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ObjectivesTraditional Chinese medicine (TCM) injections are extensively utilized for the treatment of transient ischemic attack (TIA). However, it remains unclear which specific TCM injection exhibits superior efficacy. In this study, we conducted a network meta-analysis to compare the clinical efficacy and safety of various TCM injections in the treatment of TIA, with the aim of identifying the optimal treatment regimen.DesignWe searched seven databases to collect information on nine TCM injections for the treatment of transient randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for the treatment of transient ischemic attacks were collected from the establishment to August 2023. The methodological quality and risk of bias were assessed using the RoB 2.0 evaluation tool, and reticulated Meta-analysis was performed using R software and Stata software.ResultsWe ultimately included 58 RCTs involving 5502 patients and comprising 9 TCM injections. In terms of improving the total effective rate, Shuxuetong injection (P-score = 0.69) was the most effective. In addition, Shuxuetong injection was most effective in lowering total cholesterol (P-score = 1.00) and triglyceride (P-score = 1.00) levels. Notably, Shuxuetong injection remained the most prominent in reducing fibrinogen (P-score = 0.91). However, among other blood hemorheology indicators, Dengzhanhuasu injection was the best regimen in reducing plasma viscosity (P-score = 1.00), whole blood viscosity (high shear rate) (P-score = 0.87), and whole blood viscosity (low shear rate) (P-score = 0.90). It was found that Yinxingyetiquwu injection (P-score = 0.72) was the most effective in reducing the incidence of cerebral infarction. In terms of safety, 22 studies reported adverse effects and descriptive analyses showed that the number of adverse effects of combination therapy was comparable to that of conventional therapy and that the safety profile was good.ConclusionsTCM injections in combination with CT may be a safe and effective intervention for patients with TIA, of which Shuxuetong injection, Dengzhanhuasu injection, and Yinxingyetiquwu injection may be more noteworthy. The quality of the literature included in the study was low, so further validation is needed with larger sample sizes, higher quality, and more rigorously designed RCTs.Systematic review registration[PROSPERO], identifier [CRD42023443652].

Our understanding of interactions among intestinal helminths, gut microbiota and host is still in its infancy in fish. In this study, the effects of Schyzocotyle acheilognathi infection on the intestinal microbiota, growth and immune reactions of grass carp were explored under laboratory conditions. 16S rDNA amplification sequencing results showed that S. acheilognathi infection altered the composition of intestinal microbiota only at the genus level, with a significant increase in the relative abundance of Turicibacter and Ruminococcus (P < 0.05) and a significant decrease in the relative abundance of Gordonia, Mycobacterium and Pseudocanthomonas (P < 0.05). Schyzocotyle acheilognathi infection had no significant effect (P > 0.05) on the alpha diversity indices (including Chao1, ACE, Shannon, Simpson index) of intestinal microbiota in grass carp, but PERMANOVA analysis showed that microbial structure significantly (P < 0.01) differed between hindgut and foregut. PICRUST prediction showed that some metabolism-related pathways were significantly changed after S. acheilognathi infection. The relative abundance of Turicibacter was positively correlated with the fresh weight of tapeworm (foregut: r = 0.48, P = 0.044; hindgut: r = 0.63, P = 0.005). There was no significant difference in the body condition of grass carp between the S. acheilognathi infected group and the uninfected group (P > 0.05). Intestinal tissue section with HE staining showed that S. acheilognathi infection severely damaged the intestinal villi, causing serious degeneration, necrosis and shedding of intestinal epithelial cells. The real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR results showed that S. acheilognathi infection upregulated the mRNA expression of the immune-related genes: Gal1-L2, TGF-β1 and IgM.

AimsThe purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on elderly patients with Chronic heart failure (CHF) by literature search and meta-analysis.MethodsWe conducted an electronic search on PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP database platforms. The search period was from the establishment of the database to November 2021 for randomized controlled studies (RCTs) related to the effects of CR on elderly patients with CHF. The RevMan 5.4 was used for meta-analysis.ResultsThis study included 16 articles involving a total of 1782 patients, including 892 in the CR group and 890 in the control group. Meta-analysis showed that compared with conventional interventions, CR increased left ventricular ejection fraction in elderly patients with CHF [mean difference (MD):5.73,95% confidence interval (CI):2.05 to 9.40,Z = 3.05,P = 0.002], and decreased left ventricular end-diastolic diameter in elderly patients with CHF (MD:-4.82,95%CI:-7.49 to 15,Z = 3.54,P = 0.0004), increased the 6-minute walk test distance (MD:62.66,95% CI:44.40 to 80.92,Z = 6.72,PConclusionsCR can improve cardiac function, prognosis and reduce rehospitalization rate of elderly patients with CHF.

Water shortages have always been the primary bottleneck for the healthy and sustainable development of the ecological environment on the Loess Plateau (LP). Proper water resource management requires knowledge of the spatiotemporal characteristics of precipitation frequency. This paper employed the gridded precipitation dataset obtained from the China Meteorological Data Service Centre to present a spatially explicit characterization of precipitation frequencies in tandem with their return periods on the LP based on the L-moment method. The 60% and 80% of the mean annual precipitation from 1981 to 2010 were synonymous with severe and moderate droughts, respectively. Droughts occurred more frequently in the northwest than in the southeast of the LP. Moreover, the frequencies of moderate drought showed a slight difference throughout the area, while those of severe droughts demonstrated considerable differences between the northwestern arid zone and the southeastern semi-humid zone. The maps associated with various return periods of precipitation deficits can be used to produce drought risk maps together with drought vulnerability maps. These findings could also provide useful information for drought management, water resource management and the development of food security policies.

Urban agglomerations are fundamental regional units of development and attract large-scale migrant population. Previous studies have only focused on migrant population distribution in major urban agglomerations. Therefore, this study analysed the spatiotemporal characteristics of migrant population distribution in China during 2000-2010 at city level from the perspective of urban agglomerations. The results indicate that urban agglomerations were accumulation areas of migrant population. Numerous people have migrated into 19 urban agglomerations, which has enlarged regional differences in migrant population distribution. The interprovincial migrant population dominated within urban agglomerations, whereas the intraprovincial migrant population dominated outside urban agglomerations. In the future, intraprovincial migration will become the dominant migration mode. The evolution of migrant population distribution pattern in urban agglomerations agrees with classic theories of unbalanced regional development. The determinants of migration in different regions were compared. Results revealed that economic and government driving forces jointly influenced migration; however, economic forces exceeded government forces. Economic forces were more influential within urban agglomerations, whereas government forces played more important roles outside urban agglomerations. Increased income and job opportunities were the core attractions of urban agglomerations. Moreover, with an increase in the urban agglomeration development level, the influence of economic forces increased, whereas that of government forces decreased. The findings provide a deeper understanding of migrant population distribution in China, which will benefit population management across various regions.

Meiosis is a complex process involving the expression and interaction of numerous genes in a series of highly orchestrated molecular events. Fam9b localized in Xp22.3 has been found to be expressed in testes. However, FAM9B expression, localization, and its role in meiosis have not been previously reported. In this study, FAM9B expression was evaluated in the human testes and ovaries by RT-PCR, qPCR, and western blotting. FAM9B was found in the nuclei of primary spermatocytes in testes and specifically localized in the synaptonemal complex (SC) region of spermatocytes. FAM9B was also evident in the follicle cell nuclei and diffusely dispersed in the granular cell cytoplasm. FAM9B was partly co-localized with SYCP3, which is essential for both formation and maintenance of lateral SC elements. In addition, FAM9B had a similar distribution pattern and co-localization as γH2AX, which is a novel biomarker for DNA double-strand breaks during meiosis. All results indicate that FAM9B is a novel meiosis-associated protein that is co-localized with SYCP3 and γH2AX and may play an important role in SC formation and DNA recombination during meiosis. These findings offer a new perspective for understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in meiosis of human gametogenesis.

