Electrochemical dissolution and passivation of laser additive manufactured Ti6Al4V controlled by elements segregation and phases distribution

The electrochemical dissolution and passivation of laser additive manufactured Ti6Al4V were investigated through Tafel polarization,potentiostatic polarization and AC impedance measurements.The results show that the solution treatment−aging(STA)process aggravates the element micro-segregation compared to the annealing process,leading to varied Al and V contents of the phases from different samples.It is proven that either Al-rich or V-rich condition can highly affect the electrochemical dissolution behaviors due to thermodynamical instability caused by element segregation.The dissolution rate in the metastable passivation process is controlled by the stability of the produced film that is affected by phases distribution,especially the difficult-to-dissolve phase.And then,the dissolution rate of the phases in the transpassivation region is consistent with the rank in the activation process because the dense film is not capable of being produced.Compared to the annealed sample,the higher dissolution rate of the STA sample is beneficial to the electrochemical machining(ECM)of Ti6Al4V.

Nucleation/growth mechanism of electrocrystallization for As-Sb alloy in hydrochloric acid system

The initial electrocrystallization of As-Sb alloy on glass carbon(GC)electrode in hydrochloric acid system was studiedvia cyclic voltammetry(CV)and chronoamperometry measurements.Current transients were presented in dimensionless formation,which showed that the initial nucleation/growth process of As-Sb alloy followed three-dimensional nucleation model with diffusioncontrolledgrowth.Relevant nucleation parameters were calculated by analyzing related current transients.Particular attention waspaid to the effect of Sb(III)concentration on the nucleation process during the co-electrodeposition.The quantitative results showedthat Sb(III)played a positive effect on enhancing the nucleation rate of As-Sb alloy,leading to the evolution of alloy surfacemorphology from grain structure to compact layer structure.

Allogenic tooth transplantation using 3D printing: A case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND The history of allogenic tooth transplantation can be traced back to the 16th century.Although there have been many successful cases,much needs to be better understood and researched prior to the technique being translated to everyday clinical practice.CASE SUMMARY In the present report,we describe a case of allogenic tooth transplantation between a mother and her daughter.The first left maxillary molar of the mother was diagnosed with residual root resorption and needed to be extracted.The 3rd molar of the daughter was used as a donor tooth.Prior to transplantation,a 3D printing system was introduced to fabricate an individualized reamer drill specifically designed utilizing the donor’s tooth as a template.The specific design of our 3D printed bur allowed for the recipient site to better match the donor tooth.With the ability to 3D print in layers,even the protuberance of the root can be matched and 3D printed,thereby minimizing unnecessary bone loss.CONCLUSION Our study is a pioneering case combining 3D printing with allogenic tooth transplantation,which could be able to minimize unnecessary bone loss and improve the implant stability.This article aims to enhance our understanding of allogenic tooth transplantation and 3D printing,and may potentially lead to tooth transplantation being utilized more frequently - especially since transplantations are so commonly utilized in many other fields of medicine with high success rates.

Avalanching patterns of irregular sand particles in continual discrete flow

We investigate the flow patterns of irregular sand particles under avalanching mode in a rotating drum by using the spatial filtering velocimetry technique.By exploring the variations of velocity distribution of granular flow,we find a type of avalanching pattern of irregular sand particles which is similar to that of spherical particles flow.Due to the fact that the initial position of avalanche in this pattern locates at the middle of the drum and the avalanche propagates toward the edge area gradually,we named it as mid-to-edge avalanching pattern.Furthermore,we find another avalanching pattern which slumps from the edge and propagates toward the opposite edge of the flow surface,named as edge-to-edge pattern.By analyzing the temporal and spatial characteristics of these two types of avalanching patterns,we discover that these two types of avalanche patterns are caused by that the avalanching particles constantly perturb the axial adjacent particles.Thus,the particles on the flow surface are involved in avalanching sequentially in order of the axial distance from the initial position.

Pancreatitis in hand-foot-and-mouth disease caused byenterovirus 71

Some viruses, including certain members of the enterovirus genus, have been reported to cause pancreatitis, especially Coxsackie virus. However, no case of human enterovirus 71(EV71) associated with pancreatitis has been reported so far. We here report a case of EV71-induced hand-foot-and-mouth disease(HFMD) presenting with pancreatitis in a 2-year-old girl. This is the first report of a patient with acute pancreatitis in HFMD caused by EV71. We treated the patient conservatively with nasogastric suction, intravenous fluid and antivirals. The patient's symptoms improved after 8 d, and recovered without complications. We conclude that EV71 can cause acute pancreatitis in HFMD, which should be considered in differential diagnosis, especially in cases of idiopathic pancreatitis.

