Engineering Bioactive M2 Macrophage-Polarized Anti-Inflammatory,Antioxidant, and Antibacterial Scaffolds for Rapid Angiogenesis and Diabetic Wound Repair

Diabetic wound healing still faces great challenges due to the excessive inflammation, easy infection, and impaired angiogenesis in wound beds. The immunoregulation of macrophages polarization toward M2 phenotype that facilitates the transition from inflammation to proliferation phase has been proved to be an effective way to improve diabetic wound healing. Herein, an M2 phenotype-enabled anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial conductive hydrogel scaffolds (GDFE) for producing rapid angiogenesis and diabetic wound repair are reported. The GDFE scaffolds are fabricated facilely through the dynamic crosslinking between polypeptide and polydopamine and graphene oxide. The GDFE scaffolds possess thermosensitivity, self-healing behavior, injectability, broad-spectrum antibacterial activity, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory ability, and electronic conductivity. GDFE effectively activates the polarization of macrophages toward M2 phenotype and significantly promotes the proliferation of dermal fibroblasts, the migration, and in vitro angiogenesis of endothelial cells through paracrine mechanisms. The in vivo results from a full-thickness diabetic wound model demonstrate that GDFE can rapidly promote the diabetic wound repair and skin regeneration, through fast anti-inflammation and angiogenesis and M2 macrophage polarization. This study provides highly efficient strategy for treating diabetic wound repair through designing the M2 polarization-enabled anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial bioactive materials.     

A comprehensive review of computer-aided whole-slide image analysis: from datasets to feature extraction,segmentation, classification and detection approaches

With the development of Computer-aided Diagnosis (CAD) and image scanning techniques, Whole-slide Image (WSI) scanners are widely used in the field of pathological diagnosis. Therefore, WSI analysis has become the key to modern digital histopathology. Since 2004, WSI has been used widely in CAD. Since machine vision methods are usually based on semi-automatic or fully automatic computer algorithms, they are highly efficient and labor-saving. The combination of WSI and CAD technologies for segmentation, classification, and detection helps histopathologists to obtain more stable and quantitative results with minimum labor costs and improved diagnosis objectivity. This paper reviews the methods of WSI analysis based on machine learning. Firstly, the development status of WSI and CAD methods are introduced. Secondly, we discuss publicly available WSI datasets and evaluation metrics for segmentation, classification, and detection tasks. Then, the latest development of machine learning techniques in WSI segmentation, classification, and detection are reviewed. Finally, the existing methods are studied, and the application prospects of the methods in this field are forecasted.

     

Efficiency evaluation of healthcare services in China based on stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis and directional distance function

Evaluating the efficiency of healthcare services accurately can help in analyzing the rationality of inputs and outputs in such services. Considering the consistency and equity of assessment criteria, this study conducts the stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis (SMAA-2) with a directional distance function to evaluate the efficiency of healthcare services in 31 provincial administrative regions of mainland China, as observed in 2018. We use SMAA-DDF to explore all the projection directions to the efficient frontier instead of a certain projection direction. We measure the maximum and average efficiencies for each of the 31 provincial healthcare services. Our empirical findings show that only seven provinces achieve optimal healthcare service efficiency; the eastern area performed the best, followed by the central, western, and northeast areas. Furthermore, the path along the projection directions is provided to help inefficient provinces improve their efficiency and obtain the best possible positions.     

Preparation of magnetic zeolite/chitosan composite using silane as modifier for adsorption of Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions

This study aimed to prepare an efficient, cost-effective, and separable magnetic zeolite/chitosan composite (MZFA/CS) adsorbent from solid waste to deal with the water pollution of Cr(VI). The MZFA/CS was characterized by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) techniques. Then, the effect of pH, temperature, initial concentration of Cr(VI) ions, and contact time was considered in the study. For a sorbent dose of 0.1 g in 50 mL of a Cr(VI) solution, at a contact time of 30 min, temperature of 30°C, and a pH of 3, an adsorption capacity (q_e) of 16.96 mg g⁻¹ was achieved. Adsorption kinetics and isotherm data obtained for all adsorption systems were well-fitted by pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models, respectively. The thermodynamic study suggested that the adsorption process is spontaneous and endothermic in nature. In summary, the adsorbent with better separability (Ms = 16.83 emu g⁻¹) and adsorbability was successfully fabricated.     

