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The machining mechanics of the rotary ultrasonic drilling (RUD) is investigated based on the separation effect of ultrasonic vibration (SEUV), by quantifying the critical force at a certain ultrasonic vibration amplitude. Firstly, the SEUV principle is explored by establishing the kinematic trajectory of the tool. Then, the critical force of SEUV at certain ultrasonic vibration amplitude is modeled. The simulation shows that as the tool interference displacement caused by the axial force is larger than the ultrasonic vibration amplitude, the tool vibration is in a suppressed state and the SEUV effect cannot be achieved. Third, the principles of standard drilling and peck drilling are proposed. The essence of peck drilling in step motion shows advantage to assure SEUV of RUD. Last, the critical force of SEUV is measured in experiments and proves that the SEUV is suppressed as the force exceeds a certain value. The RUD verification experiment on SiC of standard drilling and peck drilling is conducted. It is found that when the cutting force exceeds the critical force in standard drilling, the SEUV is suppressed and there has no significant improvement on the drilling performance. In peck drilling, the cutting force is lower than the critical force periodically, where the SEUV is achieved and the ultrasonic vibration can make effective impacts on the material and improve drilling performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhizopus arrhizus is a saprotrophic, sometimes clinically- and industrially-relevant mold (Mucorales) and distributed worldwide, suggesting it can assimilate a broad spectrum of substrates. Here, 69 strains of R. arrhizus were investigated by using the Biolog FF MicroPlate for the profiles of utilizing 95 carbon and nitrogen substrates. The study showed that most R. arrhizus strains were similar in average well color development (AWCD) and substrate richness (SR). Nevertheless, 13 strains were unique in principal component analyses, heatmap, AWCD, and SR analyses, which may imply a niche differentiation within R. arrhizus. The species R. arrhizus was able to utilize all the 95 carbon and nitrogen substrates, consistent with the hypothesis of a great metabolic diversity. It possessed a substrate preference of alcohols, and seven substrates were most frequently utilized, with N-acetyl-d-galactosamine and l-phenylalanine ranking at the top of the list. Eight substrates, especially l-arabinose and xylitol, were capable of promoting sporulation and being applied for rejuvenating degenerated strains. By phenotyping R. arrhizus strains in carbon and nitrogen assimilation capacity, this study revealed the extent of intra-specific variability and laid a foundation for estimating optimum substrates that may be useful for industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA methylation is an important epigenetic mechanism involved in the anti-tumor immune response, and DNA methyltransferase inhibitors (DNMTi) have achieved impressive therapeutic outcomes in patients with certain cancer types. However, it is unclear how inhibition of DNA methylation bridges the innate and adaptive immune responses to inhibit tumor growth. Here, we report that DNMTi zebularine reconstructs tumor immunogenicity, in turn promote dendritic cell maturation, antigen-presenting cell activity, tumor cell phagocytosis by APCs, and efficient T cell priming. Further in vivo and in vitro analyses reveal that zebularine stimulates cGAS-STING-NF-κB/IFNβ signaling to enhance tumor cell immunogenicity and upregulate antigen processing and presentation machinery (AgPPM), which promotes effective CD4+ and CD8+ T cell-mediated killing of tumor cells. These findings support the use of combination regimens that include DNMTi and immunotherapy for cancer treatment. DNA methyltransferase inhibitors potentiate anti-tumor immunity by inducing tumor immunogenicity and improving antigen processing through the STING-dependent type I interferon response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Menopause is a normal physiological process accompanied by changes in various physiological states. The incidence of vascular calcification (VC) increases each year after menopause and is closely related to osteoporosis (OP). Although many studies have investigated the links between VC and OP, the interaction mechanism of the two under conditions of estrogen loss remains unclear. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), which are involved in epigenetic modification, play a critical role in estrogen-mediated mineralization. In the past several decades, miRNAs have been identified as biomarkers or therapeutic targets in diseases. Thus, we hypothesize that these small molecules can provide new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. In this review, we summarize the close interactions between VC and OP and the role of miRNAs in their interplay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: There are only four sizes of implantable collamer lens (ICL) available for selection, which cannot completely fit all patients as a result of the discontinuity of ICL sizes. Sizing an optimal ICL and predicting postoperative vault are still unresolved problems. This study aimed to develop and validate innovative data-level data-balancing machine learning-based models for predicting ICL size and postoperative vault. Methods: The patients were randomly assigned to training and internal validation sets in a 4:1 ratio. Feature selection was performed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Kruskal–Wallis feature importance methods. Traditional linear regression model and machine learning-based models were used. The accuracy of models was assessed using the area under the curve (AUC) and confusion matrix. Results: A total of 564 patients (1127 eyes) were eligible for this study, consisting of 808 eyes in the training set, 202 eyes in the internal validation set, and 117 eyes in the external validation set. Compared with the traditional linear regression method, the machine learning model bagging tree showed the best performance for ICL size selection, with an accuracy of 84.5% (95% confidence interval (CI) 83.2–85.8%), and the AUC ranged from 0.88 to 0.99; the prediction accuracy of 12.1 mm and 13.7 mm ICL sizes was improved by 49% and 59%, respectively. The bagging tree model achieved the best accuracy [90.2%, (95% CI 88.9–91.5%)] for predicting the postoperative vault, and the AUC ranged from 0.90 to 0.94. The prediction accuracies of internal and external validation dataset for ICL sizing were 82.2% (95% CI 81.1–83.3%) and 82.1% (95% CI 81.1–83.1%), respectively. Conclusions: The innovative data-level data balancing-based machine learning model can be used to predict ICL size and postoperative vault more accurately, which can assist surgeons in choosing optimal ICL size, thus reducing risks of postoperative complications and secondary surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of 2020, coronavirus disease has broken out globally, large-scale work and production have stopped, causing employees to experience emotional exhaustion, and home offices have greatly exacerbated employees' deviant behavior. Leadership practices can actively influence employees' workplace behaviors and can prevent employees' passiveness and drain on their mental health. Based on the perspective of attribution theory, this article explores the influence of differential leadership on emotional exhaustion and deviant behavior in internal/external control employees. This survey's subjects were employees working in Tianjin, Beijing, Shanghai. Using the Questionnaire Star, the online platform of the Marketing Research Office of Peking University, and "snowball" methods, 357 questionnaires were collected. This study found that care and communication have no significant effect on deviance. Promotion & rewards significantly reduced interpersonal deviance but had no significant effect on organizational deviance. Tolerance & trust significantly improved interpersonal deviance but had no significant effect on organizational deviance. Employees with a high locus of control (internal control) could more easily control their emotions and reduce interpersonal deviance than