In vivo evaluation of focused ultrasound ablation surgery (FUAS)-induced coagulation using echo amplitudes of the therapeutic focused ultrasound transducer.

OBJECTIVE: Monitoring sensitivity of sonography in focused ultrasound ablation surgery (FUAS) is limited (no hyperechoes in ∼50% of successful coagulation in uterine fibroids). A more accurate and sensitive approach is required. METHOD: The echo amplitudes of the focused ultrasound (FUS) transducer in a testing mode (short pulse duration and low power) were found to correlate with the ex vivo coagulation. To further evaluate its coagulation prediction capabilities, in vivo experiments were carried out. The liver, kidney, and leg muscles of three adult goats were treated using clinical FUAS settings, and the echo amplitude of the FUS transducer and grayscale in sonography before and after FUAS were collected. On day 7, animals were sacrificed humanely, and the treated tissues were dissected to expose the lesion. Echo amplitude changes and lesion areas were analyzed statistically, as were the coagulation prediction metrics. RESULTS: The echo amplitude changes of the FUS transducer correlate well with the lesion areas in the liver (R = 0.682). Its prediction in accuracy (94.4% vs. 50%), sensitivity (92.9% vs. 35.7%), and negative prediction (80% vs. 30.8%) is better than sonography, but similar in specificity (80% vs. 100%) and positive prediction (100% vs. 100%). In addition, the correlation between tissue depth and the lesion area is not good (|R| < 0.2). Prediction performances in kidney and leg muscles are similar. CONCLUSION: The FUS echo amplitudes are sensitive to the tissue properties and their changes after FUAS. They are sensitive and reliable in evaluating and predicting FUAS outcomes.

Bimetallic iron-nickel phosphide as efficient peroxymonosulfate activator for tetracycline hydrochloride degradation: Performance and mechanism.

Sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation processes with (SR-AOPs) are widely employed to degrade organic pollutants due to their high efficiency, cost-effectiveness and safety. In this study, a highly active and stable FeNiP was successfully prepared by reduction and heat treatment. FeNiP exhibited high performance of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation for tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) removal. Over a wide pH range, an impressive TC degaradation efficiency 97.86% was achieved within 60 min employing 0.1 g/L FeNiP and 0.2 g/L PMS at room temperature. Both free radicals of SO4·-, ·OH, ·O2- and non-free radicals of 1O2 participated the TC degradation in the FeNiP/PMS system. The PMS activation ability was greatly enhanced by the cycling between Ni and Fe bimetal, and the active site regeneration was achieved due to the existence of the negatively charged Pn-. Moreover, the FeNiP/PMS system exhibited substantial TC degradation levels in both simulated real-world disturbance scenarios and practical water tests. Cycling experiments further affirmed the robust stability of FeNiP catalyst, demonstrating sustained degradation efficiency of approximately 80% even after four cycles. These findings illuminate its promising potential across natural water bodies, presenting an innovative catalyst construction approach for PMS activation in the degradation of antibiotic pollutants.

Ultra-high flux mesh membranes coated with tannic acid-ZIF-8@MXene composites for efficient oil-water separation.

Oil/water separation has become a global concern due to the increasing discharge of multi-component harmful oily wastewater. Super wetting membranes have been shown to be an effective material for oil/water separation. Ultra-high flux stainless-steel meshes (SSM) with superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity were fabricated by tannic acid (TA) modified ZIF-8 nanoparticles (TZIF-8) and two-dimensional MXene materials for oil/water separation. The TZIF-8 increased the interlayer space of MXene, enhancing the flux permeation (69,093 L m-2h-1) and rejection of the composite membrane (TZIF-8@MXene/SSM). The TZIF-8@MXene/SSM membrane showed an underwater oil contact angle of 154.2°. The membrane maintained underwater superoleophobic after stability and durability tests, including various pH solutions, organic solvents, reusability, etc. In addition, the oil/water separation efficiency of TZIF-8@MXene/SSM membranes was higher than 99% after treatment in harsh conditions and recycling. The outstanding anti-fouling, stability, durability, and recyclability properties of TZIF-8@MXene/SSM membrane highlight the remarkable potential of membranes for complex oil/water separation process.

