The effect of N content on the microstructure and wear resistance of 4Cr13 corrosion-resistant plastic mold steel were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, ...X-ray diffraction, and tribometer. The results showed that the influence mechanism of nitrogen on the hardness of the test steels responded to the changes in the quenching temperature. When the quenching temperature was below 1050 °C, the solid solution strengthening of N played a dominant role as a wear mechanism, and as the N content increased, the hardness of the steel increased. When the quenching temperature was higher than 1050 °C, N increased the residual austenite content, resulting in a decrease in hardness. The addition of N reduced the optimal quenching temperature of the test steels. The N addition promoted the transformation of large-sized M
C
to M
C
and fine Cr
N, resulting in an increase in the hardness of the test steels. The influence on the wear resistance of the experimental steels differed according to the varied N contents. The addition of 0.1% N delayed the precipitation of large- sized particles in the second phase, increased the hardness of the steel, and reduced the degree of wear. However, an excessive addition of N (0.18%) led to the excessive precipitation of the second-phase particles, and the second-phase particles then gradually flaked during the wear process and continued to participate in the wear process as third-body abrasives, reducing wear resistance.
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a common neurological disorder. This study aims to investigate the modulation effect of Baduanjin (a popular mind-body exercise) on MCI. 69 patients were randomized ...to Baduanjin, brisk walking, or an education control group for 24 weeks. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans were applied at baseline and at the end of the experiment. Compared to the brisk walking and control groups, the Baduanjin group experienced significantly increased MoCA scores. Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) analysis showed significantly decreased ALFF values in the right hippocampus (classic low-freqency band, 0.01-0.08 Hz) in the Baduanjin group compared to the brisk walking group and increased ALFF values in the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC, slow-5 band, 0.01-0.027 Hz) in the Baduanjin group compared to the control group. Further, ALFF value changes in the right hippocampus and bilateral ACC were significantly associated with corresponding MoCA score changes across all groups. We also found increased gray matter volume in the Baduanjin group in the right hippocampus compared to the brisk walking group and in the bilateral ACC compared to the control group. In addition, there was an increased resting state functional connectivity between the hippocampus and right angular gyrus in the Baduanjin group compared to the control group. Our results demonstrate the potential of Baduanjin for the treatment of MCI.
Tai Chi Chuan was used for stroke survivors with balance impairments. However, even a short-form of Tai Chi Chuan includes forms that make the exercise challenging for the stroke survivors. Tai Chi ...Yunshou (wave hands in the cloud) is the "mother" form and the fundamental form of all Tai Chi Chuan styles, which is considered more suitable and feasible for stroke survivors with balance impairments. So this study was designed to evaluate the effects of Tai Chi Yunshou exercise on community-based stroke patients with balance dysfunctions.
A total of 250 participants from 10 community health centers (5 per arm) were selected and randomly allocated into Tai Chi Yunshou exercise group (TC group) or a balance rehabilitation training group (control group) in an equal ratio. Participants in the TC group were received Tai Chi Yunshou exercise training five times per week for 12 weeks and those in control group were received balance rehabilitation training five times per week for 12 weeks. Outcome assessments including Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Time up to go test (TUGT), Modified Barthel Index (MBI) were measured at baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks and followed-up 6 weeks (18 weeks), 12 weeks (24 weeks). Intention-to-treat analysis was performed. Analysis of variance of repeated measures was used to assess between-group differences.
A total of 244 participants, 120 in the TC group and 124 in the rehabilitation group, were included in final analysis. There was no siginificant difference in Tai Chi Yunshou and balance rehabilitation training on the improvement of balance ability and mobility (
= 0.531 and
= 0.839, respectively) after adjustment for baseline. However, there was significant difference between two groups on improvement of motor funtion (
= 0.022), fear of falling (
< 0.001) and depression (
= 0.035) for the post stroke patients. No adverse events were reported during the study.
Tai Chi Yunshou and balance rehabilitation training led to improved balance ability and functional mobility, and both are suitable community-based programs that may benefit for stroke recovery and community reintegration. Our data demonstrated that a 12-week Tai Chi Yunshou intervention was more effective in motor function, fear of falling and depression than balance rehabilitation training. Future studies examining the effectiveness of Tai Chi Yunahou as a balance ability improvement strategy for community-dwelling survivors of stroke are recommended.
