Alleviating charge recombination at the electrode/electrolyte interface by introducing an overlayer is considered an efficient approach to improve photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation. A WO3 ...overlayer with dual oxygen and tungsten vacancies was prepared by using a solution‐based reducing agent, LEDA (lithium dissolved in ethylenediamine), which improved the PEC performance of the mesoporous WO3 photoanode dramatically. In comparison to the pristine samples, the interconnected WO3 nanoparticles surrounded by a 2–2.5 nm thick overlayer exhibited a photocurrent density approximately 2.4 times higher and a marked cathodic shift of the onset potential, which is mainly attributed to the facilitative effect on interface charge transfer and the improved conductivity by enhanced charge carrier density. This simple and effective strategy may provide a new path to improve the PEC performance of other photoanodes.
The surface of WO3 photoanodes is dramatically activated after in situ formation of an overlayer with dual tungsten and oxygen vacancies, presenting a photocurrent density of 2.81 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V (vs. RHE) and a negative shift of the onset potential.
The development of flexible electronic technology has led to convenient devices, including foldable displays, wearable, e‐skin, and medical devices, increasing the need for flexible adhesives that ...can quickly recover their shape while connecting the components of the device. Conventional pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs) can improve recoverability via crosslinking, but often have poor adhesive strength. In this study, new types of urethane‐based crosslinkers are synthesized using m‐xylylene diisocyanate (XDI) or 1,3‐bis(isocyanatomethyl)cyclohexane (H6XDI) as a hard segment, and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) group as a soft segment. The PSA with the synthesized H6XDI‐PEG diacrylate (HPD) demonstrates a significantly improved recoverability compared to XDI‐PEG diacrylate and a conventional crosslinker 1,6‐hexanediol diacrylate (HDDA) while maintaining high adhesion strength (≈25.5 N 25 mm−1). The excellent recovery property of the PSA crosslinked with HPD is further confirmed by 100k folding tests and 10k multi‐directional stretching tests exhibiting high folding and stretching stability. PSA with HPD also shows high optical transmittance (> 90%) even after 20% straining, suggesting its applicability in fields that simultaneously require high flexibility, recoverability, and optical clarity such as foldable displays.
Pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs) with rapid strain recovery properties are developed by incorporating H6XDI‐PEG diacrylate (HPD), a urethane‐based crosslinker. These PSAs also exhibit excellent adhesive strength and optical transparency, and they are expected to be utilized in flexible surfaces, such as foldable/stretchable displays and wearable devices.
We sought to evaluate the clinical implication of LAE based on left atrial anterior-posterior (LA AP) dimension or LA volume index (LAVI) in Korean patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). We enrolled ...8159 AF patients from the CODE-AF registry. The primary outcome was rate of stroke or systemic embolism (SSE). The prevalence of mild, moderate, and severe LAE by LA AP dimension was 30.6%, 18.5%, and 21.4%, and by LAVI (available in 5808 patients) was 15.7%, 12.5% and 37.8%, respectively. Compared with no or mild LAE, patients with significant LAE (moderate to severe LAE, n = 3258, 39.9%) were associated with a higher rate of SSE (2.5% vs. 1.4%, P = 0.001). Multivariable analysis suggested presence of significant LAE by LA AP dimension was associated with a higher risk of SSE in the overall population (HR 1.57, 95% CI: 1.14-2.17, P = 0.005) and in patients using anticoagulants (n = 5836, HR 1.79, 95% CI: 1.23-2.63, P = 0.002). Patients with significant LAE by LAVI were also at higher risk of SSE (HR 1.58, 95% CI: 1.09-2.29, P = 0.017). In conclusion, significant LAE by LA dimension or LAVI was present in 39.9% and 50.2% of AF patients, respectively, and was associated with a higher rate of SSE.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an independent risk factor for lung cancer (LC) development; however, there are currently no clinical guidelines for LC surveillance in IPF. This study aimed to ...investigate the cumulative incidence and survival outcomes of LC in IPF. Using the National Health Insurance Service database, including medical information on people aged ≥ 40 years between 2011 and 2016, we identified IPF patients and confirmed the presence of comorbid LC. Patients diagnosed with IPF in 2011 were washed out, and mortality data were analyzed from 2012 to 2018. A total of 7277 newly diagnosed IPF patients were identified among Korean citizens aged ≥ 40 years (about 50 million people) between 2011 and 2016. Their average age was 71.5 years and 72.8% of them were male. The prevalence of LC in the IPF cases was 6.4%. The cumulative incidence rates of LC in IPF patients who did not have LC at the time of IPF diagnosis were 1.7%, 4.7%, and 7.0%, at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. The median time from IPF diagnosis to LC development was 16.3 (Interquartile range, 8.2-28.8) months. The survival rate was significantly lower in the IPF with LC group than the IPF without LC group (P < 0.001). We concluded that IPF increases LC risk, and LC weakens survival outcomes in IPF. Close surveillance for LC development is mandatory for patients with IPF.
