Ultraviolet Photodissociation Dynamics of the 1-Methylallyl Radical.

The ultraviolet (UV) photodissociation dynamics of the 1-methylallyl (1-MA) radical were studied using the high-n Rydberg atom time-of-flight (HRTOF) technique in the wavelength region of 226-244 nm. The 1-MA radicals were produced by 193 nm photodissociation of the 3-chloro-1-butene and 1-chloro-2-butene precursor. The 1 + 1 REMPI spectrum of 1-MA agrees with the previous UV absorption spectrum in this wavelength region. Quantum chemistry calculations show that the UV absorption is mainly attributed to the 3pz Rydberg state (perpendicular to the allyl plane). The H atom photofragment yield (PFY) spectrum of 1-MA from 3-chloro-1-butene displays a broad peak around 230 nm, while that from 1-chloro-2-butene peaks at ∼236 nm. The translational energy distributions of the H atom loss product channel, P (ET)'s, show a bimodal distribution indicating two dissociation pathways in 1-MA. The major pathway is isotropic in product angular distribution with ß âˆ¼ 0 and has a low fraction of average translational energy in the total excess energy, ⟨fT⟩, in the range of 0.13-0.17; this pathway corresponds to unimolecular dissociation of 1-MA after internal conversion to form 1,3-butadiene + H. The minor pathway is anisotropic with ß âˆ¼ -0.23 and has a large ⟨fT⟩ of ∼0.62-0.72. This fast pathway suggests a direct dissociation of the methyl H atom on a repulsive excited state surface or the repulsive part of the ground state surface to form 1,3-butadiene + H. The fast/slow pathway branching ratio is in the range of 0.03-0.08.

Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of calmodulin and calmodulin-like genes in passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) and their involvement in flower and fruit development.

BACKGROUND: The calmodulin (CaM) and calmodulin-like (CML) proteins play regulatory roles in plant growth and development, responses to biotic and abiotic stresses, and other biological processes. As a popular fruit and ornamental crop, it is important to explore the regulatory mechanism of flower and fruit development of passion fruit. RESULTS: In this study, 32 PeCaM/PeCML genes were identified from passion fruit genome and were divided into 9 groups based on phylogenetic analysis. The structural analysis, including conserved motifs, gene structure and homologous modeling, illustrates that the PeCaM/PeCML in the same subgroup have relative conserved structural features. Collinearity analysis suggested that the expansion of the CaM/CML gene family likely took place mainly by segmental duplication, and the whole genome replication events were closely related with the rapid expansion of the gene group. PeCaM/PeCMLs were potentially required for different floral tissues development. Significantly, PeCML26 had extremely high expression levels during ovule and fruit development compared with other PeCML genes, suggesting that PeCML26 had potential functions involved in the development of passion fruit flowers and fruits. The co-presence of various cis-elements associated with growth and development, hormone responsiveness, and stress responsiveness in the promoter regions of these PeCaM/PeCMLs might contribute to their diverse regulatory roles. Furthermore, PeCaM/PeCMLs were also induced by various abiotic stresses. This work provides a comprehensive understanding of the CaM/CML gene family and valuable clues for future studies on the function and evolution of CaM/CML genes in passion fruit. CONCLUSION: A total of 32 PeCaM/PeCML genes were divided into 9 groups. The PeCaM/PeCML genes showed differential expression patterns in floral tissues at different development stages. It is worth noting that PeCML26, which is highly homologous to AtCaM2, not only interacts with multiple BBR-BPC TFs, but also has high expression levels during ovule and fruit development, suggesting that PeCML26 had potential functions involved in the development of passion fruit flowers and fruits. This research lays the foundation for future investigations and validation of the potential function of PeCaM/PeCML genes in the growth and development of passion fruit.

