Tissue engineering for urinary tract reconstruction and repair: Progress and prospect in China

Several urinary tract pathologic conditions,such as strictures,cancer,and obliterations,require reconstructive plastic surgery.Reconstruction of the urinary tract is an intractable task for urologists due to insufficient autologous tissue.Limitations of autologous tissue application prompted urologists to investigate ideal substitutes.Tissue engineering is a new direction in these cases.Advances in tissue engineering over the last 2 decades may offer alternative approaches for the urinary tract reconstruction.The main components of tissue engineering include biomaterials and cells.Biomaterials can be used with or without cultured cells.This paper focuses on cell sources,biomaterials,and existing methods of tissue engineering for urinary tract reconstruction in China.The paper also details challenges and perspectives involved in urinary tract reconstruction.

Thoracic endovascular aortic repair with left subclavian artery reconstruction for blunt traumatic aortic injury in elderly patients

Introduction:Blunt thoracic aortic injury(BTAI)is rare in elderly patients.As the population ages and life expectancy increases,the frequency of this injury will increase,while the treatment and outcomes remain unclear.Methods:We retrospectively analyzed the collected data of patients>60 years old with BTAI to investigate the mechanism of trauma;time interval from injury to diagnosis;type and timing of surgical intervention;aortic arch pattern;choice of left subclavian artery reconstruction;endograft to treat BTAI;length of the endovascular procedure;endoleaks;complications including stroke,paraplegia,and renal failure;length of hospital stay(LOS)and intensive care unit stay(L.ICUS);and 30-day mortality.Results:Five elderly trauma patients were found to have BTAI.Four(80%)were males,the cohort mean age was68 years,the major mechanism of trauma was fall injury,and the associated injury was thoracic trauma.All patients were transferred to our hospital,and emergency computed tomography angiography showed BTAI in each patient.The average time interval from injury to diagnosis was 2.7 days.Two patients suddenly showed signs of instability in their vital signs and underwent immediate endovascular repair,while 3 patients underwent delayed endovascular repair.The injury site was located in the aortic isthmus just distal to the origin of the left subclavian artery;the aortic arch pattern was II(80.0%)in 4 cases and III in 1 case(20.0%).The choice of left subclavian artery reconstruction included chimney,double chimney,prefenestration,and chimney combined with in situ fenestration.Endografts to treat BTAI included the Ankura(Lifetech Scientific,Shenzhen,China)and the C-TAG(W.L.Gore&Associates,Flagstaff,AZ USA).The length of the endovascular procedure was 75.4 min;there were no endoleaks and no complications including stroke,paraplegia,or renal failure.The average LOS was25 days,and the average L.ICUS of 2 patients was 15 days,with no 30-day mortality.Conclusion:Elderly patients with fall injury should promptly exclude BTAI.Thoracic endovascular aortic repair(TEVAR)with a left subclavian artery reconstruction technique provided good results without procedure-related or neurological complications.Because of the low incidence of this type of injury,we are unable to provide any evidence to guide the treatment option for this life-threatening condition.

Application of computer tomography-based 3D reconstruction technique in hernia repair surgery

