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Obesity is a major risk factor for lung disease development. However, little is known about the impact of chronic high-fat and high-fructose (HFHF) diet-induced obesity on lung inflammation and subsequent pulmonary fibrosis. Herein we hypothesized that dedicator of cytokinesis 2 (DOCK2) promotes a proinflammatory phenotype of lung fibroblasts (LFs) to elicit lung injury and fibrosis in chronic HFHF diet-induced obesity. HFHF diet for 20 weeks induced lung inflammation and pro-fibrotic changes in wild-type (WT) C57BL/6 mice. CD68 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) expression were notably increased in the lungs of WT mice fed a HFHF diet. Further, HFHF diet increased lung DOCK2 expression that co-localized with fibroblast-specific protein 1, suggesting a potential role of DOCK2 in regulating proinflammatory phenotype of LFs. Importantly, DOCK2 knockout mice were protected from lung inflammation and fibrosis induced by chronic HFHF diet. In primary human LFs (HLFs), TNF-α and IL-1β induced DOCK2 expression concurrent with MCP-1, IL-6, and matrix metallopeptidase 2. DOCK2 knockdown suppressed TNF-α induced expression of these molecules. DOCK2 knockdown likewise attenuated TNF-α-induced activation of the PI3K/AKT and NF-κB signaling pathways, suggesting a mechanism of DOCK2 mediated proinflammatory and pro-fibrotic changes in HLFs. Taken together, these findings reveal a previously unrecognized role of DOCK2 in regulating proinflammatory phenotype of LFs, potentiation of lung inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis in chronic HFHF diet caused obesity.

This article mainly focuses on the single event function interruption (SEFI) and single event latch-up (SEL) of 90 nm NOR flash memories. Devices were irradiated by ions with different linear energy transfer (LET) values from 12.9 to $65.8~MeV\cdot cm^{2}$ /mg. SEFI observed in the device is further divided into bit SEFI, column SEFI, and sector SEFI by severity of data corruption. Under irradiation with low LET value ions, SEL propagation-like phenomena were observed in this work, which was recognized as the process from local latch-up to global latch-up in the peripheral circuits. The underlying mechanisms for SEFI and SEL in NOR flash are discussed. Results indicate that the radiation-induced transient current should be responsible for SEFI, and different forms of SEFI depend on in which part of the circuit that transient current occurred. Besides, SEL in NOR flash is considered to be triggered from the peripheral circuits.

Background This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and associated factors in middle-aged and elderly people in China. Methods Data were obtained from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) 2018. We selected 16,767 respondents over the age of 45 as samples for research and analysis. A short version of the Center for Epidemiological Research Depression Scale (CES-D) was used to assess depressive symptoms. Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to explore the related factors of depressive symptoms. Back Propagation neural network model was established to examine the ranking of influencing factors of depressive symptoms. Results There was 24.1% prevalence of depressive symptoms among the respondents. The 14 important variables affecting depressive symptoms were screened out with the multivariable logistic regression. Based on the BP neural network to rank the degree of importance, the top five important variables were determined, which were subjective well-being (100.0%), self-reported health (92.0%), life satisfaction (83.4%), ADL disability (74.0%), and marital status (69.7%). Limitations This study was a cross-sectional study, and causality cannot be determined. Conclusions The prevalence of depressive symptoms in middle-aged and elderly Chinese people was high. Subjective quality of life evaluation, health condition and marital status were important factors that have an impact on depressive symptoms.

What is known and objective Remifentanil can effectively decrease the sevoflurane concentration to block sympathetic adrenergic response to CO2 pneumoperitoneum stimulus,and liver dysfunction will significantly reduce the MACBAR (minimum alveolar concentration for blocking adrenergic response) of sevoflurane. However, the effects of different remifentanil concentrations on the MACBAR of sevoflurane in patients with liver dysfunction are unclear. The aim of this study was to observe the effects of different remifentanil concentrations by intravenous target-controlled infusion on the MACBAR of sevoflurane in patients with grade B liver dysfunction under carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum stimulus. Methods Seventy-five patients with grade B liver dysfunction undergoing elective laparoscopic surgery were selected, and randomly divided into three groups with remifentanil plasma target concentrations of 0 (group R0 ), 1 (group R1 ) and 2 (group R2 ) ng/ml. Anaesthesia was induced by intravenous injection of propofol 2-3 mg/kg, remifentanil 2 μg/kg and cisatracurium 0.15 mg/kg. All groups were inhaled different concentrations of sevoflurane. The determination of sevoflurane MACBAR in each group was used a method of sequential-allocation technique, and venous blood samples were taken before and after the creation of carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum to determine plasma adrenaline and noradrenaline concentrations. Results and discussions The MACBAR of sevoflurane in groups R0 , R1 and R2 was 4.83%, 3.00% and 2.10%, respectively. The MACBAR of sevoflurane was significantly difference among the three groups. When a similar effect of MACBAR had achieved in each group, no significant differences were found in the changes of plasma adrenaline and noradrenaline concentrations before and after the creation of pneumoperitoneum. What is new and conclusion Target-controlled infusion of different concentrations of remifentanil can reduce sevoflurane MACBAR during pneumoperitoneum stimulation in patients with liver dysfunction in some degree. However, the changes of plasma adrenaline and noradrenaline concentrations are consistent in the three groups when patient's stress response was inhibited at the same degree.

Background To investigate the effects of different plasma target concentrations of remifentanil on the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) for blocking adrenergic response (BAR) of sevoflurane in children with laparoscopic herniorrhaphy. Methods Seventy-five children with 3-7 years old scheduled for laparoscopic herniorrhaphy were randomly divided into group R0, group R1, and group R2 according to different remifentanil plasma target concentration (0, 1, and 2 ngml-1), respectively. The MACBAR of sevoflurane was determined by the up-and-down and sequential method in each group. The concentrations of epinephrine and noradrenaline were also determined at corresponding time points. Results A total of 52 child patients were used among the anticipated 75 patients. In groups R0, R1, and R2, the MACBAR of sevoflurane was (3.29 ± 0.17) %, (2.12 ± 0.10) % and (1.29 ± 0.11) %, respectively, and a significant difference was found among the three groups (P Conclusion Remifentanil by target-controlled infusion can effectively reduce the MACBAR of sevoflurane during laparoscopic surgery in children. At a similar effect of MACBAR, both the changes of epinephrine and noradrenaline concentrations are not affected by the infusion of different remifentanil target concentrations. Trial registration The trial was registered at http://www.chictr.org.cn(ChiCTR1800019393, 8, Nov, 2018).

Background: To systematically evaluate the effectiveness and safety of traditional Chinese medicine preparation XPYEG combined with SBI and SBI alone in the treatment of REC, and to provide the reference in drugs for the clinical treatment of children with rotavirus enteritis. Methods: Retrieving the English databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library and Embase; Chinese databases: CNKI, CBM and WANFANG Data. Retrieving a randomized controlled trial of XPYEG and SBI in the treatment of REC. The retrieval time is from the above database until September 2020. The retrieval strategy of combining free words and subject words is adopted, and the references included in the literature are searched manually in accordance with the literature studied in this paper and not included in the above database. Two researchers screen the literature according to the literature inclusion and exclusion criteria, extract valid data and evaluate the quality of the literature, and cross-check it. Using the RevMan 5.3 software to conduct the meta-analysis on the main outcome and secondary outcome indicators of the included literature, while assessing the evidence quality of included study. Results: The effectiveness and safety of XPYEG and SBI in the treatment of REC are presented through the main and secondary outcome indicators. OSF Registration number: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/3QSZG. Conclusion: This study will conclude whether the combination of XPYEG and SBI is more effective than SBI alone in the treatment of REC, and whether the medication increases the risk of adverse reactions compared with single medication. Ethics and dissemination: This study does not involve the specific patients, and all research data comes from publicly available professional literature, so an ethics committee is not required to conduct an ethical review and approval of the study.

