| 1. |
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| 2. |
- Luo, Yifei, et al.
(författare)
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Technology Roadmap for Flexible Sensors
- 2023
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Ingår i: ACS Nano. - : American Chemical Society. - 1936-0851 .- 1936-086X. ; 17:6, s. 5211-5295
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Humans rely increasingly on sensors to address grand challenges and to improve quality of life in the era of digitalization and big data. For ubiquitous sensing, flexible sensors are developed to overcome the limitations of conventional rigid counterparts. Despite rapid advancement in bench-side research over the last decade, the market adoption of flexible sensors remains limited. To ease and to expedite their deployment, here, we identify bottlenecks hindering the maturation of flexible sensors and propose promising solutions. We first analyze challenges in achieving satisfactory sensing performance for real-world applications and then summarize issues in compatible sensor-biology interfaces, followed by brief discussions on powering and connecting sensor networks. Issues en route to commercialization and for sustainable growth of the sector are also analyzed, highlighting environmental concerns and emphasizing nontechnical issues such as business, regulatory, and ethical considerations. Additionally, we look at future intelligent flexible sensors. In proposing a comprehensive roadmap, we hope to steer research efforts towards common goals and to guide coordinated development strategies from disparate communities. Through such collaborative efforts, scientific breakthroughs can be made sooner and capitalized for the betterment of humanity.
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| 3. |
- Sampson, Joshua N., et al.
(författare)
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Analysis of Heritability and Shared Heritability Based on Genome-Wide Association Studies for 13 Cancer Types
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of the National Cancer Institute. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0027-8874 .- 1460-2105. ; 107:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Studies of related individuals have consistently demonstrated notable familial aggregation of cancer. We aim to estimate the heritability and genetic correlation attributable to the additive effects of common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for cancer at 13 anatomical sites. Methods: Between 2007 and 2014, the US National Cancer Institute has generated data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for 49 492 cancer case patients and 34 131 control patients. We apply novel mixed model methodology (GCTA) to this GWAS data to estimate the heritability of individual cancers, as well as the proportion of heritability attributable to cigarette smoking in smoking-related cancers, and the genetic correlation between pairs of cancers. Results: GWAS heritability was statistically significant at nearly all sites, with the estimates of array-based heritability, h(l)(2), on the liability threshold (LT) scale ranging from 0.05 to 0.38. Estimating the combined heritability of multiple smoking characteristics, we calculate that at least 24% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 14% to 37%) and 7% (95% CI = 4% to 11%) of the heritability for lung and bladder cancer, respectively, can be attributed to genetic determinants of smoking. Most pairs of cancers studied did not show evidence of strong genetic correlation. We found only four pairs of cancers with marginally statistically significant correlations, specifically kidney and testes (rho = 0.73, SE = 0.28), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and pediatric osteosarcoma (rho = 0.53, SE = 0.21), DLBCL and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) (rho = 0.51, SE = 0.18), and bladder and lung (rho = 0.35, SE = 0.14). Correlation analysis also indicates that the genetic architecture of lung cancer differs between a smoking population of European ancestry and a nonsmoking Asian population, allowing for the possibility that the genetic etiology for the same disease can vary by population and environmental exposures. Conclusion: Our results provide important insights into the genetic architecture of cancers and suggest new avenues for investigation.
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| 4. |
- Xun, Qian, 1990, et al.
(författare)
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Drive Cycle Energy Efficiency of Fuel Cell/Supercapacitor Passive Hybrid Vehicle System
- 2021
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Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications. - 0093-9994 .- 1939-9367. ; 57:1, s. 894-903
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The electric vehicle with passive hybridization of fuel cells and supercapacitors leads to lower cost and compactness due to the absence of DC/DC converters. This paper models such a vehicle and evaluates the energy efficiency of its powertrain system. The powertrain component losses, as functions of electric machine torque, speed and DC-link voltage, are modelled with a high level of detail which are verified against available test data. Compared to a pure fuel cell system, the fuel cell efficiency is higher when supercapacitors are introduced under pulse current load, and it is higher at lower current amplitude. As the pulse current frequency increases, the fuel cell efficiency also increases due to higher proportional current from the high-efficiency supercapacitors. A multiplicity of drive cycles is selected, divided into a low, middle, and high speed category to analyze the powertrain efficiency. The total powertrain energy efficiency varies between 53%-71% during propulsion for the studied drive cycles, whereas it is higher during braking ranging from 84% to 94%. The differences are closely related to the speed, acceleration, and DC-link voltage levels. The lower powertrain efficiency causes higher hydrogen consumption, leading to a reduced fuel cell efficiency at high speed, high acceleration and low DC-link voltage.
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| 5. |
- Zhao, Qian, et al.
(författare)
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A flexible ammonia sensor based on MXene membrane with high sensitivity
- 2024
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Ingår i: Electroanalysis. - : WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH. - 1040-0397 .- 1521-4109.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ammonia (NH3) of high concentration will pose a threat to ecological environment or human health, and exhaled NH3 is significant in disease monitoring and diagnosis. Thus, developing a highly sensitive gas sensor is significant to monitor NH3 concentration in complex environments. However, traditional NH3 sensors either need high working temperature, or face the challenge of poor conductivity/ sensitivity. In this work, NH3 sensors based on self-assembled MXene membrane have been fabricated. As-prepared sensors show a high sensitivity of 2.10 ppm-1 towards extremely low concentrations of NH3 (ppb level) at room temperature, attributed to large surface area and high conductivity. In addition, the sensors also display low detection limit (50 ppb), fast response time (41 s), good recoverability, long-term stability (15 days) and excellent flexibility (1000 bending cycles) towards NH3. The results provide insights into the development of highly sensitive NH3 sensors for industrial or biomedical applications. image
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| 6. |
- Zhao, Sen, et al.
(författare)
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Expanding the mutation and phenotype spectrum of MYH3-associated skeletal disorders
- 2022
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Ingår i: NPJ genomic medicine. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2056-7944. ; 7:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pathogenic variants in MYH3 cause distal arthrogryposis type 2A and type 2B3 as well as contractures, pterygia and spondylocarpotarsal fusion syndromes types 1A and 1B. These disorders are ultra-rare and their natural course and phenotypic variability are not well described. In this study, we summarize the clinical features and genetic findings of 17 patients from 10 unrelated families with vertebral malformations caused by dominant or recessive pathogenic variants in MYH3. Twelve novel pathogenic variants in MYH3 (NM_002470.4) were identified: three of them were de novo or inherited in autosomal dominant way and nine were inherited in autosomal recessive way. The patients had vertebral segmentation anomalies accompanied with variable joint contractures, short stature and dysmorphic facial features. There was a significant phenotypic overlap between dominant and recessive MYH3-associated conditions regarding the degree of short stature as well as the number of vertebral fusions. All monoallelic variants caused significantly decreased SMAD3 phosphorylation, which is consistent with the previously proposed pathogenic mechanism of impaired canonical TGF-β signaling. Most of the biallelic variants were predicted to be protein-truncating, while one missense variant c.4244T>G,p.(Leu1415Arg), which was inherited in an autosomal recessive way, was found to alter the phosphorylation level of p38, suggesting an inhibition of the non-canonical pathway of TGF-β signaling. In conclusion, the identification of 12 novel pathogenic variants and overlapping phenotypes in 17 affected individuals from 10 unrelated families expands the mutation and phenotype spectrum of MYH3-associated skeletal disorders. We show that disturbances of canonical or non-canonical TGF-β signaling pathways are involved in pathogenesis of MYH3-associated skeletal fusion (MASF) syndrome.
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| 7. |
- Birney, Ewan, et al.
