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Introduction This study was conducted to characterise the oral health conditions of residents in Jiangsu Province, China. Methods In this descriptive study, 5 groups of participants were selected by a multistage stratified equal capacity random sampling, including 3- to 5-year-olds, 12- to 15-year-olds, 35- to 44-year-olds, 55- to 64-year-olds, and 65- to 74-year-olds. The data were collected by using the fifth edition of Oral Health Surveys-Basic Methods recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Results In these 5 groups, the mean DMFT/dmft of coronal caries were 3.07, 0.69, 4.03, 7.15, and 11.97, respectively, resulting in prevalence rates of 59.69%, 34.98%, 52.05%, 56.86%, and 72.19%, respectively. However, the filling rates were low in all age groups (1.88%, 17.53%, 29.88%, 16.13%, and 19.36%, respectively). Only 3.58% of the 12-year-old participants had good pit and fissure sealants. The adults include three groups, 35- to 44-year-olds, 55- to 64-year-olds, and 65- to 74-year-olds, and the prevalence rates of clinical attachment loss (CAL ≥4 mm) were 32.19%, 76.47%, and 85.43%, respectively. The proportions of adult groups with implant dentures, fixed dentures, removable partial dentures, complete dentures, and substandard dentures were 0%, 26.44%, 11.11%, 0.67%, and 4.89%, respectively. Additionally, 49.64% of adults had missing teeth that were not replaced. Conclusions Dental caries and periodontal disease were frequent and common in Jiangsu, China. But only a few of the residents sought treatment. Oral diseases continued to be a major problem for local residents.

Interatomic potentials based on neural-network machine learning method have attracted considerable attention in recent years owing to their outstanding ability to balance the accuracy and efficiency in atomistic simulations. In this work, a neural-network potential (NNP) for carbon is generated to simulate the structural properties of various carbon structures. The potential is trained using a database consisting of crystalline and liquid structures obtained by the first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The developed potential accurately predicts the energies and forces in crystalline and liquid carbon structures, the energetic stability of defected graphene, and the structures of amorphous carbon as the function of density. The excellent accuracy and transferability of the NNP provide a promising tool for accurate atomistic simulations of various carbon materials with faster speed and much lower cost.

More and more cloud data centers are turning to leverage on-site renewable energy to reduce power cost for sustainable development. But how to effectively coordinate the intermittent renewable energy with workload remains to be a great challenge. This paper investigates the problem of workload scheduling for power cost minimization under the constraints of different Service Level Agreements (SLAs) of delay tolerant workload and delay sensitive workload for green data centers in a smart grid. Different from the existing studies, we take into consideration of the impact of zero price in the smart grid and the cost of on-site renewable energy. To handle the randomness of workload, electricity price and renewable energy availability, we first formulate the problem as a constrained stochastic problem. Then we propose an efficient online control algorithm named ODGWS (Online Delay-Guaranteed Workload Scheduling) which makes online scheduling decisions achieve a bounded guarantee from the worst scheduling delay for delay tolerant workload. Compared with the existing solutions, our ODGWS decomposes the problem into that of solving a simple optimization problem within each time slot in O ( 1 ) time without needing any future information. The rigorous theoretical analysis demonstrates that our algorithm achieves a [ O ( 1 V ) , O ( V ) ] cost-delay tradeoff, where V is a balance parameter between the cost optimality and service quality. Extensive simulations based on real-world traces are done to evaluate the performance of our algorithm. The results show that ODGWS saves about 5% average power cost compared with the baseline algorithms.

A water-assisted method is used to reduce heat accumulation during the ultrafast laser drilling of metals. To understand the complex material ablation mechanism, an underwater percussion drilling process using an ultrafast laser with pulse energy below the water breakdown threshold was investigated. The laser-induced plasma (LIP) was recorded using a high-speed camera, and the ablation morphology was characterized. The material removal mechanism in air and underwater was studied using metallurgical analysis. A numerical model including plasma formation by a single pulse and plasma evolution by multiple pulses was established to quantitatively describe the effects of LIP on the energy attenuation and beam refraction. This model can predict the hole radius and depth in underwater drilling and explain the difference in drilling performance in air and underwater.

In the credit cloud, credit services are sold to applications for credit computing, credit fusion and credit risk estimates. Plenty of services with different performance for the same task may have different execution time and charged by various ways. The users have specific requirements for the workflow completion time or cost. Hence, to meet the user’s satisfaction is an important challenge. In this paper, we propose heuristic scheduling methods for credit workflow with total cost minimization, and the deadline should be satisfied. The problem can be divided into two sub-problems, task-mode mapping and task tabling on renting service instances. For the task-mode mapping problem, a recursive heuristic method is constructed to select appropriate service for each task of the workflow. Then another heuristic algorithm based is established to get a final schema with deadline constraint. We discussed the service instance rented in shareable manner and compared with un-shareable manner. Three renting strategies are discussed in detail. Experimental results show the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed algorithm.

Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) can shape the wireless environment for enhancing the communication performance. In this letter, we propose a cooperative multi-RIS assisted transmission scheme for a millimeter-wave multi-antenna orthogonal frequency division multiplexing system. We first put forward a delay matching based scheme for simultaneously estimating the multipath channels and the transmission delays of distributed RISs, which requires limited training overhead and feedback. Based on this scheme, we obtain a closed-form solution for the RIS phase shift. Then, we derive an analytical expression of the downlink rate, which is proved to increase logarithmically with the square number of RIS reflecting elements. Simulations are conducted to verify these observations.

