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In recent years, many governments and companies have gradually launched robotaxi projects to help make transportation systems smarter, improve travel efficiency, and reduce travel costs. Robotaxi is a new mode of travel that replaces human driving with machines, freeing up social labour and enriching people's travel choices. This study employs the Extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) to understand the influencing factors of users' adoption and usage of robotaxis in China to facilitate the broader integration of robotaxis into urban transportation systems. This study surveyed the preferences of 2048 respondents and analysed the data through structural equation modelling. The results indicate that performance expectancy, hedonic motivation, and price value are the factors influencing users' behavioural intentions, while effort expectancy and social influence affect use behaviour. In contrast, habit is an important factor that affect both behavioural intention and actual use behaviour. Based on the findings, we have proposed practical strategies to improve robotaxi services and updated the UTAUT2 model in the context of robotaxi. We suggest that robotaxi operators can promote user acceptance and use by reducing the difficulty of use, improving the cost performance and the ride experience, and making appropriate publicity and guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In situ formation micro-phase molten steel purification technology is a new inclusions control technology. In this study, to increase the purification efficiency of the composite particles in the Ruhrstahl–Heraeus (RH) reactor, a water model was used to simulate the addition process of the spherical particles. The effects of gas flow rate and immersion depth on particle motion behavior were carefully investigated. The settling process of the particles in the reactor was further analyzed with kinetic theory. Industrial trials in a 180-t RH were also conducted to validate the effect of the composite particle treatment on steel quality. The results show that the small-size particles disperse more in the liquid steel. The gas flow rate is positively correlated with the settling displacement in this experimental range. The optimal gas flow rate is 4.1 m3 h−1, and the optimal immersion depth increases with increasing particle size. The results of the industrial trials also show that the quality of the steel treated with composite particles is significantly improved. The T·[O] content was reduced by 8.78 ppm. The inclusions number density was reduced by 3.55 pieces/mm2. The percentage of inclusions smaller than 3 μm was increased from 27.02% to 73.96%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heteronanostructures (HNs) with precise components and interfaces are important for many applications, such as designing efficient and robust solar-to-fuel catalysts via integrating specific semiconductors with favorable band alignments. However, rationally endowing such features with rigorous framework control remains a synthetic bottleneck. Herein, we report a modular divergent creation of dual-cocatalysts integrated semiconducting sulfide nanotriads (NTds), comprising both isolated PdxS oxidation (ox) and MoS2 reduction (red) domains within each single CdS counterpart, which exhibit superior photocatalytic activity and stability for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The stepwise constructed PdxS(ox)-CdS-MoS2(red) NTds possess dual-interfaces facilitating continuous charge separation and segregated active sites accelerating redox reactions, respectively, achieving the HER rate up to 9 mmol·h−1·g−1, which is about 60 times higher than that of bare CdS, and show no evidence of deactivation after long-term cycling. This design principle and transformation protocol provide predictable retrosynthetic pathways to HNs with increased degree of complexity and more elaborate functionalities that are otherwise inaccessible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HIV enters the brain within days of infection causing neurocognitive impairment (NCI) in up to half of infected people despite suppressive antiretroviral therapy. The virus is believed to enter the brain in infected monocytes through chemotaxis to the major monocyte chemokine, CCL2, but the roles of CCL2 in established NCI are not fully defined. We addressed this question during infection of conventional and CCL2 knockout mice with EcoHIV in which NCI can be verified in behavioral tests. EcoHIV enters mouse brain within 5 days of infection, but NCI develops gradually with established cognitive disease starting 25 days after infection. CCL2 knockout mice infected by intraperitoneal injection of virus failed to develop brain infection and NCI. However, when EcoHIV was directly injected into the brain, CCL2 knockout mice developed NCI. Knockout of CCL2 or its principal receptor, CCR2, slightly reduced macrophage infection in culture. Treatment of mice prior to and during EcoHIV infection with the CCL2 transcriptional inhibitor, bindarit, prevented brain infection and NCI and reduced macrophage infection. In contrast, bindarit treatment of mice 4 weeks after infection affected neither brain virus burden nor NCI. Based on these findings we propose that HIV enters the brain mainly through infected monocytes but that resident brain cells are sufficient to maintain NCI. These findings suggest that NCI therapy must act within the brain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ca-SiO2 compounds compromise one of the most common series of oxide particles in liquid steels, which could significantly affect the service performance of the steels as crack initiation sites. However, the structural, electronic, and mechanical properties of the compounds in Ca-SiO2 system are still not fully clarified due to the difficulties in the experiments. In this study, a thorough investigation of these properties of Ca-SiO2 compound particles in steels was conducted based on first-principles density functional theory. Corresponding phases were determined by thermodynamic calculation, including gamma dicalcium silicate (γ-C2S), alpha-prime (L) dicalcium silicate (α′L-C2S), alpha-prime (H) dicalcium silicate (α′L-C2S), alpha dicalcium silicate (α-C2S), rankinite (C3S2), hatrurite (C3S), wollastonite (CS), and pseudowollastonite (Ps-CS). The results showed that the calculated crystal structures of the eight phases agree well with the experimental results. All the eight phases are stable according to the calculated formation energies, and γ-C2S is the most stable. O atom contributes the most to the reactivity of these phases. The Young's modulus of the eight phases is in the range of 100.63–132.04 GPa. Poisson's ratio is in the range of 0.249–0.281. This study provided further understanding concerning the Ca-SiO2 compound particles in steels and fulfilled the corresponding property database, paving the way for inclusion engineering and design in terms of fracture-resistant steels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alpiniae Oxyphyliae Fructus (AOF) (yizhi) is a frequently medicated Chinese herb for Alzheimer disease (AD) treatment. The present study investigated the components and potential mechanisms of AOF through network pharmacology analysis and molecular docking. The results showed that AOF contains at least 20 active ingredients and involves 184 target genes. A total of 301 AD-related genes were obtained from the DisGeNET, GeneCards, GEO, OMIM, and Alzheimer Disease: Genes databases. A total of 41 key targets were identified from the topology analysis of the AOF-AD target network. These key targets are involved in 105 signal pathways, such as the PI3K-Akt, HIF-1, and MAPK pathways, and can regulate gene transcription, cell death, cell