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Uranium [U(VI)] mining activity resulted in the discharge of uranium containing acid wastewater. It is necessary for immobilizing the uranium from wastewater to avoid its environmental pollution. In this work, a novel hydrothermal mineralization strategy is proposed for uranium stabilization. Three reaction systems such as Mg3(PO4)2+ UO22+, Mg2++ PO43–+ UO22+, and Mg2++ PO43–+ Mg3(PO4)2+ UO22+were designed to investigate the uranium mineralization and stabilization performance. The consumed molar quantities of magnesium and phosphate were calculated to understand the mineralization mechanisms. The molar ratios of Mg/U and P/U in the experimental results were in agreement with those of thermodynamic calculation in the presence of dissolved Mg2+and PO43–under the hydrothermal process. The calculated saturated index indicated the facile crystallization of uranium into the saleeite and chernikovite through hydrothermal mineralization at the pH value of 5 and 473 K. Crystallization into saleeite and chernikovite contributed to uranium stabilization, resulting in the negligible leaching rate of 5% due to the high crystallinity of 97.23%. Thus, hydrothermal mineralization of uranium crystallization into saleeite and chernikovite was promising for uranium stabilization with long-term stability.

Isothermal uniaxial compression experiments were performed in the temperature range of 340–460 °C and the deformation rate range of 0.001–1 s−1to analyze the hot deformation behavior of the rapidly-solidified Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy in hot isostatic pressing state. A strain-compensated constitutive model was established to determine the flow stress in the alloy (based on the true stress-true strain data), and the average activation energy for the hot deformation was calculated as Q = ∼146 kJ/mol. The proposed model exhibited a high predictability with an average absolute relative error of 2.68% and a correlation coefficient of 0.99724. The processing map revealed that the alloy in the hot isostatic pressed state offers better workability than the spray-deposited alloy, and its optimal workable ranges at a strain of 0.78 are 370–390 °C/0.004–0.01 s−1and 400–460 °C/0.005–0.06 s−1, respectively. The microstructural evolution shows that the main dynamic softening mechanism changes from dynamic recovery to continuous dynamic recrystallization with the increase in temperature and the decrease in strain rate.

Objective: The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is widely used in neurosurgery to evaluate the depth of coma in patients with brain injury. The bispectral index (BIS) was developed primarily to monitor the depth of unconsciousness. Recent evidence suggests that BIS may also help in the assessment of brain injury. This study explores the correlation between GCS scores and BIS values in patients with brain injury. Methods: Fifty patients were divided into 2 groups--moderate (GCS 9-12) and severe (GCS 3-8)--in this prospective, double-blind, observational study. Bispectral index data were recorded when electromyography was less than 40 and signal quality index was greater than 75 for 5 minutes. Linear regression was used to examine the correlation between BIS and GCS, and receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted. Cutoff points were identified to show the feasibility and accuracy of BIS for assessing brain injury. Results: The mean BIS value of the moderate group was 65.62 [+ or -] 12.84, and that of the severe group was 46.27 [+ or -] 17.35. Bispectral index values were significantly correlated with GCS ([R.sup.2] = 0.729, P< .01). The regression line and 95% confidence interval were determined; the regression equation was BIS = 5.46*GCS + 12.72. The receiver operating characteristic curve showed high diagnostic accuracy when GCS is less than 9; the area under the curve was 0.8164, and the cutoff point (BIS value) corresponding to the maximum sensitivity (0.91) and specificity (0.63) was 60.2. Conclusion: BIS values and GCS scores were significantly correlated in patients with brain injury. As a continuous and objective measurement, BIS is a viable evaluation and monitoring tool for brain injury. Keywords: bispectral index, brain injury, correlation, diagnosis, Glasgow Coma Scale, Brain injury may be classified in various ways according to the type of injury, which structures in the head are damaged, or trauma severity. The treatment of brain injury depends [...]

Cervicogenic dizziness is a clinical syndrome characterized by neck pain and dizziness, which has a rising incidence in recent years. In China, manual therapy has been widely used in the treatment of cervicogenic dizziness, but there is no high-quality medical evidence to support its effectiveness and safety. The purpose of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of Shi's manual therapy (SMT) on the treatment of cervicogenic dizziness.

