Tough and fatigue-resistant polymer networks by crack tip softening.

Soft materials fail by crack propagation under external loads. While fracture toughness of a soft material can be enhanced by orders of magnitude, its fatigue threshold remains insusceptible. In this work, we demonstrate a crack tip softening (CTS) concept to simultaneously improve the toughness and threshold of a single polymeric network. Polyacrylamide hydrogels have been selected as a model material. The polymer network is cured by two kinds of crosslinkers: a normal crosslinker and a light-degradable crosslinker. We characterize the pristine sample and light-treated sample by shear modulus, fracture toughness, fatigue threshold, and fractocohesive length. Notably, we apply light at the crack tip of a sample so that the light-sensitive crosslinkers degrade, resulting in a CTS sample with a softer and elastic crack tip. The pristine sample has a fracture toughness of 748.3 ± 15.19 J/m2 and a fatigue threshold of 9.3 J/m2. By comparison, the CTS sample has a fracture toughness of 2,774.6 ± 127.14 J/m2 and a fatigue threshold of 33.8 J/m2. Both fracture toughness and fatigue threshold have been enhanced by about four times. We attribute this simultaneous enhancement to stress de-concentration and elastic shielding at the crack tip. Different from the "fiber/matrix composite" concept and the "crystallization at the crack tip" concept, the CTS concept in the present work provides another option to simultaneously enhance the toughness and threshold, which improves the reliability of soft devices during applications.

2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia: CT manifestations and pattern of evolution in 110 patients in Jiangxi, China.

OBJECTIVES: To elucidate the CT manifestations and patterns of evolution in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. METHODS: This is a retrospective review of CT scans of 110 patients. All 110 patients had initial and second CT scans, 60 of 110 patients had three serial CT scans, and 17 of 60 patients had four serial CT scans. Numerous characteristics of pulmonary and extrapulmonary abnormalities and recognizable patterns of evolution were evaluated. RESULTS: Of the 110 initial CT scans, ground-glass opacities without consolidation (65.4%) were more common than a consolidation or mixed pattern. The most common findings were subpleural involvement (77.2%), multifocal involvement (80.7%), and bilateral involvement (67.3%). Three serial CT scans of 60 patients showed four patterns of CT evolution: type 1 showing relatively high CT scores on initial CT (averaged 4 days after symptom onset), with mild progression and improvement on follow-up CT scans (25%); type 2 with progression of CT findings from initial CT to first follow-up CT (averaged 9 days after symptom onset) with subsequent improvement on second follow-up CT (averaged 13 days after symptom onset, 61.7%); type 3 with no CT changes (5.0%); and type 4 pattern was similar to type 2 but with a more prolonged course and more severe CT findings (8.3%). CONCLUSIONS: Predominant findings at initial CT scans were bilateral multifocal subpleural GGO. The most commonly shown evolution pattern was type 2: progression of disease with increased extent and density of opacities on first follow-up CT followed by improvement on second follow-up CT. KEY POINTS: • Predominant findings at initial CT in patients with COVID-19 infection are bilateral multifocal subpleural ground-glass opacities. • Ill-defined patchy or nodular opacities were most commonly observed on CT scans with the right lower lobe most commonly involved. • The most commonly shown evolution pattern on chest CT was type 2: progression of CT findings from initial CT to first follow-up CT with subsequent improvement on second follow-up CT.

Stretch tuning of the Debye ring for 2D photonic crystals on a dielectric elastomer membrane.

The tunable diffracted pattern (Debye ring) of the well-ordered close-packed 2D photonic crystal (PC) is achieved via large deformation of the dielectric elastomer (DE) membrane for the first time. Two deformation models are proposed, the in-plane deformation driven by voltage and the out-of-plane deformation actuated by pressure. Both experimental and theoretical analyses are conducted to explore the tunability of the DE stretch on the Debye ring of the 2D PC, by voltage and pressure. An excellent agreement is found between the experimental and analytical results. This study shows that tuning the size of the Debye ring by voltage driven in-plane deformation is easy to operate and space-saving. However, it needs a high voltage and the adjustable range is relatively small. On the other hand, the pneumatic tuning by out-of-plane deformation has a widely adjustable range compared with the electric one and the pressure needed is only hundreds to less than two thousand pascal, which is energy-saving. This work may pave the way for the design of various smart sensors and soft displays with the combination of PCs and DEs.

