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A simple method for Michael addition at C-5 of Camptothecin has been developed to construct 5-CPT derivatives. The addition products were obtained with moderate yields, and the structures of the target compounds were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and HRMS spectra. The feasibility of various Michael addition acceptors for this reaction has also been investigated.

Objective This research aimed to assess the levels of cognitive function and its contributing factors among individuals experiencing cancer pain (CP) in mainland China.Design A descriptive, cross-sectional study.Setting The investigation was undertaken within three tertiary oncology hospitals.Participants We included 220 hospitalised individuals who reported experiencing cancer-related pain and consented to complete the research questionnaires.Outcome measures The collected data encompassed sociodemographic and clinical variables, augmented by results from validated questionnaires. Cognitive impairment (CI) was evaluated using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cognitive (FACT-Cog) scale, with scores ranging from 0 to 148. Sleep quality, depression and anxiety were assessed through the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7, respectively. A binary logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with CI in individuals with CP.Results Of the 225 individuals approached, 220 (97.8%) participated in the study. The mean FACT-Cog score for those with CP was 101.29 (SD=25.24; range=25–148). The prevalence of CI among these individuals was 35.90%. Sleep quality was rated below medium in 45% of participants with CP. More than moderate pain was reported by 28.2%, with 64.6% experiencing depression and 38.6% experiencing anxiety. Increased odds of developing CI were observed in those with CP (OR 1.422, 95% CI 1.129 to 1.841), depression (OR 1.119, 95% CI 1.029 to 1.2117), anxiety (OR 1.107, 95% CI 1.005 to 1.220), advancing age (OR 1.042, 95% CI 1.013 to 1.073), poor sleep quality (OR 1.126, 95% CI 1.013 to 1.252) and a history of smoking (OR 3.811, 95% CI 1.668 to 8.707).Conclusions CI associated with CP is notably prevalent in China. Those older, with a smoking history, inadequate sleep, more severe pain, depression and anxiety, have a heightened risk of CI. Consequently, interventions need to be personalised, addressing these key determinants.

Objectives: This study aimed to select patients with cancer-related pain to further analyze the relationship between pain severity, fatigue severity, and quality of life. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. A convenience sampling method was used to select 224 patients with cancer-related pain who were undergoing chemotherapy and met the inclusion criteria in two hospitals of two provinces from May to November 2019. All participants were invited to complete a general information questionnaire, the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI), the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) for pain intensity, and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30). Results: In the 24 h before completing the scales, 85 patients (37.9%) had mild pain, 121 (54.0%) had moderate pain, and 18 (8.0%) had severe pain. In addition, 92 (41.1%) patients had mild fatigue, 72 (32.1%) had moderate fatigue, and 60 (26.8%) had severe fatigue. Most patients with mild pain only experienced mild fatigue, and their quality of life was also at a moderate level. Patients with moderate and severe pain mostly had moderate or higher levels of fatigue and a lower quality of life. There was no correlation between fatigue and quality of life in patients with mild pain (r = −0.179, P = 0.104). There was a correlation between fatigue and quality of life in patients with moderate and severe pain (r = −0.537, P

Abstract Background Little is known about patients’ intention for participation in end-of-life decisions (EOLD) in three coastal provinces in southern China. This study aimed to explore the willingness of patients with cancer pain to participate in EOLD and potential influencing factors. Methods A multi-center cross-sectional study was performed in three coastal provinces in southern China. Two hundred and thirty patients with cancer pain were recruited and consented to fill out the questionnaires. The patients’ willingness to participate in EOLD, demographic and disease-related data was surveyed. Results In total, 223 patients completed and returned the survey (response rate = 96.95%). One hundred four cases (46.64%) were willing to participate in EOLD. 119 (54.36%) cases not willing to participate in EOLD, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis shows that educational level (OR: 0.683, 95% CI: 0.482–0.966), history of alcoholism (OR: 8.353, 95%CI: 2.535–27.525), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score (OR: 0.645, 95% CI: 0.450–0.925) and experience of explosive pain (OR: 6.367, 95% CI: 3.103–13.062) and clinical rescue (OR: 3.844, 95% CI: 1.722–8.577) had significant effects on EOLD intention (P

