Accurately Measuring the Infrared Spectral Emissivity of Inconel 601, Inconel 625, and Inconel 718 Alloys during the Oxidation Process.

Accurate measurement of the infrared spectral emissivity of nickel-based alloys is significant for applications in aerospace. The low thermal conductivity of these alloys limits the accuracy of direct emissivity measurement, especially during the oxidation process. To improve measurement accuracy, a surface temperature correction method based on two thermocouples was proposed to eliminate the effect of thermal conductivity changes on emissivity measurement. By using this method, the infrared spectral emissivity of Inconel 601, Inconel 625, and Inconel 718 alloys was accurately measured during the oxidation process, with a temperature range of 673-873 K, a wavelength range of 3-20 µm, and a zenith angle range of 0-80°. The results show that the emissivity of the three alloys is similar in value and variation law; the emissivity of Inconel 718 is slightly less than that of Inconel 601 and Inconel 625; and the spectral emissivity of the three alloys strongly increases in the first hour, whereafter it grows gradually with the increase in oxidation time. Finally, Inconel 601 has a lower emissivity growth rate, which illustrates that it possesses stronger oxidation resistance and thermal stability. The maximum relative uncertainty of the emissivity measurement of the three alloys does not exceed 2.6%, except for the atmospheric absorption wavebands.

Nomogram for Predicting Efficacy and Prognosis After Chemotherapy for Advanced NSCLC.

PURPOSE: One major issue is the therapeutic effect following chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although numerous risk factors have been identified and novel therapies have been developed, improving patient overall survival (OS) remains a crucial postoperative issue. This study aimed to develop a nomogram for accurately predicting the OS of patients with Stage III-IV NSCLC treated with chemotherapy. METHODS: The Department of Respiration at Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Medical University, prospectively collected data on 321 patients between January 2018 and December 2023. A week before treatment, the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and seven autoantibodies were measured using Youden's index, which was obtained using the ROC curve. The formula was used to compute the values of PLR and NLR. After using multifactor Cox regression analysis to identify risk factors, a nomogram was produced regarding the therapeutic effect following chemotherapy. The performance of the nomogram was assessed using a bootstrapped-concordance index and calibration plots. RESULT: It was determined that NLR, sex-determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2), adenosine triphosphate binding RNA deconjugase 4-5 (GBU4-5), and MAGE family member A1 (MAGEA1) were significantly associated factors that could be combined to accurately predict the therapeutic effect following chemotherapy. Utilizing these risk indicators, we were able to develop a nomogram that predicted the patients' survival at 1, 3, and 5 years. At 3 years, the area under the curve representing the expected survival probability was 0.762 (95% confidence interval 0.66-0.87). With a bootstrapped-concordance index of 0.762, the nomogram demonstrated good calibration. CONCLUSIONS: Our nomogram proved to be a valuable instrument in accurately predicting the overall survival of patients.

The nociceptive inputs of the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus in formalin stimulated mice.

The paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVH) is an important neuroendocrine center involved in pain regulation, but the nociceptive afferent routes for the nucleus are still unclear. We examined the profile of PVH receiving injurious information by a combination of retrograde tracing with Fluoro-Gold (FG) and FOS expression induced by formalin stimuli. The result showed that formalin injection induced significantly increased expression of FOS in the PVH, among which oxytocin containing neurons are one neuronal phenotype. Immunofluorescent staining of FG and FOS revealed that double labeled neurons were strikingly distributed in the area 2 of the cingulate cortex (Cg2), the lateral septal nucleus (LS), the periaqueductal gray (PAG), the posterior hypothalamic area (PH), and the lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPB). In the five regions, LPB had the biggest number and the highest ratio of FOS expression in FG labeled neurons, with main subnuclei distribution in the external, superior, dorsal, and central parts. Further immunofluorescent triple staining disclosed that about one third of FG and FOS double labeled neurons in the LPB were immunoreactive for calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP). In conclusion, the present study demonstrates the nociceptive input profile of the PVH area under inflammatory pain and suggests that neurons in the LPB may play essential roles in transmitting noxious information to the PVH.

How does psychosocial safety climate cross-level influence work engagement and job burnout: the roles of organization-based self-esteem and psychological detachment.

