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The quest for solar-blind photodetectors with outstanding optoelectronic properties and weak signals detection capability is essential for their applications in the field of imaging, communication, warning, etc. To date, Ga2O3 has demonstrated potential for high-performance solar-blind photodetectors. However, the performance usually decays superlinearly at low light intensities due to carrier-trapping effect, which limits the weak signal detection capability of Ga2O3 photodetectors. Herein, a Ga2O3 solar-blind photodetector with ultra-thin absorbing medium has been designed to restrain trapping of photo-generated carriers during the transporting process by shortening the carrier transport distance. Meanwhile, multiple-beam interference is employed to enhance the absorption efficiency of the Ga2O3 layer using an Al/Al2O3/Ga2O3 structure. Based on the ultra-thin absorbing medium with enhanced absorption efficiency, a 7 × 7 flexible photodetector array is developed, and the detectivity can reach 1.7 × 1015 Jones, which is among the best values ever reported for Ga2O3 photodetectors. Notably, the performance of the photodetector decays little as the illumination intensity is as weak as 5 nW/cm2, revealing the capacity to detect ultra-weak signals. In addition, the flexible photodetector array can execute the functions of imaging, spatial distribution of light source intensity, real-time light trajectory detection, etc. Our results may provide a route to high-performance solar-blind photodetectors for ultra-weak light detection.

The reliability of fuel cell tram depends largely on the normal operation of on-board proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system. Therefore, timely and accurate fault diagnosis is necessary to further commercialize the fuel cell tram. And, a new fault diagnosis method BPNN-InceptionNet based on information fusion and deep learning is proposed in this paper. In this method, high-dimensional abstract features are extracted from the original measurement information by back propagation neural network (BPNN) and converted into feature maps for information fusion in feature level. Then the feature maps are transferred to a proposed Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based on InceptionNet to realize fault classification. From the experiments, it is found that the kappa coefficient by BPNN-InceptionNet for the test set can reach 0.9884, which is better than that by BPNN, BPNN-VGG, and support vector machine (SVM) classifiers, meaning that the proposed method can achieve better diagnostic performance.

Background Mutations and/or duplications in the chromosome 2q24.3 region are known to be responsible for various epilepsy phenotypes. However, microdeletion in childhood epilepsy is rarely reported. Case presentation A two-and-a-half-year-old girl with no history of hypocalcemia or seizures developed new symptoms of generalized tonic-clonic epilepsy. The clinical manifestations were growth retardation, prominent forehead, closed anterior fontanelle, and poor muscle tension. Peripheral blood, echocardiography, abdominal ultrasound, and electroencephalogram (EEG) examinations were all normal. No karyotype abnormality was found in the patient, but a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array test detected that a 3.5 Mb single-copy microdeletion had occurred in the q24.2-q24.3 region on chromosome 2. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) tests revealed that the 2q24 fragment was inserted into the q11.2 region of the patient's chromosome 15, as well as that of her sister. In both cases, the patient's mother is the source carrier of the chromosome 15 insertion. Conclusions The deletion of the sodium channel gene cluster (SCN1A, SCN2A, and SCN3A), but not SCN1A haploinsufficiency ​alone, may contribute to complex infant epilepsy syndromes. However, the pathogenic mechanism still needs to be studied further.

Objective Non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most common fatal cancers in the world. Although the treatment of NSCLC has been significantly improved, there is still an unmet need to identify novel targets for developing therapeutic agents and diagnostic/prognostic markers. The aim of this study is explore the role and underlying mechanism of the epithelial splicing regulatory protein (ESRP1) in the development and progression of NSCLC. Methods A total of 115 participants, 65 cases of NSCLC, 20 cases of precancerous lesions, and 30 cases of benign lung nodules, were included in this study. The expressions of ESRP1 and related transcription factor Twist in enrolled lung tissues were evaluated by histochemistry and immunohistochemistry assay. The survival analysis and related prognosis factors were evaluated by the Kaplan–Meier curve and Cox regression. In addition, the expression of ESRP1 and epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT)related transcription factor Twist and EMT markers E‐cadherin and N‐cadherin were ascertained by immunohistochemical and immunoblotting assay on A549 lung adenocarcinoma cell lines that were exposed to transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1). Results Compared with normal lung tissues, the abundance of ESRP1 protein was significantly increased in precancerous lesions and lung cancer. Correlation analysis demonstrated that ESRP1 was an independent prognostic factor in NSCLC. The expression of ESRP1 and Twist was positively correlated in lung tissues (r = 0.285, p, Study flowchat: A total 115 samples of lung tissues were inclued in study, which including 30 cases of benign samples, 20 cases of precancerous lesions and 65 cases of NSCLC lesions for further study.

The purpose of this study was to compare the bioequivalence and safety of test and reference preparations of fixed-dose combination tablets of metformin hydrochloride/vildagliptin 850 mg/50 mg in healthy volunteers under fasting and fed conditions for marketing authorization in China. A single-dose, randomized, open-label, 2-way crossover study was conducted. Blood samples were collected up to 36 hours after dosing in each period with a 7-day washout. Pharmacokinetic parameters, including maximum plasma concentration (Cmax ), time to reach Cmax , area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) from time 0 to the last time point of the measurable concentration, AUC from time 0 to infinity, terminal elimination half-life, and apparent clearance, were calculated using noncompartmental methods and compared between the 2 formulations. Safety profiles were assessed, including significant findings of vital signs, electrocardiogram, laboratory tests, physical examination, and adverse events. A total of 30 healthy subjects (19 men, 11 women) were randomized, and 29 subjects were treated under fasting conditions. Likewise, 30 subjects (24 men, 6 women) were randomized and treated under fed conditions. The geometric mean ratio and corresponding 90% confidence intervals of Cmax , AUC from time 0 to the last time point of the measurable concentration , and AUC from time 0 to infinity for both metformin hydrochloride and vildagliptin between the 2 fixed-dose combination formulations were within the bioequivalence acceptance range of 80% to 125% under fasting or fed conditions. Therefore, the generic and branded formulations were bioequivalent and well tolerated in healthy Chinese subjects.