BACKGROUND Hernia is a common condition requiring abdominal surgery.The current standard treatment for hernia is tension-free repair using meshes.Globally,more than 200 new types of meshes are licensed each year.However,their clinical applications are associated with a series of complications,such as recurrence(10%-24%)and infection(0.5%-9.0%).In contrast,3D-printed meshes have significantly reduced the postoperative complications in patients.They have also shortened operating time and minimized the loss of mesh materials.In this study,we used the myopectineal orifice(MPO)data obtained from preoperative computer tomography(CT)-based 3D reconstruction for the production of 3D-printed biologic meshes.AIM To investigate the application of multislice spiral CT-based 3D reconstruction technique in 3D-printed biologic mesh for hernia repair surgery.METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 60 patients who underwent laparoscopic tension-free repair for inguinal hernia in the Department of General Surgery of the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from September 2019 to December 2019.This study included 30 males and 30 females,with a mean age of 40±5.6 years.Data on the MPO were obtained from preoperative CT-based 3D reconstruction as well as from real-world intraoperative measurements for all patients.Anatomic points were set for the purpose of measurement based on the definition of MPO:A:The pubic tubercle;B:Intersection of the horizontal line extending from the summit of the inferior edge of the internal oblique and transversus abdominis and the outer edge of the rectus abdominis,C:Intersection of the horizontal line extending from the summit of the inferior edge of the internal oblique and transversus abdominis and the inguinal ligament,D:Intersection of the iliopsoas muscle and the inguinal ligament,and E:Intersection of the iliopsoas muscle and the superior pubic ramus.The distance between the points was measured.All preoperative and intraoperative data were analyzed using the t test.Differences with P<0.05 were considered significant in comparative analysis.RESULTS The distance between points AB,AC,BC,DE,and AE based on preoperative and intraoperative data was 7.576±0.212 cm vs 7.573±0.266 cm,7.627±0.212 cm vs 7.627±0.212 cm,7.677±0.229 cm vs 7.567±0.786 cm,7.589±0.204 cm vs 7.512±0.21 cm,and 7.617±0.231 cm vs 7.582±0.189 cm,respectively.All differences were not statistically significant(P>0.05).CONCLUSION The use of multislice spiral CT-based 3D reconstruction technique before hernia repair surgery allows accurate measurement of data and relationships of different anatomic sites in the MPO region.This technique can provide precise data for the production of 3D-printed biologic meshes.

One-Stage Repair and Reconstruction of Craniomaxillofacial Bone Defects

Objective: Severe craniomaxillofacial injuries and craniomaxillofacial tumors can lead to craniomaxillofacial bone defects and deformities. Seriously affect the patients’ appearance and quality of life. So one-stage repair and reconstruction of craniomaxillofacial bone defects is of great significance. The current study summarizes the clinical experience of one-stage repair and reconstruction of craniomaxillofacial bone defects. Material and Methods: Data in one-stage repair and reconstruction of?craniomaxillofacial bone defects performed on 13 patients were retrospectively analyzed out of 34 patients with?craniomaxillofacial injuries or tumors who received treatment at the outpatient department between January 2002 and March 2011. Surgical indications and approaches were explored after two typical cases were detected. Results: One-stage repair and reconstruction of bone defects was suitable for patients with craniomaxillofacial injuries and excised craniomaxillofacial benign tumors. Adjacent autogenous bones and artificial materials (such as titanium plates, titanium mesh, and so on) work well for the repair of the craniomaxillofacial bone frame and restoration of facial features. Conclusions: Surgical indications should be strictly selected in one-stage repair and reconstruction of craniomaxillofacial bone defects and deformities. Furthermore, the adoption of autogenous bones and artificial materials is a good choice in restoring the craniofacial features.

Five Strand Hamstring Tendon Autograft for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Provides No Benefit over the Gold Standard Four Strand Repair for Anterior Stability of the Knee: A Prospective Cohort Study

The Four-Strand Hamstring Tendon Autograft has been long established as the gold standard for surgical reconstruction of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament. Some studies have suggested wider grafts, such as a Five-Strand hamstring graft, may provide greater strength and a larger scaffold for incorporation of the graft into the bone tunnels, leading to greater postoperative anterior stability of the knee. 28 (n = 18 Four-Strand and n = 10 Five-Strand) patients with planned ACL reconstructive surgery by a single surgeon were recruited for this study. The KT-1000 Arthrometer (MED metric, CA, USA) was used to quantify AP translation in the subjects’ knees before (T0) and after surgery at 6 (T1) and 12 (T2) weeks. At 12 weeks there was significantly higher (p = 0.01) mean anterior laxity on Maximum Manual Test in the Five- Strand group (9.1 ± 1.7 mm) than the Four Strand Group (6.9 ± 2.3 mm). Further, there were significantly higher mean side-to-side differences (p = 0.01) on Maximum Manual Test in the Five-Strand cohort (5.1 ± 3.5 mm) compared to the Four-Strand cohort (1.9 ± 2.2 mm). A significantly larger positive mean change in anterior laxity (p = 0.02) from 6 - 12 weeks was evident in the Five-Strand group (1.4 ± 0.9) than the Four-Strand group (-0.3 ± 1.9 mm). No significant correlations were seen between graft widths and measures of anterior stability on KT-1000. This study illustrated that there was no benefit to using a Five-Strand Hamstring Tendon Autograft when compared to the gold standard Four-Strand Repair specifically with regards to anterior stability of the knee.