BACKGROUND: Existing researches on nurses' work engagement and job burnout have mostly stayed at the individual level, and limited researches test the cross-level effects of psychosocial safety climate (PSC). The study aimed to explore the cross-level mediating effect of organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) and the moderating effect of psychological detachment between the relationship of PSC and work engagement and job burnout in nurses. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted during November to December 2022 at a tertiary hospital in a northeastern province of China. Data was collected from 1832 nurses through an online questionnaire. Correlation analyses and hierarchical linear modeling were used to test study hypotheses. RESULTS: The results showed that PSC was positively associated with work engagement, and negatively associated with job burnout. OBSE mediated the effect of PSC on work engagement, as well as job burnout. Additionally, psychological detachment played a moderating role between PSC and work engagement, but no moderating effect was found between PSC and job burnout. CONCLUSIONS: PSC at the organizational level increases work engagement and reduces job burnout by stimulating nurses' high levels of OBSE. Psychological detachment, as a situational factor, enhances the positive influence of PSC on work engagement. The implementation of measures to improve the PSC levels of the organization, and the levels of OBSE and psychological detachment among nurses could help to promote their good work performance.

Perioperative position management of 46 cases with simultaneous bilateral auricle reconstruction: A summary of experience.

OBJECTIVES: The primary problem in simultaneous bilateral auricle reconstruction is the fragility of the reconstructed ear structure. Postoperative pressure is strictly prohibited to ensure the operation's effectiveness. The study aimed to summarize the experience of perioperative postural management in simultaneous bilateral auricular reconstruction. METHOD: This study summarizes the experience of perioperative postural management, providing preoperative sleeping posture adaptability training, neck movement training, standardization of the head position angles and the head suspension time in surgery, using protective headrests, paying attention to the transfer and handover procedures, and using specially designed pillows. RESULTS: The comprehensive nursing approach in simultaneous bilateral auricular reconstruction significantly reduced complications, improved patient comfort, and optimized postoperative adaptation. Preoperative posture training, standardized intraoperative head positions, and vigilant postoperative care played pivotal roles, demonstrating positive outcomes in 46 cases. DISCUSSION: Perioperative position management can reduce the risk of complications and pressure injuries, improving patients' postoperative comfort, emotional state, tolerance, and adaptability. CONCLUSION: All ears were viable and in good shape after long-term follow-up. The experiences discussed in this study can be broadly applied to technically mature ear reconstruction teams.

Status and influential factors of spiritual well-being in cancer patients with drug clinical trials: a cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the spiritual well-being status of cancer patients in drug clinical trials and its influencing factors, and to provide theoretical support for the spiritual health intervention of clinical trial cancer patients. METHODS: This cross-section study was conducted among 244 cancer patients in clinical trials. The Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale Short Form (MSAS-SF), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 10 (CD-RISC 10), and Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual (FACIT-SP-12) were used to measure symptom burden, psychological resilience, and spiritual well-being. The Multiple Linear Regression Model was used to determine the influencing factors of patients' spiritual health. RESULTS: The overall spiritual health level of cancer patients with clinical trials was high (36.87 ± 11.0), and the spiritual health level was positively correlated with psychological resilience (r = 0.872, P < 0.001). Religious belief, nationality, treatment regimen, and resilience were independent risk factors for the spiritual health of cancer patients in clinical trials. Patients with religious beliefs (ß = 0.097, P = 0.012), ethnic minorities (ß = 0.087, P = 0.023), and high resilience scores (ß = 0.874, P < 0.001) had higher levels of spiritual health. Patients who received single antineoplastic therapy (ß = - 0.079, P = 0.028) had lower levels of spiritual health. CONCLUSION: Our study found that the spiritual health of cancer patients in clinical trials was at a high level, superior to cancer patients receiving conventional anti-tumor therapy. Religious belief, nationality, treatment regimen, and psychological resilience were the influential factors of spiritual health.