A single-crystal islands (SCI) technique using low thermal budget pulse laser process is proposed and demonstrated to fabricate single-crystal silicon islands over amorphous dielectric for monolithic 3-D and back-end-of-line (BEOL) FinFET circuits. By laser recrystallizing mask-defined a-Si islands encapsulated with conformal silicon nitride film, designed single-crystal Si islands can be obtained. The single crystallinity of the island are verified with SECCO Etch, high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and electron backside scattering (EBSD). About 40 nm FinFETs were successfully fabricated in the SCI Si islands and shown to exhibit excellent electrical performance and low variability that are compatible with the FinFETs fabricated on commercial silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is commonly present in critically ill patients with sepsis. Early prediction of short-term reversibility of AKI is beneficial to risk stratification and clinical treatment decision. The study sought to use machine learning methods to discriminate between transient and persistent sepsis-associated AKI. Septic patients who developed AKI within the first 48 h after ICU admission were identified from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III database. AKI was classified as transient or persistent according to the Acute Disease Quality Initiative workgroup consensus. Five prediction models using logistic regression, random forest, support vector machine, artificial neural network and extreme gradient boosting were constructed, and their performance was evaluated by out-of-sample testing. A simplified risk prediction model was also derived based on logistic regression and features selected by machine learning algorithms. A total of 5984 septic patients with AKI were included, 3805 (63.6%) of whom developed persistent AKI. The artificial neural network and logistic regression models achieved the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) among the five machine learning models (0.76, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.74–0.78). The simplified 14-variable model showed adequate discrimination, with the AUC being 0.76 (95% CI 0.73–0.78). At the optimal cutoff of 0.63, the sensitivity and specificity of the simplified model were 63% and 76% respectively. In conclusion, a machine learning-based simplified prediction model including routine clinical variables could be used to differentiate between transient and persistent AKI in critically ill septic patients. An easy-to-use risk calculator can promote its widespread application in daily clinical practice.

In this era of precision medicine, with the help of biomarkers, immunotherapy has significantly improved prognosis of many patients with malignant tumor. Deficient mismatch repair (dMMR)/microsatellite instability (MSI) status is used as a biomarker in clinical practice to predict favorable response to immunotherapy and prognosis. MSI is an important characteristic which facilitates mutation and improves the likelihood of a favorable response to immunotherapy. However, many patients with dMMR/MSI still respond poorly to immunotherapies, which partly results from intratumor heterogeneity propelled by dMMR/MSI. In this review, we discuss how dMMR/MSI facilitates mutations in tumor cells and generates intratumor heterogeneity, especially through type II interferon (IFN-γ) signaling and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). We discuss the mechanism of immunotherapy from the perspective of dMMR/MSI, molecular pathways and TILs, and we discuss how intratumor heterogeneity hinders the therapeutic effect of immunotherapy. Finally, we summarize present techniques and strategies to look at the tumor as a whole to design personalized regimes and achieve favorable prognosis.

A variety of complex nonlinear optical effects are emerged when water is radiated by ultrafast laser with high pulse energy, which induces different underwater ablation morphologies compared with those ablated in air. A numerical model describing the free electron evolution of water medium during one pulse cycle is established to fully understand the plasmas defocusing effect in multiple pulses. Combining with the Kerr self-focusing and laser diffraction effects, the refractive index change of water medium under different pulse energies and repetition rates can be quantitatively analyzed. Three different experimental phenomena between ultrafast laser and water (plasma ball, laser filamentation, beam diffusion) are well explained by the numerical results. These three nonlinear optical phenomena demonstrate the difference of the material removal under water and in air.

The associations between selenium and liver stiffness and steatosis remain uncertain. This study aimed to explore the clinical relevance of selenium with liver stiffness and steatosis in adults from the 2017-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Subjects with excessive alcohol consumption and hepatitis B or C infection were excluded. Liver stiffness and steatosis were detected by transient elastography. Dietary selenium intakes and blood selenium concentrations were included as exposures. In multivariate analysis without adjustment for obesity, higher dietary selenium intakes (tertile 3 vs. tertile 1) were positively associated with liver stiffness in females (odds ratio (95% confidence interval): 2.64 (1.88-3.70)), and were positively associated with liver steatosis overall (1.54 (1.20-1.97)) and also in males (1.55 (1.06-2.26)). In multivariate analysis without adjustment for obesity, higher blood selenium concentrations (tertile 3 vs. tertile 1) were positively associated with liver steatosis overall (1.33 (1.02-1.76)) and also in males (1.56 (1.13-2.16)). After further adjustment for obesity, the abovementioned associations remain significant between dietary selenium intakes and liver stiffness in females (2.29 (1.69-3.12)) and liver steatosis overall (1.37 (1.01-1.86)), and between blood selenium concentrations and liver steatosis in males (1.67 (1.25-2.21)). Dose-response analysis showed that the abovementioned associations were linear. However, dietary selenium intakes meeting the recommended daily allowance (≥ 55 µg/day) were not associated with liver stiffness (0.99 (0.62-1.55)) and steatosis (1.01 (0.69-1.49)). In conclusion, higher dietary selenium intakes and blood selenium concentrations were positively associated with liver stiffness and steatosis, and obesity may partially account for the observed associations.

Introduction A new scale, named the Clinical Assessment Scale for Autoimmune Encephalitis (CASE), has recently been developed for rating the severity of autoimmune encephalitis (AE) with a high level of clinimetric properties. In this study, our primary objective was to validate the performance of CASE through a multicenter study in China. Methods Between July 2014 and December 2019, 143 consecutive patients with definite neuronal surface antibody-associated AE from three tertiary hospitals were enrolled in the study. We validated the reliability, internal consistency, and validity of CASE. We further compared CASE with the modified Rankin scale (mRS) among different subtypes of AE in terms of its sensitivity to disease dynamics. Statistical analyses were performed using GraphPad Prism and R software. Results Our analyses showed that CASE had good inter- and intraobserver reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient 0.96/0.98) and internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.847) at disease onset. The scores of CASE and mRS remained well correlated in patients at admission and at discharge (both r = 0.80, p

The numbers of cases and deaths from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are continuously increasing. Many people are concerned about the efficacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccines. We performed a comprehensive analysis of the published trials of COVID-19 vaccines and the real-world data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. Globally, our research found that the efficacy of all vaccines exceeded 70%, and RNA-based vaccines had the highest efficacy of 94.29%; moreover, Black or African American people, young people and males may experience greater vaccine efficacy. The spectrum of vaccine-related adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is extremely broad, the most frequent ADRs are pain, fatigue and headache. Most ADRs are tolerable and are mainly grade 1 or 2 in severity. Some severe ADRs have been identified (thromboembolic events: 21-75 cases per million doses; myocarditis/pericarditis: 2-3 cases per million doses). In summary, vaccines are a powerful tool that can be used to control the COVID-19 pandemic, with high efficacy and tolerable ADRs. In addition, the spectrum of ADRs associated with the vaccines is broad, and most of the reactions appear within a week, while some may be delayed. Therefore, ADRs after vaccination need to be identified and addressed in a timely manner., Graphical Abstract, The numbers of cases and deaths from COVID-19 are continuously increasing. Cai et al. are the first to comprehensively analyze the efficacy of the existing COVID-19 vaccines and the incidence, spectrum, timing, and clinical features of adverse reactions associated with the COVID-19 vaccines, which can provide reference for general public.

