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Xuan Wang,1,&ast; Dan Liao,2,&ast; Qiu-Ming Ji,2 Yu-Hong Yang,2 Ming-Chao Li,3 Xian-Yun Yi,2 Chi Li,2 Yu Chen,2 Hong-Bo Tao,2 Wen-Hui Zhai2 1Institute of Burns, Wuhan Third Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430000, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Psychiatry, Wuhan Wudong Hospital, Wuhan, 430084, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Psychiatry, Affiliated Wuhan Mental Health Center, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University Science & Technology, Wuhan, 430022, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Qiu-Ming Ji; Yu-Hong Yang, Department of Psychiatry, Wuhan Wudong Hospital, No. 46 of Wudong Street, Qingshan District, Wuhan, 430084, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 27 5052 8367, Fax +86 27 8643 8247, Email ji20210826@163.com; yinhua3355@163.comObjective: To examine the bactericidal effects of three different states of medical ozone (liquid, gas, and oil) against drug-resistant strains of common bacteria on burn wounds, which could as a clinical reference.Methods: Three multidrug-resistant strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, pan-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and ESBLs Klebsiella pneumoniae were identified from burn wounds. The colonies of the three varieties of bacteria were each carried out using the pour plate method prior to the start of the experiment. Then, depending on the state of ozone, different treatment procedures are applied. Group of ozone gas: in a closed glass jar, the bacterial liquid was injected into a single layer of sterile gauze, and the ozone gas concentration was held at 50 g/mL. The bacterial liquid was diluted and combined directly with ozone water in the ozone water group. Ozone is a type of oil: after the emulsifier was added to the oil group. The gas, water, and oil groups were rapidly neutralized and counted again after 5, 10, and 30 minutes.Results: Ozone gas and oil groups totally eliminated multidrug resistant bacteria in the above study within 30 minutes. (2) At 5 and 10 minutes, the difference in bactericidal effect between ozone gas group and ozone water and oil group was statistically significant (P< 0.05), and there was no significant difference between ozone water and oil groups (P> 0.05); at the time of 30 minutes, the effects of bactericidal effect between ozone water group and ozone gas and oil had no significance (P> 0.05).Conclusion: Ozone has the ability to kill bacteria, depending on the treatment time, different ozone types should be chosen for sterilization and disinfection in clinical application.Keywords: ozone, burn, wound treatment, multidrug resistant bacteria

Strain DM2021935 T representing a novel Acinetobacter species was isolated from a spoiled bath lotion in Guangdong, China. Based on 16S rRNA gene phylogenetic analysis, strain DM2021935 T was closely related to 'Acinetobacter thutiue' VNH17 T , Acinetobacter junii CIP 64.5  T , and Acinetobacter tibetensis Y-23  T . Cells of strain DM2021935 T were Gram-stain-negative, non-spore-forming, strictly aerobic, catalase-positive, oxidase-negative, α-hemolytic, and non-motile. Strain DM2021935 T exhibited growth in 1-3% (w/v) NaCl at temperatures ranging from 4 to 37 °C and tolerated pH levels from 6.0 to 8.0. The predominant fatty acids in strain DM2021935 T are C 12:0 , C 16:0 , C 18:1 ω9c, and summed feature 3. Polar lipid profiles included glycolipids, phospholipids, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidyl-N-methylethanolamine. The identified respiratory quinones were ubiquinone Q-8 and Q-9. The genomic size of DM2021935 T comprised 4.15 Mb, consisting of one chromosome (3,827,633 bp) and two plasmids (241,357 and 83,010 bp). The G + C content was 41.8%. The average nucleotide identity, average amino acid identity, and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain DM2021935 T and phylogenetically related type strains were below the species delineation thresholds (72.2-95.4, 53.1-87.0, and 20.4-66.4%, respectively). AntiSMASH analysis identified four gene clusters: non-ribosomal peptide synthetase, non-alpha poly-amino group acids, YcaO cyclodehydratase, and aryl polyene biosynthesis. Based on genotypic data, strain DM2021935 T represents a novel species within the genus Acinetobacter. The proposed name for the novel species is Acinetobacter corruptisaponis sp. nov. (type strain DM2021935 T  = KCTC 92772  T  = GDMCC 1.3703  T )., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Kv1.3 belongs to the voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channel family, which is widely expressed in the central nervous system and associated with a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders. Kv1.3 is highly expressed in the olfactory bulb and piriform cortex and involved in the process of odor perception and nutrient metabolism in animals. Previous studies have explored the function of Kv1.3 in olfactory bulb, while the role of Kv1.3 in piriform cortex was less known. In this study, we investigated the neuronal changes of piriform cortex and feeding behavior after smell stimulation, thus revealing a link between the olfactory sensation and body weight in Kv1.3 KO mice. Coronal slices including the anterior piriform cortex were prepared, whole-cell recording and Ca 2+ imaging of pyramidal neurons were conducted. We showed that the firing frequency evoked by depolarization pulses and Ca 2+ influx evoked by high K + solution were significantly increased in pyramidal neurons of Kv1.3 knockout (KO) mice compared to WT mice. Western blotting and immunofluorescence analyses revealed that the downstream signaling molecules CaMKII and PKCα were activated in piriform cortex of Kv1.3 KO mice. Pyramidal neurons in Kv1.3 KO mice exhibited significantly reduced paired-pulse ratio and increased presynaptic Cav2.1 expression, proving that the presynaptic vesicle release might be elevated by Ca 2+ influx. Using Golgi staining, we found significantly increased dendritic spine density of pyramidal neurons in Kv1.3 KO mice, supporting the stronger postsynaptic responses in these neurons. In olfactory recognition and feeding behavior tests, we showed that Kv1.3 conditional knockout or cannula injection of 5-(4-phenoxybutoxy) psoralen, a Kv1.3 channel blocker, in piriform cortex both elevated the olfactory recognition index and altered the feeding behavior in mice. In summary, Kv1.3 is a key molecule in regulating neuronal activity of the piriform cortex, which may lay a foundation for the treatment of diseases related to piriform cortex and olfactory detection., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Pharmacological Society.)

