Effects of early lumbar cistern drainage of cerebrospinal fluid and combination of edaravone and nimodipine on vasospasm, intracranial pressure, inflammatory factors in traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage

Purpose: To investigate the effect of early lumbar cistern drainage (LCD) of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and combination of edaravone and nimodipine on vasospasm, intracranial pressure (ICP), serum inflammation, S100 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (tSAH). Methods: Treatment was administered to 136 patients divided into control group (n = 68) and study group (n = 68). Serum inflammation was determined by assessing the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) while nitric oxide (NO), endothelin-1 (ET-1), S100 and VEGF levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level was measured by immunoturbidimetry. Perfusion weighted imaging was performed and the mean transit time (MTT), cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral blood volume (CBV), mean flow velocity (Vm) and pulsatility index (PI) were recorded. Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score and Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) score were used to compare the differences in therapeutic effect. Results: Compared with values before treatment, Vm, PI, NO, CBF, CBV, GCS score and MoCA score were significantly increased (p < 0.05), while ICP, serum levels of TNF-α, IL-6, CRP, ET-1, S100 and VEGF and MTT significantly decreased (p < 0.05). Therapeutic response rate of the study group (89.71 %) was higher than that of control group (66.18%) (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Early LCD of CSF and combination of edaravone and nimodipine reduces the degree of cerebral vasospasm and contribute to brain function recovery in the treatment of patients with tSAH. This therapeutic strategy requires further clinical trials before application in clinical practice

Forward and Inverse D-Form Modelling based on Optimisation

D-Form is a special piece-wise developable surface formed by aligning the boundaries of two planar domains. It has been widely used in different design scenarios. In this paper, we study how to computationally and intuitively model D-Forms. We present an optimisation-based framework that can efficiently generate D-Form shapes. Our framework can model D-Forms with two approaches based on two different user inputs, including the forward modelling from two given planar domains and, more importantly, the inverse modelling from a given space curve where the planar domains are no longer needed. Our optimisation is devised based on two critical characteristics of D-Forms. Firstly, the constituent developable surfaces of a D-Form are isometrically deformed from planar domains. Secondly, there is a close relationship between a D-Form and the convex hull of its seam. Through extensive evaluation, we demonstrate that our approach can model plausible D-Forms efficiently from various inputs with different geometric properties.<br/

Ordered GeSi nanorings grown on patterned Si (001) substrates

An easy approach to fabricate ordered pattern using nanosphere lithography and reactive iron etching technology was demonstrated. Long-range ordered GeSi nanorings with 430 nm period were grown on patterned Si (001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The size and shape of rings were closely associated with the size of capped GeSi quantum dots and the Si capping processes. Statistical analysis on the lateral size distribution shows that the high growth temperature and the long-term annealing can improve the uniformity of nanorings

Salesperson human capital investment and heterogeneous export enterprises performance

This paper aims to study the impact of salesperson human capital investment on the export performance of heterogeneous enterprises in China. To distinguish the different effects on the staff level and the management level, we define the human capital investment for the overall salespersons as human capital investment I and the human capital investment for the sales managers as human capital investment II, respectively measured by the salary of the ordinary salespersons and the ratio of expenses to sales. We find that human capital investment I has a significant positive effect on export performance, while human capital investment II shows a “positive U-shaped” relationship with export performance. Considering the heterogeneity of enterprise, the positive effect of human capital investment I is more significant than that of human capital investment II in enterprises with high R&D intensity. Moreover, with the improvement of technology intensity, both the promotion of human capital investment I and human capital investment II would generate greater influence on export performance

Bis{2,4-dibromo-6-[(2-phenyl­eth­yl)imino­meth­yl]phenolato-κ2 N,O}cobalt(II)

In the title complex, [Co(C15H12Br2NO)2], the CoII atom is four-coordinated by two N,O-bidentate chelate Schiff base ligands, displaying a flattened tetra­hedral coordination environment. The CoII atom occupies a special position on a twofold rotation axis. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked via weak C—H⋯Br inter­actions