Search

Due to its favorable properties, the high-performance polymer polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is used as a metal-free alternative for the fabrication of denture frameworks. For dental applications, PEEK is available in different colors, such as red or white, by compounding with different fillers. In order to permanently bond such different dental PEEK types together in a denture framework, ultrasonic welding could be a viable process. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the optimum processing welding parameters for welding different dental PEEK grades in terms of maximum weld strength.Rectangular plates from three PEEK compounds were prepared according to the dimensions of a removable partial denture (RPD) of PEEK. These were combined in a way that four groups resulted, whereas the combination of pure PEEK served as control. In each group, 5 samples were ultrasonically welded at one of four welding energies using a microprocessor-controlled ultrasonic welder, where the welder was activated only once. Afterwards, the samples were subjected to tensile tests to evaluate the shear bond strength (SBS) of the joint.Increasing the welding energy resulted in an increase in the welding time. Accordingly, the increase in the welding energy increased the surface deformation for all tested samples. The shear bond strengths ranged from 4.8 ± 0.68 MPa for samples welded with 50 Ws to 16.37 ± 1.69 MPa for samples welded with 90 Ws. Excessive weld energy of 130 Ws led to a significant decrease of SBS due to a severe indentation and perforation induced by the sonotrode.The SBS and topography of the welded samples were systematically studied and the optimal welding parameters were determined. This could serve as a reference and instruction for clinical applications.

The tibial toddler's fracture is an important diagnosis in both emergency and urgent care, presenting as acute onset lower extremity pain or limping in a young child. Diagnosis and management may be challenging because of an extensive differential diagnosis. The objectives of this study were to provide an overview of the toddler's fracture and to guide clinicians by summarizing up to date literature for both diagnosis and management this common condition.This study analyzed literature from the PubMed database from the years of 1964 to 2018. The main focus was on the diagnosis and management of the toddler's fracture.This review demonstrates that diagnosis is primarily made through history and physical examination, as radiographs are often negative at initial presentation. Treatment involves a short period of immobilization, which can be facilitated through the use of a cast, a splint, or no external support. Successful healing and a full return to normal activities and development are near universal.Although a stable fracture with an excellent prognosis, opportunities exist to improve toddler's fractures diagnosis and treatment protocols, to optimize clinical management.

Background and purpose: Poststroke fatigue (PSF) is a common complication after stroke. However, information on the global prevalence of PSF and how this varies geographically and by population is lacking. Our aim was to examine the global prevalence of PSF and identify sources of heterogeneity in the published literature. Methods: Four medical databases (PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews) were searched from their inception to 28 February 2022. The Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Instrument for studies reporting prevalence data (JBI) was used to assess the risk of bias (ROB) of the included studies. The primary outcome was the prevalence of PSF determined using a random-effects model. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression models were used to define the source of heterogeneity. Results: In all, 66 studies with 11,697 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The overall quality of the included studies was medium. The global pooled prevalence of PSF in stroke survivors was 46.79% (95% confidence interval (CI), 43.41–50.18%). The prevalence estimates of PSF based on the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory-20 (MFI-20), and Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS) were 47.44% (95% CI, 43.20–51.67%), 51.69% (95% CI, 44.54–58.83%), and 36.13% (95% CI, 23.07–49.18%), respectively. Prevalence rates of PSF were higher in females (53.19%; 95% CI, 46.46–59.92%), in hemorrhagic stroke (57.54%; 95% CI, 40.55–74.53%), in those with a college degree or higher (53.18%; 95% CI, 42.82–63.54%), and in those with unmarried or divorced status (59.78%; 95% CI, 44.72–74.83%). Conclusions: The prevalence of PSF in stroke survivors is high, affecting almost half of all stroke sufferers. PSF rates were higher with female gender, being unmarried or divorced, having a higher educational level, and being hemorrhagic compared to ischemic stroke. Trial registration: PROSPERO (CRD42021269441).

At present, most of the reported planar pentacoordinate clusters are similar to the isoelectronic substitution of CAl5+, with 18 counting electrons. Meanwhile, the regular planar pentacoordinate boron systems are rarely reported. Hereby, a sulphur-bridged BAl5S5+ system with a five-pointed star configuration and 17 counting electrons is identified at the global energy minimum through the particle-swarm optimization method, based on the previous recognition on bridged sulphur as the peripheral tactics to the stable planar tetracoordinate carbon and boron. Its outstanding stability has been demonstrated by thermodynamic analysis at 900 K, electronic properties and chemical bonding analysis. This study provides adequately theoretical basis and referable data for its experimental capture and testing.

