Abstract: The present invention provides a method for preparing ferrovanadium alloys based on aluminothermic self-propagating gradient reduction and slag washing refining. The method includes the steps of (1) performing aluminothermic self-propagating gradient reduction; (2) performing heat preserving and smelting to obtain an upper layer alumina-based slag and a lower layer alloy melt; (3) jetting refining slags into the lower layer alloy melt, and performing stirring and slag washing refining; and (4) cooling the refined high-temperature melt to room temperature, and removing an upper layer smelting slag to obtain the ferrovanadium alloys.

Abstract: A method of selectively inhibiting pathogenic microbes includes: providing a compound that is functional as a selective antimicrobial having a structure of Formula 1, or derivative thereof, salt thereof, or stereoisomer thereof, or having any chirality at any chiral center, or tautomer, polymorph, solvate, or combination thereof; and contacting a pathogenic microbe with the compound such that the pathogenic microbe is selectively inhibited; wherein: ring A is a cycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, or polycycle combination thereof; X is S, SO, or SO2; Y is a linker or bond; Z is CH, CR2, or N; Z1 is C or N to form an imidazopyridine; each Z2, Z3, or Z4 is independently CH, CR2, or N; each Z5 or Z6 is C or CH; each R1, R2, R3 and/or R4 is independently a substituent; m is 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4; and n is zero or a positive integer.

Abstract: The invention provides compositions and methods for treating ovarian cancer. Specifically, the invention relates to administering a genetically modified T cell having ?-folate receptor (FR?) binding domain and 4-1BB (CD137) costimulatory domain to treat ovarian cancer.

Abstract: A method for preparing an organic complex microelement fertilizer for engineering wound soil remediation includes compounding chitosan oligosaccharide or/and earthworm dung or/and silkworm sand, water or/and hydrogen peroxide, an organic complex trace element solution, polyethylene glycol octyl phenyl ether, and polysorbate under certain conditions. The present invention can significantly improve physical and chemical properties of engineering wounds, enhance effectiveness of trace elements in soil, and prevent plant physiological diseases due to lack of trace elements, and promote plant growth and development.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides compositions and methods for labeling a single stranded target nucleic acid. Subject compositions include a Cas9 protein, a Cas9 guide RNA, and a quenched PAMmer. A subject quenched PAMmer is a single stranded oligonucleotide having (i) a protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) sequence; (ii) a detectable label; (iii) a quencher moiety that quenches the detectable label; and (iv) at least one of: a specificity segment positioned 5? of the PAM sequence, and an orientation segment positioned 3? of the PAM sequence. In the subject methods, the Cas9 protein cleaves the quenched PAMmer at a cleavage site positioned between the detectable label and the quencher moiety to produce: (a) a first cleavage product that is hybridized with the target nucleic acid and comprises the detectable label; and (b) a second cleavage product that is not hybridized with the target nucleic acid and comprises the quencher moiety.

Abstract: Three proteins, BCL-G (BCL2L14), CMPK2, and LAMP3, were discovered to independently restrict HIV-1 replication both in-vivo and in-vitro. Methods are described wherein subjects are given an effective amount of a pharmaceutical composition comprising a protein selected from the group consisting of BCL-G, CMPK2, LAMP3, functional parts thereof, recombinant proteins thereof, and combinations thereof, for the purpose of treating or preventing HIV.

Abstract: A method for sequentially encrypting and decrypting doubly linked lists based on double key stream ciphers comprises: establishing a plaintext set M according to a plaintext file; using the plaintext set M as an initial value and performing iterative decryption to obtain a ciphertext set C, wherein a key set P and an algorithm set A are used during the iterative decryption; for the ciphertext set C, performing multiple decryptions by calling the key set P and keys in the key set P, wherein a key set P and an algorithm set A are used during the decryptions; and, converting the obtained result of decryption into a plaintext file.

Abstract: Functional in vitro assays are provided for determining patient specific responsiveness to immunotherapy agents within a clinically actionable time frame.

Abstract: The invention relates to compositions and methods for making and using recombinant bacteria that are capable of regulated attenuation and/or regulated expression of one or more antigens of interest.

Abstract: A method includes exciting a vibration of a solid material preferably in cylindrical shape, detecting the vibration by a pair of transducers attached at opposing positions on the solid material and preferably orthogonally aligned to the excitation force, adding the pair of sensor signals to mostly cancel bending mode signal components, and processing the added output signal to obtain a frequency spectrum. A method may also include identifying a resonance peak of an extensional mode diametrically symmetric, measuring a characteristic of the resonance peak, comparing the characteristic with a series of measured values for standard samples, and determining a defect status such as decay in a wooden pole solid material.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides an operating method of an automatic analysis system on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which includes steps as follows. Images are received from of the subject's brain from the MRI machine. Contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images and T2-weighted images are obtained from the images, and the pre-processing is performed on the images. The ratio of T2-weighted images to contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images is calculated to generate contrast-enhanced images. The unsupervised clustering is performed on the region of interest in the contrast-enhanced image to separate a cystic part and a non-cystic part so as to calculate the feature parameters. After radiosurgery is performed on the brain tumor corresponding to the region of interest, the volume change of the tumor is analyzed. The linear regression analysis of the feature parameters and the volume change of the tumor is performed for prognostic evaluation.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a Fiber Bragg Grating demodulation device with a suppressed fluctuation at a variable ambient temperature and a demodulation method. The device comprises a broadband light source (1), an optical attenuator (2), a tunable F-P filter (3), a first optical fiber isolator (41), an erbium-doped optical fiber amplifier (5), an optical fiber first-stage beam splitter (6), a first optical fiber second-stage beam splitter (71), optical fiber circulators (8), FBG sensor arrays (9), a first photoelectric detector array (161), an optical fiber gas cell (10), a second optical fiber second-stage beam splitter (72), an optical fiber F-P etalon (11), a notch filter (12), an optical fiber assisted interferometer (13), a data acquisition card (17) and a processor (18).