proliferation, drug response, and protein phosphorylation. AOF's active ingredients, Chrysin, Isocyperol, Izalpinin, Linolenic acid, CHEMBL489541, Oxyphyllenone A, Oxyphyllenone B, and Oxyphyllol C, show high affinity to targets, including PPARG, ESR1, and AKT1. These findings provide a new basis for AOF application and anti-AD study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) have been shown to play significant roles in the regulation of normal cognitive processes in the hippocampus, and α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors (AMPARs) are also involved in these processes. This study aims to explore the mAChR-mediated regulation of AMPARs GluA2 trafficking and to reveal the key proteins and the signaling cascade involved in this process. Primary hippocampal neurons, as cell models, were treated with agonist 77-LH-28-1 and antagonist VU0255035, Fsc231, and APV. C57BL/6J male mice were stereotactically injected with 77-LH-28-1 and Fsc231 to obtain hippocampal slices. The trafficking of GluA2 was detected by surface biotinylation and immunostaining. Activation of M1 mAChRs promoted endocytosis and decreased the postsynaptic localization of the AMPA receptor subunit GluA2 and that phosphorylation of GluA2 at Ser880 was increased by M1 mAChR activity. Fsc231 blocked the endocytosis and postsynaptic localization of GluA2 induced by 77-LH-28-1 without affecting the phosphorylation of Ser880. PICK1 was required for M1 mAChR-mediated GluA2 endocytosis and downstream of phosphorylation of GluA2-Ser880, and the PICK1-GluA2 interaction was essential for M1 mAChR-mediated postsynaptic expression of GluA2. Taken together, our results show a functional correlation of M1 mAChRs with GluA2 and the role of PICK1 in their interplay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Baseflow is an essential component of streamflow and plays a crucial role in maintaining the stability of streamflow. However, few quantitative studies have identified the effects of leading factors on baseflow variation at the small watershed scale, especially in subtropical China. In this study, the small watershed (Pengchongjian watershed, 2.90 km2), located in Southern China, was considered to explore the quantitative impact of precipitation, evapotranspiration, temperature, and vegetation restoration on baseflow. The digital filter method was used to separate baseflow by daily streamflow records from 1983 to 2014. The stepwise regression models were developed for selecting significant influencing factors of baseflow at seasonal and annual scales. The direct and indirect effects, as well as their quantitative relationships between baseflow and multiple factors, were clarified by the path analysis. The results showed that filtered average annual baseflow significantly decreased (p < 0.05), ranging from 72.82 to 305.85 mm, and the average yearly baseflow index was 0.22. In addition, various significant influencing factors of baseflow had different direct and indirect effects on baseflow at seasonal and annual scales. The precipitation was the dominant factor with respect to the direct impact, which directs path coefficient was 0.891 in spring, 0.823 in summer, 1.599 in autumn, 1.332 in winter, and 0.917 in an annual scale, respectively. In terms of the indirect effects, evapotranspiration played a leading role during the spring, autumn, winter, and annual scale, whereas the average temperature was the dominant factor during the summer. Overall, results demonstrated that the baseflow variation was mainly attributed to climate change. The present works are beneficial for revealing the internal mechanism of the baseflow variations in the study area, and it can provide a scientific basis for managing water resources in the watershed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) is currently one of the most reliable and improved tools for analyzing gene expression. Various studies have shown that housekeeping genes vary with cultivars, tissues and treatment. Reliable and stable reference genes were necessarily identified and evaluated according to different experimental requirements. In this study, 10 candidate reference genes were initially screened based on transcriptome sequencing data of four pear fruit development stages for three pear cultivars, including a candidate housekeeping gene PbrTUB. Furthermore, we ranked the expression stability of 10 candidate reference genes using GeNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper and ReFinder algorithms. The results showed that Pbr028511, Pbr038418 and Pbr041114 were the most stable reference genes in Cuiguan, Housui and Xueqing fruit, respectively. Taken together, these results serve as a useful reference for gene function investigations and molecular mechanism studies in fruit development and ripening for various pear cultivars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Percutaneous compression plate (PCCP) provides superior anti-rotational abilities and mechanical strength in femoral neck fractures (FNFs). The first series reporting its utilization of FNFs was promising. Since the long-term outcome regarding the implant has not been reported, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term functional outcomes and complications after fixation using PCCP in FNFs. Materials and methods: From 2010 to 2019, 51 patients aged from 18 to 87 years were evaluated; 11 patients were excluded from this study. Demographic data, fracture classification, and complications were analyzed. Besides plain radiographs and CT, uptake ratios using bone scintigraphy and/or SPECT were also collected and analyzed. Results: At a mean follow-up of 4.4 ± 2.0 years (range, 2–10 years), the mean Harris hip score was 88, with 44 patients (86.3%) achieving excellent or good outcomes. The rate of complication was 13.7% (7/51), with five cases of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (OFNH). Hip replacements were performed in four (7.8%) cases. After confirmation of normal transfusion status, 11 patients underwent elective removal of the implant without further complications. Conclusion: Closed reduction and internal fixation using PCCP in FNFs resulted in satisfactory outcomes with low complication rates. Longer follow-up (3–5 years) and sequential bone scintigraphy or SPECT after surgery are recommended after internal fixation using PCCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staphylococcus capitis, which causes bloodstream infections in neonatal intensive care units, is a common cause of healthcare-associated infections. Thus, a standardized high-resolution typing method to document the transmission and dissemination of multidrug-resistant S. capitis isolates is required. We aimed to establish a core genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) scheme to surveil S. capitis. The cgMLST scheme was defined based on primary and validation genome sets and tested with outbreaks of linezolid-resistant isolates and a validation set. Phylogenetic analysis was performed to investigate the population structure and compare it with the result of cgMLST analysis. The S. capitis population consists of 1 dominant, NRCS-A, and 4 less common clones. In this work, a multidrug-resistant clone (L clone) with linezolid resistance is identified. With the features of type III SCCmec and multiple copies of mutations of G2576T and C2104T in the 23S rRNA, the L clone has been spreading silently across China. Staphylococcus capitis is a common causative agent of bloodstream infections in neonatal intensive care units, with multidrug resistant isolates complicating treatment. Authors aimed to establish a core genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) scheme to document the transmission and dissemination of multidrug-resistant S. capitis isolates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are