Impact of different anastomosis methods on post-recurrence after intestinal resection for Crohn's disease: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract, often requiring intestinal resection as a common treatment. However, recurrence after surgery is common. The anastomotic configuration after bowel resection appears to be associated with the recurrence of CD. Previous studies have suggested that the Kono-S anastomosis may help to reduce the recurrence rate. However, the results remain controversial. Therefore, evidence-based evidence is needed to prove the advantages of Kono-S anastomosis. AIM: To measure the influence of anastomosis techniques on the long-term relapse rate of CD by conducting a meta-analysis. METHODS: PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Library were searched until October 8, 2023. Patients who underwent intestinal resection due to CD were included. The intervention measures included Kono-S anastomosis, whereas the control group received traditional anastomosis such as end-to-end, end-to-side, and side-to-side anastomosis. Only randomized clinical trials and observational studies were included. The primary outcome measures were hospital stay post-surgery, overall postoperative complication incidence, the proportion of Clavien-Dindo grade IIIa or higher, overall postoperative recurrence rate, and Rutgeerts score. RESULTS: From 2011 to 2023, six articles met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results indicated that Kono-S anastomosis can reduce the hospital stay post-surgery of patients with CD [MD = -0.26, 95%CI: -0.42 to -0.10, P = 0.002] than other traditional anastomosis methods. Compared to other traditional anastomosis methods, Kono-S anastomosis can significantly reduce the total recurrence rate [MD = 0.40, 95%CI: 0.17 to 0.98, P = 0.05] and postoperative Rutgeerts score [MD = -0.81, 95%CI: -0.96 to -0.66, P < 0.001] in patients with CD. However, there is no significant disparity in the overall occurrence of postoperative complications and the proportion of Clavien-Dindo ≥ IIIa. CONCLUSION: Kono-S anastomosis has the potential to expedite the recuperation of CD and diminish relapse hazards; however, additional larger trials are necessary to authenticate its effectiveness.

Nickel Foam Coated by Ni Nanoparticle-Decorated 3D Nanocarbons as a Freestanding Host for High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Nanocarbons (NCs) consisting of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were coated on the surface of nickel foam (NF) via a chemical vapor deposition method. The CNFs formed conductive networks on NF, while the CNTs grew perpendicular to the surface of the CNFs, accompanied with the formation of Ni nanoparticles (Ni NPs) at the end of CNTs. The unique Ni-NCs-coated NF with a porous structure was applied as the three-dimensional (3D) current collector of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, which provided enough space to accommodate the electrode materials inside itself. Therefore, the 3D interconnected conductive framework of the coated NF collector merged in the electrode materials shortened the path of electron transport, and the generated Ni NPs could adsorb lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) and effectively accelerated the conversion kinetics of LiPSs as well, thereby suppressing the "shuttle effect". Moreover, the rigid framework of NF would also constrain the movement of the electrode compositions, which benefited the stability of the Li-S batteries. As a matter of fact, the Li-S battery based on the Ni-NCs-coated NF collector delivered an initial discharge capacity as high as 1472 mAh g-1 at 0.1C and outstanding high rate capability at 3C (802 mAh g-1). Additionally, low decay rates of 0.067 and 0.08% at 0.2C (300 cycles) and 0.5C (500 cycles) have been obtained, respectively. Overall, our prepared Ni-NCs-coated NF collector is promising for the application in high-performance Li-S batteries.

Screening and validating the core biomarkers in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PAAD) is one of the most common malignant tumors in digestive system. To find the new therapeutic targets and explore potential mechanisms underlying PAAD, the bioinformatics has been performed in our study. The PAAD gene expression profile GSE28735 was chosen to analyze the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between PAAD carcinoma tissues and normal adjacent tissues from 45 patients with PAAD. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis were performed using Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID). Moreover, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was also constructed to help us screen the top 20 hub genes in this profile and demonstrated the underlying interactions among them. The Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) was further performed in order to valid the mRNA levels of top5 up-regulated and top5 down-regualted DEGs, apart from exploring their association with survival rate as well as tumor stage. Finally, Q-PCR was further employed to valid the top5 up-regulated and top5 down-regulated genes in patients with PAAD. In our study, there were a total of 444 DEGs captured (271 up-regulated genes and 173 down-regulated genes). Among these DEGs, the top5 up-regulated genes were CEACAM5, SLC6A14, LAMC2, GALNT5 and TSPAN1 while the top5 down-regulated genes were GP2, CTRC, IAPP, PNLIPRP2 and PNLIPRP1. GO analysis disclosed that the DEGs were predominantly enriched in cell adhesion, lipid metabolism, integrin binding, proteolysis and calcium ion binding. KEGG analysis disclosed that the enriched pathway included pancreatic secretion, protein digestion and absorption, fat digestion and absorption, ECM-receptor interaction, focal adhesion and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Survival analysis unveiled that the high expression levels of SLC6A14, GALNT5 and TSPAN1 may correlate with the poor prognosis while high expression levels of IAPP may contribute to a better prognosis in patients with PAAD. Additionally, the levels of CEACAM5, SLC6A14, LAMC2 and GALNT5 were also associated with tumor stage. Furthermore, according to the connectivity degree of these DEGs, we selected the top20 hub genes, namely ALB, FN1, EGF, MMP9, COL1A1, COL3A1, FBN1, CXCL12, POSTIN, BGN, VCAN, THBS2, KRT19, MET, MMP14, COL5A2, GCG, MUC1, MMP1 and CPB1, which were expected to be promising therapeutic targets in PAAD. Collectively, our bioinformatics analysis showed that DEGs and hub genes may be defined as new biomarkers for diagnosis and for guiding the therapeutic strategies of PAAD.

