Search

Bo Huang,1,* Zhichun Feng,2,3,* Lina Zhu,2 Sheng Zhang,2,3 Jun Duan,4 Chaochao Zhao,1 Xiaoying Zhang1,2 1Public Health, Guilin Medical University, Guilin 541100, People’s Republic of China; 2Affiliated BaYi Children’s Hospital, Seventh Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100700, People’s Republic of China; 3Beijing Key Laboratory of Pediatric Organ Failure, Beijing 100700, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Xiaoying ZhangPublic Health, Guilin Medical University, 1 Zhiyuan Road, Lingui District, Guilin 541100, People’s Republic of ChinaTel/Fax +86773-3680605Email xiaoyingzhang79@163.comPurpose: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are largely studied for their potential clinical use. Recently, there has been gained further interest in the relationship between MSCs and tumorigenesis. MSCs are reported to both promote and abrogate tumor growth. The present study was designed to investigate whether miRNAs are involved in the interactions between MSCs and tumor cells in the tumor microenvironment.Materials and Methods: Rat bone marrow-derived MSCs (rMSCs) were cultured with or without tumor-conditioned medium (TCM) to observe the effect upon MSCs by TCM. Microarrays and real-time PCR were performed between the two groups. A series of experiments were used to reveal the functional significance of microRNA-503 (miR-503) in rMSCs. Furthermore, the antitumorigenic effect of silencing of miR-503 in rMSCs (miR-503-i-rMSCs) in vivo was measured.Results: We found that rMSCs in vitro exhibited tumor-promoting properties in TCM, and the microRNA profiles of rMSCs were significantly altered in TCM. However, miR-503-i-rMSCs can decrease the angiogenesis and growth of A549 cells. We also demonstrated in an in vivo tumor model that miR-503-i-rMSCs inhibited A549 tumor angiogenesis and significantly abrogated tumor initiation and growth. CD133 assays in peripheral blood and A549 xenografts further validated that miR-503-i-rMSCs, rather than rMSCs, exerted an antitumorigenic action in the A549 tumor model.Conclusion: Our results suggest that miR-503-i-rMSCs are capable of tumor suppression. Further studies are required to develop clinical therapies based on the inhibition of the tumor-promoting properties and potentiation of the anti-tumor properties of MSCs.Keywords: mesenchymal stem cells, microRNA-503, tumor-conditioned medium, tumor angiogenesis

In recent research, a method for manufacturing superhydrophobic metal surfaces using pulse laser texturing has been developed. After laser texturing, a sample can be converted into a superhydrophob...

To investigate the effects of Cr doping on the microstructure and tribological properties of multi-layered diamond-like carbon (DLC) films, Cr-DLC films with Cr contents ranging from 0 to 22 at.% were deposited on 0Cr19Ni10 stainless steel and Si wafer surfaces by unbalanced magnetron sputtering. The thickness of the transition layer is 180 nm and the Cr-DLC film ranging from 1.3 to 1.5 µm. The microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties of the films were systematically investigated at room temperature in atmospheric environment. Results show that increasing the Cr target current can effectively improve the incident particle density and reduce surface roughness. As a strong carbon metal, Cr has significant influence on the structure and properties of the film for bonding with carbon atoms during deposition. High-energy Cr particles are favorable for films to increase the sp3 hybrid bond ratio and reduce internal stress. The high-hardness sp3 hybrid phase, Cr carbide, oxide dispersion can effectively improve the mechanical properties of the film, but overdoping is detrimental for mechanical properties of the film. The internal stress shows a continuous trend of decreasing with the increasing Cr content and it reduced up to 80% compared with pure DLC films. The films prepared with Cr sputtering current of 0.4 A demonstrate the best tribological properties, and the friction coefficient and wear rate are 0.15 and 2.9 × 10−7 mm3/Nm, respectively.

For the purposes of investigating the effects of ceria content on the anti-icing, hydrophobicity, and antiwear performances of ceria/polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) composite coatings, ceria/PTFE composite coatings with ceria mass fractions of 0%, 1%, 3%, 5%, and 7% were prepared via one-step spraying method. The water contact angles (WCAs) on the composite coatings were measured via contact angle measuring device. The antiwear performance was characterized via ball-on-disk sliding tribo-tests. Experimental results show that the addition of ceria with a content of 5 wt% is the most effective to enhance hydrophobicity of the coatings, resulting from the coating surface structure, roughness, and intrinsic hydrophobicity of ceria. Moreover, the addition of ceria is helpful to the improvement of antiwear performances of PTFE composite coatings, when the content of ceria is 1–7 wt%. Ceria/PTFE composite coatings with a ceria content of 5 wt% show a wear rate of 0.388 × 10−4 mm3/Nm, which is 80.6% lower than that of PTFE coating without ceria (2.000 × 10−4 mm3/Nm).

