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The sedimentary laminae of Tamarix cones in arid regions are of great significance for dating and climatic reconstruction. Here, we present a multiproxy climatic record from the Tamarix cones in the southern margin of the Taklimakan Desert. Both the bivariate analysis and canonical correlation analysis were carried out for four groups of climate proxies in Tamarix cones, including organic matter content, grain size, cation content, and stable isotope content (δ13C, and δ18O). The temperature during the period from 1790 to 2010 AD has been reconstructed using the support vector machine optimized by the grey wolf optimizer, in which the climate proxies (TN, TOC, C/N, Mg2+, Ca2+, δ13C, and δ18O) were selected using the neighborhood rough set. The reconstructed values are in good agreement with the instrumental data. The regional temperature has distinct stages during the period from 1790 to 2010 AD, with cold conditions during 1790–1840 AD and 1896–1939 AD, and with warm conditions during 1841–1895 AD and 1940–2010 AD. The present work is beneficial to predict the future climate in the local area and encourage local governments to develop more effective measures to address the risks of climate change to environmental sustainability.

Mathematical operation literacy is one of the six core literacy proposed in the new Chinese senior high school curriculum reform round. Based on the problem-solving teaching link of the high school mathematics conic section, this paper is based on the connotation and method of mathematical operation literacy cultivation. Combined with the problems that high school students have in the problem-solving of conic sections, we innovate the teaching strategies for solving conic sections, improve students' literacy of mathematical operations in classroom teaching, and help teachers teach conic sections better. To enable students to grasp the problem-solving method of the conic section better.

This paper aims to measure the operating efficiency of 22 Chinese domestic and foreign-funded life insurance companies from 2013 to 2017 and outline the path to achieve high-quality development. The DEA-Malmquist was used to evaluate the total factor productivity on the sample of 22 Chinese domestic and foreign-funded life insurance companies. A fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was also used to analyze the configuration of determinants affecting technical efficiency. The results show that the overall operating efficiency of life insurance companies in China is relatively satisfying. The changes in total factor productivity are mainly caused by changes in technical efficiency and changes in efficiency. However, changes in scale efficiency have little effect on Chinese domestic and foreign-funded life insurance companies. There is a significant difference in the operating efficiency between Chinese domestic and foreign-funded life insurance companies. In contrast, the operating efficiency is slightly higher than that of foreign-funded life insurance companies, which is mainly reflected in the difference in pure technical efficiency. The realization path of a life insurance company’s operating efficiency is primarily composed of high employee education and low overclosing ratio, high employee education and low reinsurance ratio, and all-factor positive investment. The weak employee quality and excessive overclosing are the main reasons for the low operating efficiency of some enterprises. This paper systematically analyzes the impact of the organization’s internal structure on the operating efficiency of life insurance companies. Finally, based on the configuration perspective, we explain the internal logic and path of achieving better operating efficiency. In the end, we also provide decision-making references for further improving the efficient operation of life insurance companies in China.

To investigate the biaxial mechanical characteristics of reactive powder concrete (RPC), RPC plate specimens and bone-shaped specimens were tested under compression-compression and compression-tension loadings, respectively. The strengths and strains of the specimens were recorded, and the crack patterns and failure modes in various stress states were examined. Based on the test data, the characteristics of biaxial strength were analyzed, and a biaxial failure criterion was established. The characteristics of major stress-strain curves and failure modes in different biaxial stress states were determined. The results show that the ratio between the biaxial compression strength and the uniaxial compression strength was 1.44–1.58 for RPC. When the stress ratio under compression-tension was −0.05, the tensile strength decreased by 48%. Under compression-compression, the proportional limit of RPC was about 95%, and its peak strain was high. Under compression-tension, as the compressive stress increased, the elastic modulus decreased, and the peak strain in the tensile direction increased. When the RPC specimens were under compression-compression, the failure mode of RPC was splitting failure. Under compression-tension, the failure mode changed from single-crack tensile failure to multicrack compressive failure with increasing confining stress.

Introduction: Drug-target interaction (DTI) prediction is a key step in drug function discovery and repositioning. The emergence of large-scale heterogeneous biological networks provides an opportunity to identify drug-related target genes, which led to the development of several computational methods for DTI prediction.Methods: Considering the limitations of conventional computational methods, a novel tool named LM-DTI based on integrated information related to lncRNAs and miRNAs was proposed, which adopted the graph embedding (node2vec) and the network path score methods. First, LM-DTI innovatively constructed a heterogeneous information network containing eight networks composed of four types of nodes (drug, target, lncRNA, and miRNA). Next, the node2vec method was used to obtain feature vectors of drug as well as target nodes, and the path score vector of each drug-target pair was calculated using the DASPfind method. Finally, the feature vectors and path score vectors were merged and input into the XGBoost classifier to predict potential drug-target interactions.Results and Discussion: The 10-fold cross validations evaluate the classification accuracies of the LM-DTI. The prediction performance of LM-DTI in AUPR reached 0.96, which showed a significant improvement compared with those of conventional tools. The validity of LM-DTI has also been verified by manually searching literature and various databases. LM-DTI is scalable and computing efficient; thus representing a powerful drug relocation tool that can be accessed for free at http://www.lirmed.com:5038/lm_dti.