Growth of U-Shaped Graphene Domains on Copper Foil by Chemical Vapor Deposition.

U-shaped graphene domains have been prepared on a copper substrate by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), which can be precisely tuned for the shape of graphene domains by optimizing the growth parameters. The U-shaped graphene is characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Raman. These show that the U-shaped graphene has a smooth edge, which is beneficial to the seamless stitching of adjacent graphene domains. We also studied the morphology evolution of graphene by varying the flow rate of hydrogen. These findings are more conducive to the study of morphology evolution, nucleation, and growth of graphene domains on the copper substrate.

A N-doped graphene-cobalt nickel sulfide aerogel as a sulfur host for lithium-sulfur batteries.

Herein, three-dimensional (3D) N-doped reduced graphene oxide (N-rGO) nanosheets were decorated with a uniform distribution of Co-Ni-S (CNS) nanoparticles to form the CNS/N-rGO composite as a sulfur host material for lithium-sulfur batteries. The CNS nanoparticles and N in CNS/N-rGO strongly interact with polysulfides, whereas graphene, as a conductive network, can improve its electrical conductivity. A CNS/N-rGO/sulfur composite cathode was prepared via the sulfur melting diffusion method. The electrochemical study showed that the CNS/N-rGO/sulfur cathode delivered an initial discharge capacity of 1430 mA h g-1 at a current density of 0.1C. Moreover, it retained a specific capacity of 685 mA h g-1 after 300 cycles at 0.5C with a coulombic efficiency of 98%, which was better than that of commercial rGO. This composite was used as a sulfur cathode for a lithium-sulfur battery, exhibiting excellent rate capability and remarkable performance in terms of long cycling stability.

One-Step Chemical Vapor Deposition Synthesis of 3D N-doped Carbon Nanotube/N-doped Graphene Hybrid Material on Nickel Foam.

3D hybrid nanostructures connecting 1D carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with 2D graphene have attracted more and more attentions due to their excellent chemical, physical and electrical properties. In this study, we firstly report a novel and facile one-step process using template-directed chemical vapor deposition (CVD) to fabricate highly nitrogen doped three-dimensional (3D) N-doped carbon nanotubes/N-doped graphene architecture (N-CNTs/N-graphene). We used nickel foam as substrate, melamine as a single source for both carbon and nitrogen, respectively. The morphology and microstructure were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, isothermal analyses, X-ray photoelectron microscopy and Raman spectra. The obtained 3D N-CNTs/N-graphene exhibits high graphitization, a regular 3D structure and excellent nitrogen doping and good mesoporosity.

Large Area Synthesis of Vertical Aligned Metal Oxide Nanosheets by Thermal Oxidation of Stainless Steel Mesh and Foil.

We report here the synthesis of metal oxide nanosheets (MONs) directly grown on stainless steel substrates by thermal oxidation in the presence of trace amounts of water. The morphology and microstructure of MONs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The composition of MONs was determined by the energy dispersive system and X-ray diffraction patterns. The results showed that the as-synthesized MONs were ultrathin, vertically aligned, and mostly transparent. They were polycrystalline and were composed primarily of Cr2O3 and (Fe, Mn)3O4. The optimal condition to synthesize the MONs with an optimal ultra-high surface atom ratio were determined by varying the temperature and time required for the growth of the MONs. It was found that the lateral size of MONs gradually increases as the temperature rises from 1000 to 1100 °C. An optimal temperature of 1100 °C is obtained in terms of the growth density, size and transparency degree growth morphology, and quality. The structure of MONs changes from two-dimensional to three-dimensional networks when the synthesis time is prolonged to more than 1 h.

Enhanced Performance of E-Bike Motive Power Lead-Acid Batteries with Graphene as an Additive to the Active Mass.

The effects of both graphene nanoplatelets and reduced graphene oxide as additives to the negative active material in valve-regulated lead-acid batteries for electric bikes were investigated. Low-temperature performance, charge acceptance, cycle performance, and water loss were investigated. The test results show that the low-temperature performance, charge acceptance, and large-current discharge performance of the batteries with graphene additives were significantly improved compared to the control battery, and the cycle life under 100% depth of discharge condition was extended by more than 52% from 250 to 380 cycles. Meanwhile, the amount of water loss from the batteries with graphene changed only slightly compared with the control cells. The excellent performance of the batteries can be ascribed to the graphene promoting the negative-plate charge and discharge processes and suppressing the growth of lead sulfate crystals.

Melamine as a single source for fabrication of mesoscopic 3D composites of N-doped carbon nanotubes on graphene.

Integration of two-dimensional graphene and one-dimensional carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to create potentially useful 3D mesoscopic carbon structures with enhanced properties relative to the original materials is very desirable. Here, we report a novel and simple route using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods to fabricate bead-like nitrogen-doped CNT/graphene composites (NCNT/G) via a simple pyrolysis of the N-rich melamine in the presence of graphene oxide (GO) as a substrate using a Mn-Ni-Co ternary catalyst. We have characterized these structures by field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra, isothermal analyses, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The three dimensional NCNT/G hybrids have unique network structures, moderate graphitization, high specific surface area, good mesoporosity, and N doping, which makes them promising materials for applications in energy storage and conversion.