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Photothermal-enhanced chemodynamic therapy (CDT) has been attracting increasing attention for effective tumour treatment. Nevertheless, even though Mn-based nanostructures are promising CDT agents, their photothermal conversion capacities are not good enough for an ideal combination therapy. In this work, a bifunctional Bi

Objective. To analyze the correlation of ICU nurses’ cognitive level with their attitude and behavior toward the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Methods. A total of 90 ICU nurses working in the adult internal medicine ICU, adult surgery ICU, subacute respiratory care ward, etc. from January 2018 to June 2019 were chosen as the subjects to carry out questionnaire survey with the cognition scale, and the correlation analysis on their cognitive level, attitude, and behavior toward the prevention of VAP was conducted. Results. The linear fitting analysis finding showed that the cognitive level presented a positive correlation with the attitude score and behavior score (R2 = 0.668, 0.734). Conclusion. Improving ICU nurses’ cognitive level, attitude, and behavior toward preventing VAP is conducive to the upgrade of their quality of nursing services. In addition, the ICU nurses’ cognitive level is positively correlated with their attitude and behavior.

To observe the effect of systematic graded rewarming measures on body temperature and prognosis of patients with moderate and severe trauma [revised trauma score (RTS)12] requiring emergency operation.A prospective randomized double-blind controlled study was conducted. From January 2020 to January 2021, 104 patients who underwent emergency trauma surgery in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University were selected as the research object. According to random number table method, the patients were divided into traditional rewarming group and systematic graded rewarming group, with 52 cases in each group. Patients in traditional rewarming group (only record the body temperature without intervention, and start the rewarming process when the body temperature at any time was less than 36 centigrade); the patients in the system graded rewarming group start the preventive measures as soon as they were admitted to the hospital, and record the body temperature. When the body temperature at any time was less than 36 centigrade, start the graded rewarming process. Observe the rewarming effect, coagulation function, blood gas analysis and postoperative anesthesia recovery time of the two groups and final outcome.With the extension of time, the body temperature of the two groups increased gradually. The body temperature of the systematic grade rewarming group was significantly higher than that of the traditional rewarming group at 2 hours after rewarming and at discharge (centigrade: 36.23±0.77 vs. 35.84±0.93 at 2 hours after rewarming, 36.54±0.87 vs. 35.82±0.92 at discharge, both P0.05). The incidence of subsequent hypothermia was significantly lower than that in the traditional rewarming group [7.7% (4/52) vs. 25.0% (13/52), P0.05]. The postoperative activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) of the two groups was significantly shorter than that at admission (s: 35.74±8.05 vs. 45.55±28.02 in the systematic rewarming group, P0.05; 38.35±6.48 vs. 42.40±13.18 in the traditional rewarming group, P0.05); the intraoperative and postoperative pH values in the systematic rewarming group were significantly higher than those at admission (7.33±0.05, 7.36±0.06 vs. 7.30±0.07, both P0.05), while there was no significant difference between the intraoperative and postoperative pH values in the traditional rewarming group and those at admission (7.31±0.06, 7.33±0.06 vs. 7.31±0.05, both P0.05). The postoperative prothrombin time (PT) and anesthesia recovery time in the systematic graded rewarming group were significantly shorter than those in the traditional rewarming group [PT (s): 15.05±2.44 vs. 17.94±3.48, anesthesia recovery time (hours): 14.40±11.76 vs. 17.35±10.51, all P0.05], and the pH value was significantly higher than that in the traditional rewarming group (7.36±0.06 vs. 7.33±0.06, P0.05). The systematic graded rewarming group had higher improvement rate and lower disability rate than the traditional rewarming group (76.9% vs. 65.4% and 17.3% vs. 25.0%, both P0.05).Systematic graded rewarming measures can improve the hypothermia of emergency trauma patients who received surgery, reduce the incidence of subsequent hypothermia of trauma patients, shorten the time of postoperative resuscitation, improve the coagulation function and blood gas indexes, improve the treatment rate, and reduce the incidence of disability.

