[Long-term outcome follow-up of Oxford unicompartmental knee arthroplasty for medial compartment osteoarthropathy:a single center's experience for 10 years]

Objective: To investigate the long-term outcomes of minimally invasive Oxford phase Ⅲ unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) for patients with medial compartment osteoarthropathy. Methods: The clinical data of 594 patients (701 knees) who underwent minimally invasive UKA with Oxford phase Ⅲ unicompartmental prosthesis at Department of Orthopedics,the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from January 2007 to January 2016 were retrospectively analyzed.There were 155 males and 439 females,aged (62.6±10.9) years (range: 44 to 81 years),with a body mass index of (26.9±3.8) kg/m² (range: 21.1 to 36.2 kg/m²).There were 359 left knees and 342 right knees,676 knees with osteoarthritis and 25 knees with idiopathic osteonecrosis of the medial femoral condyle.There were 487 cases underwent UKA (66 cases underwent UKA on one side and total knee arthroplasty on the other) and 107 cases underwent bilateral UKA.Patients' prosthetic survival,complications,range of motion(ROM) of the knee,visual analogue score (VAS),Western Ontario and McMaster University (WOMAC) osteoarthritis index,and American knee society score (KSS) were collected to assess clinical outcomes.Paired sample t test was used to compare the data before and after operation. Results: All patients completed the surgery successfully.There was no intraoperative fractures,postoperative infections or symptomatic vascular embolic disease occurred.The postoperative complications,including mobile bearing dislocation,prosthesis loosening,tibial plateau collapse,the lateral compartment degeneration and postoperative pain were occurred in 18 cases (3.0%,18/594).Thirteen patients suffered complications were transferred to total knee arthroplasty,4 underwent partial revision,if this was used as the endpoint of the study,the surgical success rate was 97.1% (577/594) and the prosthetic revision rate was 2.9%.The ROM was improved from(105.9±11.8)°preoperatively to (114.0±13.3)° at the last follow-up (t=10.796,P<0.01);the KSS clinical score was increased from 54.3±3.6 to 90.1±6.0 (P<0.01) and the functional score was increased from 55.9±3.9 to 87.5±5.7(t=124.325,P<0.01;t=110.985,P<0.01).The WOMAC osteoarthritis index was decreased from 54.8±6.7 to 9.2±3.1 at the last follow-up(t=150.860,P<0.01) and the VAS was decreased from 6.1±1.1 to 1.5±1.0 at the last follow-up(t=74.941,P<0.01). Conclusions: Minimally invasive Oxford phase Ⅲ UKA for medial compartment knee osteoarthritis has a favorable prosthesis survival rate,low revision rate,and few complications at long-term follow-up.Patients have significant improvement in knee function with satisfactory clinical outcomes.

[Functional outcomes of 100 patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction undergoing Cheng's GIRAFFE(®) reconstruction after proximal gastrectomy]

Objective: To investigate the functional outcomes and postoperative complications of Cheng's GIRAFFE reconstruction after proximal gastrectomy. Methods: A descriptive case series study was conducted. Clinical data of 100 patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction who underwent Cheng's GIRAFFE reconstruction after proximal gastrectomy in Cancer Hospital of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (64 cases), Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine (24 cases), Lishui Central Hospital (10 cases), Huzhou Central Hospital (1 case) and Ningbo Lihuili Hospital (1 case) from September 2017 to June 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. Of 100 patients, 64 were males and 36 were females; the mean age was (61.3 ± 11.1) years and the BMI was (22.7±11.1) kg/m(2). For TNM stage, 68 patients were stage IA, 24 were stage IIA and 8 were stage IIB. Postoperative functional results and postoperative complications of radical gastrectomy with Giraffe reconstruction were analyzed and summarized. Gastroesophageal reflux disease questionnaire (RDQ) score and postoperative endoscopy were used to evaluate the occurrence of reflux esophagitis and its grade (grade N, grade A, grade B, grade C, and grade D from mild to severe reflux). The continuous data conforming to normal distribution were expressed as (mean ± standard deviation), and those with skewed distribution were presented as median (Q1, Q3). Results: All the 100 patients successfully completed R0 resection, including 77 patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery and 23 patients undergoing laparotomy. The Giraffe anastomosis time was (38.6±14.0) min; the blood loss was (73.0±18.4) ml; the postoperative hospital stay was 9.5 (8.2, 13.0) d; the hospitalization cost was (6.0±0.3) ten thousand yuan. Fourteen cases developed perioperative complications (14.0%), including 7 cases of pleural effusion or pneumonia, 3 cases of anastomotic leakage, 2 cases of gastric emptying disorder, 1 case of gastrointestinal hemorrhage and 1 case of anastomotic stenosis, who were all improved and discharged after symptomatic management. Patients were followed up for (33.3±1.6) months. Eight patients were found to have reflux symptoms by RDQ scale six months after surgery, and 11 patients (11/100,11.0%) were found to have reflux esophagitis by gastroscopy, including 6 in grade A, 3 in grade B, and 2 in grade C. All the patients could control their reflux symptoms with behavioral guidance or oral PPIs. Conclusion: Cheng's GIRAFFE reconstruction has good anti-reflux efficacy and gastric emptying function; it can be one of the choices of reconstruction methods after proximal gastrectomy.

