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On the basis of complex system theory and the frontier researches of Chinese and foreign linguistics in this field, this paper systematically discusses the conceptual connotation of language complexity, and generalizes the essential characteristics in quality and quantity, which is non-linearity and high organizational depth. The non-linearity is mainly manifested as imbalance, emergence and interactivity, while the high organizational depth as multi-level, multidimension, multi-stage, high cardinality, etc. Generally speaking, the more complex the information is, the longer the minimum description length (MDL) of it is, and the higher resource/cost consumption is. In the relation of unity of opposites between complexity and simplicity, language complexity is absolute, while simplicity is relative. Complexity is always in dominance, while simplicity always serves as a lever to balance, control and regulate complexity. They are developing nonlinear adaptive interactions, which leads to the formation and development of linguistic paradigm system (such as grammatical paradigm and rhetorical paradigm). The conclusion provides a theoretical basis for the study of language complexity.

Abstract Background Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common neurotrauma leading to brain dysfunction and death. Human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) hold promise in the treatment of TBI. However, their efficacy is modest due to low survival and differentiation under the harsh microenvironment of the injured brain. MG53, a member of TRIM family protein, plays a vital role in cell and tissue damage repair. The present study aims to test whether MG53 preserves hUC-MSCs against oxidative stress and enhances stem cell survival and efficacy in TBI treatment. Methods In this study, we performed a series of in vitro and in vivo experiments in hUC-MSCs and mice to define the function of MG53 enhancing survival, neurogenesis, and therapeutic efficacy of stem cells in murine traumatic brain injury. Results We found that recombinant human MG53 (rhMG53) protein protected hUC-MSCs against H2O2-induced oxidative damage and stimulated hUC-MSC proliferation and migration. In a mouse model of contusion-induced TBI, intravenous administration of MG53 protein preserved the survival of transplanted hUC-MSCs, mitigated brain edema, reduced neurological deficits, and relieved anxiety and depressive-like behaviors. Co-treatment of MG53 and hUC-MSCs enhanced neurogenesis by reducing apoptosis and improving PI3K/Akt-GSK3β signaling. Conclusion MG53 enhances the efficacy of hUC-MSCs in the recovery of TBI, indicating that such adjunctive therapy may provide a novel strategy to lessen damage and optimize recovery for brain injury.

MG53 is a protein that regulates the cell membrane repair process, and it’s been suggested that it might play a role in diabetes. Here, the authors demonstrate that circulating MG53 functions as a myokine to facilitate tissue injury-repair and regeneration without impacting glucose handling.

Abstract Fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) plays an important regulatory role in tumor cell proliferation and drug resistance. FGFR3 is often constitutively active in many tumors. To deliver drugs into tumor cells by targeting FGFR3 will be a promising and potential strategy for cancer therapy. In this study, a novel fusion protein, ScFv-Cys containing a single chain variable fragment (ScFv) and an additional C-terminal cysteine residue, was generated at a rate of 10 mg/L of bacterial culture and purified at 95% by Ni-NTA chromatography. Subsequently, the recombinant ScFv-Cys was coupled with malPEG2000-DSPE and incorporated into liposomes to generate the immunoliposomes. The results indicated that immunoliposomes can specifically deliver the fluorescent molecules, Dio into bladder cancer cells highly expressing FGFR3. In conclusion, we successfully generated FGFR3-specific immunoliposomes, and proved its targeting effect and delivering ability.

Background: Recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis (RLNP), a severe complication of mini-invasive esophagectomy, usually occurs during lymphadenectomy adjacent to recurrent laryngeal nerve. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy of intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM) in reducing RLNP incidence during mini-invasive esophagectomy.Methods: Systematic literature search of PubMed, EMBASE, EBSCO, Web of Knowledge, and Cochrane Library until June 4, 2021 was performed using the terms “(nerve monitoring) OR neuromonitoring OR neural monitoring OR recurrent laryngeal nerve AND (esophagectomy OR esophageal).” Primary outcome was postoperative RLNP incidence. Secondary outcomes were sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for IONM; complications after esophagectomy; number of dissected lymph nodes; operation time; and length of hospital stay.Results: Among 2,330 studies, five studies comprising 509 patients were eligible for final analysis. The RLNP incidence was significantly lower (odds ratio [OR] 0.33, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.12–0.88, p < 0.05), the number of dissected mediastinal lymph nodes was significantly higher (mean difference 4.30, 95%CI 2.75–5.85, p < 0.001), and the rate of hoarseness was significantly lower (OR 0.14, 95%CI 0.03–0.63, p = 0.01) in the IONM group than in the non-IONM group. The rates of aspiration (OR 0.31, 95%CI 0.06–1.64, p = 0.17), pneumonia (OR 1.08, 95%CI 0.70–1.67, p = 0.71), and operation time (mean difference 7.68, 95%CI −23.60–38.95, p = 0.63) were not significantly different between the two groups. The mean sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for IONM were 53.2% (0–66.7%), 93.7% (54.8–100%), 71.4% (0–100%), and 87.1% (68.0–96.6%), respectively.Conclusion: IONM was a feasible and effective approach to minimize RLNP, improve lymphadenectomy, and reduce hoarseness after thoracoscopic esophagectomy for esophageal cancer, although IONM did not provide significant benefit in reducing aspiration, pneumonia, operation time, and length of hospital stay.

Neuromorphic electronics, an emerging field that aims for building electronic mimics of the biological brain, holds promise for reshaping the frontiers of information technology and enabling a more intelligent and efficient computing paradigm. As their biological brain counterpart, the neuromorphic electronic systems are complex, having multiple levels of organization. Inspired by David Marr's famous three‐level analytical framework developed for neuroscience, the advances in neuromorphic electronic systems are selectively surveyed and given significance to these research endeavors as appropriate from the computational level, algorithmic level, or implementation level. Under this framework, the problem of how to build a neuromorphic electronic system is defined in a tractable way. In conclusion, the development of neuromorphic electronic systems confronts a similar challenge to the one neuroscience confronts, that is, the limited constructability of the low‐level knowledge (implementations and algorithms) to achieve high‐level brain‐like (human‐level) computational functions. An opportunity arises from the communication among different levels and their codesign. Neuroscience lab‐on‐neuromorphic chip platforms offer additional opportunity for mutual benefit between the two disciplines.