(författare)
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Identification and analysis of functional elements in 1% of the human genome by the ENCODE pilot project
- 2007
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 447:7146, s. 799-816
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report the generation and analysis of functional data from multiple, diverse experiments performed on a targeted 1% of the human genome as part of the pilot phase of the ENCODE Project. These data have been further integrated and augmented by a number of evolutionary and computational analyses. Together, our results advance the collective knowledge about human genome function in several major areas. First, our studies provide convincing evidence that the genome is pervasively transcribed, such that the majority of its bases can be found in primary transcripts, including non-protein-coding transcripts, and those that extensively overlap one another. Second, systematic examination of transcriptional regulation has yielded new understanding about transcription start sites, including their relationship to specific regulatory sequences and features of chromatin accessibility and histone modification. Third, a more sophisticated view of chromatin structure has emerged, including its inter-relationship with DNA replication and transcriptional regulation. Finally, integration of these new sources of information, in particular with respect to mammalian evolution based on inter- and intra-species sequence comparisons, has yielded new mechanistic and evolutionary insights concerning the functional landscape of the human genome. Together, these studies are defining a path for pursuit of a more comprehensive characterization of human genome function.
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| 8. |
- Deng, Min, et al.
(författare)
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Genome-wide association analyses in Han Chinese identify two new susceptibility loci for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- 2013
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Ingår i: Nature Genetics. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 45:6, s. 697-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To identify susceptibility genes for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 506 individuals with sporadic ALS and 1,859 controls of Han Chinese ancestry. Ninety top SNPs suggested by the current GWAS and 6 SNPs identified by previous GWAS were analyzed in an independent cohort of 706 individuals with ALS and 1,777 controls of Han Chinese ancestry. We discovered two new susceptibility loci for ALS at 1q32 (CAMK1G, rs6703183, P-combined = 2.92 x 10(-8), odds ratio (OR) = 1.31) and 22p11 (CABIN1 and SUSD2, rs8141797, P-combined = 2.35 x 10(-9), OR = 1.52). These two loci explain 12.48% of the overall variance in disease risk in the Han Chinese population. We found no association evidence for the previously reported loci in the Han Chinese population, suggesting genetic heterogeneity of disease susceptibility for ALS between ancestry groups. Our study identifies two new susceptibility loci and suggests new pathogenic mechanisms of ALS.
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| 9. |
- Du, Enzai, et al.
(författare)
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Global patterns of terrestrial nitrogen and phosphorus limitation
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature Geoscience. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1752-0894 .- 1752-0908. ; 13:3, s. 221-226
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) limitation constrains the magnitude of terrestrial carbon uptake in response to elevated carbon dioxide and climate change. However, global maps of nutrient limitation are still lacking. Here we examined global N and P limitation using the ratio of site-averaged leaf N and P resorption efficiencies of the dominant species across 171 sites. We evaluated our predictions using a global database of N- and P-limitation experiments based on nutrient additions at 106 and 53 sites, respectively. Globally, we found a shift from relative P to N limitation for both higher latitudes and precipitation seasonality and lower mean annual temperature, temperature seasonality, mean annual precipitation and soil clay fraction. Excluding cropland, urban and glacial areas, we estimate that 18% of the natural terrestrial land area is significantly limited by N, whereas 43% is relatively P limited. The remaining 39% of the natural terrestrial land area could be co-limited by N and P or weakly limited by either nutrient alone. This work provides both a new framework for testing nutrient limitation and a benchmark of N and P limitation for models to constrain predictions of the terrestrial carbon sink.
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| 10. |
- Giambini, Hugo, et al.
(författare)
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INTRAMUSCULAR FAT INFILTRATION EVALUATED BY MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING PREDICTS THE EXTENSIBILITY OF THE SUPRASPINATUS MUSCLE
- 2018
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Ingår i: Muscle and Nerve. - : WILEY. - 0148-639X .- 1097-4598. ; 57:1, s. 129-135
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Rotator cuff (RC) tears result in muscle atrophy and fat infiltration within the RC muscles. An estimation of muscle quality and deformation, or extensibility, is useful in selecting the most appropriate surgical procedure. We determined if noninvasive quantitative assessment of intramuscular fat using MRI could be used to predict extensibility of the supraspinatus muscle. Methods: Seventeen cadaveric shoulders were imaged to assess intramuscular fat infiltration. Extensibility and histological evaluations were then performed. Results: Quantitative fat infiltration positively correlated with histological findings and presented a positive correlation with muscle extensibility (r=0.69; P=0.002). Extensibility was not significantly different between shoulders graded with a higher fat content versus those with low fat when implementing qualitative methods. Discussion: A noninvasive prediction of whole-muscle extensibility may directly guide pre-operative planning to determine if the torn edge could efficiently cover the original footprint while aiding in postoperative evaluation of RC repair.
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| 11. |
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| 12. |
- GUAN, WEN, et al.
(författare)
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Frequency tuning behaviour of terahertz quantum cascade lasers revealed by a laser beating scheme
- 2021
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Ingår i: Optics Express. - 1094-4087 .- 1094-4087. ; 29:14, s. 21269-21279
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the terahertz frequency range, the commercialized spectrometers, such as the Fourier transform infrared and time domain spectroscopies, show spectral resolutions between a hundred megahertz and a few gigahertz. Therefore, the high precision frequency tuning ability of terahertz lasers cannot be revealed by these traditional spectroscopic techniques. In this work, we demonstrate a laser beating experiment to investigate the frequency tuning characteristics of terahertz quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) induced by temperature or drive current. Two terahertz QCLs emitting around 4.2 THz with identical active regions and laser dimensions (150 μm wide and 6 mm long) are employed in the beating experiment. One laser is operated as a frequency comb and the other one is driven at a lower current to emit a single frequency. To measure the beating signal, the single mode laser is used as a fast detector (laser self-detection). The laser beating scheme allows the high precision measurement of the frequency tuning of the single mode terahertz QCL. The experimental results show that in the investigated temperature and current ranges, the frequency tuning coefficients of the terahertz QCL are 6.1 MHz/0.1 K (temperature tuning) and 2.7 MHz/mA (current tuning) that cannot be revealed by a traditional terahertz spectrometer. The laser beating technique shows potential abilities in high precision linewidth measurements of narrow absorption lines and multi-channel terahertz communications.
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| 13. |
- Guo, Yuwei, et al.
(författare)
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Phenylalkylammonium passivation enables perovskite light emitting diodes with record high-radiance operational lifetime: the chain length matters
- 2021
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Nature Research. - 2041-1723. ; 12:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Perovskite light emitting diodes suffer from poor operational stability, exhibiting a rapid decay of external quantum efficiency within minutes to hours after turn-on. To address this issue, we explore surface treatment of perovskite films with phenylalkylammonium iodide molecules of varying alkyl chain lengths. Combining experimental characterization and theoretical modelling, we show that these molecules stabilize the perovskite through suppression of iodide ion migration. The stabilization effect is enhanced with increasing chain length due to the stronger binding of the molecules with the perovskite surface, as well as the increased steric hindrance to reconfiguration for accommodating ion migration. The passivation also reduces the surface defects, resulting in a high radiance and delayed roll-off of external quantum efficiency. Using the optimized passivation molecule, phenylpropylammonium iodide, we achieve devices with an efficiency of 17.5%, a radiance of 1282.8 W sr(-1) m(-2) and a record T-50 half-lifetime of 130h under 100mAcm(-2). Perovskite light emitting diodes suffer from operational stability, showing rapid decay of performance within minutes to hours after turn-on. Here, the authors investigate how the steric and Coulomb interaction of ammonium passivation molecules with varying alkyl chain length can improve device stability by suppressing iodide ion migration.
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| 14. |
- Jiang, Nan, et al.