Grain shape strongly influences the economic value and grain yield of rice. Thus, identifying quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for grain shape has been a longstanding goal in rice genetic research and breeding programs. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers are ubiquitous in the rice genome and are more abundant and evenly distributed on the 12 rice chromosomes than traditional markers. An F2 population was genotyped using the RICE6K SNP array to elucidate the mechanisms governing grain shape. Thirty-five QTLs for grain shape were detected on 11 of 12 chromosomes over 2 years. The major QTL cluster qGS7 was detected in both years and displayed strong genetic effects on grain length and width, showing consistency with GL7/GW7. Some minor QTLs were also detected, and the effects of four QTLs on seed size were then validated using BC1F6 populations with residual heterozygous lines in each QTL region. Our findings provide insights into the molecular basis of grain shape as well as additional resources and approaches for producing hybrid high-yield rice varieties.

This research aims to analyze the effects of different parameter estimation on the recognition performance of satellite modulation signals based on deep learning (DL) under low signal to noise ratio (SNR) or channel non-ideal conditions. In this study, first, the common characteristics of broadband satellite modulation signal and the commonly used signal feature extraction algorithm are introduced. Then, the broadband satellite modulation signal pattern recognition model based on deformable convolutional neural networks (DCNN) is built, and the broadband satellite signal simulation is conducted based on Matlab software. Next, the signal characteristics of binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), 8 phase shift keying (PSK), 16 quadratic amplitude modulation (QAM), 64QAM, and 32 absolute phase shift keying (APSK) are extracted by the constellation map, and the ratio changes of T1 and T2 with SNR are compared. When SNR is given, it is compared with VGG model, AlexNet model, and ResNe model. The results show that the constellation points of satellite signals with different modulations are evenly distributed. T1 of PSK modulation signals increases significantly with the increase of SNR. When SNR is greater than 10, PSK modulation signals can be identified. When T2 is set and SNR is greater than 15dB, 16QAM and 32APSK signals can be distinguished. In the model, the Relu activation function, mini-batch gradient descent (MBGD) algorithm, and Softmax classifier have the best recognition accuracy. PSK modulation signals have the best recognition rate when the SNR is 0dB, and the recognition accuracy of different modulation signals at 20dB is over 98%. When the data length reaches 4000, the recognition accuracy of different modulation signals is higher than 97%. Compared with other algorithms, this algorithm has the highest recognition accuracy (99.83%) and shorter training time (3960s). In conclusion, the broadband satellite modulation signal pattern recognition algorithm of DCNN constructed in this study can effectively identify the patterns of different modulation signals.

OBJECTIVE:To explore the application of deep neural networks (DNNs) and deep reinforcement learning (DRL) in wireless communication and accelerate the development of the wireless communication industry. METHOD:This study proposes a simple cognitive radio scenario consisting of only one primary user and one secondary user. The secondary user attempts to share spectrum resources with the primary user. An intelligent power algorithm model based on DNNs and DRL is constructed. Then, the MATLAB platform is utilized to simulate the model. RESULTS:In the performance analysis of the algorithm model under different strategies, it is found that the second power control strategy is more conservative than the first. In the loss function, the second power control strategy has experienced more iterations than the first. In terms of success rate, the second power control strategy has more iterations than the first. In the average number of transmissions, they show the same changing trend, but the success rate can reach 1. In comparison with the traditional distributed clustering and power control (DCPC) algorithm, it is obvious that the convergence rate of the algorithm in this research is higher. The proposed DQN algorithm based on DRL only needs several steps to achieve convergence, which verifies its effectiveness. CONCLUSION:By applying DNNs and DRL to model algorithms constructed in wireless scenarios, the success rate is higher and the convergence rate is faster, which can provide experimental basis for the improvement of later wireless communication networks.

Serine hydroxymethyltransferase 2 (SHMT2) converts serine plus tetrahydrofolate (THF) into glycine plus methylene-THF and is upregulated at the protein level in lung and other cancers. In order to better understand the role of SHMT2 in cancer a model system of HeLa cells engineered for inducible over-expression or knock-down of SHMT2 was characterized for cell proliferation and changes in metabolites and proteome as a function of SHMT2. Ectopic over-expression of SHMT2 increased cell proliferation in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. Knockdown of SHMT2 expression in vitro caused a state of glycine auxotrophy and accumulation of phosphoribosylaminoimidazolecarboxamide (AICAR), an intermediate of folate/1-carbon-pathway-dependent de novo purine nucleotide synthesis. Decreased glycine in the HeLa cell-based xenograft tumors with knocked down SHMT2 was potentiated by administration of the anti-hyperglycinemia agent benzoate. However, tumor growth was not affected by SHMT2 knockdown with or without benzoate treatment. Benzoate inhibited cell proliferation in vitro, but this was independent of SHMT2 modulation. The abundance of proteins of mitochondrial respiration complexes 1 and 3 was inversely correlated with SHMT2 levels. Proximity biotinylation in vivo (BioID) identified 48 mostly mitochondrial proteins associated with SHMT2 including the mitochondrial enzymes Acyl-CoA thioesterase (ACOT2) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GLUD1) along with more than 20 proteins from mitochondrial respiration complexes 1 and 3. These data provide insights into possible mechanisms through which elevated SHMT2 in cancers may be linked to changes in metabolism and mitochondrial function.

Storm events are a significant source of disturbance in the Middle Atlantic Bight, in the Northwest Atlantic, that cause rapid destratification of the water column during the late summer and early fall. Storm-driven mixing can be considered as a seasonal disturbance regime to demersal communities, characterized by the recurrence of large changes in bottom water temperatures. Black sea bass are a model ubiquitous demersal species in the Middle Atlantic Bight, as their predominantly sedentary behavior makes them ideal for tagging studies while also regularly exposing them to summer storm disturbances and the physiological stresses associated with thermal destratification. To better understand the responsiveness of black sea bass to storm impacts, we coupled biotelemetry with a high-resolution Finite Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM). During the summers of 2016-2018, 8-15 black sea bass were released each year with acoustic transponders at three reef sites, which were surrounded by data-logging receivers. Data were analyzed for activity levels and reef departures of black sea bass, and fluctuations in temperature, current velocity, and turbulent kinetic energy. Movement rates were depressed with each consecutive passing storm, and late-season storms were associated with permanent evacuations by a subset of tagged fish. Serial increases in bottom temperature associated with repeated storm events were identified as the primary depressor of local movement. Storm-driven increases in turbulent kinetic energy and current velocity had comparatively smaller, albeit significant, effects. Black sea bass represents both an important fishery resource and an indicator species for the impact of offshore wind development in the United States. Their availability to fisheries surveys and sensitivity to wind turbine impacts will be biased during periods of high storm activity, which is likely to increase with regional climate change.

A novel approach was employed to load α-Fe2O3 and α-FeOOH onto sewage sludge biochar (SBC) with the purpose of efficient nickel (Ni) removal. A high Ni(II) adsorption capacity of 35.50 mg·g-1 in 100 ppm Ni(II) solution with 10 mg modified sewage sludge biochar (MSBC) was achieved. The adsorption kinetic and isotherm were fitted well by the pseudo-second-order model and the Langmuir model, respectively. The optimal pH was found around a neutral pH of 7. The adsorption mechanisms of Ni(II) onto MSBC were described as the synergistic effects of electrostatic attraction, ion exchange, inner-sphere complexation and co-precipitation. The initial rapid adsorption phenomenon could be attributed to electrostatic attraction and ion exchange, and then inner-sphere complexation and co-precipitation acted as a crucial role in the following step. The remarkable performance of MSBC provides an effective waste utilization approach to simultaneous sewage sludge recycle and Ni removal from aqueous solution.