KIF2C promotes clear cell renal cell carcinoma progression via activating JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors that can be highly aggressive. Despite advances in the exploration of its underlying molecular biology, the clinical outcome for advanced ccRCC is still unsatisfied. Recently, more attention was paid to the functions of Kinesin family member 2C (KIF2C) in cancer progression, while the specific function of KIF2C in ccRCC has not been sufficiently elucidated. The present study aims to investigate the role of KIF2C in the progression of ccRCC and reveal potential mechanisms. METHODS: Expression of KIF2C in ccRCC tissues and adjacent normal tissue was compared and the association of KIF2C expression level with tumor grade, stage, and metastasis were analyzed using online web tool. Kaplan-Meier survival was performed to detect the association of KIF2C expression and patient' prognosis. Stably cell lines with KIF2C knockdown or overexpression were constructed by lentivirus infection. CCK-8, colony formation, scratch healing, and transwell invasion assays were carried out to explore the effect of KIF2C knockdown or overexpression on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of ccRCC cells. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted to reveal signaling pathways associated with KIF2C expression. The effect of KIF2C on JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway were explored by western blot assay. RESULTS: KIF2C expression was significantly upregulated in ccRCC tissues and was higher with the increase of tumor grade, stage, and metastasis. Higher expression of KIF2C was correlated with worse overall survival and diseases free survival in ccRCC patients. Silence of KIF2C inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion in ccRCC cells. Conversely, overexpression of KIF2C had the opposite effect. GSEA results showed that JAK/STAT signaling pathway was markedly enriched in KIF2Chigh group. Pearson' correlation revealed that KIF2C expression was significantly associated with genes in JAK2/STAT3 signaling. Western blot results showed that KIF2C knockdown decreased protein expression of p-JAK2 and p-STAT3, and KIF2C overexpression increased the phosphorylation of JAK2 and STAT3. AG490, a JAK2/STAT3 signaling inhibitor, could partly impair the tumor-promoting effects of KIF2C in ccRCC. CONCLUSION: KIF2C expression was significantly upregulated in ccRCC and correlated with tumor grade, stage, metastasis, and patients' prognosis. KIF2C promoted ccRCC progression via activating JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway, and KIF2C might be a novel target in ccRCC therapy.

Effect of neoadjuvant endocrine therapy on the acoustic environment in tissue of prostate cancer: a study of histopathological characteristics.

Background: Neoadjuvant endocrine therapy (NET) of prostate cancer (PCa) may alter the tissue acoustic environment (AET). The structure of tissue is an important factor affecting AET. The aim is to analyze changes in tissue structures after NET in PCa, focusing on calcifications, smooth muscle cells, and blood vessels. Methods: We collected 40 patients diagnosed with PCa by pathological examination between October 2020 and December 2022. Twenty patients who underwent radical prostatectomy (RP) after NET were designed as the test group. Twenty patients without NET were assigned to the control group. Calcifications, smooth muscle cells and blood vessels were observed by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and Van Gieson (VG)-special staining respectively. Then the amount and acreage of calcified tissue, the number of smooth muscle cells and different types of blood vessels were quantitatively analyzed. Results: There was a subtle increase in the number (P=0.001) and the area (P<0.001) of calcification after NET. The total number of smooth muscle cells was significantly higher than that without NET (P<0.001). NET resulted in significantly fewer veins compared to those without NET (P<0.001). There was a little increase in the number of arteries after NET (P=0.001). The number of veins decreased was much greater than the number of arteries increased resulting in significantly fewer total vessels after NET (P<0.001). Conclusions: NET can lead to changes in calcifications, smooth muscle cells, and blood vessels within PCa tissues, which may cause alterations in AET.

High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound in Interventricular Septal Myocardial Ablation.

