Large Electromechanical Response in a Polycrystalline Alkali-Deficient (K,Na)NbO3 Thin Film on Silicon.

The demand for large electromechanical performance in lead-free polycrystalline piezoelectric thin films is driven by the need for compact, high-performance microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based devices operating at low voltages. Here we significantly enhance the electromechanical response in a polycrystalline lead-free oxide thin film by utilizing lattice-defect-induced structural inhomogeneities. Unlike prior observations in mismatched epitaxial films with limited low-frequency enhancements, we achieve large electromechanical strain in a polycrystalline (K,Na)NbO3 film integrated on silicon. This is achieved by inducing self-assembled Nb-rich planar faults with a nonstoichiometric composition. The film exhibits an effective piezoelectric coefficient of 565 pm V-1 at 1 kHz, surpassing those of lead-based counterparts. Notably, lattice defect growth is substrate-independent, and the large electromechanical response is extended to even higher frequencies in a polycrystalline film. Improved properties arise from unique lattice defect morphology and frequency-dependent relaxation behavior, offering a new route to remarkable electromechanical response in polycrystalline thin films.

Diverse Defects in Alkali Niobate Thin Films: Understanding at Atomic Scales and Their Implications on Properties.

Defects in ferroelectric materials have many implications on the material properties which, in most cases, are detrimental. However, engineering these defects can also create opportunities for property enhancement as well as for tailoring novel functionalities. To purposely manipulate these defects, a thorough knowledge of their spatial atomic arrangement, as well as elastic and electrostatic interactions with the surrounding lattice, is highly crucial. In this work, analytical scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) is used to reveal a diverse range of multidimensional crystalline defects (point, line, planar, and secondary phase) in (K,Na)NbO3 (KNN) ferroelectric thin films. The atomic-scale analyses of the defect-lattice interactions suggest strong elastic and electrostatic couplings which vary among the individual defects and correspondingly affect the electric polarization. In particular, the observed polarization orientations are correlated with lattice relaxations as well as strain gradients and can strongly impact the properties of the ferroelectric films. The knowledge and understanding obtained in this study open a new avenue for the improvement of properties as well as the discovery of defect-based functionalities in alkali niobate thin films.

Transvaginal small bowel evisceration after cervical loop electrosurgical excision procedure: a case report.

Transvaginal small bowel evisceration is a life-threatening condition, which is usually seen in postmenopausal women with a history of gynecological surgery. Cervical loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) is widely used in the treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), and its surgical risk and postoperative complications are relatively low because of the simplicity of the operation. However, improper operation may result in perforation of the uterus, which can cause prolapse of the small bowel into the vagina. We here reported an extremely rare case of a young woman with transvaginal small bowel evisceration after cervical LEEP, achieving a good prognosis after the prolapsed bowel was reduced. The patient underwent cervical LEEP as a treatment for CIN III, but the LEEP resulted in a laceration of about 4.0 cm × 3.5 cm on the peritoneum of the uterovesical peritoneal reflection and a laceration of about 2.0 cm × 1.5 cm on the anterior wall of the cervical canal. Through the two lacerations, the pelvic cavity is connected to the vagina and the small intestine prolapsed into the vagina. Due to aggressive surgical intervention, the patient achieved a favorable prognosis after successfully reducing the prolapsed bowel.

Environmental Robustness and Resilience of Direct-Write Ultrasonic Transducers Made from P(VDF-TrFE) Piezoelectric Coating.

Conformability, lightweight, consistency and low cost due to batch fabrication in situ on host structures are the attractive advantages of ultrasonic transducers made of piezoelectric polymer coatings for structural health monitoring (SHM). However, knowledge about the environmental impacts of piezoelectric polymer ultrasonic transducers is lacking, limiting their widespread use for SHM in industries. The purpose of this work is to evaluate whether direct-write transducers (DWTs) fabricated from piezoelectric polymer coatings can withstand various natural environmental impacts. The ultrasonic signals of the DWTs and properties of the piezoelectric polymer coatings fabricated in situ on the test coupons were evaluated during and after exposure to various environmental conditions, including high and low temperatures, icing, rain, humidity, and the salt fog test. Our experimental results and analyses showed that it is promising for the DWTs made of piezoelectric P(VDF-TrFE) polymer coating with an appropriate protective layer to pass various operational conditions according to US standards.

