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Cell trajectory inference is very important to understand the details of tissue cell development, state differentiation and gene dynamic regulation. However, due to the high noise and heterogeneity of the single-cell data, it is challenging to infer cell trajectory in complex biological processes. Here, we proposed a new trajectory inference method, called Metric Learning Bhattacharyya Kernel Feature Decomposition (MLBKFD). In MLBKFD, a statistical model was used to infer cell trajectory by calculating the Markov transition matrix and Bhattacharyya kernel matrix between cells. Before that, to expedite the matrix calculation in the statistical model, a deep feedforward neural network was used to perform dimensionality reduction on single-cell data. The MLBKFD was evaluated on four typical datasets as well as seven recent human fetal lung datasets. Comparisons with the two outstanding methods (i.e., DTFLOW and MARGARET) demonstrate that the MLBKFD is capable of accurately inferring cell development and differentiation trajectories from single-cell data with different sizes and sources. Notably, MLBKFD exhibits nearly twice the speed of DTFLOW while maintaining high precision, particularly when dealing with large datasets. MLBKFD provides accurate and efficient trajectory inference, empowering researchers to gain deeper insights into the complex dynamics of cell development and differentiation. 1. MLBKFD is a powerful probabilistic model to effectively infer cell pseudo trajectories from single-cell data by calculating the Markov transition matrix and Bhattacharyya kernel matrix between cells. 2. MLBKFD exhibits fast speed and excellent visualization effects on cell trajectory inference, by utilizing a deep feedforward neural networks for dimensionality reduction of single-cell data. 3. By iteratively refining cell labels in the deep neural networks, MLBKFD can achieve excellent cell clustering results, enabling it to infer cell trajectories without relying on true cell labels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetically identical cell populations growing in the same environment show a large degree of heterogeneity in gene expression profiles, resulting in significant phenotypic consequences. One of the important sources of this heterogeneity is transcriptional bursting. In recent years, single cell transcriptome sequencing (scRNA-seq) data have been widely used to infer the kinetics of transcriptional bursting. Moreover, the increasing evidence showed that genes are jointly regulated by several competitive pathways when activated by external signals, and there is molecular memory in the process of gene state switching. Therefore, a gene expression model considering both gene activation pathway and molecular memory can better reflect the nature of transcriptional bursting. In this paper, we used an approximate Bayesian computation algorithm called ABC-PRC combined with a gene expression model that considered crosstalk and memory, to infer the kinetics of transcriptional bursting. We analyze the internal relationship between transcriptional bursting and gene expression using scRNA-seq data obtained from mouse embryonic stem cells and mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Both model analysis and data simulations demonstrate that the bimodal coefficient increases with the increase of burst size, and the noise intensity decreases with the increase of burst frequency. Additionally, we show that some previously proposed models can be simplified as special cases of the gene expression model and inference algorithm proposed here under certain circumstances. 1. Genome-wide transcriptional bursting kinetics are inferred by approximate Bayesian algorithm ABC-PRC both from scRNA-seq data and gene expression models. 2. This article uses a combination of data-driven and model-driven methods to study the intrinsic relationship between transcriptional bursting and gene expression. 3. The model and inference process used in this article can be simplified and widely applied to the classical telegraph model and the generalized telegraph model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep‐level defects in semiconductor materials usually induce carrier trapping and non‐radiative recombination. However, defects caused by unintentional contaminants in antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) solar cells have rarely been reported. Herein, the correlation between defect properties and unintentional impurities in the Sb2Se3 absorber is investigated, which is prepared by injection vapor deposition with Sb2Se3 source purities ranging from 99.9% to 99.9999%. The analysis of deep‐level transient spectra reveals that an increase in impurity concentration does not result in new defect types. Nevertheless, the higher impurity level causes an increase in both the defect density and the capture cross section of the original defect. To address this challenge, defect engineering is developed to regulate the growth of the Sb2Se3 absorber. This strategy completely suppresses deepest defect states E3, a mixture of intrinsic defect (SbSe) and impurity Si related defect. As a result, the carrier lifetime increases significantly from 0.37 to 3.4 ps. This enables to fabricate Sb2Se3 solar cells with a power conversion efficiency of 10.41%. This work uncovers the characteristics of unintentional contaminant‐related defects, and provides a strategy for fabricating highly efficient Sb2Se3 solar cells with low‐purity source materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To increase the hit efficiency and lethality of a flight vehicle, it is necessary to consider the vehicle's guidance law concerning both impact time and angle constraints. In this study, a novel and straightforward impact time and angle control guidance law that is independent of time-to-go and small angle approximations is proposed with two stages using a data-driven method and proportional navigation guidance. First, a proportional navigation guidance-based impact angle control guidance law is designed for the second stage. Second, from various initial conditions on the impact angle control guidance simulation with various initial conditions, the input and output datasets are obtained to build a mapping network. Using the neural network technique, a mapping network model that can output the ideal flight path angle in flight is constructed for impact time control in the first stage. The proposed impact time and angle control guidance law reduces to the proportional navigation guidance law when the flight path angle error converges to zero. The simulation results show that the proposed guidance law delivers excellent performance under various conditions (including cooperative attack) and features better acceleration performance and less control energy than does the comparative impact time and angle control guidance law. The results of this research are expected to supplement those exploring various paradigms to solve the impact time and angle control guidance problem, as concluded in the current literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethoxylation is one of the common industrial process in which ethylene oxide (EO) is added to compounds containing active hydrogen atom (OH, COOH, SH, NH, etc.) to form surfactants. Alcohol ethoxylates are a major class of non‐ionic surfactants composed of an alkyl chain combined with few EO units. They are widely used in homecare products, personal care products, textiles, oilfield, construction, lubricants, food, paper, leather. The analysis of these ethoxylates possess several challenges since they contain 'n' number of EO units (n > 1). With increase in "n," the product becomes more and more viscous and the boiling point increases making it difficult to analyze by normal gas chromatography (GC) technique. This paper describes a method of derivatizing these ethoxylates so that they can be eluted on a high temperature GC. BSTFA (N, O‐bis (trimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide) is used as the derivatizing agent (silylating agent). The ethoxylate combines with BSTFA to form the corresponding trimethylsilylated (TMS) product, which have comparatively lower boiling point. Thus, we detect trimethyl silyl product, which is the resemblance for the ethoxylated product. In this paper, we present a quantitative GC method for the ethoxylates of a few simple alcohols (2‐ethyl hexanol, glycerin), and complex vegetable oils (castor oil). The products formed during the reaction have also been identified on a gas chromatograph coupled with mass spectrometer (GCMS). GCMS shows the mass corresponding to the TMS derivatized product. The derivatization technique not only helps in increasing the volatility of these compounds but also improves the chromatographic efficiency, selectivity, and enhances the detectability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIM: To investigate the effects of sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS) on hexokinase 2 (HK2)-nucleo-tide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3)-gasdermin D (GSDMD) pathway and pyroptosis induced by lung ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) in rats. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 6 groups: control group, control+NaHS group, I/R group, low-dose NaHS+I/R (L+I/R) group, medium-dose NaHS+I/R (M+I/R) group, and high-dose NaHS+I/R (H+I/R) group, with 6 rats in each group. The NaHS was administered via intraperitoneal injection at 1.5 mL, 30 min before modeling. The left lung tissues were collected 30 min after ischemia and 1 h after reperfusion, and the wet/dry weight ratio and total lung water content were recorded. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was used to examine lung tissue morphological changes. The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), myeloper oxidase (MPO) and lactate in lung tissues were measured with test kits. ELISA was employed to determine the levels of interleukin-1p (IL-1p) and IL-18. The expression of glycolysis- and pyroptosis-related indicators was analyzed by Western blot, qRT-PCR and immunofluorescence staining. RESULTS: Compared with control group, the rats in NaHS group showed no significant differences in all laboratory tests (P>0. 05). The rats in I/R group exhibited significant lung injury, oxidative stress, increased lactate level, and up-regulated glycolysis and pyroptosis (P<0. 05 or P<0. 01). Compared with I/R group, the indicators in L+I/R group showed a downward trend (P<0. 01) or no difference (P>0. 05), while those in M+I/R group displayed a significant reduction (P<0. 05 or P<0. 01). However, the indexes in H+I/R group exhibited no significant differences in these tests (all P>0. 05). CONCLUSION: A moderate dose (56 xmol"L-1-kg-1) of NaHS mitigated the occurrence of pyroptosis by inhibiting the HK2-NLRP3-GSDMD pathway, thus contributing to the attenuation of lung I/R injury in rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, Enterocytozoon bieneusi has been detected in humans and various animal hosts. Wild rats and shrews have the potential to act as carriers of E. bieneusi, facilitating the parasite's transmission to humans and domestic animals. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of E. bieneusi in 652 wild rats and shrews from Zhejiang Province, China, by amplifying the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA through polymerase chain reaction (PCR). To determine animal species, we amplified the Cytochrome b (Cyt-b) gene in their fecal DNA using PCR. Furthermore, we determined the genotype of E. bieneusi by amplifying the ITS region of rDNA through PCR. Genetic traits and zoonotic potential were evaluated using similarity and phylogenetic analyses. Suncus murinus (n = 282) and five rat species, Rattus losea (n = 18), Apodemus agrarius (n = 36), Rattus tanezumi (n = 86), Rattus norvegicus (n = 155), and Niviventer niviventer (n = 75), were identified. The average infection rate of E. bieneusi was 14.1% (92/652) with 18.1% (51/282) in S. murinus and 11.1% (41/370) in rats (27.8% in R. losea, 22.2% in A. agrarius, 10.5% in R. tanezumi, 8.4% in R. norvegicus, and 8.0% in N. niviventer). Thirty-three genotypes were identified, including 16 known genotypes. The most commonly known genotypes were HNR-VI (n = 47) and Peru11 (n = 6). Type IV, KIN-1, SHW7, and HNPL-II were each found in two samples, while Macaque4, CH5, K, Henan-III, Henan-V, HNP-II, HNPL-I, HNPL-III, HNHZ-II, and HNHZ-III were each found in one sample. Additionally, 17 novel genotypes were discovered: WZR-VIII (n = 5), WZR-I to WZR-VII, WZR-IX to WZR-XII, and WZSH-I to WZSH-V (n = 1 each). Those 33 genotypes were divided into three groups: Group 1 (n = 25), Group 2 (n = 3), and Group 13 (n = 5). The initial report underscores the extensive occurrence and notable genetic diversity of E. bieneusi in wild rats and shrews from Zhejiang province, China. These results suggest that these animals play a pivotal role in the transmission of E. bieneusi. Furthermore, animals carrying the zoonotic genotypes of E. bieneusi pose a serious threat to residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological stoichiometry facilitates the understanding of biogeochemical cycles by studying the balance among multiple elements in ecosystems. However, the spatial patterns of soil stoichiometry and their responses to land use in desertified land are unclear. In this study, we selected 525 sample points to collect topsoil (0–20 cm) samples throughout China's Horqin Sandy Land and measured soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP). We then calculated stoichiometric ratios (C:N:P). SOC (8.7 g kg−1), TN (0.9 g kg−1), and TP (0.3 g kg−1) were lower in this region than in Chinese and global terrestrial ecosystems due to aeolian desertification. SOC, TN, C:P, and N:P were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in grassland, followed by woodland, cropland, and sandy land. This sequence may result from the large number of dead roots that participate in the SOC turnover in grassland. TP was significantly higher in cropland due to fertilization. C:N did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) among grassland, woodland, and cropland because of the strong coupling relationship between SOC and TN. The values of SOC, TN, TP, C:P, and N:P in the Horqin Sandy Land were high in the north (dominated by mountain woodland and grassland) and were low in the south (dominated by desertified land). SOC, TN, and TP contents and C:N:P ratios were mainly affected by mean annual temperature (29.6%), land use (11.5%), and bulk density (11.4%) through their influence on soil microbial metabolism, litter and nutrient input, and soil structure, respectively. The results provide information on the overall changes in soil stoichiometry in the Horqin Sandy Land and its responses to land‐use changes, and can therefore guide ecological restoration in semiarid regions affected by desertification in the modern context of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the outbreak and pandemic of coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19), a huge number of people died of it. Apart from lung injuries, multiple organs have been confirmed to be impaired. In COVID‐19 time, primary wound healing processes always prolong, however, its possible underlying mechanisms are still unclear. Therefore, to overcome this clinical problem, clarifying its underlying mechanisms clearly is necessary and urgently needed. In this review, we summarized that COVID‐19 can prolong primary wound healing by inducing excessive inflammation and oxidative stress, disturbing immune system and haematological system, as well as influencing the functions and viability of epidermal stem cells (ESCs). Otherwise, we summarized that the strict control measures of blocking up COVID‐19 pandemic can also have side effects on primary wound healing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the stochastic averaging principle of fast-slow-coupled neutral stochastic differential equations with time-varying delay. Due to the presence of neutral terms, traditional martingale methods and weak convergence techniques are not directly applicable. To overcome these difficulties, this paper gives a more subtle proof for tightness of the slow-varying process. To characterize the limit neutral diffusion system, more complicated computations and more subtle techniques are needed to deal with the neutral term. As a byproduct, this paper also establishes the equivalence between the weak solution of the neutral stochastic