The introduction of metasurfaces has renewed the Snell's law and opened up new degrees of freedom to tailor the optical wavefront at will. Here, we theoretically demonstrate that the generalized ...Snell's law can be achieved for reflected acoustic waves based on ultrathin planar acoustic metasurfaces. The metasurfaces are constructed with eight units of a solid structure to provide discrete phase shifts covering the full 2π span with steps of π/4 by coiling up the space. By careful selection of the phase profiles in the transverse direction of the metasurfaces, some fascinating wavefront engineering phenomena are demonstrated, such as anomalous reflections, conversion of propagating waves into surface waves, planar aberration-free lens and nondiffracting Bessel beam generated by planar acoustic axicon. Our results could open up a new avenue for acoustic wavefront engineering and manipulations.
The radiation of electromagnetic and mechanical waves depends not only on the intrinsic properties of the emitter but also on the surrounding environment. This principle has laid the foundation for ...the development of lasers, quantum optics, sonar, musical instruments and other fields related to wave–matter interaction. In the conventional wisdom, the environment is defined exclusively by its eigenstates, and an emitter radiates into and interacts with these eigenstates. Here we show experimentally that this scenario breaks down at a non-Hermitian degeneracy known as an exceptional point. We find a chirality-reversal phenomenon in a ring cavity where the radiation field reveals the missing dimension of the Hilbert space, known as the Jordan vector. This phenomenon demonstrates that the radiation field of an emitter can become fully decoupled from the eigenstates of its environment. The generality of this striking phenomenon in wave–matter interaction is experimentally confirmed in both electromagnetic and acoustic systems. Our finding transforms the fundamental understanding of light–matter interaction and wave–matter interaction in general, and enriches the intriguing physics of exceptional points.The modes of the radiation field generated from an emitter are usually determined by the eigenstates of the surrounding environment. However, this scenario breaks down in a non-Hermitian system, at the spectral degeneracy known as an exceptional point.
Edge computing is an effective complementary technology to cloud computing, allowing end devices to offload tasks onto edge base stations (BSs) to satisfy the quality of experience of consumers. Due ...to the limitation of storage and computing resources, a single BS cannot satisfy the heavy computing tasks. In this regard, multi-BS collaboration is an effective way to alleviate this issue. Moreover, service caching and cloud-edge collaboration computing also show attractive advantages in handling the surging data traffic. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is rarely work that consider all of the aforementioned scenarios simultaneously. To fill this research gap, this paper comprehensively considers the computing offloading problem in sustainable edge computing based on the above scenarios. Specifically, the computing offloading problem is first modeled as a multi-objective optimization problem with the purpose of minimizing the delay and energy consumption. Then, a two-stage hybrid multi-objective optimization evolutionary algorithm, called TH-MOEA, is designed to address the above formulated problem, which uses a novel competitive swarm optimizer to accelerate convergence in the early evolutionary stage and adopts a diversity-enhanced immune algorithm to improve diversity in the later evolutionary stage. Simulation results show that TH-MOEA outperforms several state-of-the-art peer methods.
Frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) have been increasingly utilized as metal-free catalysts for manufacturing pharmaceutical and agricultural products with strict control of metal residues. However, the ...moisture sensitivity and homogeneity of typical FLPs significantly inhibit their practical applications and, meanwhile, stimulate the development of heterogeneous catalysts capable of addressing these issues. In this work, we report a flexible approach to fabricate borane–nitrogen containing phenolic organic microspheres (BNPs), severing as a new, moisture-tolerant, and bench-stable heterogeneous FLP catalyst for molecular hydrogen activation for selective hydrogenation of structurally diverse terminal alkynes to the respective alkenes. Mechanistic studies further revealed a heterolytic hydrogen splitting process, in which the in situ formation of active hydroborane species was involved. Given the wild applicability of FLP, our protocol, thus, paves a way for advancing BNPs as a new member of the heterogeneous FLP family for catalysis.
