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Background: Synchronous multiple primary lung cancer (sMPLC) exhibits distinct histopathological characteristics among pulmonary nodules. However, a comprehensive understanding of the somatic mutation landscape and transcriptome heterogeneity is lacking. Therefore, our study aims to meticulously investigate genomic distinctions among multiple pulmonary nodules within individual patients. Methods: We performed targeted DNA sequencing on tumor specimens and conducted bulk RNA transcriptome analysis on 53 multiple nodules originating from 26 lung cancer patients. The multiple nodules from the same patient was determined as major nodule and minor nodule. Additionally, the tumor tissues underwent histopathological evaluation through H&E staining, complemented by a comprehensive series of immunohistochemistry (IHC) analyses to detect protein expression. The detected protein markers encompassed PD-L1, Ki67, and others. Results: For the 53 nodule samples from 26 MPLCs patients, EGFR was the mostly mutated genes, and the TP53 mutation frequency was notably different between major and minor nodules. Furthermore, pathway enrichment analysis based on the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between major and minor nodules revealed the significantly active cell cycle and p53 pathways in the major nodules. Additionally, both major and minor nodules demonstrated mostly similar immune microenvironment and PD-L1 protein expression, and a significantly higher expression of Ki67. A noteworthy suppression was observed in the immune microenvironment in nodules, revealed by the expression of macrophage, neutrophils, and NK cells. Furthermore, minor nodules exhibited a modestly elevated expression of macrophages compared to major nodules. Additionally, among the significantly up-regulated cell cycle-related genes in the major nodules when compared with minor nodules, CCNE1 mRNA expression demonstrated significant correlation with poor prognosis in the lung cancer. Furthermore, the MYC inhibitor demonstrated more sensitivity for the major nodules than minor nodules. Conclusions: This study validated molecular distinctions between samples from major and minor nodules in patients with sMPLC at both genomic and transcriptomic levels. The major nodules exhibited heightened activity in tumor cell proliferation pathways and demonstrated malignancy-related biological characteristics, which correlated with pathological assessment results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a wear-resistant ultra-thin wear layer was fabricated with polyurethane as an adhesive to investigate its durability for pavement applications. Its road performance was investigated based on indoor tests. First, the abrasion test was performed using a tire–pavement dynamic friction analyzer (TDFA), and the surface elevation information of the wear layer was obtained by laser profile scanning. The relationship between the anti-skid properties of the wear layer and the macro-texture was analyzed. Second, a Fourier infrared spectrometer and scanning electron microscope were employed to analyze the evolution of polyurethane aging properties in the pull-out test and accelerated ultraviolet (UV) aging test. The results showed that the mean profile depth (MPD), arithmetic mean wavelength of contour (λa), surface wear index (SBI), stage mass loss rate (σ), and total stage mass loss rate (ω) of the abrasive layer aggregate had significant multivariate quadratic polynomial relationships with the skidding performance of the abrasive layer. The tensile strength of the polyurethane ultra-thin abrasive layer decreased by only 2.59% after 16 days of UV aging, indicating a minimal effect of UV action on the aggregate and structural spalling of the polyurethane abrasive layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Neoadjuvant immunotherapy plus chemotherapy has ushered in a new era for surgical treatment for patients with NSCLC. This study aimed to examine the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant immunotherapy plus chemotherapy in NSCLC. Methods: Eligible studies were identified from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov, and conference meeting abstracts. The endpoints included major pathological response (MPR), complete pathological response (pCR), surgical resection rate, R0 resection, treatment‐related adverse events (TRAEs), severe adverse events (SAEs), surgical complications, treatment discontinuation, surgical delay, and treatment‐related death. Stata 18 software was used for statistical analysis, and p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Twenty‐two studies including a total of 1108 patients were eligible for this study. Results: Among the patients who received neoadjuvant immunotherapy plus chemotherapy, the pooled MPR rate was 51% (95% CI [0.44–0.58]), and pCR rate was 34% (95% CI [0.28–0.40]). The pooled surgical resection rate was 85% (95% CI [0.81–0.89]), and the pooled R0 rate was 94% (95% CI [0.91–0.96]). The pooled rate of pathological tumor downstaging was 84% (95% CI [0.79–0.88]), and the pooled rate of pathological nodal downstaging was 38% (95% CI [0.23–0.57]). During the treatment of neoadjuvant immunotherapy plus chemotherapy with or without surgery, the pooled rate of TRAEs (any grade) was 84% (95% CI [0.73–0.91]), and the pooled rate of SAEs was 29% (95% CI [0.21–0.38]). Surgical complications pooled rate was 25% (95% CI [0.14–0.41]). The pooled rate of treatment discontinuation (11%, 95% CI [0.09–0.13]), surgical delay (3%, 95% CI [0.02–0.05]), and treatment‐related death (2%, 95% CI [0.02–0.03]) were conducted. Conclusion: Neoadjuvant immunotherapy plus chemotherapy provides a high pathological response, surgical resection rate, R0 resection rate, and pathological downstage rate and has a low risk of increasing the incidence of SAEs, surgical complications, treatment discontinuation, surgical delay, and treatment‐related death. The validation of prospective and large sample studies is needed to confirm this conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Dumeng sheep is a novel, specialized meat sheep breed created through crossbreeding innovation, cross-fixation, and herd expansion, using Dorper sheep as the father and Mongolian sheep as the mother. Given the critical role of early growth and development stages in determining the meat production potential of livestock animals, estimating the genetic parameters of early growth traits is crucial for the genetic advancement of meat sheep populations. This study aimed to investigate the genetic and non-genetic factors that affect the nine early growth traits of Dumeng sheep, as well as to estimate the variance components and genetic parameters associated with these traits. It was found that the growth traits of Dumeng sheep could be improved indirectly by selecting for weaning weight. This study aimed to estimate the genetic and non-genetic factors that affect the nine early growth traits of Dumeng sheep, as well as to estimate the variance components and genetic parameters associated with these traits. A dataset containing detailed information on 17,896 preweaning trait records of 4474 lambs was