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The natural polysaccharide/hydroxyapatite hydrogels are of great interest to bone tissue engineering, but the interfacial mismatch between rigid hydroxyapatite and soft polysaccharide phase in these hydrogels remains unsolved, which is unfavorable to achieving uniform dispersion of hydroxyapatite particles in the hydrogel matrices. Herein, hyaluronic acid (Hya), an extracellular matrix constituent, was chosen as the template for biological mineralization to synthesize Hya/hydroxyapatite hybrid particles (HAHs). The oxidized Hya/hydroxyapatite hybrid particles (OHAHs) were obtained by oxidating the Hya in the HAHs. These OHAHs were the ball-flower particles hybridized with ca. 22 % oxidized Hya. Then, different concentrations of OHAHs were introduced to prepare hydroxyapatite composite hydrogels (HCH) via Schiff-base reaction of oxidized Hya and carboxymethyl chitosan. The injectability and self-healing of HCH were evaluated and the introduction of OHAHs significantly increased the storage modulus. The gelation time of HCH showed a negative relation with the concentration of OHAHs while the storage modulus presented a positive correlation. MTT assays and live/dead staining of L929 cells co-cultured with HCH confirmed that the hydrogels had excellent cytocompatibility, and supported the adhesion and proliferation of cells under the three-dimension culture conditions. These injectable self-healing hydrogels suitable for cell encapsulation were potentially useful for bone defect repair.

According to the annual legal supervision cases released by the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China in recent years, the online rumors insulting strangers based on their characteristics, which damages the strangers' reputation, will be identified as crime of defamation. The criminal law regulation is significant in this regard, and based on the certain civil liability system, this act should be defined as crime of defamation since it infringes people's fame and dignity. As for the infringement of legal interests, the act of starting a rumor, in essence, matches with the definition of the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, which refers to those acts of fabricating and intentionally spreading false information and seriously disturbing social order. When both the indictment criteria for defamation and the criterion of serious disruption of public order are met, the imaginative joinder offenses arise.

Excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) and long-term inflammation can delay wound healing and cause tissue damage, while bacterial infection aggravates the wound environment further. It is impossible to resolve all these thorny problems simultaneously with a wound dressing that has only one function. The antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties of resveratrol (Res) have been proven. However, the effect of Res is non-selective, and high levels of Res can inhibit cell growth and promote oxidation. Res is also difficult to dissolve and possesses insufficient antibacterial properties, so its role is limited. In this study, Res was assembled

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA modification is the most prevalent type of RNA methylation and plays a pivotal role in the development of plants. However, knowledge of the m6A modification in litchi remains limited. In this study, a complete analysis of m6A writers, erasers, and readers in litchi was performed and 31 litchi m6A regulatory genes were identified in total, including 7 m6A writers, 12 m6A erases, and 12 readers. Phylogeny analysis showed that all three of the kinds of litchi m6A regulatory proteins could be divided into three groups; domains and motifs exhibited similar patterns in the same group. MiRNA target site prediction showed that 77 miRNA target sites were located in 25 (80.6%) litchi m6A regulatory genes. Cis-elements analysis exhibited that litchi m6A regulatory genes were mainly responsive to light and plant hormones, followed by environmental stress and plant development. Expression analysis revealed litchi m6A regulatory genes might play an important role during the peel coloration and fruit abscission of litchi. This study provided valuable and expectable information of litchi m6A regulatory genes and their potential epigenetic regulation mechanism in litchi.

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...

The demand for rare earth metal increases rapidly in the modern high-tech industry and therefore the accumulation of rare earth metal ions from an aqueous environment becomes a significant concern worldwide. In this paper, a water-recyclable chitosan-based La3+-imprinted thermoresponsive hydrogel (CLIT) was prepared to accumulate La3+ from solution. The CLIT was characterized by DSC, FITR, Raman spectroscopy, XPS, and SEM, which revealed obvious reversible thermosensitivity and imprinted sites of La3+ ions. An adsorption capacity of 112.21 mg/g to La3+ ions was achieved on CLIT under its optimum adsorption conditions (pH 5, 50 °C, 60 min). The adsorption could be well illustrated by second-order kinetics and Freundlich isotherm models. The La3+-adsorbed CLIT could be recycled only by rinsing with 10 °C cold water, with a desorption rate of 96.72%. After ten cycles of adsorption-desorption, CLIT retained good adsorption capability. In the solution containing six ions, the adsorption coefficients kLa3+/Mn+ of CLIT were 2.04–3.51 times that of non-imprinted hydrogel, with kLa3+/Y3+, kLa3+/Gd3+, kLa3+/Al3+, kLa3+/Fe3+ and kLa3+/Cu2+ being 1.67, 2.04, 3.15, 2.72 and 4.84, respectively.

Peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis (PDAP) is the most common complication in peritoneal dialysis patients. We propose screening for characteristic expressed proteins in the dialysate of PDAP patients to provide clues for the diagnosis of PDAP and its therapeutic targets.Dialysate samples were collected from patients with a first diagnosis of PDAP (n = 15) and from patients who had not experienced peritonitis (Control, n = 15). Data-independent acquisition (DIA) proteomic analysis was used to screen for differentially expressed proteins (DEPs). Co-expression networks were constructed via weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) for detection of gene modules. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were used for functional annotation of DEPs and gene modules. Hub proteins were validated using the parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) method.A total of 142 DEPs in the dialysate of PDAP patients were identified. 70 proteins were upregulated and 72 proteins were downregulated. GO and KEGG analysis showed that DEPs were mainly enriched in cell metabolism, glycolysis/glycogenesis and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 signaling pathway. Subsequently, a co-expression network was constructed and four gene modules were detected. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) and myeloperoxidase (HP) were the key proteins of the blue and turquoise modules, respectively. Additionally, PRM analysis showed that the expression of MPO and HP was significantly upregulated in the PDAP group compared to the non-peritonitis group, which was consistent with our proteomics data.MPO and HP were differentially expressed in the dialysate of PDAP patients and may be potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets for PDAP.

Owing to its simple properties, the application of injectable hydrogel in wound repair is limited. Therefore, the multi-functionalization of injectable hydrogel to improve the therapeutic effect is imperative. Here, keratin nanoparticles (Ker NPs) with facilitating epithelization capability and nanosized-EGCG covered with Ag nanoparticles (AE NPs) with radicals scavenging capability were used to functionalize injectable oxidized alginate/carboxylmethyl chitosan hydrogel (KA hydrogel). The radical scavenging experiments proved the anti-oxidative capacity of AE NPs. Rheological test exhibited that the gelation time and storage modulus of KA hydrogel were about 216 s and 403 Pa. Additionally, wound healing experiment in vivo showed that KA hydrogel could accelerated wound healing, especially in the early stage, and improved the thickness of renascent epidermis by 21 %. In this work, Ker NPs and AE NPs functionalization endowed injectable hydrogels with the capabilities of scavenging radicals and facilitating epithelization, which is promising for the applications in wound repair.

Objective. To investigate the effects of arteriovenous thrombolysis combined with mechanical thrombectomy on clinical efficacy, neurological function, and the changes of nerve injury markers of acute cerebral infarct (ACI) patients. Methods. A total of 143 cases with ACI admitted to our hospital from June 2017 to June 2019 were elected as research subjects. Among them, 69 cases of patients who received treatment of arteriovenous thrombolysis were considered as group A, and 74 cases of patients who received treatment of arteriovenous thrombolysis combined with mechanical thrombectomy were considered as group B. NIHSS score, clinical efficacy, vascular recanalization, adverse reactions, hemodynamics, neurological injury indexes, duration of coma, length of hospital stay, and prognosis of patients in the two groups were compared. Results. After treatment, the NIHSS score of group A was higher than that of group B (P<0.05), the clinical efficacy of group B was better than that of group A, and the incidence of adverse reactions was lower than that of group A (P<0.05). There was no difference in vascular recanalization rate, duration of coma, and prognosis between the two groups (P>0.05). Length of hospital stay, maximum peak velocity after treatment (Vs), and mean flow rate (Vm) of group A were lower than those of group B, while vascular resistance index (RI), pulsatility index (PI), serum glutamic acid (Glu), neuron-specific enolase (NES), and S100β protein detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of group A were higher than those of group B (P<0.05). Conclusion. Arteriovenous thrombolysis combined with mechanical thrombectomy has a significant effect on ACI, with high safety and quick effect. In addition, it has a stronger effect on improving and protecting the neurological function of patients, which is worth promoting in clinical practice.