(författare)
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Assessment of radiation-induced xerostomia : validation of the xerostomia questionnaire in Chinese patients with head and neck cancer
- 2021
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Ingår i: Cancer Nursing. - : Wolters Kluwer. - 0162-220X .- 1538-9804. ; 44:2, s. E68-E75
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Xerostomia is a common complication in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) during and after radiotherapy. The lack of a simply-administered and well-validated self-reported instrument has hampered the assessment and management of xerostomia for research and clinical purposes in China.Objective This study aimed to evaluate the content validity and psychometric properties of the Xerostomia Questionnaire (XQ) in Chinese patients with HNC undergoing radiotherapy.Methods This psychometric evaluation study enrolled 80 patients and was conducted in 2 stages: translation and evaluation of content validity and psychometric evaluation. Cognitive interviews (n = 10) were conducted using the Participant Interview Form. The psychometric evaluation (n = 80) included score distribution, homogeneity (interitem and item-total correlations), factor structure (exploratory factor analysis), internal consistency (Cronbach’s α), criterion-related validity (person correlation), and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlations).Results Content validity was supported by cognitive interviews. The factor analysis resulted in a 1-factor solution with strong factor loadings (0.84-0.91) that explained 75.6% of the total variance. The internal consistency was excellent, with a Cronbach’s α of .95. The XQ correlated strongly with other measures of xerostomia (0.70-0.80), which supports criterion-related validity. The test-retest reliability was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.92).Conclusions The result provides evidence for the validity and reliability of the XQ in a sample of Chinese patients with HNC.Implications for Practice The XQ can be used in both clinical practice and research as a valuable tool to screen for problems with xerostomia, monitor the xerostomia level, and evaluate the effects of treatment and interventions among patients with HNC.
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| 15. |
- Jiang, Nan, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of an integrated supportive program on xerostomia and saliva characteristics in patients with head and neck cancer radiated with a low dose to the major salivary glands : a randomized controlled trial
- 2022
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Ingår i: BMC Oral Health. - : BioMed Central. - 1472-6831. ; 22:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Xerostomia and changes in saliva characteristics are common side-effects in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) undergoing radiotherapy, which negatively impact their oral health. However, there are no consensus standards for intervention to manage these problems. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of an integrated supportive program on xerostomia and saliva characteristics at a 1-year follow-up of patients with HNC radiated with a low dose to the major salivary glands.METHODS: The CONSORT guidelines for a randomized controlled trial were used. Participants with a low overall dose to major salivary glands were randomly allocated to an intervention group (n = 47) or a control group (n = 45). The intervention group received usual care and an integrated supportive program, which included three steps: face-to-face education; face-to-face coaching at 1 month post-radiotherapy; and four telephone coaching sessions at 2, 3, 6, and 9 months post-radiotherapy. The face-to-face education consisted of oral hygiene instruction, oral self-care strategies, facial and tongue muscle exercises, and salivary gland massage. Adherence to the intervention was evaluated using a questionnaire completed during the 9 months follow-up. The control group received usual care. The unstimulated saliva flow rate and xerostomia were assessed in both groups.RESULTS: A total of 79 participants (40 in the intervention group and 39 in the control group) completed the 12 months follow-up. The intervention group achieved significantly greater relief from xerostomia than the control group after 3 months (intervention group: 35.1 ± 5.9 versus control group: 38.0 ± 5.9, P = 0.027) and 12 months follow-up (intervention group: 18.5 ± 4.1 versus control group: 22.8 ± 4.3, P < 0.001). A higher unstimulated saliva flow rate was observed in the intervention group than the control group at 12 months follow-up (intervention group: 0.16 ± 0.08 versus control group: 0.12 ± 0.07, P = 0.035). Adherence to the intervention was generally good.CONCLUSION: This integrated supportive program with good adherence relieved xerostomia and had a positive effect on unstimulated saliva flow rate among patients with HNC radiated with a low dose to the major salivary glands during the 12 months of follow-up.TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2100051876 (08/10/2021), retrospectively registered.
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| 16. |
- Jiang, Nan, et al.
(författare)
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Experiences of xerostomia after radiotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer : A qualitative study.
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Clinical Nursing. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0962-1067 .- 1365-2702. ; 27:1-2, s. e100-e108
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To describe the experiences of radiation-induced xerostomia in patients with head and neck cancer. BACKGROUND: Xerostomia is the most commonly occurring complication during and following radiotherapy. It can persist for several months or years and can have a significant impact on patients' quality of life. DESIGN: This was a qualitative descriptive study. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 20 participants. Inductive content analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. RESULTS: Analysis of the manifest content identified five categories: communication problems, physical problems, psychosocial problems, treatment problems and relief strategies. The latent content was formulated into a theme: due to lack of information from professionals, the patients had to find their own solutions for their problems. CONCLUSIONS: Xerostomia is not only a biophysical symptom but also has a profound effect on the emotional, intellectual and sociocultural dimensions of life. The majority of patients continued to suffer from xerostomia and its associated symptoms after radiotherapy, in part, because of a lack of professional support, including the inability of nurses to provide oral health care. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nurses need to be knowledgeable about the effects of radiotherapy on oral mucosa and about appropriate interventions. The healthcare system requires a symptom management platform for radiation-induced complications, to help patients, their families and healthcare professionals obtain information about self-care, treatments and relief strategies.
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| 17. |
- Jiang, Nan
(författare)
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Radiation-Induced Xerostomia in Chinese Patients with Head and Neck Cancer – An Explorative and Interventional study
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Radiation-induced xerostomia is a common oral complication of patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) undergoing radiotherapy (RT). This can lead to a series of functional oral disorders, particularly dental caries, and ultimately negatively affect their oral health and health-related quality of life (HRQoL).Aims: The overall aim of this thesis was to understand the living experience of radiation-induced xerostomia and to determine the effects of an integrated supportive program based on multicomponent oral care strategies in Chinese patients with HNC.Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted to describe how patients (13 men and 7 women) with HNC experienced radiation-induced xerostomia (Ⅰ). A cross-sectional study of patients (n=80) with HNC was conducted to accomplish the validation of the Chinese version of the xerostomia questionnaire (XQ) (Ⅱ). A randomized controlled trial (n=79) was conducted to determine the effect of an integrated supportive program (with a combination of face-to-face health education and coaching sections) on xerostomia, saliva characteristics (Ⅲ), oral health, and HRQoL (IV).Results: Five categories emerged from the manifest content of the interviews: communication problems, physical problems, psychosocial problems, treatment problems, and relief strategies. The meaning underlying these categories formed a theme, which was the latent content of the interview: Due to lack of information regarding xerostomia, patients had to find their own ways to deal with the problem (Ⅰ). The Chinese version of XQ was a unidimensional scale (1-factor solution explained 75.6 of the total variance) and had good psychometric properties with excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α of 0.95), test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.92), and good criterion-related validity and content validity (Ⅱ). The integrated supportive program showed significant inter-group differences in xerostomia (P=0.046), unstimulated saliva flow rate (P=0.035), plaque index (P=0.038), Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (P=0.002), and Functional Assessment Cancer Therapy-Head & Neck (P=0.001) over the 12-month follow-up, with better outcomes in the intervention group (Ⅲ & Ⅳ).Conclusion: This thesis contributes knowledge regarding the experiences of living with xerostomia from a patient perspective, noting that xerostomia has a profound impact on a patient's physical, psychological, and social quality of life. There is lack of assessment tools for xerostomia in the Chinese population, and the Chinese version of XQ proved to be a valid and simple self-administered tool to measure and monitor the xerostomia level in patients with HNC. The integrated supportive program with multicomponent oral care strategies demonstrated positive effects on relieving xerostomia, increasing unstimulated saliva flow rate, and improving their oral health and HRQoL. These findings provide a basis for improvement in the management of xerostomia and oral health of Chinese patients with HNC through the integration of oral care in nursing.
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| 18. |
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| 19. |
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| 20. |
- Jiang, Nan, et al.
