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To study the direct economic burden of dry eye diseases (DED) on Chinese residents and analyze the influencing factors of the direct economic burden of patients with DED. Two hundred and twenty-one Chinese adults with DED who underwent treatment in Wuhan Aier Hankou Eye Hospital were enrolled in this health economics research from January 2018 to August 2018 and followed for at least 1 year. Examination, pharmacological therapy, and nonpharmacological therapy costs were collected to calculate the annual direct economic burden of DED on patients through the outpatient medical record system. Annual direct economic burden caused by DED on each patient was $465.54 ± 303.08. The direct economic burden of female patients in the 40–49 years group was significantly higher than that of male patients (P <.05). Age, number of hospital visits and severity of DED were showed a significant influence on the direct economic burden both in univariate linear regression analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. Subtype of DED was showed a significant influence on the direct economic burden in multiple linear regression analysis after eliminating confounding factors. This study preliminarily analyzed the direct economic burden of Chinese DED patients. Age, number of hospital visits, severity of DED, mixed and evaporative dry eye (EDE) subtypes are shown to be the significant influencing factors of the direct economic burden and sex is a potential influencing factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing rechargeable lithium ion batteries with fast charge/discharge rate, high capacity and power, long lifespan, and broad temperature adaptability is still a significant challenge. In order to realize the fast and efficient transport of ions and electrons during the charging/discharging process, a 3D hierarchical carbon-decorated Li3V2(PO4)3 is designed and synthesized with a nanoscale amorphous carbon coating and a microscale carbon network. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area is 65.4 m2 g−1 and the porosity allows for easy access of the electrolyte to the active material. A specific capacity of 121 mAh g−1 (91% of the theoretical capacity) can be obtained at a rate up to 30 C. When cycled at a rate of 20 C, the capacity retention is 77% after 4000 cycles, corresponding to a capacity fading of 0.0065% per cycle. More importantly, the composite cathode shows excellent temperature adaptability. The specific discharge capacities can reach 130 mAh g−1 at 20 C and 60 °C, and 106 mAh g−1 at 5 C and -20 °C. The rate performance and broad temperature adaptability demonstrate that this hierarchical carbon-decorated Li3V2(PO4)3 is one of the most attractive cathodes for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• With sodium ions insertion, MoS 2 will first experience layer expansion and then phase transformation and finally fragmentation after triggering conversion reaction. • With sodium ions insertion, the HER activity of MoS 2 will gradually increase at the intercalation stage and further increase at the early stage of conversion reaction and finally slightly decrease at the end of discharging. • The possible structure-performance relationship is established. Though enormous attention has been paid to MoS 2 in the field of electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the conventional 2H MoS 2 is hardly regarded as an alternative to noble Pt due to the limited number of active sites and semiconducting character. Herein, sodium ions were intentionally introduced into the MoS 2 to regulate its structure and thus HER activity. We found that the HER activity of MoS 2 would gradually increase at the intercalation stage and further increase at the early stage of conversion reaction. Based on various characterization techniques, the possible structure-performance relationship was established. The first increase in activity was ascribed to interlayer expansion and phase transformation, and the second increase in activity was mainly ascribed to increase of active sites due to the fragmentation of MoS 2 after triggering conversion reaction. Even though deep discharging MoS 2 to 0.01 V (vs. Na+/Na) would slightly impair HER activity, such an activity was still much better than that of pristine MoS 2 , which might be originated from the doping of S into molybdenum oxide according to the DFT calculation. Sodium ions were intentionally introduced into the MoS 2 to regulate its structure and HER performance. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Although Botulinum Toxin Type A (BTXA) has been applied to scar prevention and treatment, the mechanisms still require further exploration. Objective. To investigate the effects of BTXA on microvessels in the hypertrophic scar models on rabbit ears. Methods. Eight big-eared New Zealand rabbits (males or females) were selected to establish scar models. One ear of each rabbit (4 models in each ear) was selected randomly to be injected with BTXA immediately after modeling and included in the treated group, while the opposite ear was untreated and included in the control group. The growth of scars in each group was observed and recorded, and 4 rabbits were sacrificed on days 30 and 45 after modeling. Then, scar height was measured by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression was detected by immunohistochemical (IHC) testing, and microvessel density (MVD) was calculated based on CD34 (human