Fabrication of stable MWCNT bucky paper for solar-driven interfacial evaporation by coupling c-ray irradiation with borate crosslinking

Herein,we report a facile solution process for preparing multi-walled carbon nanotube(MWCNT)bucky paper for solar-driven interfacial water evaporation.This process involves vacuum filtrating a dispersion of MWCNTs that was modified by polyvinyl alcohol(PVA)under c-ray irradiation on a cellulose acetate microporous membrane,followed by borate crosslinking.Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,Raman spectroscopy,and thermogravimetry confirmed the success of PVA grafting onto MWCNTs and borate crosslinking between modified MWCNT nanoyarns.The as-prepared crosslinked MWCNT bucky papers(BBP membranes)were used as a solar absorber,by placing them on a paper-wrapped floating platform,for interfacial water evaporation under simulated solar irradiation.The BBP membranes showed good water tolerance and mechanical stability,with an evaporation rate of 0.79 kg m^(-2)h^(-1)and an evaporation efficiency of 56%under 1 sun illumination in deionized water.Additionally,the BBP membranes achieved an evaporation rate of 0.76 kg m^(-2)h^(-1)in both NaCl solution(3.5 wt%)and sulfuric acid solution(1 mol L-1),demonstrating their impressive applicability for water reclamation from brine and acidic conditions.An evaporation rate of 0.70 kg m-2 h-1(very close to that from deionized water)was obtained from the solar evaporation of saturated NaCl solution,and the BBP membrane exhibited unexpected stability without the inference of salt accumulation on the membrane surface during long-term continuous solar evaporation.

Research status of association between serum minerals and complications of type 2 diabetes

As a chronic metabolic disease,type 2 diabetes mellitus is prone to various microvascular and macrovascular complications.As a micronutrient,minerals have a small amount of body demand,but they are essential to the body's metabolism and play an important role in the occurrence of diabetes complication.This review summarizes the relationship between serum calcium,magnesium,iron,copper,and zinc and the complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus.It provides references for related scholars,and also provide favorable basis for early diagnosis,nutrition management with prevention and treatment of complications of type 2 diabetes.

Effectiveness and safety of herbal medicines in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome:A systematic review

AIM:To explore the efficacy and safety of herbal medicines (HM) in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). METHODS: A computer-based as well as manual literature search was performed. We reviewed randomized controlled trials on the treatment of IBS with and without HM. RESULTS: A total of 22 studies with 25 HMs met the inclusion criteria. Four of these studies were of good quality, while the remaining 18 studies involving 17 Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) formulas were of poor quality. Eight of these reports using 9 HMs showed global improvement of IBS symptoms, 4 studies with 3 HMs were efficacious in diarrhea-predominant IBS, and 2 studies with 2 HMs showed improvement in constipation- predominant IBS. Out of a total of 1279 patients, 15 adverse events in 47 subjects were reported with HM. No serious adverse events or abnormal laboratory tests were observed. The incidence of the adverse events was low (2.97%; 95% CI: 2.04%-3.90%). CONCLUSION: Herbal medicines have therapeutic benefit in IBS, and adverse events are seldom reported in literature. Nevertheless, herbal medicines should be used with caution. It is necessary to conduct rigorous, well-designed clinical trials to evaluate their effectiveness and safety in the treatment of IBS.

Ore-proportioning optimization technique with high proportion of Yandi ore in sintering

The basic sintering characteristics of Yandi ore from Australia, including assimilation ability, liquid phase fluidity, self-strength of bonding phase, forming ability of silico ferrite of calcium and aluminum （SFCA）, and so on, were investigated in detail. Besides, the high temperature behavior and function of sintering were obtained. As a result, the techniques for ore-proportioning in sintering were obtained. The results show that Yandi ore possessing higher assimilation ability, better liquid phase fluidity, lower self-strength of bonding phase, and better forming ability of SFCA, should be mixed with iron ores whose properties are opposite to those of Yandi ore. In the optimization of sintering ore-proportioning, Yandi ore, whose price is relatively low, can be mixed as high as 40wt%.

Secular Motion Frequencies of 9Be+ Ions and 40Ca+ Ions in Bi-component Coulomb Crystals

We obtain bi-component Coulomb crystals using laser-cooled ^40Ca^+ ions to sympathetically cool ^9Be^+ ions in a linear Paul trap. The shell structures of the bi-component Coulomb crystals are investigated. The secular motion frequencies of the two different ions are determined and compared with those in the single-component Coulomb crystals. In the radial direction, the resonant motion frequencies of the two ionic species shift toward each other due to the strong motion coupling in the ion trap. In the axial direction, the motion frequency of the laser-cooled ^40Ca^+is impervious to the sympathetically cooled ^9Be^+ ions because the spatially separation of the two different ionic species leads to the weak motion coupling in the axial direction.

