Effect of non-invasive ventilator in combination with tiotropium bromide on pulmonary function and sleep quality of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease complicated with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome

Purpose: To study the influence of non-invasive ventilator and tiotropium bromide on pulmonary function and sleep quality of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) combined with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS).Methods: One hundred and twenty patients with COPD-OSAHS were selected and randomly assigned to control group (CG) and treatment group (TG), with 60 subjects in each group. Non-invasive ventilator therapy was used in both groups, based on conventional therapy, while tiotropium bromide was added in TG. Treatment effectiveness in the two groups was evaluated and compared.Results: Total effectiveness was significantly higher in TG than in CG. Post-therapy arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) and oxygen partial pressure (PaO2) were increased, while partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) and lactic acid (Lac) were decreased in both groups (p < 0.05). Post-treatment values of indices of lung function, viz, forced expiratory volume (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and FEV1/FVC ratio were higher than the corresponding pre-treatment levels, and also values were significantly higher in TG than in CG (p < 0.05). Average sleep time, apnea and hypopnea index (AHI) and mechanical ventilation time of TG were less than those of CG. There were lower levels of Creactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT) and interleukin-17 (IL-17) in TG than in CG. During the treatment, no obvious adverse reaction was seen in both groups.Conclusion: Non-invasive ventilator, in combination with tiotropium bromide, is more effective in the treatment of COPD-OSAHS than the use of non-invasive ventilator alone. However, further clinical trials are required before its adoption in clinical practice

Ionic Liquids as Bifunctional Cosolvents Enhanced CO₂ Conversion Catalysed by NADH-Dependent Formate Dehydrogenase

Efficient CO2 conversion by formate dehydrogenase is limited by the low CO2 concentrations that can be reached in traditional buffers. The use of ionic liquids was proposed as a manner to increase CO2 concentration in the reaction system. It has been found, however, that the required cofactor (NADH) heavily degraded during the enzymatic reaction and that acidity was the main reason. Acidity, indeed, resulted in reduction of the conversion of CO2 into formic acid and contributed to overestimate the amount of formic acid produced when the progression of the reaction was followed by a decrease in NADH absorbance (method N). Stability of NADH and the mechanism of NADH degradation was investigated by UV, NMR and by DFT calculations. It was found that by selecting neutral-basic ionic liquids and by adjusting the concentration of the ionic liquid in the buffer, the concentration of NADH can be maintained in the reaction system with little loss. Conversion of CO2 to methanol in BmimBF(4) (67.1%) was more than twice as compared with the conversion attained by the enzymatic reaction in phosphate buffer (24.3%)

Self-assembled albumin nanoparticles induce pyroptosis for photodynamic/photothermal/immuno synergistic therapies in triple-negative breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by a high degree of malignancy, early metastasis, limited treatment, and poor prognosis. Immunotherapy, as a new and most promising treatment for cancer, has limited efficacy in TNBC because of the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Inducing pyroptosis and activating the cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate synthase/interferon gene stimulator (cGAS/STING) signaling pathway to upregulate innate immunity have become an emerging strategy for enhancing tumor immunotherapy. In this study, albumin nanospheres were constructed with photosensitizer-IR780 encapsulated in the core and cGAS–STING agonists/H2S producer-ZnS loaded on the shell (named IR780-ZnS@HSA). In vitro, IR780-ZnS@HSA produced photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) effects. In addition, it stimulated immunogenic cell death (ICD) and activated pyroptosis in tumor cells via the caspase-3–GSDME signaling pathway. IR780-ZnS@HSA also activated the cGAS–STING signaling pathway. The two pathways synergistically boost immune response. In vivo, IR780-ZnS@HSA + laser significantly inhibited tumor growth in 4T1 tumor-bearing mice and triggered an immune response, improving the efficacy of the anti-APD-L1 antibody (aPD-L1). In conclusion, IR780-ZnS@HSA, as a novel inducer of pyroptosis, can significantly inhibit tumor growth and improve the efficacy of aPD-L1

A deep learning method for foot-type classification using plantar pressure images

Background: Flat foot deformity is a prevalent and challenging condition often leading to various clinical complications. Accurate identification of abnormal foot types is essential for appropriate interventions.Method: A dataset consisting of 1573 plantar pressure images from 125 individuals was collected. The performance of the You Only Look Once v5 (YOLO-v5) model, improved YOLO-v5 model, and multi-label classification model was evaluated for foot type identification using the collected images. A new dataset was also collected to verify and compare the models.Results: The multi-label classification algorithm based on ResNet-50 outperformed other algorithms. The improved YOLO-v5 model with Squeeze-and-Excitation (SE), the improved YOLO-v5 model with Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM), and the multilabel classification model based on ResNet-50 achieved an accuracy of 0.652, 0.717, and 0.826, respectively, which is significantly higher than those obtained using the ordinary plantar-pressure system and the standard YOLO-v5 model.Conclusion: These results indicate that the proposed DL-based multilabel classification model based on ResNet-50 is superior in flat foot type detection and can be used to evaluate the clinical rehabilitation status of patients with abnormal foot types and various foot pathologies when more data on patients with various diseases are available for training

Socio-spatial differentiation and residential segregation in the Chinese city based on the 2000 community-level census data: A case study of the inner city of Nanjing

Socio-spatial differentiation and residential segregation have been studied extensively in numerous cities and have contributed significantly to the understanding of urban spatial and social structures. Analyses of diverse data sets at varied spatial scales have supported the development of theoretical frameworks. However, the majority of Chinese case studies published in recent decades were dominantly based on either non-spatial data or population census data at sub-district (or jiedao in Chinese) level. These analyses have been limited through using low-resolution aggregate data resulting in incomplete or biased findings. This paper aims to examine the fine-scale socio-spatial structure of the inner city of Nanjing using the fifth population census data of 2000 at the lowest spatial scale – community (or juweihui in Chinese) level. Our findings reveal that the policies of the socialist era and the initial outcomes of the introduction of a free market, particularly with regard to the creation of new elite spaces within the inner city, have shaped a complex pattern of socio-spatial differentiation and residential segregation

Comparative genomics reveals the hybrid origin of a macaque group

Although species can arise through hybridization, compelling evidence for hybrid speciation has been reported only rarely in animals. Here, we present phylogenomic analyses on genomes from 12 macaque species and show that the fascicularis group originated from an ancient hybridization between the sinica and silenus groups ~3.45 to 3.56 million years ago. The X chromosomes and low-recombination regions exhibited equal contributions from each parental lineage, suggesting that they were less affected by subsequent backcrossing and hence could have played an important role in maintaining hybrid integrity. We identified many reproduction-associated genes that could have contributed to the development of the mixed sexual phenotypes characteristic of the fascicularis group. The phylogeny within the silenus group was also resolved, and functional experimentation confirmed that all extant Western silenus species are susceptible to HIV-1 infection. Our study provides novel insights into macaque evolution and reveals a hybrid speciation event that has occurred only very rarely in primates