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The all-trans conformation (β -phase) possesses a significant impact on the piezoelectric polymer polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). Inducing more molecular chain [−CH2−CF2−] n to form all-trans conformation is one of the biggest obstacles for manufacturing high-performance piezoelectric sensing devices. Herein, the continuous vacuum technology is used to modulate the polarity of binary solvents by the proportion of the lower solvent. The regulated solvent forms a high dipole moment, an interaction between the dipole of β -phase and the dipole moment makes the phase reversal in PVDF. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, piezoelectric constant test and other characterization results show that when the weakly polar acetone and the strongly polar solvent DMF reach a ratio of 4:6, the pure PVDF film possesses high piezoelectricity (d 33 ∼ −44.8 pC N−1) and strong self-polarization. Additionally, the A4D6 device exhibits high sensitivity (S 1 = 0.182 V/N, 0.5 N ∼ 30 N), driven capability (0.49 mW m−2), and reliability during the electrical tests as a pressure device. This work provides an effective and cost-effective route of optimizing the solvent's polarity to improve the piezoelectric characteristics of the polymer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The Achilles tendon (AT) is the most frequently ruptured in the human body. Literature describing different immobilization methods' impact on tendon healing after AT repair is lacking. We compare plaster cast, splint, and K‐wire to determine which is the most stable and has the fewest complications. Methods: Sixty rats aged 5–6 months were selected to establish Achilles tendon injury in two hind legs model. After suturing the ends of the AT together with a modified "Kessler" method (Prolene 5–0). The skin incision was interrupted and sutured with 1–0 thread. Rats were divided into three immobilization methods (plaster cast group, splint group, and K‐wire group). In plaster cast group, the hind leg was cast with plaster in the extended position of the hip and knee joints, and the ankle joint was at 150°. Splint and K‐wire group used splints and 0.8‐mm K‐wires, separately. The fixed period was 4 weeks. The incidence of stability and complications (death, necrosis of the legs, necrosis of the skin, and incisional infection) were recorded. Differences were detected using the chi‐square test. Results: Within 4 weeks observation, K‐wires showed better stability (90%) compared with the other two ways (40% in plaster cast group, 65% in splint group; p < 0.05). Rats immobilized with K‐wires (10%) suffered significantly lower complications compared with plaster cast and splint group (15%; p < 0.05). Conclusion: K‐wire has better stability, lower complication rate than other methods. Immobilization with K‐wire may be a promising tool in future clinical Achilles tendon rupture applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining user geolocation from social media data is essential in various location-based applications — from improved transportation/supply management, through providing personalized services and targeted marketing, to better overall user experiences. Previous methods rely on the similarity of user posting content and neighboring nodes for user geolocation, which suffer the problems of: (1) position-agnostic of network representation learning, which impedes the performance of their prediction accuracy; and (2) noisy and unstable user relation fusion due to the flat graph embedding methods employed. This work presents Hierarchical Graph Neural Networks (HGNN) – a novel methodology for location-aware collaborative user-aspect data fusion and location prediction. It incorporates geographical location information of users and clustering effect of regions and can capture topological relations while preserving their relative positions. By encoding the structure and features of regions with hierarchical graph learning, HGNN can primarily alleviate the problem of noisy and unstable signal fusion. We further design a relation mechanism to bridge connections between individual users and clusters, which not only leverages the information of isolated nodes that are useless in previous methods but also captures the relations between unlabeled nodes and labeled subgraphs. Furthermore, we introduce a robust statistics method to interpret the behavior of our model by identifying the importance of data samples when predicting the locations of the users. It provides meaningful explanations on the model behaviors and outputs, overcoming the drawbacks of previous approaches that treat user geolocation as "black-box" modeling and lacking interpretability. Comprehensive evaluations on real-world