The two major subtypes of human T cells, CD4+ and CD8+, play important roles in adaptive immune response by their diverse functions. To understand the structure-function relation at the single cell level, we isolated 2483 CD4+ and 2450 CD8+ T cells from fresh human splenocytes by immunofluorescent sorting and investigated their morphologic relations to the surface CD markers by acquisition and analysis of cross-polarized diffraction image (p-DI) pairs. A deep neural network of DINet-R has been built to extract 2560 features across multiple pixel scales of a p-DI pair per imaged cell. We have developed a novel algorithm to form a matrix of Pearson correlation coefficients by these features for selection of a support cell set with strong morphologic correlation in each subtype. The p-DI pairs of support cells exhibit significant pattern differences between the two subtypes defined by CD markers. To explore the relation between p-DI features and CD markers, we divided each subtype into two groups of A and B using the two support cell sets. The A groups comprise 90.2% of the imaged T cells and classification of them by DINet-R yields an accuracy of 97.3 ± 0.40% between the two subtypes. Analysis of depolarization ratios further reveals the significant differences in molecular polarizability between the two subtypes. These results prove the existence of a strong structure-function relation for the two major T cell subtypes and demonstrate the potential of diffraction imaging flow cytometry for accurate and label-free classification of T cell subtypes.

Background Low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and diabetes are common in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the coexistence of diabetes with a low level of HDL-C and the first episode of peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis (PDRP) in patients with PD. Methods We retrospectively investigated patients with PD from January 1, 2003, to May 31, 2020, in four PD centers. Patients with PD were divided into four groups: no comorbidities, low HDL-C only, diabetes only, and diabetes plus low HDL-C. The clinical and laboratory baseline data of the four groups were collected and compared. The association between diabetes coexisting with low HDL-C levels and the first episode of PDRP was analyzed by multivariate Cox regression analysis. Results A total of 1013 patients with PD were included in our study. The mean age was 49.94 ± 14.32 years, and 597 (58.99%) patients were males. A total of 301 (29.7%) patients had their first episodes of PDRP, and low HDL-C levels coexisted with diabetes in 72 patients with PD. After adjusting for confounding factors, a low level of HDL-C coexisting with diabetes was significantly associated with the first episode of PDRP in our study (hazard ratio: 2.81, 95% CI 1.32 ~ 4.73, p = 0.005). The associations among HDL-C, diabetes and PDRP were consistent in the following subgroups: sex, age, and pre-existing CVD (all P interaction > 0.05). Conclusions Patients with both diabetes and low HDL-C levels were at higher risk for PDRP in patients with PD.

Applying sunscreen is a common, convenient, and effective measure to protect skin from ultraviolet (UV) damage, but most of UV absorbers in the present commercially available sunscreens are accompanied with the insufficiencies in terms of efficacy and biosafety. The use of nanotechnology to combine conventional UV absorbers with biocompatible natural products is a feasible strategy to combat these deficiencies. Herein, a simple, green and engineering preparation of broad-band sunscreens was demonstrated by the molecular assembly of a UV absorber aminobenzoic acid (ABA) and polyphenol extracted from green tea (EGCG). Spherical and negatively-charged EGCG/ABA nanoparticles (EA NPs) were simply synthesized with a wide range of particle size from 54.6 to 715.1 nm. These NPs had the satisfactory biocompatibility and antioxidative activity, and could protect fibroblasts from oxidative-stress damage. The formulations containing 10 wt% EA NPs further exhibited broad-spectrum UV absorption and lower UV transmittance than commercial sunscreens. It is believed that this study would spur the utilization of natural reproducible sources for developing biosafe sunscreens with strong anti-UV capability. Indeed, this simple nanotechnology aimed at tackling the biosafe risk of conventional UV absorbers provides a feasible solution strategy with green tea extracts.

A high peritoneal transport status is a risk factor for mortality and causes technical failure in patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD). High peritoneal transport status is associated with malnutrition and inflammation in patients with PD. The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) is a marker determined by the serum albumin level and lymphocyte count in the peripheral blood. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between PNI and high peritoneal transport status in patients with PD.We retrospectively investigated patients with PD from January 1, 2013 to May 31, 2020, in 4 PD centers. Patients with PD were divided into 2 groups according to PNI quartiles: the low PNI group (PNI ≤ 36.6) and the high PNI group (PNI36.6). The demographics and clinical and laboratory baseline data of the 2 groups were collected and compared. The association between PNI and high peritoneal transport status was analyzed by multivariate logistic regression analysis.A total of 404 patients with PD were enrolled in our study. A total of 77 (19.06%) patients had high peritoneal transport status. After adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, residual urine volume, current smoking status, pre-existing cardiovascular disease, hemoglobin, white blood cell count, triglycerides, and intact parathyroid hormone, low PNI levels were significantly associated with high peritoneal transport status (odds ratio 3.42, 95% confidence interval 1.82-5.18, P = .0056). Subgroup analysis showed that there was no interaction among PNI and age, sex, diabetes, body mass index, pre-existing cardiovascular disease, or current smoking.As a marker for malnutrition and inflammation, a low level of PNI is an independent risk factor for high peritoneal transport status in patients with PD.