collected. In addition, 5015 postweaning trait records of 1003 lambs were documented. The effects of recipient dam age, sex, year, season, and herd on the early growth traits were assessed using the general linear model procedure of the statistical analysis system, revealing different levels of significance across different traits. To determine the most suitable model for estimating the genetic parameters, the likelihood ratio (LR) test was employed, fitting six animal models that either excluded or included maternal genetic and maternal permanent environmental effects within the average information restricted maximum likelihood (AIREML) framework using WOMBAT software (Version: 23/11/23). The model incorporating direct additive genetic effects, maternal genetic effects, and maternal permanent environment effects as random effects (model 6) provided the best fit for birth weight (BW) estimation. In contrast, the model combining direct additive genetic effects and maternal permanent environment effects as random effects (model 2) demonstrated a superior fit for estimating the genetic parameters of weaning weight (WW), average daily gain weight from birth to weaning (ADG1), and Kleiber ratio from birth to weaning (KR1). With regard to the genetic parameters of body weight at 6 months of age (6MW), average daily gain weight from weaning to 6 months (ADG2), average daily gain weight from birth to 6 months (ADG3), Kleiber ratio from weaning to 6 months (KR2), and Kleiber ratio from birth to 6 months (KR3), model 1, which incorporates only direct additive genetic effects, was identified as the optimal choice. With the optimal model, the heritability estimates ranged from 0.010 ± 0.033 for 6MW to 0.1837 ± 0.096 for KR3. The bivariate analysis method was employed to estimate the correlation between various traits using the most suitable model. The absolute values of genetic correlation coefficients among the traits spanned a range from 0.1460 to 0.9998, highlighting both weak and strong relationships among the studied traits. Specifically, the estimated genetic correlations between WW and ADG1, ADG3, KR1, and KR3 were 0.9859, 0.9953, 0.9911, and 0.9951, respectively, while the corresponding phenotypic correlations were 0.9752, 0.7836, 0.8262, and 0.5767. These findings identified that WW could serve as an effective selection criterion for enhancing early growth traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This expert consensus reviews current literature and provides clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of multiple ground glass nodule-like lung cancer. The main contents of this review include the following: ① follow-up strategies, ② differential diagnosis, ③ diagnosis and staging, ④ treatment methods, and ⑤ post-treatment follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The rapid development of industrialization in printed circuit board (PCB) warrants more complexity and integrity, which entails an essential procedure of PCB inspection. X-ray computed laminography (CL) enables inspection of arbitrary regions for large-sized flat objects with high resolution. PCB inspection based on CL imaging is worthy of exploration. OBJECTIVE: This work aims to extract PCB circuit layer information based on CL imaging through image segmentation technique. METHODS: In this work, an effective and applicable segmentation model for PCB CL images is established for the first time. The model comprises two components, with one integrating edge diffusion and l0 smoothing to filter CL images with aliasing artifacts, and the other being the fuzzy energy-based active contour model driven by local pre-fitting energy to segment the filtered images. RESULT: The proposed model is able to suppress aliasing artifacts in the PCB CL images and has good performance on images of different circuit layers. CONCLUSIONS: Results of the simulation experiment reveal that the method is capable of accurate segmentation under ideal scanning condition. Testing of different PCBs and comparison of different segmentation methods authenticate the applicability and superiority of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with circular, arched, and pipe-arched soil–steel structures, box-type soil–steel structures (BTSSSs) have the advantages of high cross-section utilization and low cover depth. However, the degree of influence of the crown and haunch radii on the mechanical performance of BTSSSs is still unclear. Therefore, two full-scale BTSSS models with a span of 6.6 m and a rise of 3.7 m but with different crown and haunch radii were established, and the mechanical properties during backfilling and under live load were tested. Afterward, 2D finite element models (FEMs) were established using the ABAQUS 2020 software and verified using the test data. The influence of cross-section geometric parameters on mechanical performance was analyzed by using the FEM, and a more accurate formula for calculating the bending moment during backfilling was proposed. The results show that the BTSSS with a smaller crown radius has a stronger soil–steel interaction, which promotes more uniform stress on the structure and makes the structure have smaller relative deformations, bending moments, and earth pressure. The span and arch height greatly influence the bending moment and deformation of the structure. Based on the CHBDC, the crown and haunch radii were included in the revised calculation formula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) piers has attracted widespread attention due to their high load-bearing capacity, excellent ductility, and superior seismic performance. Given their role as bridge substructures responsible for transmitting seismic loads, the ability of CFST piers to dissipate energy under seismic conditions significantly impacts bridge safety. This study investigates rubberized concrete-filled corrugated steel tube (RuCFCST) pier as a solution for addressing issues such as local buckling, bulging, or tearing damage in CFST columns during seismic loading. Four 1:4 scale pier specimens were subjected to pseudostatic tests to determine the effects of the axial compression ratio, filling concrete type, and connection method on the damage development, failure mode, strain distribution, and seismic performance of the pier specimens. In addition, a reliable nonlinear finite element model was established to evaluate sensitive parameters such as the length–diameter ratio, axial compression ratio, diameter-to-thickness ratio, and confinement factor. The influence of each parameter on this type of composite pier was revealed. The results showed that the flexural strength of corrugated steel tubes filled with rubber concrete was 17.4% lower than that of ordinary concrete tubes, but the ductility coefficient was 24.3% higher. When the axial compression ratio is increased from 0.2 to 0.3, the flexural strength of the composite pier increases by 16.8%, while the ductility coefficient decreases by 8%. Additionally, utilizing embedded connections reduces the flexural strength by 16.4%, but it increases the ductility coefficient by 45.9%. Finite element analysis revealed that the confinement factor was the metric with the highest sensitivity in relation