Experimental Parametric Investigation of Nanosecond Laser-Induced Surface Graphitization of Nano-Crystalline Diamond.

While nano-crystalline diamond (NCD) is a promising engineering composite material for its unique mechanical properties, achieving the ultrahigh surface quality of NCD-based components through conventional grinding and polishing is challenging due to its exceptional hardness and brittleness. In the present work, we experimentally investigate the nanosecond laser ablation-induced graphitization characteristics of NCD, which provides a critical pretreatment method of NCD for realizing its superlative surface finish. Specifically, systematic experimental investigations of the nanosecond pulsed laser ablation of NCD are carried out, in which the characteristics of graphitization are qualitatively characterized by the Raman spectroscopy detection of the ablated area of the microhole and microgroove. Subsequently, the influence of laser processing parameters on the degree and morphological characteristics of graphitization is evaluated based on experimental data and related interpretation, from which optimized parameters for maximizing the graphitization of NCD are then identified. The findings reported in the current work provide guidance for promoting the machinability of NCD via laser irradiation-induced surface modification.

Ozone-Induced Rapid and Green Synthesis of Polydopamine Coatings with High Uniformity and Enhanced Stability.

The development of green, controllable, and simplified pathways for rapid dopamine polymerization holds significant importance in the field of polydopamine (PDA) surface chemistry. In this study, a green strategy is successfully devised to accelerate and control the polymerization of dopamine through the introduction of ozone (O3 ). The findings reveal that ozone serves as an eco-friendly trigger, significantly accelerating the dopamine polymerization process across a broad pH range, spanning from 4.0 to 10.0. Notably, the deposition rate of PDA coatings on a silicon wafer reaches an impressive value of ≈64.8 nm h-1 (pH 8.5), which is 30 times higher than that of traditional air-assisted PDA and comparable to the fastest reported method. Furthermore, ozone exhibits the ability to accelerate dopamine polymerization even under low temperatures. It also enables control over the inhibition-initiation of the polymerization process by regulating the "ON/OFF" mode of the ozone gas. Moreover, the ozone-induced PDA coatings demonstrate exceptional characteristics, including high homogeneity, good hydrophilicity, and remarkable chemical and mechanical stability. Additionally, the ozone-induced PDA coatings can be rapidly and effectively deposited onto a wide range of substrates, particularly those that are adhesion-resistant, such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).

Research on the collapse characteristics of single cavitation bubble near solid particle by the VOF method.

In this paper, the collapse behavior of a single cavitation bubble at different distances near a solid particle of typical scales is numerically simulated and researched with the volume of fluid (VOF) method. Based on the key parameters analysis of the pressure field, velocity vector, collapse time the tendency of cavitation bubble collapse characteristics at different distances during the change of particle size is studied with the variable of the distance and relative size between the particle and the cavitation bubble. The dimensionless distance parameter 'γ' is specifically presented in the simulation process, the cavitation bubble collapse impact is largely directed to the particle when 3>γ > 2, while the wall hardly affects the interaction between the cavitation bubble and the solid particle as γ > 3. The results illustrate that as the solid particle and wall exist, the distance and particle size affect both the peak collapse pressure and the collapse jet velocity of the cavitation bubble, and the influence of solid wall on the cavitation bubble at the same distance is much greater than that of solid particles. When the particle size increases, the particle gradually affects the cavitation bubble in a way similar to the wall. While as the distance decreases or the particle size increases, the influence of particle and wall on the evolution process of the cavitation bubble expands, meanwhile, the collapse pressure and collapse jet velocity of the cavitation bubble are promoted with the optimized distance and particle size, which brings marvelous cavitation effect. The numerical methods and conclusions of this paper provide a valuable reference for cavitation applications of sand-containing fluids.

Impact of Traditional Chinese Medicine on Prognosis of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: In a previous study, we found that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) alleviated the clinical symptoms and improved the quality of life (QoL) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). OBJECTIVES: A cohort was continuously followed up to determine the impact of the TCM adjuvant therapies on the prognosis of HCC after conventional treatments. METHODS: We did a retrospective monocentric cohort study including 175 eligible patients. The participants who received TCM adjuvant therapies were termed as TCM group. For the purpose of stratification analysis, the patients who received TCM adjuvant therapies over 3 months per year were further classified into the high frequency group, while the rest of the TCM users were classified into the low frequency group. Non-users were recorded as the control group. The primary outcome was overall survival (OS) and the secondary outcome was the mean progression-free survival (mPFS) primarily introduced in this study, referring to the time from initial diagnosis to the latest progression over the number of disease progressions. Analyses used Cox proportional hazards and Kaplan-Meier (K-M) methods, adjusted for stratification factors. RESULTS: Until June 30, 2021, 56 patients survived, 21 patients were lost to follow-up, and 98 patients died from the disease. Each disease progression of every individual was recorded, and most of the PFS was within 1 year. The baseline data of the allocated groups were balanced, the result revealed that TCM adjuvant therapies might have little influence on OS (P = .129). However, the 1, 3, and 5-year progression-free survival rates of the patients in TCM and control group were 68.75%, 37.50%; 25.00%, 8.33% and 8.33%, 2.08%, respectively, indicating TCM use significantly extended the mPFS, and decreased the risk of disease progression by a factor of 0.676 (P = .006). In the patients with BCLC stage B HCC, compared with controls, a 37-month median OS advantage in the high frequency group was noted (P = .045); and the high frequency of TCM use significantly suppressed disease progression (P = .001). CONCLUSIONS: The present study revealed that TCM adjuvant therapies could postpone disease progression in HCC. Furthermore, using TCM over 3 months per year might extend OS in patients with intermediate HCC.

