•Hybrid Structure, as geometrical hybrid of octet and rhombic dodecahedron, formulated to achieve the combination of their corresponding advantages.•Dynamic compressive responses of three polymeric ...lattices examined experimentally, as lattices for energy absorption expected to shield an object from impact in practical applications.•Selective laser sintered lattices collapse catastrophically under impact, although attaining favourable quasi-static performances.•Fused deposition modelled lattices exhibit good energy absorption characteristics under both quasi-static and dynamic compression.•Rate dependence observed in FDM lattices, accompanied with severer deformation localisation and strut failure.
Lightweight polymeric lattices, which display good energy absorption characteristics during crushing, are increasingly employed in impact protection applications. Lattices based on an octet, rhombic dodecahedron (RD) and a novel hybrid structure (HS), were fabricated by Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), and their dynamic responses were investigated via a drop-weight tester. Their stress-strain responses and crushing patterns were compared with quasi-static responses obtained using a universal testing machine. The experimental results show that SLS-fabricated lattices display good energy absorption performance under quasi-static compression, but collapse catastrophically when subjected to impact. To investigate the cause for the distinct responses under different deformation speeds, the quasi-static and dynamic tensile properties of the cell strut material were also examined. SLS-fabricated specimens are notably more brittle than those fabricated by another commonly used technique – Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM). Consequently, lattices fabricated by FDM were also tested. Unlike their SLS counterparts, FDM-fabricated lattices exhibit good energy absorption characteristics under both quasi-static and dynamic compression, as well as typical rate dependence, whereby the stress level increases with deformation speed. Compared with the traditional octet and RD, the novel HS lattice design shows superior energy absorption characteristics for all tests.
Plastic deformation induced grain refinement was studied in a gradient nanostructure of nickel prepared from the surface mechanical grinding treatment at 77K. With increasing strains and strain ...rates, the deformation microstructures evolve from dislocation cells to nanolaminated structures of about 20–100 nm thick. With further straining, the nanolaminated structures are fragmented into equiaxed grains with size below 20 nm. The average grain size in the topmost surface layer is about 8 nm and the hardness is as high as 8.5 GPa. Dislocation slip dominated the plastic deformation in grains larger than about 60 nm. Below 60 nm, large amounts of twins formed. The fraction of grains containing twins increases in smaller grains and peaks at about 20 nm, indicating a dominating partial dislocation activity in deformation. With grain size smaller than 20 nm, both dislocation slip and twinning are limited, partial dislocation activities may assist subdivision of grains into few nanometers, as well as facilitate face-centered-cube to hexagonal-close-packed phase transformation in these extremely fine nano-grains. No inverse Hall-Petch relationship is observed at such a small grain size, which may be attributed to grain boundary relaxation during formation of these extremely fine nano-grains by plastic deformation.
Three-dimensional (3D) graphene networks are attracting ever-increasing attention in the field of energy storage because their unique architecture at macroscopic scales is beneficial for effective ...electron and ion transport. Herein, a novel interconnected 3D graphene mesh network (3D GMN) was successfully designed and fabricated by folded Ni meshes assisted chemical vapor deposition method. The structure parameters of 3D GMN can be controlled well by tuning the period of Ni mesh and the electroplating time. With the increase of the density of 3D GMN, the electrical conductivity of 3D GMN and the thermal conductivity of 3D GMN/epoxy composite are greatly improved compared to that of the 3D graphene foam. This 3D GMN enables the high capacity of 57 mA h g
−1
in an aluminum ion battery at the ultra-high rate of 40C with capacity retention of 96.5% after 200 cycles.
