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To compare magnetic resonance (MR) short T1 inversion recovery (STIR) sequence with MR T2-weighted (T2W) sequence for detecting increased signal intensity (ISI) and assessing outcomes of ISI in cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). Data of patients with CSM who showed ISI on MR imaging and had undergone cervical spine surgery were retrospectively reviewed. STIR and T2W images were examined to assess signal intensity ratio (SIR), length and grading of the ISI, maximal spinal cord compression, canal narrowing ratio, and ligamentum flavum hypertrophy. The patients were divided into good and poor groups based on their outcomes. χ2 tests and variance analysis were used to assess intergroup differences. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify risk factors for poor outcomes, and receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted to detect prognostic effects. SIR and ISI lengths were significantly different between the STIR and T2 images. In the univariate logistic regression analysis, age, diabetes, SIR T2 , SIR STIR , and ISI STIR grading were significant factors. Accordingly, in the multivariate logistic regression analysis, age, diabetes, SIR T2 , and SIR STIR were included in the model. Among patients with diabetes, we observed a significant difference between SIR T2 and SIR STIR. The STIR sequence demonstrated superior capability to the T2W sequence in detecting ISI; however, there was no obvious difference in predicted outcomes. STIR sequence has a better prognostic value than T2W sequence in patients with diabetes who have CSM. ISI grading based on the STIR sequence may be a clinically valuable indicator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The partial aminolysis of poly(styrene‐alt‐maleic anhydride) (SMA) with 3‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) was carried out followed by in situ hydrolytic condensation of the silane, for inducing the self‐assembly of SMA to prepare an organic–inorganic hybrid colloidal particle (SMA‐APTES). The obtained SMA‐APTES particles were then employed as a toughener for modifying diglycidylether of bisphenol A/anhydride thermoset. When the additive amount of the modifier was 5 wt %, an optimal overall performance was achieved. Compared to neat epoxy thermoset, the tensile strength, elongation‐ at‐break, impact strength, and fracture toughness were increased by 67.6, 159, 170.5, and 230.9%, respectively. Although SMA‐APTES particles inherently had low glass‐transition temperature (Tg) and thermal stability, the Tg and thermal stability of above case were comparable to that of neat epoxy resin. It was contributed by the remarkable increase in the crosslink density offsetting this shortage. Therefore, SMA‐APTES particle was proved to be an effective and promising modifier for epoxy thermoset. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47565. Simultaneous enhancement of strength and toughness of epoxy thermosets with an organic–inorganic hybrid colloidal particle (SMA‐APTES). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to instant availability of data on social media platforms like Twitter, and advances in machine learning and data management technology, real-time crisis informatics has emerged as a prolific research area in the last decade. Although several benchmarks are now available, especially on portals like CrisisLex, an important, practical problem that has not been addressed thus far is the rapid acquisition, benchmarking and visual exploration of data from free, publicly available streams like the Twitter API in the immediate aftermath of a crisis. In this paper, we present such a pipeline for facilitating immediate post-crisis data collection, curation and relevance filtering from the Twitter API. The pipeline is minimally supervised, alleviating the need for feature engineering by including a judicious mix of data preprocessing and fast text embeddings, along with an active learning framework. We illustrate the utility of the pipeline by describing a recent case study wherein it was used to collect and analyze millions of tweets in the immediate aftermath of the Las Vegas shootings in 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Diphenylanthracene-based membrane electrolyte for amphoteric water electrolysis. • Conductivities of 262 mS cm−1 to H+ and 149 mS cm−1 to OH‾ are achieved at 80 °C. • More than 90 % of conductivity are retained after aging in 6 mol/L KOH at 80 °C for 1000 h. • Obviously reduced energy consumption for hydrogen production is demonstrated. A novel polymer enriched with quaternary ammonium cation groups and having a star-branched crosslinking network is synthesized from bulky diphenylanthracene, the flexible 1, 6-dibromohexane and tris(dimethylaminomethyl) phenol. The enriched quaternary ammonium cations enable the membranes with both high anion exchange capacity and acid doping levels. The prepared membranes show a proton conductivity of 262 mS cm−1 and a hydroxide conductivity of 149 mS cm−1 at 80 °C under 100 % relatively humidity. The hydrated membrane with exchangeable hydroxide ions exhibits a tensile stress at break of 44.7 MPa at room temperature. A steady proton conductivity and a hydroxide conductivity retention rate as high as 93 % are achieved by the prepared membranes after soaking in 3 mol/L H 2 SO 4 or 6 mol/L KOH at 80 °C for 1000 h. A current density of 996 mA cm−2 is obtained at 80 °C under 2.0 V by the amphoteric water electrolytic cell using the prepared membrane as the diaphragm. The energy consumption of this system is 2.7 kWh Nm−3 operating at a current density of 100 mA cm−2 for 64 h, offering a possibility of low energy consumption for hydrogen production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To characterize the spatial patterns of functional connectivity(FC) changes of whole brain in RRMS with somatosensory disorder(RRMS-SS) and to investigate the correlation between abnormal FC and clinical scores.Methods: