Impulsive control of nonlinear systems with impulse time window and bounded gain error

In this paper, we establish a new sufficient condition for the stability of impulsive systems with impulse time window and bounded gain error. The proposed result is more general and more applicable than some existing results. Finally, a numerical example is given to show the effectiveness of our result

A Sandwich-Structured Hybrid Anode With Nitrogen-Doped Amorphous Carbon Nanoarrays Vertically Anchoring on Graphene Nanoplatelets for High Rate Li Storage

Graphene is not an ideal anode material of Li-ion batteries because of its low packing density and low initial Coulombic Efficiency although it shows much higher specific capacity than graphite. Herein, we report a sandwich-structured hybrid anode material which integrates the nitrogen-doped amorphous carbon nanoarrays on both sides of graphene nanoplatelets. The former provides high capacity and excellent rate capability, while the latter stabilizes the cycle performance, both of them brought out outstanding electrochemical properties to the hybrid anode. High discharge capacities of 562 and 217 mA h g−1 are obtained at current densities of 0.1 and 3 A g−1, respectively, which are much higher than those of the starting graphene nanoplatelets (404 and 81 mA h g−1, respectively). Moreover, a discharge capacity of 540 mA h g−1 is maintained after 300 cycles at 0.5 A g−1, demonstrating an excellent cycle stability. This study provides a facile process to prop up the 2 D graphene nanoplatelets with vertically aligned carbon nanoarrays, which may push forward the application of graphene as anode material of Li-ion batteries because of the avoided aggregation and additional Li storage capacity contributed by the N-doped amorphous carbon

AVNP2 protects against cognitive impairments induced by C6 glioma by suppressing tumour associated inflammation in rats

© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/).Glioblastoma is a kind of malignant tumour and originates from the central nervous system. In the last century, some researchers and clinician have noticed that the psychosocial and neurocognitive functioning of patients with malignant gliomas can be impaired. Many clinical studies have demonstrated that part of patients, adults or children, diagnosed with glioblastoma will suffer from cognitive deficiency during their clinical course, especially in long-term survivors. Many nanoparticles (NPs) can inhibit the biological functions of tumours by modulating tumour-associated inflammation, which provokes angiogenesis and tumour growth. As one of the best antiviral nanoparticles (AVNPs), AVNP2 is the 2nd generation of AVNP2 that have been conjugated to graphite-graphene for improving physiochemical performance and reducing toxicity. AVNP2 inactivates viruses, such as the H1N1 and H5N1influenza viruses and even the SARS coronavirus, while it inhibits bacteria, such as MRSA and E. coli. As antimicrobials, nanoparticles are considered to be one of the vectors for the administration of therapeutic compounds. Yet, little is known about their potential functionalities and toxicities to the neurotoxic effects of cancer. Herein, we explored the functionality of AVNP2 on inhibiting C6 in glioma-bearing rats. The novel object-recognition test and open-field test showed that AVNP2 significantly improved the neuro-behaviour affected by C6 glioma. AVNP2 also alleviated the decline of long-term potentiation (LTP) and the decreased density of dendritic spines in the CA1 region induced by C6. Western blot assay and immunofluorescence staining showed that the expressions of synaptic-related proteins (PSD-95 and SYP) were increased, and these findings were in accordance with the results mentioned above. It revealed that the sizes of tumours in C6 glioma-bearing rats were smaller after treatment with AVNP2. The decreased expression of inflammatory factors (IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α) by Western blotting assay and ELISA, angiogenesis protein (VEGF) by Western blotting assay and other related proteins (BDNF, NF-ĸB, iNOS and COX-2) by Western blotting assay in peri-tumour tissue indicated that AVNP2 could control tumour-associated inflammation, thus efficiently ameliorating the local inflammatory condition and, to some extent, inhibiting angiogenesis in C6-bearing rats. In conclusion, our results suggested that AVNP2 could have an effect on the peri-tumor environment, obviously restraining the growth progress of gliomas, and eventually improving cognitive levels in C6-bearing rats.Peer reviewedProo