to the flexural strength of the pier. This research is a novel and comprehensive exploration of the seismic performance of RuCFCST piers that provides experimental and numerical support for transitioning from conventional CFSTs to this innovative structural solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Matteuccia struthiopteris is one of the most globally consumed edible ferns and widely used in folk medicine. Reports mainly focus on young fronds and the rhizome which are common edible medicinal parts. However, there are few detailed reports on other parts. Therefore, the volatile components of different parts based on HS-SPME-GC-MS were identified, and total flavonoid contents, antioxidant activities and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities were compared in order to reveal the difference of volatile components and potential medicinal value of different parts. The results showed that total flavonoid contents, antioxidant activities and volatile components of different parts were obviously different. The crozier exhibited the strongest antioxidant activities, but only underground parts exhibited a dose-dependent inhibition potential against AChE. Common volatile compounds were furfural and 2-furancarboxaldehyde, 5-methyl-. In addition, it was found that some volatile components from adventitious root, trophophyll, sporophyll and petiole were important ingredients in food, cosmetics, industrial manufacturing and pharmaceutical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thin-walled galvanized helical corrugated steel tubes (HCSTs) filled with concrete are promising composite members, consisting of concrete, an anti-corrosion shell, and a multifunctional exterior corrugated steel tube. To investigate the synergistic working mechanism of concrete-filled HCSTs (CFHCSTs), six specimens were designed for axial compression tests, with the inner diameter of the column and the volumetric steel ratios of the longitudinal reinforcement as the variation parameters. The results show that HCSTs can better confine the concrete core and increase its strength. The failure mode of HCSTs is significantly influenced by the column's diameter, and those with a smaller diameter are prone to slide failure and lock seam tearing. The strains and stresses on HCSTs are discussed in detail to elucidate the confinement effect. This paper proposes a suitable design method to predict the ultimate axial compression load capacity of CFHCST columns based on early studies on steel tube-confined concrete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sphaeropteris lepifera (J.Sm. ex Hook.) R. M. Tryon is a rare and endangered tree fern. 5-azacytidine (5-azaC), an inhibitor of DNA methylation, promotes male gametophyte differentiation and increases the abundance of antheridia. To explore the relationship between DNA methylation and sex differentiation in S. lepifera, RNA sequencing was performed to analyze the transcriptome of 5-azaC-treated S. lepifera gametophytes. RNA-seq yielded a total of 39.16 Gb clean data, and 56,349 unigenes were obtained. Functional annotation of the unigenes was achieved by comparison to the Nr, Swiss-Prot, KEGG, COG, KOG, GO, and Pfam databases. In total, 26,744 unigenes annotation results were obtained. A total of 1091 differentially expressed genes (372 upregulated, 719 downregulated) were screened. A total of 351 genes were annotated using the KEGG database, and 60 pathways were involved. The four pathways containing the most differentially expressed genes were related to ribosomes, plant hormone signal transduction, starch and sucrose metabolism, and phenylpropane biosynthesis. Expression analysis of 17 genes in male and female S. lepifera gametophytes and in S. lepifera gametophytes under 5-azaC treatment was performed. We identified four genes that can be used to further explore the relationship between DNA methylation and sex differentiation in S. lepifera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computed laminography (CL) is one of the best methods for nondestructive testing of plate-like objects. If the object and the detector move continually while the scanning is being done, the data acquisition efficiency of CL will be significantly increased. However, the projection images will contain motion artifact as a result. A multi-angle fusion network (MAFusNet) is presented in order to correct the motion artifact of CL projection images considering the properties of CL projection images. The multi-angle fusion module significantly increases the ability of MAFusNet to deblur by using data from nearby projection images, and the feature fusion module lessens information loss brought on by data flow between the encoders. In contrast to conventional deblurring networks, the MAFusNet network employs synthetic datasets for training and performed well on realistic data, proving the network's outstanding generalization. The multi-angle fusion-based network has a significant improvement in the correction effect of CL motion artifact through ablation study and comparison with existing classical deblurring networks, and the synthetic training dataset can also significantly lower the training cost, which can effectively improve the quality and efficiency of CL imaging in industrial nondestructive testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isoetes orientalis is an endangered hexaploidy species of Isoetaceae in China and the complete chloroplast genome of this species has not been reported. In the present study, a complete chloroplast genome of Isoetes orientalis (Isoetaceae) was assembled and annotated. This chloroplast genome has a circular structure of 145,504 bp in length, comprising a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions of 13,207 bp each, a large single-copy (LSC) region of 91,864 bp, and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 27,226 bp. The chloroplast genome contains 136 genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis showed that I. orientalis was closely related to I. sinensis. These results provide additional resources for future studies on Isoetes from China and across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computed laminography (CL) is one of the best methods for nondestructive testing of plate-like objects. If the object and the detector move continually while the scanning is being done, the data acquisition efficiency of CL will be significantly increased. However, the projection images will contain motion artifact as a result. A multi-angle fusion network (MAFusNet) is presented in order to correct the motion artifact of CL projection images considering the properties of CL projection images. The multi-angle fusion module significantly increases the ability of MAFusNet to deblur by using data from nearby projection images, and the feature fusion module lessens information loss brought on by data flow between the encoders. In contrast to conventional deblurring networks, the MAFusNet network employs synthetic datasets for training and performed well on realistic data, proving the network's outstanding generalization. The multi-angle fusion-based network has a significant improvement in the correction effect of CL motion