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PDP1 has been reported in multiple diseases. However, it has not been fully explored in ovarian cancer (OC). The public data was downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. Differentially expressed gene analysis was conducted out using the limma package. Prognosis analysis was performed using the survival package. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was performed using the fgsea package. Immune infiltration analysis was performed based on the CIBERSORT algorithm. CCK8 assay was used to evaluate the cell proliferation ability of cancer cells. Transwell assay was used for the invasion and migration ability. Our result showed that PDP1 was overexpressed in OC tissue in RNA and protein level based on multiple databases (TCGA, GSE18520, GSE27651, and GSE54388). At the same time, we found PDP1 was correlated with poor prognosis and worse clinical parameters. In vitro experiment showed that PDP1 could significantly promote proliferation, invasion, and migration ability of OC cells. GSEA analysis showed that in the OC patients with high PDP1 expression, the pathway of IL6/JAK/STAT3 signaling, interferon-alpha response, apoptosis, adipogenesis, KRAS signaling, and IL2/STAT5 signaling was activated, which might be responsible for its oncogenic effect in OC. Immune infiltration analysis indicated that PDP1 was positively correlated with activated myeloid dendritic cells, resting CD4 memory T cells, neutrophil, and M1 and M2 macrophages, yet negatively correlated with M0 macrophages, plasma B cells, γδT cells, and activated CD4 memory T cells. Drug sensitivity analysis showed a negative correlation between PDP1 expression and the IC50 of bleomycin and gemcitabine, yet a positive correlation of cisplatin, indicating that the OC patients with high PDP1 expression might be more sensitive to bleomycin and gemcitabine and more resistant to cisplatin. PDP1 could facilitate OC progression and is associated with patient prognosis and chemosensitivity, making it an underlying biomarker of OC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prognosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains a challenge. In this study, we applied the weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) to find survival-specific genes in AML based on 42 adult CN-AML samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Eighteen hub genes (ABCA13, ANXA3, ARG1, BTNL8, C11orf42, CEACAM1, CEACAM3, CHI3L1, CRISP2, CYP4F3, GPR84, HP, LTF, MMP8, OLR1, PADI2, RGL4, and RILPL1) were found to be related to AML patient survival time. We then compared the hub gene expression levels between AML peripheral blood (PB) samples (n = 162) and control healthy whole blood samples (n = 337). Seventeen of the hub genes showed lower expression levels in AML PB samples. The gene expression analysis was also done among AML BM (bone marrow) samples of different stages: diagnosis (n = 142), posttreatment (n = 42), and recurrent (n = 12) stages. The results showed a significant increase of ANXA3, CEACM1, RGL4, RILPL1, and HP in posttreatment samples compared to diagnosis and/or recurrent samples. Transcription factor (TF) prediction of the hub genes suggested LTF as the top hit, overlapping 10 hub genes, while LTF itself is just one of the hub genes. Also, 3671 correlation links were shown between 128 mRNAs and 209 lncRNAs found in survival time-related modules. Generally, we identified candidate mRNA biomarkers based on CN-AML data which can be extensively used in AML prognosis. In addition, we mapped their potential regulatory mechanisms with correlated lncRNAs, providing new insights into potential targets for therapies in AML. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uveal melanoma (UM) is an intraocular malignancy in adults in which approximately 50% of patients develop metastatic diseases and have a poor clinical outcome. Immunotherapies are quickly becoming a need, and recent research has produced some amazing achievements in this area. In the current investigation, an attempt was made to evaluate the prognostic usefulness of KDELR3 in UM, particularly its connection with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). The expression patterns of mRNAs and related clinical data of 80 UM patients were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). By using RT-PCR, we were able to investigate whether or not UM cells and D78 cells expressed KDELR3. The Kaplan-Meier approach, as well as univariate and multivariate tests, was utilized in order to investigate the potential predictive significance of KDELR3 expression. The associations between KDELR3 and TILs and immunological checkpoints were analyzed in order to evaluate the effect that KDELR3 may have on UM immunotherapy. On the basis of the differential expression of KDELR3, a distribution of the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of various targeted medicines was observed. In this study, we found that the expression of KDELR3 was distinctly increased in most types of tumors. In addition, KDELR3 was highly expressed in UM cells. Moreover, patients with high KDELR3 expression exhibited a shorter overall survival and disease-free survival than those with low KDELR3 expression. Multivariate analyses confirmed that KDELR3 expression was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival and disease-free survival in patients with UM. Furthermore, KDELR3 expression was demonstrated to be positively correlated with macrophage M1, T cell CD8, T cell follicular helper, dendritic cell resting, and T cell CD4 memory activated. Meanwhile, the expression of KDELR3 was related to several immune checkpoints. The IC50 of AP-24534, BHG712, bleomycin, camptothecin, cisplatin, cytarabine, GSK1070916, and tipifarnib was higher in the KDELR3 high-expression group. In conclusion, KDELR3 may be applied as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for UM patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angelica albicans is being used in the cure of different, respiratory, neuromuscular, and cutaneous diseases in traditional eastern medicine. The pharmacokinetic (PK) characteristics of imperatorin (IM) and isoimperatorin (ISOIM), the main effective components in Angelica albicans, were investigated. The rapid, subtle, and measuring the PKs of a drug, a validated UPLC/MS/MS methodology was designed for a total of 2 furanocoumarins in 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-stimulated and untreated mice. After that, blood samples were obtained. Angelica albicans (0.5 and 1.0 g/kg) was given orally, taken regularly from the tail vein. The time it takes for colitis rats to achieve their maximal concentration ( T max ) imperatorin and isoimperatorin was considerably postponed. In comparison to normal rats, all furanocoumarins had lesser peak plasma concentrations ( C max ) and higher represent residence durations. The area below the C max time-curve or clearance half-life did not differ significantly. In normal rats, all two furanocoumarins attained maximal plasma levels between 40 and 75 minutes, demonstrating fast oral absorption. The periods to attain T max of the two furanocoumarins, on the other hand, were shorter than in earlier studies. Therefore, colitis-linked alterations in the drug-absorption stage may result in a late T max and lowered C max , which have no effect on its clearance in half-life. Hence, conclusively, as a result, more consideration should be given to the prescription and administration of Angelica albicans in colitis individuals, and more research is needed to determine whether the changed PK profile was clinically meaningful for medicinal dose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A semantic ontology-driven hierarchical consistency segmentation algorithm was proposed to solve the segmentation inconsistency of animation character models because of the changing of poses. The mapping between semantic labels and local geometric features was extracted to form a segmentation ontology. In the process of segmentation, support vector machine (SVM) and local geometric features were used to identify the semantic labels, and segmentation was carried out according to the semantic label driving hierarchy to ensure the consistency of the segmentation levels of animation character models. Poisson equation was used to define contour lines for the equal perimeters of segmentation boundary because of the changing of poses. This optimization method made the segmentation boundary smooth and consistent under the changing of poses. In the experiment part, all kinds of animation character models under different poses were verified and analyzed, and the consistent hierarchical segmentation effect was obtained. Compared with the existing methods, the proposed segmentation ontology can solve the problem of adaptive