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Lithium titanate (Li4Ti5O12, LTO) is an important material to be used as an anode for LIBs (Li+ ion battery). LTO is a zero-strain material (i.e., no structural change occurs during Li insertion/extraction). Although LTO is a very safe material that can be used as an anode material in high and low temperature environment, its rate capability is compromised by its low electronic conductivity and poor Li+ diffusion coefficient. In the recent years, considerable research around the world has focused on improving LTO rate performance. Efforts to achieve better electrical conduction between LTO particles have included LTO particle size control, conductive-material surface coatings, and alien ion doping. However, in this study electrochemical properties were improved by changing the morphology of LTO. Based on traditional electrospinning technology, LTO fibers with a hollow structure were produced using a nested coaxial nozzle modified from the conventional spinning nozzle and coaxial cospinning with two different solutions. A comparison of this results with those of solid LTO prepared by traditional electrospinning technology demonstrates that hollow LTO is characterized by uniform particle size and no agglomeration, along with an obvious hollow structure, clear crystal lattice stripes, and good crystallization property. The specific surface of this hollow LTO is 1.3 times than its solid counterpart. This morphological change greatly improves the electrochemical performance of the material. Although the discharge specific capacities of both the solid and hollow LTO are close to the theoretical value for small ratios, the hollow LTO is superior to its solid counterpart at 20C. The discharge specific capacity of the hollow LTO can reach 130 mA·h·g-1 at 20C, and after 200 cycles, its capacity retention ratio remains at 98%, which suggests good stability. Cyclic voltammetry and AC impedance curves also show that the hollow structure reduces the degree of polarization and the electrochemical reaction impedance of LTO, which makes LTO more conducive to electrochemical reaction.

It is important to determine the chemical composition of gases trapped in rocks. The technique of using carrier gas and chemical analysis to release and collect gases is very time-consuming. There is little reported about Gas Chromatography analysis of rock degassing under high vacuum, and the total amount of gases are not commonly measured. It is difficult to analyze gases with similar molecular weights by Mass Spectrometer and because of these problems, a high vacuum rock sample degassing device has been developed. The vacuum of the device is < 10-4 Pa. The blank sample pressure is < 0.1 Pa, the accuracy for N2 in the air is 0.63%, and the minimum measurable quantity is < 1 mm3 at standard temperature and pressure. The high vacuum device is coupled with a Gas Chromatography with a pulsed discharge detector, which gives a high sensitive gas chromatographic analysis of the chemical composition of gases in rocks. The gas released from Wudalianchi volcanic rocks in the Songliao Basin reservoirs and shale samples from the Sichuan basin have been analyzed using this system. The results show that the total amount of gas released from the rock can be directly measured. Less sample weight is needed during stage heating, and gas composition analysis is more sensitive compared with the previous experimental device and method. The analyzed main component targeted is the common component in gas-released rock.