employees with a low locus of control (external control) but this had no moderating effect on organizational deviance. The research shows that leaders should regularly care for and encourage each employee within their department, guide employees to recognize the organizational environment, establish an "insider" team, improve work efficiency, and incentivize "outsider" efforts. Subsequent studies can observe and capture employees' emotions and subconscious behaviors through interviews and experiments to ensure the accuracy of the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zygomycetes are phylogenetically early diverging, ecologically diverse, industrially valuable, agriculturally beneficial, and clinically pathogenic fungi. Although new phyla and subphyla have been constantly established to accommodate specific members and a subkingdom Mucoromyceta, comprising Calcarisporiellomycota, Glomeromycota, Mortierellomycota and Mucoromycota, was erected to unite core zygomycetous fungi, phylogenetic relationships within phyla have not been well resolved. Taking account of the information of monophyly and divergence time estimated from ITS and LSU rDNA sequences, the present study updates the classification framework of the phylum Mucoromycota from the class down to the generic rank: three classes, three orders, 20 families (including five new families Circinellaceae, Protomycocladaceae, Rhizomucoraceae, Syzygitaceae and Thermomucoraceae) and 64 genera. The taxonomic hierarchy was calibrated with estimated divergence times: phylum earlier than 617 Mya, classes and orders earlier than 547 Mya, families earlier than 199 Mya, and genera earlier than 12 Mya. Along with this outline, all genera of Mucoromycota are annotated and 58 new species are described. In addition, three new combinations are proposed. In this study, we update the taxonomic backbone of the phylum Mucoromycota and reinforce its phylogeny. We also contribute numerous new taxa and enrich the diversity of Mucoromycota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a portable air floating-electrode dielectric-barrier-discharge (FE-DBD) plasma generator has been developed with a weight of less than 200 g and a volume of less than 480 cm3. Considering the equivalent impedance of human body (EIHB), an equivalent circuit model is developed that couples the FE-DBD generator and the EIHB module to determine the thickness of the dielectric barrier layers of the plasma generator, taking into account the electrical safety for human body during air discharges. The thermal and optical characteristics of the air discharges are also studied showing stable and thermal safety and abundant reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. Furthermore, with a view to biomedical applications of the air FE-DBD plasmas, a dosimetric experimental model using human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells is proposed to simulate the interactions between the air FE-DBD plasmas and the human body. In this model, the cell culture medium works as the floating electrode and is connected to the EIHB module. The LD50 value, which is the medium lethal dose based on the concept of drug dosage in pharmacy using the FE-DBD plasma source, is measured for a quantitative evaluation of the cytotoxicity after plasma treatment. This study provides a device physical safety and dosage evaluation method for the portable air FE-DBD plasma generator which is helpful for promoting the clinical applications of this type, and even other types of CAP sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, Zero-Shot Learning (ZSL) has gained great attention due to its significant classification performance for novel unobserved classes. As seen and unseen classes are completely disjoint, the current ZSL methods inevitably suffer from the domain shift problem when transferring the knowledge between the observed and unseen classes. Additionally, most ZSL methods especially those targeting the semantic space may cause the hubness problem due to their use of nearest-neighbor classifiers in high-dimensional space. To tackle these issues, we propose a novel pathway termed Regularized Label Relaxation-based Stacked Autoencoder (RLRSA) to diminish the domain difference between seen and unseen classes by exploiting an effective label space, which has some notable advantages. First, the proposed method establishes the tight relations among the visual representation, semantic information and label space using via the stacked autoencoder, which is beneficial for avoiding the projection domain shift. Second, by incorporating a slack variable matrix into the label space, our RLRSA method has more freedom to fit the test samples whether they come from the observed or unseen classes, resulting in a very robust and discriminative projection. Third, we construct a manifold regularization based on a class compactness graph to further reduce the domain gap between the seen and unseen classes. Finally, the learned projection is utilized to predict the class label of the target sample, thus the hubness issue can be prevented. Extensive experiments conducted on benchmark datasets clearly show that our RLRSA method produces new state-of-the-art results under two standard ZSL settings. For example, the RLRSA obtains the highest average accuracy of 67.82% on five benchmark datasets under the pure ZSL setting. For the generalized ZSL task, the proposed RLRSA is still highly effective, e.g., it achieves the best H result of 58.9% on the AwA2 dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Li4Ti5−xAlxO12 samples with tremella-shape were synthesized via a hydrothermal method at 550 °C and used as anode material in lithium-ion batteries. The XRD results revealed all as-prepared Li4Ti5−xAlxO12 samples had the structure and chemical component of standard spinel Li4Ti5O12, and the tremella-shape morphology of the Li4Ti5−xAlxO12 sample was composed of ultra-thin nanosheets. With Al3+ doping amount x = 0.5, both the optimum first discharge specific capacity and lithium-ion diffusion coefficient at a rate of 1 C were obtained to be 217.9 mAh/g and 3.72 × 10−13 cm2·S−1, respectively. And the discharge capacity retention rate of the Li4Ti4.5Al0.5O12 still reached as high as 86.87% after 200-cycle performance test. All Li4Ti5−xAlxO12 anode materials were charge-discharged at different rates for 5 cycles to prove the good capacity stability and excellent rate performance. To sum up, the prepared Li4Ti5−xAlxO12 has excellent electrochemical properties and can be used as an anode material in the potential application of lithium-ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermocatalytic conversion of redundant CO2 to useful methanol is an attractive route to address both energy and environmental crises simultaneously. However, existing copper/oxide catalysts widely used in these thermocatalytic processes still suffer from low methanol yield under mild reaction conditions. In this work, we design inverse oxide/Cu catalysts to achieve superior thermal catalytic performance for CO2 hydrogenation. The optimized ZnO/Cu-1.0 catalyst exhibits maximum CH3OH selectivity of 83.4% and space–time yield (STY) of 170.9 g CH 3 OH kg cat - 1 h - 1 in CO2 hydrogenation at 210 °C, nearly twofold higher STY than the previous optimal inverse ZnO/Cu catalysts ( 89.6 g CH 3 OH kg cat - 1 h - 1 at 250 °C). Importantly, ZnO/Cu-1.0 catalyst displayed not only a satisfactory catalytic stability but also a superior CH3OH STY with a time-on-stream of 24 h. Such inverse configuration of catalysts will pave the way for new strategies to design high-performance thermocatalytic catalysts and promote their commercialization. Typical inverse ZnO/Cu-1.0 catalysts have been demonstrated and achieved to significantly facilitate the activation of inert CO2 molecules to produce methanol, due to its special physicochemical properties and strong ZnO–Cu interaction [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regenerated cellulose fibers (RCFs) are widely used biodegradable and eco-friendly materials made from woody biomass that can replace synthetic fibers. In this work, we explored the feasibility of fabricating RCFs using phosphoric acid with hydrogen peroxide (PHP)-treated wheat straw in an N, N-dimethylacetamide/lithium