Supplementary Figure S1. Expression and activation of YAP and other Hippo Pathway factors in CD4+ T cell subsets; Supplementary Figure S2. Characterization of the baseline immune profile of T cell-specific YAP-deficient mice; Supplementary Figure S3. Haematoxylin and eosin staining of lung, kidney, liver, small intestine and stomach sections from 21-day-old wild-type and YAPcKO mice; Supplementary Figure S4. The effect on iTreg generation under optimal TGFβ concentration; Supplementary Figure S5. Treg-specific YAP deficiency slows the growth of implanted MC38-colon tumors and boosts anti-tumor immunity; Supplementary Figure S6. Treg-specific YAP deficiency slows the growth of implanted EL4 thymomas and boosts anti-tumor immunity; Supplementary Figure S7. The effect of YAP inhibition monotherapy and combinational immunotherapy treatments on the immune constituents of the tumor microenvironment; Supplementary Figure S8. Correlation of gene expression in stimulated wild-type and YAP cKO derived Tregs; Supplementary Figure S9. Both Activin A and its receptor (ACVR1c) are upregulated during the course of iTreg differentiation; Supplementary Figure S10. Effect of AcVR1c deficiency on iTreg differentiation; Supplementary Figure S11. Supplemental Activin fails to rescue iTreg generation when SMAD2/3 levels are lacking; Supplementary Figure S12. Effects of GM-Vac and Anti-Activin treatment on B16 tumor progression in Wild Type and AcVR1c KO mice; Supplementary Figure S13. A model for YAP-mediated TGFβ/SMAD signaling enhancement

Regulatory T cells (Treg) are critical for maintaining self-tolerance and immune homeostasis, but their suppressive function can impede effective antitumor immune responses. FOXP3 is a transcription factor expressed in Tregs that is required for their function. However, the pathways and microenvironmental cues governing FOXP3 expression and Treg function are not completely understood. Herein, we report that YAP, a coactivator of the Hippo pathway, is highly expressed in Tregs and bolsters FOXP3 expression and Treg function in vitro and in vivo. This potentiation stemmed from YAP-dependent upregulation of activin signaling, which amplifies TGFβ/SMAD activation in Tregs. YAP deficiency resulted in dysfunctional Tregs unable to suppress antitumor immunity or promote tumor growth in mice. Chemical YAP antagonism and knockout or blockade of the YAP-regulated activin receptor similarly improved antitumor immunity. Thus, we identify YAP as an unexpected amplifier of a Treg-reinforcing pathway with significant potential as an anticancer immunotherapeutic target.Significance: Tregs suppress antitumor immunity, and pathways supporting their function can be novel immunotherapy targets. Here, the selective expression of YAP by Tregs, its importance for their function, and its unexpected enhancement of pro-Treg Activin/SMAD signaling are reported, as are validations of potential cancer-fighting antagonists of YAP and its regulatory targets. Cancer Discov; 8(8); 1026–43. ©2018 AACR.This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 899

The increase of interleukin-4 (IL-4) level in tumor environment and the up-regulation of IL-4 receptor (IL-4R) on tumor cells have been long observed. However, their significance for tumor development has not been investigated. Here, we found that endogenous IL-4 promotes tumor growth because neutralizing IL-4 by 11B11 monoclonal antibody (mAb) significantly delayed the growth of MCA205 fibrosarcoma. We also observed that tumor cells with higher IL-4R expression have more chances to survive in immunocompetent mice. To investigate how endogenous IL-4 influences tumor growth, we established a pair of tumor cells with or without IL-4R expression from the common parental cells. IL-4R–competent tumors exhibit increased growth compared with its IL-4R–deficient counterparts when inoculated into syngeneic mice. This growth advantage was still kept in IL-4R knockout mice but was abrogated in mice given i.p. with IL-4 neutralizing mAb. In vitro analyses indicate that IL-4 neither affects the proliferation of tumor cells nor changes the expression of several immune-related molecules, such as MHC-I, Fas, and B7-H3. Nonetheless, IL-4 up-regulates antiapoptotic gene expression in tumor cells and reduces apoptosis of tumor cells in vivo, as evidenced by real-time PCR, immunoblotting, and TUNEL staining. These findings were helpful to understand the long clinical observation and revealed that endogenous IL-4, the product of host immune response, can be used by tumor cells to facilitate their growth. [Cancer Res 2008;68(21):8687–94]

Supplementary Figure 3 from Endogenous Interleukin-4 Promotes Tumor Development by Increasing Tumor Cell Resistance to Apoptosis

Supplementary Figure 1 from Endogenous Interleukin-4 Promotes Tumor Development by Increasing Tumor Cell Resistance to Apoptosis

