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This paper presents a novel and efficient algorithm for Chinese historical document understanding, incorporating three key components: a multi-oriented text detector, a dual-path learning-based text recognizer, and a heuristic-based reading order predictor.

With increasing ecological and environmental concerns, the development of materials and products from renewable and sustainable resources is of great public value. Due to the renewability, abundanc...

Background. Myelin and lymphocyte, T cell differentiation protein 2 (MAL2) is highly expressed in various cancers and associated with the development and prognosis of cancer. However, the relationship between MAL2 and breast cancer requires further investigation. This study aimed to explore the prognostic significance of MAL2 in breast cancer. Methods. MAL2 expression was initially assessed using the Oncomine database and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and verified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test was used to explore the association between clinical characteristics and MAL2 expression. The prognostic value of MAL2 in breast cancer was assessed by the Kaplan–Meier method and Cox regression analysis. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed to identify the biological pathways correlated with MAL2 expression in breast cancer. Besides, a single-sample GSEA (ssGSEA) was used to assess the relationship between the level of immune infiltration and MAL2 in breast cancer. Results. Both bioinformatics and RT-qPCR results showed that MAL2 was expressed at high levels in breast cancer tissues compared with the adjacent tissues. The chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test indicated that MAL2 expression was related to stage, M classification, and vital status. Kaplan–Meier curves implicated that high MAL2 expression was significantly associated with the poor prognosis. Cox regression models showed that high MAL2 expression could be an independent risk factor for breast cancer. GSEA showed that 14 signaling pathways were enriched in the high-MAL2-expression group. Besides, the MAL2 expression level negatively correlated with infiltrating levels of eosinophils and plasmacytoid dendritic cells in breast cancer. Conclusion. Overexpression of MAL2 correlates with poor prognosis and lower immune infiltrating levels of eosinophils and plasmacytoid dendritic cells in breast cancer and may become a biomarker for breast cancer prognosis.

Endowing conductive composites with good self-healing properties is of great significance for improving the stability and extending the service life of the material. However, it is still a challenge to prepare conductive composites that exhibit both desirable mechanical strength and excellent self-healing properties. Herein, we report a simple method to fabricate a kind of material with excellent self-healing properties and satisfactory mechanical strength and conductivity performance. Nanochitin (CNC), carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were used as reinforcing fillers and filled into epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) through latex mixing. In particular, CNCs, CMCS, and CNT fillers were selectively dispersed among ENR latex particles. A filler frame network structure based on multiple hydrogen bonding interactions was constructed in the rubber matrix, which significantly improved the mechanical and electrical properties of the composites. Furthermore, the formation of multiple hydrogen bonds in the composites endowed the rubber with excellent self-healing properties, achieving the highest healing efficiency of 91%. This work provides a novel and simple strategy to prepare conductive composites with excellent mechanical and self-healing properties.

Recyclable polyvinylidene fluoride/silicone rubber (PVDF/SR) thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) containing high mass ratio of SR (50%) with excellent mechanical performances and shape memory behavio...

Blending with elastomers is one of the most effective strategies for toughening polylactide (PLA), but faces the challenge of a sharp decline in stiffness. In this work, PLA/epoxidized natural rubb...

The current work demonstrates broad gradient-transition multiphase separation for thermoplastic polysiloxane-based polymers, featuring mechanical robustness, shape memory property and healing-ability. Conventional thermoplastic elastomers are generally fabricated by embedding hard nanodomains as physical crosslinks into a soft matrix. However, it is difficult to achieve shape-memory capability in polysiloxane-based polymers with this structure because polysiloxane chains have low glass transition temperature (Tg) and are non-crystalline with little capacity to store the entropy energy after deformation. Herein, by taking advantage of the thermodynamic incompatibility between polysiloxane and polyimide, as well as the chain rigidity and linearity of polyimide, a novel poly(imide siloxane) polymer is developed, in which the flexible polysiloxane segments curled into soft nanodomains on low Tg, with increasing Tg towards the glassy polyimide matrix. The formed gradient-transition layers served as switch segments to trigger shape recovery, maintain a temporary shape and the innermost hard segments were assembled into netpoints with the assistance of gradient layers to prevent chain slippage. The disassociation of the inferior intermolecular interactions within the gradient-transition layers and the quasi-permanent crosslinking of the innermost nanodomains with the highest Tg synergistically endowed polymers with heat-assisted self-healing ability. Moreover, the hard matrix provided a protective barrier against external forces, leading to high mechanical robustness. Based on these features, we believe that these polymers are advantageous for various applications, such as implants, vascular stents and other medical devices.

