Novel green synthesis of Boswellia serrata leaf aqueous extract conjugated gold nanoparticles with excellent anti-acute myeloid leukemia property in comparison to mitoxantrone in a leukemic mice model: Introducing a new chemotherapeutic drug

The present research confirms the capacity of aqueous extract of Boswellia serrata grown under in vitro condition for the green synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Also, we showed the cytotoxicity, antioxidant, and anti-acute myeloid leukemia properties of AuNPs compared to mitoxantrone in a leukemic mouse model. The synthesized AuNPs were characterized using several techniques including XRD, TEM, FE-SEM, UV–Vis, and FT-IR. From the XRD pattern, four distinct diffraction peaks at 38.2°, 44.2°, 64.7° and 77.4° are indexed as (111), (200), (220) and (311) planes of FCC metallic gold. TEM and FE-SEM images revealed an average diameters of 15–30 nm for the nanoparticles. FT-IR findings offered antioxidant compounds in the nanoparticles were the sources of reducing power, reducing gold ions to AuNPs. UV–Vis revealed an absorption band at 536 nm that is related to the surface plasmon resonance of AuNPs. In vivo design, induction of acute myeloid leukemia was done by DMBA in 75 mice. Then, the mice were randomly divided into six subgroups, including untreated, control, HAuCl₄, B. serrata, AuNPs, and mitoxantrone. AuNPs (In the dose of 1 mg/kg body weight) similar to mitoxantrone, significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased the platelet, lymphocyte, and RBC parameters and the anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL4, IL5, IL10, IL13, and IFNα) and reduced the weights and volumes of liver and spleen and their sub-compartment, the total WBC, blast, monocyte, neutrophil, eosinophil, and basophil counts, and the pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL1, IL6, IL12, IL18, IFNY, and TNFα) as compared to the untreated mice. By quantitative Real-Time PCR, S1PR1 and S1PR5 mRNA expression in lymphocytes were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased by treating the leukemic mice with the AuNPs and mitoxantrone. In vitro design, AuNPs similar to mitoxantrone had low cell viability dose-dependently against Human HL-60/vcr, 32D-FLT3-ITD, and Murine C1498 cell lines without any cytotoxicity on HUVEC cell line. Besides, the DPPH assay showed similar antioxidant potentials for AuNPs and mitoxantrone. In conclusion, the results of this research indicated the excellent capacity of synthesized gold nanoparticles using B. serrata leaf aqueous extract in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia in leukemic mice.     

Bogdanov-Takens Bifurcation in a Host-parasitoidModel

In this paper, we study a host-parasitoid model with Holling II Functional response, where we focus on a special case: the carrying capacity K2 for parasitoids is equal to a critical valuer 1η. It is shown that the model can undergo Bogdanov-Takens bifurcation. The approximate expressions forsaddle-node, Homoclinic and Hopf bifurcation curves are calculated. Numerical simulations, including bifurcation diagrams and corresponding phase portraits, are also given to illustrate the theoretical results.     

Exact solution of the two-mode quantum Rabi model

An analytical method is developed to study the two-mode quantum Rabi model. For certain specific parameter conditions, especially for the resonant conditions, we obtain an infinite number of the exact solutions of the eigenfunctions and associated energies. It is shown that there exist new types of the exact energies which do not correspond to the level-crossings. Our analytical method may find applications in some related models.     

化学实验操作技能测试评分者效应研究*

基于Rasch模型对化学实验操作技能测试的评分者效应开展研究。通过对Infit、Outfit、t、怀特图和宽严度波动图等的分析,研究测试中评委的宽严度、内部一致性、外部一致性以及评委与考生间的偏差规律。得到系列减弱化学实验操作技能测试中评分者效应的建议。     

On log-normal convolutions: An analytical–numerical method with applications to economic capital determination

We put forward an efficient algorithm for approximating the sums of independent and log-normally distributed random variables. Namely, by combining tools from probability theory and numerical analysis, we are able to compute the cumulative distribution functions of the just-mentioned sums to a high precision and in a relatively short computing time. We illustrate the effectiveness of the new method in the contexts of the individual and collective risk models, aggregate economic capital determination, and economic capital allocation.     

