficult to arise plastic deformation at low temperature, which lead to a higher strength and modulus of the composite. In addition, the effect of graphene stacking on the properties of composites is investigated. Through tensile tests at the vertical and parallel interfaces, it is found that graphene stacking may lead to a reduced performance of the composite.

Considering the actual demand of crude oil price forecasting, a novel model based on ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) and long short-term memory (LSTM) is proposed. In practical work, the model trained by historical data will be used in later data. Then the forecasting models based on EEMD need re-execute EEMD to update decomposition results of price series after getting new data. In this process, the decomposition results of same period will not stay entirely identical, and even the number of decomposition results could change Unfortunately, in this case the traditional decomposition-ensemble models trained by historical data break down. To overcome this disadvantage, a method to select same number of proper inputs in different situations of decomposition results is developed. And for extracting feature from selected components more adequately, LSTM is introduced as forecasting method to predict price movement directly. For illustration and verification purposes, the proposed model is used to predict the crude oil spot price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI). Empirical results demonstrate that the proposed model still work well when the number of decomposition results varies, thus is promising for forecasting crude oil price.

To compare the clinical efficiency of two types of T-shaped coronectomy applied in extraction of impacted mandibular third molars. METHODS：One hundred and twenty patients meeting with the criteria were randomly divided into 2 groups. Two types of T-shaped coronectomy were applied in extraction of impacted mandibular third molars. Indexes including operation time, intraoperative anxiety, postoperative pain and limitation of mouth opening were recorded and analyzed with SPSS 22.0 software package.Patients with transverse method experienced more time in operation [(17.41±3.72) vs (15.22±2.53) min], with less intraoperative anxiety (P0.05). There was no significant difference in postoperative pain and limitation of mouth opening(P0.05) between two methods.Transverse T-shaped method can alleviate intraoperative anxiety, while longitudinal method is more conducive to shortening operation time.

2D Bi2O2Se has recently attracted widespread research interest due to its high electron mobility and good air stability with tunable bandgap. However, the direct and controllable growth of large-size, high-quality ultrathin Bi2O2Se with tunable electronic properties remains a great challenge. Here, an organic ion template-guided solution growth method, is developed using water as a solvent to efficiently obtain high-quality 2D Bi2O2Se. Significantly, the thicknesses and morphologies of 2D Bi2OxSe with various oxygen deficiencies; are also achieved. Optical spectroscopic results indicate that oxygen defects can dramatically tune the electronic properties of Bi2O2Se, such as work function, band gap, and energy-band positions. As a result, the optimized Bi2O2Se devices exhibit a high photoresponsivity of 842.91 A W−1, photo-detectivity of 8.18 × 1012 Jones under 532 nm laser, and electron mobility of 334.7 cm2 V−1 s−1. This work proposes a new green solution method to synthesize large-sized, high-quality Bi2O2Se with tunable electronic structures that can be extended for various applications and provides a new possibility of transfer-free large-scale device manufacturing. National Research Foundation (NRF) The work was supported by Fund of National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Advanced Composites in Special Environments (Grant No. 6142905192507), Shenzhen Science and Technology Plan Supported Project (Grant Nos. GXWD20201230155427003-20200821232246001, JCYJ20170413105844696). Z.L. acknowledges the financial support from Singapore National Research Foundation Competitive Research Program (Grant No. NRF-CRP22-2019-0007).

In this study, the theory of serum pharmacochemistry of traditional Chinese medicine was used to analyze the constituents absorbed into serum after oral administration of Wikstroemia indica (L.) C. A. Mey. by ultra high performance liquid chromatography tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS). The micro-liquid dilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of the serum containing Wikstroemia indica. The bivariate correlation analysis method was used to study the spectral-efficiency relationship between the drug-containing serum and the antibacterial activity, and find the main antibacterial active components in serum containing Wikstroemia indica. A total of 26 serum migration components were identified or speculated in the samples, including 11 prototype components and 15 metabolites. Of which, syringic acid, caffeic acid, dihydrocaffeic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, hippuric acid, 3-hydroxy-3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)propanoic acid, triumbelletin, (7R)-3-hydroxy-1-methyl-2-oxo-7-(prop-1-en-2-yl)-2,3,5,6,7,8- hexahydroazulene-4- carbaldehyde and (1S,3aS,8aS)-1,3,5-trihydroxy-1,4-dimethyl-7-(propan-2- ylidene) octahydroazulen-6(1H)-one were bacteriostatic active substances. It is the first time to study the constituents in serum containing Wikstroemia indica and reveal its antibacterial pharmacodyamic material basis. The above works provide scientific reference for the in-depth study of Wikstroemia indica.

