The black hole X-ray binary source 4U 1543–47 experienced a super-Eddington outburst in 2021, reaching a peak flux of up to ∼1.96 × 10 −7 erg cm −2 s −1 (∼8.2 Crab) in the 2−10 keV band. Soon after ...the outburst began, it rapidly transitioned into the soft state. Our goal is to understand how the accretion disk structure deviates from a standard thin disk when the accretion rate is near Eddington. To do so, we analyzed spectra obtained from quasi-simultaneous observations conducted by the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight-HXMT), the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array ( NuSTAR ), and the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory ( Swift ). These spectra are well fitted by a model comprising a disk, a weak corona, and a reflection component. We suggest that the reflection component is caused by disk self-irradiation, that is by photons emitted from the inner disk that return to the accretion disk surface as their trajectories are bent by the strong gravity field. In this scenario, the best-fitting parameters imply that the reflected flux represents more than half of the total flux. Using general relativistic ray-tracing simulations, we show that this scenario is viable when the disk becomes geometrically thick, with a funnel-like shape, as the accretion rate is near or above the Eddington limit. In the specific case of 4U 1543–47, an angle ≳45 deg between the disk surface and the equatorial plane can explain the required amount of self-irradiation.
To investigate the ultrasonographic features and clinical pathological of liver metastasis in patients with melanoma.
Thirteen patients with liver metastasis from melanoma treated in Tianjin Medical ...University Cancer Institute and Hospital from 2013 to 2019 were selected, and their ultrasonographic and clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed retrospectively.
Eleven of the 13 patients had multiple liver lesions. The maximum diameter of the lesions was (5.89±2.73) cm. Five cases of lesions were mixed echo (3 cases with high melanin content), 4 cases of lesions were hyperechoic (3 cases with low melanin content), 3 cases of lesions were hypoechoic (all with high melanin content), 1 case of lesions were equal echo (with high melanin content). The lesions in 11 patients had clear boundaries, while other 2 patients lacked the clear borders. Cystic areas were present in the lesions of 3 patients. Six cases had irregular lesions (lobulated), and 7 cases had regular lesions (round, oval). There were acoustic
Sulfonyl group-containing compounds constitute an important class of therapeutical agents in medicinal chemistry presumably because of the tense chemical structure and functionality of the sulfonyl, ...which could not only form hydrogen bonding interactions with active site residues of biological targets but also, as incorporated into core ring structure, constrain the side chains and allowed their specific conformations that fit the active sites. This review focuses on sulfonamides and sulfones, which cover more than 40 series and are associated with at least 10 potential pharmaceutical targets in pathways of glucose metabolism and insulin signaling. A large number of such compounds have been reported as pharmaceuticals every year in the last decade. In particular, increasing studies suggest that sulfonamides and sulfones play a key role in the design of pharmaceutical agents with potential application for the treatment of diabetes and its complications. First, they are inhibitors of a variety of enzymes including 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1, α- glucosidase, carnitine palmitoyltransferase and cytosolic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, and in turn involved in the regulation of the metabolism of glucose. In addition, they are active as activators of glucokinase and as antagonists of ghrelin receptors. These enzyme and receptors are tightly associated with the regulation of glucose metabolism and the improvement of insulin resistance. Secondly, sulfonamides and sulfones act in the insulin secretion. As agonists, they activate insulin receptor tyrosine kinase and thus increase insulin sensitivity. Moreover, they as inhibitors suppress protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B and dipeptidyl peptidase IV, and thus normalize the insulin signaling pathway. Finally, a number of sulfonamides and sulfones are inhibitors of aldose reductase, which have been linked to diabetic complications.
Lithium iron pyrophosphate has drawn great attention because of its interesting physical and electrochemical properties, whereas its high rate capability is far from satisfactory. We synthesize ...nano-Li2FeP2O7/C with hierarchical pore via a low cost method which uses iron powder instead of Vitamin C as the reducing agent. The hierarchical pore is constructed through a “combustion” mechanism according to the thermogravimetric and morphological characterizations. The phase-pure nanoparticles of Li2FeP2O7 are embedded in the three-dimensional network of amorphous carbon. The hierarchical pore together with the two-dimensional diffusion channel of lithium in Li2FeP2O7 is beneficial to lithium diffusion capability which is evaluated by the lithium diffusion coefficients calculated from the results of GITT measurements. The fast lithium intercalation chemistry facilitates the reversible de/intercalation of lithium, resulting in the high cycling stability and rate-capability. After 100 cycles at the current density of 1C, 93.8% of the initial capacity is retained. The discharge capacity is 62.1 mAh g−1 at the current density of 4C. Therefore, the hierarchically porous nano-Li2FeP2O7/C is a promising cathode material for advanced rechargeable lithium ion battery.