Permian (260-290 Ma) mafic dyke swarms in the northern of Xinjiang widely develop in West Junggar, Turpan-Hami Basin, East Tianshan, West Tianshan and the northeast margin of Tarim. The formation age of mafic dyke swarm is similar to that of Tarim large igneous provinces. The correlations between contents of major elements and MgO of mafic dyke swarms are obvious. Mafic dykes are enriched in large ion lithophile elements (Rb, Ba, Sr, etc.) and light rare earth elements (LREE), and depleted in high field strength element (Nb, Ta, Ti, etc.), and there is no obvious Eu anomaly, the characteristics are similar to island arc magma. εNd(t) values of mafic dykes are -11.25-7.86, and the initial N(87Sr)/N(86Sr) values are 0.703-0.710. Mafic dyke swarms in West Tianshan are depleted in LREE, and those in the northeast margin of Tarim are depleted in Sr. The magma of Permian mafic dyke swarm in the northern of Xinjiang is probably originated from enriched asthenosphere mantle source, and experiences different degrees of contamination of crust materials or metasomatic lithospheric mantle with subduction in the process of magmatic evolution. The dykes in West Junggar, East Tianshan, West Tianshan and Turpan-Hami Basin experience the contamination of lithospheric mantle with metasomatism of fluids from plate subduction; the mafic dykes in East Tianshan and the northeast margin of Tarim experience obvious contamination of crustal materials in the process of magmatic evolution. The Permian mafic dyke swarms in the northern of Xinjiang could be the products of mantle plume magmatism in different processes of evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The three types of low mature organic-rich samples from US Green River shale (Type I kerogen), Woodford shale (Type II kerogen), and China Pearl River Mouth Basin( Type III kerogen) were chosen as the initial samples for pyrolysis simulation on hydrocarbon generation. A pyrolysis system of sealed gold tubes in high pressure vessels was employed to conduct pyrolysis experiments at two heating rates of 20 °C/h and 2 °C/h under a constant confining pressure of 24. 1 MPa. The yields of gaseous hydrocarbons (C1-5) and liquid hydrocarbons (C6-14 and C14+), and the carbon isotopic compositions of gaseous hydrocarbons (C1-C4) were measured to reveal the generation mechanism of shale gas. The results show that the organic matter conversion from organic-rich shales to oil and gas can be divided into three stages: oil generation, gas generation from oil secondary cracking and gaseous hydrocarbons cracking. At the stage of oil generation by the thermal decomposition of primary kerogen, the yields of liquid hydrocarbons increase rapidly with the increase of temperature, and reach the peak values at approximately 0. 9%- 1.1% Ro, whereas gaseous hydrocarbons show low yields. At the stage of oil secondary cracking, gaseous hydrocarbons increase rapidly in the yields associated with the decreases in the yield of liquid hydrocarbons. At the stage of gaseous hydrocarbons cracking, the gas yields increase slightly, whereas gas is getting drier and enriches in CH4. The carbon isotopes of gaseous hydrocarbons vary from heavier to lighter with the increase of temperature, and reach the lightest values before the end of oil cracking, and then become heavier. The partial reversals of carbon isotopic compositions of gaseous hydrocarbons at the stage of oil cracking is observed for Type I shale, i. e., δ13C1<δ13C2<δ13nC4. The results also suggest that shale gas is mainly derived from kerogen primary cracking and oil and gas secondary cracking, and shale gas content is constrained by the organic matter type and thermal maturity, and the Type I shale has the highest gas yield. The partial reversal distributions of carbon isotopic compositions of gaseous hydrocarbons in shale gas could be caused by oil secondary cracking, or the mixing of gaseous hydrocarbons from different stages of thermal maturation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New daily persistent headache (NDPH) is a kind of persistent headache that patients can identify the exact date of the sudden onset.It is one of the rare primary headaches difficult to be cured and may lead to disability,seriously affecting the daily life and work.The exact pathogenesis of NDPH remains unclear,which makes the treatment difficult.Here we report a case of refractory NDPH treated by intravenous injection of esketamine at a sub-anesthetic dose.

The efficacy and safety of different Chinese patent medicines in the treatment of coronary heart disease complicated with heart failure were evaluated by network Meta-analysis. The randomized controlled trial(RCT) of Chinese patent medicines for coronary heart disease complicated with heart failure was retrieved from CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, SinoMed, PubMed, Web of Science, EMbase, and Cochrane Library with the time interval from inception to July 5, 2023. The quality of the included RCT was evaluated by the Cochrane's risk of bias assessment tool, and a network Meta-analysis was performed in Stata 16.0. Finally, a total of 82 RCTs were included, involving 9 298 patients and 11 Chinese patent medicines. Network Meta-analysis yielded the following results based on the surface under the cumulative ranking curve(SUCRA).(1)In terms of improving the clinical response rate, the top three interventions were Qishen Yiqi Dripping Pills + conventional western medicine, Zhenyuan Capsules + conventional western medicine, and Tongxinluo Capsules + conventional western medicine.(2) In terms of increasing left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF), the top three interventions were Shexiang Baoxin Pills + conventional western medicine, Compound Danshen Dripping Pills + conventional western medicine, and Tongxinluo Capsules + conventional western medicine.(3) In terms of reducing left ventricular end-diastolic diameter(LVEDD), the top three interventions were Shexiang Tongxin Dripping Pills + conventional western medicine, Tongxinluo Capsules + conventional western medicine, and Shexiang Baoxin Pills + conventional western medicine.(4) In terms of reducing N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide(NT-proBNP), the top three interventions were Shexiang Baoxin Pills + conventional western medicine, Qi-shen Yiqi Dripping Pills + conventional western medicine, and Compound Danshen Dripping Pills + conventional western medicine.(5) In terms of reducing hyper-sensitive C-reactive protein(hs-CRP), the top three interventions were Naoxintong Capsules + conventional western medicine, Shexiang Baoxin Pills + conventional western medicine, and Compound Danshen Dripping Pills + conventional western medicine.(6) In terms of increasing the distance of the six-minute walking trail(6MWT), the top three interventions were Zhen-yuan Capsules + conventional western medicine, Qili Qiangxin Capsules + conventional western medicine, and Qishen Yiqi Dripping Pills + conventional western medicine. The results showed that Chinese patent medicines combined with conventional western medicine can effectively improve the clinical response rate, LVEF, and 6MWT and reduce LVEDD, NT-proBNP, and hs-CRP. However, due to the overall low quality of the articles included and the few articles of some Chinese patent medicines, direct comparison between diffe-rent Chinese patent medicines remains to be carried out and the results need to be further verified.

