Ischemic postconditioning initially referred to a stuttering reperfusion performed immediately after reperfusion, for preventing ischemia/reperfusion injury in both myocardial and cerebral ...infarction. It has evolved into a concept that can be induced by a broad range of stimuli or triggers, and may even be performed as late as 6 h after focal ischemia and 2 days after transient global ischemia. The concept is thought to be derived from ischemic preconditioning or partial/gradual reperfusion, but in fact the first experiment for postconditioning was carried out much earlier than that of preconditioning or partial/gradual reperfusion, in the research on myocardial ischemia. This review first examines the protective effects and parameters of postconditioning in various cerebral ischemic models. Thereafter, it provides insights into the protective mechanisms of postconditioning associated with reperfusion injury and the Akt, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), protein kinase C (PKC), and ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channel cell signaling pathways. Finally, some open issues and future challenges regarding clinical translation of postconditioning are discussed.
This study investigated the undrained seismic bearing capacity of strip footings embedded in two-layered slopes by finite element limit analysis (FELA); in particular, a pseudostatic method was ...specified to seismic loads. Lower bound theory (LB), upper bound theory (UB), and adaptive meshing technique are employed for exploring the effect of the shear strength ratio of top layer and bottom layer, cu1/cu2; the horizontal embedment depth of footings, b/B; the footing locations (in bottom layer or top layer); seismic coefficient kh; and the slope gradient β on seismic bearing capacity. Results indicated that the seismic bearing capacity would increase with the growth of horizontal embedment depth of footings. The comparison between the predictions obtained from the proposed method and the existing method was presented, and the failure mechanisms are further summarized.
Chiral sulfones are of great importance in medicinal chemistry and chemical synthesis. Efficient methods for preparing enantiomerically enriched sulfone‐containing molecules can therefore be of ...significant value; such methods, however, are uncommon. Herein, we report the first general palladium‐catalyzed sulfonylation of vinyl cyclic carbonates with sodium sulfinates. A series of enantiomerically enriched tertiary allylic sulfones were synthesized in good yields with excellent enantiomeric ratios. Both aliphatic‐ and aryl‐substituted vinyl cyclic carbonates are suitable reactants with excellent results. This reaction features broad substrates scope, readily available starting materials, excellent regio‐ and enantioselectivity, and synthesis of sulfone‐bearing quaternary carbon stereocenters. Through the sulfonylation of geranyl derived cyclic carbonate 1 h, we achieve the formal total synthesis of (+)‐agelasidine A.
The first general example of regio‐ and enantioselective palladium catalyzed allylic sulfonylation of vinyl cyclic carbonates provides an efficient and direct way to construct sulfone‐bearing quaternary carbon stereocenters. A three steps formal total synthesis of (+)‐agelasidine A is achieved which exemplifies the practical use of this protocol in a synthetic setting.
Objective
The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) in breast cancer patients.
Methods
A systematic search ...of Cochrane Library, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PsycINFO database, Web of science, Medline, EMBASE, CNKI, and CBM database was carried out from February to May 2018, with no language restrictions. Trials examining the effects of MBSR versus control group on symptom variables and health-related quality of life were included. Data concerning studies, patient characteristics, and outcomes were extracted. Methodological quality of each included randomized controlled trials were assessed individually by two reviewers independently using criteria recommended in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions 5.1.0. Meanwhile, Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS) was used to evaluate methodological quality of non-randomized studies.
Results
In all, 14 studies involving 1505 participants were included. Due to the effect of MBSR, statistically significant results were found on physiological function (SMD = 0.28, 95% CI 0.07, 0.049,
P
= 0.008), cognitive function (SMD = 1.48, 95% CI 0.34, 2.61,
P
= 0.01), fatigue (SMD = − 0.66, 95% CI − 1.11, − 0.20,
P
= 0.004), emotional wellbeing (SMD = 1.01, 95% CI 0.35, 1.67,
P
= 0.003), anxiety (SMD = − 0.54, 95% CI − 1.01, − 0.07,
P
= 0.02), depression (SMD = − 0.61, 95% CI − 1.11, − 0.11,
P
= 0.02), stress (SMD = − 0.48, 95% CI − 0.81, − 0.15,
P
= 0.004), distress (SMD = − 0.56, 95% CI − 0.85, − 0.26,
P
= 0.0002) and mindfulness (SMD = 0.94, 95% CI 0.10, 1.79,
P
= 0.03). Although the effects on pain, sleep quality, and global QoL were in the expected direction, they were not statistically significant (
P
> 0.05) based on insufficient evidence.
Conclusions
MBSR is worthy of being recommended to breast cancer patients as a complementary treatment or adjunctive therapy.
