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The pineal tumor was once considered as a restricted area for surgery. Such cases are rare, with many different opinions on surgical treatment.This study aimed to review our experience of tumor treatment in the pineal region and explore the optimal treatment strategy.The clinical data of 72 patients with pineal tumors from January 1997 to May 2015 (18 years) were retrospectively analyzed. Preoperative preparation, pathology types, tumor resection rate, surgical approach, and follow-up outcomes were used as the indicators to evaluate the treatment efficacy.The Krause approach was used in 46 cases, the Poppen approach in 10 cases, and the transcallosal-lateral ventricle-choroid fissure approach in 16 cases. The postoperative pathological results were as follows: 24 cases of germinoma, 11 of teratoma, 15 of glioma, 6 of meningioma, 11 of Pineocytoma, 2 of cholesteatoma, 2 of cavernous hemangioma, and 1 of choriocarcinoma. Further, the study included 64 cases of total surgical resections, 8 of subtotal resections, and 2 deaths. The follow-up period was from 7 months to 10 years. Further, 51 (70.8%) patients were followed up. The multivariate regression model showed that the surgical method and the pathological type contributed significantly to predicting outcomes.The type of pathology, extent of excision, and surgical approach had a significant impact on the prognosis of patients. The transcallosal-lateral ventricle-choroid fissure approach for large and medium-sized pineal tumors near the posterior part of the third ventricle had good efficacy.

Three-dimensional higher-order topological semimetals in crystalline systems exhibit higher-order Fermi arcs on one-dimensional hinges, challenging the conventional bulk-boundary correspondence. However, the existence of higher-order Fermi arc states in aperiodic quasicrystalline systems remains uncertain. In this work, we present the emergence of three-dimensional quasicrystalline second-order topological semimetal phases by vertically stacking two-dimensional quasicrystalline second-order topological insulators. These quasicrystalline topological semimetal phases are protected by rotational symmetries forbidden in crystals, and are characterized by topological hinge Fermi arcs connecting fourfold degenerate Dirac-like points in the spectrum. Our findings reveal an intriguing class of higher-order topological phases in quasicrystalline systems, shedding light on their unique properties.

The diffuse gamma-ray emission between 10 and 1000 TeV from the Galactic plane was recently measured precisely by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), which is very useful in constraining the propagation and interaction of cosmic rays in the Milky Way. On the other hand, new measurements of CR spectra reach a very high precision up to 100 TeV energies, revealing multiple spectral structures of various species. In this work, we confront the model prediction of the diffuse gamma-ray emission, based on up-to-date measurements of the local cosmic ray spectra and simplified propagation setup, with the measurements of diffuse gamma-rays. To better constrain the low-energy part of the model, we analyze Fermi-LAT data to extract the diffuse emission between 1 and 500 GeV from the same sky regions of LHAASO. Compared with the prediction, we find that clear excesses between several GeV and ~60 TeV of the diffuse emission exist. Possible reasons to explain the excesses may include unresolved sources or more complicated propagation models. We illustrate that an exponential-cutoff-power-law component with an index of -2.40 and cutoff energy of ~30 TeV is able to account for such excesses.

Recent studies have attracted intense attention on the quasi-2D kagome superconductors $ A\text{V}_3\text{Sb}_5 $ ($ A = $ K, Rb, and Cs) where the unexpected chiral flux phase (CFP) associates with the spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking in charge density wave (CDW) states. Here, commencing from the 2-by-2 CDW phases, we bridge the gap between topological superconductivity (TSC) and time-reversal asymmetric CFP in kagome systems. Several chiral TSC states featuring distinct Chern numbers emerge for an s-wave or a d-wave superconducting pairing symmetry. Importantly, these CFP-based TSC phases possess unique gapless edge modes with mixed chiralities (i.e., both positive and negative chiralities), but with the net chiralities consistent with the Bogoliubov-de Gennes Chern numbers. We further study the transport properties of a two-terminal junction, using Chern insulator or normal metal leads via atomic Green's function method with Landauer-B\"uttiker formalism. In both cases, the normal electron tunneling and the crossed Andreev reflection oscillate as the chemical potential changes, but together contribute to plateau transmissions (1 and 3/2, respectively). These behaviors can be regarded as the signature of a topological superconductor hosting edge states with mixed chiralities., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

Background: Renal clear cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is one of the most prevailing type of malignancies, which is affected by chemokines. Chemokines can form a local network to regulate the movement of immune cells and are essential for tumor proliferation and metastasis as well as for the interaction between tumor cells and mesenchymal cells. Establishing a chemokine genes signature to assess prognosis and therapy responsiveness in ccRCC is the goal of this effort.Methods: mRNA sequencing data and clinicopathological data on 526 individuals with ccRCC were gathered from the The Cancer Genome Atlas database for this investigation (263 training group samples and 263 validation group samples). Utilizing the LASSO algorithm in conjunction with univariate Cox analysis, the gene signature was constructed. The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database provided the single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data, and the R package “Seurat” was applied to analyze the scRNA-seq data. In addition, the enrichment scores of 28 immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME) were calculated using the “ssGSEA” algorithm. In order to develop possible medications for patients with high-risk ccRCC, the “pRRophetic” package is employed.Results: High-risk patients had lower overall survival in this model for predicting prognosis, which was supported by the validation cohort. In both cohorts, it served as an independent prognostic factor. Annotation of the predicted signature’s biological function revealed that it was correlated with immune-related pathways, and the riskscore was positively correlated with immune cell infiltration and several immune checkpoints (ICs), including CD47, PDCD1, TIGIT, and LAG-3, while it was negatively correlated with TNFRSF14. The CXCL2, CXCL12, and CX3CL1 genes of this signature were shown to be significantly expressed in monocytes and cancer cells, according to scRNA-seq analysis. Furthermore, the high expression of CD47 in cancer cells suggested us that this could be a promising immune checkpoint. For patients who had high riskscore, we predicted 12 potential medications.Conclusion: Overall, our findings show that a putative 7-chemokine-gene signature might predict a patient’s prognosis for ccRCC and reflect the disease’s complicated immunological environment. Additionally, it offers suggestions on how to treat ccRCC using precision treatment and focused risk assessment.

