Clinical Outcomes of Intracardiac Echocardiography-Guided Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation: A Retrospective Study.

Background: Routine radiofrequency catheter ablation relies on x-ray imaging, which may increase the risk of radiation exposure to patients. With the rapid development of intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) technology, it provides a new guidance modality for radiofrequency catheter ablation and shows great potential for application in the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF).

Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of intracardiac echocardiography guided radiofrequency catheter ablation for the treatment of AF.

CA-based urban growth model considering the temporal dynamic adjustment of local spatial driving factors: An application in Wuhan City.

Cellular Automaton (CA) is widely used because of its ability to simulate complex spatiotemporal dynamic processes through applying simple rules. The basis of the CA model is the definition of transformation rules. During a simulation process, the rules determine the change of the cell state.

Effects of partial demand uncertainty reduction on private equity financing in small and medium-sized enterprises: A supply chain perspective.

The effect of demand uncertainty reduction (DUR) on supply chain management has received tremendous attention. From a financial perspective, studying the impact of DUR is equally significant. This study explores the relationship between DUR and private equity (PE) financing in retail enterprises within a supply chain, which comprises a dominant supplier and a subordinate retailer.

Evaluation of carbon emission efficiency based on urban scaling law: take 308 cities in China as an example.

The development of urban low carbonization is an important foundation for achieving the goal of "dual carbon." The differences in spatial differences based on scientific methods revealing the characteristics of urban carbon emissions and its efficiency are of great significance for shaping the green low-carbon land space pattern. This article uses urban standard models and scale adjustments to the urban index (SAMIs) identification in 2006-2017 308 Chinese urban carbon discharge standards and efficiency time and space evolution pattern and their characteristics.

The Industrial Sprawl in China from 2010 to 2019: A Multi-Level Spatial Analysis Based on Urban Scaling Law.

Studying the spatial-temporal distribution industrial sprawl in China is important to solve industrial sprawl problems and promote urban sustainable development. This paper constructed a multi-level spatial analysis of the Chinese industrial sprawl during 2010-2019 by mainly using urban scaling law, supplemented by GIS methods. Results showed that: (1) China had obvious industrial sprawl with a growth rate of 31.

Assessing the Equity of Accessibility to Urban Green Space: A Study of 254 Cities in China.

Urban green space has environmental benefits of purifying the air, reducing the heat island effect and providing the social and economic benefits of rest places and social platforms. An integrated and organized green space system is important for fully realizing the positive functions of an urban ecosystem. Previous studies have considered green space supply and demand, but few studies have examined large-scale, diverse and small-scale systems, making it difficult to conduct a comparative study of urban green space accessibility and equity under the same conditions (such as data sources and calculation methods).

Unmasking unexpected health care inequalities in China using urban big data: Service-rich and service-poor communities.

Geographic accessibility plays a key role in health care inequality but remains insufficiently investigated in China, primarily due to the lack of accurate, broad-coverage data on supply and demand. In this paper, we employ an innovative approach to local supply-and-demand conditions to (1) reveal the status quo of the distribution of health care provision and (2) examine whether individual households from communities with different housing prices can acquire equal and adequate quality health care services within and across 361 cities in China. Our findings support previous conclusions that quality hospitals are concentrated in cities with high administrative rankings and developmental levels.

Coupling Cellular Automata and a Genetic Algorithm to Generate a Vibrant Urban Form-A Case Study of Wuhan, China.

Enhancing urban vitality is a key goal for both the government and ordinary urban residents, and creating this vitality is emphasized in China's urban development strategy. Enhancing urban vitality through the rational design of urban forms is a leading topic of Western urban research. An urban growth pattern (UGP) reflects the dual characteristics of a static pattern and the dynamic evolution of the external urban form.

Increased risk of cerebrovascular mortality in head and neck cancer survivors aged ≥ 65 years treated with definitive radiotherapy: a population-based cohort study.

Background: To investigate the relationship between radiotherapy (RT) and the risk of cerebrovascular mortality (CVM) in head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors aged ≥ 65 years.

Methods: Patients with HNC survivors aged ≥ 65 years diagnosed between 2000 and 2012 were included from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Kaplan-Meier analysis, Log-rank tests, and Cox proportional-hazards regression models were performed for statistical analyses.

Influence of carbon dioxide plasma treatment on the dry adhesion of vertical aligned carbon nanotube arrays.

Vertical aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) arrays used as dry adhesive materials have broad prospects in the applied fields of space, medicine and electronics. The adhesion of VACNT arrays is believed to be related not only to the nano-array structure and a clean surface, but also to chemical composition. Here, radio-frequency (RF) carbon dioxide (CO) plasma treatment is introduced as an effective method for purifying and functionalizing the surface to improve the dry adhesive performance of VACNT arrays.

Embryo transcriptome and miRNA analyses reveal the regulatory network of seed dormancy in Ginkgo biloba.

Seed dormancy is crucial for plant survival and prevents seed germination out of season. However, little is known about the regulatory mechanism of morphophysiological seed dormancy. Ginkgo biloba L.

A Compact Review of IPMC as Soft Actuator and Sensor: Current Trends, Challenges, and Potential Solutions From Our Recent Work.

Recently, attempts have been made to develop ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC), which is garnering growing interest for ionic artificial muscle, as a soft actuator and sensor due to its inherent properties of low weight, flexibility, softness, and particularly, its efficient transformation of electrical energy into mechanical energy, with large bending strain response under a low activation voltage. In this paper, we focused on several current deficiencies of IPMC that restrict its application, such as non-standardized preparation steps, relaxation under DC voltage, solvent evaporation, and poor output force. Corresponding solutions to overcome the abovementioned problems have recently been proposed from our point of view and developed through our research.

