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Bioremediation of areas co-contaminated with metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by mushrooms has attracted considerable attention in recent years. In this study, Pleurotus eryngii was introduced for the removal of Mn and phenanthrene (Phe) from potato liquid medium (PDL) simultaneously. Effects of Tween 80 and saponin on P. eryngii growth together with Mn uptake as well as Phe removal were investigated. Although pollutants had a negative effect on mycelial morphology and growth, P. eryngii could still tolerate and remove Mn and Phe. Tween 80 increased removal of Mn and Phe through increase of P. eryngii growth, Phe solubility, pollutants bioavailability, and specific surface area of mycelium pellets, moreover, the activities of manganese peroxidase (MnP) and laccase, which played an important role on PAHs biodegradation. The maximal removal of Mn and Phe was achieved (92.17 and 93.85 % after 15 days incubation, respectively) with 0.6 g L Tween 80. Treatments with saponin markedly inhibited P. eryngii growth (50.17-66.32 % lower relative to control) due to its fungistatic activity. Nevertheless, saponin could slightly enhance Phe removal through increasing solubility of Phe, and Phe removal rate varied from 80.53 to 87.06 % in saponin treatments. Joint stress of Mn and Phe induced a strong antioxidative response, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity decreased in surfactants-treated mycelium compared with control. Generally, Tween 80 was more suitable for strengthening mycoremediation by P. eryngii than saponin, and could be a promising alternative for the remediation of heavy metals and PAHs co-contaminated sites by mushrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fabrication of 3D diamond-like silicon-oxycarbide and silicon-carbide high-temperature ceramic photonic crystals has been achieved by a strategy involving (1) the use of four-beam interference lithography (IL) to construct a patterned silsesquioxane (POSS) template and (2) infiltration of the polymeric allylhydridopolycarbosilane (AHPCS) silicon-carbide precursor into the patterned POSS template followed by high temperature ceramic conversion and HF etching. Energy-dispersive X-ray mapping analysis and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) studies suggested that the 3D ceramic photonic crystals formed at 1100 °C were SiC-like silicon oxycarbide. Additional thermal treatment at 1300 °C in vacuo resulted in the carbothermic reduction of the 3D silicon-oxycarbide to form 3D β-SiC with less than 10% shrinkage in the (111) plane and [111] direction, respectively. The reflectivities of the inverse 3D ceramic photonic crystals obtained at different stages were characterized by FT-IR in the [111] direction. Both the inverse 3D silicon-oxycarbide and silicon-carbide crystals showed bandgaps at 1.84 μm. These experimental values matched well with the calculated bandgaps, further supporting the robustness of such fabricated 3D ceramic photonic crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Despite the rapid development of engineered skin, such skin still lacks skin appendages. Sweat glands, one of the skin appendages, play key roles in the maintenance of homeostasis and temperature regulation. In this study, we tested whether sweat glands could be integrated into engineered skin constructs to improve the quality of tissue regeneration. Using gelatin microspheres(containing epidermal growth factor [EGF]) as multifunctional vehicles, we cultured sweat gland cells (SGCs) on them and delivered SGCs-microspheres complex (SMC) into the engineered skin construct, which was created in vitro by culturing human keratinocytes on top of a fibroblast-embedded collagen-based matrix in an organotypic co-culture model. This engineered skin construct was then transplanted onto full-thickness cutaneous wounds in an athymic murine model. EGF-loaded microspheres displayed more cellular growth-promoting efficiency, and thus SMC was an available means for SGCs delivery. Constitution of the engineered skin constructs formed a skin-like pattern in vitro. Remarkably, SMC could differentiate toward a sweat gland-like structure in vitro within the hybrid matrix. Furthermore, the degree of wound healing in mice with this skin construct implantation was better than that with controls. This engineered skin construct could be used as a promising tool for regeneration of sweat glands in skin repair and a valuable engineered strategy for constitution of appendage-containing engineered skin models. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We have demonstrated a nanopattterning technique that combines the use of sacrificial film and nanoimprint lithography. The sacrificial film serves as a ‘transient substrate’ during the nanoimprinting steps. The use of a sacrificial film improves the patterning yield significantly because the de-molding is achieved by etching off the sacrificial film, instead of a mechanical de-molding as in conventional nanoimprint lithography. This patterning technique is an easy method to build up multilayer structure from a single type of polymer. The method is also highly versatile; both substrate supported and freestanding nanostructures can be easily achieved by this technique. