Application of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine in the treatment of juvenile localized scleroderma with skin ulcer: a case report

Background:Juvenile Localized Scleroderma(JLS)is a rare pediatric rheumatic disease characterized by inflammation and skin sclerosis.The side effect of consensus-recommended medications and the risk of disability posed challenges to the JLS treatment.We intend to demonstrate the potential of traditional Chinese medicine in treating JLS with skin ulcers and reducing the dose of glucocorticoid.Method:Here we report a case of a 13-year-old male with JLS who took oral methotrexate tablets of 10 mg/week and methylprednisolone of 6 mg/day for over six months without significant effect and suffered from skin ulcers on the dorsal feet one month after drug cessation.Subsequently,the patient was treated with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine of low-dose glucocorticosteroid,adjusted Shenqi Huoxue formula and Jinshe Xiaoyan formula,etc.Results:After integrated treatment,the patient’s dorsal feet ulcers healed and the skin sclerosis and hyperpigmentation improved significantly.Conclusions:This case report suggests that integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine can be used as an effective treatment for JLS.

Follow-up Efficacy of Integrative Chinese and Western Drugs on Localized Scleroderma with Vitamine B 6 and Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction (血府逐瘀汤)

Objective: To investigate the therapeutic effects of vitamine B 6 (Vit B 6) and Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction (血府逐瘀汤,XFZY, for activating blood circulation to remove stasis) in patients with localized scleroderma(LSD). Methods: Thirty-three patients were treated with XFZY and Vit B 6, with 15 cases taking orally prednisone acetate and 20 healthy volunteers as the control. Their level of soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the patients with LSD before and after treatment were observed. Results: The level of sIL-2R and TNF-α in the serum from the patients with LSD were higher than those of healthy volunteers ( P <0.01). After treatment with Vit B 6 and XFZY, the level of sIL-2R and TNF-α from the patients with LSD decreased significantly ( P <0.01), but there were no difference between the group taking Vit B 6 plus XFZY and the group given prednisone. Conclusion: The activating blood circulation to remove stasis approach in treating LSD with integrative Chinese and Western drugs got better results, and metabolic disorder of tryptophan might be correlated with the etiology of LSD.

Real-World Evidence in Localized Pancreatic: Coping with Uncertainty in Unselected Populations

Background: Localized pancreatic cancer, including resectable (R), borderline resectable (BR) and locally advanced unresectable disease (LAU), is considered in clinical guidelines for diverse treatment options based on clinical trials in selected populations. Hence, exploring with real world evidence (RWE) clinicians’ preferences for treatment options and their results seems pertinent. Methods: In a set of consecutive patients with localized pancreatic cancer assisted in a third level hospital from January 2013 to December 2022, medical records, symptoms, diagnostic process, distribution between subtypes, and treatment plans, with safety and efficacy results, were assessed. Results: A total of 152 patients with localized disease were included (43.4% R, 21.0% BR, 33.6% LAU). The population characteristics exemplified differences between daily practice and clinical trials. Tumor location and symptoms were as expected. Treatment plan was conditioned by PS or comorbidities in 23.0% of patients. In patients with R disease, surgery followed by different adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) regimes was the antineoplastic treatment of choice (64.8%) with efficacy results (OS 37.5 months;95% CI 18.4 - 56.7), in the range of contemporary standards. The common use of neoadjuvant CT for BR disease (94.4%), with surgery in 50% of them, and its results (OS 30.8 months;95% CI 10.5 - 51.2) reflected current controversies of treatment recommendations and evolution in this scenario. Paliative CT with or without radiotherapy was the standard specific treatment in LAU disease (95.1%) with survival results (PFS: 10.8 months;95% CI 8.8 - 12.7. OS: 20.3 months;95% CI 13.5 - 27.2) that justify the distinct character and the specific study of this entity. Conclusion: RWE for localized pancreatic cancer aroused from the analysis of this population confirms the distinct nature of patients assisted in daily practice, as well as mirrors the complexity of decision making in clinical assumptions in which achieving stronger evidence should be paramount.

