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[Objective] In the context of significant breakthroughs in black soil protection technologies, this study explored the impact of agricultural machinery services on farmers’ black soil protection behavior, to provide a theoretical support for mobilizing the enthusiasm of farmers in protecting land in the black soil region, promoting the sustainable use of black soil land resources, and building a solid foundation for food security. [Methods] Based on the survey data of farmers in typical black soil areas of Jilin Province in 2021, this study used the Oprobit model, conditional mixed process, and Sobel test to analyze and test the impact and mechanism of agricultural machinery services on farmers’ black soil protection behavior. [Results] (1) Agricultural machinery services had a positive incentive effect on farmers’ black soil protection behavior, which was still true after correcting for potential endogenous errors and selective errors, and was consistent using different variables and methods. (2) The impact of agricultural machinery services on different types of farmers’ black soil protection behavior had asymmetric characteristics. The incentive effect of agricultural machinery services outsourcing on the black soil protection behavior of large-scale farmers, professional farmers, and non-elderly farmers was greater than that of small farmers, part-time farmers, and elderly farmers. (3) Agricultural machinery services had a positive incentive effect on farmers’ black soil protection behavior. From the external objective level, agricultural machinery services promoted farmers’ adoption of black soil protection behavior by improving the availability of black soil protection technology. From the internal subjective level, agricultural machinery services promoted farmers’ adoption of black soil protection behavior by improving farmers’ value perception of black soil protection. [Conclusion] Therefore, agricultural machinery services and their organizations should be used as the media to leverage the external driving force of technology supply and the internal motivating effect of value perception, which will help to stimulate the enthusiasm of farmers for black soil protection.

Patellofemoral osteoarthritis is one of the common clinical knee-joint diseases. Based on the theory of "Tendon Constraining Bone", this paper analyzes the meaning of tendon and bone and their relationships in TCM. Moreover, the causes of patellofemoral osteoarthritis and pain are explained in light of tendon. As "the knee is the house of tendons", tendons play a leading role in the pathogenesis and treatment of patellofemoral osteoarthritis. Therefore, the theory of "Tendon Constraining Bone" plays an essential guiding role in TCM understanding and treatment of osteoarthropathy. Tendons can move joints and maintain joint stability. Through analyzing the theory of " Tendon Constraining Bone" and the relationship between tendon and patellofemoral osteoarthritis, this paper further discusses the rationale of treating patellofemoral osteoarthritis with tendon-regulating and kneecap-moving manipulation, which could provide reference for deepening the application of the theory to guide clinical practice and relevant basic researches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The volume ratio of toluene to N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF) was adjusted during the amine functionalization of SBA‐15 to change the amine content of SBA‐15. XPS, FTIR, and TGA analyses indicated that under the experimental synthetic conditions the number of amine groups varies with the ratio of toluene/DMF, and the highest content of amine could be obtained with a volume ratio of toluene/DMF = 3:2. The hydrogen production experiment of formic acid decomposition showed that the hydrogen production efficiency over the Au‐Pd‐SBA‐15‐NH2 catalysts increased with the increase in the surface amine content of the Au‐Pd‐SBA‐15‐NH2. The optimal Au‐Pd‐SBA‐15‐NH2‐TD (toluene/DMF = 3:2) catalyst proved to have the smallest Au‐Pd bimetal nanoparticle size and exhibited a turnover frequency (TOF) = 631 hours−1 and an activation energy (Ea) = 20.8 kJ · mol−1 at 25°C. The catalytic performance of hydrogen generation from the formic acid was improved due to the synergistic effect between the amine‐functionalized SBA‐15 and the Au‐Pd bimetal (metal‐support interactions). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Viscoelastic vesicle gels were prepared by mixing a nonionic surfactant, tetraethylene glycol monododecyl ether (C12EO4), and an anionic dye, sodium 4-phenylazobenzoic acid (AzoNa). The gels, which were composed of multilamellar vesicles, were analyzed by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), freeze-fracture transmission electron microscopy (FF-TEM), 2H NMR spectroscopy, and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The mechanism of vesicle-gel formation is explained by the influence of anionic molecules on the bilayer bending modulus. Interestingly, the vesicle gels were observed to be sensitive to temperature, pH, and light. The viscoelastic vesicle gels respond to heat; they thin at lower temperatures and become thicker at higher temperatures. The vesicle gels are only stable from pH 7 to 11, and the gels become thinner outside of this range. UV light can also trigger a structural phase transition from micelles to multilamellar vesicle gels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The evidence supporting a connection between elevated serum uric acid (SUA) levels and diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is controversial. The present study performed a comprehensive