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Proanthocyanidins (PCs) are natural antioxidant polyphenols and their effect on the regulation of blood lipids is still controversial. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of PCs on lipid metabolism. We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Chinese biomedical literature service system, China National Knowledge Internet, and Wanfang Data with no time restriction until March 18, 2022, using various forms of "proanthocyanidins" and "blood lipid" search terms. Randomized controlled trials investigating the relationship between PCs and lipid metabolism were included. The standard system of Cochrane Collaboration was used to assess the quality of studies. We standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) using the random‐effects model, Cohen approach. Seventeen studies (17 trials, N = 1138) fulfilled the eligibility criteria. PCs significantly reduced triglyceride, and increased recombinant apolipoprotein A1. Subgroup analysis showed a significant reduction in triglycerides in older adults (≥60 years) and total cholesterol for participants who were not overweight or obese (body mass index <24). An intervention duration of greater than 8 weeks reduced triglyceride and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol levels but increased high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol. Different doses of PCs could regulate triglycerides, high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol and total cholesterol. PCs have beneficial effects on circulating lipids and may represent a new approach for treating or preventing lipid metabolism disorders. However, more high‐quality studies are needed to confirm these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ninety percent of congenital nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI) are X‐linked inherited and are caused by mutations in the vasopressin type 2 receptor gene (AVPR2). Most affected individuals are males. Only sporadic female cases have been reported. Here, we first reported a female monozygotic twin with discordant phenotypes for NDI carrying a missense variant c.845T>C (p.Leu282Pro) in exon 4 of AVPR2. Intracellular cAMP concentrations in COS7 cells transfected with AVPR2‐L282P were significantly decreased by about 60% compared with those in wild‐type AVPR2 plasmid transfected cells, suggesting this variation was pathogenic. The X‐inactivation pattern was investigated in peripheral leukocytes and urine sediments in both the unaffected and affected pair. Results showed that the affected pair had a skewed X chromosome inactivation (XCI) pattern in urine sediments and a random XCI pattern in leukocytes, while the unaffected pair showed a random XCI pattern both in leukocytes and urine sediments. This was the first report of monozygotic twins who developed different phenotypes of NDI. Our study suggested that the development of NDI symptoms is more closely associated with the XCI pattern in urine sediments compared with the XCI pattern in peripheral leukocytes. Analysis of XCI in peripheral leukocytes may not be enough to explore possible mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to compare the effects of three intensities of treadmill running on exercise‐induced hypoalgesia (EIH) in healthy individuals. We anticipated that the primary and secondary changes in pain perception and modulation may differ between running intensities. Sixty‐six women were randomly assigned to one of three treadmill running intensities for 35 min: 40% reserved heart rate (HRR), 55% HRR, or 70% HRR. The effects of EIH were assessed using pressure pain thresholds (PPT) and tolerance thresholds (PPTol). We measured conditional pain modulation (CPM). Compared with baseline, PPT and PPTol significantly increased in all groups during running and at the 5–10‐min follow‐up. The PPT and PPTol changes in the moderate‐ and low‐intensity groups were significantly higher than those in the high‐intensity group during running and 24 h after running, while the CPM responses of the high‐intensity group were significantly reduced at the 24‐h follow‐up. Moderate‐ and low‐intensity running may elicit significant primary and secondary (persisting over 24 h) EIH effects and increase CPM responses in females. However, high‐intensity running induced only limited analgesic effects and reduced CPM responses, which may be attributed to the activation of endogenous pain modulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Interest in spatial fractionation radiotherapy has exponentially increased over the last decade as a significant reduction of healthy tissue toxicity was observed by mini‐beam irradiation. Published studies, however, mostly use rigid mini‐beam collimators dedicated to their exact experimental arrangement such that changing the setup or testing new mini‐beam collimator configurations becomes challenging and expensive. Purpose: In this work, a versatile, low‐cost mini‐beam collimator was designed and manufactured for pre‐clinical applications with X‐ray beams. The mini‐beam collimator enables variability of the full width at half maximum (FWHM), the center‐to‐center distance (ctc), the peak‐to‐valley dose ratio (PVDR), and the source‐to‐collimator distance (SCD). Methods: The mini‐beam collimator is an in‐house development, which was constructed of 10 × 40 mm2 tungsten or brass plates. These metal plates were combined with 3D‐printed plastic plates that can be stacked together in the desired order. A standard X‐ray source was used for the dosimetric characterization of four different configurations of the collimator, including a combination of plastic plates of 0.5, 1, or 2 mm width, assembled with 1 or 2 mm thick metal plates. Irradiations were done at three different SCDs for characterizing the performance of the collimator. For the SCDs closer to the radiation source, the plastic plates were 3D‐printed with a dedicated angle to compensate for the X‐ray beam divergence, making it possible to study ultra‐high dose rates of around 40 Gy/s. All dosimetric quantifications were performed using EBT‐XD films. Additionally, in vitro studies with H460 cells were carried out. Results: Characteristic mini‐beam dose distributions were obtained with the developed collimator using a conventional X‐ray source. With the