Association Between Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease and Laryngeal Disorders: Real-World Evidence.

OBJECTIVE: The association between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and laryngeal disorders remains debatable, although it has been the focus of extensive clinical and laboratory research. We conducted this study to obtain evidence on the association. STUDY DESIGN: Population-based cohort study. SETTING: Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). METHODS: Using data from Taiwan's NHIRD (January 2000 to December 2018), we performed a population-based analysis to estimate the risk of laryngeal disorders in patients with GERD and those without GERD. RESULTS: The GERD and non-GERD cohorts comprised 176,319 and 705,276 patients, respectively. The cohorts were matched at a ratio of 1:4 based on sex, age, urbanization level, and income level. The risk of laryngeal disorders was higher in the GERD cohort than in the non-GERD cohort (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.64; 95% confidence interval: 1.61-1.67). CONCLUSION: This study is the first to use population data for identifying the association between GERD and laryngeal disorders for real-world findings. Our population-based analysis indicates that patients with GERD have an elevated risk of laryngeal disorders.

Epidemiology of and risk factors associated with third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Escherichia coli carriage in children: A comparison between regions in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: The increasing prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) in the community is a global public health challenge. This study investigated the prevalence of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant (3GCR) E. coli fecal carriage in children, identified associated risk factors, and determined antimicrobial resistance patterns of E. coli across three regions of Taiwan. METHODS: Stool samples from children aged 0-18 years were collected in southern, northern, and eastern Taiwan from community or outpatient clinics between July 2022 and May 2023. E. coli colonies were selected and examined for antimicrobial susceptibility and multilocus sequence typing. Participant demographic data and potential risk factors for carrying resistant E. coli were surveyed using a questionnaire. RESULTS: Of the 246 children surveyed, 59.3% carried multidrug-resistant (MDR) E. coli, and 37.4% carried 3GCR E. coli. The prevalence of 3GCR E. coli carriage was highest in southern Taiwan (42.7%), followed by northern Taiwan (35.5%) and eastern Taiwan (28.4%). The study identified several risk factors which may be associated with the fecal carriage of 3GCR E. coli, such as having lower paternal education levels, being overweight or obese, having a nonvegetarian diet, and consuming eggs, with variations observed across regions. CONCLUSION: This study documented elevated fecal carriage rates of 3GCR and MDR E. coli across regions of Taiwan. The study also identified numerous demographic and environmental factors that require implementing comprehensive strategies to address this public health challenge.

Gut microbiota compositions in the carriers and noncarriers of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Escherichia coli: A study among children in southern Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistance, particularly in third-generation cephalosporin-resistant (3GC-R) Escherichia coli (E. coli), poses major global health challenges and has various clinical implications. Researchers have explored the relationship between extended-spectrum ß-lactamase-producing E. coli and gut microbiota composition, which influence host health and disease susceptibility, in adults. In this study, we analyzed gut microbiota composition in Taiwanese children by the colonization status of 3GC-R E. coli. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included children (age, 0-6 years) from Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Fecal samples were subjected to microbiological and gut microbiome (full-length 16S rRNA sequencing) analyses. The antimicrobial susceptibility of E. coli colonies isolated from the samples was tested. Furthermore, gut microbiota compositions and diversity indices were compared between 3GC-R E. coli carriers and noncarriers. RESULTS: Approximately 46% of all children aged <6 years carried 3GC-R E. coli. The abundances of Drancourtella, Romboutsia, and Desulfovibrio (genus level) were higher in carriers than in noncarriers. By contrast, the abundances of Odoribacteraceae (family level) and Sutterella (genus level) were higher in noncarriers than in carriers. No significant between-group difference was observed in alpha diversity. However, a significant between-group difference was noted in beta diversity (unweighted UniFrac analysis). CONCLUSION: This is the first study that investigated differences in the gut microbiota between healthy 3GC-R E. coli carriers and noncarriers in children, suggesting potential mechanisms involving altered utilization of short-chain fatty acids and elevated succinate levels contributing to increased colonization of 3GC-R E. coli. The other taxa identified in this study may contribute to colonization resistance in the pediatric population.

