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This study compared the dosimetric parameters of field-in-field forward intensity-modulated radiotherapy (FIF-IMRT) and fixed-field inversely optimized intensity-modulated radiotherapy (FFIO-IMRT) for the whole-breast irradiation of patients undergoing right-breast lumpectomy.A total of 30 patients with pT1-2N0M0 right-breast invasive ductal carcinoma were enrolled in this study. Two different treatment plans, i.e., FIF-IMRT and FFIO-IMRT, were designed for each patient. The dosimetric parameters of the two treatment plans were compared including ipsilateral lung and heart, conformity index (CI), and the homogeneity index (HI) of the planning target volume (PTV).Fixed-field inversely optimized intensity-modulated radiotherapy was found to significantly improve CI (83.302% vs. 60.146%) and HI (11.837% vs. 19.280%), and significantly reduced VRegardless of improving the conformity and homogeneity of PTV and reducing the ipsilateral lung irradiation volume at high doses, FFIO-IMRT significantly raised the ipsilateral lung irradiated volume at low doses, as well as the irradiation volume and mean radiation doses to the heart. This limits its use in patients with early-stage right breast cancer.

Recent innovations within the field of robotic surgery have particular relevance to colorectal surgery. Although a robotic approach has been associated with satisfactory outcomes, there remains a wide variation in levels of adoption. In particular, this study focuses on patient positioning, docking, and table placement, with the intent of understanding the strength of opinion of colorectal surgeons in the Asia–Pacific region to the practical application of these developments to achieve optimal surgical outcomes. Using a modified Delphi methodology, a steering group of colorectal surgeons with experience in robotic surgery from across the Asia–Pacific region identified 35 consensus statements. An online 4-point Likert scale questionnaire was distributed to surgeons in the Asia–Pacific region using convenience sampling. Respondents were excluded from further analysis if they did not perform colorectal surgery or had no experience in robotic surgery. A total of 140 responses (71.8% response rate) were received between August and October 2021. 22 statements attained a very high degree of agreement (≥ 90%). High agreement (

Summary The global shift toward environmentally friendly fuels has led to an increase in the usage of natural gas as an energy source. Natural gas is currently being produced from conventional gas reservoirs; however, there has been increased interest in the large repositories of highly compressed natural gas sequestered in gas hydrates. Well logs, as well as 3D seismic surveys, aid in the identification of geophysical features which support the presence of natural gas hydrates. Geophysical features include bottom-simulating reflectors (BSRs), amplitude blanking, and enhanced reflections. Previous studies of the deepwater blocks offshore the eastern coast of Trinidad provided conflicting conclusions regarding the existence of gas hydrate-bearing sediments in Blocks 25A, 25B, 26, and 27. This study investigated not only the presence, but additionally the location, depth of the BSRs, and associated natural gas hydrate-bearing sediments, as well as the volumetric estimation of the hydrate-bound gas in these blocks, as well as Block 4B. Six gas hydrate-related BSRs were identified; one each in Blocks 4B, 25A, and 26, and three in Block 27. No BSRs were observed in Block 25B. Closer inspection revealed that the BSR in Block 26 is an extension of one of the BSRs in Block 27. A total gas resource in place is estimated to be 4–19 Tcf, which indicates that the eastern coast of Trinidad has the potential to provide additional natural gas reserves.

The present work investigated the effect of Ag additives on the consumption of cathode Cu pad under electromigration in a current-stressed Cu/Sn3.5Ag/Cu flip-chip structure. The consumption rate of a cathode Cu pad in a pure Sn system is faster than that of a cathode Cu pad in a Sn3.5Ag system at 80℃ by a factor of 10. Using the kinetics of the consumption equation, the activation energy in the consumption of a cathode Cu pad was calculated. The activation energy (0.65 eV) of the consumption of a cathode Cu pad in a Cu/Sn3.5Ag/Cu flip-chip structure under electromigration (EM) is slightly greater than that (0.62 eV) of the consumption of a cathode Cu pad in a Cu/Sn/Cu flip-chip structure under EM. The dissolution of Cu flux is discussed, and the possible effect of Ag additives on the consumption rate of a cathode Cu pad under EM is proposed. The Ag additives reduced the deficiency of Cu solubility in a solder matrix near the cathode Cu/solder interface, which is the main factor in the reduction of Cu pad consumption. Moreover, the Ag3Sn phase forming on the cathode Cu6Sn5 interface protects Cu6Sn5 from dissolving into the Sn3.5Ag solder matrix under EM.

