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Cemented carbide saw blades offer significant advantages like high cutting efficiency and good cutting performance in the processing of metal materials, especially hard-to-cut alloy materials. The appropriate interface state between carbide and metal matrix is a critical factor for achieving its machining performance. In this study, the joint of WC-Co10 and B318 steel was numerically investigated for various temperatures and thermal cycle parameters in terms of the joint's stress and strain. The elastic-plastic properties of materials with temperature were followed to conduct simulations. The minimum temperature caused a plastic strain in the joint was determined. Additionally, effects of the temperature parameters on the stress distribution shape and plastic zone along the interface were presented by equivalent stress/strain in detail. As a result of the study, it was determined that obvious stress concentration appeared in the vicinity of the WC-Co/steel interface under temperature, and when the temperature reaches 176 °C, plastic behavior took place at both ends of the joint. The plastic region extended towards the interface center with increasing temperature. During the thermal cycling, the thermal ratcheting of plastic strain occurred at points of the joint, and it was also determined that there was a moderate correlation between ratcheting shakedown state and times of thermal cycles, although the cycle temperature ranges were different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of antibacterial biodegradable polymers is of great importance nowadays in medical applications. In this manuscript, poly(butylenes adipate-co-terephthalate)/poly(lactic acid) blend-based antibacterial bionanocomposites were prepared by melt-processing. We use organically modified montmorillonite (MMT) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) as antibacterial property enhancers which are both processing platelike structure, while ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CFX·HCl) was chosen as a biocide. Either MMT or GNP increases the antibacterial properties during the whole study and tunes the release of CFX·HCl from the bionanocomposites. This was proven by agar diffusion tests and antimicrobial release measurements. The morphology of the bionanocomposites was conducted by using scanning and transmission electron microscopies, and evidence of exfoliation was observed. Contact angle and water uptake of the bionanocomposites were studied showing hydrophilic performance and more percentage water uptake. The final effect on mechanical and blood compatibility was also investigated. The results reveal excellent possibility of using MMT- and GNP-modified PLA/PBAT polymer blends to tune antibacterial properties for specific biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To quickly and accurately identify the pathological features of the tongue, we developed an intelligent tongue diagnosis system that uses deep learning on a mobile terminal. We also propose an efficient and accurate tongue image processing algorithm framework to infer the category of the tongue. First, a software system integrating registration, login, account management, tongue image recognition, and doctor–patient dialogue was developed based on the Android platform. Then, the deep learning models, based on the official benchmark models, were trained by using the tongue image datasets. The tongue diagnosis algorithm framework includes the YOLOv5s6, U-Net, and MobileNetV3 networks, which are employed for tongue recognition, tongue region segmentation, and tongue feature classification (tooth marks, spots, and fissures), respectively. The experimental results demonstrate that the performance of the tongue diagnosis model was satisfying, and the accuracy of the final classification of tooth marks, spots, and fissures was 93.33%, 89.60%, and 97.67%, respectively. The construction of this system has a certain reference value for the objectification and intelligence of tongue diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The fine-grained relationship between anxiety, depression, and quality of life was revealed for the first-time using network analysis. • Critical central symptoms "frustrated" and "uncontrollable worry" may provide valuable insights into refining screening instruments and better identifying patients exhibiting relevant symptoms. • Bridge symptoms "difficulty finding pleasure" and "nervousness or anxiety" may represent as potential targets for improving quality of life. Comorbid depression and anxiety in patients with epilepsy (PWE) are common and frequently under-treated, thus, causing poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, little is known regarding the interconnections between anxious/depressive symptoms and the dimensions of HRQoL. Therefore, we conducted a network analysis to explore these relationships in detail among Chinese adult PWE. A cohort of adult PWE was consecutively recruited from the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University. HRQoL, depression, and anxiety were measured with Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory-31, Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory for Epilepsy, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale, respectively. A regularized partial correlation network was constructed to investigate the interconnections between symptoms of anxiety/depression and the dimensions of HRQoL. We calculated expected influence (EI) and bridge expected influence (BEI) values to identify the most influential nodes. A total of 396 PWE were enrolled in this study, 78.1% of whom had focal onset epilepsy. The prevalence of anxiety and depression was 30.3% and 28.8%, respectively. The symptoms "frustrated" and "uncontrollable worry" had the highest EI values, whereas "emotional well-being", "seizure worry", "difficulty finding pleasure", and "nervousness or anxiety" had the highest BEI values. This study provides new insights into the relationships among anxiety, depression, and HRQoL. Critical central symptoms and bridge symptoms identified in the network might help to quickly identify PWE comorbid anxiety and depression in busy outpatient settings, thereby enabling early intervention and enhancing quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topologically close-packed (TCP) phases, although inherently hard, are commonly perceived as detrimental in various alloys. In Ni-based single crystal superalloys (Ni-SXs), the primary adverse impact of TCP phases on material mechanical properties stems from their direct propagation, disrupting the original γ/γ′ dual-phase structure and leading to cleavage along the TCP phases under applied stress. Understanding the specific reasons for the straight propagation of TCP phases through the complex phase structure is essential for mitigating or potentially reversing their detrimental effects on material performance, a challenge that remains elusive. This study addressed this challenge by employing ultra-high spatial and energy resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization, coupled with in situ scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) heating experiments in a fourth-generation Ni-based single crystal superalloy. Our research unveiled a significant phase-separation process during the incubation stage preceding σ phase formation at elevated temperatures, driven by the diffusion of atoms. Notably, domains of the γ′ phase, characterized by a scale of tens of nanometers, emerged within preexisting γ phases, and vice versa. This phenomenon reconstructed the original γ/γ′ dual-phase structure, leading to a finely refined dual-phase structure. The refined structure effectively reduced the diffusion distance of alloy elements necessary for forming σ phases. Consequently, the σ phases nucleated randomly and propagated directly through the newly refined γ/γ′ dual-phase structure. Throughout the thickening process, the notable difference in the diffusivity of alloying elements eventually resulted in the growth of a highly defective σ phase structure. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death with a mortality rate of 12%. Although significant progress has been achieved in cancer research, the effective treatment of cancer remains the greatest global challenge in medicine. Dysregulation of tyrosine kinases (TK) is one of the characteristics of several types of cancers. Thus, drugs that target and inhibit these enzymes, known as TK inhibitors (TKIs), are considered vital chemotherapeutics to combat various types of cancer. The oral bioavailability of available TKIs and their targeted therapy are their potential benefits. Based on these characteristics, most TKIs are included in first/second-line therapy for the treatment of different cancers. This review aims to shed light on orally-active TKIs (natural and synthetic molecules) and their promising implication in the therapy of numerous types of tumors along with their mechanisms of action. Further, recent progress in the development of synthetic and isolation of natural TKIs is reviewed. A significant growth in research regarding the development of new-generation TKIs is made with time (23 FDA-approved TKIs from 2018) due to their better therapeutic response. Oral bioavailability should be considered as an important parameter while developing of new-generation TKIs; however, drug delivery systems can also be used to address issue of poor bioavailability to a certain extent. Moreover, clinical trials should be designed in consideration of the development of resistance and tumor heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The knowledge about the influence of the electron beam (EB) radiation dose on the chemical and physical changes of polymers is critical either for sterilization purpose or materials modification. In this work, the effect of EB irradiation dose ranging 25–100 kGy on the properties of commercial poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(butylene adipate- co -terephthalate) (PBAT) and their blends was compared. The samples of about 0.5 mm in thickness were prepared by hot pressing. The changes in molecular weight, yellow index, thermal and mechanical properties were evaluated. The main findings are that a severe reduction in the glass transition and melting temperatures as well as the mechanical properties of PLA occurs when subjected to higher doses of EB irradiation, which can be ascribed to irradiation-induced decrease in molecular weight; while the effect of EB irradiation on the molecular weight and mechanical properties of PBAT and PLA/PBAT blends is ignorable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diffuse reflection of sound is desirable in many practical scenarios, such as architectural acoustics, but most existing designs of acoustic diffusers have bulky size, corrugated profile, or limited spatial resolution. We design an ultrathin planar acoustic diffuser for producing narrowband diffuse reflection with high uniformity via precise modulation of reflected wavefront and propose a metasurface-based implementation comprising a monolayer of Helmholtz-like resonators much smaller than the working wavelength in all three dimensions. Our design is benchmarked with a commercialized Schroeder diffuser and is numerically proven to be capable of scattering the illuminating wave more uniformly than the conventional mechanisms based on the quadratic residue sequence over wide incident angles. We anticipate our design with simplicity and capability to find important applications in diverse scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), screened and purified from the fermented yogurt, were microencapsulated in sodium alginate (SA) and attapulgite composite microcapsules by external gelation to increase their viability and stability. Surface characterization by scanning electron microscope clearly evidenced a high number of the LAB embedded in SA/attapulgite composite microcapsules than SA counterparts due to a more cohesive structure, and biocompatible microenvironment. SA/attapulgite and CaCl2/attapulgite composites analysis revealed a better embedding effect of attapulgite blend with SA solvent compared with attapulgite mixed with CaCl2. Influence of three major factors including SA, calcium chloride, and attapulgite concentration on LAB embedding rate were optimized by "single factor strategy" as well as response surface methodology (RSM). Optimal conditions of these factors obtained by RSM were SA (1.03 %), Attapulgite (0.28 %), and CaCl2 concentration (1.17 %). The related embedding rate was predicted as 87.1369 %, and the actual measured value was 91.24 % by experiments using the optimal conditions. In conclusion, the results revealed that LAB microencapsulation in the SA and attapulgite composite might display noteworthy protection against the gastrointestinal environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract A new near-infrared and two-photon fluorescentt probe with a large Stokes shift was engineered to detect SO 2 derivatives in living cells and mice. Highlights • We have developed a novel near-infrared and two-photon ratiometric probe NIR-SO 2 -TP for sensing SO 2. • The new probe NIR-SO 2 -TP exhibited fast response to SO 2 in less than 12 s. • The unique probe NIR-SO 2 -TP exhibited giant stokes shift (185 nm). • The probe NIR-SO 2 -TP showed excellent sensitivity and high selectivity toward SO 2. • The new probe NIR-SO 2 -TP has been successfully applied to sense SO 2 in living cells, tissues, zebrafish and living mice. Abstract As a critical gaseous signaling molecule, SO 2 is involved in multiple physiological and pathological processes. However, the pathogenesis of many serious diseases including lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases and neurological disorders caused by excessive inhalation of SO 2 is still unknown. Hence, the development of reliable analytical methods for efficiently and specifically monitoring SO 2 in living systems is of significance. In this work, a novel near-infrared and two-photon ratiometric fluorescent probe NIR-SO 2 -TP was first proposed for optical SO 2 sensing. The newly synthesized fluorescent probe NIR-SO 2 -TP , which is based on coumarin-benzopyrylium π-conjugated platform, exhibited high selectivity, rapid response time, lower detection limit and a large Stokes shift (185 nm). Importantly, the novel probe has been successfully applied to sense SO 2 in living cells, tissues, zebrafish and living mice at both near-infrared and two-photon modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enzyme-based catalysis has become one of the most important disciplines in organic synthesis and plays a noteworthy role in the establishment of many chemical industries, e.g. fine chemicals, food or energy, textiles, agricultural, cosmeceutical, medicinal and pharmaceutical industries. However, pristine enzymes fail to demonstrate requisite functionalities for an industrial setting where extremely specific and stable catalysts are required. Immobilization enhances the catalytic stability and activity of enzymes and trims the overall cost burden of the enzyme. Therefore, it widely endeavours for proficient, sustainable, and environmentally responsive catalytic processes. Amongst several immobilization strategies, e.g. (1) supports-assisted, i.e. physical or covalent coupling and (2) supports-free techniques, i.e. cross-linked enzyme crystals (CLECs) or aggregates are the most promising ones and widely pursued for enzyme immobilization purposes. This perspective review focuses on up-to-date developments in the area of enzyme immobilization and presents their potentialities to upgrade and/or modify enzyme properties. Both types of immobilization strategies, i.e. supports-assisted and supports-free techniques are discussed with particular reference to CLECs or aggregates and protein-coated microcrystals. Also, several useful traits achieved after immobilization are also discussed in the second half of the review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Two biodegradable poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) and low molecular weight poly(diethylene glycol adipate) (PDEGA) blend samples were prepared through a common solution and casting method, with PDEGA contents being 30 and 50 wt% in weight ratio, respectively. The thermal analysis experiments indicated that PLLA and PDEGA were partially miscible in the blends. The blending with PDEGA obviously increased the overall isothermal crystallization rate and spherulitic growth rate of PLLA in their partially miscible blends. The crystal structure of PLLA was not modified by PDEGA in the blends. In addition, the elongation at break of PLLA was significantly increased, indicating that the toughness of PLLA may be improved through a simple blending with relatively high contents of low molecular weight PDEGA. Highlights • Low molecular weight PDEGA was partially miscible with PLLA. • The crystallization rate of PLLA was increased by PDEGA. • The growth rates of PLLA spherulites were increased by PDEGA. • The elongation at break of PLLA was significantly increased by PDEGA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Enzymes are highly efficient biocatalysts and widely employed in biotechnological sectors. However, lack of (re)-purification and efficient recovery of enzymes are among the most critical and challenging aspects, which render them enormously expensive for industrial exploitability. Aiming to tackle these challenges, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have gained a special place as versatile carriers and supporting matrices for immobilization purposes, owing to the exceptional properties of MNPs, such as large surface area, large surface-to-volume ratio, and mobility and high mass transference. More importantly, they can also be easily separated and recovered by applying an external magnetic field. Apart from their biocompatible micro-environment, the utilization of such MNPs represents a noteworthy green chemistry approach, since it lengthens the biocatalyst lifetime through multiple recovery cycles. According to the literature evidence, various modification and/or functionalization approaches have been developed to produce MNPs for the effective immobilization of a broad variety of industrially important enzymes and biomolecules with improved characteristics. Enzymes immobilized on MNPs displayed a wide-working pH and temperature range, as well as, improved thermal and storage stabilities than that of their pristine counterparts. Co-immobilization of multi-enzymes could also be accomplished through nanoparticle-based approaches. This review presents an updated outlook on the development and characterization of MNPs, in particular, iron-based MNPs-derived nano-constructs as support materials for enzyme immobilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), as one of the most dangerous atmospheric pollutants, is associated