Polyalphaolefin (PAO) oil is one of the most commonly-used based oil to decrease the fuel energy consumption of mechanical systems, like vehicles. Nevertheless, it heavily relies on environmental toxic organic additives with sulfur, phosphorus, and/or chlorine. Accordingly, nano-carbon materials, such as nano-diamond (ND), onion-like-carbon (OLC) and graphene (Gr.), was adopted to develop a novel kind of environmentally-friendly PAO-based lubricants with low toxic additives. Synergetic effects between nano-carbon materials and MoDTC additives were investigated to enhance friction-reduction and anti-wear performances of PAO oil with molybdenum di-thiocarbamate (MoDTC) additive. Experimental results show that ND and OLC additives are effective in the enhancement of friction-reduction and anti-wear performances of self-mated AISI 52100 steels lubricated under poly-alpha-olefin (PAO) oil with Mo-DTC additive, due to the formation of tribo-film consist of MoSx, polishing, ball-bearing and reinforcement effects of nano-particles. Via the addition of ND or OLC additive with a content of 0.05 wt.%, the optimized dosage of MoDTC additive can be significantly decreased from 1 to 0.1 wt.%. Friction coefficient of self-mated AISI 52100 steels lubricated under PAO oil with 0.1 wt.% Mo-DTC and 0.05 wt.% ND additive is about 0.05, approximately equal to that lubricated under PAO oil with 1 wt.% Mo-DTC additives. Moreover, ND additive resulted in a lower friction coefficient, better wear resistance (about 2.3 × 10− 16 m3/N m) and shorter duration of run-in period than OLC additive in PAO oil with MoDTC additive. Graphene is not helpful to enhance the friction-reduction and anti-wear performance of PAO oil with or without MoDTC, due to the absence of polishing, ball-bearing and reinforcement of nano-particles effects. Although, individual addition of OLC additive in PAO oil also caused friction-reduction effectiveness, serious wear damage occurred attributed to the abrasive of nano-particles.

A pair of enantiomeric ligands, (2R,3R)-dibenzyl-2,3-bis(isonicotinoyloxy)succinate ((R,R)-L) and (2S,3S)-dibenzyl-2,3-bis(isonicotinoyloxy)succinate ((S,S)-L), are designed and synthesized. Seven copper (II) coordination polymers {[Cu((R,R)-L)Br

A nitrogen (N), oxygen (O)-rich porphyrin-based covalent organic framework (COF), in which interlayer porphyrin molecules are vertically stacked, is prepared and characterized. As-prepared N,O-rich TpTph COF shows a high adsorption capacity for Cd

Thermal spraying aluminum coatings have been widely used in the corrosion protection of mild steel in seawater. In this study, high-efficiency supersonic plasma spraying (HESP) and oxygen–acetylene flame spraying (FS) were used to prepare aluminum coatings. The micromorphology of the coatings was analyzed by a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometer. The phase identification of the coatings was conducted by an x-ray diffractometer. The Vickers hardness and bonding strength of the coatings were measured by an HMV-2000 Vickers hardness tester and MTS809 universal tensile tester. The corrosion resistance of the coatings was tested by an IM6ex electrochemical workstation. The results show that the aluminum coatings prepared by HESP have a denser structure, higher microhardness, higher bonding strength, and better corrosion resistance than those prepared by the traditional FS. After 480-h immersion in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution, a dense corrosion product formed on the surface of aluminum coatings prepared by HESP prevents further corrosion of the coatings, but the aluminum coatings sprayed by FS demonstrate a serious pitting phenomenon.

Purpose We performed this analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravenous levetiracetam (IV LEV) in patients with status epilepticus. Method Studies were searched in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for available randomized controlled trials(RCTs) comparing the efficacy and/or safety of IV LEV with other antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Meta-analysis was performed using the random-effects model to calculate risk ratio with the RevMan 5.3 software. Results Six RCTs with a total of 543 patients were included. There was no significant differences in clinical seizure cessation and hospital mortality, either between IV LEV and IV phenytoin (PHT) or between IV LEV and IV valproate (VPA). Compared with IV PHT, IV LEV had a lower risk of poor neurological outcome. For IV LEV compared with IV lorazepam (LOR), no significant difference in efficacy was found, but IV LEV patients had significantly lower need for ventilatory assistance. Adding IV LEV to clonazepam (CNP), compared with adding placebo showed no significant differences in seizure cessation at 15 min. Conclusions Our results suggested that IV LEV was comparable to IV PHT,VPA, or LOR in efficacy, and IV LEV as add-on therapy of CNP had no superiority in seizure cessation than CNP plus placebo. IV LEV may have a better tolerability than other AEDs do. More RCTs are needed to validate the role of IV LEV in status epilepticus.

The aim of this work is to understand the relationship among average grain size, dimple size and tensile properties of 316L stainless steel via directly experimental results. We have successfully prepared samples with the average grain size from a few microns to tens of microns through cold rolling and annealing processes. Uniaxial tensile tests were performed to confirm the Hall-Petch relationship between the grain size and yield strength. In order to uncover the grain size dependence of ductility, the fracture morphologies in details were observed. It revealed that the dimple size is positively related to the value of D1/2 (D is the average diameter of grain size). A larger grain size was believed to result in a larger dimple so as to achieve a higher ductility (uniform elongation).

