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The Late Permian witnessed a Permian Chert Event (PCE) and distinctive oceanic geochemical fluctuations, such as an ocean acidification event, large-scale volcanic eruption, and rapid global warming. However, the links between siliceous rock formation mechanism, ocean, and climate changes are rarely discussed. In this article, two well-preserved deeper-water sections of the Dalong Formation from the Lower Yangtze region in southeast China are selected for analysis. To document the coeval oceanic changes, we present thin section authentication, scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation, and multiple geochemical proxies, including total organic carbon contents (TOC), major element contents, trace element contents, and rare earth element contents (REEs)...

Aucuba japonica var. variegata Dombrain is a common evergreen cultivated ornamental in China (Li et al. 2016). In December 2022, severe leaf blight on A. japonica was observed next to the Meishiyuan of Zhejiang Normal University (29°8'4″N, 119°37'54″E) in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, China. There were seven plants in the surveyed area, and over 50% of leaves were affected. The early symptoms were small gray spot parts with brown borders on the tip of the leaves. Then the grey parts gradually expanded and became brownish black...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes life-threatening diseases and is resistant to almost all conventional antibiotics. The quorum sensing (QS) system of P. aeruginosa contributes to many pathogenic factors some of which are pigment production, motility, and biofilm. The disruption of quorum sensing system may be an impactful strategy to deal with infections. The present study investigates the anti-quorum sensing property of a bioactive molecule extracted from marine epibiotic bacteria present on the surface of seaweeds...

With the development of industries, air pollution in north-central Henan is becoming increasingly severe. The TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) provides nitrogen dioxide (NO2 ) column densities with high spatial resolution. Based on TROPOMI, in this study, the nitrogen oxides (NOx ) emissions in north-central Henan are derived and the emission hotspots are identified with the flux divergence method (FDM) from May to September 2021. The results indicate that Zhengzhou has the highest NOx emissions in north-central Henan...

The ammonia nitrogen in arable land soil is susceptible to environmental and anthropogenic influences, leading to nutrient loss. This study utilized indoor soil column leaching experiments, combined with adsorption mathematical models, traditional characterization methods, and molecular dynamics simulation methods, to analyze the effects of biochar on changes in ammonium ions in different soil layers and leachate of arable land soil. The study found that applying biochar at a ratio of 10 % to arable land soil could effectively increase the ammonium ion content in the 0-10 cm soil layer by 1...

A precise, sensitive, accurate, and validated reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method with a bioanalytical approach was utilized to analyze Cabazitaxel (CBZ) in rat plasma. Comparative research on extraction recoveries was performed between traditional liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and synthesized graphene oxide (GO) based magnetic solid phase extraction (GO@MSPE). The superparamagnetic hybrid nanosorbent was synthesized using the combination of iron oxide and GO and subsequently applied for extraction and bioanalytical quantification of CBZ from plasma by (HPLC-PDA) analysis...

The purpose of this study was to screen differentially expressed genes in PCOS using gene chip data and investigate the biological functions of these DEGs in PCOS. Additionally, the study aimed to analyze the potential clinical significance of these genes using clinical data. In this study, we first screened the DEGs related to PCOS by using the gene chip data (GSE5090) from GEO database. Target gene prediction software was used to predict the target genes for these DEGs, and their functional enrichment was analysed...

Management of pediatric spinal cord injury (SCI) is an essential skill for all pediatric neurocritical care physicians. In this review, we focus on the evaluation and management of pediatric SCI, highlight a novel framework for the monitoring of such patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), and introduce advancements in critical care techniques in monitoring and management. The initial evaluation and characterization of SCI is crucial for improving outcomes as well as prognostication. While physical examination and imaging are the main stays of the work-up, we propose the use of somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for challenging clinical scenarios...

In this study, one water soluble polysaccharide (IOP1-1) with a weight average molecular weight of 6886 Da was obtained from the black crystal region of Inonotus obliquus by hot water extraction, DEAE-52 cellulose extraction and Sephadex-100 column chromatography purification. Structural analysis indicated that IOP1-1 was a glucan with a main chain composed of α-Glcp-(1 → 4)-α-Glcp-(1 → 4)-β-Glcp-(1 → 4)-β-Glcp-(1 → 4)-α-Glcp-(1 → 6)-β-Glcp-(1 → 4)-α-Glcp-(1 → 3)-β-Glcp-(1→...

The effects of metal oxides and clays on the transport of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) in saturated porous media were investigated under different ionic strength (IS) conditions. We studied the transport and retention behavior of ZnO-NPs for different types of porous media (untreated, acid treated, and acid-salt treated sand). The selected untreated sand was used as a representative sand, coated with both metal oxide and clay. The acid treated and acid-salt-treated sands were used and compared to investigate the effects of clays on the surface of the sand...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Intensive care antibiotic treatment faces challenges due to substantial pharmacokinetic differences in critically ill patients. Individualized antibiotic dosing guided by therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is considered to minimize the risk of treatment failure and toxicity. This study aimed to develop a valid method for simultaneous LC-MS/MS quantification of 10 drugs frequently used in intensive care antibiotic therapy for which TDM-guided dosing is recommended: piperacillin, meropenem, flucloxacillin, cefuroxime, vancomycin, colistin A and B, linezolid, ciprofloxacin and tazobactam...

