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Coronary computed tomography angiography (cCTA) is a commonly used imaging modality for the evaluation of coronary artery disease. cCTA is generally reconstructed in multiple cardiac phases because different coronary arteries may be better visualized in some phases than in others due to the periodic cardiac motion. We are developing an automated registration method for coronary arterial trees from multiple-phase cCTA that has potential application in building a ‘best-quality’ tree to facilitate image analysis and detection of stenotic plaques. Given the segmented left or right coronary arterial (LCA or RCA) trees from the multiple phases as input, the adjacent phase pairs, where displacements are relatively small, are registered by a specifically designed method based on a cubic B-spline with fast localized optimization (CBSO). For the phase pairs with large displacements, a global registration using an affine transform with quadratic terms and nonlinear simplex optimization (AQSO) is followed by a local registration using CBSO to refine the AQSO registered volumes. 26 LCA and 26 RCA trees with six cCTA phases from 26 patients were used for registration evaluation. The average distances for the tree pairs between the adjacent phases with small displacements before and after CBSO registration were 0.96  ±  0.79 and 0.76  ±  0.61 mm respectively for LCA, and 0.93  ±  0.97 and 0.64  ±  0.43 mm, respectively for RCA. The average distance differences before and after registration were statistically significant (p < 0.001) for both LCA and RCA trees. The average distances for the distant phases with large displacements before registration, after AQSO registration, and finally after the CBSO registration were 2.85  ±  1.46, 1.62  ±  0.76, and 0.97  ±  0.43 mm, respectively for LCA, and 4.03  ±  2.36, 2.18  ±  1.11, and 0.97  ±  0.44 mm, respectively for RCA. The average distance differences between every two consecutive stages of registration were statistically significant. The corresponding phases of LCA and RCA trees were aligned to an average of less than 1 mm, providing a basis for a best-quality tree construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter to the editor discusses a recent study on the use of antibiotic irrigation during lithotripsy in retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) to reduce infectious complications. The study found that the use of gentamicin irrigation was effective in reducing postoperative infections in RIRS. However, the authors raise concerns about the study's methodology and suggest further investigations to address these concerns. They also highlight the need to determine which patients would benefit from gentamicin irrigation and the possibility of using different concentrations in future studies. Overall, the letter emphasizes the potential clinical utility of gentamicin irrigation in RIRS but suggests that more research is needed to fully understand its practicality. [Extracted from the article]

1. Participants will be able to describe the potential impact of resilience-coaching programs for patients at risk for vs currently endorsing active psychological distress. 2. Participants will be able to describe the rationale for intention-to-treat analyses in randomized clinical trials, as well as opportunities to generate hypotheses from otherwise "negative" studies. In a randomized trial testing a brief, resilience-skills building intervention for adolescents and young adults with advanced blood cancers, the program seemed to work better among youth with mild-moderate distress. Promoting resilience may be more successful when people experience (and hope to improve) feelings of stress and distress. As we endeavor to deliver brief psychosocial interventions to improve quality of life among populations at risk, determining who may benefit from which interventions at which times is critical. In this randomized trial, we found that resilience-coaching may work better for youth already experiencing some degree of distress. Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) receiving Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation (HCT) are at high risk of depression. We aimed to determine if the Promoting Resilience in Stress Management (PRISM) intervention mitigated risks of depression during the first 3 months post-transplant. Secondary aims assessed PRISM's impact on anxiety, sense of resilience, hope, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). We conducted this multi-site, parallel, non-blinded randomized trial from Oct/2019-Dec/2022. AYAs were eligible if they were 12-24 years-old, English- or Spanish-speaking, and within 1 month of HCT. They were assigned 1:1 to PRISM or Usual Care (UC). PRISM is a brief, skills-based, intervention taught by lay-coaches and targeting "resilience resources" (stress-management, goal-setting, cognitive-reframing, and meaning-making). Outcomes included AYA-reported depression (HADS-D) anxiety (HADS-A), resilience (CDRISC10), Hope (Hope scale), and HRQOL (PedsQL-cancer). We conducted intention-to-treat analyses using mixed linear regressions; exploratory analyses assessed the role of baseline depression (HADS-D>4). Ninety-four AYAs participated. Their mean age was 16.7 years (SD=4.2); they identified as female [n=43 (46%)], Non-Hispanic white [n=56 (60%)], Hispanic [n=22 (23%)], Non-Hispanic Black [n=9 (10%)]; Asian [n=5 (5%)], and "other"/mixed race [2 (2%)]. Of n=50 assigned to PRISM and n=44 to UC, n=22 (44%) and n=21 (48%) reported concurrent depression. Thirty-six (72%) PRISM-AYAs completed all 4 assigned sessions; n=10 (20%) completed 0-1. In intention-to-treat analyses, PRISM did not impact 3-month depression (b=0.04; 95% CI-1.5,1.6), anxiety (b=0.3; -1.1,1.7), resilience (b=1.1; -1.8,3.9), hope (b=2.6; -1.1,6.2), or HRQOL (b=5.2; -0.2,11.0). Stratified analyses suggested PRISM may help AYAs with active depression (Resilience b=3.6; 2.0,9.3; Hope b=5.7; 0.5,11.0; HRQOL b=7.2; -2.2,17.0). We observed no measurable impact of resilience-coaching among a cohort of AYAs receiving HCT; secondary analyses suggest the program may be more effective when limited to those with concurrent distress. Successfully promoting resilience may require recognizing and targeting those who most need it most. Psychosocial support/Pediatrics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) is a popular machine learning method which can flexibly simulate the relationships of real-world classification applications. When facing problems ( i.e. , data sets) with a smaller number of samples ( i.e. , instances), ELM may often result in the overfitting trouble. In this paper, we propose a new Instance Cloned Extreme Learning Machine (IC-ELM for short) which can handle numerous different classification problems. IC-ELM uses an instance cloning method to balance the input data’s distribution and extend the training data set, which alleviates the overfitting issue and enhances the testing classification accuracy. Experiments and comparisons on 20 UCI data sets, and validations on image and text classification applications, demonstrate that IC-ELM is able to achieve superior results compared to the original ELM algorithm and its variants, as well as several other classical machine learning algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sleep is an important health risk factor. In the context of pediatric chronic pain, sleep is often impaired and temporal daily associations link sleep deficiency to subsequent increased pain. It is unknown whether similar temporal relationships exist for youth with acute pain. Thus, we characterized sleep in youth with acute musculoskeletal (MSK) pain to examine daily sleep-pain associations. Participants were 67 youth (10-17 years) with acute MSK pain (<1 month duration). Youth underwent eight nights of actigraphic sleep monitoring and completed twice daily pain diaries. Generalized linear models tested nighttime sleep as a predictor of morning pain, and evening pain as a predictor of nighttime sleep. Shorter sleep duration and poorer sleep quality predicted higher morning pain intensity. However, evening pain did not predict nighttime sleep, suggesting the strongest temporal association is in the direction of sleep deficiency impacting next-day pain, as has been found in prior research in youth with chronic pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the low activation energy for proton diffusion under protonic ceramic fuel cell (PCFC) operation, the high-performance PCFC is still limited by the low proton conductivity of most cathode materials. A decrease in cathode acidity can enhance proton affinity; however, the severe CO 2 -tolerance associated with the doping of alkaline earth metals in perovskite oxides is also a challenge. Herein, a proton conducting oxide La 5.5 W 0.45 Mo 0.4 Nb 0.15 O 11.25-δ (LWMN), which