Velocity-Switched Droplet Rebound Direction on Anisotropic Superhydrophobic Surfaces.

Droplet well-controlled directional motion being an essential function has attracted much interest in academic and industrial applications, such as self-cleaning, micro-/nano-electro-mechanical systems, drug delivery, and heat-transferring. Conventional understanding has it that a droplet impacted on an anisotropic surface tends to bounce along the microstructural direction, which is mainly dictated by surface properties rather than initial conditions. In contrast to previous findings, it demonstrates that the direction of a droplet's rebound on an anisotropic surface can be switched by designing the initial impacting velocity. With an increase in impacting height from 2 to 10 cm, the droplet successively shows a backward, vertical, and forward motion on anisotropic surfaces. Theoretical demonstrations establish that the transition of droplet bouncing on the anisotropic surface is related to its dynamic wettability during impacting process. Characterized by the liquid-solid interaction, it is demonstrated that the contact state at small and large impacting heights induces an opposite resultant force in microstructures. Furthermore, energy balance analysis reveals that the energy conversion efficiency of backward motion is almost three times as that of traditional bouncing. This work, including experiments, theoretical models, and energy balance analysis provides insight view in droplet motions on the anisotropic surfaces and opens a new way for the droplet transport.

Oxidative stress and ROS-mediated cellular events in RSV infection: potential protective roles of antioxidants.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a member of the Pneumoviridae family, can cause severe acute lower respiratory tract infection in infants, young children, immunocompromised individuals and elderly people. RSV is associated with an augmented innate immune response, enhanced secretion of inflammatory cytokines, and necrosis of infected cells. Oxidative stress, which is mainly characterized as an imbalance in the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant responses, interacts with all the pathophysiologic processes above and is receiving increasing attention in RSV infection. A gradual accumulation of evidence indicates that ROS overproduction plays an important role in the pathogenesis of severe RSV infection and serves as a major factor in pulmonary inflammation and tissue damage. Thus, antioxidants seem to be an effective treatment for severe RSV infection. This article mainly reviews the information on oxidative stress and ROS-mediated cellular events during RSV infection for the first time.

EXOC3L1: A Novel Prognostic Biomarker Correlated with Immune Infiltration in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Exocyst complex component 3-like 1 (EXOC3L1) is ubiquitously present in multiple organs. However, its role in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unknown. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between EXOC3L1 and ESCC. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 652 normal samples and 82 ESCC samples obtained from the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) Xena were applied to detect the expression difference of EXOC3L1. GSE53625 with 179 paired samples and GSE161533 with 28 paired samples were used for validation. The correlation between clinicopathological features and EXOC3L1 expression was calculated. Kaplan-Meier method was employed to assess the prognostic value of EXOC3L1 in ESCC. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were carried out to screen the factors contributing to the prognosis of ESCC. In addition, functional enrichment analysis, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis, and immune infiltration analysis were conducted to identify the significantly involved functions of EXOC3L1. RESULTS EXOC3L1 was significantly overexpressed in ESCC compared to normal samples. High expression of EXOC3L1 was associated with worse prognosis, and univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that EXOC3L1 was an independent prognostic predictor of ESCC. Functional enrichment analysis and immune infiltration analysis disclosed that the expression of EXOC3L1 was correlated with the abundance of several types of immune cells. CONCLUSIONS EXOC3L1 plays a crucial role in the prognosis of ESCC, and it may serve as a reliable biomarker for predicting the survival and a potential therapeutic target for ESCC.

TMEM151A Variants Cause Paroxysmal Kinesigenic Dyskinesia: A Large-Sample Study.