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•Nano-Li2FeP2O7/C with hierarchical pore is prepared by a Fe reduction method.•The hierarchical architecture is beneficial to its lithium diffusion capability.•The prepared material obtains superior high rate capability and stable cycling property.
Coated copper sulphate (CCS) could be used as a Cu supplement in cows. To investigate the influences of copper sulphate (CS) and CCS on milk performance, nutrient digestion and rumen fermentation, ...fifty Holstein dairy cows were arranged in a randomised block design to five groups: control, CS addition (7·5 mg Cu/kg DM from CS) or CCS addition (5, 7·5 and 10 mg Cu/kg DM from CCS, respectively). When comparing Cu source at equal inclusion rates (7·5 mg/kg DM), cows receiving CCS addition had higher yields of fat-corrected milk, milk fat and protein; digestibility of DM, organic matter (OM) and neutral-detergent fibre (NDF); ruminal total volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration; activities of carboxymethyl cellulase, cellobiase, pectinase and α-amylase; populations of Ruminococcus albus, Ruminococcus flavefaciens and Fibrobacter succinogenes; and liver Cu content than cows receiving CS addition. Increasing CCS addition, DM intake was unchanged, yields of milk, milk fat and protein; feed efficiency; digestibility of DM, OM, NDF and acid-detergent fibre; ruminal total VFA concentration; acetate:propionate ratio; activity of cellulolytic enzyme; populations of total bacteria, protozoa and dominant cellulolytic bacteria; and concentrations of Cu in serum and liver increased linearly, but ruminal propionate percentage, ammonia-N concentration, α-amylase activity and populations of Prevotella ruminicola and Ruminobacter amylophilus decreased linearly. The results indicated that supplement of CS could be substituted with CCS and addition of CCS improved milk performance and nutrient digestion in dairy cows.
During May-June 2021 and 2022, leaf blight symptoms were observed on loquat leaves (Eriobotrya japonica cv. 'Mogi') in Jiangsu Province (Xuzhou municipality, 117.17° E, 34.13° N) in China. ...Approximately 10% of the leaves on the two hundred trees studied in a six-year-old loquat orchard exhibited round lesions that changed from light yellow to reddish-brown in 8-10 days. Approximately 3% of the infected leaves exhibited numerous lesions that coalesced, leading to expansive blighted areas. Twenty-five samples of symptomatic tissue, approximately 0.2 cm2 in size, were collected in May 2022 from five different trees (five samples per tree), sterilized in 2% NaOCl for 1 min, washed twice with sterilized ddH2O, and incubated at 26°C for 5 days on PDA medium containing 50 µg/mL chloramphenicol. Six isolates were obtained via single spore isolation. ITS (OQ954852-OQ954857), TUB2 (OQ968488-OQ968493), EF1-α (OQ971890-OQ971895), RPB1 (OQ971896-OQ971901), and RPB2 (OR037266-OR037271) genes were amplified using the ITS1/ITS4, T1/T22, EF1-728F/EF1-986R, RPB1-R8/RPB1-F5, and fRPB2-7CF/fRPB2-11aR primers, respectively (O'Donnell et al. 2010). The species was identified using the Fusarioid ID database (Crous et al. 2021), revealing that all obtained isolates showed high homology to representative F. luffae strains. Upon combining the ITS, TUB2, EF1-α, RPB1, and RPB2 sequences, the isolates showed 99.42%-97.85% and 99.59%-98.10% identity to F. luffae CGMCC 3.19497 (ex-type strain) and NRRL 32522, respectively. A molecular phylogenetic tree was constructed using MEGA X, with a selection of representative Fusarium strains. Microscope observations showed septate mycelium, microconidia (6.86 ± 0.91 µm length, 1.67 ± 0.24 µm width, containing 1 septum; number of observations = 21), fusiform macroconidia (15.88 ± 1.43 µm length, 1.66 ± 0.24 µm width, containing 1 septum; number of observations = 45), and linear chlamydospores (79.36 ± 28.36 µm length, 12.03 ± 3.37 µm width; number of observations = 152). These observations are consistent with the morphology of F. luffae (Wang et al. 2019). All isolates exhibited identical morphological characteristics. All isolates were evaluated for pathogenicity in vivo using healthy non-detached loquat leaves. A total of 15 leaves from 5 different three-month-old 'Mogi' loquat trees were used for each isolate. Experiments were performed three times. A suspension of 1 × 106 spores/mL obtained from a seven-day-old colony (10 mL per 15 leaves), was sprayed on non-wounded leaves for inoculation. Sterilized ddH2O was used in the control experiment. Inoculated trees were stored at 26°C and 70% relative humidity for four days. Leaf blight symptoms were observed in all inoculated leaves, and the symptoms were observed in all repeated trials. The pathogen was recovered, and its identity was confirmed by ITS sequencing and morphological analysis, fulfilling Koch's postulates. In recent years, F. luffae has been reported to cause fruit rot on muskmelon, flower rot on kiwifruit, soybean pod rot, and leaf spot on cherry in China (Yu et al. 2022; Zhang et al. 2022; Zhao et al. 2022; Zhou et al. 2022), demonstrating the host promiscuity of this pathogen. Although F. solani has been identified as the causal agent of root rot and fruit rot on loquat (Abbas et al. 2017; Wu et al. 2021), this is the first report of F. luffae causing leaf blight on loquat worldwide. This report will help to understand the pathogens affecting loquat orchards in China.