Precise measurements of the boron-to-carbon and boron-to-oxygen ratios by DAMPE show clear hardenings around $100$ GeV/n, which provide important implications on the production, propagation, and interaction of Galactic cosmic rays. In this work we investigate a number of models proposed in literature in light of the DAMPE findings. These models can roughly be classified into two classes, driven by propagation effects or by source ones. Among these models discussed, we find that the re-acceleration of cosmic rays, during their propagation, by random magnetohydrodynamic waves may not reproduce sufficient hardenings of B/C and B/O, and an additional spectral break of the diffusion coefficient is required. The other models can properly explain the hardenings of the ratios. However, depending on simplifications assumed, the models differ in their quality in reproducing the data in a wide energy range. The models with significant re-acceleration effect will under-predict low-energy antiprotons but over-predict low-energy positrons, and the models with secondary production at sources over-predict high-energy antiprotons. For all models high-energy positron excess exists., Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures. Published version

The recent reported Glashow resonance (GR) event shows a promising prospect in the test of the Lorentz violation (LV) by the high-energy astrophysical neutrinos (HANs) around the resonant energy. However, since the production source and the energy spectra of HANs are uncertain at present, moderate LV effects may be concealed at the TeV energy-scale. In this paper, we propose the LV Hamiltonian of a special texture which can lead to the decoupling of $\nu_{\mu}$ ($\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$). On the base of the decoupling, a noticeable damping of the GR event rate is shown for the HANs from the source dominated by $\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$, irrespective of the energy spectra of the HANs at Earth. Accordingly, the observation of GR events may bring stringent constraints on the LV and the production mechanism of HANs., Comment: 13pages, 3figures

Wei Ju,1,2,* Guan-fa Luo,1,* Yuan-yuan Shi,3 Fei-jun Zhou,1 Meng-qi Li,1 Jian-hui Xu,1 Zhi-xin Yan,2 Xi-hu Yang1 1Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212001, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Burn and Plastic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212001, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Pathology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212001, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Xi-hu Yang, Email yangxihu1981@126.comObjective: Sebaceous carcinoma (SC) of the submandibular gland is extremely rare. Owing to the low morbidity and nonspecific clinical manifestations, diagnosis is commonly delayed, which increases metastasis and mortality. To date, there have been five reported cases of SC of the submandibular gland. Here, we present a new case and review the relevant literature.Methods and Results: A 36-year-old woman presented with an enlarged left submandibular gland. Clinical features included a non-tender solitary nodular mass with normal overlying skin. There were no special findings on computed tomography or ultrasound examination except for a swollen mass in the left submandibular gland. The patient underwent surgical resection. Pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of SC with nerve infiltration. Immunohistochemical examination of this case showed positive staining for P63, P40, CK7, CK8/18, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2. The specimen was negative for androgen receptor, CEA, S-100, CK5/6, SOX-10, SOX-11, SMA, and GCDFP-15. The KI-67 labeling index was determined to be 15%. PAS and anti-epithelial membrane antigen were positive in partial area. The patient is still undergoing follow-up, and no metastasis or recurrence has been observed for 2 months.Conclusion: This case highlighted the fact that despite its rarity, SC should be considered as a differential diagnosis for masses located in the head and face. Early and accurate diagnosis, followed by wide surgical excision, has a favorable prognosis. Therefore, clinicians should be familiar with the clinical and pathological features of this disease.Keywords: sebaceous carcinoma, salivary gland neoplasms, submandibular gland, androgen receptor, P63, P40

There is much interest in identifying new anti-inflammatory and antibacterial compounds from plant sources, especially edible materials. Three new ursane-type triterpenoids, 3-oxours-12-en-20, 28-olide ( 1 ), 3β-hydroxyurs-12-en-20, 28-olide ( 2 ) and 3β-hydroxyurs-11, 13(18)-dien-20, 28-olide ( 3 ), were isolated from a potent anti-inflammatory and antibacterial fraction of the ethanolic extract of Rosmarinus officinalis. Their structures were elucidated by a combination of extensive 1D- and 2D-NMR experiments, mass spectrometry and comparisons with literature data. Compounds 1 - 3 exhibited a significant inhibitory effect on nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-activated mouse RAW264.7 macrophages, but no antibacterial activity was found at a concentration of 128 μg/mL.

The existence of fractionally quantized topological corner states serves as a key indicator for two-dimensional second-order topological insulators (SOTIs), yet has not been experimentally observed in realistic materials. Here, based on first-principles calculations and symmetry arguments, we propose a strategy for achieving SOTI phases with in-gap corner states in (MnBi$_2$Te$_4$)(Bi$_2$Te$_3$)$_{m}$ films with antiferromagnetic (AFM) order. Starting from the prototypical AFM MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ bilayer, we show by an effective lattice model that such SOTI phase originate from the interplay between intrinsic spin-orbital coupling and interlayer AFM exchange interactions. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the nontrivial corner states are linked to rotation topological invariants under three-fold rotation symmetry $C_3$, resulting in $C_3$-symmetric SOTIs with corner charges fractionally quantized to $\frac{n}{3} \lvert e \rvert $ (mod $e$). Due to the great recent achievements in (MnBi$_2$Te$_4$)(Bi$_2$Te$_3$)$_{m}$ systems, our results providing reliable material candidates for experimentally accessible AFM higher-order band topology would draw intense attentions., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

