Search

Background The Stress hyperglycemia ratio (SHR) is a novel marker reflecting the true acute hyperglycemia status and is associated with clinical adverse events. The relationship between SHR and mortality in patients with diabetes or prediabetes is still unclear. This study aimed to investigate the predictive value of the SHR for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients with diabetes or prediabetes. Methods This study included 11,160 patients diagnosed with diabetes or prediabetes from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2005–2018). The study endpoints were all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, and morality data were extracted from the National Death Index (NDI) up to December 31, 2019. Patients were divided into SHR quartiles. Cox proportion hazards regression was applied to determine the prognostic value of SHR. Model 1 was not adjusted for any covariates. Model 2 was adjusted for age, sex, and race. Model 3 was adjusted for age, sex, race, BMI, smoking status, alcohol use, hypertension, CHD, CKD, anemia, and TG. Results During a mean follow-up of 84.9 months, a total of 1538 all-cause deaths and 410 cardiovascular deaths were recorded. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed the lowest all-cause mortality incidence was in quartile 3 (P<0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analyses indicated that, compared to the 1st quartile, the 4th quartile was associated with higher all-cause mortality (model 1: HR=0.89, 95% CI 0.74–10.7, P=0.226; model 2: HR=1.24, 95% CI 1.03-1.49, P=0.026; model 3: HR=1.30, 95% CI 1.08–1.57, P=0.006). The 3rd quartile was associated with lower cardiovascular mortality than quartile 1 (model 1: HR=0.47, 95% CI 0.32–0.69, P<0.001; model 2: HR=0.66, 95% CI 0.45–0.96, P=0.032; model 3: HR=0.68, 95% CI 0.46–0.99, P=0.049). There was a U-shaped association between SHR and all-cause mortality and an L-shaped association between SHR and cardiovascular mortality, with inflection points of SHR for poor prognosis of 0.87 and 0.93, respectively. Conclusion SHR is related to all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients with diabetes or prediabetes. SHR may have predictive value in those patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intelligent tracing car is a complex system with high linearity, and the design of path tracking strategy is one of the most important technologies in intelligent tracing car field. This paper proposed a novel path tracking strategy based on control dynamic model of the intelligent tracing car. The vehicle dynamic models are established separately according to the vehicle parameters and kinetic equation. The traditional path tracking strategy used the distance between the desired and actual displacements to compute the error for position control. However, the paper utilized the past and current states of the desired displacement to figure out a motion vector. The error was acquired through calculating the difference between the desired and current displacements along this motion vector. Simulation results showed excellent performance in position control and speed control for the intelligent tracing car. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor retardation, myotonia, quiescent tremor, and postural gait abnormality, as well as nonmotor symptoms such as anxiety and depression. Biofeedback improves motor and nonmotor functions of patients by regulating abnormal electroencephalogram (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG), photoplethysmography (PPG), electromyography (EMG), respiration (RSP), or other physiological signals. Given that multimodal signals are closely related to PD states, the clinical effect of multimodal biofeedback on patients with PD is worth exploring. Twenty-one patients with PD in Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital were enrolled and divided into three groups: multimodal (EEG, ECG, PPG, and RSP feedback signal), EEG (EEG feedback signal), and sham (random feedback signal), and they received biofeedback training five times in two weeks. The combined clinical scale and multimodal signal analysis results revealed that the EEG group significantly improved motor symptoms and increased Berg balance scale scores by regulating β band activity; the multimodal group significantly improved nonmotor symptoms and reduced Hamilton rating scale for depression scores by improving θ band activity. Our preliminary results revealed that multimodal biofeedback can improve the clinical symptoms of PD, but the regulation effect on motor symptoms is weaker than that of EEG biofeedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years it has been established that SIN1, a key component of mTORC2, could interact with Ras family small GTPases through its Ras-binding domain (RBD). The physical association of Ras and SIN1/mTORC2 could potentially affect both mTORC2 and Ras-ERK pathways. To decipher the precise molecular mechanism of this interaction, we determined the high-resolution structures of HRas/KRas-SIN1 RBD complexes, showing the detailed interaction interface. Mutation of critical interface residues abolished Ras-SIN1 interaction and in SIN1 knockout cells we demonstrated that Ras-SIN1 association promotes SGK1 activity but inhibits insulin-induced ERK activation. With structural comparison and competition fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) assays we showed that HRas-SIN1 RBD association is much weaker than HRas-Raf1 RBD but is slightly stronger than HRas-PI3K RBD interaction, providing a possible explanation for the different outcome of insulin or EGF stimulation. We also found that SIN1 isoform lacking the PH domain binds stronger to Ras than other longer isoforms and the PH domain appears to have an inhibitory effect on Ras-SIN1 binding. In addition, we uncovered a Ras dimerization interface that could be critical for Ras oligomerization. Our results advance our understanding of Ras-SIN1 association and crosstalk between growth factor-stimulated pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how suppliers' innovation in developing countries is affected by the interaction of vertical global supply chain relationships and horizontal market competition structure. We devised a bidirectional dynamic game model consisting of competing suppliers in a developing economy and an overseas buyer in a developed economy for innovation decision process in a suppliers cluster. Our research shows that global supply chain relationship is the primary factor to influence local cluster innovation and profit. Total innovation of the cluster is proved to be greater in global supply relationship with a powerful buyer than a non-powerful buyer. However, suppliers in a powerful buyer chain are not able to capture the value they created from innovation. Local competition structure plays its secondary role on cluster innovation through interaction with vertical chain relationship. Based on prior innovation research on either vertical supply chain power dynamics or horizontal competition intenseness, our study contributes as the first to employ a theoretical suppliers' innovation model for an integrative analysis encompassing both global and local power dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to improve the evaluation of residual oil saturation in water flooded zones based on the material balance model (MBM) with variable multiple for injected water. We investigated the change patterns of rock-electro parameters during waterflooding through the analysis of displacement tests. Our work differentiated the waterflooding into numerous displacement processes and accordingly propose an improved time-differentiated variable multiple MBM. The calculation results of the improved model are more consistent with the displacement experiment data of cores. Furthermore, the improved method was integrated into the comprehensive interpretation platform of offshore logging to analyze water flooded zones of a well in the A oilfield. As a