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A dual‐band and a triple‐band balun bandpass filters (BPFs) are proposed in this paper, using open‐circuited stubs loaded on ring resonators. The proposed baluns are in general composed of three parallel‐coupled lines and a ring resonator loaded with open‐circuited stubs. The design concept originates from the dual‐band characteristics of a uniform ring resonator. In order to achieve the triple‐band balun, four open‐circuited stubs are loaded on the uniform ring resonator to separate the two transmission poles. Afterward, the odd‐ and even‐mode equivalent models of the proposed circuit were analyzed, and the relationship between the odd‐ and even‐mode resonance points and frequency was plotted to confirm the adjustable dual‐ and triple‐band characteristics of the model. To further demonstrate the validity of the proposed balun prototype, a dual‐band balun BPF and a triple‐band balun BPF are designed and fabricated. The measurement exhibits the dual‐band balun BPF (3.41/6.88 GHz) amplitude imbalance (AI) lower than ±0.6 dB and phase imbalance (PI) lower than ±4°, the triple‐band balun BPF (3.19/5.82/7.17 GHz) AI lower than ±0.7 dB and PI lower than ±7°. The circuit proposed in this paper can be used to design both dual‐band and triple‐band balun BPFs simultaneously. The designed triple‐band balun BPF has advantages such as miniaturization and low amplitude imbalance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Free acids commonly exist in anhydride and esters because they are unstable and tend to break down into free acids, which affect the quality of subsequent products in industrial production. Phthalic anhydride and ethyl acetate undergo hydrolysis reactions to form phthalic acid and acetic acid. A differential pulse voltammetry method for the determination of phthalic acid and acetic acid was developed with a bare glassy carbon electrode. Phthalic acid and acetic acid caused a new cathodic peak at more positive potential during the reduction of 1,4‐benzoquinone in acetonitrile or aqueous solution. The new peaks are attributed to the drastic increase in pH at the electrode surface caused by the consumption of protons in the benzoquinone reduction reaction. The peak current of the new cathodic peak was dependent on the concentration of phthalic acid and acetic acid but independent of BQ, phthalic anhydride, and ethyl acetate. This method does not cause hydrolysis of anhydride and ester because no external base is introduced. Furthermore, the method is sensitive, rapid, and does not require pretreatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Error management is an important element of organizational management research, and organizational error tolerance has gradually received attention from researchers in recent years. Most previous studies concluded that organizational error tolerance positively affects both the perceived organizational support and job performance of public sector employees, but few have examined the relationship between organizational error tolerance and change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior.Methods: This research examines how organizational error tolerance affects change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior using an experimental approach (Study 1, N = 162 and Study 2, N = 228) and a field survey approach (Study 3, N = 377).Results: The results indicate that organizational error tolerance increases psychological empowerment, which in turn increases change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior. Public service motivation plays a moderating role in this process. Specifically, the positive mediating effect of organizational error tolerance on change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior through psychological empowerment was not significant when the level of public service motivation was high, while it was significant when the level of public service motivation was low.Conclusion: This study clarifies the mechanism and boundary conditions of the effect of organizational error tolerance on change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior, provides a more comprehensive and dialectical perspective for research on organizational error tolerance, and extends research on psychological empowerment and change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bulb formation of Lilium is affected by many physiological and biochemical phenomena, including flower bud differentiation, starch and sucrose accumulation, photoperiod, carbon fixation, plant hormone transduction, etc. The transcriptome analysis of flower buds of Lilium hybrid 'Siberia' at different maturity stages showed that floral bud formation is associated with the accumulation of anthocyanins. The results of HPLC-MS showed that cyanidin is the major anthocyanin found in Lilium 'Siberia'. Transcriptome KEGG enrichment analysis and qRT-PCR validation showed that two genes related to flavonoid biosynthesis (LhANS-rr1 and LhDFR) were significantly up-regulated. The functional analysis of differential genes revealed that LhMYB114 was directly related to anthocyanin accumulation among 19 MYB transcription factors. Furthermore, the qRT-PCR results suggested that their expression patterns were very similar at different developmental stages of the lily bulbs. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) revealed that down-regulation of LhANS-rr1, LhDFR, and LhMYB114 could directly lead to a decrease in anthocyanin accumulation, turning the purple phenotype into a white color. Moreover, this is the first report to reveal that LhMYB114 can regulate anthocyanin accumulation at the mature stage of lily bulbs. The accumulation of anthocyanins is an important sign of lily maturity. Therefore, these findings have laid a solid theoretical foundation for further discussion on lily bulb development in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we studied the transmission properties, including photonic band gap (PBG) and defect mode properties, of one-dimensional photonic crystals (1D PCs) consisting of gradient materials. When keeping the average refractive index of the gradient materials in the 1D gradient-material PCs (1D GPCs) the same as the index of the corresponding normal materials in the 1D normal-material PCs (1D NPCs), by transfer matrix method, we found that the complete 1D GPCs with high-index gradient materials benefit to achieve larger omni-PBG than that in 1D NPCs. In our high-index gradient material case, for TE(TM) wave, the optimal omni-PBGs in 1D GPCs with first- and second-order gradient materials are 38.6% (50.2%) and 15.9% (22.3%) larger than that in 1D NPCs; while for the optimal relative bandwidths of omni-PBG, the corresponding promotions are 41.1% (52.3%) and 16.1% (22.6%), respectively. In addition, when defective 1D GPCs have gradient-material defect, the position of defect modes can be adjusted by selecting proper parameters of the gradient materials. These types of research are useful for designing wide PBG devices and tunable narrow-band filters which have potential application in optical communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a multifactorial condition involving the complex interplay of genomics, microbiota, immunology, environment, and personal behaviors, particularly diet. Methods and Study Design: A case--control study in a tertiary referral hospital. Fifty patients with IBD and 50 controls without gastrointestinal diseases were enrolled consecutively from October 1, 2016, to December 31, 2017. Sociodemographic and Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQs) were completed, and dietary risk factors for IBD were identified. Results: Six major foods were associated with the recurrent incidence of IBD (p<0.05): chili, fish, milk, nuts, eggs, and fruit. Logistic regression analysis revealed that eating chili and drinking milk more than three times weekly increased the risk of relapse, as did eating fish and nuts one or two times weekly. Eating fruit more than once weekly reduced the risk of IBD. Fish, seafood, vegetables, nuts, beef, and fruit, along with a history of food allergy, were associated with a high risk of clinically recurrent IBD. Dietary patterns featuring seafood and nuts also increased the risk of relapse. Conclusions: The consumption of chili, milk, fish, and nuts beyond moderate weekly frequencies increased the risk of IBD, whereas fruit consumption was consistently protective against IBD development. Relapse susceptibility was also associated with a history of food allergy. Thus, IBD risk management can involve more personalized and less restrictive dietary patterns, as well as the enforcement of weekly dose thresholds. Uncertainty remains regarding association differentials between ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Transgenic applications have largely focused on constitutive promoters in plants. However, strong and continuous over-expression of certain genes may be redundant and even harmful to plant growth. Thus, tissue-specific promoters are the most suitable for regulating target gene expression. Although several tissue-specific promoters have been identified, the regulatory mechanism of tissue-specific gene expression remains unclear. By a series of GUS staining of 5′ and 3′ deletions, we uncover tissue-specific cis-acting elements in GSX7R, including ten light-responsive elements. The results reveal that GSX7R is a reverse green tissue-specific promoter, except in endosperm. In contrast, strong tissue-specific promoters that can be used for rice improvements are limited. In this study, we successfully showed that the GSX7R promoter can drive the Cry1Ab gene to resistant rice yellow stem borer. In addition, our study demonstrates an effective promoter to drive foreign genes for crop improvement. Plant promoters play a vital role in the initiation and regulation of gene transcription. In this study, a rice protein/gene of unknown expression, named Os8GSX7, was gained from a rice T-DNA capture line. The semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that the