Search

Semiconductor electrocatalysis with weak conductivity can accumulate extremely high carriers at semiconductor-electrolyte interface by self-gating effect, which strongly promotes electrocatalytic efficiency. The correlation between semiconductor carrier mobility and electrocatalysis performance is still unclear. Herein atomic-thin transition metal dichalcogenides based composites have been developed for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performed with on-chip microdevices. Electrical and electrochemical measurement of individual flack verified the key role of high carrier mobility for enhanced HER activity. Carrier mobility regulation further demonstrated its high dependence with HER performance under self-gating. Our study provides new insight into the carrier mobility of the semiconductor in the electrocatalysis, paving the way for designing high-performance semiconductor catalysts.

A coronary pseudoaneurysm is a rare complication of chest trauma. In this report, we describe the case of a 65-year-old man with a mediastinal lesion. On admission, he complained of chest tightness and dry cough, and a pseudoaneurysm was confirmed in the left anterior descending branch of the coronary artery on chest computerized tomography, angiography, and coronary angiography. The patient had experienced chest trauma 5 years previously. With the help of extracorporeal bypass surgery, the pseudoaneurysm was resected under direct observation. The patient recovered well after surgery. Traumatic coronary artery pseudoaneurysms usually are asymptomatic and often misdiagnosed. Preoperative coronary angiography is a crucial diagnostic used for deciding appropriate surgical management.

Regular treatment of DKA patients is not feasible in cases associated with Uremia because of being urineless and prone to heart failure of these patients. Our results indicated that continuous renal replacement therapy is a better alternative.

Crystal phase-engineering of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) shows remarkable potential for various electronic, optoelectronic and catalytic applications. Here, a few-layer 1T′–2H MoTe2 lateral homo-junction has been obtained by using a facile chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. In this CVD growth process, the in-plane phase evolution of the MoTe2 film can be dynamically controlled via tuning the contact between the film and Te vapor. Moreover, a local large-scale reversible phase transition of MoTe2 film through heat treatment in a hydrogen atmosphere is reported. During this heat treatment, two types of phase transition from 1T′ to 2H are observed at 500 °C and 750 °C respectively. The mechanism of this reversible phase transition is analysed by first principles calculations. The fabricated 1T′–2H–1T′ homojunction devices demonstrate that the hole mobility of 2H-MoTe2 is comparable with the exfoliated samples. This work in dynamic phase control of MoTe2 provides a pathway to exploring structural transformation of 2D materials and manufacturing novel phase-change electronic devices.

Background Mumps is classified as a class C infection disease in China, and the Chongqing area has one of the highest incidence rates in the country. We aimed to establish a prediction model for mumps in Chongqing and analyze its seasonality, which is important for risk analysis and allocation of resources in the health sector. Methods Data on incidence of mumps from January 2004 to December 2018 were obtained from Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention. The incidence of mumps from 2004 to 2017 was fitted using a seasonal autoregressive comprehensive moving average (SARIMA) model. The root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) were used to compare the goodness of fit of the models. The 2018 incidence data were used for validation. Results From 2004 to 2018, a total of 159,181 cases (93,655 males and 65,526 females) of mumps were reported in Chongqing, with significantly more men than women. The age group of 0–19 years old accounted for 92.41% of all reported cases, and students made up the largest proportion (62.83%), followed by scattered children and children in kindergarten. The SARIMA(2, 1, 1) × (0, 1, 1)12 was the best fit model, RMSE and MAPE were 0.9950 and 39.8396%, respectively. Conclusion Based on the study findings, the incidence of mumps in Chongqing has an obvious seasonal trend, and SARIMA(2, 1, 1) × (0, 1, 1)12 model can also predict the incidence of mumps well. The SARIMA model of time series analysis is a feasible and simple method for predicting mumps in Chongqing.

Purpose: Citrate has a positive effect on improving the pathophysiological changes of cardiomyocytes such as cardiac failure and auricular fibrillation. However, the underlying mechanism remains st...

The authors would like to call the reader’s attention to the fact that unfortunately the wrong file was published as Fig. 2.

