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Hsing-Ching Huang,1,* Liu-Ing Bih,1,* Ming-Miau Tsai,1 Tzu-Ling Chang,1 Wan-Chun Liao,1 Chung-Liang Lai2 1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Taichung Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taichung, Taiwan; 2Department of Occupational Therapy, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Chung-Liang Lai, Department of Occupational Therapy, Asia University, 500, Lioufeng Rd., Wufeng, Taichung 41354, Taiwan, Email laipeter57@yahoo.com.twBackground: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can result in functional impairments. Many patients with TBI require post-acute care to improve their functional skills and allow for greater self-independence and a better quality of life. Taiwan’s National Health Insurance proposed a nationwide post-acute care program in 2017 for patients with traumatic brain injury. The program’s goal was to maximize patients’ functional recovery and make it possible for them to return to their homes and communities. This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of such programs in Taiwan.Methods: This pilot study retrospectively evaluated a de-identified database that contained the scores of various assessments evaluated at admission and discharge. It used the data to determine the functional improvement of patients with traumatic brain injury after participating in post-acute care programs.Results: This study collected complete data from 27 patients. After an average of 45.11 days in the program, the patients showed significant improvement in the Barthel Activity Daily Living Index, the Lawton–Brody Instrumental Activity Daily Living Scale, the Mini Nutrition Assessment, the EuroQol Five Dimensions Questionnaire, the Berg Balance Scale, the Galveston Orientation and Amnesia Test, the Rancho Los Amigos Scale, the Concise Chinese Aphasia Test, and the Mini Mental State Examination. After discharge, 96% of the patients could return to their community.Conclusion: This pilot study concluded that the program significantly promoted functional recovery for patients and could help patients with traumatic brain injury return to their communities and reduce the risk of institutionalization. Thus, patients with the potential for functional recovery could receive post-acute care in regional or community hospitals immediately after being discharged from acute wards. In the future randomized controlled trials are needed to further confirm the clinical impact of this program.Keywords: traumatic brain injury, rehabilitation, post-acute care

External cervical resorption (ECR) is an aggressive form of root resorption causing loss of tooth structure and sometimes leading to destruction of adjacent alveolar bone. In the advanced extent of ECR lesion, surgical intervention is inevitable. Several studies presented favorable treatment outcomes on advanced ECR lesions at single teeth. In the light of these studies, this article reports on surgical management of two ECR cases. Materials and Methods: Two cases had ECR combined with bony defect in left mandibular first molar. Case 1 had ECR lesion over buccal furcation area combined with buccal bone plate loss. Following root canal treatment, the resorptive defect was restored by mineral trioxide aggregate and the bony defect was treated with guided tissue regeneration (GTR). Case 2 had class II furcation defect with ECR over furcal surfaces of mesial and distal roots. The resorptive defect was restored with bioceramic putty and class II furcation bony defect was treated by GTR. Root canal treatment of tooth 36 was done later after case 2 suffered from symptomatic irreversible pulpitis of tooth 36. Result: At one-year follow-up of case 1, no inflammatory signs with probing pocket depth (PPD) less than 3mm clinically and regeneration of buccal bone plate radiographically were found of tooth 36. At half year follow-up of case 2, there was a healthy gingiva with PPD less than 3mm clinically and the furcation area has been partially filled with regenerated bone radiographically of tooth 36. Conclusion: These case series presented an interdisciplinary surgical management of two cases with external cervical resorption combined with bony defect over lower molar furcation area which were successfully treated with biocompatible restorative material in combination with GTR technique in short-term follow-up. &nbsp

Background: Thiazolidinediones (TZDs) have been associated with various safety concerns including weight gain, bladder cancer, and congestive heart failure (CHF). This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of lobeglitazone, a novel TZD in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in real practice.Methods: In this non-interventional, multi-center, retrospective, and observational study conducted at 15 tertiary or secondary referral hospitals in Korea, a total of 2,228 patients with T2DM who received lobeglitazone 0.5 mg for more than 1 year were enrolled.Results: Overall adverse events (AEs) occurred in 381 patients (17.10%) including edema in 1.97% (n=44). Cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases were identified in 0.81% (n=18) and 0.81% (n=18), respectively. One case of CHF was reported as an AE. Edema occurred in 1.97% (n=44) of patients. Hypoglycemia occurred in 2.47% (n=55) of patients. Fracture occurred in 1.17% (n=26) of all patients. Lobeglitazone significantly decreased HbA1c level, resulting in a mean treatment difference of -1.05%± 1.35% (P

