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Colletotrin A (1), a new 1,4-benzoxazine derivative, and eight known compounds, including two alkaloids (2-3), one acylamide (4), one benzaldehyde (5), and four sterols (6-9) were obtained from endophytic fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides B-142, which was isolated from Dracaena cochinchinensis. Among them, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline-4,8-diol (2) was reported for the first time as natural product. The structure of compound 1 was elucidated with help of spectroscopic data including IR, UV, electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculation, HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR (COSY, HSQC and HMBC). The antimicrobial activities were evaluated by disc diffusion method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Al 6082 aluminum alloy has excellent corrosion resistance, strength, and formability. However, owing to the recrystallization effect of a hot working process, coarse grains form easily in this material, which reduces its strength and service life. The novel continuous casting direct rolling (CCDR) method can prevent the deterioration of this material. Thus, we used CCDR Al 6082 aluminum alloy as the research material in this study. By subjecting a CCDR Al 6082 aluminum alloy to heat treatment (T4 and T6) and cold rolling, the influence of recrystallization effect on its mechanical properties and on impact failure resistance were explored. The results demonstrated that the specimen subjected to T4 heat treatment had a higher elongation and that the specimen subjected to T6 heat treatment had a higher strength. After cold rolling, the hardness and strength of the specimens subjected to different heat treatments (coded T4R4 and T6R4) increased because of the work's hardening effect. Moreover, the elongations of both specimens decreased, but they were higher than the industrial standard (>10%). The strength of specimen T6R4 was higher (up to 400 MPa) than specimen T4R4. Moreover, relative to specimen T4R4, specimen T6R4 had greater tensile and Charpy impact failure toughness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Given the rising prevalence of depression among older adults and the associated increase in caregiving responsibilities, understanding factors influencing caregiver burden is crucial. Previous research has not extensively explored the impact of caregivers’ attributional styles, that is, how individuals interpret the causes of life events, on their care burden. Aim: This study examined the relationship between caregivers’ attributional styles and their care burden for older patients with depression. Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled older adults aged ≥ 65 years diagnosed with depression and their caregivers. Depression was diagnosed according to the DSM-V criteria for Major Depressive Disorder or Persistent Depressive Disorder. Caregivers completed the Chinese Depression Caregiver Burden Scale (CDCBS) to assess care burden, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) to evaluate patient symptom severity, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) for measuring caregivers’ depression, and the Chinese Depression Patient Caregiver Attribution Style Scale (CDPCAS) to assess attributional styles. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to identify the factors independently associated with the caregiver’s subjectively assessed care burden. Results: The sample included 146 caregivers of geriatric patients with depression. Most depression patients were women (74.7%) with a mean age of 74.3 years, whereas the mean age of caregivers was 57.7 years. Hierarchical regression analysis identified that caregivers’ gender (β = − 0.14, p =.044), educational level (β = 0.19, p =.008), caregivers’ own depression assessed by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (β = 0.41, p <.001), and attributional styles, particularly manipulation (β = 0.29, p <.001) and illness/stress attributional style (β = 0.23, p =.002) as independent factors associated with care burden. Patient symptom severity assessed using the Hamilton Depression Scale was not significantly correlated with care burden after controlling for attributional styles. Conclusions: Certain attributional styles, particularly the manipulation and illness/stress attributional styles, significantly increased self-reported care burden. These findings highlight the need for educational resources to change the attribution style, along with support systems and accessible mental health services for caregivers to potentially ease the care burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backgroud: To investigate the effect of Luteinizing hormone (LH) level changes on the outcomes of controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) and embryo transfer (ET) in gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist (GnRH-ant) protocol. Methods: A total of 721 patients undergoing GnRH-ant protocol COH for the first IVF/ICSI cycles were retrospectively analyzed. COH process were divided into 2 stages, before (stage 1) and after (stage 2) the GnRH-ant initiation, and each with 5 groups basing on LH levels: LH decreased more than 50% (groups A1, A2), decreased 25-50% (groups B1, B2), change less than 25% (groups C1, C2), increased 25-50% (groups D1, D2), and increased more than 50% (groups E1, E2). Results: There were no significant differences