Isolation of SARS-CoV-2-related coronavirus from Malayan pangolins.

The current outbreak of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) poses unprecedented challenges to global health1. The new coronavirus responsible for this outbreak-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-shares high sequence identity to SARS-CoV and a bat coronavirus, RaTG132. Although bats may be the reservoir host for a variety of coronaviruses3,4, it remains unknown whether SARS-CoV-2 has additional host species. Here we show that a coronavirus, which we name pangolin-CoV, isolated from a Malayan pangolin has 100%, 98.6%, 97.8% and 90.7% amino acid identity with SARS-CoV-2 in the E, M, N and S proteins, respectively. In particular, the receptor-binding domain of the S protein of pangolin-CoV is almost identical to that of SARS-CoV-2, with one difference in a noncritical amino acid. Our comparative genomic analysis suggests that SARS-CoV-2 may have originated in the recombination of a virus similar to pangolin-CoV with one similar to RaTG13. Pangolin-CoV was detected in 17 out of the 25 Malayan pangolins that we analysed. Infected pangolins showed clinical signs and histological changes, and circulating antibodies against pangolin-CoV reacted with the S protein of SARS-CoV-2. The isolation of a coronavirus from pangolins that is closely related to SARS-CoV-2 suggests that these animals have the potential to act as an intermediate host of SARS-CoV-2. This newly identified coronavirus from pangolins-the most-trafficked mammal in the illegal wildlife trade-could represent a future threat to public health if wildlife trade is not effectively controlled.

Association of IL-6-572 polymorphism with sepsis: An updated meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the relationship between IL and 6 572C/G polymorphism with sepsis. METHODS: Searching 8 databases the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biology Medicine (CBM), Chongqing VIP, Embase, PubMed, WanFang Data, and Web of Science from inception to October 1, 2023. Meta-analysis was performed by using Review Manager 5.4 and STATA 15.0. RESULTS: 9 studies were included, 1 study was excluded from the previous meta-analysis, and 6 studies were added. Sensitivity analysis suggested that the results were relatively robust. The P values of Egger test indicated that no conspicuous publication bias was found. CONCLUSION: According to the meta-analysis results of existing studies, the IL-6 572C/G GG genotype and G allele are risk factors for sepsis, this result changes the previous conclusion that the IL-6 572 polymorphism is not related to sepsis. However, the results still need to be conservatively treated due to the sample size was not large enough.

Highly Dispersed Mn-Doped Ceria Supported on N-Doped Carbon Nanotubes for Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

The weak adsorption of oxygen on transition metal oxide catalysts limits the improvement of their electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance. Herein, a dopamine-assisted method is developed to prepare Mn-doped ceria supported on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (Mn-Ce-NCNTs). The morphology, dispersion of Mn-doped ceria, composition, and oxygen vacancies of the as-prepared catalysts were analyzed using various technologies. The results show that Mn-doped ceria was formed and highly dispersed on NCNTs, on which oxygen vacancies are abundant. The as-prepared Mn-Ce-NCNTs exhibit a high ORR performance, on which the average electron transfer number is 3.86 and the current density is 24.4% higher than that of commercial 20 wt % Pt/C. The peak power density of Mn-Ce-NCNTs is 68.1 mW cm-2 at the current density of 138.9 mA cm-2 for a Zn-air battery, which is close to that of 20 wt % Pt/C (69.4 mW cm-2 at 106.1 mA cm-2). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that the oxygen vacancy formation energies of Mn-doped CeO2(111) and pure CeO2(111) are -0.55 and 2.14 eV, respectively. Meanwhile, compared with undoped CeO2(111) (-0.02 eV), Mn-doped CeO2(111) easily adsorbs oxygen with the oxygen adsorption energy of only -0.68 eV. This work provides insights into the synergetic effect of Mn-doped ceria for facilitating oxygen adsorption and enhancing ORR performance.

