Promoting Water Oxidation by Proton Acceptable Groups Surrounding Catalyst on Electrode Surface.

Large-scale hydrogen production through water splitting represents an optimal approach for storing sustainable but intermittent energy sources. However, water oxidation, a complex and sluggish reaction, poses a significant bottleneck for water splitting efficiency. The impact of outer chemical environments on the reaction kinetics of water oxidation catalytic centers remains unexplored. Herein, chemical environment impacts were integrated by featuring methylpyridinium cation group (Py+) around the classic Ru(bpy)(tpy) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, tpy = 2,2':6',2''-terpyridine) water oxidation catalyst on the electrode surface via electrochemical co-polymerization. The presence of Py+ groups could significantly enhance the turnover frequencies of Ru(bpy)(tpy), surpassing the performance of typical proton acceptors such as pyridine and benzoic acid anchored around the catalyst. Mechanistic investigations reveal that the flexible internal proton acceptor anions induced by Py+ around Ru(bpy)(tpy) are more effective than conventionally anchored proton acceptors, which promoted the rate-determining proton transfer process and enhanced the rate of water nucleophilic attack during O-O bond formation. This study may provide a novel perspective on achieving efficient water oxidation systems by integrating cations into the outer chemical environments of catalytic centers.

Single-Cell Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Dynamic Populations of Vascular Cells in Neointimal Hyperplasia.

BACKGROUND: Neointimal hyperplasia (NIH) is the pathological basis of vascular injury disease. Vascular cells are the dominant cells in the process of NIH, but the extent of heterogeneity amongst them is still unclear. METHODS: A mouse model of NIH was constructed by inducing carotid artery ligation. Single-cell sequencing was then used to analyze the transcriptional profile of vascular cells. Cluster features were determined by functional enrichment analysis, gene set scoring, pseudo-time analysis, and cell-cell communication analysis. Additionally, immunofluorescence staining was conducted on vascular tissues from fibroblast lineage-traced (PdgfraDreER-tdTomato) mice to validate the presence of Pecam1+Pdgfra+tdTomato+ cells. RESULTS: The left carotid arteries (ligation) were compared to right carotid arteries (sham) from ligation-induced NIH C57BL/6 mice. Integrative analyses revealed a high level of heterogeneity amongst vascular cells, including fourteen clusters and seven cell types. We focused on three dominant cell types: endothelial cells (ECs), vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMCs), and fibroblasts. The major findings were: (1) four subpopulations of ECs, including ECs4, mesenchymal-like ECs (ECs1 and ECs2), and fibro-like ECs (ECs3); (2) four subpopulations of fibroblasts, including pro-inflammatory Fibs-1, Sca1+ Fibs-2, collagen-producing Fibs-3, and mesenchymal-like Fibs-4; (3) four subpopulations of vSMCs, including vSMCs-1, vSMCs-2, vSMCs-3, and vSMCs-3-derived vSMCs; (4) ECs3 express genes related to extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling and cell migration, and fibro-like vSMCs showed strong chemokine secretion and relatively high levels of proteases; (5) fibro-like vSMCs that secrete Vegfa interact with ECs mainly through vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (Vegfr2). CONCLUSIONS: This study presents the dynamic cellular landscape within NIH arteries and reveals potential relationships between several clusters, with a specific focus on ECs3 and fibro-like vSMCs. These two subpopulations may represent potential target cells for the treatment of NIH.

A silk-based hydrogel containing dexamethasone and lipoic acid microcrystals for local delivery to the inner ear.

