Search

Objective. To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab (PD-1/PD-L inhibitor) and adjuvant chemotherapy to treat NSCLC and provide evidence-based reference for clinical use. Methods. By searching the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, PubMed, and Web of Science, according to the inclusion criteria, literature selection, data extraction, and quality evaluation were carried out for the included literature. The I2 test was used to evaluate heterogeneity between studies, and the meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software provided by Cochrane. Results. Finally, 14 relevant documents meeting the standards were included. It is a statistical difference in one-year survival rate [ OR = 1.50 , 95% CI (1.28, 1.76), P < 0.00001 , I 2 = 0 %, Z = 4.99 ]; overall response rate[OR =1.57, 95% CI (1.29, 1.90), P < 0.00001 , I 2 = 0 %, Z = 4.58 ]; progression-free survival [ OR = 2.99 , 95% CI (2.29, 3.91), P < 0.00001 , I 2 = 26 %, Z = 8.00 ]; and overall survival [ OR = 1.38 , 95% CI (1.07, 1.78), P = 0.01 , I 2 = 46 %, Z = 2.50 ] and reduces the incidence of adverse drug reactions [ OR = 2.54 , 95% CI (1.99, 3.25), P < 0.00001 , I 2 = 69 %, Z = 7.43 ]. Conclusion. Pembrolizumab adjuvant chemotherapy is effective in the treatment of advanced NSCLC, but attention should be paid to the occurrence of adverse reactions in clinical. Due to the limitations of the methodology included in the study, this conclusion required more validation of large-sample RCT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab (PD-1/PD-L inhibitor) and adjuvant chemotherapy to treat NSCLC and provide evidence-based reference for clinical use. Methods. By searching the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, PubMed, and Web of Science, according to the inclusion criteria, literature selection, data extraction, and quality evaluation were carried out for the included literature. The I2 test was used to evaluate heterogeneity between studies, and the meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software provided by Cochrane. Results. Finally, 14 relevant documents meeting the standards were included. It is a statistical difference in one-year survival rate [ OR = 1.50 , 95% CI (1.28, 1.76), P < 0.00001 , I 2 = 0 %, Z = 4.99 ]; overall response rate[OR =1.57, 95% CI (1.29, 1.90), P < 0.00001 , I 2 = 0 %, Z = 4.58 ]; progression-free survival [ OR = 2.99 , 95% CI (2.29, 3.91), P < 0.00001 , I 2 = 26 %, Z = 8.00 ]; and overall survival [ OR = 1.38 , 95% CI (1.07, 1.78), P = 0.01 , I 2 = 46 %, Z = 2.50 ] and reduces the incidence of adverse drug reactions [ OR = 2.54 , 95% CI (1.99, 3.25), P < 0.00001 , I 2 = 69 %, Z = 7.43 ]. Conclusion. Pembrolizumab adjuvant chemotherapy is effective in the treatment of advanced NSCLC, but attention should be paid to the occurrence of adverse reactions in clinical. Due to the limitations of the methodology included in the study, this conclusion required more validation of large-sample RCT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the proposal of Kyoto protocol, carbon dioxide emission rights are traded as a commodity, and carbon emission trading market emerges as the times require. As the world's largest carbon emitter, China has established eight pilot markets for carbon emission trading. Selecting the closing price of eight carbon trading markets from the establishment to June 23, 2020, this paper analyzes the daily, weekly, and monthly return series data, using the first-order autoregressive process to adjust the daily income series to eliminate the weak trading market effect and then comprehensively uses the traditional variance ratio test and multiple variance ratio test to analyze the weak-form market efficiency of the eight carbon trading markets. The empirical results show that most of the carbon trading markets are non-weak-form market efficiency, and only Tianjin, Shanghai, and Hubei markets are weak-form market efficiency under the daily trading data. However, with the increase of carbon holding period, the weak-form market efficiency continues to strengthen. It shows that liquidity, quantity, and information transparency are important factors that affect the market efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab (PD-1/PD-L inhibitor) and adjuvant chemotherapy to treat NSCLC and provide evidence-based reference for clinical use. Methods. By searching the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, PubMed, and Web of Science, according to the inclusion criteria, literature selection, data extraction, and quality evaluation were carried out for the included literature. The I2 test was used to evaluate heterogeneity between studies, and the meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software provided by Cochrane. Results. Finally, 14 relevant documents meeting the standards were included. It is a statistical difference in one-year survival rate [ OR = 1.50 , 95% CI (1.28, 1.76), P < 0.00001 , I 2 = 0 %, Z = 4.99 ]; overall response rate[OR =1.57, 95% CI (1.29, 1.90), P < 0.00001 , I 2 = 0 %, Z = 4.58 ]; progression-free survival [ OR = 2.99 , 95% CI (2.29, 3.91), P < 0.00001 , I 2 = 26 %, Z = 8.00 ]; and overall survival [ OR = 1.38 , 95% CI (1.07, 1.78), P = 0.01 , I 2 = 46 %, Z = 2.50 ] and reduces the incidence of adverse drug reactions [ OR = 2.54 , 95% CI (1.99, 3.25), P < 0.00001 , I 2 = 69 %, Z = 7.43 ]. Conclusion. Pembrolizumab adjuvant chemotherapy is effective in the treatment of advanced NSCLC, but attention should be paid to the occurrence of adverse reactions in clinical. Due to the limitations of the methodology included in the study, this conclusion required more validation of large-sample RCT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By selecting typical seismic sections to carry out detailed structural interpretation, the structural style features of the Wunansha Uplift in the South Yellow Sea basin were systematically combined, and the compressional structures (imbricate, opposite/back thrust, and Y-shaped structures), strike-slip faults (positive flower-shaped faults), and extensional normal faults (listric-shaped normal faults) were identified. On this basis, combined with the characteristics of the regional stress field and the background of deep geodynamics, the genetic mechanism and structural evolution of the structural style in the Wunansha Uplift were defined. The stress mechanism of the compressional structures originated from the initial high-speed and low-angle NW subduction of the paleo-Pacific plate during the early Yanshanian movement in the Early Jurassic. The regional strike-slip fault was mainly a positive flower structure with compression and torsion characteristics, and its stress mechanism originated from sinistral shear caused by the Early Cretaceous low-angle NNW subduction of the paleo-Pacific plate. The Tan-Lu fault in eastern China also had sinistral shear characteristics in this period. The extensional normal fault was characterized by a listric shape, which developed along the northern boundary of the Wunansha Uplift, that is, the connection between the Wunansha Uplift and the Southern Depression of the South Yellow Sea basin. The stress mechanism was derived from the transition of the paleo-Pacific plate from low-angle to high-angle subduction during the late Yanshanian movement in the Late Cretaceous. Simultaneously, the tectonic stress system in eastern China also changed from compressional to tensional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. A retrospective case-control study was performed to observe the effect and clinical significance of early electroacupuncture combined with enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) on pain perception and dysfunction after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Methods. About 100 patients who diagnosed with TKA from February 2019 to April 2021 were enrolled in our hospital. The patients were arbitrarily assigned into control group and study group. The former group was cured with electroacupuncture in the early stage, and the latter group was intervened on the basis of early electroacupuncture combined with the concept of ERAS. The curative effect, the time of getting out of bed for the first time after operation, the time of postoperative rehabilitation, postoperative rehabilitation cost, pain score and knee joint function score, range of motion (ROM) of knee joint, low shear of whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, fibrinogen