This study reviewed the current status of the use of outcome indicators in randomized controlled trial(RCT) on traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) treatment of microvascular angina(MVA) and analyzed the existing problems and possible solutions, aiming to provide a basis for the design of high-quality RCT and the establishment of core outcome sets for MVA. CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, SinoMed, PubMed, EMbase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and 2 clinical trial registries were searched for the RCT on TCM treatment of MVA according to pre-defined criteria. The Cochrane's risk of bias assessment tool was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the included RCT and the use of outcome indicators was summarized. A total of 69 RCTs were included, from which 100 outcome indicators were extracted, with the frequency of 430. The extracted outcome indicators belonged to 8 domains: response rate, symptoms and signs, physical and chemical examinations, TCM efficacy, safety, quality of life, economic evaluation, and long-term prognosis. The indicators of physical and chemical examinations were the most(70 indicators with the frequency of 211), followed by those of response rate(7 indicators with the frequency of 73) and symptoms and signs(7 indicators with the frequency of 54). The outcome indicators with higher frequency were adverse reactions, angina attack frequency, clinical efficacy, endothelin-1, total duration of treadmill exercise, and hypersensitive C-reactive protein. The RCT on TCM treatment of MVA had the following problems: irregular reporting of adverse reactions, diverse indicators with low frequency, lack of attention to the application of endpoint indicators, insufficient use of TCM differentiation and efficacy indicators, non-standard evaluation criteria and failure to reflect the basic characteristics of TCM. A unified MVA syndrome differentiation standard should be established, on the basis of which an MVA treatment efficacy evaluation system and core outcome indicator set that highlights the characteristics of TCM with patient-reported outcomes as the starting point should be established to improve the clinical research and research value.

A field experiment was conducted to study the effects of different organic material amendments on soil respiration in a flue-cured tobacco field. Five treatments were set up:no fertilizer (NF), chemical fertilizer (NPK), chemical fertilizer+ryegrass (NPKG), chemical fertilizer+wheat straw (NPKS), and chemical fertilizer+tobacco straw biochar (NPKB). The results showed that:① Compared with that under NPK, NPKG and NPKS decreased the temperature sensitivity ( Q 10 ) of total soil respiration and heterotrophic respiration, whereas NPKB increased the Q 10 of heterotrophic respiration. The two-factor fitting model of soil respiration and soil hydrothermal factors accounted for 50%-80% of the variation in soil respiration. ② The addition of organic materials significantly increased the content of soil soluble organic carbon (DOC) and root dry matter. Soil heterotrophic respiration( R h ) was significantly positively correlated with DOC content, and soil autotrophic respiration( R a ) was significantly parabolically correlated with root biomass, with an R 2 of 0.327-0.634. ③ Soil respiration increased first and then decreased during the tobacco growth period. Compared with that under the NF treatment, the NPK treatment significantly promoted soil respiration and its components. Compared with those of the NPK treatment, R s rates were significantly increased by 20.08%, 10.32%, and 9.88% under the NPKG, NPKS, and NPKB treatments, respectively; R h rate increased by 24.21%, 16.51%, and 11.68% respectively, and R a rate was increased by 15.12% in the NPKG treatment. In summary, straw returning and biochar addition significantly increased R h by increasing soil DOC, thereby promoting R s . Incorporation of ryegrass not only increased the R h but also increased R a by promoting the growth and development of roots and therefore the R s .

