Enhanced Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Properties of CNT/Carbon Composites by Designing a Hierarchical Porous Structure.

With the widespread use of electronic devices, electromagnetic interference (EMI) has become an increasingly severe issue, adversely affecting device performance and human health. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are recognized for their electrical conductivity, flexibility, and stability, making them promising candidates for EMI shielding applications. This research developed hierarchical porous-structured CNT/carbon composites for enhancing electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding properties. Featuring a CNT film with nano-scale pores and an amorphous carbon layer with micro-scale pores, the CNT/carbon composites are strategically arranged to promote the penetration of EM waves into the composite's interior and facilitate multiple reflections, thereby improving the EMI shielding performance. An impressive EMI shielding effectiveness of 61.4 dB was achieved by the CNT/carbon composites, marking a significant improvement over the 36.5 dB measured for the pristine CNT film. Owing to the micro pores in the amorphous carbon layer, a notable reduction in the reflection shielding efficiency (SER) but, concurrently, a substantial increase in the absorption shielding efficiency (SEA) compared with the pristine CNT film was realized in the composites. This study successfully validated the effectiveness of the hierarchical porous structure in enhancing the EMI shielding performance, providing a promising new strategy for the development of lightweight, flexible, and efficient EMI shielding materials.

Orientated-quantitative computed tomography study on individualized axial safety target area of femoral neck screw channel and establishment of a stable spatial coordinate system based on anterior cortex of femoral neck basilar.

BACKGROUND: Frequent in-out-in femoral neck screws were reported potential huge iatrogenic-injury risks, related to axial safe target area (ASTA) of femoral neck screws channel. However, orientated-quantitative ASTA based on stable coordinate system was unreported before. METHODS: Three-dimensional reconstruction was performed on computed tomography (CT) images of 139 intact normal hips, and the intersection area, defined as ASTA, was obtained by superimposing the axial CT images of each femoral neck. Taking anterior cortex of femoral neck basilar (AC-FNB) as landmark, a coordinate system was established to measure the anterior-posterior diameter (D-AP), the superior-inferior diameter (D-SI) and the oblique angle respectively. Each intersection was overlaid up to the axial CT images to determine the coronal location of the ASTA boundaries. RESULTS: Each ASTA presented an inclined rounded triangle with a flat anterior base coincided with AC-FNB. There were significant sex differences in D-SI (male: 33.6±2.3 vs. female: 29.4±1.9 mm) and D-AP (male: 25.3±2.1 vs. 21.9±1.9 mm), P <0.001. D-SI was found to be positively correlated with D-AP ( R2 =0.6). All fluoroscopic visible border isthmus completely matched the corresponding ASTA boundaries. The oblique angle was 5-53° (male: 28.1±10.3°, female: 27.1±8.2°) without significant difference between sexes. CONCLUSION: The intersection method was employed to conveniently acquire orientated-quantitative individualized ASTA. Under this coordinate system, x-ray data of screws could be converted to axial coordinates in CT ASTA, which could help surgeons design combined screws configuration preoperatively and evaluate quantitatively their axial position intraoperatively.

[Analysis of chest imaging features of novel coronavirus pneumonia, bacterial pneumonia and viral pneumonia].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate and summarize the chest CT imaging features of patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19), bacterial pneumonia and other viral pneumonia. METHODS: Chest CT data of 102 patients with pulmonary infection due to different etiologies were retrospectively analyzed, including 36 patients with COVID-19 admitted to Hainan Provincial People's Hospital and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University from December 2019 to March 2020, 16 patients with other viral pneumonia admitted to Hainan Provincial People's Hospital from January 2018 to February 2020, and 50 patients with bacterial pneumonia admitted to Haikou Affiliated Hospital of Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine from April 2018 to May 2020. Two senior radiologists and two senior intensive care physicians were participated to evaluated the extent of lesions involvement and imaging features of the first chest CT after the onset of the disease. RESULTS: Bilateral pulmonary lesions were more common in patients with COVID-19 and other viral pneumonia, and the incidence was significantly higher than that of bacterial pneumonia (91.6%, 75.0% vs. 26.0%, P < 0.05). Compared with other viral pneumonia and COVID-19, bacterial pneumonia was mainly characterized by single-lung and multi-lobed lesion (62.0% vs. 18.8%, 5.6%, P < 0.05), accompanied by pleural effusion and lymph node enlargement. The proportion of ground-glass opacity in the lung tissues of patients with COVID-19 was 97.2%, that of patients with other viral pneumonia was 56.2%, and that of patients with bacterial pneumonia was only 2.0% (P < 0.05). The incidence rate of lung tissue consolidation (25.0%, 12.5%), air bronchial sign (13.9%, 6.2%) and pleural effusion (16.7%, 37.5%) in patients with COVID-19 and other viral pneumonia were significantly lower than those in patients with bacterial pneumonia (62.0%, 32.0%, 60.0%, all P < 0.05), paving stone sign (22.2%, 37.5%), fine mesh sign (38.9%, 31.2%), halo sign (11.1%, 25.0%), ground-glass opacity with interlobular septal thickening (30.6%, 37.5%), bilateral patchy pattern/rope shadow (80.6%, 50.0%) etc. were significantly higher than those of bacterial pneumonia (2.0%, 4.0%, 2.0%, 0%, 22.0%, all P < 0.05). The incidence of local patchy shadow in patients with COVID-19 was only 8.3%, significantly lower than that in patients with other viral pneumonia and bacterial pneumonia (8.3% vs. 68.8%, 50.0%, P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of peripheral vascular shadow thickening in patients with COVID-19, other viral pneumonia and bacterial pneumonia (27.8%, 12.5%, 30.0%, P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The probability of ground-glass opacity, paving stone and grid shadow in chest CT of patients with COVID-19 was significantly higher than those of bacterial pneumonia, and it was more common in the lower lungs and lateral dorsal segment. In other patients with viral pneumonia, ground-glass opacity was distributed in both upper and lower lungs. Bacterial pneumonia is usually characterized by single lung consolidation, distributed in lobules or large lobes and accompanied by pleural effusion.