Acupuncture for the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy in the elderly: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is one of the most common complications of diabetes mellitus, often causing pain or numbness in the patient's limbs and even leading to amputation and death. Elderly patients with DPN usually have higher morbidity and more severe results. Acupuncture has been widely used as an effective treatment for DPN in China. However, the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of DPN remains unclear. In this review, we aimed to explore the impact of acupuncture in alleviating symptoms of DPN. Method and analysis: Six databases were searched from inception to October 2023. We searched Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and three Chinese databases, namely China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), SinoMed, and Wanfang. All randomized controlled trials related to the effect of acupuncture on DPN will be included. There was no restriction in language or publication year. The primary outcome is the response rate. The secondary outcomes are the Toronto clinical scoring system (TCSS), nerve conduction velocities (NCVs), and blood glucose before and after the treatment. Two researchers will be responsible for the selection of study, data extraction, and assessment of study quality independently. RevMan V5.1.0 software will be used to assess the risk of bias and generate data. Results: We searched 4518 studies, among which 9 RCTs were considered eligible. Overall, acupuncture treatment had a higher response rate than controls (relative risk (RR), -2.87 [95% confidence interval (CI), -5.27 to -0.48], p = 0.02) and significantly alleviated the symptoms of DPN patients, reduced their blood glucose levels, and improved their NCVs compared to the control group. This study will provide a high-quality synthesis of current available evidence for the clinical treatment of DPN with this therapy. Conclusion: The results suggested that acupuncture might be effective in improving symptoms of DPN in elderly patients. Owing to the overall low quality of the literature included, we need more large-sample, high-quality, and low-bias studies to prove it.

OCIAD2 promotes pancreatic cancer progression through the AKT signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND: OCIAD2（Ovarian carcinoma immunoreactive antigen-like protein 2） is a protein reported in various cancers. However, the role of OCIAD2 has not been explored in pan-cancer datasets. The purpose of this research lies in analyzing the expression level and prognostic-related value of OCIAD2 in different human cancers, as well as revealing the underlying mechanism in specific cancer type (pancreatic adenocarcinoma, PAAD). METHODS: The correlation between OCIAD2 expression level and clinical relevance in different human cancers was investigated from bioinformatical perspective (GTEx and TCGA). The OCIAD2 expression level and clinical significance in PAAD were explored in GEO datasets and tissue microarray. Functional experiments were used to determine the OCIAD2 cell functions in vitro and in vivo. GSEA, western blot and immunohistochemistry were used to uncover the potential mechanism. RESULTS: OCIAD2 expression level was closely correlated with clinical relevance in many cancer types through pan-cancer analysis, and we found OCIAD2 was highly expressed in PAAD and associated with poorer prognosis. OCIAD2 acted as the promotor of Warburg effect and influenced PAAD cells proliferation, migration and apoptosis. Mechanistically, OCIAD2 upregulation may boost glycolysis in PAAD via activating the AKT signaling pathway in PAAD. CONCLUSIONS: In PAAD, OCIAD2 promotes Warburg effect via AKT signaling pathway and targeting cancer cells metabolic reprogramming could be a potential treatment.

Establishment of a microspheres-based homogeneous fluorescence immunoassay for the rapid detection of cardiac troponin I.

Myocardial infarction occurs rapidly, and thus the rapid detection of cTnI levels is the key to its diagnosis. Most current assays take 10-30 min. In this study, we developed a method for accurately measuring cardiac troponin I (cTnI) levels in human sera with amplified luminescence neighborhood homogeneous assay (AlphaLISA). The method involves coupling two cTnI antibodies targeting different epitopes to the surface of carboxylated donor and acceptor beads. The final signal values were detected by the double-antibody sandwich method, and the best reaction conditions were obtained by optimizing the experimental conditions. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and precision of the method were evaluated. Results showed that the method requires only 3 min to produce the results, the detection sensitivity is 27.06 ng L-1, and the measurement range is 34.56-62 500 ng L-1. cTnI-AlphaLISA has an intra-assay precision of 2.18-4.57% (<10%) and an inter-assay precision of 5.60-6.95% (<10%). The relative recovery rates are within reasonable limits. In addition, the serum assay results of the method were compared with chemiluminescence immunoassay, and the results are in agreement with one another (ρ = 0.8803; P < 0.0001). The method is expected to be developed as a routine method, but further studies and evaluations are needed.

Prediction of binding affinity and enthalpy of CB7 with alkaloids by attach-pull-release molecular dynamics simulations study.

