[Development and clinical application of lateral segmental positioning plates of the body surface spine].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical efficacy of body-surface guide plates for lateral segmental positioning in the thoracolumbar spine. METHODS: From March 2018 to March 2021, 768 gerontal patientss underwent percutaneous vertebroplasty with balloon dilatation due to thoracolumbar compression fracturess, 356 males and 412 females. aged from 64 to 92 years old with an average of (77.9±13.5) years old. All patients were treated in hospital within 1 week after injury. All patients underwent preoperative localization, and were divided into localization plate group and locator group according to different localization methods. There were 390 patients in the localization plate group, 180 males and 210 females, aged from 64 to 92 years old, with an average age of (78.4±14.3) years old. There were 378 patients in the locator group, 176 males and 202 females, aged from 64 to 90 years old, with an average age of (77.5±13.4) years old. After preliminary positioning with the above two methods, skin markers were made, cloth was routinely disinfected, and the spinal lateral position was fluoroscopically examined after the fine needle was inserted into the marked point and the vertical body at the near tail end. The accuracy of the original positioning method was evaluated. The number of times, time and accuracy of positioning of the two groups of patients were compared and analyzed. RESULTS: The specific data of patient positioning in the two groups were collected for statistical analysis. The number of times of fluoroscopy in the positioning plate group and the locator group was(3.3±0.5) times and (5.0±1.2) times, and the positioning time was (60.4±9.4) s and (105.0±30.9) s, respectively. The accuracy of fluoroscopy was 97.5% (380/390) and 85.7% (324/378), respectively, with statistical significance (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The lateral segmental positioning plate of the body surface spine has the advantages of simple operation, accurate positioning, and reducing X-ray radiation for patients, which is worthy of clinical application.

Optimization Therapy by Coupling Intermittent Androgen Suppression with Impulsive Chemotherapy for a Prostate Cancer Model.

Intermittent androgen suppression in the prostate cancer is often relapsed by the increasing of prostate specific antigen level during the on-treatment. Historically, chemotherapy has had a limited role in the treatment of prostate cancer. However, new agents are showing promise in patients with advanced disease. Intermittent androgen suppression plus chemotherapy in pulsed pattern has become an indispensable clinical scheme for prostate cancer, which is presented to describe the transformation mechanism for three kinds of cancer cells in this paper. The model is then extended to include the residual effect of chemotherapy which suppresses the cancer cells production, thereby preventing the relapse. The optimal controls represent the efficiencies of both intermittent androgen suppression and chemotherapy in suppressing relapse of prostate cancer. Based on an optimal algorithm, numerical simulations are implemented not only to show the optimal durations of on- and off-treatment and chemotherapy dosages but also to present the effectiveness of different strategies in inhibiting the relapse for three types of patients. Results reveal that the optimal intermittent androgen suppression scheme with alterable treatment cycles is pivotal for type I and II patients, in part because it can greatly reduce the on-treatment time and degrade the level of prostate specific antigen. Furthermore, optimal hybrid schedule even averts the relapse of prostate cancer for type II and III patients. Finally, comparing the prostate specific antigen under intermittent androgen suppression schedule with residual effect of chemotherapy to one without residual effect of chemotherapy demonstrates the validity of both our model and algorithms in lessening the prostate specific antigen and decreasing the chemotherapy dosages.

Polyacrylamide-Based Block Copolymer Bearing Pyridine Groups Shows Unexpected Salt-Induced LCST Behavior.

Thermal-responsive block copolymers are a special type of macromolecule that exhibit a wide range of applications in various fields. In this contribution, we report a new type of polyacrylamide-based block copolymer bearing pyridine groups of polyethylene glycol-block-poly(N-(2-methylpyridine)-acrylamide; Px) that display distinct salt-induced lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior. Unexpectedly, the phase-transition mechanism of the salt-induced LCST behavior of Px block copolymers is different from that of the reported LCST-featured analogues. Moreover, their thermo-responsive behavior can be significantly regulated by several parameters such as salt species and concentration, urea, polymerization degree, polymer concentration and pH values. This unique thermal behavior of pyridine-containing block copolymers provides a new avenue for the fabrication of smart polymer materials with potential applications in biomedicine.

