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Abstract Objective Subcortical nuclei such as the thalamus and striatum have been shown to be related to seizure modulation and termination, especially in drug‐resistant epilepsy. Enhance diffusion‐weighted imaging (eDWI) technique and tri‐component model have been used in previous studies to calculate apparent diffusion coefficient from ultra high b‐values (ADCuh). This study aimed to explore the alterations of ADCuh in the bilateral thalamus and striatum in MRI‐negative drug‐resistant epilepsy. Methods Twenty‐nine patients with MRI‐negative drug‐resistant epilepsy and 18 healthy controls underwent eDWI scan with 15 b‐values (0–5000 s/mm2). The eDWI parameters including standard ADC (ADCst), pure water diffusion (D), and ADCuh were calculated from the 15 b‐values. Regions‐of‐interest (ROIs) analyses were conducted in the bilateral thalamus, caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus. ADCst, D, and ADCuh values were compared between the MRI‐negative drug‐resistant epilepsy patients and controls using multivariate generalized linear models. Inter‐rater reliability was assessed using the intra‐class correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland–Altman (BA) analysis. False discovery rate (FDR) method was applied for multiple comparisons correction. Results ADCuh values in the bilateral thalamus, caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus in MRI‐negative drug‐resistant epilepsy were significantly higher than those in the healthy control subjects (all p

Abstract Purpose This current study attempted to investigate whether one-stitch method (OM) of temporary ileostomy influenced the stoma-related complications after laparoscopic low anterior resection (LLAR). Methods We searched for eligible studies in four databases including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and CNKI from inception to July 20, 2023. Both surgical outcomes and stoma-related complications were compared between the OM group and the traditional method (TM) group. The Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS) was adopted for quality assessment. RevMan 5.4 was conducted for data analyzing. Results Totally 590 patients from six studies were enrolled in this study (272 patients in the OM group and 318 patients in the TM group). No significant difference was found in baseline information (P > 0.05). Patients in the OM group had shorter operative time in both the primary LLAR surgery (MD = − 17.73, 95%CI = − 25.65 to − 9.80, P

Abstract Electronic band structures in hydrogenated graphene are theoretically investigated by means of first-principle calculations and an effective tight-binding model. It is shown that regularly designed hydrogenation to graphene gives rise to a large band gap about 1 eV. Remarkably, by changing the spatial pattern of the hydrogenation, topologically distinct states can be realized, where the topological nontriviality is detected by $$C_2$$ C 2 parity indices in bulk and confirmed by the existence of gapless edge/interface states as protected by the mirror and sublattice symmetries. The analysis of the wave functions reveals that the helical edge states in hydrogenated graphene with the appropriate design carry pseudospin currents that are reminiscent of the quantum spin Hall effect. Our work shows the potential of hydrogenated graphene in pseudospin-based device applications.

Abstract Objectives To use T1ρ mapping to assess myocardial fibrosis and to provide a reference for future clinical application, it is necessary to understand the factors influencing T1ρ values. This study explored the influence of different spin-locking frequencies on T1ρ values under a 3.0-T MR system. Methods Fifty-seven healthy subjects were prospectively and consecutively included in this study, and T1ρ mapping was performed on them in 3 short-axis slices with three spin-lock frequencies at the amplitude of 300 Hz, 400 Hz, and 500 Hz, then nine T1ρ images were acquired per subject. Four T1ρ-weighted images were acquired using a spin-lock preparation pulse with varying durations (0 msec, 13.3 msec, 26.6 msec, 40 msec). T1ρ relaxation times were quantified for each slice and each myocardial segment. The results were analyzed using Student’s t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) methods. Results Mean T1ρ relaxation times were 43.5 ± 2.8 msec at 300 Hz, 44.9 ± 3.6 msec at 400 Hz, and 46.2 ± 3.1 msec at 500 Hz, showing a significant progressive increase from low to high spin-lock frequency (300 Hz vs. 400 Hz, p = 0.046; 300 Hz vs. 500 Hz, p