among groups of stage1 regarding COH and ET outcomes. For stage 2, the more obvious the decrease of LH level, the more the number of oocytes retrieved, mature oocytes, fertilized oocytes, embryos cleavaged and the numbers of embryo available (P < 0.05), but without significant differences regarding ET outcomes. We also found the freeze-all rate in Group A2 was higher (P < 0.001). Conclusion: LH level changes before GnRH-ant addition were not related to COH and ET outcomes. LH level changes after the addition of GnRH-ant were related to the outcome of COH, and no significant differences were found relating to ET outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: People's health-care-seeking behaviors considerably changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study evaluated the changes in self-harm- and violence-related urgent psychiatric consultation (UPC) in the emergency department (ED) during different stages of the pandemic and at different levels of hospitals. Patients and Methods: We recruited patients who received UPC during the baseline (2019), peak (2020), and slack (2021) periods of the same time window (calendar weeks 4– 18) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Demographic data such as age, sex, and referral type (by the police/emergency medical system) were also recorded. Results: We found female gender and younger age associated with higher risk of self-harm-related UPCs, whereas patients visiting regional hospitals, male patients, and patients referred by the policy/emergency medical system, had a higher risk of violence-related UPCs. After adjustment, the different pandemic stages were not significantly associated with self-harm- or violence-related UPCs. Conclusion: Patient's demographic data, but not the pandemic itself, may be responsible for the changes in self-harm- and violence-related UPCs during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

aimed to analyze the data of high-violence patients and duration of high-violence risk to provide a new perspective on violence prevention, de-escalation and management. Methods: This retrospective observational cohort study included 171 patients who were treated in the acute psychiatric ward of Keelung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital between January 2016 and June 2020, and who were assessed daily as having high violence risk. All patient data were collected from electronic hospital records (eg, age, gender, diagnosis, violence history, self-harm history, and admission condition (involuntary admission, discharged against medical advice). Between-group differences in disease severity, use of antipsychotics and benzodiazepine, and duration of high violence risk were analyzed using regression analysis. Results: Only patients' age was significantly associated with duration of high-violence risk (P = 0.028), making it predictive of longer duration of high-violence risk. In patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder or bipolar disorder, higher severity was significantly associated with longer duration of high-violence risk (P = 0.007, P = 0.001, respectively). Conclusion: Only age is a predictor of longer duration of violence risk in psychiatric patients, although higher severity is associated with higher violence risk. Study results may help management and healthcare staff better understand how quickly or slowly violence risk will decrease and may improve efficient use of healthcare resources and individualized patient-centered care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the cuttage propagation coefficient of fresh-eating peanut, the effect of different catting parts and ABT concentration on the cutting growth of fresh-eating peanut was studied by taking Jihuatian No. 1 plant as the test material. The results showed that the survival rate of cutting in different parts of peanut was in the order of the upper part > middle part > lower part. The upper cuttings of peanut plant were treated with five different concentrations of ABT rooting agents, among which the treatment with 150 mg ⋅ L-1 concentration had the best cutting effect and the most vigorous growth vigour. After 40 days of cutting, the survival rate was 83.3%, the average rooting was 12.7, the average root length was 2.85 cm, and the yield reached 3259.04 kg ⋅ hm², which was 148.48% higher than that of the control group with clear water, and the difference was very significant. The correlation detection analysis showed that the rooting number and root length of peanuts were positively correlated with the yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We theoretically study the orbital-resolved photoelectron momentum distributions (PMDs) of neon atoms in time-delayed bichromatic elliptically polarized attosecond pulses by numerically solving the two-dimensional time-dependent Schrödinger equation (2D-TDSE). The active electron can reach the continuum state at the same momentum by absorbing m 2 high-energetic photons or m 1 low-energetic photons sequentially, and coherent electron wave packets (CEWPs) from these two pathways can interfere with each other. We show the PMDs exhibit an asymmetrical round when the single-photon ionization channel dominates, while spiral structures with the number of arms are m 1 - m 2 ( m 1 + m 2 ) for the corotating (counter-rotating) scheme. Furthermore, we find that interference patterns in PMDs are sensitive to the amplitude ratio, frequency combinations, dichroism, time delay