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The moisture barrier property of Al x O y coated poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), poly(ethylene naphthalate) (PEN) and poly(carbonate) (PC), have been investigated. The differences in the morphology of the Al x O y sputtered grown on these substrate were investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The initial growth of the Al x O y followed closely the topology of the substrate and an amplified roughness was observed. In the fully grown Al x O y , the comparative roughness followed that of the substrates. It has been found that a single layer Al x O y improved the moisture barrier of PET by an order of magnitude, PC by two orders of magnitude while no improvement was observed for PEN. UV-ozone treatment on PC further improved the moisture barrier, while no improvement was observed for PET and PEN. The comparative effects of the substrate surface roughness and surface energy on the moisture barrier are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Moisture sorption, glass transition temperature (T g) and morphology of ultra thin poly(chloro-p-xylylene) (parylene-C) are greatly influenced by geometrical confinement effects. For film <50nm, the equilibrium moisture saturation is a decreasing function of film thickness. However, the T g of film <50nm is about 10°C higher than thicker films. The above phenomena are attributed to the effect of geometrical confinement on the thermal properties and the morphology of parylene-C film. Surface confinement results in an increased in T g, but a decreased in crystallinity for films <50nm. In this study, we show that the increase in moisture sorption for parylene-C films <50nm is dominated by the crystallinity variation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The purpose of epilepsy detection is to determine whether epilepsy has occurred by analysing the patient's electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. Compared to traditional methods, epilepsy detection methods based on deep learning have achieved significant improvements in detection accuracy. However, when the number of training samples is limited, the model's detection performance often significantly declines. To address this issue, here a sample enhancement method based on electroencephalogram signal channel swapping is proposed. This method generates new electroencephalogram samples by exchanging electroencephalogram sequences from different channels, thereby expanding the training set and improving epilepsy detection accuracy in few‐shot scenarios. Experiments using the Children's Hospital Boston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (CHB‐MIT) dataset show that for training sets with 100, 500, and 1000 samples, detection accuracy improves from 0.6797 to 0.7789, 0.6952 to 0.8210, and 0.7273 to 0.8517, respectively. Compared to the sliding window method, the proposed method demonstrates higher accuracy in extreme low sample sizes. Combining both methods can further enhances detection performance, showing an improvement of approximately 8% across various configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIM: To evaluate the effectiveness of heparin-binding protein (HBP) in combination with organ function indicators for early diagnosis and prognosis prediction in patients with severe trauma complicated with sepsis. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 184 patients with multiple injuries who were admitted to the Emergency Medicine Department of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University Medical College between January 2019 and September 2020 and underwent HBP testing. Patients were classified according to the SEPSIS 3. 0 diagnostic criteria into a sepsis group (n=89) and a non-sepsis group (n=95). Clinical outcomes were tracked, dividing patients into a deceased group (n=43) and a survival group (n=141). HBP levels were continuously measured, and the peak values of the two groups were compared to assess the efficacy of diagnosing sepsis. Further analysis on the correlation of HBP peak value median with clinical prognosis was conducted. The effectiveness of HBP alone and in combination with total bilirubin (TBil) and white blood cell (WBC) count in prognosis assessment was evaluated. RESULTS: (1) No significant difference was found in the peak level of HBP between the sepsis group (n=89) and the non-sepsis group (n=95) (71. 7± 68. 6 vs 52. 5±56. 1, P=0. 051). (2) Among the 184 patients, the peak level of HBP was positively correlated with WBC count (r=0. 244, P<0. 01) and TBil levels (r=0. 241, P<0. 01). (3) The area under curve (AUC) for independent diagnosis of sepsis using TBil levels, WBC count, and PCT levels were 0. 618, 0.631, and 0. 718, respectively, and the combined AUC was 0. 684, with a diagnostic sensitivity of 60. 7% and specificity of 71. 6% (P<0. 05). (4) Prognostic analysis of mortality showed that patients in the high HBP level group had a significantly higher mortality rate than those in the low-level group (30. 4% vs 16. 3%, P<0. 05). The WBC count was also significantly higher in the deceased group than in the survival group (17. 5±6. 9 vs 12. 8±4. 7, P<0. 01), especially in those with sepsis (P<0. 