To assess the effect of acupoint stimulation for Alcohol use disorders (AUD).AUD is a complex disease that threatens the health of the global population. Acupoint stimulation, a sort of therapy applying stimulation on acupoints to produce a therapeutic effect without side effects, has been widely used in AUD patients, but its efficacy remains controversial. Electronic databases (the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, PubMed, CNKI, VIP, Wan-Fang) were systematically searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on acupoint stimulation for AUD from database inception to September 30, 2022. A meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.4 software. Continuous data (scales) were expressed as mean differences (MDs) or standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Study methodological quality was assessed according to the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for trials. The grading of recommendations assessment, development and evaluation was used to assess the certainty of evidence for outcomes.A total of 16 RCTs with 1097 participants were included. Compared to psychotherapy or drug therapy alone, the combination of acupoint stimulation and other sorts of therapies presented advantages in alleviating alcohol craving (SMD = -1.09, 95% CI = -1.40 to -0.77, df = 2, P.00001, grading of recommendations assessment, development and evaluation very low certainty), (SMD = -2.25, 95% CI = -3.17 to -1.34, df = 3, P.00001, low certainty) and the severity of alcohol withdrawal symptoms (MD = -1.21, 95% CI = -2.32 to -0.1, df = 2, P = .03, low certainty), as well as improving anxiety (MD = -3.41, 95% CI = -4.06 to -2.76, df = 4, P.00001, very low certainty) and depression levels (MD = -3.27, 95% CI = -4.92 to -1.62, df = 4, P = .0001, very low certainty) on patients with AUD. In addition, a greater effect was also found with the 4-week treatment courses in reducing craving (SMD = -2.18, 95% CI = -2.61 to -1.75, P.00001, low certainty).Acupoint stimulation and its combined therapy may better relieve AUD symptoms effectively and the treatment duration should be set at more than 2 weeks. However, due to the low-quality of the included RCTs, high-quality studies are needed to further confirm it in the future.

Background Alopecia areata (AA) is a common autoimmune hair loss disease with increasing incidence. Corticosteroids are the most widely used for hair loss treatment; however, long-term usage of hormonal drugs is associated with various side effects. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) therapy has been studied extensively to curb autoimmune diseases without affecting immunity against diseases. Methods Hair follicle-derived MSCs (HF-MSCs) were harvested from the waste material of hair transplants, isolated and expanded. The therapeutic effect of HF-MSCs for AA treatment was investigated in vitro AA-like hair follicle organ model and in vivo C3H/HeJ AA mice model. Results AA-like hair follicle organ in vitro model was successfully established by pre-treatment of mouse vibrissa follicles by interferon-γ (IFN-γ). The AA-like symptoms were relieved when IFN-γ induced AA in vitro model was co-cultured with HF-MSC for 2 days. In addition, when skin grafted C3H/HeJ AA mice models were injected with 106 HF-MSCs once a week for 3 weeks, the transcription profiling and immunofluorescence analysis depicted that HF-MSCs treatment significantly decreased mouse hair loss and reduced inflammation around HF both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions This study provides a new therapeutic approach for alopecia areata based on HF-MSCs toward its future clinical application.

To expand the application of shape memory materials in situations where elevated temperature and corrosion resistance are required, novel heat-triggered shape memory (HSM) fluorosilicon thermoplast...

Co-continuous morphologies have attracted substantial attention recently as it possesses a significant toughening effect. However, these investigations of toughening poly (lactic acid) (PLA) with co-continuous structure have been limited to simply qualitative explanation. The “reinforced concrete”-like structure is obviously different from the classic “sea-island” structure. Therefore, considering these toughening elements of the rubber content, interfacial cohesion strength and the strength of rubber, and referring to relevant theory models of reinforced concrete, we have established an original theoretical toughening model, at least semi-quantitatively, of the binary PLA-based thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) with co-continuous structure based on PLA/natural rubber (NR) TPVs. Moreover, we reveal that the calibration model is suitable for PLA/nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) and PLA/epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) systems, with a perfectly Adj. R-Square of 0.97 and 0.94, respectively. It should be mentioned that natural properties of NBR and ENR are significantly distinguished from NR. This study opens up a viable way to quantitatively understand the toughening mechanism with co-continuous structure.

In this work, nitrile rubber (NBR) with high strength and recycling ability was designed based on the interaction between metal ions and ligands. Herein, we first epoxidized the nitrile rubber late...