fighting not only the novel coronavirus, but also the "infodemic" induced by the pandemic. Therefore, it is urgent to explore approaches for enhancing individual immunity against science-related misinformation. We conducted a cross-sectional study to examine the relationship between public engagement with science (PES) and scientific information literacy (SIL) during the COVID-19 pandemic from college students (N = 8075) in China. The results showed that there was a significant difference between attitudes toward and activities of PES. More importantly, both PES activities and PES attitudes were found positively associated with SIL, especially the PES attitudes. The empirical study is significant in demonstrating the predictive effect of PES on individual ability to recognize science-related misinformation, which is crucial for mitigating harm from the "infodemic." Our study indicated that other than a science communication model in order to restore public trust in science, PES is promising to be incorporated into informal science education to facilitate individual SIL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the protective effect of Chinese herbal formula Huangqin Decoction (HQD) on ulcerative colitis mouse model induced by dextran sulphate sodium (DSS) and human intestinal epithelial cell injury induced by tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Methods: In vivo, 30 male C57BL/6 mice were divided into 5 groups using a random number table (n=6 per group), including control, DSS, 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA), HQD low- (HQD-L) and high-dose (HQD-H) groups. The colitis mouse model was established by 3% (w/v) DSS water for 5 days. Meanwhile, mice in the HQD-L, HQD-H and 5-ASA groups were administrated with 100, 200 mg/kg HQD or 100 mg/kg 5-ASA, respectively, once daily by gavage. After 9 days of administration, the body weight, disease activity index (DAI) score and colon length of mice were measured, the pathological changes of colons were analyzed by hematoxylin-eosin staining (HE) staining, and the levels of serum interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β and TNF-α were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. In vitro, the human colon epithelial normal cells (FHC cells) were exposed to HQD (0.6 mg/mL) for 12 h and then treated with TNF-α (10 ng/mL) for 24 h. The tight junction (TJ) protein expression levels of Claudin-4 and Occludin, and the protein phosphorylation levels of p65 and inhibitor of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-κB)-α (IκBα) were measured by Western blot. Results: In vivo, compared with the DSS group, HQD-H treatment attenuated the weight loss and reduced DAI score of mice on the 8th day (P<0.05). Moreover, HQD-H treatment ameliorated the colon shortening in the DSS-induced colitis mice (P<0.05). HE staining showed HQD attenuated the pathological changes of colitis mice, and the histological scores of HQD-H and 5-ASA groups were significantly decreased compared with the DSS group (P<0.05). Meanwhile, HQD-H and 5-ASA significantly decreased the serum IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α levels of mice (P<0.05). In vitro experiments showed that HQD up-regulated Occludin and Claudin-4 protein expressions and inhibited p-p65 and p-IκBα levels in FHC cells compared with the TNF-α group (P<0.05). Conclusion: HQD significantly relieved the symptoms in DSS-induced colitis mice by inhibiting pro-inflammatory cytokines expression and maintained the homeostasis of TJ protein in FHC cells by suppressing TNF-α-induced NF-κB activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glaucoma filtration surgery (GFS) is a classic operation for the treatment of glaucoma, which is the second leading cause of blindness, and scar formation caused by excessive human Tenon's capsule fibroblasts (HTFs) activation is responsible for surgery failure. However, the mechanism underlying excessive HTFs activation is largely unknown. Studies have revealed that N6-methyladenosine (m6A), which is one of the most common posttranscriptional modifications, plays an important role in multiple types of cellular processes. First, we isolated and identified primary HTFs and found that transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) enhanced cell viability and promoted cell proliferation and extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition in HTFs. We subsequently found that TGF-β1 elevated the quantity of m6A and promoted the expression of m6A "writers", in the process from DNA to RNA, adenylate was methylated at the sixth N position by methylases methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3). Furthermore, we demonstrated that METTL3 repression inhibited the promotion of cell viability, proliferation and ECM deposition in HTFs treated with TGF-β1. We then illustrated that increased METTL3 played a role by promoting Smad3 in TGF-β1-induced HTFs. We subsequently demonstrated that the METTL3/Smad3 regulatory axis was aberrantly expressed in the rabbit model of GFS. Thus, our study reveals that METTL3 indeed plays a role in modulating Smad3 in TGF-β1-induced HTFs and further provides novel theoretical strategies based on METTL3 for the inhibition of scar formation after GFS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic value of laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG) in glaucoma by investigating the mean blur rate (MBR) in the optic nerve head. Methods: Systematic literature search was performed in the CENTRAL, Web of Science, PubMed, and EMBASE databases to obtain relevant studies published until December 2020 without restrictions. The Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used for study quality assessment. The outcome measures included the MBRs of the entire (MA), vascular (MV), and tissue (MT) areas. Subgroup analyses were performed according to glaucoma type. All data were analyzed using RevMan and Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 3.3 software. Results: Fifteen studies, including 692 glaucomatous and 386 healthy eyes, were included. Of these, 11 studies reported the MA, MV, and MT, three studies only reported MT, and one study only reported MV. All were classified as case–control studies and had good NOS scores. The meta-analysis showed that the MA and MT were significantly reduced in glaucomatous eyes (mean difference [MD] − 5.59, 95% confidence interval [CI] − 6.19 to − 4.99, p = 0.1; MD − 2.2, 95% CI − 2.49 to − 1.91, p = 0.07, respectively) with moderate heterogeneity (p = 0.1, I2 = 38%; p = 0.07, I2 = 39%, respectively). There was also a significant difference in the MV between glaucomatous and healthy eyes (MD − 5.92, 95% CI − 7.77 to − 4.07) with significant heterogeneity (p = 0.0003, I2 = 69%). The subgroup analyses revealed significant differences in the MBR among different glaucoma types. Conclusions: Glaucoma is closely related to ocular blood flow changes. This meta-analysis suggests that LSFG is a feasible diagnostic tool for glaucoma. However, further longitudinal prospective studies are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Filtration temperature-sensitive H (FtsH) is an ATP-dependent protease family that plays important roles in many aspects of cellular processes and environmental adaption. However, little information is available about the FtsH genes in pear (Pyrus bretschneideri). In this study, 19 PbrFtsH genes were identified and classified into eight groups with several subgroups. The FtsH genes in pear show high sequence and structural conservation in the coding regions, and the majority of the FtsH members were located on the chromosome 3 (three members), chromosome 9 (four members), and chromosome 15 (three members). The WGD/segmenta, dispersed duplication played a major driving force in pear FtsH evolution. A Synteny