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Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been shown to play important regulatory roles in many human diseases, yet their functions in pulpitis remain to be clarified. This study was designed to investigate the function of circ_0138960 in pulpitis progression and its underlying mechanism. Cell viability and proliferation were analyzed by 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and 5-Ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay. Flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were conducted to analyze cell apoptosis rate and the release of inflammatory cytokines. The activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) was analyzed using a SOD assay kit. Dual-luciferase reporter and RNA-pull down assays were performed to verify the interaction between microRNA-545-5p (miR-545-5p) and circ_0138960 or myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (MYD88). Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment restrained the proliferation and promoted the apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress of human dental pulp cells (hDPCs). LPS treatment dose-dependently up-regulated circ_0138960 expression in hDPCs. Circ_0138960 knockdown overturned LPS-induced inflammation and injury in hDPCs. Circ_0138960 could act as a molecular sponge for miR-545-5p, and circ_0138960 knockdown protected hDPCs from LPS-induced effects by up-regulating miR-545-5p. miR-545-5p directly interacted with the 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR) of MYD88, and MYD88 overexpression reversed miR-545-5p-mediated effects in LPS-treated hDPCs. Circ_0138960 positively regulated MYD88 expression by sponging miR-545-5p in hDPCs. LPS could activate nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) signaling by targeting circ_0138960/miR-545-5p/MYD88 axis in hDPCs. Circ_0138960 knockdown attenuated LPS-induced inflammatory response and injury in hDPCs by targeting the miR-545-5p/MYD88/NF-κB axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the treatment preference among oncologists, patients with lung cancer, and their family members in China.Methods: A face-to-face discrete choice experiment survey was conducted among oncologists, patients, and their family members. Participants completed 13 choice sets describing 6 key attributes, namely, overall survival time, risk of severe adverse effect, severity of pain, appetite, physical functioning status, and monthly cost. Mixed logit model and latent class analysis were used to estimate attribute level preference weights and the relative importance (RI) for attributes. The willingness to pay (WTP) and maximum acceptable risk (MAR) were also estimated. The RI, WTP, and MAR of oncologists, patients, and family members were compared.Results: A total of 121 oncologists and 161 dyads of patients and family members completed the survey. Overall survival time, physical functioning status, and pain were the 3 most important attributes across all 3 groups. Oncologists and family members had higher RI on overall survival time than patients (48% and 51% vs 38%). Patients had higher RI on physical functioning status and pain (23% and 14%) than oncologists (13% and 12%) and family members (16% and 11%). For extending survival, patients had the least WTP, and family members had the highest MAR. The latent class analysis identified 2 classes in the patient group and 3 classes in oncologist and family member groups.Conclusions: There were differences in preferences for survival, risk, quality of life, and costs associated with cancer treatments among patients, oncologists, and family members. This finding highlights the need of involving patients in treatment decision making in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the study of genome dynamics has become a prominent research field due to its influence on understanding the control of gene expression. The study of 3D genome organization has unveiled multiple mechanisms in orchestrating chromosome folding. Growing evidence reveals that these mechanisms are not only important for genome organization, but play a pivotal role in enabling plants to adapt to environmental stimuli. In this review, we provide an overview of the current knowledge concerning epigenetic factors and regulatory elements driving 3D genome dynamics and their responses to external stimuli. We discuss the most recent findings, previous evidence, and explore their implications for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, efforts to qualify innovative medical products for reimbursement used to be subject to substantial delays after regulatory approval due to fiscal and bureaucratic barriers. In this review, we surveyed the Chinese government's most recent initiatives to improve access to innovative medicines from both the regulatory and the reimbursement aspects, which not only accelerated the launching of drugs in the Chinese market but also expanded the reimbursement coverage of such products. We also provided a discussion of the current challenges. We provided a comprehensive review of the updates in China's national reimbursement listing policies of medicines. As the most recognized regulatory shortcuts, priority and conditional approvals have expedited the authorization of many innovative medicines. In