The heart rate non-dipping pattern was associated with target organ damage in patients with chronic kidney disease.

PURPOSE: We performed the study to investigate the association between heart rate (HR) non-dipping pattern and target organ damage in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and hypertension. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 447 patients with CKD and hypertension were enrolled. 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was conducted. Linear regression and logistic regression analysis were conducted to investigate the association between HR non-dipping pattern and target organ damage, including estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), left ventricular mass index (LVMI), and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). RESULTS: Overall, 261 patients (58.4%) followed non-dipping patterns of HR. HR non-dipping pattern remained to be significantly associated with reduced eGFR (ß: -0.384; 95% CI: -0.719 to -0.050; p = 0.025) and the higher prevalence of CKD stages 4-5 (OR: 2.141; 95% CI: 1.153 to 3.977; p = 0.016). Meanwhile, HR non-dipping pattern was independently associated with LVMI (ß: 0.021; 95% CI: 0.000 to 0.041; p = 0.049) and LVH (OR: 1.78; 95% CI: 1.07 to 2.96; p = 0.027) after adjusting for confounding factors. CONCLUSIONS: HR non-dipping pattern was independently associated with impaired renal function and cardiac damage. Non-dipping HR deserves further attention and needs to be detected and treated during the management of CKD patients.

High-Performance Coaxial Counter-Rotating Triboelectric Nanogenerator with Lift-Drag Hybrid Blades for Wind Energy Harvesting.

Wind energy holds potential for in-situ powering large-scale distributed wireless sensor nodes (WSNs) in the Internet of Things (IoT) era. To achieve high performance in wind energy harvesting, a coaxial counter-rotating triboelectric nanogenerator with lift-drag hybrid blades, termed CCR-TENG, has been proposed. The CCR-TENG, which can work in non-contact and soft-contact modes, realizes low-speed wind energy harvesting through a combination of counter-clockwise rotating lift-type blades and clockwise rotating drag-type blades. Non-contact CCR-TENG realizes low-speed wind energy harvesting at wind speeds as low as 1 m/s. The output of a CCR-TENG, working in soft-contact mode, achieves 41% promotion with a maximum short-circuit current of 0.11 mA and a peak surface power density of 6.2 W/m2 with two TENGs connected in parallel. Furthermore, the power density per unit of wind speed achieves 746 mW/m3·s/m. Consequently, two fluorescent lamps were successfully illuminated and six temperature sensors were continuously lit by the CCR-TENG. The reported CCR-TENG significantly improves low-speed environmental wind energy utilization and demonstrates broad application prospects for in-situ power supply of distributed wireless transmission devices and sensors in the era of the IoT.

A Flexible, Adaptive, and Self-Powered Triboelectric Vibration Sensor with Conductive Sponge-Silicone for Machinery Condition Monitoring.

Vibration sensors for continuous and reliable condition monitoring of mechanical equipment, especially detection points of curved surfaces, remain a great challenge and are highly desired. Herein, a highly flexible and adaptive triboelectric vibration sensor for high-fidelity and continuous monitoring of mechanical vibration conditions is proposed. The sensor is entirely composed of flexible materials. It consists of a conductive sponge-silicone layer and a fluorinated ethylene propylene film. It can detect vibration acceleration of 5 to 50 m s-2 and vibration frequency of 10 to 100 Hz. It has strong robustness and stability, and the output performance barely changes after the durability test of 168 000 working cycles. Additionally, the flexible sensor can work even when the detection point of the mechanical equipment is curved, and the linear fit of the output voltage and acceleration is very close to that when the detection point is flat. Finally, it can be applied to monitoring the working condition of blower and vehicle engine, and can transmit vibration signal to mobile phone application through Wi-Fi module for real-time monitoring. The flexible triboelectric vibration sensor is expected to provide a practical paradigm for smart, green, and sustainable wireless sensor system in the era of Internet of Things.

Developmental characteristics of early electroencephalography in preterm neonates: Differences between twins and singletons.