Global burden of disease attributable to high systolic blood pressure in older adults, 1990-2019: an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

AIMS: High systolic blood pressure (HSBP), a significant public health challenge, has not been systematically studied in the elderly population in the context of global aging. Understanding the temporal trends of the disease burden associated with HSBP in the elderly population is essential to control and mitigate the harm caused by HSBP. METHODS AND RESULTS: We used the estimated data derived from the Global Burden of Disease Study to analyse the disease burden of HSBP among the elderly population by region, sex, and temporal changes from 1990 to 2019. We found that the number of deaths due to HSBP increased to 7.86 (95% UI: 6.89-8.82) million, with an increase of 54.1%, and the number of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) increased to 146 (95% UI: 130-162) million, with an increase of 52.4%. Conversely, the death and DALY rates of HSBP decreased by -27.0 and -27.8%, respectively. At the national and regional levels, Australasia and other high socio-demographic index regions have made significant improvements in the burden of HSBP, while it remains high in other regions of the world. Additionally, the burden of HSBP in older men is greater than that in older women. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that the current prevention and control of HSBP in older adults is poor, with the total burden increasing significantly. There is an urgent need to implement feasible measures to resist HSBP and lessen the disparity of the global HSBP burden for older adults.

Nitrogen Vacancy-Modulated Peroxymonosulfate Nonradical Activation for Organic Contaminant Removal via High-Valent Cobalt-Oxo Species.

Rapid generation of high-valent cobalt-oxo species (Co(IV)═O) for the removal of organic contaminants has been challenging because of the low conversion efficiency of Co(III)/Co(II) and the high activation energy barrier of the Co(II)-oxidant complex. Herein, we introduced nitrogen (N) vacancies into graphite carbon nitride imbedded with cobalt carbonate (CCH/CN-Vn) in a peroxymonosulfate (PMS)/visible light system to break the limitations of a conventional two-electron transfer path. These N vacancies enhanced the electron distribution of the Co 3d orbital and lowered the energy barrier to cleave the O-O bond of PMS in the Co(II)-PMS complex, achieving the modulation of major active species from 1O2 to Co(IV)═O. The developed synergistic system that exhibited adsorption and oxidation showed remarkable selectivity and contaminant removal performance in inorganic (Cl-, NO3-, HCO3-, and HPO4-) organic (HA) and even practical aqueous matrices (tap water and secondary effluent). This study provides a novel mechanistic perspective to modulate the nonradical path for refractory contaminant treatment via defect engineering.

Comparing dark- and photo-Fenton-like degradation of emerging pollutant over photo-switchable Bi2WO6/CuFe2O4: Investigation on dominant reactive oxidation species.

The extensive use of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) poses a threat to human health and the aquatic environment. Here, magnetic p-n Bi2WO6/CuFe2O4 catalyst was fabricated to efficiently remove TCH. The obtained Bi2WO6/CuFe2O4 exhibited 92.1% TCH degradation efficiency and 50.7% and 35.1% mineralization performance for TCH and raw secondary effluent from a wastewater treatment plant in a photo-Fenton-like system, respectively. The remarkable performance was attributed to the fact that photogenerated electrons accelerated the Fe(III)/Fe(II) and Cu(II)/Cu(I) conversion for the Fenton-like reaction between Fe(II)/Cu(I) and H2O2, thereby generating abundant •OH for pollutant oxidation. Various environmental factors including H2O2 concentration, initial pH, catalyst dosage, TCH concentration and inorganic ions were explored. The reactive oxidation species (ROS) quenching results and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra confirmed that •O2- and •OH were responsible for the dark and photo-Fenton-like systems, respectively. The degradation mechanisms and pathways of TCH were proposed, and the toxicity of products was evaluated. This work contributes a highly efficient and environmentally friendly catalyst and provides a clear mechanistic explanation for the removal of antibiotic pollutants in environmental remediation.

Social Support and Well-Being of Chinese Special Education Teachers-An Emotional Labor Perspective.

Due to their high expectations, teachers often hide their real emotions and play a role that conforms to public expectations of educational work. Special education teachers face a group of students with physical and mental disabilities who have high heterogeneity and require individualized services every day. Using social support theory, this study discusses special education teachers' emotional labor and well-being. A total of 439 special education teachers in China participated in this study. We collected data at two different time-points and verified the research hypotheses with hierarchical regression and structural equation modeling analysis. The research findings show the mediating role of emotional labor in social support and well-being. It is, therefore, suggested that schools should pay more attention to special education teachers' mental health and provide them with regular guidance and support.