exchangeable 3D‐printed plates, FWHM and ctc from 0.52 to 2.11 mm, and from 1.77 to 4.61 mm were achieved, with uncertainties ranging from 0.01% to 8.98%, respectively. The FWHM and ctc obtained with the EBT‐XD films are in agreement with the design of each mini‐beam collimator configuration. For dose rates in the order of several Gy/min, the highest PVDR of 10.09 ± 1.08 was achieved with a collimator configuration of 0.5 mm thick plastic plates and 2 mm thick metal plates. Exchanging the tungsten plates with the lower‐density metal brass reduced the PVDR by approximately 50%. Also, increasing the dose rate to ultra‐high dose rates was feasible with the mini‐beam collimator, where a PVDR of 24.26 ± 2.10 was achieved. Finally, it was possible to deliver and quantify mini‐beam dose distribution patterns in vitro. Conclusions: With the developed collimator, we achieved various mini‐beam dose distributions that can be adjusted according to the needs of the user in regards to FWHM, ctc, PVDR and SCD, while accounting for beam divergence. Therefore, the designed mini‐beam collimator may enable low‐cost and versatile pre‐clinical research on mini‐beam irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ionizing radiation (IR) has been extensively used for cancer therapy, but the radioresistance hinders and undermines the radiotherapy efficacy in clinics greatly. Here, we reported that the spliceosomal protein thioredoxin-like 4B (TXNL4B) is highly expressed in lung tissues from lung cancer patients with radiotherapy. Lung cancer cells with TXNL4B knockdown illustrate increased sensitivity to IR. Mechanistically, TXNL4B interacts with RNA processing factor 3 (PRP3) and co-localizes in the nucleus post-IR. Nuclear localization of PRP3 promotes the alternative splicing of the Fanconi anemia group I protein (FANCI) transcript variants, FANCI-12 and FANCI-13. PRP3 regulates alternative splicing of FANCI toward the two variants, FANCI-12 and FANCI-13. Radioresistancewas greatly enhanced through the combination of PRP31 and PRP8, the critical components of core spliceosome promoted by PRP3. Notably, the inhibition of PRP3 to suppress the production of FANCI-12 would deprive PRP31 and PRP8 of such interaction. As a result, cell cycle G2/M arrest was induced, DNA damage repair was delayed, and radiosensitivity was improved. Collectively, our study highlights potential novel underlying mechanisms of the involvement of TXNL4B and alternative splicing in radioresistance. The results would benefit potential cancer radiotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a partial model‐free sliding mode control (SMC) strategy is proposed for a class of disturbed systems. A partial model‐free SMC law is designed to attenuate the matched external disturbances by just employing partial dynamics information. A complete model‐free policy iteration algorithm is integrated to the designed SMC scheme such that the optimal control performance of the disturbed system is achieved. The implementation of the proposed partial model‐free SMC strategy is based on a computational learning algorithm, which involves date collection, policy iteration, and optimal control phases. The feasibility of the proposed SMC strategy in data collection phase and optimal control phase are analyzed, respectively. Finally, a numerical example is employed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed SMC strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cervical cancer metastasis is an important cause of death in cervical cancer. Previous studies have shown that epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of tumors promotes its invasive and metastatic capacity. Alterations in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and mechanical signaling are closely associated with cancer cell metastasis. However, it is unclear how matrix stiffness as an independent cue triggers EMT and promotes cervical cancer metastasis. Using collagen-coated polyacrylamide hydrogel models and animal models, we investigated the effect of matrix stiffness on EMT and metastasis in cervical cancer. Our data showed that high matrix stiffness promotes EMT and migration of cervical cancer hela cell lines in vitro and in vivo. Notably, we found that matrix stiffness regulates yes-associated protein (YAP) activity via PPIase non-mitotic a-interaction 1 (Pin1) with a non-Hippo mechanism. These data indicate that matrix stiffness of the tumor microenvironment positively regulates EMT in cervical cancer through the Pin1/YAP pathway, and this study deepens our understanding of cervical cancer biomechanics and may provide new ideas for the treatment of cervical cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a non‐invasive prenatal test (NIPT) in the detection of the sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs) at our prenatal diagnosis centre. Methods: Among a cohort of 34,717 pregnancies, maternal plasma samples from our prenatal diagnosis centre were subject to analysis of SCAs using NIPT detection. Pregnant women with NIPT positive results of SCAs were recommended to undergo an invasive prenatal diagnosis (i.e. karyotyping and fluorescence in situ hybridization) to validate the prediction value of NIPT. Results: From 34,717 clinical pregnancies, 229 (0.66%) pregnancies were identified with SCAs. Of these, 78 (34.1%) cases were positive for 45,X and 151 (65.9%) cases comprised a sex chromosome trisomy. Of the 229 positive NIPT results, 193 (84.3%) cases had accepted an invasive diagnosis involving karyotyping analysis of the amniotic fluid, which confirmed 67 cases (34.7%) as true positive, as well as 126 cases (65.3%) as false positive. The positive predictive values were 23.07%, 50%, 36% and 27.27% respectively. The remaining 36 (15.7%) cases declined a prenatal diagnosis. The termination rates of 45,X, 47,XXY, 47,XXX and 47,XYY were 20.5%,46%,12.9% and 11.5% respectively. Conclusions: NIPT demonstrated a lower accuracy in predicting monosomy X than sex chromosome trisomies. After invasive testing, the fetal chromosome with 45,X and 47,XXY were terminated more often than those with 47,XXX, 47,XYY. Because NIPT is a screening test, false positive/negative cases exist, and pre‐ and post‐test counselling is essential for informing patients about the benefits and limitations of the test. Confirmatory testing of abnormal results is recommended prenatally or after birth, and the importance of confirmatory testing and benefits of early diagnosis should be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