Abstract Background Increasing evidence suggests that leptin is involved in the pathology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study, our objective was to investigate the levels of leptin in the blood of children with ASD and to examine the overall profile of adipokine markers in ASD through meta-analysis. Methods Leptin concentrations were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit, while adipokine profiling, including leptin, was performed via meta-analysis. Original reports that included measurements of peripheral adipokines in ASD patients and healthy controls (HCs) were collected from databases such as Web of Science, PubMed, and Cochrane Library. These studies were collected from September 2022 to September 2023 and followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Standardized mean differences were calculated using a random effects model for the meta-analysis. Additionally, we performed meta-regression and explored heterogeneity among studies. Results Our findings revealed a significant increase in leptin levels in children with ASD compared to HCs (p = 0.0319). This result was consistent with the findings obtained from the meta-analysis (p

Abstract Schizophrenia (SCZ), which affects approximately 1% of the world’s population, is a global public health concern. It is generally considered that the interplay between genes and the environment is important in the onset and/or development of SCZ. Although several whole-exome sequencing studies have revealed rare risk variants of SCZ, no rare coding variants have been strongly replicated. Assessing isolated populations under extreme conditions might lead to the discovery of variants with a recent origin, which are more likely to have a higher frequency than chance to reflect gene-environment interactions. Following this approach, we examined a unique cohort of Tibetans living at an average altitude above 4500 meters. Whole-exome sequencing of 47 SCZ cases and 53 controls revealed 275 potential novel risk variants and two known variants (12:46244485: A/G and 22:18905934: A/G) associated with SCZ that were found in existing databases. Only one gene (C5orf42) in the gene-based statistics surpassed the exome-wide significance in the cohort. Metascape enrichment analysis suggested that novel risk genes were strongly enriched in pathways relevant to hypoxia, neurodevelopment, and neurotransmission. Additionally, 47 new risk genes were followed up in Han sample of 279 patients with SCZ and 95 controls, only BAI2 variant appearing in one case. Our findings suggest that SCZ patients living at high altitudes may have a unique risk gene signature, which may provide additional information on the underlying biology of SCZ, which can be exploited to identify individuals at greater risk of exposure to hypoxia.

Mature wheat kernels contain three main parts: endosperm, bran, and germ. Flour milling results in multiple streams that are chemically different; however, the distribution of antioxidants and phenolic compounds has not been well documented in terms of conventional milling by-product streams. In this study, multiple analytical methods were used to investigate antioxidant activity and phenolic compound compositions of hard red winter wheat (whole ground wheat), the parts of a wheat kernel (bran, flour, germ), and wheat by-product streams (mill feed, red dog, shorts) for the first time. For each mill stream, phenolic compounds (total, flavonoid, and anthocyanin contents) were determined and antioxidant activities were evaluated with 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging activity, ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP), and total antioxidant capacity assays. Significant differences (P

Abstract High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) is a severe neurological condition that can occur at high altitudes. It is characterized by the accumulation of fluid in the brain, leading to a range of symptoms, including severe headache, confusion, loss of coordination, and even coma and death. Exosomes play a crucial role in intercellular communication, and their contents have been found to change in various diseases. This study analyzed the metabolomic characteristics of blood exosomes from HACE patients compared to those from healthy controls (HCs) with the aim of identifying specific metabolites or metabolic pathways associated with the development of HACE conditions. A total of 21 HACE patients and 21 healthy controls were recruited for this study. Comprehensive metabolomic profiling of the serum exosome samples was conducted using ultraperformance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC‒MS/MS). Additionally, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis was performed to identify the metabolic pathways affected in HACE patients. Twenty-six metabolites, including ( +)-camphoric acid, choline, adenosine, adenosine 5′-monophosphate, deoxyguanosine 5′-monophosphate, guanosine, and hypoxanthine-9-β-D-arabinofuranoside, among others, exhibited significant changes in expression in HACE patients compared to HCs. Additionally, these differentially abundant metabolites were confirmed to be potential biomarkers for HACE. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed several pathways that significantly affect energy metabolism regulation (such as purine metabolism, thermogenesis, and nucleotide metabolism), estrogen-related pathways (the estrogen signaling pathway, GnRH signaling pathway, and GnRH pathway), cyclic nucleotide signaling pathways (the cGMP-PKG signaling pathway and cAMP signaling pathway), and hormone synthesis and secretion pathways (renin secretion, parathyroid hormone synthesis, secretion and action, and aldosterone synthesis and secretion). In patients with HACE, adenosine, guanosine, and hypoxanthine-9-β-D-arabinofuranoside were negatively correlated with height. Deoxyguanosine 5′-monophosphate is negatively correlated with weight and BMI. Additionally, LPE (18:2/0:0) and pregnanetriol were positively correlated with age. This study identified potential biomarkers for HACE and provided valuable insights into the underlying metabolic mechanisms of this disease. These findings may lead to potential targets for early diagnosis and therapeutic intervention in HACE patients.