The present research is focused on the proposal of use of flow-modulation comprehensive two-dimensional enantio-gas chromatography (FM eGC × GC) as a valid, flexible, and possibly superior alternative to heart-cutting multidimensional enantio-GC (eMDGC). The latter, a technique of demonstrated utility, is used specifically for the targeted separation of chiral compounds, whereas FM eGC × GC can produce both targeted and high-resolution untargeted information in a single run. It is clearly possible to use eMDGC for untargeted analysis, often with a flame ionization detector (stand-by analysis), to monitor a first-dimension (1 D) separation, of much lower peak capacity compared to FM eGC × GC...

Rapid small-scale column tests (RSSCT) are used to study the removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for drinking water treatment by ion exchange. Breakthroughs of 15 emerging per- and perfluoroalkyl ether acids and six legacy perfluoroalkyl acid analogs are studied using a single-use PFAS-selective anion exchange resin (AER1) and a regenerable, generic anion exchange resin (AER2). The Bohart-Adams model was used to describe and predict breakthrough, with the modeled results reasonably aligned with RSSCT results in most cases, enabling shorter RSSCT duration for future applications...

Nucleotide sugars (NS) fulfil important roles in all living organisms and in humans, related defects result in severe clinical syndromes. NS can be seen as the "activated" sugars used for biosynthesis of a wide range of glycoconjugates and serve as substrates themselves for the synthesis of other nucleotide sugars. NS analysis is complicated by the presence of multiple stereoisomers without diagnostic transition ions, therefore requiring separation by liquid chromatography. In this paper, we explored weak anion-exchange/reversed-phase chromatography on a hybrid column for the separation of 17 nucleotide sugars that can occur in humans...

INTRODUCTION: Traditionally, plate osteosynthesis of the anterior column combined with an antegrade posterior column screw is used for fixation of anterior column plus posterior hemitransverse (ACPHT) acetabulum fractures. Replacing the posterior column screw with an infraacetabular screw could improve the straightforwardness of acetabulum surgery, as it can be inserted using less invasive approaches, such as the AIP/Stoppa approach, which is a well-established standard approach. However, the biomechanical stability of a plate osteosynthesis combined with an infraacetabular screw instead of an antegrade posterior column screw is unknown...

BACKGROUND: The objective measurement for esophageal bolus volume and bolus clearance could classify abnormal high-resolution manometry (HRM) beyond the current Chicago classification. We aimed to compare the novel four-dimensional impedance manometry (4D HRM) volume metrics with timed barium esophagram (TBE). METHODS: Adults with esophageal symptoms undergoing HRM and TBE were included. A custom-built program for 4D HRM analysis measured esophageal luminal cross-sectional area (CSA) from impedance and subsequently derived esophageal bolus volume and clearance...

We present a modular and cost-effective gamma ray computed tomography system for multiphase flow investigations in industrial apparatuses. It mainly comprises a 137 Cs isotopic source and an in-house-assembled detector arc, with a total of 16 scintillation detectors, offering a quantum efficiency of approximately 75% and an active area of 10 × 10 mm2 each. The detectors are operated in pulse mode to exclude scattered gamma photons from counting by using a dual-energy discrimination stage. Flexible application of the computed tomography system, i...

The Frenet-Serret (FS) framework stands as a pivotal tool in shape sensing for various infrastructures. However, this tool suffers from accumulative errors, particularly at inflection points where the normal vector undergoes sign changes. To minimize the error, the traditional FS framework is modified by incorporating the homogeneous matrix transformation (HMT) method for segments containing inflection points. Additionally, inclination information is also used to calculate the unit tangent vector and the unit norm vector at the start point of each segment...

Partially impaired sensor arrays pose a significant challenge in accurately estimating signal parameters. The occurrence of bad data is highly probable, resulting in random loss of source information and substantial performance degradation in parameter estimation. In this paper, a tensor variational sparse Bayesian learning (TVSBL) method is proposed for the estimate of direction of arrival (DOA) and polarization parameters jointly based on a conformal polarization sensitive array (CPSA), taking into account scenarios with the partially impaired sensor array...

The molecular mechanism of how the infecting DNA of bacteriophage T4 passes from the capsid through the bacterial cell wall and enters the cytoplasm is essentially unknown. After adsorption, the short tail fibers of the infecting phage extend from the baseplate and trigger the contraction of the tail sheath, leading to a puncturing of the outer membrane by the tail tip needle composed of the proteins gp5.4, gp5 and gp27. To explore the events that occur in the periplasm and at the inner membrane, we constructed T4 phages that have a modified gp27 in their tail tip with a His-tag...