Surface Crack Monitoring by Rayleigh Waves with a Piezoelectric-Polymer-Film Ultrasonic Transducer Array.

This paper presents a method for measuring surface cracks based on the analysis of Rayleigh waves in the frequency domain. The Rayleigh waves were detected by a Rayleigh wave receiver array made of a piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film and enhanced by a delay-and-sum algorithm. This method employs the determined reflection factors of Rayleigh waves scattered at a surface fatigue crack to calculate the crack depth. In the frequency domain, the inverse scattering problem is solved by comparing the reflection factor of the Rayleigh waves between the measured and the theoretical curves. The experimental measurement results quantitatively matched the simulated surface crack depths. The advantages of using the low-profile Rayleigh wave receiver array made of a PVDF film for detecting the incident and reflected Rayleigh waves were analyzed in contrast with those of a Rayleigh wave receiver using a laser vibrometer and a conventional lead zirconate titanate (PZT) array. It was found that the Rayleigh waves propagating across the Rayleigh wave receiver array made of the PVDF film had a lower attenuation rate of 0.15 dB/mm compared to that of 0.30 dB/mm of the PZT array. Multiple Rayleigh wave receiver arrays made of the PVDF film were applied for monitoring surface fatigue crack initiation and propagation at welded joints under cyclic mechanical loading. Cracks with a depth range of 0.36-0.94 mm were successfully monitored.

[Review and prospect of traditional Chinese medicine in treatment of hypertension].

Hypertension, a primary cause of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events, has become a major global public health problem and caused a heavy burden of health economics on the society. In "the 20 Most Important and Most Preventable Health Problems" released by the Chinese Academy of Engineering, hypertension was ranked the second. Due to the disease complexity, many hypertension patients need to take antihypertensive drugs for life. Although significant progress has been achieved in blood pressure lowering by western medicines, the problems including adverse reactions, poor compliance due to long-term medication, and ineffective mitigation in clinical symptoms related to hypertension remain to be addressed. In the last decade, the research on traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) treatment of hypertension has received much attention and achieved remarkable progress. The TCM treatment of hypertension is the most active area of research with integrated Chinese and western medicine in China. In addition to lowering blood pressure smoothly, TCM can alleviate clinical symptoms, reverse risk factors, improve the quality of life, and protect target organs from the damage caused by hypertension. This article systematically reviews the research progress of TCM in treating hypertension in the last decade from the following four aspects: consensus on guideline, clinical trial, experimental study, and systematic review/Meta-analysis. It summarized the evidence of TCM in reducing blood pressure and clarified the mechanism of TCM in reducing blood pressure, aiming to provide a reference for the TCM diagnosis and treatment of hypertension and the development of new drugs.

Fast Photostriction in Ferroelectrics.

Light-induced nonthermal strain, known as the photostrictive effect, offers a potential way to excite mechanical strain and acoustic wave remotely. The anisotropic photostrictive effect induced by the combination of bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE) and converse piezoelectric effect in ferroelectric materials is known as too small and slow for the applications requiring a high strain rate, such as ultrasound generation and high-speed signal transmission. Here, a strategy to achieve high rate dynamic photostrictive strain by utilizing local fast responses under modulating continuous light excitation in the resonance condition is reported. A strain rate of 8.06 × 10-3  s-1 is demonstrated under continuous light excitation, which is at least one order of magnitude higher than previous studies on bulk samples as seen in the literature. The significant photostrictive response exists even in depoled ferroelectric material without overall polarization. The theoretical analyses show that fast ferroelectric photostriction can be obtained through the combinational interaction mechanism of local BPVE and local converse piezoelectric effect existing only in the microscopic scale, thus circumventing the slow and low efficient BPVE charging up process across the macroscopic electrical terminals. The achieved fast photostriction and new understandings will open new opportunities to realize future wireless signal transmission and light-acoustic devices.