Abstract Various studies have focused on the application of fibrin sealants (FS) in thyroid surgery. Utilizing a meta-analysis, this systematic review analyzed the findings of recent randomized controlled trials on the safety and efficacy of FS in patients who underwent thyroidectomy. The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, PubMed, and Medline databases were searched for relevant studies, without any language restrictions. Seven randomized controlled trials were included in the originally identified 69 studies. Overall, 652 patients received FS during thyroid surgery; their outcomes were compared with those of conventionally treated patients. The primary outcomes were total volume of wound drainage, length of hospitalization, and operative time. Significant differences were observed in the total volume of wound drainage (mean deviation (MD): -29.75, 95% confidence interval (CI): -55.39 to -4.11, P = 0.02), length of hospitalization (MD: -0.84, 95% CI: -1.02 to -0.66, P

Abstract The miniaturised wideband filter with good frequency selectivity and wide stopband is proposed, which is based on three‐dimensional (3D) heterogeneous integrated passive device technology. The proposed sixth‐order wideband bandpass filter is based on the magnetic‐coupling‐loaded highpass‐lowpass lumped topology and implemented by the 3D heterogeneous integration process, integrating GaAs‐based and Glass‐based micro‐nano‐scale processes together. Then, lumped inductors are designed in the Glass substrate with low dielectric loss tangent and realised by a three‐dimensional spiral structure. Therefore, the inductors have high quality factors and small sizes. The lumped capacitors are designed using the GaAs thin film process. Finally, a prototype with a 3‐dB fractional bandwidth of 42% is designed and fabricated at 3.875 GHz (f0). The upper‐stopband attenuation higher than 30 dB is extended to more than 5.15f0. It occupies only 0.014 × 0.018 λ02 (1.1 × 1.42 mm2), where λ0 is the free‐space wavelength at f0.

Abstract A miniaturised high‐isolation K‐/Ka‐band diplexer with exceeding adjacent channels using 3D antarafacial channel integration and vertical‐quasi‐coaxial‐based matching network is proposed. For smaller size, lower loss and lower channel interference, the high‐order low‐pass filter for the K‐band channel and the four‐line‐interdigital‐coupled wideband bandpass filter for the Ka‐band channel are respectively designed on two low‐loss glass‐based substrates, and these two substrates are integrated on the two antarafacial surface of the mounting board. The vertical‐quasi‐coaxial (VQC) embedded in the mounting board is not only used as three‐dimensional (3D) interconnection of the two antarafacial channels but also designed as the constituent part of the matching/isolation network, and this can effectively decrease the impedance traction caused by the Ka‐band filter for the K‐band channel of the diplexer. In addition, four transmission zeros of the K‐band filter are designed at the whole passband of the Ka‐band channel to improve the isolation to the K‐band channel for guaranteeing the performance of the diplexer at the Ka‐band channel. Furthermore, working principle, design method and test solution of this proposed K‐/Ka‐band diplexer are well illustrated, and the high‐isolation (>40 dB) in very adjacent wideband channels at K‐band (18–23.5 GHz) and Ka‐band (25.8–31.6 GHz) is achieved within a tiny size of 9 × 4 × 0.87 mm.