BACKGROUND: To analyze the early electroencephalography (EEG) development of twins and singleton preterm neonates using 5 measurement indicators. METHODS: On the 1st and 7th days after birth, EEG monitoring was performed on 102 preterm neonates (62 males, median gestational age 33.15 weeks, IQR 31.00-35.75). The minimum amplitude, maximum amplitude, maximum interburst intervals (IBI), total duration of trace discontinue (TD), maximum duration of single TD, and the Burdjalov score of amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) were used to evaluate EEG recordings. RESULTS: The minimum amplitude of EEG increases with gestational age (GA), while the maximum amplitude decreases, the maximum IBI decreases, and the total duration of TD and the maximum duration of single TD decrease (all p < 0.05). Burdjalov score did not differ significantly between the 1st and 7th days (p = 0.075). There is no significant difference between twins and singleton preterm infants in the five EEG measurement indicators (p > 0.05 for all). CONCLUSION: The five EEG measurement indicators can better reflect preterm infants' brain maturation than the Burdjalov score in aEEG. There were no statistical differences in brain maturation between twin and singleton preterm infants.

Radiosynthesis, optimization and pharmacokinetic study of the 99m Tc-labeled human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 affibody molecule probe 99m Tc-(HE) 3 Z HER2:V2.

OBJECTIVE: To prepare a single-photon molecular probe easily labeled with 99m Tc for evaluating the expression status of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) receptor in ovarian cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The HEHEHE tag was added to the amino terminus of the affibody Z HER2:V2 by the method of gene recombinant expression, and a new affibody was synthesized which was easy to be labeled with 99m Tc. The newly prepared affibody was labeled with 99m Tc, and pharmacokinetic studies were carried out. RESULTS: A new affibody (HE) 3 Z HER2:V2 was prepared by the method of gene recombination and expression, which is easy to be labeled with 99m Tc. The 99m Tc labeling of the affibody can reach about 95% at 90°C. The pharmacokinetic study has shown that the 99m Tc-labeled molecular probe has a fast clearance time in the blood and little side effect, which may be a promising single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging agent. CONCLUSION: The affibody (HE) 3 Z HER2:V2 is easy to be labeled with 99m Tc, has a high yield and has a suitable half-life in vivo, which is suitable for the next step in ovarian cancer model imaging research.

Effects of sleep insufficiency on spatial working memory in low-pressure and hypoxic environments.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the effects of sleep insufficiency on spatial working memory in low-pressure and hypoxic environments. METHODS: We selected 58 insufficient sleepers and 27 normal sleepers among the college students living in high-altitude areas for a long time to receive a spatial 2-back working memory task, while collecting behavioral and electroencephalograph data. We adopted an independent sample t-test and repeated measures analysis of variance to compare the differences in response time and accuracy, P2 and late positive potential components, and theta band energy values in the spatial working memory task between insufficient and normal sleepers. RESULTS: We found no significant differences in response time and accuracy between the insufficient sleep group and the normal sleep group; however, the P2 peak value and the early theta band energy value were higher in the insufficient sleep group than in the normal sleep group. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the spatial working memory ability of individuals with sleep insufficiency was weakened under low-pressure and low-oxygen environment.

Sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor modulators in stroke treatment.

Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive lysophospholipid that can influence a broad range of biological processes through its binding to five distinct G-protein-coupled receptors. S1P receptor modulators are a new group of immunosuppressive agents currently used in the immunotherapy of multiple sclerosis. Inflammation following stroke can exacerbate neuronal injury. Given that S1P signaling is linked to multiple immune processes, therapies targeting the S1P axis may be suitable for treating stroke. In this review, we outline S1P metabolism and S1P receptors, discuss the mechanisms of action of S1P receptor modulators in lymphocyte migration and their direct action on cells of the central nervous system, and provide a concise summary of the efficacy of S1P receptor modulators in animal studies and clinical trials on treatments for stroke.

The Alteration Profiles of m6A-Tagged circRNAs in the Peri-Infarct Cortex After Cerebral Ischemia in Mice.

