This study aims at investigating the effects of MSW incinerator fly ash (FA) and bottom ash (BA) on the anaerobic co-digestion of OFMSW with FA or BA. It also simulates the biogas production from ...various dosed and control bioreactors. Results showed that suitable ashes addition (FA/MSW 10 and 20
g
L
−1 and BA/MSW 100
g
L
−1) could improve the MSW anaerobic digestion and enhance the biogas production rates. FA/MSW 20
g
L
−1 bioreactor had the higher biogas production and rate implying the potential option for MSW anaerobic co-digestion. Modeling studies showed that exponential plot simulated better for FA/MSW 10
g
L
−1 and control bioreactors while Gaussian plot was applicable for FA/MSW 20
g
L
−1 one. Linear and exponential plot of descending limb both simulated better for BA/MSW 100
g
L
−1 bioreactor. Modified Gompertz plot showed higher correlation of biogas accumulation than exponential rise to maximum plot for all bioreactors.
Polarization is an important property of electromagnetic (EM) wave and different polarization manipulations are required for varied optical applications. Here we report a reconfigurable metasurface ...which achieves both the polarization conversion and the polarization rotation in THz regime. The metasurface is reconfigured through the micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) actuation. The cross polarization transmittance from a linear polarized incidence is experimentally tuned from 0 to 28% at 2.66 THz. In addition, the polarization rotation angle is effectively changed from -12.8° to 13.1° at 1.78 THz. The tunable bi-functional metasurface for polarization conversion and the polarization rotation can be flexibly applied in various applications such as imaging, polarization microscopy and material analysis, etc.
The effect of Ni on the evolutions of cementite and mechanical properties in quenched and tempered Cr–Ni–Mo steel was investigated. The results of tensile and Charpy impact tests showed that an ...increase in the Ni content was more effective in improving the low-temperature impact toughness than in increasing yield and tensile strengths. Experimental observations revealed that Ni was beneficial to cementite refinement but had almost no impact on refining the sizes of both the quenched martensite structure and tempered effective grain size. Further, energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and thermodynamic studies on cementite and adjacent ferrite indicated that Ni partitioning resulted in the formation of a Ni-rich layer at the ferrite/cementite interface and thereby retarded cementite growth. In order to clarify the different effects of Ni on the impact toughness and yield and tensile strengths, the role of cementite refinement in strengthening and toughening mechanisms was analyzed in detail.
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•The variation of Ni content had obvious influence on the characteristics of cementite precipitation.•The growth of cementite during tempering was retarded due to the partitioning of Ni between ferrite and cementite.•The strengthening and toughening mechanisms were evaluated in terms of cementite refinement.
Abstract
Objective To perform a meta-analysis examining the efficacy of phytoestrogens for the relief of menopausal symptoms.
Methods Medline, Cochrane, EMBASE, and Google Scholar databases were ...searched until September 30, 2013 using the following key words: vasomotor symptoms, menopausal symptoms, phytoestrogens, isoflavones, coumestrol, soy, red clover. Inclusion criteria were (1) randomized controlled trial (RCT), (2) perimenopausal or postmenopausal women experiencing menopausal symptoms, (3) intervention with an oral phytoestrogen. Outcome measures included Kupperman index (KI) changes, daily hot flush frequency, and the likelihood of side-effects.
Results Of 543 potentially relevant studies identified, 15 RCTs meeting the inclusion criteria were included. The mean age of the subjects ranged from 49 to 58.3 and 48 to 60.1 years, respectively, in the placebo and phytoestrogen groups. The number of participants ranged from 30 to 252, and the intervention periods ranged from 3 to 12 months. Meta-analysis of the seven studies that reported KI data indicated no significant treatment effect of phytoestrogen as compared to placebo (pooled mean difference = 6.44, p = 0.110). Meta-analysis of the ten studies that reported hot flush data indicated that phytoestrogens result in a significantly greater reduction in hot flush frequency compared to placebo (pooled mean difference = 0.89, p < 0.005). Meta-analysis of the five studies that reported side-effect data showed no significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.175).
Conclusion Phytoestrogens appear to reduce the frequency of hot flushes in menopausal women, without serious side-effects.
Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play an essential role in metastasis. However, what enables TAMs to have a superior capacity to establish pre-metastatic microenvironment in distant organs is ...unclear. Here we have begun to uncover the effects of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 4A in TAMs on lung pre-metastatic niche formation and metastasis. CYP4A
TAM infiltration was positively associated with metastasis, pre-metastatic niche formation and poor prognosis in breast cancer patients. The pharmacological inhibition of CYP4A reduced lung pre-metastatic niche formation (evidenced by a decrease in vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 positive (VEGFR1
) myeloid cell recruitment and pro-metastatic protein expression) and metastatic burden, accompanied with TAM polarization away from the M2 phenotype in spontaneous metastasis models of 4T1 breast cancer and B16F10 melanoma. Co-implantation of 4T1 cells with CYP4A10
macrophages promoted lung pre-metastatic niche formation and metastasis. Depletion of TAMs disrupted lung pre-metastatic niches and thereby prevented metastasis. Treatment with the CM from CYP4A10
M2 macrophages (M2) increased pre-metastatic niche formation and metastatic burden in the lungs, whereas CYP4A inhibition attenuated these effects. In vitro TAM polarization away from the M2 phenotype induced by CYP4A inhibition decreased VEGFR1
myeloid cell migration and fibronectin expression, accompanied with downregulation of STAT3 signaling. Conversely, overexpression of CYP4A or exogenous addition of 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid promoted M2 polarization and cytokine production of macrophages and thereby enhanced migration of VEGFR1
myeloid cells, which were reversed by siRNA or pharmacological inhibition of STAT3. Importantly, a combined blocking M2 macrophage-derived factors TGF-β, VEGF and SDF-1 abolished VEGFR1
myeloid cell migration and fibroblast activation induced by CYP4A. In summary, CYP4A in TAMs is crucial for lung pre-metastatic niche formation and metastasis, and may serve as a potential therapeutic target in human cancer.
