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Background and Aims: Sleep‐disordered breathing (SDB) and nocturnal hypoxemia were known to be present in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), but the difference between SDB and nocturnal hypoxemia in patients who have chronic thromboembolic pulmonary disease (CTEPD) with or without pulmonary hypertension (PH) at rest remains unknown. Methods: Patients who had CTEPH (n = 80) or CTEPD without PH (n = 40) and who had undergone sleep studies from July 2020 to October 2022 at Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital were enrolled. Nocturnal mean SpO2 (Mean SpO2) <90% was defined as nocturnal hypoxemia, and the percentage of time with a saturation below 90% (T90%) exceeding 10% was used to evaluate the severity of nocturnal hypoxemia. Logistic and linear regression analyses were performed to investigate the difference and potential predictor of SDB or nocturnal hypoxemia between CTEPH and CTEPD without PH. Results: SDB was similarly prevalent in CTEPH and CTEPD without PH (P = 0.104), both characterised by obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Twenty‐two patients with CTEPH were diagnosed with nocturnal hypoxemia, whereas only three were diagnosed with CTEPD without PH (P = 0.021). T90% was positively associated with mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) and pulmonary vascular resistance in patients with CTEPH and CTEPD without PH (P < 0.001); T90% was also negatively related to cardiac output in these patients. Single‐breath carbon monoxide diffusing capacity, sex and mPAP were all correlated with nocturnal hypoxemia in CTEPH and CTEPD without PH (all P < 0.05). Conclusion: Nocturnal hypoxemia was worse in CTEPD with PH; T90%, but not SDB, was independently correlated with the hemodynamics in CTEPD with or without PH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid‐state electrolytes are key to achieving high energy density, safety, and stability for lithium‐ion batteries. In this Review, core indicators of solid polymer electrolytes are discussed in detail including ionic conductivity, interface compatibility, mechanical integrity, and cycling stability. Besides, we also summarize how above properties can be improved by design strategies of functional monomers, groups, and assembly of batteries. Structures and properties of polymers are investigated here to provide a basis for all‐solid‐state electrolyte design strategies of multi‐component polymers. In addition, adjustment strategies of quasi‐solid‐state polymer electrolytes such as adding functional additives and carrying out structural design are also investigated, aiming at solving problems caused by simply adding liquids or small molecular plasticizer. We hope that fresh and established researchers can achieve a general perspective of solid polymer electrolytes via this Review and spur more extensive interests for exploration of high‐performance lithium‐ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of an oral sequential triple combination therapy with selexipag after dual combination therapy with endothelin receptor antagonist (ERA) and phosphodiesterase‐5 inhibitor (PDE5I)/riociguat in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients. A total of 192 PAH patients from 10 centers had received oral sequential selexipag therapy after being on dual‐combination therapy with ERA and PDE5i/riociguat for a minimum of 3 months. Clinical data were collected at baseline and after 6 months of treatment. The study analyzed the event‐free survival at 6 months and all‐cause death over 2 years. At baseline, the distribution of patients among the risk groups was as follows: 22 in the low‐risk group, 35 in the intermediate‐low‐risk group, 91 in the intermediate‐high‐risk group, and 44 in the high‐risk group. After 6 months of treatment, the oral sequential triple combination therapy resulted in reduced NT‐proBNP levels (media from 1604 to 678 pg/mL), a decline in the percentage of WHO‐FC III/IV (from 79.2% to 60.4%), an increased in the 6MWD (from 325 ± 147 to 378 ± 143 m) and a rise in the percentage of patients with three low‐risk criteria (from 5.7% to 13.5%). Among the low‐risk group, there was an improvement in the right heart remodeling, marked by a decrease in right atrium area and eccentricity index. The intermediate‐low‐risk group exhibited significant enhancements in WHO‐FC and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion. For those in the intermediate‐high and high‐risk groups, there were marked improvements in activity tolerance, as reflected by WHO‐FC and 6MWD. The event‐free survival rate at 6 months stood at 88%. Over the long‐term follow‐up, the survival rates at 1 and 2 years were 86.5% and 86.0%, respectively. In conclusion, the oral sequential triple combination therapy enhanced both exercise capacity and cardiac remodeling across PAH patients of different risk stratifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ligustilide, a natural phthalide mainly derived from chuanxiong rhizomes and Angelica Sinensis roots, possesses anti‐inflammatory activity, particularly in the context of the nervous system. However, its application is limited because of its unstable chemical properties. To overcome this limitation, ligusticum cycloprolactam (LIGc) was synthesized through structural modification of ligustilide. In this study, we combined network pharmacological methods with experimental verification to investigate the anti‐neuroinflammatory effects and mechanisms of ligustilide and LIGc. Based on our network pharmacology analysis, we identified four key targets of ligustilide involved in exerting an anti‐inflammatory effect, with the nuclear factor (NF)‐κB signal pathway suggested as the main signalling pathway. To verify these results, we examined the