Search

Background Immunological monitoring plays a crucial role in organ recipients for allowing tailoring of immunosuppression. However, there is still a paucity of promising indicators for detecting immune status in recipients. Methods We conducted a prospective study to characterize the immune status by detecting dynamically lymphocyte subsets and function (represented by the abilities to secrete IFN-γ) in the first 6 months posttransplant in renal recipients. Participants were classified into an immune stable group, infected group, and rejected group. Results In the stable group, our study suggested that the counts and function of CD4+ T, CD8+ T, and NK lymphocytes decreased to their nadir at week 2, and thereafter these indicators were gradually restored. The counts exceeded pre-operative levels, whereas function did not reach the pre-transplant levels by 6 months. We demonstrated that function of lymphocytes was considerably decreased in infected recipients compared with the stable group when infection occurred. By contrast, the function of lymphocytes was obviously increased at the point of rejection. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis in the combination of subsets and function of lymphocytes presented a superior clinical value with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.903 in the diagnosis of infected receivers, and IFN-γ+CD8+ T cells% is the highest indicator with the auROC curve of 0.862. Another ROC analysis confirmed that IFN-γ+CD4 T cells% presented a preferable diagnostic value with an area of 0.887 for rejected recipients. Conclusions In conclusion, the ability of lymphocyte subsets secreting IFN-γ may provide a promising assessment of immune status in recipients and allow timely modifying immunosuppression.

INTRODUCTION The blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption contributes to postoperative delirium, but cost-effective and non-invasive assessment of its permeability is not practicable in the clinical settings. Urine albumin to creatinine ratio (UACR), reflecting systemic vascular endothelial dysfunction, may be a prognostic and predictive factor associated with postoperative delirium. The aim was to analyze the relationship between UACR and postoperative delirium in elderly patients undergoing elective non-cardiac surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS Through stratified random sampling, a cohort of 408 individuals aged 60 years and older scheduled for elective non-cardiac surgery were included between February and August 2019 in the single-center, prospective, observational study. The presence of delirium was assessed using the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) or Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU (CAM-ICU) on the day of surgery, at 2 h after the surgery ending time and on the first 3 consecutive days with repeated twice-daily, with at least 6-h intervals between assessments. Urine samples were collected on one day before surgery, and 1st day and 3rd day after surgery. The primary outcome was the presence of postoperative delirium, and association of the level of UACR with postoperative delirium was evaluated with unadjusted/adjusted analyses and multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS Postoperative delirium was observed in 26.75% (107 of 400) of patients within 3 days post-surgery. UACR-Pre (OR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.14-1.49, p

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of Nd:YAG photobiomodulation (PBM) verse no power placebo with Nd:YAG in the treatment of patients with Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) in pain/burning, numbness, and altered taste. Forty-two patients with BMS were randomly equally assigned to PBM group and placebo group. The parameters of 1064-nm laser irradiation consisted of 100 mW power, 3 J/cm2, 30 s/region, and 10HZ. The placebo group used the same PBM instrument which was switched off. Each patient underwent one laser irradiation session per week for 4 weeks. Clinical assessments of subjective pain/burning, numbness, and altered taste were performed using a visual analogue score (VAS) before each irradiation session and 1 week after last treatment. All of the patients (21) in PBM group were showed significant decrease of VAS value of pain/burning (2% ~100%, mean 52%). The improvement on VAS value of numbness in PBM group (23% ~100%, mean 61%) was significant. Relief of altered taste was found neither in PBM group nor in placebo group. All patients completed this study and none of them reported adverse effects. One thousand and sixty-four nanometers PBM was effective for reduction of pain/burning and numbness in patients with BMS.

Bi2S3 is a n-type (negative type) semiconductor that has a narrow band gap and an ideal band edge position for hydrogen generation. However, high charge recombination rate, low photoelectrochemical (PEC) efficiency and poor stability are of major concerns of Bi2S3 as a photoelectrode. Herein, we report an efficient Vanadium-rich Bi2S3 nanowires (atomic ratio of V to Bi is 1/22) that have been prepared on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate by an in-situ solution-processed reaction with BiVO4 film as precursor. The resulting V-rich photoelectrode demonstrates notably high charge separation efficiency and fast charge transport with respect to pristine Bi2S3 nanowires. As a result, the photocurrent density of ca. 10 mA·cm−2 at -0.2 V vs Ag/AgCl is obtained under visible light illumination. In addition, V-rich Bi2S3 generates IPCE (incident photocurrent-to-current conversion efficiency) of 50% at 460 nm and 45% at 760 nm, demonstrating a 2.0 and 2.8-fold increase, respectively, when compared with pristine Bi2S3. This enhancement is probably due to increased light absorption, less charge recombination, and faster charge transfer. More importantly, in contrast to pristine Bi2S3 sample that suffers detrimental photocorrosion in sulfide containing electrolyte, V-rich Bi2S3 nanowires retain 84.6% of its initial photocurrent over the course of 1 h. These findings are expected to shed light on engineering high-performance and robust metal sulfide materials for photoelectrochemical application.

