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The sensitivity of electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor relies on the co‐reactant and the electrode modification materials. Herein, dual co‐reactants (O2 and K2S2O8) and porous carbon with doped N and Fe3O4 (Fe‐N−C) materials modified electrode were proposed for ECL signal amplification in a quantum dots (QDs) ECL system. Firstly, Fe‐N−C materials were synthesized and the effect of pyrolysis temperature on Fe‐N−C materials was evaluated towards ECL intensity. The developed ECL sensor exhibited high sensitivity and specificity towards oxytetracycline (OTC) detection with a detection limit of 0.27 pM (≈ 0.12 ng L−1). Doped N in porous Fe‐N−C materials not only promoted the O2 reduction reaction (ORR) but also accelerated the conversion of Fe2+/Fe3+ in Fe3O4, which catalyzed co‐reactants to their relevant free radicals (SO4⋅− and ⋅OH). Moreover, the decomposition efficiency of K2S2O8 and generation of free radical were promoted through the reaction between OH⋅ and K2S2O8, as well as SO4⋅− and H2O. Therefore, the amounts of excited QDs were increased via the energy and electron transfer process between QDs and free radicals, resulting in a highly enhanced ECL signal. The proposed signal amplification strategy offered an efficient way to improve the catalytic activity of ECL reagents and to boost the sensitivity of ECL sensors. Dual co‐reactants (O2 and K2S2O8) and Fe‐N−C materials modified electrode were designed to boost the signal amplification in a quantum dots ECL system. Based on the specific recognition of sandwich‐type structure with antibody and aptamer, ECL sensors were applied for OTC detection by monitoring ECL signal. The ECL sensor exhibited high sensitivity and specificity with detection limit of 0.27 pM (≈ 0.12 ng L−1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A DR of power credit model was established. • Virtual RTP was introduced based on power credit scheme. • Considering consumer comfort while optimizing cost. • Cost & uncertainty analysis was conducted to prove rationality of the model. Abstract In view of real-time pricing implementation difficulties and certain deficiencies of the time-of-use price in China, a novel virtual real-time electricity pricing scheme is proposed based on power credit incentive program in this paper, which can help to achieve better results for peak load shifting than the conventional time-of-use price-based scheme. In addition, it can also work as virtual real-time pricing mechanism. The aim of this study from the perspective of load scheduling of residential appliance device, focuses on the optimization of cost and willingness to change of the user, and further examining the feasibility and effectiveness of electricity pricing mechanism in detail. Finally, the application prospect of the electricity pricing mechanism in demand response is evaluated and the performance of the model in our study established with illustration from our simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important kind of renewable energy, China's photovoltaic (PV) industry has experienced many challenges in different historical stages. Many PV enterprises emerge in the stock market, correlate with each other, and form China's PV stock market network. However, the mutual influence between any two companies in the stock market is impacted by other enterprises and some external factors, which is not considered in the previous studies. In order to study the direct interdependence among China's PV stock markets, we propose the partial Granger causality network (PGCN) model. It is a first practice in the model to apply partial Granger causality to quantify the direct interactions between stock returns. The daily closing prices of 79 China's PV enterprises are selected, and the whole research period 2007.10.2–2016.10.3 is divided into four sub-periods according to three important time nodes. The PGCN in the overall period and four sub-networks are also constructed. Combined with the dynamic behaviors of networks' topological properties, the distribution of enterprise's influence, the conductive force of enterprises, and the stability of the stock market are analyzed. Meanwhile, the regional agglomeration development pattern is revealed, and top 10 influential enterprises are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drynaria roosii (Nakaike) is a traditional Chinese medicinal fern, known as 'GuSuiBu'. The effective components, naringin and neoeriocitrin, share a highly similar chemical structure and medicinal function. Our HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) results showed that the accumulation of naringin/neoeriocitrin depended on specific tissues or ages. However, little was known about the expression patterns of naringin/neoeriocitrin-related genes involved in their regulatory pathways. Due to a lack of basic genetic information, we applied a combination of single molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing and second-generation sequencing (SGS) to generate the complete and full-length transcriptome of D. roosii. According to the SGS data, the differentially expressed gene (DEG)-based heat map analysis revealed that naringin/neoeriocitrin-related gene expression exhibited obvious tissue- and time-specific transcriptomic differences. Using the systems biology method of modular organization analysis, we clustered 16,472 DEGs into 17 gene modules and studied the relationships between modules and tissue/time point samples, as well as modules and naringin/neoeriocitrin contents. We found that naringin/neoeriocitrin- related DEGs distributed in nine distinct modules, and DEGs in these modules showed significantly different patterns of transcript abundance to be linked to specific tissues or ages. Moreover, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) results further identified that PAL, 4CL and C4H, and C3H and HCT acted as the major hub genes involved in naringin and neoeriocitrin synthesis, respectively, and exhibited high co-expression with MYB- and basic helix-leucine-helix (bHLH)-regulated genes. In this work, modular organization and co-expression networks elucidated the tissue and time specificity of the gene expression pattern, as well as hub genes associated with naringin/neoeriocitrin synthesis in D. roosii. Simultaneously, the comprehensive transcriptome data set provided important genetic information for further research on D. roosii. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human HtrA family of serine proteases (HtrA1, HtrA2, HtrA3, and HtrA4) are the key enzymes associated with pregnancy and closely related to the development and progression of many pathological events. Previously, it was found that halogen substitution at the indole moiety of peptide Trp-1 residue can form a geometrically satisfactory halogen bond with the Drosophila discs large, zona occludens-1 (PDZ) domain of HtrA proteases. Here, we attempt to systematically investigate the effect of substitution with 4 halogen types and 2 indole positions on the binding affinity and specificity of peptide ligands to the 4 HtrA PDZ domains. The complex structures, interaction energies, halogen-bonding strength, and binding affinity of domain-peptide systems were modeled, analyzed, and measured via computational modeling and fluorescence-based assay. It is revealed that there is a compromise between the local rearrangement of halogen bond involving different halogen atoms and the global optimization of domain-peptide interaction; the substitution position is fundamentally important for peptide-binding affinity, while the halogen type can effectively shift peptide selectivity between the 4 domains. The HtrA1-PDZ and HtrA4-PDZ as well as HtrA2-PDZ and HtrA3-PDZ respond similarly to different halogen substitutions of peptide; -Br substitution at R2-position and --I substitution at R4-position are most effective in improving peptide selectivity for HtrA1-PDZ/HtrA4-PDZ and HtrA2-PDZ/HtrA3- PDZ, respectively; -F substitution would not address substantial effect on peptide selectivity for all the 4 domains. Consequently, the binding affinities of a native peptide ligand DSRIWWV--COOH as well as its 4 R2-halogenated counterparts were determined as 1.9, 1.4, 0.5, 0.27, and 0.92 µM, which are basically consistent with computational analysis. This study would help to rationally design selective peptide inhibitors of HtrA family members by using different halogen substitutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Of Study: The current meta-analysis investigated the correlation between breast cancer type 1 (BRCA1) promoter methylation and the clinicopathological features of breast cancer (BC).Materials and Methods: An electronic literature search was performed to identify and select cohort studies, by employing stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria, for