FT3/FT4 Enhances Risk Assessment in Patients With Non-ST-Segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Based on GRACE 2.0 Score.

Little is known about the association between the free triiodothyronine/free thyroxine (FT3/FT4) ratio and clinical outcomes in euthyroid patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). A total of 1448 euthyroid patients with NSTE-ACS who underwent PCI were included in this prospective study. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that there was a significantly increased risk of stroke (hazard ratio [HR] 11.380, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.386-93.410, P = .024) and major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) (HR 3.364, 95% CI: 1.595-7.098, P = .001) in patients in lower FT3/FT4 tertiles. The combined model of FT3/FT4 ratio and the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) score provided the added value of risk assessment by improving C-statistics, integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and the net reclassification index (NRI) (all P < .05). Thus, in euthyroid patients with NSTE-ACS undergoing PCI, the FT3/FT4 ratio was not only an independent prognostic indicator of long-term MACCE but also enhanced risk discrimination when combined with the GRACE risk score, which suggests that the calculation of FT3/FT4 before and after PCI may contribute to risk stratification in this particular patient group.

Performance-based neuropsychological assessment tools for executive function among preschoolers in China: A systematic review.

Objective: There is an increasing demand for the assessment of executive function (EF) among Chinese preschoolers. However, there exists methodological and cross-cultural challenges of performance-based EF assessment. The current review aims to 1) identify and summarize the current application of performance-based EF assessment tools for Chinese preschoolers in China and 2) offer recommendation guidelines for different application scenarios, such as clinical or scientific research, and for related personnel.Method: A literature search was conducted from Web of Science, PubMed, PsycInfo, Scopus and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases. We focused exclusively on performance-based tools assessing EF among children aged three to six years, encompassing tasks of inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility, reasoning, problem solving, and/or planning. Clinical (e.g. children with autism spectrum disorders) and multilingual populations residing outside of China (e.g. Chinese Americans) were excluded. Two authors independently screened, extracted, and evaluated each tool for characteristics (e.g. name, domain, type, version, language, approach of administration, and scoring) and sample information (e.g. sample size, age, and region). Results: A total of 98 articles were included, with 255 tools being identified that were further classified into 44 unique types, covering nine EF domains. Most tools were original or informally sinicized, with notable variations in tool selection, administration, and interpretation process. Given that a complete set of EF tools has not been identified as perfectly suitable for Chinese preschoolers, we also offered recommendations based on empirically adapted evaluation criteria. Conclusions: Our findings highlighted the need for appropriate adaptation, administration, and interpretation of the current EF tools.

Moving to a healthier city? An analysis from China's internal population migration.

A healthy urban environment is considered as an important issue for the amenity and equity of migrants. China has one of the largest internal population movements in the world, and the environmental health of its migrants becomes a growing concern. Based on the 1‰ microdata from the 2015 1% population sample survey, this study uses the spatial visualization and spatial econometric interaction model to reveal intercity population migration patterns and the role of environmental health in China. The results are as follows. First, the main direction of population migration is toward economically developed high class cities, especially the eastern coast where the intercity population migration is most active. However, these major destinations are not necessarily the healthiest areas for the environment. Second, environmentally friendly cities are mainly located in the southern region. Among them, the areas with less serious atmospheric pollution are mainly distributed in the south, climate comfort zones are mainly located in the southeastern region, but areas with more urban green space are mainly distributed in the northwestern region. Third, compared with socioeconomic factors, environmental health factors have not yet become a major driver of population migration. Migrants often place higher value on income than on environmental health. The government should focus not only on the public service wellbeing of migrant workers, but also on their environmental health vulnerability.

A General Education Course in Medical Devices Innovation at Zhejiang University.

Innovation and development in medical devices are of great significance for overcoming the problems such as the increasing costs of healthcare and the widening societal inequity in medical technologies. This paper presents the design and outcomes of a general education course in medical devices innovation offered for an eight-week quarter each year since Spring 2018 at Zhejiang University. The course consists of two modules, lectures and team project, both of which are well designed based on the entire innovation process spanning needs finding, concept generation, prototyping, and strategy development. A professional teaching team with eight experts from various disciplines and institutes has been established as well. Since its inception, 296 students from 34 majors have participated and 71 original projects have been proposed. The results of self-assessment questionnaires showed that the course had equipped students with broader fundamentals and specialized knowledge, and stronger skills in innovation and teamwork, which provide a solid foundation for students' future innovation practice.

