Efficient adsorption of radioactive iodine by covalent organic framework/chitosan aerogel.

Radioactive iodine is considered one of the most dangerous radioactive elements in nuclear waste. Therefore, effective capture of radioactive iodine is essential for developing and using nuclear energy to solve the energy crisis. Some materials that have been developed for removing radioactive iodine still suffer from complex synthesis, low removal capacity, and non-reusability. Herein, covalent organic framework (COF)/chitosan (CS) aerogels were prepared using vacuum freeze-drying, and the COF nanoparticles were tightly attached on the green biomass material CS networks. Due to the synergistic effect of both COF and CS, the composite aerogel shows a three-dimensional porous and stable structure in the recycle usage. The COF/CS aerogel exhibits excellent iodine adsorption capacity of 2211.58 mg g-1 and 5.62 g g-1 for static iodine solution and iodine vapor, respectively, better than some common adsorbents. Furthermore, COF/CS aerogel demonstrated good recyclability performance with 87 % of the initial adsorption capacity after 5 cycles. In addition, the interaction between iodine and imine groups, amino groups, and benzene rings of aerogel are the possible adsorption mechanisms. COF/CS aerogel has excellent adsorption properties, good chemical stability, and reusable performance, which is a potential and efficient adsorbent for industrial radioactive iodine adsorption from nuclear waste.

High-efficient removal of anionic dye from aqueous solution using metal-organic frameworks@chitosan aerogel rich in benzene structure.

With the exponentially increase of dye pollutants, the purification of dye wastewater has been an urgent ecological problem. As a novel type of porous adsorbent, metal-organic frameworks still face challenges in recyclability, agglomeration, and environmentally unfriendly synthesis. Herein, MOF-525 was in-situ growth onto the surface of the chitosan (CS) beads to fabricate MOF-525@CS aerogel. CS was utilized as substrate to uniformly disperse MOF-525, thereby significantly mitigating agglomeration and improving recyclability of MOF-525. The characterization results shown that MOF-525@CS aerogel had a high specific surface area of 103.0 m2·g-1, and MOF-525 was uniformly distributed in the 3D porous structure of CS, and the presence of benzoic acid was detected. The MOF-525@CS aerogel had a remarkable adsorption capacity of 1947 mg·g-1 for Congo red, which is greater than the sum of its parts. MOF-525@CS aerogel also inherited the rapid adsorption ability of MOF-525, removing 80 % of Congo red within 600 min. Such excellent adsorption performance can be attributed to the benzoic acid trapped by CS via CN band to enhance the π-π stacking interactions. Additionally, the utilization of benzoic acid makes the synthesis process of MOF-525@CS aerogel more environmentally friendly. The high-efficient MOF-525@CS aerogel is a competitive candidate for dye pollution adsorption.

A patient with pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1A previously misdiagnosed as hereditary multiple exostosis: A case report.

Pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1A (PHP1A), a rare hereditary disorder, is featured by end-organ resistance to parathyroid hormone and Albright's hereditary osteodystrophy. Heterozygous mutation of guanine nucleotide-binding protein α stimulating (GNAS) gene causes the half decreased bioactivity of the Gsα protein levels. Due to the diverse early clinical manifestations of PHP1A, a diagnosis of PHP1A is often easily overlooked and misdiagnosis or missed diagnosis is common. The present study described a girl who was initially diagnosed with hereditary multiple exostoses, but was afterwards confirmed with PHP1A. Moreover, genetic analysis indicated a new mutation (c2277deIC) of the gene.

Clinical profiles and antimicrobial resistance patterns of invasive Salmonella infections in children in China.