Background: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected the sleep health of older adults, but the limited number of studies on insomnia symptoms of older Chinese adults differed in terms of screener of insomnia, sample size, and prevalence, making mental health planning for this population difficult. This meta-analysis estimated the prevalence of insomnia symptoms in older Chinese adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: Both Chinese (CNKI, Wanfang, VIP) and English (PubMed, EmBase, PsycInfo) databases were systematically searched to identify cross-sectional studies containing data on the prevalence of insomnia symptoms in older Chinese adults during the pandemic. Risk of bias (RoB) of included studies was assessed with the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Studies Reporting Prevalence Data.Results: Nine studies with a total of 27,207 older Chinese adults were included. RoB scores of these studies ranged between zero and six. The pooled prevalence rates of insomnia symptoms and moderate and severe insomnia symptoms were 24.6% [95% confidence interval (CI): 19.5–30.5%] and 11.1% (95% CI: 7.2–16.9%), respectively. In subgroup analysis, significantly higher prevalence rates were observed in studies defining insomnia symptoms as “Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) ≥ 8” than in those defining them as “ISI ≥ 15” (32.6 vs. 15.6%, P < 0.001) and in older adults living in the COVID-19 epicenter than in those living in other places (35.2 vs. 23.3%, P = 0.006).Conclusion: Nearly one out of every four older Chinese adults suffered from insomnia symptoms during the pandemic. Mental health services for this population during the pandemic should include supportive activities aimed at improving mental well-being, periodic assessment of insomnia symptoms, and psychiatric assessment and treatment when necessary.

OBJECTIVE To explore the difference of 18F-FDG PET/CT images between the symptomatic and asymptomatic pulmonary tuberculosis, as well as the correlation between the standard uptake value (SUV) and the symptomatic/asymptomatic pulmonary tuberculosis. METHODS A study dataset of 57 pulmonary tuberculosis cases was retrospectively assembled and analyzed. Among these cases, 30 were diagnosed having symptomatic pulmonary tuberculosis and 27 were asymptomatic pulmonary tuberculosis. PET/CT was performed in all 57 cases. The clinical data, CT images and PET/CT radioactive uptake data were analyzed using statistical data analysis software. RESULTS All 57 cases showed radioactively high uptake, with the maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) of the lesion ranging from 1.60 to 27.30 and a mean value of 6.63±4.82. The symptomatic cases had an SUVmax of 8.76±4.97 and the asymptomatic cases had an SUVmax of 4.27±3.39. The SUVmax as well as singular or multiple lesions showed statistical differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic cases. CONCLUSION The symptomatic pulmonary tuberculosis cases show significantly higher SUVmax than the asymptomatic cases. Based on the criteria of SUVmax greater than 2.0 to define active lesions, 100% of symptomatic cases might have active lesions while 70.4% of asymptomatic cases might have active lesions. Therefore, focused attention should be clinically paid on the asymptomatic cases of pulmonary tuberculosis to avoid miss diagnosis and delayed treatment.

Agricultural plastic films have been proven highly advantageous, but they also cause pollution of plastic debris and associated chemicals. Phthalates (phthalic acid esters, PAEs), an important additive of agricultural films, can be released and contaminate the environment. Here, we analyzed the agricultural plastic usage and assessed plastic debris in China and developed a method to estimate PAE emissions from agricultural films. Additionally, the environmental fate of PAEs was evaluated using a fugacity-based multimedia model. The agricultural plastic film usage in China in 2017 was 2,528,600 tons. After agricultural film recycling and water erosion, the plastic debris amount was estimated as 465,016 tons. The water erosion process carried 4329 tons of plastic debris into the aquatic environment. During its lifetime, the agricultural film released a total of 91.5 tons of two typical types of PAEs. PAEs from the mulching film would mostly be removed through degradation, while those from the greenhouse film accumulate in vegetables. Populated regions exhibited more serious PAE pollution in vegetables but with no immediate health risks. The model was well evaluated using comparable measured concentrations and uncertainty analysis based on the Monte Carlo method. The findings from this study demonstrate the serious agricultural plastic pollution problem and associated PAE contamination in China.