BACKGROUND The spine is the most common location of metastatic diseases. Treating a metastatic spinal tumor depends on many factors, including patients’ overall health and life expectancy. The present study was conducted to investigate prognostic factors and clinical outcomes in patients with vertebral metastases. AIM To investigate prognostic factors and their predictive value in patients with metastatic spinal cancer. METHODS A retrospective analysis of 109 patients with metastatic spinal cancer was conducted between January 2015 and September 2017. The prognoses and survival were analyzed, and the effects of factors such as clinical features, treatment methods, primary lesions and affected spinal segments on the prognosis of patients with metastatic spinal cancer were discussed. The prognostic value of Frankel spinal cord injury functional classification scale, metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC), spinal instability neoplastic score (SINS) and the revised Tokuhashi score for prediction of prognosis was explored in patients with metastatic spinal tumors. RESULTS Age, comorbidity of metastasis from elsewhere, treatment methods, the number of spinal tumors, patient’s attitude toward tumors and Karnofsky performance scale score have an effect on the prognosis of patients (all P < 0.05). With respect to classification of spinal cord injury, before operation, the proportion of grade B and grade C was higher in the group of patients who died than in the group of patients who survived, and that of grade D and grade E was lower in the group of patients who died than in the group of patients who survived (all P < 0.05). At 1 mo after operation, the proportion of grade A, B and C was higher in the group of patients who died than in the group of patients who survived, and that of grade E was lower in patients in the group of patients who died than in the group of patients who survived (all P < 0.05). MSCC occurred in four (14.3%) patients in the survival group and 17 (21.0%) patients in the death group (P < 0.05). All patients suffered from intractable pain, dysfunction in spinal cord and even paralysis. The proportion of SINS score of 1 to 6 points was lower in the death group than in the survival group, and the proportion of SINS score of 7 to 12 points was higher in the death group than in the survival group (all P < 0.05). The proportion of revised Tokuhashi score of 0 to 8 points and 9 to 11 points were higher in the death group than in the survival group, and the proportion of revised Tokuhashi score of 12 to 15 points was lower in the death group than in the survival group (all P < 0.05). Frankel spinal cord injury functional classification scale, MSCC, SINS and revised Tokuhashi score were important factors influencing the surgical treatment of patients with metastatic spinal cancer (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Frankel spinal cord injury functional classification scale, MSCC, SINS and revised Tokuhashi score were helpful in predicting the prognosis of patients with metastatic spinal cancer.

Background Leukemia stem cells (LSCs) play pivotal roles in leukemogenesis, and are closely implicated in leukemia relapse and chemoresistance. LSCs are tightly modulated by hypoxic exposure and macrophage-conditioned microenvironment. Nevertheless, the impacts on the biology of LSCs imposed by the interaction of hypoxia and macrophage polarization remain elusive. Methods In the study, LSCs characterized by CD34+CD38- immunophenotype sorted from KG1α and primary AML cells were employed as in vitro and ex vivo cell models. mRNA and protein expressions of cytokine/chemokine of cells under normoxic and hypoxic conditions were determined by RT-PCR and western blot. Macrophage polarization, cell cycle and apoptosis were determined by flowcytometry. Cell viability was assayed by CCK-8. Results Macrophages preferentially presented with M2 polarization phenotype characterized by upregulated VEGF and CCL17 cytokine/chemokine profile, when stimulated by specific set of cytokines under hypoxic exposure, and induced an anti-inflammatory microenvironment. LSCs exhibited significantly increased cell viability, colony-forming capacity and chemoresistance when co-incubated in hypoxic conditioned medium (H-CM) primed by polarized M1 macrophages. VEGF expression was upregulated in LSCs which in turn activated survivin expression. VEGF-mediated upregulation of survivin could be abolished by inhibition of VEGF receptor, but not blocked by survivin-targeting siRNA. In addition, survivin upregulation exerted antiapoptotic effects and was associated with increased chemoresistance. Finally, VEGF mediated transcriptional induction of HIF-1α of LSCs coincubated in H-CM, and HIF-1α induction in turn enhanced chemoresistance and reduced cell apoptosis. Conclusions To our best knowledge, this is the first study that focus to explore molecule players and interacting signal pathways regulating LSC biology under hypoxic exposure. It reveals that hypoxia preferentially skew macrophage M2 polarization with specific cytokine profile and proinflammatory microenvironment, which impacts malignant behavior of LSCs. VEGF-HIF-1α interaction is closely implicated in sustaining LSCs survival under hypoxic exposure and might be of potential target of novel therapy.

High entropy alloys (HEAs), which is at the expense of high cost compared to traditional alloy, should not be confined to the mechanical properties, but should be employed to devise a novel combination with unique functional and mechanical performances. In this work, high entropy alloy nitride (HEAN) is utilized as a novel double absorption layer to improve solar absorption in the high temperature solar selective absorbing coatings (SSACs). Our primary motivation is to lower thermal emittance (e) and enhance solar absorptance (α). In order to realize this goal, coating design (CODE) software is employed to design and optimize the proposed HEAN based SSACs using appropriate dielectric function model. The ultimate as-deposited coating shows good optical properties with a high α value of 0.965 and a low e value of 0.086 (at 82 °C). The estimate of thermal stability tests indicates that HEAN based SSACs has the ability to resist instability in high working temperature, which keeps good optical properties (α = 0.925, e = 0.070) after annealing at 600 °C for 10 h.

Pleural organization may occur after empyema or complicated parapneumonic effusion and can result in restrictive lung disease with pleural fibrosis (PF). Pleural mesothelial cells (PMCs) may contribute to PF through acquisition of a profibrotic phenotype, mesothelial–mesenchymal transition (MesoMT), which is characterized by increased expression of α-SMA (α-smooth muscle actin) and other myofibroblast markers. Although MesoMT has been implicated in the pathogenesis of PF, the role of the reactive oxygen species and the NOX (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase) family in pleural remodeling remains unclear. Here, we show that NOX1 expression is enhanced in nonspecific human pleuritis and is induced in PMCs by THB (thrombin). 4-Hydroxy-2-nonenal, an indicator of reactive oxygen species damage, was likewise increased in our mouse model of pleural injury. NOX1 downregulation blocked THB- and Xa (factor Xa)–mediated MesoMT, as did pharmacologic inhibition of NOX1 with ML-171. NOX1 inhibition also reduced phosphorylation of Akt, p65, and tyrosine 216–GSK-3β, signaling molecules previously shown to be implicated in MesoMT. Conversely, ML-171 did not reverse established MesoMT. NOX4 downregulation attenuated TGF-β– and THB-mediated MesoMT. However, NOX1 downregulation did not affect NOX4 expression. NOX1- and NOX4-deficient mice were also protected in our mouse model of Streptococcus pneumoniae–mediated PF. These data show that NOX1 and NOX4 are critical determinants of MesoMT.