In-situ AFM and quasi-in-situ studies for localized corrosion in Mg-9Al-1Fe-(Gd) alloys under 3.5 wt.% NaCl environment

Revealing the localized corrosion process of Mg alloy is considered as one of the most significant ways for improving its corrosion resistance.The reliable monitor should be high distinguishability and real-time in liquid environment.Herein,Mg-9Al-1Fe and Mg-9Al-1Fe-1Gd alloys were designed to highlight the impact of intermetallic on the corrosion behaviour.In-situ AFM with a special electrolyte circulation system and quasi-in-situ SEM observation were used to monitor the corrosion process of the designed alloys.SEM-EDS and TEM-SAED were applied to identify the intermetallic in the designed alloys,and their volta potentials were measured by SKPFM.According to the real-time and real-space in-situ AFM monitor,the corrosion process consisted of dissolution of anodicα-Mg phase,accumulation of corrosion products around cathodic phase and shedding of some fine cathodic phase.Then,the localized corrosion process of Mg alloy was revealed combined with the results of the monitor of corrosion process and Volta potential difference.

Facilitating prelithiation of silicon carbon anode by localized high-concentration electrolyte for high-rate and long-cycle lithium storage

The commercialization of silicon-based anodes is affected by their low initial Coulombic efficiency(ICE)and capacity decay,which are attributed to the formation of an unstable solid electrolyte interface(SEI)layer.Herein,a feasible and cost-effective prelithiation method under a localized highconcentration electrolyte system(LHCE)for the silicon-silica/graphite(Si-SiO_(2)/C@G)anode is designed for stabilizing the SEI layer and enhancing the ICE.The thin SiO_(2)/C layers with-NH_(2) groups covered on nano-Si surfaces are demonstrated to be beneficial to the prelithiation process by density functional theory calculations and electrochemical performance.The SEI formed under LHCE is proven to be rich in ionic conductivity,inorganic substances,and flexible organic products.Thus,faster Li+transportation across the SEI further enhances the prelithiation effect and the rate performance of Si-SiO_(2)/C@G anodes.LHCE also leads to uniform decomposition and high stability of the SEI with abundant organic components.As a result,the prepared anode shows a high reversible specific capacity of 937.5 mAh g^(-1)after 400 cycles at a current density of 1 C.NCM 811‖Li-SSGLHCE full cell achieves a high-capacity retention of 126.15 mAh g^(-1)at 1 C over 750 cycles with 84.82%ICE,indicating the great value of this strategy for Si-based anodes in large-scale applications.

Observation of flat-band localized state in a one-dimensional diamond momentum lattice of ultracold atoms

We investigated the one-dimensional diamond ladder in the momentum lattice platform. By inducing multiple twoand four-photon Bragg scatterings among specific momentum states, we achieved a flat band system based on the diamond model, precisely controlling the coupling strength and phase between individual lattice sites. Utilizing two lattice sites couplings, we generated a compact localized state associated with the flat band, which remained localized throughout the entire time evolution. We successfully realized the continuous shift of flat bands by adjusting the corresponding nearest neighbor hopping strength, enabling us to observe the complete localization process. This opens avenues for further exploration of more complex properties within flat-band systems, including investigating the robustness of flat-band localized states in disordered flat-band systems and exploring many-body localization in interacting flat-band systems.

Evolution of mechanical properties,localized corrosion resistance and microstructure of a high purity Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy during non-isothermal aging

The evolution of mechanical properties,localized corrosion resistance of a high purity Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy during non-isothermal aging(NIA)was investigated by hardness test,electrical conductivity test,tensile test,intergranular corrosion test,exfoliation corrosion test,slow strain rate tensile test and electrochemical test,and the mechanism has been discussed based on microstructure examination by optical microscopy,electron back scattered diffraction,scanning electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy.The NIA treatment includes a heating stage from 40℃to 180℃with a rate of 20℃/h and a cooling stage from 180℃to 40℃with a rate of 10℃/h.The results show that the hardness and strength increase rapidly during the heating stage of NIA since the increasing temperature favors the nucleation and the growth of strengthening precipitates and promotes the transformation of Guinier-Preston(GPI)zones toη'phase.During the cooling stage,the sizes ofη'phase increase with a little change in the number density,leading to a further slight increase of the hardness and strength.As NIA proceeds,the corroded morphology in the alloy changes from a layering feature to a wavy feature,the maximum corrosion depth decreases,and the reason has been analyzed based on the microstructural and microchemical feature of precipitates at grain boundaries and subgrain boundaries.

