SUMMARYPurpose: This study was designed to evaluate the therapeutic effect of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on patients with refractory partial epilepsy. Methods: Sixty-four patients with refractory focal epilepsy were screened and 60 patients were randomly divided into two groups by stimulation intensity: 90% (group 1) or 20% (group 2) of resting motor threshold (rMT). Seizure frequency and interictal EEG epileptic discharges were compared between the baseline and follow-up periods. Key Findings: Seizures significantly decreased following 2-weeks high intensity (90% rMT) rTMS treatment compared with baseline level (p < 0.05). rTMS also decreased interictal epilepsy discharges and improved the scales of Symptom Checklist-90 significantly (p < 0.05). Seizures and spikes in the follow-up period in the patients who received low intensity (20% rMT) rTMS did not show any difference compared with baseline data (p > 0.05, respectively). Significance: Low-frequency high intensity rTMS (90% rMT) delivered into the epileptogenic zone had a significant antiepileptic effect on patients with refractory partial seizures. rTMS treatment can also reduce the interictal epileptic discharge frequency and improve the psychological condition of these patients.

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Creep tests of 2D-C/SiC in a wet oxidizing atmosphere were implemented for six samples. The loading process was monitored by acoustic emission (AE). Principal component analysis and a fuzzy clustering algorithm were used to perform pattern recognition of the AE data. All of the AE events were divided into four clusters and labelled as matrix cracking, interfacial damage, fiber breakage and fiber-bundle breakage respectively, according to their physical origin. It was found C/SiC has very scattered rupture lifetimes even under the same test conditions, and the evolution of AE events corresponding to fiber failure is quite different. With increasing rupture lifetime, the AE energy of fiber-bundle breakage is higher, while the number of these events is less. Thus, it is concluded that local oxidation and damage development is the controlling failure mechanism for short-lived specimens and uniform oxidation and damage development is the controlling failure mechanism for long-lived specimens.