In this work, multi-stimuli-responsive shape memory PLA/epoxidized natural rubber (ENR)/ferriferrous oxide (Fe3O4) thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) with balanced stiffness–toughness were designed via dynamic vulcanization. Regulated by thermodynamic factors and kinetic factors, Fe3O4 was selectively distributed in the continuous ENR phase or at the PLA/ENR interface, which played a crucial role in reinforcing rubber and interfacial compatibilization. Therefore, excellent multi-stimuli-responsive shape memory behavior and significantly improved impact strength were achieved without decreasing its tensile strength. With 30 phr Fe3O4, impact strength reached 90.08 kJ/m2 (without fracture), which was 31 times that of neat PLA. Meanwhile, the TPVs could recover their original shape in merely several seconds along with the shape recovery ratio of 96.63% in the thermal field. Additionally, Fe3O4 also endowed the TPVs with a magnetic-/light-induced shape memory effect in an alternating magnetic field and under t...

A robust, tough, and self-healable elastomer is a promising candidate for substrate in flexible electronic devices, but there is often a trade-off between mechanical properties (robustness and toughness) and self-healing. Here, a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) supramolecular elastomer is developed based on metal-coordinated bonds with relatively high activation energy. The strong metal-coordination complexes and their corresponding ionic clusters acting as the cross-linking points strengthen the resultant supramolecular networks, which achieves superior mechanical robustness (2.81 MPa), and their consecutive dynamic rupture and reconstruction efficiently dissipate strain energy during the stretching process, which leads to an impressive fracture toughness (32 MJ/m3). Additionally, the reversible intermolecular interactions (weak hydrogen bonds and strong sacrificial coordination complexes/clusters) can break and re-form upon heating; thus, the elastomer self-heals at a moderate temperature with the highest healing efficiency of 95%. As such, the potential of the as-prepared supramolecular elastomer for a substrate material of flexible electronic devices is discovered.

This study investigates the differences and changing trend of posterior circulation blood perfusion between different levels of vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia(VBD) patients. The relationship between the deviation of the basilar artery(BA) in different directions and the location of pontine infarction are also investigated.A cohort of 106 patients(74 males and 32 females) who satisfied the diagnostic criteria for VBD were recruited for this study and classified according to the bifurcation height and the deviation position of the BA, as well as the measured blood perfusion value of the pontine, which includes rCBF, rCBV, MTT, and TTP.Out of the 106 patients, 19 cases were classified as Level 1, 74 cases were classified as Level 2, and 13 cases were classified as Level 3. The different levels between the VBD groups were statistically significant (P0.05, P0.01), and it was found that as the level increases, rCBF and rCBV gradually decreased, while MTT and TTP gradually increased. The statistic results of different perfusion parameters were also significant, when pairwise comparisons between Level 1 and Level 3, and Level 2 and Level 3 were performed. However, when comparing Level 1 and Level 2, only the TTP showed significant result. Among 106 patients, 22 cases had brainstem infarction, 13 cases had left brainstem infarction, 8 cases had right brainstem infarction, and 1 case had brainstem infarction on both sides. Brainstem infarction generally occurs on the opposite side of the direction of BA deviation(P0.05). Regardless of the BA was deviated to the left or right, perfusion analysis showed that there was significant difference in blood perfusion on both sides of the pontine when BA is deviated(P0.05, P0.01). The rCBF and rCBV on the contralateral side of deviation were lower than those on the same side, and the MTT and TTP were longer than those on the same side. There were 37 cases with vertebral artery dominance(VAD), 16 cases with left VAD, and 21 cases with right VAD. Statistical analysis showed that BA was more likely to deflect to the opposite side of the dominant artery(P0.05), and compared with non-VAD, there was no significant difference in pontine blood perfusion (p0.05).As VBD level increases, rCBF and rCBV will gradually decreases while MTT and TTP showed sign of increasing. The location of brainstem infarction is opposite to the direction of the BA deviation, and BA is more likely to deviate to the opposite side of the dominant artery.

We designed novel self-healing thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs), achieving excellent thermal/magnetic/light-triggered shape memory assisted self-healing behavior. Damage on polylactide (PLA)/epoxidized natural rubber (ENR)/Fe3O4 TPVs could be healed via three events synergistically: the shape memory effect of TPVs resulted in the physical contact of damaged surfaces; the desorption–absorption of ENR/Fe3O4-bound rubber promoted interdiffusion of ENR chains, leading to the self-healing of ENR phase; ENR was grafted onto PLA segments to assist PLA rearranging and entangling again to achieve the repair of TPVs. This self-healing TPV is reported for the first time and paves the way to design next-generation self-healing materials.