possesses excellent chemical stability under a CO 2 -containing atmosphere, is composited with Sr 2 Sc 0.1 Nb 0.1 Co 1.5 Fe 0.3 O 6-δ (SSNCF) as the PCFC cathode. A 3 wt% alkali earth ion-free oxide LWMN composite in the cathode material can strengthen proton diffusion while weakening CO 2 adsorption. Thus, in wet air containing CO 2 , the symmetrical cell based on the 3 wt% LWMN-SSNCF achieved a linear degradation rate of ASRs of 1.33 × 10−3 Ω cm2 min−1 for the first 3 h, which was lower than the 2.15 × 10−3 Ω cm2 min−1 achieved by the symmetrical cell based on the single-phase SSNCF cathode. Furthermore, the PCFC based on the composite cathode shows an improved performance of 1.114 W cm−2 at 650 °C due to its superior proton conduction. This strategy endowed the cathode with superior proton diffusion as well as low CO 2 adsorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In industry, m‐dinitrobenzene is mainly obtained by two‐step nitration of benzene, but still faces the problem of being heterogeneous and highly exothermic. In this work, a two‐step continuous‐flow nitration was developed in a microreactor, combining benzene nitration and mononitrobenzene nitration in series. The waste acid after the mononitrobenzene nitration stage was utilized in the benzene mononitration stage, and the waste acid in the benzene mononitration stage was treated and concentrated for reuse. The whole process consumes almost no sulfuric acid. Under optimal conditions, the yield of dinitrobenzene was more than 99.0 % and the selectivity of m‐dinitrobenzene was more than 91 % with a residence time of 4 min at 70 °C. In addition, the space‐time yield of the continuous microreactor was 800 times higher than the batch reactor. It provides a safe and efficient method for the industrial production of m‐dinitrobenzene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant cells are totipotent and competent to regenerate from differentiated organs. It has been known for six decades that cytokinin-rich medium induces shoot regeneration from callus cells. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains elusive. The homeodomain transcription factor WUSCHEL (WUS) is essential for de novo establishment of the shoot stem cell niche in Arabidopsis thaliana. We found that WUS-positive (WUS+) cells mark the shoot progenitor region during regeneration. A cytokinin-rich environment initially promotes the removal of the repressive histone mark H3K27me3 at the WUS locus in a cell cycle-dependent manner. Subsequently, the B-type ARABIDOPSIS RESPONSE REGULATORs (ARRs) ARR1, ARR2, ARR10, and ARR12, which function as transcriptional activators in the cytokinin signaling pathway, spatially activate WUS expression through binding with microRNA165/6-targeted HD-ZIP III transcription factors. Thus, our results provide important insights into the molecular framework for cytokinin-directed shoot regeneration and reveal a two-step mechanism for de novo activation of WUS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Children's Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Telemental Health Treatment Study (CATTS) tested the hypotheses that children and caregivers who received guideline-based treatment delivered through a hybrid telehealth service delivery model would experience greater improvements in outcomes than children and caregivers receiving treatment via a comparison delivery model. Here, we present caregiver outcomes. 88 primary care providers (PCPs) in seven geographically underserved communities referred 223 children (ages 5.5 - 12.9 years) to the randomized controlled trial. Over 22 weeks, children randomized to the CATTS service delivery model received six sessions of telepsychiatry and six sessions of caregiver behavior management training provided in person by community therapists who were trained and supervised remotely. Children randomized to the comparison Augmented Primary Care (APC) service model received management in primary care augmented by a single telepsychiatry consultation. Caregiver outcomes included changes in distress, as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Parenting Stress Index (PSI), Caregiver Strain Questionnaire (CSQ) and Family Empowerment Scale (FES). Caregivers completed five assessments. Multilevel mixed effects regression modeling tested for differences between the two service delivery models in caregiver outcomes from baseline to 25 weeks. Compared to caregivers of children in the APC model, caregivers of children in the CATTS service model showed statistically significantly greater improvements on the PHQ-9 (β = -1.41, 95 % CI = [-2.74, -0.08], p < .05), PSI (β = -4.59, 95 % CI = [-7.87, - 1.31], p < .001), CSQ (β = -5.41, 95 % CI = [- 8.58, -2.24], p < .001) and FES (β = 6.69, 95 % CI = [2.32, 11.06], p < .01). Improvement in child ADHD symptoms mediated improved caregiver scores on the PSI and CSQ. Improvement in child ODD behaviors mediated caregiver CSQ scores. The CATTS trial supports the effectiveness of a hybrid telehealth service delivery model for reducing distress in caregivers of children with ADHD and suggests a mechanism through which the service model affected caregiver distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel system for rapid crystal growth, namely three-dimensional motion growth method ('3D MGM') was proposed. Using this system, a potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) seed was grown to a single crystal with a final size of 50×55×85 mm3. The KDP crystal was characterized by Raman spectroscopy, UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy, extinction ratio, laser damage threshold, and etching studies. Raman spectrum shows KDP crystal grown by '3D MGM' maintains good crystallinity as that grown by rotating-crystal method ('RCM'). The '3D MGM' grown KDP crystal has much better transmittance, higher extinction ratio, higher damage threshold and less dislocation density, compared to 'RCM' grown crystal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc-air batteries (ZABs) have sparked great interest, but their wide-ranging applications are limited by sluggish cathode reactions (ORR and OER). In this work, a multifunctional 3D catalyst (FeNi alloy/porous carbon) was easily fabricated by introducing Fe3+ and Ni2+ to modulate in-situ vapor phase grown carbon nanotubes. The as-prepared catalyst FNSNC73-800 displays abundant mesoporous, massive structural defects, and multiple active sites, which greatly facilitate the transport of oxygen species and charge transfer during the reaction. Due to the excellent ORR and OER performance, FNSNC73-800 shows a narrow voltage gap (Δ E) of 0.76 V, which is superior to recent reports. Notably, the secondary zinc-air battery with this catalyst displays a high-peak power density (210 mW cm−2), while maintaining an ultra-low potential gap (0.74 V) after a long-term charge-discharge cycle of 200 h. This effort presents a facile strategy for designing economical and efficient 3D catalysts for zinc-air batteries and more energy devices. 3D porous FeNi alloy/porous carbon as air cathode catalyst displays outstanding ORR and OER activities in Zinc-air batteries. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. Hyperuricemia (HUA) has received increased attention in the last few decades due to its global prevalence. Our previous study found that administration of a macroporous resin extract of Dendrobium officinale leaves (DoMRE) to rats with HUA that was induced by exposure to potassium oxazine combined with fructose and a high-purine diet led to a significant reduction in serum uric acid (SUA) levels. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of DoMRE on hyperuricemia induced by anthropomorphic unhealthy lifestyle and to elucidate its possible mechanisms of action. Methods. Dosages (5.0 and 10.0 g/kg/day) of DoMRE were administered to rats daily after induction of HUA by anthropomorphic unhealthy lifestyle for 12 weeks. The levels of UA in the serum, urine, and feces; the levels of creatinine (Cr) in the serum and urine; and the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in serum were all measured using an automatic biochemical analyzer. The activities of xanthine oxidase (XOD) and adenosine deaminase (ADA) in the serum, liver, and intestine tissue supernatant were measured using appropriate kits for each biological target. The expressions levels of UA transporters (ABCG2 and GLUT9), tight junction (TJ) proteins (ZO-1 and occludin), and inflammatory factors (IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α) in the intestine were assayed by immunohistochemical (IHC) staining. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining was used to assess histological changes in the renal and intestinal tissues. Results. DoMRE treatment significantly reduced SUA levels and concomitantly increased fecal UA (FUA) levels and the fractional excretion of UA (FEUA) in HUA rats. Furthermore, DoMRE significantly reduced both the XOD activity in the serum, liver, and intestine and the ADA activity in the liver and intestine. DoMRE also effectively regulated the expression of GLUT9 and ABCG2 in the intestine, and it significantly upregulated the expression of the intestinal TJ proteins ZO-1 and occludin. Therefore, DoMRE reduced the damage to the intestinal barrier function caused by the increased production of inflammatory factors due to HUA to ensure normal intestinal UA excretion. Conclusion. DoMRE demonstrated anti-HUA effects in the HUA rat model induced by an anthropomorphic unhealthy lifestyle, and the molecular mechanism appeared to involve the regulation of urate transport-related transporters (ABCG2 and GLUT9) in the intestine, protection of the intestinal barrier function to promote UA excretion, and inhibition of XOD and ADA activity in the liver and intestine to inhibit UA production in the HUA-induced rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxygen‐ion conducting perovskite oxides are important functional materials for solid oxide fuel cells and oxygen‐permeable membranes operating at high temperatures (>500 °C). Co‐doped perovskites have recently shown their potential to boost oxygen‐related kinetics, but challenges remain in understanding the underlying mechanisms. This study unveils the local cation arrangement as a new key factor controlling oxygen kinetics in perovskite oxides. By single‐ and co‐doping Nb5+ and Ta5+ into SrCoO3‐δ, dominant factors affecting oxygen kinetics, such as lattice geometry, cobalt states, and oxygen vacancies, which are confirmed by neutron and synchrotron X‐ray diffraction as well as high‐temperature X‐ray absorption spectroscopy, are controlled. The combined experimental and theoretical study unveils that co‐doping likely leads to higher cation dispersion at the B‐site compared to single‐doping. Consequently, a high‐entropy configuration enhances oxygen ion migration in the lattice, translating to improved oxygen reduction activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pathogenesis of depression involves cAMP-response element binding protein1 (CREB1) and metabotropic glutamate receptor 7 (GRM7), and their genetic polymorphisms may affect susceptibility to depression. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the CREB1 polymorphisms rs2253206 and rs10932201 and the GRM7 polymorphism rs162209 are associated with the risk of depression. Using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and DNA sequencing, we analyzed the rs2253206, rs10932201, and rs162209 frequencies in 479 patients with depression and 329 normal controls. The results showed that the rs2253206 and rs10932201 polymorphisms were significantly associated with an increased risk of depression. However, no association was found between rs162209 and depression risk. When the data were stratified for several disease-related variables, none of the three polymorphisms were found to be correlated to onset, disease severity, family history, or suicidal tendency. Thus, the present findings indicate that the CREB1 polymorphisms rs2253206 and rs10932201 may be related to the occurrence of depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Lead-free inorganic Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 double perovskites have emerged as promising materials in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) to tackle the inferior stability and toxicity issues of organic–inorganic hybrid PSCs. However, the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 solar cells are remarkably restricted by the intrinsic and extrinsic defects of Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 films. More specifically, the fast crystallization process in the formation of Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 films strongly prevents the homogeneous growth of perovskite crystals, leading to inferior Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 film quality. This work introduces a facile strategy to retard the crystallization of Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 perovskites by introducing Lewis base additives into the precursor solution. The incorporation of a strongly coordinated thiourea additive with a sulfur donor leads to the generation of a Lewis acid base adduct, which retards the crystallization process for Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 crystals, improves the quality of the Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 film, decreases the defect density and inhibits charge carrier recombination. After optimization, the cell delivers a superior PCE of 3.07%, surpassing that reported for most Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 -based solar cells in the literature, and exhibits outstanding stability with a PCE retention rate of 95% after 20 days of storage in air. This work provides an effective strategy for further improvements in the performance of inorganic lead-free Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 -based photovoltaic cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We sequenced DNA from spleens of rodents captured in rural areas of Qingdao, East China, during 2013-2015. We found 1 Apodemus agrarius mouse infected with Rickettsia conorii, indicating a natural Mediterranean spotted fever foci exists in East China and that the range of R. conorii could be expanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graph level anomaly detection (GLAD) aims to spot anomalous graphs that structure pattern and feature information are different from most normal graphs in a graph set, which is rarely studied by other researchers but has significant application value. For instance, GLAD can be used to distinguish some different characteristic molecules in drug discovery and chemical analysis. However, GLAD mainly faces the following three challenges: (1) learning more comprehensive graph level representations to differ normal graphs and abnormal graphs, (2) designing an effective graph anomaly evaluation paradigm to capture graph anomalies from the local and global graph perspectives, (3) overcoming the number imbalance problem of normal and abnormal graphs. In this paper, we combine graph neural networks and contrastive learning to build an end-to-end GLAD framework for solving the three challenges above. We aim to design a new graph level anomaly evaluation way, which first utilizes the contrastive learning strategy to enhance different level representations of normal graphs from node and graph levels by a graph convolution autoencoder with perturbed graph encoder. Then, we evaluate the error of them with corresponding representations of the generated reconstruction graph to detect anomalous graphs. Extensive experiments on ten real-world datasets from three areas, such as molecular, protein and social network anomaly graphs, show that our model can effectively detect graph level anomaly from the majority and outperform existing advanced methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bartonella are vector‐borne gram‐negative facultative intracellular bacteria causing emerging infectious diseases worldwide, and two thirds of known Bartonella species are carried by rodents. We captured rodents, shrews and rodent ectoparasitic mites in rural areas of Qingdao City, Shandong Province, China from 2012 to 2021 and used the animal spleen tissues for the PCR amplification of Bartonella gltA and rpoB genes. PCR showed 9.4% (40/425) rodents, and 5.1% (12/235) shrews were positive for Bartonella. Seven Bartonella species including three novel species were identified in five rodent species and one shrew species, indicating the abundance and genetic diversity of Bartonella in rodents and shrews. The infection rate of each Bartonella species in the animal species was as below: novel Candidatus Bartonella crocidura in shrews Crocidura lasiura (5.1%, 12/235); novel Candidatus Bartonella cricetuli in hamsters Tscherskia triton (20%, 9/45); novel Candidatus Bartonella muris in striped field mice Apodemus agrarius (4.2%, 7/168) and house mice Mus musculus (1.5%, 2/135); Bartonella fuyuanensis in striped field mice (8.9%, 15/168) and house mice (0.7%, 1/135); Bartonella rattimassiliensis and Bartonella tribocorum in brown rats Rattus norvegicus (6.7%, 3/45 and 4.2%, 2/45, respectively); Bartonella queenslandensis in Chinese white‐bellied rat Niviventer confucianus (12.5%, 1/8). These results suggest that Bartonella infected a variety of rodent and shrew species with high infection rate, but each Bartonella specie is restricted to infect only one or a few genetically closely related rodent species. In addition, Candidatus Bartonella cricetuli, Candidatus Bartonella muris and Bartonella coopersplainsensis were found in chigger Walchia micropelta (33.3%, 3/9), and B. fuyuanensis were found in chigger Leptotrombidium