•A thermodynamic constitutive model is developed for geomaterials based on the tenet of particle reconstruction.•The concepts of particle entropy, particle temperature, migration coefficient and ...potential energy density function are introduced.•The proposed model is verified by saturated/unsaturated soils undergoing thermal loading.
A thermo-hydro-mechanical constitutive model is developed for geomaterials based on the tenet of particle rearrangement in porous granular materials undergoing thermodynamic processes. In this model, the concepts of particle entropy, particle temperature, migration coefficient and potential energy density function are introduced. The effects of temperature and saturation variation on energy dissipation and the soil–water characteristic curve of the geomaterials are also considered. This model can accurately describe the irreversible consolidation of normally consolidated saturated soils induced by thermal loading and the aging effect induced by cyclic thermal loading, which is attributed to the irreversible rearrangement of solid particles in the soils. However, as the overconsolidation ratio increases, volumetric expansion will likely become reversible. In this case, temperature-induced elastic deformation of the solid particles is more dominant than particle rearrangement. The constitutive model can accurately describe the effects of static stress, suction and temperature on the consolidation of unsaturated soils. An increase in temperature can cause thermal contraction at low suction but thermal expansion at high suction and the physical mechanism is the same as that of the thermal consolidation of saturated soils.
It is irresponsible if we disregard reduction quality to talk about cut-outs in intertrochanteric fractures (ITF) with internal fixation. The aim of this study is to analyze the risk-factors for ...cut-outs in geriatric ITF with cephalomedullary nailing after obtaining acceptable reduction.
In order to investigate the risk-factors for cut-outs in geriatric ITF after obtaining acceptable reduction, we retrospectively reviewed 367 patients who underwent cephalomedullary nail for ITF in our department between September 2016 and December 2021. Potential variables including demographic data and radiological parameters (namely the fracture type, Singh index, lateral wall fracture, cephalic nail position, Parker's ratio index, tip-apex-distance (TAD), and calcar-referenced TAD (CalTAD)) were collected. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the significant risk factors for cut-outs.
One hundred twenty-one patients were suitable for this study. Of the 121 cases, nine cases (7.4%) were observed with cut-out or pending cut-out. We found that Age (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.158, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.016 to 1.318, p = 0.028), lateral wall fracture (adjusted OR 11.07, 95%CI 1.790 to 68.380, p = 0.01), and CalTAD (adjusted OR 1.277, 95%CI 1.005 to 1.622, p = 0.045) were independent risk-factors for cut-outs.
Age, lateral wall fracture and CalTAD are independent risk-factors for cut-outs in geriatric ITF with cephalomedullary nailing after obtaining acceptable reduction. In order to avoid cut-outs, an optimal CalTAD is necessary even obtaining acceptable reduction, especially in the over-aged patients with lateral wall fracture.
Intratumoral injection is a palliative treatment that aims at further improvement in the survival and quality of life of patients with advanced or recurrent carcinomas, or cancer patients with severe ...comorbidities or those with a poor performance status.
In this study, a solvent-injection method was used to prepare paclitaxel-cholesterol complex-loaded lecithin-chitosan nanoparticles (PTX-CH-loaded LCS_NPs) for intratumoral injection therapy, and the physicochemical properties of NPs were well characterized.
The particle size and zeta potential of PTX-CH-loaded LCS_NPs were 142.83±0.25 nm and 13.50±0.20 mV, respectively. Release behavior of PTX from PTX-CH-loaded LCS_NPs showed a pH-sensitive pattern. The result of cell uptake assay showed that PTX-CH-loaded LCS_NPs could effectively enter cells via the energy-dependent caveolae-mediated endocytosis and macropinocytosis in company with the Golgi apparatus. Meanwhile, PTX-CH-loaded LCS_NPs had a better ability to induce cell apoptosis than PTX solution. The in vivo antitumor results suggested that PTX-CH-loaded LCS_NPs effectively inhibited mouse mammary cancer growth and metastasis to distant organs and significantly improved the survival rate of tumor-bearing mice by intratumoral administration.
