Search

Since 2006, canine distemper outbreaks have occurred in rhesus monkeys at a breeding farm in Guangxi, People's Republic of China. Approximately 10,000 animals were infected (25%-60% disease incidence); 5%-30% of infected animals died. The epidemic was controlled by vaccination. Amino acid sequence analysis of the virus indicated a unique strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roll-to-roll (R2R) printing systems provide a continuous process of thin, flexible material (called web) through printing cylinders, where the required patterns are printed on the web. Tension fluctuation caused by the upstream register control quantity may lead to the downstream register errors. Thus, it is a challenge to develop a register control algorithm to remove the couplings among the angular velocity, tension fluctuation, and register error. In this article, the register error is defined as the marks position misalignment between the first and the current printing unit. Based on the definition, a mathematical model of registration is derived. Based on the model, a fully decoupled proportional-derivative (FDPD) control algorithm is proposed to completely remove the coupling between the upstream register control quantity and the downstream register error. Simulations and experiments are carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm. Compared with the other compensation control methods, FDPD is a complete decoupling control method, which can control the register errors of all downstream printing units (more than seven printing units) within $\pm 0.05$ mm, even if the upstream printing unit has a 3 mm register error. Decoupling formula included in the FDPD control is a first-order compensation formula, which is easy to implement in the actual industry. Furthermore, the proposed FDPD can deal with the situation where two adjacent gravure cylinders have different web lengths, which is not taken into account by other control methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping has been proposed as a more "targeted" alternative for accurate lymph node resection in endometrial cancer (EC). However, there are still some problems and disputes to be resolved. For example, the standard clinical application of SLN mapping in high-risk patients, the optimal SLN algorithm, the optimal approach to evaluate SLN and the clinical significance of low volume metastasis (LVM) are worth exploring. At present, the cervical indocyanine green injection is the most commonly used tracer method, and the detection rate of LVM can be improved by ultrastaging. However, the procedures and indications of ultrastaging and clinical management of LVM need to be further standardized. In addition, high-risk EC is not an absolute contraindication for SLN mapping, however, the standard clinical application of SLN mapping in such patients needs further clinical study. This article reviewed the research status and progress of SLN mapping in EC in recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Exposure of pancreatic β-cell to proinflammatory cytokines released by islet-infiltrating immune cells will lead to impaired insulin production and secretion as well as β-cell apoptosis during the initial phase of type 1 diabetes (T1D). Circular RNAs (circRNAs) were newly discovered as a novel class of non-coding RNAs that are involved in many diseases. As little is known about their role in insulin-secreting cells, this study aimed to evaluate their contribution to inflammation-induced β-cell dysfunction. Methods: CircRNA expression profile in MIN6 cells stimulated with a mix of cytokines, including IL-1β, IFN-γ, and TNF-α, was detected by circRNA microarrays. The differentially expressed circRNAs were validated by qRT-PCR. The involvement of selected circRNAs was tested after their inhibition in MIN6 cells. MicroRNA target prediction software and multiple bioinformatic approaches were used to construct a map of circRNA-microRNA-mRNA interactions and predict possible functions and pathways of the circRNAs. Results: 1020 upregulated and 902 downregulated circRNAs were detected in cytokines-treated β-cells with a set filter fold-change ≧1.5. By qRT-PCR, circRNA 006029 and 013053 were furtherly proved to be increased by 2.1 fold and 3.7 fold, while circRNA 000286 and 017277 were downregulated by 3.4 fold and 1.9 fold. Inhibition of circRNA 000286 and 017277 in β-cells, with or without stimulation of cytokines, could promote β-cell apoptosis and affect glucose-induced insulin secretion. GO analysis enriched terms such as anatomical structure development and intracellular, and the top pathways included Pathways in cancer and MAPK signaling pathway. It was also speculated that the two circRNAs may regulate the key genes involved in β-cell apoptosis and function, such as Bcl2 and Vamp2. Conclusion: Our data showed circRNAs as novel regulators in proinflammatory cytokines-mediated β-cell dysfunction, and suggested the involvement of circRNAs in the development of T1D. Disclosure: Z. Wang: None. Y. Zheng: None. Z. Zhou: None. Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China (81502359) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Item-to-item collaborative filtering (short for ICF) has been widely used in ecommerce websites due to his interpretability and simplicity in real-time personalized recommendation. The focus of ICF is to calculate the similarity between items. With the rapid development of machine learning in recent years, it takes similarity model instead of cosine similarity and Pearson coefficient to calculate the similarity between items in recommendation. However, the existing similarity models can not sufficient to express the preferences of users for different items. In this work, we propose a novel attention-based item collaborative filtering model(AICF) which adopts three different attention mechanisms to estimate the weights of historical items that users have interacted with. Compared with the state-of-the-art recommendation models, the AICF model with simple attention mechanism Self-Attention can better estimate the weight of historical items on non-sparse data sets. Due to depth models can model complex connection between items, our model with the more complex Transformer achieves superior recommendation performance on sparse data. Extensive experiments on ML-1M and Pinterest-20 show that the proposed model greatly outperforms other novel models in recommendation accuracy and provides users with personalized recommendation list more in line with their interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It has been confirmed that the triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (THR) is associated with insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. However, to the best of our knowledge, only a few studies with small sample sizes have investigated the relationship between THR and coronary artery disease (CAD). Therefore, we aimed to assess the correlation between the THR and long-term mortality in patients with CAD after undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in our study that enrolled a large number of patients. Methods: A total of 3269 post-PCI patients with CAD were enrolled in the CORFCHD-ZZ study from January 2013 to December 2017. The mean follow-up time was 37.59 ± 22.24 months. Patients were divided into two groups according to their THR value: the lower group (THR < 2.84, n = 1232) and the higher group (THR ≥ 2.84, n = 2037). The primary endpoint was long-term mortality, including all-cause mortality (ACM) and cardiac mortality (CM). The secondary endpoints were major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs). Results: In our study, ACM occurred in 124 patients: 30 (2.4%) in the lower group and 94 (4.6%) in the higher group (P = 0.002). MACEs occurred in 362 patients: 111 (9.0%) in the lower group and 251 (12.3%) in the higher group (P = 0.003). The number of MACCEs was 482: 152 (12.3%) in the lower group and 320 (15.7%) in the higher group (P = 0.008). Heart failure occurred in 514 patients: 89 (7.2%) in the lower group and 425 (20.9%) in the higher group (P < 0.001). Kaplan–Meier analyses showed that elevated THR was significantly related to long-term ACM (log-rank, P = 0.044) and the occurrence of heart failure (log-rank, P < 0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analyses showed that the THR was an independent predictor of long-term ACM (adjusted HR = 2.042 [1.264–3.300], P = 0.004) and heart failure (adjusted HR = 1.700 [1.347–2.147], P < 0.001). Conclusions: An increased THR is an independent predictor of long-term ACM and heart failure in post-PCI patients with CAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) is a most invasive cancer with high mortality and poor prognosis. It is reported that lncRNA DANCR has implications in multiple types of cancers. However, its biological role and underlying mechanism in TSCC progress are not well elucidated. Methods: Our present study first investigated the function of DANCR on the proliferation, migration and invasion of TSCC cells by silencing or overexpressing DANCR. Further, the miR-135a-5p-Kruppel-like Factor 8 (KLF8) axis was focused on to explore the regulatory mechanism of DANCR on TSCC cell malignant phenotypes. Xenografted tumor growth using nude mice was performed to examine the role of DANCR in vivo. Results: DANCR knockdown reduced the viability and inhibited the migration and invasion of TSCC cells in vitro, while ectopic expression of DANCR induced opposite effects. In vivo, the tumor growth and the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2/9 and KLF8 were also blocked by DANCR inhibition. In addition, we found that miR-135-5p directly targeted DANCR, which was negatively correlated with DANCR on TSCC progression. Its inhibition reversed the beneficial effects of DANCR silence on TSCC malignancies. Furthermore, the expression of KLF8 evidently altered by both DANCR and miR-135a-5p. Silencing KLF8 using its specific siRNA showed that KLF8 was responsible for the induction of miR-135a-5p inhibitor on TSCC cell malignancies and MMP-2/9 expression. Conclusions: These findings, for the first time, suggest that DANCR plays an oncogenic role in TSCC progression via targeting miR-135a-5p/KLF8 axis, which provides a promising biomarker and treatment approach for preventing TSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The relation between monocyte to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (MHR) and coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains controversial. The present study aims to assess the prognostic value of MHR in patients with CAD who underwent PCI. Methods: A total of 673 CAD patients were retrospectively enrolled and divided into four groups according to MHR values. