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Multiple pathogenic types or serotypes restrict treatment for colibacillosis. In addition, rising antibiotic resistance has heightened public awareness to prevent and control pathogenic Escherichia coli. The bacteriophage is a viable technique to treat colibacillosis as an alternative to antibiotics. P762, a coliphage isolated from duck farm sewage, was demonstrated to cloud lyse Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia Coli serotypes O157 and non-O157 (17/39), Avian pathogenic E. coli covered serotype O78, O83, and O9 (5/19), and other pathogenic Escherichia coli (5/17). Additional fundamental biological characteristics analysis revealed that P762 is stable at pH 3 ~ 11 and temperature between 4 °C and 60 °C, and its optimum multiplicity of infection (MOI) is 0.1. The one-step curve of P762 exhibited three bursts of growth stage: two rapid and one slow stage. Furthermore, the first rapid burst size is 80 CFU/PFU, the burst size of the slow stage is 10 CFU/PFU, and the second rapid burst size is about 990 CFU/PFU. In addition, P762 can form a "halo" on a double agar plate, implying that the phage secretes depolymerase. With 95.14% identity and 90% query coverage, genome sequence analysis revealed that P762 is most closely related to Escherichia phage DY1, which belongs to the genus Kayfunavirus. After screening using RAST and VFDB, no virulence factors were discovered in P762. In vitro antibacterial tests revealed that P762 has high bactericidal activity in lettuce leaves contaminated with STEC. In conclusion, phage P762 might be employed in the future to prevent and control pathogenic Escherichia coli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lignin is a renewable bioresource that can be used for a variety of value-added applications. However, the effective separation of lignin from lignocellulosic biomass remains an ongoing challenge. In this study, lignin was extracted from waste palm fiber and successfully converted into a dehumidifying material. The following four process parameters of lignin extraction from palm fiber were optimized systematically and comprehensively using the response surface methodology: reaction time, extraction temperature, ethanol concentration and solid/liquid ratio. The results revealed that under the optimum processing conditions (111 min of extraction at 174 °C using 73% ethanol at 1/16 g/mL solid/liquid ratio), the extraction yield of lignin was 56.2%. The recovery of ethanol solvent was as high as 91.8%. Further, the lignin could be directly used without purification to produce lignin-based activated carbon fibers (LACFs) with specific surface area and total pore volume of 1375 m2/g and 0.881 cm3/g, respectively. Compared with the commercial pitch-based activated carbon fiber, the LACF has a higher specific area and superior pore structure parameters. This work provides a feasible route for extracting lignin from natural palm fiber and demonstrates its use in the preparation of activated carbon fiber with a remarkable performance as a solid dehumidification agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new salen-type Schiff base (1), namely, 4-Br-salen = N,N '-bis(4-bromo-salicylidene)-diamine, was synthesized and characterized by Infrared spectroscopy (IR), elemental analysis, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Structural analysis indicates the compound crystallizes in the monoclinic structure, P21/c (no. 14), a = 17.4167(16) Å, b = 7.3009(7) Å, c = 6.0574(4) Å, V = 768.73(11) Å3, Z = 2, Rgt(F) = 0.0566, and wRref(F 2) = 0.1553, which represents the first salen type Schiff base construct from 4-bromosalicylaldehyde. Moreover, density functional theory (DFT) and Hirshfeld surface analysis were performed to better understand the influence of halogen atoms on the electronic structure, molecular properties and three-dimensional structure of this Schiff base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Posterior cervical expansive open-door laminoplasty (LAMP) is a mature surgical procedure for the treatment of cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM), but there are few studies on the changes in cervical sagittal balance. This study aimed to analyze the imaging and clinical data of patients who underwent LAMP and to explore the effect of this procedure on the cervical sagittal balance. Methods: This was a retrospective study of the patients who underwent LAMP between 01/2014 and 12/2017. The C0–C2 Cobb angle, sagittal vertical angle (SVA), C2–C7 Cobb angle, and T1-slope were measured. The Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, neck disability index (NDI), and visual analog scale (VAS) were used. Results: There were 69 males and 39 females. The mean age was 61.3 ± 5.3 years. The C0–C2 Cobb angle increased from 11.3 ± 5.5° to 26.8 ± 4.8° (P = 0.186). The C2–C7 Cobb angle decreased from 13.9 ± 8.6° to 10.65 ± 10.7° P = 0.016). SVA increased from 21.0 ± 5.8 mm to 25.4 ± 11.5 mm (P = 0.001). The preoperative average JOA score was 11.1 ± 2.2 points, and the postoperative score was 14.0 ± 2.1 points, with an average improvement rate of JOA of 46.5 ± 3.8%. The NDI score decreased from preoperative 15.6 ± 5.4 points to 11.3 ± 7.9 points, and the VAS score was decreased from 4.6 ± 1.8 points to 3.3 ± 1.6 points (all P < 0.05). Conclusion: LAMP improved the neurological function and