Metabolic Profiles of Offspring Born From Biopsied Embryos from Toddlerhood to Preschool Age.

CONTEXT: Embryo biopsy, which is necessary for preimplantation genetic testing (PGT), has not been fully investigated regarding its potential influences and safety. Previous studies of children born from biopsied embryos (PGT children) have primarily centered around their growth and neuropsychological development, while there remains limited knowledge concerning their endocrine and metabolic parameters. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the effect of trophectoderm (TE) biopsy on metabolic outcomes for PGT children. METHODS: A total of 1267 children from the Center for Reproductive Medicine, Shandong University, who were conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) with and without PGT, were analyzed in this study. Three sets of measurements pertaining to growth and metabolism were taken at each predetermined follow-up time point. The linear regression models within a generalized estimating equation were employed to examine the associations between the PGT and each outcome measure and the approach of false discovery rate was used to correct for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: After controlling for confounding factors and correcting for multiple comparisons, no statistically significant difference was identified in any of the measured variables between the PGT children and children conceived by IVF alone (IVF children) and children conceived through IVF using ICSI (ICSI children). The same is true also for age- or sex-based subgroup analyses. CONCLUSION: Between the ages of 1 and 5 years, there are no clinically adverse metabolic outcomes observed in PGT children, and their metabolic profiles are essentially identical to those of IVF children and ICSI children.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation technology for adults: an evidence mapping based on systematic reviews.

BACKGROUND: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a cutting-edge life-support measure for patients with severe cardiac and pulmonary illnesses. Although there are several systematic reviews (SRs) about ECMO, it remains to be seen how quality they are and how efficacy and safe the information about ECMO they describe is in these SRs. Therefore, performing an overview of available SRs concerning ECMO is crucial. METHODS: We searched four electronic databases from inception to January 2023 to identify SRs with or without meta-analyses. The Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR-2) tool, and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system were used to assess the methodological quality, and evidence quality for SRs, respectively. A bubble plot was used to visually display clinical topics, literature size, number of SRs, evidence quality, and an overall estimate of efficacy. RESULTS: A total of 17 SRs met eligibility criteria, which were combined into 9 different clinical topics. The methodological quality of the included SRs in this mapping was "Critically low" to "Moderate". One of the SRs was high-quality evidence, three on moderate, three on low, and two on very low-quality evidence. The most prevalent study used to evaluate ECMO technology was observational or cohort study with frequently small sample sizes. ECMO has been proven beneficial for severe ARDS and ALI due to the H1N1 influenza infection. For ARDS, ALF or ACLF, and cardiac arrest were concluded to be probably beneficial. For dependent ARDS, ARF, ARF due to the H1N1 influenza pandemic, and cardiac arrest of cardiac origin came to an inconclusive conclusion. There was no evidence for a harmful association between ECMO and the range of clinical topics. CONCLUSIONS: There is limited available evidence for ECMO that large sample, multi-center, and multinational RCTs are needed. Most clinical topics are reported as beneficial or probably beneficial of SRs for ECMO. Evidence mapping is a valuable and reliable methodology to identify and present the existing evidence about therapeutic interventions.

Extended culture may contribute to poor intellectual performance of children born after frozen embryo transfer.

Frozen embryo transfer (FET) is becoming popular in recent years. However, whether embryos freezing or other factors may affect intellectual performance in offspring is still unknown. We compared the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) questionnaire scores between children born after fresh embryo transfer (fresh ET) and FET. They were matched in a 1:1 ratio on their sex and age (±1 month). 326 children were included in each group. We found children born after FET scored lower on the WISC-IV questionnaire (p = 0.002). In subgroup analysis, the full-scale scores are similar between fresh ET and FET in the cleavage-stage transfer group (p = 0.57). In the FET group, the blastocyst-stage transfer group had lower full-scale scores compared with the cleavage-stage transfer group (p = 0.004). Children born after FET scored lower on WISC-IV questionnaire might be linked to extended culture of embryos rather than the freezing process.

Efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine adjuvant therapy for severe pneumonia: evidence mapping of the randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses.

Background and Objective: Severe pneumonia is a critical respiratory disease with high mortality. There is insufficient evidence on the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) adjuvant therapy for severe pneumonia. This study aims to identify, describe, assess, and summarize the currently available high-quality design evidence on TCM adjuvant therapy for severe pneumonia to identify evidence gaps using the evidence mapping approach. Methods: Systematic searches were performed on English and Chinese online databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang Data, CQVIP, and SinoMed) to identify papers from inception until August 2023 for inclusion into the review. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), systematic reviews (SRs), and meta-analyses concerning TCM adjuvant therapy for severe pneumonia or its complications in adults were included. The risk of bias in RCTs was evaluated by using the Cochrane Handbook ROB tool. The Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR-2), the Risk of Bias in Systematic Review (ROBIS) tool, and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system were used to assess the methodological quality, risk of bias, and evidence quality of SRs or meta-analyses, respectively. Then, a bubble plot was designed to visually display information in four dimensions. Results: A total of 354 RCTs and 17 SRs or meta-analyses met the inclusion criteria. The published RCTs had several flaws, such as unreasonable design, limited sample size, insufficient attention to non-drug therapy studies and syndrome differentiation, improper selection or use of outcome indicators, and failure to provide high-quality evidence. Sixteen SRs or meta-analyses of methodological quality scored "Critically Low" confidence. Twelve SRs or meta-analyses were rated as "High Risk." Most outcomes were rated as "Low" evidence quality. We found that TCM combined with conventional treatment could improve the clinical total effective rate and the TCM syndromes efficacy. The combined approach could also shorten mechanical ventilation time, infection control time, and length of hospital and ICU stay; significantly reduce temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate, white blood cell counts, levels of C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, blood inflammatory factors, bacteriological response, and D-dimer; decrease CPIS, APACHE II score, and PSI score; improve pulmonary imaging features, arterial blood gas indicators (including arterial oxygen pressure, arterial oxygen saturation, and oxygen index), and lung function (including forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in the first second) for severe pneumonia compared with conventional treatment only (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in adverse reactions and incidence of adverse events (p > 0.05). In addition, compared with conventional treatment only, most SRs or meta-analyses concluded that TCM combined with conventional treatment was "Beneficial" or "Probably beneficial." Conclusion: TCM combined with conventional treatment had advantages in efficacy, clinical signs, laboratory results, and life quality outcomes of severe pneumonia, with no difference in safety outcomes compared with conventional treatment only. QingJin Huatan decoction is the most promising target, and Xuanbai Chengqi decoction has a "Probably beneficial" conclusion. XueBiJing injection and TanReQing injection are two commonly used Chinese herbal injections for treating severe pneumonia, and both are "Probably beneficial." However, there was a need for multicenter RCTs with large sample sizes and high methodological quality in the future. In addition, the methodological design and quality of SRs or meta-analyses should be improved to form high-quality, evidence-based medical evidence and provide evidence for the effectiveness and safety of TCM adjuvant therapy for severe pneumonia.

A new anti-inflammatory thujane monoterpenoid glycoside ester from Pittosporum heterophyllum Franch.

Phytochemical investigation of EtOH extract of Pittosporum heterophyllum led to one new esterified thujane monoterpenoid glycoside, pitheteroside A (1), together with one eudesmane sesquiterpenoid (2) and twelve lignans (3－14). Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis, including 1D and 2D NMR, ECD calculation and HRESIMS spectra. Pitheteroside A is an unreported and highly esterified monoterpenoid glycoside. All isolates were evaluated for their nitric oxide production inhibition against LPS-induced BV-2 microglial cells. Among them, compounds 1, 6 and 8 showed significant activities with IC50 values less than 10 µM. The results indicated the metabolisms from P. heterophyllum possess potential anti-inflammatory effects.

