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Stroke is a leading cause of mortality and disability worldwide, with most survivors reporting dysfunctions of motor, sensation, deglutition, cognition, emotion, and speech, etc. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), one of noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques, is able to modulate neural excitability of brain regions and has been utilized in neurological and psychiatric diseases. Moreover, a large number of studies have shown that the rTMS presents positive effects on function recovery of stroke patients. In this review, we would like to summarized the clinical benefits of rTMS for stroke rehabilitation, including improvements of motor impairment, dysphagia, depression, cognitive function, and central post-stroke pain. In addition, this review will also discuss the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying rTMS-mediated stroke rehabilitation, especially immune regulatory mechanisms, such as regulation of immune cells and inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, the neuroimaging technique as an important tool in rTMS-mediated stroke rehabilitation has been discussed, to better understanding the mechanisms underlying the effects of rTMS. Finally, the current challenges and future prospects of rTMS-mediated stroke rehabilitation are also elucidated with the intention to accelerate its widespread clinical application.

Evans blue (EB) dye has owned a long history as a biological dye and diagnostic agent since its first staining application by Herbert McLean Evans in 1914. Due to its high water solubility and slow excretion, as well as its tight binding to serum albumin, EB has been widely used in biomedicine, including its use in estimating blood volume and vascular permeability, detecting lymph nodes, and localizing the tumor lesions. Recently, a series of EB derivatives have been labeled with PET isotopes and can be used as theranostics with a broad potential due to their improved half-life in the blood and reduced release. Some of EB derivatives have even been used in translational applications in clinics. In addition, a novel necrosis-avid feature of EB has recently been reported in some preclinical animal studies. Given all these interesting and important advances in EB study, a comprehensive revisiting of EB has been made in its biomedical applications in the review.

To ensure the safety of the commercially available chenpi, a convenient and fast analytical method was developed for the determination of 133 pesticide residues in chenpi using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). In this study, different extraction solvents, redissolution solvents and adsorbents were tested according to the recovery and purification effect to obtain a modified QuEChERS method. The samples were extracted with acetonitrile. During the clean-up step, octadecyl-modified silica (C18) and graphitized carbon black (GCB) were selected, and aminopropyl (NH2) was used instead of primary secondary amine (PSA) because of its weaker ion exchange capacity which had little effect on the recovery of ditalimfos. Samples were quantified by matrix-matched calibration with internal standards. All pesticides showed good linearity in the respective range, both with values of r2 > 0.99. The average recoveries of the pesticides spiked samples ranged from 70.0% to 112.2% with the RSDs of 0.2%–14.4%. The modified QuEChERS method was validated and applied to twenty real samples. Five pesticides were found in eight batches, but no pesticide exceeded the maximum residue limits (MRL, MRL reference to European commission).

In 2023, experts from the European and American regions proposed the concepts of steatotic liver disease (SLD) and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). MASLD was proposed as a replacement for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We compared the long-term outcomes of patients with MASLD, NAFLD, and various subtypes of SLD. We conducted a retrospective study using the NHANESIII database. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality among patients with subtypes of SLD, MASLD, and NAFLD. During a follow-up period of 31 years (median 25 years), the adjusted risks of all-cause death for patients with MASLD was 1.19 (95% CI 1.06-1.34; P = 0.006) vs. the non-SLD group. There was a moderate level of consistency between MASLD and NAFLD (Cohen's kappa coefficient of 0.62545). Advanced fibrosis was the most serious risk factor for all-cause mortality in MASLD, and high C-reactive protein concentration was the most serious risk factor for all-cause mortality in NAFLD, followed by type 2 diabetes. MASLD is associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality, and this association is independent of patients' demographic or metabolic characteristics, despite a relatively small hazard ratio. Our research findings further support that MASLD is a pathological disease related to liver disease itself. Therefore, redefining NAFLD as MASLD may help improve our understanding of predictive factors that increase the risk of death.

