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Background:Myocardial infarction (MI) is a common cardiovascular disease with a high fatality rate once accompanied by cardiogenic shock. The efficacy of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in treating MI is controversial. Methods:MI was induced by ligating the left anterior descending artery (LAD) in adult male rats. Groups were defined as follows: MI group, reperfusion for 90 min after 30 min of LAD occlusion; MI + ECMO group, reperfusion and ECMO were performed for 90 min immediately after 30 min of LAD occlusion; prolonged MI + ECMO group, ECMO was used immediately after 30 min of occlusion with persistent occlusion of the LAD for an additional 30 min, followed by 90 min of reperfusion. The myocardial infarct size and mitochondrial morphology and function data were collected and compared of each group. Results:The ECMO groups had a smaller myocardial infarct size and larger percentage ejection fraction. Compared with the prolonged MI + ECMO group, the immediate reperfusion group had a lower percentage of infarct size (63.28% vs. 17.97% vs. 31.22%, MI vs. MI + ECMO vs. prolonged MI + ECMO). Mitochondria isolated from the ischemic zone showed an intact mitochondrial structure, including fewer voids and broken cristae, and preserved activity of mitochondrial complex II and complex IV in ECMO groups. Conclusions:ECMO support in MI can reduce myocardial injury despite delayed coronary reperfusion.

A high performance electroless Ni–P–Si3N4–TiN multi-nanocomposite coating was prepared on the surface of AZ31 Mg alloy. The results showed that the surface morphology of this multi-nanocomposite coating exhibits a uniform nodular structure, and the nodular size decreases clearly while increasing TiN nanoparticle concentrations to 2 g/L in the bath, resulting in the finest size of approximately 3 μm. Furthermore, the incorporation of TiN nanoparticles and Si3N4nanowires into the Ni–P matrix can significantly enhance the microhardness and reduce the friction coefficient of the multi-nanocomposite coatings. The maximum hardness value of 921.4 HV200and lowest friction coefficient of 0.54 as well as minimum wear weight loss of 0.7 mg can be also reached at a TiN nanoparticle concentration of 2 g/L.

Multi-fidelity simulations incorporate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models into a thermodynamic model, enabling the simulation of the overall performance of an entire gas turbine with high-fidelity components. Traditional iterative coupled methods rely on characteristic maps, while fully coupled methods directly incorporate high-fidelity simulations. However, fully coupled methods face challenges in simulating rotating components, including weak convergence and complex implementation. To address these challenges, a fully coupled method with logarithmic transformations was developed to directly integrate high-fidelity CFD models of multiple rotating components. The developed fully coupled method was then applied to evaluate the overall performance of a KJ66 micro gas turbine across various off-design simulations. The developed fully coupled method was also compared with the traditional iterative coupled method. Furthermore, experimental data from ground tests were conducted to verify its effectiveness. The convergence history indicated that the proposed fully coupled method exhibited stable convergence, even under far-off-design simulations. The experimental verification demonstrated that the multi-fidelity simulation with the fully coupled method achieved high accuracy in off-design conditions. Further analysis revealed inherent differences in the coupling methods of CFD models between the developed fully coupled and traditional iterative coupled methods. These inherent differences provide valuable insights for reducing errors between the component-level model and CFD models in different coupling methods. The developed fully coupled method, introducing logarithmic transformations, offers more realistic support for the detailed and optimal design of high-fidelity rotating components within the overall performance platform of gas turbines.

In this paper, a diffuser passage compressor design is introduced via optimization to improve the aerodynamic performance of the exit rotor in a multistage axial compressor. An in-house design optimization platform, based on genetic algorithm and back propagation neural network surrogate model, is constructed to perform the optimization. The optimization parameters include diffusion angle of meridian passage, diffusion length of meridian passage, change of blade camber angle and blade number. The impacts of these design parameters on efficiency and stability improvement are analyzed based on the optimization database. Two optimized diffuser passage compressor designs are selected from the optimization solution set by comprehensively considering efficiency and stability of the rotor, and the influencing mechanisms on efficiency and stability are further studied. The simulation results show that the application of diffuser passage compressor design can improve the load coefficient by 12.1% and efficiency by 1.28% at the design mass flow rate condition, and the stall margin can be improved by 12.5%. According to the local entropy generation model analysis, despite the upper and lower endwall loss of the diffuser passage rotor are increased, the profile loss is reduced compared with the original rotor. The efficiency of the diffuser passage rotor can be influenced by both loss and load. At the near stall condition, decreasing flow blockage at blade root region can improve the stall margin of the diffuser passage rotor.

Autologous fat grafting and facial liposuction are widely used to reshape facial contours. But up to now, there is no surgical design idea for Asian women. The article aimed to provide a facial esthetic design to guide the combined operation of facial liposuction and fat grafting for Asians, that is, the "three-line and nine-point" design method. In retrospective reviews, the surgical results of clinical practice were satisfactory, and a more attractive facial appearance was obtained. Our technique can easily be learnt and can be mastered by the most well-qualified plastic surgeons for satisfactory outcomes.

