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Abstract Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rapidly spreads worldwide and causes more suffering. The relation about the aggravation of inguinal pain and COVID-19 was unclear in patients with total hip arthroplasty (THA). This study aimed to evaluate the risk of groin pain aggravation in short-term THA patients after COVID-19. Methods Between 2020 and 2022, 129 patients with THA who were affected COVID-19 were enrolled. A short-standardized questionnaire was administered during follow-up to inquire about the aggravation of groin ache before and after SARS-COV-2 affection. Furthermore, we evaluated the potential association between the presence of increased pain and various factors, including age, gender, body mass index, diagnosis, and length of hospital stay. Results The case-crossover study revealed an increased risk of inguinal soreness aggravation when comparing 8 weeks after COVID-19 with 12 weeks before COVID-19 (Relative risk [RR], 9.5; 95% Confidence intervals [CI], 2.259–39.954). For COVID-19 positive patients, multivariate analysis showed length of stay was an independent factor significantly associated with increased risk of aggravation of groin pain (Odds ratio [OR], 1.26; 95%CI, 1.03–1.55, p = 0.027). Conclusion This study confirms the association between COVID-19 and the exacerbation of soreness in the groin region in THA patients and extended length of stay is a possible contributing factor. This study expands the current literature by investigating the risk of aggravation of inguinal pain in patients with THA after COVID-19, providing valuable insights into postoperative outcomes in this specific population. Trial registration This retrospective study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Shanghai general hospital (No.2023-264).

Abstract Background Controversy remains over whether different surgical approaches exert an impact on the component positioning in total hip arthroplasty. We conducted a retrospective study to reveal the long-term position of prostheses in the first group of patients in China who underwent direct anterior hip arthroplasty. Methods Collected were data from 350 patients who underwent direct anterior hip arthroplasty between 2008 and 2013, including demographic information, imaging data, Harris hip scores, and surgical complications. Variables, measured radiographically or by CT, included hip offset, leg length discrepancy, component position, and stability within one week after surgery and at the last follow-up. The data were subjected to statistical analysis by using paired t-tests and Pearson chi-square tests. Results Data were harvested by follow-up and self-reported questionnaires. The postoperative follow-up lasted for 13.1 years on average (minimum, 10 years; maximum, 15 years), and the overall survival rate of hip prostheses was 96.3%. The mean Harris score at the final follow-up was 91.8 points. After excluding patients with significant preoperative hip deformities, the incidence of postoperative limb inequality (> 5 mm) was 4.9% at the last follow-up, and the incidence of hip offset discrepancy (> 5 mm) was 14.6%. The overall proportion of the acetabular components located in the Lewinnek safe zone was 77.7%, whereas the proportion of femoral prostheses in the safe zone ( 2 mm was 5.1%. Conclusion Direct anterior approach hip arthroplasty could achieve excellent component positioning and long-term prosthesis survival in patients without severe hip deformities.

The application of electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) for renewable energy conversion contributes to the ultimate goal of a zero-carbon emission society. Metal phosphides have been considered as promising HER catalysts in the alkaline environment, which, unfortunately, is still limited owing to the weak adsorption of H* and easy dissolution during operation. Herein, a bimetallic NiCoP-2/NF phosphide is constructed on nickel foam (NF), requiring rather low overpotentials of 150 mV and 169 mV to meet the current densities of 500 and 1000 mA cm−2, respectively, and able to operate stably for 100 h without detectable activity decay. The excellent HER performance is obtained thanks to the synergetic catalytic effect between Ni and Co, among which Ni is introduced to enhance the intrinsic activity and Co increases the electrochemically active area. Meanwhile, the protection of the externally generated amorphous phosphorus oxide layer improves the stability of NiCoP/NF. An electrolyser using NiCoP-2/NF as both cathode and anode catalysts in an alkaline solution can produce hydrogen with low electric consumption (overpotential of 270 mV at 500 mA cm−2).

The conformation of proteins is closely related to their biological functions, and it is affected by many factors, including the type of cations in solution. However, it is difficult to detect the conformational changes of a protein in situ. As a single-molecule sensing technology, nanopores can convert molecular structural information into analyzable current signals within a reasonable time range. Herein, we detect and analyze the effects of two different types of monovalent cations (Na+ and Li+) on a model protein bovine serum albumin (BSA) conformation using SiNx nanopores with different diameters. The quantitative analysis results show that the excluded volume of BSA in LiCl salt solutions is larger than the value in NaCl solution, indicating that Li+ is more prone to unfolding the proteins and making them unstable. This study demonstrated that nanopores enable the in situ detection of the structure of proteins at the single-molecule level and provide a new approach for the quantitative analysis of proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]