Optical feedback noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical heterodyne molecular spectrometry for sub-Doppler-broadened detection of C2H2.

A novel, to the best of our knowledge, noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical heterodyne molecular spectrometry (NICE-OHMS) has been developed, utilizing optical feedback for laser-to-cavity locking with a common distributed-feedback diode laser. The system incorporates active control of the feedback phase and feedforward control of the laser current, allowing for consecutive laser frequency detuning by scanning a piezoelectric transducer (PZT) attached to the cavity. To enhance the fidelity of the spectroscopic signal, wavelength-modulated (wm) NICE-OHMS is implemented. Benefiting from the optical feedback, a modulation frequency of 15 kHz is achieved, surpassing the frequencies typically used in traditional NICE-OHMS setups. Then, the sub-Doppler-broadened wm-NICE-OHMS signal of acetylene at 1.53 µm is observed. A seven-fold improvement in signal to noise ratio has been demonstrated compared to NICE-OHMS alone and a limit of detection of 6.1 × 10-10cm-1 is achieved.

Optical feedback noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical heterodyne molecular spectrometry for sub-Doppler-broadened detection of C2H2: publisher's note.

This publisher's note contains a correction to Opt. Lett.49, 202 (2024)10.1364/OL.507004.

Enhancing CO2 capture of an aminoethylethanolamine-based non-aqueous absorbent by using tertiary amine as a proton-transfer mediator: From performance to mechanism.

Non-aqueous absorbents (NAAs) have attracted increasing attention for CO2 capture because of their great energy-saving potential. Primary diamines which can provide high CO2 absorption loading are promising candidates for formulating NAAs but suffer disadvantages in regenerability. In this study, a promising strategy that using tertiary amines (TAs) as proton-transfer mediators was proposed to enhance the regenerability of an aminoethylethanolamine (AEEA, diamine)/dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) (A/D) NAA. Surprisingly, some employed TAs such as N,N-diethylaminoethanol (DEEA), N,N,N',N'',N''-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA), 3-dimethylamino-1-propanol (3DMA1P), and N,N-dimethylethanolamine (DMEA) enhanced not only the regenerability of the A/D NAA but also the CO2 absorption performance. Specifically, the CO2 absorption loading and cyclic loading were increased by about 12.7% and 15.5%-22.7%, respectively. The TA-enhanced CO2 capture mechanism was comprehensively explored via nuclear magnetic resonance technique and quantum chemical calculations. During CO2 absorption, the TA acted as an ultimate proton acceptor for AEEA-zwitterion and enabled more AEEA to form carbamate species (AEEACOO-) to store CO2, thus enhancing CO2 absorption. For CO2 desorption, the TA first provided protons directly to AEEACOO- as a proton donor; moreover, it functioned as a proton carrier and facilitated the low-energy step-wise proton transfer from protonated AEEA to AEEACOO-. Consequently, the presence of TA made it easier for AEEACOO- to obtain protons to decompose, resulting in enhanced CO2 desorption. In a word, introducing the TA as a proton-transfer mediator into the A/D NAA enhanced both the CO2 absorption performance and the regenerability, which was an efficient way to "kill two birds with one stone".

Self-calibrated NICE-OHMS based on an asymmetric signal: theoretical analysis and experimental validation.

