Search

Objective: In recent years, interest in using lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in psychiatric research and corresponding therapy has increased rapidly. In this meta‐analysis, we explored the effects of LSD on healthy subjects with respect to subjective drug effects, blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature and side effects. Method: PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched from January 2010 to December 2020 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effects of LSD in healthy people. Subsequently, 5 RCTs with 132 healthy people which focused on the effects of LSD were enrolled in our study. Result: We found that taking 50, 100 and 200 mcg LSD doses were associated with a significant increase in the maximal difference from the baseline compared to the placebo group among the outcomes of AMRS (Adjective Mood Rating Scale) score. Significant differences existed between the LSD and placebo groups when taking 100 and 200 mcg LSD in acute adverse effects (100 mcg: SMD =.97, 95% confidence interval [CI],.50, 1.44, Z = 4.04, p <.001; 200 mcg: SMD = 1.18, 95% CI, 0.65, 1.72, Z = 4.32, p <.001). Conclusions: Meta‐analysis of the subjective effects of LSD in healthy people revealed moderate significant effect sizes in favor of LSD with no significant adverse effects. A 100 mcg dose of LSD has potential for use in psychological‐assisted therapy and may improve the mental fitness of patients with disease‐related psychiatric distress. Additional clinical trials are necessary to explore the efficacy and safety of LSD as a psychological‐assisted therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The combination of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) and intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) is more effective than IVT alone in patients with large vessel occlusion, which has been proven in recent studies. However, there are still debates over whether IVT benefits patients treated with only direct mechanical thrombectomy (dMT). Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched on June 15, 2021, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Seven RCTs with 2,143 patients were enrolled in our study. Results: MT combined with IVT had comparable efficacy and safety outcome compared with dMT in proximal anterior circulation occlusion at 90 days. For the primary outcome, pooled data showed no significant difference in the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 0–2 at 90 days between the dMT and MT+IVT groups (pooled odds ratio 0.96, 95% confidence interval, 0.79, 1.17, p = 0.39). As for the mRS score 0–1 at 90 days, the degree of benefit conferred by dMT was substantial: for every 100 patients treated, the number of patients which had an excellent outcome in the dMT group was 10 higher than that of the MT+IVT group. Conclusion: In this meta-analysis including 7 RCTs, MT had comparable consequences to bridging treatment in efficacy and safety outcomes for patients with ischemic stroke caused by the occlusion of proximal anterior circulation, irrespective of geographical location. These findings support the adoption of dMT in acute ischemic stroke treatments and have higher cost-effectiveness in global applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2D materials with Dirac cones, which show a linear band character near the Fermi level, exhibit many novel properties. Herein, based on first‐principles calculations, the 2D phosphorus carbide (PC5) monolayer is studied systematically. The stability is examined by calculating the formation energy, phonon dispersion, and elastic constants as well as by performing ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations. Due to the similarity of its structure to that of graphene, one Dirac cone is exactly located at the Fermi level, which is very robust against external biaxial and uniaxial strains. Treating the PC5 monolayer as graphene with doped P atoms along the armchair direction, a 3N rule is found similar to that of graphene nanoribbons with armchair edges. These physical properties make the PC5 monolayer a promising 2D material for emerging electronics applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SiO2 encapsulated quantum dots (QDs@SiO2) have been widely adopted for fabricating high-performance phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes (QCLEDs). However, the impact of SiO2 thickness on the optical properties of QDs in QCLEDs remains largely unexplored. In this work, we studied the combined effects of light scattering, heat accumulation, and concentration quenching of QD@SiO2 on optical performance of QCLEDs. QDs@SiO2 nanoparticles with SiO2 thickness of 10–60 nm were developed to perform the experimental tests and optical and thermal simulations. Our study reveals that at low power density, QD@SiO2 with 20–30-nm SiO2 shell display optimal efficiency owning to suppressed self-absorption quenching and enhanced light scattering. However, because of heat accumulation inside QDs@SiO2 at high power density, thin SiO2 shell (10–15 nm) is more favorable to reduce thermal quenching and maintain luminous efficiency of QCLEDs. This study provides guidance for the development of appropriate QDs@SiO2 structure to meet application requirements of different QCLED devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess changes in cardiovascular disease severity, types, postoperative complications and prognosis during the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore possible influencing factors.Methods: A total of 422 patients were enrolled in this study, and hospitalization and short-term follow-up data were retained. The patient population included 273 men and 149 women. Patients had a median (IQR) age of 54 (45-62) years and were divided into an observation group (130) and a control group (292), primarily according to severity of disease, disease types, baseline indexes, biochemical indexes, cardiac function indexes, complications and prognosis.Results: During the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with the same period last year, there was a significant increase in patients with aortic dissection (27.69% vs 5.82%), a significant decrease in patients with valvular heart disease (43.08% vs 66.78%), and significantly increased emergency admission (50.00% vs 21.23%) and severity (54.62% vs 27.40%). Family company (76.37% vs 64.62%) was decreased, EuroSCORE [6.5 (2-9) vs 2 (0-5)] score, Pro-BNP [857.50 (241.00-2222.50) vs 542.40 (113.45-1776.75)] ng/L, six months mortality rate (18.46% vs 8.90%), and postoperative complications, including infected patients, atelectasis, pulmonary edema, and so on were increased, with longer length of stay in the ICU and hospital in COVID-19 