Is oxygen therapy beneficial for normoxemic patients with acute heart failure?A propensity score matched study

Background:The clinical efficiency of routine oxygen therapy is uncertain in patients with acute heart failure(AHF)who do not have hypoxemia.The aim of this study was to investigate the association between oxygen therapy and clinical outcomes in normoxemic patients hospitalized with AHF using real-world data.Methods:Normoxemic patients diagnosed with AHF on intensive care unit(ICU)admission from the electronic ICU(eICU)Collaborative Research Database were included in the current study,in which the study population was divided into the oxygen therapy group and the ambient air group.Propensity score matching(PSM)was applied to create a balanced covariate distribution between patients receiving supplemental oxygen and those exposed to ambient air.Linear regression and logistic regression models were performed to assess the associations between oxygen therapy and length of stay(LOS),and all-cause in-hospital as well as ICU mortality rates,respectively.A series of sensitivity and subgroup analyses were conducted to further validate the robustness of our findings.Results:A total of 2922 normoxemic patients with AHF were finally included in the analysis.Overall,42.1%(1230/2922)patients were exposed to oxygen therapy,and 57.9%(1692/2922)patients did not receive oxygen therapy(defined as the ambient air group).After PSM analysis,1122 pairs of patients were matched:each patient receiving oxygen therapy was matched with a patient without receiving supplemental oxygen.The multivariable logistic model showed that there was no significant interaction between the ambient air and oxygen therapy for all-cause in-hospital mortality[odds ratio(OR)=1.30;95%confidence interval(CI)0.92–1.82;P=0.138]or ICU mortality(OR=1.39;95%CI 0.83–2.32;P=0.206)in the post-PSM cohorts.In addition,linear regression analysis revealed that oxygen therapy was associated with prolonged ICU LOS(OR=1.11;95%CI 1.06–1.15;P<0.001)and hospital LOS(OR=1.06;95%CI 1.01–1.10;P=0.009)after PSM.Furthermore,the absence of an effect of supplemental oxygen on mortality was consistent in all subgroups.Conclusions:Routine use of supplemental oxygen in AHF patients without hypoxemia was not found to reduce all cause in-hospital mortality or ICU mortality.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the CDH17 gene of colorectal carcinoma

AIM:To investigate the relationship between c.343A>G and c.2216A>C polymorphism sites in the CDH17 gene and colorectal carcinoma.METHODS:Ninety-three non-consanguineous colorectal carcinoma patients admitted to the Department of Oncology at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University were included in this study.Ninety-three peripheral venous blood samples,of approximately one milliliter from each patient,were collected betweenDecember 2009 and August 2010.The genomic DNA of these peripheral venous blood samples were extracted and purified using a Fermentas Genomic DNA Purification Kit(Fermentas,CA) according to the manufacturer' s protocol.The single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs) of the liver-intestine cadherin(CDH17) gene c.343A>G and c.2216A>C were determined by the polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism method(PCR-SSCP) in 93 peripheral venous blood samples from patients suffering with colorectal carcinoma.Typical samples that showed different migration bands in SSCP were confirmed by sequencing.Directed DNA sequencing was used to check the correctness of the genotype results from the PCR-SSCP method.RESULTS:There was a significant association between the c.2216 A>C SNPs of the CDH17 gene and the tumor-node-metastasis(TNM) grade,as well as with lymph node status,in 93 peripheral venous blood samples from colorectal carcinoma patients.The genotype frequencies of A/C,A/A,and C/C were 12.90%,33.33% and 53.76%,respectively.There was a significant correlation between lymph node metastasis,TNM grade,and the genotype distribution(P < 0.05).The C/C genotype raised the risk of lymph node metastasis and the TNM grade.There was a significant difference in the TNM grade and lymph node metastasis between the A/A and C/C genotypes(P = 0.003 and P = 0.013,respectively).Patients with colorectal carcinoma carrying the C allele tended to have a higher risk of lymph node metastasis and have a higher TNM grade.The difference between the TNM grades,as well as the lymph node metastasis of the two alleles,was statistically significant(P < 0.01).CONCLUSION:The SNPs of the CDH17 gene c.2216 A>C might be clinically important in the prognosis of colorectal carcinoma.

