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(18)F-FDG PET has limited diagnostic applications in malignant melanoma (MM). (18)F-N-(2-(diethylamino)ethyl)-5-(2-(2-(2-fluoroethoxy)ethoxy)ethoxy)picolinamide ((18)F-PFPN) is a novel PET probe with high affinity and selectivity for melanin. We conducted a clinical study with 2 aims, first to investigate the biodistribution and radiation dosimetry of (18)F-PFPN in healthy volunteers, and second, to examine the diagnostic utility of (18)F-PFPN PET imaging in patients with MM. Methods: (18)F-PFPN was synthesized through a fluoro-for-tosyl exchange reaction. Five healthy volunteers were enrolled to investigate the biodistribution, pharmacokinetics, radiation dosimetry, and safety of the tracer. Subsequently, a total of 21 patients with clinically suspected or confirmed MM underwent both (18)F-PFPN PET/MRI and (18)F-FDG PET/CT scans. The normalized SUV(max) of selected lesions was determined for both tracers and compared in patient- and lesion-based analyses. Results: (18)F-PFPN has an elevated radiochemical yield and was highly stable in vivo. In healthy volunteers, (18)F-PFPN was safe and well tolerated, and its effective absorbed dose was comparable to that of (18)F-FDG. In patient-based analysis, (18)F-PFPN uptake was higher than (18)F-FDG for both primary tumors and nodal metastases. In lesion-based analysis,(18)F-PFPN PET imaging could detect 365 metastases that were missed on (18)F-FDG PET. Additionally, (18)F-PFPN PET imaging had clinical value in distinguishing false-positive lesions on (18)F-FDG PET. Conclusion: (18)F-PFPN is a safe and well-tolerated melanin PET tracer. In a pilot clinical study, (18)F-PFPN PET imaging outperformed traditional (18)F-FDG PET in identifying both primary MM and its distant spread.

The mechanism of self-flocculation remains unclear, partially impeding its efficiency enhancement and commercial application of microalgae-based municipal wastewater (MW) bioremediation technology. This study revealed the contributions of exoproteins [PN, proteins in extracellular polymeric substances (EPS)] to the separation of indigenous microalgae from treated MW. Compared to the low light intensity group, the high light intensity (HL) group produced Chlorella sp. with 4.3-fold higher self-flocculation efficiencies (SE). This was attributed to the enriched biological functions and positional rearrangement of increased PN within 2.9-fold higher EPS. Specifically, a total of 75 PN was over-expressed in the HL group among the 129 PN identified through label-free proteomics. The algal cell-adhesion molecules (Algal-CAMs) and metal-ion-binding PN were demonstrated as two dominant contributors promoting cell adhesion and bridging, through function prediction based on the contained domains. The modeled 3D structure showed that Algal-CAMs presented less hydrophilic α-helix abundance and were distributed in the outermost position of the EPS matrix, further facilitating microalgal separation. Moreover, the 10.1% lower hydrophily degree value, negative interfacial free energy (-19.5 mJ/m2), and 6.8-fold lower energy barrier between cells also supported the observed higher SE. This finding is expected to further fill the knowledge gap of the role of PN in microalgal self-flocculation and promote the development of biomass recovery from the microalgae-wastewater system.

Accurately and objectively simulating the dynamic evolution of the behaviors of different decision-makers (DMs) is essential for identifying solutions to transboundary water conflicts. This research proposes an improved Graph Model for Conflict Resolution (GMCR) based on the benefits of DMs’ behaviors to model the dynamic evolution of transboundary water conflicts. Additionally, the influence of third-party intervention on conflicts is investigated in depth. A demonstration area in the Yangtze River Delta on ecologically friendly development (DAYRD) in China is taken as the case study area. The results indicate that the improved GMCR model based on the benefit function can not only clearly identify the dynamic evolution path of transboundary water conflicts into cooperation, but also effectively avoid the influence of the subjective factors of researchers or experts in traditional methods. In addition, a third party with higher powers is the key to resolving transboundary water conflicts in the DAYRD. The implementation of punishment measures by a third party can change the status quo of water conflicts and boost effective cooperation among governments. The punishment amount should be greater than the protection costs shared by local governments. These findings provide experience for the resolution of transboundary water conflicts and enhance our understanding of the role of third parties in transforming conflict into cooperation.

pH-sensitive magnetic dual drug-loaded microcapsules (MDDM) embracing magnetic nanoparticles Fe3O4@SiO2 and two drugs (roxithromycin (ROX) and theophylline (TH)) were prepared through self-assembly...

