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To investigate the correlation between intestinal flora and serum inflammatory factors IL-1, IL-2, IL-6 and hs-CRP in post-stroke depression (PSD) in ischemic stroke patients.Observational study. Study Place and Duration of Study: Jiulongpo District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chongqing City, China, from October 2018 to May 2020.One hundred and sixty-three patients with ischemic stroke were divided into Group A (PSD) and Group B (no PSD), according to whether they had PSD. Intestinal flora indexes (Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli and Bifidobacterium) and serum IL-1, IL-2, IL-6 and hs-CRP were detected.Among 163 patients with ischemic stroke, 67 (41.10%) had PSD (Group A) and 96 (58.90%) had no PSD (Group B). Contents of Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli in Group A were higher than those in Group B (both p0.001), and content of Bifidobacterium in Group A was lower than that in Group B (p0.001). Serum IL-1, IL-2, IL-6 and hs-CRP levels in Group A were higher than those in Group B (all p0.001). Pearson correlation test showed that contents of Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli in Group A were positively correlated with IL-1, IL-2, IL-6 and hs-CRP, and content of Bifidobacterium was negatively correlated with IL-1, IL-2, IL-6 and hs-CRP.There are intestinal flora imbalance and Bifidobacterium undergrowth in patients with PSD, which can lead to overexpression of serum inflammatory factors. Both may be involved in occurrence and progress of PSD in patients with ischemic stroke. Key Words: Ischemic stroke, Post-stroke depression (PSD), Intestinal flora, Inflammatory factors.

With recent advancements in image processing and printing technology, home printers have improved in performance and grown more widespread. As such, they have been increasingly used in counterfeiting and forgery. Most counterfeit bills in Korea have been created using home scanners and printers. The identification of printer model is thus necessary to rapidly track down criminals and solve crimes. Household printers can be largely divided into inkjet and laser printers. These two types of printers print halftone textures instead of continuous images. This study proposed a technique of printer classification based on halftone textures that can be observed in printed documents. Since halftone textures are expressed as periodic lattices, the images were transformed via FFT, which is highly effective at expressing periodicity. ResNet, known for its superior gradient flow, was used for training. The experiment was conducted on 12 color laser jets and 2 inkjets. Scans of bills printed by each printer were used, and halftone texture analysis was performed on these images for printer model classification. Each image was cropped into several parts; one of the cropped parts was analyzed. The analysis showed that laser printers could be 100% distinguished from inkjet printers. An accuracy of 98.44% was achieved in make classification. When 50 cropped images were used instead of a single image, the technique achieved 100% accuracy in model classification. The proposed technique is non-destructive; it offers high accessibility and efficiency as it can be performed using a scanner alone, without requiring additional optical equipment.

Aim Emperipolesis, the cell-in-cell structure, is one of the pathological diagnostic standard of AIH. We have already identified that CD8+ T cells participated in the emperipolesis process in liver tissue of AIH patients. In this study, we aimed to clarify the characteristics and molecular mechanisms of emperipolesis in the patients with AIH in vitro and in mice with α-GalCer-induced acute hepatitis. Methods Peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) of patients with variant chronic liver diseases and healthy controls were co-cultured with hepatic cell line to induce emperipolesis in vitro. Confocal staining was performed to illustrate the cellular types and potential mechanisms of emperipolesis in AIH. In addition, the mouse model of α-GalCer-induced acute hepatitis which mimics human AIH in several features, was used to confirm the role of CD44/p-ERM/F-actin in the emperipolesis process in vivo. Results In co-culture system with PBMC and hepatic cell line, emperipolesis was observed most common in the patients with AIH. CD8+ T cells were the major cells participated in the emperipolesis process, and penetrated into hepatocytes actively via CD44/p-ERM/F-actin pathway. As a result, most CD8+ T cells engulfed in hepatocytes undergo self-apoptosis. In α-GalCer-induced acute hepatitis model, emperipolesis was observed around the inflammatory foci, and was inhibited by Ezrin phosphorylation inhibitor NSC668394. Similarly, activated murine CD8+ T cells penetrated into primary hepatocytes via CD44/p-ERM/F-actin pathway in vitro. Conclusions CD8+ T cells penetrated into hepatocytes actively via CD44/p-ERM/F-actin signaling pathway and undergo apoptosis, may be a compensative mechanism to attenuate overwhelming immune attack in AIH. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Objective To evaluate the clinical outcomes of oblique lumbar interbody fusion (OLIF) in conjunction with unilateral pedicle screw fixation (UPSF) via the Wiltse approach in treating degenerative lumbar scoliosis (DLS). Methods The article is a retrospective analysis. Twelve patients with DLS who underwent combined OLIF and UPSF between July 2017 and December 2018 were included. The study included 2 male and 10 female patients, with a mean age at the time of the operation of 67.2 ± 9.1 years. The surgical characteristics and complications were evaluated. The clinical and radiological data such as the correction of deformity, coronal and sagittal profile were analyzed. Results The mean follow‐up time of the study was 26.8 ± 1.8 months. At the final follow‐up, all patients who underwent combined OLIF and UPSF achieved statistically significant improvements in coronal Cobb angle (from 19.6° ± 4.8° to 6.9° ± 3.8°, P, OLIF in conjunction with UPSF seems to be a valuable surgical tool for the minimally invasive correction of coronal and sagittal plane deformities in patients with moderate degenerative lumbar scoliosis. It is a minimally invasive procedure that yields good radiographic and clinical results without any major complications.

Purpose: This meta-analysis compared the clinical outcome of three-dimensional (3D) printing combined with open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) to traditional ORIF in the treatment of acetabular fractures. Methods: We searched the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, VIP database, CNKI, and Wanfang database with keywords “acetabular fracture”, “3D printing”, “three-dimensional printing”, “open reduction and internal fixation”, “Acetabulum”, “Acetabula” from January 2000 to March 2020. Two reviewers independently selected articles, extracted data, assessed the quality evidence and risk bias of included trials using the Cochrane Collaboration’ s tools and/or Newcastle–Ottawa scale. When the two analysts had different opinions, they would ask the third analyst for opinion. Randomized controlled trials or retrospective comparative studies of 3D printing combined with ORIF (3D printing group) versus traditional ORIF (conventional group) in the treatment of acetabular fractures were selected. The data of operation time, intraoperative blood loss, intraoperative fluoroscopy times, incidence of complications, excellent and good rate of Matta score for reduction, and excellent and good rate of hip function score were extracted. Stata14.0 statistical software was used for data analysis. Results: Altogether 9 articles were selected, including 5 randomized controlled trials and 4 retrospective studies. A total of 467 patients were analyzed, 250 in the conventional group, and 217 in the 3D printing group. The operation time in the 3D printing group was less than that in the conventional group and the difference was statistically significant (standardized mean difference (SMD) = −1.19, 95% CI: −1.55 to −0.82, p 0.05). There was no significant difference in the excellent and good rate of hip function score at the end of postoperative follow-up between the two groups (OR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.46–1.56, p > 0.05), but the follow-up time varies from 6 months to 40 months. Conclusion: Compared with traditional ORIF, 3D printing combined with ORIF has certain advantages in terms that 3D printing not only helps surgeons to understand acetabular fractures more intuitively, but also effectively reduces operation time, intraoperative blood loss, intraoperative fluoroscopy times, and postoperative complications. However, there were no significant differences in the excellent and good rate of Matta score for reduction and the excellent and good rate of hip function score at the end of follow-up.