Modeling Expected Failure Considering Repair Time and Degradation: A Rail System Case Study

The repeated failures of any equipment or systems are modeled as a renewal process. The management needs an assessment of the number of future failures to allocate the resources needed for fast repairs. Based on the idea of expectation by conditioning, special Volterra-type integral equations are derived for general types of repairs, considering the length of repair and reduced degradation of the idle object. In addition to minimal repair and failure replacement, partial repairs are also discussed when the repair results in reduction of the number of future failures or decreases the effective age of the object. Numerical integration-based algorithm and simulation study are performed to solve the resulting integral equation. Since the geometry degradation in different dimensions of a rail track and controlling and maintaining defects are of importance, a numerical example using the rail industry data is conducted. Expected number of failures of different failure type modes in rail track is calculated within a two-year interval. Results show that within a two-year period, anticipated occurrences of cross level failures, surface failures, and DPI failures are 2.4, 3.8, and 5.8, respectively.

Application of multi-planar reconstruction technique in endovascular repair of aortic dissection

BACKGROUND Endovascular repair of aortic dissection is an effective method commonly used in the treatment of Stanford type B aortic dissection.Stent placement during the operation was one-time and could not be repeatedly adjusted during the operation.Therefore,it is of great significance for cardiovascular physicians to fully understand the branch status,position,angle,and other information regarding aortic arch dissection before surgery.AIM To provide more references for clinical cardiovascular physicians to develop treatment plans.METHODS Data from 153 patients who underwent endovascular repair of aortic dissection at our hospital between January 2021 and December 2022 were retrospectively collected.All patients underwent multi-slice spiral computed tomography angiography.Based on distinct post-image processing techniques,the patients were categorized into three groups:Multiplanar reconstruction(MPR)(n=55),volume reconstruction(VR)(n=46),and maximum intensity projection(MIP)(n=52).The detection rate of aortic rupture,accuracy of the DeBakey classification,rotation,and tilt angles of the C-arm during the procedure,dispersion after stent release,and the incidence of late complications were recorded and compared.RESULTS The detection rates of interlayer rupture in the MPR and VR groups were significantly higher than that in the MIP group(P<0.05).The detection rates of De-Bakey subtypesⅠ,Ⅱ,andⅢin the MPR group were higher than those in the MIP group,and the detection rate of typeⅢin the MPR group was significantly higher than that in the VR group(P<0.05).There was no statistically significant difference in the detection rates of typesⅠandⅡcompared to the VR group(P>0.05).The scatter rate of markers and the incidence of complications in the MPR group were significantly lower than those in the VR and MIP groups(P<0.05).CONCLUSION The application of MPR in the endovascular repair of aortic dissection has improved the detection rate of dissection rupture,the accuracy of anatomical classification,and safety.

Medical and surgical approach to ocular surface reconstruction

Ocular surface disease(OSD)can have a severe impact on patients as it can lead to visual impairment and persistent discomfort.Ocular surface reconstruction(OSR)is an approach to the management of ocular diseases that cause structural damage to the ocular surface.OSR encompasses both medical and surgical treatment options.In this review,we discuss the medical and surgical strategies used in OSR.Medical management often aims to treat tear insufficiency,inflammation,and keratinization.Surgical treatments may be employed for a variety of reasons,including failure of medical management.This may include improving the oculo-palpebral structures in order to improve lid positioning and tear film.Additional therapies focus on improving tear production,such as through salivary gland transplantation.In situations where the ocular surface is so severely damaged that there is loss of limbal stem cells,limbal stem cell transplant(LSCT)may be indicated.Other surgeries such as amniotic membrane transplant(AMT)and conjunctival flaps(CFs)can help promote corneal healing.Finally,in severe situations where the cornea is beyond salvage,corneal transplantation,such as a penetrating keratoplasty(PKP),can be considered.OSR often requires a combination of medical and surgical approaches targeted to each specific patient’s presentation in order to achieve optimal outcomes.

