Search

ABSTRACTYB2C2 is a novel ultra-high temperature ceramic material with high damage tolerance. In this work, the synthesis mechanism, crystal structure, electronic structure, elastic properties and thermal shock resistance of YB2C2 were systematically investigated through experiments and calculations. It was determined by differential scanning calorimetry with the heating rate of 10°C/min that YB2C2 was formed by the reaction of YB2C and C at about 1202°C, and became the main phase at 1450°C. The space group of YB2C2 was determined to be P4/mbm by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Rietveld refinement and first-principles calculations for the first time. The lattice constants are a = b = 0.5351 nm and c = 0.3561 nm. The atom positions are as follows: Y is located at 2a (0, 0, 0), B is located 4 h (0.133, 0.633, 0.5) and C is located at 4 h (0.662, 0.162, 0.5). The chemical bonding of YB2C2 displayed sharp anisotropy, with strong B-C bond within the B2C2 nets, and weak Y-B/Y-C bond between Y atom layers and B2C2 nets. Additionally, YB2C2 exhibited abnormal thermal shock resistance when the thermal shock temperature exceeded 800°C, with the residual flexural strength at 1300°C being more than 70% of the strength at room temperature.

Background: In the past, many meta-analyses (MAs) suggested that elemene injection (EI) played a complementary and alternative role in cancer treatment. However, some results were contradictory and a lot of evidences weren’t classified. Thus, their clinical guidance effect was very limited. Methods: Two reviewers independently retrieved 8 databases from their origin to May 19, 2023 and appropriate MAs were taken into consideration. A pooled analysis was conducted to merge results extracted from trials of included MAs. The methodological quality of MAs and the evidence certainty of pooled results were assessed. Results: 31 MAs were taken into analysis with poor methodological quality. The main weaknesses were in the areas of heterogeneity analysis, bias risk, and literature selection. According to the present evidence, on the one hand, compared with conventional treatment (CT) alone, EI combined with CT may significantly enhance short-term or long-term efficacy and reduce adverse reactions caused by CT in multiple cancers. On the other hand, using EI alone also can improve ORR in the malignant (pleural) effusion and lessen the recurrence rate in bladder cancer obviously with fewer adverse reactions compared with CT alone. However, this evidence was rated as moderate to very low certainty mainly due to the risk of bias in clinical trials. Conclusion: EI may be a viable medication for the treatment of cancer although more convincing trials are still required to demonstrate its alternative and complementary benefits. Besides, it seems to have a broad potential for further development in immunotherapy, drug delivery technique, and predictive factor.

Abstract Background & aims The effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection can be more complex and severe in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as compared to other cancers. This is due to several factors, including pre-existing conditions such as viral hepatitis and cirrhosis, which are commonly associated with HCC. Methods We conducted an analysis of epigenomics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and HCC patients, and identified common pathogenic mechanisms using weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and other analyses. Hub genes were identified and analyzed using LASSO regression. Additionally, drug candidates and their binding modes to key macromolecular targets of COVID-19 were identified using molecular docking. Results The epigenomic analysis of the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection and HCC patients revealed that the co-pathogenesis was closely linked to immune response, particularly T cell differentiation, regulation of T cell activation and monocyte differentiation. Further analysis indicated that CD4+ T cells and monocytes play essential roles in the immunoreaction triggered by both conditions. The expression levels of hub genes MYLK2, FAM83D, STC2, CCDC112, EPHX4 and MMP1 were strongly correlated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and the prognosis of HCC patients. In our study, mefloquine and thioridazine were identified as potential therapeutic agents for COVID-19 in combined with HCC. Conclusions In this research, we conducted an epigenomics analysis to identify common pathogenetic processes between SARS-CoV-2 infection and HCC patients, providing new insights into the pathogenesis and treatment of HCC patients infected with SARS-CoV-2.

This article reports a two-stage differential structure power amplifier based on a 130 nm SiGe process operating at 77 GHz. By introducing a tunable capacitor for amplitude and phase balance at the center tap of the secondary coil of the traditional Marchand balun, the balun achieves amplitude imbalance less than 0.5 dB and phase imbalance less than 1 degree within the operating frequency range of 70–85 GHz, which enables the power amplifier to exhibit comparable output power over a wide operating frequency band. The power amplifier, based on a designed 3-bit digital analog convertor (DAC)-controlled base bias current source, exhibits small signal gain fluctuation of less than 5 dB and saturation output power fluctuation of less than 2 dB near the 80 GHz frequency point when the ambient temperature varies in the range of −40 °C to 125 °C. Benefiting from the aforementioned design, the tested single-path differential power amplifier exhibits a small signal gain exceeding 16 dB, a saturation output power exceeding 18 dBm, and a peak saturation output power of 19.1 dBm in the frequency band of 70–85 GHz.

