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In the field of chaotic image encryption, the algorithm based on correlating key with plaintext has become a new developing direction. However, for this kind of algorithm, some shortcomings in resistance to reconstruction attack, efficient utilization of chaotic resource, and reducing dynamical degradation of digital chaos are found. In order to solve these problems and further enhance the security of encryption algorithm, based on disturbance and feedback mechanism, we present a new image encryption scheme. In the running-key generation stage, by successively disturbing chaotic stream with cipher-text, the relation of running-key to plaintext is established, reconstruction attack is avoided, effective use of chaotic resource is guaranteed, and dynamical degradation of digital chaos is minimized. In the image encryption stage, by introducing random-feedback mechanism, the difficulty of breaking this scheme is increased. Comparing with the-state-of-the-art algorithms, our scheme exhibits good properties such as large key space, long key period, and extreme sensitivity to the initial key and plaintext. Therefore, it can resist brute-force, reconstruction attack, and differential attack.

Bicycle scheduling is the essential strategy for balancing the demand for the public bicycle system (PBS). Existing literature pays more attention to bike scheduling models and their solutions, but seldom discusses the dispatch area and depot center. Reasonable dockless public bicycle dispatch area and optimal dockless bike dispatch depot location in the service area were discussed from the existing shared bicycle operation data in this paper. We proposed a feasible framework including bike trip network segmentation, mean-shift clustering based on the point position, VRP model, genetic algorithm, and TOPSIS evaluation method. The effectiveness and superiority of the division of the dispatch area are verified. The main evidence for this article is (1) although the cycling networks of bicycles are different at different times of the day, the results of community division are relatively stable and have great similarities. (2) The plan of the dispatch area has impacted on the operation efficiency of the PBS. For a scheduling area, the target value of the optimal scheduling strategy corresponding to different dispatch centers is obviously different. Therefore, the location of the dispatch center has a great impact on the quality of the scheduling strategy. The dispatch area determined by bike trip OD community detection has stable characteristics of scheduling costs. (3) This work is an attempt to combine big data and model technology to assist city management. We build a feasible framework to serve a balanced strategy for FFBS which can provide reasonable dispatch area, optimal dispatch depot location, dispatch truck's route length, load action, and time window. Our proposed framework provides new ideas for regional traffic dispatching for the traffic management department and FFBS operator, which has certain practical reference significance., Author(s): Qingfeng Zhou [1,2]; Jun Zhou [1]; Chun Janice Wong (corresponding author) [3] 1. Introduction Public bike system (PBS), also called a bicycle-sharing system (BSS), which was born in 1965 [...]

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification is a common epigenetic modification. It is reported that lncRNA can be regulated by m6A modification. Previous studies have shown that lncRNAs associated with m6A regulation (m6A-lncRNAs) serve as ideal prognostic biomarkers. However, whether lncRNAs are involved in m6A modification in colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) needs further exploration. The objective of this study was to construct an m6A-lncRNAs-based signature for patients with COAD. We obtained the RNA sequencing data and clinical information from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Pearson correlation analysis was employed to recognize lncRNAs associated with m6A regulation (m6A-lncRNAs). 24 prognostic m6A-lncRNAs was identified by univariate Cox regression analysis. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSAE) was used to investigate the potential cellular pathways and biological processes. We have also explored the relationship between immune infiltrate levels and m6A-lncRNAs. Then, a predictive signature based on the expression of 13 m6A-lncRNAs was constructed by the Lasso regression algorithm, including UBA6-AS1, AC139149.1, U91328.1, AC138207.5, AC025171.4, AC008760.1, ITGB1-DT, AP001619.1, AL391422.4, AC104532.2, ZEB1-AS1, AC156455.1, and AC104819.3. ROC curves and K M survival curves have shown that the risk score has a well-predictive ability. We also set up a quantitative nomogram on the basis of risk score and prognosis-related clinical characteristics. In summary, we have identified some m6A-lncRNAs that correlated with prognosis and tumor immune microenvironment in COAD. In addition, a potential alternative signature based on the expression of m6A-lncRNAs was provided for the management of COAD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymeric carbon nitride (PCN), as a metal-free photocatalyst, has drawn wide attention in the photocatalytic H2 evolution. However, the photocatalytic activity of directly synthesized PCN is limited by its low crystallinity. Currently, regulating the melon-based PCN into tri-s-triazine-based crystalline PCN to further optimize its structure has been proved to effectively improve its photocatalytic activity. The heptazine-based crystalline carbon nitride, potassium poly(heptazine imide) (abbreviated as K-PHI), has been used in photocatalytic H2 evolution benefiting from its high crystallinity, as the high crystallinity narrows the bandgap and increases the light capture efficiency and increases the charge mobility. Nevertheless, the effect of synthesis temperature on crystallinity has not yet been reported. In this work, the effect of temperature on the crystallinity of heptazine-based crystalline carbon nitride was studied by one-step synthesis at different temperatures. It shows that the heptazine-based crystalline structure appears when the temperature exceeds 540°C. Additionally, the crystallinity of all samples is gradually improved with increasing temperature until the sample begins to decompose beyond 630°C. The sample synthesized at 630°C demonstrates the highest photocatalytic H2 evolution rate of 1.798 mmol h−1 g−1 under visible light irradiation, which is 31.5 times that of bulk PCN. Based on systematic material characterizations, the mechanism of the effect of synthesis temperature on crystallinity and the contribution of crystallinity to photocatalytic efficiency were revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study aimed to investigate the effect of electroacupuncture pretreatment on the inflammatory response and expression levels of LC3-II/I and Beclin 1 using a model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury (ALI). Eighteen male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into three groups: normal control group (NC, n = 6), LSP modeling group (LM, n = 6), and electroacupuncture group (EA, n = 6). Rats in the EA group received electroacupuncture pretreatment at bilateral Zusanli (ST36) and Chize (LU5) points for five days (30 min each time daily, frequency; 3 Hz/15 Hz, intensity; 1 mA). Rats in the EA and LM groups were then injected with 5 mg/kg LPS (Beijing, Solarbio Company, concentration; 5 mg/mL) through the tail vein, while those in the NC group were injected with 5 mg/kg saline. The animals were sacrificed six hours after LPS or saline injection through cervical vertebrae by dislocation under deep anesthesia. Orbital blood was collected for the analysis of serum inflammatory factors including interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). The lower left lung was excised, stained with hematoxylin-eosin (HE), and subjected to histopathological analysis. The mRNA and protein expression of Beclin 1 and LC3 II/I in the lower right lung tissues were detected via RT-qPCR and Western blot analyses, respectively. The results showed that lung injury score was significantly higher in the LM group than that of the NC group (P < 0.01) and EA group (P < 0.01). The IL-1β contents were significantly decreased in the EA group (P < 0.01) than in the LM group. In contrast, the GF-β contents were increased in the EA group significantly when compared