quality of life of patients with CSM. The cervical vertebrae show a tendency of tilting forward, suggesting that overextension of the upper cervical vertebra might be used to maintain the center of gravity of the skull and horizontal vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films have been fabricated by sputtering ZnS/Sn/CuS and following the sulfurization process. In order to study the optimal sulfurization process, the effects of sulfurization time on the quality of CZTS thin films and solar cells are investigated. The sulfurization process was carried out at 580 °C for 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 min respectively with a ramp rate of 45 °C min−1 in details. The results show that sulfurization time of 30 min provides a favorable sulfurization environment to form kesterite CZTS thin films owing to the highest crystallinity, dense and smooth surface morphology with larger grains and the best optical-electrical properties. Finally, the CZTS solar cells are fabricated with the structure of SLG/Mo/CZTS/CdS/i-ZnO/ITO/Al, and the best power conversion efficiency of 5.41% was obtained with an open-circuit voltage of 599 mV, a short-circuit current density of 18.71 mA cm−2 and a fill factor of 44% under the annealing time for 30 min. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The product variation in a machining process is mainly affected by datum error, fixture error, and machine tool path error. In spite of the success of equivalent fixture error approach to compensating datum error and machine tool path error, the machining-induced errors have not been explicitly modeled and compensated by the current compensation model based on equivalent fixture error. This will limit its application in compensation accuracy. This paper formulates a new error compensation model for machining process using equivalent fixture error concept based on differential motion vectors. With this model, datum error and machining-induced errors can be transformed to equivalent fixture locator errors and then compensated. A real cutting experiment and an error compensation simulation for machining process will be conducted in the case study to demonstrate the model validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) and cervical arthroplasty for patients with cervical spondylosis.Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were used to search for relevant articles published prior to April 2016 to identify studies comparing ACDF and cervical arthroplasty involving patients with cervical spondylosis. Relative risks (RR) and mean differences (MD) were used to measure the efficacy and safety of ACDF and cervical arthroplasty using the random effects model.Results: The meta-analysis of 17 studies involved 3122 patients diagnosed with cervical spondylosis. Patients undergoing ACDF showed lower overall success rate (RR 0.84; 95 % CI 0.77-0.92; P < 0.001), higher VAS score (MD 0.36; 95 % CI 0.08-0.64; P = 0.011), and shorter mean surgical duration (MD -1.62; 95 % CI -2.80 to -0.44; P = 0.007) when compared with cervical arthroplasty. However, the association between ACDF therapy and the risk of mean blood loss (MD -0.16; 95 % CI -0.34 to 0.02; P = 0.082), mean hospitalization (MD 0.02; 95 % CI -0.31 to 0.36; P = 0.901), patient satisfaction (RR 0.96; 95 % CI 0.92-1.00; P = 0.066), neck disability index (MD 0.20; 95 % CI -0.05 to 0.44; P = 0.113), reoperation (RR 1.25; 95 % CI 0.64-2.41; P = 0.514), or complication (RR 1.17; 95 % CI 0.90-1.52; P = 0.242) was not statistically significant.Conclusions: Patients undergoing ACDF therapy tended to exhibit lower overall success rate, higher VAS score, and decreased mean surgical duration when compared with patients treated with cervical arthroplasty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have synthesized poly( N-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) by using graphene oxide (GO) as photo-initiator and obtained the composite materials of PVK grown on GO nanosheets for fabricating the nonvolatile resistance switching memory devices. The structures of the hybrid composite materials were analyzed by using transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and C-NMR spectroscopy. The film devices with the structure of Al/PVK-GO/PEDOT: PSS/ITO have been measured for the memory effects. The new devices exhibit the nonvolatile resistance switching effect with the ON/OFF current ratio as high as 10 at a read voltage of 1.0 V. Both the low resistance ON state and the high- resistance OFF state retain stable under a constant voltage stress for 10 s. The resistance-temperature dependence and current-voltage model studies are carried out for both OFF-state and ON-state. The resistance of the OFF state shows negative temperature dependence, indicating a typical semiconductor property. The resistance of the ON state increases with an increase in temperature, indicating a metallic behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Design: A report of two cases with complex cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) and review of the literature.Objective: To describe two unique patients with complex CSM due to simultaneous anomalies as anteroposterior compressions of the spinal cord in both upper and lower cervical spine, caused by hypertrophic transverse ligament of atlas (TLA), dysplasia of the posterior arch of atlas, disc