differential equation with time-varying delay and the solution of its corresponding the martingale problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work focuses on stochastic functional differential equations (SFDEs) with wide-band noise perturbation, which is a class of actual physical process and has wide application in the modeling of communication and signal system. Using functional derivatives together with martingale methods and weak convergence techniques, this paper examines the asymptotic properties of the underlying systems as the small parameter tends to zero. Based on the techniques, this paper also establishes the average principle for a class of SFDEs with two-time scales. As a special case, this paper also considers a class of integro-differential equations with wide-band noise perturbation and examines its approximate properties. As an example, a scalar stochastic Lotka–Volterra integro-differential system with wide-band noise perturbation is investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The North China agro–pastoral zone is a large, ecologically fragile zone in the arid and semi-arid regions. Quantitative remote sensing inversion of soil organic carbon (SOC) in this region can facilitate understanding of the current status of degraded land restoration and provide data support for carbon cycling research in the region. Deep learning (DNN) for SOC inversion has been W.a hot topic over the past decade, but there have been few studies at the regional scale in the arid and semi-arid zones. In this study, a DNN model with five hidden layers and five skip connections was established using 644 spatially distributed SOC samples and Landsat 8 OLI imagery. The model was compared with the random forest algorithm in terms of generalization ability. The main conclusions were as follows: 1. The DNN algorithm can establish a high-precision SOC inversion model (R2 = 0.52, RMSE = 0.7), with 90% of errors concentrated in the range of −2.5 to 2.5 kg·C/m2; 2. the Boruta variable-screening algorithm can effectively improve the model accuracy of the random forest algorithm, but due to the DNN's better ability to mine hidden information in the data, the improvement effect on the DNN model accuracy is limited; 3. the SOC samples in arid and semi-arid areas are highly positively skewed, with a significant impact on the modeling accuracy of DNN, and conversion is required to obtain a model with better generalization ability; and 4. in arid and semi-arid regions, SOC has a weak correlation with vegetation indices but a stronger correlation with temperature, elevation, and aridity. This study established a reliable deep learning model for SOC density in a large arid and semi-arid region, providing a reference and framework for the establishment of SOC inversion models in other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Net primary productivity (NPP) is a main contributor to ecosystem carbon pools. It is crucial to monitor the spatial and temporal dynamics of NPP, as well as to assess the impacts of climate change and human activities to cope with global change. The dynamic of the NPP in China's Yellow River Basin (YRB) from 2000 to 2019 and its influencing factors were analyzed by using trend and persistence tests and the GeoDetector method. The results show that the NPP had strong spatial heterogeneity, with a low NPP in the west and north, and a high NPP in the east and south. From 2000 to 2019, the NPP showed a statistically significant increase (at a mean of 5.5 g C m−2 yr−1, for a cumulative increase of 94.5 Tg C). A Hurst analysis showed that for the NPP in 76.3% of the YRB, the time series was anti-persistent. The spatial heterogeneity of the NPP in the YRB was mainly explained by precipitation and relative humidity (q value ranged from 0.24 to 0.44). However, the strength of the precipitation explained the decreased variation over time (q value decreased from 0.40 in 2000 to 0.26 in 2019). Interactions between the climate factors and human activities affected the NPP more strongly than individual factors. The results emphasize the importance of strengthening future research on the interaction between climate change and human activities. The results reveal the risk and optimal ranges of the driving factors and provide a quantification of the impacts of those factors regarding NPP. These findings can provide a scientific basis for vegetation restoration in the YRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the vegetation and soils of different desertification landscapes (sandy grassland, and fixed, semi‐fixed, semi‐mobile, and mobile dunes) in the Hulun Buir Sandy Land were examined to quantify the impacts of desertification on plants, soils, and microbes, and the key limiting factors of restoration. Desertification caused soil quality to decline and led to an imbalance of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) supplies (N:P ratios decreased significantly from 3.55–1.8, p < 0.05). Desertification did not change the stoichiometric relationships among plant carbon (C), N, and P at a community level, but promoted redistribution of nutrients from roots to aboveground tissues. The aboveground biomass N and P increased by 9.8% and 39.3%, respectively from grassland to mobile dunes, but these of the underground biomass decreased by 26.1% and 37.7%, respectively. N limitation (plant N:P < 10) occurred at the community level. Desertification led to the change of dominant species from perennial herbs to annual psammophytes, and plant diversity (from 1.15–0.79) and productivity (from 880.6 to 128.6 g m−2) first increased slightly (p > 0.05) and then decreased sharply (p < 0.05) with increasing desertification, but with no significant (p > 0.05) change of the microbial community. Redundancy analysis showed that the main environmental drivers were the soil N:P (with an explanation of 29.6%), followed by pH, electrical conductivity, and the soil's fine particles (with a total explanation of 24.3%). Based on these results, three reference frames were proposed for the restoration of the near‐original vegetation community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: As the main component of terrestrial carbon pool, soil organic carbon (SOC) is vital to soil fertility and biogeochemical cycle. Quantifying the spatial distribution of regional SOC stocks (SOCS) provides critical support for climate change and food security decisions. Our aim was to explore the optimal interpolation method to improve the accuracy of spatial prediction of SOCS in temperate grasslands. Materials and methods: To support such research, we performed soil sampling to depths of 0 to 20 and 20 to 30 cm throughout the Hulun Buir grassland of Inner Mongolia. We compared prediction of the spatial patterns of SOCS using regression kriging (RK) and ordinary kriging (OK). We used topographic factors, climate variables, satellite data (the normalized-difference vegetation index (NDVI)), and soil texture as predictors in the RK method. Results and discussion: SOCS was significantly positively correlated with precipitation, NDVI, topographic variables, and clay content, but negatively correlated with temperature and sand content. NDVI explained more than 40% of the SOCS spatial variation and was the dominant factor. Geostatistical analysis showed strong and moderate spatial dependence of SOCS in the 0–20- and 20–30-cm soil layers, respectively. The RK and OK soil pools to a depth of 30 cm were 607.28 and 559.46 Tg, respectively. Conclusion: Compared with OK, the RK method improved the SOCS prediction accuracy by 20.4, 30.1, and 23.9% for soil depths of 0–20, 20–30, and 0–30 cm, respectively. Our findings suggest that OK may be acceptable where the environmental conditions are homogeneous, but that RK performs better in heterogeneous areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The closed‐loop wireless power transfer (WPT) system can realize constant voltage output in the presence of perturbation. However, the parameter design of the controller is a difficult problem. The traditional trial‐and‐error method is time‐consuming and difficult to find optimal parameters. A parameter optimization strategy of control systems for uncertain WPT systems using the modified genetic algorithm (MGA) is proposed. Firstly, because the system has different characteristics at different periods, the simulation process is divided into three stages. The first one is the start‐up stage, in which we mainly consider the overshoot and the rate of the voltage rise. The second one is the tracking stage, in which the tracking time and switching loss are mainly considered. The third one is the stabilisation stage, in which the steady‐state error and switching loss are mainly considered. Secondly, three cost functions are designed according to the characteristics of the three stages, and then the optimal controller parameters of each stage are obtained by using MGA. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by simulation. The optimization results show that compared with the previous parameter optimization method, the optimal controller parameters obtained by the proposed method make the WPT system achieve better performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stroke thrombolysis treatment is generally administered within 4.5 h, but a greater time window may be permitted depending upon the ischemic penumbra on neuroimaging. This observational cohort study investigated the outcomes of thrombolysis given within 12 h after symptom onset of lenticulostriate artery stroke. The population comprised 160 patients. Thrombolysis was administered via tissue plasminogen activator, alteplase (TPA). Thrombolysis was indicated by a mismatch between diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), that is, an acute ischemic lesion on DWI without a corresponding lesion on T2WI. Demographics and medical history were compared with the modified Rankin scale (mRS) score, to reflect outcome. Patients with a favorable clinical outcome (mRS 0–1) had significantly lower hypertension, baseline NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score, and admission systolic/diastolic blood pressure compared with patients with mRS 2–6. Lower admission systolic blood pressure and NIHSS score were significantly associated with favorable outcome. In patients either with IV-TPA within 4.5 h, or between 4.5 and 12 h, lower admission systolic blood pressure and/or NIHSS score similarly independently predict favorable outcome. However, in all groups, the onset-to-treatment time did not significantly influence the outcomes. We conclude that in our cohort higher admission systolic blood pressure and higher baseline NIHSS and not time were associated with poor outcome in patients with magnetic resonance-guided thrombolysis within 12 h of isolated lenticulostriate artery stroke, therefore loosening the traditionally perceived dependency of outcome on time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cerebral edema forms immediately after blood flow interruption in ischemic stroke, which largely increased the death and disability. The glymphatic (glial-lymphatic) pathway is a major regulator of the brain liquid dynamics and homeostasis. This study aimed to investigate the transport kinetics of the glymphatic system after the appearance of ischemic edema. Methods: In this study, a coated filament was attached to the left middle cerebral artery (MCA) of mice to establish a mouse model of permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion with an intact blood-brain barrier (BBB). The glymphatic function was then quantified using contrast-enhanced MRI (11.7T) by employing an injection of gadobenate dimeglumine (BOPTA-Gd) into the cisterna magna of mice. We then evaluated the expression and polarization of aquaporin-4 (AQP4) as a proxy for the physiological state of the glymphatic system. Results: Our results revealed a positive correlation between the signal intensity in T1-weighted images and the corresponding apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values in the cortex, striatum, and periventricular zone, suggesting that impaired glymphatic transport kinetics in these regions is correlated to the cytotoxic edema induced by the occlusion of MCA. Furthermore, the increased depolarization of AQP4 in the parenchyma perivascular space (PVS) was consistent with glymphatic failure following the induced early cerebral ischemic edema. Conclusions: Glymphatic transport kinetics were suppressed between the onset of cytotoxic edema and the disruption of the BBB, which correlated with the diminishing ADC values that vary based on edema progression, and is associated with depolarization of AQP4 in the parenchyma PVSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this study was to develop a screening score system of non-contrast transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) for patent foramen ovale (PFO) in patients with embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS).Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 218 consecutive patients with a recent ESUS from 2015 to 2018, who received TTE and transcranial Doppler (TCD) as routine examinations. PFO was diagnosed by the bubble test of TCD. Significant differences of the non-contrast TTE findings and patient characteristics between PFO group and non-PFO group were selected into a score.Results: PFO was diagnosed in 35.8% (78/218) of the patients. Compared with non-PFO group, a larger median aortic root diameter (ARd) (34 mm vs. 32 mm, p = 0.005), a lower median peak E wave velocity (Em) (61.5 cm/s vs. 68 cm/s, p = 0.005) and a lower incidence rate of mitral regurgitation (34.6% vs. 50.7%, p = 0.022) were seen in PFO group. ARd>33 mm and Em < 72 cm/s were the best thresholds to predict PFO in ROC analysis. A four-point score system (MEAD) including TTE criteria (including ARd>33 mm, Em < 72 cm/s and without mitral regurgitation) and no history of diabetes predicted PFO with an area under curve of 0.67 (95%CI 0.57-0.72, p < 0.001). MEAD score ≥ 3 was the best threshold to predict PFO with an accuracy of 0.64 (95% CI 0.57-0.7), a sensitivity of 0.65 (95% CI 0.53-0.75) and a specificity of 0.63 (95% CI 0.55-0.71).Conclusion: The MEAD score measured with non-contrast TTE can be used to select patients for bubble test of TCD to increase the diagnostic yield of PFO after ESUS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the machining accuracy of the thermal error prediction model of CNC machine tools, a new method for calculating the position of the measuring points optimal combination researched on linear correlation is proposed, according to the thermal–mechanical finite element analysis (FEA) model of spindle system established after analyzing the thermal characteristics of heat source temperature field of CNC machine tool spindle system. Based on the correlation analysis (CA) of the finite element model of heat source temperature field of CNC machine tool spindle system, combined with the concept of mutual information (MI), this method measures the information of the measurement point variables including the thermal error variables and uses principal component analysis (PCA) to eliminate the collinearity effect within measuring point variables. By using multilinear regression (MR), The thermal error prediction model (CAMI-PCAMR) is established. The accuracy of the prediction model is verified by comparing the actual measurement thermal error with the predicted thermal error through the experimental measurement and analysis of the thermal error of the CNC end grinder test machine tool system. That the axial prediction accuracy of this method can reach 1.099 μ m , and the prediction radial accuracy can reach 1.28 μ m under the variable ambient condition, so as to provide parameters and theoretical guidance for embedding temperature sensors in the machine tool to compensate thermal error in the design stage. And the experimental results also show that the CAMI-PCAMR method is superior to the gray correlation and fuzzy clustering(FC-GCA) modeling method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dual antiplatelet therapy is considered beneficial in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with intracranial artery stenosis (ICAS), with more bleeding events. Ginkgolide is shown to reduce platelet activation after infarction, which might be of benefit in AIS. We aimed to explore the effect of Ginkgolide in AIS patients with ICAS. Methods: This was a randomized, double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled trial conducted at 61 centers in China. Within 