data relevant to promoter methylation of BRCA1 and BC. Statistical analysis of the extracted data was performed using comprehensive meta-analysis 2.0 software (CMA 2.0) (Biostat Inc., Englewood, New Jersey, USA).Results: A total of 125 published studies were retrieved from the literature search, and finally, 18 cohort studies meeting our inclusion criteria were incorporated into our meta-analysis. The 18 studies contained a total of 3213 BC patients. Meta-analysis results revealed that BRCA1 promoter methylation in BC patients with high and moderately differentiated tumors (I-II) was significantly lower than patients with poorly-differentiation tumors (III) (odds ratio [OR] =0.450, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] =0.241-0.838, P = 0.012). BRCA1 promoter methylation in BC patients with lymph node (LN) metastasis was significantly higher than patients without LN metastasis (OR = 2.244, 95% CI = 1.278-3.940, P = 0.005). The results of ethnicity-based subgroup analysis showed a significant difference in histological grade of BC on Asians, LN metastasis of BC in Asians and Caucasians, subtypes of BC in Caucasians, and age at diagnosis of BC patients in Caucasians (all P < 0.05).Conclusions: Our meta-analysis revealed that BRCA1 promoter methylation status is linked to tumor grade and LN metastasis of BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a new affinity medium of Zn-SBA-15-immobilized ACE was prepared and applied in the separation of ACE inhibitor peptides from Volutharpa ampullacea perryi protein hydrolysate. Molecular sieve SBA-15 for immobilizing ACE was prepared by hydrothermal crystallization method. Zn2+ was directly adsorbed by SBA-15 to form Zn-SBA-15. ACE was immobilized on Zn-SBA-15 by affinity adsorption. ACE inhibitory peptides were separated by affinity chromatography based on the specific binding force between immobilized ACE and its inhibitors. The bound peptides were released by 2 M NaCl and further purified by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Then the amino acid sequence of two peptides with ACE inhibitory activity was identified by MS/MS. Two new ACE inhibitory peptides Ile-Val-Thr-Asn-Trp-Asp-Asp-Met-Glu-Lys (IC50 = 2.08 mM)) and Val-Gly-Pro-Ala-Gly-Arg-Pro-Gly (IC50 = 4.66 mM) were purified from Volutharpa ampullacea perryi protein hydrolysate. The study suggest that the two peptides separated from the Volutharpa ampullacea perryi protein hydrolysate were potent ACE inhibitors and may be used to decrease blood pressure. The significance of the research is to prepare a new affinity medium of Zn-SBA-15 immobilized ACE and apply it in separation of ACE inhibitory peptides from Volutharpa ampullacea perryi protein hydrolysate, which can also provide an effective means to separate the peptides with ACE inhibitory activities from other food sources. It can promote the research and development of antihypertensive active substances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human awareness plays an important role in the spread of infectious diseases and the control of propagation patterns. Exploring the interplay between human awareness and epidemic spreading is a topic that has been receiving increasing attention. Considering the fact, some well-known diseases only spread between different species we propose a theoretical analysis of the Susceptible–Infected–Susceptible (SIS) epidemic spread from the perspective of bipartite network and risk aversion. Using mean field theory, the epidemic threshold is calculated theoretically. Simulation results are consistent with the proposed analytic model. The results show that, the final infection density is negative linear with the value of individuals’ risk awareness. Therefore, the epidemic spread could be effectively suppressed by improving individuals’ risk awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the parametric modified limited penetrable visibility graph (PMLPVG) algorithm for constructing complex networks from time series. We modify the penetrable visibility criterion of limited penetrable visibility graph (LPVG) in order to improve the rationality of the original penetrable visibility and preserve the dynamic characteristics of the time series. The addition of view angle provides a new approach to characterize the dynamic structure of the time series that is invisible in the previous algorithm. The reliability of the PMLPVG algorithm is verified by applying it to three types of artificial data as well as the actual data of natural gas prices in different regions. The empirical results indicate that PMLPVG algorithm can distinguish the different time series from each other. Meanwhile, the analysis results of natural gas prices data using PMLPVG are consistent with the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). The results imply that the PMLPVG algorithm may be a reasonable and significant tool for identifying various time series in different fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the influence of Brent oil price fluctuations on the stock prices of China’s two distinct blocks, namely, the petrochemical block and the electric equipment and new energy block, applying the Shannon entropy of information theory. The co-movement trend of crude oil price and stock prices is divided into different fluctuation patterns with the coarse-graining method. Then, the bivariate time series network model is established for the two blocks stock in five different periods. By joint analysis of the network-oriented metrics, the key modes and underlying evolutionary mechanisms were identified. The results show that the both networks have different fluctuation characteristics in different periods. Their co-movement patterns are clustered in some key modes and conversion intermediaries. The study not only reveals the lag effect of crude oil price fluctuations on the stock in Chinese industry blocks but also verifies the necessity of research on special periods, and suggests that the government should use different energy policies to stabilize market volatility in different periods. A new way is provided to study the unidirectional influence between multiple variables or complex time series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effects of Saikosaponin a (SSa), a triterpene saponin derived from Radix bupleuri, on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury (ALI) using a murine model. The mice were given SSa 1 h after intranasal instillation of LPS. Then, lung histopathological examination, the wet/dry (W/D) ratio, myeloperoxidase (MPO), and inflammatory cytokines in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were detected in this study. The results showed that SSa reduced lung pathological injury induced by LPS. Furthermore, LPS-induced lung W/D ratio, MPO activity, and inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-1β in BALF were significantly inhibited by SSa. In addition, SSa suppressed LPS-induced NF-κB activation and NLRP3 inflammasome expression. In conclusion, we found that SSa played a critical anti-inflammatory effect through inhibition of NF-κB and NLRP3 signaling pathways and protected against LPS-induced ALI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitatively ascertaining and analyzing long-term responses of crop yield and nitrate leaching on varying irrigation and fertilization treatments are focal points for guaranteeing crop yield and reducing nitrogen loss. The calibrated agricultural-hydrological RZWQM2 model was used to explore the long-term (2003–2013) transport processes of water and nitrogen and the nitrate leaching amount into groundwater in summer maize and winter wheat rotation field in typical intensive plant area in the North China Plain, Daxing district of Beijing. Simulation results showed that application rates of irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer have couple effects on crop yields and nitrogen leaching of root zone. When both the irrigation and fertilizer for summer maize and winter wheat were 400 mm and 400 kg N ha − 1 , respectively, nitrate leaching into groundwater accounted for 47.9% of application amount of nitrogen fertilizer. When application amount of irrigation is 200 mm and fertilization is 200 kg N ha − 1 , NUPE (nitrogen uptake efficiency), NUE (nitrogen use efficiency), NPFP (nitrogen partial factor productivity), and W pi (irrigation water productive efficiency) were in general higher than that under other irrigation and fertilization condition (irrigation from 104–400 mm, fertilizer 104–400 kg N ha − 1 ). Irrigation bigger than 200 mm could shorten the response time of nitrate leaching in deeper soil layer in different irrigation treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many current studies on smart grid in electricity market are indicative of the key role it plays in electricity generation, distribution, retailing and end-user