result, the residual oil saturation calculated is in close agreement with the results of experiments on cores. Our results indicate that the time-differentiation and variable multiplier for injected water can effectively enhance the assessment accuracy of the residual oil saturation of water-flooded zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reactions between methane and niobium oxide cluster cations were studied and compared to those employing vanadium oxides. Hydrogen atom abstraction (HAA) reactions were identified over stoichiometric (Nb2O5)N+ clusters for N as large as 14 with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The reactivity of (Nb2O5)N+ clusters decreases as the N increases, and it is higher than that of (V2O5)N+ for N ≥ 4. Theoretical studies were conducted on (Nb2O5)N+ (N = 2-6) by density functional calculations. HAA reactions on these clusters are all favorable thermodynamically and kinetically. The difference of the reactivity with respect to the cluster size and metal type (Nb vs V) was attributed to thermodynamics, kinetics, the electron capture ability, and the distribution of the unpaired spin density. Nanosized Nb oxide clusters show higher HAA reactivity than V oxides, indicating that niobia may serve as promising catalysts for practical methane conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes a gait analysis system that classifies gait phases using three pressure sensors and one inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor. The pressure sensors are placed on the insole to measure ground reaction forces (GRF), while the IMU sensor is placed on the tongue to monitor foot angle changes. Gait phases, such as initial contact (IC), mid-stance (MS), terminal stance (TS), and swing (SW), are classified using a support vector machine (SVM). To tackle the problem of low accuracy caused by incorrect SVM model parameters, the study utilized particle swarm optimization (PSO) to optimize the SVM parameters. Three classifiers were constructed using the collected gait dataset while walking, such as a KNN classifier, a SVM classifier, and a PSO-SVM classifier. The experimental results demonstrate that the PSO-SVM algorithm outperforms the others in gait phase classification, achieving an accuracy of 95%. The PSO-SVM approach outperforms both the SVM. This finding illustrates the PSO-SVM approach's superiority in gait phase categorization and indicates its potential utility for classifying gait phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The predictive scoring systems for early stent thrombosis (EST) remains blank in China. The study aims to evaluate the risk factors and conduct a prediction model of EST in the Chinese population. METHODS: EST was defined as thrombosis that occurs within the first 30 days after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Patients from ten Chinese hospitals diagnosed as stent thrombosis (ST) from January 2010 to December 2016 were retrospectively included as the study group. A control group (1 case:2 controls) was created by including patients without ST, major adverse cardiovascular events, or cerebrovascular events during follow-up. The present study evaluated 426 patients with single-vessel lesions and ultimately included 40 patients with EST and 80 control patients, who were included to identify factors that predicted EST and to develop a prediction scoring system. The other 171 patients without integrated 1:2 pair were used for external validation. RESULTS: EST was independently associated with a low hemoglobin concentration (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.946, 95% confi dence interval [95% CI] 0.901-0.993, P=0.026), a high pre-PCI Synergy between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention with Taxus and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX) score (OR 1.166, 95% CI 1.049-1.297, P=0.004), and a DAPT (DAPT) duration of <30 days (OR 28.033, 95% CI 5.302-272.834, P<0.001). The simple EST prediction score provided an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.854 (95% CI 0.777- 0.932, P<0.001) with 70.0% sensitivity and 90.0% specifi city, and 0.742 (95% CI 0.649-0.835, P<0.001) with 54.5% sensitivity and 81.0% specificity for external validation dataset. CONCLUSIONS: EST may be independently associated with DAPT discontinuation within 30 days, a low hemoglobin concentration, and a high SYNTAX score. The scoring system also has a good ability to predict the risk of EST and may be useful in the clinical setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cu-doping effect on the lattice and magnetic properties in Mn3Ni1-xCuxN (x=0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0) was extensively investigated. We observed that the Cu-doping at the Ni site complicated the magnetic ground states, which induced the competition of antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic interactions. Spin-glass-like behavior, arising from possible site-randomness and competing interactions of magnetism, was observed in compounds with x=0.3, 0.5, and 0.7, and typically discussed by means of the measurement of ac magnetic susceptibility for x=0.7. The negative thermal expansion (NTE) behavior, due to the magnetic ordering transition, was observed in Mn3Ni1-xCuxN compounds using variable temperature x-ray diffraction. It reveals that the introduction of Cu effectively broadens the temperature range displaying negative thermal expansion. The relationship between the local lattice distortion and the competing magnetic ground states might play an important role in broadening the NTE temperature range in this antiperovskite compound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrohydraulic servo systems (EHSS) have been widely used in industries, especially for efficiently handling heavy loads. The purpose of this paper is to present a trajectory tracking of position control strategy which uses a closed-loop controller for EHSS system to synchronize the actual and desired positions. Generally, the PD controller is utilized extensively to control the EHSS, but the tracking performance of this approach is limited due to the nonlinear dynamics of EHSS. To achieve better control performance, the active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) is used in this paper to eliminate the nonlinear disturbance for EHSS. The simulation results show that the presented controller gains better tracking performances, such as less tracking lag and less mean absolute error (MAE), when compared with the PD controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the author offers information of the realization of an intrinsic ferromagnetic topological state in MnBi8Te13. Topics discussed Novel magnetic topological materials pave the way for studying the interplay between band topology and magnetism and intrinsic ferromagnetic axion insulator with clean low-energy band structures, MnBi8Te13 serves as an ideal system to investigate rich emergent phenomena, including the quantized anomalous Hall effect and quantized magnetoelectric effect.

