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Amoxicillin, a broad-spectrum β-lactam antibiotic, is widely used for treatment of neonatal infections. Despite the unmet need in neonates, an adapted analytical method is still missing in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to develop and test an easy and credible high performance liquid chromatography–UV (HPLC–UV) method to determine amoxicillin in small volumes of human plasma and use it in routine therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of neonates. After a protein precipitation, amoxicillin for standards, quality control samples, and patient samples were separated by LC and measured by UV detection, and tinidazole was used as the internal standard. The calibration range was 0.50–20.0 μg/mL. Intra- and inter-day precisions were less than 4.7%. The acceptance criteria of accuracy (between 85–115%) were met in all cases. A plasma volume of 50 μL was required to achieve the limit of quantification of 0.50 μg/mL. Thus, a simple, rapid, and accurate HPLC–UV method has been developed to detect the concentration of amoxicillin in human plasma. This method was adapted to do TDM of amoxicillin in neonates.

Recently, metasurfaces have experienced revolutionary growth in the sensing and superresolution imaging field, due to their enabling of subwavelength manipulation of electromagnetic waves. However, the addition of metasurfaces multiplies the complexity of retrieving target information from the detected fields. Besides, although the deep learning method affords a compelling platform for a series of electromagnetic problems, many studies mainly concentrate on resolving one single function and limit the research's versatility. In this study, a multifunctional deep neural network is demonstrated to reconstruct target information in a metasurface targets interactive system. Firstly, the interactive scenario is confirmed to tolerate the system noises in a primary verification experiment. Then, fed with the electric field distributions, the multitask deep neural network can not only sense the quantity and permittivity of targets but also generate superresolution images with high precision. The deep learning method provides another way to recover targets' diverse information in metasurface based target detection, accelerating the progression of target reconstruction areas. This methodology may also hold promise for inverse reconstruction or forward prediction problems in other electromagnetic scenarios.

Dirac materials have been proposed as a new class of electron-based detectors for light dark-matter (DM) scattering or absorption, with predicted sensitivities far exceeding superconductors and superfluid helium. The superiority of Dirac materials originates from a significantly reduced in-medium dielectric response winning over the suppression of DM scattering owing to the limited phase space at the point-like Fermi surface. Here we propose a new route to enhance significantly the DM detection efficiency via strongly correlated topological semimetals. Specifically, by considering a strongly correlated Weyl semimetal model system, we demonstrate that the strong correlation-induced flatband effects can amplify the coupling and detection sensitivity to light DM particles by expanding the scattering phase space, while maintaining a weak dielectric in-medium response., Comment: 5+ pages, 4 embedded figures, and supplemental material

Microfluidic chip technology is a technology platform that integrates basic operation units such as processing, separation, reaction and detection into microchannel chip to realize low consumption, fast and efficient analysis of samples. It has the characteristics of small volume need of samples and reagents, fast analysis, low cost, automation, portability, high throughout, and good compatibility with other techniques. In this review, the concept, preparation materials and fabrication technology of microfluidic chip are described. The applications of microfluidic chip in immunoassay, including fluorescent, chemiluminescent, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), and electrochemical immunoassay are reviewed. Look into the future, the development of microfluidic chips lies in point-of-care testing and high throughput equipment, and there are still some challenges in the design and the integration of microfluidic chips, as well as the analysis of actual sample by microfluidic chips.

The aim of this study was to present a method of interpretative sociology for studying the formation and development of national public diplomacy institutions. Our goal was to apply cognitive analysis to public policy and to use a historical-discursive method to interpret the institutionalization of public diplomacy by a government. For us, cognitive analysis of public policy coordinates new perspectives and methods, especially the fruits of historical and discursive institutionalism, both to identify the cognitive and normative frames of policy formulation and to outline the dynamic relationships among institutions and political actors. By conducting an illustrative case study of China’s public diplomacy institutionalization, we demonstrated the potential of historical–discursive analysis to shed light on public diplomacy institutional change and various social and rhetorical phenomena related to Beijing’s efforts to rationalize and legitimize its foreign policy.

