Search

Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have achieved promising performance in the field of deep learning, but the manual design turns out to be very difficult due to the increasingly complex topologies of CNNs. Recently, neural architecture search (NAS) methods have been proposed to automatically design network architectures, which are superior to handcrafted counterparts. Unfortunately, most current NAS methods suffer from either highly computational complexity of generated architectures or limitations in the flexibility of architecture design. To address above issues, this article proposes an evolutionary neural architecture search (ENAS) method based on improved Transformer and multi-branch ConvNet. The multi-branch block enriches the feature space and enhances the representational capacity of a network by combining paths with different complexities. Since convolution is inherently a local operation, a simple yet powerful "batch-free normalization Transformer Block" (BFNTBlock) is proposed to leverage both local information and long-range feature dependencies. In particular, the design of batch-free normalization (BFN) and batch normalization (BN) mixed in the BFNTBlock blocks the accumulation of estimation shift ascribe to the stack of BN, which has favorable effects for performance improvement. The proposed method achieves remarkable accuracies, 97.24 % and 80.06 % on CIFAR10 and CIFAR100, respectively, with high computational efficiency, i.e. only 1.46 and 1.53 GPU days. To validate the universality of our method in application scenarios, the proposed algorithm is verified on two real-world applications, including the GTSRB and NEU-CLS dataset, and achieves a better performance than common methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have achieved promising performance in the field of deep learning, but the manual design turns out to be very difficult due to the increasingly complex topologies of CNNs. Recently, neural architecture search (NAS) methods have been proposed to automatically design network architectures, which are superior to handcrafted counterparts. Unfortunately, most current NAS methods suffer from either highly computational complexity of generated architectures or limitations in the flexibility of architecture design. To address above issues, this article proposes an evolutionary neural architecture search (ENAS) method based on improved Transformer and multi-branch ConvNet. The multi-branch block enriches the feature space and enhances the representational capacity of a network by combining paths with different complexities. Since convolution is inherently a local operation, a simple yet powerful "batch-free normalization Transformer Block" (BFNTBlock) is proposed to leverage both local information and long-range feature dependencies. In particular, the design of batch-free normalization (BFN) and batch normalization (BN) mixed in the BFNTBlock blocks the accumulation of estimation shift ascribe to the stack of BN, which has favorable effects for performance improvement. The proposed method achieves remarkable accuracies, 97.24 % and 80.06 % on CIFAR10 and CIFAR100, respectively, with high computational efficiency, i.e. only 1.46 and 1.53 GPU days. To validate the universality of our method in application scenarios, the proposed algorithm is verified on two real-world applications, including the GTSRB and NEU-CLS dataset, and achieves a better performance than common methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advent of the era of big data, privacy computing analyzes and calculates data on the premise of protecting data privacy, to achieve data 'available and invisible'. As an important branch of secure multi-party computation, the geometric problem can solve practical problems in the military, national defense, finance, life, and other fields, and has important research significance. In this paper, we study the similarity problem of geometric graphics. First, this paper proposes the adjacency matrix vector coding method of isomorphic graphics, and use the Paillier variant encryption cryptography to solve the problem of isomorphic graphics confidentiality under the semi-honest model. Using cryptography tools such as elliptic curve cryptosystem, zero-knowledge proof, and cut-choose method, this paper designs a graphic similarity security decision protocol that can resist malicious adversary attacks. The analysis shows that the protocol has high computational efficiency and has wide application value in terrain matching, mechanical parts, biomolecules, face recognition, and other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to global warming, global and regional extreme precipitation events occur frequently, causing severe drought and flood disasters. This has a significant impact on productivity and human life. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the characteristics of extreme precipitation and its spatiotemporal variation. In this study, we investigate the dominant variation patterns of extreme precipitation (EP), which is characterized by indices, and also analyze its potential causes in the Shandong province of China during 1961–2015 using the daily precipitation data from 123 metrological stations. The results show that there has been a dry trend in the Shandong Province in the past 55 years, that is, with the decrease in precipitation, most of the extreme precipitation index has basically showed a downward trend to varying degrees. In particular, the increase in the number of consecutive dry days (CDD) and the decrease in the number of consecutive wet days (CWD) can better explain the drought in this region. After the 1980s, the extreme precipitation index basically showed an upward trend to varying degrees, indicating that extreme precipitation events have shown an increasing trend in recent years. The spatial distribution of each extreme precipitation index generally increased from north to south. The mutation of each extreme precipitation index occurred in the 1970s and 1990s, and there was a main period of 0.9–2.2 years. In terms of influencing factors, the NINO3 area can be used as the critical sea area for the response of extreme precipitation to SSTAs in the Shandong Province. The research results are helpful to understand the temporal and spatial variations of extreme precipitation and have very important reference value for the prediction of and response to climate change and extreme events in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Posttraumatic ankle osteoarthritis (OA) represents a significant challenge to orthopedic surgeons, especially in cases of anterior talar translation and concomitant impaction of the anterior distal tibial plafond. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of an intra-articular osteotomy for the management of these patients. A total of 21 patients meeting our criteria were retrospectively reviewed. Sixteen patients sustained initial pilon fractures, while five patients had Weber type C ankle fractures. Anterior distal tibial plafond-plasty was performed to address the impaction and anterior translation of the talus. The American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) hindfoot score and visual analog scale (VAS) score were utilized as clinical outcomes. The lateral talar station (LTS), tibial lateral surface (TLS) angle, tibial anterior surface angle and talocrural angle were evaluated pre- and postoperatively. The modified Kellgren-Lawrence score was used for the evaluation of sagittal ankle OA. The average age at surgery was 35 years, and the average follow-up duration was 34 months. The AOFAS hindfoot score increased from 26 to 71 (p < 0.01), and the VAS score improved from 7 to 2 (p < 0.01). The LTS improved from 9.0 to 2.3 mm (p < 0.01), and the TLS angle improved from 72° to 81° (p < 0.01). Of the 21 patients, 18 showed improvement in or no worsening of ankle OA on the sagittal plane, while 3 developed advanced ankle OA. A congruent ankle joint on the sagittal plane could be achieved by anterior distal tibial plafond-plasty. This is a valuable treatment option for the salvage of posttraumatic ankle OA with anterior translation of the talus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Affiliation 2: State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, School of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China. Correction to: I Scientific Reports i https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-04905-9, published online 17 January 2022 In the original version of this Article, Affiliation 1 and 2 were not listed in the correct order. [Extracted from the article]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignancy with poor survival and requires long-term follow-up. Hence, we collected information on patients with Primary Hepatocellular Carcinoma in the United States from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and EndResults (SEER) database. We used this information to establish a deep learning with a multilayer neural network (the NMTLR model) for predicting the survival rate of patients with Primary Hepatocellular Carcinoma. HCC patients pathologically diagnosed between January 2011 and December 2015 in the SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) database of the National Cancer Institute of the United States were selected as study subjects. We utilized two deep learning-based algorithms (DeepSurv and Neural Multi-Task Logistic Regression [NMTLR]) and a machine learning-based algorithm (Random Survival Forest [RSF]) for model training. A multivariable Cox Proportional Hazards (CoxPH) model was also constructed for comparison. The dataset was randomly divided into a training set and a test set in a 7:3 ratio. The training dataset underwent hyperparameter tuning through 1000 iterations of random search and fivefold cross-validation. Model performance was assessed using the concordance index (C-index), Brier score, and Integrated Brier Score (IBS). The accuracy of predicting 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year survival rates was evaluated using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves, calibration plots, and Area Under the Curve (AUC). The primary outcomes were the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year overall survival rates. Models were developed using DeepSurv, NMTLR, RSF, and Cox Proportional Hazards regression. Model differentiation was evaluated using the C-index, calibration with concordance plots, and risk stratification capability with the log-rank test. The study included 2197 HCC patients, randomly divided into a training cohort (70%, n = 1537) and a testing cohort (30%, n = 660). Clinical characteristics between the two cohorts showed no significant statistical difference (p > 0.05). The deep learning models outperformed both RSF and CoxPH models, with C-indices of 0.735 (NMTLR) and 0.731 (DeepSurv) in the test dataset. The NMTLR model demonstrated enhanced accuracy and well-calibrated survival estimates, achieving an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.824 for 1-year survival predictions, 0.813 for 3-year, and 0.803 for 5-year survival rates. This model's superior calibration and discriminative ability enhance its utility for clinical prognostication in Primary Hepatocellular Carcinoma. We deployed the NMTLR model as a web application for clinical practice. The NMTLR model have potential advantages over traditional linear models in prognostic assessment and treatment recommendations. This novel analytical approach may provide reliable information on individual survival and treatment recommendations for patients with primary liver cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and its incidence increases with sepsis. However, data on new-onset AF during sepsis hospitalization remain limited in China. We aimed to evaluate the incidence, risk factors, and associated mortality of new-onset AF in sepsis patients in China. We conducted a retrospective study using the National Data Center for Medical Service system, from 1923 tertiary and 2363 secondary hospitals from 31 provinces in China from 2017 to 2019.In total we included 1,425,055 sepsis patients ≥ 18 years without prior AF. The incidence of new-onset AF was 1.49%. Older age, male sex, hypertension, heart failure, coronary disease, valvular disease, and mechanical ventilation were independent risk factor. New-onset AF was associated with a slight increased risk of mortality (adjusted RR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01–1.06). Population attributable fraction suggested AF accounted for 0.2% of sepsis deaths. In this large nationwide cohort, new-onset AF occurred in 1.49% of sepsis admissions and was associated with a small mortality increase. Further research should examine whether optimized AF management can improve sepsis outcomes in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is a crucial clinical practice that improves pharmacological effectiveness and prevent severe drug-related adverse events. Timely reporting and intervention of critical values during TDM are essential for patient safety. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the laboratory data to provide an overview of the incidence, distribution pattern and biochemical correlates of critical values during TDM. A total of 19,110 samples were tested for nine drug concentrations between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020. Of these, 241 critical values were identified in 165 patients. The most common critical values were vancomycin trough (63.4%), followed by tacrolimus trough (16.9%) and digoxin (15.2%). The primary sources of drug critical values were the department of general intensive care unit (ICU), cardiology, and surgery ICU. At baseline or the time of critical value, significant differences were found between the vancomycin, digoxin, and tacrolimus groups in terms of blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, N-terminal Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide (NT-proBNP), and lymphocyte percentage, P < 0.05. Therefore, it is important to prioritize and closely monitor drug concentrations to reduce laboratory critical values during TDM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthetic oxytocin is the current domestic first-line agent of induced labor and labor augmentation, and its potential effects on neonatal neurobehavioral development is currently attracting increased attention. To explore the effect of different doses of synthetic oxytocin on neonatal instinctive breastfeeding behavior and breastfeeding by observing neonatal behaviors during skin-to-skin contact with mothers after delivery. Observations and comparisons of neonatal instinctive behaviors were conducted by using Widström's 9 Stages method. According to the total dosage of oxytocin administered during labor, participants were divided into a low dose group (≤ 2.5 U) of 39 pairs, a medium dose group (> 2.5 U) of 38 pairs, a high dose group (> 7.5 U) of 38 pairs and a control group (no synthetic oxytocin use) of 39 pairs. The occurrence time of newborns' instinctive movements and the duration of each behavior stage for the four groups were also analyzed. The number of exclusive breastfeeding sessions within 3 days after birth and the rate of exclusive breastfeeding at 3 months were collected and compared. There were significant differences among the four groups in the occurrence time of raising head or turning head (p = 0.004), eating hands (p = 0.011), moving body (p = 0.001), locating areola (p < 0.001), licking nipples (p = 0.002), containing nipple (p = 0.001), sucking (p < 0.001). There were significant differences among the four groups in the duration of activity (p = 0.004), clawing (p = 0.001), familiarization (p = 0.001), and sucking (p < 0.001). There was also a significant difference in the number of exclusive breastfeeding sessions of 24 h (p = 0.011), 48 h (p < 0.001), 72 h (p = 0.001) after birth among the four groups, but there was no statistical difference in the rate of exclusive breastfeeding at 3 months after birth. The intrapartum administration of synthetic oxytocin was associated with the expression of neonatal instinctive breastfeeding. With increases in drug dose, the effect of breast seeking activity and breast attachment was more significant, and the association of synthetic oxytocin on sucking and breastfeeding was dose-dependent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypoalbuminemia is associated with poor outcome in patients undergoing surgery intervention. The main aim for this study was to investigate the incidence and the risk factors of postoperative hypoalbuminemia and assessed the impact of postoperative hypoalbuminemia on complications in patients undergoing brain tumor surgery. This retrospective study included 372 consecutive patients who underwent brain tumors surgery from January 2017 to December 2019. The patients were divided into hypoalbuminemia (< 35 g/L) and non-hypoalbuminemia group (≥ 35 g/L) based on postoperative albumin levels. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine risk factors. Of the total 372 patients, 333 (89.5%) developed hypoalbuminemia after surgery. Hypoalbuminemia was associated with operation time (OR 1.011, P < 0.001), preoperative albumin (OR 0.864, P = 0.015) and peroperative globulin (OR 1.192, P = 0.004). Postoperative pulmonary imaging abnormalities had a higher incidence in patients with than without hypoalbuminemia (41.1% vs 23.1%, P = 0.029). The independent predictors of postoperative pulmonary imaging abnormalities were age (OR 1.053, P < 0.001), operation time (OR 1.003, P = 0.013) and lower postoperative albumin (OR 0.946, P = 0.018). Pulmonary imaging abnormalities [OR 19.862 (95% CI 2.546–154.936, P = 0.004)] was a novel independent predictors of postoperative pneumonia. Postoperative hypoalbuminemia has a higher incidence with the increase of operation time, and may be associated with postoperative complications in patients undergoing brain tumor surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fused silica with structured and continuous patterns is increasingly demanded in advanced imaging and illumination fields because of its excellent properties and functional performance. Atmospheric pressure plasma, based on pure chemical etching under atmospheric pressure, is developed as a promising fabrication technique for fused silica due to its deterministic high material removal rate, controllable removal imprint and no mechanical load. The stable and controllable Gaussian-shape removal function makes computer-controlled plasma tool potential to generate complex structures with high accuracy, efficiency and flexibility. In the paper, computer-controlled atmospheric pressure plasma structuring (APPS) is proposed to fabricate 2D/3D patterns on fused silica optics. The capacitively coupled APPS system with a double-layer plasma torch and its discharge characteristics are firstly developed. By means of multi-physics simulation and process investigation, the stable and controllable Gaussian-shape removal function can be achieved. Two different structuring modes, including discrete and continuous APPS, are explored for 2D/3D patterns. A series of structuring experiments show that different kinds of 2D patterns (including square lens array, hexagon lens array and groove array) as well as complex 3D phase plate patterns have been successfully fabricated, which validates the effectiveness of the proposed APPS of 2D/3D patterns on fused silica optics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine microplastics are emerging as a growing environmental concern due to their potential harm to marine biota. The substantial variations in their physical and chemical properties pose a significant challenge