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As real-time systems are safety critical, guaranteeing a high reliability threshold is as important as meeting all deadlines. Periodic tasks are replicated to mitigate the negative impact of transient faults, which leads to redundancy and high energy consumption. On the other hand, energy saving is widely identified as increasingly relevant issues in real-time systems. In this paper, we formalize this challenging tri-criteria optimization problem, i.e., minimizing the expected energy consumption while enforcing the reliability threshold and meeting all task deadlines, and propose several mapping and scheduling heuristics to solve it. Specifically, a novel approach is designed to (i) map an arbitrary number of replicas onto processors, (ii) schedule each replica of each task instance on its assigned processor with less temporal overlap. The platform is composed of processing units with different characteristics, including speed profile, energy cost and fault rate. The heterogeneity of the computing platform makes the problem more complicated, because different mappings achieve different levels of reliability and consume different amounts of energy. Moreover, scheduling plays an important role in energy saving, as the expected energy consumption is the average over all failure scenarios. Once a task replica is successful, the other replicas of that task instance can be canceled, which calls for minimizing the overlap between any replica pair. Finally, to quantitatively analyze our methods, we derive a theoretical lower-bound for the expected energy consumption. Comprehensive experiments are conducted on a large set of execution scenarios and parameters. The comparison results reveal that our strategies perform better than the random baseline under almost all settings, with an average gain in energy consumption of more than 40%, and our best heuristic achieves an excellent performance: its energy saving is only 2% less than the lower-bound on average. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To study the effect of Shexiang Tongxin Dropping Pill (STDP) on angiogenesis in diabetic cardiomyopathy mice with coronary microcirculation dysfunction (CMD). Methods: According to a random number table, 6 of 36 SPF male C57BL/6 mice were randomly selected as the control group, and the remaining 30 mice were injected with streptozotocin intraperitoneally to replicate the type 1 diabetes model. Mice successfully copied the diabetes model were randomly divided into the model group, STDP low-dose group [15 mg/(kg·d)], medium-dose group [30 mg/(kg·d)], high-dose group [60 mg/(kg·d)], and nicorandil group [15 mg/(kg·d)], 6 in each group. The drug was given by continuous gavage for 12 weeks. The cardiac function of mice in each group was detected at the end of the experiment, and coronary flow reserve (CFR) was detected by chest Doppler technique. Pathological changes of myocardium were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining, collagen fiber deposition was detected by masson staining, the number of myocardial capillaries was detected by platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 staining, and the degree of myocardial hypertrophy was detected by wheat germ agglutinin staining. The expression of the vascular endothlial growth factor (VEGF)/endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) signaling pathway-related proteins in myocardial tissue was detected by Western blot. Results: Compared with the model group, medium- and high-dose STDP significantly increased the left ventricular ejection fraction and left ventricular fraction shortening (P<0.01), obviously repaired the disordered cardiac muscle structure, reduced myocardial fibrosis, reduced myocardial cell area, increased capillary density, and increased CFR level (all P<0.01). Western blot showed that high-dose STDP could significantly increase the expression of VEGF and promote the phosphorylation of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2, phosphoinositide 3-kinase, protein kinase B, and eNOS (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusion: STDP has a definite therapeutic effect on diabetic CMD, and its mechanism may be related to promoting angiogenesis through the VEGF/eNOS signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to assess the drivers of knowledge creation in emerging countries. Specifically, the study empirically investigates the long-run impact of financial development, research and development (R&D) activities and the protection of intellectual property rights on knowledge production in China using the ARDL bounds testing approach during the 1979–2018 period. The study also assesses the impact of financial development on knowledge production via its interaction with financial regulations, trade openness and human capital. We measure knowledge capital stock and R&D capital stock using the perpetual inventory flow method assuming different rates of depreciation, while the financial development is measured by conducting the principal component analysis (PCA) of three key banking sector indicators including credit to the private sector to GDP ratio, the ratio of the liquid liabilities to GDP and the sum of commercial bank and central bank assets. Results show that financial development, R&D activities and patent protections are important determinants of knowledge creation in China. Further, estimates reveal that improvements to financial regulations, increased freedom to trade and the level of tertiary education moderate the effect of financial development on knowledge production. The results are robust to several control variables such as the macroeconomic environment of the economy, trade openness, foreign direct investment and knowledge accumulation in the rest of the world. The findings of the paper suggest that the steps taken to develop the financial sector and accelerate R&D activities may contribute to the accumulation of new ideas and stock of knowledge in emerging countries. Furthermore, the study emphasizes prudent financial regulations, trade freedom and improved access to tertiary education to enhance the effect of financial development on knowledge production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The brain biomarker of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients is still lacking. The study aims to explore a new technology studying the brain alterations of IBS patients based on multi-source brain data. In the study, a decision-level fusion method based on gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT) was proposed. Next, 100 healthy subjects were used to validate the effectiveness of the method. Finally, the identification of brain alterations and the pain evaluation in IBS patients were carried out by the fusion method based on the resting-state fMRI and DWI for 46 patients and 46 controls selected randomly from 100 healthy subjects. The results showed that the method can achieve good classification between IBS patients and controls (accuracy = 95%) and pain evaluation of IBS patients (mean absolute error = 0.1977). Moreover, both the gain-based and the permutation-based evaluation instead of statistical analysis showed that left cingulum bundle contributed most significantly to the classification, and right precuneus contributed most significantly to the evaluation of abdominal pain intensity in the IBS patients. The differences seem to suggest a probable but unexplored separation about the central regions between the identification and progression of IBS. This finding may provide one new thought and technology for brain alteration related to IBS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a progressive fibrotic form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Liver fibrosis leads to liver cancer and cirrhosis, and drug therapy for NASH remains lacking. Ninjin'yoeito (NYT) has shown antifibrotic effects in a model of liver fibrosis without steatosis but has not been studied for NASH. Therefore, we evaluated the efficacy of NYT in mice fed a choline-deficient, L-amino acid-defined, high-fat diet (CDAHFD) as a NASH model. Compared with the normal diet group, mice fed CDAHFD showed decreased body weight and increased white adipose tissue, liver weight, and triglyceride content in the liver. Furthermore, a substantial increase in the hepatic concentration of hydroxyproline, expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and