Proprioceptive and Clinical Outcomes after Remnant Preserved Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: Assessment with Minimal Confounding Factors.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the proprioceptive and clinical function of the knee joint after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) with various amounts of remnant preserved with as few confounding factors as possible. METHODS: This retrospective study included 46 patients who underwent ACLR with remnant preservation between March 2013 and February 2019. These patients had less than 6 months injury-to-surgery interval and no concomitant injuries. The researchers divided these subjects into two groups based on the length of the remnant preserved after ACLR, with group A defined as having more than 1/3 of the original length preserved and group B defined as less than 1/3 of the original length preserved. Clinical scores were obtained using the Lysholm knee scoring scale and the Tegner activity scale. The Lysholm score was calculated preoperatively, at 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively, and at the last follow up. The Tegner score was calculated preoperatively, at 12 months postoperatively and at the last follow up. Anterior laxity was measured using the KT2000 arthrometer preoperatively and at 12 months postoperatively. Proprioceptive function was evaluated through reproduction of passive positioning (RPP) and threshold to detection of passive motion (TDPM). Both RPP and TDPM were measured at the angle of 15° at 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively. Unpaired t-tests were performed to investigate the difference in each parameters between the two groups. RESULTS: In the present study, 20 patients were classified into group A and 26 into group B. All patients were followed up for an average of 34.70 ± 12.79 months. All 46 patients were satisfied with the outcome of the surgery and no complications were reported at the end of the study. No significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of the Lysholm score and anterior laxity by KT2000 at all time points. The Tegner score was significantly higher in group A at 12 months postoperatively and at the final follow-up. In addition, group A's RPP was significantly better than that of group B's when tested at the angles of 15° and 30° at 3 months postoperatively, and at the angle of 15° at 6 months postoperatively. Group A's TDPM was also significantly better than that of group B's at all three tested angles at 3 months postoperatively, and at the angle of 15° at 6 months postoperatively. CONCLUSION: Patients with ACLR with more than 1/3 of the original length preserved demonstrated a higher activity level 12 months postoperatively and better proprioceptive function at 15° of extension at 3 and 6 months postoperatively.

Copper ions binding regulation for the high-efficiency biodegradation of ciprofloxacin and tetracycline-HCl by low-cost permeabilized-cells.

Cu2+ plays a decisive role for the bio-oxidation in the active center of laccase. In the fermentation-purified process, the loss of Cu2+ reduces the activity and the high cost limits the application of laccase. In this study, a fermentation-permeabilization combined process were developed which based on the regulation of Cu2+ binding time to produce the permeabilized-cells containing laccase, in which Cu2+ can enter the cells freely to greatly improve the laccase activity and reduce the immobilization cost by about 19 times. So, the permeabilized-cells is suitable for biodegradation of antibiotic pollution in the environment, which was applied for the biodegradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) and tetracycline-HCl (TCH) and the degradation efficiency reached 95.42% and 98.73%, respectively, with low ecotoxicity of the degradation products. Finally, the degradation mechanism was analyzed theoretically by molecular docking. Therefore, this study provided a low-cost, eco-friendly, and widely applicable method for organic pollutants removal.

Prognostic Significance of Preprocedural N-Terminal Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Assessment in Diabetic Patients With Multivessel Coronary Disease Undergoing Revascularization.

Background and Aims: The N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) may predict adverse cardiovascular outcomes in patients with diabetes. However, its prognostic value in patients with multivessel disease (MVD) undergoing coronary revascularization remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic significance of preprocedural NT-proBNP levels in diabetic patients with MVD undergoing coronary revascularization. Methods: A total of 886 consecutive diabetic patients with MVD who underwent coronary revascularization were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into quartiles according to their pre-procedural NT-proBNP levels. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analyses were performed to evaluate the risk of cardiovascular events, including all-cause death, cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), according to the NT-proBNP quartiles. Results: During a median follow-up period of 4.2 years, 111 patients died (with 82 being caused by cardiovascular disease), 133 had MI, 55 suffered from stroke, and 250 experienced MACE. Kaplan-Meier curves demonstrated that NT-proBNP levels were significantly associated with higher incidences of all-cause death, cardiovascular death, MI, and MACE (log-rank test, P < 0.001, respectively). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that NT-proBNP level was an independent predictor of adverse outcomes, including all-cause death (HR, 1.968; 95% CI, 1.377-2.812; P < 0.001), cardiovascular death (HR, 1.940; 95% CI, 1.278-2.945; P = 0.002), MI (HR, 1.722; 95% CI, 1.247-2.380; P = 0.001), and MACE (HR, 1.356; 95% CI, 1.066-1.725; P = 0.013). The role of NT-proBNP in predicting adverse outcomes was similar in patients with stable angina pectoris and acute coronary syndrome. Moreover, preprocedural NT-proBNP alone discriminated against the SYNTAX II score for predicting all-cause death [area under the curve (AUC), 0.662 vs. 0.626, P = 0.269], cardiovascular death (AUC, 0.680 vs. 0.622, P = 0.130), MI (AUC, 0.641 vs. 0.579, P = 0.050), and MACE (AUC, 0.593 vs. 0.559, P = 0.171). The addition of NT-proBNP to the SYNTAX II score showed a significant net reclassification improvement, integrated discrimination improvement, and improved C-statistic (all P < 0.05). Conclusion: NT-proBNP levels were an independent prognostic marker for adverse outcomes in diabetic patients with MVD undergoing coronary revascularization, suggesting that preprocedural NT-proBNP measurement might help in the risk stratification of high-risk patients.