A hybrid neural network approach for classifying diabetic retinopathy subtypes.

Objective: Diabetic retinopathy is a prevalent complication among diabetic patients that, if not predicted and treated promptly, can lead to blindness. This paper proposes a method for accurately and swiftly predicting the degree of diabetic retinopathy using a hybrid neural network model. Timely prediction of diabetic retinopathy is crucial in preventing blindness associated with this condition. Methods: This study aims to enhance the prediction accuracy of diabetic retinopathy by utilizing the hybrid neural network model EfficientNet and Swin Transformer. The specific methodology includes: (1) combining local and global features to accurately capture lesion characteristics by leveraging the strengths of both Swin Transformer and EfficientNet models; (2) improving prediction accuracy through a comprehensive analysis of the model's training details and applying data augmentation techniques such as Gaussian blur to enhance the hybrid model's performance; (3) validating the effectiveness and utility of the proposed hybrid model for diabetic retinopathy detection through extensive experimental evaluations and comparisons with other deep learning models. Results: The hybrid model was trained and tested on the large-scale real-world diabetic retinopathy detection dataset APTOS 2019 Blindness Detection. The experimental results show that the hybrid model in this paper achieves the best results in all metrics, including sensitivity of 0.95, specificity of 0.98, accuracy of 0.97, and AUC of 0.97. The performance of the model is significantly improved compared to the mainstream methods currently employed. In addition, the model provides interpretable neural network details through class activation maps, which enables the visualization of diabetic retinopathy. This feature helps physicians to make more accurate diagnosis and treatment decisions. The model proposed in this paper shows higher accuracy in detecting and diagnosing diabetic retinopathy, which is crucial for the treatment and rehabilitation of diabetic patients. Conclusion: The hybrid neural network model based on EfficientNet and Swin Transformer significantly contributes to the prediction of diabetic retinopathy. By combining local and global features, the model achieves improved prediction accuracy. The validity and utility of the model are verified through experimental evaluations. This research provides robust support for the early diagnosis and treatment of diabetic patients.

A bibliometric of research trends in acupuncture for spinal cord injury: Quantitative and qualitative analyses.

Introduction: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a severe disease of the central nervous system with a very high disability rate that seriously affects the daily life of patients. Acupuncture is one of the rehabilitation therapies that has shown significant efficacy in treating post-SCI complications such as motor disorders, neuropathic pain, and neurogenic bladder. Current studies have focused on the effectiveness and mechanisms of acupuncture for SCI, but no studies are available to analyze the bibliometrics of publications related to this area. Methods: Publications related to acupuncture for SCI were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection for quantitative and qualitative analyses. The quantitative analysis was unfolded in the following six main areas: annual publications, countries, institutions, authors, sources, and keywords. The qualitative analysis section screened out publications with high annual citation rates and categorized them according to the study content. Results: There were 213 relevant publications, more than half of which were journal articles. The number of publications showed a fluctuating upward trend. China and the United States were hub countries for related publications and had extensive cooperation with other countries. The most relevant author was Yuanshan Zeng from Sun Yat-sen University, China. The efficacy and mechanism of acupuncture for neuropathic pain after SCI was the first research hotspot in this field, and electroacupuncture was the most widely used technique. In the past 5 years, the mechanism of acupuncture to improve the local microenvironment of SCI and promote nerve regeneration had become a new research trend. At the same time, acupuncture had been gradually applied to various complications after SCI and in veterinary medicine. Conclusion: The findings suggest that research on acupuncture for SCI is still flourishing, and more research on electroacupuncture for promoting nerve repair and regeneration after SCI will be available in the future.

Trends in Nutrition Research for Sarcopenia: A Bibliometric Analysis.