Comparative Analysis of the Efficacy of Transabdominal Pre-Peritoneal Vs Open Tension-Free Hernia Repair in Treating Inguinal Hernia

Objective:To investigate and analyze the clinical outcomes of inguinal hernia patients treated with transabdominal pre-peritoneal repair(TAPP)versus open tension-free hernia repair.Methods:The study was carried out from January 2021 to August 2023,and a total of 50 inguinal hernia patients were selected for this study.The patients were randomly divided into a study group(n=25)and a control group(n=25)by the numerical table method.The patients in the control group were treated with open tension-free hernia repair,whereas the patients in the study group were treated with TAPP.The surgical and postoperative recovery indexes,complication rates,and recurrence rates of the two groups were compared.Results:There was no significant difference in the operative time and intraoperative blood loss between the two groups(P>0.05),and the postoperative feeding time,time out of bed,and hospitalization time of the study group were shorter than those of the control group(P<0.05);the incidence rate of postoperative complications in the study group was lower than that in the control group(P<0.05);and there was no significant difference in the recurrence rate of the two groups after operation(P>0.05).Conclusion:Compared to open tension-free hernia repair,TAPP offers a shorter postoperative recovery duration and hospitalization time,and reduces the incidence of complications.Therefore,this surgical method should be popularized in the treatment of inguinal hernia.

An anatomical and biomechanical study for the repair and reconstruction of the scapholunate interosseous ligament

To compare the anatomical and biomechanical properties of the subregions to the scapholunate interosseous ligament (SLIL) and two intracarpal ligaments.Methods Eight scaphoid-lunate,trapezoid-2nd metacarpal,capitate-3rd metacarpal ligaments were harvested as bone-ligament-bone grafts from fresh frozen adult cadavers.According to different subregion,the scaphoid-lunate ligaments were split to three parts by a thin osteotome.Using a vernier caliper,their anatomical parameters were measured.Bone blocks were then embedded in commercially available dental base acrylic resin powder;the embedded specimens were mounted on MTS 858 testing machine using a 10000 N load cell for all tensile tests.During the testing,the specimens were kept moist with saline to avoid desiccation.The ligaments were tested at a displacement rate of 10 mm/min until failure.Results Among the 3 subregions of SLIL,the dorsal and palmar parts had an almost equivalent load to failure [(170.2±35.1)N and (193.1±42.3)N] and stiffness [(80.7±13.8)N/mm and (72.3±22.8)N/mm],and the proximal part had the minimum load to failure [(51.1±16.1)N] and stiffness [(21.6±11.0)N/mm].The load to failure of trapezoid-2nd metacarpal and that of capitate-3rd metacarpal ligaments were (228.9±52.8)N and (277.6±66.2)N respectively;their stiffness were (100.2±48.2)N/mm and (143.6±44.1)N/mm,which indicated that they had stronger mechanical property than the dorsal SLIL.According to anatomic measurement data,the trapezoid-2 metacarpal and capitate-3rd metacarpal ligaments could match the size of dorsal SLIL by adequate modification;however,the capitate-3rd methacarpal joint had more similar profile to the scaphoid-lunate joint.Conclusion The dorsal and palmar parts possess an almost equivalent load to failure and stiffness;while the proximal part had the weakest biomechanical characteristics.Because of the identical anatomical and biomechanical properties,the bone-ligament-bone structure of the trapezoid-2nd metacarpal and capitate-3rd metascarpal ligaments can be used as an appropriate donor for the dorsal part of SLIL after it’s rupture,but the later presents more superiority in morphology.15 refs,2 figs.