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was performed to study the effects of different variables to clinical outcomes reported as major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and all-cause mortality (ACM). Results: In a multivariate Cox analysis, after adjustment of other confounders, MHR was found to be an independent predictor of ACM (HR: 3.655; 95% CI: 1.170–11.419, P = 0.026) and MACE (HR =2.390, 95% CI 1.379–4.143, p < 0.002). Having a MHR in the third and fourth quartile were associated with a 2.83-fold and 3.26 -flod increased risk of MACE. Conclusions: MHR is an independent predictor of ACM and MACE in CAD patients undergoing PCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of a 51-year-old Chinese woman who was receiving peginterferon α-2a therapy for hepatitis C for a year and was diagnosed with severe diabetic ketoacidosis and FTID (Fulminant type 1 diabetes) at the time of admission. It notes FTID is caused by peginterferon treatment and the patient is positive for glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibody (GADA) and the patient was treated by withdrawing peginterferon.

Aim. During the initial stage of type 1 diabetes, prolonged exposure of pancreatic β-cell to proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, TNF-α, and IFN-γ results in a decreased capacity to produce and release insulin, as well as cell loss by apoptosis. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a new class of endogenous noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) with closed loop with no free ends. circRNAs have been reported to be participated in the development of many diseases. As little is known about their role in insulin-secreting cells, this study is aimed at evaluating their contribution in the process of inflammation-induced β-cell damage. Methods. circRNA expression profile of MIN6 cells stimulated with a mix of cytokines, including IL-1β, IFN-γ, and TNF-α, was detected by circRNA microarrays. Four dysregulated circRNAs were validated by qRT-PCR. The involvement of the selected circRNAs in β-cell dysfunction was tested after their inhibition in MIN6 cells. MicroRNA target prediction software and multiple bioinformatic approaches were used to predict the targeting genes of circRNAs and analyze possible functions of the circRNAs. Results. 1020 upregulated and 902 downregulated circRNAs were identified in cytokines-treated β-cells. Inhibition of circRNAs 000286 and 017277 in β-cells could promote β-cell apoptosis and affect insulin biosynthesis and secretion. GO analysis enriched terms such as regulation of transcription and regulation of gene expression and KEGG analysis enriched top pathways included TGF-β and MAPK signaling pathways. Conclusions. The data shows that circRNAs may be involved in proinflammatory cytokines-mediated β-cell dysfunction and suggests the involvement of circRNAs in the development of type 1 diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The gut microbiota plays a crucial role in coronary artery disease (CAD) development, but limited attention has been given to the role of the microbiota in preventing this disease. This study aimed to identify key biomarkers using metagenomics and untargeted metabolomics and verify their associations with atherosclerosis. Methods: A total of 371 participants, including individuals with various CAD types and CAD-free controls, were enrolled. Subsequently, significant markers were identified in the stool samples through gut metagenomic sequencing and untargeted metabolomics. In vivo and in vitro experiments were performed to investigate the mechanisms underlying the association between these markers and atherosclerosis. Results: Faecal omics sequencing revealed that individuals with a substantial presence of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii had the lowest incidence of CAD across diverse CAD groups and control subjects. A random forest model confirmed the significant relationship between F. prausnitzii and CAD incidence. Notably, F. prausnitzii emerged as a robust, independent CAD predictor. Furthermore, our findings indicated the potential of the gut microbiota and gut metabolites to predict CAD occurrence and progression, potentially impacting amino acid and vitamin metabolism. F. prausnitzii mitigated inflammation and exhibited an antiatherosclerotic effect on ApoE−/− mice after gavage. This effect was attributed to reduced intestinal LPS synthesis and reinforced mechanical and mucosal barriers, leading to decreased plasma LPS levels and an antiatherosclerotic outcome. Conclusions: Sequencing of the samples revealed a previously unknown link between specific gut microbiota and atherosclerosis. Treatment with F. prausnitzii may help prevent CAD by inhibiting atherosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural bioactive compounds (NBCs) are widely used in clinical treatment. For example, Tripterygium wilfordii Hook f. is commonly known in China as Lei-Gong-Teng which means thunder god vine. This herb is widely distributed in Eastern and Southern China, Korea, and Japan. The natural bioactive compounds of this herb can be extracted and made into tripterygium glycoside tablets. It is one of the most commonly used and effective traditional Chinese herbal medicines against rheumatoid arthritis (RA), nephrotic syndrome (NS), autoimmune hepatis (AIH), and so on. However, many NBCs are difficult to reliably quantify in the serum due to the effects of matrix and RSD. In addition, the targeted compound's internal standard (IS) is rarely sold due to the complex isotope internal standard synthesis pathway. In this study, a new quantitation method for 18O labeling combined with off-line SPE was formulated. We contrasted the recoveries and matrix effects of various separation methods in order to choose the best method. Furthermore, we optimized the conditions for SPE loading and washing. An isotopic internal standard was prepared by the 16O/18O exchanging reaction in order to eliminate the matrix effects. The method's accuracy and precision met the requirements for method validation. The recovery of this method was close to 60%. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the high-concentration sample was 2%, and the limit of detection (LOD) was 1 ng/mL. This method could be used to analyze the clinical serum concentration of demethylzeylasteral. Sixty samples were collected from 10 patients with diabetes nephropathy. The quantitation results of demethylzeylasteral in patients' serum obtained using this method exhibited a correlation between therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and decreased urinary protein. This work may have broad implications for the study of drug metabolism in vivo and the clinical application of low-abundance and difficult-to-quantify NBCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The partial upgrading of "tar-like" Canadian bitumen is an essential process to reduce its viscosity to an acceptable range that meets the required pipeline specifications. An innovative and potentially greener solution has emerged in the form of microwave irradiation. This work proposes and demonstrates the use of an electrically powered commercial microwave along with carbon-based microwave susceptors (activated carbon, biochar, coke, and graphite) to promote localized thermal cracking within bitumen at a temperature as low as 150 °C, compared to the conventional method of 400 °C. The remarkable results show that just 0.1 wt% of carbon additives can reduce the viscosity of bitumen by 96% with just 10 min of microwaving at 200 °C. A Saturates, Aromatics, Resins, and Asphaltenes (SARA) analysis reveals that the mass fractions of light components (saturates) are almost doubled and that almost one-third of heavy polar hydrocarbon constituents are cracked and decomposed into much lighter molecules, resulting in higher-quality, less viscous bitumen. Furthermore, this study highlights the key role of the surface area and porosity of the carbon microwave susceptor in absorbing microwave radiation, offering exciting new avenues for optimization. Microwave-assisted partial upgrading of bitumen is a cost-effective and eco-friendly alternative to conventional upgrading, producing upgraded bitumen that requires significantly less diluent at a lower cost prior to pipeline transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The