Assessment of the renal function, peroxidation damage and inflammatory injury after epalrestat combined with alprostadil treatment of early diabetic nephropathy

Objective:To study the renal function, peroxidation damage and inflammatory injury after epalrestat combined with alprostadil treatment of early diabetic nephropathy.Methods:90 patients with early diabetic nephropathy treated in our hospital between June 2011 and November 2015 were collected and divided into observation group and control group (n=45) according to the single-blind randomized control method. Observation group received epalrestat combined with alprostadil treatment, control group received alprostadil treatment alone, and the treatment of both groups lasted for 3 months. Before treatment and after 3 months of treatment, turbidimetric immunoassay was used to detect the renal function indexes in peripheral blood, rate method was used to detect the renal function indexes in urine, and ELISA method was used to detect the levels of peroxidation indexes and inflammation indexes.Results:Before treatment, differences in renal function, peroxidation damage and inflammatory damage indexes were not statistically significant between two groups of patients (P>0.05). After 3 months of treatment, creatinine (Scr), cystatin C (CysC),β2 microglobulin (β2-MG), N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), reactive oxygen species (ROS), advanced protein oxidation products (AOPPs), interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-27 (IL-27) and procalcitonin (PCT) levels of observation group were lower than those of control group while catalase (CAT), total superoxide dismutase (TSOD), interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-10 (IL-10) and interleukin-13 (IL-13) levels were higher than those of control group (P<0.05). Conclusions:Epalrestat combined with alprostadil can protect the renal function and inhibit the peroxidation damage and inflammatory injury in patients with early diabetic nephropathy.

Tumor heterogeneity and the potential role of liquid biopsy in bladder cancer

Bladder cancer(BC)is a heterogeneous disease that characterized by genomic instability and a high mutation rate.Heterogeneity in tumor may partially explain the diversity of responses to targeted therapies and the various clinical outcomes.A combination of cytology and cystoscopy is the standard methodology for BC diagnosis,prognosis,and disease surveillance.However,genomics analyses of single tumor-biopsy specimens may underestimate the mutational burden of heterogeneous tumors.Liquid biopsy,as a promising technology,enables analysis of tumor components in the bodily fluids,such as blood and urine,at multiple time points and provides a minimally invasive approach that can track the evolutionary dynamics and monitor tumor heterogeneity.In this review,we describe the multiple faces of BC heterogeneity at the genomic and transcriptional levels and how they affect clinical care and outcomes.We also summarize the outcomes of liquid biopsy in BC,which plays a potential role in revealing tumor heterogeneity.Finally,we discuss the challenges that must be addressed before liquid biopsy can be widely used in clinical treatment.

Conditional Lie-Bcklund Symmetry and New Variable Separation Solutions of the Third Order KdV-Type Equations

The functionally generalized variable separation solutions of a general KdV-type equations u_t=u_(xxx) +A(u, u_x)u_(xx) + B(u, u_x) are investigated by developing the conditional Lie-Backlund symmetry method. A complete classification of the considered equations, which admit multi-dimensional invariant subspaces governed by higher-order conditional Lie-B¨acklund symmetries, is presented. As a result, several concrete examples are provided to construct functionally generalized variable separation solutions of some resulting equations.

Role of Cu element in biomedical metal alloy design

Biomedical metals are widely used as implant materials in the human or animal body to repair organs and restore function, such as heart valves, meninges, peritoneum and artificial organs.Alloying element affects the microstructure, mechanical property, corrosion resistance and wear resistance, but also influences the antibacterial and biological activity.Recently, antibacterial metal alloys have shown great potential as a new kind of biomedical materials, in which Cu has been widely used as antibacterial agent element.In addition, biodegradable metal alloys, including magnesium alloy and zinc alloy, also have attracted much attention worldwide.Cu was also used as alloying element to adjust the degradation rate.Thus, the role of Cu in the alloy design will be very important for the development of new alloy.In this paper, we summarized the recent research results on the Cu-containing metal alloy for biomedical application and hoped that this review would give more suggestions for the further development of biomedical metal alloy.

Sparganosis of the brain: a case report and brief review

Human sparganosis is a rare disease often affecting muscle, subcutaneous tissue and other locations, but sparganosis invading the brain is rather rare. Cerebral sparganosis has no specific symptoms which makes the diagnosis quite difficult and is usually neglected in the clinic. Here the authors reported a case of a 29-year-old female who was diagnosed with cerebral sparganosis and underwent surgery in their department and a brief review of the literature was conducted as well.