Association between the trajectory of ideal cardiovascular health metrics and incident chronic kidney disease among 27,635 older adults in northern China-a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of relevant studies evaluating the long-term impact of cardiovascular health factor (CVH) metrics on chronic kidney disease (CKD). OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the long-term change in CVH metrics in older people and explores the relationship between CVH metrics trajectory and CKD. METHODS: In total, 27,635 older people aged over 60 from the community-based Tianjin Chronic Kidney Disease Cohort study were enrolled. The participants completed five annual physical examinations between January 01, 2014, and December 31, 2018, and a subsequent follow-up between January 01, 2019, and December 31, 2021. CVH metrics trajectories were established by the group-based trajectory model to predict CKD risk. The relationships between baseline CVH, CVH change (ΔCVH), and CKD risk were also explored by logistic regression and restricted cubic spline regression model. In addition, likelihood ratio tests were used to compare the goodness of fit of the different models. RESULTS: Six distinct CVH metrics trajectories were identified among the participants: low-stable (11.19%), low-medium-stable (30.58%), medium-stable (30.54%), medium-high-decreased (5.46%), medium-high-stable (18.93%), and high-stable (3.25%). After adjustment for potential confounders, higher CVH metrics trajectory was associated with decreased risk of CKD (P for trend < 0.001). Comparing the high-stable with the low-stable group, the risk of CKD decreased by 46%. All sensitivity analyses, including adjusting for baseline CVH and removing each CVH component from the total CVH, produced consistent results. Furthermore, the likelihood ratio test revealed that the model established by the CVH trajectory fit better than the baseline CVH and Δ CVH. CONCLUSION: The higher CVH metrics trajectory and improvement of CVH metrics were associated with decreased risk of CKD. This study emphasized the importance of improving CVH to achieve primary prevention of CKD in older people.

Peripheral myopic defocus signal affects the efficiency of visual information processing in myopic children.

PURPOSE: Spectacle lenses with peripheral lenslets have shown promise for myopia control by providing peripheral myopic defocus signals. Here, we aimed to investigate the impact of prolonged exposure (>6 months) to peripheral myopic defocus on visual information processing in myopic children. METHODS: The study included 30 myopic children who habitually wore spectacle lenses with highly aspherical lenslets (HAL group) and 34 children who habitually wore single-vision (SV group) spectacles. The quick contrast sensitivity function (qCSF) was used to measure contrast sensitivity (CS) under conditions of no or high noise. Both groups were tested with HAL and SV lenses. The perceptual template model was utilised to fit the contrast sensitivity function (CSF) and determine differences in information processing efficiency through internal additive noise ( N add ) and perceptual template gain (ß). RESULTS: The areas under the log CSF in the SV group were significantly higher than for the HAL group in both zero-noise conditions with the SV test lens (p = 0.03) and high-noise conditions with the HAL test lens (p = 0.02). For 2 cycle per degree (cpd) stimuli, ß was significantly higher in the SV group with the HAL test lens than in the HAL group (p = 0.02), while there was a trend towards a significant difference in ß for 6 cpd stimuli (p = 0.07). However, there were no significant differences in N add between the two groups, with or without noise interference. CONCLUSION: The reduced CS observed in myopic children wearing HAL lenses for 6 months or more may be due to decreased ß. This suggests that prolonged use of spectacle lenses with peripheral myopic defocus signals may compromise the central visual system's ability to process additional external noise, resulting in decreased efficiency in visual information processing.