artifact through ablation study and comparison with existing classical deblurring networks, and the synthetic training dataset can also significantly lower the training cost, which can effectively improve the quality and efficiency of CL imaging in industrial nondestructive testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Woodwardia japonica is a kind of great potential edible and medicinal fern. In a previous study, it was found that flavonoid and antioxidant activity of W. japonica from different sites were different. However, the cause of the differences has still been unclear, which has restricted the utilization of W. japonica. In this paper, flavonoid and antioxidant activity of W. japonica from nine different regions were determined with the method of a colorimetric assay with UV-VIS spectrophotometry and HPLC-ESI-TOF-MS, and the effects of climate factors on flavonoids and antioxidant activities were evaluated by mathematical modeling and statistical methods. The results showed: (1) total flavonoid content (TFC) of W. japonica from Wuyi Mountain (Jiangxi) was the highest, which might be related to the low temperature; (2) the differences of antioxidant activities of W. japonica might be related to precipitation; (3) five flavonols, two flavones and one isoflavone were tentatively identified in W. japonica; (4) flavonol and isoflavone might be affected by sunshine duration, and flavones were probably related to temperature. In conclusion, the effects of climate factors on flavonoids and antioxidants are significant, which would provide an important basis for further exploring the mechanism of climate affecting secondary metabolites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rubber concrete has been proposed to address the environmental challenges caused by waste tires and the shortage of natural aggregates worldwide; however, its strength and elastic modulus reduction hinder its wide application in structure members. This study proposes filling corrugated steel tubes with rubber concrete (RuCFCST) and using the non-uniform confinement provided by corrugated steel tubes (CSTs) to compensate for the loss in strength and elastic modulus of rubber concrete. We conducted monotonic axial compression tests on 12 tubular specimens to evaluate the effects of the steel tube type, loading mode, diameter-to-thickness ratio, and rubber concrete strength on the axial shortening behavior and strength. The test results confirmed the effectiveness of CST confinement in strengthening the axial behavior of rubber concrete and CST had a higher confinement efficiency than plain straight steel tubes. The strength and ductility indices of the specimens increased by 10% and 30%, respectively; however, the strength of the concrete core decreased by 38.4% owing to the incorporation of rubber particles. These results suggest that such columns can be used in infrastructure, such as in seismic bridge piers, mine roadway supports, and underground structural columns, where load-bearing capacity and ductility are required. The current specifications lack consistency in predicting the axial strength of RuCFCST columns and the results of our proposed modified formulas were in good agreement with the experimental data, and the formulas predicted the axial strength of piers well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The main contents of the Clinical Practice Guidelines on Image-Guided Thermal Ablation (IGTA) of Primary and Metastatic Lung Tumors (2022 Edition) include the following: epidemiology of primary and metastatic lung tumors; the concepts of the IGTA and common technical features; procedures, indications, contraindications, outcomes evaluation, and related complications of IGTA on primary and metastatic lung tumors; and limitations and future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dryopteris crassirhizoma Nakai is a Chinese traditional medicinal fern plant for heat-clearing and detoxifying, promoting blood circulation and dissipating blood stasis. Previous researches showed that many factors could influence the components of medicinal plants, and the plant part is one of the main factors. So far, only the underground part of D. crassirhizoma, called "Mianma Guanzhong", has been widely sold in the market. However, the above-ground part was usually at low utilization, resulting in a waste of medicinal resources. In order to further develop and utilize the medicinal resources of D. crassirhizoma, the constituents, total flavonoid contents and antioxidant activity of the above-ground and underground parts of D. crassirhizoma were tentatively analyzed and compared based on HS-SPME-GC-MS and UPLC/Q-TOF-MS. The results showed that (1) the volatile components were mainly focused in the above-ground part of D. crassirhizoma, including 3-carene, isoledene, ionene, 4-amino-1-naphthol and furfural. (2) Nonvolatile components of the underground part of D. crassirhizoma contained phenolic acid, flavonoids, phloroglucinol and less fatty acid. (3) The common compounds of the above-ground and underground parts of D. crassirhizoma were phenolic acid and flavaspidic acid AB. (4) Antioxidant activity of the underground part was stronger than that of the above-ground part of D. crassirhizoma. In conclusion, both the above-ground and underground parts of D. crassirhizoma are important medicinal resources worthy of further development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental study was conducted to verify the flexural strength of corrugated steel plate (CSP) for various types of reinforcement which include without stiffening ribs, with different thicknesses of additional steel ribs, and with steel ribs filled with concrete. The test results showed that the flexural strength of the strengthening structure of the additional steel plate using the same CSP as the main steel plate was more than 2 times that of the single CSP, and flexural strength of the concrete-filled corrugated plates showed at least 3.3 times higher flexural strength compared to the strength of single CSP. According to the force performance of the CSP strengthening structures, the nominal bearing capacity calculation formula was proposed. Specimens showed higher flexural strength than the nominal flexural capacity, indicating that the proposed formula of nominal flexural strength can effectively evaluate the strength of strengthening structures. A finite element model was established in ABAQUS software to verify the feasibility of nonlinear finite element method analysis on CSP strengthening structures and the parameter analysis was carried out. The simulation results showed that the reinforcement ratio had a great influence on the bearing capacity of the strengthening structure, and the bolt spacing was second. the compressive strength of concrete was not a significant improvement effect of the bearing capacity of concrete-encased corrugated stiffener structure, and the strength of concrete can be negligible. The optimization suggestions were proposed for the strengthening structure concerning other factors such as bolt spacing and strengthening ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent global populist wave has reignited interest in how