Objective: The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess whether cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) on neuroimaging of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) treated with intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) is associated with an increased risk of hemorrhagic transformation (HT), symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH), and poor functional outcome (PFO).Methods: A thorough search of several databases was carried out to identify relevant studies up to December 2020. We included studies of patients with AIS and neuroimaging markers of CSVD treated with IVT. The primary outcome was HT, and the secondary outcomes were sICH and 3-month PFO. The quality of the studies involved was evaluated using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS). The meta-analysis with the fixed effects model was performed.Results: Twenty-four eligible studies (n = 9,419) were pooled in the meta-analysis. All included studies were regarded as high quality with the NOS scores of at least 6 points. The meta-analysis revealed associations between the presence of CSVD and HT, sICH, and the 3-month PFO after IVT. Compared with no CSVD, the presence of CSVD was associated with an increased risk of HT (OR: 1.81, 95% CI: 1.52–2.16), sICH (OR: 2.42, 95% CI: 1.76–3.33), and 3-month PFO (OR: 2.15, 95% CI: 1.89–2.44). For patients with AIS complicated with CSVD, compared with a CSVD score of 0–1, a CSVD score of 2–4 was associated with an increased risk of HT (OR: 3.10, 95% CI: 1.67–5.77), sICH (OR: 2.86, 95% CI: 1.26–6.49), and 3-month PFO (OR: 4.58, 95% CI: 2.97–7.06).Conclusion: Patients with AIS complicated with neuroimaging markers of CSVD are at increased risk of HT and 3-month PFO after IVT. However, it is still necessary to clarify the exact role of CSVD in the occurrence, development, and prognosis of AIS.Systematic Review Registration:www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier CRD4202123 3900.

Background: Post-stroke shoulder-hand syndrome (SHS) is a common complication after stroke. To date, there is still a lack of consistently effective and good patient compliance methods for SHS. Methods: Fifty patients with SHS were included in this study. Patients in the control group received rehabilitation training (RT) for 2 weeks; each session was 30 min, 1 time per day, and 5 times per week. Patients in the observation group were additionally given Bo's abdominal acupuncture (BAA) with the same frequency and duration. The primary outcome was the change value in the VAS score from baseline to 2 weeks. The secondary outcomes measured were motor function of the upper limb, shoulder range of motion, ADL, and swelling volume. Results: Compared with baseline values, the mean VAS score at 2 weeks was reduced by 3.68 in the observation group and by 1.92 in the control group, with a difference between the two groups of 1.84 (P < 0.001); the mean MBI score at 2 weeks increased by 10.44 in the observation group and by 4.79 in the control group, with a difference between the two groups of 5.84 (P = 0.032); the mean swelling volume at 2 weeks decreased by 9.64 in the observation group and by 3.29 in the control group, with a difference between the two groups of 6.48 (P < 0.001). BAA-related adverse events were not found during the study. Conclusions: BAA combined with RT is superior to RT alone in improving shoulder pain, swelling, and ADL in post-stroke SHS patients. Trial Registration: ChiCTR2100045464 (www.chictr.org.cn).

Making timely assessments of disease progression in patients with COVID-19 could help offer the best personalized treatment. The purpose of this study was to explore an effective model to predict the outcome of patients with COVID-19. We retrospectively included 188 patients (124 in the training set and 64 in the test set) diagnosed with COVID-19. Patients were divided into aggravation and improvement groups according to the disease progression. Three kinds of models were established, including the radiomics, clinical, and combined model. Receiver operating characteristic curves, decision curves, and Delong’s test were used to evaluate and compare the models. Our analysis showed that all the established prediction models had good predictive performance in predicting the progress and outcome of COVID-19.

Determining the influence scope of the airflow disorder is an important problem after coal and gas outburst accidents in ventilation systems. This paper puts forward the indexes of airflow disorder, including the length of the excavation roadway, the outburst pressure, the pressure difference of the air door, and the air quantity of the auxiliary fan. Using the orthogonal table of L9 (34) and numerical simulation method, the characteristics of airflow reversal are studied, and the outburst airflow reversal degree is calculated should the ventilation facility fail. Furthermore, on the basis of fuzzy comprehensive optimization theory, the comprehensive evaluation model of the airflow disorder is established. The results show that the length of the excavation roadway is the most important factor affecting the stability of the ventilation system, followed by the outburst pressure, pressure difference of the air door, and air quantity of the auxiliary fan. The influence of a gas outburst accident on the return air system is greater than that on the inlet air system, and a larger air velocity has a greater impact on the ventilation system, especially the air inlet part. Moreover, the airflow reversal degree of the ventilation system increases with the increase of the outburst pressure or decreases with the length of the excavation roadway. This paper provides a basis for the prevention of gas outburst accidents.

The neighbor-distinguishing total chromatic number $$\chi ''_{a}(G)$$ of a graph G is the minimum number of colors required for a proper total coloring of G such that any two adjacent vertices have different sets of colors. In this paper, we show that if G is a planar graph with $$\Delta =12$$, then $$13\le \chi ''_{a}(G)\le 14$$, and moreover $$\chi ''_{a}(G)=14$$ if and only if G contains two adjacent 12-vertices.