Reference electrode is the foundation of electrochemical study; thus, most electrode materials are tested in a three-electrode mode to acquire potential-dependent kinetics. However, it is difficult to directly use conventional reference electrodes to detect potential information in solid electrolyte devices due to their compact assembly structure. Therefore, the kinetic study of an electrochemical device faces challenges in precise identification of specific problems originating from the anode or cathode. Here, focusing on proton exchange membrane water electrolysis, we design a solid electrolyte reversible hydrogen electrode (SE-RHE), which can be used for electrode diagnosis under various operating conditions. Compared to the reference electrodes reported in the literature, which are mainly based on liquid electrolyte, the SE-RHE is highly sensitive and compatible, as well as easy to assemble. The potential deviation is less than ±0.5 mV, and the cell voltage derived from the electrode potential well reproduces the value that was directly measured with a deviation less than 0.2%. The reference electrode developed in this work enables the kinetic study of a specific electrode rather than the entire cell. For instance, an interesting observation is that the cathode shows distinct stability under stable and fluctuating operations. Differing from the high stability under stable operation, the cathode degrades significantly under fluctuating operations.

The high cost of proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) originates from the usage of precious materials, insufficient efficiency, and lifetime. In this work, an important degradation mechanism of PEMWE caused by dynamics of ionomers over time in anode catalyst layer (ACL), which is a purely mechanical degradation of microstructure, is identified. Contrary to conventional understanding that the microstructure of ACL is static, the micropores are inclined to be occupied by ionomers due to the localized swelling/creep/migration, especially near the ACL/PTL (porous transport layer) interface, where they form transport channels of reactant/product couples. Consequently, the ACL with increased ionomers at PTL/ACL interface exhibit rapid and continuous degradation. In addition, a close correlation between the microstructure of ACL and the catalyst ink is discovered. Specifically, if more ionomers migrate to the top layer of the ink, more ionomers accumulate at the ACL/PEM interface, leaving fewer ionomers at the ACL/PTL interface. Therefore, the ionomer distribution in ACL is successfully optimized, which exhibits reduced ionomers at the ACL/PTL interface and enriches ionomers at the ACL/PEM interface, reducing the decay rate by a factor of three when operated at 2.0 A cm -2 and 80 °C. The findings provide a general way to achieve low-cost hydrogen production., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The widespread application of proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWEs) is hampered by insufficient lifetime caused by degradation of the anode catalyst layer (ACL). Here, an important degradation mechanism has been identified, attributed to poor mechanical stability causing the mass transfer channels to be blocked by ionomers under operating conditions. By using liquid-phase atomic force microscopy, we directly observed that the ionomers were randomly distributed (RD) in the ACL, which occupied the mass transfer channels due to swelling, creeping, and migration properties. Interestingly, we found that alternating treatments of the ACL in different water/temperature environments resulted in forming three-dimensional ionomer networks (3D INs) in the ACL, which increased the mechanical strength of microstructures by 3 times. Benefitting from the efficient and stable mass transfer channels, the lifetime was improved by 19 times. A low degradation rate of approximately 3.0 μV/h at 80 °C and a high current density of 2.0 A/cm 2 was achieved on a 50 cm 2 electrolyzer. These data demonstrated a forecasted lifetime of 80 000 h, approaching the 2026 DOE lifetime target. This work emphasizes the importance of the mechanical stability of the ACL and offers a general strategy for designing and developing a durable PEMWE.

Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) is a promising solution for the conversion and storage of fluctuating renewable energy sources. Although tremendously efficient materials have been developed, commercial PEMWE products still cannot fulfill industrial demands regarding efficiency and stability. In this work, we demonstrate that the stress distribution, a purely mechanical parameter in electrolyzer assembly, plays a critical role in overall efficiency and stability. The conventional cell structure, which usually adopts a serpentine flow channel (S-FC) to deliver and distribute reactants and products, resulted in highly uneven stress distribution. Consequently, the anode catalyst layer (ACL) under the high stress region was severely deformed, whereas the low stress region was not as active due to poor electrical contact. To address these issues, we proposed a Ti mesh flow channel (TM-FC) with gradient pores to reduce the stress inhomogeneity. Consequently, the ACL with TM-FC exhibited 27 mV lower voltage initially and an 8-fold reduction in voltage degradation rate compared to that with S-FC at 2.0 A/cm 2 . Additionally, the applicability of the TM-FC was demonstrated in cross-scale electrolyzers up to 100 kW, showing a voltage increase of only 20 mV (accounting for less than 2% of overall voltage) after three orders of magnitude scaleup., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

