Structuring Cu Membrane Electrode for Maximizing Ethylene Yield from CO2 Electroreduction.

Electrocatalytic ethylene (C2H4) evolution from CO2 reduction is an intriguing route to mitigate both the energy and environmental crises; however, to acquire industrially relevant high productivity and selectivity at low energy cost remains to be challenging. Membrane assembly electrode has shown great prospect and tailoring its architecture for maximizing C2H4 yield at minimum voltage with long-term stability becomes critical. Here a freestanding Cu membrane cathode is designed and constructed by electrochemically depositing mesoporous Cu film on Cu foam to simultaneously manage CO2, electron, water, and product transport, which shows an extraordinary C2H4 Faradaic efficiency of 85.6% with a full cell power conversion efficiency of 33% at a current density of 368 mA cm-2, heading the techno-economic viability for electrocatalytic C2H4 production.

Preparation of a novel iron oxychloride (FeOCl) auxiliary electrode in promoting electrokinetic remediation of Cr(VI) contaminated soil: An experimental and DFT calculation analysis.

The utilization of auxiliary electrode can improve substantially the electrokinetic remediation efficiency of heavy metal contaminated soil. The increase in the auxiliary electrode performance is the key to further promote the electrokinetic remediation efficiency. In this study, two kinds of auxiliary electrodes, pure FeOCl and doped FeOCl with W and S, were prepared and used in the electrokinetic remediation of Cr(VI) contaminated soil. The system equipped with the auxiliary electrode doped FeOCl brought more stable system current (202 mA) and more uniform electric field than blank group (130 mA). The reduction rate of Cr(VI) was increased by 50% due to the presence of Fe2+ and S2-. The accelerating migration of ions by auxiliary electrode was responsible for the improvement in electrokinetic remediation efficiency. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation showed that Cl vacancy formation energies of pure FeOCl, S-doped FeOCl (S/FeOCl) and W-doped FeOCl (W/FeOCl) were 1.29, 1.15 and 1.49 eV respectively, and the ion diffusion barriers were 0.093, 0.099 and 0.148 eV respectively. Calculation results indicated that the doping of S was conducive to the diffusion of Cl ions, and the bonding of W-Cl was stronger than Fe-Cl. The charging and discharging process of auxiliary electrode became easier due to the formation of lower vacancy in S-doped FeOCl, which could bring a higher current for the electrokinetic remediation system. The electrochemical performance of FeOCl doped with W and S was improved obviously. This study provided a further explanation for the positive role of auxiliary electrode in electrokinetic remediation system.

[Study on mechanism of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma-Persicae Semen in treatment of adenomyosis based on network pharmacology].

The aim of this paper was to screen the active targets of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Persicae Semen in the treatment of adenomyosis(AM) by means of network pharmacology, and to investigate their mechanism of action. The effective components of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Persicae Semen were screened out by using traditional Chinese medicine systematic pharmacological(TCMSP) database, with oral bioavilability(OB) ≥30% and drug-like(DL) ≥0.18 selected as the thresholds. A network was built between the main components and their corresponding targets. Ninety-five human genes corresponding to the medicine targets were obtained from Uniprot database; 220 genes corresponding to AM were obtained from GeneCards database. A total of 21 intersection genes were screened from disease genes and medicine genes, and the protein-protein interaction network interaction(PPI)analysis was conducted by using STRING tool. Disease-target PPI network was drawn by using Cytoscape software, and component-target-disease network was constructed. Twenty-five nodes and 74 connections were found, and then core networks and targets were screened for Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes(KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. The animal model of AM was established by feeding tamoxifen citrate mixed droplets to primary mice for verification of the mechanism. Twenty-three signaling pathways were involved in KEGG pathway enrichment. It was found that the therapeutic mechanism of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Persicae Semen on AM may involve multiple targets such as inflammation and immunity, proliferation and apoptosis, endocrine and oxidative stress. Among them, the P53 signaling pathway and the apoptotic signaling pathway which mediated the expression of P53 and BAX may be the important ones. Animal experiments proved that the effective components of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Persicae Semen can interfere with the P53 signaling pathway and the apoptotic signaling pathway at the junction of endometrial muscle layer, increase the expression of P53 and BAX in muscle layer cells, and promote the apoptosis of cells with abnormal proliferation ability.