Unveiling the future: Bibliometric analysis on the application of nanomaterials in osteoarthritis (2006-2023).

Background: As the population ages, the socio-economic impact of osteoarthritis (OA) is becoming increasingly significant. In recent years, there has been a growing focus on the design and development of nanomaterials for diagnosing and treating OA. This study aims to comprehensively evaluate the current status and trends in the application of nanomaterials in OA through bibliometric analysis and provide a review. Methods: Studies on nanomaterials and OA were sourced from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database, with relevant articles selected based on predefined inclusion criteria. Quantitative and visual analyses of the included publications were conducted using tools such as VOSviewer, and GraphPad Prism 9.5.0. Results: A total of 532 publications were included in this study. The number of annual publications has increased steadily from 2006 to 2023. China, the United States, and South Korea are the leading countries in this field. Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Li Zheng are recognized as the most influential institutions and authors, respectively. Biomaterials is the most frequently published and cited journal. Current research primarily focuses on drug delivery and the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of nanomaterials. Recent research hotspots include mesoporous silica nanoparticles, electrostatic interaction, and injectable hydrogels. Conclusion: In this study, we summarised the annual publication trends and identified the most influential countries, institutions, authors, journals, and current research and development trends in the application of nanomaterials for OA.

Generating Airy surface acoustic waves with dislocated interdigital transducers.

We propose an innovative design for interdigital transducers (IDTs), enabling phase modulation of surface acoustic waves (SAWs) with a dislocated electrode structure. By designing the size and arrangement of these dislocated IDTs, a novel type of Airy SAWs can be generated, exhibiting self-accelerating, self-bending, and self-healing characteristics. The acceleration of the generated Airy SAW is 0.081 cm-1. Furthermore, particles and bubbles can be precisely manipulated using the generated Airy SAW. The proposed dislocated IDTs could be used for generation of many other types of SAWs, hence holding great promise for applications including SAW shaping, particle manipulation/sorting, and acoustic sensing/detection.

Metabolic engineering improves transduction efficiency and downstream vector isolation by altering the lipid composition of extracellular vesicle-enclosed AAV.

Adeno-associated viruses (AAV) are promising vectors for gene therapy due to their efficacy in vivo. However, there is room for improvement to address key limitations such as the pre-existing immunity to AAV in patients, high-dose toxicity, and relatively low efficiency for some cell types. This study introduces a metabolic engineering approach, using knockout of the enzyme phosphatidylserine synthase 1 (PTDSS1) to increase the abundance of extracellular vesicle-enclosed AAV (EV-AAV) relative to free AAV in the supernatant of producer cells, simplifying downstream purification processes. The lipid-engineered HEK293T-ΔPTDSS1 cell line achieved a 42.7-fold enrichment of EV-AAV9 compared to free AAV9 in the supernatant. The rational genetic strategy also led to a 300-fold decrease of free AAV in supernatant compared to wild-type HEK293T. The membrane-engineered EV-AAV9 (mEV-AAV9) showed unique envelope composition alterations, including cholesterol enrichment and improved transduction efficiency in human AC16 cardiomyocytes by 1.5-fold compared to conventional EV-AAV9 and by 11-fold compared to non-enveloped AAV9. Robust in-vivo transduction four weeks after intraparenchymal administration of mEV-AAV9 was observed in the murine brain. This study shows promise in the potential of lipid metabolic engineering strategies to improve the efficiency and process development of enveloped gene delivery vectors. Keywords: membrane engineering, EV-AAV, upstream, downstream.