Objective: To analyze the clinical application of manual therapy (MT) to tumor-related adverse reactions via summarizing the research at home and abroad, in order to provide more theoretical evidence for the clinical promotion of MT. Methods: We searched 7 Chinese and English databases, including China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Academic Journal Full-text Database (Wanfang), Chongqing VIP Database (CQVIP), PubMed, Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), Ovid and EBSCO. The publication date was between the establishment date of the database and December 31, 2020. We screened the literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and then sorted and analyzed the selected information. Results: A total of 46 papers were analyzed. Most studies focused on the adverse reactions in breast cancer patients. MT interventions demonstrated the best efficacy for fatigue, followed by pain, depression and anxiety. In different MT interventions, Tuina (Chinese therapeutic massage) was mainly adopted for fatigue, pain, anxiety, depression, and limb dysfunctions. Acupoint pressing was mainly adopted for gastrointestinal and psychological problems such as abdominal bloating, insomnia, depression and anxiety. The application of reflexotherapy was similar to that of Tuina. Conclusion: MT can alleviate various adverse reactions by effectively relieving patients’ somatic symptoms and improving their psychological states and overall functions. It can be popularized as a significant non-drug therapy. Currently, however, the clinical application of MT is neither extensive nor has sufficient basic research. Consequently, we should attach importance to this application.

Background: Follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) is an indolent carcinoma. The cumulative incidence of death from patients with FTC and the nomogram built based on the competing risks model have not been described. Methods: The data from patients diagnosed with primary FTC were identified and extracted from the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results (SEER) program (1988–2015). The cumulative incidence function was utilized to calculate the likelihood of death resulting from thyroid cancer and other causes, respectively. Gray’s test was used to examine the difference in the cumulative incidence of death between the groups. A tenfold cross-validation was applied to assess the discrimination and calibration of the model. Results: A total of 9210 patients diagnosed with primary FTC were included. The median follow-up time was 92 months (1–347 months). The 5-year, 10-year, and 20-year probabilities of death from FTC were 2.84%, 5.23%, and 8.61%, respectively. The age at diagnosis, sex, tumor size, pathological subtypes, tumor extension, lymph node involvement, as well as surgical and radiotherapy methods used, were related to the cumulative incidence of death. Multivariate analysis identified several risk factors for patient survival. The model behaved well in terms of performance. A nomogram based on the model allowed the prediction of the probability of death among patients with FTC. Conclusions: The prognosis of FTC is excellent. The likelihood of death caused by thyroid cancer increases with age. Male sex, tumors larger than 4 cm, invasion, extrathyroidal extension, lymph node involvement, and distant metastases increase the risk of dying of thyroid carcinoma. The nomogram constructed on the basis of the model is potentially useful for both clinicians and patients.

Development of low-cost electrode materials with long cycle life and high volumetric capacity is important for large-scale applications of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Here, an electrode made from Fe2O3encapsulated with N-doped carbon (Fe2O3@N-C) viaZIF-8 coating and carbonization process is reported. A cavity was generated between the Fe2O3and N-C material during the carbonization process that is conducive to alleviating the volume expansion of Fe2O3. As a result, the Fe2O3@N-C composite exhibits a high specific capacity (1064 mAh/g at 0.1 A/g) and cycle stability (803.6 mAh/g at 1.0 A/g after 1100 cycles) when used as the LIB anode. In addition, the influence of carbonization under air on the LIB performance was investigated by controllably changing the crystal phase of Fe2O3and the thickness of the carbon layer. This work provides a new method for the design and fabrication of yolk-shell composite electrodes for LIBs and other applications.

Co/MoC@N-C with a Co/MoC heterojunction embedded in the N-doped graphene structure showed excellent ORR and OER performance. An efficient in-situ strategy was conducted in this paper.

