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• Individual response to drugs is crucial for personalized medicine. • We developed DREMO for predicting drug response in individuals. • 3 cell line similarity networks and 2 drug similarity networks were constructed. • The similarity information networks were fused with low-dimensional feature vectors. • DREMO addresses the "small n, large p" issue to a certain extent. Predicting the response of each individual patient to a drug is a key issue assailing personalized medicine. Our study predicted drug response based on the fusion of multiomics data with low-dimensional feature vector representation on a multilayer network model. We named this new method DREMO (D rug R esponse pr E diction based on M ulti O mics data fusion). DREMO fuses similarities between cell lines and similarities between drugs, thereby improving the ability to predict the response of cancer cell lines to therapeutic agents. First, a multilayer similarity network related to cell lines and drugs was constructed based on gene expression profiles, somatic mutation, copy number variation (CNV), drug chemical structures, and drug targets. Next, low-dimensional feature vector representation was used to fuse the biological information in the multilayer network. Then, a machine learning model was applied to predict new drug-cell line associations. Finally, our results were validated using the well-established GDSC/CCLE databases, literature, and the functional pathway database. Furthermore, a comparison was made between DREMO and other methods. Results of the comparison showed that DREMO improves predictive capabilities significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The age-stage, two-sex life table was used to determine the effects of the novel ketoponic acid insecticide, spirotetramat, on Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) at a concentration of 30mg/L. The results showed that the egg hatch rate was significantly decreased. In addition, the duration of the egg stage was decreased by one day compared to the control cohort. The preadult duration, adult longevity, pre-oviposition period, and total pre-oviposition period of the spirotetramat-treated cohort were all shortened, as were the preadult survival rate, mean fecundity, and net reproductive rate. No significant differences were found in the finite rate of increase and intrinsic rate of increase between the spirotetramat-treated and control cohorts. However, our population projection based on basic data (i.e., survival rate, developmental rate, and fecundity) showed that the population size of F. occidentalis was lower in the spirotetramat-treated cohort than in the control cohort. Our results showed that treatment with spirotetramat (30mg/L) suppressed the population growth of F. occidentalis. Furthermore, by using basic life table data to project population growth, we were able to distinguish differences between the projected growth of the two populations despite not finding a significant difference in their intrinsic rate of increase or finite rate of increase. This novel insecticide can be considered as a suitable candidate for inclusion in pest management programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sound source visualization has been widely used in many scenarios such as aerospace, industrial production, and urban management. Sound source localization technology plays an essential role in the realization of sound source visualization. The imaging results and calculation cost are the primary considerations in the problem of sound source localization. This article proposes a subspace iteration integrated variational Bayesian (SVB) method to realize adaptive imaging of different sound sources. First, the proposed variational Bayesian (VB) method is based on total variation (TV) prior to balance the sparsity and smoothness of the imaging results. Second, the subspace optimization method in the probability measure space is integrated into the proposed SVB method to solve the involved ill-posed inverse problem. The proposed SVB method can significantly improve the calculation speed, especially for large-scale inverse problems. Finally, the speed and robustness of the proposed SVB method can be demonstrated according to the extensive results of simulation and experimental validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective drug discovery contributes to the treatment of numerous diseases but is limited by high costs and long cycles. The Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationship (QSAR) method was introduced to evaluate the activity of a large number of compounds virtually, reducing the time and labor costs required for chemical synthesis and experimental determination. Hence, this method increases the efficiency of drug discovery. To meet the needs of researchers to utilize this technology, numerous QSAR-related web servers, such as Web-4D-QSAR and DPubChem, have been developed in recent years. However, none of the servers mentioned above can perform a complete QSAR modeling and supply activity prediction functions. We introduce Cloud 3D-QSAR by integrating the functions of molecular structure generation, alignment, molecular interaction field (MIF) computing and results analysis to provide a one-stop solution. We rigidly validated this server, and the activity prediction correlation was R 2 = 0.934 in 834 test molecules. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 86.9%, 94.5% and 91.5%, respectively, with AUC = 0.981, AUCPR = 0.971. The Cloud 3D-QSAR server may facilitate the development of good QSAR models in drug discovery. Our server is free and now available at http://chemyang.ccnu.edu.cn/ccb/server/cloud3dQSAR/ and http://agroda.gzu.edu.cn:9999/ccb/server/cloud3dQSAR/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the theories of Tate and Zaera, a theoretical analysis model including the erosion of the projectile, the cracking of ceramic composites, and the deformation of metal backplate was established in this study to investigate the bulletproof capability of the ceramic composites under impact by an armor piecing projectile (AP). The analysis results were verified by ballistic tests. As for the ceramic composites, the volume of the cracked ceramic conoid and the change in the compressive strength were included. Regarding the deformation of the metal backplate, the plastic deformation work, the external work, and the conservation of kinetics were considered. Based on the thickness of the target plate, failure modes were separated into the plug type and the petal type. The ordinary differential equation solver of MATLAB, ode45, was adopted to solve relevant ordinary differential equations. In this study, the powder metallurgy was used to produce the Al2O3/ZrO2 multilayered ceramic composites of three layers; each layer was 3 mm in thickness. The ceramic composites were paired with a backplate made of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy with a thickness of either 1 mm or 4 mm. The ballistic tests were executed by using 0.30″ AP projectiles to impact the specimens. The results from theoretical model and ballistic tests were compared and shown consistent in the field of residual velocity, residual bullet mass, and the failure modes of the metal backplate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To report Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS) cases with non-definitive clues in the family or personal history and finally diagnosed through pathological examination and STK11 gene mutation test.Clinical Presentation and Intervention: PJS was suspected in 3 families with tortuous medical courses. Two of them had relatives departed due to polyposis or colon cancer without pathological results, and the other one had been diagnosed as hyperplastic polyposis before. Diagnosis of PJS was confirmed by endoscopy and repeated pathological examinations, and the STK11 mutation test finally confirmed the diagnosis at genetic level, during which 3 novel mutation were detected (536C > A, 373_374insA, 454_455insGGAGAAGCGTTTCCCAGTGTGCC).Conclusion: Early diagnosis of PJS is important and may be based on a family history with selective features among family members, and the pathological information is the key. The novel mutations also expand the STK11 variant spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endometriosis (EMS) is a disease that shows immune dysfunction and chronic inflammation characteristics, suggesting a role of complement system in its pathophysiology. To find out the hub genes and pathways involved in the pathogenesis of EMs, three raw microarray datasets were recruited from the Gene Expression Omnibus database (GEO). Then, a series of bioinformatics technologies including gene ontology (GO), Hallmark pathway enrichment, protein–protein interaction (PPI) network and gene co-expression correlation analysis were performed to identify hub genes. The hub genes were further verified by the Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western Blot (WB). We identified 129 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in EMs, of which 78 were up-regulated and 51 were down-regulated. Through GO functional enrichment analysis, we found that the DEGs are mainly enriched in cell adhesion, extracellular matrix remodeling, chemokine regulation, angiogenesis regulation, epithelial cell proliferation, et al. In Hallmark pathway enrichment analysis, coagulation pathway showed great significance and the terms in which included the central complement factors. Moreover, the genes were dominating in PPI network. Combined co-expression analysis with experimental verification, we found that the up-regulated expression of complement (C1S, C1QA, C1R, and C3) was positively related to tissue factor (TF) in EMs. In this study, we discovered the over expression complement and the positive correlation between complement and TF in EMs, which suggested that interaction of complement and coagulation system may play a role within the pathophysiology of EMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work proposes a thermophysical model for realistic surface layers on airless small bodies (RSTPM) for the use of interpreting their multiepoch thermal light curves (e.g., WISE/NEOWISE). RSTPM considers the real orbital cycle, rotation cycle, rough surface, temperature-dependent thermal parameters, as well as contributions of sunlight reflection to observations. It is thus able to produce a precise temperature distribution and thermal emission of airless small bodies regarding the variations on orbital timescales. Details of the physics, mathematics, and numerical algorithms of RSTPM are presented. When used to interpret multiepoch thermal light curves by WISE/NEOWISE, RSTPM can give constraints on the spin orientation and surface physical properties, such as the mean thermal inertia or the mean size of dust grains, the roughness fraction, and the albedo via a radiometric procedure. As an application example, we apply this model to the main-belt object (24) Themis, the largest object of the Themis family, which is believed to be the source region of many main-belt comets. We find multiepoch (2010, 2014–2018) observations of Themis by WISE/NEOWISE, yielding 18 thermal light curves. By fitting these data with RSTPM, the best-fit spin orientation of Themis is derived to be (λ = 137°, β = 59°) in ecliptic coordinates, and the mean radius of dust grains on the surface is estimated to be μm, indicating that the surface thermal inertia varies from ∼3 Jm−2 s−0.5 K−1 to ∼60 Jm−2s−0.5 K−1 due to seasonal temperature variation. A more detailed analysis found that the thermal light curves of Themis show a weak feature that depends on the rotation phase, which is indicative of heterogeneous thermal properties or imperfections of the light-curve inversion shape model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we established a rapid and sensitive method for the detection of viable Salmonella Typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus , and Listeria monocytogenes in milk using biotin-exposure-based immunomagnetic separation (IMS) combined with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), propidium monoazide (PMA), and multiplex real-time PCR (mRT-PCR). We used IMS to lessen the assay time for isolation of target bacteria. We then optimized the coupling conditions and immunomagnetic capture process. The immunoreaction and incubation times for 5 μg of mAb coupled with 500 μg of streptavidin-functionalized magnetic beads using a streptavidin-biotin system were 90 and 30 min, respectively. Treatment with SDS-PMA before mRT-PCR amplification eliminated false-positive outcomes from dead bacteria and identified viable target bacteria with good sensitivity and specificity. The limit of detection of IMS combined with the SDS-PMA-mRT-PCR assay for the detection of viable Salmonella Typhimurium, Staph. aureus , and L. monocytogenes in spiked milk matrix samples was 10 cfu/mL and remained significant even in the appearance of 106 cfu/mL of nontarget bacteria. The entire detection process was able to identify viable bacteria within 9 h. The combination of biotin-exposure-mediated IMS and SDS-PMA-mRT-PCR has potential value for the rapid and sensitive detection of foodborne pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SiC-MOSFET has been widely used in nanosecond pulse power generators due to its excellent switching characteristics. The solid-state Marx generator using SiC-MOSFET has the advantages of modularity, flexible adjustment, and economic reliability. However, due to the limitation of the busbar loop’s parasitic inductance, the excellent switching characteristics of SiC-MOSFETs have not yet been fully utilized in solid-state Marx. This article discusses the PCB wiring structure of the single-module of solid-state Marx and the influence of its superimposed spatial distribution parameters on the output pulse waveform. The principle of 3-D busbar structure and mutual inductance cancellation method to reduce the parasitic inductance of pulse busbar loop is proposed. And verify the above principle through electromagnetic simulation and four-stage superposition experiment. The parasitic inductance of the busbar loop is less than 4 nH. The voltage edge of the output pulse is further reduced, the current rise/fall speed is increased by about 2.3 times, and the switching voltage overshoot is reduced by 80%. And the proposed structure effectively suppresses the gate bounce and improves the solid-state Marx pulse characteristics. Finally, the stability and reliability of the system are improved too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Centrifugal pump often operates at different working flow rates to meet engineering requirement. To better reveal the transient behavior of centrifugal pump in the process of decreasing flow rate, the finite volume method (FVM), RNG k-ε turbulence model, sliding mesh technology, and user-defined functions (UDF) were employed to simulate the three-dimensional unsteady viscous incompressible flow in a low-specific-speed centrifugal pump during the abrupt valve-off period. The results show that the differences are very obvious between transient and quasi-steady calculations. The velocity is maximum on the wall of hub and shroud, while the velocity is minimum and uniform distribution at middle positions. The transient flow field lags behind the quasi-steady flow field, which may be related to the reasons; namely, kinetic energy cannot convert pressure energy in time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hollow nanofiber multiple-gas microsensors containing a ceramic package in parallel were developed via doping metal oxides in tin oxide (SnO2) and electrospinning and calcination. Different metal oxides including nickel oxide (NiO), copper oxide (CuO), and indium oxide (In2O3) were doped into SnO2 individually as sensing films for the detection of acetone (CH3COCH), ammonia (NH3), and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) with high selectivity. After heating and calcination, the hollow electrospun nanofibers formed with high specific surface area and porosity resulting in increased sensing area and enhancing the rate of surface chemical reaction and responsivity. The experiments show that the optimal local operation temperature of the activated sensors was 330 °C. High responsivity of the packaged gas sensors was obtained with high accuracy and repeatability. Gas sensitivities were 0.071, 0.075, and 0.09 for sensors of acetone, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide, respectively, at concentrations of 1 ppm. The response and recovery times of the acetone, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide gas sensors were 4 and 8 s, 5 and 9 s, and 5 and 12 s, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the backdrop of the rapid technological and cultural developments involving new media in China, this research aims to examine music education in primary and secondary schools with a focus on new media and popular music. This article incorporates a discussion, based on the research results, of the influence of new media and popular music on primary and secondary education. Data for this study were collected in the form of a questionnaire from a sample of 1986 pupils and 200 teachers from twenty primary and secondary schools in Xi'an, China. Results show that employing new media to teach popular music in primary and secondary schools enhances the overall audio-visual experience for both learners and educators, and it also has positive influences on learning, teaching and sharing popular music. Moreover, the use of new media has been proven to encourage independent learning, as well as triggering changes in aesthetic appreciation towards music. The research reflects on the importance of teaching tools, interaction and independent learning skills in the acquisition of knowledge by primary and secondary pupils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combustion characteristic of mold fluxes is extremely important for the high‐quality slabs and the smooth casting process, which is directly determined by the type and content of carbon materials. Herein, the physicochemical properties and combustion characteristics of carbon materials are investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller theory, and thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), followed by the influences of carbon materials on the combustion and melting behavior of mold fluxes. The results show that: 1) the fixed carbon content in single‐carbon materials and carbon‐added mold fluxes can be determined by TG curves; 2) the combustion temperature ranges and the combustion reaction time of single‐carbon materials and carbon‐added mold fluxes can be characterized by DSC curves; and 3) the combustion characteristics of carbon are influenced by mold fluxes, leading to a shorter combustion reaction time. The reduction of combustion reaction time for 1# and 2# being 7.5 and 8.2 min is much larger than that of 2.4 min for 3#. Finally, the melting behavior of mold fluxes is influenced by carbon, especially the melting temperature, flowing temperature, and the melting time, showing an increase trend. However, the softening temperature shows little change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the commutation relations of the spin operators, we first write out the equations of motion of the spin susceptibility and related correlation functions that have a hierarchical structure, then under the "soft cut-off" approximation, we give a set of equations of motion of spin susceptibilities for a spin S = 1 / 2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model that is independent of whether or not the system has a long-range order in the low energy/temperature limit. Applying for a chain, a square lattice and a honeycomb lattice, respectively, we obtain the upper and the lowest boundaries of the low-lying excitations by solving this set of equations. For a chain, the upper and the lowest boundaries of the low-lying excitations are the same as that of the exact ones obtained by the Bethe ansatz, where the elementary excitations are the spinon pairs. For a square lattice, the spin wave excitation (magnons) resides in the region close to the lowest boundary of the low-lying excitations, and the multispinon excitations take place in the high-energy region close to the upper boundary of the low-lying excitations. For a honeycomb lattice, we have one kind of "mode" of the low-lying excitation. The present results obey the Lieb–Schultz–Mattis theorem, and they are also consistent with recent neutron scattering observations and numerical simulations for a square lattice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a significant health problem worldwide with poor prognosis. Drug repositioning represents a profitable strategy to accelerate drug discovery in the treatment of HCC. In this study, we developed a new approach for predicting therapeutic drugs for HCC based on tissue-specific pathways and identified three newly predicted drugs that are likely to be therapeutic drugs for the treatment of HCC. We validated these predicted drugs by analyzing their overlapping drug indications reported in PubMed literature. By using the cancer cell line data in the database, we constructed a Connectivity Map (CMap) profile similarity analysis and KEGG enrichment analysis on their related genes. By experimental validation, we found securinine and ajmaline significantly inhibited cell viability of HCC cells and induced apoptosis. Among them, securinine has lower toxicity to normal liver cell line, which is worthy of further research. Our results suggested that the proposed approach was effective and accurate for discovering novel therapeutic options for HCC. This method also could be used to indicate unmarked drug-disease associations in the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database. Meanwhile, our method could also be applied to predict the potential drugs for other types of tumors by changing the database. Author summary: Selecting therapeutic drugs that can be used for cancer treatment from existing drugs is a way to quickly obtain effective drugs, whereas the safety, dose and marginal effects of these drugs have been verified, and their clinical application will be faster than that of novel drug discovery. There have been a large number of successful cases of drug repositioning in the past few years. Tumors have complex regulatory pathways; thus, with the help of the HCC regulatory pathway, the single gene expression changes in the pathway, and the specific correlation between HCC and liver tissue, we screened for the predicted drugs, and constructed Connectivity Map and Toxicogenomics Database combined with KEGG pathway to carry out these drugs. Also, we verified the therapeutic effect of selected drugs in vitro to confirm the effectiveness of these drugs. Our results show that our drug screening method is effective, and can be applied to other malignant tumor drug screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, DDR membranes with a layer thickness of approximately 700 nm were studied for separation feeds comprising mixtures of CO 2 and CH 4. The membranes displayed the highest CO 2 over CH 4 permselectivity and CO 2 permeability reported in literature. This was ascribed to a defect-free and ultra-thin zeolite film as well as an open and highly permeable support. For equimolar mixtures, the highest CO 2 over CH 4 permselectivity of 727 was observed when the pressure at the feed side was 5 bar(a) and the permeate pressure was 1 bar(a) at 25 °C. At these conditions, the CO 2 permeability was very high at 45 × 10−7 mol/(m2 s Pa). Separation experiments for 80/20 and 20/80 mixtures were also performed, and in these cases, CO 2 over CH 4 permselectivities of 1011 and 622 were observed, respectively. For all feeds, the membrane permselectivity decreased slightly at higher temperature and in all cases, higher permselectivity was observed when vacuum was applied at the permeate side. One-stage membrane processes for upgrading biogas to biomethane at three different operating pressures were designed based on the experimental data. In all cases, a quite low membrane area, methane slip and power need were observed. [Display omitted] • DDR membranes with ultrahigh CO 2 permeance for CO 2 /CH 4 separation. • One-stage DDR membrane processes for biogas upgrading. • Low membrane area, CH 4 slip, and power use for these processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thiol-gold (Au) conjugation is perhaps the most routinely applied surface chemistry approach to immobilize receptors within Au-based molecular sensing platforms. However, no previous studies have investigated in situ immobilization in a nanofluidic systems. In this work, flowthrough receptor immobilization is demonstrated, using a nanoslit induced depletion zone to enable direct real-time visualization for characterizing the effect of sodium chloride (NaCl) concentrations during immobilization of thiolated single-stranded DNA