Tumor growth and metastasis are responsible for breast cancer-related mortality. Andrographolide (Andro) is a traditional anti-inflammatory drug used in the clinic that inhibits NF-κB activation. Recently, Andro has been found in the treatment of various cancers. Andro inhibits breast cell proliferation and invasion and induces apoptosis via activating various signaling pathways. Therefore, the underlying mechanisms with regard to the antitumor effects of Andro still need to be further confirmed. Herein, a MMTV-PyMT spontaneous luminal-like breast cancer lung metastatic transgenic tumor model was employed to estimate the antitumor effects of Andro on breast cancer in vivo. Andro significantly inhibited tumor growth and metastasis in MMTV-PyMT mice and suppressed the cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of MCF-7 breast cancer cells in vitro. Meanwhile, Andro significantly inhibited the expression of NF-κB, and the downregulated NF-κB reduced miR-21-5p expression. In addition, miR-21-5p dramatically inhibited the target gene expression of programmed cell death protein 4 (PDCD4). In the current study, we demonstrated the potential anticancer effects of Andro on luminal-like breast cancer and indicated that Andro inhibits the expression of miR-21-5p and further promotes PDCD4 via NF-κB suppression. Therefore, Andro could be an antitumor agent for the treatment of luminal-like breast cancer in the clinic.

Low tidal volume ventilation strategy may lead to atelectasis without proper positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and recruitment maneuver (RM) settings. RM followed by individualized PEEP was a new method to optimize the intraoperative pulmonary function. We conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials to compare the effects of individualized PEEP + RM on intraoperative pulmonary function and hemodynamic with other PEEP and RM settings. The primary outcomes were intraoperative oxygenation index and dynamic compliance, while the secondary outcomes were intraoperative heart rate and mean arterial pressure. In total, we identified 15 clinical trials containing 36 randomized groups with 3634 participants. Ventilation strategies were divided into eight groups by four PEEP (L: low, M: moderate, H: high, and I: individualized) and two RM (yes or no) settings. The main results showed that IPEEP + RM group was superior to all other groups regarding to both oxygenation index and dynamic compliance. LPEEP group was inferior to LPEEP + RM, MPEEP, MPEEP + RM, and IPEEP + RM in terms of oxygenation index and LPEEP + RM, MPEEP, MPEEP + RM, HPEEP + RM, IPEEP, and IPEEP + RM in terms of dynamic compliance. All comparisons were similar for secondary outcomes. Our analysis suggested that individualized PEEP and RM may be the optimal low tidal volume ventilation strategy at present, while low PEEP without RM is not suggested.

To investigate the role of miR-93-5p in rats with type 2 diabetic retinopathy (DR) through targeting Sirt1. The targeting correlation between miR-93-5p and Sirt1 was validated by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) rat models were received intravitreal injection of antagomir NC (negative control), miR-93-5p antagomir, miR-93-5p agomir and/or recombinant Sirt1, followed by observation of pathological changes in retina via HE staining. Besides, retinal vascular permeability was determined by fluorescein isothiocyanate-bovine serum albumin (FITC-BSA), while the retinal vasculature was observed through retinal trypsin digestion. Expression of miR-93-5p and Sirt1 was measured by qRT-PCR and Western blotting, while the levels of VEGF, proinflammatory cytokines and anti-oxidative indicators were determined using corresponding kits. MiR-93-5p could target Sirt1 as analyzed by the luciferase reporter gene assay. Rats in the T2DM group presented the up-regulation of miR-93-5p and down-regulation of Sirt1 in the retina, and miR-93-5p inhibition could up-regulate Sirt1 expression in the T2DM rats. Recombinant Sirt1 decreased retinal vascular permeability and acellular capillaries with improved pathological changes in retina from T2DM rats, which was abolished by miR-93-5p agomir. Moreover, miR-93-5p inhibition or Sirt1 overexpression decreased the levels of VEGF and proinflammatory cytokines while enhancing the activity of anti-oxidative indicators. However, indicators above had no significant differences between T2DM group and T2DM + agomir + Sirt1 group. MiR-93-5p, via targeting Sirt1, could affect the vascular permeability and acellular capillaries and mitigate the inflammation and oxidative stress in the retinas, which may play a critical role in DR.

