Electrochemical Difunctionalization of Terminal Alkynes: Access to 1,4-Dicarbonyl Compounds.

1,4-Dicarbonyl compounds are versatile scaffolds for the heterocycle synthesis, including the Paal-Knorr reaction. Herein, a feasible electrosynthesis method to access 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds has been developed from simple alkynes and 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds. When the undivided cell is combined with the constant current mode, aryl alkynes containing numerous medicinal motifs with 1,3-dicarbonyl esters or ketones react smoothly. External oxidant and catalyst-free conditions conform to the requirements of green synthesis.

Surgical intervention combined with weight-bearing walking training improves neurological recoveries in 320 patients with clinically complete spinal cord injury: a prospective self-controlled study.

Although a large number of trials in the SCI field have been conducted, few proven gains have been realized for patients. In the present study, we determined the efficacy of a novel combination treatment involving surgical intervention and long-term weight-bearing walking training in spinal cord injury (SCI) subjects clinically diagnosed as complete or American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) Class A (AIS-A). A total of 320 clinically complete SCI subjects (271 male and 49 female), aged 16-60 years, received early (≤ 7 days, n = 201) or delayed (8-30 days, n = 119) surgical interventions to reduce intraspinal or intramedullary pressure. Fifteen days post-surgery, all subjects received a weight-bearing walking training with the "Kunming Locomotion Training Program (KLTP)" for a duration of 6 months. The neurological deficit and recovery were assessed using the AIS scale and a 10-point Kunming Locomotor Scale (KLS). We found that surgical intervention significantly improved AIS scores measured at 15 days post-surgery as compared to the pre-surgery baseline scores. Significant improvement of AIS scores was detected at 3 and 6 months and the KLS further showed significant improvements between all pair-wise comparisons of time points of 15 days, 3 or 6 months indicating continued improvement in walking scores during the 6-month period. In conclusion, combining surgical intervention within 1 month post-injury and weight-bearing locomotor training promoted continued and statistically significant neurological recoveries in subjects with clinically complete SCI, which generally shows little clinical recovery within the first year after injury and most are permanently disabled. This study was approved by the Science and Research Committee of Kunming General Hospital of PLA and Kunming Tongren Hospital, China and registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT04034108) on July 26, 2019.

Accurate measurements of circular and residual linear birefringences of spun fibers using binary polarization rotators.

We present a method to accurately measure the birefringence properties of spun fibers using binary polarization rotators. By taking the advantages of binary polarization rotator in polarization analysis, we are able to simultaneously measure both the circular and linear birefringences in a spun fiber with high accuracy. We obtain the circular and the residual linear birefringences of the spun fiber as a function of temperature T to be 3.34 × 10-5-5.11 × 10-8T and 8.1 × 10-6-1.19 × 10-8T, respectively, with the residual linear birefringence about 4 times less than the circular birefringence. We find, for the first time with the best of authors' knowledge, that the circular and the residual linear birefringences in a spun fiber are highly linear with the temperature, with thermal coefficients of -5.11 × 10-8 °C-1 and -1.19 × 10-8°C-1, respectively, and that the relative changes per °C of the circular and residual linear birefringence are almost identical, with values of -0.152% and -0.147% respectively. We believe that the method and data presented in this paper will be beneficial for making high quality spun fibers, as well as high accuracy fiber optic current sensors.

Phase I-II Clinical Trial Assessing Safety and Efficacy of Umbilical Cord Blood Mononuclear Cell Transplant Therapy of Chronic Complete Spinal Cord Injury.

Umbilical cord blood-derived mononuclear cell (UCB-MNC) transplants improve recovery in animal spinal cord injury (SCI) models. We transplanted UCB-MNCs into 28 patients with chronic complete SCI in Hong Kong (HK) and Kunming (KM). Stemcyte Inc. donated UCB-MNCs isolated from human leukocyte antigen (HLA ≥4:6)-matched UCB units. In HK, four patients received four 4-µl injections (1.6 million cells) into dorsal entry zones above and below the injury site, and another four received 8-µl injections (3.2 million cells). The eight patients were an average of 13 years after C5-T10 SCI. Magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging of five patients showed white matter gaps at the injury site before treatment. Two patients had fiber bundles growing across the injury site by 12 months, and the rest had narrower white matter gaps. Motor, walking index of SCI (WISCI), and spinal cord independence measure (SCIM) scores did not change. In KM, five groups of four patients received four 4-µl (1.6 million cells), 8-µl (3.2 million cells), 16-µl injections (6.4 million cells), 6.4 million cells plus 30 mg/kg methylprednisolone (MP), or 6.4 million cells plus MP and a 6-week course of oral lithium carbonate (750 mg/day). KM patients averaged 7 years after C3-T11 SCI and received 3-6 months of intensive locomotor training. Before surgery, only two patients walked 10 m with assistance and did not need assistance for bladder or bowel management before surgery. The rest could not walk or do their bladder and bowel management without assistance. At about a year (41-87 weeks), WISCI and SCIM scores improved: 15/20 patients walked 10 m ( p = 0.001) and 12/20 did not need assistance for bladder management ( p = 0.001) or bowel management ( p = 0.002). Five patients converted from complete to incomplete (two sensory, three motor; p = 0.038) SCI. We conclude that UCB-MNC transplants and locomotor training improved WISCI and SCIM scores. We propose further clinical trials.

Note: Improving distributed strain sensing sensitivity in OFDR by reduced-cladding single mode fiber.

We present a method to improve distributed strain sensing sensitivity by a reduced-cladding single mode fiber (RC SMF) using a Rayleigh backscattering spectra shift in optical frequency domain reflectometry. Comparing with a standard SMF with 250 µm diameter, a commercial low attenuation RC SMF with 165 µm diameter is shown to enhance the strain sensing sensitivity by about four-fold. Using this property, the system using the RC SMF can achieve smaller minimal measurable strain (MMS) in the same sensing spatial resolution (SSR) or smaller SSR in the same MMS than using the standard SMF. In our experiment, the system using RC SMF can achieve the MMS of 15 µstrain with a SSR of 4.5 cm or the MMS of 3 µstrain with a SSR of 18 cm.