We performed a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the efficacy of HER2-targeted agents in combination with taxanes and to identify the best strategy for HER2+ metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Pubmed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched for randomized controlled trials that evaluated any taxanes+HER2-targeted agents in the treatment of HER2+ MBC. The primary outcome was overall survival (OS). The secondary outcomes included overall response rate (ORR) and progression-free survival (PFS). A total of 13 RCTs were eligible, involving 4941 patients and 10 regimens. The result showed that single-HER2-targeted agent+a taxane did improve the effect on ORR and PFS than taxane alone, but only trastuzumab+a taxane had a significant improvement in OS outcomes. Single-HER2-targeted agent (trastuzumab) combined with taxane-based doublets (taxane+carboplatin/capecitabine/doxorubicin/bevacizumab) showed no further benefit than trastuzumab+a taxane. Doublet-HER2-targeted agents combined with a taxane(trastuzumab+pertuzumab+a taxane) showed further improvement in ORR, PFS, and all OS outcomes than single-HER2-targeted agent+a taxane. Ranking analysis based on their P-scores suggested that trastuzumab+pertuzumab+a taxane was the best combination treatment for all the efficacy outcomes. These findings demonstrate that combining two HER2-targeted agents (trastuzumab+pertuzumab) with a taxane is much more beneficial for the treatment of HER2+ MBC. Dual HER2-targeted agents combined with a taxane appears to be the preferred application of HER2+ MBC.

Objective To investigate the effects of Da-Cheng-Qi Decoction (DCQD, 大承气汤) combined with Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA) on the recovery of gastrointestinal (GI) function in traumatic brain-injured (TBI) mice.

Cold spraying (CS), a solid-state spraying technology, is expected to become an appropriate supplementary for traditional spraying methods owing to its plenty of merits such as high deposit...

Hypereutectic Al-Si alloy is an ideal surface strengthening material for aluminum alloy cylinder body. However, the coarse eutectic silicon phase and primary silicon particles in Al-Si alloys prepared by traditional methods lead to poor mechanical properties of the alloys, and the high cost of preparation limits the practical application of hypereutectic Al-Si alloys. In this study, Al-25 wt.%Si coatings were prepared on substrate 7075 by high-efficiency supersonic plasma spraying (HESP). The micromorphology, Vickers hardness, bonding strength and wear resistance of the coatings were measured and characterized by experiments. The results show that the Al-25 wt.%Si coatings prepared by HESP have a denser structure, and the primary silicon phase in the coatings is refined. The hardness of the coatings is 235 HV0.1, and the bonding strength between the coatings and the substrate is 44.1 MPa. The wear rate of the coatings is reduced by 20 times compared with that of the substrate, and the wear mechanism is mainly adhesion wear and oxidation wear.

In this study, tungsten and titanium co-doped diamond-like carbon films (W/Ti-DLC) on the AISI 316 L stainless steel substrate with different currents of Ti target are deposited by ion beam deposition/DC magnetron sputtering technology, and Ti contents in the W/Ti-DLC films varies from 0 to 1.9 at.%. The mechanical properties, chemical composition and tribological properties of the W/Ti-DLC films are analyzed by nano-indentation instrument, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectrometer, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The friction and wear behaviors of the films versus AISI 52100 steel ball under molybdenum dialkyldithiocarbamate (MoDTC) and zinc dialkyldithiophosphate (ZDDP) containing lubrication conditions are investigated by using an SRV tribometer. The results show that doping Ti with high content can cause graphitization on the film surface. The variances of the coefficients of friction and wear rates of the films with Ti content under lubrications are mainly governed by the graphitization and tribofilms formed on the worn surfaces. MoDTC presents better friction reduction effect on the W/Ti-DLC film and Ti content has effect on the formation of ZDDP derived tribofilm.

Purpose We systematically reviewed studies to provide current evidence about the incidence and risk of alopecia in patients undergoing valproic acid (VPA) therapy. Methods We retrieved relevant publications and gathered data on alopecia in patients taking VPA and other drugs from prospective studies. Results Twenty-five articles met the inclusion criteria, and the overall incidence of alopecia in patients receiving VPA therapy was 11% (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.08–0.13). The pooled risk of alopecia showed a significant difference between patients treated with VPA and all other drugs (odds ratio (OR) 5.02, 95% CI: 3.58–7.03), other epileptic drugs (AEDs) (OR 4.82, 95% CI: 3.32–7.00) and other non-AEDs (OR 5.84, 95% CI: 2.67–12.81). Compared to other drugs, VPA increased the risk of alopecia both in patients with migraine headaches (OR 6.05, 95% CI: 2.89–12.63) and patients with epilepsy (OR 5.29, 95% CI: 3.53–7.92), and the increase risk was reported more frequently in patients with migraine. Both lower doses (OR 4.38, 95% CI: 2.32–8.25) and shorter treatments (OR 4.98, 95% CI: 2.41–10.25) with VPA posed a high risk of alopecia compared to other drugs, as did higher doses and longer treatment times. Conclusions Based on our findings, VPA was significantly associated with a risk of alopecia compared to other drugs, and the risk did not depend on the dose and treatment time.

In order to further improve the mechanical properties of CrN films, the influence of substrate bias current on the microstructure and properties of the CrNx films deposited by plasma enhanced magnetron sputtering was studied by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, 3D profiler, nano indenter, and ball-on-disk tribometer. With the increase of substrate bias current, the microstructure of the films is transformed from a dendritic structure into a super dense columnar structure, and the phase composition is evolved from Cr → Cr + Cr2N → pure Cr2N. When the substrate bias current is >1.5 A, the preferred orientation is transformed from Cr2N(111) to Cr2N(300) with increasing substrate bias current. The surface roughness of the films is decreased from 27.3 to 18.7 nm as the substrate bias current is increased from 0.1 to 1.5 A, but the surface roughness remains nearly unchanged when the substrate bias current exceeds 1.5 A. The hardness and effective Young's modulus of the films are obviously increased with increasing the substrate bias current from 0.1 to 3.0 A, while they are almost independent of the substrate bias current when the substrate bias current is no less than 3.0 A. The lowest friction coefficient of 0.43 is obtained when the substrate bias current is 4.5 A. When the substrate bias current is increased, the wear rate of CrN-coated samples is first increased and then decreased, and the lowest wear rates is 4.6 × 10−16 m3/(N·m) when the substrate bias current is 6.0 A.