(författare)
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The effects of an integrated supportive programme on oral health in patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiotherapy : A randomized controlled trial
- 2024
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Ingår i: International Journal of Dental Hygiene. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1601-5029 .- 1601-5037.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: This study determines the effect of an integrated 12-month follow-up support programme on the oral health of patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) who received radiotherapy (RT).METHODS: Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 47) or a control group (n = 45). The intervention group received usual care and an integrated supportive programme, which included face-to-face education and telephone coaching. The control group received usual care. After a clinical dental examination, the prevalence of caries, gingival inflammation and plaque were registered. Oral health impact profile (OHIP)-14 and the WHO Oral Health Questionnaire for Adults were used to evaluate oral health in both groups.RESULTS: A total of 79 participants completed a 12-month follow-up. The intervention group had lower caries increment between baseline and the 12-month follow-up compared with controls, although this was not statistically significant. After 12 months, the intervention group had statistically significant better outcomes in the plaque index (p = 0.038) and the OHIP-14 (p = 0.002) than the control group. No statistically significant differences were found between the two groups concerning gingival index. However, the intervention group reported an overall better state of teeth (p = 0.034) and gums after 12 months (p = 0.042).CONCLUSIONS: The integrated supportive programme showed positive effects on improving oral health in patients with HNC regarding plaque control, the state of teeth and gums and oral health-related quality of life during the 12-month follow-up.
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| 21. |
- Jiang, Shuang, et al.
(författare)
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Microstructural and textural evolutions in multilayered Ti/Cu composites processed by accumulative roll bonding
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Materials Science & Technology. - : JOURNAL MATER SCI TECHNOL. - 1005-0302. ; 35:6, s. 1165-1174
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ti/Cu multilayered composites were fabricated via accumulative roll bonding (ARB). During co-deformation of the constituent metals, the hard Ti layers necked preferentially and then fragmented with the development of shear bands. Transmission electron microscopy showed that with increasing ARB cycles, grains in Ti were significantly refined even though dynamic recrystallization has occurred. For Cu the significant grain refinement was only found within the shear banded region when the composite was processed after five ARB cycles. Due to the diffusion of Cu atoms into Ti at the heterophase inter faces, amorphization with a width less than 10 nm was identified even in the composite processed by one cycle. At higher ARB cycles, the width of amorphous region increased and intermetallic compounds CuTi appeared from the region. The lattice defects introduced at the heterophase interfaces under roll bonding was responsible for the formation of the nano-scaled compounds. X-ray diffraction showed that an abnormal {11 (2) over bar0} fiber texture was developed in Ti layers, while significant brass-type textures were developed in Cu layers. Some orientations along the {11 (2) over bar0} fiber favored the prismatic amp;lt;aamp;gt; slip for Ti. Tensile tests revealed the elevated strength without a substantial sacrifice of ductility in the composites during ARB. The unique mechanical properties were attributed to the significantly refined grains in individual metals, the good bonding between the constituent metals, as well as the development of an abnormal {11 (2) over bar0} fiber texture in Ti layers. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The editorial office of Journal of Materials Science amp; Technology.
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| 22. |
- Jiang, Shuang, et al.
(författare)
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Shear banding-induced ⟨c + a⟩ slip enables unprecedented strength-ductility combination of laminated metallic composites
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Materials Science & Technology. - Shenyang, China : Elsevier. - 1005-0302. ; 110, s. 260-268
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Shear bands in metallic materials have been reported to be catastrophic because they normally lead to non-uniform plastic deformation. Ductility of laminated metallic composites deteriorates with increasing processing strain, particularly for those having hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) constituents due to inadequate slip systems and consequently prominent shear banding. Here, we propose a design strategy that counterintuitively tolerates the bands with localized strains, i.e. the shear banded laminar (SBL) structure, which promotes ⟨c + a⟩ dislocation activation in hcp metals and renders unprecedented strengthductility combination in hcp-metal-based composites fabricated by accumulative roll bonding (ARB). The SBL structure is characterized with one soft hcp metal constrained by adjacent hard metal in which dislocations have been accumulated near the bimetal interfaces. High-energy X-ray diffraction astonishingly reveals that more than 90% of dislocations are non-basal in Ti layers of the SBL Ti/Nb composite processed by eight ARB cycles. Moreover, ⟨c + a⟩ dislocations occupy a high fraction of ∼30%, promoting further ⟨c + a⟩ cross slip. The unique stress field tailored by both shear banding and heterophase interface-mediated deformation accommodation triggers important ⟨c + a⟩ slip. This SBL design is of significance for developing hcp-based laminates and other heterostructured materials with high performances.
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| 23. |
- Khan, Mohammad, et al.
(författare)
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Assessment of PECM as an efficient numerical analysis tool for investigating convective heat transfer phenomena during PCM melting
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Journal of Energy Storage. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-152X .- 2352-1538. ; 24, s. 100743-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the framework of this research work, the principle focus is to assess the applicability & reliability of the Phase change Effective Convectivity Model (PECM) as a numerical analysis tool to investigate natural convective heat transfer in single and two-fluid density PCM molten pools. The model is applied in ANSYS FLUENT as User Defined Function (UDF) to predict convective melt pool thermal hydraulics in a volumetrically heated PCM (Phase Change Material) melt pool. As a part of this work, PECM is tested first by a benchmark case against CFD to gain confidence in its applicability as an analysis tool. Two commercial PCMs: RT50 and C58, are introduced in a 3D semicircular vessel slice with their thermo-physical properties as input for modelling. The sidewalls made of quartz glass are used for direct visualization of convective heat transfer phenomena. It is ensured that the conditions of nearly constant density of power deposition over the entire volume of the PCM melt pool throughout the series of simulation cases. The values of characteristic numbers ranged within the following limits with different pool height corresponding modified Rayleigh number Ra=1012-1013 and for Prandtl number Pr=5-7. The selected modelling approach is validated against SIGMA experiment with respect to the angular distribution of heat flux that qualify our model to run in the proceeding calculation using PECM. Following benchmark test results of PECM compared with that of conventional enthalpy porosity method embedded in ANSYS FLUENT, PECM is applied in 1-layer and 2-layer PCM configuration to study in details of the influence of different boundary conditions, internal heat sources (QV) and heat transfer fluid (HTF) cooling condition to quantify the thermal loads. Finally, the comparison is made between two PCM configurations in terms of the quantification of the thermal load to justify PECM as an efficient numerical analysis tool for investigating convective heat transfer phenomena during PCM melting.
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| 24. |
- Li, Qian, et al.
(författare)
-
Genome-wide identification of resistance genes and cellular analysis of key gene knockout strain under 5-hydroxymethylfurfural stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
- 2023
-
Ingår i: BMC Microbiology. - 1471-2180. ; 23:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In bioethanol production, the main by-product, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), significantly hinders microbial fermentation. Therefore, it is crucial to explore genes related to HMF tolerance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae for enhancing the tolerance of ethanol fermentation strains. A comprehensive analysis was conducted using genome-wide deletion library scanning and SGAtools, resulting in the identification of 294 genes associated with HMF tolerance in S. cerevisiae. Further KEGG and GO enrichment analysis revealed the involvement of genes OCA1 and SIW14 in the protein phosphorylation pathway, underscoring their role in HMF tolerance. Spot test validation and subcellular structure observation demonstrated that, following a 3-h treatment with 60mM HMF, the SIW14 gene knockout strain exhibited a 12.68% increase in cells with abnormal endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and a 22.41% increase in the accumulation of reactive oxygen species compared to the BY4741 strain. These findings indicate that the SIW14 gene contributes to the protection of the ER structure within the cell and facilitates the clearance of reactive oxygen species, thereby confirming its significance as a key gene for HMF tolerance in S. cerevisiae.
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| 25. |
- Liu, Nian, et al.
(författare)
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Multi-grained Temporal Prototype Learning for Few-shot Video Object Segmentation
- 2023
-
Ingår i: 2023 IEEE/CVF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMPUTER VISION (ICCV 2023). - : IEEE COMPUTER SOC. - 9798350307184 - 9798350307191 ; , s. 18816-18825
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Few-Shot Video Object Segmentation (FSVOS) aims to segment objects in a query video with the same category defined by a few annotated support images. However, this task was seldom explored. In this work, based on IPMT, a state-of-the-art few-shot image segmentation method that combines external support guidance information with adaptive query guidance cues, we propose to leverage multi-grained temporal guidance information for handling the temporal correlation nature of video data. We decompose the query video information into a clip prototype and a memory prototype for capturing local and long-term internal temporal guidance, respectively. Frame prototypes are further used for each frame independently to handle fine-grained adaptive guidance and enable bidirectional clip-frame prototype communication. To reduce the influence of noisy memory, we propose to leverage the structural similarity relation among different predicted regions and the support for selecting reliable memory frames. Furthermore, a new segmentation loss is also proposed to enhance the category discriminability of the learned prototypes. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed video IPMT model significantly outperforms previous models on two benchmark datasets. Code is available at https://github.com/nankepan/VIPMT.