Aims: Progression of disease within 24 months (POD24) is associated with poor survival in some subtypes of lymphoma.The aim is to identify high-risk patients with localized extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL) and to define clinical factors associated with the risk of early recurrence after antitumor treatment. Methods: The authors retrospectively analyzed 330 cases with localized ENKTL, of which 89 experienced POD24. Results: The 5-year overall survival of the POD24 group was extremely inferior to that of the non-POD24 group. Risk factors for POD24 were Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status ≥2, response evaluation (non-complete remission) after first-line treatment and elevated lactate dehydrogenase concentrations. Also, higher Epstein–Barr virus DNA titer was related to POD24. Based on these data with or without the availability of Epstein–Barr virus DNA, the authors conducted two nomograms to predict POD24, which showed good accuracy with high C statistics. Conclusion: The results showed that POD24 could serve as a marker to identify patients whose medical needs were unmet in ENKTL.

Background: The choice of an optimal oral hypoglycemic agent in the initial treatment periods for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients remains difficult and deliberate. We compared the efficacy and safety of glimepiride (GLIM), alogliptin (ALO), and alogliptin-pioglitazone (ALO-PIO) in poorly controlled T2DM patients with drug-naïve or metformin failure.Methods: In this three-arm, multicenter, open-label, randomized, controlled trial, poorly controlled T2DM patients were randomized to receive GLIM (n=35), ALO (n=31), or ALO-PIO (n=33) therapy for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was change in the mean glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels at week 24 from baseline. Secondary endpoints were changes in HbA1c level at week 12 from baseline, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels, lipid profiles at weeks 12 and 24, and parameters of glycemic variability, assessed by continuous glucose monitoring for 24 weeks.Results: At weeks 12 and 24, the ALO-PIO group showed significant reduction in HbA1c levels compared to the ALO group (–0.96%±0.17% vs. –0.37%±0.17% at week 12; –1.13%±0.19% vs. –0.18%±0.2% at week 24). The ALO-PIO therapy caused greater reduction in FPG levels and significant increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels at weeks 12 and 24 than the ALO therapy. Compared to low-dose GLIM therapy, ALO-PIO therapy showed greater improvement in glycemic variability. The adverse events were similar among the three arms.Conclusion: ALO-PIO combination therapy during the early period exerts better glycemic control than ALO monotherapy and excellency in glycemic variability than low-dose sulfonylurea therapy in uncontrolled, drug-naïve or metformin failed T2DM patients.

Lymphoma-associated hemophagocytic syndrome (LAHS) is a rare and life-threatening clinical syndrome with rapidly deteriorating health and high mortality. We retrospectively analyzed clinical features and prognostic factors from 117 patients diagnosed with LAHS. The cumulative incidence rate of LAHS was 4.0% (117/2906). Patients were classified into B-cell LAHS (B-LAHS, n = 22) and T/natural killer (NK)-cell LAHS (T/NK-LAHS, n = 95) groups. Patients with T/NK-LAHS were younger and had lower neutrophil counts and fibrinogen values, higher LDH and transaminase levels, and were more likely to develop hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) during the clinical course than those with B-LAHS. The median survival time for the entire cohort was 57 days, and for the T/NK-LAHS and B-LAHS groups, it was 52 and 154 days, respectively, after the diagnosis of LAHS. Patients with B-LAHS had superior 1-year OS (