intermedium (4.1%, 1/24), indicating chiggers may be reservoirs of Bartonella. In conclusion, abundant genetic diversified Bartonella species are found to infect rodents, shrews and chiggers, but each Bartonella species has a strict rodent animal host specificity; and chigger mites may play a role in Bartonella transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: We present a clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical study of 21 Chinese patients with oncocytoma of salivary gland origin, a rare benign tumour composed exclusively of large epithelial cells with eosinophilic granular cytoplasm (oncocytes). The median age was 60.1years with a male predominance (67%). All the tumours occurred in the parotid except one in the palate. A painless mass was the most common feature, although intermittent pain was complained of in four cases. All the patients were treated by superficial parotidectomy, with no recurrence or metastasis. Histologically, most tumours displayed an encapsulated nodular growth pattern, but one case presented with an aggressive growing tendency. Typical oncocytes were observed in all cases, with one clear cell variant found. The oncocytes were arranged in solid sheets, trabecular or duct-like structures. Rarely, small foci of hemorrhage or lymphoid stroma were observed, but germinal centres were always absent. Phosphotungstic acid hematoxylin staining illustrated dark-blue cytoplasmic granules, demonstrated as mitochondria by electron microscopy. All the tumours showed immunoreactivity for CK5/6, CK8/18, CK10/13, CK19 and EMA, but were negative for SMA or S-100. MIB-1 antibody, used to identify the dividing cells by staining of the nucleus, was found to stain the cytoplasm of the oncocytes. In summary, clinical diagnosis for an oncocytoma is challenging for its similar features to other benign tumours. Histopathological diagnosis is reliable with histochemical and electron microscopic conformation of the oncocytes, but differential diagnosis is still challenging. MIB-1 immunostaining might be considered as a diagnostic aid. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Aim: To characterize the profile of submucosal microbiome and cytokine levels in peri-implant crevicular fluid (PICF) from clinically healthy implants and peri-implantitis in the same individuals. Material and Methods: A total of 170 patients were screened and, finally, 14 patients with at least one healthy implant and one peri-implantitis implant were included. Submucosal microbiota and cytokines from 28 implants were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and multifactor assays, respectively. Correlations of clinical indexes and microbiota or cytokines were analyzed using Spearman's correlation coefficient. A random forest classification model was constructed. Results: Peri-implantitis sites harbored higher microbial diversity, as well as more Gram-negative bacteria and anaerobic bacteria, compared with healthy implants sites. The genera of Peptostreptococcaceae XIG-1, Treponema, Porphyromonas, and Lachnospiraceae G-8, as well as the cytokines of IL-17A, IL-6, IL-15, G-CSF, RANTES, and IL-1β were significantly higher in peri-implantitis than healthy implants. Furthermore, these genera and cytokines had positive relationships with clinical parameters, including probing depth (PD), bleeding on probing (BOP), and marginal bone loss (MBL). The classification model picked out the top 15 biomarkers, such as IL-17A, IL-6, IL-15, VEGF, IL-1β, Peptostreptococcaceae XIG-1, Haemophilus, and Treponema, and obtained an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.85. Conclusions: There are more pathogenic bacteria and inflammatory cytokines in peri-implantitis sites, and biomarkers could facilitate the diagnosis of peri-implantitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Pain-related function is not routinely assessed in the hospital. This prospective cohort study examined whether patients' daily pain-related function during hospitalization, based on the validated Youth Acute Pain Functional Ability Questionnaire (YAPFAQ), is associated with pain and quality of life. Design The YAPFAQ is a 12-item measure assessing functional parameters of recovery related to pain and has been validated in children and adolescents with sickle cell disease and after surgery. Adolescents undergoing major musculoskeletal surgery (n = 93) completed the YAPFAQ daily for up to 3 days after surgery. Adolescents self-reported health-related quality of life on the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory and pain intensity on a numeric rating scale at home 2 weeks after surgery. Results Higher YAPFAQ scores, representing poorer function, were associated with higher pain intensity (β = 0.2, P  = 0.04) and poorer health-related quality of life (β   =   –0.3, P  = 0.01) at home 2 weeks after surgery. This functional measure could be clinically relevant to providers to identify adolescents at risk of difficulty with pain and recovery at home after surgery who might need further intervention to minimize functional impairment and delayed recovery. Perspective This article provides conceptual validation of a functional score for pediatric pain, the YAPFAQ, to assess pain intensity and health-related quality of life in the subacute period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Complications are important determining factors for safety of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). ESD of large lesions is associated with increased procedural time. This study investigated whether double-channel gastroscope could be used to reduce procedural time in gastric antrum ESD. Methods: A retrospective cohort study of 46 patients with one gastric antrum lesion resected by ESD was conducted between January 2013 and December 2015. The diameter of a lesion was from 2cm to 4cm in 46 patients. EUS before ESD was used to evaluate the submucosal vascular structure and the location of lesion in gastric wall. Forty six lesions had ESD with either the ordinary gastroscope (OS group) (n=24) or the double-channel gastroscope (DC group) (n=22). Results: The mean procedural time was significantly lower in the DC group than in the OS group (49.1 minutes vs. 20.5 minutes, p=0.04). There were no significant differences in submucosal injection frequency, specimen size, en bloc resection rate and perforation rate between the two endoscopic groups. There was no recurrence in any case during the follow-up period. Conclusions: Our data suggest that ESD utilizing double-channel gastroscope may provide a better platform for quicker ESD with equal safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Oncogenic KRAS mutations drive an approximately 25 % of all human cancers. Son of Sevenless 1 (SOS1), a critical guanine nucleotide exchange factor, catalyzes the activation of KRAS. Targeting SOS1 degradation has engaged as a promising therapeutic strategy for KRAS-mutant cancers. Herein, we designed and synthesized a series of novel CRBN-recruiting SOS1 PROTACs using the pyrido[2,3- d ]pyrimidin-7-one-based SOS1 inhibitor as the warhead. One representative compound 11o effectively induced the degradation of SOS1 in three different KRAS-mutant cancer cell lines with DC 50 values ranging from 1.85 to 7.53 nM. Mechanism studies demonstrated that 11o -induced SOS1 degradation was dependent on CRBN and proteasome. Moreover, 11o inhibited the phosphorylation of ERK and displayed potent anti-proliferative activities against SW620, A549 and DLD-1 cells. Further optimization of 11o may provide us promising SOS1 degraders with favorable drug-like properties for developing new chemotherapies targeting KRAS-driven cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the complex task scheduling problem of fog computing processing big data in the industrial Internet of Things, a task scheduling strategy based on ant colony algorithm called TSSAC (task scheduling strategy with ant colony)is proposed. Tasks with dependencies are modeled as a directed acyclic graph. The performance indices including makespan, load balancing and energy consumption of fog server are optimized simultaneously, and the ant colony algorithm is used to solve the multi-objective optimization problem. The pheromone heuristic factor and pheromone evaporation coefficient of the ant colony algorithm are updated in a linear increasing way, so that the ants are less affected by pheromones in the early stage and obtain a larger search range. During the later stage, it is greatly affected by pheromone and quickly converges to the optimal solution. Furthermore, during the task execution container migration mechanism is introduced to solve the overload problem caused by high server utilization and energy loss caused by low server utilization simultaneously. The simulation results show that the proposed task scheduling strategy TSSAC reduces energy consumption by 