A Gram-positive, facultatively anaerobic, oval beaded-shape, oxidase-negative, and non-motile bacterium designated DM20194951 T was isolated from a spoiled eye mask obtained from Guangdong, China. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence, phylogenetic analysis indicated that strain DM20194951 T showed the highest sequence similarity (95.8%) to Fundicoccus ignavus WS4937 T . Meanwhile, strain DM20194951 T could be distinguished from the type strains in the genus Fundicoccus by distinct phenotypic and genotypic traits. Strain DM20194951 T grew variably with 1-2% (w/v) NaCl and tolerated pH 6.0-10.0. Growth was observed from 28 to 37 °C. The diagnostic diamino acids in the cell-wall peptidoglycan consisted of aspartic and glutamic acids as well as alanine. The predominant fatty acids were C 18:1 ω9c, C 16:0 , and C 16:1 ω9c. In the polar lipid profile, two glycolipids, three phospholipids, one phosphatidylglycerol, and one diphosphatidylglycerol were found. No respiratory quinones were detected. The DM20194951 T genome is 3.2 Mb in size and contains a G + C content of 38.1%. A gene cluster for lactococcin 972 family bacteriocin production was found in the DM20194951 T genome. Based on morphological, genotypic, and phylogenetic data, strain DM20194951 T should be considered to represent a novel species in the genus Fundicoccus, for which the name Fundicoccus culcitae sp. nov. is proposed with the type strain DM20194951 T (= KCTC 43472 T  = GDMCC 1.3614 T )., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) has been regarded as a promising technology for renewable hydrogen production. However, acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts with long-term stability impose a grand challenge in its large-scale industrialization. In this review, critical factors that may lead to catalyst's instability in couple with potential solutions are comprehensively discussed, including mechanical peeling, substrate corrosion, active-site over-oxidation/dissolution, reconstruction, oxide crystal structure collapse through the lattice oxygen-participated reaction pathway, etc. Last but not least, personal prospects are provided in terms of rigorous stability evaluation criteria, in situ/operando characterizations, economic feasibility and practical electrolyzer consideration, highlighting the ternary relationship of structure evolution, industrial-relevant activity and stability to serve as a roadmap towards the ultimate application of PEMWE., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Background: To investigate the clinical application of modified Crain classification in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction (ACLR) with remnant preservation., Methods: The subjects were 70 patients with ACL injury who underwent ACLR from May 2016 to June 2018, and their general data were recorded. They were randomly divided into modified remnant-preserved ACLR group (group M, n = 35) and non remnant-preserved ACLR group (group N, n = 35). ACLR program with remnant preservation was designed based on modified Crain classification in group M, while ACL remnants were completely cleaned during ACLR in group N. Subsequently, the two groups were compared in terms of operation time, complications, as well as Lysholm score, international knee documentation committee (IKDC) score and positive rate of Lachman test of knee joint before operation and at 3, 6 and 12 months after operation., Results: Both the groups showed good postoperative efficacy, and none had complications like limited knee extension or cyclops lesion. The comparison results found that group M (72.49 ± 7.64 min) required longer operation time than group N (66.06 ± 6.37 min) (P < 0.05). Lysholm score and IKDC score at 3, 6 and 12 months after operation in the two groups were significantly higher than those before operation (P < 0.05); group M had higher Lysholm score and IKDC score at 3 months and 6 months after operation compared with group N (P < 0.05). Additionally, the positive rate of Lachman test at 3, 6 and 12 months after operation in both groups was significantly lower than that before operation (P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference between group M and group N., Conclusion: With the modified Crain classification, many remnant-preserved reconstruction techniques can be rationally used to completely preserve the remnant ligament tissue during operation and improve knee joint function and joint stability with few complications., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Benefiting from the merits of short response time, high current density, and differential pressure, the proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE) is attracting increasing attention from both academic and industry researchers. A limiting factor that impedes the widespread application of the PEMWE is its reliance on the rarest elements, such as iridium and platinum. In order to optimize the device performance as well as to reduce the usage of rare elements, it is important but difficult to directly observe the reaction within the electrolyzer under working conditions. Thus, operando characterization methods are urgently needed to probe in real time the water electrolysis process during operation. In this perspective, we highlight the important role and summarize the recent advances of operando characterization methods in obtaining kinetic insights about PEMWEs. Based on the demands of kinetic optimization, an outlook of future characterization methods is given at the end.

Numerous attempts have been utilized to unveil the occurrences of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in human-associated and non-human-associated samples. However, spoiled household chemicals, which are usually neglected by the public, may be also a reservoir of ARGs because of the excessive and inappropriate uses of industrial drugs. Based upon the Comprehensive Antibiotic Research Database, a metagenomic sequencing method was utilized to detect and quantify Antibiotic Resistance Ontology (AROs) in six spoiled household chemicals, including hair conditioner, dishwashing detergent, bath shampoo, hand sanitizer, and laundry detergent. Proteobacteria was found to be the dominant phylum in all the samples. Functional annotation of the unigenes obtained against the KEGG pathway, eggNOG and CAZy databases demonstrated a diversity of their functions. Moreover, 186 types of AROs that were members of 72 drug classes were identified. Multidrug resistance genes were the most dominant types, and there were 17 AROs whose resistance mechanisms were categorized into the resistance-nodulation-cell division antibiotic efflux pump among the top 20 AROs. Moreover, Proteobacteria was the dominant carrier of AROs with the primary resistance mechanism of antibiotic efflux. The maximum temperature of the months of collection significantly affected the distributions of AROs. Additionally, the isolated individual bacterium from spoiled household chemicals and artificial mixed communities of isolated bacteria demonstrated diverse resistant abilities to different biocides. This study demonstrated that there are abundant microorganisms and a broad spectrum profile of AROs in spoiled household chemicals that might induce a severe threat to public healthy securities and merit particular attention., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Tuning intermediate adsorption energy by shifting the d-band center offers a powerful strategy to tailor the reactivity of metal catalysts. Here we report a potential sweep method to grow Pd layer-by-layer on Au with the capability to in situ measure the surface structure through an ethanol oxidation reaction. Spectroscopic characterizations reveal charge-transfer induced valence band restructuring in the Pd overlayer, which shifts the d-band center away from the Fermi level compared to bulk Pd. Precise overlayer control gives the optimal bimetallic surface of two monolayers (ML) Pd on Au, which exhibits more than 370-fold mass activity enhancement in oxygen reduction reaction (at 0.9 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode) and 40 mV increase in half-wave potential compared to the Pt/C. Tested in a homemade Zn-air battery, the 2-ML-Pd/Au/C exhibits a maximum power density of 296 mW/cm 2 and specific activity of 804 mAh/g Zn , much higher than Pt/C with the same catalyst loading amount.

Exposing and stabilizing undercoordinated platinum (Pt) sites and therefore optimizing their adsorption to reactive intermediates offers a desirable strategy to develop highly efficient Pt-based electrocatalysts. However, preparation of atomically controllable Pt-based model catalysts to understand the correlation between electronic structure, adsorption energy, and catalytic properties of atomic Pt sites is still challenging. Herein we report the atomically thin two-dimensional PtTe 2 nanosheets with well-dispersed single atomic Te vacancies (Te-SAVs) and atomically well-defined undercoordinated Pt sites as a model electrocatalyst. A controlled thermal treatment drives the migration of the Te-SAVs to form thermodynamically stabilized, ordered Te-SAV clusters, which decreases both the density of states of undercoordinated Pt sites around the Fermi level and the interacting orbital volume of Pt sites. As a result, the binding strength of atomically defined Pt active sites to H intermediates is effectively reduced, which renders PtTe 2 nanosheets highly active and stable in hydrogen evolution reaction.

