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High-power microwave (HPM) antenna, one of the key subsystems in the HPM system, is used for HPM radiation. Its performance is partly determined by the impulse responses of reflector materials under HPM. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the impulse response characteristics of reflector materials under HPM. Instead of the traditional waveguide cavity, this study was based on the double elliptical reflector system with an open boundary. By using this system, the impulse response of reflector materials was measured, and the response of reflector materials of multiple types under various environments with different electric field strengths and pulse widths was tested. In terms of breakdown, reflection efficiency, and pulse waveform, aluminum and carbon fiber test plates were affected by HPM and compared. Finally, the impulse response characteristics of carbon fiber test plates were summarized. The proposed method applied in this research is universal, matches the practical application environment, and can be extensively employed in the impulse response research and test of reflector materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic signal coordination on urban arterials often requires that timing plans be divided either spatially into clusters of signalized intersections or temporally as time-of-day-based plans. This research proposes a method of dividing timing plans by both spatial and temporal factors simultaneously, in order to provide a dynamic coordinated signal control plan suitable for handling variations in intersection demands and fluctuations in traffic flow. The optimal coordination phase difference of adjacent space coordination subarea is obtained through the method of set operation, so that the spatial subareas can be connected. Similarly, timing plans are dynamically grouped into times of day using the concept of risk decision-making by solving the minimum value of the risk function. Divisions can be further adjusted in real time by changing the conditions, thus resulting in dynamic coordinated signal control. The proposed method was tested in a microscopic simulation of a real-world arterial based on empirical volumes and turning movements. The results showed that the proposed model produced greater reductions in delay and queue length when compared to the methods that subdivide by spatial or temporal thresholds alone. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the proposed method was better suited to imbalances in directional volumes when compared to spatial or temporal division methods alone., Author(s): Lei Feng [1]; Xin Zhao (corresponding author) [1]; Haobo Lin [2]; Rui Li [1] 1. Introduction As worldwide traffic demand continues to grow, engineers are faced with significant challenges [...]

The equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP) of high-power microwave (HPM) systems is a core-evaluating indicator. In practical testing, locating a suitable test site for the far-field method becomes challenging due to the requisite antenna separation. The conventional near-field method necessitates the extraction of the antenna's near-field distribution, resulting in a testing system of intricate complexity and diminished efficiency. Therefore, the traditional near-field method cannot be directly applied in HPM systems. In the present study, a new EIRP measurement method for HPM systems based on near-field testing was proposed. First, a monitoring antenna of a considerable scale is positioned within the near-field vicinity of the HPM antenna to capture radiation power, thereby deriving its equivalent input power. Subsequently, according to the EIRP definition and the measured gain of the HPM antenna, the EIRP of the HPM system can be acquired. Theoretical research on this measurement method was conducted, the electromagnetic simulation model was constructed, and a comprehensive analysis through simulation was undertaken. A measurement system was developed and verified experimentally. The results demonstrate the precision of this approach in determining the EIRP of the HPM system, thereby serving as a valuable tool for assessing the power-handling capability of the HPM antenna. The test error is ±0.5 dB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a kind of thermal control device, fluid loop systems must operate with the demands of high safety, high reliability, and long life. In order to accurately assess the health status of fluid loop systems, a hierarchical multi-information fusion (HMIF) method is proposed in this paper. Considering that fluid loop systems generally have distinct structural hierarchies, the health evaluation process in this method is divided into three levels, which are the indicator level, the component level, and the system level. In the evaluation process, the health indices are, respectively, constructed to quantify the health status at the three levels. At the indicator level, One-Class support vector machine algorithm is used to obtain the distribution space of each state monitoring indicator under a normal state. The indicator-level health indices are evaluated by calculating the ratio of the data located in the distribution space to the overall data. At the component level, a fuzzy theory is used to calculate the health indices of the component level. Health indices at the indicator level are first converted to membership degree by membership degree function. Then, the evaluation fusion strategy is used to deduce the membership degree of the component level. The health indices at the component level are obtained from the mapping relationship between the membership degree and the health index. At the system level, an adaptive weight adjustment strategy is proposed to fuze all component-level health indices. Taking a practical fluid loop system as an example, health indices at the three levels evaluated by the HMIF method are compared with the actual status. The results indicate that the proposed method can correctly judge the health state of the system and provide a reference for the maintenance and fault diagnosis of fluid loop systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public health concerns have been raised by numerous reports of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its variations infecting a range of animals. Wildlife reservoirs may facilitate the evolution of viral types capable of causing human infection in the future. Therefore, epidemiological monitoring of animals in close contact with humans is necessary. Yet, infection symptoms are not obvious in most animals, which leads to a short nucleic acid test-detection period and limits the application of this method in animals. The use of virus- and pseudovirus-based neutralizing antibody detection techniques is restricted to establishments with elevated biosafety standards. Traditional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) do not offer multispecies detection and are time-consuming and labor-intensive. This work developed a polyethyleneimine-gold nanoparticle meta-surface plasmon resonance biosensor system-based multispecies SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection platform that is fast, sensitive, has a high throughput, and is fully automated. The test can be done in 30 min and specificity is up to 100% for detection in cats, dogs, and minks. Moreover, the coincidence rate was up to 99.36% (313/315) for the detection of pseudovirus in clinical and immune sera. Additionally, this method's detection sensitivity in cat, dog, and mink serum is 2,048, 1,024, and 4,096 times, which is much better than indirect ELISA and comparable to indirect immunofluorescence assays. An efficient method for COVID-19 epidemiology screening in animal serum will be made available by this platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new approach for designing a planar high frequency selectivity filtering coupler based on a circular patch resonator is proposed. In order to explain the operating principle, the resonant property of the circular patch resonator has been investigated firstly. Two circular patch resonators connected by two microstrip lines are used in this design. A filtering coupler is achieved by adjusting the feeder position and the length and width of the microstrip line used to connect the two resonators. Without additional circuits, the desired 0° and 180° phase differences are realized by the inherent in-phase and out-of-phase characteristics of E-fields at the TM11 mode. To improve the passband selectivity, transmission zeros are created by introducing a coupling between the source and load through the coupling slots etched on the ground. Finally, a prototype of the filtering coupler centered at 2.12 GHz is designed, implemented, and tested, while the measured results coincide well with simulated ones, verifying the proposed design concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposed an optimal prepositive distance of crosswalk warning markings for unsignalized road section under three different design speeds based on the mathematical modelling and driving simulation. To set up the most efficient mathematical modelling for calculating the layout interval of prepositive distance, the vehicles slowing down behaviour characteristics in front of crosswalk were explored. According to the layout interval, the simulation experiment was carried out in the UC-win/Road version 13.0 driving simulator. The rate of speed reduction and the times of maximum deceleration obtained from simulation experiments were selected as evaluation indicators to compare and analyse the deceleration effect related with the prepositive distances of the crosswalk warning markings under three design speeds. The results show that when the design speeds are 30km/h, 40km/h, and 50km/h, the optimal prepositive distances of the crosswalk warning markings are 30m, 40m, and 60m, respectively., Author(s): Guohua Liang [1]; Fangfang Wang (corresponding author) [1]; Quan Shi [1]; Rui Li [1]; Zhijing Ji [1]; Chenchen Dong [1] 1. Introduction Crosswalk warning markings are widely applied on [...]

