Enhanced Precision Therapy of Multiple Myeloma Through Engineered Biomimetic Nanoparticles with Dual Targeting

Multiple myeloma(MM)is the second most prevalent hematological malignancy.Current MM treatment strategies are hampered by systemic toxicity and suboptimal therapeutic efficacy.This study addressed these limitations through the development of a potent MM-targeting chemotherapy strategy,which capitalized on the high binding affinity of alendronate for hydroxyapatite in the bone matrix and the homologous targeting of myeloma cell membranes,termed T-PB@M.The results from our investigations highlight the considerable bone affinity of T-PB@M,both in vitro and in vivo.Additionally,this material demonstrated a capability for drug release triggered by low pH conditions.Moreover,T-PB@M induced the generation of reactive oxygen species and triggered cell apoptosis through the poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase 1(PARP1)-Caspase-3-B-cell lymphoma-2(Bcl-2)pathway in MM cells.Notably,T-PB@M preferentially targeted bone-involved sites,thereby circumventing systemic toxic side effects and leading to prolonged survival of MM orthotopic mice.Therefore,this designed target-MM nanocarrier presents a promising and potentially effective platform for the precise treatment of MM.

Estimating the State of Health for Lithium-ion Batteries:A Particle Swarm Optimization-Assisted Deep Domain Adaptation Approach

The state of health(SOH)is a critical factor in evaluating the performance of the lithium-ion batteries(LIBs).Due to various end-user behaviors,the LIBs exhibit different degradation modes,which makes it challenging to estimate the SOHs in a personalized way.In this article,we present a novel particle swarm optimization-assisted deep domain adaptation(PSO-DDA)method to estimate the SOH of LIBs in a personalized manner,where a new domain adaptation strategy is put forward to reduce cross-domain distribution discrepancy.The standard PSO algorithm is exploited to automatically adjust the chosen hyperparameters of developed DDA-based method.The proposed PSODDA method is validated by extensive experiments on two LIB datasets with different battery chemistry materials,ambient temperatures and charge-discharge configurations.Experimental results indicate that the proposed PSO-DDA method surpasses the convolutional neural network-based method and the standard DDA-based method.The Py Torch implementation of the proposed PSO-DDA method is available at https://github.com/mxt0607/PSO-DDA.

Biodiversity of the Micro-morphologies of the Petal Epidermis of Angiosperms &Their Scientific Aesthetics, Quasi-Geometry

The micro-morphologies and biodiversities of the epidermis of flower petals of angiosperms were reported for the first time. By manual slicing anatomy and microscopic photography technique, the micro-morphologies of the upper and lower epidermis of petals of some common ornamental flowers in Kunming were studied, and the biodiversities were discovered. The results showed these much-varied pigment cells appeared not only a new compensation to anatomy, but a new criteria to taxonomy, so that a brand new research field of “Cell Taxonomy” was established instead of the current “Chromosome Taxonomy” widely used in phytosystematics research. Furthermore, the most interesting and significant phenomena was their scientific aesthetics: these pigment cells of flower petals were quite special, planary, far different from the ordinary plant cells in plant organs & tissues. By comparison to ordinary geometry, these colorful cells of the fresh flower petals could be described as “Quasi-geometry” for their special origin and micro-morphological characteristics. As for the aspect of art, it was quite similar to “Quasi-crystal” discovered by Daniel Schechtman, so that the art future was discussed, obviously another new epoch of scientific-art history began.

A Framework for a Subwatershed-Scale Screening Tool to Support Development of Resiliency Solutions and Flood Protection Priority Areas in a Low-Lying Coastal Community

Flood risk analysis is the instrument for local officials to create a sound strategy and adaptation plans for the impacts of inundation due to heavy rains, climate change and sea level rise. Hence, cities with aging infrastructure are retrofitting their stormwater management systems to mitigate the impacts. However determining the most at risk areas and the options for corrections is more challenging. As a result, there is an urgent need to develop a screening tool to analyze watersheds and identify the most at-risk areas. High-quality, open source data and sophisticated spatial analysis techniques allow engineers to create innovative ways to conduct watershed wide inundation analysis. In this study, the investigators developed a screening tool to identify at-risk properties by combining readily available data on topography, groundwater, surface water, tidal information for coastal communities, soils, open space, and rainfall data. Once the screening tool is developed, the means to identify and prioritize improvements to be funded with scarce capital funds is the next step. A tool box of solutions was developed to address flood risk and vulnerability. Testing of the screening tool was conducted in Broward County, Florida and shows encouraging results. Comparison with FEMA Flood maps and repetitive loss mapping indicates that the process works in a coastal community. The framework appears to be viable across cities that may be inundated with water due to sea-level rise, rainfall, runoff upstream, and other natural events.

