Advances in superhydrophobic material research: from preparation to electrified railway protection.

Freezing is a serious problem that affects the power, transport, and transmission industries and is a major concern for the national economy and safety. Currently, several engineering de-icing methods, such as thermal, mechanical, and chemical de-icing, have shown problems related to energy consumption, efficiency, and the environment. Superhydrophobic materials have high droplet contact and roll angles, which can reduce the droplet residence and ice adhesion on their surfaces and have unique advantages in the self-cleaning and anti-icing fields. This paper introduces the development of infiltration theory and superhydrophobic materials and their principles of anti-icing and de-icing. Herein, the preparation and coating methods of superhydrophobic materials in applications are summarised, the performance and lifetime issues of superhydrophobic materials in applications are clarified, and the research progress on superhydrophobic materials in different fields is reviewed. Prospects for the application of superhydrophobic materials in electrified railways are also presented. A feasibility study was conducted to solve some of the existing problems of electrified railways, providing a theoretical basis for the development of electrified railways.

MCNP simulation and experimental study in situ low-grade copper analysis based on PGNAA.

A prompt gamma neutron activation analysis (PGNAA) facility utilizing 252Cf source has been developed for in situ analysis of copper samples. Monte Carlo simulation is employed to determine optimal sizes for neutron moderator, gamma-ray shielding material, and thermal neutron absorber. Subsequently, based on the parameters optimized by MCNP, the PGNAA facility was constructed. Five sets of experimental samples containing low-grade copper concentration of 0 %, 0.5 %, 1 %, 1.5 % and 2 % are measured with the PGNAA facility. The results show that the minimum detectable concentration of copper is 0.218 %. The maximum relative deviation of copper is 8.53 %.

Internal carotid artery injury during endoscopic transsphenoidal pituitary surgery: risk factors, management.

BACKGROUND: Transsphenoidal surgeons should try to avoid internal carotid artery (ICA) injury but also be prepared to manage it. We analyzed our experience with ICA injury during endoscopic transsphenoidal pituitary surgery and present associated risk factors and a management protocol. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed and analyzed the medical records of 1596 patients who underwent endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary tumor resection in our institution from January 2009 to October 2022. RESULTS: Six patients experienced an ICA injury. All received timely and effective hemostasis with immediate direct tamponade followed by endovascular treatment. No serious postoperative complications occurred. CONCLUSIONS: We proposed a treatment plan for ICA injuries encountered during endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery and described our hemostasis process, methods of endovascular treatment, and means of postoperative follow-up in detail.

Online-merge-offline (OMO)-based music therapy for asthmatic children during the COVID-19 pandemic in China.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate online-merge-offline (OMO)-based music therapy (MT) as a complementary option for asthma management in pediatric patients. A total of 86 children diagnosed with mild asthma were enrolled and treated with the same drug therapy. They were assigned into three groups: Music I group (standard medical care plus a single individualized MT session along with singing training and breathing exercise), Music II group (similar as Music I as well as further wind instrument playing), and Control group (standard medical care). Primary endpoints included pulmonary function tests FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC, MMEF 75/25, and PEF, c-ACT, PAQLQ, and PACQLQ. After 6 months of continuous intervention of MT, significant differences in FEV1, FVC, MMEF75/25, PEF, c-ACT score, PAQLQ, PACQLQ (p < 0.001), and FEV1/FVC (p < 0.05) were observed among Music I, Music II, and Control groups. Besides, FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC, MMEF75/25, and PEF showed positive trends in Music I and Music II groups compared to those in Control group (p < 0.05). The c-ACT score of children was significantly increased in Music I (p < 0.001) and II (p < 0.001) groups in contrast with Control group. Children in Music I and II groups had better quality of life than those in Control group (PAQLQ, p < 0.001), and the parents in Music I and II groups also showed better quality of life than those in Control group (PACQLQ, p < 0.001).     Conclusion: As a child-friendly, low-risk, and convenient intervention, the OMO-based MT has a positive impact on pediatric asthma management during the COVID-19 pandemic. What is Known: • A few findings proved the positive effect of MT on pediatric asthma. What is New: • Our study further proving the validation and effectiveness of MT with OMO-based model on pediatric asthma, wind instrument playing has a greater impact on pediatric asthma control via small airways and might be recommended to mix to singing and breathing to improve effectiveness of MT for asthmatic children.

