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Physical inactivity is a well-known risk factor for various non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Sufficient physical activity (PA) is essential for the prevention of NCDs and thus it is imperative to study the current status of PA and its influencing factors among rural residents in China. A population-based survey was conducted in rural areas of Shandong, Shanxi and Yunnan Provinces using a stratified random sampling method. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-S) was used to collect the data on PA. A total of 3780 rural residents participated in the survey. The result showed that 22.2% of rural residents were physical inactivity. The proportion of rural residents reporting practice of physical exercise was 54.4%. The most frequently performed physical exercise was walking/brisk walking(78.3%).Binary logistic regression analyses showed that being female, people at age between 15 to 34 years or 60 years old and above, employees of governmental departments/retirees, school students, the unemployed, people with NCDs were risk factors of PA and ethnic minority groups,smoking and alcohol consumption were risk factors of physical exercise. Health promotion programme aiming at increasing people’s PA in rural China is needed and it should focus on the populations groups of the female, people at age 60 years and above ,school students, the unemployed, and people with NCDs.

BackgroundHypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) occurs when an infant’s brain has not received adequate oxygen and blood supply, resulting in ischemic and hypoxic damage. Currently, supportive care and hypothermia therapy have been the standard treatment for HIE. However, there are still over 20% of treated infants died and 19–30% survived with significant disability. HIE animal model was first established by Rice et al., involving the ligation of one common carotid artery followed by hypoxia. In this study, we investigated human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) and its two components mononuclear cell (MNC) and red cell fraction (RCF) in both short and long term study using a modified HIE rat model.MethodsIn this modified HIE model, both common carotid arteries were occluded, breathing 8% oxygen in a hypoxic chamber for 60-min, followed by the release of the common carotid arteries ligature, mimicking reperfusion injury. For cell therapeutic study, cells were intravenously injected to HIE rat pups, and both behavioral and histological changes were assessed at selected time points.ResultStatistically significant behavioral improvements were demonstrated on Day 7 and 1 month between saline treated HIE rats and UCB/MNC treated rats. However, at 3 months, the therapeutic improvements were only showed between saline treated HIE animals and MNC treated HIE rats. For histological analysis 1 month after cell injection, the number of functional neurons were statistically increased between saline treated HIE and UCB/MNC/RCF treated HIE rats. At 3 months, the significant increase in functional neurons was only present in MNC treated HIE rats.ConclusionWe have used a bilateral temporary occlusion of 60 min, a moderately brain damaged model, for cell therapeutic studies. HUCB mononuclear cell (MNC) therapy showed benefits in neonatal HIE rats in both short and long term behavioral and histological assessments.

Summary Objective Abnormal remodeling of subchondral bone (SB) induced by estrogen deficiency has been shown to be involved in osteoarthritis (OA). Raloxifene (RAL) is commonly used to treat postmenopausal osteoporosis (OP). However, little is known about its effects on OA combined with estrogen deficiency. This study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of RAL on patella baja-induced patellofemoral joint OA (PFJOA) in an ovariectomized rat model. Design Patellar ligament shortening (PLS) and ovariectomy (OVX) were performed simultaneously in 3-month-old female Sprague–Dawley rats, which were treated with RAL (10 mg/kg/day) or vehicle at 72 h postoperatively for 10 weeks. PFJOA was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC), real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), micro-computed tomography (μCT), histomorphology and behavioral analyses. Results X-ray examinations showed that patella baja was successfully established by PLS. Histomorphological analysis revealed that PFJOA was significantly exacerbated by OVX and markedly alleviated by RAL. Moreover, RAL improved cartilage metabolism by decreasing MMP-13, ADAMTS-4, and caspase-3 and increasing Col-II and aggrecan at both the protein and mRNA levels. Furthermore, RAL markedly improved bone mass and SB microarchitecture and reduced osteoclast numbers and the serum osteocalcin and CTX-I levels. Although RAL showed a trend toward reducing pain sensitivity based on mechanical allodynia testing, this result was not statistically significant. Conclusion These findings demonstrate that RAL treatment retards PFJOA progression in an ovariectomized rat model, suggesting that it may be a potential candidate for amelioration of the progression of PFJOA accompanied by postmenopausal OP.

