Cell Wall Modification Based on Combination Reagents to Improve Dimensional Stability of Wood with High Efficiency.

Although γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS) was proved to be an effective reagent for improving the dimensional stability of wood, a bottleneck in ASE value (around 50%) existed. The reason was that MPS with low polarity opened few hydrogen bonds in the amorphous region of cellulose, while these hydrogen bonds could be reopened by water. Therefore, citric acid (CA) is chosen to cooperate with MPS to further enhance the dimensional stability of wood.

Sensitivity enhancement of bimodal waveguide interferometric sensor based on regional mode engineering.

In this paper, we propose a novel bimodal waveguide based on regional mode engineering (BiMW-RME). Leveraging the orthogonality of the guided modes, the form of patterned SiO cladding on the bimodal waveguide can reduce the interaction between the reference mode and the analyte, thereby significantly improving sensitivity. The proposed BiMW-RME sensor experimentally demonstrates a phase sensitivity of 2766 π rad/RIU/cm and a detection limit of 2.

On-Chip Fabrication-Tolerant Exceptional Points Based on Dual-Scatterer Engineering.

The intriguing and anomalous optical characteristics of exceptional points (EPs) in optical resonators have attracted significant attention. While EP-related phenomena have been observed by perturbing resonators with off-chip components, implementing EPs fully on-chip remains challenging due to their extreme susceptibility to fabrication errors. In this Letter, we propose a succinct and compact approach to reach EP in an on-chip integrated silicon microring resonator by manipulating the evolution of backscatterings with two nanocylinders of disparate diameters.

Ultrasensitive fiber sensor with enhanced Vernier effect for simultaneous measurements of transverse load and temperature.

Based on enhanced Vernier effect, a compact fiber sensor with ultrahigh sensitivity is proposed for simultaneous transverse load (TL) and temperature measurements. A single mode fiber (SMF) is spliced with a segment of hollow-core fiber (HCF) coated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), some PDMS is injected into the HCF, forming a Vernier sensor with an air cavity adjacent to a PDMS cavity. It is shown that TL and temperature changes give rise to opposite and remarkable different variations in lengths of the two cavities, thereby enhancing Vernier effect and in favor of simultaneous measurements of TL and temperature.

Composite Fabry-Perot interferometric gas pressure and temperature sensor utilizing four hole fiber with sensitivity boosted by high-order harmonic Vernier effect.

It is an enormous challenge for optical fiber sensors to intuitively achieve the simultaneous measurement of both gas pressure and temperature with high sensitivity. To address this challenge, the Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) based on high-order harmonic Vernier effect is combined with the fiber Bragg grating (FBG). A novel fiber sensor built with a cascaded FPI and an FBG for the simultaneous measurement of gas pressure and temperature is designed and experimentally investigated by virtue of the temperature sensing property of FBG and its independence on gas pressure-induced refractive index change, where a high-order harmonic Vernier effect was utilized to boost the gas pressure sensitivity of the sensor.

Slab control on the mega-sized North Pacific ultra-low velocity zone.

Ultra-low velocity zones (ULVZs) are localized small-scale patches with extreme physical properties at the core-mantle boundary that often gather at the margins of Large Low Velocity Provinces (LLVPs). Recent studies have discovered several mega-sized ULVZs with a lateral dimension of ~900 km. However, the detailed structures and physical properties of these ULVZs and their relationship to LLVP edges are not well constrained and their formation mechanisms are poorly understood.

Association Between Serum Galectin-3 Levels and Coronary Stenosis Severity in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease.

Background: The relationship between galectin-3 (Gal-3) and coronary artery disease (CAD) has not been fully elucidated.

Aim: This study aimed to determine the relationship between the presence and severity of CAD and serum Gal-3 levels.

Patients And Methods: Three-hundred thirty-one consecutive CAD patients were enrolled as the study group.

Structure-Based Design and Synthesis of N-Substituted 3-Amino-β-Carboline Derivatives as Potent αβ-Tubulin Degradation Agents.

So far, relatively few small molecules have been reported to promote tubulin degradation. Our previous studies have found that compound , a noncovalent colchicine-site ligand, was capable of promoting αβ-tubulin degradation. To further improve its antiproliferative activity, 66 derivatives or analogues of were designed and synthesized based on -tubulin cocrystal structure.

Association Between Fasting Hyperglycemia and New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction and the Impact on Short- and Long-Term Prognosis.

The relationship between fasting hyperglycemia (FHG) and new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is unclear, and whether their co-occurrence is associated with a worse in-hospital and long-term prognosis than FHG or AF alone is unknown. To explore the correlation between FHG and new-onset AF in patients with AMI, and their impact on in-hospital and long-term all-cause mortality. We performed a retrospective cohort study comprising 563 AMI patients.

Subwavelength structure enabled ultra-long waveguide grating antenna.

Because of the high index contrast, current silicon photonics based optical phased arrays cannot achieve small beam divergence and large field-of-view simultaneously without increasing fabrication complexity. To resolve the dilemma, we propose an ultra-long waveguide grating antenna formed by placing subwavelength segments within the evanescent field of a conventional strip waveguide. Bound state in the continuum effect is leveraged to suppress the sidewall emission.

Signal processing assisted Vernier effect in a single interferometer for sensitivity magnification.