A comprehensive global inventory of past, present, and future steroid emissions was firstly developed based on the global 5′ × 5′ grids relevant data available. From 1970 to 2070, the growth rate of the annual global steroid emission was relatively stable around 10%. At present (in 2015), the global steroid emissions was 18,270 t, with 17% contributed by humans. Almost one-third of total animal emissions have been occurring in India and Brazil. India also had the highest value of human steroid emissions. Regions with highest steroid emissions were concentrated between 10° ~ 35° N and 70° ~ 90° E. The increase of sewage treatment rates can effectively reduce the total quantity of steroids entering the environment, especially for some developing countries. But the “technology bonus” from sewage treatment process will be exhausted until to 2030. Meanwhile, global surface water pollution was predicted based on steroid emissions into water compartment and on the digital river network with annual river discharge. The modelling results show that steroids are widely distributed across the globe, with concentrations mostly below 100 ng/L. However, if no proper treatment measures for animal excretions, in another 100 years, the range of the surface water contaminated by steroids will increase by 1.2 times. The Nile River resulted as the most polluted among the eight world's longest and famous rivers during the whole period investigated. Various measured concentrations worldwide validated our modelling result. The global steroid emission inventory and surface water pollution from past to the future will stand as an important data and knowledge base for the management of pollution from different types of steroids at global and regional level.

Background: Tacrolimus is a new type immunosuppressant. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of topical tacrolimus 0.1% ointment at 2 different frequencies in treating patients with exfoliative cheilitis.Methods: A total of 40 patients with exfoliative cheilitis were randomly divided into the QD group receiving topical tacrolimus 0.1% ointment once a day or the QOD group receiving topical tacrolimus 0.1% ointment once-two-day. Patients were also applied wet dressing of saline twice a day. The effectiveness of treatment was defined as the percentage of improvement in signs or symptoms.Results: 37 patients completed the 2-week treatment. And, a full set was analyzed. The effectiveness of topical tacrolimus 0.1% ointment for relief in objective sign and subjective symptom was 50% and 67.5%% in the QD group, respectively. For the QOD group, the effectiveness of sign and symptom relief was 50% and 73.5%. There was no significant difference of effectiveness between application topical tacrolimus once a day and once 2 days.Conclusion: Our data suggested that application of topical tacrolimus 0.1% ointment once a day and once 2 days had similar clinical effectiveness for sign and symptom relief in patients with exfoliative cheilitis.

Our study aimed to investigate the functional connectivity (FC) between the hippocampus and other brain regions in epilepsy patients with depressive symptoms.Epilepsy patients with and without depressive symptoms, assessed using the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores, were enrolled. Healthy volunteers were recruited as the control group. Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed, and the data were processed using Resting-State fMRI (DPARSFA2.0) software. The regional homogeneity (ReHo) values and the FC between the right hippocampus and other brain regions were analysed.The ReHo value of the cerebellum (particularly the left cerebellar hemisphere) was significantly lower in epilepsy patients than in healthy controls, and was lower in epilepsy patients with depressive symptoms (EP + DS group) than in those without depressive symptoms (EP-DS group, p 0.05). Additionally, the FC between the right hippocampus and the bilateral cerebellum was significantly greater in the EP + DS group than in the EP-DS group (p 0.05). Moreover, abnormal ReHo values in the bilateral frontal lobes, including the right anterior cingulate cortex, and changes in the FC between the right hippocampus and the bilateral frontal lobes were found in the EP + DS group. Minor changes in the FC between the temporal and parietal lobes were also found in the epilepsy patients.The functional right hippocampus-cerebellum circuit might contribute to the pathogenesis of depressive symptoms in epilepsy, with the exception of brain areas associated with emotion such as the frontal and temporal lobes. Modulating the hippocampus-cerebellum circuit is a potential therapeutic strategy for epilepsy patients with depressive symptoms.

