Lysophosphatidic Acid level and the incidence of silent brain infarction in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), which is proposed to play an important role in normal physiological situations such as wound healing, vascular tone, vascular integrity and reproduction, may be involved in the etiology of some diseases such as atherosclerosis, cancer, obesity or myocardial infarction. Abnormal findings, including silent brain infarction (SBI), are frequently observed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). However, whether there is a relationship between LPA level and the prevalence of SBI has not been extensively studied. In the present study, the association between them was investigated. 235 patients with NVAF, 116 cases of SBI without NVAF and 120 cases of healthy volunteers (control group), who did not receive any antithrombotic therapy, were enrolled in this study. Plasma LPA levels in the NVAF with SBI group were significantly higher than that in the control group (p < 0.01), NVAF without SBI group (p < 0.01) and SBI without NVAF group (p < 0.01). The LPA levels are lower in the control group than in the NVAF without SBI and SBI without NVAF groups (p < 0.01), however, the latter two groups did not significantly differ from each other for LPA levels (p > 0.05) There were significant differences in the positive rate of platelet activation between each of the groups (p < 0.01). The positive rate of platelet activation was significantly higher in the NVAF with SBI group. We suggest that LPA might be a novel marker for estimation of the status of platelet activation and the risk factor for SBI onset in NVAF patients. We expected that plasma LPA levels could predict the occurrence of SBI in NVAF patients.     

PA66/TLCP/埃洛石纳米管三元复合材料的结构与性能

采用熔融共混方法制备了尼龙66(PA66)/热致液晶聚合物(TLCP)/埃洛石纳米管(HNTs)三元复合材料.结果表明,TLCP对PA66起到一定的增强增韧作用,加入HNTs后,PA66/TLCP/HNTs三元复合材料的弯曲性能明显提高,含有质量分数10%TLcP和5%HNTs的三元复合材料相比纯PA66,在冲击强度提高32.6%的同时,拉伸强度、弯曲强度、热变形温度分别提高了约16.3%、103%、22℃.采用差示扫描量热分析研究了复合材料中TLCP和HNT8对PA66结晶和熔融性能的影响,扫描电子显微镜照片和动态热机械分析表明,HNTs的加入改善了PA66与TLCP的相容性,TLCP在HNTs的作用下能够较好地原位成纤.     

交联处理对Lyocell纤维抗原纤化性能的影响

对尚未干燥过的初生Lyocell纤维进行交联处理,并分析了各种交联条件下所制得的Lyocell纤维的原纤化性能。研究结果表明,交联剂的浓度及浸润时间、碱剂的浓度及处理时间都会对控制最终纤维的原纤化程度产生一定的影响。在研究范围内,当交联剂的体积质量浓度为40g/L、浸润时间为40min,且碱剂的体积质量浓度为30g/L、处理时间为30min时,最终所得Lyocell纤维的抗原纤化能力比未处理的普通Lyocell纤维提高了约7倍,由此表明交联处理是提高Lyocell纤维抗原纤化性能的一种有效途径。对纤维微观结构的分析结果进一步表明,经交联处理后,Lyocell纤维的基纤及基纤聚集束的尺寸减少且含量增加,这是导致纤维抗原纤化能力提高的关键结构原因。     

PPTA纤维原纤化过程及结构变化

聚对苯二甲酰对苯二胺(PPTA)纤维有典型的皮芯层结构,原纤化后的浆粕可以用于摩擦材料、密封材料、绝缘、特种纸基材料等复合材料领域。文中使用PFI型立式磨浆机对聚对苯二甲酰对苯二胺(PPTA)纤维进行处理,对原纤化过程中纤维的形态结构变化进行了研究,最后对制备的PPTA原纤化浆粕进行了表征。结果表明,PPTA纤维通过皮层脱落、逐步剥离、纵向劈裂、进一步分丝而实现原纤化,且制得的浆粕打浆度达到75°SR,保水值为380%,比表面积18 m2/g,结晶度49.4%。     

烷基化改性针叶木纤维制备热塑性材料的研究

以针叶木纤维为原料,先通过机械分丝处理、再采用烷基化改性制备出具有低玻璃化转变温度的新型烷基化纤维功能材料.通过红外光谱(IR)、扫描电镜(SEM)、X射线衍射(XRD)、热重(TG)和差示量热扫描(DSC)等对烷基化纤维的结构和物理性能进行了表征.结果表明,针叶木纤维表面的大量羟基能够被环氧氯丙烷中的甲基环氧基取代,表面形貌呈现粘流态.XRD分析表明,改性纤维分子链间隙变大,结晶度下降至21.4%.热分析显示,改性纤维的热塑性提高,玻璃化转变温度为137℃.     

