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Abstract This study aims to investigate the relationship between the healthy eating index (HEI) and the prevalence of stroke within a diverse United States population. Employing a cross-sectional design, we utilized data sourced from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Dietary information was collected from participants and HEI scores were computed. NHANES employed stratified multistage probability sampling, with subsequent weighted analysis following NHANES analytical guidelines. Thorough comparisons were made regarding the baseline characteristics of individuals with and without stroke. Weighted multivariable logistic regression analysis and restricted cubic spline (RCS) methods were employed to ascertain the association between stroke risk and HEI, with LASSO regression utilized to identify dietary factors most closely linked to stroke risk. Additionally, we constructed a nomogram model incorporating key dietary factors and assessed its discriminatory capability using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Our study encompassed 43,978 participants, representing an estimated 201 million U.S. residents. Participants with a history of stroke exhibited lower HEI scores than their non-stroke counterparts. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated a robust association between lower HEI scores and stroke, even after adjusting for confounding variables. RCS analysis indicated a nonlinear negative correlation between HEI and stroke risk. Furthermore, detailed subgroup analysis revealed a significant gender-based disparity in the impact of dietary quality on stroke risk, with females potentially benefiting more from dietary quality improvements. Sensitivity analysis using unweighted logistic regression yielded results consistent with our primary analysis. The nomogram model, based on key dietary factors identified through LASSO regression, demonstrated favorable discriminatory power, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 79.3% (95% CI 78.4–81.2%). Our findings suggest that higher HEI scores are inversely related to the risk of stroke, with potential greater benefits for women through dietary quality enhancement. These results underscore the importance of improving dietary quality for enhanced stroke prevention and treatment.

"AIM: To describe the etiology, clinical characteristics, surgical options and surgical outcomes of isolated inferior oblique palsy (IOP). METHODS: A retrospective review was performed on patients with isolated IOP who were seen between January 2010 and June 2017. The following clinical data were obtained from the patients’ charts: visual acuity, ocular alignment, ocular motility, cyclotorsion, stereoacuity, Parks three-step test, surgical methods, surgical outcomes and complications. Surgical success was defined as horizontal deviation ≤10 prism diopters (PD) and a vertical deviation ≤5 PD in primary gaze at both near and distant vision as assessed at last follow-up. RESULTS: The records from a total of 18 patients (8 males and 10 females) with an average age of 27.56y were included in this study. The right eye was affected in 11 patients, the left in 6 patients and both eyes in 1 patient. Twelve cases (66.7%) were congenital and 6 (33.3%) were acquired IOP. The 6 acquired cases involved 2 resulting from orbital trauma/surgery, 2 from midbrain microvascular ischemia, 1 from myasthenia gravis and 1 of unknown etiology. Strabismus surgery was performed in 13 cases. Surgical techniques included weakening of superior oblique and vertical rectus recession and resection. After a mean follow-up of 15.11mo, the corrected vertical deviation in primary position was 19.92±8.52 PD (P=0.000) and the corrected horizontal deviation was 14.31±12.68 PD (P=0.002). The surgical success rate was 61.5% and no surgical complications were present. CONCLUSION: Isolated IOP represents a rare condition, with most cases (66.7%) involving a congenital basis. The acquired cases included vascular, orbital trauma/surgery and myasthenia gravis. Weakening of the ipsilateral superior oblique muscle and/or contralateral superior rectus recession often resulted in favorable surgical outcomes with a surgical success rate of 61.5%."

Noninvasive biomarkers have been developed to predict hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related fibrosis owing to the significant limitations of liver biopsy. Those biomarkers were initially derived from evaluation of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related fibrosis, and their accuracy among HBV-infected patients was under constant debate. A systematic review was conducted on records in PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library electronic databases, up until April 1st, 2013, in order to systematically assess the effectiveness and accuracy of these biomarkers for predicting HBV-related fibrosis. The questionnaire for quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS) was used. Out of 115 articles evaluated for eligibility, 79 studies satisfied the pre-determined inclusion criteria for meta-analysis. Eventually, our final data set for the meta-analysis contained 30 studies. The areas under the SROC curve for APRI, FIB-4, and FibroTest of significant fibrosis were 0.77, 0.75, and 0.84, respectively. For cirrhosis, the areas under the SROC curve for APRI, FIB-4 and FibroTest were 0.75, 0.87, and 0.90, respectively. The heterogeneity of FIB-4 and FibroTest were not statistically significant. The heterogeneity of APRI for detecting significant fibrosis was affected by median age (P = 0.0211), and for cirrhosis was affected by etiology (P = 0.0159). Based on the analysis we claim that FibroTest has excellent diagnostic accuracy for identification of HBV-related significant fibrosis and cirrhosis. FIB-4 has modest benefits and may be suitable for wider scope implementation.