Quantitative geochemical reconstruction of Eocene paleoenvironment in Fushun Basin,northeast China

The quantitative estimation of key parameters of paleotemperature and paleoprecipitation is crucial for paleoclimate reconstruction.Geochemical data from mod-ern sediments are highly consistent with climate data,and their relationship can provide an important reference for the quantitative reconstruction of the paleoclimate.In this study,detailed inorganic geochemical analysis was carried out using high-precision sampling of the Paleogene(LFD-1 well)Guchengzi,Jijuntun and Xiloutian Formations in the Fushun Basin located in the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.The Eocene Guchengzi Formation(54.51–47.8 Ma)and Jijuntun Formation(47.8–41.2 Ma)in the Fushun Basin were found to have been deposited under a humid climate.The lower(41.2–40.1 Ma)and upper(40.1–37.8 Ma)parts of the Xiloutian Formation were character-ized by semiarid and semihumid–semiarid climates,respec-tively,which is very similar to the paleoclimatic information reflected by organic carbon isotopes.The Eocene Thermal Maximum 2(ETM2,~53.7 Ma),Early Eocene Climatic Optimum(EECO,~53.1–46.5 Ma),Eocene Thermal Maxi-mum 3(ETM 3,~52.8 Ma),and Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum(MECO,~40.7–40.1 Ma)events significantly enhanced chemical weathering during these periods.The rapid increase in pCO_(2)concentration leads to an increase in temperature,precipitation,and surface runoff,exhibiting strong chemical weathering.The mean annual temperature(MATa)and mean annual precipitation(MAPa,MAPb,and MAPc)were estimated using parameters,such as the corrosion index without potassium(CIA-K),CaO/Al_(2)O_(3),and(Na_(2)O+K_(2)O)/Al_(2)O_(3).Comparing MAPa,MAPb,and MAPc with the MAP estimated using pollen data,MAPa and MAPb were found to be more sensitive to the climate during high precipitation periods(precipitation>1000 mm,Guchengzi Formation),and the recovered average precipi-tation was similar to MAP.In contrast,MAPc was more sensitive to the climate during low precipitation periods(precipitation<1000 mm,Jijuntun,and Xiloutian Forma-tions),with higher accuracy.To fully consider the influence of soluble inorganic salts Ca^(2+)and Na^(+),multivariate linear equations of CIA-K and CaO/Al_(2)O_(3)with CIA,and CIA-K and CaO/Al_(2)O_(3)with MAP were constructed,namely MAPd and MAPe.The results show that MAPe has the highest per-formance and can be effectively used to estimate the change of paleoprecipitation in Northeast Asia.

Development of D_α band symmetrical visible optical diagnostic for boundary reconstruction on EAST tokamak

To investigate the potential of utilizing visible spectral imaging for controlling the plasma boundary shape during stable operation of plasma in future tokamak, a D_α band symmetric visible light diagnostic system was designed and implemented on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak(EAST). This system leverages two symmetric optics for joint plasma imaging. The optical system exhibits a spatial resolution less than 2 mm at the poloidal cross-section, distortion within the field of view below 10%, and relative illumination of 91%.The high-quality images obtained enable clear observation of both the plasma boundary position and the characteristics of components within the vacuum vessel. Following system calibration and coordinate transformation, the image coordinate boundary features are mapped to the tokamak coordinate system. Utilizing this system, the plasma boundary was reconstructed, and the resulting representation showed alignment with the EFIT(Equilibrium Fitting) results. This underscores the system's superior performance in boundary reconstruction applications and provides a diagnostic foundation for boundary shape control based on visible spectral imaging.