To identify and verify the active ingredients from Astragalus membranaceus on hypertensive cardiac remodeling based on network pharmacology and heart RNA-sequencing data. The monomers of A. membranaceus and their intervention target database were established by using network pharmacology. The genes associated to cardiac remodeling were then screened by analyzing cardiac RNA-sequencing data. An overlap between genes related to cardiac remodeling and targets of ingredients form A. membranaceus was collected to obtain monomers with protective effect on hypertensive cardiac remodeling. Angiotensin Ⅱ(AngⅡ)-induced mouse cardiac remodeling model was used to validate the protective effect of active ingredients from A. membranaceus on hypertensive cardiac remodeling. Finally, a total of 81 monomers and 1 197 targets were enrolled in our database. Mouse RNA-sequencing data showed that 983 genes were significantly up-regulated and 465 genes were down-regulation in myocardial tissues of the cardiac remodeling mice as compared with blank group mice, respectively. Ninety-two genes were found via overlapping between genes related to cardiac remodeling and targets, involving 59 monomers from A. membranaceus. Further research found that vanillic acid(VA) could intervene 27 genes associated with hypertensive cardiac remodeling, ranking top 1. Meanwhile, VA could significantly inhibit AngⅡ-induced increase in ratio of heart weight to body weight and heart weight to tibial length, ANP and BNP mRNA levels in myocardial tissues, myocardial tissue damage, cardiac fibrosis level and cardiac hypertrophy level in vivo. Those results showed that network pharmacology screen-based VA has protective effect on AngⅡ-induced cardiac remodeling.

Objectives: To investigate the characteristics of differentiation of lung side population cells (LSP cells) in vitro ., Methods: CD45 - /CD31 + LSP cells sorted by flow cytometry were taken from mouse lung tissues and cultured for 14 d. The cultured LSP cells were observed with colony formation assay and flow cytometry in vitro . The mRNA expressions of ATP-binding cassette transporter G2 ( ABCG2 ), smooth muscle actin ( SMA ) and α-smooth muscle tropomyosin ( α-SMT ) in both freshly isolated LSP cells and cultured LSP cells were examined. The expressions of ABCG2 and stem cell antigen 1 (Sca1) in LSP cells were detected using immunofluorescence. RT-PCR tests were performed to detect the expressions of ABCG2, SMA and α-SMT in LSP cells., Results: The isolated CD45 - /CD31 + lung side population cells expressed ABCG2, SMA and Sca1, but not α-SMT . A large number of LSP in aggregated state were observed after 14 d of culture. Before induction of differentiation, the CD45 - /CD31 + LSP cells expressed ABCG2 and SMA , but not α-SMT. After induction of differentiation, the CD45 - /CD31 + lung side population cells expressed α-SMT and SMA , but not ABCG2 ., Conclusions: CD45 - /CD31 + LSP cells might be progenitor cells of vascular smooth muscle cells, possessing the characteristics of stem cell differentiations.

Objective: To investigate the risk factors of postsurgical gastroparesis syndrome (PGS) after subtotal gastrectomy in gastric cancer and the impact of PGS on prognosis., Methods: Clinical data of 422 patients who underwent subtotal gastrectomy for gastric cancer in the Central Hospital of Huzhou Sity from January 2004 to May 2010 were analyzed retrospectively. Risk factors of PGS were indentified and the recurrence-free survival was compared between the patients with and without PGS., Results: PGS occurred in 42 patients (9.5%). Univariate analysis showed that: age over 65, combination of anxiety disorder, low-albuminemia in perioperative period, pyloric obstruction in preoperative period, high serume glucose level (≥ 11.2 mmol/L) in postoperative period, Billroth II (gastroenterostomy, operation time over 4 hours, using patient-controlled analgesia, or intravenous fluid over 3500 ml/d (all P<0.05) were prone to develop PGS. These might be potential clinical risk factors associated to PGS. Correlation analysis showed the number of clinical risk factors was positively correlated with the incidence of PGS (r=0.967, P<0.05). A total of 215 cases (50.9%) were followed up for 3-60 months. The mean recurrence-free survival time of patients with PGS was 26.1 months, which was shorter than that of those without PGS (33.4 months, P=0.029)., Conclusions: Gastric cancer patients with the clinical risk factors mentioned above are prone to develop PGS after subtotal gastrectomy. PGS is associated with poor prognosis.

Objective: To investigate the distribution and hot spots of literatures on headache by bibliometric analysis in order to provide reference for further study., Methods: Literatures that contained headache or migraine in text words published in 2011 in PubMed databases (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Pubmed) were searched. Journals, countries and subjects were bibliometrically analysed., Results: There were 3683 papers involved to headache published in PubMed in 2011, of which 1527 papers were on headache research. The number of papers on headache research published by USA was the most followed by Italy and Germany (USA 23.25%, Italy 10.74%, Germany 5.83%). The mainly studied subjects were therapy (29.60%), pathophysiology (18.66%) and etiology (16.31%). 14.86% papers published in Cephalalgia, which is one of the most important journals, reported negative results., Conclusion: The emphasis of headache research was on migraine. Therapy, pathophysiology and etiology were the hot spot. Literatures with negative result attracted authors to give the more attention.