This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Lonicera flos and Cnicus japonicus extracts (LCE) on the laying performance, egg quality, morphology, antioxidant status, inflammatory-related ...cytokines, and shell matrix protein expression of oviduct in laying hens. A total of 1,728 Roman Pink laying hens aged 73-wk-old were randomly assigned into 4 groups (18 replicates/group, 24 layers/replicate) fed basal diets supplemented with 0, 300, 500, and 1,000 mg of LCE per kg of diet, respectively. The trial lasted for 11 wk, including 2-wk adjustment period and 9-wk testing period. The results indicated that laying hens fed diets supplemented with LCE linearly increased egg weight, yolk color and shell thickness at wk 78 and albumen height, Haugh unit and shell thickness at wk 83 (P < 0.05). At wk 78, LCE groups linearly affected the hydrogen peroxide content in magnum (P < 0.05) and 300 mg/kg LCE groups had the highest catalase activity in isthmus (P < 0.05). At wk 83, LCE groups linearly reduced (P < 0.05) hydrogen peroxide content in the magnum and isthmus and malondialdehyde content in the uterus whereas increased catalase activity in isthmus (P < 0.05). Furthermore, LCE levels quadratically affected glutathione peroxidase activity in isthmus at wk 83 (P < 0.05). At wk 78, the mRNA expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase and interferon-γ in isthmus and ovalbumin and ovocleidin-116 in uterus had linear effects in response to LCE levels (P < 0.05) and 1,000 mg/kg LCE group had the lowest mRNA expression of interleukin-6 in magnum (P < 0.05). At wk 83, LCE supplementation linearly decreased the mRNA expression of interleukin-1β, interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α in magnum and tumor necrosis factor-α and inducible nitric oxide synthase in uterus (P < 0.05). It is concluded that LCE improved egg quality partly by modulating antioxidant status, inflammatory-related cytokines and shell matrix protein expression of oviduct in laying hens.
Nonadiabatic holonomic quantum computation has received increasing attention due to its robustness against control errors and high-speed realization. The original protocol of nonadiabatic holonomic ...one-qubit gates has been experimentally demonstrated with a superconducting transmon qutrit. However, it requires two noncommuting gates to complete an arbitrary one-qubit gate, doubling the exposure time of the gate to error sources and thus leaving the gate vulnerable to environment-induced decoherence. Single-shot protocol has been subsequently proposed to realize an arbitrary one-qubit nonadiabatic holonomic gate. In this paper, a single-shot protocol of nonadiabatic holonomic gates is experimentally demonstrated by using a superconducting Xmon qutrit, with all the single-qubit Clifford gates carried out by a single-shot implementation. Characterized by quantum process tomography and randomized benchmarking, the single-shot gates reach a fidelity exceeding 99%.
Summary
Background
Psoriasis is one of the most common immune‐mediated chronic inflammatory skin disorders. In spite of significant advances in the treatment of psoriasis, more effective and safer ...therapeutic strategies are still needed. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a method of light treatment that is being used increasingly in the treatment of dermatological diseases.
Aim
To evaluate the therapeutic effects of systemic 5‐aminolaevulinic acid (ALA)‐PDT on psoriasis and to explore its potential mechanism of action.
Methods
We investigated the therapeutic effects of systemic ALA‐PDT in K14‐vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) transgenic homozygous mice, an animal model of psoriasis, which has many clinical and histopathological characteristics similar to those of human psoriasis. Using haematoxylin and eosin staining, immunohistochemistry and real‐time quantitative PCR respectively, we assessed the changes in psoriasis‐like lesions, cellular infiltration of T cells, dendritic cells (DCs) and neutrophils, and the mRNA expression of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)‐17 and interferon (IFN)‐γ in the lesions.
Results
Systemic ALA‐PDT blocked the development of psoriasis‐like lesions and moderately attenuated the histopathological changes in K14‐VEGF transgenic mice. Furthermore, systemic ALA‐PDT produced an obvious reduction in infiltration of T cells, CD11c+ DCs and neutrophils in psoriasis‐like lesions. In addition, systemic ALA‐PDT also significantly decreased the mRNA expression of IL‐17 and IFN‐γ.
Conclusions
We suggest that the mechanism of systemic ALA‐PDT in this psoriasis‐like model might be associated with selective damage to abnormal T helper (Th)1 and Th17 cells, and reduction of the inflammatory cytokines IL‐17 and IFN‐γ. These observations partly explain the potential mechanism of systemic ALA‐PDT in psoriasis and other inflammatory skin diseases.
Nanocrystalline multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT)–Sn and MWNT–SnNi composite anode materials were prepared by chemical reduction of SnCl
2 and NiCl
2 precursors in the presence of MWNTs. SEM and ...TEM observations showed that the Sn and SnNi particles are homogeneously dispersed on the MWNT surface and in the MWNT matrix. The electrochemical performance of MWNT–Sn and MWNT–SnNi nanocomposites has been investigated by charge/discharge tests, cyclic voltammetric experiments and the ac impedance technique. The MWNT–Sn and MWNT–SnNi anodes have demonstrated a high first discharge capacity (570 and 512
mA
h/g for MWNT–Sn and MWNT–SnNi anodes, respectively), high charge/discharge efficiency in the first cycle (77.5% and 84.1% for MWNT–Sn and MWNT–SnNi anodes, respectively), and good cyclability (0.99 loss%/cycle for MWNT/SnNi anode). A reaction model has been proposed to explain the reaction mechanisms of lithium insertion and extraction in the MWNT–Sn and MWNT–SnNi electrodes.
