Purpose We evaluated the safety and clinical outcomes of a single local administration of gelatin hydrogel impregnated with recombinant human fibroblast growth factor (rhFGF)-2 for the treatment of the precollapse stage of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH). Methods Patients with ONFH (precollapse stage ≤2) received a single local administration of 800 μg of rhFGF-2-impregnated gelatin hydrogel and were followed up for one year. The surgery was performed using a minimally invasive technique involving a 1-cm skin incision, and walking was allowed from day one postoperatively. The primary outcomes included occurrence of adverse events and complications. The secondary outcomes included changes in the Harris hip scores, visual analog scale for pain scores, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) activity scores, and radiological images. Results We included ten patients, of which five experienced 14 adverse events, including one complication from spinal anesthesia. However, patients completely recovered from all adverse events. The mean clinical scores significantly improved by one year postoperatively compared with the pre-operative scores (before vs. after: visual analog score for pain, 21.2 vs. 5.3 mm; UCLA activity score, 5.5 vs. 6.6; Harris hip score, 81.0 vs. 96.9 points). There was only one case of femoral head collapse; however, this occurred in a hip with extensive necrosis. Stage progression and collapse did not occur in the other nine cases. Computed tomography confirmed bone regeneration in the femoral heads. Conclusions Clinical application of rhFGF-2-impregnated gelatin hydrogel for patients with precollapse ONFH was feasible and safe.

Monoclinic lithium metatitanate, β-Li 2 TiO 3 , is a member of the Li 2 MO 3 (M = Ti, Mn, Sn, Ru, and/or Ir) series and an important cation conductor for various energy applications such as Li-ion batteries and nuclear fusion reactors. Comprehensive knowledge of the crystal structure is vital to understand the Li-ion diffusion mechanism, and several possibilities were proposed previously. However, the exact crystal structure and Li-ion diffusion paths of β-Li 2 TiO 3 are still unclear. Here, the results of a neutron diffraction study of high-purity 7 Li-enriched β-Li 2 TiO 3 are reported. The occupancy factor 0.033(3) and the atomic coordinates of the interstitial Li ion in the Li−O layer are successfully refined by Rietveld analysis of the time-of-flight neutron diffraction data. The three-dimensional network of Li-ion diffusion pathways is visualized by a combined technique of high-temperature neutron-diffraction and maximum-entropy methods. An interstitialcy diffusion mechanism, in which a lithium ion migrates through both the interstitial tetrahedral and lattice octahedral sites, is proposed for the Li 2 MO 3 series.

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Lithium metal and lithium oxides are components of lithium-oxygen (Li-O 2 ) batteries. In order to accurately identify Li-compounds and understand the degradation mechanism, fundamental knowledge on electron structures of constituent elements is vital. However, experimentally-derived occupied states of Li has been missing due to their intrinsic difficulties in detection. Herein, using soft X-ray emission spectroscopy, ultrahigh-energy-resolution spectra of Li-K were collected for three critical Li-compounds; Li, Li 2 O 2 , and Li 2 O. Large chemical shifts to lower energies and peak broadening were observed in compound specific Li-K and O-K spectra. Theoretical calculations confirm that these changes derive from the characteristic electronic configurations of 1s and 2p states with core level shifts in + Li. The large chemical shift (~4.6 eV) between the Li and Li 2 O peaks was utilized to visualize the chemical state mapping of the Li metal/oxide phase, facilitating the identifications of chemical phases in Li compounds.

An inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) fusion device accelerates ions, such as deuterium (D) or tritium (T), to produce nuclear fusion and generate neutrons. The IEC's straightforward configuration consists of a concentric spherical transparent cathode at a negative bias surrounded by a grounded spherical anode. The effects of cathode properties on the neutron production rate (NPR) remain, to date, inadequately studied. This study aims to determine the impact of the cathode material on the NPR by investigating fusion reactions on the cathode surface. Two buckyball-shaped cathodes made of stainless steel (SS) and titanium (Ti), both of 5 cm diameter, fabricated by selective laser melting and 3D printing, are used for this investigation. A SS spherical chamber of 25 cm inner diameter is used as an anode in this experiment. A performance evaluation of surface fusion reaction in the IEC using SS and Ti grids is conducted by examining the NPR as a function of the applied voltage and grid currents at different gas pressures. So far, IEC with Ti and SS cathodes achieves NPRs of 2.32 and 1.41 Â 10 7 n/s, respectively, at 5.6 kW (70 kV, 80 mA). The normalized NPRs (NPR/I-cathode) from IEC using SS and Ti cathodes are compared. The results demonstrate that fusion reaction occurs on the cathode surface, and fusion increases with the applied voltage. The measured NPR/I-cathode using the Ti cathode is higher than that of the SS cathode by factors of 1.36-1.64 across the 20-70 kV range. Moreover, fusion on the Ti cathode surface enhances the total NPR significantly compared to the SS cathode under the same conditions. The Ti's considerable ability to accumulate D ions and molecules compared with that of SS explains the difference of measured NPR results.