Clinical efficacy and mechanism study of mid-frequency anti-snoring device in treating moderate obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome

BACKGROUND Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome(OSAHS)is primarily caused by airway obstruction due to narrowing and blockage in the nasal and nasopha-ryngeal,oropharyngeal,soft palate,and tongue base areas.The mid-frequency anti-snoring device is a new technology based on sublingual nerve stimulation.Its principle is to improve the degree of oropharyngeal airway stenosis in OSAHS patients under mid-frequency wave stimulation.Nevertheless,there is a lack of clinical application and imaging evidence.METHODS We selected 50 patients diagnosed with moderate OSAHS in our hospital between July 2022 and August 2023.They underwent a 4-wk treatment regimen involving the mid-frequency anti-snoring device during nighttime sleep.Following the treatment,we monitored and assessed the sleep apnea quality of life index and Epworth Sleepiness Scale scores.Additionally,we performed computed tomo-graphy scans of the oropharynx in the awake state,during snoring,and while using the mid-frequency anti-snoring device.Cross-sectional area measurements in different states were taken at the narrowest airway point in the soft palate posterior and retrolingual areas.RESULTS Compared to pretreatment measurements,patients exhibited a significant reduction in the apnea-hypopnea index,the percentage of time with oxygen saturation below 90%,snoring frequency,and the duration of the most prolonged apnea event.The lowest oxygen saturation showed a notable increase,and both sleep apnea quality of life index and Epworth Sleepiness Scale scores improved.Oropharyngeal computed tomography scans revealed that in OSAHS patients cross-sectional areas of the oropharyngeal airway in the soft palate posterior area and retrolingual area decreased during snoring compared to the awake state.Conversely,during mid-frequency anti-snoring device treatment,these areas increased compared to snoring.CONCLUSION The mid-frequency anti-snoring device demonstrates the potential to enhance various sleep parameters in patients with moderate OSAHS,thereby improving their quality of life and reducing daytime sleepiness.These therapeutic effects are attributed to the device’s ability to ameliorate the narrowing of the oropharynx in OSAHS patients.

A PREDICTION TECHNIQUE FOR DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF FLAT PLATES IN MID-FREQUENCY RANGE

The wave-based method （WBM） has been applied for the prediction of mid-frequency vibrations of fiat plates. The scaling factors, Gauss point selection rule and truncation rule are introduced to insure the wave model to converge. Numerical results show that the prediction tech- nique based on WBM is with higher accuracy and smaller computational effort than the one on FEM, which implies that this new technique on WBM can be applied to higher-frequency range.

A review of mid-frequency vibro-acoustic modelling for highspeed train extruded aluminium panels as well as the most recent developments in hybrid modelling techniques

The present paper reviews the vibro-acoustic modelling of extruded aluminium train floor structures including the state-of-the-art of its industrial applications, as well as the most recent developments on mid-frequency mod- elling techniques in general. With the common purpose to predict mid-frequency vibro-acoustic responses of stiffened panel structures to an acceptable accuracy at a reasonable computational cost, relevant techniques are mainly based on one of the following three types of mid-frequency vibro- acoustic modelling principles： （1） enhanced deterministic methods, （2） enhanced statistical methods, and （3） hybrid deterministic/statistical methods. It is shown that, although recent developments have led to a significant step forward in industrial applicability, mature and adequate prediction tech- niques, however, are still very much required for solving sound transmission through, and radiation from, extruded aluminium panels used on high-speed trains. Due to their great potentials for predicting mid-frequency vibro-acoustics of stiffened panel structures, two of recently developed mid-frequency modelling approaches, i.e. the so-called hybrid finite element-statistical energy analysis （FE-SEA） and hybrid wave-based method- statistical energy analysis （WBM-SEA）, are then recapitulated.

Effect of mid-frequency pulse therapy combined with external fixation on bone metabolism, inflammatory response and oxidative stress in patients with osteoporotic distal radial fractures

Objective:To study the effect of mid-frequency pulse therapy combined with external fixation on bone metabolism, inflammatory response and oxidative stress in patients with osteoporotic distal radial fractures.Methods: A total of 72 patients with osteoporotic distal radial fractures who were treated in the hospital between September 2015 and January 2017 were collected and divided into control group (n=36) and observation group (n=36) according to the random number table method. Control group received routine external fixation, and observation group received mid-frequency pulse therapy combined with external fixation. The differences in serum levels of bone metabolism indexes, inflammatory factors and oxidative stress indexes were compared between two groups of patients before and after treatment.Results: Before treatment, differences in serum levels of bone metabolism indexes, inflammatory factors and oxidative stress indexes were not statistically significant between the two groups. After 1 month of treatment, serum BGP, TAC and SOD levels of both groups of patients were higher than those before treatment whileβ-CTX, AKP, TRAP, CRP, IL-1β, IL-6 and MDA levels were lower than those before treatment, and serum BGP, TAC and SOD levels of observation group were higher than those of control group whileβ-CTX, AKP, TRAP, CRP, IL-1β, IL-6 and MDA levels were lower than those of control group.Conclusion: Mid-frequency pulse therapy combined with external fixation can promote fracture healing and reduce postoperative inflammatory response and oxidative stress response in patients with osteoporotic distal radial fracture.