LiNi1–x–yCoxAlyO2 (NCA) and LiNi1–x–yMnxCoyO2 (NMC) materials are widely used in electric vehicle and energy storage applications. Derived from LiNiO2, NCA and NMC materials with various chemistrie...

The linear 2-arboricity la 2 ( G ) of a graph G is the least integer k such that G can be partitioned into k edge-disjoint forests, whose component trees are paths of length at most 2. A graph is called 1-planar if it can be drawn in the plane so that each edge is crossed by at most one other edge. In this paper, we show that every 1-planar graph G of minimum degree at least 2 contains either a 29-light-edge or a 2-alternating-cycle. This result is applied to show that if the maximum degree of a 1-planar graph G is Δ , then la 2 ( G ) ≤ ⌈ Δ + 1 2 ⌉ + 14 . Since la 2 ( G ) ≥ ⌈ Δ 2 ⌉ for any graph G , our solution is within 14 from optimal.

Background Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is a non-invasive functional imaging method used to reflect tumor spatial information, and to provide biological characteristics of tumor progression. The aim of this study was to focus on the application of 18F-fluoromisonidazole (FMISO) PET quantitative parameter of maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) ratio to detect the liver metastatic potential of human colorectal cancer (CRC) in mice. Methods Colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) xenograft models were established by injecting tumor cells (LoVo, HT29 and HCT116) into spleen of mice, tumor-bearing xenograft models were established by subcutaneously injecting tumor cells in the right left flank of mice. Wound healing assays were performed to examine the ability of cell migration in vitro. 18F-FMISO uptake in CRC cell lines was measured by cellular uptake assay. 18F-FMISO-based micro-PET imaging of CRLM and tumor-bearing mice was performed and quantified by tumor-to-liver SUVmax ratio. The correlation between the 18F-FMISO SUVmax ratio, liver metastases number, hypoxia-induced factor 1α (HIF-1α) and serum starvation-induced glucose transporter 1 (GLUT-1) was evaluated using Pearson correlation analysis. Results Compared with HT29 and HCT116, LoVo-CRLM mice had significantly higher liver metastases ratio and shorter median survival time. LoVo cells exhibited stronger migration capacity and higher radiotracer uptake compared with HT29 and HCT116 in in vitro. Moreover, 18F-FMISO SUVmax ratio was significantly higher in both LoVo-CRLM model and LoVo-bearing tumor model compared to models established using HT29 and HCT116. In addition, Pearson correlation analysis revealed a significant correlation between 18F-FMISO SUVmax ratio of CRLM mice and number of liver metastases larger than 0.5 cm, as well as between 18F-FMISO SUVmax ratio and HIF-1α or GLUT-1 expression in tumor-bearing tissues. Conclusions 18F-FMISO parameter of SUVmax ratio may provide useful tumor biological information in mice with CRLM, thus allowing for better prediction of CRLM and yielding useful radioactive markers for predicting liver metastasis potential in CRC.

A large number of medical experiments have confirmed that the features of drugs have a close correlation with their molecular structure. Drug properties can be obtained by studying the molecular structure of corresponding drugs. The calculation of the topological index of a drug structure enables scientists to have a better understanding of the physical chemistry and biological characteristics of drugs. In this paper, we focus on Hyaluronic Acid-Paclitaxel conjugates which are widely used in the manufacture of anticancer drugs. Several topological indices are determined by virtue of the edge-partition method, and our results remedy the lack of medicine experiments, thus providing a theoretical basis for pharmaceutical engineering.

The star chromatic index χ st ′ ( G ) of a graph G is the smallest integer k for which G has a proper k-edge-coloring without bichromatic paths or cycles of length four. In this paper, we prove that (1) if G is a graph with Δ = 4 , then χ st ′ ( G ) ≤ 14 ; and (2) if G is a bipartite graph with Δ = 4 , then χ st ′ ( G ) ≤ 13 .

Based on synergic evidence-based design principles, building practices can achieve sustainable benefits throughout the life cycle. Taking example of an off-grid residential nearly zero energy building (NZEB) in China’s severe cold zone, the application and sustainability assessment of sustainable technologies can be comprehensively achieved through a closed-loop process: preliminary research, technology development & evaluation, on-site construction and feedback & optimisation. The Steppe Ark is one of such a residential building that takes synergic evidence-based design strategies, proposing and validating three types of technology strategies: integrated design of space based on function and performance, high performance passive technology and efficient active technology. The results show that: (1) the NZEB-oriented building envelope improves the thermal stability of the building, with indoor temperatures decreasing by only 0.07°C per hour when no equipment in operation; (2) the variable multifunctional façade and daylight reflectors have good lighting and insulation energy efficiency, with a combined energy saving rate of 22.1%; (3) Flat gravity heat pipes and thermal storage materials (bricks and PCM) have good performance in terms of heat storage and release. The average indoor daytime temperature can be increased by 3.80°C; the daily temperature difference can be reduced by 52.85% compared to the control group; (4) Stirling motors generate electricity while utilizing the waste heat for the building’s floor heating system; (5) the 5.5kWp BIPV system can generate 6.65MWh of electricity per year. This study proposes a pathway for assessing the suitability of building technology through synergic evidence-based design principles. The analysis shows that three types of technology strategies in off-grid residential NZEBs in the severe cold zone of China can achieve good environmental and economically sustainable benefits.

