Localized peripheral neuropathic pain: topical treatment with lidocaine 700 mg medicated plaster in routine clinical practice

Aim: To provide real-world evidence for the effectiveness and tolerability of lidocaine 700 mg medicated plaster (LMP) in localized peripheral neuropathic pain (l-PNP) treatment compared with first-line oral medications (OM). Patients & methods: This was a noninterventional, retrospective 6-month cohort study in patients refractory to at least one recommended OM, using anonymized medical care data from the German Pain eRegistry. Treatment groups were matched by propensity scoring, considering seven predefined confounding factors. The primary effectiveness end point was the absolute change in average pain intensity index from baseline at weeks 4, 12 and 24 of treatment and over the treatment period. Results: A total of 3081 datasets were retained per treatment group. LMP provided superior pain reductions and significantly greater improvements in pain-related impairments of daily living and quality of life with significantly better tolerability (p < 0.001 for all parameters) than OM. Conclusion: These real-world data confirm the effectiveness and good tolerability of LMP for l-PNP treatment under routine medical care.

Relationship between Precipitation Characteristics at Different Scales and Drought/Flood during the Past 40 Years in Longchuan River, Southwestern China

In this study, the temporal and spatial patterns of rainfall in the Longchuan River basin from 1977 to 2017 were analyzed, to assess the feature of precipitation. Based on the daily precipitation time series, the Lorenz curve, precipitation concentration index (PCI), precipitation concentration degree (PCD), and the precipitation concentration period (PCP) were used to evaluate the precipitation distribution characteristics. The PCI, PCD and PCP in five categories, defined by the fixed thresholds, were proposed to investigate the concentrations, and the average values indicated the higher concentrations in the higher intensities. The indices showed strong irregularity of daily and monthly precipitation distributions in this basin. The decrease in the PCD revealed an increase in the proportion of precipitation in the dry season. The rainy days of slight precipitation in the upper and lower basins with significant downward trends (−13.13 d/10 a, −7.78 d/10 a) led to longer dry spells and an increase in the risk of drought, even severe in the lower area. In the upper basin, the increase in rainfall erosivity was supported by the upward trend in the PCIw of heavy precipitation and the simple daily intensity index (SDII) of extreme precipitation. Moreover, the PCP of light precipitation, moderate precipitation, and heavy precipitation concentrated earlier at the end of July. The results of this study can provide beneficial reference information to water resource planning, reservoir operation, and agricultural production in the basin.

Partial Least Squares Regression Approach in the Analysis of Damage Intensity Changes to Prefabricated RC Buildings during the Long Term of Mining Activity

This article presents the results of the analysis of the extent of damage to 138 multi-storey buildings with reinforced concrete prefabricated structure, which are located in the mining terrain of the Legnica-Głogów Copper District. These objects are residential and public utility buildings of up to 43 years old, erected in industrialized prefabricated technologies: large-block and large-panel systems. The research was based on the results of technical condition inventory carried out in 2002, 2007 and 2012. As part of the analysis, the damage intensity index wu was established for individual structural and finishing elements of the studied buildings. This index is defined on a six-point scale, which includes a detailed description of the extent of damage that corresponds to the successive degrees of intensity. As part of the research, the databases were significantly expanded and the generalized formulas of the damage intensity index wu for individual groups of buildings were verified. For this purpose, the partial least squares regression (PLSR) method was applied. Thereafter, the analysis of changes of this intensity in time was carried out and the relations between the extent of damage and the impacts of mining exploitation were examined. The approach presented in this paper and obtained research results are characterized by a high degree of utilitarianism and can be applied to increase the efficiency in the optimal maintenance management of buildings, including planning of repairs and retrofits throughout the technical life cycle of the buildings.