A novel and convenient method—solid‐state chemical reaction at room temperature—is reported for the synthesis of amino acid polyoxometalate nanotubes. As a convenient synthesis method for ...nanomaterials, it may open up a new pathway for the fabrication of organic–inorganic hybrid materials with nanotubular structure. Here, three novel tyrosine (Tyr) polyoxometalate nanotubes, (HTyr)3PMo12O40 · 3H2O, (HTyr)3PW12O40 · 3H2O, and (HTyr)4SiW12O40 · 5H2O are successfully synthesized via a one‐step solid‐state chemical reaction at room temperature. Elemental analysis confirms the rationality of composition for the samples. Infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, and 31P magic‐angle spinning NMR results prove that the samples still possess Keggin‐type structures. Scanning and transmission electron microscopies suggest that the three samples are comprised of nanotubes with remarkably uniform shape and size, with diameters from 50 to 150 nm and lengths of up to several micrometers. Cyclic voltammograms of samples in 1 mol L–1 H2SO4 indicate that three redox waves correspond to three two‐electron processes resulting from the reduction/oxidation of the heteropoly anion.
Tyrosine (Tyr) polyoxometalate nanotubes (see Figure), (HTyr)3PMo12O40· 3H2O, (HTyr)3PW12O40·3H2O, and (HTyr)4SiW12O40·5H2O, have been synthesized via a one‐step solid‐state chemical reaction at room temperature. The method is a convenient synthesis technique, which merely depends on a simple combination of common compounds and room‐temperature grinding.
To construct three-dimensional (3D) and two-dimensional (2D) models to predict the malignancy probability of subsolid nodules (SSNs) and compare their effectiveness.
A total of 371 SSNs from 332 ...patients, collected between January 2020 and January 2024, were included in the study. The SSNs were divided into a training set for constructing the models and a test set for validating the models. Models were developed using binary logistic backward regression, based on factors that showed significant differences in univariate analyses. The performance of the models was assessed using the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC). The AUCs of different models were compared using the DeLong test.
The AUCs for the two 3D models, one 2D model, and the Brock model were 0.785 (0.733–0.836), 0.776 (0.723–0.829), 0.764 (0.710–0.818), and 0.738 (0.679–0.798) in the training set. In the test set, these AUCs were 0.817 (0.706–0.928), 0.796 (0.679–0.913), 0.771 (0.647–0.895), and 0.790 (0.678–0.903). The two 3D models demonstrated statistically significant differences from the Brock model in the training set (P=0.024 and P=0.046). None of the four models showed significant differences in the test set (all P>0.05).
The 3D models outperform both the 2D model and the Brock model in predicting the malignancy probability of SSNs, and the 3D model incorporating volume, mean CT attenuation value, and lobulation as factors performed the best.
•Volume and mass have stronger correlations with malignancy than the maximum size.•The three-dimensional models are more accurate than two-dimensional model.•The model incorporating volume, mean CT value, and lobulation performed the best.
This study employed polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), cinnamaldehyde (CIN), and potassium sorbate (KS) as raw materials for the production of PVA/CIN/KS cross-linked films using the casting method. Various ...methods, including Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), tensile strength (TS), elongation at break (EB), water vapor permeability (WVP), and transparency, were conducted on the cross-linked films. Additionally, we assessed the antibacterial activity of the films against
Escherichia coli
and
Staphylococcus aureus
, and examined their efficacy in preserving citrus fruits.The results demonstrated an enhancement in the mechanical properties of the films after cross-linking. Specifically, when the CIN content was 20%, the maximum TS and EB values reached 25.58 MPa and 555.98%, respectively. Cross-linking induced a denser molecular structure, significantly improving water vapor barrier properties. The WVP value decreased from 1.28 to 0.87 g·mm/KPa·m²·h, and water resistance increased from 32.28 to 12.63%. In antibacterial tests, the cross-linked films exhibited notable inhibitory effects against both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, with a particularly strong impact against Staphylococcus aureus. In the citrus preservation test, citrus fruits packaged with cross-linked films maintained a considerable level of commercial value even after 15 days. These findings underscore the potential application value of cross-linked films in food packaging.
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