In this study, the neuro-modulation effect of topical mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) was tested in a rodent middle carotid artery occlusion (MCAO) model. Twenty-four hours after MCAO, craniotomy was made and 0.8 × 106 GFP-MSCs were topically applied to the exposed parietal cortex. The MSCs were fixed in position by a thin layer of fibrin glue (N = 30). In the control group, saline were topically applied to the ipsilateral parietal cortex (N = 30). Three days after topical application, few GFP-positive cells were found in the ischemic penumbra. They expressed GFAP and NeuN. Topical MSCs triggered microglial activation, astrocytosis and cellular proliferation at day 3. The recovery of neurological functions were significantly enhanced as determined in Rotarod test and Morris Water Maze test with smaller infarct volume. PCR array showed that expressions of ten genes of neurogenesis were altered in the penumbra region (fold change > 1.25, p

C12H14N2·2ClO4, monoclinic, P21/c (no. 14), a = 5.3170(4) Å, b = 12.8711(8) Å, c = 11.6788(7) Å, β = 100.888(2)°, V = 784.86(9) Å3, Z = 2, R gt (F) = 0.0434, wR ref (F 2) = 0.1211, T = 298 K.

BACKGROUND Patella baja, or patella infera, consists of a low-lying patella that results in a limited range of motion, joint pain, and crepitations. Patellofemoral joint osteoarthritis (PFJOA) is a subtype OA of the knee. This study aimed to develop a reproducible and reliable rat model of PFJOA. MATERIAL AND METHODS Three-month-old female Sprague-Dawley rats (n=24) included a baseline group (n=8) that were euthanized at the beginning of the study. The sham group (n=8), and the patella ligament shortening (PLS) group (n=8) were euthanized and evaluated at ten weeks. The PLS model group (n=8) underwent insertion of a Kirschner wire under the patella tendon to induce patella baja. At ten weeks, the sham group and the PLS group were compared using X-ray imaging, macroscopic appearance, histology, immunohistochemistry, TUNEL staining for apoptosis, and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). The patella height was determined using the modified Insall-Salvati (MIS) ratio. RESULTS The establishment of the rat model of patella baja in the PLS group at ten weeks was confirmed by X-ray. In the PLS group, patella volume, sagittal length, and cross-sectional area were significantly increased compared with the sham group. The PFJ showed typical lesions of OA, confirmed macroscopically and histologically. Compared with the sham group, in the rat model of PFJOA, there was increased cell apoptosis, and immunohistochemistry showed increased expression of biomarkers of osteoarthritis, compared with the sham group. CONCLUSIONS A rat model of PFJOA was developed that was confirmed by changes in cartilage and subchondral bone.

Background This study aimed to compare the safety and efficacy of transradial access (TRA) with transfemoral access (TFA) chemoembolization in treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods HCC patients who were late for curative treatment on initial diagnosis or HCC patients who had undergone one or several rounds of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) were enrolled. The clinical and angiographic characteristics, the procedure related details, and the follow-up data from patients who underwent TRA and TFA were analyzed and compared. Results In total, 112 patients undergoing 160 TRA-TACE and 107 patients undergoing 163 TFA-TACE were included. The technical success rate of TRA was 95.0% and that of TFA was 98.8% (P=0.102). In the TFA-TACE group, 5.5% of cases suffered access site-related complications, including 6 with minor bleeding and 3 with severe bleeding or pseudoaneurysm. In the TRA-TACE group, 1.9% of cases underwent crossover to femoral access for selective cannulation failure. The rate of radial artery occlusion (RAO) was 2.7% (3 of 112 patients), and none of the RAO patients suffered paresthesia, pain at the site of occlusion, hand function loss or distal ischemia. Comparing patients with/without access site-related complications in the TFA-TACE group, there was a statistical difference in patient age and in the percentage of patient with a PT time >15 s (72.6% vs. 57.1%, P

Background Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) occurs when an infant's brain does not receive adequate blood and oxygen supply, resulting in ischemic and hypoxic brain damage during delivery. Currently, supportive care and hypothermia have been the standard treatment for HIE. However, there are still a 20% mortality and most of the survivors are associated with significant neurodevelopmental disability. HIE animal model was first established by Vannucci et al., in 1981, and has been used extensively to explore the mechanisms of brain damage and its potential treatment. The Vannucci model involves the unilateral common carotid artery occlusion followed by 90 min hypoxia (8% oxygen). The purpose of this study is to define and validate a modified HIE model which mimics closely that of the human neonatal HIE. Method The classic Vannucci HIE model occludes one common carotid artery followed by 90 min hypoxia. In the new model, common carotid arteries were occluded bilaterally followed by breathing 8% oxygen in a hypoxic chamber for 90, 60 and 30 min, followed by the release of the common carotid artery ligatures, mimicking a reperfusion. Result We studied 110 neonatal rats in detail, following the modified in comparison with the classical Vannucci models. The classical Vannucci model has a consistent surgical mortality of 18% and the new modified models have a 20%–46%. While mortality depended on the duration of hypoxia, fifty-two animals survived for behavioral assessments and standard histology. The modified HIE model with 60 min of transient carotid occlusion is associated with a moderate brain damage, and has a 30% surgical mortality. This modified experimental model is regarded closer to the human situation than the classical Vannucci model., Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy; Animal model.