Mechanical effects of acupuncture

Acupuncture, a physiotherapy, has been widely accepted all around the world. This study focuses on the influence of membrane structures and explains the acupuncture sensations from the aspect of mechanical properties. By mathematical modeling and numerical simulation, the scientific meaning of the acupuncture depth is investigated and phenomena and theory of acupuncture are discussed. The simulation results show that (a) the fascial structure is the main contributor to the force on the needle, the axial force will gradually increase before piercing the fascial, and suddenly decrease after piercing the fascial; (b) there is an inverse relationship between the needle radius and the maximum radial stress, which indicates that the needle should not be too sharp to cause local stress concentration and piece the fascia layer; and (c) the simulation results of comprehensively considering the static friction and sliding friction is identical with the experiment results. This study proposes a preliminary study of mechanical effects of acupuncture manipulation, clarifies key factors affecting the stress on the needle, and explains the objective requirement of acupuncture depth to effective treatment.     

Evaluating the potential of vaccine-induced type replacement for high-risk human papillomaviruses

Persistent infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main cause of cervical cancer. Current HPV vaccines protect against both HPV-16 and -18, which are known to cause approximately 70% of cervical cancer cases worldwide. These vaccines have shown to be highly effective in preventing infection by their targeted types. However, there is a broad diversity of HPV types not targeted by the vaccines, and there is controversy about a possible increase in the prevalence of these non-targeted types after a vaccination program. Here, we propose a within-host metapopulation model to study the possibility of vaccine-induced type replacement for oncogenic types. It is generally believed that the theoretical possibility of type replacement strongly depends on the existence of natural type competition mechanisms. Nevertheless, our results suggest that type replacement is viable at the within-host level if the degree of cross-protection induced by the vaccine is low, even if there is no underlying competition among HPV types. Consequently, the impact of current HPV vaccines at both the immunological and epidemiological levels rely upon the level of cross-protection.     

The Crank–Nicolson finite spectral element method and numerical simulations for 2D non-stationary Navier–Stokes equations

In this paper, we first build a semi-discretized Crank–Nicolson (CN) model about time for the two-dimensional (2D) non-stationary Navier–Stokes equations about vorticity–stream functions and discuss the existence, stability, and convergence of the time semi-discretized CN solutions. And then, we build a fully discretized finite spectral element CN (FSECN) model based on the bilinear trigonometric basic functions on quadrilateral elements for the 2D non-stationary Navier–Stokes equations about the vorticity–stream functions and discuss the existence, stability, and convergence of the FSECN solutions. Finally, we utilize two sets of numerical experiments to check out the correctness of theoretical consequences.     

Optimal control and stability analysis of an online game addiction model with two stages

In this paper, we establish a mathematical model of online game addiction with two stages to research the dynamic properties of it. The existence of all equilibria is obtained, and the basic reproduction number is calculated by the method of next-generation matrix. The global asymptotic stability of disease-free equilibrium (DFE) is proved by comparison principle, and the global asymptotic stability of endemic equilibrium (EE) is proved by constructing an appropriate Lyapunov function. Then we use the Pontryagin's maximum principle to find the optimal solution of the model, so that the number of infected people can be minimized. In numerical simulation, firstly, we validate the global stability of DFE and EE. Secondly, we consider three kind of control measures (treatment, isolation, and education) and divide them into four cases. The models with control and without control are solved numerically by using forward and backward sweep Runge-Kutta method. In order to achieve the best control effect, we suggest that three kind of measures should be used simultaneously according to the optimal control strategy.     

Global stability of a multistrain SIS model with superinfection and patch structure

We study the global stability of a multistrain SIS model with superinfection and patch structure. We establish an iterative procedure to obtain a sequence of threshold parameters. By a repeated application of a result by Takeuchi et al. [Nonlinear Anal Real World Appl. 2006;7:235–247], we show that these parameters completely determine the global dynamics of the system: for any number of patches and strains with different infectivities, any subset of the strains can stably coexist depending on the particular choice of the parameters.