Hypoxia inducible factors (HIFs) and their regulatory hydroxylases the prolyl hydroxylase domain enzymes (PHDs) are the key mediators of the cellular response to hypoxia. HIFs are normally hydroxylated by PHDs and degraded, while under hypoxia, PHDs are suppressed, allowing HIF-α to accumulate and transactivate multiple target genes, including erythropoiesis, and genes participate in angiogenesis, iron metabolism, glycolysis, glucose transport, cell proliferation, survival, and so on. Aiming at stimulating HIFs, a group of small molecules antagonizing HIF-PHDs have been developed. Of these HIF-PHDs inhibitors (HIF-PHIs), roxadustat (FG-4592), daprodustat (GSK-1278863), vadadustat (AKB-6548), molidustat (BAY 85-3934) and enarodustat (JTZ-951) are approved for clinical usage or have progressed into clinical trials for chronic kidney disease (CKD) anemia treatment, based on their activation effect on erythropoiesis and iron metabolism. Since HIFs are involved in many physiological and pathological conditions, efforts have been made to extend the potential usage of HIF-PHIs beyond anemia. This paper reviewed the progress of preclinical and clinical research on clinically available HIF-PHIs in pathological conditions other than CKD anemia.

Accurate estimation of the wound age is critical in investigating intentional injury cases. Establishing objective and reliable biological indicators to estimate wound age is still a significant challenge in forensic medicine. Therefore, exploring an objective, flexible, and reliable index system selection method for wound age estimation based on next-generation sequencing gene expression profiles is necessary. We randomly divided 63 Sprague-Dawley rats into a control group, seven experimental groups (n = 7 per group), and an external validation group. After rats in the experimental and external validation groups suffered contusions, we sacrificed them at 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, and 48 h after contusion, respectively. We selected 54 genes with the most significant changes between adjacent time points after contusion and defined set A. The Hub genes with time-related expression patterns were set B, C, and D through next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. Four different machine learning classification algorithms, including logistic regression, support vector machine, multi-layer perceptron, and random forest were used to compare and verify the efficiency of four index systems to estimate the wound age. The best combination for wound age estimation is the Genes ascribed to set A combined with the random forest classification algorithm. The accuracy of external verification was 85.71%. Only one rat was incorrectly classified (4 h post-injury incorrectly classified as 8 h). This study demonstrated the potential advantage of the index system selection based on next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics analysis for wound age estimation.

Electric two-wheeler (ETW) accidents are one of the most important types of traffic accidents in China. Currently, the China New Car Assessment Program (C-NCAP) has proposed test scenarios to evaluate the effectiveness of autonomous emergency braking (AEB) for ETWs, including several common typical crash scenarios, but other atypical scenarios have not been considered. To determine the performance of AEB in real accidents, 16 in-depth accident cases with typical scenarios and 11 cases with atypical scenarios were selected based on a proposed C-NCAP typical scenario set and reconstructed using the virtual simulation tools MADYMO and PC-Crash. The crashes were re-simulated with a car equipped with an AEB system while varying the sensor field of view (FOV), time-to-collision (TTC), sensor delay time (SDT), and lateral trigger width ( W). The results show that for almost all combinations of AEB parameters, the crash avoidance rate was much higher in the typical scenario than that in the atypical scenario. When using an AEB with a FOV of 90° (±45°), all ETW accidents were avoided in typical scenarios, while even with the most efficient AEB system (FOV = ±60°, TTC trigger value = 1.5 s, SDT = 0.1 s), only 82% of crashes were avoided in atypical scenarios. Further considering the effect of lateral width, increasing the width from 2 to 5 m, the maximum avoidance rate of the AEB system increased by 43% in the typical scenarios and 18% in the atypical scenarios. The findings suggest that the typical AEB test scenarios proposed for C-NCAP were useful for other crash scenarios, but that including additional test scenarios may better reflect real world crash scenarios. It is recommended that atypical scenarios should be considered in C-NCAP, particularly perpendicular crash scenarios with the car or ETW turning, to better describe real accidents and improve vehicle safety.

Summary Drugs and therapies available for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are not satisfactory. Our previous study has established the inhibitor of apoptosis-stimulating p53 protein (iASPP) as an oncogenic regulator in colorectal cancer by forming a regulatory axis or feedback loop with miR-124, p53, or p63. As iASPP could target and inhibit nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) activation, in this study the role and mechanism of iASPP in IBD was investigated. The aberrant up-regulation of iASPP in IBD was subsequently confirmed, based on online data sets, clinical sample examinations and 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)- and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis mice models. TNBS or DSS stimulation successfully induced colon shortness, body weight loss, mice colon oxidative stress and inflammation. In both types of colitis mice models, iASPP over-expression improved, whereas iASPP knockdown aggravated TNBS or DSS stimulation-caused colon shortness, body weight loss and mice colon oxidative stress and inflammation. Meanwhile, in both types of colitis mice models, iASPP over-expression inhibited p65 phosphorylation and decreased the levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand (CXCL)1 and CXCL2 in mice colons, whereas iASPP knockdown exerted opposite effects.