herniation, hypertrophic ligamentum flavum and osteophytes.Methods: We present such two cases with clinical, imageological presentations, and describe the surgical procedure, to which both patients responded favorably.Results: The neurological functions of both patients gradually improved according to the JOA scores and VAS scores in preoperative clumsiness and gait disturbance during the mean follow-up period lasted for 18 months. The latest plain radiographs and computed tomography (CT) revealed good fusion without instrumental failure and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed good decompression of C1-7 spinal cord of both patients. Both patients are progressively followed-up.Conclusion: Posterior surgical approach as C1-7 laminectomy with fixations or occipital-cervical fusions may obtain better reconstructions of the cervical spine and good neurological recovery for the patients with complex CSM we present. However, the incidence and ethnic predisposition for the patients with complex CSM are still unclear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stem cell to be a new intervention for treating intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) might benefit humans. Therefore, we collected animal studies to find the effect of this innovative treatment. In July 2014, we searched Medline (from 1950), Embase (from 1980), China Biology Medicine disk (from 1978) for studies on stem cells used for treating experimental ICH in animal models that reported neurobehavioral and structural outcome. We evaluated the quality of these studies and used a weighted mean difference random affects model for the meta-analysis. We have collected 30 studies from 650 publications identified through systematic review describing the effects of 5 different type of stem cells on 12 different neurobehavioral scales with 1101 rodents or monkeys. Although there is lack of uniformity of the evaluation methods, these researches showed consistent improvements both in neurobehavioral function and structural outcomes. Besides, the quality of these studies needs to be raised. In conclusion, stem cells hold extensive potential in treating ICH, which should be further evaluated with more evidence-based, high-quality animal studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce lanthanide-doped LiYF upconversion nanoparticles into TiO film and use the obtained composite film to photocatalyze the polymerization of thiophene, developing a polythiophene-TiO heterojunction coupled with upconversion nanoparticles. The upconversion nanoparticles, which are capable of converting long-wavelength photons into shorter ones, aim to broaden the light-harvesting of the heterojunction films. Solar cells are fabricated from the heterojunction films coupled with different contents of upconversion nanoparticles, and measured in respect to the incident photon-electron conversion efficiencies and the current density-voltage curves. It is revealed that the upconversion nanoparticles enable the devices to utilize the long-wavelength photons, and thus, the photovoltaic performances are enhanced. Moreover, by employing Raman spectroscopy, we monitor the process of polymerization on the TiO substrate and put deep insight into the interfacial interaction of the heterojunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seeding cells and scaffolds play pivotal roles in bone tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells (WJCs) from human umbilical cord represent attractive and promising seeding cells in tissue regeneration and engineering for treatment applications. This study was carried out to explore the biocompatibility of scaffolds to seeding cells in vitro. Rod-like nano-hydroxyapatite (RN-HA) and flake-like micro-hydroxyapatite (FM-HA) coatings were prepared on Mg-Zn-Ca alloy substrates using micro-arc oxidation and electrochemical deposition. WJCs were utilized to investigate the cellular biocompatibility of Mg-Zn-Ca alloys after different surface modifications by observing the cell adhesion, morphology, proliferation, and osteoblastic differentiation. The in vitro results indicated that the RN-HA coating group was more suitable for cell proliferation and cell osteoblastic differentiation than the FM-HA group, demonstrating better biocompatibility. Our results suggested that the RN-HA coating on Mg-Zn-Ca alloy substrates might be of great potential in bone tissue engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop an approach to improve the photovoltaic properties of polymer solar cells, by incorporating a function of light upconversion into the solar cell. We synthesize hydrophilic rhombic lanthanide-doped LiYF at the average length of 100 nm and breadth of 40 nm. The synthesized nanoparticles which are capable of converting long-wavelength photons into shorter ones are introduced into the poly(3-hexylthiophene)-TiO heterojunction solar cell. The results of the upconversion fluorescence spectra demonstrate the energy transfer from the upconversion nanoparticles to poly(3-hexylthiophene). It is revealed by using monochromatic illumination that the upconversion nanoparticles enable the devices to utilize the long-wavelength photons which are beyond the absorption of poly(3-hexylthiophene), and thus, the photovoltaic performance is enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9754 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]