Effects of ovarian stimulation protocols on outcomes of assisted reproductive technology in adenomyosis women: a retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of different ovarian stimulation protocols on in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) outcomes in infertile women with adenomyosis. Methods: We carried out a retrospective cohort study among infertile women with adenomyosis receiving IVF/ICSI treatment, including 257 fresh embryo transfer (ET) cycles and 305 frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycles. In fresh ET cycles, ultra-long, long, short, and antagonist protocols were adopted. In FET cycles, patients received long-acting GnRH agonist (GnRHa) pretreatment or not. The primary outcome was clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), and the secondary outcomes included implantation rate (IR), miscarriage rate (MR), and live birth rate (LBR). Results: In fresh ET cycles, compared with ultra-long and long protocols, IR (49.7%, 52.1% versus 28.2%, P=0.001) and CPR (64.3%, 57.4% versus 35.6%, P=0.004) significantly decreased in the short protocol. Similarly, compared with ultra-long and long protocols, a decreased inclination of IR (49.7%, 52.1% versus 33.3%) and CPR (57.4%, 64.3% versus 38.2%) existed in the antagonist protocol, although no statistical significance was detected because of strict P adjustment of Bonferroni method (Padj=0.008). Compared with long protocol, LBR in short protocol decreased obviously (48.2% versus 20.3%, P<0.001). In FET cycles, no matter which origin of embryos, there were no statistical differences in IR, CPR, and LBR. For women ≥35 years receiving fresh ET, CPR was higher in ultra-long and long protocols (52.1%, 50.0% versus 20.0%, 27.5%, P=0.031) compared to antagonist and short protocols. For women ≥35 years receiving FET, compared with ultra-long and antagonist protocols, cycles with embryos originating from long and short protocols had higher proportions of long-acting GnRHa pretreatment (30.4%,30.00 versus 63.9%, 51.4%, P=0.009). IR (61.1%, 48.6% versus 32.6%, 25.0%, P=0.020) and CPR (58.3%, 48.6% versus 30.4%, 25.0%, P=0.024) in long and short protocols were higher than rates of ultra-long and antagonist protocols, but no statistical differences were supported because of strict Bonferroni method (Padj=0.008). Conclusion: In infertile women with adenomyosis, if a fresh embryo was planned for transfer, an ultra-long or long protocol might be beneficial. If antagonist and short protocols were used, whole embryos frozen followed by FET was recommended. In FET cycles, embryos derived from different protocols had no impact on pregnancy outcomes.

Eudesmane sesquiterpenoid glycosides from the leaves of Pittosporum lenticellatum with anti-neuroinflammatory activity.

Chemical investigation of the EtOAc extract of the leaves of Pittosporum lenticellatum led to the isolation of twenty-five previously undescribed eudesmane sesquiterpenoid glycosides, pitlencosides A－Y (1-25); their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis, including 1D and 2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS, ECD spectra, and X-ray crystallographic analysis. Among them, compounds 4, 5, 7, 8, 15 and 16 exhibited significant inhibitory effects on the production of nitric oxide in lipopolysaccharide-induced BV-2 microglial cells by suppressing the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2, with IC50 values ranging from 7.95 to 25.88 µM, which showed stereo-chemical and substituent dependents. Western blot analysis and molecular docking simulation confirmed the anti-inflammatory activity of compounds 4, 5, 7, 8, 15 and 16.

Pitsubcosides A-L, highly esterified eudesmane sesquiterpenoid glycosides with antibacterial activity from Pittosporum subulisepalum and their mechanism.