Abstract To illustrate the surgical technique and explore clinical outcomes of the reconstruction for the malignant and metastatic bone tumour of proximal femur with metallic modular intercalary prosthesis. Sixteen patients who underwent modular intercalary prosthetic reconstruction after tumour resection were included from April 2012 and October 2020. Prosthesis and screws parameters, resected bone length and residual bone length, clinical outcomes and survivorship were analyzed. All patients were followed up for an average of 19 months (range 1–74). In our series, 12 patients died of the progression of the primary disease at the final follow-up. The cumulative survivorship since the treatment of proximal femoral metastasis was 78.6% (11 patients) at 6 months and 38.5% (5 patients) at 1 year. The mean MSTS score was 22.25 ± 4.55 among all patients. There were no cases of loosening or breakage of the prostheses, plates or screws, despite the various measurements of prostheses and residual bones. Modular intercalary prosthetic reconstruction was an effective method for malignant tumour of the proximal femur, including the advantages of providing early pain relief, quickly restoring postoperative function, required a short operation time, and preserving the adjacent joints.

Abstract Here, based on thin film integrated passive device (TF‐IPD) technology, compact ultra‐wideband (UWB) bandpass filter (BPF) and dual‐band bandpass filter (DBBPF) with equal inductance configuration are proposed. The configuration of equal inductance in a circuit contributes to reducing variables, simplifying the physical structure, and shortening the debugging time in the TF‐IPD design process. Despite all the inductors being equal in value, a wide passband can still be achieved. The measured results show that the centre frequency of UBW BPF is 11.43 GHz, and the 3‐dB fractional bandwidth (FBW) is 133% (3.87–18.99 GHz). And the 3‐dB FBWs of DBBPF centred at 6.5 GHz and 16.2 GHz are 92% (3.51–9.49 GHz) and 35% (13.33–18.98 GHz), respectively. The stopband of UBW BPF and DBBPF can be extended to 47.7 GHz and 44.8 GHz in sizes of 321 µm × 856 µm and 235 µm × 846 µm, respectively (excluding measuring pads).

IntroductionSiraitia grosvenorii (Swingle) C. Jeffrey, is an edible and traditional medicine widely used in China. Mogroside V (MGV) and mogrol (MG) are its main active ingredients, which have been found to be effective in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases recently. However, whether they can effectively treat Parkinson’s disease (PD) and their underlying mechanisms have not been sufficiently explored. In this study, we investigated the neuroprotective and metabolic regulatory effects of MGV and MG on PD.Materials and methodsUsing SH-SY5Y cell models and an MPTP-induced mouse model of PD, we evaluated the compounds’ efficacy in mitigating MPP+-induced neurotoxicity and ameliorating motor deficits and dopaminergic neuron loss. Employing widely targeted metabolomics and bioinformatics analysis to investigate the Metabolic imbalance rectification caused by MGV and MG treatment. The vivo experimental protocol encompassed a 14-day drug administration regimen with mice randomly allocated into six groups (n = 9) receiving distinct compound dosages including a control group, a model group, MGV-H (30 mg/kg/day), MGV-L (10 mg/kg/day), MG-H (15 mg/kg/day), and MG-L (3 mg/kg/day).ResultsOur findings revealed that pre-treatment with MGV and MG significantly enhanced cell viability in SH-SY5Y cells exposed to MPP+, demonstrating a potent protective effect against neurotoxicity. In the MPTP mouse model, MGV-H, MGV-L, and MG-H significantly enhanced motor coordination as assessed by the rotarod test (p < 0.05); MGV-L and MG-H evidently inhibited dopaminergic neuronal loss in the substantia nigra pars compacta (p < 0.05). Furthermore, metabolomic analysis of the substantia nigra highlighted the restoration of metabolic balance, with MGV-L and MG-H impacting 160 differential metabolites and modulating key pathways disrupted in PD, including sphingolipid metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, and amino acid metabolism. Notably, treatment with MGV-L and MG-H led to the regulation of 106 metabolites, showing a recovery trend towards normal levels, which constitutes approximately 17.5% of the identified metabolites. Key metabolites such as n-acetyl-l-glutamate, hexadecanoic acid, and 9-octadecenal were significantly altered (p < 0.05), underscoring their broad-spectrum metabolic regulatory capacity.ConclusionThis study underscores the potential of natural compounds in developing comprehensive treatment strategies for neurodegenerative diseases, paving the way for future clinical research to validate the therapeutic efficacy of mogrosides in PD.