level, and postoperative complications were compared. Results. There exhibited no statistical difference in clinical data. In terms of the treatment effects, there were 27 cases of markedly effective, 22 cases of effective, and 1 case of ineffective in the study group, and the total effective rate was 98.00%; in the control group, 15 cases were markedly effective, 28 cases were effective, and 13 cases were ineffective, and the total effective rate was 86.00%. Compared to the control group, the total effective rate of the study group was higher (P < 0.05). And the first time to get out of bed and the postoperative rehabilitation time in the study group were lower. Compared to the control group (10113.42 ± 524.83) yuan, the postoperative rehabilitation cost in the study group (12401.71 ± 530.77) yuan was higher. In terms of the scores of VAS and HSS, there exhibited no remarkable difference before treatment (P > 0.05). After treatment, the VAS score lessened and the HSS score augmented the study group VAS score (1.76 ± 0.28); the score in the control group was lower compared to the control group (3.45 ± 0.36), and HSS scoring (83.48 ± 11.23) points higher compared to the control group (65.82 ± 10.44) points (P < 0.05). The ROM of knee joint augmented successively at the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 8th week after treatment comparison between groups, the ROM of the knee joint in the study group at the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 8th week was (49.47 ± 3.60)°, (64.38 ± 5.32)°, (86.93 ± 6.72)°, and (104.20 ± 9.11)°, is higher compared to the control group (46.53 ± 3.41)°, (61.52 ± 5.20)°, (78.42 ± 6.45)°, and (98.77 ± 8.67)° (P < 0.05). One day after operation, there exhibited no remarkable difference in whole blood viscosity low shear, plasma viscosity, and fibrinogen level (P > 0.05). However, there exhibited no remarkable difference in plasma viscosity and fibrinogen level at 1 day and 7 days after operation (P > 0.05). Seven days after operation, the whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, and fibrinogen in the study group were lower (P < 0.05). The probability of postoperative complications was compared. In the study group, there were 2 cases of limb swelling and pain, 1 case of joint stiffness, and no swelling and pain complicated with deep venous thrombosis, and the total incidence was 6.00%. In the control group, there were 5 cases of limb swelling and pain, 3 cases of joint stiffness, and 3 cases of swelling and pain complicated with deep venous thrombosis, with a total incidence of 22.00%. The incidence of adverse reactions in the study group was lower ( χ 2 = 5.317 P < 0.05). Conclusion. Early electroacupuncture combined with ERAS is of positive significance to the patients after TKA, which can reduce the pain, enhance the function of the knee joint, and promote the ROM of the knee joint, and can effectively shorten the first time out of bed and postoperative rehabilitation time and reduce whole blood viscosity low shear, plasma viscosity, and fibrinogen level, but the overall rehabilitation cost is high, and clinical application should be combined with the actual situation of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both short-distance association knowledge and long-distance interaction knowledge in the knowledge base contain rich semantics. When learning entity and relation representation in a knowledge base, if we can learn short-distance association knowledge and long-distance interaction knowledge at the same time, we can learn the representation method with rich semantic information and keep the original structure of the knowledge base. Among the knowledge contained in a large number of records, some knowledge reflects individual characteristics and can be called local knowledge; others reflect group characteristics and can be called global knowledge. Using different ways to learn local and global knowledge in the deep learning model will better reflect the difference between the two kinds of knowledge at the model level, and make the model have the ability to understand both individual characteristics and overall characteristics. Through layer-by-layer forward propagation and error back propagation algorithms, the entire network is gradually optimized in an "end-to-end" manner. This "end-to-end" approach leaves some means of introducing prior knowledge flexibly into the model. Although it can reduce the burden on researchers, this "data-driven" approach brings the shortcomings of poor interpretability of learning results and weak generalization ability. Combining the specific prior knowledge implicit in the data with the deep learning algorithm can optimize the algorithm in a targeted manner and avoid blind searching in the solution space, so as to obtain a model with better performance and wider use. To this end, this paper investigates combining prior knowledge with deep learning to design efficient algorithms to address the classification of English translation styles. This paper combines local knowledge with global knowledge and deep learning methods and proposes a memory neural network method combining local knowledge and global knowledge. By recording the local knowledge in the local memory module and simultaneously recording the global knowledge in the global memory module, the method effectively learns the latent information in a large number of records. This paper combines short-distance association knowledge with long-distance interaction knowledge and a distributed representation learning method based on deep learning and proposes a deep learning method combining short-distance association knowledge and long-distance interaction knowledge. On the IWSLT English translation task, experiments show that the method significantly improves translation quality, confirming that grammatical dependencies enhance attention by supplementing dependent grammatical information, resulting in more effective and richer context vectors that more accurately represent contextual situations. Additional experimental analysis showed that the model underwent careful parameter selection and analysis. By mining valuable long-distance interactive knowledge in the knowledge base and using it in the distributed representation learning of the knowledge base, while constraining the short-distance related knowledge and constraining the long-distance interactive knowledge, the learned knowledge can be used to effectively complete the knowledge base distributed representation for discovering new relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. SHC SH2 domain-binding protein 1 (SHCBP1), one of the members of Src homolog and collagen homolog (Shc) family, has been reported to be overexpressed in several malignant cancers and involved in tumor progression. However, the expression of SHCBP1 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains unclear, and its clinical significance remains to be further elucidated. Methods. The expression of SHCBP1 mRNA in 35 pair samples of NPC and adjacent normal tissues of NPC was detected by RT-qPCR. The expression level of SHCBP1 protein and mRNA in the selected cells was detected by western blot and RT-qPCR, respectively. The effects of SHCBP1 on NPC in vitro were observed by MTT method, colony formation assay, apoptosis assay, cell cycle assay, wound healing assay, transwell migration assay, and transwell invasion assay. Results. SHCBP1 was highly expressed in clinical tissues and NPC cell lines, and SHCBP1 knockdown significantly inhibited NPC cell proliferation. Overexpression of SHCBP1 promoted NPC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in NPC cell lines. Silencing SHCBP1 expression can delay cell cycle and inhibit cell apoptosis. Conclusion. Our results suggest that SHCBP1 may promote proliferation and metastasis of NPC cells, which represents that SHCBP1 may act as a new indicator for predicting the prognosis of NPC and a new target for clinical treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a millimeter‐wave Butler matrix with flexible phase differences is proposed using the substrate integrated suspended line technology. To begin with, a low‐loss substrate integrated suspended line (SISL) circular patch coupler consisting of four circular sectors is presented, achieving arbitrary phase difference and coupling coefficient by adjusting the angle and radii of the sectors. Based on the proposed coupler, two prototypes of the SISL Butler matrix are