[Impact of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapy for primary liver cancer]

OBJECTIVE

To assess the impact of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on clinical outcomes of patients receiving anti-PD-1 immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective study among 215 patients with primary liver cancer receiving immunotherapy between June, 2018 and October, 2020. The patients with balanced baseline characteristics were selected based on propensity matching scores, and among them 33 patients who used NSAIDs were matched at the ratio of 1∶3 with 78 patients who did not use NSAIDs. We compared the overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and disease control rate (DCR) between the two groups.

RESULTS

There was no significant difference in OS between the patients using NSAIDs (29.7%) and those who did not use NSAIDs (70.2%). Univariate and multivariate analyses did not show an a correlation of NSAIDs use with DCR (univariate analysis: OR=0.602, 95% CI: 0.299-1.213, P=0.156; multivariate analysis: OR=0.693, 95% CI: 0.330-1.458, P=0.334), PFS (univariate analysis: HR=1.230, 95% CI: 0.789-1.916, P=0.361; multivariate analysis: HR=1.151, 95% CI: 0.732-1.810, P=9.544), or OS (univariate analysis: HR=0.552, 95% CI: 0.208-1.463, P=0.232; multivariate analysis: HR=1.085, 95% CI: 0.685-1.717, P=0.729).

CONCLUSION

Our results show no favorable effect of NSAIDs on the efficacy of immunotherapy in patients with advanced primary liver cancer, but this finding still needs to be verified by future prospective studies of large cohorts.

Assembly of long silver nanowires into highly aligned structure to achieve uniform "Hot Spots" for Surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection

Silver nanowires (AgNWs) as a promising surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrate could be used in the analytical science due to its high sensitivity. However, it is difficult for the randomly-distributed silver nanowires to offer uniform "hot spots" to achieve the SERS signal reproducibility of small molecules detection. Herein, the evaporation-induced aggregation had been used to assemble long silver nanowires into highly aligned structure to achieve uniform "hot spots" for SERS detection. The normal glass slide with well-aligned silver nanowires could act as a high sensitivity and excellent reproducibility SERS substrate to provide a versatile platform for detecting analytes. Rhodamine 6G (R6G) is used to evaluate the sensitivity and reproducibility of these AgNWs SERS substrates. Even the low concentration of the R6G was 10^-10 mol/L, the SERS features of R6G could be still observed clearly, and the uniform distribution of enhancement factor (EF) was higher than 0.8 × 10⁴ accounting for about 75 % in the observed mapping area. Moreover, the relative standard deviation (RSD) of SERS intensity at the band of 610 cm^-1 was used to estimate the signal reproducibility, and the calculated RSD value of aligned AgNWs substrate was about 3.6%, which was much higher than that of the randomly distributed AgNWs (26.8%) because of the highly aligned structure of silver nanowires with abundant and uniform inherent "hot spots". In addition, potential SERS detection of other small molecule, e.g. melamine was also demonstrated in the micromolar range.