While the detailed mechanisms for how particulate matter (PM) causes adverse health effects in the lungs remain largely unknown, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has been implicated in PM-induced lung injury. The present study was undertaken to examine how/if ER stress might regulate PM-induced inflammation, and to begin to define potential underlying molecular mechanisms. Here, ER stress hallmarks were examined in human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells exposed to PM. To confirm roles of certain pathways, siRNA targeting ER stress genes and an ER stress inhibitor were employed. Expression of select inflammatory cytokines and related signaling pathway components by the cells were assessed as well. The results showed that PM exposure induced elevations in two ER stress hallmarks, i.e. GRP78 and IRE1α, in time-and/or dose-related manners in the HBE cells. Inhibition of ER stress by siRNA for GRP78 or IRE1α significantly alleviated the PM-induced effects. Further, ER stress appeared to regulate PM-induced inflammation – likely through downstream autophagy and NF-κB pathways – as implied by studies showing that inhibition of ER stress by siRNA of GRP78 or IRE1α caused significant amelioration of PM-induced autophagy and subsequent activation of NF-κB pathways. Moreover, the ER stress inhibitor 4-PBA were used to confirm the protective effects against PM-induced outcomes. Together, the results suggest ER stress plays a deleterious role in PM-induced airway inflammation, possibly through activation of autophagy and NF-κB signaling. Accordingly, protocols/treatments that could lead to inhibited ER stress could potentially be effective for treatment of PM-related airway disorders.

Additional file 1: Supplementary Fig. 1. A. The remaining concentration of L-KYN in different culture medium of GES-1, MGC-803 or SGC-7901 cells at the indicated time points, measured by ELISA. 200 μM L-KYN was supplemented into the medium at the initial time point. B. The proportion of ki-67+ cell subsets in the FVD+ or FVD− NK-92 cells, detected by flow cytometry. C. The western blot result to show the knocking out efficiency of IDO in SGC-7901 cells. β-actin was served as the internal reference. D. The concentration of L-KYN in the culture supernatant of the indicated SGC-7901 cells, measured by ELISA at different time points. The results were replicated in 3 independent experiments. ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001. Supplementary Fig. 2. A and B. The L-KYN concentration in the dissociation supernatant of SGC-7901Con or SGC-7901IDO-KO cells - formed CDX tumors (A) or the host serum (B), measured by ELISA. The results were replicated in 3 independent experiments with n = 4 for each group. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001. Supplementary Fig. 3. A and B. The western blot results to show the protein expression level of AHR and CYP1A1 in NK-92 cells (A) or hNK cells (B) when treated with 1 μM CH-223191 for 48 h. β-actin was served as the internal reference.

Theoretically, the quantum anomalous Hall effect is characterized by a quantized Hall conductance. However, many experiments only reported the quantization of the Hall resistance, which is accompanied by a non-vanishing longitudinal resistance, resulting in a non-quantized Hall conductance. Meanwhile, the non-vanishing longitudinal resistance features a universal exponential decay with the increase in magnetic field. Such a discrepancy obviously challenges the understanding of the quantum anomalous Hall effect. To this end, we propose that the coupling of chiral edge states, which has not been properly evaluated in the previous theories, hinders the quantization of the Hall conductance, while it maintains the quantization of the Hall resistance. The coupling between the chiral edges states along the opposite boundaries can be assisted by magnetic domains or defects inside the sample bulk, which has been already identified in recent experiments. We demonstrate that the chiral edge state coupling theory works rather well to explain the experimental results in both magnetic topological insulator and moir\'e superlattice systems.

Die Bachelorarbeit untersucht wie transformationale und pseudo-transformationale Führungspersonen auf das Angstempfinden ihrer MitarbeiterInnen beeinflussen.

Recently, an exotic quantum Hall ferromagnet with spin-filtered helical edge modes was observed in monolayer graphene on a high-dielectric constant substrate at moderate magnetic fields, withstanding temperatures of up to 110 Kelvin [L. Veyrat et al., Science 367, 781 (2020)]. However, the characteristic quantized longitudinal resistance mediated by these edge modes departs from quantization with decreasing temperature. In this work, we investigate the transport properties of helical edge modes in a graphene nanoribbon under a perpendicular magnetic field using the Landauer-Buttiker transport formalism. We find that the departure of quantization of longitudinal conductance is due to the helical-edge gap opened by the Rashba spin-orbital coupling. The quantization can be restored by weak nonmagnetic Anderson disorder at low temperature, increasing the localization length, or by raising temperature at weak disorder, through thermal broadening. The resulted conductance is very close to the quantized value 2e2/h, which is in qualitatively consistent with the experimental results. Furthermore, we suggest that the helical quantum Hall phase in graphene could be a promising platform for creating Majorana zero modes by introducing superconductivity., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

Two-dimensional Dirac semimetals with a single massless Dirac cone can exhibit the parity anomaly. Usually, such a kind of anomalous topological semimetallic phase in real materials is unstable where any amount of disorder can drive it into a diffusive metal and destroy the half-integer quantized Hall conductivity as an indicator of parity anomaly. Here, based on low-energy effective model, we propose an anisotropic Dirac semimetal which explicitly breaks time-reversal symmetry and carries a half-integer quantized Hall conductivity. This topological semimetallic phase can be realized on a deformed honeycomb lattice subjected to a magnetic flux. Moreover, we establish the disorder correction to the Hall conductivity. The results show that the influence of disorder can be strongly suppressed and thereby the half-quantization of Hall conductivity can exist in a wide region of disorder and even strong disorder. The robustness of anisotropic topological Dirac semimetal against disorder make it an exciting platform to investigate the parity anomaly phenomena., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures

Quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) insulators with high Chern number host multiple dissipationless chiral edge channels, which are of fundamental interest and promising for applications in spintronics and quantum computing. However, only a limited number of high-Chern-number QAH insulators have been reported to date. Here, we propose a dynamic approach for achieving high-Chern-number QAH phases in periodically driven two-dimensional higher-order topological insulators (HOTIs).In particular, we consider two representative kinds of HOTIs which are characterized by a quantized quadruple moment and the second Stiefel-Whitney number, respectively. Using the Floquet formalism for periodically driven systems, we demonstrate that QAH insulators with tunable Chern number up to four can be achieved. Moreover, we show by first-principles calculations that the monolayer graphdiyne, a realistic HOTI, is an ideal material candidate. Our work not only establishes a strategy for designing high-Chern-number QAH insulators in periodically driven HOTIs, but also provides a powerful approach to investigate exotic topological states in nonequilibrium cases., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