Drug resistance is a key factor in the treatment failure of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) plays a crucial role in tumor chemotherapy resistance. However, the potential mechanism of Nrf2 regulating DNA mismatch repair (MMR) pathway to mediate gene-instability drug resistance in AML is still unclear. Here, it was found that Nrf2 expression was closely related to the disease progression of AML as well as highly expressed in AML patients with poor prognostic gene mutations. Meanwhile, it was also found that the expression of Nrf2 was significantly negatively correlated with DNA MMR gene replication factor C4 (RFC4) in AML. CHIP analysis combined with luciferase reporter gene results further showed that Nrf2 may inhibit the expression of RFC4 by its interaction with the RFC4 promoter. In vitro and vivo experiments showed that the overexpression of Nrf2 decreased the killing effect of chemotherapy drug cytarabine (Ara-C) on leukemia cells and inhibited the expression of RFC4. Mechanistically, The result that Nrf2-RFC4 axis mediated AML genetic instability drug resistance might be received by activating the JNK/NF-κB signaling pathway. Taken together, these findings may provide a new idea for improving AML drug resistance.

C22H22N2O2S4, triclinic, P1‾$P\overline{1}$ (no. 2), a= 8.4865(14) Å, b= 11.756(2) Å, c= 12.863(2) Å, α= 69.693(2)°, β= 70.812(2)°, γ= 72.170(2)°, V= 1109.6(3) Å3, Z= 2, Rgt(F) = 0.0280, wRref(F2) = 0.0753, T = 296(2) K.

Genome-wide physical protein–protein interaction(PPI) mapping remains a major challenge for current technologies. Here, we reported a high-efficiency BiFC-seq method, yeast-enhanced green fluorescent protein-based bimolecular fluorescence complementation(yEGFP-BiFC) coupled with next-generation DNA sequencing, for interactome mapping. We first applied yEGFP-BiFC method to systematically investigate an intraviral network of the Ebola virus. Two-thirds (9/14) of known interactions of EBOV were recaptured, and five novel interactions were discovered. Next, we used the BiFC-seq method to map the interactome of the tumor protein p53. We identified 97 interactors of p53, more than three-quarters of which were novel. Furthermore, in a more complex background, we screened potential interactors by pooling two BiFC libraries together and revealed a network of 229 interactions among 205 proteins. These results show that BiFC-seq is a highly sensitive, rapid, and economical method for genome-wide interactome mapping.

ObjectiveFollistatin-like protein 1 (FSTL1) is widely recognised as a secreted glycoprotein, but its role in modulating macrophage-related inflammation during liver fibrosis has not been documented. Herein, we aimed to characterise the roles of macrophage FSTL1 in the development of liver fibrosis.DesignExpression analysis was conducted with human liver samples obtained from 33 patients with liver fibrosis and 18 individuals without fibrosis serving as controls. Myeloid-specific FSTL1-knockout (FSTL1M-KO) mice were constructed to explore the function and mechanism of macrophage FSTL1 in 3 murine models of liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride injection, bile duct ligation or a methionine-deficient and choline-deficient diet.ResultsFSTL1 expression was significantly elevated in macrophages from fibrotic livers of both humans and mice. Myeloid-specific FSTL1 deficiency effectively attenuated the progression of liver fibrosis. In FSTL1M-KOmice, the microenvironment that developed during liver fibrosis showed relatively less inflammation, as demonstrated by attenuated infiltration of monocytes/macrophages and neutrophils and decreased expression of proinflammatory factors. FSTL1M-KOmacrophages exhibited suppressed proinflammatory M1 polarisation and nuclear factor kappa B pathway activation in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, this study showed that, through its FK domain, FSTL1 bound directly to the pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2). Interestingly, FSTL1 promoted PKM2 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation, reduced PKM2 ubiquitination to enhance PKM2-dependent glycolysis and increased M1 polarisation. Pharmacological activation of PKM2 (DASA-58) partially countered FSTL1-mediated glycolysis and inflammation.ConclusionMacrophage FSTL1 promotes the progression of liver fibrosis by inducing M1 polarisation and inflammation based on the intracellular PKM2 reprogramming function of macrophages.

The current study investigated whether a Rho-kinase inhibitor alleviated impairments in a rat model of chronic cerebral ischemia and examined the specific pathological mechanisms by which Rho-kinase impacts neuronal damage and cognitive dysfunction. Adult Sprague–Dawley rats underwent permanent bilateral carotid artery occlusion (BCAO) to establish our chronic cerebral ischemia model. Chronic Y27632 administration reversed the abnormal behaviors of BCAO-treated rats in the Morris water maze. We performed Western blot analyses of the apoptosis-related proteins Bcl-2 and Bax to examine the potential mechanism underlying the beneficial effects of Y27632 on cerebral ischemia and showed for the first time that Y27632 reversed the decrease in the Bcl-2/Bax ratio in BCAO model rats. Y27632 restored the depression of NR2A- and NR2B-containing N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) in the cerebral cortex of BCAO model rats. We also investigated these effects on middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model rats and observed some differences between the two models. In summary, our data provide evidence supporting the hypothesis that Rho-kinase inhibitors exert neuroprotective effects on cerebral ischemia. The Bcl-2/Bax-NMDAR signaling pathway in the cerebral cortex may be responsible for the protective effects of the Rho-kinase inhibitor, and this pathway may represent a pharmacological target for curative clinical strategies.