Pyrrole adducts are specific reaction products of 2,5-hexadione (2,5-HD) in vivo and are considered highly relevant to the pathogenesis of peripheral nerve impairments after exposure to n-hexane, though the exact mechanism remains unclear. In this study, 40 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three experimental groups and one control group, in which all rat's hair were shaved completely at the beginning. The rats in three experimental groups were treated with 2,5-HD by gavage at dosages of 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg per day respectively, six times per week for 8 weeks. Abnormality of gait and changes in the rota-rod latency were surveilled. Pyrrole adducts in hair, urine and serum of all rats were measured at the endpoint. Results showed that the increased pyrrole adducts in hair, urine and serum accumulated in dose-response relationship. Spearman's correlation analysis between pyrrole adducts and gait scores showed that hair pyrrole adducts were highly relevant to the gait scores. Moreover, we treated rats with n-hexane and succeed to verify the results aforesaid. Further, multiply linear regression analysis showed that hair pyrrole adducts have higher partial correlation coefficients than these in serum and urine in both 2,5-HD and n-hexane treated models. Our findings draw the conclusion that the hair pyrrole adducts might serve as a promising biomarker of n-hexane induced peripheral neuropathy.

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is an intensely studied non-receptor tyrosine kinase with roles in cancer and other common human diseases. Despite the large interest in FAK, the in vivo contribution of FAK auto-phosphorylation site tyrosine (Y) 397 to FAK function is incompletely understood. To study FAK Y397 in vivo we analyzed mice with 'non-phosphorylatable' Y-to-phenylalanine (F) and 'phospho-mimicking' Y-to-glutamate (E) mutations in the germline. We found that FAK Y397F mice die early during embryogenesis with abnormal angiogenesis like FAK kinase-dead mice. When Y397 is mutated to a glutamate mice survive beyond mid-gestation like mice where Y397 is lost by deletion of FAK exon 15. In culture, defects in proliferation, invasion and gene expression were more severe with the FAK Y397F than with the FAK Y397E mutation despite the inability of FAK Y397E to bind SRC. Conditional expression of FAK Y397F or Y397E in unchallenged avascular epidermis, however, resulted in no appreciable phenotype. We conclude that FAK Y397 is required for the highly dynamic tissue remodeling during development but dispensable for normal homeostasis of avascular epidermis. In contrast to the Y397F mutation, FAK Y397E retains sufficient biological activity to allow for development beyond mid-gestation.

Hypomyelinating disorders are a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous diseases characterized by neurological deterioration with hypomyelination visible on brain MRI scans. This study was aimed to clarify the clinical and genetic features of HMDs in Chinese population.119 patients with hypomyelinating disorders in Chinese population were enrolled and evaluated based on their history, clinical manifestation, laboratory examinations, series of brain MRI with follow-up, genetic etiological tests including chromosomal analysis, multiplex ligation probe amplification, Sanger sequencing, targeted enrichment-based next-generation sequencing and whole exome sequencing.Clinical and genetic features of hypomyelinating disorders were revealed. Nine different hypomyelinating disorders were identified in 119 patients: Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (94, 79%), Pelizaeus-Merzbacher-like disease (10, 8%), hypomyelination with atrophy of the basal ganglia and cerebellum (3, 3%), GM1 gangliosidosis (5, 4%), GM2 gangliosidosis (3, 3%), trichothiodystrophy (1, 1%), Pol III-related leukodystrophy (1, 1%), hypomyelinating leukodystrophy type 9 (1, 1%), and chromosome 18q deletion syndrome (1, 1%). Of the sample, 94% (112/119) of the patients were genetically diagnosed, including 111 with mutations distributing across 9 genes including PLP1, GJC2, TUBB4A, GLB1, HEXA, HEXB, ERCC2, POLR3A, and RARS and 1 with mosaic chromosomal change of 46, XX,del(18)(q21.3)/46,XX,r(18)(p11.32q21.3)/45,XX,-18. Eighteen novel mutations were discovered. Mutations in POLR3A and RARS were first identified in Chinese patients with Pol III-related leukodystrophy and hypomyelinating leukodystrophy, respectively.This is the first report on clinical and genetic features of hypomyelinating disorders with a large sample of patients in Chinese population, identifying 18 novel mutations especially mutations in POLR3A and RARS in Chinese patients, expanding clinical and genetic spectrums of hypomyelinating disorders.

Previous molecular characterization of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in China focused only on one or two cities. In this study, we characterized 835 samples from patients suspected to be infected with M. pneumoniae; these samples were collected in 2016 from pediatric patients from different regions of China. Multiple locus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA), P1-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, and sequencing of the domain V of 23S rRNA were performed to compare genotype distribution across different locations. Two-hundred-and-thirteen samples tested positive for M. pneumoniae by PCR. P1 types were identified in 154 samples: 78.6% were type I and 21.4% were type II. Type I was the most prevalent genotype in five locations, except Nanjing where type II was the most common type (p < 0.01). Five distinct MLVA types were identified in the 172 samples. Genotype M4-5-7-2 was predominant at all locations, except Nanjing where type 3-5-6-2 was the most common (p < 0.01). Macrolide resistance-associated mutations were identified in 186 (76.3%) samples. The resistance rate differed with the location. This study showed that genotypes and macrolide resistance rate differed across China. The most prevalent genotype in China remains M4-5-7-2/P1-1. The resistance rate decreased, along with changes to the M4-5-7-2 genotype.

OBJECTIVES:Self-treatment is a widespread practice among patients with common symptoms and ailments; it is necessary to explore multiple aspects of it. Notably, there is little research into self-treatment among middle-aged and elderly people, who are more likely to fall ill. Our goals are to provide a comprehensive description of self-treatment and explore associated factors with insurance utilization and expenditures among the middle-aged and elderly populations in China. METHODS:A survey was conducted in July 2016 in Shanxi, China. A stratified sampling scheme was applied to achieve representativeness. A total of 972 subjects were surveyed. Descriptive statistics, t- and Chi-squared tests, multivariate logistic regression, and multivariate linear regression were utilized. RESULTS:In our study, 772 (79.4%) of the surveyed subjects self-treated during the previous twelve months. Among them, 253 (32.8%) used health insurance. Subjects' characteristics were associated with insurance utilization and expenditures for self-treatment. Total cost was positively associated with insurance utilization. The subjects with a junior high education (p-value < 0.001, aOR = 0.049) and senior high education (p-value = 0.020, aOR = 0.146) had a lower probability of using insurance. For both total costs and out-of-pocket costs, subjects who were 51 to 60 years old had lower costs. The subjects who were seriously sick and had a primary school education, as well as enterprise occupations, had higher costs. Self-treatment times were also positively associated with costs. Finally, it was found that subjects who didn't use insurance had lower total costs. CONCLUSIONS:The prevalence of self-treatment was high (79.4%). Some characteristics were associated with insurance utilization and expenditures in self-treatment. Our results may be helpful for policy interventions, which are needed to further improve the effectiveness of health insurance in China.

