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The H2 production using N2H4 splitting (OHzS) was often constrained by the requirement for insufficient stability, distinct catalysts at the anode and cathode, and the high-cost electrocatalyst associated with confined activity. This work verified the efficacy of surfactant-free branched CuAu nano-alloy as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for H2 production. Benefiting from its favorable electronic structure and surfactant-free surface, surfactant-free CuAu nano-alloy demonstrated a reduced over-potential compared with pure Cu, pure Au, and CuAu nano-alloy prepared by surfactant. When using branched CuAu nano-alloy as both cathodic and anodic electrodes, a cell voltage of 0.768 V was required to drive a current density of 10 mA/cm2. After 2550 min of H2 generation, the amplitude of the working potential for anodic reactions was found to be less than 0.92%. The enhanced electrocatalytic activity could be also applied to H2O2 and NaNO2 sensors. The CuAu nano-alloy exhibited a 2.35-folds increase in sensitivity compared to pure Au nano-crystals in the detection of H2O2. Moreover, the detection of NaNO2 in water solution has been successfully achieved. The detection range 0–175.0 mM was much wider than that of sensors in previous works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to determine expressions of methyltransferase‐like 3 (METTL3) and METTL14, two enzymes essential for mRNA methylation at the adenosine (m6A), in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and to investigate in vitro aggressiveness of their aberrant expressions. Methods: METTL3 and METTL14 expressions in 50 OSCC and 11 normal oral tissues were examined by immunohistochemistry. METTL3 and METTL14 expressions and m6A amounts were determined in three OSCC cell lines, including HN5, HN6, and HN15. Cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were studied by BrdU, wound healing, and Transwell chamber assays, after silencing of METTL3, METTL14, or both by siRNA transfection. Results: Immunostaining of METTL3 and METTL14 was localized in cancer cell nuclei. The mean percentages of METTL3‐ and METTL14‐positive cells were significantly increased in OSCC tissues (p < 0.001). The percentages of METTL3‐ and METTL14‐positive cells were correlated with the advanced pTNM stages (p < 0.05) and with the degrees of histopathological differentiation in OSCC (r = 0.564 and r = 0.316, respectively; p < 0.001). By the COX multivariate analysis, both overexpressed METTL3 and METTL14 were significantly associated with short overall survival (p < 0.05). Both METTL3 and METTL14 expressions and the m6A amounts were significantly increased in HN6 (p < 0.05). Silencing of METTL3 and METTL14 in HN6 significantly inhibited cell proliferation (p < 0.01), but it failed to mitigate cell migration or invasion. Conclusions: METTL3 and METTL14 are overexpressed in OSCC tissues and in the HN6 OSCC cell line that promotes cell proliferation. Overexpressed METTL3 or METTL14 is found to be an independent prognostic factor for short overall survival in patients with OSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The removal of Cd, Cu, Ni and Zn from dilute mine water by using several geological materials including pure limestone, sand, carbonaceous limestone and brecciated limestone was performed on a laboratory scale. The results showed that to add geological materials in combination with sodium carbonate injection would notably enhance the efficiency of heavy metal removal to varying degrees. Pure limestone was found the best one among the four materials mentioned above for removing heavy metals from mine water. The removal efficiencies of pure limestone when it is ground as fine as 30–60 meshes are 58.6% for Cd, 100% for Cu, 47.8% for Ni, and 36.8% for Zn at 20°C. The optimum pH is about 8.9 to 9.1. The mechanism of higher effective removal, perhaps, is primarily due to co-precipitation under the control of calcite-related pH value. According to this research, Na2CO3 injection manners, including slug dosing and drip-wise, seemed to have little impact on the efficiency of heavy metal removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with the increasingly severe global aging population with fewer children, the research, development, and application of elderly-care robots are expected to provide some technical means to solve the problems of elderly care, disability and semi-disability nursing, and rehabilitation. Elderly-care robots involve biomechanics, computer science, automatic control, ethics, and other fields of knowledge, which is one of the most challenging and most concerned research fields of robotics. Unlike other robots, elderly-care robots work for the frail elderly. There is information exchange and energy exchange between people and robots, and the safe human-robot interaction methods are the research core and key technology. The states of the art of elderly-care robots and their various nursing modes and safe interaction methods are introduced and discussed in this paper. To conclude, considering the disparity between current elderly care robots and their anticipated objectives, we offer a comprehensive overview of the critical technologies and research trends that impact and enhance the feasibility and acceptance of elderly care robots. These areas encompass the collaborative assistance of diverse assistive robots, the establishment of a novel smart home care model for elderly individuals using sensor networks, the optimization of robot design for improved flexibility, and the enhancement of robot acceptability., 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 © 2023 Zhao, Sun, Shan, Yang, Yang, Liu, Jiang and Hiroshi.)

Objective: To probe the clinical characteristics of diagnosis and therapy of vascular pulsatile tinnitus（PT） associated with sigmoid sinus-mastoid. Methods: Retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of the hospitalized 45 PT patients of an ear surgeon in one hospital between January 2013 to January 2020, and observed the effectiveness with surgery and non-surgery therapy. Surgical procedures include reconstruction the bone wall of sigmoid sinus by transmastoid approach and ligation of mastoid emissary vein. Non-surgery therapy includes anti-anemia therapy and observation. All patients have been followed-up in ENT outpatient. Results: Of 45 cases, female：male was 43：2, the mean age was 42.7 years old. The other PT patients were the subjective tinnitus except two females were the objective tinnitus. Of 40 cases, 38 patients underwent transmastoid approach to reconstructed sigmoid sinus bone wall, including 6 patients with the ligated mastoid emissary vein at the same period.The other 2 cases with the ligated mastoid emissary vein only.Five cases were treated by non-surgery therapies, including 2 cases anti-anemia therapy and 3 cases observation. The longest follow-up period was seven and a half years, the shortest was six months. One case was lost to follow up. The total cure rate was 80.0%（36/45），the surgery cure rate was 82.5%（33/40）, the non-surgery cure rate was 60.0% （3/5）. Conclusion: The pathophysiologic mechanism of the PT is still complex and unclear until now. However, the following conditions probably play an important role in the etiology: female, common features of anatomy anomalies, hemodynamic variations. It is a key point to confirm the responsible site or the main cause of the PT . Although the surgery is relatively simple, the effect is remarkable and no major postoperative complications，surgery could not be a only choice., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.)

Objective: To investigate the clinical implication and the expression of CD44v6 and MMP-9 protein in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC)., Method: Twenty-seven samples of LSCC and eight biopsies of adjacent non-cancerous tissue were detected with immunohistochemical technique (SABC method). The relationship between positive expression of CD44v6 or MMP-9 in LSCC and invasion or metastasis was analyzed., Result: Both CD44v6 and MMP-9 overexpressed in LSCC. The positive expression of CD44v6 was correlated with LSCC pathologic grade, cervical lymph node metastasis and postoperation survival rate (P < 0.05). The expression of MMP-9 was positively correlated with clinical staging and cervical lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between the expression of CD44v6 and MMP-9 (P < 0.01)., Conclusion: There is a relationship between the expression of CD44 and MMP-9. CD44v6 and MMP-9 might be served as an objective indicator for lymph nodal metastatic potency, tumor invasion and prognosis in LSCC.