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Context: Puerarin (Pue) and tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA) are often used in combination in the treatment of cerebrovascular diseases. Objective: To investigate the neuroprotective effect and synergic mechanism of Pue-Tan IIA on the treatment of ischaemic stroke (IS). Materials and methods: IS was induced in rats by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Rats were intraperitoneally injected with Pue (36 mg/kg), Tan IIA (7.2 mg/kg), or Pue-Tan IIA (36 and 7.2 mg/kg) for five times [30 min before ischaemia, immediately after reperfusion (0 h), 24, 48, and 72 h after reperfusion]. After administration, neurological function assessment and histological changes in the brain were performed. S-100b and NSE levels were measured to determine the severity of brain injury. Oxidative stress parameters and inflammatory mediators were measured. The proteins involved in Nrf2/ARE signalling pathway were determined by qRT-PCR and western blot. Results: After administration, the neurological function scores, infarct volume, S-100b, and NSE levels were significantly reduced in MCAO rats, especially with Pue-Tan IIA treatment (p<0.05). All treatments increased T-AOC, CAT, SOD, and GSH activities and reduced GSSG activity and MDA, TNF-a, IL-6, ICAM-1, and COX-2 levels in MCAO rats. Pue-Tan IIA significantly increased Nrf2 expression in the nucleus (1.81-fold) and decreased its expression in the cytoplasm (0.60-fold). Pue-Tan IIA significantly increased the expressions of HO-1 (1.87-fold) and NQO1 (1.76-fold) and decreased Keap1 expression (0.39-fold). Discussion and conclusions: The combination of Pue and Tan IIA could alleviate ischaemic brain injury by activating Nrf2/ARE signalling pathway, providing an experimental basis for clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary fallopian tube cancer (PFTC) shares the same diagnostic and management guidelines with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). The LION trail raised concerns regarding the role of systematic pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy during debulking surgery. We aimed to evaluate the significance of lymphadenectomy in PFTC survival. This retrospective study analyzed the clinical features and survival of patients with PFTC who underwent primary surgery in our center between January 2013 and October 2020. Sixty-one patients diagnosed with PFTC were included in the study. Twenty-five (41.0%, 25/61) were diagnosed with FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics) stages I/II and 36 (59.0%, 36/61) were diagnosed with stage III/IV. Twenty-nine (47.5%, 29/61) underwent pelvic lymphadenectomy with or without para-aortic lymphadenectomy, among which 12 (41.4%, 12/29) had lymph node metastasis confirmed by postoperative pathology. The mean progression-free survival was 60.4 months in the lymphadenectomy group and 37.8 months in the no-lymphadenectomy group (p = 0.042, HR 0.374, 95% CI 0.145–0.966). PFTC is often diagnosed earlier and has a better prognosis than EOC. Most patients with PFTC would benefit from lymphadenectomy. However, the extent to which this association translates to a more diverse population needs to be further identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the generalized stacking fault energy (-surface) of paramagnetic-Fe as a function of temperature. At static condition, the face-centred cubic (fcc) lattice is thermodynamically unstable with respect to the hexagonal close-packed lattice, resulting in a negative intrinsic stacking fault energy (ISF). However, the unstable stacking fault energy (USF), representing the energy barrier along the-surface connecting the ideal fcc and the intrinsic stacking fault positions, is large and positive. The ISF is calculated to have a strong positive temperature coefficient, while the USF decreases monotonously with temperature. According to the recent plasticity theory, the overall effect of temperature is to move paramagnetic fcc Fe from the stacking fault formation regime ( K) towards maximum twinning ( K) and finally to a dominating full-slip regime ( K). Our predictions are discussed in connection with the available experimental observations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The influences of doping elements (Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Ta, Cr, Mo, W and Al) on the heats of formation of Nb, Nb5Si3 and Nb3Si have been studied using first-principles pseudopotential plane-wave method based on density functional theory. Site preferences of dopants in Nb5Si3 and Nb3Si intermetallics are first determined by comparing the heats of formation of the systems with different site occupations of the doping atoms. The partitionings of dopants between the equilibrium phases Nb and Nb5Si3 of Nb-Si in situ composites are then discussed and compared with experimental results. Phase partitioning behaviours of the alloying elements are found to depend strongly on the number of their valence electrons. By calculating the enthalpy of reaction regarding the eutectoid decomposition of Nb3Si phase, we conclude that Ta is a Nb3Si stabiliser while other dopants destabilise Nb3Si at the investigated concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a given bounded domain Ω in RN with smooth boundary ∂Ω, we give sufficient conditions on f so that the m-Laplacian equation △mu = f(x, u, ∇u) admits a boundary blow-up solution u ∈ W1,p(Ω). Our main results are new and extend the results in J.V. Concalves and Angelo Roncalli [Boundary blow-up solutions for a class of elliptic equations on a bounded domain, Appl. Math. Comput. 182 (2006), pp. 13-23]. Our approach employs the method of lower-upper solution theorem, fixed point theory and weak comparison principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the existence of solutions for the quasilinear elliptic equation [image omitted] under Dirichlet boundary conditions, where Ω⊂RN is a bounded domain with smooth boundary. The most important fact here is that either g or f (or both of them) is singular at 0 if g(t), [image omitted] . By means of a direct variational approach, we establish the existence of a solution with [image omitted] -norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]