Lumican is elevated in the lung in human and experimental acute respiratory distress syndrome and promotes early fibrotic responses to lung injury.

BACKGROUND: Fibroproliferative repair starts early in the inflammatory phase of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and indicates a poor prognosis. Lumican, a small leucine-rich proteoglycan, is implicated in homeostasis and fibrogenesis, but its role in ARDS is unclear. METHODS: Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples were obtained from ARDS patients (n = 55) enrolled within 24 h of diagnosis and mechanically ventilated (n = 20) and spontaneously breathing (n = 29) control subjects. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury (ALI) mouse models were intratracheally administered an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector expressing lumican shRNA. Primary human lung fibroblasts (HLF) and small airway epithelial cells (SAECs) were cultured with tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α or lumican. Luminex/ELISA, histochemistry/immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence microscopy, quantitative real-time PCR, and western blotting were performed. RESULTS: Lumican levels were significantly higher in the BALF of ARDS patients than in that of ventilated or spontaneously breathing controls (both p < 0.0001); they were correlated with the PaO2/FiO2 ratio and levels of proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin-6, interleukin-8, and TNF-α) and profibrotic factors (fibronectin, alpha-1 type I collagen [COL1A1], and alpha-1 type III collagen [COL3A1]). Lumican expression was enhanced in the alveolar walls and airway epithelium in the ALI mouse model. Murine lumican levels were also linked to proinflammatory and profibrotic cytokine levels in the BALF. In vitro, TNF-α induced the synthesis and secretion of lumican in HLF. In turn, lumican increased the expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), COL1A1, and COL3A1 in HLF, upregulated α-SMA and COL3A1, downregulated E-cadherin, and caused spindle-shaped morphological changes in SAECs. Moreover, increased ERK phosphorylation and Slug were noted in both HLF and SAECs treated with lumican. In vivo, AAV-mediated knockdown of lumican inhibited the pulmonary production of fibronectin and COL3A1 and alleviated lung fibrotic lesions in LPS-challenged mice. CONCLUSIONS: Pulmonary lumican levels were increased early in human and experimental ARDS and linked to disease severity and inflammatory fibrotic processes. Lumican triggers the transdifferentiation of lung fibroblasts into myofibroblasts and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in SAECs, possibly via the ERK/Slug pathway. Knockdown of pulmonary lumican attenuated extracellular matrix deposition in ALI mice. Overall, lumican promotes fibrotic responses in the early phase of ARDS, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic target.

A Novel Thrombosis-Related Signature for Predicting Survival and Drug Compounds in Glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma is the most common primary tumor in the central nervous system, and thrombosis-associated genes are related to its occurrence and progression. Univariate Cox and LASSO regression analysis were utilized to develop a new prognostic signature based on thrombosis-associated genes. Gene ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and HALLMARK were used for functional annotation of risk signature. ESTIMATE, MCP-counter, xCell, and TIMER algorithms were used to quantify immune infiltration in the tumor microenvironment. Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer (GDSC) was used for selecting potential drug compounds. Risk signature based on thrombosis-associated genes shows moderate performance in prognosis prediction. The functional annotation of the risk signature indicates that the signaling pathways related to the cell cycle, apoptosis, tumorigenesis, and immune suppression are rich in the high-risk group. Somatic mutation analysis shows that tumor-suppressive gene TP53 and oncogene PTEN have higher expression in low-risk and high-risk groups, respectively. Potential drug compounds are explored in risk score groups and show higher AUC values in the low-risk score group. A nomogram with valuable prognostic factors exhibits high sensitivity in predicting the survival outcome of GBM patients. Our research screens out multiple thromboses-associated genes with remarkable clinical significance in GBM and further develops a meaningful prognostic risk signature predicting drug sensitivity and survival outcome.