Effect of myopia-control lenses on central and peripheral visual performance in myopic children.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the short-term effects of three myopia-control lenses, which impose peripheral myopic defocus while providing clear central vision, on central and peripheral visual performance in myopic children. METHODS: Twenty-one myopic children were enrolled in the study. Central visual performance was assessed using the quick contrast sensitivity function. Peripheral visual performance was evaluated by measuring peripheral contrast threshold and global motion perception, while subjects maintained fixation through the central portion of the lens. Single-vision spectacle lenses (SVL), spectacle lenses with highly aspherical lenslets (HAL) and defocus-incorporated soft contact (DISC) lenses were evaluated in random order, followed by orthokeratology (OK) lenses. All tests were performed monocularly on the right eye. RESULTS: The area under the log contrast sensitivity function (AULCSF) with DISC lenses was lower than that with SVL (1.14 vs. 1.40, p < 0.001) and HAL (1.14 vs. 1.33, p = 0.001). HAL increased the temporal visual field contrast threshold compared with OK lenses (p = 0.04), and OK lenses decreased the superior visual field contrast threshold compared with that of SVL (p = 0.04) and HAL (p = 0.005). HAL also increased the peripheral coherence threshold for identifying the contraction movement compared with OK lenses (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The short-term use of these optical interventions for myopia control exhibited measurable differences in central and peripheral visual performance. Relevant attention could be paid to these differences, especially when children switch to different treatments. DISC lenses exhibited worse central contrast sensitivity than SVL and HAL. Imposing peripheral defocus signals did not affect children's peripheral visual performance compared with SVL. However, considering the poorer peripheral visual performance provided by HAL, OK lenses are recommended for children if there are specific demands for global scene recognition and motion perception.

Analysis of enhanced CT imaging signs and clinicopathological prognostic factors in hepatoid adenocarcinoma of stomach patients with radical surgery: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the association between CT signs and clinicopathological features and disease recurrence in patients with hepatoid adenocarcinoma of stomach (HAS). METHODS: Forty nine HAS patients undergoing radical surgery were retrospectively collected. Association between CT and clinicopathological features and disease recurrence was analyzed. Multivariate logistic model was constructed and evaluated for predicting recurrence by using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Survival curves between model-defined risk groups was compared using Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: 24(49.0%) patients developed disease recurrence. Multivariate logistic analysis results showed elevated serum CEA level, peritumoral fatty space invasion and positive pathological vascular tumor thrombus were independent factors for disease recurrence. Odds ratios were 10.87 (95%CI, 1.14-103.66), 6.83 (95%CI, 1.08-43.08) and 42.67 (95%CI, 3.66-496.85), respectively. The constructed model showed an area under ROC of 0.912 (95%CI,0.825-0.999). The model-defined high-risk group showed poorer overall survival and recurrence-free survival than the low-risk group (both P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative CT appearance of peritumoral fatty space invasion, elevated serum CEA level, and pathological vascular tumor thrombus indicated poor prognosis of HAS patients.

The impact of prolonged exposure to air pollution on the incidence of chronic non-communicable disease based on a cohort in Tianjin.

Evidence on the associations of prolonged ambient pollutants exposure with chronic non-communicable diseases among middle-aged and elderly residents is still limited. This prospective cohort study intends to investigate the long-term effects of ambient pollution on hypertension and diabetes incidence among relatively older residents in China. Individual particulate matter exposure levels were estimated by satellite-based model. Individual gaseous pollutants exposure levels were estimated by Inverse Distance Weighted model. A Cox regression model was employed to assess the risks of hypertension and diabetes morbidity linked to air pollutants exposures. The cross-product term of ambient pollutants exposure and covariates was further added into the regression model to test whether covariates would modify these air pollution-morbidity associations. During the period from 2014 to 2018, a total of 97,982 subjects completed follow-up. 12,371 incidents of hypertension and 2034 of diabetes occurred. In the multi-covariates model, the hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were 1.49 (1.45-1.52), 1.28 (1.26-1.30), 1.17 (1.15-1.18), 1.21 (1.17-1.25) and 1.33 (1.31-1.35) for hypertension morbidity per 10 µg/m3 increment in PM1, PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and SO2, respectively. For diabetes onsets, the HR (95% CI) were 1.17 (1.11-1.23), 1.09 (1.04-1.13), 1.06 (1.02-1.09), 1.02 (0.95-1.10), and 1.24 (1.19-1.29), respectively. In addition, for hypertension analyses, the effect estimates were more pronounced in the participants with age <60 years old, BMI ≥24 kg/m2, and frequent alcohol drinking. These findings provided the evidence on elevated risks of morbidity of hypertension and diabetes associated with prolonged ambient pollutants exposure at relatively high levels.

Classification of neck tissues in OCT images by using convolutional neural network.

