Seizure Outcome After Surgery for Refractory Epilepsy Diagnosed by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET/MRI): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: When magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) fails to detect an underlying epileptogenic lesion, the odds of a good outcome after epilepsy surgery are significantly lower (20%-65% compared with 60%-90% if a lesion is detected). We investigated the possible effects of introducing hybrid 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET)/MRI into the decision algorithm for patients with lesioned and nonlesioned drug-resistant epilepsy. METHODS: Three databases were searched from January 1990 to October 2022. We registered the protocol with International Platform of Registered Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Protocols. Studies in which 18F-FDG PET/MRI was conducted with ≥12 months of postsurgical follow-up in patients with refractory epilepsy. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to calculate the proportion of patients with good outcomes. Metaregression was used to investigate sources of heterogeneity. RESULTS: We identified 8105 studies, of which 23 (1292 patients in total) were included. The overall good postoperative outcome rate was 71% (95% confidence interval 63.6-74.9). Good outcome was associated with the location of the refractory epileptic lesion (temporal lobe or extratemporal; risk ratio 1.27 [95% confidence interval 1.01-1.52], P = 0.009); Length of postoperative follow-up ≥40 months included in the same study accounted for 0.6% of the observed heterogeneity. CONCLUSIONS: Seventy-one percent of patients with refractory epilepsy and 18F-FDG PET/MRI epileptogenic lesion features had a good outcome of epilepsy after surgery. Our findings can be incorporated into routine preoperative consultations and emphasize the importance of the complete resection of the temporal lobe epileptogenic zone for 18F-FDG PET/MRI detection when safe and feasible.

Investigation on Sub-Solvus Recrystallization Mechanisms in an Advanced γ-γ' Nickel-Based Superalloy GH4151.

Sub-solvus dynamic recrystallization (DRX) mechanisms in an advanced γ-γ' nickel-based superalloy GH4151 were investigated by isothermal compression experiments at 1040 °C with a strain rate of 0.1 s-1 and various true strain of 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7, respectively. This has not been reported in literature before. The electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) technology were used for the observation of microstructure evolution and the confirmation of DRX mechanisms. The results indicate that a new dynamic recrystallization mechanism occurs during hot deformation of the hot-extruded GH4151 alloy. The nucleation mechanism can be described as such a feature, that is a primary γ' (Ni3(Al, Ti, Nb)) precipitate embedded in a recrystallized grain existed the same crystallographic orientation, which is defined as heteroepitaxial dynamic recrystallization (HDRX). Meanwhile, the conventional DRX mechanisms, such as the discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX) characterized by bulging grain boundary and continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) operated through progressive sub-grain merging and rotation, also take place during the hot deformation of the hot-extruded GH4151 alloy. In addition, the step-shaped structures can be observed at grain boundaries, which ensure the low-energy surface state during the DRX process.

Superplastic Deformation and Dynamic Recrystallization of a Novel Disc Superalloy GH4151.

The superplastic deformation of a hot-extruded GH4151 billet was investigated by means of tensile tests with the strain rates of 10-4 s-1, 5 × 10-4 s-1 and 10-3 s-1 and at temperatures at 1060 °C, 1080 °C and 1100 °C. The superplastic deformation of the GH4151 alloy was reported here for the first time. The results reveal that the uniform fine-grained GH4151 alloy exhibited an excellent superplasticity and high strain rate sensitivity (exceeded 0.5) under all experimental conditions. It was found that the increase of strain rate resulted in an increased average activation energy for superplastic deformation. A maximum elongation of 760.4% was determined at a temperature of 1080 °C and strain rate of 10-3 s-1. The average activation energy under different conditions suggested that the superplastic deformation with 1 × 10-4 s-1 in this experiment is mainly deemed as the grain boundary sliding controlled by grain boundary diffusion. However, with a higher stain rate of 5 × 10-4 s-1 and 1 × 10-3 s-1, the superplastic deformation is considered to be grain boundary sliding controlled by lattice diffusion. Based on the systematically microstructural examination using optical microscope (OM), SEM, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and TEM techniques, the failure and dynamic recrystallization (DRX) nucleation mechanisms were proposed. The dominant nucleation mechanism of dynamic recrystallization (DRX) is the bulging of original grain boundaries, which is the typical feature of discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX), and continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) is merely an assistant mechanism of DRX. The main contributions of DRX on superplasticity elongation were derived from its grain refinement process.