with the LM group (P < 0.01). RT-qPCR and Western blot detection showed that the relative gene expression of LC3‐II/I and Beclin 1 was significantly lower in the EA group than in the LM group (P < 0.01). However, the relative protein expression level of LC3‐II/I and Beclin 1 was slightly lower in the EA group than the in LM group (P > 0.05). These results show that electroacupuncture pretreatment reduces the inflammatory response in ALI and can protect lung tissue by inhibiting the gene and protein expression levels of LC3‐II/I and Beclin 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unconventional reservoirs such as carbonate formation develops complex and diverse storage space structures, and it is composed of large-scale cavity, dissolved vug, and fractures. The carbonate reservoir is highly heterogeneous. Acid fracturing of carbonate reservoir is completed through the complex mechanical mechanism of interaction between vug and hydraulic fracture (HF). We use the equivalent method of reducing the rock strength by acid etching and serious fluid leakoff during interaction of HF and vug to establish a finite element (FE) model of HF propagation during acid fracturing in the fractured-vuggy carbonate reservoir. The model considers the effect of serious fluid leakoff during interaction between HF and vug, mechanism of interaction between HFs and the fracture-vug system, and change in acid etching intensity. Then, we carry out numerical simulation on impacts of injection rate, fluid viscosity, leakoff behavior in fractures and vugs, and natural fracture (NF) approaching angle on HF propagation in acid fracturing and compare the characteristics of injection pressure, fracture pressure, and HF size. It is suggested that the acid fracturing treatment should be operated by increasing the acid solution viscosity to reduce fluid leakoff, injecting fracturing fluid and acid fluid alternatively, increasing injection rate, and injecting fibers and ceramics when small pressure drop occurs during the HF interacts with the fracture-vug. When a large pressure drop occurs, it is suggested that the middle-low viscosity acid be injected at a low rate to etch the carbonate rock and enhance the fracture conductivity. HF propagates under higher pressure when the NF approaching angle is smaller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of the market economy, location information services have shifted from outdoor to indoor, requiring higher system accuracy. Indoor positioning and control is an indispensable technical support for mobile home service robots to perform system tasks, and this technology is also an important parameter that marks the level of intelligence of a home service robot. However, in indoor places, how to obtain the target node location information timely and accurately and how to control and path planning should be the first issues to be considered in the design of home robots at this stage. This article gave a brief overview of the current indoor positioning technology and control, analyzed the more widely and frequently used indoor positioning methods, and deeply studied the ultrasonic positioning technology. On this basis, a mobile home service robot system was designed, and simulation experiments were carried out, respectively, to test the receiving time and arrival time of the node signal, the node positioning accuracy, the optimal degree of route planning, and the absolute and relative errors of navigation and path estimation. The experimental results showed that the accuracy of the robot system positioning proposed in this article reached more than 80%, and the relative error was only 4.21%, which verified its feasibility and effectiveness in practical applications. Popularizing it in the market can effectively improve the system performance and intelligence of home service robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The aim of the study is to explore the relationship between lymphatic metastasis genes, prognosis, and immune cell infiltration in patients with colon cancer. Methods. Based on the Cancer Genome Atlas Program (TCGA) database, differentially expressed genes and prognostic genes related to colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) lymphatic metastasis were screened and intersected. We used lasso and univariate Cox regression analysis to screen core genes and establish a preliminary prediction model. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis was used for lymphatic metastasis-related genes, and single GSEA was used for the final screening results. Finally, we evaluated the relationship between identified genes and immune cell infiltration. Results. A total of 1727 genes were differentially expressed between COAD patients with TNM stages of N0 and N1. After further screening, six core genes (RNU4-2, ZNF556, RNVU1-15, NSA2P6, RN7SL767P, and RN7SL473P) were obtained, and a preliminary prediction model was established, in which ZNF556 was a risk factor, and the rest were protective factors. Single GSEA showed that pathways such as systemic lupus erythematosus might play an important role in the initial lymphatic metastasis of COAD. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis of 1727 genes supported this result. Immune infiltration analysis showed that six genes were significantly correlated with T cell and NK cell families. Conclusion. Six core genes may affect COAD initial lymphatic metastasis through the systemic lupus erythematosus pathway and immune cell infiltration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NOSH-Aspirin, which is generated from NO, H2S, and aspirin, affects a variety of essential pathophysiological processes, including anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic, antiplatelet, and anticancer properties. Although many people acknowledge the biological significance of NOSH-Aspirin and its therapeutic effects, the mechanism of action of NOSH-Aspirin and its regulation of tissue levels remains obscure. This is in part due to its chemical and physical features, which make processing and analysis difficult. This review focuses on the biological effects of NOSH-Aspirin and provides a comprehensive analysis to elucidate the mechanism underlying its disease-protective benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Prostate enlargement (PE) is an increase in prostate volume in morphology. PE was also observed in some patients aged <40 with chronic prostatitis. This study aimed to explore the associated factors for PE in Chinese adult men aged <40.Methods: The medical records of 1851 consecutive Chinese adult men aged <40 in a single center were retrospectively analyzed. The checkup indicator characteristics between the PE and non-PE groups were compared by univariate analysis, and the associated factors were analyzed by multivariate analysis.Results: The overall prevalence of PE (defined as prostate volume ≥ 20 ml) in adult men aged < 40 was 10.4%. Age and the proportions of subjects with prostate calcification or hypertension were different between the PE and non-PE groups (P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic analysis showed that prostate calcification (odds ratio [OR], 1.831; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.281-2.619; P=0.001), hypertension (OR, 1.528; 95% CI, 1.125-2.076; P=0.007), and age (OR, 1.117; 95% CI, 1.078-1.159; P < 0.001) were associated factors for PE in adult men aged <40.Conclusions: The prevalence of PE in Chinese adult check-up men aged <40 was not rare. In addition to age, prostate calcification and hypertension were associated factors for PE in Chinese adult men aged <40. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Early and rapid diagnosis is crucial in HIV preventing and treatment. However, the false-positive rate (FPR) by 4-th generation detection assays was high in low-HIV-prevalence regions.Objectives: To analyze the relation between sample-to-cutoff index (COI) and HIV confirmatory results, and to explore a new COI threshold in our own laboratory to predict HIV infection.