Phyllanthus Urinaria L. (PUL) is a traditional Chinese medicine used to treat hepatic and renal disorders. However, the mechanism of its hepatoprotective action is not fully understood. In the present study, blood biochemical indexes and liver histopathological changes were used to estimate the extent of hepatic injury. GC/MS and LC/MS-based untargeted metabolomics were used in combination to characterize the potential biomarkers associated with the protective activity of PUL against CCl4-induced liver injury in rats. PUL treatment could reverse the increase in ALT, AST and ALP induced by CCl4 and attenuate the pathological changes in rat liver. Significant changes in liver metabolic profiling were observed in PUL-treated group compared with liver injury model group. Seventeen biomarkers related to the hepatoprotective effects of PUL against CCl4-induced liver injury were screened out using nonparametric test and Pearson's correlation analysis (OPLS-DA). The results suggested that the potential hepatoprotective effects of PUL in attenuating CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity could be partially attributed to regulating L-carnitine, taurocholic acid, and amino acids metabolism, which may become promising targets for treatment of liver toxicity. In conclusion, this study provides new insights into the mechanism of the hepatoprotection of Phyllanthus Urinaria.

Background : Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is chronic disorder characterized by pain/burning sensation in oral cavity. Nd:YAG low-level laser (LLL) has been used in the treatment of pain reduction. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of LLL verse no power placebo with Nd:YAG in the treatment of patients with BMS in pain/burning, numbness and altered taste. Methods : Forty-two patients with BMS were randomly equally assigned into LLL group and placebo group. The parameters of Nd:YAG irradiation consisted of 100mW power, 3J/cm 2 energy density, 10 Hz, pulse mode and a 1064nm wavelength emission. The placebo group used the same LLL instrument which was switched off. Each patient underwent one laser irradiation session per week for 4 weeks. Clinical assessment of subjective pain/burning, numbness and altered taste was performed using a visual analogue score (VAS) before each irradiation session and one week after last treatment. Results : All of patients (21) was showed significant decreasing of VAS value of pain/burning (ranged from 2% ~100%, mean 52%) after 4-weeks LLL treatment. The improvement of VAS value of numbness in LLL group (ranged from 23% ~100%, mean 61%) was significant from the baseline to the end of LLL treatment. Relief of altered taste was found neither in LLL group nor in placebo group. All patients completed this study and none of them reported adverse effects. Conclusions : Nd:YAG LLL (100mw, 3J/cm 2 , 10 Hz) ) was effective for reduction of pain/burning and numbness in patients with BMS.

Antibiotics used for human and veterinary purposes are released into the environment, resulting in potential adverse effects, including the development and spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Here we investigated the dynamic fate of 36 antibiotics in a large river basin Dongjiang in South China, and discussed their potential antibiotic resistance selection risk. Based on the usage, excretion rate, wastewater treatment rate, human population and animal numbers the emissions of 36 frequently detected antibiotics were estimated for the Dongjiang River Basin. The total usage of the 36 antibiotics in the basin was 623.4 tons, which included 37% for human use and the rest for veterinary purposes. After being metabolized and partially treated, the amount of antibiotics excreted and released into the environment decreased to 267.6 tons. By allocating the high-precision antibiotic discharge inventory to 42 sewage plants and 17 livestock farms, an improved GREAT-ER (Geography referenced Regional Exposure Assessment Tool for European Rivers) model for the Dongjiang River Basin, with a well calibration river flow network based on the SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool), was established to simulate the dynamic fate of 36 antibiotics. The simulation results showed that antibiotics contaminated >50% of the river sections. The modelled concentrations in water were almost within an order of magnitude of the measured concentrations. Antibiotic contamination in the dry season was obviously higher than that in the wet season. The concentrations of the antibiotics were always higher at the discharge zones and lower reaches of the river basin than the other reaches. The antibiotic resistance risk assessment showed that 23 out of the 36 antibiotics (nearly 65%) could pose high risks in the river basin. For those river reaches with high risks, the risk levels could mostly be reduced to low risk levels with a certain distance (15 km) from the pollution source. Therefore, more attention should be paid to those impact zones in term of antibiotic resistance.

