Based on the model of magnonic crystals (MCs) with honeycomb structure, we propose another model of two-dimensional MCs with honeycomb–kagome structure that is a periodic magnetic composite system ...composed of Fe, Co, or Py ferromagnetic cylindrical scatterers arranged in the EuO matrix as the honeycomb–kagome structure. The band structures of magnons in these systems are studied numerically by using the plane-wave expansion method. The results show that the Dirac points of magnons will be generated at the Brillouin region points if the scatterers are close-packed, that is to say, the edges of cylindrical scatterers are in contact with each other. The frequency of Dirac points can be indirectly adjusted by changing the radius ratio of close-packed cylinders. In addition, in the case of a large difference in the radius between the close-packed cylindrical scatterers, there will be a magnonic flat band in the band structure, which is a phenomenon of so-called compact localized states different from the impurity state in the crystal, and it is formed by the highly interference superposition of spin waves in the honeycomb–kagome structure. The research on the generation and modulation of magnonic Dirac points and flat bands not only expands the research content of condensed matter topological physics but also provides a promising platform for the application of artificial MCs in the fabrication of spin-wave topological devices.
Thrombolytic therapy for acute ischemic stroke with a lower-than-standard dose of intravenous alteplase may improve recovery along with a reduced risk of intracerebral hemorrhage.
Using a 2-by-2 ...quasi-factorial open-label design, we randomly assigned 3310 patients who were eligible for thrombolytic therapy (median age, 67 years; 63% Asian) to low-dose intravenous alteplase (0.6 mg per kilogram of body weight) or the standard dose (0.9 mg per kilogram); patients underwent randomization within 4.5 hours after the onset of stroke. The primary objective was to determine whether the low dose would be noninferior to the standard dose with respect to the primary outcome of death or disability at 90 days, which was defined by scores of 2 to 6 on the modified Rankin scale (range, 0 no symptoms to 6 death). Secondary objectives were to determine whether the low dose would be superior to the standard dose with respect to centrally adjudicated symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage and whether the low dose would be noninferior in an ordinal analysis of modified Rankin scale scores (testing for an improvement in the distribution of scores). The trial included 935 patients who were also randomly assigned to intensive or guideline-recommended blood-pressure control.
The primary outcome occurred in 855 of 1607 participants (53.2%) in the low-dose group and in 817 of 1599 participants (51.1%) in the standard-dose group (odds ratio, 1.09; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.95 to 1.25; the upper boundary exceeded the noninferiority margin of 1.14; P=0.51 for noninferiority). Low-dose alteplase was noninferior in the ordinal analysis of modified Rankin scale scores (unadjusted common odds ratio, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.89 to 1.13; P=0.04 for noninferiority). Major symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage occurred in 1.0% of the participants in the low-dose group and in 2.1% of the participants in the standard-dose group (P=0.01); fatal events occurred within 7 days in 0.5% and 1.5%, respectively (P=0.01). Mortality at 90 days did not differ significantly between the two groups (8.5% and 10.3%, respectively; P=0.07).
This trial involving predominantly Asian patients with acute ischemic stroke did not show the noninferiority of low-dose alteplase to standard-dose alteplase with respect to death and disability at 90 days. There were significantly fewer symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhages with low-dose alteplase. (Funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and others; ENCHANTED ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01422616.).
Background
Primary headache disorders are a group of highly prevalent and disabling neurological diseases that mainly consist of migraine and tension-type headache (TTH). A previous study showed that ...the burden of headaches peaked at a working age that ranged from 15 to 49, particularly among females, affecting their productivity and severely damaging their social interactions.
Methods
The latest dataset was retrieved from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019. Three indicators, including prevalence, incidence, and years lived with disability (YLDs), were adopted for evaluation. The overall and specific headache burdens were fully compared and analysed at global, regional, and national levels. The ratio of female YLD rates to male YLD rates due to headaches was calculated to estimate the sex pattern. Finally, we utilized the two-tailed Spearman test to explore the potential association between socioeconomic background and headaches among young people.
Results
Globally, for overall headache disorders, a total of 2,049,979,883 prevalent cases (95% uncertainty interval (UI): 1,864,148,110 to 2,239,388,034), 601,229,802 incident cases (95% UI: 530,329,914 to 681,007,934), and 38,355,993 YLDs (95% UI: 7,259,286 to 83,634,503) were observed for those aged 10 to 54 in 2019. Sex differences were widely found for all headache types among adolescents and young adults, especially migraine. However, the most interesting finding was that the associations we tested between the socioeconomic environment and young headache patients were positive, regardless of region or specific country or territory.