Integrating traditional Chinese Medicine reduced the risk of hip fracture in patients with dementia.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The high incidence of hip fracture is an important problem among dementia patients because of their higher risk of falls and balance deficits due to a lack of physical activity. The aim of this study was to investigate whether traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapy could reduce the risk of hip fracture in dementia patients. METHODS: We identified 38,071 patients who were first diagnosed with dementia from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2017, from the database of the 2000 Longitudinal Generation Tracking Database (LGTD 2000) provided by the Health and Welfare Data Science Center (HWDC) in Taiwan. Patients who received TCM treatment after the initial diagnosis of dementia were assigned to the TCM group, and patients who never received TCM treatment were assigned to the non-TCM group. After performing 1:1 propensity score matching (1:1) based on age, sex, comorbidities and medication between the TCM and non-TCM groups, there were 902 patients in each group. Patients were followed up to December 31, 2018, and incidences of hip fracture after the initial diagnosis of dementia between the two groups were compared with Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: Ninety-four patients in the non-TCM group (10.42%) and 58 patients in the TCM group (6.43%) suffered from hip fracture during the follow-up period. Patients in the TCM group had a lower incidence of hip fracture than those in the non-TCM group (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.54, 95% confidence interval = 0.38-0.76). CONCLUSIONS: Integrating TCM health care for dementia patients might reduce the risk of hip fracture.

Progranulin: A promising biomarker and therapeutic target for fibrotic diseases.

Progranulin (PGRN), a multifunctional growth factor-like protein expressed by a variety of cell types, serves an important function in the physiologic and pathologic processes of fibrotic diseases, including wound healing and the inflammatory response. PGRN was discovered to inhibit pro-inflammation effect by competing with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) binding to TNF receptors. Notably, excessive tissue repair in the development of inflammation causes tissue fibrosis. Previous investigations have indicated the significance of PGRN in regulating inflammatory responses. Recently, multiple studies have shown that PGRN was linked to fibrogenesis, and was considered to monitor the formation of fibrosis in multiple organs, including liver, cardiovascular, lung and skin. This paper is a comprehensive review summarizing our current knowledge of PGRN, from its discovery to the role in fibrosis. This is followed by an in-depth look at the characteristics of PGRN, consisting of its structure, basic function and intracellular signaling. Finally, we will discuss the potential of PGRN in the diagnosis and treatment of fibrosis.

Causal relationships of infection with Helicobacter pylori and herpesvirus on periodontitis: A Mendelian randomization study.

Background: To explore the causal association between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, herpesvirus infection and periodontitis (PD) from a genetic perspective using Mendelian randomization (MR). Methods: The PD data were derived from genome-wide association study (GWAS) from the Dental Endpoints (GLIDE) consortium, and the FinnGen Biobank provided data on H. pylori and herpesvirus infections. In addition, we examined GWAS data for subtypes of H. pylori and herpesvirus infection. Inverse variance weighting (IVW) was selected as a major analysis technique, and weighted median (WM), weighted model, simple model, and MR-Egger regression were added as supplementary methods. To verify the findings, the effects of pleiotropy and heterogeneity were assessed. Results: Genetically predicted H. pylori infection (OR = 0.914, 95%CI = 0.693-1.205, P = 0.523), anti-H. pylori VacA (OR = 0.973, 95%CI = 0.895-1.057, P = 0.515), anti-H. pylori CagA (OR = 1.072, 95%CI = 0.986-1.164; P = 0.102), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection (OR = 1.026, 95%CI = 0.940-1.120, P = 0.567), Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection (OR = 0.962, 95%CI = 0.883-1.048, P = 0.372), cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection (OR = 1.025, 95%CI = 0.967-1.088, P = 0.415), EBV nuclear antigen-1 (EBNA1) (OR = 1.061, 95%CI = 0.930-1.209, P = 0.378), EBV virus capsid antigen (VCA) (OR = 1.043, 95CI% = 0.890-1.222, P = 0.603), HSV-1 (OR = 1.251, 95%CI = 0.782-2.001, P = 0.351), HSV-2 (OR = 1.020, 95%CI = 0.950-1.096, P = 0.585), CMV IgG (OR = 0.990, 95CI% = 0.882-1.111, P = 0.861) were not associated with PD, indicated that H. pylori and herpesvirus infection had no causal relationship to PD. Reverse studies also found no cause effect of PD on H. pylori or herpesvirus infection. The results of the sensitivity analysis suggested the robustness of the MR results. Conclusion: This study offered preliminary proof that H. pylori and herpesvirus infections were not causally linked to PD, and vice versa. However, more robust instrumental variables (IVs) and larger samples of GWAS data were necessary for further MR analysis.