transforming growth factor-β was observed in CDAHFD-fed mice. Masson's trichrome and Picro-Sirius red staining revealed a remarkable increase in collagen fiber compared with the normal diet group. Compared with mice that received CDAHFD alone, those supplemented with NYT exhibited reduced hepatic triglyceride and hydroxyproline levels and α-SMA expression. Additionally, compared with the group fed CDAHFD alone, the stained liver tissues of NYT-treated mice exhibited a reduction in Masson's trichrome- and Picro-Sirius red-positive areas. Locomotor activity was significantly reduced in the CDAHFD-fed group compared with the normal diet group. In the NYT-treated group, the CDAHFD-induced decrease in locomotor activity was significantly suppressed. The findings indicate that NYT inhibited fatty and fibrotic changes in the livers of NASH mice and alleviated the decrease in locomotor activity. Therefore, NYT may serve as a novel therapeutic approach for NASH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Circβ-catenin, our first reported circRNA, has been reported to mediate tumorigenesis in various cancers. However, its biological functions and underlying mechanisms in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain unknown. Methods: The qRT-PCR examination was used to detect the expression of circβ-catenin, miR-197-3p, and CTNND1 in cells and human tissues. Western blot was conducted to detect the protein expression levels. The biological function of circβ-catenin was verified by MTT, colony formation, wound healing, and transwell assays. The in vivo effects of circβ-catenin were verified by nude mice xenograft and metastasis models. The regulatory network of circβ-catenin/miR-197-3p/CTNND1 was confirmed via dual-luciferase reporter and RIP assays. Results: In the present study, circβ-catenin was found to promote CRC cell proliferation and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, circβ-catenin served as miRNA decoy to directly bind to miR-197-3p, then antagonized the repression of the target gene CTNND1, and eventually promoted the malignant phenotype of CRC. More interestingly, the inverted repeated Alu pairs termed AluJb1/2 and AluY facilitated the biogenesis of circβ-catenin, which could be partially reversed by EIF4A3 binding to Alu element AluJb2. Conclusions: Our findings illustrated a novel mechanism of circβ-catenin in modulating CRC tumorigenesis and metastasis, which provides a potential therapeutic target for CRC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Green manuring exhibits strong positive effects on soil fertility and crop yield, while its effects on agro-ecosystem multifunctionality (agro-EMF) and the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Methods: Based on a 7-year potato cropping field experiment, we conducted a holistic survey of soil and rhizosphere microbiomes, plant performance (i.e. yield and disease resistance) and soil functions, and assessed agro-EMF under conventional chemical potassium (K) fertilization and green manure (GM) amendment practices. Results: We demonstrated that GM application significantly promoted agro-EMF compared to chemical K fertilizer, as indicated by improved crop yield (5.8%-20.6%), reduction in potato late blight incidence (2.8%-46.2%), and increased soil nutrient contents. GM amendment drastically altered microbial community composition, especially in the rhizosphere. Intriguingly, agro-EMF was primarily predicted by microbial community composition, rather than microbial diversity, with a higher agro-EMF variation explained by the rhizosphere microbiome. In comparison to chemical K fertilizer, GM treatments greatly improved the complexity (58.5%-125.8%) and stability (8.2%-21.5%) of the microbial inter-kingdom network. Correspondingly, GM amendment significantly enriched keystone taxa, including the bacterial taxa Xanthomonadaceae, Rhizobiaceae and Sphingobacteriaceae, the fungal taxon Chaetomiaceae and the protistan taxon Cercozoa in the rhizosphere, of which are closely associated with soil nutrient cycling, plant growth promotion, and disease resistance. Conclusion: Taken together, our study revealed that green manuring greatly promoted agro-EMF via coordinating soil nutrient cycling, rhizosphere microbiome and microbial network interactions for greater crop yield, disease resistance and soil functions. This study provides critical information on the mechanisms of ecosystem functions maintenance in agro-ecosystems and presents a basis towards developing conservation farming practices for agricultural sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background : Insomnia disorder is associated with an impairment in cognitive performance. Doxepin and zolpidem have been found to be effective in improving sleep. In this study, we aimed to compare the effects of doxepin and zolpidem on sleep structure and executive function in patients with insomnia disorder. Methods: Patients with primary insomnia were randomly assigned to receive doxepin 6 mg/day orally or zolpidem 5–10 mg/day orally. Polysomnography (PSG) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used at baseline and after the 8-week treatment to compare clinical efficacy in the two groups. Safety was assessed using the Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale (TESS). Executive function was evaluated using the Wisconsin sorting card test (WSCT). Results: Of 120 patients enrolled in the study, 60 participants were assigned to each group. A total of 109 participants (53 in the doxepin group and 56 in the zolpidem group) completed the study. After treatment, the wake after sleep onset (WASO) and total sleep time (TST) values in the doxepin group were 80.3 ± 21.4 min and 378.9 ± 21.9 min, respectively, which were significantly better than those in the zolpidem group (132.9 ± 26.5 min and 333.2 ± 24.2 min, respectively; (P < 0.05)). The sleep onset latency (SOL) value in the zolpidem group (20.3 ± 4.7 min) was significantly better than that in the doxepin group (28.2 ± 5.6 min; P < 0.05). The sleep efficiency (SE) in the doxepin group was 77.8 ± 4.2%, which was significantly better than that in the zolpidem group (68.6 ± 5.0%; P < 0.05). The PSQI score of the doxepin group was 6.1 ± 1.1, which was significantly lower than that in the zolpidem group (7.9 ± 1.9; P < 0.05). The treatment adverse events in the doxepin group was 23.3%, which was significantly higher than that in the zolpidem group (13.3%; P < 0.05). The WSCT showed a significant improvement in persistent errors (PE), random errors (RE), and categories in the two groups after 8-week treatment, and the improvement in RE and the categories was more obvious in the doxepin group (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Both doxepin and zolpidem were found to be effective in improving sleep quality, but the effects exhibited different patterns. Doxepin improved executive function more effectively than zolpidem in patients with insomnia disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study encompassed lab-scale thermal desorption experiments and pilot-scale demonstration of soil contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during cement manufacturing. The lab-scale experiments aimed to investigate the impacts of thermal temperature and residence time on the PAHs removal efficiency, residual PAHs concentration and variation in composition profiles of PAHs. Results showed that at the temperature of 400 ℃ and the residence time of 30 min, the total removal efficiency of PAHs exceeded 99%, with each individual PAH compound exhibited a removal efficiency over 97%. The temperature of 600 ℃ and the residence time of 10 min was found to effectively detoxify PAHs-contaminated soil, satisfying the requirements outlined in the DB11/T 811-2011 standard. Increasing the thermal desorption temperature and residence time resulted in higher total removal efficiency of PAHs and lower residual concentrations. During the pilot-scale demonstration, disposal of PAHs-contaminated soil led to an increase in the concentration of alkali materials and a decrease in the concentrations of sulfur and chlorine. Although there was minor coating probability of coating, this had only a slight impact on operating conditions of cement kiln. The impact of PAHs-contaminated soil disposal on air pollutant emissions, compressive and flexural strengths, water demand for normal consistency and soundness may be deemed