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Summary: Background: Frustrated with the embarrassing appearance, patients with androgenetic alopecia (AGA) suffer from poor quality of life and low self‐esteem. Moreover, several researches indicate that self‐esteem is an important factor affecting outcomes of cosmetic surgery. Objective: This retrospective study aims to investigate the impact of hair transplantation on patients' self‐esteem and satisfaction with appearance, as well as relationship between self‐esteem and patient satisfaction which includes preoperative and postoperative satisfaction. Methods: The preoperative and 9‐month postoperative self‐esteem were evaluated by Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale (RSES), and preoperative satisfaction indicators (satisfaction with appearance, visual age and expected visual age) were assessed by Face‐Q scale. At the same time, postoperative satisfaction indicators (satisfaction with appearance, visual age, satisfaction with decision, psychological well‐being, and social function) were reevaluated as well. Results: Of the 1106 male AGA patients, 875 completed a 9‐month postoperative questionnaire. Compared with preoperative scores, postoperative scores of self‐esteem and satisfaction with appearance showed an increase of 1.56 and 30.25 respectively (P < 0.05). Subgroup analysis showed that patients with high self‐esteem level trended to have higher scores of postoperative satisfaction with appearance (P = 0.129), psychological well‐being (P = 0.168), social function (P = 0.027), and satisfaction with decision (P = 0.043) compared with patients with low and average self‐esteem level. Conclusion: Hair transplantation significantly elevated self‐esteem level and increased satisfaction with appearance of AGA patients. Meanwhile, patients with low self‐esteem level trended to have worse postoperative satisfaction. Thus, apart from ensuring the quality of operation, plastic surgeons should offer guidance based on patients' psychological state to improve postoperative satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an experimental investigation on the dynamic consolidation (DC) drainage behavior of soft marine clays. A sinusoidal harmonic load with different frequencies was applied to simulate the DC method in which the conventional impact load was replaced by the cyclic load. Four geotextile-filter strips were used to form the side drainage channels simulating the wick drain method. A series of loading tests were conducted on soft soil specimens at different confining pressures (i.e., 20, 40, 70, and 100 kPa) and different vibration frequencies (i.e., 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 5 Hz). Test results showed that both confining pressure and frequency have significant influences on the drainage behavior of soft marine clay specimens. The magnitude of drainage volume consistently decreases linearly with increasing confining pressure. Compared to static loading condition, specimens under cyclic loading condition at different frequencies show a better drainage performance. Specimen at applied frequency of 1 Hz exhibits the maximum cumulative drainage volume due to the resonant effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Minimally invasive techniques, including superficial liposuction with automatic shaver curettage (LC), subcutaneous laser treatment, and microwave‐based therapy have been developed to treat osmidrosis. Few studies have compared these three techniques in relation to clinical efficacy, life quality improvement, and downtime. Aims: We aim to evaluate clinical results and life quality improvement, in addition to downtime and complications, between these three techniques. Patients/Methods: Clinical records of patients treated with these three minimally invasive techniques for axillary osmidrosis were retrospectively reviewed. Hyperhidrosis disease severity scale, Dermatology Life of Quality Index, clinical improvement, complication, and recurrence were assessed. Results: Among 403 patients, 168 received microwave‐based therapy, 119 received subcutaneous laser treatment, and 116 received LC. All treatments showed significant improvements (P < 0.001) in HDSS, DLQI and clinical result after 3 and 12 months comparing to the baseline. But the improvements of subcutaneous laser were significantly inferior to microwave‐base therapy and LC. Patients who received LC had a significantly longer downtime (P < 0.001) than those who received other treatments. The recurrence rate was significantly higher in the subcutaneous laser treatment group, and the microwave‐based therapy group exhibited a longer recurrence duration (P < 0.001). LC group presented higher complication rate than other treatments. Conclusion: Comparing to other treatments, microwave‐based therapy was effective in treating osmidrosis with minimal downtime, recurrence, and complications. It could be a durable and effective therapeutic modality for osmidrosis and is less operator‐dependent. It may be considered as a first‐line treatment for axillary osmidrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the magneto-optical polar Kerr rotation spectra and reflectivity spectra for iron (Fe)/PbTe and Fe/lead bilayer films. Preparation of the thin Fe films; Model calculation and discussion.

