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Liquid metal flows are important for many industrial processes, including liquid metal batteries (LMBs), whose efficiency and lifetime can be affected by fluid mixing. We experimentally investigate flows driven by electrical currents in an LMB model. In our cylindrical apparatus, we observe a poloidal flow that descends near the centreline for strong currents, and a poloidal flow that rises near the centreline for weak currents. The first case is consistent with electrovortex flow, which is an interaction between current and its own magnetic field, whereas the second case is consistent with an interaction between current and the external field, which drives Ekman pumping. Notably, we also observe an intermediate case where the two behaviours appear to compete. Comparing results with Frick et al. (2022 J. Fluid Mech.949, A20), we test prior estimates of the scaling of flow speed with current to predict the observed reversal. Based on these data, we propose two different ways to apply the Davidson et al. (1999 J. Fluid Mech.245, 669–699) poloidal suppression theory that explain both experimental results simultaneously: either taking the wire radius into account to scale the Lorentz force, or taking viscous dissipation into account to scale the swirl velocity, following Herreman et al. (2021 J. Fluid Mech.915, A17).
We present the first results from a new backend on the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, the Commensal Realtime ASKAP Fast Transient COherent (CRACO) upgrade. CRACO records millisecond time resolution visibility data, and searches for dispersed fast transient signals including fast radio bursts (FRB), pulsars, and ultra-long period objects (ULPO). With the visibility data, CRACO can localise the transient events to arcsecond-level precision after the detection. Here, we describe the CRACO system and report the result from a sky survey carried out by CRACO at 110-ms resolution during its commissioning phase. During the survey, CRACO detected two FRBs (including one discovered solely with CRACO, FRB 20231027A), reported more precise localisations for four pulsars, discovered two new RRATs, and detected one known ULPO, GPM J1839 $-$10, through its sub-pulse structure. We present a sensitivity calibration of CRACO, finding that it achieves the expected sensitivity of 11.6 Jy ms to bursts of 110 ms duration or less. CRACO is currently running at a 13.8 ms time resolution and aims at a 1.7 ms time resolution before the end of 2024. The planned CRACO has an expected sensitivity of 1.5 Jy ms to bursts of 1.7 ms duration or less and can detect $10\times$ more FRBs than the current CRAFT incoherent sum system (i.e. 0.5 $-$2 localised FRBs per day), enabling us to better constrain the models for FRBs and use them as cosmological probes.
Chronic alcoholism can result in severe liver conditions such as fatty liver disease and cirrhosis, potentially leading to life-threatening complications and premature death.
Objectives
This study investigated the age-sex distribution of patients with alcohol addiction and aimed to identify differences in clinic department preferences based on their principal and additional diagnoses in Taiwan, in 2022.
Methods
We conducted a comprehensive analysis of the diagnostic patterns of 334 patients with alcohol addiction from the Taoyuan General Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Results
Figure 1 depicts patient demographics, highlighting 297 male and 37 female patients with alcohol-related disorders. Males aged 41-60 years were particularly dominant, as shown in Figure 2. Principal diagnoses, including alcoholic liver disease and acute pancreatitis, are detailed in Table 1. Additional diagnoses, such as chronic pancreatitis and esophageal varices, are presented in Table 2. For departmental preferences, Table 3 reveals the Gastrointestinal (GI) department as the top choice, followed by Kidney, Neurological, and Cardiovascular/Chest.Table 1.
Top 5 Principal Diagnoses of Alcohol Addiction Patients.
ICD-10-CM
Principle diagnosis
Times
Rank
K70
Alcoholic liver disease
43
1
K85
Acute pancreatitis
27
2
F10
Alcohol related disorders
18
3
A41
Other sepsis
14
4
K86
Other chronic pancreatits
11
5
Table 2.
Top 5 Additional Diagnoses of Alcohol Addiction Patients.
ICD-10-CM
Additional diagnosis
Times
Rank
F10
Alcohol related disorders
40
1
K86
Other chronic pancreatits
18
2
I85
Esophageal varices
16
3
K70
Other sepsis
16
E87
Other disorders of fluid, electrolyte and acid-base balance
15
4
R65
Symptoms and signs specifically associated with systemic inflammation and infection
10
5
Table 3.
Top 5 Departments for Alcoholism Patient Presentation.