As an ultra-sensitive detection technique, the noise-immune cavity enhanced optical heterodyne molecular spectroscopy (NICE-OHMS) technique has great potential for assessment of the concentration of trace gases. To determine gas concentrations at the ppt or lower level with high accuracy, it is desirable that the technique exhibits self-calibration (or calibration-free) capabilities. Although being sensitive, NICE-OHMS has so far not demonstrated any such ability. To remedy this, this paper provides a self-calibrated realization of NICE-OHMS that is based on a switching of the feedback target of the DeVoe-Brewer (DVB) locking procedure from the modulation frequency of the frequency modulation spectroscopy (FMS) to the cavity length, which creates an asymmetrical signal whose form and size can be used to unambiguously assess the gas concentration. A comprehensive theoretical model for self-calibrated NICE-OHMS is established by analyzing the shift of cavity modes caused by intracavity absorption, demonstrating that gas absorption information can be encoded in both the laser frequency and the NICE-OHMS signal. To experimentally verify the methodology, we measure a series of dispersion signals under different levels of absorbance using a built experimental setup. An instrument factor and the partial pressure are obtained by fitting the measured signal through theoretical expressions. Our results demonstrate that fitted values are more accurate for higher partial pressures than for lower. To improve on the accuracy at low partial pressures, it is shown that the instrument factor obtained by fitting the signal at large partial pressures (in this case, above 7.8 µTorr) can be set to a fixed value for all fits. By this, the partial pressures can be assessed with a relative error below 0.65%. This technique has the potential to enable calibration-free ultra-sensitive gas detection.

Non-Interacting Ni and Fe Dual-Atom Pair Sites in N-Doped Carbon Catalysts for Efficient Concentrating Solar-Driven Photothermal CO2 Reduction.

Solar-to-chemical energy conversion under weak solar irradiation is generally difficult to meet the heat demand of CO2 reduction. Herein, a new concentrated solar-driven photothermal system coupling a dual-metal single-atom catalyst (DSAC) with adjacent Ni-N4 and Fe-N4 pair sites is designed for boosting gas-solid CO2 reduction with H2 O under simulated solar irradiation, even under ambient sunlight. As expected, the (Ni, Fe)-N-C DSAC exhibits a superior photothermal catalytic performance for CO2 reduction to CO (86.16 µmol g-1 h-1 ), CH4 (135.35 µmol g-1 h-1 ) and CH3 OH (59.81 µmol g-1 h-1 ), which are equivalent to 1.70-fold, 1.27-fold and 1.23-fold higher than those of the Fe-N-C catalyst, respectively. Based on theoretical simulations, the Fermi level and d-band center of Fe atom is efficiently regulated in non-interacting Ni and Fe dual-atom pair sites with electronic interaction through electron orbital hybridization on (Ni, Fe)-N-C DSAC. Crucially, the distance between adjacent Ni and Fe atoms of the Ni-N-N-Fe configuration means that the additional Ni atom as a new active site contributes to the main *COOH and *HCO3 dissociation to optimize the corresponding energy barriers in the reaction process, leading to specific dual reaction pathways (COOH and HCO3 pathways) for solar-driven photothermal CO2 reduction to initial CO production.

Fiber pigtailed DFB laser-based optical feedback cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy with a fiber-coupled EOM for phase correction.

A novel technique for performing fiber pigtailed DFB laser and linear Fabry-Pérot cavity based optical feedback cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy (OF-CEAS) is proposed. A fiber-coupled electro-optic modulator (f-EOM) with x-cut y-propagation LiNbO3 waveguide is employed, instead of PZT used in traditional OF-CEAS, to correct the feedback phase, which improves the compactness and applicability of OF-CEAS. Through the efficient and real-time control of the feedback phase by actively changing the input voltage of the f-EOM, a good long-term stability of the signal has been achieved. Consequently, a detection sensitivity down to 7.8×10-10 cm-1, better than the previous by PZT based OF-CEAS, has been achieved over the integration time of 200 s, even by use of a cavity with moderate finesse of 2850.

Distinct Composition and Assembly Processes of Bacterial Communities in a River from the Arid Area: Ecotypes or Habitat Types?