Local drug delivery has been exploited recently to treat hearing loss, as this method can both bypass the blood-labyrinth barrier and provide sustained drug release. Combined drug microcrystals (MCs) offer additional advantages for sensorineural hearing loss treatment via intratympanic (IT) injection due to their shape effect and combination strategy. In this study, to endow viscous effects of hydrogels, nonspherical dexamethasone (DEX) and lipoic acid (LA) MCs were incorporated into silk fibroin (SF) hydrogels, which were subsequently administered to the tympanic cavity to investigate their pharmaceutical properties. First, we prepared DEX and LA MCs by a traditional precipitation technique followed by SF hydrogel incorporation (SF+DEX+LA). After characterization of the physicochemical features, including morphology, rheology, and dissolution, both a suspension of combined DEX and LA MCs (DEX+LA) and SF+DEX+LA were administered to guinea pigs by IT injection, after which the pharmacokinetics, biodegradation and biocompatibility were evaluated. To our surprise, compared to the DEX+LA group, the pharmacokinetics of the SF+DEX+LA hydrogel group did not improve significantly, which may be ascribed to their nonspherical shape and deposition effects of the drugs MCs. The cochlear tissue in each group displayed good morphology, with no obvious inflammatory reactions. This combined MC suspension has the clear advantages of no vehicle, easy scale-up preparation, and good biocompatibility and outcomes, which paves the way for practical treatment of hearing loss via local drug delivery.

Developing a conceptual model for understanding caregiving experience and their impacts on quality of life for Chinese breast cancer family caregivers: A qualitative study.

AIM: The purpose of this study was to understand the caregiving experiences of breast cancer family caregivers and explore the profound impacts of those experiences on their quality of life. DESIGN: A qualitative research method was used. METHODS: We extended invitations to 23 family caregivers of outpatients and inpatients receiving breast surgery and oncology treatments in Taiyuan, China, to participate in semi-structured interviews. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the interview data. RESULTS: Four themes and associated categories were identified: (1) changes in family dynamics, (2) the socio-medical context, (3) interactions between family and society, (4) self-efficacy and nine subthemes and their related categories, where virtually all participants expressed future uncertainty, emotional contagion, and personal challenges, and self-efficacy had a moderating influence on the first three themes. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: This study did not involve direct participation of patients or the public. However, their experiences and perspectives on caregiving were indirectly reflected through the insights provided by the family caregivers who participated in the interviews. Their valuable input contributed to a deeper understanding of the caregiving experience and its impact on the quality of life for Chinese breast cancer family caregivers.

Bioinspired photoelectrochemical NADH regeneration based on a molecular catalyst-modified photocathode.

For photoelectrochemical NADH regeneration, an electrode-supported "lipid bilayer membrane" photocathode based on a p-Si semiconductor, an electron transport mediator (OBV2+), and a [Rh(Cp*)(bpy)Cl]+ catalyst was constructed by self-assembly. Mechanistic study shows that OBV2+ can enhance the charge transfer between the semiconductor and catalyst, leading to a significant improvement of the NADH photo-regeneration rate.

Development and validation of a prognostic nomogram for predicting cancer-specific survival in advanced endometrial carcinoma after surgery: a retrospective analysis of the SEER Database.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to construct and validate a prognostic nomogram to predict cancer-specific survival (CSS) after surgery in patients with advanced endometrial carcinoma (EC). DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Database contains cancer incidence and survival data from population-based cancer registries in the USA. A total of 5445 patients from the SEER Database diagnosed with advanced EC between 2004 and 2015 were included and randomised 7:3 into a training cohort (n=3812) and a validation cohort (n=1633). OUTCOME MEASURE: CSS. RESULTS: The nomograms for CSS included 10 variables (positive regional nodes, age, tumour size, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, grade, ethnicity, income, radiation, chemotherapy and historical stage) based on the forward stepwise regression results. They revealed discrimination and calibration using the concordance index (C-index) and area under the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve, with a C-index value of 0.7324 (95% CI=0.7181 to 0.7468) and 0.7511 (95% CI=0.7301 to 0.7722) for the training and validation cohorts, respectively. Using calibration plots, a high degree of conformance was shown between the predicted and observed results. Additionally, a comparison of the nomogram and FIGO staging based on changes in the C-index, net reclassification index and integrated discrimination improvement demonstrated that the nomogram had better accuracy and efficacy. CONCLUSIONS: We successfully constructed an accurate and effective nomogram to predict CSS in patients with advanced EC, which may help clinicians determine optimal individualised treatment strategies for patients with advanced EC. The predictive performance of the nomogram was evaluated thoroughly, but only internally. Therefore, further validation using different data sources is warranted in future related studies.