In this study, three-dimensional multi-walled carbon nanotubes@g-C3N4@Fe3O4 nanocomposites (3D MWNTs@g-C3N4@Fe3O4 nanocomposites) were prepared and used as a novel magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) sorbent for the analysis of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The novel nanocomposites were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) methods. To achieve the best extraction efficiency, several experimental parameters, including sorbent amount, extraction time, stirring rate, ionic strength, desorption solvent, desorption volume and desorption time, were optimized. Under the optimized preparation and extraction conditions, the proposed method showed the limits of detection (LODs) for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were found to be in the range of 0.001–0.5 μg L−1, limits of quantification (LOQs) were in the range of 0.005–0.8 μg L−1 and their relative standard deviations (RSDs) were lower than 5.0%. The proposed MSPE method was applied successfully in the analysis of PAHs in rainwater, river water and industrial wastewater samples. The recovery of the PAHs in all samples spiked with 5 g L−1 ranged from 82.4 to 116.9% with RSDs below 9.7%.

Cellulose nanocrystals have been proved to be ideal reinforcing fillers for rubber. However, the increase in tensile strength always accompanies a reduction in extensibility. In this paper, epoxidi...

Novel octahedral structured Fe3O4@SiO2@polydimethylsiloxane magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@SiO2@PDMS MNPs) have been successfully synthesized for the first time. The magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry and vibrating sample magnetometry. The Fe3O4@SiO2@PDMS MNPs were used as the sorbent for magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) to determine benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) in water samples. Extraction parameters, the amount of sorbent, the extraction time, the stirring rate, the salt effect, the type of desorption solvent, the volume of desorption solvent and the desorption time were optimized. The optimal extraction conditions were amount of sorbent, 100 mg; extraction time, 15 min; stirring rate, 200 rpm; no salt; desorption solvent, dichloromethane; volume of desorption solvent, 0.5 mL; and desorption time, 1.0 min. Good linearity was observed in the calibration range from 0.05 to 20 μg L−1, and the coefficient of determination (r2) was more than 0.9980. The limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantitation (LOQs) for BTEX were observed to be 0.002–0.005 μg L−1 and 0.008–0.017 μg L−1, respectively. The intra- and inter-batch relative standard deviations (RSDs) were less than 11.6% and 15.0%, respectively.

It remains a challenge to prepare thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs)-based composites with multi-functions and enhanced mechanical properties simultaneously. Here, metal-ligand coordination was introduced into dynamic vulcanization to fabricate styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN)/butadiene acrylonitrile rubber (NBR)/iron chloride (FeCl3) TPVs. Fe3+ could not only interact with the nitrile groups (-CN) of NBR to cross-link the rubber phase, but also interact with the –CN of SAN to realize the interfacial compatibilization, enhancing the mechanical properties of the TPVs. Significantly, the dynamic nature of Fe3+-CN interactions endowed the TPVs with reconfigurable network-like rubber phase and excellent recycling ability. The coordination interaction and network-like structure of the NBR phase enabled the TPVs into shape memory materials with shape recovery ratio of 91.53%. We propose a novel technique to prepare TPVs with high performance and multi-functionality, and it may expand the research scope of dynamic vulcanization.

In this study, a novel technique was reported for the selective extraction and analysis of polar compound in water samples using molecular-imprinted solid-phase microextraction (MISPME) combined with dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) with in situ derivatization. 1,2-Benzenediol (1,2-BD) was used as a model compound to present the validity of novel approach of analyzing polar compounds in aqueous samples. The layer-by-layer structure MISPME fiber was first prepared using 1,2-phenylene diacetate (1,2-PDA, derivatization product of 1,2-BD) as the template. Subsequently, 1,2-BD was extracted from water samples by DLLME after in situ derivatization using acetic anhydride as a derivatization agent, dichloromethane as an extraction solvent and methanol as a disperser solvent. Finally, the derivatization product 1,2-PDA in the extraction solvent was selectively enriched by the MISPME fiber, followed by analysis by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID). The preparation and extraction conditions were optimized. The method exhibited a good linear relationship in a wide range from 0.05 to 10 μg mL−1 (r2 = 0.9984), which indicated that the established method is applicable for the quantification of 1,2-BD. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.01 μg mL−1. The precision of the method was evaluated by analyzing a standard solution of 1,2-BD at 0.5 μg mL−1, and the RSD was 5.9%.