Chinese Clinical Trail Registry: ChiCRT-TRC-13003641. Registration date: 22 August, 2013.
The Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders (Neuro-QoL) item banks evaluate and monitor the physical, mental, and social health of individuals with neurological conditions. Neuro-QoL items can be ...administered via short form or computerized adaptive testing. This paper describes the English-to-Simplified Chinese translation of 299 items from 13 adult item banks, which are publicly available.
Items were translated according to the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) method, including forward and backward translation, reconciliation, expert reviews, and cognitive debriefing with both general and clinical populations in China.
Most of the 299 Simplified Chinese items were well understood by the respondents. Revisions were made on a small number of items after cognitive debriefing. Although some difficulties were encountered in the translation process, all 13 item banks were linguistically validated with acceptable translations.
All Chinese adult Neuro-QoL measures are linguistically equivalent to their English sources. Future work includes psychometric validation of these measures in order to create a final version of the item banks. The translation methodology used in this study can serve as a blueprint for researchers in other countries interested in translating the Neuro-QoL.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
CEKLJ, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•Mind-body and physical exercises can relieve pain symptoms in KOA patients.•Knee pain relief is associated with changes in DLPFC rsFC and serum PD-1 level.•Mind-body and physical exercises can ...increase gray matter volume in the SMA.•DLPFC-SMA rsFC at baseline can predict the treatment effect of exercises on knee pain.•Significant DLPFC rsFC differences exist among exercise modalities.
Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a common degenerative joint disease with no satisfactory intervention. Recently, both physical and mindfulness exercises have received considerable attention for their implications in KOA pain management, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has displayed a critical role in pain modulation. This study aimed to comparatively investigate the modulation effects of different exercises using multidisciplinary measurements.
140 KOA patients were randomized into Tai Chi, Baduanjin, stationary cycling, or health education control groups for 12 weeks. Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), structural MRI, and serum biomarkers were measured at baseline and at the end of the study.
We found: 1) increased KOOS pain subscores (pain reduction) and serum programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) levels in the three exercise groups compared to the control group; 2) decreased resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the DLPFC-supplementary motor area (SMA) and increased rsFC between the DLPFC and anterior cingulate cortex in all exercise groups compared to the control group; 3) significant associations between DLPFC-SMA rsFC with KOOS pain subscores and serum PD-1 levels at baseline; 4) significantly increased grey matter volume in the SMA in the Tai Chi and stationary cycling groups, and a trend toward significant increase in the Baduanjin group compared to the control group; 5) significant DLPFC rsFC differences among different exercise groups; and 6) that baseline DLPFC-SMA rsFC can predict the effect of mind-body exercise on pain improvement in KOA.
Our results suggest that different exercises can modulate both common and unique DLPFC (cognitive control) pathways, and altered DLPFC-SMA rsFC is associated with serum biomarker levels. Our findings also highlight the potentials of neuroimaging biomarkers in predicting the therapeutic effect of mind-body exercises on KOA pain.
Inflammatory response has been shown to play a critical role in brain damage after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury, which is tightly regulated by the Toll-like receptor (TLR)4/nuclear ...factor (NF)-κB pathway; therefore, suppression of TLR4/NF-κB signaling has become a promising target for the anti-inflammatory treatment in ischemic stroke. Acupuncture has been used as a complementary and alternative therapy practice that supplements conventional medicine. Numerous studies have demonstrated the clinical efficacy of acupuncture in stroke rehabilitation. However, the precise mechanism of its neuroprotective effect remains poorly understood. Using a focal cerebral I/R injured rat model, in the present study we evaluated the neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory activities of electroacupuncture at Quchi and Zusanli, and investigated the underlying molecular mechanisms. We found that electroacupuncture at Quchi (LI11) and Zusanli (ST36) acupoints significantly improved the ischemia-associated scores of neurological deficits, reduced cerebral infarction and alleviated inflammatory responses. Moreover, the crucial signaling molecules in the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway were regulated by acupuncture, which coincided with suppressed secretion levels of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6. Our data suggest that electroacupuncture exerts a neuroprotective function in ischemic stroke through inhibition of TLR4/NF-κB-mediated inflammation.
