In-situ hybridization of an epoxy resin using polyurethane and MXene nanoplatelets for thermally stable nanocomposites with improved strength and toughness

A novel ternary composite system has been developed by combining MXene nanoplatelets with pre-polyurethane (PU) and an epoxy (EP) resin through in-situ polymerization and solution blending. Our approach aims to enhance the strength and toughness of the EP matrix while maintaining its thermal stability. The strong compatibility between isocyanate-terminated PU and hydroxyl-terminated MXene with the resin was demonstrated through chemical grafting and hydrogen bonding processes. In this ternary composite, significant improvements were observed, including a 32 % increase in tensile strength, a 46.4 % increase in flexural strength, and a 13.4 % increase in fracture toughness, even at very low filler contents of 0.05 wt% for MXene and 1 wt% for PU. A thorough examination of the fractured surfaces revealed the underlying mechanisms responsible for the improved strength and toughness. These mechanisms involve a transition from a brittle to a ductile fracture mode, which can be attributed to the combined effects of thermoplastic toughness, strong chemical bonding between PU and EP, and crack-anchoring and bridging effects facilitated by MXene nanoplatelets. The results presented herein are relevant to a wide range of applications in aerospace, automotive, electronics and various other industries where durability and thermomechanical performance of materials are critical

Self-assembly of polymers in confined geometrics.

Athermal, tethered chains are modeled with Density Functional (DFT) theory for both the explicit solvent and continuum solvent cases. The structure of DFT is shown to reduce to Self-Consistent-Field (SCF) theory in the incompressible limit where there is symmetry between solvent and monomer, and to Single-Chain-Mean-Field (SCMF) theory in the continuum solvent limit. We show that by careful selection of the reference and ideal systems in DFT theory, self-consistent numerical solutions can be obtained, thereby avoiding the single chain Monte Carlo simulation in SCMF theory. On long length scales, excellent agreement is seen between the simplified DFT theory and Molecular Dynamics simulations of both continuum solvents and explicit-molecule solvents. In order to describe the structure of the polymer and solvent near the surface it is necessary to include compressibility effects and the nonlocality of the field

Stage-Specific Inhibition of MHC Class I Presentation by the Epstein-Barr Virus BNLF2a Protein during Virus Lytic Cycle

gamma-herpesvirus Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) persists for life in infected individuals despite the presence of a strong immune response. During the lytic cycle of EBV many viral proteins are expressed, potentially allowing virally infected cells to be recognized and eliminated by CD8+ T cells. We have recently identified an immune evasion protein encoded by EBV, BNLF2a, which is expressed in early phase lytic replication and inhibits peptide- and ATP-binding functions of the transporter associated with antigen processing. Ectopic expression of BNLF2a causes decreased surface MHC class I expression and inhibits the presentation of indicator antigens to CD8+ T cells. Here we sought to examine the influence of BNLF2a when expressed naturally during EBV lytic replication. We generated a BNLF2a-deleted recombinant EBV (ΔBNLF2a) and compared the ability of ΔBNLF2a and wild-type EBV-transformed B cell lines to be recognized by CD8+ T cell clones specific for EBV-encoded immediate early, early and late lytic antigens. Epitopes derived from immediate early and early expressed proteins were better recognized when presented by ΔBNLF2a transformed cells compared to wild-type virus transformants. However, recognition of late antigens by CD8+ T cells remained equally poor when presented by both wild-type and ΔBNLF2a cell targets. Analysis of BNLF2a and target protein expression kinetics showed that although BNLF2a is expressed during early phase replication, it is expressed at a time when there is an upregulation of immediate early proteins and initiation of early protein synthesis. Interestingly, BNLF2a protein expression was found to be lost by late lytic cycle yet ΔBNLF2a-transformed cells in late stage replication downregulated surface MHC class I to a similar extent as wild-type EBV-transformed cells. These data show that BNLF2a-mediated expression is stage-specific, affecting presentation of immediate early and early proteins, and that other evasion mechanisms operate later in the lytic cycle

Improving statistical inference on pathogen densities estimated by quantitative molecular methods: malaria gametocytaemia as a case study

BACKGROUND: Quantitative molecular methods (QMMs) such as quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR), reverse-transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR) and quantitative nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (QT-NASBA) are increasingly used to estimate pathogen density in a variety of clinical and epidemiological contexts. These methods are often classified as semi-quantitative, yet estimates of reliability or sensitivity are seldom reported. Here, a statistical framework is developed for assessing the reliability (uncertainty) of pathogen densities estimated using QMMs and the associated diagnostic sensitivity. The method is illustrated with quantification of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytaemia by QT-NASBA. RESULTS: The reliability of pathogen (e.g. gametocyte) densities, and the accompanying diagnostic sensitivity, estimated by two contrasting statistical calibration techniques, are compared; a traditional method and a mixed model Bayesian approach. The latter accounts for statistical dependence of QMM assays run under identical laboratory protocols and permits structural modelling of experimental measurements, allowing precision to vary with pathogen density. Traditional calibration cannot account for inter-assay variability arising from imperfect QMMs and generates estimates of pathogen density that have poor reliability, are variable among assays and inaccurately reflect diagnostic sensitivity. The Bayesian mixed model approach assimilates information from replica QMM assays, improving reliability and inter-assay homogeneity, providing an accurate appraisal of quantitative and diagnostic performance. CONCLUSIONS: Bayesian mixed model statistical calibration supersedes traditional techniques in the context of QMM-derived estimates of pathogen density, offering the potential to improve substantially the depth and quality of clinical and epidemiological inference for a wide variety of pathogens

