Amide proton transfer weighted contrast has diagnostic capacity in detecting diabetic foot: an MRI-based case-control study.

Objective: To evaluate the role of foot muscle amide proton transfer weighted (APTw) contrast and tissue rest perfusion in quantifying diabetic foot (DF) infection and its correlation with blood parameters. Materials and methods: With approval from an ethical review board, this study included 40 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients with DF and 31 DM patients without DF or other lower extremity arterial disease. All subjects underwent MRI, which included foot sagittal APTw and coronal arterial spin labeling (ASL) imaging. The normalized MTRasym (3.5 ppm) and the ratio of blood flow (rBF) in rest status of the affected side lesions to the non-affected contralateral side were determined. The inter-group differences of these variables were evaluated. Furthermore, the association between normalized MTRasym (3.5 ppm), rBF, and blood parameters [fasting blood glucose (FBG), glycosylated hemoglobin content, C-reactive protein, neutrophil percentage, and white blood cell count] was explored. Using an ROC curve, the diagnostic capacity of normalized MTRasym (3.5 ppm), BF, and blood biochemical markers in differentiating with or without DF in DM was assessed. Results: In the DF group, MTRasym (3.5 ppm) and BF in lesion and normalized MTRasym (3.5 ppm) were higher than those in the control group (p < 0.05). In addition, correlations were identified between normalized MTRasym (3.5 ppm) and blood parameters, such as C-reactive protein, glycosylated hemoglobin content, FBG, neutrophil ratio, and white blood cell (p < 0.001). Meanwhile, association between BF in lesion and blood parameters, such as C-reactive protein, neutrophil percentage, and FBG (p < 0.01). AUC of normalized MTRasym (3.5 ppm) in identifying with/without DF in patients with DM is 0.986 (95% CI, 0.918-1.00) with the sensitivity of 97.22% and the specificity of 100%. Conclusion: Normalized MTRasym (3.5 ppm) and the BF in lesion may be treated as a safer and more convenient new indicator to evaluate the tissue infection without using a contrast agent, which may be useful in monitoring and preoperatively assessing DF patients with renal insufficiency.

Breast intervention device for low-field MRI with a customized unilateral coil.

With the incidence of breast cancer rising to the top among female malignant tumors, magnetic resonance images guided breast biopsy intervention and minimally invasive treatment have developed as a clinically practical research issue. High field studies have shown the diagnostic value of breast MRI, but the examination costs greatly exceed those of competing conventional mammography. In this case, low-field MRI cannot merely provide typical MRI contrast, but also significantly reduce the cost of diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer patients. This work describes a unilateral breast coil and prototype intervention device, which provides a customized solution for low-field MRI-guided breast intervention. Results demonstrate that the low-field MRI breast intervention device facilitates medical intervention procedures. And the designed positioning device can locate the target lesion within 2-3 mm accuracy. Phantom tests with the customized unilateral coil indicate that the open loops perform as well as the 4-channel commercial closed breast coil, presenting a relatively good SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) and uniformity characteristics. MR scanning images of the volunteer breast using the breast intervention coil also show high SNR, which lays a foundation for further implementation of image-guided breast interventional minimally invasive surgery with the low-field MRI system.

Spatio-temporal evolution of resources and environmental carrying capacity and its influencing factors: A case study of Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration.