Queue forming behind a bus stop on an urban street is common and a traffic bottleneck usually occurs around the bus stop area. The bus stop failure means arriving buses cannot move into the bus stop due to limited capacity but have to wait for available loading areas. It is related with the transit operation level. Traditionally, the failure rate (FR), defined as the percentage of buses that arrives at the bus stop to find all loading areas occupied, is adopted in bus capacity analysis. However, the concept of FR is unable to quantitatively analyze failure characteristics in terms of its dispersion and uncertainty over time. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a new index called failure duration rate (FDR) to evaluate the bus stop failure, which can characterize waiting time for traffic delay calculation and capacity drop estimation. The automatic vehicle location data at eight bus stops in Wujiang District Suzhou, China, over 56 working days, are used to analyze the temporal characteristics of FR and FDR. We next examined the failed service duration characteristics during peak hours at the eight bus stops. Based on these characteristics analyses, we then proposed a Distribution Fitting and Cumulative Distribution Correlation (DF-CDC) approach to explore the correlation between FDR and FR at the same cumulative distribution function levels and validated the bus stop failure performance using the cross-validation method. The analysis results revealed that (i) FR fluctuates more significant than FDR, (ii) FDR is a more robust index than FR in describing the traffic characteristics incurred by bus stop failures, and (iii) FDR performs better in failure characteristics analysis than FR., 1. Introduction A bus stop serving a large number of bus lines can experience a condition known as bus stop failure due to limited capacity and high passenger demand, which [...]

As the central flow channel for fluid seepage through rock layers, the visible fracture system (VFS) significantly affects geoenergy extraction for petroleum, natural gas, geothermal resources, and greenhouse gas sequestration. In this work, we propose a new mode of VFS in coal seams, including hydraulic fractures, exogenetic fractures, interlayer fractures, gas-expanding fractures, and cleats. The development characteristics of VFSs in coal seams are analyzed, including containing their geometry, orientation, scale, distribution, and connection between each other. Furthermore, the implications of the VFS for fluid (gas and water) and solid (coal fines) flow through coal seams are discussed. The development of the VFS determines the effective flow conductivity, affecting the flow of gas, water, and coal fines. Additionally, as the reservoir pressure transfer channel, the VFS significantly influences depressurization with reservoir depletion, determining the extension of the methane desorption range. The exogenetic fractures and interlayer fractures dominate the expansion of the primary hydraulic fractures, and gas-expanding and cleats usually control the branch of hydraulic fractures. Furthermore, we find that the daily production rate distribution of most CBM wells presents a particular banded, L-shaped, or T-shaped pattern. It is thought that the VFS dominates the productivity of CBM in coal seams. The field production data also provide evidence that the occurrence of the VFS makes the CBM reservoir heterogeneous. This study presents a recommended framework involving the characteristics of the VFS and its influences on CBM production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of coalbed methane resources is greatly dependent on the reservoir depletion process. To improve the depressurization efficiency of deep coalbed methane (DCBM) reservoirs, the fluid production characteristics and implications of in situ stress and reservoir pressure for reservoir depletion in the eastern margin of the Ordos Basin are analyzed. The results indicate that the duration of the single-phase water production stage is overall long, with the gas declining stage occurring too early. The daily gas production volume of DCBM wells is only a few hundred m3. For DCBM reservoirs, it is considered that in situ stress, initial reservoir pressure, and critical desorption pressure significantly affect the fluid production and depressurization process. A high in situ stress in deep coal seams is likely to damage the flow conductivity of fracture systems due to the increase in effective stress during reservoir depletion. Based on the in situ stress characteristics of deep coal seams and their implications for reservoir depletion, we propose that the depressurization of DCBM reservoirs during gas production can be promoted via a new method of stress release. Slots or cavities created in coal seams by high-pressure hydraulic jet can provide space for stress release. This novel depressurization method could help improve the gas production efficiency of DCBM reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a special form of multiaccess edge computing (MEC), vehicular edge computing (VEC) plays an important role in emergency logistics by providing real-time and low-latency services for vehicles. The solution of the joint task offloading and resource allocation problem (JTORA) is the key to improving VEC efficiency. This study formulates a special model according to the multistage characteristics of the computational task in vehicular edge computing networks (VECNs) for emergency logistics. First, the JTORA problem is decomposed into three computational steps, each of which includes a task offload (TO) problem and a resource allocation (RA) problem. Then, a hybrid solution is proposed which uses a simulated annealing process to optimize the genetic algorithm (GA) and cooperate with the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, called the genetic simulated annealing and particle swarm optimization (GSA-PSO) algorithm. Furthermore, a simulation experiment is designed and the effectiveness of the GSA-PSO is verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driving over raised pavement markers (RPMs) spaced at different spacing, the human body will experience different vibrations. To explore whether RPMs situated at the exit ramp of an expressway induce a good vibration warning effect, this paper determines the spacing of RPMs situated along a deceleration lane and curved ramp. Models of roads, vehicles, and RPMs are first established in the ADAMS software, after which an integrated human-chair model constructed in SolidWorks is imported into ADAMS, and then the complete model is formed so that vibration simulations of different types of vehicle at different spacing and speeds can be carried out. The results show that the vibration warning effects of the spacing proposed by the existing Chinese specifications and this paper are basically between level III and level IV, the driver's subjective feeling is between less comfortable and uncomfortable, and both induce a good vibration warning effect. For a linear deceleration lane, when considering traffic safety, a spacing of 3 m is recommended; when considering the economy, a spacing of 6 m is recommended. For a curved deceleration lane and curved ramp, according to the actual curve radius, the spacing of RPMs can refer to the spacing recommended in the paper. In addition, the vibration warning effect for cars and semi-trailer trucks initially increases with an increase in the speed; then, after reaching a certain peak speed, the effect decreases with an increase in the speed, and finally, it tends to become gentle at speeds exceeding 100 km/h. The vibration warning effect for a semi-trailer truck is better than that for a car under the same spacing and speed., 1. Introduction Raised pavement markers (RPMs) are often served as centerlines, lane lines, and edge lines on road, and they also play an important role in various pavement markers. Accordingly, [...]