BACKGROUND: Paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia (PKD) is the most common type of paroxysmal dyskinesias. Only one-third of PKD patients are attributed to proline-rich transmembrane protein 2 (PRRT2) mutations. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to explore the potential causative gene for PKD. METHODS: A cohort of 196 PRRT2-negative PKD probands were enrolled for whole-exome sequencing (WES). Gene Ranking, Identification and Prediction Tool, a method of case-control analysis, was applied to identify the candidate genes. Another 325 PRRT2-negative PKD probands were subsequently screened with Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: Transmembrane Protein 151 (TMEM151A) variants were mainly clustered in PKD patients compared with the control groups. 24 heterozygous variants were detected in 25 of 521 probands (frequency = 4.80%), including 18 missense and 6 nonsense mutations. In 29 patients with TMEM151A variants, the ratio of male to female was 2.63:1 and the mean age of onset was 12.93 ± 3.15 years. Compared with PRRT2 mutation carriers, TMEM151A-related PKD were more common in sporadic PKD patients with pure phenotype. There was no significant difference in types of attack and treatment outcome between TMEM151A-positive and PRRT2-positive groups. CONCLUSIONS: We consolidated mutations in TMEM151A causing PKD with the aid of case-control analysis of a large-scale WES data, which broadens the genotypic spectrum of PKD. TMEM151A-related PKD were more common in sporadic cases and tended to present as pure phenotype with a late onset. Extensive functional studies are needed to enhance our understanding of the pathogenesis of TMEM151A-related PKD. © 2021 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Design of a flexible surface/interlayer for packaging.

Impact resistance and thermal insulation are important factors to be considered in the fields of encapsulation and drug transportation. In this study, a classic circular sleeve structure is designed by integrating the multi-level surface topography of the sleeve and a hollow sandwich in the wall, which effectively improves the energy absorption efficiency and thermal insulation effect. With the increase of the levels of surface structure, the stiffness of the whole structure and the stress on the topmost structure decreases, which is conducive to protecting the structure. In addition, the thermal conduction efficiency can be limited and the heat preservation ability would be improved as the reduction of the contacting area of packages with internal objects is attributed to such specific topography. Moreover, the synergistic effect of the hollow sandwich further enhances the advantages of mechanics and heat insulation. Based on the findings of this study, this novel design has potential applications in fields such as thermal insulation, packaging, and pharmaceuticals.

Electronic whiskers for velocity sensing based on the liquid metal hysteresis effect.

The artificial biomimetic sensory hair as state-of-art electronics has drawn great attention from academic theorists of industrial production given its potential application in soft robotics, environmental exploration and health monitoring. However, it still remains a challenge to develop highly sensitive electronic sensory hair with fast response. In this study, a bio-inspired electronic whisker (e-whisker) with a hollow polymer shell and a liquid metal core was prepared by microinjection for airflow measurement and detection of obstacles. In addition, we illustrated the effect of liquid metal hysteresis on its distribution in microchannels on deformation. The difference in the deformed velocity between the selected fiber and EGaIn would result in a disturbance emerging in the liquid metal channel, which further causes a variation in resistance. Taking advantage of this phenomenon, the integrated fiber e-whisker can be employed to detect tiny airflow and disturbance. The experimental results indicate that the fiber sensor can detect the airflow velocity as low as 0.2 m s-1 within 0.1 s. The e-whisker can accurately monitor rainfall, human motion and object velocity. This work sheds light on the liquid metal viscosity-induced sensing mechanism and offers a novel strategy to fabricate high-performance velocity sensors.

NUDIM: A non-uniform fast Fourier transform based dual-space constraint iterative reconstruction method in biological electron tomography.