addition, the national negotiation process was institutionalized to enable timely access to innovative medicines through the National Reimbursement Drug List, leading examples of which were new anticancer drugs. Other impactful reimbursement policies in recent years included dynamic updates of the National Reimbursement Drug List, manufacturer-initiated reimbursement coverage applications, and parallel fund robustness tests and pharmacoeconomic analyses for price estimation. Recent administrative efforts have substantially improved the access to and affordability of innovative medicines in China. Nevertheless, standardized and transparent evidence appraisal processes need to be established for informed decision making in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe deviation in structure and chemistry at grain boundaries has been regarded as the source of the poor conductivity of Li 3 x La 2/3 -x TiO 3. In this work, we report an in situ grain boundary engineering method to address this bottleneck. A lithium-rich electrolyte, Li 3 OCl, was introduced into Li 3 x La 2/3- x TiO 3 to replenish lithium at the grain boundaries. Both the Li-gain on the boundary and generation of a Li-rich grain-engineered layer contributed to an optimized grain boundary conductivity of 1.52 × 10−4 (S/cm) and a depressed activation energy of 0.32 eV for grain boundary. Full batteries were further employed to demonstrate the enhancement in conductivity. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Leptin effectively reduces hypoxic–ischemic cerebral edema in newborn piglets. • DKI provides more detailed microstructural data of hypoxic/ischemic brain edema. • DKI serves as a model for measuring non-Gaussian water diffusion. • DKI dynamically evaluated the neuroprotective effects of leptin. The role of leptin in neuroprotection has recently been recognized. However, there are few reports on the use of imaging methods to dynamically evaluate the neuroprotection role of leptin. Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), which is a method used to measure non-Gaussian water diffusion, can reflect the real water diffusion in brain tissues. In this study, a newborn piglet model was used to dynamically evaluate the leptin intervention in early hypoxic–ischemic brain edema via DKI. Thirty-two Yorkshire newborn piglets were divided into three groups: the hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) group, the leptin group, and the control group. DKI scanning was performed at time points of 3, 6, 9, 12, 16, and 24 h after hypoxic–ischemic exposure. After scanning, arterial blood was extracted from all piglets to measure NSE and S100β levels. Then, the brain was completely extracted for pathological examination. In the lesion areas, the MK, Ka, and Kr values in the leptin group were significantly lower than those in the HIE group, the MD, Da, and Dr values showed an opposite trend. The lesion areas in the leptin group were smaller than those of in the HIE group. In addition, the pathological results showed that less cell and organelle injury occurred in the leptin group. Our findings indicate that leptin can effectively reduce hypoxic–ischemic brain edema, and DKI can be more sensitive than conventional diffusivity metrics for visualizing the microstructural changes of HIE. This provides a new clue for the treatment and evaluation of HIE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Breast cancer detections for women with suspicious lesions mainly depend on two non-operative pathological tests-fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and core needle biopsy (CNB). The aim of this systematic review was to compare the sensitivity and specificity of CNB and FNAC in this setting. Methods The data sources included MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) till February 2016. We included prospective series of studies which directly compared the accuracy of FNAC and CNB. We used forest plots to display the sensitivity and specificity of FNAC and CNB respectively. Pre-specified subgroup analyses and sensitivity analysis were conducted. Results Ultimately, 12 articles (1802 patients) were included in the final analysis. The pooled analysis shows that the sensitivity of CNB is better than that of FNAC [87% (95% CI, 84%–88%, I 2 = 88.5%) versus 74% (95% CI, 72%–77%, I 2 = 88.3%)] and the specificity of CNB is similar to that of FNAC [98% (95% CI, 96%–99%, I 2 = 76.2%) versus 96% (95% CI, 94%–98%, I 2 = 39.0%)]. For subgroup analysis, the sensitivities of both tests are better for palpable lesions than that of non-palpable lesions. Sensitivity analysis shows the robustness of the primary analysis. Conclusion Our study suggests that both of FNAC and CNB have good clinical performance. In similar circumstances, the sensitivity of CNB is better than that of FNAC, while their specificities are similar. FNAC could be still considered the first choice to evaluate suspicious nonpalpable breast lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Betel quid (BQ), a smokeless chewing tobacco that includes the areca (betel) nut among its ingredients, increases the risk of oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) and oral cancer, a disease classified as an potentially malignant oral disorder. A wound from the coarse areca nut fibers, as well as the catechin, copper, and alkaloids (e.g., arecoline, arecaidine, guvacoline, and guvacine) in BQ, may stimulate reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, causing myofibroblast differentiation and contraction, fibroblast proliferation, collagen cross-linking, and collagen phagocytosis inhibition, which could result in OSMF and oral cancer. Mitochondria, the primary source of ROS in OSMF, play a crucial role in cellular metabolism. Copper is required for mitochondrial bioenergetics, dynamics, and mitophagy, affecting metabolic reprogramming and cell fate. Given that copper levels are elevated in patients with OSMF, we hypothesize that increased mitochondrial ROS production induced by copper overload and areca nut components may regulate fibrosis-related gene expression and myofibroblast differentiation. Therefore, targeting this fundamental pathomechanism is an appropriate strategy for developing new therapeutic options for OSMF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We adopted a difference-in-difference (DID) design to evaluate the impact of a case-based payment pilot in Tianjin, China on hospital admission, utilization of varied therapeutic regimes, and the associated costs. We used claim data of all admissions of angina and acute myocardial infarction during July 2015 to June 2018, 18 months before and after the program. Our analyses were supported by convincing common trends tests and a couple of sensitivity analyses. As intended, for patients who received percutaneous coronary stenting (PCS) and were counted in the case-based payment system, we showed that the program decreased length-of-stay, per-admission spending, and out-of-pocket spending by 20.8%, 14.2%, and 95.5%, respectively, but did not increase readmissions. However, when considering all patients who suffered from the two types of coronary heart diseases, we found that the program otherwise increased per-admission spending by nearly 11%. As a result, the program took a perverse effect in increasing monthly spending for the health insurance scheme and the society by 1005.6 thousand USD (47·5%) and 1095·7 thousand USD (34·7%), respectively. Increases in hospital admissions, and proportion of performing PCS accounted for 66·7% and 39·2% of the rise, respectively. In addition, our analysis provided evidence of health providers' cream-skimming behaviors, including selecting younger patients with lower CCI in the case-based system, up-coding complications, and keeping higher cost patients in the fee-for-service payment system. We draw lessons that case-based payment may make an unintended impact that increases healthcare costs when incentives are not properly designed. • The case-based payment pilot decreased per-admission costs for case-mixes included. • For the specific diseases, the program however increased per-admission spending. • Admissions receiving high cost therapeutic regimes accounted for the rise. • The program decreased LOS and OOP costs but did not increase readmissions. • Patient selection and up-coding were profound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to assess the effects of the intracellular pathogen resistance 1 (Ipr1) transgene on preventing infection of Mycobacterium bovis in cattle. A specific expression vector for the Ipr1 gene was constructed and inserted in the genome between surfactant protein A and methionine adenosyltransferase I of bovine fetal fibroblasts. After SCNT, cleavage (86.9% vs. 87.4%, P > 0.05) and blastocyst developmental rates (34.6% vs. 33.5%, P > 0.05) were similar between transgenic and nontransgenic bovine fetal fibroblasts. Four surviving and one dead Ipr1 -transgenic female cattle were produced by transfer of the SCNT blastocysts. Polymerase chain reaction and Southern blot analyses confirmed that the Ipr1 transgene of the cattle was located at the expected site. Inserting Ipr1 gene did not affect the expression of the surrounding genes. Main death modality of M bovis –infected peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) derived from Ipr1 -transgenic cattle was apoptosis, whereas that of PBMCs from control cattle was necrosis. In addition, the number of colony-forming units in PBMCs of Ipr1 -transgenic cattle was significantly lower than that of the control cattle (P < 0.05). The finding that expression of Ipr1 transgene in PBMCs significantly increased anti– M bovis activity suggested breeding anti– M bovis cattle population by the transgenic SCNT technique could be a feasible strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Submarine pipeline is currently the safest and most economical transportation of subsea oil and gas. Corrosion is one of the main threats to submarine pipelines because of the corrosive of the sea. Therefore, it is significative to evaluate the corrosion risk of the submarine pipelines. In this work, a fault tree model is first employed to identify the corrosion hazards in the transportation process. To overcome the limitations of the fault tree analysis for the states of the events, a Bayesian network (BN) is established through mapping from the fault tree model. Because of the limitations of objective data, experts' judgment combining fuzzy set theory are used to determine the parameters in the BN. The dynamic nodes in the BN are divided into real-time and discrete nodes, and the dynamic characteristics of them are displayed by the evidence