Adding three cycles of induction chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin to concurrent chemoradiotherapy improved 3-year recurrence-free survival (85.3%, vs. 76.5% with concurrent ...chemoradiotherapy alone) and overall survival (94.6% vs. 90.3%). Patients receiving induction chemotherapy were more likely to have grade 3 or 4 myelosuppression, nausea, and vomiting.
As low‐dimensional lead‐free hybrids with higher stability and lower toxicity than those of three‐dimensional lead perovskites, organic antimony(III) halides show great application potential in ...opt‐electronic field owing to diverse topologies along with exceptional optical properties. We report herein an antimony(III) hybrid (MePPh3)2SbCl5 with a zero‐dimensional (0D) structure, which exhibits brilliant orange emission peaked at 593 nm with near‐unity photoluminescent quantum yield (99.4 %). The characterization of photophysical properties demonstrates that the broadband emission with a microsecond lifetime (3.24 μs) arises from self‐trapped emission (STE). Electrically driven organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on neat and doped films of (MePPh3)2SbCl5 were fabricated. The doped devices show significant improvement in comparison to non‐doped OLEDs. Owing to the much improved surface morphology and balanced carrier transport in light‐emitting layers of doped devices, the peak luminance, current efficiency (CE) and external quantum efficiency (EQE) are boosted from 82 cd m−2 to 3500 cd m−2, 1.1 cd A−1 to 6.8 cd A−1, and 0.7 % to 3.1 % relative to non‐doped devices, respectively.
A highly luminescent organic antimony(III) hybrid (MePPh3)2SbCl5 featured with STE emission is prepared with good reproducibility and high stability. High‐efficiency OLEDs are demonstrated with this hybrid as an emitter with the luminance of 3500 cd m−2, current efficiency of 6.8 cd A−1 and EQE of 3.1 %, respectively.
Redundancy resolution is a critical problem in the control of robotic manipulators. Recurrent neural networks (RNNs), as inherently parallel processing models for time-sequence processing, are ...potentially applicable for the motion control of manipulators. However, the development of neural models for high-accuracy and real-time control is a challenging problem. This paper identifies two limitations of the existing RNN solutions for manipulator control, i.e., position error accumulation and the convex restriction on the projection set, and overcomes them by proposing two modified neural network models. Our method allows nonconvex sets for projection operations, and control error does not accumulate over time in the presence of noise. Unlike most works in which RNNs are used to process time sequences, the proposed approach is model-based and training-free, which makes it possible to achieve fast tracking of reference signals with superior robustness and accuracy. Theoretical analysis reveals the global stability of a system under the control of the proposed neural networks. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control method in both the position regulation and tracking control of redundant PUMA 560 manipulators.
Exosomes contain cell-specific collections of bioactive materials including proteins, lipids, and RNAs that are transported to recipient cells to exert their impacts. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can function ...as tumor suppressor or oncogenic genes and miR-21 is one of the most frequently up-regulated miRNAs in solid tumors including colon cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of miR-21, secreted from exosomes, in proliferation and invasion of colon cancer, along with the mechanistic details. We used a variety of biochemical techniques including ultracentrifugation-based exosome purification, electron transmission microscopy, western blot and RT-qPCR to detect the expression levels of miR-21 in exosomes purified from culture media of human colonic adenocarcinoma cell lines. We then performed functional and mechanistic studies using three colon cancer cell lines HT29, T84 and LS174 as well as the normal colon epithelial cells CRL1831. miR-21 target PDCD4 was investigated for its role in mediating miR-21 effects. Expression of miR-21 was significantly up-regulated in exosomes of colon cancer cells, compared to the normal human colon epithelial cells. Treatment of colon cancer cells with isolated exosomes or miR-21 led to an increased expression of genes involved in cell proliferation, invasion and extracellular matrix formation. miR-21 targets PDCD4, TPM1 and PTEN were down-regulated by exosomes and silencing of PDCD4 mimicked miR-21 functional effects, even the induced resistance against 5-FU. Our study suggests that targeted inhibition of exosomes, particularly those carrying miR-21, may represent a novel approach for treatment of colorectal cancer.
For solving the singularity problem arising in the control of manipulators, an efficient way is to maximize its manipulability. However, it is challenging to optimize manipulability effectively ...because it is a nonconvex function to the joint angles of a robotic arm. In addition, the involvement of an inversion operation in the expression of manipulability makes it even hard for timely optimization due to the intensively computational burden for matrix inversion. In this paper, we make progress on real-time manipulability optimization by establishing a dynamic neural network for recurrent calculation of manipulability-maximal control actions for redundant manipulators under physical constraints in an inverse-free manner. By expressing position tracking and matrix inversion as equality constraints, physical limits as inequality constraints, and velocity-level manipulability measure, which is affine to the joint velocities, as the objective function, the manipulability optimization scheme is further formulated as a constrained quadratic program. Then, a dynamic neural network with rigorously provable convergence is constructed to solve such a problem online. Computer simulations are conducted and show that, compared to the existing methods, the proposed scheme can raise the manipulability almost 40% on average, which substantiates the efficacy, accuracy, and superiority of the proposed manipulability optimization scheme.