Background Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a complex, irreversible disease caused by the interaction of genetic and environmental factors. In recent years, a great many studies have been done to explore the NIHL susceptibility genes among humans. So far, high powerful detections have been founded that genes of potassium ion channel genes ( KCNQ4 and KCNE1 ), catalase ( CAT ), protocadherin 15 ( PCDH15 ), myosin 14 ( MYH14 ) and heart shock protein ( HSP70 ) which have been identified in more than one population may be associated with the susceptibility to NIHL. As for metabolic glutamate receptor7 gene ( GRM7 ), a lot of researches mainly focus on age-related hearing loss (ARHL) and the results have shown that the polymorphisms of GRM7 are linked to the development of ARHL. However, little is known about the association of GRM7 and the susceptibility to NIHL. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the effect of GRM7 polymorphisms on the susceptibility to NIHL. Methods A nested case-control study based on the cohort in a Chinese steel factory was implemented in 292 cases and 584 controls matched with the same sex, the age difference ≤ 5 years old, the same type of work, duration of occupational noise exposure ≤2 years. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of GRM7 were gained through selecting and genotyping SNPs. Conditional logistic regression analysis was used to assess the main effect of GRM7 polymorphisms on the susceptibility to NIHL and the gene-by-environment interaction. Furthermore, the gene-by-gene interactions were analyzed by generalized multiple dimensionality reduction (GMDR). Results This research discovered for the first time that the mutant allele C in rs1485175 of the GMR7 may decrease individuals’ susceptibility to NIHL. The interaction between rs1485175 and cumulative noise exposure (CNE) at high level was found after the stratification according to CNE ( p / p bon  = 0.014/0.007, OR = 0.550, 95% CI: 0.340–0.891). Permutation test of GMDR suggested that rs1920109, rs1485175 and rs9826579 in GRM7 might interact with each other in the process of developing NIHL ( p  = 0.037). Conclusions The results suggest that the mutant allele C of rs1485175 in GRM7 may reduce the susceptibility to NIHL in Chinese Han population.

This paper explores, through comprehensive perspectives, the challenges of the current design education system in China under the contemporary context. The influences that have transformed design in China from both historical and contemporary context are described mainly from literature. Interview data from professors from various design institutions and senior designers in companies in China were analysed to provide differing perspectives. The research findings show the inter-relationship between the various cultural and historical influences on Chinese design education. The authors conclude on how education might benefit from concentrating on this inter-relationship.

The increasing renewable energy resources bring more uncertainties to the generation, and put a higher requirement for operation flexibility in power systems. Traditionally, the operation flexibility is majorly provided by thermal or gas-turbine power stations, which are being phased out. As an alternative, active control of demand-side resources has emerged to provide flexibility services to power grids (termed as grid service) by curtailing or transferring power consumption. The district cooling system (DCS), as a large-scale demand-side resource, is an ideal resource for grid services, because it can shift its power consumption flexibly while assuring user temperature comfort by utilizing the building’s inherent thermal inertia. However, the real-time DCS control for grid services faces a fundamental problem: the DCS must provide both high-quality services for power grids and satisfactory cooling services for users. Although many control methods have been proposed for demand-side resources, they face two significant challenges in our problems: 1) uncertainties from the grid’s regulation signals and users’ cooling demands, and 2) complex system dynamics in DCSs, which make the model-based control methods ineffective, and the model-free control methods hard to ensure operation constraint safety.This thesis first proposes a DCS equivalent model to demonstrate the feasibility of DCS to provide grid services, which can be controlled in the same paradigm as a traditional generator. Meanwhile, to address the limitation of traditional control mode in DCS, we propose a novel bidirectional-driven scheme by introducing a supply-side control framework. Then, on this basis, three model-free safe reinforcement learning (RL) techniques are developed to cope with different scenario requirements for various power grid services, such as primary/secondary frequency regulations and operating reserves. Specifically, to work without the accurate system model and the distribution of uncertainties, the DCS control problem is formulated as a Markov decision process (MDP). Three proposed safe RL techniques can handle the following scenarios correspondingly:1) When DCS provides operating reserves with explicit local constraint models, a safe layer is designed based on a linear program to achieve safety-imposing projection, which can effectively project the unsafe actions into safe ones to guide the RL agent learning and guarantee the satisfaction of critical constraints.2) When DCS provides regulation services, the explicit model assumption is too strong to be implemented in practice because of real-time fluctuated regulation signals. To cope with the partially expressed model, this thesis proposes a universal design of the safe layer introducing control barrier functions. Besides, a novel algorithm architecture is proposed to avoid repeatedly taking unsafe actions, effectively improving training efficiency.3) When DCS provides tie-line power smoothing, the constraint formulation involves the power network dynamic and real-time stochastic renewable generation, which makes the model hard to express. Instead of a model-based safe layer, this thesis proposes a model-free policy optimization technique for safe RL control, where MDP is extended to a constrained Markov decision process. The key idea is to adopt the CVaR value to replace the traditional expectation, guaranteeing the constraint violation risk below a designed risk level.Finally, the proposed safe RL techniques are validated based on different test systems, demonstrating their safety, feasibility, and economical efficiency. Thus, these methods can provide effective safe DCS control for power grid services without system model information, contributing to the development of sustainable and reliable power systems.