Supplementary Figure 2 from Endogenous Interleukin-4 Promotes Tumor Development by Increasing Tumor Cell Resistance to Apoptosis

The textile industry has a strong interest in the antibacterial properties of fabrics. In this research, N-hydroxymethylacrylamide (N-MA) was firstly finished on cotton fabric by pad-dry processes following with argon plasma treatment to initiate the graft copolymerization of N-MA on the fabric, and then, the fabric was chlorinated with sodium hypochlorite to impart it antimicrobial property. The presence of N-MA on the cotton fabric surface was confirmed with Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The tearing strength, weight change, crystallinity and antimicrobial property of the modified fabric were also characterized. The results showed that the fabric completely inactivated S. aureus and E. coli O157:H7 within 10 min of contact time and the antimicrobial property was rechargeable. This N-halamine antimicrobial cotton fabrics with superior antimicrobial properties exhibited potential for future application in the long term antimicrobial field.

BackgroundBrain-derived neurotrophic factor levels are higher in those who are physically active and lower in people with cognitive dysfunction. This study investigated whether brain-derived neurotrophic factor mediated or modified the association of sedentary time to MRI-estimated brain volumes in midlife.MethodsBaseline (n = 612) and five-year follow-up (n = 418) data were drawn from the multicenter Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Brain MRI sub-study, including Black and White participants (aged 50.3 years, 51.6% females, 38.6% Black). Sedentary time (hours per day) was categorized into quartiles with low ≤ 4.3 (reference) and high > 8.4. Outcomes of the study were total brain, white matter, gray matter, hippocampal volumes, and white matter fractional anisotropy at baseline and 5-year percent change from baseline. The study used general linear regression models to examine the mediation and moderation effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (natural log transformed) on the associations of sedentary time to brain outcomes. The authors adjusted the regression model for age, sex, race, intracranial volume, education, and vascular factors.ResultsCross-sectionally, baseline participants with the highest sedentary time had a lower total brain (−12.2 cc; 95%CI: −20.7, −3.7), gray matter (−7.8 cc; 95%CI: −14.3, −1.3), and hippocampal volume (−0.2 cc; 95%CI: −0.3, 0.0) compared with populations with the lowest sedentary time. The brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels did not mediate the associations between brain measures and sedentary time. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor was found to moderate associations of sedentary time to total brain and white matter volume such that the brain volume difference between high and low sedentary time decreased as brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels increased. Longitudinally, higher baseline brain-derived neurotrophic factor level was associated with less brain volume decline. The longitudinal associations did not differ by sedentary time, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor did not mediate or moderate the association of sedentary time to brain measure changes.ConclusionsHigher brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels may buffer the negative effects of sedentary time on the brain.

Fused phenazine-based organic redoxmers capable of six-electron redox activities have been designed and evaluated in aqueous flow batteries. Such a novel molecular engineering approach opens an avenue for enabling energy-dense storage strategies.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are closely associated with the occurrences and developments of many complex human diseases. Increasing studies have shown that miRNAs emerge as new therapeutic targets of small molecule (SM) drugs. Since traditional experiment methods are expensive and time consuming, it is particularly crucial to find efficient computational approaches to predict potential small molecule-miRNA (SM-miRNA) associations. Considering that integrating multi-source heterogeneous information related with SM-miRNA association prediction would provide a comprehensive insight into the features of both SMs and miRNAs, we proposed a novel model of Small Molecule-MiRNA Association prediction based on Heterogeneous Network Representation Learning (SMMA-HNRL) for more precisely predicting the potential SM-miRNA associations. In SMMA-HNRL, a novel heterogeneous information network was constructed with SM nodes, miRNA nodes and disease nodes. To access and utilize of the topological information of the heterogeneous information network, feature vectors of SM and miRNA nodes were obtained by two different heterogeneous network representation learning algorithms (HeGAN and HIN2Vec) respectively and merged with connect operation. Finally, LightGBM was chosen as the classifier of SMMA-HNRL for predicting potential SM-miRNA associations. The 10-fold cross validations were conducted to evaluate the prediction performance of SMMA-HNRL, it achieved an area under of ROC curve of 0.9875, which was superior to other three state-of-the-art models. With two independent validation datasets, the test experiment results revealed the robustness of our model. Moreover, three case studies were performed. As a result, 35, 37, and 22 miRNAs among the top 50 predicting miRNAs associated with 5-FU, cisplatin, and imatinib were validated by experimental literature works respectively, which confirmed the effectiveness of SMMA-HNRL. The source code and experimental data of SMMA-HNRL are available at https://github.com/SMMA-HNRL/SMMA-HNRL.