when it comes to sampling and characterizing small-sized microplastics. In this study, we introduce a novel microfluidic approach that simplifies the trapping and identification process of microplastics in surface seawater, eliminating the need for labeling. We examine various models, including support vector machine, random forest, convolutional neural network (CNN), and residual neural network (ResNet34), to assess their performance in identifying 11 common plastics. Our findings reveal that the CNN method outperforms the other models, achieving an impressive accuracy of 93% and a mean area under the curve of 98 ± 0.02%. Furthermore, we demonstrate that miniaturized devices can effectively trap and identify microplastics smaller than 50 µm. Overall, this proposed approach facilitates efficient sampling and identification of small-sized microplastics, potentially contributing to crucial long-term monitoring and treatment efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adrenomedullin (ADM) is a multi-functional peptide related to many kinds of tumors. This study was aimed to investigate the role of ADM on angiogenesis in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and its possible mechanism. The expressions of ADM, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and CD34 were examined by immunohistochemistry staining. The relationship among ADM, HIF-1α, VEGF and micro-vessel density (MVD) was assessed in 56 EOC tissues. CAOV3 cells were stably transfected with pcDNA-ADM (plasmid overexpressing ADM gene) or pRNA-shADM (small interfering RNA for ADM gene). Real-time PCR and western blot analysis were performed to detect the expressions of HIF-1α and VEGF. The MTT, transwell migration assay and in vitro tube formation analysis were used to evaluate the proliferation, migration, and tube formation ability of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) which were pretreated with ADM or ADM receptor antagonist ADM22-52. Our findings showed that ADM expression was positively correlated with the expressions of HIF-1α, VEGF or MVD in EOC. ADM upregulated expression of HIF-1α and VEGF in CAOV3 cells. ADM promoted HUVECs proliferation, migration and tube formation. In conclusion, ADM was an upstream molecule of HIF-1α/VEGF and it promoted angiogenesis through upregulating HIF-1α/VEGF in EOC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low cell engraftment after transplantation limits the successful application of stem cell therapy and the exact pathway leading to acute donor cell death following transplantation is still unknown. Here we investigated if processes involved in cell preparation could initiate downregulation of adhesion-related survival signals, and further affect cell engraftment after transplantation. Human embryonic stem cell-derived endothelial cells (hESC-ECs) were suspended in PBS or Matrigel and kept at 4 °C. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis was used to test the adhesion and apoptosis genes' expression of hESC-ECs. We demonstrated that cell detachment can cause downregulation of cell adhesion and extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules, but no obvious cell anoikis, a form of apoptosis after cell detachment, was observed. The downregulation of adhesion and ECM molecules could be regained in the presence of Matrigel. Finally, we transplanted hESC-ECs into a mouse myocardial ischemia model. When transplanted with Matrigel, the long-term engraftment of hESC-ECs was increased through promoting angiogenesis and inhibiting apoptosis, and this was confirmed by bioluminescence imaging. In conclusion, ECM could rescue the functional genes expression after cell detached from culture dish, and this finding highlights the importance of increasing stem cell engraftment by mimicking stem cell niches through ECM application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Layers of genome organization are becoming increasingly better characterized, but less is known about how these structures respond to perturbation or shape changes. Low-salt swelling of isolated chromatin fibers or nuclei has been used for decades to investigate the structural properties of chromatin. But, visible changes in chromatin appearance have not been linked to known building blocks of genome structure or features along the genome sequence. We combine low-salt swelling of isolated nuclei with genome-wide chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) and imaging approaches to probe the effects of chromatin extension genome-wide. Photoconverted patterns on nuclei during expansion and contraction indicate that global genome structure is preserved after dramatic nuclear volume swelling, suggesting a highly elastic chromosome topology. Hi-C experiments before, during, and after nuclear swelling show changes in average contact probabilities at short length scales, reflecting the extension of the local chromatin fiber. But, surprisingly, during this large increase in nuclear volume, there is a striking maintenance of loops, TADs, active and inactive compartments, and chromosome territories. Subtle differences after expansion are observed, suggesting that the local chromatin state, protein interactions, and location in the nucleus can affect how strongly a given structure is maintained under stress. From these observations, we propose that genome topology is robust to extension of the chromatin fiber and isotropic shape change, and that this elasticity may be beneficial in physiological circumstances of changes in nuclear size and volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tumor burden (TB) is significantly related to the severity of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) caused by CAR-T cells, but its correlation with therapeutic efficacy has not been systematically studied. This study focused on the effects of the TB level on both the safety and efficacy of ssCART-19 as a treatment for r/r B-ALL. Taking the 5% tumor burden as the boundary, the study participants were divided into 2 groups, high and low tumor burden groups. Under this grouping strategy, the impacts of differential r/r B-ALL TBs on the clinical therapeutic efficacy (CR rate and long-term survival) and safety profiles after ssCART-19 cell treatment were analysed. 