The Mechanical Properties and In Vitro Biocompatibility of PM-Fabricated Ti-28Nb-35.4Zr Alloy for Orthopedic Implant Applications.

A biocompatible Ti-28Nb-35.4Zr alloy used as bone implant was fabricated through the powder metallurgy process. The effects of mechanical milling and sintering temperatures on the microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated systematically, before in vitro biocompatibility of full dense Ti-28Nb-35.4Zr alloy was evaluated by cytotoxicity tests. The results show that the mechanical milling and sintering temperatures have significantly effects on the density and mechanical properties of the alloys. The relative density of the alloy fabricated by the atomized powders at 1500 °C is only 83 ± 1.8%, while the relative density of the alloy fabricated by the ball-milled powders can rapidly reach at 96.4 ± 1.3% at 1500 °C. When the temperature was increased to 1550 °C, the alloy fabricated by ball-milled powders achieve full density (relative density is 98.1 ± 1.2%). The PM-fabricated Ti-28Nb-35.4Zr alloy by ball-milled powders at 1550 °C can achieve a wide range of mechanical properties, with a compressive yield strength of 1058 ± 35.1 MPa, elastic modulus of 50.8 ± 3.9 GPa, and hardness of 65.8 ± 1.5 HRA. The in vitro cytotoxicity test suggests that the PM-fabricated Ti-28Nb-35.4Zr alloy by ball-milled powders at 1550 °C has no adverse effects on MC3T3-E1 cells with cytotoxicity ranking of 0 grade, which is nearly close to ELI Ti-6Al-4V or CP Ti. These properties and the net-shape manufacturability makes PM-fabricated Ti-28Nb-35.4Zr alloy a low-cost, highly-biocompatible, Ti-based biomedical alloy.

Association between serum polybrominated diphenyl ethers, new flame retardants and thyroid hormone levels for school students near a petrochemical complex, South China.

As surrogates of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), new flame retardants (NFRs) include a series of chlorinated and brominated flame retardants. Though the NFRs are thought to induce similar thyroid hormone (TH) disrupting effects as PBDEs, few studies have focused on them. Given the increasing levels of NFRs in the environment, more in depth investigation of the potential TH disrupting effects of NFRs is warranted. This research involved a health survey to collect data and examine the associations between PBDEs, NFRs and TH. 174 school students lived near a petrochemical complex in South China participated in the survey, completing questionnaires and providing blood samples. Thirteen congeners of PBDEs, eight species of NFRs, TH and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were measured. The median levels of ΣPBDE (sum of thirteen congeners of PBDEs) and ΣNFR (sum of eight species of NFRs) for students were 140 and 240 ng g-1 lipid, respectively. Nonmonotonic relationships were observed between quartile levels of PBDEs, NFRs and corresponding TH. In contrast to ΣPBDE that was positively associated with triidothyrine (T3) level, ΣNFR was not statistically associated with TH. ΣPBDE + NFR (sum of thirteen congeners of PBDEs and eight species of NFRs) was significantly associated with T3 level.

Association between genetic variants and esophageal cancer risk.

We investigated whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the nuclear assembly factor 1 (NAF1) and TNFAIP3-interacting protein 1 (TNIP1) gene were associated with susceptibility to esophageal cancer in a Chinese Han population. Five SNPs were genotyped and their relationship with esophageal cancer risk was analyzed in a sample of 386 esophageal cancer patients and 495 unrelated healthy controls recruited from the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University. Patients with the AG genotype of rs2320615 were at lower risk of developing esophageal cancer than those with the GG genotype (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.46-0.90, P = 0.009). The rs2320615 SNP was found to be associated with a decreased the risk of esophageal cancer in the dominant model (adjusted OR = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.51-0.96, P = 0.026). These results provide the first evidence that the rs2320615 in NAF1 was associated with reduced risk of esophageal cancer. Further studies with larger samples are warranted to confirm our findings.