Precise measurements of the spectra of secondary and primary cosmic rays are crucial for understanding the origin and propagation of those energetic particles. The High Energy cosmic-Radiation Detection (HERD) facility onboard China`s Space Station, which is expected to operate in 2027, will push the direct measurements of cosmic ray fluxes precisely up to PeV energies. In this work, we investigate the potential of HERD on studying the propagation of cosmic rays using the measurements of boron, carbon, and oxygen spectra. We find that, compared with the current results, the new HERD measurements can improve the accuracy of the propagation parameters by 8\% to 40\%. The constraints on the injection spectra at high energies will also be improved., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures

The condensed-matter realization of chiral anomaly has attracted tremendous interest in exploring unexpected phenomena of quantum field theory, but so far the related studies have been mainly limited to three spatial dimensions. Here, we show that one-dimensional (1D) chiral anomaly can be realized in a paradigmatic generalized Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model where a single gapless Dirac cone occurs. We reveal that such 1D chiral anomaly leads to the half-integer quantization of topological Thouless pump and the anomalous dynamics of chiral displacement. Moreover, we investigate the evolution of 1D chiral anomaly with respect to two typical types of disorder, i.e., on-site disorder and bond disorder. The results show that the on-site disorder tends to smear the gapless Dirac cone. However, we propose a strategy to stabilize the half-integer quantization, facilitating its experimental detection. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the bond disorder causes a unique crossover with disorder-enhanced topological charge pumping, driving the system into a topological Anderson insulator phase.

Additional file 2. ClinGen database shown 5.29 Mb deletion in chromosome Xq22.1–q22.3 affect 98 genes from DRP2 to NAP1L4P2.

BackgroundHuman leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) is an immune checkpoint molecule with relevance in several cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential role of soluble HLA-G (sHLA-G), its genetic polymorphisms and its haplotype structure in the susceptibility and prognosis of primary cervical cancer in a Chinese Han population.MethodsWe investigated sHLA-G plasma levels and 3’ untranslated region (3’UTR) polymorphisms through ELISA and direct DNA sequencing, respectively, in cervical cancer patients (120 cases) and healthy control women (96 cases). The data were analyzed for associations using PowerMarker, Haploview, and GraphPad Prism.ResultsIn this study, 8 polymorphic sites, 16 haplotypes and 23 diplotypes in the HLA-G 3’UTR were identified in our study population. We observed that each pair of 8 polymorphic sites exhibited linkage disequilibrium. The heterozygote CT genotype at position +3422 (rs17875408) was more common in cervical cancer patients than in healthy women (OR=5.285, PPHLA-G 3’UTR polymorphisms may influence the sHLA-G plasma level in patients’ peripheral blood, especially 14 bp Ins/Del (rs371194629) and +3142 C/G (rs1063320). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the sHLA-G level had good diagnostic performance in differentiating patients with cervical cancer from healthy women (AUC>0.7). Among patients, mean sHLA-G levels increased with increasing FIGO stages but were not related to the overall survival time.ConclusionsThe results of the present study enhance our understanding of how HLA-G 3’UTR polymorphisms can influence the peripheral sHLA-G plasma level and play a key role in cervical carcinogenesis. This study further confirmed that sHLA-G may represent a novel plasma biomarker for the prognosis and potential therapeutic target of cervical cancer.

Due to the existence of a large number of sample data which obey the Gaussian distribution,GMM (Gaussian mixture models) is used to cluster these sample data and get more accurate clustering results.In general,EM algorithm(expectation maxi-mization algorithm) is used to estimate the parameters of GMM iteratively.However,the traditional EM algorithm has two shortcomings:it is sensitive to the initial clustering center;the itera-tive termination condition of iterative parameter estimation is to judge that the distance between two adjacent estimated parameters is less than a given threshold,which can't guarantee that the algorithm converges to the optimal value of the parameters.In order to overcome the above shortcomings,density peaks clustering (DPC) is proposed to initialize EM algorithm to improve the robustness of the algorithm.The relative entropy is used as the ite-ration termination condition of the EM algorithm to optimize the parameters of GMM algorithm.The comparative experiments on artificial datasets and UCI datasets show that the new algorithm not only improves the robustness of EM algorithm,but also outperforms the traditional clustering algorithm.On the datasets which obey Gaussian distribution,the new algorithm greatly improves the clustering accuracy.

Due to the interference of instrumental noise,hyperspectral images (HSI) are often corrupted to some extent by Gaussian noise,which will seriously affect the subsequent performance of image processing.Therefore,image denoising has been considered as an important pre-processing step.Besides,due to the high dimensionality of hyperspectral data,the running efficiency is also a critical factor along with the visual evaluation.For the sake of improving both the efficiency and efficacy,we first project the high-dimensional hyperspectral image into certain spectral subspace,and then learn an orthogonal basis matrix.On that basis,the spatial non-local similarity and the global spectral low rank property of hyperspectral are jointly introduced to denoise the low-dimensional subspaces.Finally,all the restored low-dimensional image can be used along with the orthogonal basis to recover the original HIS data.Among these steps,the non-local denoising process first forms certain amount of tensor cubes by the non-local similarity,and followed by several tensor groups using the block matching method.In general,these groups enjoy strong low-rank essense due to the explicit neighborhood similarity.For better revealing the low-rank property of each tensor group,we propose a weighted and truncated nuclear norm by taking both the advantages of weighted nuclear norm and truncated nuclear norm.Moreover,an improved optimization scheme based on the accelerated proximal gradient is presented for a fast solution.Extensive simulation results show that our denoising scheme outperforms state-of-the-art methods in objective metrics and better preserves visually salient structural features.

