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Implicit guarantees provided by financial intermediaries are a key component of China's shadow banking sector. We show theoretically that project screening by intermediaries, accompanied by their implicit guarantees to investors, can be the second-best arrangement and mitigate capital misallocation that favors state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Using a dataset of trusts’ investment products, we find, consistent with our model, that ex ante expected yields reflect borrower risks and implicit guarantee strength, and risk sensitivity is reduced by strong guarantees. Regulations in 2018 restricting implicit guarantees lead to a weaker relationship between yield spread and guarantee strength, and more credit rationing of non-SOEs.

Here, we characterized a new mycovirus from the fungus Nigrospora chinensis, which was named "Nigrospora chinensis victorivirus 1" (NcVV1). The NcVV1 genome is 5283 bp in length, containing two continuous open reading frames (ORFs), ORF1 and ORF2. ORF1 and ORF2 were predicted to encode a putative coat protein (CP) and an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), respectively. The stop codon of ORF1 overlaps with the start codon of ORF2 by the tetranucleotide sequence AUGA. Phylogenetic analysis based on amino acid sequences of RdRp and CP indicated that NcVV1 clustered with members of the genus Victorivirus in the family Totiviridae. To our knowledge, this was the first report of a mycovirus infecting N. chinensis.

AimThis study aims to investigate the biological effects of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-derived metabolites in seminal plasma on male fertility and to evaluate the potential of PUFA as a biomarker for normozoospermic male infertility.MethodsFrom September 2011 to April 2012, We collected semen samples from 564 men aged 18 to 50 years old (mean=32.28 years old)ch., residing in the Sandu County, Guizhou Province, China. The donors included 376 men with normozoospermia (fertile: n=267; infertile: n=109) and 188 men with oligoasthenozoospermia (fertile: n=121; infertile: n=67). The samples thus obtained were then analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to detect the levels of PUFA-derived metabolites in April 2013. Data were analyzed from December 1, 2020, to May 15, 2022.ResultsOur analysis of propensity score-matched cohorts revealed that the concentrations of 9/26 and 7/26 metabolites differed significantly between fertile and infertile men with normozoospermia and oligoasthenozoospermia, respectively (FDR < 0.05). In men with normozoospermia, higher levels of 7(R)-MaR1 (HR: 0.4 (95% CI [0.24, 0.64]) and 11,12-DHET (0.36 (95% CI [0.21, 0.58]) were significantly associated with a decreased risk of infertility, while higher levels of 17(S)-HDHA (HR: 2.32 (95% CI [1.44, 3.79]), LXA5 (HR: 8.38 (95% CI [4.81, 15.24]), 15d-PGJ2 (HR: 1.71 (95% CI [1.06, 2.76]), and PGJ2 (HR: 2.28 (95% CI [1.42, 3.7]) correlated with an increased risk of infertility. Our ROC model using the differentially expressed metabolites showed the value of the area under the curve to be 0.744.ConclusionThe PUFA-derived metabolites 7(R)-MaR1, 11,12-DHET, 17(S)-HDHA, LXA5, and PGJ2 might be considered as potential diagnostic biomarkers of infertility in normozoospermic men.

The aim of this study was to assess the level of satisfaction with currently prescribed medications for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in patients and physicians in China.Physicians across China were invited to complete physician surveys concerning factors affecting the prescription of medication for GERD and their satisfaction through an online questionnaire. The enrolled physicians invited the first five GERD patients who visited them on the same day to complete online patient surveys concerning the satisfaction with medications for GERD and its influencing factors.In total, 334 physician surveys (response rate 36.82%) and 1409 patient surveys (86.07%) were analyzed. Over half (62.57%) the physicians recommended taking a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) twice daily and the majority (88.02%) recommended taking a PPI for 1 week to 3 months. Factors affecting the prescription were how much it could improve quality of life (84.73%), followed by safety, medication compliance, and efficacy. Approximately 30% of patients reported taking a PPI twice daily and 47.20% reported taking a PPI for 1 week to 3 months. Factor affecting patients' adherence to medications was safety (64.30%), followed by medical insurance, efficacy and convenience. Approximately one-third of physicians and patients did not report "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with medications for GERD, including 10.51% of patients and 12.87% of physicians reporting "dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied."One-third of GERD patients and physicians were not satisfied or very satisfied with medications for GERD. Novel medications may help optimize the management of GERD.

Two pairs of Pt(II) enantiomers ((RR)/(SS)-PyPt, ((RR)/(SS)-Py: N,N'-(1,2-diphenylethane-1,2-diyl)dipicolinamide; (RR)-P/M-QPt, ((RR)/(SS)-Q: N,N'-((1R,2R)-1,2-diphenylethane-1,2-diyl)bis(quinoline-2-carboxamide)) were synthesized, respectively, with good circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) and tunable dissymmetry factors (g) by molecular self-induction with (RR)/(SS)-1,2-diphenylethane-1,2-diamine as carbon chiral sources. In the (RR)-P-QPt and (SS)-M-QPt, specific P- and M-configurations were effectively induced from intrinsic chiral carbon centres (R or S), ingeniously avoiding the racemic mixture formation and chiral separation. Furthermore, the chirality originating from both chiral carbon centres and helicene-like structure improves the g factor significantly, which provides a new molecular design strategy for chiral Pt(II) enantiomers with good CPL properties.