Iterative coupled methods are widely used in multi-fidelity simulation of rotating components due to the simple implementation, which iteratively eliminates the errors between the computational fluid dynamics models and approximate characteristic maps. However, the convergence and accuracy of the iterative coupled method are trapped in characteristic maps. In particular, iterative steps increase sharply as the operation point moves away from the design point. To address these problems, this paper developed an auxiliary iterative coupled method that introduces the static-pressure-auxiliary characteristic maps and modification factor of mass flow into the component-level model. The developed auxiliary method realized the direct transfer of static pressure between the high-fidelity models and the component-level model. Multi-fidelity simulations of the throttle characteristics were carried out using both the auxiliary and traditional iterative coupled methods, and the simulation results were verified using the experimental data. Additionally, the consistency between the auxiliary and traditional iterative coupled methods was confirmed. Subsequently, multi-fidelity simulations of the speed and altitude characteristics were also conducted. The auxiliary and traditional iterative coupled methods were evaluated in terms of convergence speed and accuracy. The evaluation indicated that the auxiliary iterative coupled method significantly reduces iterative steps by approximately 50% at the near-choked state. In general, the auxiliary iterative coupled method is preferred as a development of the traditional iterative coupled method in the near-choked state, and the combined auxiliary-traditional iterative coupled method provides support for successful multi-fidelity simulation in far-off-design conditions.

AimsThe aim of this study was to further evaluate the accuracy of ten promising synovial biomarkers (bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI), lactoferrin (LTF), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), neutrophil elastase 2 (ELA-2), α-defensin, cathelicidin LL-37 (LL-37), human β-defensin (HBD-2), human β-defensin 3 (HBD-3), D-dimer, and procalcitonin (PCT)) for the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI), and to investigate whether inflammatory joint disease (IJD) activity affects their concentration in synovial fluid.MethodsWe included 50 synovial fluid samples from patients with (n = 25) and without (n = 25) confirmed PJI from an institutional tissue bank collected between May 2015 and December 2016. We also included 22 synovial fluid samples aspirated from patients with active IJD presenting to Department of Rheumatology, the first Medical Centre, Chinese PLA General Hospital. Concentrations of the ten candidate biomarkers were measured in the synovial fluid samples using standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). The diagnostic accuracy was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.ResultsBPI, LTF, NGAL, ELA-2, and α-defensin were well-performing biomarkers for detecting PJI, with areas under the curve (AUCs) of 1.000 (95% confidence interval, 1.000 to 1.000), 1.000 (1.000 to 1.000), 1.000 (1.000 to 1.000), 1.000 (1.000 to 1.000), and 0.998 (0.994 to 1.000), respectively. The other markers (LL-37, HBD-2, D-dimer, PCT, and HBD-3) had limited diagnostic value. For the five well-performing biomarkers, elevated concentrations were observed in patients with active IJD. The original best thresholds determined by the Youden index, which discriminated PJI cases from non-PJI cases could not discriminate PJI cases from active IJD cases, while elevated thresholds resulted in good performance.ConclusionBPI, LTF, NGAL, ELA-2, and α-defensin demonstrated excellent performance for diagnosing PJI. However, all five markers showed elevated concentrations in patients with IJD activity. For patients with IJD, elevated thresholds should be considered to accurately diagnose PJI.Cite this article: Bone Joint J2021;103-B(1):32–38.

Hip aspirations used to detect a periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) are usually performed under fluoroscopy or ultrasound. The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of simply using anatomic landmarks for aspiration and detecting PJI without the use of any complicated technologies. The authors retrospectively reviewed a total of 186 consecutive hip aspirations performed between April 2015 and December 2018. All patients were suspected to have infections after total hip arthroplasty. The procedures were performed with the patients in the supine position. The authors aimed to aspirate at the neck of the prosthesis. They located the y-axis of the puncture point approximately 2 to 3 cm lateral to the pulse of the femoral artery in the region of the inguinal ligament. The x-axis was estimated by using the pubic symphysis or greater trochanter according to an anteroposterior radiograph of the hip joint. The aspiration failure rate, incidence of complications, and culture results were recorded. The overall aspiration failure rate was 3.8% (7 of 186). No obvious complications related to aspiration were observed. The saline lavage and reaspiration rate was 45.3% (81 of 179) due to “dry taps.” The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the remaining 169 patients with definite diagnoses were 0.781 (95% CI, 0.678–0.860), 0.939 (95% CI, 0.857–0.977), 0.931 (95% CI, 0.841–0.975), and 0.802 (95% CI, 0.706–0.874), respectively. Anatomic landmark-guided hip aspiration was a convenient method that could provide satisfactory detection of PJI. [Hip aspirations used to detect a periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) are usually performed under fluoroscopy or ultrasound. The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of simply using anatomic landmarks for aspiration and detecting PJI without the use of any complicated technologies. The authors retrospectively reviewed a total of 186 consecutive hip aspirations performed between April 2015 and December 2018. All patients were suspected to have infections after total hip arthroplasty. The procedures were performed with the patients in the supine position. The authors aimed to aspirate at the neck of the prosthesis. They located the y-axis of the puncture point approximately 2 to 3 cm lateral to the pulse of the femoral artery in the region of the inguinal ligament. The x-axis was estimated by using the pubic symphysis or greater trochanter according to an anteroposterior radiograph of the hip joint. The aspiration failure rate, incidence of complications, and culture results were recorded. The overall aspiration failure rate was 3.8% (7 of 186). No obvious complications related to aspiration were observed. The saline lavage and reaspiration rate was 45.3% (81 of 179) due to “dry taps.” The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the remaining 169 patients with definite diagnoses were 0.781 (95% CI, 0.678–0.860), 0.939 (95% CI, 0.857–0.977), 0.931 (95% CI, 0.841–0.975), and 0.802 (95% CI, 0.706–0.874), respectively. Anatomic landmark-guided hip aspiration was a convenient method that could provide satisfactory detection of PJI. [Orthopedics. 2021;44(1):e85–e90.]