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) can cause necrotic damage in deep tissues through thermal ablation and cavitation, without significant damage to the surrounding tissues. High blood perfusion of heart affects the energy deposition. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of cooling of coronary blood flow for HIFU ablation.Continuous and pulsed HIFU (2000 J) at duty cycles of 100% and 25% were examined for their capacity to ablate the perfused porcine heart tissue in vitro. After ablation, grayscale changes and pathological features were observed or measured, and the area and volume of tissue necrosis were calculated.The cardiomyocytes in the lesions underwent necrosis with a clear boundary. The endocardial surface was intact without necrosis. The three-dimensional morphology of the lesions appeared approximately as ellipsoids. With the increase in perfusion speed, the necrotic volume in the target area was gradually reduced.HIFU has the potential to become a new minimally invasive surgery for ventricular septal myocardial ablation. Reduction of coronary blood flow can improve the ablation effect.

Acoustic Beam Mapping for Guiding HIFU Therapy In Vivo Using Sub-Therapeutic Sound Pulse and Passive Beamforming.

OBJECTIVE: Although HIFU has been successfully applied in various clinical applications in the past two decades for the ablation of many types of tumors, one bottleneck in its wider applications is the lack of a reliable and affordable strategy to guide the therapy. This study aims at estimating the therapeutic beam path at the pre-treatment stage to guide the therapeutic procedure. METHODS: An incident beam mapping technique using passive beamforming was proposed based on a clinical HIFU system and an ultrasound imaging research system. An optimization model was created to map the cross-like beam pattern by maximizing the total energy within the mapped area. This beam mapping technique was validated by comparing the estimated focal region with the HIFU-induced actual focal region (damaged region) through simulation, in-vitro, ex-vivo and in-vivo experiments. RESULTS: The results of this study showed that the proposed technique was, to a large extent, tolerant of sound speed inhomogeneities, being able to estimate the focal location with errors of 0.15 mm and 0.93 mm under in-vitro and ex-vivo situations respectively, and slightly over 1 mm under the in-vivo situation. It should be noted that the corresponding errors were 6.8 mm, 3.2 mm, and 9.9 mm respectively when the conventional geometrical method was used. CONCLUSION: This beam mapping technique can be very helpful in guiding the HIFU therapy and can be easily applied in clinical environments with an ultrasound-guided HIFU system. SIGNIFICANCE: The technique is safe and can potentially be adapted to other ultrasound-related beam manipulating applications.

An investigation of the distribution and location of mast cells affected by the stiffness of substrates as a mechanical niche.

The distribution and location of mast cells are closely related to their physiological and pathological functions, such as allergic responses, immunity, and fibrosis, and are used in acupuncture. In this study, the distribution of mast cells in vivo was observed, and mechanical clues for understanding their distribution based on mechanical niches were explored. By toluidine blue staining and immunohistochemical staining, we examined the distribution and location of mast cells in rat skin and found that mast cells are distributed in a spatially nonuniform manner, preferring to locate at regions in the tissue and extracellular matrix with stiffness changes. In vitro experiments for studying the distribution of rat basophilic leukemia (RBL-2H3) mast cell line on poly-di-methyl-siloxane (PDMS) substrates with stiffness variations were performed. It was found that RBL-2H3 cells migrate and tend to remain in the areas with stiffness variations. The present research suggests that changing the stiffness of local tissues may stimulate mast cell recruitment, which may be the method by which some traditional Chinese medicine treatments, such as acupuncture. On the basis of the origin of mast cells and our experimental results, we predict that mast cells exist in tissues that contain permeable capillaries and prefer regions with stiffness changes. We discussed this prediction using examples of specific tissues from some cases.

In situ growth of ZIF-67 on a nickel foam as a three-dimensional heterogeneous catalyst for peroxymonosulfate activation.

Advanced oxidation processes based on sulfate radicals have been widely used to eliminate contaminants. In this study, an efficient cobalt-based three-dimensional heterogeneous catalyst was fabricated through in situ growth of ZIF-67 on nickel foam (NF/ZIF-67). The factors influencing NF/ZIF-67-activated peroxymonosulfate (PMS) were investigated. Enhanced RhB degradation was observed using NF/ZIF-67-activated PMS under neutral conditions and high temperatures. Sulfate radicals were the dominant active species for the oxidative decolorization of RhB with NF/ZIF-67-activated PMS. NF/ZIF-67 was easily separated from the solution, and it also retained high catalytic stability. This study provides a rapid and mild method for the fabrication of promising three-dimensional heterogeneous catalysts for PMS activation and wastewater treatment.