Elevated soluble death receptor 5 can predict poor prognosis in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

BACKGROUND: The tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and its receptor, death receptor 5 (DR5), participate in pulmonary cell apoptosis. This study aimed to investigate the clinical value of soluble DR5 and TRAIL for prognosis assessment in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples were collected from ARDS patients and controls. Patients were followed-up until death or discharge. Soluble DR5, TRAIL, TNF-α, soluble receptor for advanced glycation end-products (sRAGE), and albumin levels were measured using the Magnetic Luminex or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Data were analyzed according to their distributions and statistical purposes. RESULTS: Serum and BALF DR5 levels were elevated in patients with ARDS; TRAIL elevation and reduction was observed in BALF and serum, respectively. Serum DR5 was higher in non-survivors compared to survivors. Serum DR5 was positively correlated with serum TNF-α and critical illness scores and negatively correlated with serum TRAIL. Serum DR5 exhibited potential for predicting mortality in patients with ARDS. CONCLUSIONS: Serum soluble DR5 elevation, a valuable prognosis predictor in ARDS, may be associated with alveolar epithelial cell apoptosis. TRIAL REGISTRATION: http://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx.Uniqueidentifier:ChiCTR-DDD-17013370.

Synthesis, Anti-Proliferative Evaluation and Mechanism of 4-Trifluoro Methoxy Proguanil Derivatives with Various Carbon Chain Length.

Among the known biguanide drugs, proguanil has the best antiproliferative activity. In contrast, newly synthesized biguanide derivatives containing fluorine atoms have excellent biological activity, among which trifluoromethoxy compounds show the strongest ability. Preliminary work in our laboratory exhibited that n-heptyl containing proguanil derivatives on one alkyl chain side have better biological activity than those with a shorter carbon chain. However, the relationship between the length of the carbon chain and the activity of the compounds is unknown. In this study, we synthesized 10 new trifluoromethoxy-containing proguanil derivatives with various carbon chain lengths. The phenyl side is fixed as the trifluoromethoxy group with change of carbon chain length in alkyl chain side. It was found that the anti-cancer abilities of 5C-8C with n-pentyl to n-octyl groups was significantly better than that of proguanil in the five human cancer cell lines. The colony formation assay demonstrated that 6C-8C at 0.5 to 1.0 µM significantly inhibited the colony formation of human cancer cell lines, much stronger than that of proguanil. Pharmacologically, 8C activates AMPK, leading to inactivation of the mTOR/p70S6K/4EBP1 pathway. Thus, these novel compounds have a great potential for developing new anti-cancer candidates.

Prognostic Value of Angiopoietin-like 4 in Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) is a secreted glycoprotein that plays an important role in endothelial injury and the inflammatory response. Experimental models have implicated ANGPTL4 in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), but its impact on the progression of ARDS is unclear. METHODS: Paired bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and serum samples were obtained from patients with ARDS (n = 56) within 24 h of diagnosis and from control subjects (n = 32). ANGPTL4, angiopoietin-2, interleukin (IL)-6, and TNF-α levels were measured by magnetic Luminex assay. BALF albumin (BA) and serum albumin (SA) were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: BALF and serum ANGPTL4 concentrations were higher in patients with ARDS than in controls and were even higher in non-survivors than in survivors. The serum ANGPTL4 level was higher in indirect (extrapulmonary) ARDS than in direct (pulmonary) ARDS. Furthermore, BALF and serum ANGPTL4 levels correlated well with angiopoietin-2, IL-6, and TNF-α levels in BALF and serum. BALF ANGPTL4 was positively correlated with the BA/SA ratio (an indicator of pulmonary vascular permeability), and serum ANGPTL4 was associated with the severity of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome based on SOFA and APACHE II scores. Moreover, serum ANGPTL4 was better able to predict 28-day ARDS-related mortality (AUC 0.746, P < 0.01) than the APACHE II score or PaO2/FiO2 ratio. Serum ANGPTL4 was identified as an independent risk factor for mortality in a univariate Cox regression model (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: ANGPTL4 levels were elevated in patients with ARDS and significantly correlated with disease severity and mortality. ANGPTL4 may be a novel prognostic biomarker in ARDS.