01). The AUCs for predicting sepsis mortality prognosis using HBP peak level, TBil levels, WBC count, SOFA score, and APACHE-II score were 0. 618, 0. 603, 0. 719, 0. 823, and 0. 811, respectively. The combined AUC of HBP with TBil and WBC for assessing sepsis prognosis was 0. 750, with a sensitivity of 74. 4% and specificity of 74. 5%, showing statistically significant differences (P<0. 05). (5) The combined assessment of these three indicators showed no statistically significant difference from artificial scoring systems in predicting sepsis prognosis (P>0. 05). CONCLUSION: The combination of HBP, TBil, and WBC is highly effective in predicting the risk of sepsis in patients with multiple injuries and has significant clinical value in predicting the mortality risk of trauma patients with sepsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI) is the “signature wound” of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, with no objective information of relative blast exposure, warfighters with bTBI may not receive appropriate medical care and are at risk of being returned to the battlefield. Accordingly, we have created a colorimetric blast injury dosimeter (BID) that exploits material failure of photonic crystals to detect blast exposure. Appearing like a colored sticker, the BID is fabricated in photosensitive polymers via multi-beam interference lithography. Although very stable in the presence of heat, cold or physical impact, sculpted micro- and nano-structures of the BID are physically altered in a precise manner by blast exposure, resulting in color changes that correspond with blast intensity. This approach offers a lightweight, power-free sensor that can be readily interpreted by the naked eye. Importantly, with future refinement this technology may be deployed to identify soldiers exposed to blast at levels suggested to be supra-threshold for non-impact blast-induced mild TBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Current strategies to limit macrophage adhesion, fusion and fibrous capsule formation in the foreign body response have focused on modulating material surface properties. We hypothesize that topography close to biological scale, in the micron and nanometric range, provides a passive approach without bioactive agents to modulate macrophage behavior. In our study, topography-induced changes in macrophage behavior was examined using parallel gratings (250 nm–2 μm line width) imprinted on poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS). RAW 264.7 cell adhesion and elongation occurred maximally on 500 nm gratings compared to planar controls over 48 h. TNF-α and VEGF secretion levels by RAW 264.7 cells showed greatest sensitivity to topographical effects, with reduced levels observed on larger grating sizes at 48 h. In vivo studies at 21 days showed reduced macrophage adhesion density and degree of high cell fusion on 2 μm gratings compared to planar controls. It was concluded that topography affects macrophage behavior in the foreign body response on all polymer surfaces examined. Topography-induced changes, independent of surface chemistry, did not reveal distinctive patterns but do affect cell morphology and cytokine secretion in vitro, and cell adhesion in vivo particularly on larger size topography compared to planar controls. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The precise detection of epileptic seizure helps to prevent the serious consequences of seizures. As the electroencephalogram (EEG) reflects the brain activity of patients effectively, it has been widely used in epileptic seizure detection in the past decades. Recently, deep learning-based detection methods which automatically learn features from the EEG signals have attracted much attention. However, with deep learning-based detection methods, different input formats of EEG signals will lead to different detection performances. In this paper, we propose a deep learning-based epileptic seizure detection method with hybrid input formats of EEG signals, i.e., original EEG, Fourier transform of EEG, short-time Fourier transform of EEG, and wavelet transform of EEG. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are designed for extracting latent features from these inputs. A feature fusion mechanism is applied to integrate the learned features to generate a more stable syncretic feature for seizure detection. The experimental results show that our proposed hybrid method is effective to improve the seizure detection performance in few-shot scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment was conducted to investigate the remediation effects of bio-conditioners vermicompost (VC) and biochar (BC) on cadmium contaminated soil under the threat of acid rain, individually and associatively. With the application of soil conditioners, the percentages of HOAc-extractable Cd decreased 5.2–6.8%, 9.0–13.5% and 7.9–12.1% in the groups amended with VC, BC and VC combined BC, respectively. When the pH of rain decreased from 7.0 to 4.0, the activity of acid phosphatase decreased 2.0%, 12.3%, 3.2%, 14.8% in VC, BC, VC combined BC and control groups, individually. This study affirmed that with the application of soil conditioners, the threat of heavy metal along with bioavailability of Cd was depressed, and the properties