Invasive Salmonella infections result in a significant burden of disease including morbidity, mortality, and financial cost in many countries. Besides typhoid fever, the clinical impact of non-typhoid Salmonella infections is increasingly recognized with the improvement of laboratory detection capacity and techniques. A retrospective multicenter study was conducted to analyze the clinical profiles and antimicrobial resistance patterns of invasive Salmonella infections in hospitalized children in China during 2016-2018. A total of 130 children with invasive Salmonella infections were included with the median age of 12 months (range: 1-144 months). Seventy-nine percent of cases occurred between May and October. Pneumonia was the most common comorbidity in 33 (25.4%) patients. Meningitis and septic arthritis caused by nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS) infections occurred in 12 (9.2%) patients and 5 (3.8%) patients. Patients < 12 months (OR: 16.04) and with septic shock (OR: 23.4), vomit (OR: 13.33), convulsion (OR: 15.86), C-reactive protein (CRP) ≥ 40 g/L (OR: 5.56), and a higher level of procalcitonin (PCT) (OR: 1.05) on admission were statistically associated to an increased risk of developing meningitis. Compared to 114 patients with NTS infections, 16 patients with typhoid fever presented with higher levels of CRP and PCT (P < 0.05). The rates of resistance to ampicillin, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, ciprofloxacin, and ceftriaxone among Salmonella Typhi and NTS isolates were 50% vs 57.3%, 9.1% vs 24.8%, 0% vs 11.2%, and 0% vs 9.9%, respectively. NTS has been the major cause of invasive Salmonella infections in Chinese children and can result in severe diseases. Antimicrobial resistance among NTS was more common.

Postoperative care in ICU versus non-ICU after head and neck free-flap surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) has long been considered as routine by most head and neck surgeons after microvascular free-flap transfer. This study aimed to answer the question 'Is there a difference in the flap survival and postoperative complications rates between admission to intensive care unit (ICU) versus Non-ICU following microvascular head and neck reconstructive surgery?'. DESIGN: Systematic review, and meta-analysis. METHODS: The PubMed, Embase, Scopus and Cochrane Library electronic databases were systematically searched (till April 2021) to identify the relevant studies. Studies that compared postoperative nursing of patients who underwent microvascular head and neck reconstructive surgery in ICU and non-ICU were included. The outcome variables were flap failure and length of hospital stay (LOS) and other complications. Weighted OR or mean differences with 95% CIs were calculated. RESULTS: Eight studies involving a total of 2349 patients were included. No statistically significant differences were observed between ICU and non-ICU admitted patients regarding flap survival reported (fixed, risk ratio, 1.46; 95% CI 0.80 to 2.69, p=0.231, I2=0%), reoperation, readmission, respiratory failure, delirium and mortality (p>0.05). A significant increase in the postoperative pneumonia (p=0.018) and sepsis (p=0.033) was observed in patients admitted to ICU compared with non-ICU setting. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis showed that an immediate postoperative nursing in the ICU after head and neck microvascular reconstructive surgery did not reduce the incidence of flap failure or complications rate. Limiting the routine ICU admission to the carefully selected patients may result in a reduction in the incidence of postoperative pneumonia, sepsis, LOS and total hospital charge.

Ionothermal-Transformation Strategy to Synthesize Hierarchically Tubular Porous Single-Iron-Atom Catalysts for High-Performance Zinc-Air Batteries.

Inexpensive carbon-based nitrogen-coordinated iron single-atom catalysts (CN-FeSACs) have been recently demonstrated as the most promising platinum substitutions for boosting the sluggish oxygen electrode performance in fuel cells and metal-air batteries. However, it is still a great challenge to develop economical and effective CN-FeSACs satisfying the needs of high output power. Herein, an ionothermal-transformation strategy is proposed to synthesize hierarchically tubular porous CN-FeSACs with an ultrahigh special surface area of 2500 m2 g-1 to host abundant single-atom iron sites with an attempt to simultaneously boost sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics and mass transport. Benefiting from the unique feature, the final obtained material shows an ORR half-wave potential of 0.885 V, higher than that of benchmark Pt/C (0.850 V). When assembled into zinc-air battery, a large peak power density of 208 mW cm-2 is achieved, which is far superior to that of Pt/C (119 mW cm-2). This work provides an economical and feasible strategy to prepare hierarchically porous CN-FeSACs for energy conversion.