Stabilizing iridium sites via interface and reconstruction regulations for water oxidation in alkaline and acidic media

Exploring effective iridium(Ir)-based electrocatalysts with stable iridium centers is highly desirable for oxygen evolution reaction(OER).Herein,we regulated the incorporation manner of Ir in Co_(3)O_(4)support to stabilize the Ir sites for effective OER.When anchored on the surface of Co_(3)O_(4)in the form of Ir(OH)_6 species,the created Ir-OH-Co interface leads to a limited stability and poor acidic OER due to Ir leaching.When doped into Co_(3)O_(4)lattice,the analyses of X-ray absorption spectroscopy,in-situ Raman,and OER measurements show that the partially replacement of Co in Co_(3)O_(4)by Ir atoms inclines to cause strong electronic effect and activate lattice oxygen in the presence of Ir-O-Co interface,and simultaneously master the reconstruction effect to mitigate Ir dissolution,realizing the improved OER activity and stability in alkaline and acidic environments.As a result,Ir_(lat)@Co_(3)O_(4)with Ir loading of 3.67 wt%requires 294±4 mV/285±3 mV and 326±2 mV to deliver 10 mA cm^(-2)in alkaline(0.1 M KOH/1.0 M KOH)and acidic(0.5 M H_(2)SO_(4))solution,respectively,with good stability.

High formability Mg-Zn-Gd wire facilitates ACL reconstruction via its swift degradation to accelerate intra-tunnel endochondral ossification

After reconstructing the anterior cruciate ligament(ACL),unsatisfactory bone tendon interface healing may often induce tunnel enlargement at the early healing stage.With good biological features and high formability,Magnesium-Zinc-Gadolinium(ZG21)wires are developed to bunch the tendon graft for matching the bone tunnel during transplantation.Microstructure,tensile strength,degradation,and cytotoxicity of ZG21 wire are evaluated.The rabbit model is used for assessing the biological effects of ZG21 wire by Micro-CT,histology,and mechanical test.The SEM/EDS,immunochemistry,and in vitro assessments are performed to investigate the underlying mechanism.Material tests demonstrate the high formability of ZG21 wire as surgical suture.Micro-CT shows ZG21 wire degradation accelerates tunnel bone formation,and histologically with earlier and more fibrocartilage regeneration at the healing interface.The mechanical test shows higher ultimate load in the ZG21 group.The SEM/EDS presents ZG21 wire degradation triggered calcium phosphate(Ca-P)deposition.IHC results demonstrate upregulation of Wnt3a,BMP2,and VEGF at the early phase and TGFβ3 and Type II collagen at the late phase of healing.In vitro tests also confirmed the Ca-P in the metal extract could elevate the expression of Wnt3a,βcatenin,ocn and opn to stimulate osteogenesis.Ex vivo tests of clinical samples indicated suturing with ZG21 wire did not weaken the ultimate loading of human tendon tissue.In conclusion,the ZG21 wire is feasible for tendon graft bunching.Its degradation products accelerated intra-tunnel endochondral ossification at the early healing stage and therefore enhanced bone-tendon interface healing in ACL reconstruction.

Trends in Event Understanding and Caption Generation/Reconstruction in Dense Video:A Review

Video description generates natural language sentences that describe the subject,verb,and objects of the targeted Video.The video description has been used to help visually impaired people to understand the content.It is also playing an essential role in devolving human-robot interaction.The dense video description is more difficult when compared with simple Video captioning because of the object’s interactions and event overlapping.Deep learning is changing the shape of computer vision(CV)technologies and natural language processing(NLP).There are hundreds of deep learning models,datasets,and evaluations that can improve the gaps in current research.This article filled this gap by evaluating some state-of-the-art approaches,especially focusing on deep learning and machine learning for video caption in a dense environment.In this article,some classic techniques concerning the existing machine learning were reviewed.And provides deep learning models,a detail of benchmark datasets with their respective domains.This paper reviews various evaluation metrics,including Bilingual EvaluationUnderstudy(BLEU),Metric for Evaluation of Translation with Explicit Ordering(METEOR),WordMover’s Distance(WMD),and Recall-Oriented Understudy for Gisting Evaluation(ROUGE)with their pros and cons.Finally,this article listed some future directions and proposed work for context enhancement using key scene extraction with object detection in a particular frame.Especially,how to improve the context of video description by analyzing key frames detection through morphological image analysis.Additionally,the paper discusses a novel approach involving sentence reconstruction and context improvement through key frame object detection,which incorporates the fusion of large languagemodels for refining results.The ultimate results arise fromenhancing the generated text of the proposedmodel by improving the predicted text and isolating objects using various keyframes.These keyframes identify dense events occurring in the video sequence.