The plasma membrane intrinsic protein PIP2;5 is the most highly expressed aquaporin in maize (Zea mays) roots. Here, we investigated how deregulation of PIP2;5 expression affects water relations and growth using maize overexpression (OE; B104 inbred) or knockout (KO; W22 inbred) lines. The hydraulic conductivity of the cortex cells of roots grown hydroponically was higher in PIP2;5 OE and lower in pip2;5 KO lines compared with the corresponding wild-type plants. While whole-root conductivity decreased in the KO lines compared to the wild type, no difference was observed in OE plants. This paradox was interpreted using the MECHA hydraulic model, which computes the radial flow of water within root sections. The model hints that the plasma membrane permeability of the cells is not radially uniform but that PIP2;5 may be saturated in cell layers with apoplastic barriers, i.e. the endodermis and exodermis, suggesting the presence of posttranslational mechanisms controlling the abundance of PIP in the plasma membrane in these cells. At the leaf level, where the PIP2;5 gene is weakly expressed in wild-type plants, the hydraulic conductance was higher in the PIP2;5 OE lines compared with the wild-type plants, whereas no difference was observed in the pip2;5 KO lines. The temporal trend of leaf elongation rate, used as a proxy for that of xylem water potential, was faster in PIP2;5 OE plants upon mild stress, but not in well-watered conditions, demonstrating that PIP2;5 may play a beneficial role in plant growth under specific conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both cage and noncage structures of (Fe2O3)n (n=2–6 and 10) clusters are studied using density functional theory. All the cage structures are stable without imaginary vibrational frequency but the global minima are the noncage clusters for most cases. Our results show that oxidation of Fe4On (n<6) clusters by O2 at room temperature is exothermic, while oxidation of n≥6 clusters is endothermic. This is in qualitative agreement with an experimental observation that only Fe4On+ (n≥6) clusters are produced in a laser vaporization source under saturated O2 growth conditions. Since (Fe2O3)n clusters have high stability and different structural and bonding properties from those of the bulk Fe2O3, they may serve as good models for predicting or interpreting novel properties of Fe2O3 nanomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One futures market GARCH model prediction method based on Hessian matrix dynamic programming deep neural networks has been proposed to improve the prediction accuracy of futures market model. Firstly, data analysis has been made for futures market based on GARCH model. It takes twelve factors of today opening, the highest price, the lowest price, today closing, ups and downs, volume, SMA, 10BIAS, 10PSY, 10RSI, 10AR and 10BR as input variables, which is comparative series and then set up GARCH prediction model; secondly, Hessian dynamic programming deep learning network has been constructed, learning and training have been made for the established futures market GARCH model to improve prediction accuracy and efficiency; lastly, the effectiveness of this algorithm has been verified through simulation experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the prediction accuracy of asset allocation model, the Black–Litterman (BL) asset allocation model based on principal component analysis (PCA) under uncertainty is proposed in the thesis. Firstly, the main idea and calculative process of BL model are introduced, and the BL model formula under uncertainty is inferred, then the BL model principle and main steps under uncertainty are provided; secondly, the BL model is subject to the comprehensive evaluation through the introduction of PCA, and the model coefficients of BL model PCA is subject to the assignment through analytic hierarchy process so as to improve the prediction accuracy of the asset allocation model; finally, the effectiveness of the algorithm mentioned is verified based on the positive analysis on data of Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 indexes and Shanghai and Shenzhen industry indexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: aB -crystallin (aBC) belongs to the family of small heat shock proteins that are necessary for maintaining oxygen homeostasis. This study was designed to explore the possible effects of aBC on N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) induced retinal degeneration and the underlying mechanisms. Methods: The aBC was injected into the vitreous bodies of MNU administered mice. The retinal morphology and visual function of experimental animals were analyzed by electroretinography (ERG), Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), fundus photographs, optokinetic testing and immunohistochemistry assay. Results: Optokinetic behavioural tests and ERG examination suggested that the visual impairments of the MNU administered mice were ameliorated effectively by aBC treatment. OCT analysis showed that the major retinal architecture of the MNU administered mice was efficiently rescued by aBC treatment. Fundus examination suggested that the lesion size of the MNU administered mice was decreased by aBC treatment. MNU induced photoreceptor loss was also mitigated by aBC treatment as shown by hematoxylin and eosin staining. In particular, the immunostaining study suggested that M-cone photoreceptors, rather than the S-cone photoreceptors, were preferentially rescued, indicating that the photoreceptor populations have different sensitivities to aBC. The mechanism study suggested that the anti-apoptotic, anti-oxidative and neurotrophic function of aBC collectively contributed to these therapeutic effects. Conclusion: Intravitreal delivery of aBC could alleviate MNU induced photoreceptor degeneration and visual impairment. Further refinement of the aBC induced protection would afford a novel therapeutic strategy for retinitis pigmentosa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The control in morphology and microstructure is an efficient approach to regulate the gas sensing properties of the sensor. In this work, polyaniline (PANi) layer in nanoscale film morphology was coated on the surface of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets through the in situ polymerization method. The microstructure and properties of the composite sheets were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, Raman spectrometry and thermal gravimetric analysis. It is found that there are strong effects of morphology-dependent structures of PANi layers on the sensing behaviors for ammonia detection, and more importantly, the utilization of the composite sheets as a new type of sensing material for highly sensitive detection of formaldehyde. Moreover, the best sensing properties can be achieved for the composite sheets with the thickness of PANi layer of 1.3 nm, benefiting from the strongest interaction between graphene sheet and PANi chains among all the composite sheets. Furthermore, a wide linear response range from 12 to 1500 ppm, 10 s response time for 100 ppm, 3.0 × 10−4/ppm sensitivity and 10 ppm detection limit can be achieved for ammonia, while 8 to 250 ppm, 35 s, 1.1 × 10−3/ppm and 4 ppm for formaldehyde. With the advantages in simplicity in material preparation and device operation as well as significant synergistic effects, PANi in nanoscale film morphology covered on the rGO sheets with large surface area can provide an efficient approach for fabricating sensitive and cheap chemiresistive sensor as an early warning system in some particular situations where either ammonia or formaldehyde is used widely or produced largely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, four samples containing different contents of fumed SiO2 were prepared to improve the pore size distribution and various properties of β nucleated isotatic polypropylene (β-iPP) biaxial membrane used for lithium-ion battery separator. The wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results show that the fumed SiO2 promotes the formation of β-crystal slightly and narrows down the thickness distribution of β-lamellae; meanwhile, evenly distributed SiO2 within β-iPP can be inspected by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Moreover, further detailed characterization of morphological evolutions during biaxial stretching by tensile testing and SEM manifests that SiO2 can strengthen β-iPP and make the samples deform more homogeneously, resulting in a gradually elaborate and finer oriented microfibril structure after longitudinal stretching, in which more uniform defects distribute between fibrils and restrain the formation of coarse fibrils effectively. Therefore, more superior microporous structure emerges with the addition of SiO2, accompanied by narrower pore size distribution and better connectivity between microvoids, which is confirmed by mercury porosimeter and diminished Gurley value. Moreover, the lower thermal shrinkage, decreased shrinkage rate and suppressed porosity reduction indicate that fumed SiO2 improves thermal and dimensional stability of membrane dramatically. Furthermore, due to the excellent wettability of SiO2 with electrolyte, the microporous membranes doped with SiO2 have higher electrolyte uptake, even after heat treatment at elevated temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have indicated that cellular senescence is a critical underlying mechanism of intervertebral disc degeneration. However, the precise mechanism by which cellular senescence accelerates disc degeneration has not been fully elucidated. Caveolin-1 has recently emerged as an important regulator of cellular senescence. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether caveolin-1 is involved in nucleus pulposus (NP) cellular senescence during oxidative stress. PCR was used to detect caveolin-1 mRNA expression and protein expression was detected by western blotting. Caveolin-1 expression at the mRNA and protein levels was markedly increased following treatment with tert-butyl hydroperoxide, and an increase in premature senescence was observed, as determined by senescence-associated β-galactosidase staining and the decline of cellular proliferative ability. In addition, caveolin-1 gene expression was successfully knocked down by lentivirus-mediated RNA interference, which exerted a protective effect against the cellular senescence induced by oxidative stress. Notably, p53 and p21 protein expression, though not p16 protein expression, decreased with caveolin-1 silencing. The results suggested that caveolin-1 may be involved in NP cellular senescence during oxidative stress in vitro, mainly via the p53/p21 signaling pathway. Thus, caveolin-1 may represent a novel therapeutic target for the prevention of intervertebral disc degeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Although not life threatening, hemifacial spasm (HFS) can be disabling and significantly affect quality of life (QOL). The aim of this study was to assess the major factors affecting the QOL and further to investigate the impact of microvascular decompression (MVD) on QOL in patients with HFS. Methods Patients with HFS who underwent MVD in our department between 2013 and 2014 were included in this study. The validated, disease-specific questionnaire (HFS-30) was used to evaluate the QOL in patients with HFS before surgery and 1 year after MVD. The clinical data of these patients were collected prospectively and statistically analyzed. Results A total of 116 consecutive patients were enrolled in this study, including 69 women and 47 men, with a mean age of 43.3 ± 7.8 years. The global QOL was significantly impaired in patients with HFS. There was a positive correlation of severity of HFS with patient's QOL both in physical and mental health domains ( r = 0.34, P = 0.02; r = 0.46, P = 0.03). Patients with a higher educational level tended to have a worse QOL in the mental health domain ( r = 0.43, P = 0.02). Seventy-nine patients (68.1%) were spasm free immediately postoperatively, 106 (91.4%) were spasm free at 1-year follow-up. There were significant improvements across all subscales of the HFS-30 questionnaire between preoperative and postoperative responses, and 84.5% of patients experienced significant improvement in QOL after MVD. Conclusions HFS affects QOL both physically and mentally. Patients with severe HFS symptoms or a higher educational level are at higher risk of worse QOL. MVD not only provides high spasm-relief rate but also leads to significantly higher QOL after surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: The discovery of relationships between gene expression measurements and phenotypic responses is hampered by both computational and statistical impediments. Conventional statistical methods are less than ideal because they either fail to select relevant genes, predict poorly, ignore the unknown interaction structure between genes, or are computationally intractable. Thus, the creation of new methods which can handle many expression measurements on relatively small numbers of patients while also uncovering gene-gene relationships and predicting well is desirable. Results: We develop a new technique for using the marginal relationship between gene expression measurements and patient survival outcomes to identify a small subset of genes which appear highly relevant for predicting survival, produce a low-dimensional embedding based on this small subset, and amplify this embedding with information from the remaining genes. We motivate our methodology by using gene expression measurements to predict survival time for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, illustrate the behavior of our methodology on carefully constructed synthetic examples, and test it on a number of other gene expression datasets. Our technique is computationally tractable, generally outperforms other methods, is extensible to other phenotypes, and also identifies different genes (relative to existing methods) for possible future study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis is a rare neurological disorder that is caused by the production of antibodies against NMDARs. As many anaesthetic drugs interact with NMDARs and may worsen the disease and because the disease poses risks, such as cardiovascular events, hyperthermia and respiratory insufficiency, while under anaesthesia, administering anaesthesia to patients with this disorder is clinically challenging. Case presentation: A 55-year-old man with gastric cancer associated with anti-NMDAR encephalitis who was diagnosed 8 months prior was admitted to Peking University Cancer Hospital for tumour resection. Before surgery, the patient's symptoms had been successfully controlled via aggressive immunotherapy. Radical gastrectomy was performed under general anaesthesia induced with remifentanil, propofol, and cisatracurium and maintained with sevoflurane and remifentanil. The patient had a favourable recovery without any adverse symptoms or post-operative complications. Conclusions: Adequate preparation for surgery is essential for the anaesthetic management of patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis. These rare patients may benefit from general anaesthesia induced using remifentanil, propofol and cisatracurium and maintained using sevoflurane and remifentanil. Additionally, the use of NMDA antagonists, such as ketamine, nitrous oxide and tramadol, should be avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the removal characteristics of tanic acid (TA) adsorbed on MIEX resin by batch experiments. MIEX resin can effectively remove TA from raw water at pH 6-9. Chloride and sulfate have adverse effect on the removal of TA. Conversely, bicarbonate can further the removal of TA. The Elovich model is the most suitable for depicting the kinetic process, and liquid film diffusion dominates the adsorption rate. The Freundlich model is reliable for describing the adsorption equilibrium. Adsorption is an endothermic, entropy-driving, and thermodynamically spontaneous process. The energy changes confirm the physical adsorption and dominate adsorption behavior. The sodium chloride solution (0.5%) can effectively regenerate the MIEX resin saturated TA, and the regenerated resin can be used circularly. Therefore, MIEX resin is a promising adsorbent for the removal of TA from raw water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethylene increases root cortical aerenchyma formation in maize (Zea mays L.), rice (Oryza sativa L.) and other species. To further investigate the effects of nitrate, ammonium and water stress on ethylene production and aerenchyma formation in roots, two lowland rice cultivars (Shanyou 63, hybrid indica, and Yangdao 6, inbred indica) were cultured hydroponically with 10% (w/v) polyethylene glycol to simulate water stress. Water stress decreased shoot biomass, stomatal conductivity and leaf water potential in cultivars fed with nitrate but not with ammonium. Water