Optimization of nursing interventions for postoperative mental status recovery in patients with cerebral hemorrhage

BACKGROUND Hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage(HCH),the most common chronic diseases,has become a topic of global public health discussions.AIM To investigate the role of rehabilitative nursing interventions in optimizing the postoperative mental status recovery phase and to provide clinical value for future rehabilitation of patients with HCH.METHODS This randomized controlled study included 120 patients with cerebral HCH who were contained to our neurosurgery department between May 2021–May 2023 as the participants.The participants have randomly sampled and grouped into the observation and control groups.The observation group received the rehabilitation nursing model,whereas the control group have given conventional nursing.The conscious state of the patients was assessed at 7,14,21,and 30 d postoperatively.After one month of care,sleep quality,anxiety,and depression were compared between the two groups.Patient and family satisfaction were assessed using a nursing care model.RESULTS The results showed that the state of consciousness scores of the patients in both groups significantly increased(P<0.05)after surgical treatment.From the 14th day onwards,differences in the state of consciousness scores between the two groups of patients began to appear(P<0.05).After one month of care,the sleep quality,anxiety state,and depression state of patients were significantly better in the observation group than in the control group(P<0.05).Satisfaction with nursing care was higher in the observation group than in the control group(P<0.05).CONCLUSION The rehabilitation nursing model has a more complete system compared to conventional nursing,which can effectively improve the postoperative quality of life of patients with cerebral hemorrhage and improve the efficiency of mental state recovery;however,further analysis and research are needed to provide more scientific evidence.

Effect of endogenous insulin-like growth factor and stem cell factor on diabetic colonic dysmotility

AIM: To investigate whether the reduction of stem cell factor (SCF) is mediated by decreased endogenous insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 in diabetic rat colon smooth muscle. METHODS: Sixteen Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into two groups: control group and streptozotocin-induced diabetic group. After 8 wk of streptozotocin administration, colonic motility function and contractility of circular muscle strips were measured. The expression of endogenous IGF-1 and SCF was tested in colonic tissues. Colonic smooth muscle cells were cultured from normal adult rats. IGF-1 siRNA transfection was used to investigate whether SCF expression was affected by endogenous IGF-1 expression in smooth muscle cells, and IGF-1 induced SCF expression effects were studied. The effect of high glucose on the expression of endogenous IGF-1 and SCF was also investigated. RESULTS: Diabetic rats showed prolonged colonic transit time (252 ± 16 min vs 168 ± 9 min, P < 0.01) and weakness of circular muscle contraction (0.81 ± 0.09 g vs 2.48 ± 0.23 g, P < 0.01) compared with the control group. Endogenous IGF-1 and SCF protein expression was significantly reduced in the diabetic colonic muscle tissues. IGF-1 and SCF mRNA expression also showed a paralleled reduction in diabetic rats. In the IGF-1 siRNA transfected smooth muscle cells, SCF mRNA and protein expression was significantly decreased. IGF-1 could induce SCF expression in a concentration and time-dependent manner, mainly through the extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 1/2 signal pathway. High glucose inhibited endogenous IGF-1 and SCF expression and the addition of IGF-1 to the medium reversed the SCF expression. CONCLUSION: Myopathy may resolve in colonic motility dysfunction in diabetic rats. Deficiency of endogenous IGF-1 in colonic smooth muscle cells leads to reduction of SCF expression.

Age-related symptom and life quality changes in women with irritable bowel syndrome