designed, fabricated and measured for the demonstration. In prototype I, the crossovers are removed and a flexible phase difference is obtained with an area size of 2.5 λg × 2.8 λg. In prototype II, both the crossovers and 45° phase shifters are removed and the phase differences of ±45° and ±135° are obtained with an area size of 1.86 λg × 2.24 λg. Low crosstalk between components and minimal radiation loss can be achieved by the SISL self‐packaged characteristic and electromagnetic shielding. For both prototypes, the measured insertion losses are less than 2 dB at 26 GHz, including the loss of transitions and connectors, and the measured phase errors are less than ±10° within a bandwidth of more than 10%. The proposed Butler matrix shows the advantages of compact size, low loss and high integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the situation of global low-carbon development, the contradiction among energy consumption, economic growth, and CO2 emissions is increasingly prominent. Considering the possible two-way feedback among the three, based on the panel data of 30 regions in China from 2000 to 2017, this paper establishes a spatial Durbin model including economic growth, energy consumption equation, and CO2 emissions and studies the dynamic relationship and spatial spillover among economic growth, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions effects. The results show that the economic growth can significantly improve carbon dioxide emissions, and China's economic growth level has become a positive driving force for carbon dioxide emissions. However, economic growth will not be significantly affected by the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. There is a two-way relationship between energy consumption (ENC) and carbon dioxide emissions (CO2). Energy consumption and carbon emissions are interrelated, which has a negative spatial spillover effect on the carbon dioxide emissions of the surrounding provinces and cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Recent studies have focused on the special roles of NADPH-oxidase in multiple autoimmune diseases. Nevertheless, the association of genetic variation in NADPH-oxidase genes with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was not extensively studied in a Chinese population. We performed this study to examine the association of NCF2, NCF4, and CYBA gene polymorphisms with RA susceptibility in a Chinese population.Methods: Six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (NCF2 rs10911363, NCF4 rs1883112, rs4821544, rs729749, CYBA rs3794624, and rs4673) were genotyped in a cohort composed of 593 RA patients and 596 normal controls. Improved multiple ligase detection reaction (iMLDR) was used for genotyping.Results: We observed that NCF4 rs4821544 CT genotype and C allele frequencies in RA patients were significantly decreased when compared to controls (CT vs. TT: P = 0.043; C vs. T: P = 0.031), and rs4821544 polymorphism was significantly associated with an increased RA risk under the dominant model (TT vs. CT+CC: P = 0.031). Our results also indicated that rs729749 CT genotype frequency was significantly lower in RA patients than that in controls (CT vs. CC: P = 0.033). Moreover, the rs729749 CT genotype frequency was also significantly decreased in RA patients in males (CT vs. CC: P = 0.024). No significant association between NCF2 and CYBA gene polymorphisms and RA susceptibility was observed. There were significant associations between rs4821544 TT genotype and T allele frequencies and anti-CCP in male RA patients.Conclusions: In summary, NCF4 rs4821544 and rs729749 polymorphisms might contribute to RA susceptibility, while NCF2 and CYBA gene polymorphisms were not associated with RA susceptibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of carbon market, the complex dynamic relationship between electricity and carbon market has become the focus of energy research area. In this paper, we applied a new developed multifractal detrended cross-correlation analysis method to investigate the cross-correlation and multifractality between electricity and carbon markets. We analyze the daily return of electricity and carbon prices over a period of 6 years to do the research. The results show that, firstly, we find that there is a strong negative correlation between domestic carbon price and electricity price and a significant cross-correlation between the return series of electricity and carbon markets. Secondly, through multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis, it is proven that there are obvious multifractal characteristics in the return series of electricity and carbon markets, and the results of traditional linear analysis are unreliable. We also find that, based on multifractal detrended cross-correlation analysis, the law cross-correlation between electricity and carbon markets exists significantly. The long-range correlation of small fluctuations and large fluctuations and the fat tail distribution of return series are the reasons for the formation of multifractality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, bio-based poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/polycaprolactone (PCL) blends and PLA/PCL/silicon carbide (SiC) composites were prepared using a solution blending method. The surface of the SiC whiskers was modified using a silane coupling agent. The effects of the PCL and SiC contents on the flexural properties, fracture toughness, morphology of PLA/PCL blends, and PLA/PCL/SiC composites were investigated using several techniques. Both the fracture toughness and flexural strength of PLA increased by the introduction of PCL and were further improved by the formation of SiC whiskers. Fracture surfaces were observed by scanning electron microscopy, which showed that the use of PCL as a reinforcing agent induces plastic deformation in the PLA/PCL blends. The SiC whiskers absorbed external energy because of their good interfacial adhesion with the PLA matrix and through SiC-PLA debonding in the PLA/PCL/SiC composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe aplastic anemia (SAA) is characterized by pancytopenia and failure of hematopoietic function and is caused by excessive functioning of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). EBNA-1, a nucleoprotein of the Epstein Barr virus (EBV), can influence the proliferation and function of lymphocytes. We therefore tested the number of EBV copies in the CD8+ T cells of 27 patients with SAA and 10 healthy control subjects and observed the influences of EBNA-1 upon the CD8+ T cells of patients with SAA. The results showed that more EBV copies were found in the CD8+ T cells of patients with untreated SAA than in patients with SAA in remission or in the healthy control subjects. Their copy number was positively correlated with the expression of granzyme B and perforin, the secretion level of interferon-γ in CD8+ T cells, and the viability of CD8+ T cells, whereas no correlation was seen between the copy number and the interleukin 4 secretion level or the apoptosis rate. Meanwhile, the expression of granzyme B and perforin was reduced after EBNA-1 gene knockdown, whereas the interferon-γ secretion level and cell viability declined. Therefore, we infer that EBV infection may be a factor in the activation of CTLs and in damaging the bone marrow hematopoietic function of patients with SAA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic periodontitis (CP) is one of the most common chronic inflammatory diseases and cytokines play a pivotal role in the regulation of immune response. Interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-13 (IL-13) are anti-inflammatory cytokines and several polymorphisms of them have been proved involved in periodontal disease. This study aimed to evaluate whether three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs2070874 and rs2243248 from IL4 and rs1800925 from IL13, are associated with CP in a Han Chinese population consisting of 440 moderate or severe CP patients and 324 healthy controls. Genomic DNA extracted from buccal epithelial cells of the included participants were genotyped using a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry method. No significant association between rs2070874 or rs1800925 and CP was found, while the frequencies of rs2243248 and two haplotypes C-G-T and C-T-T showed significant differences between the two groups. The results suggest that the polymorphism rs2243248 and haplotypes C-G-T and