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As typical clock gene machinery, period (PER1, PER2, and PER3), cryptochrome (CRY1 and CRY2), and timeless (TIM), could control proliferation, cellular metabolism, and many key functions, such as recognition and repair of DNA damage, dysfunction of the circadian clock could result in tumorigenesis of colorectal cancer (CRC). In this study, the expression levels of PER1, PER2, and PER3, as well as CRY1, CRY2, and TIM in the tumor tissue and apparently healthy mucosa from CRC patients were examined and compared via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Compared with the healthy mucosa from CRC patients, expression levels of PER1, PER2, PER3, and CRY2 in their tumor tissue are much lower, while TIM level was much enhanced. There was no significant difference in the CRY1 expression level. High levels of TIM mRNA were much prevalent in the tumor mucosa with proximal lymph nodes. CRC patients with lower expression of PER1 and PER3 in the tumor tissue showed significantly poorer survival rates. The abnormal expression levels of PER and TIM genes in CRC tissue could be related to the genesis process of the tumor, influencing host-tumor interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was performed to examine the effect of 5-bromo-3-(3- hydroxyprop-1-ynyl)-2H-pyran-2-one (BHP) on the rate of cell proliferation and apoptosis induction in the PC3, human prostate carcinoma cell line. The cell viability was assayed by using sulphorhodamine B staining and apoptosis by annexin V and flow cytometry analyses. The results revealed that BHP treatment in PC3 cells caused a significant reduction in the rate of cell proliferation in dose- and time-dependent manner. Compared to the untreated cells, the formation of HUVEC tubes was markedly inhibited on treatment with BHP at a concentration of 30 μM. Further investigation revealed the expression of HMGB1, IL-6 and IL-8, pro-inflammatory cytokines was also inhibited on treatment with BHP. Therefore, BHP treatment plays an important role in inducing apoptosis in the prostrate cells and can be of therapeutic value for the prostate cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A facile approach has been developed to fabricate ZnO hierarchical architectures with different morphologies under hydrothermal conditions. ZnO nanorod-based whisks and nanorod-based dandelions have been synthesized through the adjustment of the ratio of Zn(NO3)2 to glycine. The structures of ZnO hierarchical architectures have been examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and the possible growth mechanism of these ZnO nanostructures has also been discussed. In addition, the photocatalytic properties of these ZnO nanostructures have been also investigated. Investigations confirm that the morphology and specific surface areas play important roles In the photocatalytic properties of these ZnO nanomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prokaryotic 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequences are widely used in environmental microbiology and molecular evolution as reliable markers for the taxonomic classification and phylogenetic analysis of microbes. Restricted by current sequencing techniques, the massive sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons encompassing the full length of genes is not yet feasible. Thus, the selection of the most efficient hypervariable regions for phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic classification is still debated. In the present study, several bioinformatics tools were integrated to build an in silico pipeline to evaluate the phylogenetic sensitivity of the hypervariable regions compared with the corresponding full-length sequences. Results: The correlation of seven sub-regions was inferred from the geodesic distance, a parameter that is applied to quantitatively compare the topology of different phylogenetic trees constructed using the sequences from different sub-regions. The relationship between different sub-regions based on the geodesic distance indicated that V4-V6 were the most reliable regions for representing the full-length 16S rRNA sequences in the phylogenetic analysis of most bacterial phyla, while V2 and V8 were the least reliable regions. Conclusions: Our results suggest that V4-V6 might be optimal sub-regions for the design of universal primers with superior phylogenetic resolution for bacterial phyla. A potential relationship between function and the evolution of 16S rRNA is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondria require all translational components, including aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs), to complete organelle protein synthesis. Some aaRS mutations cause mitochondrial disorders, including human mitochondrial threonyl-tRNA synthetase (hmtThrRS) (encoded by TARS2), the P282L mutation of which causes mitochondrial encephalomyopathies. However, its catalytic and structural consequences remain unclear. Herein, we cloned TARS2 and purified the wild-type and P282L mutant hmtThrRS. hmtThrRS misactivates non-cognate Ser and uses post-transfer editing to clear erroneously synthesized products. In vitro and in vivo analyses revealed that the mutation induces a decrease in Thr activation, aminoacylation, and proofreading activities and a change in the protein structure and/or stability, which might cause reduced catalytic efficiency. We also identified a splicing variant of TARS2 mRNA lacking exons 8 and 9, the protein product of which is targeted into mitochondria. In HEK293T cells, the variant does not dimerize and cannot complement the ThrRS knock-out strain in yeast, suggesting that the truncated protein is inactive and might have a noncanonical function, as observed for other aaRS fragments. The present study describes the aminoacylation and editing properties of hmtThrRS, clarifies the molecular consequences of the P282L mutation, and shows that the yeast ThrRS-deletion model is suitable to test pathology-associated point mutations or alternative splicing variants of mammalian aaRS mRNAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacting and rehounding behaviors of straight elastic components are investigated and a unified approach is proposed to analytically predict the whole process of the collision and rebounding of straight elastic bars and beams after each of them impinges on ideal (massless) elastic spring(s). The mathematical problems with definitive solution are formulated, respectively, for both the constrained-motion and free-motion stages, and the method of mode superposition, which is concise and straightforward especially for longtime interaction and multiple collision cases, is successfully utilized by repeatedly altering boundary and initial conditions for these successive stages. These two stages happen alternatively and the collision process terminates when the constrained motion no longer occurs. In particular, three examples are investigated in detail; they are: a straight bar impinges on an ideal elastic spring along its axis, a straight beam vertically impinges on an ideal elastic spring at the beam's midpoint, and a straight beam vertically impinges on two ideal springs with the same stiffness at the beam's two ends. Numerical results show that the coefficient of restitution (COR) and the nondimensional rebounding time (NRT) only depend on the stiffness ratio between the ideal spring(s) and the elastic