One step facile synthesis of micro CuO crystals is carried out by hydrothermal method. The porous lithium foil/Li-graphite is used as the anode for CuO-Li ion full battery. The micro CuO crystals are characterized by scanning electron micro porousscopy, X-ray powder diffractometer, Fourier Transform infrared spectrometer, thermogravimeter and differential scanning calorimeter. The battery with porous lithium foil/graphite anode is tested by the galvanostatic current charge-discharge technology at higher current densities of 0.25～0.5 mA/cm2. The porous lithium foil-graphite anode can effectively improve the discharge capacity of the CuO crystal battery.

Aging affects men and women differently; however, the impact of sex and gender on the aging process is not well understood. Moreover, these 2 concepts are often conflated, which further contributes to a lack of clarity on this important issue. In an effort to better understand the relevance of sex and gender in aging research, the Research Centers Collaborative Network sponsored a 1.5-day conference on sex and gender differences in aging that brought together key thought leaders from the 6 National Institute on Aging center programs. The meeting included sessions on comparing males and females, pathophysiological differences, sex/gender in clinical care, and gender and health in the social context. Presenters from a wide array of disciplines identified opportunities for multidisciplinary research to address current gaps in the field and highlighted the need for a more systematic approach to understanding the how and why of sex/gender differences, as well as the health implications of these differences and the sex/gender biases that affect clinical treatment and outcomes. This article summarizes the proceedings of the workshop and provides several recommendations to move the field forward, such as better data collection tools to assess the intersection of sex and gender in epidemiological research; a life course perspective with attention to fetal/developmental origins and key life stages; innovative animal models to distinguish contributions from sex hormones versus sex chromosomes; and integration of sex/gender into teaching and clinical practice. Ultimately, successful implementation of these recommendations will require thoughtful investigations across the translational spectrum and increased collaborations among those with expertise in sex and gender differences.

Toxicodendron vernicifluum (Stokes) F.A. Barkley (RVS) is an economic tree species and widely distributed in East Asia. Wood parts and raw lacquers of RVS have been used in coatings, herbal medicines or food supplements, and the leaves, flowers, roots, and fruits of RVS are also widely used in medicine traditionally. Lacquer seed oil (LSO) has potential health benefits and has not previously been evaluated for safety.The aim of the present study was to investigate the toxicological potential of LSO by acute and subchronic toxicity tests.The characterization of fatty acids of the LSO was carried out by gas chromatography. In the acute toxicity study, LSO was administered at single doses of 5000 or 10000 mg/kg by oral gavage. The subchronic toxicity study was conducted by daily oral administration of LSO at doses of 1250, 2500 and 5000 mg/kg/day for 30 consecutive days. The animals were evaluated for clinical observations, body weight, organ weight, feed consumption, biochemical and hematological parameters, and liver, lung, and kidney histology.There were no mortality and toxic changes were observed in acute toxicity study. The results of subchronic toxicity showed no toxicologically significant changes in clinical observations, body weight, organ weight, biochemical or hematological parameters. Histopathologic results indicated slight hepatic steatosis and inflammatory infiltration in the rats of 5000 mg/kg/day LSO treated group. However, the histopathologic observation was not confirmed by hepatic biochemical analysis.These results suggested that the LD

Millimeter-wave (mm-Wave) band channel modeling and characterization are essential for system design and analysis in the fifth generation (5G) and future communication systems. Reliable channel sounding in the deployment scenarios is required for accurate and realistic channel modeling and characterization. In the state of the art, directional scanning sounding (DSS) and virtual antenna array (VAA) sounding are two popular methods due to their simplicity and cost-effectiveness. The DSS and the VAA methods are typically based on mechanically rotatable directional antennas and mechanically movable omnidirectional antennas, respectively. However, the spatial resolution is limited by the directivity and high sidelobes of the directional antennas used in the DSS method. The conventional VAA method also has limitations in terms of the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the unavailability of suitable omnidirectional antennas that support mmWave (above 60 GHz) band measurements and wideband horizontal polarization measurements. In this article, a novel directional antenna-based VAA framework in combination with the associated beamforming algorithm is proposed. Compared to the state-of-the-art methods, the proposed framework can achieve high angular resolution and high SNR for mm-Wave channel measurements without introducing additional cost and measurement time. Furthermore, it is a generic solution that can be applicable for arbitrary frequency bands and polarizations, unlike the conventional VAA method. To validate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method, experiments in two scenarios (a clean anechoic chamber and a realistic indoor meeting room) were conducted over 28-30 GHz with two types of directional antennas (i.e., a horn antenna and a corrugated antenna). Besides, the advantages of the proposed method are highlighted with a comparison to the conventional VAA and DSS methods.

