Analysis of surface polariton resonance for nanoparticles in elastic system

This paper is concerned with the analysis of surface polariton resonance for nanoparticles in linear elasticity. With the presence of nanoparticles, we first derive the perturbed displacement field associated to a given elastic source field. It is shown that the leading-order term of the perturbed elastic wave field is determined by the Neumann-Poinc\'are operator associated to the Lam\'e system. By analyzing the spectral properties of the aforesaid Neumann-Poinc\'are operator, we study the polariton resonance for the elastic system. The results may find applications in elastic wave imaging.Comment: 18 pages, comments are welcom

Metal-coated carbon nanotube tips for Magnetic Force Microscopy

We fabricated cantilevers for magnetic force microscopy with carbon nanotube tips coated with magnetic material. Images of a custom hard drive demonstrated 20 nm lateral resolution, with prospects for further improvements.Comment: Accepted to be published in Applied Physics Letter

Effect of rs1344706 in the ZNF804A gene on the brain network.

ZNF804A rs1344706 (A/C) was the first SNP that reached genome-wide significance for schizophrenia. Recent studies have linked rs1344706 to functional connectivity among specific brain regions. However, no study thus far has examined the role of this SNP in the entire functional connectome. In this study, we used degree centrality to test the role of rs1344706 in the whole-brain voxel-wise functional connectome during the resting state. 52 schizophrenia patients and 128 healthy controls were included in the final analysis. In our whole-brain analysis, we found a significant interaction effect of genotype × diagnosis at the precuneus (PCU) (cluster size = 52 voxels, peak voxel MNI coordinates: x = 9, y = - 69, z = 63, F = 32.57, FWE corrected P < 0.001). When we subdivided the degree centrality network according to anatomical distance, the whole-brain analysis also found a significant interaction effect of genotype × diagnosis at the PCU with the same peak in the short-range degree centrality network (cluster size = 72 voxels, F = 37.29, FWE corrected P < 0.001). No significant result was found in the long-range degree centrality network. Our results elucidated the contribution of rs1344706 to functional connectivity within the brain network, and may have important implications for our understanding of this risk gene's role in functional dysconnectivity in schizophrenia

A first-in-human study of AMG 208, an oral MET inhibitor, in adult patients with advanced solid tumors.

BackgroundThis first-in-human study evaluated AMG 208, a small-molecule MET inhibitor, in patients with advanced solid tumors.MethodsThree to nine patients were enrolled into one of seven AMG 208 dose cohorts (25, 50, 100, 150, 200, 300, and 400 mg). Patients received AMG 208 orally on days 1 and days 4-28 once daily. The primary objectives were to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of AMG 208.ResultsFifty-four patients were enrolled. Six dose-limiting toxicities were observed: grade 3 increased aspartate aminotransferase (200 mg), grade 3 thrombocytopenia (200 mg), grade 4 acute myocardial infarction (300 mg), grade 3 prolonged QT (300 mg), and two cases of grade 3 hypertension (400 mg). The MTD was not reached. The most frequent grade ≥3 treatment-related adverse event was anemia (n = 3) followed by hypertension, prolonged QT, and thrombocytopenia (two patients each). AMG 208 exposure increased linearly with dose; mean plasma half-life estimates were 21.4-68.7 hours. One complete response (prostate cancer) and three partial responses (two in prostate cancer, one in kidney cancer) were observed.ConclusionsIn this study, AMG 208 had manageable toxicities and showed evidence of antitumor activity, particularly in prostate cancer

A Prospective Cohort Study of Mineral Metabolism After Kidney Transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Kidney transplantation corrects or improves many complications of chronic kidney disease, but its impact on disordered mineral metabolism is incompletely understood. METHODS: We performed a multicenter, prospective, observational cohort study of 246 kidney transplant recipients in the United States to investigate the evolution of mineral metabolism from pretransplant through the first year after transplantation. Participants were enrolled into 2 strata defined by their pretransplant levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH), low PTH (\u3e65 to ≤300 pg/mL; n = 112), and high PTH (\u3e300 pg/mL; n = 134) and underwent repeated, longitudinal testing for mineral metabolites. RESULTS: The prevalence of posttransplant, persistent hyperparathyroidism (PTH \u3e65 pg/mL) was 89.5%, 86.8%, 83.1%, and 86.2%, at months 3, 6, 9, and 12, respectively, among participants who remained untreated with cinacalcet, vitamin D sterols, or parathyroidectomy. The results did not differ across the low and high PTH strata, and rates of persistent hyperparathyroidism remained higher than 40% when defined using a higher PTH threshold greater than 130 pg/mL. Rates of hypercalcemia peaked at 48% at week 8 in the high PTH stratum and then steadily decreased through month 12. Rates of hypophosphatemia ( CONCLUSIONS: Persistent hyperparathyroidism is common after kidney transplantation. Further studies should determine if persistent hyperparathyroidism or its treatment influences long-term posttransplantation clinical outcomes.This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License, where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0