Twitter datasets verify the proposed model's superior performance and its ability to interpret the user geolocation results. • A new location-aware relation learning and fusion model for user geolocation. • A hierarchical GNN for both region- and node-level features aggregation. • A general framework to explain the model behavior and prediction results. • Comprehensive evaluations are provided to verify and explain the deep GNN model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recovering the wavelengths from disordered speckle patterns has emerged as an exciting prospect as a wavelength measurement method due to its combination of high resolution and straightforward design. In previous studies, panel cameras were commonly utilized as the speckle image receiver. However, high cost (especially in a near-infrared range), bulky size, and low speed have limited its application in optical communications, metrology, and optical sensing. In this work, we effectively compressed speckle patterns into four intensities by using a quadrant detector (QD), bypassing the need for millions of pixels as in conventional cameras. Remarkably, wavelengths can still be recovered through only these four pixels. A new CNN based demodulation algorithm, shallow residual network (SRN), was proposed to recognize the wavelengths from the highly compressed speckle images. Finally, a wavelength precision of 4 fm (∼ 0.5 MHz) with an updating speed of ∼ 1 kHz was achieved in the demonstrations. In addition, the SRN shows a broad measurement range and good noise robustness. Compared with a camera-based system, the QD detection scheme associated with the CNN algorithm provides a compact, high-speed, and low-cost method to examine the speckle patterns, which opens new routes in many other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Drug repurposing screens identify Tubercidin as a potent antiviral agent against PEDV. • Tubercidin exhibited significant antiviral activity against both classical and variant PEDV on Vero and LLC-PK1 cells. • Tubercidin displayed a significant inhibitory effect on viral post-entry events but not other periods. • Tubercidin had better docking efficiency and formed hydrophobic interactions with the active pocket of RdRp of nidoviruses. • Tubercidin can also suppress SADS-CoV and PRRSV infections. The emergence of new coronaviruses poses a significant threat to animal husbandry and human health. Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is considered a re-emerging porcine enteric coronavirus, which causes fatal watery diarrhea in piglets. Currently, there are no effective drugs to combat PEDV. Drug repurposing screens have emerged as an attractive strategy to accelerate antiviral drug discovery and development. Here, we screened 206 natural products for antiviral activity using live PEDV infection in Vero cells and identified ten candidate antiviral agents. Among them, Tubercidin, a nucleoside analog derived from Streptomyces tubercidicus , showed promising antiviral activity against PEDV infection. Furthermore, we demonstrated that Tubercidin exhibited significant antiviral activity against both classical and variant PEDV. Time of addition assay showed that Tubercidin displayed a significant inhibitory effect on viral post-entry events but not during other periods. Molecular docking analysis indicated that Tubercidin had better docking efficiency and formed hydrophobic interactions with the active pocket of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of PEDV and other nidoviruses. Additionally, Tubercidin can effectively suppress other porcine nidoviruses, such as SADS-CoV and PRRSV, demonstrating its broad-spectrum antiviral properties. In summary, our findings provide valuable evidence for the antiviral activity of Tubercidin and offer insights into the development of new strategies for the prevention and treatment of coronavirus infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isoflavonoids are secondary metabolites that play a variety of roles in plant-microbe interactions and plant defenses against abiotic stresses. Here we report a new MYB transcription factor (TF) gene, GmMYBJ3, that is involved in the isoflavonoids biosynthesis. The GmMYBJ3 gene is 1,002 bp long and encodes a protein of 333 amino acids. Amino acid sequence analysis showed that GmMYBJ3 is a typical R2R3 MYB TF. Yeast expression experiment demonstrated that GmMYBJ3 has its transcription activity in the nucleus and is transiently expressed in onion epidermal cells. The GmMYBJ3 gene was transformed into soybean and the expression activity of the GmMYBJ3 gene was significantly positively correlated with total isoflavonoid accumulation in soybean. Transient expression assays indicated that GmMYBJ3 can activate CHS8 expression. Furthermore, we