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Enhancing the kinetic performance of thick electrodes is essential for improving the efficiency of lithium extraction processes. Biochar, known for its affordability and unique three-dimensional (3D) structure, is utilized across various applications. In this study, we developed a biochar-based, 3D-conductive network thick electrode (∼20 mg cm-2) by in-situ deposition of LiFePO4 (LFP) onto watermelon peel biomass (WB). Utilizing Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations complemented by experimental data, we confirmed that this The thick electrode exhibits outstanding kinetic properties and a high capacity for lithium intercalation in brines, even in environments where the Magnesia-lithium ratios are significantly high. The electrode showed an impressive intercalation capacity of 30.67 mg g-1 within 10 min in a pure lithium solution. It also maintained high intercalation performance (31.17 mg g-1) in simulated brines with high Magnesia-lithium ratios. Moreover, in actual brine, it demonstrated a significant extraction capacity (23.87 mg g-1), effectively lowering the Magnesia-lithium ratio from 65 to 0.50. This breakthrough in high-conductivity thick electrode design offers new perspectives for lithium extraction technologies.

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Mixing, homogenization, separation, and filtration are crucial processes in miniaturized analytical systems employed for in-vitro biological, environmental, and food analysis. However, in microfluidic systems achieving homogenization becomes more challenging due to the laminar flow conditions, which lack the turbulent flows typically used for mixing in traditional analytical systems. Here, we introduce an acoustofluidic platform that leverages an acoustic transducer to generate microvortex streaming, enabling effective homogenizing of food samples. To reduce reliance on external equipment, tubing, and pump, which is desirable for Point-of-Need testing, our pumpless platform employs a hydrophilic yarn capable of continuous wicking for sample perfusion. Following the homogenization process, the platform incorporates an array of micropillars for filtering out large particles from the samples. Additionally, the porous structure of the yarn provides a secondary screening mechanism. The resulting system is compact, and reliable, and was successfully applied to the detection of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in two different types of berries using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The platform demonstrated a detection limit of 5 CFU g-1, showcasing its effectiveness in rapid and sensitive pathogen detection.

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Previous studies have discovered that zinc-α2-glycoprotein (ZAG) is related to insulin resistance and lipid metabolism. The aim of the study is to explore the change of serum ZAG and its related factors in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Eighty newly diagnosed GDM patients were enrolled in the case group, and 80 normal pregnant women were selected as the control group. The differences of baseline data between the two groups were compared, and the change of serum ZAG level and its relationship with related indexes was analyzed. Compared to the control group, the level of serum ZAG in GDM women decreased (P < 0.001). What is more, the serum ZAG level of overweight and normal subjects in two groups was also found to have statistical differences. The Pearson correlation (or Spearman correlation) analysis showed that serum ZAG level was negatively correlated with FPG, FINS, HOMA-IR, and TG (all P < 0.05) and positively correlated with HDL (P < 0.05). Multiple linear regression showed that HDL and HOMA-IR were independent factors of serum ZAG (P < 0.05). The level of serum ZAG in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus decreased, and HDL and HOMA-IR are the influencing factors in the case group.

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AIMS: At present, there are few studies on the relationship between circulating irisin levels and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and the results are inconsistent. Therefore, this study conducts a systematic review and meta-analysis to comprehensively discuss the role of irisin in the occurrence and development of GDM. METHODS: We searched the articles on the relationship between GDM and circulating irisin levels up to September 2019, using the CNKI, WANFANG-DATA, PubMed and the Web of Science databases. RESULTS: Twenty two articles including 3563 participants were selected in the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis found the blood irisin levels for GDM group were significantly lower than that for control group during pregnancy(SMD = -0.88, 95%CI: -1.34, -0.42, P < 0.001). However, there was no significant difference of irisin levels in the postpartum blood and cord blood between the two groups (SMD = -1.44, 95 %CI: -3.79, 0.92, P = 0.23; SMD = -0.17, 95 %CI: -0.59, 0.25, P = 0.42, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the control group, irisin levels in the GDM group during pregnancy are lower. However, it is no significant difference of irisin levels in the postpartum blood and cord blood. Irisin may play an important role in the occurrence and development of GDM, which needs further research to demonstrate.