The composition, function, and assembly mechanism of the bacterial community are the focus of microbial ecology. Unsupervised machine learning may be a better way to understand the characteristics of bacterial metacommunities compared to the empirical habitat types. In this study, the composition, potential function, and assembly mechanism of the bacterial community in the arid river were analysed. The Dirichlet multinomial mixture method recognised four ecotypes across the three habitats (biofilm, water, and sediment). The bacterial communities in water are more sensitive to human activities. Bacterial diversity and richness in water decreased as the intensity of human activities increased from the region of water II to water I. Significant differences in the composition and potential function profile of bacterial communities between water ecotypes were also observed, such as higher relative abundance in the taxonomic composition of Firmicutes and potential function of plastic degradation in water I than those in water II. Habitat filtering may play a more critical role in the assembly of bacterial communities in the river biofilm, while stochastic processes dominate the assembly process of bacterial communities in water and sediment. In water I, salinity and mean annual precipitation were the main drivers shaping the biogeography of taxonomic structure, while mean annual temperature, total organic carbon, and ammonium nitrogen were the main environmental factors influencing the taxonomic structure in water II. These results would provide conceptual frameworks about choosing habitat types or ecotypes for the research of microbial communities among different niches in the aquatic environment.

A ratiometric fluorescence method based on nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots for the determination of the activity of alkaline phosphatase.

Herein, a simple and sensitive ratiometric fluorescence sensing platform to detect alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity is developed on the basis of yellow fluorescent nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (YNCDs). The hydrolysis of ascorbic acid 2-phosphate (AAP) into ascorbic acid (AA) is catalyzed by ALP. Then, AA will react with o-phenylenediamine (OPD) to form 3-(1,2-dihydroxyethyl)furo[3,4b]-quinoxaline (QXD) which is a blue fluorescent quinoxaline derivative with emission at 435 nm in the presence of Cu2+. YNCDs have yellow fluorescence emission at 555 nm, and can maintain stable in QXD reaction system. Therefore, by utilizing the fluorescence of YNCDs at 555 nm as reference signal and the fluorescence of QXD at 435 nm as report signal, we can detect the ALP activity by monitoring the fluorescence ratio (F435/F555). The linear range is 0.5-5 U/L, and the limit of detection is 0.14 U/L. An application of this method for the analysis of ALP in human serum has given satisfactory results. A ratiometric fluorescent nanoprobe for ascorbic acid and alkaline phosphatase detection with excellent biocompatible and high sensitivity was successfully constructed based on YNCDs and QXD.

Co, N co-doped porous carbon-based nanozyme as an oxidase mimic for fluorescence and colorimetric biosensing of butyrylcholinesterase activity.

A Co, N co-doped porous carbon-based nanozyme (Co-N-C nanozyme) has been fabricated. Taking advantages of the excellent oxidase catalytic activity and significant stability of Co-N-C nanozyme, we propose a fluorescence and colorimetric system based on Co-N-C nanozyme and red-emitting carbon quantum dots (RCDs) for butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) sensing. As the chromogenic substrate 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) was catalyzed and oxidized by Co-N-C nanozyme, the generated oxTMB had a new absorption peak at 652 nm, which resulted in the significant quenching of the fluorescence of the carbon quantum dots at 610 nm. Under the catalysis of BChE, thiocholine was generated from the hydrolysis of S-butyrylthiocholine iodide (BTCh), and the as-generated thiocholine effectively inhibited the oxidation of TMB catalyzed by Co-N-C nanozyme, leading to a decrease of the absorption of oxTMB at 652 nm and effective fluorescence recovery of RCDs. By measuring the absorbance of produced oxTMB at 652 nm and the fluorescence of RCDs at 610 nm, the fluorescence and colorimetric system both exhibited an outstanding linear response to the activity of BChE in the range 0.5 to 40 U L-1, with a detection limit of 0.16 U L-1 and 0.21 U L-1, respectively. Furthermore, this established dual-channel biosensing strategy has been successfully applied to the determination of BChE in human serum samples. The present work has effectively expanded the development and application of nanozyme in biosensing.

Fabrication of Bioresource-Derived Porous Carbon-Supported Iron as an Efficient Oxidase Mimic for Dual-Channel Biosensing.