Two bone blocks sandwich technique for horizontal reconstruction of severely atrophic alveolar ridge in anterior maxilla: A case report

BACKGROUND Severe horizontal bone deficiency of the maxillary anterior region is considered a major challenge in reconstruction and successful implant placement.Various approaches have been developed to augment bone volume.Of these approaches,onlay bone graft,alveolar bone splitting,and guided bone regeneration have been suggested.CASE SUMMARY A 22-year-old female patient,with no previous medical history,presented to the Department of Oral Implantology,Wuhan University due to a missing right maxillary incisor.The X-ray results showed severe horizontal bone deficiency,with an available bone width of 3.1-4.0 mm.The two bone blocks sandwich technique was performed to augment the bone volume.After 6 months healing,X-ray results showed that the newly formed alveolar ridge dimension increased to 4.7-9.5 mm horizontally.Implant insertion surgery was performed and allceramic restorations were fabricated.The implant was stable at the 1-year followup visit after restoration,and the X-ray showed a stable bone level around the dental implant.The scores for the pink esthetic score and white esthetic score were 12 and 8,respectively,and the patient was satisfied with the esthetic outcome.CONCLUSION The two bone blocks sandwich technique may be an alternative treatment option in augmenting severe horizontal bone deficiency of the anterior maxilla.

Development of ZnTe film with high copper doping efficiency for solar cells

Since a hole barrier was formed in back contact due to mismatch of work function, the back contact material for CdTe cell has been a significant research direction. The ZnTe:Cu is an ideal back contact material, which reduces the valence band discontinuity and can be used as the electron back reflection layer to inhibit interface recombination. The conductivity of ZnTe:Cu film is improved by applying RF-coupled DC sputtering and post-deposition heat treatment. The doping efficiency is computed as the ratio of free hole density and copper concentration, which can be correlated with performance for CdTe-based solar cell. The higher doping efficiency means that more copper atoms substitute for Zn sites in ZnTe lattices and less mobilized copper atoms remain which can enter into the CdTe absorber layer. Copper atoms are suspected as dominant element for CdTe-based cell degradation. After optimizing the ZnTe:Cu films, a systematic study is carried out to incorporate ZnTe:Cu film into CdTe solar cell. The EQE spectrum is kept relatively stable over the long wavelength range without decreasing. It is proved that the conduction band barrier of device with ZnTe:Cu/Au contact material has an effect on the EQE response, which works as free electron barrier and reduces the recombination rate of free carrier. According to the dark J-V data or the light J-V data in the linear region, the current indicates that the intercept gives the diode reverse saturation current. The results of ideality factor indicate that the dominant recombination occurs in the space charge region. In addition, the space charge density and depletion width of solar cell can be estimated by C-V profiling.

Association between the Khorana risk score and all-cause mortality in Japanese patients with gastric and colorectal cancer: A retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND The Khorana risk score(KRS)has poor predictive value for cancer-associated thrombosis in a single tumor type but is associated with early all-cause mortality from cancer.Evidence for the association between KRS and all-cause mortality in Japanese patients with gastric and colorectal cancer is limited.AIM To investigate whether KRS was independently related to all-cause mortality in Japanese patients with gastric and colorectal cancer after adjusting for other covariates and to shed light on its temporal validity.METHODS Data from Dryad database were used in this study.Patients in the Gastroen-terology Department of Sapporo General Hospital,Sapporo,Japan,were enrolled.The starting and ending dates of the enrollment were January 1,2008 and January 5,2015,respectively.The cutoff date for follow-up was May 31,2016.The inde-pendent and dependent(target)variables were the baseline measured using the KRS and final all-cause mortality,respectively.The KRS was categorized into three groups:Low-risk group(=0 score),intermediate-risk group(1-2 score),and high-risk group(≥3 score).RESULTS Men and patients with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status(ECOG PS)≥2 displayed a higher 2-year risk of death than women and those with ECOG PS 0-1 in the intermediate/high risk group for KRS.The higher the score,the higher the risk of early death;however,the relevance of this independent prediction decreased with longer survival.The overall survival of each patient was recorded via real-world follow-up and retrospective observations,and this study yielded the overall relationship between KRS and all-cause mortality.CONCLUSION The prechemotherapy baseline of KRS was independently associated with all-cause mortality within 2 years;however,this independent predictive relationship weakened as survival time increased.

