Preparation of Nickel-Copper Bilayers Coated on Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Due to oxidizability of copper coating on carbon nanotubes, the interfacial bond strength between copper coating and its matrix is weak, which leads to the reduction of the macroscopic properties of copper matrix composite. The electroless coating technics was applied to prepare nickel-copper bilayers coated on single-walled carbon nanotubes. The coated single-walled carbon nanotubes were characterized through transmission electron microscope spectroscopy, field-emission electron microscope spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, and thermogravimetric analysis. The results demonstrated that the nickel-copper bilayers coated on single-walled carbon nanotubes possessed higher purity of unoxidized copper fine-grains than copper monolayers

Information theory-based algorithm for in silico prediction of PCR products with whole genomic sequences as templates

BACKGROUND: A new algorithm for assessing similarity between primer and template has been developed based on the hypothesis that annealing of primer to template is an information transfer process. RESULTS: Primer sequence is converted to a vector of the full potential hydrogen numbers (3 for G or C, 2 for A or T), while template sequence is converted to a vector of the actual hydrogen bond numbers formed after primer annealing. The former is considered as source information and the latter destination information. An information coefficient is calculated as a measure for fidelity of this information transfer process and thus a measure of similarity between primer and potential annealing site on template. CONCLUSION: Successful prediction of PCR products from whole genomic sequences with a computer program based on the algorithm demonstrated the potential of this new algorithm in areas like in silico PCR and gene finding

Orai1 and Stim1 Mediate the Majority of Store-Operated Calcium Entry in Multiple Myeloma and Have Strong Implications for Adverse Prognosis

Background/Aims: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell neoplasm which constitutes about 10% of all hematologic malignancies. Despite the development and application of novel agents, MM still undergoes an aggressive and incurable course in the vast majority of patients. Ca2+ is one of the critical regulators of cell migration. Ca2+ influx is essential for the migration of various types of cells including tumor cells. However, the role of store-operated calcium entry (SOC) channels, the only Ca2+ channels of non-excitable cells, has not yet been reported in MM cell survival. Methods: We evaluated the expression of Stim1 and Orai1 (two key regulators of SOC) in MM tissues and cell lines by immunohistochemical assay, quantitative real-time PCR assay and western blot. MM cell lines were pretreated with pharmacological blockers and siRNAs, and then MM cell proliferation, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis were examined by FACS (flow cytometry) assay, and Annexin V-FITC/PI staining. The correlation between the expression of Stim1 (or Orai1) level and outcome in MM were assessed by using Progress Free Survival (PFS). Results: Stim1 and Orai1 were both abundantly expressed in MM tissue and MM cell lines. Inhibition of SOCE reduced MM cell viability, and induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Stim1 or Orai1 silencing also reduced cell viability, caused cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in MM cell lines. Over-expression of Stim1/Orai1 in MM patients was closely associated with the clinical outcome of MM. Conclusion: The Stim1/Orai1-mediated signaling participates in the pathogenesis of MM, which represents an attractive target for future therapeutic intervention

Optimization of conceptual design on the lead-based modular nuclear power reactor core loaded with U-10Zr alloy fuel

As one of the forth-generation nuclear energy system reactor types, lead fast reactor has good safety and economical properties due to the stable chemical properties of the coolant and the proliferation characteristics of the fuel, and modular nuclear power faster reactor designed for nuclear plant can further improve the economics of the reactor. In this article, the conceptual design of the lead-based modular power reactors with different power levels loaded with uranium alloy fuel is found to be found that when reactor core size increased to a certain level, the proliferation performance is too high due to the increase of the reactor core size under a specific core life such as 2000EFPD, so at the end of core life, the reactor core still has a large remaining reactivity. The proliferation advantage of the core cannot be fully released during the current core life time. Based on this phenomenon, in this article, we optimized the conceptual design of lead-based modular nuclear power reactor core loaded with uranium alloy fuel, and proposed to choose the appropriate rod to diameter ratio and effective density of fuel based on the power level and life time of the core. By adjusting the amount of uranium and 235U per unit volume, the proliferation performance of the core can be changed to match the power level and life time of the core. So the reactivity of core during the life period does not change, which not only reduce the difficulty of the reactivity control, but also make full use of the proliferation performance of the core. And at the same time, the reasonable rod to diameter ratio can provide safety and design margin for the analysis of thermal and hydraulic safety, and effectively improve the economy and safety of the core

