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Background. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common tumor worldwide. Aberrant N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification can influence the progress of the CRC. Additionally, long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) plays a critical role in CRC and has a close relationship with m6A modification. However, the prognostic potential of m6A-related lncRNAs in CRC patients still remains to be clarified. Methods. We use “limma” R package, “glmnet” R package, and “survival” R package to screen m6A-related-lncRNAs with prognostic potential. Then, we comprehensively analysed and integrated the related lncRNAs in different TNM stages from TCGA database using the LASSO Cox regression. Meanwhile, the relationship between functional enrichment of m6A-related lncRNAs and immune microenvironment in CRC was also investigated using the TCGA database. A prognostic model was constructed and validated to determine the association between m6A-related lncRNAs in different TNM stages and the prognosis of CRC. Result. We demonstrated that three related m6A lncRNAs in different TNM stages were associated with the prognosis of CRC patients. Patients from the TCGA database were classified into the low-risk and the high-risk groups based on the expression of these lncRNAs. The patients in the low-risk group had longer overall survival than the patients in the high-risk group ( P < 0.001 ). We further constructed and validated a prognostic nomogram based on these genes with a C-index of 0.80. The receiver operating characteristic curves confirmed the predictive capacity of the model. Meanwhile, we also found that the low-risk group has the correlation with the dendritic cell (DC). Finally, we discovered the relationship between the m6A regulators and the three lncRNAs. Conclusion. The prognostic model based on three m6A-related lncRNAs exhibits superior predictive performance, providing a novel prognostic model for the clinical evaluation of CRC patients.

Organic persistent luminescent materials have attracted special attention due to their significant applications in optoelectronics, sensors, and security technology areas. In this work, a series of organic compounds (1-4) with twisted electron donor-acceptor structures are successfully designed and synthesized, and then the resultant compounds are dissolved in methyl methacrylate (MMA), and afterward, in situ polymerization realizes single-molecular organic room-temperature phosphorescent (RTP) materials (P1-P4). All RTP materials show long lifetime, especially P2 exhibits ultralong lifetime of 1.51 s. When the compounds are grown into single crystals, multicolor-tunable afterglow is obtained at different delay times due to the dual emission of phosphorescence and delayed fluorescence, which is promising to be applied in high-level anticounterfeiting.

Background: An increasing number of studies had shown that tertiary lymphoid structure (TLS) plays an important role in tumor progression. However, the prognostic role of TLS in various tumors remains controversial. This meta-analysis aims to investigate the clinicopathological and prognostic values of TLS in solid tumors. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library undated to November 2, 2020. Odds ratios of clinical parameters, hazard ratio (HR) of overall survival (OS), relapse-free survival (RFS), disease-free survival (DFS) and relapse rate were calculated in order to evaluate the relationship between TLS expression and clinicopathological or prognostic values in different tumors. Result: 27 eligible studies including 6647 patients with different types of tumors were analyzed. High TLS expression was associated with a longer OS (HR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.50 - 0.86, P = 0.002) and RFS (HR = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.47 - 0.79, P = 0.0001). Moreover, high TLS levels in tumor were associated with a low risk of recurrence (HR = 0.43, 95% CI: 0.32 - 0.57, P < 0.0001). However, there was no relationship between TLS expression and DFS. Meanwhile, high TLS expression was associated with smaller tumor size (P < 0.00001) and higher tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). Furthermore, the subgroup analysis showed high TLS expression that may be associated with a lower clinical grading and N stage in breast cancer and colorectal cancer. Conclusion: High TLS expression is associated with the longer OS and RFS in solid tumors, and a lower risk of cancer relapse. Meanwhile, high TLS expression is also associated with a smaller tumor size, higher infiltration of TILs, lower clinical grading and N stage in the tumor. Therefore, high TLS expression in the tumor is a favorable prognostic biomarker for solid tumor patients.

Background To study in vitro the effects of anlotinib combined with radiotherapy on the lung cancer H520 cell cycle and apoptosis. Methods The log growth period H520 cells were divided into the control group, anlotinib group (A group), radiotherapy group (RT group) and combined group (A + RT group). Cell cycle and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry and changes in H520 cell cycle and apoptosis were analyzed in each group. Results Anlotinib was determined to significantly inhibit cell growth in all groups, both alone, or in combination with radiotherapy. After receiving corresponding treatments, the proportions of G2/M‐phase cells in the control group, A group, RT group and A + RT group were different, and statistically significant (F = 32.086, P, Anlotinib had an inhibitory effect on lung cancer H520 cell proliferation. Anlotinib combined with radiotherapy was able to synergistically inhibit tumor cell growth.

Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent cancer globally. In the treatment of CRC, surgical resection is commonly adopted, and neoadjuvant chemotherapy or immunotherapy is mainly administered for patients with advanced disease. However, despite the developments in the field of cancer treatment, the mortality rate of CRC has remained high. Therefore, novel treatments for CRC need to be explored. Astragalus membranaceus, commonly known in China as Huangqi (HQ), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been reported to be a potential antitumorigenic agent. This study aimed to investigate the mechanisms of action of HQ. Methods Active ingredients and putative targets of HQ were obtained through a comprehensive search of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology database. CRC-related targets were retrieved from the GeneCards database and then overlapping targets were acquired. After visualization of the compound-disease network and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses of the overlapping genes were performed. Additionally, HCT116 cells were treated with the active components of HQ at a 20-µM concentration. Cell Counting Kit-8 was used to detect cell activity, and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was carried out to detect the expression of genes downstream of the interleukin (IL)-17 signaling pathway. Results A PPI network comprising 177 nodes and 318 edges was obtained. The GO analysis of the overlapping genes showed enrichment in response to lipopolysaccharide and oxidative process. For the KEGG analysis, the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway and inflammation-related pathways, such as the IL-17 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathways, were enriched. The in vitro experiments showed that HQ promoted the apoptosis of CRC cells by inhibiting the expression of the CCL2, CXCL8, CXCL10, and PTGS2 genes. Conclusions This study systematically revealed the multitarget mechanism of HQ in CRC through a network pharmacology approach. We verified that HQ promotes CRC cell death via the IL-17 signaling pathway. This finding provides indications for further mechanistic studies and the development of HQ as a potential treatment for CRC patients.

