Background Exposure to ozone (O₃) is closely associated with an increased risk of mortality in the population, but this association exhibits regional heterogeneity, and relevant research in northern and central-western China is limited. Hohhot, as a typical city in the northern and western region, has seen a significant upward trend in O₃ concentrations (an increase of 17.9 μg·m⁻³ in 2020 compared to 2016). Studies targeting this region can fill the regional research gap. Objective To evaluate the health effects of ground-level O₃ exposure on resident mortality in Hohhot from 2018 to 2023. Methods Air quality, meteorological, and mortality data in Hohhot from 2018 to 2023 were collected. A time-series analysis based on Quasi-Poisson generalized additive model (GAM) was employed, controlling for meteorological factors, day-of-week effects, and holiday effects, to assess the impact of O₃ on non-accidental mortality, mortality from circulatory system diseases (CSD), and mortality from respiratory system diseases (RSD). Results From 2018 to 2023, the non-accidental, CSD, and RSD mortalities in Hohhot amounted to 89721, 47394, and 11378 cases, respectively. The daily maximum 8-hour average O₃ concentration (O₃-8 h) was 90.00 μg·m⁻³. According to the Class I limit (100 μg·m⁻³) of GB 3095—2012 Ambient Air Quality Standard, the annual average number of days exceeding the standard was 144 d. For single-day lag effects, O₃ had the strongest health impact on non-accidental mortality and CSD mortality on the current day (lag0), with effect sizes of 0.78% (95%CI: 0.33%, 1.24%) and 1.10% (95%CI: 0.50%, 1.71%), respectively. The strongest impact on RSD mortality occurred on the second day (lag2), with an effect size of 1.61% (95%CI: 0.61%, 2.62%). The subgroup analyses showed that for every 10 μg·m⁻³ increase in O₃-8 h concentration, the risk of non-accidental mortality in females increased by 0.70% (95%CI: 0.01%, 1.41%); for CSD mortality, the risk in males and individuals aged ≥65 years increased by 0.73% (95%CI: 0.01%, 1.47%) and 0.76% (95%CI: 0.13%, 1.39%), respectively. During the warm season, statistically significant risks were observed for non-accidental, CSD, and RSD mortalities, with increases of 1.07% (95%CI: 0.54%, 1.60%), 1.31% (95%CI: 0.59%, 2.04%), and 2.27% (95%CI: 1.07%, 3.49%), respectively. In the two-pollutant models incorporating sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 10 micrometers or less (PM₁₀), and fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), the effect estimates (excess risk) of O₃ remained stable and statistically significant (P<0.05), indicating model robustness. Conclusion Ground-level O₃ exposure in Hohhot increases mortalities due to non-accidental causes, CSD, and RSD, with more pronounced effects during the warm season. Females and individuals aged ≥65 years may be susceptible populations. Therefore, relevant authorities should prioritize the potential health risks of O₃ exposure, particularly to vulnerable groups, and promote targeted prevention and control strategies.

Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of tirofiban in the treatment of branch atheromatous disease(BAD)in elderly patients.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 215 elderly BAD patients admitted to our department from June 2021 to June 2023.According to their treatment,they were divided into tirofiban group 1(55 cases)and control group 1(160 ca-ses).Using propensity score matching in a ratio of 1∶1 algorithm for adjustment,the differences in baseline features between the two groups were eliminated,and there were finally 53 cases in the tirofiban group 2 and 53 cases in the control group 2 after matching.The NIHSS scores before treatment and at 24 h and 7 d after treatment were collected.All of them were followed up for 90 d,and modified Rankin scale(mRS)was applied to evaluate the prognosis.Results The tirofiban group 1 had significantly lower NIHSS score at 24 h and 7 d after treatment and shorter length of hospital stay than the control group 1(P＜0.05,P＜0.01),so were in the tirofiban group 2 than the control group[3(1,4)vs 3(2,6),1(0,3)vs 1(1,4),8(6,10)d vs 9(8,11)d,P＜0.05].The proportion of mRS score ≤1 was obviously larger in the tirofiban group 1 than the control group 1(P＜0.01).The tirofiban group 2 obtained notably larger proportions of mRS score≤1 and≤2(71.7％vs 43.4％,P=0.003;79.2％vs 60.4％,P=0.034),and smaller proportion of mRS≥4(5.7％vs 20.8％,P=0.045)when compared with the control group 2.Logistic regression analysis indicated that in the patients without diabetes and those non-smoking,tirofiban was associated with increased good outcomes(OR=0.266,95％CI:0.090-0.788,P=0.017;OR=0.341,95％CI:0.107-0.931,P=0.046).Conclusion Tirofiban may effectively improve the clinical outcomes in the elderly BAD patients.But further randomized controlled trials are needed for verification.