gene was only expressed in root, glume, and flower, but not in stem, leaf, embryo, and endosperm of japonica rice. The GUS activity analysis of the GSX7R promoter showed that it was a reverse green tissue expression promoter, except in endosperm. The forward promoter of GSX7 cannot normally drive the expression of the foreign GUS gene, while the reverse promoter of GSX7 is a green tissue-specific expression promoter, which can drive the expression of the foreign GUS gene. The region from −2097 to −1543 bp was the key region for controlling the green tissue-specific expression. The regulatory sequences with different lengths from the 2097 bp reverse sequence from the upstream region of the Os8GSX7 were fused with the GUS reporter gene and stably expressed in rice. Furthermore, transgenic rice plants carrying Cry1Ab encoding Bacillus thuringiensis endotoxin, regulated by GSX7R, were resistant to yellow stem borer. The analysis suggested that 10 light responsive elements of tissue-specific expression were found, including ACE, Box4, CAT-box, G-Box, G-box, GATA motif, GC motif, I-box, Sp1, and chs-unit1 M1. In addition, the results of 5′ and 3′ deletions further speculated that ACE and I-box may be the key elements for determining the green tissue-specific expression of GSX7R promoter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A ternary memristor full adder is designed based on the literal operation and module‐3 plus operation. Literal operation and module‐3 plus operation are the important operations in the tri‐valued algebra system. Multiple‐valued logic can increase the amount of information carried by the signals and reduce the number of devices and connections. The combination of multiple‐valued logic and memristor is an exploration of new devices and new structures. The novel ternary memristor full adder owns the advantage of simpler structure without decoding units to convert ternary signals to binary at the terminals, and all the signals operated by the circuit are ternary. Compared with the traditional ternary full adder, the number of devices and the power consumption are greatly reduced. Simulation results of different memristor models verified the correctness and applicability of the circuit design. It provides a new idea for the design method of memristor circuits, especially multiple‐valued memristors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Groundwater is a most accessible freshwater resource for human beings, and it is increasingly important as an alternative to surface water under the threat of climate change. However, its complex spatio-temporal dynamic remains unattended from management perspective. Past studies on groundwater management were stalled by a relative dearth of high-quality data and a lack of synthetic analysis on both spatial and temporal information. Thanks to NASA's launch of Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission, our study has solved these two problems by innovatively applying time stability analysis to GRACE-based groundwater data. Taking the Yellow River Basin (YRB) as an example, we employed GRACE satellite data to obtain monthly changes of groundwater tables from Jan. 2003 to Dec. 2016 in 1.0-degree grid of spatial resolution. Then we identified hotspots (which indicated severe groundwater declines and fluctuations over time) and representative monitoring areas (which stably represented the spatial average over time) using time stability analysis. Time stability employs multiple coefficients to identify the spatial relations between local variables and global variables overtime, thus showing the overall effect of spatial-wise and temporal-wise factors but never used in groundwater studies before. Based on this innovative method, we further identified management categories across the YRB using multivariate cluster analysis. As a result, the YRB has been divided into five zones for different management strategies. We identified the hotspots in west-most and east-most areas of the YRB, where we suggest a strengthened groundwater protections and risk response system. The northern part of the middle reach in the YRB was also identified as the representative monitoring areas. With these knowledge, decision-makers can have a clearer regional plan for groundwater protection, monitoring, and risk response system. This new method enables a quick decision on the prioritized areas for different groundwater management strategies while not losing the scope of spatio-temporal heterogeneity. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Time stability of GRACE data was used for the 1st time in groundwater (GW) studies. • Spatio-temporal dynamics of GW table were quantified in Yellow River Basin, China. • Hotspots, coldspots and representative areas of GW dynamics were identified. • Clustered areas were identified for various management needs. • Potential modifications in GW management within the basin were suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Groundwater is an important source of water supply and ecosystem resilience. However, limited information on spatio-temporal dynamics makes a complete assessment of available groundwater resources difficult, impairing sustainable water management. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment mission (GRACE) has recently made this possible. In this study, we used the Yellow River Basin (YRB) as a model system to explore the use of spatio-temporal dynamics information about groundwater change derived from the GRACE datasets for regional groundwater management. While there was an overall decreasing trend (R2 = 0.57) during the last 14 year, the groundwater storage over the whole basin decreased significantly (p < 0.0001, slope changed from −0.0137 cm/month to −0.0684 cm/month) since 2010 (2010–2016) and showed stronger fluctuations than the time before (2003–2009). The range and the standard deviation of groundwater storage change also increased in recent years especially after 2010. At the basin scale, locations which exhibited higher variabilities (large standard deviation) over time generally showed radical decrease of groundwater storage. The results indicated that groundwater depletion may reduce the aquifers' function for ecosystem resilience, thus posing risks to the ecosystem of the YRB and threatening its people to climate change and extreme events. Despite the overall trend, the changes were heterogeneous if looking at finer scales: spatially, there was a gradual decline of storage from west to east (e.g. the change in December 2016 was −3.6, −9.1 and −25.8 cm for the upper, middle and lower reach, respectively); and temporally, the timeseries among the reaches were significantly different (p = 0.023). Our hotspot analysis also indicated the heterogeneity in groundwater decline across the basin and through the time. Additionally, it showed that human factors (e.g. groundwater consumption) become dominant in determining the groundwater change pattern over climatic variations. We therefore call for more attention to groundwater in developing sustainable water management strategies and suggest a closer cooperation of neighboring provinces in the YRB to have a reciprocal strategic plan for water regulation, protection, and management. Highlights • We quantified spatio-temporal dynamics of GRACE-based groundwater storage in the YRB. • We analyzed groundwater (GW) dynamics and their potential causes at multiple scales. • GW showed declining pattern at all scales: provincial, reaches and basin. • Stronger GW declines after 2010 at all scales indicated critical need for management. • The change in hot-spots of groundwater decline was related to human footprint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multi-function memristive logic test unit based on Knowm memristor is designed and implemented to the memristive digital circuits testability design in this article. The single fault memristive digital circuit is analyzed, Boolean difference algorithm is applied to the memristive digital circuits to generate test patterns and determine the location of the fault nodes. The multi-function memristive logic test unit can realize different functions, combining Boolean difference to solve the problem of uncertain faults with the same test patterns, and improve the controllability and observability of memristive digital circuits. It is a new exploration in testability design of memristive digital circuits, which provides new ideas and development directions, and lays a foundation for the research on the testability design of multi fault memristor digital circuits. • A multi-function memristive logic test unit based on Knowm memristor is designed. • Boolean difference algorithm is applied to the memristive digital circuits. • Solving the problem of uncertain faults with the same test patterns. • Determing the location of the fault nodes through the test patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are considered to be the major factor in tumor initiation, progression, metastasis, recurrence and chemoresistance. Maintaining the stemness and promoting differentiation of these cells involve various factors. Recently, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified as new regulatory factors in human cancer cells. However, the function of lncRNAs in colon CSCs is still unknown.Methods: Primary colon cancer cells were maintained in serum-free medium to form spheres and CD133+/CD166+/CD44+ spheroid cells were selected using FACS technique. Then we detected growth curve, colony formation, invasion and migration ability, and tumorigenicity of CD133+/CD166+/CD44+ cells. LOCCS-siRNA and pcDNA-LOCCS plasmid vectors were constructed and transfected to evaluate impact of the lncRNA. We also performed dual luciferase reporter assay to verify the interaction of LOCCS and miR-93.Results: The research explored lncRNA expression and the regulatory role of novel lncRNAs in colon CSCs. Using the stem cell markers CD133, CD166 and CD44, we found a subpopulation of highly tumorigenic human colon cancer cells. They displayed some characteristics of stem cells, including