This study aimed to explore the application of two radiotracers (18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and 18F-fluoromisonidazole (FMISO)) in monitoring hepatic metastases of human colorectal cancer (CRC). Mouse models of CRC hepatic metastases were established by implantation of the human CRC cell lines LoVo and HT29 by intrasplenic injection. Wound healing and Transwell assays were performed to examine cell migration and invasion abilities. Radiotracer-based cellular uptake in vitro and micro-positron emission tomography imaging of liver metastases in vivo were performed. The incidence of liver metastases in LoVo-xenografted mice was significantly higher than that in HT29-xenografted ones. The SUVmax/mean values of 18F-FMISO, but not 18F-FDG, in LoVo xenografts were significantly greater than in HT29 xenografts. In vitro, LoVo cells exhibited stronger metastatic potential and higher radiotracer uptake than HT29 cells. Mechanistically, the expression of HIF-1α and GLUT-1 in LoVo cells and LoVo tumor tissues was remarkably higher than in HT29 cells and tissues. Linear regression analysis demonstrated correlations between cellular 18F-FDG/18F-FMISO uptake and HIF-1α/GLUT-1 expression in vitro, as well as between 18F-FMISO SUVmax and GLUT-1 expression in vivo. 18F-FMISO uptake may serve as a potential biomarker for the detection of liver metastases in CRC, whereas its clinical use warrants validation.

The clinical spectrum of COVID-19 pneumonia is varied. Thus, it is important to identify risk factors at an early stage for predicting deterioration that require transferring the patients to ICU. A retrospective multicenter study was conducted on COVID-19 patients admitted to designated hospitals in China from Jan 17, 2020, to Feb 17, 2020. Clinical presentation, laboratory data, and quantitative CT parameters were also collected. The result showed that increasing risks of ICU admission were associated with age > 60 years (odds ratio [OR], 12.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.42–24.61; P = 0.032), coexisting conditions (OR, 5.55; 95% CI, 1.59–19.38; P = 0.007) and CT derived total opacity percentage (TOP) (OR, 8.0; 95% CI, 1.45–39.29; P = 0.016). In conclusion, older age, coexisting conditions, larger TOP at the time of hospital admission are associated with ICU admission in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Early monitoring the progression of the disease and implementing appropriate therapies are warranted.

Background: Adjuvants to local anesthetics, such as nalbuphine and dexmedetomidine, can be used to improve the quality and duration of peripheral nerve block effects. Dexmedetomidine has been successfully used as an adjuvant of erector spinae plane block (ESPB) with ropivacaine in video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy surgeries (VATLS). This study aimed to compare the effects of nalbuphine and dexmedetomidine used as adjuvants to ropivacaine for ESPB in VATLS. Methods: A total of 102 patients undergoing VATLS with ESPB were enrolled and randomized into 3 groups, each of which received a different adjuvant to ropivacaine. The visual analogue scale score, onset and duration of sensory block, use of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA), rate of rescue analgesia, duration of postoperative hospitalization, incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting, and chronic pain were measured and observed. Results: The visual analogue scale score, total PCA use, rate of rescue analgesia, and postoperative chronic pain in the ropivacaine with dexmedetomidine (RD), and ropivacaine with nalbuphine (RN) groups were lower than those in the ropivacaine (RC) group (P

As the approaching of the clinical big data era, the prediction of whether drugs can be used in combination in clinical practice is a fundamental problem in the analysis of medical data. Compared with high-throughput screening, it is more cost-effective to treat this problem as a link prediction problem and predict by algorithms. Inspired by the rule of combined clinical medication, a new computational model is proposed. The drug-drug combination was predicted by combining the number of adjacent complete subgraphs shared by the two points with the restart random walk algorithm. The model is based on the semisupervised random walk algorithm, and the same neighborhood is used to improve the random walk with restart (CN-RWR). The algorithm can effectively improve the prediction performance and assign a score to any combination of drugs. To fairly compare the predictive performance of the improved model with that of the random walk with restart model (RWR), a cross-validation of the two models on the same drug data was performed. The AUROC of CN-RWR and RWR under the LOOCV validation framework is 0.9741 and 0.9586, respectively, and the improved model results are more reliable. In addition, the top 3 predictive drug combinations have been approved by the public. The new model is expected that this model can be extended to predict the use of combination drugs for other diseases to find combinations of drugs with potential clinical benefits.

