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In this work, a hybrid method combining interparticle-potential multiphase LBM, finite difference method and characteristic-line wetting scheme, is developed for pore-scale simulation of superheated vapor displacing liquid, driven by gravity, in a porous geometry. The influence of injected vapor superheat, surface wettability and gravity on two-phase displacement and heat transfer processes is investigated. Results show that in thermal displacement, the vapor-liquid interface is unstable and trapped liquid blobs gradually evaporate into vapor. At low vapor superheat degrees, the displacement efficiency, as compared to isothermal displacement, is significantly improved, but it reduces as the vapor superheat degree rises due to the shift of displacement patterns. At all contact angles considered, the displacement always exhibits viscous fingering, although vapor flowpaths become wider with increasing surface wettability. The final vapor saturation is insensitive to surface wettability, but reducing contact angle leads to a less even temperature distribution inside vapor and a decrease in final average vapor temperature. In addition, increasing gravity is found to reduce vapor front temperature, but it almost has no effect on final average vapor temperature because the final average vapor temperature does not only depend on specific interfacial length but also on fingering number and inlet flow rate. • A hybrid method is developed for superheated vapor flooding in porous media. • The effect of vapor superheat degree, surface wettability and gravity is studied. • The displacement efficiency first rises and then falls with vapor superheat degree. • Decreasing contact angle leads to less even temperature distribution inside vapor. • The injection of superheated vapor is found to enhance interface instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate thermolysis kinetics and identify degradation compounds, alliin solutions were heated at 60, 80, and 89 °C. The degradation compounds of alliin were identified by high performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS), tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) and ultra-pressure liquid chromatography–high resolution mass spectrometry (UPLC–HRMS). The results showed that the thermal degradation kinetic of alliin could be described by a first-order reaction and k = 4.38 × 10 17 exp (−142494/RT), where k is the reaction rate constant, min −1 ; R is gas constant; T is the absolute temperature, K. Degraded compounds, including S-allyl- l -cysteine and ethers, such as allyl alanine disulfide, allyl alanine trisulfide, allyl alanine tetrasulfide, dialanine disulfide (cysteine), dialanine trisulfide and dialanine tetrasulfide, were identified by HPLC–MS, MS/MS and UPLC–HRMS. Allyl alanine tetrasulfide was identified for the first time in alliin. The results show that alliin is unstable and significant numbers of organosulfur compounds are generated under high temperature treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Three pehtze stages in sufu production were characterized by high enzyme activities. • Four aging stages in sufu production were characterized by the presence of diverse targeted volatile compounds. • Protease and esterase were strongly correlated with most of the targeted volatile compounds. • Esterase contributed to the formation of three high molecular weight esters. Dynamic changes and correlations between physicochemical properties, 14 targeted volatile compounds (TVCs) and six groups of enzyme activities during eight production stages of naturally fermented plain sufu were explored. Multiple factor analysis was used to discriminate between and group the samples into three clusters: cluster I comprised tofu and pehtze; cluster II comprised dried pehtze and salted pehtze; cluster III involved the aging stages. Clusters I and II were characterised by higher enzyme activities, while cluster III was characterised by the presence of diverse TVCs. Protease and esterase were strongly correlated with most of the TVCs. Esterase, in particular, contributed to the formation of three high molecular weight esters, namely, ethyl dodecanoate, ethyl (Z)-9-octadecenoate and ethyl (Z , Z)-9,12-octadecadienoate. The enzymes found contributed to the texture and flavour of naturally fermented sufu and will provide a good guide and control for using the enzymes directly to ripen sufu products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The frequency of extramedullary infiltration (EMI) in acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) is reported up to 40% and most prevalent in myelo-monoblastic and monoblastic subtypes of AML (M4 and M5 according to FAB classification). The majority of patients with EMI suffered poor prognosis. To explore mechanism underlying EMI, we analyzed SHI-1 cells, a highly invasive human acute monocytic leukemia cell line, and found their strong expression of matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2), membrane type 1 MMP (MT1-MMP) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 