selection of optimization parameters of different classes of models, and improve the segmentation quality. With the continuous development of deep learning, the use of image segmentation for animation, and human pose recognition will become more and more important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) has always been an important occupational hazard, but the exact etiopathogenesis underlying NIHL remains unclear. Herein, we aimed to find metabolic biomarkers involved in the development of NIHL based on a mouse model using a gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) metabolomics technique. We showed that the auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds at the frequencies of 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, and 32 kHz were all significantly elevated in the noise-exposed mice. Noise could cause outer hair cell (OHC) loss in the base of the cochlea. A total of 17 differential metabolites and 9 metabolic pathways were significantly affected following noise exposure. Spermidine acting as an autophagy modulator was found to be 2.85-fold higher in the noise-exposed group than in the control group and involved in β-alanine metabolism and arginine and proline metabolism pathways. Additionally, we demonstrated that LC3B and Beclin1 were expressed in the spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs), and their mRNA levels were increased after noise. We showed that SOD activity was significantly decreased in the cochlea of noise-exposed mice. Further experiments suggested that SOD1 and SOD2 proteins in the SGNs were all decreased following noise exposure. The upregulation of spermidine may induce LC3B- and Beclin1-mediated autophagy in the cochlear hair cells (HCs) through β-alanine metabolism and arginine and proline metabolism and be involved in the NIHL. ROS-mediated oxidative damage may be a pivotal molecular mechanism of NIHL. Taken together, spermidine can be regarded as an important metabolic marker for the diagnosis of NIHL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) has always been an important occupational hazard, but the exact etiopathogenesis underlying NIHL remains unclear. Herein, we aimed to find metabolic biomarkers involved in the development of NIHL based on a mouse model using a gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) metabolomics technique. We showed that the auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds at the frequencies of 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, and 32 kHz were all significantly elevated in the noise-exposed mice. Noise could cause outer hair cell (OHC) loss in the base of the cochlea. A total of 17 differential metabolites and 9 metabolic pathways were significantly affected following noise exposure. Spermidine acting as an autophagy modulator was found to be 2.85-fold higher in the noise-exposed group than in the control group and involved in β-alanine metabolism and arginine and proline metabolism pathways. Additionally, we demonstrated that LC3B and Beclin1 were expressed in the spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs), and their mRNA levels were increased after noise. We showed that SOD activity was significantly decreased in the cochlea of noise-exposed mice. Further experiments suggested that SOD1 and SOD2 proteins in the SGNs were all decreased following noise exposure. The upregulation of spermidine may induce LC3B- and Beclin1-mediated autophagy in the cochlear hair cells (HCs) through β-alanine metabolism and arginine and proline metabolism and be involved in the NIHL. ROS-mediated oxidative damage may be a pivotal molecular mechanism of NIHL. Taken together, spermidine can be regarded as an important metabolic marker for the diagnosis of NIHL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of joints influences the shear and characteristic strength of structural plane; however, the relationship of the influence is yet to be derived. This study formulates 11 simulation programs using numerical simulation and realistic failure process analysis software. The influence of the number of joints and size on the shear strength of structural plane is studied. The stress-strain curves of different numbers of joints and sizes are analyzed. The mathematical models of the shear strength of structural plane and the number of joints and sizes are proposed, and their specific expressions are obtained. The mathematical models of the shear characteristic size and strength of structural plane and the number of joints are established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) has always been an important occupational hazard, but the exact etiopathogenesis underlying NIHL remains unclear. Herein, we aimed to find metabolic biomarkers involved in the development of NIHL based on a mouse model using a gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) metabolomics technique. We showed that the auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds at the frequencies of 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, and 32 kHz were all significantly elevated in the noise-exposed mice. Noise could cause outer hair cell (OHC) loss in the base of the cochlea. A total of 17 differential metabolites and 9 metabolic pathways were significantly affected following noise exposure. Spermidine acting as an autophagy modulator was found to be 2.85-fold higher in the noise-exposed group than in the control group and involved in β-alanine metabolism and arginine and proline metabolism pathways. Additionally, we demonstrated that LC3B and Beclin1 were expressed in the spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs), and their mRNA levels were increased after noise. We showed that SOD activity was significantly decreased in the cochlea of noise-exposed mice. Further experiments suggested that SOD1 and SOD2 proteins in the SGNs were all decreased following noise exposure. The upregulation of spermidine may induce LC3B- and Beclin1-mediated autophagy in the cochlear hair cells (HCs) through β-alanine metabolism and arginine and proline metabolism and be involved in the NIHL. ROS-mediated oxidative damage may be a pivotal molecular mechanism of NIHL. Taken together, spermidine can be regarded as an important metabolic marker for the diagnosis of NIHL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whole-body vibration (WBV) training may improve the strength of lower extremity muscles in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA), but the inconsistency in vibration parameters leads to differences in findings. This cross-sectional study is aimed at observing the effects of different vibration frequencies and knee flexion angles on the activation of lower extremity muscles in patients with KOA. Enrolled participants received WBV training at 0, 30, and 60° knee flexion angles with vibration frequencies of 0, 5, 10, and 20 Hz. Activation rates for vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, rectus femoris, biceps femoris, and semitendinosus in different combinations were collected through surface electromyography. The effects of frequency and angle on muscle activation rate were quantified by repeated measures ANOVA. Individual and synergistic effects of frequency and angle were also analysed. Twenty-six participants with KOA were included. Muscle activation increased with the vibration frequency in 0–20 Hz range and with knee flexion angle in 0–60° range. WBV training at 20 Hz was the most effective for knee muscle activation, and static squatting at 60° was the most suitable for WBV training. Therefore, WBV training can increase the activation rate of knee flexor and extensor muscles in patients with KOA, and the most efficient combination was 20 Hz vibration frequency and 60° knee flexion. When applying WBV to patients with KOA, individual differences and rehabilitation purposes should be considered in selecting vibration parameters and knee angle to effectively increase neuromuscular activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological Relevance. GanDouLing (GDL) is a Chinese medicinal herb produced by the preparation center of Anhui Hospital of TCM for preventing and treating Wilson's disease (WD), an ATP7B mutation-inherited disease that affects copper transport and is characterized by liver and nervous system manifestations with variable and often unpredictable manifestations. However, the "multicomponent" and "multitarget" characteristics of TCM make it challenging to clarify the potential therapeutic mechanisms of GDL for WD. Aim of the Study. This study aimed at the systematic encoding of WD potential target for GDL and experimental verification for the relevant core targets, providing a deeper insight into the understanding of the mechanisms of GDL protection underlying WD with liver injury. Material and Methods. Following the strategy