23.5% compared with the traditional algorithm, meanwhile, achieves a compromise between task makespan and load balancing index compared with the traditional algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uniportal full endoscopic posterolateral transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (Endo-TLIF) with percutaneous pedicle screw fixation is a promising, minimally invasive method for the treatment of lumbar spondylolisthesis. However, repeated radiation exposure from X-rays and the steep learning curve remain to be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bartonella species are facultative intracellular bacteria and recognized worldwide as emerging zoonotic pathogens. Bartonella were isolated or identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in bats and their ectoparasites worldwide, whereas the association between them was scarce, especially in Asia. In this study, a retrospective analysis with frozen samples was carried out to identify the genetic diversity of Bartonella in bats and their ectoparasites and to investigate the relationships of Bartonella carried by bats and their ectoparasites. Bats and their ectoparasites (bat flies and bat mites) were collected from caves in Hubei Province, Central China, from May 2018 to July 2020. Bartonella were screened by PCR amplification and sequencing of three genes (gltA, rpoB, and ftsZ). Bats, bat flies, and bat mites carried diverse novel Bartonella genotypes with a high prevalence. The sharing of some Bartonella genotypes between bats and bat flies or bat mites indicated a potential role of bat flies and bat mites as vectors of bartonellae, while the higher genetic diversity of Bartonella in bat flies than that in bats might be due to the vertical transmission of this bacterium in bat flies. Therefore, bat flies might also act as reservoirs of Bartonella. In addition, human‐pathogenic B. mayotimonesis was identified in both bats and their ectoparasites, which expanded our knowledge on the geographic distribution of this bacterium and suggested a potential bat origin with bat flies and bat mites playing important roles in the maintenance and transmission of Bartonella. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uniportal full endoscopic posterolateral transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (Endo-TLIF) with percutaneous pedicle screw fixation is a promising, minimally invasive method for the treatment of lumbar spondylolisthesis. However, repeated radiation exposure from X-rays and the steep learning curve remain to be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Psychological distress is prevalent among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) receiving hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). The Promoting Resilience in Stress Management (PRISM) intervention is a resilience-coaching program that has been shown to mitigate distress and improve quality of life among AYAs receiving chemotherapy for newly diagnosed or advanced cancer. This article describes the protocol of an ongoing randomized-controlled trial (RCT) examining the efficacy of PRISM among AYAs receiving HCT for cancer and/or blood disorders. Methods/design: The goal of this multi-site, parallel, RCT is to evaluate the effect of PRISM compared to psychosocial usual care (UC) among AYAs receiving HCT. Our primary hypothesis is that AYAs who receive PRISM will report lower depression and anxiety 6-months following enrollment compared to those who receive UC. The PRISM program includes four scripted coaching sessions targeting skills in stress-management, goal setting, cognitive-restructuring, and meaning-making, followed by a facilitated family meeting. Sessions are delivered one on one, 1–2 weeks apart, in-person or via videoconference. We aim to recruit 90 AYAs from 4 US pediatric AYA oncology centers. Eligible AYAs are aged 12–24 years; receiving HCT for malignancy or a bone marrow failure syndrome associated with cancer predisposition; < 4 weeks from their HCT date; able to speak English and read in English or Spanish; and cognitively able to complete sessions. Enrolled AYAs are randomized 1:1 within each site to receive PRISM+UC or UC alone. AYAs on both study-arms complete patient-reported outcome surveys at baseline, 3- and 6-months. Age-valid instruments assess depression and anxiety, overall and cancer-specific health-related quality of life, symptom burden, resilience, and hope. Covariate-adjusted regression models will compare AYA-reported depression and anxiety at 6-months in the PRISM versus UC groups. Secondary and exploratory objectives include assessments of PRISM's cost-effectiveness and its impact on (i) parent and caregiver quality of life and mental health, (ii) pharmaco-adherence to oral graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis, (iii) biologic outcomes such as transplant engraftment and graft-versus-host disease, and (iv) biomarkers of stress such as heart rate variability and the Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity (CTRA) gene expression profile. Discussion: If successful, this study has the potential to address a critical gap in whole-patient care for AYAs receiving HCT. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03640325, August 21, 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years severe infectious diseases have been constantly emerging, causing panic in the world. Now we know that many of these terrible diseases are caused by viruses originated from bats (Table 1), such as Ebola virus, Marburg, SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV), MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV), Nipah virus (NiV) and Hendra virus (HeV). These viruses have co-evolved with bats due to bats’ special social, biological and immunological features. Although bats are not in close contact with humans, spillover of viruses from bats to intermediate animal hosts, such as horses, pigs, civets, or non-human primates, is thought to be the most likely mode to cause human infection. Humans may also become infected with viruses through aerosol by intruding into bat roosting caves or via direct contact with bats, such as catching bats or been bitten by bats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern control systems usually employ digital technology for controller implementation. The dynamics of the systems are naturally continuous, while control inputs are usually discrete when digital control is utilized. This paper deals with the finite-time stabilization problem of switched systems with sampled-data state feedback under asynchronous switching. The asynchronous switching idea originates from the fact that switching instants of the controllers lag behind or exceed those of subsystems. The attention is focused on designing an asynchronously switched sampled-data controller that guarantees the finite-time stability of the dynamic system. Especially, we consider the case that the switching time and sampling time are not uniform when the system is working. On the basis of finite-time stability theory and multiply Lyapunov functions approach, a finite-time stability condition related to dwell time and sampling period is established. Then, an asynchronously switched sampled-data controller is designed, and the corresponding switching law is also derived to guarantee the considered system to be finite-time stable. Two numerical examples are provided to show the effectiveness of the developed results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Subthreshold exercise, defined as aerobic exercise below the level that causes symptoms, has been utilized as a treatment for youth with persistent postconcussive symptoms (PPCS), but there is currently little evidence to guide use. In addition, prior studies of exercise for PPCS have all required multiple in-person visits. We developed a virtual approach for delivering subthreshold exercise to youth with PPCS called the Mobile Subthreshold Exercise Program (MSTEP), and we have now been funded to conduct a large national randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test its efficacy for reducing concussive symptoms and improving health-related quality of life.Methods: This investigation is an RCT comparing MSTEP to an active control. We will recruit 200 adolescents 11-18 years old with postconcussive symptoms persisting for at least 1 week but less than 1 year. Youth will be randomized to receive either 6 weeks of subthreshold exercise (MSTEP) or a stretching condition (control). Youth and parents will complete surveys of concussive symptoms at baseline, weekly during the intervention, and at 3 and 6 months. The primary outcomes will be trajectory of concussive symptoms and health-related quality of life over the 6 months of the study. Secondary outcomes will include depression, anxiety, and sleep quality. We will also assess potential mediators of treatment effects including moderate-vigorous physical activity and fear avoidance of concussive symptoms.Discussion: This multisite RCT of MSTEP will provide vital information regarding the efficacy of a virtually delivered subthreshold exercise program for youth with PPCS, and insight regarding potential mediators of treatment effects, including objectively measured physical activity and fear avoidance of concussive symptoms.