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In this study, LVE (liquid-vapor equilibrium) data of cadmium-zinc system were determined at a pressure of 7.5 Pa. We compare the use of the Redlich-Kister polynomials with the Wilson equation in fitting activities. The LVE for Cd-Zn system in vacuum distillation was modeled using the two models. The results of the two models are reliable, the Redlich-Kister polynomials are better than the Wilson equation. The LVE phase diagram is reliable for predicting the process of vacuum distillation for Cd-Zn system. The evaporation rates of the elements in Cd-Zn alloy were experimentally measured and calculated by the Langmuir equation. The experimental data on the evaporation of pure metals Cd and Zn are included. The evaporation coefficients of zinc and cadmium under vacuum conditions were calculated. The deviations were discussed. Comparing the calculations with the experimental results, it can be found that the trend is consistent. The activation energies of Cd and Zn in the Cd-Zn alloy under experimental conditions were also calculated.

We have studied electron tunneling through water between two metal electrodes supported on a solid substrate and observed random fluctuations in the tunneling current between two discrete levels. The two-level fluctuations persist when changing the concentration and the valency of the ions, and pH of the water solutions. A given two-level fluctuation is, in general, not affected by the applied bias voltage, but it is usually disrupted by changing the width of the tunnel gap. We attribute the discrete conductance fluctuations to random trapping or escaping of a single electron in or from a localized state in the tunnel gap. © 2003 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Rod-like copper manganese mixed oxides (CuMnx-NR) have been synthesized from copper manganese mixed oxide particles by sodium hydroxide hydrothermal treatment, and a higher BET surface area of 221 m2 g−1 is obtained on the nanorod-like sample, which exhibits superior catalytic activity toward toluene combustion at 210 °C due to the increase in its oxygen mobility of the chemisorbed oxygen species as well as the increase in surface concentrations of higher valance cations, Cu2+, Mn3+ and Mn4+, in the samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnesia–carbon nanotubes (abbreviated as MgO–CNTs) nanocomposites were prepared by impregnation of CNTs with Mg(NO3)2·6H2O in ethanol solution, followed by drying at 353 K and calcination at 873 K, respectively. The nanocomposites are thermally more stable than CNTs in a H2 flow. The use of the nanocomposites as support yielded more efficient Ru catalysts for the generation of COx-free hydrogen from NH3 decomposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the pathogenesis and clinical efficacy of arthroscopic treatment for hallux ganglion cyst deriving from ankle joint. Methods: The clinical data of 21 patients with ankle arthroscopic in the Department of Hand and Foot Surgery,Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical College from January 2019 to March 2021 were analyzed retrospectively.There were 15 male and 6 female cases,aged (52.6±8.2) years (range:42 to 70 years).There were 9 cases of primary operation and 12 cases of recurrence after operation in other hospital.All the patients were examined by ankle arthrography and MRI before operation.The synovial membrane of the ankle was debrided and the tendon sheath of flexor longus was removed at the ankle canal.One year after operation,MRI was performed,and the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society(AOFAS) score of forefoot function and visual analogue scale (VAS) before and after operation were compared by the paired t test or Mann-Whitney U test.The postoperative complications and recurrence were recorded. Results: All patients were operated successfully.The joint capsule at the back of the ankle joint of the patients were ruptured and communicated with the tendon sheath of the flexor longus tendon at the ankle canal.No wound infection,vascular and nerve injury occurred.The follow-up period was (15.0±2.2) months (range:12 to 18 months).During the follow-up period,there was no recurrence of toe appearance and MRI.At the last follow-up,the AOFAS score (90.8±4.3) was significantly higher than that (72.8±6.3) before operation ( t =-10.810, P <0.01),and the VAS score( M (IQR)) was significantly lower than that before operation,the difference was significant (1.0(1.0) vs. 3.0(0.5), Z =-4.081, P <0.01). Conclusions: The possible mechanism of hallux ganglion cyst deriving from ankle joint is that the joint capsule at the back of the ankle joint ruptures and communicates with the tendon sheath of the flexor longus tendon at the ankle canal,and the intra-articular synovial fluid through the cylinder effect generated by sliding with the flexor tendon of the flexor longus tendon in the tendon sheath sac leads to the heel valange cyst.Ankle-synovial cleansing of the ankle joint under ankle arthroscopy and resection of the flexor tendon sheath of the flexor longus tendon at the ankle canal are effective and less invasive.