A compact two-dimensional (2-D) scanning multibeam array operating at 28 GHz in a substrate integrated waveguide technology is proposed, designed, simulated, and fabricated in this letter. To achieve better compactness, three-way couplers, instead of traditional Butler matrices, are applied here to form 2-D scanning beam-forming network. By doing so, the occupied area can be significantly reduced. After joining to the radiation portion, a 2-D scanning multibeam array allows for 3 × 3 beam steering in two orthogonal planes is fabricated and measured to test whether the measured results agree well with the simulation.

A simple multibeam antenna fed by a modified horn beam-forming network (BFN) is realized in substrate integrated waveguide technology. Compared with Rotman lens fed multibeam antenna, such an antenna has the merits of a simple architecture and design process. The modified horn BFN applied here is developed from a traditional horn BFN by adding multiple lateral feeds to perform the beam scanning property. The operation principle, design method, and performance of the multibeam antenna are illustrated sequentially. Fabrication and measurement are conducted to test the consistency between simulation and experiment.

A near-field communication (NFC) dual-loop antenna with a miniaturized size of $15\,\, \text {mm} \times 25 \,\,\text {mm}$ is initially proposed for full metal-cover smartphone applications. To achieve a small clearance zone on the metal cover, a small rectangular slot of size $8 \,\,\text {mm} \times 16\,\, \text {mm}$ is loaded into the metal cover. To allow good inductive coupling, the NFC antenna is only 0.37 mm beneath the center of the rectangular slot. Because of that, the direction of the eddy current induced on the metal cover will be the same as the dual-loop NFC antenna. It is noteworthy that the prototype NFC antenna integrated with a single rectangular slot loaded full metal cover was certified by the Europay, MasterCard, and Visa test.

This paper proposes a near-field communication (NFC) antenna solution for metal-cover smartphone applications. In this NFC antenna solution, a narrow slot is initially loaded into the metal cover, and the position of this slot can be altered (with flexibility) according to the design of the smartphone’s external appearance. Next, an unconventional six-turn coil (with a six-sided irregular hexagonal shape) is designed that has a nonuniform linewidth and a nonuniform line gap between two lines, and it is partially loaded with a rectangular ferrite composite. In this design, an enhanced magnetic line of forces can be realized in certain specific locations, and an excellent inductively coupled near-field receiver is achieved. Notably, this proposed NFC antenna can pass the tests required by NFC forum certification, and its performances are comparable with the traditional NFC antenna that has nonmetallic cover.

This letter proposes a near-field communication (NFC) antenna for smartphones with a metal cover that includes an embedded narrow slot, therein splitting the metal cover into upper and lower sections. The proposed NFC antenna is a simple loop structure that is formed by incorporating a three-dimensional coupling strip with the upper edge of the metal cover in the lower section. Because this antenna structure can substantially reduce the eddy current, excellent inductive coupling can be achieved through the clearance zone of the narrow slot. The proposed NFC antenna is relatively thin and achieves excellent performance in the read/write mode. Furthermore, in the card emulation mode verified by Europay, MasterCard, and Visa test, it even surpasses the performance of certain other NFC antennas in smartphones with non-metal covers.

In this study,a method using ultra performance liquid chromatography tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry( UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) was established to identify complicated chemical constituents of Wikstroemia indica. Chromatographic separation was performed on an AcclaimTMRSLC 120-C18 column( 2. 1 mm×100 mm,2. 2 μm) using gradient elution with 0. 2% ammonium formate buffer salt solution( A)-0. 2% ammonium formate buffer salt solution methanol( B) as mobile phase. The column temperature was maintained at 30 ℃. The analytes were determined by positive and negative ion modes with electro-spray ionization source. A total of 52 compounds( including eleven coumarins,thirteen flavonoids,ten lignans,two amides,four phenolic acids,six sesquiterpenes and six other compounds) were identified or tentatively characterized from the water extract of W. indica by comparing their retention times and MS spectra with those of authentic standards or literature datas. Three compounds were found for the first time from W.indica namely isomer of indicanone,β-hydroxypropiovanillone and epiprocurcumenol. Furthermore,the fragmentation rules of some compounds were speculated and summarized. In addition,the cleavage pathways of guaiane sesquiterpenes were described for the first time,which can provide reference for studying the fragmentation pathways of similar compounds. This study provides an easy way to identify chemical constituents of traditional Chinese medicine and a basis for the further study on chemical fundamentals of W. indica.