pandemic. Survival analysis curve further demonstrated that it had an impact on the deaths of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Through ROC analysis of the death factors of patients, it was concluded that Family company affected the death of patients, and the area under the curve was 0.654 (P < 0.05).Conclusions: In this study, we found that the admission rate of critically ill patients with cardiovascular disease, complications of cardiac surgery, and short-term mortality of patients all exhibited a short-term increase, family company may be a risk factors for short-term mortality, that may be related to public pressure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal design is the key technology for a diode pump solid laser to keep high stability of the output energy To solve the cooling problem of a solid laser, a 150mJ air cooled YAG laser with the repetition of 50Hz was systematically studied. The 3-D theoretical model of the diode-pumped laser and the cooling parts was constructed, and the generated heat of the laser was calculated. Further, the thermal management of the whole system was analyzed using the software of FloEFD, and the theoretical results were then discussed. Finally, the verified experiment was carried out. The results show that after three cycles, the laser output is 155mJ, 50Hz, the laser beam dispersion is 2. 9mard, and the temperature of radiator is about 85CC, respectively. The thermal design in this study has high stability, with which the cooling problem of the laser can be perfectly solved to meet the final requirements of the system and guarantee the natural work of the laser. This study provides a reference for the further thermal design of laser. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the occurrence and risk factors of bradycardia after the Maze procedure in patients with atrial fibrillation and tricuspid regurgitation.Methods: All patients underwent mitral valve (MV) replacement and concomitant bi-atrial cut-and-sew Maze procedure along with other cardiac surgical procedures were recruited from the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University. According to the severity of tricuspid regurgitation, all patients were divided into mild tricuspid regurgitation group and moderate-to-severe tricuspid regurgitation group. The general clinical data, biochemical indexes, intraoperative and postoperative data were collected. The relationship between tricuspid regurgitation and sinus bradycardia after the Maze procedure was analyzed by multivariate logistic regression model.Results: We enrolled 82 patients, including 24 males and 58 females. The patients had an average age of 56 ± 10 years old. There were 50 cases in mild tricuspid regurgitation group and 32 cases in moderate-to-severe tricuspid regurgitation group. Compared with the mild tricuspid regurgitation group, postoperative bradyarrhythmia (41% vs. 14%), pre-discharge bradyarrhythmia (63% vs. 14%), postoperative sinus bradycardia (34% vs. 10%) and pre-discharge sinus bradycardia (63% vs. 10%) in moderate-to-severe tricuspid regurgitation group were significantly increased (P < 0.01). In moderate-to-severe tricuspid regurgitation, the risk of sinus bradycardia increased after the Maze procedure (OR = 1.453, 95% CI 1.127-1.874), area under ROC curve was 0.81, the Jordan index was 0.665.Conclusion: The severity of tricuspid regurgitation may be an important factor affecting sinus bradycardia after the Maze procedure. It can be considered as a factor to predict sinus bradycardia after the Maze procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ependymomas occurring in the upper cervical spinal cord (above the level of the C4 segment) are rare entities with great therapeutic challenges. This study was aimed to investigate the clinicoradiological characteristics and the prognosis in a large cohort of upper cervical ependymomas from a single institution. This retrospective study enrolled 155 patients with primary ependymomas in the upper cervical spinal cord. The pre- and post-operative clinical and magnetic resonance imaging profiles were collected. The neurological outcomes and survival events were evaluated, and potential independent risk factors were analyzed. There were 82 females and 73 males, with an average age of 43.1 ± 11.3 years. Immediately post-operatively, 118 (76.1%) patients experienced neurological deterioration and 32 (20.7%) patients remained unchanged. Three months after surgery, 61 (39.4%) patients showed deteriorated neurological functions compared to the pre-operative baseline levels. After an average follow-up period of 56.0 ± 24.7 months, the neurological functions were worse than the baseline status in 37 (23.9%) patients and improved in 33 (21.3%) patients, respectively. Logistic regression analysis identified that lower age (≤ 42 years) and lower pre-operative MMS (I–II) were independent protective factors for predicting favorable neurological functions. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that incomplete resection was the only independent risk factor associated with a shorter progression-free survival. Age and pre-operative functional status affect the long-term neurological outcomes, and incomplete resection was associated with a shorter survival. Our findings indicate that gross total resection should be the goal of surgical treatment of upper cervical ependymomas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Theoretical model is to estimate wrinkling capability of membrane with holes. • Wrinkle-free membrane with optimized irregular holes is achieved by PSO algorithm. • An empirical wrinkle-free approach is proposed without excessive optimization. Membranes are easy to buckle and wrinkle due to their extreme flexibilities, leading to the performance degradation and hampering the engineering applications. Here we propose a wrinkle-free approach through optimizing the shape and distribution of interior irregular holes in the membrane. A theoretical model with Marguerre function and complex analysis is performed to accurately estimate the stress distribution and wrinkling capability of the non-uniform membrane. The non-gradient particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is implemented to determine the optimized holes to achieve wrinkle-free performance with ignorable area loss, the computational efficiency has been significantly enhanced through the superposition method. Both post-buckling analyses and physical experiments are carried out to verify wrinkle-free performance of membranes with optimized holes. In addition, an easy-to-implement empirical method is provided to guide the design of wrinkle-free membranes with arbitrary aspect ratio. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]