of the network pharmacology, we, firstly, predicted the active components of GDL and putative targets for WD. By employing clusterProfiler, the enrichment of functional and pathway terms was analyzed. Further, the protein-protein-interaction network was analyzed by STRING. Lastly, after establishing the toxic-milk mouse (TX) model with GDL treating, Hematoxylin and Eosin stain (HE) and western blotting (WB) for apoptosis biomarker were experimented. Results. Firstly, 324 active compounds have been identified in the GDL formula. Meanwhile, we identified 1496 human genes which are related to WD or liver cirrhosis. Functional and pathway enrichment analysis indicated that NOD-like receptor signaling pathway, bile secretion, calcium signaling pathway, steroid hormone biosynthesis, T cell receptor signaling pathway, apoptosis, MAPK signaling pathway, and so forth can be obviously regulated by GDL. Further, in a mouse model of WD, in vivo experiments showed that GDL treatment can not only reduce the pathological symptoms of the liver but also reduce the apoptosis of hepatocytes. Conclusions. In this study, systemic pharmacological methods were proposed and the mechanism of GDL combined therapy for WD was explored. This method can be used as a reference for the study of other mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2000, the research of uncertainty quantification (UQ) has been successfully applied in many fields and has been highly valued and strongly supported by academia and industry. This review firstly discusses the sources and the types of uncertainties and gives an overall discussion on the goal, practical significance, and basic framework of the research of UQ. Then, the core ideas and typical methods of several important UQ processes are introduced, including sensitivity analysis, uncertainty propagation, model calibration, Bayesian inference, experimental design, surrogate model, and model uncertainty analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2000, the research of uncertainty quantification (UQ) has been successfully applied in many fields and has been highly valued and strongly supported by academia and industry. This review firstly discusses the sources and the types of uncertainties and gives an overall discussion on the goal, practical significance, and basic framework of the research of UQ. Then, the core ideas and typical methods of several important UQ processes are introduced, including sensitivity analysis, uncertainty propagation, model calibration, Bayesian inference, experimental design, surrogate model, and model uncertainty analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2000, the research of uncertainty quantification (UQ) has been successfully applied in many fields and has been highly valued and strongly supported by academia and industry. This review firstly discusses the sources and the types of uncertainties and gives an overall discussion on the goal, practical significance, and basic framework of the research of UQ. Then, the core ideas and typical methods of several important UQ processes are introduced, including sensitivity analysis, uncertainty propagation, model calibration, Bayesian inference, experimental design, surrogate model, and model uncertainty analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2000, the research of uncertainty quantification (UQ) has been successfully applied in many fields and has been highly valued and strongly supported by academia and industry. This review firstly discusses the sources and the types of uncertainties and gives an overall discussion on the goal, practical significance, and basic framework of the research of UQ. Then, the core ideas and typical methods of several important UQ processes are introduced, including sensitivity analysis, uncertainty propagation, model calibration, Bayesian inference, experimental design, surrogate model, and model uncertainty analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The within-sample relative expression orderings (REOs) of genes, which are stable qualitative transcriptional characteristics, can provide abundant information for a disease. Methods based on REO comparisons have been proposed for identifying differentially expressed genes (DEGs) at the individual level and for detecting disease-associated genes based on one-phenotype disease data by reusing data of normal samples from other sources. Here, we evaluated the effects of common potential confounding factors, including age, cigarette smoking, sex, and race, on the REOs of gene pairs within normal lung tissues transcriptome. Our results showed that age has little effect on REOs within lung tissues. We found that about 0.23% of the significantly stable REOs of gene pairs in nonsmokers' lung tissues are reversed in smokers' lung tissues, introduced by 344 DEGs between the two groups of samples (RankCompV2, FDR <0.05), which are enriched in metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450, glutathione metabolism, and other pathways (hypergeometric test, FDR <0.05). Comparison between the normal lung tissue samples of males and females revealed fewer reversal REOs introduced by 24 DEGs between the sex groups, among which 19 DEGs are located on sex chromosomes and 5 DEGs involving in spermatogenesis and regulation of oocyte are located on autosomes. Between the normal lung tissue samples of white and black people, we identified 22 DEGs (RankCompV2, FDR <0.05) which introduced a few reversal REOs between the two races. In summary, the REO-based study should take into account the confounding factors of cigarette smoking, sex, and race. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the convergence of approximate solutions for a class of first-order integro-differential equations with antiperiodic boundary value conditions. By introducing the definitions of the coupled lower and upper solutions which are different from the former ones and establishing some new comparison principles, the results of the existence and uniqueness of solutions of the problem are given. Finally, we obtain the uniform and rapid convergence of the iterative sequences of approximate solutions via the coupled lower and upper solutions and quasilinearization method. In addition, an example is given to illustrate the feasibility of the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic role of the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) expression level and the platelet lymphocyte ratio (PLR) level in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients. Methods. 84 ESCC patients who received surgical treatment in our hospital were enrolled in the study. The correlation of each biomarker's level with ESCC patients' clinicopathological characteristics and overall survival (OS) was assessed. Results. The elevated expression rate of T-CTLA-4 (tumor cell CTLA-4) and I-CTLA-4 (interstitial lymphocyte CTLA-4) was 48.8% and 44.0%, respectively. The number of enrolled patients with a higher PLR level (≥119) was 48. The prognostic value of T-CTLA-4, I-CTLA-4, and PLR in ESCC patients was not detected. However, patients with both a low T-CTLA-4 expression level and a low PLR level that had longer OS (p=0.023) were found. The prognostic role of T-CTLA-4(-) +PLR (-) status in ESCC patients was also confirmed in multivariate analyses (p=0.027). Conclusion. These results demonstrated the potential prognostic value of combined analysis of CTLA-4 and PLR in ESCC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abrasive gas jet technologies are efficient and beneficial and are widely used to drill metal and glass substrates. When the inlet pressure is increased, gas jets could be powerful enough to break rock. They have potential uses in coal-bed methane exploration and drilling because of their one-of-a-kind nonliquid jet drilling, which avoids water invasion and borehole collapse. Improving the efficiency of rock breakage using abrasive gas jets is an essential precondition for future coal-bed methane exploration. The nozzle structure is vital to the flow field and erosion rate. Furthermore, optimizing the nozzle structure for improving the efficiency of rock breakage is essential. By combining aerodynamics and by fixing the condition of the nozzle in the drill bit, we design four types of preliminary nozzles. The erosion rates of the four nozzles are calculated by numerical simulation, enabling us to conclude that a nozzle at Mach 3 can induce maximum erosion when the pressure is 25 MPa. Higher pressures cannot improve erosion rates because the shield effect decreases the impact energy. Smaller pressures cannot accelerate erosion rates because of short expansion waves and low velocities of the gas jets. An optimal nozzle structure is promoted with extended expansion waves and less obvious shield effects. To further optimize the nozzle structure, erosion rates