72 h after onset, consecutive patients diagnosed as AIS with ICAS were randomized to either Ginkgolide or placebo treatment. The primary outcome was the composite of mortality and recurrent stroke (ischemic or hemorrhagic) during first 4 weeks in an intention‐to‐treat analysis. Secondary functional outcome was assessed by modified Rankin Scale and improvement of stroke severity was assessed by National Institution of Health Stroke Scale at day 28. Safety outcome was measured by the rate of severe adverse event (SAE). Results: There were 936 patients randomized to either Ginkgolide or placebo treatment. Their average age was 64.2 ± 10.4 years old and 36.0% of the patients were female. The composite index event occurred in six patients in placebo group, and none occurred in Ginkgolide group (risk ratio 1.01; 95% CI 1.00–1.02). There were more patients who achieved favorable outcome in Ginkgolide group, compared with that of the placebo group (OR 2.16, 95%CI 1.37–3.41). SAE occurred in five (1.1%) patients in the Ginkgolide group and three (0.6%) in the placebo group (OR0.60, 95CI% 0.14–2.53). Intracranial hemorrhage occurred in 1/473 (0.2%) in the placebo group. Conclusions: Ginkgolide, working as PAF antagonist, may reduce recurrent stroke in AIS with ICAS patients within 72 hours after onset. It might be an optional treatment in moderate‐to‐severe AIS patients with ICAS. (http://www.chictr.org.cn Number as ChiCTR‐IPR‐17012310). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogeological conditions can control the generation, preservation, enrichment, and production of coalbed methane (CBM) in the field; however, research on these impacts is insufficient, resulting in the limitation of the development of coalbed methane. This paper summarizes the current research status and development trends of the effect of hydrogeology on CBM using methods such as mathematical statistics, literature analysis, well logging, and hydrochemical analysis. The results indicate that it is beneficial for the generation of secondary biogenic gases in low-rank coal seams under the situations like active hydrodynamic conditions with a salinity less than 1000 mg/L, a pH range from 5.9 to 8.8, or a range of oxidation-reduction potential from -540 mV to -590 mV. The abnormally high temperature due to the magmatic-hydrothermal fluids accelerates the metamorphism of coal rocks, leading to the promotion of the generation of thermogenic gases. When the coalbed structural conditions of one area are similar to the depositional conditions in that area, the CBM is accumulated if the conditions of that area meet the following criteria: the water type is NaHCO3, the salinity is greater than 1500 mg/L, the desulfurization coefficient is less than 1, and the sodium-chloride coefficient is less than 10. The stable isotope analysis of CBM well-produced water shows that the δD values in the groundwater shift to the left of the global meteoric water line, indicating that the produced water comes from atmospheric precipitation. In the CBM enrichment zone, the area with a relatively high salinity and a low sodium-chloride coefficient is the high-production area. Based on our study, three high CBM-production patterns are summarized: coalbed structure-hydraulic trapping, fold limb-fracture development, and syncline core-water stagnation. Additionally, four development trends of the control of hydrogeology on CBM are proposed: transformation from qualitative evaluation to quantitative evaluation, from a singular evaluation standard to multiple evaluation standards, from static evaluation to dynamic evaluation, and from pure theoretical research to theoretical guidance on production practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Neurological impairment is associated with collateral status in acute ischaemic stroke (AIS). We aimed to validate the association between admission National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (aNIHSS) score and infarct core volume (ICV) and target infarct core/penumbra volume mismatch (TMM) on CT perfusion (CTP) in AIS patients. Methods: Patients with acute middle cerebral artery or internal carotid artery occlusion from 2011 to 2020 were included. All patients underwent pretreatment CTP at admission. ICV and TMM were analyzed with MIStar software on CTP maps. aNIHSS scores and clinical characteristics of patients were obtained from our prospectively recorded stroke database. Results: We recruited 182 patients with a median age of 69.5 years; 85 (63.7%) were male, and the median aNIHSS score was 14. Of those, 149 (81.8%) had an ICV < 70 mL, and 139 (76.3%) had TMM. Lower aNIHSS was associated with an ICV < 70 mL, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.74, and TMM with an AUC of 0.76. Among all 15 items of the aNIHSS, the gaze score was the only item independently associated with an ICV < 70 mL (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.42, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.22–0.79, p = 0.008) and TMM (adjusted OR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.28–0.9, p = 0.021). One or both aNIHSS ≤ 16 and gaze score = 0 predicted TMM with a sensitivity of 0.79 and a specificity of 0.62. Conclusion: aNIHSS may be a useful tool to predict an ICV < 70 mL and TMM on CTP in AIS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recurrent neural networks are widely used in time series prediction and classification. However, they have problems such as insufficient memory ability and difficulty in gradient back propagation. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a new algorithm called SS-RNN, which directly uses multiple historical information to predict the current time information. It can enhance the long-term memory ability. At the same time, for the time direction, it can improve the correlation of states at different moments. To include the historical information, we design two different processing methods for the SS-RNN in continuous and discontinuous ways, respectively. For each method, there are two ways for historical information addition: 1) direct addition and 2) adding weight weighting and function mapping to activation function. It provides six pathways so as to fully and deeply explore the effect and influence of historical information on the RNNs. By comparing the average accuracy of real datasets with long short-term memory, Bi-LSTM, gated recurrent units, and MCNN and calculating the main indexes (Accuracy, Precision, Recall, and F1-score), it can be observed that our method can improve the average accuracy and optimize the structure of the recurrent neural network and effectively solve the problems of exploding and vanishing gradients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme climatic events have become a global concern. Understanding changes in these events is essential to support efforts to reduce their impacts. We investigated the spatial and temporal variation of 15 temperature and 11 precipitation extremal indices based on daily observations from 1960 to 2016 at 794 meteorological stations in mainland China. The regionally averaged temperature index trends were consistent with global warming. An abrupt change in the trends for warmth‐related indices mainly occurred from 1990 to 2000, and the year with an abrupt change for cold‐related indices appeared earlier (mainly around 1990). The numbers of warm days, warm nights, summer days, and tropical nights increased significantly. In contrast, the numbers of cool days, cool nights, ice days, and frost days decreased significantly. The coldest night temperature had a strong and significant warming trend (0.4°C·decade−1), whereas the number of frost days showed the fastest decrease (2.6 days·decade−1). The warmth and extremal indices decreased significantly with increasing latitude, whereas warming trends increased significantly with increasing longitude, and the warmth indices and extremal daily indices decreased with increasing elevation. The number of consecutive wet days decreased fastest, at 0.09 days·decade−1, and the daily intensity index increased fastest, at 0.09 mm·day−1 per decade. The extreme precipitation events decreased significantly with increasing latitude, but increased with increasing longitude. Large‐scale atmospheric circulation indices (the Arctic Oscillation and the