Global, Regional, and National Burden of Ectopic Pregnancy: A 30-Year Observational Database Study.

Objective: To estimate global, regional, and national trends due to ectopic pregnancy as part of the 2019 Global Burden of Disease study. Methods: We systematically reviewed trends in ectopic pregnancy burden using data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) database, including 21 regions, 195 countries, and territories over the past 30 years. The trends of ectopic pregnancy-related incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) attributable to all known risk factors were also analyzed. Age-standardized rates (ASRs) and their estimated annual percentage changes (EAPCs) were also calculated. Results: Incident cases, deaths, and DALYs of ectopic pregnancy increased worldwide in the past 30 years. The age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) was decreasing (EAPC = -1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI): -1.29 to -0.98), and the age-standardized death (EAPC = -0.9, 95% CI: -1.03 to -0.76) and DALY rate decreased generally (EAPC = -0.83, 95% CI: -0.98 to -0.68). In addition, the burden of ectopic pregnancy is lower in areas with higher socioeconomic development, and significant positive correlations between ASRs and sociodemographic index (SDI) were observed, especially among low-middle SDI, and low SDI quintiles carried the majority burden of ectopic pregnancy. Conclusion: Globally, the incidence, mortality, and DALY rate of ectopic pregnancy had been decreasing from 1990 to 2019. Compared with lower and decreasing ASIR in the high SDI region, ASIR in the low SDI region was always high, indicating the need for ectopic pregnancy treatment improvement and the establishment of more targeted and specific strategies in low SDI countries to reduce the incidence of ectopic pregnancy.

Procedural Promotion of Multiple Stages in the Wound Healing Process by Graphene-Spiky Silica Heterostructured Nanoparticles.

Background: Multiple stages including hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling were involved in the wound healing process. The increase in nanomaterials in recent years has extended the scope of tools for wound healing; however, it is still difficult to achieve the four multistage procedures simultaneously. Materials and Methods: In this study, graphene-spiky silica heterostructured nanoparticles (GS) were synthesized for the procedural acceleration of the multistage in wound healing process. The nanobridge effect of GS was analyzed through the adhesion of two skins, the antibacterial effect was assessed in Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria, cell proliferation and migration were investigated in mouse embryonic fibroblast (NIH-3T3) cells, and the in vivo wound healing effect was examined in female BALB/c mice with a cutting wound and E. coli or S. aureus bacteria infection on the back. Results: First, GS has a strong nanobridge effect on the rapid closure of wounds because the spiky architecture on the surface of GS facilitates the adhesion of skins, promoting the hemostasis stage. Second, graphene exhibits antimicrobial activities both in chemical and physical interactions, especially under simulated sunlight irradiation. Third, graphene plays an important role in scaffolding function, together with the spiky topographical architecture of GS, accelerating the proliferation and maturation stages. Conclusion: By periodically promoting every stage of wound healing, GS combined with simulated sunlight irradiation could significantly accelerate wound healing. With a simple composition and compact structure but multiple functions, this strategy will be the guideline for the development of ideal wound-healing nanomaterials.