To evaluate the effects of intravenous iodinated contrast medium (ICM) administration on the deterioration of renal function (DRF), new renal replacement therapy (RRT) induction and mortality of hospitalized acute kidney injury (AKI) patients. Adult hospitalized patients undergoing a contrast-enhanced or unenhanced CT scan within 7 days after AKI diagnosis from January 2015 to December 2019 were identified in this retrospective study. Propensity score matching was performed. Outcomes in 7 and 30 days after CT scan were compared between the contrast and non-contrast groups. Additional analyses were also performed in patients stratified by SCr levels at AKI diagnosis, times and time of CT scan, and in patients without chronic kidney disease or RRT requirement prior to CT scan. In total, 1172 pairs were generated after 1:1 propensity score matching from 1336 cases exposed to ICM and 2724 unexposed. No significant differences were found in the outcomes between the two groups: DRF, 7.8% vs 9.0% (odds ratio (OR) 0.83, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.62–1.11) in 7 days, 5.1% vs 5.4% (OR 0.93, 95%CI 0.64–1.34) in 30 days; new RRT induction, 2.3% vs 3.3% (OR 0.72,95%CI 0.43–1.18) in 7 days, 4.2% vs 4.5% (OR 0.95,95%CI 0.64–1.41) in 30 days; and mortality, 3.9% vs 4.8% (OR 0.83,95%CI 0.56–1.22) in 7 days, 9.0% vs 10.2% (OR 0.88,95%CI 0.68–1.15) in 30 days. Subset analyses showed similar results. Intravenous ICM administration during AKI duration did not increase the risks of DRF, new RRT induction, and mortality in 7 and 30 days after CT scan. • Intravenous ICM administration in hospitalized AKI patients does not increase the risks of deterioration of renal function, RRT induction, and mortality in 7 and 30 days after CT scan. • The effects of intravenous ICM on adverse outcomes are minimal even in AKI patients with high level of SCr values or multiple CT scans.

The purpose of this study was to explore the utility of echocardiography and the EuroSCORE II in stratifying patients with low-gradient severe aortic stenosis (LG SAS) and preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF ≥ 50%) with or without aortic valve intervention (AVI). The study included 323 patients with LG SAS (aortic valve area ≤ 1.0 cm2 and mean pressure gradient

Background There is growing opinion that primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) patients without hemodynamic compromise could be safely and successfully managed with observation alone. The aims of this meta-analysis were to estimate the safety and effectiveness of conservative treatment compared with that of interventional management as the initial treatment option for patients with PSP. Methods The PubMed, Embase and Cochrane library databases were systematically searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies (prospective or retrospective) until April 25, 2020, that compared conservative treatment and interventional treatment as the initial treatment for patients with PSP. The primary outcomes were success rates and recurrence rates. The secondary outcome was complication rates. Data extraction and quality assessment from eligible studies were independently conducted by two reviewers. Results 8 trials with a total of 1342 patients were identified. The success rates of conservative management were similar with interventional treatment, with a risk ratio 1.05 (95% confidence interval 0.94 to 1.17, I2 = 69.1%). There was no significant difference of recurrence rates between these two type managements. (RR, 1.43, 95% confidence interval 0.45 to 4.55, I2 = 86.7%). Complication rates were lower in conservative treatment group (13 of 215 [6.05%]) than in interventional treatment group (57 of 212, [26.89%]), although the difference did not reach statistical significance (RR, 0.15, 95% CI, 0.02 to 1.13, I2 = 56.7%). Conclusions Results of the meta-analysis suggest that conservative treatment offers a safe and effective alternative as compared with interventional management as the initial treatment approach for patients with PSP. However, more randomized clinical trials are need to provide more strong evidence to confirm our results.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the influence of transformational leadership (TL) on a firm's radical and incremental innovation. It also deepens the understanding of appropriate mechanisms and conditions to improve specific aspects of innovation by examining the mediating role of knowledge management capability (KMC) and moderating mechanism of collaborative culture.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilized structural equation modeling (SEM) and cross-sectional design to test hypotheses in the proposed research model using survey data collected from 365 participants in 86 manufacturing and service firms.FindingsThe findings indicate that TL induces greater effect on radical innovation compared to its effect on incremental innovation. The mediating role of KMC between TL and aspects of innovation capability is also supported. Especially, the influences of KMC on specific aspects of innovation capability are different and depend on the degree of collaborative culture in an organization.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should examine the mediating mechanisms of knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing and knowledge application to provide deeper insight into specific roles of knowledge management's constituents in linking TL and innovation capability.Practical implicationsThe paper significantly contributes to increasing the understanding of the link between TL and specific aspects of innovation capability by highlighting the important role of KMC and positive effects of collaborative climate in an organization.Originality/valueThe paper is unique in the attempts to provide a prospective solution for firms to pursue and improve innovation based on the meaningful insights into the mediating role of KMC and moderating effect of collaborative culture in the relationship between TL and specific dimensions of innovation capability.

The expensive cost and intermittent availability of renewable energy bring great challenges to its efficient utilization in green data centers. In this paper, we propose a new way to achieve an explicit trade-off between operational cost and carbon emission by dynamic storing off-site renewable energy in distributed data centers. We first formulate a constrained stochastic optimization problem for cost minimization of data centers. Then, by leveraging Lyapunov optimization theory, we design an online Carbon Capped Cost Minimization algorithm (CCCM) to achieve a near-optimal cost with rigorous mathematical proof. Specially, the decisions at each time slot are determined with an efficient iterative algorithm based on the Generalized Benders Decomposition (GBD) technique. Finally, extensive simulations are conducted to show the effectiveness of our algorithm. The results show that our algorithm can save about 6% total costs compared with the algorithm without offsite energy storage.