Association of intimate partner violence during pregnancy, prenatal depression, and adverse birth outcomes in Wuhan, China.

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) among pregnant women constitutes a global public health problem and a potential risk factor for adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. The present study aimed to examine the associations among IPV during pregnancy, prenatal depression, and adverse birth outcomes in Wuhan, China. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed from April 2013 to March 2014 in Wuhan, China. Sociodemographic characteristics, IPV during pregnancy, and depressive symptoms during pregnancy were assessed in the third trimester of pregnancy. Birth outcomes were collected after delivery using medical records. Chi-square tests and logistic regression analysis were used to examine the association between IPV and prenatal depression, as well as the association between IPV combined with prenatal depression and adverse birth outcomes. RESULTS: After adjustment for covariates, there was a statistically significant association between IPV during pregnancy and prenatal depression (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.50, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.60-3.90). IPV during pregnancy (aOR = 1.67, 95% CI: 1.08-2.56) and prenatal depression (aOR = 1.72, 95% CI: 1.11-2.68) were significantly associated with adverse birth outcomes. Women experiencing psychological abuse had a significantly higher odds of prenatal depression (aOR = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.19-3.49) and of adverse birth outcomes (aOR = 2.13, 95% CI: 1.08-2.58), compared with women who did not experience IPV and prenatal depression. CONCLUSIONS: IPV during pregnancy and prenatal depression were significantly associated with adverse birth outcomes, after adjustment for socio-demographic and behavior factors. The findings suggest that early recognition of IPV and prenatal depression during antenatal care may protect pregnant women and improve birth outcomes.

IgG-Mediated Immune Suppression to Erythrocytes by Polyclonal Antibodies Can Occur in the Absence of Activating or Inhibitory Fcγ Receptors in a Full Mouse Model.

Polyclonal anti-D has been used to prevent RhD-negative mothers from becoming immunized against RhD positive fetal erythrocytes, and this mechanism has been referred as Ab or IgG-mediated immune suppression (AMIS). Although anti-D has been highly successful, the inhibitory mechanisms remain poorly understood. Two major theories behind AMIS involve the binding of IgG to activating or inhibitory FcγR, which can induce either erythrocyte clearance or immune inhibition, respectively. In this work, we explored the absolute role of activating and inhibitory FcγR in the AMIS mechanism using the HOD mouse model of RBC immunization. HOD mice contain a RBC-specific recombinant protein composed of hen egg lysozyme (HEL), OVA and human transmembrane Duffy Ag, and erythrocytes from HOD mice can stimulate an immune response to HEL. To assess the contribution of activating and inhibitory FcγR to AMIS, C57BL/6 versus FcRγ-chain(-/-) or FcγRIIB(-/-) mice were used as recipients of HOD-RBC alone or together with anti-HEL Abs (i.e., AMIS) and the resulting immune response to HEL evaluated. We show that anti-HEL polyclonal Abs induce the same degree of AMIS effect in mice lacking these IgG binding receptors as compared with wild-type mice. In agreement with this, F(ab')2 fragments of the AMIS Ab also significantly reduced the Ab response to the HOD cells. In conclusion, successful inhibition of in vivo Ab responses to HOD-RBC by polyclonal IgG can occur independently of activating or inhibitory FcγR involvement. These results may have implications for the understanding of RhD prophylaxis.

Antibody-mediated immune suppression of erythrocyte alloimmunization can occur independently from red cell clearance or epitope masking in a murine model.

Anti-D can prevent immunization to the RhD Ag on RBCs, a phenomenon commonly termed Ab-mediated immune suppression (AMIS). The most accepted theory to explain this effect has been the rapid clearance of RBCs. In mouse models using SRBC, these xenogeneic cells are always rapidly cleared even without Ab, and involvement of epitope masking of the SRBC Ags by the AMIS-inducing Ab (anti-SRBC) has been suggested. To address these hypotheses, we immunized mice with murine transgenic RBCs expressing the HOD Ag (hen egg lysozyme [HEL], in sequence with ovalbumin, and the human Duffy transmembrane protein) in the presence of polyclonal Abs or mAbs to the HOD molecule. The isotype, specificity, and ability to induce AMIS of these Abs were compared with accelerated clearance as well as steric hindrance of the HOD Ag. Mice made IgM and IgG reactive with the HEL portion of the molecule only. All six of the mAbs could inhibit the response. The HEL-specific Abs (4B7, IgG1; GD7, IgG2b; 2F4, IgG1) did not accelerate clearance of the HOD-RBCs and displayed partial epitope masking. The Duffy-specific Abs (MIMA 29, IgG2a; CBC-512, IgG1; K6, IgG1) all caused rapid clearance of HOD RBCs without steric hindrance. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of AMIS to erythrocytes in an all-murine model and shows that AMIS can occur in the absence of RBC clearance or epitope masking. The AMIS effect was also independent of IgG isotype and epitope specificity of the AMIS-inducing Ab.