The N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification acts as a dynamic regulatory factor in diseases by regulating the metabolism and function of the transcriptome, especially mRNAs. However, little is known regarding the functional effects of m6A modifications on circRNAs. In this research, we established a distal middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model in adult C57BL/6J mice. The mice were divided into three groups: sham surgery, 3 days after MCAO (3d), and 7 days after MCAO (7d). Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) demonstrated that the mRNA expression levels of m6A-related methyltransferases (METTL3, METTL14), demethylases (FTO, ALKBH5), and reading proteins (YTHDF1, YTHDF3) altered compared to the sham group. Furthermore, the translation level of ALKBH5 and YTHDF3 was significantly decreased in the 3d group while increased in 7d group. Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation (MeRIP) and circRNA microarray indicated 85 hypermethylated and 1621 hypomethylated circRNAs in the 3d group. In the 7d group, the methylation level increased in 57 and decreased in 66 circRNAs. Subsequently, our results were verified by MeRIP-qPCR. Bioinformatics analysis was performed to analyze the functions of differentially m6A-modified circRNAs. We found some m6A modified-circRNAs associated with cerebral infarction, providing a new direction for the molecular mechanism of stroke.

A High-Performance Flag-Type Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Scavenging Wind Energy toward Self-Powered IoTs.

Pervasive and continuous energy solutions are highly desired in the era of the Internet of Things for powering wide-range distributed devices/sensors. Wind energy has been widely regarded as an ideal energy source for distributed devices/sensors due to the advantages of being sustainable and renewable. Herein, we propose a high-performance flag-type triboelectric nanogenerator (HF-TENG) to efficiently harvest widely distributed and highly available wind energy. The HF-TENG is composed of one piece of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane and two carbon-coated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) membranes with their edges sealed up. Two ingenious internal-structure designs significantly improve the output performance. One is to place the supporting sponge strips between the PTFE and the carbon electrodes, and the other is to divide the PTFE into multiple pieces to obtain a multi-degree of freedom. Both methods can improve the degree of contact and separation between the two triboelectric materials while working. When the pair number of supporting sponge strips is two and the degree of freedom is five, the maximum voltage and current of HF-TENG can reach 78 V and 7.5 µA, respectively, which are both four times that of the untreated flag-type TENG. Additionally, the HF-TENG was demonstrated to power the LEDs, capacitors, and temperature sensors. The reported HF-TENG significantly promotes the utilization of the ambient wind energy and sheds some light on providing a pervasive and sustainable energy solution to the distributed devices/sensors in the era of the Internet of Things.

Activation of TLR4 induces inflammatory muscle injury via mTOR and NF-κB pathways in experimental autoimmune myositis mice.

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) is an autoimmune disease that invades skeletal muscle; however, the etiology of IIM is still poorly understood. Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 has been widely reported to take part in the autoimmune inflammation of IIMs. The mammalian target of rapamycin, mTOR, is a key central substance which mediates immune responses and metabolic changes, and also has been confirmed to be involved in the pathogenesis of IIMs. However, the interconnectedness between TLR4 and mTOR in IIM inflammation has not been fully elucidated. We hypothesized that TLR4 may play an important role in IIM inflammatory muscle injury by regulating mTOR. Mice were divided into four groups: a normal control group, IIM animal model (experimental autoimmune myositis, EAM) group, TAK242 intervention group and rapamycin (RAPA) intervention group. The results of EAM mice showed that TLR4, mTOR, nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and inflammatory factors interleukin-17A (IL-17A) and interferon γ (IFN-γ) mRNA levels were significantly upregulated. These factors were positively correlated with the degree of muscle inflammatory injury. When EAM mice were given the antagonist TAK242 to inhibit the TLR4 pathway, the results demonstrated that both mTOR and NF-κB were downregulated in the muscle of the mice. Muscle staining showed that the inflammatory injury was alleviated and the EAM mouse muscle strength was improved. Then, RAPA was used to inhibit the mTOR pathway, and the inflammatory factors IL-17A and IFN-γ were downregulated in EAM mouse muscle and serum. Consistently, muscle inflammatory injury was significantly reduced, and muscle strength was significantly improved. Our results suggest that TLR4 may regulate inflammatory muscle injury in EAM by activating the mTOR and NF-κB pathways, which provides both an experimental complement for the pathological mechanism of IIM and an encouraging target for the selection of effective treatments.

Nocturnal heart rate rising is a risk factor for poor renal outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease and hypertension.