Ischemic stroke is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. In the post-stroke stage, cardiac dysfunction is common and is known as the brain–heart interaction. Diabetes mellitus worsens the post-stroke outcome. Stroke-induced systemic inflammation is the major causative factor for the sequential complications, but the mechanism underlying the brain–heart interaction in diabetes has not been clarified. The NLRP3 (NLR pyrin domain-containing 3) inflammasome, an important component of the inflammation after stroke, is mainly activated in M1-polarized macrophages. In this study, we found that the cardiac dysfunction induced by ischemic stroke is more severe in a mouse model of type 2 diabetes. Meanwhile, M1-polarized macrophage infiltration and NLRP3 inflammasome activation increased in the cardiac ventricle after diabetic stroke. Importantly, the NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor CY-09 restored cardiac function, indicating that the M1-polarized macrophage–NLRP3 inflammasome activation is a pathway underlying the brain–heart interaction after diabetic stroke. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s12264-020-00544-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Swine feedlots are recognized as a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). However, the microbiome and antibiotic resistome in swine wastewater and its impact on receiving environments remain to be further explored by culture independent metagenomics. We investigated the microbial diversity of swine wastewater and the receiving environments in three swine farms by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Metagenomic sequencing was utilized to further study the antibiotic resistome in the different depths of soils in vegetable fields, which had been fertilized with swine wastewater for at least 24 years. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed that the microbiome of the well water, fishpond, vegetables and the field soils was affected by the respective swine farms. Significant positive correlations were found between 20 ARGs and 41 genus of bacteria across all environmental samples. The metagenomic sequencing showed that a total of 79 types of ARGs were found in soil cores (at depth of 0–20 cm, 20–40 cm and 40–70 cm) and the irrigation water (swine wastewater). Antibiotics were detected in vertical soil profiles and wastewater. Compared with the vegetable fields without animal manure application, the soils irrigated with swine wastewater harbored higher diversity of ARGs and contained higher concentrations of antibiotics. Co-occurrence of integron-related scaffolds was found in different depths of soil cores and the swine wastewater. The results suggest that environmental microbiome was changed under the impact of swine farms, and long-term manure/wastewater application have resulted in the accumulation of ARGs in deeper soils Prudent use of antibiotics and reasonable management of animal wastes in livestock feedlots should therefore be considered to reduce the dissemination of antibiotic resistance to the environment.

Background The adverse effects of TI exposure on pregnant women are still unclear, especially regarding the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) Objective: We explored the association between maternal urinary Tl burden and the risk of GDM. Methods A subsample of 1789 pregnant women were enrolled who provided spot urine samples before the diagnostic 75-g oral glucose tolerance test. Urinary Tl concentration was measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Logistic regression and covariance analysis were carried out to estimate the association between Tl exposure and GDM risk. Results The median of urinary Tl concentration was 0.382 μg/L or 0.525 μg/g creatinine (CC–Tl). There were 437 (24.4%) participants who were diagnosed with GDM, and the urinary CC-Tl concentrations of pregnant women with GDM were higher than that of pregnant women without GDM [0.548 (0.402, 0.788) vs 0.518 (0.356, 0.724), p = 0.014]. After adjusting for the relevant covariates, an association between urinary Tl concentrations and GDM was found. In comparison to the pregnant women in the lowest quartile of urinary CC-Tl concentration, the pregnant women in the highest quartile had a higher risk of GDM [OR (95% CI) = 1.44 (1.03, 2.02), p-trend = 0.055]. If limited to the pregnant women without family history of diabetes, the results were still robust [OR (95% CI) = 1.59 (1.11, 2.30), p-trend = 0.012]. Conclusion Urinary CC-Tl concentration was associated with GDM among Chinese pregnant women. Our findings provide evidence that moderately high Tl exposure may be a novel risk factor for pregnant women health.

Invariant moment is a highly concentrated and distortion invariant image features. The goal of multi-moving object characterization and classification methods is to find a suitable description of different kinds of moving objects in the scene and match the similarity between unknown moving objects with invariant moment. This paper presents evolution and development of invariant moments family history, and designs a classification model to classify multi-moving objects. Experimental results show that this method can effectively improve the recognition rate of the moving object.

Background A small number of epidemiological studies have suggested the association of antimony (Sb) exposure with type 2 diabetes risk. However, little is known about the relationship between Sb exposure during pregnancy and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Objectives To investigate the associations of urinary Sb concentrations with GDM risk and blood glucose levels in pregnant women. Methods We analyzed the baseline data of 1789 pregnant women enrolled in the Birth Cohort Study on Prenatal Environments and Offspring Health (PEOH) in Guangzhou, China. Sb concentrations in urine were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Logistic regression and analysis of covariance were used to evaluate associations of Sb exposure with GDM risk and blood glucose levels. Results A total of 437 (24.4%) women were diagnosed with GDM. The relative risk of GDM for women in the highest quartile of creatinine-corrected Sb (CC–Sb) concentrations was 1.55 [RR (95% CI) = 1.55 (1.12, 2.15), p-trend = 0.005], compared with women in the lowest quartile. Moreover, the women in the top quartile of CC-Sb levels had a 5.2% higher 1 h blood glucose and a 4.2% higher 2 h blood glucose than those in the bottom quartile. We also found an interactive effect between maternal age and CC-Sb on the risk of GDM (p-interaction Conclusion This study suggested significant positive associations of Sb exposure with increased GDM risk and impaired blood glucose homeostasis in pregnant women, and the Sb-GDM association might be modified by maternal age.