Identification and classification of surrounding neck tissues are very important in thyroid surgery. The advantages of optical coherence tomography (OCT), high resolution, non-invasion, and non-destruction make it have great potential in identifying different neck tissues during thyroidectomy. We studied the automatic classification for neck tissues in OCT images based on convolutional neural network in this paper. OCT images of five kinds of neck tissues were collected firstly by our home-made swept source (SS-OCT) system, and a dataset was built for neural network training. Three image classification neural networks: LeNet, VGGNet, and ResNet, were used to train and test the dataset. The impact of transfer learning on the classification of neck tissue OCT images was also studied. Through the comparison of accuracy, it was found that ResNet has the best classification accuracy among the three networks. In addition, transfer learning did not significantly improve the accuracy, but it can somewhat accelerate the convergence of the network and shorten the network training time.

Cell HE staining smears and paired cell paraffin sections in detection of epithelial growth factor receptor gene of pleural fluid specimens. / 细胞HEæŸ“è‰²æ¶‚ç‰‡ä¸Žç»†èƒžèœ¡å—æ£€æµ‹æ™šæœŸéžå°ç»†èƒžè‚ºç™Œèƒ¸è ”ç§¯æ¶²æ ‡æœ¬ä¸­è¡¨çš®ç”Ÿé•¿å› å­å—ä½“åŸºå› çªå˜.

OBJECTIVES: The advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with pleural effusion have no opportunity for surgery treatment. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are the first-line drugs for these patients with EGFR-sensitive mutation. However, the disease progression and drug update during or after treatment of EGFR-TKIs bring more challenges and puzzles to clinical diagnosis and treatment, which inevitably requires archived pleural cell samples for EGFR re-examination or comparative study. Understanding the DNA quality of archived pleural fluid samples and effectively using archival data of pleural fluid cells are of great significance for tracing the origin of cases and basic medical research. This study aims to evaluate the consistency of EGFR mutant gene expression between the 2 methods, and to explore a reliable way for preserving cytological data and making full use of cytological archival data via cell HE staining smear and cell paraffin section. METHODS: A total of 57 pleural fluid cytology cases in the Department of Pathology of China Aerospace Center Hospital from October 2014 to April 2021 were selected. Tumor cells were detected by cell HE staining smears and immunohistochemical staining for TTF-1 and Napsin A in the paired cell paraffin sections. There were more than 200 tumor cells in cell HE staining smear and the proportion of tumor cells were ≥70% in matched cell paraffin sections. Patients with 2 cell smears (one for cell data retention and the other for DNA extraction) were selected as the research subjects, and 57 pleural fluid samples were enrolled. EGFR gene mutation was detected by amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction in 57 paired cell HE staining smears and cell paraffin sections. DNA concentration was 2 ng/µL. Cell HE smear was amplified side-by-side with DNA samples from paired cell paraffin sections. Result determination was according to the requirements of the reagent instructions. The external control cycle threshold (Ct) value of the No. 8 well of the samples to be tested was between 13 and 21, which was considered as successful and reliable samples. When the Ct value of EGFR gene mutation was <26, it was considered as positive; when the Ct value was between 26 and 29, it was critical positive; when the Ct value was equal or more than 29, it was negative. ΔCt value was the difference between mutant Ct value and externally controlled Ct value. The smaller the ΔCt value was, the better the quality of DNA of the detected sample was. RESULTS: Among the 57 pleural effusion samples, 42 patients were hospitalized with pleural effusion as the first symptom, accounting for 73.7% (42/57). EGFR mutation was detected in 37 samples [64.9% (37/57)]. The mutation rate for 19del was 37.8% (14/37) while for L858R was 48.6% (18/37). Females were 56.7% (21/37) of mutation cases. The mutation consistency rate of cell HE staining smear and matched cell paraffin sections was 100%. The ΔCt values of cell HE staining smears were less than those of matched cell paraffin sections. The mutation Ct values of 37 cytological samples were statistically analyzed according to the preservation periods of the years of 2014-2015, 2016-2017, 2018-2019, and 2020-2021. There were significant differences in cell paraffin section in the years of 2014-2015 and 2016-2017 compared with the years of 2018-2019 and 2020-2021, while no significant differences were found in cell HE staining smear. Statistical analysis of externally controlled Ct values of 57 cytological samples showed that there were significant differences between cell HE staining smears and cell paraffin section in the years of 2014-2015 and 2016-2017, compared with the years of 2018-2019 and 2020-2021. The mutational Ct values of 37 paired cell blocks and smears were all <26, and the externally controlled Ct values of 57 paired cell paraffin sections and HE staining smears were all between 13 and 21. CONCLUSIONS: The DNA quality of cell HE smears and matched cell paraffin section met the qualified requirements. Two methods possess show an excellent consistency in detecting EGFR mutation in NSCLC pleural fluid samples. The DNA quality of cell HE staining smear is better than that of cell paraffin sections, so cell HE staining smear can be used as important supplement of the gene test source. It should be noted that the limitation of cell HE staining smears is non-reproducibility, so multiple smears of pleural fluid are recommended to be prepared for multiple tests.