This study developed a technique system for the measurement, reconstruction, and trait extraction of rice canopy architectures, which have challenged functional-structural plant modeling for decades and have become the foundation of the design of ideo-plant architectures. The system uses the location-separation-measurement method (LSMM) for the collection of data on the canopy architecture and the analytic geometry method for the reconstruction and visualization of the three-dimensional (3D) digital architecture of the rice plant. It also uses the virtual clipping method for extracting the key traits of the canopy architecture such as the leaf area, inclination, and azimuth distribution in spatial coordinates. To establish the technique system, we developed (i) simple tools to measure the spatial position of the stem axis and azimuth of the leaf midrib and to capture images of tillers and leaves; (ii) computer software programs for extracting data on stem diameter, leaf nodes, and leaf midrib curves from the tiller images and data on leaf length, width, and shape from the leaf images; (iii) a database of digital architectures that stores the measured data and facilitates the reconstruction of the 3D visual architecture and the extraction of architectural traits; and (iv) computation algorithms for virtual clipping to stratify the rice canopy, to extend the stratified surface from the horizontal plane to a general curved surface (including a cylindrical surface), and to implement in silico. Each component of the technique system was quantitatively validated and visually compared to images, and the sensitivity of the virtual clipping algorithms was analyzed. This technique is inexpensive and accurate and provides high throughput for the measurement, reconstruction, and trait extraction of rice canopy architectures. The technique provides a more practical method of data collection to serve functional-structural plant models of rice and for the optimization of rice canopy types. Moreover, the technique can be easily adapted for other cereal crops such as wheat, which has numerous stems and leaves sheltering each other.

Leptin and adiponectin have opposite effects on subclinical inflammation and insulin resistance, both involved in the development of metabolic syndrome (MS). We aimed to investigate whether leptin/adiponectin ratio (L/A), as a marker of these two adipokines imbalance, may improve diagnosis of MS in children and adolescents, and determined its cut-off value in the diagnosis of MS.A total of 3,428 subjects aged 6-18 years were selected from Beijing Child and Adolescent Metabolic Syndrome study. Adipokine leptin and adiponectin were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Odds ratio of MS per 1 z-score of adipokine was examined using logistic regression. Diagnosis accuracy was assessed using c-statistics (AUC) and net reclassification index.The levels of leptin and L/A increased with number of positive MS components, while the levels of adiponectin declined in both boys and girls (all P

Emergency rescue material reserves are vital for the success of emergency rescue activities. In this study, we consider a situation where a government owned distribution center and framework agreement suppliers jointly store emergency rescue materials. Using a scenario-based approach to represent demand uncertainty, we propose a comprehensive transportation pattern for the following supply chain: "suppliers-government distribution center-disaster area." Using a joint reserves model that includes the government and framework agreement suppliers, we develop a non-linear mathematic model that determines the choices of the framework suppliers, the corresponding optimal commitment quantities, and the quantity of materials that are stored at a government distribution center. Finally, we use IBM ILOG CPLEX to solve the numerical examples to verify the effectiveness of the mode and perform sensitivity analyses on the relevant parameters.

Maternal undernutrition is linked with an elevated risk of diabetes mellitus in offspring regardless of the postnatal dietary status. This is also found in maternal micro-nutrition deficiency, especial chromium which is a key glucose regulator. We investigated whether maternal chromium restriction contributes to the development of diabetes in offspring by affecting DNA methylation status in liver tissue. After being mated with control males, female weanling 8-week-old C57BL mice were fed a control diet (CON, 1.19 mg chromium/kg diet) or a low chromium diet (LC, 0.14 mg chromium/kg diet) during pregnancy and lactation. After weaning, some offspring were shifted to the other diet (CON-LC, or LC-CON), while others remained on the same diet (CON-CON, or LC-LC) for 29 weeks. Fasting blood glucose, serum insulin, and oral glucose tolerance test was performed to evaluate the glucose metabolism condition. Methylation differences in liver from the LC-CON group and CON-CON groups were studied by using a DNA methylation array. Bisulfite sequencing was carried out to validate the results of the methylation array. Maternal chromium limitation diet increased the body weight, blood glucose, and serum insulin levels. Even when switched to the control diet after weaning, the offspring also showed impaired glucose tolerance and insulin resistance. DNA methylation profiling of the offspring livers revealed 935 differentially methylated genes in livers of the maternal chromium restriction diet group. Pathway analysis identified the insulin signaling pathway was the main process affected by hypermethylated genes. Bisulfite sequencing confirmed that some genes in insulin signaling pathway were hypermethylated in livers of the LC-CON and LC-LC group. Accordingly, the expression of genes in insulin signaling pathway was downregulated. There findings suggest that maternal chromium restriction diet results in glucose intolerance in male offspring through alterations in DNA methylation which is associated with the insulin signaling pathway in the mice livers.

Emerging evidence supports a key role for the gut microbiota in metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity. The dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor vildagliptin is highly efficacious in treating T2D. However, whether vildagliptin can alter the gut microbiome is still unclear. This study aimed to identify whether vildagliptin modifies the gut microbiota structure during T2D treatment. Diabetic Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were induced by a high-fat diet and streptozotocin injection (HFD/STZ). Diabetic rats were orally administered a low dose of vildagliptin (LV, 0.01 g/kg/d vildagliptin), high dose of vildagliptin (HV, 0.02 g/kg/d vildagliptin), or normal saline for 12 weeks. Fasting blood glucose, blood glucose after glucose loading, and serum insulin levels were significantly reduced in the LV and HV groups compared with those in the T2D group. The serum GLP-1 level increased more in the vildagliptin-treated group than in the T2D group. Pyrosequencing of the V3-V4 regions of 16S rRNA genes revealed that vildagliptin significantly altered the gut microbiota. The operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and community richness (Chao1) index were significantly reduced in the vildagliptin and diabetic groups compared with those in the control group. At the phylum level, a higher relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, lower abundance of Firmicutes, and reduced ratio of Fimicutes/Bacteroidetes were observed in the vildagliptin-treated group. Moreover, vildagliptin treatment increased butyrate-producing bacteria, including Baceroides and Erysipelotrichaeae, in the diabetic rats. Moreover, Lachnospira abundance was significantly negatively correlated with fasting blood glucose levels. In conclusion, vildagliptin treatment could benefit the communities of the gut microbiota.

Plant architecture is an important agronomic trait, and improving plant architecture has attracted the attention of scientists for decades, particularly studies to create desirable plant architecture for high grain yields through breeding and culture practices. However, many important structural phenotypic traits still lack quantitative description and modeling on structural-functional relativity. This study defined new architecture indices (AIs) derived from the digitalized plant architecture using the virtual blade method. The influences of varieties and crop management on these indices and the influences of these indices on biomass accumulation were analyzed using field experiment data at two crop growth stages: early and late panicle initiation. The results indicated that the vertical architecture indices (LAI, PH, 90%-DRI, MDI, 90%-LI) were significantly influenced by variety, water, nitrogen management and the interaction of water and nitrogen, and compact architecture indices (H-CI, Q-CI, 90%-LI, 50%-LI) were significantly influenced by nitrogen management and the interaction of variety and water. Furthermore, there were certain trends in the influence of variety, water, and nitrogen management on AIs. Biomass accumulation has a positive linear correlation with vertical architecture indices and has a quadratic correlation with compact architecture indices, respectively. Furthermore, the combination of vertical and compact architecture indices is the indicator for evaluating the effects of plant architecture on biomass accumulation.