Context Jian Pi Qing Chang Hua Shi decoction (JPQCHSD) has been considered as an effective remedy for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Chinese traditional medicine. Objective We evaluated the efficacy of JPQCHSD on 2-4-6-trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (TNBS)-induced IBD rats and the responsible mechanisms. Materials and methods Except the rats of the control group (50% ethanol), Sprague–Dawley rats (180 ± 20 g) induced by TNBS (150 mg/kg in 50% ethanol), received water extract of JPQCHSD daily at 0, 9.5, 19, or 38 g/kg for 12 days. The rats were sacrificed, and their colons were removed to evaluate the disease activity index. Malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), myeloperoxidase (MPO), immunoglobulin A (IgA), tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and nuclear factor-κB were evaluated. Results JPQCHSD extract significantly reduced the disease activity index of TNBS-induced colitis with a median effective dose (ED50) of 26.93 g/kg. MPO and MDA were significantly reduced in the 19 and 38 g/kg groups (ED50 values 37.38 and 53.2 g/kg, respectively). The ED50 values for the increased SOD and IgA were 48.98 and 56.3 g/kg. ED50 values for inhibition of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 were 32.66, 75.72, and 162.06 g/kg, respectively. Discussion JPQCHSD promoted mucosal healing in IBD rats via its anti-inflammation, immune regulation, and antioxidation properties. Conclusions JPQCHSD has healing function on IBD. Further clinical trials are needed to demonstrate its efficacy and tolerance to IBD.

BACKGROUND Rearrangements of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene (ALK-positive) represent an oncogenic driver in approximately 3%-5% of non-small-lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disease, and its reported incidence in Asia is 1 or less per 100000 people per year. The co-occurrence of sarcoidosis and ALK-positive NSCLC is rare, and ALK-positive lung cancer is likely to spread quickly. Therefore, the co-occurrence of sarcoidosis is more easily misdiagnosed as metastatic lung cancer by radiological examination. CASE SUMMARY A 50-year-old man had a nodule in the left superior lobe, many small nodules in left superior and right lungs, and enlarged bilateral hilar, mediastinal, and right supraclavicular lymph nodes. Computed tomography-guided pulmonary biopsy of the nodule in the left superior lobe revealed echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4 gene-ALK positive NSCLC with concomitant noncaseating granuloma. This patient was treated with crizotinib. Thirty days later, a chest computed tomography scan revealed a dramatic decrease in the size of the left superior lobe nodule; however, the lesions in the right lung progressed. The right supraclavicular lymph nodes showed granulomas, and no tumor cells were identified in the specimens. The angiotensin-converting enzyme level was high. After 1 wk of methylprednisolone treatment, a significant response of all lesions was revealed. Following radical resection of the lung cancer, noncaseating granulomas were observed in both lung tissues and lymph nodes, which resulted in a diagnosis of echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4-ALK positive NSCLC accompanied with sarcoidosis. CONCLUSION Our experience illustrates that pathological evidence is needed to confirm metastatic disease, especially when some suspected metastatic lesions are negative for malignancy.

Aberrant extracranial internal carotid artery and nonrecurrent laryngeal nerve (NRLN) are neurovascular anomalies, which clinicians should be aware of to prevent severe complications while performing transoral or open surgery in the head and neck area. These two variants can occur simultaneously because of similar etiology of embryological maldevelopment of arch arteries. In this study, a 64-year-old woman complaining of hoarseness presented a bulge in the left hypopharynx. A contrasted computed tomography scan indicated left thyroid mass with hypopharynx invasion, accompanied by right aberrant extracranial internal carotid artery and subclavian artery. Fine needle aspiration biopsy of the mass revealed papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). She underwent total thyroidectomy, partial hypopharyngectomy, neck dissection, and tracheotomy. Intraoperatively, a right NRLN was found above the level of the cricothyroid junction that entered the larynx. The patient did not present severe complications postoperatively. Radioactive iodine therapy was applied after the surgery. At the 3-year follow-up, she remained cancer-free, and the hoarseness has improved. This is the first report of concurrent aberrant extracranial internal carotid artery and NRLN. NRLN of right side can be predicted in the computed tomography scan by the sign of the right subclavian artery origining from the left side of the aortic arch and running an abnormal course between the esophagus and the vertebra. Meanwhile, aberrant extracranial internal carotid artery may occur simultaneously. Recognition of aberrant neurovascular structures enables clinicians to prevent severe surgical complications.

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Lumbar spine surgery is one of the most widespread types of surgery for treating back and leg pain. However, the postoperative period always presents with severe pain due to the removal of skin, subcutaneous tissues, bones, and ligaments. Patients usually require high doses of opioids to relieve pain during the initial three days after operation, as well as experience drug-related complications and prolonged length of stay in hospital. We found that Erector spinae plane block significantly reduced postoperative opioid consumption and pain scores. The present systematic review revealed that ESPB was effective and safe for postoperative analgesia.

Online peer-to-peer (P2P) lending volume has rapidly increased in China because of high financing and investment demands. However, high borrowing default and fraud rates have negatively affected Chinese online P2P lending because of its unique financial and undeveloped credit systems. They have prompted the Chinese government to issue regulations on Internet finance behavior to support online P2P lending. This research investigates online P2P lenders’ investment perceptions to understand investment intention related to online P2P lending. The research model is based on planned behavior theory. A questionnaire on attitudes collected data from voluntary participants; the data were analyzed with confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The findings show that lenders’ attitudes, behavioral controls, and subjective norms—and those three constructs’ antecedents, except relative advantages—have a positive and significant influence on lenders’ online P2P lending intentions. TOPICS:Fixed income and structured finance, legal/regulatory/public policy, risk management, credit risk management, emerging markets Key Findings ▪ Online peer-to-peer (P2P) lending volume has rapidly increased in China because of high financing and investment demands. ▪ High borrowing default and fraud rates have negatively affected Chinese online P2P lending because of its unique financial and undeveloped credit systems and have prompted the Chinese government to issue regulations on Internet finance behavior to support online P2P lending. ▪ The results indicate that lenders’ attitudes, behavioral controls, subjective norms, and those three constructs’ antecedents, except relative advantages, have a positive and significant influence on lenders’ online P2P lending intentions.