Recent advances in high-entropy alloys have spurred many breakthroughs in the fields of high-temperature materials and optical materials and they provide incredible application potentialities for photothermal conversion systems. Solar-selective absorbers (SSAs), as key components, play a vital role in photothermal conversion efficiency and service life. The most pressing problem with SSAs is their inconsistent optical performance, an instability constraint induced by thermal stress. A feasible method of improving performance stability is the introduction of high-entropy materials, such as high-entropy alloy nitrides. In this study, enabled by an intrinsic MoTaTiCrN absorption layer, the solar configuration achieves greatly enhanced, exceptional thermotolerance and optical properties, leading to the formation of a scalable, highly efficient, and cost-effective structure. Computational and experimental approaches are employed to achieve optimum preparation parameters for thicknesses and constituents. The crystal structure of high-entropy ceramic MoTaTiCrN is fully investigated, including thickness-dependent crystal nucleation. High-temperature and long-term thermal stability tests demonstrate that our proposed SSA is mechanically robust and chemically stable. Moreover, a low thermal emittance (15.86%) at 500 °C promotes the photothermal conversion efficiency. In addition, due to the exceptional spectral selectivity (α/ε = 92.3/6.5%), thermal robustness (550 °C for 168 h), and photothermal conversion efficiency (86.9% at 550 °C under 100 sun), it is possible for our proposed SSA to enhance the practical realization of large-area photothermal conversion applications, especially for concentrated solar power systems.

Background Alflutinib is a novel irreversible and highly selective third-generation EGFR inhibitor currently being developed for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer patients with activating EGFR mutations and EGFR T790M drug-resistant mutation. Alflutinib is mainly metabolized via CYP3A4 to form its active metabolite AST5902. Both alflutinib and AST5902 contribute to the in vivo pharmacological activity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of rifampicin (a strong CYP3A4 inducer) on the pharmacokinetics of alflutinib and AST5902 in healthy volunteers, thus providing important information for drug-drug interaction evaluation and guiding clinical usage. Methods This study was designed as a single-center, open-label, and single-sequence trial over two periods. The volunteers received a single dose of 80 mg alflutinib on Day 1/22 and continuous doses of 0.6 g rifampicin on Day 15–30. Blood sampling was conducted on Day 1–10 and Day 22–31. The pharmacokinetics of alflutinib, AST5902, and the total active ingredients (alflutinib and AST5902) with or without rifampicin co-administration were respectively analyzed. Results Co-administration with rifampicin led to 86% and 60% decreases in alflutinib AUC0-∞ and Cmax, respectively, as well as 17% decrease in AST5902 AUC0-∞ and 1.09-fold increase in AST5902 Cmax. The total active ingredients (alflutinib and AST5902) exhibited 62% and 39% decreases in AUC0-∞ and Cmax, respectively. Conclusions As a strong CYP3A4 inducer, rifampicin exerted significant effects on the pharmacokinetics of alflutinib and the total active ingredients (alflutinib and AST5902). The results suggested that concomitant strong CYP3A4 inducers should be avoided during alflutinib treatment. This trial was registered at http://www.chinadrugtrials.org.cn . The registration No. is CTR20191562, and the date of registration is 2019-09-12.

The most recent advances in high-entropy materials provide impetus for the development of high-performance materials, simultaneously providing high-temperature robustness and excellent functional properties owing to the high configurational entropy and distorted lattices. Thus, in this work, double-layer high-entropy alloy nitride HfNbTaTiZrN with a well-designed metal content gradient is employed to fabricate a solar selective absorber coating (SSAC). We extensively investigated whether the coating meets the definition of a high-entropy material from the points of elemental analysis and phase structure, combined with thermodynamic calculation. Remarkably, the new, tailored SSAC exhibits an exceptionally high solar absorptance (α = 96%) and a suppressed thermal emittance (e = 8.2%) at 82 °C and omnidirectional absorption. Investigations of the long-term thermal stability indicate that the HfNbTaTiZrN-based SSAC due to the entropy-driven structural stabilization could endure heat treatment at 600 °C for 168 h, retaining a performance criterion (PC) value less than 0.05, which implies the feasibility of practical applications. More importantly, the photothermal conversion efficiency (η), which is utilized to quantitatively evaluate the performance at elevated temperatures, reaches 90.1% at a working temperature of 550 °C under 100 suns, and even after annealing at 600 °C for 168 h, the efficiency drop is still less than 5%. Overall, the combination of thermal robustness and photothermal conversion efficiency at working temperatures less than 600 °C provides significant potential to maximize solar energy harvesting and pioneers an opportunity to explore simultaneous multifunctional applications of high-entropy alloys.

Background This study aimed to understand the clinical characteristics and outcomes of children with Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) in China. Methods We conducted a retrospective study of 95 paediatric patients with LCH in West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University between July 2013 and August 2020. Results The onset age of multisystem LCH (MS-LCH) patients with risk organ (RO) involvement was younger than that of MS-LCH without RO involvement (p = .002) and single system LCH (p K, BRAF p.L485_P490delinsF, BRAF p.R506_K507insLLR, ARAF p.Q349_F351delinsL and MAP2K1 p.Q58_E62del were known mutations in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. The BRAF-V600E genotype in the tissue and plasma prior to therapy were detected in 16 patients, and the concordance was only 37.5% (6/16). According to the modified LCH-III-based-protocol, JLSG-02 protocol chemotherapy, and vemurafenib, the estimated five-year overall survival, event-free survival (EFS) and cumulative reactivation rates of 95 patients were 98.8%, 74.6% and 24.5%, respectively. The EFS rate in good responders was better than that in poor responders at 12-week (HR = 0.022, 95%CI 0.002–0.231, p = .002), and EFS was not affected by age, RO involvement or BRAF-V600E mutation. Regarding sequelae, nine patients had central diabetes insipidus and two had growth retardation. Conclusions In this study, LCH was a highly heterogeneous disease characterized molecularly by MAPK-pathway activating mutations. Vincristine, prednisone and cytarabine-based chemotherapy combined with vemurafenib improved the prognosis of childhood LCH. In future, prospective clinical trials and novel therapeutic strategies should be developed to improve outcomes in paediatric patients with LCH.KEY MESSAGEChildren with Langerhans cell histiocytosis in China present highly heterogeneous clinical characteristics, with up to 60% of cases harbouring mutations in MAPK pathway.Treatment response at 12-week is associated with EFS in our study.Vincristine, prednisone and cytarabine-based chemotherapy combined with vemurafenib improved the prognosis of Chinese childhood LCH, but the reactivation rate is still high.

The functional application of high entropy alloys, which emerge as a novel multi-principal component alloy, has been constantly expanding in the field of solar photothermal harvesting from optical materials to high temperature materials due to their excellent properties. A solar spectrally selective absorbing coating requires such materials that show not only outstanding optical properties but also prominent thermal stability. It is desirable but challenging to fabricate high performance solar absorbing coatings. A prospective strategy for the preparation of solar absorbing coatings is the introduction of high entropy alloys. In this work, we have developed a simple, cost-conscious, scalable and highly efficient solar selective absorbing coating using a single layer high entropy nitride AlCrTaTiZrN by choosing appropriate elemental compositions. The as-deposited coatings show an outstanding spectral selectivity of α/e = 92.8%/5.1% or 91.6%/5.1%. High temperature thermal stability tests are performed in depth, indicating that the coating could endure annealing treatment at 800 °C for 2 h with insignificant reflectance spectrum variation. A prolonged period of thermal stability characterization presents that this coating could maintain good optical performance after annealing at 650 °C for 300 h. Furthermore, high temperature thermal emittance can be suppressed to as low as 15.4% at 600 °C, which contributes to the state-of-the-art photothermal conversion efficiency under 100 suns (87.7% at 600 °C, and 84.6% at 650 °C). Overall, the high entropy nitride AlCrTaTiZrN based coating contributes to good thermal stability and optical properties, showing great potential for extensive applications in solar energy harvesting.

To evaluate the efficacy of nanosilver antibacterial gel in the nursing and treatment of cervical erosion. A total of 108 patients with cervical erosion were selected, and based on the degree of erosion, they were treated with nanosilver antibacterial gel for 2∼3 courses through external application. The total efficacy rate of nanosilver antibacterial gel in the treatment of cervical erosion was 97.2%, and the total cure rate was 84.3%. Further, the cure rate was 94.8% for mild erosion, 83.3% for moderate erosion, and 42.9% for severe erosion. Nanosilver antibacterial gel has different degrees of curative effects on cervical erosion, and the curative effect is more significant in mild and moderate erosion patients compared to that in severe erosion patients.