Mitophagy Promotes Hair Regeneration by Activating Glutathione Metabolism.

Mitophagy maintains tissue homeostasis by self-eliminating defective mitochondria through autophagy. How mitophagy regulates stem cell activity during hair regeneration remains unclear. Here, we found that mitophagy promotes the proliferation of hair germ (HG) cells by regulating glutathione (GSH) metabolism. First, single-cell RNA sequencing, mitochondrial probe, transmission electron microscopy, and immunofluorescence staining showed stronger mitochondrial activity and increased mitophagy-related gene especially Prohibitin 2 (Phb2) expression at early-anagen HG compared to the telogen HG. Mitochondrial inner membrane receptor protein PHB2 binds to LC3 to initiate mitophagy. Second, molecular docking and functional studies revealed that PHB2-LC3 activates mitophagy to eliminate the damaged mitochondria in HG. RNA-seq, single-cell metabolism, immunofluorescence staining, and functional validation discovered that LC3 promotes GSH metabolism to supply energy for promoting HG proliferation. Third, transcriptomics analysis and immunofluorescence staining indicated that mitophagy was down-regulated in the aged compared to young-mouse HG. Activating mitophagy and GSH pathways through small-molecule administration can reactivate HG cell proliferation followed by hair regeneration in aged hair follicles. Our findings open up a new avenue for exploring autophagy that promotes hair regeneration and emphasizes the role of the self-elimination effect of mitophagy in controlling the proliferation of HG cells by regulating GSH metabolism.

Trifolium pratense as a novel phytogenic supplement, is an anticoccidial agent in chickens.

Coccidiosis, caused by a protozoan parasite of the genus Eimeria, is one of the most severe contagious parasite diseases affecting the poultry industry worldwide. Using phytogenics to prevent chicken coccidiosis is a strategy aimed at combating the increasing issue of drug-resistant strains of Eimeria spp. This study demonstrates the anticoccidial activities of a medicinal herb, Trifolium pratense (TP) powder, and its ethanolic extract (designated TPE) against Eimeria spp. TPE exhibited significant suppressive activity against E. maxima oocyst sporulation and E. tenella sporozoite invasion and reproduction in Madin-Darby bovine kidney cells. Furthermore, administration of basal chicken diets containing TP powder or TPE to Eimeria-infected chickens significantly reduced the output of oocysts and severity of intestinal lesions. Dietary supplementation with TP significantly improved relative weight gain in E. tenella- and E. acervulina-infected chickens, while there was no significant improvement in E. maxima-infected chickens. The anticoccidial activities of TP and TPE on E. acervulina, E. tenella and E. maxima were further supported by anticoccidial index scores, which showed greater efficacy than those of amprolium, a commercial coccidiostat used in poultry. TP supplementation positively impacted the primary metabolism of chickens challenged with E. tenella or E. acervulina. The chemical fingerprints of TPE were established using liquid column chromatography; TPE contained 4 major compounds: ononin, sissotrin, formononetin, and biochanin A. In addition, various spectrometric methods were used to ensure the batch-to-batch consistency of TP/TPE. In conclusion, T. pratense is demonstrated to be a novel phytogenic supplement that can be used to control Eimeria-induced coccidiosis in chickens.

Usability of Minimal Invasive Surgery for Elbow Dislocation with Coronoid Process Fracture: A Protocol Development Study.