Background: We describe the application and effectiveness of transthoracic electrode implantation for epicardial left ventricular pacing in cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) for patients with chronic congestive heart failure. Methods: We assessed four patients with chronic congestive heart failure for whom implantation of endocardial electrodes was contraindicated. The epicardial electrodes were implanted via a mini-thoracotomy in the fourth or fifth left intercostal space. We analyzed the surgical implantation technique and the short-term effectiveness of the procedure. Results: The epicardial electrodes successfully were implanted in all four patients. The patients’ hemodynamic status, cardiac function, and symptoms significantly improved. Patients I, II, III, and IV were discharged from the hospital on the 8, 11, 4, and 7 days, respectively, after the operation. Follow up lasted for 12 months. None of the patients presented with electrode fractures or surgical wound infections, and the pacing threshold and electrode impedance were normal. In one case, phrenic nerve stimulation occurred due to the low placement position of the electrode. When the electrode was moved slightly inward and upward, the sacral nerve stimulation sign disappeared, and no other complications were noted. One patient developed capsule infection, and the presence of an ectopic pacemaker was noted; therefore, a pacemaker replacement procedure was required. Conclusion: In CRT, the implantation of a left ventricular epicardial electrode through a left-sided small incision is safe, feasible, and effective. This hybrid surgery combining interventional and cardiac techniques can maximize the curative effect of CRT.

Chronic heart failure, also known as chronic congestive heart failure, is a commonly seen clinical syndrome.

Background Myocardial infarction (MI) triggers a strong inflammatory response that is associated with myocardial fibrosis and cardiac remodeling. Interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18 are key players in this response and are controlled by NLRP3-inflammatory bodies. Oridonin is a newly reported NLRP3 inhibitor with strong anti-inflammatory activity. We hypothesized that the covalent NLRP3 inhibitor Oridonin could reduce IL-1β and IL-18 expression and ameliorate myocardial fibrosis after myocardial infarction in mice, improve poor heart remodeling, and preserve heart function. Methods Male C57BL/6 mice were subjected to left coronary artery ligation to induce MI and then treated with Oridonin (1, 3, or 6 mg/kg), MCC950 (10 mg/kg), CY-09 (5 mg/kg) or saline three times a week for two weeks. Four weeks after MI, cardiac function and myocardial fibrosis were assessed. In addition, myocardial expressions of inflammatory factors and fibrotic markers were analyzed by western blot, immunofluorescence, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results Oridonin treatment preserved left ventricular ejection fraction and fractional shortening, and markedly limited the myocardial infarct size in treated mice. The myocardial fibrosis was lower in the 1 mg/kg group (15.98 ± 1.64)%, 3 mg/kg group (17.39 ± 2.45)%, and 6 mg/kg group (16.76 ± 3.06)% compared to the control group (23.38 ± 1.65)%. Moreover, similar with the results of Oridonin, MCC950 and CY-09 also preserved cardiac function and reduced myocardial fibrosis. The expression levels of NLRP3, IL-1β and IL-18 were decreased in the Oridonin treatment group compared to non-treated group. In addition, myocardial macrophage and neutrophil influxes were attenuated in the Oridonin treated group. Conclusions The covalent NLRP3-inflammasome inhibitor Oridonin reduces myocardial fibrosis and preserves cardiac function in a mouse MI model, which indicates potential therapeutic effect of Oridonin on acute MI patients.

This study validated the RisingSun RS-651 blood pressure (BP) monitor based on auscultation in adults according to the American National Standards Institute/Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation/International Organization for Standardization (ANSI/AAMI/ISO) 81060-2:2013 standard. The RS-651 device was evaluated in a study of 97 participants. The same arm simultaneous method, as defined in the ANSI/AAMI/ISO standard, was used. The mean differences±standard deviation for criterion 1 were 0.8±2.3 mm Hg for systolic BP (SBP) and -0.1±2.9 mm Hg for diastolic BP (DBP). Analysis for criterion 2 resulted in values of 0.8±1.5 mm Hg for SBP and -0.1±2.1 mm Hg for DBP. All of the data fulfilled the ANSI/AAMI/ISO 81060-2:2013 standard requirements to pass the validation. The RisingSun RS-651 device can be recommended for both clinical and self/home use in adults according to the ANSI/AAMI/ISO 81060-2:2013 standard.