The real-time detection and counting of rice ears in fields is one of the most important methods for estimating rice yield. The traditional manual counting method has many disadvantages: it is time-consuming, inefficient and subjective. Therefore, the use of computer vision technology can improve the accuracy and efficiency of rice ear counting in the field. The contributions of this article are as follows. (1) This paper establishes a dataset containing 3300 rice ear samples, which represent various complex situations, including variable light and complex backgrounds, overlapping rice and overlapping leaves. The collected images were manually labeled, and a data enhancement method was used to increase the sample size. (2) This paper proposes a method that combines the LC-FCN (localization-based counting fully convolutional neural network) model based on transfer learning with the watershed algorithm for the recognition of dense rice images. The results show that the model is superior to traditional machine learning methods and the single-shot multibox detector (SSD) algorithm for target detection. Moreover, it is currently considered an advanced and innovative rice ear counting model. The mean absolute error (MAE) of the model on the 300-size test set is 2.99. The model can be used to calculate the number of rice ears in the field. In addition, it can provide reliable basic data for rice yield estimation and a rice dataset for research.

Immunotherapy of malignant tumor is a verified and crucial anti-tumor strategy to help patients with cancer for prolonging prognostic survival. It is a novel anticancer tactics that activates the immune system to discern and damage cancer cells, thereby prevent them from proliferating. However, immunotherapy still faces many challenges in view of clinical efficacy and safety issues. Various nanomaterials, especially gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), have been developed not only for anticancer treatment but also for delivering antitumor drugs or combining other treatment strategies. Recently, some studies have focused on AuNPs for enhancing cancer immunotherapy. In this review, we summarized how AuNPs applicated as immune agents, drug carriers or combinations with other immunotherapies for anticancer treatment. AuNPs can not only act as immune regulators but also deliver immune drugs for cancer. Therefore, AuNPs are candidates for enhancing the efficiency and safety of cancer immunotherapy.

Background: The study aims to investigate the expression level of Thrombospondin 2 (TSP2) in Gastric Cancer (GC) and determine the relationship between TSP2 and clinical characteristics and prognosis.Methods: The online database Gene Expression Profile Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) was used to analyze the mRNA expression level of TSP2 in GC. The Kaplan-Meier plotter prognostic analysis tool was used to evaluate the influence of TSP2 expression on clinical prognosis in GC patients. The expression level of TSP2 was analyzed in paraffin-embedded GC samples and adjacent normal tissues by immunohistochemistry. The relationship between clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of GC patients. Next, the relationship between clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of GC patients was assessed. Transwell experiment was used to evaluate the effect of TSP2 on the invasion and migration of HGC27 and AGS cells.Results: Compared with normal tissues, the expression of TSP2 mRNA in GC was significantly up-regulated, and it was closely related to the clinical stage of GC. The high expression of TSP2 significantly affected the OS, FP and PPS of patients with GC. Among them, the expression level of TSP2 did not affect the prognosis of patients with GC in N0 subgroup, but significantly affected the prognosis of patients with GC in N (1+2+3)subgroup. The protein expression level of TSP2 in GC tissue was significantly higher than in normal tissues (PP=0.013). Knockdown of TSP2 can significantly inhibit the growth of GC cells. Proliferation, migration, invasion ability, and TSP2 expression level significantly correlate with mismatch repair genes such as PMS2, MSH6, MSH2, and MLH1 (PConclusion: The expression of TSP2 in GC is significantly increased, closely related to the metastasis and mismatch repair process of GC patients and affected GC patients' prognosis. It is a potential marker and treatment target for the prognosis of GC patients.

Purpose Reduced quality of life after cystectomy has made bladder preservation a popular research topic for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). Previous research has indicated significant tumor downstaging after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). However, maximal transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) was performed before NAC to define the pathology, impacting the real evaluation of NAC. This research aimed to assess real NAC efficacy without interference from TURBT and apply combined modality therapies guided by NAC efficacy.Materials and Methods Patients with cT2-4aN0M0 MIBC were confirmed by cystoscopic biopsy and imaging. NAC efficacy was assessed by imaging, urine cytology, and cystoscopy with multidisciplinary team discussion. Definite responders (≤ T1) underwent TURBT plus concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Incomplete responders underwent radical cystectomy or partial cystectomy if feasible. The primary endpoint was the bladder preservation rate.Results Fifty-nine patients were enrolled, and the median age was 63 years. Patients with cT3-4 accounted for 75%. The median number of NAC cycles was three. Definite responders were 52.5%. The complete response (CR) was 10.2%, and 59.3% of patients received bladder-sparing treatments. With a median follow-up of 44.6 months, the 3-year overall survival (OS) was 72.8%. Three-year OS and relapse-free survival were 88.4% and 60.0% in the bladder-sparing group but only 74.3% and 37.5% in the cystectomy group. The evaluations of preserved bladder function were satisfactory.Conclusion After stratifying MIBC patients by NAC efficacy, definite responders achieved a satisfactory bladder-sparing rate, prognosis, and bladder function. The CR rate reflected the real NAC efficacy for MIBC. This therapy is worth verifying through multicenter research.