BACKGROUND: Plants from the genus Pittosporum are traditionally used as antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral agents. A bioassay evaluation of the extract of Pittosporum subulisepalum revealed antibacterial activity. This study focused on the discovery of the antibacterial metabolism in P. subulisepalum, as well as the modes of action of its active components. RESULTS: A chemical investigation of an ethyl acetate (EtOAc) extract of the aerial parts of P. subulisepalum led to the isolation of 12 previously undescribed eudesmane sesquiterpenoid glycoside esters (ESGEs), pitsubcosides A-L (1-12). Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis, including one- and two-dimensional NMR, high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, electronic circular dichroism spectra and single-crystal X-ray crystallography analysis or by comparing with authentic samples. The new ESGEs were characterized by their highly esterified glycoside moieties. Among them, compounds 1-3, 5 and 8 showed a moderate inhibitory effect against Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa) and Erwinia carotovora with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) ranging from 3.13 to 100 µm. Among them, compounds 3 and 5 showed remarkable antibacterial activity against S. aureus and Psa with MIC values of 6.25 and 3.13 µm, respectively. Live bacterial mass and the biofilms of S. aureus and Psa were quantified using methyl tetrazolium and crystal violet assays. Fluorescence microscopy and scanning electron microscopy experiments revealed an antibacterial mechanism of cell membrane architectural disruption. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that ESGEs possess great potential for the development of antibacterial agents to control plant pathogens. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Terahertz Spin-Conjugate Symmetry Breaking for Nonreciprocal Chirality and One-Way Transmission Based on Magneto-Optical Moiré Metasurface.

In this work, the gyrotropic semiconductor InSb into the twisted bilayer metasurface to form a magneto-optical moiré metasurface is introduced. Through the theoretical analysis, the "moiré angle" is developed in which case the nonreciprocity and chirality with the spin-conjugate asymmetric transmission are obtained due to the simultaneous breaking of both time-reversal symmetry and spatial mirror symmetry. The experiments confirm that the chirality can be actively manipulated by rotating the twisted angle and the external magnetic field, realizing spin-conjugate asymmetric transmission. Meanwhile, the two spin states also realize the nonreciprocal one-way transmission, and their isolation spectra are also spin-conjugate asymmetric: one is enhanced up to 48 dB, and the other's bandwidth is widened to over 730 GHz. This spin-conjugate symmetry-breaking effect in the MOMM brings a combination of time-space asymmetric transmission, and it also provides a new scheme for the implementation of high-performance THz chirality controllers and isolators.

Association between endometrial thickness and birthweight of singletons from vitrified-warmed cycles: a retrospective cohort study.

RESEARCH QUESTION: What is the association between endometrial thickness (EMT) and the birthweight of singleton infants born from frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles? DESIGN: This retrospective cohort study was conducted from January 2016 to December 2019. Participants were categorized into a natural cycle (NC, n = 8132) group and hormone replacement therapy (HRT, n = 4975) group. Only singleton deliveries were included. The primary outcomes were measures of birthweight and relevant indexes. Multivariable logistic regression and multivariable-adjusted linear regression models that incorporated restricted cubic splines were used. RESULTS: In the HRT group, the risk of delivering a small for gestational age (SGA) infant was increased in women with an EMT <8.0 mm (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.85, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17-2.91) compared with women with an EMT of 8.0 to <12.0 mm, and increased with an EMT ≥12.0 mm (aOR 1.85, 95% CI 1.03-3.33). An inverted U-shaped relationship was found between EMT and birthweight in women with HRT. No significant differences were shown in birthweight z-score, or being SGA or large for gestational age, in singletons among the three EMT groups in the natural cycles. CONCLUSIONS: A thinner endometrium seen in women undergoing HRT cycles was associated with a lower birthweight z-score, as well as a higher risk of SGA. However, no significant association was observed between EMT and birthweight z-score or SGA in the NC group. It is noteworthy that a thicker endometrium was not associated with a higher birthweight in frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycles. Women with a thin endometrium who achieve pregnancy require specialized attention, particularly if they are undergoing FET with HRT cycles.

[Analysis of outcome indicators in clinical trials on Chinese medicine as adjuvant therapy for severe pneumonia].