Twenty-six RRMS-SS patients and 23 healthy controls(HC) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging(RS-fMRI) scanning. The clinical scores were collected including Expanded Disability Status Scores(EDSS), Disease Duration and Somatosensory Evaluation by the Fugl-Meyer sensory score(FMSS). With the voxel-wise methods, RS-fMRI data were analyzed using REST software, to assess the FC of the postcentral gyrus(PoCG). Correlation between clinical variables and the strength of FC was analyzed.Results: Compared with HC, the left postcentral-based FC showed decreased FC of the right cerebellum_8, lingual lobe and Rolandic operculum gyrus, and increased FC of the left middle frontal lobe. The right postcentral-based FC revealed decreased FC with the right Heschl's gyrus lobule, and increased FC with bilateral middle frontal lobe (p <  0.001, AlphaSim corrected). Correlation analysis revealed that the FC of altered brain regions was associated with FMSS, EDSS and disease duration.Conclusion: The functional connectivity of PoCG at RS-fMRI has multi-network changes in patients with RRMS-SS. This suggests a complex pattern of abnormal connections between the somatosensory network regions and the whole brain. Moreover, the correlation between the FC and the FMSS, such as the left middle frontal lobe and the right PoCG, indicate that these two brain regions play an important role in RRMS-SS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new type of single crystallite PbBiO 2 X (X = Cl, Br and I) square-like nanoplates with several hundreds nanometers in length are synthesized via a simple hydrothermal method. The band structure and hehavior of charge carriers for the nanoplates are investigated experimentally and theoretically. The halogen elements are closely related to the indirect narrow band gap(2.61 eV, 2.51 eV and 2.38 eV for PbBiO 2 Cl, PbBiO 2 Br and PbBiO 2 I, respectively). The PbBiO 2 X square-like nanoplates exhibit improved photocatalytic performance on degradation of organic pollutant under visible irradiation, owing to their novel nanostructure and efficient photoelectric conversion. This work demonstrates that PbBiO 2 X nanoplates can be considered as a promising photocatalyst and offer a better understanding about other halogen group elements related semiconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The variations in the flavour substances of different varieties of camellia seed oil and the effect of the refining process were studied by headspace-gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (HS-GC-IMS) combined with principal component analysis (PCA). The results showed that in different kinds and different processing stages of camellia seed oil, the flavour substances were mainly composed of aldehydes, ketones, heterocycles, alcohols, esters and acids. Moreover, the contents of aldehydes and ketones significantly were higher than the rest substances. These substances with a relative odour activity value (ROAV) greater than 1 in the sample were selected as the analysis objects to evaluate influence on flavor of camellia seed oil. The flavour fingerprints from different Camellia varieties and the effect of refining stages on the flavor of camellia seed oil were established based on the detected volatile compounds. • Flavor fingerprints of camellia seed oil of three varieties was established. • HS-GC-IMS combined with PCA was applied to detect the flavor of camellia seed oil. • Effect of volatile compounds on flavor of camellia seed oil was determined by ROAV. • Impact of refined processes of camellia seed oil on volatile compounds was analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microcapsule has been widely used for fabricating functional coatings. For practical application in coatings, an ideal microcapsule should possess outstanding barrier, thermal and mechanical properties simultaneously. In this paper, a series of double-shell hybrid microcapsule loaded with self-healing agent (linseed oil, LO) with outer inorganic SiO 2 shell and inner UV-cured polymeric shell were successfully synthesized via photopolymerization. The obtained double-shell hybrid microcapsule was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The barrier properties, thermal stability and mechanical property of the microcapsules were investigated in detail. Via the adjustment of chemical structure of photo-curable resin and the crosslinking density, the core release of the microcapsule could be reduced to only 2.5 wt% after immersing in organic solvent for 48 h, suggesting the outstanding barrier properties of the double-shell microsphere. The double-shell hybrid microcapsules also possessed outstanding thermal stability, and its initial decomposition temperature increased by about 32 ℃ and 14 ℃ compared with that of mono-shell organic and inorganic microcapsules. Moreover, the Young's modulus and hardness of the double-shell hybrid microcapsules were thirty-fold and forty-fold that of mono-shell organic microcapsules, which proved their excellent mechanical property. And the prepared double-shell hybrid microcapsule could encapsulate LO stably for a long time to avoid its failure, which was successfully employed to the construction of self-healing coatings. [Display omitted] • Double-shell hybrid microcapsules with outer SiO 2 and inner UV-curable resin shell were synthesized via UV-curable resin shell were synthesized via photopolymerization. • The performance of the microcapsule could be tuned by adjusting the chemical structure and functionality of UV-curable resin. • The double-shell hybrid microcapsules showed superior barrier property and thermal stability. • Outstanding mechanical property of double-shell hybrid microcapsules has also been demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A prototype of fluorescence sensor, based on 1,4-dihydroxyanthraquinone (1,4-DHAQ) derivative and 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (Fmoc-Cl) co-modified Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticals (MNPs) (denoted as 1,4-DHAQ/Fmoc-Cl co-modified Fe3O4 MNPs), has been achieved via solvothermal synthesis of amine-functionalized Fe3O4 MNPs and subsequent surface co-modification of 1,4-DHAQ derivative and Fmoc-Cl onto the Fe3O4 MNPs. The 1,4-DHAQ/Fmoc-Cl co-modified Fe3O4 MNPs can be used for not only simple rapid qualitative detection of Cu2+, Cd2+, Zn2+ and Hg2+ in aqueous solution, but also quantitative analysis of the above four heavy metal ions with lower detection limits of 8×10−9, 1.5×10−8, 10−8 and 10−8 M, respectively. This is the first prototype of fluorescence sensor that has potentials in the detection of Cu2+, Cd2+, Zn2+ and Hg2+ in aqueous solutions and even in drinking water. The sensor designing idea might be extended to other multifunctional chemosensors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

