Chemically induced graphene to diamond transition: a DFT study

The conversion of graphene into diamond is a new way for preparing ultrathin diamond film without pressure. Herein, we investigated the transformation mechanism of surface-hydrogenated bilayer graphene (SHBG) into surface-hydrogenated single-layer diamond (SHSLD) crystal, inserting fifteen kinds of single metal atoms without any pressure, by using the systematical first-principles calculations. Compared with the configuration without metal atom, SHBG can be transformed into SHSLD spontaneously in thermodynamics under the action of single metal atom, and its formation energy can even decrease from 0.82 eV to -5.79 eV under the action of Hf atom. According to our results, the outer electron orbits and atomic radius of metal atom are two important factors that affect the conversion. For the phase transition to occur, the metal atom needs to have enough empty d orbitals, and the radius of the metal atom is in the range of 0.136-0.159 nm. Through further analysis, we find that the p orbitals of carbon atoms and d orbital of metal atom in SHBG will be strongly hybridized, thereby promoting the conversion. The results supply important significance to experimentally prepare diamond without pressure through hydrogenated graphene

FECFusion: Infrared and visible image fusion network based on fast edge convolution

The purpose of infrared and visible image fusion is to integrate the complementary information from heterogeneous images in order to enhance their detailed scene information. However, existing deep learning fusion methods suffer from an imbalance between fusion performance and computational resource consumption. Additionally, fusion layers or fusion rules fail to effectively combine heteromodal feature information. To address these challenges, this paper presents a novel algorithm called infrared and visible image fusion network base on fast edge convolution (FECFusion). During the training phase, the proposed algorithm enhances the extraction of texture features in the source image through the utilization of structural re-parameterization edge convolution (RECB) with embedded edge operators. Subsequently, the attention fusion module (AFM) is employed to sufficiently fuze both unique and public information from the heteromodal features. In the inference stage, we further optimize the training network using the structural reparameterization technique, resulting in a VGG-like network architecture. This optimization improves the fusion speed while maintaining the fusion performance. To evaluate the performance of the proposed FECFusion algorithm, qualitative and quantitative experiments are conducted. Seven advanced fusion algorithms are compared using MSRS, TNO, and M3FD datasets. The results demonstrate that the fusion algorithm presented in this paper achieves superior performance in multiple evaluation metrics, while consuming fewer computational resources. Consequently, the proposed algorithm yields better visual results and provides richer scene detail information

An Fe stabilized metallic phase of NiS2 for the highly efficient oxygen evolution reaction.

This work reports a fundamental study on the relationship of the electronic structure, catalytic activity and surface reconstruction process of Fe doped NiS2 (FexNi1-xS2) for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). A combined photoemission and X-ray absorption spectroscopic study reveals that Fe doping introduces more occupied Fe 3d6 states at the top of the valence band and thereby induces a metallic phase. Meanwhile, Fe doping also significantly increases the OER activity and results in much better stability with the optimum found for Fe0.1Ni0.9S2. More importantly, we performed detailed characterization to track the evolution of the structure and composition of the catalysts after different cycles of OER testing. Our results further confirmed that the catalysts gradually transform into amorphous (oxy)hydroxides which are the actual active species for the OER. However, a fast phase transformation in NiS2 is accompanied by a decrease of OER activity, because of the formation of a thick insulating NiOOH layer limiting electron transfer. On the other hand, Fe doping retards the process of transformation, because of a shorter Fe-S bond length (2.259 Å) than Ni-S (2.400 Å), explaining the better electrochemical stability of Fe0.1Ni0.9S2. These results suggest that the formation of a thin surface layer of NiFe (oxy)hydroxide as an active OER catalyst and the remaining Fe0.1Ni0.9S2 as a conductive core for fast electron transfer is the base for the high OER activity of FexNi1-xS2. Our work provides important insight and design principle for metal chalcogenides as highly active OER catalysts