Predictive value of preoperative inflammatory indexes for postoperative early recurrence of hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective: To investigate the predictive value of preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), and systemic immune inflammation index (SII) for early recurrence after liver resection in patients with hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 162 patients who underwent hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) resection between January 2013 and April 2016. The Youden index was utilized to calculate the optimal cut-off value. The Pearson Chi-square test was applied to analyze the relationship between inflammatory indexes and common clinical and pathological features. The Kaplan-Meier method and Log-Rank test were implemented to compare the recurrence-free survival rate within 2 years of the population. The Cox regression analysis was used to identify the risk factors for early postoperative recurrence. Results: The best cut-off values of SIRI, PLR, NLR and SII were 0.785, 86.421, 2.231 and 353.64, respectively. Tumor diameter, degree of tumor differentiation, vascular invasion, SIRI>0.785, PLR>86.421, NLR>2.231 and SII>353.64 were risk factors for early recurrence. Combining the above seven risk factors to construct a joint index, the AUC of the joint prediction model was 0.804. The areas under the ROC curves of SIRI, PLR, NLR, and SII were 0.659, 0.725, 0.680, and 0.723, respectively. There was no significant difference in the predictive ability between the single inflammatory index models, but the predictive performance of the joint prediction model was significantly higher than that of the single inflammatory index models. The patients with lower SIRI, PLR, NLR, SII and joint index value had longer recurrence-free survival within 2 years. Conclusion: The joint index CIP, constructed by combining preoperative SIRI, PLR, NLP and SII with pathological features, can better predict the early recurrence of HBV-related HCC patients after surgery, which is beneficial in identifying high-risk patients and assisting clinicians to make better clinical choices.

A Preliminary Study of Immediate Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy for Stage III Colorectal Cancer.

OBJECTIVES: Investigate the survival of patients with stage III colorectal cancer (CRC) treated with immediate postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy. METHODS: The clinical data of 195 patients with stage III CRC admitted to The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University from June 2017 to June 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into an observation group and a control group, both groups were treated with the routine laparoscopic radical operation, on the basis of which, the patients in the observation group were treated with intraperitoneal perfusion chemotherapy during the operation. The local recurrence, abdominal cavity metastasis, and liver metastasis were followed up, and the time of disease recurrence and total survival were recorded. RESULTS: The survival analysis showed that there was a significant difference in progression-free survival (χ 2 = 5.416, P = 0.020) and overall survival (χ 2 = 4.673, P = 0.031) between the observation group and the control group. CONCLUSIONS: During laparoscopic radical resection of CRC, the use of intraperitoneal chemotherapy with raltitrexed can achieve satisfactory results and improve the survival rate of patients with stage III CRC, perioperative use of raltitrexed has been shown to be beneficial in terms of overall survival and progression-free survival.

Targeting immunometabolism against acute lung injury.

Acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are life-threatening conditions triggered by multiple intra- and extra-pulmonary injury factors, characterized by complicated molecular mechanisms and high mortality. Great strides have been made in the field of immunometabolism to clarify the interplay between intracellular metabolism and immune function in the past few years. Emerging evidence unveils the crucial roles of immunometabolism in inflammatory response and ALI. During ALI, both macrophages and lymphocytes undergo robust metabolic reprogramming and discrete epigenetic changes after activated. Apart from providing ATP and biosynthetic precursors, these metabolic cellular reactions and processes in lung also regulate inflammation and immunity.In fact, metabolic reprogramming involving glucose metabolism and fatty acidoxidation (FAO) acts as a double-edged sword in inflammatory response, which not only drives inflammasome activation but also elicits anti-inflammatory response. Additionally, the features and roles of metabolic reprogramming in different immune cells are not exactly the same. Here, we outline the evidence implicating how adverse factors shape immunometabolism in differentiation types of immune cells during ALI and summarize key proteins associated with energy expenditure and metabolic reprogramming. Finally, novel therapeutic targets in metabolic intermediates and enzymes together with current challenges in immunometabolism against ALI were discussed.

A bifunctional zoledronate sustained-release system in scaffold: Tumor therapy and bone repair.