With observational analysis and WRF-Chem simulation on a heavy air pollution event in January 2019 over the Twain-Hu Basin (THB) in Central China, this study characterized the regional transport of PM 2.5 emitted from the North China Plain (NCP) to the THB region in Central China and quantitatively assessed the influence of the regional PM 2.5 transport and precipitation washout on PM 2.5 change in the wintertime heavy air pollution over the THB. It was found that the THB's heavy air pollution event was exacerbated by the strong northeasterly winds driving a quasi 2-day time lag of regional PM 2.5 transport from the NCP to the THB. The multi-scale atmospheric circulations of cold air invasion influenced by East Asian winter monsoon and the terrain block of THB altered the structures of regional PM 2.5 transport in deteriorating air quality to the THB. It was assessed for the THB region that the enhancing contribution of regional PM 2.5 transport to the high air pollution level reached up to 70.5% in the heavy air pollution, and the precipitation washout could contribute the 55.3% PM 2.5 removal to dissipating the PM 2.5 pollution over the THB with frequent precipitation and wet environment, distinguishing from the dominance of wind-cleaning air pollution in the other regions in China. Unlabelled Image • A quasi 2-day regional PM 2.5 transport from northern to central China • Cold air invasion and terrain block facilitated air pollution over the THB. • Regional transport to the THB contributed 70.5% to heavy PM 2.5 pollution. • Precipitation washout largely dispelling the THB's heavy PM 2.5 pollution [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A series of quinoline derivatives were synthesized and identified as Topo I inhibitors. • These compounds displayed potent antipsoriasis activity in an animal model. • The potent antipsoriasis compounds dramatically inhibited the expression levels of cytokines and inflammatory mediators. Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory and immune-mediated skin disease. Although certain agents have shown clinical success in treating psoriasis, development of safe and effective strategies for the treatment of this condition remains important. Research suggests that DNA topoisomerase I (Topo I) inhibitors may have potent psoriasis-ameliorating effects. Here, 25 quinoline derivatives were synthesized and identified as Topo I inhibitors. These compounds inhibited the 12– O –tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced mouse ear inflammation. The most potent analogs, 5i and 5l , suppressed the expression of inflammatory cytokines in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated HaCaT cells. Additionally, the lead compounds significantly improved imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like inflammation in mice. Moreover, the expression levels of cytokines and inflammatory mediators, such as interleukin (IL)-17A, IL-22, IL-23, nuclear factor-κB subunit p65, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interferon-γ, were dramatically inhibited in the dorsal skin of 5i - and 5l -treated mice. These findings indicate that the inhibition of Topo I activity may potentially be an effective strategy for psoriasis treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To elucidate the characteristics of VOCs chemical components during heavy pollution episodes, hourly online VOCs data derived from 11 heavy pollution events in Tianjin from 2019 to 2020 were employed. The positive matrix factorization （PMF） and conditional bivariate probability function （CBPF） were employed to analyze the sources of VOCs during heavy pollution episodes. The results indicated that the average VOCs volume fraction during these episodes was recorded at 35.7×10 -9 . Furthermore, it was observed that during the winter emergency response period, there was a discernible increase in the volume fraction of VOCs when compared to that during the autumn season. Specifically, there was a notable upswing of 48% in the olefins category, whereas alkanes registered a 4% increase. Additionally, the VOCs component structure changed significantly during the heavy pollution episodes. During the orange warning period, the proportion of alkanes increased by 36%, and the proportion of acetylene decreased by 32%. During the yellow warning period, the proportion of alkanes increased by 14%, and the proportion of acetylene decreased by 5%. During the emergency response period, motor vehicle emission sources, natural gas evaporative sources, and solvent use sources were the main contributors of VOCs in environmental receptors, contributing 17.5%, 15.4%, and 15.2%, respectively. Compared with that during the period antecedent to the emergency response, the contribution of vehicle emission sources and diesel volatile sources to VOCs in environmental receptors decreased by 2.0% to 5.5% and 2.1% to 6.6%, respectively, and the contribution of solvent use sources decreased by 0.2% to 2.4% during the yellow warning period. During the orange warning period, the contribution of motor vehicle emission sources was reduced by 0.1% to 8.3%, and the contribution of solvent use sources was reduced by 0.5% to 6.2%.

