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Neuropathic pain (NP) is a chronic pain condition caused by lesion or disease of the somatosensory nervous system. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a neuroregulatory tool that uses pulsed magnetic fields to modulate the cerebral cortex. This review aimed to ascertain the therapeutic effect of rTMS on NP and potential factors regulating the therapeutic effect of rTMS. Database search included Web of Science, Embase, Pubmed, and Cochrane Library from inception to July 2021. Eligible studies included randomized controlled studies of the analgesic effects of rTMS in patients with NP. Thirty-eight studies were included. Random effect analysis showed effect sizes of -0.66 (95 % CI, -0.87 to -0.46), indicating that real rTMS was better than sham condition in reducing pain (P < 0.001). This comprehensive review indicated that stimulation frequency, intervention site, and location of lesion were important factors affecting the therapeutic effect. The findings of this study may guide clinical decisions and future research.

The fundamental flotation models are useful for understanding flotation mechanisms. However, these models cannot be used for design and optimization of flotation circuits because it is very difficult to determine induction times experimentally during flotation despite using advanced high-speed cameras. Thus, there is a need to develop the model that can be used for practical applications, which is the main objective in this work. The developed models were successful in predicted Pa (attachment efficiency) and ti (induction time) at various chemical conditions. The values of Pa (attachment efficiency) were strongly affected by particle size, collector concentration and pulp pH while the values of ti (induction time) were affected by particle size and collector concentration and the values of k (flotation rate constant) were affected by collector concentration only. It means that Pa is much more sensitive than ti and k to detect the changes in the flotation experimental conditions. The slopes of ti vs Pa functions were larger at different particle sizes than those at different collector concentrations, demonstrating that the effect of particle size was more dominant than the effect of collector concentration on Pa. This paper demonstrated that understanding of Pa is essential for better analysing flotation mechanisms.

Remanufacturing is an important mode to promote the sustainable development of manufacturing industry. Remanufacturing mechanical components at the best recycling time can effectively reduce the remanufacturing cost and improve the remanufacturing efficiency. Therefore, the decision-making model of optimal recycling time based on full lifecycle assessment and full lifecycle cost method was firstly established to analyze and model the energy consumption, cost and emission of components in the original manufacturing, usage, remanufacturing and reuse stages. Then, a remanufacturing evaluation method based on fuzzy extension analytic hierarchy process was proposed. Considering a variety of uncertainties of waste components, a qualitative and quantitative evaluation index system was established, and the weight of each evaluation index was determined by expert evaluation and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. Finally, a boom cylinder of a concrete pump truck was studied. The boom cylinder recovered by the method proposed has a high recovery value, and its comprehensive score reaches 70, which verifies the effectiveness and superiority of the model.

Aged coal after mining often shows poor flotation performance due to the formation of hydrophilic oxygenated functional groups. In this study, different meta-bituminous aged coal was characterized by XPS and SEM analysis, and contact angle, zeta potential and bubble–particle attachment measurements. Following aging process, the changes in flotation behavior of the coal samples were quantified at different diesel dosages. It was found that the percentage of hydrophobic functional groups of the fresh coal was about 1.31 times higher than that in the case of the aged coal. The contact angle of the fresh coal was 78.9° while that for the aged coal was 36.7°. It means that the hydrophilicity of the aged coal samples was significantly higher than that of the fresh coal. The results of zeta potential, FTIR, XPS and SEM measurements agreed well with the contact angle results. The combustible flotation recovery of the fresh coal in the presence of collector was 98% while that of the aged coal was about 20%. Despite the significant differences in the surface properties of the fresh and aged coal, the induction time slightly changed i.e. the induction time for the most hydrophobic coal (i.e the fresh coal in the presence of collector) was 10 ms while that for the least hydrophobic coal (i.e. the aged coal in the absence of collector) was 11.6 ms. The attachment efficiency and flotation rate shows an exponential decay relationship with induction time.