Organic semiconductors have been receiving intensive attention due to the specific advantages of low‐temperature processing ability, low‐fabrication cost, flexibility, and so forth. The charge carrier mobility of higher than 10 cm2 V−1 s−1 for organic semiconductors is of great importance to be studied since it presents a future promising research direction toward commercial microelectronic applications. With the significant progress of the discovery of novel organic molecules and the further improvements of device fabrication technology, some organic molecules can break the limit of our knowledge and show very high mobilities. In this review, organic polymers and small molecules with mobilities above 10 cm2 V−1 s−1 are first introduced to provide the readers with a general understanding of the features and characteristics of high‐performance organic semiconductors. Then, some important parameters, including the molecular structures, the device configurations, and the performance, are discussed in detail. Finally, the clues to obtain high mobility are summarized, and the perspective toward the future possible research directions are also provided.

To explore the value of computed tomography perfusion (CTP) imaging for evaluating the efficacy of encephaloduroarteriosynangiosis (EDAS) treatment of moyamoya syndrome (MMS). Forty-three patients with MMS (48 hemispheres) who received EDAS treatment were examined using CTP and DSA before and after surgery. CTP of the ipsilateral cortex, contralateral mirror area, and pons region were measured, and the relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and volume (rCBV), mean transit time (rMTT), and time-to-peak (rTTP) were calculated. Based on postoperative DSA, 48 hemispheres were apportioned to two groups based on rich (grades 2, 3) or poor (grades 0, 1) collateral vessel formation, and the pre- and post-operative differences in perfusion changes were compared. The association between clinical outcome, CTP, and the degree of DSA collateral vessels was explored. rCBF and rMTT significantly improved in both the poor and rich collateral vessel formation groups (n = 21 and 27, respectively), while rTTP significantly improved only in the latter. Postoperative CTP improved in the rich and the grade 1 collateral vessel groups (p < 0.01). The clinical improvement was consistent with the improvement of CTP (p = 0.07), but less consistent with the degree of collateral angiogenesis (p = 0.003). CTP can quantitatively evaluate the improvement of brain tissue perfusion in the operated area after EDAS. Brain tissue perfusion in operated areas improved regardless of postoperative rich or poor collateral vessel formation observed via DSA. A significant improvement in rTTP in the operated area may indicate the formation of abundant collateral vessels. • CTP showed that brain tissue perfusion in the operated area after EDAS improved regardless of rich or poor collateral vessel formation observed via DSA. • Significant improvement of rTTP in the operated area may indicate the formation of abundant collateral vessels.

Developing new optimized bifunctional photocatalyst is of great significant for achieving the high-performance photo-assisted Li-O2 batteries. Herein, a novel bifunctional photo-assisted Li-O2 system is constructed by using siloxene nanosheets with ultra-large size and few-layers due to its superior light harvesting, semiconductor characteristic, and low recombination rate. An ultra-low charge potential of 1.90 V and ultra-high discharge of 3.51 V have been obtained due to the introduction of this bifunctional photocatalyst into Li-O2 batteries, and these results have realized the round-trip efficiency up to 185 %. In addition, this photo-assisted Li-O2 batteries exhibits a high rate (129 % round-trip efficiency at 1 mA cm-2 ), a prolonged cycling life with 92 % efficiency retention after 100 cycles, and the highly reversible capacity of 1170 mAh g-1 at 0.75 mA cm-2 . This work will open the vigorous opportunity for high-efficiency utilization of solar energy into electric system.

Surface modification is an effective strategy to promote charge transport and extraction, reduce the carrier recombination probability, and ultimately improve the performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Borophene is the lightest two-dimensional (2D) layered material, with high carrier mobility and high hardness. In this work, a sonication-assisted liquid-phase preparation technique was developed to prepare borophene quantum dots (BQDs) with uniform size, good dispersion, and high stability. The use of BQDs as a surface passivation agent on the TiO2 layer in an inorganic CsPbI2Br solar cell was presented. It is found that the boron atoms undergo strong interactions with TiO2 and the perovskite, reducing interfacial recombination and forming a cascade energy alignment for effective charge transport. A CsPbI2Br solar cell with a thin BQD interlayer shows high efficiency of 15.31%, whereas the efficiency was 14.24% for the device with no BQDs. The enhancement in efficiency is mainly due to carrier recombination suppression and a decrease in the defect density at the TiO2/CsPbI2Br interface after BDQ treatment. This work demonstrates that high-quality BQDs have great potential to be applied in perovskite solar cells and other optoelectronic devices.

Photomemories offer great opportunities for multifunctional integration of optical sensing, data storage, and processing into one single device. However, little attention has been paid to photomemories working in the solar-blind region so far, which may have unique advantages of insusceptibility to ambient light and higher capacity. Herein, we propose and demonstrate a Ga2O3 based solar-blind photomemory array with logic, arithmetic, and optoelectronic memory functions. The device shows n-type field effect-transistor performance with an on/off ratio as high as 106, a responsivity of 8 × 103 A W−1, and a detectivity of 1.42 × 1014 Jones, all of which are amongst the best values ever reported for Ga2O3 based photodetectors. Based on the trapping and de-trapping process of holes in Ga2O3, multilevel data storage can be realized from the device. Simultaneously, the optical and electrical mixed basic logic of reconfigurable “AND” and “OR” operations have been realized in a single cell through the co-regulation of solar-blind light and the grid voltage. In addition, the photomemory can perform counting and addition operations, and the photomemory array can be utilized to realize solar-blind image storage. The results suggest that Ga2O3 may have potential applications in high-performance information storage, computing, and communications.

Combined with ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS), a method for simultaneous determination of 15 sulfonamides in livestock and poultry manure was established and further optimizes and improves the pre-treatment conditions. In this study, Fe3O4-multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were used as the purification material, and achieved solid-liquid separation by an external magnet, which was faster than the traditional centrifugation process. The results showed that the recoveries of sulfonamides were from 89 to 119% and had relative standard deviations (RSDs) of less than 10%. The limit of detection (LOD) of the method was reached 0.5 to 1.0 μg/kg, and the limit of quantification (LOQ) was between 1.0 and 3.0 μg/kg. On the premise that a satisfactory recoveries can be obtained, Fe3O4-MWCNTs can be effectively used at least 3 times. We can conclude that this method has certain applicability and reliability in the analysis and detection of sulfonamides in livestock and poultry manure.