Gait analysis has been widely used to examine the behavioral presentation of numerous neurological disorders. Thorough murine model evaluation of the subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)-associated gait deficits is missing. This study measures gait deficits using a clinically relevant murine model of SAH to examine associations between gait variability and SAH-associated gene expressions. A total of 159 dynamic and static gait parameters from the endovascular perforation murine model for simulating clinical human SAH were determined using the CatWalk system. Eighty gait parameters and the mRNA expression levels of 35 of the 88 SAH-associated genes were differentially regulated in the diseased models. Totals of 42 and 38 gait parameters correlated with the 35 SAH-associated genes positively and negatively with Pearson's correlation coefficients of >0.7 and

Neutrophilic asthma (NA) is a distinct airway inflammation disease with prominent neutrophil infiltration. The role played by neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in NA, however, is quite unclear. This study was based on the hypothesis that NETs are responsible for the second neutrophil wave and therefore contribute significantly to inflammation. The proinflammatory effects of NETs were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Formation of NETs and neutrophil swarming was seen in a mouse model of NA. Additionally, NETs were found to stimulate airway cells to express CXCL1, CXCL2, and CXCL8 via the TLR4/NF-κB pathway, which recruits neutrophils to the inflammation site. Furthermore, prevention of NET formation decreased the recruitment of lung neutrophils and hence reduce neutrophilic inflammation. Additionally, the structural integrity of NETs had no effect on the recruitment of lung neutrophils and neutrophilic inflammation. In NA mice, NETs could trigger airway and alveolar epithelial cells to express chemokines which recruit more neutrophils via activation of the TLR4/NF-κB pathway.

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and estrogen deficiency both predispose fracture patients to increased risk of delayed union or nonunion. The present study investigated the effects of strontium ranelate (SR) on fracture healing in ovariectomized (OVX) diabetic rats. MATERIAL AND METHODS A mid-shaft fracture was established in female normal control (CF), diabetic (DF), and OVX diabetic (DOF) rats. Treated DOF rats received either insulin alone (DOFI) or combined with SR (DOFIS). All rats were euthanized at 2 or 3 weeks after fracture. Fracture healing was evaluated using radiological, histological, immunohistochemical, and micro-computed tomography analyses. RESULTS At 3 weeks after fracture, radiological and histological evaluations demonstrated delayed fracture healing in the DF group compared with the CF group, which was exacerbated by OVX, as indicated by the significantly lower X-ray score, BMD, BV/TV, and Md.Ar/Ps.Cl.Ar, and the markedly decreased OCN and Col I expression in the DOF group. All these changes were prevented by insulin alone or combined with SR treatment. In comparison with the DOFI group, DOFIS rats displayed markedly higher OCN expression at 2 weeks after fracture and Col I expression at 2 and 3 weeks after fracture. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrated delayed fracture healing with preexisting estrogen deficiency and T2DM. While insulin alone and combined with SR were both effective in promoting bone fracture healing in this model, their combined treatment showed significant improvement in promoting osteogenic marker expression, but not of the radiological appearance, compared with insulin alone.

Vascular mimicry (VM) is a critical complement for microcirculation and is implicated in tumor progression. We showed that IL-6 derived from tumor cells and stroma cells promoted tumor cells to form a VM structure, whereas blocking the IL-6 signaling by RNA interference, IL-6-neutralizing antibody, or STAT3 inhibitor suppressed the VM formation of tumor cells. Mechanism investigations revealed that IL-6 stimulated VM formation by activating STAT3, in turn upregulating VE-cadherin expression and MMP2 activity. Further analyses identified a positive association between the activation of IL-6-STAT3 signaling and the formation of the VM structure in human HCC tissues. However, miR-29b repressed the expression of STAT3 and MMP2 by directly binding to the 3′ UTRs of their mRNAs. Consistently, both gain- and loss-of-function analyses showed that miR-29b suppressed tumor cells to form tube structures in vitro. The in vivo studies further disclosed that intratumoral injection of the miR-29b-expressing viruses significantly inhibited the IL-6-promoted VM formation in mouse xenografts, and downregulation of miR-29b was correlated with the presence of VM in human HCC tissues. This study elucidates a miR-29b-IL-6 signaling cascade and its role in VM formation, which provide potential targets for cancer therapy. Keywords: interleukin 6, STAT3, microRNA-29b, vascular mimicry

