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Background. The long-term exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) raises oxidative stress and chronic inflammation levels, which in turn has a series of deleterious effects on skin health, such as sunburn, photoaging, and skin cancer. Hence, our study was determined to investigate the effects and mechanisms of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in zebrafish and human skin fibroblasts (HSF) cells to alleviate ultraviolet-induced photoaging. Methods. The 4 days postfertilization (dpf) zebrafish larvae and HSF cells were treated with 10 J/cm2 UVA + 30 mJ/cm2 UVB, or 25, or 50 μM EGCG for 72 hr. The indicators involving in oxidative stress, inflammatory, and photoaging were measured by the kits, ELISA Kits and western blot methods. Results. EGCGs protect against UVR-induced skin damage in zebrafish and HSF cells. EGCG markedly decreased the reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde, 8-OHdG levels, increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and significantly inhibited inflammatory factors levels including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1α (IL-1α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) in zebrafish, and HSF cells irradiated with UVR. We found that EGCG could reduce UVR-induced p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) phosphorylation and effectively inhibited the activity of the transcriptional factor nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), thereby reducing the protein-1 (AP-1), TNF-α, IL-1α, IL-6, and matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) expressions, which are critical mediators of skin aging cascade causing the photoaging. Conclusion. These results validate that EGCG for protection of photoaging in zebrafish and HSF cells induced by UVR, which is closely related to the regulation of p38 MAPK/NF-κB, AP-1 signaling pathway which relieve oxidative stress, inflammation, and collagen degradation.

Abstract Objectives Large hepatocellular carcinoma (LHCC) is prone to short‐term recurrence and poor long‐term survival after hepatectomy, and there is still a lack of effective neoadjuvant treatments to improve recurrence‐free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). We retrospectively analyzed the efficacy of preoperative transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in solitary LHCC (≥5 cm). Materials and Methods A multicenter medical database was used to analyze preoperative TACE's effects on RFS, OS, and perioperative complications in patients with solitary LHCC who received surgical treatment from January 2005 to December 2015. The patients were divided into Group A (5.0–9.9 cm) and Group B (≥10 cm), with 10 cm as the critical value, and the effect of preoperative TACE on RFS, OS and perioperative complications was assessed in each subgroup. Results In the overall population, patients with preoperative TACE had better RFS and OS than those without preoperative TACE. However, after stratifying the patients into the two HCC groups, preoperative TACE only improved the survival outcomes of patients with Group B (≥10 cm). Multivariate Cox‐regression analysis showed that lack of preoperative TACE was an independent risk factor for RFS and OS in the overall population and in Group B but not in Group A. Conclusions Preoperative TACE is beneficial for patients with solitary HCC (≥10 cm).

Abstract The mass production of disposable polyolefin products has led to serious plastic pollution and an imbalance between manufacturing and recycling. Given these challenges, the chemical upcycling of waste polyolefins has attracted extensive attention due to its high efficiency and economic benefits. Herein, we review the development of polyolefin chemical upcycling in heterogeneous catalysis. The status quo of polyolefin recycling is first discussed. We then introduce the advanced strategies for chemical upcycling in the view of different value‐added products and discuss their challenges and prospects. Our in‐depth analysis centers on the catalytic mechanism and the design principle of heterogeneous catalysts. Finally, we outlook the promising directions to facilitate the degradation process via polymer and catalyst design and optimized catalytic engineering. Innovative strategies are expected to promote the chemical upcycling of polyolefins, bringing great promise for the sustainable development of society.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play crucial roles in melanoma initiation and development, serving as potential therapeutic targets and prognostic markers for melanoma. lncRNA survival-associated mitochondrial melanoma-specific oncogenic noncoding RNA (SAMMSON) is upregulated in many types of human cancers. However, the functions of SAMMSON in melanoma have not been fully elucidated. This study is aimed at investigating the expression and functions of SAMMSON in melanoma development. Bioinformatics analysis was performed to determine the expression of SAMMSON and its correlation with the 10-year overall survival (OS) in melanoma patients. Cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and tumorigenesis were detected by MTT, colony formation, Transwell assays, and mouse xenograft model. The expression of cell cycle-related factors, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) makers, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) was assessed by RT-qPCR and western blotting analysis. The results demonstrated that SAMMSON expression was upregulated in melanoma tissues and cells, and lower SAMMSON expression was correlated with longer 10-year OS. SAMMSON knockdown decreased the proliferation, migration, and invasion of melanoma cells by regulating the expression of proliferation-related genes, EMT factors, and MMPs, respectively. Additionally, Forkhead box protein A2 (FOXA2) was confirmed to be a target of SAMMSON, and the biological effects induced by FOXA2 overexpression were similar to those induced by SAMMSON silencing in melanoma cells. Further studies showed that SAMMSON downregulated FOXA2 expression in melanoma cells by modulating the EZH2/H3K27me3 axis. Taken together, our data indicate that SAMMSON plays an important role in melanoma progression and can be a valuable biomarker and therapeutic target in melanoma.