Department
Times
Rank
Gastrointestinal
162
1
Kidney
39
2
Neurological
25
3
Cardiovascular Chest
15
4
Image:
Image 2:
Conclusions
The study revealed that patients with alcohol addiction often delay seeking psychiatric help instead of presenting for medical care only after liver or gastrointestinal complications occur. This underscores the crucial need for better health education regarding the relationship between alcohol addiction and liver disease. Prompt recognition and early intervention for substance addiction can significantly reduce these risks and improve patient outcomes.
The COVID-19 pandemic has stressed global healthcare systems, with Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI) playing a crucial role in prevention and treatment. Like other countries, Taiwan grappled with managing the virus alongside regular healthcare services, resulting in notable financial strain on hospitals after COVID-19 pandemic.
Objectives
This study explores the financial implications of the psychiatric department at a medical center in Taiwan, highlighting the changing dynamics of healthcare costs and revenue during this period.
Methods
Data were collected monthly between January 2020 and September 2022, including the number of outpatient visits, inpatient patient-days, medical revenue, medical costs, and gross medical profit. Multivariate linear regression analysis confirmed the assumptions of the model and validated the findings.
Results
Regression analysis revealed a significant correlation between the number of patients and financial indicators (USD1). Medical revenue (Table. 1), grew by 82 USD for each outpatient visit(p<0.001, 95% CI:41–122), and grew by 70 USD for each inpatient-days(p=0.001, 95% CI:31–108). Medical costs (Table. 2), increased by 59 USD for every inpatient-days (p=0.01, 95% CI:15–102). Finally, the gross medical profits (Table. 3) increased by 72 USD for each outpatient visit (p=0.003, 95% CI:27–117).Table 1.
Multiple linear regression analysis of the impact of medical service on medical revenue.
Revenue
Coef.
SE
t
p
[95% Conf. Interval]
Outpatient (Visits)
82
20
4.136
.000
41
122
Inpatient (Patient Days)
70
19
3.664
.001
31
108
Table 2.
Multiple linear regression analysis of the impact of medical service on medical cost.
Cost
Coef.
SE
t
p
[95% Conf. Interval]
Outpatient (Visits)
9
22
0.422
.676
-36
55
Inpatient (Patient Days)
59
21
2.757
.010
15
102
Table 3.
Multiple linear regression analysis of the impact of medical service on medical gross profit.
Gross Profit
Coef.
SE
t
p
[95% Conf. Interval]
Outpatient (Visits)
72
22
3.261
.003
27
117
Inpatient (Patient Days)
11
21
0.501
.620
-33
54
1All values were converted from TWD to USD using the rate as of 2023/08/15.
In summary, outpatient visits significantly augmented revenue and gross profit, whereas inpatient days led to heightened revenue and costs.
Conclusions
During the COVID-19 outbreak, healthcare systems, including those in Taiwan, were tested for unparalleled service challenges. This study found that while outpatient services boosted profits, rising inpatient admissions strained finances, given their higher costs and staffing needs. After the pandemic, psychiatric departments should reconsider resource allocation to balance expenses and revenues. Effective management is crucial for patient outcomes, emphasizing the need for quality care and fiscal control. Future research must focus on fortifying healthcare resilience.
Background: After a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor stroke, the long-term risk of subsequent stroke is uncertain. Methods: Electronic databases were searched for observational studies reporting subsequent stroke during a minimum follow-up of 1 year in patients with TIA or minor stroke. Unpublished data on number of stroke events and exact person-time at risk contributed by all patients during discrete time intervals of follow-up were requested from the authors of included studies. This information was used to calculate the incidence of stroke in individual studies, and results across studies were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis. Results: Fifteen independent cohorts involving 129794 patients were included in the analysis. The pooled incidence rate of subsequent stroke per 100 person-years was 6.4 events in the first year and 2.0 events in the second through tenth years, with cumulative incidences of 14% at 5 years and 21% at 10 years. Based on 10 studies with information available on fatal stroke, the pooled case fatality rate of subsequent stroke was 9.5% (95% CI, 5.9 – 13.8). Conclusions: One in five patients is expected to experience a subsequent stroke within 10 years after a TIA or minor stroke, with every tenth patient expected to die from their subsequent stroke.
