Pediatric myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease in southern China: analysis of 93 cases

ObjectiveTo study the clinical features of children diagnosed with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) in southern China.MethodsClinical data of children diagnosed with MOGAD from April 2014 to September 2021 were analyzed.ResultsA total of 93 children (M/F=45/48; median onset age=6.0 y) with MOGAD were involved. Seizures or limb paralysis was the most common onset or course symptom, respectively. The most common lesion locations in brain MRI, orbital MRI, and spinal cord MRI were basal ganglia and subcortical white matter, the orbital segment of the optic nerve, and the cervical segment, respectively. ADEM (58.10%) was the most common clinical phenotype. The relapse rate was 24.7%. Compared with the patients without relapse, relapsed patients had a longer interval from onset to diagnosis (median: 19 days VS 20 days) and higher MOG antibody titer at onset (median: 1:32 VS 1:100) with longer positively persistent (median: 3 months VS 24 months). All patients received IVMP plus IVIG at the acute phase, and 96.8% of patients achieved remission after one to three courses of treatment. MMF, monthly IVIG, and maintaining a low dose of oral prednisone were used alone or in combination as maintenance immunotherapy for relapsed patients and effectively reduced relapse. It transpired 41.9% of patients had neurological sequelae, with movement disorder being the most common. Compared with patients without sequelae, patients with sequelae had higher MOG antibody titer at onset (median: 1:32 VS 1:100) with longer persistence (median: 3 months VS 6 months) and higher disease relapse rate (14.8% VS 38.5%).ConclusionsResults showed the following about pediatric MOGAD in southern China: the median onset age was 6.0 years, with no obvious sex distribution difference; seizure or limb paralysis, respectively, are the most common onset or course symptom; the lesions of basal ganglia, subcortical white matter, the orbital segment of the optic nerve, and cervical segment were commonly involved in the CNS MRI; ADEM was the most common clinical phenotype; most had a good response to immunotherapy; although the relapse rate was relatively high, MMF, monthly IVIG and a low dose of oral prednisone might effectively reduce relapse; neurological sequelae were common, and possibly associated with MOG antibody status and disease relapse

Single or dual sourcing: decision-making in the presence of supply chain disruption risks

The focus of this paper is placed on evaluating the impacts of supply disruption risks on the choice between the famous single and dual sourcing methods in a two-stage supply chain with a non-stationary and price-sensitive demand. The expected profit functions of the two sourcing modes in the presence of supply chain disruption risks are first obtained, and then compared so that the critical values of the key factors affecting the final choice are identified. Finally, the sensitivity of the buyer's expected profit to various input factors is examined through numerical examples, which provide guidelines for how to use each sourcing method.Supply chain disruption Sourcing Supply management Risk management Sensitivity analysis Decision-making/process

Research on the Influencing Factors for the Use of Green Building Materials through the Number Growth of Construction Enterprises Based on Agent-Based Modeling

As the concept of green building is increasingly promoted worldwide, the use of green building materials has also attracted great attention. In order to improve the utilization rate of green building materials in construction projects, this paper tries to explore influencing factors based on the method of agent-based modeling (ABM), which is well-suited to the study of complex systems and their emergent behaviors. There are two types of agents being set, named, respectively, greedy construction enterprises and selective construction enterprises. Meanwhile, the construction unit’s intention to use green building materials is treated as the criterion. Two types of construction enterprises compete for projects to obtain profits. In order to reveal the mechanism of the evolutionary path of the macro system, the movement step, project unit profit, project cost and expansion cost are adopted as the independent variables and the number of enterprises is the dependent variable. Then, the experiment was performed with the NetLogo simulation platform. The simulation results show that, it is not beneficial for the selective construction enterprises when the movement step in selecting projects is too long and the project units are too profitable. However, when the project cost and expansion cost become higher, there is a significant advantage for selective construction enterprises to go for a long-term development. Therefore, after a comprehensive evaluation of project costs and unit profits, an optimal strategy can be formulated to ensure the quantitative scale of construction enterprises in the construction industry. This behavior can indirectly improve the intention of construction units to use green building materials and further promote the utilization rate of green building materials