zeamines produced by Dickeya oryzae are potent polyamine antibiotics and phytotoxins that are essential for bacterial virulence. We recently showed that the RND efflux pump DesABC in D. oryzae confers partial resistance to zeamines. To fully elucidate the bacterial self‐protection mechanisms, in this study we used transposon mutagenesis to identify the genes encoding proteins involved in zeamine resistance in D. oryzae EC1. This led to the identification of a seven‐gene operon, arnEC1, that encodes enzyme homologues associated with lipopolysaccharide modification. Deletion of the arnEC1 genes in strain EC1 compromised its zeamine resistance 8‐ to 16‐fold. Further deletion of the des gene in the arnEC1 mutant background reduced zeamine resistance to a level similar to that of the zeamine‐sensitive Escherichia coli DH5α. Intriguingly, the arnEC1 mutants showed varied bacterial virulence on rice, potato, and Chinese cabbage. Further analyses demonstrated that ArnBCATEC1 are involved in maintenance of the bacterial nonmucoid morphotype by repressing the expression of capsular polysaccharide genes and that ArnBEC1 is a bacterial virulence determinant, influencing transcriptional expression of over 650 genes and playing a key role in modulating bacterial motility and virulence. Taken together, these findings decipher a novel zeamine resistance mechanism in D. oryzae and document new roles of the Arn enzymes in modulation of bacterial physiology and virulence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Coronary heart disease (CHD) is caused by the blockage or spasm of coronary arteries. Evidence shows that liver disease is related to CHD. However, the correlation between the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score and outcomes in patients after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was unclear. Method. A retrospective cohort study involved 5373 patients with coronary heart disease after PCI was conducted from January 2008 to December 2016. Participants were classified to four groups according to the MELD score by quartiles. The primary endpoint was long-term mortality including all-case mortality (ACM) and cardiac mortality (CM). Secondary endpoints included bleeding events, readmission, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), major adverse cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular events (MACCE). The longest follow-up time was almost 10 years. Results. There were significant differences in the incidences of ACM (p = 0.038) and CM (p = 0.027) among the four MELD groups, but there was no significant difference in MACEs (p = 0.496), MACCEs (p = 0.234), readmission (p = 0.684), and bleeding events (p = 0.232). After adjusting the age, gender, smoking, drinking status, and diabetes by a multivariable Cox regression analysis, MELD remains independently associated with ACM (HR:1.57, 95%CI 1.052–2.354, p = 0.027) and CM (HR:1.434, 95% CI 1.003–2.050, p = 0.048). Conclusion. This study indicated that the MELD score had a strong prediction for long-term mortality in CHD patients who underwent PCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The incidence and mortality rates of smoking-associated lung cancer are high among Chinese immigrant smokers. Coming from a country with different smoking policies, culture, and economic background than the U.S., Chinese smokers may change their smoking behaviors after immigrating to the U.S. Objectives: This study aims to explore the trajectory of smoking behavior change among Chinese immigrant smokers migrating to the U.S. Methods: This qualitative study was guided by the Grounded theory. Semi-structured intensive individual interviews were conducted among 10 eligible participants. A purposive theoretical sampling method was used to recruit participants through a website. Individual interviews were conducted online, via telephone, or in-person in Mandarin. Data were transcribed verbatim in Mandarin, translated into English, and triangulated with follow-up interviews and dialogues among authors to enhance trustworthiness and consistency of the study. Process coding and content analysis were used to analyze data. Results: A total of 10 participants, 7 males and 3 females, were interviewed. Results showed the trajectory of smoking behavior change among Chinese immigrant smokers went through three phases: 1) Beginning to smoke, which included learning to smoke from others, trying to smoke and learning to smoke, and hiding their smoking behaviors from others; 2) maintaining smoking, which included setting boundary around smoking, smoking as a facilitator or barrier to social interaction, feeling pressures related to smoking behavior, and making others happy: Collective smoking and controlling smoking desire; and 3) changing smoking behaviors, which included experiencing life events that were triggers to changing smoking behavior, boredom as a reason for relapses, personal will as a key to quitting smoking, and quitting smoking for a loved one. Although some differences existed between male and female Chinese immigrant smokers' smoking behaviors, their trajectories of smoking behavior change were generally similar. Discussion: Findings from this study can help health care providers to extend their understanding toward smoking behavior change among Chinese immigrant smokers across different socio-cultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-associated proteins play key roles in cancer progression and metastasis with the involvement of microRNAs (miRNAs). This study aims to assess the role of miR-506 working in tandem with LIM Homeobox 2 (LHX2) in EMT and metastasis through the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods: Differentially expressed genes associated with NPC were screened using microarray analyses, from which LHX2 was identified. Next, the potential relationship between miR-506 and LHX2 was analyzed. In order to explore the effect of miR-506 or LHX2 on NPC cell proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis, serials of mimics, inhibitors or siRNA against LHX2 were transfected into NPC cells. Then, the expression patterns of LHX2, Wnt1, β-catenin, E-cadherin, Vimentin, TCF4 and Twist were determined to assess the influence of miR-506 or LHX2 on EMT as well as the relationship between the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and TCF4. The tumorigenicity and lymph node metastasis (LNM) in xenograft tumors of nude mice were observed. Results: The has-miR-506-3p was identified as the down-regulated gene in NPC based on the microarray data while LHX2 was negatively regulated by miR-506. Over-expression of miR-506 or silencing of LHK2 inhibited NPC cell proliferation, migration, invasion, tumorigenicity and LNM but promoted apoptosis indicated by decreased Wnt1, β-catenin, Vimentin, TCF4 and Twist expressions along with increased E-cadherin expressions. Conclusions: miR-506 inhibits tumor growth and metastasis in NPC via inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin signaling by down-regulating LHX2, accompanied by decreased TCF4. Taken together, miR-506 targeted-inhibition LHX2 presents a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of NPC. Trial registration: ChiCTR1800018889. Registered 15 October 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global to local environmental policy-making is increasingly evidenced-based. Knowledge exchange (KE) is increasingly used by environmental scientists and policymakers, to deliver evidence-based policy and practice. There is thus an urgent need to identify whether and how knowledge is exchanged between knowledge producers and users in environmental science fields. Frameworks to evaluate KE practice are emerging. Here we apply an assessment framework developed in social medicine to identify what forms of environmental knowledge are exchanged, and why and how they are exchanged. We focussed on China as international research to better manage Chinese ecosystem services is rapidly increasing, yet, how to best integrate this into political decision-making and the public realm remains a challenge. How KE is practiced in China is unknown. We addressed this through: 1) a systematic analysis of published KE research in China compared to global trends; 2) evaluating KE for environmental policy and management in China; 3) quantitative surveys of Chinese (n = 72) and British (n = 16) scientists researching Chinese environmental problems. China's contribution to the global KE database was low (6-7%) across all disciplines. The systematic review of two databases identified two key findings. One, there were no papers in the environmental sector examining the science-policy-practice interface in China out of 291 potentially relevant papers. Two, only 13 of 423 potentially relevant KE paper explicitly examined KE for environmental topics, notably for agriculture and information exchange (i.e. What). Most papers reported a one-way interaction between scientists and users (i.e. How), used to change practice (i.e. Why). Our quantitative survey showed significantly less awareness and use of KE methods (i.e. How) by Chinese scientists. The paucity of documented KE research and limited evidence for two-way interaction show KE at the environmental science-policy-practice interface in China is limited. Promotion of KE practice may benefit environmental decision-making in China. More broadly, our study shows how KE frameworks from social medicine are effective in understanding KE practice at the environmental science-policy-practice interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The