chloride (DMAc/LiCl) solvent system. The effects of upstream pretreatment conditions on the obtained cellulose-enriched fraction (CEF), the solubility of CEF in DMAc/LiCl, the mechanical properties of RCFs, and the interfacial interaction of residual lignin were systematically studied. CEF could be completely dissolved in DMAc/LiCl, and its wet spun RCFs had tensile strengths of 184 MPa and toughness values of 25 MJ/m3; it demonstrated remarkable wet strength (84 MPa), wet toughness (11 MJ/m3), and dyeing properties. The existence of residual lignin negatively affected the RCF mechanical properties; however, it enhanced its resistance to water infiltration. The present work provided a new approach for producing RCFs from woody biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facing the double pressure of promoting economic growth and achieving the goal of "emission peak" by 2030, China must cut down the carbon emission intensity. Focusing on the typical characteristics of China's financial system arrangement, we theoretically analyze the mechanism of vertical fiscal asymmetry affecting carbon emission intensity and use a panel data from 30 Chinese provinces to conduct an empirical examination. The results show that (1) vertical fiscal asymmetry significantly increases the local carbon emission intensity. After a series of robust tests, such as replacement variables and sample data, the conclusion is still valid. (2) The analysis of regional heterogeneity shows that the influence of vertical fiscal asymmetry in carbon emission intensity is the largest in the central area of China, followed by the eastern provinces, and not evident in the western area. The rise in carbon emission intensity brought on by vertical fiscal asymmetry can be successfully reduced by the central transfer payment. The impact of vertical fiscal asymmetry on carbon emission intensity will be greatly lessened when the central transfer payment surpasses the threshold. (3) The mechanism test shows that vertical fiscal asymmetry increases the carbon emissions intensity by three paths: reducing the intensity of environmental regulation, strengthening local governments' dependence on land finance, and local government competition. The above analysis further enriches the relevant research on how China's vertical fiscal asymmetry system affects carbon emission intensity through land finance and local government competition while pointing out the role of transfer payment, and it can help to provide new ideas and empirical evidence for further improving the financial system and promoting the green development of the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the performance of a dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) virtual non-calcium (VNCa) technique in the detection of edema-like marrow signal intensity (ELMSI) in patients with knee joint osteoarthritis (OA) compared to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods: The study received local ethics board approval, and written informed consent was obtained. DECT and MRI were used to examine 28 knees in 24 patients with OA. VNCa images were generated by dual-energy subtraction of calcium. The knee joint was divided into 15 regions for ELMSI grading, performed independently by two musculoskeletal radiologists, with MRI as the reference standard. We also analyzed CT numbers through receiver operating characteristics and calculated cut-off values. Results: For the qualitative analysis, we obtained CT sensitivity (Readers 1, 2 = 83.7%, 89.8%), specificity (Readers 1, 2 = 99.5%, 99.5%), positive predictive value (Readers 1, 2 = 95.3%, 95.7%), and negative predictive value (Readers 1, 2 = 97.9%, 98.7%) for ELMSI. The interobserver agreement was excellent (κ = 0.92). The area under the curve for Reader 1 and Reader 2 was 0.961 (95% CI 0.93, 0.99) and 0.992 (95% CI 0.98, 1.00), respectively. CT numbers obtained from the VNCa images were significantly different between regions with and without ELMSI (p <.001). Conclusions: VNCa images have good diagnostic performance for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of knee osteoarthritis-related ELMSI. Key points: DECT-VNCa images had important clinical significance in diagnosing ELMSI. DECT-VNCa images can improve the diagnosis of ELMSI by cut-off value. The research of DECT-related post-processing technology in the diagnosis of OA-related pain needs further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fullerene acceptors typically possess excellent electron-transporting properties and can work as guest components in ternary organic solar cells to enhance the charge extraction and efficiencies. However, conventional fullerene small molecules typically suffer from undesirable segregation and dimerization, thus limiting their applications in organic solar cells. Herein we report the use of a poly(fullerene-alt-xylene) acceptor (PFBO-C12) as guest component enables a significant efficiency increase from 16.9% for binary cells to 18.0% for ternary all-polymer solar cells. Ultrafast optic and optoelectronic studies unveil that PFBO-C12 can facilitate hole transfer and suppress charge recombination. Morphological investigations show that the ternary blends maintain a favorable morphology with high crystallinity and smaller domain size. Meanwhile, the introduction of PFBO-C12 reduces voltage loss and enables all-polymer solar cells with excellent light stability and mechanical durability in flexible devices. This work demonstrates that introducing polyfullerenes as guest components is an effective approach to achieving highly efficient ternary all-polymer solar cells with good stability and mechanical robustness. Fullerene acceptors typically suffer from undesirable segregation and dimerization. Here, the authors report a poly(fullerene-alt-xylene) acceptor as guest component to facilitate charge transfer and suppress charge recombination, achieving efficiency of 18% for ternary all-polymer solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have shown a correlation between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and bone mineral density (BMD) in adults, but their relationship is unclear in adolescents. This study aimed to explore whether a correlation existed between them among adolescents aged 12–19. Data analyzed in our study was fetched from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database 2011–2018. The relationship between HDL-C level and total BMD value was analyzed by multivariate logistic regression models, fitted smoothing curves, and generalized additive models. 3770 participants participated in this analysis. After adjusting for all relevant covariates involved in this study, we found a negative correlation between HDL-C levels and total bone density in male adolescents.Furthermore, the stratified analysis showed that all covariables-adjusted models retained the negative correlation excepting female, black, or Mexican American subgroups. An inverted U-shaped curve represented the correlation of HDL-C and total BMD among adolescents aged 16 to 19, and the turning point was 1.06 mmol/L. After adjusting for all relevant covariates involved in this study, the study found a negative correlation between HDL-C levels and total BMD in male adolescents aged 12 to 19, particularly among those of races other than Black and Mexican. There was a saturation effect between HDL-C level and total BMD in 16–19-year-old adolescents. The turning point was 1.06 mmol/L. Therefore, HDL-C might be a biomarker to detect bone health and further perform a more detailed examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blind inpainting algorithms based on deep learning architectures have shown a remarkable performance in recent years, typically outperforming model-based methods both in terms of image quality and run time. However, neural network strategies typically lack a theoretical explanation, which contrasts with the well-understood theory underlying model-based methods. In this work, we leverage the advantages of both approaches by integrating theoretically founded concepts from transform domain methods and sparse approximations into a CNN-based approach for blind image inpainting. To this end, we present a novel strategy to learn convolutional kernels that applies a specifically