Host-guest complex has attracted much attention because of their fantastic capability. Accurate prediction of their binding affinity and enthalpy is essential to the rational design of guest molecules. The attach-pull-release (APR) method proposed by Henriksen et al. (J. Chem. Theory Comput., 2015, 11:4377.) shows good prediction capability of binding affinity especially for host-guest system. In order to further evaluate the performance of APR method in practice, we have conducted the calculations on the macrocycle cucurbit [7]urils (CB7) encapsulated with four structurally similar alkaloids (berberine, coptisine, epiberberine and palmatine) with two force fields (GAFF and GAFF2) and three water models (TIP3P, SPC/E and OPC). Compared to the experimental data, the calculation by the combination of GAFF2 and SPC/E force field presents the best performance, of which the Pearson correlation coefficients (R2) is 0.95, and the root-mean-square-deviation is 3.04 kcal/mol. While the predictions from GAFF force field all overestimated the binding affinity, suggesting a systematic error may be involved. Comparison of calculation also indicates that the accuracy of prediction was susceptible to the combination of force field. Therefore, it would be necessary to repeat the simulation with different combination of force fields in practice.

Ucf-101 alleviates Ischaemia/Reperfusion induced retinal inflammation and injury via suppressing oxidative damage.

The Omi/HtrA2 inhibitor 5-[5-(2-nitrophenyl) furfuryliodine]-1,3-diphenyl-2-thiobarbituric acid (Ucf-101) has shown neuroprotective effects in the central nervous system. However, whether Ucf-101 can protect retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) after retinal ischemia/reperfusion (IR) has not been investigated. We aimed to investigate the effects of Ucf-101 on RGCs apoptosis and inflammation after IR-induced retinal injury in mice. We injected Ucf-101 into the mouse vitreous body immediately after IR injury. After 7 days, hematoxylin and eosin staining was conducted to assess retinal tissue damage. Next, retrograde labeling with FluoroGold, counting of RGCs and TUNEL staining were conducted to evaluate apoptosis. Immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence staining, and western blotting were conducted to analyze protein levels. IR injury-induced retinal tissue damage could be prevented by Ucf-101 treatment. The number of TUNEL-positive RGCs was reduced by Ucf-101 treatment in mice with IR injury. Ucf-101 treatment inhibited the upregulation of Bax, cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-9 and activated the JNK/ERK/P38 signaling pathway. Furthermore, Ucf-101 treatment inhibited the upregulation of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), vimentin, Iba1 and CD68 in mice with IR injury. Ucf-101 prevents retinal tissue damage, improves the survival of RGCs, and suppresses microglial overactivation after IR injury. Ucf-101 might be a potential target to prevent RGCs apoptosis and inflammation in neurodegenerative eye diseases.

Stomatal evolution and plant adaptation to future climate.

Global climate change is affecting plant photosynthesis and transpiration processes, as well as increasing weather extremes impacting socio-political and environmental events and decisions for decades to come. One major research challenge in plant biology and ecology is the interaction of photosynthesis with the environment. Stomata control plant gas exchange and their evolution was a crucial innovation that facilitated the earliest land plants to colonize terrestrial environments. Stomata couple homoiohydry, together with cuticles, intercellular gas space, with the endohydric water-conducting system, enabling plants to adapt and diversify across the planet. Plants control stomatal movement in response to environmental change through regulating guard cell turgor mediated by membrane transporters and signaling transduction. However, the origin, evolution, and active control of stomata remain controversial topics. We first review stomatal evolution and diversity, providing fossil and phylogenetic evidence of their origins. We summarize functional evolution of guard cell membrane transporters in the context of climate changes and environmental stresses. Our analyses show that the core signaling elements of stomatal movement are more ancient than stomata, while genes involved in stomatal development co-evolved de novo with the earliest stomata. These results suggest that novel stomatal development-specific genes were acquired during plant evolution, whereas genes regulating stomatal movement, especially cell signaling pathways, were inherited ancestrally and co-opted by dynamic functional differentiation. These two processes reflect the different adaptation strategies during land plant evolution.

MOF derivatization of multifunctional nanozyme: Peroxidase-like catalytic activity combined with magnetic solid phase extraction for colorimetric detection of Hg2.

Nanozyme-based colorimetric sensing has drawn immense attention due to the rapid development of nanozyme in recent years. However, the selectivity of nanozyme-based colorimetric sensing greatly limits its subsequent practical application. It is well known that sample pretreatment can not only improve selectivity by eliminating the sample matrix interference, but also improve sensitivity by enriching trace targets. Based on the easy facile surface modification properties of nanozyme, we rationally designed nanozyme combined with sample pretreatment for colorimetric biosensing, through separation and enrichment, thereby improving the selectivity and sensitivity of the nanozyme colorimetric biosensing. As a proof of concept, the detection of Hg2+ by nanozyme-based colorimetric sensing was used as an example. Magnetic peroxidase-like nanozyme Fe3S4 was designed and synthesized. The selectivity is improved by the specific adsorption of S-Hg bond and the interference elimination after magnetic separation. In addition, the sensitivity is improved by magnetic solid-phase extraction enrichment. Our established colorimetric sensing based on Fe3S4 nanozyme integrated sample pretreatment with an enrichment factor of 100 and the limit of detection (LOD) is 26 nM. In addition, this strategy was successfully applied to detect Hg2+ in environmental water samples. Overall, the strategy showed good selectivity and sensitivity, providing a new practical method for the application of nanozyme-based biosensing in sample pretreatment.

