Influence of passive potential on the electronic property of the passive film formed on Ti in 0.1 M HCl solution during ultrasonic cavitation

The influence of the applied passive potential on the electronic property of the passive film formed on Ti at different potentials in 0.1M HCl solution during ultrasonic cavitation, was investigated by electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) and Mott-Schottky plot. The influence of the applied passive potential on the structure and composition of the passive film was studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). The results showed that the applied passive potential can obviously affect the electronic property of the passive film formed on Ti during ultrasonic cavitation. The resistance of the passive film increased, and the donor density of the passive film decreased with increasing the potential. The flat band potential moved to positive direction and the band gap of the passive film moved to negative direction with increasing potential. AES and XPS results indicated that the thickness of the passive film increased evidently with applying passive potential. The passive film was mainly composed of the mixture of TiO and TiO2. While the TiO2 content increased with increasing the applied passive potential, and the crystallization of the passive film increased with the increased potential.

The role of passive potential in ultrasonic cavitation erosion of titanium in 1 M HCl solution

The influence of the applied passive potential on the ultrasonic cavitation erosion of Ti specimen in 1 M HCl solution was investigated by mass loss experiment, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) and Mott-Schottky plot. The results showed that Ti was in the passive state within the potential region from -0.3 VSCE to 1.5 VSCE under ultrasonic cavitation erosion. The applied passive potential can obviously decrease the mass loss of Ti caused by ultrasonic cavitation erosion in 1 M HCl solution. The resistance of the passive film increased, the flat band potential moved to positive direction, and the donor density of the passive film decreased with increasing the passive potential. Finally, a physical model was provided to explain the experimental results based on energy band and semi-conductive theories.

Controllable hydrothermal synthesis of Eu3+/Tb3+/Dy3+ activated Zn8[(BO3)3O2(OH)3] micro/nanostructured phosphors: energy transfer and tunable emissions

When Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺ ions are co-doped into the ZBH matrix, the phosphor yielded tunable emissions. The concentration of rare earth doped can change the composition and further change the morphology and the luminescence properties.

Abnormal regional homogeneity in Parkinson's disease: a resting state fMRI study

AIM

To examine the functional brain alterations in Parkinson's disease (PD) by measuring blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) functional MRI (fMRI) signals at rest while controlling for the structural atrophy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Twenty-three PD patients and 20 age, gender, and education level matched normal controls (NC) were included in this study. Resting state fMRI and structural MRI data were acquired. The resting state brain activity was measured by the regional homogeneity (ReHo) method and the grey matter (GM) volume was attained by the voxel-based morphology (VBM) analysis. Two-sample t-test was then performed to detect the group differences with structural atrophy as a covariate.

RESULTS

VBM analysis showed GM volume reductions in the left superior frontal gyrus, left paracentral lobule, and left middle frontal gyrus in PD patients as compared to NC. There were widespread ReHo differences between NC and PD patients. Compared to NC, PD patients showed significant alterations in the motor network, including decreased ReHo in the right primary sensory cortex (S1), while increased ReHo in the left premotor area (PMA) and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). In addition, a cluster in the left superior occipital gyrus (SOG) also showed increased ReHo in PD patients.

CONCLUSION

The current findings indicate that significant changes of ReHo in the motor and non-motor cortices have been detected in PD patients, independent of age, gender, education level, and structural atrophy. The present study thus suggests ReHo abnormalities as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis of PD and further provides insights into the biological mechanism of the disease.

Longitudinal Study of Gray Matter Changes in Parkinson Disease

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The pathology of Parkinson disease leads to morphological brain volume changes. So far, the progressive gray matter volume change across time specific to patients with Parkinson disease compared controls remains unclear. Our aim was to investigate the pattern of gray matter changes in patients with Parkinson disease and to explore the progressive gray matter volume change specific to patients with Parkinson disease with disease progression by using voxel-based morphometry analysis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Longitudinal cognitive assessment and structural MR imaging of 89 patients with Parkinson disease (62 men) and 55 healthy controls (33 men) were from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative data base, including the initial baseline and 12-month follow-up data. Two-way analysis of covariance was performed with covariates of age, sex, years of education, imaging data from multiple centers, and total intracranial volume by using Diffeomorphic Anatomical Registration Through Exponentiated Lie Algebra tool from SPM8 software.