C-T-T may be associated with CP susceptibility in the present Han Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The shafting oscillation occurs in the grid‐connected doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)‐based wind power generation system may lead to the low‐frequency oscillation in the grid, which can weaken the dynamic stability of the power system. Thus, this paper focus on the shafting oscillation damping control of the DFIG‐based system. The characteristics of the DFIG shafting oscillation is analyzed. In addition, the four control strategies based on the complex torque coefficient method for improving the shafting oscillation damping of the grid‐connected DFIG are investigated. Furthermore, a typical 2‐MW DFIG wind power generation system is used for case study under various wind speed on DIgSILENT/PowerFactory. The simulation results validate the effectiveness of the four control strategies. Finally, the detailed comparative analysis and suggestion is presented. The research results of this paper can help to develop an optimal control strategy to suppress the shafting oscillation in the DFIG system under different conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective. Shennao Fuyuan Tang (SNFYT) is an effective herbal formula for ischemic stroke (IS). It has been in China for more than 20 years, but its effective biologically active components and underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of action of SNFYT for the treatment of IS from both network pharmacology and molecular docking aspects. Methods. Screen the biologically active components and potential targets of SNFYT through Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP), Traditional Chinese Medicines Integrated Database (TCMID), and related literature. In addition, DrugBank, OMIM, DisGeNET, and the Therapeutic Target Database were searched to explore the therapeutic targets of IS. The cross-targets of SNFYT potential targets and IS treatment targets were taken as candidate gene targets, and GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed on the candidate targets. On this basis, the SNFYT-component-target network and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network were constructed using Cytoscape 3.7.2. Finally, AutoDock was used to verify the molecular docking of core components and core targets. Results. We screened out 95 potentially active components and 143 candidate targets. SNFYT-component-target network, PPI network, and Cytoscape analysis identified four core active ingredients and 14 core targets. GO enrichment analyzed 2333 biological processes, 79 cell components, and 149 molecular functions. There are 170 KEGG-related signal pathways P < 0.05 , including the IL-17 signal pathway, TNF signal pathway, and HIF-1 signal pathway. The molecular docking results of the core components and the core targets showed good binding power. Conclusions. SNFYT may achieve the effect of treating ischemic stroke through its anti-inflammatory effect through a signal pathway with core targets as the core. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. Herbal medicine is one of crucial symbols of Chinese national medicine. Investigation on molecular responses of different herbal strategies against viral myocarditis is immeasurably conducive to targeting drug development in the current international absence of miracle treatment. Methods. Literature retrieval platforms were applied in the collection of existing empirical evidences for viral myocarditis-related single-herbal strategies. SwissTargetPrediction, Metascape, and Discovery Studio coordinating with multidatabases investigated underlying target genes, interactive proteins, and docking molecules in turn. Results. Six single-herbal medicines consisting of Huangqi (Hedysarum Multijugum Maxim), Yuganzi (Phyllanthi Fructus), Kushen (Sophorae Flavescentis Radix), Jianghuang (Curcumaelongae Rhizoma), Chaihu (Radix Bupleuri), and Jixueteng (Spatholobus Suberectus Dunn) meet the requirement. There were 11 overlapped and 73 unique natural components detected in these herbs. SLC6A2, SLC6A4, NOS2, PPARA, PPARG, ACHE, CYP2C19, CYP51A1, and CHRM2 were equally targeted by six herbs and identified as viral myocarditis-associated symbols. MCODE algorithm exposed the hub role of SRC and EGFR in strategies without Jianghuang. Subsequently, we learned intermolecular interactions of herbal components and their targeting heart-tissue-specific CHRM2, FABP3, TNNC1, TNNI3, TNNT2, and SCN5A and cardiac-myocytes-specific IL6, MMP1, and PLAT coupled with viral myocarditis. Ten interactive characteristics such as π-alkyl and van der Waals were modeled in which ARG111, LYS253, ILE114, and VAL11 on cardiac troponin (TNNC1-TNNI3-TNNT2) and ARG208, ASN106, and ALA258 on MMP1 fulfilled potential communicating anchor with ellagic acid, 5α, 9α-dihydroxymatrine, and leachianone g via hydrogen bond and hydrophobic interaction, respectively. Conclusions. The comprehensive outcomes uncover differences and linkages between six herbs against viral myocarditis through component and target analysis, fostering development of drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herbal medicine unswervingly serves human health by modernizing preparation and administration. Coronary artery atherosclerosis is a serious threat to human health and survival all over the world. Following experimental and clinical evidence, we collected four herbal treatments containing herbal strategy I (San Qi), II (Injectio Salvia Miltiorrhizae), III (Danhong injection), and IV (Taoren Honghua Jian granule) against coronary artery disease. In order to analyze their similarities and differences in controlling coronary artery atherosclerosis, we investigated each herb of four strategies and revealed that the number of active components and molecule targets is increasing with the herb category of herbal strategy. Nitric oxide-associated carbonate dehydratase activity and nitrogen metabolism are tacitly enriched by target corresponding genes with statistical significance in four strategies. The herbal strategy with multiherb not merely possesses more amounts and interactions of target proteins than the strategy with single-herb but also enlarges interaction partners of target proteins like PTPN11 and STAT3 in strategy II, III, and IV. Whereas single-herb also involves regulating network core proteins in consistent with compatibility, such as SRC and PIK3R1 that are mostly targeted by strategy I, III, and IV. Comparing the targets of the herbal strategies and three existing drugs (atenolol, pravastatin and propranolol) and the symbols of coronary artery atherosclerosis, we discovered that MAOA, HTR1A, and ABCG2 are overlapping in the three groups. Hence, our work enables people to better understand the connections and distinctions of single- and multiherb on the healing of coronary artery atherosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe aplastic anemia (SAA) is a rare disease characterized by severe pancytopenia and bone marrow failure. Most patients with AA respond to immunosuppressive therapy (IST), usually as antithymocyte globulin (ATG) and cyclosporine (CsA), but some relapse on CsA withdrawal or require long-term administration of CsA to maintain blood counts. Recent research has found that rapamycin (Rapa) was an effective therapy in mouse models of immune-mediated bone marrow failure. However, it has not achieved a satisfactory effect in clinical application. At present, many studies have confirmed that eltrombopag (ELT) combined with IST can improve the curative effect of AA patients. Then, whether Rapa combined Elt in the treatment of AA will acquire better efficacy than a single drug application remains unclear. In this study, an immune attack-mediated AA mouse model was constructed by total body irradiation (TBI) and allo-lymphocyte infusion. In our study, we tested the efficacy of Rapa combined with Elt as a new treatment in mouse models of immune-mediated bone marrow failure. It showed that treatment with Rapa in combination Elt in the AA mouse model ameliorated pancytopenia and extended animal survival in a manner comparable to the standard dose of CsA and Rapa alone. However, there was no significant improvement effect on the number and function of NK cells and their subsets, mDCs, and CD4+/CD8+ ratio in AA mice after the therapy of Rapa combined with Elt compared with Rapa alone. Furthermore, the secretion of IL-10 of Tregs in AA mice increased