Total flavonoids of Oldenlandia diffusa (Willd.) Roxb. suppresses the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma through endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated autophagy and apoptosis.

Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world. Although the current treatment methods for HCC are gradually increasing, its efficacy still cannot meet the medical needs of patients with liver cancer, and new and effective treatment strategies are urgently needed. The total flavonoids of Oldenlandia diffusa (FOD) are the main active components in Oldenlandia diffusa, which have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-tumor effects, but their mechanism of action in liver cancer is unclear. In this study, we examined the effect of FOD on HCC. Using both in vitro and in vivo models, we confirmed that FOD inhibited HCC proliferation and induced apoptosis and autophagy. Mechanistic studies have shown that FOD induces apoptosis and activates autophagy in HCC cells by inducing endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress) and activating the PERK-eIF2α-ATF4 signaling pathway. Taken together, our results suggest that FOD is a potential anticancer drug targeting ER stress for the treatment of HCC.

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α: A critical target for inhibiting the metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Metastasis is one of the major reasons for patient mortality in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and the progression of HCC to a metastatic state depends on the local microenvironment. Hypoxia is a key condition affecting the microenvironment of HCC. Currently, various studies have shown that the expression of hypoxia-ainducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is associated with the invasion and metastasis of HCC. High expression of HIF-1α often leads to poor prognosis in patients with HCC. In this review, the molecular structure of HIF-1α is described, and the expression pattern of HIF-1α in HCC under hypoxia, which is associated with metastasis and poor prognosis in HCC, is explained. The molecular mechanisms of HIF-1α function and the metastasis of HCC are further discussed. The modulation of HIF-1α can reduce sorafenib resistance and improve the prognosis of patients after TACE. Therefore, HIF-1α may be a critical target for inhibiting HCC metastasis in the future.

Effect of cone angles of a hydrocyclone for the separation of waste plastics with low value of density difference.

The cone angle of a hydrocyclone is believed to be an important parameter to affect the separation performance. For the recycling of waste plastics, this paper focused on the study of the influence of cone angles on the separation of light dispersed plastics (PET) and heavy dispersed plastics (PVC) by experiments and numerical simulations. The cone angle was changed from 3° to 28° either at given length of the cylindrical section or at fixed total length of the hydrocyclone. The separation performance varied with cone angles at given length of the cylindrical section more greatly than that at fixed total length of the hydrocyclone. Results show that particles with different sizes in mixture exhibited discrepant separation behaviors at various cone angles. There was an optimum cone angle at which the Newton efficiency peaked as 90.2%, while the purity of PET could also reach the highest. The proportion of cylindrical section could be properly small for the enhancement of Newton efficiency.

Anti-Liver Fibrosis Activity and the Potential Mode of Action of Ruangan Granules: Integrated Network Pharmacology and Metabolomics.

Ruangan granules (RGGs) have been used to treat liver fibrosis with good clinical efficacy for many years. However, the potential mechanism of action of RGGs against liver fibrosis is still unclear. In this study, we evaluated the quality and safety of this preparation and aimed to explore the anti-liver fibrosis activity and potential mode of action of RGGs using network pharmacology and metabolomics. The results showed that RGGs contained abundant ferulic acid, salvianolic acid B and paeoniflorin, and at the given contents and doses, RGGs were safe and presented anti-liver fibrosis activity. They presented anti-liver fibrosis activity by improving liver function (ALT and AST, p < 0.01) and pathology and decreasing fibrosis markers in the serum of rats caused by CCl4, including HA, LN, PC III, HYP, CoII-V, and α-SMA, and the oxidant stress and inflammatory response were also alleviated in a dose-dependent manner, especially for high-dose RGGs (p < 0.01). Further studies showed that RGGs inhibited the activation of the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway in rats induced by CCl4, regulated pyrimidine metabolism, improved oxidative stress and the inflammatory response by regulating mitochondrial morphology, and alleviated liver fibrosis. Luteolin, quercetin, morin and kaempferol were active compounds and presented the cytotoxicity toward to LX-02 cells. This study provides an overall view of the mechanism underlying the action of RGGs protecting against liver fibrosis.

Study on the light medium separation of waste plastics with hydrocyclones.

The separation of waste plastics is an important part of solid waste recycling. Based on the density difference between high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP), this paper used the experimental research and CFD numerical simulation to study the separation performance by using the light medium separation technology with hydrocyclones. Results showed that with the increase of feed flow rate, the pressure drop increased as a power function, the Newton efficiency peaked at the feed flow rate of 3.6 m3/h and peaked at the volume ratio of PP to HDPE particles of 2.0 respectively.

