Plasma synthesis of oxygen vacancy-rich CuO/Cu2(OH)3NO3 heterostructure nanosheets for boosting degradation performance.

Defect regulation and the construction of a heterojunction structure are effective strategies to improve the catalytic activity of catalysts. In this work, the rapid conversion of CuO to Cu2(OH)3NO3 was achieved by fixing nitrogen in air as NO3- using dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma. This innovative approach resulted in the successful synthesis of a CuO/Cu2(OH)3NO3 nanosheet heterostructure. Notably, the samples prepared using plasma exhibit thinner thickness and larger specific surface area. Importantly, oxygen vacancies are introduced, simultaneously forming heterojunction interfaces within the CuO/Cu2(OH)3NO3 structure. CuO/Cu2(OH)3NO3 using plasma effectively degraded 96% of methyl orange within 8 min in the dark. The degradation rate is 81 and 23 times that of CuO and Cu2(OH)3NO3 using hydrothermal methods, respectively. The high catalytic activity is attributed to the large specific surface area, the abundance of active sites, and the synergy between oxygen vacancies and the strong heterojunction interfacial interactions, which accelerate the transfer of electrons and the production of reactive oxygen species (˙O2- and ˙OH). The mechanism of plasma preparation was proposed on account of microstructure characterization and online mass spectroscopy, which indicated that gas etching, gas expansion, and the repulsive force of electrons play key roles in plasma exfoliation.

Cold plasma synthesis of phosphorus-doped CoFe2O4 with oxygen vacancies for enhanced OER activity.

Spinel-type metal oxides are promising electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) due to their unique electronic structure and low cost. Herein, we induced oxygen vacancies and doped phosphorus into CoFe2O4 using cold plasma. The abundant oxygen vacancies enhanced hydrophilicity and modified the electronic structure of CoFe2O4, while the phosphorus doping formed numerous new active centers. The doped P and formed FeP promoted the charge transfer and improved the conductivity of the catalyst. The phosphorus-doped CoFe2O4 exhibited exceptional OER activity with an overpotential of 180 mV at 10 mA cm-2 and a Tafel slope of 65.8 mV dec-1 in an alkaline electrolyte. DFT calculations confirmed that phosphorus doping can improve the charge distribution near the Fermi level and optimize the d-band center position.

Plasma-assisted defect engineering of N-doped NiCo2O4 for efficient oxygen reduction.

Defect control is a promising way to enhance the electrocatalysis performance of metal oxides. Oxygen vacancy enriched NiCo2O4 was successfully prepared using cold plasma. Oxygen as a plasma-forming gas introduces oxygen vacancies via electron etching. The concentration of oxygen vacancies can be controlled by different plasma-forming gas. CoO, which formed on the plasma samples, is beneficial for quick charge transfer and electrocatalytic performance. A high amount of nitrogen atoms of up to 10.1% was doped on NiCo2O4 because of the enriched oxygen vacancies and improved the stability of the oxygen defects and the conductivity of the catalyst. Electrocatalytic studies showed that the plasma-induced N-doped NiCo2O4 shows enhanced electrocatalytic performance for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). It shows a typical four-electron process that considerably improves the current density and onset potential. The HO2- % was as low as 0.59% and current density was 4.9 mA cm-2 at 0.2 V (Vs. RHE) on the plasma-treated NiCo2O4. Calculations based on density functional theory reveal the mechanism for the promotion of the catalytic ORR activity via plasma treatment. This increases the electron density near the Fermi level, reducing the work function, and changing the position of the d-band center.

Effect of embryo vitrification on the expression of brain tissue proteins in mouse offspring.

Vitrification is widely used in assisted reproductive technologies. However, the nervous system of vitrification offspring is of concern, and research on this is lacking. Vitrification-born mice (vitrification group), conventional in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer pregnancy-born mice (IVF group), and natural pregnancy-born mice (control group) were used to study the effects of vitrification of mouse embryos on protein levels in the brain of offspring. Proteins differentially expressed among the three groups were analyzed using proteomic methods, including two-dimensional electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, and bioinformatics analysis. Immunohistochemistry was used to verify the expression of differentially expressed proteins, such as Actb and Actg1, in each group. Twenty differentially expressed proteins in the brain tissue were identified using two-dimensional protein electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that these proteins were related to the development of anatomical structure, signal transduction, transport, cell differentiation, and stress response (biological processes) and the binding of molecules in vivo (molecular functions). The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis showed that the differentially expressed proteins were involved in 54 pathways, including phagosome, metabolic pathway, apoptosis, and cysteine and methionine metabolism. Thus, embryo vitrification may cause some changes in the mouse brain at the protein level, necessitating further safety assessment.

