Preparation and Properties of Novel Modified Waterborne Polyurethane Acrylate

A series of novel modified waterborne polyurethane acrylate (WPU-EA) emulsions were prepared with isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), polycarbonate diol, 2,2-bis-hydroxymethyl-propionic acid (DMPA), 1,4-butanediol (BDO), epoxy acrylate (EA), and pentaerythritol triacrylate (PETA). The structure of WPU-EA was confirmed by FTIR and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The effects of different dosages of epoxy acrylate on the cured film were investigated by tensile properties, dynamic mechanical analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. The results indicate that with increasing content of epoxy acrylate, the average particle size of the emulsion gradually increases. With the rise in epoxy acrylate concentration from 0%, 3.0%, 6.0% to 9.0%, the gel fraction of the cured film increases from 83.7%, 92.5%, 93.0% to 93.6%, respectively, and the glass transition temperature rises from 90.3 °C, 107.5 °C, 141.9 °C to 146.6 °C. The tensile strength and the thermal stability of the cured film increases, and the elongation at break decreases. Moreover, the WPU-EA emulsions were sprayed on polycarbonate sheets and exhibited the advantages of high hardness, better gloss and good adhesion, which is promising for the application of plastic coatings

Near-microscopic grain boundary facilitates fatigue crack propagation in a polycrystalline Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy

In present study, grain characteristics with sizes within 10–30 ​μm were fabricated from a same Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy, FCP behaviors of the alloys with small grain (SG alloy), medium grain (MG alloy) and large grain (LG alloy) were investigated and related fatigue fracture morphology was analyzed. With the enhancement of stress intensity factor range (ΔK), the alloy with larger grains possessed faster FCP rate, which were successively arranged as SG alloy ​> ​MG alloy ​> ​LG alloy at initial stage while turned to LG alloy ​> ​MG alloy ​> ​SG alloy at final stage for the stable expanding region. Except for conventional characteristics of striations, tearing ridges, secondary cracks, second phases, voids and dimples, more prominent grain boundary features appeared on fracture surface, especially for MG and LG alloy. The calculation of cyclic plastic zone (CPZ) sizes proved that grain boundary participated and promoted FCP behavior when CPZ covered grain and grain boundary together

Serum protein profile analysis via label-free quantitation proteomics in patients with early-onset preeclampsia

Preeclampsia (PE) is a serious pregnancy complication, resulting in potentially life-threatening conditions for both mother and foetus. It is worth noting that early-onset PE has become a great challenge for clinicians due to its complex manifestation, rapid progression and serious complications. This study aims to investigate differential serum proteome profiles in patients with early-onset PE. Each serum sample was separated using a nanoliter flow rate Easy-nLC chromatography system. Then the samples were analysed by mass spectrometry. Bioinformatics analyses were conducted to analyse the functional categories or signal transduction pathways for differentially abundant proteins. Key proteins identified by mass spectrometry were verified by ELISA. We found 30 and 34 proteins were upregulated and downregulated in early-onset PE patients (n = 3) vs controls (n = 3), respectively. Functional enrichment analysis revealed differentially expressed proteins related to the immune response and regulation of peptidase activity. ELISA confirmed that there were lower CSH1 levels and higher LPA concentrations in the serum samples of early-onset PE patients (n = 22) than in healthy controls (n = 19) (p p  This study revealed the critical features of serum proteins in early-onset PE patients. LPA and CSH1 may serve as biomarkers for early-onset PE diagnosis and therapy. Early-onset preeclampsia (PE) is still lacking definitive diagnostic or therapeutic strategies. Thus, we tried to identify effective and specific biomarkers for early-onset PE. In this study, we explored the serum protein profiles through the approach of label-free quantitation proteomics between early-onset PE patients and healthy controls. We identified 64 differentially expressed proteins in early-onset PE patients’ serum samples. These differentially expressed proteins are associated with the immune response and regulation of peptidase activity. In addition, our findings suggest that LPA and CSH1 may serve as candidate biomarkers for early-onset PE diagnosis and therapy. These results may help physicians to diagnose early-onset PE clinically. What’s more, our findings provide new insights into the onset and progression of early-onset PE disease.</p

Pressure-Induced Enhancement of Photoelectric Properties of ZnO Nanoparticles in the Ultraviolet Band: Implications for Electronic Device Applications

We report the photoelectric properties and structural changes of ZnO nanoparticles (∼63 nm) under pressures of up to 22.9(5) GPa using in situ Raman spectroscopy, photocurrent measurements, and theoretical calculations. The ZnO nanoparticles show enhanced photocurrent (2.8 mA) and responsivity (4.78 × 106 mA W–1) under 365 nm irradiation in the wurtzite (B4) phase. On the contrary, the rock-salt (B1) phase, emerging post the wurtzite phase, exhibits a smaller band gap and decreased absorption coefficient, leading to reduced photocurrents and responsivity. These findings highlight the potential of high-pressure modulation to optimize the photoelectronic properties of ZnO nanoparticles for electronic device applications

Detectable 2019-nCoV viral RNA in blood is a strong indicator for the further clinical severity

The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection caused pneumonia. we retrospectively analyzed the virus presence in the pharyngeal swab, blood, and the anal swab detected by real-time PCR in the clinical lab. Unexpectedly, the 2109-nCoV RNA was readily detected in the blood (6 of 57 patients) and the anal swabs (11 of 28 patients). Importantly, all of the 6 patients with detectable viral RNA in the blood cohort progressed to severe symptom stage, indicating a strong correlation of serum viral RNA with the disease severity (p-value = 0.0001). Meanwhile, 8 of the 11 patients with annal swab virus-positive was in severe clinical stage. However, the concentration of viral RNA in the anal swab (Ct value = 24 + 39) was higher than in the blood (Ct value = 34 + 39) from patient 2, suggesting that the virus might replicate in the digestive tract. Altogether, our results confirmed the presence of virus RNA in extra-pulmonary sites