barI beam. Collision happens only once for the straight bar impinging on spring, while multiple collisions occur for the straight beam impinging on springs in the cases with large stiffness ratio. Once multiple collisions occur, COR undergoes complicated fluctuation with the increase of stiffness ratio. Approximate analytical solutions (AASs) for COR and NRT under the cases of small stiffness ratio are all derived. Finally, to validate the proposed approach in practical collision problems, the influence of the springs' mass on the collision behavior is demonstrated through numerical simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of a comparative experimental study to investigate the effects of using three different fire protection measures to improve the fire endurance of timber assembly. The three fire protection measures were fire-retardant intumescent coating, gypsum plasterboard and filling the timber assembly void with mineral wool. The fire-resistance period obtained from the fire endurance tests was based on the integrity and the insulation criteria. Compared to the reference timber assembly without any fire protection (fire-resistance time = 37 min), the increases in fire resistance using the three different fire protection measures were 6 min (16%), 37 min (100%) and 142 min (384%) for using intumescent coating (specimen F2), 12-mm-thick gypsum plasterboard (specimen F4) and infill mineral wool (F3), respectively. The specific intumescent coating used in the test failed to expand. Therefore, this specimen (F2) behaved very similarly with the control specimen (F1) without any fire protection. Attaching an additional layer of gypsum plasterboard to the timber assembly on the fire-exposed side improved the fire-resistance rating by about 30 min, which is higher than that obtained from using the current design guidance such as Eurocode EN 1995-1-2. Among these three fire protection methods, filling the void between the top and bottom timber boards gave the best result because the mineral wool not only provided insulation but also stopped direct flame attack of the timber board on the unexposed side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Several molecular epidemiological studies have investigated the association between OPN rs11730582 C>T polymorphism and cancer risk, but the results are inconsistent. Hence, a meta-analysis was conducted to determine the association of this polymorphism with cancer risk. Materials and methods: The related articles were searched in PubMed, Embase, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure databases. Pooled odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to evaluate the strength of the associations. A random-effects model or fixedeffects model was employed depending on the heterogeneity. Results: A total of ten case-control studies involving 2,749 cancer cases and 3,398 controls were included in the meta-analysis. In overall analysis, OPN rs11730582 C>T polymorphism was not associated with cancer risk. In a stratified analysis by cancer type, no significant association was found between OPN rs11730582 C>T polymorphism and the risk of glioma, gastric cancer, and other cancers. Conclusion: This meta-analysis suggests that OPN rs11730582 C>T polymorphism is not associated with cancer susceptibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, with the rapid increasing of data scales in network traffic classifications, how to select traffic features efficiently is becoming a big challenge. Although a number of traditional feature selection methods using the Hadoop-MapReduce framework have been proposed, the execution time was still unsatisfactory with numeral iterative computations during the processing. To address this issue, an efficient feature selection method for network traffic based on a new parallel computing framework called Spark is proposed in this paper. In our approach, the complete feature set is firstly preprocessed based on Fisher score, and a sequential forward search strategy is employed for subsets. The optimal feature subset is then selected using the continuous iterations of the Spark computing framework. The implementation demonstrates that, on the precondition of keeping the classification accuracy, our method reduces the time cost of modeling and classification, and improves the execution efficiency of feature selection significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To discuss over influence of two different anesthetic and analgesic methods on early cognitive function of elderly patients who received non-cardiac surgery. Methods: Two hundred and six elderly patients who underwent non-cardiac surgery were selected as research subjects. They were randomly divided into observation group (103 cases) and control group (103 cases). Patients in observation group were given combined spinal and epidural anesthesia and epidural analgesia, while patients in control group adopted general anesthesia and intravenous analgesia. Neurological function test was carried out one day before surgery and on the 7th day after surgery. Moreover, changes of postoperative pain degree, neuropsychological function and cognitive function were observed and compared. Results: On the 7th day after surgery, incidence of cognition impairment in observation group and control group was 48.50% (50/103 cases) and 44.70% (46/103 cases), and difference between groups had no statistical significance. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) Score of observation group was much lower than control group in the 12th, 24th and 48th h after surgery (p < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis suggested that, short education years and general surgery were independent risk factors for early cognition impairment. Conclusion: About 46.60% elderly patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery developed cognition impairment, but influence of different anesthetic and analgesic methods on incidence of postoperative cognition impairment of elderly patients had no significant difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To explore the relationship between the heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) gene and intramuscular fat (IMF), a polymorphism of the second exon of the H-FABP gene was investigated in 60 Three-yellow chickens (TYCs) and 60 Hetian-black chickens (HTBCs). Results: The IMF contents of the cardiac, chest and leg muscles in HTBC were increased compared with TYC. Both TYC and HTBC populations exhibited Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) according to the ?2 test. Three variations of the two birds were detected, namely, G939A, G982A and C1014T. HTBCs with the TT genotypes exhibit increased IMF content in the chest muscles compared with the TC genotype. Thus, the G982A site could be considered a genetic marker for selecting increased IMF content in the chest muscles of HTBC. The correlation coefficients revealed that H-FABP mRNA expression was negatively correlated with the IMF content in the cardiac, chest and leg muscles of HTBC and in the cardiac and chest muscles of TYC. The relative mRNA expression of H-FABP was reduced in the cardiac and leg muscles of HTBC compared with TYC, but this difference was not observed at the protein level, as assessed by Western blot analysis. Conclusions: These findings offer essential data that can be useful in the breeding program of HTBC and future research exploring the role of