Ferroelectric field-effect transistors (FeFETs) have recently attracted enormous attention owing to their applications in nonvolatile memories and low-power logic electronics. However, the current mainstream thin-film-based ferroelectrics lack good compatibility with the emergent 2D van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures. In this work, the synthesis of thin ferroelectric Na0.5 Bi4.5 Ti4 O15 (NBIT) flakes by a molten-salt method is reported. With a dry-transferred NBIT flake serving as the top-gate dielectric, dual-gate molybdenum disulfide (MoS2 ) FeFETs are fabricated in a full vdW stacking structure. Barrier-free graphene contacts allow the investigation of intrinsic carrier transport of MoS2 governed by lattice scattering. Thanks to the high dielectric constant of ≈94 in NBIT, a metal to insulator transition with a high electron concentration of 3.0 × 1013 cm-2 is achieved in MoS2 under top-gate modulation. The electron field-effect mobility as high as 182 cm2 V-1 s-1 at 88 K is obtained. The as-fabricated MoS2 FeFET exhibits clockwise hysteresis transfer curves that originate from charge trapping/release with either top-gate or back-gate modulation. Interestingly, hysteresis behavior can be controlled from clockwise to counterclockwise using dual-gate. A multifunctional device utilizing this unique property of NBIT, which is switchable electrostatically between short-term memory and nonvolatile ferroelectric memory, is envisaged.

Early inflammatory responses after myocardial infarction (MI) are likely to increase myocardial fibrosis and subsequent cardiac remodeling. MCC950, a specific NLRP3 inhibitor, was previously found to effectively inhibit the release of inflammatory factors IL-18 and IL-1β. In this study, we evaluated the effect of MCC950, as a potential new treatment strategy for MI, on myocardial fibrosis and cardiac remodeling using an experimental mouse model.Male C57BL/6 mice were subjected to left coronary artery ligation to induce MI and then treated with MCC950 (10 mg/kg) or PBS for 14 days. After 30 days, echocardiography was performed to assess cardiac function and myocardial fibrosis was evaluated using HE- and Masson's Trichrome-stained sections. Myocardial expression of inflammatory factors and fibrosis markers was analyzed by western blotting, immunofluorescence, ELISA, and real-time quantitative PCR.The ejection fraction in the 10 mg/kg group (40.7 ± 4.2%; N = 6, p = 0.0029) was statistically preserved compared to that in the control group (14.0 ± 4.4%). Myocardial fibrosis was also reduced in MCC950-treated animals (MCC950, 23.2 ± 3.0 vs PBS, 36.2 ± 3.7; p 0.05). Moreover, myocardial NLRP3, cleaved IL-1β, and IL-18 levels were reduced in MCC950-treated animals. HE and molecular examination revealed decreases in inflammatory cell infiltration and inflammatory factor expression in the heart. In vitro, MCC950 inhibited NLRP3, reduced caspase-1 activity, and further downregulated IL-1β and IL-18.MCC950, as a specific NLRP3 inhibitor, can alleviate fibrosis and improve cardiac function in a mouse model by suppressing early inflammatory responses post-MI.

Background Korotkoff sounds have been used to measure systolic and diastolic arterial blood pressures noninvasively for over 100 years. However, most of the research concerning the Korotkoff sound were focused on the origin and frequency component analyzing the Korotkoff sound signal. Objective To show that the occurrence time of the Korotkoff sounds for each cardiac cycle demonstrates a characteristic value during the cuff deflating process of blood pressure measurement. Methods The Korotkoff sound delay time (KDT) decreases as the cuff pressure P deflates and KDT is a function of arterial transmural pressure. In the present research, an experiment system was established to explore the relationship between the KDT and the cuff pressure in different subjects. Results A pilot experiment was conducted to obtain different subjects' KDTs and investigate the relationship between KDT and cuff pressure. Conclusion The relationship between KDT and invasive blood pressure was also studied and its potential application in detection of cardiovascular status was discussed.

Aiming at solving the problem of low resolution and visual blur in infrared imaging, a super-resolution infrared image reconstruction method using human vision processing mechanism (HVPM) was proposed. This method combined a mechanism of vision lateral inhibition with an algorithm projection onto convex sets (POCS) reconstruction, the improved vision lateral inhibition network was utilized to enhance the contrast between object and background of low-resolution image sequences, then POCS algorithm was adopted to reconstruct super-resolution image. Experimental results showed that the proposed method can significantly improve the visual effect of image, whose contrast and information entropy of reconstructed infrared images were improved by approximately 5 times and 1.6 times compared with traditional POCS reconstruction algorithm, respectively.