The accumulation of α-syn which induce endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) and mediate various signaling pathways involved in DA neuronal degeneration, and the apoptosis of dopamine (DA) neurons are pathological markers of Parkinson’s disease (PD). High-temperature requirement protein A2 (HtrA2) is synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum, and the expression level of HtrA2 can be upregulated by drugs or by unfolded proteins. Ucf-101 is a specific inhibitor of HtrA2, and studies have shown that Ucf-101 reduced apoptosis in PC12 cells. Our study showed that PC12 cells treated with 60 μM 6-OHDA for 24 h had significantly decreased cell viability compared to that of controls. A low concentration (2.5 μM) of Ucf-101 decreased the apoptosis rate of the PD cell model, but a high concentration (≥10 μM) increased the apoptosis rate, compared to that of controls. 6-OHDA upregulated the expression of HtrA2, α-syn, CHOP, Grp78 and active caspase-3 and reduced the levels of TH and XIAP. Ucf-101 reduced the level of ERS and apoptosis both in vivo and in vitro. The ratio of p-GSK3β (Tyr216 to Ser9) increased in PD rats. However, Ucf-101 down-regulated the activation of GSK3β and activated the Wnt/β-catenin pathway that was caused by 6-OHDA. Ucf-101 activated the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and significantly attenuated 6-OHDA-induced neurotoxicity, which was related to the inhibition of ERS and the reduction of the apoptosis rate of PC12 cells and DA neurons in the midbrain of PD rats. Ucf-101 has certain neuroprotective effects.

To improve the energy efficiency of the manufacturing industry, it is vital to correlate the energy consumption of machine tools with the machinery data. This paper proposes an OPC-UA based framework for predicting the energy consumption of machine tools, which includes the off-line learning stage and on-line exploitation stage. By using the proposed method, the gap between machinery data and energy data could be bridged. The experiment conducted on a milling machine has been exploited to validate the proposed framework. The results show that the proposed framework is feasible to predict the energy consumption of machine tools.

CD226 is a costimulatory molecule that regulates immune cell functions in T cells, natural killer cells, and macrophages. Because macrophage-derived foam cell formation is a crucial factor contributing to the development of atherosclerosis, we aimed to evaluate the potential roles of CD226 in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The effects of CD226 on atherosclerosis were investigated in CD226 and apolipoprotein E double-knockout (CD226

In flotation separation, the sliding of particles over bubble surfaces may result in bubble–particle attachment interactions. This technical note investigates the influence of pulp pH, collector dosage and particle size of pyrite on the sliding interactions and proposes a model that can predict the sliding time under a wide range of conditions. The results showed that the increase in particle size resulted in higher sliding times probably due to longer time for the displacement of the liquid film on the surface of larger particles. A similar trend was also observed with an increase in pulp pH possibly due to the partial oxidation of pyrite surfaces at higher pulp pH. By contrast, the increase in collector dosage reduced the sliding times due to higher adsorption of collector molecules on pyrite surfaces. The sliding times were correlated with pulp pH, collector dosage and particle diameter. The proposed correlation was highly non-linear and can be used to successfully predict the sliding times under a wide range of conditions.

Removal of pyrite from coals is very important to reduce the emission of SO2 during coal combustion. The selective flotation of pyrite from coal is challenging due to the hydrophobic nature of both coal and pyrite particles. The surface properties of coal vary significantly with the degree of coalification. The present paper investigates the flotation behavior of pyrite from sub-bituminous and meta-bituminous coal which has different ranks and surface properties. XRD, XPS, contact angle, UV–visible spectroscopy, SEM and zeta potential measurements were used to characterize their differences in mineralogy and surface chemistry. The classical first-order model and the potential flow model were used for flotation kinetic studies and to back-calculate the induction times, respectively. Efficient selective flotation of pyrite from the sub-bituminous and meta-bituminous coal was observed in the presence of potassium amyl xanthate collector and starch depressant. The flotation recoveries of pyrite from the sub-bituminous coal and the meta-bituminous coal were over 95%, with pyrite grade of over 95% in the concentrates.