with several respiratory and neurological diseases. Meanwhile, lysosomes, as scavenger of living cells, play a pivotal role in the metabolic process. However, the pathologic mechanisms of sulfur dioxide at the subcellular level remain elusive in part due to the lack of methods for detecting of SO 2 in the organelles. Accordingly, the study of SO 2 in lysosome is of high interest. Herein, a two-photon fluorescence probe ( Na-SO 2 -Lyso ) for detecting of SO 2 derivatives was developed based on a unique C N isomerization mechanism. The probe Na-SO 2 -Lyso could respond to SO 2 rapidly in less than 15 s with excellent sensitivity. Significantly, Na-SO 2 -Lyso was effectively applied to image of SO 2 in lysosomes of living cells for the first time. Moreover, Na-SO 2 -Lyso also can be used for detecting of SO 2 derivatives in living zebrafish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dual-modality organic imaging agents hold great potential for comprehensive disease diagnosis by taking advantage of each mode. However, so far, there have been rarely reported on the design of α-CT triggered PA/NIRF bioagents for precision clinical diagnosis of deep tumor, as it is indeed challenging to develop a molecular guideline to enable and boost every optical imaging efficacy simultaneously. Herein, we first proposed a 3D-PA/NIRF dual-modality strategy triggered by α-CT to image deep tumor with high spatial resolution and deep penetration. The non-peptide probe HDC was established with hemicyanine as dual signal platform and 4-bromobutyryl as reaction site of α-CT. The probe HDC showed good sensitivity, selectivity, and affinity in response to α-CT in vitro. Significantly, the probe HDC enabled 3D-PA imaging of α-CT activated deep tumor with high spatial resolution and deep penetration. Meanwhile, owing to the NIR fluorescence in tumor site is strong with higher contrast than that of surrounding healthy tissue, it is convenient to depict tumor margin for anatomical analysis. Thus, α-CT activated 3D-PA/NIRF dual-modality imaging strategy in vivo is expected to be used to further guide the clinical treatment and clinical therapy effect. [Display omitted] • We first propose α-CT activated 3D-PA/NIRF dual-modality non-peptide probe HDC. • The probe HDC exhibits enhancement of PA/NIRF signals upon the catalysis of α-CT. • The probe HDC enables 3D-PA/NIRF imaging of deep tumor with high spatial resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Daodi-herb is a part of Chinese culture, which has been naturally selected by traditional Chinese medicine clinical practice for many years. Sweet wormwood herb is a kind of Daodi-herb, and comes from Artemisia annua L. Artemisinin is a kind of effective antimalarial drug being extracted from A. annua. Because of artemisinin, Sweet wormwood herb earns a reputation. Based on the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China (PPRC), Sweet wormwood herb can be used to resolve summerheat-heat, and prevent malaria. Besides, it also has other medical efficacies. A. annua, a medicinal plant that is widely distributed in the world contains many kinds of chemical composition. Research has shown that compatibility of artemisinin, scopoletin, arteannuin B and arteannuic acid has antimalarial effect. Compatibility of scopoletin, arteannuin B and arteannuic acid is conducive to resolving summerheat-heat. Chemical constituents in A. annua vary significantly according to geographical locations. So, distribution of A. annua may play a key role in the characteristics of efficacy and chemical constituents of Sweet wormwood herb. It is of great significance to study this relationship. Objectives: We mainly analyzed the relationship between the chemical constituents (arteannuin B, artemisinin, artemisinic acid, and scopoletin) with special efficacy in A. annua that come from different provinces in china, and analyzed the relationship between chemical constituents and spatial distribution, in order to find out the relationship between efficacy, chemical constituents and distribution. Methods: A field survey was carried out to collect A. annua plant samples. A global positioning system (GPS) was used for obtaining geographical coordinates of sampling sites. Chemical constituents in A. annua were determined by liquid chromatography tandem an atmospheric pressure ionization-electrospray mass spectrometry. Relationship between chemical constituents including proportions, correlation analysis (CoA), principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (ClA) was displayed through Excel and R software version2.3.2(R), while the one between efficacy, chemical constituents and spatial distribution was presented through ArcGIS10.0, Excel and R software. Results: According to the results of CoA, arteannuin B content presented a strong positive correlation with artemisinic acid content (p = 0), and a strong negative correlation with artemisinin content (p = 0). Scopoletin content presented a strong positive correlation with artemisinin content (p = 0), and a strong negative correlation with artemisinic acid content (p = 0). According to the results of PCA, the first two principal components accounted for 81.57% of the total accumulation contribution rate. The contribution of the first principal component is about 45.12%, manly including arteannuin B and artemisinic acid. The contribution of the second principal component is 36.45% of the total, manly including artemisinin and scopoletin. According to the ClA by using the principal component scores, 19 provinces could be divided into two groups. In terms of provinces in group one, the proportions of artemisinin are all higher than 80%. Based on the results of PCA, ClA, percentages and scatter plot analysis, chemical types are defined as "QHYS type", "INT type" and "QHS type." Conclusion: As a conclusion, this paper shows the relationship between efficacy, chemical constituents and distribution. Sweet wormwood herb with high arteannuin B and artemisinic acid content, mainly distributes in northern China. Sweet wormwood herb with high artemisinin and scopoletin content has the medical function of preventing malaria, which mainly distributes in southern China. In this paper, it is proved that Sweet wormwood Daodi herb growing in particular geographic regions, has more significant therapeutical effect and higher chemical constituents compared with other same kind of CMM. And also, it has proved the old saying in China that Sweet wormwood Daodi herb which has been used to resolve summerheat-heat and prevent malaria, which distributed in central China. But in modern time, Daodi Sweet wormwood herb mainly has been used to extract artemisinin and prevent malaria, so the Daod-region has transferred to the southern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we investigated the optimum adsorption conditions, adsorption characteristics and surviva of Lactobacillus acidophilus adsorbed on attapulgite (ATT). Results of single factor experiments showed that the optimum adsorption parameters were ATT concentration of 10%, initial pH of 6.5 and temperature of 35 °C. From the static experiments of adsorption characteristics, we found that the experimental data were fitted best to the pseudo-secondorder kinetics and Langmuir isotherm models, and the adsorption was a spontaneous and endothermic process. Bacteria survival test showed that the microencapsulated L. acidophilus stored at −18 °C for 30 days achieved the highest survival rate (83.2% ± 5.8) and obtained better protection at simulated conditions of gastric pH and at high bile salt concentrations when compared with free bacteria. The study demonstrated that microencapsulation of L. acidophilus in ATT was an effective technique of protection against low-temperature injury and under simulated gastrointestinal environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cysteine (Cys), one of cellular biothiols in the organism, is associated with many diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, liver damage, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. However, activatable fluorescence/photoacoustic (FL/PA) probes for non-invasive, real-time, and deep imaging of Cys in vivo are still lacking, and this hinders the diagnosis of Cys-related diseases. Herein, we designed and synthesized a novel activated FL/PA dual-modality cyanine-base probe (FP 700) for real-time detection of Cys. The probe FP 700 was established with near-infrared emissive dye cyanin as the fluorophore, linking with 2, 4-dinitrobenzenesulfonyl group as the recognition moiety for Cys. Using the FP 700 , we found that the FP 700 exhibited intensive "turn-on" FL/PA signals under the excitation of 700 nm, which realized noninvasive in vivo detection of exogenous Cys. Significantly, FP 700 accurately detected endogenous Cys though the FL/PA dual-mode imaging technology in tumor-bearing mice and obtain 3D PA diagnostic images with deep penetration depth and spatial resolution. Thus, the new dual-modality probe FP 700 has advantage of high potential for deep tumor diagnosis of Cys in vivo , which may provide a new approach for the detection of cervical cancer and identification of its potential therapeutic targets. [Display omitted] • The probe FP 700 can recognize exogenous Cys in vitro by fluorescence and photoacoustic signals. • The probe FP 700 achieves non-invasive and real-time monitoring of exogenous Cys level in vivo. • The probe FP 700 can detect endogenous Cys though the FL/PA dual-mode imaging technology in