Electron tomography, a powerful imaging tool for studying 3D structures of macromolecular assemblies, always suffers from imperfect reconstruction with limited resolution due to the intrinsic low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and inaccessibility to certain tilt angles induced by radiation damage or mechanical limitation. In order to compensate for such insufficient data with low SNR and further improve imaging resolution, prior knowledge constraints about the objects in both real space and reciprocal space are thus exploited during tomographic reconstruction. However, direct Fast Fourier transform (FFT) between real space and reciprocal space remains extraordinarily challenging owing to their inconsistent grid sampling modes, e.g. regular and uniform grid sampling in real space whereas radial or polar grid sampling in reciprocal space. In order to solve such problem, a technique of non-uniform fast Fourier transform (NFFT) has been developed to transform efficiently between non-uniformly sampled grids in real and reciprocal space with sufficient accuracy. In this work, a Non-Uniform fast Fourier transform based Dual-space constraint Iterative reconstruction Method (NUDIM) applicable to biological electron tomography is proposed with a combination of basic concepts from equally sloped tomography (EST) and NFFT based reconstruction. In NUDIM, the use of NFFT can circumvent such grid sampling inconsistency and thus alleviate the stringent equally-sloped sampling requirement in EST reconstruction, while the dual-space constraint iterative procedure can dramatically enhance reconstruction quality. In comparison with conventional reconstruction methods, NUDIM is numerically and experimentally demonstrated to produce superior reconstruction quality with higher contrast, less noise and reduced missing wedge artifacts. More importantly, it is also capable of retrieving part of missing information from a limited number of projections.

Advances in hyperekplexia and other startle syndromes.

Startle, a basic alerting reaction common to all mammals, is described as a sudden involuntary movement of the body evoked by all kinds of sudden and unexpected stimulus. Startle syndromes are heterogeneous groups of disorders with abnormal and exaggerated responses to startling events, including hyperekplexia, stimulus-induced disorders, and neuropsychiatric startle syndromes. Hyperekplexia can be attributed to a genetic, idiopathic, or symptomatic cause. Excluding secondary factors, hereditary hyperekplexia, a rare neurogenetic disorder with highly genetic heterogeneity, is characterized by neonatal hypertonia, exaggerated startle response provoked by the sudden external stimuli, and followed by a short period of general stiffness. It mainly arises from defects of inhibitory glycinergic neurotransmission. GLRA1 is the major pathogenic gene of hereditary hyperekplexia, along with many other genes involved in the function of glycinergic inhibitory synapses. While about 40% of patients remain negative genetic findings. Clonazepam, which can specifically upgrade the GABARA1 chloride channels, is the main and most effective administration for hereditary hyperekplexia patients. In this review, with the aim at enhancing the recognition and prompting potential treatment for hyperekplexia, we focused on discussing the advances in hereditary hyperekplexia genetics and the expound progress in pathogenic mechanisms of the glycinergic-synapse-related pathway and then followed by a brief overview of other common startle syndromes.

AKR1C2 acts as a targetable oncogene in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma via activating PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

The aldo-keto reductases family 1 member C2 (AKR1C2) has critical roles in the tumorigenesis and progression of malignant tumours. However, it was also discovered to have ambiguous functions in multiple cancers and till present, its clinical significance and molecular mechanism in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has been unclear. The aim of this study was to explore the role of AKR1C2 in the tumorigenesis of ESCC. Here, we showed that AKR1C2 expression was found to be up-regulated in ESCC tissues and was significantly associated with pathological stage, lymph node metastasis and worse outcomes. Functional assays demonstrated that an ectopic expression of AKR1C2 in ESCC cells resulted in increased proliferation, migration and cisplatin resistance, while knockdown led to inversing effects. Bioinformation analyses and mechanistic studies demonstrated that AKR1C2 activated the PI3K/AKT signalling pathway, furthermore, the inhibitor of PI3K or the selective inhibitor of AKR1C2 enzyme activity could reverse the aggressiveness and showed synergistic antitumour effect when combined with cisplatin, both in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, Our findings revealed that AKR1C2 could function as an oncogene by activating the PI3K/AKT pathway, as a novel prognostic biomarker and/or as a potential therapeutic target to ESCC.

Tracking Mechanistic Pathway of Photocatalytic CO2 Reaction at Ni Sites Using Operando, Time-Resolved Spectroscopy.