This paper discusses the relationships between the surface properties of the sub-bituminous and meta-bituminous coal and their flotation properties. Additionally, it was investigated whether the flotation kinetic constants, obtained using various flotation kinetic models, can be used for prediction of the flotation response. Both coal samples had the very similar amount and type of impurities as confirmed by XRD. FTIR, contact angle, zeta potential and SEM measurements were used to study the coal surface properties. It was found that the meta-bituminous coal was significantly more hydrophobic than the sub-bituminous coal and the coal surface roughness was significantly more pronounced in the case of the sub-bituminous coal than that in the case of the meta-bituminous coal. For these reasons, the recovery of the meta-bituminous coal by flotation was dramatically higher than that of the sub-bituminous coal even in the presence of collector. Six flotation kinetic models successfully predicted the flotation data. Nevertheless, the modified first-order model was the only model that can be used to explain the flotation responses under a wide range of the experimental conditions. The reason is that for most flotation kinetic models, used in this study, particularly in the case of the sub-bituminous coal, the flotation rate constants decreased with increasing in collector dosage while the opposite is true in the case of the flotation recoveries.

T-cells play a major role in host defense mechanisms against many diseases. With the current growth of immunotherapy approaches, there is a strong need for advanced technologies to detect and characterize these immune cells. Herein, we present a simple approach for the isolation of antigen specific T-cells from the complex biological sample based on T-cell receptor (TCR) and peptide major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) interaction. Subsequently, we characterize those antigen specific T-cells by profiling TCR expression heterogeneity. Our approach utilizes an alternating current electrohydrodynamic (ac-EHD) based microfluidic platform for isolation and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for TCR expression profiling. The use of ac-EHD enables specific isolation of T-cells by generating a nanoscopic shear force at the double layer of the sensing surface which enhances the frequency of pMHC and TCR interactions and consequently shears off the nonspecific targets. TCR expression profiling of the isolated T-cells was performed by encoding them with SERS-labelled pMHCs followed by SERS detection in bulk as well as in single T-Cell. In proof-of-concept experiments, 56.93 ± 7.31% of the total CD4+T-cells were captured from an excess amount of nonspecific cells (e.g., PBMCs) with high specificity and sensitivity (0.005%). Moreover, TCR analysis data using SERS shows the heterogeneity in the T-cell receptor expression which can inform on the activation status of T-cells and the patient’s response to immunotherapy. We believe that this approach may hold potential for numerous applications towards monitoring immune status, understanding therapeutic responses,and effective vaccine development.

The controlling step for successful flotation is a bubble–particle attachment mechanism. Induction times cannot be measured directly in flotation cells due to the presence of a large number of bubbles and particles. Thus, the possibility is to determine induction times using fundamental flotation models. The focus of this technical note is to determine the induction times in a flotation column under different chemical environments and thus evaluate whether the induction times can be used to predict the flotation recoveries. In this work, the sized pyrite particles (−212 + 150 μm, −150 + 75 μm and −75 + 38 μm) were used during the flotation tests. The fundamental flotation model was used to back-calculate the induction times from the flotation experimental data. It was found that the induction times and the flotation rate constants could be used to quantify the flotation performances. However, for the same particle size fraction, the flotation recovery was very sensitive to the changes in the pulp chemical conditions while the flotation rates and particularly the induction times slightly changed. The attachment efficiency-induction time curve was significantly less sensitive to identify the changes in particle sizes than the flotation rate-induction time curves.