Objectives: Our aim was to investigate the prevalence and predictive variables of sarcopenia., Methods: We recruited participants from the Peking Union Medical College Hospital Multicenter Prospective Longitudinal Sarcopenia Study (PPLSS). Muscle mass was quantified using bioimpedance, and muscle function was quantified using grip strength and gait speed. Logistic regression revealed the relationships between sarcopenia and nutritional, lifestyle, disease, psychosocial and physical variables., Results: The prevalence of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity was 9.2%-16.2% and 0.26%-9.1%, respectively. Old age, single status, undernourishment, higher income, smoking, low physical activity, poor appetite and low protein diets were significantly associated with sarcopenia. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that age was a risk factor for all stages of sarcopenia, and participants above 80 years were greater than fivefold more susceptible to sarcopenia, while lower physical activity was an independent risk factor. The optimal cut-off value for age was 71 years, which departs from the commonly accepted cut-off of 60 years. Female participants were greater than twofold less susceptible to sarcopenia than male participants. The sterol derivative 25-hydroxyvitamin D was associated with fourfold lower odds of sarcopenia in male participants. Several protein intake variables were also correlated with sarcopenia. Based on these parameters, we defined a highly predictive index for sarcopenia., Conclusions: Our findings support a predictive index of sarcopenia, which agglomerates the complex influences that sterol metabolism and nutrition exert on male vs female participants., (© 2021 The Authors. Cell Proliferation Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Vertically aligned noble metal nanowire arrays were grown on conductive electrodes based on a solution growth method. They show significant improvement of electrocatalytic activity in ethanol oxidation, from a re-deposited sample of the same detached nanowires. The unusual morphology provides open diffusion channels and direct charge transport pathways, in addition to the high electrochemically active surface from the ultrathin nanowires. Our best nanowire arrays exhibited much enhanced electrocatalytic activity, achieving a 38.0 fold increase in specific activity over that of commercial catalysts for ethanol electrooxidation. The structural design provides a new direction to enhance the electrocatalytic activity and reduce the size of electrodes for miniaturization of portable electrochemical devices., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

The non-linear characteristic of a non-contacting Inductive Proximity Sensor (IPS) with the temperature affects the computation accuracy when measuring the target distance in real time. The linear model based method for distance estimation shows a large deviation at a low temperature. Accordingly, this paper presents a non-linear measurement model, which computes the target distance accurately in real time within a wide temperature range from -55&nbsp;°C to 125&nbsp;°C. By revisiting the temperature effect on the IPS system, this paper considers the non-linear characteristic of the IPS measurement system due to the change of temperature. The proposed model adopts a non-linear polynomial algorithm rather than the simple linear Look-Up Table (LUT) method, which provides more accurate distance estimation compared to the previous work. The introduced model is fabricated in a 0.18 μm Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) process and packaged in a CQFN40. For the most commonly used sensing distance of 4 mm, the computed distance deviation of the Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chips falls within the range of [-0.2,0.2] mm. According to the test results of the ASIC chips, this non-linear temperature compensation model successfully achieves real-time and high-accuracy computation within a wide temperature range with low hardware resource consumption.

Catalytic water splitting driven by renewable electricity offers a promising strategy to produce molecular hydrogen, but its efficiency is severely restricted by the sluggish kinetics of the anodic water oxidation reaction. Amorphous catalysts are reported to show better activities of water oxidation than their crystalline counterparts, but little is known about the underlying origin, which retards the development of high-performance amorphous oxygen evolution reaction catalysts. Herein, on the basis of cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, isotope labeling, and in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy studies, we demonstrate that an amorphous catalyst can be electrochemically activated to expose active sites in the bulk thanks to the short-range order of the amorphous structure, which greatly increases the number of active sites and thus improves the electrocatalytic activity of the amorphous catalyst in water oxidation.

Purpose: To observe the effect of bone grafting during the extraction of mandibular third molar on repair of distal alveolar bone defect distal to the second molar., Methods: The risks of the distal alveolar bone defect in the second molar were estimated after removal of the impacted teeth according to the position of the third molar and second molar before operation. It was divided into three groups: low risk group, medium risk group and high risk group. The medium risk group and high risk group were further divided into bone graft subgroup (group A) and non-bone graft subgroup (group B). There were 36 cases in group A and 45 cases in group B. Postoperative re-examination indicators included subjective perception of the patients, depth of probing and height of alveolar bone in the distal molar of the second molar by X-ray examination. The data were analyzed with SPSS 19.0 software package., Results: Six months after operation, in mediun risk group, 0 cases in group A had subjective feelings of cold and heat stimulation; in group B, the number was 6 cases, the difference was significant (P<0.05). Distal periodontal probing depth of the second molar was (2.93±0.34) mm in group A and (2.95±0.50) mm in group B. There was no significant difference between 2 groups (P=0.931). X-ray examination of the alveolar bone height increment of the second molar Δh: (3.31±1.02) mm in group A, (3.10±1.72) mm in group B, the difference was not significant (P=0.794). In high risk group, 4 cases in group A had subjective feelings of cold and heat stimulation; in group B, the number was 10 cases,the difference was significant (P<0.05). Distal periodontal probing depth of the second molar was (3.08±0.37) mm in group A and (3.24±0.41) mm in group B. There was no significant difference between 2 groups(P=0.931). X-ray examination of the alveolar bone height increment of the second molar Δh: (5.21±1.79) mm in group A, (2.99±2.42) mm in group B, the difference was significant (P<0.05)., Conclusions: Risk classification of the second molar distal bone defects after extraction of the impacted teeth is essential, which is helpful to determine whether bone grafting is needed during operation. Autologous bone mixed with Bio-Oss artificial bone powder can promote recovery of the alveolar bone height of the second molar, especially in high risk group, and discomfort caused by exposure can be reduced.