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed primarily reactive results by Elecsys® HIV combi PT assays and their confirmatory results by western blot (WB) at Nanjing Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The mean COI values of true positive (TP), false positive (FP), and indeterminate groups were compared, and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was performed to determine the optimal COI value for predicting HIV infection.Results: Totally 150,980 HIV serological results were reviewed, and 305 (0.2%) were primarily reactive. There are 82 (26.89%) true positives, 210 (71.92%) false positives, and 11 indeterminate samples confirmed by WB tests, and another 2 patients rejected WB tests. Mean COI values of TP (643.5) were greatly higher than that of FP (3.174) (P < 0.0001), but there is no significant difference between FP and indeterminate groups. Combining the requirement of HIV diagnosis and ROC analysis, 9.87 was established as the optimal threshold to predict the infection, with 100% sensitivity and 99.99% specificity.Conclusions: By adjusting the COI threshold, the FP samples can be reduced and the efficiency of screening assays can be increased, which can save much additional reagent and staff costs and much time for delivery of HIV test results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of robots reduces repetitive and dangerous tasks for humans, especially the spraying robot, because many spraying materials are corrosive, toxic, and harmful. This paper designs the motion trajectory planning of the material spraying service robot. With the increasing demand for technology, there are strict requirements for the uniformity and thickness of spraying. In view of this, this paper proposes an algorithm for modeling kinematics using a joint screw and optimizes the modeling algorithm using particle swarm optimization. This makes the industrial spraying robot more intelligent and more capable of completing high-standard tasks. The experimental results in this paper show that when the spraying radii on the large-curvature cone surface are 44.5 and 49.5 mm, respectively, the coating distribution in the intersection area of the curved surfaces can be well controlled, and the optimized algorithm can better plan the path of the spraying robot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automated guided vehicle technology has become a hot area of scientific research due to its increasing use in manufacturing and logistics. Its main features are programming and control, remote computer eye tracking, command receiving and execution, autonomous route planning, and autonomous driving execution of tasks, with the advantages of high intelligence and flexibility. In this work, a simple vehicle model is used to study the route planning and tracking control of automatic guided vehicles. This paper uses wireless communication to find the optimal route planning problem. Using geometric methods, we develop a model of the working environment of the mobile automatic guided vehicle and develop a route finding algorithm. Based on the kinematic model, an advanced routing controller is designed to conduct experimental simulation of two trajectories and verify the effectiveness of the trajectory tracking controller. When the time is after 2 s, the position error is almost completely zero. In the path planning, when the number of iterations is greater than 10, the path length remains constant, verifying the effectiveness of the method in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bridging plugging is the most used method of plugging in unconventional oil reservoirs, and many factors affect the effect of bridging and plugging. Since the laboratory cannot simulate the actual leakage size of the lost formation and the corresponding leakage plugging process at the drilling site, the laboratory experiment results cannot reflect the actual leakage plugging construction effect. Aiming at the problem of frequent fracture leakage during drilling in Chepaizi block, Xinjiang, China, this paper proposes a set of machine learning methods based on a neural network. Three types of factors and 14 parameters with a strong correlation with the leakage control effect were screened out. Three categories of factors include construction parameters, choice of plugging material, and fluid properties of the carrier fluid. The training was carried out based on the collected field data, the appropriate activation function was set, and the deep well network structure was optimized. By improving the field plugging measures in the later period, the model was verified by these actual cases, and the results showed that the established model produced the highest R 2 of 0.974, has a good fit, and predicts well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The equity of CE is an important issue in the whole educational cause. Its level has a significant impact on China's overall quality and economic and social progress. The BDCE is the basic realization of educational equity in China. It also promotes the sustained and healthy growth of economy and society and provides a strong guarantee for building a well-off society in an all-round way. In this paper, the PageRank algorithm of deep learning is used to collect data related to rural education and deeply analyze the problems existing in rural education, providing data support for the development of rural education. Firstly, this paper introduces the BDCE, expounds the problems and reasons in the progress of rural education, and studies the application of data analysis. Then, this paper uses the method of questionnaire to investigate and analyze the difficult problems and current situation of rural education. Finally, the result is that the quality balance of students needs to be further improved. Although the resources of rural education are unbalanced, more than 70% of teachers have bachelor's degree or above, and there is no significant difference among schools. It can be seen that highly educated teachers have become the norm in the stage of CE. Teachers are generally satisfied and recognized with the teaching process. In rural school education, the degree of dissatisfaction with the school curriculum and course selection system is greater than the degree of satisfaction. This shows that there is a lack of diverse and rich teaching courses in rural CE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing number of tunnels in high-latitude and high-altitude areas, freezing damage is all the more obvious. In traditional insulation layer method, insulation layer is laid in the tunnel to prevent invasion of cold air by taking advantage of its low thermal conductivity. However, due to its narrow temperature adaptation range and high construction and maintenance costs, this method cannot completely solve the problem of tunnel freezing damage. To solve this problem, this paper proposes tunnel air curtain insulation system which can generate electricity using solar energy. Based on parameters such as indoor air temperature and wind velocity in the thermal insulation room, on the one hand, it intelligently controls running sets of air curtain, jet flow angle, and velocity, prevents invasion of the external cold temperature into the tunnel, so that the tunnel maintains an interior temperature above 0°C. On the other hand, it intelligently diagnoses air curtain machine to provide system fault warning, so that the system keeps safe and reliable operation. The results show that air curtain technology can effectively solve the problem of tunnel freezing damage in cold areas; multiple air curtains in series connection provide better barrier efficiency. From the measured data and calculation results of Lafashan tunnel, it can be seen that an air curtain is installed at the tunnel portal with jet speed of 22.7 m/s and temperature of 35.24°C, which can meet the tunnel without freezing damage when the external temperature is −10°C, and the external wind speed is 2 m/s, providing a new method for tunnel insulation technology in cold area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine organisms are important foods for humans. Marine organisms contain large amounts of high‐quality proteins. Biologically functional peptides have great potential for use as functional foods and drugs, in which they can be extracted from marine organisms. Biologically functional peptides with anticancer, anticoagulant, antidiabetic, antihypertensive, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and cholesterol‐lowering activities have been described. It is very difficult to screen, extract, and purify biologically active substances from marine organisms, particularly using traditional chemical methods. Here, recent advances in extracting peptides from marine organisms are reviewed and the biological activities of various marine organism peptides are summarized. Practical applications: Marine organisms are important foods for humans. Biologically functional peptides have great potential for use as functional foods and drugs, which can be extracted from marine organisms. Here, it is very important for the extraction and purification of marine peptides and the biological activities of various marine organism peptides are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. This study aimed to assess whether the third-generation PVAS was superior to percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) or percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) in treating patients with OVCFs. Methods. Databases, including Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane library, were searched to identify relevant interventional and observational articles in vivo or in vitro comparing the third-generation PVAS to PVP/PKP in OVCFs patients. A meta-analysis was performed under the guidelines of the Cochrane Reviewer's Handbook. Results. 