designed filter dictionary whose elements are linearly combined with trainable weights. Numerical experiments demonstrate the competitiveness of this approach. Our results show not only an improved inpainting quality compared to conventional CNNs but also significantly faster network convergence within a lightweight network design. Our code is available at https://github.com/cv-stuttgart/SDPF_Blind-Inpainting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the clinical characteristics and prognostic effects of different subtypes of suprasellar arachnoid cysts (SAC) in children. Methods: Fifty patients with primary SAC who had undergone endoscopic treatment in our department between January 2010 and December 2020 were studied retrospectively. All patients underwent endoscopic treatment after diagnosis, including ventriculocystostomy (VC) in 23 cases and ventriculocystocisternostomy (VCC) in 27 cases. All patients were followed up regularly after the operation, including head computed tomography (CT)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and Evans index (EI) and frontal and occipital horn ratio (FOHR) index were measured to assess changes in cyst volume and hydrocephalus. The prognosis was evaluated comprehensively on the data of the improvement of clinical symptoms, child growth and development correlation score, and reduction of cyst volume 12 months after surgery. According to the new classification of SAC, 50 cases of children were classified into three groups in which we compared the clinical characteristics of different subtypes of the three groups. Logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of prognosis. Results: Completed success was achieved in 50 cases, including 31 cases with cyst volume reduction of more than 50% and 19 cases with cyst volume reduction of less than 50%. The median follow-up time was 55.3 months (22 ~ 113 months). According to the new classification criteria of SAC, there were 21 cases of SAC-1, 16 cases of SAC-2, and 13 cases of SAC-3. There were no statistically significant differences among the three groups in gender, birth weight, prenatal diagnosis, hydrocephalus, endocrine abnormalities, relief of postoperative symptoms, cyst wall texture, and surgical methods (P > 0.05). There was a statistically significant difference among the three groups in the change of the cyst volume and the maximum cyst diameter (P < 0.05), in which SAC-1 had the largest volume reduction, SAC-2 was more likely to cause endocrine symptoms and SAC-3 was inclined to lie in between. Multivariate logistic analysis showed that SAC classification and cyst wall texture were independent risk factors for the prognosis. Conclusion: The clinical characteristics of different SAC subtypes are different, and SAC classification is one of the independent risk factors affecting prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A self-developed finite element limit analysis (FELA) code was employed in this study to investigate the stability of eccentrically loaded strip footings on rock slopes. The research emphasis of this study was on quantifying the inequality phenomenon induced by the slope and eccentric loads of different directions. The generalized Hoek–Brown yield criterion was embedded into the program to simulate the rock nonlinearity. Upper bound theorem, lower bound theorem and adaptive meshing technique were adopted for more reliable calculations. And stability charts were presented to illustrate the influences of various influential factors including the rock property, the slope angle and the footing position on the footing bearing capacity. Furthermore, transformation trends of failure patterns were analyzed for deeper insight into how the failure mechanisms evolving with different influential factors. Detailed design tables were summarized to facilitate the engineering practice and ensure the building safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the special hydrogeological conditions in karst areas, groundwater responds quickly to rainfall. The covariation of ion concentrations and spring discharge can help better understand the hydrogeochemical process of groundwater occurring in the heterogeneous karst aquifers. In this study, high-resolution monitoring of groundwater discharge, hydrochemistry, and stable isotopes was conducted at the Qingjiangyuan (QJY), a spring of the Qingjiang watershed in Hubei, China. The purpose is to investigate the changes in hydrogeochemical processes and chemical weathering under the influence of rainfall. The dynamics of spring discharge indicate the presence of pipelines and fissures of different sizes. According to the spring discharge attenuation curves, there are at least three medium types in the aquifer, which account for 45.7%, 34.2%, and 20.1% of the total groundwater. Pearson correlation analysis shows that the main sources of the solute in the QJY are carbonate minerals (mainly calcite and dolomite), evaporites (mainly gypsum and sylvite), celestite, and strontianite. Anthropogenic activities have less impact on groundwater solutes. Although carbonate minerals dominate the hydrochemistry, the changes in hydrogeochemical behavior caused by rainfall may come from gypsum, which is supported by the ion concentrations. At the early rainfall stage, Ca2+ concentration increased from 42.9 to 45.6 mg/L, followed by the SO42− from 15.2 to 16.6 mg/L. When the discharge increased to the maximum (2320 L/s), Ca2+ and SO42− showed opposite trends, decreased to 39.7 mg/L and 10.4 mg/L, respectively. The results also suggest that carbonate rocks and evaporites have important roles in hydrochemistry. The contributions of these three end-members were quantified based on the law of mass conservation. The proportions of carbonate weathering and evaporite weathering were 83.4% (85.2–80.3%) and 11.6% (6.9–18.0%), respectively, and rain was 5.0% (0.1–10.4%). These results were integrated into a hydrogeological conceptual model that explains the hydrogeochemical processes, including rock weathering, piston, and dilution effects caused by rainfall. The proposed conceptual model helps to improve the understanding of hydrogeochemical processes and chemical weathering in karst areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the seismic stability of the slope containing a two-pile foundation (SCTPF) under seismic loads is evaluated by the finite element limit analysis (FELA) method. The seismic loading is modeled as a statically applied inertial force, the magnitude of which is a product of a seismic coefficient and the weight of the potential sliding mass within the framework of the pseudo-static method. The feasibility of FELA in the analysis is validated by comparing the predicted safety factors, yield acceleration coefficients, and potential failure surfaces with those in published studies. On this basis, some non-dimensional multipliers are presented to investigate the variations of seismic safety factors with different factors and simplify the calculation of seismic safety factors. Numerous values of the multipliers under different conditions have been given in this study and the tendency of these multipliers with different factors has been explored by fitting curves or distribution regions. Furthermore, four detailed design tables for seismic safety factors and six representative slope failure modes are presented, with the mechanisms and conditions of these failure modes and the transitions among them elaborated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper captures the frequently encountered strain localization of brittle rocks in laboratory compression experiments under moderate confining pressures generally ranging from 10 to 60 MPa. The plastic volumetric strains are related to particle dislocations in shear bands strongly constrained by relatively undeformed neighboring materials. Accordingly, the dilatant behavior of shear bands, analogous to a rock joint shearing, is predicted by introducing a multiple-asperity joints model. By imposing the model, the dislocation of grain particles in bands is abstracted by an uneven interface shear to reflect admitted volumetric strain behavior. It also highlights key issues associated with the bands, i.e., the width, the boundary conditions and non-uniform grain sizes within the