nodes. In this way, when a new observation occurs, the real-time risk analysis of the corroded submarine pipeline is realized. Finally, a case study is carried out to verify the risk level variation with the observing events at different moments. Results shows that the proposed model can dynamically characterize the corrosion risk of the submarine pipeline and provide suggestions for the risk reduction. • Corrosion risk factors of submarine pipeline is summarized based on a fault tree model. • Risk of submarine pipeline corrosion is analyzed based on fuzzy Bayesian network. • The real-time nodes and discrete nodes are displayed in the Bayesian network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frontal corticostriatal circuits (FCSC) are involved in self-regulation of cognition, emotion, and motor function. While these circuits are implicated in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the literature establishing FCSC associations with ADHD is inconsistent. This may be due to study variability in considerations of how fMRI motion regression was handled between groups, or study specific differences in age, sex, or the striatal subregions under investigation. Given the importance of these domains in ADHD it is crucial to consider the complex interactions of age, sex, striatal subregions and FCSC in ADHD presentation and diagnosis. In this large-scale study of 362 8–12 year-old children with ADHD (n = 165) and typically developing (TD; n = 197) children, we investigate associations between FCSC with ADHD diagnosis and symptoms, sex, and go/no-go (GNG) task performance. Results include: (1) increased striatal connectivity with age across striatal subregions with most of the frontal cortex, (2) increased frontal-limbic striatum connectivity among boys with ADHD only, mostly in default mode network (DMN) regions not associated with age, and (3) increased frontal-motor striatum connectivity to regions of the DMN were associated with greater parent-rated inattention problems, particularly among the ADHD group. Although diagnostic group differences were no longer significant when strictly controlling for head motion, with motion possibly reflecting the phenotypic variance of ADHD itself, the spatial distribution of all symptom, age, sex, and other ADHD group effects were nearly identical to the initial results. These results demonstrate differential associations of FCSC between striatal subregions with the DMN and FPN in relation to age, ADHD, sex, and inhibitory control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Purpose This study was conducted to examine the use of optimal medical therapy (OMT), consisting of an antiplatelet, a β-blocker, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker (ACEI/ARB), and a statin combined, after hospital discharge and its relationship with direct medical costs in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) in Tianjin, China. Methods Data were obtained from the Tianjin Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance database (2011–2015). Data from adult patients with ≥1 hospitalization for ACS between January 2012 and December 2014 were included. Medications including antiplatelets, β-blockers, ACEIs/ARBs, and statins at discharge were recorded, with OMT defined as the use of all 4 indicated medications. Propensity-score matching was conducted to form matched OMT and non-OMT cohorts based on baseline differences. All-cause and ACS-related health care resource utilization and direct medical costs during a 12-month follow-up period were assessed and compared between cohorts. Generalized linear modeling was conducted to assess the association between OMT at discharge and direct medical costs. Findings A total of 22,041 patients were identified (mean age, 64.7 [10.7] years; 45.6% female), of whom 15.1% (3336) received OMT at discharge. The OMT cohort had fewer patients hospitalized for any cause during follow-up compared with the matched non-OMT cohort (38.1% vs 43.2%; P < 0.001), which was further associated with fewer hospitalizations (1.55 vs 1.64; P = 0.019) and shorter annualized length of stay (15.9 vs 17.2 d; P = 0.041). Despite higher costs of outpatient services (9958 vs 10,060 Chinese yuan [CNY] [ P = 0.006]; adjusted difference, +456 CNY [ P = 0.004]) (year-2014 1 USD = 6.20 CNY), the OMT cohort had significantly lower all-cause total costs (20,771 vs 22,877 CNY [ P = 0.174]; adjusted difference, –2089 CNY [ P = 0.006]), driven by lower costs of inpatient services (10,813 vs 12,817 CNY [ P < 0.001]; adjusted difference, –2184 CNY [ P = 0.001]). The difference in ACS-related total costs between the 2 cohorts was not statistically significant (8535 vs 9304 CNY [ P = 0.128]; adjusted difference, –558 CNY [ P = 0.214]). Implications Receiving OMT at discharge was associated with fewer hospitalizations and lower all-cause direct medical costs in these patients with ACS in China. Strategies are needed to improve OMT prescribing rates at discharge, which would lead to better clinical prognosis and total cost-savings among patients with ACS in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years, stereolithography has been successfully used to prepare complex, strong silicon carbide (SiC) structures. However, most raw materials are dark in color and therefore have broad-spectrum absorbing properties, making the curing