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AIM: To investigate the effect of adalimumab combined with dexamethasone intravitreal implant in the treatment of refractory non-infectious uveitis macular edema(UME).METHODS: A total of 92 cases(131 eyes)of refractory non-infectious UME patients admitted to our hospital from January 2020 to January 2022 were selected and randomly divided into control group, with 46 cases(63 eyes)treated with dexamethasone intravitreal implant and observation group, with 46 cases(68 eyes)treated with adalimumab subcutaneous injection combined with dexamethasone intravitreal implant. The best corrected visual acuity(BCVA), central retinal thickness(CRT), vitreous opacity and Th17/Treg cytokines were measured before and after treatment, and the occurrence of adverse reactions was recorded.RESULTS: Totally 3 cases(4 eyes)were lost to follow-up. After treatment for 1, 3, 6 and 12 mo, BCVA was improved in both groups compared with that before treatment, and CRT, vitreous opacity score, serum interleukin(IL)-17 and IL-22 levels were decreased compared with those before treatment, and serum transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β)and IL-10 levels were increased compared with those before treatment. BCVA in the observation group was better than that in the control group, and CRT, vitreous opacity score, serum IL-17 and IL-22 levels were lower than those in the control group, and serum TGF-β and IL-10 levels were higher than those in the control group(all P

The effects of γ-ray irradiation on the thermal stability and creep resistance of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) were studied. First, UHMWPE powder was hot pressed into 1 mm thick sheets using a vulcanization molding machine. The chemical structure, thermal stability, microstructure, tensile properties, and creep properties of the irradiated plate samples were studied. The results demonstrated that, after γ-ray irradiation, the melting points, crystallinity, and thermal stability increased; the gel content increased to 89%; and the motility of molecular chains decreased. Compared with the creep resistance of the unirradiated sample, that of the irradiated sample increased by approximately 40%. In this study, the thermal stability and creep resistance of UHMWPE were significantly improved via the radiation cross-linking process, which provided a method for the preparation of UHMWPE materials with high creep resistance and high thermal stability.

Background Reactor protection system (RPS) has complex structure, numerous equipment, and continuous failure behaviors. The traditional static fault tree cannot accurately simulate the sequential failure behaviors of the RPS. Purpose This study aims to obtain the failure probability of related system of RPS and the sensitivity of each component by simulating the sequential failure behaviors of RPS, and provide suggestions for the optimal design and optimization of RPS in the future. Methods First of all, the dynamic fault tree (DFT) modeling tools was employed to model the reliability of the RPS, a dynamic binary tree method was applied to quantitative analysis of the DFT model. Then, the Latin hypercube sampling method was adopted to quantitatively analyze the uncertainty of the RPS failure probability, and compared with the traditional static fault tree method under the same conditions. Results Simulation results show that the failure probability with 0.95 confidence interval of RPS is 0.015 306~0.015 721. The two most sensitive components are the undervoltage drive card and the undervoltage relay. Conclusions DFT can accurately simulate the reliability of RPS, and provide more accurate results, which is beneficial for optimization design in the future.

This study investigated L1 Chinese learners' acquisition of the English "Noun + Relative Clause (N + RC)" based on Structural Priming (SP)(Bock,1986; Bock & Griffin, 2000) and Lexical Residual Activation (LRA)(Cleland, 2003). It was hypothesized that, based on SP, when L1 Chinese learners were primed by the English "N + RC," when the priming and the target structures shared different head nouns, they would produce more "N + RC" than when they were primed by the English "Adj + Noun (Adj + N)," and the priming effect was significant. Also, based on SP and LRA, when the priming and the target structures shared the same head noun, the increasing priming effect would be enhanced. The participants were 90 first year non-English major Chinese students attending Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, and 10 native English speakers. A picture description task was used to elicit data. The results confirmed the hypotheses. The study also found that there were different SP and LRA effects for L1 speakers and L2 speakers in that, while L2 speakers were significantly affected, L1 speakers were not. A long-term priming effect was found indirectly after the priming "Simple Sentence." The study contributed to Second Language Acquisition in that SP and LRA would facilitate L1 Chinese learners' acquisition of the English "Noun + Relative Clause," although this structure is nonexistent in the learners' L1. The study also gave pedagogical implications in that the application of SP and LRA would facilitate the acquisition of the L2 structures.