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a huge burden for human health. Recent studies show the close relationship between DM and T cells. We investigated the trend in DM and T cells research.Using the Web of Science database, we searched the publications on DM and T cells in 1997-2016, and studied the source data using bibliometric methodology. Excel 2016, GraphPad Prism 5, and VOSviewer software were used to analyze the publication trend in DM and T cells research.We found a total of 1077 publications with 38109 citations up to January 23, 2017. The highest contribution came from the United States, with 48.38% of the publications, 61.44% of the citations and the highest H-index (74). China had the 5th place for total publications, but ranked 11th both for citation frequency (604) and H-index (13). The inflection point of the global DM and T cells publications was in 2000. Journal of Immunology published the most related articles (164). Santamaria P. was the leading scholar in this field with the most publications (35). The keywords "regulatory T cell" and "autoimmune diabetes" were mentioned more than 300 times. Furthermore, type 2 (T2)DM, T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain (TIM) and obesity are becoming popular research topics in this field.The quantity of publications on DM and T cells grew rapidly around year 2000, but has relatively decreased recently. The United States had the leading position in global research. There was a discrepancy between productivity and quality of publications from China. Latest progress is most likely first published by the Journal of Immunology. Santamaria P., Roep B.O. and Peakman M. were the pioneer scholars in this field. Most researchers have focused on "regulatory T cell" and "autoimmune diabetes" research. In future, T2DM, TIM and obesity may be the popular areas.

Prophages are major contributors to horizontal gene transfer and drive the evolution and diversification of bacteria. Here, we describe the characterization of a prophage element designated pp3 in the clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolate PA1. pp3 spontaneously excises from the PA1 genome and circularizes at a very high frequency of 25%. pp3 is likely to be a defective prophage due to its inability to form plaques on P. aeruginosa indicator strains, and no phage particles could be detected in PA1 supernatants. The pp3-encoded integrase is essential for excision by mediating site-specific recombination at the 26-bp attachment sequence. Using a filter mating experiment, we demonstrated that pp3 can transfer into P. aeruginosa recipient strains that do not possess this element naturally. Upon transfer, pp3 integrates into the same attachment site as in PA1 and maintains the ability to excise and circularize. Furthermore, pp3 significantly promotes biofilm formation in the recipient. Sequence alignment reveals that the 26-bp attachment site recognized by pp3 is conserved in all P. aeruginosa strains sequenced to date, making it possible that pp3 could be extensively disseminated in P. aeruginosa. This work improves our understanding of the ways in which prophages influence bacterial behavior and evolution.

OBJECTIVE:The fraction of circulating cell-free fetal (cff) DNA in maternal plasma is a critical parameter for aneuploidy screening with non-invasive prenatal testing, especially for those samples located in equivocal zones. We developed an approach to quantify cff DNA fractions directly with sequencing data, and increased cff DNAs by optimizing library construction procedure. METHODS:Artificial DNA mixture samples (360), with known cff DNA fractions, were used to develop a method to determine cff DNA fraction through calculating the proportion of Y chromosomal unique reads, with sequencing data generated by Ion Proton. To validate our method, we investigated cff DNA fractions of 2,063 pregnant women with fetuses who were diagnosed as high risk of fetal defects. The z-score was calculated to determine aneuploidies for chromosomes 21, 18 and 13. The relationships between z-score and parameters of pregnancies were also analyzed. To improve cff DNA fractions in our samples, two groups were established as follows: in group A, the large-size DNA fragments were removed, and in group B these were retained, during library construction. RESULTS:A method to determine cff DNA fractions was successfully developed using 360 artificial mixture samples in which cff DNA fractions were known. A strong positive correlation was found between z-score and fetal DNA fraction in the artificial mixture samples of trisomy 21, 18 and 13, as well as in clinical maternal plasma samples. There was a positive correlation between gestational age and the cff DNA fraction in the clinical samples, but no correlation for maternal age. Moreover, increased fetal DNA fractions were found in group A compared to group B. CONCLUSION:A relatively accurate method was developed to determine the cff DNA fraction in maternal plasma. By optimizing, we can improve cff DNA fractions in sequencing samples, which may contribute to improvements in detection rate and reliability.

BACKGROUND:Vitamin D receptor activators (VDRAs) can protect against mineral bone disease, but they are reported to elevate serum creatinine (SCr) and may also reduce glomerular filtration rate (GFR). METHODS:We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) to evaluate the effect of VDRAs on kidney function and adverse events. MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register were searched for RCTs that evaluate vitamin D receptor activators (alfacalcidol, calcitriol, doxercalciferol, falecalcitriol, maxacalcitol and paricalcitol) up to March 2015. RESULTS:We included 31 studies, all of which were performed between 1976 and 2015, which enrolled 2621 patients. Patients receiving VDRAs had lower eGFR (weighted mean difference WMD -1.29 mL/min /1.73 m2, 95% CI -2.42 to -0.17) and elevated serum creatinine (WMD 7.03 μmol/L, 95% CI 0.61 to 13.46) in sensitivity analysis excluding studies with dropout rate more than 30%. Subgroup analysis of the 5 studies that not use SCr-based measures did not indicated lower GFR in the VDRAs group(WMD -0.97 mL/min/1.73 m2, 95% CI -4.85 to 2.92). Compared with control groups, there was no difference in all-cause mortality (relative risk RR 1.41, 95% CI 0.58 to 3.80), cardiovascular disease (RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.42 to 1.71), and severe adverse events (RR 1.15, 95% CI 0.75 to 1.77) for the VDRAs groups. Episodes of hypercalcemia (RR 3.29, 95% CI 2.02 to 5.38) were more common in the VDRAs group than in the control group. CONCLUSIONS:Administration of VDRAs increased serum creatinine levels. Subgroup analysis of studies that did not use SCr-based measures did not indicate a lower GFR in the VDRA group. Future studies with non-SCr-based measures are needed to assess whether the mild elevations of serum creatinine are of clinical significance.

OBJECTIVE:Family health history (FHH) plays a significant role in early disease detection and prevention. Although Asian Americans are the fastest growing U.S. immigrant group, no data exists regarding Chinese Americans' (the largest Asian subgroup) views and use of FHH. This study examines this important issue. METHODS:Forty-nine adults from southern U.S. Chinese American communities participated in this qualitative, semi-structured, in-depth interview study. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed with a content analysis approach. RESULTS:Although the majority of participants perceived the importance of collecting FHH, most lacked FHH knowledge and failed to collect FHH information. Barriers affecting FHH collection and discussion among family members included long-distance separation from family members, self-defined "healthy family," and Chinese cultural beliefs. Lack of doctors' inquiries, never/rarely visiting physicians, self-defined "healthy family," perceived insignificance of discussing FHH with doctors, and Chinese cultural beliefs were the obstacles in communicating FHH with physicians. CONCLUSIONS:Chinese Americans had limited usage of their FHH and faced cultural, distance, knowledge-, and healthcare system-related barriers that influenced their FHH use. Developing FHH education programs for Chinese Americans is highly recommended.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153369.].

INTRODUCTION:Determining the optimal time to vaccinate is important for influenza vaccination programmes. Here, we assessed the temporal characteristics of influenza epidemics in the Northern and Southern hemispheres and in the tropics, and discuss their implications for vaccination programmes. METHODS:This was a retrospective analysis of surveillance data between 2000 and 2014 from the Global Influenza B Study database. The seasonal peak of influenza was defined as the week with the most reported cases (overall, A, and B) in the season. The duration of seasonal activity was assessed using the maximum proportion of influenza cases during three consecutive months and the minimum number of months with ≥80% of cases in the season. We also assessed whether co-circulation of A and B virus types affected the duration of influenza epidemics. RESULTS:212 influenza seasons and 571,907 cases were included from 30 countries. In tropical countries, the seasonal influenza activity lasted longer and the peaks of influenza A and B coincided less frequently than in temperate countries. Temporal characteristics of influenza epidemics were heterogeneous in the tropics, with distinct seasonal epidemics observed only in some countries. Seasons with co-circulation of influenza A and B were longer than influenza A seasons, especially in the tropics. DISCUSSION:Our findings show that influenza seasonality is less well defined in the tropics than in temperate regions. This has important implications for vaccination programmes in these countries. High-quality influenza surveillance systems are needed in the tropics to enable decisions about when to vaccinate.