and ellipticity of bichromatic elliptically polarized attosecond pulses, which offers possibilities for controlling the interference of CEWPs in atoms by shaping the bichromatic elliptically polarized attosecond pulses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new cytochalasins, deacetyl-19-epi-cytochalasin P1 (1), deacetyl-19,20-epoxycytochalasin D (2) were isolated from the endophytic fungus Diaporthe sp. RJ-47, along with four known compounds deacetyl-5,6-dihydro-7-oxo-19,20-epoxycytochalasin C (3), 19,20-epoxycytochalasin Q (4), 19,20-epoxycytochalasin C (5) and deacetyl-19,20-epoxy cytochalasin C (6). Their structures were unambiguously elucidated on the basis of the comprehensive analysis of extensive spectroscopic data. The antimicrobial effects of these compounds were evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic significantly affected emergency department (ED) visits and urgent psychiatric consultation (UPC) seeking behavior in EDs. Our study explored the changes in UPCs during and after the pandemic peak. Methods: This retrospective observational study evaluated UPCs in the ED of a referral medical center in Taiwan, where treated both physical and psychiatric complaints. We defined the COVID-19 pandemic peak period as calendar week 4–18, 2020. The corresponding baseline as calendar week 4–18, 2019, and the slack period as week 4–18, 2021. The total number of UPCs, patient demographic data such as sex and age of the patients seen, the referral system (whether police or emergency medical service [EMS] or other sources), and the chief complaint (self-harm or violence) were recorded. Results: Compared with the baseline period, a significant decline in UPCs was observed in the pandemic peak period, and a rebound was observed in the slack period, with the median [IQR] Q1, Q3 values of 22 [18, 26], 12 [10, 17]), and 16 [15, 23], respectively. We observed significantly few men (34.9% vs 45.2%) and less violence (10.2% vs 17.6%) in the peak period compared with in the baseline period, but no significant difference was found compared with the slack period. Throughout the pandemic, younger patients (41.8 ± 17.4 in 2019, 39.2 ± 18.5 [p = 0.121] in 2020, and 35.6 ± 17.2 [p < 0.001] in 2021), higher proportions of police/EMS referral (38.7% in 2019, 41.9% [p = 0.473] in 2020, and 51.9% [p = 0.001] in 2021) and self-harm–related complaints (57% in 2019, 62.4% [p = 0.233] in 2020, and 64.9% [p = 0.049] in 2021) was noted among UPC seekers during the pandemic. However, the proportion of violence-related UPCs (17.6% in 2019, 10.2% [p = 0.023] in 2020, and 12.3% [p = 0.072] in 2021) declined. Conclusions: This study found that UPCs changed throughout the pandemic. This result raises the concern that mental health needs are masked during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that most hemoglobin (Hb) variants are clinically and hematologically silent, they can interact with thalassemias, which could sometimes give rise to complicated routine thalassemia diagnostics. Hb G-Siriraj [β7(A4)Glu→Lys; HBB: c.22G>A] alone is a benign condition, but its coinheritance with α-thalassemia (α-thal) may lead to misdiagnosis. We describe the case of a Chinese woman with an elevated Hb A2 level who was assumed to carry heterozygous β-thalassemia (β-thal), but was later shown to be a double heterozygote for Hb G-Siriraj and Hb H disease. This study for the first time described hematological characteristics of a patient with a double heterozygosity for Hb G-Siriraj and Hb H disease. It is of great significance for technicians and clinicians to expand their knowledge as well as to help guide clinical diagnosis, population screening and genetic counseling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to explore the potential hub genes and pathways of ischaemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) and to investigate the possible associated mechanisms. Two microarray data sets (GSE5406 and GSE57338) were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The limma package was used to analyse the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment, Disease Ontology (DO) and Gene Ontology (GO) annotation analyses were performed. A protein‐protein interaction (PPI) network was set up using Cytoscape software. Significant modules and hub genes were identified by the Molecular Complex Detection (MCODE) app. Then, further functional validation of hub genes in other microarrays and survival analysis were performed to judge the prognosis. A total of 1065 genes were matched, with an adjusted p < 0.05, and 17 were upregulated and 25 were downregulated with|log2 (fold change)|≥1.2. After removing the lengthy entries, GO identified 12 items, and 8 pathways were enriched at adjusted p < 0.05 (false discovery rate, FDR set at <0.05). Three modules with a score >8 after MCODE analysis and MYH6 were ultimately identified. When validated in GSE23561, MYH6 expression was lower in patients with CAD than in healthy controls (p < 0.05). GSE60993 data suggested that MYH6 expression was also lower in AMI patients (p < 0.05). In the GSE59867 data set, MYH6 expression was lower in CAD patients than in AMI patients and lower in heart failure (HF) patients than in non‐HF patients. However, there was no difference at different periods within half a year, and HF was increased when MYH6 expression was low (p < 0.05–0.01). We performed an integrated analysis and validation and found that MYH6 expression was closely related to ICM and HF. However, whether this marker can be used as a predictor in blood samples needs further experimental verification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to screen out the new peanut varieties with high yield, disease resistance and high quality suitable for being planted in the south of China, Zhanyou 75 was used as the control variety to identify the yield, quality and disease resistance of the 10 new peanut strains newly bred in the south of China. The results showed that the pod yield of Haikehua 181 and Fuhua 0945 respectively increased by 39. 