This study aimed to identify the independent contributions of lifestyle factors to depressive symptoms among Chinese middle school students, with a focus on gender differences. A cross-sectional study of 3081 middle school students was conducted in Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, China. Students were asked to complete a questionnaire including socio-demographics, lifestyle factors, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Chinese Secondary School Students Depression Scale. The total prevalence of depressive symptoms was 19.9%. Poor quality of sleep, smoking, drinking and longer mobile phone use time were related to increased prevalence of depressive symptoms after adjusting for potential confounders. A significant interaction between gender and quality of sleep on the depressive symptoms was found (

Semitransparent organic photovoltaic cells (ST-OPVs) are emerging as a solution for solar energy harvesting on building facades, rooftops, and windows. However, the trade-off between power-conversion efficiency (PCE) and the average photopic transmission (APT) in color-neutral devices limits their utility as attractive, power-generating windows. A color-neutral ST-OPV is demonstrated by using a transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) anode along with a narrow energy gap nonfullerene acceptor near-infrared (NIR) absorbing cell and outcoupling (OC) coatings on the exit surface. The device exhibits PCE = 8.1 ± 0.3% and APT = 43.3 ± 1.2% that combine to achieve a light-utilization efficiency of LUE = 3.5 ± 0.1%. Commission Internationale d’eclairage chromaticity coordinates of (0.38, 0.39), a color-rendering index of 86, and a correlated color temperature of 4,143 K are obtained for simulated AM1.5 illumination transmitted through the cell. Using an ultrathin metal anode in place of ITO, we demonstrate a slightly green-tinted ST-OPV with PCE = 10.8 ± 0.5% and APT = 45.7 ± 2.1% yielding LUE = 5.0 ± 0.3% These results indicate that ST-OPVs can combine both efficiency and color neutrality in a single device.

Background Given the important role of Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) in maintaining the hemostasis in intestinal barrier function and regulation of inflammation and immune, we hypothesize that S1P might be a biomarker to predict peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. Methods In this case-control study, 78 stable, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients were enrolled and followed for the episode of PD associated peritonitis. Patients were divided into two groups by whether or not they had peritonitis during follow-up: non-peritonitis (n = 65) and peritonitis (n = 13) group. S1P was analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess factors associated with peritonitis. The variables identified by univariable regression models (p

BACKGROUND Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading around the world, presenting mainly as respiratory symptoms Some patients have obvious digestive system symptoms, or even present with only digestive system symptoms Therefore, it is of great significance to clarify the digestive system manifestations in COVID-19 patients AIM To explore the digestive system manifestations of 350 patients with COVID-19 hospitalized at our hospital, to provide reference for the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 METHODS The data of 350 COVID-19 inpatients at our hospital, such as general conditions, initial symptoms, disease severity, digestive system symptoms, and liver function, were retrospectively analyzed The digestive system symptoms and liver function indexes were compared between non-critically ill patients and critically ill patients Statistical methods involved independent sample median test, continuity correction chi-square test, and one-way analysis of variance RESULTS All the 350 patients were definitely diagnosed with COVID-19, including 176 (50 3%) males and 174 (49 7%) females They ranged in age from 17 to 94 years, with a median age of 59 years There were 254 (72 6%) non-critically ill patients and 96 (27 4%) critically ill patients The initial symptoms were mainly fever, dry cough, fatigue, and chest tightness;262 (74 9%) cases showed fever, 189 (54 0%) showed dry cough, 237 (67 7%) showed fatigue, and 195 (55 7%) showed chest tightness Seventy-nine (22 6%) cases showed digestive system symptoms, mainly diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain;42 (12 0%) cases showed diarrhea, 48 (13 7%) showed vomiting, and 3 (0 9%) showed abdominal pain Five (1 4%) cases presented with digestive system symptoms as the initial symptoms One hundred and fifty (42 9%) cases had abnormal liver function indexes (increase in at least one of ALT, AST, TBIL, and DBIL), of which 73 (20 9%) had elevated ALT, 98 (28 0%) had elevated AST, 60 (17 1%) had elevated DBIL, and 27 (7 7%) had elevated TBIL Serum albumin (ALB) was reduced in 275 (78 6%) patients The percentage of non-critically ill patients with digestive system symptoms (52/254, 20 5%) was not statistically significant from that of critically ill patients (52/254 [20 5%] vs 27/96 [28 1%],χ 2 = 2 334, P > 0 05) The abnormal rate of liver function indexes (87/254, 34 3%) was significantly lower in non-critically ill patients than in critically ill patients (87/254 [34 3%] vs 63/96 [65 6%], χ 2 = 28, P 0 05) CONCLUSION Hospitalized COVID-19 patients may show some digestive system symptoms, with diarrhea and vomiting being most common A few patients present with digestive system symptoms as the initial manifestation, which is more likely to cause misdiagnosis Some patients with COVID-19 show liver injury, although most of cases are mild, and no liver failure occurs Compared with non-critically ill patients, the incidence of digestive system symptoms is generally similar to that of non-critically ill patients, but the incidence and degree of abnormal liver function indexes are higher in critically ill patients Most patients with COVID-19 may have decreased serum albumin, and patients with diarrhea are more likely to have serum albumin decline The above conclusions may help increase the awareness of COVID-19 among clinicians and improve their treatment skill

Background and purpose Apatinib is a small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor for the treatment of recurrent or progressive advanced-stage gastric adenocarcinoma or gastroesophageal junction cancer. The in vitro inhibition studies suggested that apatinib exerted potent inhibition on CYP3A4 and CYP2C9. To evaluate the potential of apatinib as a perpetrator in CYP450-based drug-drug interactions in vivo, nifedipine and warfarin were, respectively, selected in the present study as the probe substrates of CYP3A4 and CYP2C9 for clinical drug-drug interaction studies. Since hypertension and thrombus are common adverse effects of vascular targeting anticancer agents, nifedipine and warfarin are usually coadministered with apatinib in clinical practice. Methods A single-center, open-label, single-arm, and self-controlled trial was conducted in patients with advanced solid tumors. The patients received a single dose of 30 mg nifedipine on Day 1/14 and a single dose of 3 mg warfarin on Day 3/16. On Day 9-21, the subjects received a daily dose of 750 mg apatinib, respectively. The pharmacokinetics of nifedipine and warfarin in the absence or presence of apatinib was, respectively, investigated. Results Compared with the single oral administration, coadministration with apatinib contributed to the significant increases of AUC0-48h and Cmax of nifedipine by 83% (90% confidence interval [CI] 1.46-2.31) and 64% (90% CI 1.34-2.01), respectively. Similarly, coadministration with apatinib contributed to the significant increases of AUC0-t and Cmax of S-warfarin by 92% (90% CI 1.68-2.18) and 24% (90% CI 1.10-1.39), respectively. Conclusion Concomitant apatinib administration resulted in significant increases in systemic exposure to nifedipine and S-warfarin. Owing to the risk of pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions based on CYP3A4/CYP2C9 inhibition by apatinib, caution is advised in the concurrent use of apatinib with either CYP2C9 or CYP3A4 substrates.