The purpose of this study was to explore the electroencephalogram (EEG) features sensitive to situation awareness (SA) and then classify SA levels. Forty-eight participants were recruited to complete an SA standard test based on the multi-attribute task battery (MATB) II, and the corresponding EEG data and situation awareness global assessment technology (SAGAT) scores were recorded. The population with the top 25% of SAGAT scores was selected as the high-SA level (HSL) group, and the bottom 25% was the low-SA level (LSL) group. The results showed that (1) for the relative power of $\beta$1 (16–20Hz), $\beta$2 (20–24Hz) and $\beta$3 (24–30Hz), repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) in three brain regions (Central Central-Parietal, and Parietal) × three brain lateralities (left, midline, and right) × two SA groups (HSL and LSL) showed a significant main effect for SA groups; post hoc comparisons revealed that compared with LSL, the above features of HSL were higher. (2) for most ratio features associated with $\beta$1 ∼ $\beta$3, ANOVA also revealed a main effect for SA groups. (3) EEG features sensitive to SA were selected to classify SA levels with small-sample data based on the general supervised machine learning classifiers. Five-fold cross-validation results showed that among the models with easy interpretability, logistic regression (LR) and decision tree (DT) presented the highest accuracy (both 92%), while among the models with hard interpretability, the accuracy of random forest (RF) was 88.8%, followed by an artificial neural network (ANN) of 84%. The above results suggested that (1) the relative power of $\beta$1 ∼ $\beta$3 and their associated ratios were sensitive to changes in SA levels; (2) the general supervised machine learning models all exhibited good accuracy (greater than 75%); and (3) furthermore, LR and DT are recommended by combining the interpretability and accuracy of the models.
Understanding particle motion in narrow channels can guide progress in numerous applications, from filtration to vascular transport. Thermal or active fluctuations of fluid-filled channel walls can slow down or increase the dispersion of tracer particles via entropic trapping in the wall bulges or hydrodynamic flows induced by wall fluctuations, respectively. Previous studies concentrated primarily on the case of a single Brownian tracer. Here, we address what happens when there is a large ensemble of interacting Brownian tracers – a common situation in applications. Introducing repulsive interactions between tracer particles, while ignoring the presence of a background fluid, leads to an effective flow field. This flow field enhances tracer dispersion, a phenomenon reminiscent of that seen for single tracers in incompressible background fluid. We characterise the dispersion by the long-time diffusion coefficient of tracers numerically and analytically with a mean-field density functional analysis. We find a surprising effect where an increased particle density enhances the diffusion coefficient, challenging the notion that crowding effects tend to reduce diffusion. Here, inter-particle interactions push particles closer to the fluctuating channel walls. Interactions between the fluctuating wall and the now-nearby particles then drive particle mixing. Our mechanism is sufficiently general that we expect it to apply to various systems. In addition, our perturbation theory quantifies dispersion in generic advection–diffusion systems.
The Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) is being used to undertake a campaign to rapidly survey the sky in three frequency bands across its operational spectral range. The first pass of the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS) at 887.5 MHz in the low band has already been completed, with images, visibility datasets, and catalogues made available to the wider astronomical community through the CSIRO ASKAP Science Data Archive (CASDA). This work presents details of the second observing pass in the mid band at 1367.5 MHz, RACS-mid, and associated data release comprising images and visibility datasets covering the whole sky south of $\delta_{\text{J2000}}=+49^\circ$. This data release incorporates selective peeling to reduce artefacts around bright sources, as well as accurately modelled primary beam responses. The Stokes I images reach a median noise of 198 $\mu$Jy PSF$^{-1}$ with a declination-dependent angular resolution of 8.1–47.5 arcsec that fills a niche in the existing ecosystem of large-area astronomical surveys. We also supply Stokes V images after application of a widefield leakage correction, with a median noise of 165 $\mu$Jy PSF$^{-1}$. We find the residual leakage of Stokes I into V to be $\lesssim 0.9$–$2.4$% over the survey. This initial RACS-mid data release will be complemented by a future release comprising catalogues of the survey region. As with other RACS data releases, data products from this release will be made available through CASDA.
According to CEOWORLD Magazine‘s 2019 “Health Care Indicators” rating of 89 countries in the world, Taiwan ranks first in the world. The coverage of the National Health Insurance covers all necessary medical treatment, including outpatient, hospitalization, and prescription drugs etc. The psychiatrist was wondering which item with the highest service cost–performance (CP) ratio of the psychiatrist performance in a general hospital and used proportion of PPF as performance indicator. He used allocation to distribute the hours across job activities.