Objective The objective of this study was to validate the Chinese version of the Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory for Epilepsy (NDDIE) as a suicidality screening tool in Chinese people with epilepsy (PWE). Methods A consecutive cohort of PWE was recruited from West China Hospital and 363 Hospital. Each patient received a psychiatric evaluation with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and the Chinese version of the NDDIE (C-NDDIE). Demographic and clinical characteristics were collected. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted. The best possible cutoff was identified with the highest Youden index. Specificity, sensitivity, positive, and negative predictive values were calculated. Results Among a total of 355 participants, 41 (11.5%) had a moderate to high suicide risk according to the Suicidality Module (SM) of the MINI. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that item 4 (“I'd be better off dead”) of the NDDIE had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.930 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.884–0.977), a sensitivity of 80.5%, a specificity of 94.9%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 68.0%, a negative predictive value (NPV) of 97.7%, and the largest Youden index of 0.754 for a cutoff score of > 2. Conclusion Item 4 of the NDDIE is a valuable tool for screening suicidality in Chinese PWE.

Photosensitizer is one of the most important elements of photodynamic therapy (PDT). Herein, we reported a novel strategy to prepare a new series of composite photosensitizers. The composite photosensitizer was prepared by simply mixing DNA G-quadruplexes with a hydrophilic porphyrin (TMPipEOPP)4+·4I–. Compared with the conventional porphyrin photosensitizers, the excitation wavelength of the composite one has been ∼50 nm redshifted (from 650 to 700 nm), which is beneficial to the penetration of the light. Moreover, the composite photosensitizer showed an about 7.4-fold increase of light absorption efficiency, thus greatly enhancing the singlet oxygen (1O2) generation capacity and PDT efficacy. What is more, the introduction of nucleic acids in the composite photosensitizer could also provide some extra charming properties, such as the targeted recognition ability conferred by aptamer and high capability to assemble with various drug carriers. We demonstrated that the composite photosensitizer could be ea...

Purpose To evaluate the predictors of seizure reduction outcome after vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE). Methods A meta-analysis was performed using relevant research from databases such as PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Online Library, and Clinicaltrials.gov. Studies were selected according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The quality of studies was evaluated by using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) scale. All data was pooled by STATA 12.0 software for meta-analysis. Results The review considered 1281 articles, and 16 articles with NOS score ≥6 were included in the analysis. The meta-analysis showed that at 6 m, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12 years after implantation, 33.99, 43.42, 46.50, 63.31, 52.71, 54.64, 70.37 and 82.90% of patients exhibited >50% reduction of seizure frequency after VNS. The duration of epilepsy showed a significant difference between the good responders and poor responders (p = 0.038), whereas age at VNS implantation (p = 0.305), age at seizure onset (p = 0.530), seizure type (p = 0.11), etiology (p = 0.187), and history of previous epilepsy surgery (p = 0.075) were not predictors of seizure reduction outcome after VNS. Several features about the electroencephalogram (EEG) feature and heart rhythm complexity (HRV) have not been analyzed by a sufficient number of studies. Conclusions DRE patients with shorter duration of epilepsy may be better candidates for VNS rather than those who are younger at onset and implantation. Several EEG or HRV features may have predictive value but more research is needed.

Bit balling phenomenon usually occurs in the process of oil exploitation by polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bit. Carbon fiber (CF) reinforced polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) composite coatings are expected to apply to PDC bits for improving the friction and wear properties and hydrophobicity. In this study, a particular process was used to prepare PTFE/CF composite coatings with different content of CFs. The mass fractions of CF in PTFE are 10%, 15% and 20%, respectively. The surface morphology of the coatings was observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and 3D measuring laser microscope, and water contact angles (WCA) were measured. The results showed that when the mass fraction of CF is 20%, the friction coefficient is 0.17 ± 0.01, which doesn’t increase much; the wear rate is 2.74 × 10−4 mm3/Nm, which is the lowest of all and decreases by about 29.7%, compared with that of pure PTFE. The WCA of PTFE/20%CF composite coating increases to 122.0° ± 2.0°, which shows good hydrophobicity, while the WCA of pure PTFE coating is only 106.3° ± 1.5°. Abrasive wear and adhesive wear are main wear mechanism of composite coatings under air condition.

