In a typical all-vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB), the ion exchange membrane is directly exposed in the bulk electrolyte. Consequently, the Donnan effect occurs at the membrane/electrolyte (M/E) ...interfaces, which is critical for modeling of ion transport through the membrane and the prediction of cell performance. However, unrealistic assumptions in previous VRFB models, such as electroneutrality and discontinuities of ionic potential and ion concentrations at the M/E interfaces, lead to simulated results inconsistent with the theoretical analysis of ion adsorption in the membrane. To address this issue, this work proposes a continuous-Donnan effect-model using the Poisson equation coupled with the Nernst–Planck equation to describe variable distributions at the M/E interfaces. A one-dimensional transient VRFB model incorporating the Donnan effect is developed. It is demonstrated that the present model enables (i) a more realistic simulation of continuous distributions of ion concentrations and ionic potential throughout the membrane and (ii) a more comprehensive estimation for the effect of the fixed charge concentration on species crossover across the membrane and cell performance.
•A transient model with incorporation of the Donnan effect is developed in VRFB.•The model allows the exhibition of membrane selective adsorption.•The model enables an accurate prediction of the battery performance.•Effect of the fixed charge concentration on species crossover is studied.•Donnan effect is found to deteriorate vanadium crossover in Nafion membranes.
We report on a precision energy loss measurement and theoretical investigation of 100 keV/u helium ions in a hydrogen-discharge plasma. Collision processes of helium ions with protons, free ...electrons, and hydrogen atoms are ideally suited for benchmarking plasma stopping-power models. Energy loss results of our experiments are significantly higher than the predictions of traditional effective charge models. We obtained good agreement with our data by solving rate equations, where in addition to the ground state, also excited electronic configurations were considered for the projectile ions. Hence, we demonstrate that excited projectile states, resulting from collisions, leading to capture-, ionization-, and radiative-decay processes, play an important role in the stopping process in plasma.
Objective
The objective of this paper is to investigate the clinical features, outcomes, and risk factors for posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) in systemic lupus erythematosus ...(SLE).
Methods
From 2011 to October 2017, SLE patients with PRES were identified from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, China. Patients presenting with neuropsychiatric lupus hospitalized in the same period were included as controls. Additionally, survival status was acquired via telephone follow-up in March 2018.
Results
Thirty episodes of PRES were identified in 29 SLE patients from a total of 7059 SLE patients (prevalence 0.43%). Patients with PRES had a younger age at onset than controls, with seizures more commonly the initial clinical manifestation (80.00% vs 42.37%, p = 0.001). Multiple logistic regression yet again confirmed several known risk factors, including younger age (odds ratio (OR) 1.15 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13–1.16)), nephritis (OR 20.74 (18.10–23.75)), history of hypertension (OR 1.17 (1.05–1.31)), SLE Disease Activity Index without neurologic symptoms (SLEDAI-N) score >12 (OR 1.14 (1.11–1.18)) and eclampsia (OR 9.38 (7.84–11.23)). Furthermore, we identified two novel independent risk factors for PRES in SLE: white blood cells >9 × 109/l (OR 2.33 (2.05–2.64)) and heart failure (OR 2.10 (1.18–2.42)). At follow-up, SLE patients with PRES had higher mortality than controls (30.77% vs 8.33%, respectively, p = 0.012).
Conclusions
PRES may be a reversible neurological deficit in patients with SLE other than neuropsychiatric lupus. Our results indicate two new risk factors for PRES and that PRES is associated with a higher mortality rate.
Purpose
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one most cancer type of high incidence and high mortality rate. Metastasis play an important role in survival rate and life quality of colorectal cancer patients. ...Nerve growth factor (NGF) has been shown to be involved in the metastasis and deterioration in many cancers, but the detail mechanisms in promoting the metastasis of colorectal cancer remain unknown. In this study, we aimed to explore the mechanism of NGF promoting colorectal cancer metastasis to provide new insights for developing NGF anti-colorectal cancer drugs.
Methods
We examined the expression of NGF in human colorectal cancer by immunohistochemical staining, and Western blot to evaluate the relationship between NGF and colorectal cancer metastasis. Using biochemical experiments including wound healing assay, transwell migration and invasion assay, RT–PCR, Western blot and ELISA to explore the relative mechanism of NGF promoting colorectal cancer cells metastasis in vivo.
Results
Our results found that the high expression of NGF was related with high incidence of metastasis. The binding of NGF to TrkA phosphorylated TrkA, which activated MAPK/Erk signaling pathway increasing the expression NGAL to enhance the activity of MMP2 and MMP9, promoted colorectal cancer metastasis.
Conclusion
Our finding demonstrated that NGF increased NGAL expression to enhance MMPs activity to promoted colorectal cancer cell metastasis by TrkA-MAPK/Erk axis.
To enhance the prediction of mutation status of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter, which are crucial for glioma prognostication and therapeutic ...decision-making, via sub-regional radiomics analysis based on multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
A retrospective study was conducted on 401 participants with adult-type diffuse gliomas. Employing the K-means algorithm, tumours were clustered into two to four subregions. Sub-regional radiomics features were extracted and selected using the Mann–Whitney U-test, Pearson correlation analysis, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator, forming the basis for predictive models. The performance of model combinations of different sub-regional features and classifiers (including logistic regression, support vector machines, K-nearest neighbour, light gradient boosting machine, and multilayer perceptron) was evaluated using an external test set.
