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Abstract Background This study aimed to investigate risk factors for acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (AE-IPF) based on baseline high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). Methods This prospective observational study enrolled patients with IPF treated at the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University between January 2019 and January 2021. HRCT-derived quantitative parameters at baseline were analyzed. Results A total of 102 patients [92 (90.2%) males with a mean age of 67 years] with IPF were included, with a median follow-up of 32 (24-40.5) months. AE occurred in 30 (29.4%) IPF patients. Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified Doppler transthoracic echocardiography suggestive of pulmonary hypertension (PH) (13.43; 95% CI: 4.18–41.09; P

Developing highly stable and efficient catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is extremely important to sustainable energy conversion and storage, but improved efficiency is largely hindered by sluggish reaction kinetics. Dense and bimetal ruthenates have emerged as one of the promising substitutes to replace single-metal ruthenium or iridium oxides, but the fundamental understanding the role of A-site cations is still blurring. Herein, a family of lanthanides (Ln = all the lanthanides except Pm) are applied to synthesize pyrochlore lanthanide ruthenates (Ln2Ru2O7), and only Ln2Ru2O7 (Ln = Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, or Lu) with pure phase can be obtained by the ambient-pressure calcination. Compared with the perovskite ruthenates (SrRuO3) and rutile RuO2, the [RuO6] units in these Ln2Ru2O7 present the largely distorted configurations and different energy level splitting to prevent the excessive Ru oxidation and dissolution, which leads the primary improvement in the electrocatalytic OER performance. In the similar crystalline field split states, the charge transfer between [RuO6] units and Ln3+ cations also affect catalytic activities, even in the Ln2Ru2O7 surface reconstruction during the OER process. Consequently, Tb2Ru2O7 showed the highest OER performance among all the prepared Ln2Ru2O7 with similar morphologies and crystallization. This systematic work gives fundamental cognition to rational design of high-performance OER electrocatalysts in proper water electrolysis technologies.

Abstract Background Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease with limited disease-modifying treatments. Drug repositioning strategy has now emerged as a promising approach for anti-AD drug discovery. Using 5×FAD mice and Aβ-treated neurons in culture, we tested the efficacy of Y-2, a compounded drug containing the antioxidant Edaravone (Eda), a pyrazolone and (+)-Borneol, an anti-inflammatory diterpenoid from cinnamon, approved for use in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients. Results We examined effects of Y-2 versus Eda alone by i.p. administered in 8-week-old 5×FAD mice (females) for 4 months by comparing cognitive function, Aβ pathologies, neuronal necroptosis and neuroinflammation. Using primary neurons and astrocytes, as well as neuronal and astrocytic cell lines, we elucidated the molecular mechanisms of Y-2 by examining neuronal injury, astrocyte-mediated inflammation and necroptosis. Here, we find that Y-2 improves cognitive function in AD mice. Histopathological data show that Y-2, better than Eda alone, markedly ameliorates Aβ pathologies including Aβ burden, astrogliosis/microgliosis, and Tau phosphorylation. In addition, Y-2 reduces Aβ-induced neuronal injury including neurite damage, mitochondrial impairment, reactive oxygen species production and NAD+ depletion. Notably, Y-2 inhibits astrocyte-mediated neuroinflammation and attenuates TNF-α-triggered neuronal necroptosis in cell cultures and AD mice. RNA-seq further demonstrates that Y-2, compared to Eda, indeed upregulates anti-inflammation pathways in astrocytes. Conclusions Our findings infer that Y-2, better than Eda alone, mitigates AD pathology and may provide a potential drug candidate for AD treatment.

We propose a high efficiency wideband three-fold geometric phase metasurface for versatile operation of transmission and reflection. The transmission coefficient as high as 87 % is achieved in the frequency range of f1 (15.4–15.8 GHz), while equal transmission and reflection are achieved in two frequency bands represented by f2 (14.6–15.2 GHz & 16–17 GHz) with maximum coefficient reaches 49 %. With geometric rotation, the phase shifts of the cross-polarized transmission and co-polarized reflection are six times the rotation angle within the frequency range of 14.6–17 GHz. Furthermore, by elaborately breaking the mirror symmetry while preserving rotational symmetry, interesting features of resonance frequency shift and mode splitting are observed, offering a more fruitful approach for versatile operations. To substantiate the proposed design, a metasurface prototype for vortex beam generation is fabricated and verified by microwave measurement.