Background Patients with acute non-lacunar single subcortical infarct (SSI) associated with mild intracranial atherosclerosis (ICAS) have a relatively high incidence of early neurological deterioration (END), resulting in unfavorable functional outcomes. Whether the early administration of argatroban and aspirin or clopidogrel within 6–12 h after symptom onset is effective and safe in these patients is unknown. Methods A review of the stroke database of Weihai Municipal Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University and Qingdao Center Hospital, Qingdao University Medical College in China was undertaken from May 2017 to January 2020 to identify all patients with non-lacunar SSI caused by ICAS within 6–12 h of symptom onset based on MRI screening. Patients were divided into two groups, one comprising those who received argatroban and mono antiplatelet therapy with aspirin or clopidogrel on admission (argatroban group), and the other those who received dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with aspirin and clopidogrel during hospitalization (DAPT group). The primary outcome was recovery by 90 days after stroke based on a modified Rankin scale (mRS) score (0 to 1). The secondary outcome was END incidence within 120 h of admission. Safety outcomes were intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) and major extracranial bleeding. The probability of clinical benefit (mRS score 0–1 at 90 days) was estimated using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results A total of 304 acute non-lacunar SSI associated with mild ICAS patients were analyzed. At 90 days, 101 (74.2%) patients in the argatroban group and 80 (47.6%) in the DAPT group had an mRS score that improved from 0 to 1 (P P Conclusions Early combined administration of argatroban and an antiplatelet agent (aspirin or clopidogrel) may be beneficial for patients with non-lacunar SSI associated with mild ICAS identified by MRI screening and may attenuate progressive neurological deficits. Trial registration Our study is a retrospectively registered trial.

The WC-10Co4Cr coatings with conventional structure and bimodal structure were sprayed by high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) technology. The phase compositions and morphologies of the WC-10Co4Cr powders and coatings were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The microhardness, porosity, bonding strength, elastic modulus, and indentation fracture toughness of the conventional coating (Conventional) and the bimodal coating (Bimodal) were also studied. The sliding wear properties of the Conventional and the Bimodal against Si3N4 counterballs under different loads at room temperature (∼25 °C) were investigated using a friction and wear tester. Compared with the Conventional, the Bimodal has denser microstructure, lower porosity, more excellent mechanical properties, and the Bimodal has better wear resistance than the Conventional under different loads. The two coatings under 15 N and 30 N only exhibit abrasive and slightly adhesive wear mechanism, while in the load application of 45 N, additional mechanism which is fatigue is detected and causes flaking of the coating.

The effects of titanium (Ti) ion-implanted doses on the chemical composition, surface roughness, mechanical properties, as well as tribological properties of 316L austenitic stainless steel are investigated in this paper. The Ti ion implantations were carried out at an energy of 40 kV and at 2 mA for different doses of 3.0 × 1016, 1.0 × 1017, 1.0 × 1018, and 1.7 × 1018 ions/cm2. The results showed that a new phase (Cr2Ti) was detected, and the concentrations of Ti and C increased obviously when the dose exceeded 1.0 × 1017 ions/cm2. The surface roughness can be significantly reduced after Ti ion implantation. The nano-hardness increased from 3.44 to 5.21 GPa at a Ti ion-implanted dose increase up to 1.0 × 1018 ions/cm2. The friction coefficient decreased from 0.78 for un-implanted samples to 0.68 for a sample at the dose of 1.7 × 1018 ions/cm2. The wear rate was slightly improved when the sample implanted Ti ion at a dose of 1.0 × 1018 ions/cm2. Adhesive wear and oxidation wear are the main wear mechanisms, and a slightly abrasive wear is observed during sliding. Oxidation wear was improved significantly as the implantation dose increased.

A silicon nanoplate-decorated graphite design is developed for lithium battery anodes via a simple ball milling process. The resultant silicon-graphite electrodes show high cycling stability with high capacity, superior rate capability, and excellent electrode stability when compared to their counterparts, attributable to two-dimensional silicon and its area-to-area contact with graphite.

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings containing 0.7%, 5.8%, and 23.3% Ti were deposited via pulsed cathodic arc deposition and magnetron sputtering on AISI 316L stainless steel substrates. The varied Ti content was controlled by setting Ti target current at 3, 5, and 7A. The composition, microstructure, mechanical, and tribological properties of Ti-doped DLC (Ti-DLC) coatings were investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, nanoindentation, and ball-on-disc tribometer. The results show that TiC formed when Ti content in the coating was higher than 5.8 at% and the ID/IG ratios increased gradually with the increasing Ti content. Ti-DLC with 0.7 at% Ti had the highest H/E and H3/E2 ratios and exhibited optimal tribological properties under lubrication, especially when zinc dialkyldithio-phosphate (ZDDP) was contained in the oil. Furthermore, ZDDP tribofilms played an important role in wear reduction by protecting the rubbing surfaces against the adhesion and suppressing the tribo-induced graphitization of DLC coatings.

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of acute aerobic exercise on executive function (EF) and executive control network (ECN) in preadolescent children, and further explored the neural basis of acute aerobic exercise on EF in these children. We used a within-subjects design with a counterbalanced order. Nine healthy, right-handed children were scanned with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and performed an EF task both in baseline session and exercise session. The exercise session was consisted of 30 minutes of aerobic exercise on a bicycle ergometer at 60% of their estimated maximum heart rate. Compared with the baseline session, acute aerobic exercise benefitted performance in the EF task, increased the functional connectivity between right dorsolateral prefrontal and left cerebellum, further, the increment of functional connectivity was negatively correlated with the EF' s behavioral performance change. These findings suggest that acute aerobic exercise enhances children's EF, and the neural basis may be related to functional connectivity changes in the ECN elicited by acute aerobic exercise. El objetivo de esta investigación es estudiar la influencia del ejercicio aeróbico agudo en la función ejecutiva (EF) y la red de control ejecutiva (REC) en niños preadolescentes, además explorar la base neutral de estos ejercicios aeróbicos en los niños. Hemos utilizado un diseño de orden equilibrado. Nueve niños diestros saludables fueron escaneados con resonancia magnética funcional y se llevaron a cabo tareas de EF, sesiones de ejercicio y sesiones de medición basal. Comparado con las sesiones de base, la sesión de ejercicio consistió en 30 minutos de ejercicios aeróbicos en bicicleta ergométrica al 60% del ritmo cardiaco máximo estimado. Comparado con la sesión basal, el ejercicio aeróbico agudo benefició el desempeño en la tarea EF, aumentó la conectividad funcional entre el prefrontal dorsolateral derecho y el cerebelo izquierdo, además, el incremento de conectividad funcional se correlacionó negativamente con el cambio en el comportamiento del EF. Los resultados de estos estudios demuestran que el ejercicio aeróbico agudo refuerza, y puede provocar ciertos cambios.