Knee osteoarthritis is a prevalent disorder with unsatisfactory treatment options. Both physical and mindful exercises may be able to relieve its pain symptoms. We compared the modulatory effects of ...different exercise modalities on the periaqueductal grey (PAG) and ventral tegmental area (VTA), which play important roles in descending opioidergic pathways and reward/motivation systems in patients with knee osteoarthritis.
We recruited and randomised 140 patients into Tai Chi, Baduanjin, stationary cycling, and health education control groups for 12 weeks. Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), functional and structural MRI, and blood biomarkers were measured at the beginning and end of the experiment. We used the PAG and VTA as seeds in resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) analysis.
Compared with the control group: (i) all exercises significantly increased KOOS pain sub-scores (pain reduction) and serum programmed death 1 (PD-1) concentrations; (ii) all exercises decreased right PAG rsFC with the medial orbital prefrontal cortex, and the decreased rsFC was associated with improvements in knee pain; and (iii) grey matter volume in the medial orbital prefrontal cortex was significantly increased in all exercise groups. There was also significantly decreased rsFC between the left VTA and the medial orbital prefrontal cortex in the Tai Chi and Baduanjin groups.
Exercise can simultaneously modulate the rsFC of the descending opioidergic pathway and reward/motivation system and blood inflammation markers. Elucidating the shared and unique mechanisms of different exercise modalities may facilitate the development of exercise-based interventions for chronic pain.
ChiCTR-IOR-16009308.
Abstract
The effect of heat treatment process on microstructure and mechanical properties of 4Cr13N corrosion-resistant plastic die steel were investigated. The experimental results indicate that, ...with the increase of quenching temperature of 4Cr13N steel, the undissolved second phase gradually decreased, the martensitic lath gradually coarsened, and the hardness first rise up and then move down. The hardness of 4Cr13N steel reaches the highest at 1020 °C, at this time, the quenching microstructure is martensite + undissolved carbide + retained austenite, and the type of undissolved carbide is M
23
C
6
. The tempering hardness curve has an obvious secondary hardening peak, the peak temperature is 500 °C, and the peak hardness is 55 HRC. Below 500 °C , with the increase of tempering temperature, granular nitride Cr
2
N dispersion precipitation from matrix, resulted in second phase strengthening, hardness increased, impact toughness decreased, and the fracture mode is quasi-cleavage fracture; Above 500 °C, the structure gradually transformed to sorbite, the hardness decreased, and the toughness increased. Over all, to achieve a better match of strength and toughness, 4Cr13N plastic die steel should be tempered between 200 ~ 480 °C, impact energy are above 15 J, hardness above 50 HRC.
A considerable number of stroke survivors suffered from cognitive impairment, and more than one third of stroke survivors are affected at 3 and 12 months after the stroke. Although the published ...systematic reviews suggest that acupuncture can help improve post-stroke cognitive dysfunction, the power of the results is low due to study limitations. Therefore, this review is necessary to analyze the effect of acupuncture on cognitive impairment after stroke and to provide evidence for cognitive impairment in stroke.
This study will be carried out in strict accordance with the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. According to the pre-established search strategy (PICOS framework), all the literature will be obtained from online databases including Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials in the Cochrane Library, Medline (via PubMed), EMBASE (via embase.com), CINAHL (via EBSCOhost), China National Knowledge Infrastructure database, WanFang Database, Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database, and Sino-Med Database from inception until December 31, 2021 with no language limitations. Two reviewers will screen the records and include quality studies according to inclusion criteria independently. The data needed will be extracted independently by 2 authors according to a table of data extraction. Any inconsistencies in literature screening and data collection will be resolved to reach a consensus via discussion with a third author. Risk of bias for each study will be assessed using risk of bias tool. RevMan5.3 will be used to analyze the data. Heterogeneity will be identified and measured by Chi2. Subgroup analyses and sensitivity analysis will be carried out. Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation will be used to evaluate the evidence for each outcome.
The results of this study will provide a theoretical basis for the clinical use of electro-acupuncture to treat cognitive dysfunction after stroke.
INPLASY202210038.
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