This article presents each link and the elements of the practical teaching system for nursing high-fidelity simulation. At the same time the role and status of the various elements in this system was analyzed. Points out it is a basic sign from the primary to mature that the construction of the practical teaching system for nursing high-fidelity simulation, and it is an important premise to improve the teaching quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biorefinery lignin was carbonized under a carbon dioxide atmosphere at various temperatures viz., 500 °C, 600 °C, 700 °C, and 800 °C, separately. The results indicated that with increasing temperature, the mass yield decreased from 49.2% to 39.8%. Carbonization at a high temperature resulted in an increment of carbon (C) content and decreased both the hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) contents. With the increase of carbonization severity, the ratios of O/C and H/C decreased mainly due to the demethanation, dehydration, and decarboxylation reactions. The carbonization resulted in the transformation of aromatic rings as well as the rearrangement of the aromatic polymers, and the enhancement of the thermal stability of the charcoal formed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bioavailability of sedimentary P was investigated under repeated sediment resuspension with and without the addition of algae. Results show that the release of P as dissolved total P and dissolved inorganic P depends on the reduction in Fe/Al-P and Ca-P in the sediments. The reduction rates can be attributed to sediment resuspension and algal assimilation. However, under a low algal concentration, the assimilation of algae in P is lower than the readsorption of reoxidized Fe or other P-binding matter, such as clays and CaCO particles. This result was confirmed by the increase in algal available P (AAP) under sediment resuspension conditions with and without the addition of algae. Although measuring the formation and reduction rates of AAP is difficult, AAP is a good predictor of the bioavailability of sedimentary P. The bioavailable P in the sediments can be estimated using the sum of NHCl-P, AAP, and %Ca-P at certain concentrations of algae given the assimilation of Ca-P under sediment resuspension conditions with the addition of algae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on a study conducted by the authors on transfer of angular momentum in optical near-fields of optical antennas. Topics discussed include deviation of geometrical antenna from photoemission yield, confinement of near-field to antenna arms with reduced polarization, increased circular polarization in the center of antenna, and momentum transfer by transfer of spin polarized electrons.

Let (G) and e(G) denote the domination number and exponential domination number of graph G, respectively. Henning et al., in [Hered-itary equality of domination and exponential domination, Discuss. Math. Graph Theory 38 (2018) 275-285] gave a conjecture: There is a finite set F of graphs such that a graph G satisfies (H) = e(H) for every induced subgraph H of G if and only if G is F-free. In this paper, we study the conjecture for subcubic graphs. We characterize the class F by minimal forbidden induced subgraphs and prove that the conjecture holds for subcubic graphs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the improved Jacobian elliptic function expansion approach is extended and applied to constructing discrete solutions of the semi-discrete coupled modified Korteweg de Vries (mKdV) equations with the aid of the symbolic computation system Maple. Some new discrete Jacobian doubly periodic solutions are obtained. When the modulus m → 1 these doubly periodic solutions degenerate into the corresponding solitary wave solutions, including kink-type, bell-type and other types of excitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We experimentally demonstrate synthesis and in situ analysis of multimode plasmonic excitations in two-wire transmission lines supporting a symmetric and an antisymmetric eigenmode. To this end we irradiate an incoupling antenna with a diffraction-limited excitation spot exploiting a polarization- and position-dependent excitation efficiency. Modal analysis is performed by recording the far-field emission of two mode-specific spatially separated emission spots at the far end of the transmission line. To illustrate the power of the approach we selectively determine the group velocities of symmetric and antisymmetric contributions of a multimode ultrafast plasmon pulse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]