Effects of β-Glucan Supplementation on Repairing of Phenol-Induced Vaginal Mucosal Epithelium Damage in Rats

Objective: To investigate the effects of different concentrations of β-glucan on the repair of damaged vaginal mucosa, the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and the inflammatory factor-6 (IL-6) in vaginal tissues. Methods: Thirty-six adult female specific pathogen free (SPF)-grade Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 phase groups with 12 rats each. Vaginal inflammation rat models were established by injecting phenol gel into the vagina of each rat at a dose of 0.1 ml/100g body weight. After modeling, rats were divided into 4 groups based on different concentrations of the test agent. The control group was injected with 0.5 ml of saline, experimental group A was injected with 0.375 ml saline 0.125 ml β-glucan, experimental group B was injected with 0.25 ml saline 0.25 ml β-glucan, and experimental group C was injected with 0.50 ml β-glucan. The injection sites were selected at the 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions of the vagina. Rats were sacrificed at 7-, 14-, and 28-days post-injection, and tissue samples were collected from the injection sites and prepared for histological analysis. New blood vessels and fibroblast numbers in the tissues were observed after Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. The expression levels of VEGF and IL-6 in the tissues were measured using quantificational reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results: Histological examination of vaginal tissue specimens at 7-, 14-, and 28-days post-injection showed that on day 7, there were no significant changes in the experimental groups compared to the control group. However, on days 14 and 28, the experimental groups showed more new blood vessels, macrophages, and fibroblasts with increased activity compared to the control group. The expression levels of VEGF in vaginal tissues were elevated on days 14 and 28 in the experimental groups. The comparison of IL-6 levels in vaginal tissues on day 28 showed that serum IL-6 levels returned to normal, and there was no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups. Conclusion: In the 3 experimental phases, the increase in VEGF levels in vaginal tissues on day 14 post-injection was more pronounced with higher concentrations of β-glucan, and IL-6 levels returned to normal on day 28. β-Glucan can enhance VEGF levels in damaged vaginal tissues, promote the repair of damaged vaginal tissues, and higher concentrations of β-glucan have a better effect.

Triple-path feature transform network for ring-array photoacoustic tomography image reconstruction

Photoacoustic imaging(PAI)is a noninvasive emerging imaging method based on the photoacoustic effect,which provides necessary assistance for medical diagnosis.It has the characteristics of large imaging depth and high contrast.However,limited by the equipment cost and reconstruction time requirements,the existing PAI systems distributed with annular array transducers are difficult to take into account both the image quality and the imaging speed.In this paper,a triple-path feature transform network(TFT-Net)for ring-array photoacoustic tomography is proposed to enhance the imaging quality from limited-view and sparse measurement data.Specifically,the network combines the raw photoacoustic pressure signals and conventional linear reconstruction images as input data,and takes the photoacoustic physical model as a prior information to guide the reconstruction process.In addition,to enhance the ability of extracting signal features,the residual block and squeeze and excitation block are introduced into the TFT-Net.For further efficient reconstruction,the final output of photoacoustic signals uses‘filter-then-upsample’operation with a pixel-shuffle multiplexer and a max out module.Experiment results on simulated and in-vivo data demonstrate that the constructed TFT-Net can restore the target boundary clearly,reduce background noise,and realize fast and high-quality photoacoustic image reconstruction of limited view with sparse sampling.