In this study, a novel gradient heating procedure was developed to fabricate the targeted metal-ion-imprinted thermo-responsive material, i.e. ion-imprinted thermo-responsive BC derivative (ITB), from bacterial cellulose using Cu2+ as a template and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) as a monomer; moreover, the structure and properties of ITB were analysed via various analytical techniques including FTIR spectroscopy, DSC, SEM, and Raman spectroscopy. The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of ITB was 38.57 °C in the heating procedure, whereas it was 30.81 °C in the cooling procedure. The adsorption capacity of ITB for Cu2+ reached 95.20 mg g−1 at 45 °C (>LCST), the desorption rate was 98.81%, and desorption could be simply achieved by washing the adsorbents with water at 20 °C (

A sodium alginate (ALG)-based UO22+-imprinted thermoresponsive hydrogel (SUIT) was prepared, with NIPAM as the starting monomer. On this basis, another hydrogel (SPUIT) was prepared with ɛ-polylysine (ɛ-PL) as a co-matrix to improve UO22+ adsorption capacity and stability of the hydrogel. The SUIT and SPUIT were characterized with FTIR, DSC, SEM, TGA, XPS, and Raman spectroscopy. The maximum adsorption capacity of SUIT and SPUIT to UO22+ was 137.43 mg/g and 205.99 mg/g, respectively. After simply washing the adsorbents with cold water, the desorption efficiency of SUIT and SPUIT reached 96.46% and 97.21%, respectively. The desorption efficiency of SUIT and SPUIT slightly decreased to 82.42% and 84.99% after 10 cycles of adsorption–desorption procedure. In the presence of other metal ions (Pb2+, Cu2+, Mg2+, Ca2+, UO22+, Cd2+, Na+, K+), the selectivity coefficients of SUIT and SPUIT for UO22+/Mn+ were in the range of 9.1–15.8 and 7.4–13.3. When tested with a 20 L real sea water, the adsorption capacity reached 58.24 µg/g for SUIT and 59.69 µg/g for SPUIT, demonstrating a high potential in accumulation of uranium. Moreover, the introduction of ɛ-PL enhanced the antibacterial activity and resistance to degradation of the hydrogel.

Ion-imprinted thermosensitive chitosan derivative (ITC) was successfully synthesized through a novel gradient heating process towards applications in heavy metal remediation, using Cu2+ template paired with N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) monomer. SEM, DSC, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the structure and properties of ITC. The phase change temperature (PCT) of ITC was 35.31 °C in the heating cycle, whereas in the cooling cycle the PCT for ITC was 26.27 °C. The adsorption capacity of ITC for Cu2+ at 45 °C (> PCT) was 88.94 mg/g. Desorption rate of 98.90 % was achieved after washing with ultra-pure water at 20 °C (

Controlling the formation of conductive particles to be nano-scale is important for achieving percolation effect in metal dispersed thin film composite to contribute extraordinary dielectric properties required for miniaturization of electronic devices. In this paper, lactic acid (LA) and citric acid (CA) were used as dual complexing agents to prepare a typical Ag nanoparticle dispersed PbTiO 3 (PTO) composite thin film by using a sol-gel method. The phase structure of the thin film and the coordination effect between complexing agent and metallic ions were investigated. It revealed that LA coordinated with Ti 4 + and Pb 2 + and CA coordinated with Ag + . Lead was fixed inside the gel network by LA and restricted to evaporate during heat treatment thus the pyrochlore phase was prevented from forming in the thin film. Ag + was coordinated by CA and the diffusion and thus aggregation of silver during gelation and annealing process were weakened. Silver nanoparticles dispersed in the PTO matrix formed with dual complexing agents of LA and CA introduced during the preparation process. The composite thin film of perfect perovskite phase with silver nanoparticles embedded was obtained at the molar ratio of LA/lead = 0.5 and CA/lead = 0.5. The dielectric constant of the thin film with silver nanoparticles is 5 times higher than that without silver nanoparticles.