ObjectivesPrecise segmentation of Odontogenic Cystic Lesions (OCLs) from dental Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) is critical for effective dental diagnosis. Although supervised learning methods have shown practical diagnostic results in segmenting various diseases, their ability to segment OCLs covering different sub-class varieties has not been extensively investigated.MethodsIn this study, we propose a new supervised learning method termed OCL-Net that combines a Multi-Scaled U-Net model, along with an Auto-Adapting mechanism trained with a combined supervised loss. Anonymous CBCT images were collected retrospectively from one hospital. To assess the ability of our model to improve the diagnostic efficiency of maxillofacial surgeons, we conducted a diagnostic assessment where 7 clinicians were included to perform the diagnostic process with and without the assistance of auto-segmentation masks.ResultsWe collected 300 anonymous CBCT images which were manually annotated for segmentation masks. Extensive experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of our OCL-Net for CBCT OCLs segmentation, achieving an overall Dice score of 88.84%, an IoU score of 81.23%, and an AUC score of 92.37%. Through our diagnostic assessment, we found that when clinicians were assisted with segmentation labels from OCL-Net, their average diagnostic accuracy increased from 53.21% to 55.71%, while the average time spent significantly decreased from 101s to 47s (P

In this paper, a cable-driven endoscopic manipulator (CEM) is designed for the Chinese latest compact fusion reactor. The whole CEM arm is more than 3000 mm long and includes end vision tools, an endoscopic manipulator/control system, a feeding system, a drag chain system, support systems, a neutron shield door, etc. It can cover a range of ±45° of the vacuum chamber by working in a wrap-around mode, etc., to meet the need for observation at any position and angle. By placing all drive motors in the end drive box via a cable drive, cooling, and radiation protection of the entire robot can be facilitated. To address the CEM motion control problem, a discrete trajectory tracking method is proposed. By restricting each joint of the CEM to the target curve through segmental fitting, the trajectory tracking control is completed. To avoid the joint rotation angle overrun, a joint limit rotation angle optimization method is proposed based on the equivalent rod length principle. Finally, the CEM simulation system is established. The rationality of the structure design and the effectiveness of the motion control algorithm are verified by the simulation.

Objective: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent chronic joint disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate the proliferative and anti-inflammatory effects of Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide on osteoarthritis cell model human chondrocyte T/C-28a2. Methods: Proliferative effect and cytotoxicity of T/C-28a2 cells treated by Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide were detected with MTT (3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromide) and crystal violet staining experiment. The bone inflammation model was established by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment in T/C-28a2 cells. The expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in cells after drug treatment was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analysis. The expression of osteoprotegerin (OPG) and inflammatory factors after drug treatment was detected by Western blot analysis. In addition, reactive oxygen species (ROS) release assay was used to detect the level of oxidative stress and anti-inflammation response to cells. Results: Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide could promote proliferation of human chondrocyte T/C-28a2 without obvious cytotoxicity. After LPS was used to treat human chondrocytes to simulate the environment of bone inflammation, it was found that the treatment of Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide and chondroitin sulfate could reduce the secretion of IL-6 and inhibit the occurrence of inflammation. Further Western blot analysis showed that after treatment of Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide, expression of related osteoprotegerin (OPG) was upregulated, expression of proapoptosis-related protein Bax, extracellular signal-regulated kinase ERK-MAPK and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) was down-regulated. ROS release experiment showed that Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide and chondroitin sulfate could inhibit intracellular ROS levels and the occurrence of inflammatory response. Conclusion: Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide exhibited the effect of inhibiting osteoarthritis, protecting cartilage tissue and resisting cell apoptosis to a certain extent. In this study, the anti-inflammatory effect of Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide and its mechanism were primarily explored, which provided the preliminary experimental basis for the development of Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide as an anti-inflammatory drug.

