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Background: Three‐dimensional (3D) contrast‐enhanced T1‐weighted flow‐sensitive black‐blood (CE‐T1WI FSBB) is a newly developed black blood sequence by adding motion probing gradient pulses to gradient echo (GRE) sequences, which has important value for the preoperative assessment of tumor brain blood supply vessels and intratumoral microbleeds. Purpose: To compare 3D CE‐T1WI FSBB and 3D contrast‐enhanced fast spin echo (FSE) sequence for T1WI for preoperative assessment of blood vessels and microbleeds in brain tumors and to investigate the correlation between visible vessels and microbleeds. Study type: Prospective. Subjects: One hundred and seventy‐five patients with brain tumors, 65 were male, 110 were female. Including histologically confirmed 73 meningiomas, 23 schwannomas, 20 gliomas, 7 hemangioblastomas, 5 metastases, 2 lymphomas, 2 hemangiopericytomas, 2 germ cell tumors, 1 craniopharyngioma, and 1 cholesteatoma. Field Strength/Sequence: A 3‐T, CE‐T1WI FSBB, GRE; 3‐T, CE‐T1WI, FSE. Assessment: Three neuroradiologists counted the number of intratumoral vessels on CE‐T1WI and CE‐T1WI FSBB images separately, and they counted the number of intratumoral microbleeds on CE‐T1WI FSBB images. Brain tumors were classified into grade I, grade II, and grade IV according to the World Health Organization (WHO) grading. Differences in the ability of CE‐T1WI FSBB and CE‐T1WI to display intratumoral vessels were compared. The mean counts of three observers were used to study the correlation between vessels and microbleeds. Statistical Tests: Two‐way random intraclass correlation coeficient (ICC) was used for inter‐reader agreement regarding intratumoral vessel and microbleed counts, and the linear regression analysis (with F‐test) was used to study the correlation between intratumoral vessels and microbleeds based on CE‐T1WI FSBB (α = 0.05). Results: Inter‐reader agreements for intratumoral vessel count on CE‐T1WI (ICC = 0.93) and CE‐T1WI FSBB (ICC = 0.92), and the agreement for intratumoral microbleed count on CE‐T1WI FSBB (ICC = 0.99) were excellent. There were statistically significant differences in intratumoral vessel counts between CE‐T1WI and CE‐T1WI FSBB using Mann–Whitney U ‐test: image readers could identify more intratumoral vessels on CE‐T1WI FSBB images, particularly for meningiomas, schwannomas, gliomas, and WHO grade I tumors. The number of intratumoral vessels had a significant positive effect on the number of intratumoral microbleeds (microbleeds = 5.024 + 1.665 × vessels; F = 11.51). Data Conclusion: More intratumoral vessels could potentially be identified using a 3D CE‐T1WI FSBB sequence compared to a CE‐T1WI sequence, and the number of intratumoral vessels showed a positive linear relationship with the number of intratumoral microbleeds, which might suggest that brain tumors with rich blood supply were more prone to intratumoral microbleeds. Evidence Level: 2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 3 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multiband absorber fabricated from stereo frequency selective structures (FSSs) is presented herein. The proposed absorber is composed of a lateral spilt loop intersected by four standing closed loops. The absorber exhibits pentaband electromagnetic (EM) wave absorption at normal incidence, as well as an angle‐dependent multiband absorption with high absorptivity at large incident angles (>80°) for both transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarizations. The complicated structure, including the stereo resonators and dielectric substrate, is fabricated using one‐step forming method of multimaterial hybrid microdroplet jetting modeling (MHMJM) technology. The results suggest that this design strategy has great potential in constructing stereo FSSs with unique characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glioma is a common type of malignant brain tumour with high mortality and relapse rate. However, the molecular mechanisms of glioma development have not been clarified. Differentially expressed genes in normal brain tissues and glioma tissues, low‐grade and high‐grade gliomas were screened out with GEO database analysis. We found that KLHDC8A (Kelch domain‐containing 8A) expression level was significantly increased in high‐grade glioma tissues and that high KLHDC8A expression was closely related with poor prognosis. Function assays indicated that KLHDC8A knockdown inhibited proliferation, migration and invasion, blocked the cell cycle and promoted apoptosis in glioma cells. Mechanistically, KLHDC8A regulated various functions in glioma by directly mediating Bcl2, BAX, p21, CDK2, MMP2 transcription and ERK and P38 MAPK activation. KLHDC8A overexpression enhances glioma tumorgenesis such as cell proliferation, migration and invasion. The ERK and P38 MAPK which activated by KLHDC8A overexpression could be reversed by U0126 and SB203580, respectively. Meanwhile, stimulation of lactate which produced by glycolysis is responsible for induction of KLHDC8A expression. Collectively, we demonstrated that KLHDC8A plays an important role in tumorgenesis of glioma, suggesting that it is a promising prognostic marker and a potential therapy target for the treatment of glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a very serious mortality of central nervous system cancer. The microarray data from GSE2223, GSE4058, GSE4290, GSE13276, GSE68848 and GSE70231 (389 GBM tumour and 67 normal tissues) and the RNA‐seq data from TCGA‐GBM dataset (169 GBM and five normal samples) were chosen to find differentially expressed genes (DEGs). RRA (Robust rank aggregation) method was used to integrate seven datasets and calculate 133 DEGs (82 up‐regulated and 51 down‐regulated genes). Subsequently, through the PPI (protein‐protein interaction) network and MCODE/ cytoHubba methods, we finally filtered out ten hub genes, including FOXM1, CDK4, TOP2A, RRM2, MYBL2, MCM2, CDC20, CCNB2, MYC and EZH2, from the whole network. Functional enrichment analyses of DEGs were conducted to show that these hub genes were enriched in various cancer‐related