The prognostic significance of ultrasound real-time elastography (RTE) in patients with breast lesions is controversial. There are two different diagnostic methods: the elasticity score (ES) and the strain ratio (SR). A meta-analysis was performed using a random-effect model to assess the overall sensitivity and specificity of RTE in the differentiation of breast lesions. MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library before February 2011 were searched. A total of 22 studies, which included 4,713 breast nodules in 4,266 patients were analyzed. The overall mean sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of malignant breast lesions by RTE were 0.834 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.814-0.853] and 0.842 (95% CI, 0.829-0.854) for ES, and 0.883 (95% CI, 0.844-0.916) and 0.814 (95% CI, 0.786-0.839) for SR, respectively. RTE has a high sensitivity and specificity in the evaluation of breast lesions and can potentially reduce unnecessary breast biopsies.

Background Accumulating studies have suggested that gut microbiota (GM) dysbiosis and vitamin D3 deficiency each play an important role during the progression of hypertension (HTN). However, few studies have characterized the underlying interaction between GM shift and vitamin D3 deficiency in HTN patients. Hypothesis This study aimed to evaluate the possible crosstalk between GM dysbiosis and vitamin D deficiency in the pathogenesis of HTN. Methods In a cohort of 34 HTN patients and 15 healthy controls, we analyzed the fecal microbiota products, GM composition, and the interaction between GM and vitamin D3. Results Vitamin D3 was significantly decreased in feces of HTN patients (P = .006, vs controls) and was correlated with altered GM, including decreased Shannon index (R2 = 0.1296, P = .0111) and Pielou evenness (R2 = 0.1509, P = .0058). Moreover, vitamin D3 positively correlated with HTN‐reduced bacterial genera, including Subdoligranulum (R2 = 0.181, P = .0023), Ruminiclostridium (R2 = 0.1217, P = .014), Intestinimonas (R2 = 0.2036, P = .0011), Pseudoflavonifractor (R2 = 0.1014, P = .0257), Paenibacillus (R2 = 0.089, P = .0373), and Marvinbryantia (R2 = 0.08173, P = .0464). Partial least squares structural equation modeling showed that 27.7% of the total effect of gut microbiome on HTN was mediated by limiting vitamin D production. Finally, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed the predictive capacity of differential gut microbiome signatures and decreased vitamin D3 to distinguish HTN patients (AUC = 0.749, P = .006). Conclusions Our findings suggest that the GM dysbiosis contributing to the development of HTN might be partially mediated by vitamin D3 deficiency. Future studies involving the underlying mechanism and intervention strategies targeting microbiome composition and vitamin D3 to counteract the progression of HTN are warranted.

A novel ZnO NP/mesoporous anatase–TiO2 (B) NW heterojunction photocatalyst was synthesized for environmental purification and hydrogen evolution.

advantages of high voltage, low self-discharge, and high energy density. However, the low lithium reserves and high cost can hardly satisfy the ever-growing energy storage markets especially for the largescale energy storage and renewable energy grid. [3][4][5] Recently, sodium ion batteries (SIBs) have triggered tremendous attentions due to their earth abundant, low cost, and similar chemical properties to lithium. [6][7][8] To date, ample potential anode materials for SIBs have been explored, such as alloys (Sn, [9,10] Sb, [11] Ge [12] ), metal oxides and sulfides, [13][14][15][16] carbon-based materials [17,18] and so on. Among them, carbon-based materials have represented the most competitive anode due to the features of abundance, low potential and low cost. However, the limited reversible capacities and the rather low initial columbic efficiency as well as the poor rate performance still impede the practical application of most carbon materials, which is attributed to the large ionic radius of Na + (1.02 Å) compared with that of Li + (0.76 Å). In this regard, one of the most critical issue for the development of SIBs is how to design and develop engineered carbon anode materials for fast Na + insertion and extraction. [19] So far, numerous carbon materials with different morphologies and structure, such as 1D carbon nanofibers, [20,21] 2D expanded graphite, [22,23] and 3D carbon nanospheres, [24] have been investigated as anode of SIBs in the hope to enhance the associated electrochemical performance. Particularly, 1D carbon nanofibers have been considered as one type of carbon due to their 1D conductive nanostructure conducive to by facilitating electrolyte transportation and electron transfer. [25,26] Typically, electrospinning technology is a reliable and versatile method in fabricating 1D nanostructured polymer, which can be easily converted into conductive carbon nanofibers by the further pyrolysis process. [27] Additionally, the heteroatoms (e.g., phosphorous, [28,29] sulfur, [30,31] and nitrogen [32,33] ) doped in carbon architecture is also an effective way to tune their physicochemical properties by expanding the graphite-like interlayer distance, introducing ample defects and porosities, and enhancing electric conductivity, which are of benefit for improving the reversible capacity and rate capability. [34] Bearing the points above in mind, we herein report a welldesigned synthetic route for fabricating nitrogen-rich carbon Although graphite materials have been applied as commercial anodes in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), there still remain abundant spaces in the development of carbon-based anode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). Herein, an electrospinning route is reported to fabricate nitrogendoped carbon nanofibers with interweaved nanochannels (NCNFs-IWNC) that contain robust interconnected 1D porous channels, produced by removal of a Te nanowire template that is coelectrospun within carbon nanofibers during the electrospinning process. The NCNFs-IWNC features favorable properties, in...

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A self-healing solid polymer electrolyte based on imine bonds is fabricated through a simple Schiff base reaction. The polymer electrolyte exhibit excellent self-healing characteristics and good electrochemical performance.