Design of experiments was employed to investigate the combinations of 3D-printing parameters for Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) with a fused filament fabrication (FFF) process and to quantitatively evaluate the quality of 3D printed parts. This research was conducted using a newly developed FFF 3D printer and PEEK filament. Standard PEEK parts were 3D printed for bending and compression tests. Based on the Box-Behnken design, a three factors based experiment was designed using the Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Nozzle diameter, nozzle temperature and printing speed were involved. The density and dimensional accuracy of these printed parts were evaluated, and the bending and compression tests were conducted. The nozzle diameter was found to be the most significant parameter affecting the bending and compression performance of the printed PEEK samples, followed by printing speed and nozzle temperature. The highest accuracy in sample width was obtained with a 0.6 mm nozzle while the most accurate diameter was obtained with a 0.4 mm nozzle. A combination of a 0.4 mm nozzle diameter, 430 °C nozzle temperature and printing speed of 5 mm/s was beneficial to get the densest samples and therefore the highest bending strength; a reduction of internal defects was achieved with a 0.2 mm nozzle, a higher nozzle temperature of 440 °C and slower printing speed leading to better bending modulus. The best compression properties were achieved with a 0.6 mm nozzle, with relatively low influence of the other parameters. Different parameter combinations have been found to obtain optimal mechanical properties. Optimized parameters for better dimension accuracy of small additively manufactured PEEK parts were also achieved depending on the shape of the specimens.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and salicylic acid (SA) are two factors regulating leaf senescence and defense against pathogens. However, how a single gene integrates both ROS and SA pathways remains poorly understood. Here, we show that

In this review, we discuss the parameters of fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology used in finished parts made from polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and also the possibility of printing small PEEK parts. The published articles reporting on 3D printed PEEK implants were obtained using PubMed and search engines such as Google Scholar including references cited therein. The results indicate that although many have been experiments conducted on PEEK 3D printing, the consensus on a suitable printing parameter combination has not been reached and optimized parameters for printing worth pursuing. The printing of reproducible tiny-sized PEEK parts with high accuracy has proved to be possible in our experiments. Understanding the relationships among material properties, design parameters, and the ultimate performance of finished objects will be the basis for further improvement of the quality of 3D printed medical devices based on PEEK and to expand the polymers applications.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and salicylic acid (SA) are two factors regulating leaf senescence and pathogen defense. However, how a single gene integrates both ROS and SA pathways remains poorly understood. Here, we show that Arabidopsis WRKY55 transcription factor positively regulates ROS and SA accumulation and thus leaf senescence and resistance against the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. WRKY55 is predominantly expressed in senescent leaves and encodes a transcriptional activator localized to nuclei. Both inducible and constitutive overexpression of WRKY55 accelerates leaf senescence, while mutants delay it. A transcriptomic sequencing identified 1,448 differentially expressed gens (DEGs), of which 1,157 genes are up-regulated by WRKY55 expression. Accordingly, the ROS and SA contents in WRKY55-overexpression plants are higher than that in the control, while mutants showed a contrast change. Moreover, WRKY55 positively regulates defense against Pseudomonas syringae. Finally we show that WRKY55 activates the expression of RbohD, ICS1, PBS3 and SAG13 through directly binding to the W-box-containing fragments. Taken together, our work has identified a novel WRKY transcription factor that integrates both ROS and SA pathways to regulate leaf senescence and pathogen resistance.

Somatic sensation is defined by the existence of a diversity of primary sensory neurons with unique biological features and response profiles to external and internal stimuli. However, there is no coherent picture about how this diversity of cell states is transcriptionally generated. Here, we use deep single cell analysis to resolve fate splits and molecular biasing processes during sensory neurogenesis in mice. Our results identify a complex series of successive and specific transcriptional changes in post-mitotic neurons that delineate hierarchical regulatory states leading to the generation of the main sensory neuron classes. In addition, our analysis identifies previously undetected early gene modules expressed long before fate determination although being clearly associated with defined sensory subtypes. Overall, the early diversity of sensory neurons is generated through successive bi-potential intermediates in which synchronization of relevant gene modules and concurrent repression of competing fate programs precede cell fate stabilization and final commitment., The diversity of primary sensory neurons and how fate choice is determined is unclear. Here, the authors use single cell RNA sequencing analysis of early murine somatosensory neurons to show that sensory neuron diversity is achieved by a transition through a bi-potential intermediate state.

The neighbor-distinguishing total chromatic number χ a ′ ′ ( G ) of a graph G is the smallest integer k such that G can be totally colored using k colors with a condition that any two adjacent vertices have different sets of colors. In this paper, we give a sufficient and necessary condition for a planar graph G with maximum degree 13 to have χ a ′ ′ ( G ) = 14 or χ a ′ ′ ( G ) = 15 . Precisely, we show that if G is a planar graph of maximum degree 13, then 14 ≤ χ a ′ ′ ( G ) ≤ 15 ; and χ a ′ ′ ( G ) = 15 if and only if G contains two adjacent 13-vertices.

