Room temperature NH3 gas sensor based on In(OH)3/Ti3C2Tx nanocomposites.

Industrialization and agricultural demand have both improved human life and led to environmental contamination. Especially the discharge of a lot of poisonous and harmful gases, including ammonia, ammonia pollution has become a pressing problem. High concentrations of ammonia can pose significant threats to both the environment and human health. Therefore, accurate monitoring and detection of ammonia gas are crucial. To address this challenge, we have developed an ammonia gas sensor using In(OH)3/Ti3C2Tx nanocomposites through an in-situ electrostatic self-assembly process. This sensor was thoroughly characterized using advanced techniques like XRD, XPS, BET, and TEM. In our tests, the I/M-2 sensor exhibited remarkable performance, achieving a 16.8% response to 100 ppm NH3 at room temperature, which is a 3.5-fold improvement over the pure Ti3C2Tx MXene sensor. Moreover, it provides swift response time (20 s), high response to low NH3 concentrations (≤ 10 ppm), and excellent long-term stability (30 days). These exceptional characteristics indicate the immense potential of our In(OH)3/Ti3C2Tx gas sensor in ammonia detection.

Effect of integrated Chinese and Western medicine therapy on severe hand, foot and mouth disease: A prospective, randomized, controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Chinese medicine (CM) plus Western medicine (WM) in the treatment of pediatric patients with severe hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) by conducting a prospective, controlled, and randomized trial. METHODS: A total of 451 pediatric patients with severe HFMD were randomly assigned to receive WM therapy alone (224 cases, WM therapy group) or CM [Reduning Injection ( ) or Xiyanping Injection ()] plus WM therapy (227 cases, CM plus WM therapy group) for 7-10 days, according to a web-based randomization system. The primary outcome was fever clearance time, which was presented as temperature decreased half-life time. The secondary outcomes included the rate of rash/herpes disappearance within 120 h, as well as the rate for cough, runny nose, lethargy and weakness, agitation or irritability, and vomiting clearance within 120 h. The drug-related adverse events were also recorded. RESULTS: The temperature decreased half-life time was 40.4 h in the WM therapy group, significantly longer than 27.2 h in the CM plus WM therapy group (P<0.01). Moreover, the rate for rash/herpes disappearance within 120 h was 43.6% (99/227) in the CM plus WM therapy group, significantly higher than 29.5% (66/224) in the WM therapy group (P<0.01). In addition, the rate for cough, lethargy and weakness, agitation or irritability disappearance within 120 h was 32.6% (74/227) in the CM plus WM therapy group, significantly higher than 19.2% (43/224) in the WM therapy group (P<0.01). No drug-related adverse events were observed during the course of the study. CONCLUSION: The combined CM and WM therapy achieved a better therapeutic efficacy in treating severe HFMD than the WM therapy alone. Reduning or Xiyanping Injections may become an important complementary therapy to WM for relieving the symptoms of severe HFMD. (Registration No. NCT01145664).

Improving the efficacy of conventional therapy by adding andrographolide sulfonate in the treatment of severe hand, foot, and mouth disease: a randomized controlled trial.

Background. Herb-derived compound andrographolide sulfonate (called Xiyanping injection) recommended control measure for severe hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) by the Ministry of Health (China) during the 2010 epidemic. However, there is a lack of good quality evidence directly comparing the efficacy of Andrographolide Sulfonate combination therapy with conventional therapy. Methods. 230 patients were randomly assigned to 7-10 days of Andrographolide Sulfonate 5-10 mg/Kg/day and conventional therapy, or conventional therapy alone. Results. The major complications occurred less often after Andrographolide Sulfonate (2.6% versus 12.1%; risk difference [RD], 0.94; 95% CI, 0.28-1.61; P = 0.006). Median fever clearance times were 96 hours (CI, 80 to 126) for conventional therapy recipients and 48 hours (CI, 36 to 54) for Andrographolide Sulfonate combination-treated patients (χ(2) = 16.57, P < 0.001). The two groups did not differ in terms of HFMD-cause mortality (P = 1.00) and duration of hospitalization (P = 0.70). There was one death in conventional therapy group. No important adverse event was found in Andrographolide Sulfonate combination therapy group. Conclusions. The addition of Andrographolide Sulfonate to conventional therapy reduced the occurrence of major complications, fever clearance time, and the healing time of typical skin or oral mucosa lesions in children with severe HFMD.