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The separation of water-in-oil emulsions in harsh environment (strong acid/alkali) is a challenging subject. In this study, we prepared a superhydrophobic-superoleophilic polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) membrane by the mixture of hydrophobic SiO 2 nanoparticles, diphenyl ketone (DPK), benzoin (BZ) and PPS via thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) technology. This superhydrophobic membrane displayed a lotus leaf-like micro-nano structure, and it could be used for oil/water separation in strong acidic or alkaline environment. The hydrophobic SiO 2 nanoparticles played a key role in the membrane structure evolution and its performance. When SiO 2 content was 4 wt%, the pure water contact angle of the prepared superhydrophobic-superoleophilic membrane reached 156.9° and the oil contact angle achieved 0°. The fluxes of water-in-oil emulsions (kerosene, toluene and chloroform) reached 1926, 3150 and 3416 L/(m 2 ·h), respectively. However, the fluxes of their surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions declined to 531, 685 and 724 L/(m 2 ·h), respectively, due to the great stability of surfactant-stabilized emulsions. Most importantly, all the water rejection rates exceeded 99.9% when the PPS membranes modified with 4 wt% hydrophobic SiO 2 nanoparticles. In addition, the PPS-SiO 2 hybrid membranes exhibited excellent self-cleaning antifouling performance, cycling performance and superior acid/alkali resistance., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A green, environmentally friendly, and nontoxic method was developed to synthesize carboxylic anhydrides (NCAs) from γ-benzyl-l-glutamate (BLG) and dimethyl carbonate (DMC) though two steps: synthesis of N-methoxycarbonyl-γ-benzyl-l-glutamate intermediate (NOM-BLG) and cyclization. The highest yields of NOM-BLG (up to 83.7%) and NCA-BLG (up to 66.7%) were obtained. Most importantly, the use of DMC will open an innovative door to synthesize NCAs.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating event, leading to the progression of chronic neuropathic pain syndrome. Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 (TREM1) is an innate immune receptor expressed on neutrophils and monocytes/macrophages. TREM1 enhances inflammatory response in various models of diseases, but its significance in SCI remains unclear. In the present study, we attempted to explore the effects of TREM1 on the regulation of SCI. Spinal cord contusion injury was performed in wild type (WT) and TREM1-knockout (TREM1 KO ) mice, and real time-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), western blot, and immunofluorescent (IF) staining were used to calculate TREM1, inflammation and oxidative stress in spinal cord tissues 42 days after SPII. In vitro, astrocytes (AST) and BV2 cells were transfected TREM siRNA or the negative control (NC) siRNA to knockdown (KD) TREM1 expressions, followed by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation to verify the role od TREM1 in modulating SPI. The results suggested that TREM1 was highly expressed in the spinal cord tissues of WT mice after SCI. TREM KO mice exhibited improved locomotor function, mechanical and thermal hypersensitivity in the hindpaws after SCI. In addition, peripheral nerve injury-related biomarkers were down-regulated by TREM1 KO in SCI mice. TREM1 KO increased NeuN-stained cells, and decreased GFAP and Iba-1 expressions in spinal cord tissues of mice after SCI. TREM1 KO mice showed reduced expressions of inflammation-related regulators in the injured spinal cord. Further, toll like receptors (TLR-2, -3, -4, and -9), p-IκBα and p-nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) protein expression levels were markedly decreased by TREM1 KO in mice after SCI injury. Moreover, TREM-deficiency suppressed oxidative stress markers, while enhanced anti-oxidants, such as superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1), NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase-1 (NQO-1), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) in the injured spinal cord. The in vivo results mentioned above were verified in LPS-stimulated AST and BV2 cells in vitro. Of note, the in vitro results also demonstrated that suppressing HO-1 expressions using Zn-protoporphyrin (ZnPP) abrogated TREM1 KD -reduced inflammation, oxidative stress and glial cells activation. The results above demonstrated that suppressing TREM1 expressions markedly improved the outcome of SCI, most likely through reducing inflammation and oxidative stress at least partly regulated by HO-1 expressions. TREM1 inhibition might be therefore has potential as a therapeutic target after SCI., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