Carbonization of sludge into biochar as adsorbents in application of wastewater decontamination was widely concerned to address the issues of sludge resource utilization and wastewater treatment. Herein, sewage sludge was carbonized at various temperatures to obtain biochar (SC) for phosphate removal, further being considered as a uranium decontaminant. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted to investigate the adsorption kinetics and isotherms of SC to phosphate. Results showed that the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir model fitted well to the adsorption kinetic and isotherm results, respectively. Adsorption of phosphate on the SCs was ascribed to monolayer chemical adsorption process. The SC obtained at 800°C (SC-800) had the highest adsorption capacity of 13.89 mg/g to K3PO4. The adsorption mechanism was regarded as the mineralization of the phosphate with Ca element in the SC to form Ca(H2PO4)2and CaH2P2O5crystals. The Ca(H2PO4)2and CaH2P2O5crystals performed prefer uranium adsorption ability to SC-800. The formation of nanoflakes confirmed the favorable uranium adsorption due to the presence of Ca(H2PO4)2and CaH2P2O5crystals after phosphate adsorption. Thus, the recovered phosphate on SC-800 could be a promising uranium decontaminant.

In this study, magnetic biochar nanocomposites (FeC–S) were prepared by employing ethylene glycol as a liquefaction agent of corn stalks and solvent for the solvothermal synthesis approach. The effects of urea/Fe3+molar ratio, final solvothermal temperature, and residence time on the properties of FeC–S were investigated. Magnetic biochar synthesized through pyrolysis and the chemical co-precipitation method (FeC–P) was employed for comparison. As revealed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, vibrating sample magnetometer analysis, and Fenton-like oxidation of sulfamethoxazole, the impregnated iron in FeC–S presented as Fe3O4nanoparticles with an average grain size of 8.9 nm, which makes the material magnetically separable. The FeC–S exhibited a higher Fenton-like catalytic activity than FeC–P, due to the highly dispersed and smaller crystalline size of loaded Fe3O4particles, as well as the higher amount of oxygen-containing functional groups. The stability test showed that FeC–S can be easily recycled for five subsequent runs without significant activity loss.

Background:Methotrexate (MTX), utilized as a graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) prophylactic agent in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), has been proven to effectively decrease the occurrence of the peri-engraftment syndrome (Peri-ES) and acute GvHD (aGvHD). Changes in the pharmacodynamics of MTX are closely associated with gene polymorphisms in genes encoding drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters. Nevertheless, the current studies mainly concentrate on leukemia or autoimmune diseases, and limited studies on the allo-HSCT were reported.

Nickel sulfides are suitable anode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) because of their moderate cost and high theoretical capacity. Nevertheless, low cycling stability and rate performance caused by volume expansion and inferior electronic conductivity during the charge/discharge process still hamper their development. Herein, Ni3S2nanoparticles uniformly embedded in N-doped carbon nanosheets (Ni3S2@C) are synthesized by sulfuration of a Ni-based metal-organic framework (Ni-MOF), followed by coating with polypyrrole (PPy). The PPy protects Ni3S2particles from aggregation, and is converted to N-doped carbon shell during the annealing process. The nano-sized structure accelerates reaction kinetics and minimizes stress/strain caused by volume changes. The N-doped carbon nanosheets connect the transmission pathway of the electrons, and buffer the volume change during the electrochemical reaction. As expected, NiSx@C-600 delivers superior sodium storage performance with a high discharge capacity of 432.8 mA h g−1 at 0.2 A g−1over 100 cycles and remarkable rate capacity of 371.6 mA h g−1 at a high rate of 6.4 A g−1. To the best of our knowledge, the obtained nanosheets exhibit the best rate performance among current Ni3S2composites. The proposed method for enhancing conductivity and doping heteroatom by using PPy provides a novel insight to design SIB anodes with superior performance.

As a common chelating agent, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) can form stable chelates with toxic metals. Such metal–EDTA complexes are of chemical stability, which poses a challenge to their removal from contaminated water/wastewater. In this study, simultaneous removal of toxic heavy metal thallium (Tl) and EDTA using the Fenton process was investigated for the first time. Influencing factors including the molar ratio of [Fe2+]/[H2O2], H2O2dosage, pH and reaction time on the removal performance of Tl and EDTA were examined. Over 98% of Tl and 62% of total organic carbon (TOC) can be removed under optimized conditions: [Fe2+] of 21.6 mM, [H2O2] of 54.0 mM, reaction pH of 2.5, reaction time of 5 h and flocculation pH of 10.0. After treatment, an increase in ammonium nitrogen was clearly observed, which was mainly due to the cleavage of C–N and N–N bonds of EDTA. The single-factor experiments and the analyses of FT-IR, SEM-EDS and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy spectra reveal that the removal of Tl and EDTA was mainly attributed to the synergistic effects of Fenton oxidation, surface complexation, coagulation, precipitation and co-precipitation. The findings of this study indicate that the Fenton process is a facile, effective and promising technique for Tl and EDTA removal from water/wastewater.