significantly after the therapy of Rapa combined with Elt, but there was no significant difference in the number of Treg cells. We did not observe the difference in the curative effect of the Rapa group and CsA group, but for IL-10/Tregs ratio, the Rapa group was superior to the CsA group. And the IFN-r secretion of CD8+T cells in AA mice decreased significantly after the combination therapy of Rapa and Elt than Rapa alone. Compared with the AA group, the level of plasma IFN-γ, IL-2, and TNF-α decreased significantly (P < 0.05), but IL-10, IL-4, IL-5, and IL-1β increased significantly in the Rapa group (P < 0.05). As for IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-2, IL-6, KC/GRO, and TNF-α, the therapy of Rapa combined with Elt showed a more significant effect than Rapa alone in AA mice. To some extent, this study had shown a relatively better synergistic effect in murine models of immune-mediated bone marrow failure after the combination therapy of Rapa and Elt, which was a promising clinical utility in SAA treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To reveal the safety, efficacy, and mechanism of action of Trachelospermi Caulis et Folium (TCEF) for treating depression. Methods. The maximum dose method was employed to evaluate the safety of TCEF, and its antidepressant activity was assessed using the tail suspension and sugar water depletion tests. The main components of TCEF were determined using ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole exactive orbitrap mass spectrometer (UHPLC-Q-EOMS). The active ingredients and their action targets were obtained using network pharmacology with SwissADME and SwissTargetPrediction screening, and the targets of depression were obtained using GeneCards, DrugBank, etc. The drug and depression-related targets were intersected and analyzed via PPI network, GO, and KEGG. Subsequently, the binding ability of the core components of TCEF to the core targets was validated via molecular docking and simulation. Results. No statistically significant difference was observed between the normal and TCEF groups in terms of body weight, visceral index, and biochemical parameters (P > 0.05). Compared with the model group, all dose groups of TCEF had reduced the immobility time of tail suspension (P < 0.05) and increased the rate of sugar water consumption (P < 0.05). UHPLC-Q-EOMS was employed to identify 59 major components of TCEF, and network pharmacology analysis was used to screen 48 active components of TCEF for treating depression, corresponding to 139 relevant targets, including ALB, AKT1, TNF, ESR1, and CTNNB1. The involved pathways include neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction. The molecular docking results indicated that the core components have a good binding activity to the core targets. Conclusions. TCEF is a relatively safe antidepressant medicine that exerts therapeutic effects through multiple components, targets, and pathways, providing a new idea and theoretical basis for future use of TCEF to treat depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research was aimed at discussing the application value of coagulation function detection and three-dimensional echocardiography in the prognosis evaluation of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients. 72 patients with AMI were divided into the recovered group (good recovery) and unrecovered group (poor recovery) according to the results of postoperative ultrasonography. The left ventricular parameters of the patients were detected by three-dimensional ultrasound, and the coagulation function was also detected. The results showed that 3 months after surgery, the regional end-systolic volume (rESV) and regional end-diastolic volume (rEDV) of the left ventricle in the patients were smaller than the measured values 1 week after surgery. The left ventricular regional ejection fraction (rEF) was greater than the value measured 1 week after surgery, and all the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). For the end-systolic volume (ESV), end-diastolic volume (EDV), and ejection fraction (EF) (%), the two-dimensional ultrasound results were significantly lower than the three-dimensional ultrasound results, and there were significant differences (P < 0.05). Tmsvle6-Dif% of the recovered patients was 14.99 ± 9.88 and 14.37 ± 9.78 3 months and 6 months after surgery, respectively. These were smaller than 30.91 ± 18.63 and 33.51 ± 17.96 of the unrecovered patients; the differences were of statistical significance (P < 0.05). Tmsvl6-SD% of recovered patients was 3.69 ± 2.47 and 3.61 ± 1.83 3 months and 6 months after surgery, respectively, which were also smaller than 7.38 ± 4.06 and 7.96 ± 2.82 of unrecovered patients, showing statistically significant difference (P < 0.05). The postoperative Tmsvle6-Dif% and Tmsvl6-SD% of the recovered group were lower than those of the unrecovered patients, with the statistically significant differences (P < 0.05). The level of coagulation factors in the recovered group was also significantly lower than that in the unrecovered group with the difference statistically significant (P < 0.05). The results suggested that three-dimensional echocardiography played an important role in the evaluation of cardiac conditions in AMI patients. The level of coagulation factors varied with the AMI condition of patients, and there was an obvious relationship between them, which could provide a reference value for the prognosis evaluation of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. This study aimed to decipher the bioactive compounds and potential mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula Fuzi Lizhong Decoction (FLD) for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) treatment via an integrative network pharmacology approach. Methods. The candidate compounds of FLD and its relative targets were obtained from the TCMSP and PharmMapper web server, and the intersection genes for NAFLD were discerned using OMIM, GeneCards, and DisGeNET. Then, the PPI and component-target-pathway networks were constructed. Moreover, GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis were performed to investigate the potential signaling pathways associated with FLD's effect on NAFLD. Eventually, molecular docking simulation was carried out to validate the binding affinity between potential core components and key targets. Results. A total of 143 candidate active compounds and 129 relative drug targets were obtained, in which 61 targets were overlapped with NAFLD. The PPI network analysis identified ALB, MAPK1, CASP3, MARK8, and AR as key targets, mainly focusing on cellular response to organic cyclic compound, steroid metabolic process, and response to steroid hormone in the biological processes. The KEGG pathway analysis demonstrated that 16 signaling pathways were closely correlated with FLD's effect on NALFD with cancer pathways, Th17 cell differentiation, and IL-17 signaling pathways as the most significant ones. In addition, the molecular docking analysis revealed that the core active compounds of FLD, such as 3′-methoxyglabridin, chrysanthemaxanthin, and Gancaonin H, had a high binding activity with such key targets as ALB, MAPK1, and CASP3. Conclusions. This study suggested that FLD exerted its effect on NAFLD via modulating multitargets with multicompounds through multipathways. It also demonstrated that the network pharmacology-based approach might provide insights for understanding the interrelationship between complex diseases and interventions of the TCM formula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury is the main cause of increased mortality and disability in cardiovascular diseases. The injury involves many pathological processes, such as oxidative stress, calcium homeostasis imbalance, inflammation, and energy metabolism disorders, and these pathological stimuli can activate endoplasmic reticulum stress. In the early stage of ischemia, endoplasmic reticulum stress alleviates the injury as an adaptive survival response, but the long-term stress on endoplasmic reticulum amplifies oxidative stress, inflammation, and calcium overload to accelerate cell damage and apoptosis. Therefore, regulation of endoplasmic reticulum stress may be a mechanism to improve ischemia/reperfusion injury. Chinese herbal medicine has a long history of clinical application and unique advantages in the treatment of ischemic heart diseases. This review focuses on the effect of Chinese herbal medicine