Several decades of debate have centered around the nature of the enigmatic pseudo-gap state in high temperature superconducting copper oxides. Recently, we reported polarized neutron diffraction measurements that suggested the existence of a magnetic texture bound to the pseudo-gap phase [Bounoua, {\it et al}. Communications Physics 5, 268 (2022)]. Such a magnetic texture is likely to involve the spontaneous appearance of loop currents within the CuO$_2$ unit cells, which give birth to complex correlated patterns. In the underdoped ${\rm YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6.6}}$, the magnetic structure factor of such an orbital magnetic texture gives rise to two distinct magnetic responses at {\bf q}=0 and {\bf q}=1/2. As this pattern alters the lattice translation invariance, such a state of matter could contribute to an instability of the Fermi surface. Here, we report polarized neutron scattering measurements on a nearly optimally doped high quality single crystal of ${\rm YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6.9}}$ that exhibits the same {\bf q}=1/2 magnetism and a weakly overdoped ${\rm YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7}}$ sample where this signal is no longer sizeable. The in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic neutron scattering intensities in ${\rm YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6.9}}$ (at {\bf q}=1/2) and ${\rm YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6.85}}$ (at {\bf q}=0), reported previously, display the same temperature dependent hallmarks. The magnitudes of both {\bf q}=0 and {\bf q}=1/2 magnetic signals further exhibit the same trends upon doping in ${\rm YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6+x}}$, confirming that they are likely intertwined., Comment: 6 figures

Additional File Table 1: Baseline characteristics of the study population grouped by PNI

Additional file 2. Detailed clinical characteristics and prognosis of the patient.

Additional file 1. Figure S1 The figure shows the original uncropped western blot images and the red box shows the cropped images in the main text. (A) Figure shows the blank film with marker position. (B) Figure shows the original and transverse stretched strips of SERPINE2. (C) Figure shows the original strips of β-actin.

Additional file 1. Supplementary figures.

Additional file 2. The RNA primers applied for qRT-PCR.

Additional file 3. Supplementary Table 1. Results of some clinical tests during hospitalization.

Understanding how microbial communities affect plant growth is crucial for sustainable productivity and ecological health. However, in contrast with the crop system, there is limited information on the microbial community associated with the medicinal plant. We observed that altitude was the most influential factor on the soil microbial community structures of Aconitum carmichaelii Debeaux. For community composition, bacterial reads were assigned to 48 phyla, with Proteobacteria, Acidobacteriota, and Actinobacteriota being the dominant phyla. The fungal reads were assigned to seven phyla, and Ascomycota was the predominant phylum detected in most groups. The four dominant phyla were categorized as keystone taxa in the co-occurrence networks, suggesting that they may be involved in soil disease suppression and nutrient mobility. Bacterial co-occurrence networks had fewer edges, lower average degree, and lower density at YL1, HQ1, HQ2, BC, and DL than fungal networks, creating less intricate rhizosphere network patterns. Furthermore, the bacterial and fungal communities showed strong distance decay of similarity across the sampling range. Overall, this study improves our understanding of regulating rhizosphere microbial communities in soil systems and also provides potential production strategies for planting A. carmichaelii.

Backgrounds Magnetic sphincter augmentation (MSA) is a newly-developed procedure for refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease (rGERD). A systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted to determine its effectiveness in rGERD. Methods Electronic search was performed in Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, Opengrey and ClincalTrials.gov up to April 2020. Single-arm studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of MSA in rGERD or comparative studies with proton pump inhibitor (PPI) or laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication (LNF) served as control were included. Demographic data，postoperative PPI use，GERD-HRQL (GERD-health related quality of life)，acid exposure time (AET)，adverse events (AEs) were collected. The primary outcome was the rate of postoperative PPI use, and secondary outcomes incorporated postoperative GERD-HRQL, normalization in AET and incidence of procedure-related AEs. Results In total, 14 trials involving 1138 participants with rGERD were included: 10 single-arm studies, 1 RCT and 3 cohort studies. After MSA, PPIs withdrawal, significant improvement of GERD-HRQL and normalization of AET were achieved respectively in 87.0%, 88.0% and 75.0% of the patients. The incidence of postoperative dysphagia was 29%, and endoscopic dilation was required in 7.4% of MSA patients. MSA showed a better efficacy in symptom control as compared to PPIs (PPI cessation: 91% vs 0%; GERD-HRQL improvement: 81% vs 8%) and similar effectiveness but a lower risk of gas-bloat syndrome (RR 0.69 [0.51, 0.93]，p=0.01) and better reserved ability to belch (RR 1.48 [0.76, 2.86]，p=0.25) as compared to LNF. Conclusion MSA was an effective and safe therapy for rGERD. Well-designed randomized trials that compares the efficacy of MSA with other therapies are needed.

Electrostatic precipitators (ESP) have been widely used to remove particles from exhausted gases in many industrial processes. The performance of ESPs is affected by operating parameters such as inlet velocity, applied voltage and other factors. A numerical method of multi-field coupling is used to study the influence of different factors on the distributions of electric field and flow field in an ESP. The results show that the particle collection efficiency of 0.1–10 µm particles has a U-shaped distribution relationship with particle size. With the increase of applied voltage and electrode length, and the decrease of inlet velocity and anode-cathode distance, the particle collection efficiency increases. The established numerical model and corresponding conclusion can provide some guidance for the optimal design of ESPs.

