Pre-electroacupuncture Ameliorates Cerebral Ischemia-reperfusion Injury by Inhibiting Microglial RhoA/pyrin/GSDMD Signaling Pathway.

Cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury is a severe neurological impairment that occurs after blood flow reconstruction in stroke, and microglia cell pyroptosis is one of its important mechanisms. Electroacupuncture has been shown to be effective in mitigating and alleviating cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury by inhibiting neuroinflammation, reducing cellular pyroptosis, and improving neurological function. In this experiment, we divided the rats into three groups, including the sham operation (Sham) group, the middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) group, and the pre-electroacupuncture (EAC) group. Pre-electroacupuncture group was stimulated with electroacupuncture of a certain intensity on the Baihui (GV 20) and Dazhui (GV 14) of the rat once a day from the 7th day to the 1st day before the MCAO/R operation. The extent of cerebral infarction was detected by TTC staining. A modified Zea-Longa five-point scale scoring system was used to determine neurologic function in MCAO rats. The number of neurons and morphological changes were accessed by Nissl staining and HE staining. The cellular damage was detected by TUNEL staining. In addition, the expression levels of RhoA, pyrin, GSDMD, Caspase1, cleaved-Caspase1, Iba-1, CD206, and ROCK2 were examined by western blotting and immunofluorescence. The results found that pre-electroacupuncture significantly attenuated neurological impairment and cerebral infarction compared to the post-MCAO/R rats. In addition, pre-electroacupuncture therapy promoted polarization of microglia to the neuroprotective (M2) phenotype. In addition, pre-electroacupuncture inhibited microglia pyroptosis by inhibiting RhoA/pyrin/GSDMD signaling pathway, thereby reducing neuronal injury and increasing neuronal survival in the MCAO/R rats. Taken together, these results demonstrated that pre-acupuncture could attenuate cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury by inhibiting microglial pyroptosis. Therefore, pre-electroacupuncture might be a potential preventive strategy for ischemic stroke patients.

"Keyboard sign" and "coffee bean sign" in the prenatal diagnosis of ileal atresia: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Ileal atresia is a congenital abnormality where there is significant stenosis or complete absence of a portion of the ileum. The overall diagnostic accuracy of prenatal ultrasound in detecting jejunal and ileal atresia is low. We report a case of ileal atresia diagnosed prenatally by ultrasound examination with the "keyboard sign" and "coffee bean sign". CASE SUMMARY: We report a case of ileal atresia diagnosed in utero at 31 weeks' of gestation. Prenatal ultrasound examination revealed two rows of intestines arranged in an 'S' shape in the middle abdomen. The inner diameters were 1.7 cm and 1.6 cm, respectively. A typical "keyboard sign" was observed. The intestine canal behind the "keyboard sign" showed an irregular strong echo. There was no normal intestinal wall structure, showing a typical "coffee bean sign". Termination of the pregnancy and autopsy findings confirmed the diagnosis. CONCLUSION: The prenatal diagnosis of ileal atresia is difficult. The sonographic features of the "keyboard sign" and "coffee bean sign" are helpful in diagnosing the location of congenital jejunal and ileal atresia.

Fermentation biotechnology applied to wheat bran for the degradation of cell wall fiber and its potential health benefits: A review.

Consumption of wheat bran is associated with health benefits. However, the insoluble cell layer fiber and considerable levels of anti-nutritional factors limit bioavailability of wheat bran, which can be effectively improved through fermentation. To comprehensively elucidate the precise biotransformation and health benefits mechanisms underlying wheat bran fermentation. This review investigates current fermentation biotechnology for wheat bran, nutritional effects of fermented wheat bran, mechanisms by which fermented wheat bran induces health benefits, and the application of fermented wheat bran in food systems. The potential strategies to improve fermented wheat bran and existing limitations on its application are also covered. Current findings support that microorganisms produce enzymes that degrade the cell wall fiber of wheat bran during the fermentation, releasing nutrients and producing new active substances while degrading anti-nutrient factors in order to effectively improve nutrient bioavailability, enhance antioxidant activity, and regulate gut microbes for health effects. Fermentation has been an effective way to degrade cell wall fiber, thereby improving nutrition and quality of whole grain or bran-rich food products. Currently, there is a lack of standardization in fermentation and human intervention studies. In conclusion, understanding effects of fermentation on wheat bran should guide the development and application of bran-rich products.