terrestrial flux of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is the largest transfer of reduced C from land to aquatic and ultimately marine ecosystems. Land use is suggested to be a local factor influencing fluvial [DOC]. Studies assessing land use impacts have focused on quantifying DOC export. However, little is known about the changes in soil-derived fluvial DOC composition and its impacts on in-stream DOC reprocessing. This research focuses on a C-rich catchment in Scotland, UK to explore how aquatic DOC composition is influenced by wind farm-associated land uses, and how DOC biodegradation may be influenced by its composition. The monthly water monitoring from 2014-2015 in this 5.7 km2 catchment showed differences in the concentration and composition of the DOC between its two sub-catchments D-WF and D-FF. This may be attributed to the different land uses: D-WF was draining the wind farm construction areas and D-FF draining the felled forestry. The felled catchment had greater mean [DOC], however the DOC was less humified suggested by the smaller SUVA410 and larger E2/E4. This may be due to young DOC from the breakdown of residual branches, or more humification in soils in the wind farm areas. The biodegradability of this compositionally-different DOC between D-WF and D-FF was examined through water sample biodegradation incubations in September and November of 2015, and January and May of 2016. Only 2.9-12.1% of the total DOC was biodegraded during 21 days. Weekly measurements of DOC composition and nutrients revealed that protein-like florescence component C6 and TON changed actively with biodegradable DOC (BDOC) removal. The initial SUVA254, SUVA410, C6, and concentrations of SRP and TON were good predictors for BDOC loss. SUVAs and C6 likely came out as reflecting the refractory/labile DOC pools. Spatially, larger BDOC loss was found in D-WF in January and May, which may be because in these two months the greater nutrient concentrations, smaller DOC aromaticity and more labile DOM materials in D-WF likely supported more DOC biodegradation. This research indicates the composition of terrestrial DOC in freshwater can vary over space and time and in response to land use. In turn this inherited composition can influence the fate of DOC in aquatic continuum, which potentially impacts C export to oceans and emission to atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Macular hole retinal detachment (MHRD) occurs most commonly in high myopia and causes severe visual impairment and greatly reduces the quality of life. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of inverted internal limiting membrane insertion combined with air tamponade in the treatment of MHRD in high myopia, and also to compare the treatment efficacy with that of the conventional "vitrectomy plus internal limiting membrane peeling plus silicone oil tamponade" method for high myopia-associated MHRD.Methods/design: In this clinical trial, 38 patients with MHRD in high myopia will be randomly assigned to two groups (Group 1: standard 3-port 23-gauge pars plana vitrectomy plus internal limiting membrane peeling plus air-fluid exchange plus silicone oil infusion; Group 2: standard 3-port 23-gauge pars plana vitrectomy plus internal limiting membrane peeling plus inverted internal limiting membrane insertion plus air-fluid exchange). The primary outcome is macular hole closure rate in 3 months after the initial surgery. The secondary outcomes are best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), reattachment rate of retinal detachment, and postoperative complication rate.Discussion: The study results may help to evaluate the efficacy and safety of inverted internal limiting membrane insertion combined with air tamponade in the treatment of MHRD in high myopia, and also compare the efficacy of the new treatment with the conventional "vitrectomy plus internal limiting membrane peeling plus silicone oil tamponade" method. This trial may provide a novel surgical treatment for MHRD in high myopia with more effectiveness and less pain.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03383731 . Registered on 19 December 2017. Retrospectively registered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several studies have explored the connection between follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, the impact of FSH elevation on NAFLD remains a topic of debate. Hence, this investigation aimed to evaluate the potential correlation between FSH levels and NAFLD in the aging population. Methods: This was a retrospective observational cross-sectional study between July 2017 and August 2018 in our hospital. We used data obtained from 455 patients over 60 years old. Anthropometrics and laboratory tests were performed for each patient. NAFLD was diagnosed by sonographic features and the fatty liver index (LFI). Results: Of the 455 patients, 200 (43.96%) had NAFLD on their ultrasound and 169 (37.14%) had NAFLD according to the LFI. An intraclass correlation coefficient of the two methods was 80.4% (P < 0.001). People with NAFLD on their ultrasound showed lower FSH levels (52.68 vs. 61.39 IU/L) and more unfavorable metabolic profiles. FSH was negatively correlated with age, alanine aminotransferase, estradiol, testosterone, systolic blood pressure, waist, body mass index, fasting blood glucose, postload plasma glucose and positive associated with total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol by Spearman correlation analysis (all P < 0.05). By controlling for all confounding factors, the odds ratios (OR) of FSH for NAFLD were determined in elderly individuals, both men and women, aged 60–70 years and over 70 years. These ORs were found to be 0.937, 0.982, 0.983, and 0.973, respectively, with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) of 0.892–0.984 (P = 0.009), 0.971–0.993 (P = 0.002), 0.967–0.999 (P = 0.033), and 0.958–0.989 (P = 0.001). In addition, our findings demonstrated no significant correlation between FSH and advanced fibrosis when adjusting for potential covariates. The OR for advanced fibrosis was 0.979 (95% CI, 0.938–1.022, P = 0.339). Additionally, ROC curve analysis showed an optimal cut-off value of 66.91 for women and 15.25 for men for NAFLD diagnosis. Conclusions: There was an inverse relationship observed between levels of FSH in the blood serum and NAFLD in the elderly population. These findings suggest that reduced FSH levels might serve as a potential risk factor or biomarker for NAFLD in the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In nonlinear industrial processes, some product qualities or key variables are usually difficult to measure online automatically due to the lack of sensors. In this work, a novel data-driven soft sensor technology based on a multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network with a double least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (dLASSO) approach, named dLASSO-MLP, is developed with a two-step procedure. First, an MLP model is constructed through the process data set. Second, a dLASSO algorithm is integrated into the model to solve two redundancy problems, i.e., the input variable redundancy and the model structure redundancy. The proposed method not only selects input variables that are most sensitive to the model, but also simplifies the MLP structure by deleting redundant hidden nodes to avoid the model overfitting. In addition, the method is validated by data from simulation examples as well as an industrial application. Compared to other neural network methods, the proposed method requires fewer neurons and presents better prediction performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims/Introduction: Metformin, a widely prescribed antidiabetic agent, has been shown to exhibit anti‐inflammatory effects in obese and type 2 diabetes patients, but the mechanism is not well elucidated. Microribonucleic acids (miRNAs) are a group of small non‐coding ribonucleic acids that participate in many biological and pathological processes. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether Dicer, a key miRNA biogenesis enzyme, and miRNAs in macrophages are implicated in the anti‐inflammatory effects of metformin. Materials and Methods: Enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay and reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction were carried out to verify the anti‐inflammatory effects of metformin. miRNA microarray was applied to detect the expression profile of miRNA. Western‐blotting, enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay and reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction were used to examine the role Dicer and miRNAs play in the anti‐inflammatory effects of metformin. Results: In parallel with the suppression of interleukin‐6 and tumor necrosis factor‐α production in resting and lipopolysaccharide‐stimulated macrophages, metformin could induce an increase in Dicer and most miRNAs. When Dicer was knocked down, the anti‐inflammatory effects of metformin were significantly attenuated. Additionally, the upregulation of miRNA (miR)‐34a‐5p and miR‐125b‐5p by metformin were also blunted in Dicer knockdown macrophages. Furthermore, inhibition of miR‐34a‐5p and miR‐125b‐5p could impair the suppressive action of metformin on pro‐inflammatory factors production, whereas overexpression of the two miRNAs mimicked the anti‐inflammatory effects of metformin. Conclusions: Metformin might show anti‐inflammatory effects in macrophages through the induction of Dicer and the subsequent upregulation of miR‐34a‐5p and miR‐125b‐5p. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: LncRNA cancer susceptibility candidate 15 (CASC15) has been demonstrated to act as an oncogene in different cancers; however, its role in ovarian cancer remains elusive. Methods: Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to examine the expression of lncRNA CASC15. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis was performed to evaluate the prognostic significance of lncRNA CASC15. CCK-8, soft-agar colony-formation, flow cytometry, transwell migration and invasion assays were used to analyze the biological behavior of lncRNA CASC5 in ovarian cancer. Furthermore, the potential mechanism of lncRNA CAC15 was investigated by bioinformatics analysis, luciferase reporter assay, and biotin pull-down assay. Results: In this study, we found that the expression of CASC15 was lower in ovarian cancer tissues and cells by qRT-PCR. In addition, low expression of CASC15 was closely correlated with advanced TNM stage, moderate/poor differentiation, and larger size. Moreover, Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed that patients with low CASC15 expression level had poorer overall survival and progression-free survival than those with high CASC15 expression. Meanwhile, ROC analysis found that CASC15 had diagnostic values to distinguish tumor tissues from nontumorous tissues. Overexpression of CASC15 prohibited the malignancy of ovarian cancer cells, including proliferation, colony formation, cell cycle, migration, and invasion, and promoted cell apoptosis. In addition, bioinformatics analysis, luciferase reporter assay, and biotin pull-down assay confirmed that CASC15 straightly interacted with miR-221. We also observed that ARID1A was a downstream target of miR-221 and CASC15 subsequently exerted its tumor-suppressive effects by regulating the expression of ARID1A in ovarian cancer cells. Conclusion: Overall, this study firstly elucidated that CASC15 could play a tumor-suppressive role in ovarian cancer by the regulation of CASC15/miR-221/ARID1A axis, which may provide a ponderable prognostic biomarker and promising therapeutic target for treatment of patients with ovarian cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperspectral imaging techniques are widely used for rapid, efficient, and non-destructive identification of wheat varieties. However, the interference of noise in hyperspectral images and the underutilization of spatial information by most methods are two challenging issues in identifying wheat varieties. In this paper, we present a new approach called Cost-sensitive K-Nearest Neighbor using Hyperspectral imaging (CSKNN) to address these issues. First, we fuse 128 bands acquired by hyperspectral imaging equipment to obtain hyperspectral images of wheat grains, and employ a central regionalization strategy to extract the region of interest. We then use a smoothing denoising strategy to remove noise from the hyperspectral images and improve the saliency of the object grains. Furthermore, we consider the characteristics of different bands and use linear discriminant analysis to compress features, reducing intra-class differences and increasing inter-class differences. Finally, we propose a Cost-sensitive KNN for training and testing of wheat varieties. Our experiments on different strains and varieties of wheat datasets in the same region show that our CSKNN achieves high classification accuracies of 98.09% and 97.45%, outperforming state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design and synthesis of highly dispersible and accessible Cu(I)-containing catalysts as efficient catalysts for the hydrogenation of CO 2 to alcohols has attracted considerable interest. Copper-based metal-organic framework (Cu-MOF) is considered one appropriate ideal precursor to prepare a porous Cu(I)-containing catalyst owing to their unique coordination assembly that can significantly prevent the aggregation of copper species during reduction. However, the thermal sensitivity of Cu-MOF makes it challenging to develop an efficient reduction strategy. Herein, we report a novel plasma reducing treatment (PRT) method that can reduce HKUST-1 in a DBD reactor at atmospheric pressure and near room temperatures (40°C). In addition, the PRT method requests short reduction time without the need for post-treatment. In this work, various reducing agents, including hydrogen gas, carbon monoxide, and methanol, have been investigated to manipulate the copper valence. The highly reactive reducing agents that are excited by the DBD plasma discharge at nearly ambient conditions, penetrate into the inner porous structure of Cu-MOFs to achieve efficient conversion of Cu(II) sites to Cu(I) without affecting the overall crystallinity. CO demonstrates the best reduction result. 79.9% Cu(II) was converted to Cu(I) within only 3 h, and the MOF crystal structure is well preserved. The obtained Cu(I)-HKUST catalyst exhibited good selectivity of alcohols in the plasma-assisted CO 2 hydrogenation. The work confirms that the PRT method is a superior approach for reducing thermal-sensitive catalysts. [Display omitted] • A novel plasma reducing treatment (PRT) for valence modulation of Cu-MOF under mild conditions (40°C) was developed. • The proposed PRT strategy is a controllable and environmentally friendly procedure without any solvent or post-treatment. • The CO-PRT method efficiently reduced 78% of Cu(II) to Cu(I) species in only 3 h based on HKUST-1 as a template. • The influencing factors of reduction efficiency among different reducing plasmas were investigated. • The CO 2 hydrogenation reaction was in situ performed over the reduced catalyst exhibiting good alcohol product selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Conventional approach to myocardial strain analysis relies on a software designed for the left ventricle (LV) which is complex and time-consuming and is not specific for right ventricular (RV) and left atrial (LA) assessment. This study compared this conventional manual approach to strain evaluation with a novel semi-automatic analysis of myocardial strain, which is also chamber-specific. Methods: Two experienced observers used the AutoStrain software and manual QLab analysis to measure the LV, RV and LA strains in 152 healthy volunteers. Fifty cases were randomly selected for timing evaluation. Results: No significant differences in LV global longitudinal strain (LVGLS) were observed between the two methods (-21.0% ± 2.5% vs. -20.8% ± 2.4%, p = 0.230). Conversely, RV longitudinal free wall strain (RVFWS) and LA longitudinal strain during the reservoir phase (LASr) measured by the semi-automatic software differed from the manual analysis (RVFWS: -26.4% ± 4.8% vs. -31.3% ± 5.8%, p < 0.001; LAS: 48.0% ± 10.0% vs. 37.6% ± 9.9%, p < 0.001). Bland–Altman analysis showed a mean error of 0.1%, 4.9%, and 10.5% for LVGLS, RVFWS, and LASr, respectively, with limits of agreement of -2.9,2.6%, -8.1,17.9%, and -12.3,33.3%, respectively. The semi-automatic method had a significantly shorter strain analysis time compared with the manual method. Conclusions: The novel semi-automatic strain analysis has the potential to improve efficiency in measurement of longitudinal myocardial strain. It shows good agreement with manual analysis for LV strain measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Oil-soluble Mo-based ILs were utilized for the in situ generation of MoS 2 catalysts. • The hydroconversion of methyl palmitate gives 1.6 × 102 h−1 of TOF MP and 83 h−1 of TOF HDO. • The hydroconversion of methyl palmitate mainly proceeds through the HDO route. • The reaction route of hydroconversion was proposed and the kinetics was analyzed. • Mo-based ILs can also be used for efficient and solvent-free hydroconversion of palm oil. Dispersed metal sulfides are promising catalysts for the hydroconversion of biolipids to produce second-generation biodiesel. In this work, oil-soluble Mo-based ionic liquids (ILs) were innovatively utilized as the precursors for in situ generation of MoS 2 catalysts for the hydroconversion of biolipids. Taking methyl palmitate as the model compound, the excellent activity of in situ generated MoS 2 from ionic liquid Mo-based precursors was obtained. The turnover frequencies (TOFs) reached up to 1.6 × 102 h−1 for methyl palmitate conversion and 83 h−1 for hexadecane (C 16) yield at 320 °C and 0.5 h (42% conversion) under solvent-dilute conditions. The structures of in situ generated MoS 2 catalysts were characterized to provide explanations for the catalytic results. Based on the product distributions, the pathway of methyl palmitate hydroconversion was proposed, and the kinetics of methyl palmitate hydroconversion was analyzed in further detail. Applying the Mo-based ILs in the hydroconversion of methyl palmitate and palm oil under solvent-free condition also granted high conversions of feeds and selectivities of HDO products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In recent years, a growing number of researchers have begun to study fertility awareness (FA). Evidence suggests that college students in their reproductive years have a common understanding of fertility, risk factors for infertility, and assisted reproductive technologies. Therefore, this systematic review summarizes these studies and explores the factors affecting college students' fertility awareness. Methods: A systematic literature search of databases (PUBMED/MEDLINE, Cochrane, Web of Science, Embase, and EBSCO) was conducted from inception to September 2022. Studies that assessed the levels of fertility