AlphaLISA-Based Immunoassay for Detection of Troponin T in Serum of Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Survival and prognosis of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are highly dependent on rapid and accurate diagnosis of myocardial damage. Troponin T is the primary diagnostic biomarker and is widely used in clinical practice. Amplified luminescent proximity homogeneous assay (AlphaLISA) may provide a solution to rapidly detect a small amount of analyte through molecular interactions between special luminescent donor beads and acceptor bead. Here, a double-antibody sandwich assay was introduced into AlphaLISA for rapid detection for early diagnosis of AMI and disease staging evaluation. The performance of the assay was evaluated. The study found that the cTnT assay has a linear range of 48.66 to 20,000 ng/L with a limit of detection of 48.66 ng/L. In addition, the assay showed no cross-reactivity with other classic biomarkers of myocardial infarction and was highly reproducible with intra- and inter-batch coefficients of variation of less than 10%, notably, only 3 min was taken, which is particularly suitable for clinical diagnosis. These results suggest that our method can be conveniently applied in the clinic to determine the severity of the patient's condition.

Treatment of anastomotic stricture after rectal cancer operation by magnetic compression technique: A case report.

BACKGROUND: The treatment of postoperative anastomotic stenosis (AS) after resection of colorectal cancer is challenging. Endoscopic balloon dilation is used to treat stenosis in such cases, but some patients do not show improvement even after multiple balloon dilations. Magnetic compression technique (MCT) has been used for gastrointestinal anastomosis, but its use for the treatment of postoperative AS after colorectal cancer surgery has rarely been reported. CASE SUMMARY: We report a 72-year-old man who underwent radical resection of colorectal cancer and ileostomy one year ago. An ileostomy closure was prepared six months ago, but colonoscopy revealed a narrowing of the rectal anastomosis. Endoscopic balloon dilation was performed three times, but colonoscopy showed no significant improvement in stenosis. The AS was successfully treated using MCT. CONCLUSION: MCT is a minimally invasive method that can be used for the treatment of postoperative AS after colorectal cancer surgery.

Acupressure bladder meridian alleviates anxiety disorder in rats by regulating MAPK and BDNF signal pathway.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of acupressure bladder meridian (ABM) on anxiety in rats. Chronic stress was induced rats to establish rat anxiety model. Shuttle experiment and open field experiments of were used to measure behaviors. The levels of cytokines in serum and hippocampus of rats were detected. Brain neurotransmitters (dopamine, 5- hydroxy tryptamine, norepinephrine) were detected by Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. Immunohistochemistry and western blotting were used to detect MAPK and BDNF signal pathway in hippocampus of rats. ABM significantly improve behaviors, decreased cytokine levels in serum and hippocampus. ABM restored the changes of neurotransmitters and significantly decreased protein expressions of MAPK signal pathway and increased protein expressions of BDNF signal pathway in hippocampus of rats. The results shown that ABM significantly improved anxiety via inhibition of MAPK signal pathway and increased BDNF signal pathway.

Predictive model and risk analysis for coronary heart disease in people living with HIV using machine learning.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to construct a coronary heart disease (CHD) risk-prediction model in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV) with the help of machine learning (ML) per electronic medical records (EMRs). METHODS: Sixty-one medical characteristics (including demography information, laboratory measurements, and complicating disease) readily available from EMRs were retained for clinical analysis. These characteristics further aided the development of prediction models by using seven ML algorithms [light gradient-boosting machine (LightGBM), support vector machine (SVM), eXtreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), adaptive boosting (AdaBoost), decision tree, multilayer perceptron (MLP), and logistic regression]. The performance of this model was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Shapley additive explanation (SHAP) was further applied to interpret the findings of the best-performing model. RESULTS: The LightGBM model exhibited the highest AUC (0.849; 95% CI, 0.814-0.883). Additionally, the SHAP plot per the LightGBM depicted that age, heart failure, hypertension, glucose, serum creatinine, indirect bilirubin, serum uric acid, and amylase can help identify PLHIV who were at a high or low risk of developing CHD. CONCLUSION: This study developed a CHD risk prediction model for PLHIV utilizing ML techniques and EMR data. The LightGBM model exhibited improved comprehensive performance and thus had higher reliability in assessing the risk predictors of CHD. Hence, it can potentially facilitate the development of clinical management techniques for PLHIV care in the era of EMRs.