tumor-bearing mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we report the growth of high-quality aligned ZnO nanowires via a facile atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The CVD reactor chamber used was more complicated than a conventional one due to the quartz boats loaded with sources (ZnO/C) and substrates being inserted into a semi-open quartz tube, and then placed inside the CVD reactor. The semi-open quartz tube played a very important role in growing the ZnO nanowires, and demonstrated that the transportation properties of Zn and O vapor differ from those in the conventional CVD reactor chamber. Aligned ZnO nanowires were successfully obtained, though they were only found at substrates located upstream. The very high crystalline quality of the obtained ZnO nanowires was demonstrated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and room temperature photoluminescence investigations. Such ZnO nanowires with high crystalline quality may provide opportunities for the fabrication of ZnO-based nano-devices in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lipid droplets (LDs) are a kind of subcellular organelle, and LDs' polarity is closely associated with the initiation and development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, due to the lack of robust tools, the evaluation of NAFLD faces the challenge of quantitative diagnosis. Herein, we synthesized a new polarity-sensitive probe CCB , enabling it to quantify the process of fatty liver degeneration in real-time via fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). The fluorescence lifetime of the probe CCB had a good linear fitting relationship with the polarity, which could be used to quantitatively detect the LDs' polarity via fluorescence lifetime. The robust probe CCB successfully monitored the changes in LDs' polarity via FLIM at cellular and tissue levels in the steatosis process of NAFLD for the first time, which may enlighten to the quantitative diagnosis of NAFLD. [Display omitted] • The fluorescence lifetime of the probe CCB showed a good linear fit with polarity. • CCB successfully achieved the lipid droplets targeting in the cellular and tissue levels. • CCB was applied for the LDs polarity quantitative detection in steatosis via FLIM for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the variations in main flavor compounds of a Chinese brandy during the second distillation process using headspace-solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 97 volatile compounds involving esters, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, furans, benzene derivatives and terpenes were quantified, and 28 components were identified as key ingredients. By monitoring the second distillation process, it was found that most ethyl esters (ethyl hexanoate, ethyl octanoate, etc.), alcohols (3-methylbutanol, etc.), terpenes (linalool, etc.), acetaldehyde and ionone all had higher values at the beginning of the distillation, but declined gradually or sharply along with the distillation process. However, two esters (ethyl lactate and diethyl succinate), acids (acetic acid, hexanoic acid), benzene derivatives (2-phenylethanol, etc.) and furan (furfural) showed lower levels when the distillation was just started, and gradually increased, accumulating as a large quantity at the end of the distillation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Strong electron withdrawing group BF 2 enhances the ICT effect in AIE materials. • The solvatochromic probes realize polarity sensing and lipid droplets monitoring. • The probes visualize the metabolic response of lipid droplets to nutrient changes. • The new probe LDs-BCA successfully imaged the gastric fat in living obese mouse. Lipid droplets (LDs), are multi-functional organelles with the storage of neutral lipids and proteins, participating in various of physiological processes. However, abnormal of LDs in morphology and numbers always lead to multiple diseases, including cancer, viral infection, obesity, inflammation. To better understand the physiological function of LDs in living cells, we designed two new fluorescent probes LDs-CA and LDs-BCA based on the triphenylamine and coumarin fluorophores to monitor LDs polarity and numbers variation in this work. The one-step strategy for the regulation of BF 2 group realized a gratifying in emission wavelengths from orange fluorescence of LDs-CA to the red fluorescence of LDs-BCA , surprisingly. The two novel probes showed strong positive solvatochromism effect in different solvents and exhibited the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) effect. Based on the above excellent optical properties, LDs-CA and LDs-BCA were applied for imaging of the LDs with high overlap coefficient when co-stained with commercial dyes, respectively. The probes of LDs-CA and LDs-BCA provided an intuitive method to visualize the dynamic changes of LDs in morphology, size, and numbers under nutritional stimulation, affording a powerful tool for fluorescence visualization of LDs related biological processes. Notably, the near-infrared emissive probe LDs-BCA successfully imaged the gastric fat in living obese mouse, which may provide a new idea for medical diagnostics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A latest coding scheme named polarization‐adjusted convolutional (PAC) codes is shown to approach the dispersion bound for the code (128,64) under list decoding. However, to achieve the near‐bound performance, the list size of list decoding needs to be excessively large, which leads to insufferable time complexity. In this paper, to improve the speed of list decoding, fast list decoders for PAC codes are proposed. Four types of constituent nodes are defined and fast list decoding algorithms are provided for each of them. Simulation results present that fast list decoding with three types of constituent nodes can yield exactly the same error‐correction performance as list decoding, and reduce more than 50% time steps for the code (128,64). Moreover, fast list decoding with four types of constituent nodes can further reduce decoding complexity with negligible performance degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biochar is a well-known carbon material with diversified functionalities and excellent physicochemical characteristics with high wastewater treatment potential. This review aims to summarize recent advancements in the development of biochar and biochar-based nanohybrid materials as a potential tool for the removal of harmful organic compounds such as synthetic dyes/effluents. The formation of biochar using pyrolysis of renewable feedstocks and their applications in various industries are explained hereafter. The characteristics and construction of biochar-based hybrid materials are explained in detail. Diversity of feedstocks, including municipal wastes, industrial byproducts, agricultural, and forestry residues, endows different biochar types with a wide structural variety. The production of cost-effective biochar drives the interest in manipulating biochars and induces desire functionality using nanoscale reinforcements. Various types of biochars, such as magnetic biochar, layered nanomaterial coated biochar, nanometallic oxide composites, chemically and physically functionalized biochar, have been produced. With the aid of nanomaterial, hybrid biochar exhibits a high potential to remove toxic contaminants. Depending upon biochar type, dyes/effluents can be removed via different mechanisms, including the Fenton process, photocatalytic degradation, π–π interaction, electrostatic interaction, and physical adsorption. In conclusion, desired physicochemical features, and tunable surface properties of biochar present high potential material in removing organic dyes and other effluents. The blended biochar with different materials/nanomaterials endows broader development and multi-functional opportunities for treating dyes/effluents. [Display omitted] • Biochar-based nanohybrids, as trendy materials, are reviewed. • The characteristic rendering biochar matrices for environmental settings are given. • The work spotlight the efficient treatment of hazardous contaminants using biochar-based nanohybrids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mg-Al-Ca-Mn alloys with Ca/Al ≥ 1 of AX33, AX44, and AX55 were prepared by combining three processes of water-cooling semi-continuous cast, homogenization heat treatment, and hot extrusion. The as-fabricated alloys translated into composites consisting of α-Mg solid solution + granular Al2Ca. These alloys exhibited some favourable properties such as a tensile strength of 324~350 MPa at room temperature and 187~210 MPa at elevated temperature of 423 K, an ignition temperature of 1292~1344 K, and so on. Variation trend between performance and content of Al and Ca is given in this paper. The result indicated that the emerged second-phase Al2Ca in the alloys was beneficial to the improvement in mechanical properties, heat resistance, flame retardation, and corrosion resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which investigated an intercarrier interference (ICI) self-cancellation scheme, a way for suppressing ICI in orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM). ICI mechanism of standard OFDM systems; Types of OFDM system; Conclusions.