Aggregation-Caused Quenching-Type Naphthalimide Fluorophores Grafted and Ionized in a 3D Polymeric Hydrogel Network for Highly Fluorescent and Locally Tunable Emission.

Polymer hydrogels with intense yet tunable fluorescence are of great research interest due to their wide potential use in biological imaging, sensing, information storage, etc. However, the conventional fluorophores such as naphthalimide and its derivatives are usually not recommended to prepare highly fluorescent hydrogels because of their aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) nature and spontaneous tendency to undergo fluorescence self-quenching in quasi-solid-state hydrogel systems. Additionally, local regulation over fluorescent behavior of hydrogels, despite being important, still remains underdeveloped.

[Effect of posterior oblique ligament repair on rotational stability of knee joint].

Objective: To investigate effect of posterior oblique ligament (POL) repair on the rotational stability of the knee joint for the medial collateral ligament (MCL) combined with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures.

Methods: The clinical data of 50 patients (50 knees) with grade-3 MCL-ACL combined injuries who met the selection criteria between January 2013 and December 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. All ACLs were reconstructed with autogenous tendon and the superficial and deep layers of MCLs were sutured; then, POLs were also sutured in 25 patients of repair group and only received conservation treatment postoperatively in 25 patients of conservation group.

The Effects of Dimensions on the Deformation Sensing Performance of Ionic Polymer-Metal Composites.

As an excellent transducer, ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) can act as both an actuator and a sensor. During its sensing process, many factors, such as the water content, the cation type, the surface electrode, and the dimensions of the IPMC sample, have a considerable impact on the IPMC sensing performance. In this paper, the effect of dimensions focused on the Pd-Au typed IPMC samples with various thicknesses, widths, and lengths that were fabricated and their deformation sensing performances were tested and estimated using a self-made electromechanical sensing platform.

[Effectiveness of a novel remnant-preserving anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with bidirectional barbed suture].

Objective: To investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of a novel remnant-preserving anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with bidirectional barbed suture.

Methods: Between February 2014 and January 2016, 96 patients (96 knees) with ACL injury who met the inclusion criteria were recruited and randomly divided into 2 groups ( =48). All patients underwent ACL reconstruction with autologous tendon.

Influence of Urban-Growth Pattern on Air Quality in China: A Study of 338 Cities.

Air pollution in China is a serious problem and an inevitable threat to human health. This study evaluated the relationship between air quality and urban growth pattern in China by conducting empirical research involving 338 prefecture-level and above cities. Spatial regression techniques considering spatial autocorrelation were applied to correct the calculation bias.

Urban Ecological Security Simulation and Prediction Using an Improved Cellular Automata (CA) Approach-A Case Study for the City of Wuhan in China.

Ecological security is an important research topic, especially urban ecological security. As highly populated eco-systems, cities always have more fragile ecological environments. However, most of the research on urban ecological security in literature has focused on evaluating current or past status of the ecological environment.

Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Mechanisms of Sterile and Fertile Flower Differentiation and Development in f. .

Sterile and fertile flowers are an important evolutionary developmental (evo-devo) phenotype in angiosperm flowers, playing important roles in pollinator attraction and sexual reproductive success. However, the gene regulatory mechanisms underlying fertile and sterile flower differentiation and development remain largely unknown. f.

Mechanisms of electroacupuncture effects on acute cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury: possible association with upregulation of transforming growth factor beta 1.

Electroacupuncture at the head acupoints Baihui (GV20) and Shuigou (GV26) improves recovery of neurological function following ischemic cerebrovascular events, but its mechanism remains incompletely understood. We hypothesized that the action of electroacupuncture at these acupoints is associated with elevated serum levels of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1). To test this, we established a rat model of cerebral ischemia by middle cerebral artery occlusion.

Regulation of Non-coding RNAs in Heat Stress Responses of Plants.

Heat stress is an important factor limiting plant growth, development, and productivity; thus, plants have evolved special adaptive mechanisms to cope with high-temperature stress. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are a class of regulatory RNAs that play an important role in many biological processes. Recently developed advanced technologies, such as genome-wide transcriptomic analysis, have revealed that abundant ncRNAs are expressed under heat stress.

Fabrication and characteristics of a multilayered ionic polymer metal composite based on Nafion/tetraethyl orthosilicate and Nafion/MCNT nanocomposites.

Nafion/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (Nafion/MCNT) and Nafion/tetraethyl orthosilicate (Nafion/TEOS) nanocomposites were prepared and used as starting materials in the fabrication of an ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC). Experimental data show that the Nafion/MCNT-based IPMC exhibited a blocking force that is two times higher than that of bare Nafion-based IPMC. This higher blocking force is due to the stable homogeneous dispersions of multiwalled carbon nanotubes as well as to their improved conductivity.

[Efficacy observation on acupuncture prescription of regulating yin-yang and five viscera for intractable insomnia].

Objective: To explore a more optimal therapy for intractable insomnia.

Methods: Seven hundred cases of intractable insomnia that were in accordance with the criteria were randomly divided into an observation group (368 cases) and a control group (332 cases). The acupuncture prescription of regulating yin-yang and five viscera was applied in the observation group, where Dazhui (GV 14), Shenmai (BL 62), Guanyuan (CV 4), Zhaohai (KI 6), Geshu (BL 17), etc.