Search

Background The maintenance of exercise rehabilitation effect in patients with chronic heart failure depends on good adherence to exercise rehabilitation. It is of great practical significance to evaluate the adherence to exercise rehabilitation effectively and scientifically, however, there is still a lack of accepted tools to evaluate the adherence to exercise rehabilitation in patients with chronic heart failure at home and abroad. Objective To develop an exercise rehabilitation adherence scale for patients with chronic heart failure, and provide a scientific and appropriate tool for the rapid and convenient evaluation of adherence to exercise rehabilitation in patients with chronic heart failure. Methods Based on the previous summary of the best evidence and qualitative research on exercise rehabilitation of patients with chronic heart failure, the initial pool of entries was formed through literature review, combining the opinions of the research group; the clinical test version of the scale was formed based on a small sample pre-survey and Delphi expert correspondence. Patients with stable chronic heart failure who were treated in the cardiovascular department from three tertiary-level hospitals in Jiangsu Province from November 2020 to January 2021 were selected as the study subjects using a convenience sampling method. In the first phase, 274 valid scales were recovered, aiming to screen the items of the scale and conduct exploratory factor analysis by combining item response theory and classical test theory to form the official version of the scale; in the second phase, 282 valid scales were recovered, aiming to perform confirmatory factor analysis and test on reliability and validity of the official version of the scale to form the final version of the scale. Results The formal scale consisted of 11 items in 2 dimensions. The difficulty of each item was reasonable without no inverse threshold, and the item differentiation, item information content, and item characteristic curve were all superior. The total Cronbach's α coefficient of the exercise rehabilitation adherence scale for patients with chronic heart failure was 0.905, of which the dimension of "prescription adherence" was 0.895, the dimension of "monitoring adherence" was 0.910. The total Spearman-Brown split reliability coefficient of the scale was 0.724, and the retest reliability was 0.902. The results of exploratory factor analysis showed that the two factors could explain 70.231% of the total variation. The results of further confirmatory factor analysis showed that the model was better fitted with each parameter. Conclusion The exercise rehabilitation adherence scale for patients with chronic heart failure developed in the study is reasonable in terms of item difficulty, differentiation, the information content of the items is good with high reliability and validity, which can be used as an evaluation tool for adherence to exercise rehabilitation in patients with chronic heart failure.

Objective·To construct a bioactivity tissue engineering scaffold with double network cross-linking for cartilage tissue regeneration using an acellular cartilage matrix (ACM) with a natural silk fibroin (SF) biomaterial.Methods·The cell-associated immunogenic components were removed by nuclease digestion, and the extracellular matrix-associated glycoproteins and collagen structures were retained, The efficiency of cartilage tissue decellularization was measured by spectrophotometry by using DNA, histoglycosaminoglycan and collagen quantification kits. ACM and SF were configured into a mixed solution, and the nucleophilic cross-linking reaction with the hydroxyl and carboxyl groups contained in both was carried out by adding ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether. Then it was freeze-dried to make porous bionic scaffolds (n=5). At the same time, porous scaffolds containing only ACM or SF were prepared by the same method (n=5). The microstructure of the scaffolds was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the mechanical strength, elastic modulus and resilience of different groups of scaffolds were evaluated by mechanical tests. The internal and external nutrient exchange capacity of the scaffolds was reacted by water absorption rate. Chondrocytes from rabbit ears were isolated, cultured, and seeded on ACM-SF scaffolds. After 1, 4, and 7 days of culture, the adhesion, distribution, and matrix secretion of the cells on the scaffolds were observed by SEM, and the viability status of the cells was determined by double-staining of live and dead cells. CCK-8 method was used to determine the cytotoxicity of the scaffolds. The cells were implanted subcutaneously in nude mice, cultured in vivo for 4 and 8 weeks, and finally removed for histological testing. Differences between groups were tested by One-Way ANOVA. Statistical significance was accepted at a value of P