ObjectivesBased on incentive theory of motivation, this paper aims to estimate China's basic pension insurance's annual efficiency and inter-period efficiency changes from 2015 to 2019 and further examine the relationship between official tenure and basic pension insurance governance performance.MethodsThe DEA—BCC model was used to evaluate the operating efficiency of basic pension insurance in 31 provinces of China. And four panel Tobit models were constructed to examine the heterogeneous linkages between officials' tenure and governance efficiency in different regions of China.ResultsThe results showed that there was an inverted U-shaped relationship between the official tenure and the governance efficiency of basic pension insurance. The younger an official was in his current position, the more apparent the inverted U-shaped relationship between the tenure of an official and the governance efficiency of basic pension insurance. We also found that localized government officials showed better governance efficiency of basic pension insurance. However, as the term of office of officials increased, the governance efficiency of non-localized officials showed a steeper negative effect.ConclusionThis study firstly reveals a significant relationship between the characteristics of officials and the operation of China's basic pension insurance system, which is a complement to the study of China's basic pension systems.

The influence of the flexoelectric effect on the director distribution of nematic liquid crystals confined to a cylinder with planar anchoring under an applied electric field is investigated by the...

Zhiguang Li,1 Xu Si,1 Zhiyuan Ding,1 Xiao Li,1 Shuai Zheng,1 Yuxin Wang,1 Hua Wei,1 Yige Guo,2 Wei Zhang3 1School of Economics and Management, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China; 2King’s Business School, King’s College London, London, UK; 3School of Information Engineering, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Hua WeiSchool of Economics and Management, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 551-68129006Email weihua@ahtcm.edu.cnWei ZhangSchool of Information Engineering, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 551-68129224Email zhangwei900316@163.comPurpose: This paper aims to measure the operating efficiency of China’s basic pension insurance from 2014 to 2019 in 31 provinces.Methods: The three-stage DEA model was used to evaluate the operating efficiency of basic pension insurance in 31 provinces.Results: On the whole, the operating efficiency of China’s basic pension insurance was at a high level, but there was still room for improvement. GDP, urbanization level and scale of government public expenditure had a positive impact on the operating efficiency of regional basic pension insurance. In contrast, the old-age dependency ratio had a significant negative effect. There were noticeable regional differences in the operating efficiency of China’s basic pension insurance, which showed a pattern of Central (0.742) >Eastern (0.689) >Western (0.505) after removing the influence of environmental variables.Conclusion: This study systematically analyzes the impact of external environmental regulations on China’s basic pension insurance’s operating efficiency and provides decision-making references for further improving the operating efficiency of China’s basic pension insurance. In order to further optimize the allocation of basic endowment insurance, this paper proposes the following countermeasures and suggestions: (1) broaden investment channels and improve the investment efficiency; (2) increase supervision of social security departments and strengthen information disclosure; (3) unify the management of social basic pension insurance.Keywords: three-stage DEA, China’s pension insurance, operating efficiency, technical efficiency

Background Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is one of the most common types in the world with a high mortality rate. Despite advances in treatment strategies, the overall survival (OS) remains short. Our study aims to establish a reliable prognostic signature closely related to the survival of LUAD patients that can better predict prognosis and possibly help with individual monitoring of LUAD patients. Methods Raw RNA-sequencing data were obtained from Fudan University and used as a training group. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) for the training group were screened. The univariate, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), and multivariate cox regression analysis were conducted to identify the candidate prognostic genes and construct the risk score model. Kaplan–Meier analysis, time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to evaluate the prognostic power and performance of the signature. Moreover, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA-LUAD) dataset was further used to validate the predictive ability of prognostic signature. Results A prognostic signature consisting of seven prognostic-related genes was constructed using the training group. The 7-gene prognostic signature significantly grouped patients in high and low-risk groups in terms of overall survival in the training cohort [hazard ratio, HR = 8.94, 95% confidence interval (95% CI)] [2.041–39.2]; P = 0.0004), and in the validation cohort (HR = 2.41, 95% CI [1.779–3.276]; P Conclusion Our study suggested a new and reliable prognostic signature that has a significant implication in predicting overall survival for LUAD patients and may help with early diagnosis and making effective clinical decisions regarding potential individual treatment.

ObjectiveExpression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a marker of reactive astrocytosis, colocalizes with neuropathology in the brain. Blood levels of GFAP have been associated with cognitive decline and dementia status. However, further examinations at a population-based level are necessary to broaden generalizability to community settings.MethodsCirculating GFAP levels were assayed using a Simoa HD-1 analyzer in 4338 adults without prevalent dementia from four longitudinal community-based cohort studies. The associations between GFAP levels with general cognition, total brain volume, and hippocampal volume were evaluated with separate linear regression models in each cohort with adjustment for age, sex, education, race, diabetes, systolic blood pressure, antihypertensive medication, body mass index, apolipoprotein E ε4 status, site, and time between GFAP blood draw and the outcome. Associations with incident all-cause and Alzheimer's disease dementia were evaluated with adjusted Cox proportional hazard models. Meta-analysis was performed on the estimates derived from each cohort using random-effects models.ResultsMeta-analyses indicated that higher circulating GFAP associated with lower general cognition (ß = -0.09, [95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.15 to -0.03], p = 0.005), but not with total brain or hippocampal volume (p > 0.05). However, each standard deviation unit increase in log-transformed GFAP levels was significantly associated with a 2.5-fold higher risk of incident all-cause dementia (Hazard Ratio [HR]: 2.47 (95% CI: 1.52-4.01)) and Alzheimer's disease dementia (HR: 2.54 [95% CI: 1.42-4.53]) over up to 15-years of follow-up.InterpretationResults support the potential role of circulating GFAP levels for aiding dementia risk prediction and improving clinical trial stratification in community settings.