Fabrication of Large Aerogel-Like Carbon/Carbon Composites with Excellent Load-Bearing Capacity and Thermal-Insulating Performance at 1800 °C

Carbon aerogels (CAs) are attractive candidates for the thermal protection of aerospace vehicles due to their excellent thermostability and thermal insulation. However, the brittleness and low mechanical strength severely limits their practical applications, and no significant breakthroughs in large CAs with a high strength have been made. We report a high-pressure-assisted polymerization method combined with ambient pressure drying to fabricate large, strong, crack-free carbon/carbon (C/C) composites with an excellent load-bearing capacity, thermal stability, and thermal insulation. The composites are comprised of an aerogel-like carbon matrix and a low carbon crystallinity fiber reinforcement, featuring overlapping nanoparticles, macro-mesopores, large particle contact necks, and strong fiber/matrix interfacial bonding. The resulting C/C composites with a medium density of 0.6 g cm^-3 have a very high compressive strength (80 MPa), in-plane shear strength (20 MPa), and specific strength (133 MPa g^-1 cm³). Moreover, the C/C composites of 7.5-12.0 mm in thickness exposed to an oxyacetylene flame at 1800 °C for 900 s display very low back-side temperatures of 778-685 °C and even better mechanical properties after the heating. This performance makes the composites ideal for the ultrahigh temperature thermal protection of aerospace vehicles where both excellent thermal-insulating and load-bearing capacities are required.

Binding affinity and conformation of a conjugated AS1411 aptamer at a cationic lipid bilayer interface

Aptamers have been widely used in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Owing to their special binding affinity toward cancer-related biomarkers, aptamers can be used for targeted drug delivery or bio-sensing/bio-imaging in various scenarios. The interfacial properties of aptamers play important roles in controlling the surface charge, recognition efficiency, and binding affinity of drug-delivering lipid-based carriers. In this research, the interfacial behaviors, such as surface orientation, molecular conformation, and adsorption kinetics of conjugated AS1411 molecules at different cationic lipid bilayer interfaces were investigated by sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy (SFG-VS) in situ and in real-time. It is shown that the conjugated AS1411 molecules at the DMTAP bilayer interface show a higher binding affinity but with slower binding kinetics compared to the DMDAP bilayer interface. The analysis results also reveal that the thymine residues of cholesteryl conjugated AS1411 molecules show higher conformational ordering compared to the thymine residues of the alkyl chain conjugated AS1411 molecules. These understandings provide unique molecular insight into the aptamer-lipid membrane interactions, which may help researchers to improve the efficiency and safety of aptamer-related drug delivery systems.

Probing the Gluonic Structure of the Deuteron with J/ψ Photoproduction in d+Au Ultraperipheral Collisions

Understanding gluon density distributions and how they are modified in nuclei are among the most important goals in nuclear physics. In recent years, diffractive vector meson production measured in ultraperipheral collisions (UPCs) at heavy-ion colliders has provided a new tool for probing the gluon density. In this Letter, we report the first measurement of J/ψ photoproduction off the deuteron in UPCs at the center-of-mass energy sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV in d+Au collisions. The differential cross section as a function of momentum transfer -t is measured. In addition, data with a neutron tagged in the deuteron-going zero-degree calorimeter is investigated for the first time, which is found to be consistent with the expectation of incoherent diffractive scattering at low momentum transfer. Theoretical predictions based on the color glass condensate saturation model and the leading twist approximation nuclear shadowing model are compared with the data quantitatively. A better agreement with the saturation model has been observed. With the current measurement, the results are found to be directly sensitive to the gluon density distribution of the deuteron and the deuteron breakup process, which provides insights into the nuclear gluonic structure.

Single-Crystal Alkali Antimonide Photocathodes: High Efficiency in the Ultrathin Limit

The properties of photoemission electron sources determine the ultimate performance of a wide class of electron accelerators and photon detectors. To date, all high-efficiency visible-light photocathode materials are either polycrystalline or exhibit intrinsic surface disorder, both of which limit emitted electron beam brightness. In this Letter, we demonstrate the synthesis of epitaxial thin films of Cs_{3}Sb on 3C-SiC (001) using molecular-beam epitaxy. Films as thin as 4 nm have quantum efficiencies exceeding 2% at 532 nm. We also find that epitaxial films have an order of magnitude larger quantum efficiency at 650 nm than comparable polycrystalline films on Si. Additionally, these films permit angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements of the electronic structure, which are found to be in good agreement with theory. Epitaxial films open the door to dramatic brightness enhancements via increased efficiency near threshold, reduced surface disorder, and the possibility of engineering new photoemission functionality at the level of single atomic layers.

