The controlling nutritional status score and clinical outcomes in patients with heart failure: Pool analysis of observational studies.

Background and aims Malnutrition is very common in patients with heart failure (HF) and is associated with a worse clinical outcome. The Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score is an easily derived index for the evaluation of malnutrition. This study aimed to evaluate the association between the CONUT score and the prognosis in patients with HF. Methods and results Electronic databases were searched for potential studies from inception up to February 15, 2022. Observational cohort studies included adult participants with HF, and reported the associations between the CONUT score and the adjusted relative risk (RR) of all-cause mortality, and patients with composite major adverse cardiac outcomes (MACEs) were included. We finally included 18 studies comprising 12,532 participants with HF for analysis. The median age of the patients was 70.5 years old, and 35.4% were women. After a median follow-up duration of 32.5 months, patients with HF with a higher CONUT score were associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality (per 1 increment of the CONUT score: RR, 1.21, 95% CI, 1.13-1.29, I 2 = 68%, P for heterogeneity = 0.002) and MACEs (per 1 increment of the CONUT score: RR, 1.14, 95% CI, 1.06-1.23, I 2 = 81%, P for heterogeneity <0.0001) after adjusting for other prognostic factors. When the CONUT score was divided into the normal nutritional status and malnourished status, malnourished patients with HF were associated with increased risks of all-cause death (RR, 1.61, 95% CI, 1.40-1.85, I 2 = 17%, P for heterogeneity = 0.29) and MACEs (RR, 2.12, 95% CI, 1.49-3.02, I 2 = 87%, P for heterogeneity <0.0001), compared with those with normal nutritional status. Conclusions The CONUT score is associated with the clinical outcomes in patients with HF, and can be used as a screening tool of nutritional status in HF to improve prognosis

Prediction of stroke risk in patients with transient ischemic attack: ABCD score and its derived scores

Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) is a high-risk signal of acute ischemic cerebrovascular disease, indicates a significant increase in the risk of ischemic stroke, especially within 7 days. Risk assessment and stratification are important in patient with TIA. A variety of simple prediction scales were developed based on the risk factors for stroke in patients with TIA, such as the California scale, ABCD scale, and ABCD2 scale. Among them, the ABCD scale score is used most commonly, but as its application becomes more and more common, the defects of this scale are also increasingly apparent. In recent years, some derived scales of ABCD score were introduced in order to improve the sensitivity and specificity of prediction. This article reviews the evolution, contents, characteristics, and predictive value of the ABCD score and its derived scales in the prediction of the stroke risk in patients with TIA

Rigid vortices in MgB2

Magnetic relaxation of high-pressure synthesized MgB$_2$ bulks with different thickness is investigated. It is found that the superconducting dia-magnetic moment depends on time in a logarithmic way; the flux-creep activation energy decreases linearly with the current density (as expected by Kim-Anderson model); and the activation energy increases linearly with the thickness of sample when it is thinner than about 1 mm. These features suggest that the vortices in the MgB$_2$ are rather rigid, and the pinning and creep can be well described by Kim-Anderson model.Comment: Typo corrected & reference adde

2-Methyl-5-nitro­benzonitrile

In the title compound, C8H6N2O2, the nitro group is rotated by 10.2 (2)° out of the plane of the benzene ring. The crystal structure is stabilized by van der Waals inter­actions

Effects of Sintering Conditions on Microstructure Changes of Wood-Ceramics Impregnated with Low-Molecular-Weight Phenol-Formaldehyde Resin

The microstructure of a new type of wood-ceramics made from poplar fiber impregnated with low-molecular-weight phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin under atmospheric pressure was studied under changing sintering conditions. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the d002 value was reduced with increasing sintering temperature. The wood-ceramic structure also became more uniform and orderly, but still was nongraphitic carbon. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the pore structure partially retained the microstructural characteristics of wood fiber, and a graphitic phase was formed with increased sintering temperature and longer holding time. All analyses showed PF resin molecular weight had little impact on phase composition and graphitization. The apparent specific gravity of woodceramics increased as sintering temperature increased to 1200°C but decreased as temperature rose further. Specific surface area and apparent porosity were increased with higher sintering temperature, greater sintering rates, and longer holding times. In addition, specific surface area was also affected by the molecular weight of PF resin and the impregnation method, in which low-molecular-weight resin increased the specific surface area

Modifying Adhesive Materials to Improve the Longevity of Resinous Restorations

Dental caries is a common disease on a global scale. Resin composites are the most popular materials to restore caries by bonding to tooth tissues via adhesives. However, multiple factors, such as microleakage and recurrent caries, impair the durability of resinous restorations. Various innovative methods have been applied to develop adhesives with particular functions to tackle these problems, such as incorporating matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors, antibacterial or remineralizing agents into bonding systems, as well as improving the mechanical/chemical properties of adhesives, even combining these methods. This review will sum up the latest achievements in this field

The potential of mobile health applications to improve couples’ fertility: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the safety and effectiveness of mobile health applications in couples with infertility. Nineteen databases were searched from their inception to August 2022. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which mobile health was used as an intervention in infertile couples were included. A quantitative analysis of RCTs was employed using RevMan software. Study selection, data extraction and validation were performed by two independent reviewers according to the guidelines. The Cochrane criteria for risk-of-bias were used to evaluate the methodological quality of the trials. Eight RCTs met the inclusion criteria. Among the eight RCTs, two RCTs were from the Netherlands and the remaining six RCTs were from China. Meta-analysis showed that mobile health interventions in infertile couples in China were found to be superior to usual care in terms of clinical pregnancy rate (p = 0.001), psychological status (SAS (Self-Rating Anxiety Scale): p < 0.001; SDS (Self-Rating Depression Scale) p < 0.001;), infertility knowledge levels (p < 0.001), quality of life (p < 0.001), and serum levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine (p < 0.001). The effects on intervention groups using mobile health interventions in the Netherlands were not superior to the control groups that used usual care in terms of improving dietary factors (p > 0.05). In general, the positive effect of mobile health on improving clinical pregnancy rate, psychological status, infertility knowledge levels, quality of life and satisfaction with information was better than that of usual care. Mobile health interventions could be a viable supplement to the usual care for infertile couples. However, more high-quality RCTs need to be included in the future to provide additional evidence of the positive effects of mobile health in infertile couples