of soil biochemical indictors were enhanced. Oppositely, the bioavailability of Cd was promoted, and soil microbial viability as well as nutrient contents was inhibited with the spraying of acid rain. The findings indicated that acid deposition played a restrain effect on soil remediation process. Meanwhile, soil conditioners showed potentials to improve soil fertilities and alleviate the stress of acid rain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surfactant protein B (SP-B) is essential for lung function. Previous studies have indicated that a SP-B 1580C/T polymorphism (SNP rs1130866) was associated with lung diseases including pneumonia. The SNP causes an altered N-linked glycosylation modification at Asn129 of proSP-B, e.g. the C allele with this glycosylation site but not in the T allele. This study aimed to generate humanized SP-B transgenic mice carrying either SP-B C or T allele without a mouse SP-B background and then examine functional susceptibility to bacterial pneumonia in vivo . A total of 18 transgenic mouse founders were generated by the DNA microinjection method. These founders were back-crossed with SP-B KO mice to eliminate mouse SP-B background. Four founder lines expressing similar SP-B levels to human lung were chosen for further investigation. After intratracheal infection with 50 μl of Pseudomonas aeruginosa solution (1 × 10 6 CFU/mouse) or saline in SP-B-C, SP-B-T mice the mice were sacrificed 24 h post-infection and tissues were harvested. Analysis of surfactant activity revealed differential susceptibility between SP-B-C and SP-B-T mice to bacterial infection, e.g. higher minimum surface tension in infected SP-B-C versus infected SP-B-T mice. These results demonstrate for the first time that human SP-B C allele is more susceptible to bacterial pneumonia than SP-B T allele in vivo . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a potentially life-threatening condition. Although computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) is the reference standard for diagnosis, its early diagnosis remains a challenge, and the concerns about the radiation exposures further limit the general use of CTPA. The primary aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the overall diagnostic accuracy of transthoracic lung ultrasound (TLS) in the diagnosis of PE. Methods: PubMed, Web of science, OvidSP, ProQuest, EBSCO, Cochrane Library and Clinicaltrial.gov were searched systematically. The quality of included studies was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool. The sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (HSROC) curves were used to examine the TS performance. The Bayes analysis was used to calculate the post-test probability of PE. Publication bias was assessed with Deeks funnel plot. Results: The results indicated that the sensitivity, specificity, PLR and NLR were 0.85 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.78 to 0.90), and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.73 to 0.90). And the DOR and HSROC were 28.82 (95% CI, 17.60 to 47.21), 0.91(95% CI, 0.88, 0.93). Conclusions: The present meta-analysis suggested that transthoracic lung ultrasonography is helpful in diagnosing pulmonary embolism. Although the application of transthoracic lung ultrasound may change some patients’ diagnostic processes, it is inappropriate to generally use transthoracic ultrasonography in diagnosing pulmonary embolism currently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) can contribute to wound healing after skin injury. However, the role of BM-MSCs on repairing skin appendages in renewal tissues is incompletely explored. Moreover, most preclinical studies suggest that the therapeutic effects afforded by BM-MSCs transplantation are short-lived and relatively unstable. Objective: To assess whether engrafted bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells via a delivery system can participate in cutaneous wound healing and sweat-gland repair in mice. Methods: For safe and effective delivery of BM-MSCs to wounds, epidermal growth factor (EGF) microspheres were firstly developed to both support cells and maintain appropriate stimuli, then cell-seeded microspheres were incorporated with biomimetic scaffolds and thus fabricated an engineered skin construct with epithelial differentiation and proliferative potential. The applied efficacy was examined by implanting them into excisional wounds on both back and paws of hind legs in mice. Results: After 3 weeks, BM-MSC-engineered skin (EGF loaded) treated wounds exhibited accelerated healing with increased re-epithelialization rates and less skin contraction. Furthermore, histological and immunofluorescence staining analysis revealed sweat glands-like structures became more apparent in BM-MSC-engineered skin (EGF loaded) treated wounds but the number of implanted BM-MSCs were decreased gradually in later phases of healing progression. Conclusions: Our study suggests that BM-MSCs delivered by this EGF microspheres-based engineered skin model may be a promising strategy to repair sweat glands and improve cutaneous wound healing after injury and success in this study might provide a potential benefit for BM-MSCs administration clinically. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]