analyzed the expressions of several genes known involved in the isoflavonoid biosynthesis, including CHS8, CHI1A, PAL1, IFS2 and F3H, in the GmMYBJ3 transgenic plants. The results showed that the expression levels of CHS8 and CHI1A were significantly increased in the transgenic plants compared to wild-type plants, but those of PAL1, IFS2 and F3H remained similar between the transgenic and wild-type plants. These results suggest that GmMYBJ3 participates in the isoflavonoid biosynthesis through regulation of CHS8 and CHI1A in soybean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this case report, we describe reconstructive surgery in one patient using a free lateral tarsal artery perforator flap with a functioning extensor digitorum brevis muscle. A 47-year-old woman sustained a crush-avulsion injury to her dominant right hand while working in a factory. A large thenar skin and muscle defect (5.5 cm × 4.0 cm) occurred as a consequence of surgical debridement. The skin and muscle defect was repaired using a free lateral tarsal artery perforator flap with a functioning extensor digitorum brevis muscle in a single operation. The donor site defect was repaired using a full-thickness skin graft. The patient recovered without postoperative complications. The patient showed satisfactory functional gain without significant donor site morbidity at the 4-year follow-up visit. Thus, we have demonstrated that a functional reconstruction of a thenar skin defect complicated by muscle loss is possible by transferring a free lateral tarsal artery perforator flap with the underlying extensor digitorum brevis muscle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A composited magnetic COF adsorbent was simply prepared by self-polymerization strategy. • Abundant nanopores and adsorption sites endow mCOF with high extraction effect for MCs. • The mCOF adsorbent also exhibited some specific adsorption capacity towards MCs. • A facile MSPE-HPLC-DAD assay for MCs in aquatic foods was developed with LOD of 3.0 µg/kg. It is crucially important to develop simple, selective, and rapid extraction pretreatments and analytical methods to detect microcystins (MCs) in food samples with complex matrices. In this study, a magnetic self-assembled covalent organic framework (COF) adsorbent was synthesized via a facile approach by using a one-pot reaction of 1,6-bis(4-formylphenyl)-3,8-bis(4-aminophenyl)pyrene (BFBAPy) as precursors to assemble amino-functionalized magnetic Fe 3 O 4 -NH 2 nanoparticles (Fe 3 O 4 @Py-COF, simplified as mCOF). The superparamagnetic mCOF is found to exhibit a high specific surface area, abundant nanopores and good stability. In particular, adsorption experiments demonstrate that mCOF exhibits a good adsorption capability, efficiency and some specificity to MCs. The mCOF was applied for magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) of two kinds of MCs (MC-LR and MC-RR) from aquatic samples followed by high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). Under the optimized conditions, good linearity is obtained in the range of 10-1000 µg/kg (R2≥0.9989), the limits of detection are 3.0-4.5 µg/kg, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) are lower than 4.9% (n=5). The extraction recoveries are also satisfactory (84.2%-105%). These results demonstrate that the developed method can be used as a good alternative method for the selective determination of MCs in complex aquatic foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase in the running speed and axle load of trains, there has been a greater demand for high-speed railway (HSR) subgrades. Coarse granular aggregates are suitable materials for the HSR subgrade filler. Hence, the study of the dynamic characteristics of coarse granular aggregates is important for the safe operation of trains. In this study, a dynamic triaxial test apparatus was used to investigate the dynamic features of these aggregates under different dynamic amplitudes, confining pressures, fine particle contents, and water contents. The characteristics of the hysteresis loops, dynamic resilient modulus, and cumulative plastic strain during the cyclic loading of the soil were studied. The results illustrate that the hysteresis loop becomes more compact with an increase in the dynamic stress amplitude. The changing law of the dynamic resilient modulus depends on factors such as fine particle content, confining pressure, dynamic amplitude, and water content. Meanwhile, the cumulative plastic strain features are influenced by the critical dynamic stress and applied dynamic stress under the corresponding conditions. Based on the experimental results, a prediction model for the cumulative plastic strain considering the stable, critical, and failure types was proposed. Thus, the