Sarcopenia is age-related, pathophysiological muscle atrophy. Research regarding nutrition treatment of sarcopenia has developed rapidly, particularly as populations age. We evaluated the development of trends in this field using a bibliometric analysis. Articles up to July 2022 were searched in the Scopus database. Bibliographic information from the selected publications, such as countries, citations, world maps, institutions, authors, journals, and keywords, were converted and analyzed automatically using the "bibliometrix" package in R environment (version 4.2.0). We identified 368 Scopus articles from 1998-2021. According to citation analyses, 27 documents received more than 100 citations. Bibliometric analysis based on the literature included in this study revealed that South Korea (61 publications), United States (50), Japan (35), China (30), and Italy (20) contributed the most publications. Tehran University of Medical Science (19 records, 2.55% of articles) contributed the most publications. The most productive author was Landi, with eight articles (2.17% of articles). The publications were located in 196 journals, with Nutrients having the most publications (30, 8.15% of articles). The curves representing keywords "sarcopenia" and "aged" were the most apparent. Our analysis suggested that global nutrition and sarcopenia-related research increased rapidly from 2001 to 2021, demonstrating that this was a promising area of future research that could benefit from continued advances. Future research may focus on the effects of age and sex as well as intervention effectiveness, particularly exercise and nutrition supplementation.

Enzymatic Oxidation of Tea Catechins and Its Mechanism.

Tea (Camellia sinensis, Theaceae) is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world. The three major types of tea, green tea, oolong tea, and black tea, differ in terms of the manufacture and chemical composition. Catechins, theaflavins, and thearubigins have been identified as the major components in tea. Other minor oligomers have also been found in tea. Different kinds of ring fission and formation elucidate the major transformed pathways of tea catechins to their dimers and polymers. The present review summarizes the data concerning the enzymatic oxidation of catechins, their dimers, and thearubigins in tea.

[Adsorption Mechanism of Cadmium by Superparamagnetic Nano-Fe3 O4@SiO2 Functionalized Materials].

The treatment of cadmium-containing wastewater is of great significance for the emission control of the heavy metal cadmium. Here, a superparamagnetic nano-Fe3O4@SiO2 functionalized material (MFS) was prepared via a co-precipitation method, and the adsorption thermodynamic and kinetic characteristics of Cd2+ were studied by isothermal adsorption tests and kinetic experiments. The adsorption process and mechanism of MFS with respect to Cd2+ were also studied using BET, XRD, and SEM. The Langmuir equation well described the isothermal adsorption characteristics of MFS, and the maximum adsorption capacity was 69.49 mg·g-1. The standard free energy (ΔG), enthalpy (ΔH), and entropy changes (ΔS) showed that the adsorption reaction was a spontaneous, endothermic, and entropic process. The optimal initial pH of the adsorption reaction was 7. The four interfering ions (Mg2+, SO42-, Ca2+, and NO3-) in the solution had a certain inhibitory effect on the adsorption reaction. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model showed that the adsorption process of Cd2+ was divided into two stages, namely a rapid external diffusion stage and a slow internal diffusion stage. The removal rate of Cd2+ was still>73% after using the MFS three times. The BET, XRD, FTIR, and VSM analyses showed that SiO2 was successfully modified on the Fe3O4 surface. MFS is mainly spherical in structure with an average particle size of 38.7 nm and has a saturated magnetic intensity of 85.38 emu·g-1. The XRD, EDS, and XPS analyses revealed that Cd2+ was successfully adsorbed by the material, and the main mechanism was the coordination reaction between Cd2+ and -OH on the surface of the material.

[Effects of Superparamagnetic Nanomaterials on Soil Microorganisms and Enzymes in Cadmium-Contaminated Paddy Fields].