Typically, Sn cannot be finished on Ni and Ag surfaces via the immersion process. In this work, through galvanic reaction, immersion Sn finish was processed on an immersion Ag finish coexisting with a Ni surface. Herein, the detailed mechanism of the reduction of Sn2+ ions on the immersion Ag surface through galvanic reaction is reported. Through transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis, the uncommon Ag4Sn phase, instead of the common Ag3Sn phase, was confirmed to form during the Sn immersion of the Ag immersion layer. The Ag4Sn phase was found to form between the Ag grains in the immersion Sn layer. The mixed Ag/Ag4Sn structure in the immersion Sn layer can be explained by the galvanic reaction. The preferred formation of the Ag4Sn during the Sn immersion of the Ag immersion layer is discussed from the viewpoint of thermodynamics. The changes in the Gibbs free energy of the formation of the Ag3Sn and Ag4Sn phases were calculated as − 3.67 and − 8.89 kJ/mol, respectively. This confirms that the Ag4Sn phase is the favorable phase formed in the immersion Sn over the immersion Ag layer.

Kawasaki disease is an acute, self-limiting vasculitis in children. Early treatment is necessary to prevent cardiovascular complications. The acute phase of Kawasaki disease may present with hemodynamic instability. An association between viral respiratory infections and Kawasaki disease has been reported. Studies have shown that Kawasaki and Kawasaki-like disease may be associated with and have symptoms overlapping COVID-19. Children with COVID-19 may present as Kawasaki-like disease with pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome, or macrophage activation syndrome. Clinicians need to be aware of the early diagnosis and management of Kawasaki disease to prevent the development of coronary artery aneurysms. The symptoms overlap of multisystem inflammatory disease seen in COVID-19 adds to the difficulties in timely diagnosis and treatment. Children with Kawasaki disease require regular follow-up plans for coronary artery aneurysms. This adds to the difficulties during the changed environment of COVID-19 for control and prevention. Missed diagnosis and early treatment of Kawasaki disease with immunoglobulin and aspirin results in the development of coronary artery aneurysm in up to 25% of cases, with grave consequences. Here, we briefly review the management of typical and atypical Kawasaki disease which has symptoms overlapping with the multisystem inflammatory disease as seen in COVID-19.

The influence of local thinning thickness defects on the buckling of cylindrical shells is investigated. A static buckling model of cylindrical shells with defects is established based on the Hamil...

The nonlinear mechanical responses of concrete beams with carbon fiber-reinforced composite (CFRP) tendons were studied with the finite element model constructed within the nonlinear mechanics theory. The two typical prestressed CFRP-reinforced concrete beams were subject to nonlinear analysis, the stress behavior of the tendons was investigated, the latter and common steels were compared. Experimental data and calculated results are in good agreement. The cracking, yielding, and crushing characteristics of concrete can be well described with the smeared crack model via the Owen yielding criterion and the Hinton crushing criterion. The prestressed CFRP tendons are accurately simulated with combined nonlinear elements, and the corresponding analytical procedure was quite reliable. The CFRP tendons exhibit high strength, retaining their properties even when beam specimens are damaged. In comparison with common steels acting in the tension zone, the CFRP tendons are still in the elastic deformation region during the whole process.

The effect of Ag solutes on the solid-state Cu dissolution in the Sn3.5Ag solder was studied. The solid-state Cu dissolution depends on the dissolution of the interfacial Cu6Sn5 compound layer, which is constant with time. In a low annealing temperature range (150, 165, and 180 °C), the Ag solutes forming Ag3Sn phase attaching (near) the interfacial Cu-Sn compound layer, which retards dissolution of the interfacial Cu6Sn5 compound layer. The activation energy of Cu dissolution into Sn3.5Ag solder is 0.37 eV, which is less than Cu in pure Sn solder (1.48 eV). Interestingly, the consumption mechanism of the Cu wire changes at a high annealing temperature of 200 °C, where the consumption of the Cu wire in the Sn3.5Ag/Cu-wire/Sn3.5Ag system is faster than in the Sn/Cu-wire/Sn system. Therefore, the higher Ag solubility in the Sn3.5Ag solder matrix causes fewer Ag3Sn precipitates in the Sn lattice than in pure Sn solder, which is the main factor promoting Cu6Sn5 dissolution at the high annealing temperature of 200 °C. Additionally, the extensive dissolution of the interfacial Cu6Sn5 compound layer in the Sn3.5Ag/Cu-wire/Sn3.5Ag system resulted in an irregular decomposition with prolonged annealing (greater than 10 h) at the high annealing temperature of 200 °C. After 35 h of annealing, the interfacial Cu6Sn5 compound layer broke off and dissolved into the Sn3.5Ag solder matrix.

A shear-lag model is developed for discontinuous fiber-reinforced composites with a membrane-type imperfect interface, across which the displacement vector is continuous but the traction vector suffers a jump that is governed by the generalized Young–Laplace equation. Closed-form expressions are obtained for the stress fields in both the fiber-reinforced region and the pure matrix regions and for the shear stress on the interface from both the fiber and matrix sides. To illustrate the newly developed analytical model, a numerical analysis is provided by directly using the general formulas derived. The numerical results reveal that the fiber aspect ratio and the interface parameter can both have significant effects on the stress distributions in the composite.