A micro-accelerometer MDO benchmark problem

Many optimization and coordination methods for multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) have been proposed in the last three decades. Suitable MDO benchmark problems for testing and comparing these methods are few however. This article presents a new MDO benchmark problem based on the design optimization of an ADXL150 type lateral capacitive micro-accelerometer. The behavioral models describe structural and dynamic effects, as well as electrostatic and amplification circuit contributions. Models for important performance indicators such as sensitivity, range, noise, and footprint area are presented. Geometric and functional constraints are included in these models to enforce proper functioning of the device. The developed models are analytical, and therefore highly suitable for benchmark and educational purposes. Four different problem decompositions are suggested for four design cases, each of which can be used for testing MDO coordination algorithms. As a reference, results for an all-in-one implementation, and a number of augmented Lagrangian coordination algorithms are given. © 2009 The Author(s)

PDNAsite:identification of DNA-binding site from protein sequence by incorporating spatial and sequence context

Protein-DNA interactions are involved in many fundamental biological processes essential for cellular function. Most of the existing computational approaches employed only the sequence context of the target residue for its prediction. In the present study, for each target residue, we applied both the spatial context and the sequence context to construct the feature space. Subsequently, Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) was applied to remove the redundancies in the feature space. Finally, a predictor (PDNAsite) was developed through the integration of the support vector machines (SVM) classifier and ensemble learning. Results on the PDNA-62 and the PDNA-224 datasets demonstrate that features extracted from spatial context provide more information than those from sequence context and the combination of them gives more performance gain. An analysis of the number of binding sites in the spatial context of the target site indicates that the interactions between binding sites next to each other are important for protein-DNA recognition and their binding ability. The comparison between our proposed PDNAsite method and the existing methods indicate that PDNAsite outperforms most of the existing methods and is a useful tool for DNA-binding site identification. A web-server of our predictor (http://hlt.hitsz.edu.cn:8080/PDNAsite/) is made available for free public accessible to the biological research community

Electronic/photonic interfaces for ultrafast data processing.

This report summarizes a 3-month program that explored the potential areas of impact for electronic/photonic integration technologies, as applied to next-generation data processing systems operating within 100+ Gb/s optical networks. The study included a technology review that targeted three key functions of data processing systems, namely receive/demultiplexing/clock recovery, data processing, and transmit/multiplexing. Various technical approaches were described and evaluated. In addition, we initiated the development of high-speed photodetectors and hybrid integration processes, two key elements of an ultrafast data processor. Relevant experimental results are described herein

Respiratory maneuvers in echocardiography: a review of clinical applications

During echocardiographic examination, respiration induces cyclic physiological changes of intracardiac haemodynamics, causing normal variations of the right and left ventricle Doppler inflows and outflows and physiological variation of extracardiac flows. The respiration related hemodynamic variation in intra and extracardiac flows may be utilized in the echocardiography laboratory to aid diagnosis in different pathological states. Nevertheless, physiologic respiratory phases can cause excessive translational motion of cardiac structures, lowering 2D image quality and interfering with optimal Doppler interrogation of flows or tissue motion

Disparities and risks of sexually transmissible infections among men who have sex with men in China: a meta-analysis and data synthesis.

BACKGROUND: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including Hepatitis B and C virus, are emerging public health risks in China, especially among men who have sex with men (MSM). This study aims to assess the magnitude and risks of STIs among Chinese MSM. METHODS: Chinese and English peer-reviewed articles were searched in five electronic databases from January 2000 to February 2013. Pooled prevalence estimates for each STI infection were calculated using meta-analysis. Infection risks of STIs in MSM, HIV-positive MSM and male sex workers (MSW) were obtained. This review followed the PRISMA guidelines and was registered in PROSPERO. RESULTS: Eighty-eight articles (11 in English and 77 in Chinese) investigating 35,203 MSM in 28 provinces were included in this review. The prevalence levels of STIs among MSM were 6.3% (95% CI: 3.5-11.0%) for chlamydia, 1.5% (0.7-2.9%) for genital wart, 1.9% (1.3-2.7%) for gonorrhoea, 8.9% (7.8-10.2%) for hepatitis B (HBV), 1.2% (1.0-1.6%) for hepatitis C (HCV), 66.3% (57.4-74.1%) for human papillomavirus (HPV), 10.6% (6.2-17.6%) for herpes simplex virus (HSV-2) and 4.3% (3.2-5.8%) for Ureaplasma urealyticum. HIV-positive MSM have consistently higher odds of all these infections than the broader MSM population. As a subgroup of MSM, MSW were 2.5 (1.4-4.7), 5.7 (2.7-12.3), and 2.2 (1.4-3.7) times more likely to be infected with chlamydia, gonorrhoea and HCV than the broader MSM population, respectively. CONCLUSION: Prevalence levels of STIs among MSW were significantly higher than the broader MSM population. Co-infection of HIV and STIs were prevalent among Chinese MSM. Integration of HIV and STIs healthcare and surveillance systems is essential in providing effective HIV/STIs preventive measures and treatments. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO NO: CRD42013003721