Search

Background Obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is considered to be greatly harmful due to its high incidence and low awareness rate, and has a considerable adverse impact on quality of life (QoL) for patients and their cohabitants. Our previous pilot trial suggested that fire needle might be a potential treatment option for OSAHS. We will conduct this trial to assess the efficacy and safety of fire needle for the moderate OSAHS. Methods/design A total of 102 eligible patients will be randomly allocated to either the fire needle group or the sham acupuncture group. Each patient will receive 16 sessions over eight weeks. The primary outcome is apnea hypopnea index (AHI). Secondary outcomes includes oxygen desaturation index (ODI)and other polysomnography (PSG) monitoring indicators, scores of Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) questionnaires, scores of Epworth sleepiness (ESS) scale questionnaires and visual analogue scores (VAS) of the patient's snoring by cohabitants. All patients who receive randomization will be included in the intent-to-treat analysis. Discussion The finding of this trial will provide high-quality evidence on the efficacy of fire needle for treating moderate OSAHS. According to the result, we will establish a fire needle treatment scheme for moderate OSAHS. Results of this research will be published in peer-reviewed journals. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trail Registry, ChiCTR2300067509. Registered on 10 Jan 2023.

Background Obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a sleep disorder characterized by repeated apnea and hypopnea while you're asleep, and the prevalence rate increases annually. Previous research revealed that the fire needle therapy for OSAHS good clinical efficacy but lacked proof from clinical trials. Therefore, we designed this single-arm clinical trial protocol to investigate the effectiveness and safety of treating OSAHS using fire needle therapy. Methods/design: 166 adult subjects with mild to moderate OSAHS, ranging in age from 18 to 70, will be included in this study. All subjects will receive fire needle therapy twice a week for 4 weeks and follow-up for 12 months. The following points will include outcome assessment: (1) baseline;(2) 4 weeks following treatment's start;(3) 3 months following treatment's start; (4) 12 months following treatment's start. The primary outcome of the trial is the AHI index, and the secondary outcomes include oxygen desaturation index(ODI), lowest nocturnal oxygen saturation (LSpO2), percentage of SaO2

In this paper, the valence electron structure and the bond energy of covalent bonds of α-Fe and e-Fe2N, e-Fe3N and γ′-Fe4N were calculated by means of the empirical electron theory (EET). It was put forward that the valence electron structure parameter related to hardness is the covalent electron density, the valence electron structure parameters related to plasticity are the lattice electron density and the symmetry factor of the atomic bonding strength, the valence electron structure parameters related to corrosion resistance are the atomic total bonding energy and lattice electron density, and the valence electron structure parameter related to stability is the average atomic total bonding energy. The hardening and corrosion resistance mechanism of ion-based nitriding layer was discussed and the influence of three Fe-N compounds on the hardness, brittleness, corrosion resistance and stability were compared and analyzed from the perspective of electron structure. The calculation results show that the three Fe-N compounds, which have larger covalent electron density and average atomic total bonding energy and smaller lattice electron density than α-Fe, can improve the hardness and corrosion resistance of the iron-based surface. Among the three compounds, e-Fe2N has the greatest hardness, corrosion resistance and stability, and the least brittleness. Therefore, during the nitriding process, efforts shall be made to prompt the formation of e-Fe2N as much as possible.

BACKGROUND Previous studies have shown that uric acid (UA) is a powerful water-soluble antioxidant and free radical scavenger for humans. However, the relationship between serum uric acid (SUA) and hemorrhagic transformation (HT) is still controversial. To address this challenge, we aimed to explore the association between serum UA and HT in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) after intravenous thrombolysis (IVT). METHODS A retrospective analysis was conducted in patients with anterior circulation AIS who underwent IVT at Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from 2016 to 2021. HT was evaluated by CT or MRI within 7 days after admission. Baseline demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were compared between the HT and non-HT groups, and between different types of HT groups which were documented according to the European Cooperative Acute Stroke Study III Classification (ECASS III). RESULTS A total of 727 AIS patients were enrolled, including 112 patients who experienced HT (HT group) and 615 patients who did not experience HT (non-HT group). Patients with HT had significantly lower UA levels compared to those without HT (253.65 ± 97.75 vs 315.97 ± 96.42, p