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04688255. Registered on December 29, 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: Evaluate determinants of mental health service use among depressed adolescents. Method: We assessed mental health services use over the 12 months following screening among 113 adolescents (34 males, 79 females) from an integrated healthcare system who screened positive for depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score ≥11). Youth characteristics (demographics, depression severity, and co-morbidity) and parent characteristics (parent history of depression, parent-report of youth externalizing and internalizing problems) were compared among youth who had received mental health services and those who had not. Multivariate regression was used to evaluate the strongest factors associated with mental health service use. Results: Overall, 52% of adolescents who screened positive for depression received mental health service in the year following screening. Higher parent-reported youth internalizing problems (OR 5.37, CI 1.77–16.35), parental history of depression/anxiety (OR 4.12, CI 1.36–12.48) were significant factors associated with mental health service use. Suicidality and functional impairment were not associated with increased mental health services use. Conclusion: Parental factors including recognition of the adolescent's internalizing symptoms and parental experience with depression/anxiety are strongly associated with mental health service use for depressed adolescents. This highlights the importance of educating parents about depression and developing systems to actively screen and engage youth in treatment for depression. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background This study was designed to determine whether an automated hospital-based influenza vaccination screening program leveraging the electronic medical record (EMR) increases vaccination rates. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study of all children ≥6 months old admitted to medical, surgical, rehabilitation, or psychiatry services during influenza seasons between 2003 and 2012 at a tertiary care pediatric hospital. We compared influenza vaccination rates before (preintervention phase) and after (intervention phase) the introduction of an automated EMR intervention that utilized a nursing-based electronic screening tool to determine eligibility for influenza vaccine and facilitated vaccine ordering without requiring involvement of a physician or other provider. Results Overall, 42 716 (72.8%) of the 58,648 subjects admitted during the study period met inclusion criteria. The intervention phase included 20,651 admissions, of which 11 194 (54.2%) were screened. Screening increased significantly over time in the intervention phase (19.8%–77.1%; P < .001). In-hospital influenza vaccination rates increased from a mean of 2.1% (n = 472) of all subjects preintervention phase to 8.0% (n = 1645) in the intervention phase (odds ratio = 6.8; 95% confidence interval, 6.14–7.47). Of the 11 194 screened subjects, 5505 (49.2%) were found to have already been vaccinated at the time of screening. The screening process identified 478 (4.3%) subjects who were unable to receive vaccine for medical reasons, and an additional 2865 (25.6%) whose caregiver refused the vaccine. Conclusions An automated, hospital-based influenza vaccination program integrated into the EMR can increase vaccinations of hospitalized patients and provide insight into the vaccination history and declination reasons for children not receiving the vaccine. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Motivation: We present an integrated toolkit, BoBro2.0, for prediction and analysis of cis-regulatory motifs. This toolkit can (i) reliably identify statistically significant cis-regulatory motifs at a genome scale; (ii) accurately scan for all motif instances of a query motif in specified genomic regions using a novel method for P-value estimation; (iii) provide highly reliable comparisons and clustering of identified motifs, which takes into consideration the weak signals from the flanking regions of the motifs; and (iv) analyze co-occurring motifs in the regulatory regions.Results: We have carried out systematic comparisons between motif predictions using BoBro2.0 and the MEME package. The comparison results on Escherichia coli K12 genome and the human genome show that BoBro2.0 can identify the statistically significant motifs at a genome scale more efficiently, identify motif instances more accurately and get more reliable motif clusters than MEME. In addition, BoBro2.0 provides correlational analyses among the identified motifs to facilitate the inference of joint regulation relationships of transcription factors.Availability: The source code of the program is freely available for noncommercial uses at http://code.google.com/p/bobro/.Contact: xyn@bmb.uga.eduSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the past year and a half, SARS-CoV-2 has caused 240 million confirmed cases and 5 million deaths worldwide. Autophagy is a conserved process that either promotes or inhibits viral infections. Although coronaviruses are known to utilize the transport of autophagy-dependent vesicles for the viral life cycle, the underlying autophagy-inducing mechanisms remain largely unexplored. Using several autophagy-deficient cell lines and autophagy inhibitors, we demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 ORF3a was able to induce incomplete autophagy in a FIP200/Beclin-1-dependent manner. Moreover, ORF3a was involved in the induction of the UPR (unfolded protein response), while the IRE1 and ATF6 pathways, but not the PERK pathway, were responsible for mediating the ORF3a-induced autophagy. These results identify the role of the UPR pathway in the ORF3a-induced classical autophagy process, which may provide us with a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2 and suggest new therapeutic modalities in the treatment of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ROSSEY is a community–academic partnership aiming to develop and test a COVID-19 risk communication intervention for elementary school students and families in Yakima County, Washington. We describe the ROSSEY study protocol that will be implemented in the Yakima School District. Aim 1 is to identify the community's social, ethical, and behavioral needs and resources for students to return to school and maintain onsite learning. We will conduct semi-structured interviews with students and school employees and focus groups with parents. Aim 2 is to evaluate the effectiveness of risk communication on students' school attendance. We will conduct a cluster randomized control trial. We will enroll 14 Yakima School District elementary schools with 900 student participants and randomize the schools into the COVID-19 risk communication intervention or control group. Aim 3 will assess implementation of the risk communication intervention and schools' COVID-19 mitigation strategies. We will use the RE-AIM framework to guide this work, which will entail conducting semi-structured interviews with students and school employees and focus groups with parents. Implementation of science-based risk communication can educate the community on the benefits and safety of COVID-19 testing and vaccination. Risk communication may also inform families about the role of COVID-19 testing and vaccines as part of mitigation strategies to allow for safe in-person learning. Schools have extraordinary influence to promote children's health through policy and practice change. Study findings will provide evidence to facilitate policy decisions and best practices at schools that facilitate adoption of COVID-19 risk communication. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04859699. Registered on April 26, 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the exploitation of deep-water gas fields, the complex deep-water environment conditions result in extremely harsh requirements for the tubing selection. In this paper, the authors studied the selection of tubing in a deep-water gas field. Based on the specific practices in the deep-water gas reservoir A, they suggested the algorithm of the size selection and material selection of tubing. Assuming the flow pressure at the wellhead is 7.5 MPa, the optimized size of the tubing is selected from the most commonly used tubing sizes 5-1/2", 7", and 9-5/8". The selection of the tubing size is determined by the comprehensive analysis of the tubing sensitivity, liquid-carrying capacity, and fluid erosion rate. Based on the analysis results, as well as the safety and economy issues, the 7" tubing size is regarded as the most suitable. The selection of the tubing material is determined by the analysis of the gas composition in the reservoir, the formation water characteristics, and the acid gas corrosion. The safety of the selected tubing material and the final strength of the optimized tubing are verified by the WellCat software. The results show that the strength of the 13Cr L80 tubing is satisfactory to meet the requirements for operations in the initial gas reservoir stage, the production stage, the well shut-in stage, the well killing stage, and for tubing leak situations under the conditions of different water-gas ratios. In this paper, the selection principles of the tubing size and material are summarized. The conclusions may be vitally important for improving the production safety and efficiency of the tubing, which is important in promoting the development of production technologies in the deep-water oil and gas reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attributed graph embedding aims to learn node representation based on the graph topology and node attributes. The current mainstream GNN-based methods learn the representation of the target node by aggregating the attributes of its neighbor nodes. These methods still face two challenges: (1) In the neighborhood aggregation procedure, the attributes of each node would be propagated to its neighborhoods which may cause disturbance to the original attributes of the target node and cause over-smoothing in GNN iteration. (2) Because the representation of the target node is derived from the attributes and topology of its neighbors, the attributes and topological information of each neighbor have different effects on the representation of the target node. However, this different contribution has not been considered by the existing GNN-based methods. In this paper, we propose a novel GNN model named API-GNN (Attribute Preserving Oriented Interactive Graph Neural Network). API-GNN can not only reduce the disturbance of neighborhood aggregation to the original attribute of target node, but also explicitly model the different impacts of attribute and topology on node representation. We conduct experiments on six public real-world datasets to validate API-GNN on node classification and link prediction. Experimental results show that our model outperforms several strong baselines over various graph datasets on multiple graph analysis tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA methylation affects gene expression and maintains genome integrity. The DNA-dependent RNA polymerase IV (Pol IV), together with the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase RDR2, produces double-stranded small interfering RNA precursors essential for establishing and maintaining DNA methylation in plants. We determined the cryo–electron microscopy structures of the Pol IV–RDR2 holoenzyme and the backtracked transcription elongation complex. These structures reveal that Pol IV and RDR2 form a complex with their active sites connected by an interpolymerase channel, through which the Pol IV– generated transcript is handed over to the RDR2 active site after being backtracked, where it is used as the template for double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) synthesis. Our results describe a ‘backtracking-triggered RNA channeling’ mechanism underlying dsRNA synthesis and also shed light on the evolutionary trajectory of eukaryotic RNA polymerases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic networks are popularly used to describe networks that change with time. Although there have been a large number of research works on understanding dynamic networks using link prediction, node classification and community detection, there is rare work that is specially designed to address the challenge of big network size of dynamic networks. To this end, we study in this paper an emerging and challenging problem of network coarsening in dynamic networks. Network coarsening refers to a class of network "zoom-out" operations where node pairs and edges are grouped together for efficient analysis on big networks. However, existing network coarsening approaches can only handle static networks where network structure weights have been predefined before the coarsening calculation. Under the observation that big networks are highly dynamic and naturally change over time, we consider in this paper to embed information diffusion data which reflect the dynamics of networks for network coarsening. Specifically, we present a new Semi-NetCoarsen approach that jointly maximizes the likelihood of observing the information diffusion data and minimizes the network regularization with respect to the predefined network structural data. The learning function is convex and we use the accelerated proximal gradient algorithm to obtain the global optimal solution. We conduct experiments on two synthetic and five real-world data sets to validate the performance of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although adiponectin −11377CG gene polymorphism is implied to be associated with increased type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) risk, results of individual studies are inconsistent. Objective and Methods: A meta-analysis consisting of 12 individual studies, including a total of 6425 participants, was carried out in order to investigate the association of adiponectin −11377CG gene polymorphism with T2DM. The pooled odds ratio (OR) and its corresponding confidence interval (CI) at 95% were assessed through the random- or fixed- effect model. Results: A significant relationship was observed between adiponectin −11377CG gene polymorphism and T2DM under allelic (OR: 1.150, 95% CI: 1.060 to 1.250, P = 0.001), recessive (OR: 1.450, 95% CI: 1.180–1.770, P = 0.0004), dominant (OR: 1.071, 95% CI: 1.013–1.131, P = 0.015), additive (OR: 1.280, 95% CI: 1.090–1.510, P = 0.002), and homozygous genetic models (OR: 1.620, 95% CI: 1.310–1.990, P<0.00001). No significant association was found between them under the heterozygous genetic model (OR: 1.640, 95% CI: 0.850–3.170, P = 0.140). Conclusions: Adiponectin −11377CG gene polymorphism was significantly associated with T2DM risk susceptibility. G allele carriers are predisposed to T2DM risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Being outdoors may have health benefits including being more physically active. Understanding the relationship between outdoor time and health is hampered by the difficulty of measuring outdoor time. Purpose: To examine the accuracy and validity of light-sensor and GPS methods for quantifying outdoor time among those aged 3–5 years at child care. Methods: A total of 45 children (mean age 4.5 years, 64% boys) from five child care centers wore portable accelerometers with built-in light sensors and a separate GPS device around their waists during child care, providing 80,648 episodes (15 seconds each) for analysis. Direct observation (gold standard) of children being outdoors versus indoors was conducted for 2 days at each center. GPS signal-to-noise ratios, processed through the Personal Activity and Location Measurement System were used to define indoor versus outdoor locations. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were used to determine thresholds for defining being indoors versus outdoors. Data were collected in Fall 2011, analyzed in 2012. Results: Mean observed outdoor time was 63 [±44; range: 18–152] minutes/day. Mean light-sensor levels were significantly higher outdoors. The area under the ROC curve for location based on light sensor for all weather conditions was 0.82 (range: 0.70 on partly cloudy days to 0.97 on sunny days); for GPS, it was 0.89. The light sensor had a sensitivity of 74% and specificity of 86%. GPS had a sensitivity of 82% and specificity of 88%. Conclusions: A light sensor and a GPS device both distinguish indoor from outdoor time for preschoolers with moderate to high levels of accuracy. These devices can increase the feasibility and lower the cost of measuring outdoor time in studies of preschool children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Superoxide dismutases (SODs) are metalloenzymes that represent one important line of defense against reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this paper, two novel SOD genes, MdSOD1 and MdSOD2, which putatively encode 261 and 214 amino acid residues respectively were identified and characterized from the housefly Musca domestica. The high similarity of MdSOD1 and MdSOD2 with SODs from other organisms indicated that they should be two new members of the SOD family. qPCR exhibited a universal expression of MdSOD1 and MdSOD2 detected