Periodontitis progression is accompanied by irreversible alveolar bone absorption and leads to tooth loss. Early diagnosis is important for tooth stability and periodontal tissue preservation. However, there is no recognized miRNA diagnostic signature with convincing sensitivity and specificity for periodontitis. In this study, we obtained miRNA array expression profiles of periodontitis from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. After screening for differentially expressed miRNAs, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method was performed to identify and construct a 17-miRNA-based diagnostic signature (hsa-miR-3917, hsa-mir-4271, hsa-miR-3156, hsa-miR-3141, hsa-miR-1246, hsa-miR-125a-5p, hsa-miR-671-5p, hcmv-mir-UL70, hsa-miR-650, hsa-miR-497-3p, hsa-miR-145-3p, hsa-miR-141-3p, hsa-miR-210-3p, hsa-miR-204-3p, hsa-miR-203a-5p, hsa-miR-99a-3p, and hsa-miR-30a-3p). Periodontal tissue samples with higher risk scores were more likely to show symptoms of periodontitis. Then, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess the diagnostic value of the miRNA signature, which indicated that the optimum cutoff value in periodontitis diagnosis was 0.5056 with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.996, a sensitivity of 97.3%, a specificity of 100.0% in the training cohort; in the testing cohort, the corresponding values were as follows: an AUC of 0.998, a sensitivity of 97.9%, and a specificity of 91.7%. We next evaluated the efficacy of the signature in differentiating disease subtype and affected range. Furthermore, we conducted functional enrichment analysis of the 17 miRNA-targeted mRNAs, including the regulation of mTOR activity and cell autophagy, Th1/Th2 cell balance and immunoregulation, cell apoptosis, and so on. In summary, our study identified and validated a 17-miRNA diagnostic signature with convincing AUC, sensitivity, and specificity for periodontitis.

Background Tuberculosis (TB) remains a severe health burden worldwide. The manifestation of concurrent tuberculous cerebral and ocular involvements associated with TB is uncommon. Case presentation We report a 17-year-old girl with concurrent tuberculous cerebral and ocular involvements and visual impairment due to choroidal neovascularization. This study emphasizes the definite diagnosis with the combination of ophthalmological examination, multimodal imaging and routine tuberculosis testing, and the proper management with intravitreal anti-VEGF injection accompanied by systemic anti-tuberculosis therapy. Conclusion Combined applications of routine TB tests, fundus multimodal imaging and diagnostic therapy greatly help the clinician to establish a precise diagnosis and in monitoring the therapeutic response.

BACKGROUND This study was designed to assess the clinical efficacy and toxicity of apatinib (YN968D1) as third or subsequent-line treatment for stage III/IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS A total of 100 patients with advanced NSCLC who were treated with apatinib at a daily dose of 250/425/500 mg at Shandong Cancer Hospital from January 2016 to June 2018 were enrolled in our study. The objective response, disease control, and median progression-free survival rates were reviewed and evaluated. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the prognostic factors. The main adverse events were evaluated per the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0. RESULTS All patients were assessable for response. No complete responses were observed, 11 patients achieved a partial response, and 56 showed stable disease. The objective response rate was 11.0%, the disease control rate was 67.0%, and the median progression-free survival was 2.93 months (95% confidence interval 2.07-3.87). In Cox regression analysis, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score (hazard ratio 1.799; P < 0.05) and smoking history (hazard ratio 1.958; P < 0.05) were predictive indicators for apatinib treatment efficacy. Treatment-related adverse events were tolerated, predictable, reversible, and controllable. CONCLUSION Apatinib was found to be both effective and safe in advanced NSCLC patients without a genetic driver mutation who experienced progression after two or more lines of chemotherapy treatment.

Hafnium oxide based ferroelectric (FE) and antiferroelectric (AFE) thin films show great potentials in memory and energy related applications, while their successes in commercially available devices depend strongly on detailed characterization and deep understanding of the endurance properties of the materials. In this work, the bipolar field cycling behavior has been investigated in detail for FE and AFE-like Si-doped HfO2 films. Their apparent differences in fatigue and breakdown resistance are interpreted by the modified switching-induced charge-injection model. Referring to the first-order phase transition theory, we summarize and predict the evolution of polarization switching characteristic for FE, AFE-like and AFE Si-doped HfO2 thin films stressed with bipolar field cycling. Additionally, several approaches are suggested to improve the endurance properties of ferroelectric HfO2-based thin films in terms of fabrication process and material design.

The smart factory of Industry 4.0 has been regarded as a solution for handling the increasing production complexity caused by growing global economy and demand for customized products. Besides, it will make the interactions between humans, machines, and products become a highly competitive area for market capitalization in the near feature. Nowadays, cloud computing with the high performance of computing and self-service access plays an important role in realizing smart factor. To minimize the overall cost of company in a heterogeneous cloud environment, including multiple public clouds, while ensuring a proper level of quality-of-service, task placement across multiple public clouds is a critical problem, where task deadlines and long-haul data transmission costs between smart factory and different clouds must be considered. We formulate this task placement problem as an integer linear program (ILP) to minimize company cost under the task deadline constraint. With extensive simulations, we evaluate the performance of our proposed ILP model in heterogeneous public clouds with finite and infinite resources.

We demonstrate that theoretical breakdown fields can be realized in practically dislocation free Al-rich AlGaN p-n junctions grown on AlN single crystal substrates. Furthermore, we also demonstrate a leakage current density in AlGaN that is independent of the device area, indicating a bulk leakage phenomenon and not surface or mesa-edge related. Accordingly, we identified the Poole–Frenkel emission from two types of point-defect traps in AlGaN as the primary source of reverse leakage before breakdown. Mg-doped AlGaN exhibited leakage currents due to a shallow trap at ∼0.16 eV in contrast with leakage currents observed in Si-doped AlGaN due to a deep trap at ∼1.8 eV.