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| 26. |
- Moretti, Rocco, et al.
(författare)
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Community-wide evaluation of methods for predicting the effect of mutations on protein-protein interactions
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Proteins. - : Wiley. - 0887-3585 .- 1097-0134. ; 81:11, s. 1980-1987
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Community-wide blind prediction experiments such as CAPRI and CASP provide an objective measure of the current state of predictive methodology. Here we describe a community-wide assessment of methods to predict the effects of mutations on protein-protein interactions. Twenty-two groups predicted the effects of comprehensive saturation mutagenesis for two designed influenza hemagglutinin binders and the results were compared with experimental yeast display enrichment data obtained using deep sequencing. The most successful methods explicitly considered the effects of mutation on monomer stability in addition to binding affinity, carried out explicit side-chain sampling and backbone relaxation, evaluated packing, electrostatic, and solvation effects, and correctly identified around a third of the beneficial mutations. Much room for improvement remains for even the best techniques, and large-scale fitness landscapes should continue to provide an excellent test bed for continued evaluation of both existing and new prediction methodologies. Proteins 2013; 81:1980-1987.
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| 27. |
- Piao, S. L., et al.
(författare)
-
The carbon budget of terrestrial ecosystems in East Asia over the last two decades
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Biogeosciences. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1726-4189. ; 9:9, s. 3571-3586
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This REgional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes regional study provides a synthesis of the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in East Asia, a region comprised of China, Japan, North and South Korea, and Mongolia. We estimate the current terrestrial carbon balance of East Asia and its driving mechanisms during 1990-2009 using three different approaches: inventories combined with satellite greenness measurements, terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle models and atmospheric inversion models. The magnitudes of East Asia's terrestrial carbon sink from these three approaches are comparable: -0.293 +/- 0.033 PgC yr(-1) from inventory-remote sensing model-data fusion approach, -0.413 +/- 0.141 PgC yr(-1)(not considering biofuel emissions) or -0.224 +/- 0.141 PgC yr(-1) (considering biofuel emissions) for carbon cycle models, and -0.270 +/- 0.507 PgC yr(-1) for atmospheric inverse models. Here and in the following, the numbers behind +/- signs are standard deviations. The ensemble of ecosystem modeling based analyses further suggests that at the regional scale, climate change and rising atmospheric CO2 together resulted in a carbon sink of -0.289 +/- 0.135 PgC yr(-1), while land-use change and nitrogen deposition had a contribution of -0.013 +/- 0.029 PgC yr(-1) and -0.107 +/- 0.025 PgC yr(-1), respectively. Although the magnitude of climate change effects on the carbon balance varies among different models, all models agree that in response to climate change alone, southern China experienced an increase in carbon storage from 1990 to 2009, while northern East Asia including Mongolia and north China showed a decrease in carbon storage. Overall, our results suggest that about 13-27% of East Asia's CO2 emissions from fossil fuel burning have been offset by carbon accumulation in its terrestrial territory over the period from 1990 to 2009. The underlying mechanisms of carbon sink over East Asia still remain largely uncertain, given the diversity and intensity of land management processes, and the regional conjunction of many drivers such as nutrient deposition, climate, atmospheric pollution and CO2 changes, which cannot be considered as independent for their effects on carbon storage.
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| 28. |
- Wang, Chao, et al.
(författare)
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Rebuilding the vibrational wavepacket in TRAS using attosecond X-ray pulses
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Communications Physics. - : Springer Nature. - 2399-3650. ; 7:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Time-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (TXPS) is a well-established technique to probe coherent nuclear wavepacket dynamics using both table-top and free-electron-based ultrafast X-ray lasers. Energy resolution, however, becomes compromised for a very short pulse duration in the sub-femtosecond range. By resonantly tuning the X-ray pulse to core-excited states undergoing Auger decay, this drawback of TXPS can be mitigated. While resonant Auger-electron spectroscopy (RAS) can recover the vibrational structures not hidden by broadband excitation, the full reconstruction of the wavepacket is a standing challenge. Here, we theoretically demonstrate how the complete information of a nuclear wavepacket, i.e., the populations and relative phases of the vibrational states constituting the wavepacket, can be retrieved from time-resolved RAS (TRAS) measurements. Thus, TRAS offers key insights into coupled nuclear and electronic dynamics in complex systems on ultrashort timescales, providing an alternative to leverage femtosecond and attosecond X-ray probe pulses.
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| 29. |
- Wang, Nan, 1988, et al.
(författare)
-
Efficient surface modification of carbon nanotubes for fabricating high performance CNT based hybrid nanostructures
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Carbon. - : Elsevier BV. - 0008-6223. ; 111, s. 402-410
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were chemically modified to achieve strong binding strength with the attached functional components as well as good dispersability and nanoparticle size-uniformity. An efficient multi-oxidation process was developed to create porous out layer with many nanoscale defects on the surface of CNTs for metallic nanoparticle close attachment and bond sufficient oxygen-containing groups, which assisted the dispersion of CNTs in the aqueous solution. The surface modified CNTs have advantages of strong binding capability, large surface area, high mechanical strength and good dispersability, which show great potential as building blocks for hybrid nanomaterials. Monodispersed silver nano particles with an average size of 3 nm were formed from inside the created nanoscale defects on the surface of CNTs without any obvious agglomerations. The fabricated hybrid exhibited much enhanced anti-bacterial performance compared to commercial silver nanoparticles due to the combined antibacterial effects of CNTs and silver nanoparticles. With these superior properties, the developed surface modification process could be widely used for improving the performances of many CNT based hybrid nanomaterials in diverse applications.
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| 30. |
- Wang, Shuqi, et al.
(författare)
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Trajectory Planning for UAV-Assisted Data Collection in IoT Network: A Double Deep Q Network Approach
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Electronics. - : Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI). - 2079-9292. ; 13:8
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are becoming increasingly valuable as a new type of mobile communication device and autonomous decision-making device in many application areas, including the Internet of Things (IoT). UAVs have advantages over other stationary devices in terms of high flexibility. However, a UAV, as a mobile device, still faces some challenges in optimizing its trajectory for data collection. Firstly, the high complexity of the movement action and state space of the UAV’s 3D trajectory is not negligible. Secondly, in unknown urban environments, a UAV must avoid obstacles accurately in order to ensure a safe flight. Furthermore, without a priori wireless channel characterization and ground device locations, a UAV must reliably and safely complete the data collection from the ground devices under the threat of unknown interference. All of these require the proposing of intelligent and automatic onboard trajectory optimization techniques. This paper transforms the trajectory optimization problem into a Markov decision process (MDP), and deep reinforcement learning (DRL) is applied to the data collection scenario. Specifically, the double deep Q-network (DDQN) algorithm is designed to address intelligent UAV trajectory planning that enables energy-efficient and safe data collection. Compared with the traditional algorithm, the DDQN algorithm is much better than the traditional Q-Learning algorithm, and the training time of the network is shorter than that of the deep Q-network (DQN) algorithm.
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| 31. |
- Widmann, Matthias, et al.