steps during stereolithography highly inefficient. Here, diamond powders were mixed with a light-curing resin, yielding a slurry with excellent curability. The slurry was then used to prepare SiC-based composites with complex morphologies using pyrolysis and reaction melt infiltration (RMI) process. The influence of the diamond volume fraction in the slurry on each process stage was investigated. The infiltration of molten Si into diamond body during RMI was greatly enhanced compared to traditional carbon bodies. SiC ceramic-based composites with complex morphologies and a maximum strength of ∼460 MPa was prepared rapidly and efficiently. This study demonstrates the great potential of the slurry for efficiently manufacturing SiC-based composites in mechanical parts where high strength and complex structures are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To explore the acceptability, consistency, and accuracy of eliciting health state utility values using discrete choice experiment (DCE) and DCE with life duration dimension (DCETTO) as compared with conventional time trade-off (TTO) by using the SF-6Dv2.Methods: During face-to-face interviews, a representative sample of the general population in Tianjin, China, completed 8 TTO tasks and 10 DCE/DCETTO tasks, with the order of TTO and DCE/DCETTO being randomized. The fixed-effect model and conditional logit models were used for TTO and DCEs data estimation, respectively. Acceptability was assessed by self-reported difficulties in understanding/answering. Consistency was observed by the monotonicity of model coefficients. Accuracy was evaluated by investigating differences between observed and predicted TTO values using intraclass correlation coefficient, mean absolute difference, and root mean square difference.Results: A total of 503 respondents (53.7% male; range, 18-86 years) were included, with comparable characteristics between respondents who completed DCE (N = 252) and DCETTO (N = 251). No significant difference was observed in self-reported difficulties among 3 approaches. The monotonicity of coefficients could not be achieved for 2 DCE approaches, even when combining the inconsistent levels. The health state utility values generated by DCE were generally higher than those generated by TTO, whereas DCETTO was lower than TTO. The TTO had a better prediction accuracy than the DCEs.Conclusions: Two DCE approaches are feasible for eliciting health state utility values; however, they are not considered to be easier to understand/answer than TTO. There are systematic differences in the health state utility values generated by 3 approaches. The issue of non-monotonicity from 2 DCE approaches remains a concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, Li 0.35 La 0.55 TiO 3 (LLTO) was coupled with Al-doped lithium lanthanum zirconate (LLZO) to improve the grain boundary and total conductivity. The obtained ceramic pellets (LLTZO) demonstrated a recordable grain boundary and total conductivity of 3.41 × 10−4 and 3.03 × 10−4 S/cm, respectively. The obtained results establish that the heteroatoms can perturb the cation ordered structure and improve the 3D conductivity in grain bulk. In addition, the residual Al-doped LLZO on the grain boundary led to a decline in the boundary resistance. An LiFeCoPO 4 |Li cell was adopted to demonstrate the enhanced conductivity of LLTO. The solid state battery rendered a specific capacity of over 101.2 mAhg−1 after 300 cycles at a relatively high rate of 0.5C. It is established from the experiments that manufacturing a solid battery using the all-coating technique provides a promising approach to achieve a practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing interest in using ordinal data collection methods, such as the best-worst scaling (BWS), to develop preference-based tariffs (value sets) for health-related quality of life instruments, yet the evidence on their performance is limited. This paper proposed to use an anchored BWS technique (in which the state of "death" served as an anchoring state) to directly develop a utility weight that lies on a scale anchored at 0 = death and 1 = full health for the Simplified Chinese version of the Short Form 6 Dimension version 2 (SF-6Dv2). An online panel from the general population of Mainland China completed an online survey between 20th July and 19th August, 2019 and 463 respondents were included in the main analysis. The Conditional Logit (CL) model, which assumes a homogeneous preference, as well as a Hierarchical Bayes (HB) model, which accounts for preference heterogeneity, were used to analyze the BWS data. The model performances were evaluated based on monotonicity and model-fit statistics. The majority of respondents indicated that the BWS questions were easy to understand and complete. Initial analyses suggested that the best and worst choices should not be pooled together. Based on model fit statistics of separated estimations and previous literature on health state valuation studies using BWS, the best choices were used for developing the final algorithm. The HB estimates were found to have better model performance than the CL estimates. This study provides an essential insight into using an anchored BWS approach in health state valuation. Furthermore, it demonstrates the advantage of using HB compared to the traditional CL model in