AIM:To explore age-related changes in symptoms and quality of life(QoL) of women with irritable bowel syndrome(IBS).METHODS:Two-hundred and fifty-four female adult outpatients with IBS attending the Department of Gastroenterology at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University between January,2008 and October,2008 were approached.Patients with a history of abdominal surgery,mental illness or those who had recently taken psychotropic drugs were excluded.A physician obtained demographic and abdominal symptom data.All patients were asked to complete the Zung Self-Rated Anxiety and Depression Scale(SDS/SAS) and the IBS-specific QoL questionnaire.The patients were divided into six groups according to age,in 10-year increments:18-27 years,28-37 years,38-47 years,48-57 years,58-67 years and 68-75 years(maximum 75 years).Age-related differences of abdominal pain or discomfort were analyzed using ranksum tests.Differences in SDS/SAS and IBS-QoL scores between age groups were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance.Pearson's correlations evaluated potential associations between IBS symptoms,psychological factors and QoL in each age group.RESULTS:There were no differences in the distribution of IBS subtypes between age groups(χ2 = 20.516,P = 0.153).Differences in the severity of abdominal pain/discomfort with age were statistically significant(χ2 = 25.638,P < 0.001);patients aged 48-57 years,58-67 years or 68-75 years had milder abdominal pain/discomfort than those in the younger age groups.The severity of anxiety or depressive symptoms did not differ between age groups(SDS,χ2 = 390.845,P = 0.110;SAS,χ 2 = 360.071,P = 0.220).Differences of IBSQoL scores were statistically significant between age groups(χ2 = 1098.458,P = 0.011).The scores of patients in the 48-57-year group were lower than those in the 18-27-year and 28-37-year groups(48-57-year group vs 18-27-year group,74.88 ± 8.76 vs 79.76 ± 8.63,P = 0.021;48-57-year group vs 28-37-year group,74.88 ± 8.76 vs 79.04 ± 8.32,P = 0.014).The scores in the 68-75-year group were lower than those in the 18-27-year,28-37-year and 38-47-year groups(68-75-year group vs 18-27-year group,71.98 ± 9.83 vs 79.76 ± 8.63,P = 0.003;68-75-year group vs 28-37-year group,71.98 ± 9.83 vs 79.04 ± 8.32,P = 0.002;68-75-year group vs 38-47-year group,71.98 ± 9.83 vs 76.44 ± 8.15,P = 0.039).Anxiety and depression were negatively correlated with QoL in all age groups(SDS and QoL:18-27-year group,r =-0.562,P = 0.005;28-37-year group,r =-0.540,P < 0.001;38-47-year group,r =-0.775,P < 0.001;48-57-year group,r =-0.445,P = 0.001;58-67-year group,r =-0.692,P < 0.001;68-75-year group,r =-0.732,P < 0.001.SAS and QoL:18-27-year group,r =-0.600,P = 0.002;28-37-year group,r =-0.511,P < 0.001;38-47-year group,r =-0.675,P < 0.001;48-57-year group,r =-0.558,58-67-year group,P = 0.001;r =-0.588,P < 0.001;68-75-year group,r =-0.811,P < 0.001).A negative correlation between abdominal pain severity and QoL was found in patients aged more than 58 years(58-67-year group,r =-0.366,P = 0.017;68-75-year group,r =-0.448,P = 0.048),but not in younger patients(18-27-year group,r = 0.080,P = 0.716;28-37-year group,r =-0.063,P = 0.679;38-47-year group,r =-0.029,P = 0.812;48-57-year group,r =-0.022,P = 0.876).CONCLUSION:Factors affecting QoL should always be treated in IBS,especially emotional problems in young adults.Even mild abdominal pain should be controlled in elderly patients.

Clinical efficacy of integral theory–guided laparoscopic integral pelvic floor/ligament repair in the treatment of internal rectal prolapse in females

BACKGROUND Internal rectal prolapse(IRP)is one of the most common causes of obstructive constipation.The incidence of IRP in women is approximately three times that in men.IRP is mainly treated by surgery,which can be divided into two categories:Abdominal procedures and perineal procedures.This study offers a better procedure for the treatment of IRP.AIM To compare the clinical efficacy of laparoscopic integral pelvic floor/ligament repair(IPFLR)combined with a procedure for prolapse and hemorrhoids(PPH)and the laparoscopic IPFLR alone in the treatment of IRP in women.METHODS This study collected the clinical data of 130 female patients with IRP who underwent surgery from January 2012 to October 2014.The patients were divided into groups A and B.Group A had 63 patients who underwent laparoscopic IPFLR alone,and group B had 67 patients who underwent the laparoscopic IPFLR combined with PPH.The degree of internal rectal prolapse(DIRP),Wexner constipation scale(WCS)score,Wexner incontinence scale(WIS)score,and Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index(GIQLI)score were compared between groups and within groups before surgery and 6 mo and 2 years after surgery.RESULTS All laparoscopic surgeries were successful.The general information,number of bowel movements before surgery,DIRP,GIQLI score,WIS score,and WCS score before surgery were not significantly different between the two groups(all P>0.05).The WCS score,WIS score,GIQLI score,and DIRP in each group 6 mo,and 2 years after surgery were significantly better than before surgery(P<0.001).In group A,the DIRP and WCS score gradually improved from 6 mo to 2 years after surgery(P<0.001),and the GIQLI score progressively improved from 6 mo to 2 years after surgery(P<0.05).In group B,the DIRP,WCS score and WIS score significantly improved from 6 mo to 2 years after surgery(P<0.05),and the GIQLI score 2 years after surgery was significantly higher than that 6 mo after surgery(P<0.05).The WCS score,WIS score,GIQLI score,and DIRP of group B were significantly better than those of group A 6 mo and 2 years after surgery(all P<0.001,Bonferroni)except DIRP at 2 years after surgery.There was a significant difference in the recurrence rate of IRP between the two groups 6 mo after surgery(P=0.011).There was no significant difference in postoperative grade I-III complications between the two groups(P=0.822).CONCLUSION Integral theory–guided laparoscopic IPFLR combined with PPH has a higher cure rate and a better clinical efficacy than laparoscopic IPFLR alone.