78 patients were reported in this study. The differential B-ALL TBs significantly affected the complete remission (CR) rates of patients treated with ssCART-19, with rates of 93.94% and 75.56% in the low and high TB groups, respectively (P = 0.0358). The effects of TBs on long-term therapeutic efficacy were further studied based on event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) profiles; both the OS and EFS of the low TB group were better than those of the high TB group, but the differences were not statistically significant. Importantly, the time points of TB measurement did not significantly affect the OS and EFS profiles regardless of whether the TBs were measured before or after fludarabine-cyclophosphamide (FC) preconditional chemotherapy. On the other hand, the severity of CRS was significantly correlated with the TB level (P = 0.0080), and the incidence of sCRS was significantly related to the TB level (the sCRS incidence increased as the TB level increased, P = 0.0224). Unexpectedly, the ssCART-19 cell expansion peaks were not significantly different (P = 0.2951) between the study groups. Patients with a low r/r B-ALL TB yield more net benefits from CAR-T treatment than those with a high TB in terms of safety and CR rate. These findings are critical and valuable for determining the optimal CAR-T cell treatment window for r/r B-ALL patients and will further the development of comprehensive and reasonable CAR-T cell treatment plans for r/r B-ALL patients with differential TBs. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT03919240. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though widely used to assess pathological scars, the modified Vancouver Scar Scale (mVSS) is neither convenient nor objective. Shear wave elastography (SWE) is used to evaluate the stiffness of pathological scars. We aimed to determine the correlation between mVSS score and elastic modulus (EM) measured by SWE for pathological scars. Clinical information including ultrasound (US) results of the enrolled patients with pathological scars was analyzed. The clinical severity of the pathological scars was evaluated by mVSS. Skin stiffness, as represented by EM, was calculated using SWE. The average EM of the whole scar (EMWHOLE), hardest part of the scar (EMHARDEST), and normal appearance of the skin around the scar (EMNORMAL) were also recorded. Enrolled in this study were 69 pathological scars, including 28 hypertrophic scars and 41 keloids. The univariable regression analyses showed that the EM of pathological scars was closely related to mVSS score, while the linear multivariable regression analyses showed no significantly correlation. Curve fitting and threshold effect analysis revealed that when EMWHOLE was less than 166.6 kPa or EMHARDEST was less than 133.07 kPa, EM was positively correlated with mVSS score. In stratified analysis, there was no significant linear correlation and threshold effect between EMWHOLE and mVSS score in hypertrophic scars or keloids. However, the fully adjusted smooth curves presented a linear association between mVSS score and EMHARDEST in keloids (the adjusted β [95% CI] was 0.010 [0.001, 0.018]), but a threshold and nonlinear association were found in hypertrophic scars. When EMHARDEST was less than 156.13 kPa, the mVSS score increased along with the hardest scar part stiffness; the adjusted β (95% CI) was 0.024 (0.009, 0.038). In conclusion, EM of pathological scars measured by SWE were correlated with mVSS within a threshold range, and showed different association patterns in hypertrophic scars and keloids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of overweight and obesity amongst reproductive women has been increasing worldwide. Our aim was to compare pregnancy outcomes and infant neurocognitive development by different BMI classifications and investigate whether early pregnancy BMI was associated with risks of adverse outcomes in a Southwest Chinese population. We analysed data from 1273 women enrolled in the Complex Lipids in Mothers and Babies (CLIMB) randomized controlled trial in Chongqing, China. Maternal BMI was classified as underweight, normal weight and overweight/obese according to the Chinese, WHO Asian, and WHO European standards. For the adverse pregnancy outcomes, after adjustment for potential confounders, an underweight BMI was associated with increased risk of small for gestational age (SGA) babies, and an overweight/obese BMI was associated with increased risk of maternal gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), caesarean section (C-section), macrosomia and large for gestational age (LGA) babies. For infant neurocognitive development, 1017 mothers and their children participated; no significant differences were seen in the Mental Development Index (MDI) or the Psychomotor Development Index (PDI) between the three BMI groups. Our findings demonstrate that abnormal early pregnancy BMI were associated with increased risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes in Chinese women, while early pregnancy BMI had no significant influence on the infant neurocognitive development at 12 months of age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterologous expression is the main approach for recombinant protein production ingenetic synthesis, for which codon optimization is necessary. The existing optimization methods are based on biological indexes. In this paper, we propose a novel codon optimization method based on deep learning. First, we introduce the concept of codon boxes, via which DNA sequences can be recoded into codon box sequences while ignoring the order of bases. Then, the problem of codon optimization can be converted to sequence annotation of corresponding amino acids with codon boxes. The codon optimization models for Escherichia Coli were trained by the Bidirectional Long-Short-Term Memory Conditional Random Field. Theoretically, deep learning is a good method to obtain the distribution characteristics of DNA. In addition to the comparison of the codon adaptation index, protein expression experiments for plasmodium falciparum candidate vaccine and polymerase acidic protein were implemented for comparison with the original sequences and the optimized sequences from Genewiz and ThermoFisher. The results show that our method for enhancing protein expression is efficient and competitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thus far, there have been no reports on the molecular characterization and antiapoptotic function of the DPV Us5 gene. To perform molecular characterization of DPV Us5, RT-PCR and pharmacological inhibition tests were used to ascertain the kinetic class of the Us5 gene. Western blotting and an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) were used to analyze the expression level and subcellular localization of Us5 in infected cells at different time points. Us5 in purified DPV virions was identified by mass spectrometry. The