"Skin-like" fabric for personal moisture management.

Personal moisture management fabrics that facilitate sweat transport away from the skin are highly desirable for wearer's comfort and performance. Here, we demonstrate a "skin-like" directional liquid transport fabric, which enables continuous one-way liquid flow through spatially distributed channels acting like "sweating glands" yet repels external liquid contaminants. The water transmission rate can be 15 times greater than that of best commercial breathable fabrics. This exceptional property is achieved by creating gradient wettability channels across a predominantly superhydrophobic substrate. The flow directionality is explained by the Gibbs pinning criterion. The permeability, mechanical property, and abrasion resistance (up to 10,000 cycles) of the fabric were not affected by the treatment. In addition to functional clothing, this concept can be extended for developing materials for oil-water separation, wound dressing, geotechnical engineering, flexible microfluidics, and fuel cell membranes.

Prognostic prediction across a gradient of total tumor volume in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing locoregional therapy.

BACKGROUND: The size and number of tumors are important prognostic indicators for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, it is difficult to assess the prognosis for patients with a variable number and size of tumors. By combining these two factors, we investigated the role and prognostic accuracy of total tumor volume (TTV) for HCC. METHODS: A total of 786 patients undergoing locoregional therapy (transarterial chemoembolization, percutaneous radiofrequency ablation and acetic acid or ethanol injection) for HCC were prospectively evaluated. RESULTS: The mean and median TTV was 177 cm3 (range, 0.1-3,591 cm3) and 21 cm3, respectively. Of all, 38%, 29%, 15%, 7% and 11% of patients had TTV of <10 cm3, 10-50 cm3, 50-200 cm3, 200-500 cm3 and >500 cm3, respectively. TTV was significantly larger in patients with higher serum α-fetoprotein (AFP) levels or with vascular invasion. The Child-Turcotte-Pugh score, performance status, vascular invasion, AFP level and TTV were significant independent prognostic predictors in the Cox proportional hazards model. After adjustment, patients with TTV 50-200 cm3 (relative risk [RR]: 1.74, p = 0.009), 200-500 cm3 (RR: 2.15, p = 0.006) and >500 cm3 (RR: 3.92, p < 0.001) had a significantly increased mortality risk in comparison to patients with TTV <10 cm3. CONCLUSIONS: TTV is a feasible prognostic predictor across a wide gradient and can be used to predict the mortality risk of HCC. Selecting appropriate cutoffs of TTV may help refine the design of cancer staging system and treatment planning. Future clinical trials of HCC may include this parameter for mortality risk stratification.

[Pharmacological comparison between volatile oil and water extract].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the pharmacological differences between volatile oil and water extract in eight aromatic drugs for resolving dampness. METHOD: Volatile oil and water extract of eight commonly used aromatic drugs for resolving dampness were ig administered to rats respectively, and the effects of volatile oil and water extract on the secretion of gastric juice, volume of gastric mucous blood flow and activity of SOD in gastric mucous membrane were studied. RESULT: It was shown that the effects of aromatic volatile oil in eight drugs on the indexes mentioned above were generally equal or similar to those of water extract, and it was obvious that the volatile oil in some high oil content drugs such as Amonum cardamomum L(Baidoukou), Alpinia katsumadai Hagata (Caodoukou), Amomum villosum Lour (Saren), and Amomum tsao-ko Crevost et Lem (Caogou) had better effects on the secretion of gastric juice and volume of gastric mucous blood flow that those of water extract. CONCLUSION: It has been pharmacologically proved that in using aromatic drugs for resolving dampness, the loss of aromatic (volatile) components should be avoided.

[Determination of alkaloids in Pericarpium papaveris (Yingsuqiao) by high performance capillary electrophoresis].

Codeine, morphine and papaverine in Pericarpium papaveris (Yingsuqiao) were determined by HPCE. These three compounds in Pericarpium papaveris were entirely separated. The HPCE conditions were as follows: buffer: 50 mmol/L phosphate, pH 7.0; V = 25 kV; l(eff.) = 50 cm; L = 64.5 cm; i.d. = 50 microm; lambda = 212 nm; T = 25 degrees C; sample size = 15 kPa x s. The recoveries of codeine, morphine and papaverine were 96.61%, 95.90% and 95.37% respectively, which shows that this method is simple, accurate and reproducible and can be used for the quality control of the Chinese herbal medicine.

[The electricity properties of polybutylcyanoacrylate nanoparticles].

Electricity properties of polybutylcyanoacrylate nanoparticles (PBCA-NP) were studied by using a U-tube electrophoresis apparatus. It was proved that all the PBCA-NP is negatively charged. The surface potential of PBCA-NP is directly proportional to the concentration of stabilizer (Dextran 70) and the pH value of the medium, while it is inversely proportional to the concentration of butylcyanoacrylate and the model drug (gentamycin). The effect of ion strength on surface potential is obvious but not linear. The effect of stabilizers and surfactants used on the surface potential is evident while the effect of electrolytes is indistinct under the experimental conditions.