11 in vivo articles involving 1035 patients with 1320 segments of diseased vertebral bodies and 8 in vitro studies enrolling 40 specimens with 202 vertebral bodies were identified. The vivo studies indicated no significant differences were found in visual analog scale (VAS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), operation time, or injected cement volume (P > 0.05). The third-generation PVAS was associated with significant improvement in vertebral height and Cobb angle (P < 0.05) and also with a significantly lower risk of cement leakages and new fractures (P < 0.05). The vitro studies suggest that the third-generation PVAS was associated with better anterior vertebral height (AVH) and kyphotic angle (KA) after deflation and cement. No significant differences were found in stiffness or failure load after cement between the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion. Based on current evidence, although providing similar improvement in VAS and ODI, the third-generation PVAS may be superior to PVP/PKP in local kyphosis correction, vertebral height maintenance, and adverse events reduction. Further high-quality randomized studies are required to confirm these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problems that the traditional remote sensing image classification methods cannot effectively integrate a variety of deep learning features and poor classification performance, a land resource use classification method based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) in ecological remote sensing images is proposed. In this study, a seven-layer convolution neural network is constructed, and then the two fully connected layer features of the improved CNN network training output are fused with the fifth layer pooled layer features after dimensionality reduction by principal component analysis (PCA), so as to obtain an effective remote sensing image feature of land resources based on deep learning. Further, the classification of land resources remote sensing images is completed based on a support vector machine classifier. The remote sensing images of Pingshuo mining area in Shanxi Province are used to analyze the proposed method. The results show that the edge of the recognized image is clear, the classification accuracy, misclassification rate, and kappa coefficient are 0.9472, 0.0528, and 0.9435, respectively, and the model has excellent overall performance and good classification effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Infective endocarditis (IE) has a high rate of mortality and the prognosis of IE was poor. The purpose of this investigation was to explore the value of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)/lymphocyte and compare it with LDH/lymphocyte percentage (L-LWR) in predicting the in-hospital mortality in IE patients. Methods. The investigation cohort contained 147 IE patients between January 2017 and December 2019. We retrospectively went over the medical records and selected admission indexes. Results. Compared with IE patients with adverse events, significantly higher levels of LDH/lymphocyte and significantly lower levels of L-LWR were discovered in IE patients without adverse events. After adjustments, L-LWR (odds ratio (OR): 4.558, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.362-15.256, P = 0.014) still maintained its significant independence. In addition, L-LWR had the highest area under curve (AUC) (0.780, 0.704-0.844, P < 0.001) with good sensitivity (81.89%) and specificity (65.00%) when 34 was selected as the best cutoff value. Conclusions. L-LWR is a reliable, low-priced, easily applicable, and independent prognostic parameter for in-hospital death with good performance in patients with IE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Watershed algorithm is widely used in image segmentation, but it has oversegmentation in image segmentation. Therefore, an image segmentation algorithm based on K-means and improved watershed algorithm is proposed. Firstly, Gaussian filter is used to denoise human skeleton image. K-means clustering algorithm is used to segment the denoised image and the connected component with the largest area is extracted as the initial human skeleton region. The initial bone region was morphologically opened and then morphologically closed to eliminate the noise. Morphologically open operation is used to disconnect other human tissues that adhere to the human bone region and eliminate the background noise with small area, while closed operation smoothes the edge of the human bone region and fills the fracture in the contour line. Secondly, the watershed segmentation algorithm is implemented on the image after morphological operation. The similarity degree of two blocks is defined according to the mean difference of gray level of adjacent blocks and the mean value of standard deviation of gray level of pixels in the edge of the block 4-neighborhood. The adaptive threshold T is generated by Otsu method for histogram of gradient amplitude image. If the similarity degree is greater than T, the image blocks will be merged; otherwise, the image blocks will not be merged. The proposed image segmentation algorithm is used to extract and segment the human bone region from 100 medical images containing human bone. The number of blocks segmented by watershed algorithm is 2775 to 3357, but the number of blocks segmented by the proposed algorithm is 221 to 559. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm effectively solves the oversegmentation problem of watershed algorithm and effectively segments the image target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. This study sought to explore the association between quantitative classification of renal surface nodularity (qRSN) based on computed tomography (CT) imaging and early renal injury (ERI) in patients with arterial hypertension. Methods. A total of 143 patients with a history of hypertension were retrospectively enrolled; clinical information (age, sex, hypertension grade, and hypertension course), laboratory tests, and qRSN were collected or assessed. The subjects were divided into an ERI group (n = 60) or a control group (CP, n = 83) according to ERI diagnosis based on the following criteria: cystatin C > 1.02 mg/L. Univariate analysis and multiple logistic regression were used to assess the association between ERI and qRSN. A receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was performed to compare multiple logistic regression models with or without qRSN for differentiating the ERI group from the control group. Results. In univariate analysis, hypertension grade, hypertension course, triglycerides (TG), and qRSN were related to ERI in patients with arterial hypertension (all P < 0.1), with strong interrater agreement of qRSN. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed an area under the ROC curve of 0.697 in the model without qRSN and 0.790 in the model with qRSN, which was significantly different (Z = 2.314, P = 0.021). Conclusion. CT imaging-based qRSN was associated with ERI in patients with arterial hypertension and may be an imaging biomarker of early renal injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prognosis of Infective endocarditis (IE) is poor, and we conducted this investigation to evaluate the worth of admission lymphocyte-to-white blood cell ratio (LWR) for prediction of short-term outcome in IE patients.Methods: We retrospectively assessed the medical records of 147 IE patients from January 2017 to December 2019. Patients were divided into the survivor group and nonsurvivor group. Univariate and multivariate analyses were applied to estimate the independent factors contribution to in-hospital death, and receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curve was utilized to check the performance.Results: The levels of LWR (0.17 ± 0.08 vs. 0.10 ± 0.06) were significantly increased among the survivor group compared with the nonsurvivor group (P = 0.001). Multivariate analysis displayed that LWR (hazard ratio (HR): 1.755, 1.304-2.362, P < 0.001) was not interfered by other confounding factors for early death. Moreover, ROC analysis suggested that LWR (cutoff value = 0.10) performed the best among assessed indexes for the forecast of primary outcome (area under curve (AUC) = 0.750, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.634-0.867, P < 0.001, sensitivity = 70.0%, specificity = 76.4%), and the proportion of in-hospital mortality was remarkably inferior in patients with LWR > 0.10 than in those with LWR ≤ 0.10. (5.83% vs. 31.8%, P < 0.001).Conclusions: LMR is an independent, simple, universal, inexpensive, and reliable prognostic parameter to identify high-risk IE patients for in-hospital mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the broken energy change and the specimen fragment influence of granite where the length-to-diameter ratio is 0.5–2, the SHPB device was used to perform dynamic loading on the granite specimens. The rock energy evolution law was analyzed by the energy time history curve, and according to rock fragment characteristics, the rock fractal dimension was calculated. The experimental results show that the rock energy-time history curve can be divided into four stages. The incident energy is independent of the length-to-diameter ratio of the rock specimens. When the length-to-diameter ratio of the rock specimens is 0.5–0.9, the difference of incident energy, transmitted energy, and reflection energy of rock specimens is small. With the length-to-diameter ratio increasing, the rock fragment size became larger. These rock fragments have good self-similarity. The rock specimen fractal dimension is at least 1.94, and the maximum D is 2.536. And with the length-to-diameter ratios increasing, the fractal dimension of rock specimens decreases. With the specimen fractal dimension increasing, the energy dissipation density of rock specimens also increases. The higher the energy dissipation density of a rock specimen, the more uniform rock fragments are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electroacupuncture (EA) has been clinically used in knee osteoarthritis broadly and proved to be effective than other therapies with fewer side effects; however, the mechanism of electroacupuncture to work on cartilage remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of EA treatment on cartilage and the relationship between EA and proteins such as HIF-a and SOX9. EA (dilatational wave, 3–15 HZ, 1 mA) has been applied to bilateral Zusanli (ST36), Xuehai (SP10), Taixi (KI3), and Yanglingquan (GB34) of rats. Results showed that the cartilage of the knee osteoarthritis group had obvious damage and fissure formation while the EA group showed that the cartilage destruction was generally milder. In addition, the protein expression levels of HIF-1α, and chondrogenic markers such as Sox9, and ACAN in the electroacupuncture group were higher than those in the ACLT group. Also, the extracellular matrix protein expression levels of MMP13 and ADAMTS5 were decreased in the EA group. These findings indicate that EA could alleviate the severity of knee osteoarthritis, and HIF-a and SOX9 may closely attribute to the treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advancement of digital manufacturing technology, data-driven quality management is getting more and more attention, and it is developing rapidly under the impetus of technology and management. Quality data are growing exponentially with the help of increasingly interconnected devices and IoT (Internet of Things technologies). Aiming at the problems of insufficient quality data acquisition and poor data quality of complex equipment, the research on quality data integration and cleaning based on digital total quality management is carried out. The data integration architecture of complex equipment quality based on multiterminal collaboration is constructed. The architecture integrates a variety of integration methods and standards, such as XML, OPC-UA, and QIF protocol. Then, to unify the data view, a cleaning method of complex equipment quality data based on the combination of edit distance and longest common subsequence similarity calculation is proposed, and its effectiveness is verified. It provides the basis for the design of the digital total quality management system of complex equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective. Selenoprotein P (SEPP1) is the major selenoprotein in plasma. Previous studies have demonstrated that SEPP1 expression was reduced in human prostate and colon tumors. Nowadays, studies concerning SEPP1 gene polymorphisms and cancer susceptibility have been extensively investigated, whereas results from these studies remain debatable rather than conclusive. Thus, we performed the present meta-analysis to comprehensively assess the association between two common polymorphisms (rs3877899 and rs7579) in SEPP1 and cancer susceptibility. Method. We search the PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar, and Wanfang (China) databases (up to December 1, 2020) to identify all eligible publications. The pooled odds ratio (OR) correspondence with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to evaluate the associations. Results. Finally, nine eligible studies with 7,157 cases and 6,440 controls and five studies with 2,278 cases and 2,821 controls were enrolled in rs3877899 and rs7579 polymorphisms, individually. However, a null significant association was detected between the two polymorphisms in SEPP1 and susceptibility to colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer in all comparison models. Subsequently, subgroup analysis based on tumor type, no significant association was identified for prostate, breast, and colorectal cancer. In addition, when the stratification analyses were conducted by the source of control, HWE status, and ethnicity, yet no significant association was found. Conclusions. The current meta-analysis shows that SEPP1 rs3877899 and rs7579 polymorphisms may not be associated with susceptibility to colon cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer, and further well-designed studies with a larger sample size are warranted to validate our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the mechanical properties of the reservoir rock under different temperatures after rapid thermal cooling is necessary for safe and effective deep geoengineering applications, including deep mining projects, deep geological disposal of nuclear waste, and geothermal energy extraction. This paper is devoted to investigating the effect of rapid cooling on the mechanical behavior of the granite rock. At first, high-temperature heating was conducted. The 24 samples were divided into six groups and were heated at 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600°C, and once they had reached the chosen temperature, they were immediately cooled with a cold water container, and the temperature of water in the pan was 25°C. After the thermal treatment, the samples were measured using ultrasonic wave velocities, and then they were deformed under uniaxial and triaxial compression tests. The P -wave velocity, damage characteristics, stress-strain curves, compressive strength, and Young's modulus of the samples were presented considering different thermal temperatures. The results confirmed that the P -wave velocities of the samples generally decrease with temperature. P-wave velocity can indirectly reflect the damage of the rock structure. These changes represent a negative exponential relationship between P -wave velocity and hold temperature following cooling. As the samples experienced greater temperatures, the peak strength and elastic characteristics also significantly reduced. This is mainly due to thermally induced damage in the form of both intergranular and intragranular cracks. The stress-strain response revealed that the failure mode can change from brittle to quasi-brittle fracturing following treatment at increasingly greater temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitin deacetylases (CDAs) are essential enzymes during moulting and play vital roles in the formation and modification of chitin. Five chitin deacetylase genes were first identified and characterized in the Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis. The spatiotemporal expression profiles of the identified CDAs (EsCDAs) have been investigated to reveal their critical functions in moulting of the Chinese mitten crab. Phylogenetic and structural analysis showed that EsCDAs were divided into four of five groups based on sequence similarity and the multiple groups with diverse domain architectures suggested that there were distinctive biological functions among multi‐gene family of EsCDAs. Each group contained one or more EsCDAs, except group V, and showed different expression patterns in different tissues and developmental stages. EsCDAs were widely distributed in exoskeleton, digestive organs as well as genital organs, and expressed from eggs to juvenile, especially highly in juvenile stage. During the moulting cycle, the expressions of EsCDAs were up‐regulated periodically in the post‐moult stage and enhanced by eyestalk resection, which indicate that EsCDAs play an important role in the formation and modification of chitin. Our present study provides fundamental information about crustaceans in terms of chitin deacetylases involved in the chitin metabolic pathway during moulting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the size effect of rock under quasistatic and dynamic conditions, the changes in compressive strength with the change in specimen size are measured. Cylindrical granite specimens with length-diameter ratios in the range of 0.5∼1 are used for uniaxial compression tests using an RMT testing machine and an SPHB impact testing machine. Under quasistatic loading, the failure modes of the specimens with different length-diameter ratios are different. The larger the size of the specimen structure is, the greater the probability of defects such as joints and micro cracks is and the smaller the influence of the specimen on the distribution of a three-dimensional stress state is. The rock strength decreases with increasing length-diameter ratio. Using the improved Weibull formula, the size of the specimen is expressed by the volume, and the calculated rock strength of different volumes is similar to the compressive strength from the quasistatic tests. Under dynamic loading, the dynamic compressive strengths of the specimens with different length-diameter ratios are similar, and the failure mode of the specimens is different from that under quasistatic loading. Soon after a crack appears in a specimen, the specimen splits. As the size of the specimens decreases, the fragments size to approach the millimeter scale. By improving the Weibull distribution formula and considering variation in strain rate caused by the size of the specimen, the dynamic compressive strength of rocks of different volumes is calculated by introducing the critical strain rate and related parameters, and the results are similar to the experimental dynamic compressive strength obtained. The improved Weibull formula based on the strength size effect can accurately describe the quasistatic and dynamic compressive strength laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the high intensity areas, the application of interlayer spacing technology can achieve the unity of quality and seismic performance of high-rise buildings with enlarged base and multiple tower layers. Through the comparison and analysis of the structural schemes of an enlarged base multiple tower-layer high-rise building, the ultimate seismic isolation scheme was adopted, and its seismic response and seismic performance were analyzed and studied. The results show that the overall seismic isolation effect of the story isolation technique is good, which can greatly reduce the seismic response, and is an effective means to improve the seismic safety of the structure. Considering the structural characteristics of the project, the improvement of the economy and the quality of the building, the use of story isolation technique in the enlarged base multiple tower-layer structure in the high-intensity region is an optimal scheme. Finally, several key technical issues such as the combined seismic isolation scheme of the enlarged base story isolation technique and the additional bending moment of the isolator and the tensile device of the isolator were discussed, which can provide some references for similar engineering practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The relationship between ferritin levels and survival in adult hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) has been evaluated in previous studies. However, Admission‐to‐discharge percentage ferritin reduction (named as ferritin index) level in adult patients with HLH has never been evaluated to predict 6‐month survival. Methods: The demographic, laboratory and clinical information of 102 newly diagnosed adult HLH patients were collected. Regression analysis, receiver operating curve and Kaplan‐Meier curves were analysed to explore the performance of ferritin levels. Results: Ferritin index and discharge ferritin level were significantly different between survivour and non‐survivour group (all P <.001). Ferritin index had the highest area under the curve (AUC) for predicting the survival (AUC = 0.802, P <.001) followed by discharge ferritin (AUC = 0.746, P <.001). Kaplan‐Meier analysis showed a significant difference in survival according to optimum cutoff values of ferritin index ≥ 10.19% (P <.001) or discharge ferritin ≤ 1056.1 μg/L (P <.001). Multivariate analysis confirmed that ferritin index and discharge ferritin are independent predictors of 6‐month survival (ferritin index: odds ratio (HR) 6.237, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.075‐18.774, P =.001; discharge ferritin: HR 6.024, 95% CI 1.894‐19.231, P =.002). In addition, the combination of a ferritin index ≥ 10.19% and discharge ferritin ≤ 1056.1 μg/L had a significantly higher 6‐month survival (P <.001). Conclusion: Ferritin index is a better predictor of 6‐month survival than admission and discharges ferritin levels in adult patients with HLH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to investigate the dynamic mechanical properties of the fractured rocks reinforced with different slurries, the prefractured and grouted sandy mudstone specimens were tested on a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB), and their dynamic failure processes were shot via a high-speed camera. The test results showed that under dynamic loading, grouting reinforcement can relieve the rock failure at the fracture part. With the increase of the impact speed, the dynamic specific strength of the modified epoxy resin grouting increases from 0.85 to 1.01, and its specific strain rate increases from 1.09 to 1.04; the dynamic specific strength and specific strain rate of cement slurry grouting increase from 1.78 to 0.95 and from 0.60 to 0.98, respectively. As a whole, the specimen reaches or approaches the dynamic parameters of the intact rock specimen after grouting repair, the stability of the rock reinforced by modified epoxy resin grouting is superior to that of the rock reinforced by cement slurry grouting, and the latter can acquire high dynamic strength under low-speed impact. The improved damage-type Zhuwangtang (ZWT) model can be used to describe the dynamic mechanical behaviors of the fractured rocks reinforced by grouting very well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Fitting and forecasting of power load are difficult problems involving multiple aspects and factors about sources, grids and loads in power systems. Due to their key roles in power generation planning and distributing, fitting and forecasting are the essential topics in electrical engineering. In this study, fractal concepts and theories are reviewed briefly around fractal interpolation for function fitting; then fractal characteristics of power load are discussed, based on which their fitting and forecasting are improved. More precisely, a fractal interpolation approach with modified vertical scaling factors is developed for power load fitting that can accommodate for more time‐varying details. Also, short‐term power load forecasting under composite modified fractal interpolation with more parametric degrees of freedom for optimization are suggested