results of RT-PCR, Western blotting, and pharmacological inhibition tests revealed that Us5 is transcribed mainly in the late stage of viral replication. The IFA results revealed that Us5 was localized throughout DPV-infected cells but was localized only to the cytoplasm of transfected cells. Mass spectrometry and Western blot analysis showed that Us5 was a virion component. Next, to study the antiapoptotic function of DPV Us5, we found that DPV CHv without gJ could induce more apoptosis cells than DPV-CHv BAC and rescue virus. we constructed a model of apoptosis in duck embryo fibroblasts (DEFs) induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Transfected cells expressing the Us5 gene were protected from apoptosis induced by H2O2, as measured by a TUNEL assay, a caspase activation assay and Flow Cytometry assay. The TUNEL assay and Flow Cytometry assay results showed that the recombinant plasmid pCAGGS-Us5 could inhibit apoptosis induced by H2O2 in DEF cells. However, caspase-3/7 and caspase-9 protein activity upregulated by H2O2 was significantly reduced in cells expressing the recombinant plasmid pCAGGS-Us5. Overall, these results show that the DPV Us5 gene is a late gene and that the Us5 protein is a component of the virion, is localized in the cytoplasm, and can inhibit apoptosis induced by H2O2 in DEF cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acrylamide (AA)-induced toxicity has been associated with accumulation of excessive reactive oxygen species. The present study was therefore undertaken to investigate the protective effect of blackberry digests produced after (BBD) in vitro gastrointestinal (GI) digestion against AA-induced oxidative damage. The results indicated that the BBD (0.5 mg/mL) pretreatment significantly suppressed AA-induced intracellular ROS generation (56.6 ± 2.9% of AA treatment), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) decrease (297 ± 18% of AA treatment) and glutathione (GSH) depletion (307 ± 23% of AA treatment), thereby ameliorating cytotoxicity. Furthermore, LC/MS/MS analysis identified eight phenolic compounds with high contents in BBD, including ellagic acid, ellagic acid pentoside, ellagic acid glucuronoside, methyl-ellagic acid pentoside, methyl-ellagic acid glucuronoside, cyanidin glucoside, gallic acid and galloyl esters, as primary active compounds responsible for antioxidant action. Collectively, our study uncovered that the protective effect of blackberry was reserved after gastrointestinal digestion in combating exogenous pollutant-induced oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High internal efficiency and high temperature stability ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) at 308 nm were achieved using high density (2.5 × 109 cm-2) GaN/AlN quantum dots (QDs) grown by MOVPE. Photoluminescence shows the characteristic behaviors of QDs: nearly constant linewidth and emission energy, and linear dependence of the intensity with varying excitation power. More significantly, the radiative recombination was found to dominant from 15 to 300 K, with a high internal quantum efficiency of 62% even at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report localised-surface-plasmon (LSP) enhanced deep-ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (deep-UV LEDs) using Al nanoparticles for LSP coupling. Polygonal Al nanoparticles were fabricated on the top surfaces of the deep-UV LEDs using the oblique-angle deposition method. Both the top- and bottom-emission electroluminescence of deep-UV LEDs with 279 nm multiple-quantum-well emissions can be effectively enhanced by the coupling with the LSP generated in the Al nanoparticles. The primary bottom-emission wavelength is longer than the primary top-emission wavelength. This difference in wavelength can be attributed to the substrate-induced Fano resonance effect. For resonance modes with shorter wavelengths, the radiation fraction directed back into the LEDs is largest in the direction that is nearly parallel to the surface of the device and results in total reflection and re-absorption in the LEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aggravating effects of zero-dimensional, particle-shaped nanomaterials on allergic asthma have been previously investigated, but similar possible effects of one-dimensional shaped nanomaterials have not been reported. More importantly, there are no available means to counteract the adverse nanomaterial effects to allow for their safe use. In this study, an ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized rat asthma model was established to investigate whether single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) aggravate allergic asthma. The results showed that SWCNTs in rats exacerbated OVA-induced allergic asthma and that this exacerbation was counteracted by concurrent administration vitamin E. A mechanism involving the elimination of reactive oxygen species, downregulation of Th2 responses, reduced Ig production, and the relief of allergic asthma symptoms was proposed to explain the antagonistic effects of vitamin E. This work could provide a universal strategy to effectively protect people with allergic asthma from SWCNTs or similar nanomaterial-induced aggravating effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report localised-surface-plasmon (LSP) enhanced deep-ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (deep-UV LEDs) using Al nanoparticles for LSP coupling. Polygonal Al nanoparticles were fabricated on the top surfaces of the deep-UV LEDs using the oblique-angle deposition method. Both the top- and bottom-emission electroluminescence of deep-UV LEDs with 279 nm multiple-quantum-well emissions can be effectively enhanced by the coupling with the LSP generated in the Al nanoparticles. The primary bottom-emission wavelength is longer than the primary top-emission wavelength. This difference in wavelength can be attributed to the substrate-induced Fano resonance effect. For resonance modes with shorter wavelengths, the radiation fraction directed back into the LEDs is largest in the direction that is nearly parallel to the surface of the device and results in total reflection and re-absorption in the LEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is frequently accompanied by a degree of spontaneous functional recovery. The underlying mechanisms through which such recovery is generated remain elusive. In this study, we observed a significant spontaneous motor function recovery 14 to 28 days after spinal cord transection (SCT) in rats. Using a comparative proteomics approach, caudal to the injury, we detected