Two sodium alginate-based Pb

This study intends to investigate the frequency specific of brain oscillation activity in patients with acute basal ganglia ischemic stroke (BGIS) by using degree centrality (DC) method. Here, 34 acute BGIS patients and 43 healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scanning to investigate abnormal neural activity using the DC method within three frequency bands: conventional band (0.01-0.08Hz), slow‑4 band (0.027-0.073Hz), slow‑5 band (0.01-0.027Hz). Moreover, correlation between abnormal DC values and clinical indicators was performed. In conventional band, compare to HCs, BGIS patients exhibited increased DC values in the right superior temporal gyrus, right superior frontal gyrus and left angular gyrus. In slow-4 band, BGIS patients showed greater increased DC values in the bilateral precentral gyrus. In slow-5 band, BGIS patients presented increased DC values in the left precuneus, bilateral caudate, left angular gyrus and vermis_4_5. Additionally, the DC values increased in the right caudate (r=0.400; p =0.019) and vermis_4_5 (r=0.431; p =0.011) in slow-5 band were positively correlated with NIHSS and the DC values increased in the right caudate (r=-0.339; p =0.050) were negatively correlated with BI in patients. Our findings showed that the DC changes in BGIS were frequency specific and the slow-5 band could be more sensitive to examine the DC changes, and revealed that the DC changes reflected the potential neurobiological mechanism of brain functional reorganization in patients with acute BGIS.

Management of antibiotic-resistant bacteria-induced skin infections for rapid healing remains a critical clinical challenge. Photothermal therapy, which uses mediated hyperthermia to combat such problems, has recently been recognised as a promising approach to take. In this study, bacterial cellulose-based photothermal membranes were designed and developed to combat bacterial infections and promote rapid wound healing. Polydopamine was incorporated into gold nanoparticles to produce superior dual-photothermal behaviour. The

White rice is the food more than half of the world’s population depends on. White rice intake can significantly increase the glycemic load of consumers and bring some adverse health effects. However, the quality of evidence implicating white rice in adverse health outcomes remains unclear. To evaluate the association between white rice consumption and the risk of cardiometabolic and cancer outcomes, a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of the relevant publications were performed. Twenty-three articles including 28 unique prospective cohorts with 1,527,198 participants proved eligible after a comprehensive search in four databases. For the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), the pooled RR was 1.18 (16 more per 1000 persons) for comparing the highest with the lowest category of white rice intake, with moderate certainty evidence. Females presented a higher risk (23 more per 1000 persons) in subgroup analysis. And every additional 150 grams of white rice intake per day was associated with a 6% greater risk of T2DM (5 more per 1000 persons) with a linear positive trend. We found no significant associations between white rice intake and risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), CVD mortality, cancer, and metabolic syndrome. In conclusion, moderate certainty evidence demonstrated that white rice intake was associated with T2DM risk, with a linear positive trend. However, low to very low certainty of evidence suggested that no substantial associations were found between white rice intake and other cardiometabolic and cancer outcomes. More cohorts are needed to strength the evidence body.

Antenna array composed of subarrays is a widely used array structure in the fifth-generation (5G) base stations (BSs), which can offer both high gain beam and beam-steering capability. Generally, subarray-structured BS antennas consist of a number of subarrays, each composed of a few antenna elements, making the array diagnosis a pronounced and challenging problem. A fast diagnosis method, which can be conducted in the near-field of the BS array, is presented for BS array of subarrays in this letter. The objective is to detect antenna failures, which can be caused by the disconnection at either the feed of subarray or the feed of the antenna element in the subarray, based on complex array signals recorded by only a few probes with a short measurement distance. The diagnosis is achieved by a novel two-stage measurement procedure based on solving linear equations. Finally, an array composed of four subarrays with 24 antenna elements in total was used to validate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method in a practical setup.