Purpose: Oxidative stress-elated genes (OSRGs) and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) have been reported to be associated with cancer prognosis, but the prognostic role of oxidative stress-related lncRNAs (OSRlncRNAs) in thyroid cancer (THCA) is unclear. Methods:RNA-sequencing data and OSRGs were downloaded from public databases. Differentially expressed OSRGs (DE-OSRGs) were identified by limma or DESeq2 packages. Pearson correlation analysis was performed to screen OSRlncRNAs. Furthermore, prognostic risk model was constructed by Cox and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression analyses. A nomogram was further developed. Moreover, functional enrichment analyses were performed on differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between high- and low-risk groups. Finally, a lncRNA-mRNA co-expression network was constructed to analyze the regulatory relationship of model lncRNA. Results: The prognostic risk model based on two OSRlncRNA (DPP4-DT, SAP30-DT) was constructed. The predictive power of the nomogram was accurate and reliable (c-index = 0.942). The neuroactive ligand-receptor interactions, thyroid hormone synthesis, and cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions pathways are important in THCA. The co-expression network results showed that 88 DEGs were regulated by DPP4-DT. Conclusion:The prognostic risk model constructed based on two OSRlncRNA (DPP4-DT, SAP30-DT) could effectively predict the prognosis of THCA patients and provided insights for new personalized prediction and treatment for THCA patients.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, several randomized controlled trials came to a halt; however, we chose to reinvent our study and shifted to a home-based, telehealth intervention delivery format to support children with autism spectrum disorder and their families. Children with autism spectrum disorder have social communication impairments as well as perceptuomotor and cognitive comorbidities. Continued access to care is crucial for their long-term development.We created a general movement intervention to target strength, endurance, executive functioning, and social skills through goal-directed games and activities delivered using a telehealth intervention model.Our family-centered approach allowed for collaboration between trainers and caregivers and made it easy for families to replicate training activities at home.While more studies comparing telehealth and face-to-face interventions are needed, we encourage researchers and clinicians to consider family-centered telehealth as a valid and feasible intervention delivery method, to increase the likelihood of carryover of skills into the daily lives of children and ultimately enhance their long-term development.

Extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL) is an aggressive disorder with heterogeneous clinical characteristics and poor prognosis. The combined value of baseline serum albumin level and absolute peripheral lymphocyte count showed prognostic information in a variety of malignancies, but its evidence is limited in ENKTL. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of prognostic nutritional index (PNI) in ENKTL, and to provide some nutritionally and immunologically relevant information for better risk stratification. We conducted a retrospective study in 533 patients newly diagnosed with ENKTL. The PNI was calculated as albumin (g/L) + 5 × lymphocyte count (10

According to pivotal clinical trials, cure rates for sofosbuvir-based antiviral therapy exceed 96%. Treatment failure is usually assumed to be because of virological resistance-associated substitutions or clinical risk factors, yet the role of patient-specific genetic factors has not been well explored. We determined if patient-specific genetic factors help predict patients likely to fail sofosbuvir treatment in real-world treatment situations.We recruited sofosbuvir-treated patients with chronic hepatitis C from five Canadian treatment sites, and performed a case-control pharmacogenomics study assessing both previously published and novel genetic polymorphisms. Specifically studied were variants predicted to impair CES1-dependent production of sofosbuvir's active metabolite, interferon-λ signalling variants expected to impact a patient's immune response to the virus and an HLA variant associated with increased spontaneous and treatment-induced viral clearance.Three hundred and fifty-nine sofosbuvir-treated patients were available for analyses after exclusions, with 34 (9.5%) failing treatment. We identified CES1 variants as novel predictors for treatment failure in European patients (rs115629050 or rs4513095; odds ratio (OR): 5.43; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.64-18.01; P = .0057), replicated associations with IFNL4 variants predicted to increase interferon-λ signalling (eg rs12979860; OR: 2.25; 95% CI: 1.25-4.06; P = .0071) and discovered a novel association with a coding variant predicted to enhance the activity of IFNL4's receptor (rs2834167 in IL10RB; OR: 1.81; 95% CI: 1.01-3.24; P = .047).Ultimately, this work demonstrates that patient-specific genetic factors could be used as a tool to identify patients at higher risk of treatment failure and allow for these patients to receive effective therapy sooner.

A number of studies demonstrated that some tea extracts exert inhibitory effects on osteoclastogenesis induced by receptor activator of nuclear factor κB ligand (RANKL). However, the effect of purple tea, a famous tea in China, on osteoclastogenesis remains unclear. In this study, a water-based purple tea extract (PTE) was found to suppress osteoclast formation, osteoclastic resorption pit area formation, and F-actin ring formation within RANKL-stimulated bone marrow macrophages (BMMs). Furthermore, our results demonstrated that PTE could inhibit expression of master transcription factors NFATc1 and c-Fos and their target genes