The purpose of this research was to compare the therapeutic efficacy of multiple-rod constructs vis-a-vis 2-rod constructs in the treatment of adult spinal deformity. A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to determine whether the multiple-rod construct outperformed the 2-rod construct. We initially retrieved 357 papers, but only 12 were chosen for further meta-analysis. The rod breakage rates in the multiple-rod and the 2-rod groups were 10.66% and 29.87%, respectively. The multiple-rod construct inhibited rod breakage (odds ratio [OR], 0.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.19–0.41; p

This paper proposes a novel bow-tie metasurface that integrates various types of polarization conversions by optimizing traditional unit structures. The metasurface achieves wide-angle linear polarization conversion over the X-band (8–12 GHz) and has a linear polarization conversion efficiency of over 94% under normal incidence. In the Ku-band (12.4–15.6 GHz), the ellipticity value (e-value) and axial ratio calculations show that the linearly polarized waves incident along the Y axis will be effectively converted to left-handed circularly polarized waves. Additionally, in the X-band (8.9–10.5 GHz), the circular polarization and its co-polarization conversion efficiency can be maintained at 99.5%, allowing for an effective circular polarization phase shift using the Pancharatnam–Berry principle in this frequency range.

Abstract Background Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) have considerably high mortality and re-hospitalisation rate. Diaphragmatic dysfunction (DD) is common in COPD patients. However, whether diaphragmatic dysfunction is related to acute exacerbation is yet to be elucidated. This study aimed to evaluate the diaphragm function by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in COPD patients and assess whether the impact of DD may help predict AECOPD. Methods 20 healthy adult volunteers and 80 COPD patients were enrolled. The diaphragms function parameters were accessed by MRI. Patients were guided to start self-management by the Telehealth-based monitoring system following the enrolment. Events of acute exacerbation of COPD were recorded by the system and confirmed by healthcare providers. Binary univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the factors associated with the frequency of AECOPD. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were further used to assess the value of prediction indexes. Results Fifty-nine COPD patients completed a one-year follow-up based on the Telehealth-based monitoring system. The clinical outcomes showed that the diaphragm function parameters at the end of maximal breathing were lower in the COPD group than in the healthy control group (P

Electromagnetic waves carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) can be applied in various regions. Much research endeavor has been devoted to developing broadband and polarization-insensitive OAM beams that are preferred in many intriguing applications. This work reports a broadband polarization-insensitive millimeter-wave OAM generator based on high-refractive-index brick-shaped dielectric resonators and studies the relationship between the permittivity of the bricks and OAM beam bandwidth. Based on proper design of the resonators, the broadband, polarization-insensitive, and full phase control can be realized in a broad millimeter-wave band. It is also found that the resonator with higher permittivity leads to a wider OAM beam bandwidth. This structure and conclusion can find a variety of applications in imaging, lithography, and information processing.

ObjectiveVertebral augmentation techniques are widely used to treat osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs). Superior analgesic effects and shortened bed rest time means patients recover quickly, but prolonged unscheduled hospitalization can increase medical expenses and the risk of bed rest complications. The aim of this study was to investigate the reasons for prolonged hospitalization after vertebral augmentation surgery and to determine the relative risk factors.MethodsA single-center retrospective study was conducted to enroll patients with OVCFs and accepted vertebral augmentation surgery from January 2017 to December 2017. Clinical information was collected from the Hospital Information System (HIS). The criterion of delayed discharge was postoperative hospitalization more than 3 days. Telephone interviews and medical history evaluations were conducted to confirm the exact reason for retention. The risk factors were analyzed by multiple logistic regression.ResultsOverall, 1,442 patients were included, and 191 (13.2%) stayed in the hospital for more than 3 days postoperatively. The reasons for delayed discharge were psychological factors (37.2%), residual pain (32.5%), cardiopulmonary complications (15.7%), nonspecific symptoms (8.4%), incision abnormalities (2.6%), thrombosis (2.1%), and postanesthesia reactions (1.6%). The multiple logistic model was significant; age (OR 1.028; 95% CI 1.009–1.046), preoperative stay (OR 1.192; 95% CI 1.095–1.298), operation type (OR 1.494; 95% CI 1.019–2.189), and the number of surgical segments (OR 2.238; 95% CI 1.512–3.312) showed statistical significance. In contrast, gender (P > 0.1) and chronic comorbidities (P > 0.1) were not predictors in this model.ConclusionOverall, 13.2% of OVCF patients who underwent vertebral augmentation surgery were not discharged within 3 days postoperatively, and several predictors were found. Preoperative communication and comprehensive evaluations are calling for more attention; physicians should adopt an appropriate medical process to enhance rehabilitation in geriatric orthopedics.