To elucidate the biological function of BAP18 (BPTF-associated protein of 18 kDa) in non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) and the molecular mechanism.Relative levels of BAP18 in NSCLC tissues were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and its influence on pathological characteristics of NSCLC patients was analyzed. Correlation between BAP18 and Ki67 levels in NSCLC was assessed by Pearson correlation test. Furthermore, Kaplan-Meier curves were depicted for revealing survival difference in NSCLC patients expressing high or low level of BAP18. Relative levels of BAP18, CCND1, CCND2 and CCND3 in A549 and H1299 cells transfected with siBAP18 were determined, as well as colony number. In addition, after knockdown of protein level of BAP18 in A549 and H1299 cells by lentivirus transfection, cell cycle progression was examined. Co-regulation of BAP18 and CCND1/2 on cell growth of NSCLC was finally detected.BAP18 was upregulated in NSCLC tissues, especially cases with advanced stage (III-IV) or large tumor size (5 cm). BAP18 was closely linked to tumor size, TNM staging and lymphatic metastasis in NSCLC. Knockdown of BAP18 reduced transcriptional levels of CCND1 and CCND2 in A549 and H1299 cells. Furthermore, knockdown of BAP18 delayed transition from G1 to S phase, and weakened growth of NSCLC cells.BAP18 triggers the progression of NSCLC by regulating transcriptional activities of CCND1/2, which may be a potential target for the treatment and diagnosis of NSCLC.

1. Chicken primary myoblasts (CPMs) are precursors that form muscle fibres. The proliferation and differentiation of CPMs is an essential stage in muscle development. Previous RNA-seq analysis showed that phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHGDH) is a differentially expressed gene in chicken muscle tissue at different growth stages. Therefore, the following study explored the effect of PHGDH on the proliferation and differentiation of CPMs. 2. The effect on the proliferation of CPMs by RT–qPCR, CCK-8, and EdU assays after the overexpression and knockdown of PHGDH was evaluated. RT–qPCR, western blotting, and indirect immunofluorescence were used to detect the effect of PHGDH on the differentiation of the CPMs. The expression was observed at different time points for differentiation induced by the CPMs. 3. The results showed that PHGDH significantly promoted proliferation and differentiation in CPMs. The results showed that overexpression of PHGDH significantly upregulated CPM proliferation, while knockdown had the opposite effect. Marker genes showed that overexpression of PHGDH significantly upregulated the expression of P21, MYOG and MYOD genes, significantly downregulated the expression of the MSTN gene and promoted the expression of the MYHC protein. In contrast, PHGDH knockdown had the opposite effect. 4. Desmin immunofluorescence analysis of myotube differentiation in primary myoblasts showed that overexpression of PHGDH significantly increased the area of myotube differentiation and promoted the proliferation and differentiation of myoblasts. Knockdown of PHGDH had the opposite effect. 5. In summary, PHGDH was shown to play a positive role in regulating myoblast proliferation and differentiation. This provides a theoretical basis for further analysis of the regulatory mechanism of the PHGDH gene in chicken muscle development and for improving poultry production.

Mahonia fortunei belongs to Berberidaceae, and is often used as a potted plant in Chinese tradition medicine (Li et al. 2015). In March 2019, leaf blight was observed on this species in the campus of Anhui Agricultural University (31°51'51″N; 117°15'31″E) in Hefei City, Anhui Province, China. The average disease incidence was 35% over 20 m2 planting area. Symptoms of the disease are easily apparent, with irregular, dark brown necrosis at the edge of the leaves. To identify the pathogen, symptomatic leaves were collected from three symptomatic leaves from three plants and cut into small pieces. Leaf pieces from the margin of the diseased tissues were surface sterilized for 1 min in 75% ethanol, rinsed three times with sterile distilled water, and subsequently, plated onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated in dark at 28°C for 4 days. The colonies of three isolates were obtained and appeared morphologically similar in agar media. The cultures were initially white, gradually becoming dark gray, and could grow to the edges of plates (90mm diameter) four days after subculturing. After 7 days on media, the colony was induced for sporulation by UV for 15min, and conidia were observed after 2 weeks. Conidia were nonseptate, hyaline, and oval, measuring 16.9 to 25.3 μm (mean 21.4 μm) × 5.0 to 8.4 μm (mean 6.8 μm) (n = 50). The isolate was identified as Botryosphaeria dothidea preliminarily according to the morphological characteristics (Zhai et al. 2014). For accurate identification, DNA was extracted from the mycelia. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS), β-tubulin (TUB) and Ef1-a were amplified and sequenced using primers ITS1/ITS4, Bt2a/Bt2b and 983f /2228r, respectively (Zhai et al. 2014). The 543-bp ITS (GenBank accession no. MK850215), 673-bp TUB (no. MN370930) and 1069-bp Ef1-a (no. MN598070) showed99% identity with those of B. dothidea KP183180 (Xu et al. 2015), KU306116 (Lisboa et al. 2016) and DQ767637.1 (Schoch et al. 2006), respectively. Based on cultural characteristics and phylogenetic analysis, the current isolate associated with leaf blight of M. fortunei was identified as B. dothidea. The representative strain was deposited at the China Center for Type Culture Collection (CCTCC) as CCTCC AF 2019004 SX03. Pathogenicity test was performed on three healthy M. fortunei on campus. Three branches of each plant were selected and all leaves on branches were wounded with dissecting needle by puncturing, then inoculated with a spore suspension (105 conidia/mL) by a hand-held spray bottle, using sterile water as control (Huang et al. 2019). In order to maintain high relative humidity, the inoculated leaves were sealed with transparent plastic bags for 3 days. Fourteen days after inoculation, symptoms (leaf blight) were similar to those on infected leaves on campus, while the controls remained healthy. The experiments were conducted three times and the pathogen was reisolated from inoculated leaves and was confirmed as B. dothidea based on morphological and molecular analyses. To our knowledge, this is the first report of B. dothidea causing marginal leaf necrosis on M. fortunei in China. This study provides a preliminary basis for identifying the causal agent of this plant disease.