This study analyzed the outcome indicators in randomized controlled trial(RCT) on Chinese medicine as adjuvant therapy for severe pneumonia in the past years, laying a foundation for the design of clinical trials on and construction of core outcome set(COS) for severe pneumonia. To be specific, related RCT was retrieved from CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, SinoMed, PubMed, EMbase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, and ClinicalTrials.gov(from January 1,2011 to April 9,2022). Then data in the trials were extracted, and the quality of included RCT was assessed according to Cochrane handbook, followed by descriptive analysis of the use of outcome indicators. A total of 11 833 articles were screened out, and finally 34 RCTs were included(2 were protocols). The included trials involved 109 outcome indicators with emergence frequency of 320, which were mainly classified into 9 categories: physicochemical indicators(54, frequency 167), time to achieve the efficacy(15, frequency 38), clinical effective rate(10, frequency 36), quality of life(11, frequency 35), symptoms and signs(7, frequency 18), traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) syndrome(4, frequency 13), safety(3, frequency 8), economic evaluation(1, frequency 1), other indicators(4, frequency 4). The indicators with high frequency followed the order: total effective rate, arterial oxygen partial pressure, C-reactive protein, white blood cell count, arterial blood carbon dioxide partial pressure. A total of 5 articles(14.71%) reported the main outcome indicators and 11 articles(32.35%) adopted the efficacy on TCM syndromes as the outcome indicator. There are many problems in the selection of outcome indicators in RCT on the treatment of severe pneumonia with Chinese medicine, mainly manifested as the disregard of clinical endpoint indicators, the inappropriate selection of surrogate indicators, and the non-standard evaluation criteria for the efficacy on TCM syndrome. It is suggested that the evaluation system for the efficacy of Chinese medicine on severe pneumonia should be established in accordance with the method for international COS to improve the quality of clinical trials.

[Network Meta-analysis of different Chinese medicine injections combined with conventional therapy in treatment of stroke-associated pneumonia].

Network Meta-analysis was conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of different Chinese medicine injections combined with conventional therapy in the treatment of stroke-associated pneumonia. CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were searched for the relevant literature pubslished from inception to April 1, 2022. Stata 17 was used for data analysis. After screening of 1 189 papers, 72 studies were finally selected, which involved 5 819 patients and 6 Chinese medicine injections(Tanreqing Injection, Xingnaojing Injection, Xuebijing Injection, Xiyanping Injection, Shenfu Injection, and Shenmai Injection). The network Meta-analysis ranked the injections as follows.(1) In terms of improving the total clinical effective rate, the surface under the cumulative ranking curve(SUCRA) followed the order of Xiyanping Injection + conventional therapy > Xuebijing Injection + conventional therapy > Tanreqing Injection + conventional therapy > Shenmai Injection + conventional therapy > Xingnaojing Injection + conventional therapy > Shenfu Injection + conventional therapy > conventional therapy.(2) In terms of recovering the National Institute of Health stroke scale(NIHSS) scores, the SUCRA followed the order of Xuebijing Injection + conventional therapy > Xingnaojing Injection + conventional therapy > Tanreqing Injection + conventional therapy > Shenfu Injection + conventional therapy > conventional therapy.(3) In reducing the average time to abatement of fever, the SUCRA followed the order of Xiyanping Injection + conventional therapy > Tanreqing Injection + conventional therapy > Xuebijing Injection + conventional therapy > conventional therapy.(4) In terms of reducing the mean hospital stay, the SUCRA followed the order of Xiyanping Injection + conventional therapy > Xubijing Injection + conventional therapy > Tanreqing Injection + conventional therapy > Shenmai Injection + conventional therapy > conventional therapy. The clinical efficacy of Tanreqing Injection, Xuebijing Injection, Xiyanping Injection, Xingnaojing Injection, Shenmai Injection, or Shenfu Injection combined with conventional therapy was superior to that of conventional therapy alone. However, due to the limitations of the quality and methodology of different intervention measures, this conclusion needs to be verified by more high-quality and rigorously designed randomized controlled trial.

Recent Progress of Terahertz Spatial Light Modulators: Materials, Principles and Applications.