Abstract Single-molecule FRET (smFRET) is a versatile technique to study the dynamics and function of biomolecules since it makes nanoscale movements detectable as fluorescence signals. The powerful ability to infer quantitative kinetic information from smFRET data is, however, complicated by experimental limitations. Diverse analysis tools have been developed to overcome these hurdles but a systematic comparison is lacking. Here, we report the results of a blind benchmark study assessing eleven analysis tools used to infer kinetic rate constants from smFRET trajectories. We test them against simulated and experimental data containing the most prominent difficulties encountered in analyzing smFRET experiments: different noise levels, varied model complexity, non-equilibrium dynamics, and kinetic heterogeneity. Our results highlight the current strengths and limitations in inferring kinetic information from smFRET trajectories. In addition, we formulate concrete recommendations and identify key targets for future developments, aimed to advance our understanding of biomolecular dynamics through quantitative experiment-derived models.

Abstract Purpose For olecranon fractures, the choice of tension band wire (TBW) or plate fixation has long been controversial. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of TBW and plate in the treatment of patients with Mayo II olecranon fractures by Meta-analysis. Methods PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, the Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and China Biomedical Database were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies (CSs) where TBW was compared with plate for Mayo II olecranon fractures (OF). Subsequently, the data were extracted by two reviewers independently and were analysed via RevMan5.4.1. Besides, mean difference (MD), risk ratio (RR), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Furthermore, Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool 2.0 and Newcastle–Ottawa Scale were adopted for assessing the risk of bias. Results A total of 1RCT and 10 CSs were included, when 449 cases were treated with TBW and 378 with plate. The plate has favourable postoperative long-term (≥ 1 year) functional score in MEPS (MD: − 3.06; 95% CI − 5.50 to 0.62; P = 0.01; I 2 = 41%) and Dash score (MD: 2.32; 95% CI 1.91, 2.73; P

This article presents a transmitter (TX) front-end operating at frequencies covering 40–50 GHz, including a differential quadrature mixer with integrated amplitude and phase imbalance tuning, a power amplifier, and a detection mixer (DM) that supports local oscillator (LO) leakage signal or image signal calibration. Benefiting from the amplitude and phase imbalance tuning network of the in-phase quadrature (IQ) signal generator at the LO input, the TX exhibits more than 30 dBc image signal rejection over the full frequency band without any post-calibration. Based on the LO leakage signal fed back by the DM integrated at the RF output, the LO leakage of the TX has been improved by more than 10 dB through the LO leakage calibration module integrated in the quadrature mixer. When the intermediate frequency (IF) signal is fixed at 1 GHz, the TX’s 1 dB compressed output power (OP1 dB) is higher than 13.5 dBm over the operating band. Thanks to the LO leakage signal calibration unit and the IQ signal generator, the TX is compliant with the error vector magnitude (EVM) requirement of the IEEE 802.11aj standard up to the 64-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) operating mode.

Background: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) has become a public health problem. Several systematic reviews (SRs) have reported that duloxetine may be an effective treatment for improving pain and depressive symptoms in patients with KOA.Aim: To evaluate the available results and provide scientific evidence for the efficacy and safety of duloxetine for KOA.Methods: A comprehensive search strategy was conducted across eight databases from inception to 31 December 2021. Two researchers independently selected eligible studies, collected data and evaluated those included SRs’ quality. For assessing methodological quality, the Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2) was employed. Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews (ROBIS) was used to assess the risk of bias. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) was utilized for assessing reporting quality. In addition, the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) was used to determine primary outcome indicators’ evidence quality.Results: Totally 6 SRs were contained in this overview. After assessment based on AMSTAR 2, ROBIS, and PRISMA, unsatisfactory results in terms of methodological quality, risk of bias as well as reporting quality, were obtained. Limitations included a search of grey literature, the reasons for selecting the study type, an excluded study list and the specific reasons, reporting bias assessment, and reporting of potential sources of conflict of interest. According to the GRADE results, the evidence quality was high in 0, moderate in 5, low in 19, and very low in 36. Limitations were the most commonly downgraded factor, followed by publication bias and inconsistency.Conclusion: Duloxetine may be an effective treatment for improving pain and depressive symptoms in KOA patients with acceptable adverse events. However, due to the low quality of the available evidence, the original study design and the quality of evidence from SRs should be further improved, so as to provide strong scientific evidence for definitive conclusions.Systematic Review Registration: PROSPERO; (http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/), identifier (CRD42021289823).