Development and verification of lead-bismuth cooled fast reactor calculation code system Mosasaur

Lead-bismuth cooled fast reactor calculation code system named MOSASAUR has been developed to meet the simulation requirements from LBFR engineering design. An overview of MOSASAUR developments is provided in this paper, four main functional modules and their models are introduced: cross-sections generation module, flux spectrum correction module, core simulation module and sensitivity and uncertainty analysis module. Verification and validation results of numerical benchmark calculations, code-to-code comparisons with the Monte-Carlo code and critical experimental calculations shown in this paper prove the capabilities of MOSASAUR in dealing with lead-bismuth cooled fast reactor analysis problems with good performances. Numerical results demonstrate that compared with the Monte-Carlo code, the relative errors of eigenvalues are smaller than 350pcm when the calculations were carried out with the same nuclear data file. Compared with the measured values, the errors will increase due to the simulation details and the measurement accuracy

Study on autonomic neuropathy of the digestive system caused by bortezomib in the treatment of multiple myeloma

ABSTRACTObjective To research the effects of autonomic neuropathy of the digestive system induced by bortezomib on clinical efficacy and quality of life.Methods A total of 150 patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) were hospitalized in our department from January 2018 to December 2021, and treated with bortezomib-based combination regimens. To observe the incidence of autonomic neuropathy of the digestive system and analyse the correlations between the severity of autonomic neuropathy and the efficacy, survival, age, underlying diseases and personal history.Results The incidence of autonomic neuropathy of the digestive system was 60.0%. The overall response rate (ORR), 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate and 2-year overall survival (OS) rate in the grade 3 group of autonomic neuropathy were significantly lower than those in the grade 1–2 group, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Age, constipation, diabetes, fracture/spinal cord compression in bed and history of alcoholism were positively correlated with the risk of autonomic neuropathy of the digestive system (P < 0.05). The autonomic neuropathy of the digestive system was significantly alleviated in most patients after the timely adjustment of the treatment regimen, and bortezomib could continue to be administered.Conclusions The incidence of autonomic neuropathy of the digestive system induced by bortezomib is high, and its severity is closely related to efficacy, advanced age, constipation, diabetes, fracture/spinal cord compression in bed and history of alcoholism. Early detection and early treatment are necessary to better treat the disease and reverse the autonomic neuropathy

ProTstab2 for Prediction of Protein Thermal Stabilities

The stability of proteins is an essential property that has several biological implications. Knowledge about protein stability is important in many ways, ranging from protein purification and structure determination to stability in cells and biotechnological applications. Experimental determination of thermal stabilities has been tedious and available data have been limited. The introduction of limited proteolysis and mass spectrometry approaches has facilitated more extensive cellular protein stability data production. We collected melting temperature information for 34,913 proteins and developed a machine learning predictor, ProTstab2, by utilizing a gradient boosting algorithm after testing seven algorithms. The method performance was assessed on a blind test data set and showed a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.753 and root mean square error of 7.005. Comparison to previous methods indicated that ProTstab2 had superior performance. The method is fast, so it was applied to predict and compare the stabilities of all proteins in human, mouse, and zebrafish proteomes for which experimental data were not determined. The tool is freely available