Assessment of the efficacy of tuina on treating cervicogenic headache: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Cervicogenic headache is a secondary headache characterized by unilateral headache, symptoms, and signs of neck involvement. It is often worsened by neck movement, sustained awkward head position, or external pressure over the upper cervical or occipital region on the symptomatic side. In this systematic review, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of massage therapy for the treatment of cervicogenic headache. METHODS: We searched the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, Wanfang Database, China Doctoral Dissertations Full-Text Database, China Master's Theses Full-Text Database, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, and Embase. We will select all eligible studies published on or before April 1, 2021. We will use Review Manager 5.4, provided by the Cochrane Collaborative Network for statistical analysis. We then assessed the quality and risk of the included studies and observed the outcome measures. RESULTS: This meta-analysis further confirmed the benefits of tuina in the treatment of cervicogenic headache. CONCLUSION: The purpose of this meta-analysis was to explore the effect of tuina on patients with cervicogenic headache and to provide more options for clinicians and patients to treat cervicogenic headache. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This systematic review will evaluate the efficacy and safety of tuina in the treatment of cervicogenic headache. Since all the data included were published, the systematic review did not require ethical approval. REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY202150053.

Urban-rural differences in catastrophic health expenditure among households with chronic non-communicable disease patients: evidence from China family panel studies.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) challenges the Chinese health system reform. Little is known for the differences in catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) between urban and rural households with NCD patients. This study aims to measure the differences above and quantify the contribution of each variable in explaining the urban-rural differences. METHODS: Unbalanced panel data were obtained from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) conducted between 2012 and 2018. The techniques of Fairlie nonlinear decomposition and Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition were employed to measure the contribution of each independent variable to the urban-rural differences. RESULTS: The CHE incidence and intensity of households with NCD patients were significantly higher in rural areas than in urban areas. The urban-rural differences in CHE incidence increased from 8.07% in 2012 to 8.18% in 2018, while the urban-rural differences in CHE intensity decreased from 2.15% in 2012 to 2.05% in 2018. From 2012 to 2018, the disparity explained by household income and self-assessed health status of household head increased to some extent. During the same period, the contribution of education attainment to the urban-rural differences in CHE incidence decreased, while the contribution of education attainment to the urban-rural differences in CHE intensity increased slightly. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with urban households with NCD patients, rural households with NCD patients had higher risk of incurring CHE and heavier economic burden of diseases. There was no substantial change in urban-rural inequality in the incidence and intensity of CHE in 2018 compared to 2012. Policy interventions should give priority to improving the household income, education attainment and health awareness of rural patients with NCDs.

Assessment of systematic inflammatory and nutritional indexes in extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer treated with first-line chemotherapy and atezolizumab.

