Search

Background: Natural head position (NHP), pharyngeal airway and maxillofacial growth pattern are correlated. The author's previous studies proved that following surgical correction of Skeletal Class II malocclusion, the over‐extended NHP returned upright, and the pharyngeal airway space (PAS) dimension expanded. Objective: The present study compares the post‐operative change in NHP and PAS after orthognathic surgery in Skeletal Class II and III malocclusion patients. Methods: Patients receiving orthognathic procedures to correct Skeletal Class II or III malocclusions were reviewed in this retrospective study. Pre‐operative and 6‐week post‐operative cone‐beam computed tomography datasets were collected. Variables representing the craniofacial pattern, the NHP and the PAS were measured three‐dimensionally. Post‐operative variables were compared with their pre‐operative counterparts using either repeat‐measure 2‐way analysis of variance or Wilcoxon matched‐pairs signed rank test. Results: Thirty cases of Skeletal Class II malocclusion and 13 cases of Skeletal Class III malocclusion were collected. Preoperatively, the inter‐group differences were significant in craniofacial pattern (68.14 ± 3.552 degree vs. 79.63 ± 2.497 degree, p <.0001) and the NHP (68.77 ± 11.02 degree vs. 82.83 ± 7.738 degree, p =.0002) while not significant in PAS; after surgery, the intergroup differences in craniofacial pattern and the NHP between groups decreased, and the PAS increased in both groups. Conclusion: Orthognathic surgery may improve compromised NHP and increase PAS in Skeletal Class II and III malocclusion patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The East Asia-Pacific (EAP) teleconnection pattern is the dominant mode of circulation variability during boreal summer over the western North Pacific and East Asia, extending from the tropics to high latitudes. However, much of this pattern is absent in multi-model ensemble mean forecasts, characterized by very weak circulation anomalies in the mid and high latitudes. This study focuses on the absence of the EAP pattern in the extratropics, using state-of-the-art coupled seasonal forecast systems. The results indicate that the extratropical circulation is much less predictable, and lies in the large spread among different ensemble members, implying a large contribution from atmospheric internal variability. However, the tropical-mid-latitude teleconnections are also relatively weaker in models than observations, which also contributes to the failure of prediction of the extratropical circulation. Further results indicate that the extratropical EAP pattern varies closely with the anomalous surface temperatures in eastern Russia, which also show low predictability. This unpredictable circulation-surface temperature connection associated with the EAP pattern can also modulate the East Asian rainband. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resveratrol has been reported to inhibit vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and neointimal hyperplasia following arterial injury; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of resveratrol on angiotensin II (AngII)-induced proliferation of A7r5 cells and explore the molecular mechanisms responsible for the observed effects. Resveratrol inhibited cell proliferation and migration, and decreased the AngII-induced protein expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4). Resveratrol inhibited AngII-induced activation of intracellular Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and histone deacetylases 4 (HDAC4), as well as blocking AngII-induced cell cycle progression from the G0/G1 to S-phase. In vivo, 4-weeks of resveratrol treatment decreased the neointima area and the neointima/media area ratio in rats following carotid balloon injury. Resveratrol also inhibited the protein expression of total and phosphorylated CaMKII and HDAC4 in the injured arteries. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that resveratrol attenuated AngII-induced cell proliferation and neointimal hyperplasia by inhibiting the CaMKII-HDAC4 signaling pathway. These findings suggest that resveratrol may potentially prevent arterial restenosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We propose a video-based method for estimating PD tremor severity scores using tremor videos and classify them into clinical scores. • EVM was innovatively used for the pre-processing of tremor video to magnify subtle tremors in the video. • Our proposed GSM has a significant superiority in the identification of tremors compared to other methods. • Our method (EVM+GTSN) outperforms other state-of-the-art models in making score prediction on a fairly large dataset. Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative movement disorder among older individuals. As one of the typical symptoms of PD, tremor is a critical reference in the PD assessment. A widely accepted clinical approach to assessing tremors in PD is based on part III of the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS). However, expert assessment of tremor is a time-consuming and laborious process that poses considerable challenges to the medical evaluation of PD. In this paper, we proposed a novel model, Global Temporal-difference Shift Network (GTSN), to estimate the MDS-UPDRS score of PD tremors based on video. The PD tremor videos were scored according to the majority vote of multiple raters. We used Eulerian Video Magnification (EVM) pre-processing to enhance the representations of subtle PD tremors in the videos. To make the model better focus on the tremors in the video, we proposed a special temporal difference module, which stacks the current optical flow to the result of inter-frame difference. The prediction scores were obtained from the Residual Networks (ResNet) embedded with a novel module, the Global Shift Module (GSM), which allowed the features of the current segment to include the global segment features. We carried out independent experiments using PD tremor videos of different body parts based on the scoring content of the MDS-UPDRS. On a fairly large dataset, our method achieved an accuracy of 90.6% for hands with rest tremors, 85.9% for tremors in the leg, and 89.0% for the jaw. An accuracy of 84.9% was obtained for postural tremors. Our study demonstrated the effectiveness of computer-assisted assessment for PD tremors based on video analysis. The latest version of the code is available at https://github.com/199507284711/PD-GTSN. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A planning method considering the operation status of power generation unit and energy storage units is proposed. • A multi-objective evaluation framework is constructed for the design and dispatch of hybrid energy system. • The electrical and thermal matching performances are introduced as two additional indicators. The hybrid energy systems that integrate renewable technologies with natural gas combined cooling, heating and power technologies are an excellent way to provide low-carbon energy and promote sustainable development. Simultaneously, the hybridization of two technologies necessitates more advanced management strategy. Thus, this paper proposes a novel planning method to optimally design and dispatch the hybrid energy system that consists of power generation unit, absorption chiller/heater, ground source heat pump, photovoltaic panel, solar thermal collector, water storage tank and battery. According to the operation status of power generation unit and energy storage units, six dispatching strategies are designed, which consider the efficiency fluctuation of power generation unit and the electricity price variation of the utility grid. At the same time, in addition to the economy, energy and environment performance, the grid integration level for assessing the electrical matching performance and the thermal energy waste level for evaluating the thermal matching performance are introduced as two additional indicators. Then, the modified non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm with adaptive simulated binary crossover is utilized to solve the multi-objective optimization model that considers economic, energy and environmental performance with and without the matching performances as objective functions. The best solution is selected from Pareto frontier solutions through TOPSIS method. The results of the studied case demonstrate that the combination of power generation unit under daily change strategy and energy storage technologies under full-time mode is the best operational strategy. The optimal economy, energy and environment indicators are respectively 359373.37 $, 2914623.42 kWh and 720663.80 kg. As for the optimal equipment capacity, more than half of the available solar area is used for photovoltaic panel installation; the capacity of water storage tank is almost 3 times that of battery. Besides, when matching performances are considered, the capacity of uncontrollable equipment is decreased. The capacity of photovoltaic panel is reduced from 465 kW to 357 kW to improve the electrical matching performance. For the purpose of better thermal matching performance, solar thermal collector is not adopted. In addition, the power generation unit as a controllable component plays an important role in adjusting the matching performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, no antifibrotic drug in clinical use can effectively treat renal fibrosis. Fluorofenidone (AKFPD), a novel pyridone agent, significantly