In this study, the segment joint and ring joint of the lining of the straight‐jointed tunnel are simplified as an equivalent open cylindrical shell with a small central angle and an equivalent closed cylindrical shell with a small width, and the lining of the straight‐jointed tunnel is thus simplified as an equivalent continuous periodic shell (ECPS) described by the cylindrical shell theory. Since the ECPS lining is periodic along the longitudinal direction, the tunnel‐soil system can thus be treated as a periodic system, which is referred to as the periodic tunnel‐soil system (PTSS) in this study. Based on the proposed ECPS lining model, an analytical method for the tunnel with the ECPS lining (ECPS tunnel) under seismic waves is established in this study. By employing the periodicity condition for the PTSS as well as the wave function expansion method, the representation for the wave field in the soil is established. With the aforementioned cylindrical shell theory and Fourier series expansion method, the convolution type constitutive relation for the ECPS lining and the Fourier space equations of motion are derived. By using the soil‐lining continuity condition and aforementioned formulations for the ECPS lining and soil, the coupled Fourier space equations of motion for the PTSS are established, with which the response of the ECPS lining and scattered waves in the soil can be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nestin, a type-VI intermediate filament protein, serves as a marker for neural stem cells, and is also known to be expressed in follicle stem cells. Hair follicles go through repeated cycles of anagen (growth), catagen (regression) and telogen (quiescence) throughout the life of mammals following morphogenesis. In the present study it was demonstrated that in mice, the maturation of hair follicles includes the period between morphogenesis and the first anagen (4 weeks of age). Skin samples from Nestin-green fluorescent protein (GFP)+ mice at different hair follicle stages were collected, and immunostaining for Nestin and Ki67 was performed. It was identified that during morphogenesis, Nestin-GFP expression was rarely detected and it gradually increased during maturation (0–4 weeks) in hair follicle dermal cells. In mature hair follicle dermal cells, Nestin and the proliferation marker Ki67 were highly expressed in anagen, while during telogen, they were markedly decreased. Additionally, lineage tracing data demonstrated that peri-follicular Nestin+ cells during morphogenesis differentiated into cluster of differentiation 31+ cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exogenous growth factors could accelerate the process of wound healing. However, the underlying mechanisms have not been clearly clarified. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on the expression of type I collagen (cola1), type III collagen (cola3), and Elastin in fibroblasts, which are widely expressed in fibroblasts and promote the function of fibroblasts. We measured the levels of cola1 and cola3 in human fibroblast cells cultured in medium containing EGF or bFGF at concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 1000 μg/L by Western blotting and RT-PCR assays, and found that EGF or bFGF enhanced the expression of cola1 and cola3 in a concentration-dependent manner. We further discovered that after stimulation with EGF or bFGF in human fibroblast cells, mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) family members were generally activated, whose expression trend was consistent with that of cola1, cola3, and Elastin. In summary, in this study, we uncovered that exogenous growth factors enhance the expression of cola1, cola3, and Elastin, which is probably regulated via activating MAPK signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of a research project to develop a novel clean smelting process for the comprehensive utilization of Hongge vanadium titanomagnetite (HVTM), in this study, the effect of Cr2O3 addition on the oxidation induration mechanism of HVTM pellets (HVTMPs) was investigated in detail. The results showed that the compressive strength of the HVTMPs was greatly weakened by the Cr2O3 addition, mainly because of a substantial increase in the porosity of the HVTMPs. The Cr2O3 addition marginally affected the phase composition but greatly affected the microstructural changes of the HVTMPs. Increased amounts of Cr2O3 resulted in a decrease in the uniform distribution of the hematite grains and in an increase in the Fe-Cr solid solutions (Fe1.2Cr0.8O3 and Fe0.7Cr1.3O3) embedded in the hematite grains. Moreover, the compact hematite was destroyed by forming a dispersed structure and the hematite recrystallization was hindered during the oxidation induration, which adversely affected the compressive strength. On the basis of these results, a schematic was formulated to describe the oxidation induration mechanism with different amounts of added Cr2O3. This study provides theoretical and technical foundations for the effective production of HVTMPs and a reference for chromium-bearing minerals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The corrosion resistance of weathering bridge steels containing conventional contents of Ni (0.20wt%, 0.42wt%, 1.50wt%) and a higher content of Ni (3.55wt%) in a simulated hot and humid coastal-industrial atmosphere was investigated by corrosion depth loss, scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electrochemical methods. The results showed that, with increasing Ni content, the mechanical properties of the bridge steel were markedly improved, the welding parameters were satisfactory at room temperature, and the corrosion resistance was enhanced. When the Ni content was low (=0.42wt%), the crystallization process of the corrosion products was substantially promoted, enhancing the stability of the rust layer. When the Ni content was higher (~3.55wt%), the corrosion reaction of the steel quickly reached a balance, because the initial rapid corrosion induced the formation of a protective rust layer in the early stage. Simultaneously, NiO and NiFe2O4 were generated in large quantities; they not only formed a stable, compact, and continuous oxide protective layer, but also strongly inhibited the transformation process of the corrosion products. This inhibition reduced the structural changes in the rust layer, thereby enhancing the protection. However, when the Ni content ranged from 0.42wt% to 1.50wt%, the corrosion resistance of the bridge steel increased only slightly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]