the ability to proliferate and form colonies, to resist chemotherapeutic drugs, and to produce xenografts in nude mice. We also found an lncRNA, LOCCS, with obviously upregulated expression in colon CSCs. Knockdown of LOCCS reduced cell proliferation, invasion, migration, and generation of tumor xenografts. Furthermore, microRNA-93 (miR-93) and Musashi-1 mediated the tumor suppression of LOCCS knockdown.Conclusions: There was reciprocal repression between LOCCS and miR-93. Research on mechanisms suggested direct binding, as a predicted miR-93 binding site was identified in LOCCS. This comprehensive analysis of LOCCS in colon CSCs provides insight for elucidating important roles of the lncRNA-microRNA functional network in human colon cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brown and beige adipocytes convert chemical energy into heat through uncoupled respiration to defend against cold stress. Beyond thermogenesis, brown and beige fats engage other metabolic tissues via secreted factors to influence systemic energy metabolism. How the protein and long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) regulatory networks act in concert to regulate key aspects of thermogenic adipocyte biology remains largely unknown. Here we developed a genome-wide functional screen to interrogate the transcription factors and cofactors in thermogenic gene activation and identified zinc finger and BTB domain-containing 7b (Zbtb7b) as a potent driver of brown fat development and thermogenesis and cold-induced beige fat formation. Zbtb7b is required for activation of the thermogenic gene program in brown and beige adipocytes. Genetic ablation of Zbtb7b impaired cold-induced transcriptional remodeling in brown fat, rendering mice sensitive to cold temperature, and diminished browning of inguinal white fat. Proteomic analysis revealed a mechanistic link between Zbtb7b and the lncRNA regulatory pathway through which Zbtb7b recruits the brown fat lncRNA 1 (Blnc1)/heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein U (hnRNPU) ribonucleoprotein complex to activate thermogenic gene expression in adipocytes. These findings illustrate the emerging concept of a protein–lncRNA regulatory network in the control of adipose tissue biology and energy metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the safety, feasibility and clinical results of the modified delta-shaped gastroduodenostomy (MDSG) in totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (TLDG) for gastric cancer (GC).Methods: We performed a case-control and case-matched study enrolling 642 patients with GC undergoing laparoscopic distal gastrectomy with Billroth-I anastomosis from January 2011 to December 2014. TLDG with MDSG was performed in 158 patients (Group TL), and laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy with circular anastomosis was performed in 484 patients (Group LA). One-to-one propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to compare the clinicopathological characteristics between the two groups.Results: Patients with smaller tumors or stage I cancer were more likely to receive TLDG (P < 0.05). In the propensity-matched analysis of 143 pairs, there were no differences in demographic and pathologic characteristics between groups (all P < 0.05). All patients successfully underwent laparoscopic radical distal gastrectomy. Before PSM, Group TL had more dissected lymph nodes (LNs), a longer time to first fluid diet and a longer postoperative length of stay than Group LA (all P < 0.05). After PSM, except for the fact that more dissected LNs were obtained in Group LA (P < 0.05), no difference was found in the intraoperative and postoperative outcomes between the groups (all P > 0.05). The postoperative complications were similar in both groups (all P > 0.05). Stratification analysis performed after PSM showed that in early GC, no difference was observed in intraoperative and postoperative outcomes between the groups (all P > 0.05). However, in locally advanced GC, Group TL had more dissected LNs and a higher rate of postoperative complications (both P < 0.05). Univariate analysis carried out in locally advanced cases after PSM showed that the body mass index (BMI), the method of digestive tract reconstruction and Charlson's score were significant factors that affected postoperative morbidity (all P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis indicated that BMI was an independent risk factor for postoperative morbidity (P < 0.05).Conclusions: The MDSG in TLDG is safe and feasible for early GC; however, it should be chosen with caution in advanced GC, particularly in patients with a high BMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives To assess tobacco use among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals from the 2014 Houston Pride Parade and Festival in Houston, Texas (TX). Methods Cross-sectional study using convenience sample of LGBT individuals ( n = 99) examining tobacco use, sexual orientation, and other socio-demographic factors through survey participation. Results Findings showed a high prevalence of tobacco and electronic cigarettes use. White LGBT individuals had greater odds of using any type of tobacco product. Discussion and Conclusions Despite a high smoking prevalence among the surveyed LGBT individuals, this study sample did not identify tobacco use as a health issue. Scientific Significance Supports the need for further investigation on tobacco-related disparities among LGBT individuals in Houston, TX. (Am J Addict 2015;24:391 -395) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose two types of polarization optical bridges (POBs) that combine two-dimensional square-lattice photonic crystal cross-waveguides containing Bragg defects. The Bragg defects provide polarization selection. A very low polarization cross talk was obtained in the POBs. Using the finite element method, it is demonstrated that these structures can achieve a degree of polarization of almost 1, a polarization extinction ratio >32 dB, and an insertion loss <0.3 dB over a wide range of wavelengths. Such structures can be used for separating different polarization modes while maintaining polarization independence. Moreover, they have great potential for application in large-scale optical integrated circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The present study introduced a modified delta-shaped gastroduodenostomy (DSG) technique and assessed the safety, feasibility and clinical results of this procedure in patients undergoing totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (TLDG) for gastric cancer (GC). Materials and Methods: A total of 102 patients with distal GC undergoing TLDG with modified DSG between January 2013 and December 2013 were enrolled. A retrospective study was performed using a prospectively maintained comprehensive database to evaluate the results of the procedure. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to estimate the predictive factors for postoperative morbidity. Results: The mean operation time was 150.6±30.2 min, the mean anastomosis time was 12.2±4.2 min, the mean blood loss was 48.2±33.2 ml, and the mean times to first flatus, fluid diet, soft diet and postoperative hospital stay were 3.8±1.3 days, 5.0±1.0 days, 7.4±2.1 days and 12.0±6.5 days, respectively. Two patients with minor anastomotic leakage after surgery were managed conservatively; no patient experienced any complications around the anastomosis, such as anastomotic stricture or anastomotic hemorrhage. Univariate analysis showed that age, gastric cancer with hemorrhage and cardiovascular disease combined were significant factors that affected postoperative morbidity (P<0.05). Multivariate analysis found that gastric cancer with hemorrhage was the independent risk factor for the postoperative morbidity (P = 0.042). At a median follow-up of 7 months, no patients had died or experienced recurrent or metastatic disease. Conclusions: The modified DSG was technically safe and feasible, with acceptable surgical outcomes, in patients undergoing TLDG for GC, and this procedure may be promising in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photonic hypercrystals (PHCs) are materials combining hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) with widely used photonic crystals. We found that finite-sized Type-I HMMs can support unique electromagnetic modes, which could be utilized in two-dimensional photonic crystals to achieve PHCs with twisted bands in the infrared region. Numerical investigation of the PHCs showed that the twisted bands have degenerate points that can support all-angle self-collimation effects. The behaviors of light beams change dramatically in such bands, which provides an effective method in controlling light propagation and can be applied as switching. The effect of the filling factor and the permittivity of the dielectric medium of the HMM on the twisted bands were studied. Furthermore, by considering the nonlinear effect of the dielectric layers, an all-optical switch working on the PHC twisted bands is proposed, which has low switching power and high extinction ratio (19.75 dB), superior to conventional HMM switches that require type transformation of metamaterial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the effect of preoperative sarcopenia on the short-term and long-term outcomes in older patients with locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC). Methods: Clinicopathological data of older patients with LAGC who underwent radical surgery were retrospectively analyzed. Sarcopenia was defined as a skeletal muscle index of less than 36.4 cm2/m2 for men and less than 28.4 cm2/m2 for women. Comparing the postoperative complications and survival between sarcopenia and non-sarcopenia groups using multicenter data. Results: A total of 406 older patients with LAGC were included in the analysis, including 145 (35.7%) with sarcopenia and 261 (64.3%) with non-sarcopenia. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that sarcopenia was an independent risk factor for postoperative complications with CD grade ≥ II (OR 1.616; P < 0.05). Kaplan–Meier survival curve analysis showed that the 5-year overall survival (OS) and 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) in the sarcopenia group were lower than those in the non-sarcopenia group (P both < 0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analyses showed that sarcopenia was an independent prognostic factor for 5-year OS and RFS (P both < 0.05). The 5-year recurrence rate in the sarcopenia group was 57.2%, which was significantly higher than that in the non-sarcopenia group (46.4%; P = 0.036). Recurrence pattern analysis showed that the incidence of distant metastases in patients with sarcopenia (42.8%) was significantly higher than non-sarcopenia (31.4%; P = 0.022). Conclusion: Sarcopenia serves as a valuable predictor of both short-term and long-term outcomes in older patients with LAGC. Therefore, the significance of assessing preoperative nutritional status and implementing thorough postoperative follow-up for older LAGC patients with sarcopenia should be emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the conservation and sustainable utilization of metallic resources, recovering precious metals from the vast quantity of waste printed circuit boards is an attractive avenue. Bioleaching has been proved as an environment-friendly and suitable recovery technology. However, the limited cyanogenic capability restricts the industrialization of this technology. To break this bottleneck, in this paper, an innovative bioleaching technology assisted by milliampere-level direct current was developed to enhance cyanogenic capability. Experimental results indicated 10 mA current was the most beneficial for cyanide production. At 10 mA, the cyanide concentration reached 5.05 mg/L, 1.48 times that of without electric current. With the assistance of milliampere-level direct current, the total energy required for the reaction from glycine anion to cyanide was decreased by 101.81 kcal/mol. Meanwhile, the added direct current reduced the relative abundance of Pseudomonadaceae but enriched Enterobacteriaceae. Clusters of orthologous groups function classification revealed that some functions involved in cyanide production such as secondary metabolites biosynthesis, transport and catabolism were more powerful. This work proposes a novel approach to break the bottleneck of low cyanogenic capability in bioleaching technology, providing crucial scientific information for the industrialization of bioleaching. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ball-milling technology is adopted for the debromination of nonmetallic particles of waste printed circuit boards. During the ball-milling process, too short ball-milling time causes insufficient debromination. Excessive ball-milling leads to the waste of resources and the destruction of the main structure of nonmetallic particles resin, unfavorable for the secondary utilization. However, how to determine debromination time of nonmetallic particles in ball-milling process has not been detailed studied. In this study, the ball-milling energy was coupled with the degradation energy of pentabromodiphenyl ether molecule to compute the time for each chemical bond to break. The ball-milling model was used to accurately compute effective mechanical ball-milling energy (1.234 × 10−3 J) generated by a single collision. The average bond energies of C‒O bond, C‒Br bond and C‒H bond (261.24, 302.05 and 489.50 kJ/mol) were analyzed by density functional theory. Under the conditions of 220 r/min and 1.2 g nonmetallic particles and NZVI (4:1). The C‒O bond, C‒Br bond, and C‒H bond fractured completely in turn at 2.25 h, 7.23 h (optimal debromination time), and 11.72 h. Based on the analysis of debromination pathways, it inferred that H 2 O, HBr, CH 3 Br, CH 4 , FeBr 2 , and graphite were generated. This paper develops a novel idea of the schedule of debromination time of nonmetallic particles, contributing to the directional removal of organic pollutants by ball-milling. [Display omitted] • The average bond energies of penta-BDE were analyzed. • The effective mechanical energy generated by a single collision was 1.234 × 10−3 J. • The optimal debromination time of ball-milling was calculated as 7.23 h. • The debromination pathways and products of nonmetallic particles were analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the sharp increase in the number of waste printed circuit boards, biocyanidation is adopted to recover the precious metals from waste printed circuit boards for its environmental friendliness. In this study, Pseudomonas biofilm with CN− producing ability was constructed to leach Ag from mixed metal particles of waste printed circuit boards. The optimal culture conditions for Pseudomonas biofilm to produce CN− were pH 7.0, 20 °C, 100 rpm and 1/25 NB medium. Polyethylene particles were more suitable as carriers than ceramsite. 500 ppm of Cu2+ and 2.5 ppm of Ag+ were beneficial for the CN− production while higher concentrations were adverse. With 0.05% of Ag content, the Ag leaching rate was the highest, which was up to 35.53% after 7 d of leaching. The Pseudomonas biofilm remained stable and active during the whole leaching process. This paper contributes to the construction of continuous bioreactor using biofilm and the industrialization of biocyanidation technology for recovering waste printed circuit boards. Image 1 • Using Pseudomonas biofilm to leach Ag of waste printed circuit boards was proposed. • It contributes to constructing continuous bioreactor to recover precious metals. • Conditions on CN− producing ability of Pseudomonas biofilm were optimized. • Leaching rate of Ag by Pseudomonas biofilm was 35.53% at 7 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a type of polarization-independent circulator based on a composite rod of ferrite and plasma materials in a two-dimensional photonic crystal (PhC) slab. Only one composite rod was set at the center of the structure to provide circulation for both TE- and TM-polarized waves. Additionally, to improve the performance of the circulator, three additional rods were inserted to improve the coupling condition between the center magneto-optical microcavity and the corresponding waveguides. Finite element method was used to calculate the characteristics of the structure and the Nelder–Mead optimization method was employed to obtain the optimum parameters. The results show that a low insertion loss (~0.22 dB) and high isolation (~14 dB) can be achieved in our structure for waves of both TE and TM polarizations. The idea presented here may be useful for designing compact polarization devices in large-scale integrated photonic circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Novel immunochromatographic assay using bimetallic nanoparticles enables highly sensitive quantitative analysis. • Cascade amplification with color-developing agent enhances detection sensitivity and accuracy. • Significant improvement in sensitivity and reproducibility compared to colloidal gold-based assays. We created a novel, high sensitivity immunochromatographic assay that allows for clear and precise quantitative analysis by employing innovative bimetallic nanoparticles with peroxide-like activity as markers for the preparation of the test strip. Initially, we synthesized Pt-Pd bimetallic nanoparticles through the reduction of K 2 PtCl 4 and Na 2 PdCl 4 using ascorbic acid (AA) in an ultrasonic water bath. These bimetallic nanoparticles were then utilized to label purified antigens from the foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) type O (FMDV-146S), resulting in the creation of antigen-captured nanomarkers. Upon completion of the antigen–antibody reaction, we introduced a color-developing agent (3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine) for cascade amplification, significantly enhancing detection sensitivity while ensuring clear and accurate quantitative analysis. The quantitative detection sensitivity achieved was 1:28/test, with a linear range spanning from 1:26 ∼ 1:29 /test. For FMDV type O positive serum, the detection sensitivity reached 96.7 %. Furthermore, this method exhibited a 95 % detection sensitivity for FMDV negative serum, FMDV type A and type AsiaⅠ positive sera, as well as sera positive for other common viral diseases in animals. In comparison to the OIE-recommended LPB-ELISA, this approach displayed higher correlation (correlation coefficient = 0.909). Innovation was at the core of establishing this immunochromatographic assay based on Pt-Pd bimetallic nanoparticles for the detection of FMDV antibodies. The findings revealed a striking 24-fold improvement in sensitivity when compared to colloidal gold, accompanied by a strong correlation coefficient (R2 > 0.9). This suggests a robust and consistent linear association in the results. This method represents a significant advancement in the field of rapid immunochromatographic assays, offering a promising alternative application for bimetallic nanoparticles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recovery trend of waste printed circuit boards has changed from stabilization to valued-added recovery, but the low value and complexity components of the nonmetallic resources greatly restrict its development. Therefore, the recovery of nonmetallic components deserves more attention and better guidance. This paper reviews the recent developments of the recycling techniques for nonmetallic components, including pyrolysis, supercritical fluid oxidation, chemical leaching, and direct recycling of synthetic materials. The clean production level, recycling efficiency, and economic value of these methods are the focus of this review. The key to improving the recycling technology for non-metallic component is to remove the harmful elements during the recovery process. In the direction of future development of e-waste recovery, environmental friendliness, value, and efficiency are important equally. The novel idea of debromination to reduce potential pollution prior to subsequent processing and enhance recovery value. It can effectively realize the