Introduction: In China, Huaier granule (HG) is widely applied to tumor adjuvant therapy. However, systematic reviews (SRs) or meta-analyses (MAs) published continuously failed to reach a consensus, without convincing evidence. An overview should be conducted to summarize the evidence-based progress and try to provide some value references for relative research and clinical practice in the future. Methods: From inception to October 2021, 8 databases in English and Chinese were searched. SRs/MAs meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included. Relevant criteria were used to evaluate SRs/MAs including methodological quality, reporting quality, risk of bias, and evidence quality of effect and safety. Results: The short-term effect, long-term effect, and safety in 6 included SRs/MAs were assessed in this overview according to quantitative synthesis. Results assessed by AMSTAR-2, PRISMA, and ROBIS were generally unsatisfactory with the main problems on registration or protocol, a search of grey literature, a list of excluded studies, bias of each synthetic result, and inadequate report of search strategy and synthesis methods. Additionally, 28 items were assessed as moderate quality while 12 items were low-quality and 6 items were very low-quality in GRADE. Risk of bias was the main downgrading factor. Conclusion: HG may be a promising adjuvant therapy for cancer. However, high-quality SRs/MAs and RCTs should be conducted to provide sufficient evidence so as to draw a definitive conclusion.

Ever since the deployment of the first-generation of mobile telecommunications, wireless communication technology has evolved at a dramatically fast pace over the past four decades. The upcoming fifth-generation (5G) holds a great promise in providing an ultra-fast data rate, a very low latency, and a significantly improved spectral efficiency by exploiting the millimeter-wave spectrum for the first time in mobile communication infrastructures. In the years beyond 2030, newly emerged data-hungry applications and the greatly expanded wireless network will call for the sixth-generation (6G) communication that represents a significant upgrade from the 5G network - covering almost the entire surface of the earth and the near outer space. In both the 5G and future 6G networks, millimeter-wave technologies will play an important role in accomplishing the envisioned network performance and communication tasks. In this paper, the relevant millimeter-wave enabling technologies are reviewed: they include the recent developments on the system architectures of active beamforming arrays, beamforming integrated circuits, antennas for base stations and user terminals, system measurement and calibration, and channel characterization. The requirements of each part for future 6G communications are also briefly discussed.

AimThis study is to investigate the effects of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSCs) loaded with the graphene oxide (GO) granular lubrication on ameliorating inflammatory responses and osteoporosis of the subchondral bone in knee osteoarthritis (KOA) animal models.MethodsThe KOA animal models were established using modified papain joint injection. 24 male New Zealand rabbits were classified into the blank control group, GO group, UCMSCs group, and GO + UCMSCs group, respectively. The concentration in serum and articular fluid nitric oxide (NO), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), type II collagen (COL-II), and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) was detected using ELISA, followed by the dissection of femoral condyles and staining of HE and Micro-CT for observation via the microscope.ResultsGO granular lubrication and UCMSCs repaired the KOA animal models. NO, IL-6, TNF-α, GAG, and COL-II showed optimal improvement performance in the GO + UCMSCs group, with statistical significance in contrast to the blank group (P

This report uses Monte Carlo simulations to connect stochastic single-molecule and ensemble surface adsorption of molecules from dilute solutions. Monte Carlo simulations often use a fundamental time resolution to simulate each discrete step for each molecule. The adsorption rate obtained from such a simulation surprisingly contains an error compared to the results obtained from the traditional method. Simulating adsorption kinetics is interesting in many processes, such as mass transportation within cells, the kinetics of drug–receptor interactions, membrane filtration, and other general reaction kinetics in diluted solutions. Thus, it is important to understand the origin of the disagreement and find a way to correct the results. This report reviews the traditional model, explains the single-molecule simulations, and introduces a method to correct the results of adsorption rate. For example, one can bin finer time steps into time steps of interest to simulate the fractal diffusion or simply introduce a correction factor for the simulations. Then two model systems, self-assembled monolayer (SAM) and biosensing on the patterned surface, are simulated to check the accuracy of the equations. It is found that the adsorption rate of SAM is highly dependent on the conditions and the uncertainty is large. However, the biosensing system is relatively accurate. This is because the concentration gradient near the interface varies significantly with reaction conditions for SAMs while relatively stable for the biosensing system.