plastic strain at more loading cycles can be predicted. These results can help in the design of subgrade structures and maintain the daily safe operation of the HSR. • The dynamic features of coarse granular aggregates fillers affected by different factors were investigated through the dynamic triaxial test. • The characteristics of hysteresis loops, dynamic resilient modulus and cumulative plastic strain during the cyclic loading of the soil were studied. • The prediction model of the cumulative plastic strain considering the stable, critical and failure types were proposed according to the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric precipitation leads to the increase of moisture in the subgrade. The moisture and soil migration in subgrade is a key scientific problem in evaluating the service performance of the subgrade and resolving or preventing mud pumping. Using a self-developed testing system as well as a numerical simulation model, a detailed study of the dynamic hydraulic characteristics, water migration mechanism, fine soil migration mechanism, and mud pumping properties of the subgrade was conducted. The results showed that water migrated into the upper layer of the subgrade under traffic load. Meanwhile, a pressure gradient for the pore water was generated in the subgrade. This kind of pressure gradient is beneficial for the moisture and fine soil migration. With rising groundwater level and increasing traffic load, the porosity of the subgrade soil differs at different depths. The fine soil migration is caused by water migration, which causes new migration channel for water in the subgrade. Then, a circulating system of moisture and fine soil is formed in the subgrade under a traffic load. After that, the upper layer subgrade soil is nearly saturated under the action of traffic load. Then, the nearly saturated soil liquefies instantaneously, becoming mud, under the action of traffic load. However, as the loading time progresses, the moisture and fine soil in the subgrade continue to migrate upward, resulting in the mud being pumped into the ballast and the gradual disappearance of liquefied soils at different depths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Modified soils have been used in the recent construction of high-speed railways in northern China due to the lack of good fill material. But the behavior of these modified soils under increased dynamic loading of high-speed train traffic and their long-term performance based on the effects of freeze–thaw cycles have rarely been studied. In this paper, dynamic triaxial tests were conducted on cement- and lime-modified soils with different blend ratios. These soils were subjected to freeze–thaw cycles, and the threshold deviator stress and resilient modulus were studied. The results show that after repeated freeze–thaw cycles, the modified soils exhibit better performance than before modification, the cement-modified clay is superior to the lime-modified clay, and all of the soils'' mechanical properties are visibly improved. Moreover, an optimal blend ratio was determined. Also, a critical deviator stress attenuation coefficient, η f, is introduced to determine the optimal modification method and the appropriate mixture proportions to be used when soils are subjected to freeze–thaw conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We propose a millimeter wave radio-over-fiber system to provide downlink service by using four-wave-mixing effect in semiconductor optical amplifier for millimeter-wave generation. At the central station, microwave source is 5.4-GHz. The optical carrier suppression modulation scheme and semiconductor optical amplifier are employed to simultaneously generate 32.4-GHz (sextuple fundamental) optical millimeter wave and up-convert data signal. At the base station, the downstream is received by a high-speed photodiode and base data are recovered by an electrical mixer. Theoretic analysis and experimental results show that the downlink 2.5-Gb/s data is successfully transmitted over 20-km single mode fiber with less than 0.15-dB power penalty. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Hyperspectral image (HSI) contains both spatial pattern and spectral information, which has been widely used in food safety, remote sensing, and medical detection. However, the acquisition of HSIs is usually costly due to the complicated apparatus for the acquisition of optical spectrum. Recently, it has been reported that HSI can be reconstructed from single RGB image using convolution neural network (CNN) algorithms. Compared with the traditional hyperspectral cameras, the method based on CNN algorithms is simple, portable, and low cost. In this study, we focused on the influence of the RGB camera spectral sensitivity (CSS) on the HSI. A xenon lamp incorporated with a monochromator was used as the standard light source to calibrate the CSS. And the experimental results show that the CSS plays a significant role in the reconstruction accuracy of an HSI. In addition, we proposed a new HSI reconstruction network where the dimensional structure of the original hyperspectral datacube was modified by 3D matrix transpose to improve the reconstruction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the installed capacity of wind power increases rapidly, how to promote wind power curtailment (WPC) integration has become a concern. The surface and underlying causes of wind power curtailment are insufficient peaking capability of the power system and imperfect peaking compensation mechanisms, respectively. Therefore, this paper proposes a peaking compensation mechanism uniting supply side and demand side to enhance system peaking capability. Firstly, through incentive and fairness analysis, the interest relationship of peaking subjects is researched based on game theory, and the peaking contribution on supply/demand side is quantified by Pearson correlation coefficients. Secondly, based on clustering analysis, the potential of system peaking providers are explored adequately, supply-side thermal units are divided into deep peaking clusters, and demand-side demand response (DR) resources are integrated into virtual peaking plants (VPP). Accordingly, a two-stage wind-thermal-VPP coordination optimization model is built to dispatch peaking providers. Furtherly, a two-layer peaking compensation allocation method considering peaking contribution and peaking enthusiasm is proposed to encourage peaking providers and mitigate "combination explosion". Simulation results indicate that the proposed mechanism effectively promotes the enthusiasm of union peaking and the integration of WPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aeromonas dhakensis (A. dhakensis) is becoming an emerging pathogen worldwide, with an increasingly significant role in animals and human health. It is a ubiquitous bacteria found in terrestrial and aquatic milieus. However, there have been few reports of reptile infections. In this study, a bacterial strain isolated from a dead Aldabra giant tortoise was identified as A. dhakensis HN-1 through clinical observation, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS), and gene sequencing analysis. Subsequently, to evaluate its pathogenicity, the detection of virulence genes and mice infection experiments were performed. A. dhakensis HN-1 was found to contain seven virulence genes, including alt, ela, lip, act, aerA, fla, and hlyA. Mice infected with A. dhakensis HN-1 exhibited hemorrhage of varying degrees in multiple organs. The half-maximal lethal dose (LD50) value of A. dhakensis HN-1 for mice was estimated to be 2.05 × 107 colony forming units (CFU)/mL. The antimicrobial susceptibility test revealed that A. dhakensis HN-1 was resistant to amoxicillin, penicillin, ampicillin and erythromycin. This is the first report of A. dhakensis in Aldabra giant tortoises, expanding the currently known host spectrum. Our findings emphasize the need for One Health surveillance and extensive research to reduce the spread of A. dhakensis across the environment, humans, and animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To describe our technique, namely, combined distal phalangeal fixation and nail bed repair with a V-Y volar advancement flap for Allen type III fingertip amputation. Methods: The clinical data of 16 patients (18 fingers) with Allen type III fingertip amputation who underwent this procedure were retrospectively studied. Distal phalangeal fixation and nail bed repair were performed first to transform the injury into a pulp defect, and then the volar V‒Y flap was applied to cover the defect. Postoperatively, humectant was applied to moisten the nail but no lamp heating was applied. The main indicators were patient self-reported appearance and daily use, static two-point discrimination, range of distal interphalangeal joint motion (range of DIPJ motion), complications and the Chinese Medical Association upper limb function evaluation trial standard for severed fingers (CMA evaluation). Results: The average follow-up time was 14.3 months. All 18 fingertips survived. One patient underwent a secondary surgery due to infection resulting in exposure of the bone of the fingertip. One patient developed a hooked nail. The appearance and daily use of the fingertip were satisfactory or acceptable for all the patients except for those who experienced the above two complications. After one year, the mean static two-point discrimination was 3.8 mm (range 2.5–4.6 mm). The range of DIPJ motion of the affected fingers was 90.7% of that of the unaffected