Background Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have an increased risk of suffering from various malignancies. This study aimed to identify specific biomarkers that can detect lung adenocarcinoma (LAC) in T2DM patients for the early diagnosis of LAC. Methods The clinical information of hospitalized T2DM patients diagnosed with various cancers was collected by reviewing medical records in Wuxi People’s Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University from January 1, 2015, to June 30, 2020. To discover diagnostic biomarkers for early-stage LAC in the T2DM population, 20 samples obtained from 5 healthy controls, 5 T2DM patients, 5 LAC patients and 5 T2DM patients with LAC (T2DM + LAC) were subjected to sequential windowed acquisition of all theoretical fragment ion mass spectrum (SWATH-MS) analysis to identify specific differentially-expressed proteins (DEPs) for LAC in patients with T2DM. Then, these results were validated by parallel reaction monitoring MS (PRM-MS) and ELISA analyses. Results Lung cancer was the most common malignant tumor in patients with T2DM, and LAC accounted for the majority of cases. Using SWATH-MS analysis, we found 13 proteins to be unique in T2DM patients with early LAC. Two serum proteins were further validated by PRM-MS analysis, namely, pregnancy-zone protein (PZP) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP3). Furthermore, the diagnostic values of these proteins were validated by ELISA, and PZP was validated as a novel serum biomarker for screening LAC in T2DM patients. Conclusions Our findings indicated that PZP could be used as a novel serum biomarker for the identification of LAC in T2DM patients, which will enhance auxiliary diagnosis and assist in the selection of surgical treatment at an early stage.

CLEC10A, (C‐type lectin domain family 10, member A), as the member of C‐type lectin receptors (CLRs), plays a vital role in modulating innate immunity and adaptive immunity and has shown great potential as an immunotherapy target for cancers. However, there is no functional research of CLEC10A in prognostic risk, immunotherapy or any other treatment of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). We performed bioinformatics analysis on LUAD data downloaded from TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) and GEO (Gene Expression Omnibus), and jointly analysed with online databases such as HPA, LinkedOmics, TIMER, ESTIMATE and TISIDB. We found that lower expression of CLEC10A was accompanied with worse outcomes of LUAD patients. Moreover, CLEC10A expression was significantly correlated with a variety of the tumour‐infiltrating immune cells (TIICs). As a promising prognosis predictor and potential immunotherapy target, the potential influence and mechanisms of CLEC10A in LUAD deserve further exploring.

NLRP1 (NLR family, pyrin domain containing 1), the first NLR protein, described to form an inflammasome, plays critical roles in innate immunity and inflammation. However, NLRP1 has not been reported to be linked to LUAD (lung adenocarcinoma) risk, prognosis, immunotherapy or any other treatments. This research aimed to explore the prognostic value and mechanism of NLRP1 in LUAD. We performed bioinformatics analysis on LUAD data downloaded from TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) and GEO (Gene Expression Omnibus), and jointly analyzed with online databases such as TCGAportal, LinkedOmics, TIMER, ESTIMATE and TISIDB. NLRP1 expression of LUAD tissue was considerably lower than that in normal lung tissue. Decreased NLRP1 expression of LUAD was associated with relatively high pathological, T and N stages. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that patients with low NLRP1 expression had a worse prognosis than those with high expression. Multivariate Cox analysis further showed that NLRP1 expression level was an independent prognostic factor of LUAD. Moreover, the level of NLRP1 expression was positively linked to the degree of infiltration of various TIICs (tumor-infiltrating immune cells). Our findings confirmed that reduced expression of NLRP1 was significantly related to poor prognosis and low degree of immune cell infiltration in LUAD patients.

Coproporphyrin I (CPI) is an endogenous biomarker of organic anion transporting polypeptides 1B (OATP1B) activity and associated drug-drug interactions. In this study, a minimal physiologicallybased pharmacokinetic model was developed to investigate the impact of OATP1B1 genotype (c.521T>C), ethnicity, and sex on CPI pharmacokinetics and inter-individual variability in its baseline. The model implemented mechanistic descriptions of CPI hepatic transport between liver blood and liver tissue and renal excretion. Key model parameters (e.g., endogenous CPI synthesis rate, CPI hepatic uptake clearance) were estimated by fitting the model simultaneously to three independent CPI clinical datasets (plasma and urine data) obtained from Caucasian (n=16, male and female) and Asian-Indian (n=26, all male) subjects, with c.521 variants (TT, TC, and CC). The optimized CPI model successfully described the observed data using three covariates (c.521T>C genotype, ethnicity, and sex). Hepatic active uptake of CPI decreased by 75% in 521CC relative to the wild type and by 37% in Asian-Indians relative to Caucasians. CPI synthesis was 24% lower in female relative to male. Parameter sensitivity analysis showed marginal impact of the assumption of CPI synthesis site (blood or liver), resulting in comparable recovery of plasma and urine CPI data. Lower magnitude of CPI-drug interaction was simulated in 521CC subjects, suggesting the risk of under-estimation of CPI-drug interaction without prior OATP1B1 genotyping. The CPI model incorporates key covariates contributing to inter-individual variability in its baseline and highlights the utility of the CPI modelling to facilitate the design of prospective clinical studies to maximise the sensitivity of this biomarker.

In this paper, we focus on intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) assisted multi-antenna communications with transceiver hardware impairments encountered in practice. In particular, we aim to maximize the received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) taking into account the impact of hardware impairments, where the source transmit beamforming and the IRS reflect beamforming are jointly designed under the proposed optimization framework. To circumvent the non-convexity of the formulated design problem, we first derive a closed-form optimal solution to the source transmit beamforming. Then, for the optimization of IRS reflect beamforming, we obtain an upper bound to the optimal objective value via solving a single convex problem. A low-complexity minorization-maximization (MM) algorithm was developed to approach the upper bound. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed beamforming design is more robust to the hardware impairments than that of the conventional SNR maximized scheme. Moreover, compared to the scenario without deploying an IRS, the performance gain brought by incorporating the hardware impairments is more evident for the IRS-aided communications., Accepted by IEEE Transactions on Communications

Introduction Desmoid-type fibromatosis (DF) is a fibrous tumor characterized by low-grade malignant and easy invasive growth and high recurrence. High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy has been identified as a novel non-invasive approach for DF treatment; however, the ultrasonic energy generated by HIFU can cause skin heat injury. Case A 31-year-old female patient with signs and symptoms of DF received treatment in our institution. The patient had undergone HIFU treatment six times from April 27, 2018, to August 21, 2019. After HIFU therapy for the third time, she had a third-degree skin burn showing as orange peel-like change and spent three months to promote the recovery of the skin lesions. An intermittent ice-cooling strategy was used to avoid skin damage during the fourth HIFU treatment. This patient did not have any apparent skin injury during the last three HIFU therapy and acquired satisfactory anti-tumor therapeutic effect. Conclusions There are differences in the thermal selectivity of tumor tissues, which leads to different critical thermal injury temperature values that the tissue can tolerate. Ice-cooling can lower skin tissue temperature and reduce the thermal damage caused by HIFU treatment.