Development and evaluation of a PICC virtual simulator in neonatal nursing: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) is essential in neonatal care, especially for critically ill infants. Traditional training for neonatal PICC insertion faces challenges such as high costs and limited practice opportunities. Virtual simulation technology has emerged as a potential training tool, providing a realistic, risk-free learning environment. OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a virtual simulation teaching system in neonatal PICC care training, focusing on improving nursing students' knowledge， skills and interest in pediatric nursing. DESIGN: A quasi-experimental design was used, with assessments conducted before and after the activity. PARTICIPANTS: The study involved 58 graduate nursing students from China Medical University, divided into experimental and control groups. METHODS: The System Usability Scale (SUS) was utilized to assess teachers' experiences with the PICC virtual simulation software. Students' perceptions of the software and their interest in pediatric nursing were measured using Self-Administered Questionnaires. Furthermore, Theoretical and Operational Assessments were applied to determine the extent of students' knowledge and practical skills before and after experimentation. RESULTS: Teachers and students have favorably evaluated the software system, with notable improvements in theoretical scores following testing. While the virtual simulation system does not enhance practical skills, it does increase student interest in pediatric nursing and employment. CONCLUSIONS: This neonatal virtual simulation software serves as a complement to, rather than a replacement for, traditional clinical training. Its integration into educational programs significantly enhances learning outcomes.

Online identification of chemical constituents in Mongolian medicine Zhachong-13 pills by UHPLC-Q-exactive Orbitrap MS.

Zhachong-13 pills (ZC-13), as a traditional prescription of Mongolian medicine, are often used in the clinical practice of Mongolian hospitals for the treatment of stroke and rheumatic arthritis. In this experiment, UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS was used to explore the chemical composition of ZC-13. The results showed that 315 compounds were identified or inferred, including 56 alkaloids, 77 2-(2-phenylethyl)chromones, 61 flavonoids, 31 tannins, 8 coumarins, 16 lignans, 21 terpenoids, 5 amino acids, 19 organic acids, and 21 other components. In addition, the pharmacological activities related to anti-cerebral ischemia of these components were summarized. This result laid a foundation for further study on the pharmacodynamic material basis of ZC-13 and provided a scientific basis for the formulation of ZC-13 quality specifications.

Time-series representation learning via Time-Frequency Fusion Contrasting.

Time series is a typical data type in numerous domains; however, labeling large amounts of time series data can be costly and time-consuming. Learning effective representation from unlabeled time series data is a challenging task. Contrastive learning stands out as a promising method to acquire representations of unlabeled time series data. Therefore, we propose a self-supervised time-series representation learning framework via Time-Frequency Fusion Contrasting (TF-FC) to learn time-series representation from unlabeled data. Specifically, TF-FC combines time-domain augmentation with frequency-domain augmentation to generate the diverse samples. For time-domain augmentation, the raw time series data pass through the time-domain augmentation bank (such as jitter, scaling, permutation, and masking) and get time-domain augmentation data. For frequency-domain augmentation, first, the raw time series undergoes conversion into frequency domain data following Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis. Then, the frequency data passes through the frequency-domain augmentation bank (such as low pass filter, remove frequency, add frequency, and phase shift) and gets frequency-domain augmentation data. The fusion method of time-domain augmentation data and frequency-domain augmentation data is kernel PCA, which is useful for extracting nonlinear features in high-dimensional spaces. By capturing both the time and frequency domains of the time series, the proposed approach is able to extract more informative features from the data, enhancing the model's capacity to distinguish between different time series. To verify the effectiveness of the TF-FC method, we conducted experiments on four time series domain datasets (i.e., SleepEEG, HAR, Gesture, and Epilepsy). Experimental results show that TF-FC significantly improves in recognition accuracy compared with other SOTA methods.