awareness and factors influencing college students were considered for the review. The qualities of the included studies were evaluated using the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines. This systematic review is reported according to the preferred reporting items for systematic review (PRISMA) guidelines. Results: Twenty-one articles met the eligibility criteria and were included. The preliminary results showed that participants reported low to moderate FA. Female medical students demonstrated higher levels of fertility awareness. The association between age, years of education, and FA was insufficient. Conclusion: The results of the current study suggest that increased FA interventions are warranted, especially for the male, non-medical student population. Governments and educational institutions should strengthen education programs for young students on reproductive health to help them raise awareness about childbirth, and society should provide family support for young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ontology user portraits describe the semantic structure of users' interests. It is very important to study the similar relationship between user portraits to find the communities with overlapping interests. The hierarchical characteristics of user interest can generate multiple similarity relations, which is conducive to the formation of interest clusters. This paper proposed a method of overlapping community detection combining the hierarchical characteristics of user interest and the module distribution entropy of node. First, a hierarchical user interest model was constructed based on the ontology knowledge base to measure the multi-granularity topic similarity of users. Then, a heterogeneous hypergraph was established by using the multi-granularity topic similarity and the following similarity of users to represent the interest network. Based on the mechanism of module distribution entropy of nodes, the community detection algorithm was applied to identify the interested community. The real performance of the proposed algorithm on multiple networks was verified by experiments. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is better than the typical overlapping community detection algorithm in terms of accuracy and recall rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) plays a pivotal role in the treatment of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, it remains controversial whether PCI delayed beyond the recommended time window of 12 h after the onset of symptoms is applicable to STEMI.Objective: The acute myocardial infarction (AMI) registration study in Xinjiang, China, is a real-world clinical trial (retrospective cohort study) that includes hospitalized patients. The purpose of this study was to compare delayed PCI and medication therapy beyond the recommended time window of 12 h after the onset of symptoms on the outcomes of STEMI patients.Methods and Results: From May 2012 to December 2015, a total of 1072 STEMI patients received delayed PCI (n=594) or standard medication therapy (MT) (n=478) more than 12 h after the onset of symptoms. The number of all-cause deaths in the delayed PCI group and that in the MT group were 55 (9.3%) and 138 (28.9%), respectively, and a significant difference between the groups was indicated for this variable (P<0.001). The number of cardiac deaths in the delayed PCI group and that in the medication therapy group were 47 (7.9%) and 120 (25.1%), respectively, and a significant difference between the groups was indicated for this variable (P<0.001). We also found that the MACE incidence in the delayed PCI group was significantly higher than it was in the MT group (32.2% versus 43.5%, P<0.001). Propensity score matching (PSM) analyses remained significant differences between the delayed PCI group and the MT group, respectively, in all-cause deaths (9.3% versus 25.8%, P<0.001) and cardiac death (8.7% versus 21.6%, P<0.001).Conclusion: Compared to medication therapy, PCI for STEMI delayed beyond 12 h after the onset of symptoms can better reduce mortality and the incidence of MACEs.Trial Registration: This study is registered with the following: Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov; Identifier: NCT02737956. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Development of a novel cracking catalyst for deoxygenation from earth abundant kaolin. • Characterization of the deoxygenation active sites on catalyst for the first time. • Correlation of the catalyst deoxygenation ability to its density of weak Lewis acids. • Study of the effects of density of Bronsted acids on triglyceride dehydrogenation. • The total amount of Bronsted acids determines the cracking capability of a catalyst. Abstract This work presents a cost-effective abundant kaolin-based cracking catalyst that has high deoxygenation, mild cracking, and low dehydrogenation performances for waste cooking oil (WCO) upgraded into organic liquid products (OLPs). Acid treated kaolin (ATK) exhibited high yield of 74.4% and high quality liquid products with high oxygen removal of 93.8% and low aromatic contents of 22.5%. The reference catalyst, a commercial petroleum catalyst (CC) could eliminate the most of oxygen (90.8%) but produced too many unexpected aromatics (55.8%). The density of weak Lewis acids was related to the deoxygenation capability. The density of Bronsted acids contributed to hydrogen transfer reactions. The total amount of Bronsted acids was correlated to cracking capability. The cracking by CC primarily followed carbonium ion reaction mechanism, whereas those by the kaolin-based catalysts complied more with free radical reaction mechanism. The deoxygenation active sites were characterized by CH 3 COOH-TPD for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Sulfur coverage at the edge of MoS 2 influences the effect of H 2 S on HDS activity. • Synergy of hematite and MoS 2 leads to favored DDS pathway. • The sigma adsorption of DBT is favored with vacancies present at edges of MoS 2. • Iron synergy with MoS 2 leads to the formation of a vacancy site over Mo-edge. • Acid sites are produced more readily by H 2 S dissociation than their H 2 counterparts. Abstract Experimental and computational studies were performed to investigate the effect of varying sulfur coverage over MoS 2 in hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of dibenzothiophene (DBT). Hematite and iron particles were employed as H 2 S scavengers. MoS 2 showed high hydrogenation (HYD) preference in HDS of DBT which was explained by the DFT calculations showing that HYD pathway is more favorable in brim adsorption. The addition of hematite drastically shifted this preference to direct desulfurization (DDS) pathway. DFT calculations showed that MoS 2 forms edges with 25% sulfur coverage in presence of hematite. The hydrogen dissociation was found to be energetically unfavorable (deactivated) over the Mo-edge with such sulfur coverage and becomes exothermic (reactivated) only after sigma adsorption of DBT on a vacancy site. In agreement with experimental results, calculations also showed that in the presence of vacancies, the sigma adsorption of DBT and therefore DDS pathway is more favorable. MoS 2 with iron particles present, favored the HYD reaction route, however, compared to MoS 2 the biphenyl (BP) selectivity increased while the selectivity for isomerized products was reduced. DFT calculations showed that in the presence of iron, Mo-edge has 37% coverage with a vacancy site formed over this edge which explains the higher DDS activity for this catalyst compared to MoS 2. A difference was observed in the ability of H 2 and H 2 S in creation of acid sites upon their dissociation at the edges. This was attributed to the difference in S H bond energies in each molecule and the change in oxidation sate of neighboring Mo atoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C27H18NO9Zn, triclinic, P 1 ¯ $P\overline{1}$ (no. 2), a = 8.4357(10) Å, b = 10.1228(10) Å, c = 13.5186(10) Å, α = 83.830(7)°, β = 10.1228(10)°, γ = 13.5186(10)°, V = 1142.05(19) Å3, Z = 2, Rgt(F) = 0.0665, wRref(F2) = 0.1427, T = 293(2) K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, multi-sensor fusion detection frameworks in autonomous driving, especially sequence-based data-level fusion frameworks, face high latency and coupling issues and generally perform worse than LiDAR-only detectors. On this basis, we propose PMPF, point-cloud multiple-pixel fusion, for 3D object detection. PMPF projects the point cloud data onto the image plane, where the region pixels are processed to correspond with the points and decorated to the point cloud data, such that the fused point cloud data can be applied to LiDAR-only detectors with autoencoders. PMPF is a plug-and-play, decoupled multi-sensor fusion detection framework with low latency. Extensive experiments on the KITTI 3D object detection benchmark show that PMPF vastly improves upon most of the LiDAR-only detectors, e.g., PointPillars, SECOND, CIA-SSD, SE-SSD four state-of-the-art one-stage detectors, and PointRCNN, PV-RCNN, Part-A2 three two-stage detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Blood–brain barrier (BBB) disruption is a major adverse event after ischemic stroke (IS). Caveolin-1 (Cav-1), a scaffolding protein, played multiple roles in BBB permeability after IS, while the pros and cons of Cav-1 on BBB permeability remain controversial. Numerous studies revealed that extracellular vesicles (EVs), especially stem cells derived EVs, exerted therapeutic efficacy on IS; however, the mechanisms