H-FABP in IMF deposition and regulation in chickens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To report early and late outcomes of patients with the primary cardiac valve tumor undergoing surgical treatment over a 30-year period in our cardiovascular center.Methods: From January 1980 to December 2014, a total of 211 patients with primary cardiac tumors accepted surgical treatments, of which only 8 (3.8 %) were primary cardiac valve tumor patients in our surgical center of cardiovascular.Results: The diagnosis was identified by echocardiography preoperatively and pathological analysis postoperatively. All patients underwent intracardiac procedures with extracorporeal circulation. Intracardiac procedures included resection of tumor on leaflet in 2 patients (25 %), resection of tumor and native valvuloplasty in 2 patients (25 %), resection of neoplasm and replacement of native valve with prosthetic valve in 4 patients (50 %). One man was performed a resection of tumor on aortic noncoronary leaflet and a coronary artery bypass graft. Eight cases of primary valve tumor occurred in all of four cardiac valves. The majority of valvular tumor was myxoma in 3 cases (37.5 %), followed by the papillary fibroelastomas in 2 cases (25 %). There were one rhabdomyoma (12.5 %), one lipoma (12.5 %) and one mild malignant sarcoma (12.5 %). The mitral valve was the most commonly original valve (62.5 %). There was pulmonic (12.5 %), aortic (12.5 %) and tricuspid (12.5 %) valve tumor each one patient. There was no death and recrudescence in the series. Follow-up of all patients ranged from 1 to 16 years (mean 7.06 ± 4.24 years). There was no recrudesce and cardiac valve dysfunction.Conclusion: The incidence of primary valve tumor was very low. More understanding of the rare disease and widespread use of echocardiography would greatly improve the diagnosis of primary valve tumor in the early stage. Echocardiography could detect millimeters in diameter neoplasms on cardiac valve. The diagnoses were based on imaging findings and the classical triad symptoms associated with the hemodynamic abnormalities, the organ embolism and the systemic symptoms directly from tumors. The intraoperative frozen sections and postoperative pathology analysis provided accurate diagnosis and supported the treatment strategies. Early diagnosis and intervention were keys to reserve the normal original valve function. Prompt surgical resection is necessary to prevent potential critical events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highly stereocontrolled construction of the C-5-epi ABCDE-ring system of rubriflordilactone B has been developed. The present synthesis features a convergent strategy to construct the C-5-epi AB-ring utilizing Mukaiyama-Michael reaction and forge the CDE ring in one step using intramolecular [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition of triynes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Obbective] To establish a method for the determination of 8 kinds of organochlorine pesticide residues in the leaves of Clausena lansium by gas chromatography (GC). [Methods] The samples were macerated in water for overnight, extracted with acetone, dichloromethane and hexane by ultrasonic wave. The extract solvent was purified by concentrated sulphuric acid. The separation was performed on a DB- 1701 capiilary column through a temperature programme and detected by an electron capture detector. 8 kinds of organochlorine pesticide residues including the four isomers of BHC and the four isomers of DDT were determined in the samples. [Results] The average recoveries were in the range of 91. 23% and 98.56%, and their RSD values were 1.34-3.66%. [Conclusion] The established method is simple, quick, low in cost and easy-operating, suitable for the determination of organochlorine pesticide residues in the leaves of C. lansium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil water is a key terrestrial water resource, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions of the world such as the Loess Plateau of China. Information on the dynamics of soil moisture following vegetation restoration is essential for managing water resources and can be helpful for adjusting relevant government policies. To evaluate the response of soil water storage (SWS) to long-term natural vegetation succession (~ 160 a), we examined the soil moisture for different restoration ages in the Ziwuling forest region, which is located in the central part of the Loess Plateau. Our results showed that the SWS decreased with long-term natural vegetation restoration. The bulk density (BD), soil water content (SWC), and clay and silt content presented similar trends to those of the SWS throughout the entire vegetation succession. The SWS was significantly and positively correlated with the SWC and aeration porosity ( P < 0.05). The SWC was lower in the upper soils (0–50 cm) than in the deeper soils (> 50 cm) at every restoration stage, as was the SWS; however, the SWS in the 200–300 cm soil layer was the highest (164.61–212.80 mm) compared to other layers in all restoration stages. These results are expected to help improve the understanding of the response of deep soil water to long-term natural vegetation restoration and to provide insights into the dynamics of deep soil water influenced by vegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma (EATL) is a rare gastrointestinal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, originating from intraepithelial T-lymphocyte, which is specifically associated with celiac disease. EATL most commonly presents in the sixth and seventh decades of life. We report a unique case of type I EATL in the colon with liver metastasis, which was presented with nonspecific radiological findings and at a very young age (29 years old) compared with previously published data. We suggest that EATL should be regarded as part of differential diagnosis in any patient presenting with abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss, and malabsorption because delay in treatment can result in an irreversible clinical outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dispersed-phase holdup and characteristic velocity, which are important hydrodynamic performance parameters for solvent extraction columns, were measured and compared to literature correlations under pulsing and nonpulsing conditions using a 75 mm diameter disk-and-doughnut column. The results show that the dispersed-phase holdup increased with increasing dispersed-phase flow rate, while there was no noticeable change in holdup with the continuous-phase flow rate. With increasing pulsation intensity from zero, the dispersed-phase holdup decreased at first and then increased. A minimum holdup was found in the transition from the mixer-settler to the emulsion regime, and it increased with increasing dispersed-phase velocity. The experimental holdup and minimum holdup were correlated over a range of pulsation rates to within 13.3% and 8.8%, respectively. The characteristic velocities under different pulsation conditions were calculated from the measured holdup for the pulsing conditions. The characteristic velocities decreased with increasing pulsation intensity and were correlated to within 3.5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highly stereocontrolled construction of the C-5-epi ABCDE-ring system of rubriflordilactone B has been developed. The present synthesis features