analysis provided deep insight into the evolutionary relationships of PbrFtsH genes. The subcellular localization of the PbrFtsH genes showed them in the mitochondrion or chloroplast. Expression profiles derived from transcriptome data and RT-qPCR analysis revealed distinct expression patterns of PbrFtsH genes in different fruit developmental stages. These results provided valuable information that extends our understanding of the function, evolution and expression profile of the FtsH family during fruit development in pear, and a foundation for the further functional characterization of PbrFtsH genes, which can be applied to pear crop improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanism of oxide inclusions in fatigue crack initiation in the very-high cycle fatigue (VHCF) regime was clarified by subjecting bearing steels deoxidized by Al (Al-deoxidized steel) and Si (Si-deoxidized steel) to ultrasonic tension-compression fatigue tests (stress ratio, R = −1) and analyzing the characteristics of the detected inclusions. Results show that the main types of inclusions in Si- and Al-deoxidized steels are silicate and calcium aluminate, respectively. The content of calcium aluminate inclusions larger than 15 µm in Si-deoxidized steel is lower than that in Al-deoxidized steel, and the difference observed may be attributed to different inclusion generation processes during melting. Despite differences in their cleanliness and total oxygen contents, the Si- and Al-deoxidized steels show similar VHCF lives. The factors causing fatigue failure in these steels reveal distinct differences. Calcium aluminate inclusions are responsible for the cracks in Al-deoxidized steel. By comparison, most fatigue cracks in Si-deoxidized steel are triggered by the inhomogeneity of a steel matrix, which indicates that the damage mechanisms of the steel matrix can be a critical issue for this type of steel. A minor portion of the cracks in Si-deoxidized steel could be attributed to different types of inclusions. The mechanisms of fatigue fracture caused by calcium aluminate and silicate inclusions were further analyzed. Calcium aluminate inclusions first separate from the steel matrix and then trigger crack generation. Silicate inclusions and the steel matrix are closely combined in a fatigue process; thus, these inclusions have mild effects on the fatigue life of bearing steels. Si/Mn deoxidation is an effective method to produce high-quality bearing steel with a long fatigue life and good liquid steel fluidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A numerical study of stress distribution and fatigue behavior in terms of the effect of voids adjacent to inclusions was conducted with finite element modeling simulations under different assumptions. Fatigue mechanisms were also analyzed accordingly. The results showed that the effects of inclusions on fatigue life will distinctly decrease if the mechanical properties are close to those of the steel matrix. For the inclusions, which are tightly bonded with the steel matrix, when the Young's modulus is larger than that of the steel matrix, the stress will concentrate inside the inclusion; otherwise, the stress will concentrate in the steel matrix. If voids exist on the interface between inclusions and the steel matrix, their effects on the fatigue process differ with their positions relative to the inclusions. The void on one side of an inclusion perpendicular to the fatigue loading direction will aggravate the effect of inclusions on fatigue behavior and lead to a sharp stress concentration. The void on the top of inclusion along the fatigue loading direction will accelerate the debonding between the inclusion and steel matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pear is a major fruit tree crop distributed worldwide, yet its breeding is a very time-consuming process. To facilitate molecular breeding and gene identification, here we have performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on eleven fruit traits. We identify 37 loci associated with eight fruit quality traits and five loci associated with three fruit phenological traits. Scans for selective sweeps indicate that traits including fruit stone cell content, organic acid and sugar contents might have been under continuous selection during breeding improvement. One candidate gene, PbrSTONE, identified in GWAS, has been functionally verified to be involved in the regulation of stone cell formation, one of the most important fruit quality traits in pear. Our study provides insights into the complex fruit related biology and identifies genes controlling important traits in pear through GWAS, which extends the genetic resources and basis for facilitating molecular breeding in perennial trees. Studies of fruit quality traits in pears are lagging behind the other major fruit trees. Here, the authors conduct GWAS of fruit quality and phenological traits in a panel of 312 sand pear accessions using SNPs called from resequencing data, and reveal the involvement of a lignin formation-related protein in regulating stone cell development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies show that the filter method has good numerical performance for nonlinear complementary problems (NCPs). Their approach is to reformulate an NCP as a constrained optimization solved by filter algorithms. However, they can only prove that the iterative sequence converges to the KKT point of the constrained optimization. In this paper, we investigate the relation between the KKT point of the constrained optimization and the solution of the NCP. First, we give several sufficient conditions under which the KKT point of the constrained optimization is the solution of the NCP; second, we define regular conditions and regular point which include and generalize the previous results; third, we prove that the level sets of the objective function of the constrained optimization are bounded for a strongly monotone function or a uniform P-function; finally, we present some examples to verify the previous results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cullin (CUL) gene family organizes the largest class of RING E3 ligases which play crucial roles in the ubiquitin-proteasome system to affect plant physiological activities. However, little is known about the CUL genes in fruit trees. In this study, 57 CUL genes were isolated from the sequenced genomes of seven Rosaceae trees and were divided into three subfamilies according to phylogenetic analyses. Evolutionary analysis indicated that multiple duplication events play important role in the expansion of the CUL gene family in Rosaceae. The expression pattern shows that only four CUL genes were highly expressed in pollen and pollen tube in pear. Of these CUL genes, PbCUL1.C1 presented the highest levels of expression in pollen, but the knockdown of PbCUL1.C1 by antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) did not influence pollen tube growth. Interestingly, the pollen tube treated by both the non-self S-RNase and ASO of PbCUL1.C1 was longer than that treated by unique non-self S-RNase, suggesting that the PbCUL1.C1 plays an important role for pollen tube growth underlying non-self S-RNase in pear. These results will be useful for exploring the biological roles of CUL genes in self-incompatibility in Rosaceae trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary bone malignancy with high rates of recurrence and metastasis. OS often spreads to lungs, an optimized model for studying lung metastatic OS cells may help develop potential therapies for patients with lung metastasis. Here we firstly report an organoid culture system for lung metastatic OS tissues. We provided a fully described formula that was required for establishing lung metastatic OS organoids (OSOs). Using this protocol, the lung OSOs were