Purpose: To determine the inhibitory potential of betulinic acid on pro-survival signaling pathway in glioblastoma.Methods: Changes in viabilities of glioma cells and primary astrocytes were measured using 3-(4, 5dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Apoptotic changes were analyzed using Hoechst 33342 staining and Annexin V-FITC/PI kits. Western blotting was used for assaying the protein expressions of various pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic factors.Results: The proliferative potential of U87MG and A172 cells were significantly reduced on treatment with betulinic acid in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Treatment with betulinic acid at a dose of 8.75 µg/mL increased apoptosis in U87MG and A172 cells to 41.8 ± 0.5 and 48.8 ± 0.5%, respectively (p < 0.05). Betulinic acid significantly decreased intracellular levels of NFκB p65 andsuppressed levels of survivin, XIAP and Bcl-2 in U87MG and A172 cells (p < 0.05). However, betulinic acid significantly increased the levels of Bax and activated caspase-9 and caspase-3 in U87MG and A172 cells (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Betulinic acid inhibited the proliferation of U87MG and A172 glioblastoma cells and mediated their apoptosis. There is need for in vivo studies for validation of the therapeutic potential of betulinic acid as an anti-glioblastoma drug. Keywords: Glioblastoma, Betulinic acid, Proliferation, Apoptosis, Chemotherapy, Intracranial malignancy

In the process of metal parts fabricated by Laser Melting Deposition (LMD), a high temperature gradient will generate due to the instantaneous high laser energy input, which will cause residual stress in the formed part of metal parts, the residual stress will result in defects like warping deformation or even cracking. In this paper, a finite element method based on inherent strain method is proposed to predict the deformation of metal parts fabricated by LMD. Firstly, combing with the birth and death element technology, a local model is established to simulate the layer-by-layer deposition in the LMD forming process, and the values of inherent strain is obtained. Secondly, the obtained inherent strain values is applied to large-sized part layer by layer, and the final deformation of large-sized part is calculated. Based on the proposed method, the efficiency of deformation prediction of large-sized metal parts fabricated by LMD could be effectively improved.

Based on the Paris model of fatigue crack growth theory, the fatigue crack growth behaviour of Center Crack Tension (CCT) specimens of laser melting deposited 12CrNi2 alloy steel is studied by extended finite element method (XFEM). The crack growth rules and fatigue life are analyzed by experiment and finite element simulation. The experimental results are in good agreement with the finite element results, which verifies the accuracy of XFEM method to simulate the fatigue crack growth behaviour of laser melting deposited 12CrNi2 alloy steel components. Based on this, the effects of initial crack direction and load amplitude on fatigue crack growth behaviour are discussed. The results indicate that even if the initial crack direction is different, the crack will finally propagate in a direction perpendicular to the load. With the increase of the load amplitude, the fatigue life of the specimen with initial crack decreases exponentially.

A novel adsorbent magnetic functionalized m-carboxyphenyl azo calix[4]arene symmetrical sulfide derivative (Fe3O4/M-CCSSD) was fabricated by a series of simple reactions and characterized by FT-IR and SEM. The effects on U (VI) adsorption process were investigated at several conditions. The calculated data disclose that the adsorption process of U (VI) by Fe3O4/M-CCSSD is an endothermic spontaneous process, which well fits with the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm model. In the most favorable conditions, accounting for approximately 89% of U (VI) was removed. In addition, Fe3O4/M-CCSSD showed high selectivity for U (VI) and exceptional reusability.

Autoclaved aerated concrete waste (AACW) was used as a raw material to prepare nucleation seed for acceleration of Portland cement. Nano AACW seed with median particle size of 324 nm was prepared by wet grinding method. Both the electrical conductivity and pH value of nano AACW suspension were obviously improved. Both the setting times and intensity of the main hydration heat peak were promoted by nano AACW, indicating the possibility of AACW suspension as nucleation seed. The early age compressive strength before 3 days was also clearly improved by nano AACW, with no negative effect on the late age strength. Furthermore, the reduced CH content with dosage of nano AACW indicates that nano AACW not only plays a role of nucleation seed in cement hydration, but also has a certain pozzolanic reaction.

Additional file 1: Fig. S1. Oncoprint plot of all somatic mutations of TRIM proteins in TCGA-LIHC using cbioportal database.

Additional file 1. Figure S1–S6. Tables 1–7. Materials and methods.

Additional file 8: Supplementary Table S1. Sequences of primers used in RT-qPCR assay.

Additional file 1. Additional Figures S1–S4 and Tables S1–S5.

Additional file 9: Supplementary Table S2. Sequences of primers used in ChIP-qPCR assay.

Additional file 3: Fig. S2. A univariate cox analysis of every 75 TRIM proteins based on TCGA-LIHC dataset with p < 0.05.

