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Objective: The treatment of talar neck and/or body fractures is known to be difficult and challenging, with significant impact on the long‐term functional outcome for the patient. The optimal management, including the choice of surgical approaches and implants, are still under constant discussion. The purpose of the study was to investigate the clinical effects of lateral mini‐plate combined with medial lag screws for the treatment of complicated central talar fractures. Methods: The data of eight patients with complex central talus fractures treated between June 2019 and January 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. There were six males and two females, ranging in age from 15 to 66 years, with an average age of 37.4 years. There were three cases on the left and five cases on the right. All fractures were comminuted, including talar neck with talar body fracture in seven cases and talar body comminuted with subluxation of subtalar joint in one case. All patients were treated with the anteromedial combined anterolateral approach, lateral talar mini‐plate fixation and medial lag screw fixation. Fracture reduction quality, union time, and complications were recorded, and functional outcomes were evaluated using the American Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) scoring system. Results: The time from injury to surgery was 1–6 days, with an average of 3.38 days. The follow‐up period was 34–53 months (mean 44.88 months). All fractures healed with a mean healing time of 16.75 weeks (13–23 weeks). Anatomical reduction was observed in six cases and near in two cases. After operation, there was no loosening or breakage of implant, loss of fracture reduction, and irritation of skin and soft tissue by internal fixation. The average AOFAS score was 87.38 (48–100), with excellent five cases, good two cases and poor one case, and the excellent and good rate was 87.5%. Superficial skin necrosis in one surgical incision healed after dressing exchange. No deep infection occurred. One case (1/8, 12.5%) developed avascular necrosis of the talus without collapse. Posttraumatic arthritis was found in four cases (4/8, 50%). Conclusion: The utilization of lateral mini‐plates in combination with medial screws for treating complex central talar fractures results in satisfactory reduction and stable fixation, mitigating complications associated with poor reduction. However, due to the absence of an anatomical mini‐plate, pre‐contouring is necessary when applying the lateral plate. This demands a surgeon's thorough familiarity with the anatomical morphology of the talus and proficiency in surgical techniques. Posttraumatic arthritis is the most common complication of complex central talar fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anions and cations in agricultural additives have crucial impacts on the retention of toxic heavy metals (HMs) in soil. However, the influence of these ions on the adsorption and desorption of Cd, Cr, and Cu in soil has not been clarified in previous studies. This study investigated the adsorption behavior of HMs, common anions, and dissolved organic matter (DOM) in alkaline soil from farmland under different experimental conditions. Nitrates, sulfates, and chlorides were used as HM sources to investigate the effects of different experimental anion environments on batch adsorption experiments and fluorescence quenching titration experiments. Batch sorption experiments showed that the sorption of Cd2+ was inhibited by the concomitant presence of Cr3+ and Cu2+, and the presence of Cl− and SO42− inhibited the binding of HMs to the soil matrix compared to NO3−. The fluorescence quenching titration with HMs suggested that SO42− significantly enhances the binding ability of Cr3+ to DOM in solution, which may be the reason SO42− inhibited Cr3+ retention in soil. These results provide detailed insights into the interactions of HMs with DOM and anions, which is of great significance for the targeted application of pesticides and HMs' transport and removal in farmland soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional conversion of organic wastes into value-added products encounters bottlenecks such as the use of expensive, toxic solvents and cumbersome post-treatment of the separated products. To overcome these bottlenecks, the in situ air–water interface is employed to convert four waste surfactants into easily separable value-added products upon photoirradiation under ambient conditions. The results show that four representative amphiphiles with different functional groups can be directly transformed into automatically separated hydrocarbons and fluorescent nanoparticles (FNs) in the gas and solid phases respectively. Such an excellent separation performance is attributed to the fact that the Henry's law constant and dipole moment of the products are significantly reduced relative to those of their parents and the unique two-dimensional (2D) interface further accelerates