Efficacy of radiation plus transarterial chemoembolization and lenvatinib in hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein tumor thrombus

BackgroundWe aimed to investigate the efficacy of a novel regimen, external beam radiation (RT) combined with trans arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and lenvatinib (LEN), in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with portal vein tumor thrombus.MethodsWe prospectively observed 102 participants from three tertiary medical centers in China between October 2018 and October 2020, who chose either RT plus TACE and LEN (RT-TACE-LEN) or TACE and LEN (TACE-LEN). LEN (12 mg or 8 mg daily) was administrated orally and continued until progression or intolerable side effects were noted. TACE was given one day after administration of LEN, and RT began within 4 weeks after the first TACE. The median dose/fraction of RT was 50 Gy/25 fractions (range: 45-60 Gy/25 fractions). Overall survival and progression free survival were compared between two groups, and complications were assessed.ResultsBoth 51 patients received RT-TACE-LEN and TACE-LEN, respectively. Most patients had tumor size> 5 cm (73.8%) and tumor number≥ 2 (69.9%). The overall incidence of toxicities was significantly higher in RT-TACE-LEN group than TACE-LEN group (100% vs. 64.7%, p< 0.001), but incidences of grade 3-4 toxicities were comparable (54.9% vs. 49.0%, p= 0.552). Both median overall survival (22.8 vs. 17.1 months, p= 0.031) and median progression-free survival (12.8 vs. 10.5 months, p= 0.035) were significantly longer after RT-TACE-LEN treatment than TACE-LEN.ConclusionsThe addition of RT to TACE and LEN was safe, and might improve clinical outcomes of patients with advanced HCC, which needs conformation from further studies

An Engineered Arginase FC Protein Inhibits Tumor Growth In Vitro

Arginine is a semiessential amino acid required for the growth of melanoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, and the enzymatic removal of arginine by pegylated arginine deiminase (ADI) or arginase is being tested clinically. Here, we report a genetically engineered arginase FC fusion protein exhibiting a prolonged half-life and enhanced efficacy. The use of this enzyme to treat different tumor lines both inhibited cell proliferation and impaired cellular migration in vitro and in vivo. Our data reinforce the hypothesis that nutritional depletion is a key strategy for cancer treatment

Pharmacokinetic Comparison of Ferulic Acid in Normal and Blood Deficiency Rats after Oral Administration of Angelica sinensis, Ligusticum chuanxiong and Their Combination

Radix Angelica Sinensis (RAS) and Rhizome Ligusticum (RLC) combination is a popular herb pair commonly used in clinics for treatment of blood deficiency syndrome in China. The aim of this study is to compare the pharmacokinetic properties of ferulic acid (FA), a main bioactive constituent in both RAS and RLC, between normal and blood deficiency syndrome animals, and to investigate the influence of compatibility of RAS and RLC on the pharmacokinetic of FA. The blood deficiency rats were induced by injecting 2% Acetyl phenylhydrazine (APH) on the first day, every other day, to a total of five times, at the dosage of 100, 50, 50, 30, 30 mg/kg body mass, respectively. Quantification of FA in rat plasma was achieved by using a simple and rapid HPLC method. Plasma samples were collected at different time points to construct pharmacokinetic profiles by plotting drug concentration versus time, and estimate pharmacokinetic parameters. Between normal and blood deficiency model groups, both AUC(0–t) and Cmax of FA in blood deficiency rats after RAS-RLC extract administration increased significantly (P < 0.05), while clearance (CL) decreased significantly. Among three blood deficiency model groups, t1/2α, Vd, AUC(0–t) and AUC(0–∞) all increased significantly in the RAS-RLC extract group compared with the RAS group. The results indicated that FA was absorbed better and eliminated slower in blood deficiency rats; RLC could significantly prolong the half-life of distribution, increase the volume of distribution and the absorption amount of FA of RAS in blood deficiency rats, which may be due to the synergic action when RAS and RLC were used together to treat blood deficiency syndrome