Rational design of nanozyme with integrated sample pretreatment for colorimetric biosensing.

Nanozymes have been widely used in the field of biosensing owing to their high stability, low cost, adjustable catalytic activity, and convenient modification. However, achieving high selectivity and sensitivity simultaneously in nanozyme-based colorimetric sensing remains a major challenge. Nanozymes are nanomaterials with enzyme-simulating activity that are often used as solid-phase adsorbents for sample pretreatment. Our design strategy integrated sample pretreatment function into the nanozyme through separation and enrichment, thereby improving the selectivity and sensitivity of nanozyme-based colorimetric biosensing. As a proof-of-concept, glucose was used as the model analyte in this study. A phenylboric acid-modified magnetic nanozyme (Cu/Fe3O4@BA) was rationally designed and synthesized. Selectivity was enhanced by boronate-affinity specific adsorption and the elimination of interference after magnetic separation. In addition, magnetic solid-phase extraction enrichment was used to improve the sensitivity. A recovery rate of more than 80% was reached when the enrichment factor was 50. The synthesized magnetic Cu/Fe3O4@BA was recyclable at least five times. The proposed method exhibited excellent selectivity and sensitivity, simple operation, and recyclability, providing a novel and practical strategy for designing multifunctional nanozymes for biosensing.

A Dynamic Online Nomogram Based on Gd-EOB-DTPA-Enhanced MRI and Inflammatory Biomarkers for Preoperative Prediction of Pathological Grade and Stratification in Solitary Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Multicenter Study.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an inflammatory cancer. We aimed to explore whether preoperative inflammation biomarkers compared to the gadoxetic acid disodium (Gd-EOB-DTPA) enhanced MRI can add complementary value for predicting HCC pathological grade, and to develop a dynamic nomogram to predict solitary HCC pathological grade. METHODS: 331 patients from the Institution A were divided chronologically into the training cohort (n = 231) and internal validation cohort (n = 100), and recurrence-free survival (RFS) was determined to follow up after surgery. 79 patients from the Institution B served as the external validation cohort. Overall, 410 patients were analyzed as the complete dataset cohort. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and multivariate Logistic regression were used to gradually filter features for model construction. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and decision curve analysis were used to evaluate model's performance. RESULTS: Five models of the inflammation, imaging, inflammation+AFP, inflammation+imaging and nomogram were developed. Adding inflammation to imaging model can improve the AUC in training cohort (from 0.802 to 0.869), internal validation cohort (0.827 to 0.870), external validation cohort (0.740 to 0.802) and complete dataset cohort (0.739 to 0.788), and obtain more net benefit. The nomogram had excellent performance for predicting high-grade HCC in four cohorts (AUCs: 0.882 vs. 0.869 vs. 0.829 vs. 0.806) with a good calibration, and accessed at https://predict-solitaryhccgrade.shinyapps.io/DynNomapp/. Additionally, the nomogram obtained an AUC of 0.863 (95% CI 0.797-0.913) for predicting high-grade HCC in the HCC≤ 3 cm. Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrated that the nomogram owned excellent stratification for HCC grade (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: This easy-to-use dynamic online nomogram hold promise for use as a noninvasive tool in prediction HCC grade with high accuracy and robustness.