Luqi Dai,1,2,&ast; Dan Xu,1,&ast; Chun Wan,1,2 Lian Liu,1 Fuqiang Wen1,2 1Division of Pulmonary Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, West China School of Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, West China Hospital, West China School of Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Fuqiang Wen; Lian LiuDepartment of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, and Division of Pulmonary Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, Guoxuexiang 37 Road, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 28 8542 2350Fax +86 28 8558 2944Email wenfuqiang@scu.edu.cn; desertfoxliu@hotmail.comPurpose: WNT/β-catenin signal pathway is a potential hope for lung tissue repair. We investigated the levels of Dickkopf‐1 (DKK1), an endogenous inhibitor of WNT/β-catenin signal pathway, in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients and airway inflammation.Patients and Methods: Collected the demographic and clinical characteristics of 36 healthy controls, 25 stable COPD patients and 10 acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) patients, then performed pulmonary function and detected serum DKK1 levels. After over-expression of DKK1, detect the levels of DDK1, lipoprotein-related protein 6 (LRP6) and inflammatory factors in bronchial epithelial cells stimulated with cigarette smoke extract (CSE).Results: Serum DKK1 were reduced in stable COPD patients compared to healthy controls (3866.72 ± 775.33 pg/mL vs 5317.61 ± 1317.20 pg/mL, p< 0.0001), but there was no significant difference between stable and acutely exacerbated patients (3866.72 ± 775.33 pg/mL vs 3482.10 ± 841.25 pg/mL, p> 0.05). DKK1 was positively correlated with FEV1 (r = 0.570, p< 0.0001), FEV1/FVC (rho = 0.590, p< 0.0001), FEV1/Pre (r = 0.517, p< 0.0001). Multiple linear regression analysis also suggested that FEV1 levels were higher with increasing DKK1. In vitro, elevated IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α and decreased DKK1, LRP6 were found in Beas-2B cells after CSE treatments, and increased LRP6 and decreased inflammatory factors were found after overexpression of DKK1. Andrographolide restored the CSE-induced decrease in DKK1 and increase in IL-6 and IL-8.Conclusion: DKK1 levels were decreased in COPD patients and positively correlated with lung function, overexpression of DKK1 and andrographolide attenuated airway cell inflammation, both suggesting a potential role in pathophysiology and providing a disease-specific biomarker pattern.Keywords: LRP6, lung function, biomarker, andrographolide

Senescence is a cellular aging-related process triggered by different stresses and characterized by the secretion of various inflammatory factors referred to as the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). Here, we present evidence that the inflammasome sensor, NLRP1, is a key mediator of senescence induced by irradiation both in vitro and in vivo. The NLRP1 inflammasome promotes senescence by regulating the expression of p16, p21, p53, and SASP in Gasdermin D (GSDMD)-dependent manner as these responses are reduced in conditions of NLRP1 insufficiency or GSDMD inhibition. Mechanistically, the NLRP1 inflammasome is activated downstream of the cytosolic DNA sensor cGMP-AMP (cGAMP) synthase (cGAS) in response to genomic damage. These findings provide a rationale for inhibiting the NLRP1 inflammasome-GSDMD axis to treat senescence-driven disorders.

Two new compounds, aphegiractin A1/A2 (1a/1b), and seven known compounds were isolated by phytochemical work on EtOAc-soluble ingredients extracted from stem and root barks of Daphne giraldii. Their structures were established based on extensive spectroscopic methods, including HRESIMS, CD experiments, 1D and 2D NMR. All compounds were evaluated for their antioxidant activity to DPPH, ABTS radical scavenging activity and inhibitory activity on tyrosinase. Of these compounds, compound 3 exhibited significant antioxidant activities.

Clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) is the focus of clinical diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer (PCa). The current standard for diagnosing csPCa in men at risk relies on a transrectal (and in some instances transperineal) ultrasound-guided biopsy (TRUS-GB) that is blind to the location of cancer, leading to false-negative csPCa diagnoses. Over the past decade, PSMA PET/CT imaging-targeted prostate biopsy (PSMA PET/CT-TB), which obtains tissue samples from a defined suspicious area, has emerged as a promising solution for improving csPCa detection. Its feasibility and higher csPCa diagnostic value have been reported by a few case reports and studies. The current manuscript will review this latest targeted prostate puncture technology, summarize the existing applications of PSMA PET/CT-TB, including technical considerations, and discuss the advantages and challenges of each technique.

Electroretinogram (ERG) captures the electrical responses of photoreceptors, the summation of action potentials from all neurons in the retina elicited by illumination. ERG testing is an incredibly useful tool in obtaining more specific information regarding a retinal dystrophy. Specifically, ERGs are typically used to test photoreceptors and inner retinal function in humans and animals, to diagnose retinal dystrophies, and to monitor disease progression. In this chapter, we will introduce the components of ERGs and the standard ERG protocols for clinical examination. We will also introduce the various specialized ERG tests, which can help to differentiate retinitis pigmentosa (RP) from other retinal disorders. Lastly, we will elaborate on how to use ERGs to predict visual prognosis in RP.

