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Objective: This study aimed to determine the associations among menopausal status, menopausal symptoms, and depressive symptoms in midlife women in Hunan, China.Methods: A secondary analysis involving 3199 women aged 40-55 years was performed based on data from the Women Health Needs Survey 2018 in Hunan Province, central south China. The depressive symptoms were determined using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire. The menopausal symptoms were assessed using the Kupperman Menopausal Index. Demographic characteristics and menopausal status were measured using self-administered questionnaires.Results: The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 19.3%. The three most common menopausal symptoms were insomnia (48.0%), fatigue (42.7%), and mood swing (39.8%). The increase in depressive symptoms was significantly associated with menopausal status and menopausal symptoms. After controlling for demographic variables, multivariate logistic regression showed that menopausal transition (odds ratio [OR] = 1.14, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 1.12-1.86), postmenopause (OR =1.52, 95% CI = 1.09-2.11), and four menopausal symptoms including mood swing (OR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.03-1.70), depressive mood (OR = 2.28, 95% CI = 1.79-2.91), palpitations (OR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.06-1.77), and urinary tract infection (OR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.16-1.92) were associated with depressive symptoms.Conclusions: Independent of demographic variables, menopausal transition, postmenopause, and four menopausal symptoms (mood swing, depressive mood, palpitations, and urinary tract infection) increase the risk of depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most recent version of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Clinical Practice Guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was published in 2018, and covered the diagnosis, management, treatment and follow-up of early, intermediate and advanced disease. At the ESMO Asia Meeting in November 2018 it was decided by both the ESMO and the Taiwan Oncology Society (TOS) to convene a special guidelines meeting immediately after the Taiwan Joint Cancer Conference (TJCC) in May 2019 in Taipei. The aim was to adapt the ESMO 2018 guidelines to take into account both the ethnic and the geographic differences in practice associated with the treatment of HCC in Asian patients. These guidelines represent the consensus opinions reached by experts in the treatment of patients with intermediate and advanced/relapsed HCC representing the oncology societies of Taiwan (TOS), China (CSCO), India (ISMPO) Japan (JSMO), Korea (KSMO), Malaysia (MOS) and Singapore (SSO). The voting was based on scientific evidence, and was independent of the current treatment practices, the drug availability and reimbursement situations in the individual participating Asian countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the structure‐activity relationship of catalytic reactions at a molecular level still remains a great challenge. Herein, shell‐isolated nanoparticle‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SHINERS) is employed to in‐situ study the catalytic hydrogenation of para‐nitrothiophenol (pNTP) on Pt‐based nanocatalysts with different size and composition. The nanocatalysts are assembled on pinhole‐free shell‐isolate nanoparticles (SHINs), which work as Raman amplifiers to enhance the Raman signals of species on the catalysts, allowing the in‐situ monitoring of catalytic reactions carried out on the catalysts. Using this strategy, we find that the catalytic activity of the Pt nanocatalysts shows a volcanic trend with the Pt size, and that PtM (M=Ni or Cu) bimetallic nanocatalysts display much higher performance compared with Pt due to better activation of the nitro group. This work demonstrates that SHINERS is a promising technique for in‐situ study of nanocatalysis thus can deepen the understanding of the behaviors of different catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fibre Bragg grating feedback fibre laser with both Raman and erbium-doped fibre pumps is proposed. Dual-wavelength switching is achieved by controlling the power of the Raman pump. The characteristics of the dual-wavelength switching are studied experimentally, and the mechanism is explained physically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To quantitatively characterize the dosimetric effects of long on-couch time of adaptive radiotherapy for prostate cancer patients on 1.5-T MR-Linac. Seventeen patients consecutively treated with ultra-hypofractionated radiotherapy (UHF-RT) on 1.5-T MR-Linac were recruited from an on-going prospective phase II trial (NCT05183074). UHF-RT with dose of 36.25Gy in 5 fractions to whole prostate w/o seminal vesicles (SVs) (N=12) was delivered every other day, with a boost dose of 40Gy to whole prostate (CTV4000, N=16). Except the Pre-MR for registration and re-contouring and Position Verification-MR (PV-MR) for dose/position check which were conventionally used in Adapt-To-Shape (ATS) workflow, we also collected 3D-MR during beam-on phase (Bn-MR) and after RT (Post-MR). For each fraction, the contours of targets and organs-at-risk (OARs) on PV-MR, Bn-MR and Post-MR were projected from the Pre-MR by deformable registration, and manually adapted by the physician, followed by dose-recalculation of the ATS plan. The dose parameters of target