Taohong Siwu decoction alleviates cognitive impairment by suppressing endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptosis signaling pathway in vascular dementia rats.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Taohong Siwu Decoction (TSD), a classic traditional Chinese medicine formula, is used for the treatment of vascular diseases, including vascular dementia (VD). However, the mechanisms remain unclear. AIM OF STUDY: This study aimed to investigate whether TSD has a positive effect on cognitive impairment in VD rats and to confirm that the mechanism of action is related to the Endoplasmic Reticulum stress (ERs) and cell apoptosis signaling pathway. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 40 male adult Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups: sham-operated group (Sham), the two-vessel occlusion group (2VO), the 2VO treated with 4.5 g/kg/d TSD group (2VO + TSD-L), the 2VO treated with 13.5 g/kg/d TSD group (2VO + TSD-H). The rats underwent either 2VO surgery or sham surgery. Postoperative TSD treatment was given for 4 consecutive weeks. Behavioral tests were initiated at the end of gastrulation. Open-field test (OFT) was used to detect the activity level. The New Object Recognition test (NOR) was used to test long-term memory. The Morris water maze (MWM) test was used to examine the foundation of spatial learning and memory. As a final step, the hippocampus was taken for molecular testing. The protein levels of GRP78 (Bip), p-PERK, PERK, IRE1α, p-IRE1α, ATF6, eIF2α, p-eIF2α, ATF4, XBP1, Bcl-2 and Bax were determined by Western blot. Immunofluorescence visualizes molecular expression. RESULTS: In the OFT, residence time in the central area was significantly longer in both TSD treatment groups compared to the 2VO group. In the NOR, the recognition index was obviously elevated in both TSD treatment groups. The 2VO group had a significantly longer escape latency and fewer times in crossing the location of the platform compared with the Sham group in MWM. TSD treatment reversed this notion. Pathologically, staining observations confirmed that TSD inhibited hippocampal neuronal loss and alleviated the abnormal reduction of the Nissl body. In parallel, TUNEL staining illustrated that TSD decelerated neuronal apoptosis. Western Blot demonstrated that TSD reduces the expression of ERs and apoptotic proteins. CONCLUSION: In this study, the significant ameliorative effect on cognitive impairment of TSD has been determined by comparing the behavioral data of the 4 groups of rats. Furthermore, it was confirmed that this effect of TSD was achieved by suppressing the ERs-mediated apoptosis signaling pathway.

Serum miR-26a level is decreased in cataract patients with glaucoma and related to visual quality.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: microRNAs have been found to be involved in the progression of a variety of ocular diseases. BACKGROUND: Cataract and glaucoma often coexist, and combined surgery is a common treatment. The aim of this study is to analyse the correlation between miR-26a and visual quality in cataract patients with glaucoma. METHODS: Seventy patients with cataract and glaucoma and 70 healthy volunteers were enrolled and received phacoemulsification and trabeculectomy. The patients were divided into low and high miR-26a expression groups according to miR-26a mean expression. The objective scattering index, strehl ratio, and modulated transfer function cut-off were analysed by optical quality analysis system II. The changes of miR-26a, objective scattering index, strehl ratio, modulated transfer function cut-off, and the correlation between the indicators were analysed. The downstream genes of miR-26a were analysed by Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes functional enrichment. RESULTS: There were significant differences between patients and controls in lipid biomarker levels and visual indicators. miR-26a was decreased in the patient group. Strehl ratio and modulated transfer function cut-off in the miR-26a low-expression group were lower than in high-expression group, while mean defect of the visual field and objective scattering index were higher than in high-expression group. The miR-26a expression was negatively correlated with the severity of disease and objective scattering index, and positively correlated with strehl ratio and modulated transfer function cut-off. After surgery, miR-26a, strehl ratio, and modulated transfer function cut-off were increased, and objective scattering index was decreased. The downstream genes of miR-26a were related to several biological processes and signalling pathways. CONCLUSION: In cataract patients with glaucoma, miR-26a expression was lower than matched controls and increased following combined cataract removal and trabeculectomy.

ω­3 fatty acids in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (Review).

