Currently, a variety of elastomers with a self-healing capacity and reprocessability have been developed by dynamic chemistry to extend the service life, increase the reliability of polymeric materials, and reduce the waste. However, it is still a large challenge to seek an appropriate dynamic interaction that may perfectly match the general performance of the target polymeric materials such as polyurethane. Herein, we report a poly-(thiourethane-urethane) (PTUU−N x ) elastomer containing dynamic thiourethane bonds prepared via a thiol−isocyanate click reaction, which is stable at room temperature, healable at moderate temperature, and reprocessable at high temperature. Importantly, it exhibits a mechanical strength similar to the polyurethane because of a very similar structure. The dynamic feature of PTUU−N x is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally to originate from the exchange of thiourethane bonds via the reversible generation of isocyanates and thiols. Most importantly, the thiourethane bond possesses a much lower bond dissociation energy than the urethane bond, which not only makes PTUU−N x elastomers easier to be reprocessed but also endows them with a desirable self-healing ability under moderate conditions. In addition, the optimized sample PTUU−N 2 is utilized to fabricate a conductive device by coating Ag glue on the elastomer surface and inserting the coated elastomer into a circuit, which displays a high self-healing efficiency, as the material recovers to its original mechanical property and conductivity. Therefore, these results not only indicate that the PTUU−N x elastomers have considerable potential for applications in intelligent electronic devices but also provide new ideas for developing new self-healing materials by applying the adaptable dynamic bond to the target polymers.
Background: IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the most common glomerulonephritis worldwide and up to 40% will develop end-stage renal disease (ESRD) within 20 years. However, predicting which patients will progress to ESRD is difficult. The purpose of this study was to develop a predictive model which could accurately predict whether IgAN patients would progress to ESRD. Methods: Six machine learning algorithms were used to predict whether IgAN patients would progress to ESRD: logistic regression, random forest, support vector machine (SVM), decision tree, artificial neural network (ANN), k nearest neighbors (KNN). Nineteen demographic, clinical, pathologic and treatment parameters were used as input for the prediction models. Results: Random forest is best able to predict progression to ESRD. The model had accuracy of 93.97% and sensitivity and specificity of 80.60% and 95.27%, respectively. Conclusions: Machine learning algorithms can effectively predict which patients with IgA nephropathy will progress to end stage renal disease.
BackgroundA large number of new causative and risk genes for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have been identified mostly in patients of European ancestry. In contrast, we know relatively little regarding the genetics of ALS in other ethnic populations. This study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the genetics of ALS in an unprecedented large cohort of Chinese mainland population and correlate with the clinical features of rare variants carriers.MethodsA total of 1587 patients, including 64 familial ALS (FALS) and 1523 sporadic ALS (SALS), and 1866 in-house controls were analysed by whole-exome sequencing and/or testing for G4C2 repeats in C9orf72. Forty-one ALS-associated genes were analysed.Findings155 patients, including 26 (40.6%) FALS and 129 (8.5%) SALS, carrying rare pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) variants of ALS causative genes were identified. SOD1 was the most common mutated gene, followed by C9orf72, FUS, NEK1, TARDBP and TBK1. By burden analysis, rare variants in SOD1, FUS and TARDBP contributed to the collective risk for ALS (p<2.5e-6) at the gene level, but at the allelic level TARDBP p.Gly294Val and FUS p.Arg521Cys and p.Arg521His were the most important single variants causing ALS. Clinically, P/LP variants in TARDBP and C9orf72 were associated with poor prognosis, in FUS linked with younger age of onset, and C9orf72 repeats tended to affect cognition.ConclusionsOur data provide essential information for understanding the genetic and clinical features of ALS in China and for optimal design of genetic testing and evaluation of disease prognosis.
Background and purpose:Recent genetic progress has shown many causative/risk genes linked to Parkinson's disease (PD), mainly in patients of European ancestry. The study aimed to investigate the PD-related genes and determine the mutational spectrum of early-onset PD in ethnic Chinese.
Methods:In this study, whole-exome sequencing and/or gene dosage analysis were performed in 704 early-onset PD (EOPD) patients (onset age ≤45 years) and 1866 controls. Twenty-six PD-related genes and 20 other genes linked to neurodegenerative and lysosome diseases were analysed.Results: Eighty-two (11.6%, 82/704) EOPD patients carrying rare pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants in PD-related genes were identified. The mutation frequency in autosomal recessive inheritance EOPD (42.9%, 27/63) was much higher than that in autosomal dominant inheritance EOPD (0.9%, 12/110) or sporadic EOPD (8.1%, 43/531).Bi-allelic mutations in PRKN were the most frequent, accounting for 5.1% of EOPD cases.Three common pathogenic variants, p.A53V in SNCA, p.G284R in PRKN and p.P53Afs*38
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