The Effect of Respiratory Muscle Training on Swallowing Function in Patients With Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The improvement of swallowing function after stroke is a significant challenge faced by patients and health care professionals. However, the current evidence synthesis of the effects of respiratory muscle training (RMT) on swallowing function is limited. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of RMT on swallowing recovery in patients undergoing stroke. METHODS: The CKNI, WanFang Data, PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, Embase, MEDLINE, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for studies evaluating RMT interventions' effect on swallowing outcomes. Risks of bias were evaluated using the approach recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration tool and a summary of findings table was generated using the GRADE approach. Outcomes were synthesized using a random-effects meta-analysis model. RESULTS: RMT interventions reduced the risk of aspiration (SMD = 1.19; 95% CI, 0.53-1.84), the recovery process of water swallowing function (RR = 1.22; 95% CI, 1.05-1.42), and the activity of the swallowing muscles (SMD = 2.91; 95% CI, 2.22-3.61). However, there was no significant effect of RMT on the functional level of oral intake (SMD = 0.70; 95% CI, -0.03 to 1.42). CONCLUSIONS: RMT can be regarded as an innovative, auxiliary means in the near future to better manage and improve swallowing function, given its improving effect on work outcomes in this review.

Characteristics of resistivity variation in deep granite and in-situ detection applications.

During the construction of deep vertical shafts, water inrush and flooding accidents are prone to occur, which seriously affect construction safety. Accurately determining the groundwater conditions is a prerequisite for effectively controlling water hazards and conducting risk management. In order to ensure the accuracy of the resistivity method in deep vertical well water exploration construction, a combination of indoor rock physics, mechanical testing, and on-site engineering measurements was used to analyze the influencing factors of granite resistivity. The corresponding relationship between resistivity and formation integrity was revealed, and water exploration experiments were conducted in the working face of deep underground mines. The results show that: (1) Rock resistivity is influenced by metallic minerals, saturation, temperature, ion content of fracture water, and joints. Regarding deep subsurface detection issues, the main factors affecting the detection results are water content and rock integrity. (2) During the loading process, rock resistivity exhibits significant stage response characteristics, which are closely related to rock integrity and damage accumulation. (3) A degradation model for aquifer zoning based on resistivity benchmark line was established. When the formation resistivity is higher than the benchmark line, it indicates a well-integrated formation with low water content. (4) Resistivity cloud maps and zoning degradation models can be used to visually determine and evaluate the occurrence status of formations and the effectiveness of grouting.

Synergistically optimized electron and phonon transport in high-performance copper sulfides thermoelectric materials via one-pot modulation.

Optimizing thermoelectric conversion efficiency requires the compromise of electrical and thermal properties of materials, which are hard to simultaneously improve due to the strong coupling of carrier and phonon transport. Herein, a one-pot approach realizing simultaneous second phase and Cu vacancies modulation is proposed, which is effective in synergistically optimizing thermoelectric performance in copper sulfides. Multiple lattice defects, including nanoprecipitates, dislocations, and nanopores are produced by adding a refined ratio of Sn and Se. Phonon transport is significantly suppressed by multiple mechanisms. An ultralow lattice thermal conductivity is therefore obtained. Furthermore, extra Se is added in the copper sulfide for optimizing electrical transport properties by inducing generating Cu vacancies. Ultimately, an excellent figure of merit of ~1.6 at 873 K is realized in the Cu1.992SSe0.016(Cu2SnSe4)0.004 bulk sample. The simple strategy of inducing compositional and structural modulation for improving thermoelectric parameters promotes low-cost high-performance copper sulfides as alternatives in thermoelectric applications.

Y-Z deformable magnetic ring for the treatment of rectal stricture: A case report and review of literature.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of postoperative anastomotic stenosis for colorectal cancer is often challenging, especially for patients who do not respond well to endoscopy. In cases where patients have undergone an enterostomy, the stenosis can be easily resolved through magnetic compression. However, common magnetic compression techniques cannot be performed on those without enterostomy. We designed a novel Y-Z deformable magnetic ring (Y-Z DMR) and successfully applied it to a patient with a stenosis rectal anastomosis and without enterostomy after rectal cancer surgery. CASE SUMMARY: We here report the case of a 57-year-old woman who had undergone a laparoscopic radical rectum resection (Dixon) for rectal cancer. However, she started facing difficulty in defecation 6 months after surgery. Her colonoscopy indicated stenosis of the rectal anastomosis. Endoscopic balloon dilation was performed six times on her. However, the stenosis still showed a trend of gradual aggravation. Because the patient did not undergo an enterostomy, the conventional endoscopic magnetic compression technique could not be performed. Hence, we implemented a Y-Z DMR implemented through the anus under single channel. The magnetic ring fell off nine days after the operation and the rectal stenosis was relieved. The patient was followed up for six months and reported good defecation. CONCLUSION: The Y-Z DMR deformable magnetic ring is an excellent treatment strategy for patients with rectal stenosis and without enterostomy.