Effect of the base-out recovery point as the surgical target for acute acquired comitant esotropia.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the treatment efficacy of the preoperative base-out recovery point as the surgical target angle for acute acquired comitant esotropia. METHODS: Prospective study. Twenty-two patients with acute acquired comitant esotropia (AACE) underwent strabismus surgery based on the target angle of the preoperative base-out recovery point. The postoperative deviation, positive fusional vergence, and negative fusional vergence were evaluated and compared with those of 23 normal individuals. RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 18.68 ± 19.48 months. At the last follow-up, 19 (86.4%) of 22 subjects had orthophoria, whereas 3 (13.6%) had minimal esophoria. The postoperative angle of deviation was significantly smaller than the preoperative angle of deviation at near (P < 0.001) and distance (P < 0.001). Postoperative sensory fusion was significantly better than preoperative fusion at near (P < 0.001) and distance (P < 0.001). The postoperative stereoacuity improved significantly after the surgery at near (P < 0.001) and distance (P < 0.001). Compared with the controls, the convergence and divergence amplitudes in the AACE patients were similar at distance (P > 0.05) but were still narrower at near (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Good alignment and binocular balance were obtained with the surgical target angle of the base-out recovery point in AACE.

Hierarchical Bayesian modeling of contrast sensitivity functions in a within-subject design.

Recent development of the quick contrast sensitivity function (qCSF) method has made it possible to obtain accurate, precise, and efficient contrast sensitivity function (CSF) assessment. To improve statistical inference on CSF changes in a within-subject design, we developed a hierarchical Bayesian model (HBM) to compute the joint distribution of CSF parameters and hyperparameters at test, subject, and population levels, utilizing information within- and between-subjects and experimental conditions. We evaluated the performance of the HBM relative to a non-hierarchical Bayesian inference procedure (BIP) on an existing CSF dataset of 112 subjects obtained with the qCSF method in three luminance conditions (Hou, Lesmes, Kim, Gu, Pitt, Myung, & Lu, 2016). We found that the average d's of the area under log CSF (AULCSF) and CSF parameters between pairs of luminance conditions at the test-level from the HBM were 33.5% and 103.3% greater than those from the BIP analysis of AULCSF. The increased d' resulted in greater statistical differences between experimental conditions across subjects. In addition, simulations showed that the HBM generated accurate and precise CSF parameter estimates. These results have strong implications for the application of HBM in clinical trials and patient care.

Association of health-risk behaviors and depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms: a school-based sample of Chinese adolescents.