Aligned carbon nanotube fibers for fiber-shaped solar cells, supercapacitors and batteries.

Aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers have been considered as one of the ideal candidate electrodes for fiber-shaped energy harvesting and storage devices, due to their merits of flexibility, lightweight, desirable mechanical property, outstanding electrical conductivity as well as high specific surface area. Herein, the recent advancements on the aligned CNT fibers for energy harvesting and storage devices are reviewed. The synthesis, structure, and properties of aligned carbon nanotube fibers are briefly summarized. Then, their applications in fiber-shaped energy harvesting and storage devices (i.e., solar cells, supercapacitors, and batteries) are demonstrated. The remaining challenges are finally discussed to highlight the future research direction in the development of aligned CNT fibers for fiber-shaped energy devices.

Mitochondrial Damage-Associated Molecular Patterns Exacerbate Lung Fluid Imbalance Via the Formyl Peptide Receptor-1 Signaling Pathway in Acute Lung Injury.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of mitochondrial damage-associated molecular patterns on the lung fluid homeostasis in experimental acute lung injury. DESIGN: Experimental study. SETTING: Research laboratory. SUBJECTS: Patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome and control subjects, wild-type C57BL/6 and formyl peptide receptor-1 gene knockout mice, and primary rat alveolar epithelial type II cells. INTERVENTIONS: Samples of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and serum were obtained from patients and control subjects. Mice were intratracheally instilled with lipopolysaccharide and mitochondrial damage-associated molecular patterns. The primary rat alveolar epithelial type II cells were isolated and incubated with mitochondrial damage-associated molecular patterns. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Patients were divided into direct (pulmonary) and indirect (extrapulmonary) injury groups based on etiology. The release of mitochondrial peptide nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase 1 in both bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and serum was induced in patients and was associated with etiology. In the lipopolysaccharide-induced lung injury, administration of mitochondrial damage-associated molecular patterns exacerbated the lung fluid imbalance, which was mitigated in formyl peptide receptor-1 knockout mice. Proteomic analysis of mouse lung tissues revealed the involvement of ion channels and tight junction proteins in this process. Treatment with mitochondrial damage-associated molecular patterns decreased the expression of epithelial sodium channel α, zonula occludens-1, and occludin via the formyl peptide receptor-1/p38 pathway in the primary rat alveolar epithelial type II cells. CONCLUSIONS: Mitochondrial damage-associated molecular patterns exacerbate lung fluid imbalance in the experimental acute lung injury model through formyl peptide receptor-1 signaling, the inhibition of which may prevent exacerbation of lung fluid imbalance induced by mitochondrial damage-associated molecular patterns. Thus, formyl peptide receptor-1 is a potential therapeutic target for acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Role of Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products in Regulating Lung Fluid Balance in Lipopolysaccharide-induced Acute Lung Injury and Infection-Related Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is implicated in inflammatory responses in acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), but its role in pulmonary edema formation remains unclear, especially in infection-related ARDS mainly caused by pneumonia or sepsis. In this study, we investigated the role of RAGE in alveolar fluid regulation by using RAGE gene knockout (RAGE) mice in a murine ALI model induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and by comparing soluble RAGE (sRAGE) levels in serum and bronchial alveolar lavage fluid between ARDS patients and control subjects. We found that RAGE knockout significantly improved alveolar fluid clearance and reduced pulmonary vascular albumin leakage upon LPS challenge. Furthermore, LPS-induced substantial decrease in lung expression of sodium-potassium ATPase (Na,K-ATPase), epithelial sodium channel, and zonula occluden-1 (ZO-1) were fully or partially restored by the deletion of RAGE. In addition to this, LPS-induced lung leukocyte infiltration and inflammatory cytokine and chemokine release were all attenuated in RAGE mice as compared to wide-type mice. In infection-related ARDS patients, both serum and bronchial alveolar lavage fluid levels of the sRAGE were much higher than those in control subjects, and they were positively correlated with pulmonary vascular permeability and levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-2. Taken together, we provided the first direct evidence for the essential role of RAGE in regulating lung fluid balance in infection-related ARDS/ALI. The underlying mechanisms may involve the downregulation of both ion-channel and tight junction proteins mediated by RAGE signaling in bacterial endotoxin-induced lung injury.

Associations of TERT polymorphisms with hepatocellular carcinoma risk in a Han Chinese population.