VLBI Global Observing System (VGOS) is now regularly observing to produce the best geodetic VLBI data ever, with a thermal noise level of about 3 ps. However, the systematic errors due to angular structure of the radio sources are becoming prominent in these high-precision VGOS observations. It is important to understand, study, and monitor these systematic errors with the aim to model them in geodetic data processing. Improvements have been made to derive structure images and Gaussian components at the four bands (3 – 14 GHz) directly from VGOS observations. One of the biggest challenges has now been identified to be aligning the images over both time and frequency to create a consistent model for a given source. We will also report the near-future work plan about modeling the effects of source structure.

PurposeTo assess the effectiveness and safety of drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization plus immune checkpoint inhibitors (DEB-TACE+ICIs) versus chemotherapy (gemcitabine+cisplatin) for patients with unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA).Materials and MethodsThis retrospective study included unresectable iCCA patients treated with DEB-TACE+ICIs or chemotherapy between May, 2019 and August, 2021. The differences in tumor responses, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) were compared between the 2 groups. Patient baseline characteristics, PFS, and OS were compared among 2 groups before and after propensity score-matching (PSM). Factors affecting PFS and OS were analyzed by Cox’s proportional hazards regression model.ResultsThe study included 49 patients with unresectable iCCA patients, 20 in the DEB-TACE+ICIs group and 29 in the chemotherapy group. PSM analysis created 20 pairs of patients in 2 groups. The patients in the DEB-TACE+ICIs group had a higher objective response rate (55.0% vs. 20.0%, P=0.022), higher PFS (median, 7.2 vs. 5.7 months, P=0.036), and higher OS (median, 13.2 vs. 7.6 months, P=0.015) than those in the chemotherapy group. Multivariate analyses suggested that chemotherapy, tumor size >5cm, and multiple tumors were the independent risk factors for PFS and OS. The incidence of TRAEs was similar between the 2 groups.ConclusionCompared to chemotherapy, DEB-TACE plus ICIs improved survival and was well-tolerated in patients with unresectable iCCA.

The progress of neutrino astronomy makes the precise measurement of the flavor ratio of high energy astronomical neutrinos (HANs) possible in the near future. Then matter effects and new physics effects on the flavor transition of HANs could be tested by the next-generation neutrino telescopes. In this paper we study matter effects in gas around the sources of HANs. The matter effects are dependent on both the decoherence schemes and the sources of neutrinos. We examine the predictions on the flavor ratio at Earth for typical sources with five decoherence schemes. For the adiabatic schemes, the matter effect is notable and may be identified in the special range of the electron density, irrespective of the production sources of HANs. Hence, the precise measurement of the flavor ratio would provide constrains on the propagation schemes and the matter parameter., 19pages, 10 figures

Objective The aim of the present study was to investigate the hypoglycemic effects of silkworm extract (SE) on experimental type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) rats. Methods SE was prepared by dissolving freeze-dried silkworm powder in 70% (v/v) aqueous ethanol. T2DM rats were induced by feeding them a high fat diet and an intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ). The blood glucose, free fatty acid (FFA), malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The quality of SE was controlled by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC; Agilent 1260, Agilent, USA). Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was performed for histological evaluation. Antibody expression was assessed via immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining. Results SE could improve insulin resistance and islet cell function by reducing FFA, MDA and TNF-α levels and increasing SOD level. In addition, pancreatic HE staining analysis revealed that SE has a protective effect on islet β-cells. Conclusions The present study indicates that SE has hypoglycemic as well as pancreatic protective effects in T2DM model rats.

BackgroundFatty acids, especially polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), are found abundantly in the brain and are fundamental for a fetus's growth. The fatty acid profiles of mothers and fetuses may be affected by maternal prepregnancy body mass index (pre-BMI), thus affecting fetal growth and development.MethodsA total of 103 mother-fetus pairs were divided into overweight/obese (OW, n = 26), normal weight (NW, n = 60), and underweight (UW, n = 17) groups according to pre-BMI. Fatty acid profiles in maternal and umbilical cord plasma were analyzed by gas chromatography.ResultsThe infant birth BMI z-score of the OW group was higher than that of the NW and UW groups (p < 0.05). The OW mothers had significantly higher plasma n-6 PUFA and n-6/n-3, but lower docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and n-3 PUFA (p < 0.05). In cord plasma, the proportions of DHA and n-3 PUFA were lower in the OW group (p < 0.05), whereas the n-6/n-3 ratio was higher in the OW group (p < 0.05). The pre-BMI was negatively correlated with cord plasma DHA in all subjects (r = −0.303, p = 0.002), and the same negative correlation can be observed in the OW group (r = −0.561, p = 0.004), but not in the NW and UW groups (p > 0.05). The pre-BMI was positively correlated with cord plasma n-6/n-3 in all subjects (r = 0.325, p = 0.001), and the same positive correlation can be found in the OW group (r = 0.558, p = 0.004), but not in NW and UW groups (p > 0.05).ConclusionsMaternal pre-BMI was associated with the maternal-fetal plasma fatty acid profiles, whereas the adverse fatty acid profiles are more noticeable in the prepregnancy OW mothers.

Additional file 1.

Additional file 1: Table S1. Primary antibodies information. Table S2. Primers used in PCR. Figure S1. C3aR is expressed dominantly in microglia, lowly in neurons, but not in astrocytes.

Recently, superconductors with higher-order topology have stimulated extensive attention and research interest. Higher-order topological superconductors exhibit unconventional bulk-boundary correspondence, thus allow exotic lower-dimensional boundary modes, such as Majorana corner and hinge modes. However, higher-order topological superconductivity has yet to be found in naturally occurring materials. In this work, we investigate higher-order topology in a two-dimensional Josephson junction comprised of two $s$-wave superconductors separated by a topological insulator thin film. We found that zero-energy Majorana corner modes, a boundary fingerprint of higher-order topological superconductivity, can be achieved by applying magnetic field. When an in-plane Zeeman field is applied to the system, two corner states appear in the superconducting junction. Furthermore, we also discover a two dimensional nodal superconducting phase which supports flat-band Majorana edge modes connecting the bulk nodes. Importantly, we demonstrate that zero-energy Majorana corner modes are stable when increasing the thickness of topological insulator thin film., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures

Additional file 6: ROC curve for peripheral blood B subset patients with sCAP on the first day of admission to predict prognosis at day 28.