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world. Epidemiological evidence and clinical trials have shown that ω-3 fatty acids have a variety of promoting effects in reducing the risk of ASCVD, but different conclusions of large randomized controlled trials make their clinical use in the prevention and treatment of ASCVD controversial. The present review focuses on the pharmacological mechanism, clinical trials and evidence value of clinical applications of ω-3 fatty acids in order to provide theoretical and practical evidence for the clinical application strategy, and follow-up research and development of ω-3 fatty acids as anti-ASCVD drugs.

The Relationship Between Psychological Conditions and Gastrointestinal Symptoms of Medical Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: This study aims to explore the nexus between students' psychological well-being and the manifestation of gastrointestinal symptoms (GISs) amid the health lockdown enforced in Xi'an, focusing on the student populace of Xi'an Medical College and Shaanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Materials and methods: A survey encompassing psychological parameters and GISs was administered to a randomized cohort of 1327 college students drawn from Xi'an Medical College and Shaanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The survey instrument was developed utilizing the Questionnaire Star platform. Subsequent to data collection, analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism 9 and SPSS 22.0. Results: Comparative analysis revealed statistically significant disparities (P < 0.05) in various GISs between the periods during and preceding the health lockdown, encompassing symptoms such as nausea/vomiting, acid reflux, postprandial fullness/early satiety, anorexia, decreased appetite, bloating, abdominal discomfort, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and constipation. Notably, the mean score for Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7) was 3.31±3.92, indicating mild anxiety, while the mean score for Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) was 1.15±1.28, suggesting mild depression. Detailed evaluation of anxiety revealed prevalence rates of 34% among respondents, with 34.2% of these individuals reporting concurrent GISs, while among those evaluated for depression (38.8% of the sample), 44.2% reported concurrent GISs. Furthermore, multiple linear regression analysis unveiled a negative correlation between GISs during the health lockdown and lifestyle scores, while positive correlations were observed with GISs preceding the lockdown, anxiety, and depression. The formulated multiple linear regression equation for GISs during the health lockdown is delineated as follows: 14.693-0.342 life style + 0.725GISs before health lockdown + 0.218anxiety + 0.564 depression. Conclusion: This investigation underscores the substantial impact of anxiety and depression on the student body, accentuating their role in precipitating GISs during health lockdown situations. The psychological well-being of medical students during exigent circumstances such as natural disasters warrants heightened attention, necessitating proactive measures aimed at emotional regulation to mitigate the onset of GISs.

Effects of abrocitinib on pruritus and eczema symptoms and tolerance in patients with moderate­to­severe atopic dermatitis in randomized, double­blind and placebo­controlled trials: A systematic review and a meta­analysis.

Abrocitinib is a highly selective Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) inhibitor that can block a multitude of inflammatory signaling pathways that underlie atopic dermatitis (AD). In addition, abrocitinib inhibits JAK1 signaling in sensory neurons to alleviate acute and chronic pruritus during AD. However, substantial variations in efficacy and safety risks remain due to variations in doses applied in clinical use. Therefore for the present study, differences in the efficacy and tolerability of 100 and 200 mg abrocitinib for treating pruritus and eczema symptoms in patients with moderate-to-severe AD were evaluated compared with placebo. Specifically, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of abrocitinib compared with placebo for the treatment of moderate-to-severe AD were searched on Pubmed, E.B. Stephens Company, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Medical network, Web of Science and related Clinical Trials Registry up to November 2023. In total, two researchers evaluated the quality of the included literature according to the Cochrane Handbook of Systematic Reviews. RevMan 5.3 software was used to conduct a meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety indicators in a cross-comparison of the effects exerted by placebo and 100 and 200 mg abrocitinib. A total of 1,825 patients with moderate-to-severe AD were included across five double-blind, placebo RCTs. Compared with the placebo group, during the double-blind trial period, significant improvements were observed in the investigator's global assessment score, response rate of eczema area and severity index (EASI)-50, EASI-75, EASI-90 and pruritus numerical rating scale (P-NRS) in the 100 and 200 mg abrocitinib groups (P<0.05). However, pairwise control analysis of the 100 and 200 mg group yielded significant differences (P<0.05) in all of the aforementioned therapeutic indicators except for the P-NRS score. In terms of safety, compared with the placebo group, there were significantly higher incidence of nausea, upper respiratory tract viral infection, infections and infestations in the 100 mg abrocitinib group (P<0.05). In addition, there were significantly higher incidence of nausea, gastrointestinal disorder, headache and dizziness in the 200 mg group (P<0.05). There were also significant differences in the incidence of nausea, gastrointestinal disorder and dizziness between the 100 and 200 mg groups (P<0.05). For patients with moderate-to-severe AD, oral administration of 100 or 200 mg abrocitinib once/day was concluded to ameliorate skin pruritus and eczema symptoms to varying degrees, with the efficacy significantly superior at the 200 mg dose. However, the risk of a number of adverse reactions, such as headache, dizziness, nausea and gastrointestinal dysfunction, is also significantly increased. Therefore, patients should be made aware of the risk of adverse drug effects prior to the administration of long-term high abrocitinib doses. Furthermore, large-scale, multi-center, rigorous clinical trials remain necessary to validate the findings from the present study.