In general, our study demonstrated that PTX-CH-loaded LCS_NPs used for palliative treatment by intratumoral injection showed improved safety and antitumor efficacy, which provided an alternative approach in the field of palliative chemotherapy.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a serious healthcare dilemma, associated with specific changes in gut microbiota and circulating metabolome. Yet, the functional capacity of CKD microbiome and its ...intricate relationship with the host metabolism at different stages of disease are less understood.
Here, shotgun sequencing of fecal samples and targeted metabolomics profiling of serum bile acids, short- and medium-chain fatty acids, and uremic solutes were performed in a cohort of CKD patients with different severities and non-CKD controls.
We identified that levels of 13 microbial species and 6 circulating metabolites were significantly altered across early to advanced stages or only in particular stage(s). Among these, Prevotella sp. 885 (decreased) was associated with urea excretion, while caproic acid (decreased) and p-cresyl sulfate (elevated) were positively and negatively correlated with the glomerular filtration rate, respectively. In addition, we identified gut microbial species linked to changes in circulating metabolites. Microbial genes related to secondary bile acid biosynthesis were differentially abundant at the early stage, while pathway modules related to lipid metabolism and lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis were enriched in the CKD microbiome at the advanced stage, suggesting that changes in microbial metabolism and host inflammation may contribute to renal health. Further, we identified metagenomic and metabolomic markers to discriminate cases of different severities from the controls, among which Bacteroides eggerthii individually was of particular value in early diagnosis.
Our dual-omics data reveal the connections between intestinal microbes and circulating metabolites perturbed in CKD, which may be of etiological and diagnostic importance.
Within the multi-barrier system for high-level waste disposal, the technological gap formed by combined buffer material block becomes the weak part of buffer layer. In this paper, Gaomiaozi bentonite ...buffer material with technological gap was studied, the heat transfer induced by liquid water flow and water vapor was embedded into the energy conservation equation. Based on the Barcelona basic model, the coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical model of unsaturated bentonite was established by analyzing the swelling process of bentonite block and the compression process of joint material. The China-Mock-up test was adopted to compare the numerical calculation results with the test results so as to verify the rationality of the proposed model. On this basis, the effect of joint self-healing on dry density, thermal conductivity and permeability coefficient of buffer material was further analyzed. The results show that, with bentonite hydrating and swelling, the joint material gradually increases in dry density, and exhibits comparatively uniform hydraulic and thermal conductivity properties as compacted bentonite block. As a result, the buffer material gradually shifts to homogenization due to the coordinated deformation.
•Eu-MOF and Tb-MOF display 3D frameworks with different internal arrangements.•Eu-MOF and Tb-MOF present excellent stability and recyclability.•Both MOFs showed good sensitivity toward various ...organic and inorganic pollutants.
The reliable, convenient and rapid detection methods for various environmental pollutants using fluorescent sensors had attracted great attention. Herein, we reported the assembly and characterizations of two new fluorescent 3D lanthanide metal-organic frameworks (Ln-MOFs), namely Eu(PMBB)1.5(H2O)2 (Eu-MOF) and Tb(PMBB)1.5(H2O)2 (Tb-MOF) (H2PMBB = 4,4′-((1,4-phenylenebis(methylene))bis(oxy))dibenzoic acid). The fluorescent sensing results reveal that the two MOFs exhibit effective sensitivity toward Fe3+, Cr2O72−, cefixime (CFX), nitrofurazone (NFZ), imidacloprid (IMI) and nitenpyram (NTP) in aqueous medium. Notably, the Tb-MOF is more sensitive toward MnO4− than Eu-MOF due to the enhanced fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) effect. This work provides the example for more effective designs to employ Ln-MOFs as fluorescent sensors for detection of environmental pollutants in aqueous solution.