Background Intravenous thrombolysis with alteplase is widely used in patients with acute ischemic stroke presenting early after symptom onset. Recent phase II trials have suggested that intravenous tenecteplase may be safer and associated with higher early reperfusion rates as compared with alteplase. This study investigates whether intravenous tenecteplase is noninferior to intravenous alteplase for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. Methods This is a pragmatic, registry‐linked, prospective, randomized (1:1) controlled, open‐label parallel group clinical trial (AcT [Alteplase Compared to Tenecteplase in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke]) with blinded end point assessment of 1600 patients to test if intravenous tenecteplase (0.25 mg/kg body weight, maximum dose 25 mg) is noninferior to intravenous alteplase (0.9 mg/kg body weight; maximum dose, 90 mg) in patients with acute ischemic stroke eligible for intravenous thrombolysis in clinical routine. Patients are recruited from comprehensive and primary stroke centers and enrolled using deferral of consent. The proposed sample has at least 90% power with a noninferiority margin of 5%, assuming incidence of the 90‐day modified Rankin Scale score of 0 to 1 is 38% in the tenecteplase and 35% in the alteplase groups, and a loss to follow‐up rate

Abstract The information on crustal thickness in Antarctica can provide significant constraints on its crustal deformation and tectonic evolution. To generate reliable images of crustal features, we investigate the model of Moho depth and crustal thickness beneath Antarctica by applying the Bott‐Parker's formulas based on the Gauss‐fast Fourier transform method through a comprehensive analysis of gravity data, ice and sediment thicknesses and bedrock elevation, combined with seismic constraints. Tests with synthetic data indicate that the iterative inversion algorithm can yield a highly accurate Moho topography. Ultimately, inverted crustal thickness reveals a more detailed crustal image by clearly identifying more tectonic elements at different scales than previous results and correlates well with major tectonic provinces. Airy isostasy and flexural isostasy models are used to assess the crustal isostatic compensation. The distinctive negative isostatic anomalies are observed in the Transantarctic Mountains and the East Antarctic areas of the great escarpment in the Dronning Maud Land and Aurora and Wilkes Subglacial Basin, indicating that the low density of the uppermost mantle and lithospheric strength may play important roles in compensating for their elevations. Variations in crustal thickness in interior East Antarctica are analyzed; the thickened crust from Dronning Maud Land to the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains may be associated with the collision of continental blocks and is interpreted as the fossil sutures. We compare the relationship between the Moho and Curie interfaces and find that the uppermost mantle is magnetized in some areas of East Antarctica, which may indicate preserved Precambrian cratonic roots.

Abstract A new strategy for designing single‐band and dual‐band balanced bandpass filters (BPFs) based on a circular patch resonator is proposed in this study. By altering the output balanced ports of the balanced BPFs to inhibit or transport the TM31 mode of the circular patch resonator under the differential‐mode (DM) excitation, a single‐band or dual‐band balanced BPF can be realized. As the odd modes could be restrained under the common‐mode (CM) excitation, the balanced BPFs could feature high CM suppression in the DM passbands. Meanwhile, several perturbing tactics are introduced to improve the performance of the balanced BPFs. Specifically, perturbation vias are presented to disturb the electric field distribution to enhance the CM suppression in the DM passbands, and slots are applied on the circular patch resonators to perturb the current distribution to amend the second DM passband of the dual‐band balanced BPF. The proposed single‐band and dual‐band balanced BPFs are fabricated and characterized. Good agreement can be achieved between the simulated and measured results of the fabricated balanced BPFs, which validates the feasibility of the proposed design method.