Honeysuckle is a commonly used medicine for health care and treatment. To detect heavy metal pollution in honeysuckle from China and quantify the health risk of heavy metal via dietary intake, the ...

In this study, interaction between coarse and fine coal particles during flotation was investigated with aid of FBRM and PVM, and explicated by the extended Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek (EDLVO)...

Objective: To investigate the value of lung ultrasound (LUS) in asymptomatic patients with confirmed COVID-19.Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on nine patients in a designated isolation hospital in Sanya from February 22nd, 2020 to February 23rd, 2020. All patients were confirmed with COVID-19 pneumonia by PCR test, but none had the typical symptoms of COVID-19. All patients first underwent LUS examination and then chest computed tomography (CT) scanning. The application value of LUS in asymptomatic confirmed patients with COVID-19 was evaluated, compared with chest CT which was regarded as the golden standard.Results: Among nine asymptomatic patients with COVID-19, there were two cases (22.22%) with abnormal ultrasonic manifestations, of which one (11.11%) showed a fusion B3-line in zone 5 of the right lung, and the other showed localized pulmonary consolidation in zone 6 of the left lung. The remaining seven cases (77.78%) showed no abnormal changes in LUS, but only clear pleura sliding sign and A-line. Chest CT showed abnormal changes in three cases (33.33%). Two of them (22.22%) showed flocculent high-density shadow at the base of both lungs (especially in the right lung), while the other case showed ground-glass opacity with thickened interlobular septal in the left lower lobe, involving the pleura. There were no abnormalities on chest CT of the remaining six cases (66.67%). The two (22.22%) LUS-positive patients were in complete coincidence with CT-positive patients. This study showed that the coincidence rate of the two examination methods was 88.89%. Taking chest CT as golden standard, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and Kappa value of lung ultrasound in the diagnosis of COVID-19 were 66.67%, 100%, 100%, 85.71%, and 0.727, respectively.Conclusion: LUS can evaluate lung lesions in asymptomatic patients with COVID-19. Compared with chest CT, the diagnostic coincidence rate and diagnostic consistency of LUS are relatively higher. For this asymptomatic type of patient, ultrasound can be used as a diagnosis method, which can avoid the risk of radiation exposure in a short period of time. As a rapid and dynamic assessment method, LUS can cooperate with remote consultation to provide timely and accurate guidance for clinical diagnosis and treatment when necessary.

In this study, experimental results of conventional flotation and carrier flotation were characterized by six commonly used flotation kinetic models. Two statistical criteria (coefficient of determination, R-2, and root mean square error, RMSE) were used for comparison of fitting performance of different models. All kinetic models tested gave good levels of goodness of fit, but the second-order model with rectangular distribution (model 6) provided the best fitting performance for the experimental data of conventional flotation and carrier flotation. On this basis, two parameters, that is, modified flotation rate constant (K-m) and selectivity index (SI), were used to evaluate the difference in flotation separation selectivity between conventional flotation and carrier flotation. Comparisons of K-m and SI values indicated that carrier flotation significantly improved the flotation rate constant of combustible materials and flotation separation selectivity of ultrafine coal (-74 mu m). In addition, measurements of average bubble size and water recovery indicated that both the coalescence of bubbles and the drainage of liquid in the froth were promoted when coarse coal particles (contact angle >90 degrees) were employed as the carrier to assist the flotation recovery of ultrafine particles, which in turn favored the inhibition effect of the entrainment of gangue materials in carrier flotation compared to conventional flotation. China Postdoctoral Science FoundationChina Postdoctoral Science Foundation [2019M652024] The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the project funded by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (no. 2019M652024).

Background Anthracycline-related cardiomyopathy is a leading cause of late morbidity in childhood cancer survivors. Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are a class of phase II detoxification enzymes that facilitate the elimination of anthracyclines. As free-radical scavengers, GSTs could play a role in oxidative damage-induced cardiomyopathy. Associations between the GSTμ1 (GSTM1) null genotype and iron-overload-related cardiomyopathy have been reported in patients with thalassemia. Methods The authors sought to identify an association between the GSTM1 null genotype and anthracycline-related cardiomyopathy in childhood cancer survivors and to corroborate the association by examining GSTM1 gene expression in peripheral blood and human-induced pluripotent stem cell cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) from survivors with and without cardiomyopathy. GSTM1 gene deletion was examined by polymerase chain reaction in 75 survivors who had clinically validated cardiomyopathy (cases) and in 92 matched survivors without cardiomyopathy (controls). Conditional logistic regression analysis adjusting for sex, age at cancer diagnosis, chest radiation, and anthracycline dose was used to assess the association between genotype and cardiomyopathy. Proprietary bead array technology and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction were used to measure GSTM1 expression levels in samples from 20 cases and 20 matched controls. hiPSC-CMs from childhood cancer survivors (3 with cardiomyopathy, 3 without cardiomyopathy) also were examined for GSTM1 gene expression levels. Results A significant association was observed between the risk of cardiomyopathy and the GSTM1 null genotype (odds ratio, 2.7; 95% CI, 1.3-5.9; P = .007). There was significant downregulation of GSTM1 expression in cases compared with controls (average relative expression, 0.67 ± 0.57 vs 1.33 ± 1.33, respectively; P = .049). hiPSC-CMs from patients who had cardiomyopathy revealed reduced GSTM1 expression (P = .007). Conclusions The current findings could facilitate the identification of childhood cancer survivors who are at risk for anthracycline-related cardiomyopathy.

The running state of the hybrid tram and the service life of fuel cell stacks are related to the fault diagnosis strategy of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system. In order to accurately detect various fault types, a novel method is proposed to classify the different health states, which is composed of simulated annealing genetic algorithm fuzzy c-means clustering (SAGAFCM) and deep belief network (DBN) combined with synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE). Operation data generated by the tram are clustered by SAGAFCM algorithm, and valid data are selected as fault diagnosis samples which include the training sample and the test sample. However, the fault samples are usually unbalanced data. To reduce the influence of unbalanced data on the fault diagnosis accuracy, SMOTE is employed to form a new training sample by supplementing the data of the small sample. Then DBN is trained by the new training sample to obtain the fault diagnosis model. In this paper, the proposed method can well distinguish the four health states, which are high deionized water inlet temperature fault, hydrogen leakage fault, low air pressure fault and the normal state, with an accuracy of 99.97% for the training sample and 100% for the test sample.