BACKGROUND: The present study aims to investigate the prognostic role of systematic inflammatory and nutritional indexes in extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) treated with first-line chemotherapy and atezolizumab. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospective cohort population involving 53 patients were identified from NCT03041311 trial. The following peripheral blood-derived inflammatory and nutritional indexes, including neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte-monocyte ratio (LMR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), prognostic nutrition index (PNI), advanced lung cancer inflammation index (ALI), and lung immune prognostic index (LIPI) were evaluated. RESULTS: The optimal cut-off values of the ALI, LMR, NLR, PLR, PNI, SII and SIRI were 323.23, 2.73, 2.57, 119.23, 48, 533.28 and 2.32, respectively. With a median follow-up of 17.1 months, the 1-year OS and PFS were 56% and 8%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that PLR was the only independent prognostic factors for OS among ES-SCLC patients treated with chemotherapy and atezolizumab (HR 4.63, 95%CI: 1.00-21.46, p = 0.05). K-M analysis showed that the OS and PFS for patients with high PLR (> 119.23) were significantly poorer than these with low PLR (≤ 119.23) (p = 0.0004 for OS and p = 0.014 for PFS). In external validation set, prognosis of patients with high PLR was also significantly poorer than these with low PLR in terms of OS (p = 0.038) and PFS (p = 0.028). CONCLUSION: Pre-treatment PLR could serve as a valuable independent prognostic factor for ES-SCLC who receive chemotherapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors. Further, prospective studies are still needed to confirm our findings.

Impact of Alkaline Pretreatment Condition on Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Sugarcane Bagasse and Pretreatment Cost.

A combined severity factor (RCSF) which is usually used to evaluate the effectiveness of hydrothermal pretreatment at above 100 °C had been developed to assess the influence of temperature, time, and alkali loading on pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose. It is not suitable for evaluating alkaline pretreatment effectiveness at lower than 100 °C. According to the reported deducing process, this study modified the expression of [Formula: see text] as [Formula: see text] which is easier and more reasonable to assess the effectiveness of alkaline pretreatment. It showed that RCSF exhibited linear trend with lignin removal, and quadratic curve relation with enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency (EHE) at the same temperature. The EHE of alkali-treated SCB could attain the maximum value at lower RCSF, which indicated that it was not necessary to continuously enhance strength of alkaline pretreatment for improving EHE. Within a certain temperature range, the alkali loading was more important than temperature and time to influence pretreatment effectiveness and EHE. Furthermore, the contribution of temperature, time, and alkali loading to pretreatment cost which was seldom concerned was investigated in this work. The alkali loading contributed more than 70% to the pretreatment cost. This study laid the foundation of further optimizing alkaline pretreatment to reduce cost for its practical application.

Efficacy of CTPV for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Assessment: Comparison with Endoscopy in Cirrhotic Patients with Gastroesophageal Varices.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Computed tomography portal venography (CTPV) shows potential in detecting varices that need treatment and their drainage pathways. However, its agreement with endoscopy requires further study. We investigated the feasibility of CTPV as an alternative tool to endoscopy in screening gastroesophageal varices (GEVs) and developed a CTPV-based model to provide a less invasive assessment of endotherapy for cirrhotic patients with GEVs. METHODS: The study included 33 cirrhotic patients with a recent history of variceal hemorrhage. The presence, grade, and classification of GEVs on endoscopy and CTPV were compared (kappa test). Twenty-four patients were treated endoscopically, including 12 for esophageal varices (EVs), 8 for gastric varices (GVs), and 4 for GEVs. Treatment efficacies were assessed with the newly developed CTPV-based method at 1 week and 1 month after treatment. Efficiency evaluated by CTPV and endoscopy was compared by Fisher's exact test to determine whether CTPV is efficient in the assessment of endotherapy efficacy. RESULTS: For the screening and grading/classification of EVs and GVs, substantial agreement (EV kappa: 0.63 and 0.68; GV kappa: 0.62 and 0.75, respectively) was noted between endoscopy and CTPV. The therapeutic efficacy of EVs was higher when assessed by CTPV than when evaluated by endoscopy (37.50% vs. 12.50% at 1 week postoperation, P = 0.22; 62.50% vs. 25.00% at 1 month postoperation, P = 0.07), but without statistical significance. The same trend was also found in the assessment of therapeutic efficacy for GVs (25.00% vs. 16.67% at 1 week postoperation, P = 1; 58.33% vs. 41.67% at 1 month postoperation, P = 0.68). CONCLUSION: CTPV is comparable to endoscopy in the detection of GEVs and in the evaluation of endotherapy efficacy, which suggests that it could be a less invasive alternative for endoscopy in cirrhotic patients with GEVs needing treatment.

High-efficiency and low-cost production of cadaverine from a permeabilized-cell bioconversion by a Lysine-induced engineered Escherichia coli.