Pulmonary fibrosis is common in a variety of inflammatory lung diseases, such as interstitial pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and silicosis. There is currently no effective clinical drug treatment. It has been reported that grape seed extracts (GSE) has extensive pharmacological effects with minimal toxicity. Although it has been found that GSE can improve the lung collagen deposition and fibrosis pathology induced by bleomycin in rat, its effects on pulmonary function, inflammation, growth factors, matrix metalloproteinases and epithelial-mesenchymal transition remain to be researched. In the present study, we studied whether GSE provided protection against bleomycin (BLM)-induced mouse pulmonary fibrosis. ICR strain mice were treated with BLM in order to establish pulmonary fibrosis models. GSE was given daily via intragastric administration for three weeks starting at one day after intratracheal instillation. GSE at 50 or 100mg/kg significantly reduced BLM-induced inflammatory cells infiltration, proinflammatory factor protein expression, and hydroxyproline in lung tissues, and improved pulmonary function in mice. Additionally, treatment with GSE also significantly impaired BLM-induced increases in lung fibrotic marker expression (collagen type I alpha 1 and fibronectin 1) and decreases in an anti-fibrotic marker (E-cadherin). Further investigation indicated that the possible molecular targets of GSE are matrix metalloproteinases-9 (MMP-9) and TGF-β1, given that treatment with GSE significantly prevented BLM-induced increases in MMP-9 and TGF-β1 expression in the lungs. Together, these results suggest that supplementation with GSE may improve the quality of life of lung fibrosis patients by inhibiting MMP-9 and TGF-β1 expression in the lungs.

A study of the well-width impact on the AlGaN laser is presented. The laser threshold and optical gain are significantly influenced by the quantum well design. A low threshold of 5 kw/cm2 is achieved in the 3 nm well width due to a reduced QCSE.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) have become the first choice for patients with sensitive mutations and have significantly improved prognosis. EGFR exon 19 deletions and L858R mutation in exon 21 are the most common sensitive mutations in lung adenocarcinoma. With advances in detection technology, some rare variants of EGFR have been detected, including EGFR kinase domain duplications and EGFR fusions. Only a few reports have revealed the effectiveness of EGFR-TKIs in patients with these rare variants. In this study, we report a case of EGFR-RAD51 fusion in lung adenocarcinoma that showed a response to icotinib; these findings provide additional support for the use of EGFR-TKIs for patients with these atypical variants. Key Points A young patient with lung adenocarcinoma harboring a rare EGFR-RAD51 fusion who responded to icotinib with a PFS of longer than 15 months. All reported EGFR-RAD51 fusions have the same breakpoints and show responses to EGFR-TKIs including icotinib, except for one patient who responded to chemotherapy. Although EGFR fusion is a rare EGFR variant type, the efficacy of EGFR-TKIs suggests the necessity for new detection technology, such as NGS, for patients with lung adenocarcinoma. The clinical usage of NGS could maximize the benefits of precision medicine in patients with cancer. The current case provides new evidence for the efficacy of icotinib in patients with the rare EGFR-RAD51 fusion and EGFR-activating mutations.

At the surfaces of crystals, linear susceptibility tensors would differ from their counterparts in the interior of the bulk crystal. However, this phenomenon has not been shown in a visible way yet. In previous researches, numerous types of nonlinear Cherenkov radiation based on different materials have been studied, while linear Cherenkov radiation is barely reported. We experimentally prove the generation of linear Cherenkov radiation on the potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystal surface and theoretically analyze its phase-matching scheme. In our study, o-polarized light and e-polarized light can mutually convert through the linear Cherenkov process. According to this result, we figure out new nonzero elements at off-diagonal positions in the linear susceptibility tensor matrix at crystal surfaces, compared with the normal form of a bulk KDP.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to observe the clinical efficacy and toxicity of cisplatin in combination with gemcitabine or Abraxane as first-line chemotherapy for stage III/IV non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients and methods A total of 200 patients with advanced NSCLC, which was confirmed by pathology or cytology, were enrolled into our research by reviewing previous complete and retrievable medical records data of our hospital. A total of 100 patients were treated with gemcitabine (1,000 mg/m2, day 1 and day 8) in combination with cisplatin (75 mg/m2, days 1–3; GP group) and another 100 patients were treated with Abraxane (260 mg/m2, day 1) in combination with cisplatin (75 mg/m2, days 1–3; TP group). Twenty-one days were required to complete one cycle; at least two cycles were completed by each group. Results For the 100 patients in the GP group, the effective response rate (RR) was 27%, the disease control rate (DCR) was 63%, and the median progression-free survival (PFS) time was 8 months. For the 100 patients in the TP group, the RR was 52%, the DCR was 75%, and the median PFS was 20 months. There was significant difference in RR (P0.05). Common treatment-related adverse events were hematologic toxicity and gastrointestinal reaction. Hematologic toxicity mainly included decreased white blood cells and platelets. The differences between the two groups were statistically significant (P0.05). For the 115 patients with adenocarcinoma in the TP group, the RR was 47%, the DCR was 73%, and the median PFS was 8 months. For the 115 patients with adenocarcinoma in the GP group, the RR was 20%, the DCR was 64%, and the median PFS was 20.5 months. There was significant difference in RR (P=0.003), but no significant difference in DCR and PFS (P>0.05). Conclusion The efficacy of cisplatin in combination with Abraxane is better than that with gemcitabine in the treatment of NSCLC, and the treatment has less risk of hematologic toxicity.