Background Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) may help reduce the difficulty of surgery and eliminate tiny tumor metastatic foci. It has been reported that 69.4% to 95% of patients with cervical cancer respond to NACT. The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of microvessel features in the prediction of response of cervical carcinoma to NACT and its association with the prognosis. Methods In all, 106 patients (FIGO stage IB2 and IIA2) received NACT followed by radical hysterectomy. Pre-treatment biopsy specimens and post-treatment surgical specimens were stained by immunohistochemistry using CD31 and CD105 antibodies and were counted by quantitative stereology. The correlation between microvessel features [microvessel density (MVD) and volume density (Vv)] and the clinical response and prognosis were determined using the Mann-Whitney U-test and logistic multivariate analysis. Results Of the 106 patients, 74 (69.4%) responded to NACT. The chemotherapeutic response was more favorable in patients with poor pathological grades and tumors larger than 5 cm (P=0.047, P0.05). Both pathological grade and invasive depth were independent predictors of survival. Conclusions Pre-treatment CD31-Vv could be a predictor of chemosensitivity in one specific subgroup (pre-treatment tumor size ≥5 cm and moderate pathological grade). Post-treatment CD31-Vv is associated with a worse prognosis but is not an independent factor for overall survival.

Background To investigate the clinicopathological features of endometrial clear cell carcinoma that has invaded the right oviduct with a cooccurring ipsilateral oviduct adenomatoid tumor. Case summary A case of endometrial clear cell carcinoma invading the right oviduct with a cooccurring ipsilateral oviduct adenomatoid tumor was collected and analyzed using pathomorphology and immunohistochemistry. Endometrial clear cell carcinoma cells were distributed in a solid nest, papillary, shoe nail-like, and glandular tube-like distribution. There was infiltrative growth, and tumor cells had clear cytoplasm and obvious nuclear heteromorphism. The cancer tissue was necrotic and mitotic. The cancer tissue invaded the right oviduct. The ipsilateral oviduct also had an adenomatoid tumor. The adenomatoid tumor was arranged in microcapsules lined with flat or cubic cells that were surrounded by smooth muscle tissue. The adenomatoid tumor cells were round in shape. Conclusion Clear cell carcinoma of the endometrium can invade the oviduct and occur simultaneously with tubal adenomatoid tumors. Upon pathological diagnosis, one should pay close attention to distinguishing whether an endometrial clear cell carcinoma is invading the oviduct or whether it is accompanied by an adenomatoid tumor of the oviduct. Immunohistochemistry is helpful to differentiate these two disease entities. Endometrial clear cell carcinomas express Napsin-A and P16 and are negative for estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor. The presence of endometrial clear cell carcinoma does not affect the expression of CK and calretinin in adenomatoid tumors.

Background: Variation in liability to cannabis use disorder has a strong genetic component (estimated twin and family heritability about 50–70%) and is associated with negative outcomes, including increased risk of psychopathology. The aim of the study was to conduct a large genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify novel genetic variants associated with cannabis use disorder. Methods: To conduct this GWAS meta-analysis of cannabis use disorder and identify associations with genetic loci, we used samples from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Substance Use Disorders working group, iPSYCH, and deCODE (20 916 case samples, 363 116 control samples in total), contrasting cannabis use disorder cases with controls. To examine the genetic overlap between cannabis use disorder and 22 traits of interest (chosen because of previously published phenotypic correlations [eg, psychiatric disorders] or hypothesised associations [eg, chronotype] with cannabis use disorder), we used linkage disequilibrium score regression to calculate genetic correlations. Findings: We identified two genome-wide significant loci: a novel chromosome 7 locus (FOXP2, lead single-nucleotide polymorphism [SNP] rs7783012; odds ratio [OR] 1·11, 95% CI 1·07–1·15, p=1·84 × 10 −9) and the previously identified chromosome 8 locus (near CHRNA2 and EPHX2, lead SNP rs4732724; OR 0·89, 95% CI 0·86–0·93, p=6·46 × 10 −9). Cannabis use disorder and cannabis use were genetically correlated (r g 0·50, p=1·50 × 10 −21), but they showed significantly different genetic correlations with 12 of the 22 traits we tested, suggesting at least partially different genetic underpinnings of cannabis use and cannabis use disorder. Cannabis use disorder was positively genetically correlated with other psychopathology, including ADHD, major depression, and schizophrenia. Interpretation: These findings support the theory that cannabis use disorder has shared genetic liability with other psychopathology, and there is a distinction between genetic liability to cannabis use and cannabis use disorder. Funding: National Institute of Mental Health; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; National Institute on Drug Abuse; Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine and the Centre for Integrative Sequencing; The European Commission, Horizon 2020; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Health Research Council of New Zealand; National Institute on Aging; Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium; UK Research and Innovation Medical Research Council (UKRI MRC); The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation; National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA); National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Australia; Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program of the University of California; Families for Borderline Personality Disorder Research (Beth and Rob Elliott) 2018 NARSAD Young Investigator Grant; The National Child Health Research Foundation (Cure Kids); The Canterbury Medical Research Foundation; The New Zealand Lottery Grants Board; The University of Otago; The Carney Centre for Pharmacogenomics; The James Hume Bequest Fund; National Institutes of Health: Genes, Environment and Health Initiative; National Institutes of Health; National Cancer Institute; The William T Grant Foundation; Australian Research Council; The Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation; The VISN 1 and VISN 4 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Centers of the US Department of Veterans Affairs; The 5th Framework Programme (FP-5) GenomEUtwin Project; The Lundbeck Foundation; NIH-funded Shared Instrumentation Grant S10RR025141; Clinical Translational Sciences Award grants; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

Operation characteristics of polycrystalline germanium (poly-Ge) tri-gate junctionless (JL) charge-trapping (CT) flash memory devices with stacked tunneling layer were studied in this work. The programming speeds of poly-Ge tri-gate JL flash device with GeOx/Al2O3/SiO2 tunneling layer are faster than those with GeOx/Al2O3 or GeOx/SiO2 ones, thanks to the modified electric field in the tunneling layer. Better retention characteristics are also achieved due to a larger barrier height and physical thickness, because Ge diffusion is effectively suppressed by adding an Al2O3 between GeOx and SiO2, which can improve the quality of tunneling layer. A poly-Ge CT flash device fabricated with low-temperature process is promising for embedded memory in Ge CMOS or 3D IC.

