Abstract
Modern medicine tends to provide comprehensive medical services based on disease or pathological features. As a result, the overlap between plastic surgery and other surgical departments ...greatly deepened. What was exclusively done by plastic surgeons are nowadays frequently practiced by other surgeons as well. Thus, generating confusion as to whether plastic surgery is an independent subject or a tool. Therefore, in this new era of modern medicine, it is necessary to reconsider the definition of plastic surgery.
Despite the importance of immunological memory for protective immunity against viral infection, whether H7N9-specific antibodies and memory T-cell responses remain detectable years after the original ...infection is unknown.
A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the immune memory responses of H7N9 patients who contracted the disease and survived during the 2013–2016 epidemics in China. Sustainability of antibodies and T-cell memory to H7N9 virus were examined. Healthy individuals receiving routine medical examinations in a physical examination centre were recruited as control.
A total of 75 survivors were enrolled and classified into four groups based on the time elapsed from illness onset to specimen collection: 3 months (n = 14), 14 months (n = 14), 26 months (n = 28) and 36 months (n = 19). Approximately 36 months after infection, the geometric mean titres of virus-specific antibodies were significantly lower than titres in patients 3 months after infection, but 16 of 19 (84.2%) survivors in the 36-month interval had microneutralization (MN) titres ≥40. Despite the overall declining trend, the percentages of virus-specific cytokine-secreting memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells remained higher in survivors at nearly all time-points in comparison with control individuals. Linear regression analysis showed that severe disease (mean titre ratio 2.77, 95% CI 1.17–6.49) was associated with higher haemagglutination inhibition (HI) titre and female sex for both HI (1.92, 1.02–3.57) and MN (3.33, 1.26–9.09) antibody, whereas female sex (mean percentage ratio 1.69, 95% CI 1.08–2.63), underlying medical conditions (1.94, 95% CI 1.09–3.46) and lack of antiviral therapy (2.08, 95% CI 1.04–4.17) were predictors for higher T-cell responses.
Survivors of H7N9 virus infection produced long-term antibodies and memory T-cell responses. Our findings warrant further serological investigation in general and high-risk populations and have important implications for vaccine design and development.
Terpolymerization of carbon dioxide (CO₂) with propylene oxide (PO) and maleic anhydride (MA) was successfully carried out using supported zinc glutarate catalyst. Consequently giving high molecular ...weight poly(propylene carbonate maleate) (PPCMA) in a very high yield (72.5 g polymer/g catalyst). The resulting terpolymers were fully characterized by FTIR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) techniques. NMR measurements showed that PPCMA had an almost alternating structure for the components of carbon dioxide and PO. The influence of molecular weight and MA content on the properties of PPCMA was also investigated. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements revealed that the glass transition temperature (Tg) of PPCMA increased with increasing molecular weight. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) indicated that PPCMA51 exhibited a very high decomposition temperature (263°C) due to the introduction of the double bond of MA into the backbone of terpolymer. The terpolymers with double bonds can be readily subjected to crosslinking reaction in high temperature to give a slightly crosslinked PPCMA, which exhibit superior thermal stability. Tensile tests also showed that the mechanical properties of PPCMA increased with increasing molecular weight.
Small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) play important roles as post-transcriptional regulators throughout the life activities of bacteria. To explore the roles of the regulatory sRNA rli41 identified in
...Listeria monocytogenes
(LM), we analyzed the molecular characteristics and expression profiles of sRNA rli41 during cell infection. Then the deletion strain LM-Δ
rli41
and complementation strain LM-Δ
rli41-rli41
were constructed and used to investigate the effects of deficiency of
rli41
gene on the adhesion, invasion and pathogenicity of LM. Furthermore, sRNA rli41-regulated potential target genes were predicted
in silico
, followed by the verification of sRNA-mRNA interaction using a dual plasmid reporter system. The results revealed that sRNA rli41 was highly conserved in LM and its expression level was 15.78-fold up-regulated during cell infection as compared to extracellular environment. Compared with the parental strain and complementation strain, cell adhesion and invasion of the deletion strain were significantly reduced. Moreover, LD
50
of LM increased and the pathogenicity weakened significantly due to the deficiency of
rli41
genes. Additionally, sRNA rli41 could complementarily base pairing with lmo2178 mRNA 5'-UTR, which could facilitate the expression of peptidoglycan-binding protein Lmo2178, which in turn promotes the cell adhesion, invasion and pathogenicity of LM. Taken together, these findings demonstrated for the first time that the regulatory sRNA rli41 is implicated in cell adhesion, invasion and pathogenicity by modulating the expression of virulence factor Lmo2178 in LM.
We investigated the critical current density of spin transfer torque switching in a full-Heusler Co2FeAl0.5Si0.5 alloy spin-valve nanopillar through micromagnetic simulations. The simulations explain ...the experimental results on the resistance versus external magnetic field and yield good agreement with the measured switching behavior. It is shown that different magnitudes of current densities and directions of external magnetic fields give rise to a shift of resistance hysteretic loop and a variable range of switching. We demonstrated that three critical current densities have different slopes with Gilbert damping constant α and spin polarization constant η, indicating that α and η have different contributions to the critical current densities. Furthermore, we found that the area of resistance–current hysteretic loop decreases as the nanopillar size decreases. The domain structures indicated that the magnetization reversals have different switching processes between small and large sizes of pillars.
