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Aim. This study aims to identify the factors that influence humanistic practice ability, validate the relationship among social support, empathy, self-efficacy, and humanistic practice, and provide reference basis for developing intervention measures. Background. Cultivating humanistic practice ability in clinical nurses is essential for improving the quality of nursing care. Methods. From February to March 2022, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in top three hospitals in central China. The study used a self-designed questionnaire to ascertain the general characteristics of the participants. The Nurses' Humanistic Practice Ability Scale, Jefferson Empathy Scale, Perceived Social Support Scale, and General Self-Efficacy Scale were used. Data were analyzed using Spearman's correlation and a structural equation model through statistical product and service solutions (SPSS) and analysis of moment structure (AMOS). Results. A total of 650 clinical nurses were included in this study. The average age was 32.35 ± 8.35 years. The Nurses' Humanistic Practice ability Scales score was 107.49 ± 19.32. Nurses' humanistic practice ability showed a positive correlation with social support (r = 0.455), self-efficacy (r = 0.369), and empathy (r = 0.375) (all p < 0.001). Empathy totally mediated the relationship between social support and humanistic practice ability. In addition, self-efficacy and empathy served as sequential mediators in the association. Conclusion. Social support can influence the humanistic practice ability through self-efficacy. In addition, the higher the level of social support, the higher the level of self-efficacy, which further promotes the improvement of their empathy and eventually leads to stronger humanistic practice ability. Therefore, the corresponding measures to promote the humanistic practice ability of nurses can be formulated from the abovementioned three aspects. Implications for Nursing Management. We recommend that hospital administrators provide nurses with more comprehensive social support and develop intervention strategies to enhance nurses' self-efficacy and empathy, which help to improve the nurse's humanistic practice ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated circuits and optoelectronics are currently dominated by silicon technology. However, silicon's response wavelength is typically less than 1,100 nm, limiting the application of silicon in machine vision, autonomous vehicles, and night vision. For infrared photodetectors, HgTe colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) are promising materials. Because of the adjustable bandgap, it responds over a wide spectral range. However, the construction of a high-quality junction between Si and HgTe CQDs continues to be difficult, thus restricting the scope of its application. In this article, we describe the synthesis, characterization, and correlation of HgTe CQDs with reaction temperature and nanocrystal size. We then fabricated HgTe-CQDs/silicon infrared photodiodes and discussed how the silicon resistivity affected their performance. We found that the devices prepared from 9.1 nm HgTe quantum dots synthesized at 80°C and a silicon substrate with a resistivity of 20–50 Ω·cm has optimal performance parameters. This results in a responsivity of 0.2 mA/W for 1,550 nm incident light at room temperature. These results provide a direction for future silicon-compatible HgTe quantum dot infrared optoelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socio‐economic status (SES) is one of the important indicators reflecting individual social participation and resource allocation, and it plays an important role in individual health shock. Health shock indicates the body being in a non‐healthy state, such as illness, injury and death. This study used data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study conducted in 2013, 2015 and 2018 and utilised the panel logit model, causal step‐by‐step analysis and path analysis to empirically test the impact of SES on fall inequality among the elderly and the mediating effect of health shock. The results demonstrated obvious group inequality in the fall risk among older adults, the core of which was the impact of SES on health, causing health inequality and affecting fall inequality. The activities of daily living and pain rate of the high‐income group were 61.16% and 28.69%, respectively, that of the low‐income group. The evaluation of good sight and hearing were 3.6833 and 3.8572 times, respectively, that of the low‐income group. The non‐depressive status was 38.4638 times of the low‐income group. The path effect confirmed the mediating role of health shock. Therefore, this study concluded that SES had an important impact on the risk of falls among the elderly, and this impact was mainly from health shock. This study proposed that to reduce the incidence of falls among the elderly, differences in health shock risks among the elderly with different SES must be actively monitored and accurate and effective policy interventions should be implemented from the level of group heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inhibiting negative knowledge behavior is one of the ways to improve the effective circulation of knowledge within the organization. This study puts employees' knowledge hiding behavior in the organizational relationship network situation and discusses the influence of network location on knowledge hiding, exploring the moderating role of knowledge acquisition in the relationship between network location and knowledge hiding. From the perspective of social network, 232 knowledge-based employees were used to obtain the data, and we used literature analysis, social network analysis, multiple regression analysis, UCINET, SPSS, and other software packages. Research shows that employees in the central network are less willing to do knowledge hiding behavior, and those in the structural hole network tend to do knowledge hiding behavior. Knowledge acquisition as the supply way of knowledge resources plays a positive role on the negative relationship between centrality and knowledge hiding and on the positive relationship between structure hole and knowledge hiding. The research results have positive significance for understanding and mastering the hiding behavior law of individual knowledge in the organizational relationship network and also provide certain theoretical basis and data support for organizational knowledge governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the ongoing depletion of fossil energy, alternative energy-sources and their respective conversion technologies have become very essential. An inexhaustible and clean energy form, which is already widely used, is solar energy. However, despite much progress in recent decades, due to the limitations of materials and manufacturing technology, the ability of solar cells to convert light into electrical energy is still not very high. Enhancing light absorption and reducing electric loss are the keys to improving the overall conversion efficiency of solar cells and reducing raw material costs. The former can be achieved by using micro/nanostructures and other surface features, while the latter can be realized by surface passivation. Researchers have developed different silicon-surface texturing methods to fabricate random or periodic micro/nanostructures on the surface of silicon wafers. Thanks to the special and efficient light-trapping effects of silicon micro/nanostructures, both full angle and wideband light absorption can be achieved. Different passivation methods and materials have also been widely studied, which helps to improve the surface recombination of photogenerated carriers caused by light trapping structure and significantly enhance the power conversion efficiency of Si solar cells. In this work, theoretical studies of enhanced light-trapping in micro/nanostructures are introduced. In addition, several advanced methods for preparing micro/nanostructures on the surface of monocrystalline silicon are discussed. These can be classified as top-down and bottom-up approaches. Furthermore, passivation methods for micro/nanostructures on the surface of monocrystalline silicon solar cells are reviewed, including chemical passivation and field-effect passivation. Finally, advantages and disadvantages of the micro/nanostructure preparation technologies, and light-trapping effects of the micro/nanostructures, which were fabricated using these manufacturing technologies were summarized. Moreover, the effects of different passivation technologies on the optical properties and electrical properties of these micro/nanostructures are studied. An outlook of expected and emerging research directions for monocrystalline silicon solar cells concludes this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to better assist privately held companies in obtaining commercial credit financing, this article selected 1,000 Chinese privately held companies in the manufacturing industry that went public from 2008 to 2018 and discussed whether a company's political connections serve as a resource-promoting effect on its commercial credit financing. This article proposed relevant hypotheses based on theoretical analysis and performed the descriptive statistical analysis and Hausman test analysis on all variables based on the unbalanced