Seawater batteries (SWBs) are a type of sodium‐air batteries that use abundant seawater as the source of the catholyte. A cathode current collector in traditional SWBs is composed of titanium (Ti) ...and carbon‐based current collectors. The high contact resistance between Ti and carbon‐based current collectors as well as the slow kinetics of oxygen evolution and reduction reactions increase the overpotential, resulting in side reactions such as carbon corrosion. To enhance the performance of SWBs, previous studies have focused on carbon current collectors, catalysts, and polymer binders, while ignoring the importance of Ti. In this study, a facile carbon diffusion technique is employed to successfully form titanium carbide (TiC) on the surface of Ti. SWBs with engineered Ti demonstrate considerably improved performance (four times higher cycling stability, 30% increased power performance, 40% reduced voltage gap) in relation to those with pristine Ti. This significantly improved electrochemical performance is found to be attributable to the prevention of carbon corrosion due to i) the reduction of contact resistance (owing to rough TiC surface) and ii) the electrocatalytic effect of TiC. Finally, engineered Ti is applied to large‐area SWBs and its potential applicability in energy storage systems is confirmed.
TiC‐coated Ti current collector (referred to as ‘Black Ti') for seawater batteries (SWBs) is synthesized by using the carbon diffusion technique. The developed Black Ti induces low contact resistance against carbon current collectors and exhibits a good electrocatalytic effect, thereby reducing overpotential, increasing cycle stability, and preventing carbon corroding side reactions of SWBs.
Malnutrition and inflammation are closely linked to vascular calcification (VC), the severity of which correlate with adverse outcome. However, there were few studies on the interplay between ...malnutrition, inflammation and VC progression, rather than VC presence per se. We aimed to determine the relationship of malnutrition, inflammation, abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) progression with survival in hemodialysis (HD) patients.
Malnutrition and inflammation were defined as low serum albumin (< 40 g/L) and high hs-CRP (≥ 28.57 nmol/L), respectively. We defined AAC progression as an increase in AAC score using lateral lumbar radiography at both baseline and one year later. Patients were followed up to investigate the impact of AAC progression on all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
AAC progressed in 54.6% of 97 patients (mean age 58.2±11.7 years, 41.2% men) at 1-year follow-up. Hypoalbuminemia (Odds ratio 3.296; 95% confidence interval 1.178-9.222), hs-CRP (1.561; 1.038-2.348), low LDL-cholesterol (0.976; 0.955-0.996), and the presence of baseline AAC (10.136; 3.173-32.386) were significant risk factors for AAC progression. During the mean follow-up period of 5.9 years, 38(39.2%) patients died and 27(71.0%) of them died of cardiovascular disease. Multivariate Cox regression analysis adjusted for old age, diabetes, cardiovascular history, and hypoalbuminemia determined that AAC progression was an independent predictor of all-cause mortality (2.294; 1.054-4.994).
Malnutrition and inflammation were significantly associated with AAC progression. AAC progression is more informative than AAC presence at a given time-point as a predictor of all-cause mortality in patients on maintenance HD.
Titanium is commonly used as a biomaterial for dental implants. In this study, we investigated the antibacterial properties of titanium samples following treatment with a non-thermal atmospheric ...pressure plasma jet (NTAPPJ) on bacteria with two different cell wall structures, including gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The hydrophilicity and surface energy of titanium surfaces were significantly increased after NTAPPJ treatment without altering topographical features. Changes in the chemical composition and reductive potential were observed on the NTAPPJ-treated titanium surfaces. The adhesion and biofilm formation rate of bacteria were significantly reduced on the NTAPPJ-treated titanium surfaces compared with the untreated samples, which was confirmed by fluorescent imaging. Regarding the comparison between gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, both adhesion and the biofilm formation rate were significantly lower for gram-negative bacteria than gram-positive bacteria on samples treated for longer durations with the NTAPPJ. Transmission electron microscopy imaging showed a comparably more disruptive membrane structure of gram-negative bacteria than gram-positive bacteria on the NTAPPJ-treated surfaces. Our results indicated that the NTAPPJ treatment could be useful for preventing bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation on titanium dental implant surfaces, while the reductive potential on surfaces treated by the NTAPPJ could cause oxidation of bacteria, which could be more sensitive to gram-negative bacteria due to differences in the cell wall structure.