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•Osteoarthritis (OA) is an irreversible degenerative joint disease which could lead to disability especially in elderly people.•Hyperoside inhibits IL-1β-induced inflammation and ...extracellular matrix degeneration in chondrocyte.•Hyperoside alleviates development of osteoarthritis in the destabilizing the medial meniscus mouse model.•The potential mechanism of hyperoside in osteoarthritis progression may attribute to PI3K/Akt/ NF‐κB pathway.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic and progressive degenerative disease, and the main characteristic is destruction of articular cartilage. Hyperoside, a type of active flavonoid compound, has been verified valid for anti-inflammation. Nevertheless, whether hyperoside has positive effects on OA development remains unclear. Thus current research was conducted to explore the protective role of hyperoside in the development of OA and its potential molecular mechanism through in vitro and in vivo research. In vitro, excessive secretion of pro-inflammatory mediators including, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), nitric oxide (NO), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) was induced by interleukin -1β (IL-1β), which could be significantly reversed by the pretreatment of hyperoside and the effect was dose dependent. Moreover, hyperoside suppressed IL-1β-mediated extracellular matrix (ECM) damage. Mechanistically, hyperoside potently restrained IL-1β-mediated phosphorylation level of PI3K/Akt, as well as NF-κB pathway activation. Furthermore, molecular docking research revealed strong binding ability between hyperoside and PI3K. Destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) mice model was implemented to clarify the hyperoside-mediated therapeutic effect in cartilage degeneration and pain symptom in vivo. In conclusion, these results provide potent evidence that hyperoside could be used as a promising treatment strategy for the suppression during OA progress.
To design a standardized Tip-Apex Distance (STAD) and analyze the clinical significance of STAD in predicting cut-out in geriatric intertrochanteric fractures with internal fixation.
Firstly, we ...designed STAD according to the rule of TAD. We measured the STAD individually based on its own femoral head diameter (iFHD) instead of the known diameter of the lag screw in calculating TAD, resulting in that the STAD is simply the relative quantitation relationship of iFHD (the times of iFHD). In this study, we assumed that all the iFHD was 6D (1iFHD = 6D, or 1D = 1/6 of iFHD) in order for complete match of the Cleveland zone system, easy comparison of the STAD, and convenient identification for artificial intelligence. Secondly, we calculated and recorded all the STAD of cephalic fixator in 123 eligible ITF patients. Thirdly, we grouped all the ITF patients into the Failure and Non-failure groups according to whether cut-out or not, and analyzed the correlation between the cut-out and the STAD.
Cleveland zone, Parker's ratio (AP), TAD, and STAD were associated with the cut-out in univariate analysis. However, only STAD was the independent predictor of the cut-out by multivariate analysis. No cut-out was observed when STAD ≤ 2D (1/3 of iFHD). The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve indicated that STAD was a reliable predictor of cut-out, and the best cut-off value of STAD was 2.92D. Cut-out rate increased dramatically when STAD increased, especially when STAD > 3D (1/2 of iFHD).
Essentially, the STAD is a relative quantitation relationship of iFHD. The STAD is a reliable measurement of cephalic fixator position in predicting cut-out in geriatric ITF patients with single-screw cephalomedullary nail fixations. For avoiding cut-out, the STAD should be no more than a half of iFHD.
Level III, Prognostic Study.
The interplay of the gut microbes with gut-producing nephrotoxins and the renal progression remains unclear in large human cohort. Significant compositional and functional differences in the ...intestinal microbiota (by 16S rRNA gene sequencing) were noted among 30 controls and 92 (31 mild, 30 moderate and 31 advanced) patients at different chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages (discovery cohort). A core CKD-associated microbiota consisted of 7 genera (Escherichia_Shigella, Dialister, Lachnospiraceae_ND3007_group, Pseudobutyrivibrio, Roseburia, Paraprevotella and Ruminiclostridium) and 2 species (Collinsella stercoris and Bacteroides eggerthii) were identified to be highly correlated with the stages of CKD. Paraprevotella, Pseudobutyrivibrio and Collinsella stercoris were superior in discriminating CKD from the controls than the use of urine protein/creatinine ratio, even at early-stage of disease. The performance was further confirmed in a validation cohort comprising 22 controls and 76 peritoneal dialysis patients. Bacterial genera highly correlated with indoxyl sulfate and p-cresyl sulfate levels were identified. Prediction of the functional capabilities of microbial communities showed that microbial genes related to the metabolism of aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan) were differentially enriched among the control and different CKD stages. Collectively, our results provide solid human evidence of the impact of gut-metabolite-kidney axis on the severity of chronic kidney disease and highlight a usefulness of specific gut microorganisms as possible disease differentiate marker of this global health burden.
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