The network attacks targeted at the Power Monitoring System (PMS) become much more complex and covert. However, traditional security protection methods cannot well detect such unknown attacks or multi-step attacks, which leads to a constant threat. How to use the massive log and warning data generated from various types of traditional security equipment to effectively detect and trace the advanced network threats becomes more and more important. This paper proposes an extended attack-chain based knowledge graph model to detect the threat lurked in the network of the PMS.

Crash safety of electric two-wheelers (ETWs) has been one of the most important safety issues in China due to their high proportion of involvement in traffic accidents. Automated Emergency Braking (AEB) systems have proven to be effective in reducing the number of fatalities and injuries in traffic accidents. Providing test scenarios is one of the fundamental tasks required for establishing a set of AEB test programs for ETWs. Compared to traditional in-depth accident data, accident data accompanied with video recordings provide more accurate accident information prior to a crash as both the traffic environment and the crash process can be observed from the video. In this study, a set of typical AEB test scenarios for ETWs was developed using accident data with video information. Video recordings of 630 car-to-ETW crashes in China from 2010 to 2021 were selected from the VRU Traffic Accident database with Video (VRU-TRAVi). A K-medoids 1 cluster analysis was carried out based on variables including the collision time, visual obstruction, motion of the car and ETW before the collision, relative motion direction between the car and ETW, and the ETW type. The velocity information of cars and ETWs was also accounted for in each clustering scenario. Seven typical pre-crash scenarios were obtained, including five electric-scooter (E-scooter) scenarios (representing two scenarios where the ETWs are approaching the car from the left side, two scenarios where the ETWs are approaching the car in the same direction and another scenario where the ETWs are approaching the car in the opposite direction) and two electric-bike (E-bike) scenarios where the E-bikes are approaching the car in the perpendicular direction. Both E-bike scenarios are consistent with the E-scooter scenario except for the ETW type and velocity range; therefore, by combining the E-bike and E-scooter scenarios, five ETW scenarios were finally recommended as AEB test scenarios. By comparing with typical scenarios extracted based on the China In-Depth Accident Study (CIDAS) data and the China New Car Assessment Program (C-NCAP) test scenarios, the results show that future AEB test scenarios for ETWs should focus on scenarios with visual obstructions and scenarios where either the car or the ETW is turning, with a velocity range of 15–30 km/h for ETWs.

Retinoic acid (RA) signaling pathways mediated by RA receptors (RARs) are essential for many physiological processes such as organ development, regeneration, and differentiation in animals. Recent studies reveal that RARs identified in several mollusks, including Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas, have a different function mechanism compared with that in chordates. In this report, we identified the molecular characteristics of CgRAR to further explore the mechanism of RAR in mollusks. RT-qPCR analysis shows that CgRAR has a higher expression level in the hemocytes and gonads, indicating that CgRAR may play roles in the processes of development and metabolism. The mRNA expression level of both CgRAR and CgRXR was analyzed by RT-qPCR after injection with RA. The elevated expression of CgRAR and CgRXR was detected upon all-trans-RA (ATRA) exposure. Finally, according to the results of Yeast Two-Hybrid assay and co-immunoprecipitation analysis, CgRAR and CgRXR can interact with each other through the C-terminal region. Taken together, our results suggest that CgRAR shows a higher expression level in gonads and hemocytes. ATRA exposure up-regulates the expression of CgRAR and CgRXR. Besides, CgRAR can interact with CgRXR to form a heterodimer complex.