Though emerging evidence indicates that the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease is strongly correlated to the accumulation
and transmission
of α-synuclein (α-syn) aggregates in the midbrain, no ...anti-aggregation agents have been successful at treating the disease in the clinic. Here, we show that graphene quantum dots (GQDs) inhibit fibrillization of α-syn and interact directly with mature fibrils, triggering their disaggregation. Moreover, GQDs can rescue neuronal death and synaptic loss, reduce Lewy body and Lewy neurite formation, ameliorate mitochondrial dysfunctions, and prevent neuron-to-neuron transmission of α-syn pathology provoked by α-syn preformed fibrils
. We observe, in vivo, that GQDs penetrate the blood-brain barrier and protect against dopamine neuron loss induced by α-syn preformed fibrils, Lewy body/Lewy neurite pathology and behavioural deficits.
Abstract
Aims
The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between alcohol consumption and atrial fibrillation (AF)-related adverse events in the AF population.
Methods and results
A total ...of 9411 patients with nonvalvular AF in a prospective observational registry were categorized into four groups according to the amount of alcohol consumption—abstainer-rare, light (<100 g/week), moderate (100–200 g/week), and heavy (≥200 g/week). Data on adverse events (ischaemic stroke, transient ischaemic attack, systemic embolic event, or AF hospitalization including for AF rate or rhythm control and heart failure management) were collected for 17.4 ± 7.3 months. A Cox proportional hazard models was performed to calculate hazard ratios (HRs), and propensity score matching was conducted to validate the results. The heavy alcohol consumption group showed an increased risk of composite adverse outcomes adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 1.32, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06–1.66 compared with the reference group (abstainer-rare group). However, no significant increased risk for adverse outcomes was observed in the light (aHR 0.88, 95% CI 0.68–1.13) and moderate (aHR 0.91, 95% CI 0.63–1.33) groups. In subgroup analyses, adverse effect of heavy alcohol consumption was significant, especially among patients with low CHA2DS2-VASc score, without hypertension, and in whom β-blocker were not prescribed.
Conclusion
Our findings suggest that heavy alcohol consumption increases the risk of adverse events in patients with AF, whereas light or moderate alcohol consumption does not.
Lung cancer is one of the most common reasons for cancer-induced mortality across the globe, despite major advancements in the treatment strategies including radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Existing ...reports suggest that CXCR4 is frequently expressed by malignant tumor and is imperative for vascularization, tumor growth, cell migration, and metastasis pertaining to poor prognosis. In this study, we infer that CXCR4 confers resistance to ionizing radiation (IR) in nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. Further, on the basis of colony forming ability, one finds that drug-resistant A549/GR cells with improved CXCR4 expression exhibited more resistance to IR than A549 cells evidenced along with a reduction in the formation of γ-H2AX foci after IR. Transfection of shRNA against CXCR4 or treatment of pharmacological inhibitor (AMD3100) both led to sensitization of A549/GR cells towards IR. Conversely, the overexpression of CXCR4 in A549 and H460 cell lines was found to improve clonogenic survival, and reduce the formation of γ-H2AX foci after IR. CXCR4 expression was further correlated with STAT3 activation, and suppression of STAT3 activity with siSTAT3 or a specific inhibitor (WP1066) significantly stymied the colony-forming ability and increased γ-H2AX foci formation in A549/GR cells, indicating that CXCR4-mediated STAT3 signaling plays an important role for IR resistance in NSCLC cells. Finally, CXCR4/STAT3 signaling was mediated with the upregulation of Slug and downregulation of the same with siRNA, which heightened IR sensitivity in NSCLC cells. Our data collectively suggests that CXCR4/STAT3/Slug axis is paramount for IR resistance of NSCLC cells, and can be regarded as a therapeutic target to enhance the IR sensitivity of this devastating cancer.
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