The key step for rational catalyst design in heterogeneous electrocatalysis is to reveal the distinctive energy profile of redox reactions of a catalyst that give rise to specific activity. However, it is challenging to experimentally obtain the energetics of oxygen redox in oxygen electrocatalysis because of the liquid reaction environment. Here we develop a kinetic model that constructs a quantitative relation between the energy profile of oxygen redox and electrochemical kinetic fingerprints. The detailed study here demonstrates that the kinetic fingerprints observed from experiments can be well described by different energetics of oxygen redox. On the basis of the model, a feasible methodology is demonstrated to derive binding energies of the oxygen intermediates from electrochemical data. The surface property of different catalysts derived from our model well rationalizes the experimental trends and predicts potential directions for catalyst design.

Carbon nanostructures supported semiconductors are common in photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical applications, as it is expected that the nanoconductors can improve the spatial separation and transport of photogenerated charge carriers. Transfer of charge carriers through the carbon-semiconductor interface is the key electronic process, which determines the role of charge separation channels, and is sensitively influenced by band structures of the semiconductor near the contacts. Usually, this electronic process suffers from excessive energy dissipation by thermionic emission, which will undesirably prevent the interfacial charge transfer and eventually aggravate the recombination of photogenerated charge carriers. Unfortunately, this critical issue has hardly been consciously considered. Here, ultrathin dopant-free tunneling interlayers coated on the surface of graphene and sandwiched between the carbon sheets and the semiconductor nanostructures are adopted as a model system to demonstrate energy saving for the interfacial charge transfer. The nanostructuring confinement of band bending within the ultrathin interlayers in contact with the graphene sheets effectively narrows the width of the potential barriers, which enables tunneling of a substantial number of photogenerated electrons to the co-catalysts without unduly consuming energy. Besides, the dopant-free tunneling interlayers simultaneously block the transferred electrons in the sandwiched graphene sheets from leakage., (© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The development of a universal activity descriptor like the d-band model for transition metal catalysts is of great importance to catalyst design. However, due to the complicated electronic structures of metal oxides, the correlation of the binding energies of reaction intermediates (*OH, *O, and *OOH) in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with experimentally controllable properties of metal oxides has not been well established. Here we demonstrate that excess electrons are the essential factor that governs the binding properties of intermediates on the surfaces of reducible metal oxides. We propose that the number of excess electrons (NEE) is an essential activity descriptor toward the OER activities of these oxides, which perfectly reproduces the volcano curve plotted using the descriptor Δ G O - Δ G OH , so that tuning NEE can effectively tailor the OER activities of reducible metal oxide based catalysts. Guided by this descriptor, we predict a novel non-precious catalyst with an overpotential of 0.54 eV, which could be a potential alternative to current Ru or Ir based catalysts.

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is one of the most adverse obstetric outcomes. Our aim is to detect the risks of multilevel PPH in different cesarean section (CS) groups [including nulliparous CS with indications, nulliparous CS without indications, repeat cesarean (RC), vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), cesarean after vaginal birth (CAVB)]. We conducted a retrospective cohort study, and the data on 127 145 women collected from January 2014 to May 2016 and from 35 tertiary hospitals in Shanxi province, China, were reviewed. Based on the measuring results of PPH, an ordered logistic regression model was used to analyze the adjusted PPH risks for each of the CS groups, and comparisons were drawn between them. Finally, a total of 99 066 nulliparous (77.92%) and 28 079 multiparous (22.08%) women were observed. The number of CS cases was 61 117, and the rate for CS was 48.07%. A total of 10 029 women did not show indications for CS and accounted for 16.41% of the CS parturient, whereas 9103 women underwent a repeated cesarean, with a CS frequency of 14.89%. The number of VBAC cases was 989, whose rate was 9.88% in prior CS women. The number (proportions) of PPH was 3658 (2.88%) in LI (PPH volume: ≥900 and <1500 mL), 520 (0.41%) in 12 (PPH volume: >1500 and <2100 mL), and 201 (0.16%) in L3 (PPH volume: ≥2100 mL). The Ln (n=l, 2,3, etc.) represented the increasing order of PPH severity. In the adjusted results, compared with spontaneous vaginal delivery (SVD) as the reference group, in the adjusted result for nulliparous, there was a decreased PPH risk in CS with indications (OR: 2.32; CI: 2.04-2.62), which was lower than that of CS without indications (OR: 2.50; CI: 2.01-2.96). The highest PPH risk in all subgroups (i.e. nulliparous and multiparous groups) was observed in the RC (OR: 3.61; CI: 3.16-4.17), which was nearly twice higher than that of the VBAC (OR: 1.82; CI: 1.33-2.52). CAVB (OR: 1.03; CI: 0.65-1.62) showed no significant difference with the reference group. Thus, we deemed that CS should be avoided in nulliparous pregnancies unless indicated, to prevent or reduce the rates for the use of RC or VBAC which are high risks of severe PPH to the parturient women.

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical effect of simple osteotome sinus floor elevation without bone grafting in the posterior maxilla area with less bone height., Methods: Twenty eight cases with posterior maxillary bone deficiency were included.Their residual alveolar bone height (RBH) was less than 7 mm. 40 ITI implants were implanted. Among them, 6 implants were implanted in the sites with RBH less than 4 mm (group 1), 34 were implanted in the sites with RBH between 4 to 7 mm (group 2).16 implants were inserted with bone graft, while 24 implants were inserted without bone graft. 6-12 months after operation, the alveolar bone height were measured and recorded. SPSS19.0 software package was used for data analysis., Results: All 40 implants in 28 patients had good initial stability and good osseointegration, the success rate was 100%. RBH in group 1 and group 2 was (3.44±0.57) mm, (5.50±1.00) mm, respectively; postoperative bone increase was (7.91±1.06) mm in group 1, (8.77±1.15) mm in group 2, respectively (P>0.05).Preoperative RBHin bone graft group was (5.37±1.24) mm and (5.07±1.19) mm in patients without bone graft. Postoperative bone increase was (8.47±1.18) mm in bone graft group, and (8.89±1.13)mm in patients without bone graft, responsively (P>0.05)., Conclusions: Maxillary sinus elevation can be successfully performed in patients with RBH<4 mm, and the effect is similar to that of conventional maxillary sinus lifting. Simple osteotome sinus floor elevation without bone grafting, which is with less trauma and lower cost, is effective in improving bone height in posterior maxillary region.