River regulations and changing land management practices are generally perceived to be the dominant drivers of river flood changes in countries with rapid economic growth, such as China. Here, we demonstrate based on the most comprehensive flood database to date, that climate variations dominate the spatial pattern of changes in annual flood peak discharge in China, despite intense human alterations of the river and land systems over the past four decades. Regional flood increases are mainly associated with increasing precipitation due to changes in the East Asian Summer Monsoon, tropical cyclones and the subtropical westerly jet. Regional flood decreases are due to decreased soil moisture in the North China plain. Our results highlight the need for flood management policies to go beyond local measures and adapt to the effects of climate change. Plain Language Summary Changes in river floods are of worldwide concern due to their massive socio-economic impacts. Understanding the reasons of changes in this hazard is a prerequisite for managing the associated risks efficiently. Potential reasons include climate change, river regulations and changing land management practices. In some countries, such as China, the recent rapid socio-economic development has led to dramatic modifications of the river and land system. Existing studies suggest that flood changes in China are mainly a result of land use change and the construction of reservoirs. Here, we demonstrate based on the most comprehensive flood database to date, that climate variations dominate the spatial pattern of changes in annual flood peak discharge in China, despite the intense human alterations over the past four decades. Flood trends of human-modified and neighboring nearnatural watersheds are generally similar. Regional flood increases are mainly associated with increasing precipitation due to changes in the East Asian Summer Monsoon, tropical cyclones and the subtropical westerly jet. Regional flood decreases are due to decreased soil moisture in the North China Plain. Our results highlight the need for flood management policies to go beyond local measures and adapt to the effects of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces a flexible nonparametric approach for analyzing the association between covariates and power spectra of multivariate time series observed across multiple subjects, which we refer to as multivariate conditional adaptive Bayesian power spectrum analysis (MultiCABS). The proposed procedure adaptively collects time series with similar covariate values into an unknown number of groups and nonparametrically estimates group‐specific power spectra through penalized splines. A fully Bayesian framework is developed in which the number of groups and the covariate partition defining the groups are random and fit using Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques. MultiCABS offers accurate estimation and inference on power spectra of multivariate time series with both smooth and abrupt dynamics across covariate by averaging over the distribution of covariate partitions. Performance of the proposed method compared with existing methods is evaluated in simulation studies. The proposed methodology is used to analyze the association between fear of falling and power spectra of center‐of‐pressure trajectories of postural control while standing in people with Parkinson's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether antibiotic exposure during pregnancy and infancy was associated with childhood overweight or obesity.Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were searched from the inception date to April 18, 2019, to identify observational studies that investigated the association between antibiotic exposure during pregnancy and infancy and childhood overweight or obesity. After study selection and data extraction, the meta-analysis was conducted using Stata software version 12.0 (StataCorp LP, College Station, Texas). The evaluation of the methodological quality was carried out by AMSTAR 2 (Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada).Results: A total of 23 observational studies involving 1,253,035 participants were included. The meta-analysis showed that prenatal exposure to antibiotics was not significantly associated with childhood overweight or obesity, whereas an increased risk of overweight or obesity was seen in subgroup analysis of the second trimester (risk ratio = 1.13; 95% CI: 1.06-1.22; P = 0.001). In contrast, antibiotic exposure during infancy could increase the risk of childhood overweight or obesity (risk ratio = 1.14; 95% CI: 1.06-1.23; P = 0.001).Conclusions: This meta-analysis found that antibiotic exposure during the second trimester and infancy could increase the risk of childhood overweight or obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing efficient, sustainable, and stable nanocatalysts continue being the struggling goal both for academia and for industrial. Carbocatalysts have attracted great attention due to high mass transfer ability, environmental sustainability and stability. Fabricating well‐defined carbonaceous nanocatalysts for heterogeneous catalysis is intensively pursuing. In this work, a newly developed economic and facile method was applied for the large‐scale fabrication of graphite sheet encapsulated magnetic carbocatalysts. The carbocatalysts was constructed via in‐situ pyrolysis of melamine‐metallo‐supramolecular polymer precursors (MMSP) under vacuum condition. The framework of MMSP was synthesized through the condensation reaction. As a proof‐of‐concept, this method was successfully applied for the fabrication of three kinds of graphite encapsulated magnetic carbocatalysts. Based on systematically optimization, the Pt−NiO‐1000@NC‐650 nanocatalyst demonstrated highly efficient and remarkable stability for the catalytic transfer hydrogenation of 4‐nitrophenol to produce corresponding 4‐aminophenol. The kinetics study of this catalytic system illustrates the reaction order is 1st for Pt−NiO‐1000@NC‐650. Furthermore, the kinetic constant (Kapp) is 1.57 min−1 and the turnover frequency (TOF) is up to 4, 268 