at various conditions are calculated using the single-variable method. The optimal nozzle structure is achieved by comparing the erosion rates of different nozzle structures. The experimental results on rock erosion are in good agreement with the numerical simulations. The optimal nozzle thus creates maximum erosion volume and depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We first introduce the multiple weights which are suitable for the study of Bergman type operators. Then, we give the sharp weighted estimates for multilinear fractional Bergman operators and fractional maximal function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The content of polyphenols from thinned young apples (TYA) is higher than that in ripe apples. Polyphenols have been reported to show a variety of biological activities. Antibacterial activities were tested at three different percentages of TYA extracts of 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2% on 53 bacterial strains, and the validity of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was investigated. To evaluate preservative properties of TYA extracts for fish cubes at 4 °C in refrigerator, fish cubes were treated with 0.1% TYA extracts and potassium sorbate (PS) solution (0.075 g/kg fish flesh). Results revealed that TYA extracts showed significant antibacterial activity against 18 strains out of selected 53 bacterial ones, with MIC values ranging from 256 to 2,048 µg/mL. The 0.1% TYA extracts can inhibit the increase of pH value and control malondialdehyde more efficiently than PS at the same concentration. Interestingly, The 0.1% TYA extracts also suppressed total volatile basic nitrogen value and reduced total bacteria counts only in storage for 2 days than PS. Practical applications: China Association for Ethical Studies has approved the study, and all experiments were performed per the approval of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel folate (FA) receptor-targeted superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (SPIONs) codelivering cisplatin (CDDP) and tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 (TFPI-2) plasmid DNA (pDNA) was constructed. The core shell nanocomposites (FA-PEG-PEI@SPION-CDDP-TFPI-2) were composed of superparamagnetic Fe3O4 core that binds CDDP and TFPI-2 shell that combines with folate-polyethylene glycol-polyethyleneimine (FA-PEG-PEI) via electrostatic interaction. The shell containing FA-PEG-PEI and TFPI-2 plasmid was synthesized through amidation reaction and electrostatic adsorption and the core containing SPION-CDDP was modified by aldehyde sodium alginate. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectra on FA-PEG-PEI polymers showed characteristic peaks of various metabolites in corresponding frequency. Transmission electron microscopy image of FA-PEG-PEI@SPION-CDDP-TFPI-2 nanoparticles demonstrated a near-monodisperse spherical morphology, while dynamic light scattering studies indicated an intensity-average diameter of 149.5 nm. Zeta potential was 14.89 ± 1.83 mv and the final concentration of loaded CDDP was 100 ug/ml. Gel electrophoresis data showed that the nanocomposite would protect TFPI-2 pDNA from being digested by DNases. Compared with CNE-2 cells, the good targetability and better gene transfection efficiency (57.9%) were detected by Prussian blue iron stain and fluorescence analysis in HNE-1 cells in vitro. The results suggested the potential application of FA-PEG-PEI@SPION-CDDP-TFPI-2 as a multifunctional anticancer nanomedicine on targeting therapy for FR positive NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the major challenges in mesh-based deformation simulation in computer graphics is to deal with mesh distortion. In this paper, we present a novel mesh-insensitive and softer method for simulating deformable solid bodies under the assumptions of linear elastic mechanics. A face-based strain smoothing method is adopted to alleviate mesh distortion instead of the traditional spatial adaptive smoothing method. Then, we propose a way to combine the strain smoothing method and the corotational method. With this approach, the amplitude and frequency of transient displacements are slightly affected by the distorted mesh. Realistic simulation results are generated under large rotation using a linear elasticity model without adding significant complexity or computational cost to the standard corotational FEM. Meanwhile, softening effect is a by-product of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The procedure of neurogenesis has made numerous achievements in the past decades, during which various molecular biomarkers have been emerging and have been broadly utilized for the investigation of embryonic and adult neural stem cell (NSC). Nevertheless, there is not a consistent and systematic illustration to depict the functional characteristics of the specific markers expressed in distinct cell types during the different stages of neurogenesis. Here we gathered and generalized a series of NSC biomarkers emerging during the procedures of embryonic and adult neural stem cell, which may be used to identify the subpopulation cells with distinguishing characters in different timeframes of neurogenesis. The identifications of cell patterns will provide applications to the detailed investigations of diverse developmental cell stages and the extents of cell differentiation, which will facilitate the tracing of cell time-course and fate determination of specific cell types and promote the further and literal discoveries of embryonic and adult neurogenesis. Meanwhile, via the utilization of comprehensive applications under the aiding of the systematic knowledge framework, researchers may broaden their insights into the derivation and establishment of novel technologies to analyze the more detailed process of embryogenesis and adult neurogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The data quality and real-time analysis of automatic identification system (AIS) are of great significance for water transportation safety and intelligent maritime construction. To improve the AIS data quality and analyze AIS data in real time, a real-time AIS data cleaning and indicator analysis algorithm is proposed. This algorithm performs distributed real-time data cleaning and analysis for massive AIS data based on stream computing technology. It includes data fusion, deduplication, decoding, abnormal data identification, sequencing, prediction, and statistics steps. Abnormal AIS data are repaired by linear regression, multiple trajectory tracking, caching, and other technologies. The AIS status is determined in real-time via multidimensional AIS packet loss analyses, multifactor AIS data statistics, and spatial-temporal data visualization, effectively improving the intelligence level of maritime supervision applications. The proposed algorithm has been running on a production environment, and it monitors AIS data in a certain section of the Yangtze River Basin 24 hours every day without interruption. The operation results show that the proposed algorithm can improve the quality of AIS data, addresses ship trajectory jump issues, and provides timely position updates. The real-time indicator analysis results can provide the data support for ship navigation and maritime supervision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) extracted from Canna edulis Ker rhizome was investigated. The substrate specificity was established as catechol > caffeic acid > chlorogenic acid > gallic acid > catechin. The optimum temperature and pH of the PPO activity were 20C and 6.8, respectively. The PPO was sensitive to many general inhibitors including C. edulis stem extract. Through response surface design, optimized inhibitor combination, containing 200 mg/L of citric acid, 284 mg/L of ascorbic acid, 67 mg/L of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and 8,000 mg/L of C. edulis stem extract, was obtained. With 96.73% of inhibition rate, the inhibitor combination could be developed as a natural additive used in the process of food preservation in the sight of safety of C. edulis aboveground part confirmed by animal experiment. In addition, the optimized inhibitor combination increased total phenol content and antioxidant activity of C. edulis rhizome. PRACTICAL APPLICATION In the sight of fresh food preservation influenced by polyphenol oxidase, additives are necessary to prevent the oxidation of polyphenol which is usually being in all fresh fruit and vegetable. The chemical synthesized additives always have various side effects and it has become a hot topic to research, and develop natural food additive with antioxidant activity. However, natural additives commonly have poor antioxidant activity. Therefore, it is a good choice to study interaction between natural extract and different chemical compounds and to