The Ag nanoparticle dispersed percolative PbTiO 3 ceramic thin film was prepared in situ by sol–gel method with excess lead introduced into a sol precursor. The influence of excess lead and the heat treatment time on the formation of Ag nanoparticles was investigated by energy dispersive X-ray spectra, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and ultraviolet–visible absorption spectra. Results showed that the excess lead introduced into the sol precursor was in favor of the crystallization of the thin film and in favor of formation of the perovskite phase without the pyrochlore phase. Lead-rich Ag–Pb alloy particles first formed in the thin films and then decomposed to become large numbers of Ag nanoparticles of about 3 nm in size in the thin films when the heat treatment time was longer than 2 min. The content of the Ag nanoparticles increased with increasing the heat treatment time. The percolative behavior appears typically in the Ag nanoparticle dispersed thin films. The dielectric constant of the thin film was about 3 times of that without Ag nanoparticles.

Mortality is the highest of any solid organ in pediatric patients awaiting heart transplantation. Strategies to increase the donor pool are needed if survival to transplant is to improve. There can be reluctance to accept pediatric hearts for transplantation if the donor has received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). This study asked if donor CPR impacts the survival of pediatric heart transplant recipients. Analysis of the UNOS database was performed for all cardiac transplants performed in patients aged 0-18 yr, with donors classified as to whether they received CPR (CPR+) or not (CPR-). We compared overall survival and survival at 30 days, one yr, and five yr between groups. Within the CPR+ group, the impact of duration of CPR on survival was compared. The need for inotropic support and ejection fraction was compared between donor groups as a measure of organ function. Overall survival and survival at 30 days, one yr, and five yr did not differ in the CPR+ compared to the CPR- group. Within the CPR+ group, duration of CPR was unrelated to post-transplant survival. The need for inotropic support at procurement was similar, and ejection fraction did not differ between the CPR+ and CPR- groups. Donor CPR does not have a negative impact on pediatric heart transplant survival.

PRF is encountered in 10-13% of adult heart transplants. Only one study of a single center's experience with PRF has been reported in pediatric patients. This study examines the effect of PRF on pediatric heart transplant outcome using the UNOS database. A total of 3598 patients met inclusion criteria, of whom 254 (7%) had PRF. The PRF group comprised 31 recipients requiring PRE and 223 recipients requiring POST. Compared with No-PRF patients, PRE patients had similar survival rate and POST patients had decreased survival rate at 30 days, one, five, and 10-yr post-transplant (p < 0.001). PRF patients also had significantly lower graft survival at one, five, and 10 yr (p < 0.001). Risk factors for developing PRF included ECMO, ventilator, and inotropic support at listing and CHD as the listing diagnosis. PRF increased the duration of hospital stay and the incidence of chronic severe renal dysfunction. PRF that requires POST (whether or not it began pretransplant) has a significant negative impact on pediatric heart transplant outcome. Specific characteristics identify patients at particular high risk of developing PRF.

A major limitation to success in pediatric heart transplantation is donor organ shortage. While the use of allografts from donors larger than the recipient is accepted, the use of undersized donor grafts is generally discouraged. Using the UNOS database, we wanted to evaluate whether using smaller donor hearts affects the short- and long-term survival of pediatric heart transplant patients. A retrospective analysis of data entered into the UNOS database from April 1994 to May 2008 was performed. Pediatric heart transplant recipients (ages 0-18 yr) with DRWR

Pure and Mn-doped BaTi0.9Sn0.1O3 ceramics are prepared via the conventional solid state reaction method. The microstructures, dielectric properties, and diffuse transition of BaTi0.9Sn0.1O3 ceramics with 0, 0.2, 1 and 2 at.% Mn have been investigated. The results indicate that manganese ions enter the unit cell maintaining the perovskite structure of solid solution. Grain size of BaTi0.9Sn0.1O3 ceramics sharply decreases after doping MnO2. However, once MnO2 content is more than 0.2 at.%, the average grain size of Mn-doped BaTi0.9Sn0.1O3 ceramics increases with the increasing of MnO2 content. The addition of manganese leads to the increase of the Curie temperature. The diffuseness of the phase transition of Mn-doped BTS ceramics decreases with the increase of Mn content, which may be due to grain size effect.