side. According to the CMA evaluation, 13, 3 and 2 fingers showed excellent, good and average results, respectively. Conclusions: The combination of distal phalangeal fixation and nail bed suturing with a V-Y volar advancement flap is worthy of clinical application for Allen type III fingertip amputation. The technique is simple and straightforward. Level of evidence: Level III, Therapeutic study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In cold regions, the permanent settlement of embankment is mainly caused by the repeated freeze-thaw process and long-term repeated train loads. Meanwhile, the critical dynamic stress (σdcr) is an important parameter index for determining embankment stability. Therefore, the accumulative permanent deformation evolution and critical dynamic stress of embankment soil subjected to cyclic freeze-thaw were studied using dynamic triaxial tests. Firstly, a numerical model for calculating critical dynamic stress considering the repeated freeze-thaw process was proposed, which shows that the critical dynamic stress of embankment soil rapidly decreases in the first two repeated freeze-thaw cycles, whereas it tends to be stable after the subsequent freeze-thaw process. Next, based on the normalization of the critical dynamic stress, an explicit model for predicting accumulative plastic strain (εp) of embankment soil was established. The above model considers freeze-thaw times, repeated dynamic stress amplitude (σd), and loading times, in which all material parameters of Qinghai-Tibet silty clay were presented. Thus, the critical dynamic stress and accumulative plastic strain models established in this paper can be applied to judge the embankment stability and predict the embankment settlement induced by train loads in cold regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The current evidence base for the management of central slip avulsions is limited from obtaining a best approach. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical effect and feasibility of repairing the fresh central slip avulsion by bone tunnel-tendon suture.Methods: Twenty-four cases of open and closed central slip avulsions were prospectively studied. They were treated by suturing the tendon to the pre-holed bone through two parallel bone tunnels. Follow-up was conducted at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months and 18 months after the operation. Symptoms, degree of satisfaction with the appearance, complications, Crawford's evaluation, DASH scores and the total active movement (TAM) were collected.Results: The follow-up period was 6~18 months (mean 13 months). Finger function was assessed using the Crawford's evaluation criteria: excellent in 12, good in 10, average in 2, with an excellent and good rate of 91.7%. DASH scores ranged from 37 to 47(mean 39). According to the Chinese Medical Association's trial criteria for assessing the function of upper limbs, excellent, good and average cases were 9, 14 and 1 respectively. The range of motion gradually improved over time. Conclusions Good prognosis can be achieved through bone tunnel-tendon suture for the treatment of fresh central slip avulsion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Because of the development of grids lagging behind the growing of wind power penetration level, the enthusiasm of wind farm owner is frustrated for the installed capacity being limited by the flexibility of the existing systems. There is increasing interest to use a balanced amount of wind power curtailment (WPC) as a decision variable during the high wind‐speed periods and hard peaking periods to buffer the limitation, thereby obtaining an additional installed capacity and net benefit from the wind farm owner viewpoint. With taking an hour as the time scale, the effect of time‐sharing wind‐speed distribution and time‐sharing peaking characteristics of wind power on WPC has been successfully introduced into the model. A valid strategy of time‐sharing WPC is proposed herein through describing the wind‐speed probability distributions in different scenarios. Based on the cost‐benefit analysis, a model is established to determine the appropriate time‐sharing curtailment, hereby providing the optimal installed capacity. IEEE 30 nodes system and a hydroelectric‐intensive actual system in China are both used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model. And in the case of the hydroelectric‐intensive system, optimal results indicate that there is an increase of 31.56% in installed capacity and 98.64% in net benefit of wind farm by allowing a mere 4.279% curtailed energy. Meanwhile, several sensitivity analyses including the time scale, point of common coupling, confidence level, wind turbine types, on‐grid price, and investment cost are conducted to