authoritarianism gains momentum in different nation-state contexts. A central question remains: under which conditions do individuals abandon or embrace authoritarian values? In the context of ethnic Chinese, this paper argues that Confucianism still plays a pivotal role in shaping attitudes and values. Specifically, it asserts that the Confucian value of meritocracy maintains importance in the ethnic Chinese value system. The study utilized the Chinese social media platform WeChat to deploy a four-question, snowball sample survey of 1,763 ethnic Chinese in seven regions from around the globe to evaluate their levels of authoritarianism. It tested six hypotheses derived from previous theories concerning assimilation, individual/ family resources, group competition, communist influence, and generational gap. The empirical results, however, provide the strongest support for the theory of meritocratic and conditional authoritarianism, which suggests that ethnic Chinese around the world will become more authoritarian when they perceive a threat to their status quo and will become less authoritarian when they perceive threats to their upward mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of thulium laser pulmonary wedge resection under thoracoscopy.Methods: Sixty cases of thoracoscopic pulmonary wedge resection by thulium laser and sixty cases with mechanical stapler from February 2015 to September 2018 were selected. The operation time, intraoperative hemorrhage, postoperative hospital stay, severe air leaks, drainage time, and complications (including postoperative hemorrhage, hemoptysis, atelectasis, and pulmonary infection) were compared between groups.Results: The thulium laser group showed a lower incidence of intraoperative hemorrhage (10.0 [5.0-20.0] ml vs. 15.0 [10.0-50.0] ml, P = 0.010) and a shorter postoperative hospital stay (3.9 ± 2.5 days vs. 4.9 ± 2.0 days, P = 0.031).There was no significant difference between groups in the operation time, postoperative drainage time, the occurrence of severe air leaks, or complication rate (P > 0.05). No patients were lost during follow?up (median follow?up time: 28.4 months, range: 18.0-36.0 months). No statistically significant difference in overall survival was found (P = 0.547).Conclusion: pulmonary wedge resection with thulium laser under thoracoscopy had better safety, less damage, and higher accuracy compared with the control group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Expert Consensus reviews current literatures and provides clinical practice guidelines for thermal ablation of pulmonary subsolid nodules or ground-glass nodule (GGN). The main contents include the following: (1) clinical evaluation of GGN; (2) procedures, indications, contraindications, outcomes evaluation, and related complications of thermal ablation for GGN; and (3) future development directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) is widely used in clinical applications such as diagnosis and image-guided interventions. In this paper, we propose a new deep learning based model for CT image reconstruction with the backbone network architecture built by unrolling an iterative algorithm. However, unlike the existing strategy to include as many data-adaptive components in the unrolled dynamics model as possible, we find that it is enough to only learn the parts where traditional designs mostly rely on intuitions and experience. More specifically, we propose to learn an initializer for the conjugate gradient (CG) algorithm that involved in one of the subproblems of the backbone model. Other components, such as image priors and hyperparameters, are kept as the original design. Since a hypernetwork is introduced to inference on the initialization of the CG module, it makes the proposed model a certain meta-learning model. Therefore, we shall call the proposed model the meta-inversion network (MetaInv-Net). The proposed MetaInv-Net can be designed with much less trainable parameters while still preserves its superior image reconstruction performance than some state-of-the-art deep models in CT imaging. In simulated and real data experiments, MetaInv-Net performs very well and can be generalized beyond the training setting, i.e., to other scanning settings, noise levels, and data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although buried corrugated steel pipe culverts have been studied intensively in the past decades, the stress development law between crest and valley during backfilling process is still not analyzed sufficiently, which is an important technical difficulty for the construction of this kind of structures. In this paper, a three-dimensional finite element model (FEM) is developed to simulate the behavior of buried pipes during construction and the stress development law within a wavelength (curvature of corrugated pipe) ranging at the crown and the spring-line inside the pipe is proposed. Based on the measured stress data of a porous continuous corrugated steel plate pipe-arch culvert, the proposed three-dimensional FEM and stress development law are verified. The results show that the stress variations in a wavelength range of corrugated steel plate are trigonometric curves. With the increase of the backfilling height, the ratio of the stress at the crest or valley, to that of the spring-line is reduced, while the axial force is increased. The absolute value of the bending moment decays and the pipe culvert tends to be ring compression as the backfilling height increased. The study verifies the "ring compression theory" and the necessity of the minimum burial depth in design. Meanwhile, some design and construction guidelines which is necessary for the structure safety during backfilling process are provided for buried corrugated steel pipe culverts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In computed tomography, high attenuation occurs when x-rays pass through a dense region or a long path in the scanning object. In this case, only limited photons reach the detector, which causes photon starvation artifacts. The artifacts usually appear as streaks along the directions with high attenuation. It might lower the discrimination of minor structures and lead to misdiagnosis. Applying a local filter to the projection data adaptively is a common solution, however, if the parameters of projection-based filter are not well selected, new artifacts and noise might appear in the final image. In this paper, a post image processing technique was developed to suppress the photon starvation streak artifacts. Based on the directional characteristics of streaks, a semi-adaptive anisotropic diffusion filter was applied to the high frequency sub-bands after wavelet transformation (WASA). Qualitative and quantitative experiments were performed on phantom data and clinical data to prove the effectiveness of this method for photon starvation artifact suppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with increasing incidence of operable small pulmonary nodules, it becomes difficult to localize nodules via palpation. Accurate localization of small pulmonary nodules has remained a big challenge in lung surgery. Therefore, several techniques for preoperative localizing small pulmonary