In this paper, a 37-42.5GHz (N260 Band) 64 channel full-digital multi-beam array for 5G massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO) applications is developed. The multi-beam array is built on a time division duplexing (TDD) architecture in which the transmitter and receivers are independent and working separately to enable more flexible channel configuration and hardware distribution. The 64 antenna elements of the array are aligned in a way that 16 elements lie in the horizontal and 4 in the vertical direction to deliver higher beam resolution in the horizontal plane. By using cables of unequal lengths, the 16 × 4 antenna elements are connected to a cluster of 8 × 8 transmitters/receivers. The hardware design of the transmitters, receivers, antennas and other circuits is demonstrated, with excellent measured RF performance achieved. Furthermore, the calibration of the massive MIMO array is presented, and the influence of inequality of array feedlines on calibration accuracy in a wide bandwidth is analyzed and experimentally verified. Finally, experimental studies on single beam scanning, multiple concurrent beam generation and over-the-air (OTA) performance of the transmitting and receiving array have been done. Simulation and measurement results suggest that the array has an excellent beam-forming capability that supports beam steering and generation of multiple concurrent beams. The OTA test reveals that the array can provide high modulation and demodulation accuracy for communication.

In this study, we developed a single-channel channel emulator module with an operating frequency covering 66–67 GHz, including a 66–76 GHz wide dynamic range monolithic integrated circuit designed based on 0.1 µm pHEMT GaAs process, a printed circuit board (PCB) power supply bias network, and low-loss ridge microstrip line to WR12 (60–90 GHz) waveguide transition structure. Benefiting from the on-chip multistage band-pass filter integrated at the local oscillator (LO) and radio frequency (RF) ends, the module’s spurious components at the RF port were greatly suppressed, making the module’s output power dynamic range over 50 dB. Due to the frequency-selective filter integrated in the LO chain, each clutter suppression in the LO chain exceeds 40 dBc. Up and down conversion loss of the module is better than 14 dB over the 66–67 GHz band, the measured IF input P1 dB is better than 10 dBm, and the module consumes 129 mA from a 5 V low dropout supply. A low-loss ridged waveguide ladder transition was designed (less than 0.4 dB) so that the output interface of the module is a WR12 waveguide interface, which is convenient for direct connection with an instrument with E-band (60–90 GHz) waveguide interface.

Understanding the formation of the North Qilian Shan in the NE Tibetan Plateau provides insights into the growth mechanisms of the northern region of the plateau across time. Detrital zircon fission-track (ZFT) analyses of river sediments can provide a comprehensive understanding of the exhumation history during prolonged orogenesis. Here, we applied the detrital thermochronology approach to the Qilian Shan orogenic belt. This work presents the first single-grain detrital ZFT data from river-bed sediments of the upper Hei River catchment in North Qilian Shan. The single ZFT ages are widely distributed between about 1200 Ma and about 40 Ma. These data record the protracted history of the Qilian Shan region from the Neoproterozoic evolution of Rodinia and late Paleozoic amalgamation of Central Asia to the accretion of the Gondwanian blocks during the Meso-Cenozoic era. Strong post-magmatic cooling events occurred in North Qilian Shan at 1200~1000 Ma, corresponding to the assembly of the Rodinia supercontinent. The age population at 800 Ma documents the oceanic spreading in the late Neoproterozoic dismantling of Rodinia. ZFT ages ranging from about 750 Ma to 550 Ma (with age peaks at 723 Ma and 588 Ma) are consistent with the timing of the opening and spreading of the Qilian Ocean. The age peaks at 523 Ma and 450 Ma mark the progressive closure of that ocean ending with the collision of the Qilian block with the Alxa block—North China craton in the Devonian. The Qilian Ocean finally closed in Late Devonian (age peak at 375 Ma). In the late Paleozoic (275 Ma), the subduction of the Paleotethys Ocean led to extensive magmatic activity in the North Qilian Shan. During the Lower Cretaceous (145 Ma), the accretion of the Lhasa block to the south (and potentially the closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean to the northeast) triggered a renewed tectonic activity in the Qilian Shan. Finally, a poorly defined early Eocene exhumation event (50 Ma) suggests that the NE Tibetan Plateau started to deform nearly synchronously with the onset of the India-Asia collision. This study demonstrates the usefulness of combining modern-river detrital thermo-/geochronological ages and bedrock geochronological ages to understand large-scale orogenic evolution processes.