Objective: The skip N2 metastases were frequent in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the better prognosis of NSCLC with a skip over non-skip N2 lymph node metastases is controversial. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the prognosis effect of skip N2 lymph node metastases on the survival of NSCLC.Setting: A literature search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library with the term of “N2” or “mediastinal lymph node” or “mediastinal nodal metastases”, and “lung cancer” and “skip” or “skipping” in the title/abstract field. The primary outcomes of interests are 3- and 5-year survival in NSCLC.Participants: Patients who underwent complete resection by lobectomy, bilobectomy, or pneumonectomy with systemic ipsilateral lymphadenectomy and were staged as pathologically N2 were included.Primary and Secondary Outcome Measures: The 3- and 5-year survival of NSCLC was analyzed. The impact of publication year, number of patients, baseline mean age, gender, histology, adjuvant therapy, number of skip N2 stations, and survival analysis methods on the primary outcome were also analyzed.Results: A total of 21 of 409 studies with 6,806 patients met the inclusion criteria and were finally included for the analysis. The skip N2 lymph node metastases NSCLC had a significantly better overall survival (OS) than the non-skip N2 NSCLC [hazard ratio (HR), 0.71; 95% CI, 0.62–0.82; P < 0.001; I2 = 40.4%]. The skip N2 lymph node metastases NSCLC had significantly higher 3- and 5-year survival rates than the non-skip N2 lymph node metastases NSCLC (OR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.66–0.84; P < 0.001; I2 = 60%; and OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.71–0.86; P < 0.001; I2 = 67.1%, respectively).Conclusion: This meta-analysis suggests that the prognosis of skip N2 lymph node metastases NSCLC is better than that of a non-skip N2 lymph node.

Evidence shows that physical activity has multiple health benefits for the body and mind of oneself, but little is known about the impacts of the setting and the intensity on exercise experience, especially for obese people. This study investigated the physiological and psychological effects of four walking conditions with different settings (park vs. gym) and intensity (slow vs. fast) on young obese adults. Subjects were 18–21 years old Chinese university students (N = 77), who were diagnosed as obese. They were randomly assigned to participate in one of the four activities in the field: slow walk in the park (2.8 km/h), fast walk in the park (5.5 km/h), slow walk in the gym, and fast walk in the gym. Physiological indices, including blood pressure and heart rate, were measured before and after the walk. Psychological responses were measured by the Symbol Digit Modalities Test, the mood states scale, and the semantic differential scale. This study of obese people aged 18–21 years confirmed the previous findings that exercising in natural environments better relieved stress and restored attentional level than indoor activities. The results suggested that the mood states of the participants and their environmental perceptions may be influenced by the walking conditions with different setting and speed. The findings can be used in planning and designing urban green spaces for promoting physical activity and making exercise plans for obese people.

Objective Segmentectomy is widely performed for early-stage lung cancer. However, the effects of segmentectomy versus lobectomy on pulmonary function remain unclear. We performed a meta-analysis with the aim of comparing segmentectomy and lobectomy in terms of preservation of pulmonary function in patients with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods We conducted a literature search of PubMed using the terms ‘pulmonary function’ AND ‘segmentectomy’ AND ‘lobectomy’. The primary outcomes of interest were the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), FEV1 as percent of predicted (%FEV1), change in FEV1 (Δ%FEV1), and the ratio of postoperative to preoperative FEV1. Results Thirteen studies comprising 2027 patients met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were included for analysis, including 787 patients in the segmentectomy group and 1240 patients in the lobectomy group. Patients in the segmentectomy group showed significantly better preservation of FEV1 and %FEV1 compared with the lobectomy group. The reduction in FEV1 after surgery was significantly less in the segmentectomy group compared with the lobectomy group, and Δ%FEV1 was significantly higher in the segmentectomy group than in the lobectomy group. Conclusion Segmentectomy results in better preservation of pulmonary function compared with lobectomy in patients with early-stage NSCLC.

Maternal rectovaginal colonization with Group B Streptococcus (GBS) during labor is a prerequisite for neonatal early-onset GBS disease. Intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) has been proven to prevent GBS perinatal infection, while there are few studies on the evaluation of the effectiveness of different antibiotic prophylaxis regimens. This study aimed to assess the maternal rectovaginal GBS colonization status after IAP, antimicrobial susceptibility and maternal and neonatal outcomes among women administered different antibiotic prophylaxis regimens. A prospective study was conducted between June 2018 and June 2022. GBS carriers identified at 35–37 weeks of gestation were provided IAP (penicillin, cefazolin or clindamycin) at delivery based on the local protocol for GBS prevention. Rectovaginal samples were obtained from participants again after delivery. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing in GBS isolates was performed using the broth microdilution method. A total of 295 cases were included in this study. In the postpartum re-examination for GBS, the overall negative rectovaginal culture rate was 90.8% (268/295). Women who received cefazolin prophylaxis had the highest negative culture rate (95.2%, 197/207), which was followed by those who received penicillin (80.7%, 67/83) and clindamycin (80.0%, 4/5) (p = 0.001). All GBS isolates achieved sensitivity to penicillin and cefazolin, whereas resistance to clindamycin was shown in 21.4% of the strains. There were no significant differences in maternal and neonatal outcomes among the IAP groups. The use of IAP is highly effective in reducing the maternal rectovaginal GBS colonization. Cefazolin may offer equivalent efficacy and safety compared to standard penicillin prophylaxis.

In recent years, art creation using artificial intelligence (AI) has started to become a mainstream phenomenon. One of the latest applications of AI is to generate visual artwork from natural language descriptions where anyone can interact with it to create thousands of artistic images with minimal effort, which provokes the questions: what is the essence of artistic creation, and who can create art in this era? Considering that, in this study, the theoretical communication framework was adopted to investigate the difference in the interaction with the text-to-image system between artists and nonartists. In this experiment, ten artists and ten nonartists were invited to co-create with Midjourney. Their actions and reflections were recorded, and two sets of generated images were collected for the visual question-answering task, with a painting created by the artist as a reference sample. A total of forty-two subjects with artistic backgrounds participated in the evaluated experiment. The results indicated differences between the two groups in their creation actions and their attitude toward AI, while the technology blurred the difference in the perception of the results caused by the creator’s artistic experience. In addition, attention should be paid to communication on the effectiveness level for a better perception of the artistic value.

Identifying the in-field trajectories of harvests is important for the activity analysis of agricultural machinery. This paper presents a K-means-based trajectory identification method that can automatically detect the “turning”, “working”, and “abnormal working” trajectories for wheat harvester in-field operation scenarios. This method contains two stages: clustering and correction. The clustering stage performs by the two-step K-means iterative clustering method (D-K-means). In the correction stage, the first step (M1) is performed based on the three distance features between the trajectory segments and the cluster center of the trajectory segments. The second step (M2) is based on the direction change of the “turning” and “abnormal working” trajectories. The third correction step (M3) is based on the operating characteristics to specify the start and stop positions of the turning. The developed method was validated by 50 trajectories. The results for the three trajectories and the five time intervals from 1 s to 5 s both have f1-scores above 0.90, and the f1-score using only the clustering method and the method of this paper increased from 0.55 to 0.95. After removing the turning and abnormal operation trajectories, the error of calculating farmland area with distance algorithm is reduced by 17.04% compared with that before processing.

