Comparing the efficacy and safety of medications in adults with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a systematic review and network meta-analysis

BackgroundHypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common genetic heart disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of several medications and recommend better drug treatments for adults with HCM.MethodsA review of PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials (CENTRAL), ClinicalTrials.gov and CNKI databases was conducted for studies on the efficacy and safety of drugs for adults with HCM. A frequentist random effects model was used in this network analysis.ResultsThis network meta-analysis included 7 studies assessing seven medications, 6 studies evaluating monotherapy and 1 study evaluating combination therapy. Based on the network meta-analysis results, xiaoxinbi formula plus metoprolol (MD −56.50% [−72.43%, −40.57%]), metoprolol (MD −47.00% [−59.07%, −34.93%]) and mavacamten (MD −34.50% [−44.75%, −24.25%]) significantly reduced the resting left ventricular outflow tract gradient (LVOTG) in comparison with placebo. Resting LVOTG could also be reduced with N-acetylcysteine (NAC). The incidence of adverse drug reactions was not significantly different between the placebo group and the treatment group.ConclusionFor adults with HCM, the top 4 treatments included xiaoxinbi formula plus metoprolol, metoprolol, mavacamten and NAC.Systematic Review Registration: [https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=374222], identifier [CRD42022374222]

The impact of SARS-Cov-2 infection on the periocular injection pain and hypersensitive reaction to botulinum toxin type A: results from clinical questionnaires

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has brought about significant changes in the medical field, yet the use of botulinum toxin type A has remained uninterrupted. Plastic surgeons must carefully consider the timing of administering botulinum toxin type A to patients who have recovered from COVID-19.MethodsA questionnaire survey was conducted among patients who had contracted and recovered from SARS-CoV-2 within a month. The survey aimed to investigate various indicators in patients who had received botulinum toxin A injections at the same site before and after their infection, including pain scores and allergic reactions and the occurrence of complications.ResultsThe pain scores of patients who contracted SARS-CoV-2 infection between 14-21 days post-infection exhibited significant variation from previous injections. However, patients who contracted the infection between 22-28 days post-infection did not exhibit significant variation from previous injections. Furthermore, the incidence of allergic reactions and complications following botulinum toxin injection within one month after contracting the infection did not significantly differ from that observed prior to infection.ConclusionAdministering botulinum toxin type A three weeks after COVID-19 recovery is a justifiable and comparatively secure approach

Tribocorrosion performance of 316L stainless steel enhanced by laser clad 2-layer coating using Fe-based amorphous powder

open access articleTo improve the tribocorrosion performance of 316L stainless steel (SS), multi-layer (1, 2 and 3 layers) Fe-based alloy coatings were manufactured by laser cladding Fe-based amorphous powder on 316L SS, and the corrosive wear behavior was investigated against Alumina ball in Ringer's solution. With the increase of cladding layer number, the content of bodycentered cubic (BCC) phase increases, and the hardness also improved. The volume loss rate of SS at 5 N load decreased over 3 times by the 2-layer coating. Under 10 or 20 N loads, the 2-layer coating still presents the best tribocorrosion performance with the lowest values of friction coefficient and volume loss rate. The multi-layer cladding caused surface chemical composition change leading to the decrease of Cr accompanied with the increase of Mo and Y, which is responsible for the increase of BCC content and hardness as well as the formation of lubricant FeeCr hydroxide film. The friction induced lubricating film may facilitate to design new metallic coatings for the low carbon steels applied in corrosive environment

Characteristics of Wild Cherry Beverage Co-fermented by Hanseniaspora uvarum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

One strain of Hanseniaspora uvarum YT-35 was screened from fermented sediment of wild cherry. Hanseniaspora uvarum YT-35 and commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae were used as coculture for manufacture of fermented wild cherry beverage. The dynamics of microbial populations, reducing sugars and ethanol were analyzed at different stages of fermentation using single-strain fermentation with 2 strains of bacteria as a control. Meanwhile, the organic acids and volatile aromatic compounds of the fermented beverages were detected by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and headspace solid-phase microextraction/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS). The results showed that H. uvarum YT-35 dominated in the pre-fermentation stage of co-culture. Compared with single fermentation with S. cerevisiae, the coculture fermentation resulted in lower ethanol content (3.51 g/L). Notably, HPLC results revealed that coculture fermented beverage reduced the yield of citric, malic and quinic acids and increased the yield of glacial acetic acid. HS-SPME/GC-MS results revealed that coculture fermented beverage produced more volatile compounds of esters, such as ethyl caproate, methyl benzoate and isoamyl octanoate and showed enhanced contents of ethyl laurate, ethyl octanoate, phenyl ethyl alcohol, benzyl alcohol, octanoic acid and lauric acid. Meanwhile, clustering analysis revealed that coculture fermentation were correlated with the greatest number of volatile aroma compounds in the fermented wild cherry beverage. This study provides scientific basis and theoretical guidance for the research of coculture strains with different metabolic potential in improving the quality of fruit juice fermented beverage