Terahertz (THz) technology offers unparalleled opportunities in a wide variety of applications, ranging from imaging and spectroscopy to communications and quality control, where lack of efficient modulation devices poses a major bottleneck. Spatial modulation allows for dynamically encoding various spatial information into the THz wavefront by electrical or optical control. It plays a key role in single-pixel imaging, beam scanning and wavefront shaping. Although mature techniques from the microwave and optical band are not readily applicable when scaled to the THz band, the rise of metasurfaces and the advance of new materials do inspire new possibilities. In this review, we summarize the recent progress of THz spatial light modulators from the perspective of functional materials and analyze their modulation principles, specifications, applications and possible challenges. We envision new advances of this technique in the near future to promote THz applications in different fields.

Degradation of Formaldehyde over MnO2/CeO2 Hollow Spheres: Elucidating the Influence of Carbon Sphere Self-Sacrificing Templates.

Here, we prepare a MnO2/CeO2 hollow sphere catalyst using the carbon sphere as a self-sacrificing template for formaldehyde (HCHO) removal. In the feed gas of 20 ppm of HCHO (balanced by N2) + 20 vol % O2, a HCHO removal efficiency of 70% was achieved at 20 °C and full conversion was reached at around 47 °C at GHSV = 50,000 mL (gcat h)-1 for MnO2/CeO2 hollow spheres. The catalytic performance and structural and chemical properties of MnO2/CeO2 hollow spheres for the removal of core carbon spheres were explored, and the influence of using the carbon sphere as a self-sacrificing template was proved by comparing with carbon@MnO2/CeO2 (a core carbon sphere with a MnO2/CeO2 shell) and nonmorphologic MnO2/CeO2. The properties of the MnO2/CeO2 hollow spheres are significantly improved compared to carbon@MnO2/CeO2 (removal efficiency of 45% at 150 °C) and MnO2/CeO2 (removal efficiency of 46% at 20 °C) as a result of an evolution in the interaction between Mn/Ce and carbon. This increase in the interaction strength seems to (i) increase the oxygen vacancy, (ii) promote the oxygen species mobility, and (iii) improve the chemical stability of the MnO2/CeO2 hollow spheres. We believe that these results are beneficial to the fabrication of binary transition metal oxides and applications of them in HCHO removal.

Enhanced Terahertz Amplification Based on Photo-Excited Graphene-Dielectric Hybrid Metasurface.

Graphene under optical pump has been shown to be an attractive gain medium with negative dynamic conductivity at terahertz frequencies. However, the amplification over a monolayer graphene is very weak due to its one-atom thickness. In this paper, the proposed graphene-dielectric reflective metasurface effectively improved terahertz field localization and enhanced coherent amplification. The amplification coefficient of 35 was obtained at 3.38 THz at room temperature with an infrared pump intensity of 8 W/mm2. As pump intensity increased from 0 to 15 W/mm2, we observed a loss-gain-loss transition process, which was discussed in detail through coupled-mode theory. In addition, amplification at different frequencies was achieved by merely re-optimizing the geometric parameters of the dielectric resonators. This study offers an effective solution for enhancing terahertz radiation and developing terahertz lasers.

1D/2D Heterostructured Photocatalysts: From Design and Unique Properties to Their Environmental Applications.

With the progress of dissimilar dimensional materials, 1D and 2D materials have been extensively investigated as heterogeneous photocatalysts, which realize the unique dimensionality-dependent advantages and mitigate the disadvantages during the environmental and sustainable energy applications. The progress in 1D/2D heterogeneous photocatalysts stems from the combination of different growth modes between 1D and 2D nanostructures and the judicious control to establish the oriented 1D/2D interface. To promote this field, it is necessary to gain insights into the interface engineering in the 1D/2D heterogeneous photocatalysts. This mini-review summarizes the designed synthesis and application of dimensional heterogeneous photocatalysts from 1D and 2D materials. Some typical research to overview the advantages of different types of interface engineered 1D/2D heterogeneous photocatalysts for various photocatalytic processes is highlighted in detail. At last, this review ends by drawing on more design strategies for such 1D/2D heterogeneous photocatalysts, which may inspire further developments of efficient dissimilar dimensional heterogeneous photocatalysts.