Ovarian cancer (OvCa) is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy owing to its high chemoresistance and late diagnosis, which lead to a poor prognosis. Hence, developing new therapeutic modalities is important for OvCa patient treatment. Our previous results indicated that a novel aptamer, Tx-01, can specifically recognize serous carcinoma cells and tissues. Here, we aim to clarify the clinical role and possible molecular mechanisms of Tx-01 in OvCa. Immunostaining and statistical analysis were performed to detect the interaction of Tx-01 and heat shock protein 70/Notch1 intracellular domain (HSP70/NICD) in OvCa. The in vitro and in vivo experiments were carried out to demonstrate the potential mechanisms of Tx-01. Results show that Tx-01 reduced serous OvCa OVCAR3 cell migration and invasion and inhibited HSP70 nuclear translocation by interrupting the intracellular HSP70/NICD interaction. Furthermore, Tx-01 suppressed serous-type OVCAR3 cell tumor growth in vivo. Tx-01 acts as a prognostic factor through its interaction with membrane-bound HSP70 (mHSP70 that locates on the cell surface without direct interaction to NICD) on ascitic circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and is reported to be involved in natural killer (NK) cell recognition and activation. Our data demonstrated that Tx-01 interacted with HSP70 and showed therapeutic and prognostic effects in serous OvCa. Tx-01 might be a potential inhibitor for use in serous OvCa treatment., Graphical Abstract, Lin et al. demonstrated that Tx-01 plays a therapeutic role through interfering intracellular HSP70/NICD interaction to reduce nuclear translocation. Tx-01 also interacts with membrane-bound HSP70 (mHSP70) recognized by ascitic NK cells and acts as a favorable prognostic marker in serous ovarian cancer.

Background and aim Patients with functional dyspepsia (FD) often have concomitant anxiety and depression. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) combines the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness. It is a group-based therapy and has been shown to be efficacious in functional gastrointestinal disorders. There are no randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating MBCT in FD. We aimed to evaluate feasibility and efficacy of MBCT in FD management. Methods We performed a mixed-method single-center pilot randomized trial of 28 patients fulfilling ROME-III criteria for FD. Fifteen patients were randomized to an 8-week MBCT program while 13 underwent treatment-as-usual (TAU). Patients completed questionnaires at baseline and at week 8. Two focus-groups were conducted. Feasibility of recruitment, acceptability of randomization, procedures and intervention, handout compliance and feasibility of quantitative measures were assessed. The primary outcome was subjective-clinical-assessment of FD symptoms (SCA-FD). Secondary outcome measures included Short-form Nepean Dyspepsia Index (SF-NDI), subjective-clinical-assessment of general health (SCA-GH), EuroQoL-Visual Analog Scale (EuroQoL-VAS), and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 Items (DASS-21). Results Twelve of 15 patients in the MBCT group completed the program. There was a trend towards symptom improvement, with 90% in the MBCT group reporting improvement in SCA-FD compared with 45% in TAU(P = 0.063). Patients who underwent MBCT reported greater improvement in SF-NDI (mean change: -8.8 (SD: 7.5) vs -0.7 (7.2), P = 0.018) and DASS-21 (-19.8 (29.5) vs -5.5 (6.6) P = 0.13) compared with TAU. There was no difference in SCA-GH and EuroQoL-VAS. Based on SCA-FD improvement, the eventual RCT will require 50 patients (25 in each group). Conclusions Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is likely efficacious for FD, and it would be feasible to conduct a RCT.

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is significantly increasing worldwide, and the incidence of its complications is also on the rise. One of the main complications of T2DM is diabetic kidney disease (DKD). The glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and urinary albumin creatinine ratio (UACR) increase in the early stage. As the disease progresses, UACR continue to rise and GFR begins to decline until end-stage renal disease appears. At the same time, DKD will also increase the incidence and mortality of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. At present, the pathogenesis of DKD is not very clear. Therefore, exploration of the pathogenesis of DKD to find a treatment approach, so as to delay the development of DKD, is essential to improve the prognosis of DKD. AIM To detect the expression of tenascin-C (TNC) in the serum of T2DM patients, observe the content of TNC in the glomerulus of DKD rats, and detect the expression of TNC on inflammatory and fibrotic factors in rat mesangial cells (RMCs) cultured under high glucose condition, in order to explore the specific molecular mechanism of TNC in DKD and bring a new direction for the treatment of DKD. METHODS The expression level of TNC in the serum of diabetic patients was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the protein expression level of TNC in the glomerular area of DKD rats was detected by immunohistochemistry, and the expression level of TNC in the rat serum was detected by ELISA. Rat glomerular mesangial cells were cultured. Following high glucose stimulation, the expression levels of related proteins and mRNA were detected by Western blot and polymerase chain reaction, respectively. RESULTS ELISA results revealed an increase in the serum TNC level in patients with T2DM. Increasing UACR and hypertension significantly increased the expression of TNC (P < 0.05). TNC expression was positively correlated with glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) level, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, and UACR (P < 0.05). Immunohistochemical staining showed that TNC expression in the glomeruli of rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes was significantly increased compared with normal controls (P < 0.05). Compared with normal rats, serum level of TNC in diabetic rats was significantly increased (P < 0.05), which was positively correlated with urea nitrogen and urinary creatinine (P < 0.05). The levels of TNC, Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4), phosphorylated nuclear factor-κB p65 protein (Ser536) (p-NF-κB p65), and miR-155-5p were increased in RMCs treated with high glucose (P < 0.05). The level of TNC protein peaked 24 h after high glucose stimulation (P < 0.05). After TNC knockdown, the levels of TLR4, p-NF-κB p65, miR-155-5p, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), and fibronectin (FN) were decreased, revealing that TNC regulated miR-155-5p expression through the TLR4/NF-κB p65 pathway, thereby regulating inflammation (NF-κB p65) and fibrosis (CTGF and FN) in individuals with DKD. In addition, metformin treatment may relive the processes of inflammation and fibrosis in individuals with DKD by reducing the levels of the TNC, p-NF-κB p65, CTGF, and FN proteins. CONCLUSION TNC can promote the occurrence and development of DKD. Interfering with the TNC/TLR4/NF-κB p65/miR-155-5p pathway may become a new target for DKD treatment.

