Effect of specimen thicknesses on water absorption and flexural strength of CFRP laminates subjected to water or alkaline solution immersion

In this paper, an experimental research was undertaken to investigate the effect of specimen thicknesses on water absorptions and flexural strengths of wet lay-up CFRP laminates subjected to distilled water or alkaline solution immersion up to 180 days. Test results showed that the water uptake and flexural strength retention of CFRP laminates were significantly affected by the adopted specimen thickness. For the same aging time, the water uptake of CFRP laminates decreased in the early stage of immersion and increased in the later stage of immersion with the increase of specimen thickness. Meanwhile, the flexural strength retention generally increased as specimen thickness increased. In addition, a new thickness-based accelerated method for hygrothermal aging test of CFRP laminates was proposed. The accelerated factors of the water uptake and flexural strength retention of CFRP laminates were theoretically deduced. The proposed analytical model of accelerated factors was verified with current test data, and then applied to predict long-term properties of CFRP laminates. Compared with the traditional temperature-based accelerated method, the new thickness-based accelerated method is much easier to apply to predict long-term properties of CFRP laminates with good accuracy

Assessment of the Impacts of Land Use Changes on Nonpoint Source Pollution Inputs Upstream of the Three Gorges Reservoir

In recent years, land use upstream of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) has changed significantly because of the TGR project. In this study, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was examined for its ability to assess relationships between land use changes and nonpoint pollutant indexes upstream of the TGR. Results indicated that the SWAT model, calibrated with the adjusted parameters, could successfully reproduce the nonpoint indexes at the water quality monitoring sites in the two rivers. The different land use change types were shown to be sensitive to nonpoint pollutants in the study area. The land use change type from upland to water was the strongest influence on changes in total nitrogen and total phosphorus. An empirical regression equation between nonpoint indexes and different land use change types was developed for the study area by partial least squares regression (PLSR) as follows: Y=b0+∑i=1mbiXi. This regression equation was useful for evaluating the influence of land use change types on changes in nonpoint pollutants over a long time period. The results from this study may be useful for the TGR management and may help to reduce nonpoint pollutant loads into downstream water bodies

Joint Beamforming and Power Control for D2D-Assisted Integrated Sensing and Communication Networks

Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) is an emerging technology in next-generation communication networks. However, the communication performance of the ISAC system may be severely affected by interference from the radar system if the sensing task has demanding performance requirements. In this paper, we exploit device-to-device communication (D2D) to improve system communication capacity. The ISAC system in a single cell D2D assisted-network is investigated, where the base station (BS) performs target sensing and communication with multiple celluar user equipments (CUEs) as well as D2D user equipments (DUEs) simultaneously communicating with other DUEs by multiplexing the same frequency resource. To achieve the optimal communication performance in the D2D-assisted ISAC system, a joint beamforming and power control problem is formulated with the goal to maximize the sum rate of the system while guaranteeing the performance requirements of radar sensing. Due to the non-convexity of the problem, we propose the algorithm to transform the origin problem into a relaxation form and obtain the solution. We also proposed the zero-forcing (ZF) beamforming scheme to acquire the solution that can eliminate the interference of the BS on DUEs. Extensive numerical simulations demonstrated that with the assistance of the D2D communications, our proposed algorithm significantly outperforms the baseline schemes in the system sum rate

A new thickness-based accelerated aging test methodology for resin materials: theory and preliminary experimental study

This paper proposes a novel accelerated test method based on the thickness of resin materials. This method is to overcome the adverse influence of high temperature on the reliability of experimental results of the accelerated tests widely adopted in the current practice. To verify the proposed thickness-based accelerated method (ThAM), an experimental investigation was conducted focusing on the water absorption and tensile properties of epoxy resin. The results suggest that the existing temperature-based accelerated method (TAM) cannot be applied when the test temperature is high as in this case the degradation mechanism of materials is probably changed. The acceleration factor of TAM is greatly dependent on the type of test solution, which further limits the application in the accelerated test. Compared with TAM, the new method is much easier to apply, and more stable and reasonable to accelerate the aging test of epoxy resin

Identification of RNAIII-binding proteins in Staphylococcus aureus using tethered RNAs and streptavidin aptamers based pull-down assay

