Recycling Bonded Nd-Fe-B Magnet Wastes by Chemical Reaction and Its Mechanism.

The difficulty of short-process bonded Nd-Fe-B magnet waste recycling lies in the effective removal of the cured polymer matrix while protecting the magnetic powder. In this study, the polymer matrix in bonded Nd-Fe-B magnet waste was destroyed using sodium hydroxide ethanol solution, and the effect of the recycling process on the magnetic powders was studied. The nonmagnetic polymer matrix was removed, while the magnetic phase was not destroyed. The carbon and oxygen contents of the recycled magnetic powders decreased by 92.96 and 89.30%, respectively, while the MS (saturation magnetization), Mr (remanence), and Hcj (coercivity) values of the recycled magnetic powders were 99.8, 98.5, and 95.9% of the original magnetic powders, respectively. The curing and decomposition processes of the polymer matrix were also analyzed. During the curing process, dicyandiamide and bisphenol A epoxy resin acted as bridges and skeletons, respectively, finally forming a thermosetting three-dimensional network structure. In the alkaline alcohol solution, the bridges and skeletons were destroyed by the free hydroxyl groups and free hydrogen radicals in ethanol, and small molecular products were dissolved in the solution.

Effects of multidisciplinary team continuous care model on psychological behavior and quality of life in children with ß-thalassemia major.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of a multidisciplinary team (MDT) continuous care model on psychological behavior and quality of life in children with ß-thalassemia major (ß-TM). METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 90 children with ß-TM who were hospitalized in the Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities from October 2021 to May 2022. According to nursing methods, the children were divided into a routine group and an experimental group, with 45 cases in each group. The routine group was intervened with routine nursing approaches, and the experimental group was intervened with the MDT continuous nursing mode on the basis of the control group. The psychological behavior [Positive and Negative Affect Scale for Children (PANAS-C)], quality of life (QoL) [Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory TM (PedsQLTM)] and satisfaction were compared between the two groups before and 6 months after intervention. The hemoglobin level and ferritin level of children after 3 months and 6 months of intervention were measured. The occurrence of complications and nursing satisfaction were recorded. The prognostic factors were further analyzed. RESULTS: After the intervention, the positive emotion score, QoL score, hemoglobin level, satisfaction score in the experimental group were all higher than those in the conventional group, and the negative emotion score and ferritin level in the experimental group were all lower than those in the conventional group (all P < 0.05). The results of Cox analysis showed that the use of iron-removing drugs and arrhythmia/heart rate failure were risk factors affecting the prognosis of children with ß-TM, while the MDT continuous nursing mode was a protective factor (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The MDT continuous care model can effectively promote mental health in children with ß-TM, improve their quality of life, medical satisfaction, ameliorate the degree of anemia in children, reduce the incidence of complications and improve the prognosis; thus, it is worthy of wide clinical application.

Clinical Study of Mobile Application- (App-) Based Family-Centered Care (FCC) Model Combined with Comprehensive Iron Removal Treatment in Children with Severe Beta Thalassemia.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on the clinical records of 148 children diagnosed with severe beta thalassemia who were admitted to our hospital between October 2018 and September 2021. The patients were separated into two groups, a control group and an intervention group, with 74 cases in each group, according to the various care approaches. The basic treatment regimen was given to all of the children: deferoxamine mesylate combined with deferiprone. During treatment, the control group received routine care, and the intervention group adopted the FCC model based on a mobile app. The quality of life scale for children and adolescents (QLSCA) score, the family assessment device (FAD) score, the exercise of self-care agency scale (ESCA) score, and the medication compliance scale score were compared between the two groups. Results: The QLSCA score, ESCA score, and medication compliance scale score of the intervention group were significantly higher than those of the control group and showed a significant difference (intergroup effect: F = 198.400, 259.200, and 129.800, all P < 0.001). Scores in both groups increased over time (time effect: F = 19.350, 40.830, and 12.130, all P < 0.001), and there was an interaction effect between grouping and time (interaction effect: F = 3.937, 12.020, and 5.028). The P values were 0.020, <0.001, and 0.007. The FAD score of the intervention group was significantly lower than that of the control group (intergroup effect: F = 177.200, P < 0.001). The FAD scores of both groups decreased over time (time effect: F = 7.921, P = 0.005). There was an interaction effect between groups and time (interaction effect: F = 5.206, P = 0.006). Conclusion: The application effect of the mobile app-based FCC model combined with the comprehensive iron removal treatment program in children with severe beta thalassemia is significant, which can significantly improve the quality of life, family function, self-care ability, and medication compliance of children, and has high clinical application value.

Effects of Shape Anisotropy on Hard-Soft Exchange-Coupled Permanent Magnets.

