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Background: Brain-expressed X-linked (BEX) 4 is a member of BEX family. The functional role of BEX4 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains unknown. Methods: Expression level of BEX family members (BEX1-5) in OSCC tissues and the paired normal epithelial were examined. Functions of epigenetic changes (DNA methylation and histone modifications) on BEX4 suppression in OSCC were examined by zebularine and trichostatin A (TSA) treatment on OSCC cell lines. Lentivector containing full-length BEX4 was used to generate OSCC cell lines with stable BEX4 expression. Effects of BEX4 expression on OSCC proliferation were monitored with xCELLigence RTCA real-time cell analyzer. BEX4-overexpressing CAL27 was implanted into nude mice to evaluate the effects on tumor growth in vivo. The signaling pathways regulated by BEX4 in OSCC was explored using human whole-transcript expression microarray. Results: Among the 5 BEX family members, BEX1 and BEX4 showed significant down-regulation in OSCC (P < 0.001). BEX3, in comparison, was overexpressed in the primary tumor. BEX4 expression in OSCC cell lines was re-activated after zebularine and TSA treatment. High BEX4 expression could suppress proliferation of OSCC in vitro. Subcutaneous tumor volume of BEX4-overexpressing CAL27 was remarkably reduced in nude mice. Microarray experiment showed that S100A family members (S100A7, S100A7A, S100A8, S100A9 & S100A12) might be the downstream targets of BEX4 in OSCC. Conclusions: BEX4 functions as tumor suppressor by inhibiting proliferation and growth of oral cancer. Decreased BEX4 contributes to the increased proliferative propensity of OSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among topological descriptors, connectivity indices are very important and they have a prominent role in chemistry. The atom-bond connectivity index of a connected graph G is defined as ABC(G) ... where dv denotes the degree of vertex v of G and the eccentric connectivity index of the molecular graph G is defined as ..., where ef ε(v) is the largest distance between v and any other vertex u of G. Also, the eccentric atombond connectivity index of a connected graph G is equal to ... In this present paper, we compute this new Eccentric Connectivity index for an infinite family of Linear Polycene Parallelogram Benzenoid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In theoretical chemistry, chemical compounds and drugs are modeled as graphs in which each vertex represents an atom of molecule and covalent bounds between atoms are represented by edges between the corresponding vertices. Such a graph constructed according to a chemical compounds is often called its molecular graph and the indices defined over this molecular graph have been shown to be strongly correlated to various chemical properties of the compounds. In this paper, in terms of analyzing the structure of chemical molecular graph and the techniques of edge dividing, we report several distance-based indices for four families of dendrimer Nanostars, including second ABC index, second GA related indices, PI related indices and polynomials and Szeged related indices and polynomials. Furthermore, we discuss the distance-based indices of three kinds of widely appeared molecular structures: TC4C8 (R) Nanotorus, H-Naphtalenic nanotubes and 1,3-adamantane array. The formulations of second ABC index, second GA related indices, vertex PI and Szeged polynomials are manifested as additional conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients affected by progressive long-term neurological conditions might benefit from specialist palliative care involvement. However, little is known on how neurology and specialist palliative care services interact. This study aimed to map the current level of connections and integration between these services.Methods: The mapping exercise was conducted in eight centres with neurology and palliative care services in the United Kingdom. The data were provided by the respective neurology and specialist palliative care teams. Questions focused on: i) catchment and population served; ii) service provision and staffing; iii) integration and relationships.Results: Centres varied in size of catchment areas (39-5,840 square miles) and population served (142,000-3,500,000). Neurology and specialist palliative care were often not co-terminus. Service provisions for neurology and specialist palliative care were also varied. For example, neurology services varied in the number and type of provided clinics and palliative care services in the settings they work in. Integration was most developed in Motor Neuron Disease (MND), e.g., joint meetings were often held, followed by Parkinsonism (made up of Parkinson's Disease (PD), Multiple-System Atrophy (MSA) and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), with integration being more developed for MSA and PSP) and least in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), e.g., most sites had no formal links. The number of neurology patients per annum receiving specialist palliative care reflected these differences in integration (range: 9-88 MND, 3-25 Parkinsonism, and 0-5 MS).Conclusions: This mapping exercise showed heterogeneity in service provision and integration between neurology and specialist palliative care services, which varied not only between sites but also between diseases. This highlights the need and opportunities for improved models of integration, which should be rigorously tested for effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In theoretical chemistry, chemical compounds and drugs are modeled as graphs in which each vertex represents an atom of molecule and covalent bounds between atoms are represented by edges between the corresponding vertices. Such a graph constructed according to a chemical compounds is often called its molecular graph and the indices defined over this molecular graph have been shown to be strongly correlated to various chemical properties of the compounds. In this paper, in terms of analyzing the structure of chemical molecular graph and the techniques of edge dividing, we report several distance-based indices for four families of dendrimer Nanostars, including second ABC index, second GA related indices, PI related indices and polynomials and Szeged related indices and polynomials. Furthermore, we discuss the distance-based indices of three kinds of widely appeared molecular structures: TC4C8 (R) Nanotorus, H-Naphtalenic nanotubes and 1,3-adamantane array. The formulations of second ABC index, second GA related indices, vertex PI and Szeged polynomials are manifested as additional conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activity-guided isolation of the fermentation broth of the deep-sea derived fungus Acaromyces ingoldii FS121, which was