of BBB permeability needed to be clearly illustrated. Herein, we compared the protective efficacy on BBB integrity between bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells derived extracellular vesicles (BMSC-EVs) and EVs from brain endothelial cells (BEC-EVs) after acute IS and investigated whether the mechanism was associated with EVs antagonizing Cav-1-dependent tight junction proteins endocytosis. Methods: BMSC-EVs and BEC-EVs were isolated and characterized by nanoparticle tracking analysis, western blotting, and transmission electron microscope. Oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD) treated b. End3 cells were utilized to evaluate brain endothelial cell leakage. CCK-8 and TRITC-dextran leakage assays were used to measure cell viability and transwell monolayer permeability. Permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAo) model was established, and EVs were intravenously administered in rats. Animal neurological function tests were applied, and microvessels were isolated from the ischemic cortex. BBB leakage and tight junction proteins were analyzed by Evans Blue (EB) staining and western blotting, respectively. Co-IP assay and Cav-1 siRNA/pcDNA 3.1 vector transfection were employed to verify the endocytosis efficacy of Cav-1 on tight junction proteins. Results: Both kinds of EVs exerted similar efficacies in reducing the cerebral infarction volume and BBB leakage and enhancing the expressions of ZO-1 and Claudin-5 after 24 h pMCAo in rats. At the same time, BMSC-EVs were outstanding in ameliorating neurological function. Simultaneously, both EVs treatments suppressed the highly expressed Cav-1 in OGD-exposed b. End3 cells and ischemic cerebral microvessels, and this efficacy was more prominent after BMSC-EVs administration. Cav-1 knockdown reduced OGD-treated b. End3 cells monolayer permeability and recovered ZO-1 and Claudin-5 expressions, whereas Cav-1 overexpression aggravated permeability and enhanced the colocalization of Cav-1 with ZO-1 and Claudin-5. Furthermore, Cav-1 overexpression partly reversed the lower cell leakage by BMSC-EVs and BEC-EVs administrations in OGD-treated b. End3 cells. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that Cav-1 aggravated BBB permeability in acute ischemic stroke, and BMSC-EVs exerted similar antagonistic efficacy to BEC-EVs on Cav-1-dependent ZO-1 and Claudin-5 endocytosis. BMSC-EVs treatment was superior in Cav-1 suppression and neurological function amelioration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancers are context-specific regulators of expression that drive biological complexity and variation through the redeployment of conserved genes. An example of this is the enhancer-mediated control of Engrailed 1 (EN1), a pleiotropic gene whose expression is required for the formation of mammalian eccrine sweat glands. We previously identified the En1 candidate enhancer (ECE) 18 cis-regulatory element that has been highly and repeatedly derived on the human lineage to potentiate ectodermal EN1 and induce our species' uniquely high eccrine gland density. Intriguingly, ECE18 quantitative activity is negligible outside of primates and ECE18 is not required for En1 regulation and eccrine gland formation in mice, raising the possibility that distinct enhancers have evolved to modulate the same trait. Here we report the identification of the ECE20 enhancer and show it has conserved functionality in mouse and human developing skin ectoderm. Unlike ECE18, knock-out of ECE20 in mice reduces ectodermal En1 and eccrine gland number. Notably, we find ECE20, but not ECE18, is also required for En1 expression in the embryonic mouse brain, demonstrating that ECE20 is a pleiotropic En1 enhancer. Finally, that ECE18 deletion does not potentiate the eccrine phenotype of ECE20 knock-out mice supports the secondary incorporation of ECE18 into the regulation of this trait in primates. Our findings reveal that the mammalian En1 regulatory machinery diversified to incorporate both shared and lineage-restricted enhancers to regulate the same phenotype, and also have implications for understanding the forces that shape the robustness and evolvability of developmental traits. Author summary: Enhancers are regulatory elements in the genome that modulate the expression of protein-coding genes by directing how much, where, or when a given gene is expressed. Accordingly, enhancers are major determinants of mammalian traits and thought to be the predominant drivers of evolutionary change. Here we interrogated the identity and compared the functionality of the enhancers that control the specification of a single, highly variable trait, the density of sweat glands in mammalian skin, by regulating expression of the mammalian Engrailed 1 (En1) gene during development. We find that mammals have evolved two distinct types of enhancers to regulate this single trait: a shared enhancer active in multiple mammalian species that not only controls En1 expression in the skin but also in the brain, and also an enhancer whose activity is restricted to the skin of primates and rapidly evolved on this lineage to affect sweat phenotypes. Our findings implicate differences in the intrinsic properties of enhancers, namely the extent to which their activity is restricted to a specific context, in shaping not only the complexity of the regulatory landscape of a developmental gene but also the means by which that landscape evolves to generate trait variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, attention mechanisms are widely used in aspect-level sentiment analysis tasks. Previous studies have only used attention mechanisms combined with neural networks for aspect-level sentiment classification, and the feature extraction of the model is insufficient. When the same aspect and sentiment polarity appear in multiple sentences, the semantic information sharing of the same domain is also ignored, resulting in low model performance. To address these problems, the paper proposes an aspect-level sentiment analysis model, GCAT-GTCU, which combines a Graph-connected Attention Network containing symmetry with Gate Than Change Unit. Three nodes of words, sentences, and aspects are constructed, and local and deep-level features of sentences are extracted using CNN splicing BiGRU; node connection information is added to GAT to form a GCAT containing symmetry to realize the information interaction of three nodes, pay attention to the contextual information, and update the shared information of three nodes at any time; a new gating mechanism GTCU is constructed to filter noisy information and control the flow of sentiment information; finally, the three nodes are extracted information to predict the final sentiment polarity. The experimental results on four publicly available datasets show that the model outperforms the baseline model against which it is compared in some very controlled situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Fulminant type 1 diabetes (FT1D) is a novel subtype of type 1 diabetes characterized by extremely rapid onset and complete deficiency of insulin due to the destruction of pancreatic β cells. However, the precise mechanisms underlying the etiology of this disease remain unclear. Methods. A total of 22 patients with FT1D and 10 healthy subjects were recruited. Serum antibodies to GAD, IA2, and ZnT8 in patients were tested. And peripheral T cell responses to GAD65, insulin B9-23 peptide, or C peptide were determined in 10 FT1D patients and 10 healthy controls. The mRNA levels of several related cytokines and molecules, such as IFN-γ, IL-4, RORC, and IL-17 in PBMCs from FT1D patients were analyzed by qRT-PCR. Result. We found that a certain proportion of Chinese FT1D patients actually have developed islet-related autoantibodies after onset of the disease. The GAD, insulin, or C peptide-reactive T cells were found in some FT1D patients. We also detected a significant increase for IFN-γ expression in FT1D PBMCs as compared with that of healthy controls. Conclusion. Autoimmune responses might be involved in the pathogenesis of Chinese FT1D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. In-stent restenosis (ISR) remains a common problem following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, the best treatment strategy remains uncertain. There is some controversy over the efficacy of drug-eluting balloons (DEBs) and second-generation drug-eluting stents (DESs) for treating ISR. Methods. A meta-analysis was used to compare the efficacy of the DEB and second-generation DES in the treatment of ISR. The primary endpoint is the incidence of target lesion revascularization (TLR). The secondary endpoint is the occurrence of target vessel revascularization (TVR), myocardial infarction (MI), all-cause death (ACM), cardiac death (CD), major adverse cardiac events (MACEs), minimum luminal diameter (MLD), late luminal loss (LLL), binary restenosis (BR), and percent diameter stenosis (DS%). Results. A total of 12 studies (4 randomized controlled trials and 8 observational studies) including 2020 patients with a follow-up of 6–25 months were included in the present study. There was a significant difference in the MLD between the two groups during follow-up (P=0.007, RR = 0.23, and 95% CI: 0.06–0.4 mm). There was no significant difference in LLL, BR, or DS% and the overall incidence of MACEs between the two groups. Subgroup analysis showed no significant difference in the incidence of primary and secondary endpoints when considering RCTs or observational studies only. Conclusions. The efficacy of the DEB