Abstract: The present application provides a hot-work die steel and a preparation method thereof wherein the chemical constituents of the hot-work die steel in mass percentage are as follows: C: 0.20-0.32 wt %, Si: ?0.5 wt %, Mn: ?0.5 wt %, Cr: 1.5-2.8 wt %, Mo: 1.5-2.5 wt %, W: 0.5-1.2 wt %, Ni: 0.5-1.6 wt %, V: 0.15-0.7 wt %, Nb: 0.01-0.1 wt %, and a balance of iron, wherein an alloying degree is 5-7%; a tensile strength of the hot-work die steel at 700° C. is 560-700 MPa; a value of hardness of the hot-work die steel at room temperature is 32-38 HRC after holding at 700° C. for 3-5 h; and the hot-work die steel has an elongation of 14% to 16% at room temperature, a percentage reduction of area of 48% to 65%, and an impact toughness of 52-63 J at room temperature. The hot-work die steel of the present application has an excellent thermal stability as well as a good plasticity and a toughness at room temperature.

Abstract: A system for frequency conversion, comprises a laser source and a harmonic generation crystal. The laser source is configured to produce optical pulse energy of less than 100 ?J. The harmonic generation crystal comprises a structure characterized by a nonlinear susceptibility, and a crystal grating period which adiabatically varies along the longitudinal direction in a manner that the crystal grating period is inversely proportional to a crystal grating function of a coordinate z measured along the longitudinal direction.

Abstract: A method of forming a compound having the formula (I?): (I?) includes the reaction: (II?) in the presence of a base, wherein X is a halo atom selected from the group consisting of Cl, Br and I.

Abstract: Pharmaceutical compositions, kits and methods for treating tumors such as glioma and cancers such as leukemia with (R)-2-hydroxyglutarate (R-2HG) are provided, along with therapeutic regimens including treatment of a patient suffering from glioma or leukemia with a MYC-signaling inhibitor followed by or cotemporaneous with treatment with R-2HG, and optionally other chemotherapeutic agents.

Abstract: Though massively parallel sequencing instruments are in principle well-suited to the task of identification of mutations present in a small fraction of DNA templates, the error rates in such instruments are generally too high to allow confident identification of rare variants. An approach that can substantially increase the sensitivity of massively parallel sequencing instruments for this purpose is called “Safe-SeqS” for (Safe-Sequencing System) and includes (i) assignment of a unique identifier (UID) to each template molecule; (ii) amplification of each uniquely tagged template molecule to create UID-families; and (iii) redundant sequencing of the amplification products. PCR fragments with the same UID are truly mutant (“super-mutants”) if ?95% of them contain the identical mutation.

Abstract: Stimulating cell activity within a tissue is performed by an ultrasound array transducer having a plurality of transducer elements and a controller that actuates a plurality of transducer elements to emit focused acoustic energy to a plurality of focal zone locations in a scan direction at a focal zone scan rate. The actuation of the plurality of transducer elements to emit focused acoustic energy to the plurality of focal zone locations in the scan direction at the focal zone scan rate is repeated for a plurality of sweep cycles at a sweep rate which stimulates cells for optimal tissue growth.

Abstract: A pressure regulator module for a chip-based microfluidic platform is provided. The module includes a microfluidic channel for passing flowable material from the inlet region through the outlet region and into a downstream compartment; one or more microvalves fluidly connected to the microfluidic channel and upstream of the outlet region; and one or more reservoirs fluidly connected to the microvalves, for receiving flowable material diverted by the microvalves, where a flow of flowable material passing from the inlet region toward the downstream compartment is at least partially diverted by the microvalves into the reservoirs as a result of a pressure increase in the microfluidic channel. In some versions, the microvalves are capillary burst valves. A microfluidic chip containing the module and a method of using the module are provided.

Abstract: An automated assessment of various capabilities, such as cognitive, fine-motor, and memory skills, includes the use of Tangible Geometric Games (TAG-Games), which are a play-based assessment tools. TAG-Games are based on Sensor-Integrated Geometric Blocks (SIG-Blocks) and an interactive graphical user interface (GUI), which provide a means for real-time and remote monitoring of a user through operative communication between blocks and a remote computer. The data made available by employing TAG-Games includes: 1) block accelerations, 2) time at stages of assembly completion, 3) total completion time for quizzes, and 4) correctness of assembly steps. In addition, a GUI can display the real-time assembly configuration of the blocks.