Most of the deep-water bridges in Chinese reservoirs are concentrated on rivers in the southwest region. The unique structural characteristics of arch bridges are more in line with the geological topography requirements of deep reservoir areas, making them the bridge type of choice for bridges in deep reservoir areas. While the southwest region is an earthquake-prone area, in order to study the safety of arch bridges across deep water in the reservoir area, it is necessary to analyze the effect of water under seismic behavior on the box section arch ring and explore the effect of arch inundation depth on the dynamic response of arch bridges in the reservoir area. In this study, the effect of fluid-solid coupling is considered, the modified Morison equation is used to calculate the hydrodynamic pressure, and the effect of arch bridge inundation depth on the dynamic response is analyzed based on the Midas/civil finite element model of the arch bridge in the Yunnan reservoir area. The results show that the seismic response of the arch bridge across the reservoir is greatly influenced by the submergence depth of the arch bridge due to the fluid-solid coupling effect, and the influence of the hydrodynamic pressure on the longitudinal moment (My) and transverse moment (Mz) of the arch bridge increases with the increase of the submergence depth. There is a threshold value of the submergence depth. When the submergence depth is less than the threshold, the effect of fluid-solid coupling is negligible, and when the submergence depth is greater than the threshold, the fluid-solid coupling effect is significant. The thresholds for different parts of the main arch ring are different. The most unfavorable water depth in different parts of the main arch ring is not necessarily the water depth when the arch ring is completely submerged. Based on this result, for reservoir arch bridges in high intensity areas, it is recommended that the inundation depth of arch bridges crossing deep water reservoirs should be h/f less than or equal to 5/8 f. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemotherapy is the main method for controlling pancreatic cancer metastasis but the prevalent chemotherapy resistance limits its utilization. The response of oxidation and inflammation often promotes pancreatic cancer progression and chemo‐resistance. It is critical to explore the potential natural products with few side effects to control inflammatory responses and understand the related mechanisms. Quercetin is a flavonoid widely found in numerous vegetables, fruits, and foods and is thought to have antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory properties, which may be associated with improvement of chemotherapy sensitivity during pancreatic cancer treatment. Quercetin may sensitize pancreatic cancer cells to the chemotherapeutic agents, including bromodomain and extraterminal domain inhibitors (BETI), daunorubicin, gemcitabine, sulforaphane, doxorubicin, and tumor necrosis factor‐related signaling apoptosis‐inducing ligand (TRAIL). Meanwhile, during the chemo‐resistance therapy, many signaling molecules are involved with toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4)‐mediated oxidative and inflammatory pathway. The effects of quercetin on other oxidative and inflammatory pathways were also explored. Quercetin may exert antitumor activity during the prevention of pancreatic cancer progression by regulating oxidative and inflammatory networks, which can promote immune escape of cancer cells by inducing immunosuppressive cytokines. Studying these patterns will help us to better understand the functional role of quercetin in the improvement of pancreatic cancer chemo‐sensitivity. Practical applications: Chemotherapy is the major way for treating pancreatic cancer metastasis but the prevalent chemotherapy resistance caused by oxidative and inflammatory responses limits its utilization. It is necessary to explore the potential natural products with few side effects to prevent the oxidative and inflammatory responses. Quercetin is a flavonoid widely found in numerous vegetables, fruits, and foods and is thought to have antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory properties, which may be associated with improvement of chemotherapy sensitivity of pancreatic cancer treatment by sensitizing pancreatic cancer cells to various chemotherapeutic agents via the regulation of oxidative and inflammatory networks. Studying these patterns will help us to better understand the functional role of quercetin in the improvement of pancreatic cancer chemo‐sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a reconfigurable phase shifter loaded two PIN diodes is presented. Compared with the traditional phase shifters, the proposed phase shifter can achieve two phase shifts in one single phase shifter by controlling the PIN diodes, which make it more superior in the feeding network's application of array antennas. Moreover, this phase shifter can widen the bandwidth, decrease the size and realize a wider phase shift range in a simple structure. For simplifying the process of this design, this article introduces a simply method to design the configurable phase shifter. To confirm the presented design, the proposed phase shifter is fabricated and measured. A good agreement between the measured and simulated results can be observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A reconfigurable balanced phase shifter is designed in this paper, which can achieve stable differential mode (DM) phase shift and high common mode (CM) suppression. The proposed balanced phase shifter is mainly composed of micro strip/slot line transition structure and π‐shape slot line. The U‐shaped micro strip line and the stepped impedance slot line are employed to form the differential input and output ports, which can make the DM response and the CM one are independent. By switching the PIN diode on or off, a stable 180° DM phase shift difference is achieved between two states. In order to verify the design, a 180° balanced phase shifter with a central frequency of 4.7 GHz was simulated and fabricated. DM insertion loss of the design is 1.1 dB, DM phase deviation range is ±5°, 10 dB DM impedance matching fractional bandwidth is 45%, and phase fractional deviation bandwidth is 42%. Meanwhile, the CM rejection can reach about 35 dB. The simulation and measurement are in good agreement with the theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since high-fat diet (HFD) intake elevates liver cholesterol and enhanced cholesterol-bile acid flux alleviates its lipid deposition, we assumed that the promoted cholesterol-bile acid flux is an adaptive metabolism in fish when fed an HFD. The present study investigated the characteristic of cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) after feeding an HFD (13% lipid level) for four and eight weeks. Visually healthy Nile tilapia fingerlings (average weight 3.50 ± 0.05 g) were randomly distributed into four treatments (4-week control diet or HFD and 8-week control diet or HFD). The liver lipid deposition and health statue, cholesterol/bile acid, and fatty acid metabolism were analyzed in fish after short-term and long-term HFD intake. The results showed that 4-week HFD feeding did not change serum alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transferase (AST) enzyme activities, along with comparable liver malondialdehyde (MDA) content. But higher serum ALT and AST enzyme activities and liver MDA content were observed in fish fed 8-week HFD. Intriguingly, remarkably accumulated total cholesterol (mainly cholesterol ester, CE) was observed in the liver of fish fed 4-week HFD, along with slightly elevated free fatty acids (FFAs) and comparable TG contents. Further molecular analysis in the liver showed that obvious accumulation of CE and total bile acids (TBAs) in fish fed 4-week HFD was mainly attributed to the enhancement of cholesterol synthesis, esterification, and bile acid synthesis. Furthermore, the increased protein expressions of acyl-CoA oxidase 1/2 (Acox1 and Acox2), which serve as peroxisomal fatty acid β-oxidation (FAO) rate-limiting enzymes and play key roles in the transformation of cholesterol into bile acids, were found in fish after 4-week HFD intake. Notably, 8-week HFD intake remarkably elevated FFA content (about 1.7-fold increase), and unaltered TBAs were found in fish liver, accompanied by suppressed Acox2 protein level and cholesterol/bile acid synthesis. Therefore, the robust cholesterol-bile acid flux serves as an adaptive metabolism in Nile tilapia when fed a short-term HFD and is possibly via stimulating peroxisomal FAO. This finding enlightens our understanding on the adaptive characteristics of cholesterol metabolism in fish fed an HFD and provides a new possible treatment strategy against metabolic disease induced by HFD in aquatic animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a balanced filtering antenna array with quasi‐Yagi performance is presented. The proposed design is composed of a balanced‐to‐single‐ended power division network, two bandpass filtering units and a linear quasi‐Yagi array including four elements. A steep differential‐mode (DM) passband frequency response is obtained by introducing the triple‐mode folded cross stub‐loaded resonators (FC‐SLRs) in the power division network. The fractional bandwidth and center frequency can be controlled conveniently by adjusting the dimensions of FC‐SLRs. Further, the design procedure is simplified due to the DM responses which are independent of the common‐mode (CM) ones. The proposed antenna array with high gains, good CM rejections, and low cross‐polarization levels is achieved. In addition, three radiation nulls are engendered on the sidebands to improve the selectivity. For demonstrating its feasibility, the balanced antenna prototype is fabricated and measured. The good performances of the proposed balanced filtering antenna array are observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several studies have shown that lymphocyte subsets can mediate the occurrence of osteoporosis (OP); however, the predictive ability of lymphocyte subsets in senile OP has not been elucidated.Purpose: To investigate the ability of lymphocyte subsets to predict senile osteoporosis (OP).Methods and Materials: This study included 44 patients with senile OP and 44 without OP. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) was used to determine bone mineral density (BMD). Flow cytometry was used to analyze the absolute counts of the lymphocyte subsets and cytokine levels. Finally, the correlation between BMD and lymphocyte subset counts in the two groups was analyzed.Results: There were no significant differences in age, sex, or weight between the OP and non-OP groups. The absolute counts of total T lymphocytes and CD8+ T lymphocytes in the OP group were significantly lower than those in the non-OP group. The levels of IFN-γ or TNF-α in the OP group were significantly higher or lower, respectively, than those in the non-OP group. PCA showed that age, BMI, total T lymphocytes, CD4+ T lymphocytes, CD8+ T lymphocytes, and B lymphocytes were the principal components of senile OP. The linear regression equation showed that BMD of the right femoral neck significantly decreased with a decline in CD8+ T lymphocyte counts.Conclusion: BMD decreased with a decrease in CD8+ T lymphocytes. The mechanism by which lower lymphocyte subsets lead to lower BMD may be related to abnormal bone metabolism caused by immune aging. Therefore, we considered that CD8+ T lymphocytes could be used to predict the incidence of senile OP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Functional nasal endoscopic surgery (FESS) is an effective treatment approach for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) patients, but some patients still suffer from postoperative recurrence. This study is aimed at investigating the expression of multiple cytokines in CRSwNP and revealing their relationships with postoperative recurrence. Methods. A total of 72 patients with CRSwNP, including 36 primary and 36 recurrent patients, were enrolled. Serum samples were obtained, 30 cytokine levels were measured by multiplex analysis, and the association between cytokine levels and recurrence was assessed. The most potential cytokines were further validated in another independent cohort with 60 primary and 60 recurrent CRSwNP patients. Results. The results of multiple cytokine profiling exhibited that the levels of eotaxin, G-CSF, IFN-α, IL-13, IL-17A, IL-5, MCP-1, and RANTES were vastly changed in the recurrent group in comparison with the primary group. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves highlighted that serum levels of eotaxin, IL-17A, and RANTES were strongly predictive of postoperative recurrence (area under the curve AUC > 0.7 , P < 0.05). Further validation results showed that elevated serum eotaxin, IL-17A, and RANTES levels were enhanced in the recurrent group. The ROC curve showed that serum eotaxin (AUC = 0.729 , P < 0.001) and RANTES (AUC = 0.776 , P < 0.001) exhibited stronger ability than serum IL-17A (AUC = 0.617 , P = 0.027) in predicting CRSwNP recurrence. Conclusion. Our data suggested that serum multiple cytokine profiling was associated with postoperative recurrence of CRSwNP, and eotaxin and RANTES might serve as potential biomarkers for predicting postoperative recurrence. These results might contribute to the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of recurrence and provide novel clues for precision therapy in CRSwNP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Solid polymer electrolyte is expected to be widely used in solid‐state lithium batteries due to its good mechanical manufacturability and low cost. But the low ion conductivity, poor interface compatibility hindering the development of solid‐state batteries. In this work, a rigid–flexible ultrathin (~13 μm) poly (ether‐acrylate) (PEA) solid electrolyte membrane was prepared by controlling the mutual penetration of porous skeleton and electrolyte. For comparison, a thick PEA membrane (~30 μm) was also provided. We found that the thicker PEA membrane exhibits a porous structure and rough surface due to the physical shrinkage of polymer, while the ultrathin PEA shows more compact and flexible. Structural advantages give it higher tensile strength (114.7 MPa), doubled ionic conductance (218 mS), and higher lithium ion migration number from 0.81 to 0.93. Meanwhile, better interface contact was also achieved due to the smoother surface of ultrathin PEA, which promotes the uniform distribution of charges and uniform SEI film on the surface of lithium anode, thus inhibits the growth of lithium dendrites. Due to the improvement of basic physical properties and good interface contact, the assembled NCM622/PEA/Li solid‐state battery shows improved rate and cycle performances. High‐performance solid‐state lithium batteries is expected to developed according to this ultrathin solid electrolyte membrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid development of medicine has led to increased use of leech (Whitmania pigra). The suitable feeding technology is the key factor for successful breeding leeches. However, there is little information available to concern the effect of prey size on predatory behaviour of the leeches. In this study, we conducted predation trials by two sizes of W. pigra preying on three sizes of snails (Cipangopaludina cathayensis), and then analysed predation rate, feeding rate, searching time and handling time. Our results demonstrated that there were higher predation rate of small‐size W. pigra preying on small‐size snails compared with medium or large ones, and the predation rates gradually decreased with prolongation of the predation time. In addition, the small‐size W. pigra had higher feeding rates than larger size among three treatments. However, snail sizes did no have significant effects on the feeding rates of the leeches. Furthermore, we found that it took longer time of small‐size leeches to search snails than large‐size leeches, while the handling time of two sizes of W. pigra increased with the snail size. This study suggests that farmers should take smaller amount and more frequent feeding approach for leech larva in the artificial breeding processes. On the other hand, adult leeches should be provided with enough feeding in one time. Due to the size‐specific feeding characteristics of the leeches, we suggest that leeches should be raised based on size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to address the real-time requirements of forestry pest detection and the problem of a low detection rate caused by anchor box redundancy of existing detection methods. This paper proposes a real-time forestry pest detection method based on theanchor-free method that can balance the detection rate and detection accuracy. Based on the TTFNet method, a mobile feature extraction network is introduced, and the effective feature weights are increased by one-dimensional convolution before feature output to suppress invalid features. For pest detection, data are mostly small-scale targets. An enhanced feature fusion method is proposed to introduce an asymmetric convolution module in multi-scale feature fusion to feature-enhance the feature maps extracted by the backbone network and connect across layers to improve the detection accuracy. To address the degradation of the anchor box position regression loss in the original method, DIOULoss is introduced to optimize the position regression loss function of the anchor box. Finally, data augmentation is performed on a relatively small number of samples in the dataset, the accuracy of the model is improved by 1.94%, the FPS is improved to 1.6 times of the original one, and the training time is slightly increased compared with the preinnovation model. Ablation experiments are designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm while being more conducive to deployment on edge devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a family of transcription factors, the correlations between expression pattern of nine interferon regulatory factor (IRF) family members, the immune invasion pattern, and the associated patient survival rate in endometrial carcinoma (EC) remain to be elucidated. Based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), the expression profiles of the high and low IRF mRNA expression groups were analyzed using R (3.6.3) statistical software. Gene annotation and pathway analyses were performed using Metascape. GSEA was performed using the R package clusterProfiler (3.6.3). The single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) was used to quantify the relative tumor infiltration levels