Data mining from process monitoring of typical polluting enterprise.

With the increasing volume of environmental monitoring data, extracting valuable insights from multivariate time series sensor data can facilitate comprehensive information utilization and support informed decision-making in environmental management. However, there is a dearth of comprehensive research on multivariate data analysis for process monitoring in typical polluting enterprises. In this study, an artificial neural network model based on back-propagation algorithm (BP-ANN) was developed to predict the wastewater and exhaust gas emissions using IoT data obtained from process monitoring of a typical polluting enterprise located in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China. The results indicate that the model constructed has a high predictive coefficient of determination (R2) with values of 0.8510, 0.9565, 0.9561, 0.9677, and 0.9061 for chemical oxygen demand (COD), potential of hydrogen (pH), electrical conductivity (EC), flue gas emission (FGE), and non-methane hydrocarbon concentration (NMHC) respectively. For the first time, the variable importance measure (VIM)-assisted BP-ANN was employed to investigate the internal and external correlations between wastewater and exhaust gas treatment, thereby enhancing the interpretability of mapping features in the BP-ANN model. The predicted errors for pH and FGE have been demonstrated to fall within the range of - 0.62 ~ 0.30 and - 0.21 ~ 0.15 m3/s, respectively, with average relative errors of 1.05% and 9.60%, which is advantageous in detecting anomalous data and forecasting pollution indicator values. Our approach successfully addresses the challenge of segregating data analysis for wastewater disposal and exhaust gas disposal in the process monitoring of polluting enterprises, while also unearthing potential variables that significantly contribute to the BP-ANN model, thereby facilitating the selection and extraction of characteristic variables.

Optimized H2-evolving dye-sensitized LaFeO3 photocathodes prepared via the layer-by-layer assembly of dyes and catalysts.

A molecular dye and a molecular catalyst were loaded onto the surface of a mesoporous LaFeO3 (LFO) film via layer-by-layer assembly relying on the coordination of phosphates and Zr4+. After assembling six layers of the dye and four layers of the catalyst, the (NiP-4 + PQA-6)@LFO photocathode exhibited a significant photocurrent for light-driven H2 generation.

Intratympanic microcrystals of dexamethasone and lipoic acid for the treatment of cisplatin-induced inner ear injury.

Steroids (anti-inflammatory drugs) combined with antioxidants are frequently prescribed to treat cisplatin (CP)-induced hearing loss in the clinic. Compared to systemic administration of free drugs, local drug delivery systems offer better therapeutic qualities and patient compliance since they not only can bypass the blood-labyrinth barrier but also can perform sustained release. In this work, dexamethasone (DEX) and lipoic acid (LA) non-spherical microcrystals (MCs) were prepared without complicated chemical modification. Following a series of physical characterizations, including morphology, stability and injectability, dissolution and round window membrane distribution of MCs, DEX MCs, LA MCs and the simple mixture of DEX MCs + LA MCs (combination group) were administered in guinea pigs by intratympanic injection. We found that LA MCs enabled improvement of DEX absorption in the combination group compared to a single dose. In addition, no significant morphological changes or inflammatory responses were observed in cochlear tissue, indicating good biocompatibility. Finally, the combination group also demonstrated synergistic therapeutic effect for protecting hair cells against CP-induced damage. The local co delivery of DEX MCs and LA MCs offers a new strategy for the treatment of CP-induced inner ear injury since they provide sustained anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects simultaneously.

