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The exploration of highly efficient and stable non-noble metal electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a crucial challenge.

P-NiSe/MoSe2 exhibits excellent HER properties due to the modulation of the electronic structure by P doping and the synergistic effect arising from the heterostructure.

Nature 616(7957), 482 - 487 (2023). doi:10.1038/s41586-023-05840-z, Published by Nature Publ. Group, London [u.a.]

Surgical resection of a potentially resectable metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) may lead to additional clinical benefits for the patients. In some cases, patients with initially unresectable lesions can be converted to resectable ones after induction of chemotherapy; and these patients are primarily treated with fluorouracil-based systemic chemotherapy preoperatively. However, the optimal protocol for neoadjuvant therapy has not been determined yet, and it remains a source of controversy about whether systemic chemotherapy combined with cetuximab can increase the surgical resection rate and obtain more clinical benefits. Metastatic CRC patients that received chemotherapy combined with cetuximab were compared with those undergoing chemotherapy alone. The hazard ratio (HR) and odds ratio (OR) were used as the efficacy indicators. The 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was used as interval estimation method. Seven studies including 1,895 patients were selected. Compared with patients undergoing chemotherapy, the patients receiving systemic chemotherapy combined with cetuximab of the R0 resection was not improved (OR=1.25; 95% CI, 0.76-2.06; p=0.08); The progression-free survival (PFS) of the patients received chemotherapy combined with cetuximab was slightly longer than those received chemotherapy alone (HR=0.88; 95% CI, 0.77-1; p=0.005); and the overall survival (OS) of patients undergoing systemic chemotherapy combined with cetuximab was not prolonged relative to that in patients receiving chemotherapy alone (HR=0.98; 95% CI, 0.86-1.11; p=0.04). Compared with patients receiving chemotherapy alone, the surgical resection rate and PFS are not increased in patients undergoing chemotherapy combined with cetuximab, but the OS is slightly prolonged. Key Words: Chemotherapy, Cetuximab, Colorectal cancer, Metastatic tumor, Surgery.

Background Bone metabolism can be influenced by type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, the relationship between T2DM and bone mineral density (BMD) remains inconsistent. This study explored the differences in BMD in middle-aged adults with and without T2DM. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of 4986 participants aged 40-59 years who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2018. We performed multivariable logistic regression models to evaluate the associations between T2DM status, serum glucose, glycohemoglobin (HbA1c), disease duration and lumbar BMD. Results There was a positive association between T2DM status and lumbar BMD in all three models (model 1: β=0.039, 95% CI: 0.025-0.052; model 2: β=0.045, 95% CI: 0.031-0.059; model 3: β=0.035, 95% CI: 0.014-0.055). In the subgroup analysis stratified by gender, this positive association existed in both gender after adjusting for confounders (males: β=0.033, 95% CI: 0.003-0.062; females: β=0.035, 95% CI: 0.008-0.062). Besides, there were no significant associations of serum glucose, HbA1c, disease duration with lumbar BMD in both genders with T2DM. Conclusion This study indicated that middle-aged adults with T2DM had significantly higher lumbar BMD compared with those without DM.

Partitioning of americium from lanthanides (Ln) present in used nuclear fuel plays a key role in the sustainable development of nuclear energy. This task is challenging because of the chemical similarities between Am(III) and Ln(III). Oxidization of Am(III) to Am(VI) has the potential to facilitate separations in principle, but rapid reduction of Am(VI) back to Am(III) by radiolysis products and organic reagents required for the traditional solvent extraction/solid extraction processes hampers practical redox-based separations. Herein, we report a nanoscale polyoxometalate (POM) cluster with a vacancy site compatible with the selective coordination of hexavalent actinides (238U, 237Np, 242Pu, and 243Am) over trivalent lanthanides in nitric acid media. This cluster is the most stable Am(VI) species in aqueous media observed to date. Ultrafiltration-based separation of nanoscale Am(VI)-POM clusters from hydrated lanthanide ions by commercially-available, fine-pored membranes enables the development of a once-through americium/lanthanide separation strategy that is highly efficient, rapid, environmentally benign, and requires minimal energy input.