panel data of public companies when designing the study. Then, this article used a fixed model for regression estimation of the main effects, and the results showed that a company's political connections significantly reduce its possibility of obtaining commercial credit from suppliers. This article further analyzed the regulatory effects of market environmental factors and corporate transparency-related boundary factors and concluded that the process of marketization, the degree of market competition, and the transparency of companies will significantly weaken the inhibiting effect of political connections on commercial credit financing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insurance marketing is a discipline that maximizes the benefits between policyholders and insurance companies. A big data-driven approach combined with insurance promotions can leverage a wealth of empirical data to develop new customers, motivate existing customers to engage in more activities, and retain existing customers. Insurance business involves a wide variety of scopes and types, and it is labor-intensive and resource-intensive to rely solely on insurance business personnel to process these tedious data. The data-driven approach can find correlations and perform automatic prediction matching according to the characteristics of insurance business data, which saves a lot of time and labor costs. This research uses data mining method and neural network method to mine insurance business data and predict insurance business. This method can accurately capture factors such as the type of insurance business and the amount of the policyholder. The research results show that data mining technology and neural network method have high accuracy and feasibility in predicting insurance business, the prediction error is within 2.38%, and the linear correlation exceeds 0.96. The method used in this study has high accuracy both in terms of new customers and retention of old customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a real-world environment, not only can different levels of market expectations be triggered by factors such as macroeconomic policies, market operating trends, and current company developments have an impact on sector assets, but sector asset rises and falls are also influenced by a factor that cannot be ignored: market sentiment. Therefore, this paper uses LSTM to construct a forecasting model for industrial assets based on investor sentiment and public historical trading data of industry asset markets to determine future trends and obtains two conclusions: first, forecasting models incorporating investor sentiment have better forecasting effects than those without the incorporation of sentiment characteristics, indicating that the factor of investor sentiment should not be ignored when studying the problem of industry asset forecasting; secondly, investor sentiment quantified by different methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By the photodetector manufactured using traditional semiconductor materials, such as HgCdTe and InGaAs, it is difficult to broaden the application range of such photodetectors due to their high cost and complex manufacturing process. PbSe colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) have the potential to shift the working range of photodetector from visible to infrared wavelength region, and it also has high photoresponsivity. Herein, we report the characterization of PbSe CQDs synthesized using a facile solution process, as well as the relationship between the size of nanocrystal and the reaction temperature. The films of PbSe CQDs are deposited using the layer-by-layer (LbL) spin-coating method, which is then used to fabricate the photoconductive device. The fabricated device is found to have an efficient response in a broad spectrum range of 400-2600 nm. The device maintains good responsivity of ~320 mA/W at room temperature. Its external quantum efficiency was quite high in the shorter wavelength infrared region, and it has approximately 14% external quantum efficiency (EQE) at 2520 nm. The device demonstrated excellent performance, confirming that PbSe colloidal quantum dots is a promising material for future broadband spectrum photodetectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The incidence of thyroid nodules increases in the general population. Similarly, we have also seen a dramatic increase in the number of thyroid surgeries. However, the mortality rate of thyroid cancer remained stable or even decreased. The purpose of our study was to investigate whether thyroid cancer affects the malignant risk of the contralateral TI-RADS 3 and 4 nodules. Methods. We conducted a retrospective cohort study in our institution for all thyroid procedures due to nodules from December 2018 to December 2019. All eligible patients were divided into the experimental group (bilateral nodules) and the control group (unilateral nodules) to assess whether the proportion of malignant nodules was different between the two groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to control potential confounding factors to investigate whether their differences were statistically significant. Results. A total of 330 patients underwent thyroid surgery, of whom 137 were eligible, including 84 in the experimental group and 53 in the control group. The proportion of malignant nodules was significantly different between the experimental group and the control group (29.8% versus 58.5%, unadjusted OR 0.30, 95% CI: 0.17–0.82, p = 0.001). However, after controlling for potential confounding factors, including age (p = 0.004), gender (p = 0.775), and TI-RADS classification (p ≤ 0.001), we found that the difference was not significant (adjusted OR 1.08, 95% CI: 0.39–3.01, p = 0.886). Conclusion. There is no evidence that thyroid cancer affects the malignant risk of the contralateral TI-RADS 3 and 4 nodules. This study has been registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (clinical trial registration number: ChiCTR2000038611, registration time: September 26, 2020). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many field observations have shown that rock bursts occur frequently near the terminal mining line (TML) and dip coal pillar area in deep coalfaces. Taking the "7.26" rock burst in coalface 3302 in Xingcun Coal Mine as an example, the rock burst mechanism was investigated based on theoretical analysis and field observations, and a combined evaluation method using the stress field under seismic wave excitation was established to determine the reasonable TML of coalface 3302. Firstly, the static geological data revealed during roadway excavation were used for preevaluation of rock burst risk at the working face. By theoretically analyzing the stress transfer mechanism of the two types of the roof structure, the computational model of abutment pressure was established and the calculation method giving the abutment stress was proposed. Subsequently, a dynamic evaluation method that adopts microseismic and stress online monitoring system to monitor dynamic information, such as mine tremors and stress during coalface mining, was developed to define stress anomaly areas and then dynamically determine the TML. Finally, the proposed model was used to optimize the position of the TML of LW3302 in Xingcun Coal Mine; findings obtained in this study provide theoretical guidance for safe coal mining. Combined with the results of theoretical analysis (255 m), online stress monitoring (200 m), microseismic (MS) monitoring (262 m), and passive seismic velocity tomography (220–250 m), it can be finally determined that the width of the protective coal pillar for the TML of coalface 3302 should be at least 262 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, benefitting from the storage and retrieval efficiency of hashing and the powerful discriminative feature extraction capability of deep neural networks, deep cross-modal hashing retrieval has drawn more and more attention. To preserve the semantic similarities of cross-modal instances during the hash mapping procedure, most existing deep cross-modal hashing methods usually learn deep hashing networks with a pairwise loss or a triplet loss. However, these methods may not fully explore the similarity relation across modalities. To solve this problem, in this paper, we introduce a quadruplet loss into deep cross-modal hashing and propose a quadruplet-based deep cross-modal hashing (termed QDCMH) method. Extensive experiments on two benchmark cross-modal retrieval datasets show that our proposed method achieves state-of-the-art performance and demonstrate the efficiency of the quadruplet loss in cross-modal hashing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. This study aims to translate the Rochester Participatory Decision-Making Scale (RPAD) into the Chinese language and to test the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the scale in the gynecological clinic. Methods. After obtaining the permission of the original author, the Brislin translation model was used to forward-translation and back-translation. Then, an expert group was set up to discuss this scale and result in cross-cultural adaptation. A convenient sampling method was used to select ten doctors working in the gynecological clinic of two top-three hospitals and 20 patients of each doctor. The Rochester Decision Participation