Recent experimental breakthrough in magnetic Weyl semimetals have inspired exploration on the novel effects of various magnetic structures in these materials. Here we focus on a domain wall structure which connects two uniform domains with different magnetization directions. We study the topological superconducting state in presence of an s-wave superconducting pairing potential. By tuning the chemical potential, we can reach a topological state, where a chiral Majorana mode or zero-energy Majorana bound state is localized at the edges of the domain walls. This property allows a convenient braiding operation of Majorana modes by controlling the dynamics of domain walls., Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures

BACKGROUND Gliomas are commonly diagnosed tumors in the central nervous system that have an elevated mortality rate. The present study evaluated pyrazolo[4,3-c]pyridine-4-one (PP-4-one) as an anti-proliferative agent against glioma cells and investigated the associated mechanism. MATERIAL AND METHODS The changes in cell growth were analyzed by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and apoptosis by flow cytometry using Annexin V-FITC staining kit. The FACSCalibur flow cytometer was used for analysis of DNA content and western blotting for protein expression. RESULTS The PP-4-one treatment suppressed viability of U251, C6, and U87 cells significantly at a concentration of 0.25 µM. At a concentration of 16 µM, PP-4-one treatment for 72 hours suppressed viability of U251, C6, and U87 cells to 24%, 21%, and 20%, respectively. Treatment with PP-4-one suppressed cyclic 3',5'-adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels in U251 and C6 cells significantly (P

In this paper, NiTe/NiSe composites in-situ grown on Ni foam are successfully developed as a bind-free electrode for supercapacitors. The as-obtained NiTe/NiSe composites electrode exhibits excellent electrochemical properties with a higher specific capacitance of 1868 F g-1 (5.60 F cm-2) at a current density of 1 A g-1. In addition, an asymmetric supercapacitor is fabricated with NiTe/NiSe as positive material and active carbon as negative material. The resulting NiTe/NiSe//AC device exhibits a high energy density of 33.7 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 800 W kg-1, providing a good cycling performance which reserved 86.2% of the initial capacitance at 2 A g-1 after 5000 cycles. All those results illustrate that the NiTe/NiSe electrode is promising for potential application in supercapacitors and other fields.

CaO doped Ni/MCF catalysts were prepared by conventional incipient wetness impregnation and sol-gel methods for the study of methane dry reforming reaction. The fresh and used catalysts were characterized using H2 temperature programmed reduction (H2-TPR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetry (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and O2 temperature-programmed oxidation (O2-TPO). XRD exhibited that CaO and Ni particles are dispersed on the surface of catalyst. The Ni:CaO ratio was adjusted for the improvement of pore textural properties on behalf of enhancement of metal particle dispersion for increased catalytic performance and anti-coking. The catalytic performance and stability of the catalysts for methane dry reforming reaction were studied at 700–750 °C at atmospheric pressure with GHSV of 24000 mL g−1h−1 having same feed ratio of CH4:CO2 = 1. Experimental results exhibited that catalyst prepared by a sol-gel method showed superior catalytic activity, stability and resisted carbon deposition than catalyst prepared incipient wetness impregnation method. Among all tested catalysts 9CaO 9Ni/MCF catalyst remained the best for catalytic performance and anti-coking activity due to higher metal dispersion with small metal particles, as well as the synergetic effect between CaO and Ni. During 75 h stability test over the catalyst 9CaO 9Ni/MCF the CH4 and CO2 conversion remained 91% and 99% respectively.

This study uncovers process conditions for the homogenization of the interface zone formed by a diffusion bonding of ZrC x ( x = 1, 0.85 and 0.7) assisted by a Zirconium interlayer. The transitional metal interlayer is positioned between the ceramics mating surfaces . The ability of Zr to form a homogenous joint with ZrC x was verified for all the considered cases of ZrC x . The homogenous joint domain forms under conditions of a particular range of values of (i) the concentration of carbon vacancies in the base ZrC x ceramics, (ii) the bonding temperature, and (iii) the holding time, for a given thickness of the interlayer. The formation of a homogenous domain improves remarkably the mechanical properties of ZrC x joints. It is established that the four-point bending strength and the nano-indentation hardness of the homogenous ZrC x /Zr/ZrC x joints can be as high as that of the base ceramics.