The effect of volume fraction of steel fiber and the strength of reinforcement on the maximum crack width of steel fiber reinforced high-strength concrete beams was analyzed based on experimental results. In addition, the formula to calculate the maximum crack width of steel fiber-reinforced high-strength concrete beams was established.

Highly sensitive stimuli-responsive fluorescent films are playing an increasingly important role in the development of smart sensors and erasable optical devices. However, systems involving humidity-responsive fluorescence (HRF) are still very limited compared to those responsive to other common environmental stimuli (e.g., light, heat, pressure, or pH). Herein, by incorporating the 4-[4-(dimethylamino)styryl]pyridine chromophore into a polyvinylpyrrolidone host, we have developed new flexible self-supporting nanofiber films that exhibit fast and obvious HRF. The reversible transformation between two fluorescence states can be easily observed and recycled at least 200 times. Fluorescence microscopy images provided in situ evidence of changes in both fluorescence and morphology. This work therefore offers an alternative to conventional humidity sensors based on changes in color and electrical properties. Furthermore, we anticipate that these HRF films can also be employed as optical antiforgery materials.

e21721 Background: Accelerated reproliferation during radiation is a classic theory in radiobiology. The long intervals between cycles of chemotherapy provides a better micro-circumstance to reproliferate of cancer cells. Few studies explored the accelerated reproliferation among cycles of chemotherapy. Methods: Patients with inoperable stage III and stage IV lung cancer from Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute were enrolled prospectively. Tumor tissue and sequential peripheral blood were obtained before treatment and among cycles of chemotherapy to detect Ki-67 and let-7a expression. All patients were followed up to observe the occurrence and survival. Results: Fifty-two consecutive consenting patients were enrolled prospectively. The median follow-up was 13 months (range, 2–62 months). A strong correlation was found between serum let-7a and tissue Ki-67 before treatment (r = − 0.667, P < 0.001). The serum let-7a expression level was significantly upregulated at the time point after 2 and 4 cycles of chemotherapy, respectively, compared with the original. Then, at the time point after 6 cycles of chemotherapy, the expression levels of let-7a returned to relatively low level (F = 7.994, P < 0.001). Patients with high level of baseline serum let-7a had significantly better OS and PFS than patients with relatively low level of baseline serum let-7a (The 1-year OS and PFS rates were 80.6% VS 33.3%, X2 = 12.81, P < 0.001, and 54.2% VS 20%, X2 = 8.001, P = 0.005, respectively). Conclusions: The study showed that serum let-7a could reflect the proliferation of tumor tissue reliably in lung cancer, with high prognostic value. Furthermore, the study showed that accelerated reproliferation exists during treatment of cancer, not only in radiotherapy, but also in chemotherapy, which can give us a new perspective to overcome drug resistance of lung cancer, and would help in determining individual treatment strategy. This project was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81502667) and Key Research and Development Plan of Shandong, China (Grant No. 2016GSF201167).

We demonstrate Si as a shallow donor in aluminum nitride (AlN) with an ionization energy of ∼70 meV. The shallow state was achieved by ion implantation of Si into homoepitaxial AlN and a low thermal budget damage recovery and activation process. These results demonstrate that the DX formation may be a kinetically limited process, though being a non-equilibrium process, preventing the Si donor from relaxing to the deep donor state. The room temperature conductivity was measured to be ∼0.05 Ω−1 cm−1, which is one order of magnitude higher than what has been reported for the epitaxially doped or implanted AlN.

Various studies have shown that flavones have several pharmacological activities including anti-allergy activities. However, the bioavailability of oral flavones is very low, and whether inhaled administration can improve efficacy in respiratory disease models is unclear. In the present study, the anti-allergic activities of inhaling 5,7-dimethoxy-3,4'-dihydroxyflavone (MHF), a synthetic flavonoid, was investigated by comparison with disodium cromoglycate (DSCG) and nedocromil sodium (NS) in rat allergic models. In an anti-DNP-IgE-induced asthmatic model, inhaled MHF dose-dependently inhibited the increase in airway resistance after antigen challenge. In an ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthmatic model, inhaled MHF showed significant suppression of airway hyperresponsiveness; a decrease in eosinophil and neutrophil counts, IL-4, IL-5 and leukotriene D4 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; a reduction in total IgE and OVA-specific IgE levels in serum; and suppression of eosinophil infiltration in lung tissue after antigen challenge. The efficacy of inhaled MHF was comparable to that of NS and DSCG. In conclusion, based on these findings, the report for the first time that that inhaled MHF may be a potential drug for the treatment of allergic asthma.

The influence of the polarization field on the emission properties of the AlGaN-based quantum structures grown on AlN substrates was investigated as a function of well width, barrier width, and barrier height. A thin AlGaN well and a thin AlN barrier design reduced the polarization field to ∼0.5 MV/cm, resulting in an ultralow laser threshold of 3 kW/cm2 in an optically pumped configuration. These experimental results were used to validate the simulation. In the next step, a structure with Al0.7Ga0.3N barriers was designed to support carrier injection with a minimal loss in optical performance. This structure showed a threshold of 7 kW/cm2 under optical pumping and an estimated threshold current of 8 kA/cm2 for the electric injection.