Abstract Background Locally advanced rectal cancer is typically treated using a combination of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and total mesorectal resection. While achieving pathological complete response following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy has been recognized as a positive prognostic factor in oncology, the necessity of adjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced rectal cancer patients with pathological complete response after surgery remains uncertain. The objective of this meta-analysis was to examine the impact of adjuvant chemotherapy on the oncological outcomes of rectal cancer patients who attain pathological complete response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Methods This meta-analysis followed the guidelines outlined in the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA). The Web of Science, PubMed, and Cochrane Library databases were systematically searched to identify relevant literature. Results A total of 34 retrospective studies, including 9 studies from the NCBD database, involving 31,558 patients with pathological complete response rectal cancer, were included in the meta-analysis. The included studies were published between 2008 and 2023. The pooled analysis demonstrated that adjuvant chemotherapy significantly improved overall survival (HR = 0.803, 95% CI 0.678–0.952, P = 0.011), and no heterogeneity was observed (I 2 = 0%). Locally advanced rectal cancer patients with pathological complete response who underwent adjuvant chemotherapy exhibited a higher 5-year overall survival rate compared to those who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy (OR = 1.605, 95% CI 1.183–2.177, P = 0.002). However, the analysis also revealed that postoperative ACT did not lead to improvements in disease-free survival and recurrence-free survival within the same patient population. Subgroup analysis indicated that pathological complete response patients with clinical stage T3/T4, lymph node positivity, and younger than 70 years of age may benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy in terms of overall survival. Conclusions The findings of this meta-analysis suggest that adjuvant chemotherapy has a beneficial effect on improving overall survival among rectal cancer patients with pathological complete response. However, no such association was observed in terms of disease-free survival and recurrence-free survival.

Abstract Background Lynch syndrome (LS) is the most common hereditary colorectal cancer (CRC) syndrome. This condition is characterized by germline variants in DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes, including MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2. In this study, we analyzed the molecular defects and clinical manifestations of two families affected with CRC and proposed appropriate individual preventive strategies for all carriers of the variant. Methods We recruited two families diagnosed with CRC and combined their family history and immunohistochemical results to analyze the variants of probands and those of other family members by using whole exome sequencing. Subsequently, gene variants in each family were screened by comparing them with the variants available in the public database. Sanger sequencing was performed to verify the variant sites. An online platform ( https://www.uniprot.org ) was used to analyze the functional domains of mutant proteins. Results A novel frameshift variant (NM_001281492, c.1129_1130del, p.R377fs) in MSH6 and a known deleterious variant (NM_000249.4:c.1731G > A, p.S577S) in MLH1 were identified in the two families with CRC. Using bioinformatics tools, we noted that the frameshift variant reduced the number of amino acids in the MSH6 protein from 1230 to 383, thereby leading to no MSH6 protein expression. The silent variant caused splicing defects and was strongly associated with LS. 5-Fluorouracil-based adjuvant chemotherapy is not recommended for patients with LS. Conclusions The novel frameshift variant (MSH6, c.1129_1130del, p.R377fs) is likely pathogenic to LS, and the variant (MLH1, c.1731G > A, p.S577S) has been further confirmed to be pathogenic to LS. Our findings underscore the significance of genetic testing for LS and recommend that genetic consultation and regular follow-ups be conducted to guide individualized treatment for cancer-afflicted families, especially those with a deficiency in MMR expression.

Considering the percentage of dissatisfied due to local thermal sensation (PDLTSV), a vertical air temperature difference (ΔTd) threshold of about 3 °C was recommended in standards. However, some novel air distribution methods might create large positive (which means the head warmer than the feet, vice versa) or negative ΔTd, with no suitable proved criteria to be used. In this study, sixteen subjects were seated in a climatic box placed in a climate chamber to evaluate thermal sensation and percentage of dissatisfied with negative and positive ΔTd in different whole-body thermal conditions. Air temperatures were controlled independently at the upper and lower body parts, with 13 different air temperature sets combined with 22 °C, 25 °C, 28 °C, and 31 °C (i.e. -9 °C ≤ ΔTd ≤ 9 °C). Results showed that subjects were more thermally sensitive at the upper body and with positive ΔTd than at the lower body or with negative ΔTd. The 80% acceptable ΔTd range is about -8 to 7 °C in overall neutral (TSV = 0), -7 °C to 6 °C in slightly cool (TSV = -0.5) conditions, which is wider than -3 to 3 °C in slightly warm conditions (TSV = +0.5). By considering the factors of both TSV and ΔTd, a new overall percentage of dissatisfied index (OPDP) was proposed. Case studies show that the new OPDP index is more precise and suitable for the evaluations of different air distributions to predict overall percentage of dissatisfied in thermal environments with vertical air temperature difference.