functions and pathways significantly. We also selected CCNB2, CDC20 and MYBL2 as core biomarkers, and further validated them in CGGA, HPA and CCLE database, suggesting that these three core hub genes may be involved in the origin of GBM. All these potential biomarkers for GBM might be helpful for illustrating the important role of molecular mechanisms of tumorigenesis in the diagnosis, prognosis and targeted therapy of GBM cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accumulating evidence indicates that regulators of macrophage polarization may exert pivotal functions in the development of coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3)‐induced viral myocarditis (VM). However, the mechanisms underlying macrophage polarization remain to be explored. Here, we sought to identify novel and functionally important long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) during macrophage polarization and to investigate their function and contribution to VM. In this study, we identified the lncRNA AK085865 as an important regulator of macrophage polarization. Knock‐down of AK085865 diminished phenotypical expression of M2 macrophages while promoting polarization to the M1 phenotype. Moreover, AK085865−/− mice had increased susceptibility to CVB3‐induced VM. We observed striking bias towards M1 macrophages, whereas the M2 population was decreased in AK085865−/− VM mice. Collectively, our findings uncover a critical role of AK085865 in the regulation of macrophage polarization in vitro and in vivo, identifying a new player in the development of VM and providing a potential clinically significant therapeutic target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remnant populations of Myricaria laxiflora are degrading due to difficulties in regeneration. To uncover the critical factors that hinder the regeneration of M. laxiflora populations, the present study examined seed persistence, seed germination and seedling survival and growth under different soil water contents and groundwater levels. Results revealed that seed viability significantly decreased with prolonged storage time. The germination rate of seeds stored for 15 days was 10.9%, which was 79.8% lower than unstored seeds. The viability of seeds was also significantly influenced by soil water content. The germination rate under the 0 g g−1 soil water content treatment was 105.3% higher than 0.10 g g−1 soil water content. Groundwater level significantly affected seed germination and seedling growth. The suitable groundwater level for seed germination and seedling growth was between −10 and −15 cm, at which, the germination rate, seedling survival rate and seedling biomass reached their highest values. Compared to the 0 and −20 cm groundwater levels, the −10 cm level resulted in a 16.8% and 166.7% higher germination rate, 14.1% and 9.2% higher seedling survival rate and 116.7% and 82.0% higher aboveground biomass, respectively. The longest main roots were observed at the −15 cm groundwater level. Therefore, it was concluded that changes in soil water content and groundwater level affect the regeneration of remnant M. laxiflora populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, partial sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene of 22 island populations of the springtail Homidia socia in the Thousand Island Lake were sequenced. Across all sequences, 37 haplotypes were identified for the 510‐bp mitochondrial (mt) DNA COI gene. Haplotype 2 was the most common, and was distributed in the most of the 22 island populations. Haplotype diversity ranged from 0.065 to 0.733, and the total genetic diversity was 0.56216. The genetic characteristics of the 22 island populations were analyzed using the fixation index and gene flow, with values of 0.00043–0.94900 and 0.02703–703.72540, respectively. Comparison between (island area and isolations) with population genetic diversity revealed that there were no significant correlations between them, except for a significant correlation between the number of haplotypes and island area. Mantel tests showed that there was no significant correlation between geographic distance and genetic distance among various groups. All the results indicated that there were no obvious relationships between island characteristics and the genetic diversity of the springtails. We consider that the low dispersal capacity of springtails and the island patches surrounded by water in the Thousand Island Lake are the major factors affecting the genetic diversity of H. socia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to habitat fragmentation, the loss of species diversity has been extensively studied. On the contrary, the effects of habitat fragmentation on functional diversity is still poorly understood. In the Thousand Island Lake, we conducted studies of insect functional diversity on a set of 29 isolated islands. We used 10 functional diversity indices from three aspects (functional richness, functional evenness and functional divergence) to respectively describe functional diversity of insects on sample islands. We found the following results: (i) The functional indices selected could reflect the functional diversity of sample islands and it is further proved that in general, three components of functional diversity were independent of each other; (ii) Sample islands could be divided into two categories, island JSD and the remaining islands; (iii) Functional richness increased with island area and shape index, but had no significant correlation with isolation. Likewise, both functional evenness and functional divergence had no significant correlation with island attributes. The conclusion to emphasize from our research is that: (i) habitat fragmentation reduced the biological functional diversity to some extent, further demonstrating the importance of habitat continuity in biodiversity protection; and (ii) for functional diversity protection of insects in a fragmented landscape, an island which has high approximate shape index values of at least hundred hectare magnitude order has a critical promoting effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]