insignificant. Our research found that thermal desorption was a viable method for detoxification of PAHs-contaminated soil and the technical route employed in this study was effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Syndecan-binding protein (SDCBP) was reported to stimulate the advancement of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and could potentially be a target for ESCC treatment. There is a growing corpus of research on the anti-tumor effects of iron chelators; however, very few studies have addressed the involvement of dexrazoxane in cancer. In this study, structure-based virtual screening was employed to select drugs targeting SDCBP from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drug databases. The sepharose 4B beads pull-down assay revealed that dexrazoxane targeted SDCBP by interacting with its PDZ1 domain. Additionally, dexrazoxane inhibited ESCC cell proliferation and anchorage-independent colony formation via SDCBP. ESCC cell apoptosis and G2 phase arrest were induced as measured by the flow cytometry assay. Subsequent research revealed that dexrazoxane attenuated the binding ability between SDCBP and EGFR in an immunoprecipitation assay. Furthermore, dexrazoxane impaired EGFR membrane localization and inactivated the EGFR/PI3K/Akt pathway. In vivo, xenograft mouse experiments indicated that dexrazoxane suppressed ESCC tumor growth. These data indicate that dexrazoxane might be established as a potential anti-cancer agent in ESCC by targeting SDCBP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the effect of SIRT1 on improving myocardial fibrosis and GAS5 inhibiting occurrence and development of myocardial fibrosis at the cellular level, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether LncRNA GAS5 could attenuate cardiac fibrosis through regulating mir-217/SIRT1, and whether the NLRP3 inflammasome activation was involved in this process. Isoprenaline (ISO) was given subcutaneously to the male C57BL/6 mice to induce myocardial fibrosis and the AAV9 vectors were randomly injected into the left ventricle of each mouse to overexpress GAS5. Primary myocardial fibroblasts (MCFs) derived from neonatal C57BL/6 mice and TGF-β1 were used to induce fibrosis. And the GAS5 overexpressed MCFs were treated with mir-217 mimics and mir-217 inhibitor respectively. Then the assays of expression levels of NLRP3, Caspase-1, IL-1β and SIRT1 were conducted. The findings indicated that the overexpression of GAS5 reduced the expression levels of collagen, NLRP3, Capase-1, IL-1β and SIRT1 in ISO treated mice and TGF-β1 treated MCFs. However, this effect was significantly weakened after mir-217 overexpression, but was further enhanced after knockdown of mir-217. mir-217 down-regulates the expression of SIRT1, leading to increased activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and subsequent pyroptosis. LncRNA GAS5 alleviates cardiac fibrosis induced via regulating mir-217/SIRT1 pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heterojunction integration of two-dimensional (2D) materials via van der Waals (vdW) forces, unencumbered by lattice and processing constraints, constitutes an efficacious approach to enhance the overall optoelectronic performance of photodetectors, due to an assortment of distinctive light-matter interactions. Nonetheless, vdW heterojunction photodetectors based on transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) face an inevitable trade-off between low dark currents and high responsivity, curtailing the application potential of myriad novel optoelectronic components in sensing, spectral, and communication systems. In this study, we present the successful actualization of a highly sensitive, self-powered, and gate-tunable bipolar response photodetector. The mechanisms underlying photocurrent generation were scrutinized via bias-, power-, and position-dependent mapping photoresponse measurements, identifying the photovoltaic effect, which is attributable to the Schottky junction's built-in electric field, as the predominant mechanism. The prototype Au-WS2-graphene photodetector exhibits a remarkable light on/off ratio of 1.2 × 106, a specific detectivity of 6.12 × 1011 cm Hz1/2 W−1 with 20 μs response time at 638 nm. The wide gate-tunable responsivity provides an adjustability scope, ranging from 0.9 to 3.1 A W−1. Notably, the device demonstrates an exceptional linear photocurrent response, with a linear dynamic range (LDR) value approximating 130 dB, which significantly surpasses that of other photodetectors based on TMDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To compare the safety and efficacy of clipping and coiling in patients with ruptured anterior circulation aneurysms. A systematic search of four databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Embase) was conducted to identify comparative articles on endovascular coiling and surgical clipping in patients with ruptured anterior circulation aneurysms. Meta-analyses were conducted using random-effects models. Nineteen studies, including 1983 patients, were included. The meta-analysis showed that neurosurgical clipping was associated with a lower incidence of retreatment (OR:0.28, 95% CI (0.11, 0.70), P = 0.006) than endovascular coiling, which seemed to be a result of incomplete occlusion (OR:0.22, 95% CI (0.11, 0.45), P < 0.001). Neurosurgical clipping was associated with lower mortality (OR:0.45, 95% CI (0.25, 0.82), P = 0.009) at short-term follow-up than endovascular coiling. However, neurosurgical clipping showed a higher incidence of ischemic infarction (OR:2.28, 95% CI (1.44, 3.63), P < 0.001) and a longer length of stay (LOS) (WMD:6.12, 95% CI (4.19, 8.04), P < 0.001) after surgery than endovascular coiling. Furthermore, the pooled results showed no statistically significant differences between the two groups regarding poor outcome, long-term mortality, rebleeding, vasospasm, and hydrocephalus. Evidence from this systematic review illustrates that neurosurgical clipping may be superior to endovascular coiling for ruptured anterior circulation aneurysms. Large-scale RCTs should be conducted to verify these outcomes and provide results according to patient status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strength and hardness of rock are much higher at freezing temperatures than at room temperature. This results in high excavation costs and low excavation efficiency in frozen rock layers. This study proposes a novel way to thaw porous and water-bearing rock by microwave irradiation. It is applicable to a wide range of strata and is not dependent on whether the rock contains wave-absorbing minerals. Quartz sandstone specimens free from absorbing minerals and of different saturation levels were used in an investigation of thawing and softening behaviors under microwave irradiation. The rock pore structures were observed before and after irradiation. The results show that (1) frozen quartz sandstone irradiated by microwaves undergoes three stages: (i) rapid melting of pore ice, (ii) intense vaporization of meltwater, and (iii) drying. (2) Microwave irradiation significantly reduces the strength of frozen quartz sandstone. (3) The mechanisms are vaporization expansion, which causes the propagation of intergranular cracks, and thermal expansion, which induces trans-granular cracking. (4) Softening of 40–100%-saturated frozen quartz sandstone is caused by both vapor and thermal expansion, while 0–40%-saturated sandstone is mainly affected by thermal expansion. This study provides theoretical and experimental support for microwave-assisted breakage of frozen porous and water-bearing rock. Highlights: Microwave irradiation is a promising auxiliary method in excavation of frozen rock. Microwave irradiation heating melts frozen sandstone completely within only 40 s. Unfrozen water in frozen sandstone is the fundamental cause of the rapid melting. Softening effect on frozen sandstone is enhanced by increasing saturation degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by deep functional map methods, we present a generalized unsupervised functional map learning approach for arbitrary 3D shape correspondence. Unlike prior methods, they either require extensive data training or rely on input features; our model directly operates on point clouds and learns both deep features and optimized basis function without the constraint of geometric connectivity and the assumption of isometry. We propose