Iterative Subregion Correction Preconditioners with Adaptive Tolerance for Problems with Geometrically Localized Stiffness

We present a class of preconditioners for the linear systems resulting from a finite element or discontinuous Galerkin discretizations of advection-dominated problems.These preconditioners are designed to treat the case of geometrically localized stiffness,where the convergence rates of iterative methods are degraded in a localized subregion of the mesh.Slower convergence may be caused by a number of factors,including the mesh size,anisotropy,highly variable coefficients,and more challenging physics.The approach taken in this work is to correct well-known preconditioners such as the block Jacobi and the block incomplete LU(ILU)with an adaptive inner subregion iteration.The goal of these preconditioners is to reduce the number of costly global iterations by accelerating the convergence in the stiff region by iterating on the less expensive reduced problem.The tolerance for the inner iteration is adaptively chosen to minimize subregion-local work while guaranteeing global convergence rates.We present analysis showing that the convergence of these preconditioners,even when combined with an adaptively selected tolerance,is independent of discretization parameters(e.g.,the mesh size and diffusion coefficient)in the subregion.We demonstrate significant performance improvements over black-box preconditioners when applied to several model convection-diffusion problems.Finally,we present performance results of several variations of iterative subregion correction preconditioners applied to the Reynolds number 2.25×10^(6)fluid flow over the NACA 0012 airfoil,as well as massively separated flow at 30°angle of attack.

Conditional Generative Adversarial Network Enabled Localized Stress Recovery of Periodic Composites

Structural damage in heterogeneousmaterials typically originates frommicrostructures where stress concentration occurs.Therefore,evaluating the magnitude and location of localized stress distributions within microstructures under external loading is crucial.Repeating unit cells(RUCs)are commonly used to represent microstructural details and homogenize the effective response of composites.This work develops a machine learning-based micromechanics tool to accurately predict the stress distributions of extracted RUCs.The locally exact homogenization theory efficiently generates the microstructural stresses of RUCs with a wide range of parameters,including volume fraction,fiber/matrix property ratio,fiber shapes,and loading direction.Subsequently,the conditional generative adversarial network(cGAN)is employed and constructed as a surrogate model to establish the statistical correlation between these parameters and the corresponding localized stresses.The stresses predicted by cGAN are validated against the remaining true data not used for training,showing good agreement.This work demonstrates that the cGAN-based micromechanics tool effectively captures the local responses of composite RUCs.It can be used for predicting potential crack initiations starting from microstructures and evaluating the effective behavior of periodic composites.

Eosinophilic fasciitis difficult to differentiate from scleroderma:A case report

BACKGROUND Eosinophilic fasciitis(EF)is a rare connective tissue disease that can cause swelling and sclerosis of the extremities,and special attention is needed to differentiate EF from systemic sclerosis.Misdiagnosis or omission markedly delays treatment of EF,and severe skin sclerosis in advanced stages can cause joint contracture and tendon retraction,worsening the patient's prognosis and quality of life.CASE SUMMARY We report a case of EF in a young woman diagnosed by tissue biopsy,confirming the difficulty of differential diagnosis with scleroderma.CONCLUSION Focusing on skin manifestations,completing tissue biopsy and radiography can help diagnose EF effectively.Clinicians should enhance their understanding of the differences between EF and scleroderma,and early diagnosis and standardized treatment can improve the prognosis of patients with EF.

Regulating solid electrolyte interphases on phosphorus/carbon anodes via localized high-concentration electrolytes for potassium-ion batteries

The resourceful and inexpensive red phosphorus has emerged as a promising anode material of potassium-ion batteries(PIBs) for its large theoretical capacities and low redox potentials in the multielectron alloying/dealloying reactions,yet chronically suffering from the huge volume expansion/shrinkage with a sluggish reaction kinetics and an unsatisfactory interfacial stability against volatile electrolytes.Herein,we systematically developed a series of localized high-concentration electrolytes(LHCE) through diluting high-concentration ether electrolytes with a non-solvating fluorinated ether to regulate the formation/evolution of solid electrolyte interphases(SEI) on phosphorus/carbon(P/C) anodes for PIBs.Benefitting from the improved mechanical strength and structural stability of a robust/uniform SEI thin layer derived from a composition-optimized LHCE featured with a unique solvation structure and a superior K+migration capability,the P/C anode with noticeable pseudocapacitive behaviors could achieve a large reversible capacity of 760 mA h g^(-1)at 100 mA g^(-1),a remarkable capacity retention rate of 92.6% over 200 cycles at 800 mA g^(-1),and an exceptional rate capability of 334 mA h g^(-1)at8000 mA g^(-1).Critically,a suppressed reduction of ether solvents with a preferential decomposition of potassium salts in anion-derived interfacial reactions on P/C anode for LHCE could enable a rational construction of an outer organic-rich and inner inorganic-dominant SEI thin film with remarkable mechanical strength/flexibility to buffer huge volume variations and abundant K+diffusion channels to accelerate reaction kinetics.Additionally,the highly reversible/durable full PIBs coupling P/C anodes with annealed organic cathodes further verified an excellent practical applicability of LHCE.This encouraging work on electrolytes regulating SEI formation/evolution would advance the development of P/C anodes for high-performance PIBs.