OBJECTIVE: The study aims to explain whether or not minimal invasive surgery (MIS) would be feasible in elbow fracture-dislocation with coronoid process fracture. METHODS: At Taipei Veterans General Hospital, patients who had elbow dislocations with coronoid process fractures underwent a single surgeon's MIS techniques which included the fluoroscopy-guided ulnar anteromedial (FGUAM) approach in the stage of reducing the coronoid process. When there is a proximal ulnar fracture, the posterior incision should be necessary, followed by the incision over the lateral or medial elbow for treating radial fractures or ligament injuries. RESULTS: The Flow Diagram for approach recommendation was established on the basis of defining MIS as that which does not include cross-plane dissection. The importance of anterior rigid fixation for the coronoid process was also emphasized. CONCLUSIONS: MIS can be achieved by multiple limited surgical incisions. Although the posterior extensile approach is necessary in situations of ulnar metaphysis or ligament avulsion fracture, the FGUAM approach decreases the cross-plane dissection.

Paraneoplastic dermatomyositis and Hodgkin's lymphoma in a 14-year-old girl: a case report and literature review.

Background: Juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) is a rare autoimmune myopathy whose main clinical manifestations include a characteristic rash, symmetrical proximal muscle weakness, and elevated muscle enzymes. While approximately one-third of adult patients with dermatomyositis (DM) develop malignancies, typically within a year of diagnosis, this phenomenon is not commonly observed in patients with JDM. In this study, we present a rare case of both JDM and Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) diagnosed in an adolescent female patient. Case description: A 14-year-old girl with proximal muscle weakness and myalgia for 8 weeks was admitted to the hospital and ultimately received a diagnosis of DM. A thorough physical examination revealed enlarged lymph nodes on both sides of the cervical, and a lymph node biopsy was performed to diagnose HL. After she underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy, her symptoms of both HL and DM were alleviated. Conclusion: The phenomenon of JDM as a paraneoplastic syndrome associated with HL is very rare. Thus, routine cancer screening for DM in adolescents is currently not recommended. The diagnosis of JDM requires a detailed physical examination, and further tumor screening is necessary for patients with unusual physical findings, such as atypical rashes, enlarged lymph nodes, and enlargement of the spleen and/or liver. Even if no malignancy is detected when JDM is diagnosed, long-term follow-up is necessary.

Effects of yeast culture supplementation on milk yield, rumen fermentation, metabolism, and bacterial composition in dairy goats.

The effects of yeast culture (YC) on dairy goat milk yield and potential effects of rumen microbial population changes on rumen fermentation are poorly understood. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of YC on milk yield and rumen fermentation in dairy goats and explore the potential microbial mechanisms. Forty Laoshan dairy goats with a weight of 51.23 ± 2.23 kg and daily milk yield of 1.41 ± 0.26 kg were randomly divided into 4 groups: control (no YC), YC1 (10 g/day per goat), YC2 (25 g/day per goat), and YC3 (40 g/day per goat). The pre-feeding period was 15 days, and the official period was 60 days. Laoshan dairy goats were milked twice daily, and the individual milk yield was recorded. On the last day of the official period, rumen fluid was collected to measure rumen fermentation, perform quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and detect metabolites. Compared to the control group, the YC group had greater milk yield; higher acetic acid, butyric acid, and total volatile fatty acid contents; and lower ammonia-N (NH3-N) content in the rumen (p < 0.05). YC increased the abundance of Clostridia_UCG-014 and Paraprevotella (p < 0.05). Differential metabolites L-leucine and aspartic acid were screened. This study revealed the microbial mechanisms linking the relative abundance of Paraprevotella and Clostridia_UCG-014 to L-leucine and aspartic acid utilization. These results describe the potential benefits of supplementing 10 g/day per goat YC in the diets of Laoshan dairy goats for improving the rumen environment and milk yield.

MSR1-dependent efferocytosis improved ischemia-reperfusion injury following aged-donor liver transplantation in mice by regulating the pro-resolving polarisation of macrophages.