stress induced more aerenchyma formation in cultivars fed with nitrate rather than ammonium, and increased cortical aerenchyma was found in Yangdao 6. Endogenous ethylene production by roots increased significantly under water stress in plants fed with nitrate rather than ammonium. Exogenous ethylene stimulated root cortical aerenchyma formation. Expression of the ethylene biosynthesis gene 1-aminocyclo-propane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) synthase (ACS5) was greater in roots fed with nitrate rather than ammonium in the presence and absence of water stress. The expression of ethylene signalling pathway genes involved in programmed cell death (lesion-simulating disease (L.S.D.)1.1 and L.S.D.2; enhanced disease susceptibility (EDS) and phytoalexin-deficient (PAD4)) were regulated by the N form and water stress. In plants of cultivars fed with ammonium, L.S.D.1.1 expression increased under water stress, whereas L.S.D.2, EDS and PAD4 expression decreased. In conclusion, nitrate increases ethylene production and cortical aerenchyma formation in roots of water-stressed lowland rice. However, ammonium increased L.S.D.1.1 expression in water-stressed roots, and decreased ACS5, EDS and PAD4 expression, which would inhibit ethylene production and aerenchyma formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Accumulating evidence indicates that microRNA-27a (miR-27a) is involved in carcinogenesis and tumor progression. However, the exact function and molecular mechanism of miR-27a in gastric cancer remain unclear. Methods: Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to quantify the expression of miR-27a and its target gene. The function of miR-27a in gastric cancer was investigated through in vitro and in vivo assays (MTT assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometry assay, wound healing assay, migration and invasion assay, immunohistochemistry (IHC), immunofluorescence (IF) and Western blot). A luciferase reporter assay was conducted to confirm the target gene of miR-27a. Results: We found that miR-27a was commonly overexpressed in gastric cancer and high expression of miR-27a was associated with distant metastasis, lymph node metastasis, advanced T stage and advanced clinical stage. Functional assays demonstrated that overexpression of miR-27a in AGS cells accelerated cell proliferation, migration and invasion and suppressed apoptosis. Meanwhile, opposite results were observed in SGC-7901 cells when miR-27a was suppressed. Consistently, down-regulation of miR-27a inhibited the growth and metastasis of engrafted tumors in vivo. Furthermore, we found PH domain and leucine-rich repeat protein phosphatase 2 (PHLPP2) to be a new target of miR-27a, and downregulation of PHLPP2 could rescue the effect of anti-miR-27a in gastric cancer cells. In addition, miR- 27a-mediated suppression of PHLPP2 led to stimulation of the AKT/GSK3β pathway. Conclusions: Our data suggest that miR-27a functions as a crucial oncogenic miRNA in gastric cancer. It can promote proliferation and metastasis of tumor cells by suppressing PHLPP2 and activating the AKT/GSK3β pathway. Therefore, miR-27a is a potential novel therapeutic target in gastric cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a method that uses fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors to distinguish the temporal gait patterns in gait cycles. Unlike most conventional methods that focus on electronic sensors to collect those physical quantities (i.e., strains, forces, pressure, displacements, velocity, and accelerations), the proposed method utilizes the backreflected peak wavelength from FBG sensors to describe the motion characteristics in human walking. Specifically, the FBG sensors are sensitive to external strain with the result that their back-reflected peak wavelength will be shifted according to the extent of the influence of external strain. Therefore, when subjects walk in different gait patterns, the strains on FBG sensors will be different such that the magnitude of the backreflected peak wavelength varies. To test the reliability of the FBG sensor platform for gait pattern detection, the gold standard method using force-sensitive resistors (FSRs) for defining gait patterns is introduced as a reference platform. The reliability of the FBG sensor platform is determined by comparing the detection results between the FBG sensors and FSRs platforms. The experimental results show that the FBG sensor platform is reliable in gait pattern detection and gains high reliability when compared with the reference platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) can function as tumor-suppressor or oncogenic genes. Upregulation of miRNA-141 has been frequently observed in colorectal cancer (CRC) samples. The experimentally observed targets of miR-141 include the tumor-suppressor gene mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 4 (MAP2K4). The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of miR-141 in the proliferation of colonic cancer. Western blotting, immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction were used to detect the expression levels of miR-141 and MAP2K4 in colonic adenocarcinoma (CAC) and adjacent non-cancerous (NC) tissue samples, as well as in human CAC cell lines (HT29, T94 and LS174). MTT assay was used to investigate the proliferation and apoptosis of these three cell lines. The expression levels of miR-141 were significantly upregulated in clinical samples of CAC, compared with adjacent NC tissues. By contrast, MAP2K4 was downregulated in CAC. The in vitro assays demonstrated that overexpression of miR-141 resulted in cell proliferation of CAC by inhibiting MAP2K4 activity. Our study suggests that targeting the miR-141-MAP2K4 signaling pathway may represent a novel approach for the treatment of CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyper-cross-linked polymers (HCPs) have aroused great interest because of their potential applications in adsorbing greenhouse gases and volatile organic compounds. However, the selection of raw materials and the postcontrol of the porosity of HCPs remain a challenge. Here, we developed new porosity-enhanced materials by chemically creating additional pores in polymer-based HCPs. The as-prepared material presents a high surface area (1201 m2 g-1), large microporous volume, and high chemical stability even in concentrated acid, thus demonstrating potential in gas capture and storage (CO2: 15.31 wt % at 273 K/1.0 bar; selectivity for CO2 against N2: 36.6; and large adsorption capacity for six organic vapors). This method of creating additional pores in polymer-based HCPs may open doors to the creation of novel porosity-enhanced materials suitable for high-performance adsorbents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquaporins, major intrinsic proteins (MIPs) present in the plasma and intracellular membranes, facilitate the transport of small neutral molecules across cell membranes in higher plants. Recently, progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms of aquaporin subcellular localization, transport selectivity, and gating properties. Although the role of aquaporins in maintaining the plant water status has been addressed, the interactions between plant aquaporins and mineral nutrients remain largely unknown. This review highlights the roles of various aquaporin orthologues in mineral nutrient uptake and transport, as well as the regulatory effects of mineral nutrients on aquaporin expression and activity, and an integrated link between aquaporins and mineral nutrient metabolism was identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using different tip speed ratios, the near-wake velocity field of a horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) model was simulated. The distributions of the near-wake velocity behind the HAWT rotor are obtained. Furthermore, the development of the wake is shown. The resulting data can be used to identify and better understand the physical attributes of the complex flow