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OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of clinical use on both force retention and the deactivation of closed-coil nickel-titanium (NiTi) springs in a 16-week trial. METHODS: The force-activation curves for NiTi springs were determined before and after clinical use. The rate of tooth movement and maximum force (MF), hysteresis between activation and deactivation, and mean force of the deactivation plateau (MDF) were examined and correlated as a function of 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks of clinical use. To recover the force properties, the springs were heat treated at 100°C and the results were compared with the preceding data. RESULTS: A total of 36 springs were analysed. The MF loss after use was 60, 74, 55, and 48 g for the 4-, 8-, 12- and 16-week springs, respectively. Heat treating had little effect on the MF. Clinical use lowered hysteresis by a mean of 180 g*mm compared with the pre-clinical use data, and heat treating increased the hysteresis by a mean of 59 g*mm above the post clinic testing data. The MDF was nominally 100 g less than the MF. Teeth moved approximately 1 mm/month, independent of the force loss. CONCLUSIONS: The loss of MF and the lowering of the MDF was not time dependent. Heat treating can partially recover the mechanical properties of the used springs.

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BACKGROUND: Ginsenoside Rh2 (GRh2) is the main bioactive component in American ginseng, a commonly used herb, and its antitumor activity had been studied in previous studies. PDZ-binding kinase/T-LAK cell-originated protein kinase (PBK/TOPK), a serine/threonine protein kinase, is highly expressed in HCT116 colorectal cancer cells. METHODS: We examined the effect of GRh2 on HCT116 cells ex vivo. Next, we performed in vitro binding assay and in vitro kinase assay to search for the target of GRh2. Furthermore, we elucidated the underlying molecular mechanisms for the antitumor effect of GRh2 ex vivo and in vivo. RESULTS: The results of our in vitro studies indicated that GRh2 can directly bind with PBK/TOPK and GRh2 also can directly inhibit PBK/TOPK activity. Ex vivo studies showed that GRh2 significantly induced cell death in HCT116 colorectal cancer cells. Further mechanistic study demonstrated that these compounds inhibited the phosphorylation levels of the extracellular regulated protein kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) and (H3) in HCT116 colorectal cancer cells. In vivo studies showed GRh2 inhibited the growth of xenograft tumors of HCT116 cells and inhibited the phosphorylation levels of the extracellular regulated protein kinases 1/2 and histone H3. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that GRh2 exerts promising antitumor effect that is specific to human HCT116 colorectal cancer cells through inhibiting the activity of PBK/TOPK.

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CONTEXT: Leonurus artemisia (Lour.) S.Y.Hu (Lamiaceae) (YiMuCao in Chinese) is a traditional Chinese medicine. Leonurus artemisia has been shown to have many pharmacological effects such as increasing uterine contraction amplitude, and tension, but the active components are still unknown. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to determine active components of L. Artemisia that are responsible for the biological activity using HPLC and cell membrane-based system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The whole L. artemisia ethanol extract and its eight fractions were screened using Sprague-Dawley rat uterus cell membrane chromatography (CMC) combined with the HPLC/MS system. Oxytocin was used to investigate the activity of CMC column. The effect of active components screened from L. artemisia was studied by tension measurement of isolated rat uterine strips in vitro at a dose of 10(-7)-10(-4 )mol/L with oxytocin as a control. RESULTS: The acetone extract showed obvious activity when compared with the eight extracts of L. artemisia. From the acetone extract, in the negative ionization mode, the active compound was identified as genkwanin, with a molecular weight of 283. In vitro pharmacological experiments proved that genkwanin promoted uterine contractions at a dose from 10(-7) to 10(-4 )mol/L. The EC50 value was 4.86 ± 4.21 µmol/L for genkwanin and 4.30 ± 3.65 µmol/L for oxytocin on the contractile amplitude of uterine strips isolated from rats. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Genkwanin was identified as the active compound in L. artemisia by this method. In vitro pharmacological experiments proved that genkwanin promoted uterine contractions. Genkwanin may be used to uterine inertia and may have an effect on postpartum hemorrhage.