Scale was used by the Chinese version for investigation. Results. The Chinese version of the Rochester Participatory Decision-Making Scale has a Cronbach's α coefficient of 0.604 for the total content reliability, the Spearman–Brown coefficient of half-reliability is 0.646, and the Guttman coefficient of half-reliability is 0.612. The retest reliability is 0.922. By exploratory factor analysis, the scale extracted three common factors, and the standard factor load corresponding to each entry is higher than 0.4. Conclusion. The reliability and validity of the Chinese version in the Rochester Participatory Decision-Making Scale are acceptable, which can be used to evaluate doctors "promotion of patients" participation in decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. This study aims to translate the Rochester Participatory Decision-Making Scale (RPAD) into the Chinese language and to test the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the scale in the gynecological clinic. Methods. After obtaining the permission of the original author, the Brislin translation model was used to forward-translation and back-translation. Then, an expert group was set up to discuss this scale and result in cross-cultural adaptation. A convenient sampling method was used to select ten doctors working in the gynecological clinic of two top-three hospitals and 20 patients of each doctor. The Rochester Decision Participation Scale was used by the Chinese version for investigation. Results. The Chinese version of the Rochester Participatory Decision-Making Scale has a Cronbach's α coefficient of 0.604 for the total content reliability, the Spearman–Brown coefficient of half-reliability is 0.646, and the Guttman coefficient of half-reliability is 0.612. The retest reliability is 0.922. By exploratory factor analysis, the scale extracted three common factors, and the standard factor load corresponding to each entry is higher than 0.4. Conclusion. The reliability and validity of the Chinese version in the Rochester Participatory Decision-Making Scale are acceptable, which can be used to evaluate doctors "promotion of patients" participation in decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peripheral diabetic neuropathy (DPN) is a complication observed in up to half of all patients with type 2 diabetes. DPN has also been shown to be associated with obesity. High-fat diet (HFD) affects glucose metabolism, and the impaired glucose tolerance can lead to type 2 diabetes. There is evidence to suggest a role of adenosine 2A receptors (A2ARs) and semaphorin 3A (Sema3a) signaling in DPN. The link between the expression of Sema3a and A2AR in DPN was hypothesized, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the regulation of Sema3a by A2AR in the spinal cord and the functional implications thereof in DPN. We examined the expression of A2ARs and Sema3a, as well as Neuropilin 1 and Plexin A, the coreceptors of Sema3a, in the dorsal horn of the lumbar spinal cord of an animal model with HFD-induced diabetes. Our results demonstrate that HFD dysregulates the A2AR-mediated Sema3a expression, with functional implications for the type 2 diabetes-induced peripheral neuropathy. These observations could stimulate clinical studies to improve our understanding on the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cavability assessment is an important subject during the feasibility stages before determining whether to use block caving mining. This paper provides a fuzzy comprehensive assessment (FCA) approach based on the cavability assessment approaches and its influencing factors, which are all fuzzy. This approach combines the cavability influencing factors with engineering empirical approaches by fuzzy mathematics, which improves the applicability of the cavability assessment results. This approach is applied to assess the cavability via cores in the Luoboling copper molybdenum mine. The spatial distribution of the rock mass cavability at different depths of the borehole is obtained. The cavability ranks of various rocks are determined in different locations. These assessment results can provide a basis for demonstrating the feasibility of block caving mining in the Luoboling copper molybdenum mine. The study can also provide a basis for the design of mining engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. The association of pressure load with elasticity in vascular system has not been studied fully. We proposed a hypothesis whether gender could modify the association of blood pressure variability (BPV) and arterial stiffness assessed by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CF-PWV) in prehypertensive patients. Methods. 24h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (24h-ABPM) and CF-PWV were measured in 723 participants with prehypertension. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses of these clinical and biological parameters were performed in total population, male and female. Results. A total of 723 participants (mean age 59.76 ± 12.37years, male 329 and female 394) were enrolled into the study. Compared with female, body mass index (BMI), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), uric acid (UA), and homocysteine (HCY) were significantly higher (all p < 0.05). Arterial stiffness (CF-PWV, male versus female, 10.89 ± 2.50 versus 10.33 ± 2.13 m/s, p=0.004) and BPVs (male versus female, 24 h SBPV 13.2 ± 5.11 versus 13.03 ± 5.20; 24 h DBPV 10.34 ± 3.87 versus 9.64 ± 3.59; N SBPV 11.90 ± 6.60 versus 10.94 ± 4.79; N DBPV 9.64 ± 5.87 versus 8.20 ± 4.48, all p<0.05) were higher in male. Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that 24 h BPV were linearly and positively related to CF-PWV in total population (24h SBPV, B=0.033; 24 h DBPV, B=0.035, both P<0.05) and female (24h SBPV, B=0.041; 24h DBPV, B=0.067, both P<0.05) independent of traditional risk factors and medications. Conclusion. BPV was independently associated with arterial stiffness in total population and the relation was modified by gender. 24 h BPVs in prehypertensive patients were useful to identify the early arterial stiffness. Clinical Trials Registration. This trial was registered with Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT02569268. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triptolide has been proven to possess anticancer efficacy; however, its application in the clinical practice was limited by poor water solubility, hepatotoxicity, and nephrotoxicity. In this study, a triptolide-loaded exosomes delivery system (TP-Exos) was constructed and its effects on the proliferation and apoptosis of SKOV3 cells in vitro and in vivo were observed. SKOV3-exosomes (SK-Exos) were collected by ultracentrifugation and ultrafiltration centrifugation. TP-Exos was constructed by sonication and ultrafiltration centrifugation. SK-Exos and TP-Exos were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, western blotting, nanoparticle-tracking analysis, and high-performance liquid chromatography. Cellular uptake of exosomes, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) cell proliferation assay, and cell apoptosis experiment were used to study the effect of TP-Exos on ovarian cancer in vitro. Tumor-targeting study of exosomes, monitoring the tumor volume of mice, and TdT-mediated dUTP Nick-End labeling (TUNEL) assay were used to evaluate the effect of TP-Exos on ovarian cancer in vivo. The toxicity of TP-Exos in vivo was evaluated by liver and kidney function and histopathology of major organs (heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, and ovary). The results revealed that TP-Exos not only have the general characteristics of exosomes but also have high drug encapsulation efficiency. Besides, PKH26 labeled exosomes (PKH26-Exos) could be uptaken by SKOV3 cells, and Dir labeled exosomes (Dir-Exos) could be enriched to the tumor site of tumor bearing mice. Furthermore, the cytotoxic and apoptotic effects on SKOV3 cells of TP-Exos were weaker than those of free TP, and tumor cell proliferation inhibition and tumor growth inhibition were stronger than that of free TP. Moreover, TP-Exos have toxic effect on liver and spleen. In conclusion, the TP-Exos could be a promising strategy for ovarian cancer, but they need to be further optimized to attenuate the damage to liver and spleen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. Endoscopic surgeries have been attempted in the field of lumbar decompression and fusion surgery in the past decade. Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar interbody fusion (PELIF) is a new-emerging technique taking advantages of an anatomical (Kambin’s triangle) to achieve simultaneous decompression and fusion under endoscopic visualization. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and safety of PELIF technique with general anesthesia and neuromonitoring. Methods. The authors present the details of PELIF technique with general anesthesia and neuromonitoring. The first 7 consecutive patients treated with minimum of 2 year’s follow-up were included. Clinical outcomes were assessed by visual analog scale (VAS) for back and leg pain, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores, and the Short Form-36 health survey questionnaire (SF-36) in the immediate preoperative period and during the follow-up period. Results. All patients underwent single-level PELIF surgery successfully and without conversion to open surgery. The average age was 56.0±13.0 years. All patients had Grade I degenerative/isthmic spondylolisthesis and 4 patients coexisted with disc herniation. The mean operative time was 167.5±30.9 minutes, and intraoperative blood loss was 70.0±24.5 ml. Postoperative drainage volume was 24.5±18.3 ml. The differences in the VAS scores for low back pain and leg pain between preoperative and follow-up were significant (P<0.05). The SF-36 Physical Component Summary (PCS) improved from 38.83±4.17 to 55.67±2.58 (P<0.001). The SF-36 Mental Component Summary (MCS) improved from 43.83±3.13 to 57.50±5.36 (P=0.001). The ODI score improvement rate was 33.7±3.7 %. All cases demonstrated radiopaque graft in the intervertebral disc space consistent with solid arthrodesis. Conclusions. PELIF technique seems to be a promising surgical technique for selected appropriate patients, with the minimal invasive advantages in decreased blood, shortage of ambulation time, and hospital stay, compared with MIS-TLIF. Because of limited Kambin’s triangle space and the exiting nerve root nearby, PELIF is still a challenging technique. Future advancement and development in instrument and cage design are vital for application and popularization of this technique. Prospective, randomized, controlled studies with large sample size on PELIF technique are still needed to prove its safety, efficacy, and minimal invasive advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study systematically analyzes the association between interleukin-18 (IL-18) gene polymorphisms and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) susceptibility. The electronic databases Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Excerpta Medica Database, and Cochrane Library were searched to identify meta-analyses that included case–control studies reporting IL-18 gene polymorphisms and RA susceptibility. Data were reanalyzed using Review Manager Software 5.1, and Mantel–Haenszel random effects were applied for the five genetic models: allelic, recessive, dominant, homozygote, and heterozygote. The effect size of odds ratios (ORs) and their corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. A total of seven meta-analyses with poor quality were included. The IL-18 polymorphisms -607 A/C, -137 C/G, -920 T/C, and -105 C/A have been reported. With weak evidence, IL-18 -607 A/C polymorphisms were associated with a reduced risk of RA susceptibility using the allele model (OR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.61 − 0.93, p = 0.01), dominant model (OR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.50 − 0.90, p = 0.008), homozygote model (OR = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.35 − 0.91, p = 0.02), and heterozygote model (OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.54 − 0.93, p = 0.01) in the overall population. IL-18 gene polymorphisms and RA susceptibility are affected by ethnicity: With weak evidence, IL-18 -137 C/G polymorphisms were related to reduce RA susceptibility in the Asian population (allele model: OR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.40 − 0.88, p = 0.01 ; dominant model: OR = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.37 − 0.89, p = 0.01 ; heterozygote model: OR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.38 − 0.94, p = 0.03). IL-18 -607 A/C gene polymorphisms are a protective factor for RA susceptibility in the overall population, and IL-18 −137 C/G gene polymorphisms are a protective factor for RA susceptibility in the Asian population. Further studies are needed to confirm these results owing to the limitations of the included studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Neuroinflammation which presents as a possible mechanism of delirium is associated with MCP-1, an important proinflammatory factor which is expressed on astrocytes. It is known that dexmedetomidine (DEX) possesses potent anti-inflammatory properties. This study aimed to investigate the potential effects of DEX on the production of MCP-1 in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated astrocytes. Materials and Methods. Astrocytes were treated with LPS (10 ng/ml, 50 ng/ml, 100 ng/ml, and 1000 ng/ml), DEX (500 ng/mL), LPS (100 ng/ml), and DEX (10, 100, and 500 ng/mL) for a duration of three hours; expression levels of MCP-1 were measured by real-time PCR. The double immunofluorescence staining protocol was utilized to determine the expression of α2-adrenoceptors (α2AR) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) on astrocytes. Results. Expressions of MCP-1 mRNA in astrocytes were induced dose-dependently by LPS. Administration of DEX significantly inhibited the expression of MCP-1 mRNA (P<0.001). Double immunofluorescence assay showed that α2AR colocalize with GFAP, which indicates the expression of α2-adrenoceptors in astrocytes. Conclusions. DEX is a potent suppressor of MCP-1 in astrocytes induced with lipopolysaccharide through α2A-adrenergic receptors, which potentially explains its beneficial effects in the treatment of delirium by attenuating neuroinflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Markers of imaging, structure, and function reflecting vascular damage, integrating a long time accumulation effect of traditional and unrecognized cardiovascular risk factors, can be regarded as surrogate endpoints of target organ damage before the occurrence of clinical events. Prevention of cardiovascular disease requires risk stratification and treatment of traditional risk factors, such as smoking, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes. However, traditional risk stratification is not sufficient to provide accurate assessment of future cardiovascular events. Therefore, vascular injury related parameters obtained by ultrasound or other noninvasive devices, as a surrogate parameter of subclinical cardiovascular disease, can improve cardiovascular risk assessment and optimize the preventive treatment strategy. Thus, we will summarize the research progress and clinical application of early assessment technology of vascular diseases in the present review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stereo feature matching is a technique that finds an optimal match in two images from the same entity in the three-dimensional world. The stereo correspondence problem is formulated as an optimization task where an energy function, which represents the constraints on the solution, is to be minimized. A novel intelligent biological network (Bio-Net), which involves the human B-T cells immune system into neural network, is proposed in this study in order to learn the robust relationship between the input feature points and the output matched points. A model from input-output data (left reference point-right target point) is established. In the experiments, the abdomen reconstructions for different-shape mannequins are then performed by means of the proposed method. The final results are compared and analyzed, which demonstrate that the proposed approach greatly outperforms the single neural network and the conventional matching algorithm in precise. Particularly, as far as time cost and efficiency, the proposed method exhibits its significant promising and potential for improvement. Hence, it is entirely considered as an effective and feasible alternative option for stereo matching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acupuncture or electroacupuncture (EA) has been demonstrated to have a powerful antihypernociceptive effect on inflammatory pain. The attenuation of G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) in spinal cord and peripheral nociceptor has been widely acknowledged to promote the transition from acute to chronic pain and to facilitate the nociceptive progress. This study was designed to investigate the possible role of spinal GRK2 in EA antiallodynic in a rat model with complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) induced inflammatory pain. EA was applied to ST36 (“Zusanli”) and BL60 (“Kunlun”) one day after CFA injection. Single EA treatment at day 1 after CFA injection remarkably alleviated CFA induced mechanical allodynia two hours after EA. Repeated EA displayed significant antiallodynic effect from 2nd EA treatment and a persistent effect was observed during the rest of treatments. However, downregulation of spinal GRK2 by intrathecal exposure of GRK2 antisense 30 mins after EA treatment completely eliminated both the transient and persistent antiallodynic effect by EA treatment. These pieces of data demonstrated that the spinal GRK2 played an important role in EA antiallodynia on inflammatory pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the main trend of the development of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) vaccines in recent years. Designing an HIV-1 vaccine that provides robust protection from HIV-1 infection remains a challenge despite many years of effort. Therefore, we describe the receptor binding domain of gp120 as a target for developing AIDS vaccines. And we recommend some measures that could induce efficiently and produce cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies with high binding affinity. Those measures may offer a new way of the research and development of the potent and broad AIDS vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the filtering effect of vacuum oil purifier, the author proposes the research and application