Invasive Klebsiella pneumoniae Infections in Community-Settings and Healthcare Settings.

OBJECTIVE: To assess clinical characteristics, outcomes and antimicrobial resistance of invasive Klebsiella pneumoniae (KP) infections in Chinese pediatric patients in hospital and community settings. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted in the nine tertiary hospitals during 2016-2018. The 324 pediatric inpatients who had KP isolated from blood and cerebrospinal fluid and had complete medical records reviewed were included. We analyzed the risk factors, outcomes and antimicrobial resistance pattern of KP-infected patients based on comparison between healthcare-associated KP infections (HAI) and community-acquired infections. RESULTS: Of the 324 enrolled patients, 275 (84.9%) were clinically defined as HAI, including 175 (63.6%) neonates and 100 (36.4%) aged >28 days. The overall prevalence of CRKP was 38.2% (43.4% in HAI verse 8.7% in CAI, P <0.05). Prematurity (odds ratio (OR): 37.07, 95% CI: 8.29-165.84), hematologic malignancies (OR: 15.52, 95% CI: 1.89-127.14) and invasive mechanical ventilation (OR: 13.09, 95% CI: 1.66-103.56) were independent risk factors for HAI. Patients from rural area (OR: 1.94, 95% CI: 1.12-3.35), invasive mechanical ventilation (OR: 2.33, 95% CI: 1.25-4.33), antibiotic therapy prior to admission (OR: 2.33, 95% CI: 1.25-4.33) and prior hospital stay in the past 30 days (OR: 3.46, 95% CI: 1.87-6.41) were associated with healthcare-associated CRKP infections. Organ dysfunction was independently correlated with poor outcomes (OR: 2.92, 95% CI: 1.23-6.95). CONCLUSION: Pediatric invasive KP infections and high prevalence of CRKP infections largely occurred in healthcare settings in China. The adequate and intensified infection control measures should be focused on high-risk hematologic patients, neonatal patients and intubated patients.

LncRNA NEAT1 Knockdown Inhibits Retinoblastoma Progression by miR-3619-5p/LASP1 Axis.

Retinoblastoma (RB) is the most common intraocular tumor in childhood. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1 (NTAT1) has been reported to be related to RB progression. This study aims to study the molecular mechanism of NEAT1 in regulating cell cycle, proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion in RB. The expression levels of NEAT1 and miR-3619-5p were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The protein expression of LIM and SH3 domain protein 1 (LASP1) was measured by western blot. The proliferation of RB cells was analyzed by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and cell colony formation assays. Cell migration and invasion were evaluated by transwell assay. Cell cycle and apoptosis were assessed by flow cytometry analysis. The association between miR-3619-5p and NEAT1 or LASP1 was predicted by starBase 3.0 database and identified by dual-luciferase reporter assay. The effects of NEAT1 knockdown on the tumor growth in vivo were detected by in vivo tumor formation assay. NEAT1 expression was dramatically up-regulated, and miR-3619-5p expression was obviously downregulated in RB tissues and cells compared with control groups. The protein level of LASP1 was obviously increased in RB tissues or cells relative to paracancerous normal tissues or cells, respectively. Functionally, NEAT1 silencing inhibited RB cell migration, invasion, and proliferation, whereas induced cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in RB; this phenomenon was partially abolished by miR-3619-5p inhibitor. Mechanistically, NEAT1 acted as a sponge of miR-3619-5p, and miR-3619-5p was associated with LASP1. In addition, NEAT1 knockdown decreased the volume and weight of RB tumor in vivo. Together, NEAT1 silencing repressed cell migration, invasion, and proliferation, whereas induced cell apoptosis and cycle arrest by sponging miR-3619-5p to inhibit LASP1 expression in RB cells. This study may provide a theoretical basis for RB therapy.

Direct resin composite restoration of maxillary central incisors using a 3D-printed template: two clinical cases.