High-Performance Dental Composites Based on Hierarchical Reinforcements

Use of high-performance fibers such as poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole) (PBO) improves the mechanical properties of dental fiber-reinforced composites (FRCs). However, the surfaces of high-performance fibers are relatively inert, and the interface with the resin matrix is poor. This has become a limitation restricting the performance of PBO FRCs in dentistry. Nanomaterials were introduced onto PBO fibers to construct various hierarchical reinforcements to obtain a dental FRC with higher flexural performance and optimized interface bonding. Four hierarchical reinforcements were constructed: PBO-ZnO nanoparticles (NPs), PBO-ZnO nanowires (NWs), PBO-ZnO NPs–cage silsesquioxane (POSS), and PBO-ZnO NWs-POSS. Performance following this optimized method was evaluated at macroscale and microscale levels, including measurement of the interfacial properties and mechanical properties of FRCs. The physicochemical characteristics of PBO fibers before and after modification were measured to determine the interfacial bonding mechanisms and to verify the connection between the microinterface and macromechanical properties. The cytotoxicity of the preferred PBO FRC was evaluated using the CCK8 assay. In comparison to other designs, the interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of PBO-ZnO NWs-POSS was the highest (29.31 ± 2.40 MPa). The corresponding FRC had the highest flexural strength under a static load (925.0 ± 39.2 MPa), the flexural modulus (39.39 ± 1.41 GPa) was equivalent to that of human dentin, and in vitro cytotoxicity was acceptable. The interfacial bonding mechanisms of PBO-ZnO NWs-POSS resulted from mechanical interlocking, chemical bonds, hydrogen bonds, and van der Waals forces. In summary, the PBO-ZnO NWs-POSS hierarchical reinforcement was introduced in dental FRCs and showed remarkable enhancement of the IFSS and flexural properties. We verified that the PBO-ZnO NWs-POSS hierarchical reinforcement was successful. This PBO FRC may be applied in dentistry as a new option for endodontic posts. Our study provides an interface design strategy for developing high-performance FRCs reinforced with high-performance fibers for dental applications.

Micromolar Metabolite Measurement in an Electronically Multiplexed Format

The detection of metabolites such as choline in blood are important in clinical care for patients with cancer and cardiovascular disease. Choline is only present in human blood at low concentrations hence accurate measurement in an affordable point-of-care format is extremely challenging. Integration of microfluidics on to complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology has the potential to enable advanced sensing technologies with extremely low limit of detection that are well suited to multiple clinical metabolite measurements. Although CMOS and microfluidics are individually mature technologies, their integration has presented challenges that we overcome in a novel, cost-effective, single-step process. To demonstrate the process, we present the microfluidic integration of a metabolomics-on-CMOS point-of-care platform with four capillary microfluidic channels on top of a CMOS optical sensor array. The fabricated device was characterised to verify the required structural profile, mechanical strength, optical spectra, and fluid flow. As a proof of concept, we used the device for the in-vitro quantification of choline in human blood plasma with a limit of detection of 3.2 M and a resolution of 1.6 M.

Rotary table wobble error analysis and correction of a rotating accelerometer gravity gradiometer

In a rotating accelerometer gravity gradiometer (RAGG), rotary table wobble refers to the shift in the direction of the spin axis during operation. This motion causes errors in the output of the RAGG, but the mechanism is not clear. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between rotary table wobble and RAGG errors and to propose a method for rejecting these errors. We consider the influence of attitude changes, angular velocity, and angular acceleration caused by the wobble on the specific force, and we describe the error transmission process based on the accelerometer configuration and its measurement principle. Furthermore, we show through a simulated experiment that when the angular velocity noise caused by the wobble is 1 μrad/s, this will produce errors of tens of E. We propose a post-error correction method that is based on the higher-precision RAGG model and motion measurement. The errors in the two channels of the RAGG are reduced to 3.69 E and 1.85 E after error correction. The error analysis of the effects of wobble on a RAGG and the proposed error correction method are of great significance for the development of high-precision gradiometers.

Photocurrent-driven transient symmetry breaking in the Weyl semimetal TaAs

Symmetry plays a central role in conventional and topological phases of matter, making the ability to optically drive symmetry changes a critical step in developing future technologies that rely on such control. Topological materials, like topological semimetals, are particularly sensitive to a breaking or restoring of time-reversal and crystalline symmetries, which affect both bulk and surface electronic states. While previous studies have focused on controlling symmetry via coupling to the crystal lattice, we demonstrate here an all-electronic mechanism based on photocurrent generation. Using second harmonic generation spectroscopy as a sensitive probe of symmetry changes, we observe an ultrafast breaking of time-reversal and spatial symmetries following femtosecond optical excitation in the prototypical type-I Weyl semimetal TaAs. Our results show that optically driven photocurrents can be tailored to explicitly break electronic symmetry in a generic fashion, opening up the possibility of driving phase transitions between symmetry-protected states on ultrafast timescales.