Rationale and Objectives: Secondary vertebral compression fractures (SVCF) are very common in patients after vertebral augmentation (VA). The aim of this study was to establish a radiomic-based model to predict SVCF and specify appropriate treatment strategies., Materials and Methods: Patients diagnosed with osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) and undergoing VA surgery at our center between 2017 and 2021 were subject to a retrospective analysis. Radiological features of the T6-L5 vertebrae were derived from CT images. Clustering analysis, t-test, and LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) regression were used to identify the optimization characteristics. A radiological signature model was constructed through the best combination of 13 machine learning algorithms. Radiomics signature was integrated with clinical characteristics into a nomogram for clinical applications. The model reliability was assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration curve, clinical decision analysis (DCA), log-rank test, and confusion matrix., Results: A total of 470 eligible patients (81 with SVCF and 389 without) were identified in the clinical cohort. Eight radiomics features were identified and incorporated into machine learning, and "XGBoost" model showed the best performance. Final logistic nomogram included radiomics signature (P < 0.001), bone cement volume (P = 0.034), and T-scores of L1-L4 (P = 0.001), and showed satisfactory prediction capability in training set (0.986, 95%CI 0.969-1.000) and verification set (0.884, 95%CI 0.823-0.946)., Conclusion: Our radiomics-clinical model based on machine learning showed potential to prospectively predict SVCF after VA and provide precise treatment strategies., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Ozone was one of the major pollutants affecting the environmental air quality in China. The accurate apportionment of key sources and their contributions of ambient ozone and its precursor VOCs played an important role in the effective prevention and control of ozone pollution. Therefore, this study utilized the photochemical-age-based parameterization method to estimate the initial concentrations of ambient VOCs data collected from January 1 to February 28, 2021 in Jiaozhou, Qingdao and corrected the photochemical losses of ambient VOC species. The positive matrix factorization(PMF) and ozone formation potential(OFP) models were used to conduct source apportionment of ambient VOCs and their OFPs so as to provide data support for the prevention and control of ozone pollution in Qingdao. The results showed that the average values of ambient ρ (TVOCs) and OFP in Qingdao during the study period were 65.9 μg·m -3 and 176.7 μg·m -3 , respectively. Propane had the highest concentration(12.4 μg·m -3 ) and percentage(18.9%), whereas m/p -xylene had the highest OFP(24.6 μg·m -3 ) and percentage(13.9%). The mean initial concentration of TVOCs during the study was 153.1 μg·m -3 , and its photochemical loss rate reached 63.8%. Alkenes were the VOC species with the highest photochemical loss rate(92.1%), and the photochemical loss rate of isoprene reached 98.6%, which was substantially higher than that of other VOC species. According to the source apportionment results of initial concentrations(IC-PMF), liquefied petroleum gas(24.2%), solvent use(17.8%), natural gas and petrochemical-related enterprises(16.6%), gasoline volatilization(13.2%), combustion and gasoline vehicle emissions(12.2%), biogenic emissions(8.6%), and diesel vehicle emissions(7.4%) were the main contributing sources of the ambient VOCs in Jiaozhou. Compared with the apportioned results of IC-PMF, the contribution of biogenic emissions was underestimated by 38.9% in the apportioned results based on observed concentrations(OC-PMF), and the contribution of natural gas and petrochemical-related enterprises was underestimated by 28.5%, and the underestimations of their contributions were substantially higher than those of other sources. Compared with that before the Spring Festival, the contribution of gasoline volatilization to ambient VOCs increased markedly during the Spring Festival, whereas the contributions of solvent use, combustion, and gasoline vehicle emissions to ambient VOCs increased most significantly after the Spring Festival. The main contributing sources of ambient ozone during the study period were solvent use(31.3%), natural gas and petrochemical-related enterprises(16.1%), biogenic emissions(14.5%), and combustion and gasoline vehicle emissions(13.2%). The primary contributors of ambient ozone in different Spring Festival periods showed substantial differences. Before the Spring Festival, solvent use had the highest contribution(71.1 μg·m -3 ), and gasoline volatilization was the highest contributor during the Spring Festival(34.4 μg·m -3 ), whereas biogenic emissions after the Spring Festival were the highest contributor(39.1 μg·m -3 ).

Background: The growing number of patients visiting pediatric emergency departments could have a detrimental impact on the care provided to children who are triaged as needing urgent attention. Therefore, it has become essential to continuously monitor and analyze the admissions and waiting times of pediatric emergency patients. Despite the significant challenge posed by the shortage of pediatric medical resources in China's health care system, there have been few large-scale studies conducted to analyze visits to the pediatric emergency room., Objective: This study seeks to examine the characteristics and admission patterns of patients in the pediatric emergency department using electronic medical record (EMR) data. Additionally, it aims to develop and assess machine learning models for predicting waiting times for pediatric emergency department visits., Methods: This retrospective analysis involved patients who were admitted to the emergency department of Children's Hospital Capital Institute of Pediatrics from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021. Clinical data from these admissions were extracted from the electronic medical records, encompassing various variables of interest such as patient demographics, clinical diagnoses, and time stamps of clinical visits. These indicators were collected and compared. Furthermore, we developed and evaluated several computational models for predicting waiting times., Results: In total, 183,024 eligible admissions from 127,368 pediatric patients were included. During the 12-month study period, pediatric emergency department visits were most frequent among children aged less than 5 years, accounting for 71.26% (130,423/183,024) of the total visits. Additionally, there was a higher proportion of male patients (104,147/183,024, 56.90%) compared with female patients (78,877/183,024, 43.10%). Fever (50,715/183,024, 27.71%), respiratory infection (43,269/183,024, 23.64%), celialgia (9560/183,024, 5.22%), and emesis (6898/183,024, 3.77%) were the leading causes of pediatric emergency room visits. The average daily number of admissions was 501.44, and 18.76% (34,339/183,204) of pediatric emergency department visits resulted in discharge without a prescription or further tests. The median waiting time from registration to seeing a doctor was 27.53 minutes. Prolonged waiting times were observed from April to July, coinciding with an increased number of arrivals, primarily for respiratory diseases. In terms of waiting time prediction, machine learning models, specifically random forest, LightGBM, and XGBoost, outperformed regression methods. On average, these models reduced the root-mean-square error by approximately 17.73% (8.951/50.481) and increased the R 2 by approximately 29.33% (0.154/0.525). The SHAP method analysis highlighted that the features "wait.green" and "department" had the most significant influence on waiting times., Conclusions: This study offers a contemporary exploration of pediatric emergency room visits, revealing significant variations in admission rates across different periods and uncovering certain admission patterns. The machine learning models, particularly ensemble methods, delivered more dependable waiting time predictions. Patient volume awaiting consultation or treatment and the triage status emerged as crucial factors contributing to prolonged waiting times. Therefore, strategies such as patient diversion to alleviate congestion in emergency departments and optimizing triage systems to reduce average waiting times remain effective approaches to enhance the quality of pediatric health care services in China., (©Lin Lin Guo, Lin Ying Guo, Jiao Li, Yao Wen Gu, Jia Yang Wang, Ying Cui, Qing Qian, Ting Chen, Rui Jiang, Si Zheng. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 01.11.2023.)