Conclusions
Overall, the global burden of headaches in adolescents and young adults largely increased from 1990 to 2019. Although slight declines were observed in sex differences, they remained significant and challenging. The positive correlations between headache and socioeconomic background among young people were relatively inconsistent with previous investigations, and several related hypotheses were proposed for explanation. Interdisciplinary actions involving education, policy- and law-making, and basic medical practice are desperately needed to further fight against the headache burden, promote gender equality in headache care, and eliminate the stigmatization of headache patients in student and working groups.
Abstract
The environmentally‐friendly preparation of compatibilizers, especially copolymers with reactive monomers, is essential for developing new polymer blends. In this study, molten ε‐caprolactam ...was used as a green solvent to copolymerize styrene with three types of reactive monomers, namely maleic anhydride (MAH), glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and 3‐isopropenyl‐α,α‐dimethylbenzyl isocyanate (TMI). The pure PS and the corresponding copolymers (PSM, PSG, and PST) had relatively high yields of 97.8%, 73.7%, 93.3%, and 96.3%, respectively. Moreover, these synthesized polymers were used as compatibilizers to modify the immiscible PA10T/PPO blends. PSM and PSG showed a positive effect in improving the compatibility of PA10T/PPO blends, reducing the size of PPO domains, and improving the mechanical properties. The long‐term thermal stability of unmodified PA10T and PA10T/PPO blends was investigated. The color changes (∆E) of PA10T, PA10T/PPO blends with the addition of pure PS, PSM, PSG, and PST changed to 46.9, 44.0, 45.2, 44.2, and 45.0 after 5 days of aging. The tensile strength retentions were 24.1%, 54.7%, 63.4%, 67.6%, and 60.0%, respectively. These results suggested that the synthesized PSG and its corresponding PA10T/PPO blend had excellent properties and great potential for the development of high‐performance plastics.
Triglyceride glucose (TyG) index was recently reported to be associated with an increased risk of the development and recurrence of cardiovascular events, and atherosclerosis is a main speculative ...mechanism. However, data on the relationship between TyG index and atherosclerosis, especially in the setting of ischemic stroke, is rare. We aimed to explore the association between TyG index and carotid atherosclerosis in patients with ischemic stroke.
A total of 1523 ischemic stroke patients with TyG index and carotid artery imaging data were enrolled in this analysis. The TyG index was calculated as ln fasting triglyceride (mg/dL) × fasting glucose (mg/dL)/2. Carotid atherosclerosis was measured by common carotid artery intima-media thickness (cIMT), and abnormal cIMT was defined as a mean cIMT and maximum cIMT value ≥ 1 mm. Multivariable logistic regression models and restricted cubic spline models were used to assess the relationships between TyG index and abnormal cIMT. Risk reclassification and calibration of models with TyG index were analyzed.
The multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (95% CIs) in quartile 4 versus quartile 1 of TyG index were 1.56 (1.06-2.28) for abnormal mean cIMT and 1.46 (1.02-2.08) for abnormal maximum cIMT, respectively. There were linear relationships between TyG index and abnormal mean cIMT (P for linearity = 0.005) and abnormal maximum cIMT (P for linearity = 0.027). In addition, the TyG index provided incremental predictive capacity beyond established risk factors, shown by an increase in net reclassification improvement and integrated discrimination improvement (all P < 0.05).
A higher TyG index was associated with carotid atherosclerosis measured by cIMT in patients with ischemic stroke, suggesting that TyG could be a promising atherosclerotic marker.
This study introduces a new scale-dependent viscosity model, in which transesterification reaction of polycarbonate/poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PC/PET) blends with various phase morphologies and ...micro-scale effects have been taken into account. It is found that a
Power-law
model can be used to quantitatively describe the relationship between the degree of transesterification and shear rate employed during compounding of PC and PET. A micro-scale viscosity model, which incorporates the micro-scale effects, has been developed by characterizing the flow using a double-barrel capillary rheometer with different microscale channels. For both neat PC and PC/PET blends, under the conditions of the constant shear rate and melt temperature, the shear viscosity dropped with decreasing capillary diameter because of the wall-slip effect. The proposed viscosity model based on the Cross equation can describe the variation of shear viscosity for PC/PET blends under both macro- and micro-scale conditions. Less than 7% average error is obtained between the model predictions and rheological experimental data. Filling simulation and micro-injection molding (µIM) short-shot experiments were conducted to validate the accuracy of the proposed viscosity model. For all the
L
9
(3
4
) design of experiment (DOE) molding trials, the average relative error under the micro-scale condition was 4.5±1.1%, which is much smaller than that of the average relative error under the macro-scale condition at 11.4±2.7%.
In recent decades, with the improvement of radiotherapy (RT) technology and comprehensive treatment, the survival rate of head and neck malignancies has gained remarkable progress. Vascular injury ...and subsequent carotid stenosis following RT, as the backbone of treatment, have received increasing attention. Many investigations have demonstrated that radiation can result in the increase in carotid intima-media thickness, carotid stenosis and consequently lead to a higher risk of cerebrovascular events such as transient ischemic attack and stroke. In this review, we will examine the incidence of radiation-induced carotid artery stenosis, its morphological and histological characteristics, as well as its pathogenesis. The treatment and prevention methods, including follow-up strategies, will also be discussed at the end of the present review.