In this article, the investigation of electrochemical determination of guanine(GU) by 1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-(2-furoyl)-5-pyrazolone (HPMαFP) modified glassy carbon electrode (HPMαFP/GCE) in Aciclovir Dispersible Tablets solution was reported. The direct electrochemical behavior of GU was carefully studied in pH 5.5 phosphate buffer solution. Cyclic voltammogram results indicated that a well-defined irreversible redox peak was obtained with the formal potential of 0.92 V. The electrochemical parameter such as the electron transfer number (n) was calculated as 2. The HPMαFP modified electrode showed good electrocatalytic ability to GU. The concentration linear equation is as follows: iP (μA)=4.3767C (μmol l-1)+9.51332 with the detection limit of 1.2×10-7 mol/l.

Abstract Background Computed Tomography (CT) is a technology that obtains the tomogram of the observed objects. In real-world applications, especially the biomedical applications, lower radiation dose have been constantly pursued. To shorten scanning time and reduce radiation dose, one can decrease X-ray exposure time at each projection view or decrease the number of projections. Until quite recently, the traditional filtered back projection (FBP) method has been commonly exploited in CT image reconstruction. Applying the FBP method requires using a large amount of projection data. Especially when the exposure speed is limited by the mechanical characteristic of the imaging facilities, using FBP method may prolong scanning time and cumulate with a high dose of radiation consequently damaging the biological specimens. Methods In this paper, we present a compressed sensing-based (CS-based) iterative algorithm for CT reconstruction. The algorithm minimizes the l1-norm of the sparse image as the constraint factor for the iteration procedure. With this method, we can reconstruct images from substantially reduced projection data and reduce the impact of artifacts introduced into the CT reconstructed image by insufficient projection information. Results To validate and evaluate the performance of this CS-base iterative algorithm, we carried out quantitative evaluation studies in imaging of both software Shepp-Logan phantom and real polystyrene sample. The former is completely absorption based and the later is imaged in phase contrast. The results show that the CS-based iterative algorithm can yield images with quality comparable to that obtained with existing FBP and traditional algebraic reconstruction technique (ART) algorithms. Discussion Compared with the common reconstruction from 180 projection images, this algorithm completes CT reconstruction from only 60 projection images, cuts the scan time, and maintains the acceptable quality of the reconstructed images.

Objective: Cilostazol is indicated for alleviating intermittent claudication (IC) in stable-phase peripheral arterial disease (PAD) patients. Conducting data mining on adverse events (AEs) of cilostazol in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database to explore its potential medication risks and advance more rational and secure clinical medication practices. Methods: This study utilized the Open Vigil 2.1-MedDRA tool to retrieve and extract AE reporting data related to cilostazol from the FAERS database spanning the first quarter of 2004 to the first quarter of 2024. The primary methodology employed was the application of the reporting odds ratio (ROR) method to detect risk signals associated with AEs of cilostazol. Results: A total of 2,130 AE reports involving cilostazol were identified as the primary suspect drug, with a total of 7,134 AEs reported. These reports were predominantly concentrated among patients aged 60 and above, with a higher occurrence in males compared to females. Japan ranked first among the reporting countries, and the majority of reports were submitted by healthcare professionals. Through the screening of cilostazol, a total of 323 positive risk signals for AEs were identified, encompassing 23 system organ classes (SOCs). A comparison with the existing cilostazol product label revealed 8 AEs that were not included based on the number of AE reports, and 19 AEs that were not included based on the strength of the risk signals. Cilostazol exhibited positive risk signals for AEs primarily affecting 8 organ systems based on the SOC classification. Among these, cardiac disorders ranked highest, with a total of 53 positive risk signals for cardiovascular-related AEs identified. In terms of the number of reports, cardiac failure ranked first, aligning with the black box warning issued by the FDA regarding cilostazol. The occurrence of adverse reactions related to cilostazol is primarily concentrated within the first month of treatment. However, a certain proportion of adverse reactions have been reported to occur after long-term use (exceeding 360 days) of cilostazol therapy. Conclusion: Our results have further enriched the observations from existing clinical and real-world studies, uncovering new AE signals for cilostazol, including fall, cerebral infarction, pneumonia, loss of consciousness, acute kidney injury, renal impairment, renal failure, cardiac vein perforation, basal ganglia haematoma, cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome, et al. This study also highlights the significant impact of cilostazol on the cardiovascular system, necessitating close attention to potential cardiovascular toxicities. In addition to focusing on the short-term adverse reactions following cilostazol administration, thorough research into its long-term safety profile is also imperative. This study provides recommendations and guidance for the rational and safe clinical use of cilostazol. In the future, prospective studies are needed to explore the occurrence of related AEs further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]