Research on the Influencing Factors for the Use of Green Building Materials through the Number Growth of Construction Enterprises Based on Agent-Based Modeling

As the concept of green building is increasingly promoted worldwide, the use of green building materials has also attracted great attention. In order to improve the utilization rate of green building materials in construction projects, this paper tries to explore influencing factors based on the method of agent-based modeling (ABM), which is well-suited to the study of complex systems and their emergent behaviors. There are two types of agents being set, named, respectively, greedy construction enterprises and selective construction enterprises. Meanwhile, the construction unit’s intention to use green building materials is treated as the criterion. Two types of construction enterprises compete for projects to obtain profits. In order to reveal the mechanism of the evolutionary path of the macro system, the movement step, project unit profit, project cost and expansion cost are adopted as the independent variables and the number of enterprises is the dependent variable. Then, the experiment was performed with the NetLogo simulation platform. The simulation results show that, it is not beneficial for the selective construction enterprises when the movement step in selecting projects is too long and the project units are too profitable. However, when the project cost and expansion cost become higher, there is a significant advantage for selective construction enterprises to go for a long-term development. Therefore, after a comprehensive evaluation of project costs and unit profits, an optimal strategy can be formulated to ensure the quantitative scale of construction enterprises in the construction industry. This behavior can indirectly improve the intention of construction units to use green building materials and further promote the utilization rate of green building materials

Large-Scale Ligand-Free Synthesis of Homogeneous Core-Shell Quantum-Dot-Modified Cs4PbBr6 Microcrystals

An organic ligand-free solution method is developed for preparing homogeneous core shell quantum-dot (QD)-modified pure Cs4PbBr6 microcrystals on a large scale (similar to 12 g) at room temperature. The ligand-free Cs4PbBr6 microcrystals show a high green photoluminescence quantum yield of 76% with 360 nm of excitation light, which is attributed to their unique microarchitecture, with several features including quantum confinement of the outer QDs, stability of the inner Cs4PbBr6 microcrystals, improved light trapping, and interfacial recombination. UV-vis-near-IR and photoluminescence analyses provide valued evidence to support the ligand-free Cs4PbBr6 with synergy between the QDs and microcrystals

Pore-Forming Monopeptides as Exceptionally Active Anion Channels

We describe here a unique family of pore-forming anion-transporting peptides possessing a single-amino-acid-derived peptidic backbone that is the shortest among natural and synthetic pore-forming peptides. These monopeptides with built-in H-bonding capacity self-assemble into an H-bonded 1D columnar structure, presenting three types of exteriorly arranged hydrophobic side chains that closely mimic the overall topology of an α-helix. Dynamic interactions among these side chains and membrane lipids proceed in a way likely similar to how α-helix bundle is formed. This subsequently enables oligomerization of these rod-like structures to form ring-shaped ensembles of varying sizes with a pore size of smaller than 1.0 nm in diameter but sufficiently large for transporting anions across the membrane. The intrinsic high modularity in the backbone further allows rapid tuning in side chains for combinatorial optimization of channel’s ion-transport activity, culminating in the discovery of an exceptionally active anion-transporting monopeptide <b>6L10</b> with an EC₅₀ of 0.10 μM for nitrate anions

Co(II)-Catalyzed Regioselective Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling of Aryl C–H Bonds with Carboxylic Acids

A cobalt­(II)-catalyzed regioselective aryl C–H bond oxygenation between arenes and aryl or aliphatic carboxylic acids under bidendate-chelation assistance is developed. This method provides an efficient approach to acyoxy-substituted arenes with a broad range of functional group tolerance. Furthermore, this reaction system could be further applied to the preparation of polyfunctional naphthylenes

Co(II)-Catalyzed Regioselective Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling of Aryl C–H Bonds with Carboxylic Acids

A cobalt­(II)-catalyzed regioselective aryl C–H bond oxygenation between arenes and aryl or aliphatic carboxylic acids under bidendate-chelation assistance is developed. This method provides an efficient approach to acyoxy-substituted arenes with a broad range of functional group tolerance. Furthermore, this reaction system could be further applied to the preparation of polyfunctional naphthylenes