(författare)
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Coherent control of single spins in silicon carbide at room temperature
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Nature Materials. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 1476-1122 .- 1476-4660. ; 14:2, s. 164-168
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Spins in solids are cornerstone elements of quantum spintronics(1). Leading contenders such as defects in diamond(2-5) or individual phosphorus dopants in silicon(6) have shown spectacular progress, but either lack established nanotechnology or an efficient spin/photon interface. Silicon carbide (SiC) combines the strength of both systems(5):it has a large bandgap with deep defects(7-9) and benefits from mature fabrication techniques(10-12). Here, we report the characterization of photoluminescence and optical spin polarization from single silicon vacancies in SiC, and demonstrate that single spins can be addressed at room temperature. We show coherent control of a single defect spin and find long spin coherence times under ambient conditions. Our study provides evidence that SiC is a promising system for atomic-scale spintronics and quantum technology.
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| 32. |
- Xiang, Yan, et al.
(författare)
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Experimental investigation on ex-vessel debris bed formation using low melting-point melt of binary metals
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Progress in nuclear energy (New series). - : Elsevier BV. - 0149-1970 .- 1878-4224. ; 157
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- During severe accidents in a light water reactor, the core melt (corium) may relocate to the lower head and fail the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). The corium will be ejected to the reactor cavity upon the RPV failure and undergo melt coolant interactions (FCI) if the cavity is flooded with water. The FCI process does not only de-termines the characteristics of the resulting debris bed which are important to coolability, but also induces a steam explosion risk which may threaten containment integrity. The present study is concerned with charac-terization of debris bed formed from FCI of metal-rich corium failing into a deep water pool in the reactor cavity. Low melting-point metals Tin and Tin-Bismuth (20 kg) were employed as the simulant materials of metal-rich corium melt. Ten tests were carried out on the DEFOR-M test facility at KTH to investigate the effects of various parameters on debris bed formation, such as melt superheat, coolant subcooling, material. The melt jet fragmentation and fragments movement in the water pool as well as debris deposition on the pool floor were recorded by high-speed cameras. Melt sensors and weight sensors were installed to detect the period of melt jet discharge and the mass of forming debris bed. The porosity of debris bed was obtained through the debris bed volume measured by a three-dimensional laser scanner and the pore volume measured by water absorption. The final configuration of debris bed was also reconstructed through the laser scanner data, and the debris particles were sieved for their size distribution. The experimental results revealed the FCI phenomena and debris bed characteristics including configuration and porosity of debris bed as well as morphology and size distribution of debris particles under different melt superheats, coolant subcooling, materials.
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| 33. |
- Xun, Qian, 1990, et al.
(författare)
-
Energy Efficiency Comparison of Hybrid Powertrain Systems for Fuel-Cell-Based Electric Vehicles
- 2020
-
Ingår i: ITEC 2019 - 2019 IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference and Expo.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Fuel cell electric vehicles have great superiorities in endurance mileage, charging speed and climate tolerance compared to battery electric vehicles. However, a supercapacitor or battery bank is required to maintain a fast-dynamic response, which leads to several hybridization structures for fuel-cell-based electric vehicles due to the unique characteristics of each device, and their performances are also differing. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive comparison of hybrid powertrain systems for three types of powertrains: fuel cell/supercapacitor passive hybrid, fuel cell/supercapacitor semi-active hybrid, and fuel cell/battery semi-active hybrid. Each powertrain component model is developed from the real components wherever possible, and Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle is studied as the benchmark. The powertrain energy efficiency under Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Cycle (WLTC) is analyzed and evaluated. The simulation results show that three powertrains have the same energy consumption, and fuel cell/supercapacitor passive hybrid powertrain increases the system efficiency by 2% and 4% in propulsion and regenerative braking, respectively. By contrast, the other two powertrain topologies have similar performance in terms of energy efficiency.
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| 34. |
- Yang, Biao, et al.
(författare)
-
On-Surface Synthesis of Polyphenylene Wires Comprising Rigid Aliphatic Bicyclo[1.1.1]Pentane Isolator Units
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Angewandte Chemie International Edition. - : WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH. - 1433-7851 .- 1521-3773. ; 62:19
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane (BCP) motifs are of growing importance to the pharmaceutical industry as sp(3)-rich bioisosteres of benzene rings and as molecular building blocks in materials science. Herein we explore the behavior of 1,3-disubstituted BCP moieties on metal surfaces by combining low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy / non-contact atomic force microscopy studies with density functional theory modeling. We examine the configuration of individual BCP-containing precursors on Au(111), their supramolecular assembly and thermally activated dehalogenative coupling reactions, affording polymeric chains with incorporated electronically isolating units. Our studies not only provide the first sub-molecular insights of the BCP scaffold behavior on surfaces, but also extend the potential application of BCP derivatives towards integration in custom-designed surface architectures.
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| 35. |
- Yang, Zhihao, et al.
(författare)
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Characteristics of health-state utilities used in cost-effectiveness analyses : a systematic review of published studies in Asia
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1477-7525. ; 21:1
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: Cost-utility analysis (CUA) is the preferred form of economic evaluation in many countries. As one of the key data inputs in cost-utility models, health state utility (HSU) has a crucial impact on CUA results. In the past decades, health technology assessment has been expanding rapidly in Asia, yet research examining the methodology and process used to generate cost-effectiveness evidence is scarce. The aim of this study was to examine the reporting of the characteristics of HSU data used in CUAs in Asia and how the characteristics have changed over time.Methods: A systematic literature search was performed to identify published CUA studies targeting Asian populations. Information was extracted for both the general characteristics of selected studies and the characteristics of reported HSU data. For each HSU value identified, we extracted data for four key characteristics, including 1) estimation method; 2) source of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) data; 3) source of preference data; and 4) sample size. The percentage of nonreporting was calculated and compared over two time periods (1990–2010 vs 2011–2020).Results: A total of 789 studies were included and 4,052 HSUs were identified. Of these HSUs, 3,351 (82.7%) were from published literature and 656 (16.2%) were from unpublished empirical data. Overall, the characteristics of HSU data were not reported in more than 80% of the studies. Of HSUs whose characteristics were reported, most of them were estimated using the EQ-5D (55.7%), Asian HRQoL data (91.9%), and Asian health preferences (87.7%); 45.7% of the HSUs was estimated with a sample of 100 or more individuals. All four characteristics showed improvements after 2010.Conclusion: Over the past two decades, there has been a significant increase in CUA studies targeting Asian populations. However, HSU’s characteristics were not reported in most of the CUA studies, making it difficult to evaluate the quality and appropriateness of the HSUs used in those cost-effectiveness studies.
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| 36. |
- Zhang, Xiangnan, et al.
(författare)
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Gut Bacterial Indole-3-acetic Acid Induced Immune Promotion Mediates Preventive Effects of Fu Brick Tea Polyphenols on Experimental Colitis
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0021-8561 .- 1520-5118. ; 71:2, s. 1201-1213
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ulcerative colitis has been consistently associated with gut microbiota imbalance and disturbed immune system. Emerging research suggests a protective function of polyphenols on prevention and treatment of ulcerative colitis, yet underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Fu brick tea, a postfermented tea, contains abundant polyphenols with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. In the present study, we found that prophylactic supplementation of polyphenols extracted from Fu brick tea (FBTP) dose-dependently alleviated colitis symptoms, immune cells infiltration, and pro-inflammatory cytokines secretion in mice suffering dextran sulfate sodium induced murine colitis. FBTP substantially reshaped gut microbiota and promoted microbial transformation of tryptophan into indole-3-acetic acid (I3A), thereafter leading to aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR)-mediated protection from colitis through enhanced expressions of IL-22 and tight junction proteins (i.e., ZO-1, occluding and claudin-1) in colon. Multiomics integration analyses revealed strong connections between I3A, tryptophan-metabolizing bacteria, AHR activity, and pathological phenotypes of colitis. Notably, FBTP failed to significantly alleviate colitis symptoms in the absence of gut microbiota, while intragastric administration of I3A could imitate benefits of FBTP on colitis alleviation and intestinal epithelial homeostasis through a direct enhancement in AHR activity in microbiota-depleted mice. These findings further determine the key role of gut microbiota controlled I3A-AHR signaling in mediating the FBTP on colitis alleviation. This study provides the first data proposing the FBTP as a natural prebiotic for colitis alleviation through the gut microbiota-dependent modulation of the AHR pathway. Most importantly, we also identified I3A as a key microbial metabolite targeted by FBTP for exhibiting health-promoting effects.