producing preference values. • An anchored best-worst scaling technique has been used to develop preference weights directly. • Accounting for individual heterogeneity leads to a better model fit. • Incorporating respondents' views of attribute importance can improve model performance. • A Chinese online-panel-based scoring algorithm for SF-6Dv2 is developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diamond/SiC composites with high thermal conductivity are important materials for electronic industry, especially electronic packaging, but their complex structures and high-precision manufacturing are still challenging issues. Stereolithography-based manufacturing method combined with the reactive melt infiltration to make diamond/SiC composites with high-precision complex structures has been proposed in this paper. Diamond particles were used as the raw material, and as the particle size is a key factor affecting composite performance its influence was studied by means of measuring parameters, examining microstructure, and detecting components, whereas related mechanisms are discussed as necessary. Subsequently, a diamond/SiC composite with the thermal conductivity of 245.68 W/(m K) has been prepared and used in experiment. The experiment shows that the precision is affected by light-scattering and bending in the printing plane and in the vertical plane respectively, with the size errors of 0.25 and 0.12 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different carbon networks have been routinely used to modify Li anodes, which results in uniform nucleation on carbon materials. However, less attention is paid to the etching behavior of the Li metal under a modification layer. In this work, a failure analysis of a Li anode modified by an N-doped carbon nanofiber (CNF) demonstrates that pitting of the Li substrate is related to the final polarization of anode after relatively long cycling. A new approach is aimed at further improving the stability of a Li anode for long-period plating/stripping. The "two-pronged approach" combines a superficial SnO x decoration on the CNF and a plate-shell of Sn on the Li substrate that improves the electrochemical stability of Li. The superficial SnO x particles on the CNF induces the uniform deposition of Li on the CNF surface via a superficial alloying effect. The in situ formation of Li 13 Sn 5 induces planar etching/growth of the Li substrate that improves the areal current density by two orders of magnitude. The "two-pronged approach" modified cells shows reduced polarization under a current density of 3 mA/cm2 and 5 mA/cm2 for 900 and 600 cycles, respectively. The "two-pronged approach" is also demonstrated by a full battery assembly with LiFePO 4. Image 1 • The pitting of Li caused the final failure of anode even with CNF protection. • A dual modification by SnO x @CNF and Sn layer improved the stability of anode. • Both SnO x and Sn induced uniform palting via their alloys with Li. • The areal current density was increased by a hundredfold by the protection of Sn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zirconia ceramic is a widely used material for dental restoration. Stabilized zirconia all-ceramic teeth have excellent mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and aesthetic properties. At present, the CAD/CAM technique for zirconia all-ceramic dental prosthesis leads to low material efficiency and high tool wear. Although restorations fabricated using additive manufacturing are gaining attention, it is still very challenging to obtain accurate shapes and proper mechanical properties in zirconia restorations. In this investigation, a type of three-part auxiliary support was adopted and added to the occlusal surface to fabricate a typical molar crown bridge. A ceramic solid content of 40 vol% acrylic-based slurry was prepared, and a molar crown bridge was fabricated using mask projection stereolithography. The experimental results showed that the average dimensional error of the printed green body was ±150 μm. The density of the sintered ceramic parts was 6.026 g/cm3, and the three-point bending strength was 541 ± 160 MPa, which is higher than that of human dentin (160 MPa), but lower than that of CAD/CAM zirconia (900–1200 MPa). Although the proposed process still needs to be optimized to improve the mechanical properties and reliability of the crown bridge, the mask projection process combined with the adopted three-part auxiliary supports are capable of individualized manufacturing of complex zirconia crown bridges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ceramic mask projection stereolithography (CMSL) is an additive manufacturing (AM) technology which is capable of implementing delicate structural designs of ceramic parts. Studies have shown that soft-start exposure mode has an effect on the polymer properties of the cured resin, such as conversion degree, curing speed etc. However, the effect of soft-start exposure on CMSL process has not received much attention. In this investigation, soft-start exposure was compared with constant exposure. The results showed that the soft-start exposure reduced the critical exposure energy (maximum reduction of 48.2%) of the slurry. The feature dimensional error of soft-start exposure was smaller than constant exposure by 25–45%. The soft-start exposure also had an effect on