This study presents a novel cost-effective Fe30Ni25Cr25Mo10Al10 high-entropy alloy with a dual-phase microstructure that was processed using cyclic closed-die forging (CCDF) at room temperature for a maximum of six passes. The as-homogenized alloy exhibited [CrMoFe]-rich dendrites with dual-size morphology dispersed in an almost uniform face-centered cubic (FCC) matrix. It was found that as the number of CCDF passes increased, leading to a more homogenous nanograin, there was an accumulation of dislocations, fragmentation of [CrMoFe]-rich dendrites, and enhanced distribution within the matrix. These conditions were conducive to the creation of a nanostructured Fe30Ni25Cr25Mo10Al10 alloy with superior mechanical properties. Texture analysis indicated that the prominent texture components for the Fe30Ni25Cr25Mo10Al10 alloy after six passes were Rotated Cube {001}, S {123}, and Dillamore {4 4 11}. After the sixth CCDF pass, the Fe30Ni25Cr25Mo10Al10 alloy exhibited the highest microhardness (∼ 974 HV) and the lowest wear rate (∼ (0.8 ± 0.1) × 10–5 mm3.N−1.m−1). Additionally, it was proposed that the development of the Rotated Cube {001} texture component contributed positively to enhancing wear resistance in the cost-effective high-entropy alloys. Considering the obtained results, it is reasonable to propose that CCDF processing is significant potential for the advancement of cost-effective nanostructured high-entropy alloys for industrial applications.

The present study assesses the impact of age hardening parameters, including aging temperature, aging time, and solution time, on the ultimate hardness of heat-treated 2024 aluminum alloys. Using a numerical approach, fuzzy logic systems were utilized as a robust tool to forecast the mechanical characteristics of high copper aluminum solid solutions throughout the age hardening process. In addition, an attempt was made to use a novel simulated annealing technique to determine the optimum hardness and its corresponding process parameters to achieve the highest mechanical properties. Comparing a fuzzy logic model with experimental results obtained from the Brinell hardness test showed the accuracy and confidence of the fuzzy model in representing such properties. The optimization results indicated that the maximum hardness can be obtained with a solution aging temperature of 173.5 °C, an aging time of 19 hours, and a solution time of 58 minutes. Overall, the variation in the experimental peak hardness obtained using the optimized process parameters was the deciding factor in believing the model.

We report a novel approach to enhance the local electromagnetic fields of silver nanodisk pair arrays to achieve high-quality sensing. It is found that through lifting metallic nanodisk pair array by dielectric nanopillars to decrease the effects of substrates, the strong diffraction coupling of metallic nanodisk pair array can be achieved, which will result in a mixed localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) with huge electric field enhancement. More importantly, we also demonstrate that for such a diffraction coupling, the electric field component of the lattice resonance mode of periodic arrays must be parallel to the induced electric moment in the silver nanodisk pair array. Due to ultra-narrow linewidth and great electric field enhancement at the LSPR, the metallic nanodisk pair array performs high sensitivity (S = 760 nm RIU−1, S* = 89.5 RIU−1) and figure of merit (FOM = 492, FOM* = 6147), which holds important applications in high-efficiency biomedical sensing.

Introduction Prevention of recurrence after an episode of venous thromboembolism (VTE), and also the post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS), is still a recognised challenge. In this meta-analysis, we will summarise existing evidence to compare intelligent system follow-up and routine follow-up for patients with VTE.Methods and analysis Relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies will be included from the following databases: MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library. The last search time will be 31 March 2024. Two reviewers will independently identify RCTs and cohort studies according to eligibility and exclusion criteria. The risk of bias of included cohort studies will be assessed with the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale, Methodological Index of Non-Randomised Studies, and the risk of bias of RCTs will be assessed with and Cochrane Collaboration’s tool. The primary outcomes include overall survival rate and PTS incidence rate. The Grades of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation tool will be used to assess the level of evidence for outcome from RCTs. RevMan V.5.4 software will be used to pool outcomes.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval was obtained from Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine Science Research Ethics Committee (SH9H-2023-T466-1). The findings will be disseminated to the public through conference presentations and publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals.PROSPERO registration number CRD42023410644.