Limited evidence exists on the influence of dietary behaviors on the association of overweight/obesity between parents and offspring. This study aimed to investigate the influence of dietary behaviors on the association of overweight/obesity between two generations, and puts forward strategies for preventing childhood obesity. Data were obtained from a cross-sectional survey conducted in China; a total of 40,197 parent-offspring pairs were included. Overweight/obesity was defined based on the body mass index and waist circumstance; the association of overweight/obesity between two generations was evaluated by multivariate and binary logistic regression and stratified analyses. Compared with the offspring who were free of parental overweight/obesity, the ORs of offspring with both parental overweight/obesity reached 2.66, 1.72 and 4.04 for general, simple abdominal and compound obesity. The offset effect of dietary behaviors was observed on the association between parental obesity and the offspring’s general or simple abdominal obesity, with non-significant ORs when parents or/and offspring had healthy dietary behaviors. It was difficult for a healthy diet alone to offset the high heritability and intergenerational transmission of childhood obesity caused by parental obesity. Multifaceted improvement of lifestyle behaviors, and a combination of individual and family engagement, could be targeted measures to control childhood obesity.

This paper proposes a multi-stage dueling deep Q-network (MS-DDQN) algorithm to address the high-speed aerial vehicle evasion problem. High-speed aerial vehicle pursuit and evasion are an ongoing game attracting significant research attention in the field of autonomous aerial vehicle decision making. However, traditional maneuvering methods are usually not applicable in high-speed scenarios. Independent of the aerial vehicle model, the implemented MS-DDQN-based method searches for an approximate optimal maneuvering policy by iteratively interacting with the environment. Furthermore, the multi-stage learning mechanism was introduced to improve the training data quality. Simulation experiments were conducted to compare the proposed method with several typical evasion maneuvering policies and to reveal the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed MS-DDQN algorithm.

Aortic dissection (AD) is a lethal aortic pathology without effective medical treatments since the underlying pathological mechanisms responsible for AD remain elusive. Matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP8) has been previously identified as a key player in atherosclerosis and arterial remodeling. However, the functional role of MMP8 in AD remains largely unknown. Here, we report that an increased level of MMP8 was observed in 3-aminopropionitrile fumarate (BAPN)-induced murine AD. AD incidence and aortic elastin fragmentation were markedly reduced in MMP8-knockout mice. Importantly, pharmacologic inhibition of MMP8 significantly reduced the AD incidence and aortic elastin fragmentation. We observed less inflammatory cell accumulation, a lower level of aortic inflammation, and decreased smooth muscle cell (SMC) apoptosis in MMP8-knockout mice. In line with our previous observation that MMP8 cleaves Ang I to generate Ang II, BAPN-treated MMP8-knockout mice had increased levels of Ang I, but decreased levels of Ang II and lower blood pressure. Additionally, we observed a decreased expression level of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM1) and a reduced level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in MMP8-knockout aortas. Mechanistically, our data show that the Ang II/VCAM1 signal axis is responsible for MMP8-mediated inflammatory cell invasion and transendothelial migration, while MMP8-mediated SMC inflammation and apoptosis are attributed to Ang II/ROS signaling. Finally, we observed higher levels of aortic and serum MMP8 in patients with AD. We therefore provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying AD and identify MMP8 as a potential therapeutic target for this life-threatening aortic disease.

The reuse of construction and demolition waste has become vitally important because of the requirements of environmental protection and sustainable development. The vibration mixing process is a new technology and novel method that improves the performance of concrete by optimizing the mixing process without changing constituents. This study discusses the 100% recycled and multi-recycled coarse aggregates concrete using the vibration mixing process and investigates the fresh and hardened properties. The results show that the recycled and multi-recycled concrete using the vibration mixing process experienced obviously higher compressive strength than that of non-vibration mixing process. At 120 days, the compressive strength of all mixtures surpassed the target strength (40 MPa), except for the multi-recycled concrete with the non-vibration mixing process. More importantly, the compressive strength of the recycled and multi-recycled concrete using vibration mixing was larger than the previous-generation concrete using non-vibration mixing. Another interesting finding was that the coefficient of variation of compressive strength using vibration mixing was smaller and the concrete quality was better and more stable. The splitting tensile strength of recycled and multi-recycled concrete was also investigated and discussed. In addition, the results of t-tests show that vibration mixing has a significant influence on the compressive and splitting tensile strength of recycled and multi-recycled concrete. It is expected that the vibration mixing process could be a more efficient way to help the wide application of recycled and multi-recycled concrete.

Abstract Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) is an attractive option in cancer therapy, but its efficacy is still less than expected due to the transient and incomplete blocking and the low responsiveness. Herein, an unprecedented programmable unlocking nano‐matryoshka‐CRISPR system (PUN) targeting programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD‐L1) and protein tyrosine phosphatase N2 (PTPN2) is fabricated for permanent and complete and highly responsive immunotherapy. While PUN is inert at normal physiological conditions, enzyme‐abundant tumor microenvironment and preternatural intracellular oxidative stress sequentially trigger programmable unlocking of PUN to realize a nano‐matryoshka‐like release of CRISPR/Cas9. The successful nucleus localization of CRISPR/Cas9 ensures the highly efficient disruption of PD‐L1 and PTPN2 to unleash cascade amplified adaptive immune response via revoking the immune checkpoint effect. PD‐L1 downregulation in tumor cells not only disrupts PD‐1/PD‐L1 interaction to attenuate the immunosurveillance evasion but also spurs potent immune T cell responses to enhance adaptive immunity. Synchronously, inhibition of JAK/STAT pathway is relieved by deleting PTPN2, which promotes tumor susceptibility to CD8+ T cells depending on IFN‐γ, thus further amplifying adaptive immune responses. Combining these advances together, PUN exhibits optimal antitumor efficiency and long‐term immune memory with negligible toxicity, which provides a promising alternative to current ICB therapy.

The meningeal lymphatic vessels (mLVs) in central nervous system (CNS) have been validated by rodent and human studies. The mLVs play a vital role in draining soluble molecules and trafficking lymphocytes, antigens and antibodies from CNS into cervical lymph nodes (CLNs). This indicates that mLVs may serve as a link between the CNS and peripheral immune system, perhaps involving in the neuroinflammatory disease. However, the morphology and drainage function of mLVs in patients with neuroinflammatory disease, such as neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD), remains unexplored. Using the dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI), we found that slower flow through mLVs along superior sagittal sinus in NMOSD patients with acute attack instead of NMOSD patients in chronic phase. The reduced flow in mLVs correlated with the disease severity evaluated by expanded disability status scale (EDSS). The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) indicated DCE-MRI might provide objective evidence to predict the acute relapse of NMOSD through evaluating the function of mLVs. Promoting or restoring the function of mLVs might be a new target for the treatment of NMOSD relapse.