PURPOSEWe aimed to explored the influence of preoperative gamma knife treatment on the clinical effect of microsurgical resection of vestibular schwannoma.METHODSThe patients who underwent vestibular schwannoma resection in our hospital between November 2010 and December 2019 were retrospectively collected. According to retrospectively collected data, the patients who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined as group A. The 1:3 ratio design was adopted in this study to select the group B that was not subjected to gamma knife treatment in the same period. The pre/postoperative clinical manifestations, neurological function grade, postoperative complications, tumor recurrence and increase were collected and compared between the two groups.RESULTSThere were 40 patients in group A and 120 patients in group B. At the last follow-up, the number of patients with poor facial nerve function was 15 (39.5%) in group A and 25 (21.2%) in group B (P = 0.025). In group A and group B, disequilibrium occurred in 14 patients and 17 patients respectively after operation (P=0.003). 7 patients caught the pulmonary infection in group A and 3 patients had a pulmonary infection in group B (P=0.03) after operation. CONCLUSIONSwhen a patient with vestibular schwannoma undergoes microsurgical surgery, the preoperative history of gamma knife treatment will make a recovery from postoperative facial paralysis difficult for the patients, making them more prone to suffer from postoperative disequilibrium and postoperative pulmonary infection.

We study superconductivity of electron systems with both spin and pseudospin-1/2 degrees of freedom. By solving linearized gap equations, we derive a weak coupling criterion for the even-parity spin-singlet pseudospin-triplet pairing. It can generally mix with the on-site $s$-wave pairing since both of them belong to the same symmetry representation ($A_{1g}$) and their mixture could naturally give rise to anisotropic intra-band pairing gap functions with or without nodes. This may directly explain why some of the iron-chalcogenide superconductors are fully gapped (e.g.~FeSe thin film) and some have nodes (e.g.~LaFePO and LiFeP). We also find that the anisotropy of gap functions can be enhanced when the principal rotation symmetry is spontaneously broken in the normal state such as nematicity, and the energetic stabilization of pseudospin-triplet pairings indicates the coexistence of nematicity and superconductivity. This could be applied to both bulk FeSe and magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) where nematicity is observed in experiments. For example, our theory predicts that MATBG may be a $(s+d)$-like nematic nodal superconductor, which is consistent with the V-shaped quasi-particle density of states observed in recent tunneling experiment [1]., 10+11pages, 5+3 figures, all comments are welcome! References and appendix are updated

Plasmonic photocatalysts with a core–shell heterostructure were synthesized via electrochemical deposition guided by single particle plasmonic imaging., Plasmonic photocatalysts have opened up a new direction in utilization of visible light and promoting photocatalytic efficiency. An electrochemical deposition method is reported to synthesise metal@semiconductor (M@SC) core–shell nanocrystals. Due to the strong affinity of Au atoms to S2– and Se2– reduced at negative potential, CdS, CdSe and ZnS were selectively deposited on the surface of the Au core to form a uniform shell with a clear metal/semiconductor interface, which conquered the barrier caused by the large lattice mismatch between the two components. Plasmonic effects increased the photocatalytic performance, as well as provided a chance to in situ monitor the surface nucleation and growth. The structure formation process could be observed under dark-field microscopy (DFM) in real-time and precisely controlled via the scattering color, intensity and wavelength. The proof-of-concept strategy combines the electrochemical deposition and plasmonic imaging, which provides a universal approach in controllable synthesis of core–shell heterostructures, and leads to the improvement of plasmonic photocatalysts.

We are concerned with the tensor equations whose coefficient tensor is an M-tensor. We first propose a Newton method for solving the equation with a positive constant term and establish its global and quadratic convergence. Then we extend the method to solve the equation with a nonnegative constant term and establish its convergence. At last, we do numerical experiments to test the proposed methods. The results show that the proposed method is quite efficient., arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2007.13324

The model of “SPOC+ flipped classroom”, aided by top teaching resources and information technologies, have proved highly effective in making up deficiencies of traditional teaching. The task-based teaching model could better stimulate creativity of students and improve their skills by raising questions and solving problems. This paper took the course Safety Design and Analysis as an example to explore reforms of the task-based teaching model of “SPOC+ flipped classroom” and proposed a system integrating modules of “theory+ experiment+ tasks”. It proposed a five-step task-based model incorporating “questions, design, knowledge, method and application”, and designed an online and offline mixed teaching model including “online independent learning, clarification, classroom demonstration, group discussion, and after-class extension activities. The perfect integration of teaching and learning further enhanced students” awareness of independent learning, thus improving the teaching efficiency.

Additional file 1. Fig. S1 (a) Absorbance of Cr (VI) with different concentrations; (b) The fit curve of standard concentration at 350 nm. Fig. S2 After reaction for 5 h, (a) the photograph; (b) the removal percentage of Cr(VI) solution (C = 10 mg·L , pH = 5.0, V = 150 mL, T = 303 K). Fig. S3 With different initial Cr(VI) concentrations, (a) the residual concentration in Cr(VI) solution; (b) the removal capacity of PANI/m-FB composite (pH = 5.0, V = 150 mL, T = 303 K).

According to President Xi Jinping's important statements, all kinds of courses should go hand in hand with the ideological and political theory course, and curriculum politics is a new trend in the ideological and political education reform of military academies. At present, with the continuous development of information technology, information-based teaching has become an important teaching means of military academies. In order to improve the teaching effect, military academies apply information-based teaching means into the construction of curriculum politics. Great preliminary results have been achieved, but there are still many shortcomings. To address the problems in the construction of curriculum politics in military academies, this paper explores the in-depth integration of classroom teaching and information technology. Based on several online teaching platforms, the information-based teaching paradigm is established. Through the “online + offline” blended teaching mode, the teaching mode of curriculum politics is optimized and the teaching level and quality are significantly improved, which can strengthen moral education and talent cultivation.