Aiming at the problems of intensified deformation and serious stress damage of stope overburden during mining in deep typical geological environment, taking the deep mining face of a mine in the northwest as the research background, the characteristics and influencing factors of overburden collapse in deep geological environment are analyzed, a comprehensive evaluation system affecting overburden instability and deformation is established, and the temporal and spatial evolution law of deep stope roof failure is obtained by using the “three-zone” distribution theory of overburden, analytic hierarchy process, and numerical simulation method. The results show that high ground stress has the most significant impact on the geological environment of deep stope, followed by the properties of surrounding rock, hydrogeological conditions, and unloading disturbance. The damage degree of the plastic zone at the top of the overburden is greater than that at the bottom. With the increase of mining time, the damage range of the roof and floor gradually increases. In the process of coal seam mining, the increasing range and sinking trend of roof stress are larger near the working face, and the farther away from the working face, the increasing range decreases continuously. The research conclusion provides an important reference for coal seam safety mining and surrounding rock control in complex environments such as deep mining, high stress, and strong disturbance.

Taking two typical stopes with variable length of working face inclined length from small to large and from large to small as the research object, the stope overburden structure model under different face length conditions is constructed through laboratory similar material simulation test, and the dynamic evolution laws of overburden instability deformation, unloading expansion, and collapse failure of forward and reverse knife handle stopes are analyzed. The three-dimensional perspective technology of parallel network electrical method is used to study the spatial distribution range and fracture development characteristics of overburden internal failure. The research shows that the overburden fracture of stope with variable length has the “time-pace-scale” evolution effect of short-time sudden change, zoning load transfer, and continuous extension. The evolution of roof fracture has experienced the development process of unloading expansion, tensile fracture instability, shrinkage deformation, and closure stability. The rise and fall of resistivity during mining in stope with variable length is closely related to the mining time step. When mining 40 cm, it is the position where the resistivity value changes suddenly. The rise of resistivity in the vertical direction makes the electric field show the transient response characteristics of dynamic expansion and rapid evolution. The development height of water conducting fracture zone of the reverse knife handle working face with the inclined length changing from large to small is slightly larger, the degree of overburden damage is high, and the fracture development is relatively sufficient.

For the urgent need of gas management in high gas and coal and gas herniated mines, liquid CO2 fracturing is used to increase the permeability and promote the pumping treatment of low permeability coal seams. In this paper, we construct the coal deformation and damage model, gas diffusion and seepage model, and coal seam permeability change model; simulate and solve the plastic zone and gas pressure of coal seam after fracturing with the COMSOL Multiphysics software; and set 4 different hole spacing groups of 2 m, 3 m, 4 m, and 5 m and 3 different hole layout methods of single hole, double hole, and net hole to get the best solution for liquid CO2 fracturing. At the same time, the specific effect of liquid CO2 on coal seam fracturing was verified by field experiments using coal seam No. 2 of the 12316 comprehensive mining working face of Wangjialing Coal Mine as the background of the study. The numerical simulation results show that the stress concentration area around the fracturing hole appears in single-hole fracturing, and the coal seam is prone to fatigue damage in this area, but the damage range is limited, and the reduction of gas pressure after fracturing is small; the fracturing effect of double-hole and net-hole fracturing is better than that of single-hole fracturing due to the existence of sufficient critical air surface. After negative pressure extraction, the coal seam gas pressure is positively correlated with the distance from extraction hole to fracturing hole, and the best extraction effect can be seen from the field experimental results with the netted hole layout at the hole distance of 3 m. The field test results show that the pure amount of gas extraction is improved about 4 times after liquid CO2 fracturing, which proves that liquid CO2 fracturing has a better enhancement effect on gas management in low permeability coal seams.

