Object The surgical treatment of severe and rigid spinal deformities poses difficulties and dangers. In this article, the authors summarize their surgical techniques and evaluate patient outcomes after performing posterior vertebral column resection (PVCR) for the correction of spinal deformities with curves greater than 100°, and investigate the crucial points to ensure neurological safety during this challenging procedure. Methods The authors retrospectively reviewed their experience with 28 patients with extremely severe (Cobb angles in the coronal or sagittal plane > 100°) and rigid thoracic or thoracolumbar spine deformities who underwent PVCR. The average patient age was 20.2 years and all patients underwent a minimum follow-up of 24 months (range 24–60 months). Patients were divided into groups according to their morphological classification as follows: kyphosis alone (Group A, 6 patients with a mean Cobb angle of 109.0° [range 105°–120°]); kyphoscoliosis with coronal plane curves notably greater than sagittal plane curves (Group B, 14 patients with mean scoliotic curves of 116.6° [range 102°–170°] and kyphotic curves of 77.7° [range 42°–160°]); and kyphoscoliosis with sagittal curves notably greater than coronal plane curves (Group C, 8 patients with a mean coronal curve of 85.4° [range 65°–110°] and a mean sagittal curve of 117.6° [range 102°–155°]). Results A total of 36 vertebrae were removed in 28 patients who had a severe rigid spinal deformity, and the mean fusion extent was 13.3 vertebrae (range 7–17 vertebrae). The mean operating time was 620 minutes (range 320–920 minutes) with an average operative blood loss of 6,680 ml (range 3,000–24,000 ml). The overall final correction rate of scoliosis was 59.0%, and average postoperative kyphotic Cobb angles ranged from 30.4° to 95.9°. In Group A the mean preoperative sagittal angle of 109.0° was corrected to a mean postoperative angle of 32.0°. In the Group B kyphoscoliotic patients, the correction rate in the coronal plane was 58.6%; the Cobb angle in the sagittal plane was corrected from a mean of 77.7° preoperatively to 25.1° postoperatively; in Group C, the correction rate in the coronal plane was 58.5%, and the mean sagittal angle was reduced from a mean of 117.6° preoperatively to 39.0°. Of the 28 patients who underwent PVCR, 46 complications were observed in 18 patients intra- and postoperatively. There were 5 neurological complications including 1 case of late-onset paralysis and 4 cases of thoracic nerve root pain, all of which resolved during the early follow-up period. Nonneurological complications occurred more often in kyphoscoliotic patients (41 complications). The mean follow-up of all patients was 33.7 months (range 24–60 months). Conclusions Posterior vertebral column resection was effective in correcting severe rigid spinal deformity, although the procedure was technically demanding, exhaustingly lengthy, and was associated with a variety of complications. The PVCR technique created a space for spinal correction and spinal cord tension adjustment and the correction could be performed under direct inspection and by palpation of the tension in the spinal cord through the space. Therefore, in terms of the spinal cord, the deformity correction process involved in the PVCR procedure is relatively safe.

The textile industries have incorporated perfume microencapsulation technology to improve their products. However, certain industrial microcapsules show low encapsulation capacity and low material stability. In this study, vanillin/chitosan microcapsules were prepared via spray‐drying, and the encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity of the microcapsule were 50.69% and 30.31%, respectively. Quantum–chemical calculations confirm the interactions of hydrogen bonds between vanillin and chitosan. Their applicability to the cotton fabric with citric acid as the cross‐linking reagent has been investigated. The structure of the microcapsule‐treated cotton fabric has been characterized with various physico‐chemical techniques. The results confirm the microcapsules have been successfully grafted onto the cotton fabrics. The release experiments show that 21.9% vanillin was retained under 65°C and 80% humidity conditions and 8.6% vanillin still existed after 14 washes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Terpinen‐4‐ol has several biological properties, but its low stability and water‐solubility limit its use. This study reports the formation of a solid terpinen‐4‐ol/β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD) inclusion complex via lyophilization. Release experiments were performed at various temperatures (40, 60, 80, and 100°C) with humidity of 70%. The release of terpinen‐4‐ol was significantly increased with rising temperature. Avrami's equation was used to analyse release kinetics and a good fit was observed for terpinen‐4‐ol release. In addition, the complex enhanced antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aurueus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli, with concentration ranging from 1.25 mg/ml to 5 mg/ml. To explain the experimental data, physico‐chemical techniques have been utilized to investigate the inclusion complex of terpinen‐4‐ol with β‐CD. Finally, the possible structure of the complex was proposed by quantum chemical calculations. The results indicated that enhanced thermal stability and antibacterial activity of terpinen‐4‐ol could be attributed to the weak interactions of hydrogen bonds between terpinen‐4‐ol and β‐CD. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

We report an efficient, reusable, and selective 6-aminothiouracil (ATA)-modified Zr­(IV)-based adsorbent (defined as UiO-66-ATA­(Zr)) for lead ion removal in water. The adsorption equilibrium time and the maximum sorption capacity of UiO-66-ATA­(Zr) for Pb­(II) are, respectively, 120 min and 386.98 mg/g at pH 4 and 298 K. The Pb­(II) removal rate reaches 96% at 60 min and exceeds 99% at the equilibrium state in the pH range of 2.0–5.8. Hill and pseudo-second-order models can well describe the sorption process. Pb­(II) adsorbing onto UiO-66-ATA­(Zr) is an irreversible, favorable chemisorption process with multimolecule participation and film diffusion control. The calculations of density functional theory, the experimental results, and the characterization analyses suggest that the binding mechanisms are the chelation and ion-exchange/electrostatic interactions between hydroxyl/amino/sulfhydryl groups of UiO-66-ATA­(Zr) and Pb­(II). Besides, UiO-66-ATA­(Zr) has a better affinity to Pb­(II) than the coexisting ions in water and an excellent repeatability at eight cycles of adsorption. Moreover, the thermodynamic study shows that UiO-66-ATA­(Zr) adsorbing Pb­(II) is an endothermic reaction. Thus, UiO-66-ATA­(Zr) is a prospective sorbent for Pb­(II) removal under the initiative of environmental protection and water purification, and this work may also provide an idea for industrial catalysis.

The exploration of high-performance cathode candidates is of great significance for aqueous aluminum-metal batteries (AAMBs). Here, we, for the first time, report tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone (TCQ) as a superior organic AAMBs cathode....