Enhanced removal for H2S by Cu-ordered mesoporous carbon foam.

It is of great significance to protect workers from Sulphur compounds in efficient ways during the regular overhaul or emergency management. Efficient adsorbent with low pressure drop is highly desired in protective equipment. In this work, Cu-ordered mesoporous carbon foams (MeCF) were prepared through the sol-gel casting and wet-impregnation process. The obtained carbon foams possessed typical sponge structure with high porosity and copper particles attached on the skeleton. The characterization on morphology, structure and property illustrated that the presence of mesopores could effectively inhibit the growth of copper particle on MeCF. As the representative of Sulphur compounds, H2S was selected to evaluate the protective performance. Porous copper carbon foams with moderate loading rate (3%) of copper species exhibited longest breakthrough time and largest adsorption capacity. Compared with the microporous foams, MeCF-3 displayed promoted protective performance with breakthrough time of 54.7 min and adsorption capacity of 27.8 mg/g. The enhancement on capabilities was attributed to small-sized copper species with high activity and better dispersion on mesoporous structure. These results reveled that MeCF with sponge frameworks, developed mesoporous structure and high dispersion of active species would be a promising candidate for the elimination of H2S in personal protective equipment.

[Effect of remote controlled injection manipulator system assisted percutaneous kyphoplasty for treatment of rupture of posterior vertebral osteoporotic vertebral fracture].

Objective: To evaluate the effect of remote controlled injection manipulator system (RCIM) assisted percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) for the treatment of rupture of posterior vertebral osteoporotic vertebral fracture by comparing with intermittent hand bolus injection of bone cement during operation. Methods: Between September 2010 and January 2016, a retrospective analysis was made on the clinical data of 48 senile patients with single segment rupture of the posterior vertebral osteoporotic thoracolumbar fracture undergoing PKP who accorded with the inclusion criteria. Of 48 patients, 22 received intermittent hand bolus injection of bone cement in the control group, and 26 received RCIM assisted bone cement perfusion in the trial group. There was no significant difference in age, gender, duration of disease, causes of injury, implicated vertebral bodies, bone mineral density T value, pain duration, preoperative visual analogue scale (VAS), relative vertebral body height in the anterior part, and posterior convex Cobb angle between groups ( P>0.05). The bone cement perfusion time, the radiation dose of both doctors and patients, and the amount of bone cement injection were recorded; treatment effects were evaluated based on VAS score, posterior convex Cobb angle, relative ver-tebral body height in the anterior part, ratios of bone cement diffusion area and bone cement leakage rate. Results: The patients were followed up for 6 months; no complications of toxic effect of bone cement, spinal cord or nerve root injuries, infection and vascular embolization occurred during follow-up period. There was no significant difference in bone cement injection amount and radiation dose of doctors between groups ( P>0.05), but bone cement perfusion time, ratios of bone cement diffusion area, and radiation dose of patients were significantly lower in the trial group than the control group ( P<0.05). Bone cement leakage was observed in 6 cases of the control group (27.27%) and 2 cases of the trial group (7.69%), showing significant difference between groups ( χ2=4.850, P=0.029); no cement leakage into the spinal canal was found in both groups. VAS score, relative vertebral body height in the anterior part, and posterior convex Cobb angle were significantly improved at 3 days and 6 months after operation when compared with preoperative ones ( P<0.05), but no significant difference was observed in the above indexes between groups at 3 days and 6 months after operation ( P>0.05). Conclusion: Satisfactory effectiveness can be achieved by applying RCIM assisted PKP for the treatment of rupture of posterior vertebral osteoporotic vertebral fracture. RCIM can shorten perfusion time, reduce radiation dose, and decrease incidence of bone cement leakage.

[Anterior lumbar interbody fusion with self-locked cage for treatment of central type lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion and recessive lumbar segmental instability].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) with self-locked Cage in the treatment of central type lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion and recessive lumbar segmental instability. METHODS: Between March 2010 and February 2012, 31 patients with central type lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion and recessive lumbar segmental instability were treated with decompression and ALIF assisted by self-locked Cage through the mini-incision and retroperitoneal approach. There were 20 males and 11 females with the mean age of 46 years (range, 34-58 years). And the disease duration ranged from 5 to 32 months (mean, 16 months). The lesion located at the L3,4 level in 2 cases, L4,5 in 20 cases, and L5, S1 in 9 cases. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, bedridden time, hospitalization time, and complications were recorded. The effectiveness was evaluated by Oswestry disability index (ODI) and visual analogue scale (VAS). Lumbar X-ray films and three-dimensional CT scan were taken to evaluate the fusion and the variation of the height and Cobb angle of intervertebral space. RESULTS: The mean operation time was 102 minutes; the mean intraoperative blood loss was 121 mL; the mean bedridden time was 5 days; and the mean hospitalization time was 11 days. Intraoperative peritoneum tear and ascending lumbar vein tear, postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leakage, pain at donor site, and asymmetric elevated skin temperature of the lower extremity occurred in 2 cases, 1 case, 1 case, 4 cases, and 2 cases respectively, which were relieved after symptomatic treatment. All cases were followed up 12-28 months (mean, 20 months). No infection, recurrence, deep venous thrombosis, or retrograde ejaculation was observed after operation. MRI showed complete decompression at 3 months after operation. At last follow-up, the scores of ODI, VAS of lumbars and lower limbs, the intervertebral height, and Cobb angle were significantly improved when compared with preoperative ones (P < 0.05); CT scan showed bone fusion in all cases. CONCLUSION: The clinical outcome of ALIF with self-locked Cage through mini-incision and retroperitoneal approach is satisfactory in treatment of central type lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion and recessive lumbar segmental instability. It can retain the posterior spinal construction and has the advantages of less trauma and bleeding, immediate stability, high bone fusion rate, and so on.

