Endovascular Treatment of Intracranial Vein and Venous Sinus Thrombosis-A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND Cerebral venous sinus or vein thromboses (SVT) are treated with heparin followed by oral anticoagulation. Even after receiving the best medical treatment, numerous patients experience neurological deterioration, intracerebral hemorrhage or brain edema. Debate regarding whether endovascular treatment (EVT) is beneficial in such severe cases remains ongoing. This systematic review summarizes the current evidence supporting the use of EVT for SVT on the basis of case presentations, with a focus on patient selection, treatment strategies and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS This systemic literature review included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and retrospective observational data analyzing five or more patients. Follow-up information (modified Rankin scale (mRS)) was required to be provided (individual patient data). RESULTS 21 records (n = 405 patients; 1 RCT, 20 observational studies) were identified. EVT was found to be feasible and safe in a highly selected patient cohort but was not associated with an increase in good functional outcomes (mRS 0-2) in RCT data. In observational data, good functional outcomes were frequently observed despite an anticipated poor prognosis. CONCLUSION The current evidence does not support the routine incorporation of EVT in SVT treatment. However, in a patient cohort prone to poor prognosis, EVT might be a reasonable therapeutic option. Further studies determining the patients at risk, choice of methods and devices, and timing of treatment initiation are warranted

Mesons in a Poincare Covariant Bethe-Salpeter Approach

We develop a covariant approach to describe the low-lying scalar, pseudoscalar, vector and axialvector mesons as quark-antiquark bound states. This approach is based on an effective interaction modeling of the non--perturbative structure of the gluon propagator that enters the quark Schwinger-Dyson and meson Bethe-Salpeter equations. We consistently treat these integral equations by precisely implementing the quark propagator functions that solve the Schwinger-Dyson equations into the Bethe-Salpeter equations in the relevant kinematical region. We extract the meson masses and compute the pion and kaon decay constants. We obtain a quantitatively correct description for pions, kaons and vector mesons while the calculated spectra of scalar and axialvector mesons suggest that their structure is more complex than being quark-antiquark bound states.Comment: 18 pages LaTeX, 5 figures; some changes in the presentation, new results on axial vector mesons in enlarged mixing scheme; version to be published in Physical Review

The politicisation of evaluation: constructing and contesting EU policy performance

Although systematic policy evaluation has been conducted for decades and has been growing strongly within the European Union (EU) institutions and in the member states, it remains largely underexplored in political science literatures. Extant work in political science and public policy typically focuses on elements such as agenda setting, policy shaping, decision making, or implementation rather than evaluation. Although individual pieces of research on evaluation in the EU have started to emerge, most often regarding policy “effectiveness” (one criterion among many in evaluation), a more structured approach is currently missing. This special issue aims to address this gap in political science by focusing on four key focal points: evaluation institutions (including rules and cultures), evaluation actors and interests (including competencies, power, roles and tasks), evaluation design (including research methods and theories, and their impact on policy design and legislation), and finally, evaluation purpose and use (including the relationships between discourse and scientific evidence, political attitudes and strategic use). The special issue considers how each of these elements contributes to an evolving governance system in the EU, where evaluation is playing an increasingly important role in decision making

Cigarette smoke induces genetic instability in airway epithelial cells by suppressing FANCD2 expression

Chromosomal abnormalities are commonly found in bronchogenic carcinoma cells, but the molecular causes of chromosomal instability (CIN) and their relationship to cigarette smoke has not been defined. Because the Fanconi anaemia (FA)/BRCA pathway is essential for maintenance of chromosomal stability, we tested the hypothesis that cigarette smoke suppresses that activity of this pathway. Here, we show that cigarette smoke condensate (CSC) inhibited translation of FANCD2 mRNA (but not FANCC or FANCG) in normal airway epithelial cells and that this suppression of FANCD2 expression was sufficient to induce both genetic instability and programmed cell death in the exposed cell population. Cigarette smoke condensate also suppressed FANCD2 function and induced CIN in bronchogenic carcinoma cells, but these cells were resistant to CSC-induced apoptosis relative to normal airway epithelial cells. We, therefore, suggest that CSC exerts pressure on airway epithelial cells that results in selection and emergence of genetically unstable somatic mutant clones that may have lost the capacity to effectively execute an apoptotic programme. Carcinogen-mediated suppression of FANCD2 gene expression provides a plausible molecular mechanism for CIN in bronchogenic carcinogenesis