Promoting ecological conservation and high-quality development in the Yellow River basin is an important objective in China's 14th Five-Year Plan. Understanding the spatio-temporal evolution of and factors affecting the resources and environmental carrying capacity (RECC) of the urban agglomerations is critical for boosting high-quality green-oriented development. We first combined the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework and the improved Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) model to evaluate the RECC of Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration in 2000, 2010 and 2020; we then used trend analysis and spatial autocorrelation analysis to understand the spatio-temporal evolution and distribution pattern of RECC. Furthermore, we employed Geodetector to detect the influencing factors and classified the urban agglomeration into six zones based on the weighted Voronoi diagram of RECC as well as specific conditions of the study area. The results show that the RECC of Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration increased consistently over time, from 0.3887 in 2000 to 0.4952 in 2010 and 0.6097 in 2020, respectively. Geographically, RECC decreased gradually from the northeast coast to the southwest inland. Globally, only in 2010 the RECC presented a significant spatial positive correlation, and that in the other years were not significant. The high-high cluster was mainly located in Weifang, while the low-low cluster in Jining. Furthermore, our study reveals three key factors-advancement of industrial structure, resident consumption level, and water consumption per ten thousand yuan of industrial added value-that affected the distribution of RECC. Other factors, including the interactions between residents' consumption level and environmental regulation, residents' consumption level and advancement of industrial structure, as well as between the proportion of R&D expenditure in GDP and resident consumption level also played important roles resulting in the variation of RECC among different cities within the urban agglomeration. Accordingly, we proposed suggestions for achieving high-quality development for different zones.

NRF1 Regulates the Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition of Breast Cancer by Modulating ROS Homeostasis.

Introduction: Nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF1) is an important regulator involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and energy metabolism. However, the specific mechanism of NRF1 in anoikis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) remains unclear. Methods: We examined the effect of NRF1 on mitochondria and identified the specific mechanism through transcriptome sequencing, and explored the relationships among NRF1, anoikis, and EMT. Results: We found that upregulated NRF1 expression led to increased mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) and ATP generation. Simultaneously, a significant amount of ROS is generated during OXPHOS. Alternatively, NRF1 upregulates the expression of ROS-scavenging enzymes, allowing tumor cells to maintain low ROS levels and promoting anoikis resistance and EMT. We also found that exogenous ROS was maintained at a low level by NRF1 in breast cancer cells. Conclusion: our study provides mechanistic insight into the function of NRF1 in breast cancer, indicating that NRF1 may serve as a therapeutic target for breast cancer treatment.

Combined effects of vitamin C and cold atmospheric plasma-conditioned media against glioblastoma via hydrogen peroxide.

Glioblastoma is the most lethal intracranial malignant tumor, for which the five-year overall survival rate is approximately 5%. Here we explored the therapeutic combination of vitamin C and plasma-conditioned medium on glioblastoma cells in culture and as subcutaneous or intracranial xenografts in mice. The combination treatment reduced cell viability and proliferation while promoting apoptosis, and the effects were significantly stronger than with either treatment on its own. Similar results were obtained in the two xenograft models. Vitamin C appeared to upregulate aquaporin-3 and enhance the uptake of extracellular H2O2, while the combination treatment increased intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species including H2O2 and activated the JNK signaling pathway. The cytotoxic effects of the combination treatment were partially reversed by the specific JNK signaling inhibitor SP600125. Our results suggest that the combination of vitamin C and plasma-conditioned medium has therapeutic potential against glioblastoma, and they provide mechanistic insights that may help investigate this and other potential therapies in greater depth.

Conformal Electrocatalytic Surface Nanoionics for Accelerating High-Temperature Electrochemical Reactions in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells.

Additive implantation of electrocatalysts onto the internal surface of porous cathodes holds great promise to accelerate the electrochemical reactions within solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Here we utilize atomic layer deposition (ALD) to apply dual catalysts with (Mn0.8Co0.2)3O4 and a minute amount of Pt on the cathode consisting of lanthanum strontium manganite (LSM) and yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). Coating this material with optimum ALD layer thickness resulted in a 53% reduction of polarization resistance and a 350% SOFC peak power density enhancement at 750 °C. During the electrochemical operations, the dual catalysts interact synergistically and evolve into superjacent conformal electrocatalytic (Mn0.8Co0.2)3O4 nanoionics with high-density grain boundaries and subjacent discrete nano Pt particles evenly distributed on both the LSM and YSZ. The configuration consequently extends the active electrochemical reaction sites to the entire internal surface of the cathode. For the first time in the field of SOFCs, the present work demonstrates the formation of the electrocatalytic surface nanoionics and its resultant accelerated mass and charge transfer to dramatically boost the cell performance.

ACAP4 interacts with CrkII to promote the recycling of integrin ß1.