Active Ultrasonic Structural Health Monitoring Enabled by Piezoelectric Direct-Write Transducers and Edge Computing Process.

While the active ultrasonic method is an attractive structural health monitoring (SHM) technology, many practical issues such as weight of transducers and cables, energy consumption, reliability and cost of implementation are restraining its application. To overcome these challenges, an active ultrasonic SHM technology enabled by a direct-write transducer (DWT) array and edge computing process is proposed in this work. The operation feasibility of the monitoring function is demonstrated with Lamb wave excited and detected by a linear DWT array fabricated in situ from piezoelectric P(VDF-TrFE) polymer coating on an aluminum alloy plate with a simulated defect. The DWT array features lightweight, small profile, high conformability, and implementation scalability, whilst the edge-computing circuit dedicatedly designed for the active ultrasonic SHM is able to perform signal processing at the sensor nodes before wirelessly transmitting the data to a remote host device. The successful implementation of edge-computing processes is able to greatly decrease the amount of data to be transferred by 331 times and decrease the total energy consumption for the wireless module by 224 times. The results and analyses show that the combination of the piezoelectric DWT and edge-computing process provides a promising technical solution for realizing practical wireless active ultrasonic SHM system.

[Mechanism of Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction in treatment of myocardial infarction based on network pharmacology and molecular docking].

To explore the action mechanism of Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction in treating myocardial infarction based on network pharmaco-logy and molecular docking. Active components and corresponding targets of Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction were obtained through Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database(TCMSP), and related targets of myocardial infarction were obtained through GeneCards, DisGeNET, and OMIM databases. Then the intersection targets were obtained by integrating the drug targets and disease targets. The "active component-target" network was constructed by Cytoscape software, and protein-protein interaction(PPI) network was drawn using STRING platform. Protein cluster analysis was carried out using MCODE. GO enrichment analysis and KEGG pathway analysis were carried out using DAVID database and ClueGO, and molecular docking was carried out using Autodock Vina and Pymol. Finally, 226 active components of Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction were obtained, 257 corresponding targets, 1 340 targets of myocardial infarction, and 109 drug and disease intersection targets were obtained. From GO enrichment analysis, 208 biological process terms, 38 molecular function terms, and 33 cellular component terms were obtained. From KEGG pathway analysis, NF-κB signaling pathway, IL-17 signaling pathway, HIF-1 signaling pathway, and other related pathways were obtained. The molecular docking results showed that the main active components(quercetin, kaempferol, ß-sitosterol, luteolin, stigmasterol and baicalein) of Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction in the treatment of myocardial infarction had good binding properties with the core proteins IL6, ALB, VEGFA, TNF, MAPK3 and CASP3. The results suggested that Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction may play a role in the treatment of myocardial infarction by reducing the inflammatory response, reducing oxidative stress, inhibiting cell apoptosis, and promoting angiogenesis.

Electromechanically Active As-Electrospun Polystyrene Fiber Mat: Significantly High Quasistatic/Dynamic Electromechanical Response and Theoretical Modeling.

Flexible and lightweight pressure sensors have attracted tremendous attention as a promising component of wearable biological motion sensors and artificial electronic skins. Here, the electromechanical response of as-electrospun fiber mats composed of a commodity polymer, atactic polystyrene, which can be applied in low-cost/large-area, flexible, and lightweight pressure sensors is demonstrated. The fiber mat demonstrates a significantly high apparent converse piezoelectric constant of >30 000 pm V-1 under static measurement and ≈13 000 pm V-1 even at a high frequency of 1 kHz. The first theoretical model to explain the unique electromechanical response is constructed, which reveals that the softness and moderate charge of the fiber mat are the reasons for the significantly high electromechanical response. Further, apparent piezoelectric constants obtained by direct measurement are lower than those obtained by the converse measurement, which is attributed to the densification and hardening of the fiber mat due to prepressure applied in direct measurement. These findings are likely to serve as a milestone for the development of large-area, flexible, and lightweight pressure sensors at low cost, as well as highly movable actuators like optical modulators without a substantial mechanical load.