Object: Anterior cervical discectomy with fusion (ACDF) and laminoplasty (LAMP) are used for the treatment of multilevel cervical myelopathy. Despite their widespread applications certain differences are noted between the ACDF and LAMP procedures. A meta-analysis was conducted in order to compare the clinical outcomes, complications, and surgical trauma between ACDF and LAMP for the treatment of multilevel cervical myelopathy., Methods: Medline, EMBASE, Google Scholar, and Cochrane databases were used for the search of relevant studies until September 2016. The studies aimed to compare the ACDF and LAMP procedures for the treatment of multilevel cervical myelopathy. Title and abstract screening was carried out concomitantly, whereas full text screening was carried out independently. A random effect model was used for heterogeneous data. The data that did not follow heterogeneous pattern were pooled by a fixed effect model in order to examine the mean difference (MD) for continuous outcomes and the odds ratio (OR) for dichotomous outcomes, respectively., Results: A total of 6 articles out of 1351 citations (379 participants) were eligible. Significant differences were noted between the two groups in the cobb angle of C2-C7 (MD = 4.00, 95%, CI = 0.83 to 7.17; p = 0.01) and with regard to the incidence of associated complications (OR = 3.61, 95%, CI = 1.72 to 7.59; p = 0.0007). However, no apparent differences were noted in the variables blood loss (MD = -24.16, 95% CI = -174.47 to 126.15; p = 0.75), operation time ((MD = 32.81, 95% CI = -26.76 to 92.38; p = 0.28), recovery rate of JOA score (MD = 4.00, 95%, CI = 0.83 to 7.17; p = 0.01) and incidence of associated complications (OR = 3.61, 95%, CI = 1.72 to 7.59)., Conclusions: The present meta-analysis demonstrates that the rate of complications is lower in the laminoplasty. However, the cobb angle of C2-C7 was decreased in the ACDF group at the final follow-up period compared with the baseline. The outcomes of the variables blood loss, operation time, range of motion and recovery rate of JOA score, were similar in the two groups., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Ultrafast thermomechanical responses and spallation behaviours of monocrystal copper films irradiated by femtosecond laser pulse are investigated using molecular dynamics simulation (MDS). Films with 〈100〉, 〈110〉 and 〈111〉 crystal orientations along the thickness direction were studied. The results show that the crystal orientation has a significant effect on femtosecond laser-induced thermomechanical responses and spallation behaviors of monocrystal copper films. The discrepancy between normal stresses in copper films with different crystal orientation leads to distinct differences in lattice temperature. Moreover, the copper films with different crystal orientations present distinct spallation behaviors, including structural melting (atomic splashing) and fracture. The melting depth of 〈100〉 copper film is lower than that of 〈110〉 and 〈111〉 copper films for the same laser intensity. The dislocations and slip bands are formed and propagate from the solid-liquid interface of 〈110〉 and 〈111〉 copper films, while these phenomena do not appear in 〈100〉 copper film. Additionally, numerous slip bands are generated in the non-irradiated surface region of copper films due to reflection of mechanical stress. These slip bands can finally evolve into cracks (nanovoids) with time, which further result in the fracture of the entire films.

Electrical conductive poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS)/fullerene (C 60 ) composites were prepared by 1-chlornaphthalene blending method, and the interface effects of C 60 and PPS on PPS/C 60 properties were characterized. C 60 is an excellent nanofiller for PPS, and 2 wt% PPS/C 60 composite displayed the optimal conductivity which achieved 1.67 × 10 -2  S/cm. However, when C 60 concentration reached 2 wt%, the breaking strength and tensile modulus of PPS/C 60 fiber achieved maximum 290 MPa and 605 MPa, and those values were 7.72 and 11.2 times as that of pure PPS. The excellent conductive and mechanical properties of PPS/C 60 were attributed to the heterogeneous nucleation of C 60 during PPS crystallization, formation of a large number of covalent bond by main C 60 -thiol adducts and minor C 60 -ArCl alkylation between C 60 outer surface and PPS matrix. At same time, PPS/C 60 thermal properties were also investigated.

Hydrophilic graphene sheets were synthesized from a mixture of magnesium and gallic acid (GA) modified graphene oxide (GO) in a self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) process, and hydrophilic graphene sheets displayed the higher C/O ratio (16.36), outstanding conductivity (~88900 S/m) and excellent water-solubility. GO sheets were connected together by GA, and GA was captured to darn GO structure defects through the formation of hydrogen bonds and ester bonds. In SHS process, the most oxygen ions of GO reacted with magnesium to prevent the escape of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide to from the structure defects associated with vacancies, and GA could take place the high-temperature carbonization, during which a large-area graphene sheets formed with a part of the structure defects being repaired. When only GO was reduced by magnesium in SHS process, and the reduced GO (rGO) exhibited the smaller sheets, the lower C/O ratio (15.26), the weaker conductivity (4200 S/m) and the poor water-solubility because rGO inevitably left behind carbon vacancies and topological defects. Therefore, the larger sheet, less edge defects and free structure defects associated with vacancies play a key role for graphene sheets good dispersion in water.

Objective: To investigate the expression of SFRP4 and DKK1 in cervical squamous cell carcinoma and explore the clinicopathological implications., Methods: Immunohistochemistry and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used to detect the expressions of SFRP4 and DKK1 in 66 cervical squamous cell carcinoma and 26 normal cervical specimens., Results: SFRP4 expression was significantly higher (P<0.01) and DKK1 expression was significantly lower (P<0.05) in the carcinoma tissues than in normal cervical tissues. DKK1 was negatively correlated with SFRP4 in the carcinoma tissues (P<0.01), and their expressions were associated with the clinical stages, tumor differentiation, depth of invasion and lymph node metastasis of the tumors (P<0.05)., Conclusion: SFRP4 and DKK1, the upstream components of the Wnt pathway, play a key role in the tumorigenesis of cervical squamous cell carcinoma, and their expressions are associated with the clinicopathological features of the malignancy.