Objective To investigate the characteristics of trace elements and amino acid metabolism in the blood of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC) and to guide clinical treatment. Methods This study included 125 untreated patients with primary HCC in Tangshan Maternal and Child Health Hospital and Tangshan Guzhi District Hospital from March to November, 2013, as well as 50 healthy controls who underwent physical examination in Tangshan Maternal and Child Health Hospital. Blood trace elements were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry, and the levels of amino acids were determined by an amino acid analyzer. Comparison of continuous data was made by t test. Results Compared with the controls, the HCC patients had a significantly higher Cu level (t=6.30, P<0.05) and significantly lower Zn, Fe, and Mg levels (t=10.15, 3.98, and 2.25, all P<0.05). The HCC patients showed significant increases in tyrosine, phenylalanine, and methionine levels (t=10.10, 13.46, and 2.34, al P<0.05) and significant decreases in valine, isoleucine, leucine, and arginine levels (t=3.65, 2.98, 5. 67, ad 8.35, al P<0.05). Conclusion HCC patients show changes in various amino acids and trace elements in blood. Measurement of trace elements and amino acids is of certain significance for evaluating HCC patients' condition and guiding clinical treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent developments of organic fluorescence probes for detecting mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) have been reviewed for the first time. • The significance of designing organic fluorescent probes for the detection of MMP. • The design concept and recognition mechanisms of the fluorescent probes for the detection of MMP. • The advantages and limitations of the fluorescent probes in the application to detect MMP. • The perspectives of the organic fluorescent probes for sensing MMP. Mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), as a key indicator of mitochondrial function, can reflect the cellular health status. The dysfunction of MMP, even the subtle unusual changes, can greatly affect the intracellular bioactivities, causing various diseases, such as keratitis, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and even cancer. Thus, detecting the variation of MMP has great significance for biological research and medical diagnosis. Due to the advantages of real-time and in-situ monitoring, a variety of organic fluorescent probes have been developed in recent years for the detection of MMP. However, this interesting and frontier topic has not been reviewed so far. In this review, we will focus on several kinds of recent organic fluorescent probes that have provided insights into MMP detection, including design concepts, responding mechanisms and applications of the representative examples. In addition, there are still some shortcomings and limitations of existing fluorescent probes on MMP detection, such as susceptible to interference, unquantifiable detection, and lack of clinical application. This critical review may promote the development of more robust MMP fluorescent probes, providing more powerful tools for researching basic biology to improve cancer diagnoses and treatments in clinics in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Novel self-assembled carrier-free SN38/Ce6 NPs were fabricated. • The driving forces for the self-assembly process were exhaustively disclosed. • The NPs exhibited higher in vitro/in vivo 1O 2 generation capacity. • The NPs displayed enhanced cellular uptake efficiency and tumor accumulation. • The NPs showed superior in vivo antitumor efficacy and minimal systemic toxicity. The combination therapy strategy based on both chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy (PDT) exhibits great potential for advanced cancer treatment. Multimodal nanodrug delivery systems based on both chemotherapeutic drug and photodynamic agent have been proven to possess excellent synergistic efficacy. In this study, 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN38) and chlorin e6 (Ce6) were co-assembled into novel carrier-free nanoparticles (SN38/Ce6 NPs) via simple antisolvent precipitation method. As expected, SN38/Ce6 NPs exhibited uniform morphology with a particle size of around 150 nm and a zeta potential of about −30 mV, good stability in aqueous solution/at lyophilized state and high cellular uptake efficiency against murine mammary carcinoma (4T1) cell lines. Besides, enhanced singlet oxygen generation capacity of the nanoparticles was both observed in test-tube and in 4T1 cell lines in contrast with Ce6 injection. Moreover, a ∼85 % inhibition rate of SN38/Ce6 NPs with laser was detected, which was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those without laser (∼65 %) and injections (less than 20 %), verified the excellent synergistic antitumor efficacy of the nanoparticles due to combined chemo-photodynamic therapy, enhanced tumor accumulation and higher cellular internalization. Notably, chemical thermodynamic method and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations supplied solid data and visual images to estimate the driving forces for the self-assembly process of the carrier-free nanoparticles as primary hydrophobic interactions (π-π stacking) and subordinate hydrogen bonds. Conclusively, the above self-assembled carrier-free nanoparticles represented a promising synergistic anticancer strategy capable of maximal therapeutic efficacy and minimal systemic toxicity. Moreover, the application of thermodynamic method together with MD simulations in the investigation of NPs self-assembly process also provided new ideas for the assembly mechanism exploration of more complicated nanodrug delivery system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing employment of non-degradable polymers based single-use, disposable medical devices have led to huge environmental pressure. Replacement of non-degradable polymers with biodegradable alternatives could be one solution. Since terminal sterilization is a necessary procedure for medical devices to eliminate infections, in this paper, the modifications of sterilization on the transparency, yellow index, dimensional stability and mechanical properties of commercial biodegradable poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(butylenes adipate- co -terephthalate) (PBAT) and their blends were investigated. The samples were prepared by compression molding and exposed to four sterilization treatments including ethylene oxide gas (EtO), saturated steam (SS), electron beam (EB), and hydrogen peroxide gas plasma (HPGP). It is concluded that EB can be applied for the sterilization of all the materials investigated, while SS and EtO are not recommended for PLA, and HPGP is not for PBAT and PLA/PBAT blends. This study demonstrates that, when a suitable sterilization process is chosen, PLA has potential to be used for transparent medical devices such as the barrel of syringes or microfluidic chips, while PBAT and PLA/PBAT blends for other non-transparent medical packaging applications. Unlabelled Image • Modifications of sterilization on PLA, PBAT and their blends were investigated. • Different sterilization processes including EtO, SS, EB, and HPGP were applied. • EB can be applied for the sterilization of all the materials investigated. • SS and EtO are not recommended for PLA. • HPGP is not recommended for PBAT and PLA/PBAT blends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Yeast protein has lower digestibility than whey protein. • Yeast protein concentrate has a reasonable proportion of amino acid composition. • Yeast protein differs from whey protein in microstructure. • Yeast protein undergoes depolymerization and Plastein during digestion. Yeast protein concentrate, a by-product of the fermentation industry waste, is a potential alternative protein source with high nutritional quality, environmental sustainability, and functional properties. However, its digestibility and digestion behavior are poorly understood. In this study, we compared the in vitro digestion behavior of yeast protein concentrate and whey protein concentrate using simulated gastrointestinal conditions. We found that yeast protein concentrate had lower digestibility than whey protein concentrate (31.25% vs. 86.23% at 120 min of pepsin digestion and 75.12% vs. 95.2% at 120 min of pancreatin digestion). Yeast protein concentrate differed from whey protein concentrate in microstructure, secondary structure, and amino acid composition, which may affect its digestion behavior. Compared to whey protein concentrate, a higher level of β-sheets and a lower zeta potential explain the slow-digesting property of yeast protein concentrate. Yeast protein concentrate also underwent depolymerization and Plastein reaction during digestion. These results provided valuable information for developing and applying yeast protein concentrate as an alternative to conventional animal protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Puerariae Thomsonii Radix (PTR) is not only widely used in disease prevention and treatment but is also an important raw material as a source of starch and other food. The growth years of PTR are closely related to its quality. The rapid and nondestructive identification of growth year is essential for the quality control of PTR and other traditional Chinese medicines. In this study, we proposed a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based classification framework in conjunction with hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology for the rapid identification of the growth years of PTRs. Traditional treatment methods (i.e., multiplicative scatter