In recent years, China’s economy in the global economic downturn in the environment, still in a relatively rapid growth, and China launched a "mass entrepreneurship, innovation" policy is inseparable. At the same time, makerspace is a new generation of incubator platform which is put forward under the background of double creation, and the inefficient operation is the problem to be solved urgently. In this paper, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method is used as the research tool, according to the statistic data of the latest 2017 China Torch Statistics Yearbook, this paper evaluates and analyzes the efficiency of the makerspace operation in 30 provinces and cities of China in 2016 from four aspects of technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency, scale efficiency and projection analysis. The results show that: the technical efficiency of 30 provinces and cities in China is 0.847, the overall level is good, but not DEA effective accounted for the total area of 63.33%, of which scale efficiency is the main cause of technical efficiency. On the other hand, there are 14 provinces with varying degrees of input redundancy or insufficient output, the number of practitioners, the number of working places, the number of entrepreneurial instructors and other aspects of the input redundancy is the main cause of the non-DEA effective. Based on the above conclusions, this paper mainly puts forward 4 key countermeasures for the Government and related enterprises to provide reference for the operation and management of the Chinese provinces and cities.

Lactoferrin plays an important role in infant gastrointestinal health and immunity responses. This study measured the change of the lactoferrin level in breast milk over the lactation time in Chinese women, and explored potential influencing factors in terms of various maternal factors. 248 lactating women were recruited from eight different regions across China, covering 330 days of lactation. The nutrition information of each woman as well as the gender information of infants were collected. Breast milk lactoferrin level was determined by ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC). A twenty-four-hour maternal food recall was used to collect the dietary information. The lactoferrin level decreased progressively from day 1 to day 30 (p < 0.01), and remained constant from day 31 to day 330. Among the eight regions, the breast milk samples from Gansu contained the highest mean lactoferrin level (1.40 g L−1) while the breast milk samples from Zhejiang contained the least mean lactoferrin level, 0.94 g L−1 (p < 0.01). Dietary pattern and maternal BMI showed no correlation with the breast milk lactoferrin level. Maternal ethnicity and age were associated with the breast milk lactoferrin level. The breast milk samples collected from Tibetan ethnicity had 1.45 g L−1 lactoferrin while those collected from Dai ethnicity had 1.02 g L−1 lactoferrin. Women in the elder age group (30 years old and above) had 0.95 g L−1 breast milk lactoferrin, which was significantly lower than the lactoferrin level (1.3 g L−1) in the younger age group (20–25 years old) (p < 0.01). In conclusion, this study showed that lactoferrin levels in the breast milk of Chinese lactating women were influenced by lactation time. Besides, ethnicity and maternal age were two impact factors on the breast milk lactoferrin level.

Objectives Cigarette smoke (CS) is a major risk factor for the development of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is found in invasive or metastatic phenotypes in lung cancer and COPD. MK-2206, a pan Akt inhibitor, has failed in clinical trials for solid tumors when administered alone at tolerated doses, but it has been shown to have synergistic effects when applied with certain molecular targeted agents. In this study, we investigated the working mechanism of MK-2206 in CS-induced pulmonary EMT both in vivo and in vitro. Materials and methods The expression of Akt, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers and signaling proteins were analyzed by immunohistochemistry, real-time PCR and Western blot in cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-treated pulmonary epithelia and CS-treated lung tissues in mice. Results and conclusion We demonstrated that exposure of the epithelium to CSE and exposure of the mice to CS can induce EMT by activating the Akt signaling pathway. Intragastric application of MK-2206 at a low dose (50 mg/kg) reversed the changes of the key indicators of EMT in the lungs of CS-exposed mice, including TGF-β1, α-SMA, vimentin, MMP-9, MMP-2, S100A4, collagen deposition, and E-cadherin. MK-2206 at a non-cytotoxic concentration (0.5 μM) or Akt knockdown consistently reversed the changes of the key indicators of EMT in the pulmonary epithelia. Moreover, we found that the effects of Akt inhibition or knockdown on the CS/CSE-induced EMT acted via the TGF-β1/Akt/Smad/mTOR and Akt/P38 MAPK pathways. Taken together, our data offer a novel perspective on the molecular mechanism of Akt for CS-induced EMT. This finding may enhance the understanding of the mechanism behind the synergistic use of a low dose of MK-2206 to achieve antitumor efficacy with reduced adverse reactions in patients with lung cancer and COPD.

Resumen Antecedentes La prevalencia de las enfermedades respiratorias cronicas (ERC), incluida la bronquitis cronica y la enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva cronica (EPOC), ha aumentado de manera significativa a lo largo de las ultimas decadas. Varios estudios han sugerido que la infeccion por Helicobacter pylori puede estar relacionada con la aparicion de las ERC, pero los resultados presentados no han sido uniformes. Con el objetivo de evaluar la posible asociacion de la infeccion por H. pylori con las ERC, llevamos a cabo el presente metaanalisis. Metodos Realizamos una busqueda bibliografica sistematica en PubMed, Embase, Ovid, Google Scholar y CNKI desde su inicio hasta el 31 de octubre de 2013. Los terminos de busqueda utilizados fueron los siguientes: «chronic respiratory disease», «chronic bronchitis», «chronic obstructive pulmonary disease» o «COPD» en combinacion con «Helicobacter pylori» o «Campylobacter pylori». Segun los criterios de inclusion establecidos, seleccionamos todos los articulos publicados elegibles y extrajimos los datos esenciales. Para evaluar la asociacion de H. pylori con la bronquitis cronica y la EPOC se realizo un analisis global y se llevaron a cabo diversos analisis de subgrupos, respectivamente. Resultados Finalmente se incluyeron en los analisis un total de 9 estudios de casos y controles en los que se incluyeron 782 casos y 815 controles. La OR combinada fue de 2,30 (IC 95%: 1,85-2,85) para el analisis global, de 2,90 (IC 95%: 2,04-4,13) para el analisis del subgrupo de bronquitis cronica y de 2,11 (IC 95%: 1,35-3,29) para el analisis del subgrupo de EPOC. Conclusiones Los resultados del analisis global y de los analisis de subgrupos sugieren una asociacion significativa entre H. pylori y ERC. Seran necesarios nuevos estudios para esclarecer los mecanismos patogenicos.

