Self-Flipping Solar Seesaw Evaporators Leverage Scaling to De-Scale.

Salt scaling poses a significant obstacle to the practical implementation of solar-driven evaporation for desalination. Attempts to mitigate scaling by enhancing mass transfer often lead to a compromise in evaporation efficiency due to associated heat loss. In the present work, a novel seesaw evaporator with a Janus structure to harness scaling for periodic self-descaling is reported. The seesaw evaporators are facilely fabricated by delignifying balsa wood and subsequently single-sided spray-coating it with soot and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). This unique Janus structure enables the evaporator to float on the brine while ensuring an ample supply of solution for evaporation. During evaporation, salt ions are transported directionally toward the cocked end of the evaporator to form scaling, triggering the seesaw evaporator to flip once a threshold is reached. The accumulated salts re-dissolve back into the solution. By adjusting the tilt angle, the evaporator can achieve an impressive evaporation rate of up to 2.65 kg m-2  h-1 when evaporating an 8 wt.% NaCl solution. Remarkably, these evaporators maintain a stable evaporation rate during prolonged 120 h operation and produce ≈3.93-6.35 L m⁻2 ·day⁻¹ of freshwater from simulated brines when assembled into an evaporation device.

Prevalence of Sarcoptes scabiei infection in pet dogs in southern China.

Little is known about the prevalence of Sarcoptes scabiei infection in pet dogs in China. In the present study, the prevalence of S. scabiei infection in pet dogs in Guangzhou, southern China, was investigated between January and December, 2009. A total of 3,977 pet dogs admitted to animal hospitals were examined for the presence of S. scabiei using a parasitological approach. The average prevalence of S. scabiei infection in pet dogs is 1.18% (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.85-1.52%). The prevalence of S. scabiei was higher in winter (1.42%; 95% CI: 0.29-2.55%), summer (1.39%; 95% CI: 0.83-1.96%), and autumn (1.1%; 95% CI: 0.53-1.68%) than in spring (0.63%; 95% CI: 0.02-1.25%). Furthermore, the prevalence of S. scabiei was the highest in Pekingese (21.88%; 95% CI: 7.55-36.2%), followed by Papillon (5.26%; 95% CI: 0-11.06%) and Bichon Frise (3.19%; 95% CI: 0-6.75%). The results of the present investigation indicate that S. scabiei infection is prevalent in pet dogs in Guangzhou, China, which provides relevant "baseline" data for conducting control strategies and measures against scabies in this region and elsewhere in China. To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive report of S. scabiei prevalence in pet dogs in China.

Dry eye syndrome model established in rabbits via mitomycin C injection in the lacrimal gland.

PURPOSE: To develop a new dry eye syndrome (DES) animal model by injecting mitomycin C (MMC) into the lacrimal glands (LGs) of rabbits evaluated by clinical examinations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A volume of 0.1 mL of MMC solution was injected in the LG and the infraorbital lobe of the accessory LG of rabbits for DES induction. Twenty male rabbits were separated into three groups, the control group, and different concentration of MMC, (MMC 0.25: 0.25 mg/mL or MMC 0.50: 0.5 mg/mL) were tested. Both MMC-treated groups received MMC twice injection on day 0 and day 7. Assessment of DES included changes in tear production (Schirmer's test), fluorescein staining pattern, conjunctival impression cytology, and corneal histological examination. RESULTS: After MMC injection, no obvious changes in the rabbit's eyes were noted by slit-lamp examination. Both the MMC 0.25 and the MMC 0.5 groups revealed decreased tear secretion after injection, and the MMC 0.25 group showed a continuous decrease in tear secretion up to 14 days. Fluorescent staining showed punctate keratopathy in both MMC-treated groups. In addition, both MMC-treated groups demonstrated decreased numbers of conjunctival goblet cells after injection. CONCLUSION: This model induced decreased tear production, punctate keratopathy, and decreased numbers of goblet cells, which are consistent with the current understanding of DES. Therefore, injecting MMC (0.25 mg/mL) into the LGs is an easy and reliable method to establish a rabbit DES model which can apply in new drug screening.

Development of Lutein-Containing Eye Drops for the Treatment of Dry Eye Syndrome.

Dry eye syndrome (DES) is a common ophthalmological disease that decreases tear secretion and causes dryness, photophobia, pain, severe corneal rupture, and even blindness. Ocular and lacrimal gland inflammation is one of the pathological mechanisms underlying DES. Therefore, effective suppression of inflammation is a crucial strategy for the treatment of DES. Lutein, commonly found in healthy foods, has anti-inflammatory effects in corneal or retina-related cells and may be a potential therapy for DES. The addition of lutein to artificial tears (AT) as an eye-drop formulation for DES treatment in a mouse model was studied in the present work. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was used as a thickener to increase the viscosity of eye drops to prolong drug retention on the ocular surface. A WST-8 assay in human corneal epithelial cells (HCE-2) showed that a concentration of <5 µM lutein (L5) and <1% PVA (P1) maintained the cell viability at 80%. A real-time PCR showed that the inflamed human corneal epithelial cells (HCECs) cocultured with L5P1 had downregulated expression of inflammatory genes such as IL-1ß, IL-6, and TNF-α. In a benzalkonium chloride- (BAC) induced DES mouse model, AT/L5P1 could repair damaged corneas, elevate tear secretion, increase the number of goblet cells, and inhibit the production of inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1ß, IL-6, and TNF-α, in the cornea. In conclusion, we demonstrate that lutein/PVA as eye drops could prolong the drug ocular retention time and effectively to decrease inflammation in DES mice. Therefore, lutein, obtained from eye drops, has a potential therapeutic role for DES.