Research on seismic ground motion parameters applicable to the safety of rectangular shallow tunnel

The objective of this paper is to optimize the selection of seismic ground motion intensity indexes in the seismic fortification of urban shallow-buried rectangular tunnels. This paper takes a shallow-buried rectangular tunnel in a city as the research object, uses ABAQUS to establish a finite-infinite element coupling model, and selects 70 typical seismic ground motions for dynamic calculation. Using dynamic time history analysis method to study the seismic response of tunnel lining structure in terms of internal force, minimum safety factor and strain energy, and analyze their correlation with 15 seismic ground motion parameters. Selecting the seismic ground motion parameters with strong correlation, good effectiveness, and high credibility for safety evaluation. The research results show that: Peak acceleration (PGA) has a weak correlation with the seismic response of tunnel lining structures, and PGA as an independent seismic ground motion intensity index has greater uncertainty in the seismic fortification of tunnels; Peak displacement (PGD), Root-mean-square velocity (RMSV), Root-mean-square displacement (RMSD), and Specific energy density (SED) can be used as independent seismic ground motion intensity index, The linear regression model is used to evaluate the safety of the lining structure, and finally the evaluation result is verified by the incremental dynamic analysis method (IDA), which shows that the evaluation result is accurate. The research results can provide reference for the preliminary design of seismic fortification of rectangular shallow tunnels.

High-Speed Rail Network Expansion and Its Impact on Regional Economic Sustainability in the Yangtze River Delta, China, 2009–2018

The rapid expansion of high-speed rail (HSR) has significantly improved spatial accessibility and connectivity efficiency, and affected the reallocation of spatial resources and regional economic sustainability. This study examined 40 prefecture-level (or above) cities in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region, and explored the evolution process of the HSR service network and its impact on the sustainability of economic development. The research results show that: (1) From the perspective of intercity travel time and service connections from 2009 to 2018, the rapid development of HSR has increased the city’s rail accessibility by about 50%, leading to closer intercity connections. (2) There are obvious regional differences in the effect of HSR on urban functional levels and the intensity of inter-city connections. Compared with 2009, the central cities play a greater role as transportation hubs in 2018, creating a significant Matthew effect of accumulated advantage. (3) The distribution pattern of regional urban intensity index is uneven, and the difference in urban intensity index in 2018 is significantly greater than that in 2009. (4) The evolution of the HSR network has significantly affected regional economic development, especially the development of tertiary industry, and increased the polarization of economic development in the YRD. This research can provide a certain reference for regional sustainable development.

Could we assess the functional status, of hormone secreting, or non-secreting of the adrenal masses regarding their Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) characteristics?

Background: Diagnostic imaging techniques including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) should also perform on all patients with incidentalomas. However, there is a limited study whether the quantitative measurements (signal intensity index, adrenal to spleen ratio) in MRI could predict the functional status of adrenal adenomas. Material-Method: Between 2015-2020; 404 patients (265 females, 139 males) with adrenal mass who were referred to the university hospital for further investigation were included. After detailed diagnostic hormonal evaluation, all patients underwent MRI 1.5 T device (Signa, GE Medical Systems; Milwaukee, USA). The signal intensities of the adrenal lesions on T2W images were qualitatively evaluated and noted as homogenous or heterogeneous in comparison with the liver signal intensity (SI). A chemical-shift SI index and chemical shift adrenal-to-spleen SI ratio were also calculated. Results: While 331(81.9%) of the patients had nonfunctional adrenal mass, the rest of them (n=73, 18.1%) were patients with functional (autonomous cortisol secretion-ACS, cushing syndrome-CS, pheochromocytoma, primary hyperaldosteronism-PA) adrenal masses. In phase vs phase values of patients with NFAI, Pheo(n=17), ACS (n=30), CS (n=11), and PA (n=15) were 474.04±126.7 vs 226.6±132.4, 495.3±182.8 vs 282.17±189.1, 445.2±134.8 vs 203.3±76.2, 506.8±126.5 vs 212.2±73.6 and 496.2±147.5 vs 246.6±102.1, respectively. Mean signal intensity index (SII) and adrenal to spleen ratio (ASR) of all groups (NFAI, Pheo, ACS, CS, PA) were 52.0±24.8 and 0.51, 44.9±22.5 and 0.55, 49.5±24.5 and 0.53, 56.2±16.4 and 0.43, 47.6±25.1 and 0.54, respectively. Based the current accepted measurements in the case of ASR and SII, all lesions were similar and shown as fat rich adenomas (p*= 0.552, p** = 0.45). Conclusion: The quantitative assessment (SII, ASR) of intracellular lipids in an incidentally discovered adrenal tumour could only help distinguish adrenal masses in case of adenomas or non-adenomas As initial diagnostic evaluation, clinical and laboratory assessment ,to distinguish hormone secretion, should be taken in all patients with adrenal incidentalomas.