This work reports the synthesis of multi-layer graphene-coated, La and Sc co-doped Li4Ti5O12 (LLTSO/G) anodes for Li-ion battery where the co-doped LTO was synthesized via a modified sol-gel method. High-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) analysis revealed that graphene layers occupied the space between these three-dimensional LLTSO particles which provides a convenient transport path for electrons and thus resulted in a great rate electrode capability. The revisable capacity of this LLTSO is 176 mAh g−1 at 0.5C, after coating LLTSO with graphene the electrode exhibited excellent electrochemical performance, the discharge capacity is 101 mAh g−1 at 40C, much higher than the uncoated one (85 mAh g−1 at 40C). LLTSO/G was proved to be a promising high rate electrode material for lithium batteries.

Additional file 2: Table S1. Reference range and analytical levels of inflammation-related test items. Table S2. Correlation coefficient and P value between items and disease severity. Table S3. Logistic regression analysis of inflammatory parameters and disease severity.

Additional file 1: Figure S1. Comparison of the actuarial risk of developing metachronous BM among randomly select 52 cases from our patient cohort grouped by different numbers of risk factors.

Additional file 6:Supplementary Table 1. The miRNAs co-predicted by three different websites. Supplementary Table 2. Clinicopathologic characteristics of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Supplementary Table 3. Correlation between relative has-miR-148a expression and clinicopathologic characteristics in HCC patients (n = 77).

A four-winding inductive filtering transformer (FW-IFT) that is of a special filtering winding is designed according to the equivalent zero impedance principle of multi-winding transformer. The inductive filtering method with the series connection of the passive filter and the filtering winding of a FW-IFT is proposed to deal with the problem of reactive power and harmonics in a high-voltage distribution network. The equivalent circuit model of the FW-IFT is analyzed in detail from the inductive filtering condition. Then, the voltage equations are established, and harmonic suppression factor is introduced to analyze its filtering characteristics. The simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the feasibility of implementing the inductive filtering for the FW-IFT.

Steel slag is a solid waste generated from the steelmaking process. With a very low utilization rate of 30% in China, a high discharging cost of steel slag is inevitable so that it is imperative to dispose of steel slag by new technology. In this study, steel slag was refined by wet-grinding technology to apply on cement. The results showed that the initial setting time and final setting time were prolonged by the increased dosage of 3 μm steel slag. Although the viscosity of wet-grinding steel slag – cement specimens increased significantly, the shear-thinning phenomenon happened by mechanical mixing. The wet-grinding specimens presented a higher hydration heat than that of raw steel slag specimens, and the microstructure of 3 μm-40% (3 μm steel slag mixed with cement as a dosage of 40%) is much denser and show more hydration products than that of raw-40% (raw steel slag mixed with cement as a dosage of 40%) which results in an enhanced compressive strength that could be guaranteed by the dosage of 20% (3 d), 30% (28 d) and 40% (60 d) under the condition of 3 μm steel slag incorporation with lower autogenous shrinkage. Hemicarboaluminate peak was found in wet-grinding specimens that show a higher calcium sulphoaluminate to calcium. The wet-grinding steel slag CO2 emission and cost showed a downward trend compared with cement.

Crk (C10 regulator of kinase) adaptor proteins are highly expressed in many types of human cancers and often contribute to aggressive cancer phenotypes. Crk II, a member of CRK family, has been reported to regulate cell migration and metastasis in breast cancer cells. However, its role in other cancer types has not been reported. In this study, we investigated the molecular function of Crk II in prostate cancer (PCa) cells (CWR-22rv1) in vitro and using a mouse tumor model. Results showed that Crk II knockdown by shRNA-mediated silencing (Crk II-shRNA) in the PCa cells significantly inhibited both cancer cell migration and invasion in cell culture study. Crk II-shRNA cancer cells also significantly decreased colony formation in vitro, but had no significant reduction of tumor volume after 4 weeks of cancer cell xenografting in vivo when compared to the scramble control. Interestingly, Crk II-shRNA cancer cells showed a greatly reduced level of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) and decreased signaling of the IGF-1R/PI3K/Akt axis upon IGF-1 ligand stimulation. A close interaction between Crk II and IGF-1R was demonstrated upon co-immunoprecipitation of IGF-1R with Crk II protein. Further, treatment of cells with either proteosomal degradation or protein synthesis inhibitor showed higher proportion of ubiquitin-associated IGF-1R and faster degradation of IGF-1R in Crk II-shRNA cells in comparison with that in the control cancer cells. Taken together, these data suggest that Crk II plays an important role in the regulation of IGF-1R protein stability and affects downstream of IGF-1R signaling pathways. Therefore, targeting Crk-II can block IGF-1R growth signaling and suppress cancer cell invasion and progression., Highlights • Blocking Crk II inhibited cancer cell migration, invasion, and colony formation. • Knockdown Crk II decreased IGF-1R protein and its downstream signaling. • Crk II knockdown increased ubiquitination and degradation of IGF-1R.