Background. Studies of chronic airway inflammatory diseases have increasingly focused on airway microbiota. However, the microbiota characteristics of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with different airway inflammatory phenotypes remain unclear. Objective. We aimed to reveal the differences of fungal and bacterial microbiota between eosinophilic asthma (EA) and noneosinophilic asthma (NEA) patients and between eosinophilic COPD (EC) and noneosinophilic COPD (NEC) patients. Further, explore whether similarities exist in the airway microbiota of patients with the same phenotype. Methods. Induced sputum samples were collected from 45 asthma subjects and 39 COPD subjects. The airway microbiota of the subjects was profiled by nearly full-length 16S rRNA and internal transcribed space (ITS) sequencing. Results. Subjects with eosinophilic phenotype (EA and EC) showed significant differences in both fungal and bacterial microbiota compared to the corresponding subjects with noneosinophilic phenotype (NEA and NEC). In addition, no differences were observed between the fungal microbiota of subjects with the same phenotype (EA vs. EC, NEA vs. NEC). In bacterial microbiota, the greater relative abundance of Streptococcus thermophilus was observed in EA and EC subjects, while Ochrobactrum was enriched in NEA and NEC subjects. In fungal microbiota, the EA and EC subjects showed higher relative abundances of Aspergillus and Bjerkandera, while the NEA and NEC subjects were enriched in Rhodotorula and Papiliotrema. Conclusions. Different airway inflammatory phenotypes were related to specific fungal and bacterial microbiota in both asthma and COPD, while the same airway inflammatory phenotype revealed a degree of similarity in airway microbiota, particularly in fungal microbiota.

Coal is the primary source of energy in China’s energy structure system. With the large-scale mining of mineral resources, a large amount of mine water will be produced in the process of development, construction, and production, which will pollute and damage the ecological environment of mine water. At present, China vigorously advocates coal revolution, implements low-carbon economy, and carries out clean production of energy development and utilization. Green mining, precision mining, and other strategic ideas have been applied to mine development to guide production practice. This paper does an in-depth analysis of the physical, chemical, biological, and environmental characteristics of mine water, puts forward the basic classification of mine water, and points out the characteristics of environmental hazards of mine water. Aiming at different types of mine water, such as mine wastewater, drainage water, goaf water, mine water with suspended solids, high salinity mine water, acid mine water, and mine water with special pollution, the paper puts forward the mine water treatment and resource utilization technology with different characteristics and strong pertinence. On this basis, the comprehensive treatment and development direction of mine water in the future are prospected.

A simple, rapid, and sensitive liquid chromatography (LC)/mass spectrometry (MS) method was established and validated for simultaneous quantitation of pyrazinamide, isoniazid, rifampicin, and ethambutol in human blood sample. Samples were pretreated by a single-step precipitation with acetonitrile. Chromatographic separation was achieved on XSelecT HSS T3 column by gradient elution with a total run time of 5.0 min. MS detection was performed by a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer in the multiple reaction monitoring mode with a positive electrospray ionization source. Isotope-labeled internal standard, especially rifampicin-D8, was applied to adjust for the loss during sample treatment. The established LC-MS/MS method showed a wide analytical range (pyrazinamide: 1.02∼60.0 μg/mL, isoniazid: 0.152∼10.0 μg/mL, rifampicin: 0.500∼30.0 μg/mL, and ethambutol: 0.0998∼5.99 μg/mL) and a good linearity (r > 0.99 for the four analytes) with acceptable accuracy and precision (90.15%∼104.62% and 94.00%∼104.02% for intra- and interaccuracy, respectively; RSD%:

A balanced bandpass filter with high common‐mode (CM) suppression using isosceles right‐angled triangular (RAT) resonator is proposed in this Letter. The two high order orthogonal modes (TM210Z and TM200Z) are generated in the two overlapped isosceles RAT resonators under differential‐mode (DM) and CM excitation, respectively. In this structure, TM210Z mode will be transmitted and TM200Z mode will be blocked. Furthermore, four via‐holes are introduced to disturb TM210Z mode while TM200Z mode is unaffected, in order to shift the DM passband to the position of CM suppression. The designed balanced bandpass filter operating at 6.12 GHz with 3 dB fractional bandwidth of 5% is fabricated and measured. The measured and simulated results match very well with each other validating the feasibility of the proposed design concept.