Controlled polymerization of cumulenic monomers represents a promising yet underdeveloped strategy towards well-defined alkyne polymers. Here we report a stereoelectronic effect-inspired approach using simple vinylidenecyclopropanes (VDCPs) as butatriene homologues in controlled radical ring-opening polymerizations. While being thermally stable, VDCPs mimic butatrienes via conjugation of the cyclopropane ring. This leads to exclusive terminal-selective propagation that affords a highly structurally regular alkynebased backbone, featuring complete ring-opening and no backbiting regardless of polymerization conditions.

BackgroundA previous phase IV trial revealed sex as a potential effect modifier of MUSKARDIA efficacy in stable coronary artery disease (CAD).ObjectiveTo assess the clinical effect of MUSKARDIA as a supplemental treatment to optimal medical therapy (OMT) in stable CAD cases.MethodsThis study was a subgroup analysis of a multicenter, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled phase IV clinical study. Eligible individuals underwent randomization to the oral MUSKARDIA and placebo groups and were treated for 24 months. All participants received OMT according to existing guidelines. The primary composite outcome was the major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE), included cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI), or non-fatal stroke. The secondary composite outcome encompassed all-cause mortality, non-fatal MI, non-fatal stroke, hospitalization for unstable angina and/or heart failure, and undergoing coronary procedure/surgery during treatment. Safety signals, especially cardiovascular adverse events (AEs), were analyzed.ResultsThe female subgroup included 776 participants (384 and 392 in the MUSKARDIA and placebo groups, respectively). The occurrence of the primary composite outcome was lower in the MUSKARDIA group compared with placebo-treated individuals (HR = 0.27, 95%CI: 0.09–0.83; P = 0.02), but the secondary composite outcome showed no significant difference (HR = 0.77, 95%CI: 0.47–1.25; P = 0.29). The MUSKARDIA group had reduced incidence of cardiovascular AEs compared with placebo-treated cases (2.9% vs. 5.6%).ConclusionAs a supplemental treatment to OMT, 24-month administration of MUSKARDIA is effective and safe in female stable CAD cases.Clinical trial registration[https://clinicaltrials.gov/], identifier [NCT01897805].

Aims: The addition of extended capecitabine after standard neo/adjuvant chemotherapy shows controversial results in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients between SYSUCC-001 trial and CIBOMA trial. Patients presents different responses to diverse regimens, and different dose strengths also affect their prognosis. Hence, we tried to investigate whether the benefit from SYSUCC-001 is effected by the strength of previous adjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: We reviewed the neo/adjuvant chemotherapy regimens, dose divide by body surface area, etc. of TNBC patients in SYSUCC-001 trial. Their therapeutic dose were classified into consistent and inconsistent with CIBOMA trial. Besides, we stratified patients into the strong regimen arm (A/EC-T and TA/EC) and medium regimen arm (A/EC, TA/E, CMF, FA/EC, FA/EC-T, and TC) according to their specific neo/adjuvant treatment.Subsequently, we compared differences in baseline characteristics between the strong and medium regimen arms, and further investigated the impact of therapeutic regimens and dose on the survival outcome of TNBC patients in SYSUCC-001 trial(the median follow-up is 61months, interquartile range, 44-82months). Results: A total of 434 TNBC patients were included in this study. Among them, patients who used strong chemotherapy regimen accounted for about 76.74%, and those who used medium regimen accounted for 23.26%. About 32.3% and 52.2% patients received the standard doses of anthracyclines and taxanes separately according to minimum acceptable regimens for chemotherapy in CIBOMA trial. In our analysis we found the dose strength did not affect the DFS in the observe group. However, the standard dose of taxanes improved the DFS in capecitabine group [HR, 2.04 (1.02 - 4.06)]. The interaction analysis showed that the strength of treatment regimenand anthracycline dose did not affect DFS. Whereas, subgroup analysis showed TNBC patients with standard dose of taxanes significantly benefited from capecitabine (P = 0.014). In addition, the standard dose of taxanes could improve DFS. Conclusions: The strength of neo/adjuvant chemotherapy does not affect the curative effect of capecitabine maintenance chemotherapy. The benefits of the SYSUCC-001 study are mainly from one-year capecitabine administration. Moreover, the standard dose of chemotherapy especially taxanes is a positive factor for the effect of capecitabine treatment. So in some special condition, such as patients can’t endure the side effect of the chemotherapy, we’d better reduce the dose of anthracycline not the taxanes.

Niobium carbide (NbC) is a high hardness 1960 (HV30) cermet material which finds applications in the moulds for ceramic injection moulding as well as inserts for cutting tools. This material possesses excellent combination of hardness, toughness and thermal shock resistance. The use of nickel (Ni) binder makes it a promising material for such applications, especially in view of rising cobalt (Co) metal prices used as binder in conventional tungsten carbide (WC-Co) cermet. The tool-wear and tool-failure issues make it difficult for mechanical machining technologies to process this material, especially in the micromachining regime (< 2 mm). To address machinability challenges, electrically conductive Nb cermet has been developed inhouse with Ni as the binder material. This makes it a suitable workpiece candidate for electrochemical machining (ECM) and electrical discharge machining (EDM) processes. Therefore, experimental investigations are presented in this work to evaluate the machining characteristics of NbC cermet with micro-ECM process. Channels have been used as test-features for evaluating machinability. Furthermore, two different grades of NbC cermets have been machined to identify the effect of WC addition on the dissolution characteristics and possible passivation during ECM. A micro-second pulsed voltage source has been utilized for controlled and localized material removal. To further enhance removal mechanisms in terms of processing speed and weakening of passivating layer, the micro-ECM process has been assisted with a nano-second pulsed laser on an in-house developed hybrid machine-tool. The aim is to uniformly dissolve the NbC matrix and Ni binder with ECM process for a high integrity machined surface. The dissolution and passivation characteristics have been further analysed through a combination of current pulse acquisition and channel profile characterisation. Linear sweep voltammetry and channel machining revealed that the addition of WC has a significant impact on the stability of passive layer. Laser assistance could enhance the material removal for both the NbC grades and promote uniform dissolution, with the effect being more pronounced in the NbC grade without WC (41 % increase in average pulse peak current) due to the weaker passive film. The material dissolution was more localized in LECM of NbC grade with WC due to the strong passivation along the channel walls. ispartof: Procedia CIRP ispartof: ISEM XXI - 21st CIRP CONFERENCE ON ELECTRO PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL MACHINING location:Zurich, Switzerland date:14 Jun - 16 Jun 2022 status: accepted