INTRODUCTION:Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can serve as vehicles for therapeutic genes. However, little is known about MSC behavior in vivo. Here, we demonstrated that probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) can be used to track MSCs in vivo and individually monitor tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) gene expression within carcinomas. METHODS:Isolated BALB/c nu/nu mice MSCs (MSCs) were characterized and engineered to co-express the TRAIL and enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) genes. The number of MSCs co-expressing EGFP and TRAIL (TRAIL-MSCs) at tumor sites was quantified with pCLE in vivo, while their presence was confirmed using immunofluorescence (IF) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The therapeutic effects of TRAIL-MSCs were evaluated by measuring the volumes and weights of subcutaneous HT29-derived xenograft tumors. RESULTS:Intravital imaging of the subcutaneous xenograft tumors revealed that BALB/c mice treated with TRAIL-MSCs exhibited specific cellular signals, whereas no specific signals were observed in the control mice. The findings from the pCLE images were consistent with the IF and qPCR results. CONCLUSION:The pCLE results indicated that endomicroscopy could effectively quantify injected MSCs that homed to subcutaneous xenograft tumor sites in vivo and correlated well with the therapeutic effects of the TRAIL gene. By applying pCLE for the in vivo monitoring of cellular trafficking, stem cell-based anticancer gene therapeutic approaches might be feasible and attractive options for individualized clinical treatments.

Flavonoids are ubiquitous in the plant kingdom and have many diverse functions, including UV protection, auxin transport inhibition, allelopathy, flower coloring and insect resistance. Here we show that rutin, a proud member of the flavonoid family, could be functional as an activator to improve plant disease resistances. Three plant species pretreated with 2 mM rutin were found to enhance resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, Ralstonia solanacearum, and Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato strain DC3000 in rice, tobacco and Arabidopsis thaliana respectively. While they were normally propagated on the cultural medium supplemented with 2 mM rutin for those pathogenic bacteria. The enhanced resistance was associated with primed expression of several pathogenesis-related genes. We also demonstrated that the rutin-mediated priming resistance was attenuated in npr1, eds1, eds5, pad4-1, ndr1 mutants, and NahG transgenic Arabidopsis plant, while not in either snc1-11, ein2-5 or jar1 mutants. We concluded that the rutin-priming defense signal was modulated by the salicylic acid (SA)-dependent pathway from an early stage upstream of NDR1 and EDS1.

Many modalities of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been confirmed to be of great diagnostic value in glioma grading. Contrast enhanced T1-weighted imaging allows the recognition of blood-brain barrier breakdown. Perfusion weighted imaging and MR spectroscopic imaging enable the quantitative measurement of perfusion parameters and metabolic alterations respectively. These modalities can potentially improve the grading process in glioma if combined properly. In this study, Bayesian Network, which is a powerful and flexible method for probabilistic analysis under uncertainty, is used to combine features extracted from contrast enhanced T1-weighted imaging, perfusion weighted imaging and MR spectroscopic imaging. The networks were constructed using K2 algorithm along with manual determination and distribution parameters learned using maximum likelihood estimation. The grading performance was evaluated in a leave-one-out analysis, achieving an overall grading accuracy of 92.86% and an area under the curve of 0.9577 in the receiver operating characteristic analysis given all available features observed in the total 56 patients. Results and discussions show that Bayesian Network is promising in combining features from multiple modalities of MRI for improved grading performance.

T1 sagittal angle has been reported to be used as a parameter for assessing sagittal balance and cervical lordosis. However, no study has been performed to explore the relationship between T1 sagittal angle and sagittal balance, and whether T1 sagittal angle could be used for osteotomy guidelines remains unknown. The aim of our study is to explore the relationship between T1 sagittal angle and sagittal balance, determine the predictors for T1 sagittal angle, and determine whether T1 sagittal angle could be used for osteotomy guidelines to restore sagittal balance. Medical records of healthy volunteers in our outpatient clinic from January 2014 to August 2015 were reviewed, and their standing full-spine lateral radiographs were evaluated. Demographic and radiological parameters were collected and analyzed, including age, gender, T1 sagittal angle, maxTK, maxLL, SS, PT, and PI. Correlation coefficients between T1 sagittal angle and other spinopelvic parameters were determined. In addition, multiple regression analysis was performed to establish predictive radiographic parameters for T1 sagittal angle as the primary contributors. A total of 119 healthy volunteers were recruited in our study with a mean age of 34.7 years. It was found that T1 sagittal angle was correlated with maxTK with very good significance (r = 0.697, P

A lack of progesterone receptor (PgR) expression in oestrogen receptor-positive (ER+) tumours is associated with worse survival. PgR status is usually defined as positive or negative using 1% positive nuclei as a cut-off point. In this study, we aimed to assess the clinicopathologic characteristics of ER+/PgR-/HER2- tumours by comparing them with ER+/PgR+/HER2- tumours using a PgR cut-off point of 20% as a divisive criterion.We analysed 1,522 patients with primary breast cancer who had undergone surgery at the Cancer Center of Fudan University between 2012 and 2014. Age, grade, tumour size, lymph node status and lymphovascular invasion were assessed. Multinomial logistic regression, linear regression and chi-square test models were applied to assess associations between ER, PR and clinical features.ER+/PgR-/HER2- tumours showed poorer clinicopathologic characteristics relative to ER+/PgR+/HER2- tumours using a PgR threshold of 20% instead of 1%. The clinicopathologic characteristics did not differ between tumours with purely negative PgR expression and tumours with a PgR percentage ranging from 1% to 19%. The prognostic significance of PR expression appeared more pronounced in patients under a high Ki-67 status than those under a low Ki-67 status.Based on these findings, we propose the use of a novel threshold of 20% to define PgR status. Nevertheless, the impact of this new criterion on patient management and clinical treatment requires additional study.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a common liver disease in recent decades. No effective treatment is currently available. Probiotics and natural functional food may be promising therapeutic approaches to this disease. The present study aims to investigate the efficiency of the anthraquinone from Cassia obtusifolia L. (AC) together with cholesterol-lowering probiotics (P) to improve high-fat diet (HFD)-induced NAFLD in rat models and elucidate the underlying mechanism. Cholesterol-lowering probiotics were screened out by MRS-cholesterol broth with ammonium ferric sulfate method. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed with HFD and subsequently administered with AC and/or P. Lipid metabolism parameters and fat synthesis related genes in rat liver, as well as the diversity of gut microbiota were evaluated. The results demonstrated that, compared with the NAFLD rat, the serum lipid levels of treated rats were reduced effectively. Besides, cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase (CYP7A1), low density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R) and farnesoid X receptor (FXR) were up-regulated while the expression of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl glutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) was reduced. The expression of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR)-α protein was significantly increased while the expression of PPAR-γ and sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) was down-regulated. In addition, compared with HFD group, in AC, P and AC+P group, the expression of intestinal tight-junction protein occludin and zonula occluden-1 (ZO-1) were up-regulated. Furthermore, altered gut microbiota diversity after the treatment of probiotics and AC were analysed. The combination of cholesterol-lowering probiotics and AC possesses a therapeutic effect on NAFLD in rats by up-regulating CYP7A1, LDL-R, FXR mRNA and PPAR-α protein produced in the process of fat metabolism while down-regulating the expression of HMGCR, PPAR-γ and SREBP-1c, and through normalizing the intestinal dysbiosis and improving the intestinal mucosal barrier function.