Background The molecular biological characteristics and unique anatomical structure of bladder cancer (BC), become cancer immune reaction mechanism and a predictor of good model and help to improve the level of cancer immunotherapy. Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) plays a key role in activating cellular immunity and stimulating anti-tumor immune responses. However, the role of IFN-γ in BC is unclear. We aimed to clarify the biological occurrence and development of BC and identify reliable biomarkers. Method We downloaded data on patients with BC from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and constructed a prognostic model. We analyzed the relationships between clinicopathological features and the IFN-γ signature by univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses and evaluated the prognostic and predictive values of the IFN-γ signature by survival analysis and nomogram construction. We also conducted Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of and Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses to explore the potential biological pathways related to the IFN-γ signature in BC. Immune infiltration was evaluated using CIBERSORT algorithms and the correlation between the signature and antineoplastic drug sensitivity was analyzed using the CellMiner platform. Results Five genes (RIPK2, RBCK1, PTPN6, ITGB7, LATS2) were selected to construct IFN-γ-related signatures. The pathological features were identified as an independent risk factor. Patients with BC were divided into high-risk and low-risk groups according to their signatures. Patients with higher risk scores had shorter overall survival and a worse prognosis. GO and KEGG enrichment and CIBERSORT analysis showed significant relationships between the signature and survival, independent risk factors, immune infiltration, and antineoplastic drug sensitivity. Conclusion We obtained a risk profile for a regression model consisting of IFN-γ signature genes to predict the prognosis of patients with BC. This model may be used to improve the prognostic accuracy of the immune microenvironment in BC.

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging infectious disease, which has caused numerous deaths and health problems worldwide. This study aims to examine the effects of airborne particulate matter (PM) pollution and population mobility on COVID-19 across China. Methods We obtained daily confirmed cases of COVID-19, air particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10), weather parameters such as ambient temperature (AT) and absolute humidity (AH), and population mobility scale index (MSI) in 63 cities of China on a daily basis (excluding Wuhan) from January 01 to March 02, 2020. Then, the Generalized additive models (GAM) with a quasi-Poisson distribution were fitted to estimate the effects of PM10, PM2.5 and MSI on daily confirmed COVID-19 cases. Results We found each 1 unit increase in daily MSI was significantly positively associated with daily confirmed cases of COVID-19 in all lag days and the strongest estimated RR (1.21, 95% CIs:1.14 ~ 1.28) was observed at lag 014. In PM analysis, we found each 10 μg/m3 increase in the concentration of PM10 and PM2.5 was positively associated with the confirmed cases of COVID-19, and the estimated strongest RRs (both at lag 7) were 1.05 (95% CIs: 1.04, 1.07) and 1.06 (95% CIs: 1.04, 1.07), respectively. A similar trend was also found in all cumulative lag periods (from lag 01 to lag 014). The strongest effects for both PM10 and PM2.5 were at lag 014, and the RRs of each 10 μg/m3 increase were 1.18 (95% CIs:1.14, 1.22) and 1.23 (95% CIs:1.18, 1.29), respectively. Conclusions Population mobility and airborne particulate matter may be associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 transmission.

ObjectiveCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a serious infectious disease, which has caused great number of deaths and health problems worldwide. This study aims to examine the effects of airborne particulate matter (PM) pollution on COVID-19 across China.MethodsIn this study, we obtained confirmed cases of COVID-19, the data of airborne ambient PM with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.5) and ≤ 10 μm (PM10), ambient temperature (AT), absolute humidity (AH) and migration scale index (MSI) in 72 cities of China (excluded Wuhan city) on a daily basis, each of which confirmed more than 50 cases from January 20th to March 2nd, 2020. We applied a two-stage analysis. Generalized additive models with quasi-Poisson distribution was first fitted to estimate city-specific effects of PM10 and PM2.5 on daily confirmed COVID-19 cases while controlling AT, AH and MSI. Then, we used meta-analysis to generate the pooled effect estimates from city-specific results.ResultsDuring the study period, there were a total of 24 939 COVID-19 cases, most of which were reported in Hubei Province. In our meta-analysis, we found each 10 μg/m3 increase in concentration of PM2.5 and PM10 in single day lag (from lag 0 to lag 7 and lag 14) were positively associated with confirmed cases of COVID-19, not including PM10 at lag 5, lag 6 and lag 7, and PM2.5 at lag 5, lag 6. Similar trend was also found in different cumulative lag days (from lag 01 to lag 07 and lag 014). The effects of PM2.5 and PM10 on daily COVID-19 confirmed cases are statistically significant for three cumulative lag periods over 3, 7 and 14 days with the greatest effect over 14 days. The estimated RRs of which were 1.64 (95% CIs: 1.47, 1.82) and 1.47 (95% CIs: 1.34, 1.61) with each 10 μg/m3 increase in concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10, respectively. In addition, we found that the effects of PM2.5 on daily confirmed cases were greater than PM10 in all included lag days.ConclusionsThis nationwide study suggests that airborne PM pollution likely increases the risk of getting COVID-19 in China.