Western Pacific Subtropical High Intensity and Area indices) and the Western Ridge Point strongly influenced the warm and cold extremes and contributed significantly to climate change in mainland China. The Western Ridge Point and Subtropical High Area were the dominant drivers of extreme temperature and precipitation events, respectively, in mainland China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using a mixed-ligand approach, two new coordination polymers with the chemical formula of {[Zn(L)(ip)·H2O]8}n (1, H2ip = isophthalic acid and L = 1,1'-(2-methylpropane-1,3-diyl)bis(1H-benzo[d]imidazole)) and {[Ni(L)(tdc)·2H2O]2}n (2, H2tdc = 2,5-thiophenedicarboxylic acid) have been hydrothermally synthesized and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses, powder X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis and elemental analysis. In addition, in vitro anticancer activity of compounds 1 and 2 on four human ovarian cancer cells (CoC1, A2780, 3AO and OVCAR) was further determined. The results showed that compared with their organic ligands, the two compounds displayed efficient antitumor activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme climatic events have become a global concern. Understanding changes in these events is essential to support efforts to reduce their impacts. We investigated the spatial and temporal variation of 15 temperature and 11 precipitation extremal indices based on daily observations from 1960 to 2016 at 794 meteorological stations in mainland China. The regionally averaged temperature index trends were consistent with global warming. An abrupt change in the trends for warmth‐related indices mainly occurred from 1990 to 2000, and the year with an abrupt change for cold‐related indices appeared earlier (mainly around 1990). The numbers of warm days, warm nights, summer days, and tropical nights increased significantly. In contrast, the numbers of cool days, cool nights, ice days, and frost days decreased significantly. The coldest night temperature had a strong and significant warming trend (0.4°C·decade−1), whereas the number of frost days showed the fastest decrease (2.6 days·decade−1). The warmth and extremal indices decreased significantly with increasing latitude, whereas warming trends increased significantly with increasing longitude, and the warmth indices and extremal daily indices decreased with increasing elevation. The number of consecutive wet days decreased fastest, at 0.09 days·decade−1, and the daily intensity index increased fastest, at 0.09 mm·day−1 per decade. The extreme precipitation events decreased significantly with increasing latitude, but increased with increasing longitude. Large‐scale atmospheric circulation indices (the Arctic Oscillation and the Western Pacific Subtropical High Intensity and Area indices) and the Western Ridge Point strongly influenced the warm and cold extremes and contributed significantly to climate change in mainland China. The Western Ridge Point and Subtropical High Area were the dominant drivers of extreme temperature and precipitation events, respectively, in mainland China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The methods used for grading leptomeningeal collateral flow (LMF) on single-phase computed tomography angiography (CTA) are heterogeneous and limited by temporal resolution. Purpose: To compare the reliability of relative filling time delay (rFTD) on CT perfusion source images (CTP-SI) and the currently used single-phase CTA collateral assessment methods and evaluate their ability to predict clinical outcomes in acute ischemic stroke patients. Material and Methods: We analyzed consecutive middle cerebral artery or internal carotid artery occlusion patients who received multimodal CT before treatment and within 12 h of stroke symptom onset from October 2015 to December 2018. Patients were dichotomized using the 90-day mRS into good (0–1) versus adverse (2–6) outcomes. CTP-SI was used to identify the rFTD score. CTA images were reconstructed to assess collateral status using the collateral score (Cs) and region leptomeningeal collateral score (rLMCs). Two observers independently assessed images. Results: The baseline characteristics (n = 54) were median age of 67 years and 68.5% of the participants were men. The baseline median NIHSS was 14. Good clinical outcomes were observed in 19 (35.2%) patients. The k value was higher for rFTDs (k = 0.779, P < 0.001) than Cs (k = 0.666, P < 0.001) and rLMCs (k = 0.763, P < 0.001). Higher rFTDs were correlated with lower rLMCs (Spearman's rho –0.68, P < 0.001) and Cs (rho –0.66, P < 0.001). In multivariate logistic regression, rFTD was associated with functional outcomes (P = 0.044). Conclusion: The rFTDs method is comparable to single-phase CTA-based assessments in assessing LMFs in acute ischemic stroke patients. Higher rFTDs is independently associated with adverse long-term functional outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) is a thioredoxin-binding protein that can mediate oxidative stress, inhibit cell proliferation, and induce apoptosis by inhibiting the function of the thioredoxin system. TXNIP is important because of its wide range of functions in cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, diabetes, and other diseases. Increasing evidence has shown that TXNIP expression is low in tumors and that it may act as a tumor suppressor in various cancer types such as hepatocarcinoma, breast cancer, and lung cancer. TXNIP is known to inhibit the proliferation of breast cancer cells by affecting metabolic reprogramming and can affect the invasion and migration of breast cancer cells through the TXNIP-HIF1α-TWIST signaling axis. TXNIP can also prevent the occurrence of bladder cancer by inhibiting the activation of ERK, which inhibits apoptosis in bladder cancer cells. In this review, we find that TXNIP can be regulated by binding to transcription factors or other binding proteins and can also be downregulated by epigenetic changes or miRNA. In addition, we also summarize emerging insights on TXNIP expression and its functional role in different kinds of cancers, as well as clarify its participation in metabolic reprogramming and oxidative stress in cancer cells, wherein it acts as a putative tumor suppressor gene to inhibit the proliferation, invasion, and migration of different tumor cells as well as promote apoptosis in these cells. TXNIP may therefore be of basic and clinical significance for finding novel molecular targets that can facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of malignant tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Multiple myeloma stem‐like cells (MMSCs) are responsible for initiation and relapse, though novel treatment paradigms that effectively eradicate MMSCs are yet to be developed. Selective inhibition of the cell cycle regulatory kinase Wee1 by MK1775 is being explored as a potential anti‐cancer therapeutic. We report that higher expression of Wee1 is correlated with poor survival in multiple myeloma (MM). The MM models and patient‐derived CD138+ plasma cells are particularly sensitive to the growth‐inhibitory effects of the Wee1 inhibitor MK1775. MK1775 induces Mus81‐Eme1 endonuclease‐mediated DNA damage in S‐phase cell cycle that results in a blockade of replication and then apoptosis. Furthermore, MK1775 strongly suppresses the features of stemness in vitro, in vivo and in primary CD138+ cells by decreasing ALDH1+ cell fraction and the expression of ALDH1. In addition, co‐treatment of MK1775 with bortezomib is synergistic in vitro and in vivo. Bortezomib, although it enhances ALDH1+ cells, when combined with MK1775 abrogates this stimulatory effect on stemness. Considering MM as an invariably incurable malignancy due to the presence of heterogenic myeloma stem‐like cells, our study presents inhibition of Wee1 as a promising targeted therapy for MM and provides a compelling rationale to further investigate the activity of MK1775 against myeloma in clinical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Endovascular therapy is widely used in acute large vessel occlusion. This study investigated whether imaging of lateral lenticulostriate arteries (LSAs) before thrombectomy would potentially be helpful for predicting prognosis of patients with acute M1 segment