ACAP4, a GTPase-activating protein (GAP) for the ADP-ribosylation factor 6 (ARF6), plays import roles in cell migration, cell polarity, vesicle trafficking and tumorigenesis. Similarly, the ubiquitously expressed adaptor protein CrkII functions in a wide range of cellular activities, including cell proliferation, T cell adhesion and activation, tumorigenesis, and bacterial pathogenesis. Here, we demonstrate that ACAP4 physically interacts with CrkII. Biochemical experiments revealed that ACAP4550-660 and the SH3N domain of CrkII are responsible for the interaction. Functional characterization showed that the interaction is required for the recruitment of ACAP4 to the plasma membrane where ACAP4 functions to regulate the recycling of the signal transducer integrin ß1. Thus, we suggest that the CrkII-ACAP4 complex may be involved in regulation of cell adhesion.

Grain Boundary Phase Segregation for Dramatic Improvement of the Thermoelectric Performance of Oxide Ceramics.

This work presents a novel approach of dramatically increasing the energy conversion efficiency of thermoelectric CaMnO3-δ ceramics through the combination of lattice dopants substitution and secondary phase segregation at the grain boundaries. The oxide ceramic samples are with the nominal composition of Ca1- xBi xMnCu yO3-δ ( x = 0, 0.02, 0.03; y = 0.02, 0.04). When Cu is introduced into the Ca1- xBi xMnCu yO3-δ samples, the grain growth from Bi-doped CaMnO3-δ grains is accompanied by the limited solubility of Cu ions in the grain interior, whereas Cu mainly formed a CuO secondary phase at the grain boundaries. Cu nonstoichiometry addition subsequently resulted in the increase of the Seebeck coefficient and decrease of electrical resistivity simultaneously. The sample with designed chemistry of Ca2.97Bi0.03MnCu0.04O3-δ exhibits the power factor of 2.4 mW m-1 K-2 at 337 K and figure of merit ZT of 0.67 at 773 K. This ZT of 0.67 is by far the highest ZT reported for various perovskites oxide ceramics. Such enhancements in electrical power factor and the overall ZT are attributed to the synergistic effect of decreasing the carrier concentration to increase the Seebeck coefficient and simultaneously increasing the carrier mobility through the existence of CuO phase at the grain boundaries.

Study of the water transportation characteristics of marsh saline soil in the Yellow River Delta.

One-dimensional soil column water infiltration and capillary adsorption water tests were conducted in the laboratory to study the water transportation characteristics of marsh saline soil in the Yellow River Delta, providing a theoretical basis for the improvement, utilization and conservation of marsh saline soil. The results indicated the following: (1) For soils with different vegetation covers, the cumulative infiltration capacity increased with the depth of the soil layers. The initial infiltration rate of soils covered by Suaeda and Tamarix chinensis increased with depth of the soil layers, but that of bare soil decreased with soil depth. (2) The initial rate of capillary rise of soils with different vegetation covers showed an increasing trend from the surface toward the deeper layers, but this pattern with respect to soil depth was relatively weak. (3) The initial rates of capillary rise were lower than the initial infiltration rates, but infiltration rate decreased more rapidly than capillary water adsorption rate. (4) The two-parameter Kostiakov model can very well-simulate the changes in the infiltration and capillary rise rates of wetland saline soil. The model simulated the capillary rise rate better than it simulated the infiltration rate. (5) There were strong linear relationships between accumulative infiltration capacity, wetting front, accumulative capillary adsorbed water volume and capillary height.

Nanoionics and Nanocatalysts: Conformal Mesoporous Surface Scaffold for Cathode of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells.