The association of heart rate (HR) dipping pattern with renal outcomes in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients with hypertension has never been investigated. In order to demonstrate if HR dipping pattern is a risk factor for renal outcomes, cardiovascular (CV) diseases, and mortality in hypertensive patients with CKD, we conducted the prospective longitudinal observational study. Patients were divided into three groups according to their nocturnal HR: HR dippers (night-day HR ratio ≤ 0.9), HR non-dippers (0.9 < night-day HR ratio ≤ 1.0), and HR risers (night-day HR ratio > 1.0). The primary outcome was renal endpoint, a composite outcome of progression to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline ≥ 50%; the secondary outcomes included poor renal outcomes, CV events, and death. A total of 34 (11.3%) patients reached renal endpoint after a follow-up of 34 ± 17 months. Both HR non-dippers and HR risers were predictive to renal endpoint (hazard ratio 2.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04- 6.4, P = .04; hazard ratio 3.95, 95% CI 1.33- 11.79, P = .01, respectively), while only HR risers was shown to be correlated with a decline in eGFR≥ 50% (hazard ratio 5.28, 95% CI 1.45-19.16, P < .05), and decline in eGFR (ß -0.17, 95% CI -0.33- -0.01, P = .04). No predictive value was found for HR dipping pattern to mortality and CV events. In conclusion, our study provided the first evidence that HR non-dippers, especially risers were a risk factor for poor renal outcomes in hypertensive patients with CKD.

Association of morning hypertension with chronic kidney disease progression and cardiovascular events in patients with chronic kidney disease and hypertension.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Associations of morning hypertension with chronic kidney disease are rarely investigated in prospective studies. We aim to investigate the predictive value of uncontrolled morning hypertension (UMH) to chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression and cardiovascular (CV) events in patients with CKD and hypertension. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this prospective two-center observational study, 304 hypertensive patients with CKD were enrolled. Time to total mortality, CKD progression and CV events was recorded; Kaplan-Meier survival function estimates and Multivariable Cox proportional hazard model were used to investigate associations between UMH and outcomes. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board (http://www.thaiclinicaltrials.org; TCTR20180313004). After a follow-up for median 30 months, 23 (7.6%) patients died, 34 (11.2%) had CKD progression, and 95 (31.3%) occurred new-onset CV events, respectively. UMH was shown to be a strong predictor of CKD progression [hazard ratio (HR) 2.46, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.22-4.94] and CV events (HR 1.69, 95% CI 1.12-2.53). When morning hypertension was analyzed as a continuous variable, morning systolic blood pressure (per 10 mmHg) was also shown to be predictive to CKD progression (HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.07-1.53, P < 0.01) and CV events (HR 1.15, 95% CI 1.03-1.28, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: UMH is strongly associated with CKD progression and CV events in patients with CKD and hypertension. UMH in CKD patients deserves further attentions.

Arterial-Arteriolar Sclerosis Is Independently Associated With Poor Renal Outcome in IgA Nephropathy Patients.

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the clinicopathological features and prognosis of immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) with arterial-arteriolar sclerosis (AS). Methods: Patients with biopsy-proven IgAN from the West China Hospital of Sichuan University were retrospectively enrolled. Clinicopathological features were collected. Patients were categorized based on the presence and the severity of the AS. All the patients were regularly followed-up until a composite end point. The correlation between AS and prognosis of IgAN was assessed. Results: A total of 1,424 patients were recruited and followed for 60.0 ± 28.7 months. Patients with AS tended to have older age, higher blood pressure, heavier proteinuria, higher serum creatinine, uric acid, and total triglyceride (TG). Meanwhile, they were more likely to have a lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), hemoglobin, and albumin. At the end of follow-up, 126 patients in the AS group and 47 patients in the non-AS group had reached the composite end point (p < 0.001). AS was associated with the renal outcome (log-rank p < 0.001) and was an independent risk factor for the progression of IgAN (p = 0.049). The severity of AS was associated with renal outcomes (log-rank p < 0.001) and there was a trend that it might serve as an independent risk marker for progression of IgAN. In the subgroup analysis, patients presenting with AS and lower eGFR, albumin, and hemoglobin or higher proteinuria, uric acid, and TG had a significant trend for a shorter time to reach the end point (log-rank p < 0.001). Conclusion: AS was commonly seen in patients with IgAN and was independently associated with the poor prognosis.

