Background In the process of medical diagnosis, a large amount of uncertain and inconsistent information is inevitably involved. There have been many fruitful results were investigated for medical ...diagnosis by utilizing different traditional uncertainty mathematical tools. It is found that there is limited study on measuring reliability of the information involved are rare, moreover, the existed methods cannot give the measuring reliability of every judgment to all symptoms in details. Objectives It is quite essential to recognize the impact on the reliability of the fuzzy information provided under inadequate experience, lack of knowledge and so on. In this paper, the notion of the Z-numbers soft set is proposed to handle the reliability of every judgment to all symptoms in details. The study in this paper is an interdisciplinary approach towards rapid and efficient medical diagnosis. Methods An approach based on Z-numbers soft set (ZnSS)to medical diagnosis has been developed and is used to estimate whether two patterns or images are identical or approximately. The notion of Z-numbers soft set is proposed by combing the theory of soft set and Z-numbers theory. The basic properties of subset, equal, intersection, union and complement operations on the Z-numbers soft sets are defined and the similarity measure of two Z-numbers soft sets are also discussed in this paper. Results An illustrative example similar to existing studies is showed to verify the effectiveness and feasibility, which can highlight the proposed method and demonstrate the solution characteristics. Conclusion Diagnosing diseases by uncertainty symptoms is not a direct and simple task at all. The approach based on ZnSS presented in this paper can not only measure reliability of the information involved, but also give the measuring reliability of every judgment to all symptoms in details.
Development of a radiosensitivity predictive assay is a central goal of radiation oncology. We reasoned a gene expression model could be developed to predict intrinsic radiosensitivity and treatment ...response in patients.
Radiosensitivity (determined by survival fraction at 2 Gy) was modeled as a function of gene expression, tissue of origin, ras status (mut/wt), and p53 status (mut/wt) in 48 human cancer cell lines. Ten genes were identified and used to build a rank-based linear regression algorithm to predict an intrinsic radiosensitivity index (RSI, high index = radioresistance). This model was applied to three independent cohorts treated with concurrent chemoradiation: head-and-neck cancer (HNC, n = 92); rectal cancer (n = 14); and esophageal cancer (n = 12).
Predicted RSI was significantly different in responders (R) vs. nonresponders (NR) in the rectal (RSI R vs. NR 0.32 vs. 0.46, p = 0.03), esophageal (RSI R vs. NR 0.37 vs. 0.50, p = 0.05) and combined rectal/esophageal (RSI R vs. NR 0.34 vs. 0.48, p = 0.001511) cohorts. Using a threshold RSI of 0.46, the model has a sensitivity of 80%, specificity of 82%, and positive predictive value of 86%. Finally, we evaluated the model as a prognostic marker in HNC. There was an improved 2-year locoregional control (LRC) in the predicted radiosensitive group (2-year LRC 86% vs. 61%, p = 0.05).
We validate a robust multigene expression model of intrinsic tumor radiosensitivity in three independent cohorts totaling 118 patients. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a systems biology-based radiosensitivity model is validated in multiple independent clinical datasets.
The diminishing quality of oil feedstocks coupled with increasingly more stringent environmental regulations limiting the content of sulfur in transportation fuels have given rise to a need for ...improved hydroprocessing technology. This review begins with a summary of the major improvements in hydrodesulfurization (HDS) and hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) catalysts and processes that have been reported in recent years. It then describes a new class of hydroprocessing catalysts, the transition metal phosphides, which have emerged as a promising group of high-activity, stable catalysts. The phosphides have physical properties resembling ceramics, so are strong and hard, yet retain electronic and magnetic properties similar to metals. Their crystal structures are based on trigonal prisms, yet they do not form layered structures like the sulfides. They display excellent performance in HDS and HDN, with the most active phosphide, Ni
2P, having activity surpassing that of promoted sulfides on the basis of sites titrated by chemisorption (CO for the phosphides, O
2 for the sulfides). In the HDS of difficult heteroaromatics like 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene Ni
2P operates by the hydrogenation pathway, while in the HDN of substituted nitrogen compounds like 2-methylpiperidine it carries out nucleophilic substitution. The active sites for hydrogenation in Ni
2P have a square pyramidal geometry, while those for direct hydrodesulfurization have a tetrahedral geometry. Overall, Ni
2P is a promising catalyst for deep HDS in the presence of nitrogen and aromatic compounds.