Background Depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms of adolescents not only affect youth but also have wide-ranging impacts on the health of adults. The study was carried out to determine the epidemiological characteristics of depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms and the associations between the two and health-risk behaviors in Chinese adolescents. Methods Participants were recruited from the junior and senior high schools in China. Data were collected by self-designed questionnaires. The questionnaires included questions about demographic characteristics, depressive symptom scales, anxiety symptom scales and nine categories of health-risk behaviors. Descriptive analysis and binary logistic regression were performed by SPSS 21.0 software. Results There were 4.4% of the participants with depressive symptoms. Approximately 32.0% of the participants had anxiety symptoms. Girls and general senior school students were risk factors for depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms. Multiple health-risk behaviors were associated with depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms in Chinese adolescents. Conclusion Depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms were prevalent in Chinese adolescents. Their distribution was affected by certain health-risk behaviors. Multiple health-risk behaviors were associated with depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms in Chinese adolescents.

Risk factors for subsidence of titanium mesh cage following single-level anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion.

BACKGROUND: To clarify the risk factors for subsidence of titanium mesh cage (TMC) following single-level anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion (ACCF) to reduce subsidence. METHODS: The present retrospective cohort study included 73 consecutive patients who underwent single-level ACCF. Patients were divided into subsidence (n = 31) and non-subsidence groups (n = 42). Medical records and radiological parameters such as age, sex, operation level, segmental angle (SA), cervical sagittal angle (CSA), height of anterior (HAE) and posterior endplate (HPE), ratio of anterior (RAE) and posterior endplate (RPE), the alignment of TMC, the global cervical Hounsfield Units (HU) were analyzed. Clinical results were evaluated using the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scoring system and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). RESULTS: Subsidence occurred in 31 of 73 (42.5%) patients. Comparison between the groups showed significant differences in the value of RAE, the alignment of TMC and the global cervical HU value (p < 0.001, p = 0.002, p < 0.001). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, RAE > 1.18 (OR = 6.116, 95%CI = 1.613-23.192, p = 0.008), alignment of TMC > 3° (OR = 5.355, 95%CI = 1.474-19.454, p = 0.011) and the global cervical HU value< 333 (OR = 11.238, 95%CI = 2.844-44.413, p = 0.001) were independently associated with subsidence. Linear regression analysis revealed that RAE is significantly positive related to the extent of subsidence (r = - 0.502, p = 0.006). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the value of RAE more than 1.18, alignment of TMC and poor bone mineral density are the risk factors for subsidence. TMC subsidence does not negatively affect the clinical outcomes after operation. Avoiding over expansion of intervertebral height, optimizing placing of TMC and initiation of anti-osteoporosis treatments 6 months prior to surgery might help surgeons to reduce subsidence after ACCF.

Differential Cytotoxicity Induced by Transition Metal Oxide Nanoparticles is a Function of Cell Killing and Suppression of Cell Proliferation.

The application of nanoparticles (NPs) in industry is on the rise, along with the potential for human exposure. While the toxicity of microscale equivalents has been studied, nanoscale materials exhibit different properties and bodily uptake, which limits the prediction ability of microscale models. Here, we examine the cytotoxicity of seven transition metal oxide NPs in the fourth period of the periodic table of the chemical elements. We hypothesized that NP-mediated cytotoxicity is a function of cell killing and suppression of cell proliferation. To test our hypothesis, transition metal oxide NPs were tested in a human lung cancer cell model (A549). Cells were exposed to a series of concentrations of TiO2, Cr2O3, Mn2O3, Fe2O3, NiO, CuO, or ZnO for either 24 or 48 h. All NPs aside from Cr2O3 and Fe2O3 showed a time- and dose-dependent decrease in viability. All NPs significantly inhibited cellular proliferation. The trend of cytotoxicity was in parallel with that of proliferative inhibition. Toxicity was ranked according to severity of cellular responses, revealing a strong correlation between viability, proliferation, and apoptosis. Cell cycle alteration was observed in the most toxic NPs, which may have contributed to promoting apoptosis and suppressing cell division rate. Collectively, our data support the hypothesis that cell killing and cell proliferative inhibition are essential independent variables in NP-mediated cytotoxicity.

Cytotoxicity of NiO and Ni(OH)2 Nanoparticles Is Mediated by Oxidative Stress-Induced Cell Death and Suppression of Cell Proliferation.