Relationship Between the Incidence of Deep Vein Thrombosis During Hospitalization and the Energy of Injury in Tibial Plateau Fractures.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) during hospitalization and the energy of injury in tibial plateau fractures (TPFs). One hundred and forty patients were enrolled between September 1, 2014, and October 1, 2017. According to Schatzker's classification, they were classified into the low-energy (type I-III) and high-energy (type IV-VI) groups. For DVT evaluation, duplex ultrasonography was performed in the lower extremities preoperatively and postoperatively. The location and changes of DVT were recorded. All patients underwent mechanical and chemical thromboprophylaxis. The incidence of DVT in TPFs was 36.43% and 46.43% preoperatively and postoperatively, respectively. The DVT incidence was 31.75% (20/63) in the low-energy group and 40.26% (31/77) in the high-energy group preoperatively, and 44.44% (28/63) in the low-energy group and 48.05% (37/77) in the high-energy group postoperatively. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups preoperatively (P = .298) and postoperatively (P = .785). The days between operation and discharge (P = .016), blood loss during surgery (P = .016), and preoperative d-dimer level (P = .02) showed differences between the 2 groups. Additionally, 29 new thrombi (14 [48.28%] in the high-energy group and 15 [51.72%] in the low-energy group) appeared and 16 preoperative thrombi disappeared postoperatively. Despite mechanical and chemical thromboprophylaxis, the DVT risk in patients with TPFs remains high. Although the DVT incidence is not significantly different between high-energy and low-energy injuries, the occurrence of DVT should be carefully monitored.

Gabor-based anisotropic diffusion with lattice Boltzmann method for medical ultrasound despeckling.

Medical ultrasound images are corrupted by speckle noise, and despeckling methods are required to effectively and efficiently reduce speckle noise while simultaneously preserving details of tissues. This paper proposes a despeckling approach named the Gabor-based anisotropic diffusion coupled with the lattice Boltzmann method (GAD-LBM), which uses the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) to fast solve the partial differential equation of an anisotropic diffusion model embedded with the Gabor edge detector. We evaluated the GAD-LBM on both synthetic and clinical ultrasound images, and the experimental results suggested that the GAD-LBM was superior to other nine methods in speckle suppression and detail preservation. For synthetic and clinical images, the computation time of the GAD-LBM was about 1/90 to 1/20 of the GAD solved with the finite difference, indicating the advantage of the GAD-LBM in efficiency. The GAD-LBM not only has excellent ability of noise reduction and detail preservation for ultrasound images, but also has advantages in computational efficiency.

Area and volume ratios for prediction of visual outcome in idiopathic macular hole.