China implemented the public hospital reform in 2012. This study utilized bootstrapping data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate the technical efficiency (TE) and productivity of county public hospitals in Eastern, Central, and Western China after the 2012 public hospital reform. Data from 127 county public hospitals (39, 45, and 43 in Eastern, Central, and Western China, respectively) were collected during 2012-2015. Changes of TE and productivity over time were estimated by bootstrapping DEA and bootstrapping Malmquist. The disparities in TE and productivity among public hospitals in the three regions of China were compared by Kruskal-Wallis H test and Mann-Whitney U test. The average bias-corrected TE values for the four-year period were 0.6442, 0.5785, 0.6099, and 0.6094 in Eastern, Central, and Western China, and the entire country respectively, with average non-technical efficiency, low pure technical efficiency (PTE), and high scale efficiency found. Productivity increased by 8.12%, 0.25%, 12.11%, and 11.58% in China and its three regions during 2012-2015, and such increase in productivity resulted from progressive technological changes by 16.42%, 6.32%, 21.08%, and 21.42%, respectively. The TE and PTE of the county hospitals significantly differed among the three regions of China. Eastern and Western China showed significantly higher TE and PTE than Central China. More than 60% of county public hospitals in China and its three areas operated at decreasing return scales. There was a considerable space for TE improvement in county hospitals in China and its three regions. During 2012-2015, the hospitals experienced progressive productivity; however, the PTE changed adversely. Moreover, Central China continuously achieved a significantly lower efficiency score than Eastern and Western China. Decision makers and administrators in China should identify the causes of the observed inefficiencies and take appropriate measures to increase the efficiency of county public hospitals in the three areas of China, especially in Central China.

Inductive proximity sensors (IPSs) present a unique no-contact advantage. They are widely preferred for displacement measurement in various industrial fields (e.g., aviation and aerospace), and they are improved continuously. When the inductance and resistance components of the IPS sensing core are separated, the influence of temperature drift on measurement can be eliminated. The complexity of online computation of component separation can be reduced using a two-dimensional look-up table method. However, this method exhibits disadvantages, such as large capacity of the look-up table, dependency on precision measurement of sensing core parameter, and nonlinear distribution of measurement resolution. This study aims to overcome these disadvantages by examining the nonlinear relationship between the response of the sensing core and the ambient temperature, and proposes a dimension-reduced measurement method. The proposed method extracts the characteristics of the response curves at two temperatures and calculates the characteristics of the response curves at any temperature using a linear approximation. The look-up table capacity is less than 0.37% of the two-dimensional look-up table capacity (condensed) under the same condition; dimension reduction enables the construction of a complete look-up table directly by calibration procedures and avoids precise measurement on sensing core parameters; the calibration procedures establish uniform mapping of the distribution of measurement resolution. The experiment shows that, when the measurement ranges are 0-6, 0-5, and 0-4 mm, the maximum measurement errors are 0.140, 0.065, and 0.040 mm, respectively, under temperature ranging from 20 ∘ C to 110 ∘ C. This study extends the measurement range from 0-5 mm to 0-7 mm and improves the measurement accuracy over 0.1 mm (50% at 5 mm) compared with the two-dimensional look-up table method. Therefore, the proposed method not only inherits the advantages of the original method but also achieves the above-mentioned expected capacity improvements effectively., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to quantitatively evaluate root resorption by cone-beam computer tomography (CBCT) after orthodontic treatment of impacted upper central incisors., Methods: Ten patients (12 impacted incisors and 8 contralateral corresponding teeth) were included in this study. With self-designed modified nance arch and straight wire arch, the impacted incisors were treated by combined orthodontics and surgery approach. CBCT images of all patients were taken before and immediately after the treatment. Mimics software was used to build three-dimensional images. The upper central incisors were isolated. Volumes of teeth and superficial area were calculated. The difference between pre- and post- treatment was statistically evaluated with paired samples t test using SPSS13.0 software package., Results: Significant difference in volume and superficial area was found between pre- and post- treatment (P<0.05). The average whole dental volume increase was (9.67±10.86) mm 3 , and the superficial area increase was (28.97±14.36)mm 2 . Statistical significance was achieved among 12 impacted incisors. The average whole dental volume increase of the control group was（12.38±10.22）mm 3 , and the superficial area increase was（30.64±16.74）mm 2 . There was no significant difference between the impacted and the control group in dental volume and superficial area before and after treatment (P>0.05)., Conclusions: The treatment by combined orthodontics and surgery approach could promote tooth development for impacted incisors without causing root absorption, which can be safely performed.

Patient safety education is conducive to medical students' cognition on patient safety and to improvement of medical quality and safety. Developing patient safety education for medical students is more and more widely recognized by World Health Organization and countries all over the world. However, in China, patient safety courses aiming at medical students are relatively few, and there are few reports about the effect of patient safety courses. This paper explored the influence of patient safety curriculum on medical students' attitude to and knowledge of patient safety. The patient safety curriculum was carried out for 2011-grade undergraduates of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology. The students participated in the class according to free choice. After the curriculum, the information of gender, major, attended course, attitude toward patient safety, and knowledge of laws and regulations of the 2011-grade undergraduates were collected. After rejecting invalid questionnaires, the number of undergraduates that participated in the survey was 112 (61 students did not take part in the curriculum; 51 took part in). Chi-square test was applied to analyze patient safety education's influence on medical students' attitude to patient safety and their knowledge mastery situation. The influence of patient safety education on the attitude of medical students to patient safety was not significant, but that on their knowledge of patient safety was remarkable. No matter male or female, as compared with medical students who had not accepted patient safety education, they both had a better acquisition of knowledge after having this education (for male students: 95% CI, 4.556-106.238, P<0.001; for female students: 95% CI, 3.183-33.238, P<0.001). Students majoring in Western Medicine had a relatively better mastery of knowledge of patient safety after receiving patient safety education (95% CI, 6.267-76.271, P<0.001). Short-term patient safety education cannot change medical students' stereotyped cognition on matters related to patient safety, but it can effectively enhance their knowledge of laws and regulations of patient safety.