By using Ti3C2Tx quantum dots as interlayer spacers, Ti3C2Tx nanosheets/Ti3C2Tx quantum dots/RGO (reduced graphene oxide) fiber (M6M3RG1) is prepared by a wet-spinning method; it shows good capacit...

The latest progresses of experimental biology have generated a large number of data with different formats and lengths. Deep learning is an ideal tool to deal with complex datasets, but its inherent “black box” nature needs more interpretability. At the same time, traditional interpretable machine learning methods, such as linear regression or random forest, could only deal with numerical features instead of modular features often encountered in the biological field. Here, we present MultiCapsNet (https://github.com/wanglf19/MultiCapsNet), a new deep learning model built on CapsNet and scCapsNet, which possesses the merits such as easy data integration and high model interpretability. To demonstrate the ability of this model as an interpretable classifier to deal with modular inputs, we test MultiCapsNet on three datasets with different data type and application scenarios. Firstly, on the labeled variant call dataset, MultiCapsNet shows a similar classification performance with neural network model, and provides importance scores for data sources directly without an extra importance determination step required by the neural network model. The importance scores generated by these two models are highly correlated. Secondly, on single cell RNA sequence (scRNA-seq) dataset, MultiCapsNet integrates information about protein-protein interaction (PPI), and protein-DNA interaction (PDI). The classification accuracy of MultiCapsNet is comparable to the neural network and random forest model. Meanwhile, MultiCapsNet reveals how each transcription factor (TF) or PPI cluster node contributes to classification of cell type. Thirdly, we made a comparison between MultiCapsNet and SCENIC. The results show several cell type relevant TFs identified by both methods, further proving the validity and interpretability of the MultiCapsNet.

The level, source, and risk of toxic elements in traditional agricultural soils are particularly crucial for the sustainable development of agriculture. An important agricultural production base was selected, a total of 251 topsoil samples were collected, eight toxic elements (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Zn) in soil were analyzed, and environmental and health risk assessments were conducted. Results showed that all concentrations of eight elements in soil samples were lower than the risk screening values with negligible pollution risk. Approximately 83.8% of Hg in soil was originated from atmospheric deposition related to industrial emissions, 53.2% of Cd was derived from direct industrial activities, and the other elements came from soil parent materials or agricultural activities. Accumulation risk of As in agricultural products, potential ecological risk from Cd, and As's ingestion risk and Cr's dermal contact risk should be paid more attention. More stricter monitoring and coping countermeasures and strategies should be established to ensure the sustainable development of agriculture.

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is a competitive energy conversion device with the zero emission of greenhouse gas and high efficiency. However, cell inconsistency in stack and non-uniformity in single cell affect the performance and accelerate localized degradation. A 7-channel serpentine flow field PEMFC is modeled based on the practical one. In this paper, numerical simulation method based on computational fluid dynamics is applied to investigate the distribution of physical field in membrane. The accuracy of simulation results is verified by experimental polarization curve. The current density, temperature and water content distribution under two working states (0.7665 V and 0.5311 V) are selected for analysis, and the distribution non-uniformity is quantitatively described and compared. The results demonstrate that numerical simulation is a convenient and inexpensive method assisting to PEMFC analysis in engineering application.

Herein, the negative photoconductivity (NPC) effect has been observed in nanodiamonds (NDs) for the first time, and with illumination under a 660 nm laser lamp, the conductivity of the NDs decreases significantly. The NPC effect has been attributed to the trapping of carriers by the absorbed water molecules on the ND surfaces. A humidity sensor has been constructed based on the NPC effect of the NDs, and the sensitivity of the sensor can reach 106%, which is the highest value ever reported for carbon-based humidity sensors.

An industrial prototype of single-stage end-pumped fiber laser at 1080 nm has been demonstrated and developed. The corresponding optical-to-optical conversion efficiency is 73.3% with a pump power of 2066 W and output laser power of 1515 W. The total laser power fluctuation is less than 0.9% within one hour. The stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) is well suppressed. The cladding light stripper (CLS) is optimized and integrated with three regions of particle mixture and gel.

Background: The major challenge of applying Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta (REBOA) in the pre-hospital setting is to accurately place the balloon in. To evaluate the effects of applying portable ultrasound to guide REBOA for iliac artery hemostasis.Methods: We first established a swine model of hemorrhage by percutaneously puncture the right iliac artery under the guidance of portable ultrasound. Then we randomly divided the swine into two groups. We recorded systolic pressure (SP), diastolic pressure (DP), heart rate (HR), and the maximum depth of the ascites at baseline (T1), free bleeding for the 30s (T2), bleeding for 10min (T3), and bleeding for 30min (T4). Immediately after T2, we performed REBOA under the guidance of portable ultrasound in the intervention group and manual extracorporeal compression by dry gauze in the control group. We collected total blood loss at T4.Results: There were 11 swine included in the analysis (intervention group=6, control group=5). The characteristics of the two groups were similar at T1. After punctured the right iliac artery, hemorrhagic shock appeared in both groups at T2 - BP and DP fell, HR elevated, and the maximum depth of the ascites increased. After performing REBOA, SP(in mmHg) in the intervention group significantly increased to 97.17±11.92 at T3 and remained stable throughout T4; while SP in the control group kept decreasing and reached 62.40±3.44 at T4. A similar trend was found in DP. HR(in bpm) in the intervention group increased from 101.50±5.39 in T2 to 111.83±7.39 in T3 and stabilized at 113.83±5.49 in T4; in the control group, it kept increasing from 103.20±3.70 in T2 to 132.40±3.98 in T4. The maximum depth of the ascites increased between T2 and T4 in both groups, but significantly slower in the intervention group (at T4 3.50±0.36cm vs 5.14±0.35cm, PConclusions: Performing REBOA under the guidance of portable ultrasound can improve the effectiveness of iliac artery hemostasis and have great potential to save lives in pre-hospital settings.

