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Abstract: This work reported the preparation of amorphous MoSx aerogel and MoSx/carbon nanotubes composite aerogels by a modified epoxide addition sol-gel method. In this process, propylene epoxide scavenged the protons from a S-H-contained organic acid (DL-Mercaptosuccinic acid) and promoted the interactions between (NH4)6Mo7O24•4H2O and the functional groups in the organic acid to form a gel. The sulfur and molybdenum contained a wet gel turned into an amorphous MoSx aerogel after supercritical drying in ethanol. Carbon nanotubes can be further incorporated into the aerogel backbone, which can extend the specific surface area and alter the pore structures in the composite aerogels. Such composite aerogels showed good catalytic performance in electrochemical hydrogen evolution reactions.MoSx aerogels can be prepared by the modified epoxide-adding method and showed good catalytic activity toward HER. Epoxide addition method has been adopted to synthesize amorphous molybdenum sulfide aerogel.High surface area (up to 265.5 m2/g) and the developed pore structure (pore volume up to 0.89 cm3/g) have been achieved.Low overpotential and high activity toward hydrogen evolution have been observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) exhibits immunosuppressive functions and affects cancer progression, but its relationship with prostate cancer remains unclear. We elucidated the association of polymorphonuclear MDSC (PMN-MDSC) and monocytic MDSC (M-MDSC) levels of the total peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with prostate cancer progression and evaluated their roles as prognostic indicators., Methods: We enrolled 115 patients with non-metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (nmHSPC, n = 62), metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC, n = 23), and metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC, n = 30). Subsequently, the proportions of MDSCs in each disease progression were compared. Log-rank tests and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to ascertain the associations of overall survival., Results: The patients with mCRPC had significantly higher PMN-MDSC percentage than those with nmHSPC and mHSPC (P = 7.73 × 10 -5 and 0.0014). Significantly elevated M-MDSC levels were observed in mCRPC patients aged <70 years (P = 0.016) and with a body mass index (BMI) <25 kg/m 2 (P = 0.043). The high PMN-MDSC group had notably shorter median survival duration (159 days) than the low PMN-MDSC group (768 days, log-rank P = 0.018). In the multivariate analysis including age, BMI, and MDSC subset, PMN-MDSC was significantly associated with prognosis (hazard ratios, 3.48; 95% confidence interval: 1.05-11.56, P = 0.042)., Discussion: PMN-MDSC levels are significantly associated with mCRPC prognosis. Additionally, we highlight the remarkable associations of age and BMI with M-MDSC levels in mCRPC, offering novel insights into MDSC dynamics in prostate cancer progression., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Kobayashi, Nagata, Hachiya, Wakita, Ikehata, Takahashi, China, Shimizu, Lu, Jin, Lu, Ide and Horie.)

This paper presents a high-performance MEMS accelerometer with a DC/AC electrostatic stiffness tuning capability based on double-sided parallel plates (DSPPs). DC and AC electrostatic tuning enable the adjustment of the effective stiffness and the calibration of the geometric offset of the proof mass, respectively. A dynamical model of the proposed accelerometer was developed considering both DC/AC electrostatic tuning and the temperature effect. Based on the dynamical model, a self-centering closed loop is proposed for pulling the reference position of the force-to-rebalance (FTR) to the geometric center of DSPP. The self-centering accelerometer operates at the optimal reference position by eliminating the temperature drift of the readout circuit and nulling the net electrostatic tuning forces. The stiffness closed-loop is also incorporated to prevent the pull-in instability of the tuned low-stiffness accelerometer under a dramatic temperature variation. Real-time adjustments of the reference position and the DC tuning voltage are utilized to compensate for the residue temperature drift of the proposed accelerometer. As a result, a novel controlling approach composed of a self-centering closed loop, stiffness-closed loop, and temperature drift compensation is achieved for the accelerometer, realizing a temperature drift coefficient (TDC) of approximately 7 μg/°C and an Allan bias instability of less than 1 μg., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Developing highly efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) under alkaline media is essential for the commercialization of alkaline exchange membrane fuel cell (AEMFC). However, the kinetics of HOR in alkaline media is complicated, resulting in orders of magnitude slower than that in acid, even for the state-of-the-art Pt/C. Here, we find that Ru-Ru 2 P/C heterostructure shows HOR performance with a non-monotonous variation in a whole pH region. Unexpectedly, an inflection point located at pH≈7 is observed, showing an anomalous behavior that HOR activity under alkaline media surpasses acidic media. Combining experimental results and theoretical calculations, we propose the roles of discrepant reactive intermediates for pH-universal HOR, while H* and H 2 O* adsorption strengths are responsible for acidic HOR, and OH* adsorption strength is essential for alkaline HOR. This work not only sheds light on fundamentally understanding the mechanism of HOR but also provides new designing principles for pH-targeted electrocatalysts., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Objective: To explore the clinical characteristics and outcomes of lung cancer patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE)., Methods: The clinical data of 80 lung cancer patients with VTE hospitalized from January 2003 to April 2013 at our hospital were reviewed. The clinical factors of age, gender, clinical manifestations, pathological type, clinical stage, performance status and therapeutic regimen were recorded and analyzed. And the pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) patients with deep venous thrombosis (DVT) were enrolled into PTE group. The occurrences, clinical manifestations and prognosis of VTE were evaluated., Results: A total of 80 patients were enrolled. There were 40 males and 40 females with a mean age of (65.8 ± 11.3) years. Adenocarcimoma was identified in 58 (72.5%) patients and advanced lung cancer in 71 (88.8%) patients. Among 37 (46.3%) patients with histodifferentiation results, 89.2% (33/37) of them were moderately and/or poorly differentiated. In 32 (40.0%) patients on chemotherapy, 71.9% (23/32) of them received a platinum-based regimen. There were 35 (43.8%) pulmonary thromboembolism embolism (PTE) and 45 (56.2%) DVT patients. Among PTE patents, 14 (40.0%) were identified incidentally. Dyspnea and swollen of limb were the most common symptoms. Only 20.0% (16/80) patients received VTE prophylaxis. After a definite diagnosis of cancer, 73.8%, 77.5%, 82.5% and 85.0% of patients experienced an event within 3, 6, 9 and 12 months respectively. Up to April 2014, among 53 deceased patients, 77.4% (41/53) died from lung cancer, 9.3% (5/53) PTE while 13.2% (7/53) due to other causes. The cumulative mortality rates within 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after VTE event were 49.1%, 67.9%, 77.4% and 79.2% respectively., Conclusions: Adenocarcimoma, advanced lung cancer, poor histodifferentiation and platinum-based chemotherapy regimen are the risk factors of VTE in lung cancer patients. Most events of VTE occur within 3-6 months after a diagnosis of lung cancer while most mortality cases within 1 year after VTE events.