All agents engaging sphongosine-1-phospate receptors (S1PRs) will have some cardiovascular effect. This study aimed to elucidate the risk of cardiovascular adverse events (AEs) in patients with ...multiple sclerosis (MS) treated with S1PR modulators (S1PRMs).
We systematically searched the PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published through January 5, 2021. Relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using the random-effects model. Sensitivity analyses and meta-regression were performed.
Seventeen RCTs (12 for fingolimod; 3 for ozanimod; 2 for siponimod) involving 13,295 patients were included. Compared with the control treatment, S1PRMs significantly increased the risk of cardiovascular AEs (RR, 2.21; 95% CI, 1.58-3.10; I
, 75.6%). Notably, the high-risk cardiovascular AEs associated with S1PRMs were primarily bradyarrhythmia (RR, 2.92; 95% CI, 1.91-4.46; I
, 30.8%) and hypertension (RR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.49-2.67; I
, 56.5%). Subgroup analysis results were consistent with the primary outcomes except that ozanimod was associated with a higher risk of hypertension only (RR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.10-2.82; I
, 0.0%), while siponimod was associated with a higher risk of bradyarrhythmia only (RR, 2.75; 95% CI, 1.75-4.31; I
, 0.0%). No significant inter-subgroup differences were observed (P
> 0.05).
S1PRM use increased the risk of cardiovascular AEs by 1.21 times in patients with MS, and increased risks for bradyarrhythmia and hypertension were at 2.92- and 2.00-fold, respectively. These findings can help clinicians assess the risk of cardiovascular AEs in patients treated with S1PRMs.
The PROSPERO ID is CRD42020183215.
The tissue-specific bioaccumulation of Dechlorane Plus (DP) isomers was investigated in two predator fish species (redtail catfish, RF; and oscar fish, OF) that were feeding on tiger barb (TB), which ...was exposed to syn-DP and anti-DP isomers. The biotransformation potential of DP isomers was examined by in vitro metabolism using fish liver microsomes. No difference in accumulation behaviors of DP isomers was observed between RF and OF, and the accumulation of both syn- and anti-DP isomers exhibiting a linear increase trend with the exposure time in all fish tissues. The assimilation efficiencies and depuration rates for syn-DP and anti-DP were determined to be the highest in the liver. Biomagnification factors (BMFs) for both syn-DP and anti-DP were higher than one in the serum and gastrointestinal tract of fish, whereas were less than one in the other tissues. The wet-weight concentrations of DP isomers in tissues were significantly correlated with the lipid contents in both fish species, indicating that the tissue distribution of DP isomers occurred through passive diffusion to the lipid compartments in vivo. Tissue-specific compositions of DP isomers were observed, with anti-DP selectively accumulating in the liver, gonad, serum, and gills, whilst syn-DP in the carcass and GI tract. However, after being normalized of all tissues, the fish showed no selective accumulation of DP isomers during the exposure period, and selective accumulation of syn-DP was observed during the depuration period. No potential DP metabolites were detected in the fish tissues and in vitro metabolism systems. The main cause of this stereoselective DP isomer accumulation could have been the selective excretion of anti-DP isomer through the fish feces.
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•Accumulation of DP isomers was investigated in two predator fish species.•Similar accumulation behaviors of DP isomers were observed in the two fish species.•BMF< 1 was observed for DP in all tissues except for serum and gastrointestinal tract.•No DP metabolites was detected in fish, nor in the in vitro metabolism assay.•Accumulation of syn-DP in fish could be due to the selective excretion of anti-DP.
•rFSAV is a novel recombinant five-antigen Staphylococcus aureus vaccine.•Three immunization doses and four procedures were evaluated in phase 1a and 1b.•rFSAV is safe, well tolerated in healthy ...adults.•rFSAV elicits rapid and robust specific humoral and cellular immune responses.•Optimal perioperative regimen is worth further evaluation in targeted population.
Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen that causes hospital and community infections. To control Staphylococcus aureus infection and reduce the usage of antibiotics, we evaluated the safety and immunogenicity of a recombinant five-antigen Staphylococcus aureus vaccine (rFSAV) in healthy adults.
We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 1a study and a randomized, open-label phase 1b study. In phase 1a, we randomly allocated 144 healthy participants in a ratio of 1:1:1:1 to receive the low-(60 μg), middle-(120 μg), and high-dose (240 μg) vaccine or placebo at day 0, 3, 7 and 14. In phase 1b, 144 healthy participants were randomly allocated at a ratio of 1:1:1:1 to receive 0–3–7, 0/0–7, 0/0–3–7, 0/0–7–14 regimens to estimate the optimal strategy. The primary study endpoint was the incidence of solicited adverse events post-vaccination. The immunogenicity endpoints included the level of specific antibodies to five antigens after vaccination, as well as the cellular immune responses and functional antibodies.
There were 31 (86%), 30 (83%), and 32 (89%) of 36 participants in the low-, middle-, and high-dose group reported solicited adverse events, respectively, most of the adverse events were mild or moderate. In phase 1b, the dose-adjusted rFSAV (90 μg) showed a better safety profile in the four immune procedures, and no vaccine-related serious adverse events were reported. The antigen-specific binding antibodies started to increase at day 7 and reached the peak around day 14 to 21. The cellular immune responses and functional antibodies also were substantially above background levels.
rFSAV is safe, well tolerated in healthy adults, elicits rapid and robust specific humoral and cellular immune responses with unconventional immunization procedure in phase 1a and 1b. It deserves to be noted and further explored.
Clinical Trials Registration: NCT02804711 and NCT03966040.
We design and experimentally demonstrate a broadband yet compact acoustic diode (AD) by using an acoustic nonlinear material and a pair of gain and lossy materials. Due to the capabilities of ...maintaining the original frequency and high forward transmission while blocking backscattered wave, our design is closer to the desired features of a perfect AD and is promising to play the essential diode-like role in realistic acoustic systems, such as ultrasound imaging, noise control and nondestructive testing. Furthermore, our design enables improving the sensitivity and the robustness of device simultaneously by tailoring an individual structural parameter. We envision our design will take a significant step towards the realization of applicable acoustic one-way devices, and inspire the research of non-reciprocal wave manipulation in other fields.
Human infections with vaccinia virus (VACV), mostly from laboratory accidents or contact with infected animals, have occurred since smallpox was eradicated in 1980. No recent cases have been reported ...in China. We report on an outbreak of VACV from occupational exposure to rabbit skins inoculated with VACV.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
As a leading cause of respiratory disease, influenza A virus (IAV) infection remains a pandemic threat in annual seasonal outbreaks. Given the limitation of existing anti-influenza therapeutic drugs, ...development of new drugs is urgently required. Flavonoids extracted from Artemisia rupestris L. have an inhibitory effect on virus infections. Despite this fact, the antiviral properties of 6-demethoxy-4'-O-methylcapillarisin (DMO-CAP), one of such flavonoids, against the influenza virus have not been reported. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate the anti-IAV virus efficacy and antiviral mechanism of DMO-CAP.
The inhibitory activity of DMO-CAP against IAV was detected in vitro using viral titers by Western blot analysis, qRT-PCR, and immunofluorescence assays. The mechanism of DMO-CAP against influenza virus was analyzed by Western blot analysis, qRT-PCR, and luciferase assay.
DMO-CAP exhibits broad spectrum of antiviral activities against IAV in vitro. Mechanistically, DMO-CAP treatment induced the phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), JNK MAPK, and ERK MAPK, which led to the activation of Nrf2/heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) pathway. Then, the up-regulation of HO-1 expression activated the IFN response and induced the expression of IFN-stimulated genes, thereby leading to efficient anti-IAV effects.
DMO-CAP inhibited IAV replication by activating HO-1-mediated IFN response. DMO-CAP may be a potential agent or supplement against IAV infection.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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