In this article, magnetoelectric (ME) biphase composite thin films consisted of PbTiO
3
as ferroelectric phase and NiFe
2
O
4
as ferromagnetic phase which were successfully formed in situ by sol-gel ...process. The phase structure, morphology and dielectric properties of the films were measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and LCR precision impedance analyzer. It is concluded that the thin films were capable of being controlled to form the biphase composite of PbTiO
3
and NiFe
2
O
4
at the heat-treatment temperature between 600 and 850 °C. The phases coexisting in the composite thin film are in forms of solid solutions doped with Ni
2+
and Fe
3+
and with Ti
4+
, respectively. Their lattice constants vary with their doping contents. The capacitance of the composite thin film depends on the content of perovskite phase and the doping addition of Ni
2+
and Fe
3+
in crystalline phase of PbTiO
3
.
As an important plasma-assisted technology to generate shock waves (SWs), underwater pulsed discharge has drawn much attention in recent years for its complex physical process. Based on three ...discharge loads, the water gap (WG) load, the electrical wire (EW) load, and the energetic material (EM) load, the discharge processes are briefly introduced and the characteristics of the associated SWs are analyzed. First, the experimental setups were built and typical structures of the three loads were presented. Second, the inherent characteristics of SWs under the three loads, such as their peak pressure, impulse, and time duration of positive pressure and power spectral density (PSD), were studied and compared. Finally, a cracking effect experiment is carried out to study the SW fracturing characteristics. The results show that SWs generated with the WG load have the lowest peak pressure, impulse, and power density, SWs generated with the EW load have a better energy conversion efficiency and the largest peak pressure, and SWs generated with the EM load have the maximum impulse and power density. Furthermore, SW fracturing characteristics are mainly affected by its inherent characteristics. The peak pressure and impulse determine the shock number of fracturing, and the fracture pattern is significantly affected by the PSD.
Planar hybrid metamaterial with different split ring resonators (SRR) structure dimensions are fabricated on silicon substrates by femtosecond (fs) laser micro-lens array (MLA) lithography and ...lift-off process. The fabricated metamaterial structures consist of: (a) uniform metamaterial with 4 SRRs at same design and dimension as a unit cell and (b) hybrid metamaterial with 4 SRRs at same design but different dimensions as a unit cell. The electromagnetic field responses of these hybrid and single dimension metamaterial structures are characterized using a terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy. Transmission spectra of these metamaterial show that a broader resonance peak is formed when 2 SRRs are close to each other. FDTD simulation proves that there is a strong mutual coupling between 2 SRRs besides a strong localized electric field at the split gap, which can enhance the electric field up to 364 times for tunable, broad band and high sensitivity THz sensing. Meanwhile, the strong coupling effect could lead to the formation of an additional resonance peak at approximately 0.2 THz in the THz spectra regime.
The re-hospitalization rate of patients with heart failure remains at a high level, and studies of the subject have focused mainly on event-time outcomes. In addition to using re-hospitalization data ...with the outcomes of the event-time-count, this study introduces the conditional frailty model, which could help obtain more reasonable results.
This prospective observational cohort study enrolled 1484 patients with heart failure caused by coronary heart disease. The outcomes of heart failure readmissions and the case report form data were collected. Based on the traditional Cox model with event-time outcomes, the mixed effects of a conditional frailty model were added to analyze the event-time-count longitudinal data.
The Cox regression model showed that non-manual work, diastolic dysfunction, and better medical compensation increased the risk of heart failure readmission, whereas treatment with beta-blockers decreased the risk. The conditional frailty model further revealed that age, female sex, non-manual work, better medical compensation, longer QRS duration, and treatment with percutaneous coronary intervention increased the risk of heart failure readmission.
This study obtained more reliable, reasonable results based on longitudinal data and a mixed model. The results could provide more clinical epidemiological evidence for the management of heart failure.
Three-dimensional neutronic calculations were conducted to analyze the nuclear performance of the recent China Helium Cooled Solid Breeder (HCSB) test blanket module (TBM) in ITER. The Monte Carlo ...transport code MCNP was used with the nuclear cross-section data library FENDL/2 offered by IAEA. The analyses were based on a detailed three-dimensional HCSB-TBM geometrical model which was integrated in the ITER 20° global sector model. Key nuclear responses of the HCSB-TBM, such as the tritium generation ratio and the nuclear heating distribution, were calculated and discussed. The total nuclear heating is about 0.505
MW, and the peak heating density which appears in Li
4SiO
4 is less than 5.5
W/cm
3. The tritium production rate is about 13.39
mg/day while considering ITER duty factor of 0.22. The results demonstrate that the current design can meet the engineering requirement from the neutronic point of view.