of immune cell types. Immunohistochemistry data provided by HPA database was used to study the expression of the IRF proteins. Using the GEPIA dataset, the correlation between the expression of IRFs and the tumor stage of EC was analyzed. The correlations between the different IRFs were analyzed using cBioPortal. The expression of IRF2, IRF3, IRF5, IRF6, IRF7, IRF8, and IRF9 was different when comparing EC and normal endometrial samples. IRF2, IRF6, IRF7, and IRF8 were indicated to be potential diagnostic markers for EC. In combination with receiver operating characteristic analysis results, IRF2, IRF6, IRF7, and IRF8 were indicated to be potential diagnostic markers for EC. Levels of individual IRFs were associated with alternate outcomes, with the expression of IRF3 being correlated with the stage of EC and high expression of IRF4 being positively correlated with overall survival (OS); conversely, high expression of IRF5 was negatively correlated with OS. Additionally, high expression levels of both IRF2 and IRF4 were positively correlated with the disease-specific survival rate, and high expression of IRF4 was positively correlated with the progression-free interval. These data suggest a role for IRF2, IRF4, and IRF5 in the prognosis of EC. The expression of IRFs is associated with immune infiltration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Infection with syphilis is still a major public health problem. The precise data for syphilis seroprevalence in the populations will help to develop a strategy for prevention and treatment of it. However, the data for syphilis prevalence in continuous years among volunteer blood donors in China is rare. Methods. A retrospective study for Treponema pallidum (TP) antibody in blood donors was conducted from January 2010 to December 2019 at the Blood Center of Zhejiang Province, China. TP antibody was detected with two different reagents using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and the only sample which was reactive in the two reagents was defined as seropositive. Results. A total of 992,646 volunteer blood donors were analyzed and the positive rate of TP antibody in the blood donors was 0.43%. From 2010 to 2019, the positive rates of TP antibody were 0.53%, 0.51%, 0.51%, 0.43%, 0.36%, 0.18%, 0.11%, 0.12%, 0.11%, and 0.10%, respectively. The positive rates of TP antibody were significantly different among blood donor age group (p < 0.001), with the highest positive rate in 45–54-years-old group (0.93%). The positive rates of TP antibody in male and female blood donors were 0.44% and 0.41%, respectively. The positive rate was 0.57% among the first-time blood donors, which was significantly higher than that of the repeat blood donors (0.17%). The positive rate of TP antibody in blood donors decreased gradually with the increase of educational level. Conclusion. The syphilis seroprevalence is low in the blood donors of the Hangzhou area, and the positive rate of blood donors is associated with age, educational level, and times of blood donation. Increasing the number of repeat blood donations is helpful to improve blood safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a quint‐mode slotline resonator (QMSR) is analyzed and designed. The proposed resonator has similar performances to those of the conventional microstrip multimode resonator, while it is located at the bottom ground layer. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that QMSR is proposed. By properly adjusting the dimensions of the proposed QMSR, quasi‐independent control of the five resonant frequencies is realized, thereby an ultrawideband (UWB) differential‐mode (DM) transmission passband can be obtained. By employing balanced microstrip/slotline transition structure, a high and wideband common‐mode (CM) suppression can also be realized, which is independent of the DM responses. Thereby, only the DM performances need to be considered, which simplify the design procedure greatly. In addition, one notched band is achieved to suppress the special electromagnetic interference. To validate the design concept, one prototype circuit of the proposed balanced UWB bandpass filter is implemented following the given design procedure. Good agreement between the measurement and simulation results can be observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional talent development model is unlikely to satisfy the demands of the times and socioeconomic growth. Innovation-driven development policies require a great deal of creativity and entrepreneurship. Student creativity and education in the enterprise have emerged as an essential source of concern for all segments of society. The traditional talent cultivation mode has been unable to meet the requirements of the economic growth of the society. College graduates are national talents of high quality and high level, which are important talent resources for colleges and universities to grow sustainably. Innovation and entrepreneurship education for college students is a common concern of the current society. The research and implementation of innovation and entrepreneurship education for Chinese college students are progressing rapidly, but the innovation and entrepreneurship education of Chinese college students began later and is not at a high level of development at present. Promoting student innovation and entrepreneurship requires further improvements in research and teaching methods. This article presents the scientific classification and the K-means algorithm. It defines the concepts related to the education system of change and entrepreneurship, the concepts related to the search for change and the theories of entrepreneurship, and the theoretical foundations of the development of the education system. Of the researchers, 39.47% were male; 60.53% were female; 13.68% were students; 70.53% were undergraduate students; and 15.79% were postgraduate students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Interleukin 8 (IL-8) is a chemotactic cytokine released by various cells including leukocytes, endothelial cells, and epithelial cells. IL-8 has multiple functions in inflammation, tumour invasion, or angiogenesis. Human odontogenic cystic lesions are chronic and frequently inflamed. Tissue-derived extracellular vesicles (Ti-EVs) are widely present in various tissues and could more accurately reflect the characteristics of the primary tissue. However, the involvement of IL-8 in Ti-EVs of human odontogenic lesions is still unclear. This study aimed to explore the expression of IL-8 in Ti-EVs of human odontogenic lesions and the potential roles of Ti-EVs that carried IL-8. Methods. Fresh tissue samples of dentigerous cyst (DC, n = 5) and odontogenic keratocyst (OKC, n = 5) were collected for Ti-EVs isolation. Ti-EVs were characterised by transmission electron microscopy and nano-flow cytometry analysis. The cytokine profile of Ti-EVs was explored by cytokine antibody array. The IL-8 expression was examined by immunochemical staining in tissue of odontogenic lesions (DC, n =12; OKC, n =28). Antioxidants (N-acetyl-L-cysteine and diphenyleneiodonium) were employed to treat HaCaT cells, and the expression of IL-8 was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The gene expression of MMP9 was explored by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in co-culture system of fibroblasts of OKC with Ti-EVs. Results. Compared with DC, the expression of IL-8 in Ti-EVs and fixed tissue specimens of OKC was markedly upregulated. The antioxidants decreased the expression level of IL-8 protein in the supernatant of HaCaT cells. The Ti-EVs treatment (10 μg/ml) of fibroblasts significantly induced the MMP9 mRNA expressions in OKC fibroblasts. Conclusions. IL-8 was upregulated in Ti-EVs of OKC and might be involved in the tissue destruction of OKC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The misdiagnosis of aortic dissection (AD) can lead to a catastrophic prognosis. There is currently a lack of stable serological indicators with excellent efficacy for the differential diagnosis of AD and coronary artery disease (CAD). A recent study has shown an association between AD and iron metabolism. Thus, we investigated whether iron metabolism could discriminate AD from CAD. Methods. This retrospective and multicenter cross-sectional study investigated the efficacy of biomarkers of iron metabolism for the differential diagnosis of AD. We collected biomarkers of iron metabolism, liver function, kidney function, and other biochemistry test, and further, logistic regression analysis was applied. Results. Between Oct. 8, 2020, and Mar. 1, 2021, we recruited 521 patients diagnosed with AD, CAD, and other cardiovascular diseases (OCDs) with the main symptoms of chest and back pain and assigned them to discovery set (n = 330) or validation set (n = 191). We found that six serum biomarkers, including serum iron, low-density lipoprotein, uric acid, transferrin, high-density lipoprotein, and estimated glomerular filtration rate, can serve as a novel comprehensive indicator (named FLUTHE) for the differential diagnosis of AD and CAD with a sensitivity of 0.954 and specificity of 0.905 to differentially diagnose AD and CAD more than 72 h past symptom onset. Conclusion. Our findings provide insight into the role of iron metabolism in diagnosing and distinguishing AD, which might in the future be a key component in AD