h−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, image‐based scene parsing has attracted increasing attention due to its wide application. However, conventional models can only be valid on images with the same domain of the training set and are typically trained using discrete and meaningless labels. Inspired by the traditional zero‐shot learning methods which employ auxiliary side information to bridge the source and target domains, the authors propose a novel framework called semantic combined network (SCN), which aims at learning a scene parsing model only from the images of the seen classes while targeting on the unseen ones. In addition, with the assistance of semantic embeddings of classes, the proposed SCN can further improve the performances of traditional fully supervised scene parsing methods. Extensive experiments are conducted on the data set Cityscapes, and the results show that the proposed SCN can perform well on both zero‐shot scene parsing (ZSSP) and generalised ZSSP settings based on several state‐of‐the‐art scenes parsing architectures. Furthermore, the authors test the proposed model under the traditional fully supervised setting and the results show that the proposed SCN can also significantly improve the performances of the original network models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tight junction is a structural constitution in cell–cell adhesion and play an important role in the maintenance of permeability and integrity of normal epithelial cell barrier. The protein encoded by Claudin 1 (CLDN1), a member of the claudin family, is an integral membrane protein and a component of tight junction strands. CLDN1 has been proved to regulate the proliferation and metastasis of multiple tumors, but little is known about its role in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Here, we found that CLDN1 was aberrantly increased in ESCC tissues and cell lines, and mainly distributed in the nucleus of tumor cells. Furthermore, we confirmed that CLDN1 promoted the proliferation and metastasis of ESCC by triggering autophagy both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanically, we validated that CLDN1‐induced autophagy via increasing Unc‐51 like autophagy activating kinase 1 (ULK1) expression through AMP‐activated protein kinase (AMPK)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) signaling pathway in ESCC cells. Taken together, our findings demonstrated that aberrant expression and distribution of CLDN1 promoted the proliferation and metastasis of esophageal squamous carcinoma by triggering autophagy through AMPK/STAT1/ULK1 signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first copper‐catalyzed intermolecular [5+2] homodimerization of hydroxy p‐quinone is presented, furnishing bicyclo[3.2.1]octadienone core structures in typically good yields and excellent diastereoselectivities. Applying this synthetic approach enables a concise nine‐step total synthesis of (−)‐perezoperezone from commercially available 3,5‐dimethoxytoluene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias originating from the aortic sinus of Valsalva often show preferential conduction to the right‐ventricular outflow tract, which may render radiofrequency ablation more difficult. We describe a patient with symptomatic premature ventricular contractions of left‐ventricular outflow tract origin presenting with a variation of QRS morphology during ablation. The correlation between the characteristics of local voltage potentials and the real origin site of the ventricular arrhythmia is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early repolarization syndrome is associated with an increased risk of arrhythmic death caused by ventricular fibrillation (VF). VF is usually initiated by premature ventricular contractions (PVCs), and PVCs commonly arise from Purkinje system, the ventricular outflow tract, and papillary muscles. We report the case of a patient with J wave syndromes and recurrent VF, triggered by PVCs originating from the tricuspid annular region. VF was successfully suppressed by catheter ablation of the triggering PVCs, and there has been no recurrence of VF during a follow‐up period of 6 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of sodium‐glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors on risk of stroke have not been conclusively established. Therefore, we conducted a meta‐analysis to evaluate the effects of SGLT2 inhibitors on stroke risk in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by searching available randomized trials in PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, Web of Science, Scopus and ClinicalTrials.gov databases. We identified 32 eligible trials involving 75 540 participants. The incidence of stroke in groups receiving SGLT2 inhibitor monotherapy or combination therapy did not differ significantly from that in control groups, with a relative risk (RR) of 1.01 and 1.0, respectively. Three SGLT2 inhibitors were tested, with similar RR values (canagliflozin [RR, 0.91], dapagliflozin [RR, 0.99] and empagliflozin [RR, 1.03]). Subgroup analyses showed that RR values were not affected by gender, age, diabetes duration, BMI or HbA1C levels, but Black patients had a lower incidence of stroke than White or Asian patients. This meta‐analysis indicated that SGLT2 inhibitor therapy did not increase stroke incidence, and no significant differences in stroke risk were observed among 3 SGLT2 inhibitors (class effect). However, the small racial disparity requires further study and confirmation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the trends of axillary lymph node evaluation in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) patients treated with breast- conserving therapy (BCT) and to identify the clinicopathological predictors of axillary evaluation. DCIS patients treated with BCT in 2006-2015 at our institute were retrospectively included in the analysis. Patients were categorized into three groups: sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), and non- evaluation. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors that predicted axillary evaluation. A total of 315 patients were identified, among whom 135 underwent SLNB, and 15 underwent ALND. The proportion of patients who underwent axillary evaluation increased from 33.0% in 2006-2010 to 53.8% in 2011-2015 (P < 0.001), however, no patients had lymph node metastasis based on final pathology. In multivariate analysis, high- grade tumor favored axillary evaluation (OR = 4.376, 95% CI:1.410-13.586, P = 0.011); while excision biopsy favored no axillary evaluation compared with other biopsy methods (OR = 0.418, 95% CI: 0.192-0.909, P = 0.028). Subgroup analysis of patients treated in 2011-2015 revealed that high- grade tumor (OR = 5.898, 95% CI: 1.626-21.390, P = 0.007) and palpable breast lump (OR = 2.497, 95% CI: 1.037-6.011, P = 0.041) were independent predictors of axillary lymph node evaluation. Despite the significant decrease in ALND and a concerning overuse of SLNB, we identified no axillary lymph node metastasis, which justified omitting axillary evaluation in these patients. High- grade tumor, palpable lump, and biopsy method were independent predictors of axillary evaluations. Excision biopsy of suspicious DCIS lesions may potentially preclude the invasive component of the disease and help to avoid axillary surgery [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A circular polarised printed quadrifilar helix antenna with enhanced bandwidth is proposed in this study. The helix antenna offers a very compact size and comprises of four arms with varying width, four open stubs, a feeding network and a metal ground plane. The different widths of the helix arms are employed to improve the impedance bandwidth while their varying pitches generate a cardioid radiation pattern. The antenna exhibits a voltage standing wave ratio = 2 in the frequency range of 1.43-1.63 GHz offering impedance bandwidth of 12%. Good radiation characteristics with high gain, a wide 3 dB axial ratio beamwidth of 180° along with small size makes this antenna an excellent candidate for satellite communications and navigation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional zero‐shot learning (ZSL) methods usually use class‐level attribute, which corresponds to a batch of images of same category. This setting is not reasonable since the images even though belong to same category still have variances in their attribute items. To alleviate this phenomenon, the authors propose a novel method namely attribute relaxation (AR) to extend attributes from class level to instance level by adding a small variance matrix, which is more reasonable than traditional ZSL methods such as Semantic AutoEncoder that projects features from multi to one. Extensive experiments on four popular datasets show that AR can significantly improve the method using only class‐level attributes, and verifies that AR can make the projected features in attribute space more discriminative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-speed mobility of modern transportation worsens the situation of unstable direct links and imprecise channel estimation, which poses challenges on fast and reliable data delivery in vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). The goal of the proposed scheme is to provide high-speed full-duplex relaying connectivity for unstable direct links, and reliable information detection without precise channel state information (CSI) in VANETs. In the proposed scheme, fullduplex relaying connectivity is provided by differential successive relays (DSRs) at roadside or inside other vehicles. To improve robustness of DSR without specific CSI, efficient blind interference cancellation is presented to mitigate interrelay interference. Meanwhile, reliable information detection without precise CSI is enabled by superposition coding with differential modulation. Furthermore, the advantages, applications of DSR and complexities for real-world implementation are discussed, and the decision rule, bit error probability and ergodic capacity are theoretically obtained. Numerical results verify significant improvements in the performance of the proposed scheme when compared with conventional schemes with half-duplex relays and frequent channel estimation in VANETs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined a man and his daughter, who both had different jumping translocation karyotypes. The man's wife was pregnant and had been referred for prenatal diagnosis of the fetus. The karyotype of the husband's peripheral blood lymphocytes was 45,XY,der(16)t(16;22)(q24;q11.2), −22 [59]/45,XY,der(1)t(1;22)(p36;q11.2), −22 [11]/45,XY,der(22)t(22;22)(p13;q11.2), −22 [10]. The karyotype of the daughter's peripheral blood lymphocytes was 45,XX,der(16)t(16;22)(q24;q11.2), −22 [45]/45,XX,der(9)t(9;22)(q34;q11.2), −22 [30]/45,XX,der(5)t(5;22)(q35;q11.2), −22 [25]. The wife and the fetus both had a normal karyotype. To the best of our knowledge, the present familial transmitted jumping translocation has not been previously described and the jumping translocation in the husband and daughter did not cause any phenotypic abnormalities. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigation into a hydrothermal reaction system with transition-metal (TM) ions, 1,4-bis(1,2,4-triazol-1-lmethyl)benzene (BBTZ) and various charge-tunable Keggin-type polyoxometalates (POMs) led to the preparation of four new entangled coordination networks, [CoII(HBBTZ)(BBTZ)2.5][PMo12O40] ( 1), [CuI(BBTZ)]5[BW12O40] ⋅H2O ( 2), [CuII(BBTZ)]3[AsWV3WVI9O40] ⋅10 H2O ( 3), and [CuII5(BBTZ)7(H2O)6][P2W22Cu2O77(OH)2] ⋅6 H2O ( 4). All compounds were characterized by using elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The mixed valence of W centers in compound 3 was further confirmed by using XPS spectroscopy and bond-valence sum calculations. In the structural analysis, the entangled networks of 1- 4 demonstrate zipper-closing packing, 3D polythreading, 3D polycatenation, and 3D self-penetration, respectively. Moreover, with the enhancement of POM negative charges and the use of different TM types, the number of nodes in the coordination networks of 1- 4 increased and the basic metal-organic building motifs changed from a 1D zipper-type chain (in 1) to a 2D pseudorotaxane layer (in 2) to a 3D diamond-like framework (in 3) and finally to a 3D self-penetrating framework (in 4). The photocatalytic properties of compounds 1- 4 for the degradation of methylene blue under UV light were also investigated; all compounds showed good catalytic activity and the photocatalytic activity order of Keggin-type species was initially found to be {XMo12O40}>{XW12O40}>{XW12− nTM nO40}. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dry matter reserved in vegetative tissues can be remobilized and contribute to crop yields. This study determined the magnitude of dry matter (DM) remobilization from various internodes in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under different water stresses. We hypothesized that the ability of DM remobilization differed between genotypes. The genotypes LC26 and LC27 were grown in a rain shelter facility under nonstress, moderate stress, and severe water stress during grain filling. Compared with the nonstress check, LC27 remobilized 22 mg plant-1 more preanthesis DM in its upper internodes under moderate stress and 32 mg plant-1 more under severe stress. Remobilization efficiency (percent maximum DM remobilized) increased by 110% in the stem, 137% in the lower internodes, and 33% in the upper internodes, under severe stress. Wheat grain yield was reduced by 21% under moderate stress and by 43% under severe stress compared with the nonstress check, but lost yields were partly compensated by DM remobilization. Remobilized DM from the stem of LC26 contributed 18% to the grain yield under nonstress, 27% under moderate stress, and 39% under severe stress. Dry matter reserved in the stem of LC27 contributed 13% to the grain yield under nonstress, 18% under moderate stress, and 37% under severe stress. The compensation from DM remobilization did not offset the lost yield, and thus, improved practices are required to manage soil water and to minimize yield losses caused by drought stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new triterpenoid derivatives, named (15 α)-15-hydroxysoyasapogenol B (), (7 β,15 α)-7,15-dihydroxysoyasapogenol B (), and (7 β)-7,29-dihydroxysoyasapogenol B (), were isolated from cultures of the plant endophytic fungus Pestalotiopsis clavispora. Their structures and relative configurations were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis and X-ray crystallography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-four novel tetramic acid derivatives ( Z)-3-(( E)-1-(alkyloxyimino)ethyl)-5-arylidene-4-hydroxypyrroline-2-ones were synthesized by the reaction of ( Z)-3-acetyl-5-arylidene-4-hydroxypyrroline-2-ones with O-alkyl hydroxylamines under reflux conditions in good yields (77.2-92.4%). Their structures were confirmed by IR, H-NMR, MS, and elemental analysis. The preliminary bioassays showed that most of the title compounds exhibited noticeable fungicidal activities against Colletotrichum orbiculare and a certain degree of fungicidal activities against Fusarium gramineaum and Rhizoctonia cerealis at a concentration of 100 μg/mL. J. Heterocyclic Chem., (2010). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the specific antitumor responses against autologous hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells of dendritic cells (DCs) fused with allogeneic HCC cell line, and evaluated the feasibility of BEL7402 as an alternative strategy to deliver shared HCC antigens to DCs. Methods: Previous studies demonstrated fusions of patient-derived DCs and autologous tumor cells could induce T-cell responses against autologous tumors. These fusion cells require patient-derived tumor cells, which are not, however, always available. Here, we report the fusing of autologous DCs with allogeneic HCC cell line to induced cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response against autologous HCC cells compare with autologous tumor cells. Results: These DC/ BEL7402 fusion cells co-expressed tumor-associated antigens and DC-derived costimulatory and major histocompatibility complex molecules. Both CD4+ and CD8 T+ cells were activated by the fusion cells as demonstrated by the proliferation of T-cells, the production of cytokines and the simultaneous induction of specific CTL responses. Significantly, CTL induced by dendritic cell/allogeneic BEL7402 fusion cells were able to kill autologous HCC cells by human leukocyte antigen-A2 restricted mechanisms. The results did not show significant difference between DC fusion with autologous hepatocellular carcinoma cells and DC fusion with allogeneic hepatocellular carcinoma cell line. Conclusions: The fusion of allogeneic HCC cell line and autologous DCs may have applications in antitumor immunotherapy through cross-priming against shared tumor antigens and may provide a platform for adoptive immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plantations cover large areas in many countries, and the enhancement of plantation biodiversity is an increasingly important ecological concern. Many studies have demonstrated that overstory composition is important because it influences understory regeneration. To compare the understory vegetation and analyze its determinant factors, six typical plantations in South China were investigated: Acacia mangium plantation, Schima superba plantation, Eucalyptus citriodora plantation, E. exserta plantation , mixed-coniferous plantation, and mixed native species plantation. The results show that native species plantations shaded out more grasses and herbs than exotic species plantations, mixed-species plantations recruited more understory species than monoculture plantations, the leguminous species plantation had higher soil nitrogen than nonleguminous species plantations, and understory vegetation in the mixed-coniferous plantation was similar to that of mixed, native broadleaf species plantation. Although light is the crucial environmental factor affecting the understory community and diversity among the 14 measured factors, other environmental variables such as soil nutrients and soil moisture are also important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxidative stress plays a critical role in the progression of pathological cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. Because crocetin represses oxidative stress in vitro and in vivo, we have suggested that crocetin would repress cardiac hypertrophy by targeting oxidative stress-dependent signalling. We tested this hypothesis using primary cultured cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts and one well-established animal model of cardiac hypertrophy. The results showed that crocetin (1–10 μM) dose-dependently blocked cardiac hypertrophy induced by angiogensin II (Ang II; 1 μM) in vitro. Our data further revealed that crocetin (50 mg/kg/day) both prevented and reversed cardiac hypertrophy induced by aortic banding (AB), as assessed by heart weight/body weight and lung weight/body weight ratios, echocardio-graphic parameters and gene expression of hypertrophic markers. The inhibitory effect of crocetin on cardiac hypertrophy is mediated by blocking the reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase-1/2 (MEK/ERK1/2) pathway and GATA binding protein 4 (GATA-4) activation. Further investigation demonstrated that crocetin inhibited inflammation by blocking nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signalling and attenuated fibrosis and collagen synthesis by abrogating MEK-ERK1/2 signalling. Overall, our results indicate that crocetin, which is a potentially safe and inexpensive therapy for clinical use, has protective potential in targeting cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis by suppression of ROS-dependent signalling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new highly oxidized humulane sesquiterpenes, mitissimols F (1) and G (2), were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Lactarius mitissimus. Their structures were elucidated by using extensive spectroscopic techniques including 1D- and 2D-NMR experiments. The absolute configuration of mitissimol F (1) was determined by 1H-NMR resolution of its diastereoisomeric α-methoxy-α-(trifluoromethyl)benzeneacetates (MTPA). It was shown to be (1S,3E,6S,8R,9R,10S,11R)-8,9 : 10,11-diepoxy-1,6-dihydroxyhumul-3-en-5-one (=(1S,2R,4R,6S,8E,11S,12R)-6,11-dihydroxy-1,6,10,10-tetramethyl-3,13-dioxatricyclo[10.1.0.02,4]tridec-8-en-7-one). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrospinning is a relatively simple method to produce submicron fibers from solutions of different polymers and polymer blends. If the solution is absolutely insulating, or the applied voltage is not high enough that electrostatic force cannot overcome the surface tension, then no fiber can be produced by electrospinning; however, if some salt is added in the solution, the problem can be overcome. The effect of different salts on electrospinning of polyacrlonitrile (PAN) polymer solution was investigated in this article. The various inorganic salts used in this work include LiCl, NaNO3, NaCl, and CaCl2.The results show that when the salts were added, respectively, into different concentrations of PAN solution, the order of conductant was LiCl > NaNO3 > CaCl2 > NaCl > no salt added. Viscosity and shearing strength of electrospinning solutions are slightly affected by the adding of salts and mainly affected by the changes in concentration of PAN electrospinning solutions. The diameter of nanofibers electrospun by solutions with different salts size down as follows: LiCl > NaNO3 > CaCl2 > NaCl. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 3865–3870, 2007 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abiotic stresses, such as drought, high salinity, and cold/freezing, lead plants to produce excess reactive oxygen species. Catalase, a unique hydrogen peroxide-scavenging enzyme, plays a very important role in plants. To characterize the catalase involved in plant response to abiotic stresses, we constructed a cDNA library from 4 °C-treated Festuca arundinacea Schreb seedlings and isolated a catalase gene from this library. The cDNA (FaCat1, 1 735 bp) contained an open reading frame of 1 479 bp. BLAST analysis indicated that the deduced amino acid sequence showed 96% identity with that from wheat TaCat1 and 87% identity with that from maize ZmCat2. Northern blotting analysis showed an obvious increase of FaCat1 transcripts in leaves in contrast with roots. Time-course analysis of the expression of FaCat1 in F. arundinacea leaves showed that FaCat1 expression was upregulated in cold- and salt-stressed leaves, with the FaCat1 transcripts accumulating mostly at 4 or 2 h after cold or salt stress, respectively. No significant changes in FaCat1 transcription were observed in dried leaves and inhibition of FaCat1 transcription was found in abscisic acid (ABA)-treated leaves, indicating that the FaCat1 gene is differentially expressed during cold, high salt, drought, and ABA treatment in F. arundinacea leaves. (Managing editor: Li-Hui Zhao) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new low-toxicity gelcasting system with a 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) monomer was applied for casting of alumina ceramics. Polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) was adopted for modifying the homogeneity of the PHEMA (poly-HEMA) gel. The rheological properties of alumina suspension in the HEMA–PVP premix solution were studied. After preparation of a concentrated alumina suspension, homogenous alumina green body with a relatively high strength of about 19 MPa could be formed through the PVP-modified HEMA system. Dense complex-shaped ceramic parts can be successfully produced through the system. Besides, the surface exfoliation phenomenon that seems inherent to the acrylamide gelcasting system could also be eliminated by using the PVP-modified HEMA system. Analysis of the interaction of HEMA and PVP suggested that the improved microstructure and strength homogeneity, as well as the elimination of surface exfoliation in the new system, should be attributed to the intermolecular hydrogen bonding formed between PHEMA and PVP molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been suggested that genes which exercise checkpoint control during cell cycle traverse are equally important to the process of apoptotic cell death. In this study, we show that the key cell cycle regulatory gene p21WAF1 is also involved in the execution of apoptosis. p21WAF1 expression was down‐regulated during NaBu‐induced apoptosis of senescent normal diploid human 2BS fibroblasts. Conversely, when p21WAF1 expression was actively suppressed in 2BS cells by a stably transfected antisense p21WAF1 construct, apoptosis was accelerated and senescence was delayed, as shown by several markers of cell aging. Down‐regulation of p21WAF1 by antisense caused an increase in the phosphorylation and inactivation of pRb. Phosphorylation of pRb was further enhanced upon induction of apoptosis by NaBu. Our results suggest that p21WAF1, acting through the phosphorylation of pRb, regulates whether 2BS cells cease to proliferate and become senescent but resistant to apoptosis, or whether they accelerate proliferation while becoming more susceptible to apoptotic stimuli. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the effect of acid cleaning and calcination on rheological properties of concentrated aqueous suspensions of silicon nitrite powder. Improvement of the solids loading of the aqueous slurries; Elimination of poor dispersibility; Removal of the amine structure and carbon-hydrogen bonding.