PurposeAs an important public health problem, osteoporosis (OP) in China is also in an upward trend year by year. As a standard method for diagnosing OP, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) cannot analyze the pathological process but only see the results. It is difficult to evaluate the early diagnosis of OP. Our study was carried out through a serum metabolomic study of OP in Chinese postmenopausal women on untargeted gas chromatography (GC)/liquid chromatography (LC)–mass spectrometry (MS) to find possible diagnostic markers.Materials and Methods50 Chinese postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and 50 age-matched women were selected as normal controls. We first used untargeted GC/LC-MS to analyze the serum of these participants and then combined it with a large number of multivariate statistical analyses to analyze the data. Finally, based on a multidimensional analysis of the metabolites, the most critical metabolites were considered to be biomarkers of OP in postmenopausal women. Further, biomarkers identified relevant metabolic pathways, followed by a map of metabolic pathways found in the database.ResultsWe found that there may be metabolic pathway disorders like glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism, and amino acid metabolism in postmenopausal women with OP. 18 differential metabolites are considered to be potential biomarkers of OP in postmenopausal women which are a major factor in metabolism and bone physiological function.ConclusionThese findings can be applied to clinical work through further validation studies. It also shows that metabonomic analysis has great potential in the application of early diagnosis and recurrence monitoring in postmenopausal OP women.

In this paper, an acoustic fatigue model is proposed to obtain the residual strength of plain weave C/SiC composite plate subjected to acoustic loading. The constant amplitude normalized residual strength model and the S-N curves are used in new model, in which the probability density function of stress peaks are adopted to evaluate the effects of random loading on the degradation of residual strength. The degradation of residual strength in a time increment is calculated via an integration of the decrease of residual strength due to the stress peaks in the definitional domain of the peak probability density function. The evolutions of the residual strength under acoustic loading are determined via a double integral method. The residual strengths of C/SiC composite plate predicted by proposed model are in good agreement with the experimental results. Keywords: Acoustic loading, Residual strength, C/SiC composite

An approach to achieving a highly selective and stable microwave photonic filter (MPF) with two passbands independently tunable is presented. The dual-passband MPF is realized based on phase-to-intensity modulation conversion by stimulated Brillouin scattering. In the proposed scheme, a freely tunable two-tone pump is generated by passing the optical carrier through two cascaded dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulators (DPMZMs), with one acting as a frequency shifter with assistance of an electrical 90° hybrid and the other one working at carrier-suppressed double-sideband modulation mode to generate two-tone pump. The two passband locations of the MPF can be freely set by adjusting the frequencies of the two single-tone signals applied to the two DPMZMs. In the experiment, a dual-passband MPF with flexible passband tunability and shape-invariant tuning is demonstrated in the frequency range of 0-9.644 GHz, where the out-of-band rejection ratio and the 3-dB bandwidth of the passbands are measured to be larger than 25 dB and smaller than 55 MHz, respectively. The proposed MPF scheme also has the ability to tailor the shape and the width of the two passbands, which is a promising solution to achieve a freely programable dual-passband MPF.

This paper proposed a one-dimensional beam scanning transmitarray lens antenna fed by a microstrip linear array antenna which owns a wide pattern in the plane orthogonal to the array axis and a narrow pattern in the plane that includes the array axis. The design principle of transmitarray lens aims to modulate a fan beam into a pencil beam by compensating phase shift of the linear array on the plane orthogonal to the array axis at X band. First, the Rotman lens feed network is used to implement nearly ±40° one-dimensional beam scanning for the linear array with 1 × 8 microstrip antenna elements. Then, a lowprofile transmitted element with only one-layer of the substrate is utilized to design the new transmitarray lens, which can reduce fabrication expense and difficulties. After adding the transmitarray lens, maximum gain increments of 7.81 and 7.65 dB in simulation and measurement can be obtained in quasi-boresight directions, and gain increment could be obtained within ±25° beam scanning range. Besides, the fan beams of the original linear array are smoothly transformed into pencil beams.