develop inhibitor combination containing natural extract as main component. In this study, the optimized inhibitor combination (including 93.56% Canna edulis stem extract) was obtained through response surface design with an inhibition effect as high as 96.73%. The inhibitor combination could be developed as a natural additive used in the process of food preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problems of low building segmentation accuracy and blurred edges in high-resolution remote sensing images, an improved fully convolutional neural network is proposed based on the SegNet network. First, GELU, which performs well in deep learning tasks, is selected as the activation function to avoid neuron deactivation. Second, the improved residual bottleneck structure is used in the encoding network to extract more building features. Then, skip connections are used to fuse images The low-level and high-level semantic features are used to assist image reconstruction. Finally, an improved edge correction module is connected at the end of the decoding network to further correct the edge details of the building and improve the edge integrity of the building. Experiments are carried out on the Massachusetts building dataset, and the precision rate, recall rate, and F1 value reach 93.5%, 79.3%, and 81.9%, respectively, and the comprehensive evaluation index F1 value is improved by about 5% compared with the basic network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atopic dermatitis is one of the most common dermatologic problems, especially in children. Given the ability of symbiotic microorganisms in modulating the immune system, probiotics administration has been studied in previous research in the management of atopic dermatitis. However, there are conflicting results between studies. In this study, we aimed to assess the effectiveness of mixed probiotics as a treatment option for atopic dermatitis induced by ovalbumin. BALB/c juvenile mice were classified and divided into the ovalbumin group, mixed probiotic group (ovalbumin + LK), and control group. Except for the control group, all mice were sensitized with ovalbumin to establish a model of atopic dermatitis. The mixed probiotics were given by gavage for 14 days. Mice body weight, skin lesions, skin inflammation, ovalbumin-specific Ig, the number of Treg and CD103+DC, and the expression level of PD-1/PD-L1 were examined. The results showed that mixed probiotics can improve body weight and alleviate skin symptoms. Mixed probiotics reduced serum Th2 inflammatory factors, eosinophils, mast cell degranulation, mast cell count, and the expression of ovalbumin-specific immunoglobulin E/G1 and increased the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10, Treg cells, CD103+DC cells, and the expression level of PD-1/PD-L1. These findings suggest that mixed probiotics could be a viable treatment option for atopic dermatitis and provide insight into the underlying mechanisms involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lymphangiogenesis, an integral contributor to lymphatic metastasis, is a significant reason for the poor prognosis of cancer patients. Anti-lymphangiogenesis treatment is a promising novel therapeutic direction, especially for tumors resistant to conventional therapies. We confirmed the ectopic expression of lymphangiogenesis-related genes (LRGs) in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) cohorts based on the TCGA database. We constructed a prediction signature with 15 LRG prognostic signatures (F2RL1, LOXL2, MKI67, PTPRM, GPI, POSTN, INHA, LDHA, LINC00857, ITGA2, PECAM1, SOD3, GDF15, SIX1, and FGD5), and the overall survival (OS) was significantly different between the high- and low-risk groups (TCGA-training: p < 0.001 , TCGA-test: p = 0.02 , GSE30219: p < 0.001 , GSE37745: p = 0.002 , and GSE50081: p = 0.002). Moreover, the risk score was also associated with the PIK3CA and BRCA1 pathways. In the nomogram, the prognostic prediction of the risk score was better than that of clinicopathologic parameters in OS, including age, sex, stage, T stage, N stage, and M stage. In summary, we constructed and validated a 15-LRG signature, which may help predict the prognosis of LUAD and offer a possible direction for future research on downstream molecular mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (CIRP) is a proinflammatory cytokine. The Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) risk score has been widely applied in risk stratification in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We aimed to investigate the prognostic value of CIRP in ACS patients and its incremental prognostic performance on top of GARCE score. Methods. We consecutively enrolled 320 ACS patients, including 128 patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), 67 patients with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), and 125 patients with unstable angina pectoris (UAP). Plasma CIRP levels were measured at baseline. All patients received one-year follow-up for occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular outcomes (MACEs). Results. STEMI patients had a significantly higher concentration of plasma CIRP than those with NSTEMI (p = 0.001) and UAP (p < 0.001). Plasma CIRP level was positively correlated with GRACE score (r = 0.40 , p < 0.01). Survival analysis revealed that the risk of MACEs increased with increasing CIRP level (log-rank p < 0.001). During follow-up, 45 (14.1%) patients experienced MACEs. Both GRACE score (hazard ratio: 1.023, 95% confidence interval: 1.007-1.050, p = 0.021) and plasma CIRP level (hazard ratio:1.800, 95% confidence interval:1.209-2.679, p = 0.004) were independently predictive of MACEs after Cox multivariate adjustment. Incremental predictive value was observed after combining CIRP with GRACE score. Conclusions. Plasma CIRP was an independent prognostic biomarker and could improve the predictive value of GRACE score for prognosis in ACS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, by the use of a new fixed point theorem and the Green function of BVPs, the existence of at least one positive solution for the third-order boundary value problem with the integral boundary conditions is considered,where there is a nonnegative continuous function. Finally, an example which to illustrate the main conclusions of this paper is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trichosanthes kirilowii Maxim. and Bulbus allii Macrostemi are the components of Gualou Xiebai decoction (GLXB), a commonly used herbal combination for the treatment of coronary heart disease (CHD) in traditional Chinese medicine. Although GLXB is associated with a good clinical effect, its active compounds and mechanism of action remain unclear, which limits its clinical application and the development of novel drugs. In this study, we explored key compounds, targets, and mechanisms of action for GLXB in the treatment of CHD using the network pharmacology approach. We identified 18 compounds and 21 action targets via database screening. Enrichment analysis indicated that the effects of GLXB in patients with CHD are primarily associated with the regulation of signalling pathways for tumour necrosis factor, nuclear factor-kappa B, hypoxia-inducible factor-1, arachidonic acid metabolism, and insulin resistance. GLXB thus exerts anti-inflammatory, antihypoxic, and antiagglutinating effects; regulates lipid metabolism; and combats insulin resistance in CHD via these pathways, respectively. After reverse targeting, we observed that the main active compounds of GLXB in the treatment of CHD were quercetin, naringenin, β-sitosterol, ethyl linolenate, ethyl linoleate, and prostaglandin B1. To explore the potential of these compounds in the treatment of CHD, we verified the affinity of the compounds and targets via molecular docking analysis. Our study provides a bridge for the transformation of natural herbs and molecular compounds into novel drug therapies for CHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is aimed at exploring the possible mechanism of action of the Suanzaoren decoction (SZRD) in the treatment of Parkinson's disease with sleep disorder (PDSD) based on network pharmacology and molecular docking. Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) was used to screen the bioactive components and targets of SZRD, and their targets were standardized using the UniProt platform. The disease targets of "Parkinson's disease (PD)" and "Sleep disorder (SD)" were collected by OMIM, GeneCards, and DisGeNET databases. Thereafter, the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed using the STRING platform and visualized by Cytoscape (3.7.2) software. Then, the DAVID platform was used to analyze the Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway. Cytoscape (3.7.2) software was also used to construct the network of the "herb-component-target-pathway." The core active ingredients and core action targets of the drug were verified by molecular docking using AutoDock software. A total of 135 Chinese herbal components and 41 corresponding targets were predicted for the treatment of PDSD using SZRD. Fifteen important signaling pathways were screened, such as the cancer pathway, TNF signaling pathway, PI3K-AKT signaling pathway, HIF-1 signaling pathway, and Toll-like receptor signaling pathway. The results of molecular docking showed that the main active compounds could bind to the representative targets and exhibit good affinity. This study revealed that SZRD has the characteristics and advantages of "multicomponent, multitarget, and multipathway" in the treatment of PDSD; among these, the combination of the main active components of quercetin and kaempferol with the key targets of AKT1, IL6, MAPK1, TP53, and VEGFA may be one of the important mechanisms. This study provides a theoretical basis for further study of the material basis and molecular mechanism of SZRD in the treatment of PDSD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Passive worms are prone to spreading through Peer-to-Peer networks, and they pose a great threat to the security of the network. In this paper, considering network heterogeneity and the number of hops a search can reach, we propose a novel mathematical model to study the dynamics of the propagation of passive worms. For the proposed model, the basic reproduction number R0 is derived by employing the existence of the positive equilibrium. And the stabilities of the worm-free equilibrium and positive equilibrium are analyzed. Moreover, we verify the rationality of the model established by comparing the stochastic simulation with the numerical simulation. Finally, we examine the effect of the number of hops on the spread of passive worms and discuss the various immunization strategies. We find that if R0>1, the propagation speed of passive worms is accelerated with the increase of hop count d; if R0<1, the number of infected peers decreases rapidly with the increase of the value of d and drops to zero eventually. Results show that the network topology and the number of hops can affect the spread of passive worms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To determine whether crystalloid infusion just after intrathecal injection (coload) would be better than infusion before anesthesia (preload) for hypotension prophylaxis in spinal anesthesia for cesarean delivery. Methods. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and other databases for randomized controlled trials comparing coload of crystalloid with preload in parturients receiving spinal anesthesia for cesarean delivery. Primary outcome was intraoperative incidence of hypotension. Other outcomes were intraoperative need for vasopressors, hemodynamic variables, neonatal outcomes (umbilical artery pH and Apgar scores), and the incidence of maternal nausea and vomiting. We used RevMan 5.2 and STATA 12.0 for the data analyses. Results. Ten studies with 824 cases were included. The incidence of hypotension was significantly higher in the preload group compared with the coload group (57.8% versus 47.1%, odds ratio [OR] = 1.62, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.11–2.37, and P=0.01). More patients needed intraoperative vasopressors (OR = 1.71, 95% CI = 1.07–2.04, and P=0.02) when receiving crystalloid preload. In addition, the incidence of nausea and vomiting was higher in the preload group (OR = 3.40, 95% CI = 1.88–6.16, and P<0.0001). There were no differences in neonatal outcomes between the groups. Conclusions. For parturients receiving crystalloid loading in spinal anesthesia for cesarean delivery, coload strategy is superior to preload for the prevention of maternal hypotension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. We previously reported that dexmedetomidine (DEX) offers cardioprotection against ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats. Here, we evaluated the role of toll-like receptors 4- (TLR4-) myeloid differentiation primary response 88- (MyD88-) nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling in DEX-mediated protection of cardiomyocytes using in vitro models of hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R). Methods. The experiments were carried out in H9C2 cells and in primary neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Cells pretreated with vehicle or DEX were exposed to hypoxia for 1 h followed by reoxygenation for 12 h. We analyzed cell viability and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and measured tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and IL-1β mRNA levels, TLR4, MyD88, and nuclear NF-κB p65 protein expression and NF-κB p65 nuclear localization. TLR4 knock-down by TLR4 siRNA transfection and overexpression by TLR4 DNA transfection were used to further confirm our findings. Results. DEX protected against H/R-induced cell damage and inflammation, as evidenced by increased cell survival rates, decreased LDH activity, and decreased TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β mRNA levels, as well as TLR4 and NF-κB protein expression. TLR4 knock-down partially prevented cell damage following H/R injury, while overexpression of TLR4 abolished the DEX-mediated protective effects. Conclusions. DEX pretreatment protects rat cardiomyocytes against H/R injury. This effect is partly mediated by TLR4 suppression via TLR4-MyD88-NF-κB signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The distinction between combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma (cHCC-CC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) before the operation has an important clinical significance for optimizing the treatment plan and predicting the prognosis of patients. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been widely used in the preoperative diagnosis and evaluation of primary liver malignant tumors. Purpose. The aim is to study the value of preoperative clinical data and enhanced MRI in the differential diagnosis of HCC and cHCC-CC and obtain independent risk factors for predicting cHCC-CC. Study type. Retrospective. Population. The clinical and imaging data of 157 HCC and 59 cHCC-CC patients confirmed by pathology were collected. Field Strength/Sequence. 1.5T; cross-sectional T1WI (gradient double echo sequence); cross-sectional T2WI (fast spin echo sequence, fat suppression); enhancement (3D LAVA technology). Assessment. The differences between the HCC and cHCC-CC patients were compared. Statistic Tests. Using the t-test, chi-square test, and logistic regression analysis, P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result. 1. CHCC-CC was more likely to show multiple lesions than HCC (28.81% vs. 10.83%, P = 0.001) and more prone to microvascular invasion (MVI) (36.31% vs. 61.02%, P < 0.001). However, HCC had a higher incidence of liver cirrhosis than cHCC-CC (50.85% vs. 72.61%, P = 0.003). 2. The incidence of nonsmooth margin was higher in the cHCC-CC group (84.75% vs. 52.23%, P < 0.001). The incidence of peritumor enhancement in the arterial phase was higher in the cHCC-CC group (11.46% vs. 62.71%, P < 0.001) 3. According to the multivariate analysis, arterial peritumor enhancement (OR = 8.833,95%CI:4.033,19.346, P < 0.001) was an independent risk factor for cHCC-CC (P < 0.001)). It had high sensitivity (62.71%) and specificity (88.54%) in the diagnosis of cHCC-CC. Date Conclusions. Liver cirrhosis and the imaging findings of GD-DTPA-enhanced MRI are helpful for the differential diagnosis of HCC and cHCC-CC. In addition, the imaging sign of peritumoral enhancement in the arterial phase has high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of cHCC-CC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microscopic differences in characteristics and formation mechanism of shale oil reservoirs in the upper and lower sweet spot sections of the Lucaogou Formation in the Jimsar Depression, which has been identified as a national shale oil demonstration area in China, are still unclear. In this study, the characteristics and the main controlling factors of reservoir differences in different sweet spots of Lucaogou Formation were specified based on core observation, thin-section observation, X-ray diffraction, Rock-Eval, microscopic fluorescence of hydrocarbon inclusions, and temperature measurement of saline inclusions. Results show that the Lucaogou Formation mainly develops dissolution and primary intergranular pores. The dissolution transformation leads to obvious differences between the upper and lower sweet spots. Specifically, the upper sweet spot section mainly develops primary intergranular pores and partially develops dissolution pores; the lower sweet spot section mainly develops dissolution pores, including intergranular, intragrain, and