Pilot trials have suggested that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may reduce limb spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS). We carried out the current meta-analysis to synthesize currently available evidence regarding such correlation. Up to November 2022, five international electronic databases (Cochrane CENTRAL, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and CINAHL) and four Chinese electronic databases (CBM, CNKI, WanFang Data, and VIP) were systematically searched to identify randomized trials comparing active rTMS and sham stimulation in patients with MS-related spasticity. Two reviewers independently selected studies and extracted data on study design, quality, clinical outcomes, and time points measured. The primary outcome was clinical spasticity relief after intervention. Secondary outcomes included spasticity at the follow-up visit 2 weeks later and post-treatment fatigue. Of 831 titles found, we included 8 studies (181 participants) in the quantitative analysis. Pooled analyses showed that rTMS therapy was associated with significant spasticity relief in the early post-intervention period [standardized mean differences (SMD): -0.67; 95%CI: -1.12 to -0.21], but there was insufficient evidence for rTMS in reducing spasticity at the follow-up visit 2 weeks later (SMD: -0.17; 95%CI: -0.52 to 0.17) and fatigue (SMD: -0.26; 95%CI: -0.84 to 0.31). This evidence supports the recommendations to treat MS-related spasticity with rTMS, but underlines the need for further large randomized trials.

Lumbar disc herniation is a common disease characterized by the degeneration of intervertebral discs (IVDs), accompanied by imbalance of metabolic and inflammatory homeostasis. Current studies establish that IVD degeneration is induced by increased apoptosis of nucleus pulposus (NP) cells. However, the underlying mechanisms of NP cell survival/apoptosis are not well elucidated. Here, we reveal a novel mechanism by which mTORC1 signaling controls NP cell survival through regulating metabolic homeostasis. We demonstrated that hyperactivated mTORC1 activity induced by inflammatory cytokines engenders the apoptosis of NP cells, whereas pharmacological inhibition of mTORC1 activity promotes NP cell survival. Using an integrative approach spanning metabolomics and biochemical approaches, we showed that mTORC1 activation enhanced glucose metabolism and lactic acid production, and therefore caused NP cell apoptosis. Our study identified mTORC1 in NP cells as a novel target for IVD degeneration, and provided potential strategies for clinical intervention of lumbar disc herniation.

The comparisons of mechanical properties and fracture behaviour between as-consolidated PM Ti-5553 alloy and as-cast IM Ti-5553 alloy were investigated through tensile, fracture toughness and impact toughness tests in this research. The slightly higher strength but much higher ductility and toughness can be identified in IM alloy specimens, which is also confirmed by the fracture behaviour of the specimens after mechanical tests. IM alloy specimens always exhibit the ductile dimple fracture mechanism in the different tests, while the fracture mechanism of PM alloy specimens indicates a high loading rate sensitivity, changing from the mixed ductile-brittle quasi-cleavage fracture into the brittle cleavage fracture mechanism accompanied by the remarkable decrease of impact toughness. The relatively low mechanical properties, especially the ductility and the brittle fracture behaviour of as-consolidated PM Ti-5553 alloy, are mainly explained by the differences in the initial microstructures between these two alloys.

Isothermal compression tests of Ti-5553 (Ti-5Al-5V-5Mo-3Cr) alloy, produced by a fast consolidation approach from blended elemental powder mixture, were performed on a Gleeble® 3800 thermal-physical simulator to investigate its hot deformation behaviour. The samples were compressed in a wide temperature range from 700 ºC to 1150 ºC and a moderate-high strain rate of 1 s-1, with the sample deformation degree of 30%, 50% and 70%, respectively. Flow instability occurred when the deformation temperature was less than 900 ºC. Dynamic recovery (DRV) accompanied by dynamic recrystallization (DRX) become the dominated mechanisms at the medium temperature range between 900 ºC and 1000 ºC, while almost only DRV features could be observed at high temperature (1050 ºC ~ 1150 ºC). Moreover, α phase globalization could be identified in the alloy deformed in (α+β) region. DRV, DRX, α globalization and the transformation of α to β phase were promoted with the increasing deformation degree.

Dynamic compressive and tensile properties of mortar under impact loading were investigated experimentally by using a split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) apparatus with pulse shaping technique. Firstly, the basic principle, experimental limitations and some feasible improvements/modifications of SHPB technique used for dynamic tests on concrete-like materials were summarized briefly. And then the dynamic compressive strength, stress versus strain response, and failure modes of mortar were discussed and analyzed. Finally, a dynamic Brazilian disc test was conducted to obtain the splitting tensile property of mortar, and some typical experimental results were presented. Both compressive and splitting tensile results show that mortar is a strain-rate sensitive material. Either compressive or tensile strength enhances with the increase of strain rate, especially when the strain rate is greater than the transition strain rate, which is around 20 s-1 for the dynamic compression and 2.0 s-1 for the splitting tension, respectively. These findings are helpful to guide the design and application of concrete structures.

The influence of ultrasonic pretreatment prior to vacuum drying of Chinese fir specimens was examined in this work. In the pretreatments, wood samples were immerged in a distilled water bath and were treated using two wave frequencies for four different elapsed times to investigate effects of ultrasonic frequency and treatment duration. Then the wood samples were vacuum-dried at 80°C and absolute pressure of 0,05 MPa. After the pretreatment, microscopic analysis was carried out on the wood samples to check micro-cracks, the loss of extractives from the cell walls and other micro-structural changes on the wood. Results show that the ultrasonic treatment prior to vacuum drying significantly shortened the wood drying time. The drying time decreased with increase in the wave frequency and the treatment time. Furthermore, ultrasound pretreatment tended to reduce the content of extractives in the wood cell walls and cause cell-wall micro- cracking.

The dynamic response of cylindrical sandwich shells with aluminum foam cores subjected to air blast loading was investigated numerically in this paper. According to KNR theory, the nonlinear compressibility of the air and finite shock conditions were taken into account in the finite element model. Numerical simulation results show that the compression strain, which plays a key role on energy absorption, increases approximately linearly with normalized impulse, and reduces with increasing relative density or the ratio of face-sheet thickness and core thickness. An increase of the impulse will delay the equalization of top and bottom face-sheet velocities of sandwich shell, but there is a maximum value in the studied bound. A limited study of weight optimization was carried out for sandwich shells with respect to the respective geometric parameters, including face-sheet thickness, core thickness and core relative density. These numerical results are of worth to theoretical prediction and engineering application of cellular metal sandwich structures.