The deep integration of computing, communication, and information technologies not only improves the operation level of the power grid, but also brings the threat of cyber-attacks on the power grid. This article studies power communication network topology planning problem considering both the normal operation level and the ability to against cyber-attacks from the perspective of information transmission reachability. First, by analyzing the game relationship between ensuring the normal operation level and defending against cyber-attacks, a framework of power communication network topology planning based on game theory is proposed. In this framework, the traditional planner tries to maximize the information transmission reachability of normal operation, while the anti-cyber-attack planner wants to minimize the information transmission reachability of cyber-attacks. Second, considering whether there are uncertainties in the planning, a deterministic topology planning model is proposed for the traditional planner, and an uncertainty topology planning model is proposed for the anti-cyber-attack planner. Third, considering the competition between the two planners, an improved particle swarm algorithm is introduced to solve the models. Finally, a standard example and a practical power communication network are used to verify the correction and effectiveness of the method.

Background and Aims: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has become the primary option for the treatment of early gastric cancer (EGC). Thus, it is necessary to diagnose whether residual cancer cells exist in the ESD specimen margins, which can affect tumor recurrence and survival rates in the future. Multiphoton microscopy (MPM) can be suitably used for nondestructive imaging of biological tissue on a cellular level to enable real-time guidance during endoscopic therapy. Considering this, the objective of this study is to explore the practicality of MPM for the diagnosis of ESD specimen margins in the case of EGC. Methods: First, a total of 20 surgical samples was imaged using the proposed MPM technique to obtain two-photo excited fluorescence signal from the intrinsic fluorescent substances within cells and second-harmonic generation signal from collagen; these signals were used to determine MPM pathological features for margin diagnosis. Then, a double-blind study of 50 samples was conducted to evaluate the diagnosis results based on the obtained MPM pathological features. Results: Multiphoton microscopy can accurately identify the cytological and morphological differences between tissue in the negative and positive margin. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, negative predictive, and positive predictive values of MPM in the diagnosis of ESD specimen margins were 97.62, 75.00, 94.00, 95.35, and 85.71%, respectively. Conclusion: These results indicate that MPM can be used as an effective, real-time, and label-free novel method to determine intraoperative resection margins.

To explore the feasibility of diagnosing microvascular invasion (MVI) with radiomics, to compare the diagnostic performance of different models established by each method, and to determine the best diagnostic model based on radiomics. A retrospective analysis was conducted with 206 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) confirmed through surgery and pathology in our hospital from June 2015 to September 2018. Among the samples, 88 were MVI-positive, and 118 were MVI-negative. The radiomics analysis process included tumor segmentation, feature extraction, data preprocessing, dimensionality reduction, modeling and model evaluation. A total of 1044 sets of texture feature parameters were extracted, and 21 methods were used for the radiomics analysis. All research methods could be used to diagnose MVI. Of all the methods, the LASSO+GBDT method had the highest accuracy, the LASSO+RF method had the highest sensitivity, the LASSO+BPNet method had the highest specificity, and the LASSO+GBDT method had the highest AUC. Through Z-tests of the AUCs, LASSO+GBDT, LASSO+K-NN, LASSO+RF, PCA + DT, and PCA + RF had Z-values greater than 1.96 (p<0.05). The DCA results showed that the LASSO + GBDT method was better than the other methods when the threshold probability was greater than 0.22. Radiomics can be used for the preoperative, noninvasive diagnosis of MVI, but different dimensionality reduction and modeling methods will affect the diagnostic performance of the final model. The model established with the LASSO+GBDT method had the optimal diagnostic performance and the greatest diagnostic value for MVI.

With the construction of the “3-level, 3-vertical-line, and 1-circle” power backbone in China, it’s stricter and stricter on relay protection system and security and stability control system (SSCS) for reliable power transmission. Lots of blackouts in the world had happened, one main reason for which is the hidden failures of relay protection system or SSCS. Much work had been done about the hidden failure of relay protection, including classification, probability model, analysis methods of effects on power grid, and monitoring measures, which was summarized in the paper. The operation experiences of SSCS indicated that there might be hidden failures in five links of the security and stability control device (SSCD), e.g. measuring, control strategy, setting, communication and voting pattern. In addition, the coordination hidden failure among relay protection system, SSCS, and power plant’s parameters related to the power grid was pointed out for more attention. In the future, amounts of work will be expected to be conducted on hidden failure: model building, assessment methods, application of research achievements, operation management of secondary equipment, and coordination problem between the relay protection system and the SSCS.

Background: In our previous study, CD56briCD27+CD11b+/- NK cells show the potential of the remission of aGvHD, while the mechanism behind it is still unknown. Thus, in the present study, samples from patient after allo-HSCT within 100 days has been investigated deeply.

Background and objective：Adult B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia（B-ALL）has historically had a dismal prognosis, with limited treatment options and cure rates less than 40%. Only 25% of patients older than 50 years old were alive 5 years after diagnosis, highlighting the need for further improvements in treatment for older adult patients (≥40 years). Recently years, genome profiling revealed that cancer cells frequently depend on chromatin regulatory activities to maintain a malignant phenotype and proliferation. Brahma-related gene 1（BRG1）, a core catalytic ATPase subunits of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodelling complex, has been reported to support oncogenic transcriptional program and sustain leukaemogenic transformation in leukemia. However, the specific role and mechanisms of BRG1 in B-ALL development and progression remains largely unknown. Therefore, elucidating the underlying maintenance mechanisms is essential to develop novel effective treatment strategies.