nodules have evolved, but the advantages and disadvantages of each method remain unclear. We reviewed computed tomography-guided percutaneous and bronchoscopic preoperative assisted localization for small pulmonary nodules. Original, peer-reviewed, and full-length articles in English and Chinese were searched with PubMed and Wanfang data. Case reports and case series with <20 patients were excluded. All localization techniques showed good reliability, but some carry a high rate of major or minor complications and drawbacks. No ideal localization technique is available; thus, the choice of preoperative assisted localization technique still depends on surgeons' preference and local availability of both specialists and instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computed tomography (CT) has been widely applied in medical diagnosis, nondestructive evaluation, homeland security, and other science and engineering applications. Image reconstruction is one of the core CT imaging technologies. In this review paper, we systematically reviewed the currently publicly available CT image reconstruction open source toolkits in the aspects of their environments, object models, imaging geometries, and algorithms. In addition to analytic and iterative algorithms, deep learning reconstruction networks and open codes are also reviewed as the third category of reconstruction algorithms. This systematic summary of the publicly available software platforms will help facilitate CT research and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isoetes sinensis Palmer is a critically endangered, first-class protected plant in China. Until now, researchers have primarily focused on the ultrastructure, phylogeny, and transcriptomes of the plant. However, flavonoid profiles and bioactivity of I. sinensis have not been extensively investigated. To develop the endangered I. sinensis for edible and medicinal purposes, flavonoid content, chemical constitution, and antioxidant activities were investigated in this study. Results revealed the following. 1) The total flavonoid content was determined as 10.74 ± 0.25 mg/g., 2) Antioxidant activities were stronger than most ferns, especially ABTS free radical scavenging activities. 3) Four flavones, containing apigenin, apigenin-7-glucuronide, acacetin-7-O-glcopyranoside, and homoplantageninisoetin; four flavonols, namely, isoetin, kaempferol-3-O-glucoside, quercetin-3-O-[6"-O-(3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl)-β-D-glucopyranoside], and limocitrin-Neo; one prodelphinidin (procyanidins;) and one nothofagin (dihydrochalcone) were tentatively identified in the mass spectrometry-DAD (254nm) chromatograms. This study was the first to report on flavonoid content and antioxidant activities of I. sinensis. Stronger antioxidant activity and flavonoid content suggests that the endangered I. sinensis is an important and potentially edible and medicinal plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1996, the concept of pulmonary ground-glass nodule (GGN) or ground-glass opacity (GGO) nodule wasfirst proposed by the Fleischner Society.[[1]] Based on whether GGN contains the consolidation, it can be classified into pure GGN (pGGN) and part-solid nodule (PSN). PGGN and PSN are also known as the sub-solid nodule.[[2]],[[3]] The increasingly widespread use of high-resolution computed tomography (CT) and lung cancer screening program, incidentally detected pulmonary nodules are more common in routine diagnostic CT imaging (with an estimated frequency of detection >30% on CT[[4]]), many of which are pulmonary multifocal GGNs. Moreover, 20%-30% of the resected GGN samples are accompanied with other multiple intrapulmonary small GGN focuses.[[6]] Pulmonary multifocal nodules were divided into four categories,[[7]] which are second primary lung cancer, separate tumor nodules, multifocal GGNs, and the diffuse pneumonic type. [Extracted from the article]

This paper presents a comparative study on the composite structure of Corrugated Steel Plate (CSP) with normal and rubberized concrete. One CSP-normal-concrete plate and two CSP arch structures composited with different concretes are established. A theoretical section-property deduction is derived, which demonstrated that the flexural rigidity of such composite structure increased notably. Static and dynamic mechanical experiments are also conducted. Experimental results agree with expectations, and the measured results on plate structures verified the effectiveness of the analytical and numerical solutions. Comparing the deflection of two composite arches shows that the rubberized concrete composite arch has smaller flexural and compressive stiffnesses, resulting in larger deflection. The rubberized concrete composite arch has higher steel stress, lower concrete stress and better energy-dissipating capacity compared with the normal concrete composite arch. Therefore, the CSP-rubberized concrete composite structure is more suitable for anti-shock and earthquake-resistant structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Most epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) experience oligoprogressive disease. Local ablation for isolated resistant sites continued with the original EGFR-TKI showed good efficacy in these patients. We conducted this multicenter retrospective study to investigate the potential benefit of thermal ablation in NSCLC patients that developed extra-central nervous system (CNS) oligoprogressive disease during TKI treatment.Methods: A total of 71 EGFR-mutant patients treated with EGFR-TKIs were identified. Progression-free survival 1 (PFS1) was calculated from the initiation of TKI treatment to first progression. Patients with metastatic sites ≤ 3 in less than 3 extra-CNS organs suitable for local ablation therapy received either radiofrequency ablation or microwave ablation to these sites and continued on the original TKIs. PFS2 was defined from the first progression to second progression after ablation.Results: The median PFS1 for all patients was 11.8 months. Eighty extra-CNS oligoprogressive lesions in 71 patients were ablated. Thirty-six of 71 patients progressed after thermal ablation and 31 of whom died during the study period. The median PFS2 after thermal ablation was 10.0 months, and the median overall survival was 26.4 months. PFS1 and PFS2 were highly correlated with OS, whereas PFS1 was not correlated with PFS2. The numbers of oligoprogressive lesions were significantly and independently associated with PFS2.Conclusion: Local thermal ablation for the oligoprogressive lesions with continuous EGFR-TKI treatment is associated with additional 10 months of disease control and should be recommended in TKI acquired resistant-NSCLC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postnatal growth of mammalian oocytes is accompanied by a progressive gain of DNA methylation, which is predominantly mediated by DNMT3A, a de novo DNA methyltransferase1,2. Unlike the genome of sperm and most somatic cells, the oocyte genome is hypomethylated in transcriptionally inert regions2-4. However, how such a unique feature of the oocyte methylome is determined and its contribution to the developmental competence of the