PurposeThe aim of this study was to compare the energy contributions and workloads in men and women during badminton matches versus frequently used multi-ball smash practices.MethodsFourteen badminton players performed one badminton singles game and one session of smashing practice on separate days. The energy contributions were examined in terms of each individual’s three energy systems and substrate oxidation, while workloads included heart rate (HR), Player Load (PL), accelerations, decelerations, changes of direction, and jumps.Results(1) During games, male players exhibited higher adenosine triphosphate–phosphocreatine system contribution (EPCr, kJ) (p = 0.008) and average rate of carbohydrate oxidation (RCHO, g/min) (p = 0.044) than female players, while female players showed greater absolute PL (p = 0.029) and more accelerations (p = 0.005) than male players. Furthermore, players who lost performed higher relative PL (p = 0.017) than those who won. (2) Higher energy system contributions, including EPCr (kJ) (p = 0.028), EHLa (kJ) (p = 0.024), EAer (kJ) (p = 0.012), ETot (kJ) (p = 0.007), and RCHO (g/min) (p = 0.0002), were seen in male players during repetitive spike practices. Male players also made greater number of jumps (p = 0.0002). (3) Players exhibited higher aerobic energy contribution (p < 0.001), mean HR (p = 0.002), and HRmax (p = 0.029) during games, while exhibiting greater anaerobic energy contribution (p < 0.001) and relative PL (p = 0.001) during repetitive practices.ConclusionThe similarities between male and female badminton players in proportional use of the three energy systems during games and repetitive spike training indicate similar relative energy demands for both genders. However, considering the need for higher aerobic capacity in competition, it might be advisable to design appropriate work:rest ratios for repetitive practices in daily training.

Concrete is a typical porous material, in which the air voids entrained or entrapped during the mixing process have a significant impact on the material’s strength and durability. An automatic methodology based on digital image analysis was used to examine the influence of a novel mixing process with vibration on the entrapped air pore size and distribution of concrete in this paper. The volume of permeable spaces and porosity in hardened concrete are found to be greatly reduced when using the vibration mixing process compared to the reference concrete. Meanwhile, the quantity of air pores and their specific surface area are positively associated with the vibration acceleration, while the average equivalent pore diameter decreases. The findings of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) reveal that the population means for porosity, quantity, and pore size are significantly different when utilizing the vibration or non-vibration mixing processes. Furthermore, the pore size distribution curves show that the vibration mixing process significantly modified the pore structure by reducing the number of larger size pores and increasing the amount of small size pores. This may be attributed to a series of changes in the bubbles during the vibration mixing process. In addition, the findings of freeze-thaw resistance and water penetration resistance reveal that, owing to the vibration mixing process, the impermeability and durability of the concrete are significantly improved.

The existing recommendation model based on a knowledge graph simply integrates the behavior features in a user–item bipartite graph and the content features in a knowledge graph. However, the difference between the two feature spaces is ignored. To solve this problem, this paper presents a new recommendation model named the knowledge graph recommendation model based on feature space fusion (KGRFSF). Specifically, in the behavioral feature space, the behavioral features of users and items are constructed by extracting the behavioral feature from the user–item bipartite graph. In the content feature space, the content features related to users and items are extracted through the attention mechanism on the knowledge graph, and then the content feature vectors of users and items are constructed. Finally, through the feature space fusion model, the behavior features and content features are projected into the same preference feature space, and then the fusion of the two feature spaces is completed to construct the complete vector representations of users and items and calculate the vector similarity to predict the score of the user to the item. This paper applies the presented model to public datasets in the fields of music and film. It can be found through the experimental results that KGRFSF can effectively improve the recommendation accuracy compared with the existing models.

This study was aimed to investigate the associations between breastfeeding duration and blood pressure (BP) levels, BP Z scores and high BP (HBP) in children and adolescents. A total of 57,201 participants including 29,491 boys and 27,710 girls aged 7–18 years were recruited from seven provinces in China in 2012. HBP was defined as BP levels of ≥95th percentiles of the referent age-, sex-, and height-specific population. Breastfeeding duration was divided into non-breastfeeding, 0–5 months, 6–12 months, and >12 months. Information on demographic, parental or family factors and dietary behaviors was collected through a self-administered questionnaire. Multivariable linear regression and logistic regression models were applied to assess the relationships of breastfeeding duration with BP levels and BP Z scores and with HBP, respectively. Stratified analyses were performed to further investigate the potential subgroup-specific associations. The reported prolonged breastfeeding (>12 months) rate was 22.53% in the total population. After full adjustment, compared to the non-breastfeeding group, breastfeeding for 6–12 months was correlated with 0.43 (95% CI: −0.75, −0.11) and 0.36 (95% CI: −0.61, −0.12) mmHg lower levels of SBP and DBP, respectively. Similar decrease trends were found for BP Z scores. Prolonged breastfeeding (>12 months) was associated with 1.33 (95% CI: 1.12, 1.58) and 1.12 (95% CI: 0.94, 1.33) higher odds of HBP in boys and girls, respectively. Based on nationally representative data, there was no evidence that a longer duration of breastfeeding is protective against childhood HBP. Breastfeeding for 6–12 months may be beneficial to BP, while prolonged breastfeeding durations might increase the odds of HBP in children and adolescents.

The otter board, which is designed to maintain the horizontal opening of trawl nets, is a vital component of a trawl system. It requires a high lift-to-drag ratio, which is directly related to the trawling efficiency and economic effectiveness of the single trawler. To improve the hydrodynamic efficiency of a symmetrical elliptic otter board, four model otter boards, i.e., aspect ratio (AR) = 0.507, 0.640, 0.766, and 0.895, were designed in the present work and the effects of aspect ratios on the hydrodynamic performance of the otter board were investigated by flume tank experiments. Further, the k-ε EARSM turbulence model was adopted to analyze the hydrodynamic coefficients and the flow distribution around the otter board using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. The optimal aspect ratio was obtained based on the analysis of experimental data, wherein the lift coefficient, the drag coefficient, and the lift-to-drag ratio at different angles of attack (AOA) were measured. The results show that the symmetrical elliptic otter board model is within the critical Reynolds number region when the Reynolds number is larger than 1.682 × 105, and its hydrodynamic coefficient is consistent with the real otter board. When the AR was 0.766, the elliptic otter board had the best hydrodynamic performance, of which the lift coefficient and the lift-to-drag ratio were 1.05 and 1.14 fold that of the initial otter board (AR = 0.640), and the volume of the wing-tip vortex reaches a maximum. The results show the hydrodynamic performance of the symmetrical elliptic otter board, and parameter optimization of the otter board has also been provided for reference.