bands. To tackle these problems, appropriate hypotheses are further made to simplify analytical procedures. The solution can quantify triaxial stress–strain relations with the least number of model parameters. A comparison between predictions and published experimental data is claimed to be satisfactory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traumatic bone marrow lesions (TBMLs) are considered to represent a range of concealed bone injuries, including haemorrhage, infarction, and localised oedema caused by trabecular microfracture occurring in the cancellous bone. If TBMLs are not managed timeously, they potentially cause a series of complications that can lead to irreversible morbidity and prolonged recovery time. This article reviews interesting image findings of bone marrow lesions in dual-energy computed tomography (DECT). In addition to combining the benefits of traditional CT imaging, DECT also reveals and identifies various structures using diverse attenuation characteristics of different radiographic spectra. Therefore, DECT has the capacity to detect TBMLs, which have traditionally been diagnosed using MRI. Through evaluating DECT virtual non-calcium maps, the detection of TBMLs is rendered easier and more efficient in some acute accidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Qingjiang River is the second largest tributary of the Yangtze River in Hubei Province and is also a typical karst catchment. Eighty-two important groundwater samples were collected during the high and low water periods of 2019. The results show the following. (1) The major hydrochemical types are Ca + Mg-HCO3 and Ca-HCO3, indicating that carbonate weathering is the main factor controlling the groundwater chemistry. (2) The results of inverse hydrochemical modeling reveal two kinds of groundwater–carbonate rock interactions. One is the codissolution of calcite and dolomite, and the other is dedolomitization, which is widespread in the dolomite aquifers. Furthermore, gypsum has a tendency to dissolve in each aquifer, and the common ion effect of Ca2+ caused by gypsum dissolution promotes dedolomitization. The modeling results suggest that major elements can be effectively used to trace the material source of the groundwater. (3) The chemical weathering of carbonate rock is mainly affected by carbonic acid, sulfuric acid, and nitric acid. After accounting for the impacts of evaporites and atmospheric input, the calculations show that the contribution of carbonic acid involved in carbonate weathering is 70.9% in the high water period and 70.0% in the low water period. Statistical analysis of karst spring discharge and the contributions of the acids involved in carbonate weathering reveals that the two are positively related. This result reflects the behaviors of sulfuric acid and nitric acid under the hydrodynamic conditions in different seasons. Therefore, carbonate weathering should be carefully evaluated in karst areas with abundant groundwater, and the role of groundwater in carbonate weathering is worthy of further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A subinterval bivariate dimension-reduction method is proposed to predict the upper and lower bounds of nonlinear problems with uncertain-but-bounded parameters, especially for nonmonotonic problems. The existing interval function decomposition method solves the dimensional curse problem, but is only suitable for the monotone case. To address this limitation, the original structural response function with multidimensional interval parameters is decomposed by the bivariate dimension-reduction method into a set of univariate and bivariate interval response functions, and then the interval parameters are partitioned into some subintervals with low uncertainty. The upper and lower bounds of the structural response are approximately predicted not by analyzing all discrete points in the entire uncertain domain, but by calculating the responses at bivariate points, univariate points, and the midpoint, which can improve the computational efficiency. Finally, the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are verified using several numerical examples and engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Side-chain engineering has been demonstrated as an effective method for fine-tuning the optical, electrical, and morphological properties of organic semiconductors toward efficient organic solar cells (OSCs). In this work, three isomeric non-fullerene small molecule acceptors (SMAs), named BTP-4F-T2C8, BTP-4F-T2EH and BTP-4F-T3EH, with linear and branched alkyl chains substituted on the α or β positions of thiophene as the side chains, were synthesized and systematically investigated. The results demonstrate that the size and substitution position of alkyl side chains can greatly affect the electronic properties, molecular packing as well as crystallinity of the SMAs. After blending with donor polymer D18-Cl, the prominent device performance of 18.25% was achieved by the BTP-4F-T3EH-based solar cells, which is higher than those of the BTP-4F-T2EH-based (17.41%) and BTP-4F-T2C8-based (15.92%) ones. The enhanced performance of the BTP-4F-T3EH-based devices is attributed to its stronger crystallinity, higher electron mobility, suppressed biomolecular recombination, and the appropriate intermolecular interaction with the donor polymer. This work reveals that the side chain isomerization strategy can be a practical way in tuning the molecular packing and blend morphology for improving the performance of organic solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article titled "Retraction Note: LncRNA LINC00152 promoted glioblastoma progression through targeting the miR-107 expression" has been retracted by the Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Science & Pollution Research. The retraction was due to concerns raised about Figure 3A, which appeared to be identical to a panel from a previously published article by different authors. As a result, the Editor-in-Chief no longer has confidence in the results and conclusions of the retracted article. The publisher has been unable to contact the authors. [Extracted from the article]

This study aims to present a theoretical method for the safety factor of a slope encapsulating a laterally loaded pile. The factor can be derived by the object function concerning the external work rate and internal energy dissipation based on kinematic limit analysis, after assuming the log-spiral failure mechanism of the slope. To address the core issues (the critical point depth and lateral force provided by the pile) in the analysis, the modified strain wedge technique and the soil wedge assumption were adopted to evaluate the soil resistance and extra earth pressure around the pile, respectively. Besides, the proposed method was verified by published data and numerical methods, and the slope failure mechanism was revealed by observing two wedge-shaped failure regions around the pile. Furthermore, the variations of normalized safety factors with normalized lateral loads can be empirically fitted by cubic functions, and the normalized safety factor mainly depends on the lateral load and pile location but is not sensitive to the shear strength. The safety factor of the slope encapsulating a laterally loaded pile (FoS1) can be thus alternatively predicted by scaling the safety factor of the slope without the lateral load (FoS0) with the corresponding normalized safety factor η. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detecting the singular point accurately and efficiently is one of the most important tasks for fingerprint recognition. In recent years, deep learning has been gradually used in the fingerprint singular point detection. However, the existing deep learning-based singular point detection methods are either two-stage or multi-stage, which makes them time-consuming. More importantly, their detection accuracy is yet unsatisfactory, especially for the low-quality fingerprint. In this paper, we make a Real One-Stage Effort to detect fingerprint singular points more accurately and efficiently, and therefore, we name the proposed algorithm ROSE for short, in which the multi-scale spatial attention, the Gaussian heatmap and the variant of focal loss are integrated together to achieve a higher detection rate. Experimental results on the datasets FVC2002 DB1 and NIST SD4 show that our ROSE outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of detection rate, false alarm rate and detection speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Silicon photonic platforms offer relevance to large markets in many applications, such as optical phased arrays, photonic neural networks, programmable photonic integrated circuits, and quantum computation devices. As one of the basic tuning devices, the thermo-optic phase shifter (TOPS) plays an important role in all these applications. A TOPS with the merits of easy fabrication, low power consumption, small thermal time constant, low insertion loss, small footprint, and low crosstalk, is needed to improve the performance and lower the cost of the above applications. To meet these demands, various TOPS have been proposed and experimentally demonstrated on different foundry platforms In this paper, we review the state-of-the-art of TOPS, including metal heater, doped silicon, silicide, with silicon substrate undercut for heat insulation, folded waveguide structure, and multi-pass waveguide structure. We further compare these TOPSs and propose the directions of the future developments on TOPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leptin is a well-known adipokine that plays critical role in adiposity. To further investigate the role of leptin in adiposity, we utilized leptin overexpressing transgenic pigs and evaluated the effect of leptin on growth and development, fat deposition, and lipid metabolism at tissue and cell level. Leptin transgenic pigs were produced and divided into two groups: elevated leptin expression (leptin (+)) and normal leptin expression group (control). Results indicated that leptin (+) pigs had elevated leptin protein and mRNA expression levels and exhibited sluggish growth and development followed by decreased subcutaneous fat thickness, low serum triglycerides, saturated, unsaturated fatty acids and high cholesterol esters (p < 0.05). There were differences in the lipid metabolism related genes at different fat depots, including upregulation of PPARγ, AGPAT6, PLIN2, HSL and ATGL in subcutaneous, PPARγ in perirenal, and FAT/CD36 and PLIN2 in mesenteric adipose tissues and downregulation of AGPAT6 and ATGL in perirenal and AGPAT6 in mesenteric adipose tissues (p < 0.05). Additionally, in-vitro cultured leptin (+) preadipocytes exhibited upregulation of PPARγ, FAT/CD36, ACACA, AGPAT, PLIN2, ATGL and HSL as compared to control (p < 0.05). These findings suggested that homeostasis imbalance in lipolysis and lipogenesis at adipose tissue and adipocytes levels led to low subcutaneous fat depots in leptin overexpression pigs. These pigs can act as model for obesity and related metabolic disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, laboratory tests have been conducted to investigate the performance of concrete–mudstone interface shear under constant normal stiffness (CNS) condition and the profile of the interface roughness is assembled by using a series of identical triangular asperities. Direct shear tests on the samples are carried out under CNS conditions, with special emphasis on the different initial normal loads and normal stiffnesses provided by parallel springs. The observations indicated that the shear behavior is highly dependent on the compressibility of asperities. Based on energy principles, the authors have developed an alternative degradation function to account for the mobilized dilation angle, where the material and geometric indexes were introduced for correlating the shear strength with the properties of mudstones. The proposed model relates the normal and shear stresses to the corresponding displacements in terms of the material properties, asperity inclination and chord lengths. In addition to the predictions of strength, the degradation patterns could be also concluded by imposing varying material and geometric indexes. Results from the proposed method is verified by experimental observations and the comparison appears to be satisfactory. Sensitivity study was also carried out for demonstrating the application of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mucoromycota are diverse in microbial oils, but oil-related studies have long been confined to a few particular genera and species. This study used the Sherlock Microbial Identification System to determine fatty acid compositions and consequently discover potential resources from 669 strains representing 133 species in 28 genera in 11 families from the core mucoromycotan orders Mortierellales, Mucorales, and Umbelopsidales. Results showed that 34% of strains, 50% of species, and 46% of genera were oleaginous. Eleven genera were proposed as oleaginous taxa for the first time. Among them, Backusella was highlighted in accumulating as high as 59.08 ± 2.24% of oils. Twenty-five and 50 strains were screened as potential high-yield fungi for oils and high-value fatty acids respectively. Pilaira produced the most C18:2, while Rhizopus and Thamnostylum produced the most C18:3. Only strains of Mortierella produced C20:4; Mo. amoeboidea CGMCC 3.15949 yielded 58.00% ± 1.15% of C20:4, which suggests it is an excellent source of C20:4. This study suggests for the first time that the bulk of Mucoromycota is rich in lipids. More genera and species were discovered herein as oil-producing resources. These findings serve as a foundation for further research on microbial oil production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Left-side secondary carina resection and reconstruction is a rare, complex procedure, performed just in a few specialized centers in a restricted group of patients. Few studies describe this technique and report its short and long-term results. We reviewed our experience to evaluate the perioperative and short-term outcomes of a very demanding surgery. We retrospectively collected the information of all the patients who underwent secondary carina resection and reconstruction for low-grade malignant bronchial tumors at our center. Between January 2012 and September 2018, 23 patients received surgery for low-grade malignant bronchial tumors. In all patients, a secondary carina resection and reconstruction with total lung parenchymal preservation was performed. The mean age was 44.5 ± 12.2 years. Pathologies included adenoid cystic carcinoma in ten patients, carcinoid in 7 (6 typical and 1 atypical), mucoepidermoid carcinoma in 4, myoepithelioma in 1 and inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor in 1. The median length of the resected bronchus was 25 mm (range 15–50 mm). Three patients (13%) had, at least, one postoperative complication with no deaths. Two patients had lymph node metastases and eight had positive margins. Nine patients received adjuvant therapy. Follow-up ranged from 13 to 96 months, all patients are currently alive and free of recurrence. Resection and reconstruction of the left secondary carina with preservation of the lung parenchyma can be performed safely in anatomically and oncologically appropriate patients, providing good short-term results when combined with adjuvant therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a) is generally added to the improve pregnancy outcomes of hormone replacement therapy cycles among patients with adenomyosis. We aimed to investigate whether adding GnRH-a can result in better pregnancy outcomes. This retrospective analysis included 341 patients with adenomyosis who underwent frozen embryo transfer (FET) after in vitro fertilization (IVF). The control group was treated only with hormone replacement therapy cycles to prepare the endometrium, and GnRH-a was added to the study group before hormone administration to adjust the menstruation cycle. Based on the similar baseline values and embryological data, there was no significant difference in the clinical pregnancy rates (40.63% vs. 42.54%, P = 0.72) and live birth rates (23.75% vs. 23.75%, P = 0.74) of the control and study groups. Other secondary outcomes, including the rates of clinical miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, preterm birth and term birth, were not significantly different between the two groups. Compared with the hormone replacement therapy