Conventional source apportionments of ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been based on observed and initial concentrations after photochemical correction. However, these results have not been related to ozone (O 3 ) and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation. Thus, the apportioned contributions could not effectively support secondary pollution control development. Source apportionment of the VOCs consumed in forming O 3 and SOA is needed. A consumed VOC source apportionment approach was developed and applied to hourly speciated VOCs data from June to August 2022 measured in Laoshan, Qingdao. Biogenic emissions (56.3%), vehicle emissions (17.2%), and gasoline evaporation (9.37%) were the main sources of consumed VOCs. High consumed VOCs from biogenic emissions mainly occurred during transport from parks to the southwest and northwest of study site. During the O 3 pollution period, biogenic emissions (46.3%), vehicle emissions (24.2%), and gasoline evaporation (14.3%) provided the largest contributions to the consumed VOCs. However, biogenic emissions contribution increased to 57.1% during the non-O 3 pollution period, and vehicle emissions and gasoline evaporation decreased to 16.5% and 9.01%, respectively. Biogenic emissions and the mixed source of combustion sources and solvent use contributed the most to O 3 and SOA formation potentials during the O 3 pollution period, respectively., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Statistical photon noise has always been a common problem in X-ray multi-contrast imaging and significantly influenced the quality of retrieved differential phase and dark-field images. We intend to develop a deep learning-based denoising algorithm to reduce the noise of retrieved X-ray differential phase and dark-field images., Methods: A novel deep learning based image noise suppression algorithm (named DnCNN-P) is presented. We proposed two different denoising modes: Retrieval-Denoising mode (R-D mode) and Denoising-Retrieval mode (D-R mode). While the R-D mode denoises the retrieved images, the D-R mode denoises the raw phase stepping data. The two denoising modes are evaluated under different photon counts and visibilities., Results: Experimental results show that with the algorithm DnCNN-P used, the D-R mode always exhibits a better noise reduction under diverse experimental conditions, even in the case of a low photon count and/or a low visibility. With a detected photon count of 1800 and a visibility of 0.3, compared to the differential phase images without denoising, the standard deviation is reduced by 89.1% and 16.4% in the D-R and R-D modes. Compared to the dark-field images without denoising, the standard deviation is reduced by 83.7% and 12.6% in the D-R and R-D modes, respectively., Conclusions: The novel supervised DnCNN-P algorithm can significantly reduce the noise in retrieved X-ray differential phase and dark-field images. We believe this novel algorithm can be a promising approach to improve the quality of X-ray differential phase and dark-field images, and therefore dose efficiency in future biomedical applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The ambient concentration of ozone is high in Qingdao, and ozone pollution episodes occur frequently in summer. The refined source apportionment of ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and their ozone formation potential (OFP) during ozone pollution episodes and non-ozone pollution periods can play an important role in effectively reducing air ozone pollution in coastal cities and continuously improving ambient air quality. Therefore, this study applied the online VOCs monitoring data with hourly resolution in summer (from June to August) in 2020 in Qingdao to analyze the chemical characteristics of ambient VOCs during the ozone pollution episodes and non-ozone pollution periods and conducted the refined source apportionment of ambient VOCs and their OFP using a positive matrix factorization (PMF) model. The results showed that the average mass concentration of ambient VOCs in Qingdao in summer was 93.8 μg·m -3 , and compared with that during the non-ozone pollution period, the mass concentration of ambient VOCs during the ozone pollution episodes increased by 49.3%, and the mass concentration of aromatic hydrocarbons increased by 59.7%. The total OFP of ambient VOCs in summer was 246.3 μg·m -3 . Compared with that in the non-ozone pollution period, the total OFP of ambient VOCs in the ozone pollution episodes increased by 43.1%; that of alkanes increased the most, reaching 58.8%. M-ethyltoluene and 2,3-dimethylpentane were the species with the largest increase in OFP and its proportion during the ozone pollution episodes. The main contributors of ambient VOCs in Qingdao in summer were diesel vehicles (11.2%), solvent use (4.7%), liquefied petroleum gas and natural gas (LPG/NG) (27.5%), gasoline vehicles (8.9%), gasoline volatilization (26.6%), emissions of combustion- and petrochemical-related enterprises (16.4%), and plant emissions (4.8%). Compared with that in the non-ozone pollution period, the contribution concentration of LPG/NG in the ozone pollution episodes increased by 16.4 μg·m -3 , which was the source category with the largest increase. The contribution concentration of plant emissions increased by 88.6% in the ozone pollution episodes, which was the source category with the highest increase rate. In addition, emissions from combustion- and petrochemical-related enterprises were the largest contributor to the OFP of ambient VOCs in summer in Qingdao, with its OFP and contribution proportion being 38.0 μg·m -3 and 24.5%, respectively, followed by that of LPG/NG and gasoline volatilization. Compared with the non-ozone pollution period, the total contributions of LPG/NG, gasoline volatilization, and solvent use to the increase in OFP for ambient VOCs in the ozone pollution episodes were 74.1%, which were the main contribution source categories.