MicroRNA-375 in extracellular vesicles - novel marker for esophageal cancer diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs have been confirmed to function as diagnostic biomarkers for esophageal cancer (EC). This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic potential of miR-375 in the plasma or extracellular vesicles (EVs) of esophageal cancers (ECs). METHODS: miRNAs with diagnostic potential were identified through public database searches and validated through clinical sample testing. The diagnostic value of miR-375 in plasma and EVs was evaluated via receiver operating characteristic analysis and area under the curve. In addition, expression and survival analyses of the top ten target genes of miR-375 were conducted using the cancer genome atlas database. RESULTS: MiR-375 was identified as a potential biomarker for ECs by searching the gene expression omnibus database. Results of clinical sample measurements showed that miR-375 in plasma or EVs was significantly different between ECs and controls ( P < .01), but did not differ by gender or age. receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrated that miR-375 in EVs could function as a diagnostic marker for ECs, with a higher area under the curve (0.852) than that in plasma. The expression and survival analysis of the top ten target genes for miR-375 showed that only EIF4G3 was significantly associated with survival ( P < .05). CONCLUSION: This research shows that miR-375, particularly in EVs, could serve as a biomarker for the diagnosis of ECs.

Plasma exosomal microRNA expression profiles in patients with high-altitude polycythemia.

High-altitude polycythemia (HAPC) is a chronic mountain sickness characterized by multiple severe ill-effects. Its pathogenesis is still unclear, and till date, no study has been conducted to investigate the plasma exome profile of Tibetan patients with HAPC. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the pathogenesis of HAPC by determining the microRNA (miRNA) signatures. We compared the plasma exosome miRNA expression profiles of eight patients with HAPC and eight healthy controls using next-generation miRNA sequencing. Further, we extracted and identified plasma exosomes using transmission electron microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis, and western blotting. We used quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to validate differentially expressed plasma exosomal miRNAs. Finally, we analyzed the diagnostic values of the differentially expressed miRNAs for HAPC using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. We detected 2007 miRNAs from confirmed plasma exosomes, including 1342 known miRNAs and 665 newly predicted miRNAs. We verified the expression of the top 10 differentially expressed miRNAs via qRT-PCR. Patients with HAPC showed significantly upregulated hsa-miR-122-5p, hsa-miR-423-5p, hsa-miR-4433b-3p, hsa-miR-1291, and hsa-miR-106b-5p expression levels, while hsa-miR-200c-3p expression was downregulated. This study may provide background knowledge for future studies on HAPC studies, which may further facilitate the development of novel therapies against this common disease.

BioKG: a comprehensive, large-scale biomedical knowledge graph for AI-powered, data-driven biomedical research.

To cope with the rapid growth of scientific publications and data in biomedical research, knowledge graphs (KGs) have emerged as a powerful data structure for integrating large volumes of heterogeneous data to facilitate accurate and efficient information retrieval and automated knowledge discovery (AKD). However, transforming unstructured content from scientific literature into KGs has remained a significant challenge, with previous methods unable to achieve human-level accuracy. In this study, we utilized an information extraction pipeline that won first place in the LitCoin NLP Challenge to construct a largescale KG using all PubMed abstracts. The quality of the large-scale information extraction rivals that of human expert annotations, signaling a new era of automatic, high-quality database construction from literature. Our extracted information markedly surpasses the amount of content in manually curated public databases. To enhance the KG's comprehensiveness, we integrated relation data from 40 public databases and relation information inferred from high-throughput genomics data. The comprehensive KG enabled rigorous performance evaluation of AKD, which was infeasible in previous studies. We designed an interpretable, probabilistic-based inference method to identify indirect causal relations and achieved unprecedented results for drug target identification and drug repurposing. Taking lung cancer as an example, we found that 40% of drug targets reported in literature could have been predicted by our algorithm about 15 years ago in a retrospective study, demonstrating that substantial acceleration in scientific discovery could be achieved through automated hypotheses generation and timely dissemination. A cloud-based platform (https://www.biokde.com) was developed for academic users to freely access this rich structured data and associated tools.

A multicentre single arm phase 2 trial of neoadjuvant pyrotinib and letrozole plus dalpiciclib for triple-positive breast cancer.