Numerical analysis on the thermal regimes of thermosyphon embankment in snowy permafrost area

Snow covers the road embankments in winter in high latitude permafrost zones. The effect of snow cover on embankments was simulated based on field measurements of boundary conditions and initial ground temperature profile in Mohe,China. The effect of thermosyphons on the embankment warmed by snow cover was evaluated by numerical simulations as well. The results indicate that the difference of thermal regimes between non-thermosyphon and thermosyphon embankments reaches to 22 m in depth below the ground surface. It is much warmer in the non-thermosyphon embankment body in winter. Affected by the snow cover, heat flux gradually spreads into the deep ground of the subgrade over time. The permafrost table under the slope toe of a thermosyphon embankment is 1.2 m higher than that of a non-thermosyphon embankment in the 20 th year. In addition, the permafrost table at the slope toe of a thermosyphon embankment is 26 cm deeper over 20 years. These results indicate that thermosyphons can greatly weaken the warm effect of snow cover. However,thermosyphons cannot avoid the degradation of permafrost under the scenarios of snow cover. Therefore, composite measures need to be adopted to keep embankment stability in snowy permafrost zones.

Grounding fault location method of overhead line based on dual-axis magnetic field trajectory

To address the challenges in fault location in distribution networks,the distribution of magnetic field under overhead line and its relationship with three-phase currents are explored in this paper.At the same time,considering the influ-ence of sensor installation position,line sag and galloping on magnetic field,a grounding fault location method of an overhead line based on dual-axis magnetic field trajectory is proposed.The analytical expressions of the magnetic field on the x-axis and y-axis under the overhead line are obtained by least squares fitting.The Lissajous figure synthe-sized by dual-axis is then compared with the general equation of an ellipse,and the characteristic quantity expression characterizing the magnetic field trajectory structure is obtained.Finally,a fault location criterion is constructed using the difference of the characteristic quantities of the ellipses synthesized by x-axis and y-axis magnetic fields upstream and downstream of the fault point,i.e.,the difference of the length of the major axis and the minor axis,and the sign for the ratio of the cosine value of the inclination angle.Compared with other location methods based on electrical quantity,the principle of this method is simpler and it can locate faults more quickly and accurately.A large number of simulation results show that the proposed method is suitable for different types of fault conditions.

Physiological effects of weightlessness: countermeasure system development for a long-term Chinese manned spaceflight

The Chinese space station will be built around 2020. As a national space laboratory, it will offer unique opportunities for studying the physiological effects of weightlessness and the efficacy of the countermeasures against such effects. In this paper, we described the development of countermeasure systems in the Chinese space program. To emphasize the need of the Chinese space program to implement its own program for developing countermeasures, we reviewed the literature on the negative physiological effects of weightlessness, the challenges of completing missions, the development of countermeasure devices, the establishment of countermeasure programs, and the efficacy of the countermeasure techniques in American and Russian manned spaceflights. In addition, a brief overview was provided on the Chinese research and development on countermeasures to discuss the current status and goals of the development of countermeasures against physiological problems associated with weightlessness.

Effects of methylphenidate on resting-state brain activity in normal adults: an fMRI study

Methylphenidate （MPH） is one of the most commonly used stimulants for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder （ADHD）. Although several studies have evaluated the effects of MPH on human brain activation during specific cognitive tasks using functional magnetic resonance imaging （fMRI）, few studies have focused on spontaneous brain activity. In the current study, we investigated the effect of MPH on the intra-regional synchronization of spontaneous brain activity during the resting state in 18 normal adult males. A handedness questionnaire and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale were applied before medication, and a resting-state fMRI scan was obtained 1 h after medication （20 mg MPH or placebo, order counterbalanced between participants）. We demonstrated that： （1） there were no significant differences in the performance of behavioral tasks between the MPH and placebo groups; （2） the left middle and superior temporal gyri had stronger MPH-related regional homogeneity （ReHo）; and （3） the left lingual gyrus had weaker MPH-related ReHo. Our findings showed that the ReHo in some brain areas changes with MPH compared to placebo in normal adults, even though there are no behavioral differences. This method can be applied to patients with mental illness who may be treated with MPH, and be used to compare the difference between patients taking MPH and normal participants, to help reveal the mechanism of how MPH works.

Economic Evaluation for 5G Planning of a Distribution Network Considering Network Coupling and Important Node Identification

The rapid development of communication services in the power distribution network poses challenges for existing wireless communications,and the deployment of a fiber optic network is costly and difficult.The emerging 5G technology has been piloted in power distribution networks,though the cost-effectiveness of its large-scale deployment remains unclear.This paper proposes an economic evaluation method for 5G planning in power distribution networks,considering the coupling relationship between power distribution and communication networks and the identification of important network nodes.First,the objective function to solve the planned number of 5G base stations is established.This is solved using the adaptive particle swarm algorithm and K-means algorithm.Second,the coupling relationship between the distribution and communication networks is discussed and quantified.The node importance of the coupling network is analyzed to identify the important nodes,and micro base stations or optical fibers are added to improve the reliability of the distribution network at the communication level.Finally,an economic evaluation index of 5G planning of the distribution network is established.The paper compares the economic solutions of 5G and 4G communications in city and town scenarios using the IEEE 123-node network as an example,and concludes that the economics of 5G are better than those of 4G.