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BACKGROUND: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the preferred examination approach for patients with suspected cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). OBJECTIVE: To investigate the predictive value of MRI spinal cord swelling on the prognosis of decompression surgery in patients with CSM. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 115 patients with CSM who underwent decompression surgery was performed. According to whether cervical MRI showed spinal cord swelling, they were divided into a spinal cord swelling group and non-swelling group. The Modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association (MJOA) score, MJOA improvement rate and abnormal spinal cord enhancement rate in the two groups were compared before and after surgery. Multiple linear regression was used to analyse the influencing factors of the MJOA improvement rate. RESULTS: The time from symptom onset to operation (t = 2.400, p = 0.018) and preoperative MJOA score in the spinal cord swelling group were lower than those in the non-swelling group (t = 3.253, p = 0.002). The body mass index (t = 2.895, p = 0.005), anteroposterior diameter of the spinal canal (t = 4.421, p < 0.001), cross-sectional area (t = 3.136, p = 0.002), postoperative improvement rate (t = 4.277, p < 0.001) and proportion of abnormal enhancement of the spinal cord in the swelling group were higher than those in the non-swelling group ( χ 2 = 3.136, p = 0.002). The preoperative MJOA score in the swelling group was lower than that in the non-swelling group (t = 2.583, p = 0.013). A multivariate linear regression model revealed that age and spinal cord swelling were independent predictors of MJOA score improvement, explaining 33.2% of the total variation. CONCLUSION: Patients with CSM with spinal cord swelling have less time from symptoms to surgery, and the degree of preoperative neurological deterioration is more obvious. Spinal cord swelling is an independent predictor of surgical prognosis in patients with CSM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of our study was to evaluate the potential role of sTNF-RI as a biomarker of renal involvement in SLE patients and active SLE. The study sample consisted of two cohorts. The discovery cohort included 16 SLE patients without renal involvement (non-LN), 60 lupus nephritis (LN) patients and 21 healthy controls (HCs) and the replication cohort included 18 SLE non-LN patients, 116 LN patients and 36 HCs. The sTNF-RI levels differed significantly in the discovery cohort. The plasma sTNF-RI levels were higher in LN patients than in non-LN patients (p =.009) and HCs (p = 4 × 10−6). Plasma sTNF-RI levels were significantly higher in non-LN patients than in HCs (p =.03). The finding was confirmed in independent replication cohort (LNs vs. non-LN, p = 4.053 × 10−7; LNs vs. HCs, p = 2.395 × 10−18; non-LN vs. HCs, p = 2.51 × 10−4). The plasma sTNF-RI levels were associated with disease activity, renal function in SLE patients and urine protein in LN patients. The multivariate analysis revealed that high sTNF-RI was an independent risk factor for renal involvement. The multivariate logistic regression results suggested that high TNF-RI, high systolic blood pressure, high serum creatinine, low C4 and positive anti-dsDNA were independent risks of active SLE patients. A nomogram was constructed based on the results of multivariate logistic regression analysis and it was practical in predicting the risk of the active SLE patients. Immunohistochemistry suggested that the expression of TNF-RI in the kidney was increased. Plasma sTNF-RI might be a good biomarker of renal involvement and disease activity in SLE patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Self‐discharging is a natural behavior that occurs in all batteries. In this work, to reduce the self‐discharging behavior of Al‐ion battery, the graphite materials were coated with different thickness of Al2O3 coatings (3, 5, 7, and 10 nm) by using atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. Because there is no solid electrolyte interface (SEI) formed in Al‐ion battery with using ionic liquid electrolyte, ALD–Al2O3 coating could play a role in artificial SEI in Al‐ion battery. Methods: The aluminum oxide (Al2O3) layer on the graphite electrode was deposited via ALD. During the deposition, the growth temperature for Al2O3 was kept at 80°C. High‐purity N2 was used to carry the gas precursors of trimethylaluminium Al2(CH3)6 (TMA) and H2O alternately into the reacting chamber of ALD. Each injection of gas precursor was followed by purging the reacting chamber with high‐purity N2. By controlling different reaction times, the different thickness of ALD–Al2O3 coatings on the surface of graphite materials can be obtained. Results: We found that SP1 graphite coated with 5 nm Al2O3 (SG–ALD‐5 nm) as cathode materials in Al‐ion battery exhibited a superior anti‐self‐discharging behavior (260 h) with long stability (∼900 cycles). The battery capacity can achieve up to 85 mAh/g at a current density of 300 mA/g (3C) with a coulombic efficiency (CE) of 98.5%. Furthermore, the ALD–Al2O3 coating method can also be applied to other graphite materials. The battery based on flexuous graphite with an ALD–Al2O3 coating (FG–ALD) also exhibited excellent discharging capacity of 140 mAh/g with good cycle stability over 3000 cycles at a current density of 3000 mA/g. Conclusion: Overall results indicated that ALD coatings on graphite materials demonstrated significantly promising on not only reducing the self‐discharging problem but also remaining the superior battery performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve more accurate spatial reconstruction of ionospheric total electron content (TEC) and promote improved satellite positioning and ranging applications, a high accuracy spatial reconstruction (HASR) method for TEC is proposed based on the surface theory. The core theory of this method is as follows: (a) Any surface can be uniquely determined by its first and second fundamental quantities; (b) By direct difference approximation, differential equations are transformed into algebraic equations to solve Gauss equations faster. At the same time, taking parts of Europe as an example, the proposed HASR method is used to determine the correlation coefficients and the number of iterations of the model by using the relative root mean square error (RRMSE) as the evaluation criterion. The statistical results show that the TEC predicted by the HASR method is highly consistent with the actual observed values of ionospheric observation stations, and the prediction RRMSE is 9.75%. Compared with the Kriging interpolation with scale factor, the prediction accuracy of the HASR method is improved by 8.5%. We hope this method can provide ideas for the spatial reconstruction of other