The intrinsic magnetic topological insulatorMnBi2Te4exhibits rich topological effects such as quantum anomalous Hall effect and axion electrodynamics. Here, by combining the use of synchrotron and ...laser light sources, we carry out comprehensive and high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy studies onMnBi2Te4and clearly identify its topological electronic structure. In contrast to theoretical predictions and previous studies, we observe topological surface states with diminished gap forming a characteristic Dirac cone. We argue that the topological surface states are mediated by multidomains of different magnetization orientations. In addition, the temperature evolution of the energy bands clearly reveals their interplay with the magnetic phase transition by showing interesting differences between the bulk and surface states, respectively. The investigation of the detailed electronic structure ofMnBi2Te4and its temperature evolution provides important insight into not only the exotic properties ofMnBi2Te4, but also the generic understanding of the interplay between magnetism and topological electronic structure in magnetic topological quantum materials.
Mathematical and computational modeling approaches are increasingly used as quantitative tools in the analysis and forecasting of infectious disease epidemics. The growing need for realism in ...addressing complex public health questions is, however, calling for accurate models of the human contact patterns that govern the disease transmission processes. Here we present a data-driven approach to generate effective population-level contact matrices by using highly detailed macro (census) and micro (survey) data on key socio-demographic features. We produce age-stratified contact matrices for 35 countries, including 277 sub-national administratvie regions of 8 of those countries, covering approximately 3.5 billion people and reflecting the high degree of cultural and societal diversity of the focus countries. We use the derived contact matrices to model the spread of airborne infectious diseases and show that sub-national heterogeneities in human mixing patterns have a marked impact on epidemic indicators such as the reproduction number and overall attack rate of epidemics of the same etiology. The contact patterns derived here are made publicly available as a modeling tool to study the impact of socio-economic differences and demographic heterogeneities across populations on the epidemiology of infectious diseases.
The bilayer-based Antiferroelectric Tunneling Junction (AFTJ) with ferroelectric (FE) HfZrO 2 (HZO) and dielectric (DE) Al 2 O 3 demonstrates a current ratio of <inline-formula> <tex-math ...notation="LaTeX">> 100\times </tex-math></inline-formula>, a TER (tunneling electroresistance) of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">> 50\times </tex-math></inline-formula>, multilevel states, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">> 10^{4} </tex-math></inline-formula> sec retention, and a cycling endurance as high as 10 8 . The concept of tunneling current through DE in an antiferroelectric (AFE) system enhances the capacity to modulate the current/TER ratio and makes the AFTJ feasible for low-power crossbar eNVM (embedded nonvolatile memory) applications.
Among breast cancers without human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) amplification, overexpression, or both, a large proportion express low levels of HER2 that may be targetable. Currently ...available HER2-directed therapies have been ineffective in patients with these "HER2-low" cancers.
We conducted a phase 3 trial involving patients with HER2-low metastatic breast cancer who had received one or two previous lines of chemotherapy. (Low expression of HER2 was defined as a score of 1+ on immunohistochemical IHC analysis or as an IHC score of 2+ and negative results on in situ hybridization.) Patients were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to receive trastuzumab deruxtecan or the physician's choice of chemotherapy. The primary end point was progression-free survival in the hormone receptor-positive cohort. The key secondary end points were progression-free survival among all patients and overall survival in the hormone receptor-positive cohort and among all patients.
Of 557 patients who underwent randomization, 494 (88.7%) had hormone receptor-positive disease and 63 (11.3%) had hormone receptor-negative disease. In the hormone receptor-positive cohort, the median progression-free survival was 10.1 months in the trastuzumab deruxtecan group and 5.4 months in the physician's choice group (hazard ratio for disease progression or death, 0.51; P<0.001), and overall survival was 23.9 months and 17.5 months, respectively (hazard ratio for death, 0.64; P = 0.003). Among all patients, the median progression-free survival was 9.9 months in the trastuzumab deruxtecan group and 5.1 months in the physician's choice group (hazard ratio for disease progression or death, 0.50; P<0.001), and overall survival was 23.4 months and 16.8 months, respectively (hazard ratio for death, 0.64; P = 0.001). Adverse events of grade 3 or higher occurred in 52.6% of the patients who received trastuzumab deruxtecan and 67.4% of those who received the physician's choice of chemotherapy. Adjudicated, drug-related interstitial lung disease or pneumonitis occurred in 12.1% of the patients who received trastuzumab deruxtecan; 0.8% had grade 5 events.
In this trial involving patients with HER2-low metastatic breast cancer, trastuzumab deruxtecan resulted in significantly longer progression-free and overall survival than the physician's choice of chemotherapy. (Funded by Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca; DESTINY-Breast04 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03734029.).
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