Herein, we designed a new strategy for fabricating a renewable bioresource-derived N-doped hierarchical porous carbon-supported iron (Fe/NPC)-based oxidase mimic. The obtained results suggested that Fe/NPC possessed a large specific surface area (1144 m2/g) and pore volume (0.62 cm3/g) to afford extensive Fe-Nx active sites. Taking advantages of the remarkable oxidase-mimicking activity, outstanding stability, and reusability of Fe/NPC, a novel dual-channel biosensing system was strategically fabricated for sensitively determining acetylcholinesterase (AChE) through the integration of Fe/NPC and fluorescent silver nanoclusters (AgNCs) for the first time. The limits of detection for AChE can achieve as low as 0.0032 and 0.0073 U/L by the outputting fluorometric and colorimetric dual signals, respectively. Additionally, this dual-signal system was applied to analyze human erythrocyte AChE and its inhibitor with robust analytical performance. This work provides one sustainable and effective avenue to apply a bioresource for fabricating an Fe/NPC-based oxidase mimic with high catalytic performance and also gives new impetuses for developing novel biosensors by applying Fe/NPC-based enzyme mimics as substitutes for the natural enzyme.

Fe-N-C single-atom nanozymes with peroxidase-like activity for the detection of alkaline phosphatase.

Single-atom nanozymes have drawn wide attention in bio-sensing for their remarkable merits such as low cost, high stability, and maximum atom utilization. Herein, a colorimetric strategy based on Fe-N-C single-atom nanozymes (Fe/NC-SAs) was established for the detection of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity. The Fe/NC-SAs prepared by pyrolysis have excellent peroxidase-like activity and can oxidize 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to a blue color product in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). When ascorbic acid (AA) is added to the system, the blue color fades, and the absorbance has a linear relationship with the concentration of AA. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) can catalyze the hydrolysis of ascorbic acid 2-phosphate (AAP) to produce AA. Thus, a strategy based on Fe/NC-SAs for the detection of ALP activity was established, which provided a linear range of 0.1-1.5 U L-1 and a limit of detection as low as 0.05 U L-1. Besides, Fe/NC-SAs showed high stability under harsh conditions. Moreover, an Fe/NC-SA-based assay was successfully validated using human serum samples for ALP determination with satisfactory results, and has broad prospects in the field of biosensing.

Requirements for Study Registration and Adherence to Reporting Guidelines in Surgery Journals: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Reporting guidelines and study registration can minimize bias and improve the reporting quality of biomedical research, but may not be fully utilized. The objective of this study was to investigate the policies of surgery journals as for reporting guidelines and study registration and explore associated journal characteristic variables. METHODS: Study samples were obtained from the Expanded Science Citation Index of the 2018 Journal Citation Reports (surgery category). The online guides for authors were browsed to identify which journals endorsed reporting guidelines and study registration. The predictors related to the endorsement were explored by using Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression analysis, respectively. RESULTS: One hundred and eighty-eight surgery journals were included in our study. One hundred and sixty-three journals (86.7%) endorsed reporting guidelines and 103 journals (54.8%) endorsed study registration. About reporting guidelines, ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) recommendations were the most frequently endorsed (n = 155, 82.4%) by journals, followed by CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement (n = 94, 50.0%). About study registration, randomized controlled trial registration was endorsed by 101 (53.7%) journals, whereas the systematic review registration was endorsed by only 9 journals (4.8%). The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that not North America, higher JCR (Journal Citation Reports) rank journals were more likely to endorse reporting guidelines and study registration. CONCLUSIONS: Surgery journals frequently use reporting guidelines, but nearly half of journals did not require study registration. Implementing these two mechanisms can prevent bias, and their adoption should be strengthened by authors, reviewers and journal editors in surgery.

Repetitive brief ischemia accelerates tibial shaft fracture healing: a 5-years prospective preliminary clinical trial (PCT).

