The effective iodine-131 (I-131) half-life (EHL) plays an important role in the evaluation of radioactive iodine therapy for Graves’ disease (GD) patients. It has been observed that the EHL of GD ...patients varies after taking lithium carbonate. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether EHL can be extended and to identify the predictive factors associated with this outcome. The clinical data of 225 GD patients were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided into two groups based on whether the ΔEHL was ≥ 0.5 days. EHL tested after lithium carbonate was defined as Li-EHL. In the univariate analysis, age, sex, thyrotropin receptor antibody (TRAb), thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb), thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb), and baseline-EHL exhibited significant differences between the two groups (P < 0.05). Cutoff values of age and baseline-EHL to predict significant EHL extension were 40.5 years and 4.85 days, respectively, as determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Multiple linear regression analysis further revealed that the regression equation, which included age, sex, baseline-EHL, and the FT3, free triiodothyronine (FT4)/free thyroxine(FT3) ratio, was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Li-EHL positively correlated with baseline-EHL and the FT4/FT3 ratio, but negatively correlated with age. Li-EHL was also increased in female individuals. In conclusion, age, sex, baseline-EHL and the FT4/FT3 ratio were associated with Li-EHL in GD patients.
In this study, we investigated the effects of acicular ferrite (AF) on the crystallographic and incomplete transformation characteristics of low-carbon low-alloy steel. Intermediate annealing after ...austenitization induced a transformation yielding AFs, accelerating the isothermal transformation kinetics and regulating the microstructure. This process formed highly dense packet grain boundaries and improved the stability of untransformed austenite. AF formation increased the number of packet interfaces, increasing the crack propagation energy. The reduction and refinement of martensite/austenite (M/A) islands increased the crack nucleation energy. A displacive model was used to fit the transformation kinetics curve, indicating the significant effect of the nucleation rate on the isothermal transformation of the experimental steel at 450, 475, and 500 °C. The findings of this study indicate that nucleation regulation can accelerate transformation kinetics to strengthen and toughen bainitic structures.
Background: Hyperuricemia is an independent risk factor for diabetic kidney disease (DKD) progression. Previous animal and cohort studies have reported that allopurinol administration could be of ...therapeutic benefit in diabetic subjects. However, there has been controversy regarding the effects of allopurinol on DKD. Objectives: The aim of our study was to investigate the efficacy of allopurinol on renal function in patients with DKD by meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Method: PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were searched from inception to October 2020. The primary outcome was a change in glomerular filtration rate (GFR). The secondary outcome was the change in albuminuria and serum uric acid (UA). Two reviewers independently assessed for risk of bias and extracted data. Standardized mean difference (SMD) or weighted mean difference (WMD) was calculated with random effects models and was reported with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) of the evidence was performed after meta-analysis. International prospective register of systematic reviews registration CRD42020219132. Results: From 642 potentially relevant citations, 3 studies were ultimately included. Our results showed evident reduction in serum UA after allopurinol intervention (WMD = −103.80, 95% CI −159.05, −48.55, I 2 = 76%; p = 0.04), with a high GRADE of evidence. However, allopurinol did not significantly improve GFR (WMD = 1.07, 95% CI −1.68, 3.82, I 2 = 33%; p = 0.45), with a moderate GRADE of evidence. There was no significant difference on improvement of albuminuria in patients of allopurinol and those in placebo groups (SMD = −0.26, 95% CI −1.03, 0.52, I 2 = 94%; p = 0.52), with a moderate GRADE of evidence. Conclusions: The present research showed that allopurinol did not significantly improve renal function and albuminuria in patients with DKD.
In this paper, we address the problem of multiple frequency-hopping (FH) signal parameters estimation in the presence of random missing observations. A space-time matrix with random missing ...observations is acquired by a uniform linear array (ULA). We exploit the inherent incomplete data processing capability of atomic norm soft thresholding (AST) to analyze the space-time matrix and complete the accurate estimation of the hopping time and frequency of the received FH signals. The hopping time is obtained by the sudden changes of the spatial information, which is implemented as the boundary to divide the time domain signal so that each segment of the signal is a superposition of time-invariant multiple components. Then, the frequency of multiple signal components can be estimated precisely by AST within each segment. After obtaining the above two parameters of the hopping time and the frequency of signals, the direction of arrival (DOA) can be directly calculated by them, and the network sorting can be realized. Results of simulation show that the proposed method is superior to the existing technology. Even when a large portion of data observations is missing, as the number of array elements increases, the proposed method still achieves acceptable accuracy of multi-FH signal parameters estimation.
To investigate the feasibility of using biochar to control organic pollutants in sediments, we extracted biochar from rice-straw combustion residues (RBC) and studied its adsorption ability and ...effect on seed germination ecotoxicity of pentachlorophenol (PCP). The results showed that the Freundlich and dual-mode models could describe all the sorption isotherm data well, and the log KOC values increased with increasing RBC content. With 50mgkg−1 PCP in the sediment, a significant seed growth inhibition (P<0.01) was observed. The addition of 2.0% RBC lowered the PCP concentration in the extraction liquid from 4.53 to 0.17mgL−1 and increased the germination rate and root length significantly. Furthermore, it was found that the addition of RBC had no toxic but stimulative effect on root elongation. Consequently, RBC could serve as a potential supersorbent for the remediation of organic pollution in situ.