66% and 23. 05% compared with that of Zhanyou 75, and the seed kernel yield respectively increased by 43. 79% and 24. 42% compared with that of Zhanyou 75, with extremely significant differences. Compared with Zhanyou 75, the pod yield of Quanhua 1478, Guihua 66 and Shany-ou 121 increased significantly, but the seed kernel yield did not increase significantly, while the pod yield and seed kernel yield of Qianyoufense and Zhanyou 103 did not increase significantly. Qionghua 1104 had higher oleic acid content (70. 12%). The protein content of Heyou 1079 was 29. 43%, which reached the national high protein standard (28%). The drought resistance and flood resistance of all the tested peanut strains were strong, and the disease resistance level was medium. In consideration of the indexes such as the yield, field growth and resistance to disease, Haikehua 181 and Fuhua 0945 showed better overall performance and could be used for the small-scale planting demonstration experimentally. Qionghua 1104 could be used as the parent of high oleic acid material and Heyou 1079 could be used as the parent of high protein material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research attempted to identify possible hub genes and pathways of coronary artery disease (CAD) and to detect the possible mechanisms. Array data from GSE90074 were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Integrated weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was performed to analyze the gene module and clinical characteristics. Gene Ontology annotation (GO), Disease Ontology (DO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed by clusterProfiler and the DOSE package in R. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was established using Cytoscape software, and significant modules were analyzed using Molecular Complex Detection (MCODE) to identify hub genes. Then, further functional validation of hub genes in other microarrays and population samples was performed, and survival analysis was performed to investigate the prognosis. A total of 660 genes were located in three modules and associated with CAD. GO functions identified 484 biological processes, 39 cellular components, and 22 molecular functions with an adjusted P < 0.05. In total, 38 pathways were enriched in KEGG pathway analysis, and 147 DO items were identified with an adjusted P < 0.05 (false discovery rate, FDR set at < 0.05). There was a total of four modules with a score > 10 after PPI network analysis using the MCODE app, and two hub genes (TLR2 and CD14) were identified. Then, we validated the information from the GSE60993 dataset using the GSE59867 dataset and population samples, and we found that these two genes were associated with plaque vulnerability. These two genes varied at different time points after myocardial infarction, and both of them had the lowest prognosis of heart failure when they were expressed at low levels. We performed an integrated WGCNA and validated that TLR2 and CD14 were closely associated with the severity of coronary artery disease, plaque instability and the prognosis of heart failure after myocardial infarction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While observational studies show an association between serum lipid levels and cardiovascular disease (CVD), intervention studies that examine the preventive effects of serum lipid levels on the development of CKD are lacking.Methods: To estimate the role of serum lipid levels in the etiology of CKD, we conducted a two-sample mendelian randomization (MR) study on serum lipid levels. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which were significantly associated genome-wide with serum lipid levels from the GLGC and CKDGen consortium genome-wide association study (GWAS), including total cholesterol (TC, n = 187,365), triglyceride (TG, n = 177,861), HDL cholesterol (HDL-C, n = 187,167), LDL cholesterol (LDL-C, n = 173,082), apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1, n = 20,687), apolipoprotein B (ApoB, n = 20,690) and CKD (n = 117,165), were used as instrumental variables. None of the lipid-related SNPs was associated with CKD (all P > 0.05).Results: MR analysis genetically predicted the causal effect between TC/HDL-C and CKD. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of TC within CKD was 0.756 (0.579 to 0.933) (P = 0.002), and HDL-C was 0.85 (0.687 to 1.012) (P = 0.049). No causal effects between TG, LDL-C- ApoA1, ApoB and CKD were observed. Sensitivity analyses confirmed that TC and HDL-C were significantly associated with CKD.Conclusions: The findings from this MR study indicate causal effects between TC, HDL-C and CKD. Decreased TC and elevated HDL-C may reduce the incidence of CKD but need to be further confirmed by using a genetic and environmental approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated the benefits of thymosin alpha-1 (Tα1) in anti-virus, immunological enhancement and anti-inflammation. However, it is controversial about the efficacy and safety of entecavir (ETV) plus Tα1 combination therapy versus ETV monotherapy in cirrhotic patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.Methods: The systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were performed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ETV plus Tα1 combination therapy versus ETV monotherapy in HBV-related patients with cirrhosis. We performed a systematic literature search via PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Science and Technology Journals Database (VIP), and Chinese Biological Medicine database (CBM). Relative risk (RR) and standardized mean difference (SMD) with a fixed- or random- effect model were calculated. Heterogeneity was assessed through a Cochrane Q-test and I2 values.Results: Seven RCTs involving 1144 subjects were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. Compared with ETV monotherapy, ETV plus Tα1 combination therapy led to a higher complete response (RR = 1.18; 95% CI, 1.07-1.30). In post treatment for 24 weeks, the HBV DNA undetectable rate and HBeAg loss rate were higher in ETV plus Tα1 group than in ETV alone group (RR = 1.91; 95% CI, 1.56-2.35; RR = 2.05; 95% CI, 1.62-2.60). However, after 48 and 52 weeks of treatment, there was no significant difference between the combination therapy and ETV monotherapy (RR = 1.07; 95% CI, 0.96-1.18; RR = 1.17; 95% CI, 0.89-1.55). At week 52 of treatment, the HBsAg loss rate of ETV plus Tα1 group was no significance with that of ETV alone group (RR = 1.03; 95% CI, 0.15-7.26). In comparison with ETV alone, the some biochemical parameters and liver fibrosis were obviously improved by ETV plus Tα1, and there was significant heterogeneity. In addition, the number of adverse events was significantly reduced by ETV plus Tα1, compared to ETV alone (RR = 0.48; 95% CI, 0.24-0.95).Conclusions: ETV plus Tα1 might lead to a higher clinical response and a lower comprehensive adverse reaction rate in HBV-related patients with cirrhosis, compared to ETV alone. However, the whole patients included in this meta-analysis were from Chinese mainland, so that more worldwide RCTs with a larger sample size are needed to verify the current findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights from the article: Iliac LNM was poorer than that of patients without common iliac LNM (60.7% vs 81.9%, Conclusion: More than 2 LNM, more than 2 LNM sites, and common iliac LNM were Lymph node metastasis (LNM) only and IIIC2 refers to para-aortic LNM. Patients with multiple LNM, multiple LNM sites affected.

The current popular methods for decision making and project optimisation in mine ventilation contain a number of deficiencies as they are solely based on either subjective knowledge or objective information. This paper presents a new approach to rank the alternatives by G1-coefficient of variation method. The focus of this approach is the use of the combination weighing, which is able to compensate for the deficiencies in the method of evaluation index single weighing. In the case study, an appropriate evaluation index system was established to determine the evaluation value of each ventilation mode. Then the proposed approach was used to select the best development face ventilation mode. The result shows that the proposed approach is able to rank the alternative development face ventilation mode reasonably, the combination weighing method had the advantages of both subjective and objective weighing methods in that it took into consideration of both the experience and wisdom of experts, and the new changes in objective conditions. This approach provides a more reasonable and reliable procedure to analyse and evaluate different ventilation modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this study, the adsorption behavior of different metal centers in analogous M‐1,4‐NDC frameworks (1,4‐NDC=1,4‐naphthalenedicarboxylate) towards guest molecules through simulation studies and experimental studies is reported. Simulation studies showed that the adsorption behavior of analogous M‐1,4‐NDC is affected by the atomic radius of the metal center, which was found to be in agreement with the experimental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(2022) Changes in self-harm- and violence-related urgent psychiatric consultation in the emergency department during the different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic (2022) 22:384 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-04029-4 Following publication of the original article [[1]], the authors identified an error in the author name of Po-Cheng Chen. [Extracted from the article]