A number of important reactions such as the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are catalyzed by transition metal oxides (TMOs), the surface reactivity of which is rather elusive. Therefore, rationally tailoring adsorption energy of intermediates on TMOs to achieve desirable catalytic performance still remains a great challenge. Here we show the identification of a general and tunable surface structure, coordinatively unsaturated metal cation (MCUS), as a good surface reactivity descriptor for TMOs in OER. Surface reactivity of a given TMO increases monotonically with the density of MCUS, and thus the increase in MCUS improves the catalytic activity for weak-binding TMOs but impairs that for strong-binding ones. The electronic origin of the surface reactivity can be well explained by a new model proposed in this work, wherein the energy of the highest-occupied d-states relative to the Fermi level determines the intermediates' bonding strength by affecting the filling of the antibonding states. Our model for the first time well describes the reactivity trends among TMOs, and would initiate viable design principles for, but not limited to, OER catalysts.

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are critical to renewable energy conversion and storage technologies. Heteroatom-doped carbon nanomaterials have been reported to be efficient metal-free electrocatalysts for ORR in fuel cells for energy conversion, as well as ORR and OER in metal-air batteries for energy storage. We reported that metal-free three-dimensional (3D) graphene nanoribbon networks (N-GRW) doped with nitrogen exhibited superb bifunctional electrocatalytic activities for both ORR and OER, with an excellent stability in alkaline electrolytes (for example, KOH). For the first time, it was experimentally demonstrated that the electron-donating quaternary N sites were responsible for ORR, whereas the electron-withdrawing pyridinic N moieties in N-GRW served as active sites for OER. The unique 3D nanoarchitecture provided a high density of the ORR and OER active sites and facilitated the electrolyte and electron transports. As a result, the as-prepared N-GRW holds great potential as a low-cost, highly efficient air cathode in rechargeable metal-air batteries. Rechargeable zinc-air batteries with the N-GRW air electrode in a two-electrode configuration exhibited an open-circuit voltage of 1.46 V, a specific capacity of 873 mAh g(-1), and a peak power density of 65 mW cm(-2), which could be continuously charged and discharged with an excellent cycling stability. Our work should open up new avenues for the development of various carbon-based metal-free bifunctional electrocatalysts of practical significance.

Due to the limited electronic conductivity, the application of many metal oxides that may have attractive (photo)-electrochemical properties has been limited. Regarding these issues, incorporating low-dimensional conducting scaffolds into the electrodes or supporting the metal oxides onto the conducting networks are common approaches. However, some key electronic processes like interfacial charge transfer are far from being consciously concerned. Here we use a carbon-TiO2 contact as a model system to demonstrate the electronic processes occurring at the metal-semiconductor interface. To minimize the energy dissipation for fast transfer of electrons from semiconductor to carbon scaffolds, facilitating electron tunneling while avoiding high energy-consuming thermionic emission is desired, according to our theoretical simulation of the voltammetric behaviors. To validate this, we manage to sandwich ultrathin TiO2 interlayers with heavy electronic doping between the carbon conductors and dopant-free TiO2. The radially graded distribution of the electronic doping along the cross-sectional direction of carbon conductor realized by immobilizing the dopant species on the carbon surface can minimize the energy consumption for contacts to both the carbon and the dopant-free TiO2. Our strategy provides an important requirement for metal oxide electrode design.

The objective of this study was to examine the strengths and weaknesses of surgical units as compared with other units, and to provide an opportunity to improve patient safety culture in surgical settings by suggesting targeted actions using Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) investigation.A Hospital Survey on Patient Safety questionnaire was conducted to physicians and nurses in a tertiary hospital in Shandong China. 12 patient safety culture dimensions and 2 outcome variables were measured.A total of 23.5% of respondents came from surgical units, and 76.5% worked in other units. The "overall perceptions of safety" (48.1% vs 40.4%, P < 0.001) and "frequency of events reported" (63.7% vs 60.7%, P = 0.001) of surgical units were higher than those of other units. However, the communication openness (38.7% vs 42.5%, P < 0.001) of surgical units was lower than in other units. Medical workers in surgical units reported more events than those in other units, and more respondents in the surgical units assess "patient safety grade" to be good/excellent. Three dimensions were considered as strengths, whereas 5 other dimensions were considered to be weaknesses in surgical units. Six dimensions have potential to aid in improving events reporting and patient safety grade. Appropriate working times will also contribute to ensuring patient safety. Medical staff with longer years of experience reported more events.Surgical units outperform the nonsurgical ones in overall perception of safety and the number of events reported but underperform in the openness of communication. Four strategies, namely deepening the understanding about patient safety of supervisors, narrowing the communication gap within and across clinical units, recruiting more workers, and employing the event reporting system and building a nonpunitive culture, are recommended to improve patient safety in surgical units in the context of 1 hospital.

Semiconductor-based photocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis have received considerable attention as alternative approaches for solar energy harvesting and storage. The photocatalytic or photoelectrocatalytic performance of a semiconductor is closely related to the design of the semiconductor at the nanoscale. Among various nanostructures, one-dimensional (1D) nanostructured photocatalysts and photoelectrodes have attracted increasing interest owing to their unique optical, structural, and electronic advantages. In this article, a comprehensive review of the current research efforts towards the development of 1D semiconductor nanomaterials for heterogeneous photocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis is provided and, in particular, a discussion of how to overcome the challenges for achieving full potential of 1D nanostructures is presented. It is anticipated that this review will afford enriched information on the rational exploration of the structural and electronic properties of 1D semiconductor nanostructures for achieving more efficient 1D nanostructure-based photocatalysts and photoelectrodes for high-efficiency solar energy conversion., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Hierarchically ordered ZnO nanorods (NRs) decorated nanoporous-layer-covered TiO2 nanotube array (ZnO NRs/NP-TNTAs) nanocomposites have been prepared by an efficient, two-step anodization route combined with an electrochemical deposition strategy, by which monodispersed one-dimensional (1D) ZnO NRs were uniformly grown on the framework of NP-TNTAs. The crystal phases, morphologies, optical properties, photocatalytic as well as photoelectrocatalytic performances of the well-defined ZnO NRs/NP-TNTAs heterostructures were systematically explored to clarify the structure-property correlation. It was found that the ZnO NRs/NP-TNTAs heterostructure exhibits significantly enhanced photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic performances, along with favorable photostability toward degradation of organic pollutants under UV light irradiation, as compared to the single component counterparts. The remarkably enhanced photoactivity of ZnO NRs/NP-TNTAs heterostructure is ascribed to the intimate interfacial integration between ZnO NRs and NP-TNTAs substrate imparted by the unique spatially branched hierarchical structure, thereby contributing to the efficient transfer and separation of photogenerated electron-hole charge carriers. Moreover, the specific active species during the photocatalytic process was unambiguously determined and photocatalytic mechanism was tentatively presented. It is anticipated that our work could provide new insights for the construction of various hierarchical 1D-1D hybrid nanocomposites for extensive photocatalytic applications.