CO 2 -responsive emulsions have attracted considerable attention in recent years because of their biocompatibility and easy removal of CO 2 . However, most CO 2 -responsive emulsions are only used in stabilization and demulsification processes. In this paper, we report CO 2 -switchable oil-in-dispersion (OID) emulsions co-stabilized with silica nanoparticles and anionic NCOONa, in which the required concentrations of NCOONa and silica particles were as low as 0.01 mM and 0.0001 wt%, respectively. Besides reversible emulsification/demulsification, the aqueous phase containing the emulsifiers was recycled and reused with the CO 2 /N 2 trigger. More importantly, the properties of the emulsions, such as droplet sizes (40-1020 μm) and viscosities (6-2190 Pa s), were intelligently controlled by the CO 2 /N 2 trigger, and meanwhile reversible conversion between OID emulsions and Pickering emulsions was achieved. The present method offers a green and sustainable way to regulate the emulsion states, which enables smart control of emulsions and widens their potential applications., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary Selenohomolanthionine (SeHLan) on antioxidant status and immune response in canine parvovirus (CPV) vaccinated puppies. In this study, 30 weaned puppies were randomly divided into six groups: control group (-Se/-Vacc), immunization group (-Se/+Vacc), supplementation of sodium selenite group (SS/+Vacc, 0.35 mg/kg DM), low-dose SeHLan group (SeHLan-L/+Vacc, 0.35 mg/kg DM), mid-dose SeHLan group (SeHLan-M/+Vacc, 1.0 mg/kg DM), and high-dose SeHLan group (SeHLan-H/+Vacc, 2.0 mg/kg DM). The puppies were fed for 42 days and vaccinated with Vanguard Plus 5 on day 0 and day 21. Blood samples were collected on 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 days post-immunization (PI) for determination of antioxidant indicators, lymphocyte proliferation index, serum cytokine concentration (IL-2, IL-4), canine polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) phagocytic function, and the level of CPV antibody titers. The results showed that SeHLan supplementation raised the serum Se concentration and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity in a dose-dependent manner ( P < 0.05 ). It also increased the activity of serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) and decreased serum malondialdehyde (MDA) content, especially in SeHLan-M/+Vacc group (1.0 mg/kg DM) ( P < 0.01 ). SeHLan supplementation significantly increased lymphocyte proliferation, IL-2, and IL-4 levels in canine serum, and enhanced phagocytosis of PMN in vaccinated puppies ( P < 0.05 ). Moreover, SeHLan supplementation shortened the CPV antibody production time and increased the CPV antibody titers ( P < 0.05 ). Of note, the beneficial effects of SeHLan were superior to those of SS. In conclusion, dietary SeHLan supplementation improved antioxidant activity, increased CPV antibody titers, and enhanced immune function in puppies after weaning. An appropriate dosage of SeHLan (1~2 mg/kg DM) may confer nutritional benefits in puppies., Competing Interests: DL and YG were employed by ABNA Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Shao, Zheng, Yu, Jiang, Zhou, Song, Ma, Zhou, Dong, Li, Gu, Wang and Song.)

A facile in situ approach has been designed to synthesize zinc ferrite/mesoporous silica guest-host composites. Chelating surfactant, N-hexadecyl ethylenediamine triacetic acid, was employed as structure-directing agent to fabricate mesoporous silica skeleton and simultaneously as complexing agent to incorporate stoichiometric amounts of zinc and iron ions into silica cavities. On this basis, spinel zinc ferrite nanoparticles with grain sizes less than 3 nm were encapsulated in mesoporous channels after calcination. The silica mesostructure, meanwhile, displayed a successive transformation from hexagonal p6mm through bicontinuous cubic Ia3̅d to lamellar phase with increasing the dopant concentration in the initial template solution. In comparison with zinc ferrite nanopowder prepared without silica host, the composite with bicontinuous architecture exhibited higher sensitivity, lower detection limit, lower optimum working temperature, quicker response, and shorter recovery time in sensing performance toward hydrogen sulfide. The significant improvements are from the high surface-to-volume ratio of the guest oxides and the three-dimensional porous structure of the composite. We believe the encapsulation route presented here may pave the way for directly introducing complex metal oxide into mesoporous silica matrix with tailorable mesophases for applications in sensing or other fields.