A number of studies have suggested that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can cause liver damage. However, clinical features and outcome of COVID-19 in patients with liver injury remain to be further investigated. In this study, the clinical data of 265 COVID-19 patients admitted to seven tertiary hospitals were collected. Based on a threshold for transaminase or total bilirubin levels at two times the normal upper limit, patients were divided into mild or moderate/severe liver injury groups. Among the 265 patients, 183 patients showed liver injury within 48 hours of admission. Aspartate aminotransferase levels were predominantly elevated in the liver injury group, but albumin levels were reduced. Moreover, fibrinogen and D-dimer were significantly increased. Furthermore, 68% of the patients with moderate/severe liver injury had one or more underlying diseases. Almost half of these patients developed acute respiratory distress syndrome (44%) and secondary infections (46%). These patients showed increased interleukin-6 and interleukin-10 levels and a decrease in PaO2 and the oxygenation index. In addition, levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and albumin were correlated with the oxygenation index, D-dimer and lymphocyte counts. Furthermore, a novel prognostic assessment model based on liver function was established, which accuracy reached 88% and was able to accurately assess the prognosis of COVID-19 patients.

Blood glucose levels are associated with the prognosis of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) reflects the average blood glucose level. The purpose of the study was to evaluate HbA1c as a prognostic indicator for ACS. In total, 27,337 ACS patients from the CCC-ACS (Improving Care for Cardiovascular Disease in China - Acute Coronary Syndrome) project were enrolled in this study and divided into three groups according to HbA1c level: Group I, HbA1c level

Congenital pain insensitivity is a rare genetic disease and its clinical manifestations are many. In orthopaedics, common complications of this disease include painless fracture and Charcot's arthropathy. We followed up a case of multiple fractures of the lower extremity in two years, during which time he came to the clinic for five painless fractures of the lower extremity in a total of six parts. A mutation was found on the NTKRI gene (chr1:156813923(hg19), NM_001007792.1: c.1221938C > T). We have developed a combination of surgery and conservative treatments for his condition, focusing on the mental state of the child and considering comprehensive treatment to be the best option for this type of patient. Occult fractures caused by pain insensitivity are often treated only as fractures, however their complications require routine examination and cleaning, suitable protective shoes, splint fixation, stretching, guided exercise planning, and early treatment of injuries. Due to the risk of fracture in the future, it is important that parents pay attention to the behavior and psychology of the child, such as not letting the child participate in exercise with a risk of injury, protective measures while playing, engaging in psychological counseling, and inducing interest in mental activity. These interventions will play a very important role in preventing the recurrence of fracture.

Background and objectiveLong-acting nociceptive-selective regional anesthesia has remained an elusive clinical goal. We aspired to identify a novel compound that would produce nociceptive-selective regional anesthesia through the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channels.MethodsWe designed and synthesized a novel compound (LL-a) that penetrates the cell membrane through TRPV1 channels and binds to voltage-gated sodium channels. The regional anesthetic effect of LL-a was evaluated in a rodent sciatic nerve block model. Electrophysiological recording was applied to test the inhibition of LL-a on voltage-gated sodium channel currents.ResultsLL-a inhibited sodium channel currents on the dorsal root ganglion neurons of mice and this action was diminished by TRPV1 channel knockout. In a sciatic nerve block model of a rat, 0.2% and 0.4% (w/v) LL-a produced selective sensory block with median (IQR) durations of 42.0 (24.0, 48.0) and 72.0 (69.0, 78.0) hours, respectively. No motor block was found for 0.2% LL-a. 0.4% LL-a produced a motor block with a median (IQR) duration of 3.0 (0.0, 6.0) hours. This selective sensory block was not observed on TRPV1 knockout mice. As a positive control, 0.5% and 0.75% levobupivacaine produced a non-selective sciatic nerve block with median (IQR) durations of 2.8 (2.6, 2.8) and 3.8 (3.8, 4.8) hours, respectively. No systemic or local irritation was observed during injection of LL-a and sensory and motor function completely recovered for all the animals.ConclusionsLL-a is a potential novel local anesthetic for long-lasting nociceptive-selective analgesia.

Over 15 million epilepsy patients worldwide have drug-resistant epilepsy. Successful surgery is a standard of care treatment but can only be achieved through complete resection or disconnection of the epileptogenic zone, the brain region(s) where seizures originate. Surgical success rates vary between 20% and 80%, because no clinically validated biological markers of the epileptogenic zone exist. Localizing the epileptogenic zone is a costly and time-consuming process, which often requires days to weeks of intracranial EEG (iEEG) monitoring. Clinicians visually inspect iEEG data to identify abnormal activity on individual channels occurring immediately before seizures or spikes that occur interictally (i.e. between seizures). In the end, the clinical standard mainly relies on a small proportion of the iEEG data captured to assist in epileptogenic zone localization (minutes of seizure data versus days of recordings), missing opportunities to leverage these largely ignored interictal data to better diagnose and treat patients. IEEG offers a unique opportunity to observe epileptic cortical network dynamics but waiting for seizures increases patient risks associated with invasive monitoring. In this study, we aimed to leverage interictal iEEG data by developing a new network-based interictal iEEG marker of the epileptogenic zone. We hypothesized that when a patient is not clinically seizing, it is because the epileptogenic zone is inhibited by other regions. We developed an algorithm that identifies two groups of nodes from the interictal iEEG network: those that are continuously inhibiting a set of neighbouring nodes (‘sources’) and the inhibited nodes themselves (‘sinks’). Specifically, patient-specific dynamical network models were estimated from minutes of iEEG and their connectivity properties revealed top sources and sinks in the network, with each node being quantified by source-sink metrics. We validated the algorithm in a retrospective analysis of 65 patients. The source-sink metrics identified epileptogenic regions with 73% accuracy and clinicians agreed with the algorithm in 93% of seizure-free patients. The algorithm was further validated by using the metrics of the annotated epileptogenic zone to predict surgical outcomes. The source-sink metrics predicted outcomes with an accuracy of 79% compared to an accuracy of 43% for clinicians’ predictions (surgical success rate of this dataset). In failed outcomes, we identified brain regions with high metrics that were untreated. When compared with high frequency oscillations, the most commonly proposed interictal iEEG feature for epileptogenic zone localization, source-sink metrics outperformed in predictive power (by a factor of 1.2), suggesting they may be an interictal iEEG fingerprint of the epileptogenic zone.

Precise diameter control is critical for many optical micro/nanofiber (MNF) applications. We demonstrate real-time MNF diameter control with improved accuracy and precision. Different from earlier works, a white light source is applied to monitor the transmittance during fiber pulling process. Terminated directly by the transmission intensity drops that indicate the cutoff of TE01 mode at particular wavelengths, we achieve diameter control accuracy and precision as high as 2nm and 3nm, respectively. The diameter control range from 360 nm to 680 nm that is demonstrated in our experiment can be extended to several tens of micron by exciting other high order modes.