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| 37. |
- Zhao, Changhong, 1982, et al.
(författare)
-
Synthesis of graphene quantum dots and their applications in drug delivery
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Journal of Nanobiotechnology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1477-3155. ; 18:1
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- This review focuses on the recent advances in the synthesis of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) and their applications in drug delivery. To give a brief understanding about the preparation of GQDs, recent advances in methods of GQDs synthesis are first presented. Afterwards, various drug delivery-release modes of GQDs-based drug delivery systems such as EPR-pH delivery-release mode, ligand-pH delivery-release mode, EPR-Photothermal delivery-Release mode, and Core/Shell-photothermal/magnetic thermal delivery-release mode are reviewed. Finally, the current challenges and the prospective application of GQDs in drug delivery are discussed.[Figure not available: see fulltext.]
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| 38. |
- Zhao, Nan, et al.
(författare)
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A nodal sensitivity study of MELCOR simulation for severe accidents in a pressurized water reactor
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Annals of Nuclear Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-4549 .- 1873-2100. ; 160
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents a sensitivity study of nodal scheme in MELCOR simulation of severe accidents in a pressurized water reactor, with the objective to estimate the nodal effects on some in-vessel and exvessel processes and phenomena, including thermal-hydraulic response, core degradation and relocation, hydrogen generation, vessel failure, containment pressurization and venting, source term. For this purpose, three nodal schemes (i.e., coarse, medium and fine meshes) of the COR package of the MELCOR code are chosen to analyze two severe accident scenarios: small break loss of coolant accident (SBLOCA) and large break loss-of-coolant accident (LBLOCA), both combined with station blackout. The results show that the nodal schemes mainly affect the calculations of heat transfers from the core to coolant and heat structures, relatively affecting the core degradation and relocation to the lower head of the reactor pressure vessel. As for the consequences, the coarse mesh tends to predict slower core relocation progressions and a later failure of RPV lower head. Moreover, more hydrogen generation by cladding oxidation can be observed in the coarse mesh case. The nodal schemes have little impact on the estimation of in-containment source term. Meanwhile, the simulations with fine mesh may also provide more detailed distributions of corium masses and temperatures, as well as heat fluxes, affecting thermal and mechanic behavior of RPV lower head.
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| 39. |
- Zhao, Nan, et al.
(författare)
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A review of the assessment of severe accident management guidelines and actions through analytical simulations
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Annals of Nuclear Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-4549 .- 1873-2100. ; 180, s. 109448-
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The generic severe accident management guidelines (SAMG) were developed as a response to TMI-2 accident to improve the defense-in-depth (DiD) concept of light water reactors (LWRs). Various SAMGs were developed for plant specific application considering different objectives of severe accident management (SAM) and design features of nuclear reactors. To verify and validate the effectiveness of SAMG and SAM actions for mitigating accident consequences and terminating accident progression, the analytical simulation through best estimate codes were performed extensively to provide quantitative details for the assessment of an SAMG and its actions. The present study is carried out to review the representative works concerned with the assessment of SAMG actions in the pressurized water reactors (PWR) and European VVERs using analytical simulation. The outcomes would be valid to realize the improvement and development of assessment methodology in future studies.
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| 40. |
- Zhao, Nan, et al.
(författare)
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Analysis of primary side bleed and feed actions for severe accident management following total loss of feed water in a Swedish PWR
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Annals of Nuclear Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-4549 .- 1873-2100. ; 167, s. 108859-108859
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Severe accident management guidelines (SAMGs) have been developed and applied in nuclear power plants (NPPs) to provide the fourth level of defense worldwide since the TMI-2 accident which occurred in 1979. The primary objective of the SAMGs is to protect remaining safety boundaries and to limit release of fission products into the environment by specific severe accident management (SAM) actions with available safety equipment. This paper is concerned with the assessment of the primary side bleed and feed (PBF) actions in the SAMGs of a Swedish pressurized water reactor (PWR). The PBF actions are realized by operations of emergency injection pumps and power-operated relief valves (PORVs), following a severe accident induced by an event of total loss of feed water (TLOFW) and temporary station blackout. In the present study, MELCOR simulations are performed to investigate the effects of the SAM actions on severe accident progression and consequences. Different sets of available equipment and actuation time due to recovery of AC power are simulated. The interest of the MELCOR analysis is focused on how these uncertain parameters of SAM actions affect thermal–hydraulic response, hydrogen generation, core relocation, reactor pressure vessel failure and release of fission products. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the PBF strategy to prevent RPV failure in the TLOFW accident and the effects of injection timing on accident consequences. The obtained insights are instrumental for validation and improvement of the strategies and actions in the plant specific SAMGs.
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| 41. |
- Zhao, Nan, et al.
(författare)
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Assessment of safety injection in severe accident management following BDBA scenarios in a Swedish PWR
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Annals of Nuclear Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-4549 .- 1873-2100. ; 183
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Analytical simulation using best-estimate codes were suggested to be extended for the elaboration and improvement of SAMG in current PWRs. This work is about to perform an assessment work using MELCOR for the effectiveness of safety injection to achieve the PBF strategy in SAM following a BDBA scenario, that is LOCA with concurrent SBO. In the simulations, the safety injection is assumed to be retrieved with the postulated power recovery at different timing during core relocation. The simulation results illustrates that the grace period of preventing vessel failure varies with LOCA break size and locations. The safety injection implemented in grace period is capable of retarding or ceasing the core relocation, sequentially avoiding the massive core relocation into lower plenum, mitigating the hydrogen generation and fission product release from core. Meanwhile, the injection later than grace period would be failed to prevent RPV failure, and it negatively affects hydrogen generation in some scenarios. The results also indicate that the smallest injection capacity of HPSI system in Swedish PWR is sufficient to achieve the effective mitigation.
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| 42. |
- Zhao, Nan
(författare)
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Informing Severe Accident Management Guidelines for a Pressurized Water Reactor with MELCOR Simulations
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Severe accident management guidelines (SAMGs) play an important role in the hierarchical structure of the defense-in-depth (DiD) principle of reactor safety. Among different methods to verify and validate the effectiveness of SAMG on mitigating severe accident consequences, the approach of numerical simulations using best-estimate computer codes was extensively applied to evaluate the SAMG and SAM actions. In addition to a review on the previous works assessing SAMGs through numerical simulations, the present study is intended to examine and inform the effectiveness of SAMG and its actions for a Swedish pressurized water reactor (PWR) through numerical simulations of the MELCOR code. The research work is composed of i) development and qualification of MELCOR model for the PWR chosen; ii) evaluation of SAMG entry condition; and iii) assessment of operator actions in the SAMG (so-called SAM actions) under different accident scenarios. The SAM actions include depressurization (individual action) and primary-side bleed and feed (PBF) actions which are among the most important SAM actions. The risk-important accident scenarios selected in this study are station blackout (SBO), total loss of feed water (TLOFW), loss of coolant accident (LOCA), and their variations. The development and qualification of the MELCOR model for the Swedish PWR is conducted through nodal sensitivity studies which provide the impacts of the COR nodalization and CVH nodalization in the MELCOR model on simulation results. The qualified MELCOR model with achievable accuracy and computational cost is then adopted in the evaluation of SAMG and its actions through numerical simulations.The interests of the numerical simulations for evaluating the SAMG entry condition and SAM actions are focused on the timing of events, accident consequences, negative/positive effects of SAM actions, etc. Based on the evaluation outcomes, the main points are concluded as follows:- The setpoint 650oC of the average core exit temperature (CET) is an effective entry condition of SAMGs (i.e., performing transition from EOPs to SAMGs at the onset of core damage), given the representative accident sequences as the main contributors to the core damage frequency (CDF) of the reactor chosen.- The PBF strategy is effective to cease the core relocation and prevent the RPV failure in both TLOFW and LOCA scenarios if the PBF actions are operated within respective grace periods which can be determined through the numerical simulations. - The grace periods of PBF actions are not only dependent on the accident scenarios, but also affected by the timing of bleed/feed actions, RCS depressurization rate (opening of PORVs), injection flowrate, and their combinations.- The earlier RCS injection in the grace period can mitigate the hydrogen generation and radioactive release from the core, but a later RCS injection beyond the grace period will produce more hydrogen.- The RCS injection in the later stage of core degradation may also mitigate the release of fission products from primary circuits to the containment, since the injected water can scrub the aerosols generated from the core.