Sodium ion capacitors (SICs) have been considered as a kind of promising devices to achieve both high power and energy density. However, it is still a challenge to achieve high energy output at elevated power delivery due to the poor rate capability of battery-type electrode materials and the kinetic mismatch with capacitor-type electrode materials. In this work, to fabricate SICs, P2-Na0.67Co0.5Mn0.5O2(P2-NCM) was chosen as the battery-type cathode material, and a typical metal-organic framework (MOF) material, zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) derived carbon (ZDC) was utilized as the capacitor-type anode material. Due to the kinetic match and high-rate performance of both electrodes, the ZDC//P2-NCM SICs exhibited an energy output of 18.8 Wh kg−1at a high power delivery of 12.75 kW kg−1.

HLA-B*58:01 has been demonstrated to be associated with allopurinol-induced severe cutaneous adverse reactions. Since HLA-B*58:01 is too complicated to be identified, it is necessary to select an appropriate surrogate biomarker. In Japan, the rs9263726 allele was considered as a surrogate biomarker for HLA-B*58:01, but this was not the case with the Australian cohort. Due to the conflict results, in this study, we aim to demonstrate whether the rs9263726 allele is a surrogate biomarker for HLA-B*58:01 in Han Chinese population. A total of 353 samples (200 cases from the south and 153 cases from the north) were selected to detect HLA-B*58:01 and rs9263726 allele. The HLA-B*58:01 was identified by sequencing-based method, and the rs9263726 allele was identified by Taqman SNP Genotyping Assays. The results showed that the two alleles had a linkage, but not absolute linkage disequilibrium in Han Chinese population.

In this study, the dried biomass of strain Pestalotiopsis sp. FW-JCCW was employed as an adsorbent for the biosorption of thallium (Tl) and cadmium (Cd). Influential factors including reaction pH, initial concentration of Tl+and Cd2+, agitation speed, reaction temperature and contact time on the biosorption capacity of Tl+and Cd2+were investigated. Isotherm tests showed that the Langmuir model provides the best fit for equilibrium data of both metals, with maximum biosorption capacity of 99.80 mg/g for Tl+and 98.01 mg/g for Cd2+. In addition, the pseudo-second-order model described biosorption kinetics more effectively than the pseudo-first-order model. Thermodynamic parameters indicated that biosorption of Tl+and Cd2+is a spontaneous and endothermic process. In addition, the biosorbent was characterized through Brunauer Emmett Teller analysis (BET), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy and energy disperse spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The characterization results demonstrate that functional groups (C-O, -OH or - NH, -CN and -COOH) on the surface of the strain contribute to the biosorption. In conclusion, Pestalotiopsis sp. FW-JCCW can be used as an effective biosorbent for removing Tl+and Cd2+from wastewater.

The effect of the α-glucosidase inhibitor acarbose on cardiovascular outcomes in patients with coronary heart disease and impaired glucose tolerance is unknown. We aimed to assess whether acarbose could reduce the frequency of cardiovascular events in Chinese patients with established coronary heart disease and impaired glucose tolerance, and whether the incidence of type 2 diabetes could be reduced.

•Synthesize recoverable hybrid G-MgO-SCCA-Znozonation catalyst in the implication of MB degradation.•G-MgO-SCCA-Znperforms preferable catalytic potential to G-AC and G-MgO in the catalytic degradation of MB.•The MgO Nano-particles loaded and exposed on the surface of G-MgO-SCCA-Zncontributed to the preferable catalytic activity..•G-MgO-SCCA-Znis recyclable with stable catalytic activity.