difference in 20 proteins. Two of these proteins, are eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A1 (eIF5A1) that is involved in cell survival and proliferation, and Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor alpha (RhoGDIα), a member of Rho GDI family that is involved in cytoskeletal reorganization. After confirming the changes in expression levels of these two proteins following SCT, we showed that in vivo eIF5A1 up-regulation and down-regulation significantly increased and decreased, respectively, motor function recovery. In vitro, eIF5A1 overexpression in primary neurons increased cell survival and elongated neurite length while eIF5A1 knockdown reversed these results. We found that RhoGDIα up-regulation and down-regulation rescues the effect of eIF5A1 down-regulation and up-regulation both in vivo and in vitro. Therefore, we have identified eIF5A1/RhoGDIα pathway as a new therapeutic target for treatment of spinal cord injured patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between OSA and adenotonsillar size in children of different weight status. A total of 451 patients aged 2–13 years with suspected OSA were retrospectively enrolled in the study. Correlations between the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and adenotonsillar size in different weight status were investigated. The adenoidal/nasopharyngeal (A/N) ratio of underweight children was significantly higher than that of normal-weight children (P = 0.027). Both adenoid and tonsil size were positively correlated with logAHI in children of normal weight (r = 0.210, P = 0.001; and r = 0.212, P = 0.001) but uncorrelated in the other groups. Gender (OR = 1.49, 95% CI: 1.01–2.20, P = 0.043), obese (OR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.10–3.40, P = 0.012), A/N ratio (OR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.28–1.88, P < 0.001) and tonsil size (OR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.18–1.57, P < 0.001) were all associated with the severity of OSA. Adenotonsillar hypertrophy contributed to OSA in normal-weight children. In children of abnormal weight, instead of treatment for adenotonsillar hypertrophy, appropriate treatments for other factors are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of unwinding and renaturation of DNA has been widely used in studies of nucleotide sequence organization. Compared with traditional methods for DNA unwinding and renaturation, the label-free and non-destruction detection technology is significant and desiderated. We realized an optical system based on optical rotation via weak measurement for detection of single- and double-strand state of DNA. The optical rotation, which was induced by the status change of single and double DNA strands, was exploited to modulate the preselected polarization of a weak measurement system. With this modulation, the optical rotation caused by the separation of DNA strands can be determined through the center wavelength shift of the output spectrum. By monitoring the wavelength shift in real time, the separation processes of the DNAs with different base ratio (25% and 70%) and length (4nt and 40nt), and DNAs with three terminally modified cholesterol molecules were experimentally explored in varied pH and temperature conditions. In addition, the detection limit of the DNA concentration was obtained to be 5 × 10−6 mol/L. Our work based on optical rotation detection of single- and double-strand DNA exhibits the unique advantages of real-time monitoring, label-free, non-destruction and simplicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biological network alignment aims to discover important similarities and differences and thus find a mapping between topological and/or functional components of different biological molecular networks. Then, the mapped components can be considered to correspond to both their places in the network topology and their biological attributes. Development and evolution of biological network alignment methods has been accelerated by the rapidly increasing availability of such biological networks, yielding a repertoire of tens of methods based upon graph theory. However, most biological processes, especially the metabolic reactions, are more sophisticated than simple pairwise interactions and contain three or more participating components. Such multi-lateral relations are not captured by graphs, and computational methods to overcome this limitation are currently lacking. This paper introduces hypergraphs and association hypergraphs to describe metabolic networks and their potential alignments, respectively. Within this framework, metabolic networks are aligned by identifying the maximal Z-eigenvalue of a symmetric tensor. A shifted higher-order power method was utilized to identify a solution. A rotational strategy has been introduced to accelerate the tensor-vector product by 250-fold on average and reduce the storage cost by up to 1,000-fold. The algorithm was implemented on a spark-based distributed computation cluster to significantly increase the convergence rate further by 50- to 80-fold. The parameters have been explored to understand their impact on alignment accuracy and speed. In particular, the influence of initial value selection on the stationary point has been simulated to ensure an accurate approximation of the global optimum. This framework was demonstrated by alignments among the genome-wide metabolic networks of Escherichia coli MG-1655 and Halophilic archaeon DL31. To our knowledge, this is the first genome-wide metabolic network alignment at both the metabolite level and the enzyme level. These results demonstrate that it can supply quite a few valuable insights into metabolic networks. First, this method can access the driving force of organic reactions through the chemical evolution of metabolic network. Second, this method can incorporate the chemical information of enzymes and structural changes of compounds to offer new way defining reaction class and module, such as those in KEGG. Third, as a vertex-focused treatment, this method can supply novel structural and functional annotation for ill-defined molecules. The related source code is available on request. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BAP31 is a ubiquitously expressed endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane protein. The functions of BAP31 in the immune system have not been investigated due to the lack of animal models. Therefore we created a BAP31 conditional knockdown mouse by performing a knockdown of BAP31 in the thymus. In doing so, we demonstrate that the maturation of T cells is normal but the number of T cells is less in the thymus of the knockout mouse. In addition, the spleen and lymph nodes of peripheral immune organs contained a lesser proportion of the mature T cells in the thymus specific BAP31 knockout mice. The BAP31 knockout T cells decreased the proliferation activated by TCR signal pathways. Further studies clarified that BAP31 affects the phosphorylation levels of both Zap70/Lck/Lat of the upstream members and Akt/GSK/Jnk/Erk of the downstream members of TCR signal pathways. Furthermore, BAP31 can regulate the expression of some markers such as CD3/TCRα/TCRβ and some cytokines like IL-2/IFN-γ/IL-6/TNF-α which are important for T cell activation. Taken together, these results demonstrate that BAP31 may play an important role in T cell activation by regulating TCR signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant advances have been achieved in the outcomes of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) after both HLA-matched sibling donor transplants (MSDT) and non-MSDT, the latter including HLA-matched unrelated donor (MUDT) and haplo-identical donor transplants (HIDT). In this retrospective study, we analyzed the data of 85 consecutive patients with MDS who received allogeneic HSCT between Dec 2007 and Apr 2014 in our center. These patients comprised 38 (44.7%) who received MSDT, 29 (34.1%) MUDT, and 18 (21.2%) HIDT. The median overall survival (OS) was 60.2 months, the probabilities of OS being 63%, 57%, and 48%, at the first, second, and fifth year, respectively. Median OS post-transplant (OSPT) was 57.2 months, the probabilities of OSPT being 58%, 55%, and 48% at the first, second, and fifth year, respectively. The survival of patients receiving non-MSDT was superior to that of MSDT, median OSPT being 84.0 months and 23.6 months, respectively (P = 0.042); the findings for OS were similar (P = 0.028). We also found that using ATG in conditioning regimens significantly improved survival after non-MSDT, with better OS and OSPT (P = 0.016 and P = 0.025). These data suggest that using ATG in conditioning regimens may improve the survival of MDS patients after non-MSDT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our previous studies demonstrated that volatile oil from saussurea lappa root (VOSL), rich in two natural sesquiterpene lactones, costunolide (Cos) and dehydrocostuslactone (Dehy), exerts better anti-breast cancer efficacy and lower side effects than Cos or Dehy alone in vivo, however, their anti-cancer molecular mechanisms were still unknown. In this study, we investigated the underlying mechanisms of Cos and Dehy combination treatment (CD) on breast cancer cells through proteomics technology coupled with Western blot validation. Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (IPA) results based on the differentially expressed proteins revealed that both VOSL and CD affect the 14-3-3-mediated signaling, c-Myc mediated apoptosis signaling and protein kinase A (PKA) signaling. Western blot coupled with cell cycle and apoptosis analysis validated the results of proteomics analysis. Cell cycle arrest and apoptosis were induced in a dose-dependent manner, and the expressions of p53 and p-14-3-3 were significantly up-regulated, whereas the expressions of c-Myc, p-AKT, p-BID were significantly down-regulated, furthermore, the ratio of BAX/BCL-2 were significantly increased in breast cancer cells after CD and VOSL treatment. The findings indicated that VOSL and CD could induce breast cancer cell cycle arrest and apoptosis through c-Myc/p53 and AKT/14-3-3 signaling pathways and may be novel effective candidates for breast cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein acetylation catalyzed by specific histone acetyltransferases (HATs) is an essential post-translational modification (PTM) and involved in the regulation a broad spectrum of biological processes in eukaryotes. Although several ten thousands of acetylation sites have been experimentally identified, the upstream HATs for most of the sites are unclear. Thus, the identification of HAT-specific acetylation sites is fundamental for understanding the regulatory mechanisms of protein acetylation. In this work, we first collected 702 known HAT-specific acetylation sites of 205 proteins from the literature and public data resources, and a motif-based analysis demonstrated that different types of HATs exhibit similar but considerably distinct sequence preferences for substrate recognition. Using 544 human HAT-specific sites for training, we constructed a highly useful tool of GPS-PAIL for the prediction of HAT-specific sites for up to seven HATs, including CREBBP, EP300, HAT1, KAT2A, KAT2B, KAT5 and KAT8. The prediction accuracy of GPS-PAIL was critically evaluated, with a satisfying performance. Using GPS-PAIL, we also performed a large-scale prediction of potential HATs for known acetylation sites identified from high-throughput experiments in nine eukaryotes. Both online service and local packages were implemented, and GPS-PAIL is freely available at: http://pail.biocuckoo.org. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the adverse impact of DDTs on ecosystems and humans, a full fate assessment deems a comprehensive study on their occurrence in soils over a large region. Through a sampling campaign across China, we measured the concentrations, enantiomeric fractions (EFs), compound-specific carbon isotope composition of DDT and its metabolites, and the microbial community in related arable soils. The geographically total DDT concentrations are higher in eastern than western China. The EFs and δ13C of o,p'-DDT in soils from western China show smaller deviations from those of racemic/standard compound, indicating the DDT residues there mainly result from atmospheric transport. However, the sources of DDT in eastern China are mainly from historic application of technical DDTs and dicofol. The inverse dependence of o,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDE on temperature evidences the transformation of parent DDT to its metabolites. Initial usage, abiotic parameters and microbial communities are found to be the main factors influencing the migration and transformation of DDT isomers and their metabolites in soils. In addition, a prediction equation of DDT concentrations in soils based on stepwise multiple regression analysis is developed. Results from this study offer insights into the migration and transformation pathways of DDTs in Chinese arable soils, which will allow data-based risk assessment on their use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]