of high-efficiency compound vacuum oil-gas separation technology based on electric ultra-high voltage transformer integrated oil purifier. The author studies under the condition of constant oil temperature and flow rate, the effect of vacuum degree on the filtering effect of transformer oil vacuum oil filter. Using the research results, a frequency conversion automatic vacuum oil filter is designed, which makes the processing process have the characteristics of simple operation, high degree of automation, and high work efficiency. The test results show that if the transformer oil processed by the variable frequency automatic vacuum oil purifier is new oil, its water content is less than 45 mg/kg and the gas content is less than 12%; when the breakdown voltage is greater than 25 kV, the transformer oil index can meet the following requirements after the equipment is filtered for one cycle: breakdown voltage ≥75 kV; water content ≤5 mg/kg; and gas content ≤0.1% (volume ratio). After one cycle (after 100 min), the variable frequency automatic (three-stage) vacuum oil filter can greatly shorten the time of transformer oil circulating and filtering. Conclusion. The designed frequency conversion automatic vacuum oil purifier is obviously better than other transformer oil vacuum oil purifiers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this study were to investigate the interaction of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and lifestyle factors in the development of psychiatric disorders and to gain greater insight into their pathogenesis and comorbidity. We analyzed data from approximately 150,000 individuals from the UK Biobank. Mitochondrial gene-by-environment interaction studies (mtGEIS) were performed to assess the relationships between mtDNA and psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and self-harm. These disorders were defined using diagnostic and severity indicators derived from the General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Smoking and drinking behaviors were characterized based on UK Biobank criteria. For the mtGEIS, logistic and linear regression models from PLINK 2.0 were employed, accounting for covariates like age, sex, PC1-10, Townsend Deprivation Index (TDI), and educational attainment. We also conducted sex-stratified analyses to detect any gender-specific effects. Our findings highlighted significant associations between mtDNA and three psychiatric disorders. Moreover, the interplay between mtDNA and lifestyle factors showed significant associations with psychiatric disorders (all P values < 0.05). Specifically, two mutant loci, T5004C ( B Anx _ self = − 0.0026 , B Dep _ self = − 0.0024 , B Self − harm = − 0.0018) and G9123A ( B Anx _ self = − 0.0030 , B Dep _ self = − 0.0024 , B Self − harm = − 0.0017), were found to reduce the risk of three disorders after interacting with alcohol. Sex-specific differences were also observed. In summary, the expression of mitochondrial genes could be modulated by lifestyle factors like smoking and drinking, potentially affecting psychiatric disorders. These habits might influence mitochondrial respiratory chain activity and the replication and transcriptional regulation of mitochondrial genes, culminating in changes in mitochondrial functionality and subsequently psychiatric disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel method for manufacturing flexible microfluidic chips without bonding process is proposed, which combines 3D printing technology and material dissolution technology. The manufacturing process of the microfluidic chip is as follows: a soluble HIPS mold with a preset shape is manufactured by 3D printing and placed in a molten PDMS solution for solidification. Soak in the limonene material to dissolve the mold and form a microchannel in the cured PDMS. Experimental studies have shown that the temperature and concentration of the limonene solution have an important effect on the dissolution rate. A 0.62 cm3 HIPS mold has the fastest dissolution rate at 100°C and 50% concentration. The proposed method provided a new idea for fabricating flexible microfluidic chip. Compared to bonding process, it has the characteristics of not relying on complicated processing conditions and low manufacturing cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Flexible piezoelectric nanogenerators (F‐PENG) as a clean, green power generation device have attracted much attention. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) was used to prepare flexible piezoelectric nanogenerators with necklace‐like oriented structure. The results showed that the oriented structure significantly improved the electrical output performance of F‐PENG by enhancing the stress and free charge transmission. For the F‐PENG with 8 vol% oriented PZT particle, open‐circuit voltage and short‐circuit current reached 176 V and 35 μA and an instantaneous power of up to 2 mW was collected for an optimal matched load resistance of 6 MΩ. Output voltage and current increase by 135% and 133%, respectively, compared with the F‐PENG with random structure. Meanwhile, the finite element simulation results also confirmed the superiority of this oriented structure. There was a clear linear relationship between the output voltage and pressure, and the sensitivity was 1.13 N/V. The oriented PZT particle‐based F‐PENG with excellent electrical output performance has great application prospects in the fields of green power generation and self‐powered building monitoring system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. Age-related mitochondrial dysfunction and associated oxidative stress may contribute to the development of osteoarthritis. The aim of this study was to identify hub genes associated with mitochondrial dysfunction in osteoarthritis (OA) patients, helping predict the risk of OA, and revealing the mechanism of OA progression. Methods. OA expression data and mitochondrial dysfunction genes were downloaded from GEO (GSE55235, GSE82107, and GSE114007) and GeneCard databases. The differentially expressed mitochondrial dysfunction genes (DEMDFGs) between OA and control samples were screened. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes pathways were analyzed for DEMDFGs. The hub genes were determined by WGCNA and LASSO regression analysis. ROC curves manifested the diagnostic efficacy of each hub gene. A nomogram model was constructed and validated to predict OA risk. The expression of hub genes in OA and normal chondrocytes was verified by external datasets, qRT-PCR and western blotting. Results. A total of 31 DEMDFGs were identified, with 15 genes upregulated and 16 genes downregulated. GO functional enrichment analysis revealed that DEMDFGs were enriched in biological processes related to energy metabolism and cellular respiration. By employing weighted gene coexpression network analysis, we identified four distinct coexpression modules, among which the blue module exhibited the strongest correlation with OA. The intersection between DEMDFGs and this module yielded eight candidate genes. After LASSO analysis of the data, four hub genes (ACADL, CYBA, SLC19A2, and UCP2) were identified as potential biomarkers for OA. The expression levels of these four genes were externally validated in the GSE114007 dataset. And the biologically differential expression of these four genes has been verified in OA and normal chondrocytes. Moreover, the four hub genes had good sensitivity and specificity by ROC curve analysis, and the risk model constructed with these four genes showed promising performance. In conclusion, our study may provide novel mitochondrial dysfunction hub genes with potential clinical applications for understanding the pathology, diagnosis, and treatment of OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a rapid bonding method is reported to fabricate a mixing microfluidic chip. The chip is composed of a glass upper plat and a polyurethane bottom plat. The upper plat with a microchannel is obtained through micromachining technology. And the bottom plat is manufactured via mixing the solution with the component of isocyanic acid and polyether polyol. The influence of the solution's proportion on the contact angle and bonding force is investigated to enhance the hydrophilicity and the bonding strength. Furthermore, a mixing experiment is implemented to verify the chip's bonding effect. The experimental results demonstrate that with increasing the proportions of isocyanic acid and polyether polyol, the contact angle and the bonding force increase at first and then decrease gradually. That is attributed to the variation of internal porous structure for different proportions. Considering the contact angle and the bonding force synthetically, the optimal proportion of 3.7 w/w is confirmed. The mixing efficiency is increased from 0.157 to 0.824. Compared with other bonding methods, the method in this paper has the advantages of high efficiency and high bonding strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To investigate the prevalence of insomnia among front‐line nurses fighting against COVID‐19 in Wuhan, China, and analyse its influencing factors. Background: Insomnia is an important factor that can affect the health and work quality of nurses. However, there is a lack of big‐sample studies exploring factors that affect the insomnia of nurses fighting against COVID‐19. Method: This cross‐sectional study