The All of Us Research Program seeks to engage at least one million diverse participants to advance precision medicine and improve human health. We describe here the cloud-based Researcher Workbench that uses a data passport model to democratize access to analytical tools and participant information including survey, physical measurement, and electronic health record (EHR) data. We also present validation study findings for several common complex diseases to demonstrate use of this novel platform in 315,000 participants, 78% of whom are from groups historically underrepresented in biomedical research, including 49% self-reporting non-White races. Replication findings include medication usage pattern differences by race in depression and type 2 diabetes, validation of known cancer associations with smoking, and calculation of cardiovascular risk scores by reported race effects. The cloud-based Researcher Workbench represents an important advance in enabling secure access for a broad range of researchers to this large resource and analytical tools.

Here, we characterized a new mycovirus from the Nigrospora chinensis fungus, that was named Nigrospora chinensis victorivirus 1 (NcV1). NcV1 genome was 5, 283 bp in length, containing two overlapping open reading frames (ORFs), ORF1 and ORF2. ORF1 and ORF2 were predicted to encode a putative coat protein and an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, respectively. The stop codon of ORF1 was overlapped with the start codon of ORF2 by tetranucleotide sequence ATGAG. Phylogenetic analysis based on aa sequences of RdRp indicated that NcRV1 was clustered with members of the genus Victorivirus in the family Totiviridae. To our knowledge, this was the first report of mycovirus infecting N. chinensis.

As an ideal material platform for deep investigations on superconductivity, high purity YBa2Cu3O7-δ (Y123) single crystals have been highly concerned and requested recently. However, it is very difficult to grow such crystals by the conventional travelling-solvent floating-zone (TSFZ) process due to the intrinsic instability of floating zone caused by the liquid loss. To overcome this obstacle, the feed rod with modified precursor powder (MPP) of 0.5Y2O3+ Ba2Cu3O5 was adopted, instead of the conventional one (Y123). Our experimental results proved that less Ba3Cu7Oy solvent penetrated to the MPP-rod due to its low wettability. Furthermore, it was also observed that less melt dropped down from the floating zone owning to its low fluidity, caused by low dimension of bubbles and Y211 particles generated from the MPP-rod. Consequently, the molten zone was remarkably stabilized and the Y123 single crystal was successful grown. The effective size of the grown boule was about 5 mm (O) × 30 mm. This new conception of altering precursor components for continuous TSFZ growth is universally worth of producing other functional materials.

Introduction: Regional anaesthesia techniques have been used for perioperative analgesia for hip fractures. The supra-inguinal approach to fascia iliaca block (FIB) can potentially provide superior analgesia compared to femoral nerve block (FNB) by blocking the obturator and lateral femoral cutaneous nerves. We aimed to evaluate the analgesic effect of single shot FIB and FNB for surgical fixation of hip fractures. Methods: After obtaining ethics approval and written, informed consent, 30 patients undergoing surgical fixation of hip fractures were recruited and randomized into 2 groups. Patients received either a single shot FIB or FNB with 0.5% Ropivacaine 30 mls, and a subarachnoid block. Pain scores were assessed pre-operatively, post-block, in recovery and at 24 hours post-operatively. Time to first analgesic, oxynorm consumption, opioid related side effects and block related complications were assessed at 24 hours. Results: There were no statistically significant difference in post-block pain scores, median (IQR) of 0 (0 - 0) versus 0 (0 - 0) at rest and 3 (2 - 6) versus 5 (2 - 6) on positioning for spinal; and 24 hour pain scores were 0 (0 - 0) versus 0 (0 - 0) at rest and 4 (2 - 5) versus 5 (2 - 6) on movement for FIB and FNB groups respectively. 5 patients from each group required post-operative opioids, post-operative opioids requirement were similar. Conclusions: Though ultrasound guided supra-inguinal FIB was more consistent in blocking the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve then a femoral nerve block, this did not translate to any difference in terms of pain scores, opioid consumption and side effects.