Attenuation of cardiac dysfunction and remodeling of myocardial infarction by microRNA-130a are mediated by suppression of PTEN and activation of PI3K dependent signaling.

OBJECTIVE: Activation of PI3K/Akt signaling protects the myocardium from ischemia/reperfusion injury. MicroRNAs have been demonstrated to play an important role in the regulation of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. In this study, we examined whether miR-130a will attenuate cardiac dysfunction and remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI) via PI3K/Akt dependent mechanism. APPROACHES AND RESULTS: To determine the role of miR-130a in the proliferation and migration of endothelial cells, HUVECs were transfected with miR-130a mimics before the cells were subjected to scratch-induced wound injury. Transfection of miR-130a mimics stimulated the migration of endothelial cells into the wound area and increased phospho-Akt levels. To examine the effect of miR-130a on cardiac dysfunction and remodeling after MI, Lentivirus expressing miR-130a (LmiR-130a) was delivered into mouse hearts seven days before the mice were subjected to MI. Cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography before and for up to 21 days after MI. Ejection fraction (EF%) and fractional shortening (FS%) in the LmiR-130a transfected MI hearts were significantly greater than in LmiR-control and untransfected control MI groups. LmiR-130a transfection increased capillary number and VEGF expression, and decreased collagen deposition in the infarcted myocardium. Importantly, LmiR-130a transfection significantly suppressed PTEN expression and increased the levels of phosphorylated Akt in the myocardium. However, treatment of LmiR-130a-transfected mice with LY294002, a PI3K inhibitor, completely abolished miR-130a-induced attenuation of cardiac dysfunction after MI. CONCLUSIONS: miR-130a plays a critical role in attenuation of cardiac dysfunction and remodeling after MI. The mechanisms involve activation of PI3K/Akt signaling via suppression of PTEN expression.

Prognostic significance of preoperative nutritional status for postoperative acute kidney injury in older patients undergoing major abdominal surgery: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The association between malnutrition and postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) has not been well studied. In this study, the authors examined the association between preoperative nutritional status and postoperative AKI in older patients who underwent major abdominal surgery, as well as the predictive value of malnutrition for AKI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors retrospectively included patients aged 65 or older who underwent major elective abdominal surgery. The nutritional status of the patient was evaluated using three objective nutritional indices, such as the geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI), the prognostic nutritional index (PNI), and the controlling nutritional status (CONUT). AKI was determined using the KDIGO criteria. The authors performed logistic regression analysis to investigate the association between preoperative nutritional status and postoperative AKI, as well as the predictive value of nutritional scores for postoperative AKI. RESULTS: A total of 2775 patients were included in the study, of which 707 (25.5%), 291 (10.5%), and 517 (18.6%) had moderate to severe malnutrition according to GNRI, PNI, and CONUT calculations. After surgery, 144 (5.2%) patients developed AKI, 86.1% at stage 1, 11.1% at stage 2, and 2.8% at stage 3 as determined by KDIGO criteria. After adjustment for traditional risk factors, worse nutritional scores were associated with a higher AKI risk. In addition to traditional risk factors, these nutritional indices improved the predictive ability of AKI prediction models, as demonstrated by significant improvements in integrated discrimination and net reclassification. CONCLUSIONS: Poor preoperative nutritional status, as assessed by GNRI, PNI, and CONUT scores, was associated with an increased risk of postoperative AKI. Incorporating these scores into AKI prediction models improved their performance. These findings emphasize the need for screening surgical patients for malnutrition risk. Further research is needed to determine whether preoperative malnutrition assessment and intervention can reduce postoperative AKI incidence.

The value of myocardial contraction fraction and long-axis strain to predict late gadolinium enhancement in multiple myeloma patients with secondary cardiac amyloidosis.