Objectives
The purpose of this study is to investigate items allocation proportion for outpatient and inpatient ward in a specific month, examining the distribution of performance and figure out an appropriate model to optimal medical service.
Methods
Demographic data were collected through PPF projects included 15 outpatient items and 19 inpatient ward items from the third-month of the psychiatrist’s employment in the general hospital, as shown in Table 1. Items related to physiological examination has been excluded. The performance is calculated by combining outpatient and inpatient wards.
Results
Demographic data analysis found that proportion of inpatient ward PPF (67.01%) was significantly greater than proportion of outpatient PPF (32.99%) (Figure 1). The inpatient ward performance was 2 times the outpatient performance. This result showed that most performance came from inpatient ward. Among all items of the proportion of PPF unit, the highest two for inpatient ward items were general hospital bed inpatient consultation (32.58%) and special treatment for psychiatric inpatients (14.35%), and for outpatient, the highest was psychiatric outpatient consultation - more than two (11.31%) (Table 1).
Image:
Image 2:
Conclusions
National Health Insurance is an important system to assist in epidemic prevention during the COVID-19 period. The most PPF of psychiatrist service in a general hospital came from the service of inpatient ward items, including the general hospital bed inpatient consultation with the highest CP ratio. These findings may suggest that the inpatient service could offer psychiatrists fair PPF, and the hospital environment could be favorable for recruitment.
TDuring COVID-19 pandemic, it was noticed that it was students who were mostly affected by the changes that aroused because of the pandemic. The interesting part is whether students’ well-being could be associated with their fields of study as well as coping strategies.
Objectives
In this study, we aimed to assess 1) the mental health of students from nine countries with a particular focus on depression, anxiety, and stress levels and their fields of study, 2) the major coping strategies of students after one year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
We conducted an anonymous online cross-sectional survey on 12th April – 1st June 2021 that was distributed among the students from Poland, Mexico, Egypt, India, Pakistan, China, Vietnam, Philippines, and Bangladesh. To measure the emotional distress, we used the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), and to identify the major coping strategies of students - the Brief-COPE.
Results
We gathered 7219 responses from students studying five major studies: medical studies (N=2821), social sciences (N=1471), technical sciences (N=891), artistic/humanistic studies (N=1094), sciences (N=942). The greatest intensity of depression (M=18.29±13.83; moderate intensity), anxiety (M=13.13±11.37; moderate intensity ), and stress (M=17.86±12.94; mild intensity) was observed among sciences students. Medical students presented the lowest intensity of all three components - depression (M=13.31±12.45; mild intensity), anxiety (M=10.37±10.57; moderate intensity), and stress (M=13.65±11.94; mild intensity). Students of all fields primarily used acceptance and self-distraction as their coping mechanisms, while the least commonly used were self-blame, denial, and substance use. The group of coping mechanisms the most frequently used was ‘emotional focus’. Medical students statistically less often used avoidant coping strategies compared to other fields of study. Substance use was only one coping mechanism that did not statistically differ between students of different fields of study. Behavioral disengagement presented the highest correlation with depression (r=0.54), anxiety (r=0.48), and stress (r=0.47) while religion presented the lowest positive correlation with depression (r=0.07), anxiety (r=0.14), and stress (r=0.11).
Conclusions
1) The greatest intensity of depression, anxiety, and stress was observed among sciences students, while the lowest intensity of those components was found among students studying medicine.
2) Not using avoidant coping strategies might be associated with lower intensity of all DASS components among students.
3) Behavioral disengagement might be strongly associated with greater intensity of depression, anxiety, and stress among students.
4) There was no coping mechanism that provided the alleviation of emotional distress in all the fields of studies of students.
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is one of the most common mental illnesses worldwide and is strongly associated with suicidality. Commonly used treatments for MDD with suicidality include crisis intervention, oral antidepressants (although risk of suicidal behavior is high among non-responders and during the first 10-14 days of the treatment) benzodiazepines and lithium. Although several interventions addressing suicidality exist, only few studies have characterized in detail patients with MDD and suicidality, including treatment, clinical course and outcomes. Patient Characteristics, Validity of Clinical Diagnoses and Outcomes Associated with Suicidality in Inpatients with Symptoms of Depression (OASIS-D)-study is an investigator-initiated trial funded by Janssen-Cilag GmbH.