ZZ21 is a plant-beneficial, fluoranthene-degrading bacterial strain found in the rhizosphere. The production of the phytohormone indole-3-aectic acid (IAA) by ZZ21 is thought to contribute to its ...ability to promote plant growth and remediate fluoranthene-contaminated soil. Using genome-wide analysis combined with metabolomic and high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) analyses, we characterized the potential IAA biosynthesis pathways in
ZZ21. IAA production increased 4.5-fold in the presence of 200 mg·L
tryptophan in the culture medium. The transcript levels of
and
, genes which were predicted to encode aldehyde dehydrogenases, were significantly upregulated in response to exogenous tryptophan. Additionally, metabolomic analysis identified the intermediates indole-3-acetamide (IAM), indole-3-pyruvic acid (IPyA), and the enzymatic reduction product of the latter, indole-3-lactic acid (ILA), among the metabolites of ZZ21, and subsequently also IAM, ILA, and indole-3-ethanol (TOL), which is the enzymatic reduction product of indole-3-acetaldehyde, by HPLC-MS. These results suggest that the tryptophan-dependent IAM and IPyA pathways function in ZZ21.
Abstract
The relative sunspot number is one of the major parameters for the study of long-term solar activity. The automatic calculation of the relative sunspot number is more stable and accurate as ...compared to manual methods. In this paper, we propose an algorithm that can detect sunspots, and divide them into groups to automatically calculate the relative sunspot number. Mathematical morphology was adopted to detect sunspots then group them. The data set used were the continuum images from SDO/HMI. The process was carried out on the overall HMI data available on the timespan from 2022 January to 2023 May with a time cadence of one day. The experimental results indicated that the method achieved high accuracy of 85.3%. It was well fitted with the international relative sunspot number provided by Solar Influences Data Analysis Center (CC = 0.91). We calculated the conversion factor
K
value of SDO/HMI for calculating the relative sunspots number (
K
= 1.03).
In this work, a novel composite adsorbent was successfully prepared by zeolite imidazolate framework-8/fluorinated graphene layer-by-layer covalently bonded on SiO2 microspheres, and followed to be ...packed into micro pipette tip for extraction of trace chlorophenols prior to their detection by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The morphology and structure of adsorbent material was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectrometer, X-ray diffraction, and N2 adsorption. The parameters including the amount of adsorbent, sampling volume, sampling rate, sample pH, and desorption solvent affected the extraction performance was systematically investigated by pipette tip solid-phase extraction (PT-SPE) coupled with HPLC analysis. Under the optimized condition, the linearity of this method ranged from 20 to 2000 ng mL−1 for chlorophenols (CPs) with determination coefficient higher than 0.99. The limit of detection (at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3) were in the range 2–20 ng mL−1 for tap water and black tea drinks, 0.2–2 μg g−1 for honey. The relative recoveries of the CPs from spiked samples ranged from 71.8% to 104.7%, with relative standard deviations less than 6.2%. The filled extraction tube exhibited good stability and reproducibility. The proposed method has been successfully used to detect CPs in water and drinks with satisfactory recoveries.
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•ZIF-8/FG was layer-by-layer covalently bonded on SiO2 microspheres.•Incorporation of FG induced growth of ZIF-8 for enhanced extraction.•Excellent extraction performance was obtained towards chlorophenols by PT-SPE.
Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during pregnancy has emerged as a global public health problem because of its ability to cause severe congenital disease. Here, we developed six mouse monoclonal ...antibodies (mAbs) against ZIKV including four (ZV-48, ZV-54, ZV-64, and ZV-67) that were ZIKV specific and neutralized infection of African, Asian, and American strains to varying degrees. X-ray crystallographic and competition binding analyses of Fab fragments and scFvs defined three spatially distinct epitopes in DIII of the envelope protein corresponding to the lateral ridge (ZV-54 and ZV-67), C-C’ loop (ZV-48 and ZV-64), and ABDE sheet (ZV-2) regions. In vivo passive transfer studies revealed protective activity of DIII-lateral ridge specific neutralizing mAbs in a mouse model of ZIKV infection. Our results suggest that DIII is targeted by multiple type-specific antibodies with distinct neutralizing activity, which provides a path for developing prophylactic antibodies for use in pregnancy or designing epitope-specific vaccines against ZIKV.