This study investigated the application of rapid rehabilitation nursing in postoperative patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and its effect on quality of life (QOL). A prospective analysis was performed on 154 patients with CRC, after radical resection in The Central Hospital of Wuhan from February 2011 to April 2015. During the perioperative period, 96 patients (study group) received fast-track surgery (FTS) and 58 patients (control group) received routine surgery. The postoperative data of patients in the two groups were analyzed in terms of the first anus exhaustion time, the first time getting out of bed, first time eating liquid food, first defecation time, the time of drainage tube removal, time of gastric tube removal, time of suture removal, hospital stay and surgical expenses. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used to assess postoperative pain. The re-hospitalization rate, the incidence of complications 30 days after operation, the survival and QOL scores were analyzed. After discharge patients were followed up for 3 years to observe the 3-year overall survival (OS). VAS scores were lower in the study group than that in the control group at 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h after operation (P<0.05). The re-hospitalization rate and incidence of complications 30 days after operation were lower in the study group than those in the control group (P<0.05). Before nursing, there was no statistically significant difference in QOL score between the two groups (P>0.05), whereas after 3 and 12 months of nursing, QOL score was significantly higher in the study group than that in the control group (P<0.05). QOL score in the two groups increased with time, and there were differences between the two groups at each time-point (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the 3-year OS between the two groups (P>0.05). In conclusion, effectively improving patients' psychological state, reducing complications and relieving pain, the FTS during the perioperative period of CRC surgery promotes postoperative rehabilitation, reduces economic pressures and improves QOL.

The effect of 7K extreme low temperature storage on the electrical and mechanical properties of Sn–3.0%Ag–0.5%Cu(SAC305)/SnPb/electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) pads mixed solder joints was investigated. The resistance of the daisy chained solder joints was measured after RT and 7K storage, respectively. Ball shear test was conducted, and the morphography of the fracture surfaces was analyzed. Microstructure observations revealed that the composition of the intermetallic compound (IMC) layer next to the printed circuit boards (PCB) pads remained a combination of (Cu, Ni) 6 Sn 5 and (Ni, Cu) 3 Sn 4 after 7K storage. A very small amount of residual Pb rich phase owing to the degolding and plating process, even 1 wt%, could inhibit the evolution of IMCs as well as tin pest. This study could provide theoretical support for the application of SAC305/SnPb mixed solder joints under extreme low temperature, such as thermally uncontrolled electronics for deep space exploration.

Interaction between ouabain (OUA) and Na + /K + -pump remains in the current focus of hypertension research. This study aimed to find an oligopeptide that would antagonize the inhibitory effect of endogenous OUA on Na + /K + -pump and examine its activity at the cellular and organism levels. To this end, Phage Random 12 Peptide Library was employed to screen for specific polypeptide ligands that interact with M3-M4 extracellular domain of Na + /K + -pump α1 subunit known as OUA-binding site. Synthetic sequence ILEYTWLEAGGGS of extracellular domain M3-M4 of Na + /K + -pump α1 subunit was used as the target. The phage positive clones were screened and identified using the phage library and double sandwich ELISA. DNA was extracted and sequenced to synthesize 3 peptide ligands to Na + /K + -pump: P-A, P-B, and P-C. We also studied the effects of the short peptide with the highest potency for countering OUA on proliferation and apoptosis of EA.hy926 vascular endothelial cells and on systolic BP in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). The effect of peptide P-A on proliferation (stimulation with physiological concentrations of OUA) and on apoptosis (stimulation with OUA in high concentrations) of EA.hy926 vascular endothelial cells was assessed by the MTT test and flow cytometry, respectively. In SHR rats, intravenous injection of P-A decreased systolic BP. Oligopeptide P-A competitively antagonized the inhibitory action of OUA on Na + /K + -pump, OUA-induced proliferation, and OUA-provoked apoptosis of cultured EA.hy926 cells. Our findings open vista for the emergence of novel hypertensive drugs.