correction, standard normal variate, and Savitzky-Golay smoothing) combined with machine learning algorithms (i.e., random forest, logistic regression, naive Bayes, and eXtreme gradient boost) were used as baseline models. Among them, the F1-score of CNN-based models based on PTRs' outer surfaces was over 90%, outperforming all the other baseline models. These results showed that it was feasible to use a deep learning algorithm in conjunction with HSI technology to identify the growth years of PTR. This method provides a fast, nondestructive, and simple method of identifying the growth years of PTR. It can be easily applied to other scenarios, such as for the identification of the locality or years of growth for other traditional Chinese herbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a natural green additive, gallic acid has been widely used in food production. However, it can inhibit the physiological metabolism of Escherichia coli, which severely limits the ability and efficiency of gallic acid production. To explore the adaptation mechanism of E. coli under gallic acid stress and further explore the target of genetic modification, the effects of gallic acid stress on the fermentation characteristics of E. coli W3110 ATCC (82057) were investigated by cell biomass and cell morphometry. Moreover, transcriptome analysis was used to analyze the gene transcription level of E. coli W3110 ATCC (82057) to explore effects of gallic acid stress on important essential physiological processes. The results showed that under high concentration of gallic acid, the biomass of E. coli W3110 ATCC (82057) decreased significantly and the cells showed irregular morphology. Transcriptome analysis showed that E. coli W3110 ATCC (82057) improved its adaptive capacity through three strategies. First, genes of bamD, ompC, and ompF encoding outer membrane protein BamD, OmpC, and OmpC were decreased 5-, 31.1- and 8.1-fold, respectively, under gallic acid stress compared to the control, leading to the reduction of gallic acid absorption. Moreover, genes (mdtA, mdtB, mdtC, mdtD, mdtE, and mdtF) related to MdtABC multidrug efflux system and multidrug efflux pump MdtEF were up-regulated by1.0–53.0 folds, respectively, and genes (aaeA, aaeB, and aaeX) related to AaeAB efflux system were up-regulated by 8.0–13.3 folds, respectively, which contributed to the excretion of gallic acid. In addition, genes of acid fitness island also were up-regulated by different degrees under the stress of an acidic environment to maintain the stability of the intracellular environment. In conclusion, E. coli W3110 ATCC (82057) would enhance its tolerance to gallic acid by reducing absorption, increasing excretion, and maintaining intracellular environment stability. This study provides research ideas for the construction of engineered strains with high gallic acid yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polar codes are known as the first capacity-achievable codes with low encoding and decoding complexity. The sequential decoding nature of traditional polar decoding algorithms such as successive cancellation (SC) results in high decoding latency, which is not suitable for services that require high reliability and low latency. Deep learning for decoding, referred to as neural network decoder (NND), has shown strong competitiveness because of its non-iterative and full-parallel feature. Whereas, the bit-error-rate (BER) performance of NND is still not satisfactory. In this paper, we first propose a residual learning denoiser (RLD) for polar codes. The RLD can remarkably improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and reduce the symbol-error-rate (SER) of received symbols. In order to decode polar codes more efficiently, we subsequently propose a residual neural network decoder (RNND) for polar codes. Different from the traditional pure-NND (PNND) which directly uses neural network for decoding received symbols, the proposed RNND concatenates a RLD used for denoising and a NND used for decoding. We provide a novel multi-task learning (MTL) strategy to jointly optimize the denoiser and decoder, and find that the denoising gain of Joint-RLD is more significant than the Independent-RLD. Numerical results show that the proposed RNND outperforms its counterpart PNND with regard to the BER performance. In addition, the optimal RNND(MLP-MLP) approaches the traditional SC decoding performance, while saving more than one hundred times of computation time. Eventually, scalability of the RNND to longer polar codes as well as LDPC codes further demonstrates the superiority of our proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The controllable character of the melting point of deep eutectic solvents (DESs) makes it easy to realize lubricated state transitions and produce excellent lubricating properties during friction. In this work, a series of novel imidazole-based DESs were synthesized to present a room-temperature solid state by shifting its eutectic point. Tribological test results show that the wear volume of these DESs decreases as the alkyl chains of the hydrogen bond donors increase. A proper deviation of the eutectic point in DESs produces stable lubricating properties. The present work provides a novel and simple method to prepare solid lubricants and enriches the use of DESs as lubricants. Simultaneously, the method expected to replace the use of conventional cutting fluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turtle shell (Chinemys reecesii) is a prized traditional Chinese dietary therapy, and the growth year of turtle shell has a significant impact on its quality attributes. In this study, a hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technique combined with a proposed deep learning (DL) network algorithm was investigated for the objective determination of the growth year of turtle shells. The acquisition of hyperspectral images was carried out in the near-infrared range (948.72–2512.97 nm) from samples spanning five different growth years. To fully exploit the spatial and spectral information while reducing redundancy in hyperspectral data simultaneously, three modules were developed. First, the spectral–spatial attention (SSA) module was developed to better protect the spectral correlation among spectral bands and capture fine-grained spatial information of hyperspectral images. Second, the 3D convolutional neural network (CNN), more suitable for the extracted 3D feature map, was employed to facilitate the joint spatial–spectral feature representation. Thirdly, to overcome the constraints of convolution kernels as well as better capture long-range correlation between spectral bands, the transformer encoder (TE) module was further designed. These modules were harmoniously orchestrated, driven by the need to effectively leverage both spatial and spectral information within hyperspectral data. They collectively enhance the model's capacity to extract joint spatial and spectral features to discern growth years accurately. Experimental studies demonstrated that the proposed model (named SSA–3DTE) achieved superior classification accuracy, with 98.94% on average for five-category classification, outperforming traditional machine learning methods using only spectral information and representative deep learning methods. Also, ablation experiments confirmed the effectiveness of each module to improve performance. The encouraging results of this study revealed the potentiality of HSI combined with the DL algorithm as an efficient and non-destructive method for the quality control of turtle shells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Puerariae Thomsonii Radix (PTR) is not only widely used in disease prevention and treatment but is also an important raw material as a source of starch and other food. The growth years of PTR are closely related to its quality. The rapid and nondestructive identification of growth year is essential for the quality control of PTR and other traditional Chinese medicines. In this study, we proposed a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based classification framework in conjunction with hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology for the rapid identification of the growth years of PTRs. Traditional treatment methods (i.e., multiplicative scatter correction, standard normal variate, and Savitzky-Golay smoothing) combined with machine learning algorithms (i.e., random forest, logistic regression, naive Bayes, and eXtreme gradient boost) were used as baseline models. Among them, the F1-score of CNN-based models based on PTRs' outer surfaces was over 90%, outperforming all the other baseline models. These results showed that it was feasible to use a deep learning algorithm in conjunction with HSI technology to identify the growth years of PTR. This method provides a fast, nondestructive, and simple method of identifying the growth years of PTR. It can be easily applied to other scenarios, such as for the identification of the locality or years of growth for other traditional Chinese herbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Herein, we developed and characterized robust agarose–chitosan hydrogel using N ‑hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) as a mild chemical cross-linker. The hydrogel offered a simple, effective and eco-friendlier support material with >90% of immobilization efficiency of horseradish peroxidase. The surface morphology and functional properties of the agarose–chitosan hydrogel with and