The Bronsted basicity in activated metal–organic framework-808 (hereinafter denoted as MOF-808a) was confirmed by the analyses of CO2-TPD-MS, in situ DRIFTS, and acid–base titration. MOF-808a exhibited efficient recyclable catalytic activities for Heck coupling and oxidation of alcohol as a one-pot tandem reaction in base-free catalysis. It is the first evidence of the Bronsted basicity in zirconium metal–organic frameworks (Zr-MOFs) and gave rise to a new opportunity to extend the catalytic application of Zr-MOFs.

A series of low-cost, magnetic, and high-efficiency CuNiCoB amorphous alloy catalysts were developed by the chemical reduction method for selective hydrogenation of butyl levulinate (BL) to γ-valerolactone (GVL). The catalysts were characterized by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and hydrogen temperature-programmed desorption techniques. The results indicated that the CuNiCoB amorphous alloy nanosheets with well-dispersed Cu nanoparticles played an important role in enhancing the hydrogenation activity. The reaction temperature, pressure, time, and substrate concentration were optimized. The maximum GVL yield of 89.5% with BL conversion of 99.7% was achieved over the best Cu0.5Ni1Co3B catalyst using 3 wt % dosage relative to BL at 473 K under 3.0 MPa H2 after 3 h. The considerable stability of Cu0.5Ni1Co3B during catalytic rec...

Additional file 1.

With the global lockdown, meteorological factors are highly discussed for COVID-19 transmission. In this study, national-specific and region-specific data sets from Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom were used to explore the effect of temperature, absolute humidity and diurnal temperature range (DTR) on COVID-19 transmission. From February 1st to November 1st, a 7-day COVID-19 case doubling time (Td), meteorological factors with cumulative 14-day-lagged, government response index and other factors were fitted in the distributed lag nonlinear models. The overall relative risk (RR) of the 10th and the 25th percentiles temperature compared to the median were 0.0074 (95% CI: 0.0023, 0.0237) and 0.1220 (95% CI: 0.0667, 0.2232), respectively. The pooled RR of lower (10th, 25th) and extremely high (90th) absolute humidity were 0.3266 (95% CI: 0.1379, 0.7734), 0.6018 (95% CI: 0.4693, 0.7718) and 0.3438 (95% CI: 0.2254, 0.5242), respectively. While the DTR did not have a significant effect on Td. The total cumulative effect of temperature (10th) and absolute humidity (10th, 90th) on Td increased with the change of lag days. Similarly, a decline in temperature and absolute humidity at cumulative 14-day-lagged corresponded to the lower RR on Td in pooled region-specific effects. In summary, the government responses are important factors in alleviating the spread of COVID-19. After controlling that, our results indicate that both the cold and the dry environment also likely facilitate the COVID-19 transmission., Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights • Two periods of COVID-19 increasing trends were found in studied four countries. • The government responses are important factors in alleviating the spread of COVID-19. • Cold and dry environment may facilitate the spread of COVID-19 in European countries.

The purpose of the present study is to explore the associations between novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case counts and meteorological factors in 30 provincial capital cities of China. We compiled a daily dataset including confirmed case counts, ambient temperature (AT), diurnal temperature range (DTR), absolute humidity (AH) and migration scale index (MSI) for each city during the period of January 20th to March 2nd, 2020. First, we explored the associations between COVID-19 confirmed case counts, meteorological factors, and MSI using non-linear regression. Then, we conducted a two-stage analysis for 17 cities with more than 50 confirmed cases. In the first stage, generalized linear models with negative binomial distribution were fitted to estimate city-specific effects of meteorological factors on confirmed case counts. In the second stage, the meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the pooled effects. Our results showed that among 13 cities that have less than 50 confirmed cases, 9 cities locate in the Northern China with average AT below 0 °C, 12 cities had average AH below 4 g/m3, and one city (Haikou) had the highest AH (14.05 g/m3). Those 17 cities with 50 and more cases accounted for 90.6% of all cases in our study. Each 1 °C increase in AT and DTR was related to the decline of daily confirmed case counts, and the corresponding pooled RRs were 0.80 (95% CI: 0.75, 0.85) and 0.90 (95% CI: 0.86, 0.95), respectively. For AH, the association with COVID-19 case counts were statistically significant in lag 07 and lag 014. In addition, we found the all these associations increased with accumulated time duration up to 14 days. In conclusions, meteorological factors play an independent role in the COVID-19 transmission after controlling population migration. Local weather condition with low temperature, mild diurnal temperature range and low humidity likely favor the transmission., Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image, Highlights • The impacts of meteorological factors on COVID-19 case counts were assessed after controlling population migration. • The weather with low temperature, mild diurnal temperature range and low humidity likely favor the transmission of COVID-19. • The epidemic might gradually ease partially due to rising temperatures in coming months.