Association of morning blood pressure surge with chronic kidney disease progression in patients with chronic kidney disease and hypertension.

Blood pressure (BP) usually rise from being asleep to awake, which is named the morning blood pressure surge (MBPS). Researches have reported that elevated MBPS was related with CV events, incident CKD in hypertensive patients. However, there have been no studies that have investigated the association between MBPS and renal or heart outcomes in patients with CKD and hypertension, in these patients, the MBPS is much lower because of high prevalence of night hypertension and reduced BP dipping. In this prospective two-center observational study, we enrolled patients with CKD and hypertension and the 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) was conducted in all patients. Time to total mortality, CKD progression and CV events was recorded; Finally, a total of 304 patients were enrolled and 94 (30.9%) of them had elevated MBPS. After a follow-up for median 30 months, 23 (7.6%), 34 (11.2%), and 95 (31.3%) patients occurred death, CKD progression and new-onset CV events, respectively. The Cox regression analysis suggested the elevated MBPS was a strong predictor of CKD progression (HR 2.35, 95%CI 1.2 -4.63, p = .013), independent of morning BP, while no associations were found between elevated MBPS and CV events (HR 1.02, 95%CI 0.66 -1.57), as well as death (HR 1.08, 95%CI 0.46 -2.55). In conclusion, we provided the first evidence that elevated MBPS was an important risk factor of CKD progression in patients with CKD and hypertension. Appropriate evaluation and management of MBPS may be helpful to postpone CKD progression.

The Association of Morning Hypertension With Target Organ Damage in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease and Hypertension.

Objectives: To determine the association between morning hypertension and target organ damage (TOD) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and hypertension. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 447 patients with CKD and hypertension from two centers were enrolled. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was conducted in all patients. Linear regression and logistic regression analysis were used to determine the association between morning hypertension and TOD in patients with CKD and hypertension, including assessments of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), left ventricular mass index (LVMI), urine protein/creatinine ratio (UPCR), and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Results: Overall, 194 (43.4%) participants had morning hypertension. Morning hypertension was strongly correlated with LVH [odds ratio (OR), 2.14; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.3-3.51; p < 0.01], lower level of eGFR (ß = -0.51; 95%CI, -0.95--0.08; p < 0.05), higher LVMI (ß = 0.06; 95%CI, 0.04-0.08, p < 0.001), and UPCR (ß = 0.22; 95%CI, 0.06-0.38, p < 0.01), independent of nocturnal hypertension and elevated morning blood pressure surge. As a continuous variable, both morning systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were found to be associated with LVH and higher level of UPCR and LVMI (p < 0.05), whereas only morning SBP was negatively correlated with eGFR (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Morning hypertension was strongly correlated with cardiac damage and impaired kidney function in CKD patients with hypertension, independent of nocturnal hypertension and morning surge in blood pressure. Morning hypertension in CKD patients warrants further attention.

Relationship between sleep quality with depression and anxiety symptoms in college students at Tibet Plateau areas / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To explore the relationship between sleep quality with depression and anxiety symptoms among college students in Tibet plateau areas, and to provide scientific basis for sleep quality promotion, as well as depression and anxiety allevation in high-altitude areas.@*Methods@#The stratified cluster sampling method was used to investigate 1 288 second and third year college students in Tibet University from October to November 2019. The Chinese Version of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index(PSQI), Self rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Self rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) were used in this survey, and the survey results were tested by t-test, variance analysis and Logistics regression analysis.@*Results@#The mean sleep quality index was(5.32±2.94), and 20.5% (n=264) of participants reported poor sleep quality. The detection rates of depression and anxiety symptoms were 46.0% (n=592) and 24.4%(n=314), respectively. And 20.4% (n=263) had the worst sleep quality with the coexistence of depression and anxiety symptoms. College students who are female, Tibetan, smoking, drinking and poor sleep quality have a higher risk of depression(OR=1.55,1.80,1.51，1.67，5.60), while Tibetan, drinking and poor sleep quality college students have a higher risk of anxiety(OR=1.52,1.91，10.22)(P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#There is a close relationship between the sleep quality of college students in Tibet Plateau areas with depression and anxiety symptoms. Mental health education department in colleges should attach great importance to the sleep quality of students, especially for individuals with sleep disorders, so as to reduce the incidence of depression and anxiety symptoms among college students.