Boron-based compounds have triggered substantial attention due to their multifunctional properties, incorporating excellent hardness and superconductivity. While tetragonal metal borides LiB4 and NaB4 with BaAl4-type structure and striking clathrate boron motif have been induced under compression, there is still a lack of deep understanding of their potential properties at ambient pressure. We herein conduct a comprehensive study on I4/mmm-structured LiB4 and NaB4 under ambient pressure via first-principles calculations. Remarkably, both LiB4 and NaB4 are found to possess high Vickers hardness of 39 GPa, which is ascribed to the robust boron framework with strong covalency. Furthermore, their high hardness values together with distinguished stability make them highly potential superhard materials. Meanwhile, electron–phonon coupling analysis reveals that both LiB4 and NaB4 are conventional phonon-mediated superconductors, with critical temperatures of 6 and 8 K at 1 atmosphere pressure (atm), respectively, mainly arising from the coupling of B 2p electronic states and the low-frequency phonon modes associated with Li-, Na-, and B-derived vibrations. This work provides valuable insights into the mechanical and superconducting behaviors of metal borides and will boost further studies of emergent borides with multiple functionalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boron-based compounds have triggered substantial attention due to their multifunctional properties, incorporating excellent hardness and superconductivity. While tetragonal metal borides LiB4 and NaB4 with BaAl4-type structure and striking clathrate boron motif have been induced under compression, there is still a lack of deep understanding of their potential properties at ambient pressure. We herein conduct a comprehensive study on I4/mmm-structured LiB4 and NaB4 under ambient pressure via first-principles calculations. Remarkably, both LiB4 and NaB4 are found to possess high Vickers hardness of 39 GPa, which is ascribed to the robust boron framework with strong covalency. Furthermore, their high hardness values together with distinguished stability make them highly potential superhard materials. Meanwhile, electron–phonon coupling analysis reveals that both LiB4 and NaB4 are conventional phonon-mediated superconductors, with critical temperatures of 6 and 8 K at 1 atmosphere pressure (atm), respectively, mainly arising from the coupling of B 2p electronic states and the low-frequency phonon modes associated with Li-, Na-, and B-derived vibrations. This work provides valuable insights into the mechanical and superconducting behaviors of metal borides and will boost further studies of emergent borides with multiple functionalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) play critical and conserved roles in transposon silencing and gene regulation in the animal germline. Three distinct piRNA populations are present during mouse spermatogenesis: fetal piRNAs in fetal/perinatal testes, pre-pachytene and pachytene piRNAs in postnatal testes. PNLDC1 is required for piRNA 3' end maturation in multiple species. However, whether PNLDC1 is the bona fide piRNA trimmer and the physiological role of 3' trimming of different piRNA populations in spermatogenesis in mammals remain unclear. Here, by inactivating Pnldc1 exonuclease activity in vitro and in mice, we reveal that the PNLDC1 trimmer activity is essential for spermatogenesis and male fertility. PNLDC1 catalytic activity is required for both fetal and postnatal piRNA 3' end trimming. Despite this, postnatal piRNA trimming but not fetal piRNA trimming is critical for LINE1 transposon silencing. Furthermore, conditional inactivation of Pnldc1 in postnatal germ cells causes LINE1 transposon de-repression and spermatogenic arrest in mice, indicating that germline-specific postnatal piRNA trimming is essential for transposon silencing and germ cell development. Our findings highlight the germ cell-intrinsic role of PNLDC1 and piRNA trimming in mammals to safeguard the germline genome and promote fertility. Author summary: PNLDC1 is required for piRNA trimming and is essential for spermatogenesis and male fertility in mice. Loss-of-function mutations in human PNLDC1 cause azoospermia in men. However, the precise functions of PNLDC1 exonuclease activity in piRNA trimming and germ cell development remain unknown. Here we genetically inactivate the trimmer activity of PNLDC1 in mice and show that the catalytic activity of PNLDC1 is critical for male fertility. Strikingly, postnatal germline conditional deletion of Pnldc1 in mice that disrupt pre-pachytene and pachytene piRNA trimming causes transposon activation and male infertility. Collectively, these new genetic models provide the proof-of-principle evidence that ablating the catalytic activity of a key piRNA pathway factor in adult males as a novel strategy for non-hormonal male contraception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of appropriate and effective periodate (PI) activation technology is currently a popular research area. This study presents a novel efficient photocatalytic activation approach of PI for pollutant degradation based on carbon nitride (g-C3N4) and visible light (Vis). The results show that the system can remove 92.3% of acid orange 7 (AO7) within 60 min under the g-C3N4/PI/Vis reaction system. The degradation rate constant (kobs) reached 4.08 × 10−2 min−1, which is 4.21, 5.16 times, and 51.3 times higher than that of the g-C3N4/Vis system (9.7 × 10−3 min−1), PI/Vis system (7.9 × 10−3 min−1) and the g-C3N4/PI system (7.96 × 10−4 min−1), respectively. Clearly, the addition of PI significantly enhances the degradation efficiency of AO7 in the system. Additionally, under the same reaction conditions, the presence of PI showed excellent oxidation capacity in the photoactivation process compared with other common oxidants, such as peroxymonosulfate, peroxydisulfate, and H2O2. Moreover, the g-C3N4/PI/Vis system showed excellent removal of AO7 across a wide range of pH levels and in the presence of various anions. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and quenching experiments suggested that the superoxide anions (•O2−) and singlet oxygen (1O2) dominated in the oxidation of pollutants in the g-C3N4/PI/Vis system. In addition, the catalyst showed relative stability during cyclic testing, although a slight reduction in degradation efficiency was observed. In brief, the g-C3N4/PI/Vis system is highly efficient and environmentally friendly, with significant application potential in wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short empirically-supported scales or individual items are preferred in comprehensive surveys, brief screeners, and experience sampling studies. To that end, we examined the Short Almost Perfect Scale (SAPS) to evaluate empirical support for the interchangeability of items to measure perfectionistic strivings (Standards) and perfectionistic concerns (Discrepancy). Based on a large and diverse sample (N = 1,103) and tests of tau-equivalence (equal factor loadings) for each respective set of items, Study 1 advanced a subset of SAPS items to measure Standards (2 items) and Discrepancy (3 items). Cross-sectional gender and race/ethnicity invariance were supported, and in structural equations analyses, the SAPS5 factors were significantly associated with depression, state anxiety, life satisfaction, and gratitude. Study 2 cross-validated Study 1 measurement and structural findings with a new U.S. sample (N = 803). The three items representing the Discrepancy (perfectionistic concerns) factor also were supported in a cross-national comparison between the U.S. sample and a scale development sample in New Zealand (N = 3,921). For the most part, across both studies and all analyses, the three Discrepancy items were empirically interchangeable indicators of perfectionistic concerns and comparably strong predictors of psychological outcomes, supporting their use in studies or other contexts with space or time restrictions for measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]