Pyroptosis, one kind of inflammatory regulated cell death, is involved in various inflammatory diseases, including acute kidney injury (AKI). Besides Gasdermin D (GSDMD), GSDME is a newly identified mediator of pyroptosis via the cleavage of caspase-3 generating pyroptotic GSDME-N. Here, we investigated the role of GSDME in renal cellular pyroptosis and AKI pathogenesis employing GSDME-deficient mice and human tubular epithelial cells (TECs) with the interventions of pharmacological and genetic approaches. After cisplatin treatment, GSDME-mediated pyroptosis was induced as shown by the characteristic pyroptotic morphology in TECs, upregulated GSDME-N expression and enhanced release of IL-1β and LDH, and decreased cell viability. Strikingly, silencing GSDME in mice attenuated acute kidney injury and inflammation. The pyroptotic role of GSDME was also verified in human TECs in vitro. Further investigation showed that inhibition of caspase-3 blocked GSDME-N cleavage and attenuated cisplatin-induced pyroptosis and kidney dysfunction. Moreover, deletion of GSDME also protected against kidney injury induced by ischemia-reperfusion. Taken together, the findings from current study demonstrated that caspase-3/GSDME-triggered pyroptosis and inflammation contributes to AKI, providing new insights into the understanding and treatment of this disease.

This presented study describes a method based on high performance liquid chromatography combined with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) using N-(2-iodoacetyl)-1-pyrenemethylamine (NIPA) as a novel fluorescence labeling reagent for the determination of thyreostats in bovine milk. Five thyreostats, belonging to the group of imidazole and thiouracil, were investigated in this work: tapazole (TAP), thiouracil (TU), methylthiouracil (MTU), propylthiouracil (PTU) and phenylthiouracial (PhTU). Thyreostats were specifically purified by a silver ion solid phase extraction (Ag-SPE) cartridge and then labeled using NIPA. The labeled derivatives showed excellent fluorescence property with maximum excitation and emission wavelengths of 330 nm and 375 nm, respectively. The labeled derivatives were separated on a reversed-phase Eclipse SB-C18 column within 12 min. Excellent linearity (R2 > 0.995) of all thyreostats was achieved with the limits of detection (LODs) and the limits of quantitation (LOQs) in the low micrograms per liter range of 0.21–0.30 μg/L and 0.70–1.00 μg/L, respectively. Satisfactory recoveries in the range of 93.5–98.0% were obtained for all thyreostats. The developed method has been successfully applied to analyze thyreostats in bovine milk with good applicability. Thirty bovine milk samples have been investigated, and varying levels of thiouracil were detected in thirteen of these samples. The highest level in the raw milk reached a value of 4.5 μg/L. To our best knowledge, this study is the first to report the presence of naturally occurring thiouracil in milk by HPLC-FLD analysis.

The goal of the presented work is to develop a simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography in combination with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) method for the determination of four nitrofurans (NFs) metabolites compounds (semicarbazide (SEM), 1-aminohydantoin (AH), 3-amino-2-oxazolidinone (AOZ) and 3-amino-morpholinomethyl-2-oxazolidinone (AMOZ)) in foodstuffs. For this goal, we synthesized a novel fluorescence labeling reagent, 4-(carbazole-9-yl)-benzyl chloroformate (CBBC) to label NFs metabolites compounds. NFs metabolites compounds can be labeled rapidly only within 5 min at the room temperature (25 °C). The labeled derivatives showed excellent fluorescence property with maximum excitation and emission wavelengths of 375 nm and 410 nm, respectively. The labeled derivatives were analyzed on a reversed-phase Eclipse XDB-C18 column within 10 min. Excellent linearity (R2 > 0.995) of all NFs metabolites compounds was achieved with the limits of detection (LODs) and the limits of quantitations (LOQs) in the low micrograms per kilogram range of 0.20–0.30 μg·kg−1 and 0.70–1.00 μg·kg−1, respectively. Satisfactory recoveries in the range of 92.5–98.0% were obtained for all NFs metabolites compounds. Using the proposed HPLC-FLD method, we successfully determined four NFs metabolites compounds in different foodstuffs. As promising, this highly sensitive and reliable method would also be extended for the quantitation of NFs metabolites compounds in other samples.

The performance of Fe(III)/H

Iohexol, a widely used iodinated X-ray contrast media, is difficult to completely degrade with the traditional water treatment process. Catalytic ozonation with synthesized α-Fe

Urinary aromatic diamines are exposure biomarkers of diisocyanate which are highly irritating to skin, mucosa and the upper respiratory system. In this study, a highly sensitive and selective high-...