Objective: To investigate the association between the expression of long non-coding RNA genes and the HULC rs7763881 polymorphism, recurrence, and metastasis after radical resection in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: Paraffin tissue samples were selected from 426 cases diagnosed with HCC between January 2004 to January 2012. The expression of different genotypes of HULC gene locus rs7763881 in paraffin tissues was detected by PCR, and the association between different genotype expressions and clinical case characteristics of HCC [gender, age, TNM stage, alpha-fetoprotein, tumor maximum diameter (cm), vascular invasion, tumor capsule, tumor grade] was analyzed. Cox proportional risk regression model was used to analyze the correlation between different genotypes and clinicopathological features, prognosis, and recurrence. Survival analysis between different genotypes was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method for a parallel log-rank test. Results: There were 27 (6.3%) cases in the whole group who lost to follow-up. A total of 399 (93.7%) specimens were included in the study, and 105 (26.3%), 211 (52.9%) and 83 (20.8%) were included in the rs77638881 AA, AC, and CC genotypes, respectively. Kaplan-Meier curve showed that the postoperative overall survival and recurrence-free survival rate were significantly higher in patients with the AA than AC/CC genotype ( P < 0.05). Univariate analysis showed that the AC/CC genotype was closely related to tumor vascular invasion and recurrence or metastasis of HCC ( P < 0.05). Cox multivariate analysis results showed that patients with the AA genotype were taken as references, and the results showed that the risk of recurrence and metastasis in patients with the CA/CC genotype increased to varying degrees, with statistical significance ( P < 0.05). Conclusion: The rs7763881 polymorphic loci located on the HULC gene are closely related to HCC recurrence and metastasis after radical resection. Thus, it may be an indicator for evaluating HCC recurrence and metastasis.

Fe-N-C catalyst with a core-graphitic shell nanostructure was synthesized by pyrolysis of polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-coated carbon black in the presence of iron salts. The attained catalyst exhibits high performance towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in both acid and alkaline electrolytes, with the half-wave potentials of 97mV negative and 39mV positive to Pt/C in 0.5M H 2 SO 4 and 0.1M NaOH, respectively. Meanwhile, the catalyst shows high stability and remarkable tolerance towards methanol. The XRD analysis demonstrates that both the introduction of iron and an increase of the pyrolysis temperature promote the growth of layers in the graphitic shell. With the rise of pyrolysis temperature, increases of the catalytic activity and Fe 3+ reduction potential are observed, as well as the relative content of nitrogen of Fe-N x type and N 1s binding energy. Moreover, a linear relationship between the logarithm of ORR turnover number and the Fe 3+ reduction potential is observed. Based on these findings, the enhanced ORR performance of the catalyst can be attributed to the growth of π-conjugated graphitic layers, which modulates the electronic structure of embedded Fe-N 4 sites. In addition, the presence of an accessible core-graphitic shell nanostructure facilitates the mass transport of ORR-relevant species between the electrolyte and the catalytic sites., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aims: To improve prediction efficiency by incorporating complete blood count (CBC) into the TNM system on 5 year disease-specific survival (DSS) for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC)., Materials and Methods: The CBC of 3237 patients undergoing radiotherapy was retrospectively evaluated. In total, 2820 patients treated with non-intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) were randomly divided into development (1895 patients) and validation cohorts (925 patients). The association of potential risk factors with 5 year DSS was tested by Cox proportional hazards analysis and a prognostic index was created by assigning weighted scores proportional to a regression coefficient to each factor. Each cohort was divided into low, intermediate and high prognostic index. The prognostic index was validated in the validation cohort and compared with the TNM system on prediction of 5 year DSS. Validation was repeated in another independent group of 417 patients treated with IMRT., Results: Eight independent prognostic factors were identified: gender, age, T or N stages, anaemia or thrombocytosis during radiotherapy, continuous reduction in haemoglobin, high neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio before radiotherapy. Each was assigned a number of points. The area under curve (AUC) of the prognostic index was larger than that of Union Internationale Contre le Cancer/American Joint Cancer Committee TNM system 2009 (0.697 versus 0.619, P < 0.001)., Conclusion: A CBC-based prognostic index was developed and had a higher prediction efficiency on 5 year DSS in NPC than the TNM system alone., (Copyright © 2013 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To study the expression of the apoptosis regulatory protein bcl-2 in the uterine leiomyomas and in the normal myometrium., Methods: The expression of bcl-2 protein was examined by immunohistochemical ABC staining in 40 cases of uterine leiomyomas and normal myometrium., Results: bcl-2 expression was higher in the uterine leiomyomas than that in the normal myometrium, both in the proliferative phase and in the secretory phase of the menstrual cycle (P < 0.01); bcl-2 expression in leiomyomas in the secretory phase was stronger than that in the proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle (P < 0.01)., Conclusions: The increase of apoptosis inhabiting gene bcl-2 may play an important role in the growth of the uterine leiomyomas. This action may be regulated by progesterone.