The “online+offline” blended teaching mode integrates the conventional offline teaching and online teaching, fully arouses students’ enthusiasm for autonomous learning. The blended teaching mode is deeply studied from the perspective of the type, features and advantages of blended teaching, its relationship with conventional teaching and implementation procedures, etc. The various developed teaching resources are used to build the teaching research special platform, and the “online+offline” blended teaching mode is established on the basis of offline class teaching and class online autonomous learning and outward development so as to make students fully master theoretical knowledge and make in-depth consideration and remarkably promote learning effects. Meanwhile, this teaching mode also imposes higher requirements on the quantity and quality of online teaching resources and teachers’ proficiency of information-based teaching instrument.

Case-based teaching, as a heuristic teaching method combing theory and practice and an important approach to practical course teaching, allows students to experience and discover knowledge in person directly and indirectly. A new implementation pattern has been provided for it with the constant promotion of information technologies and teaching platforms. This paper introduces the origin and development of case-based teaching, analyzes the connotation of teaching cases and case-based teaching deeply, discusses the methods of compiling teaching cases, and meanwhile puts forward effective measures for the implementation of case-based teaching based on information technologies in a targeted way under the background of military academies in combination with existing problems in the process of case-based teaching.

We previously showed that different skeletal muscles in Daurian ground squirrels (Spermophilus dauricus) possess different antioxidant strategies during hibernation; however, the reason for these varied strategies remains unclear. To clarify this issue, we studied REDD1, FOXO4, PGC-1α, FOXO1, and atrogin-1 proteins to determine the potential cause of the different antioxidant strategies in Daurian ground squirrels during hibernation, and to clarify whether different strategies affect atrophy-related signals. Results showed that the soleus (SOL) muscle experienced intracellular hypoxia during interbout arousal, but no oxidative stress. This may be due to increased PGC-1α expression enhancing antioxidant capacity in the SOL under hypoxic conditions. Extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle showed no change in oxidative stress, hypoxia, or antioxidant capacity during hibernation. The FOXO1 and PGC-1α results strongly suggested differentially regulated fuel metabolism in the SOL and EDL muscles during hibernation, i.e., enhanced lipid oxidation and maintained anaerobic glycolysis, respectively. Atrogin-1 expression did not increase during hibernation in either the SOL or EDL, indicating that protein synthesis was not inhibited by atrogin-1. Thus, our results suggest that different fuel regulation may be one mechanism related to antioxidant defense strategy formation in different kinds of skeletal muscle fibers of Daurian ground squirrels during hibernation.

Yong Wang, Xiao-Ke Wang, Pei-Pei Wu, Yi Wang, Liang-Yu Ren, Ai-Hui Xu Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Ai-Hui XuDepartment of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, 218 Jixi Road, Hefei 230022, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail xuaihui0909@163.comIntroduction: Cigarette smoke (CS)-induced inflammation in macrophages is involved in the pathological process of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Necroptosis, which is a form of programmed necrosis, has a close relationship with robust inflammation, while its roles in COPD are unclear.Materials and Methods: Necroptosis markers were measured in mouse alveolar macrophages and cultured bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs). Necroptosis inhibitors were used to block necroptosis in BMDMs, and inflammatory cytokines were detected. We further explored the related signaling pathways.Results: In this study, we demonstrated the way in which necroptosis, in addition to its upstream and downstream signals, regulates CS-induced inflammatory responses in macrophages. We observed that CS exposure caused a significant increase in the levels of necroptosis markers (receptor interacting kinases [RIPK] 1 and 3) in mouse alveolar macrophages and BMDMs. Pharmacological inhibition of RIPK1 or 3 caused a significant suppression in CS extract (CSE)-induced inflammatory cytokines, chemokine ligands (CXCL) 1 and 2, and interleukin (IL)-6 in BMDMs. CSE-induced necroptosis was regulated by mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mitoROS), which also promoted inflammation in BMDMs. Furthermore, necroptosis regulated CSE-induced inflammatory responses in BMDMs, most likely through activation of the nuclear factor-κB pathway.Conclusion: Taken together, our results demonstrate that mitoROS-dependent necroptosis is essential for CS-induced inflammation in BMDMs and suggest that inhibition of necroptosis in macrophages may represent effective therapeutic approaches for COPD patients.Keywords: cigarette smoke, macrophage, necroptosis, inflammatory response, NF-κB pathway

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has been licensed in mainland China since 2016; however, the acceptability of HPV vaccination is unclear. This study aimed to evaluates women’s knowledge and attitudes toward cervical cancer, HPV infection and its vaccination in Taizhou area, southeast of China. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among women who visited the gynaecological clinic of Taizhou Hospital using a questionnaire-based interview. The process was divided into two periods, period I was May to August 2017, and period II was January to March 2019. Results: A total of 819 women were conducted, and 736 were included in the final analysis. Most women (92.4%) had ever heard of cervical cancer. Almost half of women had ever heard of HPV (57.5%) and HPV vaccines (53.1%). Knowledge level of cervical cancer, HPV infection and its vaccines was inadequate; only 12.2% achieved 21-30 scores (at a 30-point scale). Logistic regression analysis showed that marital status, education, occupation, and family annual income were statistically significantly related to the knowledge level ( P