Arterial wall remodeling under sustained axial twisting in rats.

Blood vessels often experience torsion along their axes and it is essential to understand their biological responses and wall remodeling under torsion. To this end, a rat model was developed to investigate the arterial wall remodeling under sustained axial twisting in vivo. Rat carotid arteries were twisted at 180° along the longitudinal axis through a surgical procedure and maintained for different durations up to 4weeks. The wall remodeling in these twisted arteries was examined using histology, immunohistochemistry and fluorescent microscopy. Our data showed that arteries remodeled under twisting in a time-dependent manner during the 4weeks post-surgery. Cell proliferation, MMP-2 and MMP-9 expressions, medial wall thickness and lumen diameter increased while collagen to elastin ratio decreased. The size and number of internal elastic lamina fenestrae increased with elongated shapes, while the endothelial cells elongated and aligned towards the blood flow direction gradually. These results demonstrated that sustained axial twisting results in artery remodeling in vivo. The rat carotid artery twisting model is an effective in vivo model for studying arterial wall remodeling under long-term torsion. These results enrich our understanding of vascular biology and arterial wall remodeling under mechanical stresses.

Bioinspired Nanosucker Array for Enhancing Bioelectricity Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells.

A bioinspired active anode with a suction effect is demonstrated for microbial fuel cells by constructing polypyrrole (PPy) nanotubular arrays on carbon textiles. The oxygen in the inner space of the nanosucker can be depleted by micro-organisms with the capability of facul-tative respiration, forming a vacuum, which then activates the electrode to draw the microorganism by suction and thus improve the bioelectricity generation.

A novel stainless steel mesh/cobalt oxide hybrid electrode for efficient catalysis of oxygen reduction in a microbial fuel cell.

To explore efficient and cost-effective cathode material for microbial fuel cells (MFCs), the present study fabricates a new type of binder-free gas diffusion electrode made of cobalt oxide (Co3O4) micro-particles directly grown on stainless steel mesh (SSM) by using an ammonia-evaporation-induced method. In various electrochemical analyses and evaluations in batch-fed dual-chamber MFCs, the SSM/Co3O4 hybrid electrode demonstrates improved performances in terms of electrocatalytic activity, selectivity, durability and economics toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in pH-neutral solution, in comparison with conventional carbon supported platinum catalyst. This study suggests a new strategy to fabricate a more effective electrode for ORR in MFCs, making it more technically and economically viable to produce electrical energy from organic materials for practical applications.

Fabrication of stainless steel mesh gas diffusion electrode for power generation in microbial fuel cell.

This study reports the fabrication of a new membrane electrode assembly by using stainless steel mesh (SSM) as raw material and its effectiveness as gas diffusion electrode (GDE) for electrochemical oxygen reduction in microbial fuel cell (MFC). Based on feeding glucose (0.5 g L(-1)) substrate to a single-chambered MFC, power generation using SSM-based GDE was increased with the decrease of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) content applied during fabrication, reaching the optimum power density of 951.6 mW m(-2) at 20% PTFE. Repeatable cell voltage of 0.51 V (external resistance of 400 Ω) and maximum power density of 951.6 mW m(-2) produced for the MFC with SSM-based GDE are comparable to that of 0.52 V and 972.6 mW m(-2), respectively obtained for the MFC containing typical carbon cloth (CC)-made GDE. Besides, Coulombic efficiency (CE) is found higher for GDE (SSM or CC) with membrane assembly than without, which results preliminarily from the mitigation of Coulombic loss being associated with oxygen diffusion and substrate crossover. This study demonstrates that with its good electrical conductivity and much lower cost, the SSM-made GDE suggests a promising alternative as efficient and more economically viable material to conventional typical carbon for power production from biomass in MFC.

[Research on thermal dose for high intensity focused ultrasound treatment based on the temperature-map of magnetic resonance imaging].