volumes and OARs on each scan were generated in a commercially available software for final analysis. In total, 290 MR-scans were collected, including 85 Pre-MR, 85 PV-MR, 49 Bn-MR and 71 Post-MR scans, respectively. For each fraction, the volume differences of prostate and CTV on different scans were less than 3.0cc, indicating good alignment of target contouring. With median 49 (24-78) minutes of on-couch time, the mean PTV-V95% (34.4Gy) of plans on PV-MR, Bn-MR and Post-MR was 97.69±2.03%, 97.04±2.29%, and 96.82±2.59%, respectively, compared with 99.27±0.75% of ATS plan. Furthermore, the mean CTV-V100% (36.25Gy) of plans on PV-MR, Bn-MR and Post-MR was 99.32±1.20%, 98.59±1.84% and 98.65±1.87, respectively, compared with 99.93±0.30% of ATS plan. With excellent dose coverage of prostate-V100% (36.25Gy) (99.73±0.79% on PV-MR, 99.41±1.35% on Bn-MR and 99.38±1.35% on post-MR), the main reason of lower CTV-V100% was due to mild underdose of SVs (96.97±6.26% on PV-MR, 93.62±12.94% on Bn-MR and 94.69±9.22% on post-MR). With comparison to values of ATS plan, the actual dose of rectum wall during the whole workflow also varied, with mean △V38 Gy of 0.23±0.28cc on PV-MR, 0.41±0.51cc on Bn-MR and 0.39±0.52cc on post-MR, with mean △V36 Gy of 0.27±0.57cc on PV-MR, 0.39±0.71cc on Bn-MR and 0.30±0.68cc on post-MR, respectively. However, the V29 Gy of rectum wall increased by >15% was only observed in one scan. On the contrary, no obvious increase of bladder wall dose was seen due to gradual growth of bladder over the workflow. This dosimetry analysis demonstrated reliable dose coverage of target volumes during beam-on period with adaptive ATS workflow on 1.5-T MR-Linac. The 3 mm CTV-PTV margin applied in our study have proven to be large enough for prostate irradiation, but might be insufficient for SVs incidentally. More attention should be paid to restrict the rectum wall high dose when optimizing ATS plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey of C2H N = 1 − 0 and N2H+J = 1 − 0 toward Planck Galactic cold clumps (PGCCs) was performed using the Purple Mountain Observatory's 13.7 m telescope. C2H and N2H+ were chosen to study the chemical evolutionary states of PGCCs. Among 121 observed molecular cores associated with PGCCs, 71 and 58 are detected with C2H N = 1 − 0 and N2H+J = 1 − 0, respectively. The detected lines of most sources can be fitted with a single component with compatible VLSR and line widths, which confirms that these PGCC cores are very cold (with gas temperatures 9–21 K) and quiescent while still dominanted by turbulence. The ratio between the column densities of C2H and N2H+ (N(C2H)/N(N2H+)) is found to be a good tracer for the evolutionary states of PGCC cores. Gas-grain chemical model can reproduce the decreasing trend of N(C2H)/N(N2H+) as a function of time. The cores with the lowest abundances of N2H+ (X[N2H+] < 10−10) are the youngest, and have nearly constant abundances of C2H. In evolved cores with X[N2H+] ~10−9, abundances of C2H drop quickly as the exhaustion of carbon atoms. Although these PGCC cores are in different evolutionary states, they are all quite young (< 5 × 105 yr) with N(C2H) > N(N2H+). Mapping observations are carried out toward 20 PGCC cores. The PGCC cores in Cepheus have lower N(C2H)/N(N2H+) and larger line widths compared with those in Taurus. This implies that PGCC cores in Taurus are less chemically evolved than those in Cepheus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor radial X-ray camera is designed to measure the poloidal profile of the plasma X-ray emission with high spatial and temporal resolutions and will be installed inside equatorial port 12. Due to the harsh environment of neutron and gamma radiations, nuclear radiation hardness of many components has to be considered in design and test, including silicon detector array, electronics, and cabling. As for electronics put in a port cell, a preliminary design of highly integrated preamplifier and program controllable mid-amplifier has been completed, and many tests have been done to investigate the radiation hardness performance of the amplifiers together with detectors. In the Cf-252 neutron test with flux of $\sim 2.23\times 10^{3}\,\,\text {n}\cdot \text {cm}^{-2}\cdot \text {s}^{-1}$ and fluence greater than $1.0\times 10^{10}\,\,\text {n}\cdot \text {cm}^{-2}$ , there was no performance degradation in detector and preamplifier. In the Co-60 gamma test with a dose rate of $0.5\,\,\text {Gy}\cdot \text {min}^{-1}$ and an accumulated dose of 200 Gy, the performance change was not found in preamplifier and mid-amplifier except for some radiation damage to the power module in the board of preamplifier. In the following accelerator neutron test where the neutron flux is $\sim 5\times 10^{7}\,\,\text {n}\cdot \text {cm}^{-2}\cdot \text {s}^{-1}$ and neutron fluence is $2\times 10^{12}\,\,\text {n}\cdot \text {cm}^{-2}$ , the functional problem was not found in preamplifier and cable, while there were occurrences of single-event effect in mid-amplifier. The detector underwent 10% decrease of sensitivity to visible light. In addition, shielding cabinet was designed to provide good protection for electronics inside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The probiotic effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain CF (Chen Fu) on growth performance, meat quality, and microenvironment in specific pathogen-free (SPF) chickens were investigated and compared with Enterococcus faecium. One-hundredeighty 7-day-old SPF chickens were randomly assigned into 3 