Variations in the enzyme activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in the presence of the nano-material, graphene oxide (GO), were investigated with the use of molecular spectroscopy UV-visible and fluorescence methods. From these studies, important kinetic parameters of the enzyme were extracted; these were the maximum reaction rate, Vm , and the Michaelis constant, Km . A comparison of these parameters indicated that GO inhibited the catalytic activity of the AChE because of the presence of the AChE-GO complex. The formation of this complex was confirmed with the use of fluorescence data, which was resolved with the use of the MCR-ALS chemometrics method. Furthermore, it was found that the resonance light-scattering (RLS) intensity of AChE changed in the presence of GO. On this basis, it was demonstrated that the relationship between AChE and GO was linear and such models were used for quantitative analyses of GO., (Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

A novel anionic surfactant-templated synthesis of ZnO/mesoporous silica nanocomposites has been carried out by using N-hexadecylethylenediamine triacetate (HED3A), a triprotic surfactant, as the structure-directing agent. The chelating template can capture zinc ions in solution and then direct the mesophase formation, enabling an amount of zinc oxide to be embedded in the porous silica matrix during calcination. With variation of the molar ratio of Zn(2+) to HED3A in the template, a series of composites with different doping amounts were obtained after the removal of organic components. The variation of the zinc ion concentration in the initial template solution induces an evolution of the silica mesophase, presumably due to the change in electronegativity of the HED3A headgroup caused by the chelating effect. Spectroscopic studies show a strong host-guest interaction between the silica pore walls and ultrafine ZnO nanoparticles. The photoluminescence properties of the resulting composites exhibit a size-dependent light emission and quantum-confinement effect of ZnO, accompanied by an infrequent violet emission originating from the ZnO-SiO(2) interface.

Objective: To understand the degree of local medical students' clinical practice skills, evaluate teaching achievements and reveal weaknesses by analyzing the test papers and grades, so as to provide scientific advices for reform in clinical education., Methods: Test papers of 721 copies of traditional Chinese medical qualification examination (practical skills examination) were collected from the examination district of Shanghai in 2009. The papers were analyzed by using the principle and method of teaching statistics. The difficulty and reliability coefficients, discrimination and scores were evaluated., Results: The reliability coefficient of the paper was 0.527, the difficulty coefficients of different parts differed from 0.582 to 0.828 and the discrimination ranged from 0.401 to 0.753. The average score was 75.519 with the standard deviation of 11.073. The examinees had high scores in Chinese medicine training, including acupoint location and methods of acupuncture and moxibustion, but low scores in practice and display of Western medicine., Conclusion: The reliability coefficient, discrimination and the difficulty are all preferable. The students got a satisfying average while they had a shortage of ability in practice and display of Western medicine.

Background and Objective: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), with a remarkable geographic distribution, is consistently associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, and almost all NPC patients have sustained high levels of serum antibodies against EBV. This study was to compare the levels of six anti-EBV antibodies in healthy natives of Zhongshan (a high-incidence area of NPC) with those in provisional migrants from foreign provinces (low-incidence areas of NPC), and to illustrate the relationship between EBV infection and the geographic distribution of NPC., Methods: The serum levels of EBNA1-IgA, EBNA1-IgG, VCA-p18-IgA, VCA-p18-IgG, Zta-IgA and Zta-IgG in 303 healthy Zhongshan natives and 92 provisional migrants were tested using ELISA, and presented by values of adjusted relative absorbance (ArA). The serum levels and positive rates of the six antibodies were compared between the two groups., Results: The mean ArA values of both Zta-IgA and VCA-p18-IgA were significantly higher in Zhongshan natives than in provisional migrants (0.84+/-0.03 vs. 0.42+/-0.04, P <0.05; 0.96+/-0.05 vs. 0.40+/-0.05, P<0.05). In addition, the positive rates of Zta-IgA and VCA-p18-IgA in subjects aged of 30-49, or of 50 and above were significantly higher in Zhongshan natives than in provisional migrants (29.27% vs. 3.03% and 48.28% vs. 6.67% for Zta-IgA, P<0.05; 28.46% vs. 9.09% and 43.10% vs. 13.33% for VCA-p18-igA, P<0.05)., Conclusion: Zhongshan natives are likely to have an elevation of serum IgA antibodies against EBV lytic antigens (Zta and VCA-p18), which represents reactivation of EBV latency infection and implies that Zhongshan natives may have higher risk to develop NPC than provisional migrants.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility of transfection of recombinant human endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) into human hypertrophic scar fibroblasts (HSFbs), and to observe NO secretion and the synthesis of collagen I and III., Methods: Recombinant human eNOS with karyocyte expressive vector was constructed in vitro, then was transfected into HSFbs which was isolated from hypertrophic scar tissues and cultured in vitro (T group). The HSFbs untransfected (normal culture) or transfected with empty-vector was used as control group and empty-vector group respectively. The mRNA expression of eNOS, collagen I and III was determined by Realtime PCR. The content of NO was determined by NO assay kit., Results: The expression of eNOS mRNA in T group was 5.92 +/- 0.21, which was obviously higher than that in empty-vector group (0.98 +/- 0.13, P < 0.05). The expression of collagen I mRNA (0.76 +/- 0.15), and collagen III (0.79 +/- 0.08) in T group was significantly lower than those in empty-vector group (0.98 +/- 0.15, 1.02 +/- 0.12, P < 0.05, respectively). The content of NO in T group (36.1 +/- 0.8 micromol/L) was obviously higher than that in empty-vector group (28.4 +/- 1.0 micromol/L, P < 0.01) and control group (27.7 +/- 1.3 micromol/L, P < 0.01)., Conclusion: HSFbs can be the target cells for eNOS gene transfection. The transfected cells can express eNOS and produce NO, which inhibit the synthesis of collagen.

