Effect of a combination of donepezil tablets and butylphthalide soft capsules on neurological function in dementia patients, and its effect on serum inflammatory factors

Purpose: To determine the effect of combined use of donepezil tablets and butylphthalide soft capsules in the treatment of patients with vascular dementia, and its effect on serum inflammatory factor levels and neurological functional recovery of patients.Methods: 120 patients with vascular dementia were selected and assigned to group A (n = 60) and group B (n = 60). All patients were treated with donepezil tablets, while patients in group A were, in addition, treated with butylphthalide soft capsules. Mini mental state examination (MMSE) scores, clinical dementia rating scale (CDRS) scores, activities of daily living (ADL) scores, incidence of adverse reactions, serum inflammatory factor levels and neurological functional recovery were determined.Results: There was significantly higher MMSE score in group A than in B, while CDRS score was lower in group A. The ADL scores and inflammatory factor levels were lower in group A than in B (p < 0.001), while neurological functional recovery was markedly better in A (p < 0.001). Incidents of unwanted events were comparable in groups A and B, and there were no serious complications in the patients.Conclusion: The combination therapy of donepezil tablets and butylphthalide soft capsules reduces inflammatory factor levels and improved cognitive level and quality of life of patients with vascular dementia. It also produces good neurological functional recovery and low incidence of adverse reactions. Therefore, this treatment strategy has potentials for the management of vascular dementia

The Annual Rhythmic Differentiation of Populus davidiana Growth–Climate Response Under a Warming Climate in The Greater Hinggan Mountains

The stability and balance of forest ecosystems have been seriously affected by climate change. Herein, we use dendrochronological methods to investigate the radial growth and climate response of pioneer tree species in the southern margin of cold temperate coniferous forest based on Populus davidiana growing on the Greater Hinggan Mountains in northeastern China. Correlations of P. davidiana growth with temperature and precipitation in a year (October–September) were rhythmically opposed: while temperatures in previous October–June (winter and spring) and in May–September (growing season) respectively inhibited and promoted radial growth on P. davidiana (p \u3c 0.01), precipitation in the same periods respectively promoted and inhibited of growth (p \u3c 0.01). High temperature or less rain/snow in winter and early spring, and low temperature or excess rainfall in summer, are inconducive to P. davidiana growth and vice versa (p \u3c 0.01). In addition, in March–April, when air temperature was above 0 °C and ground temperature below 0 °C, physiological drought caused significant growth inhibition in P. davidiana (p \u3c 0.05). In general, temperatures play a driving and controlling role in the synergistic effect of temperature and precipitation on P. davidiana growth. Under current conditions of available water supply, changes of temperature, especially warming, are beneficial to the growth of P. davidiana in the study area. The current climate conditions promote the growth of P. davidiana, the pioneer species, compared with the growth inhibition of Larix gmelinii, the dominant species. Thus, the structure and function of boreal forest might be changed under global warming by irreversible alterations in the growth and composition of coniferous and broadleaf tree species in the forest

Investigation of Microstructure Evolution and Phase Selection of Peritectic Cuce Alloy During High-Temperature Gradient Directional Solidification

In this work, a CuCe alloy was prepared using a directional solidification method at a series of withdrawal rates of 100, 25, 10, 8, and 5 μm/s. We found that the primary phase microstructure transforms from cellular crystals to cellular peritectic coupled growth and eventually, changes into dendrites as the withdrawal rate increases. The phase constituents in the directionally solidified samples were confirmed to be Cu2Ce, CuCe, and CuCe + Ce eutectics. The primary dendrite spacing was significantly refined with an increasing withdrawal rate, resulting in higher compressive strength and strain. Moreover, the cellular peritectic coupled growth at 10 μm/s further strengthened the alloy, with its compressive property reaching the maximum value of 266 MPa. Directional solidification was proven to be an impactful method to enhance the mechanical properties and produce well-aligned in situ composites in peritectic systems

Study on construction quality Evaluation Index of prefabricated Buildings and Identification of Workers’ occupational literacy Evaluation Index

This study through reading to sort out quality management and quality inspection standards and specifications, identify five the prefabricated building quality specifications and workers professional quality of 16 factors, and then using the theory of quality management theory, labor productivity, literature research, identify quality evaluation specifications and general factors of professional workers, using the method of case analysis and expert interview to collect quality evaluation specification and workers professional quality characteristic factors, identify common workers professional quality influencing factors of 4 first-level indicators, 16 secondary indexes, prefabricated building quality five evaluation indexes, and further to a total of 21 indexes both generality and individual character classification, found 11, 10 personality. The extraction and analysis of the key factors affecting workers’ occupational literacy on the quality of assembly construction provide a research basis