evaluation of this correlation by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of relevant research., Method: PubMed, Web of Science (WOS), Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched for published literature from the establishment of each database to January 8, 2024. In total, 5 cohort studies and 15 cross-sectional studies were included, and 2 researchers independently screened and extracted relevant data. R 4.3.0 was used to evaluate the included literature. The present meta-analysis evaluated the relationship between SUA levels and the risk of DPN in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) by calculating the ratio of means (RoM) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using the method reported by JO Friedrich, and it also analyzed continuous outcome measures using standardized mean differences (SMDs) and 95% CIs to compare SUA levels between DPN and non-DPN groups. Funnel plot and Egger's test were used to assess publication bias. Sensitivity analysis was conducted by sequentially removing each study one-by-one., Results: The meta-analysis included 20 studies, with 12,952 T2DM patients with DPN and 16,246 T2DM patients without DPN. There was a significant correlation between SUA levels and the risk of developing DPN [odds ratio (OR) = 1.23; 95% CI: 1.07-1.41; p = 0.001]. Additionally, individuals with DPN had higher levels of SUA compared to those without DPN (SMD = 0.4; 95% CI: -0.11-0.91; p < 0.01)., Conclusion: T2DM patients with DPN have significantly elevated SUA levels, which correlate with a heightened risk of peripheral neuropathy. Hyperuricemia (HUA) may be a risk indicator for assessing the risk of developing DPN in T2DM patients., Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO, identifier CRD42024500373., Competing Interests: Author JG was employed by the company Amazon. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Zhang, Zhang, Li, Zhao, Wei, Shi, Yang, Fan, Zhao, Zhu, Du, Guo and Cao.)

We report a new, simple strategy to apply honeycomb films for the patterning of colloidal particles. By combination of a "bottom-up" breath figure method and the electrochemical properties of the honeycomb films of ferrocenyl-based oligomers, highly ordered hybrid membranes coated with ring-like patterning of 0D- and 1D-Ag nanoparticles (NPs) have been fabricated. One interesting phenomenon is that the nucleation and adsorption of Ag dots occurred preferentially at the edges of the micropores. The hybrid membranes exhibited richly electrochemical activities towards reduction of iodate and enhanced effectively catalytic reduction of organic dyes. We believe that this method can be used to decorate and/or assemble functional metal NPs such as Au, Pd, and Cu on honeycomb-patterned materials for the further applications of photonics, sensors, and catalysis., (Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Viscoelastic vesicle gels were prepared by mixing a nonionic surfactant, tetraethylene glycol monododecyl ether (C₁₂EO₄), and an anionic dye, sodium 4-phenylazobenzoic acid (AzoNa). The gels, which were composed of multilamellar vesicles, were analyzed by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), freeze-fracture transmission electron microscopy (FF-TEM), ²H NMR spectroscopy, and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The mechanism of vesicle-gel formation is explained by the influence of anionic molecules on the bilayer bending modulus. Interestingly, the vesicle gels were observed to be sensitive to temperature, pH, and light. The viscoelastic vesicle gels respond to heat; they thin at lower temperatures and become thicker at higher temperatures. The vesicle gels are only stable from pH 7 to 11, and the gels become thinner outside of this range. UV light can also trigger a structural phase transition from micelles to multilamellar vesicle gels., (Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Under acidic conditions, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was functionalized with p-aminobenzoic acid, which formed the diazonium ions through the diazotization with a wet-chemical method. Surfactants or stabilizers were not applied during the diazotization. After the functionalized rGO was treated through mild sonication in aqueous solution, these functionalized rGO sheets were less than two layers, which was determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging. The water solubility of functionalized rGO after the introduction of polyethyleneimine (PEI) was improved significantly; it was followed by covalent binding of folic acid (FA) molecules to the functionalized rGO to allow us to specifically target CBRH7919 cancer cells by using FA as a receptor. The loading and release behaviors of elsinochrome A (EA) and doxorubicin (DOX) on the functionalized rGO sheets were investigated. The EA loading ratio onto rGO-C(6)H(4)-CO-NH-PEI-NH-CO-FA (abbreviated rGO-PEI-FA, the weight ratio of drug loaded onto rGO-PEI-FA) was approximately 45.56 %, and that of DOX was approximately 28.62 %. It was interesting that the drug release from rGO-PEI-FA was pH- and salt-dependent. The results of cytotoxicity (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and flow cytometry (FCM) assays, as well as cell morphology observations) clearly showed that the concentration of rGO-PEI-FA as the drug-delivery composite should be less than 12.5 mg L(-1). The conjugation of DOX and rGO-PEI-FA can enhance the cancer-cell apoptosis effectively and can also push the cancer cells to the vulnerable G2 phase of the cell cycle, which is most sensitive and susceptible to damage by drugs or radiation., (Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)