Heart Disease Scleroderma Revelators: About a Clinical Case

Scleroderma (or systemic sclerosis) is a disease characterized by abnormalities in the functioning of small blood vessels and the immune system, ultimately leading to inflammation and excessive fibrosis of the skin and various organs, including the heart. Management must be multidisciplinary, to avoid complications that are often serious. We report the case of a 20-year-old patient with no known cardiovascular history who consults for dyspnea, and retrosternal pain associated with a dry cough. On physical examination, she had tachycardia, swelling of the lower limbs, jugular turgidity, and deafening heart sounds. Cardiac Doppler ultrasound shows dilation of the right cavities, paradoxical septum and significant pulmonary arterial hypertension, pericardial effusion of medium abundance. On oral examination, it presents an ulceration of the lips, dermatological examination finds scattered hypo chromic spots in the body, more accentuated in the face. Before the hypo chromic dermatosis, a dermatological consultation was carried out with an autoimmune assessment that came back positive for systemic scleroderma.

Corrigendum to“Electromagnetically induced transparency via localized surface plasmon mode-assisted hybrid cavity QED”

We would like to point out the misprinted Fig.3 in our published paper[Chin.Phys.B 32,114205(2023)].Since only orders of subfigures need to be corrected and the main results of the published paper are correct,we present the correct figure in this corrigendum.

Electromagnetically induced transparency via localized surface plasmon mode-assisted hybrid cavity QED

In recent years, most studies have focused on the perfect absorption and high-efficiency quantum memory of the onesided system, ignoring the characteristics of its optical switching contrast. Thus, the performance of all-optical switching and optical transistors is limited. Herein, we propose a localized surface plasmon(LSP) mode-assisted cavity QED system which consists of a Λ-shaped three-level quantum emitter(QE), a metal nanoparticle and a one-sided optical cavity with a fully reflected mirror. In this system, the QE coherently couples to the cavity and LSP mode respectively, which is manipulated by the control field. As a result, considerably high and stable switch contrast of 90% can be achievable due to the strong confined field of the LSP mode and perfect absorption of the optical medium. In addition, we obtain a power dependent effect between the control field and the transmitted frequency as a result of the converted dark state. We employ the Heisenberg–Langevin equation and numerical master equation formalisms to explain high switching, controllable output light and the dark state. Our system introduces an effective method to improve the performance of optical switches based on the one-sided system in quantum information storage and quantum communication.

A review of soldering by localized heating

In recent years,the rapid development of the new energy industry has driven continuous upgrading of high-density and high-power devices.In the packaging and assembly process,the problem of differentiation of the thermal needs of different modules has become increasingly prominent,especially for small-size solder joints with high heat dissipation in high-power devices.Localized soldering is con-sidered a suitable choice to selectively heat the desired target while not affecting other heat-sensitive chips.This paper reviews several local-ized soldering processes,focusing on the size of solder joints,soldering materials,and current state of the technique.Each localized solder-ing process was discovered to have unique characteristics.The requirements for small-size solder joints are met by laser soldering,microres-istance soldering,and self-propagating soldering;however,laser soldering has difficulty meeting the requirements for large heat dissipation,microresistance soldering requires the application of pressure to joints,and self-propagating soldering requires ignition materials.However,for small-size solder junctions,selective wave soldering,microwave soldering,and ultrasonic soldering are not appropriate.Because the magnetic field can be focused on a tiny area and the output energy of induction heating is large,induction soldering can be employed as a significant trend in future research.