early embryo remains largely unknown. Here we demonstrate the importance of Stella, a factor essential for female fertility5-7, in shaping the oocyte methylome in mice. Oocytes that lack Stella acquire excessive DNA methylation at the genome-wide level, including in the promoters of inactive genes. Such aberrant hypermethylation is partially inherited by two-cell-stage embryos and impairs zygotic genome activation. Mechanistically, the loss of Stella leads to ectopic nuclear accumulation of the DNA methylation regulator UHRF18,9, which results in the mislocalization of maintenance DNA methyltransferase DNMT1 in the nucleus. Genetic analysis confirmed the primary role of UHRF1 and DNMT1 in generating the aberrant DNA methylome in Stella-deficient oocytes. Stella therefore safeguards the unique oocyte epigenome by preventing aberrant de novo DNA methylation mediated by DNMT1 and UHRF1. Stella, a factor essential for female fertility, protects the oocyte methylome in mice by suppressing de novo DNA methylation mediated by the DNA methyltransferase DNMT1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizens adjust their perceptions of military expenditure based largely on their worldview, as defined by their race, ethnicity, ideology, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and education. Worldview might also reasonably be impacted by nativity. We explore the relationship between nativity and public opinion about military expenditure. Native-born survey respondents are less likely to believe that military expenditures are excessive than those born abroad. Race, ethnicity, ideology, nativity, and confidence in the military are the most significant variables used in explaining attitudes about military expenditure. Interaction analysis carried out for this article and reported here demonstrates that Hispanic and Asian ethnicity impacts on public perception of military expenditure are significantly greater when factoring in the nativity of survey respondents. With a growing portion of non-native-born citizens joining the electorate, public opinion analyses regarding military expenditure should take into account nativity as well as SES, gender, race, ideology, education, and ethnicity when seeking to explain public opinion dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although surgical resection with curative intent is the main therapy for both primary and metastatic lung tumors, about 80% of lung cancers cannot be removed by surgery. Because most patients with unresectable lung cancer only receive limited benefits from traditional radiotherapy and chemotherapy, many novel local treatment modalities have emerged including local ablation therapy. The Minimally Invasive Treatment of Lung Cancer Branch, Professional Committee of Minimally Invasive Treatment of Cancer of the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association and Committee on Tumor Ablations, Chinese College of Interventionalists have organized multidisciplinary experts to develop guidelines for this treatment modality. These guidelines aim at standardizing thermal ablation procedures, describing the indications for candidates, assessing outcomes, and preventing postablation complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isoetes japonica A. Braun is a heterosporous quillwort living in low-altitude areas in Japan. In the present study, the complete chloroplast genome of I. japonica was assembled and annotated. This chloroplast genome is a circular structure of 145,517 bp in length, comprising a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions of 13,204 bp each, a large single copy (LSC) region of 91,868 bp, and a small single copy (SSC) region of 27,241 bp. The chloroplast genome contains 135 genes, including 78 protein-coding genes, 36 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis showed that I. japonica is sister to I. sinensis and I. yunguiensis. These results provide additional resources for the future studies on Isoetes species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background This retrospective study was conducted to investigate the relationship between epidermal growth factor receptor ( EGFR) mutation and histological subtypes of lung adenocarcinoma according to the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer/ American Thoracic Society/ European Respiratory Society ( IASLC/ ATS/ ERS) classification in Chinese patients. Methods Three hundred and seventy six surgically resected lung adenocarcinomas from Chinese PLA General Hospital were included in the study. Patients' clinical and pathological characteristics including age, gender, smoking history, tumor size, tumor node metastasis stage, and tumor differentiation were analyzed. Histologic subtypes of adenocarcinoma were categorized according to the IASLC/ ATS/ ERS classification of lung adenocarcinoma. An amplification-refractory mutation system was performed to detect EGFR mutations. Results One hundred and fifty three lung adenocarcinomas had EGFR mutations. In univariate analysis, EGFR mutations were associated with gender ( P < 0.001), smoking history ( P < 0.001), tumor differentiation ( P < 0.001), and acinar predominant ( P < 0.001), papillary predominant ( P = 0.034), solid predominant ( P = 0.022), invasive mucinous ( P = 0.012) and mucinous ( P = 0.001) subtypes. Conclusions In Chinese patients with lung adenocarcinoma, smoking history, tumor differentiation, and acinar predominant and mucinous subtypes were independent predictors of EGFR mutation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The purpose of this study was to retrospectively evaluate percutaneous radiofrequency ablation ( RFA) combined with palliative thoracoscopic pleurodesis ( TP) for malignant pleural effusion and/or pleural disseminated non-small cell lung cancer ( NSCLC), diagnosed by thoracoscopy. Methods The study was composed of 40 patients with primary NSCLC with malignant pleural effusion and/or pleural dissemination recognized for the first time during thoracoscopic exploration. Twenty patients received TPR ( TP plus RFA group), while the remaining 20 patients who underwent TP ( TP group) represented the control. We evaluated technical success, safety, initial response rate, progression-free survival ( PFS), and overall survival ( OS). Results No procedure-related deaths or major complications occurred in any of the 22 ablation procedures. Complete response was observed in 15% of patients, partial response in 50%, stable disease in 25%, and progressive disease in 15% of patients. The mean follow-up was 15.5 months. The PFS at years one, two, and three were 77.5%, 38.8%, and 25.8%, respectively. The OS at years one, two, and three were 77.5%, 41.4%, and 27.6%, respectively. The PFS and OS were longer in the TP-R group, indicating a better prognosis than that of the patients who underwent TP only ( OS 24 vs. 18 months, P = 0.030; PFS 22 vs. 15 months, P = 0.036). Conclusions Palliative TP combined with percutaneous RFA is a safe, feasible, and effective procedure in patients with malignant pleural effusion and/or pleural disseminated NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pediatric and adult patients unable to suspend respiration generally