groups with 3 replicate pens of 20 chickens each. Group 1 served as a control that was fed a basal diet without probiotics supplementation. Groups 2 and 3 were fed the basal diet supplemented with L. rhamnosus CF and E. faecium, respectively. On d 12 and 24, BW, ADG, feed conversion ratio (FCR), dressing percentage (DP), and apparent digestibility of crude protein (AD-CP) were calculated. Meat color, fat content, shear force, water content, and pH value of breast and thigh muscles; ammonia, urea nitrogen, and uric acid content in plasma; pH value, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, and E. coli in ceca; and ammonia emission were determined. Compared with group 1, group 2 exhibited higher BW, ADG, AD-CP, DP, cecal Lactobacilli, and muscle fat content (P<0.05) as well as lower FCR, muscle water content, plasma ammonia, pH value, E. coli, and Enterococcus in ceca, and ammonia emission (P<0.05), and group 3 exhibited higher BW, ADG, AD-CP, DP, and muscle fat content (P<0.05), as well as lower FCR, meat color, plasma ammonia, E. coli and Enterococcus in ceca, and ammonia emission (d 24) (P<0.05). Compared with group 3, group 2 exhibited lower plasma ammonia level, E. coli, and pH value in ceca and ammonia emission (P<0.05) and higher AD-CP, meat color, pH value in thigh muscles, fat content in breast muscles, and number of Lactobacillus in ceca (P<0.05). Thus, L. rhamnosus CF improves growth performance, meat quality, and microenvironment and is a potential probiotic additive in chickens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preliminary design of ITER Radial X-ray Camera (RXC) has been finished. The structure design is optimized and installation process is studied considering the simplification and easiness of maintenance. Remote handling procedures are designed for the system maintenance after being activated. For detector cooling against high environment temperature which can be up to 240°, a dedicated gas cooling system using heat exchanger is designed. The structure analysis indicates that the stresses and displacements of most of the components under load combinations are within the allowable limits and no Safety Important Component (SIC) boundary is damaged. Through putting B4C material in the front part of DSM and around detectors for neutron shielding, the detectors are expected to survive the whole D–D phase. As for electronics, preliminary design of highly integrated pre-amplifier and program controllable mid-amplifier has been completed, both with bandwidth greater than 100 kHz to meet time resolution requirement of 20 kHz. To protect the electronics from intensive neutron and gamma irradiation, shielding cabinet capable of attenuating neutron flux down to 0.0001 and gamma dose 0.01 is designed. Besides, many R&D has been done to support the design. The tests of pre-amplifier and mid-amplifier indicated the electronics had no functional problem when debugging together and generally passed preliminary ElectroMagnetic Compatibility (EMC) test and nuclear test. The highly-integrated compact pre-amplifier has been used in EAST and proved useful. To test the feasibility of dedicated gas cooling system for detectors, a cooling test platform was built and preliminary cooling test has been done, indicating that during 250°baking the detector temperature is promising to be cooled down to the detector temperature limit of 75°. To increase signal to noise ratio, large area detector with dark current less than 2nA has been manufactured and worked steadily in EAST experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. The two hot molecular cores Sgr B2(M) and Sgr B2(N), which are located at the center of the giant molecular cloud complex Sagittarius B2, have been the targets of numerous spectral line surveys, revealing a rich and complex chemistry. Aims. We seek to characterize the physical and chemical structure of the two high-mass star-forming sites SgrB2(M) and SgrB2(N) using high-angular resolution observations at millimeter wavelengths, reaching spatial scales of about 4000 au. Methods. We used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to perform an unbiased spectral line survey of both regions in the ALMA band 6 with a frequency coverage from 211 GHz to 275 GHz. The achieved angular resolution is 0'.'4, which probes spatial scales of about 4000 au, i.e., able to resolve different cores and fragments. In order to determine the continuum emission in these line-rich sources, we used a new statistical method, STATCONT, which has been applied successfully to this and other ALMA datasets and to synthetic observations. Results. We detect 27 continuum sources in SgrB2(M) and 20 sources in SgrB2(N). We study the continuum emission variation across the ALMA band 6 (i.e., spectral index) and compare the ALMA 1.3 mm continuum emission with previous SMA 345 GHz and VLA 40 GHz observations to study the nature of the sources detected. The brightest sources are dominated by (partially optically thick) dust emission, while there is an important degree of contamination from ionized gas free-free emission in weaker sources. While the total mass in SgrB2(M) is distributed in many fragments, most of the mass in SgrB2(N) arises from a single object, with filamentary-like structures converging toward the center. There seems to be a lack of low-mass dense cores in both regions. We determine H2 volume densities for the cores of about 107-109 cm-3 (or 105-107 Mʘ pc-3), i.e., one to two orders of magnitude higher than the stellar densities of super star clusters. We perform a