Cadaverine is the monomer of bio-based nylons polyamide 5.4, 5.6 and 5.10. In this study, a litre-scale integrated strategy was developed for high-efficiency and low-cost production of cadaverine using an engineered Escherichia coli. Firstly, the engineered strain BL21-Pcad-CadA induced by cheap l-lysine-HCl instead of IPTG was constructed. Then the permeabilized cells were served as the biocatalyst for the production of cadaverine, because the enhanced permeability facilitated the mass transfer of the substrate and the release of products. After the replacement of industrial materials and the solution of the scale-up permeabilization process, cadaverine concentration reached 205 g/L with the yield of 92.1% after 20 h in a 2 L bioconversion system, achieving the level of industrial production. Furthermore, the costs of industrial materials for 2 L integrated strategy ($2.78) was only 1/11 of the lab reagents ($30.88). Therefore, the proposed strategy is a promising candidate for the industrial process of cadaverine.

Utilization of whey powder as substrate for low-cost preparation of ß-galactosidase as main product, and ethanol as by-product, by a litre-scale integrated process.

Whey powder, a by-product of dairy industry, is an attractive raw material for value-added products. In this study, utilization of whey powder as substrate for low-cost preparation of ß-galactosidase as main product and ethanol as by-product were investigated by a litre-scale integrated strategy, encompassing fermentation, isolation, permeabilization and spray drying. Firstly, through development of low-cost industrial culture and fed-batch strategies by Kluyveromyces lactis, 119.30U/mL ß-galactosidase activity and 16.96mg/mL by-product ethanol were achieved. Afterward, an up-dated mathematic model for the recycling permeabilization was established successfully and 30.4g cells sediment isolated from 5L fermentation broth were permeabilized completely by distilled ethanol from broth supernatant. Then ß-galactosidase product with 5.15U/mg from protection of gum acacia by spray drying was obtained. Furthermore, by-product ethanol with 31.08% (v/v) was achieved after permeabilization. Therefore, the integrated strategy using whey powder as substrate is a feasible candidate for industrial-scale implementation.

Quantitative assessment of the association between glutathione S-transferase M1 polymorphism and the risk of developing nasopharyngeal cancer.

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) participate in the detoxification and elimination of electrophilic carcinogens by conjugating them to glutathione. Previous studies have reported a potential association between GSTM1 polymorphism and the risk of developing nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC). However, those findings remain controversial. In the present study, a meta-analysis was conducted by pooling the odds ratios (ORs) with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of all the available case-control studies on NPC. A comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases up to May 13th, 2014 was performed to identify eligible studies. A total of 12 separate publications, involving 1,593 cases of NPC and 2,868 controls, were included in the meta-analysis. The results demonstrated that the null genotype of GSTM1 was significantly associated with increased risk of developing NPC (OR=1.530, 95% CI=1.348-1.737, Pheterogeneity=0.370). Subgroup analysis by ethnicity suggested that Asian carriers of the GSTM1 null genotype were more susceptible to NPC than individuals from other ethnic groups (OR=1.516, 95% CI=1.328-1.731, Pheterogeneity=0.270). Sensitivity analysis confirmed the stability of these observations. In conclusion, the results from the present meta-analysis indicated that the GSTM1 polymorphism may be involved in the development of NPC, particularly in Asians.

Assessment of Retrograde Coronary Venous Infusion of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Combined with Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor in Canine Myocardial Infarction Using Strain Values Derived from Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography.

Speckle-tracking echocardiography was used to assess retrograde coronary venous infusion of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) combined with basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in a canine model of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). AMI was induced by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Coronary venous retroperfusion was performed at 1 wk after AMI. Twenty-eight animals were randomized into four groups: saline, bFGF+saline, saline+MSCs and bFGF+MSCs. Echocardiography was performed before AMI, at 7 d post-AMI and 40 d after retroperfusion. Apoptotic cardiomyocytes in the border zone of the ischemic region were evaluated by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling. Vascular endothelial growth factor and factor VIII concentrations were measured by western blotting. The left ventricular end-systolic volume increased significantly, whereas the left ventricular ejection fraction and global and segmental strain values decreased significantly after AMI. After retroperfusion, the strain values of the infarct zone, but not conventional echocardiographic parameters, were significantly different between control and bFGF+MSC groups. Cardiomyocyte apoptosis decreased, whereas vascular endothelial growth factor and factor VIII concentrations were higher in the bFGF+MSC, bFGF and MSC groups. Cardiomyocyte apoptosis was well correlated with the strain values. Although retrograde coronary venous infusion of bFGF and MSCs promoted neo-vascularization of the infarcted myocardium and inhibited apoptosis, there was only a slight strain improvement without a substantial increase in global cardiac functions.

Technologies for Assessment of Motor Disorders in Parkinson's Disease: A Review.