This paper reports a celery-derived nitrogen doped microporous carbon fabricated by a one-step self-activation method. The fabricated samples inherit the developed water transport system in biological tissue of celery, and exhibits hierarchic porous structure with opened micropores, which specific surface area reaches up to 1186 m2 g−1, and the average micropore diameter arrives 0.94 nm. The nitrogen heteroatoms doping enhances the wettability, conductivity and surface activity of the fabricated samples, improves the electrolyte accessibility in micropores, and thus induces superior capacitive performance. The capacitance of the fabricated samples reaches up to 245 F g−1. Meanwhile, the device capacitance of the assembled coin-type symmetric supercapacitors reaches 54.0 F g−1, over 93.1% of initial capacitance is retained as the current density improves from 0.5 to 20 A g−1, and no apparent decline for initial capacitance is observed after 5000 times charge/discharge cycles, illuminating the superior charge storage capability, excellent rate capability and perfect cycle performance of the celery-derived nitrogen doped microporous carbon. In consideration of the huge yield of celery all over the world, the celery-derived nitrogen doped microporous carbon with high specific surface area and superior capacitive performance is expected to be a sustainable large-scale substitution for commercial activated carbon.

The cyclodextrin (CD) was grafted onto hyaluronic acid (HA) to form a topical delivery carrier (HACD) in which Paeonol was loaded in its CD cavity and self-assemble into the polymeric micelles (HACD-PAE) for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. Fluorescence microscope observed that HACD could fast penetrate into the skin and remain stable within 12 h. In vitro penetration test (IVPT) results showed the PAE retentions of HACD-PAE group in the stratum corneum and dermis were 3.35 and 1.78 times improvement than that of PAE group. ATR-FTIR and HE staining assays indicated HACD could increase the gap of keratinocytes by interacting with corneum lipids and loosening the keratin. Furthermore, HACD-PAE showed the best therapeutic effect on atopic dermatitis mice. Thus HACD could be a promising skin-specific delivery carrier, not only promoting the drug penetrating but increasing its remaining in the skin and play the skin disease therapy and skin-care role.

Background: Transvaginal mesh can increase the durability of surgery for pelvic organ prolapse. However, commercial mesh kits can be expensive. We assessed the efficacy of a much cheaper self-cut titanium-coated polypropylene mesh with a mesh-kit for treating symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse. Methods: We conducted a multicenter, randomized, non-inferiority trial. Patients were randomized to either self-cut mesh or commercial mesh-kit. Patients with symptomatic stage III-IV pelvic organ prolapse were enrolled at 11 centers between January 2018 and November 2019. The primary outcome measure was composite success at one year defined by absence of vaginal bulge symptoms, and no additional re-treatment for POP, and no vaginal prolapse at or beyond the hymen. Secondary outcomes included symptom-specific pelvic floor function and quality of life measures, complications and costs. Findings: A total of 336 participants were randomized. In the intention-to-treat analysis, 95∙9% (162/169) met the definition of surgical success in the self-cut group, which was noninferior to the 87∙4% (146/167) surgical success in the mesh-kit group (risk difference, 8∙5 [95%CI 2∙2 to 14∙3]). The frequency of Clavien-Dindo grade I-III complications were not significant between groups (12 [7∙2%] vs 20 [12∙4%], P=0∙14). Vaginal mesh exposure rates in women examined within 1 year [self-cut group 4/169 (2∙4%) vs mesh-kit group 8/167 (4∙8%)] were similar (P=0∙23). Interpretation: This trial demonstrated that composite surgical success of a self-cut mesh procedure was non-inferior to a commercial mesh-kit procedure using the same mesh. The use of self-cut mesh was effective and safe, while reducing the hospitalization expense by approximately 40%. Clinical Trial Registration Details: Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03283124. Funding Information: Chinese Academy of Medical Science Initiative for Innovative Medicine(CAMS-2017-12M-1-002). Medstron Medical(shanghai) Co. Ltd, the agent of Tiloop® products in China, provided monetary support for this research including interim meeting and third party (LinkDoc Beijing company) EDC system. Declaration of Interests: We declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Peking Union Medical College Hospital (JS-1278).