reduces renal fibrosis by inhibiting the activation of the NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome; however, the underlying mechanism of this inhibition is not fully understood. The present study aimed to reveal the molecular mechanism underlying the suppression of NLRP3 inflammasome activation by AKFPD. It investigated the effect of AKFPD on NLRP3 activation and lysosomal cathepsins in a unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) rat model, and hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R)-treated HK-2 cells and murine peritoneal-derived macrophages (PDMs) stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and ATP. The results confirmed that AKFPD suppressed renal interstitial fibrosis and inflammation by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation in UUO rat kidney tissues. In addition, AKFPD reduced the production of activated caspase-1 and maturation of IL-1β by suppressing NLRP3 inflammasome activation in H/R-treated HK-2 cells and murine PDMs stimulated with LPS and ATP. AKFPD also decreased the activities of cathepsins B, L and S both in vivo and in vitro. Notably, AKFPD downregulated cathepsin B expression and NLRP3 colocalization in the cytoplasm after lysosomal disruptions. Overall, the results suggested that AKFPD attenuates renal fibrosis by inhibiting lysosomal cathepsin-mediated activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accumulated evidence indicates that polymorphisms in human leukocyte antigens (HLA) are associated with susceptibility to coronary artery disease (CAD). However, whether HLA-DQB1 alleles are correlated with susceptibility to CAD is unclear. In this study, significantly lower frequencies of the allele groups (DQB1*03:01:01G and DQB1*05:03:01G) and the genotypes (DQB1*03:01:01G/DQB1*03:01:01G and DQB1*03:01:01G/DQB1*05:03:01G) were observed in the CAD group compared with that in the controls. However, notably higher frequencies of DQB1*04:01:01G and genotype DQB1*05:01:01G/DQB1*03:01:01G were observed in the CAD patients than in the controls. Further analysis in subgroups showed that DQB1*03:01:01G was present at a significantly lower frequency in both female and male CAD patients compared with the corresponding controls; however, DQB1*04:01:01G was overtly high only in male CAD patients. CAD patients with diabetes showed a negative association with DQB1*03:01:01G and DQB1*05:03:01G and a positive association with DQB1*04:01:01G, DQB1*03:02:01G and DQB1*03:03:02G. Results of logistic regression analysis indicated that DQB1*03:01:01G and DQB1*05:03:01G were significantly associated with reduced susceptibility to CAD, but DQB1*04:01:01G, DQB1*03:02:01G and DQB1*03:03:02G had no correlation with CAD. Together, these findings indicate that CAD in Southern Han Chinese is negatively associated with HLA-DQB1*03:01:01G and DQB1*05:03:01G, and males with HLA-DQB1*04:01:01G are likely to have high risk for CAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: The spider-venom peptide PcTx1 is the most potent and selective inhibitor of acid-sensing ion channel (ASIC) 1a. It has centrally acting analgesic activity and is neuroprotective in rodent models of ischaemic stroke. Understanding the molecular details of the PcTx1 : ASIC1a interaction should facilitate development of therapeutically useful ASIC1a modulators. Previously, we showed that several key pharmacophore residues of PcTx1 reside in a dynamic β-hairpin loop; conclusions confirmed by recent crystal structures of the complex formed between PcTx1 and chicken ASIC1 (cASIC1). Numerous peptide : channel contacts were observed in these crystal structures, but it remains unclear which of these are functionally important.Experimental Approach: We combined molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the PcTx1 : cASIC1 complex with mutagenesis of PcTx1 and rat ASIC1a.Key Results: Crystal structures of the PcTx1 : cASIC1 complex indicated that 15 PcTx1 residues form a total of 57 pairwise intermolecular contacts (<5 Å) with 32 channel residues. MD simulations, however, suggested that about half of these interactions do not persist in solution. Mutation to alanine of only eight of 15 PcTx1 contact residues substantially altered ASIC1a inhibition by PcTx1. Our data reveal that many of the peptide-channel interactions observed in the PcTx1 : cASIC1 crystal structures are not important for PcTx1 inhibition of rat ASIC1a.Conclusions and Implications: We identified the atomic interactions that are critical for PcTx1 inhibition of ASIC1a. Our data highlight the value of combining structural information, MD and functional experiments to obtain detailed insight into the molecular basis of protein : protein interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]