Matrix inversion often arises in the fields of science and engineering. Many models for matrix inversion usually assume that the solving process is free of noises or that the denoising has been ...conducted before the computation. However, time is precious for the real-time-varying matrix inversion in practice, and any preprocessing for noise reduction may consume extra time, possibly violating the requirement of real-time computation. Therefore, a new model for time-varying matrix inversion that is able to handle simultaneously the noises is urgently needed. In this paper, an integration-enhanced Zhang neural network (IEZNN) model is first proposed and investigated for real-time-varying matrix inversion. Then, the conventional ZNN model and the gradient neural network model are presented and employed for comparison. In addition, theoretical analyses show that the proposed IEZNN model has the global exponential convergence property. Moreover, in the presence of various kinds of noises, the proposed IEZNN model is proven to have an improved performance. That is, the proposed IEZNN model converges to the theoretical solution of the time-varying matrix inversion problem no matter how large the matrix-form constant noise is, and the residual errors of the proposed IEZNN model can be arbitrarily small for time-varying noises and random noises. Finally, three illustrative simulation examples, including an application to the inverse kinematic motion planning of a robot manipulator, are provided and analyzed to substantiate the efficacy and superiority of the proposed IEZNN model for real-time-varying matrix inversion.
In this paper, we have reviewed various epoxy resins and curing agents. The properties of cured epoxy resins depend on the type of epoxy resin, curing agent, and curing process used. The toughness of ...epoxy resins can be improved by incorporating thermoplastic components, inorganics, carbon fibers, clay, and carbon nanotubes. Epoxy resins have a wide range of application including coatings, aerospace industry, electronic materials, and biomedical systems.
Epoxy resins have been widely used for coatings, electronic materials, adhesives, and matrices for fiber-reinforced composites because of their outstanding mechanical properties, high adhesion strength, good heat resistance, and high electrical resistance. The final properties of cured epoxy resins are affected by the type of epoxy resin, curing agent, and curing process. This paper aims to review the synthesis, curing process, and application of epoxy resins.
In this paper, the existing recurrent neural network (RNN) models for solving zero-finding (e.g., matrix inversion) with time-varying parameters are revisited from the perspective of control and ...unified into a control-theoretical framework. Then, limitations on the activated functions of existing RNN models are pointed out and remedied with the aid of control-theoretical techniques. In addition, gradient-based RNNs, as the classical method for zero-finding, have been remolded to solve dynamic problems in manners free of errors and matrix inversions. Finally, computer simulations are conducted and analyzed to illustrate the efficacy and superiority of the modified RNN models designed from the perspective of control. The main contribution of this paper lies in the removal of the convex restriction and the elimination of the matrix inversion in existing RNN models for the dynamic matrix inversion. This work provides a systematic approach on exploiting control techniques to design RNN models for robustly and accurately solving algebraic equations.
In this technical article, to seek the optimal solution to time-dependent nonlinear optimization subject to linear inequality and equality constraints (TDNO-IEC), the gradient-based differential ...neural-solution, termed as GDN model, is proposed and researched. Notably, TDNO-IEC is first converted into the nonhomogeneous linear equation with the dynamic parameter. Second, differential neural-solution with the aid of gradient is designed. The contrastive theoretical analyses among the GDN model, gradient-based neural network (GNN), and the dual neural network (DNN) prove that the proposed GDN model has higher accuracy for eliminating the large solution error with exponential convergence. In addition, reasonable convergent time of the GDN model is guaranteed by activation functions with simple formulation. Last, an illustrative example and real-world applications, including robot motion planning and data dimension reduction and reconstruction, further validate the high availability of the proposed GDN model.
Cadmium (Cd) is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant, which mainly input to the aquatic environment through discharge of industrial and agricultural waste, can be a threat to human and animal health. ...Selenium (Se) possesses a beneficial role in protecting animals and ameliorating the toxic effects of Cd. However, the comparative antagonistic effects of different Se sources such as inorganic, organic Se and nano-form Se on Cd toxicity are still under-investigated. Hence, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the comparative of Se sources antagonism on Cd-induced nephrotoxicity via oxidative stress and selenoproteome transcription. In the present study, Cd-diet disturbed in the system balance of 5 trace elements (Zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Se, Cd) and impaired renal function. Se sources, including nano- Se (NS), Se- yeast (SY), sodium selenite (SS) and mixed selenium (MS) significantly recovered the balance of 4 trace elements (Zn, Cu, Cd, Se) and renal impaired indexes (blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (CREA)). Histological appearance of Cd-treated kidney indicated renal tubular epithelial vacuoles, particle degeneration and enlarged capsular space. Ultrastructure observation results illustrated that Cd-induced mitochondrial cristae reduction, membrane disappearance, and nuclear deformation. Treatment with Se sources, NS appeared a better impact on improving kidney tissues against the pathological alterations resulting from Cd administration. Meanwhile, NS reflected a significant impact on relieving Cd-induced kidney oxidative damage, and significantly restored the antioxidant defense system of the body. Our findings also showed NS ameliorated the Cd-induced downtrends expression of selenoproteome and selenoprotein synthesis related transcription factors. Overall, NS was the most effective Se source in avoiding of Cd cumulative toxicity, improving antioxidant capacity and regulating of selenoproteome transcriptome and selenoprotein synthesis related transcription factors expression, which contributes to ameliorate Cd-induced nephrotoxicity in chickens. These results demonstrated diet supplement with NS may prove to be an effective approach for alleviating Cd toxicity and minimizing Cd -induced health risk.
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•Cd exposure caused nephrotoxicity.•Nano-Se obviously mitigated imbalance of metallic elements homeostasis.•Nano-Se relieved renal pathology alterations and improved antioxidant capacity.•Nano-Se was more bioactive in selenoprotein expression enhancement.•Nano-Se was superior to inorganic and organic Se in alleviating Cd toxicity.
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