The modulation effects of the mind-body and physical exercises on the basolateral amygdala-temporal pole pathway on individuals with knee osteoarthritis.

Background/objective: To investigate the modulatory effects of different physical exercise modalities on connectivity of amygdala subregions and its association with pain symptoms in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA).

Methods: 140 patients with KOA were randomly allocated either to the Tai Chi, Baduanjin, Stationary cycling, or health education group and conducted a 12 week-long intervention in one of the four groups. The behavioral, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and blood data were collected at baseline and the end of the study.

Self-powered aligned porous superhydrophobic sponge for selective and efficient absorption of highly viscous spilled oil.

Crude oil spills have caused catastrophic damage to marine ecosystems and become a global challenge. Although various liquid absorption materials have been developed, manual operations such as pumping and electric heating are still required in the face of highly viscous spilled oils. Efficient and autonomous crude oil spill cleanup methods are urgently needed.

Wood-Inspired Compressible Superhydrophilic Sponge for Efficient Removal of Micron-Sized Water Droplets from Viscous Oils.

Efficient micron-sized droplet separation materials have become a new demand for environmental protection and economic development. However, existing separation methods are difficult to be effectively used for micron-sized water droplets surrounded by viscous oil, and common materials have difficulty maintaining hydrophilicity underoil. Here, inspired by the microstructure of tree xylem, we report a cellulose-polyurethane sponge (CP-Sponge) with wood-like pores and underoil superhydrophilicity using directional freeze-casting.

Supramolecular self-assembly of the γ-cyclodextrin and perfluorononanoic acid system in aqueous solution.

Recently, inclusion complexes formed from cyclodextrins (CDs) and surfactants have been found to play complex and important roles in supramolecular self-assembly. In this work, the self-assembly of perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA)/γ-cyclodextrin (γ-CD) in aqueous solution was investigated. The sole PFNA solution assembled into spherical uni-lamellar vesicles under certain concentrations as revealed by freeze-fracture transmission electron microscopy (FF-TEM) images.

Assembly and mechanical response of amphiphilic Janus nanosheets at oil-water interfaces.

Hypothesis: Amphiphilic Janus nanosheets are plate-shaped, with one hydrophilic and one hydrophobic side; they are expected to assemble at oil-water interfaces. The assembled Janus nanosheets layers at the oil-water interface will exhibit a unique mechanical response under the vertical pressure of a probe.

Experiments: The interfacial behaviors of amphiphilic Janus nanosheets and the morphology of the assembled particle film at an oil-water interface were observed.

Investigation on dispersion properties of CO and ester solvent mixtures using FTIR spectroscopy.

To study the microscopic dispersion state of CO in different ester solvents, the solubility, volume expansion coefficients and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of the CO-ester system were measured. The results show that the solubility and expansion coefficient of CO in ester solvents decreases as the hydrocarbon chain increases. As the pressure increases, the infrared absorption peaks of CO and the functional groups characteristic of ester molecules shift, indicating that CO molecules interact with ester molecules and that CO would destroy the interactions between the ester molecules.

Delayed-Crosslink Hydrogel for Improving Oil Recovery in Differential Heterogeneous Reservoirs.

Premature water production is an inevitable issue that results in loss of quantities of reserves in heterogeneous oilfields especially with large permeability ratios. Hydrogel treatments, preferentially plugging large channels, are efficient techniques to reduce excessive water circulation. In this work, a moderate delayed polyacrylamide hydrogel was fabricated applying in-depth plugging to promote oil production.

Different exercise modalities relieve pain syndrome in patients with knee osteoarthritis and modulate the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: A multiple mode MRI study.

Objectives: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a common degenerative joint disease with no satisfactory intervention. Recently, both physical and mindfulness exercises have received considerable attention for their implications in KOA pain management, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has displayed a critical role in pain modulation. This study aimed to comparatively investigate the modulation effects of different exercises using multidisciplinary measurements.

Modulatory effects of different exercise modalities on the functional connectivity of the periaqueductal grey and ventral tegmental area in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomised multimodal magnetic resonance imaging study.

Background: Knee osteoarthritis is a prevalent disorder with unsatisfactory treatment options. Both physical and mindful exercises may be able to relieve its pain symptoms. We compared the modulatory effects of different exercise modalities on the periaqueductal grey (PAG) and ventral tegmental area (VTA), which play important roles in descending opioidergic pathways and reward/motivation systems in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Relationship between warfarin dosage and international normalized ratio: a dose-response analysis and evaluation based on multicenter data.

Purpose: The objectives of the study were to establish a dose-response model for warfarin based on the relationship between daily warfarin dose and international normalized ratio (INR) and to evaluate the stability and reliability of the established model using external data.

Methods: Clinical data were recorded from 676 outpatients with a steady-state warfarin dosage. Demographic characteristics, concomitant medications, daily dosage of warfarin, CYP2C9 and VKORC1 genotypes, and INR were recorded.

Thermodynamic insights and molecular environments into catanionic surfactant systems: Influence of chain length and molar ratio.

Hypothesis: Imidazolium-based Ionic liquids as new generation cationic surfactants can provide designable alkyl chain length. In the catanionic surfactant systems, the alkyl chain lengths and molar ratios can greatly influence the interactions such as electrostatic and hydrophobic interaction. The variation in these interactions has a significant effect on the molecular environments of the self-assembly structure, and this process is always accompanied by the transition of aggregates and release or consumption of heat.