2 (TIMP-2). SHI-1 cells showed higher invasive ability to traverse reconstituted basement membranes (Matrigel) and stronger activation of proMMP-2 than other leukemia cell line such as NB4, K562, U937 and THP-1 cells. When co-cultured with bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs), the invasive capacity and proMMP-2 activation of SHI-1 cells enhanced remarkably. Furthermore, the inhibition of MMP-2, MT1-MMP, or TIMP-2 by small interfering RNA (siRNA) substantially impaired SHI-1 cells invasion and decreased proMMP-2 activation. In the contrast, up-regulated expression of TIMP-2 for 2–3 folds level increased cell invasion and proMMP-2 activation. These results demonstrated that constitutively high expression of MMP-2, MT1-MMP and TIMP-2 in SHI-1 cells facilitated cell invasion by promoting proMMP-2 activation. Moreover, up-regulation of TIMP-2 exhibited not a repressive but an activating effect on SHI-1 cells invasion. Our study indicated that increasing TIMP-2 in AML patients with EMI may potentially cause adverse effects, particularly in patients containing high levels of MMP-2 and MT1-MMP. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Besides cytopenia, dysplasia is crucial characteristic of MDS-RA. To summarize the morphological features that contribute to the diagnosis of MDS-RA, 48 RA patients with abnormal karyotype were analyzed for the features of morphological and cytogenetical abnormalities and the relationships between them. 46 MDS-RA patients with normal karyotype and 207 patients with non-MDS anemia were enrolled into control groups. More conspicuous and diverse dysplasia can be found in abnormal karyotype MDS-RA than those in control groups (P <0.05). Apparent dysplasia in granulocyte and megakaryocytoid lineages may provide valuable evidence for the diagnosis. Dysplasia occurred more frequently in patients with severe chromosome abnormalities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We have studied forty Chinese adult ALL patients at newly diagnosis, using standard primers and protocols of BIOMED-2 multiplex PCR, to determine the feasibility of Ig and TCR gene rearrangements as diagnostic and patient-specific MRD-RQ-PCR targets for molecular monitoring. Clonal IGH, IGK, IGL, TCRB, TCRG and TCRD rearrangements were found in 86%, 22%, 9%, 19%, 77%, 55% of adult patients with B-lineage ALL, respectively. While in T-ALL, clonal IGH, TCRB, TCRG and TCRD rearrangements were detected in 6%, 83%, 78%, 33% of patients. Several specialties in the pattern of Ig/TCR gene rearrangements in Chinese adult ALL patients in comparison with those reported for children and adult patients in other countries have been noted. These results are useful for further MRD-RQ-PCR detection and quantification for all patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: CCAAT/enhancer binding proteins (C/EBPs) are a family of transcription factors that have been implicated in diverse cellular functions such as cellular differentiation and proliferation, and inflammatory processes. C/EBPζ, also known as GADD153, CHOP10, and DDIT3 has been found associated with the development of myxoid liposarcoma and the progression of melanoma. To investigate the correlation of C/EBPζ transcript levels with the development of leukemia, samples from 187 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) were examined for C/EBPζ mRNA using real-time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR). RQ-PCR analysis demonstrated the median levels of C/EBPζ were significantly decreased in MDS, AML, and CML patients compared with normal controls (1.40, 0.96, 2.60 versus 14.69, P <0.0001). Significant differences were also observed between patients with CML and with AML or MDS. These results suggest that the insufficient dosage of C/EBPζ might be involved in the development of leukemia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We obtained a full-length cDNA fragment encoding human O6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) from the liver tissue of a patient with cholelithiasis by RT-PCR and confirmed by DNA sequencing. The polycistronic retrovirus vector G1Na-MGMT-Neor-IRES-MDR1 was constructed and verified by restriction endonuclease analysis and DNA sequencing. The vector was transfected into packaging cells GP+E86 and PA317 by the LipofectAMINE method. Cord blood CD34+ cells were transfected with the supernatant of retrovirus containing human MGMT and MDR1cDNA under stimulation of hematopoietic growth factors. PCR, RT-PCR, Southern Blot, Western Blot, FACS and MTT analyses showed that dual drug resistance genes have been integrated into the genomic DNA of cord blood CD34+ cells and expressed efficiently. The transgene cord blood CD34+ cells conferred 5.8–6.3-fold stronger resistance to P-glycoprotein effluxed drugs and 5-fold to BCNU than untransduced cells. The polycistronic retrovirus vector mediated transfer of two different types of drug resistance genes into human cord blood CD34+ cells and co-expression provided an experimental foundation for improving combination chemotherapy tolerance