Pure and Ni-doped BaZr 0.2 Ti 0.8 O 3 ceramics were prepared by conventional solid state reaction method. The microstructure, dielectric properties, and diffuse transition of Ni-doped Ba(Zr 0.2 Ti 0.8 )O 3 ceramics were investigated. The results show that Ni 3+ has a limited solubility in Ba(Zr 0.2 Ti 0.8 )O 3 ceramics. When Ni content is more than 0.1 at.%, the average grain size of Ni-doped BZT ceramics decreases rapidly with the increasing of Ni content. The addition of Ni leads to the fall of the Curie temperature. When Ni content is more than 0.7 at.%, the diffuseness of the phase transition enhances with the increasing of Ni content. The remanent polarization ( P r ) decreases while Ni content increases. Moreover, the coercive electric field ( E C ) of BZT ceramics with 0.1 at.% Ni is less than that of the pure BZT ceramics. However, when Ni content is more than 0.1 at.%, the coercive electric field increases with the increasing of Ni content.

Ag-nanoparticles dispersed PbTiO 3 composite thin films were prepared in situ by sol-gel method. The effect of heat treatment temperature on the microstructure was investigated using XRD, SEM and UV-VIS absorption spectra respectively. Results indicated that PbTiO 3 began to crystallize at about 350°C and the highest speed of the formation of PbTiO 3 crystalline phase in the film appeared at 600°C. Ag-nanoparticles formed at above 450°C in the films and the maximum of the nanoparticle content was exhibited at 600°C. The permittivity of the thin films with large numbers of nanoparticles is about 3 times higher than those without Ag-nanoparticles.

Sub-micrometer barium titanate (BaTiO 3 ) pillar arrays were prepared by nanoparticle electrophoretic deposition and characterized with scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Well dispersed BaTiO 3 nanoparticle suspension in a mixed solvent of 2-methoxyethonal and acetylacetone were prepared by ultrasonication dispersion. By using nanoparticle electrophoretic deposition, BaTiO 3 tetragonal prism arrays with controlled crystal structures and architectures were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO 2 /Si substrates from the BaTiO 3 suspension. A strain hysteresis loop of an isolated micropillar was observed with a scanning probe microscopy (SPM) and a ferroelectric measuring system.

Background: We report a multiinstitutional study on intermediate-term outcome of intravascular stenting for treatment of coarctation of the aorta using integrated arch imaging (IAI) techniques. Methods and Results: Medical records of 578 patients from 17 institutions were reviewed. A total of 588 procedures were performed between May 1989 and Aug 2005. About 27% (160/588) procedures were followed up by further IAI of their aorta (MRI/CT/repeat cardiac catheterization) after initial stent procedures. Abnormal imaging studies included: the presence of dissection or aneurysm formation, stent fracture, or the presence of reobstruction within the stent (instent restenosis or significant intimal build-up within the stent). Forty-one abnormal imaging studies were reported in the intermediate follow-up at median 12 months (0.5–92 months). Smaller postintervention of the aorta (CoA) diameter and an increased persistent systolic pressure gradient were associated with encountering abnormal follow-up imaging studies. Aortic wall abnormalities included dissections (n = 5) and aneurysm (n = 13). The risk of encountering aortic wall abnormalities increased with larger percent increase in CoA diameter poststent implant, increasing balloon/coarc ratio, and performing prestent angioplasty. Stent restenosis was observed in 5/6 parts encountering stent fracture and neointimal buildup (n = 16). Small CoA diameter poststent implant and increased poststent residual pressure gradient increased the likelihood of encountering instent restenosis at intermediate follow-up. Conclusions: Abnormalities were observed at intermediate follow-up following IS placement for treatment of native and recurrent coarctation of the aorta. Not exceeding a balloon:coarctation ratio of 3.5 and avoidance of prestent angioplasty decreased the likelihood of encountering an abnormal follow-up imaging study in patients undergoing intravascular stent placement for the treatment of coarctation of the aorta. We recommend IAI for all patients undergoing IS placement for treatment of CoA. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Background: We report a multi-institutional experience with intravascular stenting (IS) for treatment of coarctation of the aorta. Methods and Results: Data was collected retrospectively by review of medical records from 17 institutions. The data was broken down to prior to 2002 and after 2002 for further analysis. A total of 565 procedures were performed with a median age of 15 years (mean = 18.1 years). Successful reduction in the post stent gradient ( 0.8 was achieved in 97.9% of procedures. There was significant improvement (P < 0.01) in pre versus post stent coarctation dimensions (7.4 mm ± 3.0 mm vs. 14.3 ± 3.2mm), systolic gradient (31.6 mm Hg ± 16.0 mm Hg vs. 2.7 mm Hg ± 4.2 mm Hg) and ratio of the coarctation segment to the DAo (0.43 ± 0.17 vs. 0.85 ± 0.15). Acute complications were encountered in 81/565 (14.3%) procedures. There were two procedure related deaths. Aortic wall complications included: aneurysm formation (n = 6), intimal tears (n = 8), and dissections (n = 9). The risk of aortic dissection increased significantly in patients over the age of 40 years. Technical complications included stent migration (n = 28), and balloon rupture (n = 13). Peripheral vascular complications included cerebral vascular accidents (CVA) (n = 4), peripheral emboli (n = 1), and significant access arterial injury (n = 13). Older age was significantly associated with occurrence of CVAs. A significant decrease in the technical complication rate from 16.3% to 6.1% (P < 0.001) was observed in procedures performed after January 2002. Conclusions: Stent placement for coarctation of aorta is an effective treatment option, though it remains a technically challenging procedure. Technical and aortic complications have decreased over the past 3 years due to, in part, improvement in balloon and stent design. Improvement in our ability to assess aortic wall compliance is essential prior to placement of ISs in older patients with coarctation of the aorta. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Tb doped PbTiO 3 (PT) thin films were prepared on ITO/glass substrates by sol–gel method. XRD was used to investigate the phase status of the thin films. It is shown that through rapid thermal process, the perovskite phase PbTiO 3 thin films with highly (100) preferred orientation could be formed on the astatic ITO/glass substrates when Tb is doped into PbTiO 3 system. The (100) preferred orientation of Tb-doped PbTiO 3 films is attributed to the heterogeneous nucleation mechanism of the perovskite PbTiO 3 phase induced by Tb doping and rapid thermal preparation process. It is successfully explained according to this mechanism that the content of the (100) oriented Tb-doped perovskite phase in PbTiO 3 films varies with Tb doping concentration. An optimal doping concentration of Tb to achieve highly (100) oriented and well-crystallized PbTiO 3 films is discovered. And a theoretical equation of the perovskite phase content as a function of Tb doping concentration is deduced.