The autoimmune condition Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is a disease wherein lymphocytes mediate the autoimmune damage and destruction of the thyroid gland. There are currently no effective means of ...treating HT, with the primary strategies of thyroid hormone therapy, surgery, or immunomodulatory therapy being associated with serious risks and side effects. There is thus a clear and urgent need to identify novel treatments for HT. In this study, we utilize female SD rats induced HT to evaluated the ability of transplanted MSCs to regulate Th17/Treg interactions in a rat Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) model system. The results showed that Rats in the HT model group exhibited increased thyroid autoantibody levels consistent with successful model development, whereas these levels were lower in rats treated with MSCs. There were also fewer thyroid lesions and less lymphoid infiltration of the thyroid in MSC-treated rats relative to HT model rats, as well as fewer Th17 cells and more Treg cells - an observation consistent with the cytokine analyses. All of these showed that MSCs can regulate Th17/Treg interactions in a rat Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) model system. It suggested that transplanted MSCs could be a potential immunotherapy strategy for the treatment of Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
Atherosclerosis is the main cause of cardiovascular diseases, and healthy dietary habits are a feasible strategy to prevent atherosclerosis development. Camellia oil, an edible plant oil, exhibits ...multiple beneficial cardiovascular effects. Our previous study showed that oral administration of camellia oil attenuated hyperglycemia, fat deposits in the liver, and the atherosclerosis index in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. Here, an atherosclerosis model of apolipoprotein E (ApoE)−/− mice induced by HFD was used to study the effect of camellia oil on atherosclerosis, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to analyze the changes in gut microbiota composition. The results showed that camellia oil significantly inhibited the formation of atherosclerotic plaques in ApoE−/− mice, which were characterized by significantly reduced levels of serum total cholesterol and enhanced levels of serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The aortic levels of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor were decreased. The results of the 16S rRNA analysis showed that after camellia oil interventions, the intestinal flora of ApoE−/− mice changed significantly, with the diversity of intestinal flora especially increasing, the relative abundances of Bacteroides, Faecalibaculum, Bilophila, and Leuconostoc increasing, and the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio and Firmicutes abundance decreasing. Collectively, our findings confirmed the promising value of camellia oil in preventing the development of atherosclerosis in ApoE−/− mice. Mechanistically, this preventive effect of camellia oil was probably due to its lipid-lowering activity, anti-inflammatory effects, and alteration of the gut microbiota composition in the mice.
Abstract
Background
Few studies focused on the functional outcomes of patients at 3 months after receiving intravenous thrombolysis, anticoagulation, or antiplatelet therapy within 4.5 h of onset of ...the cardiogenic cerebral embolism (CCE) subtype.
Methods
The purpose of this retrospective study was to analyse the clinical data of patients with acute CCE and compare the 3-month functional prognoses of patients after administration of different antithrombotic therapies within 4.5 h of stroke onset. A total of 335 patients with CCE hospitalized in our institution were included in this study. The patients were stratified according to the hyperacute treatment received, and baseline clinical and laboratory data were analysed. A 3-month modified Rankin scale (mRS) score of 0–2 was defined as an excellent functional outcome.
Results
A total of 335 patients were divided into thrombolytic (
n
= 78), anticoagulant (
n
= 88), and antiplatelet therapy groups (
n
= 169). A total of 164 patients had a good prognosis at 3 months (mRS ≤ 2). After adjustments were made for age and National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score, each group comprised 38 patients, and there were no significant differences in sex composition, complications, lesion characteristics, or Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project (OSCP) classification among the three groups. The plasma D-dimer level (µg/ml) in the thrombolytic group was significantly higher than those in the anticoagulant and antiplatelet groups 3.07 (1.50,5.62), 1.33 (0.95,1.89), 1.61 (0.76,2.96),
P
< 0.001. After one week of treatment, the reduction in NIHSS in the thrombolytic group was significantly greater than those in the other two groups 3.00 (1.00, 8.00), 1.00 (0.00, 5.00), 1.00 (0.00, 2.00),
P
= 0.025. A total of 47 patients (41.2 %) had an mRS score of ≤ 2 at 3 months, and 23 patients died (20.2 %). There was no significant difference in the proportion of patients with a good prognosis or the mortality rate among the three groups (
P
= 0.363,
P
= 0.683).
Conclusions
Thrombolytic therapy is effective at improving short-term and 3-month prognoses. Anticoagulant therapy may be a safe and effective treatment option for patients with the cardiac stroke subtype who fail to receive intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-tPA) thrombolysis within 4.5 h in addition to antiplatelet therapy, as recommended by the guidelines.
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