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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the gender-related differences in upper airway dimensions and hyoid bone position in Chinese Han children and adolescents (6-18 years) using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: CBCT-scans of 119 boys and 135 girls were selected and divided into four groups (group 1: 6-9 years; group 2: 10-12 years; group 3: 13-15 years; group 4: 16-18 years). The airway dimensions including the cross-sectional area (CSA), anteroposterior (AP) and lateral (LAT) width, length (L), mean CSA and volume (VOL) of upper airway segmentations and hyoid bone position including 11 linear and three angular measurements were investigated using Materialism's interactive medical image control system (MIMICS) 16.01 software. Gender-related differences were analyzed by two independent sample t-tests. RESULTS: No gender-related difference was found in values of the facial morphology, airway dimensions and hyoid bone position for group 1 (p > 0.05). The children and adolescents in groups 2, 3 and 4 showed significant gender-related differences in the measurement results of facial morphology, airway dimensions and hyoid bone positions (p < 0.05). What's more, the measurement values of boys were obviously larger than those of girls except some measurements in group 2. CONCLUSIONS: The measurements of airway dimensions and hyoid bone positions have gender-related differences in children and adolescents aged 10-18 years. These results could be taken into consideration during orthodontic diagnosis and treatment.

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AIMS: The optimal dosing strategies for blocking the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM) are poorly known. We sought to determine the long-term efficacy and safety of supramaximal titration of benazepril and valsartan in patients with IDCM. METHODS AND RESULTS: 480 patients with IDCM in New York Heart Association functional class II-IV and with left ventricular ejection fraction ≤35% were randomly assigned to extended-release metoprolol (mean 152 mg/day, range 23.75-190), low-dose benazepril (20 mg/day), low-dose valsartan (160 mg/day), high-dose benazepril (mean 69 mg/day, range 40-80), and high-dose valsartan (mean 526 mg/day, range 320-640). After a median follow-up of 4.2 years, high-dose benazepril and valsartan, compared with their respective low dosages, resulted in 41% and 52% risk reduction in the primary endpoint of all-cause death or admission for heart failure (P = 0.042 and 0.002), promoted functional improvement, and reversed remodelling as assessed by New York Heart Association classes, quality-of-life scores, and echocardiographic recording of left ventricular ejection fraction, left ventricular end-diastolic volume, mitral regurgitation, and wall motion score index. Compared with metoprolol, high-dose valsartan reduced risk for the primary endpoint by 46% (P = 0.006), whereas high-dose benazepril and both low-dose groups showed no significant difference. Major adverse events involved hypotension and renal impairment but were largely tolerated. CONCLUSIONS: Supramaximal doses of benazepril and valsartan were well tolerated and produced extra benefit than their low dosages in clinical outcome and cardiac reverse remodelling in patients with IDCM and modest-severe heart failure. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01917149.

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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Treg) in type 2 diabetic nephropathy and provide new clues for prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetic nephropathy. METHODS: Flow cytometry was used to analyze the expression rate of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg cells in 60 patients with type 2 diabetes and 15 normal subjects. RESULTS: No significant difference was found in the expression rate of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg cells between the control group and the type 2 diabetic patients. In the type 2 diabetic patients with microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria, the expression of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg cells was significantly lowered in comparison with that in the control group (P<0.05), and patients with macroalbuminuria showed significantly lower expression of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg cells than the microalbuminuric patinets (P<0.05). Significant inverse correlations were noted between the disease course and the expression of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg cells and between the urinary albumin excretion rate (UAER) and the expression of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg cells. CONCLUSION: CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg cells may play a role in the occurrence and development of type 2 diabetic nephropathy.

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