Background
Many patients after sphincter-preserving surgery experienced anorectal functional disturbances which were known as low anterior resection syndrome (LARS). Although many studies ...investigated LARS, there was inconsistency of their assessment tools and results. The aim of this systematic review was to elucidate the incidence and risk factors of LARS by a validated tool—LARS score.
Methods
A systematic literature search in Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane Library was conducted in April 2020. Studies investigating patients who were evaluated by LARS score 1 year after their sphincter-preserving surgery due to rectal cancer were included. Meta-analysis of incidence was conducted using the double arcsine method. Meta-analysis of each risk factor was conducted using a random effects model.
Results
A total of 50 studies were included. The pooled incidence of major LARS was 44% (95% CI 40–48%; I
2
= 88%; 36 studies). Long course neoadjuvant radiotherapy (OR 2.89, 95% CI 2.06–4.05; I
2
= 47%; P < 0.01; 10 studies), total mesorectal excision (TME) (OR 2.13, 95% CI 1.49–3.04; I
2
= 53%; P < 0.01; 7 studies), anastomotic leak (OR 1.98, 95% CI 1.34–2.93; I
2
= 39%; P < 0.01; 9 studies), and diverting stoma (OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.58–2.27; I
2
= 0%; P < 0.01; 13 studies) were associated with increased risk of major LARS. No significant difference was found in major LARS incidence between transanal TME and laparoscopic TME (OR 1.36, 95% CI 0.78–2.40; I
2
= 19%; P = 0.28; 4 studies). Pouch reconstruction failed to lower the risk of major LARS in long term (OR 1.43, 95% CI 0.88–2.33; I
2
= 70%; P = 0.29; 9 studies).
Conclusion
The incidence of major LARS after sphincter-preserving surgery is relatively high. Neoadjuvant radiotherapy, TME, anastomostic leak, and diverting stoma are major risk factors. No significant differences in postoperative anorectal functions were observed between transanal and laparoscopic TME. Pouch reconstruction was not found to be significantly beneficial to anorectal functions in long term.
As one of the most promising candidates in wearable energy storage devices, aqueous fibrous zinc metal batteries (AFZMBs) remain limited by some severe challenges, such as short life span and ...unstable capacity performance, etc. In this work, the stability of AFZMB is extended by fabricating an innovative stratified deposition framework (SDF) anode. The as‐prepared SDF electrode can achieve a stratified deposition of Zn metals from the bottom layer to the top layer due to the different overpotentials and binding energy of Zn deposition. Compared with commercial Zn fibers, this dexterous structure provides enough deposition space for Zn metals between the separator and the electrode, dramatically alleviating conventional dendrite puncture and prolonging life expectancy by an order of magnitude. It is found that SDF/AFZMB exhibits a long circulation of 2000 cycles with 89.0% capacity retention at 5 C with superior flexibility, demonstrating potential for application in future wearable electronics.
This innovative stratified deposition framework includes copper foam, nickel foam, and nickel oxide coating from bottom to top. This stratified structure can overcome short circuit and prolong the service life of batteries ten times by addressing the conventional difficulties in aqueous fibrous zinc metal batteries, such as dendrite growth, uniform distribution of electrolyte, and inferior flexibility.
In this study, we investigated the impact of relevance boundaries and common words on a fund search system, and constructed a fund search visualization system using density-based clustering, ...validating it across multiple topics. The results indicate that setting relevance boundaries has a significant impact on search results, and using a visualization system can effectively enhance the search efficiency.
Rather than using longitudinal "muscle" as in biological inchworm, the existing magnetic active elastomer (MAE)-based inchworm robots utilize magnetic torque to pull and push the soft body, which ...hinders its locomotion mobility. In this paper, a new pre-strained MAE inchworm millirobot with micropillars is proposed. The pre-strained elastomer serves as a pre-load muscle to contract the soft body, and the micropillars act as tiny feet to anchor the body during the locomotion. The proposed magnetic inchworm robot features a simple fabrication process that does not require special magnetization equipment. For the first time, the pre-load muscle is introduced in the design of magnetic inchworm robots, making it more like a real inchworm in terms of locomotion mechanism. The locomotion principle and parametric design for the desired locomotion performance have been investigated. Experimental results show that the fabricated magnetic inchworm robot (size: 10 mm × 5 mm, micropillars length: 200 µm, and mass: 262 g) can locomote on a smooth acrylic surface (roughness of 0.3 µm) at the speed of 0.125 body lengths per second, which is comparable with the existing magnetic inchworm robots. Moreover, the locomotion capabilities of the inchworm robot on wet surfaces and inclined planes have been verified via experimental studies.