The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of conventional and two additional functional markers derived from standard cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) images in detecting the occurrence of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) in patients with secondary cardiac amyloidosis (CA) related to multiple myeloma (MM). This study retrospectively included 32 patients with preserved ejection fraction (EF) who had MM-CA diagnosed consecutively. Conventional left ventricular (LV) function markers and two additional functional markers, namely myocardial contraction fraction (MCF) and LV long-axis strain (LAS), were obtained using commercial cardiac post-processing software. Logistic regression analyses and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were performed to evaluate the predictive performances. (1) There were no notable distinctions in clinical features between the LGE+ and LGE- groups, with the exception of a reduced systolic blood pressure in the former (105.60 ± 18.85 mmHg vs. 124.50 ± 20.95 mmHg, P = 0.022). (2) Patients with MM-CA presented with intractable heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). The LVEF in the LGE+ group exhibited a greater reduction (54.27%, IQR 51.59-58.39%) in comparison to the LGE- group (P < 0.05). And MM-CA patients with LGE+ had significantly higher LVMI (90.15 ± 23.69 g/m2), lower MCF (47.39%, IQR 34.28-54.90%), and the LV LAS were more severely damaged (- 9.94 ± 3.42%) than patients with LGE- (all P values < 0.05). (3) The study found that MCF exhibited a significant independent association with LGE, as indicated by an odds ratio of 0.89 (P < 0.05). The cut-off value for MCF was determined to be 64.25% with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 0.758 to 0.983. The sensitivity and specificity of this association were calculated to be 95% and 83%, respectively. MCF is a simple reproducible predict marker of LGE in MM-CA patients. It is a potentially CMR-based method that promise to reduce scan times and costs, and boost the accessibility of CMR.

Scavenger receptor A (SR-A) is required for LPS-induced TLR4 mediated NF-κB activation in macrophages.

Recent evidence suggests that the macrophage scavenger receptor class A (SR-A, aka, CD204) plays a role in the induction of innate immune and inflammatory responses. We investigated whether SR-A will cooperate with Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in response to TLR ligand stimulation. Macrophages (J774/a) were treated with Pam2CSK4, (TLR2 ligand), Polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (Poly I:C) (TLR3 ligand), and Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) (TLR4 ligand) for 15 min in the presence or absence of fucoidan (the SR-A ligand). The levels of phosphorylated IκBα (p-IκBα) were examined by Western blot. We observed that Poly I:C and LPS alone, but not Pam2CSK4 or fucoidan increased the levels of p-IκBα. However, LPS-induced increases in p-IκBα levels were further enhanced when presence of the fucoidan. Immunoprecipitation and double fluorescent staining showed that LPS stimulation promotes SR-A association with TLR4 in the presence of fucoidan. To further confirm our observation, we isolated peritoneal macrophages from SR-A deficient (SR-A(-/-)), TLR4(-/-) and wild type (WT) mice, respectively. The peritoneal macrophages were treated with LPS for 15min in the presence and absence of fucoidan. We observed that LPS-stimulated TNFα and IL-1ß production was further enhanced in the WT macrophages, but did not in either TLR4(-/-) or SR-A(-/-) macrophages, when fucoidan was present. Similarly, in the presence of fucoidan, LPS-induced IκBα phosphorylation, NF-κB binding activity, and association between TLR4 and SR-A were significantly enhanced in WT macrophages compared with LPS stimulation alone. The data suggests that SR-A is needed for LPS-induced inflammatory responses in macrophages.

Modeling transport of soft particles in porous media.

Flow-driven transport of soft particles in porous media is ubiquitous in many natural and engineering processes, such as the gel treatment for enhanced oil recovery. In many of these processes, injected deformable particles block the pores and thus increase the overall pressure drop and reduce the permeability of the particle-resided region. The change of macroscopic properties (e.g., pressure drop and permeability) is an important indicator of the system performance, yet sometimes impossible to be measured. Therefore, it is desirable to correlate these macroscopic properties with the measurable or controllable properties. In this work, we study flow-driven transport of soft particles in porous media using a generalized capillary bundle model. By modeling a homogeneous porous medium as parallel capillaries along the flow direction with periodically distributed constrictions, we first build a governing differential equation for pressure. Solving this equation gives a quantitative correlation between the total pressure drop and measurable parameters, including concentration and stiffness of particles, size ratio of particle to pore throat, and flow rate. The resultant permeability reduction is also obtained. Our results show that the total pressure drop and permeability reduction are both exponentially dependent on the particle concentration and the size ratio of particles to pore throat. With no more than two fitting parameters, our model shows excellent agreements with several reported experiments. The work not only sheds light on understanding transport of soft particles in porous media but also provides important guidance for choosing the optimal parameters in the relevant industrial processes.