Current therapies for HER2-positive breast cancer have limited efficacy in patients with triple-positive breast cancer (TPBC). We conduct a multi-center single-arm phase 2 trial to test the efficacy and safety of an oral neoadjuvant therapy with pyrotinib, letrozole and dalpiciclib (a CDK4/6 inhibitor) in patients with treatment-naïve, stage II-III TPBC with a Karnofsky score of ≥70 (NCT04486911). The primary endpoint is the proportion of patients with pathological complete response (pCR) in the breast and axilla. The secondary endpoints include residual cancer burden (RCB)-0 or RCB-I, objective response rate (ORR), breast pCR (bpCR), safety and changes in molecular targets (Ki67) from baseline to surgery. Following 5 cycles of 4-week treatment, the results meet the primary endpoint with a pCR rate of 30.4% (24 of 79; 95% confidence interval (CI), 21.3-41.3). RCB-0/I is 55.7% (95% CI, 44.7-66.1). ORR is 87.4%, (95% CI, 78.1-93.2) and bpCR is 35.4% (95% CI, 25.8-46.5). The mean Ki67 expression reduces from 40.4% at baseline to 17.9% (P < 0.001) at time of surgery. The most frequent grade 3 or 4 adverse events are neutropenia, leukopenia, and diarrhoea. There is no serious adverse event- or treatment-related death. This fully oral, chemotherapy-free, triplet combined therapy has the potential to be an alternative neoadjuvant regimen for patients with TPBC.

The prevalence and outcomes of α- and ß-thalassemia among pregnant women in Hubei Province, Central China: An observational study.

ABSTRACT: There is no information concerning the prevalence of thalassemia among pregnant women in Hubei Province currently. This study is aimed to explore the prevalence of α- and ß-thalassemia genotypes among pregnant women in Hubei Province, and to explore the clinically applicable screening approach, as well as to investigate the pregnancy outcomes of α- and ß-thalassemia carriers.Pregnant participants were recruited from 4 hospitals for the screening of α- and ß-thalassemia mutations in Hubei Province. Polymerase Chain Reaction and flow cytometry methods were used to examine α- and ß-thalassemia mutations. The hematological parameters and pregnancy outcomes of α- and ß-thalassemia carriers were obtained from the hospital information system. The chi-square tests were used to evaluate the difference in hematological parameters between pregnant thalassemia carriers and the control group.Among 11,875 participants, 414 (3.49%) were confirmed with α-thalassemia carriers, 228 (1.92%) were confirmed with ß-thalassemia carriers, and 3 (0.03%) were confirmed with both α- and ß-thalassemia carriers. The frequency of -α3.7 accounted for 2.05% and it was the most frequent genotype of α-thalassemia; the proportion of IVS-II-654 was 0.85% and it was the most frequent genotype of ß-thalassemia in Hubei Province. Furthermore, the proportion of patients with low mean corpuscular volume (MCV) or mean cell hemoglobin (MCH) values was accounted for 36.64% and 93.97% among α-thalassemia and ß-thalassemia carriers, respectively. And participants with normal MCV and MCH values were accounted for 95.07% among non-thalassemia participants. High prevalence of pregnancy-induced diabetes (16.97%), preterm birth (9.96%), pregnancy-induced hypertension (8.12%), and low birth weight (5.90%) were observed among pregnant thalassemia carriers.MCV and MCH values were suggested to apply on the preliminary screening of pregnant ß-thalassemia; however, it's unpractical on that of α-thalassemia. Furthermore, thalassemia carriers might have a high risk of negative pregnancy outcomes. These findings could be useful for the preliminary screening of thalassemia and perinatal care for the pregnant thalassemia carriers.

Real-World First-Line Treatment Patterns and Outcomes in Hormone Receptor-Positive Advanced Breast Cancer Patients: A Multicenter, Retrospective Study in China.