Tampering, forgery and theft of the measurement and control messages in a smart grid could cause one breakdown in the power system. However, no security measures are employed for communications in intelligent substations. Communication services in an intelligent substation have high demands for real-time performance, which must be considered when deploying security measures. This paper studies the security requirements of communication services in intelligent substations, analyzes the security capabilities and shortages of IEC 62351, and proposes a novel security scheme for intelligent substation communications. This security scheme covers internal and telecontrol communications, in which the real-time performance of each security measure is considered. In this scheme, certificateless public key cryptography (CLPKC) is used to avoid the latency of certificate exchange in certificate-based cryptosystem and the problem of key escrow in identity-based cryptosystem; the security measures of generic object-oriented substation event, sampled measure value and manufacturing message specification in IEC 62351 are improved to meet the real-time requirements of the messages as well as to provide new security features to resist repudiation and replay attacks; and the security at transport layer is modified to fit CLPKC, which implements mutual authentication by exchanging signatures. Furthermore, a deployment of CLPKC in an intelligent substation is presented. We also evaluate the security properties of the scheme and analyze the end-to-end delays of secured services by combining theoretical calculation and simulation in this paper. The results indicate that the proposed scheme meets the requirements of security and real-time performance of communications in intelligent substations.

We have developed a reflective LCD with full color video image and low power consumption. By combining a new twisted VA‐LC mode, a silver alloy electrode with micro reflective structure (MRS), and IGZO‐TFT technology, a 22‐inch prototype has achieved excellent optical properties and flicker‐less 1Hz driving.

•Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) mixed convection under heat source with wall effect is studied numerically.•Wall effect dominates the jet flow at low Grashof and high wall conductance ratio.•The stronger wall effect near cold wall would result in a temperature accumulation at corner.•Flow channel insert (FCI) soaked in metal liquid for a long time would greatly increase the pressure drop.

Introduction: Sexual activity is often an important component of life. To date, no studies have examined sexual activity before and after total hip arthroplasty (THA) in male patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effect of THA on sexual activity and to explore the most commonly reported and comfortable coital position for male AS patients with hip involvement.Methods: Data from 31 male AS patients who underwent THA for hip involvement were retrospectively reviewed. Information from the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), the Harris Hip Score (HHS) and other clinical parameters was collected and monitored over time. We compared the above-mentioned parameters before surgery and 2 years after surgery and analysed the correlation between changes on the IIEF and changes in clinical parameters.Results: The domain and total scores of the IIEF, except EF, were significantly higher after surgery than were those before surgery (p< 0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between changes on the IIEF and improvement in flexion-extension range of motion (ROM), adduction-abduction ROM and HHS (p< 0.05). Most patients (26/31, 83.9%) resumed sexual activity 5–12 weeks after surgery. The pre- and postoperative distributions of the most commonly reported and comfortable position were not significantly different (p> 0.05).Conclusions: Successful THA may improve sexual activity in male AS patients with hip involvement. Changes in hip ROM show the most significant correlation with improvement in sexual activity. Resumption of sexual activity occurs within 5–12 postoperative weeks.

Background: Valproic acid (VPA) as a widely used primary medication in the treatment of epilepsy is associated with reversible or irreversible hepatotoxicity. Long-term VPA therapy is also related to increased risk for the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In this review, metabolic elimination pathways of VPA in the liver and underlying mechanisms of VPA-induced hepatotoxicity are discussed. Methods: We searched in PubMed for manuscripts published in English, combining terms such as “Valproic acid”, “hepatotoxicity”, “liver injury”, and “mechanisms”. The data of screened papers were analyzed and summarized. Results: The formation of VPA reactive metabolites, inhibition of fatty acid β-oxidation, excessive oxidative stress and genetic variants of some enzymes, such as CPS1, POLG, GSTs, SOD2, UGTs and CYPs genes, have been reported to be associated with VPA hepatotoxicity. Furthermore, carnitine supplementation and antioxidants administration proved to be positive treatment strategies for VPA-induced hepatotoxicity. Conclusion: Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and routine liver biochemistry monitoring during VPA-therapy, as well as genotype screening for certain patients before VPA administration, could improve the safety profile of this antiepileptic drug.

Numerous advances have been made in prosthesis design, instrumentation and postoperative rehabilitation for unicompartmental knee arthroplasty; however, only 70–86% of patients are satisfied with the functional outcome and revision rates range between 10% and 20%. The primary outcome for this meta-analysis was implantation accuracy of component positioning and tibiofemoral component safe zone. A total of three randomized controlled trials (RCT), three quasi-RCTs and one prospective trial were included in this review. It was found that the use of robotic-assisted systems reduces implantation errors without an increase in adverse events. There are only a few reports about clinical outcome and long-term follow-up and whether the more accurate component positioning results in a better clinical effect or a better long-term survival of the implants is unknown. Trotz vieler Fortschritte bezüglich des Prothesendesigns, Instrumentariums und der postoperativen Rehabilitation bei unikompartimentären Knieendoprothesen sind nur 70–86 % der Patienten mit dem funktionellen Outcome zufrieden; die Revisionsraten liegen zwischen 10 % und 20 %. Das primäre Outcome dieser Metaanalyse war die Genauigkeit der Positionierung von Komponenten bei Implantation sowie die Sicherheitszone bei tibiofemoralen Komponenten. Insgesamt 3 randomisierte kontrollierte Studien (RCT), drei Quasi-RCT und eine prospektive Studie wurden in diesen Review eingeschlossen. Es wurde festgestellt, dass die Verwendung roboterassistierter Systeme die Implantationsfehler reduziert, ohne dass die Zahl der unerwünschten Ereignisse steigt. Hinsichtlich des klinischen Outcomes und Langzeit-Follow-up liegen nur wenige Berichte vor. Ob eine genauere Positionierung der Komponenten bessere klinische Effekt oder eine längere Langzeithaltbarkeit der Implantate erzielt, ist unbekannt.