Background The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and clinical value of liraglutide for the treatment of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) complicated by non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Material/Methods Patients with DM complicated by NAFLD (n=835) were enrolled. Patients were divided into 2 groups: 424 patients were included in the liraglutide group and 411 patients were included in the conventional drug group. Venous blood was collected to test blood glucose levels, blood lipid levels, and liver function. After discharge, patients were followed up for between 6 months and 1 year and assigned a quality-of-life score. Results The blood glucose levels of patients in both groups were improved after treatment (P0.05), while in the liraglutide group it improved significantly after treatment (P

The present study investigated the expression and clinical significance of kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) and nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor-2 (Nrf2) expression in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). These proteins were detected by immunohistochemistry in 39 DLBCL cases and 17 cases of reactive lymph node hyperplasia, and their association with the clinicopathological features of DLBCL patients was analyzed. In DLBCL, the percentage of cells with positive staining for Keap1 and Nrf2 was 46.2 and 35.9%, respectively, which was significantly higher than that in reactive lymph node hyperplasia (17.7 and 5.9%, respectively). There was no correlation between Keap1 and Nrf2 expression according to a Spearman rank correlation analysis (r=0.272; P>0.05). Keap1 and Nrf2 expression was associated with the international prognostic index and Ann-Arbor clinical stage (P

Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) is a highly conserved histone methyltransferase, which is overexpressed in different types of cancers such as breast and prostate cancer. It is reported that EZH2 can directly down-regulate RUNX3 by increasing histone H3 methylation. However, the role of EZH2 in the development and progression of laryngeal carcinoma has not yet been investigated, and the relationship between EZH2 and RUNX3 in laryngeal carcinoma is rarely reported. The current study aims to determine the role of EZH2 in the progression of laryngeal carcinoma, and investigate the interaction between EZH2 and the tumor suppressor RUNX3. Our study found that EZH2 is overexpressed in laryngeal carcinoma patients, and silencing EZH2 by EZH2 siRNA significantly inhibited the proliferation of laryngeal carcinoma cells. Besides, we also found that RUNX3 is repressed in laryngeal carcinoma patients. Moreover, RUNX3 as a downstream target protein of EZH2 is up-regulated by EZH2 siRNA accompanied by a decrease in the trimethylation modification pattern of H3K27. RUNX3 siRNA inhibits the decreased proliferation induced by EZH2 siRNA. Furthermore, β-catenin protein expression is down-regulated by EZH2 siRNA and up-regulated by RUNX3 siRNA, and RUNX3 siRNA inhibits the down-regulation effect of EZH2 siRNA on β-catenin protein expression. Additionally, the Wnt/β-catenin activator BIO reverses the inhibitory effect of EZH2 siRNA on Hep-2 cell proliferation. Taken together, our results suggest that EZH2 regulates cell proliferation potentially by targeting RUNX3 through the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in laryngeal carcinoma.

The aim of the current study was to investigate whether the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) measured byA total of 103 patients with lymphoma confirmed by biopsy, pretreatmentOf the 103 patients, 84 had NHL and 19 had Hodgkin lymphoma. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for examining the accuracy of SUVmax with regard to distinguishing between aggressive and indolent NHLs was 0.94 (95% confidence interval: 0.89-0.99), suggesting that SUVmax was a useful predictor of diagnosis. A cutoff value of 8.5 yielded a sensitivity of 76.3% and specificity of 92.0%. The SUVmax mean ± standard deviation of NHL (9.8 ± 6.0, range: 1.8-28.1) was higher than that of HL (7.5 ± 2.8, range: 3.5-13.9) (P = 0.016), but there was no statistically significant difference in SUVmax between NHL and HL (P0.05). SUVmax of the biopsy site was strongly positively correlated with Ki-67 index (r = 0.813, P0.001) and moderately positively correlated with IPI score (r = 0.332, P = 0.002), but it was not significantly correlated with clinical stage, LDH, or ESR (P0.05).

Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which are longer than 200 nt, have been proved to play a role in promoting or inhibiting cancer progression. The following study investigated the role and underlying mechanisms of lncRNA RP11‐159K7.2 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) progression. Briefly, in situ hybridization (ISH) and real‐time quantitative PCR (RT‐qPCR) showed higher expression of RP11‐159K7.2 in LSCC tissues and cell lines. Patients with low expression level of RP11‐159K7.2 lived longer compared to those with high expression of RP11‐159K7.2 (χ 2 = 39.111, ***P

The performance of Fe(III)/H2O2 was extremely enhanced by a novel N-doped ligand dipicolinamide (Dpa) for removing various organic pollutants. This dramatic enhancement of contaminants degradation in Fe(III)-Dpa/H2O2 system under pH≥ 7 was ascribed to the coordinating capacity of Dpa to form the dissolved Fe(III)-Dpa/Fe(II)-Dpa, and the reductive capacity of Dpa to maintain the concentration of Fe(II), which made Dpa improve the catalytic performance of Fe(III) nearly twice as much as Fe(II). Dpa has a strong complexing ability than Cit, NTA, and EDTA to maintain the catalytic activity of Fe(III) without light. The single crystal of Fe-Dpa was obtained to reveal its structure activity relationship. Fe-Dpa was composed of four bonds of Fe-N and two bonds of Fe-Cl. The Fe-Cl bonds were labile sites, which was easily experienced ligand exchange with H2O2, resulting Fe-H2O2 bonds to initiate degradation reaction. The remaining Fe-N bonds were effectively planar, which had a large delocalized π electrons flow domain, enhancing the production of multiple reactive species, including iron(IV/V)-oxo species, HO· and O2-·. An empirical kinetic model of Fe(III)-Dpa/H2O2 system was established. In addition, the evaluation results of the toxicity of Fe-Dpa to larval zebrafish and chinese cabbage displayed that Fe-Dpa possesses low toxicity.

Iohexol, a widely used iodinated X-ray contrast media, is difficult to completely degrade with the traditional water treatment process. Catalytic ozonation with synthesized α-Fe0.9Mn0.1OOH as the catalyst can significantly promote the degradation of iohexol relative to that with ozonation alone. Hydroxyl radicals play a predominant role during the degradation of iohexol. The effect of various factors, including catalyst dose, ozone dose, iohexol concentration and water matrix factors, on the catalytic performance were investigated. The presence of α-Fe0.9Mn0.1OOH in the catalytic system can significantly promote the removal of iohexol and mineralization of the dissolved organic carbon in real water samples. The intermediate products were determined by high-resolution liquid chromatography, and the reaction site was predicted by frontier electron density (FED) calculations. The degradation mechanism of iohexol followed the processes of H-abstraction, amide hydrolysis, amide oxidation, and ·OH substitution. Higher exposure concentrations of iohexol had a negative effect on the survival and hatching rates in the development of zebrafish embryos. The autonomic movement process and heartbeat rate of the zebrafish larvae showed significant differences as the exposure concentration of iohexol increased. The catalytic ozonation process with α-Fe0.9Mn0.1OOH can decrease the toxicity of iohexol containing water.

A new heterogeneous catalyst was developed through immobilizing iron-dipicolinamide complex on silica particles (Fedpa@SiO2) for the degradation of organic pollutants in Fenton-like system at the pH range of 6–10. Fedpa@SiO2 exhibited an excellent catalytic performance to degrade 2,4-dichlorophenol by activating H2O2, and the effects of parameters on its performance were discussed. The reusability of Fedpa@SiO2 was achieved with three successive runs. The complexing ability of dpa avoided the precipitation of Fe, reduced its redox potential, and accelerated the electron transfer among H2O2 and iron, where the iron-oxo species (≡dpaFeV=O), as major reactive species, was generated. The carrier SiO2 contributed to both separating the active sites on the surface of Fedpa@SiO2 and avoiding the self-decomposition of Fedpa. GC-QTOF analysis indicated five aromatic products and two aliphatic acids were identified in the bulk solution, while two aromatic products and one aliphatic acid were detected on the surface of the catalyst.

A novel catalyst system was investigated based on Fe-N, N'-dipicolinamide complex for the degradation of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) by using hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant under mild alkaline conditions. This complex was stabilized by a ligand that assembles pyridyl and amide groups with a suitable linker. The optimization of the synthesized catalysts was evaluated in terms of the removal efficiency of 4-CP, by using Fe(II) and N, N'-1,2-phenyl-enedipyridine-2-carboxamide with a molar ratio of 1:1. The effects of reaction parameters on the oxidation of 4-CP were investigated by applying the selected catalyst with 4-CP removal rate of 99%. The results indicated that the pH and catalyst concentration could significantly affect the degradation rate of 4-CP. The mineralization level of 4-CP during the reaction was also examined, and almost 62.5% of 4-CP was absolutely mineralized into carbon dioxide and water. The preliminary analysis on the degradation mechanism indicate that the main active species are not hydroxyl radicals, and another kind of active species, called iron-oxo species, were proposed. This study explores a resultful linker between pyridyl and amide and presents a new method to expand the application of pH range of Fenton-like system.