Harvesting solar energy for catalytic conversion of CO2 into valuable chemical fuels/feedstocks is an attractive yet challenging strategy to realize a sustainable carbon-cycle utilization. Homogeneous catalysts typically exhibit higher activity and selectivity as compared with heterogeneous counterparts, benefiting from their atomically dispersed catalytic sites and versatile coordination structures. However, it is still a "black box" how the coordination and electronic structures of catalysts dynamically evolve during the reaction, forming the bottleneck for understanding their reaction pathways. Herein, we demonstrate to track the mechanistic pathway of photocatalytic CO2 reduction using a terpyridine nickel(II) complex as a catalyst model. Integrated with a typical homogeneous photosensitizer, the catalytic system offers a high selectivity of 99% for CO2-to-CO conversion with turnover number and turnover frequency as high as 2.36 × 107 and 385.6 s-1, respectively. We employ operando and time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy, in combination with other in situ spectroscopic techniques and theoretical computations, to track the intermediate species of Ni catalyst in the photocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction for the first time. Taken together with the charge dynamics resolved by optical transient absorption spectroscopy, the investigation elucidates the full mechanistic reaction pathway including some key factors that have been often overlooked. This work opens the "black box" for CO2 reduction in the system of homogeneous catalysts and provides key information for developing efficient catalysts toward artificial photosynthesis.

RBM4 modulates the proliferation and expression of inflammatory factors via the alternative splicing of regulatory factors in HeLa cells.

Regulatory factors function by modulating a variety of cascade mechanisms in cells. RBM4 is a multifunctional RNA-binding protein in post-transcriptional gene regulation. Cytoplasmic RBM4 interacts with Ago2 to regulate inflammatory responses by affecting mRNA decay and cap-dependent translation. However, it is unclear whether RBM4 functions in inflammation regulation by its splicing factor role. Here, the cell biology, gene expression profile and alternative splicing pattern of HeLa cells with RBM4 overexpression (RBM-OE) were compared with the control. The results showed that RBM4-OE inhibited proliferation. RBM4-OE extensively affects the transcriptional level of genes involved in cell surface receptor signalling pathway, inflammatory responses and the response to lipopolysaccharide. RBM4 broadly regulated the alternative splicing of hundreds of genes with functions of protein binding, helicase activity, DNA binding and transcription co-activator. RBM4-regulated splicing of these genes plays an important role in apoptotic process and gene transcription regulation. As an example, exon inclusion of TNIP1 mediated by RBM4 affects the expression of its targets in inflammatory pathways. These results indicated that RBM4 can mediate the inflammatory response via splicing regulation, which adds to the understanding of the critical role of RBM4 in cancer complicated by inflammation. In conclusion, this study indicated a mechanism in which the dysregulation of alternative splicing can influence cellular biology and lead to various immune-related diseases.

The Phenotypic and Genetic Spectrum of Paroxysmal Kinesigenic Dyskinesia in China.

BACKGROUND: Paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia is a spectrum of involuntary dyskinetic disorders with high clinical and genetic heterogeneity. Mutations in proline-rich transmembrane protein 2 have been identified as the major pathogenic factor. OBJECTIVES: We analyzed 600 paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia patients nationwide who were identified by the China Paroxysmal Dyskinesia Collaborative Group to summarize the clinical phenotypes and genetic features of paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia in China and to provide new thoughts on diagnosis and therapy. METHODS: The China Paroxysmal Dyskinesia Collaborative Group was composed of departments of neurology from 22 hospitals. Clinical manifestations and proline-rich transmembrane protein 2 screening results were recorded using unified paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia registration forms. Genotype-phenotype correlation analyses were conducted in patients with and without proline-rich transmembrane protein 2 mutations. High-knee exercises were applied in partial patients as a new diagnostic test to induce attacks. RESULTS: Kinesigenic triggers, male predilection, dystonic attacks, aura, complicated forms of paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia, clustering in patients with family history, and dramatic responses to antiepileptic treatment were the prominent features in this multicenter study. Clinical analysis showed that proline-rich transmembrane protein 2 mutation carriers were prone to present at a younger age and have longer attack duration, bilateral limb involvement, choreic attacks, a complicated form of paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia, family history, and more forms of dyskinesia. The new high-knee-exercise test efficiently induced attacks and could assist in diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: We propose recommendations regarding diagnostic criteria for paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia based on this large clinical study of paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia. The findings offered some new insights into the diagnosis and treatment of paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia and might help in building standardized paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia clinical evaluations and therapies. © 2020 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Engineering Platinum-Oxygen Dual Catalytic Sites via Charge Transfer towards Highly Efficient Hydrogen Evolution.