An approach for designing a beam-steering active phased array of antenna elements with integrated power amplifiers (PAs) is presented. It is based on an amplifying active integrated unit cell (AiUC) concept, where the AiUC comprises a radiating slot element, a GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT), its input matching, and dc biasing/feeding circuitry. The HEMT is embedded in the antenna element, being directly impedance-matched to HEMT’s drain output, i.e., without using any intermediate and potentially lossy impedance matching network. The proposed co-design approach involves a full-wave analysis of the AiUC passive part (naturally including elements mutual coupling effects) along with the subsequent full-system harmonic balance simulations. Furthermore, we extend the standard definition of the scan element pattern (SEP) to the active SEP (ASEP) that accounts for nonlinear effects of PAs on the AiUC performance. We show that the ASEP is, in general, power-dependent and has a different shape compared with the SEP. The proposed approach has been demonstrated for a $K$ -band AiUC design example. It was verified through an active waveguide simulator, which is equivalent to the 23.7° H-plane beam-steering case. Measurements are in good agreement with simulations, revealing AiUC 47% peak drain efficiency and 33 dBm maximum radiated power. The predicted scan range is ±60° and ±37° in the E- and H-planes, respectively.

Background: Conventional diagnostic approaches for adrenal tumors require multi-step processes, including imaging studies and dynamic hormone tests. Therefore, this study aimed to discriminate adrenal tumors from a single blood sample based on the combination of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and machine learning algorithms in serum profiling of adrenal steroids.Methods: The LC-MS-based steroid profiling was applied to serum samples obtained from patients with nonfunctioning adenoma (NFA, n=73), Cushing’s syndrome (CS, n=30), and primary aldosteronism (PA, n=40) in a prospective multicenter study of adrenal disease. The decision tree (DT), random forest (RF), and extreme gradient boost (XGBoost) were performed to categorize the subtypes of adrenal tumors.Results: The CS group showed higher serum levels of 11-deoxycortisol than the NFA group, and increased levels of tetrahydrocortisone (THE), 20α-dihydrocortisol, and 6β-hydroxycortisol were found in the PA group. However, the CS group showed lower levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfate derivative (DHEA-S) than both the NFA and PA groups. Patients with PA expressed higher serum 18-hydroxycortisol and DHEA but lower THE than NFA patients. The balanced accuracies of DT, RF, and XGBoost for classifying each type were 78%, 96%, and 97%, respectively. In receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis for CS, XGBoost, and RF showed a significantly greater diagnostic power than the DT. However, in ROC analysis for PA, only RF exhibited better diagnostic performance than DT.Conclusion: The combination of LC-MS-based steroid profiling with machine learning algorithms could be a promising one-step diagnostic approach for the classification of adrenal tumor subtypes.

With the prevalence of obesity and other components of metabolic syndrome, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become increasingly common. In recent years, much attention has been paid to various plant sources, hoping to find a treatment for NAFLD in plants. The Livsooth authentic herbal formula (LAH, 樂悠本草), a botanical drug formula combined with Puerariae lobatae radix, Lonicerae japonicae flos, Hoveniae semen, and Siraitiae fructus. This study used a network pharmacology approach to predict the potential mechanisms of LAH against NAFLD. Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses have identified potential biochemical and signaling pathways. Subsequently, the potential mechanism of action of LAH on NAFLD predicted by network pharmacology analysis was validated in a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced NAFLD model in C57BL/6 mice. Our results demonstrated that LAH ameliorated hepatocyte steatosis in liver tissue by activating the AMPK pathway and decreasing serum triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein, glucose, and cholesterol. Besides, LAH increased the hepatic antioxidant enzymes activities, suggested that LAH improved oxidative stress markers in HFD induced NAFLD mice. In vitro experiments confirmed that the active component of LAH, puerarin, regulates lipid accumulation through the AMPK pathway. In conclusion, our study shows that network pharmacology predictions are consistent with experimental validation. LAH can be a candidate supplement for the prevention of NAFLD.

