Fluoro-Photoacoustic Polymeric Renal Reporter for Real-Time Dual Imaging of Acute Kidney Injury

Photoacoustic (PA) imaging agents detect disease tissues and biomarkers with increased penetration depth and enhanced spatial resolution relative to traditional optical imaging, and thus hold great promise for clinical applications. However, existing PA imaging agents often encounter the issues of slow body excretion and low-signal specificity, which compromise their capability for in vivo detection. Herein, a fluoro-photoacoustic polymeric renal reporter (FPRR) is synthesized for real-time imaging of drug-induced acute kidney injury (AKI). FPRR simultaneously turns on both near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) and PA signals in response to an AKI biomarker (γ-glutamyl transferase) with high sensitivity and specificity. In association with its high renal clearance efficiency (78% at 24 h post-injection), FPRR can detect cisplatin-induced AKI at 24 h post-drug treatment through both real-time imaging and optical urinalysis, which is 48 h earlier than serum biomarker elevation and histological changes. More importantly, the deep-tissue penetration capability of PA imaging results in a signal-to-background ratio that is 2.3-fold higher than NIRF imaging. Thus, the study not only demonstrates the first activatable PA probe for real-time sensitive imaging of kidney function at molecular level, but also highlights the polymeric probe structure with high renal clearance.     

CSAMT方法在仓上金矿外围及深部找矿中的应用

仓上金矿位于三山岛—仓上断裂西南部，西邻渤海湾，是我国大型露天金矿之一。至2005年闭坑后，在矿山外围及深部找矿一直未取得新进展。为加大勘探深度，探查矿区外围和深部断裂及岩体的空间展布情况，寻找深部金矿资源，采用CSAMT方法在该区开展了测深剖面勘查工作，并与以往的物探资料及331号地质剖面进行了综合对比分析，结果显示F1推断断层与三山岛—仓上断裂相吻合，提出验证钻孔1个。经钻探工程验证见金矿体，取得了较好的应用找矿效果，为下一步开展地质找矿提供了有价值的地球物理信息依据。     

An Improved Consistent Subspace Identification Method Using Parity Space for State-space Models

International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems - In this paper, an alternative consistent subspace identification method using parity space is proposed. The future/past input data and the...     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-5Li-1Al sheets prepared by accumulative roll bonding

Ultrafine-grain and high-strength Mg-5Li-1Al sheets were prepared by accumulative roll bonding (ARB) process. Evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties of ARB-processed Mg-5Li-1Al sheets was investigated.Results show that, during ARB process, the evolution of deformation mechanism of t Mg-5Li-1Al alloy is as follows: twinning deformation, shear deformation, forming macro shear zone, and finally dynamic recrystallization (DRX). The grain refining mechanism changes from twin DRX to rotation DRX. With the increase in ARB cycles, strength of the Mg-5Li-1Al sheets is enhanced, whilst elongation varies slightly. With the increase in rolling cycles, anisotropy of mechanical properties decreases. It is conclusive that strain hardening and grain refinement dominate the strengthening mechanism of Mg-5Li-1Al alloy.     

On the integration of SIC and MIMO DoF for interference cancellation in wireless networks

Recent advances in MIMO degree-of-freedom (DoF) models allowed MIMO research to penetrate the networking community. Independent from MIMO, successive interference cancellation (SIC) is a powerful physical layer technique used in multi-user detection. Based on the understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of MIMO DoF and SIC, we propose to have DoF-based interference cancellation (IC) and SIC help each other so that (i) precious DoF resources can be conserved through the use of SIC and (ii) the stringent SINR threshold criteria can be met through the use of DoF-based IC. In this paper, we develop the necessary mathematical models to realize the two ideas in a multi-hop wireless network. Together with scheduling and routing constraints, we develop a cross-layer optimization framework with joint DoF IC and SIC. By applying the framework on a throughput maximization problem, we find that SIC and DoF IC can indeed work in harmony and achieve the two ideas that we propose.     

High-Speed Trains Automatic Operation with Protection Constraints: A Resilient Nonlinear Gain-based Feedback Control Approach

This paper addresses the control design for automatic train operation of high-speed trains with protection constraints. A new resilient nonlinear gain-based feedback control approach is proposed, which is capable of guaranteeing, under some proper non-restrictive initial conditions, the protection constraints control raised by the distance-to-go (moving authority) curve and automatic train protection in practice. A new hyperbolic tangent function-based model is presented to mimic the whole operation process of high-speed trains. The proposed feedback control methods are easily implementable and computationally inexpensive because the presence of only two feedback gains guarantee satisfactory tracking performance and closed-loop stability, no adaptations of unknown parameters, function approximation of unknown nonlinearities, and attenuation of external disturbances in the proposed control strategies. Finally, rigorous proofs and comparative simulation results are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.      

Improved properties of low-carbon MgO-C refractories with the addition of multilayer graphene/MgAl2O4 composite powders

The paper investigated the effects of different amounts (0%, 3%, 6%, 9%) of in situ multilayer graphene/MgAl₂O₄ composite powders on the slag resistance, thermal shock resistance, and oxidation resistance of low-carbon MgO-C refractories. Comparing with commercial MgAl₂O₄, the MgAl₂O₄ in in situ multilayer graphene/MgAl₂O₄ composite powders has higher lattice strain of crystal, which can trap more Mn and Fe ions, resulting in the better slag resistance. The oxidation decarbonation layer of MgO-C specimen with 3% composite powders is 9.71 mm, which is lower than not only the specimen with other contents but also specimen containing carbon black/MgAl₂O₄ powders. Moreover, the residual strength ratio of the specimen C/MA-3 was 47.47%, which is 28.5% and 8.08% higher than specimens with no additive and with carbon black/MgAl₂O₄ powders, respectively. Both improving thermal shock and oxidation resistance properties are related with the unique nano structure, multilayer graphene in situ formed between MgAl₂O₄ grains, of added composite powders. The former is due to higher strain energy consumed by multi-deflection of cracks inside the multilayer graphene/MgAl₂O₄ composite powders. And the latter is due to the higher energy of oxidation activation of multilayer graphene/MgAl₂O₄ composite powders due to effective protection of multilayer graphene by MgAl₂O₄.     

基于仿生结构的Al-Ti-Ti2AlNb层状复合材料的组织与力学性能

受生物材料的韧脆复合结构的启发，本文将Al箔、Ti箔和Ti2AlNb箔材堆叠排列，采真空热压烧结技术制备了层级结构的Al-Ti-Ti2AlNb层状复合材料。利用SEM、XRD等技术表征了材料的微观结构，并测试了抗弯与抗压性能。研究发现，本文设计的层状结构复合了Ti、TiAl系列间化合物、Ti2AlNb等多种材料，层级结构明显，界面清晰。抗弯强度与抗压强度分别为1231±71MPa和1341±63MPa，相比同类材料具有显著的优势。分析认为，多层级结构的存在对裂纹的扩展有显著地阻碍作用；相比常规的二元TiAl层状材料，Ti2AlNb层的存在显著提高了力学性能。