intergranular pores. Geochemical data such as inclusions indicate that hydrocarbon generation began in the Triassic, and a large number of hydrocarbons were charged in the Middle-Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous. As the key fluid that triggers reservoir dissolution modification, it is mainly derived from organic acids generated by thermal evolution of source rocks within shale formations. The scale and quality of source rocks in the lower sweet spot are better than those in the upper sweet spot. The former has stronger hydrocarbon generation potential, which lays a foundation for the scale difference of organic acid output in the upper and lower sweet spots. At the same time, the source rocks in the lower sweet spot are more mature due to magmatic-hydrothermal upwelling. This condition accelerates the release of organic acids from source rocks, which results in the scale difference of dissolution effects in the upper and lower sweet spots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Epigenetic mechanism plays an important role in endometrial carcinoma (EC). This study was designed to analyze the epigenetic mechanism between DNA methylation-driven genes (DEDGs) and drugs targeting DEDGs and to develop a DEDG score model for predicting the prognosis of EC. Methods. Expression profile and methylation profile data of PD-1-negative EC samples were obtained from TCGA. To obtain intersected DEDGs, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially methylated genes from tumor tissues and normal tissues were analyzed by limma. A linear discriminant classification model was constructed using the gene expression profile of DMDGs, methylation profile of TSS1500, TSS200, and gene body regions. Principal component analysis (PCA) and ROC analysis were conducted. The protein-drug interactions analysis of DMDGs was performed using Network Analyst 3.0 tool. Lasso Cox regression analysis was used to screen prognostic DNA methylation driving gene and to build a risk score model. The ROC curve and Kaplan-Meier survival curve were plotted to evaluate the model prediction capability. Results. A total of 96 DMDGs were screened from the three regions, distributed on 22 chromosomes, with consistent methylation patterns in different gene regions. Both the expression profile and methylation profile of the three regions can neatly distinguish tumor samples from normal ones, with a high classifying performance. A gene signature, which consisted of ELFN1-AS1 and ZNF132, could classify EC patients into a high-risk group and low-risk group. Prognosis of the high-risk group was significantly worse than that of the low-risk group. The risk model showed a high performance in predicting the prognosis of EC. Conclusion. We successfully established a risk score system with two DMDGs, which showed a high prediction accuracy of EC prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myocardial fibrosis is the main morphological change of ventricular remodelling caused by cardiovascular diseases, mainly manifested due to the excessive production of collagen proteins. SRY-related high mobility group-box gene 9 (SOX9) is a new target regulating myocardial fibrosis. Bellidifolin (BEL), the active component of G. acuta, can prevent heart damage. However, it is unclear whether BEL can regulate SOX9 to alleviate myocardial fibrosis. The mice were subjected to isoproterenol (ISO) to establish myocardial fibrosis, and human myocardial fibroblasts (HCFs) were activated by TGF-β1 in the present study. The pathological changes of cardiac tissue were observed by HE staining. Masson staining was applied to reveal the collagen deposition in the heart. The measurement for expression of fibrosis-related proteins, SOX9, and TGF-β1 signalling molecules adopted Western blot and immunohistochemistry. The effects of BEL on HCFs, activity were detected by CCK-8. The result showed that BEL did not affect cell viability. And, the data indicated that BEL inhibited the elevations in α-SMA, Collagen I, and Collagen III by decreasing SOX9 expression. Additionally, SOX9 suppression by siRNA downregulated the TGF-β1 expression and prevented Smad3 phosphorylation, as supported by reducing the expression of α-SMA, Collagen I, and Collagen III. In vivo study verified that BEL ameliorated myocardial fibrosis by inhibiting SOX9. Therefore, BEL inhibited SOX9 to block TGF-β1 signalling activation to ameliorate myocardial fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the active control and the adaptive sliding mode controller, a new method of the combination of the active control and the single adaptive sliding mode variable structure control is proposed to realize the dislocation synchronization of the three-dimensional different complex value chaotic systems. The synchronization method is suitable not only for the same complex value chaotic systems, but also for different complex value chaotic systems, so it expands the application of the single sliding mode controller. For the states in the complex space of the driving system and response system, the synchronization for the complex state of the two different chaotic systems is achieved according to the dislocation relationship, not in accordance with the corresponding relationship. The complexity of complex value chaotic system and the diversity of dislocation synchronization increase the security of the chaotic secure communication. This single adaptive sliding mode variable structure controller is simple, and it can enhance the robustness of the system. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulation prove the feasibility and effectiveness of the controller designed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper formulates a delay model characterizing the competition between bacteria and immune system. The center manifold reduction method and the normal form theory due to Faria and Magalhaes are used to compute the normal form of the model, and the stability of two nonhyperbolic equilibria is discussed. Sensitivity analysis suggests that the growth rate of bacteria is the most sensitive parameter of the threshold parameter R0 and should be targeted in the controlling strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the stability of the high-level radioactive waste (HLW) in the proposed clay rock in Tamusu area of China. The in-situ stress as well as the variational characteristics of ambient temperature caused by nuclide decay during HLW storage should be noticeable. A series of thermal property tests and thermo-mechanical coupled strength (T-M) tests of rock samples in the target formation are carried out. Then the stability of surrounding rock of an HLW under the combination of heat release from HLW and in-situ stress is simulated and analyzed by numerical method. Thermal properties of Tamusu clay rock samples are obtained by testing their thermal conductivity. In order to obtain the characteristics and the failure modes of rock samples at different temperatures, the T-M coupling experiments in the temperature range of 100°C are conducted. Numerical model for simulating the state of operation of the nuclear waste tank buried in the tunnel within 100 years is constructed. A thermal boundary by the heat release equation of HLW and the real in-situ stress level in Tamusu area are considered in the model. While, the variation law of surrounding rock's temperature, stress, and deformation corresponding to the embedding time is obtained from the numerical calculation. Finally, the stability of the deep geological repository is comprehensively evaluated. The results show that the temperature has a significant impact on the T-M coupling characteristics of Tamusu clay rock, and the proposed repository numerical model has no large deformation and failure problems in 100 years. However, the temperature of the surrounding rock of the repository may exceed the safety standard value during the operation period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radix Astragali and Semen Lepidii (HQ-TLZ) is a commonly used herbal medicine combination for treatment of heart failure, which has a good clinical effect. However, its active components and mechanism of action are not clear, which limits its clinical application and development. In this study, we explored the mechanism of action of HQ-TLZ in the treatment of heart failure based on network pharmacology. We obtained 11 active ingredients and 109 targets from the TCMSP database and SwissTargetPrediction database. Next, we constructed the action network and carried out enrichment analysis. The results showed that HQ-TLZ treatment of heart failure is primarily achieved by regulating the insulin resistance, erbB signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and VEGF signaling pathway. After inverse targeting, molecular docking, and literature search, we