Motor execution, observation, and imagery are important skills used in motor learning and rehabilitation. The neural mechanisms underlying these cognitive-motor processes are still poorly understood. We used a simultaneous recording of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and electroencephalogram (EEG) to elucidate the differences in neural activity across three conditions requiring these processes. Additionally, we used a new method called structured sparse multiset Canonical Correlation Analysis (ssmCCA) to fuse the fNIRS and EEG data and determine the brain regions of neural activity consistently detected by both modalities. Unimodal analyses revealed differentiated activation between conditions; however, the activated regions did not fully overlap across the two modalities (fNIRS: left angular gyrus, right supramarginal gyrus, as well as right superior and inferior parietal lobes; EEG: bilateral central, right frontal, and parietal). These discrepancies might be because fNIRS and EEG detect different signals. Using fused fNIRS-EEG data, we consistently found activation over the left inferior parietal lobe, superior marginal gyrus, and post-central gyrus during all three conditions, suggesting that our multimodal approach identifies a shared neural region associated with the Action Observation Network (AON). This study highlights the strengths of using the multimodal fNIRS-EEG fusion technique for studying AON. Neural researchers should consider using the multimodal approach to validate their findings.

Anaesthesia for paediatric oromaxillofacial surgery ranges from simple dental procedures, cleft lip and palate, to the temporomandibular joint and ultra-major craniofacial surgeries. In this chapter, paediatric oromaxillofacial abnormalities and their association with congenital syndromes are outlined. In planning, anaesthetists should be aware of the possibility of difficult tracheal intubation and ventilation. Identification and management of the difficult airway in these children is discussed. Different strategies to allay perioperative anxiety including newer techniques such as intranasal dexmedetomidine are introduced. Updated guidelines on fasting, the choice of tracheal tubes, intraoperative concerns such as fluid management for prolonged procedures, blood conservation techniques, prophylaxis and management of postoperative nausea and vomiting, and perioperative pain management are discussed. Anaesthetic management of specific oromaxillofacial surgical procedures is also presented.

The inoculation of antibiotic-degrading bacteria into manure could promote the removal of antibiotics during composting. However, knowledge on the impact of inoculating these antibiotic-degrading bacteria on the composting process and indigenous microbial community succession is still limited. This study assessed the antibiotic removal efficiency in pig manure after inoculating a microbial inoculum with antibiotic-degrading bacteria as the key component. The effect of inoculating this microbial inoculum on the physicochemical dynamics and the succession of the manure bacterial community during composting was also analyzed. The results showed that the antibiotic degradation in pig manure reached 81.95% after inoculating the microbial inoculum. When compared with that in the control, the total concentration of antibiotic residues in manure with the microbial agent inoculated was decreased by 42.18%. During composting, inoculating the microbial inoculum accelerated the temperature rise of compost, favored water loss, and alleviated the release of NH

Portraiture as an art form has evolved from realistic depiction into a plethora of creative styles. While substantial progress has been made in automated stylization, generating high quality stylistic portraits is still a challenge, and even the recent popular Toonify suffers from several artifacts when used on real input images. Such StyleGAN-based methods have focused on finding the best latent inversion mapping for reconstructing input images; however, our key insight is that this does not lead to good generalization to different portrait styles. Hence we propose AgileGAN, a framework that can generate high quality stylistic portraits via inversion-consistent transfer learning. We introduce a novel hierarchical variational autoencoder to ensure the inverse mapped distribution conforms to the original latent Gaussian distribution, while augmenting the original space to a multi-resolution latent space so as to better encode different levels of detail. To better capture attribute-dependent stylization of facial features, we also present an attribute-aware generator and adopt an early stopping strategy to avoid overfitting small training datasets. Our approach provides greater agility in creating high quality and high resolution (1024×1024) portrait stylization models, requiring only a limited number of style exemplars (~100) and short training time (~1 hour). We collected several style datasets for evaluation including 3D cartoons, comics, oil paintings and celebrities. We show that we can achieve superior portrait stylization quality to previous state-of-the-art methods, with comparisons done qualitatively, quantitatively and through a perceptual user study. We also demonstrate two applications of our method, image editing and motion retargeting.

BACKGROUND The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused major public panic in China. Pregnant women may be more vulnerable to stress, which may cause them to have psychological problems. AIM To explore the effects of perceived family support on psychological distress in pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS A total of 2232 subjects were recruited from three cities in China. Through the online surveys, information on demographic data and health status during pregnancy were collected. Insomnia severity index, generalized anxiety disorder 7-item scale, patient health questionnaire-9, somatization subscale of the symptom check list 90 scale, and posttraumatic stress disorder checklist were used to assess the psychological distress. RESULTS A total of 1015 (45.4%) women reported having at least one psychological distress. The women who reported having inadequate family support were more likely to suffer from multiple psychological distress (≥ 2 psychological distress) than women who received adequate family support. Among the women who reported less family support, 41.8% reported depression, 31.1% reported anxiety, 8.2% reported insomnia, 13.3% reported somatization and 8.9% reported posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which were significantly higher than those who received strong family support. Perceived family support level was negatively correlated with depressive symptoms (r = -0.118, P < 0.001), anxiety symptoms (r = -0.111, P < 0.001), and PTSD symptoms (r = -0.155, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Family support plays an important part on pregnant women’s mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Better family support can help improve the mental health of pregnant women.