Abstract Background The treatment of comminuted posterior wall acetabular fractures remains challenging due to the difficulty in understanding of fracture patterns and lack of appropriate preoperative planning process. Virtual preoperative planning procedures are now being commonly used in orthopedic surgery to aid in management of such complex problems. Our aim was to evaluate the feasibility and clinical value of a new method by applying computerized virtual preoperative planning procedures in the treatment of comminuted posterior wall acetabular fractures. Methods A total of 45 patients with comminuted posterior wall acetabular fractures from June 2014 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Based on the usage of computerized virtual preoperative planning procedures, they were assigned to group A and group B. In group A (24 patients), the new method was applied before surgery. In group B (21 patients), the conventional surgery was performed without assistance of computerized virtual preoperative planning procedures. The two groups were assessed in terms of blood loss, surgical time, reduction quality, fracture healing time, postoperative complications, and hip function. Results There were no significant differences in demographic data between the two groups. Patients in group A had significantly less intraoperative blood loss (429.58 vs 570.24 ml, P 0.05). The general postoperative complication rate in group A and group B was 12.5% and 28.6%, respectively, but the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant. Conclusion The application of computerized virtual preoperative planning procedures is feasible in comminuted posterior wall acetabular fractures. It helps orthopedic surgeons better understand the fracture characteristics, enables simulation of the reduction process and preoperative planning of internal fixation methods. This new preoperative planning method using a 3D virtual model is a more effective method than conventional method in surgical treatment of comminuted posterior wall acetabular fractures. Trial registration retrospectively registered.

Abstract Compared with commercial lithium batteries with liquid electrolytes, all‐solid‐state lithium batteries (ASSLBs) possess the advantages of higher safety, better electrochemical stability, higher energy density, and longer cycle life; therefore, ASSLBs have been identified as promising candidates for next‐generation safe and stable high‐energy‐storage devices. The design and fabrication of solid‐state electrolytes (SSEs) are vital for the future commercialization of ASSLBs. Among various SSEs, solid polymer composite electrolytes (SPCEs) consisting of inorganic nanofillers and polymer matrix have shown great application prospects in the practice of ASSLBs. The incorporation of inorganic nanofillers into the polymer matrix has been considered as a crucial method to achieve high ionic conductivity for SPCE. In this review, the mechanisms of Li+ transport variation caused by incorporating inorganic nanofillers into the polymer matrix are discussed in detail. On the basis of the recent progress, the respective contributions of polymer chains, passive ceramic nanofillers, and active ceramic nanofillers in affecting the Li+ transport process of SPCE are reviewed systematically. The inherent relationship between the morphological characteristics of inorganic nanofillers and the ionic conductivity of the resultant SPCE is discussed. Finally, the challenges and future perspectives for developing high‐performance SPCE are put forward. This review aims to provide possible strategies for the further improvement of ionic conductivity in inorganic nanoscale filler‐reinforced SPCE and highlight their inspiration for future research directions.

Metal nanoparticles have been extensively used as co-catalysts in photocatalytic systems in order to pursue improvements in both reaction kinetics and selectivity. In this work, PdAg dual-metallic nanoparticles synthesized by the co-reduction method were decorated on a well-established α-Fe2O3/CdS Z-scheme photoactive material as a co-catalyst to study their performance for promoting the photoreduction of CO2. Herein, α-Fe2O3 and CdS were in situ synthesized on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass by hydrothermal and SILAR (successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction) methods, respectively. The direct Z-scheme charge transfer path between Fe2O3 and CdS and the effective electron migration toward the PdAg mainly contributed to the excellent photocatalytic CO2 reduction performance. The controllable work function based on Pd (5.12) and Ag (4.26) constructed an appropriate band alignment with α-Fe2O3/CdS and displayed favorable production for CH4 rather than CO. The optimum ratio of PdAg 1:2 performed a 48% enhancement than pure Pd for photoreduction of CO2. Meanwhile, the enhanced charge separation improved the photoelectrochemical performance and photocurrent generation, and reduced the electrical resistance between components. This work provided insights into the dual-metallic co-catalyst for boosting the activity and selectivity of photocatalytic CO2 reduction.