Canthaxanthin is a colourant widely used in medicine, food and cosmetics, which is closely related to human eye dysfunction. The EU determines that the daily acceptable intake of canthaxanthin (ADI) is 0.03 mg canthaxanthin per kg body weight. In order to protect people's diet health and avoid the occurrence of food safety accidents, this paper measured the content of canthaxanthin in 114 egg samples sourced from different regions of China using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). The dietary exposure assessment method was used to evaluate the dietary risk to Chinese consumers. Results showed that the content of canthaxanthin varies significantly across regions of origin, with eggs produced in Beijing having a lower amount than those from other regions. The average dietary exposure of children (2-10 years old) was 0.242 ~ 0.653 μg/(kg bw∙d), and the dietary exposure of 95/97.5/99 percentile was 0.246 ~ 1.779 μg/(kg bw∙d). The maximum exposure was 3.089 μg/(kg bw∙d), and its risk quotient was 0.103 (1), which was an acceptable risk. For the teenager group (11-18 years old), the average dietary exposure was 0.141 ~ 0.247 μg/(kg bw∙d), and the dietary exposure at the 95/97.5/99 percentile was 0.143 ~ 0.671 μg/(kg bw∙d), presenting an acceptable risk. For adults, the dietary risk of eating eggs with canthaxanthin is the lowest among the three age groups.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the factors associated with the exacerbations of COVID-19. BACKGROUND: At present, COVID-19 is prevalent in the world, seriously endangering the property and life safety of people around the world. Currently, there are many reports on the clinical features, complications and risk factors of death of COVID-19, but there are few reports on the factors associated with the exacerbation of COVID-19. DESIGN: Case-control Study. METHODS: Patients with COVID-19 were recruited from four designated hospitals for novel coronavirus pneumonia in Xiangyang City, Hubei Province from January to April 2020. The patients were divided into disease exacerbation group (n = 53) and disease stabilisation group (n = 265) according to the disease progression during hospitalisation. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression were used to identify the factors associated with the exacerbation of COVID-19. The research was reported according to STROBE statement. RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed there were significant differences in gender, age, hypertension, heart disease, kidney disease, white blood cell count, percentage of neutrophil, percentage of lymphocyte, C-reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase, total protein, albumin, creatinine, calcium ion, rate of erythrocyte sedimentation, cough, expectoration, chest tightness, gastrointestinal discomfort and dyspnoea between the two groups. The variables with p

In order to improve the progress management of substation project, the application of prefabricated smart box substation in project management under the environment of Internet of things is studied. Based on the analysis of the research status of prefabricated smart box substation project management at home and abroad, combined with the characteristics of substation engineering construction management, the schedule management process is redefined, and the influencing factors of the whole process of substation project implementation progress in the early stage, the early stage and the construction stage are analyzed, and the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method based on AHP is established The evaluation model of progress management in the whole process of substation construction project is established, the comprehensive quantitative method of schedule management is obtained, and the control countermeasures of substation project schedule management are proposed. And taking the construction of a substation project as an example, the project schedule was compiled, the schedule influencing factors of the various stages of the project were analyzed, and the effectiveness of the power station in the project schedule management work was evaluated, so as to provide future schedule management for similar projects. A basis worthy of reference.

Background: With the global attack of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), cases with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have been increasing steadily, which seriously affects the quality of life of patients and as such, seeking effective treatments is an urgent matter. Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) is a typical cognitive behavioral therapy targeting trauma-related psychological disorders and may be an effective intervention. Methods: A total of 111 COVID-19 patients near the discharge stage with positive screening results for posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) were randomly assigned (1:1) to either the study group or the control group. The study group received NET and personalized psychological intervention, while the control group only received personalized psychological intervention. PTSS, depression, anxiety and sleep quality were measured pre- and post-intervention to evaluate the effect of NET. This trial was registered with the International Standard Randomized Clinical Trial Registry (No. ChiCTR2000039369). Results: NET participants showed a significantly greater PTSS reduction in comparison with the control group after the intervention. Improvement in sleep quality, anxiety and depression after the intervention were pronounced but not significantly different between the two treatment groups. Limitations: The assessors weren't blinded for the convenience of measurement and protection of participants’ psychological security. Conclusions: NET likely had a positive impact on PTSS of COVID-19 patients. Clinical staff should consider applying NET to improve the psychological well-being of patients who have experienced an epidemic such as COVID-19.

PURPOSE Using a candidate gene approach, we tested the hypothesis that individual single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and gene-level variants are associated with cognitive impairment in patients with hematologic malignancies treated with blood or marrow transplantation (BMT) and that inclusion of these SNPs improves risk prediction beyond that offered by clinical and demographic characteristics. PATIENTS AND METHODS In the discovery cohort, BMT recipients underwent a standardized battery of neuropsychological tests pre-BMT and at 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years post-BMT. Associations between 68 candidate genes and cognitive impairment were assessed using generalized estimating equation models. Elastic-Net regression was used to build Base (sociodemographic), Clinical, and Combined (Base plus Clinical plus genetic) risk prediction models of post-BMT impairment. An independent nonoverlapping cohort from the BMT Survivor Study with self-report of learning/memory problems (as identified by their health care provider) was used for model replication. RESULTS The discovery cohort included 277 participants (58.5% males; 68.6% non-Hispanic whites; and 46.6% allogeneic BMT recipients). Adjusting for BMT type, age at BMT, sex, race/ethnicity, and cognitive reserve, SNPs in the blood-brain barrier, telomere homeostasis, and DNA repair genes were significantly associated with cognitive impairment. Compared with the Clinical Model, the Combined Model had higher predictive power in both the discovery cohort (mean area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC], 0.89; 95% CI, 0.85 to 0.93 v 0.77; 95% CI, 0.71 to 0.83; P = 1.24 × 10−9) and the replication cohort (AUC, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.66 to 0.76 v 0.63; 95% CI, 0.57 to 0.68; P = .004). CONCLUSION Inclusion of candidate genetic variants enhanced the prediction of risk of post-BMT cognitive impairment beyond that offered by demographic/clinical characteristics and represents a step toward a personalized approach to managing patients at high risk for cognitive impairment after BMT.