without immobilized horseradish peroxidase were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared, respectively. The agarose–chitosan hydrogel-immobilized horseradish peroxidase (ACH–HRP) exhibited wide-working pH and temperature stability, and promising reusability for its substrate oxidation. The ACH-HRP preserved a better activity under acidic environments, pH 4.0 (38 vs. 5.9%), and well stabilized under alkaline conditions, retaining a 3.9-folds greater activity than a free counterpart at pH 10. With reference to a free enzyme, 1.6- and 4-fold greater catalytic activity was achieved at 50 and 70 °C, respectively, by the immobilized HRP. Further, the hydrogel displayed insignificant loss in enzyme functionality sustaining above 90% and 60% of original activity after 5 and 10 continuous cycles of use. HPLC profile corroborated the enzyme-assisted Reactive Blue 19 (RB-19) degradation, whereas UPLC/MS analysis scrutinized the dye degradation intermediates and a tentative mechanistic degradation pathway was proposed. In conclusion, the results demonstrate that ACH-HRP is a promising option for use as industrial biocatalyst in diverse biotechnological applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this study, novel ritonavir solid dispersion (RTV SD) formulations were prepared with copovidone (PVPVA 64) and optimized plasticizers via hot-melt extrusion (HME) at different extrusion temperature to evaluate the effect of plasticizers on the process of HME. The optimized drug-loading content of RTV SD formulations was around 15% and RTV was converted to the amorphous state and integrated through physical interactions (possibly hydrogen bonding) with the polymeric carrier. Using Span 20 or HSPC as plasticizer, the HME extrusion temperature of RTV SD formulations suggested a decrease of 10 °C or 20 °C. Furthermore, the in vitro release and the in vivo pharmacokinetics analyses both showed that RTV SD formulations using Span 20 or HSPC as plasticizer possessed better release profiles and bioavailability over RTV bulk powder but showed equal physicochemical characteristics compared to RTV SD formulations without plasticizer. According to the increased drug solubility, enhanced dissolution profiles, superior bioavailability, but decreased extrusion temperature in HME process, the RTV SD formulation using HSPC as plasticizer could be potentially applied in the clinic as an efficient drug delivery system, and HSPC is recommended as an efficient plasticizer for manufacturing RTV SD formulations via HME. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Protein-based macromolecules such as keratin, silk fibroin, collagen, gelatin, and fibrin have emerged as potential candidate materials with unique structural and functional characteristics. Despite many advantages, the development of tissue-engineered constructs that can match the biological context of real tissue matrix remains a challenge in tissue engineering (TE). The tissue-engineered constructs should also support vascularization. Protein-based macromolecules, in pristine or combine form, provide a promising platform to engineer constructs with unique design and functionalities which are highly essential for an appropriate stimulation and differentiation of cells in a specific TE approach. However, much work remains to be undertaken with particular reference to in-depth interactions between constructed cues and target host tissues. Thus, modern advancements are emphasizing to understand critiques and functionalization of protein-based macromolecule that organize not only cellular activities but also tissue regenerations. In this review, numerous physicochemical, functional, and structural characteristics of protein-based macromolecules such as keratin, silk fibroin, collagen, gelatin, and fibrin are discussed. This review also presents the hope vs. hype phenomenon for tissue engineering. Later part of the review focuses on different requisite characteristics and their role in TE. The discussion presented here could prove highly useful for the construction of scaffolds with requisite features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • HPMCAS-HF exhibited superior recrystallization inhibition property for nimodipine. • Nimodipine solid dispersion was prepared with HPMCAS-HF by hot-melt extrusion. • NM-SD tablets were compressed with nimodipine solid dispersion. • NM-SD tablets exhibited higher solubility and enhanced dissolution profiles. • Hot-melt extrusion technique could be employed to improve bioavailability of nimodipine formulations. Abstract In current study, a novel nimodipine solid dispersion (NM-SD) was prepared by hot-melt extrusion (HME) with Hypromellose methylcellulose acetate succinate (H type and fine grades, HPMCAS-HF) for its excellent recrystallization inhibition effects. NM was confirmed to exist as an amorphous state in NM-SD by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), hot stage microscopy (HSM) and scanning electron micrographs (SEM). FT-IR analysis illustrated hydrogen bond interaction between drugs and excipients in NM-SD. The release behavior of NM-SD tablets was investigated in the dissolution medium of pH 6.8 for the in vitro study, which showed that the release of nimodipine could be realized in vitro without recrystallization within two hours. The in vivo pharmacokinetic profiles study in Sprague-Dawley rats was also determined. It was obvious that the C max value of NM-SD tablets made by dry granulation was slightly higher than Nimotop®, while the area under the curve, AUC (0-t) exhibited no significant difference between them. In conclusion, the solubility of NM and dissolution rate of NM-SD tablets were greatly improved by HME due to the recrystallization inhibition characteristic of HPMCAS-HF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In the past few decades, the enzyme immobilization technology has been exploited a lot and thus became a matter of rational design. Immobilization is an alternative approach to bio-catalysis with the added benefits, adaptability to automation and high-throughput applications. Immobilization-based approaches represent simple but effective routes for engineering enzyme catalysts with higher activities than wild-type or pristine counterparts. From the chemistry viewpoint, the concept of stabilization via manipulation of functional entities, the enzyme surfaces have been an important driving force for immobilizing purposes. In addition, the unique physiochemical and structural functionalities of pristine or engineered cues, or insoluble support matrices (carrier) such as mean particle diameter, swelling behavior, mechanical strength, and compression behavior are of supreme interest and importance for the performance of the immobilized systems. Immobilization of peroxidases into/onto insoluble support matrices is advantageous for practical applications due to convenience in handling, ease separation of enzymes from a reaction mixture and the reusability. A plethora of literature is available explaining individual immobilization system. However, current literature lacks the chemistry viewpoint of immobilization. This review work presents state-of-the-art “Smart” chemistry of immobilization and novel potentialities of several materials-based cues with different geometries including microspheres, hydrogels and polymeric membranes, nanoparticles, nanofibers, composite and hybrid or blended support materials. The involvement of various functional groups including amino, thiol, carboxylic, hydroxyl, and epoxy groups via “click” chemistry, amine chemistry, thiol chemistry, carboxyl chemistry, and epoxy chemistry over the protein surfaces is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Al2O3/Cu composite material (ACCM) are highly suitable for various advanced applications owing to its excellent properties. In the present work, a combination of the solution combustion synthesis and hydrogen reduction method was first employed to prepare Al2O3/Cu composite powder (ACCP), and subsequently ACCM was prepared by employing spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique. The effect of Al2O3 contents and SPS temperatures on the properties (relative density, hardness, friction coefficient, and electrical conductivity, et al.) of ACCM were investigated in detail. The results indicated that ACCM was very dense, and microstructure was consisted of fine Al2O3 particles evenly distributed in the Cu matrix. With the increase of SPS temperature, the relative density and hardness of ACCM had first increased and then decreased. At 775 °C, the relative density and hardness had attained the maximum values of 98.19% and 121.4 HV, respectively. With the increase of Al2O3 content, although the relative density of ACCM had gradually decreased, nevertheless, its friction coefficient had increased. Moreover, with the increase of Al2O3 contents, the hardness of ACCM first increased and then decreased, and reached the maximum value (121.4 HV) with 3 wt.% addition. On the contrary, the wear rate of ACCM had first decreased and then increased with the increase of Al2O3 contents, and attained the minimum (2.32 × 10−5 mm3/(N.m)) with 3 wt.