Ovariectomized (OVX) rats with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with femur fracture received vehicle, insulin, or insulin plus parathyroid hormone (PTH) treatment for 2 and 3 weeks. Radiography, histomorphometry, histology, and immunohistochemistry in callus were evaluated. Reports about effects of PTH plus insulin on callus formation of osteoporotic fracture with T2DM were limited. This study was designed to investigate the effects of the combination of PTH and insulin on fracture healing in OVX rats with T2DM. Two-month-old female rats were randomly divided into five groups: normal fracture (F), OVX fracture (OF), T2DM + OVX fracture (DOF), insulin-treated (2–4 u/daylight, 4–6 u/night, DOFI), and treated with insulin and PTH (50 μg/kg/day, 5 days/week, DOFIP). A closed mid-shaft fracture was established in the right femurs of all rats after 6 weeks of OVX. Rats were euthanized at 2 and 3 weeks post-fracture according to the time schedule, respectively. The administration of insulin alone or insulin combined with PTH significantly increased mineralized bone volume fraction (BV/TV) and connectivity density (Conn.D) compared with those of the DOF group at 3 weeks post-fracture and also increased cartilaginous callus area ratio in the DOFI and DOFIP groups at 2 weeks and bony callus area ratio in the DOFIP groups at both the 2 and 3 weeks post-fracture. OVX rats with T2DM exhibited a marked delay in the fracture healing process; insulin treatment ameliorated these effects, and the healing process was enhanced following treatment with a combination of insulin and PTH.

Vascular mimicry (VM) describes the phenomenon that tumor cells but not endothelial cells form vascular-like channels, which provide blood perfusion for tumor tissues. VM is associated with tumor growth, metastasis and worse survival of different cancers. The mechanisms of VM formation remain largely unknown. We showed that the conditioned medium of cancer-associated fibroblast (CM-CAF) promoted tumor cells to form capillary-like structure in vitro . Consistently, co-implantation of CAFs with tumor cells significantly enhanced VM formation in mouse xenografts, and higher amount of CAFs was found in VM + human HCC tissues compared to VM − ones. However, the CM-CAF-promoted VM formation was attenuated when TGF-β or SDF1 signaling was abrogated. Similar to CM-CAF, recombinant TGF-β1 and SDF1 induced VM formation. We further disclosed that the CAF-secreted TGF-β and SDF1 enhanced the expression of VE-cadherin, MMP2 and laminin5γ2 via TGF-βR1 and CXCR4 in tumor cells, thereby promoted VM formation. Moreover, tumor cells with high activity of self-sustaining TGF-β signaling displayed strong capability of VM formation. Subsequent investigations showed that miR-101, which was down-regulated in both tumor cells and CAFs, suppressed the CAF-promoted VM formation in vitro and in vivo . Gain- and loss-of-function analyses revealed that miR-101 attenuated TGF-β signaling transduction by targeting TGF-βR1 and Smad2 in tumor cells, and simultaneously abrogated SDF1 signaling by suppressing SDF1 expression in CAFs and inhibiting VE-cadherin expression in tumor cells. Our findings suggest that the miR-101-TGF-β/SDF1-VE-cadherin/MMP2/LAMC2 networks regulate VM formation and represent the potential targets for cancer therapy.

The preparation of Nafion membranes modified with montmorillonites is less studied, and most relative works mainly applied in direct methanol fuel cells, less in direct ethanol fuel cells. Organic/inorganic composite membranes are prepared with different montmorillonites (Ca-montmorillonite, Na-montmorillonite, K-montmorillonite, Mg-montmorillonite, and H-montmorillonite) and Nafion solution via casting method at 293 K in air, and with balance of their proton conductivity and ethanol permeability. The ethanol permeability and proton conductivity of the membranes are comparatively studied. The montmorillonites can well decrease the ethanol permeability of the membranes via inserted them in the membranes, while less decrease the proton conductivities of the membranes depending on the inserted amount and type of montmorillonites. The proton conductivities of the membranes are between 36.0 mS/cm and 38.5 mS/cm. The ethanol permeability of the membranes is between 0.69 × 10 −6 cm 2 /s and 2.67 × 10 −6 cm 2 /s.

Using the background field method, we, in the large $$N_f$$ approximation, calculate the beta function of scalar quantum electrodynamics at the first nontrivial order in $$1/N_f$$ by two different ways. In the first way, we get the result by summing all the graphs contributing directly. In the second way, we begin with the Borel transform of the related two point Green’s function. The main results are that the beta function is fully determined by a simple function and can be expressed as an analytic expression with a finite radius of convergence, and the scheme-dependent renormalized Borel transform of the two point Green’s function suffers from renormalons.