field, as well as to aid in the accurate prediction of the HAWT's performance. Calculations indicate that the axial flow downstream of the near-wake region displays obvious three-dimensional properties. The axial component of air flow velocity is larger than the tangential and radial velocity components. For wind turbines of varying heights, the velocity profiles for each component are similar in the near-wake region. Velocity loss exists downstream of the wind turbine's near-wake region, decreasing with an increase in axial position downstream of the turbine. The rate of decrease in center velocity is largest at the near-wake region from the trailing edge of the blade to the position of twice the chord length downstream of the turbine. At the position of four times the chord length downstream, the lowest velocity is restored to over 70% of the free incoming flow velocity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of apoptotic cells and loss of extracellular matrix (ECM) are common characteristics of degenerated cartilage endplates (CEPs). In addition, therapeutic efficacy is hampered by an incomplete understanding regarding the mechanisms underlying CEP homeostasis and degeneration. The CCN proteins have recently emerged as important regulators of cell-ECM interactions, and have been identified as key mediators of nucleus pulposus ECM composition and tissue homeostasis. However, whether CCN3 is associated with CEP homeostasis has yet to be elucidated. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of CCN3 on the apoptosis and ECM synthesis of CEP cells cultured under serum deprivation. Rat CEP cells were confirmed to be of the chondrocytic phenotype by toluidine blue staining. The mRNA expression levels of CCN3 were markedly increased, and a dose-dependent increase of apoptotic rate was detected under serum deprivation conditions following treatment with recombinant CCN3, whereas CCN3 did not exert a proapoptotic effect on cells cultured under normal conditions. Furthermore, CCN3-treated cells exhibited a decrease in the expression levels of aggrecan and collagen II in both groups. These results suggested that CCN3 may act as a regulator, rather than an initiator, of serum deprivation-induced cellular apoptosis, and that CCN3 has a catabolic effect on the mediation of ECM synthesis under both normal and serum deprivation conditions. Therefore, CCN3 may represent a novel therapeutic target for the prevention of CEP degeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our previous studies demonstrated that chloroplastic CO2 concentration (Cc) is not sufficient under high-nitrogen (N) supply in rice plants. In this research, we studied how aquaporins- (AQPs) mediated Cc under different N-supply levels. A hydroponic experiment was conducted in a greenhouse with three different N levels (low N, 0.71 mM; intermediate N, 2.86 mM; and high N, 7.14 mM) in a rice cultivar (Oryza sativa cv. Shanyou 63) and with an ospip1;1 mutant (Oryza sativa cv. Nipponbare). The photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency (PNUE) decreased with increasing leaf-N content. Under high-N supply, the estimated Cc was significantly lower than the theoretical Cc and the specific Rubisco activity (carboxylation efficiency/Rubisco content, CE/Rubisco) decreased, because of a decrease of relative CO2 diffusion conductance (total CO2 diffusion conductance/leaf-N content, gt/N) in mesophyll cells. Real Time Quantitative PCR (Q-RT-PCR) showed that most OsPIP1s and OsPIP2s expression were downregulated under the high-N supply. Furthermore, Cc and gm decreased in the ospip1;1 mutant line compared with that of the wild-type plant. It was concluded that under high-N supply, the decreased PNUE was associated with non-sufficient Cc, mediated by AQP in mesophyll conductance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's high-speed socioeconomic development has been characterized by rapid urbanization and a series of ecological environment issues, especially air pollution. This paper proposed a comprehensive indicator system for the evaluation of urbanization and the air environment in Wuhan, a metropolis in central China, and then investigated the relationship between urbanization and the air environment from the perspective of coupling coordination theory. Furthermore, a coupling coordination degree model (CCDM) was constructed to estimate the relationship by using panel data collected from 1996-2013. The results showed the following: (1) Spatial urbanization and air environment quality make the greatest contributions to the compound system compared to other first grade indicators, indicating that they are critical factors to consider when the government is making relevant decisions about urban sprawl. (2) The comprehensive level of the air environment initially decreased from 1996-1998 and then increased with fluctuations in Wuhan, with several inflection points, meaning that the variation process of the air environment is unstable and repetitive, and efforts to improve the air environment must persist over a long period of time. Lastly, (3) the degree of coordinated coupling between urbanization and the air environment exhibited an S-shaped curve, indicating that Wuhan changed from having slightly unbalanced development to barely balanced development and then entered into a period of superiorly balanced development, with the air environment lagging. Thus, the ambient urban air quality has been subject to great pressure, and the government should continue to take effective action to improve it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) may be present in the absence of vascular compressiom, and surgical treatment in these cases is controversial. Our objective is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of trigeminal root compression in this situation. Methods: A prospective collection of clinical data on all patients diagnosed with idiopathic TN in our institution. Cases with no visible offending vessel intraoperatively were included in this study. These patients underwent trigeminal root compression and long-term follow-up. The basic characteristics and outcomes were analyzed. Results: From February 2005 to November 2010, 381 patients underwent microvascular decompression for TN at our department. Among them, 28(7.3 %) patients (17 female, 11 male) had no visible vascular compression intraoperatively. The median observation period was 46 months (range, 8-60 months). Twenty patients (71.4 %) achieved complete pain relief without medication immediately postoperatively. However, the recurrence rate was 38.4 %, and only 13 patients (46.4 %) achieved complete pain relief without medication at follow-up. Ten patients (35.7 %) developed some degree of facial numbness, which was transient in six cases (21.4 %) and permanent in four (14.3 %). Conclusions: Although trigeminal root compression provides good initial pain relief, the long-term efficacy, complication and recurrence rates are far from satisfactory. Further studies are needed to explore the possible mechanisms of underlying pain and to compare the outcomes of various types of interventions in cases without vascular compression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlled islanding, which splits the whole power system into islands, is an effective way of limiting blackouts during severe disturbances. Calculating islanding solutions in real time is difficult because of the combinatorial explosion of the solution space occurs for large power system. This paper proposes a computationally efficient controlled islanding algorithm that uses constrained spectral clustering . An undirected edge-weighted graph is constructed based on absolute values of active power flow and constraints related to transmission line availability and coherent generator groups are included by modifying the edge weights of the graph and using a subspace projection. Spectral clustering is then applied to the constrained solution subspace to find the islanding solution. To improve the clustering quality, a pre-processing procedure is used to detect and eliminate outliers in the eigenvectors of the graph before clustering. A robust k-medoids algorithm, which is less sensitive to outliers than the traditional k-means algorithm, is then used for clustering. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is computationally efficient when solving a controlled islanding problem in real-time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The double-network prepared with an in-situ monomer gel and a fast-crosslinked Cr(III) gel is introduced to develop a thixotropic and high-strength gel (THSG), which is found to have many advantages over the traditional gels. The THSG gel demonstrates remarkable thermal stability, and no syneresis is observed after 12 months with high salinity brine (95,500 mg/L). Moreover, the SEM and XRD results indicate that the gel is intercalated into the lamellar structures of Na-MMT, where the gel can form a uniform and compact structure. In addition, the THSG gel has an excellent swelling behavior, even in the high salinity brine. In the slim tube experiments, the THSG gel exhibits high rupture pressure and improves blocking capacity after being ruptured. The core flooding results show that a layer of gel filter cake is formed on the face of the fracture, which may be promoted by a high matrix permeability, a small aperture fracture, and a high injection rate. After the gel treatment, the fracture can be completely blocked by the THSG gel. It is found that a high incremental oil recovery (65.3%) can be achieved when the fracture was completely blocked, compared to 40.2% if the gel is ruptured. Although the swelling of ruptured gel can improve oil recovery, part of the injected brine may be channeled through the gel-filled fractures, resulting in a decrease in the sweep efficiency. Therefore, the improved blocking ability by gel swelling (e.g., in fresh water) may be less efficient to contribute to an enhancement of oil recovery. It is also found that the pressure gradient and residual resistance factor to water (Frrw) are higher if the matrix is less permeable, indicating that the fractured reservoir with lower matrix permeability may require a higher gel strength for treatment. The findings of this study may provide novel insights on designing robust double network gels for water shutoff in fractured reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High doses of the active form of vitamin D3, 1,25- dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3], prevent diabetes in the NOD mouse but also elicit unwanted calcemic side effects. Because immune cells themselves can convert vitamin D3 into 1,25(OH)2D3 locally, we hypothesized that dietary vitamin D3 can also prevent disease. Thus, we evaluated whether dietary administration of high doses of regular vitamin D3 (800 IU/day) during different periods of life (pregnancy and lactation, early life [3–14 weeks of age], or lifelong [3–35 weeks of age]) safely prevents diabetes in NOD mice. We found that only lifelong treatment raised serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 from 173 nmol/L in controls to 290 nmol/L, without inducing signs of calcemic or bone toxicity, and significantly reduced diabetes development in both male and female NOD mice. This diabetes protection by vitamin D3 correlated with preserved pancreatic insulin content and improved insulitis scores. Moreover, vitamin D3 treatment decreased interferon-g–positive CD8+ T cells and increased CD4+(CD25+)FoxP3+ T cells in pancreatic draining lymph nodes. In conclusion, this study shows for the first time that high doses of regular dietary vitamin D3 can safely prevent diabetes in NOD mice when administered lifelong, although caution is warranted with regards to administering equivalently high doses in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The specific recognition by proteins of G-quadruplex structures provides evidence of a functional role for in vivo G-quadruplex structures. As previously reported, the ribonucleoprotein, hnRNP Al, and it is proteolytic derivative, unwinding protein 1 (UP1), bind to and destabilize G-quadruplex structures formed by the human telomeric repeat d(TTAGGG)n. UP1 has been proposed to be involved in the recruitment of telomerase to telomeres for chain extension. In this study, a detailed thermodynamic characterization of the binding of UP1 to a human telomeric repeat sequence, the d[AGGG(TTAGGG)3] G-quadruplex, is presented and reveals key insights into the UP1-induced unfolding of the G-quadruplex structure. The UP1-G-quadruplex interactions are shown to be enthalpically driven, exhibiting large negative enthalpy changes for the formation of both the Na+ and K+ G-quadruplex-UP1 complexes (ΔH values of -43 and -19 kcal/mol, respectively). These data reveal three distinct enthalpic contributions from the interactions of UP1 with the Na+ form of G-quadruplex DNA. The initial interaction is characterized by a binding affinity of 8.5 × 108 M-1 (strand), 200 times stronger than the binding of UP1 to a single-stranded DNA with a comparable but non-quadruplex-forming sequence [4.1 × 106 M-1 (strand)]. Circular dichroism spectroscopy reveals the Na+ form of the G-quadruplex to be completely unfolded by UP1 at a binding ratio of 2:1 (UP1:G-quadruplex DNA). The data presented here demonstrate that the favorable energetics of the initial binding event are closely coupled with and drive the unfolding of the G-quadruplex structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the constant expansion of metro network scale, the existing metro automatic fare collection system encounters severe challenges including, but not limited to, high construction cost, low resource utilization rates and complicated maintenance. To solve these problems, this paper designed an absolutely new metro automatic fare collection system(CAFC system) based on cloud computing technology. Firstly, it established the system framework, cloud architecture, physical topology and software system construction. Compared to the existing one, owing to its much more simple architecture, the new CAFC system performed excellently on the aspects of decreasing its capacity and lowering its investment. Then, it analyzed the logic processes of all the business among certain hierarchy, as well as between system and the users, system and its external interfaces. Finally, it proposed a security solution program concerning firewall, intrusion detection system, data backup and PKI. Besides the traditional function like fare collection automatically and ticketing management, the new CAFC system greatly lowers the investment cost and increases resource utilization rates simultaneously. It could be believed that the new CAFC system has significant meaning to low-carbon operation of metro. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hindcast of typical extratropical storm surge occurring in the Bohai Sea in October 2003 is performed using a three-dimensional (3D) Finite Volume Coastal Ocean Model (FVCOM). The storm surge model is forced by 10 m winds obtained from the Weather Research Forecasting (WRF) model simulation. It is shown that the simulated storm surge and tides agree well with the observations. The nonlinear interaction between the surge and astronomical tides, the spatial distribution of the maximum surge level, and the hydrodynamic response to the storm surge are studied. The storm surge is the interaction of the surge and the astronomical tides. The currents change rapidly during the storm surge and turn to be the unidirectional at some places where the tidal currents are usually rectilinear. The results show that the local surge current velocity in each depth, with a magnitude of the same order as the astronomic tidal currents, increases or decreases rapidly depending on the relationship between the winds and current directions. Furthermore, the current pattern gets more complicated under the influence of the direction of the winds, which might affect sand movement in the