Formation of first star clusters under the supersonic gas flow -- I. Morphology of the massive metal-free gas cloud

We performed $42$ simulations of the first star formation with initial supersonic gas flows relative to the dark matter at the cosmic recombination era. Increasing the initial streaming velocities led to delayed halo formation and increased halo mass, enhancing the mass of the gravitationally shrinking gas cloud. For more massive gas clouds, the rate of temperature drop during contraction, in other words, the structure asymmetry, becomes more significant. When the maximum and minimum gas temperature ratios before and after contraction exceed about ten, the asymmetric structure of the gas cloud prevails, inducing fragmentation into multiple dense gas clouds. We continued our simulations until $10^5$ years after the first dense core formation to examine the final fate of the massive star-forming gas cloud. Among the $42$ models studied, we find the simultaneous formation of up to four dense gas clouds, with a total mass of about $2254\,M_\odot$. While the gas mass in the host halo increases with increasing the initial streaming velocity, the mass of the dense cores does not change significantly. The star formation efficiency decreases by more than one order of magnitude from $\epsilon_{\rm III} \sim 10^{-2}$ to $10^{-4}$ when the initial streaming velocity, normalised by the root mean square value, increases from 0 to 3.Comment: 15 pages, 16 figures, 1 table, Accepted for publication in MNRA

Efficacy and safety of ultrasound-assisted wound debridement in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 randomized controlled trials

ObjectiveResearch data suggests that ultrasound-assisted wound debridement (UAWD) can effectively promote the healing of diabetic foot ulcers (DFU). However, existing research is not consistent with this viewpoint. Therefore, we conducted this study to investigate the effect of UAWD on the healing of diabetic foot ulcers.MethodsFrom the establishment of the database to January 2024, we searched 8 databases to study the effectiveness and safety of UAWD in the treatment of DFU. Two authors independently screened the qualifications of the articles, while two authors extracted relevant data. Statistical analysis was conducted using Review Manager 5.4 and STATA 18.0 software.ResultsA total of 11 randomized controlled studies were included, with 6 countries and 696 participants participating. Our findings showed that UAWD was associated with a significant benefit in healing rate (OR = 2.60, 95% CI: [1.67, 4.03], P < 0.0001, I2 = 25%), wound healing time (MD = -11.94, 95% CI: [-23.65, -0.23], P = 0.05, I2 = 99%), percentage reduction in wound size (MD = 14.2, 95% CI: [10.8, 17.6], P = 0.47, I2 = 32%), effectiveness of treatment (OR = 10.3, 95% CI: [4.68, 22.66], P < 0.00001, I2 = 0%). Moreover, UAWD did not cause any significant adverse reactions. However, there was no obvious difference in wound blood perfusion (MD = 0.25, 95% CI: [-0.01, 0.52], P = 0.06, I2 = 90%), transcutaneous oxygen partial pressure (MD = 14.34, 95% CI: [-10.03, 38.71], P = 0.25, I2 = 98%).ConclusionUAWD can significantly improve wound healing rate, shorten wound healing time, accelerate wound area reduction, and improve clinical treatment effectiveness without significant adverse reactions. Although there is no significant difference in transcutaneous oxygen pressure and wound blood flow perfusion between UAWD and SWC. So we look forward to more scientifically blinded, placebo-controlled, high-quality studies in the future, to enable researchers to obtain more complete and accurate analytical data, in order to improve the scientific and credibility of the evidence.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42024501198

Boosting Superior Lithium Storage Performance of Alloy‐Based Anode Materials via Ultraconformal Sb Coating–Derived Favorable Solid‐Electrolyte Interphase