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| 43. |
- Zhao, Nan, et al.
(författare)
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Numerical assessment for entry condition of severe accident management guidelines in a Swedish nuclear power plant
- 2022
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Ingår i: Annals of Nuclear Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-4549 .- 1873-2100. ; 169, s. 108969-108969
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The entry conditions of severe accident management guidelines (SAMGs) in pressurized water reactors (PWRs) rely on the indication of core exit temperature (CET). Yet, the setpoints for the CET may be different from plant to plant. Most Westinghouse PWR designs adopt the setpoint of CET at 650℃ as the entry condition of the SAMGs, since this setpoint is an effective indicator of core damage in a wide spectrum of accident sequences. Motivated by the interest in the verification & validation of SAMS after the Fukushima accidents, the present study is conducted numerically to verify the effectiveness of the CET setpoint for the transition from emergency operation procedures (EOPs) to SAMGs in a Swedish nuclear power plant. For this purpose, six representative severe accident sequences covering the main contributors to the core damage frequency (CDF) are analyzed using the MELCOR code. Moreover, different CET readings and alternative entry conditions are also investigated. The simulation results show that the average CET = 650 °C is the effective setpoint as the entry condition of SAMGs, i.e., given this setpoint the transition from EOPs to SAMGs will take place slightly before the occurrence of core degradation, which secures the intended mitigation of SAMGs while keeping EOPs active as long as possible. On the other hand, it is too conservative if the maximum CET = 650 °C is used as the setpoint of entry condition of SAMGs, i.e., it will result in an excessive realization of SAMGs over EOPs. The coolant temperature in the primary circuits, the water level in the RPV and the hydrogen concentration in the containment can also be applied as reference indications of core damage states in the accident management.
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| 44. |
- Zhao, Nan, et al.
(författare)
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Sensitivity study of thermal-hydraulic nodalization for MELCOR simulations of severe accidents in a pressurized water reactor
- 2022
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Ingår i: Annals of Nuclear Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-4549 .- 1873-2100. ; 166
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The CVH package in the MELCOR code is responsible for modelling the thermal-hydraulic behavior dur -ing severe accident. This work presents a sensitivity study of thermal-hydraulic nodalization in the core region for MELCOR simulations of postulated severe accidents in a pressurized water reactor (PWR). Three nodal schemes are developed with a good agreement of steady-state parameters. Two accident sce-narios: loss of coolant accident (LOCA) and station blackout (SBO) are simulated. The analysis is focused on the effect of the control volumes (CVs) in the CVH nodalization on the simulation results of in-vessel accident progression, including the core degradation, hydrogen generation and fission products release, etc. It is found that compared with the coarse CVH nodalization (1 CV), the radial refinement of CVH nodalization (7 CVs) leads to different impacts on accident progression in the two scenarios: faster core relocation and more hydrogen generation is predicted in the LOCA scenario, but it is opposite in the SBO scenario. The finest nodal scheme (49 CVs) with refinement in both radial and axial direction tends to predict an earlier occurrence of cladding rupture, RPV failure and faster core relocation, as well as more hydrogen generation. The CVH refinement makes little difference on the radioactive release.
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| 45. |
- Zhao, Xiaoming, et al.
(författare)
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Accelerated aging of all-inorganic, interface-stabilized perovskite solar cells
- 2022
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Ingår i: Science. - : AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE. - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 377:6603, s. 307-310
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To understand degradation routes and improve the stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), accelerated aging tests are needed. Here, we use elevated temperatures (up to 110 degrees C) to quantify the accelerated degradation of encapsulated CsPbI3 PSCs under constant illumination. Incorporating a two-dimensional (2D) Cs2PbI2Cl2 capping layer between the perovskite active layer and hole-transport layer stabilizes the interface while increasing power conversion efficiency of the all-inorganic PSCs from 14.9 to 17.4%. Devices with this 2D capping layer did not degrade at 35 degrees C and required >= 2100 hours at 110 degrees C under constant illumination to degrade by 20% of their initial efficiency. Degradation acceleration factors based on the observed Arrhenius temperature dependence predict intrinsic lifetimes of 51,000 +/- 7000 hours (>5 years) operating continuously at 35 degrees C.
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| 46. |
- Zheng, Yi Wu, et al.
(författare)
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Indoor Allergen Levels and Household Distributions in Nine Cities Across China
- 2015
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Ingår i: Biomedical and environmental sciences. - 0895-3988 .- 2214-0190. ; 28:10, s. 709-717
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Chinese allergic subjects have high levels of sensitization to house dust mite (HDM) and other indoor allergens. This study quantifies common indoor allergen levels in Chinese households.METHODS: Dust samples were collected from nine cities. Major allergens Der p 1 and Der f 1 from Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and D. farinae, and specific antigens of Blomia tropicalis, Tyrophagus putrescentiae, Acarus siro, and cockroach species Blattella germanica and Periplaneta americana were measured by ELISA.RESULTS: HDM allergens were found in dust samples from bedding in 95% of the Chinese households. The median levels varied from <0.006 to 9.2 µg/g of dust, depending on the city. The percentages of households having HDM allergen levels associated with the risk of developing allergy sensitization and asthma were 65% and 25%, respectively. Specific antigens of the storage mite and cockroach were only found in samples from the southern and tropical regions of China. Levels of mite allergens were generally higher in samples from bedding compared to samples from the living room, even for storage mites, whereas levels of cockroach antigens were higher in the living room samples.CONCLUSION: HDM allergens are present in bedding dust samples from most Chinese households. Cities in southern and central China have relatively high levels of HDM major allergens compared to cities in northern and western China. Antigens of storage mites and cockroaches are not as common as HDM allergens.
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| 47. |
- Zhou, Suhan, et al.
(författare)
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ADAMTS13 protects mice against renal ischemia-reperfusion injury by reducing inflammation and improving endothelial function
- 2019
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Ingår i: American Journal of Physiology - Renal Physiology. - : American Physiological Society. - 1931-857X .- 1522-1466. ; 316:1, s. F134-F145
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious condition without efficient therapeutic options. Recent studies have indicated that recombinant human a disintegrin and metalloprotease with thrombospondin motifs 13 (rhADAMTS13) provides protection against inflammation. Therefore, we hypothesized that ADAMTS13 might protect against AKI by reducing inflammation. Bilateral renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (I/R) was used as AKI models in this study. Prophylactic infusion of rhADAMTS13 was employed to investigate potential mechanisms of renal protection. Renal function, inflammation, and microvascular endothelial function were assessed after 24 h of reperfusion. Our results showed that I/R mice increased plasma von Willebrand factor levels but decreased ADAMTS13 expression. Administration of rhADAMTS13 to I/R mice recovered renal function, histological injury, and apoptosis. Renal inflammation was reduced by rhADAMTS13, accompanied with the downregulation of p38/extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase phosphorylation and cyclooxygenase-2 expression. rhADAMTS13 restored vasodilation in afferent arterioles in I/R mice. Furthermore, rhADAMTS13 treatment enhanced phosphorylation of Akt at Set(473) and eNOS at Ser(1177). Administration of the Akt pathway inhibitor wortmannin reduced the protective effect of rhADAMTS13. Our conclusions are that treatment with rhADAMTS13 ameliorates renal I/R injury by reducing inflammation, tubular cell apoptosis. and improving microvascular endothelial dysfunction. rhADAMIS13 could be a promising strategy to treat AKI in clinical settings.
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