Redoxmers or redox-active organic materials, are one critical component for nonaqueous redox flow batteries (RFBs), which hold high promise in enabling the time domain of the grid. While tuning redox potentials of redoxmers is a very effective way to enhance energy densities of NRFBs, those improvements often accompany accelerated kinetics of the charged species, undermining stability and cycling performance. Herein, a strategy for designing redoxmers with simultaneous improvements in redox potential and stability is proposed. Specifically, the redoxmer 1,4-di

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the most common causes of visual impairment in the elderly, with a complex and still poorly understood etiology. Whole-genome association studies have discovered 34 genomic regions associated with AMD. However, the genes and cognate proteins that mediate the risk, are largely unknown. In the current study, we integrate levels of 4782 human serum proteins with all genetic risk loci for AMD in a large population-based study of the elderly, revealing many proteins and pathways linked to the disease. Serum proteins are also found to reflect AMD severity independent of genetics and predict progression from early to advanced AMD after five years in this population. A two-sample Mendelian randomization study identifies several proteins that are causally related to the disease and are directionally consistent with the observational estimates. In this work, we present a robust and unique framework for elucidating the pathobiology of AMD.

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) sequencing is being rapidly adopted in precision oncology, but the accuracy, sensitivity, and reproducibility of ctDNA assays is poorly understood. Here we report the findings of a multi-site, cross-platform evaluation of the analytical performance of five industry-leading ctDNA assays. We evaluated each stage of the ctDNA sequencing workflow with simulations, synthetic DNA spike-in experiments, and proficiency testing on standardized cell line–derived reference samples. Above 0.5% variant allele frequency, ctDNA mutations were detected with high sensitivity, precision and reproducibility by all five assays, whereas below this limit detection became unreliable and varied widely between assays, especially when input material was limited. Missed mutations (false-negatives) were more common than erroneous candidates (false-positives), indicating that the reliable sampling of rare ctDNA fragments is the key challenge for ctDNA assays. This comprehensive evaluation of the analytical performance of ctDNA assays serves to inform best-practice guidelines and provides a resource for precision oncology., Editorial summary: Reliable detection of mutations below 0.5% variant allele frequency remains a key challenge for circulating tumor DNA sequencing assays.

Purpose Based on the perspective of complexity theory, the operation process of property insurance companies can be regarded as a complex dynamic nonlinear chaotic system. This paper aims to measure the operating efficiency of 29 Chinese domestic property and casualty (P&C) companies and 18 foreign-invested P&C companies from 2011 to 2017 and outline the path to achieving high-quality development. Design/methodology/approach The data were obtained from the Chinese Insurance Yearbook and China Statistical Yearbook 2012–2018. The data envelopment analysis method was used to calculate the technical efficiency of property insurance companies and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis is used for configuration analysis of determinants affecting technical efficiency. Findings This paper founds the average technical efficiency of Chinese domestic P&C insurance companies was 0.914 and that of foreign-invested P&C insurance companies was 0.895. The average total factor productivity of Chinese domestic P&C insurance companies was 1.058 and that of foreign-invested P&C insurance companies was 1.051. There were three modes to improve the company’s technical efficiency, with high loss ratio and low reinsurance ratio, poor employee education and higher leverage ratio and high leverage ratio and low reinsurance ratio as the core conditions. Originality/value This study puts forward four applicable, targeted and proven ways to improve the technical efficiency of China’s P&C insurance industry. These configurations were verified by the cases of existing property insurance companies, which can provide practical references for the insurance industry.

Electrospinning provides a versatile, efficient and low-cost method for the preparation of continuous nanofibres from various polymers. In this study, the polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) block copolymer was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization. The smooth fiber, porous fiber or hierarchically porous microspheres were prepared by electrospinning from POSS block copolymer, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and aluminium oxide (Al2O3). The influence of copolymer concentration, the ratio of the solvents, the diameter and concentration of the Al2O3 on the surface morphology were investigated. Porous fibers and porous microspheres were prepared by regulating the ratio of the solvents from the phase separation and breath figure methods. The dynamic behavior of the water droplet with the constant volume impacting on the electrospinning films were reported. The morphology evolution, restitution coefficient, the change of energy of the water droplets are examined. The droplet bounces several times on the superhydrophobic surface, while the droplet remains pinned and does not rebound when the contact angles was lower than 150°. On the other hand, the water droplets were splashed on the Al2O3 based electrospinning films. Finally, the mechanical properties of the electrospinning films were investigated.