Formation of polyhedral vesicle gels from catanionic mixtures of hydrogenated and perfluorinated surfactants: effect of fluoro-carbon alkyl chain lengths.

The effects of alkyl chain length of anionic fluorinated fatty acid surfactants, CnF2n+1COOH (n = 7-11), mixed with one cationic hydrocarbon surfactant, tetradecyltrimethylammonium hydroxide (TTAOH), on the formation of polyhedral vesicle gels were investigated in aqueous solutions. On the basis of phase behavior mapping, C8F17COOH, C9F19COOH, C10F21COOH and C11F23COOH except C7F15COOH all formed polyhedral vesicle gels when they were mixed with TTAOH under certain mixed ratios, which was demonstrated by freeze-fracture transmission electron microscopy (FF-TEM) measurements. Meanwhile, the following observation was not observed: the longer the fluorinated alkyl chain, the more effective the formation of gels by fluorinated fatty acids.

Zr-Induced high temperature resistance of polymer microsphere based on double crosslinked structure.

In order to obtain polymer microspheres for profile control and water shutoff with high temperature resistance and good swelling properties, micrometer microspheres with a double crosslinked structure were synthesized using the monomers acrylamide (AM), -vinylpyrrolidone (NVP) and 2-acrylamide-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS), an initiator of potassium persulfate, a crosslinking agent of ,-methylene bis acrylamide and zirconium acetate. The crosslinked Zr-AM/NVP/AMPS microspheres were fully characterized with several means including FT-IR, C NMR, TG-DSC and SEM. Metal crosslinking was introduced into the polymer microspheres to improve the temperature resistance by crosslinking the hydrolyzed polymer molecular chains.

Polymerizable Microsphere-Induced High Mechanical Strength of Hydrogel Composed of Acrylamide.

Polymerizable microspheres are introduced into acrylamide to prepare the high mechanical strength hydrogels with a novel three-dimensional pore structure. Rheological properties, compressive stress⁻strain, tensile property, and compression strength of three different types of hydrogels were investigated. Moreover, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) was adopted to observe the three-dimension network structure of three different types of hydrogels.

Verification of five pharmacogenomics-based warfarin administration models.

Objective: This study aims to screen and validate five individual warfarin dosing models (four Asian model algorithms, namely, Ohno, Wen, Miao, Huang, and the algorithm of International Warfarin Pharmacogenetic Consortium, namely IWPC algorithm) with the aim of evaluating their accuracy, practicality, and safety.

Materials And Methods: Patients' CYP2C9*3 and VKORC1-1639G >A genes were genotyped, and patient-related information and steady warfarin doses were recorded. The difference between the predicted dose and actual maintenance dose of each model was compared.

Relationships of related genetic polymorphisms and individualized medication of tacrolimus in patients with renal transplantation.

The aim of this study was to establish clinical and genetic factors-based individual administration model of tacrolimus for Chinese Han patients after renal transplantation (RT). The genetic polymorphisms of CYP3A4, CYP3A5 and MDR1 in 216 RT patients were detected by PCR-RFLP, the genetic and clinical factors and blood concentration/dose × body weight (C/D) values of tacrolimus were performed the single factor correlation analysis, and established the dose prediction algorithm of tacrolimus by stepwise multiple regression analysis. CYP3A5*3, hematocrit and albumin were correlated with the C/D values of tacrolimus, the best regression model could explain 28.

Faceted fatty acid vesicles formed from single-tailed perfluorinated surfactants.

The aggregation behavior and rheological properties of two mixtures of perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA)/NaOH and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA)/NaOH were investigated in aqueous solutions. Interestingly, pH-sensitive polyhedral fatty acid vesicles were spontaneously formed in both systems, which were determined by freeze-fracture transmission electron microscopy (FF-TEM) measurements. Especially, a phase transition from faceted vesicles to the L3 phase with the increase of pH was observed in the PFNA/NaOH system while it was not observed in the PFDA/NaOH system.

Nanosilica-induced high mechanical strength of nanocomposite hydrogel for killing fluids.

Nano-silica was introduced to enhance the mechanical strength of polymer hydrogels obtained via the crosslinking of polyacrylamide (PAM) and chromium acetate. Rheological properties, compression strength and compressive stress-strain of both nanocomposite and normal hydrogels without nano-silica were investigated by HAKKE rheometer, compression strength test device and electronic universal material testing machine. Moreover, environmental scanning electronic microscopic (ESEM) was adopted to observe the three-dimension network structure of nanocomposite and normal hydrogel, as well as the distribution of nano-silica.

Study of deep profile control and oil displacement technologies with nanoscale polymer microspheres.

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic lighting scattering (DLS) and HAAKE rheometer experiments were adopted to investigate the shape, size and rheological properties of nanoscale polymer microspheres. Moreover, nuclear-pore film filtration, sand packed tube displacement, core displacement, micro-visual model and capillary flow experiments were used to study the mechanisms of deep profile control and oil displacement of nanoscale polymer microspheres. The results demonstrated that the original shape of the nanoscale polymer microspheres were typically spherical, ranging in size from 30 to 60 nm.