RESULTS

Gray matter volume changes for patients with Parkinson disease were detected with decreased gray matter volume in the frontotemporoparietal areas and the bilateral caudate, with increased gray matter volume in the bilateral limbic/paralimbic areas, medial globus pallidus/putamen, and the right occipital cortex compared with healthy controls. Progressive gray matter volume decrease in the bilateral caudate was found for both patients with Parkinson disease and healthy controls, and this caudate volume was positively associated with cognitive ability for both groups. The progressive gray matter volume increase specific to the patients with Parkinson disease was identified close to the left ventral lateral nucleus of thalamus, and a positive relationship was found between the thalamic volume and the tremor scores in a subgroup with tremor-dominant patients with Parkinson disease.

CONCLUSIONS

The observed progressive changes in gray matter volume in Parkinson disease may provide new insights into the neurodegenerative process. The current findings suggest that the caudate volume loss may contribute to cognitive decline in patients with Parkinson disease and the progressive thalamus enlargement may have relevance to tremor severity in Parkinson disease.

Ultrasonic cavitation erosion of Ti in 0.35% NaCl solution with bubbling oxygen and nitrogen

The influences of oxygen and nitrogen on the ultrasonic cavitation erosion of Ti in 0.35%NaCl solution at room temperature, were investigated using a magnetostrictive-induced ultrasonic cavitation erosion (CE) facility and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The roles of oxygen and nitrogen in the composition and the electronic property of the passive film on Ti, were studied by Mott-Schottky plot and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results showed that the mass loss of Ti in 0.35%NaCl solution increased with increasing cavitation time. Bubbling oxygen can evidently increase the resistance of ultrasonic cavitation erosion comparing with bubbling nitrogen. XPS results showed that the thickness of the passive film on Ti in 0.35%NaCl solution in the case of bubbling oxygen for 3 weeks, was about 7 nm, and the passive film was mainly composed of TiO2 with an anatase structure. While TiO2 with a rutile structure was found to be the major component of the passive film on Ti in 0.35%NaCl solution in the case of bubbling nitrogen for 3 weeks, and the film thickness was 5 nm. The results extracted from Mott-Schottky plot showed that the passive film on Ti in the case of bubbling oxygen had more donor density than the passive film on Ti in the case of bubbling nitrogen.

Broadband tunable InAs/InP quantum dot external-cavity laser emitting around 1.55 μm

We report a broadband tunable external-cavity laser based on InAs/InP quantum dots (QDs) grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy. It is found that high AsH₃ flow during the interruption after QD deposition greatly promotes QD ripening, which improves the optical gain of QD active medium in lower energy states. Combined with anti-reflection/high-reflection facet coatings, a broadly tunable InAs/InP QD external-cavity laser was realized with a tuning range of 140.4 nm across wavelengths from 1436.6 nm to 1577 nm at a maximum output power of 6 mW.

High performance 2150 nm-emitting InAs/InGaAs/InP quantum well lasers grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

We demonstrate high performance 2150 nm InAs/InGaAs/InP quantum well (QW) lasers grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. The laser structure consists of two InAs/InGaAs QWs, with a 30 μm-wide ridge waveguide and two cleaved cavity facets. The continuous wave operation at room temperature (RT) is achieved, with an output power of larger than 160 mW per facet and with a low threshold current density of 90.4 A/cm(2) per QW derived for the infinite cavity length. Under pulse injection mode, the maximal peak power per facet is as high as 1.35 W. By varying the cavity length, the lasing wavelength can be tuned in a range from 2142 nm to 2154 nm. Moreover, the highest operating temperature reaches up to 100 °C, and characteristic temperatures are 50 K (T(0)) and 132 K (T(1)) in the temperature range of 20-70 °C, respectively.

Clinical features and mortality in Chinese with lupus nephritis and neuropsychiatric lupus: A 124-patient study

BACKGROUND

Few investigation has focused on the patients with lupus nephritis (LN) and neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE). This study was aimed to investigate the clinical features, mortality, and the predictors for mortality of this group of patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Medical records were retrospectively reviewed in Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital from 1996 to 2012. Data of demographic information, clinical manifestations, laboratory tests, SLE disease activity index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K) score, diagnosis, complications, treatment, and mortality was collected.