The present study was designed to compare the feasibility of ultrasound (US)-guided lumbar epidural access using paramedian sagittal scanning (PMSS) and paramedian transverse scanning (PMTS) approaches. Fifty patients undergoing surgery of the lower extremities were randomly allocated into 2 groups. The patients in PMSS group received PMSS-guided in-plane epidural access, whereas patients in PMTS group received PMTS-guided in-plane epidural access. The US visibility of neuraxial structures and of Tuohy needle during US scout scan, procedure duration, the number of attempts to access epidural space, Tuohy needle puncture depth in the epidural space, and extent of sensory block after spinal block between two groups were compared. The US visibility of Tuohy needle and neuraxial structures was comparable between two groups. There was an overall decrease in procedure duration in the PMTS group relative to the PMSS group (360 ± 42 vs. 490 ± 38 s). The number of attempts needed to access the epidural space in PMSS group was significantly higher than in PMTS group. Distances between the epidural space and the puncture site in PMSS group and PMTS group showed a significant difference (7.13 ± 0.67 vs. 5.24 ± 0.21 cm). No significant differences in the extent of sensory block after spinal block were observed. We found that PMTS approach was superior as a means of achieving epidural access relative to the PMSS approach, since PMTS approach can be conducted more quickly given shorter path of the needle and less times needed for epidural access during this procedure. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, clinical trial number ChiCTR1800015815, date of registration April 24, 2018.

Objectives Collagen triple helix repeat containing-1 (CTHRC1) is a highly conserved extracellular matrix glycoprotein that is overexpressed in two murine models of cholestatic liver fibrosis. Elevated CTHRC1 has been found to attenuate liver fibrosis in these murine models, thus we aimed to study the expression of CTHRC1 in patients with cholestatic liver diseases and its correlation with hepatic conditions. Methods Ninety patients with chronic liver disease, including 48 had primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), 18 had primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and 24 had chronic hepatitis B (CHB), together with five healthy controls (HC), were recruited to this study. Participants' liver sections were analyzed using immunohistochemistry. Serum CTHRC1 levels in another cohort of 59 patients with PBC and 10 age-matched HC were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results CTHRC1 protein was primarily expressed in activated hepatic stellate cells (HSC). CTHRC1 expression was significantly increased in the PBC and PSC groups, compared with the HC and CHB groups. Importantly, the hepatic fibrosis stage of the PBC group was positively correlated with hepatic CTHRC1 expression (r = 0.425, P = 0.003). Meanwhile, there were significant correlations between serum CTHRC1 levels and both the degrees of hepatic inflammation and fibrosis stage in the PBC group (r = 0.300, P = 0.022; r = 0.321, P = 0.012). Conclusion CTHRC1 may play a role in hepatic fibrogenesis in PBC and that serum CTHRC1 may be a potential novel noninvasive biomarker in the assessment of liver fibrosis and inflammation.

Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation and migration are crucial events in the pathological course of atherosclerosis and restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Dioscin has been shown to exhibit powerful cardiovascular protective effects and potent therapeutic potential in cancer owing to the inhibition of cell proliferation and migration. However, its effects on arterial wall hypertrophy-related diseases caused by VSMC proliferation and migration remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of dioscin on intimal hyperplasia after balloon injury in vivo, its effects on VSMC proliferation and migration in vitro, and the mechanisms underlying these effects. Results showed that dioscin treatment significantly inhibited VSMC proliferation and intimal thickening after balloon injury. In cultured VSMCs, treatment with dioscin significantly decreased fetal bovine serum or platelet-derived growth factor-induced cell proliferation and migration. Moreover, dioscin inhibited the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) and expression of Forkhead box M1 (FoxM1) and its downstream target genes. FoxM1 knockdown with shRNA partially counteracted the inhibitory effects of dioscin on cell proliferation and migration. In conclusion, we demonstrated that dioscin attenuated neointima formation in response to balloon injury by suppressing VSMC proliferation and migration through MAPK-FoxM1 pathway. Our data suggested that dioscin might be a potential therapeutic agent for atherosclerosis and restenosis after PCI.

BackgroundChina has the largest population of traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI), but has not yet performed a national-level study on its epidemiological and clinical features, treatment status, and economic burden.MethodsA total of 14 754 patients were recruited between January 2013 and December 2018 from 37 hospitals in 11 provinces and municipalities, which represented all geographical divisions of China. The percentage of TSCI in hospitalized patients and the percentage of TSCI in hospitalized patients through the orthopaedic departments were calculated. The treatment status, total and daily costs were collected.ResultsThe percentage of TSCI in hospitalized patients and the percentage of TSCI in hospitalized patients through the orthopaedic departments did not change significantly overall (APC= -0.5%, 95% CI: -3.0 to 2.1 and -1.6%, -4.9 to 1.8, respectively). A total of 10 918 (74.0%) patients received surgery after TSCI. However, only 3.0% of patients underwent surgery received surgery less than 24 hours after injury. A total of 2 084 (14.1%) patients were treated with methylprednisolone sodium succinate/methylprednisolone (MPSS/MP) at a high dose (≥500 mg) and 641 (4.3%) patients receiving it within 8 hours. The total costs for acute TSCI decreased (-4.8%, -6.2 to -3.4), while the daily costs did not change significantly (0.5%, -1.2 to 2.2).ConclusionsThis study revealed epidemiological and clinical features, treatment status, and economic burden of TSCI that occurred in China from 2013 to 2018.FundingNational Key Research and Development Project of Stem Cell and Transformation Research (2019YFA0112100).

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) signals have demonstrated their practical application to reading human minds. Current neural decoding studies have made great progress to build subject-wise decoding models to extract and discriminate the temporal/spatial features in neural signals. In this paper, we used a compact convolutional neural network—EEGNet—to build a common decoder across subjects, which deciphered the categories of objects (faces, tools, animals, and scenes) from MEG data. This study investigated the influence of the spatiotemporal structure of MEG on EEGNet’s classification performance. Furthermore, the EEGNet replaced its convolution layers with two sets of parallel convolution structures to extract the spatial and temporal features simultaneously. Our results showed that the organization of MEG data fed into the EEGNet has an effect on EEGNet classification accuracy, and the parallel convolution structures in EEGNet are beneficial to extracting and fusing spatial and temporal MEG features. The classification accuracy demonstrated that the EEGNet succeeds in building the common decoder model across subjects, and outperforms several state-of-the-art feature fusing methods.

This study aimed to assess the clinical features of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with VTE, to help develop preventive measures for venous thromboembolism (VTE in COVID-19) cases. COVID-19 patients admitted to Henan Provincial People’s Hospital were retrospectively analyzed, including 23, 4 and 8 cases with mild to moderate, severe and critical symptoms, respectively. VTE incidence, age at onset, relevant laboratory parameters and prognosis were analyzed. Overall, VTE incidence in the 35 patients was 20.0%, occurring in severe (n = 1) and critical (n = 6) cases. D-dimer showed statistical significance in laboratory examination, representing except a diagnostic index and especial can be a prognostic factor in VTE among COVID-19 patients. Severe and critical COVID-19 cases had significantly reduced platelet counts, with a risk of hemorrhage. During treatment, the risk of both hemorrhage and thrombosis should be considered. VTE occurs in COVID-19 cases, affecting individuals with severe and critical symptoms. Significant D-dimer increase is of great significance in the risk assessment of death in critical cases of COVID-19. Appropriate measures should be taken to prevent VTE during treatment.