Photoacoustic and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Bimodal Contrast Agent Displaying Amplified Photoacoustic Signal.

Progress in photoacoustic (PA) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) bimodal contrast agents has been achieved mainly by utilizing the imaging capability of single or multiple components and consequently realizing the desired application for both imaging modalities. However, the mechanism of the mutual influence between components within a single nanoformulation, which is the key to developing high-performance multimodal contrast agents, has yet to be fully understood. Herein, by integrating conjugated polymers (CPs) with iron oxide (IO) nanoparticles using an amphiphilic polymer, a bimodal contrast agent named CP-IO is developed, displaying 45% amplified PA signal intensity as compared to bare CP nanoparticle, while the performance of MRI is not affected. Further experimental and theoretical simulation results reveal that the addition of IO nanoparticles in CP-IO nanocomposites contributes to this PA signal amplification through a synergistic effect of additional heat generation and faster heat dissipation. Besides, the feasibility of CP-IO nanocomposites acting as PA-MRI bimodal contrast agents is validated through in vivo tumor imaging using mice models. From this study, it is demonstrated that a delicately designed structural arrangement of various components in a contrast agent could potentially lead to a superior performance in the imaging capability.

[Pharmacological effects and clinical applications of Zingiber officinale and its processed products].

Zingiberis Rhizoma Recens, Zingiberis Rhizoma, ginger juice, Zingiberis Rhizoma Praeparatum and roasted ginger are derived from the rhizome of Zingiber officinale. They are commonly used herbs in clinical application, but their processing methods are completely different, leading to different properties and flavors, meridian distributions, and efficacy characteristics from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In order to distinguish the clinical applications of different processed gingers, it's advisable to learn from Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases. Almost half of the prescriptions in the book contain Zingiber officinale, involving Zingiberis Rhizoma Recens, Zingiberis Rhizoma, ginger juice, Zingiberis Rhizoma Praeparatum and other species. In addition, many researches have confirmed that the contents of chemical compositions contained in different processed gingers were not exactly the same, and their pharmacological effects were also different, thus their applications could not be confused. However, physicians often encounter drug shortage or improper processing in clinical practice, contributing to the current chaotic use of different processed gingers. Therefore, this paper aims at sorting out the sources, processing methods, and chemical compositions, comparing their properties, flavors, meridian distributions, and pharmacological effects, and summarizing the efficacy characteristics and application rules in TCM theory of different processed products, with the hope to provide theoretical foundations for their reasonable use.

[Pharmacological mechanism analysis of oligopeptide from Pinctada fucata based on in silico proteolysis and protein interaction network].

Thoracic obstruction is mainly attributed to the scope of coronary heart disease in modern medicine, and traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) shows a significant effect in the treatment of thoracic obstruction. In this research, a network pharmacology method was carried out to systemically study the underlying mechanism of the core herbal compatibility in TCM on the thoracic obstruction. First, we collected the literature about TCM prescriptions for treating thoracic obstruction from CNKI. Then, a prescription database was establish by TCM inheritance support platform system(V2.5) to determine the medication rules and core herbal compatibility in TCM. Finally, to obtain the potential signaling pathways, KEGG pathway analysis was performed by BATMAN-TCM online analysis tool. Results showed that the potential signal pathway of core herbal compatibility in TCM for the clinical treatment of thoracic obstruction was calcium ion and cGMP-PKG signaling pathway. This study provided a new research strategy for the study of the medication rules and mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of thoracic obstruction.