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is characterized as the commonest neurodegenerative illness that gradually degenerates the central nervous system. The goal of this review is to come out with a summary of the recent progress of numerous forms of sensors and systems that are related to diagnosis of PD in the past decades. The paper reviews the substantial researches on the application of technological tools (objective techniques) in the PD field applying different types of sensors proposed by previous researchers. In addition, this also includes the use of clinical tools (subjective techniques) for PD assessments, for instance, patient self-reports, patient diaries and the international gold standard reference scale, Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Comparative studies and critical descriptions of these approaches have been highlighted in this paper, giving an insight on the current state of the art. It is followed by explaining the merits of the multiple sensor fusion platform compared to single sensor platform for better monitoring progression of PD, and ends with thoughts about the future direction towards the need of multimodal sensor integration platform for the assessment of PD.

[The value of 3 dimensional-fat suppression-spoiled gradient-recalled acquisition sequence on single compartment osteoarthritis for unicompartmental arthroplasty preoperative assessment].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the 3 dimensional-fat suppression-spoiled gradient-recalled acquisition (3D-FS-SPGR) sequence in the diagnosis of knee articular cartilage injury. METHODS: A total of 56 knee osteoarthritis patients (26 males, 30 females, ages 52-73 years, mean 61.8 years) treated in Department of Orthopedics, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital between June 2013 and May 2014 were involved in this study. All patients underwent knee MRI, plus 3D-FS-SPGR sequence, arthroscopic exploration, and in contrast to the results of MRI results analysis, evaluation 3D-FS-SPGR and conventional sequence of cartilage damage consistent with the arthroscopic accuracy. RESULTS: Divided 56 knee joints into 336 cartilage articular surface, included 55.1% normal articular surface, 21.4% early osteoarthritis and 23.5% advanced osteoarthritis. The accordance of 3D-FS-SPGR sequence grading and arthroscopic was 90.2%. The sensitivity of 3D-FS-SPGR sequence was 93.1%, specificity was 98.3%, and Kappa value was 0.849. The sensitivity of T2WI sequence was 84.4%, specificity was 96.9%, and the Kappa value was 0.671. CONCLUSION: For unicompartment osteoarthritis , MRI 3D-FS-SPGR sequence is effective in sensitivity and specificity of cartilage damage.

Combining the least cost path method with population genetic data and species distribution models to identify landscape connectivity during the late Quaternary in Himalayan hemlock.

Himalayan hemlock (Tsuga dumosa) experienced a recolonization event during the Quaternary period; however, the specific dispersal routes are remain unknown. Recently, the least cost path (LCP) calculation coupled with population genetic data and species distribution models has been applied to reveal the landscape connectivity. In this study, we utilized the categorical LCP method, combining species distribution of three periods (the last interglacial, the last glacial maximum, and the current period) and locality with shared chloroplast, mitochondrial, and nuclear haplotypes, to identify the possible dispersal routes of T. dumosa in the late Quaternary. Then, both a coalescent estimate of migration rates among regional groups and establishment of genetic divergence pattern were conducted. After those analyses, we found that the species generally migrated along the southern slope of Himalaya across time periods and genomic makers, and higher degree of dispersal was in the present and mtDNA haplotype. Furthermore, the direction of range shifts and strong level of gene flow also imply the existence of Himalayan dispersal path, and low area of genetic divergence pattern suggests that there are not any obvious barriers against the dispersal pathway. Above all, we inferred that a dispersal route along the Himalaya Mountains could exist, which is an important supplement for the evolutionary history of T. dumosa. Finally, we believed that this integrative genetic and geospatial method would bring new implications for the evolutionary process and conservation priority of species in the Tibetan Plateau.

Hydraulic characteristics simulation of an innovative self-agitation anaerobic baffled reactor (SA-ABR).

An investigation was conducted on a self-agitation anaerobic baffled reactor (SA-ABR) with agitation caused solely by the release of stored gas. The compound in the reactor is mixed without the use of any mechanical equipment and electricity. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation used to provide details of the flow pattern and information about the agitation process and a solid basis for design and optimization purposes. Every self-agitation cycle could be separated into the pressure energy storage process, the exergonic process and the buffer stage. The reactor is regarded as the combination of continuous stirred tank reactor and a small plug flow reactor. The liquid level and diffusion varies widely depending on the length of the U-tube. The compound transition phenomenon in the 1st chamber mainly occurs during the energy exergonic process and buffer stage. The fluid-diffusion in the 3rd and 4th chambers mainly happens after the buffer period.