Quinary High-Entropy-Alloy@Graphite Nanocapsules with Tunable Interfacial Impedance Matching for Optimizing Microwave Absorption

Designing heterogeneous interfaces and components at the nanoscale is proven effective for optimizing electromagnetic wave absorption and shielding properties, which can achieve desirable dielectric polarization and ferromagnetic resonances. However, it remains a challenge for the precise control of components and microstructures via an efficient synthesis approach. Here, the arc-discharged plasma method is proposed to synthesize core@shell structural high-entropy-alloy@graphite nanocapsules (HEA@C-NPs), in which the HEA nanoparticles are in situ encapsulated within a few layers of graphite through the decomposition of methane. In particular, the HEA cores can be designed via combinations of various transition elements, presenting the optimized interfacial impedance matching. As an example, the FeCoNiTiMn HEA@C-NPs obtain the minimum reflection loss (RL_min ) of -33.4 dB at 7.0 GHz (3.34 mm) and the efficient absorption bandwidth (≤-10 dB) of 5.45 GHz ranging from 12.55 to 18.00 GHz with an absorber thickness of 1.9 mm. The present approach can be extended to other carbon-coated complex components systems for various applications.

[Photothermal effect of nano-copper sulfide against tongue squamous cell carcinoma]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the anti-tumor effect of BSA@CuS-PEG nanocomposites on tongue squamous cell carcinoma.

METHODS

Transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, Zeta potential and ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy were used to characterize the synthesized BSA@CuS-PEG nanocomposite, whose photothermal properties was assessed with near infrared Ⅱ region excitation light (1064 nm). The cytotoxicity of the nanocomposite in Cal27 and SCC9 cells was evaluated using CCK-8 assay, and its effect on cell cycle distribution was analyzed using flow cytometry. The in vivo antitumor effect of BSA@CuS-PEG was investigated in a Balb/c mouse model bearing subcutaneous Cal27 tumor xenograft.

RESULTS

The synthesized BSA@CuS-PEG nanocomposite showed a temperature variation (ΔT) of about 30 ℃ under near-infrared (NIR) irradiation (0.5 W/cm2), suggesting its excellent photothermal sensitivity. CCK-8 assay showed that BSA@CuS-PEG had no significant toxicity to tumor cells, but upon NIR irradiation, the nanocomposite produced a significant stronger inhibitory effect on Cal27 and SCC9 cells than free nanocomposites (P < 0.001). Cell cycle analysis showed that compared with free nanocomposites, BSA@CuS-PEG plus NIR irradiation caused more obvious cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase in tongue cancer cells (P < 0.001). In the tumor-bearing mice, BSA@CuS-PEG combined with NIR irradiation produced a significant anti-tumor effect as compared with saline treatment plus NIR irradiation (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The BSA@CuS-PEG nanocomposite shows prominent photothermal properties and good anti-tumor effects both in vivo and in vitro, and thus provides a promising method for non-invasive early diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of primary tongue cancer.

Tsukushi and TSKU genotype in obesity and related metabolic disorders

PURPOSE

Whether Tsukushi (TSK) can protect against high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and improve glucose metabolism remains controversial. Serum levels of TSK in the population have not been reported until now. We assessed the association among TSK level, TSKU genotype, and metabolic traits in humans.

METHODS

Associations between serum TSK levels and metabolic traits were assessed in 144 Han Chinese individuals. Loci in the TSKU gene region were further genotyped in 11,022 individuals. The association between the loci and serum TSK level was evaluated using the additive genetic model. The association between the loci and their metabolic traits in humans were also verified.

RESULTS

Lower TSK levels were observed in obese subjects than in control subjects (median and interquartile range 17.78:12.07-23.28 vs. 23.81:12.54-34.56, P < 0.05). However, in obese subjects, TSK was positively associated with BMI (β ± SE: 0.63 ± 0.31, P = 0.049), visceral fat area (β ± SE: 12.15 ± 5.94, P = 0.011), and deterioration of glucose metabolism. We found that rs11236956 was associated with TSK level in obese subjects (β 95% CI 0.17, 0.07-0.26; P = 0.0007). There was also a significant association between rs11236956 and metabolic traits in our population.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings showed that serum TSK levels were associated with metabolic disorders in obese subjects. We also identified rs11236956 to be associated with serum TSK levels in obese subjects and with metabolic disorders in the total population.