Objective: To evaluate the value of early diagnosis of myelopathy hand in improving the efficacies of surgical treatment of cervical spondylotic myelopathy., Methods: Analyses were conducted for 118 cases of cervical spondylotic myelopathy at Department of Orthopedics, Changzheng Hospital and Zhabei Campus from January 2009 to November 2012. They were diagnosed with myelopathy hand and classified by finger escape sign, 10-second grip and release test of fist along with electromyography of ill limb to evaluate the movement function of hands . They were divided into early diagnosis group with myelopathy hand (A, n = 62) and routine diagnosis group without myelopathy hand (B, n = 56) . All patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy underwent anterior corpectomy decompression and fusion. The average follow-up period was up to 4. 1 years. Modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score was used to evaluate neurological function preoperation and 48 months postoperation respectively. T-test of SPSS statistical software 13. 0 was used to analyze the inter-group difference of JOA scores before and after surgery., Results: There were no inter-group significant differences in age, gender or smoking ratio. The JOA scores of groups A and B were 10. 1 ± 2. 3, 14. 9 ± 2. 0; 9. 8 ± 3. 1, 12. 1 ± 2. 3 before surgery and 48 months postoperation and the increase of JOA scores were 4. 8 ± 0. 9, 2. 3 ± 0. 6. The inter-group differences between JOA scores before and after surgery were statistically significant (P = 0. 00). And the inter-group differences between the increase of JOA scores at 48 months postoperation were statistically significant (P = 0. 00)., Conclusion: Neurological function improves more for patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy diagnosed with myelopathy hand in early stage than those diagnosed conventionally without myclopathy hand. And an early diagnosis of this sign may boost the surgical efficacies for cervical spondylotic myelopathy.

Background: In the floral ABC model, B-class genes comprised of DEFICIENS (DEF)/APETALA3 (AP3) and GLOBOSA (GLO)/PISTILLATA (PI) had been proposed to involve in second and third whorl floral organ development. However, less is known about the function of B-class genes from early-diverging angiosperms. Chloranthaceae is one of the early-diverging angiosperm families. In this study, we characterized the role of the PI-like gene CsPI cloned from Chloranthus spicatus which have the simplest perianthless bisexual flowers., Results: The expression profile analysis reveals high levels of CsPI mRNA in stamens in Chloranthus spicatus, with weak distribution in leaves and other floral organs. Nevertheless, CsPI rescued both stamen and petal development in Arabidopsis thaliana pi-1 mutants and caused partially conversion of sepals into petaloid organs in wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Yeast two-hybrid analysis showed that CsPI can form not only homodimers but also heterodimers with proteins encoded by Arabidopsis thaliana and Chloranthus spicatus AP3-like genes., Conclusions: These results suggested that CsPI has an ancestral function on stamen development and that CsPI has capability to specify petal development in Arabidopsis thaliana. The finding indicates that the activity of the encoded PI-like proteins is highly conserved between the early-diverging Chloranthus and Arabidopsis. Moreover, our results appear to suggest that B-function genes may not play a role in perianth development in Chloranthus spicatus.

MCM-41 was grafted with 3-aminopropyl trimethoxysilane (APTMS), 3-chloropropyltriethoxysilane (CPTMS) to give organic group modified samples, and l-tryptophane was covalently immobilized onto organic samples to improve the physicochemical properties of mesoporous silica to controlled amoxicillin delivery. Samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N(2) adsorption-desorption isotherms and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and characterized results demonstrated that organic groups were successfully grafted onto the samples. The results of amoxicillin release exhibited that 12.9wt% and 33.0wt% impregnated amoxicillin could be released from the post-grafting MCM-41 with APTMS and pure MCM-41 after 24h, however, 41.0wt% impregnated amoxicillin could be released from the post-grafting MCM-41 with CPTMS after 24h. When the samples modified with APTMS and CPTMS were further grafted by l-tryptophane, the slower drug release rate was achieved over samples with l-tryptophane immobilization. The release profiles of all samples indicated that the amoxicillin release was mainly regulated by the diffusion mechanism., (Copyright 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C(5)H(12)N(+)·C(7)H(5)O(6)S(-)·H(2)O, contains a piperidinium cation, one 3-carb-oxy-4-hydroxy-benzene-sulfonate anion and one water mol-ecule. Inter-molecular O-H⋯O, O-H⋯S and N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds generate a three-dimensional hydrogen-bonded framework.