their separation. In particular, the optimal selectivity of olefins is up to 99%, and the fluorescence quantum yield of FNs can reach as high as 44.35%. Combined with theoretical calculations, the referred mechanism and influences of functional groups on the resource transformation pathway and products are revealed in depth. This work provides important theoretical guidance for efficient, green and economical waste-to-resource conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a case of a child with a suprasellar arachnoid cyst and hydrocephalus who developed a massive traumatic epidural hematoma following a fall. This represents the first reported case of such a condition. The case is characterized by a progressive increase in hemorrhage leading to a massive hematoma, yet with relatively mild clinical symptoms. The hemorrhage originated from extensive blood seepage from the dura mater. Intraoperative hemostasis was challenging, and there was a large residual cavity of the epidural hematoma without repositioning of brain tissue after removal of the hematoma. Surgical measures such as extensive continuous compression hemostasis with Surgicel, the half-suspension technique, and continuous external drainage were employed to address these challenges. A second-stage surgery for the treatment of the suprasellar arachnoid cyst was performed 1.5 months after hematoma evacuation, utilizing neuroendoscopic ventriculocisternostomy (VCC). We recommend that for patients with traumatic brain injury and hydrocephalus, especially those with skull fractures or minimal intracranial hemorrhage, relying solely on clinical symptom observation and monitoring is insufficient. Timely and close monitoring with cranial CT is crucial for the early detection of progressive intracranial hemorrhage.

Salivary gland homeostasis and regeneration after radiotherapy depend significantly on progenitor cells. However, the lineage of submandibular gland (SMG) progenitor cells remains less defined compared with other normal organs. Here, using a mouse strain expressing regulated CreERT2 recombinase from the endogenous Tert locus, we identify a distinct telomerase-expressing (Tert High ) cell population located in the ductal region of the adult SMG. These Tert High cells contribute to ductal cell generation during SMG homeostasis and to both ductal and acinar cell renewal 1 year after radiotherapy. Tert High cells maintain self-renewal capacity during in vitro culture, exhibit resistance to radiation damage, and demonstrate enhanced proliferative activity after radiation exposure. Similarly, primary human SMG cells with high Tert expression display enhanced cell survival after radiotherapy, and CRISPR-activated Tert in human SMG spheres increases proliferation after radiation. RNA sequencing reveals upregulation of "cell cycling" and "oxidative stress response" pathways in Tert High cells following radiation. Mechanistically, Tert appears to modulate cell survival through ROS levels in SMG spheres following radiation damage. Our findings highlight the significance of Tert High cells in salivary gland biology, providing insights into their response to radiotherapy and into their use as a potential target for enhancing salivary gland regeneration after radiotherapy., (© 2024 Guan et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.)

Carbon-based single-atom catalysts (SACs) have been gradually introduced in heterogeneous catalytic ozonation (HCO), but the interface mechanism of O 3 activation on the catalyst surface is still ambiguous, especially the effect of a surface hydroxyl group (M-OH) at metal sites. Herein, we combined theoretical calculations with experimental verifications to comprehensively investigate the O 3 activation mechanisms on a series of conventional SAC structures with N-doped nanocarbon substrates (MN 4 -NCs, where M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni). The synergetic manipulation effect of the metal atom and M-OH on O 3 activation pathways was paid particular attention. O 3 tends to directly interact with the metal atom on MnN 4 -NC, FeN 4 -NC, and NiN 4 -NC catalysts, among which MnN 4 -NC has the best catalytic activity for its relatively lower activation energy barrier of O 3 (0.62 eV) and more active surface-adsorbed oxygen species (O ads ). On the CoN 4 -NC catalyst, direct interaction of O 3 with the metal site is energetically infeasible, but O 3 can be activated to generate O ads or HO 2 species from direct or indirect participation of M-OH sites. The experimental results showed that 90.7 and 82.3% of total organic carbon (TOC) was removed within 40 min during catalytic ozonation of p -hydroxybenzoic acid with MnN 4 -NC and CoN 4 -NC catalysts, respectively. Phosphate quenching, catalyst characterization, and EPR measurement further supported the theoretical prediction. This contribution provides fundamental insights into the O 3 activation mechanism on SACs, and the methods and ideals could be helpful for future studies of environmental catalysis.