a convergent strategy to construct the C-5-epi AB-ring utilizing Mukaiyama-Michael reaction and forge the CDE ring in one step using intramolecular [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition of triynes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new silver-promoted oxidative ring opening/alkynylation of cyclopropanols with ethynylbenziodoxolones (EBX) is described. This method enables the formation of alkylated alkynes via a sequence of ring opening and alkynylation. Control experiments support a radical mechanism in this silver-promoted method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prokineticin-2 is confirmed to be involved in the inflammatory process. Inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome (MS). However, whether prokineticin-2 is associated with MS or not remains unknown. Thus, we present this study to explore the association between prokineticin-2 and MS in a Chinese population. Methods: This study included 162 middle-aged and elderly Chinese patients with cardiovascular risk factors. The relationship between serum prokineticin-2 levels and various cardiometabolic risk factors, and MS were evaluated. Results: The participants with serum prokineticin-2 levels >6.32 ng/ml had increased waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), plasma triglyceride, diastolic blood pressure (DBP), blood glucose, and serum uric acid, but decreased age, plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and HDL-C/total cholesterol (TC) (all P < 0.05). A higher percentage of them had history of lipid disorders (19.3 vs 2.5 %, P = 0.001) and MS (77.1 vs 48.1 %, P < 0.001). Prokineticin-2 was positively correlated with TC (partial correlation coefficient: 0.233, P = 0.011), triglyceride (partial correlation coefficient: 0.504, P < 0.001), fasting plasma glucose (partial correlation coefficient: 0.336, P < 0.001), HbA1c (partial correlation coefficient: 0.285, P = 0.002), and uric acid (partial correlation coefficient: 0.234, P = 0.011) respectively, but was negatively correlated with HDL-C/TC (partial correlation coefficient: -0.269, P = 0.003) with adjustment for age, man, and BMI. Prokineticin-2 was significantly elevated in participants with MS (7.72 ± 3.34 vs 5.56 ± 2.39 ng/ml, P < 0.001). Furthermore, prokineticin-2 was significantly elevated in participants with increased numbers of MS components (5.17 ± 2.29 vs 5.94 ± 2.47 vs 7.13 ± 3.33 vs 8.32 ± 2.81 vs 9.82 ± 4.37 ng/ml, P for trend <0.001). Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that prokineticin-2 was independently associated with MS (OR: 1.307, 95 % confidence interval: 1.127-1.515, P < 0.001) with adjustment for other potential confounders. If serum prokineticin-2 value can be considered as an indicator to discriminate MS, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis exhibited the area under the curve as 0.701. Conclusions: Prokineticin-2 is correlated with various cardiometabolic risk factors including blood lipid, blood glucose, blood pressure, BMI, and uric acid. And furthermore, the increased prokineticin-2 is independently associated with MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surface atomic structure has a remarkable impact on the physical and chemical properties of metal oxides and has been studied extensively by scanning tunneling microscopy. However, acquiring real-time information on the formation and evolution of the surface structure remains a great challenge. Here we use environmental transmission electron microscopy to directly observe the stress-induced reconstruction dynamics on the (001) surface of anatase TiO2. Our in situ results unravel for the first time how the (1 × 4) reconstruction forms and how the metastable (1 × 3) and (1 × 5) patterns transform into the (1 × 4) surface stable structure. With the support of first-principles calculations, we find that the surface evolution is driven by both low coordinated atoms and surface stress. This work provides a complete picture of the structural evolution of TiO2(001) under oxygen atmosphere and paves the way for future studies of the reconstruction dynamics of other solid surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catalytic cracking of n-hexane to selectively produce propylene on Beta zeolite was carried out. The H-Beta (HB) (Si/Al = 77) zeolite showed higher catalytic stability and propylene selectivity than the Al-rich HB (Si/Al = 12), due to its smaller number of acid sites, especially Lewis acid sites (LAS). However, catalytic stability and propylene selectivity in high n-hexane conversions were still not satisfactory. After dealumination with HNO3 treatment, catalytic stability was improved and propylene selectivity during high n-hexane conversions was increased. On the other hand, catalytic stability was not improved after desilication with NaOH treatment, although mesopores were formed. This may be related to the partially destroyed structure. However, propylene selectivity in high n-hexane conversions was increased after alkali treatment. We successfully found that the catalytic stability was improved and the propylene selectivity in high n-hexane conversions was further increased after the NaOH treatment followed by HNO3 treatment. This is due to the decrease in the number of acid sites and the increase in mesopores which are beneficial to the diffusion of coke precursor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of the theory in similar structure of solution of the boundary value problem for a differential equation, this paper studies the boundary value problem of a three-region composite, Thomson equation. Firstly, this paper obtains similar structure related to solution of the boundary value problem of a three-region composite Thomson equation. Secondly, this paper points out the steps and flow chart about the algorithm for solving the boundary value problem. Finally, this paper gives an application of the obtained steps and draws the solution curve of the boundary value problem by executing the program on the computer. The obtained steps mentioned in this paper are not only simple and effective to resolve the complicated boundary value problem of a differential equation, but also useful to acquire the analytical solution of the model of composite reservoir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human testis development-related gene 1 (TDRG1) is a recently identified gene that is expressed exclusively in the testes and promotes the development of testicular germ cell tumors. In this study, the role of TDRG1 in the development of testicular seminoma, which is the most common testicular germ cell tumor, was further investigated. Based on polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry tests, both gene and protein expression levels of TDRG1 were significantly upregulated in testicular seminoma tissues compared with normal testicular tissues. Additionally, the levels of phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K)/p110 and Akt phosphorylation were dramatically upregulated in testicular seminoma tissues. Accordingly, in our cell experiment, seminoma TCam-2 cells were subjected to different treatments: the TDRG1 knockout, TDRG1 overexpression, PI3K inhibition (LY294002 administration), or PI3K activation (insulin-like growth factor-1 administration). Cell proliferation, the proliferation index, apoptosis rate, cell adhesive capacity, and cell invasion capability were assessed. Cells with