Safety and Efficacy of En Bloc Transurethral Resection With 1.9 µm Vela Laser for Treatment of Non-Muscle-invasive Bladder Cancer.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of 1.9 µm Vela laser in treatment of primary non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. METHODS: The data of the patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer treated by either en bloc transurethral resection with 1.9 µm Vela laser (n = 26) or conventional transurethral resection of bladder tumor (n = 44) were analyzed retrospectively. The preoperative characteristics and intraoperative complications were compared in the 2 groups. RESULTS: Patients who were treated by 1.9 µm Vela laser obtained a higher rate of specimens meeting the requirements of pathologic assessment for tumor staging compared with the patients treated by conventional transurethral resection of bladder tumor. No obturator nerve reflex and bladder perforation occurred during surgery in the 1.9 µm Vela laser group. However, 7 patients in the conventional transurethral resection of bladder tumor group encountered obturator nerve reflex, and 3 of them encountered bladder perforation (P <.05). There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in operative duration and transfusion rate. Patients in the 1.9 µm Vela laser group had shorter postoperative continuous bladder irrigation time than that in the conventional transurethral resection of bladder tumor group. There was no significant difference in the overall recurrence rate between the 2 groups during the follow-up periods. CONCLUSION: En bloc transurethral resection with 1.9 µm Vela laser in the treatment of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer demonstrates an advantage over conventional transurethral resection of bladder tumor in reducing intraoperative complications, improving the quality of the specimens admitted for pathologic assessment, and shortening the duration of postoperative continuous bladder irrigation.

Effect of the medium's density on the hydrocyclonic separation of waste plastics with different densities.

Hydrocyclones can be applied to recycle waste plastics with different densities through separating plastics based on their differences in densities. In the process, the medium density is one of key parameters and the value of the medium's density is not just the average of the density of two kinds of plastics separated. Based on the force analysis and establishing the equation of motion of particles in the hydrocyclone, a formula to calculate the optimum separation medium density has been deduced. This value of the medium's density is a function of various parameters including the diameter, density, radial position and tangential velocity of particles, and viscosity of the medium. Tests on the separation performance of the hydrocyclone has been conducted with PET and PVC particles. The theoretical result appeared to be in good agreement with experimental results.

Dipsacus asperoides polysaccharide induces apoptosis in osteosarcoma cells by modulating the PI3K/Akt pathway.

An alkaline extractable and water-soluble polysaccharide (ADAPW), with an average molecular weight of 16kDa, was purified from the alkaline extraction of the roots of Dipsacus asperoides. Monosaccharide component analysis indicated that ADAPW was composed of glucose, rhamnose, arabinose and mannose in a molar ratio of 8.54:1.83:1.04:0.42. This study aimed to investigate the effect of ADAPW on the viability of human osteosarcoma cell line HOS cells, and explore the possible mechanisms. The results revealed that ADAPW inhibited the proliferation of HOS cells in a dose-dependent manner by inducing apoptosis. Furthermore, treatment with ADAPW caused a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In addition, Western blot analysis demonstrated that ADAPW down-regulated the protein expressions of PI3K and phosphorylated Akt (pAkt) in HOS cells. Taken together, induction of apoptosis on HOS cells by ADAPW was mainly associated with ROS production, mitochondrial dysfunction, and inhibition of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. So this finding suggests that ADAPW may be potentially effective in cancer prevention against human osteosarcoma.

saRNA guided iNOS up-regulation improves erectile function of diabetic rats.

PURPOSE: Promoter targeted saRNAs mediate sequence specific up-regulation of gene expression. We explored the therapeutic effect of RNA activation mediated iNOS gene activation on improving erectile function in a rat model of diabetes mellitus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An optimal saRNA sequence specific for iNOS promoter was cloned into an adenoviral vector, resulting in AdU6/shiNOS and AdU6/shControl. The corresponding viruses were used to transduce cultured rat cavernous smooth muscle cells. Streptozotocin induced diabetes models were established in rats and used to test the effects of intracavernous delivery of iNOS saRNA viruses on erectile function. iNOS expression in the cavernous smooth muscle cells or penile tissue of treated rats was assessed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot. Cyclic guanosine monophosphate was analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Intracavernous pressure in response to cavernous nerve stimulation was measured using a data acquisition system on post-injection days 1, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 14. RESULTS: Adenovirus mediated expression of iNOS saRNA caused sustained up-regulation of iNOS in cavernous smooth muscle cells. Intracavernous injection of AdU6/shiNOS activated iNOS expression in vivo and significantly increased peak intracavernous pressure in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats via nitric oxide/intracellular cyclic guanosine monophosphate activation. CONCLUSIONS: Results show that saRNA mediated iNOS over expression in the penis can restore erectile function in streptozocin diabetic rats via the nitric oxide-cyclic guanosine monophosphate pathway.