Recently, several randomized controlled trials (RCT) investigating the effectiveness of decompressive craniectomy in the context of neurocritical illnesses have been completed. Thus, a meta-analysis to update the current evidence regarding the effects of decompressive craniectomy is necessary. We searched PUBMED, EMBASE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Other sources, including internet-based clinical trial registries and grey literature, were also searched. After searching the literature, two investigators independently performed literature screening, assessing the quality of the included trials and extracting the data. The outcome measures included the composite outcome of death or dependence and the risk of death. Ten RCT were included: seven RCT were on malignant middle cerebral artery infarction (MCAI) and three were on severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Decompressive craniectomy significantly reduced the risk of death for patients suffering malignant MCAI (risk ratio [RR] 0.46, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.36-0.59, P

For many real world systems ranging from biology to engineering, efficient network computation methods have attracted much attention in many applications. Generally, the performance of a network computation can be improved in two ways, i.e., rewiring and weighting. As a matter of fact, many real-world networks where an interpretation of efficient computation is relevant are weighted and directed. Thus, one can argue that nature might have assigned the optimal structure and weights to adjust the level of functionality. Indeed, in many neural and biochemical networks there is evidence that the synchronized and coordinated behavior may play important roles in the system’s functionality. The importance of the network weighting is not limited to the nature. In computer networks, for example, designing appropriate weights and directions for the connection links may enhance the ability of the network to synchronize the processes, thus leading the performance of computation to improve. In this paper, we propose a new two-mode weighting strategy by employing the network topological centralities including the degree, betweenness, closeness and communication neighbor graph. The weighting strategy consists of two modes, i.e., the original mode, in which the synchronizability is enhanced by increasing the weight of bridge edges, and the inverse version, in which the performance of community detection is improved by reducing the weight of bridge edges. We control the weight strategy by simply tuning a single parameter, which can be easily performed in the real world systems. We test the effectiveness of our model in a number of artificial benchmark networks as well as real-world networks. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed weighting strategy outperforms previously published weighting methods of improving the performance of network computation.

As a by-products of lithium carbonate industry, emission of lithium slag (LS) was increasingly increased due to the huge market demand of lithium salt. Therefore, LS disposal faces great challenge. In the study, a new approach to use LS in sulphoaluminate cement (SAC) system to improve the early compressive strength was proposed. Nano-lithium slag (nano-LS) was prepared via wet grinding, and the effect of nano-LS on hydration mechanism of SAC was investigated. The results indicated that nano-LS with D50 of 300 nm was prepared. In comparison with the Blank, 4.0% nano-LS promoted the 7 h compressive strength from 4.5 MPa to 24.3 MPa, with an increase by more than 4 times, and an increase by 28% at 1 d age; it also reduced the initial and final setting time to 16 min and 23 min, being reduced by 33.3% and 37.5%. This phenomenon was because nano-LS accelerated the hydration of SAC, and 4.0% dosage even made the inducing period disappear. The reason for the accelerated hydration was that the nano particles in nano-LS slurry acted as excellent nucleation seeds for speeding of the formation of hydration products. Additionally, the promoted dissolution of lithium salt during the process of wet milling also facilitated precipitation of aluminum phase to accelerate the SAC hydration. Consequently, nano-LS was expected as an excellent accelerator in SAC system. All of findings suggested an innovation new way to utilize LS in SAC system.

This work aims at evaluating the influence of wet-grinded superfine waste glass powder (WGP) as a supplementary material in cement based materials. WGP with different fineness was evaluated and incorporated into cement with a proportion of 20%. The results showed the WGP particle had regular shape when the wet grinding duration reached 60 min. WGP dramatically improved the workability of fresh pastes regardless of the fineness. The setting time of WGP incorporated pastes was shortened if the median grain size was reduced to 5 μm. The WGP could accelerate the reaction of cement, higher chemical shrinkage and larger electrical resistivity.