Introduction: Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a devastating stroke type. Microglia/Macrophage, in neuroinflammation response, are capable of classic M1 and alternative M2 polarization after activation. However, the profile of microglial activation was not well studied in SAH. In this study, we aimed to unravel the polarization-specific dynamic of microglia after SAH. Methods: Wild-type C57BL/6 mice and Cx3cr1 GFP/GFP Ccr2 RFP/RFP mice were used and SAH was induced by endovascular perforation. The Immunohistochemistry and Immunofluorescence were employed to characterize the profile of microglia activation on day 1, day 3, day 5, day 10 (n=6-8). Results: Iba1-positive microglia accumulated significantly in the cortex adjacent to the bleeding site (CAPS) on day 1 and sustained to increase till the delayed phase in SAH. Microglial accumulation was also observed on motor cortex and hippocampus on the early phase. Immunofluorescence showed the CD16/32-positive M1-predominant phenotype appeared in 3 days, then gradually transformed into the CD206-positive M2 phenotype. The functionally microglial polarization advanced along with the morphological changes through ramified to amoeboid shape. The bipolar microglia appeared through the morphological transformation with the colocalization of M1/M2 markers. In addition, Ccr2 low expressed and Cx3Cr1 highly expressed (CCR2 - /Cx3Cr1 + ) cells are observed on CAPS with a co-existing of a small group of CCR2 + /Cx3Cr1 + cell. The results suggested the preponderant microglial activation rather than the infiltrated macrophage. Conclusions: Microglia demonstrated a preponderant and early accumulation and this accumulation showed a centrifugal spreading through CAPS to remote motor cortex. Pro-inflammatory response occurred early and transform to the anti-inflammation on the delayed phase. The dynamic of microglial morphological changes and polarization implied the function-related neuroinflammatory response and pathophysiologic process of restoration upon the hemorrhage attack.

At present, the number of App users in China is soaring, but it still faces the problem of low user stickiness. The interactive design approach of fitness App is proposed to improve the App and motive users to form the habit of permanent use of fitness App, and ultimately achieve the goal of increasing the fitness App’s stickiness. The ideal fitness App lifecycle can be divided into three stages: the initial trial stage, the habit-forming stage, and the habit-keeping stage. It is proposed that fitness App should improve user experience in three stages of the ideal lifecycle by improving interaction design at the three levels of “instinct level, behavior level and reflective level”. The specific interaction design approach at the instinct level, behavior level and reflective level are also put forward.

At present, there are numerous usability problems in the long-term rental application in Chinese market, including unreasonable interaction design problems and irregular interface design problems. The usability elements and the interaction design principles of the long-term rental application are proposed to support the usability improvement. The usability elements, namely effectiveness, efficiency, satisfaction, learnability, security, and versatility, and the interaction design principles include meeting user mental models; focusing on the analysis and design of different touchpoints; completing information searching path; reasonable information display methods. User behaviors and usage preferences are explored through focus group, non-participant observation and questionnaire survey. One long-term rental application is redesigned to follow the interaction design principle. For usability testing, the measured person uses the application before and after the improvement, counting the usability score and level to determine whether the redesign has been improved. The principle of interaction design can improve the interaction design level and achieve the goal of improving usability of the long-term rental application.

Nepheline-based water-permeable bricks are prepared with coal gangue and aluminum hydroxide by raw material pretreating, mixing, isostatic molding, roasting, and self-curing. These bricks exhibit balance between their mechanical and water-permeable properties. In this study, two main factors, the raw material ratio and the molding pressure, are studied. The mineral phase, porous structure, and mechanical properties of the samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and mercury injection, respectively. The compressive strength and water permeability of the bricks meet Chinese industry standard JC/T945-2005 for water-permeable bricks. The compressive strengths of the samples are between 30.6 and 34.3 MPa. The permeability coefficients range from 1.37 cm s−1 to 1.55 cm s−1. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2016

To analyze the effect of dexmedetomidine on the inflammatory factors level and cognitive function after femoral head replacement in elderly patients.From January 2016 to December 2017, 60 elderly patients(more than 60 years old, and Grade I to II of ASA) treated with femoral head replacement were divided into three groups, and 20 in each group. All patients received midazolam, fentanyl, etomidate, cisatracurium anesthesia induction and sevoflurane inhalation anesthesia maintenance. The patients in group B and group C were first given 1.0 μg·kg⁻¹ of dexmedetomidine 10 minutes during the operation. The maintenance volume was 0.3 μg·kg⁻¹·h⁻¹ of dexmedetomidine(in group B) and 0.6 μg·kg⁻¹·h⁻¹ of dexmedetomidine(in group C) by pumping. The same amount of saline was given to the patients in group A in the same way. The time of extubation, wakefulness and recovery, the simple intelligent mental state score (MMSE), the incidence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) and the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10) and S100β protein expression in the 3 groups were compared.There were significant differences in the time of spontaneous breathing recovery, eye opening tome and the time of extubation, as well as the dosage of propofol among the three groups(For elderly patients operated for femoral head replacement, dexmedetomidine can reduce the level of inflammatory factors level and propofol consumption, and the incidence of postoperative POCD is low, indicating a dose dependence of dexmedetomidine. But it is necessary to choose the right dose according to the patient's condition.