Exploring Links between Polychronicity and Job Performance from the Person-Environment Fit Perspective-The Mediating Role of Well-Being.

Polychronicity refers to the preference of some individuals to structure their time in order to deal with multiple tasks simultaneously in a short period of time. Past research regarding the correlation between individual polychronicity and performance presented distinct arguments. Although most studies supported a positive correlation with performance, empirical findings showed inconsistent results, indicating the presence of other influencing factors. According to the person-environment fit theory and self-determination theory, the effect of polychronicity on job performance was verified and the mediation effect of well-being was tested in this study. Dual-mode questionnaires were collected from 532 subordinators and their direct supervisors in 98 chain restaurants and hierarchical regression analysis was performed to test the research hypotheses. The results showed that polychronicity positively affected well-being, that is, well-being was a full mediator between polychronicity and job performance. This study provides valuable insight for managers to understand employee polychronicity and, in turn, improve their well-being, which could help improve job performance.

Logarithmic Fuzzy Entropy Function for Similarity Measurement in Multimodal Medical Images Registration.

Multimodal medical images are useful for observing tissue structure clearly in clinical practice. To integrate multimodal information, multimodal registration is significant. The entropy-based registration applies a structure descriptor set to replace the original multimodal image and compute similarity to express the correlation of images. The accuracy and converging rate of the registration depend on this set. We propose a new method, logarithmic fuzzy entropy function, to compute the descriptor set. It is obvious that the proposed method can increase the upper bound value from log(r) to log(r) + ∆(r) so that a more representative structural descriptor set is formed. The experiment results show that our method has faster converging rate and wider quantified range in multimodal medical images registration.

Visible-light-driven photo-Fenton reaction with α-Fe2O3/BiOI at near neutral pH: Boosted photogenerated charge separation, optimum operating parameters and mechanism insight.

The performance of the Photo-Fenton process is still limited by the low conversion rate of Fe3+/Fe2+ under near neutral conditions. We report a α-Fe2O3/BiOI catalyst that enhanced the efficiency of Fe2+ generation. The structure, morphology, chemical composition and chemical states of the catalyst were characterized. The α-Fe2O3/BiOI catalyst exhibited remarkable degradation performance for methyl orange (MO), phenol and tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH). The degradation efficiency of α-Fe2O3/BiOI with an optimum α-Fe2O3 loading was 3 and 10 times higher than those of pristine BiOI and α-Fe2O3, respectively. The excellent degradation performance arose from the synergistic effect of the efficient separation and transfer of photogenerated charge at the α-Fe2O3/BiOI solid-solid interface and the optimized Fenton reaction at the solid-liquid interface. The effects of operating parameters including the H2O2 concentration, solution pH, catalyst concentration and MO concentration on the degradation efficiency were investigated. Electron spin resonance results and reactive oxidation species scavenger experiments indicated that superoxide radicals could be transferred into hydroxide radicals via the activation of H2O2. A possible degradation pathway of TCH is proposed. This strategy provides a new perspective for improving the cyclic ability of Fe3+/Fe2+ over heterogeneous catalysts.

Crystal Structures and Cytotoxicity of ent-Kaurane-Type Diterpenoids from Two Aspilia Species.

A phytochemical investigation of the roots of Aspilia plurisetaled to the isolation of ent-kaurane-type diterpenoids and additional phytochemicals (1⁻23). The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated based on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopic and mass spectrometric analyses. The absolute configurations of seven of the ent-kaurane-type diterpenoids (3⁻6, 6b, 7 and 8) were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. Eleven of the compounds were also isolated from the roots and the aerial parts of Aspilia mossambicensis. The literature NMR assignments for compounds 1 and 5 were revised. In a cytotoxicity assay, 12α-methoxy-ent-kaur-9(11),16-dien-19-oic acid (1) (IC50 = 27.3 ± 1.9 µM) and 9ß-hydroxy-15α-angeloyloxy-ent-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid (3) (IC50 = 24.7 ± 2.8 µM) were the most cytotoxic against the hepatocellular carcinoma (Hep-G2) cell line, while 15α-angeloyloxy-16ß,17-epoxy-ent-kauran-19-oic acid (5) (IC50 = 30.7 ± 1.7 µM) was the most cytotoxic against adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial (A549) cells.