Intrinsic low-frequency oscillation changes in multiple-frequency bands in stable patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Abnormal local spontaneous brain activity during the resting state has been observed in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, it is still largely unclear whether the abnormalities are related to specific frequency bands. Our purpose was to explore intrinsic neural activity changes in different frequency bands by using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) method in stable COPD patients. Nineteen stable COPD patients and twenty gender-, age- and education-matched normal controls (NCs) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scans, cognitive function tests and lung function tests. Two different frequency bands (slow-4: 0.027-0.073 Hz; slow-5: 0.01-0.027 Hz) were calculated and analyzed for frequency-dependent intrinsic neural activity by using the ALFF method. A two-way analysis of variance test was used to compare the main effects of the groups and the frequency bands in the ALFF method. Further post-hoc t-tests were used to compare the differences between COPD patients and NCs in terms of the different frequency bands. A Pearson's correlation analysis was performed to explore the relationship between the altered ALFF brain areas in the different frequency bands and the clinical evaluations in the COPD patients. There were main effects of the groups including significantly higher ALFF values in the right superior temporal gyrus (STG), the bilateral cerebellum posterior lobe (CPL), the right lingual gyrus (LG) and the right brainstem, and as well as significantly decreased ALFF values in the right inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and the angular. The main effect of frequency was demonstrated in the CPL, the STG, the prefrontal cortex and the middle cingulate gyrus. Furthermore, COPD patients exhibited more widespread alterations in intrinsic brain activity in the slow-5 band than in the slow-4 band. Moreover, the abnormal intrinsic brain activity in the slow-4 and slow-5 bands were associated with PaCO2 in COPD patients. These current results indicated that COPD patients showed abnormal intrinsic brain activity in two different frequency bands, and abnormal intrinsic neuronal activity in different brain regions could be better detected by slow-5 band. These observations may provide a neoteric view into understanding the local neural psychopathology in stable COPD patients.

Abnormal intrinsic functional hubs and connectivity in stable patients with COPD: a resting-state MRI study.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects a large population and is closely associated with cognitive impairment. However, the mechanisms of cognitive impairment in COPD patients have not been unraveled. This study investigated the change in patterns of intrinsic functional hubs using a degree centrality (DC) analysis. The connectivity between these abnormal hubs with the remaining brain was also investigated using functional connectivity (FC). Nineteen stable patients with COPD and 20 normal controls(NC) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations and clinical and neuropsychologic assessments. We measured the voxel-wise DC across the whole brain gray matter and the seed-based FC between these abnormal hubs in the remaining brain matter; the group difference was calculated. A partial correlation analysis was performed to assess the relationship between the abnormal DC and clinical variables in COPD patients. Compared to NC, the patients with COPD exhibited significantly decreased DC in the right lingual gyrus (LG), bilateral supplementary motor area (SMA), and right paracentral lobule (PCL). A further seed-based FC analysis found that COPD patients demonstrated significantly decreased FC between these abnormal hubs in several brain areas, including the left cerebellum anterior lobe, left lingual gyrus, left fusiform gyrus, right insula, right inferior frontal gyrus, limbic lobe, cingulate gyrus, left putamen, lentiform nucleus, right precuneus, and right paracentral lobule. A partial correlation analysis showed that the decreased DC in the right PCL was positively correlated with the FEV1 and FEV1/FVC, and the decreased DC in the SMA was positively correlated with naming and pH in COPD patients. This study demonstrates that there are intrinsic functional hubs and connectivity alterations that may reflect the aberrant information communication in the brain of COPD patients. These findings may help provide new insight for understanding the mechanisms of COPD-related cognitive impairment from whole brain functional connections.

Resveratrol Mitigates Hippocampal Tau Acetylation and Cognitive Deficit by Activation SIRT1 in Aged Rats following Anesthesia and Surgery.

Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a sever postsurgical neurological complication in the elderly population. As the global acceleration of population ageing, POCD is proved to be a great challenge to the present labor market and healthcare system. In the present study, our findings showed that tau acetylation mediated by SIRT1 deficiency resulted in tau hyperphosphorylation in the hippocampus of the aged POCD model and consequently contributed to cognitive impairment. Interestingly, pretreatment with resveratrol almost restored the expression of SIRT1, reduced the levels of acetylated tau and hyperphosphorylated tau in the hippocampus, and improved the cognitive performance in the behavioral tests. What is more, we observed that microglia-derived neuroinflammation resulting from SIRT1 inhibition in microglia probably aggravated the tau acetylation in cultured neurons in vitro. Our findings supported the notion that activation SIRT1 provided dually beneficial effect in the aged POCD model. Taken together, our findings provided the initial evidence that tau acetylation was associated with cognitive impairment in the aged POCD model and paved a promising avenue to prevent POCD by inhibiting tau acetylation in a SIRT1-dependent manner.

Abnormal resting-state functional connectivity of amygdala subregions in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

Background: The amygdala is one of the core areas of the emotional circuits. Previous neuroimaging studies have revealed that patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have aberrant structure and function in several brain areas (including the amygdala). However, the resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) of amgydala subregions remains uncertain. Objective: To determine whether aberrant rs-FC exists between the amygdala subregions and other brain areas and whether such abnormalities are related to emotional disorders and cognitive impairment in OSA. Methods: The resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data of 40 male severe OSA patients and 40 matched healthy controls (HCs) were collected. The rs-FC between the amygdala subregions and other brain areas was compared between the two groups. The correlations between aberrant rs-FC and clinical variables and neuropsychological assessments were evaluated. Results: Compared with the HCs, the OSA patients showed significantly increased rs-FC between the left dorsal amygdala (DA) and the anterior lobe of the cerebellum, among the left ventrolateral amygdala (VA), the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the left superior temporal gyrus (STG), and between the right VA and the left IFG. However, significantly decreased rs-FC was observed between the right DA and the right prefrontal cortex (PFC) in OSA patients. No regional differences in rs-FC were found between the OSA patients and HCs in the bilateral medial amygdala (MA). Conclusion: In this study, male severe OSA patients showed complex rs-FC patterns in the amygdala subregions, which may be the result of OSA-related selective damage to the amygdala, and abnormal rs-FC between the amygdala subregions and brain regions associated with emotional, cognitive and executive functions may partly explain the affective deficits and cognitive impairment observed in male severe OSA patients.

Disrupted resting-state spontaneous neural activity in stable COPD.

INTRODUCTION AND AIM: Abnormal brain structure and function in COPD has been reported on MRI. However, the deficit in local synchronization of spontaneous activity in patients with stable COPD remains unknown. The main aim of the present study was to explore spontaneous brain activity in patients with COPD compared with normal controls using the regional homogeneity (ReHo) method based on resting-state functional MRI. METHODS: Nineteen patients with stable COPD and 20 well-matched (including age, sex, and number of years of education) normal controls who were recruited for the present study underwent resting-state functional MRI examinations and a series of neuropsychological and clinical assessments. The ReHo method was used to assess the strength of local brain signal synchrony. The mean ReHo values in brain areas with abnormal ReHo were evaluated with a receiver operating characteristic curve. The relationships between the brain regions with altered ReHo values and the clinical and neuropsychological parameters in COPD patients were assessed using Pearson's correlation. RESULTS: Patients with COPD showed significantly lower ReHo values in the left occipital lobe and the right lingual, bilateral precuneus, and right precentral gyrus. The result of receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the altered average ReHo values have high efficacy for distinguishing function. The mean lower ReHo values in the precuneus gyrus showed a significant positive correlation with FEV1%, FEV1/FVC, and orientation function but a significant negative correlation with arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide. CONCLUSION: The COPD patients demonstrated abnormal synchrony of regional spontaneous activity, and the regions with abnormal activity were all correlated with visual processing pathways, which might provide us with a new perspective to further understand the underlying pathophysiology of cognitive impairment in patients with COPD.

MR imaging to detect myelolipomas of the liver: A case report and literature review.