Abstract A series of h-BN based composites with Yb4Si2O7N2 as a secondary phase were successfully synthesized by an in situ reaction hot pressing method. It was found that the relative density and room-temperature mechanical properties monotonically increased with increasing the content of Yb4Si2O7N2 from 20 to 50 vol%. When 50 vol% Yb4Si2O7N2 was introduced, the relative density of the composite reached 98.75%, and its flexural strength, compressive strength, fracture toughness, and hardness reached 338±10 MPa, 803±49 MPa, 2.06±0.06 MPa·m1/2, and 2.69±0.10 GPa, respectively. The strengthening effect of Yb4Si2O7N2 was mainly attributed to its high modulus and high hardness. Fine microstructure was also advantageous to strength and could lead to more tortuous crack propagation paths and then improve the fracture toughness of the composites simultaneously. Meanwhile, the composites maintained good machinability.

A 48-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with a lump in her left breast. She was diagnosed with synchronous papillary thyroid carcinoma and breast ductal carcinoma. The patient underwent four cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with epirubicin and cyclophosphamide, and one cycle of docetaxel. She then underwent left breast mastectomy and radical resection of thyroid cancer (total thyroidectomy and bilateral central group [levels VI and VII] lymph node dissection) at the same time. She was administered three cycles of chemotherapy with docetaxel and radiotherapy. The patient had no metastasis in the follow-up period. A literature search was performed to characterize the epidemiology, etiology, management, and prognosis of this condition. We speculate that hormone treatment could be a probable pathogenesis of synchronous breast and thyroid cancers.

Super-resolution imaging of single DNA molecules via point accumulation for imaging in nanoscale topography (PAINT) has great potential to visualize fine DNA structures with nanometer resolution. In a typical PAINT video acquisition, dye molecules (YOYO-1) in solution sparsely bind to the target surfaces (DNA) whose locations can be mathematically determined by fitting their fluorescent point spread function. Many YOYO-1 molecules intercalate into DNA and remain there during imaging, and most of them have to be temporarily or permanently fluorescently bleached, often stochastically, to allow for the visualization of a few fluorescent events per DNA per frame of the video. Thus, controlling the fluorescence on–off rate is important in PAINT. In this paper, we study the photobleaching of YOYO-1 and its correlation with the quality of the PAINT images. At a low excitation laser power density, the photobleaching of YOYO-1 is too slow and a minimum required power density was identified, which can be theoretically predicted with the proposed method in this report.

Cadmium selenide (CdSe) thin films were deposited on indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrates using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique under different growth temperatures. Samples were investigated for their structural, morphological, and optical properties through X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy. AFM analysis revealed that the surface roughness of the as-grown CdSe thin films increased with the increase in deposition temperature. The optical constants and film thickness were obtained from spectroscopic ellipsometry analysis and are discussed in detail. The optical band gap of the as-grown CdSe thin films, calculated from the Tauc plot analysis, matched with the ellipsometry measurements, with a band gap of ~1.71 eV for a growth temperature range of 150 °C to 400 °C. The CdSe thin films were found to have a refractive index of ~3.0 and extinction coefficient of ~1.0, making it a suitable candidate for photovoltaics.

In this paper, the on-wafer S-parameter measurement of InP-Based HEMT devices up to 220 GHz is presented. The calibration kits utilizing a CPWG structure are meticulously designed on an InP substrate. The corresponding structure for calibrating the reflection mechanism is designed in order to reduce the influence between the two ports during the calibration process and improve isolation. The TSVs process is employed to attain broadband load. The design concept of the calibration structure is discussed, and the simulation results up to 220 GHz are provided for demonstration. The measurement results encompass frequency ranges of 0.2-66 GHz, 75-110 GHz, 110-170 GHz, and 170-220 GHz. Moreover, the test results obtained from different calibration methods for InP HEMT devices are compared and analyzed. By employing interpolation techniques, comprehensive S-parameter data for actual DUTs ranging from 0.2 to 220 GHz is successfully obtained. Furthermore, the intrinsic parameters Cgs is extracted from device test results, and various calibration methods are utilized for comparison. The extrapolated maximum current gain cut-off frequency fT based on a -20 dB/decade slope in H21 is determined as 252 GHz while the extrapolated device maximum oscillation frequency fmax calculated through the maximum stable gain (MSG)/the maximum available gain (MAG) and Umason approaches reaches up to 435 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]