A dual-site catalyst allows for a synergetic reaction in the close proximity to enhance catalysis. It is highly desirable to create dual-site interfaces in single-atom system to maximize the effect. Herein, we report a cation-deficient electrostatic anchorage route to fabricate an atomically dispersed platinum-titania catalyst (Pt1 O1 /Ti1-x O2 ), which shows greatly enhanced hydrogen evolution activity, surpassing that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst in mass by a factor of 53.2. Operando techniques and density functional calculations reveal that Pt1 O1 /Ti1-x O2 experiences a Pt-O dual-site catalytic pathway, where the inherent charge transfer within the dual sites encourages the jointly coupling protons and plays the key role during the Volmer-Tafel process. There is almost no decay in the activity of Pt1 O1 /Ti1-x O2 over 300 000 cycles, meaning 30 times of enhancement in stability compared to the commercial Pt/C catalysts (10 000 cycles).

In situ meta-omic insights into the community compositions and ecological roles of hadal microbes in the Mariana Trench.

The low temperature and elevated hydrostatic pressure in hadal trenches at water depths below 6000 m render sample collection difficult. Here, in situ hadal water microbial samples were collected from the Mariana Trench and analysed. The hadal microbial communities at different depths were revealed to be consistent and were dominated by heterotrophic Marinimicrobia. Thirty high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) were retrieved to represent the major hadal microbes affiliated with 12 prokaryotic phyla. Most of the MAGs were newly reported and probably derived from novel hadal inhabitants as exemplified by a potentially new candidate archaeal phylum in the DPANN superphylum. Metabolic reconstruction indicated that a great number of the MAGs participated in nitrogen and sulfur cycling, in which the nitrification process was driven sequentially by Thaumarchaeota and Nitrospirae and sulfur oxidization by Rhodospirillales in the Alphaproteobacteria class. Moreover, several groups of hadal microbes were revealed to be potential carbon monoxide oxidizers. Metatranscriptomic result highlighted the contribution of Chloroflexi in degrading recalcitrant dissolved organic matter and Marinimicrobia in extracellular protein decomposition. The present work provides an in-depth view on the hadal microbial communities regarding their endemism and element cycles.

Upgrade of laser pump time-resolved X-ray probes in Beijing synchrotron.

The upgrade of the laser pump time-resolved X-ray probes, namely time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy (TR-XAS) and X-ray diffraction (TR-XRD), implemented at the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, is described. The improvements include a superbunch fill, a high-efficiency fluorescence collection, an efficient spatial overlap protocol and a new data-acquisition scheme. After upgrade, the adequate TR-XAS signal is now obtained in a 0.3 mM solution, compared with a 6 mM solution in our previous report. Furthermore, to extend application in photophysics, the TR-XAS probe is applied on SrCoO2.5 thin film. And for the first time, TR-XAS is combined with TR-XRD to simultaneously detect the kinetic trace of structural changes in thin film.

Periodic and Spatial Spreading of Alkanes and Alcanivorax Bacteria in Deep Waters of the Mariana Trench.

