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To enhance the surface accuracy of laser metal direct forming pieces, a method applying femtosecond laser to fabricate the cladding sidewalls is proposed in this paper. The effects of laser fluence, scanning speed and scanning strategy on the processing accuracy are studied systematically. The experimental results show that when the laser fluence increases, the roughness of cladding sidewalls also increases. The roughness of the cladding sidewall is decreased firstly and then increased with the increasing scanning speed. When the laser fluence is between 0.12 and 0.34 J/ cm2, the roughness of cladding sidewall is less than 3 µm. What is more, under single scanning strategy the sidewalls roughness is less than that when back and forth scanning method is used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated uric acid (UA) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels in different clinical types of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and in relationship with the severity of coronary artery lesions. Furthermore, we explored its clinical significance. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From June 2013 to January 2015, we studied patients in their first onset of symptoms and hospitalization for coronary angiography. According to coronary angiography results, we divided patients into two groups: 93 patients with ACS and 30 patients with normal coronary arteries as the control group. ACS patients were divided further into three subgroups: patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) (n=34); patients with non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) (n=29); and patients with unstable angina (n=30). According to their Gensini scores, patients were divided into mild, moderate and severe groups. We compared UA and hs-CRP levels and the relationship with Gensini scores between different groups. RESULTS: UA and hs-CRP levels in the ACS group were higher than those in the control group (p < 0.05). UA and hs-CRP levels in the STEMI group were higher than those in the NSTEMI, unstable angina and control groups (p < 0.05). UA and hs-CRP levels in the NSTEMI patients were higher than those in the unstable angina and control groups (p < 0.05). UA and hs- CRP levels in the unstable angina patients were higher than those in the control group (p < 0.05). hs-CRP levels in the STEMI patients were higher than the other groups (p < 0.05). hs-CRP levels in the NSTEMI patients were higher than the unstable angina and the control groups (p < 0.05) while hs-CRP levels in the unstable angina patients were higher than the control group (p < 0.05). Additionally, according to the Gensini score group, we discovered that ACS patients in the severe group had higher hs-CRP levels than the other three groups (p < 0.05) while the moderate group had higher levels than the other two groups (p < 0.05). The mild group had higher levels than the control group (p < 0.05). Correlation analysis suggested that UA levels and Gensini scores had a positive correlation (p < 0.05). hs-CRP levels and Gensini scores also showed a positive correlation (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: UA and hs-CRP levels should be considered as factors to use in the risk stratification in ACS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phthalates adversely affect the male reproductive system in humans. Through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis, we investigated the residual profile and levels of 15 phthalates in 90 goat milk-based infant formulas from 15 commercial brands of 10 dairy enterprises located in Shaanxi Province, China. In general, dibutyl phthalate was the most detected phthalate, followed by bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, diisobutyl phthalate, and dimethyl phthalate; their geometric mean concentrations in the formulas were 38.1, 24.2, 16.6, and 8.7 μg/kg, respectively. Other phthalates were not detected in the investigated samples. No significant differences were found in the phthalate levels among different stages of infant formulas, even though the samples were packaged in different types of containers. These findings demonstrate that goat milk-based infant formulas may represent the main source of exposure to phthalates in infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To investigate long noncoding RNA PVT1 expression in the serum of cervical cancer patients, and to evaluate serum PVT1 level as a diagnostic biomarker for cervical cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eighty-eight cervical cancer patients, 64 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia patients, 25 breast cancer patients, 25 ovarian cancer patients, and 111 healthy control subjects were enrolled into this study. PVT1 serum level in these participants and PVT1 expression in 20 pairs of cervical cancer tissues and adjacent paired normal tissues was measured by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The diagnostic values of serum PVT1 were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curves analysis. RESULTS: Serum PVT1 level is significantly increased in cervical cancer patients and correlated with tumor size, clinical stage, and lymph node metastasis of cervical cancer. Serum PVT1 could accurately discriminate cervical cancer patients from cervical intraepithelial neoplasia patients and healthy control subjects, and also discriminate early stage cervical cancer patients from healthy control subjects. But serum PVT1 level is not changed in breast cancer and ovarian cancer patients. Furthermore, serum PVT1 level is positively correlated with tissue PVT1 expression, and could indicate cervical cancer dynamics. CONCLUSIONS: Long noncoding RNA PVT1 may be a novel noninvasive biomarker for early diagnosis of cervical cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the effects of proteasome inhibitor MG-132 on mice with inflammatory reaction to acute viral myocarditis induced by coxsackie virus B3 virus (CVB3) infection. Methods: BALB/C mice were intraperitoneally inoculated with CVB3 to induce myocarditis. Twenty four hours after the infection, MG-132 was administered at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg or 1 mg/kg for seven days by intraperitoneal injection. Normal controls were treated with the same volume of DMSO. The changes of myocardial ultrastructure, the protein levels of IL-6 and TNF-α, the number of polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN) and survival rate of each group were documented. Results: Compared with the normal group, the protein levels of IL-6 and TNF-α, and the number of PMN were significantly increased in the CVB3 group (p < 0.05). The cardiocytes were diffusely swollen. The myofilament was lysed, and the mitochondria swelled and vacuolizated. The above-mentioned inflammatory factors of MG-132 groups were significantly decreased when compared with the CVB3 group (p < 0.05). The degree of the damage of the cardiocytes in the MG-132 group was less and the mortality due to deadly arrhythmia was lower than that in the CVB3 group. Conclusion: The results showed that MG-132 protected the mice from CVB3-induced acute viral myocarditis by suppressing the expressions of the inflammatory factors. Our research provides further evidence that the ubiquitin-proteasome system is a potential target therapy for viral myocarditis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of leptin (LEP) on the osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSCs) and to explore the mechanism controlling the process. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Respectively cultivated the third-generation hBMSCs with 100 ng/ml bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) culture media containing 320, 160, 80 and 40 ng/ mL LEP, and regular medium. We administered alkaline phosphatase (ALP) dye (on the 7th day) and mineralized nodules alizarin red (on the 21st day) and tested the ALP activity as well as osteocalcin (OCN) level on 7th, 14th, 21st day in each group to establish the best inducing concentration of LEP. 7 days later, we tested bone differentiation related genes expression in the control, 160 ng/mL LEP and 100 ng/mL BMP groups using RT-PCR. RESULTS: The activity of ALP and OCN in the 160 ng/mL LEP group after 7, 14 and 21 days was lower than that of the BMP group but higher than that of other groups. However, LEP significantly promoted the expression of bone differentiation related genes, namely, Cbfal, ALP, COL-I and OCN. CONCLUSIONS: LEP promoted the bone differentiation in hBMSCs by promoting the expression of genes related to bone differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider Adomian Decomposition Method (ADM),and Variational Iteration Method (VIM), Homotopy Analysis Method (HAM), Homotopy Analysis Transform Method (HATM) to solve the Fractional-Order Logistic Equation (FOLE). Comparisons between the approximate analytical solution and exact solution of FOLE are shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To explore clinical effects of Tirofiban treatment on patients with high-risk non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). PATIENTS AND METHODS: 107 patients with high-risk NSTE-ACS after PCI were selected and were divided into two groups. One group of 56 patients was treated with Tirofiban and a second group of 51 patients was taken as control. The occurrence conditions of creatine kinase-myoglobin (CK-MB), cardiac troponin1 (cTnI) level, hemorrhage incidents and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) incidents after treatments were compared. RESULTS: After 24 h operation, CK-MB and cTnI level in Tirofiban group were both significantly lower than those in control group (p < 0.05), while the difference of hemorrhage incidents between two groups is of no statistical significance (p < 0.05); and the differences in overall occurrence rate of MACE incidents and the occurrence rate of angina pectoris after infarct between two groups were statistically significant (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Tirofiban could improve the blood supply condition of hearts of patients with high-risk NSTE-ACS after emergent PCI, lower the occurrence rate of MACE incidents, and decrease the risk of hemorrhage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the differences of the B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels in serum or plasma of the STEMI patients with different infarction sites. To explore the relationship between the BNP level and the short-term prognosis in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 216 STEMI patients were enrolled in this study from June 2012 to June 2014. All patients received coronary angiography (CAG). Based on electrocardiography (ECG) and CAG results, patients were divided into three groups. Group A included 80 patients with anterior/lateral wall myocardial infarction, group B included 76 patients with inferior/posterior wall myocardial infarction and group C included 60 patients with right ventricular myocardial infarction. We enrolled 53 patients with normal CAG results as Group D. BNP levels were compared among these groups. and according to BNP levels, all patients were subdivided into normal BNP group (<100 ng/mL, n=53), mild-higher BNP group (100-400 ng/mL, n=105) and marked-higher BNP group (≥400 ng/mL, n=58). The occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) including secondary heart failure, severe arrhythmia, post-infarction angina, recurrent myocardial infarction, and cardiac death within 6 months after disease onset were assessed. RESULTS: BNP levels showed a gradually decreasing trend in groups A, B, C and D (p<0.05). Significant differences in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) were found among normal BNP group, mild-high BNP group and markedhigher BNP group (p<0.05). The MACE occurrence presented no statistical differences between normal BNP group and mild-higher BNP group (p>0.05) . The MACE prevalence in marked-higher BNP group was significantly higher than normal BNP group and mild-higher BNP group (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: BNP levels can be used as a clinical indicator to predict short-term prognosis in STEMI patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open-pit coal mines can recycle resources by underground coal mining but it will lead to subsidence of upper slope, and may cause geological environmental disasters such as landslides. A fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model of the slope stability in coal mining subsidence areas is proposed. Based on the model the evaluation of slope stability in the subsidence zone in Antaibao open pit coal mine is carried out. By conducting the qualitative and quantitative analyses simultaneously, the evaluation results are more scientific than the qualitative description only and semi-quantitative analysis. According to the results of stability evaluation division, to ensure the mine safety production in the danger zone, the monitoring network composed of 20 monitoring points successfully implements monitoring and forecasting for stable condition of slopes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen generated renewably by using solar energy has attracted increasing interest in the renewable energy research community. Hence, efficient electrocatalysts are in demand to reduce costs and energy consumption for oxygen and hydrogen evolution reaction (OER and HER) activity. Bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3)-based materials, as topological insulators (TIs), have been used to explore the fundamental properties of TIs in recent years, but investigation as functional materials for water splitting applications is still quite limited. In this work, electrocatalysts based on Bi2Te3 nanosheets have been fabricated, and the HER performance was investigated to further enhance OER electrocatalytic properties, with certain transition metals (Co, Ni, and Mo) selected to provide effective electrocatalytic sites. Therefore, the bifunctional catalyst Bi2Te3@CoNiMo was designed for synthesis by a solvothermal and chemical deposition route. The catalyst electrode, Bi2Te3@CoNiMo loaded on Ni foam, exhibits higher activity towards both the oxygen and the hydrogen evolution reactions than some traditional metallic catalysts in alkaline electrolytes. The difference in the HER and OER metrics (ΔE = 1.41 V) is comparable to the theoretical value (1.23 V), so that this reaction can be easily driven by a solar cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]