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in mucosal immune cells is involved in post-injury intestinal regeneration, inflammation responses, and gastric homeostasis. However, the interaction between IL-6 and the dynamic balance of gut microbiota (GM) remains unexplored. Intestinal pathology was assessed by hematoxylin and eosin and periodic acid-Schiff staining in wild-type (WT) and IL-6 gene knockout (KO) C57BL/6J mice. GM profiles were established via high-throughput sequencing of the fecal bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Intestinal α- and β-defensins were measured by quantitative real-time PCR; further, flow cytometry was performed to analyze isolated intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs). Compared with the WT, IL-6 KO did not obviously change gut structures, but significantly reduced GM diversity, resulting in reduced metabolic pathways with decreased gram-positive but elevated gram-negative bacteria. More taxa alterations included differences at the phyla (e.g., increased Verrucomicrobia and decreased Firmicutes) and genera (e.g., increased Akkermansia and decreased Lactobacillus) levels. Absence of IL-6 also significantly increased intestinal expression of defensins α3 and α4 (Defa3 and Defa4) and the percentage of natural TCRγδ

Efficient high-concentration organics degradation (including 2-CP, phenol, and tetracycline) and simultaneous electricity generation were achieved via in situ producing H2O2 and synchronous catalytic conversion to more reactive oxygen species at stable modified copper foam cathode. The cathode was synthesized using the one-pot electrodeposition method and was used to in-situ generate H2O2 through the two-electron reduction of oxygen. The produced H2O2 was then catalytically converted into ·OH and ·O2− simultaneously. The results showed that the system using the Au–Fe co-modified cathode achieved an optimal rhodamine b (50 mg L−1) removal ratio and the removal ratios of 2-CP, phenol and tetracycline were all higher than 90% in 120 min. Meanwhile, it exhibited a high conversion performance of organics into electricity, which is superior to most of the reported PFC (Photocatalytic Fuel Cell) systems. Electron spin resonance test was conducted to ascertain the role of ·O2− and ·OH in the organics degradation. Furthermore, the Au–Fe-modified cathode exhibited superior stability for long-term application in the pH range of 3–7, which can be attributed to the protection of photocurrent and the interaction between Cu and Fe.

Ferroptosis is a programmed iron-dependent cell death characterized by accumulation of lipid peroxides (LOOH) and redox disequilibrium. Ferroptosis shows unique characteristics in biology, chemistry, and gene levels, compared to other cell death forms. The metabolic disorder of intracellular LOOH catalyzed by iron causes the inactivity of GPX4, disrupts the redox balance, and triggers cell death. Metabolism of amino acid, iron, and lipid, including associated pathways, is considered as a specific hallmark of ferroptosis. Epidemiological studies and animal experiments have shown that ferroptosis plays an important character in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease such as atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction (MI), ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), heart failure (HF), cardiac hypertrophy, cardiomyopathy, and abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). This review systematically summarized the latest research progress on the mechanisms of ferroptosis. Then we report the contribution of ferroptosis in cardiovascular diseases. Finally, we discuss and analyze the therapeutic approaches targeting for ferroptosis associated with cardiovascular diseases.

Background Patients suffered from craniocerebral trauma with extermities fracture is one of the most common multiple injuries.Actually there is no comparative study demonstrating advantages of early or delayed treatment of skeletal injuries. Purposes To conduct a meta-analysis with studies published in full text to demonstrate database to show the associations of perioperative, postoperative outcomes of early fracture fixation(EFF) and late fracture fixation(LFF) for patients with severe head and orthopedic injuries to provide the predictive diagnosis for clinic. Patients and methods Literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane Library for information from the earliest date of data collection to October 2017. Studies comparing the perioperative, postoperative outcomes of EFF with those of LFF patients with severe head and orthopedic injuries were included. Statistical heterogeneity was quantitatively evaluated by ×2 test with the significance set P 50%. Results Thirteen papers consisting of 2941 patients were included (1224EFF patients; 1717 LFF patients). The results showed that EFF was related to a greater increase in blood loss, intraoperative blood infusion, crystalloid, hypotension, hypoxia, length of surgery, non-neurologic complications and mortality(P 0.1). Conclusions Compared with LFF patients, EFF patients demonstrated an increased risk of perioperative and postoperative complications and clear difference about complications between EFF and LFF about patients with severe head and orthopedic injuries. Level of evidence Level IV, therapeutic study.