management. Demand response programs (DRPs) can be used to lower high energy prices in wholesale electricity markets, and ensure the security of power systems when at risk. The concern of most researchers in this field is to further unearth the potential of smart grid in the direction of demand response (DR) through enhanced demand side management (DSM) centering on the behavior of the end-user. Our model proposes a more effective way in using incentive based demand response program to help residential customers derive more benefits from smart grid. The constrained non-linear programming (CNLP) model optimizes residential consumption of electricity by shaving of load at peak and increasing of load at off-peak to help generators reduce production cost at peak times and increase revenue at of off-peaks. The model uses a credit function to regulate consumption and reward end-users for load shedding and load shifting at peaks and also at off-peaks reward end-users for increasing load. The simulated results show that, high consumption appliances are best used at dawn, midday, and at night, if consumers want to cut down cost. The corresponding effect is that, generating and distribution companies derive the right revenue from their investments by not producing beyond their capacity during peaks at high cost and maintain constant power supply in and environmentally friendly manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The small leucine-rich proteoglycans (SLRPs), decorin and biglycan, are key regulators of collagen fibril and matrix assembly. The goal of this work was to elucidate the roles of decorin and biglycan in tendon homeostasis. Our central hypothesis is that decorin and biglycan expression in the mature tendon would be critical for the maintenance of the structural and mechanical properties of healthy tendons. Defining the function(s) of these SLRPs in tendon homeostasis requires that effects in the mature tendon be isolated from their influence on development. Thus, we generated an inducible knockout mouse model that permits genetic ablation of decorin and biglycan expression in the mature tendon, while maintaining normal expression during development. Decorin and biglycan expression were knocked out in the mature patellar tendon with the subsequent turnover of endogenous SLRPs deposited prior to induction. The acute absence of SLRP expression was associated with changes in fibril structure with a general shift to larger diameter fibrils in the compound knockout tendons, together with fibril diameter heterogeneity. In addition, tendon mechanical properties were altered. Compared to wild-type controls, acute ablation of both genes resulted in failure of the tendon at lower loads, decreased stiffness, a trend towards decreased dynamic modulus, as well as a significant increase in percent relaxation and tissue viscosity. Collagen fiber realignment was also increased with a delayed and slower in response to load in the absence of expression. These structural and functional changes in response to an acute loss of decorin and biglycan expression in the mature tendon demonstrate a significant role for these SLRPs in adult tendon homeostasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) regulates many important processes in plants. It is a major molecule facilitating signal transduction during the abiotic stress response. In this study, an ABA-inducible transcription factor gene, MdAREB2, was identified in apple. Transgenic analysis was performed to characterize its function in ABA sensitivity. Overexpression of the MdAREB2 gene increased ABA sensitivity in the transgenic apple compared with the wild-type (WT) control. In addition, it was found that the protein MdAREB2 was phosphorylated at a novel site Thr411 in response to ABA. A yeast two-hybridization screen of an apple cDNA library demonstrated that a protein kinase, MdCIPK22, interacted with MdAREB2. Their interaction was further verified with Pull Down and Co-IP assays. A series of transgenic analyses in apple calli and plantlets showed that MdCIPK22 was required for ABA-induced phosphorylation at Thr411 of the MdAREB2 protein and enhanced its stability and transcriptional activity. Finally, it was found that MdCIPK22 increased ABA sensitivity in an MdAREB2-dependent manner. Our findings indicate a novel phosphorylation site in CIPK-AREB regulatory module for the ABA signalling pathway, which would be helpful for researchers to identify the functions of uncharacterized homologs in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has become the largest producer and consumer of cement worldwide. In 2011, carbon emissions of China’s cement industries accounted for 60.6% of cement carbon emissions worldwide. In this context, this paper mainly investigates whether eco-efficiency of China’s cement manufacturers has converging tendency or not. First, we evaluated eco-efficiency under directional distance function (DDF) and the directional slack-based measure (DSBM) to compare their biases. Furthermore, we also implement unit root test of panel data to testify convergence analysis upon eco-efficiency in different regions of China in order to overcoming the demerit of conventional convergence approach, which might have invalid inferences. Our empirical analysis revealed that eco-efficiency under DDF has gaps with that under DSBM due to excess input or output shortages. Eco-efficiency in the east, middle and west converged. It is necessary to substitute raw material, increase additive and improve waste use for China’s cement manufacturers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aqueous two-phase micellar system (ATPMS), as an alternative liquid–liquid extraction technique, has been extensively exploited for the precise separation or large-scale concentration of biomolecules. In this article, a novel affinity-based ATPMS composed of mixed micelles was constructed by introducing a Copper-chelated Triton X-114 (TX-Cu(II)) into an aqueous solution of hydrophobically modified ethylene oxide polymer (HM-EO). Phase diagram of the HM-EO/TX-Cu(II) system was measured, and the partitioning behavior of model proteins (YND, BSA, lysozyme) were studied by using this new system. The addition of HM-EO can result in formation of the micellar network in the micelle-rich phase, making the phase separation easier and stabler. In addition, the extractive performance of ATPMS was enhanced due to the existence of the mixed micelles composed by HM-EO and Cu(II)-chelated TX. It was found in the partitioning experiments that the hexahistidine-tagged Yeast 3′,5′-bisphosphate nucleotidase (YND) was selectively extracted into the micelle-rich phase, while the histidine-poor proteins (BSA and lysozyme) remained in the micelle-poor phase. Finally, HM-EO/TX-Cu(II) was used directly to process the fermentation broth. The target protein, YND could be recovered from the cell lysate with a recovery yield of 49.23% and purification factor of 2.63. The results indicated that the new affinity-based HM-EO/TX-Cu(II) system had high partitioning performance which is promising for effectively separation of the histidine-tagged proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A new class of FLT3 inhibitors with pyrido[3,4-b]pyrazin-2(1 H)-one scaffold was discovered. • SARs of pyrido.[3,4-b]pyrazin-2(1 H)-one derivatives were fully explored. • The privileged compound 13 potently inhibited the activities of FLT3 and FLT3-D835Y. • Compound 13 significantly inhibited the phosphorylation of FLT3 and FLT3 mediated signaling pathway. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is characterized by fast progression and low survival rates, in which Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) receptor mutations have been identified as driver mutations in a subgroup of AML patients. Herein, we describe the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of a novel series of potent pyrido.[3,4-b]pyrazin-2(1 H)-one derivatives as FLT3 inhibitors. The compounds exhibited moderate to potent FLT3 kinase inhibitory potency and excellent antiproliferative activities against MV4-11 cells. Among them, compound 13 demonstrated the most potent kinase activity against FLT3-D835Y (IC 50 = 29.54 ± 4.76 nM) and cellular potency against MV4-11 cells (IC 50 = 15.77 ± 0.15 nM). Compound 13 also efficiently inhibited the growth of multiple mutant BaF3 cells expressing FLT3-D835V/F, FLT3-F691L, and FLT3-ITD/D835Y. Furthermore, compound 13 was metabolically stable in mouse liver microsomes. Moreover, the treatment with compound 13 led to robust inhibition of FLT3 autophosphorylation on Tyr589/591 in MV4-11 cells. In summary, our data demonstrated that 13 was worthy of further study for the treatment of AML. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the clinical characteristics of Kawasaki disease (KD) presenting with abdominal manifestation as the first manifestation. Our findings may help improve the cognition of KD with abdominal complications, and avoid misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis. A retrospective analysis was conducted of 1490 KD patients admitted to Shengjing Hospital between January 2019 and March 2022. Clinical characteristics, related factors, and prognosis of KD with abdominal manifestation as first manifestation were analyzed. Based on the presenting symptoms, patients were divided into gastrointestinal symptom group (n = 141), liver dysfunction group (n = 55), and control group (n = 1294). In the gastrointestinal group, diarrhea [100 cases (70.9%)], vomiting [55 cases (39.0%)], and abdominal pain [34 cases (24.1%)] were the most common symptoms at onset. 8 cases (5.7%) were complicated with pseudo-intestinal obstruction, 6 cases (4.3%) with ischemic colitis, 5 cases (3.5%) with pancreatitis, 2 cases (1.4%) with appendicitis, and 1 case (0.7%) with cholecystitis. Comparied to ordinary gastroenteritis caused by infection, gastroenteritis with KD has longer fever duration before treatment, higher WBC, PLT, CRP, AST levels and lower albumin levels. All patients in the liver dysfunction group had elevated transaminases, and 19 patients (34.5%) presented with jaundice. In the gastrointestinal group, the average hospital stay was 10.3 days, and the incidence of IVIG unresponsiveness and coronary artery lesion were 18.4% and 19.9%, respectively, which were significantly higher than that in the control group. In the liver dysfunction group, the average hospital stay (11.18 days), incidence of IVIG unresponsiveness (25.5%), and incidence of coronary artery lesion (29.1%) were significantly higher than that in the control group. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, gastrointestinal involvement, fever duration, ALT, PLT, and CRP were identified as risk factors for CAL, younger age, gastrointestinal involvement and fever duration were risk factors for IVIG unresponsiveness. Conclusion: KD with gastrointestinal involvement is associated with a higher risk of IVIG unresponsiveness and coronary artery lesion. KD should be considered in the differential diagnosis of children with acute fever, especially those with gastrointestinal involvement and liver dysfunction. What is Known: • Fever duration, PLT, and CRP were identified as risk factors for CAL. Timely diagnosis and application of IVIG treatment can avoid exploratory laparotomy for ileus, appendectomy for misdiagnosed appendicitis, colonoscopy for misdiagnosed inflammatory bowel disease, and reduce the complications of CAL and IVIG unresponsiveness. What is New: • Abdominal symptoms as the first manifestation can be an independent risk factor for CAL and IVIG unresponsiveness. KD should be considered in the differential diagnosis of children with acute fever, especially those with gastrointestinal symptoms or liver dysfunction. • Gastroenteritis in KD group had longer fever duration before treatment, accompanied with higher WBC, PLT, CRP, AST levels and lower albumin levels than those gastroenteritis caused by infection. Therefore, high attention should be paid to the possibility of KD when gastroenteritis accompanied by along fever duration, high WBC, PLT, CRP, AST level or lowalbumin level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sucrose transporters are crucial factor in carbon partitioning and in response to environmental stresses. They coordinate sucrose transport with plant growth and development. In this study, an apple sucrose transporter gene MdSUT2 was ectopically transformed into tomato. Transgenic tomato lines were used for functional characterization. Soluble sugar content was increased in transgenic tomato lines. Esculin uptake assay indicated sucrose transport activity was improved in the roots of transgenic tomato lines. Meanwhile, the MdSUT2 transgenic lines accumulated more anthocyanin in leaves when grew under low temperature conditions than the WT control, and noticeably enhanced tolerance to drought and salt stresses. The ectopic expression of MdSUT2 resulted in early flowering and fruit-ripening in the transgenic tomatoes. These findings provide evidence for the role of sucrose transporters in promoting fruit ripening and resistance to abiotic stresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electricity power is a basic industrial component which plays an important role in the economy of a nation. In this paper, the correlations evolution of electricity prices among 50 states and the District of Columbia are studied based on random matrix theory (RMT) Four regime shifts are identified from January 1990 to August 2014 in the U.S. residential, commercial and industrial electricity markets. Then, the genetic algorithm (GA) is applied to analyze the clusters of evolution. The results show that, the correlations of electricity prices increased continually in the three departments. However, it decreased in 2012 which further confirms its sensitivity to fuel market. Besides, four regime shifts exist in the three departments though the different times of occurrence caused by price level. And, the fluctuation of community evolution is consistent with four regime shifts. The final part is a summary of the research analyzed and results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The catalytic intramolecular Wittig reactions of carbonyl-containing bromides are reported. The R3PO byproducts participate in the catalytic cycle; therefore, the Wittig reaction can be accomplished with only a catalytic amount of organophosphorus reagent. The reaction has also been applied to the efficient and selective synthesis of isoquinolin-1(2H)-ones, indoles, 2,3-dihydro-1H-2-benzazepin-1-ones, benzofurans, and 1,2-dihydroquinolines with a catalytic amount of phosphine oxide (0.1 equiv.) and a tetramethyldisiloxane/titanium isopropoxide [TMDS/Ti(OiPr)4] reductant system (yields: 35-88 %). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective This study aimed to explore the efficacy of vitamin B complex as an adjuvant therapy for the treatment of complicated vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) in vitro and in vivo. Methods One-hundred fifty-eight complicated VVC patients were randomly divided into group A (treated with suppository + oral antifungal agents), group B (treated with suppository + vaginal cream), and group C (treated with suppository + vaginal cream + oral vitamin B complex). A mouse model of VVC was established. Eighty VVC mice were randomly divided into 4 groups according to the dose of vitamin B complex (20 mice in each group): V1 group (injected with 150 μL normal salin), V2 group (injected with 50 μL vitamin B complex solution + 100 μL normal saline), V3 group (injected with 100 μL vitamin B complex solution + 50 μL normal saline), and V4 group (injected with 150 μL vitamin B complex solution). After 4 weeks of treatment, the vaginal secretion was obtained for microscopic smear examination. HE stainning was performed to observe histopathological changes of vaginal tissues. The expressions of inflammatory factors were detected by ELISA. Meanwhile, VVC model of vaginal epithelial cells was established. The effects of different concentrations of vitamin B complex on anti-fungal effect of fluconazole were detected in vitro. Results After the treatment, complicated patients in the group C had significantly higher effective rates than those in the group A and group B. After the intra-gastric administration, the microscopic smear examination found that obvious pseudohypha in cluster with a lot of blastospores can be seen in the vaginal secretions of mice in the V1 group under the microscope. There was significant difference between mice treated with different dosages of vitamin B complex. The inflammatory response of mice in the V1 group was significantly higher than those in other groups and the inflammation response reduced with the increase of vitamin B complex dosage. The vitamin B complex elevated the curative effects of fluconazole on VVC model of vaginal epithelial cells and significantly increased the anti-fungal effect of fluconazole. Conclusions Our findings suggest that vitamin B complex could be an effective adjuvant therapy for complicated VVC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

