Selection and optimization of biofilm carriers as high-effective microbial separator in microbial fuel cells.

Four biofilm carriers including pyrite, manganese ore, ceramsite, and polyurethane sponge were used to construct microbial separators (MSs), while their performance in dual-chamber microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was evaluated. Polyurethane sponge and pyrite were superior biofilm carriers for MSs. The dense biofilm on the polyurethane sponge provides MS with optimal barrier capacity against dissolved oxygen and chemical oxygen demand.

Vapor Nucleation on Hybrid-Wetting Nanoconvex Surfaces: The Competition between Intrinsic Wettability and Topography.

Hybrid-wetting surfaces with hydrophilic spots reduced from the micrometer to nanometer scale have been confirmed to enhance vapor nucleation while simultaneously minimizing droplet pinning. Given that surface topography also plays a critical role in influencing nucleation characteristics, the effect of competition between intrinsic wettability and topography on nucleation remains unclear when both surface topography and hydrophilic regions approach the critical nucleation size. This work investigated vapor nucleation on two types of hybrid-wetting nanoconvex surfaces.

Prevalence of small vessel disease and incidental DWI-positive lesions in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage versus intracerebral hemorrhage.

Introduction: Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) are main forms of hemorrhagic stroke. Data regarding cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) burden and incidental small lesions on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) following aSAH are sparse.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed a prospective cohort of aSAH and ICH patients with brain MRI within 30 days after onset from March 2015 to January 2023.

Coalescence-Induced Jumping of Nanodroplets in a Perpendicular Electric Field: A Molecular Dynamics Study.

Coalescence-induced jumping has promised a substantial reduction in the droplet detachment size and consequently shows great potential for heat-transfer enhancement in dropwise condensation. In this work, using molecular dynamics simulations, the evolution dynamics of the liquid bridge and the jumping velocity during coalescence-induced nanodroplet jumping under a perpendicular electric field are studied for the first time to further promote jumping. It is found that using a constant electric field, the jumping performance at the small intensity is weakened owing to the continuously decreased interfacial tension.

P450-Modified Multicyclic Cyclophane-Containing Ribosomally Synthesized and Post-Translationally Modified Peptides.

Cyclic peptides with cyclophane linkers are an attractive compound type owing to the fine-tuned rigid three-dimensional structures and unusual biophysical features. Cytochrome P450 enzymes are capable of catalyzing not only the C-C and C-O oxidative coupling reactions found in vancomycin and other nonribosomal peptides (NRPs), but they also exhibit novel catalytic activities to generate cyclic ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) through cyclophane linkage. To discover more P450-modified multicyclic RiPPs, we set out to find cryptic and unknown P450-modified RiPP biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) through genome mining.

Impact of early cognitive impairment on outcome trajectory in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage.

Objective: To assess the prevalence and factors associated with early cognitive impairment in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) patients and to describe short-term recovery trajectories among ICH patients with early cognitive impairment.

Methods: We prospectively enrolled ICH patients without baseline dementia in our institutions. Cognitive function was assessed using mini-mental state examination (MMSE), and functional outcome was evaluated at discharge, 3, and 6 months after symptoms onset using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS).

SERPINA3: A novel inflammatory biomarker associated with cerebral small vessel disease burden in ischemic stroke.

Background And Objective: Inflammation has emerged as a prominent risk factor for cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). However, the specific association between various inflammatory biomarkers and the development of CSVD remains unclear. Serine proteinase inhibitor A3 (SERPINA3), Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), Tissue inhibitor metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1), Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 (MCP-1) are several inflammatory biomarkers that are potentially involved in the development of CSVD.

Incidence, characteristics and outcome of post-stroke recrudescence in the Chinese population: a single-centre observational study.

Objectives: The aim of our observational study was to investigate the incidence, clinical characteristics and outcome of post-stroke recrudescence (PSR) in the Chinese population.

Design And Setting: Single-centre prospective observational study in China.

Participants: A total of 1114 patients who had a suspected stroke were prospectively screened from October 2020 to February 2022.

Clinical, Imaging Characteristics and Outcome of Intracerebral Hemorrhage Caused by Structural Vascular Lesions.

Background: The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical, imaging, and outcome characteristics of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) caused by structural vascular lesions.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from a prospective observational cohort study of patients with spontaneous ICH admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between May 2016 and April 2021. Good outcome was defined as modified Rankin Scale score of 0-3 at 3 months.

Neutrophil percentage to albumin ratio is associated with stroke-associated pneumonia and poor outcome in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage.

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the diagnostic performance of the neutrophil percentage-to-albumin ratio (NPAR) for predicting stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP) and functional outcome in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).

Methods: We analyzed our prospective database of consecutive ICH patients who were admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from January 2016 to September 2021. We included subjects with a baseline computed tomography available and a complete NPAR count performed within 6h of onset.

Migrated Hem-o-Lok clips in the neobladder with giant stone formation: a case report.