The aim of this study was to compare the frequency of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in patients with and without interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). This case-control study evaluated the indicators of MetS in 287 females with IC/BPS and in 287 females without IC/BPS in West China Hospital between January 2010 and January 2020. Then, the number of voids per day, frequency of night urination, O’Leary-Sant Interstitial Cystitis Symptom/Problem Index, and visual analog scale were examined in the two groups. Based on both the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III recommendations and the International Diabetes Federation criteria, the distribution of MetS was statistically higher in patients with IC/BPS than in the control group, with 34.8% vs 17.8% (P

Chinese traditional liquor, a major type of global distilled spirits, offers a unique flavor system acquired across thousands of years of development. Owing to the various raw brewing materials, types of koji, fermentation vessels, and processes used during liquor production, significant differences can occur in the content of flavor chemical components, such as esters, alcohols, aromatics, ketones, nitrogen compounds, acids, and aldehydes in the resulting liquor. Therefore, the liquor can be characterized on the basis of four basic flavors: sauce-, strong-, light-, and rice-aroma, and eight derivative flavors: feng-, sesame-, chi-, te-, mixed-, laobaigan-, herbal-, and fuyu-aroma. In this review, we describe the production and development process of Chinese traditional liquor in detail; summarize the flavor types, flavor chemical composition characteristics, and research progress related to this liquor; and discuss the influence of trace chemical components on liquor flavor, with the aim of laying a theoretical foundation for stabilizing the quality and increasing the yield of traditional liquor.

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the evidence of risk spillovers between Shanghai and London non-ferrous futures markets using a dynamic Copula-CoVaR approach.Design/methodology/approachWith daily data, the marginal distributions and optimal Copula functions are determined using the kernel estimation method and squared Euclidean distance test. The conditional value-at-risk and the conditional value-at-risk spillover rate are computed from the Copula estimated parameters based on the Copula-CoVaR model. Also, the dynamic correlation coefficient between the two futures markets is investigated.FindingsThe empirical results are as follows: overall, the risk spillover effect exerted by the London Metal Exchange on the Shanghai Futures Exchange is more significant than vice versa. Moreover, the degree of risk spillovers exerted by the London Metal Exchange on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for zinc and copper are more significant when they are depressed in the London Metal Exchange. Moreover, the dynamic of the correlation between the Shanghai and London futures markets is attributed to be largely due to changes in the global economy.Research limitations/implicationsThe Copula-CoVaR model used in this paper is suitable for measuring the risk spillovers between two different markets, while the risk spillovers across multiple markets or the consideration of multiple risk factors cannot be accurately captured using this framework. Multiple state variables to capture time variation in the conditional moments of return series will be a topic in future research.Practical implicationsThe results provide theoretical support for risk management and monitoring of the non-ferrous futures markets.Originality/valueThe ability of the Copula function to accurately describe a nonlinear relationship and tail correlation is harnessed to measure the risk spillovers, explore the degree and direction of risk spillovers and identify the source of risk spillovers. The global economy is incorporated as a macro factor to explore its inner connection with the dynamic of risk spillovers in the non-ferrous metal futures market.

In IoT environments, geo-tagged data have rapidly been emerging as smart things, e.g., mobile devices or connected cars, are generally equipped with the global positioning system (GPS) module. A large volume of geo-tagged data can be fundamental to providing applications of location-based services (LBSs). One of the important LBS applications is to provide continuous spatial keyword queries. A continuous spatial keyword query monitors a designated region with a set of keywords. In the designated region, if mobile objects contain all the keywords of the query, they are the answer set for the query. The query continuously monitors the spatial region and reports its up-to-date query result. This paper presents a resident-domain-based approach for continuously monitoring spatial keyword queries. The proposed approach shifts the monitoring of tasks of affected queries from the server to mobile objects which have computational and storage abilities. According to their computational ability, the proposed approach assigns as large as possible resident domains to mobile objects. Within the resident domain, the mobile object informs the server about its spatial information only when crossing the boundary of its monitored queries, thereby reducing the communication cost between it and the server. The experimental evaluation has verified that the proposed approach outperforms the existing approach.

The operation characteristics of polycrystalline Si (poly-Si) gate-all-around (GAA) junctionless (JL) charge-trapping (CT) flash memory devices with the Zr-based stacked trapping layer were studied in this work. Devices with the Si3N4/ZrO2 stacked trapping layer show enhanced erasing speeds and comparable retention characteristics in comparison to Si3N4/HfO2 due to many shallow energy traps and smaller valance band offset in the ZrO2 layer. By inserting Al2O3 between Si3N4 and ZrO2 trapping layer, the retention and endurance characteristics are improved. The erasing speed can be further improved by a Zr-rich oxide layer near the tunneling oxide since the energy barrier can confine more injected electrons near the tunneling oxide. The retention characteristic can be improved without sacrificing the erasing speed because some of the shallow traps can be passivated by NH3 plasma treatment on ZrO2. Hence, the ZrO-based stacked trapping layer is very promising for the poly-Si GAA JL CT flash devices for nonvolatile memory applications.

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-assisted communication is a promising technology in future wireless communication networks. UAVs can not only help offload data traffic from ground base stations (GBSs), but also improve the quality of service of cell-edge users (CEUs). In this paper, we consider the enhancement of cell-edge communications through a mobile relay, i.e., UAV, in multi-cell networks. During each transmission period, GBSs first send data to the UAV, and then the UAV forwards its received data to CEUs according to a certain association strategy. In order to maximize the sum rate of all CEUs, we jointly optimize the UAV mobility management, including trajectory, velocity, and acceleration, and association strategy of CEUs to the UAV, subject to minimum rate requirements of CEUs, mobility constraints of the UAV and causal buffer constraints in practice. To address the mixed-integer nonconvex problem, we transform it into two convex subproblems by applying tight bounds and relaxations. An iterative algorithm was proposed to solve the two subproblems in an alternating manner. Numerical results show that the proposed algorithm achieves higher rates of CEUs as compared with existing benchmark schemes., Accepted by IEEE Internet of Things Journal