Conformal and continuous deposition of bifunctional cobalt phosphide layers on p-silicon nanowire arrays for improved solar hydrogen evolution

Vertically aligned p-silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays have been extensively investigated in recent years as promising photocathodes for solar-driven hydrogen evolution. However, the fabrication of SiNW photocathodes with both high photoelectrocatalytic activity and long-term operational stability using a simple and affordable approach is a challenging task. Herein, we report conformal and continuous deposition of a di-cobalt phosphide (Co2P) layer on lithography-patterned highly ordered SiNW arrays via a cost-effective drop-casting method followed by a low-temperature phosphorization treatment. The as-deposited Co2P layer consists of crystalline nanoparticles and has an intimate contact with SiNWs, forming a well-defined SiNW@Co2P core/shell nanostructure. The conformal and continuous Co2P layer functions as a highly efficient catalyst capable of substantially improving the photoelectrocatalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and effectively passivates the SiNWs to protect them from photo-oxidation, thus prolonging the lifetime of the electrode. As a consequence, the SiNW@Co2P photocathode with an optimized Co2P layer thickness exhibits a high photocurrent density of -21.9 mA.cm(-2) at 0 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode and excellent operational stability up to 20 h for solar-driven hydrogen evolution, outperforming many nanostructured silicon photocathodes reported in the literature. The combination of passivation and catalytic functions in a single continuous layer represents a promising strategy for designing high-performance semiconductor photoelectrodes for use in solar-driven water splitting, which may simplify fabrication procedures and potentially reduce production costsThis work was funded by ERDF funds through the Portuguese Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization COMPETE 2020, and national funds through FCT – The Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project “PTDC/CTM-ENE/2349/2014” (Grant Agreement No. 016660). The work is also partially funded by the Portugal-China Bilateral Collaborative Programme (FCT/21102/28/12/2016/S). L. F. Liu acknowledges the financial support of the FCT Investigator Grant (IF/01595/2014) and Exploratory Grant (IF/01595/2014/CP1247/CT0001). L. Qiao acknowledges the financial support of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant Agreement No. 2016YFE0132400).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Atomic Layer Deposition of 2D Metal Dichalcogenides for Electronics, Catalysis, Energy Storage, and Beyond

2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are among the most exciting materials of today. Their layered crystal structures result in unique and useful electronic, optical, catalytic, and quantum properties. To realize the technological potential of TMDCs, methods depositing uniform films of controlled thickness at low temperatures in a highly controllable, scalable, and repeatable manner are needed. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a chemical gas-phase thin film deposition method capable of meeting these challenges. In this review, the applications evaluated for ALD TMDCs are systematically examined, including electronics and optoelectonics, electrocatalysis and photocatalysis, energy storage, lubrication, plasmonics, solar cells, and photonics. This review focuses on understanding the interplay between ALD precursors and deposition conditions, the resulting film characteristics such as thickness, crystallinity, and morphology, and ultimately device performance. Through rational choice of precursors and conditions, ALD is observed to exhibit potential to meet the varying requirements of widely different applications. Beyond the current state of ALD TMDCs, the future prospects, opportunities, and challenges in different applications are discussed. The authors hope that the review aids in bringing together experts in the fields of ALD, TMDCs, and various applications to eventually realize industrial applications of ALD TMDCs.Peer reviewe

Pathogen reduction/inactivation of products for the treatment of bleeding disorders:what are the processes and what should we say to patients?

Patients with blood disorders (including leukaemia, platelet function disorders and coagulation factor deficiencies) or acute bleeding receive blood-derived products, such as red blood cells, platelet concentrates and plasma-derived products. Although the risk of pathogen contamination of blood products has fallen considerably over the past three decades, contamination is still a topic of concern. In order to counsel patients and obtain informed consent before transfusion, physicians are required to keep up to date with current knowledge on residual risk of pathogen transmission and methods of pathogen removal/inactivation. Here, we describe pathogens relevant to transfusion of blood products and discuss contemporary pathogen removal/inactivation procedures, as well as the potential risks associated with these products: the risk of contamination by infectious agents varies according to blood product/region, and there is a fine line between adequate inactivation and functional impairment of the product. The cost implications of implementing pathogen inactivation technology are also considered