BACKGROUND: Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology is used widely in dentistry for applications including implant surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthognathic surgery, endodontics and prosthodontics. Using a 3D-printed template makes performing the repair procedure faster and more convenient. The aesthetic restoration of anterior teeth can recover facial beauty, enhance speaking and chewing functions and improve the quality of life of the patient. CASE PRESENTATION: This article describes two kinds of clinical cases including fractured teeth and dental caries. In both, a 3D-printed template was used for direct resin composite restoration of maxillary central incisors. A 3D-printed template was built using the following 3-step process: data acquisition was conducted via intra-oral scanning, virtual modeling was performed using an imaging process, and manufacturing was performed using a 3D printer. Aesthetically restoring the maxillary incisors with the assistance of the 3D-printed template achieved the anticipated results, and the patients were very satisfied with the effect. CONCLUSIONS: The direct resin composite restoration of maxillary central incisors using a 3D-printed template represents a rapid, convenient, aesthetic and functional option for treating maxillary central incisors. A 3D-printed template is therefore an acceptable and reliable alternative to traditional direct composite restoration of maxillary central incisors including fractured teeth and dental caries.

A novel method for periapical microsurgery with the aid of 3D technology: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Three-dimensional (3D) technology has gained wide acceptance in dentistry. It has been used for treatment planning and surgical guidance. This case report presented a novel treatment approach to remove cortical bone and root-end during periapical surgery with the help of Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT), Computer Aided Design (CAD) and three-dimensional (3D) printing technology. CASE PRESENTATION: A 37-year-old female patient presented with a large periapical lesion of left maxillary lateral incisor and canine was referred for microsurgical endodontic surgery. The data acquired from a preoperative diagnostic CBCT scan and an intra-oral scan was uploaded into surgical planning software and matched. A template that could be used to locate root-ends and lesion areas was virtually designed based on the data and was fabricated using a 3D printer. With the guidance of the template, the overlying cortical bone and root-end were precisely removed by utilizing a trephine with an external diameter of 4.0 mm. The patient was clinically asymptomatic at a six-month follow-up review. One year after the surgery, the lesion was healing well and no periapical radiolucency was observed on radiographic examination. CONCLUSIONS: The digitally designed directional template worked in all aspects to facilitate the periapical surgery as anticipated. The root-ends were accurately located and resected. The surgical procedure was simplified, and the treatment efficiency was improved. This technique minimized the damage and reduced iatrogenic injury.

Novel navigation technique for the endodontic treatment of a molar with pulp canal calcification and apical pathology.

Apical periodontitis, the inflammation of periapical tissue, commonly requires root canal treatment to achieve apical healing. However, if it is accompanied by pulp canal calcification, the treatment becomes complicated, and locating the root canal can be challenging. This case report describes a novel approach for treating a molar with pulp canal calcification and apical pathology. Due to the risk of perforation during treatment, a digitally printed template was used to assist in accurately locating the root canal. After six months, the patient was asymptomatic and the periradicular radiolucency was gradually reducing in size.

A Difunctional Regeneration Scaffold for Knee Repair based on Aptamer-Directed Cell Recruitment.

To solve the challenge of poor knee repair, an aptamer-bilayer scaffold is designed for autologous mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) recruitment and osteochondral regeneration. The scaffold can efficiently recruit MSCs to the defect and induce the directional differentiation of MSCs, thus successfully achieving simultaneous regeneration of cartilage and bone in the knee joint.

Identifying survival-associated ceRNA clusters in cholangiocarcinoma.

Competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) represent a novel layer regulations of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and genes that play important roles in cancer pathogenesis by binding microRNAs (miRNAs). However, the competition mechanism of ceRNAs in cholangiocarcinoma (CHOL) is not fully understood. In this study, we constructed a dysregulated ceRNA competitive network (CCEN) to globally characterize the competing difference between CHOL and normal tissues. Then, we integrated affinity propagation and Kaplan­Meier (K-M) methods to identify functional clusters associated with survival. A total of 7 key ceRNA clusters were identified. Further functional annotation analyses found that Cluster23 and Cluster32 involved cell based functions, and the loss of ceRNA competitive relations in clusters may contribute to CHOL, by disturbing important biological processes, such as 'Pathway in cancer', MAPK and Neurotrophin signaling pathway. This study provides further insights into understanding the competitive mechanism of ceRNAs in CHOL.

Tectonic 1 Is a Key Regulator of Cell Proliferation in Pancreatic Cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is notoriously becoming one of the most devastating human cancers leading to death. However, clinical challenges still remain in diagnosis and treatment of this ticklish cancer. In the present study, the authors identified a new gene, Tectonic 1 (TCTN1), as a key regulator of cell proliferation in pancreatic cancer. Lentivirus-mediated short hairpin RNA (shRNA) was employed to knock down endogenous TCTN1 expression in PANC-1 pancreatic cancer cells. Knockdown of TCTN1 expression potently inhibited cell viability and proliferation, as determined by MTT and colony formation assays. Western blotting analysis also showed that knockdown of TCTN1 suppressed the expression of cdc2, while it induced that of p21 and p27. Flow cytometry analysis showed that depletion of TCTN1 in PANC-1 cells led to cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase as well as apoptosis. Besides, depletion of TCTN1 led to the increase of Bax and cleavage of PARP-1, but the decrease of bcl2 by western blotting. The data indicate that TCTN1 is indispensable for pancreatic cancer cell proliferation, which provides a novel alternative to targeted therapy of pancreatic cancer and deserves further investigation.

Monitoring microcirculation changes in port wine stains during vascular targeted photodynamic therapy by laser speckle imaging.

This study was conducted to test laser speckle perfusion imaging (LSPI) for imaging microcirculation and monitoring microcirculatory changes of port wine stains (PWS) during vascular targeted photodynamic therapy (V-PDT). Before and 5 min after V-PDT, PWS lesions and the corresponding contralateral healthy skins of 24 PWS patients were scanned, whereas seven PWS patients were scanned throughout V-PDT. V-PDT was conducted immediately after intravenous injection of photocarcinorin (4-5 mg kg(-1)). A 532 nm laser was used for irradiation (power density: 80-100 mW cm(-2), exposure time: 20-50 min). Before V-PDT, all 24 PWS patients demonstrated a significant difference in perfusion between the PWS lesion and the contralateral healthy control skin (1132 ± 724 and 619 ± 478 PU, respectively, P < 0.01). Five minutes after V-PDT, the mean perfusion value of the 24 PWS lesions was 1246 ± 754 PU. There was no significant difference compared to the perfusion before V-PDT (P > 0.05). During V-PDT, the perfusion of seven PWS patients increased rapidly after initiation of V-PDT, reached a maximum within 10 min, lasted for several minutes, and slowly returned to a relatively lower level at the end of V-PDT. On the basis of these results, LSPI is capable of imaging PWS microvasculature and monitoring microvascular reactivity to V-PDT.

Neutralization of mouse interleukin-17 bioactivity inhibits corneal allograft rejection.