Using Fe3O4 and hydroxyapatite as raw materials, superparamagnetic nanometer-sized Fe3O4-phosphate functionalized materials (MFH) were prepared. Soil was subsequently magnetically repaired by adding MFH to cadmium-contaminated paddy field soil. Two kinds of rice with high (Yuzhenxiang) and low (Xiangwanxian-13) cadmium enrichment were selected for conduct pot experiments to study the effect of MFH magnetic separation on soil microorganisms and enzymes, and explore the possibility of application in the remediation of cadmium-polluted farmland. The results showed that MFH application improved the soil remediation effect, with significantly reduced total Cd (38.9%) and available Cd (27.3%) contents. In addition, the Cd content of the two kinds of rice grain was significantly reduced. After MFH magnetic separation, soil microbial community diversity and richness were decreased during the jointing, heading, and maturing stages of the two rice varieties. Treatment of cultivated Yuzhenxiang rice with high concentrations of Cd significantly increased the abundance of dominant Firmicute bacteria in the rice field during the jointing and heading stages. With the use of MFH in the magnetic separation, urease, catalase, and soil peroxidase activity were improved during the jointing, heading, and maturing stages of the two rice soils. The POD enzyme activity in the soil planted with Yuzhenxiang was slightly higher than that planted with Xiangwanxian-13, while urease activity showed the opposite trend.

A self-enhanced electrochemiluminescent ratiometric zearalenone immunoassay based on the use of helical carbon nanotubes.

A self-enhanced electrochemiluminescent ratiometric immunoassay for zearalenone is described. A system composed of N-aminobutyl-N-ethylisoluminol (ABEI) and glutathione (GSH) produces a strong electrochemiluminescence (ECL) at an applied potential of 0.8 V, probably because of short electron transfer distance and reduced energy loss. The method also uses octahedral anatase mesocrystals (OAM) with a large specific surface facilitating immobilization of ABEI and GSH. Helical carbon nanotubes, possessing a large specific surface, superior mechanical stability, and excellent electrical conductivity which serve as a solid support, greatly enhanced the loading capacity for g-C3N4 nanosheets and horseradish peroxidase-labeled anti-antibody. The peroxidase accelerates the decomposition of H2O2 to produce reactive oxygen species (ROSs), amplifying the blue ECL of ABEI and the green ECL of g-C3N4. The ratiometric sandwich immunoassay (performed by the ratio of ECL intensity at - 1.3 V and 0.8 V) allows for sensitive and reliable determination of ZEN in a wide linear range from 1.0 × 10-4 ng/mL to 10 ng/mL. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of corn hazelnut samples for ZEN. Graphical abstract Schematic presentation of a self-enhanced electrochemiluminescent ratiometric immunosensor based on octahedral anatase mesocrystals (OAM) supported ABEI-glutathione (GSH) and g-C3N4 functionalized helical carbon nanotubes (HCNT) for zearalenone (ZEN) determination.

Dual-modality probe based on black phosphorous and NiFe2O4 NTs for electrochemiluminescence and photothermal detection of ovarian cancer marker.

An electrochemiluminescence and photothermal immunosensor based on a dual-modality integrated probe was proposed for sensitive and reliable detection of lipolysis stimulated lipoprotein receptor (LSR), a new biomarker of ovarian cancer. Black phosphorous quantum dots (BPQDs) possess fascinating electrochemical property and unique photothermal effect, which could not only enhance ECL signal of N-(4-aminobutyl)-N-ethylisoluminol (ABEI) through accelerating dissolved O2 evolution but also realize temperature signal output by converting laser energy into heat. Furthermore, NiFe2O4 nanotubes (NiFe2O4 NTs) have large specific surface area and favorable adsorption ability, which could increase the immobilized amount of ABEI and BPQDs, further strengthening ECL and temperature signal. As a result, a dual-mode immunosensor was constructed and realized ECL and temperature dual signal to detect LSR, making the results more reliable. This work provided a new thought for the development of sensitive and accurate sensors and was expected to employ for determination of other biomarkers.

Carbazole-functionalized hyper-cross-linked polymers for CO2 uptake based on Friedel-Crafts polymerization on 9-phenylcarbazole.