AbstractAn integrated heterogeneous catalytic ozonation and membrane separation system was studied for continuous degradation of refractory organic pollutants in water. MgO nanosheets with dominant (111) facets showed large amounts of medium and strong basic sites due to the particular structure of alternating monolayers of exclusively oxygen and exclusively magnesium atoms. MgO(111) acted as the ozonation catalyst for the first time, it was found that efficient degradation of nitrobenzene was achieved with 25.0 mmol/L of MgO(111) catalysts in a wide pH range of 4.0–12.0. In view of practical application, engineering problems to recover fine size catalysts from the treated water were resolved by applying membrane separation technology in the system. Experimental results showed that the membrane could successfully intercept MgO(111) particles in the reactor by the synergistic cooperative sieving of the bare and dynamic membranes. The long-term continuous experiments demonstrated that the removal rate of nitrobenzene could maintain over 90% with a constant flux of 3.92 L m−2 min−1during the 24 h operation. The continuous system provides a new method for practical application of heterogeneous catalytic ozonation to remove refractory organic pollutants.

Laboratory experiments are presented that demonstrate a novel in situsemipassive reactive barrier for the degradation of 2,4 dinitrotoluene created by coating aquifer surfaces by deposition of colloidal MnO2, which catalyzes ozone degradation and enhances contaminant oxidation. Ozone is added to the reactive barrier and is transported through the zone with the contaminants by existing hydraulic gradients. The communication presents the preliminary laboratory investigation demonstrating the viability of this method. Studies were conducted by coating Ottawa sand with colloidal MnO2. Results show that concentrations of MnO2in the range of 0.2 mg/g can be deposited with no measurable change in hydraulic conductivity, that there is significant coverage of the sand material by MnO2, and the deposition was not reversible under a wide range of chemical conditions. Ozonation of 2,4-dinitrotoluene in the presence of MnO2- coated sand was demonstrated to result in pseudo-first-order degradation kinetics with respect to DNT with half-lives ranging from 28 to 22 min (at pH 6 and 7, respectively), approximately 25% faster than experiments performed in the absence of MnO2.

Previous work indicated that the dual-target stool DNA test, iColocomf, showed potential utility for colorectal cancer (CRC) detection, but its clinical accuracy was not validated on larger groups. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of iColocomf in a multicenter clinical trial. In this double-blinded case-control study, we enrolled 1,164 participants from three independent hospitals, including 320 CRC patients, 148 adenomas, 396 interfering diseases, and 300 healthy controls. The primary indicators included sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were estimated. Stool samples of participants were collected and tested by the assay. The test results were then verified by Sanger sequencing and retesting of resected participants. The sensitivity and specificity for CRC detection were 95.31% and 96.67%, respectively, with an accuracy of 90.29%. When combining the interfering diseases, the specificity was 88.39%. No statistically significant variations of positive detection rates were observed for the test in different patients’ clinical features. For advanced adenomas (n=38) and non-advanced adenomas (n=110), the sensitivities were 63.16% and 33.64%, respectively. The average accuracy was 99.62% for the methylation status of 375 samples verified by Sanger sequencing, and 94.12% for 34 participants received the test second after surgical resection. The iColocomf test showed robust performance for the early detection of colorectal cancer and potential monitoring ability in clinical practice.

In free-space or in optical fibers, orbital angular momentum (OAM) multiplexing for information transmission has been greatly developed. The light sources used were well coherent communication bands, and the fibers used were customized. Here, we use an 810 nm femtosecond laser to generate optical vortices carrying OAM and then feed them into two kinds of commercial step-index few-mode fibers to explore the transmission characteristics of OAM modes. We also propose a method without multiple-input multiple-output digital signal processing to identify the input OAMs. It is of great guiding significance for high-dimensional quantum information experiments via the OAMs as a degree of freedom, using the light generated by the spontaneous parametric down-conversion as the source and the commercial fibers for information transmission.

Transporting information is one of the important functions of photons and is also the essential duty of information science. Here, we realize multiple imaging by detecting photons with changeable wavelengths based on time-resolved correlation measurements. In our system, information from multiple objects can be transported. During this process, the wavelength of the photons illuminating the objects is different from the wavelength of the photons detected by the detectors. More importantly, the wavelength of the photons that are utilized to record images can also be changed to match the sensitive range of the used detectors. In our experiment, images of the objects are reconstructed clearly by detecting the photons at wavelengths of 650, 810, and 1064 nm, respectively. These properties should have potential applications in information science.