Context: Although quantitative analyses of human behavior data collected through wearable sensors have uncovered principles of complex human behaviors and organization performances, quantitative assessment has not been conducted on communication among the medical team, despite its importance. Aims: The aim of the study is to quantify face-to-face communication in a multiprofessional medical team using a sociophysical method and wearable sensors. Settings and Design: The study was conducted at a rehabilitation ward in Japan; this was a pilot study. Subjects and Methods: The amount of time spent on face-to-face communication among 36 multidisciplinary medical professional in a rehabilitation ward was recorded using name tag-type sensors for 2 weeks. The average communication time per week for each pair of participants was calculated; the network diagrams were drawn by using Cytoscape software. The unpaired t-test and Welch's F-test used together with the Games–Howell post hoc test were performed to compare the communication times between two groups and among three groups, respectively. Results: The following three groups emerged: ward staff (nurses and care workers), rehabilitation therapists, and physicians/medical social workers. The communication time between physicians and ward staff (mean, 8.0 min/week) did not differ from that between the physicians and rehabilitation therapists (5.5). The communication time was longer among rehabilitation therapists (61.7) than among the ward staff (45.7), both of which were longer than that between the ward staff and rehabilitation therapists (4.8). Conclusions: Quantitative measurement of face-to-face communication time using wearable sensors characterized the staff behavior in a multiprofessional medical practice in a rehabilitation ward, which may affect medical team performance, such as patient outcomes.

Soil erosion is a major environmental problem in China. Planning for soil erosion control requires accurate soil erosion rate and spatial distribution information. The aim of this article is to present the methods and results of the national soil erosion survey of China completed in 2011. A multi-stage, unequal probability, systematic area sampling method was employed. A total of 32,948 sample units, which were either 0.2–3 km2 small catchments or 1 km2 grids, were investigated on site. Soil erosion rates were calculated with the Chinese Soil Loss Equation in 10 m by 10 m grids for each sample unit, along with the area of soil loss exceeding the soil loss tolerance and the proportion of area in excess of soil loss tolerance relative to the total land area of the sample units. Maps were created by using a spatial interpolation method at national, river basin, and provincial scales. Results showed that the calculated average soil erosion rate was 5 t ha−1 yr−1 in China, and was 18.2 t ha−1 yr−1 for sloped, cultivated cropland. Intensive soil erosion occurred on cropland, overgrazing grassland, and sparsely forested land. The proportions of soil loss tolerance exceedance areas of sample units were interpolated through the country in 250 m grids. The national average ratio was 13.5%, which represents the area of land in China that requires the implementation of soil conservation practices. These survey results and the maps provide the basic information for national conservation planning and policymaking.

Heavy metal pollution in soil has received much attention in recent decades. Many studies have analyzed the interaction between specific soil quality and soil heavy metal pollution. However, there is little information about the pollution status, spatial distribution and pollution sources of heavy metals in the province of Tianjin. In this paper, the distribution characteristics and pollution sources of heavy metals in soil were studied by means of the surface soil of Tianjin, as the study area and object, conducted in combination with land use types, using multiple data analysis and multivariate statistics, while the pollution levels were evaluated by various indices. The results showed the mean contents of the seven heavy metals of the studied elements followed an increasing order of Cd (0.15 mg/kg) < As (11.9 mg/kg) < Cu (24.3 mg/kg) = Pb (24.3 mg/kg) < Ni (27.9 mg/kg) < Cr (70.7 mg/kg) < Zn (79.1 mg/kg). The median values of Cr and Ni were lower than the background values and did not exceed the screening values at the points, and the median values of Cu, Zn and Pb were close to the background values, while the median contents of As and Cd were higher than the background values. The highest accumulation of heavy metals was found in grassland, and the coefficient of variation of heavy metal contents were higher in garden land, industrial and mining storage land, residential land and transportation land, indicating that the soil heavy metal contents under these land use types were more significantly disturbed by human factors. The evaluation results of the ground accumulation index method showed that the soil in Tianjin was free of pollution, except for Cd, which was at the non-polluted to moderately polluted level. The Nemero integrated pollution index evaluation method and the pollution load index evaluation method together showed that the integrated pollution levels of heavy metals in Tianjin soils were both at no pollution level/safety level. Apart from Cd and As, which were not correlated, the other heavy metals were correlated with each other two by two. Cd, Pb and Zn were the main pollution contributors from traffic, industry and other anthropogenic factors, while Cr and Ni were the main pollution contributors from soil parent material, and Cu was the main pollution contributor from mining and metal smelting. In addition, As was presumed to be the main source of pollution contribution from agriculture and surface runoff.

N-halamine-containing mesoporous silica was prepared by treating the silica with (3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate), followed by grafting reaction of an N-halamine precursor, 3-(3′-hydroxypropyl)-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (APDMH). The resulting N-halamine mesoporous silica was applied to the surface of cotton by a coating process. The coated cotton showed good static and dynamic hydrophobic properties (static contact angle, 138.91°). After soaking in household bleach, N-halamines were formed on the coated fabric, which provided good antimicrobial properties against Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, and fungi. The chlorinated sample inactivated 98.93% of Staphylococcus epidermidis, 97.83% of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and 82.24% of Candida albicans within 60 min, respectively. The coated and chlorinated samples showed high hydrophobicity toward other water-based liquids such as coffee, cola, green tea and milk. Further, the chlorinated fabric samples degraded ammonia in aqueous solutions. These attractive functions make the new N-halamine mesoporous silica coated cotton fabrics as an excellent candidate of multipurpose functional fibrous materials.