The use of metaphor power indices for the analysis of speech impact in political public speeches

The article examines the metaphor power related to the impact of public political speeches on the audience. The purpose of the study is to identify the potentially hidden speech impact of public discourse in order to understand the intentions of the speech messages authors. To that end, the aspects of metaphors under analysis include their density in the text, their intensity, functions and positions in the compositional structure of the text. The study tests the method of comprehensive analysis of metaphor power, which is based on the calculation of the corresponding indices MDI (Metaphor density index), MII (Metaphor intensity index), MfTI (Metaphor functional typology index) and MStI (Metaphor structural index). Each index is based on a mathematical formula: MDI reflects the average number of metaphors per a hundred words of the text; MII demonstrates the medium intensity of metaphors (new or conventional metaphors dominating the text); MfTI shows which functions are mainly performed by metaphors in the text; MStI represents the compositional parts of the text where the metaphors are concentrated. The hypothesis about the possibility of using such quantitative methods is tested on the material of three texts of public speeches by the political leaders of Russia, USA and China. The analysis shows that the greatest speech impact is achieved by the speech of the President of China distinguished by the highest metaphor density (4.07), and, the values of MfTI (2.23) MStI (2.51) indicate the intention to restructure the socio-political concepts, as well as to introduce a new content into his countrys domestic and foreign policy. This method for identifying the metaphor power can be used to investigate the potential impact of political speeches and can become an important tool for analyzing various aspects of the metaphor use in discourse.

Qualitative Heterogeneous Signal Drop on Chemical Shift (CS) MR Imaging: Correlative Quantitative Analysis between CS Signal Intensity Index and Contrast Washout Parameters Using T1-Weighted Sequences

The aim of this study was to calculate MRI quantitative parameters extracted from chemical-shift (CS) and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) T1-weighted (T1-WS) images of adrenal lesions (AL) with qualitative heterogeneous signal drop on CS T1-WS and compare them to those of AL with homogeneous or no signal drop on CS T1-WS. On 3 T MRI, 65 patients with a total of 72 AL were studied. CS images were qualitatively assessed for grouping AL as showing homogeneous (Group 1, n = 19), heterogeneous (Group 2, n = 23), and no (Group 3, n = 30) signal drop. Histopathology or follow-up data served as reference standard to classify AL. ROIs were drawn both on CS and DCE images to obtain adrenal CS signal intensity index (ASII), absolute (AWO), and relative washout (RWO) values. Quantitative parameters (QP) were compared with ANOVA analysis and post hoc Dunn’s test. The performance of QP to classify AL was assessed with receiver operating characteristic analysis. CS ASII values were significantly different among the three groups (p < 0.001) with median values of 71%, 53%, and 3%, respectively. AWO/RWO values were similar in Groups 1 (adenomas) and 2 (benign AL) but significantly (p < 0.001) lower in Group 3 (20 benign AL and 10 malignant AL). With cut-offs, respectively, of 60% (Group 1 vs. 2), 20% (Group 2 vs. 3), and 37% (Group 1 vs. 3), CS ASII showed areas under the curve of 0.85, 0.96, and 0.93 for the classification of AL, overall higher than AWO/RWO. In conclusion, AL with qualitative heterogeneous signal drop at CS represent benign AL with QP by DCE sequence similar to those of AL with homogeneous signal drop at CS, but different to those of AL with no signal drop at CS; ASII seems to be the only quantitative parameter able to differentiate AL among the three different groups.

Corrosion Mechanism of L360 Pipeline Steel Coated with S8 in CO2-Cl− System at Different pH Values

The corrosion behavior of L360 pipeline steel coated with or without elemental sulfur (S8) in CO2–Cl− medium at different pH was studied. An autoclave was used to simulate the working conditions for forming the corrosion scale, and an electrochemical workstation with a three-electrode cell was used to analyze the electrochemical characterization of the corrosion scale. A wire beam electrode was used to determine the potential and current distribution, and scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were used to characterize the morphology and composition of the corrosion scale. The results showed that the deposition of S8 on the surface of the electrodes caused serious localized corrosion, especially under acidic conditions. The morphology and localized corrosion intensity index further proved that the deposition of S8 significantly promoted corrosion, especially pitting corrosion. Finally, a novel corrosion mechanism of L360 pipeline steel coated with S8 in a CO2-Cl− environment under acidic conditions was proposed, and we then modeled the theoretical mechanisms that explained the experimental results.