on Au. The results show that the amount of fixed-DNA on Au, as well as the non-specific adsorption of DNA on fused silica surface, strongly depend on NaCl levels. Furthermore, the non-specific interaction at high NaCl levels reduces the DNA available for immobilization on Au, but enriches the DNA molecules in the channel under wash by deionized water. By adding Tween-20 to decrease the non-specific adsorption and increasing the driving pressure to increase the DNA flux under high-salt level, the immobilization time can be further decreased to 10 min or less, which is at least an order of magnitude faster than recently proposed bioconjugation methods for thiolated-DNA–Au conjugation. Moreover, this work demonstrates the capability of the platform for DNA- and aptamer-based sensing assays, thereby opening up new strategies for developing biosensors using nanofluidic platforms. [Display omitted] • Real-time visualization of DNA immobilization on Au surface in nanochannels. • The amounts of immobilized DNA on Au surface depend on the NaCl levels. • The adsorption of DNA on the fused silica surface depends on the NaCl levels. • Ultrarapid DNA immobilization on Au surface in the nanochannel (∼ 10 minutes). • Wash-free, real-time visualization for gene and protein detections [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modifications of protein, RNA and DNA play an important role in many biological processes and are related to some diseases. Therefore, accurate identification and comprehensive understanding of protein, RNA and DNA modification sites can promote research on disease treatment and prevention. With the development of sequencing technology, the number of known sequences has continued to increase. In the past decade, many computational tools that can be used to predict protein, RNA and DNA modification sites have been developed. In this review, we comprehensively summarized the modification site predictors for three different biological sequences and the association with diseases. The relevant web server is accessible at http://lab.malab.cn/∼acy/PTM%5fdata/ some sample data on protein, RNA and DNA modification can be downloaded from that website. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have shown that BMPR1B promotes follicular development and ovarian granulosa cell proliferation, thereby affecting ovulation in mammals. In this study, the expression and polymorphism of the BMPR1B gene associated with litter size in small-tail Han (STH) sheep were determined. The expression of BMPR1B was detected in 14 tissues of STH sheep during the follicular phase as well as in the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal (HPG) axis of monotocous and polytocous STH sheep during the follicular and luteal phases using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Sequenom MassARRAY® single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) technology was also used to detect the polymorphism of SNPs in seven sheep breeds. Here, BMPR1B was highly expressed in hypothalamus, ovary, uterus, and oviduct tissue during the follicular phase, and BMPR1B was expressed significantly more in the hypothalamus of polytocous ewes than in monotocous ewes during both the follicular and luteal phases (P<0.05). For genotyping, we found that genotype and allele frequencies of three loci of the BMPR1B gene were extremely significantly different (P<0.01) between the monotocous and polytocous groups. Association analysis results showed that the g.29380965A > G locus had significant negative effects on the litter size of STH sheep, and the combination of g.29380965A > G and FecB (Fec – fecundity and B – Booroola; A746G) at the BMPR1B gene showed that the litter size of AG–GG, AA–GG, and GG–GG genotypes was significantly higher compared with other genotypes (P<0.05). This is the first study to find a new molecular marker affecting litter size and to systematically analyze the expression of BMPR1B in different fecundity and physiological periods of STH sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a promising and non-invasive therapy for symptomatic uterine fibroids. Currently, the main image-guided methods for HIFU include magnetic resonance-guided (MR-HIFU) and ultrasound-guided (US-HIFU). However, there are few comparative studies on the therapeutic efficacy and safety of MR-HIFU and US-HIFU in treating symptomatic uterine fibroids with a volume <300 cm3. We performed this meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of MR-HIFU and US-HIFU in treating symptomatic uterine fibroids with a volume <300 cm3. We searched relevant literature in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library CNKI from inception until 2021. The mean value, the proportion, and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were measured by random-effects models. Publication bias was assessed using funnel plots. 48 studies met our inclusion criteria—28 describing MR-HIFU and 20 describing US-HIFU. The mean non-perfused volume rate (NPVR) was 81.07% in the US-HIFU group and 58.92% in the MR-HIFU group, respectively. The mean volume reduction rates at month-3, month-6, and month-12 were 42.42, 58.72, and 65.55% in the US-HIFU group, while 34.79, 37.39, and 36.44% in the MR-HIFU group. The incidence of post-operative abdominal pain and abnormal vaginal discharge in the US-HIFU group was lower than that of MRI-HIFU. However, post-operative skin burn and sciatic nerve pain were more common in the US-HIFU group compared with MRI-HIFU. The one-year reintervention rate after MR-HIFU was 13.4%, which was higher than 5.2% in the US-HIFU group. US-HIFU may show better efficiency and safety than MR-HIFU in treating symptomatic fibroids with a volume <300 cm3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The NET power cycle (NPC) offers an alternative way to inherently capture combustion derived CO2 with low efficiency penalty. This manuscript improves the NPC by recompressing a portion of the recycled CO2 stream to the exit of low temperate regenerator, forming a recompression NET power cycle (RNPC). The RNPC further enhances cycle recuperation and no longer needs to input extra heat to cover the heat gap between low pressure and high pressure CO2 streams in the regenerator. The model of internal convection cooling for the turbine in sCO2 cycle is also accomplished according to the semiempirical formula, aiming to investigate the effect of coolant flow. This manuscript respectively conducts the system multiparameter optimization for uncertain boundary parameters and the sensitivity analysis for definite boundary parameters. The simulation results show that RNPC can output 27.2 MWe more NEP than NPC without extra heat input, leading to 3.54% of the increase in net electric efficiency. RNPC's efficiency increases monotonically with not only turbine inlet temperature but inlet pressure, which indicates that RNPC has the potentiality to further improve its efficiency at higher turbine inlet temperature and inlet pressure. However, turbine outlet pressure has a nonmonotonic effect on the cycle performance, and the optimal turbine outlet pressure corresponding to the maximum cycle efficiency is about 38–42 bar. The multiparameter optimization indicates that the global optimal cycle efficiency is approximately 53.55% within the ranges of investigated parameters. The RNPC's efficiency is considerably influenced by the minimum cycle temperature (0.234%/°C), compressor efficiency (0.08%/%), turbine efficiency (0.355%/%), and regenerator temperature differences (0.083%/°C for HTR and 0.080%/°C for LTR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrical coagulation of sphenopalatine artery(SPA) under nasal endoscopy has gradually become an important surgical intervention for epistaxis To investigate the effectiveness and complications of SPA electrocoagulation for epistaxis. The clinical data of 47 patients undergoing SPA electrocoagulation were analyzed, retrospectively. Forty-seven patients were enrolled, with a male to female ratio of approximately 3:1. 