The numerous functional groups and dendritic structure of hyperbranched polymers render them for a wide range of applications. In this study, hyperbranched polymer Boltorn H20, containing abundant hydroxyl groups, was modified to prepare quaternary ammonium functionalized hyperbranched polymers, QAS-HPs. The synthesized QAS-HPs were coated on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabrics by electron beam radiation. The PET fabrics were endowed antimicrobial and hydrophilic properties after modification. The water contact angles of the modified PET fabrics were tested, and the results showed significant improvement in hydrophilicity. The results of antibacterial efficacy tests showed that the modified PET fabrics could inactivate 100% of Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) and 90.8% of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7) with 30 min of contact time.

Lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals (LCLCs) confined in cylindrical cavity can form an escaped-twisted (ET) configuration, resulting from the saddle-splay elastic constant is great much than twist ...

RNase III DROSHA is upregulated in multiple cancers and contributes to tumor progression by hitherto unclear mechanisms. Here, we demonstrate that DROSHA interacts with β-Catenin to transactivate STC1 in an RNA cleavage-independent manner, contributing to breast cancer stem-like cell (BCSC) properties. DROSHA mRNA stability is enhanced by N(6)-methyladenosine (m(6)A) modification which is activated by AURKA in BCSCs. AURKA stabilizes METTL14 by inhibiting its ubiquitylation and degradation to promote DROSHA mRNA methylation. Moreover, binding of AURKA to DROSHA transcript further strengthens the binding of the m(6)A reader IGF2BP2 to stabilize m(6)A-modified DROSHA. In addition, wild-type DROSHA, but not an m(6)A methylation-deficient mutant, enhances BCSC stemness maintenance, while inhibition of DROSHA m(6)A modification attenuates BCSC traits. Our study unveils the AURKA-induced oncogenic m(6)A modification as a key regulator of DROSHA in breast cancer and identifies a novel DROSHA transcriptional function in promoting the BCSC phenotype.

In a cylindrical cavity with a degenerate planar anchoring, the lyotropic chromonic nematic liquid crystals without intrinsic chirality tend to exhibit an escaped twisted configuration for the larg...

PurposeFrom the perspective of cause and effect, the operational processes of property insurance companies can be considered as historical events. The purpose of this study is to measure the operating efficiency of China's property insurance industry, explore the determinants that affect technical efficiency and outline the path to achieving high-quality development.Design/methodology/approachWe chose 44 Chinese property insurance companies as research objects. The data were obtained from the Chinese Insurance Yearbook and China Statistical Yearbook 2015–2017. First, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method was used to calculate the technical efficiency of property insurance companies. Then, Tobit regression and quantile regression were adopted to explore the influencing factors of technical efficiency. Finally, the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method was employed to summarize the path to improving the operating efficiency of property insurance companies.FindingsThe empirical results in the first stage suggested that the operation efficiency of China's property insurance industry was technically inefficient, and the scale efficiency was relatively better than the pure technical efficiency. In the second stage, we observed that the drivers for firm size, reinsurance rate, claim ratio and equity restriction were important determinants of an insurance firm's efficiency.Research limitations/implicationsWe also put forward four applicable, targeted and proven ways to improve the technical efficiency of property insurance companies. These configurations are verified by cases of existing property insurance companies, which can provide practical references for the insurance industry.Originality/valueOur research enriches the insurance literature and efficiency methods, particularly regarding the specific paths of improving the technical efficiency. The relationship between elements and results is analyzed from a systematic perspective, and the research results are not only more consistent with what logic might imply but also more instructive for the improvement of reality.

In this paper, silica dioxide nanoparticles (SiO2) were synthesized and functionalized with n-octadecyltriethoxysilane (OD) through a modified Stober method for the preparation of organic–inorganic hybrid micro-nanoparticles. Organic–inorganic hybrid micro-nanoparticles were applied onto the polyester (PET) fabric via a conventional “dipping–drying” process for the fluoro-free water-repellent textile materials. The coated PET fabric surface showed micro/nano-structures and exhibited hydrophobic behavior with water contact angle of 141°. The surface morphologies, surface chemical composition and contact angles of the coated fabrics surface were measured. Furthermore, the dynamic hydrophobic behavior of water droplet impact on the fabric was investigated. By analyzing the energy change, D(t)/D0 value and H(t)/D0 value during water droplet impact were measured. The water droplet showed an obvious effect of the dynamic rebound behavior on the coated fabric surface, further confirming that the coated PET fabric had hydrophobicity. After the rubbing and washing durability, mechanical and chemical stability treatment, the coated PET fabrics still maintained high hydrophobicity and displayed good water-repellent durability. Last but not least, PET hydrophobic fabrics exhibited excellent self-cleaning properties with dyes on the fabric surface.