Hepatic cytochrome P-450 enzymes mediate at least two important biotransformation pathways of codeine and ethylmorphine starting with either N-demethylation or O-dealkylation, producing polar metabolites which are then subsequently glucuronidated. The present study was designed to characterise the acute effects of ethanol on the metabolism of ethylmorphine and to compare it with the effects on codeine in suspensions of freshly isolated rat hepatocytes. Isolated rat hepatocytes from male Wistar rats were prepared by a collagenase perfusion method. Ethylmorphine, codeine and their metabolites were quantified by HPLC with UV detection. The total ethylmorphine elimination rate was reduced by 12% at 5mM and 38% at 100 mM ethanol. The corresponding percentages for codeine were 16 and 43%. In the presence of ethanol the concentrations of several intermediate and end products of ethylmorphine and codeine changed markedly from the control situation. The experimental data were applied to a mathematical compartmental linear model to estimate the influence of ethanol on the separate reaction rates in the two main metabolic pathways. The ratios between reaction rate constants in the ethylmorphine experiments at 100 and 0 mM ethanol were 0.65 for ethylmorphine-->norethylmorphine, 0.63 for norethylmorphine-->normorphine, 0.56 for ethylmorphine-->morphine, 0.49 for morphine-->normorphine, 0.31 for normorphine-->normorphine-3-glucuronide and 0.49 for morphine-->morphine-3-glucuronide. Almost similar effects of ethanol on codeine metabolism were found. In additional experiments, norethylmorphine or norcodeine (50 microM) was incubated with 5 mM to 100 mM of ethanol and the metabolism of both norethylmorphine and norcodeine was found to be inhibited by ethanol in a concentration-dependent manner. The glucuronidation of morphine and normorphine added in separate experiments was also inhibited by ethanol, from 22 to 36% for morphine-3-glucuronide and 30 to 60% for normorphine-3-glucuronide, respectively, in the presence of 5 mM to 100 mM of ethanol. It was concluded that all steps in the metabolism of ethylmorphine (and codeine) leading to the end products morphine-3-glucuronide and normorphine-3-glucuronide were inhibited by ethanol, and that the glucuronidation process were the ones most affected by ethanol.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of specific CYPs responsible for the O-dealkylation of ethylmorphine (EM) and codeine (CD) to morphine (M), as well as that of norethylmorphine (NEM) and norcodeine (NCD) to normorphine (NM) in rat liver microsomes. Liver microsomes metabolize EM and CD to M, and NEM and NCD to NM, in the presence of an NADPH-generating system. The metabolites of EM and CD were determined by HPLC with UV and electrochemical detection. In the present study, the role of CYP2D1 in O-dealkylation of EM/NEM and CD/NCD was investigated by use of specific antiCYP antibodies. When testing rabbit antirat CYP2D1, 2E1, 2C11, and 3A2 antibodies, only the antiCYP2D1 antibody inhibited the EM/NEM and CD/NCD O-dealkylase activities significantly. The maximum inhibition achieved was approximately 80% at a protein ratio (IgG to microsomes) of 10:1, p = 0.001. The contribution of CYP2D1 to the O-dealkylation of EM/NEM and CD/NCD was further confirmed by use of the specific CYP2D1 inhibitors quinine and propafenone. Five microM of quinine inhibited the EM/NEM and CD/NCD O-dealkylase activities by approximately 80%. The CYP3A inhibitor troleandomycin (TAO) failed to inhibit the CYP2D1 catalyzed reaction, but did inhibit the N-demethylation of EM and CD. The O-dealkylation of NEM and NCD was also impaired in Dark Agouti rat (DA) liver microsomes. Taken together, the immunoinhibition and chemical-inhibitor studies of rat liver microsomes provided convincing evidence for the involvement of CYP2D1, the rat counterpart of human CYP2D6, in the metabolism of EM/NEM and CD/NCD to the corresponding O-dealkylated metabolites.