undergo magnetic resonance (MR) examinations that lack arterial phase imaging, which is a phase that provides substantial information on disease processes. An MR strategy that provides this type of information may be of considerable value. Purpose: To describe and assess the feasibility and enhancement quality of early-phase imaging utilizing long-duration radial 3D-GRE imaging by initiating the sequence prior to starting contrast injection. Material and Methods: Thirty-three consecutive patients (10 men, 23 women; 50.7 ± 25.5 years) underwent free-breathing gadolinium-enhanced radial 3D-GRE, with sequence initiation 30 s prior to contrast injection. Late hepatic arterial (LHA) phase was chosen for comparison. Images were evaluated for enhancement and overall image quality. Organ enhancement was calculated. Sub-group analysis was performed. Results: Twenty-two examinations of radial 3D-GRE sequences were acquired during the LHA phase. Organ enhancement scores were of satisfactory to good quality (range, 3.32-3.82). There was a significant trend of superior overall enhancement quality scores in pediatrics and examinations performed at 3 T (P = 0.0225 and 0.0001, respectively). Conclusion: Arterial phase abdominal MR imaging is feasible using conventional radial 3D-GRE by adopting this simplistic proposed approach, which may allow arterial-phase imaging in patients unable to breath-hold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of radiofrequency ablation (RFA), quantitative water-based, and iodine-based images of gemstone spectral computed tomography (CT) were analyzed. Patients and methods: 30 patients underwent lung RFAs from March 2012 to March 2013. Through enhanced chest scans, we obtained the tumor size values by conventional CT images, and quantitatively analyzed the densities of iodine and water in lung tumors from water-based and iodine-based material decomposition images. Results: Tumors in 22 cases increased in size after RFA while there was no detectable change in the remaining 8 cases. Through water-based material decomposition images, the water content in the tumors increased from (1014.76 ± 6.83 mg/mL) to (1022.71 ± 10.16 mg/mL) after RFA, and this difference was significant ( t = −2.329, p < 0.05). Through iodine-based material decomposition images, the iodine content in the tumors was 2.49 ± 0.74 mg/mL before RFA. The tumors were mostly or completely necrotized after RFA and the iodine content in the area of necrosis reduced to 0.45 ± 0.29 mg/m ( t = 11.072, p = 0.000). Conclusion: By comparing the tumor size, water content and iodine content before and after RFA, we can visualize the morphology and metabolic states of the tumors and evaluate the therapeutic efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To assess the feasibility of high-resolution 3D-gradient-recalled echo (GRE) fat-suppressed T1-weighted images using controlled aliasing acceleration technique (CAIPIRINHA-VIBE), and compare image quality and lesion detection to standard-resolution 3D-GRE images using conventional acceleration technique (GRAPPA-VIBE).Materials and Methods: Eighty-four patients (41 males, 43 females; age range: 14-90 years, 58.8 ± 15.6 years) underwent abdominal MRI at 1.5 T with CAIPIRINHA-VIBE [spatial resolution, 0.76 ± 0.04 mm] and GRAPPA-VIBE [spatial resolution, 1.17 ± 0.14 mm]. Two readers independently reviewed image quality, presence of artefacts, lesion conspicuity, and lesion detection. Kappa statistic was used to assess interobserver agreement. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for image qualitative pairwise comparisons. Logistic regression with post-hoc testing was used to evaluate statistical significance of lesions evaluation.Results: Interobserver agreement ranged between 0.45-0.93. Pre-contrast CAIPIRINHA-VIBE showed significantly (p < 0.001) sharper images and lesion conspicuity with decreased residual aliasing, but more noise enhancement and inferior image quality. Post-contrast CAIPIRINHA-VIBE showed significantly (p < 0.001) sharper images and higher lesion conspicuity, with less respiratory motion and residual aliasing artefacts. Inferior fat-suppression was noticeable on CAIPIRINHA-VIBE sequences (p < 0.001).Conclusion: High in-plane resolution abdominal 3D-GRE fat-suppressed T1-weighted imaging using controlled-aliasing acceleration technique is feasible and yields sharper images compared to standard-resolution images using standard acceleration, with higher post-contrast image quality and trend for improved hepatic lesions detection.Key Points: • High-resolution imaging of the upper abdomen is clinically feasible using 2D-controlled aliasing acceleration technique. • High-resolution imaging yields significantly sharper images and increased hepatic lesions conspicuity. • High-resolution imaging yields significantly less respiratory motion and residual aliasing artefacts. • Controlled-aliasing offers substantial acquisition-time reduction in patients with breath-holding difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isoetes sinensis Palmer (Isoetaceae) is a critically endangered fern that is a marsh plant (that is an aquatic or amphibious plant) in China. To evaluate damage or influence of lead (Pb) on cell ultrastructure in I. sinensis, we used 2000mg·L-1 Pb(NO3)2 solution to treat I. sinensis for 35d, and used transmission electron microscope (TEM) to observe the cell ultrastructure of leaf blades and roots of the plant. Our results indicated that Pb induced distinct changes of the organelles including chloroplast, mitochondria, nucleolus and vacuole. The level of damage organ was lower leaf > upper leaf > root The typical performance of the damages caused by lead shown that part of the nucleolus cracked; the cristae dilated, matrix vacuolized and membrane structure blurred in mitochondria; the vacuole cracked; grana lamella decreased, stroma lamella loosed, starch grains decreased, and membrane structure was disrupted in chloroplasts; Pb deposits were present on cell wall. The damages to chloroplasts and mitochondria were relatively severe, while damage to the nucleus was relatively lighter. The damage to the cell ultrastructure of leaf blades with direct contact with Pb was more severe than that without direct contact with Pb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 62-year-old male farmer weighing 79 kg was taken to a hospital after experiencing exertional dyspnea and shortness of breath for a month. A chest roentgenogram and computed tomography showed a giant mass in his right thorax. A CT-guided biopsy demonstrated a solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura (SFTP). Because of the large size of the tumor and the substantial pleural effusion in the right hemithorax, the patient was referred to our institution for radiofrequency ablation. After one month, we performed an exploratory thoracotomy to dissect the giant mass with the right, middle, and lower lobes. The measurement of the tumor was 20 cm × 18 cm × 13 cm and it weighed 3250 g. The histopathology of the resected specimen confirmed SFTP. The patient had no postoperative complications; six months after surgery, no recurrence occurred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]