Objectives A considerable proportion of epilepsy patients who achieved long-term seizure freedom with standardized treatment of antiseizure medication will attempt to withdraw medications. Epilepsy is currently considered as a network disease, however, the characteristics of brain function and neural network before and after medication withdrawal remain to be discovered. Methods Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was obtained for 32 healthy controls, 32 seizure-free patients initiating medication tapering (PG1 group), and 16 seizure-free patients that had completely discontinued medications (PG2 group). Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation and regional homogeneity were calculated to measure local functional activity. Global and nodal metrics of small-world network were calculated based on Graph theory. One-way analysis of variance was applied to analyze intergroup difference, withpost hoc analysis being conducted for each pair of groups. Results Sex, age at scanning and other clinical variables showed no significant difference between groups. As compared to control, the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation, regional homogeneity or nodal metrics of neural network in some brain areas were abnormal in the PG1 or PG2 group; when compared between patient groups, significant between-group differences were also found in the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation, regional homogeneity or nodal metrics. But, the global metrics of neural network showed no differences among groups. Conclusions The global metrics of patients with long-term seizure freedom were normal either before or after antiseizure medication withdrawal, while the local functional activity and nodal metrics in some brain areas were abnormal and differed between before and after antiseizure medication withdrawal.

Plasma-sprayed ceramic coatings have been widely used in friction and wear protection of mechanical parts. In this paper, the nanostructured Al2O3–13 wt% TiO2 coatings were prepared by high-efficiency supersonic plasma spraying (HESP) and atmospheric plasma spraying (APS), respectively. The surface and section morphology of the coatings were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The phase composition of the coatings was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The dry sliding friction properties of the coatings were tested on UMT-3 friction and wear testing machine. The results show that after plasma spraying, a large amount of γ-Al2O3 phase appears, while the TiO2 phase almost disappears in the coatings; compared with APS, the coatings sprayed by HESP have fewer defects and better coating quality; under dry friction condition, the steady-state friction coefficient of the coatings sprayed by HESP and APS all decreases with the increase of load, and the wear volume all increases with the increase of load. When the load is more than 40 N, wear volume of the coatings sprayed by APS is basically twice that of HESP; the wear mechanism of the coatings sprayed by HESP is the laminar cracking, peeling off and the adhesive wear.

Objective We aimed to develop and validate a predictive model of posttraumatic epilepsy (PTE). Methods The training cohort was patients registered at West China Hospital and diagnosed as traumatic brain injury (TBI) between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2017. On the basis of multivariable cox proportional hazards model using a forward stepwise method, the nomogram was generated. We externally validated this instrument in 834 participants from two independent cohorts to assess its performance. Results The nomogram was built based on the results of multivariable cox proportional hazards regression analysis of 1301patients from West China Hospital. The prevalence of PTE was 12.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 10.9–14.6%) in training cohort, 10.5% (95% CI, 7.5–13.4%) in the testing 1 cohort, and 6.1% (95% CI, 3.7–8.4%) in the testing 2 cohort. 7 independent predictors of PTE composed the nomogram (sex, time of loss of consciousness, subdural hemorrhage, contusion sites, early posttraumatic seizures, TBI severity, and treatment). The C-index was 0.846 (95% CI, 0.817–0.876), and the corresponding sensitivity and specificity were 0.867 and 0.738. External validations showed good discrimination in overall testing cohorts with a C-index of 0.895 (95% CI, 0.859–0.930), in the testing 1 cohort (C-index 0.897, 95% CI, 0.855–0.938) and testing 2 cohort (C-index, 0.883, 95% CI, 0.814–0.952). Calibration of this model was also good since the calibration plots were close to the ideal line. Conclusions This nomogram was developed and validated in a large cohort for individualized prediction of PTE, which can identify individuals at high risk of epilepsy and help us find preventive drugs based on these targeted population.