A CsI hodoscope on CSHINE for Bremsstrahlung {\gamma}-rays in Heavy Ion Reactions

Bremsstrahlung $\gamma$ production in heavy ion reactions at Fermi energies carries important physical information including the nuclear symmetry energy at supra-saturation densities. In order to detect the high energy Bremsstrahlung $\gamma$ rays, a hodoscope consisting of 15 CsI(Tl) crystal read out by photo multiplier tubes has been built, tested and operated in experiment. The resolution, efficiency and linear response of the units to $\gamma$ rays have been studied using radioactive source and $({\rm p},\gamma)$ reactions. The inherent energy resolution of $1.6\%+2\%/E_{\gamma}^{1/2}$ is obtained. Reconstruction method has been established through Geant 4 simulations, reproducing the experimental results where comparison can be made. Using the reconstruction method developed, the whole efficiency of the hodoscope is about $2.6\times 10^{-4}$ against the $4\pi$ emissions at the target position, exhibiting insignificant dependence on the energy of incident $\gamma$ rays above 20 MeV. The hodoscope is operated in the experiment of $^{86}$Kr + $^{124}$Sn at 25 MeV/u, and a full $\gamma$ energy spectrum up to 80 MeV has been obtained.Comment: 9 pages, 19 figure

Activated monocytes in peritumoral stroma of hepatocellular carcinoma foster immune privilege and disease progression through PD-L1

Macrophages (Mφ) are prominent components of solid tumors and exhibit distinct phenotypes in different microenvironments. We have recently found that tumors can alter the normal developmental process of Mφ to trigger transient activation of monocytes in peritumoral stroma. We showed that a fraction of monocytes/Mφ in peritumoral stroma, but not in cancer nests, expresses surface PD-L1 (also termed B7-H1) molecules in tumors from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Monocytes activated by tumors strongly express PD-L1 proteins with kinetics similar to their activation status, and significant correlations were found between the levels of PD-L1+ and HLA-DRhigh on tumor-infiltrating monocytes. Autocrine tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin 10 released from activated monocytes stimulated monocyte expression of PD-L1. The PD-L1+ monocytes effectively suppressed tumor-specific T cell immunity and contributed to the growth of human tumors in vivo; the effect could be reversed by blocking PD-L1 on those monocytes. Moreover, we found that PD-L1 expression on tumor-infiltrating monocytes increased with disease progression, and the intensity of the protein was associated with high mortality and reduced survival in the HCC patients. Thus, expression of PD-L1 on activated monocytes/Mφ may represent a novel mechanism that links the proinflammatory response to immune tolerance in the tumor milieu

Consent for Use of Clinical Leftover Biosample: A Survey among Chinese Patients and the General Public

Background: Storage of leftover biosamples generates rich biobanks for future studies, saving time and money and limiting physical impact to sample donors. Objective: To investigate the attitudes of Chinese patients and the general public on providing consent for storage and use of leftover biosamples. Design, Setting and Participants: Cross-sectional surveys were conducted among randomly selected patients admitted to a Shanghai city hospital (n = 648) and members of the general public (n = 492) from May 2010 to July 2010. Main Outcome Measures: Face-to-face interviews collected respondents-report of their willingness to donate residual biosample, trust in medical institutions, motivation for donation, concerns of donated sample use, expectations for research results return, and so on. Results: The response rate was 83.0%. Of the respondents, 89.1 % stated that they completely understood or understood most of questions. Willingness to donate residual sample was stated by 64.7%, of which 16.7 % desired the option to withdraw their donations anytime afterwards. Only 42.3 % of respondents stated they ‘‘trust’ ’ or ‘‘strongly trust’ ’ medical institutions, the attitude of trusting or strongly trusting medical institutions were significantly associated with willingness to donate in the general public group.(p,0.05) The overall assent rate for future research without specific consents was als