Compared with young liver donors, aged liver donors are more susceptible to ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) following transplantation, which may be related to excessive inflammatory response and macrophage dysfunction, but the specific mechanism is unclear. Macrophage scavenger receptor 1 (MSR1) is a member of the scavenger receptor family, and plays an important regulatory role in inflammation response and macrophage function regulation. But its role in IRI following aged-donor liver transplantation is still unclear. This study demonstrates that MSR1 expression is decreased in macrophages from aged donor livers, inhibiting their efferocytosis and pro-resolving polarisation. Decreased MSR1 is responsible for the more severe IRI suffered by aged donor livers. Overexpression of MSR1 using F4/80-labelled AAV9 improved intrahepatic macrophage efferocytosis and promoted pro-resolving polarisation, ultimately ameliorating IRI following aged-donor liver transplantation. In vitro co-culture experiments further showed that overexpression of MSR1 promoted an increase in calcium concentration, which further activated the PI3K-AKT-GSK3ß pathway, and induced the upregulation of ß-catenin. Overall, MSR1-dependent efferocytosis promoted the pro-resolving polarisation of macrophages through the PI3K-AKT-GSK3ß pathway-induced up-regulating of ß-catenin leading to improved IRI following aged-donor liver transplantation.

Pyridine-Anchored Small Molecule Interlayer Enables Defect Passivation and Enhanced Carrier Transport for Perovskite Solar Cells.

Engineering of the interface between the perovskite and hole transport layer (HTL) has been crucial to achieving high performance. In this study, two interfacial materials, MN-CZ and CN-CZ, are designed by systematically regulating the group substitution site to study the relationship between spatial conformation and the passivation effect. The passivation groups of CN-CZ molecules exhibit a stronger "vector addition" effect, resulting in larger molecular dipoles and enhanced defect passivation and energy level regulation effects. Consequently, the CN-CZ-based perovskite solar cell (PSC) shows a high efficiency of 23.8%, which is much higher than that of the reference device. Meanwhile, the humidity and thermal stability of the unencapsulated device have been significantly improved.

Biological characteristics of flowers and examination of pollen viability at different developmental stages of Epimedium sagittatum (Sieb. et Zucc.) Maxim.

To gain a deeper understanding of the flowering pattern and reproductive characteristics of Epimedium sagittatum, to enrich the research on the flower development of E. sagittatum and its reproductive regulation, and to screen the methods suitable for the rapid detection of pollen viability of E. sagittatum and to promote its cross-breeding. The characteristics of its flower parts were observed, recorded and measured, and the pollen viability of E. sagittatumwas determined by five methods, including TTC staining, I2-KI staining, red ink staining, peroxidase method and in vitro germination method. The flowering process of E. sagittatum can be divided into five stages: calyx dehiscence, bract spathe, petal outgrowth, pollen dispersal, and pollination and withering. The results of I2-KI staining and peroxidase method were significantly higher than those of other methods; the in vitro germination method was intuitive and accurate, but the operation was complicated and time-consuming; the red ink staining method was easy to operate and had obvious staining effect, and the results were the closest to those of the in vitro germination method; and it was found that the pollen of E. sagittatum was not as effective as the in vitro germination method at the bud stamen stage, the flower stigma and the flower bud. It was also found that the pollen viability and germination rate of E. sagittatum pollen were higher in the three periods of bud spitting, petal adductor and pollen dispersal. Comparing the five methods, the red ink staining method was found to be a better method for the rapid detection of pollen viability; the best pollination periods of E. sagittatum were the bud stamen stage, petal adductor stage, and pollen dispersal stage of flowers at the peak of bloom. This study on the flowering and fruiting pattern of E. sagittatum, and the related mechanism of sexual reproduction, can be used as a reference for the next step of research on the breeding of E. sagittatum.

Conduction system pacing upgrade versus biventricular pacing on pacemaker-induced cardiomyopathy: a retrospective observational study.