Let G be a graph embedded in a surface of nonnegative characteristic with maximum degree $$\varDelta $$ . The entire chromatic number $$\chi _\mathrm{vef}$$ of G is the least number of colors such that any two adjacent or incident elements in $$V(G)\cup E(G) \cup F(G)$$ have different colors. In this paper, we prove that $$\chi _\mathrm{vef}(G)\le \varDelta +4$$ if $$\varDelta \ge 6$$ , and $$\chi _\mathrm{vef}(G)\le \varDelta +5$$ if $$\varDelta \le 5$$ .

Spiral ganglion (SG) neurons of the cochlea convey all auditory inputs to the brain, yet the cellular and molecular complexity necessary to decode the various acoustic features in the SG has remained unresolved. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we identify four types of SG neurons, including three novel subclasses of type I neurons and the type II neurons, and provide a comprehensive genetic framework that define their potential synaptic communication patterns. The connectivity patterns of the three subclasses of type I neurons with inner hair cells and their electrophysiological profiles suggest that they represent the intensity-coding properties of auditory afferents. Moreover, neuron type specification is already established at birth, indicating a neuronal diversification process independent of neuronal activity. Thus, this work provides a transcriptional catalog of neuron types in the cochlea, which serves as a valuable resource for dissecting cell-type-specific functions of dedicated afferents in auditory perception and in hearing disorders., Spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) of the cochlea receive input from hair cells and project to the auditory brainstem. Here, the authors perform single-cell RNA sequencing to identify four SGN subclasses and characterize their molecular profile, electrophysiological properties and connectivity.

The star chromatic index χ st ′ ( G ) of a graph G is the smallest integer k for which G has a proper edge k-coloring without bichromatic paths or cycles of length four. The strong chromatic index χ s ′ ( G ) of G is the smallest integer k for which G has a proper edge k-coloring such that any two edges at distance at most two get distinct colors. In this paper, we prove that if a graph G can be edge-partitioned into two graphs F and H, then χ st ′ ( G ) ≤ χ st ′ ( F ) + χ s ′ ( H | G ) , where χ s ′ ( H | G ) denotes the strong chromatic index of H restricted on G. Using this result, we give some upper bounds of the star chromatic index for planar graphs. Precisely, we show that (1) if G is a planar graph with maximum degree Δ, then χ st ′ ( G ) ≤ 2.75 Δ + 18 ; (2) if G is a planar graph without 4-cycles, then χ st ′ ( G ) ≤ ⌊ 1.5 Δ ⌋ + 18 ; (3) if G is a planar graph of girth at least 8, then χ st ′ ( G ) ≤ ⌊ 1.5 Δ ⌋ + 3 ; (4) if G is a K4-minor free graph, then χ st ′ ( G ) ≤ 2.25 Δ + 6 ; and (5) if G is an outerplanar graph, then χ st ′ ( G ) ≤ ⌊ 1.5 Δ ⌋ + 5 , which improves a result in Bezegova et al. [2], which says that χ st ′ ( G ) ≤ ⌊ 1.5 Δ ⌋ + 12 for an outerplanar graph G.

IntroductionHepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury (I/R) is a significant source of morbidity and mortality after liver surgery. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hepatic I/R injury on the hippocampus in rats with postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD).Material and methodsAdult male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 160, age: 20–25 months, weight: 300–350 g) received I/R surgery with ischemia for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and 40 minutes in different groups. Behavior tests of the Morris water maze (MWM) test and the passive avoidance test were applied. Population spike (PS) of pyramidal cells, nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) and protein kinase γ (PKCγ) in the hippocampus were observed.ResultsWithin 10 days after surgery, in aged rats with varying impaired cognitive function, spike size and spike latency period were reduced, level of PKCγ was decreased and an increased level of NF-κB was observed in the I/R group, especially in the I/R group with ischemia for 40 minutes. The parameters showed no significant difference in rats in the I/R group compared with the sham group at the 18th day after surgery.ConclusionsHepatic I/R injury has a negative impact on the postoperative cognitive function in aged rats, leading to hippocampus changes with PS abnormity and level changes of NF-κB, PKCγ. However, this cognitive deficit improved over time.