% addition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was carried out to screen a potential probiotic microbe with broad‐spectrum antagonistic activity against food‐borne pathogens and identify the antimicrobial compounds. Based on morphological and molecular analysis, a new Bacillus strain with the ability to produce effective antimicrobial agents was isolated from the breeding soil of earthworms and identified as having a close evolutionary footprint to Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. The antimicrobial substances produced by B. amyloliquefaciens show effective inhibition of Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium oxysporum in an agar diffusion assay. Antimicrobial agents were identified as a series of fengycin and its isoforms (fengycin A and fengycin B) after being submitted to RT‐HPLC and MALDI‐TOF MS analyses. To evaluate the probiotic activity of the B. amyloliquefaciens, antibiotic safety and viability of the isolated strain in a simulated gastrointestinal environment were carried out. The safety test result revealed that strain LPB‐18 is susceptible to multiple common antibiotics. Moreover, acidic condition and bile salts assay were carried out, and the results revealed that it couble be a potential probiotic microbe B. amyloliquefaciens LPB‐18 is good choice for biological strains in agricultural commodities and animal feedstuffs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Butyric acid is an important platform chemical, which is widely used in the fields of food, pharmaceutical, energy, etc. Microbial fermentation as an alternative approach for butyric acid production is attracting great attention as it is an environmentally friendly bioprocessing. However, traditional fermentative butyric acid production is still not economically competitive compared to chemical synthesis route, due to the low titer, low productivity, and high production cost. Therefore, reduction of butyric acid production cost by utilization of alternative inexpensive feedstock, and improvement of butyric acid production and productivity has become an important target. Recently, several advanced strategies have been developed for enhanced butyric acid production, including bioprocess techniques and metabolic engineering methods. This review provides an overview of advances and strategies in process and strain engineering for butyric acid production by microbial fermentation. Additionally, future perspectives on improvement of butyric acid production are also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sixth generation advocates green communications, thus energy efficiency (EE) has become an important metric. In this study, a method to increase the EE of a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) aided point‐to‐point communication system is proposed, where both sources are equipped with multi‐antenna and operate in the full‐duplex (FD) mode. The extra power consumption for self‐interference cancellation in the FD mode is considered and modelled as a linear function of the transmission power. The EE maximisation problem is divided into an active beamforming subproblem for the two multi‐antenna sources and a passive beamforming subproblem for RIS, and an alternative optimisation framework is adopted to solve them iteratively. Dinkelbach's method is used to address the fractional objective function in the active beamforming optimisation problem. The penalty method and successive convex approximation are exploited for passive beamforming design. Simulation results show that the scheme can greatly boost the EE performance compared with the half‐duplex mode and is superior to the sum‐rate‐maximisation scheme in larger transmission power settings. The proposed method can be used to extend the lifetime of communication devices without deteriorating communication performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) has emerged as a promising technique for enhancing the performance of wireless networks. However, the traditional reflecting‐only RIS requires that the transmitter and receiver ought to be on the same side of the RIS, limiting the flexibility of RIS deployment. To overcome this drawback, a new simultaneous transmission and reflection reconfigurable intelligent surface (STAR‐RIS) has been proposed. Different from STAR‐RIS assisted half‐duplex systems in the existing literature, this work investigates a novel STAR‐RIS aided full‐duplex (FD) communication system. An FD base station (BS) communicates with an uplink (UL) user and a downlink user simultaneously over the same time‐frequency dimension assisted by a STAR‐RIS. The authors aim to maximise the energy efficiency by jointly optimising the transmit power of the BS and the UL user and the passive beamforming at the STAR‐RIS. The authors decouple the non‐convex problem into two subproblems and optimise them iteratively. The Dinkelbach's method is used to solve the power optimisation subproblem, whereas the penalty‐based method and successive convex approximation are applied to design the passive beamforming. The convergence and complexity of the proposed algorithm are also analysed. The simulation results demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed scheme compared with other baseline schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the past several years, there has been an increasing focus on deep learning methods applied into computational pulse diagnosis. However, one factor restraining its development lies in the small wrist pulse dataset, due to privacy risks or lengthy experiments cost. In this study, for the first time, we address the challenging by presenting a novel one-dimension generative adversarial networks (GAN) for generating wrist pulse signals, which manages to learn a mapping strategy from a random noise space to the original wrist pulse data distribution automatically. Concretely, Wasserstein GAN with gradient penalty (WGAN-GP) is employed to alleviate the mode collapse problem of vanilla GANs, which could be able to further enhance the performance of the generated pulse data. We compared our proposed model performance with several typical GAN models, including vanilla GAN, deep convolutional GAN (DCGAN) and Wasserstein GAN (WGAN). To verify the feasibility of the proposed algorithm, we trained our model with a dataset of real recorded wrist pulse signals. In conducted experiments, qualitative visual inspection and several quantitative metrics, such as maximum mean deviation (MMD), sliced Wasserstein distance (SWD) and percent root mean square difference (PRD), are examined to measure performance comprehensively. Overall, WGAN-GP achieves the best performance and quantitative results show that the above three metrics can be as low as 0.2325, 0.0112 and 5.8748, respectively. The positive results support that generating wrist pulse data from a small ground truth is possible. Consequently, our proposed WGAN-GP model offers a potential innovative solution to address data scarcity challenge for researchers working with computational pulse diagnosis, which are expected to improve the performance of pulse diagnosis algorithms in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Astrocyte-specific glutamate transporter subtype 1 (GLT-1) plays an important role in influencing glutamate excitatory toxicity and preventing the death of excitatory toxic neurons. Although the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/protein kinase B(Akt)/nuclear factor kappa B signaling cascade is involved in the upregulation of astrocytic GLT-1 in oxygen–glucose deprivation (OGD), it is unclear whether the mTOR/Akt pathway is involved in astrocytic GLT-1 upregulation in OGD and reoxygenation (OGD/R). In this study, we found that the treatment of cultured astrocytes with rapamycin and triciribine led to the decreased astrocytes' protrusions, smaller nuclei, and an increased apoptotic rate. The inhibitors of mTOR complex 1 significantly increased the expression levels of phosphorylated Akt-Ser473 (p-Akt), phosphorylated Akt-Thr308(p-Akt), and GLT-1, while Akt-specific inhibitors blocked GLT-1 expression, suggesting that the mTOR/Akt pathway is involved in GLT-1 upregulation. We further demonstrated that astrocytes under OGD/R adapted to environmental changes through the mTOR/Akt pathway, mainly by altering cell morphology and apoptosis and upregulating the expression levels of p-Akt and GLT-1. Our results suggested that astrocytes may adapt to short-term ischemic–reperfusion injury by regulating cell morphology, apoptosis and GLT-1 upregulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study is to use entropy to explore the change of pulse generated by normal pregnant women with gestational. Firstly, the subjects were divided into early (E), middle (M), and late (L) three stages according to gestational age. Then, pulse signals of the Chi position of 90 pregnant women at different gestational ages were collected. Secondly, the four entropies, namely fuzzy entropy (FuEn), approximate entropy (ApEn), sample entropy (SamEn), and permutation entropy (PerEn), were applied to the analysis of the long-term pulse changes of the pregnancy. Finally, the related information about pulse in different stages of pregnancy is given by the analysis of four kinds of entropy. Furthermore, the statistical tests are conducted for further comparison, and the descriptive statistics and the results are presented. In addition, boxplots are employed to show the distribution of four entropies of pregnancy. This work has studied the changes in pulse during pregnancy from quantitative and qualitative aspects. Our results show that entropy improves the diagnostic value of pulse analysis during pregnancy and could be applied to facilitate noninvasive diagnosis of pregnant women's physiological signals in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]