obtained from the China South Sea, yielded a new naphtha-[2,3-b]pyrandione analogue, acaromycin A (1) and a new thiazole analogue, acaromyester A (2), as well as the known compound (+)-cryptosporin (3). Their structures, including absolute configurations, were determined by extensive spectroscopic analysis and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. Compounds 1-3 were evaluated for in vitro growth inhibitory activities against four tumor cell lines (MCF-7, NCI-H460, SF-268 and HepG-2), wherein compounds 1 and 3 exhibited considerable growth inhibitory effects, with IC50 values less than 10 μM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining the noncircular critical slip surface is the key problem in slope stability analysis. Essentially, this problem is a path search, and therefore, ant colony optimization is an extremely suitable method to use to obtain a solution. To overcome the shortcomings of ant colony optimization, using the principle of searching an entire road by forward and reverse searches of ants, a new algorithm, meeting ant colony optimization, is proposed. Then, combined with typical mature limit equilibrium analysis (Spencer method), meeting ant colony optimization is used to locate the critical slip surface of a slope. Through two typical examples the effectiveness of the new algorithm is verified. The results show that for both the entire search scope and the search scope from one point, the meeting ant colony optimization performs better than ant colony optimization, which shows that in searching for the critical slip surface of a slope, meeting ant colony optimization provides better solution diversity. Using meeting ant colony optimization, the critical slip surface of a slope can be located in a larger scope and more rapidly than by ant colony optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multifuntional fabrics with special wettability have attracted a lot of interest in both fundamental research and industry applications over the last two decades. In this review, recent progress of various kinds of approaches and strategies to construct super-antiwetting coating on cellulose-based substrates (fabrics and paper) has been discussed in detail. We focus on the significant applications related to artificial superhydrophobic fabrics with special wettability and controllable adhesion, e.g., oil-water separation, self-cleaning, asymmetric/anisotropic wetting for microfluidic manipulation, air/liquid directional gating, and micro-template for patterning. In addition to the anti-wetting properties and promising applications, particular attention is paid to coating durability and other incorporated functionalities, e.g., air permeability, UV-shielding, photocatalytic self-cleaning, self-healing and patterned antiwetting properties. Finally, the existing difficulties and future prospects of this traditional and developing field are briefly proposed and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tai Chi Chuan ( TCC) practice is currently intentionally applied in clinical populations, especially those with cardiovascular diseases because of its potential benefits on the autonomic nervous system. The long-term effect of TCC practice on heart rate variability ( HRV) remains largely unknown. In this study, we recruited 23 TCC practitioners whose experience averaged approximately 21 years and 19 controls matched by age, sex and education to examine the effect of TCC practice on the autonomic nervous system during a resting state and during an abdominal breathing state. HRV was measured by traditional electrocardiogram ( ECG) recording. The results showed that the low frequency, total power frequency, and normalized low frequency components and the low-frequency/high-frequency ratio were significantly higher, whereas the normalized high frequency was significantly lower in the TCC practitioners relative to controls during the abdominal breathing state. However, we did not detect any significant difference in the HRV measures during the resting state between the two groups. Additionally, TCC experience did not correlate with HRV components either in the abdominal state or the resting state in the TCC group. Considering all of these findings, we suggest that TCC improves vagal activity and the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic activity during the relaxation state. This study also provides direct physiological evidence for the role of TCC practice in relaxation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Pd-catalyzed, asymmetric oxidative cross-coupling reaction between ferrocenes and heteroarenes is described. The process, which takes place via a twofold C-H bond activation pathway, proceeds with modest to high efficiencies (36-86%) and high levels of regio- and enantioselectivity (95-99% ee). In the reaction, air oxygen serves as a green oxidant and excess amounts of the coupling partners are not required. The process is the first example of a catalytic asymmetric biaryl coupling reaction that occurs via double C-H bond activation. Finally, the generated coupling products can be readily transformed into chiral ligands and catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact parameter dependence of π-/π+ ratio is examined in heavy-ion collisions at 400 MeV/nucleon within a transport model. It is shown that the sensitivity of π-/π+ ratio on symmetry energy shows a transition from central to peripheral collisions; that is, the stiffer symmetry energy leads to a larger π-/π+ ratio in peripheral collisions while the softer symmetry energy always leads this ratio to be larger in central collisions. After checking the kinematic energy distribution of π-/π+ ratio, we found this transition of sensitivity of π-/π+ ratio to symmetry energy is mainly from less energetic pions; that is, the softer symmetry energy gets the less energetic pions to form a smaller π-/π+ ratio in peripheral collisions while these pions generate a larger π-/π+ ratio in central collisions. Undoubtedly, the softer symmetry energy can also lead more energetic pions to form a larger π-/π+ ratio in peripheral collisions. Nevertheless, considering that most of pions are insufficiently energetic at this beam energy, we therefore suggest the π-/π+ ratio as a probe of the high-density symmetry energy effective only in central at most to midcentral collisions, thereby avoiding the possible information of low-density symmetry energy carried in π-/π+ ratio from peripheral collisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characterization of nanomaterials under high strain rates is critical to understand their suitability for dynamic applications such as nanoresonators and nanoswitches. It is also of great theoretical importance to explore nanomechanics with dynamic and rate effects. Here, we report in situ scanning electron microscope (SEM) tensile testing of bicrystalline silver nanowires at strain rates up to 2/s, which is 2 orders of magnitude higher than previously reported in the literature. The experiments are enabled by a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) with fast response time. It was identified that the nanowire plastic deformation has a small activation volume (<10b³), suggesting dislocation nucleation as the rate controlling mechanism. Also, a remarkable brittle-to-ductile failure mode transition was observed at a threshold strain rate of 0.2/s. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that along the nanowire, dislocation density and spatial distribution of plastic regions increase with increasing strain rate. Furthermore, molecular dynamic (MD) simulations show that deformation mechanisms such as grain boundary migration and dislocation interactions are responsible for such ductility. Finally, the MD and experimental results were interpreted using dislocation nucleation theory. The predicted yield stress values are in agreement with the experimental results for strain rates above 0.2/s when ductility is pronounced. At low strain rates, random imperfections on the nanowire surface trigger localized plasticity, leading to a brittle-like failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thioredoxin 1 (Trx1) is known to play an important role in protecting against cell death. However, the mechanism for control of Trx1 in cell death resulting from DNA damage has not been fully investigated. In this study, we used the DNA-damaging agent methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) to investigate the protective effects of Trx1 against DNA damage and cell death in HEK293 cells. We found that MMS application caused dose-dependent changes in the Trx1 redox state determined by redox western blotting. At lower concentrations, both reduced and oxidized Trx1 were observed, whereas the reduced band was fully oxidized at the higher concentration. Trx1 overexpression and small interfering RNA knockdown in cells revealed that reduced Trx1 after exposure to lower doses of MMS attenuated DNA damage, assessed by comet assay, and level of the DNA-damage marker histone γ-H2AX, possibly through scavenging intracellular ROS and an increase in p21 protein level via enhancing its stability. However, oxidized Trx1 lost its protective ability to DNA damage in response to higher concentration of MMS. Corresponding to the redox state control of Trx1, cell death induced by different dose of MMS was also found, by inhibiting phosphorylations of p38 and 4E-BP1. These results indicate that reduced Trx1 plays important protective roles against MMS-induced DNA damage and cell death, suggesting that cell protection is regulated by the intracellular redox state. Control of the redox state of Trx1 and its regulating proteins may offer a novel therapeutic strategy for the control of cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is associated with sustained inflammation, excessive injury, and accelerated lung aging. Human Klotho (KL) is an anti-aging protein that protects cells against inflammation and damage. In the present study, we quantified KL expression in the lungs of COPD patients and in an ozone-induced mouse model of COPD, and investigated the mechanisms that control KL expression and function in the airways. KL distribution and levels in human and mouse airways were measured by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. The effect of CSE (cigarette smoke extract) on KL expression was detected in human bronchial epithelial cells. Moreover, the effect of KL on CSE-mediated inflammation and hydrogen peroxide-induced cellular injury/apoptosis was determined using siRNAs. KL expression was decreased in the lungs of smokers and further reduced in patients with COPD. Similarly, 6 weeks of exposure to ozone decreased KL levels in airway epithelial cells. CSE and TNFa (tumour necrosis factor a) decreased KL expression and release from airway epithelial cells, which was associated with enhanced pro-inflammatory cytokine expression. Moreover, KL depletion increased cell sensitivity to cigarette smoke-induced inflammation and oxidative stress-induced cell damage. These effects involved the NF-B (nuclear factor B), MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) and Nrf2 (nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2) pathways. Reduced KL expression in COPD airway epithelial cells was associated with increased oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis. These data provide new insights into the mechanisms associated with the accelerated lung aging in COPD development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new bis-cyclometalated iridium(III) complex [Ir(dmabt)2(bipy)][PF6] (3) (dmabt = 4-(benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)-N,N-dimethylaniline, bipy = 2,2'-bipyridine) has been synthesized and fully characterized. The structure of complex 3 has been determined by X-ray analyses which shows that the central iridium(III) ion assumes distorted octahedral geometry. The photoluminescence spectrum exhibits orange emission maximum at 612 nm with quantum yield of 17% at 298 K. The frontier molecular orbital diagrams and the spin-allowed singlet-singlet electronic transitions of 3 have been calculated with density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT), and the UV-Vis spectra are discussed based on the theoretical calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Certificateless public key encryption (CLE) and certificate-based encryption (CBE) are motivated to simultaneously solve the heavy certificate management problem inherent in the traditional public key encryption (PKE) and the key escrow problem inherent in the identity-based encryption (IBE). Al-Riyami and Paterson proposed a general conversion from CLE to CBE, which is neat and natural. Kang and Park pointed out a flaw in their security proof. Wu et al. proposed another generic conversion from CLE to CBE which additionally involves collision resistant hash functions. It remains an open problem whether the generic conversion due to Al-Riyami and Paterson is provably secure or not. We are motivated to solve this open problem. Our basic idea is to enhance Type II adversary's power a little by allowing it to conditionally replace a user's public key. We first formalize a new security model of CLE in this way. Then, we succeed in proving that the Al-Riyami-Paterson generic conversion from CLE to CBE is secure, if the CLE scheme is secure in our new security model. Finally, a concrete provably secure CBE scheme is presented to demonstrate the applicability of our result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the crystal structures and electrochemical properties of the isomers (Sc2S "trapped" in C82) have been reported, in which