diagnosis. Furthermore, we establish a novel model named "FLUTHE" with higher efficiency, safety, and economy, especially for patients with chest pain for more than 72 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peripheral electrical nerve stimulation enhances hand function during stroke rehabilitation. Here, we proposed a percutaneous direct median nerve stimulation guided by ultrasound (ultrasound‐guided median nerve electrical stimulation, UG-MNES) and evaluated its feasibility and effectiveness in the treatment of stroke patients with upper limb extremity impairments. Sixty-three stroke patients (2-3 months of onset) were randomly divided into control and UG-MNES groups. Both groups received routine rehabilitation and the UG-MNES group received an additional ultrasound-guided electrical stimulation of the median nerve at 2 Hz, 0.2 ms pulse-width for 20 minutes with gradual intensity enhancement. The Fugl-Meyer Assessment for upper extremity motor function (FMA-UE) was used as the primary outcome. The secondary outcomes were the Functional Test for the Hemiplegic Upper Extremity (FTHUE-HK), Hand Function Rating Scale, Brunnstrom Stages, and Barthel Index scores for motor and daily functions. All the participants completed the trial without any side effects or adverse events during the intervention. After 4 weeks of intervention, the functions of the upper limbs on the hemiplegic side in both groups achieved significant recovery. Compared to the control group, all evaluation indices used in this trial were improved significantly in the UG-MNES group after 2 and 4 weeks of intervention; particularly, the first intervention of UG-MNES immediately improved all the assessment items significantly. In conclusion, the UG-MNES is a safe and feasible treatment for stroke patients with upper limb extremity impairments and could significantly improve the motor function of the affected upper limb, especially in the first intervention. The UG-MNES could be an effective alternative intervention for stroke with upper limb extremity impairments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Of all intestinal microbiome-derived metabolites, trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) has received increasing attention because of its potent role in colorectal cancer development. Accumulating evidence suggests that TMAO generated by the gut microbiota is a new and important player in the etiological process of colorectal cancer. Nevertheless, the carcinogenic mechanism of TMAO in colorectal cancer remains unclear. In this study, TMAO induced colorectal cancer cell proliferation and produced higher vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) levels in vitro. In vivo, after long-term choline feeding in tumor-bearing mice, circulating TMAO levels, tumor volume, new blood vessel formation, and VEGFA and CD31 amounts were increased significantly. This study revealed that TMAO exerts oncogenic effects by promoting cell proliferation and angiogenesis in colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. Alterations in the methylation state of pseudogenes may serve as clinically useful biomarkers of glioblastomas (GBMs) that do not have glioma-CpG island methylator phenotype (G-CIMP). Methods. Non-G-CIMP GBM datasets were included for evaluation, and a RISK-score signature was determined from the methylation state of pseudogene loci. Both bioinformatic and experimental analyses were performed for biological validation. Results. By integrating clinical information with DNA methylation microarray data, we screened a panel of eight CpGs from discovery cohorts of non-G-CIMP GBMs. Each CpG could accurately and independently predict the prognosis of patients under a treatment regime that combined radiotherapy (RT) and temozolomide (TMZ). The 8-CpG signature appeared to show opposite prognostic correlations between patients treated with RT/TMZ and those treated with RT monotherapy. The analyses further indicated that this signature had predictive value for TMZ efficacy because different survival benefits between RT/TMZ and RT therapies were observed in each risk subgroup. The incorporation of other risk factors, such as age and O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation status, with our pseudogene methylation signature could provide precise risk classification. In vitro experimental data revealed that two locus-specific pseudogenes (ZNF767P and CLEC4GP1) may modulate TMZ resistance via distinct mechanisms in GBM cells. Conclusion. The biologically and clinically relevant RISK-score signature, based on pseudogene methylation loci, may offer information for predicting TMZ responses of non-G-CIMP GBMs, that is independent from, but complementary to, MGMT-based approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Piano performance has been around for hundreds of years, and piano performance is currently on the rise. As a pianist, better presentation and performance skills are necessary as a player. And in the process of playing, people must also have a calm psychological quality in order to play the piano perfectly and bring beautiful enjoyment to the audience. This is also the basis for the smooth progress of the performance. The better the psychological quality of the performer, the better the performance will be. This paper analyzes the influence of the psychological quality of piano performance based on the big data algorithm and finds that under the influence of the big data algorithm, the psychological quality of the performers is enhanced by 18%. As for the richness of on-site experience and the stable performance of technology, it is about 20% higher than normal in all aspects, which can provide reference for related research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is one of the malignant tumors with the highest morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. Although surgery-based combination therapy can greatly improve the prognosis of LUAD patients, the overall outcome is still poor, and there is an urgent need to develop new and effective treatment alternatives for LUAD. The microRNA (miRNA) miR-30b-3p is a typical multifunctional miRNA that has been reported to promote the development of various malignancies. In this study, we investigated the effects of miR-30b-3p on the biological properties of LUAD and the possible mechanisms involved to provide new ideas for the development of more effective treatment options for LUAD. Methods. Fluorescence quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to measure the expression of miR-30b-3p and its target METTL7B gene in tumor tissues and adjacent noncancerous lung tissues of LUAD patients and to determine their correlation. The effect of miR-30b-3p on the biological properties of LUAD was investigated, after transfection of miR-30b-3p mimics or scramble miRNA (negative control) in LUAD cells, using various approaches, including by measuring cell proliferation using CCK-8 and Edu assays, cell invasion by Transwell assay, and apoptosis and cell cycle distribution by flow cytometry. Additionally, rescue assays were performed to verify the effect of METTL7B on miR-30b-3p function. Results. In LUAD patients, low expression of miR-30b-3p and high expression of METTL7B in tumor tissues were significantly and negatively correlated with those in adjacent noncancerous lung tissues of the LUAD patients. It was also found that miR-30b-3p inhibits the proliferation and invasion of LUAD cells, promotes apoptosis, and changes the cell cycle distribution. METTL7B is a target gene of miR-30b-3p. METTL7B overexpression significantly reversed the biological effects of miR-30b-3p overexpression, including inhibition of cell proliferation and invasion, promotion of apoptosis, and alteration of the cell cycle distribution. Conclusions. The miR-30b-3p alters the biology of LUAD by negatively regulating METTL7B expression, indicating the importance of the miR-30b-3p/METTL7B pathway in the development of LUAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current average daily gas production of single coalbed methane (CBM) wells in China is less than 1,300 m3. The low production rate of CBM wells dramatically limits the sustainable development of the CBM industry in China. To promote CBM industry development, three universal geological factors, i.e., gas sources, channels, and driving force of the low production wells are analyzed, considering the various and complicated geological conditions of CBM reservoirs in China. Additionally, we find that the growth in proven CBM reserves should be greatly promoted as the CBM proven rate is only less than 3% by the end of 2020. The widespread CBM extraction mode based on depressurization via dewatering generates very limited effects in coal seams with notable deformation, high in situ stress, or little water. Therefore, a specific design of CBM development modes is proposed, according to the applicable geological conditions of different CBM development modes. It covers depressurization via dewatering, depressurization via stress release, and coal and CBM comining. Moreover, the regional governments play a key role in the development of the regional CBM industry, and favorable policies should be formulated to promote the multipoint development conditions across China. This study is concluded to provide a recommended development framework involving sustainable CBM production