The effects of P2 segment of posterior cerebral artery to thalamus blood supply pattern on gait in cerebral small vessel disease: A 7 T MRI based study.

Gait disturbance is a manifestation of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). The posterolateral thalamus (PL), whose blood is mainly supplied by the P2 segment of posterior cerebral artery (P2-PCA), plays pivotal roles in gait regulation. We investigated the influence of the distance between P2-PCA and PL on gait with varying CSVD burden. 71 participants were divided into low and high CSVD burden groups. The distance from P2-PCA to PL was measured using 7 T TOF-MRA and categorized into an immediate or distant PCA-to-thalamus pattern. Functional connectivity (FC) and voxel-based morphometry were assessed to evaluate functional and structural alterations. In the low CSVD burden group, immediate PCA-to-thalamus supply strongly correlates with longer step length and higher wave phase time percent, and exhibited enhanced FCs in left supplementary motor area, right precentral cortex (PreCG.R). While in the high CSVD burden group, no association between PCA-to-thalamus pattern and gait was found, and we observed reduced FC in PreCG.R with immediate PCA-to-thalamus pattern. Higher CSVD burden was associated with decreased gray matter density in bilateral thalamus. However, no significant structural thalamic change was observed between the two types of PCA-to-thalamus patterns in all patients. Our study demonstrated patients with immediate PCA-to-thalamus supply exhibited better gait performance in low CSVD burden populations, which also correlated with enhanced FCs in motor-related cortex, indicating the beneficial effects of the immediate PCA-to-thalamus supply pattern. In the higher burden CSVD populations, the effects of PCA-to-thalamus pattern on gait are void, attributable to the CSVD-related thalamic destruction and impairment of thalamus-related FC.

Antiplatelet effect of ginkgo diterpene lactone meglumine injection in acute ischemic stroke: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

This study was designed to evaluate antiplatelet effect and therapeutic effect of ginkgo diterpene lactone meglumine injection (GDLI) in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we randomly assigned 70 inpatients within 48 hr after the onset of AIS to combination therapy with GDLI and aspirin (GDLI at a dose of 25 mg/d for 14 days plus aspirin at a dose of 100 mg/d for 90 days) or to placebo plus aspirin in a ratio of 1:1. Platelet function, the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), and the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) were evaluated. A good outcome was defined as NIHSS scores decrease ≥5 or mRS scores decrease ≥2. Results showed that arachidonic acid induced maximum platelet aggregation rate (AA-MAR) and mean platelet volume (MPV) of the GDLI-aspirin group were much lower than that of the aspirin group (p = 0.013 and p = 0.034, respectively) after the 14-day therapy. The combination of GDLI and aspirin was superior to aspirin alone, and had significant impact on the good outcome at day 90 (ORadj 7.21 [95%CI, 1.03-50.68], p = 0.047). In summary, GDLI has antiplatelet effect and can improve the prognosis of AIS patients.

Response of anaerobic granular sludge to iron oxide nanoparticles and multi-wall carbon nanotubes during beet sugar industrial wastewater treatment.

The accelerated use of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in the consumer and industrial sectors has triggered the need to understand their potential environmental impact. The response of anaerobic granular sludge (AGS) to IONPs and MWCNTs during the anaerobic digestion of beet sugar industrial wastewater (BSIW) was investigated in this study. The IONPs increased the biogas and subsequent CH4 production rates in comparison with MWCNTs and the control samples. This might be due to the utilization of IONPs and MWCNTs as conduits for electron transfer toward methanogens. The MWCNTs majorly enriched the bacterial growth, while IONP enrichment mostly benefitted the archaea population. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed that AGS produced extracellular polymeric substances, which interacted with the IONPs and MWCNTs. This provided cell protection and prevented the nanoparticles from piercing through the membranes and thus cytotoxicity. The results provide useful information and insights on the adjustment of anaerobic microorganisms to the natural complex environment based on nanoparticles infiltration.

Microbial community structural analysis of an expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor for beet sugar industrial wastewater (BSIW) treatment.

A looming global energy crisis has directly increased biomethanation processes using anaerobic digestion technology. However, much knowledge on the microbial community structure, their distribution within the digester and related functions remains extremely scanty and unavailable in some cases, yet very valuable in the improvement of the anaerobic bioprocesses. Using pyrosequencing technique based on Miseq PE 3000, microbial community population profiles were determined in an operated mesophilic expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor treating beet sugar industrial wastewater (BSIW) in the laboratory scale. Further, the distribution of the organisms in the lower, middle and upper sections within the reactor was examined. To our knowledge, this kind of analysis of the microbial community in a reactor treating BSIW is the first of its kind. A total of 44,204 non-chimeric reads with average length beyond 450 bp were yielded. Both bacterial and archaeal communities were identified with archaea predominance (60 %) observed in the middle section. Bayesian classifier yielded 164 families with only 0.73 % sequences which could not be classified to any taxa at family level. The overall phylum predominance in the reactor showed Firmicutes, Euryarchaeota, Chloroflexi, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes in the descending order. Our results clearly demonstrate a highly diverse microbial community population of an anaerobic reactor treating BSIW, with distinct distribution levels within the reactor.