determined that the equivalent molecular groups of HQ-TLZ in the treatment of heart failure were quercetin and kaempferol. Based on network pharmacology, we reveal the mechanism of action of HQ-TLZ in the treatment of heart failure to a certain extent. At the same time, we determined the composition of the equivalent molecular group. This provides a bridge for the consistency evaluation of natural herbs and molecular compounds, which is beneficial to the development of novel drugs and further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives.The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in 3′UTR of XPO5 gene and the occurrence of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), and to further explore the regulatory mechanism of miRNAs in NIHL on XPO5 gene. Methods.We conducted a case-control study involving 1040 cases and 1060 controls. The effects of SNPs on XPO5 expression were studied by genotyping, real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), cell transfection, and the dual-luciferase reporter assay. Results.We genotyped four SNPs (rs2257082, rs11077, rs7755135, and rs1106841) in the XPO5 gene. The rs2257082 AG/GG carriers have special connection to an increased risk of noise-induced hearing loss compared to the AA carriers. The rs11077TG/GG carriers had a significantly increased association with NIHL susceptibility than the TT carriers. There was a higher risk of NIHL in the XPO5 gene rs7755135 CC carriers than in the TT carriers. No statistically significant correlation was obtained with respect to SNPrs1106841. Functional experiments showed that the rs11077 change might inhibit the interaction between miRNAs (miRNA-4763-5p, miRNA-5002-3p, and miRNA-617) and XPO5, with rs11077G allele resulting in overexpression of XPO5. Conclusion. The genetic polymorphism, rs11077, within XPO5 is associated with the risk of noise-induced hearing loss in a Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is agreed that connected vehicle technologies have broad implications to traffic management systems. In order to alleviate urban congestion and improve road capacity, this paper proposes a multilane spatiotemporal trajectory optimization method (MSTTOM) to reach full potential of connected vehicles by considering vehicular safety, traffic capacity, fuel efficiency, and driver comfort. In this MSTTOM, the dynamic characteristics of connected vehicles, the vehicular state vector, the optimized objective function, and the constraints are formulated. The method for solving the trajectory problem is optimized based on Pontryagin's maximum principle and reinforcement learning (RL). A typical scenario of intersection with a one-way 4-lane section is measured, and the data within 24 hours are collected for tests. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can optimize the traffic flow by enhancing vehicle fuel efficiency by 32% and reducing pollutants emissions by 17% compared with the advanced glidepath prototype application (GPPA) scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is agreed that connected vehicle technologies have broad implications to traffic management systems. In order to alleviate urban congestion and improve road capacity, this paper proposes a multilane spatiotemporal trajectory optimization method (MSTTOM) to reach full potential of connected vehicles by considering vehicular safety, traffic capacity, fuel efficiency, and driver comfort. In this MSTTOM, the dynamic characteristics of connected vehicles, the vehicular state vector, the optimized objective function, and the constraints are formulated. The method for solving the trajectory problem is optimized based on Pontryagin's maximum principle and reinforcement learning (RL). A typical scenario of intersection with a one-way 4-lane section is measured, and the data within 24 hours are collected for tests. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can optimize the traffic flow by enhancing vehicle fuel efficiency by 32% and reducing pollutants emissions by 17% compared with the advanced glidepath prototype application (GPPA) scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substantial advance supports that CMTM2 serve as an important performer in physiological and pathological processes. However, very little is clear about the relationship between CMTM2 and HBV-related disorders. Here, for the first time, we explore that whether or not serum CMTM2 is involved in HBV-related diseases. We found that CMTM2 values were significantly lower in patients compared to healthy control (p <0.001), using ELISA assay. Furthermore, serum CMTM2 levels were negatively correlated with HBV DNA levels in CHB patients but not correlated with the serum levels of ALT and AST. Serum CMTM2 concentrations were not correlated with the serum levels of ALT, AST and HBV DNA load in HBLC and HCC patients. In addition, analysis of the ROC curve indicated that CMTM2 levels were significantly associated with the diagnostic value of HBV-related disorders. Finally, downregulation of CMTM2 was observed in HBV-infected cell model. CMTM2 degradation could be attributed to HBx-activated Lys48 (K48)-linked polyubiquitination, which was abolished by treatment with the proteasome inhibitor MG132. HBV infection suppresses CMTM2 expression by activating ubiquitin-proteasome system. Serum CMTM2 levels can be adopted as an effective indicator of the pathogenesis of HBV-related disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study is aimed at establishing links between brain network examination and neural plasticity studies measured by optical neuroimaging. Sixteen healthy subjects were recruited from the University of Macau to test the Granger Prediction Estimation (GPE) method to investigate brain network connectivity during figurative language comprehension. The method is aimed at mapping significant causal relationships across language brain networks, captured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy measurements (fNIRS): (i) definition of regions of interest (ROIs) based on significant channels extracted from spatial activation maps; (ii) inspection of significant causal relationships in temporal resolution, exploring the experimental task agreement; and (iii) early identification of stronger causal relationships that guide neuromodulation intervention, targeting impaired connectivity pathways. Our results propose top-down mechanisms responsible for perceptive-attention engagement in the left anterior frontal cortex and bottom-up mechanism in the right hemispheres during the semantic integration of figurative language. Moreover, the interhemispheric directional flow suggests a right hemisphere engagement in decoding unfamiliar literal sentences and fine-grained integration guided by the left hemisphere to reduce ambiguity in meaningless words. Finally, bottom-up mechanisms seem activated by logographic-semantic processing in literal meanings and memory storage centres in meaningless comprehension. To sum up, our main findings reveal that the Granger Prediction Estimation (GPE) integrated strategy proposes an effective link between assessment and intervention, capable of enhancing the efficiency of the treatment in language disorders and reducing the neuromodulation side effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transplantation of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) is currently considered a novel therapeutic strategy for diabetic nephropathy (DN). However, the mechanisms by which UC-MSCs ameliorate renal fibrosis in DN are not well understood. Herein, we firstly investigated the therapeutic effects of mouse UC-MSC infusion on kidney structural and functional impairment in streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced diabetic mice. We found that the repeated injection with mUC-MSCs alleviates albuminuria, glomerulus injury, and fibrosis in DN mouse models. Next, mesangial cells were exposed to 5.6 mM glucose, 30 mM glucose, or mUC-MSC-conditioned medium, and then we performed western blotting, immunofluorescence, wound healing assay, and cell proliferation assay to measure extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), myofibroblast transdifferentiation (MFT), and cell proliferation. We demonstrated that mUC-MSC paracrine decreased the deposition of fibronectin and collagen I by inhibiting TGF-β1-triggered MFT and cell proliferation mediated by PI3K/Akt and MAPK signaling pathways, and elevating the levels of MMP2 and MMP9. Importantly, we provided evidence that the antifibrosis role of mUC-MSC paracrine in DN might be determined by exosomes shed by MSCs. Together, these findings reveal the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of UC-MSCs on renal fibrosis in DN and provide the evidence for DN cell-free therapy based on UC-MSCs in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]