We aimed to investigate the prevalence and pattern of cognitive dysfunction in patients with traumatic bifrontal contusions and their association with functional outcome.We prospectively recruited patients with bifrontal contusions in a regional neurosurgical center in Hong Kong over a 2-year period. Functional outcome was assessed by modified Rankin Scale (mRS), and cognitive outcomes were assessed by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and a comprehensive neuropsychological battery.We recruited 34 patients with traumatic bifrontal contusions over a 2-year period. Nine (26%) patients had craniotomy for evacuation of left or right frontal contusions. Functional outcome using mRS was significantly correlated with cognitive outcomes using MMSE or MoCA. The effect of cognitive outcome using MMSE or MoCA persisted after adjustments of age, sex, admission Glasgow Coma Scale, and surgery. In patients who completed the comprehensive neuropsychological assessments, cognitive impairment in at least one of the neuropsychological tests was noted in 73% of them.Cognitive dysfunction had a significant impact on functional outcome, and treatment strategy should be developed to minimize them.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the prevalence and pattern of cognitive dysfunction in patients with traumatic bifrontal contusions and their association with functional outcome.

Cognitive impairment is a major factor contributing to poor functional outcome after subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by a ruptured cerebral aneurysm (aSAH). Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) has been shown to be superior to the Mini-Mental State Examination in screening for cognitive domain deficit and correlating to functional outcome in aSAH patients. The aim of the current study was to determine the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score change that was associated with change of health in general in an aSAH patient cohort. We recruited aSAH patients from a regional neurosurgical center over a 3-year period. Patient assessments including MoCA and global rating of change (GRoC) were carried out at at 3 and 12months after aSAH. Anchor-based and distribution-based approaches were adopted to calculate the Minimum Clinically Important Difference (MID). One hundred and seventy-five aSAH patients completed both 3-month and 1-year assessments and consented for participation. Employing the distribution-based approach for the 3-month and 1-year MoCA scores, the MID estimates equated to a change of 2.0 and 1.1 respectively. Employing the anchor-based approach (with GRoC), the MID estimate of MoCA (median, IQR) was 2, 1-4. In conclusion, we found that the MID of MoCA score associated with change of health in general in aSAH patients was 2. The MID provides guidance for future clinical trial design targeting on cognitive dysfunction after aSAH.

Background Delayed cerebral infarction ( DCI ) is a major cause of morbidities after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage ( SAH ) and typically starts at day 4 to 7 after initial hemorrhage. Micro RNA s (mi RNAs ) play an important role in posttranscriptional gene expression control, and distinctive patterns of circulating mi RNA changes have been identified for some diseases. We aimed to investigate mi RNA s that characterize SAH patients with DCI compared with those without DCI . Methods and Results Circulating mi RNA s were collected on day 7 after SAH in healthy, SAH ‐free controls (n=20), SAH patients with DCI (n=20), and SAH patients without DCI (n=20). We used the LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) method of regression analysis to characterize mi RNA s associated with SAH patients with DCI compared with those without DCI . In the 28 dysregulated mi RNA s associated with DCI and SAH , we found that a combination of 4 mi RNA s (miR‐4532, miR‐4463, miR‐1290, and miR‐4793) could differentiate SAH patients with DCI from those without DCI with an area under the curve of 100% (95% CI 1.000–1.000, P RNA combination could also distinguish SAH patients with or without DCI from healthy controls with areas under the curve of 99.3% (95% CI 0.977–1.000, P CI 0.685–0.955, P Conclusions We found a 4‐mi RNA combination that characterized SAH patients with DCI . The findings could guide future mechanistic study to develop therapeutic targets.