Background Posttraumatic epilepsy (PTE) is a common sequela after traumatic brain injury (TBI), and identifying high-risk patients with PTE is necessary for their better treatment. Although artificial neural network (ANN) prediction models have been reported and are superior to traditional models, the ANN prediction model for PTE is lacking. Objective We aim to train and validate an ANN model to anticipate the risks of PTE. Methods The training cohort was TBI patients registered at West China Hospital. We used a 5-fold cross-validation approach to train and test the ANN model to avoid overfitting; 21 independent variables were used as input neurons in the ANN models, using a back-propagation algorithm to minimize the loss function. Finally, we obtained sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of each ANN model from the 5 rounds of cross-validation and compared the accuracy with a nomogram prediction model built in our previous work based on the same population. In addition, we evaluated the performance of the model using patients registered at Chengdu Shang Jin Nan Fu Hospital (testing cohort 1) and Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital (testing cohort 2) between January 1, 2013, and March 1, 2015. Results For the training cohort, we enrolled 1301 TBI patients from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2017. The prevalence of PTE was 12.8% (166/1301, 95% CI 10.9%-14.6%). Of the TBI patients registered in testing cohort 1, PTE prevalence was 10.5% (44/421, 95% CI 7.5%-13.4%). Of the TBI patients registered in testing cohort 2, PTE prevalence was 6.1% (25/413, 95% CI 3.7%-8.4%). The results of the ANN model show that, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve in the training cohort was 0.907 (95% CI 0.889-0.924), testing cohort 1 was 0.867 (95% CI 0.842-0.893), and testing cohort 2 was 0.859 (95% CI 0.826-0.890). Second, the average accuracy of the training cohort was 0.557 (95% CI 0.510-0.620), with 0.470 (95% CI 0.414-0.526) in testing cohort 1 and 0.344 (95% CI 0.287-0.401) in testing cohort 2. In addition, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values and negative predictors in the training cohort (testing cohort 1 and testing cohort 2) were 0.80 (0.83 and 0.80), 0.86 (0.80 and 0.84), 91% (85% and 78%), and 86% (80% and 83%), respectively. When calibrating this ANN model, Brier scored 0.121 in testing cohort 1 and 0.127 in testing cohort 2. Compared with the nomogram model, the ANN prediction model had a higher accuracy (P=.01). Conclusions This study shows that the ANN model can predict the risk of PTE and is superior to the risk estimated based on traditional statistical methods. However, the calibration of the model is a bit poor, and we need to calibrate it on a large sample size set and further improve the model.

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a common chronic lung disease of preterm neonates; the underlying pathogenesis is not fully understood. Recent studies suggested microRNAs (miRNAs) may be involved in BPD.miRNA and mRNA microarrays were performed to analyze the expression profiles of miRNA and mRNA in BPD and control lung tissues after oxygen and air exposure on day 21. Bioinformatics methods, including Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), were performed to predict the potential functions of differentially expressed genes. Then, miRNA-mRNA regulatory network was constructed by protein-protein interaction (PPI) data and TarBase data.Our results showed that a total of 192 differentially expressed miRNAs (74 downregulated and 118 upregulated) and 1,225 differentially expressed mRNAs (479 downregulated and 746 upregulated) were identified between BPD mice and normoxia-control mice. GO and KEGG analysis showed that for downregulated genes, the top significant enriched GO terms and KEGG pathways were both mainly related to immune and inflammation processes; for upregulated genes, the top significant enriched GO terms and KEGG pathways were both mainly related to extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling. PPI network and miRNA-mRNA regulatory network construction revealed that the key genes and pathways associated with inflammation and immune regulation.Our findings revealed the integrated miRNA-mRNA data of distinct expression profiles in hyperoxia-induced BPD mice, and may provide some clues of the potential biomarkers for BPD, and provide novel insights into the development of new promising biomarkers for the treatment of BPD.· Integrated advanced bioinformatics methods may offer a better way to understand the molecular expression profiles involved in BPD.. · ECM remodeling, inflammation, and immune regulation may be essential to BPD.. · The miRNA-mRNA regulatory network construction may contribute to develop new biomarkers for the treatment of BPD..

A considerable portion of patients with well-controlled seizures and visually normal brain structures experience seizure recurrence after anti-seizure medication is withdrawn. Microstructural abnormalities of the cortex may play an essential role in epilepsy relapse. Patients with idiopathic/cryptogenic epilepsy were registered. At the follow-up endpoint, 18 patients with relapse (PR+ group), 20 patients without relapse (PR- group), and 30 healthy controls were included. High-resolution T1-weighted images were obtained at the time of drug withdrawal. Microstructural features including cortical thickness, surface area, cortical volume and mean curvature in 68 cortical areas were calculated. A general linear model was applied to investigate intergroup differences, and then post hoc analysis was performed. Additionally, factor analysis was conducted to extract components from imaging measures showing a difference between PR- and PR+ groups, and independent associations between components and epilepsy relapse were assessed using a logistic regression model. Cortical thickness of the left paracentral lobule, left temporal pole and right superior frontal gyrus; surface area of the bilateral lingual gyrus and bilateral pericalcarine cortex; and cortical volume of the bilateral pericalcarine cortex had significant intergroup differences (false discovery rate correction, P 0.05). All measures, except for cortical thickness of the left temporal pole, showed differences between PR- and PR+ groups. Two dominant components were extracted from these measures, and both were independently associated with epilepsy relapse. In conclusion, epilepsy patients with relapse presented distinct microstructural features of cortex at the time of drug withdrawal, which may serve as a potential biomarker for predicting seizure recurrence.

For the purpose of enhancing the corrosion resistance of AISI 1045 mild steel, (Fe48Cr15Mo14C15B6Y2, at.%) Fe-based amorphous alloy coating (Fe-AAC) has been fabricated via a high-velocity air fuel (HVAF) spraying process. The corrosive performances of Fe-AAC under electrochemical corrosive conditions and a neutral salt spray environment were investigated. Experimental results show that the Fe-AAC has a hardness of ~ 900 HV0.1, a crystallization temperature of ~ 950 K, and a thickness of 300 μm. The Fe-AAC shows better corrosion-preventing performances under electrochemical corrosive conditions compared with steel, such as a low corrosion current density of ~ 1.13 × 10−5 A and a corrosion potential of ~ − 0.458 V in NaCl solution. Under a neutral salt spray environment, Fe-AAC also exhibits outstanding long-term corrosion resistance. After 15 days of neutral salt spray tests, no obvious red rust or peeling can be found on the surface of Fe-AAC.