Objectives
For population 1 out of 3 OASIS-D populations, to assess the sub-population of patients with suicidality and its correlates in hospitalized individuals with MDD.
Methods
The ongoing OASIS-D study consecutively examines hospitalized patients at 8 German psychiatric university hospitals treated as part of routine clinical care. A sub-group of patients with persistent suicidality after >48 hours post-hospitalization are assessed in detail and a sub-group of those are followed for 6 months to assess course and treatment of suicidality associated with MDD. The present analysis focuses on a preplanned interim analysis of the overall hospitalized population with MDD.
Results
Of 2,049 inpatients (age=42.5±15.9 years, females=53.2%), 68.0% had severe MDD without psychosis and 21.2% had moderately severe MDD, with 16.7% having treatment-resistant MDD. Most inpatients referred themselves (49.4%), followed by referrals by outpatient care providers (14.6%), inpatient care providers (9.0%), family/friends (8.5%), and ambulance (6.8%). Of these admissions, 43.1% represented a psychiatric emergency, with suicidality being the reason in 35.9%. Altogether, 72.4% had at least current passive suicidal ideation (SI, lifetime=87.2%), including passive SI (25.1%), active SI without plan (15.5%), active SI with plan (14.2%), and active SI with plan+intent (14.1%), while 11.5% had attempted suicide ≤2 weeks before admission (lifetime=28.7%). Drug-induced mental and behavioral disorders (19.6%) were the most frequent comorbid disorders, followed by personality disorders (8.2%). Upon admission, 64.5% were receiving psychiatric medications, including antidepressants (46.7%), second-generation antipsychotics (23.0%), anxiolytics (11.4%) antiepileptics (6.0%), and lithium (2.8%). Altogether, 9.8% reported nonadherence to medications within 6 months of admission.
Conclusions
In adults admitted for MDD, suicidality was common, representing a psychiatric emergency in 35.9% of patients. Usual-care treatments and outcomes of suicidality in hospitalized adults with MDD require further study.
In Taiwan, National Health Insurance has been implemented for 27 years and continues to receive international recognition. People pay part of the quota at the time of medical treatment, and the rest of the medical expenses will be paid by the national health insurance. In this study, the researcher, a psychiatrist in the general hospital, investigated the correlation between service and revenue. He has started to work in this hospital since November 1st, 2021, without any other psychiatrist peers.
Objectives
This study used proportion of PPF as performance indicator and aimed to observe the changes of PPF unit from November 1st, 2021, to January 31st, 2022, examining the trend of PPF growth. The purpose is to figure out an appropriate model to optimize medical services and performance outcomes.
Methods
Demographic data were collected through PPF projects, consisting of 17 inpatient ward items and 14 outpatient items from November 1st, 2021, to January 31st, 2022, and items with no performance or related to physiological examination has been excluded. In addition, items with a ratio of greater than 1.5% are presented in the bar graphs, as shown in Figure 2 and 3. The performance proportion of inpatient ward and outpatient were calculated separately.
Results
Demographic data found PPF rises significantly over time (Figure 1). The 2nd month PPF unit (27.09%) was 2.5 times the 1st month PPF unit (10.70%), and the 3rd month PPF unit (62.21%) was 2.2 times the 2nd month PPF unit (27.085%). The highest proportion of PPF items were general hospital bed inpatient consultation fee for inpatient ward item (Figure 2) and psychiatric outpatient consultation fee for outpatient item (Figure 3). Furthermore, only the proportion of psychiatric outpatient consultation – more than two consecutive transfers increased continuously and the proportion of psychiatric outpatient consultation – adjusted by the hospital decreased, the other items has not changed significantly.
Image:
Image 2:
Image 3:
Conclusions
In the first three months of the psychiatrist employment, the performance showed an increasing trend. These findings may suggest that the psychiatrist could be competent in a general hospital with patients’ confidence. In addition, under an optimal model of PPF and medical service, psychiatrists would more like to work in the general hospital, to serve acute psychiatric patients in need.