BACKGROUND: This study was to evaluate the effects of repetitive brief ischemia (RBI) on bone healing in patients with tibial shaft fractures. METHODS: In this prospective clinical trial, patients with tibia shaft fractures were enrolled between January 2016 and January 2021. The intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) device was used to make RBI on the affected limb after surgical operation 24 h. The inflation pressure was the systolic pressure of patients + 50 mmHg. Patients were received 30 s inflation/30 s deflation 30 times twice a day for 4 weeks. The primary outcome was bone healing time and the secondary outcomes were the rates of delayed union and nonunion, the rates of venous thrombosis of lower limbs, Johner-Wruhs scores, Lysholm knee score, VAS scores, postoperative complications, serum BMP-2, osteocalcin (OC) and bone specific alkaline phosphatase (BS-ALP). RESULTS: A total of 32 patients were enrolled finally and all were completed with a 12 months follow-up. All the fractures were healed and the bone healing time was 3(1) months in RBI group. However, the bone healing time of control group was 4(1) and there was statistical difference between the two groups (p < 0.01). No patient with fracture delayed union, nonunion and venous thrombosis of lower limbs in RBI group. 2 patients were delayed union in the control group. In RBI group, the Lysholm knee score was 83(6) at 6 months and 100(8) at 12 months. In the control group, the score was 78(4) and 90.5(17), there was statistical difference between the two groups (p < 0.01, p = 0.014, respectively). VAS scores were postoperative 2 weeks 6(1) in RBI group and 7(0.5) in the control group, there was statistical difference between the two groups (p = 0.016). There were 2 patients with intramuscular venous thrombosis of lower extremity in control group. Besides, RBI treatment increased the serum BMP-2, OC and BS-ALP at postoperative 2 weeks and 1 month. CONCLUSIONS: RBI is a new method to accelerate bone healing in tibia shaft fracture patients and is a simple and noninvasive method. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese clinical trial registry, ChiCTR-INR-17014208 . Registered 28 December 2017-Retrospectively registered.

The reporting quality of observational studies relevant to the STROBE-nut statement in journals of nutrition.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Observational studies play a vital role in nutrition journals, but no studies have assessed the reporting quality of observational studies after the publication of the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE)-nutritional epidemiology (STROBE-nut) statement in 2016. This study assessed the reporting quality of observational studies published in high-impact-factor nutrition journals by using the STROBE-nut statement and explored factors affecting the reporting quality. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: All observational studies published in those journals were retrieved using the PubMed database from inception to May 1, 2019. The reporting quality of the included articles was assessed as per the STROBE-nut statement checklist. Compliance with each item of the statement and the total STROBE-nut score were calculated. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify potential factors associated with reporting quality. RESULTS: Of the 964 observational studies identified, a random sample of 200 articles was considered for analysis. The median compliance with items was 74.0%. Seven items (12.07%) were reported in <10.0% of articles, with STROBE 10 (3.00%), nut-12.2 (2.50%), and nut-14 (2.00%) having the lowest reporting rates. The mean STROBE-nut score was 40.35, which was suboptimal. STROBE-nut scores were higher for cohort studies (p=0.04) and when statisticians or epidemiologists were involved in the study (p=0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Observational studies published in nutrition journals were found to have suboptimal reporting quality. Nutrition journals should endorse the STROBEnut statement checklist for observational studies to improve reporting quality and provide readers with reliable evidence.

Porous Nanosheet Assembly for Macrocyclization and Self-Release.

Macrocyclic structures are challenging synthetic targets owing to various potential applications ranging from drug discovery to nanomaterials. Their use, however, is highly limited due to synthetic difficulties arising from an entropic penalty for folding of linear chains. Here, we report single-layered porous nanosheets with 2D ordered internal cavities that act as a highly efficient macrocycle generator, changing linear substrates to release as macrocycles in aqueous methanol solution. The nanosheets with hydrophobic cavities encapsulate a linear substrate with nearly perfect uptake, perform clean cyclization, and then spontaneously release as a pure macrocycle. The self-separation of the macrocycle that precipitates from the solution leads to repeated cycles of macrocycle generation; thereby, the single-layered porous materials enabling catch and release offer a powerful novel strategy for repeated macrocycle generation.