We have developed a novel transflective LCD providing good visibility under various circumstances and high productivity. To obtain high image qualities in both transmissive and reflective modes, the panel designs for the transflective LCD with a twisted VA mode were examined. We adopted them into a prototype and successfully fabricated a 31.5‐inch IGZO‐TFT LCD.

Lorentz force velocimetry (LFV) is a noncontact technique for measuring electrically conducting fluids based on the principle of electromagnetic induction. This work aims to answer the open and essential question of whether LFV can work properly under a surrounding external magnetic field (ExMF). Two types of ExMFs with different magnetic intensities were examined: a magnetic field with a typical order of 0.4 T generated by a permanent magnet (PM) and another generated by an electromagnet (EM) on the order of 2 T. Two forces, including the magnetostatic force between the ExMF and PM in the LFV, and the Lorentz force generated by the PM in LFV were measured and analyzed in the experiment. In addition, ExMFs of varying strengths were added to the LFV, and the location of the LFV device in the iron cores of the EM was considered. The experimental outcomes demonstrate that it is possible for a LFV device to operate normally under a moderate ExMF. However, the magnetostatic force will account for a high proportion of the measured force, thus inhibiting the normal LFV operation, if the ExMF is too high.

Optimizing the operation of coal-fired power plants to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions requires accurate modeling of the NOxemission process. The careful selection of input parameters not only forms the basis of accurate modeling, but can also be used to reduce the complexity of the model. The present study employs the least squares support vector machine-supervised learning method to model NOxemissions based on historical real time data obtained from a 1000-MW once-through boiler. The initial input parameters are determined by expert knowledge and operational experience, while the final input parameters are obtained by sensitivity analysis, where the variation in model accuracy for a given set of data is analyzed as one or several input parameters are successively omitted from the calculations, while retaining all other parameters. Here, model accuracy is evaluated according to the mean relative error (MRE). This process reduces the parameters required for NOxemission modeling from an initial number of 33 to 7, while the corresponding MRE is reduced from 3.09% to 2.23%. Moreover, a correlation of 0.9566 between predicted and measured values was obtained by applying the model with just these seven input parameters to a validation dataset. As such, the proposed method for selecting input parameters serves as a reference for related studies.

The reliability of the leukocyte esterase (LE) strip test needs further investigation. A total of 204 joints suspected of having periprosthetic joint infection were enrolled from July 2014 to June 2016. One drop of synovial fluid extracted by joint aspiration was applied to LE strips. The results were recorded after 2 to 3 minutes according to the 5 color grades on the color chart (−neg, 25, 27, 250, and 500). A centrifuge was used before the LE strip test when the synovial fluid was mixed with blood. Based on the Musculoskeletal Infection Society criteria, 88 joints were diagnosed as being infected and 116 as not infected. On positive threshold comparison (500 vs 250), there was no statistically significant difference in sensitivity (92.0% vs 97.7%, The reliability of the leukocyte esterase (LE) strip test needs further investigation. A total of 204 joints suspected of having periprosthetic joint infection were enrolled from July 2014 to June 2016. One drop of synovial fluid extracted by joint aspiration was applied to LE strips. The results were recorded after 2 to 3 minutes according to the 5 color grades on the color chart (−neg, 25, 27, 250, and 500). A centrifuge was used before the LE strip test when the synovial fluid was mixed with blood. Based on the Musculoskeletal Infection Society criteria, 88 joints were diagnosed as being infected and 116 as not infected. On positive threshold comparison (500 vs 250), there was no statistically significant difference in sensitivity (92.0% vs 97.7%, P=.0736), but specificity was significantly increased in the 500 group (93.1% vs 80.2%, P=.0003). When only 500 was considered positive, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 92.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 83.8%–96.5%), 93.1% (95% CI, 86.4%–96.8%), 91.0% (95% CI, 82.6%–95.8%), and 93.9% (95% CI, 87.4%–97.3%), respectively. Compared with white blood cell count, the LE strip test had similar sensitivity (93.2% vs 92.0%, P=1) and specificity (92.2% vs 93.1%, P=1). In cases using the centrifugation method, sensitivity and specificity also remained favorable. In this study, using 500 rather than 250 as the positive threshold increased accuracy. Compared with white blood cell count and polymorphonuclear neutrophil percentage, the LE strip test has excellent sensitivity and specificity and is reliable. Synovial fluid centrifugation is an effective means of overcoming interference from erythrocytes. [Orthopedics.2018; 41(2):e189–e193.]