Magnetic resonance imaging based deep-learning model: a rapid, high-performance, automated tool for testicular volume measurements

BackgroundTesticular volume (TV) is an essential parameter for monitoring testicular functions and pathologies. Nevertheless, current measurement tools, including orchidometers and ultrasonography, encounter challenges in obtaining accurate and personalized TV measurements.PurposeBased on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), this study aimed to establish a deep learning model and evaluate its efficacy in segmenting the testes and measuring TV.Materials and methodsThe study cohort consisted of retrospectively collected patient data (N = 200) and a prospectively collected dataset comprising 10 healthy volunteers. The retrospective dataset was divided into training and independent validation sets, with an 8:2 random distribution. Each of the 10 healthy volunteers underwent 5 scans (forming the testing dataset) to evaluate the measurement reproducibility. A ResUNet algorithm was applied to segment the testes. Volume of each testis was calculated by multiplying the voxel volume by the number of voxels. Manually determined masks by experts were used as ground truth to assess the performance of the deep learning model.ResultsThe deep learning model achieved a mean Dice score of 0.926 ± 0.034 (0.921 ± 0.026 for the left testis and 0.926 ± 0.034 for the right testis) in the validation cohort and a mean Dice score of 0.922 ± 0.02 (0.931 ± 0.019 for the left testis and 0.932 ± 0.022 for the right testis) in the testing cohort. There was strong correlation between the manual and automated TV (R2 ranging from 0.974 to 0.987 in the validation cohort; R2 ranging from 0.936 to 0.973 in the testing cohort). The volume differences between the manual and automated measurements were 0.838 ± 0.991 (0.209 ± 0.665 for LTV and 0.630 ± 0.728 for RTV) in the validation cohort and 0.815 ± 0.824 (0.303 ± 0.664 for LTV and 0.511 ± 0.444 for RTV) in the testing cohort. Additionally, the deep-learning model exhibited excellent reproducibility (intraclass correlation >0.9) in determining TV.ConclusionThe MRI-based deep learning model is an accurate and reliable tool for measuring TV

The Impact of Renewable Energy Technology Innovation on Industrial Green Transformation and Upgrading: Beggar Thy Neighbor or Benefiting Thy Neighbor

Renewable energy technology innovation (RETI) is a crucial way to improve energy poverty and combat climate change. However, few studies have examined the impact of RETI on industrial green transformation and upgrading (IGTU) from the perspective of spatial spillover and its regional boundary. Based on the theory of green growth and sustainable development, this paper expands the connotation boundary of IGTU and measures the IGTU levels of 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2020 using an improved entropy weight method. Kernel density estimation and Moran’s I index are adopted to portray temporal and spatial patterns, the spatial Durbin model is employed to examine the influencing mechanism and spatial spillover effects of RETI on IGTU and its regional boundaries, and the differential impact of its spatial effects on time, region, resource endowment, and environmental regulation are explored further. The results show that (1) RETI and IGTU in China are steadily increasing, indicating a decreasing spatial differentiation pattern of “east–west”; (2) RETI significantly promotes local IGTU but inhibits neighboring IGTU, forming a “beggar-thy-neighbor” situation; (3) the spatial spillover effect of RETI on IGTU has significant regional boundaries—the spatial spillover effect significantly negative and persists up to 800 km, but it is significantly positive from 800 to 1400 km and shows a trend of increasing and then decreasing; and (4) the promoting effect of RETI on IGTU gradually increases over time, presenting spatial differences of promotion in the east and inhibition in the west. Furthermore, RETI has a more substantial promoting effect on IGTU in non-resource-based regions and strong environmental regulation regions. The findings for China provide concrete evidence for formulating targeted policies and seeking a path for IGTU for other developing countries

The Impact of Renewable Energy Technology Innovation on Industrial Green Transformation and Upgrading: Beggar Thy Neighbor or Benefiting Thy Neighbor