Multidirection gradient iterative algorithm: A unified framework for gradient iterative and least squares algorithms

In this article, a multidirection-based gradient iterative (GI) algorithm for Hammerstein systems with irregular sampling data is proposed. The algorithm updates the parameter estimates using several orthogonal directions at each iteration. The convergence rate is significantly improved with an increasing number of directions. The convergence property and two simulation examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. In addition, the multidirection-based GI algorithm establishes a relationship between the traditional GI and least squares (LS) algorithms. Thus, our algorithm that combines the LS and GI algorithms constructs an identification framework for a significantly wider class of systems

Correlation and combining ability analysis of physiological traits and some agronomic traits in maize

Combining ability information on the physiological traits in maize (Zea mays L) and the relationship between physi¬ological traits and biomass, grain yield (GY) and yield components (YC) can help maize breeders design experi¬ments for improving inbred lines and/or developing hybrids with improved GY or YC (GYYC). A six-parent diallel experiment (Griffing method 3) was conducted for combining ability and correlation analyses. The objectives of this study were to 1) study the correlation between physiological traits and biomass at seedling stage; 2) study which physiological traits at seedling stage have significant correlation with biomasses at both seedling and later growth stages and GYYCs; 3) evaluate combining ability of the physiological traits that are significantly correlated with either GY or one of the YCs. Results showed plant heights at 20 day, 40 day, and leaf area were highly corre¬lated with both dry weights of shoots and roots. All chlorophyll-related organelles were significantly correlated with only dry weights of shoots. However, dry matter at seedling stage seemed not to be related to dry matter in later growth stages. Five physiological traits (stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, net photosynthetic rate, two quantum yield related traits) at seedling stage were identified to greatly impact dry matter at later growth stages. Results also showed that 13 out of 35 physiological traits studied were significantly correlated with GYYCs. Differ¬ent germplasms for improving GYYCs could be used based on both correlation between the 13 traits and GYYCs and combining ability effects of each line for the 13 selected traits

Association between organic cation transporter genetic polymorphisms and metformin response and intolerance in T2DM individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundVariants in organic cation transporter (OCT) genes play a crucial role in metformin pharmacokinetics and are critical for diabetes treatment. However, studies investigating the effect of OCT genetic polymorphisms on metformin response have reported inconsistent results. This review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the associations between OCT genetic polymorphisms and metformin response and intolerance in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).MethodA systematic search was conducted on PubMed, EMBASE, CNKI, WANFANG DATA, and VIP database for identifying potential studies up to 10 November 2022. The Q-Genie tool was used to evaluate the quality of included studies. Pooled odds ratios (OR) or standardized mean differences (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated to determine the associations between OCT genetic polymorphisms and metformin response and intolerance that were reflected by glycemic response indexes, such as glycated hemoglobin level (HbA1c%) or change in glycated hemoglobin level (ΔHbA1c%), fasting plasma level (FPG) or change in fasting plasma glucose level (ΔFPG), the effectiveness rate of metformin treatment, and the rate of metformin intolerance. A qualitative review was performed for the variants identified just in one study and those that could not undergo pooling analysis.ResultsA total of 30 related eligible studies about OCT genes (SLC22A1, SLC22A2, and SLC22A3) and metformin pharmacogenetics were identified, and 14, 3, and 6 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in SLC22A1, SLC22A2, and SLC22A3, respectively, were investigated. Meta-analysis showed that the SLC22A1 rs622342 polymorphism was associated with a reduction in HbA1c level (AA vs. AC: SMD [95% CI] = −0.45 [−0.73–−0.18]; p = 0.001). The GG genotype of the SLC22A1 rs628031 polymorphism was associated with a reduction in FPG level (GG vs. AA: SMD [95 %CI] = −0.60 [−1.04–0.16], p = 0.007; GG vs. AG: −0.45 [−0.67–0.20], p < 0.001). No statistical association was found between the remaining variants and metformin response and intolerance.ConclusionSLC22A1 rs622342 and rs628031 polymorphisms were potentially associated with glycemic response to metformin. This evidence may provide novel insight into gene-oriented personalized medicine for diabetes