IntroductionWithin the development of brain-computer interface (BCI) systems, it is crucial to consider the impact of brain network dynamics and neural signal transmission mechanisms on electroencephalogram-based motor imagery (MI-EEG) tasks. However, conventional deep learning (DL) methods cannot reflect the topological relationship among electrodes, thereby hindering the effective decoding of brain activity.MethodsInspired by the concept of brain neuronal forward-forward (F-F) mechanism, a novel DL framework based on Graph Neural Network combined forward-forward mechanism (F-FGCN) is presented. F-FGCN framework aims to enhance EEG signal decoding performance by applying functional topological relationships and signal propagation mechanism. The fusion process involves converting the multi-channel EEG into a sequence of signals and constructing a network grounded on the Pearson correlation coeffcient, effectively representing the associations between channels. Our model initially pre-trains the Graph Convolutional Network (GCN), and fine-tunes the output layer to obtain the feature vector. Moreover, the F-F model is used for advanced feature extraction and classification.Results and discussionAchievement of F-FGCN is assessed on the PhysioNet dataset for a four-class categorization, compared with various classical and state-of-the-art models. The learned features of the F-FGCN substantially amplify the performance of downstream classifiers, achieving the highest accuracy of 96.11% and 82.37% at the subject and group levels, respectively. Experimental results affirm the potency of FFGCN in enhancing EEG decoding performance, thus paving the way for BCI applications.

IntroductionThe gut microbiota plays an important role in the development of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), but the underlying mechanism is unclear. It has been found that the transcription factor XBP1s plays an important role in regulating inflammation and lipid metabolism and maintaining the integrity of intestinal barrier. However, whether XBP1s modulates the development of NASH by regulating the integrity of the intestinal barrier and altering the composition of the gut microbiota remains unknown.MethodsMice fed with a fat-, fructose-, cholesterol-rich (FFC) diet for 24 weeks successfully established the NASH model, as demonstrated by significant hepatic steatosis, inflammation, hepatocyte injury and fibrosis. The profile of gut microbiota dynamically changed with the different stages of NAFLD via 16S rDNA sequencing the feces from mice fed with FFC diet for 0, 12, or 24 weeks or NASH mice treated with siRNA-loaded folic acid-modified TPGS (hereafter named FT@XBP1).ResultsNASH mice had significantly higher abundance of Firmicutes, Blautia and Bacteroides, and lower abundance of Bifidobacterium and GCA-900066575. FT@XBP1 supplementation had a significantly attenuated effect on FFC diet-induced weight gain, hepatic fat accumulation, dyslipidemia, inflammatory cytokines, ER stress and fibrosis. In particularly, FT@XBP1 modulates the composition of the intestinal flora; for example, NASH mice demonstrated higher abundance of Blautia and Bacteroides, and lower abundance of Actinobacteriota, Muribaculaceae and Bifidobacterium, which were partially restored by FT@XBP1 treatment. Mechanistically, FT@XBP1 increased the expression of ZO-1 in the intestine and had the potential to restore intestinal barrier integrity and improve antimicrobial defense to alleviate enterogenic endotoxemia and activation of inflammatory signaling pathways.DiscussionRegulation of the key transcription factor XBP1s can partially restore the intestinal microbiota structure, maintain the integrity of intestinal mucosal barrier, and prevent the progression of NASH, providing new evidence for treating NASH.

A photonic crystal nanobeam cavity (M-PCNC) with a structure incorporating a mixture of diamond-shaped and circular air holes is proposed. The performance of the cavity is simulated and studied theoretically. Using the finite-difference time-domain method, the parameters of the M-PCNC, including cavity thickness and width, lattice constant, and radii and numbers of holes, are optimized, with the quality factor Q and mode volume Vm as performance indicators. Mutual modulation of the lattice constant and hole radius enable the proposed M-PCNC to realize outstanding performance. The optimized cavity possesses a high quality factor Q = 1.45 × 105 and an ultra-small mode volume Vm = 0.01(λ/n) [Zeng et al., Opt Lett 2023:48;3981–3984] in the telecommunications wavelength range. Light can be progressively squeezed in both the propagation direction and the perpendicular in-plane direction by a series of interlocked anti-slots and slots in the diamond-shaped hole structure. Thereby, the energy can be confined within a small mode volume to achieve an ultra-high Q/Vm ratio.