Primary debulking surgery vs. neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by interval debulking surgery for patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the survival of patients with stage IIIC or IV epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) who were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) followed by interval debulking surgery (IDS) or primary debulking surgery (PDS), and to investigate how to improve the survival of patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer. METHOD: We retrospectively reviewed 339 patients with stage IIIC or IV EOC from January 2005 to December 2010 treated at West China Women's and Children's Hospital wherein 114 and 225 patients underwent NAC followed by IDS and PDS, respectively. RESULTS: No difference was observed in progression-free survival (PFS) or overall survival (OS) between NAC group and PDS group (PFS: 11 vs. 10 months, p = 0.629; OS: 25 vs. 25 months, p = 0.992). Patients with residual tumors that measured 0.1-1 cm at IDS following NAC had a statistically significant lower median OS compared to patients with no residual tumor, but comparable to that with residual tumors that measured >1 cm at IDS following NAC. The independent predictors of OS are size of residual tumor (p < 0.001), FIGO stage (p < 0.001), and age (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: NAC followed by IDS provides equal survival compared with PDS. Debulking to small residual tumors with a maximum diameter of less than 1 cm provides a smaller but still significant benefit for patients with PDS but a relatively minor effect with IDS following NAC. To improve the survival of patients with advanced ovarian cancer, the definition of "optimal" in IDS following NAC should be defined as no residual tumor.

Characteristic and inheritance analysis of targeted mutagenesis mediated by genome editing in rice.

The transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALEN) and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) systems are two current genome editing technologies. Here, we compare and analyze the characteristics of the targeted mutations mediated by these two systems, such as efficiency, type, position, time, and genetic patterns. Both the TALEN and CRISPR/Cas9 systems can induce site-specific mutations in T0 rice plants effectively, but CRISPR/Cas9 is more effective. The major mutation type in both systems is the short insertion/deletion(InDel) mutation within 10 base pairs: deletions ranging from 1 to 10 bps are more often in TALEN, and 1bp insertions are more often in CRISPR/Cas9. Moreover, double-strand breaks (DSBs) generated by CRISPR/Cas9 are more precise than TALEN. In addition, DSBs could be repaired by the homologous recombination at a low frequency, causing DNA fragment duplication mutations. In some cases, the DNA fragments between the two close targets are deleted or inverted, and the mutation efficiency does not positively correlatewith the mutation efficiency of each target. Mutagenesis mediated by the TALEN or CRISPR/Cas9 system can occur as early as in transformed callus cells, and less frequently in somatic cells. Consequently, four different mutation types are formed, including homozygous, heterozygous, bi-allelic and chimeric mutations, with bi-allelic mutations having the highest rate and chimeric mutations having the lowest rate. All, except chimeric mutations, can descend stably into the next generation.

Gene Polymorphisms of Toll-Like Receptor 9 -1486T/C and 2848G/A in Cervical Cancer Risk.

OBJECTIVE: This work aims to explore whether Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) -1486T/C and 2848G/A polymorphisms are associated with cervical cancer risk. METHODS: A comprehensive electronic search of studies published from January 1999 to October 2014 was conducted in Medline (Ovid), Embase, PubMed, Wanfang, Weipu, and CNKI. The algorithm included "TLR," "Toll-like receptor," "polymorphism," "variant," "mutation," and "cervical cancer." Seven articles, including 9 studies, were pooled using Revman 5.2 (Cochrane Collaboration, Copenhagen, Denmark). Odds ratio (OR) was used to explore the involvement of minor allele C (C vs T and CC + CT vs TT) of TLR9 (-1486T/C, rs187084) and minor allele A (A vs G and AA + AG vs GG) of TLR9 (2848G/A, rs352140) in cervical cancer risk. RESULTS: Toll-like receptor 9 (-1486T/C, rs187084) polymorphisms were associated with an elevated risk of cervical cancer (C vs T: OR, 1.15; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-1.29; CC + CT vs TT: OR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.11-1.53). We found no significant association between TLR9 (2848G/A, rs352140) polymorphisms and cervical cancer risk (A vs G: OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 0.87-1.54; AA + AG vs GG: OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 0.75-2.17). CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis indicates that TLR9 (-1486T/C, rs187084)-but not TLR9 (2848G/A, rs352140)-may be a risk factor for cervical cancer.