Alloy materials such as Si and Ge are attractive as high‐capacity anodes for rechargeable batteries, but such anodes undergo severe capacity degradation during discharge–charge processes. Compared to the over‐emphasized efforts on the electrode structure design to mitigate the volume changes, understanding and engineering of the solid‐electrolyte interphase (SEI) are significantly lacking. This work demonstrates that modifying the surface of alloy‐based anode materials by building an ultraconformal layer of Sb can significantly enhance their structural and interfacial stability during cycling. Combined experimental and theoretical studies consistently reveal that the ultraconformal Sb layer is dynamically converted to Li3Sb during cycling, which can selectively adsorb and catalytically decompose electrolyte additives to form a robust, thin, and dense LiF‐dominated SEI, and simultaneously restrain the decomposition of electrolyte solvents. Hence, the Sb‐coated porous Ge electrode delivers much higher initial Coulombic efficiency of 85% and higher reversible capacity of 1046 mAh g−1 after 200 cycles at 500 mA g−1, compared to only 72% and 170 mAh g−1 for bare porous Ge. The present finding has indicated that tailoring surface structures of electrode materials is an appealing approach to construct a robust SEI and achieve long‐term cycling stability for alloy‐based anode materials

Formation of Multidomain Hydrogels via Thermally Induced Assembly of PISA-Generated Triblock Terpolymer Nanogels

Polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) is a rapidly evolving method for the efficient preparation of well-defined nano-objects. PISA-generated nano-objects have been explored in this work for the responsive formation of multidomain hydrogels by thermally induced assembly of doubly thermoresponsive triblock terpolymer nanogels. The nanogels consist of a thermoresponsive poly­(diethylene glycol ethyl acrylate) (PDEGA) outer block with a lower thermal transition temperature, a hydrophilic poly­(<i>N</i>,<i>N</i>-dimethyl­acrylamide) (PDMA) midblock, and a <i>N</i>,<i>N</i>′-methylene­bis­(acrylamide) (BIS) cross-linked, thermoresponsive poly­(<i>N</i>-isopropyl­acrylamide) (PNIPAM) core block with a higher thermal transition temperature. The unique location of these two thermoresponsive blocks of differing transition temperatures in the PDEGA–PDMA–P­(NIPAM-<i>co</i>-BIS) nanogels is rationally designed to facilitate room-temperature gelation and is synthetically realized via judicious selection of water–ethanol mixtures under dispersion polymerization conditions. The nanogels were characterized by turbidimetry, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Gelation behavior of the nanogels was investigated by the inverted vial method as well as dynamic rheology sweeps. In comparison with PNIPAM–PDMA–P­(DEGA-<i>co</i>-BIS) nanogel and a triblock terpolymer of similar composition, the PDEGA–PDMA–P­(NIPAM-<i>co</i>-BIS) nanogels exhibit a good combination of gelation sensitivity and gel strength. The gelation ability, sensitivity, and mechanical properties are affected by the block ratios as well as the cross-linking density in the core of the nanogels

Comparison of Neoatherosclerosis and Neovascularization of Restenosis after Drug-Eluting Stent Implantation: An Optical Coherence Tomography Study

Background: Neoatherosclerosis (NA) is associated with stent failure. However, systematic studies on the manifestations of NA and neovascularization (NV) at different stages after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation are lacking. Moreover, the relationship between NA and NV in in-stent restenosis (ISR) has not been reported. This study aimed to characterize NA and NV in patients with ISR at different post-DES stages and compare the association between NA and NV in ISR lesions. Methods: A total of 227 patients with 227 lesions who underwent follow-up optical coherence tomography before percutaneous coronary intervention for DES ISR were enrolled and divided into early (E-ISR: 5 years) ISR groups. Furthermore, ISR lesions were divided into NV and non-NV groups according to the presence of NV. Results: The prevalence of NA and NV was 52.9% and 41.0%, respectively. The prevalence of lipidic NA (E-ISR, 32.7%; L-ISR, 50.0%; VL-ISR, 58.5%) and intimal NV (E-ISR, 14.5%; L-ISR, 30.8%; VL-ISR, 38.3%) increased with time after stenting. NA was higher in ISR patients with NV lesions than in those without (p < 0.001). Patients with both ISR and NV had a higher incidence of macrophage infiltration, thin-cap fibroatheroma, intimal rupture, and thrombosis (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Progression of lipidic NA was associated with L-ISR and VL-ISR but may not be related to calcified NA. NA was more common in ISR lesions with NV; its formation may substantially promote NA progression and plaque instability