Background: ET-26 hydrochloride (ET-26HCl), a class 1 new drug, was developed to reserve the advantages of etomidate with a mild adrenocortical inhibition.Purpose: this study was to evaluate the potential adverse effects on the cardiovascular system of beagle dogs and the respiratory and central nervous systems of rats.Methods: three established methods, the whole-body plethysmography for respiratory function, the prototype telemetry transmitter for cardiovascular function, and the standardized functional observational battery for central nervous system function, were accomplished with Good Laboratory Practice standards.Results: no significant difference in the tidal volume, but the respiratory rate and minute ventilation were reduced. The degree of inhibition was the most serious in the first 15 min after dosing and function fully recovered after 1 h. For male rats, the respiratory rate of male rats was reduced significantly at 15 min after injection with ET-26HCl (4 mg/kg, 28.6%, p ≤ 0.01; 8 mg/kg, 24.5%, p ≤ 0.01; 16 mg/kg, 44.5%, p ≤ 0.001), and the minute ventilation at 15 min was decreased by 20.1% (4 mg/kg, p = 0.034), 22.2% (8 mg/kg, p = 0.019), and 44.6% (16 mg/kg, p ≤ 0.001) as compared to control group. As with male rats, the respiratory rate of the female rats was reduced significantly at 15 min (4 mg/kg, 23.3%, p ≤ 0.01; 8 mg/kg, 29.2%, p ≤ 0.001; 16 mg/kg, 44.1%, p ≤ 0.001), and the minute ventilation was decreased by 25.2% (4 mg/kg, p ≤ 0.001), 23.0% (8 mg/kg, p ≤ 0.01), and 47.6% (16 mg/kg, p ≤ 0.001). Then, all the variations in cardiovascular functions were within the expected range for normal biological variation, we concluded that ET-26HCl, even at 10-fold ED50, still does not exert toxicological effects on the cardiovascular system. For male beagle dogs, the systolic blood pressure after 24 h following administration of vehicle control or 8, 12, or 16 mg/kg ET-26HCl was 137.80 ± 5.55, 131.76 ± 10.03, 139.88 ± 8.35, and 141.28 ± 8.75 mmHg, respectively. The diastolic blood pressure was 71.16 ± 4.84, 66.52 ± 8.50, 73.64 ± 8.51, and 74.24 ± 8.68 mmHg, respectively. For female beagle dogs, the systolic blood pressure after 24 h following administration of vehicle control or 8, 12, or 16 mg/kg ET-26HCl was 128.28 ± 5.22, 124.76 ± 7.29, 134.88 ± 5.56, and 135.36 ± 8.72 mmHg, respectively. The diastolic blood pressure was 67.00 ± 4.10, 62.12 ± 7.87, 69.44 ± 6.40, and 70.20 ± 8.42 mmHg, respectively. In central nervous system function experiment, all the changes observed in the functional observational battery tests, including motor activity, behavior, coordination, and sensory and motor reflex responses, and reduced body temperature, were resulted in general anesthesia effect of ET-26HCl.Conclusion: ET-26HCl exerts mild, reversible effects on respiratory, cardiovascular, and central nervous system function as verified by standard in vivo animal models.

Purpose: This prospective study explored the value of synchronous tele-ultrasound (US) to aid doctors inexperienced in US with breast US examinations.Methods: In total, 99 patients were enrolled. Two trainee doctors who were inexperienced in US (trainee A [TA] and trainee B [TB]) and one doctor who was an expert in US completed the US examinations sequentially. TA completed the US examinations independently, while TB was instructed by the expert using synchronous tele-US. Subsequently, the expert performed on-site US examinations in person. Separately, they selected the most clinically significant nodule as the target nodule. Consistency with the expert and image quality were compared between TA and TB to evaluate tele-US. Furthermore, TB and the patients evaluated tele-US through questionnaires.Results: TB demonstrated higher consistency with the expert in terms of target nodule selection than TA (93.3% vs. 63.3%, P0.75) with the expert on five US features (5/9, 55.6%), while TA only did so for one (1/9, 11.1%) (P=0.046). TB’s image quality was higher than TA’s in gray value, time gain compensation, depth, color Doppler adjustment, and the visibility of key information (P=0.018, P

This study aimed to identify the sexual information requirements and related factors according to gender to improve sexual health in cancer patients. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 687 cancer patients from a single cancer center in Korea completed a self-reported questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to compare the sexual information requirements and related factors among cancer patients. The results showed that male cancer patients had higher demands for sexual information than female cancer patients (t = 27.11, p &lt, 0.001). Men appeared to have a greater need than women in the need for sexual information (t = 30.41, p &lt, 0.001) and professional sexual intervention (t = 21.97, p &lt, 0.001). Regarding sexual information needs, income (OR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.25 to 0.73) was a significant factor in men. In women, age (OR: 0.51, 95% CI: 0.31 to 0.86), alcohol consumption (OR: 1.88, 95% CI: 1.12–3.16), and chemotherapy (OR: 1.87, 95% CI: 1.12–3.12) were significant factors. Significant differences in the overall sexual information needs and related factors were observed between male and female cancer patients. Therefore, a strategy needs to be established to improve the sexual health of cancer patients considering gender differences.

Background Schizophrenia is a complex mental illness with significant sex differences. Cognitive impairment is common in patients with schizophrenia, even in remission. This study was designed to examine the sex differences in the relationship between cognitive impairment and clinical correlations with first-episode drug-naïve (FEDN) schizophrenia. Methods 93 FEDN patients (male/female = 45/48) and 160 controls (male/female = 74/86) were enrolled to compare the sex differences in cognitive functions measure by the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) were used to evaluated patients' clinical symptoms. We compared cognitive impairment with sociodemographic characteristics and measures of different genders, as well as group-by-sex interactions. Results Our results showed that the MCCB total and index score in FEDN were lower than in the control group, except for category fluency and social cognition. Male patients had significantly lower symbol coding, digital sequence, and verbal learning scores than female patients, and the controls showed a similar sex difference. Interestingly, we also found six indexes and MCCB total score that showed diagnosis-by-sex interactions, belonging to the speed of processing, attention, working memory, and verbal learning. The MCCB total score showed correlations with PANSS total score and education for both genders. In female patients, education showed significant positive correlations with MCCB total and all ten index scores. Multiple linear regression analysis confirmed that negative symptoms and general psychopathology of PANSS, HAMD total score, and education were independent contributors to MCCB total score. In male patients, only education was an independent contributor to MCCB total score. Conclusions These findings revealed significant sex differences in cognitive impairments and clinical symptoms in FEDN. These results should be considered, which will be worthy of a follow-up study of schizophrenia in the future.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The challenges associated with imaging infected patients have resulted, to date, in a paucity of metabolic imaging studies of patients with severe COVID-19 infection. Furthermore, it remains unclear if any abnormal metabolic events are taking place in patients who have recovered from COVID-19. To use [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F] FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) to measure metabolic activity in inflamed organs of patients convalescing post severe COVID-19 infection. A prospective study was performed in seven convalescing patients who were recovering from severe COVID-19 infection in February 2020. Prior to [18F] FDG PET/CT, all patients had received two consecutive negative results of real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid. Clinical intake including symptoms, treatment, laboratory test results, and follow-up was performed. The PET/CT images of COVID-19 patients were compared to a control group of patients that were matched for age and sex. Residual pulmonary lesions were present in all patients and maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax), average standard uptake value (SUVavg), maximum CT intensity (CTmax), and average CT intensity (CTavg) were all significantly greater than in the control group (p