Nanoionics has become increasingly important in devices and systems related to energy conversion and storage. Nevertheless, nanoionics and nanostructured electrodes development has been challenging for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) owing to many reasons including poor stability of the nanocrystals during fabrication of SOFCs at elevated temperatures. In this study, a conformal mesoporous ZrO2 nanoionic network was formed on the surface of La1-xSrxMnO3/yttria-stabilized zirconia (LSM/YSZ) cathode backbone using Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and thermal treatment. The surface layer nanoionic network possesses open mesopores for gas penetration, and features a high density of grain boundaries for enhanced ion-transport. The mesoporous nanoionic network is remarkably stable and retains the same morphology after electrochemical operation at high temperatures of 650-800 °C for 400 hours. The stable mesoporous ZrO2 nanoionic network is further utilized to anchor catalytic Pt nanocrystals and create a nanocomposite that is stable at elevated temperatures. The power density of the ALD modified and inherently functional commercial cells exhibited enhancement by a factor of 1.5-1.7 operated at 0.8 V at 750 °C.

Thermoelectric performance enhancement of calcium cobaltite through barium grain boundary segregation.

We report the dramatic increase of the Seebeck coefficient S and thermoelectric performance of calcium cobaltite Ca3Co4O9+δ ceramics through non-stoichiometric addition of minute amount of Ba. The nominal chemistry of polycrystal pellets are Ca3BaxCo4O9+δ (x = 0, 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1). At 323 K, S of Ca3Co4O9+δ is 135 µV K(-1), whereas S of Ba incorporated Ca3Ba0.05Co4O9+δ is 162.5 µV·K(-1), which is the highest S value near room temperature regime reported for calcium cobaltite. The increase of S for Ca3Ba0.05Co4O9+δ sample is accompanied by the decrease of the electrical resistivity ρ, resulting in high power factor S(2)/ρ of 843 µW·m(-1) K(-2) at 1007 K. Moreover, the thermal conductivities κ of Ca3BaxCo4O9+δ decrease with the increase of the Ba addition. The figure-of-merit ZT for Ca3Ba0.05Co4O9+δ reaches 0.52 at 1073 K and a factor of 2.5 increment in comparison with undoped Ca3Co4O9+δ. Nanostructure examinations show that the added Ba segregated at the Ca3Co4O9+δ grain boundaries, while the Ca3Co4O9+δ grain interior is free of Ba. Performance enhancement is attributed to the carrier filtering effect caused by the Ba segregation. In addition, Ba segregation promotes the better crystal alignment and the development of crystal texture.

Stabilizing nanostructured solid oxide fuel cell cathode with atomic layer deposition.

We demonstrate that the highly active but unstable nanostructured intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell cathode, La0.6Sr0.4CoO3-δ (LSCo), can retain its high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity with exceptional stability for 4000 h at 700 °C by overcoating its surfaces with a conformal layer of nanoscale ZrO2 films through atomic layer deposition (ALD). The benefits from the presence of the nanoscale ALD-ZrO2 overcoats are remarkable: a factor of 19 and 18 reduction in polarization area-specific resistance and degradation rate over the pristine sample, respectively. The unique multifunctionality of the ALD-derived nanoscaled ZrO2 overcoats, that is, possessing porosity for O2 access to LSCo, conducting both electrons and oxide-ions, confining thermal growth of LSCo nanoparticles, and suppressing surface Sr-segregation is deemed the key enabler for the observed stable and active nanostructured cathode.

Bis{2-[bis-(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl-κN(2))meth-yl]pyridine-κN}cobalt(II) dinitrate.

The central Co(II) ion in the title complex, [Co(C(16)H(19)N(5))(2)](NO(3))(2), is located on a twofold rotation axis and has a slightly distorted octa-hedral coordination sphere. It is bonded to six N atoms from two 2-[bis-(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)meth-yl]pyridine ligands. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked by weak C-H⋯O inter-actions.

Bis{2-[bis-(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl-κN)meth-yl]pyridine-κN}copper(II) dinitrate.

In the mononuclear title complex, [Cu(C(16)H(19)N(5))(2)](NO(3))(2), the Cu(II) ion is located on a twofold rotation axis and is six-coordinated by six N atoms from two 2-[bis-(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)meth-yl]pyridine ligands, forming a distorted octa-hedral geometry. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked by weak C-H⋯O inter-actions.

Syntheses, crystal structures and magnetic properties of a novel family of penta-manganese complexes derived from an assembly system containing polydentate hydroxy-rich Schiff-base ligands.