In apple cultivation, simulation models may be used to monitor fruit size during the growth and development process to predict production levels and to optimize fruit quality. Here, Fuji apples cultivated in spindle-type systems were used as the model crop. Apple size was measured during the growing period at an interval of about 20 days after full bloom, with three weather stations being used to collect orchard temperature and solar radiation data at different sites. Furthermore, a 2-year dataset (2011 and 2012) of apple fruit size measurements were integrated according to the weather station deployment sites, in addition to the top two most important environment factors, thermal and sunshine hours, into the model. The apple fruit diameter and length were simulated using physiological development time (PDT), an indicator that combines important environment factors, such as temperature and photoperiod, as the driving variable. Compared to the model of calendar-based development time (CDT), an indicator counting the days that elapse after full bloom, we confirmed that the PDT model improved the estimation accuracy to within 0.2 cm for fruit diameter and 0.1 cm for fruit length in independent years using a similar data collection method in 2013. The PDT model was implemented to realize a web-based management information system for a digital orchard, and the digital system had been applied in Shandong Province, China since 2013. This system may be used to compute the dynamic curve of apple fruit size based on data obtained from a nearby weather station. This system may provide an important decision support for farmers using the website and short message service to optimize crop production and, hence, economic benefit.

Recent evidence indicates that significant interactions exist between Kruppel-like factor 2 (KLF2) and microRNAs (miRNAs) in endothelial cells. Because KLF2 is known to exert anti-inflammatory effects and inhibit the pro-inflammatory activation of monocytes, we sought to identify how inflammation-associated miR-155 is regulated by KLF2 in macrophages.Peritoneal macrophages from wild-type (WT) C57Bl/6 mice were transfected with either recombinant adenovirus vector expressing KLF2 (Ad-KLF2) or siRNA targeting KLF2 (KLF2-siRNA) for 24 h-48 h, then stimulated with oxidized low-density lipoproteins (ox-LDL, 50 μg/mL) for 24 h. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction showed that KLF2 markedly reduced the expression of miR-155 in quiescent/ox-LDL-stimulated macrophages. We also found that the increased expression of miR-155, monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP-1) and interleukin (IL)-6 and the decreased expression of the suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)-1 and IL-10 in ox-LDL-treated macrophages were significantly suppressed by KLF2. Most importantly, over-expression of miR-155 could partly reverse the suppressive effects of KLF2 on the inflammatory response of macrophages. Conversely, the suppression of miR-155 in KLF2 knockdown macrophages significantly overcame the pro-inflammatory properties associated with KLF2 knockdown. Finally, Ad-KLF2 significantly attenuated the diet-induced formation of atherosclerotic lesions in apolipoprotein E-deficient (apoE(-/-)) mice, which was associated with a significantly reduced expression of miR-155 and its relative inflammatory cytokine genes in the aortic arch and in macrophages.KLF2-mediated suppression of miR-155 reduced the inflammatory response of macrophages.

To investigate the prognostic significance of TGFβR2 expression and chemotherapy in Chinese non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, TGFβR2 expression NSCLC was analyzed in silico using the Oncomine database, and subsequently analyzed with quantitative RT-PCR in 308 NSCLC biopsies, 42 of which were paired with adjacent non-neoplastic tissues. Our results show that TGFβR2 expression was also increased in NSCLC biopsies relative to normal tissue samples and correlated with poor prognosis. TGFβR2 expression was also significantly correlated with other clinical parameters such as tumor differentiation, invasion of lung membrane, and chemotherapy. Moreover, overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) was increased in patients with low TGFβR2 expressing NSCLC and who had undergone chemotherapy. Thus, high expression of TGFβR2 is a significant risk factor for decreased OS and DFS in NSCLC patients. Thus, TGFβR2 is a potential prognostic tumor biomarker for chemotherapy.

The purpose of this study was to understand the acoustic properties of human vertebral cancellous bone and to study the feasibility of ultrasound-based navigation for posterior pedicle screw fixation in spinal fusion surgery. Fourteen human vertebral specimens were disarticulated from seven un-embalmed cadavers (four males, three females, 73.14 ± 9.87 years, two specimens from each cadaver). Seven specimens were used to measure the transmission, including tests of attenuation and phase velocity, while the other seven specimens were used for backscattered measurements to inspect the depth of penetration and A-Mode signals. Five pairs of unfocused broadband ultrasonic transducers were used for the detection, with center frequencies of 0.5 MHz, 1 MHz, 1.5 MHz, 2.25 MHz, and 3.5 MHz. As a result, good and stable results were documented. With increased frequency, the attenuation increased (P0.05). At about 0.6 cm away from the cortical bone, warning signals were easily observed from the backscattered measurements. In conclusion, the ultrasonic system proved to be an effective, moveable, and real-time imaging navigation system. However, how ultrasonic navigation will benefit pedicle screw insertion in spinal surgery needs to be determined. Therefore, ultrasound-guided pedicle screw implantation is theoretically effective and promising.

Recently, the dependence group has been proposed to study the robustness of networks with interdependent nodes. A dependence group means that a failed node in the group can lead to the failures of the whole group. Considering the situation of real networks that one failed node may not always break the functionality of a dependence group, we study a cascading failure model that a dependence group fails only when more than a fraction β of nodes of the group fail. We find that the network becomes more robust with the increasing of the parameter β. However, the type of percolation transition is always first order unless the model reduces to the classical network percolation model, which is independent of the degree distribution of the network. Furthermore, we find that a larger dependence group size does not always make the networks more fragile. We also present exact solutions to the size of the giant component and the critical point, which are in agreement with the simulations well.

To clarify if CCI or FBCI could fully eliminate the influence of curve flexibility on the coronal correction rate.We reviewed medical record of all thoracic curve AIS cases undergoing posterior spinal fusion with all pedicle screw systems from June 2011 to July 2013. Radiographical data was collected and calculated. Student t test, Pearson correlation analysis and linear regression analysis were used to analyze the data.60 were included in this study. The mean age was 14.7 y (10-18 y) with 10 males (17%) and 50 females (83%). The average Risser sign was 2.7. The mean thoracic Cobb angle before operation was 51.9°. The mean bending Cobb angle was 27.6° and the mean fulcrum bending Cobb angle was 17.4°. The mean Cobb angle at 2 week after surgery was 16.3°. The Pearson correlation coefficient r between CCI and BFR was -0.856(P

To use clinically measured reproducibility of volumetric CT (vCT) of lung nodules to estimate error in nodule growth rate in order to determine optimal scan interval for patient follow-up.We performed quantitative vCT on 89 stable non-calcified nodules and 49 calcified nodules measuring 3-13 mm diameter in 71 patients who underwent 3-9 repeat vCT studies for clinical evaluation of pulmonary nodules. Calculated volume standard deviation as a function of mean nodule volume was used to compute error in estimated growth rate. This error was then used to determine the optimal patient follow-up scan interval while fixing the false positive rate at 5%.Linear regression of nodule volume standard deviation versus the mean nodule volume for stable non-calcified nodules yielded a slope of 0.057 ± 0.002 (r2 = 0.79, p