and second-generation DES in the treatment of ISR is comparable. However, our results need further verification through multicenter randomized controlled trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Treatment landscape in prostate cancer has changed dramatically with the emergence of new medicines in the past few years. The traditional survival partition model (SPM) cannot accurately predict long-term clinical outcomes because it is limited by its ability to capture the key consequences associated with this changing treatment paradigm. The objective of this study was to introduce and validate a discrete-event simulation (DES) model for prostate cancer.Methods: A DES model was developed to simulate overall survival (OS) and other clinical outcomes based on patient characteristics, treatment received, and disease progression history. We tested and validated this model with clinical trial data from the abiraterone acetate phase III trial (COU-AA-302). The model was constructed with interim data (55% death) and validated with the final data (96% death). Predicted OS values were also compared with those from the SPM.Results: The DES model's predicted time to chemotherapy and OS are highly consistent with the final observed data. The model accurately predicts the OS hazard ratio from the final data cut (predicted: 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.64-0.85 and final actual: 0.74; 95% CI 0.6-0.88). The log-rank test to compare the observed and predicted OS curves indicated no statistically significant difference between observed and predicted curves. However, the predictions from the SPM based on interim data deviated significantly from the final data.Conclusions: Our study showed that a DES model with properly developed risk equations presents considerable improvements to the more traditional SPM in flexibility and predictive accuracy of long-term outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical properties of metal components are determined by the solidification behaviour and microstructure. A quantitative phase field model is used to investigate the microstructure evolution of fusedcoating additive manufacturing, by which to improve the quality of deposition. During the fused-coating process, the molten metal in a crucible flows out of a nozzle and then reaches the substrate. The solidification happens at the moment when the molten metal comes into contact with substrate moving in three-dimensional space. The macroscopic heat transfer model of fused-coating is established to get the temperature field considered as the initial temperature boundary conditions in the phase field model. The numerical and experimental results show that the morphology of grains varies with different solidification environments. Columnar grains are observed during the early period at the bottom of fused-coating layer and the equiaxed grains appear subsequently ahead of the columnar grains. Columnar dendrites phase field simulations about the grains morphology and solute distribution are conducted considering the solidification environments. The simulation results are in good agreement with experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As a member of the Krüppel-like factor (KLFs) family, Krüppel-like factor 6 (KLF6) plays a critical role in regulating key cellular functions. Presently, scholars have proved the important role of KLF6 in the tumorigenesis of certain cancers through a large number of experiments. However, gaps still remain in our knowledge of the role of KLF6 in pancreatic cancer (PAAD). Therefore, this paper mainly investigates the role of KLF6 in the progression of pancreatic cancer. Methods: The expression pattern of KLF6 in pancreatic cancer was explored in pancreatic cancer tissues and cell lines. Then, we investigated the prognostic value of KLF6 in pancreatic cancer by immunohistochemical assays. Next, Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) and clone information assays were employed to explore the proliferation of PAAD affected by KLF6. The metastasis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) abilities affected by KLF6 were identified through transwell invasion as well as migration assays and western blots. Finally, the TRRUST tool was used to analyze the potential targeted genes of KLF6. The results were verified by Quantificational Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR), western blot and rescue assays. Results: KLF6 expresses lowly in pancreatic cancer compared to corresponding normal tissues and relates to poor survival times. Overexpression of KLF6 inhibits the proliferation, metastasis, and EMT progression in pancreatic cancer cells. Further studies suggest that KLF6 could upregulate ATF3 in PAAD. Conclusions: Our results suggest that KLF6 can be a useful factor in predicting the prognosis of PAAD patients and that it inhibits the progression of pancreatic cancer by upregulating activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is particularly important to establish more effective and safer antiplatelet treatment strategies according to age. The present subanalysis of the PATH-PCI trial was to determine the safety and efficacy of any dual-antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) strategy in different age groups. We randomized 2285 chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) into a standard group or a personalized group from December 2016 to February 2018. The personalized group received personalized antiplatelet therapy (PAT) based on a novel platelet function test (PFT). The standard group received standard antiplatelet therapy (SAT). Then, all patients were divided according to age (under the age of 65 years and aged 65 years or over) to investigate the association and interaction of age on clinical outcomes at 180 days. In the patients under the age of 65 years, the incidence of NACEs was decreased in the personalized group compared to the standard group (5.1% vs. 8.8%, HR: 0.603, 95% CI: 0.409–0.888, P =.010). The rates of MACCEs (3.3% vs. 7.7%, HR: 0.450, 95% CI: 0.285–0.712, P =.001), MACEs (2.2% vs. 5.4%, HR: 0.423, 95% CI: 0.243–0.738, P =.002) also decreased. We did not find a significant difference in bleeding between the groups. In the patients aged 65 years or over, no difference in the primary endpoint was found (4.9% vs. 4.2%, P =.702), and comparable rates of survival were observed with the two strategies (all Ps > 0.05). The present study shows that PAT according to PFT was comparable to SAT at the 180-day follow-up for both ischemic and bleeding endpoints in CCS patients aged 65 years or over who underwent PCI. In patients under the age of 65 years, PAT can reduce ischemic events but does not increase bleeding, and it is an effective and safe treatment strategy. It may be necessary for young CCS patients after PCI to undergo PAT early after PCI. What is the context? The PATH-PCI trial reported that personalized antiplatelet therapy (PAT) based on a novel platelet function test (PFT) can greatly reduce the incidence of ischemic events. Antiplatelet strategies may have very different effects on clinical outcomes in patients in China who are undergoing PCI at different ages. What is new? PL-12 is a new point-of-care platelet function analyzer that is used to test the platelet maximum aggregation rate (MAR). We explored the efficacy and safety of different antiplatelet strategies in chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) patients in different age groups. What is the impact? PAT according to PFT was comparable to standard antiplatelet therapy (SAT) at the 180-day follow-up for both ischemic and bleeding endpoints in CCS patients aged 65 years or over who underwent PCI. In patients under the age of 65 years, PAT can reduce ischemic events but not increase bleeding. PAT may be an effective and safe treatment strategy in CCS patients under the age of 65 years who underwent PCI. Abbreviation: PCI: percutaneous coronary intervention; CCS: chronic coronary syndrome; DAPT: dual antiplatelet therapy; PAT: personalized antiplatelet therapy; SAT: standard antiplatelet therapy; PFT: platelet function test; NACEs: net adverse clinical events; MACCEs: major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events; MACEs: major adverse cardiovascular events [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CeO 2 -ZrO 2 (CZ) supported catalysts were tested for their ability to deoxygenate guaiacol using H 2 produced in-situ via the water-gas-shift reaction (WGSR). Activity tests were performed using a horizontally stirred batch reactor and an atmosphere containing only CO and H 2 O. CZ-41, a CZ support nano-casted from MCM-41, provided a high surface area (213 m2/g) and a high percentage of oxygen vacancies. A sequentially prepared 2%Ni4%Fe catalyst supported on CZ-41 produced significant amounts of H 2 and CO 2 and achieved higher guaiacol conversion than 2%Co4%Fe/CZ-41 which was prepared via co-addition. Following activity tests with and without additional H 2 confirmed the vital role of surface activated hydrogen for the conversion of guaiacol. Compared to 2%Ni4%Fe/CZ-41, trimetallic 2%Ni0.5%Co4%Fe/CZ-41 had improved WGSR capabilities as Co was added with Fe to make it more reducible. [Display omitted] • High surface area ceria-zirconia is achieved by nano-casting on MCM-41 (CZ-41). • CZ-41 is rich with oxygen vacancy sites. • 2%Ni4%Fe/CZ-41 can deoxygenate guaiacol with hydrogen produced internally via WGSR. • Addition of 0.5%Co to the Fe phase of 2%Ni4%Fe/CZ-41 boosts WGSR activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]