cycle alone, GnRH-a downregulation based on a hormone replacement therapy cycle may not increase the rate of clinical pregnancy or live birth of IVF-ET with FET among infertile patients with adenomyosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study was undertaken to elucidate the clinical significance of widening of the popliteal hiatus on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after a torn discoid lateral meniscus (DLM). Methods: Included are 125 knees with meniscal disorders after arthroscopic surgery, divided according to preoperative MRI and symptoms into group A (torn DLM with mechanical symptoms,11 knees); group B (torn DLM without mechanical symptoms,41 knees); group C (asymptomatic DLM, 19 knees); and group D (medial meniscal tears, 54 knees). Popliteal hiatus width was measured on sagittal and coronal MRI. During arthroscopy, total meniscectomy or central partial meniscectomy combined repair of the remaining part was performed in group A and group B. Outcomes were evaluated with MRI, the Tegner, Lysholm Knee Scoring Scale, and visual analog scale (VAS) scores. Results: The preoperative width of the popliteal hiatus was significantly larger in group A than in groups C and D (P < 0.05) on both views. Group A had a wider popliteal hiatus on sagittal view compared with group B (P < 0.05); group B had a wider popliteal hiatus on coronal view compared with group D (P < 0.05). The width of the popliteal hiatus on sagittal view was significantly reduced after surgery in group A (P < 0.05). In groups A and B, Lysholm and Tegner scores were improved, while VAS scores were reduced (all P < 0.05). Conclusion: Widening of the popliteal hiatus on MRI was correlated with torn DLM and accompanied mechanical symptoms. Arthroscopic central partial menisectomy and stabilization of the posterior part of the middle body anterior to the popliteus tendon were effective for the treatment of torn DLM. These findings may help guide appropriate treatment for torn DLM. Level of evidence: II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel fluorimetric and colorimetric chemosensor (1O) was synthesized with diarylethene-rhodamine unit and characterized by ESI–MS, 1H NMR, and 13C NMR. The chemosensor can selectively recognize extremely low concentrations of Hg2+ over a variety of metal ions with remarkable colorimetric and fluorescent responses. The colorimetric and fluorescent changes were ascribed the reaction between 1O and Hg2+ destructed the rhodamine hydrazide into open-ring form which was proved by mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic titration analyses. The detection limits of the UV absorption and fluorescence methods for Hg2+ were found to be 0.708 μM and 24.6 nM, respectively. Moreover, the chemosensor exhibited excellent photochromism and outstanding fatigue resistance property under alternating UV and visible light irradiation. The application potential of the chemosensor was demonstrated with the qualitative detection of Hg2+ in real water samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen heterocycle represents a ubiquitous skeleton in natural products and drugs. Late-stage C(sp3)-H bond functionalization of N-heterocycles with broad substrate scope remains a challenge and of particular significance to modern chemical synthesis and pharmaceutical chemistry. Here, we demonstrate copper-catalysed late-stage C(sp3)-H functionalizaion of N-heterocycles using commercially available catalysts under mild reaction conditions. We have investigated 8 types of N-heterocycles which are usually found as medicinally important skeletons. The scope and utility of this approach are demonstrated by late-stage C(sp3)-H modification of these heterocycles including a number of pharmaceuticals with a broad range of nucleophiles, e.g. methylation, arylation, azidination, mono-deuteration and glycoconjugation etc. Preliminary mechanistic studies reveal that the reaction undergoes a C-H fluorination process which is followed by a nucleophilic substitution. Late-stage C(sp3)-H bond functionalization of N-heterocycles with broad substrate scope remains a challenge and of particular significance to modern chemical synthesis and pharmaceutical chemistry. Here the authors show copper-catalysed late-stage C(sp3)-H functionalizaion of N-heterocycles using commercially available catalysts under mild reaction conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Localization is usually required for the near-net-shape billet before machining. In conventional research, the to-be-cut features only need to be transformed into the middle of billet to leave the to-be-cut material. However, if it is applied on the thin-walled feature, the machined feature would easily be beyond tolerance due to cutting deformation. Thus, conventional localization principle is not best for the thin-walled feature before the machining. To reduce reject rate for the near-net-shape billet, a new localization theory for the thin-walled features is investigated in this article. The workpiece's stiffness and cutting force distribution are considered in thin-walled feature localization. By the adjustment of the to-be-cut material, the cutting force is optimized to control the deformation of workpiece. Base on this principle, the cutting deformation is introduced into the constraint conditions of the localization optimization. Thus, the deviation of machined feature is prevented to be outside of tolerance as much as possible. In this work, a practical plate machining is rendered to verify this approach. It lays a theoretical foundation of thin-walled feature localization and is an effective solution for improving qualification rate of the near-net-shape part in industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underground cutoff walls are useful in conserving groundwater and preventing seawater intrusion in coastal regions. However, the environmental effects of human activities on groundwater quality in the upstream area of the underground cutoff wall over the long term are not clear. In this study, combined analysis of multiple isotopes (δ15N-NO3−, δ18O-NO3−, δ2H, and δ18O-H2O) and nitrate concentrations was used to assess the effect of underground cutoff walls on nitrogen dynamics in groundwater in an agricultural area in China. We sampled groundwater wells in the upstream and downstream areas of the underground walls in April, July, and September. The results indicated that the underground cutoff walls hampered the horizontal groundwater flow, making the upstream groundwater a closed system, which led to an increase in the nitrate concentration and accelerated nitrification processes. Manure was the main nitrate source in the upstream groundwater, and its levels in the groundwater were similar during the three seasons, indicating that there was no difference in the nitrate sources in the upstream groundwater among the three seasons. Hence, further management measures for manure application may be critical for groundwater protection in the upstream area of underground cutoff walls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bearing capacity of ring footings on a rock mass is investigated by employing finite element limit analysis (FELA). The rock mass obeys the modified Hoek-Brown failure criterion and an associated flow rule. Based on the FELA method, the bearing capacity factor Nσ is computed and presented in the form of design tables and charts that account for the variation of the geological strength index (GSI), the intact rock constant (mi), and the ratio of internal radius to external radius of the footing (Ri/R0). Typical failure modes associated with these parameters are compared and discussed. In general, the magnitude of Nσ increases with increasing GSI and mi, while the unit weight has negligible effect on the bearing capacity factor. As the value of Ri/R0 increases, the bearing capacity factor first increases, then decreases, and reaches the maximum value at Ri/R0 = 0.25, indicating that Ri/R0 = 0.25 may be the optimum ratio of the ring footing. In addition, computations of strip footings on rock masses are conducted for verification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell death in human diseases is often a consequence of disrupted cellular homeostasis. If cell death is