AIM: To predict the visual outcome in patients undergoing macular hole surgery by two novel three-dimensional morphological parameters on optical coherence tomography (OCT): area ratio factor (ARF) and volume ratio factor (VRF). METHODS: A clinical case series was conducted, including 54 eyes of 54 patients with an idiopathic macular hole (IMH). Each patient had an OCT examination before and after surgery. Morphological parameters of the macular hole, such as minimum diameter, base diameter, and height were measured. Then, the macular hole index (MHI), tractional hole index (THI), and hole form factor (HFF) were calculated. Meanwhile, novel postoperative macular hole (MH) factors, ARF and VRF were calculated by three-dimensional morphology. Bivariate correlations were performed to acquire asymptotic significance values between the steady best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) after surgery and 2D/3D arguments of MH by the Pearson method with two-tailed test. All significant factors were analyzed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis of SPSS software which were responsible for vision recovery. ROC curves analyses were performed to further discuss the different parameters on the prediction of visual outcome. RESULTS: The mean and standard deviation values of patients' age, symptoms duration, and follow-up time were 64.8±8.9y (range: 28-81), 18.6±11.5d (range: 2-60), and 11.4±0.4mo (range: 6-24), respectively. Steady-post-BCVA analyzed with bivariate correlations was found to be significantly correlated with base diameter (r=0.521, P<0.001), minimum diameter (r=0.514, P<0.001), MHI (r=-0.531, P<0.001), THI (r=-0.386, P=0.004), HFF (r=-0.508, P<0.001), and ARF (r=-0.532, P<0.001). Other characteristic parameters such as age, duration of surgery, height, diameter hole index, and VRF were not statistically significant with steady-post-BCVA. According to area under the curve (AUC) values, values of ARF, MHI, HFF, minimum diameter, THI, and base diameter are 0.806, 0.772, 0.750, 0.705, 0.690, and 0.686, respectively. However, Steady-post-BCVA analysis with bivariate correlations for VRF was no statistical significance. Results of ROC curve analysis indicated that the MHI value, HFF, and ARF was greater than 0.427, 1.027 and 1.558 respectively which could correlate with better visual acuity. CONCLUSION: Compared with MHI and HFF, ARF could effectively express three-dimensional characteristics of macular hole and achieve better sensitivity and specificity. Thus, ARF could be the most effective parameter to predict the visual outcome in macular hole surgery.

Treatment of long-segment fracture at middle-up part of femur with long proximal femoral nail antirotation.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the results of non-invasive operation method and evaluate clinical and radiological outcome of long proximal femoral nail antirotation in treating long-segment fracture at middle-up part of femur. METHODS: The retrospective study was conducted at the Second Hospital of Fuzhou, China, and comprised cases of long-segment fracture in middle-up part of femur power treated with long proximal femoral nail antirotation between June 2006 and December 2013. The patients were followed up for a minimum of 9 months. Clinical outcomes were evaluated according to Harris Hip Score and radiological examinations were done at 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months and once a year thereafter. RESULTS: Of the 139 patients, 104(75%) were males and 35(25%) females, within the age range of 18-86 years. The time period from injury to the index ranged from 3h to 15 days. The operative time of all cases ranged from 35 to 90 minutes, while the blood loss during surgery ranged from 30ml to 200ml. All patients walked with walking aid appliance 4-10 days post-operation with partial and gradually increasing to full weight-bearing. None of the patients developed infection, thrombus, cut-out or breakage of the implants. Follow-ups ranged from 9 to 37 months. According to Harris Hip Functional Score, 108(77.7%) cases behaved excellent, 22(15.9%) good, 8(5.7%) fair, and 1(0.7%) case poor. The good rate, as such, was 130(93.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Long proximal femoral nail antirotation is an effective treatment method for long-segment fracture at middle upper part of femur, with high healing rate, quick function recovery as well as less complication incidence.

Pure curcumin increases the expression of SOCS1 and SOCS3 in myeloproliferative neoplasms through suppressing class I histone deacetylases.

Suppressors of cytokine signaling, SOCS1 and SOCS3, are important negative regulators of Janus kinase 2/signal transducers and activators of transcription signaling, which is constitutively activated in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) and leukemia. Curcumin has been shown to possess anticancer activity through different mechanisms. However, whether curcumin can regulate the expression of SOCS1 and SOCS3 is still unknown. Here, we found that curcumin elevated the expression of SOCS1 and SOCS3 via triggering acetylation of histone in the regions of SOCS1 and SOCS3 promoter in K562 and HEL cells. As a novel histone deacetylases (HDACs) inhibitor, curcumin inhibited HDAC enzyme activities and decreased the levels of HDAC1, 3 and 8 but not HDAC2. Knockdown of HDAC8 by small interfering RNA markedly elevated the expression of SOCS1 and SOCS3. Moreover, ectopic expression of HDAC8 decreased the levels of SOCS1 and SOCS3. Thus, HDAC8 plays an important role in the modulation of SOCS1 and SOCS3 by curcumin. Also, trichostatin A (TSA), an inhibitor of HDACs, increased the levels of SOCS1 and SOCS3. Furthermore, curcumin increased the transcript levels of SOCS1 and SOCS3 and significantly inhibited the clonogenic activity of hematopoietic progenitors from patients with MPNs. Finally, curcumin markedly inhibited HDAC activities and decreased HDAC8 levels in primary MPN cells. Taken together, our data uncover a regulatory mechanism of SOCS1 and SOCS3 through inhibition of HDAC activity (especially HDAC8) by curcumin. Thus, being a relative non-toxic agent, curcumin may offer a therapeutic advantage in the clinical treatment for MPNs.