11of 36 were under 45 years old, 25 of 36were 45 years old and above. Among female patients, one was under 45 years old, and the others were 45 years old and above, but there was no significant difference in gender composition between different age groups (χ2 = 1.069, p =.301). All patients were unilateral epistaxis. The effective control rates of epistaxis within 24 h after surgery, early postoperative, and late postoperative were 100%, 100%, and 97.9%, respectively. There were 6 patients with complications, including 3 patients with nasal dryness and ecdysis on the affected side, 2 patients with numbness on upper lip, 1 patient with nasal adhesion and pus on affected side. Refractory epistaxis has no relationship with age and sex, SPA electrcoagulation can effectively control refractory epistaxis and is an effective surgical method [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gas sensors based on metal oxides semiconductor (MOS) have attracted extensive attention from both academic and industry. ZnO, as a typical MOS, exhibits potential applications in toxic gas detection, owning to its wide band gap, n‐type transport characteristic and excellent electrical performance. Meanwhile, doping is an effective way to improve the sensing performance of ZnO materials. In this review, the effects of different types of doping on morphology, crystal structure, band gap and depletion layer of ZnO materials are comprehensively discussed. Theoretical analysis on the strategies for enhancing the sensing properties of ZnO is also provided. This review puts forward the reasonable insight for designing efficient n‐type ZnO‐based semiconductor oxide sensing materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-frequency bipolar high-voltage pulsed electric field can be used in tumor ablation to uniform the electric field distribution in the ablated region and inhibit muscle contraction effectively. Developing a high-frequency bipolar pulsed power generator (HBPPG) with wide range of specifications, such as voltage magnitude, waveform, repetition rate, and pulsewidth, is of great significance for promoting the clinical application of irreversible electroporation. Hence, in this article, a novel modular high-voltage HBPPG circuit topology is proposed for such application. Each module consists of an H-bridge and an isolated inductor. Theoretical analysis, simulation, and experimental results show that this generator perfectly combines the advantages of solid-state Marx and bridge circuit, with high stability and redundancy. The pulse frequency, pulse duration, and waveform can be flexibly adjusted by a controller software algorithm according to load parameters. The viability of the proposed HBPPG is demonstrated by PSpice simulation and equal-scale prototype. The key parameters of the developed HBPPG are as follows: voltage amplitude up to ±10 kV with 500 ns–5 μs pulsewidths, 500 kHz within the burst, and 10 kHz within the continuation limited by the input high-voltage dc power supply. All the pulse parameters can be programmed arbitrarily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a sequence decision framework based on the Bayesian search is proposed to solve the problem of using an autonomous system to search for the missing target in an unknown environment. In the task, search cost and search efficiency are two competing requirements because they are closely related to the search task. Especially in the actual search task, the sensor assembled by the searcher is not perfect, so an effective search strategy is needed to guide the search agent to perform the task. Meanwhile, the decision-making method is crucial for the search agent. If the search agent fully trusts the feedback information of the sensor, the search task will end when the target is "detected" for the first time, which means it must take the risk of founding a wrong target. Conversely, if the search agent does not trust the feedback information of the sensor, it will most likely miss the real target, which will waste a lot of search resources and time. Based on the existing work, this paper proposes two search strategies and an improved algorithm. Compared with other search methods, the proposed strategies greatly improve the efficiency of unmanned search. Finally, the numerical simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the search strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a time‐dependent study of cholesterol (Ch) nucleation to investigate the effect of calcium ions in the moderate supersaturated bile. In taurocholate/lecithin (TC/L) bile at a TC to L ratio of 5.1, the presence of calcium ions enhanced the nucleation rate of Ch. Contrarily, we observed the delayed nucleation of Ch after ~30 days in TC/L bile at a ratio of 2.0, regardless of the calcium ions. From the physical chemistry standpoint, the cholesterol activity (ChAT) is believed to be the driving force for Ch nucleation together with the sufficient nucleation sites. Hence, the micellar formation models along with the binding of TC monomers to calcium ions interpreted the time‐dependent results. Furthermore, a quasielastic light–scattering technique detected the formation of micelles and vesicles. In conclusion, the presence of calcium ions in TC/L bile at a high ratio enhances the vesicle appearance for nucleation sites and the high ChAT values for fast nucleation rate of Ch. However, an increase in the L concentration (i.e., low ratio bile) plays a significant role in the prevention of Ch gallstone formation, compared to the decrease in calcium ion concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We prove that, for every 0 ⩽ s ⩽ 1 , there is a Hamel basis of the vector space of reals over the field of rationals that has Hausdorff dimension s. The logic of our proof is of particular interest. The statement of our theorem is classical; it does not involve the theory of computing. However, our proof makes essential use of algorithmic fractal dimension–a computability-theoretic construct–and the point-to-set principle of J. Lutz and N. Lutz (2018). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large number of nanopores and complex fracture structures in shale reservoirs results in multi-scale flow of oil. With the development of shale oil reservoirs, the permeability of multi-scale media undergoes changes due to stress sensitivity, which plays a crucial role in controlling pressure propagation and oil flow. This paper proposes a multi-scale coupled flow mathematical model of matrix nanopores, induced fractures, and hydraulic fractures. In this model, the micro-scale effects of shale oil flow in fractal nanopores, fractal induced fracture network, and stress sensitivity of multi-scale media are considered. We solved the model iteratively using Pedrosa transform, semi-analytic Segmented Bessel function, Laplace transform. The results of this model exhibit good agreement with the numerical solution and field production data, confirming the high accuracy of the model. As well, the influence of stress sensitivity on permeability, pressure and production is analyzed. It is shown that the permeability and production decrease significantly when induced fractures are weakly supported. Closed induced fractures can inhibit interporosity flow in the stimulated reservoir volume (SRV). It has been shown in sensitivity analysis that hydraulic fractures are beneficial to early production, and induced fractures in SRV are beneficial to middle production. The model can characterize multi-scale flow characteristics of shale oil, providing theoretical guidance for rapid productivity evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Ding's LISH procedure, the lymph nodes alongside the ileocolic artery are dissected, but these are not the regional lymph nodes of transverse colon cancer, according to the definition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging manual [[3]]. Laparoscopic surgery, Transverse colon cancer, Lymph node dissection Keywords: Laparoscopic surgery; Transverse colon cancer; Lymph node dissection EN Laparoscopic surgery Transverse colon cancer Lymph node dissection 419 420 2 04/12/23 20230501 NES 230501 Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10151-022-02668-z. [Extracted from the article]