Degradable magnesium alloy suture promotes fibrocartilaginous interface regeneration in a rat rotator cuff transosseous repair model

Despite transosseous rotator cuff tear repair using sutures is widely accepted for tendon-bone fixation,the fibrocartilaginous enthesis regeneration is still hardly achieved with the traditional sutures.In the present work,degradable magnesium(Mg)alloy wire was applied to suture supraspinatus tendon in a rat acute rotator cuff tear model with Vicryl Plus 4±0 absorbable suture as control.The shoulder joint humerus-supraspinatus tendon complex specimens were retrieved at 4,8,and 12 weeks after operation.The Mg alloy suture groups showed better biomechanical properties in terms of ultimate load to failure.Gross observation showed that hyperplastic response of the scar tissue at the tendon-bone interface is progressively alleviated over time in the both Mg alloy suture and Vicryl suture groups.In the histological analysis,for Mg alloy suture groups,chondrocytes appear to proliferate at 4 weeks postoperatively,and the tendon-bone interface showed an orderly structural transition zone at 8 weeks postoperatively.The collagenous fiber tended to be aligned and the tendon-bone interlocking structures apparently formed,where transitional structure from unmineralized fibrocartilage to mineralized fibrocartilage was closer to the native fibrocartilaginous enthesis.In vivo degradation of the magnesium alloy wire was completed within 12 weeks.The results indicated that Mg alloy wire was promising as degradable suture with the potential to promotes fibrocartilaginous interface regeneration in rotator cuff repair.

Self-derivation and reconstruction of silver nanoparticle reinforced cobalt-nickel bimetallic hydroxides through interface engineering for overall water splitting

Designing efficient and long-lasting non-metal electrocatalysts is an urgent task for addressing the issue of kinetic hysteresis in electrochemical oxidation reactions.The bimetallic hydroxides,catalyzing the oxygen evolution reaction(OER),have significant research potential because hydroxide reconstruction to generate an active phase is a remarkable advantage.Herein,the complete reconstruction of ultrathin CoNi(OH)_(2) nanosheets was achieved by embedding Ag nanoparticles into the hydroxide to induce a spontaneous redox reaction(SRR),forming heterojunction Ag@CoNi(OH)_(2) for bifunctional hydrolysis.Theoretical calculations and in situ Raman and ex situ characterizations revealed that the inductive effect of the Ag cation redistributed the charge to promote phase transformation to highly activate Ag-modified hydroxides.The Co-Ni dual sites in Co/NiOOH serve as novel active sites for optimizing the intermediates,thereby weakening the barrier formed by OOH^*.Ag@CoNi(OH)_(2) required a potential of 1.55 V to drive water splitting at a current density of 10 mA cm^(-2),with nearly 98.6% Faraday efficiency.Through ion induction and triggering of electron regulation in the OER via the synergistic action of the heterogeneous interface and surface reconstruction,this strategic design can overcome the limited capacity of bimetallic hydroxides and bridge the gap between the basic theory and industrialization of water decomposition.

Preheating-assisted solid-state friction stir repair of Al-Mg-Si alloy plate at different rotational speeds

Additive friction stir deposition(AFSD)is a novel structural repair and manufacturing technology has become a research hotspot at home and abroad in the past five years.In this work,the microstructural evolution and mechanical performance of the Al-Mg-Si alloy plate repaired by the preheating-assisted AFSD process were investigated.To evaluate the tool rotation speed and substrate preheating for repair quality,the AFSD technique was used to additively repair 5 mm depth blind holes on 6061 aluminum alloy substrates.The results showed that preheat-assisted AFSD repair significantly improved joint bonding and joint strength compared to the control non-preheat substrate condition.Moreover,increasing rotation speed was also beneficial to improve the metallurgical bonding of the interface and avoid volume defects.Under preheating conditions,the UTS and elongation were positively correlated with rotation speed.Under the process parameters of preheated substrate and tool rotation speed of 1000 r/min,defect-free specimens could be obtained accompanied by tensile fracture occurring in the substrate rather than the repaired zone.The UTS and elongation reached the maximum values of 164.2MPa and 13.4%,which are equivalent to 99.4%and 140%of the heated substrate,respectively.