γ-Linolenic acid (GLA) has various well-documented beneficial physiological effects and high biological significance. Because the natural supply of GLA is insufficient, microbial GLA production is a promising method for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical purposes. To establish and develop a biotechnological process for GLA production by Yarrowia lipolytica , the codon-optimized △6-desaturase from Mortierella alpina was introduced into this yeast under the control of the strong hp4d promoter. A recombinant Y. lipolytica strain was constructed, which produced 4.6% GLA in total fatty acids. By using a temperature-shift strategy of cultivation, consisting in preliminary growth at 28 °C followed by 6-day culture at 20 °C, optimal levels of dry cell weight (DCW), lipid content and GLA concentration were obtained from the recombinant strain: 18.55 g/L, 1.16 g/L and 71.6 mg/L, respectively. These DCW, lipid and GLA values were respectively 25.7%, 19.6% and 60.9% higher than those obtained in the control cultivation experiment at the standard constant temperature of 28 °C. This work demonstrates the excellent capacity of Y. lipolytica for GLA production, by combining metabolic engineering with a temperature-shift strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sucrose is not only the primary photosynthetic product but also the major component translocated in the phloem of economically important plant species. Sucrose transporters or carriers (SUTs or SUCs), function as sucrose/H + symporters and play a crucial role in determining the cell-to-cell distribution of sucrose throughout the entire plant. However, whether such genes are involved in responses to abiotic stress and other biological processes is largely unknown. Here, we report that MdSUT2 in apple is a homolog of the Arabidopsis vacuolar sucrose transporter AtSUT2 . Ectopic expression of MdSUT2 in Arabidopsis decreased sucrose sensitivity in germination and seeding stage and increased sucrose transport activity. In addition, our results showed that MdSUT2 impacted on plant growth by accelerating vegetative growth and promoting early flowering in Arabidopsis . Overexpression of MdSUT2 significantly improved abiotic stress tolerance including NaCl, ABA, and mannitol in apple calli and Arabidopsis . Together, these findings provide evidence that the apple sucrose transporter MdSUT2 is involved in abiotic stress resistance and the regulation of plant growth and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing negative effects of fossil fuel combustion, many countries have paid more attention on supporting environmentally friendly energy generation, particularly renewable and sustainable energy sources (RES). However, renewables still cannot economically compete with fossil-fuels and are facing new challenges. Appropriate electricity pricing mechanism plays a vital role on mitigating the stress of limited fossil fuels and can promote renewable energy consumption. As one major type of renewable energy, wind power has been globally promoted. In order to promote the application of wind power, appropriate wind power prices (WPP) should be established by considering the local conditions. This paper targets such a field and conducts a bibliometric and network analysis based on the data from Scopus. The results show that the numbers of total related publications are gradually increasing, with the US as the leading country. European countries also have outstanding achievements. Moreover, both the most cited articles and keywords distribution offer future research directions. In general, this study provides valuable insights to both wind power researchers and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluctuations in prices of natural gas significantly affect global economy. Therefore, the research on the characteristics of natural gas price fluctuations, turning points and its influencing cycle on the subsequent price series is of great significance. Global natural gas trade concentrates on three regional markets: the North American market, the European market and the Asia-Pacific market, with North America having the most developed natural gas financial market. In addition, perfect legal supervision and coordinated regulations make the North American market more open and more competitive. This paper focuses on the North American natural gas market specifically. The Henry Hub natural gas spot price time series is converted to a visibility graph network which provides a new direction for macro analysis of time series, and several indicators are investigated: degree and degree distribution, the average shortest path length and community structure. The internal mechanisms underlying price fluctuations are explored through the indicators. The results show that the natural gas prices visibility graph network (NGP-VGN) is of small-world and scale-free properties simultaneously. After random rearrangement of original price time series, the degree distribution of network becomes exponential distribution, different from the original ones. This means that, the original price time series is of long-range negative correlation fractal characteristic. In addition, nodes with large degree correspond to significant geopolitical or economic events. Communities correspond to time cycles in visibility graph network. The cycles of time series and the impact scope of hubs can be found by community structure partition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The Chinese government has greatly increased funding for disease control and prevention since the 2003 Severe Acute Respiration Syndrome crisis, but it is also concerned whether these increased resources have been used efficiently to improve public health services. We aimed to assess the efficiency of county-level Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCs) of China and to identify strategies for optimising their performance.Methods: A total of 446 county-level CDCs were selected based on systematic sampling throughout China. The data envelopment analysis framework was used to calculate the efficiency score of sampled CDCs in 2010. The Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes (CCR) model was applied to calculate the overall and scale efficiency, and the Banker, Charnes and Cooper (BCC) model was used to assess technical efficiency. Models included three inputs and seven outputs. A projection analysis was conducted to identify the difference between projection value and actual value for inputs and outputs.Results: The average overall efficiency score of CDCs was 0.317, and the average technical efficiency score was 0.442 and 88.3% with decreasing returns to scale. Projection analysis indicated that all seven categories of outputs were underproduced. CDCs in the eastern region tended to perform better than CDCs in the middle and the western region.Conclusions: Most county-level CDCs in China were operated inefficiently. Emphasis should be put on increasing staff and general operating expenses through current governmental funding, upgrading healthcare providers' competencies and enhancing the standardisation of operational management, so that CDCs could utilise their resources more efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here the role of microplastic size on dissolved organic matter, leaching compounds and microbial community during anaerobic sludge digestion was evaluated. Compared to that without the addition of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), during the 30 days' incubation, the anaerobic sludge digestion by adding PVC at the size of 75 μm and the concentration of 2.4 g/g volatile solids (VS) showed a 8.5% lower cumulative methane production, while a 17.9% higher cumulative methane production was noted by adding PVC at the size of 3000 μm and the concentration of 2.4 g/g VS. A long-term fed-batch laboratory-scale fermenter test for 147 days further testified, that higher removal efficiencies of total solids, volatile solids, and total chemical oxygen demand, and higher methane production were noted by adding PVC (2.4 g/g VS, 3000 μm) into the fermenter. More interestingly, higher concentrations of proteins, polysaccharides, volatile fatty acids, and soluble microbial by-products component were noted in the liquid phase of sludge drawn from the fermenter added with PVC since the biomass therein showed higher efficiencies of solubilization, hydrolysis, acidification, and methanogenesis. Moreover, as identified from the fermenter added with PVC, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) was the most predominant leaching phthalates compound, although the biomass therein showed a 93.4% anaerobic biodegradability of DBP. The leaching of DBP drove the predominance of microbial community towards Synergistota and Methanosaeta. More irregular elliptical shallow dimples were noted on the PVC surface after 147 days' incubation, accompanied with abundances of Proteobacteria , Actinobacteriota, Chloroflexi, Methanosaeta and Methanobacterium. The results from this study showed that the size of microplastic was a crucial factor in evaluating its impact on anaerobic sludge digestion. • The addition of PVC (2.4 g/g VS, 3000 μm) resulted in higher methane production. • DOM concentration was higher after PVC added into the long-term fermenter (147 days). • DBP was the most predominant residual phthalate identified from sludge added with PVC. • DBP resulted in the predominance of Synergistota and Methanosaeta. • Pyrrole-N, protein-N, and