able to be maintained and serially propagated for at least six months; the OSOs can also be generated from cryopreserved patient samples without damaging the morphology. The patient-derived lung OSOs retained the cellular morphology and expression of OS markers (Vimentin and Sox9) that recapitulate the histological features of the human OS. The microenvironment of primary lung metastatic OSOs preserved a similar T cell distribution with the human lung OS lesions; this provided a possible condition to explore how OS cells may react to immunotherapy. OSOs established from this protocol can be further utilized for studying various aspects of OS biology (e.g., tumorigenesis and drug screen/discovery) for precision medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute lung injury (ALI)-triggered pulmonary injury has been associated with high mortality, despite advances in drug treatment and supportive therapy. Remarkable progress has been made in attenuating the inflammatory injury associated with ALI using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)-based cell and gene therapy. However, to date, the benefits of interleukin-35 (IL-35)-modified MSCs in ALI intervention have not been investigated. In the present study, adult male C57BL/6 mice randomly received intravenous infusion of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) constitutively expressing IL-35 (IL-35-GFP-ADSCs) or GFP (GFP-ADSCs) via retrovirus-mediated transduction (8 × 105 cells per mice) or isotonic saline 7 days before ALI modeling to investigate the effect and related mechanism. ALI was performed by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) inhalation for 24 h. Normal mice served as the sham group. The results indicated that compared with GFP-ADSCs, IL-35-modified ADSCs significantly increased cellular and pulmonary IL-10 and IL-35 production. Pretreatment with IL-35-ADSCs markedly reduced body weight loss, pulmonary wet/dry weight ratio and pathological injury. The PO2 was rescued to normal levels in mice that received IL-35-ADSCs. IL-35-ADSCs infusion apparently inhibited IL-6 release, protein leakage and MPO activity but greatly elevated IL-35 level in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Splenic regulatory T cells in IL-35-ADSCs-pretreated mice got effective increase. Moreover, IL-35-ADSCs pretreatment remarkably inhibited neutrophil and macrophage infiltration and greatly decreased IL-6, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) expression. In conclusion, pretreatment with IL-35-engineered ADSCs provided effective protection against LPS-induced ALI through suppression of pulmonary inflammation and, thus, might be a promising strategy to improve outcomes after ALI. The enhanced paracrine and immunosuppressive capacity of IL-35-ADSCs might contribute to their beneficial effects. However, further studies are needed to illuminate the detailed mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a new filter algorithm for the system of nonlinear equations. In previous work, the feasibility recovery phase is used to make up for the defect of the filter method, which requires a lot of calculation. To avoid it, the new algorithm is equipped with a new filter. At the same time, we discuss the division of the system of nonlinear equations so that the algorithm can achieve the best numerical results. The new algorithm switches to back tracking steps when a trial step produced by the trust region subproblem is unacceptable. Combining the new filter with both trust region and line search method, the convergence of the algorithm is obtained. The numerical results show the effectiveness of the new algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Main conclusion: Genome-wide identification, tissue-specific expression analysis and functional characterization of selected genes containing the pear Pollen Olea europaea I domain reveal their roles in pollen tube growth. Genes containing the Pollen Olea europaea I (POE) domain play crucial roles in diverse growth and developmental processes. Nevertheless, the specific functions of POE family members in progression of pollen tube growth (PTG) remain uncharacterized. We identified 45 PbrPOE genes in the pear (Pyrus bretschneideri) genome, clustered into seven subclasses. PbrPOE genes contained 1 to 11 exons and 0 to 10 introns, with exon/intron structure mostly conserved within each subclass. Whole-genome duplication has mainly contributed to the duplication pattern of PbrPOE genes in pear. Expression profiles of 45 PbrPOE genes in 12 different pear tissues revealed that six PbrPOE genes (PbrPOE6, 12, 21, 29, 35 and 41) of subclass B were highly expressed during the growth of the pear pollen tube in vitro. PbrPOE21 was selected for further functional analysis on the basis of its high and differential expression pattern in pollen. Antisense oligodeoxynucleotide assays demonstrated that PTG was augmented in vitro when PbrPOE21 expression was significantly inhibited. Moreover, pollen tube length in vitro was reduced when PbrPOE21 was transitorily over-expressed using particle bombardment technology. Exogenous PbrPOE21 recombinant protein inhibited PTG in vitro at an optimum concentration of 1.8 µM. PbrPOE21 also affected reactive oxygen species content in the pear pollen tube apex. We suggest that PbrPOE21 inhibits PTG in vitro by altering apical reactive oxygen species content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PIK3R2 encodes the p85β regulatory subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and is frequently amplified in cancers. The signaling mechanism and therapeutic implication of p85β are poorly understood. Here we report that p85β upregulates the protein level of the receptor tyrosine kinase AXL to induce oncogenic signaling in ovarian cancer. p85β activates p110 activity and AKT-independent PDK1/SGK3 signaling to promote tumorigenic phenotypes, which are all abolished upon inhibition of AXL. At the molecular level, p85β alters the phosphorylation of TRIM2 (an E3 ligase) and optineurin (an autophagy receptor), which mediate the selective regulation of AXL by p85β, thereby disrupting the autophagic degradation of the AXL protein. Therapeutically, p85β expression renders ovarian cancer cells vulnerable to inhibitors of AXL, p110, or PDK1. Conversely, p85β-depleted cells are less sensitive to these inhibitors. Together, our findings provide a rationale for pharmacological blockade of the AXL signaling axis in PIK3R2-amplified ovarian cancer. p85β (PIK3R2), a regulatory subunit of PI3K, has oncogenic properties. Here the authors show that p85β promotes AXL protein stability, which in turn activates p110 to induce PDK1/SGK3 signaling, and therapeutically, p85β-expressing ovarian cancer cells are sensitive to AXL inhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strong, ductile, and irradiation-tolerant structural materials are in urgent demand for improving the safety and efficiency of advanced nuclear reactors. Amorphous ceramics could be promising candidates for high irradiation tolerance due to thermal stability and lack of crystal defects. However, they are very brittle due to plastic flow instability. Here, we realized enhanced plasticity of amorphous ceramics through compositional and microstructural engineering. Two metal–amorphous ceramic composites, Fe-SiOC and Cu-SiOC, were fabricated by magnetron sputtering. Iron atoms are preferred to form uniformly distributed nano-sized Fe-rich amorphous clusters, while copper atoms grow non-uniformly distributed nano-crystalline Cu particles. The Fe-SiOC composite exhibits high strength and plasticity associated with strain hardening, as well as a good thermal stability and irradiation tolerance. In contrast, the Cu-SiOC composite displays a very low plasticity and poor thermal stability. These findings suggest