Background: Recent data on first-line treatment patterns administered to hormone receptor-positive (HR+) advanced breast cancer (ABC) patients in the real-world setting are limited. This study aimed to report the first-line treatment patterns and outcomes of HR+ ABC patients in China. Methods: This was a multicenter, noninterventional study. Eligible patients were cytologically or histologically confirmed to have HR+ ABC with ≥2 complete medical records and received first-line therapies between January 2015 and June 2019. Treatment patterns and outcomes were extracted from structured or unstructured electronic medical records. Progression-free survival (PFS) was analyzed with the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: In total, 1072 patients with HR+ ABC were enrolled at 6 treatment sites: 327 human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive (HER2+) patients, 696 HER2-negative (HER2-) patients and 49 HER2-unknown patients. Overall, 62.41% of patients received first-line chemotherapy (CT), 21.08% received targeted therapy (TT) and 15.49% received endocrine therapy (ET). For HR+/HER2+ patients, 65.14% received TT, 28.44% received CT, and 5.81% received ET. Compared with patients who received TT, patients who received CT alone, had a significantly worse median PFS (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] =2.59, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.64-4.10, p<0.001). For HR+/HER2- patients, 77.01% received CT, 20.69% received ET and 1.15% received TT. Compared with patients who received ET, patients who received CT with maintenance therapy had a significantly prolonged median PFS (adjusted HR =0.57, 95% CI, 0.44-0.76, p<0.001). Among HR+/HER2- patients who received CT with maintenance treatment, those with maintenance ET had a longer median PFS than those with maintenance CT, but the difference was not significant (adjusted HR=0.92, 95% CI, 0.64-1.33, p=0.66). Conclusions: This real-world study demonstrates that CT remains the mainstream first-line treatment option for HR+ patients in China. Among patients with HR+/HER2+ ABC, the majority received first-line TT and experienced a PFS benefit. A high percentage of HR+/HER2- patients received CT as first-line therapy in clinical practice. PFS benefit was significantly longer in patients who received CT with maintenance therapy. Moreover, there was no obvious difference in PFS between maintenance ET and CT. Maintenance ET may be a better choice considering its lower toxicity and better quality of life.

NiIII -rich NiFeBa as an Efficient Catalyst for Water Oxidation.

Electrocatalytic water oxidation requires efficient catalysts to reduce the overpotential and accelerate the sluggish kinetics of oxygen formation. Here, a promising NiFeBa material was prepared by the co-electrodeposition of Ba2+ , Ni2+ , and Fe3+ as an efficient catalyst for electrocatalytic water oxidation. NiFeBa showed enhanced water oxidation performance compared with NiFe layered double hydroxide and NiFe oxide, delivering a current density of 10 mA cm-2 at an overpotential of 180 mV. Doped Ba ions played a key role in stabilizing the electrogenerated Ni3+ species, producing more octahedral Ni-O structures for lattice oxygen-based water oxidation, adjusting the catalytic mechanism, and finally leading to an enhancement of catalytic efficiency.

Novel insights into plasma biomarker candidates in patients with chronic mountain sickness based on proteomics.

Chronic mountain sickness (CMS) is a progressive incapacitating syndrome induced by lifelong exposure to hypoxia. In the present study, proteomic analysis was used to identify the differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) and then evaluate the potential plasma biomarkers between CMS and non-CMS groups. A total of 145 DEPs were detected in CMS Han Chinese people who live in the plateau (CMS-HPu), among which 89 were significantly up-regulated and 56 were significantly down-regulated. GO enrichment analysis showed that various biological processes were enriched, including the hydrogen peroxide metabolic/catabolic process, reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolic, and acute inflammatory response. Protein-protein interaction analysis showed that antioxidant activity, the hydrogen peroxide catabolic process and peroxidase activity were primarily mapped in interaction proteins. Nine modules showed significantly clustering based on WGCNA analysis, with two being the most significant, and GO analysis showed that proteins of both modules were primarily enriched in oxidative stress-related biological processes. Four DEPs increased in CMS patients were evaluated as the candidate biomarkers, and three showed significant AUC: hemoglobin ß chain (HB-ß), thioredoxin-1 (TRX1), and phosphoglycerate kinase 1 (PGK1). The present study provides insights into the pathogenesis of CMS and further evaluates the potentially biomarkers for its prevention and treatment of it.