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is an important cause of stroke mortality and morbidity, especially in the young stroke population. Recent evidences indicate that neuroinflammation plays a critical role in both early brain injury and the delayed brain deterioration after SAH, including cellular and molecular components. Cerebral vasospasm (CV) can lead to death after SAH and independently correlated with poor outcome. Neuroinflammation is evidenced to contribute to the etiology of vasospasm. Besides, systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) commonly occurs in the SAH patients, with the presence of non-infectious fever and systematic complications. In this review, we summarize the evidences that indicate the prominent role of inflammation in the pathophysiology of SAH. That may provide the potential implications on diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a subtype of stroke with disastrous outcomes of high disability and mortality. A variety of endeavors have been developed to explore a SAH animal model for investigation of the disease. Among these models, the endovascular perforation SAH model was considered to be the most simulative to the clinical human SAH because it reproduces several pathophysiology procedures and presents some of the most important post-hemorrhage features. An applicable SAH animal model should have the characteristics of low mortality rate, limited surgical manipulation, and adaptation to many species, which permits reproducibility and standardization. An intensive discussion of how to improve the techniques and refine the procedure has taken place in the last decade. This report describes our experiences with a murine model of SAH. We aim to standardize and optimize the procedures to establish a relatively stable animal model for SAH research.

α-HgS is the main component of traditional Chinese medicine cinnabar, while β-HgS is the main component of Tibetan medicine Zuotai. However, there was no comparative study on the dissolution and absorption in gastrointestinal tract and bioaccumulation in organs of mercury in Cinnabar, Zuotai, α-HgS and β-HgS. In this study, the dissolution process of the four compounds in the human gastrointestinal tract was simulated to determine the mercury dissolutions and compare the mercury dissolution of different medicines and the dissolution-promoting capacity of different solutions. To explore the absorption and bioaccumulation of cinnabar and Zuotai in organisms, mice were orally administered with clinical equivalent doses cinnabar and Zuotai. Meanwhile, a group of mice was given α-HgS and β-HgS with the equivalent mercury with cinnabar, while another group was given β-HgS and HgCl2 with the equivalent mercury with Zuotai. The mercury absorption and bioaccumulation capacities of different medicines in mice and their mercury bioaccumulation in different tissues and organs were compared. The experimental results showed a high mercury dissolutions of Zuotai in artificial gastrointestinal fluid, which was followed by β-HgS, cinnabar and α-HgS. As for the mercury absorption and bioaccumulation in mice, HgCl2 was the highest, β-HgS was the next, and a-HgS was slightly higher than cinnabar. The organs with the mercury bioaccumulation from high to low were kidney, liver and brain. This study is close to clinical practices and can provide reference for the clinical safe medication as well as a study model for the safety evaluation on heavy metal-containing medicines by observing the mercury dissolution, absorption, distribution and accumulation of mercury-containing medicines cinnabar and zuotai.

The compressive fracture characteristics of Zr-based bulk metallic glass under uniaxial compression tests are studied. The zigzag rheological behavior is observed in the compression stress-strain curves of amorphous alloys. At room temperature the uniaxial compression fracture takes place along the plane which is at a 45-degree angle to the direction of the compressive stress. The microstructure of a typical fracture pattern is the vein network. A unique, finger-like vein pattern is found to exist at the fracture surface of Zr-based bulk metallic glass.

Image Plate (IP) is convenient to be used and very suitable for radiation detection because of its advantages such as wide dynamic range, high detective quantum efficiency, ultrahigh sensitivity and superior linearity. The function mechanism and characteristics of IP are introduced in this paper. IP was employed in the study of hot electrons generated from intense laser-plasma interaction. The angular distribution and energy spectrum of hot electrons were measured with IP in the experiments. The results demonstrate that IP is an effective radiation detector for the study of laser-plasma interaction.

To explore the possibility of soft intellectual property implementation, a fully digital smart temperature sensor without any full-custom device is proposed for painless VLSI or system-on-chip integrations. The signal is processed thoroughly in time domain instead of conventional voltage or current domain. A cyclic delay line is used to generate the pulse with a temperature-proportional width. The timing reference is just the input clock and a counter instead of voltage or current analog-to-digital converter is utilized for digital output coding. The circuit was implemented by field-programmable gate array chips for functionality verification and performance evaluation. Realized with as few as 140 logic elements, the proposed smart sensor was measured to have an error of -1.5 ~ 0.8 degC over the full commercial IC temperature operation range of 0 degC-75 degC for thermal self-sensing or monitoring. The effective resolution can be made better than 0.1 degC easily, and the power consumption is 8.42 muW at a sampling rate of 2 samples/s. The longest conversion time is around 260 s, and a conversion rate of 3 kHz at least is promised.