that the metal constituents play a crucial role in developing microstructure and determining properties of metal–amorphous composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to study the damage mechanisms and mechanical responses of a Type III composite vessel by considering the effect of autofrettage. Firstly, damage models using Hashin failure criteria and 3D strain-based damage evolution laws for composite layers are implemented by implicit finite element codes using ABAQUS-UMAT (user material subroutine module). Secondly, the appropriate autofrettage pressure is determined by finite element analysis (FEA), in which the fiber stress ratio and the generated residual stress in the aluminium liner are investigated according to the related regulations. Finally, the effects of the autofrettage process on the internal pressure-displacement curves and damage evolution behaviors for matrix and fiber are discussed. For a composite vessel after autofrettage, the stresses in the composite layers and aluminium liner are also explored. Results show that the progressive damage evolution behaviors of the composite vessel with autofrettage and without autofrettage are basically consistent except there is some difference during the unloading process and the repressurization process in respect of matrix damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Vegetables are major economic crops in China. Their cultivation usually involves high fertilizer application rates leading to significant losses of N and P to the wider environment, resulting in water contamination and low nutrient use efficiency. Hence, it is a matter of urgency to understand the mechanisms and factors that affect N and P losses in vegetable production systems in order to develop optimum fertilization regimes.Materials and methods: Different fertilization regimes were applied in a long-term chili (Capsicum spp. L.) production soil to study the effects on nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) runoff losses, microbial biomass, microbial community, and crop yields. Three fertilization regimes were implemented: control (no fertilizer; CK), farmer’s fertilization practice (FFP), and site-specific nutrient management (SSNM). A fixed collection device was used to quantify the total volume of water output after each precipitation event. All water samples were analyzed for total nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N), nitrate nitrogen (NO3−-N), total phosphorus (TP), and available phosphorus (AP). Soil samples were collected for analysis of the physicochemical properties and for DNA extraction after chili harvest. High-throughput sequencing was used to further investigate the relationship between the microbial community and nutrient losses.Results and discussion: The SSNM fertilizer regime resulted in a 23.3% yield increase and enhanced agronomic N use efficiency from 11.87 to 15.67% compared with the FFP treatment. Soil available nutrients (i.e., AN and AP) and ATP content increased significantly after SSNM implementation. Under the SSNM regime, N losses decreased by 25.8% compared with FFP but did not lead to significantly different P losses. High-throughput sequencing results showed that each treatment formed a unique microbial community structure. VPA results revealed that the microbial community structure was mainly (50.56%) affected by the interactions between N and P. Mantel results indicated that the soil properties that significantly affected soil microbial community structure followed the order: AP, AK, and salinity.Conclusions: Our study has demonstrated that SSNM not only generates lower N losses but also provides higher contents of soil available nutrients and plant yield, which were mainly attributed to the multiple top dressings and meeting of the plants’ demand with adequate nutrient supplies. The combined data showed that the microbial community differentiation between the different fertilizer regimes was mainly linked to the interactions between N and P in the soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional inexact SQP algorithm can only solve equality constrained optimization (Byrd et al. Math. Program. 122, 273-299 2010). In this paper, we propose a new inexact SQP algorithm with affine scaling technique for nonlinear systems of mixed equalities and inequalities, which arise in complementarity and variational inequalities. The nonlinear systems are transformed into a special nonlinear optimization with equality and bound constraints, and then we give a new inexact SQP algorithm for solving it. The new algorithm equipped with affine scaling technique does not require a quadratic programming subproblem with inequality constraints. The search direction is computed by solving one linear system approximately using iterative linear algebra techniques. Under mild assumptions, we discuss the global convergence. The preliminary numerical results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant-specific TCP transcription factor has been studied in plant growth and development, but little is known the roles during fruit development and ripening. Based on phylogenetic analysis, in this study, the 20 TCP genes isolated from peach were divided into two classes (I and II) comprised by four groups (A → D), and distributed into 19 clusters. Expression profiles of TCP genes in peach were analyzed to evaluate their potential roles during fruit development and ripening. The result showed that there are four genes (PpTCP.A2, PpTCP.A10, PpTCP.B1, and PpTCP.C1) and each gene had similar expression patterns detected by qRT-PCR to that tested by RNA-Seq, and higher expressed in fruitlets than in other developmental and ripening fruits, suggesting that these four genes were probably related to early development in peach fruit. Noteworthy, PpTCP.A2 was lower expressed in ripening fruits than in developmental or pre-ripening fruits of 11 peach cultivars, and virus-induced silencing PpTCP.A2 increased ethylene production and promoted PpACS1, but not PpACO1 and PpendoPGM expression. This result indicates that PpTCP.A2 was a transcription repressor, which could regulate ethylene biosynthesis by affecting PpACS1 expression, and thus should be involved in fruit ripening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims to investigate the effect of main inclusions on crack initiation in bearing steel in the very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) regime. The size and type of inclusions in the steel were quantitatively analyzed, and VHCF tests were performed. Some fatigue cracks were found to be initiated in the gaps between inclusions (Al2O3, MgO-Al2O3) and the matrix, while other cracks originated from the interior of inclusions (TiN, MnS). To explain the related mechanism, the tessellated stresses between inclusions and the matrix were calculated and compared with the yield stress of the matrix. Results revealed that the inclusions could be classified into two types under VHCF; of these two, only one type could be regarded as holes. Findings in this research provide a better understanding of how inclusions affect the high cycle fatigue properties of bearing steel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, soil samples from the typical rice-wheat cropping system in Jiangsu Province, China, subjected to different fertilizer application treatments-no carbon (CK), urea (UR), straw (SR), pig manure (PM), starch (ST), and glucose (GL)-were used to determine potential anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) rate and its association with bacterial abundance, diversity, and activity by using DNA stable isotope probing combined with N isotope tracing and molecular techniques. The effects of different organic carbon sources on anammox were significant, in the following order: GL > ST, SR > UR > PM; anammox activity