Introduction: Neobladder urolithiasis is a rare but important delaying complication of orthotopic urinary diversion. We report a case of Hem-o-Lok (HOLC) migration into the neobladder with giant stone formation after orthotopic neobladder cystectomy.

Case Report: We report a case of a 57-year-old man with frequent urination and occasional discharge of stones 3 years after a laparoscopic orthotopic neobladder cystectomy.

Electrically Manipulated Vapor Condensation on the Dimpled Surface: Insights from Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

Random vapor nucleation leads to flooding condensation with degraded heat-transfer efficiency. Since an external electric field has a significant effect on manipulating droplets' motion, it is possible to be one of the effective methods to hinder flooding phenomena and improve the heat-transfer rate by applying the external electric field during condensation. However, the motion of nanodroplets is more sensitive to the electric field owing to the scale effect on the nanoscale.

Metal@COFs Possess High Proton Conductivity with Mixed Conducting Mechanisms.

The inherent porous structures and aligned functional units inside the skeleton of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) provide an extraordinary promise for post-modification and deservedly expand their application in the field of proton conduction. Herein, we tactfully introduced copper ions into a two-dimensional COF (TpTta) furnished with ample N,O-chelating sites by a post-modification strategy to achieve two copper(II)-modified products, namely, CuCl@TpTta-3 and CuCl@TpTta-10. Inspiringly, the two modified COFs demonstrated the higher conductivities of 1.

[Adsorption Properties and Host-guest Effects of Porous Cyclodextrin Polymers for Dye Molecules in Water].

Cyclodextrin can form host-guest inclusion complexes with a variety of organic pollutants and has unique advantages in removing complex dye molecules from water. In this study, a porous cyclodextrin polymer (P-CDP) was prepared using a rigid crosslinking agent, and the structure of the P-CDP was characterized by FT-IR, XPS, SEM, BET, and other technologies. The P-CDP was studied using isothermal adsorption and kinetic adsorption experiments.

Early Perihematomal Edema Expansion: Definition, Significance, and Association with Outcomes after Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Objective: To investigate the association between early perihematomal edema (PHE) expansion and functional outcome in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).

Methods: Patients with ICH who underwent initial computed tomography (CT) scans within 6 hours after the onset of symptoms and follow-up CT scans within 24 ± 12 hours were included. Absolute PHE increase was defined as the absolute increase in PHE volume from baseline to 24 hours.

Treating patients with excessively large annuli with self-expanding transcatheter aortic valves: insights into supra-annular structures that anchor the prosthesis.

Background: Some patients referred for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) have excessively large annuli (ELA) without device options according to current sizing charts. This retrospective study aims to summarize the presentation and outcomes of ELA patients receiving first-generation self-expanding valves.

Methods: The TAVR database was reviewed in search for cases of self-expanding valves.

Differences in metabolic profiles between bicuspid and tricuspid aortic stenosis in the setting of transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

Background: To explore why bicuspid aortic stenosis has certain clinical differences from the tricuspid morphology, we evaluated the metabolomics profile involved in bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) aortic stenosis prior to and after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in comparison with tricuspid aortic valve (TAV).

Methods: In this TAVR cohort with prospectively collected data, blood samples were obtained before TAVR valve deployment and at the 7th day after TAVR, which were then sent for liquid and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry detection. Besides comparisons between BAV and TAV, BAV patients were also divided in subgroups according to baseline hemodynamics (i.

Effect of concomitant aortic regurgitation on early hypo-attenuated leaflet thickening after transcatheter aortic valve replacement in patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis.

Objective: We hypothesize that different degree of pre-existing aortic regurgitation (AR) may affect the presence of hypo-attenuated leaflet thickening (HALT) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

Background: The mechanism of the presence of HALT post-TAVR is not fully understood.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the post-procedural multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) before discharge for evidence of HALT.

Reshaping bicuspid aortic valve stenosis with an hourglass-shaped balloon for transcatheter aortic valve replacement: A pilot study.

Objectives: We evaluated the safety and usefulness of preparatory anatomical reshaping with a geometric hourglass-shaped balloon to optimize transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) outcomes in bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) stenosis.

Background: TAVR has been increasingly performed for BAV stenosis; however, technical challenges remain. Procedural results are suboptimal given unfavorable valvular anatomies.

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in Patients with Aortic Stenosis Having Coronary Cusp Fusion versus Mixed Cusp Fusion Nonraphe Bicuspid Aortic Valve.

Objectives: We aimed to assess the procedural and clinical results of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) for nonraphe bicuspid aortic stenosis (AS) with coronary vs mixed cusp fusion.

Background: It remains unclear whether cusp fusion morphology affects TAVR outcomes in patients with nonraphe bicuspid AS.

Methods: This retrospective study enrolled consecutive patients with severe symptomatic AS and type-0 bicuspid aortic valve, who underwent TAVR at our institution between 2012 and 2017.