RESULTS

A total of 124 patients were included in our study. Thirty-five (29.1%) patients had glomerular filtration rate <60 ml/min/1.73 m(2), while 24 (19.4%) experienced acute kidney injury (AKI). Thirteen of the 19 American College of Rheumatology defined NPSLE syndromes were identified. The most frequent manifestation was seizure disorder (56/124, 45.2%), followed by psychosis (37/124, 29.8%) and cerebrovascular disease (35/124, 28.2%). One hundred and five (84.7%) patients had SLEDAI-2K scores ≥15, the mean of which was 21.5 ± 6.2. The mortality during hospitalization was 12.9% (16/124) with NP involvement itself being the leading cause of death (7/16, 43.8%). Multivariate logistic regression confirmed that age <14 years at onset of NPSLE (odds ratios [OR]: 9.95, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.43-69.36, P = 0.020), AKI (OR: 10.40, 95% CI: 2.33-46.48, P = 0.002) and pneumonia (OR: 4.52, 95% CI: 1.14-17.96, P = 0.032) were risk factors for mortality, while cyclophosphamide (CYC) treatment (OR: 0.09, 95% CI: 0.02-0.54, P = 0.008) was a protective factor.

CONCLUSION

Most of SLE patients with LN and new-onset NPSLE are in an active disease state. NP manifestation itself was the leading cause of death during hospitalization. Childhood-onset NPSLE, AKI and pneumonia might be predictors of mortality, whereas CYC treatment might improve the prognosis.

Fluid resuscitation and standard drug treatment strategies in heatstroke Chinese patients

The objective of the present study was to evaluate different stage fluid and standard drug treatment strategies in 47 heatstroke patients. 47 adults with Heatstroke received fluid resuscitation treatment guided by transpulmonary thermodilution (PiCCO) in our intensive care unit. Systemic hemodynamics, microvascular indices and measures of acidosis, renal function, and pulmonary edema were followed prospectively. The speed of recovery and the component change was compared during the 6 h, 48 h and 96 h after the 3 stage fluid therapy. All patients were hyperpyrexia (core temperature>41°C), and on ventilation when enrolled in the ICU. Patients received a 6.17 (±1.8) ml/kg/h of crystal fluid and 3.31 (±0.5) ml/kg/h of colloidal fluid in the first 6 h; (3.41±1.2) ml/kg/h crystal fluid along with 2.27 (±0.3) ml/kg/h colloidal fluid in the first 48 h; 2.27 (±0.6) ml/kg/h crystal fluid along with 2.06 (±0.3) ml/kg/h colloidal fluid in the next 48 h. With resuscitation, acid-base status deteriorated in 25 of 47 patients (53.1%), extravascular lung water increased in 36 of 47 resuscitated patients (77%); 21 of these patients developed pulmonary edema though guided by transpulmonary thermodilution, 30 (63.8%) patients survived. All patients with pulmonary edema during the study were hypovolemic or euvolemic at the time pulmonary edema developed. Plasma lactate was lower in hypovolemic patients before (p<0.05) and after (p<0.05) resuscitation. Acute kidney injury was evident in 21 of 47 patients (47%) 48 h after enrollment. In conclusion, our study revealed that fluid resuscitation post heatstroke should be adjusted according to different stages.

Selective killing of lung cancer cells by miRNA-506 molecule through inhibiting NF-κB p65 to evoke reactive oxygen species generation and p53 activation

The tumor suppressor p53, nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) have crucial roles in tumorigenesis, although the mechanisms of cross talk between these factors remain largely unknown. Here we report that miR-506 upregulation occurs in 83% of lung cancer patients (156 cases), and its expression highly correlates with ROS. Ectopic expression of miR-506 inhibits NF-κB p65 expression, induces ROS accumulation and then activates p53 to suppress lung cancer cell viability, but not in normal cells. Interestingly, p53 promotes miR-506 expression level, indicating that miR-506 mediates cross talk between p53, NF-κB p65 and ROS. Furthermore, we demonstrated that miR-506 mimics inhibited tumorigenesis in vivo, implicating that miR-506 might be a potential therapeutic molecule for selective killing of lung cancer cells.

Establishment of an acute rejection model by transplanting both renal grafts into two different rats using a modified method of ureterovesical anastomosis

OBJECTIVE

To establish an acute rejection model after kidney transplantation in the rat using a modified method of ureterovesical anastomosis.

