Polyethersulfone (PES) hollow fibers were fabricated by dry-wet spinning method for hemodialysis application. The effects of additives polyethylene glycols (PEG) in the dope solution and of fiber thickness and inner diameter fiber on the membrane mechanical characters were investigated. The dialysis tests were conducted by using a simulated solution prepared by dissolving bovine serum albumin (BSA), lysozyme and urea in de-ionized water to test the effects of membrane characters and operating conditions on dialysis efficiency. The results indicated that the reduction of PEG concentration from 27.6 wt% to 24.1 wt% in the dope solution improved the clearance of toxins, but slightly decreased the mechanical characters. The reduction of fiber thickness or fiber inner diameter was found to improve the clearance of toxins by removing 64.2% of lysozyme and 89.4% of urea (membrane area 0.2 m2), whilst BSA retention was found being maintained above 98%. The dialysis efficiency was also noted to increase with the increase in the flow rate of either the simulated or the dialysate solution, or increasing the membrane area. Moreover, The result of a comparison on the clearance of toxins between commercial F60S and PES dialyzers indicated higher dialysis efficiency per area of the fabricated PES membrane.
Biocompatible Materials ; therapeutic use ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Membranes, Artificial ; Polyethylene Glycols ; chemistry ; Polymers ; chemistry ; Renal Dialysis ; instrumentation ; methods ; Sulfones ; chemistry

Objective:To explore the value of amide proton transfer-weighted (APTw) imaging and intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) imaging for diagnosing and evaluating the pathological differentiation of cervix squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC).Methods:This study was a diagnostic trial. Totally 56 patients pathologically diagnosed with CSCC at the First Hospital of Lanzhou University from October 2021 to October 2022 were retrospectively collected, as the CSCC group. And 36 female healthy volunteers who underwent physical examinations at the First Hospital of Lanzhou University from October 2021 to October 2023 were recruited as the control group. CSCC patients were divided into well-moderately differentiated ( n=34) and poorly differentiated groups ( n=22). The region of interest was placed in the lesions of CSCC group and normal cervical stroma of control group, and the quantitative parameters for asymmetric magnetization transfer ratio (MTR asym) of APTw imaging and pure diffusion coefficient (D), false diffusion coefficient (D *) and perfusion fraction (f) for IVIM were obtained. The independent sample t test was used to compare the differences in quantitative parameters between the two groups, the logistic regression model was used to establish combined parameters for the quantitative parameters with statistical significance between the two groups. The receiver operator characteristic curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of single quantitative parameters and combined parameters to distinguish the CSCC group from the control group, and the well-moderately differentiated group from the poorly differentiated group in CSCC patients. The area under the curve (AUC) was compared using the DeLong test. Results:There were significant differences in MTR asym, D and f between CSCC group and control group ( t=-9.79, 10.09, 11.35, P<0.001). Also, significant differences were found for MTR asym and D between the well-moderately differentiated and poorly differentiated group ( t=4.11, -3.76, P<0.001). There was no significant difference in other quantitative parameters ( P>0.05). When comparing the CSCC group and control group, the AUC (95% CI) of MTR asym, D, f and combined parameter (MTR asym+D+f) were 0.887 (0.804-0.944), 0.940 (0.871-0.979), 0.968 (0.909-0.993), 0.995 (0.950-1.000). The AUC of the combined parameter was higher than those of MTR asym and D, with statistical significance ( Z=3.07, 2.06, P=0.002, 0.040). When comparing the well-moderately differentiated and poorly differentiated group, the AUC (95% CI) of MTR asym, D, and combined parameter (MTR asym+D) were 0.789 (0.660-0.887), 0.775 (0.644-0.876), 0.852 (0.731-0.932). There was no significant difference between each two AUCs ( P>0.05). Conclusion:The quantitative parameters of APTw and IVIM imaging can be used to diagnose and preliminarily evaluate the pathological differentiation of CSCC. Joint parameters can improve the diagnostic efficiency of CSCC.