Objective To explore stable and functional microRNA (miRNA)–disease relationships using a genome-wide expression profile pattern matching strategy.Methods We applied the ranked microarray pattern matching strategy Gene Set Enrichment Analysis to identify miRNA permutations with similar expression patterns to diseases. We also used quantitative reverse transcription PCR to validate the predicted expression levels of miRNAs in three diseases: inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), oesophageal cancer, and colorectal cancer.Results We found that hsa-miR-200 c was upregulated more than 40-fold in oesophageal cancer. The expression of miR-16 and miR-124 was not consistently upregulated in IBD or colorectal cancer.Conclusions Our results suggest that this expression profile matching strategy can be used to identify functional miRNA–disease relationships.

This study aimed to construct the dual-gene expression vector pHsa-miR16-siRNA which can express human miR-16 and HBV X siRNA, and examine its regulatory effect on HBV gene expression in the HepG2.2.15 cell line. The expression vectors siR-1583 and pHsa-miR16-siRNA were designed and constructed. HepG2.2.15 cells were transfected with the empty vector, siR-1583, pmiR-16 and pHsa-miR16-siRNA, respectively. ELISA was performed to measure the expression of HBsAg and HBeAg in the culture supernatant 48 and72 h post transfection. Fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to measure the HBV mRNA degradation efficiency and HBV DNA copy number. The results showed that the expression of HBV genes was significantly inhibited in HepG2.2.15 cells transfected with siR-1583, pmiR-16 and pHsa-miR16-siRNA, respectively, when compared with that in cells transfected with the empty vectors, with the inhibitory effect of pHsa-miR16-siRNA being the most significant. ELISA showed that the inhibitory rates of HBsAg and HBeAg in pHsa-miR16-siRNA transfected cells were correspondingly 87.3% and 85.0% at 48 h, and 88.6% and 86.5% at 72 h post transfection (P<0.01 vs. control group). RT-PCR showed that the level of HBV mRNA decreased by 80.2% (t=–99.22, P<0.01), the genomic HBV DNA by 92.8% (t=–73.06, P<0.01), and the supernatant of HBV DNA copy number by 89.8% (t=–47.13, P<0.01) in pHsa-miR16-siRNA transfected group. It was suggested that the dual-gene expression vector pHsa-miR16-siRNA can inhibit the replication of HBV more efficiently than a single-gene expression vector.

Although a variety of chemosensors as probes have been exploited for the detection of metal ions with high sensitivity and selectivity, the formed probe–metal complex was hardly suitable for separation, removal, and further recovery. This paper presents a method to detect and remove metal ions from aqueous solutions simultaneously by a fluorescence chemosensor and functional magnetic nanoparticles. A novel probe SRhB‐Azo was synthesized based on rhodamine B (RhB), maleic anhydride (MAH), and azobenzene (Azo). SRhB‐Azo showed high selectivity and sensitivity to Hg ions in aqueous solutions. Job's experiment showed the formation of a 1:2 stoichiometry complex between Hg2+and SRhB‐Azo. Moreover, β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD)‐modified magnetic nanoparticles (CD‐MNPs) were fabricated and used as host materials to form the inclusion complex CD–MNPand SRhB‐Azo–Hg2+. Then, the SRhB‐Azo‐Hg2+complex could be removed by an external magnet, and subsequently recovered by UV‐irradiation‐induced trans/cis isomerization of the Azo groups. The CD‐MNPs could be reused for nearly four times. Thus, the SRhB‐Azo probe and CD‐MNP systemhas great potential application in sewage treatment. A photoresponsive rhodamine derivative was used to detect and remove metal ions from aqueous solutions simultaneously and to further recover them by functional magnetic nanoparticles via host–guest interaction.

With large-scale development of distributed generation (DG) and its potential role in microgrids, the microgrid cluster (MGC) becomes a useful control model to assist the integration of DG. Considering that microgrids in a MGC, power dispatch optimization in a MGC is difficult to achieve. In this paper, a hybrid interactive communication optimization solution (HICOS) is suggested based on flexible communication, which could be used to solve plug-in or plug-out operation states of microgrids in MGC power dispatch optimization. HICOS consists of a hierarchical architecture: the upper layer uses distributed control among multiple microgrids, with no central controller for the MGC, and the lower layer uses a central controller for each microgrid. Based on flexible communication links among microgrids, the optimal iterative information are exchanged among microgrids, thus HICOS would gradually converge to the global optimal solution. While some microgrids plug-in or plug-out, communication links will be changed, so as to unsuccessfully reach optimal solution. Differing from changeless communication links in traditional communication networks, HICOS redefines the topology of flexible communication links to meet the requirement to reach the global optimal solutions. Simulation studies show that HICOS could effectively reach the global optimal dispatch solution with non-MGC center. Especially, facing to microgrids plug-in or plug-out states, HICOS would also reach the global optimal solution based on refined communication link topology.

In recent years, the microgrid has rapidly developed because of its advantages, such as easy integration of distributed renewable energy and flexibility in operation. The megawatt (MW)-level isolated microgrid, which is composed of photovoltaic (PV)/wind units, energy storage, and diesel/gas units, can solve power supply problems for remote areas without electricity; therefore, more countries and regions are developing this type of microgrid project. However, the cost of the microgrid is high and the microgrid control system is complicated, so economic and stability control issues have restricted the development of a large-scale isolated microgrid.