Genetic association analysis and functional analysis have suggested that telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene affects the predisposition to various tumors. In this study, we wanted to explore the association between TERT variants and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk in a Han Chinese population via a case-control study of 473 HCC patients and 564 controls. Sequenom Mass-ARRAY platform was applied to determine the genotype of TERT polymorphisms in these subjects. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals that calculated by logistic regression analysis were used to assess the association under the genotype, dominant, recessive, and additive models. The "AA" genotype frequency of TERT rs2242652 in cases was significantly lower than in controls (1.69% versus 3.72%). We found two SNPs were associated with decreased risk of HCC with or without the adjustment for age and gender: rs10069690 under an additive model (adjusted OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.60-0.98, P = 0.038); rs2242652 under a dominant model (adjusted OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.54-0.95, P = 0.022) and an additive model (adjusted OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.56-0.92, P = 0.009). To our knowledge, the present study is the first to show the significant association between TERT polymorphisms and HCC susceptibility in a Han Chinese population from China, which may act as a potential prognostic biomarker in HCC patients.

[Inhibition of pulmonary nuclear factor -ΚB and tumor necrosis factor -α expression by diallyl sulfide in rats with paraquat poisoning].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanism of anti-inflammatory effect of diallyl sulfide (DAS) in protection against acute lung injury (ALI) in rats with paraquat poisoning. METHODS: Eighty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups, namely: control group, model group, dexamethasone (DXM) treatment group, and DAS treatment group, with 20 rats in each group. The model of paraquat poisoning was reproduced by single does of 70 mg/kg given by gavage, while the same volume of normal saline (NS) was given in same manner in control group. 100 mg/kg of DAS, the same volume of NS, or 1 mg/kg DXM injection were given respectively in DAS treatment group, model group, or DXM treatment group intraperitoneally after exposure to paraquat, once a day for 14 days. Five rats in each group were sacrificed at 1, 3, 7, 14 days, respectively. The inferior lobe of right lung was harvested, and the degree of lung injury was observed with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining under optical microscope; the upper lobe of right lung was used to determine the lung wet/dry weight (W/D) ratio and for evaluation of the degree of pulmonary edema. The expression of nuclear factor -ΚB (NF-ΚB) in the middle lobe of right lung was assessed with immunohistochemistry. The expression of tumor necrosis factor -α ( TNF-α ) mRNA in the left lung was determined with the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: (1) The pulmonary structure in control group was found to be intact. However, in the model group there were progressive pathological changes in lung, including marked edema and thickening of alveolar walls, collapse of alveoli, infiltration of inflammatory cells, alveolar wall, and obvious bleeding in the local lung tissue, and formation of transparent membrane in alveolar space. Less infiltration of inflammatory cells and no obvious destruction were found in alveolar structure in the DAS and DXM treatment groups. (2) Lung W/D ratio: lung W/D ratio of model group was apparently higher than that in control group at every time point, and peaking on the 3rd day ( 6.15 ± 0.54 vs. 4.15 ± 2.10, P < 0.05 ), and the ratio of lung W/D of DAS and DXM treatment groups was obviously lower than that in model group at every time point, especially on the 3rd day (3.99 ± 1.26, 4.30 ± 0.70 vs. 6.15 ± 0.54, both P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference between DAS and DXM treatment groups in this regard. (3) The immunocytochemistry analysis revealed minimal NF-ΚBp65 expression in the cell nuclei of the control group, while extensive NF-ΚBp65 expression was found in model group. Minimal NF-ΚBp65 positive expression in the cytoplasm and even less positive expression in the nucleus was found in the DAS and DXM treatment groups, and integral A value was significantly lower in the DAS and DXM treatment groups than that of the model group, especially on the 3rd day [(17.98 ± 0.06 )× 107, (18.53 ± 0.04) × 107 vs. (28.85 ± 0.61) × 107, both P < 0.01], but there was no significant difference between DAS and DXM treatment groups. (4) It was shown by RT-PCR that the expression of TNF-α mRNA in lung tissue of the model group was significantly higher than that in the control group on the 3rd day (gray value: 3.63 ± 0.62 vs. 0.51 ± 0.13, P < 0.05 ). The expression of TNF-α mRNA in lung tissue was significantly decreased in DAS and DXM treatment groups compared with model group ( gray value: 2.49 ± 0.57, 2.02 ± 0.26 vs. 3.63 ± 0.62, both P < 0.05 ), but there was no significant difference between DAS and DXM treated groups. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with an intraperitoneally injection of DAS is capable of attenuate the extent of PQ-induced ALI in rats by alleviating pulmonary edema, inhibiting the expression of NF-ΚB and TNF-α in lung tissue, and ameliorating pathological changes in lung tissue.