Machining of complex features on hard-to-reach zones, e.g. internal spaces, is difficult by conventional mechanical machining techniques. The challenge comes from two common facts: the small space restricts tool engagement and thus its contact with part surface; the large cutting force exerted on the slender cutting tool results frequently in a deformed or broken tool. To tackle this challenge, an innovative tool clamping method is proposed as a proof-and-concept inspired by a chip-on-tip endoscope, where a camera is held by a slender, flexible tube, reaching tissue inside the body. Similarly, a pneumatic bending actuator is designed and implemented to be capable of carrying a tool electrode, which is used for a force-free machining, i.e. micro electrical discharge machining (µEDM). An elastic inflatable actuator tailored for this application is designed, fabricated and validated to provide a proof of the proposed concept. The fabricated micro-actuators are experimentally studied to assess their performance implementing the texturing on a vertical plate and shows its great potential as tool guider in restricted processing space. ispartof: pages:261-264 ispartof: Proceedings of the 22 nd international conference of the european society for precision engineering and nanotechnology vol:2022 pages:261-264 ispartof: Euspen’s 22 nd international conference of the european society for precision engineering and nanotechnology location:CERN, Geneva, Switzerland date:30 May - 3 Jun 2022 status: Published online

Purpose: The pathogenesis of glioma is not clear, SALL4 is a protooncogene and has been shown to promote the growth of glioma cells. CircRNAs have been shown to play a role in the development of tumors, but the relationship between SALL4 and circRNAs has not been well characterized. The aim of this study is to establish the association between SALL4 and circRNAs.Methods: The circRNAs and miRNAs related to SALL4 screened before were detected in glioma and normal brain tissue samples, then hsa_circ_0024183 was selected to determine its effect on glioma progression in vivo and vitro. The interaction between hsa_circ_0024183, miR-485-5p and SALL4 was clarified by double luciferase assay and RNA immunoprecipitation analysis.Results: The expression of hsa_circ_0024183 was significantly higher in glioma patients and human glioblastoma cell lines than in normal brain(PConclusion: Interference with hsa_circ_0024183 can reduce the expression of SALL4 and the binding of hsa_circ_0024183 to SALL4 protein. It may affect the progression of glioma through the PTEN/PI3K/Akt pathway. This discovery provides an opportunity to develop potential targeted therapy against glioma.

OBJECTIVE: To establish a risk probability model for residual metastatic lymph nodes in patients with papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) after cervical central lymph node dissection (CLND). METHODS: The clinical data of patients with PTMC treated in the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from 2007 to 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. All patients underwent thyroidectomy with CLND, and at least one lymph node was examined. Based on the distribution characteristics of metastatic lymph nodes from this retrospective cohort, a probabilistic model for the risk of residual metastatic lymph node was established. β-Binomial distribution was used to estimate the probability of residual metastatic lymph node as a function of the number of lymph nodes examined. RESULTS: Among 5399 patients included in the probabilistic model, central lymph node metastases were observed in 1664 cases (30.8%). After model correction, the real lymph node metastasis rate increased from 30.8% to 38.9%. The probability of false negative of central lymph node was estimated to be 31.3% for patients with a single node examined, while decreased to 10.0% and 4.9% when 7 and 12 nodes were examined, respectively. In the sensitivity analysis limited to patients with or without Hashimoto thyroiditis, the performance of probability model was also satisfactory. CONCLUSIONS: The established risk probability model in this study quantifies the risk of residual metastatic lymph nodes after CLND in patients with PTMC, which can be used as complementary indicators for the risk of recurrence/persistence disease at postoperative evaluation. The study also provides a new method to evaluate the impact of residual metastatic lymph nodes on the prognosis of tumor patients through retrospective data.

Methanol- and temperature-induced dissolution–recrystallization structural transformation (DRST) was observed among two novel CuII complexes. This is first time that the combination of X-ray crystallography, mass spectrometry and density functional theory (DFT) theoretical calculations has been used to describe the fragmentation and recombination of a mononuclear CuII complex at 60 °C in methanol to obtain a binuclear copper(II) complex. Combining time-dependent high-resolution electrospray mass spectrometry, we propose a possible mechanism for the conversion of bis(8-methoxyquinoline-κ2 N,O)bis(thiocyanato-κN)copper(II), [Cu(NCS)2(C10H9NO)2], Cu1, to di-μ-methanolato-κ4 O:O-bis[(8-methoxyquinoline-κ2 N,O)(thiocyanato-κN)copper(II)], [Cu2(CH3O)2(NCS)2(C10H9NO)2], Cu2, viz. [Cu(SCN)2(L)2] (Cu1) → [Cu(L)2] → [Cu(L)]/L → [Cu2(CH3O)2(NCS)2(L)2] (Cu2). We screened the antitumour activities of L (8-methoxyquinoline), Cu1 and Cu2 and found that the antiproliferative effect of Cu2 on some tumour cells was much greater than that of L and Cu1.