Salinomycin (Sal) is a potent inhibitor with effective anti-breast cancer properties in clinical therapy. The occurrence of various side effect of Sal greatly limits its application. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) family is a family of receptors highly expressed in most breast cancer cells. GE11 is a dodecapeptide which shows excellent EGFR affinity. A series of nanoparticles derivatives with GE11 peptide conjugated PLGA/TPGS were synthesized. Nanoprecipitation method was used to prepare the Sal loaded nanoparticles at the optimized concentration. The characterization, targeting efficacy, and antitumor activity were detected both in vitro and in vivo . Encapsulation of Sal in GE11 modified PLGA/TPGS nanoparticles shows an improved therapy efficacy and lower systemic side effect. This represents the delivery system a promising strategy to enhance the therapeutic effect against EGFR highly expressed breast cancer.

Objective(s): The present paper aims to review the studies describing the interactions between HopQ and CEACAMs along with possible mechanisms responsible for pathogenicity of Helicobacter pylori.Materials and Methods: The literature was searched on “PubMed” using different key words including Helicobacter pylori, CEACAM and gastric.Results: HopQ is one of the outer membrane proteins of H. pylori and belongs to the family of adhesin proteins. In contrast to other adhesins, HopQ interacts with host cell surface molecules in a glycan independent manner. Human CEACAMs are the cell surface adhesion molecules mainly present on the epithelial cells, endothelial cells and leukocytes. The overexpression of these molecules may contribute to cancer progression and relapse. Recent studies have shown that HopQ may interact with human CEACAMs, particularly CEACAM1, CEACAM3, CEACAM5 and CEACAM6, but not CEACAM8. HopQ interacts with GFCC’C” interaction surface of IgV domain of N- terminal region of CEACAM1. Moreover, binding of HopQ to CEACAM1 prevent its trans-dimerization and stabilizes it in monomeric form. H. pylori may use these HopQ-CEACAM interactions to transfer its CagA oncoprotein into host gastric epithelial cells, which is followed by its phosphorylation and release of interleukin-8. HopQ-CEACAM interactions may also utilize T4SS, instead of CagA, to activate NF-κB signaling and trigger inflammation. Conclusion: HopQ of H. pylori may interact with CEACAMs of the human gastric cells to induce the development of gastric ulcers and cancers by transferring CagA oncoprotein or inducing activation of T4SS to initiate and maintain inflammatory reactions.

Abstract Background Multicellular organisms require precise gene regulation during ontogeny, and epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation and histone modification, facilitate this precise regulation. The conservative reprogramming patterns of DNA methylation in vertebrates have been well described. However, knowledge of how histone modifications are passed on from gametes to early embryos is limited, and whether histone modification reprogramming is conserved is not clear. Results We profiled H3K4me3/H3K27me3 modifications in gametes and early embryos in zebrafish and found that the patterns in gene promoter regions have been largely set to either co-occupied or active states in gametes and then passed on to early embryos. Co-occupied states are partially maintained, while active states are largely restored to nearly match the sperm’s pattern prior to zygotic genome activation (ZGA). However, repressive H3K27me3 modifications in promoter regions are largely discarded in early embryos. Prior to ZGA, patterns of genes that initialize ZGA are converted to nonrepressive states to coordinate gene expression. Moreover, promoter peaks that mark stage-specific genes are hypermethylated, and histone modifications in these regions are erased independently of DNA methylation reprogramming. Furthermore, comparative analysis revealed that the functions of co-occupied and active genes passed on from gametes are conserved in vertebrates. Gene age preferences by co-occupied and active histone modifications are also confirmed in vertebrates. Conclusions Our data provide fundamental resources for understanding H3K4me3/H3K27me3 modifications in early zebrafish embryos. The data also reveal that the reprogramming progress of histone modifications is conserved in vertebrates and coordinates with gene expression during ZGA.

Several in vitro methods for simulating human gastrointestinal digestion have been validated for predicting the bioavailability of heavy metals, but the methods for successfully predicting the bioavailability of organic pollutants are still limited. In this study, we used an adapted fasting in vitro digestion method (Fa-VDM) from the Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem and four other in vitro methods comprising In Vitro Gastrointestinal, a physiologically-based extraction test, the unified BARGE method, and Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V. in order to measure the bioaccessibility of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in soils from an e-waste dismantling town, China, with a Standard Reference Material (SRM2585) as the control. Furthermore, the bioaccessibility data were compared with the bioavailability measured using female C57BL/6 mice. The bioavailability of PBDEs in the soils and SRM2585 were 1.7% to 38.1% and 3.9% to 48.8%, respectively, and the bioaccessibility determined using Fa-VDM were 1.6–55.4% and 6.7–32.1%. There were negative and parabolic correlations between octanol/water partition coefficient for PBDEs and the bioavailability and bioaccessibility, respectively, whereas the H/C ratios and organic matter contents of the soils did not correlate with them. The bioaccessibility data determined by Fa-VDM were generally higher than those obtained using the other four methods, mainly due to the higher bile concentration and larger liquid to solid ratio in the digestion solution in Fa-VDM. There was a significant linear relationship between the results according to the in vivo and in vitro method of Fa-VDM where the slopes varied from 0.83 to 1.16 (R2 > 0.73) and intercepts from 0.3%–7.7% for BDE47, 99, 100, and 153 measured using Fa-VDM, thereby indicating that the bioaccessibility assessed by this method can potentially be used to predict the bioavailability of moderately brominated congeners in soils. Keywords: Bioaccessibility, Bioavailability, In vitro method, In vivo method, Polybrominated diphenyl ether

The hesitant fuzzy set (HFS) is widely applied in actual multi-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) problems. It can depict experts' hesitant evaluation information with the membership degree consisting of several possible values. Most existing methods based on HFSs only focus on the final integrated information by different kinds of aggregation operators but fail to provide detailed comparisons between alternatives. They are essentially result-oriented static decision-making methods, based on which, the decision-making results may be inconsistent with reality. However, there is no process-oriented research on hesitant fuzzy information. The decision field theory (DFT) is a dynamic decision-making method and can better simulate the uncertain decision-making process. Thus, this paper integrates the HFS into the DFT and proposes a new decision-making method named as hesitant fuzzy decision field theory (HFDFT) to fill this vacancy. First, we define the hesitant fuzzy momentary preference function and other parameters in HFDFT. After that, for the MAGDM problems with incompletely known attribute weight information, the programming model is used to determine the weights of attributes. Then, the group decision-making method based on HFDFT is presented. Moreover, we apply the proposed HFDFT method to a case about route selection of the Arctic Northwest Passage. Two traditional methods based on the score function and the correlation coefficient, respectively, are further implemented for comparisons to illustrate the validity of the proposed HFDFT method.