Circulating tumor cells are low-frequency cells that are shed into the peripheral bloodstream from a primary solid tumor and/or metastasis. Although these cells were recognized initially in 1869, it is only in the past 2 decades that they have been isolated for use as a surrogate biomarker to monitor response to therapy, evaluate prognosis, detect tumor mutations, assist in selecting personalized medicine, and enable earlier cancer diagnosis.

Soil particle size distribution (PSD) is one of the most important physical properties of soil due to its strong influence on hydraulic characteristic, fertility condition and erosion of soil, etc. Sewage irrigation causes the differences in soil PSD. Thus, there may be massive organic contaminants and suspended particles in soil. In this paper, the frequency and multifractal necessity of soil PSD under sewage irrigation in different years were analyzed. Soil PSD demonstrates a heterogeneous characteristic under sewage irrigation, and this heterogeneity can be characterized using the multifractal technique, which calculates the multifractal spectrum parameters. The results showed that the width of multifractal spectrum ∆α is directly proportional to clay content; a remarkable effect of sewage irrigation on multifractal parameters was observed. The soil structure quality decreased with increasing sewage irrigation years. However, the soil structure improved when the soil was irrigated with freshwater for a long period after sewage irrigation. Therefore, multifractal parameters may be potential indicators for the physical property and quality of soil.

Salvianolic acid B (SalB) is one of the main water-soluble composites from Chinese medicine Dansen (Radix miltiorrhiza). It is used for clinical treatment of various diseases including cardiovascular, lung, Liver, renal and cancers. However, the effects of SalB to allergy induced airway mucin hypersecretion, inflammation and hyperresponsiveness (AHR) remains not clear. Overproduction of airway MUC5AC is a central effector of inflammation that is strongly associated with AHR in asthmatic attack. In this study, we investigated the anti-asthmatic activity and mechanism of SalB in a murine model and human epithelial cells by monitoring changes in mucin expression and secretion, airway inflammation, AHR, and signaling pathways. SalB was administered by intragastric administration (i.g) daily for a week, starting at 21 days after sensitization of ovalbumin (OVA). All examinations were performed 24h after the last antigen challenge. We found that treatments with SalB significantly inhibited increase in the tracheobronchial secretion, glycosaminoglycan levels, interleukin (IL)-13, IL-4, and IL-5 cytokines mRNA and protein expression, and decrease in mucociliary clearance in lung tissues. Histological results demonstrated that SalB attenuated OVA-induced eosinophil infiltration, airway goblet cell hyperplasia, and MUC5AC and MUC5B mRNA and protein expression in lung tissues. SalB exhibited protective effects against AHR in OVA-challenged animals. In vitro, SalB significantly inhibited IL-13-induced MUC5AC and MUC5B mRNA and protein expression in human epithelial cells. These effects were blocked by SalB by downregulating the Erk1/2 and P38 signaling pathways. Taken together, these data indicate that treatment with SalB may improve AHR by inhibiting MUC5AC overproduction.

We study traffic scheduling in optical-electrical switching fabrics in Data Center Networks (DCNs) based on multi-stage Clos networks to minimize data transmission delay and ensure 100% throughput. The existing classical ADAPT scheduling algorithm can minimize the speedup (the radio of the internal transmission rate inside the optical switch to the external line-rate), but still has some idle time-slots (i.e., not-yet-utilized slots), especially for uneven traffic distribution. To solve this issue, we propose a Multi-Hop Routing and Scheduling (MHRS) algorithm by utilizing idle bandwidths without increasing the speedup in multi-stage Clos networks for DCNs. Similar to ADAPT, MHRS divides traffic matrix into quotient and residual matrices. It includes two steps: single-hop scheduling as the first and multi-hop scheduling as the second. The first step is to schedule packets in the residual matrix to the idle time-slots of configuration matrices generated from the quotient matrix. When those packets cannot be directly scheduled in the first step, the second step invokes multi-hop scheduling process by making a detour for transmission. Simulation results confirm that MHRS can achieve a better performance in multi-stage Clos networks as compared with ADAPT.

Design is a subject with strong application, but the ability of practice is also important on training mode for design talents. “Two Labs and Two Centers” is a comprehensive and systemic practice teaching mode, which build on the foundation based on labs and workrooms, the core based on Exhibition Center and Practice Center, thereby achieving the goal of effectively collaborate the talents training with social demands.

In Cybernetics proposed by Liu Guanzhong, it stresses to analyze and study problems from aspect of reason and provides new perspective and theoretical guidance for design. Materials are medium to express and realize products and it can improve accuracy, adaptability and integrity of material selection under Cybernetics theory. This thesis presents the concept and theoretical characters of Cybernetics and mainly stresses selection principal and management method for product materials on the basis of it.

The transmission characteristics of free-standing metasurfaces consisting of square metal patch, which rotated 45° (which is defined as the rotated metasurfaces) or 0° (which is defined as the regular metasurfaces) around their array arrangement direction, have been studied at microwave frequencies. The proposed metasurfaces in vacuum environment, considered as free-standing planar frequency selective surfaces, are analyzed for searching its transmission characteristics with variable dimension at different frequencies. For the rotated metasurfaces, a bizarre phenomenon, in which transmission will increase inversely as the size of the rotated square metal patch is increased, can be observed at the periodicity of these arrays between 2λ/3 and 4λ/5, where λ is the considered wavelength. But for the regular metasurfaces, this phenomenon cannot be observed. In addition, the rotated metasurfaces and the regular metasurfaces loading on infinite resistive sheet are also studied for discussing its transmission and...