Dry cultivation is a new rice crop mode used to alleviate water shortage and develop water-saving agriculture. There is obvious genetic difference compared with drought-tolerant rice. Silicon (Si) plays an important role in plant adaptation to adverse environmental conditions and can significantly improve the drought tolerance and yield of rice. However, the regulatory mechanism via which Si provides plant tolerance or adaptation under dry cultivation is not well understood. The present study investigated the changes in plant growth, photosynthetic gas exchange, and oxidative stress of the rice cultivar “Suijing 18” under dry cultivation. Si improved photosynthetic performance and antioxidant enzyme activity and subsequently reduced lipid peroxidation of rice seedlings, promoted LAI and promoted leaf growth under dry cultivation. Further, transcriptomics combined with quasi-targeted metabolomics detected 1416 and 520 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), 38 and 41 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) in the rice leaves and roots, respectively. Among them, 13 DEGs were involved in flavonoid biosynthesis, promoting the accumulation of flavonoids, anthocyanins, and flavonols in the roots and leaves of rice under dry cultivation. Meanwhile, 14 DEGs were involved in photosynthesis, promoting photosystem I and photosystem II responses, increasing the abundance of metabolites in leaves. On the other hand, 24 DAMs were identified involved in osmoregulatory processes, significantly increasing amino acids and carbohydrates and their derivatives in roots. These results provide new insight into the role of Si in alleviating to adverse environmental, Si enhanced the accumulation of flavonoids and osmoregulatory metabolites, thereby alleviating drought effect on the roots. On the other hand, improving dehydration resistance of leaves, guaranteeing normal photosynthesis and downward transport of organic matter. In conclusion, Si promoted the coordinated action between the above-ground and below-ground plant parts, improved the root/shoot ratio (R/S) of rice and increased the sugar content and enhancing rice adaptability under dry cultivation conditions. The establishment of the system for increasing the yield of rice under dry cultivation provides theoretical and technical support thereby promoting the rapid development of rice in Northeast China, and ensuring national food security.

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the delivery of face-to-face (F2F) therapeutic interventions and neuroimaging assessments for children with autism spectrum disorder has been disrupted. To resume interventions and assessments, many services are now using telehealth-based online platforms. Using the Zoom conferencing platform, our research group has been providing creative play-based interventions to school-age children with autism spectrum disorder. The feedback on this telehealth intervention experience has been generally positive (mean satisfaction score: 4.4 on a 5-point Likert-type scoring range) and our preliminary data from six children with autism spectrum disorder suggest training-related improvements in gross motor, balance, and imitation skills. Despite the positive results, it remains to be explored if the effects of telehealth interventions are similar to those of F2F interventions. Neuroimaging techniques could provide objective measures of intervention effects. However, this will require researchers to resume neuroimaging research while adopting safe public health protocols to control the risk of COVID-19 transmission. In this short report, we summarize existing safety protocols for F2F neuroimaging research, our own experiences of safely conducting alternative, on-site and off-site neuroimaging data collection, as well as the potential opportunities of using online data sharing and low-cost, remote neuroimaging/electrophysiological techniques to continue brain research during the pandemic. Lay abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption in F2F healthcare delivery and neuroimaging research, especially when involving vulnerable populations such as children with autism spectrum disorder. Given the easy access to multiple video conferencing platforms, many healthcare services have moved to an online delivery format (i.e. telehealth). It is important to monitor the behavioral and neural effects of telehealth interventions and resume neuroimaging research while adopting public health safety protocols to control the risk of COVID-19 transmission. We summarize existing safety protocols and our own experience from in-person functional near-infrared spectroscopy neuroimaging data collection (on-site, at home, and in outdoor settings), as well as potential opportunities of using online data sharing and low-cost, remote neuroimaging/electrophysiological techniques to continue brain research during the pandemic.