Low expressions of PD-L1 and CTLA-4 by induced CD4+CD25+ Foxp3+ Tregs in patients with SLE and their correlation with the disease activity.

BACKGROUND: The induction of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg from CD4+CD25- T cells is deficient in the patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Whether the induced CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs possess defective function remains unclear. The purpose of the present research was to study the expression differences of functional membrane molecule between SLE patients and healthy controls by the induced CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg, in order to achieve a better understanding for the function deficiency of Treg in SLE. METHODS: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from healthy donors and SLE patients were used to separated CD4+CD25- T cells. These CD4+CD25- T cells were induced to differentiate into CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs through incubating with CD3 and CD28 antibodies, TGF-ß, IL-2 and rapamycin in vitro. Flow cytometry was applied to analyze the expressions of PD-1, PD-L1, CTLA-4, mTGF-ß, LAP, CD39, mIL-10 and cIL-10, by the induced CD4+CD25+ T cells and the induced CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs. RESULTS: (1) The induced CD4+CD25+ T cells and the induced CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs of both healthy controls and SLE patients both highly expressed PD-1. Nevertheless, the expressions of PD-L1 by the induced CD4+CD25+ T cells and the induced CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs in SLE patients were significantly lower than those in healthy controls, which were negatively correlated with SLEDAI; (2) The expressions of CTLA-4 by the induced CD4+CD25+ T cells and the induced CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs in SLE patients were also significantly reduced as compared with those in healthy controls, which were negatively correlated with SLEDAI; (3) As compared with healthy controls, the expressions of mTGF-ß by the induced CD4+CD25+ T cells and the induced CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs were also reduced in SLE patients, but there was no significant difference between active and inactive patients. While the expressions of LAP between SLE patients and healthy controls did not show significant difference; (4) The expressions of CD39 and mIL-10 displayed scarce significant differences between healthy controls and SLE patients, while the expressions of cIL-10 by the induced CD4+CD25+ T cells and the induced CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs in SLE patients were significantly increased, which were not correlated with SLEDAI. CONCLUSION: There were deficiencies in the expressions of PD-L1 and CTLA-4 in the induced CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg of SLE patients, which might be associated with the defective development and function of Treg involved in the pathological process of SLE.

Evaluation of the reporting quality of observational studies in master of public health dissertations in China.

BACKGROUNDS: Master of public health (MPH) plays an important role in Chinese medical education, and the dissertations is an important part of MPH education. In MPH dissertations, most are observational studies. Compared with randomized controlled trial (RCT), observational studies are more prone to information bias. So, the reporting of the observational studies should be transparent and standard. But, no research on evaluating the reporting quality of the MPH dissertation has been found. METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed in the Wanfang database from January 1, 2014 to May 31, 2019. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observation Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement was adopted to evaluate the reporting quality of the selected studies. Articles that met the following criteria were selected: (1) observational studies, including cross-sectional studies, case-control studies, and cohort studies; (2) original articles; (3) studies on humans, including both adults and children. RESULTS: The Median of compliance to individual STROBE items was 74.79%. The mean (standard deviation) of STROBE score was 14.29 (1.84). Five items/sub-items were 100% reported ("reported" and "partly reported" were combined): background, objectives, study design, report numbers of individuals at each stage, and key result. Fifteen items/sub-items were reported by 75% or more. Reporting of methods and results was often omitted: missing data (6.67%), sensitivity analyses (3.63%), flow diagram (15.15%), and absolute risk (0%). Logistic regression analysis indicated that cohort studies (OR = 3.41, 95% CI = 1.27-9.16), funding support (OR = 4.37, 95% CI = 1.27-9.16) and more published papers during postgraduate period (OR = 3.46, 95% CI = 1.40-8.60) were related to high reporting quality. CONCLUSION: In short, the reporting quality of observational studies in MPH's dissertations in China is suboptimal. However, it's necessary to improve the reporting of method and results sections. We recommend that authors should be stricter to adhere STROBE statement when conducting observational studies.