both TDRG1 knockout and PI3K inhibition exhibited decreased cell proliferation, proliferation indexes, cell adhesion capacity, and cell invasion capability and increased apoptosis rates. Most of these effects were reversed by TDRG1 overexpression or PI3K activation, indicating that both TDRG1- and PI3K-mediated signaling promote proliferation and invasion of testicular seminoma cells. The knockout of TDRG1 significantly decreased the phosphorylation levels of PI3K/p85, PI3K/p110, Akt, and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR; Ser2448). Except for PI3K/p110, TDRG1 overexpression had the opposite effects on phosphorylation levels. Phosphorylated mTOR at Ser2481 and Thr2446 was not affected by TDRG1 or PI3K in our tests. Thus, these results indicate that TDRG1 promotes the development and migration of seminoma cells via the regulation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway; this contributes to an understanding of the precise mechanisms underlying the development and migration of seminomas and lays a theoretical foundation for the development of appropriate therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Next-generation sequencing technology has made it possible to detect rare genetic variants associated with complex human traits. In recent literature, various methods specifically designed for rare variants are proposed. These tests can be broadly classified into burden and nonburden tests. In this paper, we take advantage of the burden and nonburden tests, and consider the common effect and the individual deviations from the common effect. To achieve robustness, we use two methods of combining p-values, Fisher's method and the minimum-p method. In rare variant association studies, to improve the power of the tests, we explore the advantage of the extreme phenotype sampling. At first, we dichotomize the continuous phenotypes before analysis, and the two extremes are treated as two different groups representing a dichotomous phenotype. We next compare the powers of several methods based on extreme phenotype sampling and random sampling. Extensive simulation studies show that our proposed methods by using extreme phenotype sampling are the most powerful or very close to the most powerful one in various settings of true models when the same sample size is used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive visible light exposure can induce damage to retinal cells and contribute to the development or progression of age-related macular degeneration. In this study we created a model of phototoxicity in pigmented rabbits. Furthermore, we investigated the protective effect of bilberry anthocyanin extract (BAE, Table A1) and explored the possible mechanisms of action in this model. The model of light-induced retinal damage was established by the pigmented rabbits exposed to light at 18,000 lx for 2 h, and they were sacrificed on day 7. After administration of BAE at dosages of 250 and 500 mg/kg/day, retinal dysfunction was significantly inhibited in terms of electroretinograms, and the decreased thicknesses of retinal outer nuclear layer and lengths of the outer segments of the photoreceptor cells were suppressed in rabbits with retinal degeneration. BAE attenuated the changes caused by light to certain apoptotic proteins (Bax, Bcl-2, and caspase-3). The extract increased the levels of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase, as well as the total antioxidant capacity, but decreased the malondialdehyde level in the retinal cells. BAE inhibited the light-induced elevation in the levels of proinflammatory cytokines and angiogenic parameters (IL-1β and VEGF). Results showed that visible light-induced retinal degeneration model in pigmented rabbits was successfully established and BAE exhibited protective effects by increasing the antioxidant defense mechanisms, suppressing lipid peroxidation and proinflammatory cytokines, and inhibiting retinal cells apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report charge inversion using Monte Carlo calculations for a negatively charged surface in aqueous solutions involving coions of different charges and monovalent counterions. It is shown that a rise in the valence of coions at moderate concentrations can substantially promote charge inversion for the surface charge values of biological relevance, regardless of the representation of surface charges but dependent in a nontrivial way on polarization effects resulting from dielectric discontinuity. These obtained characteristics challenge the traditional belief that the coions are generally considered to suppress charge inversion and expose the important role of coions of higher valence in tailoring the effective interactions of biomolecules with the cell membrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vehicle routing problem (VRP) is a combinatorial optimization and integer programming problem seeking to service a number of customers with a fleet of vehicles. Customer characteristics are neglected in traditional VRPs in the past due to the heterogeneity and ambiguousness. This study presents a vehicle route optimization model in consideration of customer characteristics with three major components: (1)Ahierarchical analysis structure is developed to convert customers' characteristics into linguistic variables, and fuzzy integration method is used to map the sub-criteria into higher hierarchical criteria based on the trapezoidal fuzzy numbers; (2) A fuzzy clustering algorithm based on Axiomatic Fuzzy Set is proposed to group the customers into multiple clusters; (3) The fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) approach is integrated into the dynamic programming approach to optimize vehicle routes in each cluster. A numerical case study in Anshun, China demonstrates the advantages of the proposed method by comparing with the other two prevailing algorithms. In addition, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to capture the impacts of various evaluation criteria weights. The results indicate our approach performs very well to identify similar customer groups and incorporate individual customer's service priority into VRP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Adrenomedullin levels in the peripheral blood are associated with prognosis of some cancers. Intermedin is structural similarities to adrenomedullin. OBJECTIVE: The current study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of plasma intermedin levels for progression and distant metastasis in prostate cancers. METHODS: This study included 218 patients undergoing radical prostatectomy for localized prostatic cancer and 218 agematched healthy men. Plasma intermedin levels were measured using radioimmunoassay. The relationships between plasma intermedin levels and 5-year progression and 5-year distant metastasis were evaluated using a multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Plasma intermedin levels were markedly higher in all patients than in healthy men. Patients with Gleason score ≥ 7, tumor node metastasis stage T2, organ unconfined, present extra-prostatic extension, seminal vesicle invasion or positive lymph node had higher intermedin levels. Intermedin was identified as a prognostic predictor for 5-year progression and 5-year metastasis. Under receiver operating characteristic curves, intermedin had high predictive values for 5-year progression and 5-year metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated plasma intermedin levels are independently associated with long-term recurrence and distant metastasis of prostate cancer and intermedin has potential to be a prognostic predictive biomarker for prostate cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the uniform regularity for the isentropic compressible Navier-Stokes system with general Navier-slip boundary conditions (1.6) and the inviscid limit to the compressible Euler system. It is shown that there exists a unique strong solution of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations with general Navier-slip boundary conditions in an interval of time which is uniform in the vanishing viscosity limit. The solution is uniformly bounded in a conormal Sobolev space and is uniformly bounded in W1,∞. It is also shown that the boundary layer for the density is weaker than the one for the velocity field. In particular, it is proved that the velocity will be uniformly bounded in L∞(0, T;H2) when the boundary is flat and the Navier-Stokes system is supplemented with the vorticity free boundary condition (1.25). Based on such uniform estimates, we prove the convergence of the viscous solutions to the inviscid ones in L∞(0, T;L2), L∞(0, T;H1) and L∞([0, T] × Ω) with a rate of convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that, because of the inevitable twist and lattice mismatch in heterobilayers of transition metal dichalcogenides, interlayer excitons have sixfold degenerate light cones anomalously located at finite velocities on the parabolic energy dispersion. The photon emissions at each light cone are elliptically polarized, with the major axis locked to the direction of exciton velocity, and helicity specified by the valley indices of the electron and the hole. These finite-velocity light cones allow unprecedented possibilities for optically injecting valley polarization and valley current, and the observation of both direct and inverse valley Hall effects, by exciting interlayer excitons. Our findings suggest potential excitonic circuits with valley functionalities, and unique opportunities to study exciton dynamics and condensation phenomena in semiconducting 2D heterostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) is a therapeutic technique developed as an advanced application of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). An important adverse event associated with this procedure is hemorrhage, which may sometimes be uncontrollable. We sought to examine whether cap-assisted hemoclip application is effective in controlling ES-induced hemorrhage. Methods: In this prospective study, we investigated the outcomes in 10 patients who had uncontrolled ES-induced hemorrhage and were treated by cap-assisted application of hemoclip with a forward-viewing endoscope. Results: Nine of the 10 investigated patients were successfully treated using the cap-assisted hemoclip technique with forward-viewing endoscope, yielding a success rate of 90 %. The patient with hemorrhage non-responsive to hemoclipping required catheter embolization of the bleeding artery after its identification by digital subtraction angiography. One of the 10 patients developed mild pancreatitis after the procedure, but was successfully managed conservatively. Conclusions: Cap-assisted hemoclip application with a forward-viewing endoscope appears to be an effective therapeutic modality for achieving hemostasis in cases of ES-induced hemorrhage, without the occurrence of any severe adverse events; we believe that this method should be considered as an option in the management of ES-induced hemorrhage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offshore wellbore temperature field is significant to drilling fluids program, equipment selection, evaluations on potential risks caused by casing thermal stress, etc. This paper mainly describes the theoretical basis, module structure and field verification of the simulator WHTSubmersible. This computer program is a useful tool for estimating transient temperature distribution of circulating drilling fluid on semi-submersible platform. WHTSubmersible is based on a mathematical model which is developed to consider radial and axial two-dimensional heat exchange of the inner drill pipe, the annulus, the drill pipe wall, the sea water and the formation in the process of drilling fluid circulation. The solution of the discrete equations is based on finite volume method with an implicit scheme. This scheme serves to demonstrate the numerical solution procedure. Besides, the simulator also considers the heating generated by drilling fluid circulation friction, drill bit penetrating rocks, friction between the drill column and the borehole wall, and the temperature effect on thermal physical properties and rheology of the drilling fluid. These measures ensure more accurate results. The simulator has been programmed as a dynamic link library using Visual C++, the routine interface is simple, which can be connected with other computer programs conveniently. The simulator is validated with an actual well temperature filed developed on a semi-submersible platform in South China, and the error is less than 5 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cuticular waxes are complex mixtures of very long chain (VLC) fatty acids and their derivatives in which primary alcohols are the most abundant components in the leaf surface of common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). However, the genes involved in primary alcohol biosynthesis in wheat are still largely unknown. Here we identified, via a homology-based approach, the TaFAR1 gene belonging to the fatty acyl-CoA reductases (FARs) from wheat. Heterologous expression of TaFAR1 in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and in the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) cer4-3 mutant afforded production of C22 primary alcohol and C22-C24 primary alcohols, respectively, and transgenic expression of TaFAR1 in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) cv MicroTom leaves and fruits resulted in the accumulation of C26-C30 primary alcohols and C30-C34 primary alcohols, respectively. The TaFAR1 protein was localized to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in rice (Oryza sativa L.) leaf protoplasts. Moreover, the TaFAR1 expression pattern across various organs correlated with the levels of primary alcohols accumulating in corresponding waxes, and with the presence of platelet-shaped epicuticular wax crystals formed by primary alcohols. A nullisomic-tetrasomic wheat line lacking TaFAR1 had significantly reduced levels of primary alcohols in its leaf blade and anther wax. TaFAR1 was located on chromosome 4AL and appeared to be highly conserved, with only one haplotype among 32 wheat cultivars. Finally, TaFAR1 expression was induced by drought and cold stress in an ABA-dependent manner. Taken together, our results show that TaFAR1 is an active enzyme forming primary alcohols destined for the wheat cuticle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient approach for palladium(II) acetate catalyzed allylic amination of homoallylic alcohols with various amines via sequential retro-allylation and amination was developed, which afforded the corresponding allylic amines in up to 98% yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) is a therapeutic technique developed as an advanced application of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). An