Shelf Life Prediction of UHT Milk Packaging Based on BP Neural Network

To investigate the effects of initial protein, fat content, and storage temperature on the shelf life of UHT pure milk packaging, three types of UHT pure milk were used as research objects to experimentally measure sample browning index and protein hydrolysis index during storage at 23, 30, and 37 ℃. Integrate the dataset and determine specific input parameters based on its performance on the prediction set, and carry out UHT pure milk packaging shelf life prediction based on BP neural network. The results showed that the fitting degrees of the BP neural network model for the browning index and protein hydrolysis index of UHT milk were 0.9412 and 0.9527, respectively, and compared with traditional multiple linear regression model’s number of 0.8799 and 0.9211, the BP neural network model with optimized hidden layer neuron numbers had higher prediction accuracy for the changes in characteristic indicators during the storage period of UHT pure milk, providing technical support for rapid and accurate prediction of the shelf life of UHT pure milk with different formulas

Evaluation of Changes in the Characteristic Flavor of Ultra-high Temperature Sterilized Milk under the Effects of Temperature and Light

In order to study changes in the characteristic flavor of ultra-high temperature sterilized (UHT) milk under the influence of storage temperature and light, headspace solid phase microextraction (SPME) combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to detect the volatile flavor components of the product. Descriptive sensory evaluation, orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) and entropy weight method were used to determine the relationship between major characteristic flavors and characteristic substances. The effects of temperature and light flux on the flavor changes of different formulations of UHT milk were analyzed, and a model for comprehensive analysis of the characteristic flavors of UHT milk was developed based on the effects of initial unsaturated fatty acid content, temperature and light flux. The results of this research provide support for the quality control of different formulations of UHT milk

Fast and accurate X-ray fluorescence computed tomography imaging with the ordered-subsets expectation maximization algorithm.

The ordered-subsets expectation maximization algorithm (OSEM) is introduced to X-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XFCT) and studied; here, simulations and experimental results are presented. The simulation results indicate that OSEM is more accurate than the filtered back-projection algorithm, and it can efficiently suppress the deterioration of image quality within a large range of angular sampling intervals. Experimental results of both an artificial phantom and cirrhotic liver show that with a satisfying image quality the angular sampling interval could be improved to save on the data-acquisition time when OSEM is employed. In addition, with an optimum number of subsets, the image reconstruction time of OSEM could be reduced to about half of the time required for one subset. Accordingly, it can be concluded that OSEM is a potential method for fast and accurate XFCT imaging

Case fatality risk of the first pandemic wave of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China

Objective To assess the case fatality risk (CFR) of COVID-19 in mainland China, stratified by region and clinical category, and estimate key time-to-event intervals. Methods We collected individual information and aggregated data on COVID-19 cases from publicly available official sources from December 29, 2019 to April 17, 2020. We accounted for right-censoring to estimate the CFR and explored the risk factors for mortality. We fitted Weibull, gamma, and lognormal distributions to time-to-event data using maximum-likelihood estimation. Results We analyzed 82,719 laboratory-confirmed cases reported in mainland China, including 4,632 deaths, and 77,029 discharges. The estimated CFR was 5.65% (95%CI: 5.50%-5.81%) nationally, with highest estimate in Wuhan (7.71%), and lowest in provinces outside Hubei (0.86%). The fatality risk among critical patients was 3.6 times that of all patients, and 0.8-10.3 fold higher than that of mild-to-severe patients. Older age (OR 1.14 per year; 95%CI: 1.11-1.16), and being male (OR 1.83; 95%CI: 1.10-3.04) were risk factors for mortality. The time from symptom onset to first healthcare consultation, time from symptom onset to laboratory confirmation, and time from symptom onset to hospitalization were consistently longer for deceased patients than for those who recovered. Conclusions Our CFR estimates based on laboratory-confirmed cases ascertained in mainland China suggest that COVID-19 is more severe than the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic in hospitalized patients, particularly in Wuhan. Our study provides a comprehensive picture of the severity of the first wave of the pandemic in China. Our estimates can help inform models and the global response to COVID-19