Search

The three leading modes of the North Atlantic atmospheric circulation explain about 70% of the winter climate variability. Although climate models generally can capture these modes, biases may induce large uncertainties in regional climate predictions. Here, we evaluate the leading winter modes simulated by CMIP5‐PMIP3 and CMIP6‐PMIP4 models from the last millennium to future scenarios in comparison with historical reanalysis and paleo‐reconstructions. The models generally have a good representation of the average spatial pattern of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) while showing a larger spread in performance for the East Atlantic and Scandinavian patterns. In contrast to historical reanalysis, the simulated NAO pattern tends to be rather stationary under various climate states over the years 861–2100. Such underestimated spatial variability in the simulated NAO is directly related to the biased spatial shifts in NAO‐related regional temperature and precipitation changes, inducing uncertainties in climate projections over the North Atlantic sector. Plain Language Summary: The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is the most dominant weather pattern over the North Atlantic‐European sector with profound influence on regional climate. The NAO pattern describes the changes in a low‐pressure system over Iceland and a high‐pressure system over the Azores, which are commonly known as the NAO centers of action. However, the NAO centers of action are not always fixed in these two locations, but show spatial movement over time. In this study, we compare the winter weather patterns over the North Atlantic region from the last millennium to future scenarios in climate models with reanalysis products and paleoclimate reconstructions. We find that models generally can capture the spatial structure of the NAO very well but with little changes in its location and shape over time in contrast to historical reanalysis. These biased NAO patterns in climate models can shift the modeled regional temperature and precipitation patterns associated with the NAO. This remains a challenge for the reliability of future climate projections over the North Atlantic region. Key Points: We compare the spatial variability of modeled North Atlantic climate modes over the years 861–2100 with reanalysis and reconstructed dataThe North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) in 13 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project‐Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project models shows underestimated spatial variability compared to historical reanalysisProjections of regional temperature and precipitation may show biased patterns due to the underestimated spatial shifts in simulated NAO [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decreasing trend in diurnal temperature range (DTR) since the 1950s has been widely observed in many regions of the world, including the Tibetan Plateau (TP). However, scarce instrumental records on the TP before the 1950s limit the understanding of DTR variation on a longer timescale, and its internal forcing mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we present two regional records of May–June DTR since 1753 reconstructed from tree rings on the northeastern TP (NETP) and southeastern TP (SETP), respectively. The decreasing trend in DTR in the second half of the twentieth century also occurred in the time earlier than the 1950s, indicating that the reduction in DTR is not unique to global warming. Spatially, both the instrumental and reconstructed DTR show different modes on the NETP and SETP. Composite analysis and superposed epoch analysis reveal the linkage between El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the DTR on the SETP. La Niña (El Niño) winters are generally followed by the stronger (weaker) early Indian summer monsoon so that may lead to the decrease (increase) in May–June DTR. The positive correlation between Niño 3.4 index and the DTR on the SETP over the past two and a half centuries is accompanied by a stable response of the decreased DTR to La Niña events. These results suggest that ENSO is a crucial driver for the DTR variation on the SETP through oceanic‐atmospheric modulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design and preparation of chiral metal-organic frameworks (CMOFs) from achiral ligands are a big challenge. Using 3-nitro-4-(pyridin-4-yl)benzoic acid (HL) as a new linker, a total of eight chiral lanthanide-organic frameworks (LOFs), namely poly[diaquatris[μ2-3-nitro-4-(pyridin-4-yl)benzoato-κ2 O:O′]-lanthanide(III)], l- and d-[Ln(C12H7N2O4)3(H2O)2]n [(1), Ln = Eu; (2), Ln = Gd; (3), Ln = Dy, (4), Ln = Tb], were hydrothermally synthesized without chiral reagents and determined by X-ray crystallography. Crystal structure analyses show that l-(1)-(4) crystallize in the hexagonal P65 space group and are isomorphous and isostructural, while the enantiomers d-(1)-(4) crystallize in the hexagonal P61 space group. All LnIII ions are octacoordinated by six carboxyl O atoms of six 3-nitro-4-(pyridin-4-yl)benzoate ligands and two water molecules in a dodecahedral geometry. A one-dimensional neutral helical [Ln2(CO2)3]n chain is observed in (1)-(4) as a chiral origin. These helical chains are further interconnected via directional hydrogen-bonding interactions between pyridyl groups and water molecules to construct a three-dimensional (3D) homochiral network with hex topology. The present CMOF structure is the first chiral 3D hydrogen-bonded hex-net and shows good water stability. Solid-state circular dichroism (CD) signals revealed that (1)-(4) crystallized through spontaneous resolution. Furthermore, (1) and (4) display a strong red and green photoluminescence at room temperature, respectively, but their intensities reduce to almost half at 200 °C. Notably, upon excitation under visible light (463 nm), a circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) of (1) in the solid state is observed for the first time, with a glum value of 2.61 κ 10×-2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The in-plane magnetic logic device is a spin-based technology which offers several advantages over charged-based devices such as non-volatility, ultra-low power and greater integration density. A novel low-power digital latch circuit is proposed by using various shaped nanomagnets. Specifically, a pipelined clocking layout is effectively constructed to ensure sequential and reliable operation. The simulation results show that the magnetic logic latch performs well. The proposed circuit is promising in building future ultra-low power magnetic memories, and may inspire new applications (i.e. magnetic arithmetic circuits). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Functional dyspepsia symptom diary (FDSD) is a newly designed questionnaire of functional dyspepsia (FD). The relationships between FDSD and other FD‐related questionnaires and patient‐reported severity remain unclear. This study aims to investigate the correlations between FDSD and other questionnaires and to determine the relationships between FDSD and FD severity. Methods: Consecutive outpatients with FD were prospectively enrolled in four tertiary hospitals. All patients were evaluated by six FD‐related questionnaires, including FDSD, Dyspepsia Symptom Severity Index (DSSI), Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale, Short‐Form Nepean Dyspepsia Index, and Hamilton Depression and Anxiety Scale (HAMD and HAMA). The severity of FD was also graded as mild, moderate, and severe by patients themselves. Correlations between different scores were assessed by Spearman correlation coefficient (ρ), and risk factors for patient‐reported severity were identified. Results: For 512 enrolled FD patients, the overall median FDSD score was 19 (2–42). FDSD was well correlated with DSSI (ρ = 0.64) and fairly correlated with the other four scores (ρ = 0.32–0.55) (all P < 0.001). Mild, moderate, and severe FD were reported by 18.5%, 55.9%, and 25.6% of patients, respectively. There were seven factors associated with the severe FD, including education level, duration, and subtypes of FD, prior treatment, FDSD, HAMD, and HAMA scores (all P < 0.10). FDSD ≥ 20 (odds ratio [OR] 3.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.0–5.2, P < 0.001) and HAMD ≥ 13 (OR 2.9, 95% CI: 1.8–4.6, P < 0.001) were independently associated with patient‐reported severe FD. Conclusions: This study firstly revealed that the newly developed FDSD correlated with other FD‐related questionnaires. FDSD ≥ 20 and HAMD ≥ 13 were independently associated with severe FD reported by patients (clinicaltrials.gov number: NCT04953975). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyploidy plays an important role in the evolution of eukaryotes, especially for flowering plants. Many of ecologically or agronomically important plant or crop species are polyploids, including sycamore maple (tetraploid), the world second and third largest food crops wheat (hexaploid) and potato (tetraploid) as well as economically important aquaculture animals such as Atlantic salmon and trout. The next generation sequencing data enables to allocate genotype at a sequence variant site, known as genotyping by sequencing (GBS). GBS has stimulated enormous interests in population based genomics studies in almost all diploid and many polyploid organisms. DNA sequence polymorphisms are codominant and thus fully informative about the underlying genotype at the polymorphic site, making GBS a straightforward task in diploids. However, sequence data may usually be uninformative in polyploid species, making GBS a far more challenging task in polyploids. This paper presents novel and rigorous statistical methods for predicting the number of sequence reads needed to ensure accurate GBS at a polymorphic site bared by the reads in polyploids and shows that a dozen of reads can ensure a probability of 95% to recover all constituent alleles of any tetraploid genotype but several hundreds of reads are needed to accurately uncover the genotype with probability confidence of 90%, subverting the proposition of GBS using low coverage sequence data in the literature. The theoretical prediction was tested by use of RAD‐seq data from tetraploid potato cultivars. The paper provides polyploid experimentalists with theoretical guides and methods for designing and conducting their sequence‐based studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Rectal indomethacin and pancreatic duct stenting (PDS) are recommended for the prevention of post‐endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis (PEP). However, the effects of the combination of the two methods on preventing PEP are controversial. We hypothesized that some group of difficult patients might benefit from the combination of indomethacin plus PDS (IP) compared with indomethacin alone (IN). Methods: Patients with native papilla who underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in eight tertiary hospitals were screened. They were enrolled if the cannulation proved difficult and post‐procedure indomethacin was administered. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance the baseline characteristics between IP and IN groups. The primary outcome was PEP. Results: Among 4456 patients with available cannulation‐related data, 1889 (42.4%) patients had difficult cannulation and received indomethacin. After PSM, both IP and IN groups included 332 patients. PEP was comparable between the two groups (12.7% vs 10.2%, P = 0.329). By subgroup analysis, the PEP rate was found to be lower in the IP group than in the IN group (7.3% vs 18.2%, P = 0.026) in patients undergoing double‐guidewire technique (DGT). The results of an additional analysis using PSM in DGT patients were consistent with the subgroup analysis results (7.8% vs 19.4%, P = 0.036). Conclusions: The current study indicated that the combined prevention of PEP with indomethacin plus PDS was useful in PEP prevention in patients undergoing DGT. Other groups of patients with difficult cannulation may not benefit from the combination strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Dissecting the genetic architecture of quantitative traits in autotetraploid species is a methodologically challenging task, but a pivotally important goal for breeding globally important food crops, including potato and blueberry, and ornamental species such as rose. Mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs) is now a routine practice in diploid species but is far less advanced in autotetraploids, largely due to a lack of analytical methods that account for the complexities of tetrasomic inheritance.We present a novel likelihood‐based method for QTL mapping in outbred segregating populations of autotetraploid species. The method accounts properly for sophisticated features of gene segregation and recombination in an autotetraploid meiosis. It may model and analyse molecular marker data with or without allele dosage information, such as that from microarray or sequencing experiments.The method developed outperforms existing bivalent‐based methods, which may fail to model and analyse the full spectrum of experimental data, in the statistical power of QTL detection, and accuracy of QTL location, as demonstrated by an intensive simulation study and analysis of data sets collected from a segregating population of potato (Solanum tuberosum).The study enables QTL mapping analysis to be conducted in autotetraploid species under a rigorous tetrasomic inheritance model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Papilla with hooknose or long protruding shape may increase the difficulty of cannulation during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). However, the relationship between papilla anatomy and complications of ERCP has not been fully understood. We aimed to investigate the effect of major duodenal papilla morphology on post‐ERCP pancreatitis (PEP) and the procedure of cannulation. Methods: Patients with native papilla who underwent ERCP were recruited to this multicenter study. Papilla‐related variables were collected, including the length of long axis (L), short axis (S) and opening width (OW), transverse fold, periampullary diverticulum (PAD), papilla location, orientation, swelling, and presence of duodenal stenosis. Demographic data and the procedure of cannulation were also prospectively evaluated. The primary outcome was PEP incidence. Multivariate analysis was used to identify high risk factors for PEP. Results: Six hundred and fifty‐eight patients were enrolled. Overall PEP incidence was 4.7% (31/658). The papilla of patients complicated with PEP had higher long to short axis (L/S) ratio (odds ratio [OR] 3.84, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.37–10.74, P = 0.010), higher long axis to opening width (L/OW) ratio (OR 1.35, 95%CI: 1.06–1.71, P = 0.014), more transverse folds (OR 2.53, 95%CI: 1.02–6.26, P = 0.044), and less periampullary diverticulum (OR 0.21, 95%CI: 0.06–0.70, P = 0.011). Multivariate analysis revealed that the indication of common bile duct stones, normal bilirubin, inadvertent pancreatic duct cannulation > 1, L/S ratio ≥ 1.5, and absence of PAD were independent risk factors for PEP. Conclusion: Besides patient‐related and procedure‐related factors, papilla‐related variables, such as L/S ratio and PAD, can be considered as a third type of factors associated with PEP (Clinicaltrials.gov number: NCT03550768). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Double‐guidewire technique (DWT) has been successfully performed by experts in difficult biliary cannulation as an advanced technique. This study aimed to define the learning curve and safety of DWT by trainees during hands‐on endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) training. Methods: Patients were eligible for inclusion in the study if the biliary cannulation was difficult and the pancreatic duct was inadvertently cannulated. DWT was performed by two trainees randomly under trainers' guidance. The primary outcome was the success rate of DWT biliary cannulation of trainees. Cumulative sum analysis was used to generate visual learning curves. Results: A total of 60 patients with difficult cannulation were enrolled. The main indications for ERCP were common bile duct stones (65%) and biliary stricture (31.7%). The learning curve analysis showed that to achieve a 70% rate of successful DWT, 12 procedures were needed for trainee A and 15 for trainee B. Higher targeted success rate of DWT could be achieved if the number of DWT procedures increased. Compared with the early stage of learning DWT (case 1 to 15 for each trainee), trainees had significantly higher DWT success rate in the late stage (36.7% [11/30] vs 80% [24/30], P = 0.001). The final success rate of cannulation was 98.3% (59/60). The overall rate of post‐ERCP pancreatitis and adverse events was 6.7% (4/60) and 8.3% (5/60), respectively. Conclusions: Double‐guidewire technique was safely performed by two novel trainees during hands‐on ERCP training. Fifteen procedures may be enough for trainees to achieve the competency of performing DWT. (Clinicaltrials.gov number: NCT03707613). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background A new polysaccharide hemostatic system ( EndoClotTM) was recently developed for bleeding control in gastrointestinal tract endoscopy; however, its efficacy and safety is not yet well established in colorectal endoscopic mucosal resection ( EMR). The aim of the present study was to observe the bleeding control effect after EMR in the colorectum. Patients and Methods EndoClotTM was applied immediately to mucosal defects after resection whether or not there was post-resection bleeding. Bleeding was monitored post-procedurally by clinical findings including positive stool occult blood test and by second-look endoscopy. Hemostasis, rebleeding rates and treatment-related complications were observed. Results In total, 82 patients were enrolled, totaling 181 lesions. Among them, 20 lesions in 18 cases showed bleeding immediately after the procedure. Among them, two lesions were treated by combined hot biopsy forceps, and complete hemostasis was achieved in all cases without surgery. It took 1.1 min (0.4-2.1) tocarry out hemostasis treatment. Rebleeding with positive stool test and colonoscopy recurred in three of 18 patients with immediate post-procedural bleeding. In patients without immediate post-procedural bleeding, three patients were confirmed with delayed bleeding. No major adverse events of treatment or procedure-related serious adverse events were reported during a 30-day follow up. Colonoscopy was done in selected patients at 30 days and full recovery of mucosal defect was achieved in all cases. Conclusion Polysaccharide hemostatic system effectively achieves hemostasis in controlling and preventing EMR-related bleeding with the advantage of simple application; thus it might be a useful alternative in treating bleeding endoscopically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myocardin is a remarkably potent transcriptional coactivator expressed specifically in cardiac muscle lineages and smooth muscle cells during postnatal development. Myocardin shares homology with myocardin-related transcription factor-A (MRTF-A), which are expressed in a broad range of embryonic and adult tissues. Our previous results show that myocardin induces cardiac hypertrophy. However, the effects of MRTF-A in cardiac hypertrophy remain poorly understood. Our present work further demonstrates that myocardin plays an important role in inducing hypertrophy. At the same time, we find that overexpression of MRTF-A in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes might induce cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Furthermore, MRTF-A expression is induced in phenylephrine, angiotensin-II, and transforming growth factor-β-stimulated cardiac hypertrophy, whereas a dominant-negative form of MRTF-A or MRTF-A siRNA strongly inhibited upregulation of hypertrophy genes in response to hypertrophic agonists in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Our studies indicate that besides myocardin, MRTF-A might play an important role in cardiac hypertrophy. Our findings provide novel evidence for the future studies to explore the roles of MRTFs in cardiac hypertrophy. © 2011 IUBMB IUBMB Life, 63(1):54-61, 2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which tested the therapeutic effects of fingolimod (FTY720) in rodent models of cerebral ischemia. It evaluates the long-term behavioral outcome of fingolimod, and whether delayed treatment is still effective. The study utilized mouse models of middle cerebral artery occlusion and cell-culture models of neurotoxicity and inflammation. The results showed that fingolimod decreased infarct size and edema, and neuroprotection was associated with reduced inflammation.