Supplemental material, IMR885302 Supplementary material3 for Decelerated tumor growth due to hypothyroidism with prolongation of survival in a patient with lung adenocarcinoma: a case report by Jia Hou, Shan-Shan Xiong, Zhao-Qi Huang and Xing-Dong Cai in Journal of International Medical Research

Supplemental material, IMR885302 Supplementary material2 for Decelerated tumor growth due to hypothyroidism with prolongation of survival in a patient with lung adenocarcinoma: a case report by Jia Hou, Shan-Shan Xiong, Zhao-Qi Huang and Xing-Dong Cai in Journal of International Medical Research

Additional file 3: Table S1. Attributable number of hospital outpatient visits attributable to ambient temperature exposure for respiratory diseases and subcategories by age-groups, 2013 to 2017.

Supplemental material, IMR885302 Supplementary material1 for Decelerated tumor growth due to hypothyroidism with prolongation of survival in a patient with lung adenocarcinoma: a case report by Jia Hou, Shan-Shan Xiong, Zhao-Qi Huang and Xing-Dong Cai in Journal of International Medical Research

In order to improve the power quality of 220kV transformer substations in power system, the harmonic currents on the 110kV and 35kV sides can flow into the superconducting loop which is composed of the inductive filter winding of four-winding inductive filter transformer and the inductive filter device, and thus the currents on 220kV side are pollute-less. The parameters of inductive filter device in the loop is the key to affect the entire filtering performance. Therefore, an immune genetic algorithm(IGA) of improved operator is applied to optimize the design of inductive filter device in this paper, which uses the total investment cost of the device, the reactive power compensation and the filtering performance as the optimized objectives. Besides the ability of global searching of the genetic algorithm(GA), the IGA involves the mechanisms of immune system such as memory cell and antibody diversity-keeping. By updating the memory cell bank and dynamically adjusting the immune function through the improved operator, the convergent speed of the IGA is accelerated and the global optimal solution is obtained. Simulation results show that the IGA is more effective than the traditional algorithm(TA) for optimizing the design of the inductive filter device.

Objectives: To investigate the risk factors, clinical presentation, neuroimaging features, treatment, and prognosis of patients with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST).

The effect of Nd doping and one-step carbon coating in Li4Ti4.95Nd0.05O12/C composite materials on the structure and electrochemical performance by modified citric acid sol–gel method was investigated. The obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetry and transmission electron microscopy. The specific capacities of the Li4Ti4.95Nd0.05O12/C composite at discharge rates of 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 40 C are 176, 158, 147, 128, 110, 89 and 65 mAh g−1, respectively, which is larger than those of Li4Ti5O12 and Li4Ti4.95Nd0.05O12 materials at high rates. Li4Ti4.95Nd0.05O12/C also shows excellent cycling performance at high rates after 1000 cycles, which is attributed to its smaller polarization resistance and larger lithium-ion diffusion coefficient than Li4Ti4.95Nd0.05O12 material. The further electrochemical performance was also investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Carbon-coated Li4Ti4.95Nd0.05O12 could be easily synthesized by the modified citric acid sol–gel method in one step. The Li4Ti4.95Nd0.05O12/C composite exhibited good rate capability and high Li-ion diffusion coefficient. The good performance may partially be derived from the symbiotic impurities such as Li2TiO3 and Li0.5Nd0.5TiO3, which is facile for Li+ diffusion and electron transport.

Previous studies have suggested that there is a disproportionally higher risk of infection following traumatic brain injury (TBI). This predisposition to infection may be driven by a poorly understood, brain-specific response in the immune system after TBI. However, there is a lack of studies that have fully characterized TBI patients to understand the relationship between TBI and peripheral immune function. In the present study, markers for humoral immunity and cellular immunity were measured for up to 2 weeks in the peripheral blood of 37 patients with TBI in order to elucidate the time course and the type of the peripheral immune response following TBI. 12 relatively healthy individuals without TBI and other neurological diseases were enrolled into the control group. Our data indicated that TBI could induce significant changes in humoral immunity characterized by a decrease in IgG and IgM levels and an increase in the complements C3 and C4 levels in comparison with the control group. Moreover, compared with the control group, a significant reduction in peripheral blood CD3