and validated, whose performance and efficiency are compared with respect to some existing methods via numerical examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To deeply analyze the failure evolution of surrounding rock during excavation-induced unloading of the high-stress rock mass, a multistage failure model was established based on revealed failure patterns. The critical conditions for wing cracks were determined. The slab crack buckling analysis was carried out. The true-triaxial rockburst testing system was used for the miniature model test to study the fracturing evolution of surrounding rocks during excavation-induced unloading of the high-stress rock mass. The research results indicated that harder rock samples had higher compressive strength. Moreover, the smaller peak strains implied more obvious yield/plastic stages of harder rock samples with high confining pressures and softer rock samples with low confining pressures. V-shaped grooves appeared at the beginning of the surrounding rock's failure while spalling and splitting occurred as the stress increased. Finally, the entire sample's overall splitting failure was observed, and the borehole bottom bulged upward. The harder rock masses had fewer fractures and higher degrees of failure. There were obvious V-shaped grooves on both sides of the marble cave wall. The tensile failure occurred near the opening surface and shear failure at a far distance. The sandstone's overall failure was related to tensile cracking, and splitting failure occurred far away from the opening surface, which was similar to the in situ failure of surrounding rocks during excavation-induced unloading of the high-stress rock mass. The results obtained are instrumental in the construction safety control and prevention of underground engineering disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study the creep behavior of deep soft rock, gritstone was chosen as the research subject, and a rock triaxial rheometer (Rock 600-50) and acoustic emission (AE) system (SH-II) were used to carry out the grade unloading confining pressure creep test under a high-stress level. The test results showed that the lateral creep behavior of the gritstone was more prominent than the axial creep under the initial high confining pressure. Under the same confining pressure, the creep strain rate (the direction the same as strain) of the gritstone decreases with the increase in axial pressure. As shown by the AE count, AE signals were generated throughout the entire test process, indicating that the creep was a "microdynamic" process. The creep behavior was characterized by a significant confining pressure effect. As the confining pressure was decreased, the degree of creep increases significantly. During the test, the AE energy increased on the whole but decreases during the creep phase. During the entire test process, the overall energy in the constant deviatoric stress grade unloading of the confining pressure was 45% higher than that in the constant axial pressure grade unloading. The degree of failure of the rock was different in these two unloading creep tests, and the constant axial pressure grade unloading of the confining pressure entails greater damage than the constant deviatoric stress grade unloading of the confining pressure. The main reason was that the former had a lower confining pressure level and longer creep process than the latter, and the sample was mainly characterized by creep damage and large cumulative damage, while the latter features mainly unloading damage. Through the inversion of the Burgers constitutive model and nonlinear damage constitutive model for the creep test curve, the nonlinear constitutive equation can better fit the accelerated creep stage, which suggested that this model can describe the accelerated creep characteristics of the high-stress soft rock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A computer vision system for the estimation of apple volume and weight by using 3D reconstruction and noncontact measuring methods was investigated. The 3D surface of the apples could be reconstructed by using a single multispectral camera and near-infrared linear-array structured light. Both the traditional image feature and height information were extracted from the height maps. Two different type height features (Type I and II) were extracted, and both of them were fused with a projection area to form combination features (Combination Feature I and II). Partial least squares analysis and least squares-support vector machine were implemented for calibration models with projection area and combination features as inputs. Grid-Search Technique and Leave-One-Out Cross-Validation were also investigated to find out the optimal parameter values of the RBF kernel. The optimal LS-SVM models with Combination Feature II outperformed PLS models. The coefficient and root mean square error of prediction for the best prediction by LS-SVM were 0.9032 and 10.1155 for volume, whereas 0.8602 and 9.9556 for weight, respectively. The overall results indicated that height information can improve the prediction performance, and the proposed system could be applied as an alternative to the traditional methods for noncontract measurement of the volume and weight of apple fruits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the trajectory specialty of hypersonic boost-glide vehicles, a strapdown inertial navigation system/BeiDou navigation satellite system (SINS/BDS) algorithm based on the launch-centered inertial (LCI) frame for hypersonic vehicles is proposed. First, the related frame system, especially the launch earth-centered inertial (LECI) frame, and the SINS mechanization in the LCI frame are introduced. Second, SINS discrete updating algorithms in the LCI frame for the compensation of coning, sculling, and scrolling effects are deduced in the attitude, velocity, and position updating algorithms, respectively. Subsequently, the Kalman filter of the SINS/BDS integrated navigation in the LCI frame is obtained. The method of converting BDS receiver position and velocity from the Earth-centered Earth-fixed (ECEF) frame to the LCI frame is deduced through the LECI frame. Finally, taking the typical hypersonic boost-glide vehicles as the object, the SINS/BDS algorithm vehicle field test and hardware-in-the-loop simulation are performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. COVID-19 first broke out in China and spread rapidly over the world. Objectives. To describe the CT features of COVID-19 pneumonia and to share our experience at initial diagnoses. Patients and Methods. Data from 53 patients (31 men, 22 women; mean age, 53 years; age range, 16-83 years) with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia were collected. Their complete clinical data was reviewed, and their CT features were recorded and analyzed. Results. The average time between onset of illness and the initial CT scan was six days (range, 1-42 days). A total of 399 segments were involved and distributed bilaterally (left lung: 186 segments [46.6%], right lung: 213 segments [53.4%]) and peripherally (38 [71.7%] patients). Multiple lobes (45 [84.9%]) and bilateral lower lobes (left lower lobe: 104 [26.1%], right lower lobe: 107 [26.8%], and total: 211 [52.9%]) were the most commonly involved. Ground-glass opacity with consolidation (24 [45.3%]) and pure ground-glass opacity (28 [52.8%]) were the main findings. The other findings were crazy-paving (14 [26.4%]), bronchiectasis (12 [22.6%]), atelectasis (7 [13.2%]), parenchymal bands (6 [11.3%]), air bronchogram (6 [11.3%]), interlobular thickening (5 [9.4%]), reticular pattern (1 [1.9%]), and pleural effusion (1 [1.9%]). Conclusions. Most COVID-19 pneumonia patients had abnormalities on chest CT images at initial presentation. Imaging features combined with patient's exposure history and onset symptoms could facilitate the identification of the suspected patient for further examinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) and its predecessor products, choline, L-carnitine, and betaine, were reported to be associated with cardiovascular events risk. However, the association of TMAO and its predecessors with extent of artery stenosis in coronary artery disease (CAD) and in different gender is still unknown. Our aim is to investigate the association of plasma TMAO and its predecessors in CAD and extent of artery lesion in different gender. Methods. 