valued-added preparation of environmental-friendly materials by combined process. The results are expected to give guidance for the future recycling process and provide reference for industrial development. • The latest research progress on recycling nonmetallic components in waste printed circuit boards is reviewed. • The low value and the potential secondary pollution will be the major problems during the nonmetal fraction recycling. • The debromination treatment before the valued-added recovery is the potential development direction. • A new optimized process of recycling nonmetallic components from waste printed circuit boards is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chemoresistance is a major clinical challenge that leads to tumor metastasis and poor clinical outcome. The mechanisms underlying gastric cancer resistance to chemotherapy are still unclear. Methods: We conducted bioinformatics analyses of publicly available patient datasets to establish an apoptotic phenotype and determine the key pathways and clinical significance. In vitro cell models, in vivo mouse models, and numerous molecular assays, including western blotting, qRT-PCR, immunohistochemical staining, and coimmunoprecipitation assays were used to clarify the role of factors related to apoptosis in gastric cancer in this study. Differences between datasets were analyzed using the Student's t-test and two-way ANOVA; survival rates were estimated based on Kaplan–Meier analysis; and univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate prognostic factors. Results: Bulk transcriptomic analysis of gastric cancer samples established an apoptotic phenotype. Proapoptotic tumors were enriched for DNA repair and immune inflammatory signaling and associated with improved prognosis and chemotherapeutic benefits. Functionally, cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) promoted apoptosis of gastric cancer cells and sensitized cells and mice to oxaliplatin. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that CDK5 stabilizes DP1 through direct binding to DP1 and subsequent activation of E2F1 signaling. Clinicopathological analysis indicated that CDK5 depletion correlated with poor prognosis and chemoresistance in human gastric tumors. Conclusion: Our findings reveal that CDK5 promotes cell apoptosis by stabilizing DP1 and activating E2F1 signaling, suggesting its potential role in the prognosis and therapeutic decisions for patients with gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a new kind of electronic waste, waste solar cells have posed a great threat to the environment. Solar cells contain a mass of hazardous organic components, such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer and polyethylene glycol terephthalate. The degradation of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer and polyethylene glycol terephthalate may produce toxic substances to the environment. This paper proposed molecule co-fracture to dispose the organics in order to judge the hazard of degradation products to the environment. Co-fracture kinetics analysis showed that the heating rate with highest co-fracture efficient was 30 °C/min, at which the activation energy E had the largest value of 68.84 kJ/mol. The co-fracture products under different heating rates were tested. The main product was 1-hexadecanol, 2-methyl-, which had the highest yield of 44.66 wt % at the heating rate of 25 °C/min. Diisobutyl phthalate was the main hazardous product, which had highest yield was 9.75 wt % at the heating rate of 5 °C/min. Only at the heating rate of 30 °C/min, no hazardous substance was produced. Different energy supply in the system was the main reason for the different products. Molecule co-fracture was employed in this study to dispose organics in waste solar cells, which provides guidance for the disposal of waste solar cells to avoid environmental pollution. Image 1 • This paper provided a novel method of disposing EVA and PET in waste solar cells. • No hazardous substance was produced under heating rate at 30 °C/min. • The product differences depended on the different energy supply at different heating rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatio-temporal complexity of groundwater storage change is a result of interconnected impact of socio-ecological factors. Previous research indicates several socio-ecological factors (e.g. human extraction, land cover change, and climate change) that may result in groundwater depletion. However, we seldom have empirical studies that provide spatio-temporally explicit information on the main drivers among these factors that determine regional groundwater change. This research explored a spatio-temporally explicit understanding on the socio-ecological determinants on the changes of groundwater storage in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) of north China. We selected this basin because the spatial heterogeneity of this basin complicates the relationship between socio-ecological factors and groundwater resources, whose changes would in turn fundamentally affect the socio-ecological system in the YRB. We collected annual (time resolution) data between 2003 and 2016 (time scope) with 1° × 1° grid (space resolution) about 18 social-ecological factors that might affect groundwater storage change in the YRB (space scope). Using this data and groundwater storage information from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment database, we determined best predictors, highly-performed predictive models, and dominant drivers for temporal and spatial changes of groundwater storage. Temporal changes of groundwater in the YRB between 2003 and 2016 were mainly contributed by anthropogenic factors, including population density, plantation, and irrigation water consumption over time. The spatial groundwater change across the YRB was determined by both the geographical location (e.g. indicated by longitude) and urbanization level (e.g. indicated by the domestic and industrial water consumption). The knowledge about socio-ecological determinants on groundwater dynamics in space and time in the YRB can help determine main levers to control regional change of groundwater storage and assist in a sustainable use of groundwater resource. Unlabelled Image • We identified predictors and determinants of groundwater change in the Yellow River Basin (YRB). • We developed predictive models for spatio-temporal changes of groundwater storage in the YRB. • Anthropogenic factors dominated temporal changes of groundwater in the YRB between 2003 and 2016. • Nature and human collectively determined the spatial changes of groundwater in the YRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new type of ducted hot aisle containment system for racks cooling of data center has been proposed and put into practice gradually. However, the related academic research has not been carried out, especially for the improvement of cooling performance and influencing factors for the cooling system. In this paper, one experiment platform with 8 racks in 2 rows with multiple-heat-sources was established and tested under various working scenarios. In terms of improving the cooling performance, airtight treatment on the basis of ducted hot aisle containment system is better than itself and is also better than only collar, which is better than no collar. Besdides, doors closing is better than that doors opening, "V" diffuser is better than "T" diffuser, and "T" diffuser is better than no diffuser. Properly increasing installation ratio of blanking panels and air volume have also favorable impact. The experimental data and results in this paper will be of great significance to the design and application of ducted hot aisle containment system for racks cooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• CaCO 3 was suggested to capture Br-substances produced in pyrolysis of waste PCBs. • How to ration the mass of adsorbent for capturing pollutant has not been detailed investigated. • A novel approach of rationing the mass of adsorbent for capturing pollutants were introduced. Pyrolysis technology is advised to dispose nonmetallic particles of waste printed circuit boards to produce oils and gases. During pyrolysis, brominated flame retardants in nonmetallic particles are converted into small-molecular Br-containing substances. They disperse into oil and gas so as to cause secondary pollution. Then, CaCO 3 is suggested to be employed to capture the small-molecular Br-containing substances. However, too much CaCO 3 will produce over solid wastes. Less CaCO 3 might not capture the total Br-containing substances. How to ration the mass of adsorbent for capturing pollutant has not been detailed investigated. This paper found HBr was the main Br-containing substances during high temperature pyrolysis of nonmetallic particles. The capture process of HBr was detailed investigated by the method of computational chemistry. At the condition of 973 K and 100 Pa, HBr was captured by chemical reaction and physical absorption of CaCO 3. Unit cell of CaCO 3 reacted with two HBr to form CaBr 2 , and the generated unit cell of CaBr 2 can adsorb 0.011 HBr. 0.0106 g CaCO 3 can absorb all HBr produced by high temperature vacuum pyrolysis of 1 g nonmetallic particles. This paper contributes a novel approach to accurately ration the mass of adsorbents employed for capturing pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantities of waste solar cells have been produced due to their widespread sustainable energy applications. Due to the complicated composition of waste solar cells, the disposal of waste solar cells has been the hot spot of sustainable development and environmental protection research. To our knowledge, little information has been reported about the disposal of waste solar cells. For the safe disposal of waste solar cells, and to produce economic benefits, the present study applied the density functional theory to design the transformation pathways of organics in waste solar cells. The ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer and polyethylene terephthalate of waste solar cells were transformed to 3,6,8,8-tetramethyl-2,3,4,7,8,8a-hexahydro-1H-3a,7-methanoazulene (cedrene). It is the precursor of precious wound-healing medicine. The transformation pathways exhibited a total energy barrier of 58.79 kcal/mol, and thermodynamic calculations indicated the temperature required for breaking this energy barrier was 777.50 K. 3,6,8,8-Tetramethyl-2,3,4,7,8,8a-hexahydro-1H-3a,7-methanoazulene was produced by vacuum heating at a temperature of 778.15 K, and the material had the most substantial proportion that accounted for 19.85 wt% in the products of vacuum heating. This paper provides insight into preparing the raw materials of medicine from the nonmetallic material of waste solar cells. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Quantities of resin particles generated from waste printed circuit boards were dumped on soil at Qingyuan city of China. • There is little information about soil pollution caused by the dumped resin particles. • This paper presented the ecological destroy of soil when the resin particles were deposited on soil surface. About 0.8 million tons of resin particles, which were generated from the recovery of waste printed circuit boards, were dumped on soil at Qingyuan city of China. Resin particles not only belong to micro plastic but also contain brominated flame retardants and heavy metals. There is little information about soil pollution caused by the dumped resin particles. This study found resin particles would transfer from soil surface into soil at least 10 mm downward for six months. Average content of bromine in soil within 10 cm exceeded 2500 mg/kg. The highest content of Pb, Zn, and Cu was 3450, 1143 and 1450 mg/kg, which were approximately 6.9, 2.3 and 3.6 times as much as Grade Ⅲ soil standard of China. Micro plastic, brominated flame retardants, and heavy metals made significant effects on soil bacterial community. Bacterial diversity was destroyed and the number of resistant bacteria increased obviously such as Acinetobacter , Pseudomonas and Paracoccus. This paper presented the ecological destroy of soil when the resin particles were deposited on soil surface. It also suggested the government to urgently manage the resin particles produced in the recovery of waste printed circuit boards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Huge environment stresses and economic benefits promoted the vigorous development of recovery technology of waste printed circuit boards. However, the recovery technologies of metals from waste printed circuit boards were lack of systematicness, definiteness, and full-value. In this paper, we have systematically reviewed the literature, compared the advantages and limitations of various recycling methods, and established a complete framework for recycling waste printed circuit boards (PCBs). Then, an integrated, definite, and systematic recovery route of full renewable metals from waste printed circuit board was proposed. The recovery route included temperature-control crushing, magnetic separation, high voltage electrostatic separation, vacuum gasification and condensation, electrolysis, and bioleaching. This will raise people's attention to recycling in an environment-friendly, energy-saving and value-added way, providing new ideas and entry points for future e-waste recycling. Finally, the perspective of the recovery route of full metals from waste printed circuit boards were looked forward. This review will contribute to the industrialization of metallic resources recycle and energy saving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is the most common disorder of neuromuscular transmission, and it is typified by fluctuating degrees and variable combinations of weakness in the ocular, bulbar, limb, and respiratory muscles. Under rare circumstances, MG can be accompanied by Addison's disease. Case presentation: Here, we reported the case of a 57-year-old Chinese woman with MG. She experienced progressive muscle weakness for 1 week. MG with acute exacerbation was initially suspected. However, further biochemistry tests found mild hyperkalemia (5.6 mEq/L) and a lower renal potassium excretion rate. Consequently, low aldosterone action was highly suspected. Further findings included a suppressed cortisol level, a higher adrenocorticotropic hormone concentration, and 21-hydroxylase antibody positivity, supporting a diagnosis of primary adrenal insufficiency due to autoimmune adrenalitis. Conclusion: We successfully demonstrated that adrenal insufficiency could be diagnosed, due to the presence of hyperkalemia. This case suggested a need for clinicians to consider the possible coincidence of adrenal insufficiency in a patient with MG and hyperkalemia. Early hormone supplementation should be begun. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The accuracy of the eighth AJCC ypTNM staging system on the prognosis of gastric cancer (GC) patients after neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) is controversial. This study aimed to develop and validate a novel staging system using the log odds of positive lymph nodes scheme (LODDS). Methods: A retrospective analysis of 606 GC patients who underwent radical gastrectomy after neoadjuvant therapy was conducted as the development cohort. (Fujian Medical University Affiliated Union Hospital (n = 183), Qinghai University Affiliated Hospital (n = 169), Mayo Clinic (n = 236), Lanzhou University First Hospital (n = 18)). The validation cohort came from the SEER database (n = 1701). A novel ypTLoddsS (ypTLM) staging system was established using the 3-year overall survival. The predictive performance of two systems was compared. Results: Two-step multivariate Cox regression analysis in both cohorts showed that ypTLM was an independent predictor of overall survival of GC patients after neoadjuvant therapy (HR: 1.57, 95% CI: 1.30–1.88, p < 0.001). In the development cohort, ypTLM had better discrimination ability than ypTNM (C-index: 0.663 vs 0.633, p < 0.001), better prediction homogeneity (LR: 97.7 vs. 70.9), and better prediction accuracy (BIC: 3067.01 vs 3093.82; NRI: 0.36). In the validation cohort, ypTLM had a better prognostic predictive ability (C-index: 0.614 vs 0.588, p < 0.001; LR: 11,909.05 vs. 11,975.75; BIC: 13,263.71 vs 13,328.24; NRI: 0.22). The time-dependent ROC curve shows that the predictive performance of ypTLM is better than ypTNM, and the analysis of the decision curve shows that ypTLM achieved better net benefits. Conclusion: A LODDS-based ypTLM staging system based on multicenter data was established and validated. The predictive performance was superior to the eighth AJCC ypTNM staging system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Betel quid (BQ) chewing is extremely prominent in South and Southeast Asia because it considered by users to be of social, cultural and religious importance. BQ chewing has been recognized as a risk factor for oral premalignant lesions and oral cancer. Because BQ chewing has become a severe health risk in Taiwan, the development of prevention and cessation programmes is essential. The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes and perceptions associated with BQ consumption and its oral health implications in an attempt to inform the development of health promotion initiatives and BQ cessation efforts in Taiwan, where the dental profession could have a pivotal role in preventing and controlling BQ use among persons at risk. Methods: This qualitative study used data gathered from focus groups and individual interviews. A convenience sample of 41 adults from Jhushan and Lugu Townships (Nantou County) and Taichung City, Taiwan, participated in this study (27 men, 14 women; 31 Han, 10 aboriginals from the Paiwan tribe; mean age 40.3, SD 9.2 years). Results: Among the seven themes that emerged from the original study, five (Initiation, Health Risk Perception, Health Consequences, Withdrawal Symptoms and Help from Healthcare Providers) had oral/dental implications. Conclusions: Our study highlights research areas relevant to further investigation, such as incorporating brief BQ prevention and cessation counselling when early oral and dental signs associated with BQ consumption are detected. Undertaking behavioural interventions in dental settings might help to reduce the prevalence of BQ chewing in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oriented bounding box regression is crucial for oriented object detection. However, regression-based methods often suffer from boundary problems and the inconsistency between loss and evaluation metrics. A modulated Kalman intersection over union (IoU) loss of approximate SkewIoU is proposed, named MKIoU. To avoid boundary problems, we convert the oriented bounding box to Gaussian distribution then use the Kalman filter to approximate the intersection area. However, there exists significant difference between the calculated and actual intersection areas. Thus, we propose a modulation factor to adjust the sensitivity of angle deviation and width-height offset to loss variation, making the loss more consistent with the evaluation metric. Furthermore, the Gaussian modeling method avoids the boundary problem but causes the angle confusion of square objects simultaneously. Thus, the Gaussian angle loss (GA loss) is presented to solve this problem by adding a corrected loss for square targets. The proposed GA loss can be easily extended to other Gaussian-based methods. Experiments on three publicly available aerial image datasets, DOTA, UCAS-AOD, and HRSC2016, show the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation of underground stem bulblets in lilies is a complex biological process which is key in their micropropagation. Generally, it involves a stem-to-bulblet transition; however, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. It is important to understand the regulatory mechanism of bulblet formation for the reproductive efficiency of Lilium. In this study, we investigated the regulatory mechanism of underground stem bulblet formation under different conditions regarding the gravity point