Prediction of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation based on non-linear analysis and spectrum and bispectrum features of the heart rate variability signal

In this paper, an effective paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) prediction algorithm is presented, which is based on analysis of the heart rate variability (HRV) signal. The proposed method consists of a preprocessing step for QRS detection and HRV signal extraction. In the next step, several features which can be used as markers for the prediction of PAF are extracted from the HRV signal. These features consist of spectrum features, bispectrum features, and non-linear features including sample entropy and Poincaré plot-extracted features. The spectrum features are able to discriminate the sympathetic and parasympathetic contents of the HRV signal, which are affected before PAF attacks. The bispectrum features are used in order to reveal information not presented on the spectral domain, and to detect quadratic phase coupled harmonics arising from non-linearities of the HRV signal. Moreover, the non-linear analysis can map the heart rate irregularities in the feature space and it leads to better understanding of the system dynamics before PAF attacks. In the final step, a support vector machine (SVM)-based classifier has been used for PAF prediction. The performance of the proposed method in prediction of PAF episodes was evaluated using the Atrial Fibrillation Prediction Database (AFPDB). The obtained sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictivity were 96.30%, 93.10%, and 92.86%, respectively. The proposed methodology presents better results than the other existing approaches. The other important advantage of the proposed method when compared to the other approaches is that we do not need the both records of a subject to specify which episode preceding PAF events.     

房颤病人体表标测信号的f波提取方法研究

体表标测是一种无创的心电标测技术,在房颤的相关研究中得到了越来越多的应用。房颤病人的体表标测信号可以看做是心室信号、心房信号以及噪声信号三路统计独立的源信号瞬时线性混合而成。为了提取体表标测信号的心房活动(f波),利用独立成分分析(ICA)以及ICA与二阶盲辨识法(SOBI)结合的两种盲信号分离方法 ICA-SOBI法对9位房颤病人的体表标测信号进行f波提取。对提取的结果采用频谱集中度(SC)评价。统计结果表明ICA-SOBI法提取的f波SC较高,提取效果更理想。同时,用ICA-SOBI法对不同子区域的体表标测信号进行f波提取,发现与心脏最接近的体表区域提取的f波SC最高,这一结果对体表电极点的空间分布设计有一定的指导意义。     

A High-Precision,Low-Voltage Pulsed Field Ablation Device with Capability of Minimally Invasive Surgery

Pulsed field ablation is a novel approach to treating 33.5 million patients with atrial fibrillation and offers a tissue-specific advantage over conventional radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation. However, for complex structural targets in the heart, current electrodes often damage non-target areas due to inaccurate ablation and have to employ electrical pulses with amplitudes of several kilovolts. Herein, materials and designs of a catheter-integrated microelectrode and sensors that can be used for high-precision and low-voltage pulsed field ablation through minimally invasive operation on a large animal model, is reported. The device with a new electrode configuration supports point-by-point ablation with a width of 3.8 mm (≈1/10 that of a typical ablation electrode) for individual lesions at the voltage of 300 V (an order of magnitude reduction compared to the current state-of-the-art). More impressively, the integrated catheter allows for pulsed field ablation on the large animal heart through minimally invasive surgery and blocks the electrical conduction pathway on the heart, which is the key to treating atrial fibrillation. This catheter-integrated device will enhance the efficiency and safety of pulsed field ablation, especially for complex cardiac structures, thus facilitating its move to the clinic.     

通过挤出-热拉伸制备CB/PET/PE导电复合材料

在前期热塑性塑料原位成纤研究基础上，尝试通过挤出-热拉伸制备原位微纤化炭黑(CB)／聚对幕二甲酸乙二醇酯(PET)／高密度聚乙烯(HDPE)导电复合材料。先将CB／PET熔融混合制成母料，再将母料和HDPE按一定的比例挤出一热拉伸。实验发现，体系成纤性能受母料的熔融粘度影响。在相对低的CB含量下，复合物能形成较好的原位微纤，从而具有较好的电性能．