a novel scheme that combines structural embedding based on Mahalanobis distance and locally linear embedding to learn the optimized feature basis. Furthermore, the constructed shape descriptors effectively optimize the estimation of functional map and dense correspondence through a tri-level regularization mechanism that enforces penalties on global structural properties, representation error and pair-wise Mahalanobis distance distortion, which significantly improves the performance of unsupervised learning. Extensive experiments in shape matching show that our method can learn from less training data and has better generalization ability compared with the state-of-the-art supervised and unsupervised methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-view learning methods have achieved remarkable results in 3D shape recognition. However, most of them focus on the visual feature extraction and feature aggregation, while viewpoints (spatial positions of virtual cameras) for generating multiple views are often ignored. In this paper, we deeply explore the correlation between viewpoints and shape descriptor, and propose a novel viewpoint-guided prototype learning network (VGP-Net). We introduce a prototype representation for each class, including viewpoint prototype and feature prototype. The viewpoint prototype is the average weight of each viewpoint learned from a small support set via Score Unit, and stored in a weight dictionary. Our VGP model self-adaptively learns the view-wise weights by dynamically assembling with the viewpoint prototypes in weight dictionary and performing element-wise operation via view pooling layer. Under the guidance of viewpoint prototype, important visual features are enhanced, while those negligible features are eliminated. These refined features are effectively fused to generate compact shape descriptor. All the shape descriptors are clustered in feature embedding space, and the cluster center represents the feature prototype of each class. The classification thus can be performed by searching the nearest distance to feature prototypes. To boost the learning process, we further present a multi-stream regularization mechanism in both feature space and viewpoint space. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our VGP-Net is efficient, and the learned deep features have stronger discrimination ability. Therefore, it can achieve better performance compared to state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of C-reactive protein (CRP) on the prognosis of adult patients with Immune thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP). A retrospective study of 628 adult ITP patients, as well as 100 healthy and 100 infected patients, attending the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from January 2017 to June 2022 was performed. The ITP patients were grouped according to their CRP levels, and the differences in clinical characteristics of each group and the influencing factors of efficacy in newly diagnosed ITP patients were analyzed. CRP levels were significantly higher in the ITP and infected groups compared with healthy controls (P < 0.001), and platelet counts were significantly lower in the ITP group (P < 0.001). Between the CRP normal and elevated group, their age, white blood cell count, neutrophil count, lymphocyte count, red blood cell count, hemoglobin, platelet count, complement C3 and C4, PAIgG, bleeding score, proportion of severe ITP, and proportion of refractory ITP were significantly different (P < 0.05). Patients of severe ITP (P < 0.001), refractory ITP (P = 0.002), and with active bleeding (P < 0.001) had significantly higher CRP levels. Patients with no response after treatment had significantly higher CRP levels than those who achieved CR or R (P < 0.001). Platelet counts (r = − 0.261, P < 0.001) in newly diagnosed ITP patients and treatment outcomes (r = − 0.221, P < 0.001) were negatively correlated with CRP levels, and bleeding score was positively correlated with CRP levels (r = 0.207, P < 0.001). Treatment outcome was positively correlated with decrease in CRP levels (r = 0.313, P = 0.027). A multifactorial regression analysis of the influencing factors of treatment outcomes on newly diagnosed patients found that CRP was an independent risk factor of the prognosis (P = 0.011). In conclusion, CRP can help assess the severity and predict the prognosis of ITP patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies involving response of subgroups of soil microorganisms to forest change, especially comparative studies on habitat-specialization and abundance gradient were still lack. In this study, we analyzed the response of soil bacterial diversity and structure to afforestation types and its relationship to environment of Fanggan ecological restoration area under the classification of subgroups by habitat-specialization and abundance gradient based on abundance ratio respectively. The results were: (1) On the habitat-specialization gradient, the variation of OTUs species number and abundance was consistent and positively correlated with habitat-specialization; on the abundance gradient, the variation was opposite and OTUs species number was negatively correlated with abundance gradient; (2) The distribution frequency of each subgroup on both gradients was the highest in broad-leaved forests, but the abundance was the opposite. The distribution frequency of the same stand showed no difference among habitat-specialization subgroups, but the abundant subgroup in broad-leaved forests was the highest among the abundance subgroups; (3) α-diversity was positively correlated with habitat-specialization but negatively with abundance, with the highest mostly in broad-leaved and mixed forests; (4) Community structure among stands on habitat-specialization gradient showed no significant difference, but that of rare subgroup between broad-leaved forests and other stands significantly differed. Plant diversity and vegetation composition correlated stronger with community structure than spatial distance and soil physicochemical properties on both gradients. Our results provided a new perspective for revealing the effects of afforestation types on soil bacteria from the comparison of habitat specialization and abundance gradient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently potential preclinical drugs for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and NASH-related pathopoiesis have failed to achieve expected therapeutic efficacy due to the complexity of the pathogenic mechanisms. Here we show Tripartite motif containing 26 (TRIM26) as a critical endogenous suppressor of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein delta (C/EBPδ), and we also confirm that TRIM26 is an C/EBPδ-interacting partner protein that catalyses the ubiquitination degradation of C/EBPδ in hepatocytes. Hepatocyte-specific loss of Trim26 disrupts liver metabolic homeostasis, followed by glucose metabolic disorder, lipid accumulation, increased hepatic inflammation, and fibrosis, and dramatically facilitates NASH-related phenotype progression. Inversely, transgenic Trim26 overexpression attenuates the NASH-associated phenotype in a rodent or rabbit model. We provide mechanistic evidence that, in response to metabolic insults, TRIM26 directly interacts with C/EBPδ and promotes its ubiquitin proteasome degradation. Taken together, our present findings identify TRIM26 as a key suppressor over the course of NASH development. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a heterogeneous disease with complicated pathogenesis. Here the authors identify that the E3 ligase TRIM26 confers protection against NASH development via suppression of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein delta (C/EBPδ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the factors influencing the mental health and sociality of overseas Chinese left-behind children, and to identify the protective mechanisms of their mental health, the current study investigated 568 overseas Chinese left-behind children. The age distribution of the sample ranges from 10 to 16 years, with an average age of 13.51 years and a standard deviation of 1.11. Using the Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist, Perceived Social Support Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale and Mental Health Inventory of Middle-school Students, results showed that: (1) Perceived social support played a moderate mediate role in the relationship between negative life events and mental health. (2) The effect of negative life events on perceived social support was moderated by general self-efficacy. Negative life events of overseas Chinese left-behind children with higher self-efficacy were more likely to experience negative mental health. Conclusion: Perceived social support plays a moderating mediating role in the relationship between negative life events and mental health of overseas Chinese left-behind children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider partial theta series associated with periodic sequences of coefficients, namely, , where and is an -periodic function. Such a function is analytic in the half-plane and in the asymptotics of as tends nontangentially to any a formal power series appears, which depends on the parity of and . We discuss the summability and resurgence properties of these series; namely, we present explicit formulas for their formal Borel transforms and their consequences for the modularity properties of , or its "quantum modularity" properties in the sense of Zagier's recent theory. The discrete Fourier transform of plays an unexpected role and leads to a number-theoretic analogue of Écalle's "bridge equations." The main thesis is: (quantum) modularity Stokes phenomenon discrete Fourier transform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the differences and similarities between two-layer and three-layer self-piercing riveting (SPR) joints were systematically analysed by combining experimental tests and a finite element (FE) model. The influences of top-to-middle sheet thickness ratio (r1) on the joining results of three-layer joints were also numerically investigated. It was found that, compared with the top sheet in two-layer joints, the split top and middle sheets in the corresponding three-layer joints underwent greater plastic deformation. The rivet shank experienced less plastic deformation, and the risk of shear fracture of the rivet shank was effectively reduced. When the r1 increased from 0 to infinity, the interlock (I1) always first increased then decreased and followed by an apparent increase within the studied range. The remaining bottom sheet thickness at the joint centre (tc) and under the rivet tip (ttip) showed opposite changing trends: the tc first increased and then decreased, whilst the ttip first decreased but then increased. The results also revealed that the experimental data of two-layer joints can be used to guide the design of three-layer joints: from the two-layer joints to corresponding three-layer joints, the I1 more likely achieves a greater value when the r1 < 1.0 but a smaller value when the r1 > 1.0, and a larger tc but a smaller ttip are more likely achieved regardless of the r1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Binary biodegradable polymers films, poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) and poly(glycolic acid) (PGA), were prepared through batch melt mixing to obtain Film I and Film II under two different processing conditions. PGA crystals played a major role in enhancing the mechanical and barrier properties of the films. For Film I, there were initial PGA crystals before the film blowing process, the PGA molecular chain further crystallized, forming the oriented crystallization of PGA. Moreover, the Xc and crystalline size in Film I were higher than those in Film II. Compared with the different processing methods, Film I has excellent mechanical and oxygen barrier properties due to the crystallization and orientation. The tensile strength reached 45.0 MPa, and tear strength exceeded 138.2 kN/m, while the elongation at break was as high as 750% for PBAT/PGA 85/15 in Film I. The WVTR, WVP coefficients, and OP coefficients of PBAT/PGA films were decreased obviously with increasing the PGA content both in Film I and Film II. Moreover, the barrier properties of oxygen in Film I were better than that in Film II. This work reveals a feasible processing technique by introducing of initial crystallization of PGA to blow PBAT/PGA films with excellent mechanical and barrier properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To demonstrate that occipital artery (OA)-p1 posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) bypass can be an alternative for complex posterior circulation aneurysms. Methods: A far-lateral approach to craniotomy was performed on 20 cadaveric specimens, and the OA was obtained 'in-line.' Its length, diameter, and the number of p1/p2 and p3 segmental perforators were determined, and the relationship between the caudal loop and cerebellar tonsil position was also assessed. The distance between the PICA's origin and the cranial nerve XI (CN XI), the buffer length above the CN XI after dissection, the OA length required to complete the OA-p1/p3 PICA bypass, and the p1 and p3 segment diameters were all measured. A bypass training practical scale (TSIO) was used to evaluate the quality of the anastomosis. Results: All specimens underwent OA-p1 PICA end-to-end bypass and had favorable results for the TSIO score, 15 sides underwent OA-p3 PICA end-to-side bypass, and the other bypass protocols were less common. The buffer length above the CN XI after dissection, the distance between the PICA's origin and the CN XI, and the first perforator were all of sufficient length. The direct length of the OA needed to complete the OA-p1 PICA end-to-end bypass was significantly less than the available length and the OA-p3 PICA end-to-side bypass, with the OA matching the p1 segment diameter. The number of p1 perforators was less than that of p3, and the OA diameter was equal to that of the p1 segment. Conclusion: OA-p1 PICA end-to-end bypass is a feasible alternative in cases in which p3 segment has high caudal loops or anatomic anomalies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study thermalization of spin chains whose two end spins interact with two independent non-Markovian dephasing baths by the quantum state diffusion (QSD) equation approach. Up to now almost all of the studies about thermalization in an open quantum system focused on Markovian environment, while the effect of non-Markovian environment on thermalization is still elusive. Our results show that non-Markovianity of environments will delay thermalization. And moreover the effect of non-Markovianity is weakened by the non-integrability. For an isolated system, thermalization is seen in the subsystem states of system where the reduced density matrix of the subsystem follows quantum statistical mechanics. Different from the isolated system, for an open quantum system it is found that if the system evolves in the whole Hilbert space, thermalization can occur both locally and globally. Moreover, as long as global thermalization takes place, thermalization process consists of an early-stage local thermalization and a late-stage global one, which we name pre-local-thermalization (PLT) to distinguish it from pre-thermalization. And it is found that the integrability is beneficial for PLT. In addition, for the integrable system evolving in the whole Hilbert space, both local pre-thermalization and global pre-thermalization can be clearly observed in the presence of dephasing baths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Postoperative delirium (POD) commonly occurs after major abdominal surgery and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. There have been many studies on the relationship between POD and various surgeries, but research on POD after pancreatic cancer surgery is limited. The aim of this study was to identify the incidence and risk factors of POD after pancreatic cancer surgery. Methods: The subjects of this retrospective analysis were 196 patients who were transferred for postoperative care after pancreatic cancer surgery, to a 12-bed critical care medicine ward at Shandong Provincial Hospital, affiliated with Shandong First Medical University, between January 2015 and December 2019. The patients were divided according to whether they suffered POD into a delirium group and a non-delirium group. Delirium was assessed using the Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit and two independent medical practitioners analyzed all the data. Univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed. Results: The overall delirium incidence was 20.41%, which increased to 29.03% for patients aged ≥ 70 years. POD was