Widely tunable polarization conversion in low-doped graphene-dielectric metasurfaces based on phase compensation.

We propose a tri-band half-wave plate in the reflection mode, composed of rectangular silicon bar arrays on a 10-layer graphene substrate. By merely varying the Fermi energy of graphene from 0 to 0.25 eV, the three frequency bands shift in step and merge to a continuous dynamic bandwidth from 0.88 to 1.81 terahertz (THz). In addition, it can also dynamically switch the reflected wave among cross-linear polarization, right-handed and left-handed circular polarization in 0.93-1.35 THz. We found that the large dynamic bandwidth originates from the tunable reflection phase from the graphene layers. As it no longer depends on the plasmonic resonance in graphene, the proposed hybrid metasurface offers an alternative solution for active THz polarization devices with low biasing voltages.

Bi-functional polarization conversion in hybrid graphene-dielectric metasurfaces.

In this Letter, we propose a hybrid graphene-dielectric metasurface as a bi-functional polarization converter. It can switch between a reflective half-wave plate and a quarter-wave plate around 1 THz by merely applying external biasing voltage, without reoptimizing the dielectric structure. Switching of the two wave plates originates from distinct dispersion of the orthogonal eigenmodes with the chemical potential, which is further explained by the overlapping of graphene and the dielectric resonance modes. Compared with graphene-metallic metasurfaces, a combination of graphene with dielectric microstructures offers an alternative solution for active terahertz devices with high efficiency and large flexibility.

Efficient catalytic conversion of corn stalk and xylose into furfural over sulfonated graphene in γ-valerolactone.

Sulfonated graphene (SG) was prepared and employed to convert corn stalk and xylose into furfural. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) were used to characterize SG. The effects of reaction time, temperature, substrate loading, catalyst dosage and solvents on the reaction were researched and optimized. SG exhibited high catalytic activity in the conversion of xylose and corn stalk to furfural. A fairly high furfural yield of 96% was achieved at 150 °C from xylose and a 71.9% furfural yield was obtained when using a 10.7 ratio (mass ratio: xylose to SG) at 140 °C. While a 48% furfural yield was obtained from corn stalk (based on the starting combined moles of xylan and glucan in corn stalk; yield was >100%, if based on only xylan) using a substrate loading (corn stalk to catalyst mass ratio) of 2.14 and a 19% 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) yield was obtained. What's more, a 43.9% yield of furfural was obtained in only 20 min. In addition, the reusability of SG was also investigated and shown to have good stability for xylose dehydration.

[Effects of Xiaodu Yuji Paste on Protein Expressions of VEGF/SDF-1 a/CXCR4 in Granulation Tissue of Diabetic Foot Patients].

Objective To observe the effects of Xiaodu Yuji Paste (XYP) on protein expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/stromal cell derived factor la (SDF-1a)/chemokine recep- tor 4 (CXCR4) in granulation tissue of diabetic foot patients. Methods Totally 56 patients with diabetic foot were assigned to the control group (29 cases) and the treatment group (27 cases) according to Wagner grading method (the range and the degree of foot lesion). Patients in the control group received basic treatment (anti-inflammation, blood glucose control, anti-coagulation, debridement, drainage, and so on) for 8 weeks. Patients in the treatment group additionally received XYP for 8 weeks. The wound healing was observed. Contents and protein expressions of VEGF/SDF-1 a/CXCR4 were detected using SP method and Western blot. Results The wound healing rates after 2, 4, 8 weeks of treatment were signifi- cantly higher in the treatment group than in the control group (all P <0. 05). Contents and protein expres- sions of VEGF/SDF-1 a/CXCR4 protein expression at week 8 after treatment were all significantly higher in the treatment group than in the control group (P <0. 05). Conclusion The therapeutic effect of XYP might be associated with promoting expressions of VEGF/SDF-la/CXCR4, thus promoting angiogenesis and facilitating wound healing.