The stratified effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in upper limb motor impairment recovery after stroke: a meta-analysis

BackgroundThe recovery of upper extremity motor impairment after stroke remains a challenging task. The clinical effectiveness of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), which is believed to aid in the recovery process, is still uncertain.MethodsA systematic search was conducted in Medline (Ovid), Cochrane and Embase electronic databases from March 28, 2014, to March 28, 2023. The inclusion criteria consisted of randomized controlled trials that assessed the effects of rTMS on the recovery of upper limb motor impairment among stroke patients. Various measurements, including the Fugl Meyer Assessment Upper Extremity Scale (FMA-UE), Brunnstrom recovery stage, Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), and Barthel index, were evaluated both before and after the intervention.ResultsNineteen articles with 865 patients were included. When considering only the rTMS parameters, both inhibitory and excitatory rTMS improved FMA-UE (MD = 1.87, 95% CI = [0.88]–[2.86], p < 0.001) and Barthel index (MD = 9.73, 95% CI = [4.57]–[14.89], p < 0.001). When considering only the severity of upper limb hemiplegia, both less severe (MD = 1.56, 95% CI = [0.64]–[2.49], p < 0.001) and severe (MD = 2.05, 95% CI = [1.09]–[3.00], p < 0.001) hemiplegia benefited from rTMS based on FMA-UE. However, when considering the rTMS parameters, severity of hemiplegia and stroke stages simultaneously, inhibitory rTMS was found to be significantly effective for less severe hemiplegia in the acute and subacute phases (MD = 4.55, 95% CI = [2.49]–[6.60], p < 0.001), but not in the chronic phase based on FMA-UE. For severe hemiplegia, inhibitory rTMS was not significantly effective in the acute and subacute phases, but significantly effective in the chronic phase (MD = 2.10, 95% CI = [0.75]–[3.45], p = 0.002) based on FMA-UE. Excitatory rTMS was found to be significantly effective for less severe hemiplegia in the acute and subacute phases (MD = 1.93, 95% CI = [0.58]–[3.28], p = 0.005) based on FMA-UE. The improvements in Brunnstrom recovery stage and ARAT need further research.ConclusionThe effectiveness of rTMS depends on its parameters, severity of hemiplegia, and stroke stages. It is important to consider all these factors together, as any single grouping method is incomplete

Iodinated oil-loaded, fluorescent mesoporous silica-coated iron oxide nanoparticles for magnetic resonance imaging/computed tomography/fluorescence trimodal imaging

In this study, a novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/computed tomography (CT)/fluorescence trifunctional probe was prepared by loading iodinated oil into fluorescent mesoporous silica-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (i-fmSiO4@SPIONs). Fluorescent mesoporous silica-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (fmSiO4@SPIONs) were prepared by growing fluorescent dye-doped silica onto superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) directed by a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide template. As prepared, fmSiO4@SPIONs had a uniform size, a large surface area, and a large pore volume, which demonstrated high efficiency for iodinated oil loading. Iodinated oil loading did not change the sizes of fmSiO4@SPIONs, but they reduced the MRI T2 relaxivity (r2) markedly. I-fmSiO4@SPIONs were stable in their physical condition and did not demonstrate cytotoxic effects under the conditions investigated. In vitro studies indicated that the contrast enhancement of MRI and CT, and the fluorescence signal intensity of i-fmSiO4@SPION aqueous suspensions and macrophages, were intensified with increased i-fmSiO4@SPION concentrations in suspension and cell culture media. Moreover, for the in vivo study, the accumulation of i-fmSiO4@SPIONs in the liver could also be detected by MRI, CT, and fluorescence imaging. Our study demonstrated that i-fmSiO4@SPIONs had great potential for MRI/CT/fluorescence trimodal imaging

Preparation of Biodegradable Polylactic Acid/Ethyl Cellulose/Zein Composite Film and Its Effect on the Preservation of Chilled fresh Meat

In this study, composite films consisting of polylactic acid (PLA), ethyl cellulose (EC), and zein were prepared by solution casting method, and their performance and application in chilled fresh meat preservation were investigated. The results showed that the three materials had satisfactory compatibility in the composite film. Addition of EC and zein effectively improved the mechanical properties, thermodynamic properties, surface hydrophilicity, oxygen permeability, and degradation properties of PLA films. When the ratio of PLA to EC was 3:7, the tensile strength and elongation at break reached maximum values of 16.6 MPa and 30.5%, respectively. Moreover, under different conditions, the composite film exhibited better degradability than the PLA film. The composite film with a 3:7 ratio of PLA to EC had the best performance, with a degradation rate of 21.75% after 84 days. Chilled fresh meat wrapped with the composite film showed significantly improved antioxidant, antibacterial, and water-holding properties

The migration of acetochlor from feed to milk

Acetochlor has been widely used globally for its effective weed control, but the dietary intake of associated residues by people has become a major concern nowadays. Milk is regarded as the best solvent to dissolve pesticides due to its fat-rich characteristic. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the transfer of acetochlor from feed to raw milk. Twenty lactating Australian Holstein cows were randomly chosen and divided into 1 control group and 3 treatment groups, feeding acetochlor at the dosages of 0, 0.45, 1.35 and 4.05 g per day during the treatment period. The concentration of acetochlor residues in raw milk was detected by QuEChERS together with a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. The results showed that the highest concentrations of acetochlor residues in raw milk for the three treatment groups had a positive correlation with the dosage levels and the transfer efficiency of the low dose group was only 0.080%, higher than those of the other two groups. Besides, the national estimated daily intake (NEDI) of acetochlor from milk is 1.67 × 10(−5) mg kg(−1), which is 0.08% of the ADI. Overall, we concluded that the risk of acetochlor residues in milk was low, but high-dose acetochlor had a larger impact on milk quality and low-dose acetochlor had potential risks

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Visualization of Railway Transportation Engineering Management Using BIM Technology under the Application of Internet of Things Edge Computing

In the past, railway line planning usually required engineers to design based on their own experience after a series of field visits, leading to heavy workload and low efficiency. Moreover, operation and maintenance management is more complicated due to an abundance of railway station equipment. Based on the above problems, this paper first puts forward the railway transportation line planning and design method based on Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology. Besides, LocaSpace Viewer realizes the three-dimensional (3D) visual scene modeling of the railway environment to improve the efficiency of railway line planning and design. Secondly, the railway station’s visual operation and maintenance management system is constructed via BIM Technology. Besides, the Internet of Things (IoT) is combined with edge computing and deep learning technology to build a 3D model of station equipment, collect data in real time, and analyze data efficiently. Finally, the design effect of the model, the performance of the visual management system, and the test results of network transmission delay are displayed and analyzed. The results show that BIM can construct the 3D visualization model with high fidelity for the railway environment. This model can get a reasonable line planning scheme and analyze its feasibility, provide a reliable basis for engineers to plan railway transportation lines, and improve design efficiency. In addition, the GPU occupation rate, CPU occupation rate, and memory occupation rate of the operation and maintenance management system in different operating environments are within the standard range; when multiple clients access the system, the system data access delay is 100% less than 8 ms, which has good performance. Furthermore, the performance of the IoT transmission data real-time scheduling model and the edge computing optimization algorithm applied to this system is better than other popular methods, which can significantly improve the operation efficiency of the system. This study aims to enhance the efficiency of railway transportation line planning and station operation and maintenance management with the help of digital technologies.</jats:p