Clinical adverse events to dexmedetomidine: a real-world drug safety study based on the FAERS database.

Objective: Adverse events associated with dexmedetomidine were analyzed using data from the FDA's FAERS database, spanning from 2004 to the third quarter of 2023. This analysis serves as a foundation for monitoring dexmedetomidine's safety in clinical applications. Methods: Data on adverse events associated with dexmedetomidine were standardized and analyzed to identify clinical adverse events closely linked to its use. This analysis employed various signal quantification analysis algorithms, including Reporting Odds Ratio (ROR), Proportional Reporting Ratio (PRR), Bayesian Confidence Propagation Neural Network (BCPNN), and Multi-Item Gamma Poisson Shrinker (MGPS). Results: In the FAERS database, dexmedetomidine was identified as the primary suspect in 1,910 adverse events. Our analysis encompassed 26 organ system levels, from which we selected 346 relevant Preferred Terms (PTs) for further examination. Notably, adverse drug reactions such as diabetes insipidus, abnormal transcranial electrical motor evoked potential monitoring, acute motor axonal neuropathy, and trigeminal cardiac reflex were identified. These reactions are not explicitly mentioned in the drug's specification, indicating the emergence of new signals for adverse drug reactions. Conclusion: Data mining in the FAERS database has elucidated the characteristics of dexmedetomidine-related adverse drug reactions. This analysis enhances our understanding of dexmedetomidine's drug safety, aids in the clinical management of pharmacovigilance studies, and offers valuable insights for refining drug-use protocols.

Defect Engineering for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reaction on Transition Metal Oxides: The Role of Metal Defects.

Metal defect engineering is a highly effective strategy for addressing the prevalent high overpotential issues associated with transition metal oxides functioning as dual-function commercial oxygen reduction reaction/oxygen evolution reaction catalysts for increasing their activity and stability. However, the high formation energy of metal defects poses a challenge to the development of strategies to precisely control the selectivity during metal defect formation. Here, density functional theory calculations are used to demonstrate that altering the pathway of metal defect formation releases metal atoms as metal chlorides, which effectively reduces the formation energy of defects. The metal defects on the monometallic metal oxide surface (Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni) are selectively produced using chlorine plasma. The characterization and density functional theory calculations reveal that catalytic activity is enhanced owing to electronic delocalization induced by metal defects, which reduces the theoretical overpotential. Notably, ab initio molecular dynamics calculations, ex situ XPS, and in situ ATR-SEIRAS suggest that metal defects effectively improve the adsorption of reactive species on active sites and enhance the efficiency of product desorption, thereby boosting catalytic performance.

Bioinspired Mechanically Robust and Recyclable Hydrogel Microfibers Based on Hydrogen-Bond Nanoclusters.

Mechanically robust hydrogel fibers have demonstrated great potential in energy dissipation and shock-absorbing applications. However, developing such materials that are recyclable, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly remains an enormous challenge. Herein, inspired by spider silk, a continuous and scalable method is introduced for spinning a polyacrylamide hydrogel microfiber with a hierarchical sheath-core structure under ambient conditions. Applying pre-stretch and twist in the as-spun hydrogel microfibers results in a tensile strength of 525 MPa, a toughness of 385 MJ m-3, and a damping capacity of 99%, which is attributed to the reinforcement of hydrogen-bond nanoclusters within the microfiber matrix. Moreover, it maintains both structural and mechanical stability for several days, and can be directly dissolved in water, providing a sustainable spinning dope for re-spinning into new microfibers. This work provides a new strategy for the spinning of robust and recyclable hydrogel-based fibrous materials.

Low hysteresis, water retention, anti-freeze multifunctional hydrogel strain sensor for human-machine interfacing and real-time sign language translation.

Hydrogel strain sensors have received increasing attention due to their potential applications in human-machine interfaces and flexible electronics. However, they usually suffer from both mechanical and electrical hysteresis and poor water retention, which limit their practical applications. To address this challenge, a poly(acrylic acid-co-acrylamide) hydrogel crosslinked by silica nanoparticles is fabricated via photo polymerization and salting-out of hydrophilic ions for the strain sensor. The resulting hydrogel strain sensor possessed low electrical hysteresis (1.6%), low mechanical hysteresis (<7%), high cycle stability (>10 000 cycles), high durability, water retention and anti-freezing ability. Moreover, this strain sensor can be used as a wearable sensor for real-time control of robotic hands and hand gesture recognition. Finally, a sign language translation system has been demonstrated with the aid of machine learning, achieving recognition rates of over 98% for 15 different sign languages. This work offers a promising prospect for human-machine interfaces, smart wearable devices, and the Internet of Things.

New Media, Digitalization, and the Evolution of the Professional Sport Industry.