As the infectious population proliferates dramatically in the past months, the COVID-19 has become a severe global challenge. For the purpose of forecasting the inclination of the epidemic and evaluate the effectiveness of public interventions, we focus on constructing models consisting of differential equations and machine learning in this paper. Applying the SIR and SEIR epidemic models and the LSTM RNN model in Beijing, China, we demonstrate the comparison between models implemented public health interventions and without it. The similar accuracy of SEIR-2 (adopted interventions) and the LSTM RNN model to the true value present the necessity to implement public health interventions such as quarantines to postpone the crest point, obtaining a prolonged time to confront the epidemic. The utility of the model is compelling and worthy to apply in other cities.

Background Rhodococcus kroppenstedtii is an aerobic, gram-positive bacterium firstly identified in the environment, which has not been reported in human-related infection. Herein, we reported the first case of peritoneal dialysis (PD)-associated peritonitis caused by R. kroppenstedtii which was identified by whole genome sequencing. Case presentation A 69-year-old man was admitted to hospital with abdominal pain and fever. Over the last 2 years, he had been undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) due to end-stage renal disease. Clinical symptom and sign in combination with laboratory examinations supported the clinical diagnosis of PD-associated peritonitis. Thus, ceftizoxime and teicoplanin were empirically used after PD effluent was collected for bacterial culture. A gram-positive bacterium was found from the PD effluent culture, which could not be identified by either Vitek 2 Compact ANC card or matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The strain was finally confirmed to be R. kroppenstedtii by whole genome sequencing (WGS) through the average nucleotide identity (ANI) analysis. With a continuous treatment with teicoplanin and imipenem for 15 days and intraperitoneal catheter removed, the infection symptom was improved evidenced by a normal body temperature, also with white blood cell count (WBC), procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) dropped to normal levels. Peritoneal dialysis effluent culture showed a negative result. Then, hemodialysis and arteriovenous fistula angioplasty were performed, but the patient developed a progressive blood pressure loss, accompanied by multiple organ disorder, and died on Feb 25, 2020. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time to report a peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis caused by R. kroppenstedtii which was identified by average nucleotide identity analysis based on WGS.

Background: To explore the effects of short-term low- to moderate- dose glucocorticoids on the immune-inflammatory indicators and 28-d prognoses of patients with regular or severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).Methods: The clinical data and laboratorial examination results of 66 patients with regular or severe type of COVID-19 that treated in Henan Provincial People’s Hospital and Nanyang Central Hospital between January 20 and February 14, 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Here, 36 patients that had been treated with glucocorticoids were categorized in the glucocorticoids group (GC group), while the other 30 patients that had not been treated with glucocorticoids were categorized in the control group.Results: The immune-inflammatory indicators and prognoses of the patients in the two groups were compared. The sex, age, clinical types, and complications were not significantly different between the two groups (all P>0.05). After hospitalization, 33.3% and 6.7% of the patients in the GC group and control group were with chest distress, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.019). The duration of fever was also significantly different between the two groups (6.91 ± 4.41 vs. 9.21 ± 4.46 days, P=0.036), but the blood examination results within 24 h after hospitalization were not significantly different between the two groups (all P>0.05). The C-reactive protein (CRP) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were lower in the GC group than control group on day 7 (P=0.012, P=0.035) but were not significantly different between the two groups on day 14. The CRP and IL-6 levels were significantly reduced after glucocorticoids treatment on day 3, 5 and 7 (all P<0.05) in GC group. The median time of hospital stay, and 28-d prognoses were not significantly different between the two groups (P=0.080, P>0.999).Conclusions: Glucocorticoids could decrease the levels of inflammatory indicators, but did not significantly influence other immune-related indicators and 28-d prognoses.

In low-power wide area networks (LPWAN), a considerable number of end devices (EDs) communicate with the gateway in a certain area, whereas for transmitted data, a low data rate and high latency are allowed. Long-range (LoRa), as one of the LPWAN technologies, considers pure ALOHA and chirp spread spectrum (CSS) in the media access control (MAC) and physical (PHY) layers such that it can improve the energy efficiency while mitigating inter-cell interference (ICI). This paper investigates the system throughput of LoRa networks under the assumption that the interferences between EDs for exclusive regions are ignored using CSS. In order to establish an analytical model for the performance of LoRa, we introduce the pure ALOHA capture model, which is the power threshold model. For this model, we assume that the interfering power is proportional to the length of the time overlapped. In addition, we discuss LoRa gain by comparing the total throughput of LoRa with that of non-CSS.

QXOH-Levobupivacaine (LB) is a fixed-dose combination of 35-mM QXOH and 10-mM LB. It was developed for perioperative analgesia because of its long-acting analgesic effect. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential toxicity of QXOH-LB in beagle dogs in accordance with the Guidance on the repeated-dose toxicity published by the China Food and Drug Administration. Groups of five male and five female beagle dogs received normal saline, QXOH-LB (2, 4, and 8 mg/kg, calculated as QXOH), QXOH (2, 4, and 8 mg/kg), or LB (2 mg/kg, equals the concentration of LB in 8-mg/kg QXOH-LB group) at the volume of 1 mL/kg once per day for 14 days through subcutaneous injection. No mortality was observed. Dogs in the control group as well as animals treated with 2-mg/kg QXOH or QXOH-LB exhibited normal behaviors. Clinical signs of toxicity in dogs treated with 4 and 8 mg/kg of QXOH or QXOH-LB included decreased activity, unsteady gait, jerks, tremors, vocalization, emesis, ataxia, lateral/sternal recumbency, deep/rapid respiration, and gasping. Additionally, neurological function was found to be affected by QXOH and QXOH-LB at the doses of 4 and 8 mg/kg. All clinical signs were recovered within 24 h. The no-observed-adverse-effect level of QXOH and QXOH-LB was considered to be 2 mg/kg. Toxicokinetic data showed that exposure to QXOH and LB increased as QXOH-LB doses were increased from 4 to 8 mg/kg. There was no evidence of drug accumulation or any effect of gender.