Renewable energy technology innovation (RETI) is a crucial way to improve energy poverty and combat climate change. However, few studies have examined the impact of RETI on industrial green transformation and upgrading (IGTU) from the perspective of spatial spillover and its regional boundary. Based on the theory of green growth and sustainable development, this paper expands the connotation boundary of IGTU and measures the IGTU levels of 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2020 using an improved entropy weight method. Kernel density estimation and Moran’s I index are adopted to portray temporal and spatial patterns, the spatial Durbin model is employed to examine the influencing mechanism and spatial spillover effects of RETI on IGTU and its regional boundaries, and the differential impact of its spatial effects on time, region, resource endowment, and environmental regulation are explored further. The results show that (1) RETI and IGTU in China are steadily increasing, indicating a decreasing spatial differentiation pattern of “east–west”; (2) RETI significantly promotes local IGTU but inhibits neighboring IGTU, forming a “beggar-thy-neighbor” situation; (3) the spatial spillover effect of RETI on IGTU has significant regional boundaries—the spatial spillover effect significantly negative and persists up to 800 km, but it is significantly positive from 800 to 1400 km and shows a trend of increasing and then decreasing; and (4) the promoting effect of RETI on IGTU gradually increases over time, presenting spatial differences of promotion in the east and inhibition in the west. Furthermore, RETI has a more substantial promoting effect on IGTU in non-resource-based regions and strong environmental regulation regions. The findings for China provide concrete evidence for formulating targeted policies and seeking a path for IGTU for other developing countries

Fast Model Predictive Control Based on Adaptive Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers

Model Predictive Control (MPC) can effectively handle control problem with disturbances, multicontrol variables, and complex constraints and is widely used in various control systems. In MPC, the control input at each time step is obtained by solving an online optimization problem, which will cause a time delay in real time on embedded computers with limited computational resources. In this paper, we utilize adaptive Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (a-ADMM) to accelerate the solution of MPC. This method adaptively adjusts penalty parameter to balance the value of primal residual and dual residual. The performance of this approach is profiled via the control of a quadcopter with 12 states and 4 controls and prediction horizon ranging from 10 to 40. The simulation results demonstrate that the MPC based on a-ADMM has a significant improvement in real-time and convergence performance and thus is more suitable for solving large-scale optimal control problems

Microplastic pollution as an environmental risk exacerbating the greenhouse effect and climate change: a review

Abstract Microplastics are polymer-based materials with carbon as their main framework. During degradation, they release greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. Additionally, environmental microplastics can enter plant tissues, triggering oxidative stress in plant cells, adversely affecting photosynthesis, metabolism, gene expression, and other growth parameters. This reduction in plant efficiency in sequestering and utilizing atmospheric carbon dioxide indirectly impacts global carbon cycling, exacerbating the global greenhouse effect. Furthermore, environmental microplastics significantly alter soil structure and the composition of microbial communities, affecting the emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, thus indirectly promoting greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing research suggests a mutual reinforcement between microplastic pollution and global climate warming, where microplastic pollution exacerbates global climate warming, and the rise in global average temperature leads to the resuspension of microplastics in sediments, intensifying microplastic pollution in the environment. This article primarily focuses on the impacts of environmental microplastic pollution on different ecosystems and the relationship between microplastic pollution and global climate warming. It summarizes the effects of microplastic pollution on greenhouse gas emissions in marine, terrestrial, and atmospheric ecosystems, as well as the mechanisms by which microplastics and climate change affect ecosystem services. By delving into the intricate connection between microplastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, this paper aims to raise awareness of the climate change caused by microplastic pollution and calls for further research on the impacts of microplastics on ecosystems and global climate change, with the ultimate goal of protecting ecosystems and human health. Graphical Abstrac

Beneficial effects of Chinese martial arts on the lumbar spine: A case series analysis of intervertebral disc, paraspinal muscles and vertebral body

Purpose: Chinese Martial arts is becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide. There is insufficient evidence to prove the health effects of martial arts due to methodological weaknesses. The aim of this study was to better understand the effects of Chinese martial arts on the skeletal and muscular status of the lumbar spine by quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods: Nine elite martial arts athletes, eighteen amateurs, and eighteen sedentary volunteers underwent T2 mapping and q-Dixon imaging of the lumbar spine on a 3T (Tesla) system. T2 (Transverse) relaxation times were measured in different regions of interest of the intervertebral disc (IVD). Fat Fraction (FF) was measured in the paraspinal muscles and vertebral body. Results: Compared to the sedentary controls, martial arts athletes showed: (1) increased T2 times in the nucleus pulposus, especially in the central nucleus pulposus (P = 0.004); (2) decreased FF in the multifidus and erector spinae (all P < 0.04), and increased cross-sectional area in the psoas, quadratus lumborum, and multifidus (all P < 0.03); (3) decreased FF in vertebral body (P = 0.001). There was no significant difference in all quantitative MRI parameters between athletes and amateur enthusiasts. Besides, paraspinal muscle FF was negatively correlated with IVD T2 times (ρ = −0.221; P = 0.014) and positively correlated with vertebral body FF (ρ = 0.314; P < 0.001). Conclusions: Chinese martial arts has a positive effect on lumbar tissues, manifesting as better disc hydration, paraspinal muscle hypertrophy and reduced fat infiltration, and lower vertebral body fat content. Our study suggests a possible mechanism: martial arts practice enhances paraspinal muscles to maintain spinal stability, indirectly contributing to slowing down bone marrow conversion and promoting IVD hydration