Iron dipicolinamide (Fedpa), as an efficient Fenton-like catalyst, was fabricated to excite hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for the removal of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP). The unique structures and the electronic properties of Fedpa were contributed to its excellent catalytic performance in alkaline Fenton process. Fe was chelated with dpa by four Fe–N bonds leaved two labile sites, which reduced the oxidation potential of dpa[FeIII/FeII], dpa[FeV/FeIII] or dpa[FeIV/FeII] to 0.316 V and 1.189 V respectively, and made it easily be bound with H2O2 to initiate the reaction. The results showed that 99.5% removal rate of 2,4-DCP (0.58 mM) was achieved by using 0.027 g/L Fedpa and 5.8 mM H2O2 in 60 min at pH 9.9. The coordination between Fe and dpa enhanced the catalytic efficiency of FeII. The active species generated in Fedpa/H2O2 system contained the iron-oxo species (dpaFeV = O or dpaIV = O), O2− and HO . The iron-oxo species was the main non-radical reactive species for the degradation of 2,4-DCP and some degradation intermediates were detected by GC-QTOF. Furthermore, the influence of factors, such as Fedpa loading, solution pH, temperature and anions (F−, Cl−, SO42−, NO3− and PO43−) on the catalytic performance of Fedpa were also discussed. This process of complexation between Fe and dpa combined with a green oxidant H2O2 presents a new insight for the use of Fenton-like system in the degradation of refractory organics.

The crystal structure of the newly synthesized quaternary MAX phase (Cr2/3Ti1/3)3AlC2 was systematically characterized by various techniques. The space group of (Cr2/3Ti1/3)3AlC2 is determined to be P63/mmc by a combination of selected-area and convergent-beam electron diffraction techniques. Rietveld refinements of the neutron diffraction and X-ray diffraction data show that in (Cr2/3Ti1/3)3AlC2, Ti and Cr are ordered with Ti in the 2a and Cr in the 4f Wyckoff sites of a M3AX2 lattice. It is interesting to find that when the order of the magnetic moment of Cr atoms is considered, the ferromagnetic configuration of (Cr2/3Ti1/3)3AlC2 becomes the ground state. Meanwhile, the Raman-active mode wavenumbers of (Cr2/3Ti1/3)3AlC2 were calculated, and the theoretical data are quite consistent with the experimental data, further proving the ordered crystal structure of this phase. The formation of (Cr2/3Ti1/3)3AlC2 with a unique crystal structure may be related to the distinctly different electronegativities and covalent radii of Cr and Ti atoms.

Low levels of serum vitamin D are common in patients with mood disorders and stroke. It has been shown that low levels of serum vitamin D indicate a risk of depression in post-stroke subjects. Our aim was to determine the relationship between vitamin D and post-stroke anxiety (PSA). A consecutive series of 226 first acute ischemic stroke patients were recruited and followed up for 1 month. Serum levels of vitamin D were measured within 24 hours of admission. Patients with significant clinical symptoms of anxiety and a Hamilton anxiety scale score >7 were diagnosed as having PSA. In addition, 100 healthy subjects were recruited as controls and underwent measurements of serum vitamin D. A total of 60 patients (26.55%) showed anxiety at 1 month. Both PSA patients and non-PSA patients had lower serum levels of vitamin D than healthy subjects. A significant relationship was found between PSA and serum levels of vitamin D. Low serum levels of vitamin D (≤38.48 nmol/L) were independently associated with the development of PSA (OR: 2.49, 95% CI: 1.21–5.13, P = 0.01). Serum vitamin D status is related to the occurrence of anxiety in post-stroke patients and may be an independent risk factor of PSA after 1 month.