Elevated frequencies of CD4⁺ CD25⁺ CD127lo regulatory T cells is associated to poor prognosis in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

Regulatory T cells (Treg) mediate amelioration of disease and immune homeostasis by inhibiting immune activation and maintaining peripheral immune tolerance. The suppressive mechanisms and clinical significance of Treg have not been completely elucidated in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Here, we demonstrated that CD127 in combination with CD4 and CD25 can identify FoxP3(+) Treg in peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) using multicolor flow cytometry. We showed that the CD4(+) CD25(+) CD127(lo) Treg frequencies were significantly increased and their phenotypes were different in PB from newly diagnosed AML patients compared to those from healthy volunteers (HVs). Moreover, the Treg frequencies were significantly higher in BM than those from PB in the same patients. The Treg frequencies were reduced when patients achieved complete remission (CR) and were increased when patients relapsed. The Treg frequencies at diagnosis in PB and BM of patients who had achieved CR were lower than those of patients who had persistent leukemia or died, respectively. CD4(+) CD25(+) Treg were isolated by magnetic-activated cell sorting and tested for suppressive functions in coculture with allogeneic carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidylester-labeled CD4(+) CD25(-) responder cells. Suppression mediated by Treg was higher in AML patients compared to HVs. No significant differences were observed in the cytokines production of Treg, including interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin (IL)-4,IL-2 and IL-10, between patients with AML and HVs. Our study suggests that Treg may play a role in the pathogenesis of AML, and sequential measurements of Treg frequency may have clinical value in the evaluation of therapeutic effects and clinical outcome.

[A method used in myeloma cell cloning spot image segmentation].

A new interactive image segmentation method used in the multiple myeloma cloning spots image segmentation is presented in the paper. Based on the theory of graph cuts, some pixels are selected as the front object and the background seeds, and the other parts are treated as the unknown region. Then, an energy function is constructed and initialized through K-means, and the minimum cut method is used in the segmentation by energy minimization. Last, the image is eroded and dilated, and the cloning separate parts could be got effectively. For the pixels which may be partitioned wrongly, we use a tool similar to a brush to re-mark the front object or the background, and divide once again. Both subjective the evaluation criteria and the RUMA, evaluation criteria are used to evaluate the method, and the experiment results are satisfactory.

Application of endoscopic Ho:YAG laser incision technique treating urethral strictures and urethral atresias in pediatric patients.

Endoscopic holmium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Ho:YAG) laser incision is a new method applied in pediatric urology recent years. To evaluate its therapeutic efficacy on treating the pediatric patients with urethral strictures and urethral atresias, a retrospective study was performed from June 2001 to July 2005 in a total of 28 pediatric patients who underwent endoscopic internal urethrotomy using Ho:YAG laser in our center. In these patients, 25 had urethral strictures and 3 urethral atresias. Follow-up was done ranging from 2 months to 4 years to assess the treatment. Of the 28 patients, 25 (89.3%) have achieved satisfied result without complications following initial incisions. Two patients with urethral atresias and another with long lesion of stricture (> 2 cm) have postoperative stenosis (10.7%). Among the three reoccurred patients, two were successfully reoperated by Ho:YAG laser and open end-to-end anastomosis, respectively. One patient failed to follow-up. With the advantages of safety, efficacy and minimal invasion, endoscopic Ho:YAG laser incision technique could be used as a primary treatment in urethral stricture patients and is worthy to be popularized further in pediatric surgery.