Painting antifouling coatings is one of the most important methods to prevent marine biofouling. Acrylic resin is widely used in marine antifouling because of its excellent stickiness, water resistance, and film-forming capabilities. At present, the widely used acrylate antifouling coatings require a high concentration of cuprous oxide as antifoulant. The release and accumulation of copper ions are the main factors affecting the marine environment. In this study, BIT–allyl methacrylate (BM) and zinc acrylate (ZM) were selected as functional monomers copolymerized with methyl methacrylate (MMA) and butyl acrylate (BA) to prepare a series of BIT acrylate antifouling resins. The inhibitory effects of all resins against marine bacteria (S. aureus, V. coralliilyticus, and V. parahaemolyticus), marine algae (Chlorella, I. galbana, and C. curvisetus), and barnacle larvae were studied. Moreover, marine field tests on the BIT modified resin in coastal waters were conducted. The results demonstrate that the grafted BIT–zinc acrylate resin not only exhibits excellent antifouling properties but also a significant self-polishing performance, providing a novel strategy to design a long-term antifouling resin with stable antifoulant release.

Objective: To explore the relationship between adolescents’ psychosocial development and life satisfaction from the perspective of personality development according to the theory of psychosocial development stage and social ecosystem theory. Methods: The one-year interval tracking design was adopted to analyze the cross-lagged relationship between psychological development and life satisfaction of 526 junior students in middle school: 44.5% girls and 55.5% boys. Results: In early adolescence, the level of individual psychosocial development and life satisfaction decreased with the increase of age. There is a significant cross lag between the degree of psychosocial development and life satisfaction: the psychosocial development in December 2017 (the first assessment, T1) positively predicts the life satisfaction in December 2018 (the second assessment, T2); T1’s life satisfaction can predict T2’s psychosocial development. Conclusion: The degree of psychosocial development and life satisfaction of adolescents will decline over time. Psychosocial development will affect their life satisfaction, and life satisfaction will also affect their psychosocial development.

Molecular interactions between ligands and target biomolecules are crucial in the development of chromatographic techniques for the separation and purification of biotherapeutics. In this study, the role of functional moieties on a mixed-mode ligand (phenylalanine-tyrosine-glutamate-5-aminobenzimidazole) for human immunoglobulin G purification was investigated and a detailed mechanism was discussed. A similar ligand with glutamic acid substituted by glutamine (phenylalanine-tyrosine-glutamine-5-aminobenzimidazole) together with other resins including a commercial resin (CM Bestarose Fast Flow), phenylalanine-tyrosine-glutamate, glutamate-5-aminobenzimidazole, and 5-aminobenzimidazole resins were prepared for comparison. Molecular dynamics simulation and experimental studies were used to analyze the difference between these ligands. The results showed that the carboxyl group of phenylalanine-tyrosine-glutamate-5-aminobenzimidazole contributed 70% of the electrostatic interaction during human immunoglobulin G binding, and 5-aminobenzimidazole provided electrostatic repulsion for desorption, which showed low selectivity and binding capacities at pH 4.0 (dynamic binding capacities at 10% breakthrough of human immunoglobulin G = 1.0 mg/ml resin, dynamic binding capacities at 10% breakthrough of human serum albumin = 1.2 mg/ml resin) when used as an individual resin ligand. The results showed in this study demonstrated that it is possible to achieve optimal antibody separation and purification through reasonable ligand design by understanding the performance of key functional moieties in binding and elution processes.

Various decoupling methods were proposed and investigated for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) Base Station (BS) systems. These methods can effectively decouple the dual-polarized co-polar signal but fail to decouple the cross-polarized signal, similarly limiting the BS's overall decoupling performance. In this paper, different antenna arrays are designed to illustrate the coupling mechanism of cross-polarized BS antennas, and a comprehensive study of the relationship between antenna configurations and mutual couplings is conducted. It is shown that compact size antenna elements enlarge the edge-to-edge separation, and the loop-shaped dipole elements reduce the cross-polarization couplings. Finally, the array-antenna decoupling surface (ADS) method is applied in a 2×2 array composed of the designed antennas. Thanks to the improved antenna unit, the decoupling task is eased, and a better decoupling performance is achieved compared with the original ADS work.

