Long-term efficacy,safety and biocompatibility of a novel sirolimus eluting iron bioresorbable scaffold in a porcine model

Iron is considered as an attractive alternative material for bioresorbable scaffolds(BRS).The sirolimus eluting iron bioresorbable scaffold(IBS),developed by Biotyx Medical(Shenzhen,China),is the only iron-based BRS with an ultrathin-wall design.The study aims to investigate the long-term efficacy,safety,biocompatibility,and lumen changes during the biodegradation process of the IBS in a porcine model.A total of 90 IBSs and 70 cobaltchromium everolimus eluting stents(EES)were randomly implanted into nonatherosclerotic coronary artery of healthy mini swine.The multimodality assessments including coronary angiography,optical coherence tomography,micro-computed tomography,magnetic resonance imaging,real-time polymerase chain reaction(PCR),and histopathological evaluations,were performed at different time points.There was no statistical difference in area stenosis between IBS group and EES group at 6 months,1year,2 years and 5 years.Although the scaffolded vessels narrowed at 9 months,expansive remodeling with increased mean lumen area was found at 3 and 5 years.The IBS struts remained intact at 6 months,and the corrosion was detectable at 9 months.At 5 years,the iron struts were completely degraded and absorbed in situ,without in-scaffold restenosis or thrombosis,lumen collapse,aneurysm formation,and chronic inflammation.No local or systemic toxicity and abnormal histopathologic manifestation were found in all experiments.Results from real-time PCR indicated that no sign of iron overload was reported in scaffolded segments.Therefore,the IBS shows comparable efficacy,safety,and biocompatibility with EES,and late lumen enlargement is considered as a unique feature in the IBS-implanted vessels.

Research on in-situ condition preserved coring and testing systems

As shallow resources are increasingly depleted,the mechanics'theory and testing technology of deep insitu rock has become urgent.Traditional coring technologies obtain rock samples without retaining the in-situ environmental conditions,leading to distortion of the measured parameters.Herein,a coring and testing systems retaining in-situ geological conditions is presented:the coring system that obtains in-situ rock samples,and the transfer and testing system that stores and analyzes the rocks under a reconstructed environment.The ICP-Coring system mainly consists of the pressure controller,active insulated core reactor and insulation layer and sealing film.The ultimate bearing strength of 100 MPa for pressurepreservation,temperature control accuracy of 0.97%for temperature-retained are realized.CH_(4)and CO permeability of the optimized sealing film are as low as 3.85 and 0.33 ppm/min.The average tensile elongation of the film is 152.4%and the light transmittance is reduced to 0%.Additionally,the pressure and steady-state temperature accuracy for reconstructing the in-situ environment of transfer and storage system up to 1%and±0.2 is achieved.The error recorded of the noncontact sensor ring made of lowdensity polymer is less than 6%than that of the contact test.The system can provide technical support for the deep in-situ rock mechanics research,improving deep resource acquisition capabilities and further clarifying deep-earth processes.

Characteristics of life-cycle carbon dioxide emissions of arterial highway maintenance and the influencing factors

With the focus of highway development transitioning from construction to maintenance,a comprehensive understanding of the characteristics and influencing factors of carbon dioxide(CO_(2))emissions from highway maintenance activities is crucial for formulating effective strategies to promote the low-carbon development of road infrastructure.However,the quantitative relationships between CO_(2) emissions from highway maintenance schemes and factors such as pavement deterioration,traffic volume,and road grade remain unclear owing to a lack of compre-hensive,multi-category,and real data.Using real maintenance data from 340 arterial highway segments in China,this study conducts the life cycle assessment(LCA)to estimate CO_(2) emissions from maintenance activities and examines the primary emission sources among various structural layers and materials.Furthermore,multiple linear regression(MLR)analysis is conducted to investigate the impact of traffic volume,road grade,and pavement deterioration on CO_(2) emissions from maintenance projects,and factors influencing the early-stage degradation of pavement performance.The results demonstrate that average CO_(2) emissions from heavy rehabilitation projects are 6.97 times higher than those from medium rehabilitation projects.Emissions from heavy rehabilitation projects exhibit a significantly negative linear relationship with the riding quality index(RQI)before maintenance(p<0.05),and emissions from medium rehabilitation projects show a significant negative linear relationship with the pavement condition index(PCI)before maintenance(p<0.05).Emissions from heavy and medium rehabilitation projects are significantly positively correlated with heavy vehicle traffic volume before maintenance(p<0.05).Moreover,the early-stage degradation of PCI after heavy rehabilitation and RQI after medium rehabilitation exhibit significantly negative linear relationships with their respective in-dicators before maintenance(p<0.05).The early-stage degradation of RQI after heavy rehabilitation is significantly positively correlated with CO_(2) emissions from the base course and cushion layers(p<0.05).The findings emphasize that timely maintenance and reduction of CO_(2) emissions from asphalt mixing equipment are essential for mitigating emissions from road maintenance.This study offers valuable insights for advancing the low-carbon development of highways in temperate regions.

Metal-organic nanosheet assembly ions sieving membrane for precise lithium ion and anion/solvent separation toward robust lithium metal battery

Metal-organic nanosheets(MONs)as a novel material with tunable pore structures and low mass transfer resistance,have emerged as molecular sieves for the separation of gases and liquids.In theory,they can also serve as ion sieves for lithium metal batteries(LMBs),realizing the high-energy and dendritic free LMBs.However,there are rarely relevant reports,because it is difficult to simultaneously balance efficient ion sieving ability,high ion passing rate and high electrochemical stability.Here,we synthesized a stable ultrathin MON[Zn_(2)(Bim)_(4)]([Zn_(2)(Bim)_(4)]Nanosheet,HBim=benzimidazolate),which can achieve both efficient lithium ion sieving ability,high lithium ion passing rate and high electrochemical stability at the same time.The separator assembled by this MON exhibits high Li^(+)transfer number of 0.81 due to the accurate lithium ion and anion/solvent separation.The battery containing such separator shows high lithium ionic conductivity of 0.74 m S cm^(-1)and low activation energy of 0.099 eV,which can be attributed to the nanometer level thickness and the ion sieving effect.What is more,we realized the application of MONs-based ion sieves in LMBs with intercalation cathodes for the first time.And the LiFePO_(4)|Li battery with as-assembled separator demonstrates improved Coulombic efficiency(>99%)and significantly extended cycling life(>1600 cycles)with 80%capacity retention.