Relation extraction becomes one important task in information extraction and it is becoming more and more used to discover relations from text. However, it is difficult to combine context information for relation extraction and some important information may appear many times in one sentence. In order to solve these problems, this paper presents Gated Recurrent Unit Networks with attention (CHGRU) model to catch important information in a sentence. In this model, we use the gated unit networks for embedding sentence semantics. Then, we build word-level attention to capture informative sentences with accurate relation patterns. On real-world datasets, our experimental results gains great improvements about relation extraction as compared with others.

Comorbid depression is common in patients with epilepsy. However, the epilepsy-associated depression is generally atypical and has not been fully recognized by neurologists. This study aimed to compare the behavioral and pathological changes between the chronic lithium chloride-pilocarpine rat epilepsy model (Licl-pilocarpine model) and the Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress rat depression model (CUMS model), to evaluate for differences between epilepsy-associated depression and primary depression.The Licl-pilocarpine model and the CUMS model were established respectively and simultaneously. Spontaneous seizures were recorded by video monitoring. Forced swim test (FST) and sucrose consumption test (SCT) were performed to test depressive behaviors. Immobility time (IMT) and climbing time (CMT) in FST, sucrose preference rate (SPR) in SCT, and weight gain rate (WGR) were adopted to represent severity of depressive behaviors in rats. Immunofluorescent staining was conducted to measure expressions of neuronal specific nuclear protein (NeuN), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and cluster of differentiation molecule 11b (CD11b) in the hippocampus of Licl-pilocarpine model, CUMS model, and Control group.Significantly, more prolonged IMT was observed in both the Licl-pilocarpine model (p0.05) and the CUMS model (p0.01) than Control group. But decreased WGR was only seen in the CUMS model. The percentage of rats with CMT greater than 100s was significantly higher in the Licl-pilocarpine model than the CUMS model (p0.05). Increased CMT was observed in the Licl-pilocarpine model with mild depression subgroup (EMD, IMT≤100s) even compared with the Control group. Neuronal loss was both found in the Licl-pilocarpine model and the CUMS model when comparing with the Control group (p0.05). However, the number of GFAP and CD11b staining cells was both greater in the Licl-pilocarpine model than the CUMS model and the Control group (p0.05).There were some different depressive behavioral and hippocampal pathological changes between the Licl-pilocarpine and the CUMS models except for some common features. Gliosis and microglial activation might be more involved in the pathophysiology of epilepsy-associated depression than primary depression.

Because of large amounts of unstructured data generated on the Internet, entity relation extraction is believed to have high commercial value. Entity relation extraction is a case of information extraction and it is based on entity recognition. This paper firstly gives a brief overview of relation extraction. On the basis of reviewing the history of relation extraction, the research status of relation extraction is analyzed. Then the paper divides theses research into three categories: supervised machine learning methods, semi-supervised machine learning methods and unsupervised machine learning method, and toward to the deep learning direction.

Composting has been widely used to turn livestock manure into organic fertilizer. However, livestock manure contains various contaminants including antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Here we investigated the variation of antibiotic resistome and its influencing factors during a commercial livestock manure composting. The results showed that composting could effectively reduce the relative abundance of ARGs and mobile genic elements (MGEs). As the dominant phylum in the composting samples, the key potential bacterial host of ARGs were Actinobacteria such as Leucobacter, Mycobacterium and Thermomonosporaceae unclassified. Meanwhile, Legionella pneumophila, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Haemophilus ducreyi and Siccibacter turicensis may be the key potential pathogenic host of ARGs because of their co-occurrence with ARG subtypes. Redundancy analysis showed that the dissipation of ARGs during composting was linked to various environmental factors such as moisture. Bacterial succession as well as profile of biocide and metal resistance genes (BMRGs) were the determinants which constructed the antibiotic resistome during manure composting. However, the residues of ARGs and pathogens in compost products may still pose risks to human and crops after fertilization. Keywords: Antibiotic resistance genes, Livestock manure, Composting, Microbial community, Pathogens, Antibiotic resistome

Defects might be formed within braided composites because of the special production process and would have negative effects on the mechanics performance of 3D braided composites. It is important to test and analyses defects to take preventive measures for preventing their formation. In this paper, defects of 3D braided composites were analyzed and methods of nondestructive testing were introduced. Ultrasonic nondestructive testing is one of the earliest methods of nondestructive testing used to evaluate composites. Ultrasonic nondestructive tests of 3D 5-directional braided composites were carried in this paper and the characteristics values were extracted by wavelet analysis method and defect qualitative analysis was implemented.