An efficient asymmetric allylation reaction of allylboronates with seven-membered cyclic imines, dibenzo[b,f][1,4]oxazepines, is described. The reaction, which is catalyzed by a Bi(OAc)3/CPA system, gives a range of chiral nitrogen-containing heterocycle structures in high yields and with good enantioselectivities. The conversion of these products to nitrogen-containing heterocycles is also demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher-order topological insulators have recently witnessed rapid progress in various fields ranging from condensed matter physics to electric circuits. A well-known higher-order state is the second-order topological insulator in three dimensions with gapless states localized on the hinges. A natural question in the context of nonlinearity is whether solitons can exist on the hinges in a second-order topological insulator. Here we theoretically demonstrate the existence of stable solitons localized on the hinges of a second-order topological insulator in three dimensions when nonlinearity is involved. By means of systematic numerical study, we find that the soliton has strong localization in real space and propagates along the hinge unidirectionally without changing its shape. We further construct an electric network to simulate the second-order topological insulator. When a nonlinear inductor is appropriately involved, we find that the system can support a bright soliton for the voltage distribution demonstrated by stable time evolution of a voltage pulse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Threshold pressure gradient has great importance in efficient tight gas field development as well as for research and laboratory experiments. This experimental study is carried out to investigate the threshold pressure gradient in detail. Experiments are carried out with and without back pressure so that the effect of pore pressure on threshold pressure gradient may be observed. The trend of increasing or decreasing the threshold pressure gradient is totally opposite in the cases of considering and not considering the pore pressure. The results demonstrate that the pore pressure of tight gas reservoirs has great influence on threshold pressure gradient. The effects of other parameters like permeability and water saturation, in the presence of pore pressure, on threshold pressure gradient are also examined which show that the threshold pressure gradient increases with either a decrease in permeability or an increase in water saturation. Two new correlations of threshold pressure gradient on the basis of pore pressure and permeability, and pore pressure and water saturation, are also introduced. Based on these equations, new models for tight gas production are proposed. The gas slip correction factor is also considered during derivation of this proposed tight gas production models. Inflow performance relationship curves based on these proposed models show that production rates and absolute open flow potential are always be overestimated while ignoring the threshold pressure gradients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new alcohol glycosides, 1-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-deoxypaeonisuffrone (1) and 9-O-β-d-apiofuranoyl-(1→6)-β-d-glucopyranosyl-xanthoarnol (2), together with eight known compounds (3–10), have been isolated from the dried roots of Paeonia intermedia C. A. Meyer. Their structures were mainly elucidated on the basis of ESIMS, one- and two-dimensional NMR techniques. Antibacterial activities of compounds 1–10 were evaluated, and compounds 9 and 10 showed antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus argenteus CMCC26003 and Escherichia coli CMCC44103. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Encapsulating transition‐metal nanoparticles inside carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or spheres has emerged as a novel strategy for designing highly durable nonprecious‐metal catalysts. The stable carbon layer protects the inner metal core from the destructive reaction environment and thus is described as chain mail for catalysts. Electron transfer from the active metal core to the carbon layer stimulates unique catalytic activity on the carbon surface, which has been utilized extensively in a variety of catalytic reaction systems. Here, we elaborate the underlying working principle of chain mail for catalysts as well as the key factors that determine their catalytic properties, and provide insights into the physicochemical nature of such catalyst architectures for further application of the strategy in rational catalyst design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Encapsulating transition‐metal nanoparticles inside carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or spheres has emerged as a novel strategy for designing highly durable nonprecious‐metal catalysts. The stable carbon layer protects the inner metal core from the destructive reaction environment and thus is described as chain mail for catalysts. Electron transfer from the active metal core to the carbon layer stimulates unique catalytic activity on the carbon surface, which has been utilized extensively in a variety of catalytic reaction systems. Here, we elaborate the underlying working principle of chain mail for catalysts as well as the key factors that determine their catalytic properties, and provide insights into the physicochemical nature of such catalyst architectures for further application of the strategy in rational catalyst design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructing two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures is becoming a promising way for photocatalytic water splitting to produce hydrogen. In this Letter, we perform a 2D vdW blue phosphorous/β-AsP (BP/β-AsP) heterostructure based on density functional theory calculations. The type II band alignment in the BP/β-AsP vdW heterostructure is beneficial for separating the photogenerated electrons and holes and suppressing their recombination. The BP/β-AsP heterostructure not only keeps a suitable band edge position for the water splitting reaction but also significantly improves the optical absorption in the visible and ultraviolet light region. Appropriate uniaxial strain can change the indirect bandgap of the BP/β-AsP heterostructure into a direct one. The present findings indicate that the BP/β-AsP heterostructure is a promising candidate for applications in photovoltaic devices and photocatalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polytitanocarbosilane (TiPCS)‐derived ceramic membranes were fabricated using a pre‐ceramic polymer. Special attention was focused on a process of thermal‐oxidative curing that was used to induce cross‐linking and the effect of this process on the ceramic yield, thermal stability, oxidation resistance, and microstructure of TiPCS. The cross‐linked TiPCS powders showed a ceramic yield and thermal stability that were higher than that from the non‐cross‐linked version. In addition, the cross‐linked TiPCS with uniform micropores showed higher levels of N2 and CO2 adsorption capacity, BET surface area, and micropore volume than the non‐cross‐linked versions, and the cross‐linking process enhanced the stability of the pore structure at high temperature. The cross‐linked TiPCS membranes showed high H2 permeance (1.49 × 10−6 mol/(m2 s Pa)) with sub‐nanopores (H2/SF6 selectivity: 12 000, H2/N2: 10), and in addition higher oxidation resistance than their non‐cross‐linked counterparts. Furthermore, the influence of the concentration of the TiPCS precursor coating solution was optimized and the hydrothermal stability of the membranes at high temperatures was also evaluated. The optimized membrane demonstrated great performance for the pervaporation removal of methanol in binary azeotropic systems of either MeOH/butyl acetate or MeOH/toluene, and it also showed high hydrothermal stability with excellent dehumidification performance under high temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The irreducible water saturation (Swir) is a significant parameter for relative permeability prediction and initial hydrocarbon reserves estimation. However, the complex pore structures of the tight rocks and multiple factors of the formation conditions make the parameter difficult to be accurately predicted by the conventional methods in tight gas reservoirs. In this study, a new model was derived to calculate Swir based on the capillary model and the fractal theory. The model incorporated different types of immobile water and considered the stress effect. The dead or stationary water (DSW) was considered in this model, which described the phenomena of water trapped in the dead-end pores due to detour flow and complex pore structures. The water film, stress effect and formation temperature were also considered in the proposed model. The