Photocatalytic benzyl alcohol (BA) oxidation to value-added chemicals by semiconductors has attracted massive attentions due to its industrial interest. In this work, Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts composed of FAPbBr3 nanocrystals (NCs) and WO3 with different morphologies are prepared. Benefiting from the strong redox potential and morphological engineering, the Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst exhibits an outstanding performance of BA oxidation to benzaldehyde (BD) with 99% selectively. Remarkably, after manipulating the size of FAPbBr3 NCs to quantum dots (QDs), benzoic acid (BZ) as the main product (90% selectivity) of BA oxidation can be generated on the Z-scheme photocatalyst. As revealed by in-situ electronic paramagnetic resonance (EPR), a new radical will be generated over the FAPbBr3 QDs/WO3 which alters the product of benzyl alcohol oxidation form BD to BZ.

Conversion of hazardous compounds to value-added chemicals using clean energy possesses massive industrial interest. This applies especially to the hazardous compounds that are frequently released in daily life. In this work, a S-scheme photocatalyst is optimized by rational loading of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) during the synthetic process. As a bridge, the presence of CQDs between TiO2 and CdIn2S4 improves the electron extraction from TiO2 and supports the charge transport in S-scheme. Thanks to this, the TiO2/CQDs/CdIn2S4 presents outstanding photoactivity in converting the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) released by cigarette to value-added benzaldehyde. The optimized photocatalyst performs 87.79% conversion rate and 72.76% selectivity in 1 h reaction under a simulated solar source, as confirmed by FT-IR and GC-MS. A combination of experiments and theoretical calculations are conducted to demonstrate the role of CQDs in TiO2/CQDs/CdIn2S4 toward photocatalysis.

A core component of energy storage systems like vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB) is the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM). In this work, the frequently used perfluorosulfonic-acid (PFSA) membrane Nafion™ 117 and a novel poly (vinylidene difluoride) (PVDF)-based membrane are investigated. A well-known problem in VRFBs is the vanadium permeation through the membrane. The consequence of this so-called vanadium crossover is a severe loss of capacity. For a better understanding of vanadium transport in membranes, the uptake of vanadium ions from electrolytes containing Vdimer(IV–V) and for comparison also V(II), V(III), V(IV), and V(V) by both membranes was studied. UV/VIS spectroscopy, X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy (XANES), total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (TXRF), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), and micro X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (microXRF) were used to determine the vanadium concentrations and the species inside the membrane. The results strongly support that Vdimer(IV–V), a dimer formed from V(IV) and V(V), enters the nanoscopic water-body of Nafion™ 117 as such. This is interesting, because as of now, only the individual ions V(IV) and V(V) were considered to be transported through the membrane. Additionally, it was found that the Vdimer(IV–V) dimer partly dissociates to the individual ions in the novel PVDF-based membrane. The Vdimer(IV–V) dimer concentration in Nafion™ was determined and compared to those of the other species. After three days of equilibration time, the concentration of the dimer is the lowest compared to the monomeric vanadium species. The concentration of vanadium in terms of the relative uptake λ = n(V)/n(SO3) are as follows: V(II) [λ = 0.155] > V(III) [λ = 0.137] > V(IV) [λ = 0.124] > V(V) [λ = 0.053] > Vdimer(IV–V) [λ = 0.039]. The results show that the Vdimer(IV–V) dimer needs to be considered in addition to the other monomeric species to properly describe the transport of vanadium through Nafion™ in VRFBs.

In this article, we propose an optimization algorithm for the original LMC [1] (Large Margin Classifier). We use PCA [2] (Principal Component Analysis) to reduce the dimensionality of the images, and then put the data after dimensionality reduction into the optimized LMC for the feature selection [3]. We will get several features with the greatest distinction. We use these features to classify images. Finally, the experiment shows that the accuracy of the optimized LMC under the same dimensions is higher than that of the original LMC, and in many cases, the accuracy of the optimized LMC after taking 6 feature vectors has exceeded the highest accuracy of the original LMC.

This work focuses on the development of a novel organic–inorganic photoactive material composited by aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIE) and CdS. Tetraphenylethene-based AIE (TPE-Ca) is synthesized on CdS to form CdS/TPE-Ca electrode, due to its suitable band structure and potential capability of renewable energy production. The CdS/TPE-Ca electrode presents over three-fold improved photocurrent density and dramatically reduced interfacial resistance, compared with the pure CdS electrode. In addition, the engineering of the band alignment allows the holes to accumulate on the valance band of TPE-Ca, which would partially prevent the CdS from photo-corrosion, thus improving the stability of the sacrificial-free electrolyte photoelectrochemical cell.