Based on the generalized discrete Fourier transform, the generalized orthogonal discrete W transform and its fast algorithm are proposed and derived in this paper. The orthogonal discrete W transform proposed by Zhongde Wang has only four types. However, the generalized orthogonal discrete W transform proposed by us has infinite types and subsumes a family of symmetric transforms. The generalized orthogonal discrete W transform is a real-valued orthogonal transform, and the real-valued orthogonal transform of a real sequence has the advantages of simple operation and facilitated transmission and storage. The generalized orthogonal discrete W transforms provide more basis functions with new frequencies and phases and hence lead to more powerful analysis and processing tools for communication, signal processing, and numerical computing.

In worldwide, osteoporosis has become one of the severe public health distress and over 200 million people get affected by tenderness and fissure during their life period. Vicenin-2 is a naturally occurring flavonoid glycoside present in Moringa oleifera, Peperomia blanda and Ocimum sanctum Linn with numerous biological activities. The present study aims to assess the effect of Vicenin-2 on ovariectomy-induced postmenopausal osteoporosis in female rats. Surgical removal of ovaries was achieved to institute the ovariectomy animal model. The ovariectomized (OVX) animals were alienated into four groups: Control, OVX alone (model), OVX with Vicenin-2 (5 mg/kg b.w), and OVX with Vicenin-2 (10 mg/kg b.w). Also, their consistent conduct remained managed intragastrically for about 12 weeks. OVX rats treated with Vicenin-2 effectually improved body mass, uterus index, lipid profiles, inflammatory markers, bone turnover markers and amplified the presence of calcium in the OVX rat serum. Vicenin-2 was found to suppress the actions of ACP, E2, and BGP in OVX rats. Besides, Vicenin-2 showed some adverse effects over histomorphometric percentage and histological studies, in which tabular thickness and area were restored in the control and Vicenin-2 managed OVX rats. PCR results of Alp, Runx 2, Osx showed diminished expressions in OVX rats whereas treatment with Vicenin-2 displays up-regulated expression of these genes. Through our study, we established that Vicenin-2 did not wield a detrimental upshot on the skeletal organization of OVX rats. Besides, we put forward that Vicenin-2 could be an excellent candidate to treat and manage bone related disease or disorders.

We demonstrate an approach to achieve optically tunable microwave frequency downconversion based on an optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) incorporating a tunable microwave photonic filter. The wideband tunable local oscillation (LO) is generated in the OEO through simply tuning the frequency difference between the optical carrier and the reflection notch of a phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating (PS-FBG). The LO and the input radio-frequency (RF) signal are combined and added to the OEO loop by a single-phase modulator. Through transmitting one modulation sideband of the LO via the reflection notch of the PS-FBG and combining it with the optical carrier split from the laser source, the oscillation of the LO in the OEO is maintained. The reflected modulation sidebands of the LO and the RF signal from the PS-FBG are exported out of the OEO loop and enter a narrow-band photodetector to achieve optically tunable microwave frequency downconversion. Our method is experimentally evaluated, in which optically tunable LOs in the frequency range 6-15 GHz are generated, and RF signals in the frequency range 7-16 GHz are successfully downconverted to intermediate frequency band around 1 GHz.

We studied an enhanced photoluminescence (PL) effect of CsPbBr _3 /Al _2 O _3 heterojunction by using gold nanoparticls (NPs). The CsPbBr _3 /Al _2 O _3 heterojunction and CsPbBr _3 /Au/Al _2 O _3 heterojunction were respectively prepared on porous Al _2 O _3 film by using a colloidal self-assembly method. The defect fluorescence of CsPbBr _3 /Al _2 O _3 heterojunction was enhanced up to 40 times due to the transfer of photo-generated carriers from the CsPbBr _3 quantum dots (QDs) to the porous Al _2 O _3 film. To suppress the defect fluorescence of heterojunction, the CsPbBr _3 /Au/Al _2 O _3 heterojunction was prepared by loading the gold NPs between the CsPbBr _3 QDs film and the porous Al _2 O _3 film. The results showed that the gold NPs facilitated the transfer of the photo-generated carriers from the CsPbBr _3 QDs to the surface of porous Al _2 O _3 film. Compared with the porous Al _2 O _3 film and CsPbBr _3 /Al _2 O _3 heterojunction, the peak fluorescence of CsPbBr _3 /Au/Al _2 O _3 heterojunction was enhanced to 6.4 times and 2.8 times, respectively. This method of enhanced fluorescence of QD heterojunction provides a new pathway in the applications of photovoltaic, photodetector, LED, image sensor, photocatalysis.