Background Management of nasal valve collapse (NVC) in patients with a septal deviation can be challenging. Our objective was to determine the opinions of Canadian Otolaryngologists regarding the diagnosis and management of nasal obstruction in patients with septal deviation and NVC. Methods A twenty-question survey was developed for the purpose of our study. Questions were divided into the following areas: diagnosis, management and prognosis. We included all otolaryngologists who were members of the Canadian Society of Otolaryngology. Results The response rate to our survey was 18%. The most commonly identified cause of a failed septoplasty was incomplete septoplasty (41.9%), followed by nasal valve collapse (25.6%). The Cottle manoeuvre (62.8%) and visual inspection (39.5%) were noted to be the most important diagnostic tools for external and internal NVC respectively. However, physicians often rely on a variable number of different examinations when making a diagnosis of nasal valve collapse. When evaluating which patients with a septal deviation also required nasal valve surgery, 27.9% of responders believed the current physical examination methods provided a high accuracy, while 55.8% indicated moderate accuracy and 16.3% indicated low accuracy. Compared to other subspecialties in Otolaryngology, Facial Plastic and Reconstruction Surgeons noted higher septoplasty failure rates in patients with co-morbid NVC. Conclusions NVC is an important concern for otolaryngologists performing septoplasty. Although most physicians believe that the physical exam provides a moderate effectiveness when predicting who requires a functional rhinoplasty, diagnostic methods used for NVC is varied and inconsistent.

The neighbor-distinguishing total coloring of a graph G is a proper total coloring of G using k colors such that any two adjacent vertices have different sets of colors. It was known that every planar graph G with $$\Delta \ge 10$$ is neighbor-distinguishing totally $$(\Delta +3)$$-colorable. In this paper, we extend this result to the case $$\Delta =9$$. Namely, we prove that every planar graph G with $$\Delta =9$$ is neighbor-distinguishing totally 12-colorable.

Background Positron emission tomography (PET) is a noninvasive method to characterize different metabolic activities of tumors, providing information for staging, prognosis, and therapeutic response of patients with cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of 18F-fludeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) and 3′-deoxy-3′-18F-fluorothymidine (18F-FLT) PET in predicting tumor biological characteristics of colorectal cancer liver metastasis. Methods The uptake rate of 18F-FDG and 18F-FLT in SW480 and SW620 cells was measured via an in vitro cell uptake assay. The region of interest was drawn over the tumor and liver to calculate the maximum standardized uptake value ratio (tumor/liver) from PET images in liver metastasis model. The correlation between tracer uptake in liver metastases and VEGF, Ki67 and CD44 expression was evaluated by linear regression. Results Compared to SW620 tumor-bearing mice, SW480 tumor-bearing mice presented a higher rate of liver metastases. The uptake rate of 18F-FDG in SW480 and SW620 cells was 6.07% ± 1.19% and 2.82% ± 0.15%, respectively (t = 4.69, P = 0.04); that of 18F-FLT was 24.81% ± 0.45% and 15.57% ± 0.66%, respectively (t = 19.99, P Conclusions The uptake of 18F-FLT in metastatic tumor reflects different biological behaviors of colon cancer cells. 18F-FLT can be used to evaluate the metastatic potential of colorectal cancer in nude mice.

Let G be a connected graph with \(n\ge 2\) vertices. Suppose that a fire breaks out at a vertex v of G. A firefighter starts to protect vertices. At each step, the firefighter protects two vertices not yet on fire. At the end of each step, the fire spreads to all the unprotected vertices that have a neighbour on fire. Let sn\(_2(v)\) denote the maximum number of vertices in G that the firefighter can save when a fire breaks out at vertex v. The 2-surviving rate \(\rho _2(G)\) of G is defined to be the real number \(\frac{1}{n^2} \sum _{v\in V(G)} \mathrm{sn}_2(v)\). Then it is obvious that \(0 0\) such that \(\rho _2(G)>c\). In this paper, we prove that every planar graph with \(n\ge 2\) vertices and without chordal 5-cycles is 2-good.

The strong chromatic index χ s ′ ( G ) of a graph G is the smallest integer k such that G has a proper edge k -colouring with the condition that any two edges at distance at most 2 receive distinct colours. In this paper, we prove that if G is a K 4 -minor free graph with maximum degree Δ ≥ 3 , then χ s ′ ( G ) ≤ 3 Δ − 2 . The result is best possible in the sense that there exist K 4 -minor free graphs G with maximum degree Δ such that χ s ′ ( G ) = 3 Δ − 2 for any given integer Δ ≥ 3 .

One way to lower the cost of lithium ion batteries using LiNixMnyCozO2 (NMC) or LiNi0.80Co0.15Al0.05O2 is to lower the Co content in the positive electrode materials. This work systematically studied the impact of the synthesis conditions on the performance of LiNixCoyAlzO2 (x ≥ 0.8, z ≤ 0.05 and x + y + z = 1) (NCA) with high Ni and low Co content. The impacts of oxygen flow rate, sintering temperature, initial Li/TM ratio and sintering time on the structural and electrochemical properties of NCA were systematically studied. The conditions when impurity phases such as Li2CO3 and Li5AlO4 appear were carefully examined. The impact of residual lithium compounds on the electrochemical performance was also discussed. It was found that the synthesis conditions, which affect the a-axis, c-axis and NiLi content of the NCA samples, have strong impacts on the lithium diffusion at low and high states of charge based on differential capacity vs. voltage (dQ/dV vs. V) measurements at various rates and temperatures. Additionally, the reversible capacity and cycling stability correlated strongly with the intensity of the dQ/dV vs V peak at 3.5 V (discharge) measured with a C/20 rate at 30°C.

