Reaction between Energy Particle Ion Beam with Carbon Nanotube

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted considerable attention due to their high aspect ratio, whisker-like form for best possible geometrical field enhancement, high electrical conductivity, and extraordinary thermal stability. Ion beam technology is a potential technique for controlled construction of CNTs. During collision with energetic ions, carbon atom of CNTs can get an adequate amount of energy to escape from the graphite lattice and produce a large number of defects. These defects are advantageous for adding some new functional groups and nanoparticles to modify CNTs. Meanwhile, the structure and atoms in the region of the defects can be rearranged and changed into amorphous structure, onion structure, and so on. These defects also can be used to form the junctions of CNTs and realize welding of CNTs and network formation of amorphous carbon nanowires

A switching control for finite-time synchronization of memristor-based BAM neural networks with stochastic disturbances

This paper deals with the finite-time stochastic synchronization for a class of memristorbased bidirectional associative memory neural networks (MBAMNNs) with time-varying delays and stochastic disturbances. Firstly, based on the physical property of memristor and the circuit of MBAMNNs, a MBAMNNs model with more reasonable switching conditions is established. Then, based on the theory of Filippov’s solution, by using Lyapunov–Krasovskii functionals and stochastic analysis technique, a sufficient condition is given to ensure the finite-time stochastic synchronization of MBAMNNs with a certain controller. Next, by a further discussion, an errordependent switching controller is given to shorten the stochastic settling time. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out to illustrate the effectiveness of theoretical results

Prognostic and therapeutic significance of microbial cell-free DNA in plasma of people with acutely decompensated cirrhosis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Although the effect of bacterial infection on cirrhosis has been well-described, the effect of non-hepatotropic virus (NHV) infection is unknown. This study evaluated the genome fragments of circulating microorganisms using metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in cirrhosis patients with acute decompensation (AD), focusing on NHVs and related the findings to clinical outcomes. METHODS: Plasma mNGS was performed in 129 cirrhosis patients with AD in study cohort. Ten healthy volunteers and 20, 39, and 81 patients with stable cirrhosis, severe sepsis and hematological malignancies, respectively, were enrolled as controls. Validation assays for human cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation in a validation cohort (n = 58) were performed and exploratory treatment instituted. RESULTS: In study cohort, 188 microorganisms were detected in 74.4% (96/129) patients, including viruses (58.0%), bacteria (34.1%), fungi (7.4%) and chlamydia (0.5%). Patients with AD had an NHV signature, and CMV was the most frequent NHV, which correlated with the clinical effect of empirical antibiotic treatment, progression to acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), and 90-day mortality. The NHV signature in ACLF patients was similar to patients with sepsis and hematological malignancies. The treatable NHV, CMV was detected in 24.1% (14/58) patients in the validation cohort. Of the 14 cases with detectable CMV by mNGS, 9 were further validated by DNA RT-PCR or pp65 antigenemia testing. Three patients with CMV reactivation received ganciclovir therapy in exploratory manner with clinical resolutions. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggests that NHVs may have a pathogenic role in complicating the course of AD. Further validation is needed to define whether this should be incorporated in the routine management of AD patients. IMPACT AND IMPLICATIONS: ●Cirrhosis patients with acute decompensation have a non-hepatotropic virus (NHV) signature, which is similar to that in sepsis and hematological malignancies patients. ●The detected viral signature had clinical correlates, including clinical efficacy of empirical antibiotic treatment, progression to acute-on-chronic liver failure and short-term mortality. ●The treatable NHV, CMV reactivation may be involved in the clinical outcomes of decompensated cirrhosis. ●Routine screening for NHVs, especially CMV, may be useful for the management of patients with acutely decompensated cirrhosis

Association of multiple blood metals with thyroid function in general adults: A cross−sectional study

IntroductionThyroid function has a large impact on humans’ metabolism and is affected by iodine levels, but there is a scarcity of studies that elucidate the association between thyroid function and other elements.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study on 1,067 adults to evaluate the associations of the common essential metals with thyroid function in adults living in an iodine-adequate area of China. Serum free thyroxine (FT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and blood metals (zinc, iron, copper, magnesium, manganese, and calcium) were measured. Further, the thyroid hormone sensitivity indexes, FT3:FT4 ratio, and thyrotropin T4 resistance index (TT4RI) were calculated. Linear regression, quantile g-computation, and Bayesian kernel machine regression methods were used to explore the association of metals with thyroid function.ResultsWe found that the TSH levels correlated with copper (negative) and zinc (positive). Iron and copper were positively associated with FT3 and FT4 levels, respectively. Iron (positive) and copper (negative) were correlated with the FT3:FT4 ratio. Furthermore, we found that manganese was inversely correlated with TT4RI, while zinc was positively correlated.DiscussionOur findings suggest that manganese, iron, copper, and zinc levels were strongly correlated with thyroid function, and patients with thyroid disorders are recommended to measure those metals levels

SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein Has DNA-Melting and Strand-Annealing Activities With Different Properties From SARS-CoV-2 Nsp13

Since December 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread throughout the world and has had a devastating impact on health and economy. The biochemical characterization of SARS-CoV-2 proteins is important for drug design and development. In this study, we discovered that the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein can melt double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) in the 5′-3′ direction, similar to SARS-CoV-2 nonstructural protein 13. However, the unwinding activity of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein was found to be more than 22 times weaker than that of SARS-CoV-2 nonstructural protein 13, and the melting process was independent of nucleoside triphosphates and Mg2+. Interestingly, at low concentrations, the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein exhibited a stronger annealing activity than SARS-CoV-2 nonstructural protein 13; however, at high concentrations, it promoted the melting of dsDNA. These findings have deepened our understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein and will help provide novel insights into antiviral drug development

Exponential Synchronization of Stochastic Reaction-Diffusion Fuzzy Cohen-Grossberg Neural Networks With Time-Varying Delays Via Periodically Intermittent Control

In this paper, the exponential synchronization problem for fuzzy Cohen-Grossberg neural networks with time-varying delays, stochastic noise disturbance, and reaction-diffusion effects are investigated. By introducing a novel Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional with the idea of delay partitioning, a periodically intermittent controller is developed to derive sufficient conditions ensuring the addressed neural networks to be exponentially synchronized in terms of p-norm. The results extend and improve upon earlier work. A numerical example is provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed theories

Synchronization in Finite-Time of Delayed Fractional-Order Fully Complex-Valued Dynamical Networks via Non-Separation Method

The finite-time synchronization (FNTS) problem for a class of delayed fractional-order fully complex-valued dynamic networks (FFCDNs) with internal delay and non-delayed and delayed couplings is studied by directly constructing Lyapunov functions instead of decomposing the original complex-valued networks into two real-valued networks. Firstly, a mixed delay fractional-order mathematical model is established for the first time as fully complex-valued, where the outer coupling matrices of the model are not restricted to be identical, symmetric, or irreducible. Secondly, to overcome the limitation of the use range of a single controller, two delay-dependent controllers are designed based on the complex-valued quadratic norm and the norm composed of its real and imaginary parts’ absolute values, respectively, to improve the synchronization control efficiency. Besides, the relationships between the fractional order of the system, the fractional-order power law, and the settling time (ST) are analyzed. Finally, the feasibility and effectiveness of the control method designed in this paper are verified by numerical simulation