in clinical practice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Accurate prediction of renewable energy generation acts as a critical role which not only provides short-term power generation in the future, but also facilitates scheduling and pre-configuration of energy storage systems. More importantly, the power generation prediction is of great significance to the demand response management (DRM) of renewable energy to participate in the electricity spot market. Therefore, DRM helps improve the stability and reliability of renewable energy systems. This paper presents a novel prediction-smoothing based methodology to reduce and eliminate the influence caused by the uncertainty of renewable energy output. Firstly, the Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) is combined with Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) to predict short-term wind power output. Then, the Hampel-Butterworth-SG filtering strategy with outlier regression and specific risk band elimination is introduced. After that, according to the short-term output forecast results, the scheduling and pre-configuration scheme of peak-filling type energy storage is developed. Finally, based on the predicted renewable energy output and electricity price, the dynamic changes of demand response (DR) are calculated based on Logistics function, optimistic response and pessimistic response factors. Through extensive case studies, it is demonstrated that the assessment deviations in different scenarios is less than 5%, which are 0.64% for Scenario 1 and 3.64% for Scenario 2, and no additional penalty is required at this time. In addition, the proposed Demand Response Load Adjustment Rate (DRLAR) help compare the differences between predicted and actual DR, which are DRLAR = 0.03% in Scenario 1 and DRLAR = 0.01% in Scenario 2. Users are able to adjust the DR dynamically according to the electricity price to realize the optimal scheduling of their renewable resources. The proposed methodology creates a special connection between DRM and renewable energy prediction, which provides a reliable reference for future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction method was established for detecting the expression levels of WT1 gene and WT1+17AA isoforms in 226 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) bone marrow (BM) cells. The results showed that WT1 gene was 2–3 logarithms expressed more in AML BM cells at initial diagnosis or relapse than in normal BM cells (p <0.001), with predominant WT1+17AA isoforms expression (the ratio of WT1+17AA/WT1 more than 0.50). Interestingly the ratio of WT1+17AA/WT1 was statistically higher in relapsed AMLs than in initially diagnosed (p =0.01), speculating that WT1+17AA isoforms might participate in AML relapse. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are important in cancer biology. In this study, we analyzed differentially expressed genes in CD34 + hematopoietic cells and identified a novel lncRNA, H22954, which was down-regulated in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. In cultured AML cells and mouse xenograft models, H22954 expression inhibited cell proliferation and tumor growth, respectively. Bioinformatic analysis and RNA antisense purification assay indicated that H22954 targeted the 3' untranslated region of the BCL2 gene. In luciferase assays, H22954 expression inhibited BCL2 expression. In transfected K562 cells and mouse xenograft tumors, H22954 overexpression reduced BCL-2 protein levels and promoted cell death. In AML patients, H22954 expression inversely correlated with BCL-2 protein levels in bone marrow cells, blast cell numbers and disease prognosis. These results indicate that H22954 is a novel regulator of BCL-2 and that reduced H22954 expression may play an important role in the pathogenesis of AML. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background BCL11A encodes a C2H2 type zinc-finger protein. During normal haematopoietic cell differentiation BCL11A expression is down-regulated. Data in mice suggest up-regulation of BCL11A is involved in the pathogenesis of myeloid leukaemias. BCL11A expression in persons with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is not systematically studied. Objective Interrogate associations between BCL11A expression at diagnosis and clinical and laboratory valuables and outcomes in newly-diagnosed persons with AML. Methods We determined BCL11A mRNA levels in bone marrow and blood mononuclear cells in 292 consecutive newly-diagnosed subjects with AML by reverse transcript and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Data were compared to mRNA levels in bone marrow cells of normals. Results Subjects with BCL11A transcript levels at diagnosis exceeding the median value of 2.434 (±3.423 SD; 25th–75th inter-quartile range, 1.33–4.29) had higher WBC levels, a greater proportion of bone marrow myeloblasts, were more likely to be FAB M 0 subtype, less likely to be FAB M 3 subtype, more likely to be in the intermediate cytogenetic risk cohort, less likely to have a complex karyotype and more likely to have DNMT3A R882 and FLT3 -ITD mutations than subjects with transcript levels below the median value. In 89 subjects receiving conventional induction chemotherapy the complete remission rate was 54% (95% confidence interval [CI]; 33, 75%) in the lower BCL11A cohort and 65% (45, 85%; P = 0.26) in the higher BCL11A cohort. 