Insoluble low-impedance organic battery cathode enabled by graphite grafting towards potassium storage.

Organic electrode materials are extensively applied for potassium storage as their sustainability and low cost. However, the organic electrodes' (i) solubility (such as naphthalene-1,4,5,8-tetracarboxylic dianhydride, NTCDA; 2,6-diaminoanthanthraquinone, DAQ, which are easily soluble in organic solvents) and (ii) intrinsic poor conductivity often result in high impedance and inferior electrochemical performance. Herein, the monomers of NTCDA and DAQ were polymerized (PND) to obtain an insoluble organic cathode, and a 5 wt% graphite (G) was also used to graft the PND sheet and increase its conductivity. Consequently, the as-prepared organic cathode (PND-G) achieved a long-life cycling performance of over 1500 cycles at 100 mA g-1. This work may provide guidelines for designing and developing insoluble and high conductive organic electrode materials.

Efficacy and safety of lurasidone for schizophrenia: A systematic review and meta­analysis of eight short­term, randomized, double­blind, placebo­controlled clinical trials.

Lurasidone is an atypical anti-psychotic approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. It is mainly used to treat schizophrenia in adults through its antagonistic action on dopamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors. The present study systematically assessed the efficacy and safety of lurasidone in the treatment of schizophrenia. Clinical, double-blind, parallel, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of lurasidone in the treatment of schizophrenia were retrieved from PubMed\Medline, EBSCO, Embase, Cochrane Library, OVID, Web of Science and related clinical trial registration websites up to May 2023. A total of two investigators independently screened the included references and evaluated their quality. RevMan 5.3 software was used for meta-analysis of each measure outcome. The present systematic review was registered in PROSPERO (ID=CRD42018108178). A total of eight RCTs were included in the present study, including a total of 2,456 patients with schizophrenia. All eight references were randomized, double-blind and parallel control trials. All eight references were evaluated as high quality. The meta-analysis results demonstrated that there were no significant change in total Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) score, Clinical Global Impression of Severity (CGI-S) score and Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) between the 40 mg lurasidone group and the placebo group (P>0.05). However, as the dosage increased, the 80, 120 and 160 mg lurasidone groups had significant changes in total PANSS score, CGI-S score and MADRS Compared with placebo (P<0.05), although changes in MADRS in the 120 mg lurasidone group were not statistically significant (P>0.05). In terms of safety, the changes in the incidence of agitation in the 40 mg lurasidone group (P<0.05), vomiting in the 80 mg group (P<0.05) and akathisia in the 160 mg group (P<0.05) were statistically significant and there were also statistically significant changes in the incidence of akathisia, nausea, somnolence and extrapyramidal disorder among the 40, 80 and 120 mg lurasidone groups (P<0.05); No statistically significant changes in the in the incidence of other adverse reactions (P>0.05). In conclusion, existing evidence suggests that the initial dose of lurasidone for schizophrenia can be adjusted to 80 mg. As the condition aggravates, the dose can be incrementally increased to 160 mg. A dose of 160 mg lurasidone is recommended as the most efficacious and safe dose for acute schizophrenia and the risk of occurrence of akathisia, nausea, somnolence and extrapyramidal disorder is still high when lurasidone is administered at a dose of 80-120 mg. The dose should be promptly adjusted or the drug should be withdrawn if the aforementioned adverse reactions worsen. Multi-center, high-quality and long-term clinical RCTs influenced by the included references are still necessary to support the aforementioned conclusions.