Background Huaier extract has been a part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for roughly 1600 years and may serve as a potential anti-cancer drug as it is associated with good efficacy and low toxicity. Individuals with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at a higher chance of being diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC) and as Huaier extract may potentially influence tumorigenesis, we set out to determine the effect of Huaier extract on colitis-associated CRC. Methods The CRC mouse model, established through azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS), was administered Huaier extract. Weight loss, colon length, tumor number and tumor size were evaluated macroscopically. Pro-inflammatory cytokine expression and STAT3 phosphorylation were assessed in the colon using ELISA, Western blot and/or immunohistochemistry. Results Huaier extract improved the severity of colitis-associated tumorigenesis compared with control group, with attenuated weight loss and longer colons. Tumor number, size and load were drastically decreased in mice treated with Huaier. Histological assessment suggested that Huaier could decrease histological injury of the colon tissue. Additionally, Huaier extract treatment led to reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine levels (TNF-α, IL-6, IFN-γ and IL-1β) and a decrease of STAT3 phosphorylation in colon tissue. Additionally, present findings demonstrated that Huaier extract inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in CRC cells HCT116 and HCT8. The migration and invasion of CRC cells were markedly inhibited upon exposure to Huaier treatment. The apoptosis-associated protein levels (P53, Bax, Bcl-2, pro-caspase-3 and cleavage caspase-3) showed significant differences after the administration of Huaier extract in HCT116 and HCT8 cells. In vivo, the administration of Huaier extract to mice inhibited tumor growth and yielded a similar profile of apoptotic proteins expression p53, Bcl-2, pro-caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-3 while no significant differences in Bax were observed. Moreover, the ratio of TUNEL-positive/apoptotic cells was markedly increased in the Huaier-treated mice. Conclusion Huaier extract may reduce the IBD-associated tumor development by suppressing pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and STAT3 stimulation.

Objective To evaluate the effect and safety of acupuncture for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) through comparisons with those of polyethylene glycol (PEG) 4000 and pinaverium bromide. Patients and Methods This multicenter randomized controlled trial was conducted at 7 hospitals in China and enrolled participants who met the Rome III diagnostic criteria for IBS between May 3, 2015, and June 29, 2018. Participants were first stratified into constipation-predominant or diarrhea-predominant IBS group. Participants in each group were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to receive acupuncture (18 sessions) or PEG 4000 (20 g/d, for IBS-C)/pinaverium bromide (150 mg/d, for IBS-D) over a 6-week period, followed by a 12-week follow-up. The primary outcome was change in total IBS-Symptom Severity Score from baseline to week 6. Results Of 531 patients with IBS who were randomized, 519 (344 in the acupuncture group and 175 in the PEG 4000/ pinaverium bromide group) were included in the full analysis set. From baseline to 6 weeks, the total IBS-Symptom Severity Score decreased by 123.51 (95% CI, 116.61 to 130.42) in the acupuncture group and 94.73 (95% CI, 85.03 to 104.43) in the PEG 4000/pinaverium bromide group. The between-group difference was 28.78 (95% CI, 16.84 to 40.72; P Conclusion Acupuncture may be more effective than PEG 4000 or pinaverium bromide for the treatment of IBS, with effects lasting up to 12 weeks. Trial Registration Chinese Clinical Trials Register, ChiCTR-IOR-15006259.

Background Accumulating data have suggested seizures occur frequently in patients with neuronal surface antibody-mediated autoimmune encephalitis. We aimed to evaluate seizure outcomes and potential factors associated with the development of epilepsy in patients with anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), anti-leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 (LGI1), and anti-gamma-aminobutyric-acid B receptor (GABAB R) encephalitis. Methods Patients with anti-NMDAR, anti-LGI1, and anti-GABAB R encephalitis were prospectively recruited from 2014 to June 2019, with a median follow-up period of 30.5 months (range 8-67 months). Seizure outcomes were assessed and risk factors of epilepsy were analyzed. Results A total of 119 patients with anti-NMDAR, anti-LGI1, and anti-GABAB R encephalitis were included, and 83 (69.7%) of them developed new-onset seizures. By the end of follow-up, 17 (21.3%) of 80 patients had seizure relapses after intermittent seizure remission or exhibited uncontrolled seizure episodes, contributing to epilepsy. Immunotherapy delay and interictal epileptic discharges (IEDs) were identified to be associated with the development of epilepsy in patients with anti-NMDAR, anti-LGI1, and anti-GABAB R encephalitis, particularly anti-NMDAR encephalitis. Furthermore, multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that immunotherapy delay was an independent predictor for epilepsy. Conclusion Our study suggested that immunotherapy delay and IEDs were associated with the development of epilepsy in patients with anti-NMDAR, anti-LGI1, and anti-GABAB R encephalitis. Early diagnosis and treatment were required, and particular consideration should be given to patients with these risk factors.

Improving the quality of a noisy image is important for image applications. Many novel schemes pay great efforts in the removal of impulse noise. Most of them restore noisy pixels only by using the neighboring noise-free pixels, but the relationship between a noisy image and its noise-free one, which denotes the clean image not corrupted by noise, is ignored. So the reconstruction quality cannot be further improved. In this study, we employ a deep-learning fully connected neural network (FCNN) to select top N candidates of neighboring un-corrupted pixels for the restoration of a center noisy pixel in an analysis window. Hence, the mean value of the gray levels of these top N pixels is computed and employed to replace the noisy pixel, yielding the noisy pixel being restored. The experimental results reveal that the proposed deep-learning FCNN mean filter can remove impulse noise effectively in corrupted images with different noise densities.

In this study, the device characteristics of dual-gate GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) were determined. The research investigated an enhancement-mode (E-mode) GaN HEMT with a second gate connected to the source and located between the main gate and drain. Two dual-gate GaN HEMTs with different second-gate designs, using Schottky or metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) contacts, were simulated and fabricated, and the direct current of the devices was investigated. In device simulation, p-GaN gates were used to achieve E-mode operation in HEMTs. Technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulation indicated that the saturation drain current (ID, sat) of devices with Schottky and MIS second gates was 88% and 38% lower than that of a single gate structure, while increasing on resistance (Ron) by 31% and 8%, respectively. In device fabrication, a Schottky and MIS second gate were respectively added to an E-mode p-GaN gate HEMT and an E-mode recesses-gate GaN MIS-HEMT. Compared with single-gate structures, the devices with a Schottky and MIS second gates reduced ID, sat by 75% and 32%, respectively, while increasing Ron by 25% and 6%, respectively. The measured electrical characteristics indicate the same trend obtained from TCAD simulation: The dual-gate design can improve the short-circuit capability of GaN HEMTs by reducing the ID, sat under on-state and high-current conditions.