A proper edge coloring is called acyclic if no bichromatic cycles are produced. It was conjectured that every simple graph G with maximum degree $$\Delta $$ is acyclically edge- $$(\Delta + 2)$$ -colorable. In this paper, combining some known results, we confirm the conjecture for graphs with $$\Delta =4$$ .

A wide range of Co-free Ni-rich core-shell precursors with different core/shell compositions, core sizes and shell thicknesses heated at various temperatures were evaluated in this work. In all cases, the shell phase had a larger Mn content than the core phase. The heating temperature of the precursor/lithium hydroxide mixture during synthesis must be carefully selected. Core-shell materials made at insufficient temperature have low specific capacity due to low crystallinity and a high percentage of Ni atoms in the Li layer. Materials made at excessive temperature show interdiffusion between the shell and core compositions leading to poor capacity retention and poor safety performance. When the heating temperature is selected appropriately, materials which retain the core-shell structure after synthesis can be made. Two of these materials show excellent specific capacity, capacity retention and safety performance. Accelerating rate calorimetry experiments show that charged core-shell materials with a thick and Mn-rich shell have the least reactivity with electrolyte at elevated temperatures, suggesting such materials will lead to the safest Li-ion cells.

Li-O2 batteries are one of the most promising next generation batteries due to their high energy density. However, they suffer from high charge overpotentials and severe side reactions. Here we report a bifunctional CeVO4 catalyst that not only lowers the charge potential by a photo-assisted mechanism, more importantly, promotes the efficient conversion of highly reactive oxidative intermediates to Li2O2, thus avoiding the oxidative decomposition of the electrolyte/cathode during discharge. Benefiting from its efficient electrocatalysis and the improved charging ability, 1.6x higher discharge capacity up to 6.14 mAh cm-2, low charge potential of 3.48 V and stable cycling performance are simultaneously achieved. Theoretical calculation and in-situ Raman spectra confirm the superior adsorptive and conversion ability of superoxide species by electrochemical reduction and chemical disproportionation reactions on the CeVO4 catalyst. These results indicate an effective strategy to break through the reported limitations of photo-assisted cathodes that are of a low electrocatalysis ability and limited discharge capacity. The significance of retaining a high energy density in photo-assisted Li-O2 batteries is highlighted.

This paper analyzes the variation law of equivalent air resistance in a mine car-roadway system, establishes the index system of influencing factors of airflow disturbance. Using experimental system of mine ventilation simulation, the characteristics of air supply of the roadway, blocking coefficient and disturbance of air resistance in roadway are studied. Furthermore, the mathematical model for calculating the equivalent disturbance air resistance is built in the different tramcar positions. The result shows that the tramcar-roadway system has a positive disturbance effect when the tramcar’s speed is greater than the air velocity of the roadway, and it is equivalent to air regulation by addition of pressure of the mine ventilation system. The negative disturbance effect is equivalent to air regulation by addition of resistance. It has the stronger disturbance effect if the air velocity or the roadway section is small. The maximum disturbance variation of air resistance occurs at the moment while the tramcar mine car enters or leaves the roadway. The error between the mathematical model and the measured data is 8.12 %. The research results can provide theoretical basis for intelligent regulation of mine ventilation system.

Repeated or prolonged anesthesia to pregnant women disturbs neurodevelopment of developing infants, but its mechanism has not been elaborated absolutely. This study was conducted to investigate the mechanism of potential neurotoxicity on their offspring generation after sevoflurane anesthesia in adult animals during pregnancy based on metabolomics. 16 pregnant rats were equally assigned to sevoflurane group and control group, and serum samples were collected from their 7-day-old offspring for metabolomics analysis using ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Principal component analysis and partial least squares-discriminate analysis were used for pattern recognition, and pathway analysis was performed by MetaboAnalyst platform. 29 metabolites were discovered as neurotoxicity related-biomarkers, among which S-Adenosylmethioninamine was inhibited dramatically after sevoflurane exposure. Prenatal exposure to sevoflurane led to a significant reduction in S-Adenosylmethionine level, as shown by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Pathway analysis highlighted that prenatal exposure to sevoflurane induced alteration in arginine/proline metabolism, cysteine/methionine metabolism, and so on. The most important altered metabolic pathway was arginine/proline metabolism. This study suggests that abnormal methylation and disturbed arginine/proline metabolism may crucially contribute to the mechanism with neurotoxicity on offspring generation after sevoflurane anesthesia in adult animals during pregnancy, and dietary supplement of S-Adenosylmethionine and modulating arginine/proline metabolism may be the potential therapeutic targets for protecting neurodevelopment from detrimental effects of prenatal exposure to inhalational anesthetics.