The current generation of wearable sensors often experiences signal interference and external corrosion, leading to device degradation and failure. To address these challenges, the biomimetic ...superhydrophobic approach has been developed, which offers self‐cleaning, low adhesion, corrosion resistance, anti‐interference, and other properties. Such surfaces possess hierarchical nanostructures and low surface energy, resulting in a smaller contact area with the skin or external environment. Liquid droplets can even become suspended outside the flexible electronics, reducing the risk of pollution and signal interference, which contributes to the long‐term stability of the device in complex environments. Additionally, the coupling of superhydrophobic surfaces and flexible electronics can potentially enhance the device performance due to their large specific surface area and low surface energy. However, the fragility of layered textures in various scenarios and the lack of standardized evaluation and testing methods limit the industrial production of superhydrophobic wearable sensors. This review provides an overview of recent research on superhydrophobic flexible wearable sensors, including the fabrication methodology, evaluation, and specific application targets. The processing, performance, and characteristics of superhydrophobic surfaces are discussed, as well as the working mechanisms and potential challenges of superhydrophobic flexible electronics. Moreover, evaluation strategies for application‐oriented superhydrophobic surfaces are presented.
This review provides a thorough overview of the latest advancements in the field of superhydrophobic flexible wearable sensors. The review encompasses a wide range of aspects including the manufacturing processes, evaluation methods, and specific applications of flexible sensors that have been functionalized with non‐wetting behavior. Furthermore, the review summarizes the various working mechanisms of superhydrophobic and flexible devices, followed with a detailed discussion of the potential challenges that may arise during the real‐world implementation.
Coastal wetlands provide extensive ecological services for life on Earth but are facing rapid global disappearance influenced by human activities and climate change. From 1984 to 2018, approximately ...28% of the natural coastal wetlands in China were lost due to seawater intrusion, reduced sediment acquisition, urbanization, and reclamation. Tiaozini wetland used to be reclaimed during 2010-2019, and quickly shifted for conservation with less than 3 years. We analyzed 3 years of top-down eco-governance and bottom-up activities in Tiaozini, one of the typical wetlands with wise use instead of reclamation. Collaboration of stakeholders, such as the management company, local residents, tourists, scientific committees, NGOs, and media, facilitated the wise use of Tiaozini wetland as a successvie way towards eco-governance, including public participation and environmental education. Adaptive management, ecosystem-based management, and natural-based solutions play very important roles in eco-governance from both bottom-up and top-down approaches. Results showed that 3-year eco-governance induced great achievements in both biodiversity conservation and ecotourism development, which outweighs the 10-year reclamation for coastal wetlands exploitation.
The recent development of wearable devices is revolutionizing the way of human–machine interaction (HMI). Nowadays, an interactive interface that carries more embedded information is desired to ...fulfill the increasing demand in era of Internet of Things. However, present approach normally relies on sensor arrays for memory expansion, which inevitably brings the concern of wiring complexity, signal differentiation, power consumption, and miniaturization. Herein, a one‐channel based self‐powered HMI interface, which uses the eigenfrequency of magnetized micropillar (MMP) as identification mechanism, is reported. When manually vibrated, the inherent recovery of the MMP causes a damped oscillation that generates current signals because of Faraday's Law of induction. The time‐to‐frequency conversion explores the MMP‐related eigenfrequency, which provides a specific solution to allocate diverse commands in an interference‐free behavior even with one electric channel. A cylindrical cantilever model is built to regulate the MMP eigenfrequencies via precisely designing the dimensional parameters and material properties. It is shown that using one device and two electrodes, high‐capacity HMI interface can be realized when the magnetic micropillars (MMPs) with different eigenfrequencies have been integrated. This study provides the reference value to design the future HMI system especially for situations that require a more intuitive and intelligent communication experience with high‐memory demand.
A single channel based human–machine interactive interface is reported. The interface is composed of magnetized micropillars (MMPs) and a flexible coil. By precisely regulating eigenfrequency of various MMPs, different signals or commands can be transmitted with only 1 channel in form of induced current, which will significantly enlarge the capacity and improve the wearability of devices.
Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is a rare and highly aggressive cancer. Despite advances in multidisciplinary treatments for cancer, the prognosis for MM remains poor with no effective diagnostic ...biomarkers currently available. The aim of this study was to identify plasma metabolic biomarkers for better MM diagnosis and prognosis by use of a MM cell line-derived xenograft (CDX) model.