Dielectric behaviors and high energy storage density of nanocomposites with core-shell BaTiO3@TiO2 in poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene).

Nanocomposites comprising a P(VDF-HFP) polymer matrix and core-shell structured nanoparticle fillers were prepared, in which a crystalline, ultrathin TiO2 shell layer encapsulates BaTiO3 nanoparticles. A large dielectric constant (>110) was obtained, which was unexpectedly more than 3 times higher than that of the nanocomposite without the TiO2 shell layer. The significant improvement in electric polarization is attributed to the highly interactive interfaces among the multiple dielectric materials with the introduction of the intermediate TiO2 layer, which also improves the breakdown field (>340 MV m(-1)). Thus a resulting dielectric energy density of 12.2 J cm(-3) is achieved, among the highest energy densities for polymer-ceramic composites.

P(VDF-TrFE) ferroelectric nanotube array for high energy density capacitor applications.

Poly(vinylidene-fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)) ferroelectric nanotube arrays were fabricated using an anodized alumina membrane (AAM) as a template and silver electrodes were deposited on both the outer and inner sides of the nanotubes by an electroless plating method. The nanotubes have the unique structure of being sealed at one end and linked at the open end, thus preventing electrical shorting between the inner and outer electrodes. Compared with a P(VDF-TrFE) film with a similar overall thickness, the idealized nanotube array has a theoretical capacitance that is 763 times larger due to the greatly enlarged contact area between the electrodes and the polymer dielectric. A capacitance that is 95 times larger has been demonstrated experimentally, thus indicating that such nanotube arrays are promising for realizing high density capacitance and high power dielectric energy storage.

[Study on the chemical constituents of Clerodendron philippinum var. simplex].

OBJECTIVE: To study the chemical constituents of Clerodendron philippinum var. simplex. METHODS: The ethanol extract of Clerodendron philippinum var. simplex was isolated and purified by extraction, chromatography on silica gel and recrystallization. The structures of compounds isolated were identified by physicochemical properties and spectral analysis. RESULTS: Four compounds were isolated and identified as friedelin (1), 25 (27)-dehydroporiferasterol (2), 22-dehydroclerosteryl acetate (3), uncinatone (4). CONCLUSION: Compound 2, 3 are isolated form this genus for the first time, Compounds 4 is isolated from this plant for the first time.

Association between polycystic ovary syndrome and risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: There have been many studies assessing whether abnormal metabolic and hormone levels among women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are associated with a greater risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, previous studies repported no consistent outcomes. To provide a comprehensive evaluation regarding the role of PCOS in the risk of NAFLD, we updated the published literature and conducted this systemic review and meta-analysis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Electronic databases (Web of Science and PubMed) were searched for literature up to October 2022. We used STATA 12.0 software to compute odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), to evaluate the association between PCOS and risk of NAFLD. RESULTS: The study indicated that PCOS was significantly related to an elevated risk of NAFLD (OR = 2.93, 95% CI 2.38 to 3.62, I2 = 83.7%, p < 0.001). Meta-regression analysis showed that age and body mass index (BMI) were not responsible for heterogeneity across the studies (age: p = 0.096; BMI: p = 0.418). Sensitivity analysis indicated no alteration in the direction of effect when any study was eliminated. Begg's test, Egger's test, Begg's test, and funnel plot indicated a significant risk of publication bias (Egger's test: p = 0.028; Begg's test: p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis reported that PCOS was associated with an elevated risk of NAFLD. Early proper detection of NAFLD for PCOS women is essential. All patients with PCOS should undergo appropriate diagnostics for early detection of fatty liver and fibrosis.