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The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of tranexamic acid (TXA) in patients undergoing open-wedge high tibial osteotomy (OWHTO). Patients from August 2018 to May 2020 were retrospectively studied. Clinical data were obtained including gender, age, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, diabetes, history of aspirin, prepostoperative hematocrit (Hct) and hemoglobin (Hb), thrombotic events, blood transfusion requirement, hospital length of stay, size of osteotomy gap, and wound complications such as wound hematoma and infection. 52 patients were enrolled in the tranexamic acid group (TA group), and 48 patients were enrolled in the nontranexamic acid group (NTA group); there were no significant differences between both groups in terms of gender, age, BMI, preoperative Hb, size of osteotomy gap, incidence of smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, diabetes, history of aspirin, thrombotic events, blood transfusion requirement, and wound hematoma and infection. The mean hospital length of stay was 9.4 ± 1.0 days in the TA group and 11.0 ± 1.2 days in the NTA group (P < 0.001), the blood loss was 296.0 ± 128.7 ml in the TA group and 383.3 ± 181.3 ml in the NTA group (P < 0.05), and the postoperative Hb level was 120.8 ± 15.0 g/l in the TA group and 109.5 ± 13.8 g/l in the NTA group (P < 0.001). In conclusion, the administration of TXA is beneficial to patients undergoing OWHTO via decreasing hospital length of stay, reducing blood loss, and maintaining higher postoperative Hb levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radiation-chemical stability of ionic liquid [Hbet][Tf2N] has been investigated under gamma irradiation for Nd2O3 separation from simulated spent nuclear fuels. It was found that Nd2O3 dissolution decreases with increasing absorbed dose of [Hbet][Tf2N]. However, the dissolution ability of irradiated [Hbet][Tf2N] to Nd2O3 can be regenerated after washing with water. The radiolytic products of [Hbet][Tf2N] were identified by EMI–MS, and [Hbet]+ group occurred a little radiolysis during irradiation. The UV–Visible spectra shown an increase in absorption around 275 nm probably due to the radiolysis of [Hbet][Tf2N]. FTIR spectra shown little variation around 1730 cm−1 under high radiation dose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to identify patient characteristics related to blood loss following high tibial osteotomy (HTO). We evaluated 48 patients undergoing HTO from August 2018 to August 2019. The data of 48 patients were collected, including gender, age, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, diabetes, history of aspirin, and pre-postoperative hematocrit (Hct). Multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors related to blood loss in HTO. The mean age of patients was 56.6 ± 10.2 years, including 22 males and 26 females. The mean BMI was 28.5 ± 4.2 kg / m 2 , and the mean blood loss volume was 383.3 ± 181.3 mL , 13 patients with smoking (27.1%), 15 patients with alcohol consumption (31.3%), 23 patients with hypertension (47.9%), 10 patients with diabetes mellitus (20.8%), and 12 patients with history of aspirin (25.0%). Multiple linear regression model suggested alcohol consumption and BMI were associated with blood loss in HTO, R 2 = 0.451 , F 9 , 38 = 3.462 (P < 0.05). Our study indicates that alcohol consumption and BMI are important risk factors related to blood loss in HTO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Titanomagnetite concentrates and pre-oxidized titanomagnetite concentrates were reduced isothermally at 1000–1200°C by pulverized coal. XRD, SEM and EDS were used to characterize the samples. The influence of reduction conditions on the metallization degree of the samples, such as reduction temperature, C/Fe molar ratio, pre-oxidation and additives were studied. It was found that the pre-oxidation and additives played a considerable role in the metallization degree of titanomagnetite concentrates. During the pre-oxidation of titanomagnetite concentrates in air, the magnetite was oxidized to hematite and ilmenite was oxidized to hematite–ilmenite solid solution, hematite and TiO2. The pre-oxidation destroyed the crystal lattice of raw titanomagnetite concentrates and formed pores in the particles, which accelerated the reduction process. The effect of different additives on the metallization degree of pre-oxidized titanomagnetite concentrates was also discussed. The results show that when 1.5wt.% Na2CO3 is used as an additive, the metallization degree of pre-oxidized titanomagnetite concentrates reaches 96.4%, after heating for 1h at 1200°C. The final reduced sample was composed of metallic iron, pseudobrookite solid solution and TiO2. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Typical floorplanning concerns a series of objectives, such as area, wirelength, and routability, etc., with various aspect ratios of modules in a free-outline regime. However, in a hierarchical design flow for very large ASICs and SoCs, a floorplan can be completely useless for a situation where its outline is dissatisfied. In this paper, we study the fixed-outline floorplanning problem that is more applicable to the hierarchical design style. We develop an efficient algorithm based on robust evolutionary search and achieve substantially improved success rate. We also propose a new approach to handle soft modules to further adjust the generated floorplan to fit into the prescribed chip outline. The effectiveness of our methods is demonstrated on several large cases of MCNC and GSRC benchmarks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Typical floorplanning problem concerns a series of objectives, such as area, wirelength and routability, etc., without any specific constraint in a free-outline style. Entering SOC era; however, modern floorplanning takes more care of providing extra options, such as boundary constraint for I/O connections and fixed-outline constraint for hierarchical designs. It has been empirically shown that one of the modern constraints extremely restricts the solution space; that is, a large number of randomly generated floorplans might be infeasible. This paper tackles modern floorplanning with both boundary and fixed-outline constraints. A novel genetic clustering algorithm was proposed to guarantee to produce slicing floorplans with satisfying boundary constraint. By analyzing the properties of the slicing floorplan, the algorithm is effective to cluster the boundary-constrained modules into four constrained sub-floorplans. Afterward, the four sub-floorplans were combined to satisfy the boundary constraint. We then extend the algorithm with minor modification to enable the slicing floorplans with boundary constraint to be gradually fit into the desirable fixed outline. The methods were verified by using the MCNC and GSRC benchmarks, and the empirical results show that our methods can obtain promising solutions using short time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between postoperative bone marrow lesions (BMLs) and pain severity in patients undergoing open wedge high tibial osteotomy (OWHTO). We reviewed the patients undergoing OWHTO between April 2018 and April 2020. The demographic and clinical data of patients were collected. Clinically, VAS and Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) were used to assess pain level and functional outcomes of patients. The MRI Osteoarthritis Knee Score (MOAKS) was used to assess the total BMLs size in medial tibiofemoral (MTF), lateral tibiofemoral (LTF), and patellofemoral (PF) joints. 98 patients were enrolled in the study, including 57 male and 41 female patients. The VAS scores improved significantly from 6.1 ± 0.8 to 1.5 ± 0.9 (p < 0.001), and all subscales of KOOS improved significantly after surgery (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences between the pre- and postoperative total BML size of PF and LTF joints (p > 0.05). We observed significant improvements in the total BML size of MTF joint (p < 0.001). The VAS scores and KOOS pain scores improved better in patients without postoperative MTF joint BMLs (p < 0.001). Postoperative MTF joint BMLs were correlated with postoperative VAS (p < 0.001) and KOOS pain (p < 0.001). Our study demonstrates that MTF joint BMLs improved significantly after OWTHO. We confirmed that the presence of postoperative MTF joint BMLs are strongly associated with pain severity. The greater the improvement in postoperative MTF joint BMLs, the less pain. Our findings provide valuable understandings of OWHTO in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and potential future directions for KOA treatment approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Cardiac dysfunction accompanies acute ischemic stroke and affects the effective implementation of early rehabilitation interventions. There is a lack of reference hemodynamic data on cardiac function in the subacute phase of ischemic stroke. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to identify appropriate cardiac parameters for exercise training utilizing a pilot study. METHODS: We used a transthoracic electrical bioimpedance non-invasive cardiac output measurement (NICOM) device to monitor cardiac function in real time for two groups [i.e., subacute ischemic stroke inpatients group (n = 10) and healthy control group (n = 11)] using a cycling exercise experiment. The parameters of both groups were compared to highlight the cardiac dysfunction in the subacute phase in patients with ischemic stroke. RESULTS: We considered stroke volume index (SVI) and systemic vascular resistance index (SVRi) as the primary outcomes, and there was significant intragroup difference (stroke group: P < 0.001; control group: P < 0.001, using one-way ANOVA) and significant intergroup difference at each individual time segment (P < 0.01, using independent t -test). Among the secondary outcomes, i.e., cardiac index (CI), ejection fraction (EF), end-diastolic volume (EDV), and cardiac contraction index (CTI), we found significant intergroup differences in CI, EF, and CTI scores (P < 0.01, using independent t -test). Significant interaction with respect to time and group were seen only in the SVRi and CI scores (P < 0.01, using two-way ANOVA). There was no significant inter- or intra-group differences in EDV scores. CONCLUSION: SVRI, SVI, and CI values highlight cardiac dysfunction in stroke patients the most. At the same time, these parameters suggest that cardiac dysfunction in stroke patients may be closely related to the increased peripheral vascular resistance caused by infarction and the limitation of myocardial systolic function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of present study was to determine the efficiency of CU selective resin for