This paper describes a novel modeling method for determining the thermal deformation coefficient of the moving shaft of a machine tool. Firstly, the relation between the thermal deformation coefficient and the thermal expansion coefficient is expounded, revealing that the coefficient of thermal deformation is an important factor affecting the precision of moving shaft feed systems. Then, thermal errors and current boundary and machining conditions are measured using sensors to obtain the first set of parameters for a thermal prediction model. The dynamic characteristics of the positioning and straightness thermal errors of the moving axis of a machine tool are analyzed under different feed speeds and mounting modes of the moving shaft and bearing. Finally, the theoretical model is derived from experimental data, and the axial and radial thermal deformation coefficients at different time and positions are obtained. The expressions for the axial and radial thermal deformation of the moving shaft are modified according to theoretical considerations, and the thermal positioning and straightness error models are established and experimentally verified. This modeling method can be easily extended to other machine tools to determine thermal deformation coefficients that are robust and self-correcting.

In this work, a wide-bandgap small molecule donor, BTTzR, that incorporates the electron-donating alkylthienyl-substituted benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene (BDT-T) unit and the electron-deficient thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole (TTz) unit as the building block units is designed and synthesized. BTTzR exhibits strong absorption in the wavelength range of 400–650 nm with a wide optical bandgap of 1.88 eV, a low-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level of –5.58 eV, and an ordered molecular orientation and packing. Hence, optimized all-small-molecule organic solar cells (SM-OSCs) based on BTTzR as a donor and Y6 as an acceptor achieve an outstanding power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 13.9%, which is among the highest values reported in the literature to date. More importantly, the devices exhibit a very small non-radiative energy loss of 0.18 eV, which is similar to those of inorganic solar cells. These results indicate that BTTzR is a promising small molecule donor material for SM-OSC application and provide new insight into the design of photovoltaic materials to reduce the non-radiative energy loss in the OSCs.

Due to their high transparency, electrodes fabricated from conductive polymers are often implemented in semitransparent organic solar cells. Opaque solar cells usually employ metal back electrodes with high reflectivity for best photon confinement in the light-harvesting layer. Herein, a bilayer back electrode comprising conductive polymers and nanofoamed poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is investigated, the latter of which creates diffuse reflection of the incoming light. By tuning the thickness of the nanofoamed PMMA layer, absorption and transmission of the solar cells can be tailored from opaque to vastly transparent. Due to its diffusive character, this versatile electrode enhances the light absorption in the wavelength regimes with lower absorption coefficient. The solar cells are particularly suited for deployment in frosted window applications.

The neuronal engagement of the peripheral nerve system plays a crucial role in regulating fracture healing, but how to modulate the neuronal activity to enhance fracture healing remains unexploited. Here it is shown that electrical stimulation (ES) directly promotes the biosynthesis and release of calcitonin gene‐related peptide (CGRP) by activating Ca2+/CaMKII/CREB signaling pathway and action potential, respectively. To accelerate rat femoral osteoporotic fracture healing which presents with decline of CGRP, soft electrodes are engineered and they are implanted at L3 and L4 dorsal root ganglions (DRGs). ES delivered at DRGs for the first two weeks after fracture increases CGRP expression in both DRGs and fracture callus. It is also identified that CGRP is indispensable for type‐H vessel formation, a biological event coupling angiogenesis and osteogenesis, contributing to ES‐enhanced osteoporotic fracture healing. This proof‐of‐concept study shows for the first time that ES at lumbar DRGs can effectively promote femoral fracture healing, offering an innovative strategy using bioelectronic device to enhance bone regeneration., Electrical stimulation (ES) at dorsal root ganglions (DRGs) triggers calcium influx and activates the Ca2+/CaMKII/CREB signaling cascade, resulting in the transcription of calcitonin gene‐related peptide (CGRP). After synthesized in DRGs, CGRP is transported to peripheral nerve terminals and released following depolarization by ES. The released CGRP and subsequently increased type‐H vessel formation promote osteoporotic fracture healing.

Suppressing trap states and localized electronic states in the forbidden gap of semiconductors as either active layers or contacts is critical to the enhancement of optoelectronic device performanc...

Graphene and hBN as two-dimensional materials with excellent optical properties can be combined with other materials. In this paper, graphene and hBN is sequentially deposited on the surface of the silicon-core fiber to serve as transverse magnetic (TM) or transverse electric (TE) mode polarizer alternatively depending on the input wavelength and the diameter of the silicon-core. The Gr/hBN stack structure on the surface silicon-core microfiber is used not only for enlarging the wavelength bandwidth, such as from 350 nm (TM) and 670 nm (TE) for double Gr/hBN stack to 300 nm (TM) and 550 nm (TE) for single Gr/hBN stack, but also enhancing the light-graphene interaction to multiply the polarization extinction ratio, as compared with that of monolayer graphene. Small radius silicon core could provide large light-graphene interaction for flat extinction ratio with different thickness of the hBN.

Background Predicting disease-related genes is helpful for understanding the disease pathology and the molecular mechanisms during the disease progression. However, traditional methods are not suitable for screening genes related to the disease development, because there are some samples with weak label information in the disease dataset and a small number of genes are known disease-related genes. Results We designed a disease-related gene mining method based on the weakly supervised learning model in this paper. The method is separated into two steps. Firstly, the differentially expressed genes are screened based on the weakly supervised learning model. In the model, the strong and weak label information at different stages of the disease progression is fully utilized. The obtained differentially expressed gene set is stable and complete after the algorithm converges. Then, we screen disease-related genes in the obtained differentially expressed gene set using transductive support vector machine based on the difference kernel function. The difference kernel function can map the input space of the original Huntington’s disease gene expression dataset to the difference space. The relation between the two genes can be evaluated more accurately in the difference space and the known disease-related gene information can be used effectively. Conclusions The experimental results show that the disease-related gene mining method based on the weakly supervised learning model can effectively improve the precision of the disease-related gene prediction compared with other excellent methods.

Background Integrative Chinese and Western Medicine (ICWM) is widely used in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in China. However, the evidence-based on the long-term prognosis and large sample on this topic are weak. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the correlation between the therapeutic effect of ICWM and the prognosis of patients after PCI.Methods This study is a prospective observational real-world cohort study that was conducted from September 2016 to August 2019 in Fuwai Hospital. The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Review Committee of Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. We consecutively screened 6000 patients after PCI and they were followed up for 2 years. ICWM were related to prognostic outcomes using unadjusted (Kaplan-Meier curves) and risk-adjusted (multivariable Cox regression) analyses. The primary endpoint was a composite of all-cause death, revascularization, and myocardial infarction.Results A total of 5942 patients after PCI were enrolled in this study, 5453 patients were included in the final analysis (4189[76.8%] were male; mean [SD] age, 61.91[9.91] years). There were 2932 patients (53.8%) in western medicine group (WMG) and 2521 patients (46.2%) in integrated medicine group (IMG). Cox regression analysis showed that IMG had a 27% lower cumulative risk of the major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) than WMG (hazard ratio [HR], 0.73; 95% CI, 0.63-0.85; P＜0.0001), especially in all-cause mortality and revascularization.Conclusions Among patients after PCI, ICWM compared with conventional western medicine was correlated with a lower risk of 2-year MACE. Further research is needed to provide higher levels of evidence.