Objective: To explore the surgical treatment of hypopharyngeal and cervical esophageal cancers and the ways of reconstruction after hypopharyngo-oesphagectomy, and to evaluate their efficacy., Methods: Twenty five patients with cancer of the laryngopharynx and cervical esophagus treated in our department between 1995 and 2007 were included in this study. Their clinical data were restrspectively analyzed. Among them, 17 cases had the tumor originated from the pyriform sinus, 3 of the posterior pharyngeal wall and 5 of the postcricoid region. Acording to the 2002 UICC criteria, all the tumors were stage T4, including 9 patients with cN0, 11 with cN1, and 5 with cN2 disease. The pharyngoesophageal defect reconstruction methods were as following: pharyngogastric anastomosis in 7 patients, free jejunal transplantion in 4, laryngotracheal flap in 8, and pectoralis major musculocutaneous flap in 6 patients. All patients were treated with modified and/or selective neck dissection. Among them, 8 cases received pre-operation radiotherapy, 17 received post-operative auxiliary radiotherapy., Results: There was no operation death case in this group. All patients were followed up for 3 to 5 years. Three patients died in the first year. According to Kaplan-Meier analysis, the 1-year survival rate was 88.0%, 3-year survival rate was 48.0%, and 5-year survival rate was 28.0%., Conclusions: The use of primary repair of the defects of laryngopharynx and cervical esophagus expands the operative indication for cancers of the laryngopharynx and cervical esophagus, improves the survival rate and life quality of the patients. Regarding the repair method of choice, site of the tumor and size of the defect are the most important factors regarding choice of reconstruction method, while the patients' age and general condiction should also be considered to minimize the complications as more as possible.

Aim: To obtain sufficient numbers of pure and activated human primary NK cells for potential clinical application., Methods: PBMC based ex vivo expansion of natural killer cells was set up. The expansion was initiated by co-culture of PBMC and stimulator cells (irradiate genetic modified K562 cells) in RPMI1640 medium with 1 000 U/mL IL-2. Genetic modified K562 cells 'K562D3' were prepared by expressing IL-15, 4-1BBL and IL-18 on K562 cell membrane., Results: An average of 500 fold expansion of CD56(+)CD3(-) cells was observed after 3 weeks of co-culture. The NK cells population could reach 93% after expansion, comparing with 7% before expansion. The expanded NK cells lysed 95% of K562 targets in a 5:1 effector to target ratio. IL-15/4-1BBL bound K562 stimulatory cells could expand same fold NK cells as K562D3, but the cytotoxicity of NK cells expanded by 'K562D3' was 10% higher., Conclusion: The described method is a simple and efficient way for the expansion of human NK cells.

Objective: To explore the effect of matrine on cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in colon cancer HT-29 cell line at the level of gene and protein., Methods: Levels of mRNA and protein expression of COX-2, and its synthesized product prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) of colon cancer HT-29 cell line were detected by RT-PCR, Western-blot, ELISA respectively before and after treatment of matrine in different concentrations., Results: Matrine had inhibitory effect on the mRNA and protein expression of COX-2, and synthesis of PGE2 in colon cancer HT-29 cell line, but had no effect on COX-1. When HT-29 cell line was treated with 2.0 mg/ml of matrine, the inhibitory rate on COX-2 mRNA expression were 100% at 6 hrs and 9 hrs after treatment; the inhibitory rate on PGE2 synthesis was 63.8 % at 9 hrs after treatment; and that on COX-2 protein expression was 48% and 100% 12 hrs and 24 hrs after treatment, respectively., Conclusion: Matrine has selective inhibitory effect on gene transcription, protein expression and functional activity of COX-2 in HT-29 cell line, which is time-dependent and concentration-dependent within certain range of concentration and acting time.

Matrine, as an active component of Chinese traditional medicine, has a great effect on anti-inflammation, anti-arrhythmia and anti-fibrosis of liver cell. But the recent evidences indicate that matrine also plays an important role in anti-tumor, such as inhibiting proliferation, inducing differation and apoptosis, reducing invasion and metastasis of tumor cell. In the review we summarized the recent research progress of anti-tumor mechanism of matrine.