UNLABELLED: Based on the T-map of MRI, this research sought to address the relationship between the simulated threshold thermal dose of coagulation and actual the coagulation on histological slides. The MR imaging guided HIFU system was used, the parameters of therapeutic transducer were: frequency--1 MHz, diameter--150 mm, and focal length--150 mm. In fresh beef liver tissue in vitro, sonications were delivered at a fixed depth of 20 mm and at varying powers. The temperature-sensitive MR images obtained during the sonications were used to estimate the temperature, and the thermal dosage of each voxel in the target region was calculated. The thermal dosage of each voxel was compared with the reference threshold thermal dosage, so as to calculate the boundary and area of the coagulated tissue. After the exposure, the tissue was dissected along the maximal section of the coagulation necrosis, and the area of the biological focal region was measured. RESULTS: The occurrence of tissue damage correlated well with the equivalent thermal dose calculation based on the T-mapping of MRI, and they share the same variation tendency. CONCLUSION: The equivalent thermal dose calculation based on the T-Map of MRI correlates well with the actual tissue damage, and so an index to predict the threshold for tissue damage in vivo is provided. This index offers improved online control over minimally invasive thermal treatments and increases the security of the therapy.

[In vitro study on dosage level of HIFU for formation of line-shaped lesion in bovine liver].

The dot-shaped coagulative necrosis induced by a single HIFU exposure can be considered as a basis for HIFU ablation of tumour. For complete ablation of tumour mass with HIFU, the crucial point is to create a complete line-shaped lesion by way of dot-shaped coagulative necrosis. At the beginning of this in vitro study, a dot-shaped coagulative necrosis with focal width (W) 3mm was induced in ox liver by HIFU (acoustical intensity (I(SAL)) 6500W/cm2; exposure time 1s) at focal depth 2cm. And then, we investigated the formation of line-shaped lesion under two different modes, namely, multiple dot-shaped coagulative necrosis overlapping and linear scanning. Under multiple dot-shaped coagulative necrosis overlapping mode, line-shaped lesion is formed by the combination of multiple dot-shaped coagulative necroses. With acoustical intensity (I(SAL)) 6500W/cm2 and exposure time is for each single exposure, different intervals (D) between two successive single exposures (1mm, 2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm, 4.5mm, 5mm) were applied to obtain line-shaped lesion. Under linear scanning mode, the intensity (I(SAL)) 6500W/cm2 and cycle 1 were set constant, and various scanning speeds (V) 1mm/s, 3mm/s, 6mm/s, 7mm/s were adopted to create line-shaped lesion. After the procedures, the tissues were dissected to obtain the maximum section of the line-shaped lesion. The results were as follows: under multiple dot-shaped coagulative necrosis overlapping mode, a complete line-shaped lesion could be formed when D < or = W, while an incomplete line-shape lesion was formed when D > W; under linear scanning mode, a complete line-shaped lesion could be formed using the scanning speed 3mm/s and cycle 1. The results validate that the complete line-shaped lesion can be created with the dosage and exposure parameters optimized for the dimension of a single dot-shaped coagulative necrosis as shown in this study.

[Toxicity of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles on rabbits].

OBJECTIVE: To study the toxicity of nano-hydroxyapatite on rabbits by vein. METHODS: The hydroxyapatite solution was intravenous injected into 50 New Zealand white rabbits with different concentration, then to observe the reactions and the survial rates of rabbits, and to investigate the effects of nano-HA to the liver function, renal function, enzyme and Ca, Mg, P. RESULTS: The medium lethal dosege of nano-HA administrated intravenous (iv) was determined as 200mg/kg. The level of phosphorous increased but calcium and magnesium kept stable. LDH, CPK, GOP and GDT dramatically increased in 30 minutes after injection, arriving the peak at 2 hours later, however, they all returned to normal 24h after injection. BUN and ALP got to the peak at 24 hours later, then decreased rapidly to normal level. The other indexes almost maintained at normal level. CONCLUSION: Nano-hydroxyapatite has no accumulative toxicity to rabbits, it is suggested that it is safe when the hydroxyapatite-sol was applied intravenously as a drug carrier in small dosage more less than the medium lethal dose, even as a kind of anticancer drug.