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of intravenous thrombolysis with tenecteplase in the treatment of CWS.Methods A prospective study was conducted on 136 CWS patients consecutively admitted in Department of Neurology of Zhengzhou People's Hospital from March 2019 to March 2024.They were randomly divided into a tenecteplase group(67 cases)and a control group(69 cases).NIHSS was used to evaluate the recovery of neurological function after treatment.mRS was employed to assess long-term prognosis.Results Significantly larger proportion of white matter lesions and higher baseline SBP level were observed in the tenecteplase group than the control group(P＜0.05).The tenecteplase group obtained obviously greater ratio of overall recovery than the control group,with notably lower NIHSS score,incidence of new CWS attacks and proportion of new acute cerebral infarction at 24 and 72 h and 7 d after treat-ment(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).Moreover,the proportion of mRS score of 0-2 was notably greater,while that of the score of 3-6 was lower in the tenecteplase group than the Control group(P＜0.05).Intravenous thrombolysis with tenecteplase was an influencing factors for 90-day mRS score of 0-2 and of 3-6 in the CWS patients(OR=0.264,95％CI:0.089-0.813;OR=4.144,95％CI:1.184-14.506,P＜0.05).Conclusion Intravenous thrombolysis with tenecteplase for CWS significantly improves the proportion of patients with good prognosis.

Objective To investigate the correlation of imaging parameters of CT perfusion scan-ning combined with serum suPAR and Mac-2BP with END and poor outcomes in patients with BAD.Methods A total of 176 BAD patients admitted to Department of Neurology of Zhengzhou People's Hospital from June 2019 to March 2024 were prospectively enrolled,and according to whether END occurred within 72 h after onset,they were divided into END group(42 cases)and non-END group(134 cases).Based on their outcomes at 90 d of follow-up,they were also assigned into good outcome group(129 cases)and poor outcome group(47 cases).The serum suPAR and Mac-2BP levels were compared between the END and non-END groups,as well as the good and poor outcome groups.ROC curves were plotted to analyze the accuracies of serum suPAR and Mac-2BP in predicting END and poor outcomes.Results The END group had significantly higher suPAR and Mac-2BP levels,longer MTT and TTP,and larger proportions of DWMH,basal gan-glia EPVS and cerebral perfusion impairment,but lower CBV and CBF when compared with the non-END group(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).Obviously higher suPAR and Mac-2BP levels,NIHSS score at END,longer MTT and TTP,and larger proportions of EDN,basal ganglia EPVS and cerebral perfusion impairment,but lower CBV and CBF were observed in the poor outcome group than the good outcome group(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).suPAR and Mac-2BP levels,cerebral perfusion impair-ment and DWMH were independent risk factors for END(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).suPAR,Mac-2BP,NIHSS score at END,END,cerebral perfusion impairment,and basal ganglia EPVS were inde-pendent risk factors for poor outcomes(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).The AUC value of combined suPAR and Mac-2BP in predicting END was 0.8844(95％CI:0.822-0.947),and the value in predicting poor outcomes was 0.8742(95％CI:0.810-0.938)in BAD patients.Conclusion Cerebral perfu-sion impairment,suPAR and Mac-2BP are independent risk factors for END and poor outcome at 90 d in BAD patients.Combined detection can is helpful in evaluating the patient's condition and predicting the prognosis.