This study investigated the impact of material properties of epoxy molding compounds on wafer warpage in fan-out wafer-level packaging. As there is currently a lack of comprehensive discussion on the various material property parameters of EMC materials, it is essential to identify the critical influencing factors and quantify the effects of each parameter on wafer warpage. The material properties include Young’s modulus of the epoxy molding compound before and after the glass transition temperature (Tg) range of 25–35 °C (EL) and 235–260 °C (EH), coefficient of thermal expansion (α1, α2), and the temperature change (∆T) between EL and EH. Results show that, within the range of extreme values of material properties, EL and α1 are the critical factors that affect wafer warpage during the decarrier process in fan-out packaging. α1 has a more significant impact on wafer warpage compared with EL. EH, α2, Tg, and ∆T have little influence on wafer warpage. Additionally, the study identified the optimized material property of the epoxy molding compound that can reduce the maximum wafer warpage in the X and Y directions from initial values of 7.34 mm and 7.189 mm to 0.545 mm and 0.45 mm, respectively, resulting in a reduction of wafer warpage of 92.58% (X direction) and 93.74% (Y direction). Thus, this study proposes an approach for evaluating the impact of material properties of epoxy molding compounds on wafer warpage in fan-out wafer-level packaging. The approach aims to address the issue of excessive wafer warpage due to material variation and to provide criteria for selecting appropriate epoxy molding compounds to enhance process yield in packaging production lines.

A palladium-catalyzed asymmetric tandem C-C bond activation/Cacchi reaction between cyclobutanones and o-ethynylanilines was reported. The transient chiral σ-alkylpalladium species generated via enantioselective C(sp3)-C(sp2) bond activation of cyclobutanones promotes cyclization of o-ethynylanilines, leading to one-carbon-tethered chiral indanone-substituted indoles. Two C-C bonds and one C-N bond are created with concomitant formation of an all-carbon quaternary stereocenter. Furthermore, a chiral C2-aryl axis can be created in 2,3-disubstituted indole moiety, leading to indanone-substituted indoles with both central and axial stereogenic elements.

A bandpass filtering nano-film based on high refractive index materials is designed in this paper, it shows high transmittance for red light and high reflectance for visible light. The structure of the nano-filtration membrane is simple, which is composed of three nano-films with the overall thickness no more than 100 nm. At normal incidence, the red light (620-760nm) transmittance of the filter film is above 0.6, and the reflectance is below 0.05. At oblique incidence from 0 to 45 degree, the red light transmittance of the filter film under both TM and TE wave mode are all above 0.5, which achieve the transmission of red light in a wide range of incident angles. The light transmittance of the nano-filtration membrane was calculated by transfer matrix method (TMM), it is verified by finite-difference frequency-domain (FDFD) method, and the field distribution of the typical wavelength in the film was calculated. The thickness variation of each layer effects the transmittance of light wave in nano-film was studied. The passband of this filter is easy to be modulated, the bandwidth and waveband of the transmitted light can be modulated as long as changing the thickness of the film, which can be applied to medical or scientific research fields that requires specific light waveband.

A palladium-catalyzed carbonylative C–C bond activation reaction of cyclobutanones proceeding by C–C bond cleavage, ring-opening, and amino- or alkoxycarbonylation is reported here. Two C–C bonds and one C–O or C–N bond are created to afford a variety of indanones bearing ester or amide groups under gas-free conditions by using phenyl formate and benzene-1,3,5-triyl triformate (TFBen) as convenient CO surrogates.

Abnormal lipolysis is correlated with metabolic syndrome. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), a natural product from honeybee hives, has been reported to improve metabolic syndrome. However, the effects of CAPE on lipolysis and perilipin-1 (the major lipid droplet-associated protein) in mature adipocytes were not clarified. In this study, mature adipocytes were isolated from the epididymal fat pads of male rats and incubated with CAPE to estimate lipolysis by measuring glycerol release. It was found that the basal lipolysis was inhibited by CAPE in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The lipid droplet-associated perilipin-1 and phosphorylated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) gamma levels increased following CAPE treatment by Western blot analysis. Moreover, a specific PPAR-gamma inhibitor (T0070907) could partly reverse the effect of CAPE on basal lipolysis. Furthermore, treatment of adipocytes with dibutyryl-cAMP (db-cAMP) or isoproterenol (ISO) increased lipolysis, but the drug-induced lipolysis was abrogated by combination treatment with CAPE. The lipid droplet-associated perilipin-1 level was also decreased in the drug-induced groups but increased when combined treatment with CAPE. In conclusion, our results revealed that a decrease in basal lipolysis and an increase in lipid droplet-associated perilipin-1 levels induced by CAPE may be involved in the regulation of lipid metabolism through activation of PPAR-gamma in mature adipocytes.