irregular dimples were noted on the PVC surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The initial‐boundary value problem (IBVP) for one‐dimensional hydrodynamics equations of compressible nematic liquid crystal material is investigated in this research. With large initial data and vacuum, η$$ \eta $$‐independent global strong solution is established. Furthermore, for the elastic limit parameter η→0$$ \eta \to 0 $$, the vanishing elastic limit is justified by convergence rates in L2$$ {\mathcal{L}}&amp;#x0005E;2 $$. The obtain results are based on full use of effective viscous flux, the structure of the equations, and the material derivative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, a significant fungal pathogen of crops and trees, causes large economic losses worldwide. However, its pathogenic mechanism remains totally unclear. In this study, four Ena ATPases (Exitus natru-type adenosine triphosphatases), homology of yeast Ena proteins, were identified in C. gloeosporioides. Gene deletion mutants of ΔCgena1, ΔCgena2, ΔCgena3, and ΔCgena4 were obtained through the method of gene replacement. First, a subcellular localization pattern indicated that CgEna1 and CgEna4 were localized in the plasma membrane, while the CgEna2 and CgEna3 were distributed in the endoparasitic reticulum. Next, it was found that CgEna1 and CgEna4 were required for sodium accumulation in C. gloeosporioides. CgEna3 was required for extracellular ion stress of sodium and potassium. CgEna1 and CgEna3 were involved in conidial germination, appressorium formation, invasive hyphal development, and full virulence. The mutant of ΔCgena4 was more sensitive to the conditions of high concentrations of ion and the alkaline. Together, these results indicated that CgEna ATPase proteins have distinct roles in sodium accumulation, stress resistance, and full virulence in C. gloeosporioides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landfills that accept municipal solid waste (MSW) in the U.S. may also accept a number of sulfur-containing wastes including residues from coal or MSW combustion, and construction and demolition (C&D) waste. Under anaerobic conditions that dominate landfills, microbially mediated processes can convert sulfate to hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S). The presence of H 2 S in landfill gas is problematic for several reasons including its low odor threshold, human toxicity, and corrosive nature. The objective of this study was to develop and demonstrate a laboratory-scale reactor method to measure the H 2 S production potential of a range of sulfur-containing wastes. The H 2 S production potential was measured in 8-L reactors that were filled with a mixture of the target waste, newsprint as a source of organic carbon required for microbial sulfate reduction, and leachate from decomposed residential MSW as an inoculum. Reactors were operated with and without N 2 sparging through the reactors, which was designed to reduce H 2 S accumulation and toxicity. Both H 2 S and CH 4 yields were consistently higher in reactors that were sparged with N 2 although the magnitude of the effect varied. The laboratory-measured first order decay rate constants for H 2 S and CH 4 production were used to estimate constants that were applicable in landfills. The estimated constants ranged from 0.11 yr −1 for C&D fines to 0.38 yr −1 for a mixed fly ash and bottom ash from MSW combustion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large volumes of sulfur-containing wastes enter municipal solid waste landfills each year. Under the anaerobic conditions that prevail in landfills, oxidized forms of sulfur, primarily sulfate, are converted to sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) is corrosive to landfill gas collection and treatment systems, and its presence in landfill gas often necessitates the installation of expensive removal systems. For landfill operators to understand the cost of managing sulfur-containing wastes, an estimate of the H 2 S production potential is needed. The objective of this study was to develop and demonstrate a biochemical sulfide potential (BSP) test to measure the amount of H 2 S produced by different types of sulfur-containing wastes in a relatively fast (30 days) and inexpensive (125 mL serum bottles) batch assay. This study confirmed the toxic effect of H 2 S on both sulfate reduction and methane production in batch systems, and demonstrated that removing accumulated H 2 S by base adsorption was effective for mitigating inhibition. H 2 S production potentials of coal combustion fly ash, flue gas desulfurization residual, municipal solid waste combustion ash, and construction and demolition waste were determined in BSP assays. After 30 days of incubation, most of the sulfate in the wastes was converted to gaseous or aqueous phase sulfide, with BSPs ranging from 0.8 to 58.8 mL H 2 S/g waste, depending on the chemical composition of the samples. Selected samples contained solid phase sulfide which contributed to the measured H 2 S yield. A 60 day incubation in selected samples resulted in 39–86% additional sulfide production. H 2 S production measured in BSP assays was compared with that measured in simulated landfill reactors and that calculated from chemical analyses. H 2 S production in BSP assays and in reactors was lower than the stoichiometric values calculated from chemical composition for all wastes tested, demonstrating the importance of assays to estimate the microbial sulfide production potential of sulfur-containing wastes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tissue-engineered skin (TES) holds great promise for wound healing in the clinic. However, optimized preservation methods remain an obstacle for its wide application. In this experimental work, we developed a novel approach to preserve TES in the desiccated state with trehalose. The uptake of trehalose by fibroblasts under various conditions, including the trehalose concentration, incubation temperature and time, was studied. The cell viability was investigated by the MTT assay and CFSE/PI staining after cryodesiccation and rehydration. TES was then prepared and incubated with trehalose, and the wound healing effect was investigated after desiccated preservation. The results showed that the optimized conditions for trehalose uptake by fibroblasts were incubation in 200 mM trehalose at 37 °C for 8 h. Cryodesiccated cells and TES maintained 37.55% and 28.31% viabilities of controls, respectively. Furthermore, cryodesiccated TES exhibited a similar wound healing effect to normal TES. This novel approach enabled the preservation and transportation of TES at ambient temperature with a prolonged shelf time, which provides great advantages for the application of TES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Quantitatively ascertaining and analyzing the effects of model uncertainty on model reliability is a focal point for agricultural–hydrological models due to more uncertainties of inputs and processes. In this study, the generalized likelihood uncertainty estimation (GLUE) method with Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) was used to evaluate the uncertainty of the RZWQM-DSSAT (RZWQM2) model outputs responses and the sensitivity of 25 parameters related to soil properties, nutrient transport and crop genetics. To avoid the one-sided risk of model prediction caused by using a single calibration criterion, the combined likelihood (CL) function integrated information concerning water, nitrogen, and crop production was introduced in GLUE analysis for the predictions of the following four model output responses: the total amount of water content ( T - SWC ) and the nitrate nitrogen ( T - NIT ) within the 1-m soil profile, the seed yields of waxy maize ( Y - Maize ) and winter wheat ( Y - Wheat ). In the process of evaluating RZWQM2, measurements and meteorological data were obtained from a field experiment that involved a winter wheat and waxy maize crop rotation system conducted from 2003 to 2004 in southern Beijing. The calibration and validation results indicated that RZWQM2 model can be used to simulate the crop growth and water–nitrogen migration and transformation in wheat–maize crop rotation planting system. The results of uncertainty analysis using of GLUE method showed T - NIT was sensitive to parameters relative to nitrification coefficient, maize growth characteristics on seedling period, wheat vernalization period, and wheat photoperiod. Parameters on soil saturated hydraulic conductivity, nitrogen nitrification and denitrification, and urea hydrolysis played an important role in crop yield component. The prediction errors for RZWQM2 outputs with CL function were relatively lower and uniform compared with other likelihood functions composed of individual calibration criterion. This new and successful application of the GLUE method for determining