the SC2S is located inside the different positions of the C82 cage. In the present work, three isomers of endohedral metallofullerenes Sc2S@C3v(8)-C82 (A, B, and C) have been designed to explore the effect of the position of Sc2S on their interaction energies and nonlinear optical properties. Among three isomers, the Sc2S is located in different positions of the C82 cage: the angles of Sc–S–Sc in A, B, and C are 104.9, 114.8, and 115.7°, respectively. Furthermore, the analysis of natural bond orbital (NBO) charge indicates that the electron-transfer is from the Sc2S to the adjacent carbon atoms of the C82 cage. The interaction energy of B is the smallest among three isomers which is −226.2 kcal mol-1. It was worth mentioning that their first hyperpolarizabilities (βtot) were studied, we found that their βtot values were related to the positions of Sc2S: C (2100)>B (1191)>A (947 au). We hope that the present work can provide a new strategy to promote the nonlinear optical properties of endohedral metallofullerenes by changing the positions of the encapsulated molecular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highlyefficient synthesis of planar chiral ferrocenylpyridinederivatives via Pd-catalyzed intramolecular C–H arylation wasdeveloped, and quantitative yields and excellent enantioselectivitywere obtained for a wide range of substrates. Notably, the catalystloading could be lowered to 0.2 mol %, which represents the highestcatalytic efficiency found for asymmetric C–H bond activation(TON up to 495). These compounds could be easily transformed to pyridine N-oxides, displaying promising catalytic reactivity in the asymmetric opening of meso-epoxide. Moreover, computational investigations wereconducted to clarify the origin of the excellent enantioselectivity.The compatibility of large-scale synthesis and low catalyst loadingshould enhance the practicality of the synthetic application of thecurrent method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-associated diseases are poorly treatable, and HTLV-1 vaccines are not available. High proviral load is one major risk factor for disease development. HTLV-1 encodes Tax oncoprotein, which activates transcription from viral long terminal repeats (LTR) and various types of cellular promoters. Counteracting Tax function might have prophylactic and therapeutic benefits. In this work, we report on the suppression of Tax activation of HTLV-1 LTR by SIRT1 deacetylase. The transcriptional activity of Tax on the LTR was largely ablated when SIRT1 was overexpressed, but Tax activation of NF-κB was unaffected. On the contrary, the activation of the LTR by Tax was boosted when SIRT1 was depleted. Treatment of cells with resveratrol shunted Tax activity in a SIRT1-dependent manner. The activation of SIRT1 in HTLV-1-transformed T cells by resveratrol potently inhibited HTLV-1 proviral transcription and Tax expression, whereas compromising SIRT1 by specific inhibitors augmented HTLV-1 mRNA expression. The administration of resveratrol also decreased the production of cell-free HTLV-1 virions from MT2 cells and the transmission of HTLV-1 from MT2 cells to uninfected Jurkat cells in coculture. SIRT1 associated with Tax in HTLV-1-transformed T cells. Treatment with resveratrol prevented the interaction of Tax with CREB and the recruitment of CREB, CRTC1, and p300 to Tax-responsive elements in the LTR. Our work demonstrates the negative regulatory function of SIRT1 in Tax activation of HTLV-1 transcription. Small-molecule activators of SIRT1 such as resveratrol might be considered new prophylactic and therapeutic agents in HTLV-1-associated diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Normally, polarimetric SAR classification is a high-dimensional nonlinear mapping problem. In the realm of pattern recognition, sparse representation is a very efficacious and powerful approach. As classical descriptors of polarimetric SAR, covariance and coherency matrices are Hermitian semidefinite and form a Riemannian manifold. Conventional Euclidean metrics are not suitable for a Riemannian manifold, and hence, normal sparse representation classification cannot be applied to polarimetric SAR directly. This paper proposes a new land cover classification approach for polarimetric SAR. There are two principal novelties in this paper. First, a Stein kernel on a Riemannian manifold instead of Euclidean metrics, combined with sparse representation, is employed for polarimetric SAR land cover classification. This approach is named Stein-sparse representation-based classification (SRC). Second, using simultaneous sparse representation and reasonable assumptions of the correlation of representation among different frequency bands, Stein-SRC is generalized to simultaneous Stein-SRC for multi-frequency polarimetric SAR classification. These classifiers are assessed using polarimetric SAR images from the Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) sensor of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Electromagnetics Institute Synthetic Aperture Radar (EMISAR) sensor of the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Experiments on single-band and multi-band data both show that these approaches acquire more accurate classification results in comparison to many conventional and advanced classifiers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with the arrival of the era of large amount of data, many machine learning methods have been applied to the ontology similarity calculation and ontology mapping. In this paper, we raise an infinite push model for ontology similarity measuring and ontology mapping in multi-dividing setting. The iterative algorithm and generalization bound are given by virtue of the dual solution for optimization and the trick of covering number approach. Furthermore, the fast ontology algorithm for standard ontology SVM by virtue of infinite push multi-dividing ontology algorithm is obtained. Finally, four experiments presented on various fields verify the efficiency of the new computation model for ontology similarity measuring and ontology mapping applications in multi-dividing setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although "histone" methyltransferases and demethylases are well established to regulate transcriptional programs and to use nonhistone proteins as substrates, their possible roles in regulation of heat-shock proteins in the nucleus have not been investigated. Here, we report that a highly conserved arginine residue, R469, in HSP70 (heat-shock protein of 70 kDa) proteins, an evolutionarily conserved protein family of ATP-dependent molecular chaperone, was monomethylated (me1), at least partially, by coactivatorassociated arginine methyltransferase 1/protein arginine methyltransferase 4 (CARM1/PRMT4) and demethylated by jumonjidomain- containing 6 (JMJD6), both in vitro