The professional sport industry achieved tremendous success in the traditional broadcast media age, established a multi-sided market and an effective business model for revenue growth. However, the emergence and proliferation of the new media technologies have drastically changed the media landscape, creating a much more complicated cross-media environment that unites popularity and personalization, structure and agency. Such a changing environment creates transformations within the professional sport industry, and adapting to these transformations will lead to the evolution of the professional sport industry and its success in the digital media age.

[Retracted] MicroRNA­1297 inhibits metastasis and epithelial­mesenchymal transition by targeting AEG­1 in cervical cancer.

Following the publication of this paper, it was drawn to the Editors' attention by a concerned reader that certain of the immunohistochemical data shown in Fig. 4C and the cell migration assay data shown in Fig. 3B and D and Fig. 7B and D were strikingly similar to data that had appeared in different form in other articles by different authors. Owing to the fact that the contentious data in the above article had already been published elsewhere, or were already under consideration for publication, prior to its submission to Oncology Reports, the Editor has decided that this paper should be retracted from the Journal. After having been in contact with the authors, they agreed with the decision to retract the paper. The Editor apologizes to the readership for any inconvenience caused. [Oncology Reports 38: 3121­3129, 2017; DOI: 10.3892/or.2017.5979].

Electron-assisted synthesis of g-C3N4/MoS2 composite with dual defects for enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalysis.

g-C3N4/MoS2 composites were successfully prepared by an electron-assisted strategy in one step. Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma as an electron source, which has low bulk temperature and high electron energy, can etch and modify the surface of g-C3N4/MoS2. The abundant N and S vacancies were introduced in the composites by plasma. The dual defects promoted the recombination and formation of heterojunctions of the g-C3N4/MoS2 composite. It exhibited stronger light harvesting ability and higher charge separation efficiency than that of pure g-C3N4 and MoS2. Compared with the sample by traditional calcination method, the plasma-sample showed better performance for degrading rhodamine B (RhB) and methyl orange. RhB is completely degraded within 2 hours on g-C3N4/MoS2 by plasma. A mechanism for the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants via the composites was proposed. An electron-assisted strategy provides a green and effective platform to achieve catalysts with improved performance.

Characteristics of the patients with adnexal torsion and outcomes of different surgical procedures: A retrospective study.

There is no uniform standard to assess the viability of the ovary and choose conservative surgery or radical surgery for patients with adnexal torsion. This retrospective study aims to explore the characteristics of patients with adnexal torsion and the outcomes of different surgical procedures.A retrospective analysis of 174 cases diagnosed with adnexal torsion at our hospital between January 2005 and October 2014 was performed. Patients' clinical characteristics, surgical procedures, and postoperative recovery were analyzed.Of the cases, 31 (17.82%) did not have any emergent symptom; adnexal torsion were found during other surgeries. Among all 174 adnexal torsion patients, 14 cases received conservative treatment, including anti-inflammatory treatment, and 8 (58.1%) were pregnant. Of the cases, 160 underwent surgical treatment: 144 (90%) were confirmed to have ovary/ovarian cyst torsion, among whom 26 (18.1%) had their adnexa retained (group A) and 118 (81.9%) underwent adnexectomy (group B). Age, time of torsion, and rounds of torsion in group A were significantly less than in group B. None of the patients with adnexa preservation surgery had any complication, such as abdominal infection or thrombotic diseases.Patients with ovary/ovarian cyst torsion can attempt to preserve the ovaries without serious clinical complications; there were no severe complications such as embolism after the conservative surgeries in this study.

MicroRNA-1297 inhibits metastasis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition by targeting AEG-1 in cervical cancer.

Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that aberrant miRNAs contribute to cervical cancer (CC) development and progression. However, the roles of various miRNAs in CC remain to be determined. In the present study, we confirmed that a decreased miR-1297 expression was present in CC tissues and cell lines. Our clinical analysis revealed that the downregulated miR-1297 expression was significantly correlated with poor prognostic features including lymph node metastasis and lymphovascular space invasion. Moreover, we confirmed that miR-1297 was a novel independent prognostic marker for predicting the 5-year survival of CC patients. The ectopic overexpression of miR-1297 inhibited cell migration, invasion and EMT progression, while downregulated miR-1297 reversed these effects. In addition, miR-1297 regulated AEG-1 by directly binding to its 3'-UTR. In clinical samples of CC, miR-1297 was inversely correlated with AEG-1, which was upregulated in CC. Alteration of AEG-1 expression at least partially abolished the migration, invasion and EMT progression effects of miR-1297 on CC cells. In conclusion, our results indicated that miR-1297 functioned as a tumor suppressor gene in regulating the EMT and metastasis of CC via targeting of AEG-1, and may represent a novel potential therapeutic target and prognostic marker for CC.