in various tissues of housefly larva, including the fat body, gut, hemocyte and epidermis. Expression profiling reveals that MdSOD1 and MdSOD2 can be induced significantly via not only heat shock and cadmium (Cd) stress but also Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus challenge. The two genes were cloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pET-28a to obtain the fusion proteins rMdSOD1 and rMdSOD2. Between them, the activity of rMdSOD2 was found by visual assay methods. ESI-LC–MS/MS analysis showed that three peptide fragments of the protein rMdSOD2 were identical to the corresponding sequence of M. domestica MdSOD2. MdSOD1 and MdSOD2 in housefly larvae were abrogated by feeding bacteria expressing dsRNA. High mortalities were observed in the larvae treated with dsRNA of SODs at heat shock, Cd stress and bacterial invasion. This phenomenon indicated that MdSOD1 and MdSOD2 are related to the survival of M. domestica under stress. This may provide new insights into the role of the two SOD genes in protecting M. domestica against both stress and bacterial invasion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Purpose: The Internet is a promising tool for delivering health behavior change programs although such interventions raise questions about participant engagement in this medium. In this study we sought to determine the characteristics of parents who engage in an Internet-based health intervention for their children (with asthma) and to distinguish parents who engage at the prescribed intervals versus those who engage less often. Methods: N =283 parents with children who had asthma were recruited and randomized to receive a web-based intervention. Participants filled out six surveys over a 6-month period asking them about demographic and clinical characteristics, outcome expectations and self-efficacy beliefs regarding asthma control for their child, and attitudes about computers and the Internet. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the population and analyze associations. Results: Controller use and being adherent to this medication as well as positive outcome and self efficacy expectations were associated with increased engagement. Parents who logged on only once reported significantly less frequent use of the Internet than parents who logged on to all sessions. Discussion and conclusion: The results of this study suggest that it is important to find ways to increase engagement in a web-based intervention for parents who are not yet engaging in the recommended behaviors and/or who report less positive outcome and efficacy expectations around asthma management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose: To improve the performance of a computer-aided detection (CAD) system for mass detection by using four-view information in screening mammography. Methods: The authors developed a four-view CAD system that emulates radiologists' reading by using the craniocaudal and mediolateral oblique views of the ipsilateral breast to reduce false positives (FPs) and the corresponding views of the contralateral breast to detect asymmetry. The CAD system consists of four major components: (1) Initial detection of breast masses on individual views, (2) information fusion of the ipsilateral views of the breast (referred to as two-view analysis), (3) information fusion of the corresponding views of the contralateral breast (referred to as bilateral analysis), and (4) fusion of the four-view information with a decision tree. The authors collected two data sets for training and testing of the CAD system: A mass set containing 389 patients with 389 biopsy-proven masses and a normal set containing 200 normal subjects. All cases had four-view mammograms. The true locations of the masses on the mammograms were identified by an experienced MQSA radiologist. The authors randomly divided the mass set into two independent sets for cross validation training and testing. The overall test performance was assessed by averaging the free response receiver operating characteristic (FROC) curves of the two test subsets. The FP rates during the FROC analysis were estimated by using the normal set only. The jackknife free-response ROC (JAFROC) method was used to estimate the statistical significance of the difference between the test FROC curves obtained with the single-view and the four-view CAD systems. Results: Using the single-view CAD system, the breast-based test sensitivities were 58% and 77% at the FP rates of 0.5 and 1.0 per image, respectively. With the four-view CAD system, the breast-based test sensitivities were improved to 76% and 87% at the corresponding FP rates, respectively. The improvement was found to be statistically significant (p<0.0001) by JAFROC analysis. Conclusions: The four-view information fusion approach that emulates radiologists' reading strategy significantly improves the performance of breast mass detection of the CAD system in comparison with the single-view approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • BCFZY and Ni doped BCFZY cathodes are synthetized. • Ni doped BCFZY improves the oxygen ion and proton conductivity of the cathode. • BCFZYN has a good thermal stability and a reduced thermal expansion coefficient. • Ni doping enhances the ORR activity in both O-SOFCs and PCFCs. • BCFZYN exhibits a prominent stability in both symmetrical cell and single cell test. To develop a cathode with excellent oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity and durability at intermediate-to-low temperatures is significant to boost the advancement of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), a fascinating energy conversion technology with low emissions and high efficiency. Perovskite oxides have been extensively developed as cathodes, and doping is an important strategy to alter the lattice diffusion and surface exchange properties of perovskites, to tailor catalytic performances for various redox reactions, including ORR for SOFCs. The reported BaCo 0.4 Fe 0.4 Zr 0.1 Y 0.1 O 3-δ (BCFZY) is a promising cathode for SOFCs. Herein, to further improve the performance of BCFZY at reduced temperatures, we systematically investigate the partial doping of B-sites with different metal elements, including Mn, Ni, Cu and Zn at a fixed content of 5%. Among them, it is found that Ba(Co 0.4 Fe 0.4 Zr 0.1 Y 0.1) 0.95 Ni 0.05 O 3-δ (BCFZYN) exhibits the lowest polarization impedance in both oxygen ion and proton conducting fuel cells. Based on conductivity relaxation experiments and oxygen and hydrogen permeation tests, it is found that nickel doping improves oxygen mobility, surface exchange kinetics, and bulk oxygen ion and proton conductivity. Thereby, a high ORR activity on oxygen ion and proton conducting electrolytes is achieved, reaching 0.038 and 0.607 Ω cm2 at 550 °C, respectively. The cells with the BCFZYN electrode show outstanding operational stability (200 h of operation in a symmetrical cell and 1000 h of operation in a single cell). This suggests that the BCFZYN is a promising cathode of next-generation SOFCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abundant well-preserved shelly fossils of Sinotubulites occur in the upper part of the late Neoproterozoic Dengying Formation in Ningqiang County, Shaanxi Province, China. Unlike ‘funnel-in-funnel’ structures of co-occurring Cloudina shells, the tube of Sinotubulites is nearly cylindrical, composed of several thin layers and characterized by ‘tube-in-tube’ structure. The tube bears prominent longitudinal sculptures and/or irregular annulations, which were formed by the wrinkles of tube layers, and weaken gradually towards the inner layers. The irregular wrinkle ornament of the outer layer shows plastic feature of the Sinotubulites tubes, which may further imply that the organisms secrete the elastic and flexible organic-dominated walls with mineralization, possibly aragonitic. Detailed thin section and SEM studies indicate that the silicification occurred earlier than phosphatation. Specimens preserved in situ from Hubei and surface ornamentation and polygonal shape of the cross-section suggest that Sinotubulites probably lived as an epibenthos lying on the sea floor. Aragonitic tube, Ediacaran, Shaanxi. China, Sinotubulites , tube structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate a p-polarized plane wave transmitted through a metallic slit--bump nanostructure using the finite difference time domain simulation. It is found that narrow bumps with suitable separation can diffract surface plasmons into highly directional collimating beams. The number and directionality of the beams can be controlled by adjusting the geometry parameters of the nanostructure. The structure with optimized parameters may be interesting for practical applications as directional nanoslit SPP-light coupler in integrated photonic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]