Silver-dispersed PbTiO3 thin films were prepared by a sol-gel process. The mole fraction of Ag was varied from 0 to 5%. Sintering temperature ranged from 300 to 600 °C. XRD, TEM and UV-VIS absorption spectra were carried out on the films. XRD results indicated that tetragonal PbTiO3 began to crystallize between 400 and 500 °C and grew up when sintering temperature increased to 600 °C. According to TEM results, nanosized cubic Ag particles formed in films when sintered at 400 °C and after annealing at 600 °C for 30 min, both hexagonal Ag and cubic Ag were observed . Ag particle size was dominated by the nucleation of Ag grains during the sintering process. It decreased with the increase in sintering temperature and increased with the increase in Ag concentration and coated layers.

Ectopia cordis, defined as partial or complete displacement of the heart outside of the thoracic cavity, is a rare congenital malformation. If not surgically corrected during the early years of life, ectopia cordis can prove to be a fatal abnormality. However, due to the presence of multiple intracardiac and extracardiac malformations, a corrective surgery might not always be successful. The pathology of ectopia cordis with a double outlet right ventricle, large ventricular septal defect, malposed great arteries and left ventricular hypoplasia is discussed, highlighting the complexities involved in such a rare disorder.

The system of location based service has become more popular in the applications of digital traffic. The situation of vehicle navigation and location based service is introduced. The functions of one digital traffic system of location based service are proposed from three aspects about preparation and pretreatment of map data, intelligent voice hint of vehicle navigation and advertisement service based on location. Then the system which includes software and hardware structures is designed. Among the structures, the hardware includes GPS receiver and vehicle device based on WinCE, while the software is composed by two parts, one is the map data preparation and pretreatment software, and the other is the intelligent voice hint navigation software of vehicle PC. Lastly the key technologies of map display, map matching, intelligent path planning and voice navigation are explored in detail. The result can provide the technique support and reference for developing city traffic service system.