It is of great challenges to repair bone defect and prevent tumor recurrence in bone tumors postoperative treatment. Bone scaffolds loaded with zoledronate (ZOL) are expected to solve these issues due to its osteogenesis and anti-tumor ability. Furthermore, ZOL needs to be sustained release to meet the requirement of long-term therapy. In this study, ZOL was loaded into amination functionalized mesoporous silicon (SBA15NH2), and then incorporated into poly (L-lactic acid) to prepare PLLA/SBA15NH2-ZOL scaffold via selective laser sintering technology. On one hand, ZOL of local release not only can inhibit growth and proliferation of bone tumor cells but also inhibit osteoclast differentiation through competitive binding of receptor activator of nuclear factor (NF)-kB (RANK) in osteoclast precursors. On the other hand, amination function could change the surface charge of mesoporous silica to positive charge to enhance the absorption of ZOL, mesoporous structure and abundant amino groups of SBA15NH2 play a barrier role and form hydrogen bond with phosphate groups of ZOL, respectively, thereby achieving its sustained release. The results showed that the loading amount of ZOL was 236.53 mg/g, and the scaffold could sustainedly release ZOL for more than 6 weeks. The scaffold inhibited proliferation of osteosarcoma cells through inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. TRAP staining and F-actin ring formation experiment showed the scaffold inhibited differentiation and mature of osteoclast. Pit formation assay indicated that bone resorption activity was inhibited strongly.

Research on soft sensing method of photosynthetic bacteria fermentation process based on ant colony algorithm and least squares support vector machine.

Photosynthetic bacteria wastewater treatment is an efficient water pollution treatment method, but photosynthetic bacteria fermentation is a multivariable, non-linear, and time-varying process. So it is difficult to establish an accurate model. Aiming at the difficulty of online measurement of key parameters, such as bacterial concentration and matrix concentration in photosynthetic bacteria fermentation process, an improved ant colony algorithm least squares support vector machine (AC-LSSVM) soft sensing model method is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the virtual sensing subsystem of the photosynthetic bacteria fermentation process is proposed, with measurable parameters as input and unmeasurable key parameters as output, and the left inverse soft sensing model of virtual sensing is constructed. Then, the ant colony algorithm can quickly find the shortest path to optimize the parameters of the traditional PI regulation, to improve the dynamic performance and accuracy of parameter measurement in the fermentation process. After that, the ant colony algorithm is used to optimize penalty parameters C and kernel parameters σ of LSSVM, which effectively avoids the local optimization and improves the computing power and global optimization ability. Finally, the soft sensing prediction model of the photosynthetic bacteria fermentation process based on AC-LSSVM is established. Compared with SVM and LSSVM prediction models, the root mean square error of bacterial concentration and matrix concentration based on the AC-LSSVM model are 0.468 and 0.126, respectively. The simulation analysis shows that this model has less error and better prediction ability, and it can meet the needs of online prediction of key parameters of photosynthetic bacteria fermentation.

The analysis of risk factors for accidental parathyroid resection during thyroid surgery: a retrospective analysis of 1775 patients.

PURPOSE: The present study discussed the effects of accidental parathyroid resection on hypoparathyroidism and investigated the risk factors associated with accidental parathyroid resection. METHODS: Clinical data from patients who have undergone thyroidectomy at a university hospital in the period from November 2018 and October 2020 were entered into the database and analyzed. Risk factors for accidental parathyroid resection were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 1775 cases were included in this study. The analysis showed that lymph-node dissection (p < 0.001), T staging (p = 0.037), and treatment group (p < 0.001) were independent risk factors for accidental parathyroid resection. Different treatment groups were important risk factors for accidental parathyroid resection. There were significant differences between the professional and non-professional groups in the following aspects: accidental parathyroid resection (p < 0.001), Scope (p < 0.001), T stage (p = 0.009), N stage (p < 0.001), range of lymph-node dissection (p < 0.001), number of lymph nodes dissected in central area (p < 0.001), and number of lymph-node metastases in the central region (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The causes of accidental parathyroid resection are multifactorial. The predictors for accidental parathyroid resection include lymph-node dissection in the central region, T staging, as well as the operating surgeons' experience.

Incidence of Down Syndrome by maternal age in Chinese population.