ionospheric parameters and further promote the realization of complete and accurate space weather forecast. Plain Language Summary: Due to the limited number of observation stations, the total electron content (TEC) in a region always needs to be reconstructed. In order to improve the spatial prediction accuracy of TEC, a new high‐accuracy spatial reconstruction (HASR) method was proposed based on surface theory. The HASR transforms the difficult differential equation into an algebraic equation which is easy to deal with by direct difference approximation, greatly reduces the complexity of the algorithm and the amount of computation, and has good convergence properties. The statistical results show that the TEC predicted by the HASR method is highly consistent with the actual observed values of ionospheric observation stations. Compared with the Kriging interpolation with scale factor, the prediction accuracy of the HASR method is improved. This method is expected to provide a reference for the modeling of other ionospheric parameters and further promote the practical application of the ionosphere. Key Points: Based on the surface theory, a high‐accuracy spatial reconstruction (HASR) method was proposed to improve the prediction accuracy of total electron contentDifferential equation is transformed into the algebraic equation by direct difference approximation, and the algorithm complexity is reducedThe prediction accuracy of the HASR method is 9.75%, which improved the baseline of Kriging interpolation by 8.5% [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the experiment was to investigate the regulatory effect of Chinese herbal extract (ZY) on lipopolysaccharide-induced mastitis in mice. A total of 72 Kunming female rats with SPF grade 3~5 d postpartum were selected, 12 were randomly selected as the blank control group (BC group), and the other 60 were randomly divided into five groups, namely the model group (M group), the positive control group (Dex group), the high dose (ZY-H group), the medium dose (ZY-M group) and the low dose (ZY-L group) of Chinese herbal extract, with 12 mice in each group. Mice in other groups except BC group were subjected to mastitis modeling after environmental adaptation. 2 h after the modeling was completed, mice in the ZY-H group, ZY-M group and ZY-L group were given 16, 8 and 4 mg/g Chinese herbal extract, respectively. Mice in the Dex group were injected with 5 mg/kg dexamethasone sodium phosphate injection peritoneally, and mice in the BC group and the M group were gavaged fed with normal saline of the same volume. After molding, it was treated continuously for 7 d. The results showed that the mammary gland acinar and acinar duct structures were destroyed and accompanied by inflammatory infiltration in the mammary gland tissue of mice in M group. Compared with the BC group, histopathological scores in the M group were extremely increased (P<0.01), the content of cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and MPO were extremely increased (P<0.01), and the content of PPAR-γ were extremely decreased (P<0.01). Compared with M group, the histopathological conditions of mammary gland in Dex group and ZY groups were recovered to a certain extent, the histopathological scores were extremely decreased (P<0.01), the content of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and MPO were extremely decreased (P<0.01), and the content of PPAR-γ were extremely increased (P<0.01). The study indicates that each dose of Chinese herbal extract has a positive regulatory effect on LPS-induced mastitis in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UKRI/STFC’s Scientific Computing Department (SCD) has a long and rich history of delivering face to face public engagement and outreach, both on site and in public places, as part of the wider STFC programme. Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, SCD was forced to abandon an extensive planned programme of public engagement, alongside altering the day-to-day working methods of the majority of its staff. SCD had to respond rapidly to create a new, remote only, programme for the summer and for the foreseeable future. This was initially an exercise in improvisation, identifying existing activities that could be delivered remotely with minimal changes. As the pandemic went on, SCD also created new resources specifically for a remote audience and adapted existing activities where appropriate, using our evaluation framework to ensure these activities continued to meet the aims of the in-person programme. This paper presents the process through which this was achieved, some of the benefits and challenges of remote engagement and the plans for 2021 and beyond.

In the present study, a series of derivatives and analogs of daidzein were designed and synthesized to investigate cholinesterase inhibition and blood–brain barrier permeability. The enzyme assay showed that most of the compounds containing a tertiary amine group exhibit moderate cholinesterase inhibition, 7‐hydroxychromone derivatives (absence of B ring of daidzein scaffold) only have a weaker bioactivity, while those compounds without the tertiary amine group have no bioactivity. Among them compound 15a (4'‐N,N‐dimethylaminoethoxy‐7‐methoxyisoflavone) appeared the best inhibitory activity (IC50: 2.14 ± 0.31 μmol/L) and higher selectivity for AChE over BuChE (Ratio: 7.07). It was selected for the further investigation by UPLC‐MS/MS. The results show that CBrain/Serum of compound 15a in mice was more than 2.87 within 240 min. This discovery may provide worthy information for the future development of central nervous drugs including but not limited to cholinesterase inhibitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the influence on performance of radial straight blade hydraulic turbine is studied with radial meridional flow channel and mixed-flow meridional flow channel. Firstly, the theoretical models are suggested for radial straight blade hydraulic turbine. Secondly, runners are designed based on two different types of meridional flow channels. Finally, the numerical simulation is carried out for different schemes, while the performance and flow field are analyzed and compared. Results show that the two different schemes adapt to ultra-small discharge and head with large fluctuation. Moreover, the best numerical predicted efficiency is 81.4% for radial straight blade hydraulic turbine with the mixed-flow meridional flow channel, which is 1.8% more than the radial meridional flow channel. Meanwhile, with a larger conveyance capacity, the optimal efficiency is verified for the hydraulic turbine with mixed-flow meridional channel, and it can meet the needs of hydraulic energy recovery with ultra-small discharge. The conclusions serve as a reference in the design of hydraulic energy recovery turbine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]