To systematically explore the effects of the synthesis conditions on the porosity of hyper-cross-linked polymers (HCPs), a series of 9-phenylcarbazole (9-PCz) HCPs (P1-P11) has been made by changing the molar ratio of cross-linker to monomer, the reaction temperature T 1, the used amount of catalyst and the concentration of reactants. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was utilized to characterize the structure of the obtained polymers. The TG analysis of the HCPs showed good thermal stability. More importantly, a comparative study on the porosity revealed that: the molar ratio of cross-linker to monomer was the main influence factor of the BET specific surface area. Increasing the reaction temperature T 1 or changing the used amount of catalyst could improve the total pore volume greatly but sacrificed a part of the BET specific surface area. Fortunately changing the concentration of reactants could remedy this situation. Slightly changing the concentration of reactants could simultaneously obtain a high surface area and a high total pore volume. The BET specific surface areas of P3 was up to 769 m2 g-1 with narrow pore size distribution and the CO2 adsorption capacity of P11 was up to 52.4 cm3 g-1 (273 K/1.00 bar).

[Influences of Biochar on Pollutant Removal Efficiencies and Nitrous Oxide Emissions in a Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetland].

Biochar, pyrolyzed from agricultural biomass wastes, has been widely used as an improver in wastewater treatment to regulate the oxygen distributions and microbial communities because of its extended surface area and porous structure. In addition, biochar has been shown to play a role in enhancing the porosity, adsorbing ammonium (NH4+-N), and reducing nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. In this paper, five groups of constructed microcosm wetlands (CW) were built in a greenhouse with different biochar doses of 40%, 30%, 20%, 10%, and 0% (named as BW-40, BW-30, BW-20, BW-10, and CW-K, respectively) to investigate the influences of biochar on pollutant removal efficiencies and N2O emissions. The results showed that the concentration of effluent dissolved oxygen (DO) was less than 0.5 mg·L-1, and the pH was stable at around 7.2 in every CW. Additionally, the effluent oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) was found to have moderately increased with the increases in the quantity of biochar, and the conductivity (Cond) test results showed the opposite trend. However, the effects of biochar on DO, pH, ORP, and Cond were not significant (P>0.05). The chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rates were up to 90% in all CWs. On the other hand, significantly higher removal efficiencies for NH4+-N and total nitrogen (TN) were found in CWs filled with biochar (P<0.05). The average NH4+-N removal rates were (57.96±10.63)%, (51.12±11.74)%, (48.55±8.75)%, (43.95±9.74)%, and (34.76±14.16)% in BW-40, BW-30, BW-20, BW-10, and CW-K, respectively, while the total nitrogen (TN) average removal rates were (80.21±10.63)%, (78.48±5.73)%, (76.80±4.20)%, (75.88±5.85)%, and (70.92±5.68)%, respectively. Nitrate (NO3--N) was not detected in the CWs for there were sufficient carbon sources and suitable denitrification environments. Moreover, the average fluxes of N2O ranged from 13.53 mg·(m2·d)-1 to 45.30 mg·(m2·d)-1 in the experimental systems. Compared with the control, the reduction rates of N2O in the BW-40, BW30, BW20, and BW10 were 70.13%, 68.26%, 50.83%, and 37.90%, respectively, and the ratios of N2O emissions to the removed nitrogen in CWs with biochar were significantly lower than those in the CW without biochar. Positive correlations were observed between the N2O fluxes and nitrite (NO2--N) concentrations, and the lower N2O emissions could be attributed to the higher oxygen transfer and lower NO2--N accumulation rates in response to the biochar addition. These results demonstrate that biochar could be used as an amendment to strengthen the nitrogen removal and reduce the N2O emissions in CWs.

An ultrasensitive ratiometric electrochemiluminescence immunosensor combining photothermal amplification for ovarian cancer marker detection.