Intelligent process control and automation systems require verification authentication through digital or handwritten signatures. Digital copies of handwritten signatures have different pixel ...intensities and spatial variations due to the factors of the surface, writing object, etc. On the verge of this fluctuating drawback for control systems, this manuscript introduces a Spatial Variation-dependent Verification (SVV) scheme using textural features (TF). The handwritten and digital signatures are first verified for their pixel intensities for identification point detection. This identification point varies with the signature's pattern, region, and texture. The identified point is spatially mapped with the digital signature for verifying the textural feature matching. The textural features are extracted between two successive identification points to prevent cumulative false positives. A convolution neural network aids this process for layered analysis. The first layer is responsible for generating new identification points, and the second layer is responsible for selecting the maximum matching feature for varying intensity. This is non-recurrent for the different textures exhibited as the false factor cuts down the iterated verification. Therefore, the maximum matching features are used for verifying the signatures without high false positives. The proposed scheme's performance is verified using accuracy, precision, texture detection, false positives, and verification time.
The dynamic behavior of 24 dissolved pharmaceuticals over tidal cycles in the Yangtze Estuary, China was studied to assess the tidal impact on the fate of pharmaceutical residues. The results show ...that most pharmaceuticals were frequently detected with concentrations from below detection to 27.2ng/L, with sulfamethoxazole, sulfamethazine, erythromycin, thiamphenicol and florfenicol dominating. During tidal cycles, pharmaceutical concentrations decreased during tidal rise, then increasing during tidal receding for all locations, except at site S2 which showed an opposite trend due to unique water movement there. It was observed that most compounds showed a non-conservative behavior, while diazepam and sulfamethoxazole displayed a conservative behavior. The pharmaceutical concentrations were found to increase with dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, suggesting DOC as a carrier of pharmaceuticals. In addition, many compounds showed a significant negative relationship with suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentration, indicating SPM–water interactions as a control of pharmaceutical behavior in estuarine environment.
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•Frequent occurrence of pharmaceutical residues in the Yangtze estuary was observed.•Temporal variation of pharmaceutical concentration was driven by tidal action.•The majority of compounds displayed a non-conservative behavior.•Pharmaceutical concentrations were positively related to DOC concentrations.•Pharmaceutical concentrations decreased with increasing SPM concentrations.
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•Adsorption of different emerging pharmaceuticals on MWCNTs was studied.•Pharmaceuticals adsorption was rapid and increased with the MWCNTs surface area.•Adsorption isotherms, ...kinetics and affinity were comprehensively investigated.•Electrostatic interaction, polarity, and substituent effects were discussed.•Adsorption was affected by environmental conditions, such as pH and ionic strength.
The adsorption behavior of different emerging contaminants (3 chloramphenicols, 7 sulfonamides, and 3 non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals) on five types of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and the underlying factors were studied. Adsorption equilibriums were reached within 12h for all compounds, and well fitted by the Freundlich isotherm model. The adsorption affinity of pharmaceuticals was positively related to the specific surface area of MWCNTs. The solution pH was an important parameter of pharmaceutical adsorption on MWCNTs, due to its impacts on the chemical speciation of pharmaceuticals and the surface electrical property of MWCNTs. The adsorption of ionizable pharmaceuticals decreased in varying degrees with the increased ionic strength. MWCNT-10 was found to be the strongest adsorbent in this study, and the Freundlich constant (KF) values were 353–2814mmol1−nLn/kg, 571–618mmol1−nLn/kg, and 317–1522mmol1−nLn/kg for sulfonamides, chloramphenicols, and non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals, respectively. The different adsorption affinity of sulfonamides might contribute to the different hydrophobic of heterocyclic substituents, while chloramphenicols adsorption was affected by the charge distribution in aromatic rings via substituent effects.
The use of brightness-mode ultrasound and Doppler ultrasound in physical medicine and rehabilitation has increased dramatically. The continuing evolution of ultrasound technology has also produced ...ultrasound elastography, a cutting-edge technology that can directly measure the mechanical properties of tissue, including muscle stiffness. Its real-time and direct measurements of muscle stiffness can aid the diagnosis and rehabilitation of acute musculoskeletal injuries and chronic myofascial pain. It can also help monitor outcomes of interventions affecting muscle in neuromuscular and musculoskeletal diseases, and it can better inform the functional prognosis. This technology has implications for even broader use of ultrasound in physical medicine and rehabilitation practice, but more knowledge about its uses and limitations is essential to its appropriate clinical implementation. In this review, we describe different ultrasound elastography techniques for studying muscle stiffness, including strain elastography, acoustic radiation force impulse imaging, and shear-wave elastography. We discuss the basic principles of these techniques, including the strengths and limitations of their measurement capabilities. We review the current muscle research, discuss physiatric clinical applications of these techniques, and note directions for future research.
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