Effects of Shading on Carbohydrates of Syzygium samarangense

Wax apple (Syzygium samarangense) is an important tropical fruit tree cultivated in Southeast Asian. It produces red pear-like shape fruits. The fruit flesh is considered high in antioxidants, phenolics, and flavonoids that have a potential to contribute to the human healthy diet, and was proved to have anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial characteristics. To allow year-round marketing of high quality wax apple fruit, growers always perform shading to inhibit new flushes so as to repress vegetative growth and promote reproductive growth. To investigate the effect of shading on carbohydrates, wax apple trees were shaded with sun shade nets under field conditions. The effects of shading on shoot growth were studied and leaf carbohydrate levels of the trees were determined. The results showed that shading inhibit the the growth of the terminal shoots and promoted bud dormancy. Shading also reduced total soluble sugar, sucrose, glucose, fructose, and starch levels of leaves. The results suggested that shading reduced carbohydrate accumulation and repressed vegetative growth

An Intelligent Networked Car-Hailing System Based on the Multi Sensor Fusion and UWB Positioning Technology under Complex Scenes Condition

In order to solve the problems of difficulty and long times to pick up cars in complex traffic scenes, this paper proposes an intelligent networked car-hailing system in complex scenes based on multi sensor fusion and Ultra-Wide-Band (UWB) technology. UWB positioning technology is adopted in the system, and the positioning data is optimized by the untraceable Kalman filter algorithm. Based on the environment perception technology of multi sensor fusion, such as machine vision and laser radar technology, an anti-collision warning algorithm was proposed in the process of car-hailing, which improved the safety factor of car-hailing. When the owner enters the parking lot, the intelligent vehicle can automatically locate the owner’s position and drive to the owner without human intervention, which provides a new idea for the development of intelligent networked vehicles and effectively improves the navigation accuracy and intelligence of intelligent vehicles

Nano-periodic structure formation on titanium thin film with a Femtosecond laser

Periodic nanostructures were observed on the Ti thin film surface after irradiation with a focused beam of femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser. It has been found which, on the ablated Ti thin film surface, the linearly polarized femtosecond laser pulses produced arrays of ripple-like periodic nanostructures that were oriented to the direction parallel to the laser polarization, and a net-like nanostructure was fabricated on the surface of Ti thin film by the technique of two linearly polarized femtosecond laser beams with orthogonal polarizations ablating material alternately. The period of self-organized ripple-like nanostructures can be controlled by the pulses energy and the number of irradiated pulses. The result suggests that the formation of periodicity can be attributed to the excitation of surface Plasmon polarizations which induce initial period distribution of the electron plasma concentration orientation parallel to the light polarization on the surface layer. The estimated field period was in general accord with the observed size of nanostructures

Selective metallization of Ag2O-dope silicate glass by femtosecond laser direct writing

We investigated the selective metallization on Ag2O-doped silicate glass under femtosecond laser irradiation after electroless plating. We found, as increasing the laser power, the width of the ablated groove increased from 2.5 to 7.5 µm, and then the resulted new surface could offer an active site for reduction of Cu cations, leading to corresponding plated Cu lines with widths from 7.4 to 25.4 µm. The mechanism was supposed as irradiation of the femtosecond laser (FL) on Ag2O doped silicate glass surfaces result in the reduction of silver ions, and consequently, then the formation of silver atoms or even silver nanoparticles became the seeds for the next electroless plating process

A targeted antibody-based array reveals a serum protein signature as biomarker for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients

Abstract Background Evident adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) incurs high treatment costs, low quality of life, and many complications. Early screening of AIS is essential to avoid progressing to an evident stage. However, there is no valid serum biomarker for AIS for early screening. Methods Antibody-based array is a large-scale study of proteins, which is expected to reveal a serum protein signature as biomarker for AIS. There are two segments of the research, including biomarkers screening and validation. In the biomarkers screening group, a total of 16 volunteers participated in this study, and we carried out differentially expressed proteins screening via protein array assay between No-AIS group and the AIS group, through which GeneSet enrichment analysis was performed. In the validation group with a total of 62 volunteers, the differentially expressed proteins from screening group were verified by Enzyme-Linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and then multiple regression analysis. Results In our study, there were twenty-nine differentially expressed proteins in AIS, through Protein array assay and GeneSet enrichment analysis in the biomarkers screening group. Then the expression of FAP, CD23 and B2M decreased as the degree of AIS increased via ELISA in validation group (FAP, p < 0.0001; CD23, p = 0.0002; B2M, p < 0.0001). Further, the results of multiple regression analysis showed that FAP, CD23 are linked to Cobb angle, whereas B2M were excluded because of multicollinearity. Conclusions Altogether, we found that serum protein FAP and CD23 are intimately related to AIS, suggesting FAP and CD23 are expected to serve as the serum biomarkers, which significantly facilitate frequent longitudinal monitoring as to keep track of disease progression and tailor treatment accordingly

Dosimetric evaluation of four whole brain radiation therapy approaches with hippocampus and inner ear avoidance and simultaneous integrated boost for limited brain metastases