the strength of sintered parts. The bending samples fabricated by soft-start exposure had higher Weibull moduli (maximum increase of 47.2%), indicating that soft-start exposure stabled the curing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Mask projection stereolithography can be used to fabricate complex ceramic parts layer by layer through the photopolymerisation of ceramic suspensions. The broadening or lateral overcure of the curing shape occurs because of light scattering effects. Achieving a better dimension and strength quality by adjusting light energy delivery in the boundary mask area has been insufficiently investigated thus far. In this study, the conventional mask was segmented into boundary and interior masks. The exposure time and power of the boundary mask (two pixels wide) were varied to investigate the effects of segmented exposure. The segmented exposure constrained the dimension errors to a width of within two pixels for a feature dimension of less than 1200 µm. It further smoothed the lateral surface of the green part to achieve Ra values of below 6 µm. Moreover, enhancing the boundary mask increased the flexural strength and Weibull modulus to 248 MPa and 11.1, respectively. The results indicate that segmented exposure can potentially be used in complex lattice ceramic structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The electron can be trapped by the interface states during the repetitive avalanche current stress. • The T, D and pulse number are the key factors to determine the level of the BV shift. • The effect of the repetitive avalanche current stress on the parameter shift can be analyzed based on these mechanisms for other devices. As a kind of 4H-SiC power device, the junction barrier Schottky (JBS) rectifiers, only containing the transition p + implantation region at the edge of the active region in the termination region, are adopted and fabricated to analyze the effect of the repetitive avalanche low-current stress on the SiO 2 /4H-SiC interfacial state of the devices. The breakdown voltage (BV) of the device shifts after the repetitive avalanche current stress, which results from the electron injects into the SiO 2 /4H-SiC interface and trapped by the interface states. Meanwhile, there is a tradeoff between the quantities of the trapped and de-trapped electrons by the SiO 2 /4H-SiC interface states when the BV reaches its saturated value. The junction temperature, total amount of carriers generated in the single avalanche event and repetitive total avalanche energy, affected by the pulse period (T), pulse number and turn-on period (D), are the key factors that affect the level of the BV shift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harnessing developmental processes for tissue engineering represents a promising yet challenging approach to regenerative medicine. Tooth avulsion is among the most serious traumatic dental injuries, whereas functional tooth regeneration remains uncertain. Here, we established a strategy using decellularized tooth matrix (DTM) combined with human dental pulp stem cell (hDPSC) aggregates to simulate an odontogenesis-related developmental microenvironment. The bioengineered teeth reconstructed by this strategy regenerated three-dimensional pulp and periodontal tissues equipped with vasculature and innervation in a preclinical pig model after implantation into the alveolar bone. These results prompted us to enroll 15 patients with avulsed teeth after traumatic dental injuries in a pilot clinical trial. At 12 months after implantation, bioengineered teeth led to the regeneration of functional teeth, which supported continued root development, in humans. Mechanistically, exosomes derived from hDPSC aggregates mediated the tooth regeneration process by upregulating the odontogenic and angiogenic ability of hDPSCs. Our findings suggest that odontogenic microenvironment engineering by DTM and stem cell aggregates initiates functional tooth regeneration and serves as an effective treatment for tooth avulsion. • The odonto-microenvironment provided by DTM and cell aggregates initiates functional tooth regeneration in animal and patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A comparison of different floating junction structure underneath the termination region for 4H-SiC FJ_JBS is analyzed. • The BV of FJ_JBS with discontinuous FJt is 2.9 kV. For comparison, the FJ_JBS with continuous FJt without fixed outer boundary only achieves a BV of 2.05 kV. • The experimental results prove the different FJ structure underneath the termination region has different work mechanism. In this paper, a comparison of different floating junction structure underneath the termination region FJ t for 4H-SiC FJ_JBS is performed by simulations and experiments. The simulated results indicate that the optimized dose of FJ t is different when the different FJ t structures are chosen, which is resulting from different work mechanism. The experimental results show that the breakdown voltage of FJ_JBS with discontinuous floating junction structure underneath the termination region is 2.9 kV. For comparison, the FJ_JBS with continuous floating junction structure without fixed outer boundary underneath the termination only achieves a breakdown voltage of 2.05 kV, which validates the simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]