Sustainable Electrolytes: Design Principles and Recent Advances.

Today, rechargeable batteries are omnipresent and essential for our existence. In order to improve the electrochemical performance of electric fields, the introduction of electrolytes with fluorine (F)-based inorganic elemental compositions is a direction of exploration. However, most fluorocarbons have a high global warming potential and ozone depletion potential, which do not meet the sustainability requirements of the battery industry. Therefore, developing sustainable electrolytes is a viable option for future battery development. Although researchers have made much progress in electrolyte optimization, little attention has been paid to developing low-toxic and safe electrolytes. This review aims to elucidate the design principles and recent advances in this direction for solvents and salts. It concludes with a summary and outlook on future research directions for the molecular design of green electrolytes for practical high-voltage rechargeable batteries.

Prevalence and risk factors of thyroid nodules in breast cancer women with different clinicopathological characteristics: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Association between breast cancer (BC) and thyroid nodules (TNs) is still unclear. This research was to estimate the prevalence and risk factors of TN in Chinese BC women at initial diagnosis. METHODS: 1731 Chinese early-stage BC women at initial diagnosis underwent thyroid ultrasound and 1:1 age-matched Chinese healthy women underwent health examination in corresponding period were enrolled for analysis. RESULTS: Prevalence of TN and TI-RADS ≥ 4 TN in BC patients (56.27% and 9.76%) were higher than healthy people (46.04% and 5.49%), respectively, P < 0.001. Among BC patients, prevalence of TN and TI-RADS ≥ 4 TN in hormone receptor (HR)-positive patients (59.57% and 11.81%) were higher than HR-negative patients (48.77% and 5.10%), respectively, P < 0.001, while without difference between HR-negative patients and healthy people. After adjusting for age and BMI, HR-positive patients had higher risk of TN (OR = 1.546, 95%CI 1.251-1.910, P < 0.001) and TI-RADS ≥ 4 TN (OR = 3.024, 95%CI 1.943-4.708, P < 0.001) than HR-negative patients. Furthermore, the risk of TI-RADS ≥ 4 TN was higher in patients with estrogen receptor (ER) positive (OR = 2.933, 95%CI 1.902-4.524), progesterone receptor (PR) positive (OR = 1.973, 95%CI 1.378-2.826), Ki-67 < 20% (OR = 1.797, 95%CI 1.280-2.522), and tumor size < 2 cm (OR = 1.804, 95%CI 1.276-2.552), respectively, P < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of TN, especially TI-RADS ≥ 4 TN, in Chinese early-stage BC women was higher than healthy people. HR-positive patients had higher prevalence and risk of TN, while without difference between HR-negative patients and healthy people. The increased risk of TN was correlated with ER-positive, PR-positive, lower Ki-67 expression, and smaller tumor size.

Chloro-Functionalized Ether-Based Electrolyte for High-Voltage and Stable Potassium-Ion Batteries.

Ether-based electrolyte is beneficial to obtaining good low-temperature performance and high ionic conductivity in potassium ion batteries. However, the dilute ether-based electrolytes usually result in ion-solvent co-intercalation of graphite, poor cycling stability, and hard to withstand high voltage cathodes above 4.0 V. To address the aforementioned issues, an electron-withdrawing group (chloro-substitution) was introduced to regulate the solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) and enhance the oxidative stability of ether-based electrolytes. The dilute (~0.91 M) chloro-functionalized ether-based electrolyte not only facilitates the formation of homogeneous dual halides-based SEI, but also effectively suppress aluminum corrosion at high voltage. Using this functionalized electrolyte, the K||graphite cell exhibits a stability of 700 cycles, the K||Prussian blue (PB) cell (4.3 V) delivers a stability of 500 cycles, and the PB||graphite full-cell reveals a long stability of 6000 cycles with a high average Coulombic efficiency of 99.98 %. Additionally, the PB||graphite full-cell can operate under a wide temperature range from -5 °C to 45 °C. This work highlights the positive impact of electrolyte functionalization on the electrochemical performance, providing a bright future of ether-based electrolytes application for long-lasting, wide-temperature, and high Coulombic efficiency PIBs and beyond.