the uncertainty and sensitivity of the RZWQM2 could provide a reference for the optimization of model parameters with different emphases according to research interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore an evolutionary vaccination game in the modified activity driven network by considering the closeness. We set a closeness parameter p which is used to describe the way of connection between two individuals. The simulation results show that the closeness p may have an active role in weakening both the spreading of epidemic and the vaccination. Besides, when vaccination is not allowed, the final recovered density increases with the value of the ratio of the infection rate to the recovery rate λ / μ . However, when vaccination is allowed the final density of recovered individual first increases and then decreases with the value of λ / μ . Two variables are designed to identify the relation between the individuals’ activities and their states. The results draw that both recovered and vaccinated frequency increase with the increase of the individuals’ activities. Meanwhile, the immune fee has less impact on the individuals’ vaccination than the closeness. While the λ / μ is in a certain range, with the increase of the value of λ / μ , the recovered frequency of the whole crowds reduces. Our results, therefore, reveal the fact that the best of intentions may lead to backfire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension is usually fatal due to right ventricular failure and is frequently associated with co-existing left ventricular dysfunction. Endothelin-1 is a powerful pro-fibrotic mediator and vasoconstrictor that is elevated in pulmonary arterial hypertension. Endothelin receptor blockers are commonly used as pulmonary vasodilators, however their effect on biventricular injury, remodeling and function, despite elevated isolated right ventricular afterload is unknown. Methods: Elevated right ventricular afterload was induced by progressive pulmonary artery banding. Seven rabbits underwent pulmonary artery banding without macitentan; 13 received pulmonary artery banding + macitentan; and 5 did not undergo inflation of the pulmonary artery band (sham-operated controls). Results: Right and left ventricular collagen content was increased with pulmonary artery banding compared to sham-operated controls and ameliorated by macitentan. Right ventricular fibrosis signaling (connective tissue growth factor and endothelin-1 protein levels); extra-cellular matrix remodeling (matrix-metalloproteinases 2 and 9), apoptosis and apoptosis-related peptides (caspases 3 and 8) were increased with pulmonary artery banding compared with sham-operated controls and decreased with macitentan. Conclusion: Isolated right ventricular afterload causes biventricular fibrosis, right ventricular apoptosis and extra cellular matrix remodeling, mediated by up-regulation of endothelin-1 and connective tissue growth factor signaling. These pathological changes are ameliorated by dual endothelin receptor blockade despite persistent elevated right ventricular afterload. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary pleural lymphoma is rare and has been described in association with human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV) infection or pyothorax. We report a rare case of primary pleural lymphoma in a 73-year-old man who presented with chest pain and no history of HIV infection or pyothorax. Chest imaging showed pleural thickening and pleural effusion. Thoracoscopic pleural biopsy was performed. Histopathological and immunohistochemical examinations conformed to that of a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Physicians should be aware of this rare location of primary lymphoma and implement thoracoscopy as soon as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vacuolar H + -ATPase (V-H + -ATPase) is highly conserved, multisubunit proton pumps that play key roles in adaptation to abiotic stress in plants. Function of apple V-ATPase subunit B1 ( MdVHA-B1 ) has been identified in drought tolerance, however, it remains unclear whether MdVHA-B1 is involved in salt tolerance. In this work, we characterized the function of MdVHA-B1 gene in salt stress response. GUS and Western blotting assays showed that MdVHA-B1 was highly induced by salt stress. Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assays demonstrated that MdVHA-B1 interacts with MdSOS2L1, a Arabidopsis SOS2-like protein kinase, in apple. Compared with wild-type (WT) apple calli, V-ATPase activities in the transgenic calli were significantly enhanced under salt stress condition. Furthermore, Na + and K + were accumulated much higher in transgenic tomato plants than the WT control. These results suggest that MdVHA-B1 may confer salt tolerance through salt overly sensitive (SOS) signal pathway in apple to regulate the ion balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From June 2014 to January 2015, the slumped price of crude oil mainly be caused by the increasing shale gas in the U.S. The market of crude oil was altered by the variation of natural gas trade patterns. It implies that the international fossil energy trade is a multilayer structure, and each layer is a complex system with numerous countries and complicated relations. In this paper, we build the international fossil energy trade multilayer network (ETMN), and study the evolutionary characteristics of networks during 2002–2013. The generalization of several important indicators, including degree distribution, community, stability of communities and the time-varying evolution of main countries’ importance were discussed. Our conclusions suggest that: Firstly, the ETMN and three energy-specific networks including coal, oil, and natural gas display the scale-free characteristic in un-weighted and weighted networks. However, it shows that even if a few countries have major trading partners, there are not always a few countries that play critical roles in trade intensity. Secondly, the natural gas network has the largest number of communities and stability compared with networks of coal and oil, and the volatility of stability lagged one year than the other two networks for the specific form of pipeline transportation. Thirdly, studying on the stability of networks shows that geopolitical environment is the most important influenced factor, but the status of renewable and new energy increases with its development obviously. Fourthly, the evolutionary characteristics of three major countries’ importance, including United States, China and Japan, are analyzed in detail. At last, some policy suggestions were pointed out according to the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the electricity trading exchange, we need to consider electricity price, transmission costs, network congestion and technology constraints. Therefore, some electricity trading may be forced to be canceled because of limits on power transmission lines. The most challenging issue is how to make an appropriate auction bidding mechanism in electricity trading. According to the bipartite network and evolutionary game theory with the Paid-as-Bid auction mechanism as research background, we explore a Probability Bidding Mechanism (PBM). The designed mechanism could significantly disrupt the learning process and weaken the unconscious collusion behaviors of generators during the auction process. The simulation results of the proposed mechanism are compared with the High–Low Matching bidding mechanism and the comparison shows that the PBM could minimize the average transaction price and maximize the average trading quantities effectively. Further investigation reveals that the parameter, which is used to adjust trading price, has more influence on generators than purchasers. Some suggestions for reducing the generator’s offer and increasing the market trading quantities are recommended at the end of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the synthesis of CdS nanospheres and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) hybrid nanocomposites (CdS@rGO) under hydrothermal conditions. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are employed to confirm the structures and morphologies of sphere-like CdS@rGO nanocomposites. The electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of triiodide and chemical stability for CdS@rGO composites are studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and Tafel plots. The short-circuit current density ( J sc ), open-circuit voltage ( V oc ) and fill factor ( FF ) are 14.81 mA cm −2 , 0.76 V and 0.656, respectively. Most importantly, these CdS@rGO materials are used as the counter electrode (CE) of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs), and their conversion efficiency of this CE reaches 7.39%, which is comparable to the conventional platinum counter electrode (7.44%) under the same test conditions. Meanwhile, the CdS@rGO CE possesses the robust stability and the cost-effective performance in addition to the high power conversion efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the difference of different individuals’ physical quality and antibody, this paper investigates the epidemic spreading model with the virus mutation. By using the mean-field theory, the epidemic threshold with degree-dependent spreading rate can be theoretical drawn. According to the numerical simulations, we can obtain that the average infected virus version in the BA network is less than the ER network. In addition, if the effective spreading rate is either small or large enough, the average virus version of the whole infected individuals will reduce. However, when the spreading rate takes some proper values, the average infected virus version can greatly increase. Finally, we study how the different initial infected nodes influence the average virus version of the whole infected individuals. The numerical results show that the greater of the initial infected degree, the smaller of the average virus version of the whole infected individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose two novel models of epidemic spreading by considering the activity-driven and the network modular. Firstly, we consider the susceptible–infected–susceptible ( S I S ) contagion model and derive analytically the epidemic threshold. The results indicate that the epidemic threshold only involves with the value of the spread rate and the recovery rate. In addition, the asymptotic refractory density of infected nodes in the different communities exhibits different trends with the change of the modularity-factor. Then, the infected-driven vaccination model is presented. Simulation results illustrate that the final density of vaccination will increase with the increase of the response strength of vaccination. Moreover, the final infected density in the original-infected-community shows different trends with the change of the response strength of vaccination and the spreading rate. The infected-driven vaccination is a good way to control the epidemic spreading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elevation of aminotransferase could be seen in children with various diseases. Early diagnosis and etiological treatment could improve the prognosis of some diseases and reduce liver injury, so early diagnosis plays a crucial role for treatment. In this paper, diagnosis and differential diagnosis of the diseases which have the elevation of aminotransferase in children are briefly induced in order to improve pediatricians' understanding of elevated aminotransferase in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phoxonic crystal is a kind of artificial periodic structure which can manipulate light and sound in the same time and space domain. It has good application prospect in optical communication system and opto-mechnical sensor. In this paper, a two-dimensional silicon phoxonic crystal slab structure is proposed, which can exhibit large phononic and photonic bandgaps simultaneously. Then a periodic cylindrical structure is introduced on the side surface of the slab. The effects of the height and radius of the cylinder on the side surface wave modes are analyzed. On this basis, a phoxonic crystal hetero-structure cavity composed of cylinders with different radii and heights is constructed, which can simultaneously confine the acoustic and optical modes because of mode gap effect. Seven phononic cavity modes and two photonic cavity modes are obtained. The two photonic cavity modes are called dielectric mode and air mode respectively. Further, the acousto-optical coupling rates between the seven phononic cavity modes and dielectric mode are calculated. Finally, a gap is etched on each cylinder in hetero-structure cavity, which can increase the surface area of the cavity by 23%. Then two phononic cavity modes and photonic dielectric mode with higher coupling rates are considered. The results show that etching the z-direction gap in the center of the cylinder can effectively increase the acousto-optical coupling rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irinotecan (Iri) is a key drug to treat metastatic colorectal cancer, but its clinical activity is often limited by de novo and acquired drug resistance. Studying the underlying mechanisms of drug resistance is necessary for developing novel therapeutic strategies. In this study, we used both regular and irinotecan-resistant (Iri-resistant) colorectal cell lines as models, and performed single cell mass spectrometry (SCMS) metabolomics studies combined with analyses from cytotoxicity assay, western blot, flow cytometry, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Our SCMS results indicate that Iri-resistant cancer cells possess higher levels of unsaturated lipids compared with the regular cancer cells. In addition, multiple protein biomarkers and their corresponding mRNAs of colon cancer stem cells are overexpressed in Iri-resistance cells. Particularly, stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) is upregulated with the development of drug resistance in Iri-resistant cells, whereas inhibiting the activity of SCD1 efficiently increase their sensitivity to Iri treatment. In addition, we demonstrated that SCD1 directly regulates the expression of ALDH1A1, which contributes to the cancer stemness and ROS level in Iri-resistant cell lines. [Display omitted] • Live single cell mass spectrometry was combined with other bioanalytical techniques. • Cells' molecular profiles were correlated to their resistance to anticancer drug. • Metabolomic biomarkers and relevant proteins reflecting cancer cells' drug resistance were proposed. • Drug resistant cancer cells possess molecular features similar to cancer stem cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cepharanthine is a medicinal plant-derived natural compound which possesses potent anti-cancer properties. However, there is little report about its effects on lung cancer cells. In this study, we investigated the effects of cepharanthine on the cell viability and apoptosis in human non-small-cell lung cancer H1299 and A549 cells. It was found that cepharanthine inhibited the growth of H1299 and A549 cells in a dose-dependent manner which was associated with the generation of reactive oxygen species(ROS) and the dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm). These effects were markedly abrogated when cells were pretreated with N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a specific ROS inhibitor, indicating that the apoptosis-inducing effect of cepharanthine in lung cancer cells was mediated by ROS. In addition, cepharanthine triggered apoptosis in non-small lung cancer cells via the upregulation of Bax, downregulation of Bcl-2 and significant activation of caspase-3 and PARP. These results provide the rationale for further research and preclinical investigation of cepharanthine's anti-tumor effect against human non-small-cell lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation of conjunctival and corneal calcification ( CCC) with cardiovascular calcification in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis ( MHD). A total of 122 patients undergoing MHD in our hospital were included in this study. Conjunctival and corneal calcification was examined by slit lamp and graded. Abdominal aortic calcification ( AAC), aortic valve calcification ( AVC), and mitral valve calcification ( MVC) were determined by X-ray or ultrasound. The correlation of CCC with AAC, AVC, and MVC was analyzed. Biochemical, hematological, and cardiovascular data were compared between patients with different severity of CCC or AAC. Mitral valve calcification was significantly associated with AAC in our patients. Conjunctival and corneal calcification positively correlated with AAC. We also found that patients with severe CCC exhibited significantly higher levels of serum calcium, phosphate, product of calcium and phosphate, serum copper, cystatin, intact parathyroid hormone, and vitamin D than patients with mild CCC. In addition to significantly increased levels of serum calcium, product of calcium and phosphate, serum copper, and cystatin, patients with severe AAC also had higher high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level and greater left ventricular posterior wall thickness and left ventricular end-diastolic interventricular septum thickness than patients with mild AAC. Our results suggest that patients undergoing MHD with severe CCC or AAC have high degree of mineral metabolism disorder, inflammation, and cardiovascular function disorder. The strong correlation between CCC and AAC indicates that CCC score might be used as an indirect indicator to predict cardiovascular risks in patients undergoing MHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]