and in cultured cells. Functional studies revealed that HSP70 could directly regulate retinoid acid (RA)-induced retinoid acid receptor β2 (RARβ2) gene transcription through its binding to chromatin, with R469me1 being essential in this process. HSP70's function in gene transcriptional regulation appears to be distinct from its protein chaperon activity. R469me1 was shown to mediate the interaction between HSP70 and TFIIH, which involves in RNA polymerase II phosphorylation and thus transcriptional initiation. Our findings expand the repertoire of nonhistone substrates targeted by PRMT4 and JMJD6, and reveal a new function of HSP70 proteins in gene transcription at the chromatin level aside from its classic role in protein folding and quality control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In theoretical chemistry, the Szeged index and Szeged related indices were introduced to measure the stability of alkanes and the strain energy of cycloalkanes. In this paper, we determine the edge-vertex Szeged index and vertex-edge Szeged index of unilateral polyomino chain and unilateral hexagonal chain. Furthermore, the total Szeged indices, third atom bond connectivity indices, PI polynomials, vertex PI polynomials, Szeged polynomials and edge Szeged polynomials of these chemical structures are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the in situ ruminal degradability, and subsequent small intestinal digestibility (SID) of dry matter, crude protein (CP), and amino acids (AA) of cottonseed meal (CSM), sunflower seed meal (SFSM) and distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) by using the modified three-step in vitro procedure. The ruminal degradability and subsequent SID of AA in rumenundegradable protein (RUP-AA) varied among three protein supplements. The result show that the effective degradability of DM for SFSM, CSM, and DDGS was 60.8%, 56.4%, and 41.0% and their ruminal fermentable organic matter was 60.0%, 55.9%, and 39.9%, respectively. The ruminal degradable protein (RDP) content in CP for SFSM, CSM, and DDGS was 68.3%, 39.0%, and 32.9%, respectively, at the ruminal solid passage rate of 1.84%/h. The SFSM is a good source of RDP for rumen micro-organisms; however, the SID of RUP of SFSM was lower. The DDGS and CSM are good sources of RUP for lambs to digest in the small intestine to complement ruminal microbial AA of growing lambs. Individual RUP-AA from each protein source was selectively removed by the rumen microorganisms, especially for Trp, Arg, His, and Lys (p<0.01). The SID of individual RUP-AA was different within specific RUP origin (p<0.01). Limiting amino acid was Leu for RUP of CSM and Lys for both RUP of SFSM and DDGS, respectively. Therefore, different protein supplements with specific limitations should be selected and combined carefully in growing lambs ration to optimize AA balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple mesenteric well-differentiated (WD) liposarcoma is an extremely rare entity. The present study describes a case of multiple mesenteric WD liposarcoma, complicated by purulent inflammation, in a 59-year-old male who presented with abdominal pain and pyrexia of unknown origin. A computed tomography scan of the abdomen revealed a large, non-encapsulated mass in the abdomino-pelvic cavity, which was characterized by two components, a main portion of fatty density and a non-adipose solid portion. A re-evaluated CT scan, performed eight days later, revealed an enlargement of the non-adipose mass. A laparotomy was performed, and numerous separated fatty nodules and masses of various sizes were identified within the mesentery of the small intestine. The histological findings were consistent with an adipocytic subtype of multiple mesenteric WD liposarcoma, with the largest of the tumors complicated by purulent inflammation. The multiplicity of these tumors and the concurrent purulent inflammation in the present case make it unique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) was thought to have a proarrhythmic effect on ventricular repolarization. But the results of previous studies were inconsistent. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of CRT on ventricular repolarization. Methods: A meta-analysis of studies focused on the effect of CRT on ventricular repolarization in patients undergoing CRT was conducted. Endpoints including QT interval (QT), JT interval (JT), QT dispersion(QTD) and interval between the peak to end of T wave (Tp-e). Results: A total of 14 studies were included in our meta-analysis. After pooling the data, no significant difference was observed in QT, JT and Tp-e between biventricular (BV) pacing and intrinsic ventricular rhythm. BV paced QTD was lower than intrinsic QTD, but the significance was ambiguous [mean difference (MD): -17.33, 95% CI -34.44 to -0.22, p=0.05]. Left ventricular (LV) paced Tp-e was significantly longer than intrinsic Tp-e (MD: 21.44, 95% CI 2.37 to 40.51, p=0.03). No significant difference was observed in QT, JT and QTD between LV pacing and intrinsic ventricular rhythm. Conclusion: In patients undergoing CRT, BV pacing has no deteriorating effect on ventricular repolarization, but LV pacing has a prolonging effect on Tp-e. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The errors of inertial sensors affect the navigation accuracy of the strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS) and are accumulated over time in nature. In order to continuously maintain the high navigation accuracy of vehicles for a long time period, an initial alignment and self-calibration is necessary after the SINS starts. Additionally, the observability analysis is one of the key techniques during the initial alignment and self-calibration process. For marine systems, the observability of inertial sensor errors is extremely low, as their motion states are always slow. Therefore, studying the rotating SINS is urgent. Since traditional analysis methods have their limitations, the global observation analysis method was used in this paper. On the basis of this method, the relationship between the observability and the kinestate of the rotating SINS has been established. After the discussion about the factors that affect the observability in detail, the design principle of the initial alignment and self-calibration rotating scheme, which is appropriate for marine systems, id proposed. With the proposed principle, a novel initial alignment and self-calibration method, named the eight-position rotating scheme, is designed. Simulations and experiments are carried out to verify its performance. The results have shown that compared with other rotating schemes and the static state, the estimated accuracy of the eight-position scheme rotating about axes x and y was the best, and the position error was significantly reduced with this new rotating scheme. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed design principle and the rotating scheme were verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nano CuO and alkane surfactant modified phenol Formaldehyde (PF) resins were applied to manufacture plywood, and physical and mechanical properties, such as shear strength, tensile property, modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE), as well as termite resistance were evaluated. The result showed that the combination of nano CuO and alkane surfactantplayed different effect on tensile strength, and especially on shear strength as evaluated at different test conditions. But it was confirmed to improve the water resistance of treated plywood specimens. The introduction of nano CuO and surfactant did not influence the flexural properties significantly by statistically. The result of termite tests indicated that the weight loss decreases gradually from 31,12% to less than 10,37%, and the mortality increases from 32,61% to higher than 86,35%. And the AWPA rating also rises from 4 (very severe attack) to 7 (moderate attack). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the framework of supersymmetric quantum mechanics method, we study by an algebraic method the arbitrary l-wave bound states of the Schrödinger equation for the hyperbolical molecular potential by a proper approximation to nonlinear centrifugal term. The explicitly analytical formula of energy levels is derived, and the corresponding bound state wave functions are presented. The function analysis method is used to rederive the same energy levels of the quantum system under consideration to check the validity of this algebraic method. In addition, it is shown from numerical results of energy levels that above certain α parameter depending on the choices of potential parameters V1 and V2 the hyperbolical molecular potential cannot trap a particle as it becomes weaker and the energy level starts to turn positive when the potential parameter α becomes larger. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on a novel type of liquid-filled simplified hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (HC-PCFs), and investigate their transmission properties with various filling liquids, including water, ethanol and FC-40. The loss and dispersion characterizations are calculated for different fiber parameters including strut thickness and core diameter. The results show that there are still low-loss windows existing for liquid-filled simplified HC-PCFs, and the low-loss windows and dispersions can be easily tailored by filling different liquids. Such liquid-filled simplified HC-PCFs open up many possibilities for nonlinear fiber optics, optical, biochemical and medical sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new algorithm called Huber-based iterated divided difference filtering (HIDDF) is derived and applied to cooperative localization of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) supported by a single surface leader. The position states are estimated using acoustic range measurements relative to the leader, in which some disadvantages such as weak observability, large initial error and contaminated measurements with outliers are inherent. By integrating both merits of iterated divided difference filtering (IDDF) and Huber's M-estimation methodology, the new filtering method could not only achieve more accurate estimation and faster convergence contrast to standard divided difference filtering (DDF) in conditions of weak observability and large initial error, but also exhibit robustness with respect to outlier measurements, for which the standard IDDF would exhibit severe degradation in estimation accuracy. The correctness as well as validity of the algorithm is demonstrated through experiment results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a Padé compact high-order finite volume scheme is presented for the solution of one-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equations. The compact high-order finite volume schemes posses inherent conservation of the equations and high order accuracy within small stencils. Fourier error analysis demonstrates that the spectral resolution of the Padé compact finite volume scheme exceeds that of the standard finite volume schemes in terms of the same order of accuracy. Besides, the linear stability of the temporal discretization scheme is also performed by using the Fourier analysis. Numerical results are obtained for the nonlinear Schrödinger equations with various initial and boundary conditions, which manifests high accuracy and validity of the Padé compact finite volume scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reveal the flame propagation behaviors during coal dust explosions, a kind of coal dust cloud was studied through experiment and numerical simulation in semi-enclosed vertical combustion tubes with different lengths. A high speed video camera and a thermal infrared imaging device were used to record the flame propagation process. The result indicated that the supreme flame propagation velocity and the highest flame temperature both rose gradually with the tube length increasing. Meanwhile, FLUENT was applied to numerical simulation of flame propagation behaviors during the coal dust explosions. The simulation result showed the flame combustion and the temperature varying process was consistent with the experimental result. It also revealed the distribution of flow velocity in the flow field during the combustion process, which indicated that flow velocity higher than flame propagation velocity was an important reason for dust re-entrainment and consistent explosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curcumin suppresses proliferation, migration, invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis and induces apoptosis by regulating multiple signalling pathways and miRNAs in a wide variety of human malignancies. miRNAs play crucial roles in various steps of carcinogenesis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC); thus, they could serve as critical therapeutic targets for NPC treatment. Curcumin could provide a novel strategy to block or induce specific miRNAs for miRNA-based gene therapies. Nevertheless, there are no reports to date on the miRNAs regulated by curcumin in NPC. In the present study, we have carried out an miRNA microarray to identify the miRNAs regulated by curcumin in NPC. Curcumin treatment down-regulated the expression of hsa-miR-125a-5p, hsa-miR-574-3p and hsa-miR-210 as determined by miRNA microarray analysis and qPCR (real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR). Forced expression of miR-125a-5p enhanced proliferation, migration and invasion of HONE1 cells. Primary NPC exhibited a significantly higher expression level of miR-125a-5p than healthy controls. miR-125a-5p