Effect of Truncal-Type Occlusion Based on Multiphase or Single-Phase Computed Tomographic Angiography in Predicting Intracranial Atherosclerotic Stenosis-Related Acute Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether truncal-type occlusion based on multiphase computed tomographic angiography (mpCTA) was more effective for predicting intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis-related occlusion (ICAS-O) than occlusion type based on single-phase computed tomographic angiography (spCTA) in patients with acute ischemic stroke with large-vessel occlusion (AIS-LVO) in the middle cerebral artery (MCA). METHODS: Data were retrospectively collected from 72 patients with AIS-LVO in the MCA between January 2018 and December 2019. The occlusion types included truncal-type and branching-site occlusions. The association between ICAS-O and occlusion type based on the 2 computed tomographic angiography patterns was analyzed, and receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted for assessment. The areas under the curve were compared to determine the difference between the predictive powers of truncal-type occlusion based on mpCTA and spCTA. RESULTS: Among the 72 patients, 16 were classified as having ICAS-O and 56 as having embolisms. In univariate analysis, truncal-type occlusion was significantly associated with ICAS-O ( P < 0.001 for mpCTA and P = 0.001 for spCTA). After multivariable analysis, truncal-type occlusion based on both mpCTA and spCTA remained independently associated with ICAS-O ( P = 0.002 for mpCTA and P = 0.029 for spCTA). The areas under the curve were 0.821 for mpCTA and 0.683 for spCTA; this difference was statistically significant ( P = 0.024). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with AIS-LVO in the MCA, truncal-type occlusion based on mpCTA enables more accurate detection of ICAS-O than that based on spCTA.

Effects of smoking on the prognosis of anterior circulation acute ischemic stroke with intravenous thrombolysis.

OBJECTIVE: This is a single-center retrospective analysis of the clinical data of 516 patients with acute ischemic stroke who underwent intravenous thrombolysis. This study was conducted to compare the therapeutic efficacy of smokers and non-smokers. METHODS: Univariate analysis was used to analyze and compare the clinical data of smokers and non-smokers. Multivariate analysis was used to assess risk factors affecting the 90-day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score. RESULTS: Among the 516 patients, 235 (45.5 %) were smokers. Univariate analysis showed that smokers have a better 90-day prognosis and a lower 90-day mRS score than non-smokers. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that smoking is not a protective factor affecting prognosis, while baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score was an independent risk factor affecting the 90-day functional outcome. Subgroup analysis did not determine a relationship between the 90-day mRS score and the smoking intensity and duration. CONCLUSION: Smoking was not associated with a good 90-day prognosis after intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) treatment. The good clinical outcome of smokers in univariate analysis was bound up with their baseline characteristics. Baseline NIHSS score was the independent risk factor that affected the 90-day outcome of AIS patients undergoing IVT.

Thin-Film Coated Plastic Wrap for Food Packaging.

In this study, the antimicrobial property and food package capability of polymethylpentene (PMP) substrate with silicon oxdie (SiOx) and organic silicon (SiCxHy) stacked layers deposited by an inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition system were investigated. The experimental results show that the stacked pair number of SiOx/SiCxHy on PMP is limited to three pairs, beyond which the films will crack and cause package failure. The three-pair SiOx/SiCxHy on PMP shows a low water vapor transmission rate of 0.57 g/m²/day and a high water contact angle of 102°. Three-pair thin-film coated PMP demonstrates no microbe adhesion and exhibits antibacterial properties within 24 h. Food shelf life testing performed at 28 °C and 80% humidity reports that the three-pair thin-film coated PMP can enhance the food shelf-life to 120 h. The results indicate that the silicon-based thin film may be a promising material for antibacterial food packaging applications to extend the shelf-life of food products.

Recording Characteristics, Microstructure, and Crystallization Kinetics of Ge/GeCu Recording Film Used for Write-Once Blu-Ray Disc.

A Ge67Cu33 (16 nm) layer and a Ge (3 nm)/Ge67Cu33 (16 nm) bilayer were grown by sputtering at room temperature and used as the recording films for write-once blue laser media. In comparison to the crystallization temperature of Ge in a GeCu film (380.7 °C-405.1 °C), the crystallization temperature of Ge in a Ge/GeCu bilayer could be further decreased to 333.7 °C-382.8 °C. The activation energies of Ge crystallization were 3.51 eV ± 0.05 eV and 1.50 eV ± 0.04 eV for the GeCu and the Ge/GeCu films, respectively, indicating that the Ge/GeCu bilayer possesses a higher feasibility in high-speed optical recording applications. Moreover, the lower activation energy would lead to a larger grain size of Ge crystallization in the Ge/GeCu bilayer after the annealing process. Between the as-deposited and the annealed states, the optical contrasts (@ 405 nm) of the GeCu and the Ge/GeCu films were 26.0% and 47.5%, respectively. This reveals that the Ge/GeCu bilayer is more suitable for the recording film of a write-once blu-ray disc (BD-R) in comparison with the GeCu film. Based on the dynamic tests performed for 2× and 4× recording speeds, the optimum jitter values of the BD-R with the Ge/GeCu recording film were 7.4% at 6.3 mW and 7.6% at 8.6 mW, respectively.