The models demonstrated high predictive performance, with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values ranging from 0.918 to 0.994 in the training set for IDH mutation prediction and from 0.758 to 0.939 for TERT promoter mutation prediction. In the external test sets, the two-cluster radiomics features and the logistic regression model yielded the highest prediction for IDH mutation, resulting in an AUC of 0.905. Additionally, the most effective predictive performance with an AUC of 0.803 was achieved using the four-cluster radiomics features and the support vector machine model, specifically for TERT promoter mutation prediction.
The present study underscores the potential of sub-regional radiomics analysis in predicting IDH and TERT promoter mutations in glioma patients. These models have the capacity to refine preoperative glioma diagnosis and contribute to personalised therapeutic interventions for patients.
•Sub-regional MRI radiomics predicts IDH and TERT mutations in gliomas.•Various model combinations of sub-regional features and classifiers were assessed.•LR and SVM outperformed in predicting IDH and TERT mutations, respectively.•Enhanced models support precision in glioma therapeutic decisions.
We infer the emission positions of twin kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations (kHz QPOs) in neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries (NS-LMXBs) based on the Alfvén wave oscillation model (AWOM). For most ...sources, the emission radii of kHz QPOs cluster around a region of 16–19 km with the assumed NS radii of 15 km. Cir X-1 has the larger emission radii of 23 ∼ 38 km than those of the other sources, which may be ascribed to its large magnetosphere-disc radius or strong NS surface magnetic field. SAX J1808.4−3658 is also a particular source with the relative large emission radii of kHz QPOs of 20 ∼ 23 km, which may be due to its large inferred NS radius of 18 ∼ 19 km. The emission radii of kHz QPOs for all the sources are larger than the NS radii, and the possible explanations of which are presented. The similarity of the emission radii of kHz QPOs (∼16–19 km) for both the low/high luminosity Atoll/Z sources is found, which indicates that both sources share the similar magnetosphere-disc radii.
Interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been demonstrated to be involved in Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated hepatocarcinogenesis through activation of the STAT3 pathway. The sustained activation of the ...IL-6/STAT3 pathway is frequently associated with repression of SOCS3, which is both a target gene and a negative regulator of STAT3. However, the silencing mechanism of SOCS3 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains to be elucidated. Here, we showed that the repression of SOCS3 and sustained activation of IL-6/STAT3 pathway in HBV-producing HCC cells were caused by HBV-induced mitochondrial ROS accumulation. Mechanistic studies revealed that ROS-mediated DNA methylation resulted in the silencing of SOCS3. Decreased SOCS3 expression significantly promoted the proliferation of HCC cells and growth of tumor xenografts in mice. Further studies revealed that HBV-induced ROS accumulation upregulated the expression of the transcription factor, Snail, which bound to the E-boxes of SOCS3 promoter and mediated the epigenetic silencing of SOCS3 in association with DNMT1 and HDAC1. In addition, we found that the expression of Snail and SOCS3 were inversely correlated in HBV-associated HCC patients, suggesting that SOCS3 and/or Snail could be used as prognostic markers in HCC pathogenesis. Taken together, our data show that HBV-induced mitochondrial ROS production represses SOCS3 expression through Snail-mediated epigenetic silencing, leading to the sustained activation of IL-6/STAT3 pathway and ultimately contributing to hepatocarcinogenesis.
•The interaction of the laser and silicon is investigated in air and water.•A numerical model is used to ascertain the time of the bubble motion in water.•More debris is found when using high ...frequency ablation in air.•Morphology of craters is better in low frequency ablation in water.•Bubbles generated by high frequency ablation affect laser transmission.
The interaction of the nanosecond laser (FWHM=30ns, λ=355nm) and monocrystalline silicon is investigated in air and water. Conventional optical and scanning electron microscopes are used to characterize surface ablation of the monocrystalline silicon. A numerical model is used to ascertain the time of the bubble motion in water. Morphological features of the laser-induced crater are different under various environments and frequencies. More debris is found when using high frequency ablation, and a larger zone is affected by heat when using low frequency ablation in air.
There is no debris found in water, and the morphology of craters is better in low frequency ablation than that in high frequency ablation because bubbles generated by high frequency ablation affect laser transmission.
Previous studies have shown unilateral posterior crossbite is associated with mandibular asymmetry in morphology and position. However, it remains unclear whether unilateral Brodie bite plays a ...similar role in mandibular development. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the morphological and positional symmetry of mandibles in patients with unilateral Brodie bite by three-dimensional anaylsis.
Fourteen patients with unilateral Brodie bite (mean age 18.43 ± 4.24 years) and fourteen sex- and age-matched patients with normal occlusion (mean age 18.07 ± 5.48 years) underwent cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans. 3D surface mesh models of their mandibles were established using Mimics Research 19.0. The surface matching percentage was compared between the original and mirrored mandible by Geomagic Control X software. Furthermore, the dimension and position of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) were determined for both groups using InVivoDental 5.0.
For surface-to-surface deviation analysis, the percentage of mismatch in patients with unilateral Brodie bite was significantly higher than the control group at ±0.50 mm, ±0.75 mm, and ±1.00 mm tolerance (P < .001). In patients with unilateral Brodie syndrome, the condyles on the scissors-bite side showed a significantly more anterior position (P = .03), greater medial inclination (P < .01), and larger posterior TMJ space (P = .01) than the non-scissors-bite side.
Patients with unilateral Brodie bite exhibit a more asymmetrical mandibular morphology, with a greater anterior condylar position and posterior joint space on the scissors-bite side, indicating that early diagnosis and treatment may be necessary for patients with unilateral Brodie bite.
PDF