results calculated by the proposed model are in a good agreement with the experimental data. This proves that for tight sandstone gas reservoirs the Swir calculated from the new model is more accurate. The irreducible water saturation calculated from the new model reveals that Swir is controlled by the critical capillary radius, DSW coefficient, effective stress and formation temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonia (NH 3) is receiving increasing attention as an alternative engine fuel due to its carbon-free nature. However, its fundamental combustion characteristics, such as higher autoignition temperature and lower burning velocity compared to conventional hydrocarbons, limit its direct use in traditional engines. To confront this dilemma, hydrocarbon/NH 3 blending fuels are seen as one of the most appropriate ways to exploit its advantage and offset its weaknesses. Using n-heptane as a representative of hydrocarbons, this study investigated the effect of NH 3 addition on the low-temperature autoignition of n-heptane. The ignition delay times of five n-heptane/NH 3 mixtures with NH 3 fractions of 0%, 20%, and 40% were measured in a rapid compression machine at temperatures of 635–945 K, pressures of 10 and 15 bar, and equivalence ratios of 1.0 and 2.0. Experimental results show that the n-heptane/NH 3 blending fuels exhibit pronounced low-temperature reactivity, and both the total and the first-stage ignition delay times increase with the increase of NH 3 fraction. A blending mechanism of n-heptane/NH 3 was compiled based on the existing n-heptane mechanism and NH 3 mechanism. It is found that the blending mechanism is capable to predict the inhibition effect of NH 3 addition on n-heptane autoignition and qualitatively capture the dependence of ignition delay time on equivalence ratio and oxygen mole fraction. Nevertheless, there are significant discrepancies between the experiments and the simulation. Furthermore, kinetic analyses, including species evolution, rate of production and sensitivity of OH radical were conducted sequentially to reveal the autoignition kinetics of NH 3 /n-heptane blends and the interaction between n-heptane and NH 3. Suggestions are provided for the further development of the blending mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface properties are essential for substrates exhibiting high sensitivity in surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) applications. In this work, novel SERS hybrid substrates using polystyrene‐block‐poly(methyl methacrylate) and anodic aluminum oxide templates is presented. The hybrid substrates not only possess hierarchical porous nanostructures but also exhibit superhydrophilic surface properties with the water contact angle ≈0°. Such surfaces play an important role in providing uniform enhanced intensities over large areas (relative standard deviation ≈10%); moreover, these substrates are found to be highly sensitive (limit of detection ≈10−12m for rhodamine 6G (R6G)). The results show that the hybrid SERS substrates can achieve the simultaneous detection of multicomponent mixtures of different target molecules, such as R6G, crystal violet, and methylene blue. Furthermore, the bending experiments show that about 70% of the SERS intensities are maintained after bending from ≈30° to 150°. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sperm cryopreservation is an essential approach for assisted reproduction and genetic resources conservation in captive giant pandas. Cryopreservation, however, leads to a significant decrease in sperm quality and, consequently, a low fertilization rate. Therefore, it is mandatory to disclose more suitable and efficient freezing strategies for sperm cryopreservation. In the present study, we compared for the first time the performance of two commercial freeze extender (INRA96 versus TEST) freezing methods on post-thawed semen quality. Semen cryopreserved with the INRA96 showed better total motility (73.00 ± 4.84% vs 57.56 ± 3.60%, P < 0.001), membrane integrity (60.92 ± 2.27% vs 40.53 ± 2.97%, P < 0.001) and acrosome integrity (90.39 ± 2.74% vs 84.26 ± 4.27%, P < 0.05) than stored with TEST. There was no significant difference in DNA integrity after thawing between the two extenders (95.69 ± 3.60% vs 94.26 ± 4.84%). In conclusion, the INRA96 method showed to be better for giant panda sperm cryopreservation and should therefore be recommended for use in order to increase success of artificial insemination. • INRA96 could increase post-thawed spermatozoa motility of giant panda. • INRA96 could increase post-thawed spermatozoa membrane integrity of giant panda. • INRA96 could increase post-thawed spermatozoa acrosome integrity of giant panda. • INRA96 benefit for giant panda semen cryopreservation and production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ternary chalcogenide silver gallium sulfide (AgGaS2), which has an orthorhombic structure, was already synthesized. However, the feasibility of using the crystal for hydrogen production through photocatalytic water splitting has not been explored. Here, we systematically investigated the structural, electronic, optical, and transport properties of XGaS2 (X = Ag or Cu) with orthorhombic structure by using the first principles calculations. The band alignments indicate that all calculated absolute potentials of the valence and conduction band edges met the requirement of photocatalytic water splitting reaction. The presence of 2.64 and 2.56 eV direct band energy gaps and obvious optical absorption within the visible light range imply that XGaS2 can correspond to solar light. Moreover, the large electron mobility and the obvious differences between electron mobility and hole mobility were identified in XGaS2 structures, which is beneficial to the photocatalytic performance of the water splitting reaction. The present findings can provide a helpful reference for developing novel photocatalytic materials with XGaS2 for hydrogen generation from water splitting under irradiation of visible light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to study and compare the friction stability of wet paper-based clutches with regard to the radial grooves (RG) and waffle grooves (WG). Design/methodology/approach: This paper presents an experimental study of a wet clutch concerning the effect of groove patterns on the friction torque and surface temperature. The friction stabilities of RG and WG are investigated with the applied pressure, rotating speed and automatic transmission fluid (ATF) temperature taken into consideration. Findings: The friction torque and surface temperature of WG are larger than those of RG under the same operating condition. The friction torque difference between RG and WG grows with the increase of applied pressure and narrows with the increase of ATF temperature. Additionally, their temperature difference expands via increasing the rotating speed and ATF temperature or reducing the applied pressure; in this way, not only the variable coefficient difference between RG and WG can be narrowed, but also the friction stability of the clutch can be improved dramatically. Originality/value: This paper explains the thermodynamic differences between RG and WG; moreover, it is verified experimentally that WG has a better friction stability than RG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains (Chinese indigenous yeasts SC5, WC5, SC8, CC17 and commercial starter F15) were inoculated into Cabernet sauvignon grape must and fermented at pilot scale. For the first time, combination of ¹H NMR, HS-SPME/GC-MS and HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS metabonomic profiling techniques was performed to analyze the global chemical fingerprints of sampled wines at the end of alcoholic and malolactic fermentation respectively, then 13 non-volatile flavor compounds, 52 volatile organic aromas and 43 polyphenolic molecules were identified and determined correspondently. All principal component analysis (PCA) of two fermentation stages based on the analytical results of 1H NMR, HS-SPME/GC-MS and HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS divided these strains into three clusters: (1) SC5 and SC8, (2) WC5 and F15 and (3) CC17. The wine fermented by indigenous yeast, CC17, showed a very unique chemical profile, such as low pH and high color intensity, reduced amino acids (including