Comparative studies on thermal and toughness properties of polybenzoxazine composites with two functionalized graphene oxides

Abstract

Graphene oxide (GO) was functionalized by polyether amine (PEA) via two methods which were one-pot modification in acetone (GON) and two steps with the intermediate product of GOCO-Cl generated (GONS). There were more PEA successfully grafted onto GO for GONS than GON. The onset polymerization temperatures of the benzoxazine (Bz) composites decreased by the inclusion of 1?wt% of GO, GON or GONS. Thermal stability of the polybenzoxazine (PBz) composites was significantly improved indicated from the increase of weight loss temperature. T₁₀, T₂₀ and T₅₀ values of the composites with GONS were higher than that of the others. Toughness of PBzs may be enhanced by the incorporation of nanofillers, and GONS had stronger interfacial interaction with PBz matrix than GON.     

The adjustable synergistic effects between acid–base coupling bifunctional ionic liquid extractants for rare earth separation

Two of the most widely used industrial extractants for rare earth elements (REEs), that is, di(2‐ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (HDEHP) and 2‐ethyl(hexyl) phosphonic acid mono‐2‐ethylhexyl ester (HEH[EHP]) were developed into [DEHP]^? type acid–base coupling bifunctionalized ionic liquids (ABC‐BILs) and [EHEHP]^? type ABC‐BILs, respectively. The combinations of ABC‐BIL extractants revealed synergistic effects for REEs. Seven different combinations of ABC‐BILs and five kinds of REEs confirmed the novel synergistic extraction. Some synergy coefficients of the combined ABC‐BILs were bigger than those of mixed HDEHP and HEH[EHP] by two orders of magnitude. The first synergistic extraction produced by ionic liquid extractants in the field of solvent extraction was reported in this article. The novel synergistic extraction from combined ABC‐BILs extractants revealed highly efficient and environmentally friendly potential in both of academic research and industrial application for REEs separation. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 3859–3868, 2014     

冻融循环作用后BFRC宏微观性能的灰熵法分析

通过玄武岩纤维混凝土(BFRC)的快速冻融试验和微观孔结构试验,研究了2种冻融介质(水和质量分数为3.5%NaCl溶液)条件下BFRC相对动弹性模量、冻融损伤度以及强度的变化规律,分析了孔结构参数(含气量、孔比表面积、气泡间距系数和气泡平均弦长)与BFRC抗压强度、抗折强度和冻融损伤度的关系,采用灰熵法探讨了BFRC孔结构参数对其抗压强度、抗折强度以及冻融损伤度的影响规律.结果表明:BFRC强度随其含气量、气泡间距系数、气泡平均弦长的增加而减小,而冻融损伤度随上述3个孔结构参数的增加而增加;BFRC强度随其孔比表面积的增加而增加,而冻融损伤度随孔比表面积的增加而减小;对BFRC抗压强度、抗折强度影响最大的因素均为孔比表面积;影响BFRC冻融损伤度的主要因素为气泡间距系数和气泡平均弦长,这2个因素随冻融循环次数、玄武岩纤维掺量的变化而变化.     

公众参与下新西兰奥克兰植物园建设 经验及启示

公众参与是现代城市公园规划建设的一项重要议题。新西兰植物园建设管理成果显著,产生了良好的社会价值,对城市公共生活和生态环境发挥了重要的作用,这得益于新西兰围绕“植物园之友”展开的全面、系统的公众参与机制。以新西兰奥克兰植物园为例,阐述其依据公众调查信息完善规划与建设的措施与做法,剖析“植物园之友”制度下植物园公众参与的管理体系、公众活动组织和运营养护的方法,总结公众参与下新西兰植物园的建设经验。针对中国植物园发展中面临的问题,从提高公众参与度、培育社区合作组织、构建公众参与体系三方面探讨了中国植物园如何建立广泛、有效的公共参与机制,实现植物园的多元化服务效益和文化潜能,推进我国公园城市的建设与发展。     

户内燃气安全管理探讨

燃气泄漏是影响户内燃气安全的主要因素,分析造成户内燃气泄漏的主要原因,提出解决加强户内燃气安全管理的方法.