important adverse event associated with this procedure is hemorrhage, which may sometimes be uncontrollable. We sought to examine whether cap-assisted hemoclip application is effective in controlling ES-induced hemorrhage.Methods: In this prospective study, we investigated the outcomes in 10 patients who had uncontrolled ES-induced hemorrhage and were treated by cap-assisted application of hemoclip with a forward-viewing endoscope.Results: Nine of the 10 investigated patients were successfully treated using the cap-assisted hemoclip technique with forward-viewing endoscope, yielding a success rate of 90 %. The patient with hemorrhage non-responsive to hemoclipping required catheter embolization of the bleeding artery after its identification by digital subtraction angiography. One of the 10 patients developed mild pancreatitis after the procedure, but was successfully managed conservatively.Conclusions: Cap-assisted hemoclip application with a forward-viewing endoscope appears to be an effective therapeutic modality for achieving hemostasis in cases of ES-induced hemorrhage, without the occurrence of any severe adverse events; we believe that this method should be considered as an option in the management of ES-induced hemorrhage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma, a lethal malignant neoplasm with poor prognosis, has dismal results of surgical resection and chemoradiotherapy. Norcantharidin (NCTD), the demethylated analog of cantharidin derived from a traditional Chinese medicine, Mylabris, has been used in the treatment of cancer. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying this process are generally unclear. Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of NCTD-induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells. Materials and Methods: Human HepG2 cell lines were treated with NCTD at different concentrations (2.50, 5.00, 10.00, 20.00, 40.00 μg/mL) for 24 hours. Cell proliferation was evaluated by measurement of cellular 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT). The methylation levels of RASSF1A (Ras-association domain family 1 A) in HepG2 cells were detected by methylation-specific PCR (MSP). The mRNA levels of RASSF1A in HepG2 cells were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (RT-PCR). The levels of RASSF1A protein expression of HepG2 cells were detected by Western blotting assay. Results: The inhibition of cell proliferation was observed when treated with NCTD at concentrations (2.5 μg/mL), and as concentration increased, the proliferation of HepG2 cells was markedly inhibited by NCTD in dose-dependent manners. The levels of methylation of RASSF1A decreased at the increasing concentration of 10, 20 and 40 μg/mL. The levels of RASSF1A mRNA and protein were decreased when treated with NCTD at the concentrations of 10, 20 and 40 μg/mL, which were also in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusion: NCTD can reverse the methylation state of RASSF1A gene and induce its re-expression, which will provide the theoretical basis for the clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to determine the polymorphism and mRNA expression pattern of the heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) gene and their association with intramuscular fat (IMF) content in the breast and leg muscles of Baicheng oil chicken (BOC). A total of 720 chickens, including 240 black Baicheng oil chicken (BBOC), 240 silky Baicheng oil chicken (SBOC), and 240 white Baicheng oil chicken (WBOC) were raised. Three genotypes of H-FABP gene second extron following AA, AB, and BB were detected by polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) strategy. The G939A site created AA genotype and G956A site created BB genotype. The content of IMF in AA genotype in breast muscle of BBOC was significantly higher than that of AB (p = 0.0176) and the genotype in leg muscle of WBOC was significantly higher than that of AB (p = 0.0145). The G939A site could be taken as genetic marker for higher IMF content selecting for breast muscle of BBOC and leg muscle of WBOC. The relative mRNA expression of H-FABP was measured by real-time PCR at 30, 60, 90, and 120 d. The IMF content significantly increased with age in both muscles. The mRNA expression level of H-FABP significantly decreased with age in both muscles of the three types of chickens. Moreover, a significant negative correlation between H-FABP abundance and IMF content in the leg muscles of WBOC (p = 0.035) was observed. The mRNA expression of H-FABP negatively correlated with the IMF content in both breast and leg muscles of BOC sat slaughter time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The giant coronary artery aneurysm combined with coronary artery fistula is extremely uncommon. In our case, there was a giant aneurysm of the left main coronary artery with fistulous communication to the right atrium, combined with moderate aortic valve regurgitation, which was initially found by transthoracic echocardiogram and subsequently confirmed by the 256-slice multidetector computer tomography (MDCT) coronary angiography. After consultation, the patient received surgical treatment, including the closure of the drainage and origin sites of the aneurysm and the aortic valve replacement. The patient recovered uneventfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-calcium fly ash (FH) is the combustion residue from electric power plants burning lignite or sub-bituminous coal. As a mineral admixture, FH can be used to produce high-strength concrete and high-performance concrete. The development of chemical and mechanical properties is a crucial factor for appropriately using FH in the concrete industry. To achieve sustainable development in the concrete industry, this paper presents a theoretical model to systematically evaluate the property developments of FH blended concrete. The proposed model analyzes the cement hydration, the reaction of free CaO in FH, and the reaction of phases in FH other than free CaO. The mutual interactions among cement hydration, the reaction of free CaO in FH, and the reaction of other phases in FH are also considered through the calcium hydroxide contents and the capillary water contents. Using the hydration degree of cement, the reaction degree of free CaO in FH, and the reaction degree of other phases in FH, the proposed model evaluates the calcium hydroxide contents, the reaction degree of FH, chemically bound water, porosity, and the compressive strength of hardening concrete with different water to binder ratios and FH replacement ratios. The evaluated results are compared to experimental results, and good consistencies are found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multitemporal Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) horizontally transmitted and horizontally received (HH) coherence data was decomposed into temporal-coherence, spatial-coherence, and thermal noise components. The multitemporal data spanned between February and May of 2008, and consisted of two pairs of interferometric SAR (InSAR) images formed by consecutive repeat passes. With the analysis of ancillary data, a snow increase process and a snow decrease process were determined. Then, the multiple temporal-coherence components were used to study the variation of thawing and freezing statuses of snow because the components can mostly reflect the temporal change of the snow that occurred between two data