The role of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in methane hydrate formation is investigated in a nonstirred batch reactor. Addition of SDS reduces the induction time, but no systematic trend is observed ...between induction times and SDS concentrations. The hydrate growth is analyzed by using a diffusion-reaction kinetics model with an assumption that crystallization occurs only in the liquid film at the gas−liquid interface. At the start of hydrate growth, the apparent rate constant increases linearly with increasing aqueous SDS concentrations. The apparent rate constant during hydrate growth increases as more available gas−liquid interface is generated. SDS not only increases hydrate nucleation rate by reducing the interfacial tension between hydrate and liquid but also accelerates hydrate growth rate by increasing the total surface area of hydrate particles and the gas−liquid interfacial area.
Characterization of intracellular ice formation (IIF) in oocytes during the freezing and thawing processes will contribute to optimizing their cryopreservation. However, the observation of the ice ...formation process in oocytes is limited by the spatiotemporal resolution of the cryomicroscope systems.
To observe the intracellular icing of oocytes during cooling and rewarming, and to study the mechanism of formation and growth of intracellular ice in oocytes.
Mouse oocytes were frozen at different cooling rates to induce intracellular ice formation using a cryomicroscopy system consisting of a microscope equipped with a cryogenic cold stage, an automatic cooling system, a temperature control system, and a high-speed camera. The growth patterns of intracellular ice in oocytes were analyzed from the images recorded. Finally, the growth rate of intracellular ice formation in oocytes was calculated using an automatic intracellular ice tracking method.
The IIF temperature decreased gradually with the increase in cooling rate. Initiation sites of IIF could be classified into three categories: marginal type, internal type and coexisting type. There was a strong predominance for ice crystal initiation site in the oocytes, with up to 80% of the initiation sites located in the marginal region. The intracellular ice growth modes of darkening and twitching cells were characterized by "spreading" and "clustering", respectively. In addition, twitching cells started to recrystallize during rewarming, while darkening cells did not. The instantaneous maximal growth rate of ice crystals in twitching cells was about 10 times higher than that in darkening cells.
By visualising the growth of ice crystals in mouse oocytes during cooling and rewarming, we obtained valuable information on the kinetics of ice formation and melting in these cells. This information can help us understand how ice formation and melting affect the viability and quality of oocytes after cryopreservation. Doi.org/10.54680/fr24310110412.
In this work, the effect of plastic deformation-induced martensite on the CE behavior of 304 SS was investigated by micro-area XRD, nano indentation and EBSD. Results indicated that the martensitic ...content initially displayed an increased trend and then decreased in the later stage. The formation of martensite was beneficial to the CE resistance of 304 SS in incubation and rising periods since the impact energy dissipation through martensitic transformation and the strengthening effect of martensite were dominant. However, it was no longer conductive to the CE resistance in stable period in virtue of the severely damaged surface and the markedly reduced plastic deformation ability. In addition, obvious grain refinement was observed in the CE surface layer, which should be correlated with the deformation twins cutting the original grains.
•The deformation-induced martensite in 304 SS plays different roles in CE process.•The martensite contents with different CE time are calculated semi-quantitatively.•Martensite has markedly strengthening effect promoting CE resistance.•Martensite can also reduce the plastic deformation ability reducing CE resistance.•CE causes obvious grain refinement in the surface layer of 304 SS.
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