on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury from the perspective of regulation of endoplasmic reticulum stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A compact balanced microstrip tri‐band bandpass filter (BPF) using short and open stubs loaded resonators (SOSLRs) is achieved in this article. Three differential‐mode (DM) passbands can be adjusted by properly controlling the dimensions of the loaded short and open stubs, and the first and third DM center frequencies can be implemented independently. By introducing interdigital coupling microstrip lines, five transmission zeros (TZ) are implemented to achieve a higher selectivity. The positions of TZs can be controlled by adjusting the coupling gaps between SOSLRs and interdigital coupling microstrip lines. In addition, balanced microstrip line to slotline transformation structures is introduced as the feed structure, which can be used to block the common‐mode (CM) transmission inherently. Therefore, the DM performances are independent from the CM responses, which can simplify the design procedure significantly. For demonstration, a balanced tri‐band BPF centered at 1.57, 2.45, and 3.5 GHz was fabricated and measured. Comparison with other reported balanced BPFs indicates that the proposed design exhibits the advantages of high selectivity and good CM suppression responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influence maximization (IM) is fundamental to social network applications. It aims to find multiple seed nodes with an enormous impact cascade to maximize these nodes' spread of influence in social networks. Traditional methods for solving influence maximization of the social network, such as the distance method, greedy method, and PageRank method, may suffer from issues of low calculation accuracy and high computational cost. In this paper, we propose a new bacterial foraging optimization algorithm to solve the IM problem based on the complete-three-layer-influence (CTLI) evaluation model. In this algorithm, a novel grid-based reproduction strategy and a direction-adjustment-based chemotaxis strategy are devised to enhance the algorithm's searchability. Finally, we conduct comprehensive experiments on four social network cases to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The experimental results show that our proposed algorithm effectively solves the social network's influence maximization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influence maximization (IM) is fundamental to social network applications. It aims to find multiple seed nodes with an enormous impact cascade to maximize these nodes' spread of influence in social networks. Traditional methods for solving influence maximization of the social network, such as the distance method, greedy method, and PageRank method, may suffer from issues of low calculation accuracy and high computational cost. In this paper, we propose a new bacterial foraging optimization algorithm to solve the IM problem based on the complete-three-layer-influence (CTLI) evaluation model. In this algorithm, a novel grid-based reproduction strategy and a direction-adjustment-based chemotaxis strategy are devised to enhance the algorithm's searchability. Finally, we conduct comprehensive experiments on four social network cases to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The experimental results show that our proposed algorithm effectively solves the social network's influence maximization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the fatigue crack growth test of 7N01 aluminum alloy specimens with different thicknesses under three-point bending. Moreover, the effect of specimen thickness on the fatigue crack growth life was analyzed. The influence mechanism of the thickness size effect on the stress intensity factor was explored. A three-dimensional stress intensity factor calculation model based on the thickness size effect was proposed by combining the finite element method and the interaction integral method. The results show that the fatigue crack growth life of 7N01 aluminum alloy decreases with the increase of specimen thickness. The numerical solutions of the stress intensity factor (the proposed model) are higher than the analytical solutions (the traditional formula) in the steady-state crack growth stage. The difference between numerical solutions and analytical solutions increases with the increase of crack growth length and specimen thickness. Compared with the analytical solutions, the relationship curve between crack length "a" and cycle number "N" from the numerical solutions is closer to the experimental data. This result proves that the proposed calculation model can correct the stress intensity factor with the thickness size effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To explore the genetic traits of Kidney-yang deficiency syndrome (KDS). Design. Twelve KDS subjects and three spouses from a typical KDS family were recruited. Their genomic DNA samples were genotyped by Affymetrix 100K single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays. The linkage disequilibrium (LD) SNPs were generated using GeneChip DNA analysis software (GDAS, Affymetrix). Genes located within 100 bp of the flanks of LDSNPs were mined via GeneView. 29 exons of the doublecortin domain containing 5 (DCDC5), a representative gene within the flank of an LD SNP, were resequenced. Results. Five LD SNPs display midrange linkage with KDS. Two genes with established functions, DCDC5 and Leucyl-tRNA synthetase, were mined in the flanks of LD SNPs. Resequencing of DCDC5 revealed a nonsynonymous variation, in which 3764T/A was replaced by C/G. Accordingly, the Ser1172 was substituted by Pro1172. The S1172P substitution effect was evaluated as "possibly damaging" by PolyPhen. Conclusion. We have identified a genomic variation of DCDC5 based on the LD SNPs derived from a KDS family. DCDC5 and other genes surrounding these SNPs display some relationships with key symptoms of KDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermal storage stability of polymer-modified asphalt (PMA) is the key to avoid performance attenuation during storage and transportation in pavement engineering. However, phase separation of PMA continuously occurs after long-term thermal storage due to the overlooked influence of the phase interface. Two kinds of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and styrene-butadiene-styrene triblock copolymer (SBS) were selected in this paper to address the aforementioned issue. The segregation test was used to simulate the long-term storage process from 0 to 10 days. Macroperformance included the softening point difference (△SP), irrecoverable compliance (Jnr), recovery rate (R%), and complex modulus (G∗) measured by the softening point test, multistress creep recovery (MSCR) test, and small strain oscillatory rheological test. Microcharacteristics were obtained by the SBS characteristic peak index, SBS-rich phase distribution, polymer swelling degree, and particle characteristics of the SBS-rich phase. They were measured by Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), fluorescence microscopy (FM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. Results showed that the optimum CNT amount necessary to obtain an improved thermal storage stability of PMA was 0.5 wt.%. After 10 days of storage, the largest R% of SBS modified asphalt (SBSMA) decreased to 2.24% and the smallest Jnr increased to 0.069 1/kPa, while R% of SBSMA with CNTs was 62.15% and its Jnr was 0.013 1/kPa. R% and Jnr of SBSMA with CNTs showed almost no change after 6 days of storage, implying an effective antirutting performance. The results from the microperformance investigation showed that phase separation of SBS mainly occurred on day 4, while SBS degradation and base asphalt aging led to the worse macroperformance after 10 days of storage. Additional CNTs restrained the SBS-rich phase from floating upward. Meanwhile, a small size of polymer-rich phase and dense network of SBSMA with CNTs were observed in fluorescence microscopy and atomic force microscopy images, thereby exhibiting improved thermal storage stability. Adding CNTs would retard the segregation due to CNT entanglement with SBS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problem of early fault diagnosis of rolling bearing, an early fault detection method of rolling bearing based on a multiscale convolutional neural network and gated recurrent unit network with attention mechanism (MCNN-AGRU) is proposed. This method first inputs multiple time scales rolling bearing vibration signals into the convolutional neural network to train the model through multiscale data processing and then adds the gated recurrent unit network with an attention mechanism to make the model predictive. Finally, the reconstruction error between the actual value and the predicted value is used to detect the early fault. The training data of this method is only normal data. The early fault detection in the operating condition monitoring and performance degradation assessment of the rolling bearing is effectively solved. It uses a multiscale data processing method to make the features extracted by CNN more robust and uses a GRU network with an attention mechanism to make the predictive ability of this method not affected by the length of the data. Experimental results show that the MCNN-AGRU rolling bearing early fault diagnosis method proposed in this paper can effectively detect the early fault of the rolling bearing and can effectively identify the type of rolling bearing fault. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The premise of analyzing and researching robot technology is to establish a proper mathematical model and then to solve it with kinematics. In this study, a self-developed humanoid hydraulically driven dual-arm robot is taken as the research object, and the DH (Denavit–Hartenberg) parameter method and the rotational exponential formula (POE) are used to solve the kinematics of the robot. The calculation results are verified by simulation. The advantages and disadvantages of the two methods are analyzed. The differences between the two methods are compared. It lays a foundation for other scholars to choose mathematical models when analyzing the mechanism in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Recently, increasing studies have revealed that leptin is involved in the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study is aimed at exploring the association of leptin gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with susceptibility to RA in a Chinese population. Methods. We recruited 600 RA patients and 600 healthy controls from a Chinese population and analyzed their three leptin SNPs (rs10244329, rs2071045, and rs2167270) using the improved Multiplex Ligase Detection Reaction (iMLDR) assays. The associations of these SNPs with clinical manifestations of RA were also analyzed. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed for plasma leptin determination. Results. No significant difference in either allele or genotype frequencies of these three SNPs between RA patients and healthy controls was observed (all P > 0.05). Association between the genotype effects of dominant, recessive models was also not found (all P > 0.05). No significant difference in plasma leptin levels was detected between RA patients and controls (P > 0.05). Conclusion. Leptin gene (rs10244329, rs2071045, and rs2167270) polymorphisms are not associated with RA genetic susceptibility and its clinical features in the Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. To identify and analyze factors that influence administration, recognition, and compliance of medicine among community residents in Jilin Province, China. Methods. A survey was carried out among 2417 community residents in Jilin Province, China, to study their administration (CRA), recognition (CRR), and compliance (CRC) of medicine. Multivariate logistic regression analyses and chi-squared tests were performed to assess factors influencing CRA, CRR, and CRC. Results. Logistic analyses showed that gender, educational level, and occupation were influencing factors on CRA; age, educational level, smoking status, and health condition were influencing factors on CRR; and gender, age, occupation, and health condition were influencing factors on CRC. Conclusions. CRA, CRR, and CRC are associated with specific lifestyles and social economic statuses of community residents. Attention should be paid to influencing factors in order to facilitate community pharmaceutical care, promote the rational use of drugs, and ensure the safe use of medications. This study explores the type and extent of professional services provided through community pharmacies in Jilin Province, China, and provides evidence for optimizing the quality of community pharmacy services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. We studied bone marrow plasma (BMP) cytokines in severe aplastic anemia (SAA) patients and healthy volunteers to investigate differences in the cytokine profiles between them and propose a cytokine signature of SAA. Methods. A Bio-Plex suspension array system was used to measure 27 analytes in BMP samples from 47 SAA patients and 30 healthy donors. Results. Compared to healthy people, SAA patients had higher levels of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin-2 (IL-2), monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). They also had lower levels of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), interleukin-9 (IL-9), regulated upon activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) factor, platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB), and macrophage inflammatory protein 1β (MIP-1β). Levels of interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-1ra, macrophage inflammatory protein 1α (MIP-1α), and eotaxin were significantly higher in recovering SAA (RSAA) patients. Levels of IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, IL-15, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were undetectable. There were no significant differences in the levels of IL-1β, IL-4, IL-7, IL-8, IL-17, basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-β), and IFN inducible protein-10 (IP-10) between patients and healthy controls (HCs). Eotaxin, IL-1ra, MCP-1, MIP-1β, and RANTES levels increased after IST, whereas IFN-γ, G-CSF, IL-2, IL-7, and TNF-α levels decreased after IST. Conclusions. The current study demonstrated distinct cytokine profiles among untreated SAA patients, recovering SAA (RSAA) patients, and healthy people. The cytokines of RSAA patients showed similar characteristics to those of untreated SAA patients and healthy people, respectively, which may reflect that the immune status of RSAA patients is in different stages of recovery after IST; thus, it may provide an important tool in diagnosing and evaluating or predicting curative effects in clinics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonia nitrogen (AN) is evaluated with fixed water quality standards (WQSs) in aquatic environment management in China. Since the toxicity of AN can be influenced by water parameters, the current evaluation is not rigorous and may result in problematic conclusions. The present study collected the ecotoxicity and exposure data of AN in Chinese surface freshwaters in 2017. The species sensitivity distribution of AN was established, and the ecological risk posed by AN in Chinese surface waters was assessed with Chinese AN water quality criteria. The results showed that mollusk species are the most sensitive taxa to AN. Ecological risk assessments on AN suggested that, in summer and autumn, when the water temperature and pH are high, the risk of AN may occur at some sites with good water quality (Class II or III). This poses a threat to aquatic organisms at these sites, especially highly sensitive freshwater shellfish. It suggested that neglect of water parameters impact may lead to underestimation of ecological risk of AN in Chinese basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The large deformation problem of the wing with high aspect ratio cannot be avoided due to the large bending moment and poor torsional stiffness. The wing design follows the following procedure; firstly, the design indexes of high aspect ratio wing are preliminarily formulated referring to some parameters of the Predator UAV. Then, the aerodynamic analysis of the wing is performed, and the stress cloud diagram is obtained. Next, the finite element model of the wing is designed, and the static analysis is conducted in the ANSYS ACP module, and the unreasonable component size is changed. An appropriate thickness which is 12 mm is selected as the final thickness of the wing. Then, the analysis of laying methods of skin structure is conducted. Finally, the composite structure is proved to reduce the maximum deformation and maximum stress effectively compared with the metal wing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the factors that affect 30-day mortality of patients with HAP. The data used in this study were collected from all HAP occurred in our hospital between January 2014 and December 2017. A total of 1158 cases were included. 