Poly-Gamma-Glutamic Acid Functions as an Eective Lubricant with Antimicrobial Activity in Multipurpose Contact Lens Care Solutions.

In order to perform the multiple functions of disinfection, cleansing, and storage, preservatives are often added to contact lens care solutions. The disadvantage of adding preservatives is that this often causes various eye conditions. However, lens care solutions would not be able to disinfect in the absence of such preservatives. In addition, comfort is an important issue for contact lens wearers due to the long periods of time they are worn. It has been shown that lower friction coefficients are correlated with increased comfort. We have previously developed a multipurpose contact lens care solution in which poly-gamma-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) was the main ingredient. In this study, we investigated the antimicrobial activity and lubricating property of our care solution. We showed that there was a synergetic effect of γ-PGA and chlorine dioxide on antimicrobial activity. We also demonstrated that γ-PGA functioned as a lubricating agent. Our results provided evidence of γ-PGA acting as a multi-functional polymer that could be applied in contact lens care solutions.

Analysis of risk factors for postoperative recurrence of thyroid cancer.

PURPOSE: The study was designed to analyze the risk factors related to postoperative recurrence of thyroid cancer to reduce the recurrence rate. METHODS: A total of 250 patients with thyroid cancer after operation were collected and divided into non-recurrent group (n=220) and recurrent group (n=30) according to whether the cancer recurred after operation or not. The postoperative recurrence rate of thyroid cancer was analyzed. The general condition, tumor characteristics, surgical approach, conditions of postoperative I131 treatment and pathological type of the two groups of patients were compared. The correlations of the postoperative recurrence of thyroid cancer with clinical risk factors were analyzed by means of Logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The recurrence rate of thyroid cancer after operation was 12%, and the cumulative recurrence rates at 1, 2 and 3 years after operation were 3.20%, 6.00% and 10.40%, respectively. The recurrence rate in males was higher than that in females (p<0.05). The larger tumor diameter, the lower rate of lymph node metastasis and the lower level of tissue differentiation would eventually lead to the higher recurrence rate (p<0.01). Tumor diameter, lymph node metastasis and pathological type were correlated with the postoperative recurrence of thyroid cancer (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Gender, tumor diameter, lymph node metastasis and pathological type are risk factors for recurrence after thyroidectomy.

Comparative Profiling of MicroRNAs in Male and Female Rhipicephalus sanguineus.

Rhipicephalus sanguineus is an ectoparasite of medical and veterinary significance, which can transmit a number of pathogens including Babesia canis, Ehrlichia canis, and Rickettsia conorii. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are recognized as regulators in sex differentiation in dioecious species. We here investigated and compared the miRNA profiles of male and female adults of R. sanguineus by combining Solexa deep sequencing with bioinformatics platform and quantitative real-time PCR. A total of 11.88 and 16.09 million raw reads were obtained from male and female R. sanguineus, respectively. By mapping to the reference genome, 59 and 76 miRNA candidates from the female and male parasite were obtained, with 19 of each consistent with known Ixodes scapularis miRNAs deposited in the miRBase database. Besides, 51 miRNAs were shared by the two genders, and 8 and 25 were female and male specific, respectively. The number of predicted targets of the identified miRNAs ranged from 1 to 383 with an average of 176. Functional analysis showed that a number of predicted targets corresponded to transcription, splicing, and translation factors, elongation factors, and growth factors which were essential for the development of the parasite. Enrichment analysis revealed that some functions of the predicted targets were higher in female than in male, such as antioxidant and electron carrier. The present study firstly described the global profiling of miRNAs in male and female R. sanguineus and identified a number of gender-specific miRNAs, which are likely to participate in the sex differentiation/maintenance process and provide novel resources for better understanding of the biology of the parasite, and may further lead to effective control of the parasite and diseases it causes.

Complete mitochondrial genome sequence data provides genetic evidence that the brown dog tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Acari: Ixodidae) represents a species complex.

Ticks are blood-sucking ectoparasites of great medical and veterinary significance that can transmit bacteria, protozoa, fungi and viruses, and cause a variety of human and animal diseases worldwide. In the present study, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome of Rhipicephalus sanguineus from China (RSC) and compared with that of R. sanguineus from USA (RSU). Nucleotide sequence difference in the full mt genome was 11.23% between RSC and RSU. For the 13 protein-coding genes, comparison revealed sequence divergences at both the nucleotide (9.34-15.65%) and amino acid (2.54-19.23%) levels between RSC and RSU. In addition, sequence comparison of the conserved mt cox1 and cytb genes among multiple individual R. sanguineus revealed substantial nucleotide differences between RSC and RSU but limited sequence variation within RSC. Phylogenetic analysis of ticks based on the amino acid sequence data of 13 protein-coding genes revealed that R. sanguineus from China and R. sanguineus from USA represent sister taxa (likely separate species). Taken together, the findings support the recently proposal that R. sanguineus tick may represents a species complex of at least two closely related species.

Antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in stray and household dogs in Guangzhou, China.

The frequency of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in stray and household dogs in Guangzhou, China was examined by ELISA on serum samples from 150 animals (36 strays and 114 from households) and the overall prevalence was 21.3%. The extent of infection in stray dogs (33.3%) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than in household dogs (17.5%). Infection in male and female dogs of both groups was not significantly different (P >or= 0.05), i.e., 31.8% versus 35.7% for male and female in stray dogs, and 14.5% versus 22.2% in household dogs. The results of the present investigation indicate that the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in dogs was high in Guangzhou, especially in strays. Therefore, it is essential to implement integrated strategies to prevent and control T. gondii infection in both stray and household dogs.