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Objective: This study assessed biomechanical properties of pedicle screws enhanced or revised with 3 materials. We aimed to compare the efficacy of these materials in pedicle augmentation and revision. Methods: One hundred twenty human cadaveric vertebrae were utilized for in vitro testing. Vertebrae bone density was evaluated. Allograft bone particles (ABP), calcium phosphate cement (CPC), and demineralized bone matrix (DBM) were used to augment or revise pedicle screw. Post the implantation of pedicle screws, parameters such as insertional torque, pullout strength, cycles to failure and failure load were measured using specialized instruments. Results: ABP, CPC, and DBM significantly enhanced biomechanical properties of the screws. CPC augmentation showed superior properties compared to ABP or DBM. ABP-augmented screws had higher cycles to failure and failure loads than DBM-augmented screws, with no difference in pullout strength. CPC-revised screws exhibited similar strength to the original screws, while ABP-revised screws showed comparable cycles to failure and failure loads but lower pullout strength. DBM-revised screws did not match the original screws' strength. Conclusion: ABP, CPC, and DBM effectively improve pedicle screw stability for pedicle augmentation. CPC demonstrated the highest efficacy, followed by ABP, while DBM was less effective. For pedicle revision, CPC is recommended as the primary choice, with ABP as an alternative. However, using DBM for pedicle revision is not recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To examine outcomes of a peer-led, community-based intervention providing rapid HIV testing and case management for linkage to care for untested men who have sex with men (MSM) in China. Methods: Rapid HIV testing was performed by trained peer volunteers of a community-based organisation (CBO) in three cities of Jiangsu province at MSM-oriented venues. MSM screened positive were referred and accompanied to local government health agencies (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)) for confirmatory HIV testing and provided social support for up to 1 month. Data for the programme were compared with sentinel surveillance surveys of MSM conducted by the national and provincial CDC in the province during the same year to assess differences in the populations reached, in HIV positivity, and linkage to HIV care. Results: A total of 512 previously untested MSM were tested by the CBO programme in 6 months. Compared with those in the surveillance surveys, MSM tested by the CBO were significantly more likely to be younger, single, non-resident of the province, more educated and used condoms less frequently. Higher proportions of HIV-positive MSM screened by the CBO received their confirmatory test results (98.1% vs 72.6%, p<0.001) and linked to care (90.4% vs 42.0%, p<0.001). Conclusions: Trained peers providing rapid HIV testing with social support and case management through the early period following diagnosis can efficiently expand HIV testing and improve linkage to care among MSM in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchical nanostructures are obtained directly on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) by spin coating of dilute chloroform solution of 9-Z-octadecenamide (oleamide), a natural lipid with cis-CC− conformation, existing in the cerebrospinal fluid of mammal animals and being an additive for medical use and food packaging. Straight separated nanostripes with a length of 70−300 nm exist in the topmost layer and compact nanostripes in the bottom layer contacting HOPG. Compact nanostripes have a periodicity spacing of 3.8 nm, indicating H-bonding between two rows of oleamide molecules. The orientation of the hierarchical nanostructures differs by n60° ± 8° (n= 1 or 2), reflecting the epitaxial ordering along the HOPG substrate. The nanostripes are stable against annealing. A molecular packing scheme for the nanostructures is proposed, where the −CC bond angle in oleamide is 120° and the plane of the carbon skeleton lies parallel to the HOPG substrate. Nanostripes in the topmost layer are formed from separated rows of oleamide molecules, due to the short-range surface potential of the substrate. The scheme involves direct influence of HOPG on the orientation of oleamide molecules to form nanostripes without any purposely added saturated alkanes and H-bonds between amide groups in adjacent two rows of oleamide molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the background, connotations and strategies of the indigenization of educational sociology in China. Indigenization of educational sociology as a natural product of the indigenization of disciplines; Need for devotion of attention to society and social change.

Examines the state and trends of educational sociology in Mainland China. Documentary analysis; Examination of the subjects of educational research; Analyses of the structure of textbooks; International comparative studies.

The diverse, multifunctional properties of polymers and composites have made them popular for developing improved materials and new products. Versatile recyclable polyhemiaminal dynamic networks (PHDNs) were prepared from paraformaldehyde and p-phenylenediamine via in situ polymerization at low temperatures. The as-prepared thermosetting polymer exhibited excellent solvent resistance, thermal resistance, and Young's modulus. The composites reinforced with functionalized carbon nanotubes showed better properties than the original polymer. The thermosetting polymer and its composites are potential precursors for the design of high-performance electrochemical active materials for supercapacitors with excellent electrochemical reversibility and charge--discharge properties. These superior properties demonstrated that the polymers and composites are multipurpose materials suitable for automotive, aerospace, and energy devices and in other related fields. The PHDN could be repeatedly depolymerized and the original monomers recovered completely at low pH and room temperature in a short time, which makes them promising candidates for various applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on Devonian bivalves in Guangxi, South China. It mentions the systemic paleontological research to its life-habits and biodiversity towards depositional environment reconstruction and interpretation. An overview of the analysis on its fossils and psudoplanktonics is also presented.