In SOFT study, subgroup analysis for hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer women younger than 35 years indicated better 5-year DFS in OFS+exemestane arm than OFS+tamoxifen. Since only about 11% of women included were younger than 35 years of age, this subgroup analysis result is underpowered. In addition, there still no specific randomized clinical trial focusing on endocrine treatment in women younger than 35 years of age. The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of gonadotropin releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa)+tamoxifen versus GnRHa+AIs in HR+ early breast cancer patients under age 35 with intermediate or high risk for disease recurrence. Study design This is a prospective, open label, multicentre, randomized controlled trial that compared the efficacy of GnRHa+tamoxifen versus GnRHa+AIs in HR+ early breast cancer patients under age 35 with intermediate or high risk for disease recurrence. This study was initiated by the first affiliated hospital of Sun Yat-sen university in 2016. Twenty-four hospitals in China participate in this trial. The protocol was approved by the appropriate regulatory and ethics authorities for each centre. This trial has been registrated at ClinicalTrials.gov. The NCT Number is NCT02914158. Criteria for patient eligibility: 1. Written informed consent must be signed. 2. ECOG≤2. 3. Histologically proven HR+ (ER≥1% by IHC) invasive breast cancer. 4. Age≤35, premenopausal. 5. No distant metastatic disease. 6. T≥2cm or with at least 1 axillary lymph node involved. 7. Patient must accept proper surgery, systemic therapy and radiation therapy if necessary. 8. Laboratory exam criteria for enrollment: hemoglobin ≥10g/dl, white blood cell ≥4,000/mm3, platelets ≥100,000/mm3, glutamic oxalacetic transaminase, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, alkaline phosphatase ≤2 times upper limit of normal (ULN), total bilirubin, creatinine clearance rate ≤1.5 times ULN. Criteria for patient ineligibility: 1. Patients who are pregnant or lactating at the time of randomization or refuse to contraception.2. Patients who received organ transplantation. 3. Patients who have other malignant diseases within 5 years. 4. Patients with psychiatric disorder, peripheral or central nerve system disease or any disorder, which compromises ability to give informed consent or participate in this study. 5. Patients with sever hepatic, renal, cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive diseases or uncontrolled diabetes. 6. Patients who participate in other clinical trials. 7. Patients who allergy to goserelin, leuprorelin, tamoxifen or AIs. Statistical analysis According to previous results, 5-year DFS for OFS+tamoxifen in HR+ breast cancer patients under age 35 with intermediate or high risk of disease recurrence was 73% vs. 81% for OFS+AIs. This trial designed 80% power to detect a between-group difference using a two-sample log-rank test (two-sided a=0.05). To allow for missing 10% data, the study planned to enroll 680 patients (340 patients for each group) in 5 years. The statistical design assumed that 197 primary end point events should occur during 5-year follow-up and OFS+AIs should decrease 30% DFS relative risk. The calculations were performed using PASS 11. Treatment details Patients enrolled are randomized 1:1 to two arms in 8 weeeks after surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Goserelin 3.6mg or leuprorelin 3.75mg is injected subcutaneously every 28 days for 5 years. Arm A: Tamoxifen 20mg orally daily. Arm B: Exemestane 25mg, letrozole 2.5mg or anastrozole 1mg orally daily. Stratification Stratified by HER2 and axillary lymph node status. Primary end point: Disease free survival. Secondary end point: Overall survival. Invasive Breast Cancer Recurrence-Free Interval. Adverse Effects Rate. Citation Format: Zhen Shan, Nan Shao, Zhongyu yuan, Qianjun Chen, Anqin Zhang, Kun Wang, Ailing Zhang, Li Cai, Yuhua Song, Herui Yao, Hongmin Ma, Heng Huang, Jianwen Li, Yuanqi Zhang, Lehong Zhang, Jincai Zhong, Hui Liu, Zhiyong Wu, Li Zhao, Feihai Ling, Weixiong Yang, Rui Zhuo, Xiangyang Song, Ying Lin. Adjuvant ovarian suppression plus aromatase inhibitor or tamoxifen for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer in women younger than 35 (ASPAIT): A multicenter randomized clinical trial [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr OT1-04-01.

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. Its rapid spread has put a strain on healthcare systems globally. Singapore ranked the highest in terms of reported cases outside of China in the first few weeks of this outbreak. The management of a patient with COVID-19 in the Operating Theatre (OT) presents a unique set of challenges to the Anaesthetist. Delivery of timely and quality care must be upheld while reducing the risk of transmission to healthcare staff and other patients. This article describes our Anaesthesia Unit’s experiences and challenges in instituting our pandemic plans. The authors hope that the sharing of our experience and practical approach would be useful to other Anaesthesia Units worldwide.

Additional file 1: Figure S1. Correlation between SLIT2 methylation density detected by BSP and SLIT2 methylation level detected by RT-qMSP.

Additional file 3: Table1. TRAF1 intensity of each patients.

Additional file 1: Fig. S1 Histological staining of granulomatous lobular mastitis. Fig. S2 Self-limited stage. Fig. S3 Congestive swelling stage. Fig. S4 Abscess formation stage. Fig. S5 Complex refractory stage.

Additional file 12. Confirmation of BP1 overexpression after BP1 transfection in K562 cells detected by western blot (original figure).

Additional file 2.

Additional file 3: Table S3. lncRNA expression analyzed by RNA-seq in K562 cell after BP1 overexpression (original data).

Neutrophils release neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), via NETosis, as a defense mechanism against pathogens. Neutrophils can release NETs spontaneously; however, the mechanisms underlying spontaneous NETosis remain unclear. Neutrophils isolated from healthy donors were tested for NET formation and autophagy at 1, 6, 12, and 24 h after incubation. Autophagy response was evaluated in response to various autophagy inducers and inhibitors. The relationship between autophagy and NETosis was detected in vivo using an ovalbumin-induced mouse model of asthma. We found that the increase in the proportion of spontaneous NETosis was time-dependent. The number of autophagy-positive cells also increased over time and LC3B protein played an integral role in NET formation. Trehalose (an inducer of mTOR-independent autophagy) treatment significantly increased NET formation, whereas rapamycin (an mTOR-dependent autophagy inducer) did not increase NET release by neutrophils. Compared with the control group, 3-methyladenine (an autophagy sequestration inhibitor) and hydroxychloroquine sulfate (autophagosome-lysosome fusion inhibitor) treatments significantly reduced the percentage of NET-positive cells. In vivo studies on ovalbumin-induced asthma lung sections revealed NETs and LC3B and citH3 proteins were found to co-localize with DNA. Our findings suggest that autophagy plays a crucial role in aging-related spontaneous NETosis.