Olanzapine (OLA) is a common first-prescribed antipsychotic and has shown favorable efficacy in acutely exacerbated patients with schizophrenia. The mixed receptor activity of OLA and its greater affinity for serotonin 5-HT2A rather than dopamine D2 receptors are similar to those of clozapine. Pharmacokinetically, OLA is metabolized mainly by hepatic cytochrome enzyme P450 1A2 (CYP1A2). Because risks of antipsychotic polypharmacy include increased drug-drug interactions, pharmacokinetic considerations are important for selection of antipsychotics to be combined. Due to its pharmacological characteristics, amisulpride (AMI), another atypical antipsychotic with proven efficacy, is a promising adjuvant agent of special interest. AMI is unlikely to interact with other drugs due to the low plasma protein binding and metabolism and does not affect the activity of the CYP system. Furthermore, AMI is highly selective for dopamine D2/D3 receptors; has minimal or no affinity for D1, D4, or D5 receptors. Despite the potential benefits of the combination of OLA and AMI, only a few open-label studies have been conducted, and no randomized clinical trial has been performed to date to examine the efficacy and tolerability of the combination. Hence, the goals of this study were to test the hypothesis that AMI augmentation would improve psychotic symptoms and be well tolerated in schizophrenic patients who showed poor response to OLA monotherapy.
Objectives
The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy and tolerability of continued olanzapine (OLA) versus amisulpride (AMI) augmentation in schizophrenic patients with poor response to OLA monotherapy.
Methods
The present 4-week, randomized, rater-blinded study included 25 patients with schizophrenia who were partially or completely unresponsive to treatment with OLA monotherapy. Eligible subjects were randomly assigned at a 1:1 ratio to continuation of OLA monotherapy (OLA group) or OLA with AMI augmentation (AMI group). Efficacy was primarily evaluated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) at baseline and at 1, 2, and 4 weeks.
Results
The changes in PANSS total score and PANSS-positive subscale score were significantly different (p < 0.05) between the OLA and AMI groups. The differences between the two groups in PANSS-negative subscale, PANSS-general subscale, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, and Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) scale scores were not statistically significant.
Conclusions
AMI augmentation could be an effective strategy for patients with schizophrenia who show inadequate early response to OLA monotherapy.
Disclosure of Interest
W.-M. Bahk Grant / Research support from: Handok Pharmaceuticals, Seoul, Korea, Y. S. Woo: None Declared, S.-Y. Park: None Declared, B.-H. Yoon: None Declared, S.-M. Wang: None Declared, M.-D. Kim: None Declared
In this paper, a super-twisting disturbance observer (STDO)-based adaptive reinforcement learning control scheme is proposed for the straight air compound missile system with aerodynamic uncertainties and unmodeled dynamics. Firstly, neural network (NN)-based adaptive reinforcement learning control scheme with actor-critic design is investigated to deal with the tracking problems for the straight gas compound system. The actor NN and the critic NN are utilised to cope with the unmodeled dynamics and approximate the cost function that are related to control input and tracking error, respectively. In other words, the actor NN is used to perform the tracking control behaviours, and the critic NN aims to evaluate the tracking performance and give feedback to actor NN. Moreover, with the aid of the STDO disturbance observer, the problem of the control signal fluctuation caused by the mismatched disturbance can be solved well. Based on the proposed adaptive law and the Lyapunov direct method, the eventually consistent boundedness of the straight gas compound system is proved. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out to demonstrate the feasibility and superiority of the proposed reinforcement learning-based STDO control algorithm.
The target backsheath field acceleration mechanism is one of the main mechanisms of laser-driven proton acceleration (LDPA) and strongly depends on the comprehensive performance of the ultrashort ultra-intense lasers used as the driving sources. The successful use of the SG-II Peta-watt (SG-II PW) laser facility for LDPA and its applications in radiographic diagnoses have been manifested by the good performance of the SG-II PW facility. Recently, the SG-II PW laser facility has undergone extensive maintenance and a comprehensive technical upgrade in terms of the seed source, laser contrast and terminal focus. LDPA experiments were performed using the maintained SG-II PW laser beam, and the highest cutoff energy of the proton beam was obviously increased. Accordingly, a double-film target structure was used, and the maximum cutoff energy of the proton beam was up to 70 MeV. These results demonstrate that the comprehensive performance of the SG-II PW laser facility was improved significantly.