using the Ascension Insomnia Scale, Fatigue Scale‐14 and Perceived Stress Scale took place in March 2020. Participants were 1,794 front‐line nurses from four tertiary‐level general hospitals. Results: The prevalence of insomnia among participants was 52.8%. Insomnia was predicted by gender, working experience, chronic diseases, midday nap duration, direct participation in the rescue of patients with COVID‐19, frequency of night shifts, professional psychological assistance during the pandemic, negative experiences (such as family, friends or colleagues being seriously ill or dying due to COVID‐19), the degree of fear of COVID‐19, fatigue and perceived stress. Conclusion: The level of insomnia among participants was higher than the normal level. Interventions based on influencing factors should be implemented to ensure nurses' sleep quality. Implications for Nursing Management: An in‐depth understanding of the influencing factors of insomnia among front‐line nurses can help nurse managers develop solutions to improve front‐line nurses' sleep quality, which will enhance the physical and mental conditions of nurses and promote the quality of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. The present study was done to investigate the relationship between carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CFPWV) and biomarkers such as homocysteine (Hcy), N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and urine albumin (microalbumin) (UAE) in vascular-related diseases. Methods. 656 subjects were enrolled into our study. There were 377 patients with hypertension, 231 with coronary heart disease, 154 with diabetes mellitus, and 186 healthy subjects. They were divided into four groups according to the number of suffered diseases: group 1 had only one of three diseases, group 2 had two, and group 3 had all of three diseases. CFPWV was measured by Complior apparatus. Results. CFPWV was significantly higher in group 3 than in the healthy group, group 1, and group 2 (12.71 ± 2.38 vs 10.11 ± 2.28, 10.70 ± 2.12, and 11.92 ± 2.55, all p < 0.05). The level of Hcy was significantly higher in group1, group 2, and group 3 than in healthy subjects, respectively. Levels of Log NT-proBNP and Log UAE were significantly higher in group 3 than in group 1 (2.27 ± 0.4 vs 2.10 ± 0.4, 1.00 ± 0.65 vs 0.68 ± 0.56, both p < 0.05). Positive correlation between CFWV and Hcy, Log UAE, and Log NT-proBNP was found in the entire study group (r = 0.109, 0.196, and 0.119, all p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that pulse pressure, age, fasting plasma glucose, diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, and Log UAE were independent associating factors of CFPWV in all subjects (β = 0.334, p < 0.001 ; β = 0.333, p < 0.001 ; β = 0.126, p = 0.004 ; β = 0.137, p = 0.003 ; β = −0.142, p = 0.002 ; and β = 0.098, p = 0.031). Conclusions. CFPWV was significantly higher in subjects with hypertension, CHD, and DM. There was correlation between CFPWV and biomarkers such as NT-proBNP, Hcy, and urine albumin (microalbumin). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ketogenic diet (KD), the "High‐fat, low‐carbohydrate, adequate‐protein" diet strategy, replacing glucose with ketone bodies, is effective against several diseases, from intractable epileptic seizures, metabolic disorders, tumors, autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, and neurodegeneration to skeletal muscle atrophy and peripheral neuropathy. Key mechanisms include augmented mitochondrial efficiency, reduced oxidative stress, and regulated phospho‐AMP‐activated protein kinase, gamma‐aminobutyric acid‐glutamate, Na+/K+ pump, leptin and adiponectin levels, ghrelin levels, lipogenesis, ketogenesis, lipolysis, and gluconeogenesis. In cancer cells, KD targets glucose metabolism, suppresses insulin‐like growth factor‐1 and PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathways, and reduces cancer cachexia and muscle waste and fatigue. An associated increased skeletal proliferator‐activated receptor‐γ coactivator‐1α activity alters systemic ketone body homeostasis, contributing toward attenuated diabetic hyperketonemia. Antioxidative and anti‐inflammatory properties enable KD enhance endurance and sports performances while preventing exercise‐induced muscle and organ debility. KD reduces metabolic syndromes‐associated allodynia and promotes peripheral axonal and sensory regeneration. This review enlightens effects of KD on various disease conditions. Practical applications: It is increasingly being realized that diet plays a very important role in our fight against several diseases. This can range from neurological disorders to diabetes and cancer. In this context, the potential of KD, the "High‐fat, low‐carbohydrate, adequate‐protein" diet strategy, is increasingly being realized. In this article, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the benefits of KD against many diseases and discuss the underlying biochemical mechanisms. We hope that our write‐up will stimulate further research on KD and help generate an interest for the populations to adopt this healthy diet. It can help overcome the problems associated with weight and dysregulated metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells are T cells engineered to express specific synthetic antigen receptors that can recognize antigens expressed by tumor cells, which after the binding of these antigens to the receptors are eliminated, and have been adopted to treat several kinds of malignancies. Autoimmune diseases (AIDs), a class of chronic disease conditions, can be broadly separated into autoantibody-mediated and T cell-mediated diseases. Treatments for AIDs are focused on restoring immune tolerance. However, current treatments have little effect on immune tolerance inverse; even the molecular target biologics like anti-TNFα inhibitors can only mildly restore immune balance. By using the idea of CAR-T cell treatment in tumors, CAR-T cell-derived immunotherapies, chimeric autoantibody receptor T (CAAR-T) cells, and CAR regulatory T (CAR-T) cells bring new hope of treatment choice for AIDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare mobile phone addiction (MPA) patterns between Tibetan and Han adolescents in China. Design and Methods: The study was carried out in two provinces of China. The Mobile Phone Addiction Scale (MPAS) was used to assess MPA. Findings: Seven hundred and five Tibetan and 606 Han students participated in the study. The MPAS total score was 24.4 ± 11.4 in the whole sample; 27.3 ± 10.8 and 20.9 ± 11.2 in Tibetan and Han students, respectively. Quality of life (QOL) in the physical, psychological, social, and environmental domains was negatively associated with MPA. Practice Implications: Compared with Han students, Tibetan students were found to have more severe MPA. Given its negative impact on QOL, appropriate measures for the prevention of MPA should be developed, particularly for Tibetan middle school students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. Fractures are common among all types of paediatric injuries, with differences in incidence over time. Here, we present the epidemiologic features of traumatic fractures in a population of youth ≤ 18 years of age who were admitted to our university-affiliated hospitals from 2002 to 2010. Methods. We retrospectively reviewed 2450 children and adolescents who had traumatic fractures. The data include variables such as age, sex, date of injury, and the mechanism of injury. For the period of 2002-2010, there were 2450 injury events that resulted in at least 1 fracture. Results. Low falls (1042, 42.5%) and upper limb fractures (1068, 43.6%) were the most common aetiologies and fracture sites. With increasing age, the proportion of injuries due to motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) decreased and the injuries due to being hit by others and due to sprains increased. With increasing age, the proportion of craniofacial fractures (CFFs) decreased, and lower limb fractures (LLFs), spinal fractures (SFs), and fractures of ribs and the sternum (RSFs) increased. Over time, the proportion of injuries due to MVCs and mechanical injury decreased. Male patients presented with a significantly higher proportion of injuries due to low falls, being struck by an object, being hit by others, and due to sprains. There were a significantly lower proportion of injuries due to MVCs in female patients. Male patients presented with a significantly higher proportion of ULFs in the ≤6-year-old age group and a significantly lower proportion of LLFs and SFs in the 12-18-year-old age group than did female patients. Conclusions. Low falls and upper limb fractures were the leading cause and fracture sites. To further improve the prevention and treatment of traumatic fractures in children and adolescents, policy makers should pay attention to these characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Diabetic neuropathic osteoarthropathy (DNOAP) is a rare and easily missed complication for diabetes that leads to increased morbidity and mortality. DNOAP is characterized by progressive destruction of bone and joint, but its pathogenesis remains elusive. We herein aimed to investigate the pathological features and pathogenesis of the cartilages damage in DNOAP patients. Methods. The articular cartilages of eight patients with DNOAP and eight normal controls were included. Masson staining and safranine O/fixed green staining (S-O) were used to observe the histopathological characteristics of cartilage. The ultrastructure and morphology of chondrocytes were detected by electron microscopy and toluidine blue staining. Chondrocytes were isolated from DNOAP group and control group. The expression of receptor activator of nuclear factor kappaB ligand (RANKL), osteoprotegerin (OPG), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and Aggrecan protein was evaluated by western blot. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were measured using a 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA) probe. The percentage of apoptotic cells was determined by flow cytometry (FCM). The chondrocytes were cultured with different glucose concentrations to observe the expression of RANKL and OPG. Results. Compared with the control group, the DNOAP group showed fewer chondrocytes, subchondral bone hyperplasia, and structural disorder, and a large number of osteoclasts formed in the subchondral bone area. Moreover, mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum swellings were observed in the DNOAP chondrocytes. The chromatin was partially broken and concentrated at the edge of nuclear membrane. The ROS fluorescence intensity of chondrocyte in DNOAP group was higher than that in normal control group (28.1 ± 2.3 vs. 11.9 ± 0.7 ; P < 0.05). The expression of RANKL, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 protein in DNOAP group was higher than that in normal control group, whereas OPG and Aggrecan protein were lower than that in normal control group (both P < 0.05). FCM showed that the apoptotic rate of chondrocyte in DNOAP group was higher than that in normal control group (P < 0.05). The RANKL/OPG ratio showed significant upward trend when the concentration of glucose was over than 15 mM. Conclusions. DNOAP patients tend to have severe destruction of articular cartilage and collapse of organelle structure including mitochondrion and endoplasm reticulum. Indicators of bone metabolism (RANKL and OPG) and inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α) play an important role in promoting the pathogenesis of DNOAP. The glucose concentration higher than 15 mM made the RANKL/OPG ratio change rapidly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Pulmonary hypertension is a well-known risk factor for hemodynamic instability after heart transplantation. However, it remains unclear whether a mild elevation of pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) is associated with higher risks of graft dysfunction and resultant extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. Methods. From 2016 to 2021, 102 adult recipients undergoing orthotopic heart transplantation at our institution were investigated (mean age, 48.5 ± 13.2 years; 22.5% female). This study cohort was stratified into 3 groups based on the PASP measured by right heart catheterization before surgery: >50 mmHg, 35–50 mmHg, and <35 mmHg. The primary end point was ECMO support after procedure. Results. ECMO was implemented in 24 (23.5%) patients due to difficult weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass or cardiac low output in the intensive care unit, which was likely to be associated with higher mortality (P = 0.053). Age, gender, comorbidities, preoperative medications, and graft ischemia time were comparable across the 3 groups. The use of ECMO was significantly more common in patients with baseline PASP >50 mmHg (11/36, 30.6%) and 35–50 mmHg (12/38, 31.6%), while only 1 (3.6%) patient with baseline PASP <35 mmHg required ECMO support after transplant (P = 0.007). Multivariate logistic models demonstrated that PASP (odds ratio = 2.34; P = 0.028) and cardiopulmonary bypass time (odds ratio = 1.01; P < 0.001) were independent risk factors for postoperative ECMO. Conclusions. A mild elevation of pretransplant PASP (e.g., 35–50 mmHg) is related to low cardiac output and subsequent ECMO after heart transplantation, for which prompt administration of vasodilators before transplant may be protective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prediction of surface subsidence after underground coal mining is of practical significance for land planning and utilization in subsidence area. For a case study, the deformation and failure of a drainage boat pond caused by an underground coal mining-induced subsidence are investigated (the drainage boat pond is located in the Nanyang Lake Farm, Jining City, China). A mining subsidence prediction model suitable for the irregular coalface is established using the improved probability integral method to analyze the subsidence parameters. A numerical model of the boat pond deformation is established to simulate the stress, displacement, and plastic zone distribution of the boat pond. The boat pond deformation prevention structure is proposed from the prospects of pond bottom, pond slope, and pond slope protection. Moreover, the reinforcement of drainage boat pond is achieved in five steps. Finally, the deformation and failure state of the reinforcement boat pond under coal mining subsidence is simulated, and the rationality of the reinforcement measures is also verified by a field investigation. The research results have an important practical significance for water resource protection and structure construction in underground coal mining-induced subsidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Insulin-like growth factor-binding proteins (IGFBPs) and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) participate in angiogenesis. Dermatomyositis (DM) is characterized by microvasculopathy-derived skin lesions. Here, we investigated the clinical significance of serum IGFBP and CTGF levels in DM patients. Methods. In this study, 65 DM patients and 30 healthy controls were enrolled. Serum IGFBP and CTGF levels were examined by ELISA, and their correlation with clinical and laboratory findings was analyzed by Spearman's correlation. Results. Serum IGFBP-2, IGFBP-4, and CTGF levels were higher in DM patients than in healthy controls (median (quartile): 258.9 (176.4–326.1) ng/mL vs. 167.7 (116.1–209.4) ng/mL, p < 0.0001 ; 450.4 (327.3–631.8) ng/mL vs. 392.2 (339.0–480.2) ng/mL, p = 0.04 ; and 45.71 (38.54–57.45) ng/mL vs. 35.52 (30.23–41.52) ng/mL, p = 0.001 , respectively). IGFBP-2 and CTGF levels were positively correlated with cutaneous (r = 0.257 , p = 0.040 and r = 0.427 , p = 0.015 , respectively) and global (r = 0.380 , p = 0.002 and r = 0.292 , p = 0.019 , respectively) disease activity in DM patients. Conclusion. Serum IGFBP-2 and CTGF levels were increased in patients with DM and correlated with cutaneous and global disease activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a progressive intestine inflammatory disease that is prone to recur. Herein, we utilize microarray technology and bioinformatics to reveal the underlying pathogenesis of UC and provide novel markers. Colonic biopsies were taken from eight UC patients and eight healthy controls. Three differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMIs) and 264 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened using mRNA and miRNA microarray. Most DEGs were significantly associated with immune response and were markedly enriched in the IL-17 signaling pathway. Among the target genes of DEMIs, PHLPP2 overlapped with DEGs and the downregulation of PHLPP2 group was mainly involved in the epithelial–mesenchymal transition. PHLPP2 was downregulated in UC patients, which was validated in 5 GEO datasets and qRT-PCR. The ROC curve demonstrated that PHLPP2 has a perfect ability to distinguish UC patients from healthy controls. Moreover, PHLPP2 was low expression in patients with active UC. CIBERSORT algorithm indicated that the abundance of gamma delta T cells (P = 0.04), M0 macrophages (P = 0.01), and activated mast cells (P < 0.01) was significantly greater than that of the control group. The Spearman correlation analysis showed that PHLPP2 was positively correlated with the proportion of activated NK cells (rho = 0.62 , P = 0.013) and Tregs (rho = 0.55 , P = 0.03), but negatively correlated with those of activated mast cells (rho = − 0.8 , P < 0.01) and macrophages (rho = − 0.73 , P < 0.01). These results indicate that PHLPP2 is associated with immune cells in the pathogenesis of UC, as well as provide new prospects and future directions of investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellulose-originated three-dimensional graphene oxide CNT-modified LiOH·H2O (3D-GO-CNTs-LiOH·H2O) was synthesized by the hydrothermal method. LiOH·H2O nanoparticles (5–50 nm) were homogeneously dispersed inside the 3D-GO-CNTs frames. The composite showed enhanced heat storage density, excellent thermal conductivity, and greatly improved hydration rate due to both the hydrophilic reaction interface of 3D-GO-CNTs frames and reduced size of LiOH·H2O nanoparticles. LiOH·H2O content ratio of 23% (3D-GO-CNTs-LiOH·H2O-1) results in best heat storage performance with activation energy of 23.8 kJ/mol, thermal conductivity of 3.06 W/m·K, and heat storage capacity of 2800 kJ/kg. 3D-GO-CNTs-LiOH·H2O shows 4.2 folders heat storage capacity than that of pristine LiOH·H2O after the same hydration reaction. Other composite materials also show good performance: 3D-GO-CNTs-LiOH·H2O-2 (activation energy: 28.5 kJ/mol, thermal conductivity: 2.33 W/m·K, and heat storage capacity: 2051 kJ/kg.); 3D-GO-CNTs-LiOH·H2O-3 (activation energy: 32.3 kJ/mol, thermal conductivity: 2.01 W/m·K, and heat storage capacity: 1983 kJ/kg.). The addition of cellulose originated 3D-GO-CNTs was proved to be an excellent strategy to boost the heat storage performance of LiOH·H2O. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: When a lithium‐ion battery works under high current, its working temperature is easy to exceed the allowable working temperature, resulting in the decrease of battery life. This may cause the non‐uniformity of the internal working temperature of the battery and affect the working parameters of the battery. Therefore, an effective thermal management system is needed to enhance the thermal performance of the battery, improve the work efficiency, and extend the service life of the battery. In this study, we propose a new type of fork type mini‐channel cooling plate based on genetic optimization algorithm to reduce the working temperature of battery and obtain better thermal uniformity. First, the thermal performance of co‐current type cooling plates is experimentally and numerically studied. The heat transfer ability of cross flow cooling plates used to cool the Li‐ion Battery is evaluated by parametric method. Second, a multi‐objective genetic algorithm optimization is finally performed, considering the balance of the maximum value for temperature and pressure drop. Compared with the previous study, the reduction of temperature difference of this cooling plate can be up to 2°C. In contrast, the pressure drop penalty and thermal resistance of the optimized cooling plates can be reduced by 20% and 40%, respectively. Thirdly the thermal performance of a battery module with eight battery cells is also examined numerically. The maximum ∆T of the battery pack among cells is 4.83°C for V = 48 mL/s, which implies that the battery pack can work normally. This study indicates that batteries with the proposed new cooling plates have much better temperature uniformity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The role of miRNAs in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is not certain. We wanted to study the biological functions and potential mechanisms of miR-101-3p in RCC. Methods. miR-101-3p was inhibited in A498 and OSRC-2 (two RCC cell lines). We studied its effect on cell invasion and proliferation. Target EZH2 of miR-101-3p was designated by different methods, including luciferase functional analysis and Western blotting. The expression level of the target gene in treated cells was quantitatively analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. In addition, induction of miR-101-3p to prevent tumor formation of A498 cells in mice was further studied. Results. The overexpression of miR-101-3p significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion in two RCC cells. Western blotting and luciferase functional analysis indicated that miR-101-3p regulated the expression of EZH2 in two cell lines. Mice inoculated with A498 and OSRC-2 cells transfected with miR-101-3p mimics showed significantly smaller xenografts and weaker EZH2 expression levels than the control group. Conclusions. miR-101-3p inhibited RCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by targeting EZH2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To make the detection of moisture content and color change in jujube slices more convenient and without interrupting the drying process, a real‐time detection system was established. An algorithm of wave data filtering and a real‐time moisture content detection program was designed using VISA module of virtual instrument. The key technology of image processing was studied, concluding image acquisition, storage, reading, grayscale, enhancement, morphological operation, restoration, and the conversion algorithm to obtain the value of lightness (L*), redness (a*), yellowness (b*). The jujube slices drying experiment was done, the average relative error of moisture content and the value of L*, a*, b* between the system and manual detection was 1.4%, 1.7%, 6.3%, 3.9%, respectively. The work provides useful references on real‐time nor‐destructive quality inspection and macro‐control in the agricultural products drying process. Practical applications: In this study, we established a real‐time detection system of moisture content and color change during drying process. The filter algorithm of moisture content detection has been studied, the automatic system can detection the moisture content of the jujube slices effectively. The image processing procedures have been studied and the real time detection system can provide useful data of the color change to forecast and control the drying process of the jujube slices which may be interest to the food preservation industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer flooding has a significant potential to enhance oil recovery in a light oil reservoir. However, for polymer flooding in a conventional heavy oil reservoir, due to unfavorable mobility ratio between water and oil, the improvement of sweep efficiency is limited, resulting in a low incremental oil recovery and failure to achieve high-efficiency development for polymer flooding in a conventional heavy oil reservoir. Inspired by the EOR mechanisms of the surfactant-polymer (SP) flooding process, the polymer-viscosity reducing surfactant flooding (P-VRSF) system was proposed to enhance conventional heavy oil recovery. Thus, to gain an insight into enhancing oil recovery by P-VRSF in a conventional heavy oil reservoir, the viscosity property, oil-water interfacial tension property, and oil viscosity reduction property were investigated. A series of parallel sand pack experiments were conducted to investigate enhanced oil recovery ability of polymer flooding and P-VRSF in a heterogeneous reservoir. Then, the 2D micromodel flooding experiments were conducted to investigate the EOR mechanism from porous media to pore level. Results demonstrated that polymer could increase the viscosity of injection water and improve the sweep efficiency. The emulsifying stability of surfactant with ultralow IFT (10-3 mN/m) was worse than that of the surfactant with higher IFT (10-2 mN/m). The viscosity reduction rate of the surfactant with higher IFT was higher than 80% at different oil-water volume ratios. The incremental oi recovery of P-VRSF was higher than that of polymer flooding. Moreover, the polymer-viscosity reducing surfactant with higher IFT could have higher incremental oil recovery. The 2D micromodel flooding results showed that the swept area of polymer flooding and P-VRSF was larger than that of water flooding. Moreover, the swept area of the surfactant with good emulsifying stability was larger than that of the surfactant with ultralow IFT. These findings could provide insights into enhancing oil recovery by P-VRSF in the conventional heavy oil reservoir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, stope structure optimization during sublevel caving mining is considered under the condition that the isolated draw zones (IDZs) are nonstandard ellipsoid, which is realized by dynamically adjusting the arrangement of IDZs and quantifying the degree of intersection of IDZs according to an ore profit and loss calculation model. A dynamic intersecting arrangement model based on IDZs was proposed, which can dynamically adjust the sublevel height and drift spacing according to the ore-rock bulk flow parameters, economic indicators, occurrence condition of the ore body, drilling machine, and so forth. Based on the model, the range of drift spacing, the lower volume of crestal residual ore, and the higher volume of mixing waste rock are calculated. By deducing the function of ore profit and loss, a calculation model for ore profit and loss is established to quantify the degree of intersection of IDZs and determine the best stope structure. Using the constructed dynamic intersecting arrangement model, a stope structure of −213 m to −303 m in the Yanqianshan Iron Mine was designed, with a sublevel height of 22.5 m and a drift spacing of 20.5 m. A physical drawing model was designed, and three physical simulation experiment schemes were conducted to compare and analyse the ore loss and dilution of the intersecting arrangement model and the traditional tangent arrangement model. The results showed that the loss rate decreased by 3.66% and the dilution rate increased by only 0.22%, thus verifying the effectiveness and applicability of the model to optimize the stope structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) is a chronic autoimmune skin disease that usually causes disfiguring scarring, dyspigmentation, and atrophy. Despite a range of available topical and systemic therapies, the treatment of DLE remains a therapeutic challenge, especially in some refractory cases. Here, we reported three male patients with long‐term chronic lesions of unilateral facial localized DLE, who failed to have their disease controlled with many previous topical/systemic treatments, showed rapid and well response to intralesional injections of betamethasone (2 mg/mL, 0.2 mL/site) monotherapy once every 2 weeks for two, two, and four times of treatment, respectively. Intralesional betamethasone may provide a safe and effective alternative in the management of refractory localized DLE skin lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]