associated with age, smoking, the American Society of Anesthesiologists classification, the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score, and the TNM stage of the cancer. The variables concerning sex, drinking, hypertension, a history of cerebral disease, surgery type, operation time, amount of bleeding, and the intraoperative use of dexmedetomidine did not differ significantly between the two groups. There was no significant difference in the length of ICU stay, with the exclusion of long-term stay for complications, between the groups, but POD tended to prolong the postoperative hospital stay and increase the risk of mortality. There was also a gradual decline in the incidence of POD between 2015 and 2019, especially from 2015 to 2018, after preventive measures were implemented. Conclusion: POD is related to many risk factors and worthy of attention. Appropriate management can reduce its incidence or at least shorten its duration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autophagy is a highly evolutionary conserved process that degrades cytosolic macromolecules or damaged organelles (e.g., mitochondria), as well as intracellular pathogens for energy and survival. Dysfunction of autophagy has been associated with the pathologies of Alzheimer's disease (AD), including Aβ plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Recently, the presence of sustained immune response in the brain has been considered a new core pathology in AD. Accumulating evidence suggests that autophagy activation may suppress inflammation response through degrading inflammasomes or pro-inflammatory cytokines and improving immune system function in both clinical trials and preclinical studies. This review provides an overview of updated information on autophagy and inflammation and their potential mediators in AD. In summary, we believe that understanding the relationship between autophagy and inflammation will provide insightful knowledge for future therapeutic implications in AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are limited to be directly applied to 3D graph data due to their inherent grid structure. And most of graph-based learning methods use local-to-global hierarchical structure learning, and often ignore the global context. To overcome these issues, we propose two strategies: one is topological learning with 3D offset convolution, which provides learnable parameters in local graph construction, effectively expands the sampling space and improves the perception ability of diverse local structures. The other is geometrical learning with an adaptive spec-graph convolution network (AsGCN), which establishes a joint learning mechanism of local geometry in spatial domain and global structure in feature domain, and generates informative deep features through spectral filtering and weighting. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our deep features have strong discerning ability and robustness to non-rigid transformed graph data, incomplete mesh data, and better performance can be obtained compared to state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

H1.6Mn1.6O4 lithium-ion sieve with spinel structure was successfully prepared by hydrothermal, high-temperature calcination and ion exchange reaction. XRD, SEM, TEM, N2 ad/desorption and FTIR methods were employed to characterize the microstructure and morphology of the synthesized materials in detail. The experimental results show that H1.6Mn1.6O4 has the characteristics of mesoporous structure and nanotube morphology with length of ∼ 10 μm and diameter of 500–700 nm, and the spiny structure was grown on the surface of the nanotube uniformly. The effect of Al3+ doping on the structure and morphology of H1.6Mn1.6O4 was studied. The results show that Al3+ doping does not change the microstructure and morphology of H1.6Mn1.6O4, but the specific surface area and pore volume are increased to a certain extent. H1.6Mn1.6O4 and H1.6Mn1.6−xAlxO4 were used as lithium-ion adsorbents to study the adsorption properties of Li+ in solution. The adsorption experiment results show that the adsorption capacity of H1.6Mn1.6O4 increased with increasing solution pH value, indicating that the strong alkaline solution with higher pH value is more favorable for Li+ adsorption. The adsorption isotherm results show that Li+ adsorption process was fitted well by Langmuir model, indicating that Li+ maybe adsorbed on the surface of manganese oxides lithium-ion sieves via a monolayer adsorption. The theoretical maximum adsorption capacity of H1.6Mn1.6O4 and H1.6Mn1.6−xAlxO4 can reach 39.54 mg/g and 40.54 mg/g, respectively. The results of adsorption kinetics show that the adsorption rate of both H1.6Mn1.6O4 and H1.6Mn1.6−xAlxO4 is fast, and the adsorption capacity of H1.6Mn1.6−xAlxO4 (24.65 mg/g) is slightly better than H1.6Mn1.6O4 (24.33 mg/g). Li+ adsorption process can be well described by the pseudo-second-order model, suggesting adsorption behavior is mainly controlled by chemical sorption. Additionally, the free energy change (ΔGΘ) was determined by Van't Hoff equation is negative, which confirms the adsorption process is spontaneous and feasible. The positive value of ΔSΘ of adsorption reaction reflects there is a certain of affinity between manganese oxides lithium-ion sieves and Li+ in solution. The regular spiny structure on the surface of H1.6Mn1.6O4 nanotube lithium-ion sieve was synthesized. This special morphology not only keeps the nanotube pore structure to increase the adsorption ability and also increases the outer surface area to accelerate the Li+ diffusion speed without any substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The toughened poly(L-lactic acid)/poly(butylene succinate-butylene terephthalate) (PLLA/PBST) blend with enhanced melt strength and excellent low temperature toughness and strength was prepared by melt compounding through in situ compatibilization reaction in presence of multifunctional epoxy compound (ADR). The PLLA/PBST blend was an immiscible system, and the compatibility of the PLLA/PBST blend was improved after adding ADR. FTIR and GPC curves confirmed the formation of the PLLA-g-PBST copolymer, which improved the interfacial bonding of the blend and therefore the PLLA/PBST/ADR blend showed excellent melt strength and mechanical properties. For the PLLA/PBST/ADR blend with 70/30 PLLA/PBST content, the complex viscosity increased significantly with increasing ADR content. Moreover, the tensile strength, elongation at break and impact strength all increased obviously with increasing the ADR content. The elongation at break of the blend reached the maximum value of 392.7%, which was 93.2 times that of neat PLLA. And the impact strength of the blend reached the maximum value of 74.7 kJ/m2, which was 21.3 times that of neat PLLA. Interestingly, the PLLA/PBST/ADR blend exhibited excellent low-temperature toughness and strength. At −20 °C, the elongation at break of the PLLA/PBST/ADR blend was as high as 93.2%, and the impact strength reached 18.8 kJ/m2. Meanwhile, the tensile strength of the blend at low temperature was also high (64.7 MPa), which was beneficial to the application of PLA in the low temperature field. In addition, the PLLA/PBST/ADR blend maintaind good biodegradability, which was of great significance to the wide application of PLLA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulmonary nodules evaluation is clinically crucial because they may be the early predictors of lung cancer. Except for CT screening and serum tumor biomarkers testing, genetic alteration analysis by next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology can also help to find cancer earlier. In this study, we report a case of multiple pulmonary nodules patient with EGFR R776H and FANCE R381H germline mutations. Her father, paternal aunt, and elder uncle harbored either one or both two mutations and were found with multiple pulmonary ground-glass or sub-solid nodules. Her 7-year-old daughter also inherited the same two mutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Financial toxicity has become a global public health issue. The purpose of the study is to investigate and analyze the influencing factors of financial toxicity in patients with non-metastatic colorectal cancer. Methods: A convenient sample of 250 patients with stage I-III colorectal cancer was investigated in the study. They completed a set of questionnaires, including the Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity questionnaire, the Perceived Social Support Scale, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Univariate and multivariate linear regression were performed to investigate the influencing factors of financial toxicity. Results: Over half (52.8%, n = 132) of the colorectal cancer survivors experienced financial toxicity. Multivariate regression analysis showed that the factors associated with financial toxicity were young age, unemployment, low annual household income, chemotherapy, and the lack of sufficient social support (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Financial toxicity is common among non-metastatic colorectal cancer survivors. Young age, lower annual household income, unemployment, chemotherapy, and insufficient social support were associated with financial toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental regulation and technological innovation are two important measures to realize high-quality economic development under the current "double cycle" new development pattern in our country. Exploring the mechanism of environmental regulation and technological innovation on high-quality economic development is of great significance to realize high-quality economic development. Firstly, analyze the theoretical mechanism that technological innovation and environmental regulation affect the high-quality development of economy, and put forward the theoretical hypothesis that technological innovation, environmental regulation and their interaction items can promote the high-quality development of economy; Secondly, construct the measurement index system of the high-quality development level of economy based on the new development concept, measure the high-quality development level of economy, and find that the high-quality development level of economy in the whole country is on the rise year by year, with great differences between regions, it presents the characteristics of the eastern region > the central region > the western region; Once again, the fixed effect model is adopted to explore the impact of environmental regulation and technological innovation on high-quality economic development at the national level and the eastern, central and western regions. The results show that environmental regulation and technological innovation not only have independent effect, but also have synergistic effect of mutual promotion on high-quality economic development, and the impact of the two on high-quality economic development has regional heterogeneity. At last, some countermeasures and suggestions are put forward: increase the investment in technological innovation, improve the backward effect of environmental regulations on high-quality economic development, at the same time, pay attention to the coordinated development of environmental regulations and technological innovation, and promote high-quality economic development in both ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis suffer severe health issues. The unclear dynamic biomechanical characteristics of scoliosis were needed to be explored to improve the prevention and treatment in clinics. Validated 3D finite element (FE) models of thoracolumbosacral spine (T1-S1) both with and without scoliosis were developed from computed tomography (CT) images. Modal and harmonic analyses were performed to investigate the biomechanical responses of the spinal models to vibration. Resonant frequencies of the scoliotic model were lower than those of the model without scoliosis. Peak amplitudes occurred at vibrational frequencies close to the modal resonant frequencies, which caused the deformed thoracic segment in scoliosis suffered the maximum amplitude. The stresses on vertebrae and intervertebral discs in the scoliotic model derived from vibrations were significantly larger than those in the non-scoliosis model, and heterogeneously concentrated on the scoliotic thoracic segment. In conclusion, the scoliotic spine in the patients with Lenke 1BN scoliosis is more prone to injuries than the non-scoliotic spine while vibrating. Scoliotic thoracic segments in patients with Lenke 1BN scoliosis were the more vulnerable and sensitive component of the T1-S1 spine to vibration than lumbar spines. This study suggested that vibration would impair the scoliotic spines, and patients with Lenke 1BN scoliosis should avoid exposure to vibration, especially the low-frequency vibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the varying mental health outcomes between two comparable left-behind children (LBC) samples, verify the mediation model of mental health via resilience, and study the intermediary function of peer attachment in this relationship, a survey was conducted based on a random sample of 1,368 LBC with the mental health test, adolescent self-rating life checklist, resilience scale and peer attachment scale. Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated, and regression and structural equation models were performed. Both-parents absent LBC reported significantly higher scores in negative life events and mental health—and significantly lower scores in resilience and peer attachment—than single-parent absent LBC. Resilience can function as a mediator between negative life events and mental health. Moderated mediation analyses found that negative life events have an indirect effect upon resilience, and such an effect is significantly impacted by peer attachment variables. Most pertinently, peer communication plays a major moderation role in enhancing the ability to cope with negative life events through resilience and promoting mental health in both-parents absent LBC, and the higher peer alienation the lower role in enhancing resilience on low negative life events in single-parent absent LBC. Given the reality of parental absence, Both-parents absence poses a risk to the health of LBC, that is, they are particularly likely to have long-term health problems. These findings can promote the understanding of the potential mediating mechanisms, thus further developing the theoretic system on LBC's mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The use of rootstock is effective at protecting plants from soil-borne diseases, however, the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Methods: In this study, the root-associated microbiomes and root exudate profiles of rootstock (grafted) and self-rooted (ungrafted) watermelon plants grown in plastic shelters heavily infected with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum (FON) were characterized. Results: We showed that grafting markedly controlled Fusarium wilt disease, greatly reduced FON abundance in the rhizoplane and endosphere, and improved microbial diversity across rhizosphere to endosphere in continuous cropping soils. We further found that grafting significantly changed the composition of root-associated microbiomes, improved microbial association network complexity, and had potential beneficial bacterial taxa like Streptomycetales and Sphingomonadales, and fungal taxa like Capnodiales and Sebacinales significantly enriched in grafted watermelon. The grafted watermelon also possessed a distinct root exudate profile from the ungrafted watermelon and rootstock plants, with organic acids (potential autotoxins) significantly depleted but more plant defense-related metabolites such as organosulfur compounds and benzenoids enriched in comparison to ungrafted watermelon. Conclusion: Together, our results suggest that grafting facilitates plant disease resistance potentially by direct antagonism effect through root exudates and indirectly by shaping the protective root-associated microbiomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-piercing riveting (SPR) is one of the major joining processes in the automotive industry. However, the frequently used design method for multiple SPR joints is still time-consuming, and relies heavily on engineers' experience and experimental SPR tests. This research focuses on simplifying the joint design process and improving the design robustness for multiple SPR joints. A fast joint quality prediction model was firstly developed using the deep neural network (DNN), and verified through experimental SPR tests. Then, a joint robustness evaluation strategy was proposed by combining the developed DNN with the Monte Carlo method to consider the manufacturing tolerances of rivet, sheets, and die. Afterwards, two novel approaches