Beta-B2-crystallin (CRYBB2), encoded by Crybb2 gene, is a major protein in the mammalian eye lens that plays an important role in maintaining the transparency of the ocular lens. However, CRYBB2 also plays important roles in many extra-lenticular tissues and organs such as the retina, brain and testis. Our previous studies demonstrated that male Crybb2 deficient (Crybb2(-/-)) mice have reduced fertility compared with wild-type (WT) mice, while female Crybb2(-/-) mice exhibited reduced ovary weights and shorter estrous cycle percentages. Here we specifically investigated the role of CRYBB2 in the female reproductive system. Our studies revealed that ovaries from female Crybb2(-/-) mice exhibited significantly reduced numbers of primordial, secondary and pre-ovulatory follicles when compared with WT mice, while the rate of atretic follicles was also increased. Additionally, fewer eggs were collected from the oviduct of Crybb2(-/-) female mice after superovulation. Estrogen levels were higher in the metestrus and diestrus cycles of female Crybb2(-/-) mice, while progesterone levels were lower in diestrus cycles. Furthermore, the expression of survival and cell cycle genes, Bcl-2, Cdk4 and Ccnd2, were significantly decreased in granulosa cells isolated from female Crybb2(-/-) mice, consistent with the predominant expression of CRYBB2 in ovarian granulosa cells. Our results reveal a critical role for CRYBB2 in female fertility and specific effects on the proliferation and survival status of ovarian granulosa cells., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A biomolecule-assisted pyrolysis method has been developed to synthesize sulfur-doped graphitic carbon nitride (CNS) nanosheets. During the synthesis, sulfur could be introduced as a dopant into the lattice of carbon nitride (CN). Sulfur doping changed the texture as well as relative band positions of CN. By growing CN on preformed sulfur-doped CN nanosheets, composite CN/CNS heterojunction nanosheets were constructed, which significantly enhanced the photoelectrochemical performance as compared with various control counterparts including CN, CNS and physically mixed CN and CNS (CN+CNS). The enhanced photoelectrochemical performance of CN/CNS heterojunction nanosheets could be ascribed to the efficient separation of photoexcited charge carriers across the heterojunction interface. The strategy of designing and preparing CN/CNS heterojunction photocatalysts in this work can open up new directions for the construction of all CN-based heterojunction photocatalysts.

Purpose: To apply research-based learning in education of bachelor intern students of stomatology and evaluate its role in promoting the comprehensive quality of the students., Methods: Sixty students from grade 2007 and 2008 in school of stomatology, Wenzhou Medical University were enrolled in this study. Thirty of them were randomly selected into a group for research-based learning, while the others were taught with traditional teaching mode. Survey and assessment of the teaching effect was performed after the course. Independent t test was employed to evaluate the differences with SPSS16.0 software package., Results: No significant difference of exam results was revealed between the two groups. Questionnaire survey showed a good evaluation for the teaching mode and the teachers in the group research-based learning, but the evaluation of mastering research capability was lower., Conclusions: Research-based learning mode promotes the study interest and comprehensive quality of the students. No evidence of interference with mastering clinical skills is disclosed.

Objective: To evaluate the pharmacological effects of traditional Chinese medicine, bear bile capsule and Huangqi granule, on recurrent parotitis in children., Methods: In this prospective, controlled, and randomized study, a total of 151 young children were divided into three groups: Group A included massaging the children's parotid region and melting vitamin C in their mouth daily; Group B included swallowing bear bile capsule and Huangqi granule daily; and Group C included massages and vitamin C as prescribed in Group A, and traditional Chinese medicine as prescribed in Group B. Children were treated individually for one month and then a follow-up study was conducted for 1 to 3.5 years. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Ridit analysis were employed for statistical analysis., Results: The recurrence rate decreased in every group, but was significantly more in Groups B and C when compared to Group A. The recurrences significantly decreased (P<0.01) in Group B and their recovery rate was as high as 63%, significantly better than those of the other groups (P<0.01)., Conclusions: Huangqi and bear bile could be a novel clinical approach for treating recurrent parotitis in children.

Objective: To establish a discriminant model and to provide a relatively accurate scientific basis for the early diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) and detection of the close contacts., Methods: Through logistic regression analysis, key factors were selected according to Bayes theory and key factors of TB incidence of the close contacts were screened as well as a discriminant model was established., Results: The non-TB incidence discriminant function of the close contacts was described as: Y1= -39.831 (constant) + 1.927 X1 (sputum-frequency) + 3.528 X2 (education) + 0.309 X3 (contact time) + 5.893 X4 (evade) +2.140 X5 (ventilation) + 8.706 X6 (cough) + 30.970 X7 (fever). The discriminant function of non-TB incidence of the close contacts was as: Y2 =-57.875 (constant) + 2.343 X1 (sputum-frequency) + 3.965 X2 (education) + 0.361 X3 (contact time) + 6.296 X4 (evade) + 1.348 X5 (ventilation) + 12.984 X6 (cough) + 36.555 X7 (fever)., Conclusion: The discriminant model night be used to contribute to the early diagnosis, early intervention and timely treatment on those close contacts of tuberculosis cases.