RATIONALE: Primary hepatic myelolipoma is a rare benign neoplasm comprising mature adipose tissue and marrow components in various proportions. Chemical shift imaging (CSI) can distinguish the lipid within the tumor clearly; however, there have been no reports on the CSI of hepatic myelolipoma. PATIENT CONCERN: A 20-year-old woman visited our hospital after discovering a space-occupying lesion in the liver with a history of more than 1 year. She felt distension pain and discomfort under the xiphoid process, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and occasional chest oppression. DIAGNOSIS: The tumor showed a well-defined mass with a pseudocapsule and a heterogeneous appearance on both T1- and T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images. CSI analysis showed a signal decline within the tumor. Based on the histopathology, the tumor was diagnosed as hepatic myelolipoma. INTERVENTIONS AND OUTCOMES: The patient underwent a right hepatectomy, and the postoperative vital signs were stable. Two weeks later, the patient was discharged safely. LESSONS: Although hepatic myelolipoma is extremely rare, this condition should be considered in differential diagnosis when CSI shows that hepatic lesions contain fatty.

Insight into the local source of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in the developing Tibetan Plateau: The composition and transport around the Lhasa landfill.

In the background region of the Tibetan Plateau (TP), the rapid urbanization probably results in the massive generation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which lacks monitoring and evaluation. Since landfill could serve as an important sink of the locally used POPs, the analysis of POPs in the Tibetan landfill area might help us to understand the source composition and their transport in the TP. In this study, the concentration variations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in five soil profiles and seven surficial sediments around the largest Tibetan landfill were investigated. The total concentrations of PBDEs ranged from 128 to 1219 ng/kg in soils, and from 447 to 7295 ng/kg in sediments. The dominance of nona- and deca-BDEs possibly indicated the wide usage of deca-BDE as flame retardant in the TP. The vertical and spatial distribution patterns of PBDEs within soils plausibly revealed their main transport pathways by atmospheric dispersion and leachate seepage from landfill. Based on principal components analysis and multiple linear regression, these two pathways were estimated to account for 61% and 39% of the total concentrations, respectively. Additionally, the spatial and vertical distributions of octa-to deca-BDEs within soils were significantly influenced by soil particle size. Although the PBDEs inventory in the study area was comparatively low, the rapid urbanization in the TP might dramatically accelerate the PBDE emissions in the future. This study firstly introduced the presence of local PBDEs in the TP, and the inventory already influenced the surrounding environment. Once involved in the regional cycle of the TP, the local source of PBDEs from waste might significantly serve to raise background level resulting otherwise primarily from long-range atmospheric transport.

Soft Display Using Photonic Crystals on Dielectric Elastomers.

Soft display has been intensively studied in recent years in the wake of rapid development of a variety of soft materials. The currently existing solutions for translating the traditional hard display into the more convenient soft display mainly include light-emitting diodes, liquid crystals, quantum dots, and phosphors. The desired soft display should take the advantages of facile fabrication processes and cheap raw materials. Besides, the device should be colorful, nontoxic, and not only flexible but also stretchable. However, the foregoing devices may not own all of the desired features. Here, a new type of soft display, which consists of dielectric elastomer and photonic crystals that cover all of the features mentioned above and can achieve the color change dynamically and in situ, is reported. In addition to the above features, the angle-dependent characteristic and the excellent mechanical reliability make it a great candidate for the next generation of soft display. Finally, the vast applications of the present concept in a variety of fields are also prospected.

Topological Reorganization of the Default Mode Network in Severe Male Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Impaired spontaneous regional activity and altered topology of the brain network have been observed in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, the mechanisms of disrupted functional connectivity (FC) and topological reorganization of the default mode network (DMN) in patients with OSA remain largely unknown. We explored whether the FC is altered within the DMN and examined topological changes occur in the DMN in patients with OSA using a graph theory analysis of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data and evaluated the relationship between neuroimaging measures and clinical variables. Resting-state data were obtained from 46 male patients with untreated severe OSA and 46 male good sleepers (GSs). We specifically selected 20 DMN subregions to construct the DMN architecture. The disrupted FC and topological properties of the DMN in patients with OSA were characterized using graph theory. The OSA group showed significantly decreased FC of the anterior-posterior DMN and within the posterior DMN, and also showed increased FC within the DMN. The DMN exhibited small-world topology in both OSA and GS groups. Compared to GSs, patients with OSA showed a decreased clustering coefficient (Cp) and local efficiency, and decreased nodal centralities in the left posterior cingulate cortex and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, and increased nodal centralities in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex and the right parahippocampal cortex. Finally, the abnormal DMN FC was significantly related to Cp, path length, global efficiency, and Montreal cognitive assessment score. OSA showed disrupted FC within the DMN, which may have contributed to the observed topological reorganization. These findings may provide further evidence of cognitive deficits in patients with OSA.