differed significantly across treatments; however, the C active anammox bacteria were only closely related to Ca. Brocadia. The anammox hydrazine synthase β subunit functional gene sequences were highly associated with the Candidatus genus Brocadia in PM and CK treatments. The different organic carbon sources had different inhibitory effects with anammox rate, which dropped from 3.19 to 1.04 nmol dinitrogen gas g dry soil h among treatments. About 4.2-22.3% of dinitrogen gas emissions were attributed to anammox and indicated that a specific population of anammox bacteria was present and varied with the addition of exogenous organic compounds in paddy soils, although a small part of dinitrogen gas was emitted from the soil via anammox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Candidate genes were identified and the role of phytohormones such as JA-Me and ABA in the synthesis of S-RNase was emphasized in pear self-incompatibility. Abstract: Self-incompatibility (SI) occurs widely in flowering plants as an intraspecific reproductive barrier. This phenomenon promotes variation within species, but for some species such as Pyrus, SI is a nuisance rather than a benefit in agricultural production. Although many studies have been conducted on SI in pears, its mechanism remains unclear. In this study, high-throughput Illumina RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was used to identify SI-related genes in pear styles. Using transcriptome comparisons, differentially expressed genes of unpollinated (UP), cross-pollinated (CP), and self-pollinated (SP) styles were identified after 48 h. A total of 1796 and 1890 genes were identified in DSC (UP vs. CP) and DSI (UP vs. SP), respectively. KEGG analysis revealed that genes involved in the 'plant hormone signal transduction pathway' and 'plant-pathogen interaction pathway' were significantly enriched in DSI (UP vs. SP) compared to those in DSC (UP vs. CP). The expression level of S-glycoprotein ribonuclease (S-RNase) was dramatically reduced in cross-pollinated (CP) styles. To better understand the relationship between the expression patterns of S-RNase and two major KEGG pathways, the concentrations of phytohormones were measured, and the expression pattern of S-RNase was analysed using qRT-PCR. Our results demonstrate that methyl jasmonate and abscisic acid may enhance the expression level of S-RNase, and pollination can affect the synthesis of methyl jasmonate and abscisic acid in pear styles. Overall, this study is a global transcriptome analysis of SI in pear. A relationship between self-rejection, plant hormones, and pathogen defence was shown in pear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process is globally an important nitrogen-cycling process mediated by specialized microbes. However, still little information is documented about anammox microbial community structure under agricultural soils. The anaerobic incubation experiment was conducted to study the impacts of different land use soils fertilized by C-urea on the activity and diversity of anammox bacteria using stable isotope to probe the phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA-SIP). The C was preferentially incorporated in ratios PLFAs 16:1 ω7 c, 16:1 ω5 c, and 16:0. The results revealed that the abundance of the anammox bacteria (both hzs-β and hzo) were observed in vegetable soil V1 and paddy soils (R1 and R2) means that they were positively correlated with C-urea but were negatively correlated with NO -N and NH -N concentrations. Thus, C-PLFAs 16:1 ω7 c, 16:1 ω5 c, and 16:0 could be the biomarker as soil anammox. The anaerobic microbial community composition of soils under different land use systems was diverse, and V1, R1, and R2 had similar microbial diversity and higher microbial biomass. The principal component analysis between soil properties and gene abundance suggested that not only pH but also soil organic matter, available P, and available K were important factors for the anammox process. This study suggested that C-Urea-PLFA for anaerobic incubation was a simple method to study anammox microbial community structure through affecting the soil nutrients, and the different land use systems played important roles in determining the microbial composition of soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning dictionaries from the training data has led to promising results for pattern classification tasks. Dimensionality reduction is also an important issue for pattern classification. However, most existing methods perform dimensionality reduction (DR) and dictionary learning (DL) independently, which may result in not fully exploiting the discriminative information of the training data. In this paper, we propose a simultaneous dimensionality reduction and dictionary learning (SDRDL) model to learn a DR projection matrix and a class-specific dictionary (i.e., the dictionary atoms correspond to the class labels) simultaneously. Since simultaneously learning makes the learned projection and dictionary fit better with each other, more effective pattern classification can be achieved using the representation residual. In SDRDL model, not only the representation residual is discriminative, but the representation coefficients are also discriminative. Therefore, a classification scheme associated with SDRDL is presented by exploiting such discriminative information. Experimental results on a series of benchmark image databases show that our proposed method outperforms many state-of-the-art discriminative dictionary learning methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

APETALA2/ethylene response factor (AP2/ERF) transcription factor (TF) is a superfamily in plant kingdom, which has been reported to be involved in regulation of plant growth and development, fruit ripening, defense response, and metabolism. As the final response gene in ethylene signaling pathway, AP2/ERF TF could feedback modulate phytohormone biosynthesis, including ethylene, cytokinin, gibberellin, and abscisic acid. Moreover, AP2/ERF TF also participates in response to the signals of auxin, cytokinin, abscisic acid, and jasmonate. Thus, this superfamily is key regulator for connecting the phytohormonal signals. In this review, based on the evidence of structural and functional studies, we discussed the multiple regulator roles of AP2/ERF TF in angiosperm, and then constructed the network model of AP2/ERF TF in response to various phytohormonal signals and regulatory mechanism of the cross-talk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chen and Zhang [ Sci. China, Ser. A, 45, 1390-1397 (2002)] introduced an affine scaling trust region algorithm for linearly constrained optimization and analyzed its global convergence. In this paper, we derive a new affine scaling trust region algorithm with dwindling filter for linearly constrained optimization. Different from Chen and Zhang's work, the trial points generated by the new algorithm are accepted if they improve the objective function or improve the first order necessary optimality conditions. Under mild conditions, we discuss both the global and local convergence of the new algorithm. Preliminary numerical results are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arctigenin is a herb compound extract from Arctium lappa and is reported to exhibit pharmacological properties, including neuronal protection and antidiabetic, antitumor, and antioxidant properties. However, the effects of arctigenin on autoimmune inflammatory diseases of the CNS, multiple sclerosis (MS), and its animal model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) are still unclear. In this study, we demonstrated that arctigenin-treated mice are resistant to EAE; the clinical scores of arctigenin-treated mice are significantly reduced. Histochemical assays of spinal cord sections