of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO).Methods: 59 consecutive patients with acute M1 segment of MCAO treated with mechanical thrombectomy at two comprehensive stroke centers were analyzed. Patients were categorized into LSA+ (appearing of lateral LSAs) and LSA- (sparing of lateral LSAs) group according to preprocedural digital substraction angiography (DSA). Baseline data and clinical outcomes were compared. A good clinical outcome was defined as a modified Rankin Scale score of 0 to 2 at 3 months. The association between clinical and imaging parameters and functional outcome was evaluated with logistic regression analysis.Results: LSA+ was shown in 36 patients (61%). LSA+ group had a significantly higher proportion of good outcome (72.2% vs. 8.7%, OR 27.3,95% CI 5.38-138.4, P < 0.001), lower risk of symptomatic intracranial haemorrhages (sICH) (8.3% vs. 47.8%,OR 0.10,95% CI 0.02-0.42, P = 0.001) and lower mortality in hospital (5.6% vs. 34.8%, OR 0.11,95% CI 0.02-0.58, P < 0.004) compared with LSA- group. Patients in LSA+ group had lower baseline NIHSS score(P < 0.01) and NIHSS score at 14 days(P < 0.01) and smaller infarct core volume (P = 0.016) on computed tomography perfusion imaging (CTP) compared to the LSA- group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that a small infarct core volume (OR 6.74,95% CI 1.148-39.569, P = 0.035) and LSA+(OR 22.114,95% CI 3.339-146.470, P = 0.001) were associated with a good clinical outcome.Conclusions: Our data suggest that appearance of lateral LSAs before mechanical thrombectomy would be potentially helpful for predicting favorable prognosis of patients with acute M1 segment of MCAO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) syndrome is a familial autosomal dominant hereditary neoplastic disease caused by mutations in the VHL gene. Approximately 503 kinds of VHL gene mutations have been reported. Different types of mutations manifest various clinical phenotypes, from benign to malignant tumours or coexisting cysts. Thus, a gene mutation test is essential in the diagnosis of VHL syndrome. Case presentation: We reported two cases in which a novel mutation site in the c530-536delGACTGGA region in exon 3 of the VHL gene resulted in the development of VHL syndrome. According to the ACMG guidelines, this variation is pathogenic and consistent with autosomal dominant inheritance. This variation has not been reported anywhere in the databases or literature. Conclusion: This report will add a new mutation site to VHL gene databases. The newly added gene mutation and its associated clinical phenotypes will help improve the accuracy of VHL diagnosis and benefit the community of VHL gene mutation carriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coatings incorporated with Sb2O3 were obtained on AZ31B magnesium alloy during micro‐arc oxidation (MAO) by adding Sb2O3 (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 g/L) into the electrolyte. The voltage of MAO process, microstructure, element distribution, thickness, phase analysis, microhardness, adhesion, and corrosion behavior of the coatings were, respectively, investigated. The results showed that the addition of different concentrations of Sb2O3 caused the voltage variation, which resulted in the changes in microstructure, element distribution, and phase composition of coatings, and further led to the improvement of coatings properties. It was found that the addition of Sb2O3 could effectively decrease the breakdown voltage, and made the voltage of micro‐arc oxidation stage change. Moreover, the presence of Sb2O3 influenced surface morphologies of the coatings. Additionally, with the increase in Sb2O3, the microhardness of coatings was 155.2, 199.78, 277.34, 267.53, and 127.93 HV, respectively; these were higher than substrate (68.5 HV). Moreover, the addition of Sb2O3 effectively improved adhesion. As the Sb2O3 increased, the corrosion rate was 2.19 × 10−4, 9.09 × 10−5, 4.10 × 10−5, 2.52 × 10−4, and 2.96 × 10−4 mm/a, respectively, and the corrosion resistance increased first and then decreased with the increase in Sb2O3. In sum, the optimal Sb2O3 concentration was 4 g/L. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives. We sought to assess the association between a serum tissue kallikrein (TK) level and a 90-day outcome in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients who received acute reperfusion therapy. Methods. Consecutive AIS patients within 6 hours after stroke onset between December 2015 and August 2017 were prospectively recruited. Blood samples were collected before acute reperfusion therapy for serum TK measurement. Outcome was modified Rankin scale (mRS) score at 90 days after stroke onset. Binary logistic regression was performed to analyze the association between the baseline TK level and the clinical outcome. Results. Between December 2015 and August 2017, 75 patients (age range from 33 to 91 years, 72.0% male) were recruited in this study. Higher baseline TK was independently associated with a favorable functional outcome (mRS 0-2) (odds ratio 1.01, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.00-1.02, p=0.047) and low mortality rate (odds ratio 0.98, 95% CI 0.96-1.00, p=0.049) at 90 days. Increased TK level was associated with 90 d mRS (0-2) with area under the curve of 0.719 (95% CI 0.596-0.842; p=0.002). Conclusions. Serum TK can be a promising predictor of clinical outcome in AIS patients who received acute reperfusion therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a nanocube of zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) was prepared by blending cobalt nitrate hexahydrate and 2-methylimidazole together in aqueous solutions containing hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Then, grapheme oxide (GO) wrapped ZIF-67 nanocomposites (ZIF-67/GO-n) were prepared by one-pot stirring method at room temperature. The morphology and microstructure of ZIF-67 and its GO nanocomposites were investigated by Raman spectra, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area analysis. Electrochemical capacitance properties of all samples were characterized by cyclic voltammetry and chronopotentiometry, respectively. The results demonstrated that the content of GO used during synthesis process affected the specific capacity of nanocomposites while they were constructed as supercapacitor electrode. Compared with pure GO and ZIF-67 nanocubes, ZIF-67/GO-n composites had better specific capacitance. While the concentration of GO was 2 wt% based on their initial total mass of two reactants, ZIF-67/GO-2 composite presents a specific capacitance of 100.41 F g−1 at a sweep rate of 5 mV s−1. The good electrochemical performance of ZIF-67/GO-n composite may be credited to large BET surface area of ZIF-67 nanocubes and good conductivity of GO, and thus is expected to become a potential electrode material for supercapacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two halogen-bridged di-nuclear Cu-based 3D porous metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), {[Cu2Cl(OH)(L)2]·(CH3OH)4}n (1) and {[Cu2Br(OH)(L)2]·(CH3OH)4}n (2), have been obtained via solvothermal methods with the bi-functional ligand (HL = 4,2′:6′,4′′-terpyridine-4′-carboxylic acid). These Cu-based frameworks exhibit similar two-interpenetrating frameworks, and 1D channels were left in the packing structures. These MOF materials were then applied as electrode active materials in supercapacitors. Compound 1 presents a high specific capacitance and good cycling stability in 6 M KOH electrolyte compared to 2. The maximum specific capacitance of electrode 1 could reach 1148 F g−1 at a current density of 0.5 A g−1, along with a high capacitance of 90% retained after 2000 cycles at a current density of 10 A g−1 in a 6 M KOH solution. The successful introduction of halogen and hydroxyl ions into the final structures might be responsible for the high performance of the supercapacitor, which makes these Cu MOFs a candidate for an electrode active material for electrochemical energy storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B (Ci) b Representative TOF images demonstrate that glymphatic flow was impaired in the bilateral ventricles of mice after the onset of ischemic edema in pMCAO with BOPTA-Gd injection. Keywords: magnetic resonance imaging; glymphatic; aquaporin-4; cerebral ischemic edema; polarization EN magnetic resonance imaging glymphatic aquaporin-4 cerebral ischemic edema polarization 1 2 2 05/18/22 20220516 NES 220516 In the published article, information was omitted from the captions for B Figure 1A b and B Figure 3Ei b as published. [Extracted from the article]