Clinical value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound for the differential diagnosis of specific subtypes of uterine leiomyomas.

OBJECTIVE: To improve the accuracy of clinical diagnosis by analyzing different contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) imagines of specific subtypes of uterine leiomyomas. METHODS: A total of 147 female patients received preoperative CEUS examination. The scanning plane of the biggest tumors for CEUS was found by common B-mode ultrasonographic scanning on pelvic cavity, then 1.5 mL SonoVue were injected into the median cubital vein. According to the CEUS images, the lesion enhanced time, enhanced level and enhanced morphology were recorded. The time-intensity curve was acquired and analyzed, meanwhile, the relevant parameters were calculated, including rise time (RT), peak intensity (PI), time to peak (TTP) and mean transit time (MTT). RESULTS: In cellular uterine leiomyoma group, the percentage of high enhancement, early enhancement was higher, equal enhancement and synchronic enhancement were lower than those in the common uterine leiomyomas group. In hysteromyoma with hyaline degeneration group, the percentage of high enhancement, early enhancement was lower, while low enhancement and delayed enhancement were higher than those in the common uterine leiomyomas group. The ratio of PI in cellular uterine leiomyoma group was the highest, but the ratios of RT, TTP and MTT were the lowest of the three benign groups. The ratio of PI in hysteromyoma with hyaline degeneration group was the lowest, while the ratios of RT and TTP was the highest among the three benign groups. CONCLUSION: Different pathological types of uterine leiomyomas have their own signal performance on CEUS. CEUS can be used to infer their pathological types and help differential diagnosis.

A Cobalt@Cucurbit[5]uril Complex as a Highly Efficient Supramolecular Catalyst for Electrochemical and Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting.

A host-guest complex self-assembled through Co2+ and cucurbit[5]uril (Co@CB[5]) is used as a supramolecular catalyst on the surface of metal oxides including porous indium tin oxide (ITO) and porous BiVO4 for efficient electrochemical and photoelectrochemical water oxidation. When immobilized on ITO, Co@CB[5] exhibited a turnover frequency (TOF) of 9.9 s-1 at overpotential η=550 mV in a pH 9.2 borate buffer. Meanwhile, when Co@CB[5] complex was immobilized onto the surface of BiVO4 semiconductor, the assembled Co@CB[5]/BiVO4 photoanode exhibited a low onset potential of 0.15 V (vs. RHE) and a high photocurrent of 4.8 mA cm-2 at 1.23 V (vs. RHE) under 100 mW cm-2 (AM 1.5) light illumination. Kinetic studies confirmed that Co@CB[5] acts as a supramolecular water oxidation catalyst, and can effectively accelerate interfacial charge transfer between BiVO4 and electrolyte. Surface charge recombination of BiVO4 can be also significantly suppressed by Co@CB[5].

Boosting Electrocatalytic Water Oxidation by Creating Defects and Lattice-Oxygen Active Sites on Ni-Fe Nanosheets.

Layered nickel-iron oxide/hydroxide nanosheets have proven to be the most efficient catalyst for the water oxidation reaction. Introducing structural defects to the nanosheets is a particularly attractive method for increasing the number of active sites and tailoring the intrinsic electronic properties. Herein, defects were introduced on Ni-Fe nanosheets through sequentially electrodoping and dedoping the surface of the material with tetramethylammonium ions. The as-prepared defect-rich Ni-Fe nanosheets showed an enhanced catalytic performance for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) compared with conventional NiFe layered double hydroxides (LDHs), exhibiting an overpotential of only 172 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm-2 . The relationship between pH and OER activity indicated that the lattice oxygens participated in the catalytic OER process as active sites. This work provides new insights into the understanding of the structure-activity relationship of layered materials and helps to develop new methods to implement defects on such frameworks aided by organic molecules.