Objectives: This study addressed two questions: (1) Is age at migration associated with cognitive function among Chinese older immigrants? and (2) what personal and environmental factors confound the above relationship? Methods: Data were derived from the Population Study of Chinese Elderly ( N = 2957). Quantile and linear regressions were used to examine the associations between age at migration and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and global cognitive function, respectively. Results: Migration in late middle age (50–64) or late adulthood (65 or older) was associated with lower MMSE scores. Global cognition did not vary by age at migration. Associations between age at migration and MMSE were stronger among individuals with lower education or social engagement. Discussion: Migrating late in one’s life has important implications for cognitive health over the life course. Findings are helpful to identify vulnerable older immigrant segments and provide tailored interventions to promote their cognitive health.

This article addresses the challenging task of developing a procedure for the day-ahead dispatch planning of wind power which emanates from a wide geographical area. Using the complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition technique, it is shown that the low-frequency components of the area aggregated wind power account for the largest proportions of the perturbing energy harnessed from the wind. By taking advantage of the slow-varying characteristics of the low-frequency components, accurate forecast of these components is readily obtained and incorporated into the developed dispatch planning procedure. The dispatchability of the wide-area wind generation is facilitated by the buffering actions offered by a centralized power dispatch energy storage system, operating under a proposed power flows control strategy. The efficacy of the developed procedure is illustrated using a pumped hydroelectric system as the dispatch energy storage medium.

Context Aggrecan, encoded by the ACAN gene, is the main proteoglycan component in the extracellular cartilage matrix. Heterozygous mutations in ACAN have been reported to cause idiopathic short stature. However, the prevalence of ACAN pathogenic variants in Chinese short stature patients and clinical phenotypes remain to be evaluated. Objective We sought to determine the prevalence of ACAN pathogenic variants among Chinese short stature children and characterize the phenotypic spectrum and their responses to growth hormone therapies. Patients and Methods Over 1000 unrelated short stature patients ascertained across China were genetically evaluated by next-generation sequencing–based test. Result We identified 10 novel likely pathogenic variants and 2 recurrent pathogenic variants in this cohort. None of ACAN mutation carriers exhibited significant dysmorphic features or skeletal abnormities. The prevalence of ACAN defect is estimated to be 1.2% in the whole cohort; it increased to 14.3% among those with advanced bone age and to 35.7% among those with both advanced bone age and family history of short stature. Nonetheless, 5 of 11 ACAN mutation carries had no advanced bone age. Two individuals received growth hormone therapy with variable levels of height SD score improvement. Conclusion Our data suggest that ACAN mutation is 1 of the common causes of Chinese pediatric short stature. Although it has a higher detection rate among short stature patients with advanced bone age and family history, part of affected probands presented with delayed bone age in Chinese short stature population. The growth hormone treatment was moderately effective for both individuals.

A novel fluorescent Cd-MOF probe [Cd2(btec)(TPB)0.5(H2O)4]·2H2O (complex 1, TPB = 1,2,4,5-Tetra(4-pyridyl)benzene) has been rationally designed and synthesized, and its multipurpose sensing applications have been revealed. The thermo-sensitive property of complex 1 was investigated in a wide temperature range from 20 °C to 160 °C. A good linear relationship was observed between the fluorescence quenching efficiency of complex 1 and the circumstance temperature, which suggested that complex 1 could be a promising material for application in fluorescent thermometers. Stable suspensions could be obtained after dispersion of complex 1 in various solvents, especially in water. A remarkable red shift (about 20 nm) in the fluorescence emission spectrum of complex 1 was observed when H2O was used as the dispersion medium compared with that in D2O, which could be used for distinguishing D2O from H2O. Furthermore, based on the strong inner filtering effect (IFE), the fluorescence detection of acetone in water was carried out using complex 1-H2O suspensions. Real-time fluorescence quenching was observed after the addition of acetone into complex 1-H2O suspensions. Moreover, the fluorescence quenching efficiency vs. the concentration of acetone fitted well with a non-linear equation (R2 = 0.9929) with an experimental detection limit for acetone as 0.06% (vol%). In addition, the photoelectric responses study revealed that complex 1 might be modified and used as a photoelectric sensor.