Atypical luminescent compounds that do not contain conventional chromophores emit light due to clustering and have important basic research value and a broad range of potential applications. To date, most atypical luminescent compounds are small molecules or polymers containing groups such as cyano, carbonyl and hydroxyl. In this work, driven by some sporadic and accidental luminescence phenomena observed for cucurbit[n]urils (Q[n]s), the luminescent properties and mechanism of Q[n]s in the solid- and solution-state were systematically studied and the clustering emission of Q[n]s confirmed. Our experiments have revealed that the self-induced outer-surface interactions of Q[n]s (OSIQ) are the most important driving force resulting in the clustering emission of Q[n]s. Substances that can weaken the effect of self-induced OSIQ, such as the presence of various aromatic compounds and anions, may weaken or quench the clustering emission of Q[n]s. This not only reveals the new characteristics and mechanism of the clustering emission of Q[n]s, but also provides new insights on how to utilize the clustering emission of Q[n]s and construct new types of macrocyclic luminescence systems.

BACKGROUND: Robotic-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) has been widely used in the treatment of lung cancer. The perioperative outcomes of right upper lobectomy (RUL) using RATS and video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) were retrospectively investigated and compared. We aimed to summarize a single-center experience of RATS and 4-port unidirectional VATS in RUL, and to discuss the safety and the essentials of the surgery. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the 685 with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who underwent minimally invasive RUL in our center by the same surgical group from January 2015 to December 2019. Both RATS and VATS were performed with three ports with utility incision. The 685 participants were divided into RATS (335 cases) and VATS (350 cases) groups according to surgical method. Baseline characteristics and perioperative outcomes including dissected lymph nodes, postoperative duration of drainage, postoperative hospital stay, and incidence of postoperative complications were compared between the groups. RESULTS: In the 685 patients enrolled, the baseline characteristics were comparable, and no postoperative 30-day mortality or intraoperative blood transfusion were observed. Compared with VATS, RATS had less surgical duration (90.22±12.16 vs. 92.68±12.26 min, P

The external force sensing ability of the end-effector plays a significant role in restricting the refine operation of a surgical robot. This paper proposes an external force self-sensing method based on the cable-tension disturbance observer for a four-degree-of-freedom (4-DoF) surgical robot end-effector, which is actuated by three backdrivable cable-driven series elastic actuators (BCDSEAs). First, the design of the surgical robot end-effector is introduced with the experimental prototype of a 1-DoF flexible finger joint. Second, four kinds of dynamic models of the flexible finger joint are established and experimentally identified. A joint angle estimator is proposed based on a simplified dynamic model. Then, a closed-loop motion control method for the flexible finger joint is proposed. Third, a driving cable-tension estimator is constructed as the benchmark for the cable-tension disturbance observer under free motion. Meanwhile, an external force self-sensing estimator is proposed based on the motion control strategy and the cable-tension disturbance observer. Finally, the experimental results of joint tracking control present a good performance. The compensation algorithm for the external force under free motion is studied to reduce the system error. The experimental results of the external force self-sensing show an overall estimation accuracy of 85.97% with a range of 0.10–2.00 N.

N-Methylbenzimidazole-2-methanol (L) and Ln(NO3)3·6H2O are dissolved in a mixed solvent of methanol and acetonitrile and then reacted at 80 °C to obtain [Ln3(L)5(NO3)4] (Ln3, Ln = Gd, Tb). In Ln3, three L− are located in the same plane as the three Ln3+ ions, and the other two L− are located above and below the plane, respectively. Two of the four NO3− ions are respectively coordinated with two Ln3+, and the other two are coordinated with one Ln3+ ion, which results in the asymmetry of the above-described triangular shape Ln3. When the Ln3 single crystal was tested by Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry, the main frame [Ln3L5(NO3)3]+ was found to be stable, only one NO3−ion was lost. As the energy of the ion source increases, we observe the gradual fragmentation of the triangular shape Ln3, and propose that the fragmentation mechanism is: Ln3L5 → Ln3L4 → Ln2L4 → Ln2L3 → Ln2L2 → LnL. This provides the basis for the assembly of triangular shaped Ln3 clusters. For the first time, the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) of triangular Gd3 clusters was studied and it exhibited a large MCE of 10.65 J kg−1 K−1 at 7 K for ΔH = 5 T.