94 CAD patients and 75 healthy controls (CON) were enrolled. Fasting plasma TMAO, choline, L-carnitine, and betaine were detected using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Results. Elevated plasma TMAO but not choline, L-carnitine, or betaine was observed in CAD (1.46(0.8–2.32) μM) and severe artery stenosis patients (S) (1.62(0.91–2.81) μM) compared with controls and mild artery stenosis (M) (1.18(0.67–1.7) μM in CON; 1.27(0.77–1.82) μM in M, p < 0.05). TMAO was an independent risk factor of CAD and severe artery stenosis (CAD : OR = 1.81, 95%CI: 1.07–3.09, p = 0.03 ; S : OR = 1.36, 95%CI: 1.01–1.84, p = 0.04). TMAO was more sensitive in diagnosing CAD and severe artery stenosis from controls in men rather than in women by ROC analysis (AUC for men and women in CAD: 0.64 versus 0.57; AUC for men and women in S: 0.64 versus 0.58), while the combined four metabolites greatly improved diagnostic accuracy in women with CAD and severe artery stenosis (AUC in CAD: 0.64, AUC in S: 0.68). Conclusion. The associations of TMAO with CAD and severe artery stenosis were sex-related. TMAO alone was more powerful in determining CAD and artery stenosis in men than women, while a combination of TMAO, choline, L-carnitine, and betaine could be potential biomarkers for diagnosing CAD and artery stenosis in both men and women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Postcholecystectomy syndrome (PCS) has become a common postoperative syndrome that requires systematic and comprehensive therapy to achieve adequate clinical control. Acupuncture and related therapies have shown clinical effects for PCS in many studies. However, systematic reviews/meta-analyses (SRs/MAs) for them are lacking. Objective. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture in the treatment of PCS using randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods. Potentially eligible studies were searched in the following electronic databases up to 1 February 2020: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science (WoS), Chinese databases (Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WanFang Database (WF), and China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP)), and other sources (WHO ICTRP, ChiCTR, Clinical Trials, and Grey Literature Database). The RevMan 5.3 was employed for analyses. The Cochrane Collaboration' risk of bias tool was used to assess the risk of bias (ROB). The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to assess the quality of the evidence. Results. A total of 14 RCTs with 1593 participants were included in this SR. MA showed that acupuncture in combination with conventional medicine (CM) did not show statistical differences in reduction in pain. However, acupuncture in combination with CM significantly reduced the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) (RR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.55–0.92) and improved gastrointestinal function recovery compared to the CM group. Acupuncture combined with traditional Chinese medicine and CM, and acupuncture as monotherapy may improve gastrointestinal function recovery with acceptable adverse events. Conclusion. Acupuncture may be an effective and safe treatment for PCS. However, this study lacks conclusive evidence due to poor quality evidence, limited data, and clinical heterogeneity of acupuncture methods in the included studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury often causes inflammatory responses and coagulation disorders, which is further promoting the deterioration of the disease. Hydrogen has anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and antiapoptotic properties against various diseases. However, the effect of hydrogen on coagulation dysfunction after intestinal I/R and the underlying mechanism remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to explore whether hydrogen-rich solution (HRS) could attenuate coagulation disorders and inflammation to improve intestinal injury and poor survival following intestinal I/R. The rat model of intestinal I/R injury was established by clamping the superior mesenteric artery for 90 min and reperfusion for 2 h. HRS (10 or 20 mL/kg) or 20 mL/kg 0.9% normal saline was intravenously injected at 10 min before reperfusion, respectively. The samples were harvested at 2 h after reperfusion for further analyses. Moreover, the survival rate was observed for 24 h. The results showed that HRS improved the survival rate and alleviated serum diamine oxidase activities, intestinal injury, edema, and apoptosis. Interestingly, HRS markedly improved intestinal I/R-mediated coagulation disorders as evidenced by abnormal conventional indicators of coagulation and thromboelastography. Additionally, HRS attenuated inflammatory responses and the elevated tissue factor (TF) and inhibited nuclear factor kappa beta (NF-κB) and nucleotide binding and oligomerization domain-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Moreover, inflammatory factors and myeloperoxidase were closely associated with TF level. This study thus emphasized upon the amelioration of coagulation disorders and inflammation by HRS as a mechanism to improve intestinal I/R-induced intestinal injury and poor survival, which might be partially related to inhibition of NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. To investigate the feasibility of a SEMS (self-expandable metallic stent) as a bridge to surgery for malignant colonic obstruction. Methods. We retrospectively reviewed 83 patients that were in accordance with inclusion criteria; of these, 33 patients that underwent fluoroscopy-guided SEMS placement followed by elective curative resection were classified as a SEMS group and 50 patients, who received emergency surgery (ES), were classified as an ES group. The clinicopathological characteristics, surgery-related parameters, complications, and three-year survival rate were compared between the two groups. Results. No significant differences between the two groups were observed in any of the clinicopathologic characteristics except for higher preoperative absolute neutrophil count in the ES group (P < 0.001). Compared to the ES group, the SEMS group has significantly more cases, which featured a laparoscopic approach (72.7% vs. 14.0%, P < 0.001), lower overall stoma rate (0% vs. 34.0%, P < 0.001), and lower overall postoperative morbidity (27.3% vs. 56.0%, P = 0.010). The oncological outcomes did not differ significantly between the two groups in terms of three-year overall survival (P = 0.125). The technical and clinical success rates of stent placement were 91.7% and 100%, respectively. Conclusion. Patients treated with the stent-surgery approach had significant short-term superiorities and similar long-term outcomes, compared to patients who had emergency surgery alone. The SEMS is, therefore, safe and feasible as a bridge to surgery for malignant colonic obstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expression of TFE3 (transcription factor E3) in solitary fibrous tumours (SFTs) and their histologic mimickers was investigated, and the diagnostic value and clinical significance of TFE3 nuclear expression in SFTs were explored. Immunohistochemical analysis for TFE3 was performed on 50 cases of SFTs that were surgically resected. The controls were sample tissues from malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour, synovial sarcoma, dedifferentiated liposarcoma, spindle cell lipoma, and dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans. The survival of patients with TFE3-positive and TFE3-negative expressions was assessed through the Kaplan-Meier analysis. In 44 of 50 (88%) SFTs, nuclear immunoreactivity for TFE3 was detected. The TFE3 expression was negative in all samples of synovial sarcoma, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour, dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, and spindle cell lipoma and weakly positive in 2 of 10 cases of dedifferentiated liposarcoma. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) confirmed that the expression of the TFE3 protein is not caused by gene translocation. There was no statistical significance between the association of the TFE3 expression and SFT patient prognosis. Therefore, TFE3 is capable of enhancing the differential diagnosis of SFTs and their histologic mimickers and can be potentially used as a diagnostic marker. The findings also offer valuable insights into SFT diagnosis, aetiology, and associated molecular mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]