Aiming at these disadvantages like lack of details, poor contrast and blurry edges of infrared images reconstructed by traditional controllable microscanning super-resolution reconstruction (SRR), this paper proposes a novel algorithm, which samples multiple low-resolution images (LRIs) by uncontrollable microscanning, and then uses LRIs as chromosomes of genetic algorithm (GA). After several generations of evolution, optimal LRIs are got to reconstruct the high-resolution image (HRI). The experimental results show that the average gradient of the image reconstructed by the proposed algorithm is increased to 1.5 times of that of the traditional SRR algorithm, and the amounts of information, the contrast and the visual effect of the reconstructed image are improved.

Non-invasive pressure simulators that regenerate oscillometric waveforms promise an alternative to expensive clinical trials for validating oscillometric noninvasive blood pressure devices. However, existing simulators only provide oscillometric pressure in cuff and thus have a limited accuracy. It is promising to build a physical simulator that contains a synthetic arm with a built-in brachial artery and an affiliated hydraulic model of cardiovascular system. To guide the construction of this kind of simulator, this paper presents a computer model of cardiovascular system with a relatively simple structure, where the distribution of pressures and flows in aorta root and brachial artery can be simulated, and the produced waves are accordant with the physical data. This model can be used to provide the parameters and structure that will be needed to build the new simulator.

Background The disease spectrum of crescentic glomerulonephritis (GN) has been described in only a few previous studies, and detailed epidemiologic data from China are unavailable to date. Study Design Case series. Setting & Participants 528 patients with biopsy-proven crescentic GN in 2003 to 2013 from a single center. Predictor Crescentic GN was classified into 3 types according to immunofluorescence findings: type I was defined as linear deposition of immunoglobulins along the glomerular basement membrane; type II, as glomerular deposition of immune complex; and type III, as pauci-immune deposition. Outcomes Demographic, clinical, and serologic characteristics. Results Of 528 cases identified, 208 (39.4%) were men, with a mean age of 37.6±16.4 (SD) years at kidney biopsy. 61 (11.6%) patients had type I crescentic GN, 331 (62.7%) had type II (lupus nephritis, 34.3%; immunoglobulin A [IgA] nephropathy, 17.4%), and 136 (25.8%) had type III. Proportions of patients with acute kidney injury (AKI), acute kidney diseases and disorders without AKI, and chronic kidney disease were 86.9%, 0%, and 13.1% for type I; 42.0%, 19.6%, and 38.4% for type II; and 84.6%, 2.9%, and 12.5% for type III crescentic GN, respectively. Serum antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies were detected in 11 (18.0%) patients with type I, 15 (4.5%) with type II, and 117 (86.0%) with type III. Anti–glomerular basement membrane antibodies were found in 60 (98.4%) patients with type I, 3 (0.9%) with type II, and 5 (3.7%) with type III. 5-year cumulative renal survival rates for patients with types I, II, and III were 17.6%, 70.1%, and 44.3%, respectively. Limitations Retrospective study, single-center experience. Conclusions Lupus nephritis may be the most common type of crescentic GN in China, followed by pauci-immune crescentic GN and IgA nephropathy. Almost half the patients presented with AKI, whereas 28.8% of cases showed chronic kidney disease. Clinical manifestations and outcomes varied according to crescentic GN type. The distinction between subtypes based on immunofluorescence and serologic findings has important implications for therapy and outcome.

For conventional reconstruction algorithms, regularization parameter is randomly selected and image reconstruction cannot achieve the desired display effect. Thus this paper presents a simple and efficient adaptive regularization technique of infrared image super-resolution reconstruction algorithm that combines L1-norm with the total variation regularization. Regular terms select regularization parameters adaptively based on the difference between the estimated low-resolution images and the actual ones. The experiment results show that the contrast of infrared images reconstructed has increased to 1.4 times as the traditional algorithm and the image edge effectively has been enhanced with the signal-to-noise ratio improved dramatically.

With the booming development of Modern information technology revolution, accounting environment has been greatly changed, and the traditional accounting information system already cannot satisfy the diversity and personalized needs of enterprise stakeholders. This paper is meeting the needs of corporate stakeholders on event accounting approach, it introduces event vouchers in the economic transaction and operational matters process, realizes the event information and accounting information system's seamless docking, and then with the "three-base system" as the design ideas, finally constructs the accounting information system based on events approach.