prevented without restoring cellular homeostasis, it may lead to a persistent dysfunctional and pathological state. Although mechanisms of cell death have been thoroughly investigated1–3, it remains unclear how homeostasis can be restored after inhibition of cell death. Here we identify TRADD4–6, an adaptor protein, as a direct regulator of both cellular homeostasis and apoptosis. TRADD modulates cellular homeostasis by inhibiting K63-linked ubiquitination of beclin 1 mediated by TRAF2, cIAP1 and cIAP2, thereby reducing autophagy. TRADD deficiency inhibits RIPK1-dependent extrinsic apoptosis and proteasomal stress-induced intrinsic apoptosis. We also show that the small molecules ICCB-19 and Apt-1 bind to a pocket on the N-terminal TRAF2-binding domain of TRADD (TRADD-N), which interacts with the C-terminal domain (TRADD-C) and TRAF2 to modulate the ubiquitination of RIPK1 and beclin 1. Inhibition of TRADD by ICCB-19 or Apt-1 blocks apoptosis and restores cellular homeostasis by activating autophagy in cells with accumulated mutant tau, α-synuclein, or huntingtin. Treatment with Apt-1 restored proteostasis and inhibited cell death in a mouse model of proteinopathy induced by mutant tau(P301S). We conclude that pharmacological targeting of TRADD may represent a promising strategy for inhibiting cell death and restoring homeostasis to treat human diseases. The adaptor protein TRADD is a regulator of both cellular homeostasis and apoptosis, and represents a potential therapeutic target for human diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study was undertaken to elucidate the clinical significance of widening of the popliteal hiatus on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to document the clinical results and technical aspects of arthroscopic repair of this finding.Methods: Included are 82 knees after arthroscopic surgery, divided according to arthroscopic diagnosis into group A, hypermobility of lateral meniscus, 8 knees; group B, tear of the anterior horn of the lateral meniscus, 32 knees; and group C, no abnormality of the lateral meniscus, 36 knees with medial meniscal tears and 6 with other conditions. Popliteal hiatus diameter was measured and the popliteal hiatus/lateral tibial plateau (LTP) ratio was calculated on preoperative sagittal and coronal MRI. At arthroscopy, the widened popliteal hiatus in group A was tightened anteriorly by outside-in or all-inside suture and posteriorly with all-inside suture. Outcomes were evaluated with MRI, Lysholm, Tegner and VAS scores.Results: The preoperative diameter of the popliteal hiatus and the popliteal hiatus/LTP ratio were significantly larger in group A than in groups B and C (p < 0.05) on both views. Threshold popliteal hiatus/LTP values of 0.16 and 0.18 on the sagittal and coronal views demonstrated diagnostic discrimination, and these values were significantly reduced after arthroscopy in Group A. Lysholm and Tegner scores were improved after tightening of the popliteal hiatus, while VAS scores reduced (all p < 0.05).Conclusion: Widening of the popliteal hiatus on MRI may lead to recurrent subluxation of the lateral meniscus. Arthroscopic anterior and posterior tightening of the popliteal hiatus was a safe and effective treatment.Level Of Evidence: II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The total saponins from Aralia elata (Miq.) Seem fruits and rachises were isolated by microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), ultrasonic extraction, heat reflux extraction, and soxhlet extraction. These techniques were compared from four perspectives: extraction kinetics, saponin yield, disintegration to the raw materials, and antioxidant activity. MAE had the highest extraction efficiency, shortest time, and greatest disintegration to the raw materials. The extracts obtained with MAE had the highest antioxidant activities, as the DPPH free radical scavenging abilities of the fruit and rachis extracts were 70.86 ± 1.33 and 50.85 ± 1.68 mg VC g−1md, respectively. The MAE parameters were optimized by the response surface methodology. The optimum conditions (92% and 91% ethanol, solid-to-liquid ratios of 1:30 and 1:22, microwave powers of 530 W and 400 W, microwave times of 40 s and 54 s) provided extraction yields of 2.98 ± 0.037 mg g−1 and 0.94 ± 0.026 mg g−1 from the fruits and rachises, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple genetic modification is necessary for successful xenotransplantation from pigs. However, multiple-genetically modified cells usually suffer from various drug selections and long-term in vitro culture, which have a poor performance for somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) to produce genetically modified pigs. We used to generate GTKO/hCD55/hCD59 triple-gene modified pigs by using drug-selective cell lines for SCNT, but the majority of cloned pigs were transgenic-negative individuals. In this study, to improve the production efficiency of multiple genetically modified pigs, we performed the recloning process by using transgenic porcine fetal fibroblast cells. As a result, two fetuses expressing hCD55 and hCD59 were obtained from 12 live-cloned fetuses, and one carrying high transgene expression was selected as a source of donor cells for recloning. Then we obtained 12 cloned piglets, all GTKO and carrying hCD55 and hCD59. Both hCD55 and hCD59 were expressed in fibroblast cells, but the expression levels of hCD55 and hCD59 were different among these piglets. Furthermore, piglet P5# had the highest expression of hCD55 and hCD59 in fibroblast cells than other piglets. Correspondingly, fibroblast cells of piglet P5# had significantly higher resistance against human serum-mediated cytolysis than those of piglet P11#. In conclusion, our results firstly provide support for improving efficiency of generating multiple genetically modified pig by recloning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical and functional outcomes of patients with large post-traumatic tibial bone defects managed by double-level bone transport using the Ilizarov technique and compare it with one-level bone transport technique.Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 26 patients with open tibial fracture from January 2010 to January 2017. All cases were Gustilo III. Depending on the site of osteotomy, the patients were divided into single-level (n = 13) and double-level groups (n = 13). The bone transport time, consolidation time of the distraction gap, docking site healing time, external fixation time, external fixation index, soft tissue defect area, soft tissue growth index, operating time, and surgical bleeding volume were recorded and compared between the two groups. Bone and functional results were evaluated according to the Association for the Study and Application of the Method of Ilizarov (ASAMI) criteria.Results: The mean duration of follow-up was 28.5 ± 5.8 months (range 13-38 months) since the Orthofix fixator was removed, all patients achieved complete union in the docking site and consolidation in the regenerate bone; moreover, the wound was closed The mean bone defect length after debridement was 7.2 cm (range 5.8-9.0 cm) in single-level group vs. 10.7 cm (range 7.5-15.0 cm) in the double-level group (P < 0.05). The mean docking site healing time was 10.85 ± 1.52 months in the single-level group vs. 8.93 ± 2.29 months in the double-level group (P < 0.05); external frame time was 18.06 months (range 15-20 months) in single-level group vs. 12.71 months (range 9.5-16.0 months) in the double-level group (P < 0.05); external fixation index was 2.52 months/cm (range 2.15-2.94 months/cm) versus 1.22 months/cm (range 0.96-1.67 months/cm) in double-level group (P < 0.01); and soft tissue growth index was 0.29 months/cm2 (range 0.21-0.45 months/cm2) in the single-level group versus 0.62 months/cm2 (range 0.47-0.86 months/cm2) in the double-level group (P < 0.01). According to the ASAMI classification, the clinical and functional results in the double-level group were better than in the single-level group.Conclusion: The Ilizarov technique of double-level bone transport with Orthofix external fixator can be used successfully to repair and reconstruct the tibial bone loss and accompanying soft tissue defect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]