To investigate the effect of salvianolic acid A (SA) on the permeability of blood-brain barrier (BBB) and brain microvascular pericyte apoptosis in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR).
Evans Blue ...was used to determine the BBB permeability in control rats and SHR. Western blotting was used to evaluate the expression levels of relevant proteins in the pericytes isolated from the differentially treated animals. An in vitro model of hypertension was established by stimulating pericytes with angiopoietin-2 (Ang2). MTT assay was used to assess cell viability, and apoptosis and cell cycle distribution were analyzed by flow cytometry.
SA attenuated BBB permeability in SHR in a dose-dependent manner. It downregulated pro-apoptotic proteins including p53, p21, Fas, FasL, cleaved-caspase 3/caspase 3 and Bax in the pericytes of SHR and upregulated CDK6, cyclin D1, CDK2, cyclin E and Bcl2. In addition, SA activated the Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK pathway in a dose-dependent manner by increasing the levels of Ras, Raf, p-MEK1, p-MEK2, p-ERK1 and p-ERK2. Finally, SA reduced Ang2-induced apoptosis of cerebral microvessels pericytes and decreased the proportion of cells in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle by inhibiting the p53 pathway and activating the Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK pathway.
SA reduced BBB permeability in spontaneously hypertensive rats, possibly by inhibiting Ang2-induced apoptosis of pericytes by activating the Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK pathway.
This meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) for postoperative delirium (POD) in ...surgical patients.
Based on database searches of the Wanfang, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP, Chinese Biology Medicine (CBM), PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science, relevant RCTs published before December 30, 2022, were extracted. Outcome indicators included the incidence of POD, changes in Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) scores, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores, and the intraoperative consumption of anesthetics. Data were pooled and analyzed by Review Manager 5.3, and publication bias detection was conducted using Stata 17.0.
A meta-analysis containing 715 experimental and 717 control participants from 12 RCTs was performed. The overall results showed that TEAS had obvious superiority with a lower incidence of POD on any day during the postoperative 1 week. In subgroup analyses, the CAM scores on the third postoperative day were significantly lower in the TEAS group than in the control group (MD = -0.52, 95% CI: -1.02 to -0.03, P = 0.04), the VAS scores on the first postoperative day were significantly lower in the TEAS group than in the control group (MD = -0.19, 95% CI: -0.36 to -0.02, P = 0.03), the consumption of propofol and remifentanil were both significantly lower in the TEAS group compared with the control group (MD = -23.1, 95% CI: -37.27 to -8.94, P = 0.001; MD = -105.69, 95% CI: -174.20 to -37.19, P = 0.002). No serious adverse events of TEAS were reported in any of the referenced studies.
TEAS has an obvious curative effect in preventing POD and pain in the earlier stage of surgical patients. It could be a promising assisted anesthesia technique in the future.
Human performance on diverse tests of intellect are impacted by a "general" regulatory factor that accounts for up to 50% of the variance between individuals on intelligence tests. Neurobiological ...determinants of general cognitive abilities are essentially unknown, owing in part to the paucity of animal research wherein neurobiological analyses are possible. We report a methodology with which we have assessed individual differences in the general learning abilities of laboratory mice. Abilities of mice on tests of associative fear conditioning, operant avoidance, path integration, discrimination, and spatial navigation were assessed. Tasks were designed so that each made unique sensory, motor, motivational, and information processing demands on the animals. A sample of 56 genetically diverse outbred mice (CD-1) was used to assess individuals' acquisition on each task. Indicative of a common source of variance, positive correlations were found between individuals' performance on all tasks. When tested on multiple test batteries, the overall performance ranks of individuals were found to be highly reliable and were "normally" distributed. Factor analysis of learning performance variables determined that a single factor accounted for 38% of the total variance across animals. Animals' levels of native activity and body weights accounted for little of the variability in learning, although animals' propensity for exploration loaded strongly (and was positively correlated) with learning abilities. These results indicate that diverse learning abilities of laboratory mice are influenced by a common source of variance and, moreover, that the general learning abilities of individual mice can be specified relative to a sample of peers.
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