Objective: This study aims to estimate the maternal age-related risk of Down syndrome in an Asian population. Methods: We performed a retrospective data analysis including a total of 206,295 pregnant women who presented for second-trimester maternal serum screening for Down syndrome at Hubei Maternal and Child Health Hospital for the years 2008-2017. Cases were assigned to three groups: ≤26 years of age, 27-33 years of age, and ≥34 years of age. The incidence of Down Syndrome was calculated for each age group. The differences between groups were tested using the chi-square (χ2) test. Results: The incidence of Down syndrome in women ≤26 years of age, 27-33 years of age, and ≥34 years of age was 0.67‰, 0.29‰, and 2.07‰ respectively. Statistically significant difference was found between the three age groups (χ2 = 79.748, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Down syndrome rate was significantly higher in women ≥34 years of age. Younger women (≤26 years of age) had a significantly higher risk for Down's syndrome, compared to women aged 27-33.

A Frameshift RBM10 Variant Associated With TARP Syndrome.

TARP syndrome is a rare X-linked genetic condition caused by mutations in the RBM10 gene. Primary clinical characteristics of TARP syndrome include Talipes equinovarus, Atrial septal defect, Robin sequence and Persistent left superior vena cava. Newly reported cases identified a few novel RBM10 variants and atypical manifestations associated with TARP syndrome, thus expanding the genetic and clinical spectrum of TARP syndrome. Here we report a molecularly confirmed TARP syndrome with distinctive clinical features including pulmonary arteriovenous malformation, single umbilical artery, and coagulopathy. We identified a frameshift RBM10 variant that might be associated with his distinctive clinical features.

Evaluating the Effect of Forage Rape (Brassica napus) Ensiling Kinetics on Degradability and Milk Performance as Non-conventional Forage for Dairy Buffalo.

The recent increase in demand for animal protein sources has led to the urgency to introduce non-conventional feed sources and opened the space to study feed management and its effects on animal productivity. Forage rape (Brassica napus L.) is a high-quality forage crop with a remarkable nutritional value and productive and fast growth capacity; however, studies on processing methods are limited. This study evaluates the effect of an ensiling process on rape silage quality kinetics, in situ degradability, and milk responses in dairy buffaloes. Firstly, the whole-plant forage rape was ensiled, and silage samples were collected 30, 60, and 90 days after ensiling to determine pH, evaluation of sensory characteristics, and chemical composition. Then, samples were taken for further chemical analysis at days 30, 60, and 90. After that, the degradability of the dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) of the silage was evaluated by an in situ degradability experiment using three fistulated buffalos (550 ± 20 kg body weight, 4.7 ± 0.76 years). Finally, whole-plant rape silage (after 60 days) was included in a 10, 20, and 30% of DM dairy buffalo diet in the lactating buffalo ration. The results showed that silage pH did not change significantly during the ensiling process (p > 0.05); however, the silage achieved the optimal comprehensive sensory characteristic score from days 30 to 60. There was also a significant change in neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content and acid detergent fiber content, which decreased significantly (p = 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). Ensiling of the whole-plant rape significantly reduced effective DM degradability (p < 0.05) without altering CP degradability (p > 0.05). Furthermore, the inclusion of forage rape silage linearly (p = 0.03) increased milk fat and protein contents and did not affect milk yield, lactose, and urea nitrogen contents in raw buffalo milk. In conclusion, whole-plant rape silage could significantly maintain the optimal ether extract (EE) protein content without affecting CP degradability, in addition to improving milk fat and milk protein. Therefore, ensiling may be an efficient method of forage rape utilization, and forage rape silage can be recommended as a good forage source for dairy buffaloes.

Fuzzy Algorithm Based Bionic Optimization Design of Boring Machine Column.

A large-scale CNC boring machine would not be complete without a column. The tortoise shell is chosen as the bionic prototype, and the column structure is optimized using the bionic optimization design approach, using the column of a thg6920 boring machine as the research object. The structural similarity between the completed turtle shell and the boring machine column is 0.796, according to the fuzzy method. The structural optimization and topological optimization of the column imitating turtle shell are carried out with the ANSYS Workbench, and the bionic column model is established, and then the static analysis and modal analysis are carried out. After bionic optimization and topology optimization, the weight of the column is reduced from 87061 kg to 82107 kg, the maximum stress is reduced to 3.8637 MPa, the maximum stress is reduced by 28.9% compared with the original column, and the specific stiffness and specific strength are increased by 20.65% and 29.4%, respectively. The column structure has also achieved good optimization results in stiffness, strength, and stability.