Mesothelial to mesenchymal transition (MesoMT) is one of the crucial mechanisms underlying pleural fibrosis, which results in restrictive lung disease. DOCK2 (dedicator of cytokinesis 2) plays important roles in immune functions; however, its role in pleural fibrosis, particularly MesoMT, remains unknown. We found that amounts of DOCK2 and the MesoMT marker α-SMA (α-smooth muscle actin) were significantly elevated and colocalized in the thickened pleura of patients with nonspecific pleuritis, suggesting the involvement of DOCK2 in the pathogenesis of MesoMT and pleural fibrosis. Likewise, data from three different pleural fibrosis models (TGF-β [transforming growth factor-β], carbon black/bleomycin, and streptococcal empyema) consistently demonstrated DOCK2 upregulation and its colocalization with α-SMA in the pleura. In addition, induced DOCK2 colocalized with the mesothelial marker calretinin, implicating DOCK2 in the regulation of MesoMT. Our in vivo data also showed that DOCK2-knockout mice were protected from Streptococcus pneumoniae–induced pleural fibrosis, impaired lung compliance, and collagen deposition. To determine the involvement of DOCK2 in MesoMT, we treated primary human pleural mesothelial cells with the potent MesoMT inducer TGF-β. TGF-β significantly induced DOCK2 expression in a time-dependent manner, together with α-SMA, collagen 1, and fibronectin. Furthermore, DOCK2 knockdown significantly attenuated TGF-β–induced α-SMA, collagen 1, and fibronectin expression, suggesting the importance of DOCK2 in TGF-β–induced MesoMT. DOCK2 knockdown also inhibited TGF-β–induced Snail upregulation, which may account for its role in regulating MesoMT. Taken together, the current study provides evidence that DOCK2 contributes to the pathogenesis of pleural fibrosis by mediating MesoMT and deposition of neomatrix and may represent a novel target for its prevention or treatment.

Background Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) has been defined as a disorder driven by misguided myeloid differentiation, with up to 50% of cases harboring the BRAF-V600E mutation. Salvage treatment with LCH refractory to vinblastine and steroid regimen is intractable. Vemurafenib is safe and effective in children with refractory BRAF-V600E-positive LCH, but the disease always reactivates with the withdrawal of vemurafenib. Case presentation: Here, we report the first case of BRAF-V600E positive LCH resistant to vemurafenib therapy but effectively salvaged by cytarabine-based chemotherapy. Conclusions Our case report shows that vemurafenib monotherapy might not be effective for every BRAF-V600E-positive refractory LCH, and cytarabine-based chemotherapy might still be a cost-effective therapeutic alternative. Keywords: Langerhans cell histiocytosis, BRAF-V600E mutation, Vemurafenib, Chemotherapy

Purpose: Placenta percreta is the most serious subtype of placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) disorders. In this study, we propose a new procedure for controlling intraoperative bleeding. We aimed at evaluating the effect and long-term outcomes of Partial Anterior Myometrial Resection and Reconstruction under tourniquet and/or prophylactic abdominal aorta balloon occlusion in patients with placenta percreta.Methods: This was a retrospective study involving pregnant patients with clinically confirmed placenta percreta who delivered by cesarean section between January 1st, 2018 and June 30th, 2020. A total of 334 pregnant women were recruited in this study. The 142 women that were subjected to this new method were regarded as the observation group while 194 pregnant women that were treated with other sutures were regarded as the control group. Demographic characteristics, placental accreta score, estimated blood loss (EBL), operative time, blood transfusion rate and volume, neonatal weight, post-operative hospital stays and costs were evaluated. Short-term complications, including fever, hematoma, thrombus, bladder rupture and ICU transfer rate, as well as long-term outcomes including breast feeding, menstruation, intrauterine adhesion, and chronic abdominal pain among others were followed up in the outpatient clinic and by phone calls.Results: For all cases, EBL in the observation and control groups were 1200 (687~1812) ml and 1300 (800~2500) ml; operative time were 99.5 (84.0~120.0) min and 109.0 (83.8~143.0) min; while lengths of postoperative hospital stays were 4 (4~7) and 5 (4~7.5) days, respectively. The observation group exhibited significantly better outcomes than the control group. There were no significant differences in placental percreta scores, costs, blood transfusion volume, neonatal weight, fever, hematoma, thrombus, bladder rupture and ICU transfer rates between the two groups. All patients, except one in control group, had preserved uterus. There were no statistically significant differences in short-term and long-term complications between the two groups.Conclusions: When combined with prophylactic abdominal aorta balloon occlusion and/or tourniquet, Partial Anterior Myometrial Resection and Reconstruction is highly effective in reducing intraoperative blood loss and hysterectomy in placental percreta. However, we should pay attention to short-term and long-term complications, especially to the complications associated with aorta balloon occlusion.

Persistent infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) and immune surveillance failure may be the initiating factors for the carcinogenesis of cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). HPV infection might affect the innate immune pathway of cervical epithelial cells that constitute the “microenvironment” for tumor cells. Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) has been reported to be an immunosuppressor that helps cancer cells escape the actions of T cells. In the present study, CXCL10 was substantially upregulated both in cervical tissues of HPV infected patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) or CSCC, as well as in HPV16 E6/E7 transgenic murine cervix. The HPV-positive (HPV+) cervical cancer cell lines SiHa and Caski secreted increased levels of CXCL10 compared to human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF-1), and its receptor CXCR3 was overexpressed in HFF-1. After co-culture with SiHa or Caski, the JAK-STAT signaling pathway and exosomal PD-L1 expression were both upregulated in HFF-1. Recombinant human CXCL10 induced JAK-STAT and PD-L1, while the CXCL10-CXCR3 and JAK-STAT inhibitors AMG487 or ruxolitinib reduced the expression of PD-L1 in HFF-1 cells. Furthermore, the upregulated expression of PD-L1 was verified in HPV+ but not HPV-negative (HPV-) patients with cervical cancers by analysis of tissue microarray cores in 25 cervical lesion patients (P < 0.05). The results indicate that HPV infection can induce cervical cancer cells to secrete CXCL10, which binds to CXCR3 in the surrounding fibroblast cells,leading to JAK-STAT pathway activation and the subsequent upregulated expression of exosomal PD-L1. These mechanisms may help HPV to escape immune response attack, leading to carcinogenesis.

BACKGROUND: Breast tumor stiffness, which can be objectively and noninvasively evaluated by ultrasound elastography (UE), has been useful for the differentiation of benign and malignant breast lesions and the prediction of clinical outcomes. Liquid biopsy analyses, including cell-free tumor DNA (ctDNA), exhibit great potential for personalized treatment. This study aimed to investigate the correlations between the UE and ctDNA for early breast cancer diagnosis. METHODS: Breast tumor stiffness in 10 patients were assessed by shear wave elastography (SWE), and the ctDNA of eight collected plasma specimens with different tumor stiffness were analyzed by whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Subsequently, the distribution of carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) was investigated by detecting the expression levels of alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in tissues of breast lesions. We validated the function of discoidin domain receptor 2 (DDR2) in breast tumor CAFs by knockout of fibroblast activation protein (FAP) with different tumor stiffness during cancer progression in vitro and vivo. RESULTS: The UE estimates of tumor stiffness positively correlated with CAF-rich (α-SMA(+)) tumors (P

With the strengthening of epidemic prevention and control in public areas in many areas, in order to ensure the health of people entering public areas, many public areas are equipped with multiple wireless temperature sensors, which not only effectively saves manpower, but also effectively realizes the real-time detection and data transmission of people's body temperature in public areas. a large number of wireless temperature sensor nodes deployed in the public area constitute a wireless sensor network, which is a multi hop self-organizing network system through wireless communication. considering the minimum energy consumption and optimal efficiency of the network, this paper proposes a routing algorithm based on ant colony optimization, which can fully consider the routing changes caused by the constant change of energy in wireless sensor networks. The algorithm is simulated in Visual Studio.Net development environment. Through the experimental simulation, the experimental results are analyzed to find the route with fast convergence and better path, which proves that the algorithm can be well applied in wireless sensor networks.