Senile plaques consisting of Amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptides, in particular Aβ1–42, are the hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and have been the primary therapeutic targets. Passive immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) has shown initial success in mouse models of AD. However, the existing Aβ-directed mAbs mostly were tested on animal models or patients with advanced disease. The effects and mechanisms of mAbs on animals or human trial participants in the prodromal phase of AD are not fully clarified. In the current study, a novel mAb (3F5) directed against the 1–11 amino acids of Aβ1–42 was generated by immunizing mice with an emulsion of full length human Aβ1–42. The mAb (3F5) showed the ability to disrupt Aβ1–42 aggregation and prevent Aβ-mediated neurotoxicity in vitro. In a mouse model of AD, administration with 3F5 for 3 months in 6 months-old mice demonstrated that the mAb specifically bound with Aβ1–42 to promote the depolymerization of Aβ fibrils, facilitated endocytosis of Aβ1–42 by microglia, and attenuated the death and apoptosis of neuronal cells, accompanied by neurite outgrowth. APP/PS1 double-transgenic mice treated with 3F5 mAb showed reduced memory loss, cognitive decline, and decreased levels of amyloid deposits in the brain. Aβ1–42 levels in cerebral tissues were also significantly reduced, whereas serum Aβ1–42 was markedly increased. Interestingly, the concentration of 3F5 in peripheral circulation is much higher than that in the brain. These results indicate that 3F5 is able to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to bind Aβ and initiates the phagocytosis of antibody/Aβ complexes by microglia in the amyloid depositing mice. 3F5 also promotes Aβ efflux from the brain. As a consequence, the antibody reduces plaques in the AD mouse brain, in association with reduction in the pathology of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple preparation method of N-doped PCM via direct carbonization of nitrogen containing metal–organic gel was demonstrated. The resultant N-PCM, with high surface area, mesoporosity, and high UV absorption ability, was used as a matrix to assist small-biomolecule sensing in laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concepts of rock strength intervals are presented in this work, furthermore, central values of intervals and their corresponding credibility are provided using two-case study based on blind data theory and fuzzy interval estimation. 60 granite specimens are first tested, the compressive strength interval and tensile strength interval are [103.68, 219.61] and [7.53, 11.86] MPa, while the tested mean values of compressive strength and tensile strength are 152.86 and 10.14 MPa, the credibilities are less than 58.4% and around 70.4%, respectively, the credibility of shear strength is between 40% and 60%. Then 70 other rock specimens are designed and tested, the similar conclusions can be reached. The results show that the conventional definite values are the particular values within the intervals, and the credibility of them often fails to reach the high-precision engineering requirement. The results demonstrate the feasibility and application potential of this proposed algorithm for the engineering practice. The references for engineering value selection of rock strength under different credibility or according to frequency distribution of central values are provided to increase the reliability and precision of calculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Splicing a silicon-cored fiber with a silica fiber usually suffers from splicing loss because of large refractive index mismatch. We applied a solution-based metal-assisted chemical etching method with silver catalyst to create anti-reflection structures on the end surface of a silicon-cored fiber, which reduced laser splicing loss to 1 dB when spliced with a silica fiber for working in 1550-nm wavelength. Experiment and stimulation indicated good integrity of the etched silicon structure in splicing with a silica fiber. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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Glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) acts as a negative regulator of NF-E2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) by inducing Nrf2 degradation and nuclear export. Our previous study demonstrated that the flavonoid hyperoside elicits cytoprotection against oxidative stress by activating the Keap1-Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway, thus increasing the expression of antioxidant enzymes, such as heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase. However, the role of GSK-3β in hyperoside-mediated Nrf2 activation is unclear. Here, we demonstrate that in a normal human hepatocyte cell line, (L02), hyperoside is capable of inducing the phosphorylation of GSK-3β at Ser9 without affecting the protein levels of GSK-3β and its phosphorylation at Thr390. Lithium chloride (LiCl) and short interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated inhibition of GSK-3β significantly enhanced the ability of hyperoside to protect L02 liver cells from H2O2-induced oxidative damage, leading to increased cell survival shown by the maintenance of cell membrane integrity and elevated levels of glutathione (GSH), one of the endogenous antioxidant biomarkers. Further study showed that LiCl and siRNA-mediated inhibition of GSK-3β increased hyperoside-induced HO-1 expression, and the effect was dependent upon enhanced Nrf2 nuclear translocation and gene expression. These activities were followed by ARE-mediated transcriptional activation in the presence of hyperoside, which was abolished by the transfection of the cells with Nrf2 siRNA. Furthermore, the siRNA-mediated inhibition of Keap1 also enhanced hyperoside-induced Nrf2 nuclear accumulation and HO-1 expression, which was relatively smaller than the effects obtained from GSK-3β siRNA administration. Moreover, Keap1 siRNA administration alone had no significant effect on the phosphorylation and protein expression of GSK-3β. Collectively, our data provide evidence that hyperoside attenuates H2O2 -induced L02 cell damage by activating the Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway through both an increase in GSK-3β inhibitory phosphorylation at Ser9 and an inhibition of Keap1 and that hyperoside-mediated GSK-3β inhibition exhibits more significant effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental risk assessment of tailings reservoir assessment system is complex and has many index factors. In order to accurately judge surrounding environmental risks of tailings reservoirs and determinate the corresponding prevention and control work, multi-hierarchical fuzzy judgment and nested dominance relation of rough set theory are implemented to evaluate them and find out the rules of this evaluation system with 14 representative cases. The methods of multi-hierarchical fuzzy evaluation can overall consider each influence factor of risk assessment system and their mutual impact, and the index weight based on the analytic hierarchy process is relatively reasonable. Rough set theory based on dominance relation reduces each index attribute from the top down, largely simplifies the complexity of the original evaluation system, and considers the preferential information in each index. Furthermore, grey correlation theory is applied to analysis of importance of each reducted condition attribute. The results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed safety evaluation system and the application potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at analyzing the effects of atmospheric parameters on gas turbine inlet air cooling technology (GTIAC) , the thermodynamic process, influencing factors and economic effects of GTIAC were studied. Based on the operating parameters of turbine and gas-steam coined cycle unit in a certain power plant, the system models of two kinds of power units were built in modular modeling method by GateCycle software, a thermal equilibrium simulation software, and GTIAC equipment was installed. The output power incase of these two kinds of power units after cooling inlet air (inlet air cooling effects) under different atmospheric parameters (temper, humidity and pressure) was analyzed quantitatively. The results indicate that the change of atmospheric parameters has a great effect on the gas turbine inlet air cooling effects, showing a certain numerical relationship between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Straight line feature is the basis of linear target recognition. The existing heuristic search algorithms are suitable for straight line feature extraction in optical image while performing poor in SAR image. For this problem, a straight line extraction method for SAR image based on heuristic search is presented. Firstly, SAR image is filtered by Frost filter. Then, edges are detected by ratio of exponential weighted average (ROEWA) operator and non-maxima suppression location algorithm is adopted to obtain the binary edge map. Finally, considering the local information sufficiently, the strategy of search twice and the principle of "go straight" is utilized and the cost function and rules of heuristic search are designed. Then the straight line extraction is completed. The experiment results show good anti-noise performance and fracture resistance of the proposed method which can effectively describe the straight line feature of SAR images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backgrounds/Aims: Preeclampsia was characterized by excessive thrombin generation in placentas and previous researches showed that thrombin could enhance soluble Fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) expression in first trimester trophoblasts. However, the detailed mechanism for the sFlt-1 over-production induced by thrombin was largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to explore the possible signaling pathway of thrombin-induced sFlt-1 production in extravillous trophoblasts (EVT). Methods: An EVT cell line (HRT-8/SVneo) was treated with various concentrations of thrombin. The mRNA expression and protein secretion of sFlt-1 in EVT were detected with real-time polymerase chain reaction and ELISA, respectively. The levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production were determined by DCFH-DA. Results: Exposure of EVT to thrombin induced increased intracellular ROS generation and overexpression of sFlt-1 at both mRNA and protein levels in a dose dependent manner. Short interfering RNA (siRNA) directed against PAR-1 or apocynin (an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase) could decrease the intracellular ROS generation and subsequently suppressed the production of sFlt-1 at mRNA and protein levels. Conclusions: Our results suggested that thrombin increased sFlt-1 production in EVT via the PAR-1 /NADPH oxidase /ROS signaling pathway. This also highlights the PAR-1 / NADPH oxidase / ROS pathway might be a potential therapeutic target for the prevention of preeclampsia in the future. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hospital information systems (HISs) accelerate hospital-related operations and reduce errors. However, previous HISs lack flexibility and scalability, consequently limiting the development of medical institutions. The characteristics of cloud computing services are crucial in helping hospitals overcome such a deepening dilemma. Nonetheless, only few medical institutions has begun partial utilisation of cloud computing services. Therefore, this research explores the resistance factors encountered during the organisation innovation process using the innovation resistance theory. Furthermore, the developmental barriers of an organisation are summarised into the following seven categories: the expertise barriers, operational barriers, resource barriers, rules barriers, market entry barriers, data security barriers, and barriers of cloud service quality. Utilisation of interpretive structural modelling also facilitates further exploration of the interaction structures among the barriers of organisational innovations. Based on the correlation and causation of the barriers, policy recommendations are proposed for the allocation of resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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[ Objective ]The growth development characteristic and yield of peanut were studied under different mulches in order to provide references for extending high-yield cultivation techniques in peanut production of Fujian Province. [ Method ]The experiment was designed in randomized block with three replications, peanut varieties Quanhua 7 and Quanhua 8 were used for investigating the effects of different mulches viz., ordinary film, photolysis film, straw and bare land (control) on growth and development, and yield of peanut, etc. [ Result ] Ordinary film, photolysis film and straw mulching could shorten the growth duration of peanut, increase plant height and dry matter weight of stem and leaf. Ordinary film and photolysis film mulching could increase germination rate, productivity per plant of peanut, 100-pod weight, pods per plant, plump pods per plant. As compared with the control, the yield of peanut for photolysis film treatment was the highest, which significantly increased by 34.20% and 19.10% (P<0.01) of Quanhua 7 and Quanhua 8, respectively. The next was that of ordinary film treatment, the yield increased by 27.47% (P<0.01) and 16.54% (P<0.05). The yield of straw mulching treatment was decreased by 4.29% and 11.19%, respectively. As compared with the control, the economic benefit of Quanhua 7 and Quanhua 8 increased by 6455 and 11025 RMB Yuan/ha in photolysis film treatment, 5575 and 8790 RMB Yuan/ha in ordinary film treatment, while it decreased by 1640 and 4430 RMB Yuan in straw treatment. [ Conclusion ]Different mulches cultivating for peanut have different merits and demerits, respectively, so suitable cultivation model should be employed according to various environmental conditions to get high yield and benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS) is a chromosomal-instability syndrome. The NBS gene product, NBS1 (p95 or nibrin), is a part of the Mre11-Rad50-NBS1 complex. SIN1 is a component of the mTOR/Rictor/SIN1 complex mediating the activation of Akt. Here we show that NBS1 interacted with mTOR, Rictor, and SIN1. The specific domains of mTOR, Rictor, or SIN1 interacted with the internal domain (a.a. 221-402) of NBS1. Sucrose density gradient showed that NBS1 was located in the same fractions as the mTOR/Rictor/SIN1 complex. Knockdown of NBS1 decreased the levels of phosphorylated Akt and its downstream targets. Ionizing radiation (IR) increased the NBS1 levels and activated Akt activity. These results demonstrate that NBS1 interacts with the mTOR/Rictor/SIN1 complex through the a.a. 221–402 domain and contributes to the activation of Akt activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the case of unknown weights, theories of multi-attributed decision making based on interval numbers and grey related analysis were used to optimize mining methods. As the representative of independence for the indicator, the smaller the correlation of indicators is, the greater the weight is. Hence, the weights of interval numbers of indicators were determined by using correlation coefficient. Relative closeness based on positive and negative ideal methods was calculated by introducing distance between interval numbers, which made decision making more rational and comprehensive. A new method of ranking interval numbers based on normal distribution was proposed for the optimization of mining methods, whose basic properties were discussed. Finally, the feasibility and effectiveness of this method were verified by theories and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malfunctioned gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) has been thought associated with malignant transformation of normal cells. However, the role of GJIC-related proteins such as connexins in sustaining the malignant behavior of cancer stem cells remains unclear. In this study, we obtained tumorspheres formed by glioma stem cells (GSCs) and adherent GSCs and then examined their GJIC. All GSCs showed reduced GJIC, and differentiated glioma cells had more gap junction-like structures than GSCs. GSCs expressed very low level of connexins, Cx43 in particular, which are key components of gap junction. We observed hypermethylation in the promoter of gap junction protein α1, which encodes Cx43 in GSCs. Reconstitution of Cx43 in GSCs inhibited their capacity of self-renewal, invasiveness, and tumorigenicity via influencing E-cadherin and its coding protein, which leads to changes in the expression of Wnt/β-catenin targeting genes. Our results suggest that GSCs require the low expression of Cx43 for maintaining their malignant phenotype, and upregulation of Cx43 might be a potential strategy for treatment of malignant glioma. S TEM C ELLS 2012; 30:108-120. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]