evaluate the influence of key parameters on this optimal capacity. This approach can help with better understanding the interactions between curtailment and wind hosting capacity of systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To study the efficacy of three kinds of surgery for trigger thumb.Methods: A total of 60 cases of trigger thumb (Quinnell Grade IV) were randomly divided into three groups. The A1 pulley was disconnected at the middle in Group A, at the extreme radial side in Group B, excised in Group C. The following indicators were recorded pre-operatively (D0), and at one (D1), three (D3), seven (D7), 14 (D14), and 28 (D28) days post-operatively: 1. the pain visual analogue score (VAS) when flexing the affected thumb; 2. range of motion (ROM) of the interphalangeal joint with pain tolerance; 3. the time of pain disappearance when flexing the affected thumb.Results: The differences of VAS and ROM between D1 and D0, D3 and D1, D7 and D3, D14 and D7, D28 and D14 were statistically significant (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in changes of VAS (or ROM) at D1 or D28 in contrast to D0 among the three groups. The differences of VAS (or ROM) changes at D3, D7, and D14 in contrast to D0 among the three groups were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The difference of the time when the pain disappearing in the normal range of motion among the three groups were statistically significant (P < 0.05).Conclusion: Disconnecting the A1-pulley at the extreme radial side is better than another two methods for treating the trigger thumb (Quinnell Grade IV). It has been shown to effectively accelerate postoperative pain relief and functional recovery.Trial Registration: Clinical trial registry number: ChiCTR2100051193. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A low-cost near-infrared spectrometer based on fiber beam scanning and linear variable filter (LVF) was proposed and demonstrated. The key elements of the spectrometer include a piezoelectric driven fiber scanner, an LVF monochromator, and a single point detector. The single fiber scanner provides a new way to continuously sweep the LVF. A PIN photodiode behind the LVF monochromator can acquire more spectral information than the traditional linear array detection. The performance of the spectrometer was verified with a narrow band tunable laser and a broadband light source. With the help of a deconvolution algorithm, the spectral resolution of the proposed spectrometer is up to 0.32% of the center wavelength (≈5 nm@1550 nm). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tendon avulsion at the musculotendinous junction caused by digit avulsion amputation is still a challenging problem. We aimed to compare the tendon functional outcomes of two repair methods for tendon avulsion rupture at the musculotendinous junction in patients with complete thumb avulsion amputations. Methods: A retrospective study was performed to evaluate patients with complete thumb avulsion amputations whose tendons were repaired through reattachment to muscle (group I) or tendon transfer (group II) between July 2008 and October 2019. Outcomes of total range of motion, pinch strength, grip strength and reoperation rate were included. Results: A total of 23 patients met the inclusion criteria, with a mean follow‐up of 16.6 ± 4.2 months. Total active range of motion was comparable between groups I and II (P = 0.095). Pinch strength of group I was lower than group II (P = 0.001). The result of grip strength was found to be similar (P = 0.075). In addition, there was no significant difference in reoperation rate (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Tendon transfer can attain higher pinch strength for replantation of thumb avulsion amputations. It is recommended for patients with jobs that demand higher strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Successfully synthesized Co 3 O 4 hexagonal by using NH 4 F as structure-directing agent. • The Co 3 O 4 sensor revealed the highest response of 23.32 to 100 ppm acetone at 150 °C. • The gas sensor manifests satisfied humidity resistance and low detection limit. • The adsorption energies simulated and calculated by DFT. This work successfully synthesized a series of Co 3 O 4 hexagonal particles with controlled morphology via a one-pot hydrothermal method by using NH 4 F as a structure-directing agent. The amount of NH 4 F added significantly influenced the products' hexagonal morphology, which further affected the acetone sensing performance. In particular, the Co 3 O 4 samples with hollow hexagram structures (S-5) different from other samples were obtained with the amount of 42 mmol NH 4 F. The sensors fabricated with the prepared Co 3 O 4 samples were investigated to figure out the gas sensing