coastal water of the Bohai Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many naturally occurring Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) are very late flowering, unless flowering is promoted by a prolonged period of cold (e.g. winter) known as vernalization. In these winter-annual strains, flowering prior to winter is blocked by the synergistic interaction of FRIGIDA (FRI) and FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC). FLC acts as a strong floral inhibitor, and FRI is required for high levels of FLC expression. Vernalization, in turn, leads to an epigenetic down-regulation of FLC expression. Most rapid-cycling Arabidopsis carry loss-of-function mutations in FRI, leading to low levels of FLC and rapid flowering in the absence of vernalization. Recent work has shown that FRI acts as a scaffolding protein for the assembly of a FRI complex (FRI-C) that includes both general transcription and chromatin-modifying factors, as well as FRI-specific components such as FRI-LIKE1, FRI ESSENTIAL1 (FES1), SUPPRESSOR OF FRI4 (SUF4), and FLC EXPRESSOR (FLX). Here, we show that FLX-LIKE4 (FLX4) a novel component of the FRI-C and is essential for the activation of FLC by FRI. Both FLX and FLX4 contain leucine zipper domains that facilitate interaction with FRI. In addition, FLX and FLX4 interact with each other and show synergistic transcription activation activity. Interestingly, we show that FLX, FLX4, FES1, and SUF4 are required for basal levels of FLC expression in the absence of FRI. Thus, components of the FRI-C play a role in the regulation of FLC expression in both FRI-containing winter annuals, as well as fri-null rapid-cycling strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study is to provide credible and comparable evidence on the efficacy and safety of pure microvascular decompression (MVD) for primary trigeminal neuralgia (TN), and also to find out the possible prognostic factors of excellent long-term outcome after the surgery. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted, involving the patients who met the diagnostic criteria of primary TN (both typical and atypical). The cohort patients underwent pure MVD, and then were followed up by independent neurologists. The possible prognostic factors were analyzed by the logistic method. Results: All 154 consecutive primary TN patients (98 typical, 56 atypical) underwent pure MVD from January 2001 to November 2005. The patients were followed up for median 5.6 years (10 lost in 5 years). Respective initial and 5-year''s complete pain-free without medication (Barrow Neurological Institute pain score, I) rates were 84% and 72% for total primary TN, 87% and 80% for typical TN, and 79% and 54% for atypical TN. The Kaplan-Meier survival curves of 5 years demonstrated different long-term outcomes in different groups (typical TN vs. atypical TN). The typical symptoms (odds ratio [OR], 2.776), preoperative magnetic resonance indicating vessel compression (OR, 2.950), and obvious vessel compression found during operation (OR, 3.219) were proved to have a positive effect on long-term pain relief without medication. Conclusions: This is a perspective cohort study of pure MVD, which confirms the long-term effectiveness and safety of the surgery for primary TN. Patients with typical symptoms, positive magnetic resonance findings, or obvious vessel compressions might have better long-term prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advancements in modern signal processing techniques, the field of brain-computer interface (BCI) is progressing fast towards noninvasiveness. One challenge still impeding these developments is the limited number of features, especially movementrelated features, available to generate control signals for noninvasive BCIs. A few recent studies investigated several movementrelated features, such as spectral features in electrocorticography (ECoG) data obtained through a spectral principal component analysis (PCA) and direct use of EEG temporal data, and demonstrated the decoding of individual fingers. The present paper evaluated multiple movement-related features under the same task, that is, discriminating individual fingers from one hand using noninvasive EEG.The present results demonstrate the existence of a broadband feature in EEG to discriminate individual fingers, which has only been identified previously in ECoG. It further shows that multiple spectral features obtained from the spectral PCA yield an average decoding accuracy of 45.2%, which is significantly higher than the guess level (?? < 0.05) and other features investigated (P<0.05), including EEG spectral power changes in alpha and beta bands and EEG temporal data. The decoding of individual fingers using noninvasive EEG is promising to improve number of features for control, which can facilitate the development of noninvasive BCI applications with rich complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercalation layers of Au were formed in Ta/NiFe/Ta films to control the interface properties of the films. It was found that small amounts of Au may enhance the magnetoresistance (MR) value up to 2.63%. The intercalation at different interfaces had different effects. Intercalation of Au at the top (bottom) interface with respect to the substrate exhibits weak (strong) diffusion of Au into NiFe. At weak diffusion, a homogeneous Au layer is formed which explains the large MR effect. At strong diffusion, since Au possesses a relatively strong spin-orbit interaction, the enhanced MR effect was explained by the spin-orbit scattering of polarized electrons in the NiFe layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of polysaccharides, saponins, and water decoction of the Chinese herb Astragalus membranaceus on the immune response of spotted maigre (Nibea albiflora) were investigated. Fish with an average initial weight of 49.6±5.5 g were fed a diet containing 2% extract for four weeks. The lysozyme and phagocytic activities of the fish were determined and compared with those of control fish fed an unsupplemented feed on days 0, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28. Both activities were significantly higher in groups fed the Astragalus extract than in the control group (p<0.01) but there were no differences between the three Astragalus-fed groups (p>0.05). Most important, the Astragalus-fed groups were significantly protected against Vibrio vulnificus challenge compared to the control group (p<0.01). Our results indicatd that polysaccharides and saponins are main active components of Astragalus extracts and can enhance the non-specific immune response in spotted maigre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial concentrations, seasonal trends, profiles and congener pairs of ambient polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) were investigated within a seasonally active sampling scheme during Jun 2008 and Jan 2009 in Tianjin City, northern China. The PCDD/F concentrations ranged 14.2-172 fg I-TEQ/m³ (average 69.3 fg I-TEQ/m³) in summer and (89.8-1.01) ✕ 10³ fg I-TEQ/m³ (average 509 fg I-TEQ/m³) in winter, respectively, except for the E-waste dismantling site where much higher values were observed (1.04 ✕ 10³ fg I-TEQ/m³ in summer and 7.123 ✕ 10³ fg I-TEQ/m³ in winter). The results indicated a significantly seasonal trend with higher TEQ values in winter as compared with summer, which could be related to increased emission sources and seasonal variations of the atmospheric boundary layer height. 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF was the dominant contributor to the total PCDD/F toxic equivalents, and 2,3,7,8-TCDD was detected at almost all the sampling sites in winter. Most of the similarly substituted PCDD/F congener pairs exhibited high correlations, suggesting that they might have similar environmental fate or sources. But different seasonal and spatial distributions of PCDD/F concentrations indicated that the emission sources might be intermittent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]