Mn3O4/reduced graphene oxide/single-walled carbon nanotube flexible hybrid film with outstanding flexibility and electrochemical performance is prepared via a vacuum filtration method. The three-dimensional interconnect structure is constructed by reduced graphene oxide and single-walled carbon nanotube, and Mn3O4 nanoplates with pesudocapacitance are embedded into the interconnect structure. The regular interconnect structure and a synergetic effect between graphene oxide/single-walled carbon nanotube and Mn3O4 make the Mn3O4/reduced graphene oxide/single-walled carbon nanotube flexible film electrode exhibit a large areal capacitance of 796 mF cm−2. All-solid-state Mn3O4/reduced graphene oxide/single-walled carbon nanotube flexible supercapacitor is prepared by using the hybrid film as electrodes and sandwiching the PVA–KOH gel electrolyte, it exhibits a large area specific capacitance of 360 mF cm−2 and the capacitance maintains 95% after 5000 charge/discharge cycles. The assembled supercapacitor exhibits both outstanding mechanical performance and a high areal energy density of 32 μW h cm−2 at an areal power density of 0.392 mW cm−2. The Mn3O4/reduced graphene oxide/single-walled carbon nanotube flexible supercapacitors exhibit significant potentiality in flexible and wearable electronics owing to their excellent flexibility, high energy density and long cycle life.

Background Protein tyrosine kinase 2 (PTK2) expression has been reported in various types of human epithelial cancers including lung cancer; however, the role of PTK2 in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not been elucidated. We previously reported that pemetrexed-resistant NSCLC cell line PC-9/PEM also acquired EGFR-TKI resistance with constitutive Akt activation, but we could not find a therapeutic target. Methods Cell viability in EGFR-mutant NSCLC cell lines was measured by the WST-8 assay. Phosphorylation antibody array assay for receptor tyrosine kinases was performed in PC-9 and PC-9/PEM cell lines. We evaluated the efficacy of EGFR and PTK2 co-inhibition in EGFR-TKI-resistant NSCLC in vitro. Oral defactinib and osimertinib were administered in mice bearing subcutaneous xenografts to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment combination in vivo. Both the PTK2 phosphorylation and the treatment combination efficacy were evaluated in erlotinib-resistant EGFR-mutant NSCLC cell lines. Results PTK2 was hyperphosphorylated in PC-9/PEM. Defactinib (PTK2 inhibitor) and PD173074 (FGFR inhibitor) inhibited PTK2 phosphorylation. Combination of PTK2 inhibitor and EGFR-TKI inhibited Akt and induced apoptosis in PC-9/PEM. The combination treatment showed improved in vivo therapeutic efficacy compared to the single-agent treatments. Furthermore, erlotinib-resistant NSCLC cell lines showed PTK2 hyperphosphorylation. PTK2 inhibition in the PTK2 hyperphosphorylated erlotinib-resistant cell lines also recovered EGFR-TKI sensitivity. Conclusion PTK2 hyperphosphorylation occurs in various EGFR-TKI-resistant NSCLCs. Combination of PTK2 inhibitor and EGFR-TKI (defactinib and osimertinib) recovered EGFR-TKI sensitivity in the EGFR-TKI-resistant NSCLC. Our study result suggests that this combination therapy may be a viable option to overcome EGFR-TKI resistance in NSCLC.

A 60-year-old woman developed a pulmonary abscess due to broncholithiasis. It was treated by bronchoscopic broncholithectomy after antibiotic administration. Broncholithiasis is a rare disease and various treatment options are available, which include bronchoscopic broncholithectomy and surgery. Bronchoscopic broncholithectomy has proved to be more useful because it can be used to easily extract the broncholith by using a balloon and haemostasis can be obtained at the same time.

In this paper, a novel flotation technique that combines nano-scale bubbles generated by hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) and carrier flotation is proposed to promote the flotation efficiency of a high-ash (43%) ultra-fine coal sample (45 µm). We investigated the mechanism by which cavitation bubbles enhance the separation efficiency of carrier flotation using focused beam reflectance measurements, polarizing microscopy, and extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek theory. The carrier particles (polystyrene (PS)) and fine coal were pre-treated in a venturi tube and then floated in a laboratory mechanical flotation cell. The flotation results indicate that the presence of cavitation bubbles significantly improved the carrier flotation performance of high-ash ultra-fine coal. This improvement was attributed to the presence of highly hydrophobic PS, which creates additional gas nuclei in the flotation system. The nano-bubbles, which were produced by the venturi tube and adhered to the fine coal particle surfaces, were conducive to the agglomeration of fine coal particles into large aggregates. Moreover, the nano-bubbles functioned as "bridges" of interaction between the carrier particles and large aggregates of fine coal particles. This paper mainly focused on the effect of carrier (PS) and HC on high-ash fine coal. The influence of different HC intensities on carrier (PS) flotation was discussed. Two models for the interactions between the coal particles, nano-bubbles, and PS during cavitation were proposed and were proved using the E-DLVO theory.

Purpose Survivors of childhood cancer treated with cranial radiation therapy are at risk for subsequent CNS tumors. However, significant interindividual variability in risk suggests a role for genetic susceptibility and provides an opportunity to identify survivors of childhood cancer at increased risk for these tumors. Methods We curated candidate genetic variants from previously published studies in adult-onset primary CNS tumors and replicated these in survivors of childhood cancer with and without subsequent CNS tumors (82 participants and 228 matched controls). We developed prediction models to identify survivors at high or low risk for subsequent CNS tumors and validated these models in an independent matched case-control sample (25 participants and 54 controls). Results We demonstrated an association between six previously published single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs15869 [ BRCA2], rs1805389 [ LIG4], rs8079544 [ TP53], rs25489 [ XRCC1], rs1673041 [ POLD1], and rs11615 [ ERCC1]) and subsequent CNS tumors in survivors of childhood cancer. Including genetic variants in a Final Model containing age at primary cancer, sex, and cranial radiation therapy dose yielded an area under the curve of 0.81 (95% CI, 0.76 to 0.86), which was superior ( P = .002) to the Clinical Model (area under the curve, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.66 to 0.80). The prediction model was successfully validated. The sensitivity and specificity of predicting survivors of childhood cancer at highest or lowest risk of subsequent CNS tumors was 87.5% and 83.5%, respectively. Conclusion It is possible to identify survivors of childhood cancer at high or low risk for subsequent CNS tumors on the basis of genetic and clinical information. This information can be used to inform surveillance for early detection of subsequent CNS tumors.

Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) is a promising material for deep-ultraviolet (DUV) detection. In this work, Chlorin e6 (Ce6) has been integrated with Ga2O3 to achieve a DUV and visible dual-band photodetector, which can achieve multiple target information and improve the recognition rate. The photodetector shows two separate response bands at 268 nm and 456 nm. The DUV response band has a responsivity of 9.63 A/W with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 54.5 nm; the visible response band has a responsivity of 1.17 A/W with an FWHM of 45.3 nm. This work may provide a simple way to design and fabricate photodetectors with dual-band response.

Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) has recently emerged as a promising candidate for applications in high-power and radio frequency electronics, deep-ultraviolet optoelectronics, etc. The engineering of bandgap and constructing of heterostrucutres are fundamental steps towards such applications. However, efficient bandgap engineering of Ga2O3 is still a huge challenge. Herein, by the combination of experiments and first-principles calculations, we report that the oxygen vacancy (VO) density and crystalline disorder of the Ga2O3 can be tuned continuously by modulating the O/Ga ratio during the growth process. The VO can introduce localized defect states right above the valence band, thus improving the conductivity of the films. While the crystalline disorder can lead to the shift of the valence band towards the conduction band, thus narrowing the bandgap of the Ga2O3 significantly. As a demonstration of the practical applications of the bandgap engineering by the crystalline disorder, Ga2O3-based deep-ultraviolet homojunction photodetectors have been developed. The device shows a peak responsivity of 22.1 mA/W and a detectivity of 8.7 × 1012 Jones at 0 V bias, which are among the best values for zero-biased Ga2O3 photodetectors. The present findings on tuning the bandgap of Ga2O3 via structural disorder are expected to pave a new avenue to achieving high performance Ga2O3 optoelectronic and electronic devices.

// Xuexia Zhou 1 , Xuebing Li 2 , Cuiyun Sun 1 , Cuijuan Shi 1 , Dan Hua 1 , Lin Yu 3 , Yanjun Wen 1 , Feng Hua 4 , Qian Wang 1 , Qinghua Zhou 2 and Shizhu Yu 1 1 Department of Neuropathology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Injuries, Variations and Regeneration of The Nervous System, Key Laboratory of Post-Trauma Neuro-Repair and Regeneration in Central Nervous System of Education Ministry, Tianjin Neurological Institute, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin 300052, China 2 Tianjin Key Laboratory of Lung Cancer Metastasis and Tumor Microenvironment, Tianjin Lung Cancer Institute, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin 300052, China 3 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China 4 Department of Surgery, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Jinan 250117, China Correspondence to: Shizhu Yu, email: tjyushizhu@yahoo.com Keywords: QKI-5, lung cancer, pro-metastasis processes, β-catenin, methylation Received: November 10, 2016 Accepted: June 11, 2017 Published: July 07, 2017 ABSTRACT Quaking-5 (QKI-5) belongs to the STAR (signal transduction and activation of RNA) family of RNA binding proteins and functions as a tumor suppressor in several human malignancies. In this study, we attempt to elucidate the role of QKI-5 in the pro-metastasis processes of lung cancer (LC) cells and the underlying mechanisms. We confirmed that QKI-5 was decreased in human LC tissues and cell lines, especially in high-metastatic cells. Moreover, QKI expression was positively correlated with LC patients’ survival. Functional studies verified that QKI-5 suppressed migration, invasion and TGF-β1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of LC cells. Mechanistically, we affirmed that QKI-5 reduced β-catenin level in LC cells via suppressing its translation and promoting its degradation, whereas QKI-5 promoter hypermethylation suppressed QKI-5 expression. Our findings indicate that QKI-5 inhibits pro-metastasis processes of LC cells through interdicting β-catenin signaling pathway, and that QKI-5 promoter hypermethylation is a crucial epigenetic regulation reducing QKI-5 expression in LC cells, and reveal that QKI-5 is a potential prognostic biomarker for LC patients.

In the past decades, semiconductor photocatalytic degradation was considered as one of the primary means to deal with the organic pollutants in water, because its final products, water and carbon dioxide, are harmless to environment. Owing to the high photocatalytic activity and corrosion stability, titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been widely studied and much promising progress has been made in the past years. However, TiO2 is a wide bandgap semiconductor (~3.2 eV), which decides that the generation of the active holes needed for photocatalysis can only be realized under the ultraviolet illumination accounting for only ~5% of the total solar energy. Considering that the solar energy distributed in the visible region is over 45%, the exploration on high-efficiency visible photocatalysts is of special significance. Actually, great efforts have been made to expand the active light wavelength of TiO2 from ultraviolet to visible regime, such as through doping or co-doping techniques or modifying semiconductor surfaces with other substances. Although the results from theoretical calculations is rather encouraging, the actual effectiveness through either element doping or surface modifying on tuning the energy band structure is far from satisfactory in experiments. Furthermore, the unstability of the semiconductors after doping or co-doping treatment is still a problem to be solved. Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) is a p-type and direct bandgap (2.17 eV) semiconductor material, which imply that it can directly utilize the visible light regime accounting for 45% of the solar energy. As a visible light photocatalyst, Cu2O has been studied and exhibited given photocatalytic activity. Meanwhile, the photocatalyst existed in nanopowder form would not be helpful for realizing cyclic utilization. So, preparing a high-efficiency, easy to be recycled photocatalyst under the visible light irradiation is of great importance. In the previous study, we reported the preparation and characterization of silicon nanoporous pillar array (Si-NPA), a silicon hierarchical structure featured by an array of regularly aligned, quasi-identical and highly nanoporous silicon pillars with strong light absorption across the whole visible region. These structural and optical properties imply that Si-NPA might be an effective photocatalyst to degrade organic pollutants under visible light irradiation. Its large specific surface area could provide sufficient space or active sites for pollutant adsorption, its strong visible region light absorption would be beneficial to fully utilize the sunlight energy, and its solid-state form would be helpful for realizing cyclic utilization compared with nanopowder photocatalysts. Considering the special structure and physical properties of Si-NPA, this work selected Si-NPA as substrates and the samples were obtained with different preparing parameters. Cu2O/Si-NPA, Cu2O:Cu/Si-NPA (with Cu2O as the main component), Cu:Cu2O/Si-NPA (with Cu as the main component) and Cu/Si-NPA were prepared by an immersion-plating method. The surface morphologies, microstructures and visible photocatalytic degradation performances to methyl orange (MO) were characterized. It is disclosed that for samples specified by 1.8 cm×2.0 cm, a photocatalytic degradation rate of ~53.6% to MO for Cu2O:Cu/Si-NPA was achieved under visible light (400–800 nm) with an optical power density of 10 mW/cm2, which was about 20% higher than Cu2O/Si-NPA. The efficiency promotion is attributed to the Cu-doping in Cu2O, which would be beneficial to decrease the probability of the photon-generated electrons captured by defects or recombined with holes and enhance their transport process from internal to material surface. Such an enhancement would produce the reactive oxygen species with a concentration that higher than pure Cu2O. These results might provide a promising way for further promoting the visible photocatalytic degradation rate of Cu2O to organic pollutant.