A major limitation to success in pediatric heart transplantation is donor organ shortage. While the use of allografts from donors larger than the recipient is accepted, the use of undersized donor grafts is generally discouraged. Using the UNOS database, we wanted to evaluate whether using smaller donor hearts affects the short- and long-term survival of pediatric heart transplant patients. A retrospective analysis of data entered into the UNOS database from April 1994 to May 2008 was performed. Pediatric heart transplant recipients (ages 0-18 yr) with DRWR2.0 were identified and divided into two groups: Low-DRWR (0.8) and Ideal-DRWR (0.8-2.0). Patients' demographics, pretransplant diagnoses, age at transplantation, severity of pretransplant condition, and rate of complications prior to hospital discharge after transplantation were noted. Fisher's exact, chi-square, and Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used to compare patients' baseline characteristics. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazard regression were used to compare patients' survival and to identify independent risk factors for outcomes. There were 3048 patients (204 with Low- and 2844 with Ideal-DRWR). The Low-ratio group patients were older (8.3 vs. 6.9 yr; p = 0.001), there was a slight male predominance in the Low-DRWR group (p = 0.055). The Low-DRWR group had longer transplant wait time than the Ideal-DRWR group (97 vs. 85 days; p = 0.04). The groups did not differ in race, primary diagnoses, severity of pretransplant condition (medical urgency status, need for ventilation, inotropic support, ECMO, nitric oxide, or dialysis, the PVR for those with bi-ventricular anatomy), or post-transplant complications (length of stay, need for inotropic support, dialysis, and rate of infections). The Low-DRWR patients had less episodes of acute rejection during the first-post-transplant month. Infants with DRWR 0.5-0.59 had lower 30-day survival rate (p = 0.045). There was no difference in short- and long-term survival between the patients with DRWR 0.6-0.79 and DRWR 0.8-2.0. Use of smaller allografts (DRWR 0.6-0.8) has no negative impact on the short- and long-term survival of pediatric heart transplant patients.

Objective. Stent placement has become a widely used method of treatment for coarctation of the aorta (COA). Our goal was to find echocardiographic indices that would correlate best with directly measured gradients across the coarctation stent. Material and Methods. Pediatric patients with COA who underwent intra-aortic stent placement were evaluated. Patients with more than mild aortic insufficiency were excluded. Aortic pressures above and below the coarctation site were directly measured in the catheterization laboratory. Echocardiography was performed the next morning. Continuous and Pulse Doppler systolic velocity profiles proximal and distal to the stent were recorded. Statistical analysis included Pearson's correlation coefficients and linear regression between the directly measured pressure gradient and strongest correlated factor. Result. Thirty-four patients (F : M = 15 : 19) were included in the study. The directly measured gradients (DPG) had only weak positive correlations with Doppler peak velocities (r = 0.38, P= .027) or pressure gradients (r = 0.37, P= .03) across the stent. However, there was a strong positive correlation of the directly measured gradients with the continuous wave peak systolic velocity half-time indexed to heart rate (T) (r = 0.62, P= .03), and with the squared early diastolic velocity (Vd2) (r = 0.073, P < .0001). When these two parameters were combined, a linear regression equation DPG = 0.06T + 1.58 Vd2− 8.05 showed very strong relations (r = 0.81, P < .0001). A simplified equation DPG = 1.98Vd2+ 0.77 also accurately described the relations between the directly measured gradients and squared Doppler-measured early diastolic velocity (r = 0.71, P= .0002). Conclusions. A simple echocardiographic index DPG = 1.98Vd2+ 0.77, where DPG is the pressure gradient across the stent, and Vd is the early Doppler diastolic velocity, accurately describes relations between the gradient across the stent and echocardiographic data and should be used for evaluation of patients with stent-corrected COA.

The effect of vanadium on FCC catalyst activity has been widely described, but the effect of vanadium on light olefins selectivity has not been fully discussed. In this paper the effect of vanadium on light olefins selectivity was investigated using catalyst capable of enhancing light olefins yields.

This paper presents a new synthetic route and catalytic characteristics of pillared rectorite molecular sieves (PR-MS). The PR-MS was prepared with aluminum pillaring agent improved by poly (vinyl alcohol) according to route of mixing, drying to take shape, washing, and calcination. It has wide pore structure with basal spacings of 27–30 . Under same conversion their activity for cracking heavy oil is 3–4 wt % higher and total yields of gasoline and light cycle oil are 6–7 wt % higher than that of commercial cracking catalysts containing USY zeolites. The catalysts developed from the PR-MS and Y-zeolites have high catalytic activity and low bottom yield. The PR-MS has also good light olefin selectivity. The catalysts containing the PR-MS and ZSM-5 type molecular sieves are a class of cracking catalysts for maximizing olefin production.