Signal amplification strategies play important functions in the development of highly sensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensing system. Herein, a photothermal enhanced ratiometric ECL immunosensor was proposed for the detection of human epididymis protein 4 (HE4), an ovarian cancer biomarker. Mesoporous SiO2 (ms-SiO2) and carbon nanohorns (CNHs) was served as carrier of ECL emitter carbon nitride nanosheet (g-C3N4) and anodic ECL emitter polymer dots (Pdots), respectively. The large specific area of ms-SiO2 and CNHs improved the loading capacity of g-C3N4 and Pdots, enhancing ECL signals. Furthermore, CNHs was innovatively utilized as thermal convert unit to increase the electrode surface temperature, which benefited from its extraordinary photothermal property at 808 nm that can convert laser energy into heat for elevating the temperature, further amplified ECL signal. The delicately designed ECL immunosensor exhibited excellent sensitivity to HE4 detection with wide linear range from 1.0 × 10-5 to 10 ng/mL and low detection limit of 3.3 × 10-6 ng/mL. This work not only provided an effective way to develop highly sensitive ECL immunosensor but could attract more attention on the application of photothermal material in the ECL field.

Electrochemiluminescent competitive immunoassay for zearalenone based on the use of a mimotope peptide, Ru(II)(bpy)3-loaded NiFe2O4 nanotubes and TiO2 mesocrystals.

An ultrasensitive competitive-type electrochemiluminescence immunoassay for the mycotoxin zearalenone is described. The method is based on the use of (a) a mimotope peptide that was selected from a phage displayed peptide library and used to substitute ZEN for designing the competitive assay; (b) NiFe2O4 nanotubes with large specific surface area loaded with the ECL probe Ru(bpy)32+; and (c) poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP)-assisted synthesis of TiO2 mesocrystals that acts as the sensing platform and support for antibody immobilization. Under the optimized conditions and at an ECL working potential of 1.1 V, a linear response is found for ZEN in the 0.1 to 1.0 × 10-5 ng·mL-1 concentration range with a detection limit as low as 3.3 fg·mL-1. Graphical abstract An ultrasensitive competitive-type electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensor based on mimotope peptide was constructed for the detection of Zearalenone.

Current Research Progress on Long Noncoding RNAs Associated with Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second leading cause of mortality among cancers. It has been found that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in many human cancers, including liver cancer. It has been identified that carcinogenic and tumor-suppressing lncRNAs are associated with complex processes in liver cancer. These lncRNAs may participate in a variety of pathological and biological activities, such as cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, and metastasis. Here, we review the regulation and function of lncRNA in liver cancer and evaluate the potential of lncRNA as a new goal for liver cancer.

A bifunctional reagent regulated ratiometric electrochemiluminescence biosensor constructed on surfactant-assisted synthesis of TiO2 mesocrystals for the sensing of deoxynivalenol.

Herein, a delicate bifunctional reagent regulated ratiometric electrochemiluminescence (ECL) biosensor was developed for the detection of deoxynivalenol (DON) by virtue of the ratio of two ECL signals from Luminol and tris(4,4'-dicarboxylicacid-2,2'-bipyridyl) ruthenium(II) dichloride (Ru(dcbpy)32+). Initially, surfactant-assisted synthesis of TiO2 mesocrystals dispersing in Nafion and ionic liquid (IL) complex film held great promises in loading Ru(dcbpy)32+ and amplifying the ECL signal. Additionally, helical carbon nanotube (HCNTs) with superior specific area and good conductivity emerging as a scaffold not only realized the high fixing of Luminol, ferrocenecarboxylic acid (FCA) and secondary antibody (Ab2), but accelerated the electron transfer. It's noteworthy that FCA was first utilized as a bifunctional reagent to regulate the ratiometric ECL sensing mode on account of the influences in enhancing the ECL response of Luminol and quenching the ECL emission of Ru(dcbpy)32+. On the basis of the sandwich-type immunoreactions between Ab1, DON and Ab2, an accurate and sensitive ratiometric ECL immunosensor was established for the detection of DON in a wide range from 0.05 pg/mL to 5 ng/mL with the detection limit of 1.67 × 10-2 pg/mL.