Breeding and preliminarily phenotyping of a congenic mouse model with alopecia areata

In the current study, the alopecia areata gene was introduced into the C57BL/6 （B6） mouse through repeated backcrossing/intercrossing, and the allelic homozygosity of congenic AAtJmice （named B6.KM-AA） was verified using microsatellites. The gross appearance, growth characteristics, pathological changes in skin, and major organs of B6.KM-AA mice were observed. Counts and proportions of CD4＋ and CD8＋ T lymphocytes in peripheral blood were determined by flow cytometry. Results show that congenic B6.KM-AA mice were obtained after 10 generations of backcrossing/intercrossing. B6.KM-AA mice grew slower than B6 control mice and AA skin lesions were developed by four weeks of age. The number of hair follicles was reduced, but hair structures were normal. Loss of hair during disease progression was associated with CD4＋ and CD8＋ T lymphocytes infiltration peri- and intrahair follicles. No pathological changes were found in other organs except for the skin. In the peripheral blood of B6.KM-AA mice, the percentage of CD4＋ T cells was lower and percentage of CD8＋ T cells higher than in control mice. These findings indicate that B6.KM-AA mice are characterized by a dysfunctional immune system, retarded development and T-cell infiltration mediated hair loss, making them a promising new animal model for human alopecia areata.

Study on the combined value of multi-slice spiral CT in the diagnosis of elderly colorectal cancer colorectal cancer tumor markers

Objective:To investigate the value of tumor markers in colorectal cancer with multi-slice spiral CT in the diagnosis of elderly colorectal cancer.Methods:From January 2016 to September 2017 year period, 73 elderly patients with colorectal cancer treated in our hospital were selected as observation group;64 elderly patients with intestinal benign lesions were selected as control group during the same period. Serum samples were collected to detect contents of CEA, CA72-4, CA19-9 and CYFRA21-1 by Roche luminous immunoassay analyzer, and multi slice spiral CT was used.Results:Serum levels of CEA, CA72-4, CA19-9 and CYFRA21-1 levels of the observation group were significantly higher than that of the control group;the positive rate of CEA, CA72-4, CA19-9, CYFRA21-1 and their combined detection were all significantly higher than that of the control group;positive rate of MSCT in the observation group was higher than the control group;positive rates of tumor markers combining with MSCT examination of colorectal cancer were higher than that of combined detection of tumor markers and MSCT examination;but there was no significant difference in positive rate of combined detection of tumor markers and the positive rate of MSCT detection of colorectal cancer.Conclusion:Colorectal cancer tumor markers combined with multi-slice spiral CT in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer in elderly has important research value, can significantly improve the positive rate of diagnosis.

Evolution of the ErbB gene family and analysis of regulators of Egfr expression during development of the rat spinal cord

Egfr,a member of the ErbB gene family,plays a critical role in tissue development and homeostasis,wound healing,and disease.However,expression and regulators of Egfr during spinal cord development remain poorly understood.In this study,we investigated ErbB evolution and analyzed co-expression modules,miRNAs,and transcription factors that may regulate Egfr expression in rats.We found that ErbB family members formed via Egfr duplication in the ancient ve rtebrates but dive rged after speciation of gnathostomes.We identified a module that was co-expressed with Egfr,which involved cell proliferation and blood vessel development.We predicted 25 miRNAs and nine transcription factors that may regulate Egfr expression.Dual-luciferase reporter assays showed six out of nine transcription factors significantly affected Egfr promoter reporter activity.Two of these transcription factors(KLF1 and STAT3)inhibited the Egfr promoter repo rter,whereas four transcription factors(including FOXA2)activated the Egfr promoter reporter.Real-time PCR and immunofluorescence expe riments showed high expression of FOXA2 during the embryonic period and FOXA2 was expressed in the floor plate of the spinal cord,suggesting the importance of FOXA2 during embryonic spinal cord development.Considering the importance of Egfr in embryonic spinal cord development,wound healing,and disease(specifically in cancer),regulatory elements identified in this study may provide candidate targets for nerve regeneration and disease treatment in the future.