in China and its development processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is a painful, persistent feeling of physical and cognitive subjective fatigue related to cancer or cancer remedy. The occurrence of CRF may be related to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenaline (HPA) axis, inflammatory mediator theory, and gut microbiota. Moreover, acupuncture could play a vital part in the therapy of CRF. The study will evaluate whether acupuncture can improve fatigue symptoms of CRF patients after breast cancer chemotherapy by regulating the gut-brain axis. Methods/design. Seventy patients with CRF will be enrolled in this study, with 35 patients randomly assigned to each group. Blood and feces will be collected at the beginning and end of treatment. Piper fatigue scale, KPS score scale, and quality-of-life scale will be used to observe the changes of fatigue symptoms and life quality of CRF patients and to evaluate the effect of acupuncture on CRF. Then, the method of ELISA will be used to explore the regulatory effect of acupuncture on the HPA axis and inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, based on 16SrDNA, the changes of gut microbiota structure and flora of CRF patients will be observed. Ultimately, the correlation analysis of gut microbiota can be related to inflammatory cytokines, HPA axis, and clinical efficacy evaluation. Discussion. This study will identify the effect and the mechanism of acupuncture therapy in CRF. And it will offer an alternative treatment modality for the treatment of CRF after chemotherapy for breast cancer. Furthermore, it will also provide the clinical and theoretical bases for the extensive application of acupuncture therapy in tumor rehabilitation. Trial Status. Protocol version number and date: V2.0, 6 May 2021. The trial is registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry on 20 June 2021 (trial identifier: ChiCTR2100047510). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hidden karst structures are developed irregularly in the Middle Permian Maokou Formation aquifer from the northern part of the Guizhou coalfield, China. Mining operations associated with the exploitation of coal seams from the lower part of the Upper Permian Longtan Formation are threatened by karst waters from the underlying strata. To improve the accuracy of water inrush risk assessment of the karst aquifer floor in the northern Guizhou coalfield, the karst fractal quantification technique is implemented. In this study, the karst aquifer of the Maokou Formation located under the floor of the No. 15 coal seam from the Honglin Coal Mine is considered as the research object. Based on the karst results predicted by geophysical exploration methods, the fractal theory is used to quantify the degree of karst development, while the risk of water inrush from the floor of the coal seam is evaluated by applying ArcGIS information processing technology combined with the vulnerability index method. The results indicate the following observations: the mean fractal dimension of karst in the study area is 1.53, the karst structures are highly developed, and the overall distribution of karst is characterized by an irregular NW-SE direction; the main controlling factors affecting water inrush from the floor of the No. 15 coal seam are expressed by the water pressure of the aquifer, the abundance of water in the aquifer, the degree of karst development, the thickness of the effective impermeable layer, the mining depth, the coal seam dip angle, and the degree of fault complexity; the areas with the highest risk of floor water inrush are predominantly concentrated in the northwestern and central parts, but there is also a risk of floor water inrush in the first mining area of the No. 15 coal seam. This study takes into consideration complex factors such as the typical karst aquifer and the hydrogeological conditions in the northern part of the Guizhou coalfield, which results in a more realistic interpretation and can provide further guidance for water control activities in the mining area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common gynecological endocrine disorder in women of gestational age and the most common cause of female infertility. This study aimed to investigate the effect of letrozole and metformin combined with targeted nursing on ovarian function, LH, and FSH in infertile patients with PCOS. Methods. A total of 72 infertile patients with PCOS were divided into the control group and combined group. The control group was given metformin tablets combined with targeted nursing therapy. The combined group was treated with letrozole on the basis of the control group. Ovarian function, LH, and FSH were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. Results. After treatment, the total effective rate (94.44%) of the combined group was significantly higher than that of the control group (80.56%). After treatment, the levels of HbA1c, FINS, HOMA-IR, TG, and TC in the two groups were lower than those before treatment, and the HDL-C level was higher than that before treatment. The full-term delivery rate, ovulation rate, and normal menstrual rate in the combined group were higher than those in the control group. After treatment, the LH level in the combined group was lower than that in the control group, and the FSH level was higher than that in the control group. After 1 month, 3 months, and 5 months of treatment, RI, PI, and ovarian volume were decreased, and the endometrial thickness was increased in both groups. Also, after 5 months of treatment, the RI, PI, and ovarian volume in the combined group were significantly lower than those in the control group, and the endometrial thickness was significantly higher than that in the control group. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups. Conclusion. The combination of letrozole and metformin with targeted nursing in the treatment of infertility patients with PCOS has better clinical effect and high safety. It can improve endometrial receptivity and ovarian reserve function and regulate LH and FSH levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) developed into a very important characterization tool for atomic analysis of crystalline specimens. High-angle annular dark field (HAADF) scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) has become one of the most powerful tools to visualize material structures at atomic resolution. However, the parameter of electron microscope and sample thickness is the important influence factors on HAADF-STEM imaging. The effect of convergence angle, spherical aberration, and defocus to HAADF imaging process has been analyzed through simulation. The applicability of two HAADF simulation software has been compared, and suggestions for their usage have been given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urinary bladder carcinoma refers to the commonest carcinoma with weak prognostic result for the patient as impacted by the limited treatment possibilities and challenging diagnosing process. Nevertheless, the molecular underpinning of bladder carcinoma malignant progression is still not clear. As a novel core part of pluripotency circuitry, testicular expression 10 (TEX10) plays an actively noticeable effect on reprogramming, early embryo development, and embryonic stem cell self-renewal. Nevertheless, TEX10 expressions and functions within bladder carcinoma are still not known. The present work is aimed at revealing TEX10 expression and biological function within urinary bladder carcinoma and elucidating the potential mechanisms. Results showed that TEX10 is abundant in urinary bladder carcinoma, and its protein level was related to poor disease-free survival in a positive manner. Reduced TEX10 level inhibited urinary bladder carcinoma cell proliferating process and metastasis in vitro and xenograft tumorigenicity in vivo. Notably, TEX10 might regulate carcinoma cell proliferating process and metastasis via XRCC6, thereby controlling the signaling of Wnt/β-catenin and DNA repair channel. Moreover, TEX10 gene knockout reduced the radiotherapy resistance of urinary bladder carcinoma. In brief, this work revealed that TEX10 could exert a significant carcinogenic effect on urinary bladder carcinoma tumorigenesis and radiotherapy resistance through the activation of XRCC6-related channels. Accordingly, targeting TEX10 is likely to offer a novel and feasible therapeutically related strategy for inhibiting urinary bladder carcinoma tumorigenicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To observe the effects of psychological intervention on the perioperative quality of life and serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and free PSA (FPSA) levels in patients with prostate cancer treated with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine. Method. A total of 208 prostate cancer patients were selected and randomly divided into a study group with 104 cases and a control group with 104 cases. The control group received a plan of basic nursing combined with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine, and the study group received psychological intervention on the basis of the control group. Negative emotion, pain degree, quality of life, maximum urine flow rate, residual urine volume, International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), and incidence of adverse reactions