METHODS

Thirty-nine Wistar rat donors, were transplanted into 70 male SD rats. Wistar rats (group 1; n = 18) underwent harvest of both kidneys, cold perfusion, and transplantation into 36 SD rats. Wistar rats (group 2; n = 18) underwent left kidney harvest, cold perfusion and transplantation into 18 SD rats. Groups 1 and 2 did not receive immunosuppression after transplantation. Six kidneys were harvested from 3 Wistar rats (group 3), were transplanted into 6 SD rats that were treated with CsA (5 mg/kg per day) postoperatively, and humanely killed at 21 days. There were 10 SD in sham operated rats (group 4). The renal allograft vein was end-to-end anastomosed to the recipient renal vein using an epidural catheter. The renal allograft was anastomosed end-to-side to the recipient abdominal aorta with an abdominal aortic flap. The renal allograft ureterovesical flap was directly inserted into the recipient bladder, and attached by 4-5 interrupted sutures. The recipient's right kidney vessels were ligated at 3 days postoperatively.

RESULTS

The success rates were 91.7% and 88.9% in groups 1 and 2, respectively. Except for the time for removal of the renal allografts, the operative durations and warm ischemia times differed insignificantly between both groups (P > .05). Blood creatinine levels increased significantly after kidney transplantation in groups 1 and 2 compared with the sham operated and CsA-treated cohorts (P < .01), but insignificantly between groups 1 and 2 (P > .05).

CONCLUSIONS

A dual renal allograft model was established in the rat using a modified ureterovesical anastomosis. The technique can be reproduced reliably, reducing costs and shorten using overall operative duration.

A human health risk assessment of mercury species in soil and food around compact fluorescent lamp factories in Zhejiang Province, PR China

This study investigated total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) contamination in a major production center of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) located in Gaohong, Zhejiang Province, China. This was a result of the growing concern associated with the release of mercury into the environment from such components. The results of the study included the following mean concentrations for THg and MeHg of 157±11 (61-518)ng/gdw and 0.28±0.07 (0.07-0.67)ng/gdw in agricultural soil, respectively, and 18.6±6.5 (3.2-47.8)ng/gww and 0.11±0.03 (0.02-0.37)ng/gww in vegetable samples, respectively. A significant correlation was observed between THg in vegetables and corresponding soil samples (r=0.64, p<0.01). THg and MeHg in sediment samples had respective concentrations ranging from 28 to 1019ng/gdw and 0.11 to 3.15ng/gdw. Mud skipper bought from the local market contained the highest Hg (THg: 170±45ng/gww, MeHg: 143±37ng/gww) amongst all fish species (THg: 14-170; MeHg: 11-143ng/gww) of the study. The risk assessment indicated that fish consumption should not result in a MeHg EDI exceeding the RfD (0.1μg/kgbw/d) for both adults and children, when MeHg bioaccessibility is taken into account.

Heme oxygenase-1 expression and its significance for acute rejection following kidney transplantation in rats

OBJECTIVE

To analyze rejection and antiapoptotic effects of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in kidney transplantations, to investigate the protective effects of endogenous HO-1 induced by hemin on acute rat kidney allograft rejection.

METHODS

We selected 27 Brown-Norway rats and 27 male Lewis rats as donors and recipients, respectively, randomly dividing them into three groups: kidney transplantation alone, hemin treatment group, and cyclosporine (CsA) group (n = 18). Six recipient rats were harvested on the first, fifth, or seventh days after operation among each group to examine histopathologic changes in renal tissue, HO-1 protein expression, and acute rejection as well as to measure serum creatinine values.

RESULTS

HO-1 expression in both the kidney transplantation model group and the hemin-induced groups were higher compared with the CsA group (P < .05-.01). The expression increased with the aggravation of rejection; the expression in the CsA group also increased after transplantation but was obviously lower than that of the hemin-induced group (P < .01). The rejection process was relatively mild as indenset by histopathologic examination. The serum creatinine levels among the hemin-induced group were lower compared to the kidney transplantation control group (P < .05), but higher compared to the CsA group (P < .05).

CONCLUSION

HO-1 provided protection of allografts against rejection in rats, but such effects were poorer than those achieved using potent immunosuppressive agents like CsA.