Compressed sensing (CS) has provided a novel way for inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging. In CS based ISAR imaging, the continuous range-Doppler plane is divided into grids, and the strong scattering points are assumed on the grids. However, the strong scattering points may not be on the grids, which will degrade the performance of CS greatly. This is the off-grid problem. To solve the problem, most of existing methods aim at estimating off-grid error and sparse solution jointly. But the computational cost is relatively high. To reduce the computational cost, a fast and accurate algorithm has been proposed in this paper. Interestingly, the joint optimization problem can be solved efficiently through two least squares problems based on first order Taylor approximation. When applied into simulated chirp signal and quasi real ISAR data, the proposed algorithm has got much better imaging results than existing algorithms. Therefore, it is a promising off-grid CS based ISAR imaging algorithm.

To prevent the frequent occurrence of transmission line galloping accidents, many scholars have carried out studies. However, there are still many difficulties that have not been solved. To address the issues that have arisen during the installation of the monitoring system, a new installation technique for the galloping monitoring terminal structure has been developed, and structural design and transmission line impact have been taken into account. A method combining Kalman and Mahony complementary filtering has been shown to solve the problem of wire twisting when galloping is taken into account. The displacement is derived by double-integrating the acceleration, although the trend term has a significant impact on the integration result. To handle the trend term issue and other error effects, a method combining the least-squares method, the adaptive smoothing method, and the time-frequency domain hybrid integration approach is used. Finally, the monitoring terminal’s structural design is simulated and evaluated, and the measured amplitude is assessed on a galloping standard test bench. The difference between the measured amplitude and the laboratory standard value is less than 10%, meeting the engineering design criteria. And the galloping trajectory is identical to the test bench trajectory, which is critical for user end monitoring.

High-crystalline-quality wide-bandgap metal halide perovskite materials that achieve superior performance in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have been widely explored. Precursor concentration plays a crucial role in the wide-bandgap perovskite crystallization process. Herein, we investigated the influence of precursor concentration on the morphology, crystallinity, optical property, and defect density of perovskite materials and the photoelectric performance of solar cells. We found that the precursor concentration was the key factor for accurately controlling the nucleation and crystal growth process, which determines the crystallization of perovskite materials. The precursor concentration based on Cs0.05FA0.8MA0.15Pb(I0.84Br0.16)3 perovskite was controlled from 0.8 M to 2.3 M. The perovskite grains grow larger with the increase in concentration, while the grain boundary and bulk defect decrease. After regulation and optimization, the champion PSC with the 2.0 M precursor concentration exhibits a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 21.13%. The management of precursor concentration provides an effective way for obtaining high-crystalline-quality wide-bandgap perovskite materials and high-performance PSCs.

The process of fermenting tofu extends back thousands of years and is an indispensable part of Chinese culture. Despite a cultural resurgence in fermented foods and interest in microbiomes, there is little knowledge on the microbial diversity represented in fermented ‘hairy’ tofu, known locally in China as Mao tofu. High-throughput metagenomic sequencing of the ITS, LSU and 16S rDNA was used to determine Mao tofu’s fungal and bacterial community diversity across four wet markets in Yunnan, China. The results show that hairy tofu in this region consists of around 170 fungal and 365 bacterial taxa, and that microbial taxa differ between markets. Diversity also differed based on the specific niche of the tofu block, comparing the outside rind-like niche to that of the inside of the tofu block. Machine learning random forest models were able to accurately classify both the market and niche of sample origin. An over-abundance of yeast and Geotrichum was found, and Mucor (Mucoromycota) was abundant in the outside rind-like niche, which consists of the visible ‘hairy’ mycelium. The majority of the bacterial OTUs belonged to Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes, with Acinetobacter, Lactobacillus, Sphingobacterium and Flavobacterium the most abundant genera. Putative fungal pathogens of plants (Cercospora, Diaporthe, Fusarium) and animals (Metarhizium, Entomomortierella, Pyxidiophora, Candida, Clavispora) were also detected, as were putative bacterial pathogens identified as Legionella. Non-fungal eukaryotic taxa detected by LSU amplicon sequencing included soybean (Glycine max), Protozoa, Metazoa (e.g., Nematoda and Platyhelminthes), Rhizaria and Chromista, indicating that additional biodiversity exists in the hairy tofu microbiome.

BackgroundPlatelet activating factor acetylhydrolase 1b catalytic subunit 3 (PAFAH1B3) is associated with a variety of human diseases. However, its function in gastric cancer remains uncertain.MethodsPAFAH1B3 expression was analyzed in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and genotype-tissue expression pan-cancer data. The association between PAFAH1B3 expression and patient prognosis was evaluated using TCGA clinical survival data. Enrichment analysis of PAFAH1B3 was performed using the clusterProfiler R software package. Moreover, the correlation between PAFAH1B3 expression and immune cell infiltration were evaluated by analyzing TCGA database. CCK8 assay and colony-formation assay were performed to assess the effect of PAFAH1B3 on the proliferation of gastric cancer cells. Transwell assay was used to evaluate the impact of PAFAH1B3 on gastric cancer cell migration. Western blot was performed to evaluate the role of PAFAH1B3 on signaling pathways in gastric cancer cells.ResultsPAFAH1B3 was highly expressed in many types of tumors including gastric cancer. High PAFAH1B3 expression was significantly correlated with proliferation-related gene sets involved in DNA replication, the cell cycle, and cell cycle checkpoints. Further analysis showed that high PAFAH1B3 expression was associated with high M1 macrophage and CD8-positive T cell infiltration scores. PAFAH1B3 knockdown inhibited the proliferation, migration, and the activation of oncogenic signaling in gastric cancer cells.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that PAFAH1B3 may be an oncogene in gastric cancer.

The discovery of complete ammonia oxidation (comammox), oxidizing ammonia to nitrate via nitrite in a single organism, has redefined the traditional recognition of the two-step nitrification driven by two functional groups (ammonia-oxidizing and nitrite-oxidizing microorganisms). However, the understanding of the distribution and niche differentiation of comammox Nitrospira in the estuarine mudflats and their reclaimed agricultural soils is still limited. Here, we investigated the abundance, diversity and community structures of comammox Nitrospira in the mudflats and the reclaimed agricultural soils in the northern Yangtze River estuary. Quantitative PCR showed the abundances of amoA genes of comammox were lower than that of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in nearly all samples. Amplicon sequencing of amoA genes revealed that the community structures of comammox Nitrospira were significantly (P < 0.001) different between the original mudflats and the reclaimed agricultural soils, indicating niche differentiation among comammox Nitrospira clades (clade A.1, clade A.2, and clade B). The clade A.1 was the dominant group of comammox Nitrospira in the mudflats, while clade B predominated in the agricultural soils. However, the members of clade A.2 could be clearly divided into two groups, the mudflat-preferred and agricultural soil-preferred groups, suggesting more complicated ecological preferences within this sub-clade. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that salinity, organic matter (OM) and NO3–-N had a significantly influence on the distribution of comammox Nitrospira in the estuarine environment. Clade A.1 and nearly half members of clade A.2 were positively correlated with salinity, and negatively correlated with the concentrations of OM and NO3–-N. In contrast, the clade B and the other half members of clade A.2 showed the exact opposite pattern: a negative correlation with salinity and positive correlation with OM and NO3–-N. The co-occurrence network demonstrated that the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) within the same (sub-)clade were mostly positively correlated, indicating the similar niche preferences among the members from the same (sub-)clade of comammox Nitrospira. Taken together, our results revealed the niche differentiation of comammox Nitrospira in estuarine ecosystems where salinity and OM were the primary factors responsible for the distinct ecological distribution patterns.