acquisitions. Compared with snow mapping results derived from optical images, the outcomes from the snow increase process and the snow decrease process reached an overall accuracy of 71.3% and 79.5%, respectively. Being capable of delineating not only the areas with or without snow cover but also status changes among no-snow, wet snow, and dry snow, we have developed a critical means to assess the water resource in alpine areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An approach to remove clouds in Landsat-8 operational land imager (OLI) data was developed with independent component analysis (ICA). Within cloud-covered areas, histograms were derived to quantify changes of the reflectance values before and after the use of the algorithm. Referred to a cloud-free image, changes of histogram curves validated the algorithm. Scatterplots were generated and linear regression performed for the reflectance values of each band before and after the algorithm, and compared to those of the reference image. Band-by-band, results in cloud removal were acceptable. The algorithm had little effect on pixels in cloud-free areas after the analyses of histograms, scatterplots, and linear regression equations. Finally, the algorithm was applied to various land use and land cover types and cloud conditions, and to a full Landsat-8 scene yielding satisfactory results efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parallel algorithms, such as the ant colony algorithm, take a long time when solving large-scale problems. In this paper, the MAX-MIN Ant System algorithm (MMAS) is parallelized to solve Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) based on a Spark cloud computing platform. We combine MMAS with Spark MapReduce to execute the path building and the pheromone operation in a distributed computer cluster. To improve the precision of the solution, local optimization strategy 2-opt is adapted in MMAS. The experimental results show that Spark has a very great accelerating effect on the ant colony algorithm when the city scale of TSP or the number of ants is relatively large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging of a maneuvering target is a challenging task in the field of radar signal processing. The azimuth echo can be characterized as a multi-component polynomial phase signal (PPS) after the translational compensation, and the high quality ISAR images can be obtained by the parameters estimation of it combined with the Range-Instantaneous-Doppler (RID) technique. In this paper, a novel parameters estimation algorithm of the multi-component PPS with order three (cubic phase signal-CPS) based on the modified discrete polynomial-phase transform (MDPT) is proposed, and the corresponding new ISAR imaging algorithm is presented consequently. This algorithm is efficient and accurate to generate a focused ISAR image, and the results of real data demonstrate the effectiveness of it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mycoviruses have been detected in all major groups of filamentous fungi, and their study represents an important branch of virology. Here, we characterized a novel double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) mycovirus, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum megabirnavirus 1 (SsMBV1), in an apparently hypovirulent strain (SX466) of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Two similarly sized dsRNA segments (L1- and L2-dsRNA), the genome of SsMBV1, are packaged in rigid spherical particles purified from strain SX466. The full-length cDNA sequence of L1-dsRNA/SsMBV1 comprises two large open reading frames (ORF1 and ORF2), which encode a putative coat protein and an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of the RdRp domain clearly indicates that SsMBV1 is related to Rosellinia necatrix megabirnavirus 1 (RnMBV1). L2-dsRNA/SsMBV1 comprises two nonoverlapping ORFs (ORFA and ORFB) encoding two hypothetical proteins with unknown functions. The 5'-terminal regions of L1- and L2-dsRNA/SsMBV1 share strictly conserved sequences and form stable stem-loop structures. Although L2-dsRNA/SsMBV1 is dispensable for replication, genome packaging, and pathogenicity of SsMBV1, it enhances transcript accumulation of L1- dsRNA/SsMBV1 and stability of virus-like particles (VLPs). Interestingly, a conserved papain-like protease domain similar to a multifunctional protein (p29) of Cryphonectria hypovirus 1 was detected in the ORFA-encoded protein of L2-dsRNA/SsMBV1. Phylogenetic analysis based on the protease domain suggests that horizontal gene transfer may have occurred from a singlestranded RNA (ssRNA) virus (hypovirus) to a dsRNA virus, SsMBV1. Our results reveal that SsMBV1 has a slight impact on the fundamental biological characteristics of its host regardless of the presence or absence of L2-dsRNA/SsMBV1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondria are important cellular organelles that function as control centers of the energy supply for highly proliferative cancer cells and regulate apoptosis after cancer chemotherapy. Cisplatin is one of the most important chemotherapeutic agents and a key drug in therapeutic regimens for a broad range of solid tumors. Cisplatin may directly interact with mitochondria, which can induce apoptosis. The direct interactions between cisplatin and mitochondria may account for our understanding of the clinical activity of cisplatin and development of resistance. However, the basis for the roles of mitochondria under treatment with chemotherapy is poorly understood. In this review, we present novel aspects regarding the unique characteristics of the mitochondrial genome in relation to the use of platinum-based chemotherapy and describe our recent work demonstrating the importance of the mitochondrial transcription factor A (mtTFA) expression in cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combustor-inlet interaction is a longstanding classic problem in airbreathing propulsion engineering that is still not fully understood, as evidenced by frequently occurring flight-test unstart events. This study aims at providing a rigorous classification of combustor-inlet interactions that will permit the efficient diagnosis of unstart events, and improve the overall reliability of propulsion systems. Using the proposed mathematical method, the full range of possible interactions can be well defined within the framework of the classification. Specifically, the existence of 11 finite, rigorously separable types of combustor-inlet interactions in ramjet flow is shown. The classification is achieved by first defining the problem as classifying the hysteresis behaviors that occur during combustor-inlet interactions, and then proposing a general method for classifying the hysteresis behaviors of multistable systems, which is also applicable to ramjet flow. Besides the mathematical aspects, novel nondimensional parameters are defined to formulate the classification criteria for the purpose of providing a physical insight into the problem. The findings reported here will lead to a more complete understanding of combustor-inlet interactions, and can be used as a theoretical basis to analyze the complex interactions involved in ground and flight experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we prove the Kastler-Kalau-Walze type theorems for twisted Dirac operators on 5-dimensional manifolds with boundary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]