Objectives: The aim of the current study was to investigate whether the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) measured by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) could discriminate between aggressive and indolent non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs) and correlations between the SUVmax and clinical variables and serum biochemical indicators in adult lymphoma. Methods: A total of 103 patients with lymphoma confirmed by biopsy, pretreatment 18F-FDG PET/CT scans, and a complete medical record were retrospectively enrolled in the study. Clinical variables that were evaluated included stage, pathological subtype, International Prognostic Index (IPI) score, and Ki-67 index, as well as serum biochemical indicators (e.g., lactate dehydrogenase [LDH] and erythrocyte sedimentation rate [ESR]) and metabolic parameters (e.g., SUVmax of the biopsy site on PET/CT). Correlations between SUVmax and clinical variables and serum biochemical indicators were investigated. Results: Of the 103 patients, 84 had NHL and 19 had Hodgkin lymphoma. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for examining the accuracy of SUVmax with regard to distinguishing between aggressive and indolent NHLs was 0.94 (95% confidence interval: 0.89–0.99), suggesting that SUVmax was a useful predictor of diagnosis. A cutoff value of 8.5 yielded a sensitivity of 76.3% and specificity of 92.0%. The SUVmax mean ± standard deviation of NHL (9.8 ± 6.0, range: 1.8–28.1) was higher than that of HL (7.5 ± 2.8, range: 3.5–13.9) (P = 0.016), but there was no statistically significant difference in SUVmax between NHL and HL (P > 0.05). SUVmax of the biopsy site was strongly positively correlated with Ki-67 index (r = 0.813, P < 0.001) and moderately positively correlated with IPI score (r = 0.332, P = 0.002), but it was not significantly correlated with clinical stage, LDH, or ESR (P > 0.05). Conclusions: 18F-FDG PET/CT may yield reliable measurements of tumor proliferation, and an SUVmax >8.5 may distinguish between aggressive and indolent NHLs. In adults with newly diagnosed lymphoma, SUVmax correlates with Ki-67 index and IPI score.

The cross-section SEM images of layers within solar cell before (a) and after (b) the depositing of PCBM and LiF/Al layers on the top of P3HT nanograting film. The cross-section SEM images of layers within solar cell are shown to offer some relevant data about the thickness of each layer in the solar cell. (DOC 235 kb)

The performance of organic solar cell is greatly determined by the nanoscale heterojunction morphology, and finding a practical method to achieve advantageous nanostructure remains a challenge. We demonstrate here that ordered bulk heterojunction (OBHJ) solar cell can be fabricated assisted by a simple, cost-effective nanoimprinting lithography method using patterned silk fibroin film mold at room temperature. The P3HT nanogratings were achieved by nanoimprinting lithography (NIL) process, and phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) was spin-coated on the top of P3HT nanogratings. The conducting capacity of P3HT nanograting film has little difference compared with the unimprinted film in the vertical direction, due to the same edge-on chain alignment. However, it can be found that the fabrication of OBHJ nanostructure using room temperature NIL technique with patterned silk fibroin mold is able to promote optical absorption, interfacial area, and bicontinuous pathway. Therefore, the ordered heterojunction morphology plays an important part in improving device performance due to efficient exciton diffusion, dissociation, and reducing charge recombination rate. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s11671-015-1194-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background Long noncoding RNA nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1 (NEAT1) plays key role in the progression of some human cancers. However, the role of NEAT1 in human laryngeal squamous cell cancer (LSCC) is still unknown. We therefore investigated the expression and function of NEAT1 in LSCC. Methods NEAT1 level in LSCC and adjacent non-neoplastic tissues were detected by qRT-PCR. NEAT1 was knockdown in LSCC cells and cell proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle were examined. The growth of xenografts with NEAT1 knockdown LSCC cells was analyzed. Results NEAT1 level was significantly higher in LSCC than in corresponding adjacent non-neoplastic tissues, and patients with neck nodal metastasis or advanced clinical stage had higher NEAT1 expression. Moreover, siRNA mediated NEAT1 knockdown significantly inhibited the proliferation and induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at G1 phase in LSCC cells. The growth of LSCC xenografts was significantly suppressed by the injection of NEAT1 siRNA lentivirus. Furthermore, NEAT1 regulated CDK6 expression in LSCC cells which was mediated by miR-107. Conclusion NEAT1 plays an oncogenic role in the tumorigenesis of LSCC and may serve as a potential target for therapeutic intervention.