The abundant, active, and acidic-stable catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are rare to the proton exchange membrane-based water electrolysis. Mn-based materials show promise as electrocatalysts for OER in acid electrolytes. However, the relationship between the stability, activity and structure of Mn-based catalysts in acidic environments remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLarge-scale hydrogen production through water splitting represents an optimal approach for storing sustainable but intermittent energy sources. However, water oxidation, a complex and sluggish reaction, poses a significant bottleneck for water splitting efficiency. The impact of outer chemical environments on the reaction kinetics of water oxidation catalytic centers remains unexplored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccurate myocardial segmentation is crucial for the diagnosis of various heart diseases. However, segmentation results often suffer from topology structural errors, such as broken connections and holes, especially in cases of poor image quality. These errors are unacceptable in clinical diagnosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPerylene diimide derivatives (PDIs) are suitable ECL luminophore candidates with low triggering potentials and strong ECL signals for fundamental studies and practical applications. However, PDIs tend to aggregate, which affects their optical properties and limits their application in bio-imaging and bio-sensing fields. In this study, an ECL sensor is fabricated based on the layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly of N, N-bis(phosphonomethyl)-3,4,9,10-perylene diimide (PMPDI) and Zr ions on the surface of a mesoporous indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe neuropeptide S (NPS) and its receptor (NPSR) represent a signaling system in the brain. Increased levels of NPS and NPSR have been observed in PK15 cells and murine brains in response to pseudorabies virus (PRV) infection, but it remains unclear whether elevated levels of NPS and NPSR are involved in the pathogenic process of PRV infection. In this study, the activities of both NPS and NPSR during PRV pathogenesis were explored in vitro and in vivo by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), PCR, real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR), qPCR, TCID, and Western blotting methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCarotid-femoral pulse transit time (cfPTT) is a widely accepted measure of central arterial stiffness. The cfPTT is commonly calculated from two synchronized pressure waves. However, measurement of synchronized pressure waves is technically challenging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a dangerous and lethal vascular disease. Non-invasive two-dimensional speckle-tracking imaging (2D STI) plays an important role in assessing aortic biomechanical properties. Our study aimed to evaluate the alterations of biomechanical characteristics using 2D STI in 91 AAA patients with different size.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: We aimed to use speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) to quantify circumferential aortic strain of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) with different size.
Methods: A total of 87 AAA patients were included. The morphological variables, including aortic maximum diameter (MD), end systolic area (ESA), end diastolic area (EDA), and thickness and area of intraluminal thrombus (ILT), were measured by ultrasound.
Background: Inflammation may be involved in the pathogenesis of acute aortic dissection (AAD). Toll-like receptor 4 () is known to play a critical role in regulating the immune and inflammatory processes. To date, the relationship between genetic variation of and AAD is far from clear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a serious and often fatal complication of connective tissue disease (CTD). Right atrial (RA) function is essential to maintaining adequate total right heart function in PAH. However, little is known about prognostic utility of RA function in CTD-PAH.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The recent approval of 4th generation HIV tests has forced many laboratories to decide whether to shift from 3rd to these tests. There are limited published studies on the comparative evaluation of these two different assays. We compare the performance of fourth-generation electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ChIA) and third-generation enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (EIA) for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening and gauge whether the shift from EIA to ChIA could be better in a multiethnic region of China.
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