hematopoietic progenitor cell antigen). Results. The wounds in each group were well healed and free from infection or necrosis. On days 30 and 45, the scar height, MVD value, and VEGF expression in the treated group were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). For the treated group, the above indicators on day 45 were lower than on day 30 (P > 0.05). Besides, there was a positive correlation between the MVD value and the VEGF expression in the treated group (P < 0.05). Conclusion. The injection of BTXA immediately after modeling inhibits VEGF expression and reduces angiogenesis, thereby inhibiting hypertrophic scar formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchical carbon decoration is demonstrated to be an efficient strategy to improve the performance of electrode materials in lithium ion batteries. As reported by Liqiang Mai and co‐workers in article number 1400107, 3D hierarchical carbon decorated Li3V2(PO4)3 simultaneously provides rapid pathways for lithium ions and electrons, resulting in an excellent high‐rate performance and broad temperature adaptability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exploration of earth-abundant electrode materials with superior low-temperature behavior and high areal capacity have become more and more urgent for the field of electric vehicles and portable electronic devices. Hollow hierarchical microstructure composed of nanoscaled subunits holds great potential in developing novel electrode materials with superior electrochemical performance. Herein, we demonstrate a bubble-templated method to synthesize Fe 2 (MoO 4) 3 hollow microspheres, and the formation mechanism is carefully investigated. When evaluated as the lithium-ion battery anode, they exhibit a high reversible capacity of 1205 mA h g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 after 200 cycles, good rate performance of 565 mA h g−1 at 10 A g−1, excellent low temperature capability of 281 mA h g−1 at 1 A g−1 at −20 °C, and high reversible areal discharge capacity of 5.2 mA h cm−2 with a high active material mass loading of 5 mg cm−2. Additionally, the full cell assembled with activated Fe 2 (MoO 4) 3 hollow microspheres negative electrode and LiFePO 4 positive electrode exhibits a high reversible capacity of 1115 mA h g−1 at 0.2 A g−1. Furthermore, in situ X-ray diffraction analysis is applied to clarify the electrochemical reaction mechanism during the discharge/charge process. A bubble-templated method is developed to synthesize Fe 2 (MoO 4) 3 hollow hierarchical microspheres with superior high-rate, low-temperature, and high-areal-capacity lithium storage properties. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To realize energy-efficient and cost-effective production of hydrogen by electrochemical water splitting, central to the research endeavors is the exploration of highly active and earth-abundant electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Promising non-noble candidates for OER are often based on transition metal oxides, while carbon-based electrocatalysts typically receive little attention due to their relatively poor performance. In this work, we present a novel method to significantly activate carbon cloth for OER by creating oxygen-containing functional groups on its surface with the assistance of peroxovanadium complexes, which have been seldom used to oxidize carbon materials. Compared to pristine carbon cloth (P-CC), the activated carbon cloth (A-CC) exhibits higher specific surface area and faster electron transfer rate. Particularly, the overpotential of A-CC (310 mV) to afford a current density of 10 mA cm −2 is much lower than that of P-CC and even comparable to that of noble RuO 2 /C (280 mV), ranking A-CC among the best reported nonmetal catalysts for OER. Moreover, densely distributed VO 2 (B) nanoplates in the intermediate product of VO 2 (B)/CC can prevent the highly active A-CC from degrading in air for two months, which endows another excellent feature for this fabrication method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the cucumber-like structure, by combiningthe in situchemical oxidative polymerization with facile soaking process, wedesigned the heterostructured nanomaterial with PEDOT as the shelland MnO2nanoparticles as the protuberance and synthesizedthe novel cucumber-like MnO2nanoparticles enriched vanadiumpentoxide/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) coaxial nanowires.This heterostructured nanomaterial exhibits enhanced electrochemicalcycling performance with the decreases of capacity fading during 200cycles from 0.557 to 0.173% over V2O5nanowiresat the current density of 100 mA/g. This method is proven to be aneffective technique for improving the electrochemical cycling performanceand stability of nanowire electrodes especially at low rate for applicationin rechargeable lithium batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molybdenum oxide nanowires have been found to show promise in a diverse range of applications, ranging from electronics to energy storage and micromechanics. This review focuses on recent research on molybdenum oxide nanowires: from synthesis and device assembly to fundamental properties. The synthesis of molybdenum oxide nanowires will be reviewed, followed by a discussion of recent progress on molybdenum oxide nanowire based devices and an examination of their properties. Finally, we conclude by considering future developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]