Xihuang pill, an approved Chinese medicine formula (state medical permit number. Z11020073), is a commonly used adjuvant drug for cancer patients in China. Xihuang pill has a satisfactory effect in treating breast cancer in clinics, especially triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which is the most aggressive type of breast cancer, and finite effective therapies. However, the mechanism of Xihuang pill in treating TNBC remains unclear. The present study aims to explore the pharmacological mechanism of Xihuang pill in treating advanced TNBC. We identified the main chemical components of Xihuang pill by using HPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) analysis shows that serum containing Xihuang pill (XS) had no obvious killing effect on any subtype of breast cancer cells, but it inhibited mammosphere colony formation of two TNBC cell lines (4T1 and HCC1806 cells) and could enhance the inhibitory effect of paclitaxel (PTX) on the proliferation of 4T1 and HCC1806 cells when combined with PTX. Seventy-six active compounds in Xihuang pill, their 300 protein targets, and 16667 TNBC stem cell–related genes were identified. The drug–herb–active compound–target gene–disease network and enrichment analyses were constructed with 190 overlapping candidate targets. Through text mining and molecular docking, the target gene NR3C2 and its active compound naringenin were selected for further validation. According to the TCGA database, we observed that a high expression of NR3C2 promoted a higher survival probability regarding overall survival (OS). In vitro experiments indicated that naringenin presented an identical effect to XS, possibly by regulating the NR3C2 expression. Overall, this study explored the effect of Xihuang pill in treating advanced TNBC cells and showed that naringenin, which is the key active compound of Xihuang pill, could lessen the stemness of TNBC cells to produce a synergistic effect on PTX by regulating the NR3C2 gene.

Purpose To construct and validate a nomogram and risk stratification model for predicting overall survival (OS) of patients with breast cancer bone metastasis (BCBM).Methods We collected data on BCBM patients between 2010 and 2015 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Patients were excluded if the data on the follow-up time or clinicopathological information were incomplete. The patients were randomly divided into the training set and validation set. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models were performed. By integrating these variables, a predictive nomogram and risk stratification model were constructed and assessed using C-indexes and calibration curves.Results Multivariate analysis showed that age, race, marital status, tumor subtype, grade, T classification, surgery, chemotherapy, brain metastasis, liver metastasis, and lung metastasis were independent prognostic indicators of BCBM. These results were reproducible when nomograms were applied to the testing cohort for external validation. The C-index of the nomogram to predict OS was 0.704, which was higher than that of the seventh edition American Joint Committee on Cancer TNM staging system (0.564; PConclusion The nomogram and risk stratification system predicting 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS for patients with newly diagnosed BCBM with satisfactory performance were constructed to help physicians in evaluating the mortality risk in patients with BCBM.

The updated Chicago Classification version 4.0 (CCv4.0) establishes a more stringent criteria to diagnose ineffective esophageal motility (IEM). This study aims to investigate the clinical significance of IEM in CCv4.0 in the context of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).A retrospective study was conducted among suspected GERD patients who had heartburn and/or regurgitation as their chief complaints and completed esophageal function tests in our center from 2017 to 2019. Patients were further grouped as "CCv3.0 IEM" and normal motility according to Chicago Classification version 3.0 (CCv3.0), and as "CCv4.0 IEM" and normal motility according to CCv4.0. The clinical characteristics, high-resolution manometry, esophageal reflux monitoring, and proton pump inhibitor (PPI) efficacy were compared between different groups. Multivariate analyses were performed to identify esophageal motility parameters associated with reflux burden and symptom outcome.Of 172 subjects included, 93 patients were identified as CCv3.0 IEM, 69 as CCv4.0 IEM. IEM in either version was concomitant with elevated acid burden and impaired esophageal clearance as compared to normal motility in corresponding diagnostic criteria, while the only presence of IEM in CCv4.0 was predictive to abnormal acid exposure (AET 6%: OR = 2.66, 95% CI [1.27-5.56], p 0.01). The presence of "CCv3.0 IEM" and low EGJ-CI (EGJ-CI 39.1 mmHg·cm) had no added value in predicting increased reflux burden. No interaction effect was found between the presence of IEM and a weakened EGJ. None of the manometric variables was capable of predicting PPI response.Stringent criteria of IEM in CCv4.0 can better predict abnormal acid exposure as compared to CCv3.0.

The antimicrobial peptide LL-37 belongs to the cathelicidin family and is one of the few human bactericidal peptides with potent antistaphylococcal activity. Staphylococcus aureus is one of the main infection bacteria in orthopedic implant therapy. Biofilm formation after bacterial infection brings more and more severe test for clinical antiinfection treatment. However, there are few studies on LL-37 in S. aureus infection of prosthesis. In this work, addition to research the antibacterial activity and the inhibitory effect on bacterial adhesion of LL-37, an in vitro model of S. aureus biofilm formation on titanium alloy surface was established to observe the inhibitory effect of LL-37. The results showed that LL-37 has a strong antibacterial effect on S. aureus in vitro, and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) is about 0.62 μΜ. Moreover, LL-37 has significant impact on the adhesion of S. aureus when the concentration ≥0.16 μM and significant anti-staphylococcal biofilm effects on static biofilm models at the concentration of 0.31 to 10 μM. Additionally, LL-37 at 5 μM had a significant destructive effect on S. aureus biofilm (P

Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) of quantum key distribution (QKD) with classical optical channels has been proven to be feasible experimentally. In this paper, we will analyze the practical security of WDM-QKD theoretically. Specifically, we first establish the noise model of classical signals. Then, the influence of classical noises on the performance of decoy-state WDM-QKD is studied with a finite-key security analysis. For numerical simulations, the effect of classical noise-reduction methods for different experimental settings is given. The secret key rate and maximum transmission distance of WDM-QKD is simulated with various sent number of quantum pulses or transmitted power of classical signals. Furthermore, the performance of two kinds of decoy-state WDM-QKD is compared, which shows that the optimal decoy-state protocol for WDM-QKD is related to the sent number of quantum pulses. Since WDM-QKD is desired to reduce the cost of QKD networks and since experiments have already been carried out, our work can not only close the gap between theory and practice, but also be used to optimize the experimental parameters and improve its performance.