Sustainable impact of COVID-19 on education projects: aspects of naturalism.

History records show that pandemics and threats have always given new directions to the thinking, working, and learning styles. This article attempts to thoroughly document the positive core of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) and its impact on global social psychology, ecological stability, and development. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to test the hypotheses and comprehend the objectives of the study. The findings of the study reveals that the path coefficients for the variables health consciousness, naturalism, financial impact and self-development, sustainability, compassion, gregariousness, sympathy, and cooperation demonstrate that the factors have a positive and significant effect on COVID-19 prevention. Moreover, the content analysis was conducted on recently published reports, blog content, newspapers, and social media. The pieces of evidence from history have been cited to justify the perspective. Furthermore, to appraise the opinions of professionals of different walks of life, an online survey was conducted, and results were discussed with expert medical professionals. Outcomes establish that the pandemics give birth to creativity, instigate innovations, prompt inventions, establish human ties, and foster altruistic elements of compassion and emotionalism.

Progressive Multiscale Consistent Network for Multiclass Fundus Lesion Segmentation.

Effectively integrating multi-scale information is of considerable significance for the challenging multi-class segmentation of fundus lesions because different lesions vary significantly in scales and shapes. Several methods have been proposed to successfully handle the multi-scale object segmentation. However, two issues are not considered in previous studies. The first is the lack of interaction between adjacent feature levels, and this will lead to the deviation of high-level features from low-level features and the loss of detailed cues. The second is the conflict between the low-level and high-level features, this occurs because they learn different scales of features, thereby confusing the model and decreasing the accuracy of the final prediction. In this paper, we propose a progressive multi-scale consistent network (PMCNet) that integrates the proposed progressive feature fusion (PFF) block and dynamic attention block (DAB) to address the aforementioned issues. Specifically, PFF block progressively integrates multi-scale features from adjacent encoding layers, facilitating feature learning of each layer by aggregating fine-grained details and high-level semantics. As features at different scales should be consistent, DAB is designed to dynamically learn the attentive cues from the fused features at different scales, thus aiming to smooth the essential conflicts existing in multi-scale features. The two proposed PFF and DAB blocks can be integrated with the off-the-shelf backbone networks to address the two issues of multi-scale and feature inconsistency in the multi-class segmentation of fundus lesions, which will produce better feature representation in the feature space. Experimental results on three public datasets indicate that the proposed method is more effective than recent state-of-the-art methods.

Functionalization of Nanoparticulate Drug Delivery Systems and Its Influence in Cancer Therapy.

Research into the application of nanocarriers in the delivery of cancer-fighting drugs has been a promising research area for decades. On the other hand, their cytotoxic effects on cells, low uptake efficiency, and therapeutic resistance have limited their therapeutic use. However, the urgency of pressing healthcare needs has resulted in the functionalization of nanoparticles' (NPs) physicochemical properties to improve clinical outcomes of new, old, and repurposed drugs. This article reviews recent research on methods for targeting functionalized nanoparticles to the tumor microenvironment (TME). Additionally, the use of relevant engineering techniques for surface functionalization of nanocarriers (liposomes, dendrimers, and mesoporous silica) and their critical roles in overcoming the current limitations in cancer therapy-targeting ligands used for targeted delivery, stimuli strategies, and multifunctional nanoparticles-were all reviewed. The limitations and future perspectives of functionalized nanoparticles were also finally discussed. Using relevant keywords, published scientific literature from all credible sources was retrieved. A quick search of the literature yielded almost 400 publications. The subject matter of this review was addressed adequately using an inclusion/exclusion criterion. The content of this review provides a reasonable basis for further studies to fully exploit the potential of these nanoparticles in cancer therapy.