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•New ZIKV-specific monoclonal antibodies are identified•Three distinct epitopes on E protein DIII are defined by X-ray crystallography•DIII lateral ridge antibodies broadly neutralize ZIKV infection and protect in mice
A panel of Zika virus-specific monoclonal antibodies are developed that can neutralize infection of the African, Asian, and American strains. Of these, antibodies that target the lateral ridge epitope in the DIII region of the viral E protein can confer in vivo protection in an animal model of infection and may represent a path for development of prophylactic or therapeutic antibodies in pregnancy or vaccines against Zika virus.
Recovering valuable active substances from the by-products of agricultural processing is a crucial concern for scientific researchers. This paper focuses on the enrichment of soybean trypsin ...inhibitor (STI) from soybean whey wastewater using either ammonium sulfate salting or ethanol precipitation, and discusses their physicochemical properties. The results show that at a 60% ethanol content, the yield of STI was 3.983 mg/mL, whereas the yield was 3.833 mg/mL at 60% ammonium sulfate saturation. The inhibitory activity of STI obtained by ammonium sulfate salting out (A-STI) was higher than that obtained by ethanol precipitation (E-STI). A-STI exhibited better solubility than E-STI at specific temperatures and pH levels, as confirmed by turbidity and surface hydrophobicity measurements. Thermal characterization revealed that both A-STI and E-STI showed thermal transition temperatures above 90 °C. Scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that A-STI had a smooth surface with fewer pores, while E-STI had a rough surface with more pores. In conclusion, there was no significant difference in the yield of A-STI and E-STI (p < 0.05); however, the physicochemical properties of A-STI were superior to those of E-STI, making it more suitable for further processing and utilization. This study provides a theoretical reference for the enrichment of STI from soybean whey wastewater.
Al2O3/TiO2 nanocomposites with an average size of 75nm were synthesized via an in-situ surface modification method. The nanoparticles were analyzed by scanning electron microscope and Zeta potential ...analyzer. Results showed that modified Al2O3/TiO2 nanoparticles have significantly improved dispersion stability in lubricating oil due to the introduction of grafted polymers onto the surface of the nanoparticles. The friction and wear properties of lubricating oil with added Al2O3/TiO2 nanocomposites were investigated on a MMU-10G friction-abrasion tester. It was found that the use of modified Al2O3/TiO2 nanocomposites provided a much better tribological performance of the lubricating oil. The anti-friction mechanism is based on the formation of a protective film on the worn surface and the wear behavior changing from sliding friction to rolling friction during the friction process.
Antibody-based interventions against SARS-CoV-2 could limit morbidity, mortality, and possibly transmission. An anticipated correlate of such countermeasures is the level of neutralizing antibodies ...against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which engages with host ACE2 receptor for entry. Using an infectious molecular clone of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) expressing eGFP as a marker of infection, we replaced the glycoprotein gene (G) with the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 (VSV-eGFP-SARS-CoV-2) and developed a high-throughput-imaging-based neutralization assay at biosafety level 2. We also developed a focus-reduction neutralization test with a clinical isolate of SARS-CoV-2 at biosafety level 3. Comparing the neutralizing activities of various antibodies and ACE2-Fc soluble decoy protein in both assays revealed a high degree of concordance. These assays will help define correlates of protection for antibody-based countermeasures and vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, replication-competent VSV-eGFP-SARS-CoV-2 provides a tool for testing inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 mediated entry under reduced biosafety containment.
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•Vesicular stomatitis virus encoding the SARS-CoV-2 spike replicates to high titers•Virus propagation is enhanced by a truncation in the cytoplasmic tail of the spike•Neutralization can be assessed by BSL2 and BSL3 high-throughput assays•SARS-CoV-2- and VSV-SARS-CoV-2-based neutralization assays correlate
Case, Rothlauf et al. generate a replication-competent vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike and compare the neutralizing activity of antibodies with VSV-SARS-CoV-2 to fully infectious SARS-CoV-2. They show that VSV-SARS-CoV-2 is a useful BSL2 surrogate virus, as neutralization profiles strongly correlate with focus-reduction neutralization tests using SARS-CoV-2.