[Effects of NaCl stress on polyamine contents in grafted cucumber leaves].

With a Japanese salt-tolerant pumpkin cultivar 'King Shintosa' (Cucurbita maxima x C. moschata) as rootstock and a cucumber (Cucumis sativus) cultivar 'Xintaimici' as cion, this paper studied the temporal dynamics of different form polyamines contents in the leaves of grafted and own-rooted cucumber plants under 100 mmol x L(-1) NaCl stress. The results showed that the free putrescence (Put) content of graftedplant leaves (G2) was significantly higher than that of own-rooted plant leaves (O2), except on the second day of NaCl stress. During the whole period of NaCl stress, the free spermidine (Spd) and spermine (Spm) contents of G2 were significantly higher than those of O2, and the total free polyamine content of G2 peaked on the fourth day of stress. The free Put/PAs value of G2 was significantly lower than that of O2 except on the fourth day of stress, but (Spd + Spm)/Put value was significantly higher than that of O2 during the whole period of stress. In the test period, the contents of conjugated and bound Put, Spd, Spm of G2 were significantly higher than those of O2. The total conjugated and bound polyamine contents of G2 peaked on the sixth day of stress. Both conjugated Put/PAs and conjugated (Spd + Spm)/Put values had a similar changing trend to free polyamine. The bound Put/PAs value of G2 was significantly lower than that of O2 except on the sixth day of stress, while the bound (Spd + Spm)/Put value was significantly higher than that of O2 during the whole period of stress. All of these demonstrated that grafted cucumber plant possessed a stronger salt tolerance.

[Effects of NaCl stress on the growth, antioxidant enzyme activities and reactive oxygen metabolism of grafted eggplant].

By the method of hydroponics and with the salt-tolerant eggplant cultivar 'Torvum Vigor' (Solanum torvum) from Japan as rootstock and the cultivar 'Suqiqie' (Solanum melongena L. ) as scion, this paper studied the differences between grafted and own-root seedlings in their photosynthetic characteristics, antioxidant enzyme activities, and reactive oxygen metabolism under 80 mmol x L(-1) NaCl stress. The results showed that under NaCl stress, the dry mass, chlorophyll content and photosynthetic rate of grafted seedlings were 67.8%, 8. 8% and 31.1% higher than those of own-root seedlings, respectively, and the antioxidant enzyme activities were significantly higher while the O2* producing rate and the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondiadehyde (MDA) contents were significantly lower in grafted seedlings leaves than in own-root seedlings. For both grafted and own-root seedlings, NaCl stress reduced the chlorophyll content and photosynthetic rate, but increased the O2* producing rate and the H2O2 and MDA contents significantly. However, the growth of grafted seedlings was less affected by NaCl stress. The stronger salt tolerance of grafted eggplant seedlings was related to their higher antioxidant enzyme activities and less oxidative damage.

Structure function differences in nonpeptide CCR1 antagonists for human and mouse CCR1.

A useful strategy for identifying ligand binding domains of G protein-coupled receptors has been the exploitation of species differences in antagonist potencies. We have used this approach for the CCR1 chemokine receptor with a novel series of antagonists, the 4-hydroxypiperidines, which were discovered by high throughput screening of human CCR1 and subsequently optimized. The structure-activity relationships for a number of different 4-hydroxypiperidine antagonists for human and mouse CCR1 were examined by receptor binding and functional assays. These compounds exhibit major differences in their rank order of potency for the human and mouse chemokine receptor CCR1. For example, the initial lead template, BX 510, which was a highly potent functional antagonist for human CCR1 (K(i) = 21 nM) was >400-fold less active on mouse CCR1 (K(i) = 9150 nM). However, increasing the length of the linker between the piperidine and dibenzothiepine groups by one methylene group generated a compound, BX 511, which was equipotent for both human and mouse CCR1. These and other analogs of the lead template BX 510, which have major differences in potency for human and mouse CCR1, are described, and a model for their interaction with human CCR1 is presented.