Although cardiac mesenchymal cell (CMC) therapy mitigates post-infarct cardiac dysfunction, the underlying mechanisms remain unidentified. It is acknowledged that donor cells are neither appreciably retained nor meaningfully contribute to tissue regeneration—suggesting a paracrine-mediated mechanism of action. As the immune system is inextricably linked to wound healing/remodeling in the ischemically injured heart, the reparative actions of CMCs may be attributed to their immunoregulatory properties. The current study evaluated the consequences of CMC administration on post myocardial infarction (MI) immune responses in vivo and paracrine-mediated immune cell function in vitro. CMC administration preferentially elicited the recruitment of cell types associated with innate immunity (e.g., monocytes/macrophages and neutrophils). CMC paracrine signaling assays revealed enhancement in innate immune cell chemoattraction, survival, and phagocytosis, and diminished pro-inflammatory immune cell activation; data that identifies and catalogues fundamental immunomodulatory properties of CMCs, which have broad implications regarding the mechanism of action of CMCs in cardiac repair.

The scoliosis assessment on both the coronal and sagittal planes is as least as necessary. However, it has a healthy risk to take X-ray examinations for obtaining both radiographs, especially to teenagers. 3-D ultrasound imaging shows the potential for radiation-free scoliosis assessment. In this paper, we develop a novel projection imaging method to obtain the sagittal visualization of spine anatomy. We, therefore, can get both coronal and sagittal projection images simultaneously from a single ultrasound volume data. The method started with deriving spine curves from coronal images at different depths and constructed a non-plane surface, followed by rendering the sagittal spine visualization using the average blending function. The performance was evaluated on 30 subjects (Age: $13.4\pm 5.6$ ) with different spine curvatures. The preliminary result shows that the sagittal projection image can represent spinous processes well, which is comparable with those in the sagittal radiograph. The Cobb angles measured on sagittal X-ray images also had a significant correlation with those spinous angles acquired from ultrasound imaging ( $r=0.93;\ p ). The proposed sagittal projection method can greatly facilitate the 3-D assessment for scoliosis with the use of 3-D ultrasound.

The cultivation of college students' political values is an important content of ideological and political work in the new era of college education. the rapid development of big data technology provides a new path for the cultivation of political values. This paper focuses on the connotation and mechanism of cultivating college students' political values in the era of big data, aiming to enrich the cultivation concept of political values in the era of big data, explore the cultivation mechanism, and innovate the cultivation method, so as to improve the cultivation effect.

Recent advances in the development of multivariate analysis methods have led to the application of multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) to investigate the interactions between brain regions using graph theory (functional connectivity, FC) and decode visual categories from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from a continuous multicategory paradigm. To estimate stable FC patterns from fMRI data, previous studies required long periods in the order of several minutes, in comparison to the human brain that categories visual stimuli within hundreds of milliseconds. Constructing short-time dynamic FC patterns in the order of milliseconds and decoding visual categories is a relatively novel concept. In this study, we developed a multivariate decoding algorithm based on FC patterns and applied it to magnetoencephalography (MEG) data. MEG data were recorded from participants presented with image stimuli in four categories (faces, scenes, animals and tools). MEG data from 17 participants demonstrate that short-time dynamic FC patterns yield brain activity patterns that can be used to decode visual categories with high accuracy. Our results show that FC patterns change over the time window, and FC patterns extracted in the time window of 0∼200 ms after the stimulus onset were most stable. Further, the categorizing accuracy peaked (the mean binary accuracy is above 78.6% at individual level) in the FC patterns estimated within the 0∼200 ms interval. These findings elucidate the underlying connectivity information during visual category processing on a relatively smaller time scale and demonstrate that the contribution of FC patterns to categorization fluctuates over time.

Background and objectiveThe outbreak of COVID-19 has become a global health concern. In this study, we evaluate the effectiveness and safety of convalescent plasma therapy in patients with severe and critically ill COVID-19.MethodsSixteen COVID-19 patients received transfusion of anti-COVID-19 antibody-positive convalescent plasma. The main outcome was time for viral nucleic acid amplification (NAA) test turning negative. Clinical laboratory parameters were measured at the baseline (d0) before plasma transfusion, and day 1 (d1), day 3 (d3) after transfusion as well.ResultsAmong the 16 patients, 10 of them had a consistently positive result of viral NAA test before convalescent plasma transfusion. Eight patients (8/10) became negative from day 2 to day 8 after transfusion. Severe patients showed a shorter time for NAA test turning negative after transfusion (mean rank 2.17 vs 5·90, P = 0.036). Two critically ill patients transfused plasma with lower antibody level remained a positive result of NAA test. CRP level demonstrated a decline 1 day after convalescent plasma treatment, compared with the baseline (P = 0.017). No adverse events were observed during convalescent plasma transfusion.ConclusionsViral NAA test of most patients with COVID-19 who received convalescent plasma transfusion turned negative on the 2nd to 8th days after transfusion, and the negative time of severe patients was shorter than that of critically ill patients.Trial RegistrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry; No.: ChiCTR2000030627 URL:http://www.chictr.org

Metasurfaces in the ultraviolet spectrum have stirred up prevalent research interest due to the increasing demand for ultra-compact and wearable UV optical systems. The limitations of conventional plasmonic metasurfaces operating in transmission mode can be overcome by using a suitable dielectric material. A metalens holds promising wavefront engineering for various applications. Metalenses have developed a breakthrough technology in the advancement of integrated and miniaturized optical devices. However, metalenses utilizing the Pancharatnam&ndash, Berry (PB) phase or resonance tuning methodology are restricted to polarization dependence and for various applications, polarization-insensitive metalenses are highly desirable. We propose the design of a high-efficiency dielectric polarization-insensitive UV metalens utilizing cylindrical nanopillars with strong focusing ability, providing full phase delay in a broadband range of Ultraviolet light (270&ndash, 380 nm). The designed metalens comprises Silicon nitride cylindrical nanopillars with spatially varying radii and offers outstanding polarization-insensitive operation in the broadband UV spectrum. It will significantly promote and boost the integration and miniaturization of the UV photonic devices by overcoming the use of Plasmonics structures that are vulnerable to the absorption and ohmic losses of the metals. The focusing efficiency of the designed metalens is as high as 40%.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the most prevalent chronic liver disease in the world, however, no drug treatment has been approved for this disease. Thus, it is urgent to find effective therapeutic targets for clinical intervention. In this study, we find that liver-specific knockout of PPDPF (PPDPF-LKO) leads to spontaneous fatty liver formation in a mouse model at 32 weeks of age on chow diets, which is enhanced by HFD. Mechanistic study reveals that PPDPF negatively regulates mTORC1-S6K-SREBP1 signaling. PPDPF interferes with the interaction between Raptor and CUL4B-DDB1, an E3 ligase complex, which prevents ubiquitination and activation of Raptor. Accordingly, liver-specific PPDPF overexpression effectively inhibits HFD-induced mTOR signaling activation and hepatic steatosis in mice. These results suggest that PPDPF is a regulator of mTORC1 signaling in lipid metabolism, and may be a potential therapeutic candidate for NAFLD., Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a prevalent chronic liver disease, however, drugs to treat this disease are still lacking. Here, the authors show that PPDPF inhibits the development of hepatic steatosis by negatively regulating mTORC1-S6K-SREBP1 signaling, which provides a potential therapeutic candidate for NAFLD treatment.