inhibited the expression of tumour protein 53 (TP53), and curcumin treatment up-regulated the expression of TP53. Taken together, these results indicate that curcumin exerted inhibitory effects on NPC by inhibiting the expression of miR-125a-5p and, subsequently, enhancing the expression of TP53. Curcumin could provide a novel strategy to block miR-125a-5p for miRNA-based gene therapies in NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sign pattern (matrix) A is a matrix whose entries are from the set {+,-,0} . If no entry of A is zero, then A is called a full sign pattern. The inertia of a real matrix A is the ordered triple (n+,n-,n0), in which n+, n- and n0 are the numbers of its eigenvalues (counting multiplicities) with positive, negative and zero real parts, respectively. The refined inertia of A is the ordered 4-tuple (n+,n-,nz, 2np) where nz (resp., 2np) is the number of zero (resp., nonzero pure imaginary) eigenvalues of A. An nxn sign pattern A is an inertially arbitrary pattern (IAP) if it allows all possible inertias. Similarly, A is a refined inertially arbitrary pattern (rIAP) if it allows all possible refined inertias. A proper subset S of the set of all possible inertias (resp., refined inertia) of real matrices of order n is called a critical set of inertias (resp., critical set of refined inertias) for a family F of sign patterns of order n if for every A∈F, S⊆i(A) ensures that A is inertially arbitrary (resp., S⊆ri(A) ensures that A is refined inertially arbitrary); S is called a minimal critical set of inertias (resp., minimal critical set of refined inertias) for F if no proper subset of S is a critical set of inertias (resp., refined inertias) for F. In this paper, all minimal critical sets of inertias and refined inertias for 3x3 full sign patterns are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction When adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation ( LDLT) using the right lobe is carried out, there is disagreement between different centers as to whether the middle hepatic vein ( MHV) is included or retained by the donor. Methods Ninety-two cases of adult-to-adult LDLT were performed between January 2007 and December 2010 using a right lobe graft. A protocol for MHV allocation was applied according to the donor's remnant liver volume, overall graft/recipient weight ratio ( GRWR), and anatomic characteristics of the hepatic vein. Among these cases, there were 44 cases with MHV and 48 cases without MHV. No blood products were used during donor operations, and there was no occurrence of death or small-for-size syndrome after operations. Results There were statistical differences between Groups I and II according to the ages of the recipients, the actual GRWR, the weights of grafts, the cold storage time of grafts, etc. All patients recovered smoothly; one-, three-, and five-yr survival rates of patients were 96.7%, 92.4%, and 92.4% and of grafts were 95.7%, 91.3%, and 91.3%, respectively. Conclusion With a reasonable allocation protocol and precise evaluation, either MHV harvested or MHV retained to the donor during adult-to-adult LDLT using the right lobe can achieve good outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wetting behavior of a clothing assembly plays an important role in thermophysiological body comfort. The instruments and methods utilised for testing purposes should adequately quantify wetting parameters of fabric thermal comfort. The surface conductivity method has been used to for moisture management testing in fabrics, but that method cannot give the detailed information for fiber-liquid interaction. With the new near-infrared scattering method, the wetting mechanism is introduced and interpreted through liquid transfer process from an infinite liquid reservoir. Wetting results from two kinds of fabrics show the difference in fabric thermal comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fast and efficient method is proposed in this letter to characterize the dielectric permittivity of thin‐film materials. The measuring system is based on a TE103 rectangular split‐cavity resonator operating at around 10 GHz, which has the advantage of providing nondestructive measurements while maintaining a high level of accuracy. The thin‐film materials under test can be directly inserted in the split without being processed in a specific shape. Different dielectric materials are tested using this method. And the theoretical derivations and experimental measurements have been performed to confirm the validity and effectiveness of this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although empathy for pain plays an important role in positive interpersonal relationships and encourages engagement in prosocial behavior, it remains largely unknown whether empathy for pain could be effectively altered by psychophysiological techniques. This study aimed to investigate the impact of a single session of diaphragmatic breathing practice on empathy for pain and examine the potential mechanism involving interoceptive awareness. A total of 66 healthy participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group or the control group. The intervention group received a 15‐minute diaphragmatic breathing (DB) practice with real‐time biofeedback, while the control group was to gaze at a black screen at rest and not engaged in any other activities. Before and after the invention, all participants were instructed to evaluate the intensity and unpleasantness of empathy for pain while watching different pictures with pain or non‐pain conditions. The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) was then administered to measure interoceptive awareness. The results indicated a significant interaction between group and time with regard to empathy for pain and MAIA. The DB group showed a statistically significant decrease in both pain intensity and unpleasantness during the pain picture condition, as well as a noteworthy increase in MAIA scores. The control group did not demonstrate any substantial changes. More importantly, the regulation of attention, a dimension of MAIA, had a significant mediating effect on the impact of diaphragmatic breathing on reported unpleasantness. Diaphragmatic breathing could serve as a simple, convenient, and practical strategy to optimize human empathy for pain that warrants further investigation, which has important implications not only for individuals with impaired empathy for pain but also for the improvement of interoceptive awareness. This is the first RCT study to adopt a single session of intervention to influence empathy for pain by using an experimental evaluation paradigm. The results showed that 15‐minute diaphragmatic breathing significantly decreased pain intensity and unpleasantness caused by empathy for pain, and interoceptive awareness mediated the effect of diaphragmatic