Objective To investigate the effects of different timing of initiation of rivaroxaban anti-coagulation therapy on the efficacy and bleeding risk of atrial fibrillation patients after stroke.Methods A total of 336 patients with atrial fibrillation and stroke admitted in our hospital be-tween January 2021 and December 2023 were consecutively enrolled,and randomly divided into an experimental group(165 cases)and a control group(171 cases).The experimental group received rivaroxaban treatment within 48 h of symptom onset,whereas the control group initiated oral ri-varoxaban treatment on the 3rd,6th,and 12th day post-stroke onset,respectively,depending on stroke severity(mild,moderate,and severe).Their baseline clinical data were collected,and all of them were followed up till 90 d after stroke.The incidences of recurrent ischemic stroke,symp-tomatic intracranial hemorrhage and extracranial hemorrhage,mortality,and proportion of pa-tients with mRS score≤ 2 and distribution of the score were observed and analyzed in the two groups.Results During a 90-day follow-up period,the patients with moderate stroke from the ex-perimental group of patients exhibited a significantly lower rate of recurrent ischemic stroke than those in the control group(5.4％vs 15.9％,P=0.037).However,for patients with mild and se-vere stroke,no obvious difference was observed in the primary endpoint of recurrent ischemic stroke between the experimental and control groups(3.0％vs 3.2％,12.5％vs 14.8％,P＞0.05).Though no statistical differences were observed,lower rates of symptomatic intracranial hemor-rhage(1.5％vs 3.2％,5.4％vs 9.8％),reduced incidence of extracranial hemorrhage(9.0％vs 14.5％,12.2％vs 15.9％),and lower mRS score[1(0,2)vs 1(1,2),3(1,4)vs 3(2,4)]were seen in the patients with mild and moderate stroke from the experimental group when compared with the control group(P＞0.05).Similarly,there were no statistically differences for the severe stroke patients between the experimental and control groups(P＞0.05)in the incidence of extracranial hemorrhage(20.8％vs 22.2％),rate of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage(20.8％vs 7.4％),mortality(8.3％vs 3.7％),and mRS score[4(3,4)vs 3(3,4)].Two patients from the experimen-tal group died,with one case due to secondary pulmonary infection and the other due to brainstem hemorrhage.In the control group,only one death occurred due to brainstem hemorrhage.Conclu-sion For atrial fibrillation patients,anticoagulation with rivaroxaban within 48 h after stroke has no significant increase in the risk of bleeding,reduces the proportion of recurrent ischemic stroke in patients with moderate stroke,and may improve the prognosis of patients.

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of intravenous thrombolysis with tenecteplase in the treatment of CWS.Methods A prospective study was conducted on 136 CWS patients consecutively admitted in Department of Neurology of Zhengzhou People's Hospital from March 2019 to March 2024.They were randomly divided into a tenecteplase group(67 cases)and a control group(69 cases).NIHSS was used to evaluate the recovery of neurological function after treatment.mRS was employed to assess long-term prognosis.Results Significantly larger proportion of white matter lesions and higher baseline SBP level were observed in the tenecteplase group than the control group(P＜0.05).The tenecteplase group obtained obviously greater ratio of overall recovery than the control group,with notably lower NIHSS score,incidence of new CWS attacks and proportion of new acute cerebral infarction at 24 and 72 h and 7 d after treat-ment(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).Moreover,the proportion of mRS score of 0-2 was notably greater,while that of the score of 3-6 was lower in the tenecteplase group than the Control group(P＜0.05).Intravenous thrombolysis with tenecteplase was an influencing factors for 90-day mRS score of 0-2 and of 3-6 in the CWS patients(OR=0.264,95％CI:0.089-0.813;OR=4.144,95％CI:1.184-14.506,P＜0.05).Conclusion Intravenous thrombolysis with tenecteplase for CWS significantly improves the proportion of patients with good prognosis.