Incident angle variation of light from the sun is a critical factor for the practical utilizations of solar energy devices. These devices typically receive the zenith of photon density under a solar elevation angle of 90°, and dramatic deletion of light density along with the decrease of solar elevation angle. Photonic crystals (PCs) with long range ordered arrays possess the controllable position of the photonic stop band (PSB) reliant on several factors, including incident angles, based on the Bragg–Snell law. The multiple scattering, refraction and inhibition of charge carrier recombination within the PSB suggests the potential capability for improving the efficiency of photoactive materials. In this work, we focus on the multiple scattering and refraction effects of PCs. A photoelectrode based on photonic crystal fluorine-doped tin oxide (PC FTO) film was fabricated, which allows the embedded photoactive materials (CdS nanoparticles) to benefit from the features of PCs under variable incidence, especially under lower incidence. The photoelectrode thus has enhanced overall photoelectrochemical (PEC) efficiency in different seasons, even if the increased surface area factor is deducted.

In addition to the most common applications of macroporous film: Supplying a large surface area, PC-FTO (macroporous fluorine-doped tin oxide with photonic crystal structure) can be employed as a template to control the morphologies of WO3 for exposing a more active facet, and enhance the overall photo-electron conversion efficiency for the embedded photoactive materials under changing illumination incidence through refracting and scattering. The optical features of PC-FTO film was demonstrated by DRUVS (diffuse reflectance UV-vis spectra). Plate-like WO3 were directly synthesized inside the PC-FTO film as a control group photoanode, Ag2S quantum dots were subsequently decorated on WO3 to tune the light absorption range. The impact of photonic crystal film on the photoactivity of Ag2S/WO3 was demonstrated by using the photoelectrochemical current density as a function of the incidence of the simulated light source.

Polymer electrolyte membranes (PEM) for potential applications in fuel cells or vanadium redox flow batteries were synthesized and characterized. ETFE (poly (ethylene-alt-tetrafluoroethylene)) and PVDF (poly (vinylidene fluoride)) serving as base materials were activated by electron beam treatment with doses ranging from 50 to 200 kGy and subsequently grafted via radical copolymerization with the functional monomers 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid and acrylic acid in aqueous phase. Since protogenic groups are already contained in the monomers, a subsequent sulfonation step is omitted. The mechanical properties were studied via tensile strength measurements. The electrochemical performance of the PEMs was evaluated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and fuel cell tests. The proton conductivities and ion exchange capacities are competitive with Nafion 117, the standard material used today.

Polymer electrolyte membranes (PEM) prepared by radiation-induced graft copolymerization are investigated. For this purpose, commercial poly(ethylene-alt-tetrafluoroethylene) (ETFE) films were activated by electron beam treatment and subsequently grafted with the monomers glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and N,N′-methylenebis(acrylamide) (MBAA) as crosslinker. The target is to achieve a high degree of grafting (DG) and high proton conductivity. To evaluate the electrochemical performance, the PEMs were tested in a fuel cell and in a vanadium redox-flow battery (VRFB). High power densities of 134 mW∙cm−2 and 474 mW∙cm−2 were observed, respectively.

This study proposes a three-dimensional (3D) deformation estimation framework based on the integration of shape and texture information for real-scene 3D model matching, effectively addressing the issue of deformation assessment in large-scale geological landslide areas. By extracting and merging the texture and shape features of matched points, correspondences between points in multi-temporal real-scene 3D models are established, resolving the difficulties faced by existing methods in achieving robust and high-precision 3D point matching over landslide areas. To ensure the complete coverage of the geological disaster area while enhancing computational efficiency during deformation estimation, a voxel-based thinning method to generate interest points is proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated through tests on a dataset from the Lijie north hill geological landslide area in Gansu Province, China. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method significantly outperforms existing classic and advanced methods in terms of matching accuracy metrics, and the accuracy of our deformation estimates is close to the actual measurements obtained from GNSS stations, with an average error of only 2.2 cm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]