Due to their excellent properties and two-dimensional geometry, graphenes (Grs) have been widely used as reinforced fillers in graphene/aluminum nanolaminated composite (GANC). The separation and slippage behavior of the GANC is highly dependent on the interfacial properties between Gr and aluminum (Al). In this study, two interfacial failures of GANCs, i.e., pull-up failure and pull-out failure, were investigated using a molecular dynamics (MD) method. The effects of the crystal orientation of single-crystal Al component and the geometry of the Gr component on the normal and shear interfacial properties of the GANC were examined. It was evident that the interfacial pull-up resistance resulted from the atomic forces of all the atoms at the interface, whereas the interfacial shear force during pull-out stems from the atomic forces of the atoms at the crack tip. In addition, the studies revealed that the interface bonding strength between the Gr and Al was sensitive to both the crystal orientation of the Al and the environmental temperature. Finally, the cohesive law was used to describe the interfacial behavior of the Gr and Al, providing the interfacial data for the finite element modeling of composites with Gr and Al interface.

Background Complete atrioventricular block (cAVB) has been deemed a rare complication after transcatheter closure for ventricular septal defect (VSD). However, this serious event appears to be underrecognized and is worth being investigated further. Objectives To determine the incidence and predisposing factors of cAVB associated with closure of VSD using a modified double-disk occluder (MDO). Methods From December 21, 2001 to December 31, 2014, 1046 patients with perimembranous ventricular septal defect underwent percutaneous closure using the MDO. Electrocardiography was evaluated before the procedure, within 1 week after the procedure, and then at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months and every year thereafter. Other baseline and procedural parameters were also evaluated and a comparison between patients requiring pacemakers and those not suffering from cAVB was done. Results cAVB occurred in 17 patients (1.63%) after the procedure. Of the 17 patients, 8 underwent permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation. The cAVB occurred within 30 days after the procedure in 14 patients and after 1 year in 3 patients. In comparison patients aged ≤18 years, patients aged >18 years were more prone to cAVB (P = .025). Logistic regression revealed no significant parameter to predict later requirement for PPM. Conclusions The incidence of cAVB after transcatheter closure of VSD was acceptable, as part of the cAVB population recovered after administration of corticosteroid and application of a temporary pacemaker. Late cAVB (>1 year) appears to make it more difficult to restore normal conduction block. Because of the recurrence of cAVB, life-long follow-up with periodic electrocardiography examination may be mandatory.

This paper aims to provide a stable instrumental method for provenance discrimination of Anji-White tea by its distinctive taste. 180 authentic and 60 counterfeit white tea samples were collected for specific geographical origins detection; all of them were measured by electronic tongue coupled with 7 independent sensors. Therefore, chemometrics methods, principal component analysis (PCA), and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA) were performed in classification. The PCA distribution shows that, in provenance analysis, PCA is a simple and reliable tool for small sample sets, but for sets with large objects, PCA seems powerless in classification. Therefore, PLSDA was applied to develop a classification model. The prediction sensitivity and specificity of PLSDA, respectively, reached 0.917 and 0.950. This study demonstrates the potential of combining electronic tongue system and chemometrics as an effective tool for specific geographical origins detection in Anji-White tea.

Aim MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play key roles in inflammatory responses of macrophages. However, the function of miRNAs in macrophage-derived foam cell formation is unclear. Here, we investigated the role of miRNAs in macrophage-derived foam cell formation and atherosclerotic development. Methods and results Using quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT–PCR), we found that the level of miR-155 expression was increased significantly in both plasma and macrophages from atherosclerosis (ApoE−/−) mice. We identified that oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL) induced the expression and release of miR-155 in macrophages, and that miR-155 was required to mediate oxLDL-induced lipid uptake and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production of macrophages. Furthermore, ectopic overexpression and knockdown experiments identified that HMG box-transcription protein1 (HBP1) is a novel target of miR-155. Knockdown of HBP1 enhanced lipid uptake and ROS production in oxLDL-stimulated macrophages, and overexpression of HBP1 repressed these effects. Furthermore, bioinformatics analysis identified three YY1 binding sites in the promoter region of pri-miR-155 and verified YY1 binding directly to its promoter region. Detailed analysis showed that the YY1/HDAC2/4 complex negatively regulated the expression of miR-155 to suppress oxLDL-induced foam cell formation. Importantly, inhibition of miR-155 by a systemically delivered antagomiR-155 decreased clearly lipid-loading in macrophages and reduced atherosclerotic plaques in ApoE−/− mice. Moreover, we observed that the level of miR-155 expression was up-regulated in CD14+ monocytes from patients with coronary heart disease. Conclusion Our findings reveal a new regulatory pathway of YY1/HDACs/miR-155/HBP1 in macrophage-derived foam cell formation during early atherogenesis and suggest that miR-155 is a potential therapeutic target for atherosclerosis.