3 year survival was 33% (2, 65%) in the lower BCL11A cohort and 15% (0, 39%; P = 0.35) in the high BCL11A cohort. Conclusion BCL11A transcript levels at diagnosis was significantly associated with several clinical and laboratory variables. There were also non-significant associations with complete remission rate and survival. These data suggest a possible role for BCL11A expression in AML biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This retrospective study was designed to evaluate the clinical and laboratory behaviors of chromosome 3 abnormalities by analyzing the morphological, cytogenetic, and follow-up data from 300 patients of various hematological malignancies with chromosome 3 abnormalities. From the results, trisomy 3, translocation (3q), and del(3) were the abnormal types most frequently observed (>10%) among the chromosome 3 abnormalities. In hematological malignancies, chromosome 3 abnormalities were most frequently seen in the patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (24.7%) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) (16%), followed by those with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) (13.7%) and multiple myeloma (MM) (12.7%). In this series, genomic losses were the most frequent genetic abnormalities in AML, ALL, and hybrid acute leukemia (HAL) patients, whereas structural rearrangements were frequently seen in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and MDS patients, and genomic gains in MM, lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients. Chromosome 3 abnormalities mainly occurred as a component of a complex abnormality (251/300) rather than a sole one (14/300). Survival analysis demonstrated a statistical difference between the patients with trisomy 3, who had a better prognosis, and patients with del(3), who had a worse prognosis in this series ( P < 0.05). Abnormalities in chromosome 3 may imply an unfavorable outcome in CML and ALL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Killer cell immunoglobulinlike receptors (KIRs) are a diverse family of receptors on natural killer cells. The KIR2DS4-deleted variant differs from the normal KIR2DS4 sequence by a 22-bp deletion in exon 5, which causes a frame shift, yielding a truncated KIR2DS4 protein with loss of the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains of the full-length KIR2DS4 protein. A sequence-based testing and TOPO TA cloning system identifying and distinguishing alleles of the KIR2DS4 gene was established. The method was applied to 150 Chinese Han individuals: 75 patients who received T-depleted hematopoietic stem cells transplantation and their unrelated donors, establishing frequencies of 2DS4 allele and KIR gene within the local population. A majority (139) of the 150 samples (92.7%) were positive for KIR2DS4. The ratio of deleted to nondeleted versions of KIR2DS4 was approximately 1:2. Three KIR2DS4 novel alleles were identified. Forty-four percent individuals carried two group A haplotypes. The 17 KIR gene loci were found in 21.3%–100% in the population. Our findings suggest that the Chinese Han population is distinct in KIR gene frequencies and 2DS4 allele frequencies in comparison with some other populations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: TNFR-associated factors (TRAFs) participate in diverse biological processes, such as adaptive and innate immunity, stress response, and bone metabolism. We report that all TRAFs except TRAF3 are expressed at mRNA and protein levels in B cell-derived Hodgkin''s lymphoma cell lines (L428 and KM-H2). Both the classical (p50–RelA) and the alternative NF-κB activity (p52–RelB) are sustained in L428 and KM-H2 cells. A successful depletion of TRAF1 protein expression by means of RNA interference abrogates the anti-apoptosis activity in L428 cells. The TRAF1-deficiency reduces the classical NF-κB activity but not the alternative activity. The expression of the NF-κB targeting genes, such as ICAM-1, c-Flip, and Cyclin D1, is suppressed in the TRAF1-depleted cells. On the other hand, CD30 signaling upregulates the TRAF1 expression while reducing the expression of TRAF2 and TRAF5. Importantly, the CD30-induced alternative NF-κB activation is inhibited by the depletion of the TRAF1 expression. We also demonstrate that the phosphorylation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) upon CD30 stimulation in Hodgkin''s lymphoma cells is independent of TRAF1 expression. Our data shed new light on the function of TRAF1 in B cell-derived lymphoma cells. We conclude that TRAF1 is an important molecule mediating both the CD30 signaling-dependent and independent NF-κB activation, which prevents the lymphoma cells from spontaneous and induced apoptosis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]