150 (13.0%) of whom died within 30 days. This reported mortality identified by the univariate Cox regression analysis is found to have been affected by the following factors: age greater than 70 years, presence of diabetes mellitus and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, gastric tube intubation, administration of proton-pump inhibitor, blood albumin level less than 30 g/l, elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, antibiotics therapy in the preceding 90 days, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, blood lymphocyte count less than 0.8 × 109/L, elevated blood urea nitrogen/albumin (BUN/ALB) level, and presence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens. In the second multivariate analysis, administration of proton-pump inhibitor, administration of antibiotics in the preceding 90 days, ICU admission, blood lymphocyte count less than 0.8 × 109/L, elevated BUN/ALB level, and presence of MDR pathogens were still associated with 30-day mortality. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves in the BUN/ALB predicting 30-day mortality due to HAP was 0.685. A high BUN/ALB was significantly associated with a worse survival than a low BUN/ALB P<0.001. Therefore, an elevated BUN/ALB level is a risk factor for mortality on patients with HAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several previous studies have demonstrated the excellent antioxidant activity of fucoxanthin against oxidative stress which is closely related to the pathogenesis of liver diseases. The present work was to investigate whether fucoxanthin could protect human hepatic L02 cells against hydrogen peroxide- (H2O2-) induced oxidative damage. Its effects on H2O2-induced cell viability, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage, intracellular reduced glutathione, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) contents, along with mRNA and protein relative levels of the cytoprotective genes including Nrf2, HO-1, and NQO1, were investigated. The results showed that fucoxanthin could upregulate the mRNA and protein levels of the cytoprotective genes and promote the nuclear translocation of Nrf2, which could be inhibited by the PI3K inhibitor of LY294002. Pretreatment of fucoxanthin resulted in decreased LDH leakage and intracellular ROS content but enhanced intracellular reduced glutathione. Interestingly, pretreatment using fucoxanthin protected against the oxidative damage in a nonconcentration-dependent manner, with fucoxanthin of 5 μM demonstrating the optimal effects. The results suggest that fucoxanthin exerts cytoprotective effects against H2O2-induced oxidative damage in L02 cells, which may be through the PI3K-dependent activation of Nrf2 signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifiability analysis is a precondition for reliable parameter estimation. Building on previous work on structural identifiability, this paper focuses on the practical identifiability and optimal experimental design (OED) of the EBPR anaerobic submodel. The nonnegative determinant of the Fisher information matrix (FIM) found in this study clearly demonstrates that the parameters YPO4, KA, qPHA, and XPAO in the submodel are practically identifiable using SA and SPO4 as the measured variables and fixing KPP as the default value. Furthermore, fixing KPP to study the practical identifiability of the other parameters and to estimate their values is shown to be valid. Subsequently, a modeling-based procedure for the OED for parameter estimation was proposed and applied successfully to anaerobic phosphorus release experiments. According to the FIM D-criterion, the optimal experimental condition was determined to be an initial SA concentration of 300 mg/L. Under the optimal experimental condition, errors in the values of YPO4, KA, qPHA, and XPAO are all below 20%, and the estimated values were 0.35 ± 0.02 mg P/mg COD, 3.88 ± 0.41 mg COD/L, 3.35 ± 0.27 mg P/(mg COD⁎d-1), and 1500 ± 72 mg COD/L, respectively. Compared to the results from the nonoptimal experimental condition, the practical identifiability and the estimation precision of the four parameters were improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim is to examine whether the interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-2, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1), and tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) levels were different in pleural effusions of tuberculous pleurisy and tuberculous empyema. IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, TNF-α, PAI-1, and t-PA levels in pleural fluids of 40 patients with tuberculous pleurisy and 38 patients with tuberculous empyema were measured. The levels of IL-1β, PAI-1, and t-PA in the pleural effusions were different between tuberculous pleurisy and tuberculous empyema; it could be helpful to differentiate the two diseases. The levels of PAI-1, IL-1β were higher and t-PA, IL-6 were lower in pleural effusions of the patients with tuberculous empyema and who must undergo operation than the patients who could be treated with closed drainage and anti-TB chemotheraphy. These indications may be helpful to evaluate whether the patient needs the operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In female, inadequate iron supply is a highly prevalent problem that often leads to iron-deficiency anemia. This study aimed to understand the effects of pregnancy and lactation on iron metabolism. Rats with different days of gestation and lactation were used to determine the variations in iron stores and serum iron level and the changes in expression of iron metabolism-related proteins, including ferritin, ferroportin 1 (FPN1), ceruloplasmin (Cp), divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1), transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1), and the major iron-regulatory molecule—hepcidin. We found that iron stores decline dramatically at late-pregnancy period, and the low iron store status persists throughout the lactation period. The significantly increased FPN1 level in small intestine facilitates digestive iron absorption, which maintains the serum iron concentration at a near-normal level to meet the increase of iron requirements. Moreover, a significant decrease of hepcidin expression is observed during late-pregnancy and early-lactation stages, suggesting the important regulatory role that hepcidin plays in iron metabolism during pregnancy and lactation. These results are fundamental to the understanding of iron homeostasis during pregnancy and lactation and may provide experimental bases for future studies to identify key molecules expressed during these special periods that regulate the expression of hepcidin, to eventually improve the iron-deficiency status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) with medical or surgical castration is the mainstay of therapy in men with metastatic prostate cancer. However, despite initial responses, almost all men eventually develop castration refractory metastatic prostate cancer (CRPC) and die of their disease. Over the last decade, it has been recognized that despite the failure of ADT, most prostate cancersmaintain some dependence on androgen and/or androgen receptor (AR) signaling for proliferation. Furthermore, androgen independentmolecular pathways have been identified as drivers of continued progression of CRPC. Subsequently, drugs have been developed targeting these pathways, many of which have received regulatory approval. Agents such as abiraterone, enzalutamide, orteronel (TAK-700), and ARN-509 target androgen signaling. Sipuleucel-T, ipilimumab, and tasquinimod augment immunemediated tumor killing. Agents targeting classic tumorogenesis pathways including vascular endothelial growth factor, hepatocyte growth factor, insulin like growth factor-1, tumor suppressor, and those which regulate apoptosis and cell cycles are currently being developed. This paper aims to focus on emerging molecular pathways underlying progression of CRPC, and the drugs targeting these pathways, which have recently been approved or have reached advanced stages of development in either phase II or phase III clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]