Background. Hypertension, as the most common comorbidity for patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), has resulted in cases with more severe symptoms and higher mortality. The risk factors associated with COVID-19 in patients with hypertension are unknown. Methods. All the available and confirmed patients with COVID-19 from February 3 to March 10, 2020, were enrolled from Huoshenshan Hospital, Wuhan, China. The demographic characteristics, clinical manifestations, laboratory data, radiological assessments, and treatments on admission were extracted and compared. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression methods were used to explore risk factors associated with COVID-19 in patients with hypertension and the severity of the cohort. Results. A total of 430 available patients with COVID-19 were enrolled in the study, including 151 eligible patients with COVID-19 and hypertension. After PSM analysis, 141 patients without hypertension and 141 cases with hypertension were well matched. Compared with cases without hypertension, patients with hypertension were more severe (28.4% vs. 12.1%, p=0.001). In multivariate analysis, we found that neutrophil count (OR: 1.471; p=0.001), coronary heart disease (OR: 5.281; p=0.011), and the level of K+ (OR: 0.273; p

UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs), being multifunctional detoxification enzymes, play a major role in the process of resistance to various pesticides in insects. However, the mechanism underlying the molecular regulation of pesticide resistance remains unclear, especially in Apis cerana cerana. In this study, all of the UGTs in Apis cerana cerana (AccUGT) have been identified through the multiple alignment and phylogenetic analysis. Expression of AccUGT genes under different pesticides, and antioxidant genes after silencing of AccUGT2B20-like, were detected by qRT-PCR. The resistance of overexpressed AccUGT2B20-like to oxidative stress was investigated by an Escherichia coli overexpression system. Also, antioxidant-related enzyme activity was detected after silencing of the AccUGT2B20-like gene. Expression pattern analysis showed that almost all UGT genes were upregulated under different pesticide treatments. This result indicated that AccUGTs participate in the detoxification process of pesticides. AccUGT2B20-like was the major gene because it was more highly induced than the others. Overexpression of AccUGT2B20-like in E. coli could effectively improve oxidative stress resistance. Specifically, silencing the AccUGT2B20-like gene increased oxidative stress by repressing the expression of oxidation-related genes, decreasing antioxidant-related enzyme activity, and increasing malondialdehyde concentration. Taken together, our results indicate that AccUGTs are involved in pesticide resistance, among which, AccUGT2B20-like contributes to the detoxification of pesticides by eliminating oxidative stress in Apis cerana cerana. This study explains the molecular basis for the resistance of bees to pesticides and provides an important safeguard for maintaining ecological balance.

After the discovery of complete ammonia-oxidizing (comammox) Nitrospira, detection and assessments of the contribution of comammox Nitrospira communities to nitrogen cycling are in great demand. PCR-based approach, a common method for the detection of comammox, depends strongly on accurate amplification of the amoA genes from the original DNA samples using appropriate primers. In this study, we reported an evaluation of the performance of two commonly used primer sets, Ntsp-amoA 162F/359R and comaA/B-244f/659r, for amplifying the comammox amoA genes from three representative wetland soils in China [Sangsang (SS), Sanjiang (SJ), and Xianghai (XH)]. Our results demonstrated the two primer sets could both successfully amplify the clades with high relative abundances (RA), and further revealed a broadly similar diversity and community composition of dominant comammox operational taxonomic units (OTUs) (RA ≥ 1%) in each of the three wetland soils. However, the clades with low RA, such as the clade A (1.26%) in SJ and the clade B (11.54%) in XH that were recovered by metagenomics analysis, failed to be amplified using comaA/B-244f/659r, but were successfully amplified and sequenced using Ntsp-amoA 162F/359R. It indicated that, compared to comaA/B-244f/659r, Ntsp-amoA 162F/359R was more sensitive to the clades with low RA. However, it is worth noting that Ntsp-amoA 162F/359R would overestimate the RA of some rare clades. For example, the RAs of clade B in XH were overestimated by 32-fold. Furthermore, high levels of non-target amplification were detected via gel electrophoresis using both primer sets, especially for comammox Clade B amoA genes, implying that we should treat qPCR results based on these primers with caution. Taken together, our study comprehensively compared the performance of the two primer sets on the sensitivity and specificity of amplifying comammox amoA genes in three wetland soils, pointing out the necessity of further development of new primers for the efficient and accurate detection of comammox in various environments.

BackgroundDual-specificity phosphatase 9 (DUSP9) belongs to the dual-specificity protein phosphatase subfamily. Recently, increasing attention has been paid on the role of DUSP9 in a variety of cancers. However, its functional role in tumor development is still unclear, especially in colorectal cancer (CRC).MethodsThe functional role of DUSP9 in inhibiting the progression of CRC was verified using colony formation assay, wound healing assay, nude mice xenograft model, etc. RNA-seq was performed to assess the gene expression profiling in SW480 cells with DUSP9 stable knockdown and shControl cells. Bisulfite sequencing (BSE) was performed to reveal the methylation status of CpG island in the promoter of DUSP9.ResultsDUSP9 was significantly downregulated in tumor tissues compared with peritumor tissues. Mechanistically, the high methylation status of CpG island in the promoter of DUSP9 may lead to the downregulation of DUSP9 in CRC. Clinically, low DUSP9 expression in CRC was closely associated with depth of invasion, metastasis (TNM) stage, and poor survival, indicating that DUSP9 may be involved in the progression of CRC. Functional study revealed that DUSP9 inhibited proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition of CRC cells both in vitro and in vivo. Transcriptome profiling studies revealed that Erk signaling was involved in the tumor progression mediated by DUSP9 silencing, which is confirmed by cell experiments and clinical tissue sample staining analysis.ConclusionOur findings demonstrate that DUSP9 plays a critical role in the progression of CRC, and therapeutic intervention to increase the expression or activity of DUSP9 may be a potential target for CRC treatment in the future.