statistical study of the chemical content of the identified sources. In general, SgrB2(N) is chemically richer than SgrB2(M). The chemically richest sources have about 100 lines per GHz and the fraction of luminosity contained in spectral lines at millimeter wavelengths with respect to the total luminosity is about 20%-40%. There seems to be a correlation between the chemical richness and the mass of the fragments, where more massive clumps are more chemically rich. Both SgrB2(N) and SgrB2(M) harbor a cluster of hot molecular cores. We compare the continuum images with predictions from a detailed 3D radiative transfer model that reproduces the structure of Sgr B2 from 45 pc down to 100 au. Conclusions. This ALMA dataset, together with other ongoing observational projects in the range 5 GHz to 200 GHz, better constrain the 3D structure of Sgr B2 and allow us to understand its physical and chemical structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 17 papers in this special section focus on integrated optimization of industrial automation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a stabilized theory to address the breakdown or inaccuracy issue for low-frequency (LF) characteristic mode analysis (CMA). At LFs, to properly preserve the governing quasi-static circuit physics, the eigenvalue decomposition technique is leveraged to formulate a stabilized eigenvalue problem regarding low-order CMs, which dominate the scattering, radiation, and energy storage properties of arbitrarily shaped conducting bodies. Several efficient schemes are introduced for the computation of the low-order CMs in the LF regime, including the augmented electric-field integral equation, the potential ( \mathbf A - $\Phi$ )-based integral equation, and the Calderón multiplicative preconditioner. The LF stabilized CMA enables one to understand and interpret the behaviors of complicated conducting objects with a reduced “modal” representation at LFs, which offers an insightful tool for reduced order modeling in circuit design and analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

One hundred and fifty 7-day-old Arbor Acres broilers were randomly assigned into five groups: group 1 served as a control that was fed a basal diet without selenium (Se) supplementation; groups 2, 3 and 4 were fed the basal diet supplemented with 0.15, 0.5 and 1.5 mg Se as Se-enriched Saccharomyces cerevisiae ( SSC) per kg of diet; and group 5 was fed the basal diet supplemented with 0.15 mg per kg of Se as sodium selenite ( SS). Growth performance, glutathione peroxidase ( GPX) and superoxide dismutase ( SOD) activities, total antioxidant capacity (T- AOC), and malondialdehyde ( MDA) content in plasma and liver, and cellular glutathione peroxidase ( GPX-1) and phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase ( GPX-4) mRNA levels in liver were determined. Compared with group 1, groups 2-4 exhibited higher body weights (p < 0.05), lower feed/gain ratios, and higher GPX activities in plasma (p < 0.05) and GPX and SOD activities and GPX-1 and GPX-4 mRNA levels in liver (p < 0.05). Compared with group 5, group 2 exhibited higher GPX activity in plasma on day 21 (p < 0.05). Compared with group 2 and 5, group 3 exhibited lower MDA content in plasma on day 7 (p < 0.05), higher GPX activity in plasma, SOD activity and GPX-1 mRNA levels in liver on day 14 and 21 (p < 0.05), and higher GPX-4 mRNA levels on day 14 (p < 0.05). Compared with group 4, group 3 exhibited lower MDA contents in plasma on day 14 (p < 0.05) and in liver on day 21 (p < 0.05), higher T- AOC in plasma and higher GPX-1 mRNA levels on day 14 and 21 (p < 0.05), and higher SOD activity in plasma and higher SOD and GPX activities in liver on day 21 (p < 0.05). Thus, SSC improves growth and antioxidant status of broilers; the short-term bioavailability of SS was faster than that of SSC, but the long-term bioavailability of SSC was greater than SS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Tumour necrosis factor ( TNF)-like weak inducer of apoptosis ( TWEAK) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine, which is closely associated with the pathogenesis of various types of cutaneous vasculitis ( CV). Aim To investigate the therapeutic effects of an anti- TWEAK monoclonal antibody ( mAb) in a mouse model of cutaneous reverse passive Arthus ( RPA) reaction. Methods Cutaneous RPA reaction was induced in BALB/c mice by intradermal injection of anti-ovalbumin IgG into the left ear followed immediately by intravenous injection of chicken ovalbumin. After treatment, haemorrhagic lesions in the mouse skin were scored semiquantitatively. The amount of extravasated fluorescein isothiocyanate ( FITC)-labelled bovine serum albumin ( BSA) in the ears was detected spectrophotometrically. Expression of myeloperoxidase ( MPO) was detected by immunohistochemical staining, while mRNA expression of TNF-α and interleukin ( IL)-6 in lesional skin was detected by real-time quantitative (q) PCR. Results Our results indicated that anti- TWEAK mAb significantly attenuated the clinical and histopathological changes in immune complex ( IC)-induced mice, and also reduced the semiquantitative haemorrhage score, FITC-labelled BSA extravasation and MPO activity. Real-time qPCR showed that anti- TWEAK mAb significantly inhibited mRNA expression of TNF-α and IL-6 in lesional skin from IC-induced mice. Conclusion These data suggest that anti- TWEAK mAb can block vascular damage and leucocyte infiltration in IC-induced mice. TWEAK might be a candidate immunotherapeutic medicine