were compared between the two groups before and after the treatment. The levels of PSA and FPSA and the long-term efficacy of the two groups of patients before and after treatment were compared. Results. After nursing, Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) score, Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) score, pain degree, maximum urine flow rate, residual urine volume, IPSS score, emotional function, social function, role function, and physical function scores of patients in two groups were decreased, and the decrease was more significant in the study group. After treatment, serum PSA and FPSA levels in the study group were obviously lower than those in the control group. The two-year cumulative survival rate of the study group was higher than that of the control group. There was no significant difference in the cognitive function score and incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups. Conclusion. Psychological intervention combined with traditional Chinese and Western medicine in the treatment of prostate cancer can effectively improve the patient's psychological state, reduce the degree of pain in patients, improve the therapeutic effect and the quality of life of patients, and significantly reduce serum PSA and FPSA levels, which could lead to a prolonged life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. To investigate the clinical effects of Chinese medicine decoction combined with glucocorticoid in treating children with primary nephrotic syndrome. Methods. A total of 70 children with pediatric nephritis nephrotic syndrome treated at Weifang People's Hospital from January 2019 to December 2019 were randomly allocated to the therapy group and the control group, each with 35 cases. The control group was treated with conventional Western medicine, and the therapy group received Western medicine and Chinese medicine. After 12 weeks of treatment, the therapeutic effect of the two groups was compared. Results. After receiving the treatment, the levels of urine protein (UPro), triglyceride, and cholesterol were significantly decreased in the two groups (p < 0.05), and these levels in the therapy group were much lower than those of the control group (p < 0.05). However, the level of albumin (ALB) was predominantly increased in the two groups after treatment (p < 0.05), and this level in the therapy group was much higher than that of the control group (p < 0.05). Moreover, the immune indicators, coagulation function, and recurrence rate were noticeably improved after treatment (p < 0.05), and the therapy group was better than the control group (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the comparison of renal function indexes, liver function indexes, and blood routine between the two groups showed no statistical significance in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups (p > 0.05). Conclusions. For the treatment of refractory nephrotic syndrome in children, based on conventional shock therapy, the addition of traditional Chinese medicine (Liuwei Dihuang pill decoction) remedy can significantly improve the disease symptoms in children and improve the efficacy, and the incidence of adverse reactions is low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. To know the clinical value of mammotome-assisted minimally invasive resection (MAMIR) in the treatment of patients with breast neoplasm, we performed a retrospective clinical study for the patients treated with the MAMIR and conventional open resection (COR). Methods. Postoperative complications were compared between 40 patients treated with the MAMIR and 40 patients treated with the COR. The postoperative complications mainly included intraoperative blood loss, hospitalization days, operative time, surgical scar, and incidence of postoperative complications. Results. We found that the amount of intraoperative blood loss, hospitalization days, operative time, surgical scar, and incidence of postoperative complications in the MAMIR group were significantly lower than those of patients in the COR group. Conclusion. Our results indicated that patients with breast neoplasm treated with the MAMIR had better outcomes, which reinforced the advantage of this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. MicroRNA (miRNA) has been confirmed to be involved in the occurrence, development, and prevention of diabetic nephropathy (DN), but its mechanism of action is still unclear. Objective. With the help of the GEO database, bioinformatics methods are used to explore the miRNA-mRNA regulatory relationship pairs related to diabetic nephropathy and explain their potential mechanisms of action. Methods. The DN-related miRNA microarray dataset (GSE51674) and mRNA expression dataset (GSE30122) are downloaded through the GEO database, online analysis tool GEO2R is used for data differential expression analysis, TargetScan, miRTarBase, and miRDB databases are used to predict potential downstream target genes regulated by differentially expressed miRNAs, and intersection with differential genes is used to obtain candidate target genes. According to the regulatory relationship between miRNA and mRNA, the miRNA-mRNA relationship pair is clarified, and the miRNA-mRNA regulatory network is constructed using Cytoscape. DAVID is used to perform GO function enrichment analysis and KEGG pathway analysis of candidate target genes. By GeneMANIA prediction of miRNA target genes and coexpressed genes, the protein interaction network is constructed. Results and Conclusions. A total of 67 differentially expressed miRNAs were screened in the experiment, of which 42 were upregulated and 25 were downregulated; a total of 448 differentially expressed mRNAs were screened, of which 93 were upregulated and 355 were downregulated. Using TargetScan, miRTarBase, and miRDB databases to predict downstream targets of differentially expressed miRNAs, 2283 downstream target genes coexisting in 3 databases were predicted to intersect with differentially expressed mRNAs to obtain 96 candidate target genes. Finally, 44 miRNA-mRNA relationship pairs consisting of 12 differentially expressed miRNAs and 27 differentially expressed mRNAs were screened out; further analysis showed that miRNA regulatory network genes may participate in the occurrence and development of diabetic nephropathy through PI3K/Akt, ECM-receptor interaction pathway, and RAS signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the most important unconventional hydrocarbon resources, the oil shale has been extracted with a frozen wall to successfully increase the shale oil production and reduce environmental pollution, which results from the harmful liquids in the in situ conversion processing of oil shale. Thereby, the strength and permeability of the frozen wall are extremely critical to reduce the harmful chemicals leaching into the groundwater. However, the permeability and strength of the frozen wall can be influenced by periodic freeze-thaw cycles. In order to investigate the damage and deterioration characteristics of oil shale samples after various periodic freeze-thaw cycles, the oil shale samples were periodically frozen and thawed as many as 48 times, after which the sample mass, stress-strain, freeze-thaw coefficient, uniaxial compressive strength, elastic modulus, and longitudinal wave velocity of the oil shale samples were separately measured. According to the measured results, the number of freeze-thaw cycles greatly influenced the physical and mechanical properties of oil shale samples. The uniaxial compressive strength and elastic modulus of the oil shale samples were changed with maximum variation rates of 64% and 65%, respectively. Meanwhile, the freeze-thaw coefficient of measured oil shale samples exponentially decreased with the increased number of freeze-thaw cycles, whereas the longitudinal wave velocity of tested samples ranged from 1602 m/s to 2464 m/s as a result of the new micropores inside the oil shale sample. Research results have enormous significance to the efficient and safe in situ exploitation of oil shale deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rockfall is one of the most serious geological hazards in mountain regions. During the rescue situations after rockfall, the wheel loader, a vital type of modern engineering mechanism, plays an important role in relieving the obstruction of the catastrophic site. Increasing the reliability of the wheel loader during the rescue situation is quite important. This study aims to build a fault diagnosis model based on Bayesian network (BN) to diagnose the probability and path of the fault occurrence in the wheel loader during a rockfall disaster. Meanwhile, to reduce the influence of subjective factors, the fuzzy set theory is introduced into BN. The result showed that the probability of failure of the wheel loader under rockfall disaster is 13.11%. In addition, the key cause of the failure of the wheel loader under the rockfall disaster is the malfunction of mechanical parts. The probability of mechanical component failures in this case is as high as 88%, while the probability of human error is 6%. The research results not only show the ability of the BN to incorporate subjective judgment but also can provide a reference for fault diagnosis and risk assessment of wheel loaders under rockfall disaster conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]