Benchmarking the simplest slave-particle theory with Hubbard dimer

Slave-particle method is a powerful tool to tackle the correlation effect in quantum many-body physics. Although it has been successfully used to comprehend various intriguing problems, such as Mott metal-insulator transition and Kondo effect, there is still no convincing theory so far on the availability and limitation of this method. The abuse of slave-particle method may lead to wrong physics. As the simplest slave-particle method, Z2 slave spin, which is widely applied to many strongly correlated problems, is highly accessible and researchable. In this work, we will uncover the nature of the Z2 slave-spin method by studying a two-site Hubbard model. After exploring aspects of properties of this toy model, we make a comparative analysis of the results obtained by three methods:(i) slave-spin method on mean-field level,(ii) slave-spin method with gauge constraint, and(iii) the exact solution as a benchmark. We find that, protected by the particle-hole symmetry, the slave-spin mean-field method can recover the static properties of ground state exactly at half filling. Furthermore, in the parameter space where both U and T are small enough, the slave-spin mean-field method is also reliable in calculating the dynamic and thermal dynamic properties. However, when U or T is considerably large, the mean-field approximation gives ill-defined behaviors, which result from the unphysical states in the enlarged Hilbert space.These findings lead to our conclusion that the accuracy of slave particle can be guaranteed if we can exclude all unphysical states by enforcing gauge constraints. Our work demonstrates the promising prospect of slave-particle method in studying complex strongly correlated models with specific symmetry or in certain parameter space.

In situ fabrication and properties of Al N dispersion strengthened 2024 aluminum alloy

Nanoscaled aluminum nitride （AlN） dispersion strengthened 2024 aluminum alloy was fabricated using a novel approach in which Al-Mg-Cu compacts were partially nitrided in flowing nitrogen gas. The compacts were subsequently consolidated by sintering and hot extrusion. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the material were preliminarily investigated. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction results revealed that AlN particles were generated by the nitridation of Al-Mg-Cu compacts. The material exhibited excellent mechanical properties after hot extrusion and heat treatment. The ultimate tensile and yield strengths of the extruded samples containing 8.92vol% AlN with the T6 heat treatment were 675 and 573 MPa, respectively.

Hidden Anderson localization in disorder-free Ising–Kondo lattice

Anderson localization (AL) phenomena usually exist in systems with random potential. However, disorder-free quantum many-body systems with local conservation can also exhibit AL or even many-body localization transition. We show that the AL phase exists in a modified Kondo lattice without external random potential. The density of state, inverse participation ratio and temperature-dependent resistance are computed by classical Monte Carlo simulation, which uncovers an AL phase from the previously studied Fermi liquid and Mott insulator regimes. The occurrence of AL roots from quenched disorder formed by conservative localized moments. Interestingly, a many-body wavefunction is found, which captures elements in all three paramagnetic phases and is used to compute their quantum entanglement. In light of these findings, we expect that the disorder-free AL phenomena can exist in generic translation-invariant quantum many-body systems.

Titanium nitride nanorod array/carbon cloth as flexible integrated host for highly stable lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur(Li-S)batteries have been regarded as promising energy-storage systems,due to their high theoretical capacity and energy density.However,the carbonaceous sulfur hosts suffer from weak binding force between the hosts and polysulfides,restricting the cyclic stability of sulfur electrode.Meantime,the presence of binder and conductive agent in the traditional electrode reduces its energy density.This study demonstrates that titanium nitride(TiN)nanorod array on carbon cloth(CC)is employed as a flexible host for highly stable Li-S batteries via solvothermal synthesis-nitridation strategy.On the one hand,the flexible integrated network composed of three-dimensional TiN nanorod array and CC significantly improves the conductivity,increases the electron transport and electrolyte penetration of cathode.On the other hand,the 3D structure of TiN/CC and the enhanced polarity of TiN effectively strengthen the physical and chemical double adsorption for polysulfides.As a result,the combination of TiN nanorod array and CC synergistic ally promotes sulfur utilization and electrochemical performances of S@TiN/CC cathode.A discharge capacity of1015.2 mAh·g^(-1)at 0.5C after 250 cycles and 604.1mAh·g^(-1)at 3C after 250 cycles is realized.Under a larger current density of 5C,the resulting S@TiN/CC cathode maintains a high discharge capacity of 666.6 mAh·g^(-1)and the Coulombic efficiency of about 100%.

