Search

This paper presents an effective and flexible process to fabricate microlenses based on the overplating phenomenon in electroforming of microvias. With the overplating structures working as the master mold, the polymeric microlenses are replicated through a combination of PDMS molding and UV curing. Shape evolution of the overplating structures in electroforming leads to the formation of spherical surfaces and enables the fabrication of hemispherical lenses with various sizes and curvatures. Furthermore, through design of the pitch in the microvia array and control of the deposition time in electroforming, microlens arrays with packing ratios up to 100% can be obtained. Results of geometrical and optical measurements demonstrate the potential of this method in the fabrication of microlenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: A20 may be a neuroprotective factor. Herein, we aimed to investigate whether serum A20 levels were associated with disease severity, delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI), and outcome after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). METHODS: In this prospective cohort study containing 112 aSAH patients and 112 controls, serum A20 levels were quantified. At 90 d poststroke, Modified Rankin Scale (MRS) scores =3 were defined as a poor outcome. All correlations and associations were assessed using multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Compared with controls, there was a significant elevation of serum A20 levels in patients (median 123.7 pg/mL vs. 25.8 pg/mL; P<0.001). Serum A20 levels were independently correlated with Hunt-Hess scores (ß 9.854; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 2.481-17.227, P=0.009) and modified Fisher scores (ß 10.349, 95% CI 1.273-19.424, P=0.026). Independent associations were found between serum A20 levels and poor outcome (odds ratio [OR] 1.015, 95% CI 1.000-1.031, P=0.047) and DCI (OR 1.018, 95% CI 1.001-1.035, P=0.042). Areas under the curve for predicting poor outcome and DCI were 0.771 (95% CI 0.682-0.845) and 0.777 (95% CI 0.688-0.850), respectively. Serum A20 levels =128.15 pg/mL predicted poor outcome, with a sensitivity of 73.9% and specificity of 74.2%, and A20 levels =160.55 pg/mL distinguished the risk of DCI with 65.5% sensitivity and 89.2% specificity. Its ability to predict poor outcome and DCI was similar to those of Hunt-Hess scores and modified Fisher scores (both P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Enhanced serum A20 levels are significantly associated with stroke severity and poor clinical outcome after aSAH, implying that serum A20 may be a potential prognostic biomarker for aSAH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the fabrication of periodic microstructures, a high-precision and highly efficient polarization-controlled three-beam interference technology (PoTBI) has been developed. With the theory of superposition of multiple laser beams, simulations on the influence of polarization upon the intensity distribution in the overlapped area have been carried out. By controlling the polarization of the interfering beams, various intensity patterns can be obtained. An optical setup for PoTBI has been realized and used to generate microstructures in polyimide foil. Micro cavities, micro bumps, eye-like cavities and rectangular columns of hexagonal symmetry and one-dimensional lines are produced. Compared with other multi-beam interference technologies, different surface textures of hexagonal symmetry with the same periodicity can be obtained only by changing the polarization status of the interfering beams without changing the geometrical interference setup. Thus, PoTBI provides a simply tunable texturing technology with a wide range of applications in surface structuring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lectin affinity chromatography was miniaturized into a microfluidic format, which results in improvement of performance, as compared to the conventional method. A lectin affinity monolith column was prepared in the microchannel of a microfluidic chip. The porous monolith was fabricated by UV-initiated polymerization of ethylene dimethaciylate (EDMA) and glycidyl methactylate (GMA) in the presence of porogeneities, followed by inunobilization of pisum sativum agglutinin (PSA) on the monolith matrix. Using electroosmosis as the driven force, lectin affinity chromatographies of three kinds of glycoprotein, turkey ovalbumin (TO), chicken ovalbumin (CO), and ovomucoid (OM), were carried out on the microfluidic system. All the glycoproteins were successfully separated into several fractions with different affinities toward the immobilized PSA. The integrated system reduces the lime required for the lectin affinity chromatography reaction to ∼ 3%, thus, the overall analysis lime from 4 h to 400 s. Only 300 pg of glycoprotein is required for the whole separation process. Moreover, troublesome operations for lectin affinity chromatography are simplified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aims to investigate the safety of Shu-Xue-Ning injection (SXNI) in real-world clinical applications. Methods: A prospective, multi-center, large-sample intensive monitoring method was used to monitor the use of SXNI in several medical institutions across China while collecting patients' dosing and adverse event information. Patients who suspected as adverse reactions made comparisons with patients who did not report adverse reactions to calculate the correlation between relevant risk factors and suspected adverse reactions. Statistical analysis software SAS 9.1 was used for data analysis. Results: A total of 48 hospitals participated in this intensive monitoring study of SXNI, and 30,122 patients were monitored from July 2015 to December 2018. A total of 1,908 adverse events were reported during the use of SXNI, with an adverse event rate of 6.33% and a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 6.06%-6.61%. Association assessment showed that 54 cases presented with SXNI-related adverse reactions with an incidence of 0.18% and a 95% CI of 0.13%-0.23%, thereby indicating that the incidence of SXNI-related adverse reactions was occasional. SXNI-related adverse reactions involved 9 systems-organs with 20 clinical manifestations, and the most common adverse reactions were rash, pruritus, and other damages of skin and its appendages. No serious adverse reactions were observed; 27.78% of the adverse reactions occurred within 30 min of drug administration and more than half of them occurred within 2 h of drug administration; 96.3% of the adverse reactions were cured or improved. Causal analysis showed that women, long dispensing time, and slow dripping speed rate were considered as risk factors. Conclusion: The incidence of SXNI-related adverse reactions in real-world clinical applications is occasional and in a reasonable range with a good prognosis., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Xinyao, Yifan, Keyi, Wentai, Chunyang, Hui, Chunxiang, Yunhua and Wenke.)

Purpose: To investigate the association between sarcopenia and overactive bladder (OAB) in a United States adult population from 2011 to 2018, and whether sarcopenia can predict the risk of OAB., Materials and Methods: We analyzed data from the 2011-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in a cross-sectional study(NHANES) of 8746 participants, of whom 1213 were diagnosed with OAB, we analyzed correlations by sex, age, race, education level, marital status, household income-to-poverty ratio, hypertension, diabetes, strenuous work activity, moderate work activity, strenuous recreational activity, moderate recreational activity, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, and uric acid levels using restricted cubic spline plots of dose-response curves, univariate and multivariate Logistic regression. Models based on sex, age, education, household income to poverty ratio, hypertension, diabetes, sarcopenia index, and cotinine were developed and evaluated using Nomogram, calibration curves, receiver operating characteristic curves, and clinical decision curves., Results: Of the 1213 OAB patients, 388 (32.0%) were male and 825 (68.0%) were female. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that sarcopenia index was negatively correlated with the prevalence of OAB (OR=0.084, 95% CI, 0.056 - 0.130, P <0.001;OR=0.456, 95%CI, 0.215-0.968, P= 0.0041). Dose curve analysis of the sarcopenia index and prevalence of OAB showed that the prevalence of OAB decreased significantly with increasing sarcopenia index. Sarcopenia was positively correlated with OAB (OR=2.400, 95%CI, 2.000 - 2.800, P <0.001;OR=1.46, 95%CI, 1.096 -1.953, P = 0.010). In addition, our model shows that sarcopenia can predict the prevalence of OAB (AUC = 0.750) and has some clinical decision-making implications., Conclusion: Sarcopenia is positively associated with the risk of OAB in United States adults and can be used as a predictor of OAB prevalence., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.