The use of nanomaterial-based products continues to grow with advancing technology. Understanding the potential toxicity of nanoparticles (NPs) is important to ensure that products containing them do not impose harmful effects to human or environmental health. In this study, we evaluated the comparative cytotoxicity between nickel oxide (NiO) and nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH)2) in human bronchoalveolar carcinoma (A549) and human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cell lines. Cellular viability studies revealed cell line-specific cytotoxicity in which nickel NPs were toxic to A549 cells but relatively nontoxic to HepG2 cells. Time-, concentration-, and particle-specific cytotoxicity was observed in A549 cells. NP-induced oxidative stress triggered dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential and induction of caspase-3 enzyme activity. The subsequent apoptotic events led to reduction in cell number. In addition to cell death, suppression of cell proliferation played an essential role in regulating cell number. Collectively, the observed cell viability is a function of cell death and suppression of proliferation. Physical and chemical properties of NPs such as total surface area and metal dissolution are in agreement with the observed differential cytotoxicity. Understanding the properties of NPs is essential in informing the design of safer materials.

Regulating the Spin State of FeIII by Atomically Anchoring on Ultrathin Titanium Dioxide for Efficient Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysis.

Ferric oxides and (oxy)hydroxides, although plentiful and low-cost, are rarely considered for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) owing to the too high spin state (eg filling ca. 2.0) suppressing the bonding strength with reaction intermediates. Now, a facile adsorption-oxidation strategy is used to anchor FeIII atomically on an ultrathin TiO2 nanobelt to synergistically lower the spin state (eg filling ca. 1.08) to enhance the adsorption with oxygen-containing intermediates and improve the electro-conductibility for lower ohmic loss. The electronic structure of the catalyst is predicted by DFT calculation and perfectly confirmed by experimental results. The catalyst exhibits superior performance for OER with overpotential 270 mV @10 mA cm-2 and 376 mV @100 mA cm-2 in alkaline solution, which is much better than IrO2 /C and RuO2 /C and is the best iron-based OER catalyst free of active metals such as Ni, Co, or precious metals.

Detection of laser-induced bulk damage in optical crystals by swept-source optical coherence tomography.

An approach to characterize laser-induced bulk damage in optical crystal materials was demonstrated. With a homemade swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) system, we obtained three-dimensional images of the bulk damage produced by laser pulses with wavelength of 351 nm, pulse width of 5 ns, beam diameter of 5.5 mm and fluences from 4.56 J/cm2 to 9.95 J/cm2 in Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate (KDP) crystal. Algorithms based on three-dimensional OCT images were specially designed to count and locate bulk damage pinpoints in KDP crystal, obtaining their equivalent diameter distribution and pinpoint density caused by different fluences. It is demonstrated that the characteristics of bulk damage detected by SS-OCT are similar to those obtained by available approaches. The rapid three-dimensional imaging by SS-OCT provides a new approach of detecting laser-induced bulk damage.

Culprit Lesion Characteristics in Young Patients with Hyperhomocysteinemia.

BACKGROUND The relationships between culprit coronary plaque characteristics and hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) are not fully understood in young patients. In this study we investigated the relationship between culprit atherosclerotic plaque phenotype assessed by optical coherence tomography (OCT) and hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) in young patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS We investigated the OCT imaging and HHcy of 123 lesions in 123 young patients (≤45 years of age). According to OCT images, culprit lesions were classified as thin-cap fiber atheroma (TCFA), thrombus, and other. The 123 patients were grouped as: HHcy group (53 cases, HHcy ≥15.5 µmol/l) and control group (70 cases, HHcy <15.5 µmol/l). RESULTS Compared with the control group, the HHcy group had a higher proportion of OCT-TCFA (p=0.03), OCT-vasa vasorum (p=0.013), and OCT-thrombus (p=0.012), and a larger lipid arc (p=0.002). HHcy (P=0.037) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) (P=0.016) remained independent predictors of TCFAs. HHcy (P=0.026) and smoking (P=0.005) remained independent determinants of thrombus. CONCLUSIONS HHcy and MetS are associated with TCFAs, and HHcy and smoking are associated with thrombus in young patients with coronary artery disease.