Brain diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) disclosed acute infarctions involving the left middle cerebral artery territories [Figure 1]a. Cervical vessel wall MRI demonstrated a ridge-like protrusion originating from the posterior wall of the left ICA [Figure 1]c. It is carotid revascularization rather than medications that have been shown to sufficiently prevent the recurrent events in symptomatic carotid web patients.[[3]] We emphasize that carotid web is an important cause of cryptogenic strokes. [Extracted from the article]

A methyl parathion electrochemical sensor based on nano-TiO2and graphene composite film modified glassy carbon electrode has been developed. The electrochemical behavior of MP at the sensor was investigated by cyclic voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry. Scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize the surface morphology of nano-TiO2and graphene composite film. Compared with a bare glassy carbon electrode or a mono-film modified electrode, the redox peak currents of methyl parathion on the composite film modified electrode improved greatly, indicating that the sensor showed good catalytic effects. The optimal experimental condition was obtained. The results indicated that the linear sweep voltammetry responses of methyl parathion, in pH 5.2 acetate buffer solution with open-circuit accumulation for 2 min, were linear with concentrations of methyl parathion in two ranges of 0.002∼5 μM and 5∼100 μM. The linear equations wereiPc(μA) = 0.0136 + 4.965cMP(μM) (R12= 0.9911) andiPc(μA) = 21.87 + 0.8206cMP(μM) (R22= 0.9914), respectively. The detection limit was 1.0 nM (S/N = 3). The sensor exhibited high sensitivity and good reproducibility as well as certain anti-interference ability. It was applied to the determination of residual MP in fresh apple sample with the recovery of 92%∼102%. The result was satisfactory. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background/Aims: Neuroserpin (NSP) is known for its neuroprotective role in cerebral ischemic animal models and patients. Our laboratory conducted a series of investigations on the neuroprotection of NSP in different cells in the brain. In the present study, we further observe the effects of NSP on neurons and microglia-mediated inflammatory response following oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD), and explore possible mechanisms related to neuroprotection of OGD in the central nervous system (CNS). Methods: Neurons and microglia from neonatal rats were treated with OGD followed by reoxygenation (OGD/R). To confirm the effects of NSP, the neuronal survival, neuronal apoptosis, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release were measured in cultured neurons. Furthermore, the levels of IL-1β and nitric oxide (NO) release were also detected in cultured microglia. The possible mechanisms for the neuroprotective effect of NSP were explored using Western blot analysis. Results: NSP administration can reverse abnormal variations in neurons and microgliamediated inflammatory response induced by OGD/R processes. The neuronal survival rate, neuronal apoptosis rate, and LDH release were significantly improved by NSP administration in neurons. Simultaneously, the release of IL-1β and NO were significantly reduced by NSP in microglia. Western blot showed that the expression of ERK, P38, and JNK was upregulated in microglia by the OGD/R treatment, and these effects were significantly inhibited by NSP. Conclusion: These data verified the neuroprotective effects of NSP on neurons and microgliamediated inflammatory response. Inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways might play a potential role in NSP neuroprotection on microglia-mediated inflammatory response, which needs further verification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intravenous (IV) tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) is the only approved noninvasive therapy for acute ischemic stroke (AIS). However, after tPA treatment, the outcome of patients with different subtypes of stroke according to their vascular risk factors remains to be elucidated. We aim to explore the relationship between the outcome and different risk factors in patients with different subtype of acute strokes treated with IV tPA. Records of patients in this cohort were reviewed. Data collected and analysed included the demographics, vascular risk factors, baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores, 90-day modified Rankin Scores (mRS), and subtypes of stroke. By using the 90-day mRS, patients were dichotomized into favorable versus unfavorable outcome in each subtype of stroke. We identified the vascular risk factors that are likely associated with the poor outcome in each subtype. Among 570 AIS patients received IV tPA, 217 were in the large artery atherosclerosis (LAA) group, 146 in the small vessel occlusion(SVO) group, and 140 in the cardioaortic embolism(CE) group. Lower NIHSS score on admission was related to favorable outcome in patients in all subtypes. Patients with history of dyslipidemia were likely on statin treatment before their admission and hence less likely to have elevated cholesterol level on admission. Therefore, there was a possible paradoxical effect on the outcome in patients with LAA and SVO subtypes of strokes. SVO patients with history of diabetes had higher risk of unfavorable outcome. SVO patients had favorable outcome if their time from onset to treatment was short. In conclusion, the outcome of patients treated with IV tPA may be related to different vascular risk factors associated with different subtypes of stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction The most serious erratic migration of paragonimiasis is a cerebral paragonimiasis. Infection in the temporal and occipital lobes of the brain has been previously reported in cerebral paragonimiasis. Here, we report a case of chronic brainstem paragonimiasis. Case presentation A 29-year-old Chinese woman presented to our hospital complaining of a sudden onset, three days previously, of double vision and dizziness. A computed tomography scan and diffusionweighted images looked like an ischemic stroke. However, conglomerates of multiple ringlike enhancements on contrast magnetic resonance imaging, and the characteristic appearance of the 'tunnel sign', were found on further examination. Our patient was treated with praziquantel to prevent the spread of the paragonimiasis. She was followed up three months later and showed good recovery. Conclusions Conglomerates of multiple ring-like enhancements on contrast magnetic resonance imaging and the characteristic appearance of the 'tunnel sign' were important for the diagnosis of chronic brainstem paragonimiasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Baicalein has been used for many years as a popular antiviral and antibacterial in China. Recent investigations revealed that baicalein also has anti-inflammatory activities. Our results indicated that baicalein increases ERE-luciferase activity in an estrogen receptor (ER)-dependent manner when either ERα or ERβ were coexpressed in Hela cells. This study examined whether baicalein exerts an anti-inflammatory effect in RAW264.7 cells through an estrogen receptor-dependent pathway and through regulation of NF-ĸB activation. In lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 cells, baicalein exerts anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting iNOS, COX-2, and TNF-α mRNA expression; NO production; as well as inflammatory cytokine (IL-1β, PGE, and TNF-α) production through an ER-dependent pathway. These effects are accompanied with the inhibition of the transcription factor NF-ĸB activation and IκBα phosphorylation. We therefore conclude that baicalein inhibits LPS-induced inflammatory cytokine production via regulation of the NF-ĸB pathway and estrogen-like activity, suggesting that it may be useful for preventing inflammation-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]