for suppression of IC-induced CV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we outline the design, development and application of a hospital patient flow management support tool – Hospital Event Simulation Model: Arrivals to Discharge (HESMAD). The model captures the patterns of patient flows within Flinders Medical Centre, a teaching hospital located in South Australia, through extensive exploitation of an existing hospital patient journey database (PJD). HESMAD employs mathematical and statistical modelling techniques, as well as the concept of modular design, to construct functions and processes that are embedded in a discrete event simulation system. The current structure of HESMAD reflects many iterations of refinements based on feedback from relevant industry experts. It places great emphasis on providing an engaging visualisation of the dynamics of events, and a convenient interface for domain experts: doctors, hospital managers and other health care professionals. An illustrative example of HESMAD’s wider applicability is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pyrolysis kinetics of invasive plantSpartina anglicabiomass was investigated via a thermogravimetric (TG) analyzer from 50 to 800°C in an inert argon atmosphere at different heating rates of 5–30°C/min, and the kinetic parameters were deduced by Starink and master-plots methods. The results showed that three stages appeared in the thermal degradation process, and the mean value of activation energy was calculated to be 291.57 kJ/mol by the Starink method. It suggested that the most probable pyrolysis kinetic model wasg(α) = [−ln(1-α)]4deduced by the master-plots method, which meant a random nucleation and nuclei growth mechanism. These results provided fundamental useful information for describing the pyrolysis process, and the subsequent designing and running of a pyrolytic processing system usingS. anglicaas feedstock. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) in liver tumors has been a challenging treatment due to the diaphragm-induced motion. Optical surface monitoring system (OSMS) provides the functions of positioning and motion management, which has been widely used in recent years because it is non-ionizing, non-invasive and contactless. The purpose of this study was to explore the application of OSMS in liver metastasis patients. 33 liver metastasis SBRT patients, who were treated between August 2019 to September 2021, were divided into two groups. 14 patients in Group A were aligned using skin marking (1 anterior and 2 laterals). 19 patients in Group B were aligned near to the skin marking at the initial step. Next, the 'move couch' function on OSMS was applied if the patient's body rotations were less than 1 degrees according to the OSMS deltas value. The setup errors and setup time were recorded in both groups. Total of 88 and 106 CBCT images in group A and B were analyzed. The absolute setup errors for Groups A and B were (0.21 ± 0.15) cm, (0.37 ± 0.38) cm, (0.35 ± 0.33) cm, (0.8 ± 0.3), (1.2±0.5), (1.8 ± 0.7), and (0.04 ± 0.02) cm, (0.28 ± 0.13) cm, (0.03 ± 0.02) cm, (0.1 ± 0.2), (0.1 ± 0.2), and (0.3 ± 0.4) in vertical, longitudinal, lateral, rotation, pitch and roll directions respectively. Positioning accuracy in Group B is far superior to Group A especially in rotational directions. The difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). The average setup time was 2.8 minutes and 3.0 minutes for Group A and B. There was no significant difference in mean setup time. Setup time using OSMS was gradually improved as more experiences gained by the therapist. The study has proven that OSMS is an effective and efficient tool for liver metastasis patients. It can increase the setup accuracy and reduce repeated setup. Continuous real time monitoring is of high clinical value for liver tumor motion management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) is necessary in patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (LA-ESCC) who have not received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT). However, the optimal clinical target volume has under hot debate for decades. This clinical trial aims to estimate the optimal radiation volume of PORT for patients with LA-ESCC. Patients confirmed LA-ESCC (pT3-4N0-3M0) after esophagectomy without NCRT were randomly assigned to either large-field irradiation (LFI, primary lesion and lymph node tumor bed plus elective nodal irradiation) arm or small-field irradiation (SFI, primary lesion and lymph node tumor bed alone) arm with a ratio of 1:1, stratified by T stage and number of lymph node metastasis (LN<3 vs LN≥3). The primary endpoint was disease-free survival (DFS); secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS), adverse events and first failure patterns. The log-rank test was used to estimate the survival differences. The Chi-square test was used to compare adverse events and failure patterns between groups. In the intention-to-treat analysis, a total of 401 patients with LA-ESCC were randomly assigned to the LFI arm (n=210) and the SFI arm (n=191). With a median follow-up of 38.9 months, the DFS and OS rates of the whole population at 1-year and 3-year were 72.9% and 51.8%, 88.4% and 61.7%, respectively, which were close to patients who received NCRT. Patients in the two irradiation arms had similar DFS (LFI vs SFI, 46.6 vs 48.1 months; HR=0.92, 95% CI, 0.68-1.25; p=0.60). The difference of OS between the two arms did not reach significant (NR vs 73.5 months, HR=0.82, 95% CI, 0.59-1.14; p=0.26). The