Objective: To analyze the influence of topical application of nerve growth factor (NGF) on nerve ending regeneration of large skin grafts in patients., Methods: Sixty wounds from 48 adult patients with small or moderate burn area and scar excision were randomly divided into NGF and control groups, with 30 wounds in each group. The wounds in control group were treated with simple saline solution, while those in NGF group, the graft was first wrapped in a piece of gauze holding 100 ml saline solution containing 9000 AU NGF before operation, and then flushed with same amount of NGF saline underneath skin after application of the graft. From 20 post-operative day on, NGF was injected at multiple points every other day for one month. In control group, only normal saline was used. The texture of the graft, pain sensation, temperature and two - point discrimination, BMRC grade were observed for 12 months. Skin specimens were obtained from 6 wounds in control group, 5 wounds in NGF group, and 4 specimens from normal skin for immunohistological examination of protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5), synaptophysin (SYN), and neuron specific enolase (NSE). The nerve endings regeneration and distribution were also observed., Results: Compared with those in control group, each index of feeling recovered earlier and better in NGF group, with better two - point discrimination ratio and BMRC grade. One year after operation, 17 skin grafts in NGF group reached S4 grade, with two - point discrimination ratio of 1.11 +/- 0.14, while only 5 grafts in control group reached S4 grade, with two - point discrimination ratio of 1.56 +/- 0.73. Six months after operation, rich nerve endings, with integral adnexae were observed in microvascular bed of skin - graft region and tissue interspace around fibromas tissue in subcutaneous tissue in NGF group, while nerve endings were found to be scanty and slender in subcutaneous tissue in control group., Conclusion: Local application of NGF can promote nerve regeneration and sensory recovery of grafted skin.

Objective: To compare the permeation-enhancing effect of the volatile oil of eight kinds of Chinese material medica including Fructus Evodia, Radix Saposhnikoviae, Rhizoma Atractylodes lancea Radix Aucklandiae, Radix Curcuma wenyujin, Rhizoma et Radix Notopterygii, Lignum Aquilariae Resinatum, Herba Schizonepetae on the model drug of ibuprofen in order to provide theoretic foundation for the selection and application of natural penetration enhancer., Methods: The permeation flux of ibuprofen was determined using the penetration experiment apparatus in vitro. The content of ibuprofen was measured by HPLC., Results: All the above mentioned volatile oil showed permeation enhancing effect on ibuprofen in different degrees, and the enhancive permeation multiple was 3.46, 3.00, 2. 36, 2.32, 2.28, 2.01, 1.37 and 1.29., Conclusion: All eight kinds of volatile oil can enhance the percutaneous absorption of ibuprofen in vitro, among which the volatile oil of Fructus Evodia and Radix Saposhnikoviae showed significant penetration enhancing effect.

Background & Objective: The aim of this study was to optimize a dual-antibody assay for sero-diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC) by evaluating 4 Epstein-Barr virus(EBV) antigen-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays(ELISAs)., Methods: The serum samples of 57 pretreated NPC patients and 58 apparently healthy adults in Guangzhou were collected. The levels of anti-EBV antibody in the sera were tested by 4 ELISAs, which were developed using fusion proteins of glutathione transferase and EBV specific recombinant antigens, namely, EBNA1-IgA, EBNA1-IgG, Zta-IgA, and Zta-IgG., Results: When evaluated individually, the sensitivity(0.9123) and negative predictive value(0.9074) of EBNA1-IgA were the highest among the 4 ELISAs tested. Zta-IgA test had the highest individual accuracy rate(pi, 0.8870) and Youden index(J, 0.7738). The dual positives for EBNA1-IgA and Zta-IgA were the highest among the 4 dual positives when paired ELISAs were evaluated. Five NPC patients with negative reaction to EBNA1-IgA showed positive reaction of Zta-IgA, and 7 NPC patients with negative reaction to Zta-IgA showed positive reaction of EBNA1-IgA., Conclusion: The EBNA1-IgA assay is more suitable than the other 3 ELISAs(EBNA1-IgG, Zta-IgA, and Zta-IgG) when used individually for serological diagnosis of NPC. When two assays are combined, EBNA1-IgA and Zta-IgA have complementary effect on serological diagnosis for NPC and is thus an optimal combination of serum antibody assays.

We assessed 5 EBV specific assays for their capacity to effect serologic diagnosis of suspected NPC. The assays were the immunofluorescent assays, VCA IgA and EA IgA, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays specific for EBNA 1 IgA or zta IgG and an EBV DNA assay. Serum samples were taken from 218 symptomatic NPC patients presenting consecutively at a public hospital in Hong Kong, 51 of whom were subsequently diagnosed as having NPC; 4 had EBV-associated lung cancer with similar serology as NPC. The remaining patients included 23 who had other cancers and 140 who had other diseases. Objectives of serodiagnosis under such clinical settings, therefore, are to both exclude and predict a diagnosis of NPC. None of the assays individually can meet both requirements adequately, however. The difficulty was best overcome by combining EBNA 1 IgA and zta IgG. It was shown that 68.3% of the patients gave a confirmed test results, negative or positive, by both tests. A confirmed negative result was associated with a negative predictive value of 99.1%, providing a clear indication to exclude a diagnosis of NPC; a confirmed positive result was associated with a positive predictive value of 86.8%, providing a clear indication to proceed with diagnostic work-up of NPC. The remaining patients gave equivocal test results, being positive for one or the other test, which were associated with a positive predictive value of 43.3% and 24.2%, respectively., (Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)