The Vernier effect magnifies optical sensitivity by the superposition of two spectra with slightly shifted frequencies from a sensing interferometer (SIM) and a reference interferometer (RIM). In this study, we demonstrate that the Vernier effect can be obtained through a single interferometer, which detects the changed signal and provides an artificial reference spectrum (ARS) to be superposed with the changed signal spectrum. The ARS extracted by spatial frequency down-conversion of one sensing spectrum in the signal processing is not affected by environmental changes and can be detuned at an arbitrarily small amount with the measured signal spectrum.

Differentiation of Glioma Mimicking Encephalitis and Encephalitis Using Multiparametric MR-Based Deep Learning.

Background: Computational aid for diagnosis based on convolutional neural network (CNN) is promising to improve clinical diagnostic performance. Therefore, we applied pretrained CNN models in multiparametric magnetic resonance (MR) images to classify glioma mimicking encephalitis and encephalitis.

Methods: A data set containing 3064 MRI brain images from 164 patients with a final diagnosis of glioma (n = 56) and encephalitis (n = 108) patients and divided into training and testing sets.

-(Pyrimidin-2-yl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolin-6-amine Derivatives as Selective Janus Kinase 2 Inhibitors for the Treatment of Myeloproliferative Neoplasms.

In this study, we described a series of -(pyrimidin-2-yl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolin-6-amine derivatives as selective JAK2 (Janus kinase 2) inhibitors. Systematic exploration of the structure-activity relationship though cyclization modification based on previously reported compound led to the discovery of the superior derivative . Compound showed excellent potency on JAK2 kinase, SET-2, and Ba/F3 cells (high expression of JAK2 mutation) with IC values of 3, 11.

The potential influence of stochastic resonance vibrations on neuromuscular strategies and center of pressure sway during single-leg stance.

Background: Stochastic resonance vibrations are known to enhance balance in the elderly and patients with impaired plantar sensation. However, the underlying mechanisms of plantar vibrations on balance capacity are not well resolved. This study investigated the impact of stochastic resonance vibrations on activities of major extrinsic foot muscles and center of pressure sway in tactile inhibited subjects.

Ultrasensitive refractive index sensor based on enhanced Vernier effect through cascaded fiber core-offset pairs.

An ultrasensitive refractive index (RI) sensor based on enhanced Vernier effect is proposed, which consists of two cascaded fiber core-offset pairs. One pair functions as a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI), the other with larger core offset as a low-finesse Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI). In traditional Vernier-effect based sensors, an interferometer insensitive to environment change is used as sensing reference.

Embryonic and postnatal tendon cells respond differently to interleukin-1β.

Adult tendons heal as scar tissue, whereas embryonic tendons heal scarlessly via unknown mechanisms. Scarred tendon healing results from inflammation-driven imbalances in anabolic and catabolic functions. To test scarless versus scarring age tendon cell responses to inflammatory conditions, we treated embryonic and postnatal tendon cells with interleukin (IL)-1β and characterized expression of collagens, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), inflammatory mediators, and phosphorylation of signaling molecules.

Embryo movements regulate tendon mechanical property development.

Tendons transmit forces from muscles to bones to enable skeletal motility. During development, tendons begin to bear load at the onset of embryo movements. Using the chick embryo model, this study showed that altered embryo movement frequency led to changes in elastic modulus of calcaneal tendon.

Roadmap of molecular, compositional, and functional markers during embryonic tendon development.

Tendon is a specialized connective tissue that connects muscle to bone, thereby enabling musculoskeletal movement. Tendon injury leads to formation of tissue with aberrant functional properties. Current approaches to treat tendon injuries, including surgical repair and tissue engineering, have not achieved normal tendon.

Metformin Inhibits Mouse Islet Insulin Secretion and Alters Intracellular Calcium in a Concentration-Dependent and Duration-Dependent Manner near the Circulating Range.

Metformin is considered the first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes. While metformin primarily increases insulin sensitivity, evidence also suggests that metformin affects the activity of insulin-secreting pancreatic islets. This study was designed to systematically examine the direct effects of metformin by measuring insulin secretion and the kinetics of the calcium response to glucose stimulation in isolated mouse islets using varying concentrations (20 M, 200 M, and 1 mM) and durations (~1, 2, and 3 days) of metformin exposure.

Impact of postoperative drainage autologous blood re-transfusion on the coagulation parameters and D-dimer levels of patients after total hip arthroplasty.

Background: Postoperative drainage autologous blood re-transfusion (ABT) is an important treatment method that maintains a high haemoglobin (HGB) content and obviates the need for allogeneic blood transfusion in patients after surgery. However, the safety of ABT remains controversial.

Objectives And Methods: This study aimed to investigate the safety of postoperative drainage ABT in primary total hip arthroplasty (THA).

Transcriptome profiling and digital gene expression analysis of Fallopia multiflora to discover putative genes involved in the biosynthesis of 2,3,5,4'-tetrahydroxy stilbene-2-O-β-D-glucoside.

The compound 2,3,5,4'-tetrahydroxy stilbene-2-O-ß-d-glucoside (THSG) synthesized by Fallopia multiflora (F. multiflora) exhibits pharmacological potency. However, the mechanistic details of its biosynthesis pathway are still vague.

Upregulation of sestrin-2 expression protects against endothelial toxicity of angiotensin II.

Sestrin-2 (SESN2) is involved in the cellular response to different stress conditions. However, the function of SESN2 in the cardiovascular system remains unknown. In the present study, we tested whether SESN2 has a beneficial effect on vascular endothelial damage induced by angiotensin II (AngII).