Background: Meningiomas are the most common intracranial tumor, graded from 1 (benign) to 3 (malignant). The aim of this study was to identify clinical features associated with overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and functional status for malignant meningiomas. Methods: Demographic, clinical and histopathological data from grade 3 intracranial meningioma cases were identified in the clinical databases from seven sites in North America and Europe from 1991-2022. Summary statistics and Kaplan-Meier OS and PFS curves were generated. Results: We identified 108 patients, with a median age 65 years (IQR: 52, 72) and 53.7% were female. Median OS was 109 months (95% CIs: 88, 227), and 5-year OS rate was 65% (95% CIs: 56, 76). Median PFS was 38 months (95% CIs: 24, 56) and 5-year PFS rate was 37% (95% CIs: 28, 49). OS and PFS were significantly lower in patients aged ≥65 years. Median preoperative KPS score was 80 (IQR: 70, 90), postoperatively KPS was 90 (IQR: 70, 98) and 1-year follow-up KPS was 70 (IQR: 50, 80). Conclusions: This study provides robust survival, recurrence and functional data for grade 3 meningiomas in North America and Europe over a 30-year period.
This study aimed to compare the pre- and post-operative vestibular and equilibrium functions of patients with cholesteatoma-induced labyrinthine fistulas who underwent different management methods.
Methods
Data from 49 patients with cholesteatoma-induced labyrinthine fistulas who underwent one of three surgical procedures were retrospectively analysed. The three management options were fistula repair, obliteration and canal occlusion.
Results
Patients underwent fistula repair (n = 8), canal occlusion (n = 18) or obliteration procedures (n = 23). Patients in the fistula repair and canal occlusion groups suffered from post-operative vertigo and imbalance, which persisted for longer than in those in the obliteration group. Despite receiving different management strategies, all patients achieved complete recovery of equilibrium functions through persistent efforts in rehabilitation exercises.
Conclusion
Complete removal of the cholesteatoma matrix overlying the fistula is reliable for preventing iatrogenic hearing deterioration due to unremitting labyrinthitis. Thus, among the three fistula treatments, obliteration is the optimal method for preserving post-operative vestibular functions.
Abnormal reward functioning is central to anhedonia and amotivation symptoms of schizophrenia (SCZ). Reward processing encompasses a series of psychological components. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the brain dysfunction related to reward processing of individuals with SCZ spectrum disorders and risks, covering multiple reward components.
Methods
After a systematic literature search, 37 neuroimaging studies were identified and divided into four groups based on their target psychology components (i.e. reward anticipation, reward consumption, reward learning, effort computation). Whole-brain Seed-based d Mapping (SDM) meta-analyses were conducted for all included studies and each component.
Results
The meta-analysis for all reward-related studies revealed reduced functional activation across the SCZ spectrum in the striatum, orbital frontal cortex, cingulate cortex, and cerebellar areas. Meanwhile, distinct abnormal patterns were found for reward anticipation (decreased activation of the cingulate cortex and striatum), reward consumption (decreased activation of cerebellum IV/V areas, insula and inferior frontal gyri), and reward learning processing (decreased activation of the striatum, thalamus, cerebellar Crus I, cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and parietal and occipital areas). Lastly, our qualitative review suggested that decreased activation of the ventral striatum and anterior cingulate cortex was also involved in effort computation.
Conclusions
These results provide deep insights on the component-based neuro-psychopathological mechanisms for anhedonia and amotivation symptoms of the SCZ spectrum.
As a typical plasma-based optical element that can sustain ultra-high light intensity, plasma density gratings driven by intense laser pulses have been extensively studied for wide applications. Here, we show that the plasma density grating driven by two intersecting driver laser pulses is not only nonuniform in space but also varies over time. Consequently, the probe laser pulse that passes through such a dynamic plasma density grating will be depolarized, that is, its polarization becomes spatially and temporally variable. More importantly, the laser depolarization may spontaneously take place for crossed laser beams if their polarization angles are arranged properly. The laser depolarization by a dynamic plasma density grating may find application in mitigating parametric instabilities in laser-driven inertial confinement fusion.
Effects of plasma non-uniformities and kinetic dispersiveness on the spontaneous excitation of geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) by reversed shear Alfvén eigenmode (RSAE) are investigated numerically. It is found that, due to the turning points induced by the shear Alfvén continuum structure, the nonlinear excitation of GAM is a quasiexponentially growing absolute instability. As the radial dependence of GAM frequency and pump RSAE mode structure are accounted for, the radially inward propagating GAM is preferentially excited, leading to core localized thermal plasma heating by GAM collisionless damping. Our work, thus, suggests that GAM excitation plays a crucial role in not only RSAE nonlinear saturation, but also anomalous fuel ion heating in future reactors.