Abstract Aims To perform a dosimetric evaluation of four different simultaneous integrated boost whole brain radiotherapy modalities with hippocampus and inner ear avoidance in the treatment of limited brain metastases. Methods Computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging data of 10 patients with limited (1–5) brain metastases were used to replan step-and-shoot intensity-modulated radiotherapy (sIMRT), dynamic intensity-modulated radiation therapy (dIMRT), volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT), and helical tomotherapy (Tomo). The prescribed doses of 40–50 Gy in 10 fractions and 30 Gy in 10 fractions were simultaneously delivered to the metastatic lesions and the whole-brain volume, respectively. The hippocampal dose met the RTOG 0933 criteria for hippocampal avoidance (Dmax ≤17 Gy, D100% ≤10 Gy). The inner ear dose was restrained to Dmean ≤15 Gy. Target coverage (TC), homogeneity index (HI), conformity index (CI), maximum dose (Dmax), minimum dose (Dmin) and dose to organs at risk (OARs) were compared. Results All plans met the indicated dose restrictions. The mean percentage of planning target volume of metastases (PTVmets) coverage ranged from 97.1 to 99.4%. For planning target volume of brain (PTVbrain), Tomo provided the lowest average D2% (37.5 ± 2.8 Gy), the highest average D98% (25.2 ± 2.0 Gy), and the best TC (92.6% ± 2.1%) and CI (0.79 ± 0.06). The two fixed gantry IMRT modalities (step and shot, dynamic) provided similar PTVbrain dose homogeneity (both 0.76). Significant differences across the four approaches were observed for the maximum and minimum doses to the hippocampus and the maximum doses to the eyes, lens and optic nerves. Conclusion All four radiotherapy modalities produced acceptable treatment plans with good avoidance of the hippocampus and inner ear. Tomo obtained satisfactory PTVbrain coverage and the best homogeneity index. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03414944. Registered 29 January 201

Ultrasonic injection molding of glass fiber reinforced polypropylene parts using tungsten carbide-cobalt mold core

A hybrid process combining ultrasonic injection molding and electrical discharge machining was proposed to realize the economic, high-precision, and environmental-friendliness production of glass fiber reinforced polypropylene microstructured parts. First, the prism array microstructures were processed on tungsten carbide-cobalt (WC-8 wt% Co) substrate by low-speed wire electrical discharge machining and used as the mold core. Then, the glass fiber reinforced polypropylene composite (GF/PP) was melted under ultrasonic vibration, and the surface microstructure of the mold core was replicated. The experimental results show that this method can efficiently and accurately manufacture microstructured parts, and the microstructure has a high replication rate up to 95.5%. By replicating the microstructure, the surface contact angle of GF/PP parts increased from 57.1° to 134.9°, and the wettability changed from hydrophilicity to hydrophobicity. The mechanical properties test results show that the GF/PP parts fabricated by ultrasonic injection molding had excellent mechanical properties, and the 30% GF/PP parts show the highest tensile strength of 56.9 MPa. This work provides a new option for fabricating fiber reinforced composite parts

Association of Tirofiban With Functional Outcomes After Thrombectomy in Acute Ischemic Stroke Due to Intracranial Atherosclerotic Disease.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy and safety of IV infusion of tirofiban before endovascular thrombectomy for patients with large vessel occlusion due to intracranial atherosclerotic disease. The secondary objective was to identify potential mediators for the clinical effect of tirofiban. METHODS: Post hoc exploratory analysis of the Endovascular Treatment With versus Without Tirofiban for Patients with Large Vessel Occlusion Stroke (RESCUE BT) trial, which was a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial at 55 centers in China from October 2018 to October 2021. Patients with occlusion of the internal carotid artery or middle cerebral artery due to intracranial atherosclerosis were included. The primary efficacy outcome was the proportion of patients achieving functional independence (defined as modified Rankin scale 0-2) at 90 days. Binary logistic regression and causal mediation analyses were used to estimate the treatment effect of tirofiban and the potential mediators. RESULTS: This study included 435 patients, of whom 71.5% were men. The median age was 65 (interquartile range [IQR] 56-72) years, with a median NIH Stroke Scale of 14 (IQR 10-19). Patients in the tirofiban group had higher rates of functional independence at 90 days than patients in the placebo group (adjusted odds ratio 1.68; 95% CI 1.11-2.56, p = 0.02) without an increased risk of mortality or symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. Tirofiban was associated with fewer thrombectomy passes (median [IQR] 1 [1-2] vs 1 [1-2], p = 0.004), which was an independent predictor of functional independence. Mediation analysis showed tirofiban-reduced thrombectomy passes explained 20.0% (95% CI 4.1%-76.0%) of the effect of tirofiban on functional independence. DISCUSSION: In this post hoc analysis of the RESCUE BT trial, tirofiban was an effective and well-tolerated adjuvant medication of endovascular thrombectomy for patients with large vessel occlusion due to intracranial atherosclerosis. These findings need to be confirmed in future trials. TRIAL REGISTRATION INFORMATION: The RESCUE BT trial was registered on the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: chictr.org.cn, ChiCTR-INR-17014167. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class II evidence that tirofiban plus endovascular therapy improves 90-day outcome for patients with large vessel occlusion due to intracranial atherosclerosis