Hard end is a physiological disorder of pear fruit that is frequently observed in the 'Whangkeumbae' (Pyrus pyrifolia) variety, however, the mechanisms that are involved in its development are poorly understood. In this study, we explored the causes of hard end disorder in pear fruit in relation to calcium deficiency. During fruit development, the ratio of Ca/N, Ca/K, Ca/Mg and the content of B were significantly lower in the hard end fruit as compared to normal fruit. However, no calcium deficiency was detected in the soil and leaves of the orchard where the hard end fruit were located. Additionally, the Ca2+ influx in the calyx of hard end fruit was lower than that of normal fruit at 90 d after anthesis. The free Ca2+ and storage Ca2+ in the flesh cells of hard end fruit were less than that of normal fruit during fruit development, while an opposite tendency was observed at 120 d after anthesis (harvest day). In hard end fruit, the Ca2+ transport-related gene, PpCNGC1 (Cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel 1), was up-regulated; whereas the Ca2+ sensor-related genes of PpCIPKs, PpCDPK28 and PpCML41 were all down-regulated. Spraying with a 2% calcium chloride (CaCl2) solution inhibited the incidence rate of hard end disorder and decreased fruit firmness and lignin content during storage. Additionally, the ratio of Ca/N, Ca/K, Ca/Mg and the content of B all increased on harvest day. Our study suggests that low Ca2+ influx leads to less Ca2+ into the pear fruit, which results in an intracellular imbalance of Ca2+ and consequently triggers the development of hard end disorder.

A new type of polyoxyphenylpropeone fluorescent probe was designed by one pot method. In this article, through a simple synthetic route, a sensitive fluorescent probe for the detection of Fe3+ and Cu2+ in vitro was successfully synthesized. Interestingly, the fluorescence of this novel probe quenched significantly in the presence of Fe3+ and Cu2+. Ketone carbonyl group and oxygen atom form the natural coordination site of iron ion and copper ion. After the coordination with metal ion, the conjugated system of the compound is broken, resulting in fluorescence quenching. At the same time, transmission electron microscope (TEM) were conducted to found its morphology property and the result shows that the polymer is stacked in layers in the images. The results of cell imaging confirmed that the polymer probe possessed favorable biocompatibility. The in vivo experiment of mice also gained the same conclusion with high penetration and fluorescence intensity. Due to the convenience of synthesis and superior recognition performance, this fluorescent probe has great potential in the study of accumulation and transformation of heavy metal ions in vivo and clinical detection of Fe3+ and Cu2+.

A series of polyimides (PIs) containing a bulky side group of m-trifluoromethyl phenyl was synthesized via a high-temperature one-step polycondensation of 4-[3′,5′-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-1,3-phenylenediamine (2) and various aromatic dianhydrides. The weight-averaged molecular weights (Mw) of the resulting PIs are between 3.92 and 8.36 × 104 g mol−1 with the Mw/Mn of 1.77–2.09. They are soluble in common organic solvents and easily processed into flexible films by the blade coating of PI solution. At room temperature, the dielectric constants (k) of these PI films are lower than 3.04 at 1 MHz and 2.87 at 10 GHz, especially the k of 2-6FDA film is low to 2.66 at 1 MHz and 2.38 at 10 GHz. The breakdown strength of the resulting PI films (thickness: 10 ± 1 μm) is in the range from 461 to 523 kV mm−1. Meanwhile, these PI films also show good thermal stability (5 wt% weight-loss temperature in the range of 521–571 °C under N2; glass transition temperatures of 266–307 °C) and mechanical properties (tensile strength of 70.8–103.3 MPa, tensile modulus of 1.3–2.2 GPa, elongation at break of 9.1–10.8%). The average transmittance of these PI films (around 20 μm) is above 80% in the visible light region (400–760 nm). Such attractive comprehensive properties make these PIs as potential candidates for application in microelectronics industry.