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a subtype of stroke with disastrous outcomes of high disability and mortality. A variety of endeavors have been developed to explore a SAH animal model for investigation of the disease. Among these models, the endovascular perforation SAH model was considered to be the most simulative to the clinical human SAH because it reproduces several pathophysiology procedures and presents some of the most important post-hemorrhage features. An applicable SAH animal model should have the characteristics of low mortality rate, limited surgical manipulation, and adaptation to many species, which permits reproducibility and standardization. An intensive discussion of how to improve the techniques and refine the procedure has taken place in the last decade. This report describes our experiences with a murine model of SAH. We aim to standardize and optimize the procedures to establish a relatively stable animal model for SAH research.

Background Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a highly morbid and fatal condition with high rate of cognitive impairment and negative impact in quality of life among survivors. Delayed cerebral infarction (DCI) is one the major factors for these negative outcomes. In this study we compared the circulating microRNA profiles of SAH patients and healthy individuals, and the circulating microRNA profiles of SAH patients with and without DCI. Methods Peripheral blood samples on Day 7 after the onset of SAH were subjected to microarray analysis with Affymetrix miRNA 3.0 array and quantitative PCR analysis. SAH patients with (N = 20) and without DCI (N = 20) and Healthy controls (N = 20) were included for analyses. Results We demonstrated that 99 miRNAs were found to be dysregulated in the SAH patient group with DCI. 81 miRNAs were upregulated and 18 were downregulated. Findings from KEGG pathway analysis showed that miRNAs and target genes for axon guidance and TGF-beta signaling were involved, implying that the resulted differential miRNA expression pattern reflect the results of SAH instead of etiology of the disease. miR-132-3p and miR-324-3p showed distinctive upregulations in qPCR [miR-132: 9.5 fold (95%CI: 2.3 to 16.7) in DCI group and 3.4 fold (95%CI: 1.0 to 5.8) in Non-DCI group; miR-324: 4924 fold (95%CI: 2620 to 7228) in DCI group and 4545 fold (95%CI: 2408 to 6683) in non-DCI group]. However, there were no significant differences in fold changes between SAH patients with and without DCI [fold change ratios (mean+/-SD): 2.7+/-4.2 and 1.1+/-1.1 for miRNA-132 and miRNA-324]. Conclusion Our study demonstrated that as compared to healthy control, miR-132 and miR-324 showed a upregulation in both SAH DCI and Non-DCI groups. However, the differences between the SAH DCI and non-DCI groups were not statistically significant.

Long plasma channels in air induced by femtosecond laser pulses are investigated using three different methods, including the cross-section imaging, resistivity measuring and acoustic diagnostics. These methods are based on different properties of the light filaments. A comparison of the three diagnostics shows that the imaging method is the most precise one in studying the filaments distribution and evolution, that the sonographic method is the most convenient approach to detecting long plasma channels by detecting the acoustic wave generation, and that the resistivity measurement can only be applied for giving a rough estimate. The diagnostics of filaments allow us to choose appropriate detecting methods and provide further insight into the dynamic evolution of the light filaments in air.

Compared with direct ablation, confined ablation provides an effective way to obtain a large target momentum and a high coupling coefficient. By using a transparent glass layer to cover the target surface, the coupling coefficient is enhanced by an order of magnitude. With the increase of the gap width between the target surface and the cover layer, the coupling coefficient exponentially decreases. It is found that the coupling coefficient is also related to the thickness of the cover layer.

Bronchoscopy is an important method for diagnosing respiratory disease. Multiple tracheobronchial nodules are rarely reported and their causes remain unclear.The aim of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics of multiple nodule tracheobronchial abnormalities found under bronchoscopy caused by different diseases.Eighty-seven patients with multiple tracheobronchial nodules were enrolled in this study. The characteristics of the multinodule lesions and the patient were diagnosed based on the pathology findings in our hospital. Chest computed tomography images were retrospectively reviewed by pulmonologists and radiologist.In 55 patients with definite pathological diagnosis, 16 (29%) patients were diagnosed as tuberculosis (TB) granuloma; 23 (41.8%) cases were diagnosed as malignant disease; 12 (21.8%) cases were diagnosed as tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica; 2 (3.6%) cases were diagnosed as sarcoidosis; and one case (1.8%) was diagnosed as lymphoma and one case (1.8%) as fungal infection. There were 32 cases of chronic inflammation. There was no relationship between nodule distribution and the pathological diagnosis. Malignant nodules usually smaller with a pale outlook, while nodules with larger size and smooth and intact mucosa usually turn out to be granuloma of unknown reason.The major causes of mutinodule lesions observed using bronchoscopy are tumor and TB. The presence of multiple endotracheobronchial nodules suggest that pulmonary lesion is present, and biopsy should be performed. Malignant nodules can be diagnosed by appearance and biopsy. Pathology results of TB, sarcoidosis and fungal infection can turn out to be granuloma of unknown reason. Further diagnosis needs other clinical materials.