The syntheses, crystal structures, and magnetochemical characterization are reported of a novel family of four pentanuclear manganese complexes, namely, [Mn(III)(5)(mu(3)-O)(2)(L(1))(4)(O(2)CMe)(3)(CH(3)OH)].1.5CH(3)OH.2.5H(2)O (1), [Mn(III)(5)(mu(3)-O)(2)(L(1))(4)(O(2)CPh)(3)(CH(3)OH)].2CH(3)OH.2.25CH(3)CN.1.5H(2)O (), [Mn(II)Mn(III)(4)(HL(2))(2)(L(2))(2)(O(2)C Me)(4))].CH(3)OH.H(2)O (3) and [Mn(II)Mn(III)(4)(HL(2))(2)(L(2))(2)(O(2)CPh)(4))].1.5H(2)O (4), where H(2)L(1) is 3,5-dibromosalicylidene-2-ethanolamine and H(3)L(2) is 3-(2-hydroxy-3,5-dibromobenzylideneamino)propane-1,2-diol. All the complexes can be obtained from a reaction system containing the trinuclear species [Mn(3)O(O(2)CR)(6)(Py)(3)](0/+) (R = Me or Ph) and H(2)L(1) or H(3)L(2) with similar procedures. Both cores in complexes 1 and 2 feature two mu(3)-O(2-) atoms, four L(1)(2-) ligands together with three RCO(2)(-) groups (R = Me or Ph) bridging five Mn(III) atoms to form an incomplete cubane extended at one face by an incomplete adamantane unit, which is an unprecedented structural type in Mn chemistry. Complexes 3 and 4 both have a rare [Mn(II)Mn(III)(4)(mu(2)-O(alkoxide))(6)](8+) core, which can be regarded as two {Mn(II)Mn(III)(2)(mu(2)-O(alkoxide))(3)} scalene triangles, sharing the Mn(II) vertex. The dc magnetic susceptibility studies in the 2-300 K range for complexes 1-4 reveal the presence of overall antiferromagnetic intracluster interactions. A simple 3-J model was found to be adequate to describe the variable-temperature dc susceptibility data of complexes 1-4. The results have allowed us to compare the obtained magnetic exchange with magneto-structural correlations found previously for manganese-oxo clusters.

Dynamic magnetic behavior and magnetic ordering in one-dimensional Tb-nitronyl nitroxide radical chain.

A new nitronyl nitroxide bridged one-dimensional lanthanide complex [Tb(3)(hfac)(9)(NIT-2thien)(3)](n) (1) (NIT-2thien = 2-(2'-thienyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-imidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide) has been successfully prepared. Single crystal X-ray crystallographic analysis reveals that complex 1 consists of linear chains built up by Tb(hfac)(3) units bridged by NIT-2thien radicals through their NO groups; the chains run along the crystallographic a-axis. The magnetic behavior of complex 1 is quite unusual. The complex shows the concomitant existence of slow magnetic relaxation and three-dimensional magnetic ordering.

Electromagnetic, atomic structure and chemistry changes induced by Ca-doping of low-angle YBa2Cu3O7-delta grain boundaries.

Practical high-temperature superconductors must be textured to minimize the reduction of the critical current density J(gb) at misoriented grain boundaries. Partial substitution of Ca for Y in YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) has shown significant improvement in J(gb) but the mechanisms are still not well understood. Here we report atomic-scale, structural and analytical electron microscopy combined with transport measurements on 7 degrees [001]-tilt Y(0.7)Ca(0.3)Ba(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) and YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) grain boundaries, where the dislocation cores are well separated. We show that the enhanced carrier density, higher J(gb) and weaker superconductivity depression at the Ca-doped boundary result from a strong, non-monotonic Ca segregation and structural rearrangements on a scale of approximately 1 nm near the dislocation cores. We propose a model of the formation of Ca(2+) solute atmospheres in the strain and electric fields of the grain boundary and show that Ca doping expands the dislocation cores yet enhances J(gb) by improving the screening and local hole concentration.