Overview of juvenile localized scleroderma and its management

Background Juvenile localized scleroderma(JLS)is a rare pediatric disease characterized by inflammation and skin thick ening.JLS is associated with deep tissue and extracutaneous involvement that often results in functional impairment and growth disturbances.This article provides an overview of the disease with a focus on active features and treatment.Data sources We searched databases including PubMed,Elsevier and MedLine and Wanfang,reviewing publications from 2013 to 2019.Selected earlier publications were also reviewed.Results Linear scleroderma is the most common JLS subtype.Several lines of evidence suggest that JLS is an autoimmune disease.Extracutaneous involvement is common and can present before the onset of skin disease.Multiple skin features are associated with disease activity,and activity can also manifest as arthritis,myositis,uveitis,seizures,and growth impairment.Systemic immunosuppressive treatment,commonly methotrexate with or without glucocorticoids,greatly improves outcome and is recommended for treating JLS patients with active disease and moderate or higher severity.Long term monitoring is needed because of the disease's chronicity and the high frequency of relapses off of treatment.Conclusions JLS is associated with a risk for disabling and disfiguring morbidity for the growing child.Identifying active disease is important for guiding treatment,but often difficult because of the paucity of markers and lack of a universal skin activity feature.More studies of JLS pathophysiology are needed to allow the identification of biomarkers and therapeutic targets.Comparative effectiveness treatment studies are also needed to work towards optimizing care and outcome.

A Novel Localized Meshless Method for Solving Transient Heat Conduction Problems in Complicated Domains

This paper first attempts to solve the transient heat conduction problem by combining the recently proposed local knot method(LKM)with the dual reciprocity method(DRM).Firstly,the temporal derivative is discretized by a finite difference scheme,and thus the governing equation of transient heat transfer is transformed into a non-homogeneous modified Helmholtz equation.Secondly,the solution of the non-homogeneous modified Helmholtz equation is decomposed into a particular solution and a homogeneous solution.And then,the DRM and LKM are used to solve the particular solution of the non-homogeneous equation and the homogeneous solution of the modified Helmholtz equation,respectively.The LKM is a recently proposed local radial basis function collocationmethod with themerits of being simple,accurate,and free ofmesh and integration.Compared with the traditional domain-type and boundary-type schemes,the present coupling algorithm could be treated as a really good alternative for the analysis of transient heat conduction on high-dimensional and complicated domains.Numerical experiments,including two-and three-dimensional heat transfer models,demonstrated the effectiveness and accuracy of the new methodology.

Observation on Therapeutic Effects of Combined Surrounding Needling, Bloodletting with Cupping Therapy for Localized Scleroderma

Localized Scleroderma, also known as morphea, is a dermal disease manifested by localized edematous skin primarily and progressive thickening and hardening of the skin. It mainly affects the scalp, forehead, lumbar, abdomen and four limbs. The skin lesions are firstly present in single or multiple pink edematous patches in varying sizes, and then change into primrose yellow or beige hardening, being smooth and shiny resembling wax.

Unveiling localized electronic properties of ReS2 thin layers at nanoscale using Kelvin force probe microscopy combined with tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Electronic properties of two-dimensional(2D) materials can be strongly modulated by localized strain. The typical spatial resolution of conventional Kelvin probe force microscopy(KPFM) is usually limited in a few hundreds of nanometers, and it is difficult to characterize localized electronic properties of 2D materials at nanoscales. Herein, tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy(TERS) is proposed to combine with KPFM to break this restriction. TERS scan is conducted on ReS2bubbles deposited on a rough Au thin film to obtain strain distribution by using the Raman peak shift. The localized contact potential difference(CPD) is inversely calculated with a higher spatial resolution by using strain measured by TERS and CPD-strain working curve obtained using conventional KPFM and atomic force microscopy. This method enhances the spatial resolution of CPD measurements and can be potentially used to characterize localized electronic properties of 2D materials.

Numerical and Experimental Study of Localized Lifetime Control LIGBT by High Dose He Ion Implantation

A high speed LIGBT with localized lifetime control by using high dose and low en ergy helium implantation(LC-LIGBT) is proposed.Compared with conventional LIGB Ts,particle irradiation results show that trade-off relationship between turn- off time and forward voltage drop is improved.At the same time,the forward volta ge drop and turn-off time of such device are researched,when localized lifetime control region place near the p+-n junction,even in p+ anode.The results s how for the first time,helium ions,which stop in the p+ anode,also contribute to the forward voltage drop increasing and turn-off time reducing.