L. fruits were extracted by a hot water assistant with ultrasonication to obtain aqueous
L. extract (APE). The ameliorating functional dyspepsia (FD) effect of a low dose (150 mg/kg) and a high dose ...(300 mg/kg) of APE was exhibited by determining the gastrointestinal motility, gastrointestinal hormones, and gut microbiome shifts in reserpine induced FD male balb/c mice. APE increased the gastrointestinal motility including the gastric emptying (GE) rate and small intestinal transit (SIT) rate. The level of serum gastrointestinal hormones such as motilin (MTL) and gastrin (GAS) increased, and the vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) level decreased after the administration of APE. Furthermore, the gut microbiome analysis demonstrated that APE could regulate the microbiome structure and restore homeostasis by elevating useful bacterial abundance, while simultaneously decreasing harmful bacterial abundance. This study demonstrated the ameliorating FD effect of APE and its potential efficacy in curing functional gastrointestinal disorders and maintaining a healthy digestive tract.
Background: Few studies have combined the degree and duration of abdominal obesity into a waist circumference-years construct for analysis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of ...waist circumference-years on the incidence of type 2 diabetes. Methods: A total of 6616 adults from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) were enrolled in this study from 1997. The waist circumference-years construct was represented as the sum of the upper and lower area between the waist circumference baseline (men: ≥90 cm, women: ≥85 cm) and the waist circumference line. The correlations in the study were analyzed using logistic regression. Results: The incidence of type 2 diabetes increased with increasing waist circumference-years, with an adjusted risk increase of 38% (95% CI: 31−47%) for each additional 50 waist circumference-years, and this rate was similar across gender and age groups. The area under the curve of waist circumference-years (0.743) was greatest in the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis compared to baseline waist circumference (0.731) and the waist-height ratio (0.728) (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The waist circumference-years construct is closely associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and may be a stronger predictor of type 2 diabetes risk than baseline waist circumference or the waist-height ratio.
It has been difficult to revise and adjust the water distribution of the Yellow River in 1987 (1987 water distribution scheme). By gathering data and studies from previous literature, this paper ...summarized some water distribution ideas, principles and rules in transboundary rivers. We proposed the “synthesis–dynamic–harmonious” water distribution method (SDH), and applied it to the actual conditions of the Yellow River basin. Through the SDH method, we calculated a new scheme for water distribution in the Yellow River and analyzed the results. The key findings of this study are summarized below. Firstly, the water distribution of transboundary rivers required the establishment of advanced water distribution ideas. Secondly, the proposed water distribution method took into account a variety of factors: with the change in distributable water volume, the same ratio changes and meets the minimum water demand and water efficiency constraints. Thirdly, the 1987, the water distribution scheme needed some adjustment. Fourthly, under the new Yellow River basin water distribution scheme (“19ZQT” water distribution scheme), Shandong, Inner Mongolia, and Henan account for 50% of the total water distribution. Sichuan accounts for only 0.3% of the total. Compared with the 1987 water distribution scheme, Hebei and Tianjin reduced the amount of water allocated by 51.2%, while Shaanxi increased it by 24.89%. In this paper, considering the changes in the total distributable water volume, the new Yellow River water distribution scheme (“19ZQT” water distribution scheme) assumed water distribution of 37 billion m3 and 30 billion m3, upon which calculations were performed. This study should provide a scientific and reasonable scheme for water distribution of transboundary rivers, and rational utilization of water resources. It should lay a solid foundation for the high-quality development of the Yellow River basin.
Previous studies of brain structure in methamphetamine users have yielded inconsistent findings, possibly reflecting small sample size and inconsistencies in duration of methamphetamine abstinence as ...well as sampling and analyses methods. Here we report on a relatively large sample of abstinent methamphetamine users at various stages of long-term abstinence.
Chronic methamphetamine users (n = 99), abstinent from the drug ranging from 12 to 621 days, and healthy controls (n = 86) received T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging brain scans. Subcortical and cortical gray-matter volumes and cortical thickness were measured and the effects of group, duration of abstinence, duration of methamphetamine use and onset age of methamphetamine use were investigated using the Freesurfer software package.
Methamphetamine users did not differ from controls in gray-matter volumes, except for a cluster in the right lateral occipital cortex where gray-matter volume was smaller, and for regions mainly in the bilateral superior frontal gyrui where thickness was greater. Duration of abstinence correlated positively with gray-matter volumes in whole brain, bilateral accumbens nuclei and insulae clusters, and right hippocampus; and with thickness in a right insula cluster. Duration of methamphetamine use correlated negatively with gray-matter volume and cortical thickness of a cluster in the right lingual and pericalcarine cortex.
Chronic methamphetamine use induces hard-to-recover cortical thickening in bilateral superior frontal gyri and recoverable volumetric reduction in right hippocampus, bilateral accumbens nuclei and bilateral cortical regions around insulae. These alternations might contribute to methamphetamine-induced neurocognitive disfunctions and reflect a regional specific response of the brain to methamphetamine.
In order to guarantee perpendicularity of rotary cast-in-place pile in Karst areas, filling, like sand, etc., is commonly used between the inner steel casing and the outer steel sleeve; while the ...outer steel sleeve is pulled out or a vertical load is applied on the top of the pile, the sand will move, contact, and push against each other, which leads to recrushing; therefore, shear characteristics and secondary breakage are a meaningful problem to study with regard to the influence of different sand densities. Through experimental direct shear tests, with different dry densities, shear stress versus shear displacement curves are obtained and internal friction angles are analyzed. The results show that internal friction angles increase along with increment of dry densities; more interesting is that the secondary breakage ratio also increases. A comparative numerical 2D model is set up using PFC2D, with lower porosity used to simulate a large dry density, and similar results are obtained, that is to say, with increase of dry densities, internal friction angles also increase.
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