The article presents a study on the association of aromatic amino acids and branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) with future diabetes in China. Serum insulin was determined through radioimmunoassay, while hexokinase enzymatic method determined plasma glucose levels. The study shows that patients with type II diabetes (T2D) had higher fasting levels of plasma of tyrosine, alanine, isoleucine and valine.

A new design of a circularly polarised antenna based on the tightly coupled mechanism is presented. The proposed antenna consists of four tightly coupled dipoles, four impedance transforming networks and a wideband feeding network. Owing to the strong mutual coupling between coupled dipole elements, the proposed antenna realises a wide operating bandwidth. A prototype is manufactured and measured to validate the method. The measured results indicate that the proposed design provides a 10 dB return loss bandwidth of 101% (1.7-5.2 GHz) and a 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth of 77% (2.0-4.5 GHz). The design has a 3 dB gain bandwidth of 56% from 2.6 to 4.6 GHz with a peak gain of 10.4 dBic. Acceptable agreements can be obtained between the simulated and measured results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fabricating efficient and stable nanocatalysts for chemoselective hydrogenation of nitroaromatics is highly desirable because the amines hold tremendous promise for the synthesis of nitrogen containing chemicals. Here, a highly reactive and stable porous carbon nitride encapsulated magnetically hollow platinum nanocage is developed with subnanometer thick walls (Fe3O4@snPt@PCN) for this transformation. This well‐controlled nanoreactor is prepared via the following procedures: the preparation of core template, the deposition of platinum nanocage with subnanometer thick walls, oxidative etching, and calcination. This highly integrated catalyst demonstrates excellent performance for the catalytic transfer hydrogenation of various nitroaromatics and the reaction can reach >99% conversion and >99% selectivity. With the ultrathin wall structure, the atom utilization of platinum atoms is highly efficient. The X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy results indicate that partial electrons transfer from the iron oxides to Pt nanowalls, and this increases the electron density of snPt nanoparticles, thus promoting the catalytic activity for the transfer hydrogenation of nitroaromatics. For the reduction of 4‐nitrophenol, the reaction rate constant Kapp is 0.23 min−1 and the turnover frequency (TOF) is up to 3062 h−1. Additional reaction results illustrate that this magnetic nanoreactor can be reused more than eight times and it is a promising catalytic nanoplatform in heterogeneous catalysis. A magnetically hollow platinum nanocage with subnanometer thin walls is developed. Due to partial electrons transferring from the iron oxides to Pt nanowalls and high atom utilization efficiency, this highly integrated nanoreactor demonstrates excellent performance for the catalytic transfer hydrogenation of varieties of nitroaromatics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metastasis remains the main driver of mortality in patients suffering from cancer because of the refractoriness resulting from the multi‐phase metastatic cascade. Herein, a multifunctional self‐delivering PBA‐LMWH‐TOS nanoparticle (PLT NP) is established that acts as both nanocarrier and anti‐metastatic agent with effects on most hematogenous metastases of cancers. The hydrophilic segment (low molecular weight heparin, LMWH) inhibits the interactions between tumor cells and platelets. The hydrophobic segment (d‐α‐tocopheryl succinate, TOS) could inhibit the expression of matrix metalloproteinase‐9 (MMP‐9) in B16F10 cells which is first reported in this article. Surprisingly, even the blank NPs showed excellent anti‐metastatic capacity in three mouse models by acting on different phases of the metastatic cascade. Moreover, the overexpression of sialic acid (SA) residues on tumor cells is implicated in the malignant and metastatic phenotypes of cancers. Thus, these 3‐aminophenylboronic acid (PBA)‐modified doxorubicin (DOX)‐loaded NPs offer an efficient approach for the treatment of both solid melanomas and metastases. Furthermore, a simple pH‐sensitive "Fructose (Fru)‐blocking" coping strategy is established to reduce the NP distribution in normal tissues and distinctly increases the accumulation in melanoma tumors. These micellar NPs consisting of biocompatible materials offer a promising approach for the clinical therapy of highly invasive solid tumors and metastases. A multifunctional self‐delivering 3‐aminophenylboronic acid‐low‐molecular‐weight heparin‐d‐α‐tocopheryl succinate nanoparticle is established as both a nanocarrier and antimetastatic agent that effects hematogenous metastasis of cancers. Both of the hydrophilic segments and the hydrophobic segments could restrain tumor metastasis by acting on different phases of the metastatic cascade. Moreover, a simple "Fru‐blocking" strategy is developed for efficient tumor‐targeting therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The refractoriness of cancers results from the multi‐phase metastatic cascade that exists in most metastatic tumors. In article number 1800229, Qin He and co‐workers establish a multifunctional self‐delivering 3‐aminophenylboronic acid ‐ low‐molecular‐weight heparin‐d‐α‐tocopheryl succinate (PBA‐LMWH‐TOS) nanoparticle, which acts as both a nanocarrier and anti‐metastatic agent that acts on most hematogenous metastasis of cancers. Both of the hydrophilic segments and the hydrophobic segments could restrain tumor metastasis by acting on different phases of the metastatic cascade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]