separation of radionuclides Cu from large excess of Zn. Adsorption behaviors towards Cu2+ ions was investigated as function of solution pH, contact time, Cu2+ concentration, Zn2+ concentration, amount of CU resin, the effect of coexisting cation ions and the irradiation stability of CU resin. A stronger binding propensity towards Cu2+ ions over Zn2+ and excellent radiation resistance of CU resin were found, which endowed that this CU resin is capable of effectively separating radioisotopes Cu. Moreover the good separation of Cu2+ has been achieved from bulky Zn2+ using column chromatography separation. In general, the present research has confirmed the great potential application of CU resin as a more efficient column chromatography material for the separation of medical radioisotopes Cu from irradiated Zn targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of particle–fluid flow, solid particles are easily deposited in pipes, which leads to collisions and abrasion, especially in pipelines with grooves. Therefore, some structural components are always designed above the groove to improve particle trajectories inside the groove in the pipeline. In the present study, the deposition of particles was analyzed in detail by means of experimental visualization, and Computational Fluid Dynamics and Discrete Element Method model (CFD-DEM) methods were used to investigate the motion and deposition of particles when both grooves and baffles are designed in the pipeline system. Finally, the effect of the baffle width on the deposition of particles in the groove was studied. The results show that the baffle width has a slight effect on the mass of particles deposited in the groove after the number of particles there stabilizes, but when the width of baffle is the same as that of the groove, the time it takes the particles to reach this stable state is shortest. [Display omitted] • Particle deposition in the pipe from particle–fluid flow was analyzed in detail. • CFD-DEM method was used to study gas–particle flow and particle deposition. • Motion characteristics of particles were analyzed. • Baffle affects the characteristics of particle motion in the pipe with grooves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Butterfly valve is widely used to transport cryogenic medium such as liquid natural gas (LNG), liquid nitrogen and so on. When the pressure of cryogenic fluid is lower than the saturated vapor pressure corresponding to the local temperature, the cryogenic fluid will produce the phase transformation from liquid to gas, which is called as cryogenic cavitation. Cavitation phenomenon is the main cause of cavitation erosion, vibration and noise, which seriously affects the stable operation of the system and the lifetime of the valves. Cryogenic medium is more easily cavitated in the process of transportation and regulation due to its unique thermal sensitivity. In order to explore the evolution mechanism of cryogenic cavitation through butterfly valves, numerical simulations were carried out to study the dynamic evolution of cryogenic cavitation through a butterfly valve model at different valve opening degrees. By considering the thermal effect of cryogenic medium, the traditional cavitation model is modified and verified by experimental results. The evolution including generation, development and collapse of cryogenic cavitation is observed and discussed in details at each valve opening degree. The relationship of cryogenic cavitation and vortex structure is revealed and entropy production is obtained to indicate the intensity of dynamic evolution of cryogenic cavitation through butterfly valve. • A modified cavitation model was proposed and verified by experimental results. • The periodic evolution of cryogenic cavitation was observed and discussed in details. • The spatial and temporal relationship between cryogenic cavitation and vortex was revealed. • The irreversible energy loss induced by cryogenic cavitation was investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic nanoparticles have been widely used for tissue repair, magnetic resonance imaging, immunoassays and drug delivery. They are very promising in orthopaedic applications and several magnetic nanoparticles have been exploited for the treatment of orthopaedic disease. Here, we conducted an in vitro study to examine the interaction of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles with human osteoblasts to evaluate the dose-related toxicity of the nanoparticles on osteoblasts. A transmission electron microscope was used to visualise the internalised magnetic nanoparticles in osteoblasts. The CCK-8 results revealed increased cell viability (107.5 % vitality compared with the control group) when co-cultured at a low concentration (20 μg/mL) and decreased cell viability (59.5 % vitality in a concentration of 300 μg/mL and 25.9 % in 500 μg/mL) when co-cultured in high concentrations. The flow cytometric detection revealed similar results with 5.48 % of apoptosis in a concentration of 20 μg/mL, 23.40 % of apoptosis in a concentration of 300 μg/mL and 28.49 % in a concentration of 500 μg/mL. The disrupted cytoskeleton of osteoblasts was also revealed using a laser scanning confocal microscope. We concluded that use of a low concentration of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles is important to avoid damage to osteoblasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]