The MM CDX model was confirmed by hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemistry. Twenty female nude mice were randomly divided into two groups, 10 for the MM CDX model and 10 controls. Plasma samples were collected two weeks after tumor cell implantation. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis was conducted. Both univariate and multivariate statistics were used to select potential metabolic biomarkers. Hierarchical clustering analysis, metabolic pathway analysis, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were performed. Additionally, bioinformatics analysis was used to investigate differential genes between tumor and normal tissues, and survival-associated genes.
The MM CDX model was successfully established. With VIP > 1.0 and P-value < 0.05, a total of 23 differential metabolites were annotated, in which isoleucine, 5-dihydrocortisol, and indole-3-acetamide had the highest diagnostic values based on ROC analysis. These were mainly enriched in pathways for starch and sucrose metabolism, pentose and glucuronate interconversions, galactose metabolism, steroid hormone biosynthesis, as well as phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis. Further, down-regulation was observed for amino acids, especially isoleucine, which is consistent with up-regulation of amino acid transporter genes
and
in MM. Overall survival was also negatively associated with
,
, and
.
We found several altered plasma metabolites in the MM CDX model. The importance of specific metabolic pathways, for example amino acid metabolism, is herein highlighted, although further investigation is warranted.
The control of underwater bubble behavior on a solid surface has great research significance. However, the control of the spontaneous directional transport and collection of numerous underwater ...bubbles remains a challenge. A new technique of a metal mesh with superhydrophobic/hydrophobic properties is demonstrated here, which creates a wettability gradient coupled with a microporous array by means of pulsed fiber laser ablation and chemical modification of the aluminum sheet. The resultant wettability surface effectively achieved the spontaneous movement of bubbles along the directional wettability gradient (superaerophobicity to aerophilicity) and through the metal mesh (aerophilicity to superaerophilicity) in the direction of decreasing free energy. Theoretical analysis accounted first for the spontaneous sliding of bubbles on the wettability gradient surface as a result of the action of an unbalanced surface tension force and second for the spontaneous transition of bubbles from the aerophilic to superaerophilic side as a result of the combined action of Laplace pressure and buoyancy. A device with the capability of directional transportation and collection of underwater bubbles was designed based on the samples with a wettability gradient and a superhydrophobic/hydrophobic microporous array as the core components. The potential application is laser ablation of wettability gradient surfaces and metal mesh with superhydrophobic/hydrophobic properties for directional transportation and collection of underwater bubbles.
Protein hydrolysate from black soldier fly larvae (BSFP) has garnered great attention with its lower allergenicity, high amount of essential amino acids, and small bioactive peptides. Schizochytrium ...is a promising alternative source of n-3 FUFA because it has enriched docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22: 6). The aim of this study was to assess palatability, the presence of diarrhea, plasma biochemistry panels, anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects, and immune function in beagle dogs when supplementing a mixture of protein hydrolysate from black soldier fly larvae and schizochytrium (BSFPs) into their diets. Experiment I: 24 young beagle dogs (16 males and 8 females; 4-5 months; BW: 6.40 ± 0.15 kg) were randomly divided into four groups: (1) control (CON), (2) 5% BSFPs, (3) 10% BSFPs, (4) 15% BSFPs. Their body weights and fecal scores were recorded, and blood samples were collected for analysis. Experiment II: three diets containing 5%, 10%, and 15% BSFPs were evaluated by comparing them with a basal diet (CON) to evaluate palatability. These results suggested that a lower presence of diarrhea existed in the BSFP diet than the CON diet (
< 0.05). Three treatment groups remarkably increased their total protein (TP) and albumin (ALB) contents and decreased their concentrations of triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) in plasma (
< 0.05). Moreover, the 5% and 15% BSFPs groups had a higher calcium (CA) content in plasma, and the activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and contents of creatinine (CREA) and urea nitrogen (BUN) were significantly reduced by supplementing BSFP in their diets (
< 0.05). Their anti-oxidative enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) were dramatically enhanced, and their malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations were remarkably reduced (
< 0.05). Immunoglobulin A and G (IgA and IgG) concentrations in the plasma in the 10% and 15% BSFPs groups were significantly increased (
< 0.05). Furthermore, lower interleukin-8 (IL-8) contents were shown in the BSFP diets than the CON diet (
< 0.05). Similarly, the diets supplemented with BSFPs exhibited a positive effect on palatability (
< 0.05). To sum up, the diets supplemented with BSFPs significantly enhanced palatability, immune function, and anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory capacity to alleviate diarrhea and improve the general health of the beagle dogs.
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