Electroreduction of CO² is a sustainable approach to produce syngas with tunable CO/H² ratios, which are required as specific reactants for the optimization of desired products. Herein, ZnO-d and ZnO-n nanomaterials were derived from zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) precursors with different morphologies, which exhibit good performance for CO² electroreduction to syngas when using 1-butyl- 3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([Bmim]PF6, 30 wt%)/acetonitrile/water (H²O, 5 wt%) as the supporting electrolyte. Regulation of the number of oxygen vacancies in different ZnO samples and the applied potentials during electrolysis can obviously affect the CO/H² ratios in syngas, which would be changed from 1/3 to 8.5/1. Meanwhile, ZnO-n with abundant oxygen vacancies displays the highest CO faradaic efficiency (FE) of 73.2% with the total current density of 9.8 mA cm-2 at -1.9 V vs. Ag/Ag+. More oxygen vacancies and higher electrochemical specific surface area of ZnO-n can provide more active sites and facilitate the adsorption of CO2 and its intermediates. The smaller charge transfer impedance of ZnO-n can accelerate the electron and proton transfer, and thus improve the catalytic activity and the selectivity of products. In addition, the good synergistic effect between the [Bmim]PF6- containing electrolyte and ZnO-n can enhance the formation of syngas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the rate of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in Zhejiang province and to identify specific factors associated with progression of this disease. Methods: This study utilized a retrospective cohort to identify the specific factors involved in the progression of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to AIDS. We collected data of patients existing in care between 2008 and 2012 from the national surveillance system databases. We performed our analyses using a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model. Results: This study included 9216 HIV-positive patients (75.6 % male), which yielded 12,452 person-years (py) of follow-up-data. The AIDS progression rates were 33.9 % (2008), 33.6 % (2009), 38.1 % (2010), 30.6 % (2011) and 25.9 % (2012). We observed a significant reduction in the rate of progression Of HIV to AIDS post-2010 (Pearson χ2= 4341.9, P < 0.001). The cumulative AIDS progression incidence rates were 33.4, 35.4, 36.4, 37.0 and 37.04 per 100 py in 1 each of the 5 years of follow-up. This study found that age was an independent risk factor for the progression of HIV to AIDS. Compared with patients infected with HIV by homosexual transmission, patients infected with HIV by heterosexuals transmission or blood transfusion had a reduced hazard ratio (HR) for progression to AIDS (heterosexual transmission: HR = 0.695, 0.524, P = 0.007; blood transfusion: HR = 0.524, P = 0.015). Diagnosed with HIV from 2011 to 2012 and having a higher CD4+ cell count (350-500 cells/mm3; or >500 cells/mm3) at baseline were independently associated with lower rates of HIV progression to AIDS [HR = 0.382, 0.380, 0.187, P < 0.001]. Patients with a CD+ T-cell count of 200-350 cells/mm3 or greater than 350 cells/mm3 were less likely to develop AIDS following HIV diagnosis than were those patients without HAART treatment. Conclusion: This study found a high progression rate from HIV to AIDS in HIV patients residing within Zhejiang province from 2008 to 2010. This rate decreased after 2010, which coincided with the new criteria for HAART treatment, which likely contributed to the observed reduction in the rate of progression. Initiation of HAART with higher CD4+ T-cell count may reduce rate of AIDS progression. Based on our results, we conclude that efficient strategies for HIV screening, as well as early diagnosis and treatment are necessary to reduce the progression of HIV to AIDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Many fingerprint matching algorithms have been reported in articles in recent years. And people did fingerprint images matching through minutiae matching in most of the algorithms. In this paper, we proposed a new fingerprint minutiae matching algorithm, which is fast, accurate and suitable for the real time fingerprint identification system. In this algorithm we used the core point to determine the reference point and used a round bounding box for matching. Experiments done on a set of fingerprint images captured with a scanner showed that our algorithm is faster and more accurate than Xiping Luo''s algorithm. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Neural stem cells (NSCs) have emerged as a promising treatment for spinal cord injuries. However, the increasing expression of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) in spinal cord injury lesion sites seems to have contributed to the limited oligodendroglial differentiation and the majority of the astroglial differentiation of NSCs. In the present study, we demonstrate that BMPs promote NSCs differentiation toward astrocytes and prevent them from differentiating into oligodendrocytes. This effect is accompanied by the increasing expression of Id2 and the reduction in Oilg1/2 expression. Treatment with bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) can enhance the development of oligodendrocytes in the presence of BMPs. The analysis of Id2, as well as Olig1 and Olig2 gene expression, reveals that the effect of BMPs on these gene expressions is reversed with the addition of BMSCs. In sum, these data strongly suggest that BMSCs can promote the differentiation of NSCs into oligodendrocytes through mediating Id2 and Olig1/2 expression by blocking the BMP/Smad signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterojunctions of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) and Bi2MoO6 were solvothermally synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution TEM. The photocatalytic degradation activity of the g-C3N4/Bi2MoO6 composites for Rhodamine B was examined under visible light irradiation. The heterojunction composites exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than pure g-C3N4 or Bi2MoO6. The photocatalytic activity of the composites increased then decreased with increasing Bi2MoO6 content. The g-C3N4/Bi2MoO6 heterojunction with a Bi2MoO6 content of 16.1 wt.% exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity, and its photocatalytic efficiency was more than three times those of pure g-C3N4 or Bi2MoO6. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the g-C3N4/Bi2MoO6 heterostructure photocatalyst was attributed predominantly to the efficient separation of photoinduced electrons and holes. The g-C3N4/Bi2MoO6 heterojunction photocatalyst exhibited excellent stability and reusability. A detailed mechanism for the enhanced photocatalytic activity is discussed. Superoxide radicals were the major active species. This study provides a visible light responsive photocatalyst with potential in environmental remediation applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel vesicles formed spontaneously from the micelle solution of DTAB, a single-tailed surfactant (STS), mediated by a rough glass surface (RGS) without any additives. The obtained STS vesicles displayed good stability upon long-term storage, exposure to high temperatures, and freeze-thawing after the removal of RGS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]