Calcaneal quantitative ultrasound (QUS), which is used in the evaluation of osteoporosis, is believed to be intimately associated with the characteristics of the proximal femur. However, the specific associations of calcaneal QUS with characteristics of the hip sub-regions remain unclear.A cross-sectional assessment of 53 osteoporotic patients was performed for the skeletal status of the heel and hip.We prospectively enrolled 53 female osteoporotic patients with femoral fractures. Calcaneal QUS, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and hip structural analysis (HSA) were performed for each patient. Femoral heads were obtained during the surgery, and principal compressive trabeculae (PCT) were extracted by a three-dimensional printing technique-assisted method. Pearson's correlation between QUS measurement with DXA, HSA-derived parameters and Young's modulus were calculated in order to evaluate the specific association of QUS with the parameters for the hip sub-regions, including the femoral neck, trochanteric and Ward's areas, and the femoral shaft, respectively.Significant correlations were found between estimated BMD (Est.BMD) and BMD of different sub-regions of proximal femur. However, the correlation coefficient of trochanteric area (r = 0.356, p = 0.009) was higher than that of the neck area (r = 0.297, p = 0.031) and total proximal femur (r = 0.291, p = 0.034). Furthermore, the quantitative ultrasound index (QUI) was significantly correlated with the HSA-derived parameters of the trochanteric area (r value: 0.315-0.356, all p

Cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in people who had consumed contaminated meat products from cattle with bovine spongiform encephalopathy emphasize the need for measures aimed at preventing the transmission of the pathogenic prion protein (PrPSc) from materials derived from cattle. Highly stringent scrutiny is required for fetal bovine serum (FBS), a growth-medium supplement used in the production of parenteral vaccines and therapeutic recombinant proteins and in the ex vivo expansion of stem cells for transplantation. One such approach is the implementation of manufacturing steps dedicated to removing PrPSc from materials containing FBS. We evaluated the use of the QyuSpeed D (QSD) adsorbent hollow-fiber anion-exchange chromatographic column (Asahi Kasei Medical, Tokyo, Japan) for the removal of PrPSc from cell culture media supplemented with FBS. We first established that QSD filtration had no adverse effect on the chemical composition of various types of culture media supplemented with 10% FBS or the growth and viability characteristics of human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells, baby hamster kidney (BHK-21) cells, African green monkey kidney (Vero) cells, and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-k1) cells propagated in the various culture-medium filtrates. We used a 0.6-mL QSD column for removing PrPSc from up to 1000 mL of Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium containing 10% FBS previously spiked with the 263K strain of hamster-adapted scrapie. The Western blot analysis, validated alongside an infectivity assay, revealed that the level of PrPSc in the initial 200mL flow-through was reduced by 2.5 to > 3 log10, compared with that of the starting material. These results indicate that QSD filtration removes PrPSc from cell culture media containing 10% FBS, and demonstrate the ease with which QSD filtration can be implemented in at industrial-scale to improve the safety of vaccines, therapeutic recombinant proteins, and ex vivo expanded stem cells produced using growth media supplemented with FBS.

Peanut, a high-oil crop with about 50% oil content, is either crushed for oil or used as edible products. Fatty acid composition determines the oil quality which has high relevance to consumer health, flavor, and shelf life of commercial products. In addition to the major fatty acids, oleic acid (C18:1) and linoleic acid (C18:2) accounting for about 80% of peanut oil, the six other fatty acids namely palmitic acid (C16:0), stearic acid (C18:0), arachidic acid (C20:0), gadoleic acid (C20:1), behenic acid (C22:0), and lignoceric acid (C24:0) are accounted for the rest 20%. To determine the genetic basis and to improve further understanding on effect of FAD2 genes on these fatty acids, two recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations namely S-population (high oleic line 'SunOleic 97R' × low oleic line 'NC94022') and T-population (normal oleic line 'Tifrunner' × low oleic line 'GT-C20') were developed. Genetic maps with 206 and 378 marker loci for the S- and the T-population, respectively were used for quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis. As a result, a total of 164 main-effect (M-QTLs) and 27 epistatic (E-QTLs) QTLs associated with the minor fatty acids were identified with 0.16% to 40.56% phenotypic variation explained (PVE). Thirty four major QTLs (>10% of PVE) mapped on five linkage groups and 28 clusters containing more than three QTLs were also identified. These results suggest that the major QTLs with large additive effects would play an important role in controlling composition of these minor fatty acids in addition to the oleic and linoleic acids in peanut oil. The interrelationship among these fatty acids should be considered while breeding for improved peanut genotypes with good oil quality and desired fatty acid composition.

Treatment of bone metastases usually includes surgical resection with local filling of methotrexate (MTX) in polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) cement. We investigated whether incorporating carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) in MTX-PMMA cement might overcome disadvantages associated with MTX. To determine the optimal CMCS+MTX concentration to suppress the viability of cancer cells, an integrated microfluidic chip culturing highly metastatic lung cancer cells (H460) was employed. The mechanical properties, microstructure, and MTX release of (CMCS+MTX)-PMMA cement were evaluated respectively by universal mechanical testing machine, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and incubation in simulated body fluid with subsequent HPLC-MS. Implants of MTX-PMMA and (CMCS+MTX)-PMMA cement were evaluated in vivo in guinea pig femurs over time using spiral computed tomography with three-dimensional image reconstruction, and SEM at 6 months. Viability of H460 cells was significantly lowest after treatment with 57 μg/mL CMCS + 21 μg/mL MTX, which was thus used in subsequent experiments. Incorporation of 1.6% (w/w) CMCS to MTX-PMMA significantly increased the bending modulus, bending strength, and compressive strength by 5, 2.8, and 5.2%, respectively, confirmed by improved microstructural homogeneity. Incorporation of CMCS delayed the time-to-plateau of MTX release by 2 days, but increased the fraction released at the plateau from 3.24% (MTX-PMMA) to 5.34%. Relative to the controls, the (CMCS+MTX)-PMMA implants integrated better with the host bone. SEM revealed pores in the cement of the (CMCS+MTX)-PMMA implants that were not obvious in the controls. In conclusion, incorporation of CMCS in MTX-PMMA appears a feasible and effective modification for improving the anti-tumor properties of MTX-PMMA cement.

Azathioprine (AZA) is widely used as an immunosuppressive drug in autoimmune diseases, but its use is limited by significant adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) is an important enzyme involved in AZA metabolism. Several clinical guidelines recommend determining TPMT genotype or phenotype before initiating AZA therapy. Although several studies have investigated the association between TPMT polymorphisms and AZA-induced ADRs, the results are inconsistent. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether there is an association between TPMT polymorphisms and AZA-induced ADRs using meta-analysis.We explored PubMed, Web of Science and Embase for articles on TPMT polymorphisms and AZA-induced ADRs. Studies that compared TPMT polymorphisms with-ADRs and without-ADRs in patients with autoimmune diseases were included. Relevant outcome data from all the included articles were extracted and the pooled odds ratios (ORs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using Revman 5.3 software.Eleven published studies, with a total of 651 patients with autoimmune diseases, investigated associations between TPMT polymorphisms and AZA-induced ADRs, were included in this meta-analysis. Our meta-analysis demonstrated that TPMT polymorphisms were significantly associated with AZA-induced overall ADRs, bone marrow toxicity and gastric intolerance; pooled ORs were 3.12 (1.48-6.56), 3.76 (1.97-7.17) and 6.43 (2.04-20.25), respectively. TPMT polymorphisms were not associated with the development of hepatotoxicity; the corresponding pooled OR was 2.86 (95%CI: 0.32-25.86). However, the association in GI subset could be driven by one single study. After this study was excluded, the OR was 2.11 (95%CI: 0.36-12.42); namely, the association became negative.Our meta-analysis demonstrated an association of TPMT polymorphisms with overall AZA-induced ADRs, bone marrow toxicity and gastric intolerance, but not with hepatotoxicity. The presence of the normal TPMT genotypes cannot preclude the development of ADRs during AZA treatment, TPMT genotyping prior to commencing AZA therapy cannot replace, may augment, the current practice of regular monitoring of the white blood cell. Because of small sample sizes, large and extensive exploration was required to validate our findings.