PURPOSE: To investigate the inhibitory effects of anti-mouse interleukin-17 (IL-17) monoclonal antibody (mAb) in high-responder corneal allograft rejection. METHODS: C57BL/6 or BALB/c mice corneal grafts were grafted onto BALB/c hosts. The neutralizing mouse IL-17 antibody and isotype control were injected intraperitoneally immediately after transplantation for experimental treatment. At appropriate times after treatment, recipient grafts were assessed clinically and histologically, and recipient corneal graft- infiltrating cells were detected by immunohistochemistry and quantified by real-time PCR. The cytokine spleen levels of T helper type 1 (Th1), Th2, and Th17 were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Flow cytometric analysis was used to evaluate the frequencies of IL-17-producing Th17 cells. RESULTS: Neutralization of IL-17 with anti-IL-17 mAb obviously prolonged allograft survival compared to the group that received isotype control. Neovascularizations and inflammatory immune cells in corneal stroma decreased in the allogeneic recipients treated with anti-IL-17 mAb. The mRNA (mRNA) level of graft-infiltrating cells, including neutrophiles, cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) T cells, and CD8 T cells, decreased dramatically in the IL-17 neutralization group. At days 14 and 42, splenocytes from recipients treated with anti-IL-17 mAb produced significantly less of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), IL-12p40, and IL-17 compared to those from control Ig-treated recipients at day 14. However, Th2 cytokine IL-4 and IL-5 production increased, and IL-13 levels were not significantly different among the three groups. IL-6 production was elevated in recipients treated with anti-IL-17 mAb. Anti-IL-17 mAb reduced the percentage of Th17 in CD4+ T cells, but there was no statistical significance between anti-IL-17 mAb and the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Neutralization of mouse IL-17 bioactivity with anti-IL-17 mAb improves allogeneic corneal graft survival and inhibits corneal allograft rejection to a certain extent by inhibiting production of graft-infiltrating inflammatory cells and decreasing the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Imaging port wine stains by fiber optical coherence tomography.

We develop a fiber optical coherence tomography (OCT) system in the clinical utility of imaging port wine stains (PWS). We use our OCT system on 41 patients with PWS to document the difference between PWS skin and contralateral normal skin. The system, which operates at 4 frames with axial and transverse resolutions of 10 and 9 mum, respectively, in the skin tissue, can clearly distinguish the dilated dermal blood vessels from normal tissue. We present OCT images of patients with PWS and normal human skin. We obtain the structural parameters, including epidermal thickness and diameter and depth of dilated blood vessels. We demonstrate that OCT may be a useful tool for the noninvasive imaging of PWS. It may help determine the photosensitizer dose and laser parameters in photodynamic therapy for treating port wine stains.

IL-6/STAT3/TFF3 signaling regulates human biliary epithelial cell migration and wound healing in vitro.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6), through activation of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and trefoil factor family 3 (TFF3), has been implicated in the promotion of mouse biliary epithelial cell (BEC) proliferation and migration. However, it is still unclear whether the IL-6/STAT3/TFF3 signaling had similar effects on human BECs. Here, we showed that exposure of human BECs to recombinant IL-6 resulted in STAT3 phosphorylation and increased the expression of TFF3 at both mRNA and protein levels. Moreover, inhibition of STAT3 using RNA interference significantly abrogated IL-6-induced TFF3 expression. In an in-vitro wound healing model, IL-6 facilitated human BEC migration. This promotion of cell migration by IL-6 was blocked when STAT3 was knocked down. Interestingly, the addition of exogenous TFF3 could rescue the cell migration defects caused by STAT3 silencing. In conclusion, our data indicate that STAT3 plays a critical role in IL-6-induced TFF3 expression in human BECs and the IL-6/STAT3/TFF3 signaling is involved in human BEC migration and wound healing.

[Imaging port wine stain by optical coherence tomography].

Optical coherence tomography is an appropriate imaging method for biomedical science, due to its advantages of noninvasive nature, high resolution and fast imaging speed. Because most biological tissues have the characteristic of high scattering coefficient, OCT system can just obtain the structural images several millimeters below the surface of the tissues. The superficial depth of OCT's penetration limits application in dermatology field. As a common disease, the port wine stain (PWS) is a indication of OCT, because of its superficial lesion and significant expansion of blood vessels. To get deeper penetration in the skin, the authors employed 1 310 nm superluminescent diode as light source, optimized the light intensity ratio of reference delay arm and sample arm and control polarization, and the research of PWS imaging in vivo was accomplished. Besides, OCT is able to gather clear image and key characteristic parameters, such as the depth of epidermis layer, the diameter of blood vessel, etc. OCT will play an important role in the diagnosis and therapy of PWS.