Site Selection Models in Natural Disaster Shelters: A Review

Constructing natural disaster shelters is important for disaster emergency management, and site selection models provide a feasible technique and method. This paper presents site selection models for natural disaster shelters. A synthesis of the types, objectives, constraints, methods of solutions, targeted disasters and applications of different site selection models for natural disaster shelters is investigated. Shelter location models can be classified as single-objective models, multiobjective models and hierarchical models, according to the objective and hierarchy type. Minimizing the evacuation distance or time, shelter construction cost or number, and the total risk are the general objectives of the models. Intelligent optimization algorithms are widely used to solve the models, instead of the Geographic Information System (GIS) method, due to the complexity of the problem. The results indicate that the following should be the main focuses of future works: How to set a model that can be applied for determining the shelter locations of multiple disasters; how to consider the uncertainty in the models; how to improve the existing algorithms or models to solve large-scale location-allocation problems; and how to develop a new resource-saving model that is consistent with the concept of sustainable development, as advocated by shelter planners and policy makers, which can be applied in real situations. This study allows those undertaking shelter location research to situate their work within the context of shelter planning

The seasonal dissipation of Ulva prolifera and its effects on environmental factors: based on remote sensing images and field monitoring data

Ulva prolifera blooms have occurred every summer in the South Yellow Sea since 2008. U. prolifera blooms appeared in the area near the Jiangsu shoal and then were driven to the Shandong Peninsula by the prevailing summer winds. The blooms covered a maximum area of more than 50000 km2 and had an aggregate estimated biomass of 3.64 × 105 tons. Large number of U. prolifera dissipation in the natural degradation and this cause a serious impact on the marine environment. We used MODIS, HJ-1A/B and GF-1 remote sensing image data to conduct large-scale monitoring of U. prolifera. Combined with sea surface monitoring station data from Haiyang city, Shandong province, we analyzed the impact of U. prolifera death on the coastal sea environment of Haiyang city from 2012 to 2016 using multiple regression analysis. It showed that chlorophyll-a concentration was related to sea surface temperature (SST), salinity, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and phosphate (R2 = 0.50, P < 0.001). Among these, DIN and phosphate were important factors affecting chlorophyll-a concentration. There was a significant positive correlation between chlorophyll-a concentration and DIN, but a significant negative correlation between chlorophyll-a concentration and phosphate. The nutrients released by the decomposition of U. prolifera enhanced the growth of planktonic microalgae, and increased the mean chlorophyll-a concentration from 1.398 μmol/L to 2.819 μmol/L during May to August in the study area. This increased the Level of eutrophication in the coastal area and contributed to blooms of secondary algae such as red tides

Emergency shelters location-allocation problem concerning uncertainty and limited resources: a multi-objective optimization with a case study in the Central area of Beijing, China

The special planning for shelters is an integral part of overall city planning and is a key issue in solving the urban security problem. During the planning of earthquake emergency shelters, it is usually necessary to prioritize the designated shelters to avoid wasting resources. However, in previous research initiatives, special attention has been given to the general location-allocation model without prior consideration of the designated shelters. This article presents a multi-objective supplemental location-allocation optimization model for earthquake emergency shelters that addresses the concerns related to the designated shelters. This model is believed to remain more consistent with the knowledge of shelter planners and policy makers by incorporating the uncertainties of the temporal dynamics of population distribution and the spatially heterogeneous distribution of evacuees under various earthquake damage scenarios by using the elliptical attenuation model for seismic intensity into the location-allocation problem. A case study of the central area of Beijing, China is presented. A modified particle swarm optimization algorithm is applied to solve the supplemental location-allocation model and the general location-allocation model, and the solutions obtained from the two models are then compared. The results show that the solutions of the supplemental location-allocation model significantly minimized the shelter area by prioritizing the designated shelters. By contrast, without prior consideration of the designated shelters, the shelter areas significantly increased, which slightly decreased the evacuation distance in the general location-allocation model. The policy makers could select solutions from the obtained minimal-area scheme using the supplemental location-allocation model that ensures acceptable evacuation distances and minimal budgets by prioritizing the designated shelters during the phased planning of shelters in Beijing