Nano-TiO2 is selected as inorganic filler to fabricate the reduced crystalline composite polymer membrane. The porous polymer matrix employed in this study was poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) membrane synthesized via non-solvent evaporate method and the electrolyte solution uptake was carried out in the glove box to avoid the moisture contamination. The effect of nano-TiO2 on the crystalline of porous polymer membrane was studied. It was found that blending with nano-TiO2 helps to reduce the crystalline of polymer membrane. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed that the room temperature conductivity of PVDF-HFP/TiO2 composite-porous polymer electrolyte (CPPE) increased up to 1.5 × 10−3S/cm, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrographs showed that the micro-pores and nano-TiO2 particles were observed in the polymer membrane. Furthermore, the composite-porous polymer electrolyte was stable up to 4.5 V (vs. Li/Li+) and the LiFePO4/CPPE/Li coin cell showed excellent rate capability, the discharge capacity obtained at 0.1C, 0.5C, 1C, and 3C were 164, 157, 143, and 122 mAh/g, respectively. And the cell had about 6 % capacity loss when it discharged at 1C for 50 cycles.

Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 was successfully synthesized by a modified solid-state reaction method with an in situ coating process. The powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction, BET surface area and scanning electron microscopy. Sub-micron Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 oxides, with a high phase purity and accurate stoichiometry, were obtained after calcination at 800 °C for 7 h. The pure Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 electrode material showed a much higher surface area and specific capacity than the one without the ultra-high speed nano-pulverization pretreatment process. Excellent reversible high-rate capability was achieved as 137 mAh g −1 at 10C, 107 mAh g −1 at 20C, 76 mAh g −1 at 40C. The result of the cycling performance showed high capacity retention of about 100% for all charge/discharge rates after 10 cycles. Electrochemical impedance spectra tests demonstrated that the lithium-ion diffusivity in Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 was improved significantly after the pretreatment, which indicated that the ultra-high speed nano-pulverization treated Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 with high dispersion and smooth particle surface would be a promising high-rate anode material for lithium-ion battery.

A novel and highly efficient photocatalyst, Eosin Y-sensitized Pt-intercalated nanotube Pt/HLa Nb2O7, was found to be very active for hydrogen generation within triethanolamine (TEOA) solution as the electron donor under visible-light irradiation (λ420 nm). The photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), scan electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). The results showed that the significant enhancement of photocatalytic activity was achieved via Pt intercalating and subsequent dye sensitization of Pt/HLaNb2O7. The highest rate for hydrogen evolution was 4.45 mmol·g-1·h-1under irradiation with a wavelength longer than 420 nm, and the probable mechanism of photosensitized hydrogen evolution have also been discussed.

A novel photoelectrochemical solar cell was prepared by combining a Sb 2 S 3 -sensitized photoactive electrode, polyaniline nanobelts and a Pt counter electrode to form sandwich structure. The incident photo-to-current conversion efficiency measurement found that the cell without any sensitizers just showed a very narrow photo-response wavelength region from 300 nm to 400 nm, while the Sb 2 S 3 -sensitized cell showed a broad photo-response wavelength region from 275 nm to 600 nm and much higher efficiency in converting ultraviolet light to electricity than in converting visible light. By optimizing chemical bath deposition duration of 2.5 h, the cell showed high photovoltaic performance with 6.92 mA cm −2 short-circuit current density, 1.098 V open-circuit voltage, 0.497 fill factor, and 3.78% power conversion efficiency, being greatly enhanced compared with that of the cell without any sensitizers (1.09 mA cm −2 , 0.866 V, 0.477, 0.45%).