This case is a 78-year-old woman with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, valvular heart failure and hepatitis C. She presented to outpatient department for her right breast lump. The pathology of the core biopsy under breast sonography showed carcinoma with neuroendocrine features. Its immunohistochemical study showed negative for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone Receptor (PR), HER2/neu and GATA-3, and positive for chromogranin A, synaptophysin, and TTF-1. A staging workup was then performed. The computed tomography (CT) of chest and abdomen revealed another mass in the left lung. CT-guided biopsy was done for the lung mass. According to the results of immunostains, a primary lung large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) with breast metastasis was diagnosed. The patient received chemotherapy with etoposide and carboplatin for 6 cycles. The CT performed 3 and 5 months later showed that the response of the tumors was stable.

Wind forecasting holds the key to the management of wind power. Previous vector or matrix wind forecast methods may not best reflect the intrinsic inter relationship among the wind velocity components of a three-dimensional wind field. Alternatively, a tensor-based model is developed to reconstruct the wind velocity distribution within a short period of time, enabling a new way for wind forecasting. A third-order CFD database is established by CFD simulations and the Tucker decomposition is used to obtain the tensor basis off site. Then in real time, the tensor basis can be employed to rapidly reconstruct wind velocity distributions in any direction, which can also form a new way to reconstruct wind velocity distribution in 3-D spaces. A comparison of the maximum and relative reconstruction errors shows that the newly proposed method performs better than the authors' previously published wind field reconstruction method. The influences of sampling rate, noise level and sensor distributions on the reconstruction error are also discussed in this paper. Finally, a wind tunnel experiment is carried out to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed method, and in most cases, the experimental results show that relative errors drop around 0.03%-0.4% and maximum errors drop around 0.02%-1.7% when using the newly proposed method.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical efficacy of internal fixation versus hemiarthroplasty in the treatment of unstable intertrochanteric fractures in the elderly. METHODS A search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases up to April 2020. The present study compared internal fixation and hemiarthroplasty in the treatment of unstable intertrochanteric fractures in the elderly. RevMan5.3 software provided by the International Cochrane Group was used for the meta-analysis. To compare the differences in the operation time, intraoperative bleeding, length of hospital stay, superficial infection, Harris hip score, mortality within 1 year, mortality within 2 years, reoperation, incidence of deep venous thrombosis (DVT), partial weight-bearing time, non-union, and implant-related complications between an internal fixation group and an hemiarthroplasty group. RESULTS A total of 1300 patients were included in nine studies. The results showed that the operation time (MD = -18.09, 95% CI: -27.85--8.34, P = 0.0003), intraoperative bleeding (MD = -195.31, 95% CI: -244.8--147.74, P

BackgroundPropofol is the most widely used intravenous sedative-hypnotic anesthetic in clinical practice. However, many serious side effects have been related to its lipid emulsion formulation. The pro-drug design approach was used to develop the water-soluble propofol, which could effectively resolve the limitations associated with the lipid emulsion formulation. Thus, the new water-soluble pro-drug of propofol, HX0969W, was designed and synthesized. The objective of this study was to conduct preclinical pharmacological studies on this novel water-soluble pro-drug of propofol.MethodsThe assessment of the loss of the righting reflex (LoRR) was used for the pharmacodynamic study, and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography- fluorescence were used for the pharmacokinetic study.ResultsThe potency of HX0969W (ED50[95% CI], 46.49 [43.89–49.29] mg/kg) was similar to that of fospropofol disodium (43.66 [43.57–43.75] mg/kg), but was lower than that of propofol (4.82 [4.8–14.82] mg/kg). Administered with a dose of 2-fold ED50, propofol required a shorter time to cause LoRR than that of HX0969W and fospropofol. However, the LoRR duration was significantly longer in response to the administration of HX0969W and fospropofol disodium than that caused by propofol. In the pharmacokinetic study, the Cmaxof fospropofol was higher than that of HX0969W. HX0969W had a shorter mean residual time and a rapid clearance rate than that of fospropofol disodium. There was no significant difference between the Tmaxof the propofol whether it was released by HX0969W or fospropofol disodium; the Cmaxof propofol released by HX0969W was similar to that of propofol, which was higher than the propofol released by fospropofol disodium.

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is currently under construction in France. From the radiation shielding and radiation protection points of view, an intense and large neutron source with energy around 14.1 MeV will be generated from the D-T plasma zone during the ITER operation and diverse gamma-ray sources from neutron activation of the reactor structure materials and coolant should be considered for the reactor operation and maintenance. To decrease the radiation impacts caused by these neutron and gamma sources, iterative designs and nuclear analyses of ITER components are currently performed with three dimensional Monte Carlo radiation transport calculations. Due to the important dimensions of ITER, the thick tokamak blanket modules, and the diagnostic and functional port openings, variance reduction techniques are essential in these Monte Carlo neutron transport calculations. To verify the reactor components design models and to check the radiation transport calculation results, advanced graphic features of the calculation tool are also necessary. With the growing interest in using the TRIPOLI-4® Monte Carlo radiation transport code for ITER applications, the aim of this paper is to study the feasibility to use variance reduction features of TRIPOLI-4 code on a 3D ITER benchmark model which is a 40° toroidal segment including 5796 vol cells. The calculation results reported in this paper include the axial and radial profiles of the inboard TF coil heating and the neutron flux attenuation through the equatorial port plugs and shield. The performance of the TRIPOLI-4 graphic tool under its parallel computing mode was also evaluated.

As the significance of increased power consumption in modern society is emphasized, the need for technology to enhance energy efficiency is also increasing. The power consumption of buildings comprises a large proportion of the total energy consumption and systematic methods are needed in order to manage it effectively. This paper proposes a multiple power-based building energy management system (MPBEMS) for the efficient management of building energy. MPBEMS means a system that integrates and manages multiple power produced in one or more ways. The analysis of the big-data based power usage measured in different types of buildings utilizes the power distribution method between multiplepower sources. The paper also suggests and verifies an energy prediction model for efficient building energy management, called the Adaptive Energy Consumption Prediction (AECP) algorithm. This paper proposes a building energy management method using an energy prediction model and analyzes its efficiency by applying it to actual buildings. The result of the efficiency analysis using the proposed system shows an annual electricity rate reduction efficiency of 5%.