also showed that arctigenin reduces inflammation and demyelination in mice with EAE. Furthermore, the Th1 and Th17 cells in peripheral immune organs are inhibited by arctigenin in vivo. In addition, the Th1 cytokine IFN-γ and transcription factor T-bet, as well as the Th17 cytokines IL-17A, IL-17F, and transcription factor ROR-γt are significantly suppressed upon arctigenin treatment in vitro and in vivo . Interestedly, Th17 cells are obviously inhibited in CNS of mice with EAE, while Th1 cells do not significantly change. Besides, arctigenin significantly restrains the differentiation of Th17 cells. We further demonstrate that arctigenin activates AMPK and inhibits phosphorylated p38, in addition, upregulates PPAR-γ, and finally suppresses ROR-γt. These findings suggest that arctigenin may have anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties via inhibiting Th17 cells, indicating that it could be a potential therapeutic drug for multiple sclerosis or other autoimmune inflammatory diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a face recognition method using improved Weber local descriptor (IWLD) and improved Weber binary coding method. Compared to the existing Weber local descriptor, the proposed IWLD represent local patterns more effectively and accurately by introducing novel Weber magnitude and orientation components. In order to extract more discriminative and robust feature for face recognition, the IWBC is proposed to encode the cues embedded in IWLD. Moreover, to reduce the dimension of feature extracted by IWBC and enhance its discriminative ability, the block-based Fishers linear discriminant (BFLD) is employed to learn a projection matrix from the training set. Experimental results on three (AR, FERET and PolyU-NIR) challenging databases demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of our proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims to explore the application value and clinical efficacy of laparoscopic enterolysis surgery for the treatment of adhesive intestinal obstruction. A total of 126 inpatient cases of intestinal adhesion were selected. In order to observe the effects and complications of surgery, the patients were randomly assigned into laparoscopic and laparotomy groups, with 63 cases in each group. The operative time, blood loss, postoperative ambulation time, exhaustion time, postoperative analgesia number of patients, and hospital days of the patients in the laparoscopic group were compared with those in the control group, and the differences were all statistically significant ( p < 0.05). In the laparoscopy group, two patients experienced rupture of the small intestine during the surgery, but recovered well after endoscopic suture repair, although there was one case of postoperative pulmonary infection. The difference was statistically significant in the laparotomy group of patients, with one case of intestinal fistula, two cases of surgical wound infection, one case of incisional hernia, three cases of postoperative pulmonary infection, and one case of urinary tract infection. Compared with laparotomy, laparoscopic enterolysis surgery has shorter operative time, less blood loss, faster postoperative recovery, and fewer complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on a generic paradigm for quantitative behavioral knowledge modeling. The goal is to support automated functional case adaptation with behavioral inputs rather than structure parameter assignments. Functional case is a kind of functional module, integrating functional knowledge, qualitative behavioral knowledge, quantitative behavioral knowledge, and flexible structure models to support multiple design stages in a '5R' case recycle. Behavior effect analysis has been proposed to analyze the roles of behavior variables and structure parameters in the function implementing process and to establish primary relationships between them. Behavioral constraint has been introduced for knowledge representing in detailed design of a functional case. Behavior constraint matrix is presented to guide construction of fully constrained behavioral constraint equations. Examples of functional case modeling and recycling have been demonstrated. The proposed method will benefit designers in reuse of a functional case for a rapid design response in detailed design phase. Automated functional case adaption is achievable, which is especially significant for unskilled designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to evaluate the role of glucose-6-phosphatase, catalytic subunit (G6PC) in ovarian cancer and to exploit its therapeutic potential. With reproduction of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, we studied expressions of genes in the glucose metabolism pathways in silico. The cBioPortal For Cancer Genomics was used to study the clinical, pathological and molecular profiles of G6PC. In vitro studies were performed to validate the function of G6PC and the effect of genetic and pharmaceutical G6PC inhibition. In 158 ovarian cancer (OvCa) patients with complete RNA-seq data, G6PC expression was increased in 27 patients (17 %). Both overall survival (OS) and disease-free period were significantly shorter in cases with increased G6PC level. Significantly decreased total and phosphorylated CDKN1B level was noted in OvCa with increased G6PC expression. Silenced G6PC in OvCa cells induced decreased cell proliferation, viability, invasiveness and anchorage-independent cell growth. G6PC silencing also induced enhanced cell cycle control proteins and restoration of CDKN1B level. Pharmaceutical inhibition of G6PC with specific compound showed similar effects to genetic silencing. G6PC played dual roles both in glucose metabolism and cell cycle control in OvCa, which potentiated it a promising therapeutic target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a dwindling filter line search algorithm for nonlinear equality constrained optimization. A dwindling filter, which is a modification of the traditional filter, is employed in the algorithm. The envelope of the dwindling filter becomes thinner and thinner as the step size approaches zero. This new algorithm has more flexibility for the acceptance of the trial step and requires less computational costs compared with traditional filter algorithm. The global and local convergence of the proposed algorithm are given under some reasonable conditions. The numerical experiments are reported to show the effectiveness of the dwindling filter algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opioids are known to exacerbate HIV pathogenesis, however current studies have been limited by models of HIV infection. Given that HIV causes many systemic effects via direct infection of host cells as well as indirect bystander effects, it is important to establish a systemic infection model in a small animal so that genetic tools can be utilized to elucidate the mechanisms of action. In this study, the systemic effects of EcoHIV infection, a modified HIV which can infect mouse cells, are examined in conjunction with morphine. EcoHIV infection with opioid treatment induced bacterial translocation from the lumen of the gut into systemic compartments such as liver, which is similar to observations in human patients with LPS. Bacterial translocation corresponds with alterations in gut morphology, disorganization of the tight junction protein occludin, and a concurrent increase in systemic inflammation in both IL-6 and TNFα. Long term infection also had increased expression of inflammatory cytokines in the CNS when co-treated with morphine. Overall, this study shows that EcoHIV is an appropriate model to study the effects of opioids on HIV pathogenesis, including the HIV-induced pathology at early stages of pathogenesis in the gut. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]