A low-temperature carbonization method using seaweed (Sargassum carpophyllum) as a precursor was applied to prepare nitrogen and sulfur co-doped CDs (N,S-CDs). The N,S-CDs exhibited satisfactory stability, water solubility and photostability. The N,S-CDs-based “on–off” fluorescent sensor showed high selectivity and good response to Cr(VI), whose limit of detection (LOD) was as low as 1.04 μM. The recoveries of Cr(VI) in tap water and sea water were 88.90–116.38% (RSD < 5%), proving that it could be a practical sensor for detecting Cr(VI). In addition, the established N,S-CDs/Cr(VI) system was developed as an “off–on” fluorescent sensor to detect ascorbic acid (AA). It could precisely detect AA in vitamin C chewable tablets, with recoveries from 96.02 to 103.95% (RSD < 5%). Moreover, the N,S-CDs expressed low toxicity by CCK8 assay. In this work, an “on–off–on” fluorescent sensor was prepared from seaweed, which can act as a reference for enabled high-value transformation of seaweeds. Furthermore, it also provided a facile fluorescent sensor for the detection of Cr(VI) and AA. The fluorescent sensor expressed high potential in water quality monitoring and nutritional food quality control.

Due to space limitation, mutual coupling occurs almost invisibly in array antennas. In this paper, the mutual coupling effects on the two most popular categories of array antennas, i.e., phased arrays and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, are reviewed. Some misconceptions regarding the mutual coupling effects are uncovered. It is shown that the steering pattern of a phased array at an arbitrary scanning angle can be readily calculated once the embedded radiation patterns of the array elements (including the mutual coupling effect) are obtained. As antenna spacing decreases, absorption loss increases, yet the phase terms tend to add up constructively as antenna spacing reduces, which may overcompensate the absorption loss due to mutual coupling. Thus, the array efficiency may be increased by reducing the antenna spacing. A patch antenna array is used to illustrate this phenomenon. It is further shown that while mutual coupling tends to reduce the correlation of two-element arrays, it has a negligible effect on the overall correlations of larger arrays. Finally, various mutual coupling reduction techniques are briefly presented. Two feasible techniques for large planar arrays are used to illustrate the benefits of array decoupling.

A 47-year-old man, who had a history of occipital skin dissection for melanoma, underwent 18F-FDG and 18F-PFPN (a specific tracer targeting melanin) PET due to increased stomach discomfort and melena. In 18F-FDG and 18F-PFPN images, strong uptakes were both found in the thickened gastric wall, which was suspected as metastatic melanoma to the stomach. This was further confirmed by pathological biopsy of gastric tissue. Our case illustrated that melanin-targeted PET imaging could provide an effective method for searching the metastases of melanoma.

As bacterial infections continue to pose a significant challenge to healthcare globally, new therapeutic strategies, interventions, and complementary approaches that address both infection prevention and treatment are needed. As one such strategy, photothermal therapy (PTT) as a non-chemotherapeutic approach is considered a safe and potentially efficient strategy to combat bacterial infections, particularly for antibiotic-resistant pathogens given that PTT operates via a temperature-dependent process against which the development of bacterial resistance is unlikely. Here, we prepared Au@CDs composite nanoparticles (Au@CD) comprised of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and carbon dots (N,S-CDs), and investigated their use as a photothermal agent in PTT. The presence of the CDs as surface decorations conferred improved photothermal conversion efficiency, photostability, and biocompatibility to the Au@CD when compared to the parent AuNPs. To investigate if the Au@CD could serve as a PTT wound dressing and accelerate tissue repair, they were embedded within a PVA membrane via electrospinning. The resultant Au@CD membrane exhibited excellent biocompatibility and photothermal antimicrobial activity. In vitro photothermal antibacterial inactivation studies confirmed their efficacy against S. aureus and E. coli (99 + % inactivation of both pathogens under NIR irradiation). Moreover, in vivo studies employing Kunming male mice with S. aureus-infected wounds on their backs were chosen as a trauma model, with the Au@CD membranes serving as wound dressings. The results showed that a local temperature increased up to 50 °C upon NIR irradiation could effectively eradicate bacteria at the wound site, reduce the risk of bacterial infection, suppress inflammation as well as improve collagen deposition and angiogenesis, all of which together facilitated wound closure and resulted in a better therapeutic effect than the controls. Taken together, this work confirms that NIR-irradiated Au@CD-based membranes and related materials are promising photothermal antimicrobial platforms for wound dressings and related healthcare applications.