In subduction zones, serpentinization and biological processes may release alkanes to the deep waters, which would probably result in the rapid spread of Alcanivorax However, the timing and area of the alkane distribution and associated enrichment of alkane-degrading microbes in the dark world of the deep ocean have not been explored. In this study, we report the richness (up to 17.8%) of alkane-degrading bacteria, represented by Alcanivorax jadensis, in deep water samples obtained at 3,000 to 6,000 m in the Mariana Trench in two cruises. The relative abundance of A. jadensis correlated with copy numbers of functional almA and alkB genes, which are involved in alkane degradation. In these water samples, we detected a high flux of alkanes, which probably resulted in the prevalence of A. jadensis in the deep waters. Contigs of A. jadensis were binned from the metagenomes for examination of alkane degradation pathways and deep sea-specific pathways, which revealed a lack of nitrate and nitrite dissimilatory reduction in our A. jadensis strains. Comparing the results for the two cruises conducted close to each other, we suggest periodic release of alkanes that may spread widely but periodically in the trench. Distribution of alkane-degrading bacteria in the world's oceans suggests the periodic and remarkable contributions of Alcanivorax to the deep sea organic carbon and nitrogen sources.IMPORTANCE In the oligotrophic environment of the Mariana Trench, alkanes as carbohydrates are important for the ecosystem, but their spatial and periodic spreading in deep waters has never been reported. Alkane-degrading bacteria such as Alcanivorax spp. are biological signals of the alkane distribution. In the present study, Alcanivorax was abundant in some waters, at depths of up to 6,000 m, in the Mariana Trench. Genomic, transcriptomic, and chemical analyses provide evidence for the presence and activities of Alcanivorax jadensis in deep sea zones. The periodic spreading of alkanes, probably from the subductive plates, might have fundamentally modified the local microbial communities, as well as perhaps the deep sea microenvironment.

STAT1-mediated inhibition of FOXM1 enhances gemcitabine sensitivity in pancreatic cancer.

Forkhead box protein M1 (FOXM1) was identified as an oncogenic transcription factor and master regulator of tumor progression and metastasis. FOXM1 expression often correlates with poor prognosis and chemotherapy resistance. In the present study, we investigated the association of FOXM1 expression and chemoresistance in pancreatic cancer. Elevated FOXM1 protein levels were associated with gemcitabine chemoresistance in patients with pancreatic cancer. In gemcitabine resistance cell line models of pancreatic cancer, FOXM1 expression increased, which induced gemcitabine chemoresistance in vitro In pancreatic cancer cells treated with gemcitabine, FOXM1 affected nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling activity. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated a negative association of FOXM1 expression and the level of phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (pSTAT1) in human pancreatic cancer tissues. Dual-luciferase reporter assays and chromatin-immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that pSTAT1 directly binds to the FOXM1 promoter to down-regulate its transcription. Interferon γ (IFNγ) promoted gemcitabine-induced cell apoptosis and inhibited cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo by FOXM1 inhibition. These data suggested that FOXM1 enhances chemoresistance to gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer. IFNγ could be used to down-regulate the expression of FOXM1 through STAT1 phosphorylation, thereby increasing the sensitivity of pancreatic cancer cells to gemcitabine. These studies suggested the sensitization by IFNγ in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) chemotherapy, which requires further clinical studies.

Caspase-1 inhibitor exerts brain-protective effects against sepsis-associated encephalopathy and cognitive impairments in a mouse model of sepsis.

Sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE) manifested clinically in acute and long-term cognitive impairments and associated with increased morbidity and mortality worldwide. The potential pathological changes of SAE are complex and remain to be elucidated. Pyroptosis, a novel programmed cell death, is executed by caspase-1-cleaved GSDMD N-terminal (GSDMD-NT) and we investigated it in peripheral blood immunocytes of septic patients previously. Here, a caspase-1 inhibitor VX765 was treated with CLP-induced septic mice. Novel object recognition test indicated that VX765 treatment reversed cognitive dysfunction in septic mice. Elevated plus maze, tail suspension test and open field test revealed that depressive-like behaviors of septic mice were relieved. Inhibited caspase-1 suppressed the expressions of GSDMD and its cleavage form GSDMD-NT, and reduced pyroptosis in brain at day 1 and day 7 after sepsis. Meantime, inhibited caspase-1 mitigated the expressions of IL-1ß, MCP-1 and TNF-α in serum and brain, diminished microglia activation in septic mice, and reduced sepsis-induced brain-blood barrier disruption and ultrastructure damages in brain as well. Inhibited caspase-1 protected the synapse plasticity and preserved long-term potential, which may be the possible mechanism of cognitive functions protective effects of septic mice. In conclusion, caspase-1 inhibition exerts brain-protective effects against SAE and cognitive impairments in a mouse model of sepsis.

Membrane-Free Hybrid Capacitive Deionization System Based on Redox Reaction for High-Efficiency NaCl Removal.

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is a promising technology for desalination due to its advantages of low driven energy and environmental friendliness. However, the ion removal capacity (IRC) of CDI is insufficient for practical application because such a capacity is limited by the available surface area of the carbon electrode for ion absorption. Thus, the development of a novel desalination technology with high IRC and low cost is vital. Here, a membrane-free hybrid capacitive deionization system (HCDI) with hollow carbon@MnO2 (HC@MnO2) to capture sodium via redox reaction and hollow carbon sphere with net positive surface charges (PHC) for chloride adsorption is introduced. The as-obtained HC@MnO2 with unique structure and high conductivity can improve the utilization of MnO2 pseudocapacitive electrodes. Meanwhile, the PHC can selectively adsorb Cl- and prevent the adsorption of Na+ due to electrostatic repulsion. As expected, the membrane-free HCDI system demonstrates excellent desalination performance. The system's IRC and maximum removal rate are 30.7 mg g-1 and 7.8 mg g-1 min-1, respectively. Moreover, the proposed system has a low cost because of the absence of expensive ion exchange membranes (IEM), which is suitable for practical application. The excellent performance of this HCDI makes it a promising desalination technology for future use.

Chinese Trauma Surgeon Association for management guidelines of vacuum sealing drainage application in abdominal surgeries-Update and systematic review.

Vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) is frequently used in abdominal surgeries. However, relevant guidelines are rare. Chinese Trauma Surgeon Association organized a committee composed of 28 experts across China in July 2017, aiming to provide an evidence-based recommendation for the application of VSD in abdominal surgeries. Eleven questions regarding the use of VSD in abdominal surgeries were addressed: (1) which type of materials should be respectively chosen for the intraperitoneal cavity, retroperitoneal cavity and superficial incisions? (2) Can VSD be preventively used for a high-risk abdominal incision with primary suture? (3) Can VSD be used in severely contaminated/infected abdominal surgical sites? (4) Can VSD be used for temporary abdominal cavity closure under some special conditions such as severe abdominal trauma, infection, liver transplantation and intra-abdominal volume increment in abdominal compartment syndrome? (5) Can VSD be used in abdominal organ inflammation, injury, or postoperative drainage? (6) Can VSD be used in the treatment of intestinal fistula and pancreatic fistula? (7) Can VSD be used in the treatment of intra-abdominal and extra-peritoneal abscess? (8) Can VSD be used in the treatment of abdominal wall wounds, wound cavity, and defects? (9) Does VSD increase the risk of bleeding? (10) Does VSD increase the risk of intestinal wall injury? (11) Does VSD increase the risk of peritoneal adhesion? Focusing on these questions, evidence-based recommendations were given accordingly. VSD was strongly recommended regarding the questions 2-4. Weak recommendations were made regarding questions 1 and 5-11. Proper use of VSD in abdominal surgeries can lower the risk of infection in abdominal incisions with primary suture, treat severely contaminated/infected surgical sites and facilitate temporary abdominal cavity closure.