BackgroundCluster of Differentiation 80 and CD 86 can also be called B7-1 and B7-2 respectively. They are proteins fundamentally expressed on antigen-presenting cells (APCs), including induced dendritic cells (IDCs), langerhans cells, germinal center dendritic cells (GCDCs), activated monocytes, macrophages and B-cells. They are considered to be a possible therapeutic target and biomarker of great significance. However, there are still inconsistent pieces of information and their clinical importance is yet to be established. MethodsHere we investigated CD 80 and 86 as biomarkers by utilizing several large genomic data collections. (The Cancer Genome Atlas, Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia, Quantitative proteomics Cancer cell line Encyclopedia Genotype-Tissue Expression,) and analyzed CD 80 and CD 86 expression in thousands of normal and cancer samples and cell lines along with their clinical survival analysis.ResultsThis study presented that CD 86 was expressed more in post-treatment blood cancer in the blood and post-treatment blood cancer in the bone marrow while it was expressed least in normal tissues and cell lines. The Hodgkin lymphoma cell line L428 cell lysate illustrated that there was a high relative protein expression of 6.6 for the CD 86 gene. it indicated that cancer in the esophagus had the highest copy number value and indicated a medium level amplification of the CD 86 gene and prostate cancer had a hemizygous deletion of the CD 86 gene with the least copy number value. Furthermore, on the non-Hodgkin lymphoma cell line REC1, illustrated the highest relative protein expression of the CD 86 gene among the other types of cancer cell line, its protein expression value was 8.19. Also, for cancer type leukemia, the subtype acute myeloid leukemia showed a significant relative protein expression. The acute myeloid leukemia cell line EOL1 indicated that there was a high relative protein expression of 6.5. However, the protein expression for CD 80 is yet to be elucidated.ConclusionsTaken together, CD 80 ad 86 may be potential biomarkers of great clinical significance. The Kaplan Meier plots unveiled that CD 86 and CD 80 were significantly associated with overall survival analysis in the Large B-cell lymphoma, and the different tumor types.

Diabetes is a group of metabolic disorders with an increased risk of developing cognitive impairment and dementia. The hippocampus in the forebrain contains an abundance of insulin receptors related to cognitive function and plays an important role in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disorders. Berberine from traditional Chinese medicine has been used to treat diabetes and diabetic cognitive impairment, although its related mechanisms are largely unknown. In this study, a STZ diabetes rat model feeding with a high-fat diet was used to test the effects of berberine compared with metformin. Oral glucose tolerance and hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp were used for glucose metabolism and insulin resistance. The Morris water maze was used to observe the compound effects on cognitive impairment. Serum and hippocampal [Formula: see text]-amyloid peptide (A[Formula: see text], Tau and phosphorylated Tau protein deposition in the hippocampi were measured. The TUNEL assay was used to detect the neuronal apoptosis, supported by histomorphological changes and transmissional electron microscopy (TEM) image. Our data showed that the diabetic rats had a significantly cognitive impairment. In addition to improving glucose metabolism and reducing insulin resistance, berberine significantly improved the cognitive function in the rat. Berberine also effectively decreased the expression of hippocampal tau protein, phosphorylated Tau, and increased insulin receptor antibodies. Moreover, berberine downregulated the abnormal phosphorylation of A[Formula: see text] and Tau protein and improved hippocampal insulin signaling. The TUNEL assay confirmed that berberine reduced hippocampal neuronal apoptosis supported by TEM. Thus, berberine significantly improved the cognitive function in diabetic rats by changing the peripheral and central insulin resistance. The reduction of neuronal injury, A[Formula: see text] deposition, abnormal phosphorylation of Tau protein, and neuronal apoptosis in the hippocampus were observed as the related mechanisms of action.

Aerogel has been widely known as a low-density and highly porous material and is closely connected with the complex processing methods, such as freeze-drying or supercritical drying. In this work, using the polymerization-induced aramid nanofiber (PANF) as a building block, we put forward a modified freezing-drying method for the high-efficiency preparation of all-para-aromatic-amide aerogels. In the preparation process, PANF hydrogel is first frozen at -18 °C and then dried at 20-150 °C for the formation of PANF aerogel. The PANF framework formed during the freezing process is crucial for the formation of the PANF aerogel. Moreover, the space-occupying effect of ice crystals is also helpful for the formation of the macroscopic pore structure in the aerogel. Aerogels with large size or well-controlled shape could be successfully obtained by this method. Through the variation of PANF concentration in the hydrogel and drying temperature, aerogels with different densities (20-185 mg/cm3) could be achieved, and the lowest density is reached at 150 °C, with the PANF concentration of 0.7%. The low-density PANF aerogels show high specific compressive strengths and low thermal conductivities, which are comparable to those resulting from the freeze-drying or supercritical drying method. Furthermore, the shrinkage phenomenon in the drying process could be skillfully utilized for the preparation of PANF aerogel-coated objects. The PANF aerogels could be applied as a thermal insulating material or shock absorption material in practical applications.

Rhizoma coptidis (Huang-lian) and Asian ginseng have been widely used in the treatment of diabetes and other concurrent diseases with apparent effects. This study investigated the effects of the active ingredients of R. coptidis and ginseng, berberine and ginsenoside Rb1, on depression-like behavior in a rat diabetes model. The animal model was established via a high-fat diet and intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin, while the animal’s depression-like behavior was induced via chronic unpredictable mild stress. These experimental rats were divided into four groups: control, depression-like behavior (DLB), metformin plus fluoxetine hydrochloride (M+FH), and berberine plus ginsenoside Rb1 (B+GRb1) groups. Glucose metabolism and insulin resistance were evaluated by oral glucose test and glucose clamp study. Depression-like behavior was evaluated via behavioral analyses, including forced swim, sucrose preference, elevated plus maze, and open-field tests. HE and Nissl staining, plasma cortisol expression of adrenocorticotropic hormone, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels were assayed to explore the mechanisms of action. Compared with the control, rats in the DLB group had a significant increase in the levels of blood glucose and depression-like behavior. The B+GRb1 group significantly improved glucose metabolism and insulin resistance, reduced depression-like behavior, downregulated levels of plasma cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone under stress, and upregulated BDNF protein expression compared to the DLB rats. HE and Nissl staining data revealed that B+GRb1 protected neurons from pathological and morphological changes. Thus, berberine and ginsenoside Rb1 not only improved glucose metabolism in diabetic rats but also ameliorated their depression-like behavior under chronic unpredictable stress. Mechanistically, studied data with plasma hormonal levels and brain neuronal pathological/morphological changes supported the observed effects. The combination of berberine and ginsenoside Rb1 may have a clinical value in the management of diabetic patients with depression.

How to simultaneously achieve both high open‐circuit voltage (V oc) and high short‐circuit current density (J sc) is a big challenge for realising high power conversion efficiency (PCE) in all‐small‐molecule organic solar cells (all‐SM OSCs). Herein, a novel small molecule (SM)‐donor, namely FYSM−SiCl, with trialkylsilyl and chlorine substitutions was designed and synthesized. Compared to the original SM‐donor FYSM−H, FYSM−Si with trialkylsilyl substitution showed a decreased crystallinity and lower highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level, while FYSM−SiCl had an improved crystallinity, more ordered packing arrangement, significantly lower HOMO level, and predominant “face‐on” orientation. Matched with a SM‐acceptor Y6, the FYSM−SiCl‐based all‐SM OSCs exhibited both high V oc of 0.85 V and high J sc of 23.7 mA cm−2, which is rare for all‐SM OSCs and could be attributed to the low HOMO level of FYSM−SiCl donor and the delicate balance between high crystallinity and suitable blend morphology. As a result, FYSM−SiCl achieved a high PCE of 13.4 % in all‐SM OSCs, which was much higher than those of the FYSM−H‐ (10.9 %) and FYSM−Si‐based devices (12.2 %). This work demonstrated a promising method for the design of efficient SM‐donors by a side‐chain engineering strategy via the introduction of trialkylsilyl and chlorine substitutions., Superb substitution: A small molecule donor FYSM−SiCl with trialkylsilyl and chlorine substitutions is developed. Compared to its unsubstituted analogue FYSM−H, FYSM−SiCl has a deep‐shifted highest occupied molecular orbital level, improved crystallinity and hole‐mobility, and a predominantly “face‐on” orientation. FYSM−SiCl‐based all‐small‐molecule solar cells achieve a much higher power conversion efficiency of 13.4 % compared to the FYSM−H‐based ones (10.9 %).