Regression discontinuity design (RDD) is a rigorous quasi-experimental method. Based on the randomness of the distribution of samples around the critical value, the data on both sides are used for regression respectively, so as to avoid the interference of potential confounding factors and provide strong evidence for the inference of causal correlation. This study introduces the RDD and its research progress, and expounds its application in detail combined with cases, in order to provide reference for the application of RDD in epidemiological research.断点回归设计是一种严格的类实验方法，基于样本在临界值周围分布的随机性，使用两侧数据分别进行回归，从而避免潜在混杂因素的干扰，为因果关联的推断提供强有力的证据。本研究对断点回归方法以及其研究进展进行了介绍，并结合案例对其应用方法进行了详细阐述，以期为断点回归在流行病学研究中的使用提供参考。.

In this work, the effect of the chemical additives (surfactant, stabilizer) on the corrosion resistance of the Ni(P) layer was investigated. The average O content at the depth of 1 nm of the tested Ni(P) specimens was used as the indication of the corrosion degree for the tested Ni(P) specimen. The average O content at the depth of 1 nm of the tested Ni(P) specimens prepared with thiourea is 27.74 at.%, which is larger than the average O content (14.43 at.%) at the depth of 1 nm of the corrosion-tested Ni(P) layer. It can be concluded that the corrosion resistance of the Ni(P) layer would be greatly reduced two times with adding thiourea in the Ni(P) plating bath. The effect of the solder mask was also investigated on the corrosion resistance of the Ni(P) layer. We found that S impurities leaching from the solder mask might be co-deposited into Ni(P), and decrease the corrosion resistance of the Ni(P) layer. Yet, its influence is relatively lower than the effect of thiourea on the corrosion resistance of the Ni(P) layer. With adding CTAB, as a surfactant, in the Ni(P) plating bath, the average P content in the Ni(P) layer increases. The high P content further improves the corrosion resistance of the Ni(P) layer. Moreover, the positive effect of adding CTAB in the plating solution on the corrosion resistance of the Ni(P) layer would suppress the negative effect of the thiourea additive and solder mask in the plating solution. The main innovation finding of the work is that we found that adding CTAB in the Ni(P) plating solution can reduce the co-deposition of S impurities, from thiourea in the Ni(P) plating bath and the solder mask, in the Ni(P) layer. Consequently, the corrosion resistance of the Ni(P) layer can be further improved.

This study investigates the kinetics of solid-state dissolution of Ni into Sn and Sn3.5Ag solders. At annealing temperatures of 150, 180, and 200 °C for 100–400 h, more amount of Ni was dissolved in Sn3.5Ag solder than in pure solder. The activation energies of Ni dissolution into pure Sn solder and Sn3.5Ag solder were 0.84 and 0.71 eV, respectively, indicating that the Ag content in the Sn3.5Ag solder can lower the activation energy of Ni dissolution into the Sn3.5Ag solder matrix. This study also proposes a potential enhancement mechanism for Ni dissolution using Ag solutes. Ag solutes in Sn3.5Ag solder promote a higher density of grain boundaries and a higher Sn vacancy concentration in β-Sn grains in Sn3.5Ag solder, resulting in more Ni dissolution into Sn3.5Ag solder compared to pure Sn solder. Based on the Ni dissolution results, a radial growth equation for a Ni3Sn4 interfacial layer surrounding a Ni wire was established. Further, the parameters of the radial growth of this Ni3Sn4 interfacial layer were deduced.