Elevated free fatty acid (FFA) is a key risk factor for insulin resistance (IR). Our previous studies found that mangiferin could decrease serum FFA levels in obese rats induced by a high-fat diet. Our research was to determine the effects and mechanism of mangiferin on improving IR by regulating FFA metabolism in HepG2 and C2C12 cells. The model was used to quantify PA-induced lipid accumulation in the two cell lines treated with various concentrations of mangiferin simultaneously for 24 h. We found that mangiferin significantly increased insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, via phosphorylation of protein kinase B (P-AKT), glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2), and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) protein expressions, and markedly decreased glucose content, respectively, in HepG2 and C2C12 cells induced by PA. Mangiferin significantly increased FFA uptake and decreased intracellular FFA and triglyceride (TG) accumulations. The activity of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) protein and its downstream proteins involved in fatty acid translocase (CD36) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1) and the fatty acid β-oxidation rate corresponding to FFA metabolism were also markedly increased by mangiferin in HepG2 and C2C12 cells. Furthermore, the effects were reversed by siRNA-mediated knockdown of PPARα. Mangiferin ameliorated IR by increasing the consumption of glucose and promoting the FFA oxidation via the PPARα pathway in HepG2 and C2C12 cells.

In this paper, a class of nonlinear p-Laplace diffusion BAM Cohen-Grossberg neural networks (BAM CGNNs) with time delays is investigated. In the case of p>1 with p≠2, the authors construct novel Lyapunov functional to overcome the mathematical difficulties of nonlinear p-Laplace diffusion time-delay model with parameter uncertainties, deriving the LMI-based robust stability criterion applicable to computer MATLAB LMI toolbox and deleting the boundedness of the amplification functions. And in the case of p=2, LMI-based sufficient conditions are also inferred for robust input-to-state stability of reaction-diffusion Markovian jumping BAM CGNNs with the event-triggered control, which is different from those of many previous related literature. In particular, the role of diffusion can be reflected in newly acquired criteria. Finally, numerical examples verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Introduction. Double aortic arch is a congenital vascular abnormality in which the connected segments and their branches course between and compress the trachea and esophagus, often resulting in invariable airway compression. Case Presentation. A 4-year-old boy with a history of recurrent wheezing was admitted to our hospital for evaluation of asthma based on his past medical history, persistent cough, wheezing, and airway hyperresponsiveness by lung function test. Double aortic arch was diagnosed with computed tomography angiogram. After surgery, the respiratory infection improved strikingly. Early diagnosis and treatment may prevent chronic, irreversible complications. Conclusion. We present a case of double aortic arch masquerading as asthma.

In this paper, a simple and efficient rule based energy management system for battery and supercapacitor hybrid energy storage system (HESS) used in electric vehicles is presented. The objective of the proposed energy management system is to focus on exploiting the supercapacitor characteristics and on increasing the battery lifetime and system efficiency. The role of the energy management system is to yield battery reference current, which is subsequently used by the controller of the DC/DC converter. First, a current controller is designed to realize load current distribution between battery and supercapacitor. Then a voltage controller is designed to ensure the supercapacitor SOC to fluctuate within a preset reasonable variation range. Finally, a commercial experimental platform is developed to verify the proposed control strategy. In addition, the energy efficiency and the cost analysis of the hybrid system are carried out based on the experimental results to explore the most cost-effective tradeoff.

We conducted a meta-analysis to comprehensively evaluate the correlations of ezrin expression with pathological characteristics and the prognosis of osteosarcoma. The MEDLINE (1966–2013), the Cochrane Library Database, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science (1945–2013), and the Chinese Biomedical Database were searched without language restrictions. Meta-analyses conducted using STATA software were calculated. Ten studies met the inclusion criteria, including 459 patients with osteosarcoma. Meta-analysis results illustrated that ezrin expression may be closely associated with the recurrence of osteosarcoma or metastasis in osteosarcoma. Our findings also demonstrated that patients with grade III-IV osteosarcoma showed a higher frequency of ezrin expression than those with histological grade I-II osteosarcoma. Furthermore, we found that patients with positive expression of ezrin exhibited a shorter overall survival than those with negative ezrin expression. The results also indicated that positive ezrin expression was strongly correlated with poorer metastasis-free survival. Nevertheless, no significant relationships were observed between ezrin expression and clinical variables (age and gender). In the current meta-analysis, our results illustrated significant relationships of ezrin expression with pathological characteristics and prognosis of osteosarcoma. Thus, ezrin expression could be a promising marker in predicting the clinical outcome of patients with osteosarcoma.