angle of the stem, i.e., vertical (control), horizontal, and slanting. The horizontal and slanting group displayed better formation of bulblets in terms of quality and quantity compared with the control group. A transcriptome analysis revealed that sucrose and starch were key energy sources for bulblet formation, auxin and cytokinin likely promoted bulblet formation, and gibberellin inhibited bulblet formation. Based on transcriptome analysis, we identified the LoLOB18 gene, a homolog to AtLOB18, which has been proven to be related to embryogenic development. We established the stem bud growth tissue culture system of Lilium and silenced the LoLOb18 gene using the VIGS system. The results showed that the bulblet induction was reduced with down-regulation of LoLOb18, indicating the involvement of LoLOb18 in stem bulblet formation in lilies. Our research lays a solid foundation for further molecular studies on stem bulblet formation of lilies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Robotic surgery may be advantageous for complex surgery. We aimed to compare the intraoperative and postoperative short-term outcomes of spleen-preserving splenic hilar lymphadenectomy (SPSHL) during robotic and laparoscopic total gastrectomy. Methods: From July 2016 to December 2020, the clinicopathological data of 115 patients who underwent robotic total gastrectomy combined with robotic SPSHL (RSPSHL) and 697 patients who underwent laparoscopic total gastrectomy combined with laparoscopic SPSHL (LSPSHL) were retrospectively analyzed. A 1:2 ratio propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance the differences between the two groups to compare their outcomes. The Generic Error Rating Tool was used to evaluate the technical performance. Results: After PSM, the baseline preoperative characteristics of the 115 patients in the RSPSHL and 230 patients in the LSPSHL groups were balanced. The dissection time of the region of the splenic artery trunk (5.4 ± 1.9 min vs. 7.8 ± 3.6 min, P < 0.001), the estimated blood loss during SPSHL (9.6 ± 4.8 ml vs. 14.9 ± 7.8 ml, P < 0.001), and the average number of intraoperative technical errors during SPSHL (15.1 ± 3.4 times/case vs. 20.7 ± 4.3 times/case, P < 0.001) were significantly lower in the RSPSHL group than in the LSPSHL group. The RSPSHL group showed higher dissection rates of No. 10 (78.3% vs. 70.0%, P = 0.104) and No. 11d (54.8% vs. 40.4%, P = 0.012) lymph nodes and significantly improved postoperative recovery results in terms of times to ambulation, first flatus, and first intake (P < 0.05). The splenectomy rates of the two groups were similar (1.7% vs. 0.4%, P = 0.539), and there was no significant difference in morbidity and mortality within postoperative 30 days (13.0% vs. 15.2%, P = 0.589). Conclusion: Compared to LSPSHL, RSPSHL has more advantages in terms of surgical qualities and postoperative recovery process with similar morbidity and mortality. For complex SPSHL, robotic surgery may be a better choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: There is insufficient evidence to evaluate the long-term outcomes of robotic radical gastrectomy. The aim of this study was to compare the radical results and long-term outcomes of robotic and laparoscopic radical gastrectomy. Methods: We prospectively collected and retrospectively analyzed the general clinicopathological data of gastric cancer patients treated with robotic radical gastrectomy (RG) and laparoscopic radical gastrectomy (LG) from July 2016 to July 2018 at Fujian Medical University Union Hospital. The RG cohort was matched 1:3 with the LG cohort by using propensity score matching (PSM). The primary endpoints of the study were 3-year overall survival (OS) and 3-year relapse-free survival (RFS). Results: The study included 221 patients treated with RG and 1106 patients treated with LG for gastric cancer. After PSM, 211 patients were included in the RG cohort, and 663 patients were included in the LG cohort. The 3-year OS rate was 81.0% in the robotic cohort and 79.3% in the laparoscopic cohort (log-rank test, P = 0.516). The 3-year RFS rate was 78.7% in the robotic cohort and 75.6% in the laparoscopic cohort (log-rank test, P = 0.600). In the subgroup analyses, no significant differences were noted between the RG and LG cohorts in terms of 3-year OS and 3-year RFS (all P > 0.05). The therapeutic value index of each lymph node station dissection in the robotic cohort was comparable to that in the laparoscopic cohort. Conclusion: Robotic radical gastrectomy can achieve radical results and long-term outcomes comparable to laparoscopic surgery, and further multicenter prospective studies can be conducted to assess the clinical efficacy of robotic radical gastrectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Toxoplasmosis is one of the most common parasitic zoonoses in the world. It not only threatens human health and safety but also causes considerable losses to the global animal husbandry industry. Swine, as an intermediate host of Toxoplasma gondii, has important economic and public health significance, and the global prevalence of T. gondii in swine varies between 10% and 60%. Therefore, it is important to establish simple, effective, sensitive and specific diagnostic methods for the detection and prevention of T. gondii infection in swine. In the present study, we developed a colloidal gold immunochromatographic strip based on rTgROP14, recombinant protein A and monoclonal antibody TgROP14-5D5 for serological detection of T. gondii in swine populations. This new ICT achieved good specificity and sensitivity and has potential for routine serological detection of T. gondii in swine. Toxoplasma gondii, a worldwide distributed apicomplexan protozoan, can infect almost all warm-blooded animals and may cause toxoplasmosis. In order to provide a point-of-care detection method for T. gondii infection, an immunochromatographic test (ICT) was established. The proposed test uses recombinant T. gondii rhoptry protein 14 (ROP14) conjugated with 20 nm gold particles, recombinant protein A as the detection line and monoclonal antibody TgROP14-5D5 as the control line. The specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and stability of this new ICT were evaluated. rTgROP14 was specifically recognized by positive serum of T. gondii but not negative serum. mAb TgROP14-5D5 showed higher specific recognition of T. gondii antigens and was therefore selected for subsequent colloidal gold strip construction. The new ICT based on TgROP14 exhibited good diagnostic performance with high specificity (86.9%) and sensitivity (90.9%) using IHA as a "reference standard". Among 436 field porcine sera, ICT and IHA detected 134 (30.7%) and 99 (22.7%) positive samples, respectively. The relative agreement was 87.8%. These data indicate that this new ICT based on TgROP14 is a suitable candidate for routine testing of T. gondii in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It remains inconclusive whether laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) has better long-term outcomes when compared with open gastrectomy (OG) for elderly gastric cancer (EGC). We attempted to explore the influence of the immune prognostic index (IPI) on the prognosis of EGCs treated by LG or OG to identify a population among EGC who may benefit from LG. Methods: We included 1539 EGCs treated with radical gastrectomy from January 2007 to December 2016. Propensity score matching was applied at a ratio of 1:1 to compare the LG and OG groups. The IPI based on dNLR ≥ cut-off value (dNLR) and sLDH ≥ cut-off value (sLDH) was developed, characterizing two groups (IPI = 0, good, 0 factors; IPI = 1, poor, 1 or 2 factors). Results: Of the 528 EGCs (LG: 264 and OG: 264), 271 were in the IPI = 0 group, and 257 were in the IPI = 1 group. In the entire cohort, the IPI = 0 group was associated with good 5-year overall survival (OS) (p = 0.001) and progression-free survival (PFS) (p = 0.003) compared to the IPI = 1 group; no significant differences in 5-year OS and PFS between the LG and OG groups were observed. In the IPI = 1 cohort, there was no significant difference in OS or PFS between the LG and OG groups across all tumor stages. However, in the IPI = 0 cohort, LG was associated with longer OS (p = 0.015) and PFS (p = 0.018) than OG in stage II EGC, but not in stage I or III EGC. Multivariate analysis showed that IPI = 0 was an independent protective factor for stage II EGC receiving LG, but not for those receiving OG. Conclusion: The IPI is related to the long-term prognosis of EGC. Compared with OG, LG may improve the 5-year survival rate of stage II EGC with a good IPI score. This hypothesis needs to be further confirmed by prospective studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The oncologic efficacy of laparoscopic versus open surgery for advanced distal gastric cancer (ADGC) beyond 3 years after surgery remain obscure. Methods: A total of 1256 patients with ADGC at two teaching institutions in China from April 2007 to December 2014 were enrolled. The general data of the two groups were identified to enable rigorous estimation of propensity scores. Restricted mean survival time (RMST) and Landmark analysis was used to compare survival. Results: After matching 461 patients each in the open distal gastrectomy (ODG) and laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (LDG) groups, they were included into analysis. The 3- and 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival were comparable in two groups. RMST-stratified analysis showed that the 3-year RMST of ODG group was similar to that of LDG group in patients with cT4a (− 1.38 years, p = 0.163) or with cT4a and tumor size > 5 cm, whereas the 5-year RMST had significant differences between groups in cT4a patients(− 8.36 years, P = 0.005) or cT4a and tumor size > 5 cm patients(4.67 years, P = 0.042). In patients with cT4a and tumors > 5 cm, the number of peritoneal recurrences was significantly fewer in the ODG group than in the LDG group (4 vs. 17, P = 0.033), and the peritoneal recurrence time and multiple-site recurrence time were both