Exchange-coupled magnets are promising candidates for a new generation of permanent magnets. Here, we investigated the effect of soft magnetic shell thickness and the aspect ratio of the hard magnetic core on the magnetic properties for isolated core/shell cylinder exchange-coupled magnets, as well as the packing effect of the cylindrical array via a micromagnetic simulation method. It was found that the shape anisotropy contributions to the magnetic properties in the cylindrical core/shell exchange-coupled magnets are closely related to the thickness of the soft magnetic shell. When the soft magnetic shell is thin, the magnetic properties are dominated by the hard-soft exchange coupling effects, and the contributions of shape anisotropy are quite limited. When the soft magnetic shell is relatively thick, utilizing shape anisotropy would be an effective method to improve the magnetic performance of hard-soft exchange-coupled magnets. The present work provides an in-depth fundamental understanding of the underlying magnetization reversal mechanism. This work could be useful for designing high-performance permanent magnets and avoiding pitfalls.

Identification of a Novel ACTN4 Gene Mutation Which Is Resistant to Primary Nephrotic Syndrome Therapy.

ACTN4, a gene which codes for the protein α-actinin-4, is critical for the maintenance of the renal filtration barrier. It is well known that ACTN4 mutations can lead to kidney dysfunction, such as familial focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a common cause of primary nephrotic syndrome (PNS). To elucidate whether other mutations of ACTN4 exist in PNS patients, we sequenced the ACTN4 gene in biopsies collected from 155 young PNS patients (≤16 years old). The patients were classified into five groups: FSGS, minimal change nephropathy, IgA nephropathy, membranous nephropathy, and those without renal puncture. Ninety-eight healthy people served as controls. Samples were subjected to Illumina's next generation sequencing protocols using FastTarget target gene capture method. We identified 5 ACTN4 mutations which occurred only in PNS patients: c.1516G > A (p.G506S) on exon 13 identified in two PNS patients, one with minimal change nephropathy and another without renal puncture; c.1442 + 10G > A at the splice site in a minimal change nephropathy patient; c.2191-4G > A at the cleavage site, identified from two FSGS patients; and c.1649A > G (p.D550G) on exon 14 together with c.2191-4G > A at the cleavage sites, identified from two FSGS patients. Among these, c.1649A > G (p.D550G) is a novel ACTN4 mutation. Patients bearing the last two mutations exhibited resistance to clinical therapies.

The association of the CMIP rs16955379 polymorphism with dyslipidemia and the clinicopathological features of IgA nephropathy.

Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) is among the most common primary glomerular diseases. The prognosis in IgAN is affected by dyslipidemia, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The c-Maf inducing protein (CMIP) gene has been found to be associated with lipid metabolism. But the association between the CMIP rs16955379 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and dyslipidemia or the related clinicopathological features in IgAN have not been reported thus far. The present study investigated the correlation between them. The CMIP rs16955379 SNP genotypes of 300 subjects with IgAN recruited from the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University were identified by polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing. Compared with the control (normal lipid) group, the dyslipidemia group with IgAN had higher blood uric acid, serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen and urinary protein quantity, higher proportions of mesangial cell proliferation and renal tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis (IFTA), and a lower estimated glomerular filtration rate and serum albumin. The frequencies of the CMIP rs16955379 SNP TT genotype and T allele in the dyslipidemia group were higher than in the control group. Triglyceride, apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), ApoA1/B, incidences of mesangial cell proliferation, and IFTA were higher in TT genotype carriers than in CC/CT genotype carriers. Serum lipid profiles and dyslipidemia were significantly associated with renal dysfunction and IFTA. IgAN patients with the TT genotype were more likely to have dyslipidemia, renal dysfunction and IFTA (P < 0.05 for all above). These results indicate that CMIP rs16955379 SNP may be a genetic susceptibility gene for dyslipidemia and poor renal outcome in IgAN.

The Magnetic and Crystal Structure of MnxGa (1.15 ≤ x ≤ 1.8) Alloys.

Neutron powder diffraction patterns measured above T C have been used to determine the location of the excess Mn in MnxGa (1.15 ≤ x ≤ 1.8). This information has then been used to constrain the fits to neutron powder diffraction patterns measured at ambient temperature and so determine unambiguously the Mn moments in this system. We find that Mn randomly occupies the two Ga sites (2a and 2b) in the I4/mmm structure and propose that it is more appropriate to use a simpler structure based on the P4/mmm space group with a reduced unit cell. In this structure the two Ga sites are formally equivalent (they occupy the 1a site while Mn occupies the 1d site). Our experimental observations are supported by DFT calculations. Below T C we find that the Mn(1d) moment is constant at 2.45(3) µ B , while Mn on the 1a site carries a slightly larger moment (~3 µ B ) that is coupled antiparallel to the Mn(1d) moments, leading to the observed drop in magnetisation with increasing Mn content in MnxGa.