Evaluation of Early Prognostic Factors of Mortality in Patients with Acute Pancreatitis: A Retrospective Study

Early and accurate assessment of severity in acute pancreatitis (AP) is of great importance to provide effective disease management and prevent mortality. In this study, we aim to evaluate early indicators that predict the mortality of AP. We retrospectively analyzed 24-hour clinical characteristics and laboratory data in 166 AP patients recruited between January 2014 and November 2015 in Baotou Central Hospital. In total, 18 patients did not survive the disease. Multivariate logistic regression showed that red cell distribution (RDW) (OR = 2.965, P=0.001) and creatinine (OR = 1.025, P=0.005) were early independent risk factors of AP mortality while albumin (OR = 0.920, P=0.032) levels reduced AP mortality. The corresponding optimal cut-off values were 14.45, 125.5, and 34.95, respectively. The positive predictive values of the AP mortality were 80.1%, 54.5%, and 69.5%. In combined measurement, the area under the curve of RDW, creatinine, and albumin was 0.964 (95% CI: 0.924 to 1.000, P<0.001). RDW ≥ 14.45%, creatinine ≥ 125.5 μmol/l, and albumin ≤ 34.95 g/l indicated a good predictive value for mortality in AP patients with a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 64.2%. RDW, creatinine, and albumin may serve as early indicators for AP mortality which warrants further clinical investigation

Luminescence behavior of Er3+ doped glass ceramics containing Sr2RF7 (R=Y, Gd, La) nanocrystals

International audienceThe luminescence behaviors of Er3+ doped glass ceramics containing Sr2RF7 (R = Y,Gd,La) nanocrystals were investigated. The formation of Sr2RF7 nanocrystals in the glass ceramics was confirmed by x-ray diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy analysis showed that the Er3+ ions were efficiently incorporated in Sr2GdF7 nanocrystals. The efficient upconversion luminescence of the Er3+ in the glass ceramics can be observed. The lifetime of the Er3+ in the glass ceramics was found to be much longer than that in the glass due to the lower phonon energy of fluoride crystals when Er3+ entered efficiently fluoride crystals in the glass ceramics

Reduction and luminescence of europium ions in glass ceramics containing SrF2 nanocrystals

International audienceReduction of Eu3+ → Eu2+ and luminescence of europium (Eu) ions in glass ceramics containing SrF2 nanocrystals have been investigated. The formation of SrF2 nanocrystals in glass ceramics was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Blue luminescence of the Eu2+ ions was observed in the Eu doped glass ceramics which were prepared by the heat treatment of the glass in air atmosphere. The double-exponential decay curves of 5D0 state of Eu3+ in the Eu doped glass ceramics indicated that there were two different surroundings of the Eu ions in the glass ceramics

Eu2+-Doped Glass Ceramics Containing BaF2 Nanocrystals as a Potential Blue Phosphor for UV-LED

International audienceThe Eu2+-doped glass ceramics containing BaF2 nanocrystals were prepared and their luminescence properties were investigated. The excitation spectra of Eu2+-doped glass ceramics showed an excellent overlap with the main emission region of an ultraviolet light-emitting diode (UV-LED) centered at 380 nm. The 450 nm emission of Eu2+ in glass ceramics under the 385 nm excitation was much stronger than that in glass. The Eu2+-doped glass ceramics containing BaF2 nanocrystals may be used as a potential blue-emitting phosphor for UV-LED

White light generation of glass ceramics containing Ba2LaF7: Eu2+,Tb3+ and Sm3+ nanocrystals

International audienceThe Eu2+/Tb3+/Sm3+ co-doped oxyfluoride glass ceramics containing Ba2LaF7 nanocrystals are prepared in the reducing atmosphere. The X-ray diffraction results show that Eu2+, Tb3+ and Sm3+ ions are enriched into the precipitated Ba2LaF7 nanophase after the annealing process. It deduces efficient energy transfers from Eu2+ to Tb3+ and Sm3+ and intenses warm white luminescence of the glass ceramics. Comparing with the glass, the luminescence quantum yield of the glass ceramics is also enlarged by about 3 times. This demonstrates the potential white light-emitting diode application of the glass ceramics produced in this letter

Luminescence behavior of Ce3+ and Dy3+ codoped oxyfluoride glasses and glass ceramics containing LaF3 nanocrystals

International audienceThe Ce3+ and Dy3+ codoped oxyfluoride glasses and glass ceramics containing LaF3 nanocrystals have been prepared in the reducing atmosphere. The emission intensity and Commission International de I'Eclairage (CIE) chromaticity coordinates of the Ce3+ and Dy3+ codoped glasses significantly changed with concentration ratio of Ce3+ to Dy3+. The emission intensity of both Ce3+ ions and Dy3+ ions in the 3.0% Ce3+ and 3.0% Dy3+ codoped glass ceramics increased significantly in comparison with that in the glass. The glasses and glass ceramics could emit bright white light by adjusting the concentration ratio of Ce3+ to Dy3+