OBJECTIVES: To study the relationship between the Asp1104His polymorphism of the nucleotide excision repair gene ERCC5 and treatment sensitivity to oxaliplatin in patients with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) in China. METHODS: A group of 226 patients in the Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology at Zhejiang Xiaoshan Hospital from July 2011∼December 2016 and a control group of 226 normal healthy individuals were involved in this study. All patients were first diagnosed with advanced CRC and were treated with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy. The genotype of ERCC5 at the site of amino acid 1104 was determined by a TaqMan probe-based real-time PCR approach. RESULTS: There were no differences in age or gender between the groups, but the percentages of smokers and individuals with a family history of cancer were significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group. Analysis of the G/C polymorphism frequency among the patients and the healthy controls showed that the frequencies of the CC genotype and the CC+GC genotype were significantly related to CRC, but no significant difference in these frequencies was found between genders. The analysis of the relationship between the 5-year survival rate and different genotypes showed that in the total patient group, regardless of gender, the 5-year survival rate was significantly associated with the Asp1104His polymorphism of ERCC5. CONCLUSIONS: The Asp1104His polymorphism of ERCC5 was associated with the risk and 5-year survival rate of CRC as well as treatment sensitivity to oxaliplatin.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To evaluate the influence of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) surgery on elderly patients in terms of visual acuity, vision-related quality of life and its cost-effectiveness. METHODS: Elderly patients over 70 years old, who were diagnosed and underwent RRD surgery at Shanghai First People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, from January 1, 2009, through January 1, 2013. The participants received scleral buckling surgery and vitreous surgery with or without scleral buckling under retrobulbar anesthesia. We followed the patients for 1 year and collected best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), vision-related quality of life, and direct medical costs data. Utility values elicited by time-trade-off were analyzed to determine the quality of life. Quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained in life expectancy were calculated and discounted at 3% annually. Costs per QALY gained were reported using the bootstrap method. Further analyses were made for two age groups, age 70-79 and age over 80 years. Sensitivity analyses were performed to test stability of the results. RESULTS: 98 patients were included in the study. The BCVA significantly improved by 0.53±0.44 (Logarithm of the Minimum Angle of Resolution (logMAR)) at the 1-year postoperative time point (p

To perform a short-term and a long-term cost-utility analysis of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) surgery in Shanghai, China.A total of 117 patients who underwent RRD surgery at Shanghai First People's Hospital, Affiliated Shanghai Jiaotong University, and then underwent follow-up for at least 1 year, were included in the study. Costs associated with RRD surgery and time trade-off utility values before and after surgery were recorded. Short-term analysis was made for 1 year. Quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained by RRD surgery over the lifetime were calculated at a 3% discount rate in the long-term analysis. This study used the bootstrap method in statistical analysis and one-way sensitivity analyses to test robustness of the results.Compared with no treatment, the mean incremental costs of RRD surgery was 11,384 Chinese yuan (CN¥) (US$1751); the mean additional QALYs gained was 0.05 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.04-0.06) for 1 year and 0.88 (95% CI 0.64-1.13) for life expectancy; the incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) was CN¥224,921 (US$34,603)/QALY for the short-term, and CN¥13,794 (US$2122)/QALY for the long-term. In short-term analysis, the ICER was CN¥150,087 (US$23,090)/QALY for scleral buckling surgery, and CN¥507,727 (US$78,112)/QALY for vitreous surgery. In the long-term analysis, the ICER was CN¥6280 (US$966)/QALY for scleral buckling, and CN¥30,756 (US$4732)/QALY for vitreous surgery.For RRD patients, surgery increases QALYs. In a 1-year analysis, surgery is not a cost-effective treatment, however it is cost-effective over the lifetime.

The present paper proposed a hybrid method to obtain whole-field thermal stresses in reinforced concrete building structure. The temperature gradient of structure due to environment temperature change is measured by the specially sensor which buried inside the concrete components, and the thermal stresses are analyzed with finite element method. An example of a building with 32- stories was presented.© (2002) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.