A network pharmacology approach to explore the mechanism of Kangguan decoction in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 with preliminary verification

Objective:To explore the mechanism of Kangguan decoction in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)and then perform preliminary verification.Methods:The effective compounds and target genes of Kangguan decoction were obtained from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform.COVID-19 related target genes were searched in the GeneCards database.The active target genes of Kangguan decoction acting on COVID-19 were identified to perform GO function enrichment and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis.The compound-target network and protein-protein interaction were constructed;Molecular docking simulations of macromolecular protein target receptors and their corresponding compounds were performed.The clinical data of COVID-19 patients were retrieved from their electronic medical records of Nantong Third People's Hospital.Results:We screened out 137 effective compounds and 274 effective target genes of Kangguan decoction from TCMSP.The active target genes of Kangguan decoction were compared with the COVID-19 related target genes,and 63 active target genes for Kangguan decoction acting on COVID-19 were identified.GO function enrichment and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis were performed.The compound-target network and PPI network were constructed and the key compounds and key targets were selected to construct a key compound-target network.Finally,the binding of the target and its corresponding components was verified by molecular docking and two clinical cases with obvious clinical efficacy after Kangguan decoction application were demonstrated.Conclusion:The pharmacological mechanism of Kangguan decoction acting on COVID-19 has been explored,and the active compounds and targets of Kangguan decoction acting on COVID-19 and clinical efficacy for Kangguan decoction treating COVID-19 patients have been preliminarily verified.

Bibliometric analysis of Wendan decoction research based on the Web of Science database

Objective:With the development of Wendan decoction(WDD)and more literature on the research of WDD,we aimed to present an insight into WDD research using bibliometric analysis.Methods:We retrieved data from the Web of Science database from 2008 to 2022.Publication trends were examined using data from journals,authors,institutions,international collaborations,citations,and keywords from the online analytical platform Bibliometric(http://bibliometric.com).Results:Over the years,an increase in the use of keywords,including depression,insomnia,Alzheimer’s disease,schizophrenia,hippocampus,and insomnia,was observed.The outcomes of the analysis revealed that topics related to WDD have become increasingly prevalent in the last five years,and the internationally recognized application of WDD is mainly neuropsychiatric diseases.Conclusion:We exhibited WDD research progress by identifying and evaluating WDD-focused articles.Our analysis revealed the trend of the topics from 2008 to 2022,which can assist scholars in identifying future trends.

Progress of Radix Astragali and Radix Angelicae Sinensis in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis(IPF)is a chronic,progressive,fibrotic interstitial lung disease.Current treatment options for IPF are limited.Radix Astragali(RA)and Radix Angelicae Sinensis(RAS),according to 5:1 ratio composed of Danggui Buxue decoction(DGBXD),which have played an essential role in the treatment of IPF.This article reviewed the experimental research,clinical research,and progress of RA and RAS(DGBXD)treating IPF to provide a deeper scientific basis for the future experimental research and clinical research.

The effectiveness and safety of HuangQiXiXin decoction for cough variant asthma:protocol for a systematic review

Objective:A comprehensive and updated systematic review is needed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of HuangQiXiXin decoction(HQXXD)for cough variant asthma(CVA).The aim of this systematic review protocol is to comprehensively assess the effectiveness and safety of HQXXD for CVA.Methods:An overall search for studies in main English and Chinese electronic databases from their inception to January 2021 will be performed.Randomized controlled trials regarding HQXXD for CVA will be included.We will use RevMan 5.3 software to perform statistical analysis and meta-analysis.Results:The findings of this systematic review will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications.Conclusion:The systematic review will provide more evidence regarding the effectiveness and safety of HQXXD for CVA.

Meta-Learning Based Few-Shot Link Prediction for Emerging Knowledge Graph

Inductive knowledge graph embedding(KGE)aims to embed unseen entities in emerging knowledge graphs(KGs).The major recent studies of inductive KGE embed unseen entities by aggregating information from their neighboring entities and relations with graph neural networks(GNNs).However,these methods rely on the existing neighbors of unseen entities and suffer from two common problems:data sparsity and feature smoothing.Firstly,the data sparsity problem means unseen entities usually emerge with few triplets containing insufficient information.Secondly,the effectiveness of the features extracted from original KGs will degrade when repeatedly propagating these features to represent unseen entities in emerging KGs,which is termed feature smoothing problem.To tackle the two problems,we propose a novel model entitled Meta-Learning Based Memory Graph Convolutional Network(MMGCN)consisting of three different components:1)the two-layer information transforming module(TITM)developed to effectively transform information from original KGs to emerging KGs;2)the hyper-relation feature initializing module(HFIM)proposed to extract type-level features shared between KGs and obtain a coarse-grained representation for each entity with these features;and 3)the meta-learning training module(MTM)designed to simulate the few-shot emerging KGs and train the model in a meta-learning framework.The extensive experiments conducted on the few-shot link prediction task for emerging KGs demonstrate the superiority of our proposed model MMGCN compared with state-of-the-art methods.