Background This study was designed to detect the protein expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) among serum, lymph node, and tumor tissues, and to discuss their relationship and clinical significance. We investigated whether EGFR levels in serum and lymph nodes could be used as an effective method for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to diagnose and assess clinical stage. Methods In 56 patients with NSCLC and 10 individuals with nonmalignant thoracic disease, we measured EGFR levels in serum using an enzyme immunoassay, and EGFR mRNA levels in lymph node and NSCLC tissues by quantitative real-time-polymerase chain reaction. We examined the correlation between them and with the clinical parameters. Results Serum EGFR levels substantially decreased after surgical treatment (P < 0.001). Serum EGFR levels were correlated with smoking, surgery, and pathological type after surgery (all P < 0.05). EGFR mRNA levels in lymph node and tumor tissues were correlated more closely with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.015. EGFR mRNA in tissues was higher than that of benign pulmonary diseases (P = 0.020). There was an obvious positive correlation among EGFR levels of serum and lymph node tissues (r = 0.764; P < 0.001), serum and tumor tissues (r = 0.616; P < 0.001), and lymph node and tumor tissues (r = 0.904; P < 0.001) in NSCLCs. Conclusion The data suggest that detecting EGFR levels in serum and lymph node tissues could be a simple and effective method to diagnose and assess the clinical stage in patients with NSCLC.

The aim of this study was to identify a microRNA (miRNA) expression signature for predicting HCC (hepatocellular carcinoma) survival. A total of 322 HCC patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database were randomly divided into training and testing set. miRNAs, associated with survival time in the training set, were identified by using univariate Cox regression analysis. The risk score was formulated based on the expression levels of these miRNAs. Then the miRNA signature was validated in testing set through Kaplan-Meier analysis and log-rank test. hsa-miR-301a, hsa-miR-132, hsa-miR-212, hsa-miR-489, and hsa-miR-1468 were identified to formulate risk score in training set and used to calculate the risk score of each patients in testing set. About 161 patients in testing set were segregated into high- and low-risk group according to the median risk score. The survival time of high-risk group was significantly shorter (p = 0.0248) than low-risk group in testing test. The target genes of five miRNAs were significantly enriched in valine, leucine, and isoleucine degradation pathway and PPAR signaling pathway. hsa-miR-1468 had an up-regulated tendency in HCC tissues compared to adjacent tumor tissues. The expression of hsa-miR-301a, hsa-miR-132, hsa-miR-212, hsa-miR-489, and hsa-miR-1468, which might be potential biomarkers to evaluate HCC patients' prognosis.

With an aim at printing quality on-line detection, a method based on two-times difference image algorithm was proposed. Firstly, a standard template image and a gray threshold value image were calculated by using statistical methods. Secondly, an abnormal spots image was obtained through two-times difference image of the detection image, the standard template image and gray threshold value image. Lastly, the defects can be detected by analysis of connected region of the abnormal spots image. The results demonstrated that the problems of false detection and omission detection due to edge of image can be solved effectively, and the detection accuracy can be improved through this method.

Accurate tumor staging is essential for selecting the appropriate treatment strategy for lung cancer. Computed tomography (CT), or positron emission tomography (PET), is the most commonly used non-invasive staging method of lymph node (LN) metastases (LNM), but this method remains unsatisfactory. The present study measured vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C levels in serum, tumor tissue and LNs to determine the correlation between serum VEGF-C and LNM, and also assessed the usefulness of serum VEGF-C as an additional diagnostic marker for identifying LNM. A total of 66 patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) or benign tumors of the lung were included in this study, and circulating VEGF-C levels were assessed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. RNA fractions extracted from the tumor tissues and LNs were subjected to quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to assess the mRNA levels of VEGF-C. The VEGF-C levels in serum, tumor tissue and LNM were significantly higher compared with the control group (P

Clinically, sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) using allergen extracts effectively alleviates the symptoms of allergic rhinitis and asthma. We hypothesized that oral administration of a high-dose of allergen extracts imitates SLIT, which may prevent IgE-related responses in allergic diseases. In the present study, we investigated the effects of oral administration of allergen extracts from mugwort pollen (MP) on allergen-induced inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in an allergic mouse model. After administration of MPdrop containing Art v 1 and Art v 4 extracts derived from MP specifically in MP-sensitized mice, the effects of MPdrop on AHR, inflammatory cell accumulation, cytokine production in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and lung tissue, and serum IgE and IgG levels were investigated. The results indicated that MPdrop not only prevented the AHR in response to methacholine in a dose-dependent manner but also significantly reduced the total serum and allergen-specific IgE levels. All of the maximal effects were achieved at a dose of 100μg/(kgd) and were comparable to the effects of dexamethasone at a dose of 0.5mg/(kgd). Furthermore, oral administration of MPdrop dose-dependently elevated allergen-specific serum IgG2a levels, reduced total and allergen-specific IgE levels and normalized the imbalance between the Th1 cytokine IL-12 and Th2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-5. Finally, oral administration of MPdrop significantly reduced goblet cell hyperplasia and eosinophilia in the MP-sensitized allergic mouse model. These data suggest that MPdrop effectively improves specific allergen-induced inflammation and AHR in MP-sensitized and -challenged mice and provides the rationale for clinical use of MPdrop in the specific allergen-induced asthma.

This paper put forward the concept of economic house of quality (EHOQ), constructing EHOQ model based on quality economic analysis. The proposed method expands the 10-steps model of traditional house to a new 13-steps model via introducing three new steps which are growth rate of customer cognitive price, annual increment of quality comprehensive cost and enterprise expected revenue to carrying out the economic analysis on HOQ. The new method breaks the limitations of traditional quality function deployment (QFD) construction without revenue analysis.