Safety and Efficacy Evaluation of Recombinant Marek’s Disease Virus with REV-LTR

Recently, chickens vaccinated with the CVI988/Rispens vaccine showed increased tumor incidence. Moreover, many strains of Marek&rsquo;s disease virus (MDV) that were naturally integrated with the long terminal repeat (LTR) of the avian reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV) have been isolated, which means it is necessary to develop a new vaccine. In this study, two LTR sequences were inserted into Rispens to construct a recombinant MDV (rMDV). Then, the safety and efficacy of rMDV were evaluated separately in chickens. The growth rate curves showed that the insertion of REV-LTR into MDV enabled a faster replication in vitro than Rispens. Chickens immunized with high or repeated dose rMDV had no MD clinical signs. Further, no tumor, tissue lesions, or evident pathological changes were observed in the chicken organs. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and virus isolation revealed that rMDV had the ability to spread horizontally to non-immunized chickens and had no impact on the environment. After five passages in chickens, there were no obvious lesions, and the LTR insertion was stable. There were also no deletions or mutations, which indicates that rMDV is safe in chickens. In addition, rMDV has an advantage over Rispens against vvMDV Md5 at low doses. All results demonstrate that the transgenic strain of rMDV with REV-LTR can be used as a live attenuated vaccine candidate

Facile Synthesis of γ-In2 Se3 Nanoflowers toward High Performance Self-Powered Broadband γ-In2 Se3 /Si Heterojunction Photodiode

International audienceAn effective colloidal process involving the hot-injection method is developed to synthesize uniform nanoflowers consisting of 2D γ-In2 Se3 nanosheets. By exploiting the narrow direct bandgap and high absorption coefficient in the visible light range of In2 Se3 , a high-quality γ-In2 Se3 /Si heterojunction photodiode is fabricated. This photodiode shows a high photoresponse under light illumination, short response/recovery times, and long-term durability. In addition, the γ-In2 Se3 /Si heterojunction photodiode is self-powered and displays a broadband spectral response ranging from UV to IR with a high responsivity and detectivity. These excellent performances make the γ-In2 Se3 /Si heterojunction very interesting as highly efficient photodetectors

Facile synthesis of hybrid nanorods with the Sb2Se3/AgSbSe2 heterojunction structure for high performance photodetectors

International audienceAn effective colloidal process involving the hot-injection method is developed to synthesize uniform single-crystalline Sb2Se3 nanorods in high yields. The photoconductive characteristics of the as-synthesized Sb2Se3 nanorods are investigated by developing a film-based photodetector and this device displays a remarkable response to visible light with an "ON/OFF" ratio as high as 50 (with an incident light density of 12.05 mW cm(-2)), short response/recovery times and long-term durability. To overcome the challenge of the intrinsic low electrical conductivity of Sb2Se3, hybrid nanorods with the Sb2Se3/AgSbSe2 heterojunction structure having a type-II band alignment are firstly prepared. The electric current of the photodetector based on the Sb2Se3/AgSbSe2 hybrid nanorod film has been significantly increased both in the dark and under light illumination. The responsivity of the photodetector based on the Sb2Se3/AgSbSe2 hybrid nanorod film is about 4.2 times as much as that of the photodetector based on the Sb2Se3 nanorod film. This improvement can be considered as an important step to promote Sb2Se3 based semiconductors for applications in high performance photodetector

Homogroup Bi/Sb Lattice Substitution to Enhance the Photoelectric Properties of Sb2Se3 Crystals

International audienceAntimony selenide (Sb2Se3) is currently considered as a kind of promising candidate material for photovoltaic and photoelectric devices, but there is still a large practical application challenge due to its low electrical conductivity and low charge carrier density. To overcome such problems, we adopt a homogroup Bi/Sb strategy to prepare Bi-doped Sb2Se3 semiconductors. According to the XRD, XPS, and TEM results, the Bi/ Sb lattice substitution was evidenced in the grown (BixSb1-x)2Se3 crystals. Moreover, the doped crystals have a direct band gap from 1.07 to 1.14 eV with different Bi contents, which allows a strong absorption of the solar spectrum. Hall test results and DFT calculation then witness the semiconductive-type alternation from p-type (at a low Bi concentration with Sb vacancies as acceptors) to n-type (at a high Bi concentration with Se vacancies as donors). With the increased carrier concentration under Bi doping, the electrical conductivity and photoresponse have been greatly improved. The (BixSb1-x)2Se3 crystals then presented enhanced photocurrent density with fast response/recovery time (0.05 s/0.03 s) as well as long-term durability. The (BixSb1-x)2Se3-based FTO/CdS/(BixSb1-x)2Se3/Au solar cell eventually achieved a 62% improvement in device efficiency compared with the pure Sb2Se3based one. It thus demonstrated an efficient homogroup Bi/Sb substitution strategy to enhance the performance of Sb2Se3-based photoelectric devices