Design of a multi-inlet solar thermochemical reactor for steam methane reforming with improved performance

Reactor structure design plays an important role in the performance of solar-thermal methane reforming reactors.Based on a conventional preheating reactor,this study proposed a cylindrical solar methane reforming reactor with multiple inlets to vary the temperature field distribution,which improved the temperature of the reaction region in the reactor,thereby improving the reactor performance.A multi-physical model that considers mass,momentum,species,energy conservation,as well as thermochemical reaction kinetics of methane reforming,was applied to numerically investigate the reactor performance and analyze the factors that affect performance improvement.It was found that compared with a conventional preheating reactor,the proposed cylindrical reac-tor with inner and external inlets for gas feeding enhanced heat recovery from the exhausted gas and provided a more suitable temperature field for the reaction in the reactor.Under different operating conditions,the methane conversion in the cylindrical reactor with multi-inlet increased by 9.5%to 19.1%,and the hydrogen production was enhanced by 12.1%to 40.3%in comparison with the conventional design,even though the total reaction catalyst volume was reduced.

Schiff-base-rich g-C_(x)N_(4) supported PdAg nanowires as an efficient Mott-Schottky catalyst boosting photocatalytic dehydrogenation of formic acid

Developing an efficient photocatalyst,catalyzing formic acid(FA) dehydrogenation,can satisfy the demand of the H_(2) energy.Herein,a graphitic carbon nitride(gC_(x)N_(4))-based nanosheet(x=3.2,3.6 or 3.8) with melem rings conjugated by Schiff-base bond(N=C-C=N) was synthesized,tuning the bandgaps(Eg) of graphitic carbon nitride(g-C_(3) N_(4)) in the range of 1.8 400 nm) without any additive at 25℃,which is the best value among ever-reported ones.This work provides a new strategy to boost dehydrogenation photocatalysis of FA,which will be promising for practical application of H2 in future energy field.

Fabrication and mechanical properties of high-performance aluminum alloy

High-performance Al-Cu-Mg alloy was fabri- cated by high-energy ball milling, sintering, and hot extrusion. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the material were preliminarily investigated. Results show that the formation of liquid phase during sintering pro- motes the densification of the aluminum powders. A 97.1% theoretical density is achieved in this alloy after sintering. The material shows excellent mechanical prop- erties after extrusion and heat treatment. The ultimate tensile strength and yield strength of the extruded samples with heat treatment are 613 and 465 MPa, respectively.

Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of in situ TiB_2/Al composites under high-intensity ultrasound

Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of in situ TiB2/A1 composites fabricated with exothermic reaction process under high-intensity ultra- sound produced by the magnetostrictive transducer were investigated. In this method, the microstructure and grain refining performance of the TiB2/A1 composites were characterized by optical morphology （OM）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, energy-dispersive spec- trometer （EDS）, and X-ray diffraction （XRD） analysis. Microstructural observations show a decreasing trend in the grain size of the composites due to the ultrasound and the content of TiB2 particles in the composites. Compared with the process without ultrasound, the morphology and ag- glomeration of TiB2 particles are improved by high-in- tensity ultrasound. Meanwhile, it is proposed that the formation of TiBz particles occurs via the transformation from TiA13, and at the optimal amount of the reactants, the conversion efficiency of TiA13 into TiB2 almost reaches up to 100 %. Finally, the effects of high-intensity ultrasound and TiB2 particles on the mechanical properties of the TiB2/A1 composites were also discussed.

Magnetic properties and microstructure of nanocomposite(Nd,Pr)–Fe–B ribbons by doping Nb element

Effects of Nb addition and annealing treatmen on magnetic properties and microstructure of（Nd0.4Pr0.6）9Fe76–xNbxB15（x = 0–4） ribbons were systematically investigated by means of vibrating sample magnetometer（VSM） and X-ray diffraction（XRD）. The extra phases with nonmagnetic（Nd,Pr）1.1Fe4B4phase and metastable compound（Nd,Pr）2Fe23B3 crystallized during quenching the Nb-free alloy. Moreover, the nonmagnetic（Nd,Pr）1.1Fe4B4phase does not diminish during the following annealing treatment. The addition of Nb to（Nd,Pr）–Fe–B alloy suppresses metastable（Nd,Pr）2Fe23B3 and nonmagnetic（Nd,Pr）1.1Fe4B4phases. The intrinsic coercivity increases from 397 kA m-1for the Nb-free sample to1,091 kA m-1for the 4 at% Nb-doped sample optimally annealed. The Nb-free sample has the magnetic properties with Js= 1.04 T, Jr= 0.66 T, and（BH）max= 43.5 kJ m-3By comparison, the magnetic properties of the 4 at% Nbdoped sample were 0.97 T, 0.68 T, and 65.7 kJ m-3respectively. The significant improvement of magnetic properties mainly originates from the finer grains of the ribbons by introducing Nb.