Objective: The feasibility of the conduction system pacing (CSP) upgrade as an alternative modality to the traditional biventricular pacing (BiVP) upgrade in patients with pacemaker-induced cardiomyopathy (PICM) remains uncertain. This study sought to compare two modalities of CSP (His bundle pacing (HBP) and left bundle branch pacing (LBBP)) with BiVP and no upgrades in patients with pacing-induced cardiomyopathy. Methods: This retrospective analysis comprised consecutive patients who underwent either BiVP or CSP upgrade for PICM at the cardiac department from 2017 to 2021. Patients with a follow-up period exceeding 12 months were considered for the final analysis. Results: The final group of patients who underwent upgrades included 48 individuals: 11 with BiVP upgrades, 24 with HBP upgrades, and 13 with LBBP upgrades. Compared to the baseline data, there were significant improvements in cardiac performance at the last follow-up. After the upgrade, the QRS duration (127.81 ± 31.89 vs 177.08 ± 34.35 ms, p < 0.001), NYHA class (2.28 ± 0.70 vs 3.04 ± 0.54, p < 0.05), left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) (54.08 ± 4.80 vs 57.50 ± 4.85 mm, p < 0.05), and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (44.46% ± 6.39% vs 33.15% ± 5.25%, p < 0.001) were improved. There was a noticeable improvement in LVEF in the CSP group (32.15% ± 3.22% vs 44.95% ± 3.99% (p < 0.001)) and the BiVP group (33.90% ± 3.09% vs 40.83% ± 2.99% (p < 0.001)). The changes in QRS duration were more evident in CSP than in BiVP (56.65 ± 11.71 vs 34.67 ± 13.32, p < 0.001). Similarly, the changes in LVEF (12.8 ± 3.66 vs 6.93 ± 3.04, p < 0.001) and LVEDD (5.80 ± 1.71 vs 3.16 ± 1.35, p < 0.001) were greater in CSP than in BiVP. The changes in LVEDD (p = 0.549) and LVEF (p = 0.570) were similar in the LBBP and HBP groups. The threshold in LBBP was also lower than that in HBP (1.01 ± 0.43 vs 1.33 ± 0.32 V, p = 0.019). Conclusion: The improvement of clinical outcomes in CSP was more significant than in BiVP. CSP may be an alternative therapy to CRT for patients with PICM. LBBP would be a better choice than HBP due to its lower thresholds.

Study on the Mechanical Parameters and Permeability of Coal Reservoirs at Different Temperatures.

Deep coal reservoirs, as opposed to their shallower counterparts, exhibit characteristics of higher temperatures and pressures. These conditions affect the fracture structure and mechanical properties of coal, which in turn controls permeability. Substantial studies have been conducted to determine the effects of overburden pressure on permeability, but the correlation between the temperature and mechanical parameters/permeability of coal remains unclear. This study focused on low-rank bituminous coal from the southern edge of the Junggar Basin in Xinjiang. Using experiments conducted on seepage and mechanics at different depths (considering effective stress and temperature), the study investigated how temperature affects the mechanical parameters and permeability of coal column samples. A permeability prediction model was established incorporating temperature, mechanical parameters, and effective stress. The results show that from 20 to 80 °C, the elastic modulus of coal column samples decreases by 31.0%, and the Poisson ratio increases by 72.0%. Permeability decreases between 48.37 and 90.12% under different depths. The stress sensitivity coefficient under various temperature conditions decreased exponentially as the effective stress increased, and the temperature sensitivity coefficient under various effective stress conditions decreased with increasing temperature. The permeability was more sensitive to a temperature below 40 °C. In the permeability prediction model, the fracture compressibility coefficient is bifurcated into two coefficients, each controlled by temperature and effective stress. The permeability prediction error of the model was 12.7% under constant effective stress and 17.2% under varying effective stress and temperature conditions. The study could provide guidance for fracturing and coalbed methane production in deep coal reservoirs.