Specification and Measurement of Mid-Frequency Wavefront Errors

Mid-frequency wavefront errors can be of the most importance for some optical components, but they're not explicitly covered by corresponding international standards such as ISO 10110. The testing methods for the errors also have a lot of aspects to be improved. This paper gives an overview of the specifications especially of PSD. NIF, developed by America, and XMM, developed by Europe, have both discovered some new testing methods.

Research progress in pathogenic genes of hereditary non-syndromic mid-frequency deafness

Hearing impairment is considered as the most prevalent impairment worldwide. Almost 600 million people in the world suffer from mild or moderate hearing impairment, an estimated 10% of the human population. Genetic factors play an important role in the pathogenesis of this disorder. Hereditary hearing loss is divided into syndromic hearing loss （associated with other anomalies） and non-syndromic hearing loss （not associated with other anomalies）. Approximately 80% of genetic deafness is non-syndromic. On the basis of the frequency of hearing loss, hereditary non-syndromic hearing loss can be divided into high-, mid-, low-, and total-frequency hearing loss. An audiometric finding of mid-frequency sensorineural hearing loss, or a ＂bowl-shaped＂ audiogram, is uncommon. Up to now, merely 7 loci have been linked to mid-frequency hearing loss. Only four genetic mid- frequency deafness genes, namely, DFNA10 （EYA4）, DFNA8/12 （TECTA）, DFNA13 （COLIIA2）, DFNA44 （CCDC50）, have been reported to date. This review summarizes the research progress of the four genes to draw attention to mid-frequency deafness genes.

ZnO:Al Films Prepared by Reactive Mid-frequency Magnetron Sputtering with Rotating Cathode

Al-doped zinc oxide （ZnO：Al,AZO） films were deposited on glass substrates using a reactive mid-frequency （MF） magnetron sputtering process with rotating cathodes.The influence of deposition parameters on structural,electrical and optical properties of AZO films is investigated.It is observed that the rotating magnetron targets exhibited a sputtered metallic surface over a wider range,and there is no re-deposition zone between the racetracks.The films deposited at static deposition mode demonstrate more homogenous in thickness and resistivity across the target surface compared with conventional rectangular targets.The films deposited under the proper conditions show a regular cone-shaped grain surface and densely packed columnar structure.The minimum resistivity of 3.16×10-4 ·cm was obtained for the film prepared at substrate temperature of 150 C,gas pressure of 640 MPa and oxygen partial pressure of 34 MPa.

Dynamic analysis and experimental study of vibro-acoustic system with uncertainties at middle frequencies

To take into account the influence of uncetainties on the dynamic response of the vibro-acousitc structure, a hybrid modeling technique combining the finite element method（FE）and the statistic energy analysis（SEA） is proposed to analyze vibro-acoustics responses with uncertainties at middle frequencies. The mid-frequency dynamic response of the framework-plate structure with uncertainties is studied based on the hybrid FE-SEA method and the Monte Carlo（MC）simulation is performed so as to provide a benchmark comparison with the hybrid method. The energy response of the framework-plate structure matches well with the MC simulation results, which validates the effectiveness of the hybrid FE-SEA method considering both the complexity of the vibro-acoustic structure and the uncertainties in mid-frequency vibro-acousitc analysis. Based on the hybrid method, a vibroacoustic model of a construction machinery cab with random properties is established, and the excitations of the model are measured by experiments. The responses of the sound pressure level of the cab and the vibration power spectrum density of the front windscreen are calculated and compared with those of the experiment. At middle frequencies, the results have a good consistency with the tests and the prediction error is less than 3. 5dB.

Effect of sputtering conditions on growth and properties of ZnO :Al films

Al-doped zinc oxide（AZO） films were deposited on glass substrates by mid-frequency magnetron sputtering. The effects of substrate rotation speed and target-substrate distance on the electrical, optical properties and microstructure and crystal structures of the resulting films were investigated by scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, atomic force microscopy（AFM）, X-ray diffraction（XRD）, spectrophotometer and Hall-effect measurement system, respectively. XRD results show that all AZO films exhibit a strong preferred c-axis orientation. However, the crystallinity of films decreases with the increase of substrate rotation speed, accompanying with the unbalanced grains grows. For the films prepared at different target-substrate distances, the uniform microstructure and morphology are observed. The highest carrier concentration of 5.9×1020 cm-3 and Hall mobility of 13.1 cm^2/（V·s） are obtained at substrate rotation speed of 0 and target-substrate distance of 7 cm. The results indicate that the structure and performances of the AZO films are strongly affected by substrate rotation speed.

Recent Developments in Magnetron Sputtering

The principle of magnetron sputtering is introduced andthe balanced and unbalanced magnetrons are compared andthe necessity of unbalanced magnetrons is explained as well. Several recent developments in plasma magnetron sputtering, i.e., unbalanced magnetron sputtering, pulsed magnetron sputtering and ion assisted sputtering, are discussed. The recent developments of unbalanced magnetron systems and their incorporation with ion sources result in an understanding in growingimportance of the magnetron sputtering technology, which makes the technology an applicable deposition process for a variety of important films, such as wear-resistant films and decorative films.