were developed to quickly identify the suitable joint design with minimum rivet/die combinations for multiple sheet combinations. The first approach realizes automatic design of robust joints with the DNN model, the robustness evaluation method, and a proposed automatic selection algorithm. The second approach was developed based on application range maps of potential rivet/die combinations, and can be used to quickly identify the suitable joint design for multiple sheet combinations. Finally, experimental SPR tests were conducted to validate the effectiveness of the two joint design methods. Results from this study are helpful to simplify the design process, shorten the design cycle, and improve the robustness of multiple SPR joints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asian elephant is large herbivorous animal with elongated hindgut. To explore fecal microbial community composition with various ages, sex and diets, and their role in plant biomass degrading and nutrition conversation. We generated 119 Gb by metagenome sequencing from 10 different individual feces and identified 5.3 million non-redundant genes. The comprehensive analysis established that the Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria constituted the most dominant phyla in overall fecal samples. In different individuals, the alpha diversity of the fecal microbiota in female was lower than male, and the alpha diversity of the fecal microbiota in older was higher than younger, and the fecal microbial diversity was the most complex in wild elephant. But the predominant population compositions were similar to each other. Moreover, the newborn infant elephant feces assembled and maintained a diverse but host-specific fecal microbial population. The discovery speculated that Asian elephant maybe have start to building microbial populations before birth. Meanwhile, these results illustrated that host phylogeny, diets, ages and sex are significant factors for fecal microbial community composition. Therefore, we put forward the process of Asian elephant fecal microbial community composition that the dominant populations were built first under the guidance of phylogeny, and then shaped gradually a unique and flexible gut microbial community structure under the influences of diet, age and sex. This study found also that the Bacteroidetes were presumably the main drivers of plant fiber-degradation. A large of secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters, and genes related to enediyne biosynthesis were found and showed that the Asian elephant fecal microbiome harbored a diverse and abundant genetic resource. A picture of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) reservoirs of fecal microbiota in Asian elephants was provided. Surprisingly, there was such wide range of ARGs in newborn infant elephant. Further strengthening our speculation that the fetus of Asian elephant has colonized prototypical fecal microbiota before birth. However, it is necessary to point out that the data give a first inside into the gut microbiota of Asian elephants but too few individuals were studied to draw general conclusions for differences among wild and captured elephants, female and male or different ages. Further studies are required. Additionally, the cultured actinomycetes from Asian elephant feces also were investigated, which the feces of Asian elephants could be an important source of actinomycetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) are ubiquitous in aquatic and terrestrial environments, and the copper-containing nitrite reductase (NirK) plays a pivotal role in AOA metabolism. However, distribution and function of nirK gene-containing thaumarchaea (AnirK) have rarely been estimated, especially in terrestrial ecosystems. Methods: Soil and sediment samples were taken from 20 sites including coastal mud flat, freshwater wetland, paddy soil, agricultural upland, and forest soil. Potential N2O production rates, community composition, and transcriptional activity of nirK gene-containing thaumarchaea in different habitats were investigated by combining field surveys with microcosm incubations. Results: AnirK gene abundance and N2O production rates were significantly higher in flooded habitats like freshwater wetland and paddy soil than in agricultural upland and forest soils. In comparison to the AOA amoA gene, AnirK gene was less diverse and mainly affiliated within Candidatus Nitrosoarchaeum, Nitrosopumilus, and Candidatus Nitrosotenuis (Group I.1a) and Candidatus Nitrosotalea (Group I.1a-associated). Microcosm incubations further demonstrated that AnirK gene transcription activity was significantly higher than bacterial nirK and nirS genes, corresponding to the high nitrate reduction and N2O emissions in wetland and paddy soil. Nitrosopumilus in coastal sediment and Candidatus Nitrosoarchaeum in paddy soil and wetland were identified as the active AnirK gene carriers. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that the AnirK gene was widely present in coastal sediment and terrestrial ecosystem like wetland and paddy soils, and that AnirK gene-containing Nitrosopumilus and Candidatus Nitrosoarchaeum are potential active contributors to nitrite reduction and N2O production in these ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA) is commonly observed, and seriously affects women's reproductive health. Excessive interleukin-6 (IL-6) production has been shown to frequently occur and relate to URSA pathogenesis. In this study, the miRNA expression profile in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from URSA patients and normal pregnant (NP) women was assessed by miRNA microarray and real-time quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). MiRNA target prediction tools and luciferase reporter assay were used to detect direct binding between miRNAs and IL6. Functional study of administering anti-IL-6 neutralizing antibody and miR-374c-5p mimics to an URSA animal model was performed to evaluate embryo resorption rates. In the results, compared with NP women, the expression of IL-6 increased markedly in PBMCs and decidual tissues at both mRNA and protein levels, while miR-374c-5p expression decreased significantly. Prediction software and luciferase reporter assay showed that miR-374c-5p binds with IL6 3′UTR via the complementary bases. Transfection of miR-374c-5p mimics into an in vitro HeLa cell line significantly downregulated the expression of IL-6, while transfection of the miR-374c-5p inhibitor induced an opposite result. In the URSA mouse model, miR-374c-5p overexpression reduced the embryo resorption rate significantly, accompanied with decreased expression of IL-6 in the decidua. To sum up, downregulated miR-374c-5p was involved in the pathogenesis of URSA by enhancing IL-6 expression. Modulation of miR-374c-5p expression may be used to regulate IL-6 production for the treatment of URSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with water and air pollution, soil pollution is highly concealed, has poor self-purification ability, and poses high risks associated with accumulation. Characteristics of heavy metal migration directly affect the quality of the environment, and comparative studies utilizing column leaching and natural leaching experiments have rarely been performed. In this study, we used farmland soil samples from Xiba Town of the Wutongqiao District to determine the differences in leaching characteristics between column leaching and natural leaching tests. The results indicated that the heavy metals were released in two stages, a rapid release followed by a slow release stage. The cumulative amount released during the second stage exhibited regular fluctuations, while the heavy metal release rate was consistent with the heavy metal adsorption properties of the soil. In addition, the release and accumulation of heavy metals in the soil were influenced by many factors that may interact with each other, which could lead to low correlations between the cumulative heavy metals released during the column leaching and natural leaching tests. Simulating natural heavy metal migration trends using the column leaching test was effective to some extent, but there were significant differences between the accumulation sites and accumulated amounts. This study provides a theoretical basis for improving the remediation of soils contaminated by heavy metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]