Viral metagenomics reveals sapoviruses of different genogroups in stool samples from children with acute gastroenteritis in Jiangsu, China.

Sapoviruses (SAVs), including several genogroups (GI to GV), are one of the causes of acute gastroenteritis (AGE). In this study, viral metagenomics revealed the presence of sapoviruses of different genogroups in stool from children with AGE. Eight different complete SAV genomes were determined, of which five belonged to GI and the other three belonged to GII, GIV and GV, respectively. Although they were highly similar to published sequences, the GIV and GV were the first complete genome sequences of these SAVs found in China. In a prevalence investigation, 19% of subjects with AGE were positive for SAVs, while none of the control group was positive.

Novel Nonaqueous Liquid-Liquid Biphasic Solvent for Energy-Efficient Carbon Dioxide Capture with Low Corrosivity.

To address the problems of the relatively high energy penalty and corrosivity of aqueous biphasic solvents, a novel nonaqueous biphasic solvent composed of 2-((2-aminoethyl)amino)ethanol (AEEA), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and N,N,N',N″,N″-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) was proposed for CO2 capture. With optimization, this novel AEEA-DMSO-PMDETA (A-D-P) biphasic solvent could achieve a high CO2 loading of 1.75 mol·mol-1, of which 96.8% of the absorbed CO2 was enriched in the lower phase with only 49.6% of the total volume. 13C NMR analysis and quantum calculations revealed that A-D-P could absorb CO2 to form not only carbamate but also carbamic acid species, which were stabilized by DMSO via hydrogen-bonding interactions. Most products were highly polar and preferred to dissolve in polar DMSO rather than the less polar PMDETA, thus leading to the phase change. The thermodynamics results showed that the heat duty of A-D-P was only 1.66 GJ·ton-1 CO2 (393.15 K), which was significantly lower than that of the benchmark MEA (3.59 GJ·ton-1 CO2) and the reported aqueous biphasic solvents. Moreover, A-D-P presented a noncorrosive behavior to steel after CO2 saturation, clearly showing its superiority over MEA and the aqueous biphasic solvents. Therefore, with superior properties of energy savings and noncorrosiveness, the A-D-P biphasic solvent could be a promising candidate for CO2 capture.

Reporting and Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of Nursing Interventions in Patients With Alzheimer's Disease: General Implications of the Findings.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the reporting characteristics as well as the methodological quality of systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) of nursing interventions in patients with Alzheimer's disease and determine potential factors for high quality. METHODS: Following the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we searched the databases PubMed, EMBASE, and The Cochrane Library from inception through October 1, 2017. Two reviewers independently selected articles and extracted data. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist and Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) checklist were adopted to evaluate reporting and methodological quality, respectively. RESULTS: A total of 64 eligible articles, published from 2001 to 2017, were included. The mean PRISMA and AMSTAR scores were 19.310 ± 4.167 and 6.390 ± 2.208, respectively. For the PRISMA checklist, the following characteristics had less than 50% compliance: protocol or registration, full electronic search strategy, summary measures, risk for bias across studies, and synthesis of results. For the AMSTAR checklist, the following characteristics had less than 50% compliance: a priori study design, comprehensive literature search, status of publication used as inclusion criteria, scientific quality, publication bias, and conflicts of interest stated. Logistic regression analyses indicated that systematic reviews including meta-analyses that followed PRISMA guidelines, had a protocol or registration, and had funding support were related to higher reporting quality; systematic reviews including meta-analyses that had a protocol or registration were related to higher methodological quality. CONCLUSIONS: The reporting and methodological quality of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of nursing interventions in patients with Alzheimer's disease were suboptimal, with some areas needing further improvement. More endorsement by journals of the reporting guidelines for SRs and MAs may improve article quality and the dissemination of reliable evidence to nurses. We recommend that authors, readers, reviewers, and editors become better acquainted with and adhere more strictly to the PRISMA and AMSTAR checklists.