► We investigate critical current density of switching through micromagnetic simulation. ► Different currents and fields give rise to a shift of hysteretic loop. ► Three critical current densities have different slopes with α and η. ► The area of resistance–current hysteretic loop decreases as the size decreases. ► Magnetization reversals have different switching processes between different sizes.
Hydraulic support is an important support equipment used in coal mining. However, it is easily damaged under impact loads. To improve its support stability, the force response of the hydraulic ...support was investigated by applying different impact load on the double-canopy. Dynamic simulation model based on rigid-flexible coupling was established. In the simulation, the base was treated as rigid, other parts were treated as flexible, and the cylinders were replaced using a stepless variable stiffness system. A parallel static load was applied to the canopies, stiffness characteristics of the support was tested. The force transmission law of the support joints was obtained by applying impact loads to different positions on the canopies. The results indicate that the support shows obvious variable stiffness characteristics under parallel static loads, the rear canopy bears a higher load than the front canopy. The support joints show different sensitivity to the impact load, the joint between the canopy and goaf shield is the most sensitive (up to 4.95). This study is useful to improve the anti-impact performance and structure optimization of hydraulic support systems.
Given the close genetic relationship between Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and B. subtilis, distinguishing the two solely based on their physiological and biochemical characteristics and 16S rRNA ...sequences is difficult. Molecular identification was used to discover suitable genes for distinguishing the two bacteria, and to identify the bio-controlling strain B29, due to molecular identification has been paid more and more attention. The similarity of four genes, cheA, gyrB, groEL and phoR, of the two species was compared by the software BLASTN and MAGA, and phylogenetic tree was constructed. The B29 strain was re-identified by using the screened genes. The similarities of the four genes, gyrB, groEL, cheA and phoR, of the two species were 93-95%, 82-84%, 76-78% and 76-77%, respectively. The homologies of the four genes of the strain B29 and the strains of B. amyloliquefaciens strains were more than 95%. We determined how well the phoR and cheA genes could be used to differentiate B. amyloliquefacien and B. subtilis. The previously isolated biological control strain B29, initially classified as B. subtilis, was re-classified as B. amyloliquefaciens. Our data indicate that other than the phoR gene, the cheA gene might be a useful phylogenetic marker for differentiating B. subtilis and B. amyloliquefaciens.
The novel concentration system, Cross Linear (CL) system has been newly invented by Tokyo Institute of Technology. From a simulation study on how cosine effect varies with latitude, declination ...angle, hour angle, and tan μ (the ratio of the receiver height and the distance from mirror position to the receiver position for the receiver/mirror configuration of the CL system), it was found that the cosine factor of CL system increases with an increase in the latitude. The higher cosine factor with around 0.95 in winter months is obtained by CL system even at high latitudes. The CL system can eliminate the end loss and increase the optical efficiency compared to Trough and LFR (Linear Fresnel Reflector system). This seems to solve the problems in the concentration systems of Trough and LFR; the lower concentration efficiency (lower cosine factor) in the winter months. In addition, a higher temperature around 650°C can be obtained with the CL system, due to the high concentration degree of CL solar reflection method. Thus, the CL system can achieve both high concentration temperature and high collection efficiency in both winter and summer seasons, even at high latitudes. Therefore the CL system seems to be the only CSP system suitable for the CSP-sites at high latitudes such as Mongolia (outer and inner), southern areas of Spain and Australia, and northern area of India. Due to the promising CL system, a joint collaboration between Japanese and Indian industries, institutes and universities has been launched to build solar plant based on CL technology. Also, the CL system also seems to be applicable for the CPV, because the coma tic aberration is very small during 9am to 3pm during the sunlight duration.
Using the high-stability controller Delta AS324MT and the advanced high-precision servo system through the CANOPEN bus communication mode, the z-pin implantation is controlled with high precision and ...high efficiency, and the second encoder is applied to the qualifying mode to completely implement the closed-loop control of the qualifying length. Solve the technical problems such as the inaccuracy of the length and position, control the position precision and the precision of the implantation through the four-axis numerical control implantation method, and achieve the action control of the cutting by the joint pneumatic loop control. The actual test results show that this method improves the accuracy and efficiency of z-pin implantation, greatly saves the labor cost, and reduces the harm of manual implantation to the human body.
Neoadjuvant therapy has been widely applied in the treatment of rectal cancer, which can shrink tumor size, lower tumor staging and improve the prognosis. It has been the standard preoperative ...treatment for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. The efficacy of neoadjuvant therapy for rectal cancer patients varies between individuals, and the results of tumor regression are obviously different. Some patients with good tumor regression even achieve pathological complete response (pCR). Tumor regression is of great significance for the selection of surgical regimes and the determination of distal resection margin. However, few studies focus on tumor regression patterns. Controversies on the safe distance of distal resection margin after neoadjuvant treatment still exist. Therefore, based on the current research progress, this review summarized the main tumor regression patterns after neoadjuvant therapy for rectal cancer, and classified them into three types: tumor shrinkage, tumor fragmentation, and muc
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