Background: The current study analyzed resected stage I–IIIA pulmonary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (LELC) cases to define the clinical characteristics, prognosis and long-term outcomes of resected LELC, with the purpose of guiding clinical management for this rare tumor.Methods: Resected stage I–IIIA LELC, adenocarcinoma (ADC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cases from our center were enrolled. Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied to minimize the selection bias. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were compared between groups. Multivariate analyses were performed to identify the prognostic factors, and a nomogram was developed.Results: A total of 159 LELCs, 2,757 ADCs, and 1,331 SCCs were included. LELC, dominated among younger patients and non-smokers. LELC was a poorly differentiated disease that lacked driver gene mutations and was positive for immunohistochemistry indicators of squamous cell lineage. Survival analyses revealed that OS was significantly better for LELC than for other common non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) both before PSM (all P < 0.001) and after PSM (all P < 0.05). Further analyses revealed that early pathological node stage and preoperative albumin level ≥35 were identified as independent prognostic factors favoring OS and DFS.Conclusions: LELC, dominated among younger and non-smoking populations, lacked driver gene mutations and was positive for immunohistochemistry indicators of squamous cell lineage. The survival outcome of LELC was better than other common NSCLCs.

A spindle feed system is continuously subjected to cutting forces, cutting heat and frictional heat during machining processes, which interact to form a complex, nonlinear and thermal-force coupling field. The coupling field causes deformations and vibrations of the mechanism that affect the machining accuracy. Therefore, determining the thermal-force coupling dynamic characteristics of the mechanism is beneficial, as it lays the theoretical foundations for accurate error compensation and the design and optimization of the spindle feed system. The deformation of the spindle feed system in actual working processes is approached by modeling, simulation and verification. Based on the theory of mechanics and heat transfer, the models for the transient milling force and the temperature field are established to obtain the real-time, dynamic cutting force and the associated heat values. A thermo-mechanical coupling model is also deduced, and the deformations generated by the cutting force and heat are simulated using the finite element method. Moreover, the thermo-mechanical coupling deformations of the system are emulated. The above deformation results are tested and confirmed. This paper establishes the deformation rules under the cutting force and cutting heat as well as their associated coupling effects. When studying thermo-mechanical coupling, the initial deformations of the ball screw are dominated by the cutting forces. The effects of heat on the X-direction deformations gradually exceed the effects of the cutting forces. The Y-direction deformations are primarily caused by the forces, with little influence from the heat. The Z-direction deformations are mainly caused by the heat, with negligible influence from the forces.

A coupled equivalent circuit for high-speed Si photodiodes is proposed, which is composed of a traditional resistance-capacitance-limited equivalent circuit and a carrier transit-limited equivalent circuit connected by a voltage controlled current source. All the resistances and capacitances in the carrier transit-limited equivalent circuit have physical meaning according to Laplace Transform. The proposed coupled equivalent circuit was applied to the Si p-i-n photodiodes and agreed well with the measured reflection coefficients and frequency response curves. Again, the minority carrier lifetime, diffusivity and interface state is verified to be the main limiting factors to the frequency response. This improved modeling can provide an effective way to design high speed photodiodes.

Background Limited published research has examined the relationships of coping styles and sleep quality with anxiety symptoms in Chinese school adolescents. We aimed to explore the effect of coping styles and sleep quality on anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, we investigated the interactions of coping styles and sleep quality with anxiety symptoms. Methods The survey was conducted in Jiangxi Province, China. The Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Chinese Secondary School Students Anxiety Scale were utilized to assess sleep quality, coping styles and anxiety symptoms, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied to explore the relationships of coping styles and sleep quality with anxiety symptoms. Results A total of 3081 students participated in this study, 50.8% of whom were boys; the number of participants in grades 1, 2 and 3 were 979, 1085 and 1017, respectively. The prevalence of anxiety symptoms was 27.3%. Individuals with poor sleep quality were 3.558 (95% CI = 2.716–4.660) times as likely to have anxiety symptoms than those with good sleep quality. Higher negative coping style scores increased the prevalence of anxiety symptoms (OR = 2.101, 95% CI = 1.894–2.332), whereas higher positive coping style scores were related to reduced odds of anxiety symptoms (OR = 0.892, 95% CI = 0.800–0.995). Interactions of coping styles and sleep quality with anxiety symptoms were not found (all p > 0.05). The association between negative coping style and anxiety symptoms was mediated by sleep quality. Limitations This study was cross-sectional and limited to Ganzhou City. Conclusions The results of our study showed a higher prevalence of anxiety symptoms compared with the result of a previous study in Chinese school adolescents. Negative coping style and poor sleep quality were associated with an increased prevalence of anxiety symptoms, whereas positive coping style was related to a decreased prevalence of anxiety symptoms. Sleep quality was a mediating factor between negative coping style and anxiety symptoms.

Whether elective neck dissection (END) should be adopted for patients with clinically early-stage (cT1-2N0M0) oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) remains debated. The aim of this systematic review was to compare the survival benefit of END with that of the wait-and-watch policy (WW) for patients with early-stage OCSCC based on survival data.According to the inclusion criteria, an exhaustive search for eligible studies was conducted. The study inclusion and data extraction were performed by 2 reviewers independently. The risk of bias was assessed in duplicate using the Risk Of Bias In Nonrandomized Studies of Interventions instrument. The hazard ratio (HR) of the time-to-event data was extracted or estimated. RevMan 5.3 and STATA 15.1 were adopted for data synthesis.Of the 35 studies that were included, only 5 were assessed as having a low risk of bias. Results of the meta-analyses showed END could significantly decrease neck recurrence (relative risk = 0.45; confidence interval [CI], 0.35-0.59; P .00001) and improve disease-free survival (HR = 0.55; CI, 0.42-0.71; P .00001), overall survival (HR = 0.75; CI, 0.64-0.86; P .0001), and disease-specific survival (HR = 0.76; CI, 0.61-0.94; P = .01) compared with WW for patients with cT1-2N0. The subgroup analysis showed that END could decrease neck recurrence (P .00001) and improve disease-free survival (P = .001) for patients with early-stage tongue cancer and that supraomohyoid neck dissection could decrease neck recurrence (P = .02). For patients with cT1N0, END could significantly decrease the proportion with neck recurrence (P = .0008) and improve disease-free survival (P = .0003), but the difference between overall survival and disease-specific survival did not achieve significance.END can decrease recurrence and improve survival time for patients with early-stage OCSCC. More high-quality studies are needed to make a solid conclusion, especially for patients with cT1N0M0.

Many studies have tried to elucidate the connection between vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene (ApaI) polymorphism and periodontitis; however, so far there is no consensus. To further assess the impact of ApaI polymorphism on periodontitis risk, we have conducted a meta‐analysis of Chinese population. Relevant literatures were searched according to PubMed and Chinese database in January 2019. The strength of correlation was evaluated by combining odds ratio (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CIs). Six case–control studies were identified with inclusion criteria, including 734 cases of periodontitis and 687 controls. Based on the overall analysis, the VDR ApaI polymorphism was not due to the risk of periodontitis in all models. Subgroup analysis showed that the risk of periodontitis in North China was significantly reduced. To sum up, the study shows that VDR‐ApaI polymorphism may be connected with a lower risk of periodontitis in northern China. It is suggested that inferential studies should be conducted in other ethnic groups.