// Ying Yuan 1, 2, * , Hua Zhang 2, 3 , Xuexia Liu 4, * , Zhongming Lu 5 , Guojun Li 2, 6 , Meixia Lu 7 and Xiaofeng Tao 1 1 Department of Radiology, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China 2 Department of Head and Neck Surgery, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA 3 Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Affiliated Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University, Yantai, China 4 Department of Central Laboratory, The Affiliated Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University, Yantai, China 5 Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Guangdong General Hospital and Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China 6 Department of Epidemiology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA 7 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and The Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China * These authors have contributed equally to this work and are considered co-first authors Correspondence to: Xiaofeng Tao, email: cjr.taoxiaofeng@vip.163.com Meixia Lu, email: mlu@hust.edu.cn Keywords: glioblastoma multiforme, microRNA, prognosis, overall survival, TCGA Received: February 07, 2017 Accepted: March 14, 2017 Published: April 06, 2017 ABSTRACT MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play major roles in various biological processes and have been implicated in the pathogenesis and malignant progression of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The aim of this study was to assess the predictive values of miRNAs for overall survival (OS) of patients with GBM. MiRNA expression profiles and clinical information of 563 GBM patients were obtained from the Cancer Genome Atlas. The most significantly altered miRNAs were identified and miRNA expression profiles were performed, through principal component analysis, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator method. The survival analysis was performed using the Cox regression models. Additionally, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to assess the performance of survival prediction. We used the bioinformatics tools to establish the miRNA signature for biological relevance assessment. A linear prognostic model of three miRNAs was developed and the patients were divided into high risk and low risk groups based this model. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for the three miRNA signature predicting 5-year survival was 0.894 (95%CI, 0.789-1.000) in the testing set and0.841 (95%CI, 0.689-0.993) in all GBM patients. High risk patients had significantly shorter OS than patients with low risk ( P < 0.001). The results from this study support a three miRNA signature for outcome prediction of GBM. These results provided a new prospect for prognostic biomarker of GBM.

// Huining Li 1, 2, 3, * , Lin Yu 4, * , Jing Liu 1, 2, 3, * , Xiuwu Bian 5 , Cuijuan Shi 1, 2, 3 , Cuiyun Sun 1, 2, 3 , Xuexia Zhou 1, 2, 3 , Yanjun Wen 1, 2, 3 , Dan Hua 1, 2, 3 , Shujun Zhao 1, 2, 6 , Linlin Ren 1, 2, 3 , Tongling An 1, 2, 3 , Wenjun Luo 1, 2, 3 , Qian Wang 1, 2, 3 , Shizhu Yu 1, 2, 3 1 Department of Neuropathology, Tianjin Neurological Institute, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China 2 Tianjin Key Laboratory of Injuries, Variations and Regeneration of the Nervous System, Tianjin, China 3 Key Laboratory of Post-trauma Neuro-repair and Regeneration in Central Nervous System, Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China 4 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China 5 Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China 6 Laboratory of Hormone and Development, Ministry of Health, Institute of Endocrinology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Shizhu Yu, email: tjyushizhu@yahoo.com Qian Wang, email: wangqiantni@163.com Keywords: gliomas, miR-320a, SND1, β-catenin, prognosis Received: April 04, 2016 Accepted: January 03, 2017 Published: February 01, 2017 ABSTRACT miR-320a downexpression contributes to tumorigenesis in several human cancers. However, the relevance of miR-320a to prognosis, proliferation and invasion in gliomas remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrated that miR-320a expression was decreased in human glioma tissues and cell lines. Moreover, miR-320a expression was inversely correlated with glioma grades and Ki-67 index, but positively correlated with patients’ survival. Contrarily, SND1 and β-catenin expressions were positively correlated with glioma grades and Ki-67 index, but inversely correlated with miR-320a expression and patients’ survival. Furthermore, two subgroups with distinct prognoses in our glioma patients of different grade, IDH status, age and KPS were identified according to expression of miR-320a, SND1 or β-catenin. Cox regression showed that miR-320a and SND1 were independent predictors and β-catenin was an auxiliary predictor for patients’ survival. miR-320a overexpression suppressed the G1/S phase transition, proliferation, migration and invasion of glioblastoma cells. Mechanistically, we validated SND1 and β-catenin as direct targets of miR-320a, and found that miR-320a overexpression increased SND1-inhibited tumor suppressor p21 WAF1 and decreased Smad2, Smad4, MMP2, MMP7 and cyclinD1, the pivotal downstream effectors of SND1 or β-catenin. Our findings demonstrate the potential values of miR-320a, SND1 and β-catenin as prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic candidates for malignant gliomas.