proline) and the lowest total higher alcohols levels, most of the fixed acids, glycerol, ethyl esters and anthocyanins concentrations. The statistical results indicate that CC17 strain possesses very special anabolism and catabolism abilities on such substances in grape juice and has potentiality to produce characteristic wines with high qualities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage (PTGBD) is an alternative treatment for acute cholecystitis (AC). We aimed to understand the natural course of AC in patients treated with PTGBD but without later definitive treatments, such as laparoscopic cholecystectomy.Methods: This was a retrospective study of the period from June 2010 to December 2016, during which time 2371 patients were diagnosed with AC and 625 received PTGBD treatment. Among the 625 patients, 237 received no definitive treatment. A biliary event after the initial AC episode was the outcome of interest. In addition, the competing risk of death unrelated to biliary causes was present in the cohort. Therefore, a competing risk model was applied for analysis.Results: The cumulative incidence of biliary events was 29.8% with a median of 4.27 months, while the competing event, i.e., death unrelated to a biliary event, was noted in 14.9% of patients with a median 23.54 months. The risk factors of biliary events were prolonged PTGBD indwelling and an abnormal PTGBD cholangiogram. The risk factors of death unrelated to a biliary event included a high Charlson comorbidity index and the initial AC severity.Conclusions: Definitive cholecystectomy is still recommended for patients undergoing PTGBD treatment due to the high incidence of later biliary events. A thorough preoperative evaluation is necessary for those patients before elective cholecystectomy because of the inferior life expectancy and physical status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Participants were injected with a single booster doses 2–32 years after the primary immunization. • Participants were randomly divided into two groups receiving a booster dose of HepB (SC) or CHO. • Both linear and logistic regression models were used to detect the factors which were associated with immune response to a booster vaccination. To assess the immune effect of different types of hepatitis B vaccine (HepB) booster doses 2–32 years after primary immunization, explore the influencing factors, and offer guidance regarding the necessity and timing of boosters. In total, 1163 participants who were born from 1986 to 2015, received the HepB full-course primary vaccination, were hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) negative, and had hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) <10 mIU/mL were enrolled. Individuals were randomly divided into two groups and received a booster dose of HepB. Venous blood samples were collected 30 days later and tested for anti-HBs. In total, 595 and 568 individuals received a single dose of HepB (CHO) and HepB (SC), respectively. Venous blood samples were obtained from 1079 vaccinees (CHO: 554, SC: 525). The seroconversion rates were 93.68% (519/554) and 86.67% (455/525) (p < 0.05), with geometric mean concentrations (GMCs) of 426.58 mIU/ml and 223.8 mIU/ml, respectively. This result indicated that BMI, smoking status, vaccine types of booster and prebooster anti-HBs concentration significantly influenced anti-HBs levels. Only BMI, prebooster anti-HBs concentrations and booster types were different between the anti-HBs positive and negative groups. Participants boostered with HepB (CHO) had a relatively higher seroconversion rate than those boostered with HepB (SC). The high seroconversion rates in the two groups suggested that the subjects remained protected despite low circulating antibodies, so there is currently no urgent need for booster immunization. Factors including BMI ≥ 25 and prebooster anti-HBs concentration <2.5 mIU/mL, which contributed to lower responses to a booster dose, might indicate a greater risk of breakthrough infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pulmonary malignant neoplasms have a high worldwide morbidity and mortality, so the study of these malignancies using microRNAs (miRNAs) has attracted great interest and enthusiasm. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical effect of hsa-microRNA-204-5p (miR-204-5p) and its underlying molecular mechanisms in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Methods: Expression of miR-204-5p was investigated by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). After data mining from public online repositories, several integrative assessment methods, including receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), and comprehensive meta-analyses, were conducted to explore the expression and clinical utility of miR-204-5p. The potential objects regulated and controlled by miR-204-5p in the course of NSCLC were identified by estimated target prediction and analysis. The regulatory network of miR-204-5p, with its target genes and transcription factors (TFs), was structured from database evidence and literature references.Results: The expression of miR-204-5p was downregulated in NSCLC, and the downtrend was related to gender, histological type, vascular invasion, tumor size, clinicopathologic grade and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). MiR-204-5p was useful in prognosis, but was deemed unsuitable at present as an auxiliary diagnostic or prognostic risk factor for NSCLC due to the lack of statistical significance in meta-analyses and absence of large-scale investigations. Gene enrichment and annotation analyses identified miR-204-5p candidate targets that took part in various genetic activities and biological functions. The predicted TFs, like MAX, MYC, and RUNX1, interfered in regulatory networks involving miR-204-5p and its predicted hub genes, though a modulatory loop or axis of the miRNA-TF-gene that was out of range with shortage in database prediction, experimental proof and literature confirmation.Conclusions: The frequently observed decrease in miR-204-5p was helpful for NSCLC diagnosis. The estimated target genes and TFs contributed to the anti-oncogene effects of miR-204-5p. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Different intensities of exercises make different effects on human body, and the changes of skeletal muscle after exercise remain unclear. Physical change of human body during exercise is a hotspot. METHODS: The study was approved by the Laboratory Animal Ethical Committee of Beijing Sport University. Twenty-four healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats aged 8 weeks were randomly divided into three groups: control, moderate-intensity exercise (5°, 15 m/min, 1 hour, 60% VO2max) and high-intensity exercise (5°, 35m/min, 20 minutes, 85% VO2max) groups (n=8/group), 6 times weekly. The rat soleus and gastrocnemius were removed to measure the wet weights. The cross-sectional area of muscle fiber was detected by immunofluorescence. The protein expression levels of BNIP3, p62 and LC3 in the soleus and gastrocnemius were detected by western blot assay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) The wet weight of gastrocnemius in the exercise groups was significantly lower than that in the control group (P < 0.01). (2) The cross-sectional area of gastrocnemius fiber in the exercise groups was significantly less than that in the control group (P < 0.01), and the cross-sectional area of soleus fiber in the exercise groups was significantly more than that in the control group (P < 0.01 ). (3) The moderate-intensity exercise induced increased mitophagy, and the expression level of BNIP3 and LC3-II/LC3-I were up-regulated (P < 0.05), while p62 was down-regulated (P < 0.05) compared with the control group. The expression level of LC3-II/LC3-I in the high-intensity exercise group was higher (P < 0.05), but the expression level of p62 was lower than that in the moderate-intensity exercise group and the expression of BNIP3 was decreased (P < 0.05). (4) To conclude, 4-week moderate-intensity exercise can promote the removal of damaged mitochondria and maintain skeletal muscle function by increasing BNIP3-regulated mitophagy in skeletal muscle. In high-intensity exercise, the level of autophagy is higher, but will cause harmful effect on skeletal muscle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]