Optimized kernel extreme learning machine using Sine Cosine Algorithm for prediction of unconfined compression strength of MICP cemented soil.

Microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) is an eco-friendly bio-remediation technology. The unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of MICP cemented soil is an important indicator of repair effectiveness. This study proposes a machine learning technique utilizing the Sine Cosine Algorithm (SCA) to optimize the regularization coefficient C and kernel width γ of the kernel extreme learning machine (KELM) to predict the UCS of MICP cemented soil. To evaluate the performance of the proposed models, a dataset containing 180 groups of the UCS of MICP cemented soil was obtained. The results obtained by SCA-KELM were compared with those obtained by the Random Forest algorithm (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and KELM. The performance of these models was evaluated by the scores of MAE, RMSE, and R2. The results indicate that the SCA-KELM algorithm exhibits optimal prediction performance (Total score: 21). After optimizing KELM with SCA, the total score improved by 110%, suggesting that SCA significantly enhances the KELM performance. After model development, the optimal population size for SCA-KELM was determined to be 50. Based on the mutual information test, an innovative method was developed for categorizing factor sensitivity by employing importance scores as the partitioning criterion. This method categorizes the influencing factors into three tiers: high (importance score: 8.03-11.14%), medium (importance score: 5.93-7.25%), and low (importance score: 3.23-5.18%). These results suggest that the proposed SCA-KELM algorithm can be regarded as a powerful tool for predicting the UCS of MICP cemented soil.

Ku-Band Mixers Based on Random-Oriented Carbon Nanotube Films.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are a type of nanomaterial that have excellent electrical properties such as high carrier mobility, high saturation velocity, and small inherent capacitance, showing great promise in radio frequency (RF) applications. Decades of development have been made mainly on cut-off frequency and amplification; however, frequency conversion for RF transceivers, such as CNT-based mixers, has been rarely reported. In this work, based on randomly oriented carbon nanotube films, we focused on exploring the frequency conversion capability of CNT-based RF mixers. CNT-based RF transistors were designed and fabricated with a gate length of 50 nm and gate width of 100 µm to obtain nearly 30 mA of total current and 34 mS of transconductance. The Champion RF transistor has demonstrated cut-off frequencies of 78 GHz and 60 GHz for fT and fmax, respectively. CNT-based mixers achieve high conversion gain from -11.4 dB to -17.5 dB at 10 to 15 GHz in the X and Ku bands. Additionally, linearity is achieved with an input third intercept (IIP3) of 18 dBm. It is worth noting that the results from this work have no matching technology or tuning instrument assistance, which lay the foundations for the application of Ku band transceivers integrated with CNT amplifiers.