Multiple studies and meta-analyses have reported the diagnostic value of C-reactive protein (CRP) in several diseases. However, the precision, and influence of potential bias regarding the diagnostic values of existing evidence may have implications for clinical practice.We performed an umbrella review of diagnostic test accuracy studies of CRP for diseases by searching PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and WanFang databases up to March 7, 2021. Five independent reviewers evaluated eligibility, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality. We descriptively analyzed the diagnostic accuracy of CRP for multiple diseases, heterogeneity between studies, and publication bias.Seventy-four meta-analyses were included, with 13 diseases classified according to the International Classification of Diseases-11 (ICD-11). The methodological quality of the included meta-analyses was mostly low, with only 16 meta-analyses rated as moderate or high, including seven diseases classified by ICD-11. CRP had a relatively greater diagnostic accuracy for two of these diseases. For postoperative infectious complications after bariatric surgery, sensitivity and specificity were 0.81 (0.34-1) and 0.91 (0.73-1), respectively. For anastomotic leakage after colorectal surgery, sensitivity and specificity were 0.95 (0.75-0.99) and 0.95 (0.75-0.99), respectively.The diagnostic accuracy of CRP for multiple diseases has been extensively studied; however, most studies have low methodological quality. Evidence indicates that CRP has a relatively greater diagnostic accuracy for inflammation and infection diseases, especially for postoperative infectious complications after bariatric surgery and anastomotic leakage after colorectal surgery.

Moral ethic prevails in the science and education of chemistry. These issues are unique to chemistry and arise from between the theoretical and the practical behavior in laboratory. The study reported in the paper investigated the impact of personal moral philosophies on the safety practices of students in chemistry and related majors. The results showed that lab anxiety, safety attitude, safety knowledge, and idealism were significant predictors of safety practice, with the last item being the strongest predictor. According to Forsyth’s four distinct personal moral philosophies, among Chinese students, situationism was the most common, followed by exceptionism and then absolutism, with subjectivism as the least common. All lowest scores are from exceptionism. Idealism was more common among males than females, more among higher grade students than lower, and more among students from eastern as compare to western regions of China. All the results showed that the content of idealism should be incorporated into safety training to improve safety practices. Attention to idealistic education in all aspects of university education can help to improve safety behavior.

Introduction: COVID-19 has become a global health security issue, it has caused more than half a million deaths worldwide so far, the treatment strategies are the most concerned issues for clinicians. In this study, the treatments and outcomes in 40 pediatric patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and treated with different drugs were evaluated. Methodology: All cases were diagnosed with COVID-19 nucleic acid positive by using RT-PCR or clinical manifestations, imaging specific characteristics and epidemiological clinical diagnosis. The biological information and first symptom of all cases were collect. A variety of treatments were employed and the outcomes were evaluated by Cox regression analysis. Multivariable analysis was performed to evaluate cure rate at 14 days with different drug treatment. Results: The average length of hospital stay was 10.4 days. The cure rate was increased with the treatment time extended and 90% of pediatric patients were cured and discharged after 14 days’ treatment. And multivariable analysis results proved that none of the covariates were related to the cure rate at 14 days with different drug treatment since p values were over 0.05. Conclusions: Multivariable analysis suggested that the present drug treatments cannot significantly shorten the clinical cure time and improve the cure rate of children with COVID-19.

Hydraulic fracturing is an essential technology for the development of unconventional resources such as tight gas. The evaluation of the fracture performance and productivity is important for the design of fracturing operations. However, the traditional dimensionless fracture conductivity is too simple to be applied in real fracturing operations. In this work, we proposed a new model of dimensionless fracture conductivity (FCD), which considers the irregular fracture geometry, proppant position and concentration. It was based on the numerical study of the multistage hydraulic fracturing and production in a tight gas horizontal well of the North German Basin. A self-developed full 3D hydraulic fracturing model, FLAC3Dplus, was combined with a sensitive/reliability analysis and robust design optimization tool optiSLang and reservoir simulator TMVOCMP to achieve an automatic history matching as well as simulation of the gas production. With this tool chain, the four fracturing stages were history matched. The simulation results show that all four fractures have different geometry and proppant distribution, which is mainly due to different stress states and injection schedule. The position and concentration of the proppant play important roles for the later production, which is not considered in the traditional dimensionless fracture conductivity FCD. In comparison, the newly proposed formulation of FCD could predict the productivity more accurately and is better for the posttreatment evaluation.