As lactoferrin (LF) plays an essential role in physiological processes, the detection of LF has attracted increasing attention in the field of disease diagnosis. However, most current methods require expensive equipment, laborious pretreatment, and long processing time. In this work, carboxyl-rich carbon dots (COOH-CDs) were facilely prepared through a one-step, low-cost hydrothermal process with tartaric acid as the precursor. The COOH-CDs had abundant carboxyl on the surface and showed strong blue emission. Moreover, COOH-CDs were used as a fluorescent sensor toward Fe3+ and showed high selectivity for Fe3+ with the limit of detection (LoD) of 3.18 nM. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to reveal the mechanism of excellent performance for Fe3+ detection. Meanwhile, COOH-CDs showed no obvious effect on lactobacillus plantarum growth, which means that COOH-CDs have good biocompatibility. Due to the nontoxicity and excellent detection performance for Fe3+, COOH-CDs were employed as a fluorescent sensor toward LF and showed satisfying performance with an LoD of 0.776 µg/mL, which was better than those of the other methods.

To investigate associations between fruit consumption and lipid profiles, and to further explore a satisfactory level of frequency and daily fruit intake for children and adolescents. A national sample of 14,755 children and adolescents aged 5–19 years from seven provinces in China were recruited. Fasting blood samples were collected to test the lipid profile. Information regarding fruit consumption and other characteristics was collected by questionnaires. Logistic regression models adjusting for confounding covariates were applied to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Participants who consumed fruits for 6–7 days per week had lower risks of high triglycerides (OR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.58–0.75), dyslipidemia (OR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.68–0.86), and hyperlipidemia (OR: 0.72, 95% CI: 0.63–0.81), compared to fruit consumption of 0–2 days per week. Risks of high triglycerides, dyslipidemia and hyperlipidemia of those who consumed fruits for 0.75–1.5 servings each day also decreased, compared to the insufficient fruit intake. The combined effects of high frequency and moderate daily intake of fruit on lipid disorders did not change essentially. The associations were more evident in girls, younger children and those whose families had higher educational levels. Moderate fruit consumption was associated with lower odds of lipid disorders, predominantly in girls, younger participants, and those came from higher-educated families. These findings supported the health effect of moderate fruit intake frequently to improve the childhood lipid profiles.

Background Regulating T-cell metabolism is crucial for their anticancer activity. Therefore, understanding the function and metabolism of human tumor-infiltrating T cells is of broad interest and clinical importance.Methods CD3+CD45+ T cells were sorted from adjacent area or tumor core of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), then the clusters and heterogeneity of T cells were further interrogated by single-cell transcriptomic profiling. 118 surgical samples from patients with HCC were histologically examined for infiltration of CD8+ T cells in tumor and adjacent tissue.Results Single-cell transcriptomic profiling indicated that several exhausted T-cell (Tex) populations differentially coexisted in the tumor and adjacent tissue. CD137 identifies and enriches Tex with superior effector functions and proliferation capacity. Furthermore, enhanced fatty acid-binding protein 5 (FABP5) expression along with increased mitochondrial oxidative metabolism were evident in these CD137-enriched Tex. Inhibiting FABP5 expression and mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation impaired the anti-apoptosis and proliferation of CD137-enriched Tex. These observations have been verified by generating CD137 CART. Immunohistochemistry staining on the tissue microarray of 118 patients with HCC showed intra-tumoral FABP5 high CD8+ T-cell infiltration was linked to overall and recurrence-free survival.Conclusions The tumor microenvironment can impose metabolic restrictions on T-cell function. CD137, a costimulatory molecule highly expressed on some Tex, uses exogenous fatty acids and oxidative metabolism to mediate antitumor immunity. The immunometabolic marker FABP5 should be investigated in larger, longitudinal studies to determine their potential as prognostic biomarkers for HCC.

Ross syndrome (RS) is a rare peripheral autonomic system disorder characterized by tonic pupil, hyporeflexia, and segmental anhidrosis. Neuropathological studies show that RS results from the selective cholinergic nerve degeneration. However, the cause and underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we show α-synuclein accumulation in the autonomic nerve terminals in the lesser curvature of stomach of patients with RS. In addition, immunohistochemical findings demonstrate that a dominant degeneration of cholinergic fibers is exhibited in patients with RS, while main degeneration of adrenergic fibers is demonstrated in patients with pure autonomic failure in their gastrointestinal and urinary system. Our study suggests that RS belongs to α-synucleinopathies. Moreover, our findings indicate that adrenergic nerves and cholinergic nerves are not equally damaged in different types of pure autonomic dysfunctions.

Rolling mills vibration is a key factor that hinders the production of thin-strip steel. Currently, vibration is mainly suppressed by adjusting rolling mill parameters which is not a common approach. Due to special working conditions, the information of work roll, such as displacement and velocity, cannot be directly measured. Therefore, based on extended state observer, new resonance ratio control method, which is a common approach, is proposed to suppress the rolling mill vibration. First, the equivalent mass of the back roll is identified. Then, the interaction force between the work roll and the back roll and the velocity of the back roll are estimated using the extended state observer. Finally, these values are introduced into the input of the servo valve to compensate. The simulation results indicate that vibrations of both the work roll and the back roll are suppressed, and this method has a great tolerance for the identification error of the back-roll equivalent mass, and extended state observer compensation possesses a more superior vibration suppression than disturbance observer compensation.

Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) in mammalian cells is driven by resilient machinery that includes >70 endocytic accessory proteins (EAP). Accordingly, perturbation of individual EAPs often results in minor effects on biochemical measurements of CME, thus providing inconclusive/misleading information regarding EAP function. Live-cell imaging can detect earlier roles of EAPs preceding cargo internalization; however, this approach has been limited because unambiguously distinguishing abortive coats (ACs) from bona fide clathrin-coated pits (CCPs) is required but unaccomplished. Here, we develop a thermodynamics-inspired method, “disassembly asymmetry score classification (DASC)”, that resolves ACs from CCPs based on single channel fluorescent movies. After extensive verification, we use DASC-resolved ACs and CCPs to quantify CME progression in 11 EAP knockdown conditions. We show that DASC is a sensitive detector of phenotypic variation in CCP dynamics that is uncorrelated to the variation in biochemical measurements of CME. Thus, DASC is an essential tool for uncovering EAP function.

To evaluate the effect of cold application on pain and bruising after the subcutaneous injection of low-molecular-weight heparin, 8 electronic databases were searched for randomized controlled trials and quasiexperimental studies from the inception of the databases to June 2019. Review Manager 5.3 software was used for the heterogeneity test and meta-analysis. A total of 8 studies including 694 participants were analyzed. The cold application group assessed with the Verbal Descriptor Scale pain assessment tool showed significant reductions in pain intensity immediately after injection. Compared to the control group, the cold application group showed a reduction in the occurrence of bruises at 12 hours, 24 hours, and 48 hours after injection. There was no significant difference in the area of bruising in the cold application group at 48 hours after injection, but the area of bruising at 72 hours after injection was significantly reduced. These results show that cold application can reduce the incidence of pain and bruising after subcutaneous injection of low-molecular-weight heparin and reduce the area of bruising 72 hours after injection. Additional studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm these findings.