With the rapid popularity of smart terminals, the device-to-device(D2D) communication is recognized as one of the most promising techniques in the fifth-generation(5G) communications networks due to its capabilities of substantially improving the spectral efficiency, relieving the traffic burden in the base stations(BSs), and reducing the terminals' power consumptions, etc. By properly activating some D2D links(DLs), the sum data rate of the D2D-aided cellular networks(CNs) can be substantially improved. However, constrained by the severe interference imposed on the conventional cellular users (CUs) by the activating D2D users (DUs), the sum data rate of the D2D-aided CNs cannot be unlimitedly improved in a crude way of simply increasing the number/density of DLs. In other words, there must exist a maximum/optimal number of activating DLs in terms of the sum data rate, as revealed in this paper. By identifying the maximum/optimal number of activating DLs, the closed-form expressions for sum data rates of both cellular links(CLs) and DLs can be obtained. Numerical results show that the optimum number of activating DLs, as a function of several critical parameters such as DU's transmit power, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio threshold and outage probability of CLs/DLs, etc, can be determined by implementing the proposed algorithms.

Purpose Mixed phenotype acute leukemia (MPAL) is a rare subtype of acute leukemia and its progressive genomic basis over time remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the longitudinal genomic evolution of MPAL from diagnosis to relapse. Methods We performed whole genome sequencing (WGS) on bone marrow (BM) samples obtained at the four stages of this disease in a male patient with Philadelphia chromosome positive (Ph+) MPAL, including primary, complete cytogenetic remission (CCR), complete molecular remission (CMR), and relapse stage during the 3 year follow-up period. Results 156 single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) and indels were detected, which exhibited distinctive evolutionary behaviors. Seventeen mutations disappeared quickly upon DCTER treatment and never came back. Seven mutations, although disappeared initially, reoccurred with the withdrawal of TKI treatment. Notably, ten mutations emerged in spite of the active DCTER chemotherapy. Moreover, copy number loss played critical roles in monitoring MPAL progression, displaying 7, 0, 0, and 383 losses at the stages of primary, CCR, CMR, and relapse respectively. Conclusion This longitudinal genomic investigation of the Ph+ MPAL patient established one MPAL evolution model in which the primary tumor acquired additional variations leading to tumor relapse. Moreover, the event of copy number loss remained a valuable hallmark in the progression of MPAL.

Genetic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (gCJD) is characterized by mutations in the PRNP gene and represents approximately 10–15% of the human prion diseases. Here, we report a 42-year-old Chinese man who was diagnosed with gCJD. The patient had a rare mutation in codon 196 (E196A) of PRNP leading to an exchange of amino acid from glutamic acid (E) to alanine (A). The polymorphism of codon 129 in the patient was methionine homozygote. His mother and daughter are asymptomatic carriers of the same mutation. The clinical manifestations were similar to those of sporadic CJD. 14-3-3 protein was positive in cerebrospinal fluid, and there were sharp slow complex waves in electroencephalography and ribbon-like signals on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The main complaints of patient changed from visual space and visual colour to psychotic symptoms with enhanced high signal intensity on the occipital and frontal cortices on MRI. We compared the clinical characteristics of the current patient with those of previously reported Chinese patients with other gCJD of E196A mutation to summarize the common features of E196A gCJD.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) do not encode proteins, yet they have been well established to be involved in complex regulatory functions, and lncRNA regulatory dysfunction can lead to a variety of human complex diseases. LncRNAs mostly exert their functions by regulating the expressions of target genes, and accurate prediction of potential lncRNA target genes would be helpful to further understanding the functional annotations of lncRNAs. Considering the limitations in traditional computational methods for predicting lncRNA target genes, a novel model which was named Weighted Average Fusion Network Representation learning for predicting LncRNA Target Genes (WAFNRLTG) was proposed. First, a novel heterogeneous network was constructed by integrating lncRNA sequence similarity network, mRNA sequence similarity network, lncRNA-mRNA interaction network, lncRNA-miRNA interaction network and mRNA-miRNA interaction network. Next, four popular network representation learning methods were utilized to gain the representation vectors of lncRNA and mRNA nodes. Then, the representations of lncRNAs and target genes in the heterogeneous network were obtained with the weighted average fusion network representation learning method. Finally, we merged the representations of lncRNAs and related target genes to form lncRNA-gene pairs, trained the XGBoost classifier and predicted potential lncRNA target genes. In five-cross validations on the training and independent datasets, the experimental results demonstrated that WAFNRLTG obtained better AUC scores (0.9410, 0.9350) and AUPR scores (0.9391, 0.9350). Moreover, case studies of three common lncRNAs were performed for predicting their potential lncRNA target genes and the results confirmed the effectiveness of WAFNRLTG. The source codes and all data of WAFNRLTG can be freely downloaded at https://github.com/HGDYZW/WAFNRLTG.