Leveraging molecular networks to discover disease-relevant modules is a long-standing challenge. With the accumulation of interactomes, there is a pressing need for powerful computational approaches to handle the inevitable noise and context-specific nature of biological networks. Here, we introduce Graphene, a two-step self-supervised representation learning framework tailored to concisely integrate multiple molecular networks and adapted to gene functional analysis via downstream re-training. In practice, we first leverage GNN (graph neural network) pre-training techniques to obtain initial node embeddings followed by re-training Graphene using a graph attention architecture, achieving superior performance over competing methods for pathway gene recovery, disease gene reprioritization, and comorbidity prediction. Graphene successfully recapitulates tissue-specific gene expression across disease spectrum and demonstrates shared heritability of common mental disorders. Graphene can be updated with new interactomes or other omics features. Graphene holds promise to decipher gene function under network context and refine GWAS (genome-wide association study) hits and offers mechanistic insights via decoding diseases from genome to networks to phenotypes.

Radioisotope-labeled prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET tracers have gained popularity in diagnosing prostate cancer (PCa). This study aimed to improve the affinity and tumor-targeting capabilities of new PSMA tracers by increasing the number of pharmacophores that specifically bind to PSMA. Using biphenyl as a core scaffold, we investigated the relationship among spacer segments, affinity, and pharmacokinetic properties. In preclinical PET studies on mice with 22Rv1 tumors, compared with [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11(SUVmax= 3.37), [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-D5(Ki= 0.15) showed higher tumor uptake (SUVmax= 3.51) and lower renal uptake (T/K = 1.84). In the first-in-human study, [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-D5effectively detected small PCa-associated lesions and distant metastases. The advantages of [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-D5include high tumor uptake, straightforward synthesis, and labeling, making it a promising PSMA PET tracer. Furthermore, [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-D5contains a DOTA chelator, allowing convenient labeling with therapeutic radionuclides such as 177Lu and 225Ac, providing the potential for targeted radioligand therapy in PCa.

Liver ischemia reperfusion activates innate immune system to drive the full development of inflammatory hepatocellular injury. Damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) stimulate myeloid and dendritic cells via pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) to initiate the immune response. Complex intracellular signaling network transduces inflammatory signaling to regulate both innate immune cell activation and parenchymal cell death. Recent studies have revealed that DAMPs may trigger not only proinflammatory but also immune regulatory responses by activating different PRRs or distinctive intracellular signaling pathways or in special cell populations. Additionally, tissue injury milieu activates PRR-independent receptors which also regulate inflammatory disease processes. Thus, the innate immune mechanism of liver ischemia-reperfusion injury involves diverse molecular and cellular interactions, subjected to both endogenous and exogenous regulation in different cells. A better understanding of these complicated regulatory pathways/network is imperative for us in designing safe and effective therapeutic strategy to ameliorate liver ischemia-reperfusion injury in patients.The authors summarize the mechanism of hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury on the activation of innate immune system and the regulatory pathways/network of liver graft injury.

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most professional antigen-presenting cells eliciting cellular and humoral immune responses against cancer cells by expressing these antigens on MHC class I/II complexes to T cells. Therefore, they have been employed in many clinical trials as cancer vaccines for patients with cancer. This review focuses on the use of DCs in leukemia patients expressing leukemia-associated antigens (LAAs).Areas covered: The contribution of both stimulating vs. tolerogenic DCs as well as of other factors to the milieu of anti-leukemia immune responses are discussed. Several DC vaccination strategies like leukemia lysate, proteins and peptides have been developed. Next generation DC vaccines comprise transduction of DCs with retroviral vectors encoding for LAAs, cytokines and costimulatory molecules as well as transfection of DCs with naked RNA encoding for LAAs. Published as well as ongoing clinical trials are reported and critically reviewed.Expert opinion: Future results will demonstrate whether next-generation DCs are really superior to conventional pulsing with peptide, protein or tumor lysate. However, currently available methods based on nucleic acid transfection/transduction are tempting in terms of material production costs and time for clinical application according to good manufacturing practice (GMP).

Social media receive increasing attention as a crowdsourced information resource in traffic operations and management. Tweets, which are blogged and shared by great masses of people, may be associated with some major social activities. In this study these tweets are called “Twitter concentrations.” The public activities behind Twitter concentrations potentially pose more pressure on the traffic network and cause traffic surges within a specified time and location. However, it is still unknown how closely the Twitter concentrations and traffic surges are correlated. This study fuses a set of tweets and traffic data collected during 2014 in Northern Virginia and investigates the correlation between Twitter concentrations and traffic surges in July. The results show the promise and effectiveness of the proposed methods and even provide insights into the causality of nonrecurrent traffic surges.

The locking plate and percutaneous crossing metallic screws and crossing absorbable screws have been used clinically to treat intra-articular calcaneal fractures, but little is known about the biomechanical differences between them. This study compared the biomechanical stability of calcaneal fractures fixed using a locking plate and crossing screws. Three-dimensional finite-element models of intact and fractured calcanei were developed based on the CT images of a cadaveric sample. Surgeries were simulated on models of Sanders type III calcaneal fractures to produce accurate postoperative models fixed by the three implants. A vertical force was applied to the superior surface of the subtalar joint to simulate the stance phase of a walking gait. This model was validated by an in vitroexperiment using the same calcaneal sample. The intact calcaneus showed greater stiffness than the fixation models. Of the three fixations, the locking plate produced the greatest stiffness and the highest von Mises stress peak. The micromotion of the fracture fixated with the locking plate was similar to that of the fracture fixated with the metallic screws but smaller than that fixated with the absorbable screws. Fixation with both plate and crossing screws can be used to treat intra-articular calcaneal fractures. In general, fixation with crossing metallic screws is preferable because it provides sufficient stability with less stress shielding.