To evaluate the influence of urban non-uniformity on precipitation, the area of a city was divided into three categories (commercial, high-density residential, and low-density residential) according to the building density data from Landsat satellites. Numerical simulations of three corresponding scenarios (urban non-uniformity, urban uniformity, and non-urban) were performed in Nanjing using the WRF model. The results demonstrate that the existence of the city results in more precipitation, and that urban heterogeneity enhances this phenomenon. For the urban non-uniformity, uniformity, and non-urban experiments, the mean cumulative summer precipitation was 423.09 mm, 407.40 mm, and 389.67 mm, respectively. Urban non-uniformity has a significant effect on the amount of heavy rainfall in summer. The cumulative precipitation from heavy rain in the summer for the three numerical experiments was 278.2 mm, 250.6 mm, and 236.5 mm, respectively. In the nonuniformity experiments, the amount of precipitation between 1500 and 2200 (LST) increased significantly. Furthermore, the adoption of urban non-uniformity into the WRF model could improve the numerical simulation of summer rain and its daily variation.

Ischemic stroke represents 87% of all strokes, and is the third leading cause of disability and mortality worldwide. The cause of ischemic stroke is the obstruction of blood flow through the artery that supplies oxygen-rich blood to the brain, with ischemia-reperfusion injury as its major cause. microRNAs (miRNA) are small non-coding RNAs, which serve important roles in the regulation of gene expression at the post-transcription level. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of miRNA-183 (miR-183) on microglia activation in rats with cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. To this end, a rat cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury model was established. The results indicated that miR-183 expression was decreased by cerebral ischemia-reperfusion. In addition, treatment using miR-183 agomir significantly reduced the neurological function scores, percentage of cerebral infarction volume, and ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule-1 (IBA-1)-positive cells in the CA1 area of the hippocampus in rats subjected to cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury, implicating a neuroprotective role for miR-183. MiR-183 agomir treatment also decreased the expression of pro-inflammatory-associated proteins interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. Finally, the expression of the nuclear factor (NF)-κB p65 and IκBα was decreased and increased by miR-183 agomir treatment, respectively, indicating inhibition of the NF-κB signaling pathway. These observations suggest that miR-183 regulates the activation of microglia in rats with cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury by inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway.

Introduction Acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) is a rare and challenging hereditary neurovisceral disease with no specific symptoms. Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a clinicoradiological syndrome with bilateral reversible posterior gyriform lesions that can be associated with many different conditions, including AIP. Usually, peripheral neuropathy is considered the most common neurological manifestation of AIP. However, AIP should also be considered when seizures and PRES are associated with unexplained abdominal pain. Case presentation Both the patients were presented with seizures and PRES on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Unexplained abdominal pain occurred before the onset of seizures. The AIP diagnosis was made after repeated Watson-Schwartz tests. Hematin was not available for these 2 patients. However, supportive treatment including adequate nutrition and fluid therapy as well as specific antiepileptic drugs aided the patient's recovery and no acute attacks had occurred by the 3-year follow-up. Conclusion In contrast to other causes of PRES patients, seizure is the most common symptom in AIP patients with PRES. This is a strong diagnostic clue for AIP when ambiguous abdominal pain patients presented with seizures and PRES on brain MRI. A positive prognosis can be achieved with the combination of early recognition, supportive and intravenous hematin therapy, and withdrawal of precipitating factors, including some antiepileptic drugs.

There has been an increasing appreciation of the role that microglial cells play in neural damage. Marrow stromal cells (MSCs) can dramatically lessen neural damage in animal models, but the mechanisms involved have not been defined. This study aimed to investigate the effects of human MSCs (hMSCs) on the activation of primary microglia and the attendant production of pro-inflammatory factors stimulated by bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Our study showed that hMSCs in co-cultures and in transwell cultures inhibited the activation of microglial cells, reduced the production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and nitric oxide (NO), downregulated the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and phosphorylated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), whereas hMSCs conditioned medium did not have any effect on microglial inflammation. To further investigate the mechanisms by which hMSCs exert anti-inflammatory effects, we examined the production of neurotrophic factors by hMSCs with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Our results showed that the production of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) was significantly increased by hMSCs when cultured in the conditioned medium from activated microglia. We conclude that hMSCs can inhibit microglial activation and the production of attendant inflammatory factors. In addition, hMSCs can interact with microglial cells through diffusible soluble factors, whereas cell contact is not a prerequisite for anti-inflammatory effects. Finally, hMSCs within inflammatory environment can significantly increase the production of neurotrophic factors, which may involve with the anti-inflammatory mechanisms.