BACKGROUND: It has been widely recognized that small RNAs (sRNAs) play important roles in physiology and virulence control in bacteria. In Staphylococcus aureus, many sRNAs have been identified and some of them have been functionally studied. Since it is difficult to identify RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), very little has been known about the RBPs in S. aureus, especially those associated with sRNAs. RESULTS: Here we adopted a tRNA scaffold streptavidin aptamer based pull-down assay to identify RBPs in S. aureus. The tethered RNA was successfully captured by the streptavidin magnetic beads, and proteins binding to RNAIII were isolated and analyzed by mass spectrometry. We have identified 81 proteins, and expressed heterologously 9 of them in Escherichia coli. The binding ability of the recombinant proteins with RNAIII was further analyzed by electrophoresis mobility shift assay, and the result indicates that proteins CshA, RNase J2, Era, Hu, WalR, Pyk, and FtsZ can bind to RNAIII. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that some proteins can bind to RNA III in S. aureus, and may be involved in RNA III function. And tRSA based pull-down assay is an effective method to search for RBPs in bacteria, which should facilitate the identification and functional study of RBPs in diverse bacterial species. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12866-015-0435-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

The power of microbes: the key role of gut microbiota in the initiation and progression of colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is ranked as the third most prevalent malignancy and is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality globally, significantly affecting the health and longevity of middle-aged individuals and the elderly. The primary risk factors for CRC are mainly due to unhealthy dietary habits and lifestyle choices, and they have been shown to profoundly influence the composition of the gut microbiota. Given that dietary patterns are critical determinants of gut microbial diversity, a compelling association exists between gut microbiota and the pathogenesis of CRC. Recent research has increasingly focused on the intricate interplay between gut microbiota and CRC, exploring its role in disease initiation, progression, and the modulation of host immune responses. Investigations have demonstrated that certain specific microbial communities can promote inflammation, disrupt metabolic pathways, and produce carcinogenic compounds, thereby contributing to the development of CRC. Conversely, a diverse and balanced gut microbiome may confer protective effects against cancer through mechanisms such as the production of short-chain fatty acids and the enhancement of intestinal barrier integrity. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the characteristics of the gut microbial community and its complex relationship with CRC. It highlights potential mechanisms through which gut microbiota may influence CRC pathogenesis, including chronic inflammation, toxins, metabolites, epigenetic dysregulation, and immune regulatory dysfunction. Additionally, this review summarizes innovative strategies for CRC prevention and treatment, emphasizing the therapeutic potential of probiotics and natural plant extracts. By elucidating these connections, this work aims to enhance the understanding of the gut microbiome’s role in CRC

High-dose cytarabine monotherapy is superior to standard-dose cytarabine- based multiagent sequential treatment cycle for consolidation treatment in adult (14-59 years) AML patients according to European Leukemia Net 2022 risk stratification

IntroductionWe firstly investigate based on 2022 European Leukemia Net (ELN) risk stratification, whether standard-dose cytarabine based multiagent sequential chemotherapy (SDMSC) is more beneficial than high-dose cytarabine (HDAC) monotherapy in consolidation for the survival of adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients.MethodsOne hundred and eighty-three AML patients with complete remission (CR) were evaluated.Results and discussionThe 3-year relapse rate was 33.4% in the HDAC group and 50.5% in the SDMSC group (p=0.066). The 3-year overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) rates in the HDAC group (69.2%, 60.7%) were significantly higher than that in the SDMSC group (50.8%, 42.1%) (p=0.025, 0.019). For patients in the intermediate risk group, the 3-year OS and EFS rates in the HDAC group (72.5%, 56.7%) were higher than that in the SDMSC group (49.1%, 38.0%) (p=0.028, 0.093). This study indicates that for young adult AML patients, HDAC consolidation achieves a higher long-term survival than SDMSC, especially for patients in the intermediate-risk group according to the 2022 ELN risk stratification

The Assessment of Climate Change and Land-Use Influences on the Runoff of a Typical Coastal Basin in Northern China

Land use and climate change are the two major driving factors of watershed runoff change, and it is of great significance to study the influence of watershed hydrological processes on water resource planning and management. This study takes the Changyang River basin as the study area, builds a SWAT model and explores the applicability of the SWAT model in the basin. Moreover, we combine data on land use and climate change in different periods to construct a variety of scenario models to quantitatively analyze the impacts of different scenarios on runoff. The results show that the R2 and Ensof the model are 0.71 and 0.68 in the calibration period, respectively, and those in the verification period are 0.68 and 0.65, respectively, indicating that the SWAT model has good applicability in simulating the runoff of the Changyang River basin. Under the comprehensive scenario of land use and climate change on runoff, we found that land use and climate change have a certain contribution to the change in runoff. Therefore, the runoff of the basin increased by 0.22 m3/s, in which land-use change caused the runoff in the basin to increase by 0.07 m3/s attributed to the decreased area of arable land and the increased area of urban land in the basin. Moreover, climate change has caused the runoff in the basin to increase by 0.13 m3/s, mainly influenced by the increased precipitation. The results show that climate change has a more significant effect on runoff in the basin.</jats:p