expression of inflammatory cytokines and inflammation‐related proteins, analysed the phosphorylation level of NF‐κB, inhibitor of κBα (IκBα) and inhibitor of κB kinase α and β (IKKα+β), and evaluated the effect of BV2 cell‐conditioned medium on HT22 cells in vitro. Our results, demonstrate for the first time that LIGc can downregulate the activation of the NF‐κB signal pathway in BV2 cells induced by lipopolysaccharide, suppress the production of inflammatory cytokines and reduce nerve injury in HT22 cells mediated by BV2 cells. These findings suggest that LIGc inhibits the neuroinflammatory response mediated by BV2 cells, providing strong scientific support for the development of anti‐inflammatory drugs based on natural ligustilide or its derivatives. However, there are some limitations to our current study. In the future, further experiments using in vivo models may provide additional evidence to support our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aims to explore the effect of liver stem cells (LSCs)‐derived exosomes and the miR‐142a‐5p carried by them on the process of fibrosis by regulating macrophages polarization. Methods: In this study, CCL4 was used to establish liver fibrosis model. The morphology and purity of exosomes (EVs) were verified by transmission electron microscopy, western blotting (WB) and nanoparticle tracing analysis (NTA). Real‐time quantitative PCR (qRT‐PCR), WB and enzyme‐linked immunoadsorption (ELISA) were used to detect liver fibrosis markers, macrophage polarization markers and liver injury markers. Histopathological assays were used to verify the liver injury morphology in different groups. The cell co‐culture model and liver fibrosis model were constructed to verify the expression of miR‐142a‐5p and ctsb. Results: Immunofluorescence of LSCs markers CK‐18, epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCam), and AFP showed that these markers were up‐regulated in LSCs. In addition, we evaluated the ability of LSCs to excrete EVs by labeling LSCs‐EVs with PKH67. We found that CCL4 and EVs were simultaneously treated at 50 and 100 μg doses, and both doses of EVs could reduce the degree of liver fibrosis in mice. We tested markers of M1 or M2 macrophage polarization and found that EVs reduced M1 marker expression and promoted M2 marker expression. Further, ELISA was used to detect the secreted factors related to M1 and M2 in tissue lysates, which also verified the above views. Further analysis showed that the expression of miR‐142a‐5p increased significantly with the increase of EVs treatment concentration and time. Further, in vitro and in vivo LSCs‐EVs regulate macrophage polarization through miR‐142a‐5p/ctsb pathway and affect the process of liver fibrosis. Conclusion: Our data suggest that EVs‐derived miR‐142‐5p from LSCs improves the progression of liver fibrosis by regulating macrophage polarization through ctsb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reasonable power quality assessment model of microgrid is significant to the planning and management for a microgrid. In the power quality assessment, how to extract and integrate the implicative information in different evaluation indicators, to realize the comprehensive power quality assessment, are needs to be further studied. To solve the above problems, a microgrid power quality assessment model based on multivariate Gaussian distribution and local sensitivity analysis is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the probability density function is used to integrate the individual assessment indicators, and the correlation between the assessment indicators is reflected by the covariance matrix, and then the above characteristics of evaluation indicators are quantized to be as the indicator weights by using the local sensitivity. Comparing with the traditional power quality assessment method, the proposed evaluation model is more suitable for microgrid. Finally, an example is developed to verify that the overall situation of microgrid power quality can be reasonably reflected by the proposed evaluation model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Takayasu arteritis (TAK) is a rare large vessel vasculitis, and epidemiological data on TAK are lacking in China. Thus, we designed this study to estimate the TAK prevalence and incidence in residential Shanghai, China. Methods: Data on diagnosed TAK cases aged over 16 years were retrieved from 22 tertiary hospitals in Shanghai through hospital electronic medical record systems between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2017 to estimate the prevalence and incidence. A systematic literature review based on searches in PubMed, Ovid‐Medline, Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), Web of Science, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) was performed to summarize TAK distribution across the world. Results: In total 102 TAK patients, with 64% female, were identified. The point prevalence (2015‐2017) was 7.01 (95% CI 5.65‐8.37) cases per million, and the mean annual incidence was 2.33 (1.97‐3.21) cases per million. The average age of TAK patients was 44 ± 16 years, with the highest prevalence (11.59 [9.23‐19.50] cases per million) and incidence (3.55 [0.72 3.74] cases per million) in the 16 to 34 years population. Seventeen reports were included in the system review, showing that the epidemiology of TAK varied greatly across the world. The incidence and prevalence were both relatively higher in Asian countries, with the prevalence ranging 3.3‐40 cases per million and annual incidence ranging 0.34‐2.4 cases per million. Conclusions: The prevalence and incidence of TAK in Shanghai was at moderate to high levels among the previous reports. The disease burden varied globally among racial populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]