Intracerebral hemorrhage alters circular RNA expression profiles in the rat brain.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs), formed from pre-messenger RNAs by back-splicing, are a novel class of evolutionarily-conserved endogenous non-coding RNAs. While circRNAs are involved in various diseases, the role of circRNAs in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) remains unknown. In the present study, we performed high-throughput sequencing to profile the expression of circRNAs in the rat brain at 24 and 48 hours after ICH onset, and utilized bioinformatics methods to make predictions about the function of dysregulated circRNAs. Compared with the sham group, 346 and 389 circRNAs changed significantly (|log2 (fold change)| > 1 and P < 0.05) at 24 and 48 hours after ICH, respectively. Bioinformatics analyses indicated that parent genes of dysregulated circRNAs were involved in biological processes, cellular component, and molecular function following ICH, and that they were enriched in the dopaminergic synapses, glutamatergic synapses, endocytosis, regulation of actin cytoskeleton, the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway, and the retrograde endocannabinoid signaling pathway. Enrichment analyses of target mRNAs showed that these mRNAs were enriched in synaptic plasticity, ion channel activity, and pathways including the phospholipase D signaling and the cGMP-PKG signaling. Our study indicates that the expression profile of circRNAs changes significantly after ICH in rat brains, and suggests that circRNAs may be crucial for the pathophysiological process following ICH.

Postencephalitis epilepsy in children: Diurnal rhythm of seizures is related to clinical characteristics.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to summarize the relationship between the clinical features of children with postencephalitis epilepsy and the diurnal rhythm of seizures. METHODS: We collected a retrospective review of 44 patients between 0 and 14 years, who were diagnosed with postencephalitis epilepsy. Patients were divided into three groups by their seizures in day/night or wakefulness/sleep state. RESULTS: Most epileptic seizures of patients of age 3 years or younger occurred during the daytime, and the other occurred most frequently at night. Most epileptic seizures of boys occurred during the wakefulness state, and girls occurred most frequently in sleep. Seizures of patients with the first seizure in the daytime occurred more frequently during the daytime and the wakefulness state; on the contrary, the first seizure in the nighttime occurred more frequently during the nighttime and the sleep state. Tonic seizure occurred more often during the nighttime and in sleep; epileptic spasm occurred more frequently during the daytime and wakefulness. Most seizures of temporal origin occurred in the awakening. The seizures of patient occurred more often during the wakefulness state; the prognosis was worse. Patients with the peak of seizures in the daytime, the level of the physiological development were poorer. CONCLUSIONS: The diurnal rhythm of seizures is different in patients with postencephalitis epilepsy with different clinical characteristics (age, gender, time of first seizure, seizure pattern, electroencephalography (EEG), prognosis, and physiological development). Our results may assist in seizure prediction, individualized treatment patterns, and prognosis prediction.

Altered circular RNA expression profiles in the non-ischemic thalamus in focal cortical infarction mice.

Focal cerebral infarction leads to secondary changes in non-ischemic areas remote from but connected to the infarct site. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are involved in the pathophysiological processes of many diseases. However, the expression and roles of circRNAs in non-ischemic remote regions after ischemic stroke remain unknown. In this study, adult male C57BL/6J mice were subjected to permanent distal middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) to establish focal cortical infarction. High-throughput sequencing was used to profile the circRNA expression in the mouse ipsilateral thalamus at 7 and 14 d after MCAO. Bioinformatics analyses were conducted to predict the function of the differential expressed circRNAs' host and target genes. Compared with sham group, a total of 2659 circRNAs were significantly altered in the ipsilateral thalamus at 7 or 14 d after MCAO in mice. Among them, 73 circRNAs were significantly altered at both two time points after stroke. GO and KEGG analyses indicated that circRNAs plays important roles in secondary thalamic neurodegeneration and remodeling after focal cortical infarction. This is the first study to profile the circRNA expression in non-ischemic region of ischemic stroke, suggesting that circRNAs may be therapeutic targets for reducing post-stroke secondary remote neurodegeneration.