performance. Compared to others, the hollow hexagram Co 3 O 4 sensor (S-5) revealed the highest response of 23.32 to 100 ppm acetone at a low working temperature of 150 °C, with a response/recovery time of 48 s/45 s and the lowest limitation of detection was as low as 22 ppb. The excellent sensing performance of the hollow hexagram Co 3 O 4 sample is largely related to the high utilization of exposed active sites and the massive chemical adsorbed oxygen species offered by the specific hollow structure. In addition, the adsorption energies (E Ads) between two different cobalt atoms and acetone on the (1 1 1) plane of Co 3 O 4 were simulated and calculated by DFT, to further elucidate the mechanism of Co3+ for the ultra-high performance to acetone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A sulfonate-functionalized magnetic COF was synthesized via thiol-yne click reaction. • This material possessed effective extraction of basic orange Ⅱ. • A MSPE-HPLC-DAD method using this material was proposed to detect basic orange Ⅱ. • The LODs for basic orange Ⅱ were 1.0–1.4 µg/L for three food samples. • This work provides an effective strategy to modify magnetic COFs for MSPE. Efficient magnetic solid phase extraction using covalent organic frameworks (COFs) can find important applications in food safety. In this work, a sulfonate-functionalized magnetic COF (Fe 3 O 4 @COF-SO 3 Na) was synthesized by self-polycondensation of two-in-one monomer 1,6-bis(4-formylphenyl)-3,8-bis((4-aminophenyl) ethynyl)) pyrene (BFBAEPy) on the surface of aminated Fe 3 O 4 and a thiol-yne click reaction. It was further adopted as an adsorbent for the efficient magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) of basic orange II. The selective adsorption experiment indicated that it displayed selective adsorption ability to basic orange II due to the ion exchange, hydrogen bonds, and π-π interactions. Under the optimized conditions, the proposed MSPE method coupled with HPLC-DAD showed excellent linearity in the range of 0.05–0.5 µg/mL (R2 = 0.9997) for basic orange II. The lower limits of detection (LODs) for basic orange II were 1.0–1.4 µg/L for three food samples: yellow croaker, paprika and dried bean curd. The recoveries were 90.1–98.8% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) below 4.2%. Therefore, this work provides an effective strategy to modify magnetic COFs as absorbents in MSPE. Due to the tunability of functional groups in thiol‑yne click reactions, the functional groups of magnetic COFs can be readily designed to enrich their multifunctional applications. Meanwhile, this work proposed a new method to detect trace amounts of basic orange II in food samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The mechanical property was related to the morphology. [•] Nitrogen influences the morphology and the grain size of sintered cermets. [•] The hardness increased with the increase of the [N]/([C]+[N]) ratio. [•] The peak TRS appeared in cermet with the smallest grain size. [•] The peak KIC appeared in cermet with the medium grain size. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Large-scale and well-aligned TiO 2 /α -Fe 2 O 3 n-n heterojunction arrays have been synthesized by hydrothermal methods. • α -Fe 2 O 3 nanorod branches on the surface of Al 2 O 3 ceramic tube could be tunable by the concentration of iron precursor • The unique branched heterojunction arrays suitable for batch manufacturing exhibited enhanced acetone sensing properties. A highly sensitive and selective acetone gas sensor has been fabricated successfully by designing n-n heterojunction consisting of TiO 2 nanorods and α -Fe 2 O 3 branches. The structure and morphology of the TiO 2 / α -Fe 2 O 3 nanocomposites were examined via X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. TiO 2 nanorod (with the diameter about 42 nm) arrays were in-situ generated on the surface of Al 2 O 3 ceramic tubes by a simple hydrothermal process. In addition, α -Fe 2 O 3 branches grew on TiO 2 stems successfully in the second hydrothermal process. These nanorod branches had a relatively uniform length, which could be tunable by changing the concentration of iron precursor. The gas sensing properties of the pristine and α -Fe 2 O 3 branches-decorated TiO 2 nanorods sensors with regard to acetone gas were investigated. The results indicated that the sensor based on TiO 2 / α -Fe 2 O 3 heterostructures measured at 225 °C had a higher response of 21.9 toward 100 ppm of acetone gas which was about 9 times higher than pristine TiO 2 nanorods sensor. The dominant mechanism for enhanced sensing properties were discussed in detail with the semiconductor depletion layer model and TiO 2 / α -Fe 2 O 3 n–n heterojunction theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]