Objective To propose a novel noninvasive beat-to-beat arterial blood pressure measurement method based on the Korotkoff sound delay time (KDT) and evaluate its accuracy in preliminary experiments. Methods KDT decreases as the cuff pressure P deflates, which can be described by a function KDT = f(P). Actually, KDT is a function of arterial transmural pressure. Therefore, the variation in blood pressure can be obtained by the transmural pressure, which is estimated by the KDT. Holding the cuff pressure at an approximate constant pressure between systolic pressure and diastolic pressure, the variation in blood pressure Delta EBP between successive heartbeats can be estimated according to KDT and f'(p), which represents the variation of KDT corresponding to unit pressure. Then the blood pressure for each heartbeat can be obtained by accumulating the Delta EBP. Invasive and noninvasive blood pressure values of six participants were measured simultaneously to evaluate the method. Results The average of the correlation coefficients between the invasive mean arterial pressure (MAP) and the KDT for six participants was -0.91. The average of the correlation coefficients between the invasive MAP and the estimated mean blood pressure (EBP) was 0.92. The mean difference between EBP and MAP was 0.51 mmHg, and the SD was 2.65 mmHg. The mean blood pressure estimated by the KDT is consistent with the invasive MAP. Conclusion The beat-to-beat blood pressure estimated by KDT provides an accurate estimate of MAP in the preliminary experiments and represents a potential acceptable alternative to invasive blood pressure monitoring during laboratory studies. Blood Press Monit 17:35-41 (C) 2012 Wolters Kluwer Health vertical bar Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

The aim of this study is to confirm systolic blood pressure(SBP) and diastolic blood pressure(DBP) based on oscillometric method. The approach can get an accurate MAP, accessible to SBP and DBP simultaneously using Korotkoff vibration instead of the traditional sound signal. Experiments were conducted on healthy, non-smoking and normotensive subjects. The cuff pressure, Korotkoff vibration, oscillometric pulse and radial pulse were recorded, the auscultation was carried out by a doctor synchronously. SBP and DBP were calculated by identifying the feature points of Korotkoff vibration. The measurement value obtained by this approach was greater than the result based on auscultatory sphygmomanometry. The mean difference (ME) and standard deviation (SD) of SBP and DBP were 0.59±3.84 mmHg and 4.77 ±3.52 mmHg respectively. The correlation coefficients of SBP and DBP are 0.96, 0.93. The experiment indicates that this approach has a great feasibility as a noninvasive BP measurement means.

BACKGROUND The auscultatory method is used as the reference standard in all prevalent protocols for validation of noninvasive blood pressure measuring devices, and a validation study is essentially based on the comparison between the device and observer measurements. Thus, the objectivity and accuracy of observer measurements are crucial to the validation result. METHODS To provide observers with more objective information about an auscultatory measurement so that sufficient information to make measurements with greater potential objectivity and accuracy can be available, a computerized data acquisition and analysis system has been developed. It cannot only acquire and store Korotkoff sound, cuff pressure, and oscillometric pulse signals, as well as the sphygmomanometer image, but it also can display the waveforms of the three signals and the sphygmomanometer video while playing the synchronous Korotkoff sounds. With this system, observers can make their measurements via the visual auscultation method, that is to say, by watching those waveforms, instead of the sphygmomanometer, while listening for synchronized Korotkoff sounds. The system was validated according to the International Protocol (IP). RESULTS The result showed that all the differences between system measurements by the visual auscultation method and observer measurements by the conventional auscultatory method were within 4 mm Hg. CONCLUSIONS The visual auscultation method achieved a high degree of accuracy, and human observers can be replaced by the system in the validation study of blood pressure measuring devices.

In electrical impedance tomography (EIT), measurements of developed surface potentials due to applied currents are used for the reconstruction of the conductivity distribution. Practical implementation of EIT systems is known to be problematic due to the high sensitivity to noise of such systems, leading to a poor imaging quality. In the present study, the performance of an induced current EIT (ICEIT) system, where eddy current is applied using magnetic induction, was studied by comparing the voltage measurements to simulated data, and examining the imaging quality with respect to simulated reconstructions for several phantom configurations. A 3-coil, 32-electrode ICEIT system was built, and an iterative modified Newton-Raphson algorithm was developed for the solution of the inverse problem. The RMS norm between the simulated and the experimental voltages was found to be 0.08 +/- 0.05 mV (