later in the ODG group. Conclusion: By reducing recurrence, ODG achieves a better survival for GC patients with serous infiltration and tumors larger than 5 cm beyond 3 years after surgery. The present findings can serve as a reference for surgical options and the setting of follow-up time point for clinical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study evaluated the safety, effectiveness, and feasibility of indocyanine green (ICG) tracing in guiding lymph-node (LN) dissection during laparoscopic D2 radical gastrectomy in patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Method: We retrospectively analyzed data on 313 patients with clinical stage of cT1-4N0-3M0 who underwent laparoscopic radical gastrectomy after NAC between February 2010 and October 2020 from two hospitals in China. Grouped according to whether ICG was injected. For the ICG group (n = 102) and non-ICG group (n = 211), 1:1 propensity matching analysis was used. Results: After matching, there was no significant difference in the general clinical pathological data between the two groups (ICG vs. non-ICG: 94 vs. 94). The average number of total LN dissections was significantly higher in the ICG group and lower LN non-compliance rate than in the non-ICG group. Subgroup analysis showed that among patients with LN and tumor did not shrink after NAC, the number of LN dissections was significantly more and LN non-compliance rate was lower in the ICG group than in the non-ICG group. Intraoperative blood loss was significantly lesser in the ICG group than in the non-ICG group, while the recovery and complications of the two groups were similar. Conclusion: For patients with poor NAC outcomes, ICG tracing can increase the number of LN dissections during laparoscopic radical gastrectomy, reduce the rate of LN non-compliance, and reduce intraoperative bleeding. Patients with AGC should routinely undergo ICG-guided laparoscopic radical gastrectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) exhibit high tunability in photonic devices. This study numerically investigates light propagation in photonic crystal (PhC) membranes containing HMMs. The proposed HMM PhC membranes contain square HMM rods, which comprise dielectric (Si) and metallic (Ag) layers. Owing to their property of subwavelength field localization, HMMs can be applied to PhCs to improve tunability and thus enhance the self-collimation (SC) effect of PhCs. The SC points were obtained in the second HMM PhC band, wherein the nearby dispersion curves change significantly. In addition, the effect of the HMM filling factor (i.e., the ratio of the metal-layer to unit-cell thicknesses) on the SC point frequency is studied. Finally, we demonstrate the efficient control of beam behaviors using HMM PhC membranes while considering the nonlinearity of Ag. The findings of this study confirm that high-performance HMM PhC membranes can be employed in nonlinear all-optical switches, filters, tunable lenses, and other integrated optical devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Application of indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence imaging is effective in guiding laparoscopic radical lymphadenectomy for gastric cancer. However, the optimal approach for indocyanine green injection is controversial. Therefore, the objective of this study was aimed to compare the efficacy and ICG injection between the preoperative submucosal and intraoperative subserosal approaches for lymph node (LN) tracing during laparoscopic gastrectomy.Method: This randomized controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04219332) included 266 patients with potentially resectable gastric cancer (cT1-T4a, N0/+, M0) enrolled from a tertiary teaching center between December 2019 and October 2020. The primary endpoint was total number of retrieved LNs.Results: In total, 259 patients (n = 130 and n = 129 in the submucosal and subserosal groups, respectively) were included in the per-protocol analysis. There are no significant differences in total number of retrieved LNs between the two groups (49.8 vs. 49.2, P = 0.713). The rate of LN noncompliance in the submucosal group was comparable to that in the subserosal group (32.3% vs. 33.3%, P = 0.860). No significant difference was found between the submucosal and subserosal groups in terms of the incidence (17.7% vs. 16.3%; P = 0.762) or severity of postoperative complications. The mean fluorescence cost in the submucosal group was higher than that in the subserosal group ($335.3 vs. $182.4; P < 0.001). The overall treatment satisfaction score was lower in the submucosal group than in the subserosal group (70.5 vs. 76.1%, P = 0.048).Conclusion: ICG administered by subserosal injection was comparable to that administered by submucosal injection for lymph node tracing in gastric cancer. However, the former approach imposed a lower economic and mental burden on patients undergoing laparoscopic D2 lymphadenectomy.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04219332 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene-based devices have important applications attributed to their superior performance and flexible tunability in practice. In this paper, a new kind of absorber with monolayer graphene sandwiched between two layers of dielectric rings is proposed. Two peaks with almost complete absorption are realized. The mechanism is that the double-layer dielectric rings added to both sides of the graphene layer are equivalent to resonators, whose double-side coupled-cavity effect can make the incident electromagnetic wave highly localized in the upper and lower surfaces of graphene layer simultaneously, leading to significant enhancement in the absorption of graphene. Furthermore, the influence of geometrical parameters on absorption performance is investigated in detail. Also, the device can be actively manipulated after fabrication through varying the chemical potential of graphene. As a result, the frequency shifts of the two absorption peaks can reach as large as 2.82 THz/eV and 3.83 THz/eV, respectively. Such a device could be used as tunable absorbers and other functional devices, such as multichannel filters, chemical/biochemical modulators and sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Whether the change of the pre- and postoperative systemic inflammatory response (SIR) levels will affect the prognosis of gastric cancer (GC) is unclear. We aimed to investigate the dynamic changes in the pre- and postoperative SIR and their prognostic value for GC. Methods: The clinicopathological data from 2257 patients who underwent radical gastrectomy between January 2009 and December 2014 at Fujian Medical University Union Hospital (FMUUH) were analyzed. Perioperative SIR changes were reported as changes in the lymphocyte-monocyte ratio (LMR), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII). Results: The SIR levels showed different trends from postoperative months 1 to 12. Multivariate analysis showed that preoperative (pre)-LMR was an independent predictor for the prognosis (P = 0.024). The postoperative 12-month (post-12-month) LMR predicted the 5-year overall survival (OS) rate with the highest accuracy (areas under the curve [AUC] 0.717). Patients were divided into four groups according to the optimal cutoff of the preoperative and post-12-month LMR: high pre-LMR to high postoperative (post)-LMR group, high pre-LMR to low post-LMR group, low pre-LMR to high post-LMR group, and low pre-LMR to low post-LMR group. The survival analysis showed 5-year OS rate was significantly higher in patients with high post-12-month LMR than in patients with low post-12-month LMR, regardless of pre-LMR levels (81.6% vs. 44.2%, P < 0.001). The prognostic accuracy was significantly improved by incorporating the post-12-month LMR in the tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging system (P = 0.003). Conclusions: The remeasurement of LMR at post-12-month is helpful in predicting the long-term survival of GC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Numerous studies have shown that the short-term efficacy of three-dimensional (3D) laparoscopic radical gastrectomy (LG) is comparable to that of two-dimensional (2D)-LG. Whether 3D-LG affects the recurrence patterns of gastric cancer (GC) patients has not been investigated. Methods: From January 2015 to April 2016, a total of 419 patients were recruited for a phase III clinical trial (NCT02327481), which compared the short-term outcomes between the 2D and 3D groups. The long-term efficacy including recurrence patterns was compared between the 2D and 3D groups in this retrospective study. Multivariate analyses were performed to determine whether 3D-LG affects the recurrence patterns. Results: Ultimately, 401 patients were analyzed (197 in the 2D-LG group and 204 in the 3D-LG group), and no differences were observed in the clinicopathological data between the two groups. There were no significant differences between the two groups in the recurrence types, first recurrence time or recurrence-free survival (RFS) (all p > 0.05). According to the 7th American Joint Committee on Cancer tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging system, both groups were stratified into pathological stages I, II, and III. The stratified analysis showed no significant differences in RFS or overall survival (OS) among patients in each subgroup (all p > 0.05). The multivariate analysis of RFS showed that tumor diameter, pTNM stage, lymphovascular invasion, and adjuvant chemotherapy were independent factors (all p < 0.05). The multivariate analysis of post-recurrence survival (PRS) showed that adjuvant chemotherapy was an independent protective factor (p = 0.043). Conclusions: 3D-LG for GC did not differ significantly from 2D-LG in the effects on 3-year recurrence patterns, RFS and OS, which provides more tumor-related evidence for 3D technology. And due to the technological similarity, it may have certain reference value for robotic-assisted gastrectomy. Further multicenter, large-scale clinical trials are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]