Neither hyaline articular cartilage nor the fibrocartilage of the intervertebral disc have a sufficient self-healing potential. In the long term, cartilage injuries lead to osteoarthritis (OA) or degenerative intervertebral disc disease. With the help of cartilage tissue engineering techniques, combining chondrocytes or chondrogenic progenitor cells such as mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) with a supportive matrix (scaffold), cartilage cell implants could be produced to improve cartilage defect healing. To evaluate the influence of highly porous alginate-based scaffolds functionalized with chondroitin sulfate (CS) on the cartilage formation (chondrogenesis) by MSCs, the cell adherence, survival and expression of cartilage matrix proteins of MSCs and chondrocytes were analyzed. In the second subpart of the study, a decellularization protocol was established to prepare and optimize a cell-free scaffold made of a natural intervertebral disc-derived extracellular matrix (ECM) from disc tissue. Subsequently, the acellular IVD-derived ECM was repopulated either with allogenic MSCs or IVD cells to compare the reseeding efficacy, cell viability as well as to quantify the collagen and sGAG. The third part of the study focused on the comparative characterization of hip cartilage and chondrocytes derived from patients suffering from OA or femoral neck fracture (FNF). A macroscopic in-house scoring system was established and validated to grade OA associated cartilage alterations. The alginate scaffolds allowed the growth of MSCs and the synthesis of an ECM that contained cartilage-specific type II collagen. The CS functionalization resulted in an increased sGAG synthesis compared with the CS-free scaffolds. The cell-free IVD-ECM was established and successfully re- colonized with MSCs and IVD cells after pretreatment with serum albumin. The total collagen content in the MSCs populated constructs was higher than in those containing IVD cells. The in-house scoring system was suitable for detection of OA changes, differed between the two cartilage sources and correlated with histological Mankin score. Cells isolated from OA cartilage showed differences in phenotype compared with cells isolated from the FNF. The results of this study demonstrated two fundamentally different approaches for obtaining tissue-engineering cartilage implants and help with the assessment of chondrocytes for experimental purposes, which are isolated from the femoral head cartilage discarded after implantation of an endoprosthesis., Weder der hyaline Gelenkknorpel noch der Faserknorpel der Bandscheibe verfügen über ein ausreichendes Heilungspotential. Langfristig führen Knorpelverletzungen daher zu Arthrose oder Bandscheibendegeneration. Über das Knorpel-Tissue Engineering, bei dem Knorpelzellen oder zu Knorpelzellen differenzierbare Vorläuferzellen wie mesenchymale Stromazellen (MSCs) mit einer Trägermatrix (Scaffold) kombiniert werden, könnten Knorpelzellimplantate für den Knorpelersatz zur Verbesserung der Heilung gewonnen werden. Um den Einfluss von hochporösen Alginat-basierten Scaffolds, die mit Chondroitinsulfat (CS) funktionalisiert wurden, auf die Knorpelbildung (Chondrogenese) mesenchymaler Stromazellen (MSCs) zu beurteilen wurde die Zelladhärenz, das Zellüberleben und die Expression von Knorpel-Matrixproteinen von MSCs und Chondrozyten im Alginatscaffold analysiert. In der zweiten Teilstudie wurde zur Herstellung eines Scaffolds aus natürlicher extrazellulärer Matrix (ECM) eine Zellbefreiung (Dezellularisierung) von Bandscheiben- gewebe etabliert und optimiert. Anschließend wurde die Rekolonisation der dezellularisierten ECM mit MSCs im Vergleich zu Bandscheibenzellen vorgenommen. Die dritte Teilstudie beschäftigte sich mit der vergleichenden Charakterisierung von Hüftkopf- knorpel und aus diesem gewonnenen Knorpelzellen von Patienten mit Arthrose oder Schenkelhalsfraktur. Dieser findetsehr oft für die Zellisolierung für experimentelle Zwecke Verwendung. Zur Beurteilung der Arthrose- assoziierten Veränderungen wurde ein makroskopisches in-house Scoring-System etabliert und validiert. Die Alginatscaffolds erlaubten das Wachstum der MSCs und die Synthese einer ECM, die knorpelspezifisches Kollagen Typ II enthielt. Die Chondroitinsulfat- Funktionalisierung führte zu einer erhöhten Proteoglykansynthese im Vergleich zu den CS-freien Scaffolds. Es konnte eine zellfreie Bandscheiben-ECM hergestellt und nach Vorbehandlung mit Serumalbumin, erfolgreich mit MSCs und IVD-Zellen rekolonisiert werden, wobei der Gesamtkollagengehalt in den mit MSCs besiedelten Konstrukten höher war. Das in-house Score System war zur Erfassung arthrotischer Veränderungen geeignet, unterschied zwischen beiden Knorpelquellen (Arthrose und Schenkelhalsfraktur) und korrelierte mit dem histologischen Mankin-Score. Aus dem Knorpel von Coxarthrose- Patienten isolierte Zellen wiesen gegenüber den nach Schenkelhalsfraktur isolierten Zellen Unterschiede im Phänotyp auf. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit zeigen zwei grundsätzlich verschiedene Ansätze für die Gewinnung tissue-engineerter Knorpelimplantate auf und helfen bei der Beurteilung von Knorpelzellen für experimentelle Zwecke, die aus dem nach Implantation einer Endoprothese anfallendem Hüftkopfknorpel isoliert werden.