Analysis of the influencing factors and clinical related characteristics of pulmonary tuberculosis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: In China, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among diabetic patients is estimated to be between 90%-95%. Additionally, China is among the 22 countries burdened by a high number of tuberculosis cases, with approximately 4.5 million individuals affected by active tuberculosis. Notably, T2DM poses a significant risk factor for the development of tuberculosis, as evidenced by the increased incidence of T2DM coexisting with pulmonary tuberculosis (T2DM-PTB), which has risen from 19.3% to 24.1%. It is evident that these two diseases are intricately interconnected and mutually reinforcing in nature. AIM: To elucidate the clinical features of individuals diagnosed with both T2DM and tuberculosis (T2DM-PTB), as well as to investigate the potential risk factors associated with active tuberculosis in patients with T2DM. METHODS: T2DM-PTB patients who visited our hospital between January 2020 and January 2023 were selected as the observation group, Simple DM patients presenting to our hospital in the same period were the control group, Controls and case groups were matched 1:2 according to the principle of the same sex, age difference ( ± 3) years and disease duration difference ( ± 5) years, patients were investigated for general demographic characteristics, diabetes-related characteristics, body immune status, lifestyle and behavioral habits, univariate and multivariate analysis of the data using conditional logistic regression, calculate the odds ratio (OR) values and 95%CI of OR values. RESULTS: A total of 315 study subjects were included in this study, including 105 subjects in the observation group and 210 subjects in the control group. Comparison of the results of both anthropometric and biochemical measures showed that the constitution index, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and lymphocyte count were significantly lower in the case group, while fasting blood glucose and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were significantly higher than those in the control group. The results of univariate analysis showed that poor glucose control, hypoproteinemia, lymphopenia, TB contact history, high infection, smoking and alcohol consumption were positively associated with PTB in T2DM patients; married, history of hypertension, treatment of oral hypoglycemic drugs plus insulin, overweight, obesity and regular exercise were negatively associated with PTB in T2DM patients. Results of multivariate stepwise regression analysis found lymphopenia (OR = 17.75, 95%CI: 3.40-92.74), smoking (OR = 12.25, 95%CI: 2.53-59.37), history of TB contact (OR = 6.56, 95%CI: 1.23-35.03) and poor glycemic control (OR = 3.37, 95%CI: 1.11-10.25) was associated with an increased risk of developing PTB in patients with T2DM, While being overweight (OR = 0.23, 95%CI: 0.08-0.72) and obesity (OR = 0.11, 95%CI: 0.02-0.72) was associated with a reduced risk of developing PTB in patients with T2DM. CONCLUSION: T2DM-PTB patients are prone to worse glycemic control, higher infection frequency, and a higher proportion of people smoking, drinking alcohol, and lack of exercise. Lymphopenia, smoking, history of TB exposure, poor glycemic control were independent risk factors for T2DM-PTB, and overweight and obesity were associated with reduced risk of concurrent PTB in patients with T2DM.

Analysis of related factors influencing postoperative recurrence of adenomyosis treated with HIFU.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the efficacy of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) for adenomyosis and postoperative recurrence and its influencing factors. METHODS: Clinical and follow-up data of 308 patients with adenomyosis who were treated with HIFU in Haifu Center, Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from September 2017 to January 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. The recurrence of adenomyosis and the efficacy of HIFU at 6 months after surgery were followed up. To explore factors influencing postoperative prognosis and recurrence, the following variables were analyzed: patients' age, course of disease, gravidity and parity, size of the uterus, duration of HIFU, duration of irradiation, treatment intensity, dysmenorrhea score, time of follow-up, combined treatment of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), western medicine adjuvant treatment, lesion location and type, and menorrhagia. RESULTS: Among the 308 patients, 238 (77%) were followed up from 6 to 36 months, with an average follow-up time of 15.24 ± 9.97 months. The other 70 (23%) were lost to follow-up. At 6-month after surgery, efficacy rates of dysmenorrhea and menorrhagia management were 86.7% and 89.3%, respectively. Postoperative recurrence rates were 4.8% (1-12 months), 9.0% (12-24 months), and 17.0% (24-36 months) for dysmenorrhea; and 6.3% (1-12 months), 2.4% (12-24 months), and 12.2% (24-36 months) for menorrhagia. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that parity (P = 0.043, OR = 1.773, 95% CI 1.018-3.087), uterine size (P = 0.019, OR = 1.004, 95% CI 1.001-1.007), combined treatment of TCM (P = 0.047, OR = 1.846, 95% CI 1.008-3.381), diffuse lesion type (P = 0.013, OR = 0.464, 95% CI 0.254-0.848) and ablation rate (P = 0.015, OR = 0.481, 95%CI 0.267-0.868) were prognostic factors (P < 0.05). Age, course of disease, gravidity, duration of HIFU, duration of irradiation, treatment intensity, preoperative dysmenorrhea score, time of follow-up, western medicine adjuvant therapy, lesion location, and preoperative menstrual volume had no effect on prognosis (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: HIFU can effectively relieve dysmenorrhea and reduce menstrual volume in patients with adenomyosis. Parity, uterine size, lesion type (diffuse), and ablation rate are risk factors for symptom recurrence after HIFU, while the combination of TCM therapy is a protective factor for relapse. We, therefore, recommend TCM in the adjuvant setting after HIFU according to patient condition.