Derivation of Expanded Isospectral-Nonisospectral Integrable Hierarchies via the Column-vector Loop Algebra

A scheme for generating nonisospectral integrable hierarchies is introduced.Based on the method,we deduce a nonisospectral hierarchy of soliton equations by considering a linear spectral problem.It follows that the corresponding expanded isospectral and nonisospectral integrable hierarchies are deduced based on a 6 dimensional complex linear space ■.By reducing these integrable hierarchies,we obtain the expanded isospectral and nonisospectral derivative nonlinear Schr?dinger equation.By using the trace identity,the biHamiltonian structure of these two hierarchies are also obtained.Moreover,some symmetries and conserved quantities of the resulting hierarchy are discussed.

Predictive Value of Inflammation Biomarkers in Patients with Portal Vein Thrombosis

Background and Aims:To investigate the usefulness of inflammation biomarkers to serve as a predictors of portal vein thrombosis(PVT)postoperatively(post)in patients with portal hypertension after splenectomy and periesophagogastric devascularization.Methods:A total of 177 liver cirrhosis patients were recruited from January 2013 to December 2017.They were divided into a PVT group(n=71)and a non-PVT group(n=106),according to ultrasound examination findings at 7-day post.Inflammation biomarkers involving platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio(PLR),neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio(NLR),monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio(MLR),red blood cell distribution width-to-platelet ratio(RPR),mean platelet volume-to-platelet ratio(MPR)preoperatively(pre)and at 1,3,7-days post were recorded.Results:The univariate logistic regression analysis indicated that PLR(pre)(odds ratio(OR)=3.963,95%confidence interval(CI)=2.070–7.587,p<0.000),MLR(pre)(OR=2.760,95%CI=1.386–5.497,p=0.004),PLR(postday 7)(OR=3.345,95%CI=1.767–6.332,p=0.000)were significantly associated with the presence of PVT.The multivariate logistic regression analysis results indicated that PLR(pre)(OR=3.037,95%CI=1.463–6.305,p=0.003),MLR(pre)(OR=2.188,95%CI=1.003–4.772,p=0.049),PLR(post-day 7)(OR=2.166,95%CI=1.053–4.454,p=0.036)were independent factors for predicting PVT.Conclusions:The PLR(pre),MLR(pre),and PLR(post-day 7)are predictors of portal vein thrombosis post in patients with portal hypertension after splenectomy and periesophagogastric devascularization.

Samarium( II )-electrocatalyzed chemoselective reductive alkoxylation of phthalimides

The unprecedented samarium electrocatalyzed reductive alkoxylation of phthalimides in a single step is presented.Under mild conditions,using electrogenerated Sm(II)with TMSCl(trimethyl chlorosilane),N-substituted 3-alkoxyl isoindolin-1-ones are isolated in good to excellent yields with high functional group tolerance.

Construction of potential idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis related microRNA and messenger RNA regulatory network

To the Editor:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis(IPF)is a kind of lung disease characterized by chronic and progressive pulmonary fibrosis with unknown etiology,whose pathological manifestation is usual interstitial pneumonia.111 However,the prognosis of IPF was still poor,and the median survival time after diagnosis was about 2 to 3 years Therefore,it seems important to seek and develop an effective therapeutic modality for IPF.Through base pairs of intramolecular complementary sequences of messenger RNA(mRNA),microRNA(miRNA)plays a key role in RNA silencing and post-transcriptional gene expression regulation.

Analysis on Lump, Lumpoff and Rogue Waves with Predictability to a Generalized Konopelchenko-Dubrovsky-Kaup-Kupershmidt Equation

In this paper, we investigate a(2+1)-dimensional generalized Konopelchenko-Dubrovsky-Kaup-Kupershmidt equation. The lump waves, lumpoff waves, and rogue waves are presented based on the Hirota bilinear form of this equation. It is worth noting that the moving path as well as the appearance time and place of the lump waves are given. Moreover, the special rogue waves are considered when lump solution is swallowed by double solitons. Finally,the corresponding characteristics of the dynamical behavior are displayed.