The preparation of titanium carbide thin film of Ti6Al4V at low temperature and study of friction and wear properties

In this article, the technology of salt bath carburizing at low temperature (640 °C) is used to prepare the titanium carbide thin film on Ti6Al4V alloy surface. The processed alloy sample surface phase and elements are observed by XRD and EDAX. The hardness of sample surface and permeability layer are measured by the MH-3 type microhardness meter. And the friction and wear contrast tests of the uncarburized and carburized samples are carried out using the M2000 friction and wear testing machine. The results show that: high hard phase carbide Ti8C5 is generated on the sample surface. The processed sample surface hardness is 953.28HV, which is 2.57 times of the original; The friction and wear properties of the carburized sample improve significantly; At 100 N, the uncarburzed wearing loss is 29 times of the carburized wearing loss, and at 300 N, the friction coefficient is reduced by 55.9 %

Review Article Advances in the Treatment of Ischemic Diseases by Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Ischemic diseases are a group of diseases, including ischemic cerebrovascular disease, ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM), and diabetic foot as well as other diseases which are becoming a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the whole world. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been used to treat a variety of ischemic diseases in animal models and clinical trials. Lots of recent publications demonstrated that MSCs therapy was safe and relieved symptoms in patients of ischemic disease. However, many factors could influence therapeutic efficacy including route of delivery, MSCs' survival and residential rate in vivo, timing of transplantation, particular microenvironment, and patient's clinical condition. In this review, the current status, therapeutic potential, and the detailed factors of MSCs-based therapeutics for ischemic cerebrovascular disease, ICM, and diabetic foot are presented and discussed. We think that MSCs transplantation would constitute an ideal option for patients with ischemic diseases

Acupuncture for treatment of erectile dysfunction : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Purpose: To assess the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for erectile dysfunction (ED). Materials and Methods: We searched six major English and Chinese databases included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) testing acupuncture alone or in combination for ED. Dichotomous data were presented as risk ratio (RR) and continuous data were presented as mean difference (MD) both with 95% confidence interval (CI). The Revman (v.5.3) was used for data analyses. Quality of evidence across studies was assessed by the online GRADEpro tool. Results: We identified 22 RCTs, fourteen of them involving psychogenic ED. Most of the included RCTs had high or unclear risk of bias. There was no difference between electro-acupuncture and sham acupuncture with electrical stimulation on the rate of satisfaction and self-assessment (RR, 1.50; 95% CI, 0.71-3.16; 1 trial). Acupuncture combined with tadalafil appeared to have better effect on increasing cure rate (RR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.00-1.71; 2 trials), and International Index of Erectile Function-5 scores (MD, 5.38; 95% CI, 4.46-6.29; 2 trials). When acupuncture plus herbal medicine compared with herbal medicine alone, the combination therapy showed significant better improvement in erectile function (RR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.31-2.15; 7 trials). Only two trials reported facial red and dizziness cases, and needle sticking and pruritus cases in acupuncture group. Conclusions: Low quality evidence shows beneficial effect of acupuncture as adjunctive treatment for people mainly with psychogenic ED. Safety of acupuncture was insufficiently reported. The findings should be confirmed in large, rigorously designed and well-reported trials

Comprehensive analysis of the association between inflammation indexes and complications in patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy

BackgroundDuring clinical practice, routine blood tests are commonly performed following pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). However, the relationship between blood cell counts, inflammation-related indices, and postoperative complications remains unclear.MethodWe conducted a retrospective study, including patients who underwent PD from October 2018 to July 2023 at the First Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, and compared baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes among different groups. Neutrophil count (NC), platelet count (PLT), lymphocyte count (LC), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and the product of platelet count and neutrophil count (PPN) were derived from postoperative blood test results. We investigated the association between these indicators and outcomes using multivariable logistic regression and restricted cubic spline analysis. The predictive performance of these indicators was assessed by the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and decision curve analysis (DCA).ResultA total of 232 patients were included in this study. Multivariate logistic regression and restricted cubic spline analysis showed that all indicators, except for PLT, were associated with clinical postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF). SII, NLR, and NC were linked to surgical site infection (SSI), while SII, NLR, and PLR were correlated with CD3 complication. PLT levels were related to postoperative hemorrhage. SII (AUC: 0.729), NLR (AUC: 0.713), and NC (AUC: 0.706) effectively predicted clinical POPF.ConclusionIn patients undergoing PD, postoperative inflammation-related indices and blood cell counts are associated with various complications. NLR and PLT can serve as primary indicators post-surgery for monitoring complications

Alkylated fullerene as lubricant additive in paraffin oil for steel/steel contacts

<p>An alkylated fullerene which bears three eicosyl chains (3,4,5-C₂₀C₆₀, <b>1</b>) was synthesized via [3 + 2] cycloaddition. At 25°C where the aliphatic chains are in the crystalline state, <b>1</b> exhibits a moderately improved solubility in paraffin oil compared to pristine C₆₀. At 80°C which is well-above the chain melting temperature (<i>T</i>_c), a significant solubility increase was observed. Upon cooling to 25°C, suspension containing plate-like aggregates composed of lamellar subunits form, which can be stable for several days. Applications of <b>1</b> as a lubricant additive in paraffin oil (PO) for steel/steel contacts both below and above <i>T</i>_c have been investigated in detail. It was found that the addition of 1.0 wt% <b>1</b> to PO can reduce the friction coefficient by ∼24% at 25°C. Moderate reduction of the friction coefficient at 90°C was also observed. Analysis on the worn surfaces revealed a pronounced antiwear property of <b>1</b> by reducing the areas of the worn surfaces and smoothing the scuffing. Our results show that alkylated fullerenes can be potentially used as a new generation of lubricant additives. Finally, the lubrication mechanisms of <b>1</b> at different temperatures were discussed.</p

The complete chloroplast genome of Urtica angustifolia Fisch. ex Hornem. (Urticaceae), an important kind of traditional Chinese medicine in China

Urtica angustifolia Fisch. ex Hornem. is an important Chinese medicine. Here, the complete chloroplast genome of U. angustifolia was assembled and characterized. The length of the chloroplast genome was 146,679 bp with the typical quadripartite structure, containing two inverted repeats (IRs) of 24,595 bp separated by a large single-copy (LSC) region of 79,820 bp and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 17,669 bp. The whole chloroplast genome of U. angustifolia contains 111 genes, including 77 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes. Nucleotide variability analysis identified three hotspot regions (trnK-rps16, ndhF-rps32, and ycf1b) for genomic divergence and 52 simple sequence repeats. Phylogenetic analysis based on the complete chloroplast genomes exhibited that U. angustifolia formed a clade with Urtica lobatifolia and Hesperocnide tenella