Zhuo Fu,1 Yan Jiao,2 Yan-Qing Li,3 Jian-Ji Ke,2 Yan-Hui Xu,4 Bao-Xing Jia,2 Bin Liu1 1Department of Hand and Foot Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130021, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130021, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Pathophysiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130021, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Digestive, China-Japan Union Hospital Affiliated to Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130033, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Bin LiuDepartment of Hand and Foot Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, No. 71 Xinmin Street, Changchun, Jilin 130021, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail blwork@126.comPurpose: Liver cancer has a high incidence of mortality. DNA replication and posttranscriptional modifications play important roles in the development of liver cancer. Pescadillo (PES1) is a nuclear protein that is involved in embryonic development, ribosome synthesis, DNA replication, and cell cycle progression. Recently, abnormal PES1 expression was reported in several tumors, including neuroblastoma, colon cancer, gastric cancer, and breast cancer. Based on bio-informatic analysis, cell experiments and animal models, the aim of this study is to investigate the expression patterns and specific roles of PES1 in liver cancer.Patients and methods: PES1 expression was represented by boxplots. The correlation between PES1 expression and clinical features was assessed by the chi-squared test and Fisher’s exact tests. Kaplan–Meier curves compared overall survival between different levels of PES1 expression, and Cox analysis selected potential variables associated with overall survival. The MTT assay investigated the proliferation rate, the scratch assay assessed the migratory ability, and the Transwell assay evaluated the invasion capacity of tumor cells in vitro. Animal models were used to confirm the tumorigenic roles of PES1 in vivo. GSEA illustrated the molecular mechanisms that PES1 participated in.Results: We found that PES1 was highly expressed in liver cancer tissues, served as a diagnostic marker, and correlated with poor overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) in patients. In vitro studies indicated that PES1 promoted tumor cell proliferation (P=0.0034), migration (P=0.0026), and invasion (P=0.0008), and this tumorigenic role was confirmed in animal models. GSEA further illuminated molecular mechanisms that PES1 participated in liver cancer occurrence and progression.Conclusion: This study suggested that PES1 was upregulated in liver cancer and correlated with poor prognosis, by promoting tumor cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, and PES1 may be a novel diagnostic and prognostic bio-marker and a promising therapeutic target in liver cancer.Keywords: liver cancer, PES1, diagnosis, tumorigenesis, prognosis

The genus Proceratium Roger, 1863 contains cryptic, subterranean ants that are seldom sampled and rare in natural history collections. Furthermore, most Proceratium specimens are extremely hairy and, due to their enlarged and curved gaster, often mounted suboptimally. As a consequence, the poorly observable physical characteristics of the material and its scarcity result in a rather challenging alpha taxonomy of this group. In this study, the taxonomy of the Chinese Proceratium fauna is reviewed and updated by combining examinations of traditional light microscopy with x-ray microtomography (micro-CT). Based on micro-CT scans of seven out of eight species, virtual 3D surface models were generated that permit in-depth comparative analyses of specimen morphology in order to overcome the difficulties to examine physical material of Proceratium. Eight Chinese species are recognized, of which three are newly described: Proceratium bruelheidei Staab, Xu & Hita Garcia, sp. n. and P. kepingmai sp. n. belong to the P. itoi clade and have been collected in the subtropical forests of southeast China, whereas P. shohei sp. n. belongs to the P. stictum clade and it is only known from a tropical forest of Yunnan Province. Proceratium nujiangense Xu, 2006 syn. n. is proposed as a junior synonym of P. zhaoi Xu, 2000. These taxonomic acts raise the number of known Chinese Proceratium species to eight. In order to integrate the new species into the existing taxonomic system and to facilitate identifications, an illustrated key to the worker caste of all Chinese species is provided, supplemented by species accounts with high-resolution montage images and still images of volume renderings of 3D models based on micro-CT. Moreover, cybertype datasets are provided for the new species, as well as digital datasets for the remaining species that include the raw micro-CT scan data, 3D surface models, 3D rotation videos, and all light photography and micro-CT still images. These datasets are available online (Dryad, Staab et al. 2018, http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h6j0g4p).

We construct a tumor redox microenvironment responsive core–shell therapeutic nanoagent for multi-mode imaging guided synergistic therapy in vitro and in vivo., Development of tumor microenvironment responsive and modulating theranostic nano-systems is of great importance for specific and efficient cancer therapy. Herein, we report a redox-sensitive nanoagent combining manganese dioxide (MnO2) and gold nanoshell coated silicon nanoparticles for synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy of hypoxia solid tumors. In highly reducing tumor tissues, the outer MnO2 nanosheet with the loaded drug would be dissociated by intracellular glutathione (GSH), resulting in on-demand drug release, as well as generating Mn2+ ions which provided high contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and fluorescence imaging (FI) in vitro and in vivo. While upon near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation, the gold nanoshell modulated the hypoxic tumor microenvironment via increasing blood flow, achieving enhanced photothermal therapy (PTT) and chemotherapy. After tail vein injection into tumor-bearing mice and monitoring in real time, the intelligent redox-activated nanoagent exhibited high tumor accumulation and powerful synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy efficiency. The proposed work developed a noninvasive strategy to modulate the tumor microenvironment and enhance the anticancer therapeutic effect. We believe that this single nano-platform exhibits promising potential as a comprehensive theranostic agent to enhance the efficacies of synergistic cancer therapy.

The effect of fouling organisms adhesion on the formation of calcareous deposits in the ocean environment was simulated by immersion test. The corrosion morphologies, the calcareous deposits composition, the corrosion kinetics of Q235 steel and fouling organisms adhesion were investigated by the methods of SEM, EDS, EIS, mass loss method and fluorescence microscope observation. The results show that the electrochemical impedance modulus value and capacitive reactance arc of the samples of forming calcareous deposits after fouling organisms adhesion are greater than the bare steel samples, but it is less than the samples of forming calcareous deposits without fouling organisms adhesion. The results show that fouling organisms adhesion can inhibit the formation of calcareous deposits and cause calcareous deposits to protect metal performance degradation. The Ca/Mg ratio of same sample gradually decreases with the increase of experimental periods, and this shows that the ability of large fouling organisms to inhibit the formation of calcareous deposits is stronger.Mass loss experiments show that large fouling organisms can inhibit local corrosion.