breathing on the unpleasantness level of empathy for pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autonomous nanorobots represent an advanced tool for precision therapy to improve therapeutic efficacy. However, current nanorobotic designs primarily rely on inorganic materials with compromised biocompatibility and limited biological functions. Here, we introduce enzyme-powered bacterial outer membrane vesicle (OMV) nanorobots. The immobilized urease on the OMV membrane catalyzes the decomposition of bioavailable urea, generating effective propulsion for nanorobots. This OMV nanorobot preserves the unique features of OMVs, including intrinsic biocompatibility, immunogenicity, versatile surface bioengineering for desired biofunctionalities, capability of cargo loading and protection. We present OMV-based nanorobots designed for effective tumor therapy by leveraging the membrane properties of OMVs. These involve surface bioengineering of robotic body with cell-penetrating peptide for tumor targeting and penetration, which is further enhanced by active propulsion of nanorobots. Additionally, OMV nanorobots can effectively safeguard the loaded gene silencing tool, small interfering RNA (siRNA), from enzymatic degradation. Through systematic in vitro and in vivo studies using a rodent model, we demonstrate that these OMV nanorobots substantially enhanced siRNA delivery and immune stimulation, resulting in the utmost effectiveness in tumor suppression when juxtaposed with static groups, particularly evident in the orthotopic bladder tumor model. This OMV nanorobot opens an inspiring avenue to design advanced medical robots with expanded versatility and adaptability, broadening their operation scope in practical biomedical domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fuzzy membership function has non-collapsability and can be used to characterize uncertainties that cannot be explored by sudden events. As the membership function does not satisfy the complementarity law, a single membership function cannot simultaneously characterize the positive and negative aspects of things. This article considers structured fuzzy data with negative uncertainty information, which is modeled using bipolar fuzzy graphs. On this basis, we consider the connectivity remainder of the model and obtain the corresponding theoretical results. In addition, we have discussed some related fractional factor issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infancy is a period featuring a high level of intersubject variability but the brain basis for such variability and the potential genetic/ environmental contributions remain largely unexplored. The assessment of the brain's functional connectivity during infancy by the resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) technique (Biswal et al., 1995) provides a unique means to probe the brain basis of intersubject variability during infancy. In this study, an unusually large typically developing human infant sample including 58 singletons, 132 dizygotic twins, and 98 monozygotic twins with rsfMRI scans during the first 2 years of life was recruited to delineate the spatial and temporal developmental patterns of both the intersubject variability of and genetic effects on the brain's functional connectivity. Through systematic voxelwise functional connectivity analyses, our results revealed that the intersubject variability at birth features lower variability in primary functional areas but higher values in association areas. Although the relative pattern remains largely consistent, the magnitude of intersubject variability undergoes an interesting U-shaped growth during the first 2 years of life. Overall, the intersubject variability patterns during infancy show both adult-like and infant-specific characteristics (Mueller et al., 2013). On the other hand, age-dependent genetic effects were observed showing significant but bidirectional relationships with intersubject variability. The temporal and spatial patterns of the intersubject variability of and genetic contributions to the brain's functional connectivity documented in this study shed light on the largely uncharted functional development of the brain during infancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rare earth ion-doped upconversion materials show great potential applications in optical and optoelectronic devices due to their novel optical properties. In this work, the NaYF4:Yb3+/Ho3+ microrods have been successfully prepared by a hydrothermal method assisted with EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid). Time controlled experiments were carried out and the growth mechanism of dissolution--recrystallization of the microrods is proposed. It is important that the unusual upconversion emission with a candy-like pattern from single NaYF4:Yb3+/Ho3+ microrods can be detected by confocal microscopy under NIR 980 nm excitation. The influence of the particle number on the UC emission spectra and the overall luminescence color was investigated systematically. We noted that the multicolor emission from the single NaYF4:Yb3+/Ho3+ microrods can be successfully obtained only by adjusting the excitation strength or the size of the microrods. The present study is of great importance for multicolor tuning of RE-doped NaYF4 nano/micromaterials as well as for understanding the up-mechanism. In addition, the luminescence from single microparticles can provide more precise spectral information on three-dimensional displays and biological labels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Defense against ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure is essential for survival, especially in high-elevation species. Although some specific genes involved in UV response have been reported, the full view of UV defense mechanisms remains largely unexplored. Herein, we used integrated approaches to analyze UV responses in the highest-elevation frog, Nanorana parkeri. We show less damage and more efficient antioxidant activity in skin of this frog than those of its lower-elevation relatives after UV exposure. We also reveal genes related to UV defense and a corresponding temporal expression pattern in N. parkeri. Genomic and metabolomic analysis along with large-scale transcriptomic profiling revealed a time-dependent coordinated defense mechanism in N. parkeri. We also identified several microRNAs that play important regulatory roles, especially in decreasing the expression levels of cell cycle genes. Moreover, multiple defense genes (i.e., TYR for melanogenesis) exhibit positive selection with function-enhancing substitutions. Thus, both expression shifts and gene mutations contribute to UV adaptation in N. parkeri. Our work demonstrates a genetic framework for evolution of UV defense in a natural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]