Objective To investigate the correlation of imaging parameters of CT perfusion scan-ning combined with serum suPAR and Mac-2BP with END and poor outcomes in patients with BAD.Methods A total of 176 BAD patients admitted to Department of Neurology of Zhengzhou People's Hospital from June 2019 to March 2024 were prospectively enrolled,and according to whether END occurred within 72 h after onset,they were divided into END group(42 cases)and non-END group(134 cases).Based on their outcomes at 90 d of follow-up,they were also assigned into good outcome group(129 cases)and poor outcome group(47 cases).The serum suPAR and Mac-2BP levels were compared between the END and non-END groups,as well as the good and poor outcome groups.ROC curves were plotted to analyze the accuracies of serum suPAR and Mac-2BP in predicting END and poor outcomes.Results The END group had significantly higher suPAR and Mac-2BP levels,longer MTT and TTP,and larger proportions of DWMH,basal gan-glia EPVS and cerebral perfusion impairment,but lower CBV and CBF when compared with the non-END group(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).Obviously higher suPAR and Mac-2BP levels,NIHSS score at END,longer MTT and TTP,and larger proportions of EDN,basal ganglia EPVS and cerebral perfusion impairment,but lower CBV and CBF were observed in the poor outcome group than the good outcome group(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).suPAR and Mac-2BP levels,cerebral perfusion impair-ment and DWMH were independent risk factors for END(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).suPAR,Mac-2BP,NIHSS score at END,END,cerebral perfusion impairment,and basal ganglia EPVS were inde-pendent risk factors for poor outcomes(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).The AUC value of combined suPAR and Mac-2BP in predicting END was 0.8844(95％CI:0.822-0.947),and the value in predicting poor outcomes was 0.8742(95％CI:0.810-0.938)in BAD patients.Conclusion Cerebral perfu-sion impairment,suPAR and Mac-2BP are independent risk factors for END and poor outcome at 90 d in BAD patients.Combined detection can is helpful in evaluating the patient's condition and predicting the prognosis.

Objective To investigate the effects of different timing of initiation of rivaroxaban anti-coagulation therapy on the efficacy and bleeding risk of atrial fibrillation patients after stroke.Methods A total of 336 patients with atrial fibrillation and stroke admitted in our hospital be-tween January 2021 and December 2023 were consecutively enrolled,and randomly divided into an experimental group(165 cases)and a control group(171 cases).The experimental group received rivaroxaban treatment within 48 h of symptom onset,whereas the control group initiated oral ri-varoxaban treatment on the 3rd,6th,and 12th day post-stroke onset,respectively,depending on stroke severity(mild,moderate,and severe).Their baseline clinical data were collected,and all of them were followed up till 90 d after stroke.The incidences of recurrent ischemic stroke,symp-tomatic intracranial hemorrhage and extracranial hemorrhage,mortality,and proportion of pa-tients with mRS score≤ 2 and distribution of the score were observed and analyzed in the two groups.Results During a 90-day follow-up period,the patients with moderate stroke from the ex-perimental group of patients exhibited a significantly lower rate of recurrent ischemic stroke than those in the control group(5.4％vs 15.9％,P=0.037).However,for patients with mild and se-vere stroke,no obvious difference was observed in the primary endpoint of recurrent ischemic stroke between the experimental and control groups(3.0％vs 3.2％,12.5％vs 14.8％,P＞0.05).Though no statistical differences were observed,lower rates of symptomatic intracranial hemor-rhage(1.5％vs 3.2％,5.4％vs 9.8％),reduced incidence of extracranial hemorrhage(9.0％vs 14.5％,12.2％vs 15.9％),and lower mRS score[1(0,2)vs 1(1,2),3(1,4)vs 3(2,4)]were seen in the patients with mild and moderate stroke from the experimental group when compared with the control group(P＞0.05).Similarly,there were no statistically differences for the severe stroke patients between the experimental and control groups(P＞0.05)in the incidence of extracranial hemorrhage(20.8％vs 22.2％),rate of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage(20.8％vs 7.4％),mortality(8.3％vs 3.7％),and mRS score[4(3,4)vs 3(3,4)].Two patients from the experimen-tal group died,with one case due to secondary pulmonary infection and the other due to brainstem hemorrhage.In the control group,only one death occurred due to brainstem hemorrhage.Conclu-sion For atrial fibrillation patients,anticoagulation with rivaroxaban within 48 h after stroke has no significant increase in the risk of bleeding,reduces the proportion of recurrent ischemic stroke in patients with moderate stroke,and may improve the prognosis of patients.

Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of tirofiban in the treatment of branch atheromatous disease(BAD)in elderly patients.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 215 elderly BAD patients admitted to our department from June 2021 to June 2023.According to their treatment,they were divided into tirofiban group 1(55 cases)and control group 1(160 ca-ses).Using propensity score matching in a ratio of 1∶1 algorithm for adjustment,the differences in baseline features between the two groups were eliminated,and there were finally 53 cases in the tirofiban group 2 and 53 cases in the control group 2 after matching.The NIHSS scores before treatment and at 24 h and 7 d after treatment were collected.All of them were followed up for 90 d,and modified Rankin scale(mRS)was applied to evaluate the prognosis.Results The tirofiban group 1 had significantly lower NIHSS score at 24 h and 7 d after treatment and shorter length of hospital stay than the control group 1(P＜0.05,P＜0.01),so were in the tirofiban group 2 than the control group[3(1,4)vs 3(2,6),1(0,3)vs 1(1,4),8(6,10)d vs 9(8,11)d,P＜0.05].The proportion of mRS score ≤1 was obviously larger in the tirofiban group 1 than the control group 1(P＜0.01).The tirofiban group 2 obtained notably larger proportions of mRS score≤1 and≤2(71.7％vs 43.4％,P=0.003;79.2％vs 60.4％,P=0.034),and smaller proportion of mRS≥4(5.7％vs 20.8％,P=0.045)when compared with the control group 2.Logistic regression analysis indicated that in the patients without diabetes and those non-smoking,tirofiban was associated with increased good outcomes(OR=0.266,95％CI:0.090-0.788,P=0.017;OR=0.341,95％CI:0.107-0.931,P=0.046).Conclusion Tirofiban may effectively improve the clinical outcomes in the elderly BAD patients.But further randomized controlled trials are needed for verification.

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of tirofiban and rt-PA alteplase in the treatment of minor stroke patients.Methods A total of 171 patients with minor stroke ad-mitted to Department of Neurology of Zhengzhou People's Hospital from January 2021 to January 2024 were prospectively and continuously enrolled,and were randomly divided into tirofiban group(84 cases)and rt-PA group(87 cases).The tirofiban group received intravenous infusion of tirofiban but not intravenous thrombolysis therapy.The rt-PA group was treated with intravenous thrombolysis.The 90-day mRS score was observed in all patients.NIHSS was used to score the improvement of neurological function.3-month all-cause death was observed during follow-up.Results The tirofiban group had a significant larger proportion of mRS score of 0-1 at 90 d(92.86％vs 82.76％,P＜0.05),lower NIHSS scores at 24 h and 7 d after treatment and smaller proportion of early neurological deterioration than the rt-PA group(P＜0.05).Larger proportion of mRS score of 0-2 in the 90 day and slightly smaller proportion of the score of 4-6 at 90 d were observed in the tirofiban group than the rt-PA group(P＞0.05).There were no statistical difference in the incidence of 3-month all-cause death between the two groups(P＞0.05).Conclusion Compared with rt-PA,tirofiban can significantly improve the clinical prognosis of pa-tients with minor stroke,reduce the risk of early neurological deterioration,and has higher safety.