locoregional recurrence-free survival (HR=0.57, 95% CI 0.35-0.92; p=0.022) and the failure patterns (p=0.021) between two arms were significantly different. Locoregional failure occurred in 12.9% and 20.4% of patients in the LFI arm and SFI arm, respectively; The differences of distant diseases and distant metastasis-free survival of patients between the two arms had no significance. The most frequent toxicity was grade 2 esophagitis (LFI vs SFI, 22.9% vs 16.8%). Grade 3 acute adverse events occurred in 6.7% and 2.6% of patients in the LFI and SFI arms, respectively. No toxicity of grade 4 or 5 was recorded in this study. Both postoperative irradiation fields are alternatives for LA-ESCC patients without NCRT with the promising survival outcomes comparable to CROSS study. Patients in the LFI arm achieved better locoregional control with a safety profile consistent with the SFI arm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale characteristic mode analysis (CMA) poses challenges in computational electromagnetics as it calls for efficient solutions of large dense generalized eigenvalue problems. In this paper, we consider two applications that involve large-scale CMA, and demonstrate that fast multipole algorithms (FMAs) can be easily incorporated into the implicitly restarted Arnoldi method (IRAM) for eigenanalysis after simple modifications. The first application performs CMA for large platforms made by closed perfectly conducting surfaces. Multilevel FMA (MLFMA) is embedded into a combined field integral equation-based theory of characteristic mode (TCM). The second application addresses multiscale modeling of small but geometrically complicated objects, which possess fine subwavelength structures. An augmented electric field integral equation-based TCM is formulated, and low-frequency (LF-)FMA is adopted to accelerate the required matrix–vector products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several grasses are among the agricultural wastes generated annually in a large quantity during farming activities. In this study, thermogravimetric analysis was used to evaluate the fuel properties of a number of grasses, includingAeluropus sinensis, Conyza canadensis, Imperata cylindrica, andSetaria viridis. The pyrolysis behavior was also compared with the other biomasses. The thermal reaction systems fitted well with the distributed activation energy model and the global kinetic model and it is obvious that the values ofEandk0calculated by the distributed activation energy model were much higher than that of the global kinetic model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In order to study the effects of weaning ages on antioxidant capacities, total 24 piglets were randomly assigned to four treatments, with six replicates in each treatment with each piglet as a replicate. Piglets from different treatment groups were weaned at 14, 21, 28 and 35 ages, respectively, and slaughtered at the age of 42 days, blood and tissue samples of liver, kidney and lung tissue were obtained. Contents of Malondialdehyde (MDA) and activities of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) andcatalase (CAT) were determined. The results showed that plasma MDA levels of piglets weaned at 21, 28 and 35 days were significantly lower than those weaned at the age of 14 days (P<0.05). With the weaning age postponed, plasma T-SOD and GSH-Px activities in piglets increased gradually, where T-SOD and GSH-Px activities of piglets weaned at 28 and 35 days were significantly higher than those weaned at 14 days (P<0.05).Tissue MDA contents were affected by the weaning age, where liver(P<0.05), kidney(P<0.05) and lung(P<0.05) MDA contents weaned at 35 days were decreased in comparison with those weaned at 14 ages, respectively. The T-SOD and GSH-Px activities in the liver, kidney and lung tissues gradually increased with the delayed weaning ages. Activities of T-SOD (P<0.05) and GSH-Px(P<0.05) were higher in tissues of the piglets weaned at 35 ages than those weaned at 14 ages (P< 0.05). The CAT activities did not show significant differences in blood and tissues of liver, kidney and lung among each weaning groups. Those results indicated that the antioxidant function was markedly affected by weaning ages in piglets, and early weaning could decrease antioxidant capacity in piglets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimal reaction model for analysis of thermal decomposition of various types of biomasses is currently under debate. Four established models for the kinetic analysis ofPolygonum lapathifoliumwere employed in this study: double extrapolation method, Flynn–Wall–Ozawa method (FWO), distributed activation energy model (DAEM), and global kinetic model. The values of activation energy and frequency factor calculated by global kinetic model are much lower than that of the other three methods. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that the activation energy analyzed by FWO method and DAEM is widely distributed and is not directly related to the heating rates, which are more objective than double extrapolation method and global kinetic model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background A porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERV) isolate, PERV-A-BM, was isolated from a Guangxi Bama minipig in China. Methods To understand its genetic variation and evolution, the complete PERV-A-BM genome sequences were determined and compared with isolates from different Sus scrofa breeds and porcine cell lines. A total of 69 nucleotide substitutions were found in the full-length genome, including 26 non-synonymous mutations. Results Phylogenetic trees based on the complete genome sequence as well as the gag , pol, and env gene sequences from 21 PERV isolates demonstrated that the PERV-A-BM was closely related to the EF133960 isolate from Chinese Wuzhishan miniature pigs inbred in Hainan, China, and distantly related to strains isolated from European-born pigs. Conclusions The estimation of age in the proviral PERV-A-BM integrating into the host genome reveals that the age of PERV-A-BM is at least 8.3 × 10 6 years, an evolutionary time earlier than that of isolates from European-born pigs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore physical properties of Planck cold dust clumps, 674 of the pilot samples were observed at the 13.7 m telescope of Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO) in J = 1 - 0 transitions of CO, 13CO and C18O. HCO+, HCN and N2H+ emissions were also observed with PMO 13.7 m and IRAM 30 m telescopes. They are real cold and quiescent with mean Tk ~ 10 K and mean FWHM of 13CO (1-0) 1.27 km s-1. Column density ranges from 1020 to 1022 cm-2. Gas of the Planck clumps extends molecular space in the Milky Way. Turbulence dominates in cores. Filament structure is the majority and most of the cores are starless. Ten percent of the cores show asymmetric emission features including blue- and red- profiles. Planck clumps include different cold or low luminosity sources. Dense cores constitute an ideal sample for studying initial state of star formation while the diffuse clumps are suitable for investigating the formation of cores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation of high-mass stars is one of the major topics of astrophysical research, in particular the process of accretion from largescale clouds down to small-scale cores. We have selected the nearby, filamentary, high-mass star forming complex NGC6334 to study the gas velocity at different scales and probe the infall rates onto the protostellar cores embedded in the NGC6334-I and I(N) clusters. This study makes use of single-dish and interferometric submillimeter observations, complemented with 3D numerical non-LTE radiative transfer modeling. We measure a mass accretion rate of 10-5Mʘ yr-1 throughout the filament increasing up to 10-3Mʘ yr-1 towards the densest regions where high-mass stars are forming. At smaller scales, our 3D model is consistent with accretion rates of 10-3Mʘ yr-1 towards the clusters, and 10-4Mʘ yr-1 onto the protostars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present results from radiative transfer modeling of the continuum emission towards Sagittarius B2 (hereafter Sgr B2). We have developed a radiative transfer framework - Pandora - that employs RADMC-3D (Dullemond 2012) for a self-consistent determination of the dust temperature. With this pipeline, we have set-up a single model that consistently reproduces the thermal dust and freefree continuum emission of Sgr B2 spanning four orders of magnitude in spatial scales (0.02-45 pc) and two orders of magnitude in frequency (20-4000 GHz). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The efficacy and safety of axitinib, a potent and selective vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1-3 inhibitor, combined with best supportive care (BSC) was evaluated in a global, randomized, placebo-controlled phase II trial in patients with locally advanced or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients and methods: Patients with HCC and Child-Pugh Class A who progressed on or were intolerant to one prior antiangiogenic therapy were stratified by tumour invasion (presence/absence of extrahepatic spread and/or vascular invasion) and region (Asian/non-Asian) and randomized (2:1) to axitinib/BSC (starting dose 5 mg twice-daily) or placebo/ BSC. The primary end point was overall survival (OS). Results: The estimated hazard ratio for OS was 0.907 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.646-1.274; one-sided stratified P = 0.287] for axitinib/BSC (n = 134) versus placebo/BSC (n = 68), with the median (95% CI) of 12.7 (10.2-14.9) versus 9.7 (5.9-11.8) months, respectively. Results of prespecified subgroup analyses in Asian versus non-Asian patients or presence versus absence of tumour invasion were consistent with the overall population. Improvements favouring axitinib/ BSC (P < 0.01) were observed in secondary efficacy end point analyses [progression-free survival (PFS), time to tumour progression (TTP), and clinical benefit rate (CBR)], and were retained among Asian patients in the prespecified subgroup analyses. Overall response rate did not differ significantly between treatments and patient-reported outcomes favoured placebo/BSC. Most common all-causality adverse events with axitinib/BSC were diarrhoea (54%), hypertension (54%), and decreased appetite (47%). Baseline serum analyses identified potential new prognostic (interleukin-6, E-selectin, interleukin-8, angiopoietin-2, migration inhibitory factor, and c-MET) or predictive (E-selectin and stromalderived factor-1) factors for survival. Conclusions: Axitinib/BSC did not improve OS over placebo/BSC in the overall population or in stratification subgroups. However, axitinib/BSC resulted in significantly longer PFS and TTP and higher CBR, with acceptable toxicity in patients with advanced HCC. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01210495. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The phase III, randomized, open-label ENSURE study (NCT01342965) evaluated first-line erlotinib versus gemcitabine/cisplatin (GP) in patients from China, Malaysia and the Philippines with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients and methods: Patients ≥18 years old with histologically/cytologically confirmed stage IIIB/IV EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0-2 were randomized 1:1 to receive erlotinib (oral; 150 mg once daily until progression/unacceptable toxicity) or GP [G 1250 mg/m² i.v. days 1 and 8 (3-weekly cycle); P 75 mg/m² i.v. day 1, (3-weekly cycle) for up to four cycles]. Primary end point: investigator-assessed progression-free survival (PFS). Other end points include objective response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS), and safety. Results: A total of 217 patients were randomized: 110 to erlotinib and 107 to GP. Investigator-assessed median PFS was 11.0 months versus 5.5 months, erlotinib versus GP, respectively [hazard ratio (HR), 0.34, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.22-0.51; log-rank P < 0.0001]. Independent Review Committee-assessed median PFS was consistent (HR, 0.42). Median OS was 26.3 versus 25.5 months, erlotinib versus GP, respectively (HR, 0.91, 95% CI 0.63-1.31; log-rank P = .607). ORR was 62.7% for erlotinib and 33.6% for GP. Treatment-related serious adverse events (AEs) occurred in 2.7% versus 10.6% of erlotinib and GP patients, respectively. The most common grade ≥3 AEs were rash (6.4%) with erlotinib, and neutropenia (25.0%), leukopenia (14.4%), and anemia (12.5%) with GP. Conclusion: These analyses demonstrate that first-line erlotinib provides a statistically significant improvement in PFS versus GP in Asian patients with EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC (NCT01342965). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is caused by unpredictable adverse drug reaction due mainly to the accumulation of hepatotoxic compounds in the liver resulting in significant damage. Drug-metabolizing enzymes have been prime targets for molecular studies relevant to DILI. The gene UGT1A9 mainly expresses in the liver and has an important role in drug metabolism. The Han Chinese has a very long and complex demographic history, and the population stratification arising from the interplay of different geographic areas may influence the polymorphism pattern. We selected 260 healthy subjects in three different geographic areas (including Xian, Shanghai and Liuzhou) for systemic screening and analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter region of UGT1A9. Eight SNPs were identified and no regional disparity exists among the three populations. Based on these results, 213 DILI patients from all over the Chinese mainland were further recruited to investigate possible association between UGT1A9 and DILI. We observed statistically significant associations between SNP rs2741045 and DILI at both allele and genotype levels (allele: P=0.032; genotype: P=0.029; after Bonferroni correction). Also, multivariate interaction analysis discovered the interaction between rs2741045 and age associated with DILI significantly. This is the first such screening study to investigate the association between UGT1A9 promoter polymorphisms and DILI in the Chinese population and it could provide the basis for further study of DILI mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyanobacteria have developed various response mechanisms in long evolution to sense and adapt to external or internal changes under abiotic stresses. The signal transduction system of a model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 includes mainly two-component signal transduction systems of eukaryotic-type serine/threonine kinases (STKs), on which most have been investigated at present. These two-component systems play a major role in regulating cell activities in cyanobacteria. More and more co-regulation and crosstalk regulations among signal transduction systems had been discovered due to increasing experimental data, and they are of great importance in corresponding to abiotic stresses. However, mechanisms of their functions remain unknown. Nevertheless, the two signal transduction systems function as an integral network for adaption in different abiotic stresses. This review summarizes available knowledge on the signal transduction network in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and biotechnological implications under various stresses, with focuses on the co-regulation and crosstalk regulations among various stress-responding signal transduction systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a novel design of tri-axis gyroscope which consists of two diagonal-pendulum masses for lateral sensing, coupled with and enclosed in a traditional tuning fork driving frame. The diagonal-pendulums are driven to swing via tilted transforming beams as the driving frame oscillated in plane, and rotate around their torsional beam out-of-plane as orthogonal lateral angular rate applied. The symmetric arrangement of whole structure lowers mechanical complexity and the sensing way of 'one diagonal-pendulum for one lateral axis' eliminates sensing proof mass sharing which can effectively suppress the cross-talk effect. The prototype device has been successfully fabricated by using SOI-based bulk micromachining processes and vacuum packaged by Al-Ge eutectic bonding. The sensitivities for three axes are 4.83, 1.47 and 1.38 mV/(°/s), respectively, with nonlinearity of less 1 % and bandwidth of above 600 Hz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]