Fabric keyboard is a field of smart textile. It can overcome many disadvantages of conventional keyboard. In order to study the fabric keyboard switch, trapezia structures of two kinds of orifice dimension are designed for example 8 wefts and 16 wefts. Different roots of conductive wires are woven into the down layer of the orifice part for each kind of orifice dimension. 4 and 8 roots of wires are woven for 8 wefts. 4, 8 and 16 roots of wires are woven for 16wefts. Then the immediate regain, connection pressure, connection ratio and contact resistance are tested and analyzed for every kind of fabric keyboard switch. It is concluded that 8 wefts orifice dimension and 8 roots of wires woven into the down layer of the orifice part is a better project. These findings may assist in recommendations regarding the further development of flexible fabric keyboard.

Based on the principle and fabricating process of Quasi-Isotropic braided composites, the regular pattern of movement of each yarn is analyzed and the inner unit cell model is established in this paper. The real Quasi-Isotropic braiding structure is built using 3D paint software named UG NX4.0. Compressive mechanical properties of 3D Quasi-Isotropic braided composites are also discussed. It is found that the load–deflection curve of the Quasi-isotropic braided composites displays a relatively linear behavior, behaving mostly as the characteristics of shear.

Monitoring coal goaf mainly is arrangement of the wireless sensor network node in goaf to monitor the change of gas concentration and environmental temperature. This paper presents a clustering routing algorithm based on event-driven. In conventional circumstances, we adopt an improved LEACH algorithm. In the case of an event occurs, the nodes within the event region form a sub-cluster automatically, electing a cluster head node in cluster center. Cluster head after fusion data, in the direction of the shortest distance with the sink node forms a series of dynamic clustering and transmits the data to the sink node. Through MATLAB simulation studies show that the improved LEACH prolongs network life cycle efficaciously, clustering routing algorithm based on event-driven will transmits the data to the sink node reliably and in real time.

With the development of computer technology, video event detection is becoming more and more important part of Recognition Pattern. Video event detection is the process of describing, identifying, classifying and interpreting the Objects or phenomena in the video. Finally across the underlying semantic gap, get high-level semantic concept. This paper improves the hypergraph partitioning theory, for the classification of the video events. The graph transformation tool AGG is used to conduct experiments in order to evaluate the accuracy of hypergraph method, a good result is obtained.

The early Cenozoic was characterized by a very warm climate especially during the Early Eocene. To understand climatic changes in eastern Asia, we reconstructed the Early Eocene vegetation and climate based on palynological data of a borehole from Wutu coal mine, East China and evaluated the climatic differences between eastern Asia and Central Europe. The Wutu palynological assemblages indicated a warm temperate vegetation succession comprising mixed needle- and broad-leaved forests. Three periods of vegetation succession over time were recognized. The changes of palynomorph relative abundance indicated that period 1 was warm and humid, period 2 was relatively warmer and wetter, and period 3 was cooler and drier again. The climatic parameters estimated by the coexistence approach (CA) suggested that the Early Eocene climate in Wutu was warmer and wetter. Mean annual temperature (MAT) was approximately 16°C and mean annual precipitation (MAP) was 800-1400 mm. Comparison of the Early Eocene climatic parameters of Wutu with those of 39 other fossil floras of different age in East China, reveals that 1) the climate became gradually cooler during the last 65 million years, with MAT dropping by 9.3°C. This cooling trend coincided with the ocean temperature changes but with weaker amplitude; 2) the Early Eocene climate was cooler in East China than in Central Europe; 3) the cooling trend in East China (MAT dropped by 6.9°C) was gentler than in Central Europe (MAT dropped by 13°C) during the last 45 million years.

In order to obtain the three dimensional (3D) fluorescence spectra directly and rapidly by in situ and in vivo phytoplankton monitoring, a prototype ocean lidar system with the ability of measuring 3D fluorescence spectra is developed, in which an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) and a grating spectrometer are employed. Using the system, the 3D fluorescence spectra of five typical red-tide species in the East China Sea are measured in lab. The preliminary experimental results show the feasibility of monitoring and classifying phytoplankton by this ocean lidar.