Specific G-quadruplex-probing is crucial for both biological sciences and biosensing applications. Most reported probes are focused on fluorescent or colorimetric recognition of G-quadruplexes. Herein, for the first time, we reported a new specific G-quadruplex-probing technique—resonance light scattering (RLS)-based ratiometric recognition. To achieve the RLS probing of G-quadruplexes in the important physiological pH range of 7.4-6.0, four water soluble cationic porphyrin derivatives, including an unreported octa-cationic porphyrin, with large side arm substituents were synthesized and developed as RLS probes. These RLS probes were demonstrated to work well for ratiometric recognition of G-quadruplexes with high specificity against single- and double-stranded DNAs, including long double-stranded ones. The working mechanism was speculated to be based on the RLS signal changes caused by porphyrin protonation that was promoted by the end-stacking of porphyrins on G-quadruplexes. This work adds an important member in G-quadruplex probe family, thus providing a useful tool for studies on G-quadruplex-related events concerning G-quadruplex formation, destruction and changes in size, shape and aggregation. As a proof-of-concept example of applications, the RLS probes were demonstrated to work well for label-free and sequence-specific sensing of microRNA. This work also provides a simple and useful way for the preparation of cationic porphyrins with high charges.

This study aimed to investigate the long-term outcomes of patients with convulsive epilepsy in rural West China and to explore potential related factors.Patients who were provided Phenobarbital as a treatment and followed-up monthly were enrolled from the Convulsive Epilepsy Control and Management Program in West China. Their clinical and demographic information were obtained from the program database and a questionnaire. Seizure outcomes, comorbidities, annual income, marital status, employment and quality of life (QOL) were evaluated as long-term outcomes. Logistic regression was used to analyze the related factors.Of 473 eligible patients with a median follow-up time of nearly 7 years, 312 (66 %) had one-year terminal remission. A total of 320 (67.7 %) patients had a low annual income (5000 Yuan), and 198 (41.9 %) patients reported a comorbidity. Among 460 patients of marriageable age, 137 (29.8 %) were unmarried. 60.4 % (333) patients reported improved QOL. Time of follow-up, seizure frequency during early treatment, compliance, annual cost for epilepsy treatment and annual income were related to the seizure outcome. Baseline seizure frequency was associated with comorbidities. Sex, annual cost for epilepsy treatment and seizure outcomes were associated with annual income. Age, sex and age at onset were correlated with current marital status. Compliance and taking traditional Chinese medicine were associated with QOL.The prognosis of epilepsy goes beyond being seizure-free. Comorbidities, income and marriage outcomes in resource-poor areas are less promising. Systematic management considering prognosis-related factors for epilepsy by a collaboration of health providers and society is needed.

Epidemics are a big threat to world health. The ongoing pandemic of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a series of challenges to public health. One such challenge is the management of chronic diseases such as epilepsy during an epidemic event. Studies on this topic are rather limited and the related medical practice is full of uncertainty. Here we review recent development of potential approaches for epilepsy control during an epidemic and propose a new three-level management framework to address these challenges.

Slurry erosion is one of the main failure modes of the hydraulic turbine parts, mud pumps and drill pipes. The high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) spray process has been widely used for deposi...

Helical coordination polymers have recently gained significant interest due to their unique architectures and potential applications to date. In this work, the self-assembly of different d10 metal salts and two racemic ligands with one chiral carbon generates ten complexes, namely, [M2(L2)Cl4]n [M = Zn (1 and 2) or Cd (3)], [Cd(L2)(SO4)]n (4), [Cd(L2)(X)(H2O)]n·nX [X = ClO4 (5) or NO3 (6)], [Ag(L1)]n·nClO4 (7), [Ag(L1)]n·nNO3·nH2O (8), [Ag(L2)]n·nClO4 (9) and [Ag(H2L2)]n·3nNO3·2nH2O (10) (L1 = N,N′-bis(pyridin-4-ylmethyl)propane-1,2-diamine, L2 = N,N′-bis(pyridin-3-ylmethyl)propane-1,2-diamine). Structural analyses indicate that except for the wave-like chain structure of complex 10 originating from the protonated H2L2+ ligand, the other complexes 1–9 all contain helical chains or helical layer structures with the pitches falling in the range of 7.97–19.76 A. In particular, complexes 3 and 4 present different 3D sqc and uog nets, which are constructed from (Cd–Cl)n helical layers and (Cd–L2)n helical chains, respectively. Complexes 7 and 8 exhibit the same (4,4) layer incorporating homo-helical chains. These results show that the diverse conformations of two racemic ligands are highly responsible for the formation of helical architectures and even some chiral structures. The chirality of complexes 4, 5, 7 and 8 was further demonstrated by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Luminescence investigations revealed that the Zn(II) and Cd(II)-based complexes 1–6 exhibit blue emission maxima varying from 417 to 483 nm in the solid state at room temperature. Moreover, complexes 4 and 6 show average luminescence lifetimes of 8.87 (4) and 24.28 ns (6).